Dave Pommier
I am a homeschooling dad with a wife and two boys. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, so I feel compelled to write it all down.
In my spare time, I work as a registered nurse, drink too much coffee, and intermittently renovate the house.Top Posts & Pages
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Tag Archives: play
On the tools
We have been taking things pretty easy from a purely academic point of view lately. Even though our year runs to a general kind of plan, it is not rigidly fixed. We are actually ahead of schedule on the bits … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching and learning
Tagged bloke, confidence, flexibility, homeschool, learning in context, life experience, negotiation, play, safety, self determination
1 Comment
Herbalist
In a previous career, I spent several years and extreme amounts of effort studying and practicing as a herbalist. I enjoyed herbalism immensely, and if it payed the bills, I would probably still be doing it. With this background in … Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Science
Tagged bloke, board game, herb, homeschool, nature, play, science, wildcraft
6 Comments
Silly sentences
My oldest boy is very resistant to writing. It is a real source of frustration to me. We use reading eggs as our main English program. We all like it. He can read and spell well enough, but he very … Continue reading
Camping with kids
Over the new years break, we went camping at Stradbroke Island for a few days with several other families. We have never been camping with the kids before. They have never even slept in a tent in the back yard … Continue reading
Posted in Life experiences, Nature
Tagged bloke, homeschool, life experience, nature, ocean, play, Stradbroke Island, travel
1 Comment
Golden eggs
On my way out the door the other day, I was leaving some fairly vague instructions for my wife to run the maths lesson. ‘He hates doing worksheets, and won’t have anything to do with them. Just look at what the … Continue reading
Dangerous toys
‘Take a look at this piece of wire. It’s a very heavy gauge, nearly as thick as your finger. It’s very strong. We can hardly bend it. But now look. If we put it into the bolt cutters and give … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching and learning
Tagged bloke, confidence, flexibility, homeschool, learning in context, life experience, negotiation, play, safety, self determination
6 Comments
Cause and effect
Last christmas, my eldest boy was desperate for a bow and arrows. It was all to do with the influence of Tolkien at our house, and his desire to be Legolas. I enjoy archery a great deal myself. As a … Continue reading
Posted in Life experiences, Teaching and learning
Tagged archery, bloke, confidence, homeschool, learning in context, play, self determination
7 Comments
Euclid’s Elements
My teaching style tends to rely quite a bit on the application of concepts first, and then filling in the details as we go. It seems to fit more naturally to the pattern of how people learn. I also try … Continue reading
Posted in Math
Tagged bloke, dragon box, easy complexity, flexibility, geometry, homeschool, math, play
10 Comments
The catapult
After a week of heavy rains, he had cabin fever. The day lurched along in a not very productive fashion, and then stopped. Lessons were clearly over. I acquiesced, and we settled in to play with Lego. Inspired by a … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Science
Tagged bloke, experimentation, homeschool, learning in context, Lego, math, play, science
11 Comments
Teddy bears picnic
I had never considered that a teddy bears picnic would be something I would be involved in with the boys. The other day, however, it surfaced that the two teddies, Hottie and Licorice Bone, were having a birthday. It was unclear … Continue reading
Posted in History, Nature
Tagged bloke, confidence, flexibility, homeschool, local history, nature, ocean, play
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