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Learning From The Materials You Already Have


Feminist Homeschooling

A lot of parents are planning to home school this coming school year due to, well, a lot of concern about safety in schools. There are a lot of people who are worried about the schools rushing kids back into the classroom while COVID-19 is still an ongoing threat in the United States. With all that going on, you want to add in some lessons about women in history. This is an often overlooked part of schooling, in the first place, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what we do know in regard to historical figures, especially historical nonfiction books about women. Here are some women of history to look into. Find some ebooks on them and get familiar with the subjects so you can give an intelligent lecture, or let your kids read them (if they're advanced enough to do so) and teach you about these women!

Cleopatra: A famous figure in her time, but there are a lot of common misconceptions about her. In the popular mythos, she was extremely attractive and used her sexuality to gain power, but at the time, she was known for her intellect and ruthlessness. She's also famous for having killed herself, but a growing body of historical evidence may reveal that she was, in fact, murdered. You can assign your children to look into the case themselves and tell you what they think happened, teaching them valuable critical thinking skills.

Marie Antoinette: Marie Antoinette is largely famous for saying, "Let them eat cake." This is a phrase which, as far as historians can tell, never actually left her lips. Just 14 when she married Louis XVI (though, at the time, he was still merely a crown prince) she was vilified by the people of France from, more or less, day one, and the legacy of this vilification has lived on in popular culture, so much more than she lived reality. Perhaps you'll be able to talk about what actually happened versus what is commonly known.

Big Mama Thornton: A more recent historical figure could be Big Mama Thornton, who helped pioneer rock and roll. She, not Elvis, was the first to record 'Hound Dog', and if you listen to her sing it'll blow you out of the water. A lot of rock and roll borrowed from rhythm and blues singers (which was a genre label meant to indicate records by black people), and it's important to understand that in order to understand modern music history.

About Me

Learning From The Materials You Already Have

Those library books look incredible in your family room, but have you really taken the time to understand what they say? For years, I looked for interesting and unique ways to teach basic concepts to my kids, only to discover later that they were already in our house. I want you to take advantage of the learning materials that you already have around your house, because you might be surprised with how helpful they can be. To help you out, my blog contains loads of helpful information about books and supplies you might need. I know that if you can make education a priority, your entire family can benefit from it.