Becoming Peculiar — Adventures in a Backwards Kingdom

Experiments in Dyeing Wool With Plants

October 5, 2018 by Kathleen Quiring 13 Comments

Hi friends! Since I can’t seem to decide what this blog is about, I thought it would be fun to share my recent adventures in natural dyeing! As regular readers know, I’ve been knitting and crocheting for four years now. That’s what got me interested in fibre arts. When I stumbled upon a blog post […]

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Filed Under: Craft/Handmade

Why We’re Opting Out of School, Part Two: Problems with Mainstream Schooling

October 1, 2018 by Kathleen Quiring 14 Comments

Image credit Yesterday I started to talk about why we’re choosing to homeschool (well, unschool) our daughter, acknowledging that there are some weaknesses, and that I’m coming from a place of privilege to be able to make this choice. Today I wanted to explore some of the concerns I have with mainstream education, and the […]

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Filed Under: Peculiar Parenting

Why We’re Opting Out of School: Introduction

September 30, 2018 by Kathleen Quiring 10 Comments

Note: In this post, I’m only talking about the choices we’re currently making in regards to our typically-abled seven-year-old daughter. We’re still not sure what route we’ll take with our disabled three-year-old son, who has complicated needs. From what I can tell, the Ontario public school system offers some great programs for disabled children which […]

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Filed Under: Peculiar Parenting

How Having a Disabled Child Has Made Me Closer to Jesus

September 17, 2018 by Kathleen Quiring 10 Comments

If you’ve ever read the Gospels, you will probably agree that Jesus is one confusing dude. (If you disagree, and think his message is actually quite simple . . . then you and I must not be reading the same book.) The guy speaks in riddles, answers questions with questions, and tells bizarre parables. At […]

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Filed Under: Disability Advocacy

8 Things I Learned This Summer

August 31, 2018 by Kathleen Quiring 11 Comments

I’m taking a cue from Emily P. Freeman and sharing what I learned over the last season. (I’m increasingly a fan of this type of post. Join me in reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last three months!) 1. I am AMAZING when I’m able to sleep. Just taking a nap at 7am, like […]

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Filed Under: Life Updates and Just For Fun