From the category archives:

Back to School

Portland area democratic school blog – Village Free School blog

October 8, 2011

I know, I’ve been semi-absent lately, but I’ve been spending a lot of time working on a new blog for my son’s school. If you’re in PDX, Cedar’s school, Village Free School is well worth checking out. Village Free School is an awesome democratic school in SE Portland, and the least expensive private school in the PDX [...]

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Are you following green back-to-school basics?

September 18, 2011

Can you believe school started? Summer flew by. Actually I’m more shocked that all this Halloween stuff is popping up already, but that’s another story… Since school is in full kick-off mode, and your family is getting good and settled in, make sure you’re keeping it green and happy with the following green school tips. [...]

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Green Product Review: PlanetBox Complete Reusable Lunch Kit

August 17, 2011

Review summary: Bento box or laptop style lunches for waste-free lunches are popular, but used to freak me out a bit, because I worried about spills. However, when Cedar and I got the chance to review PlanetBox last year we found out that overall PlanetBox is a handy and fun way to pack a waste-free [...]

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Eco-friendly & reusable insulated lunch bags for kids

August 15, 2011

There are many reasons to pack a homemade lunch for your child. School lunches have been found time and time again to be heavy on packaging waste and not very healthy besides. However, with the news that most home packed lunches are packed incorrectly, you do need to pack your child’s waste-free lunch safely. And [...]

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More than 90 percent of packed lunches susceptible to foodborne illness

August 11, 2011

School lunches aren’t that great for your kid. They’re not nutritionally solid or very green. In my opinion, unless your child’s school is one of the few instituting healthy lunch changes, you should, when possible, pack a lunch for your child. Now, that said, packed lunches aren’t perfect. Unless you pack it right, a packed [...]

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Ocean and Sky Reusable Lunch Gear from Kids Konserve

August 4, 2011

There’s not much time left until kids go back to school. With this in mind, it’s high time you invested in a decent reusable lunch set. Luckily, Kids Konserve has a brand new Ocean & Sky line available – and it’s oh so pretty! The new Ocean and Sky product line comes in a wide [...]

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Score a free reusable Kids Konserve lunch sack

July 7, 2011

Waste-free lunches are the best… and a free reusable lunch sack isn’t bad either. What’s the big deal with school lunch waste? Now through September 30, 2011 your family can score one free reusable Kids Konserve lunch sack simply by purchasing some qualified products from Annie’s Homegrown, Stonyfield YoKids, Honest Kids and Seventh Generation. You’ll [...]

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Alternatives to conventional schooling – even for single parents

November 23, 2010

I’ve been going on and on about the evils associated with conventional schooling, but haven’t offered any concrete alternatives yet. How about I do that. Oh, and if you think that conventional school is your ONLY option because you’re a single parent, short on time and resources, think again. I’ve been a single parent, so [...]

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Why doesn’t your son go to a real school?

November 21, 2010

Technically my son Cedar does attend a real school. It’s a Free School, but school none the less. However, since we’ve been an unschooling family since Cedar was born we get asked, “Why doesn’t your son go to a real school?” often. Normally this question is partnered with a look of shock, as if I [...]

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And the award for best teacher goes to…

November 10, 2010

My third grade teacher Mrs. Cegar (lovingly called Miss Cigar by the whole class). To say she was evil is a massive understatement. There are many reasons why I dislike the idea of traditional schooling, but one major reason is because of awesome teachers like this. Miss Cigar was one in a million! She would [...]