Recent Posts

a young girl stands in a lake, pants rolled up to her knees, rocky shore behind her on the left, a mountain in the distance on the right

How to Homeschool in the Early Years: Preschool and Kindergarten, Ages 0-7

Homeschooling doesn't have to be overwhelming or over-scheduled, especially when your kids are young! Curricula are optional. Play is mandatory. Learning will happen!
three kids on a giant seesaw made from a pine log

Forest School, Books and Crafts: Reflections on Our Homeschooling Year (2023-2024)

What does education look like when you're always learning? Here's what my kids and I have been doing this year—books, crafts, forest school, and more!
Three children in winter coats crouch down along the edge of a small creek in the woods, backs to the camera

How to Harness Patience, Expectations, Flexibility, and Relationship in Parenting for a Smoother, Less Stressful Life with Your Children

Tantrums, meltdowns, anger, sadness: How do we deal with children's normal emotions? Here are some tips from a mother of three.
three kids sitting on three sides of a square table leaning in, doing crafts: the table is covered in brightly colored paper, foam, scissors, goggly eyes, and so forth.

"School-Age" At Last: My Homeschooling Plan for School Year 2023-2024

My oldest will be seven years old soon and people keep asking me what curriculum I'm using. Our plan is more eclectic: lots of outsidetime, fun co-ops, farms, play, life, and more!
colorful foam numbers all scattered about

Five Board Games We Play With Our 6-year-old to Learn Math

Who wants to do math worksheets? Not my 6-year-old. But hell happily play games for hours - so we do! Here are a few we've been playing lately.How is a book edited and produced? Here what's happening with my book on the slow road to publication.
the cover of Changing our Minds by Naomi Fisher

Book Review: Changing Our Minds: How Children Can Take Control of Their Own Learning by Naomi Fisher

Different kids need different learning environments; they're interested in different topics; they thrive on different tasks. So why force them to learn the same things in the same ways at the same times in schools?
four young women leaping up in the air with their arms stretched out like stars, on a beach with glassy water in the background

How Autonomy Will Help You Flourish

Most people don't have enough autonomy. They feel controlled, like they don't have much choice in how their life goes. Here's why that matters and how you can get more autonomy—and a better life.
colored pencils with nice sharp points, staggered in a line at an angle, pointing to the top right

How to Be More Creative

Being creative can give you an edge, help you solve problems, express yourselef, and accomplish more. Plus, it's fun. Here are three ways to be more creative, today.
desks lined up in a classroom

Schools Zap Kids' Motivation and Mental Health

Intrinsic motivation is the key to discipline, excellence, and happiness. But schools stamp out intrinsic motivation. Is it ever a good idea to send your kids to a conventional school?
Three young children with their backs to the camera coloring with chalk pastels on large pieces of cardboard

A New Interest-Led Learning Initiative: North Idaho Sudbury Co-op

We're attending a new homeschool co-op on a local farm. It follows an interest-led learning or self-directed education philosophy. So what does that mean? And how does it play out in practice?
Four furry robots sitting around a wooden table inset with a tablet. From left to right, a red dragonbot, a blue dragonbot, a teddy bear robot, and a green dragonbot.

Why I Went to Graduate School

Ten years ago, I started grad school at the MIT Media Lab. Why'd I attend? Because it was going to be fun. Here's how I made that decision, and why you should consider the fun factor in your own decision-making.
book cover of Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff

Book Review: Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff

How can we better help children develop helpfulness, responsibility, confidence, independence, and emotional control?
two magnolia blossoms open in soft sunlight

How to Build Self-Discipline: Why Awareness and Intrinsic Motivation Are Key

Self-discipline is the ability to do what needs to be done, to stay in control, to accomplish your goals. How do you build discipline? Here are strategies I use.
the cover of Ray Bradbury's book Zen in the Art of Writing

Book review: Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury

This essay collection includes tips on generating ideas, composing stories, the nature of writing work, and the importance of practice. Do you know how many words a day Bradbury wrote?
jacqueline in fencing gear on strip, lunging at an opponent during a college fencing tournament

It's Just Fencing: On Approaching Life with Playfulness and Sincerity, Not Seriousness

My fencing coach used to tell me to train hard... but in the end, it's just fencing. It's the paradox of play: real and not real, serious and not serious. Here's how to apply that paradox to the rest of life.

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About

We're Jacqueline and Randy, a blogging duo with backgrounds in tech, robots, art, and writing, now raising our family in northern Idaho.

Our goal is to encourage deliberate choices, individual responsibility, and lifelong curiosity by sharing stories about our adventures in living, loving, and learning.

Learn more about us.


Connect:

whoo@deliberateowl.com

Start here

Curious about our life and journey? Here are some good places to start reading:

Jacqueline and Randy leaning their heads together smiling at the camera

A Blog About Education, Lifestyles, and Community

A brief history of how the Deliberate Owl came to be and why we're writing a blog about us, our lives, and how we're living out our values.
Priests in red and gold celebrate a traditional Latin Mass

Discovering the Traditional Catholic Mass

How I discovered the traditional Latin Mass a few years ago, why that discovery changed everything for me, and what was wrong with the Novus Ordo Masses I'd attended.