Snow days! Kids love them, and to be honest, from time to time we love them too. It’s so great to have a chance to pause and breathe and see the beauty of a winter day around us. And who doesn’t love an excuse for an extra cup of coffee? OK, back to reality. The…
Winter solstice reading. A tradition at our home. Years ago, Cynthia read about a family who paused during the hectic days leading up to the ‘famous’ winter holidays. The pause was intentional, to celebrate a change in the natural world, and to engage in rest, relaxation and reading. The family celebrated winter solstice, the shortest…
Classic children’s books. While cleaning out accumulated clutter, we came across our collection of best-loved classic children’s books. It sparked a lot of fond memories of reading to the kids, and then listening as they read. We do love reading books alongside our older teens. But we can still remember with great joy when we…
The Great Gatsby. The great Gatsby? F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby about America in the 1920s, when the fabulously wealthy flaunted their funds with lavish parties and opulent lifestyles. Many people, not fabulously wealthy, hitched their trains to these ‘stars’ and showed up, night after night, for parties with music and gin and…
Note: This blog post first appeared with Triad Moms on Main on October 23, 2018. The year was 1994. Bill Clinton was president, OJ Simpson was arrested, and I was in 3rd grade, having an emotional breakdown while trying to learn my multiplication tables. Nearly 25 years later, I still remember how overwhelmed, anxious,…
Winner! Great American Read. Last summer, PBS introduced a public process of voting for America’s favorite novel. The first step was selecting the 100 novels eligible for votes. You can find out more about that process here. But who is the winner of the Great American read? Cynthia’s prediction doesn’t win Cynthia’s guess…
Great American Read. The Great American Read. Last summer, PBS introduced a public process of voting for America’s favorite novel. The first step was selecting the 100 novels eligible for votes. You can find out more about that process here. Our take on the Great American Read list of novels Though the list is fairly…
Historical fiction for teens. We don’t often search for books of this genre, but with Advanced Placement U.S. History came a requirement to read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter. We bought the book, peeked inside at the style of writing, took a deep breath, and went outside for a hike. But we promised our…
Adventure books for girls. With young men at home, I don’t read these books very often. But a perceptive and knowledgeable local guide recommended this book to someone else. Overhearing their conversation, I asked about it. Adventure books we found while traveling Last summer we traveled in lovely Nova Scotia. We rode bikes and marveled…
New faculty! Please join us in welcoming Ryan Price to our community at A Step Ahead. Ryan’s background With a BA in Philosophy and a Master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Ryan is well qualified to work with our middle school and high school students in all subjects. Ryan specializes in math, chemistry, biology,…