for the past few weeks i have been loving Just Add Light and Stir, a simple blog created by Sandra Dodd.  she posts a picture–sometimes it’s relevant to the words, but sometimes it’s just pretty.  then she adds a short bit of text.  just a few sentences, but they are words full of life.  they are evocative and challenging.  often her words have some action in them that you can take right away, a bit of advice to incorporate into your day. there is also a link to the labyrinth Sandra Dodd site, a way to just get your feet wet without jumping into the whole site.

last week Barbara Frank posted a link to an online archive being created for the original homeschooling magazine Growing Without Schooling.  i went over and looked, but i just cannot get into reading magazines online.  i want to hold the pages in my hand.  i want to read in the quiet, dark house after all the littles are asleep.

that got me thinking on my own nearly complete set of GWS.  i bought them on ebay for $25 including shipping!  poor woman made absolutely nothing on those magazines.  but maybe she was just trying to pass them along to another homeschooler.  i was so happy to receive them.  these magazines are like homeschooling time capsules–homeschooling before the internet.  they are filled with people sharing resources and ideas and stories of what worked.  but they aren’t just neat, old periodicals.  i picked up a random issue and had to get a pen to jot down book recommendations from 20 years ago!

then i said something to Andy about someone making a John Holt site like the Sandra Dodd site.  quotes and images with a link to a fuller piece available in the archive.  i guess for now the someone is me.  i’m none too sure about the viability of this project.  John’s words are often more pragmatic than beautiful, and i don’t know if i have the right sort of pictures.  but i’m going to give it a try.

stay tuned!