What book would anyone read, or even have time to read, once a month for twenty years? Maybe like you, I have several books I’m reading at the same time. I only finish a few books each year. The book Tim Keller has read once a month for twenty years is the book of Psalms. The…
Have you heard the saying, “If you win the morning you… … win the day.” Is this true for you? Being the first week of the new year, many of us have made resolutions. Those with a strong will keep them, at least for a while. Maybe they become habits. For the rest of us, the…
Happy New Year! The traditional greeting can sound trite given the year most of us have had. Still, the greeting carries within it the seeds of hope that the new year will be better, so I’m sticking with it. I wanted to take a moment to give you a motto that circulated decades ago that can…
It’s been a year since I wrote an update/reflection on my health and life. Every time I pick up the phone in the office and the person on the other end sounds surprised to be talking to me, I feel a nudge that I should write something. So here goes. If I were to…
Someone you know has been in the hospital with Covid. Someone else you know has been in the hospital from a bad reaction after getting the vaccine. What do we tell our children? How much do we say to them? In their worst moments, the fear of death is real. Teenagers wonder if they have…
Thinking about not home schooling this year? Understandable, given the year we’ve been through- the emotional, physical, and financial stress that have landed on us. Add to this the constant messaging and daily browbeating being dished out by many political office holders and media personalities in an attempt to influence our behavior. Whatever side of the vax…
Hello Home Schoolers, About a month ago I wrote to you letting you know that the Oregon Department of Education decided to extend the testing deadline to November 1st. Last week the Department clarified that the testing deadline was actually extended to November 15th even though their home school page still says November 1st. This update may…
Hello Home Schoolers, This last Thursday the Oregon Department of Education voted to extend the testing deadline to November 1, 2021. This decision provides some extra time to comply with the testing rule that requires students at grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 to test. However, students testing for OSAA eligibility, must still complete their…
Previously I’ve written about Working Backwards. What did I mean? The idea has been around for a while. It was popularized by time and task management expert, Stephen Covey. What he said was, “Begin with the end in mind.” When he used that phase, he was referring to a process he believed was helpful for reaching a…
Two items to read about below: the standardized testing requirement and the testing deadline. Standardized Testing Requirement Oregon leaders initially appealed to the US Department of Education to waive all standardized testing. While the initial appeal was denied, a compromise was reached. Oregon’s follow up request that the number of areas/tests be reduced due to…