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Continue reading →: 🌿 The God Who Sees the Middle: A gentle follow-up on grief, grace, and being held when words are few
After I shared my last post, I didn’t expect much. I wrote it in a haze of grief and vulnerability—just trying to make sense of the ache in my chest and the swirl in my mind. I almost didn’t hit publish. It felt too raw, too unfinished. But what I…
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Continue reading →: When the Grown-Ups Break: Grief, Growth, and Grace in Hard Seasons
I’ve been quiet here lately. Not because there’s nothing to say—but because there’s been too much. The kind of “too much” that leaves you staring out the window long after the coffee’s gone cold. The kind that makes writing feel like shouting into the wind. These past few weeks have…
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Continue reading →: 🌍 Raising Wide-Eyed Thinkers: Why Our Children Need More Than One Perspective
The world our children are growing up in is noisy.It’s fast.It’s filtered.And it often rewards certainty more than curiosity. As a homeschooling parent, I carry a quiet hope every day—not just to teach reading and math and science, but to raise critical thinkers.Children who are curious.Children who are kind.Children who…
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Continue reading →: 🏊‍♀️ Chlorine, Chaos, and Character-Building: Why We Love Summer Swim Team
If you’ve ever officiated a summer league swim meet,you know. You’ve stood on the side of the pool in 98-degree heat with a stopwatch in one hand and a half-melted popsicle in the other. You’ve yelled “take your mark” to a pack of wiggly 6-and-unders who may or may not…
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Continue reading →: 🌺 Still Good: What Lilo & Stitch Taught Me About Mental Health and Family
We’re watching Lilo & Stitch again tonight—my kids and I.It’s one of those movies that wraps itself around your heart without asking permission.Silly, sweet, deeply sad in places… and surprisingly wise. Maybe it’s the music.Maybe it’s the color and whimsy.But for me, it’s always been the words—those quiet, aching lines…
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Continue reading →: 🏫 When Equity Is a Two-Way Street: Rethinking Accountability for Schools Receiving Public Funds
🌿 A Note from Patricia: This post is part of my Informed & Hopeful series—a space for honest, grace-filled reflection on educational policy and the ways it touches real families. It isn’t about choosing sides. It’s about imagining better ways forward—together. 🕊️ New to the Series? Start at the beginning…
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Continue reading →: 🏛️ When Funding Becomes a Filter: Thoughts on HB1761 and the True Cost of Educational Access
🌱 A Note from Patricia: While Mind & Scholar is usually a space for encouragement, rhythms, and gentle reflections on homeschooling and mental health, I’ve felt called in this season to speak into something that touches many of us—educational legislation. These posts are part of a special series I’m calling…
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Continue reading →: 🌿 The Hummingbird Outside My Window: On Stillness, Memory, and the Healing Work of Paying Attention
There’s a hummingbird outside my window. Actually, there are several. They dart and hover around a little cluster of plastic feeders I’ve suction-cupped to the window—tiny test tubes filled with sugar water and tipped with flowers. I’ve placed them in a kind of playful pattern, each one offering a different…
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Continue reading →: 🌿 The Beauty of Learning Side by Side: Why Schooling Multiple Ages Together Just Makes Sense
If you’ve ever tried to teach a math lesson with a baby on your hip and a preschooler under the table, you already know—homeschooling is rarely neat and tidy. But what if that messiness… is actually part of the magic? In a culture that prizes structure and separation—students by grade,…
Hello,
I’m Patricia.
Welcome to Mind & Scholar! I’m Patricia. Licensed counselor and homeschooling mother. I read Jung, walk the year with
my children, and I am done performing a nicer woman so a room will keep me. We homeschool in the old way … living books, seasons, nature, the hand and the table. I
also study the mind as it actually is. Those are the same work … I do not make either of
them sweeter than they are. Know that if you want a soft landing, this might feel like the wrong temperature. If you are tired of being palatable, pull up a chair to the table … you can stay.
Start here—no costume required.
The next true thing, when there is one.