Q: What is the purpose of poetry? A: Why an Ars Poetica of course. Q: A what? (Now the fun begins…) A: Well, being a Latin phrase “ars poetica” is translated “on the art of poetry” in English. And art…

Chemistry is much more than a table of elements, complicated theories, and experiments in the lab. Chemistry is the foundation of literally everything we know. But for our children, chemistry is at best a daunting subject, at worst downright boring.…

Yesterday one of my apprentices brought me a gift. She simply handed me the sunny little package and smiled. Actions really do speak louder than words, but in this case the action was sparked by the whisper of words. And…

Up until recently I thought that the Twelve Days of Christmas were the twelve days before Christmas. Not so. These twelve days, The Twelve Days of Christmas, are twelve days after Crīstesmæsse, the Chrsitmastide. Twelve days came down to us…

My son Taylor has remarked more than once that Danny Champion of the World is his all time favorite elementary read. Having a dad who is a real life inventor, I’m my son could really relate to this story. But…

The big idea was to study our state in detail for one full school year, learning its basic geography and all the state symbols. There was no pattern. We just designed it the way we wanted it as we journeyed…

Reading and writing should be first and foremost a fun endeavor. That’s right, fun. But fun—the true kind—is not a byproduct of easy. Fun is hard work. Developing reading fluency takes years. Developing writing proficiency takes years. One can’t really…

“I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could.” – John James Audubon Observation is a powerful skill. Not too long…

During the course of our virtual traveling this summer, we decided to touch down in Times Square via a Ravensburger puzzle. The adventure took place on our dining room table until this past week when we decided some fresh air…

There are many things that can only be said without words. Yes, without words. This summer we launched a visual literacy campaign inside my guild. We began with observational exercises. I call this close looking. The goal is to discover…