2013 Column Rose Godfrey Archive Stories

Someone asked me last week if the new Common Core standards for public education will affect homeschoolers. My response was a resounding: "Huh?" So I looked around and asked around and came to the conclusion that homeschooling and Common Core have a lot in common with dinner at my house. Let me explain. My insistence that everybo

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." We Americans have an uneasy relationship with those words. Many of us take pride in the particular path that led our ancestors here to pursue the fabled American dream. And yet, we seek limits and restrictions. We don't really want the wretched refuse,

We have been learning about chromosomes in our homeschool recently. As often happens, our lessons are initiated by circumstance, and the curriculum is guided by life. After several family discussions, the boys brought their own questions to me one evening. "Mom, what is Down Syndrome?" Max asked. "Down Syndrome is what happens wh

Years ago, a friend gave us some parenting advice. "Once you are outnumbered," he said, "it's really all the same." Brian and I, as parents, have been in the minority for quite a while. The beauty of having such a large family is that the kids always have someone to play with. Younger children enjoy tagging along with the older ones. Not

Thirteen years and eight children ago, as we were preparing to adopt for the second time, Brian stood in out in the yard and told a Sacramento news reporter that our goal was to have 12 children. It was the first I'd heard of it. Last week, I delivered on Brian's promise. I have now given birth to "the last one" five times. Babie

What sort of mother buys educational games for her children and passes them off as Christmas gifts? This one did, and it worked out even better than expected. I have never used this space to review anything, and I have no connections to any products mentioned. This recent gamble was such a success that I wanted to share some of our favor

"You're quieter than I thought you'd be," she said as she set her plate down across from mine. The introductions had been made, and she knew we'd been homeschooling — and I'd been sharing our stories about it — for years. "I'm battling a headache today," I said, "and the headache is winning." Except for the promise of the com

There is a lot of talk in education about finding a child's learning style. Families who are new to homeschooling are often instructed to find their child's learning style as if there is some secret to be discovered, some chamber in the child's brain that just needs a key to unlock the full potential. While there are as many classificati