The mamas launched the new year discussing two awesomely-abled middle grade characters – one’s a math savant, one’s autistic, both make exciting leads and reads. Then the mamas switched gears and got real about homeschool life. The mamas urge you to turn off the news for an hour, Irish up your coffee, and listen in!

Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

North Carolina 7th grader, Lucy, was struck by lightning when she was young and was diagnosed with acquired savant syndrome which made her a math genius. She’s been homeschooling since then and has advanced her education to college level. Lucy makes a deal with her grandmother, who’s worried about her social skills, that she will spend a year in middle school before moving on to college. Afterall, “if you can survive a bolt of lightning, you can survive middle school, right?”

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

Twelve-year-old Nova is a non-verbal, autistic girl who has been bouncing through foster care with her older sister Bridget for about 7 years. Through everything, their shared love of space exploration has kept the sisters going. The upcoming launch of the Challenger sending the first teacher in space, who happens to be from their home state, is a driving force in Nova’s life. When the girls get separated, Nova counts down the days until she see’s Bridget again because her sister promised they would watch the Challenger Launch together – no matter what. But Nova finds some things are beyond anyone’s control.

Pick 6: Homeschool Resources

1. Class Dismissed movie

2. John Holt

3. Pat Farenga

4. Village Home Learning

5. Sir Ken Robinson

6. Sandra Dodd

Reference Links:

Challenger documentary

Psychology Today article