A Home for the Chickens

Back in March we got 6 adorable little chicks they have grown and are now currently living on our deck. Finally over the weekend we started building them some more permanent lodging. I looked at many coop designs for many months (check out my Coop Ideas Pinterest board) and finally decided on the Garden Coop. Continue Reading…

Ask The Educator – February Edition

Photo By Barbro_Uppsala Our contributing educator this month is Amanda Lehrman, from The Momma Files. If you have a burning question for her we’d love to hear it, just complete the form below. Now on to this  month’s questions: Lauren Gordon from MommyBreakdown.com asks: Two of my three kids are summer babies. It seems that everyone is holding their…

Toy Fair 2012

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Toy Fair 2012 in New York, it was great. I was able to talk with the various companies and find out what’s new this summer, I also had a chance to explore all of the new educational options from some of my favorite companies like Haba, Elenco (the makers of…

Parents Can Use Reflection to Gauge Unschooling Progress

  It’s a common theme among homeschooling and unschooling parents to have this constant nagging feeling that we are somehow not doing for our children what we need to be doing. That we’re somehow experimenting on them with unschooling and the educational choices we have helped them make. I have discussed own issues with  this here several times before Over…

Ask The Educator – January Edition

I’m starting a new feature here at Harmonic Mama where you can “Ask the Educator” any burning questions you may have. In our first installment we have a question about how to encourage your child to read. The answers will appear here on Harmonic Mama on the last Thursday of every month. Our contributing educator this month is…

I Need Your Questions. New “Ask the Educator” Feature on Harmonic Mama

I am starting up a new monthly feature here on Harmonic Mama in conjunction with Amanda from The Momma Files. She’s a former teacher and is here to answer your questions about education from the other side. So in preparation for getting this feature off the ground I need you! Comment below with questions you…

Learning Through the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program

Recently while on vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains we discovered the Junior Ranger Program offered by the National Park service for kids ages 5 to 12. The way the Junior Ranger Program works is that you purchase (or download) a booklet that is age appropriate and has various activities related to the park that…

Guest Post – How do you spell G-E-N-E-R-O-S-I-T-Y?

Donation$ via oneiroi on Flickr Does your child know the meaning of the word generosity? How many other words can they name that mean the same thing? I intend to teach my son all of them. That is, when he is old enough to talk. With holiday time upon us, all the buzz is about…

Guest Post – Educating our Children…and Ourselves

Educating children is one of the primary focuses of our family. As unschoolers education is ingrained in our every day and always on our minds. Today I’d like to share a different perspective with you all. We have a great guest post from Ellie Hirsch, The Mommy Master™ about her experience with the education system and quest for the…

Shocking Milwaukee co-sleeping ad goes too far

The city of Milwaukee has put out a set of shocking ads, showing babies in bed with knives, to warn against the perceived dangers of co-sleeping. These ads, designed to scare parents, have gone too far. We co-slept with both are kids since infancy and they they are happy, well adjusted kids. Are we lucky?…