by Dawn | Aug 2, 2014 | education reform, family
I’m not Back to School shopping this year. I’ll buy a couple outfits for Declan and a pen or two. That’s it. I stand firm. I’ve spent years going broke buying thousands of things for students. Until they have “Back to School” coffee...
by Dawn | Jul 26, 2014 | family
“Mommy, you’re sending me to summer camp so we don’t have to go on vacation!” Declan wanted “vacation.” That means a hotel with a pool. He feels sold out. “No, I’m sending you to summer camp because it’s fifty-five...
by Dawn | Jul 21, 2014 | food, gardening, simplicity, sustainability
Canning and preserving are age-old techniques for saving the mountain of food you thought was cute when you planted it or bought too much of at the farmer’s market. Or maybe your friend dumped off “just a few” zucchini. It’s that time of year....
by Dawn | May 5, 2014 | education reform, Zen
I wrote the following piece for ConversationEd. You can see it posted there today. If you’re in the ed crowd, please take a minute to pop over there. Editor and creator Kathleen Jasper is starting the tough conversations. “Education is broken. We’re...
by Dawn | Apr 11, 2014 | self-improvement, simplicity
“We traveled to school in the snow. We only had one pair of shoes between us. And we liked it!” Senior citizens have a way of remembering. As a historian, I’ve learned to filter this. It’s something I teach my students when we examine primary...