•   Little House on the Prairie. This early group developed around the shared love of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The families read the books at home and meet for dramatic play, field trips, and activities with pioneer themes. Soap- and candle-making, watching a farrier shoe a pony, historical field trips, dramatic play, and socializing are typical activities. Other literature themes that lend themselves to similar clubs include the King Arthur legends, the Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Austen´s books, the Boxcar Children, and the Harry Potter Series. Supplemental craft and resource books that accompany some popular series, if available, are a boon to your club.

•   Latin Club. This club included six families with students aged 9-17. They met twice a month. Each family purchased the same Latin textbook, as all group members were beginning students. One chapter was covered each meeting. Many fun and enriching activities were organized, such as a toga party, crossword puzzles, movies, preparing food, reading myths, and so on. All ages learned together.

Paring down can be a challenge if you have scheduled too much. Some families have handled this problem and have gained an exquisite home peace by reducing or eliminating television from the home. Limits can be set on other entertainment, including computer games, movies, social time. Housework can be streamlined. Activities can be cut back.

Students who want or need a busy schedule might contribute to the functioning of the household in some other way. For example, a teen who needs to be driven to soccer practice every day can help out with chores such as cooking, cleaning, or reading to a younger child.

Under-scheduling may result in bored students with too little to occupy their time.

One single mom who worked full time neatly sidestepped that danger by requiring each of her teens to participate in exactly two outside activities, not more and not less.

Two activities each week still allowed enough family and individual time with her children. She had assurance that they were involved and busy in activities, and the schedule remained manageable.

The following messages are the anti-learning and dehumanizing lessons that children may learn when they take standardized tests:

•   My worth can be summarized by a single mark on a paper.

•   Thinking is not valued; getting the ‘right´ answer is the only goal.

•   Someone else knows what I should know better than my parents or I do.

•   Learning is an absolute that can be measured.

•   My interests are not important enough to be measured.

•   The subject areas being evaluated on the test are the only things that are important to know.

•   The answer (to any question) is readily available, indisputable, and it's one of these four or five answers here; there's no need to look deeper or dwell on the question.

•   The purpose of learning is to get a high score. High test scores are the only purpose of testing.

•   If I score very well, I am better than other people who do not score as well.

•   Poor test scores mean that I am a failure. If I score poorly, there is nothing I can do to change it. Why try?

•   I haven't learned to read yet. I am not smart.

•   Since I must be tested once a year, so I can homeschool, my parents and I have to spend the rest of the year preparing.

•   The test was easy [hard]. [Public] [home] [private] school kids are dumber [smarter] than I.

•   The questions on the test are what is important. What I have been learning is not important.

•   I have to get a higher score next year to show that I am learning.

•   I am just a member of a herd that must be tested, without individual value.

Do you agree that standardized tests can be powerful teachers? ... Not only is a deaf ear turned to the drawbacks of testing, the stakes seem to be raised to a higher level with each passing year.

A joyful disruption is a powerful way to redirect energy or activity that is undesirable, but for whatever reason, is not a battle you want to pick today. It is so powerful, in fact, that you may choose this strategy frequently. Often, these are the moments when Mom´s or Dad´s creativity kicks in and delightful family activities are spontaneously initiated.

No one will remember the day everyone bickered and all were in tears before breakfast over who-knows-what and even the oatmeal was lumpy. But won´t everyone smile at the memory of a candlelight breakfast of lumpy oatmeal served under the table?

Joyful disruptions are a satisfying and creative way to help children learn social and academic lessons, and the results can be astounding. Children learn without feeling wrong or ashamed. In addition to helping children learn and making life easier for parents, joyful disruptions also bring a precious side benefit: zany activities often make the most satisfying memories for all.

Disruptions to Try with Young Children

•   Be ridiculous or unpredictable; tuck a small child who is whiny and clingy and needing attention into the bib of your overalls while you finish your tasks; pause often to tickle and tease him while he giggles.

•   Trap your child with your legs while you finish your phone calls. Tickle her with your feet.

•   Haul your child around with you by your ankle. Just tell him to hop on your foot and go for a ride. Is your child too big? Have him “hook up’ to your belt loop, and follow you around while you do your tasks. The child´s task? Hang on. Your task? Talk wildly about the amazing growth on your foot or back that makes you limp so terribly, how you´ll probably need surgery, and alas! the pain and suffering. Then brace yourself for giggle fits.