I had never read the Hobbit by Tolkien before! Can you believe it? I had heard little bits and pieces when my husband read it aloud to the kids (once with the older kids, once with the younger) and for a while the kids really liked to take out a radio play on audio from the library and I'd hear bits and pieces when they were listening. But for some reason, I never really got the storyline, though I knew about Bilbo and Gandalf and that some dwarves were involved, dwarves with funny names that I never could keep straight.
So about two weeks ago I set out to remedy this hole in my education by reading The Hobbit. I found it very charming and delighted in J.R.R. Tolkien's writing style, so quaint and cozy. Halfway through the book though I began to wane. So many twists and turns and adventures out of the blue. I have trouble with fantasy in that it doesn't hold my interest very much. I keep looking for some deeper meaning, wanting to see it as an analogy for something else. I have been expanding my fantasy reading. I enjoyed C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, for instance, because I felt there was a lot of rich theology there for the plumbing. But it seems to me that The Hobbit is just a yarn set in a landscape inhabited by goblins, wargs, dwarves, elves, men and a wizard and a dragon. It is a wonderful yarn, but for me it could have been told in half the amount of time. I simply lost interest as the book went on. I kept flipping ahead trying to figure out why the book was taking so long to end!
I'm glad I read it. Now I know Bilbo much more intimately than before. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie with my kids when it comes out. I had no idea what the Lord of the Rings was about when those movies first came out. For some reason my parents never got into Tolkien and so I didn't grow up reading them. I guess that is the reason I was so ignorant! The first time that I heard of him was in college, where the same guys who owned bongs and played Dungeons and Dragons raved about this series of books. I thought they were 'druggie lit' so to speak and never paid a bit of attention to them. So it wasn't until I was in Catholic homeschooling circles that I learned they were considered wonderful, good literature.
Lately, I've been reading a lot of what I think of as boys books. I just finish Treasure Island and I'm in the middle of reading Journey to the Center of the Earth. Along with The Hobbit, there is nary a woman in any of these. Is there one female character in all of The Hobbit? I don't think so. Interestingly enough I was just in an online conversation about the lack of good books for boys. What? I think people just aren't looking hard enough.
And my final comment is that October is a wonderful month to read The Hobbit in! It was enjoyable reading about goblins and other fairytale like characters presented in a way that wasn't modern day creepy.
If you want more books reviews, please visit this: www.read52booksin52weeks.com (once again I can't seem to link! Grrr! Very frustrating!).
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
What We've Been Up To - 10/28/11
It was a rough week emotionally. We had a messy occurrence when a family we'd been having trouble with abruptly decided to pull out of our Aquinas Learning Center. Since we are such a small group this had a very bad impact on the whole thing. Basically, Becky's 4th-6th grade class collapsed. The whole reason I got involved in this was for Becky, so she could do 'school' one day a week. She loved it. So big, huge bummer there all around. Really quite heartbreaking.
Monday - being so stressed out about what was coming down in re our Center, I played hooky from Latin class. I'd done all the homework and everything, but I just was way too tired (bad insomnia from stress) and I just needed a mental health day to slow down and do stuff at home. The weekend had been very busy and I just feel like I'm running, running, running constantly. So Monday was nice. I read aloud a lot to the younger kids, we did some math and Latin. I've started reading A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich to Sean and we are both enjoying it. It was nice to have a slow day. We even managed to clean bedrooms and tidy up the house a bit. I went grocery shopping while Becky was at her American Heritage Girls group in the afternoon. That was something that usually happens on the weekends but didn't because we were so busy.
Tuesday - Josh had Chemistry and x country, Becky had art. Gee, I can't really remember Tuesday other than that!
Wednesday - made it to Latin. Great class. Josh had CLC. Becky did not have band class which was wonderful! LOL!
Thursday - we went ahead and had our Aquinas Learning day as the K-3 classes are still good. I wound up being the preschool teacher the whole day. Did I mention the preschool leader (a teenage girl we hired) no longer can make it. Her parents want her to focus on her studies. Seems being gone all day Thursday was just taking too much time. Plus one of our mentors was sick! So it was a crazy day, but I think we pulled it off well. I left all three kids at home all day. I can't do that anymore. Sean was so bored and depressed by the end of the day. Josh slacked off. Only Becky seemed okay with it. I called home at one point and asked her what she was doing. She said she was writing a novel! She'd only got as far as the first paragraph though! She read it to me. It is about 4 kids; one of them is in a boarding school! She also was reading Life of Fred off and on all day. And she says when playing by the pond out back she saw a coyote! Scared her to death! We do have coyotes in this area, so, wow! Josh went to x country. And then about 8:30 p.m. Sean and I headed over to a local church that had the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque visiting. We just went in, stood in line, prayed for about half a minute before the relics and then came home. Sean was so sad from being bored all day. He again is wondering if he should go to school.
Today is Friday - the weather has gotten much cooler. We are supposed to have tennis today, if the weather allows. Seano wants to do the Trunk or Treat with the parish youth group tonight. Josh was supposed to go to the postponed corn maize trip with the teen homeschool group, but instead he is going to stay home and try and get back on track with his precalculus class. He's falling behind. At this rate he'll be doing precalc for two years, like he did Algebra II! Yikes! The kid is a master procrastinator!
Monday - being so stressed out about what was coming down in re our Center, I played hooky from Latin class. I'd done all the homework and everything, but I just was way too tired (bad insomnia from stress) and I just needed a mental health day to slow down and do stuff at home. The weekend had been very busy and I just feel like I'm running, running, running constantly. So Monday was nice. I read aloud a lot to the younger kids, we did some math and Latin. I've started reading A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich to Sean and we are both enjoying it. It was nice to have a slow day. We even managed to clean bedrooms and tidy up the house a bit. I went grocery shopping while Becky was at her American Heritage Girls group in the afternoon. That was something that usually happens on the weekends but didn't because we were so busy.
Tuesday - Josh had Chemistry and x country, Becky had art. Gee, I can't really remember Tuesday other than that!
Wednesday - made it to Latin. Great class. Josh had CLC. Becky did not have band class which was wonderful! LOL!
Thursday - we went ahead and had our Aquinas Learning day as the K-3 classes are still good. I wound up being the preschool teacher the whole day. Did I mention the preschool leader (a teenage girl we hired) no longer can make it. Her parents want her to focus on her studies. Seems being gone all day Thursday was just taking too much time. Plus one of our mentors was sick! So it was a crazy day, but I think we pulled it off well. I left all three kids at home all day. I can't do that anymore. Sean was so bored and depressed by the end of the day. Josh slacked off. Only Becky seemed okay with it. I called home at one point and asked her what she was doing. She said she was writing a novel! She'd only got as far as the first paragraph though! She read it to me. It is about 4 kids; one of them is in a boarding school! She also was reading Life of Fred off and on all day. And she says when playing by the pond out back she saw a coyote! Scared her to death! We do have coyotes in this area, so, wow! Josh went to x country. And then about 8:30 p.m. Sean and I headed over to a local church that had the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque visiting. We just went in, stood in line, prayed for about half a minute before the relics and then came home. Sean was so sad from being bored all day. He again is wondering if he should go to school.
Today is Friday - the weather has gotten much cooler. We are supposed to have tennis today, if the weather allows. Seano wants to do the Trunk or Treat with the parish youth group tonight. Josh was supposed to go to the postponed corn maize trip with the teen homeschool group, but instead he is going to stay home and try and get back on track with his precalculus class. He's falling behind. At this rate he'll be doing precalc for two years, like he did Algebra II! Yikes! The kid is a master procrastinator!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Strewsday Tuesday - 10/25/11
Found about this on the Well Trained Mind board - NPR has started a kids book club. The first author is Neil Gaiman. You can listen to him read his book The Graveyard Book. Then he'll be interviewed on the radio. Sounds cool!
Here's info about it: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/21/141473961/read-graveyard-with-our-new-back-seat-book-club?sc=tw
I strewed this for Seano, the 12 year old. Maybe Becky will enjoy it too. She loved Coraline. (she loves anything spooky!).
Here's info about it: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/21/141473961/read-graveyard-with-our-new-back-seat-book-club?sc=tw
I strewed this for Seano, the 12 year old. Maybe Becky will enjoy it too. She loved Coraline. (she loves anything spooky!).
Monday, October 24, 2011
Great post at Pat Farenga's site
Further, unschooling is an option for families, not a mandate. You can try it and adapt it as you see fit; your kids can move in and out of school as necessary; you can do it for any amount of time. It is NOT school, which is why it is a true option for children who hate school, or don’t fit in, or find class too boring, or find class too challenging. I wish the experts had considered these issues instead of finding fault with unschooling because it does not follow conventional school techniques; that is the point, after all. As noted earlier, people often come to unschooling because their children were not flourishing in school, or because even though they did well in school (as the adult Bentley’s say they did in their segment) they want an education that is more involving for their children than marching through the steps of standardized curricula.
I just pulled this out of a longer post Mr. Farenga did in response to a six minute TV interview with an unschooling family. You can read the rest of the post here, along with the very interesting comments.
NB: For some reason I can't seem to link directly to the article that contains the above quote. So once you get to Pat Farenga's blog, please scroll down to the title: Unschooling Formatted for TV.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Treasure Island - Book 44
We read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson out loud to Becky for her Good Books class at Aquinas Learning. She started off by listening to it on audio. We got this version, which I thought she would like. But she could not understand the antiquated language, so she got frustrated with it. So I wound up reading it aloud to her. At the end, though because we were under a time crunch, my husband began reading it aloud when I wasn't available. Then I'd snatch it up and read quickly to catch up when I had a moment or two.
Treasure Island is a classic for a reason. Robert Louis Stevenson, in spite of the old fashioned language and all the seamanship terminology, still manages to tell a most gripping story of Jim Hawkins and his adventures with pirates aboard the Hispaniola. This book is scary! It has lots of terrifying moments and memorable characters. Starting with Billy Bones, the blind beggar/pirate Pew, Long John Silver, of course, Doctor Livesey, Squire Trelawney and Ben Gunn, the book just rollicks along with all kinds of exciting twists and turns. Jim's life is in danger more than once, and there is a lot of violence for something that is now considered a children's book. In fact, this book was supposed to be the family read aloud for our program, but most of the parents have younger children just in first or second grade and they found they could not read the book aloud to them. Either the kids just couldn't understand it or it was way too scary for them. They wound up reading abridged versions or watching the Disney movies (which is quite good) or the Muppet Treasure Island (also quite good and very silly!).
I think Treasure Island makes an excellent read aloud for a nine or ten year old, so my advice is wait until they are old enough to appreciate it and won't find it quite so frightening. Be prepared to stop and explain the language. Luckily my husband knows all those technical boating words so he could define them for us. Otherwise we'd have been at the dictionary trying to satisfy Becky's curiosity. I, myself, have read this book several times before, and simply glossed over all the technical talk. You can still pick up the action of the story without understanding those terms precisely.
Our book was illustrated by Milo Winter. I do think that since this book is such a classic, it is nice to have it in hardback with great illustrations.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books.
Treasure Island is a classic for a reason. Robert Louis Stevenson, in spite of the old fashioned language and all the seamanship terminology, still manages to tell a most gripping story of Jim Hawkins and his adventures with pirates aboard the Hispaniola. This book is scary! It has lots of terrifying moments and memorable characters. Starting with Billy Bones, the blind beggar/pirate Pew, Long John Silver, of course, Doctor Livesey, Squire Trelawney and Ben Gunn, the book just rollicks along with all kinds of exciting twists and turns. Jim's life is in danger more than once, and there is a lot of violence for something that is now considered a children's book. In fact, this book was supposed to be the family read aloud for our program, but most of the parents have younger children just in first or second grade and they found they could not read the book aloud to them. Either the kids just couldn't understand it or it was way too scary for them. They wound up reading abridged versions or watching the Disney movies (which is quite good) or the Muppet Treasure Island (also quite good and very silly!).
I think Treasure Island makes an excellent read aloud for a nine or ten year old, so my advice is wait until they are old enough to appreciate it and won't find it quite so frightening. Be prepared to stop and explain the language. Luckily my husband knows all those technical boating words so he could define them for us. Otherwise we'd have been at the dictionary trying to satisfy Becky's curiosity. I, myself, have read this book several times before, and simply glossed over all the technical talk. You can still pick up the action of the story without understanding those terms precisely.
Our book was illustrated by Milo Winter. I do think that since this book is such a classic, it is nice to have it in hardback with great illustrations.
For more book reviews go to 52 Books.
Friday, October 21, 2011
What We've Been Up To - 10/21/11
Good things: poetry, Knox's The Creed in Slow Motion (my kids LOVE this; starts many great, deep discussions), Exploring the World of Physics, reading Sunday scripture out loud on Fridays.
All of the above happen in the morning over breakfast.
Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery - Sean, Josh and I are all enjoying this.
Read alouds: finished The Penderwicks and Treasure Island this week. I've decided to start reading aloud to Sean. Rick's been reading to Becky and that seems to be their province now, but Sean still needs a good read aloud at night, I've decided. Sean told me he's started reading a book at night! He has not picked up a book on his own for months! It's The Gospel According to The Simpsons. He says it's pretty good.
Copy work for Becky - the copy work from Aquinas Learning is going well with her. Her cursive is coming along nicely. I've decided that Sean also needs to work on his penmanship. In fact, I'm back to all three of the kids doing this. Josh voluntarily wanted to and I got him the Write Now book to work from. He wants to be able to write faster and he wanted to do connected italics instead of cursive.
Sean is writing on the computer a lot. He comes up with ideas and the words for his friend's comics. His friend draws them and then they put them up on their Deviant Art account.
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Sean and I are still battling through this book. I can't wait til it's over and I can say that Sean read a bona fide classic. I think, in spite of the struggle, he'll be proud of himself.
Sean keeps saying he wants to study history. I can't activate my This Week in History Account but I sent an email in, hopefully they can fix that and we'll start next week.
I'm thinking of getting a math tutor for Sean. Let's face it, I'm a lousy math teacher and I'm so distracted I don't keep up. We are really thinking of sending Sean to school next year, therefore I really think it is necessary for him to stick to both math and Latin. This week he took all morning to take his math test and he didn't do well. He just wasn't focusing I could tell and that's probably most of the problem. But he truly needs structure. For the older kids, having a tutor once a week was great at making them sit down and do their math. And in the end they were grateful for this bit of discipline inserted into their lives. The tutor has to be able to come to the house though. I just can't drive one more place every week! I'll snap like a rubber band! Or I might as well move into the car permanently!
Becky tried out band class again. She was crying as we went in so I told her we could bail. This was supposed to be fun and not something she dreaded. But to my surprise she said she'd do it. She's completely overwhelmed by it and all the other kids are more advanced than her. I'm thinking we drop it and again get someone to come to the house to teach her. We'll see. I'll let thing percolate for a couple days and then we'll talk. If she voluntarily starts practicing then I know she's into it.
Latin is hard but going well. We are really getting deep into Latin, deeper than I've ever gone into another language. But it is hard and I know I should be spending an hour a week just reviewing everything learned up to this point. We are getting ready for a test soon, so that will help with the review stuff. Josh has sort of woken up and started to participate more. I think, as painful as it is, meeting for class twice a week, instead of once, is really a boon to study. But it is very challenging.
Aquinas Learning - Becky was loving the social component of this, but there was some big blow out yesterday among the 4-6th grade kids, with Becky ending up in tears. She was in a terrible mood for most of the day. I don't know what happened. Sigh, the joys of socialization! I do like the structure it gives our week. She's good at doing her activity sheets. We don't go over the memory sentences like we should. I have to say I am coming to hate IEW. It is the most unnatural way to learn writing that I can think of. And it treats children like they have no innate writing ability whatsoever. Writing has to be broken down absurdly and presented in a rather silly fashion. And the little paragraphs that the kids have to rewrite are not particularly well written. Give me Susan Wise Bauer's Writing With Ease any day of the week over IEW.
Josh truly seems to enjoy both Chemistry and Psychology. He's neutral about PreCalc. Shakespeare, he wants to like but the amount of work is overwhelming and he let himself get behind and hasn't caught up, so it has become a drag. I helped him with his homework yesterday. And he's working on performing his Monologue tomorrow for class.
He's sticking in there with his cross country. He doesn't practice at home like he should though. He's got his next race this coming Sunday. I'm helping which means a long afternoon (4 or 5 hours). I"m bringing a folding chair! I can't stand for that long!
Today I hope to play catch up with stuff that has slid through the cracks. Josh gets to sleep in a bit this a.m. Chemistry doesn't start until 10 today instead of 8:30.
All of the above happen in the morning over breakfast.
Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery - Sean, Josh and I are all enjoying this.
Read alouds: finished The Penderwicks and Treasure Island this week. I've decided to start reading aloud to Sean. Rick's been reading to Becky and that seems to be their province now, but Sean still needs a good read aloud at night, I've decided. Sean told me he's started reading a book at night! He has not picked up a book on his own for months! It's The Gospel According to The Simpsons. He says it's pretty good.
Copy work for Becky - the copy work from Aquinas Learning is going well with her. Her cursive is coming along nicely. I've decided that Sean also needs to work on his penmanship. In fact, I'm back to all three of the kids doing this. Josh voluntarily wanted to and I got him the Write Now book to work from. He wants to be able to write faster and he wanted to do connected italics instead of cursive.
Sean is writing on the computer a lot. He comes up with ideas and the words for his friend's comics. His friend draws them and then they put them up on their Deviant Art account.
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Sean and I are still battling through this book. I can't wait til it's over and I can say that Sean read a bona fide classic. I think, in spite of the struggle, he'll be proud of himself.
Sean keeps saying he wants to study history. I can't activate my This Week in History Account but I sent an email in, hopefully they can fix that and we'll start next week.
I'm thinking of getting a math tutor for Sean. Let's face it, I'm a lousy math teacher and I'm so distracted I don't keep up. We are really thinking of sending Sean to school next year, therefore I really think it is necessary for him to stick to both math and Latin. This week he took all morning to take his math test and he didn't do well. He just wasn't focusing I could tell and that's probably most of the problem. But he truly needs structure. For the older kids, having a tutor once a week was great at making them sit down and do their math. And in the end they were grateful for this bit of discipline inserted into their lives. The tutor has to be able to come to the house though. I just can't drive one more place every week! I'll snap like a rubber band! Or I might as well move into the car permanently!
Becky tried out band class again. She was crying as we went in so I told her we could bail. This was supposed to be fun and not something she dreaded. But to my surprise she said she'd do it. She's completely overwhelmed by it and all the other kids are more advanced than her. I'm thinking we drop it and again get someone to come to the house to teach her. We'll see. I'll let thing percolate for a couple days and then we'll talk. If she voluntarily starts practicing then I know she's into it.
Latin is hard but going well. We are really getting deep into Latin, deeper than I've ever gone into another language. But it is hard and I know I should be spending an hour a week just reviewing everything learned up to this point. We are getting ready for a test soon, so that will help with the review stuff. Josh has sort of woken up and started to participate more. I think, as painful as it is, meeting for class twice a week, instead of once, is really a boon to study. But it is very challenging.
Aquinas Learning - Becky was loving the social component of this, but there was some big blow out yesterday among the 4-6th grade kids, with Becky ending up in tears. She was in a terrible mood for most of the day. I don't know what happened. Sigh, the joys of socialization! I do like the structure it gives our week. She's good at doing her activity sheets. We don't go over the memory sentences like we should. I have to say I am coming to hate IEW. It is the most unnatural way to learn writing that I can think of. And it treats children like they have no innate writing ability whatsoever. Writing has to be broken down absurdly and presented in a rather silly fashion. And the little paragraphs that the kids have to rewrite are not particularly well written. Give me Susan Wise Bauer's Writing With Ease any day of the week over IEW.
Josh truly seems to enjoy both Chemistry and Psychology. He's neutral about PreCalc. Shakespeare, he wants to like but the amount of work is overwhelming and he let himself get behind and hasn't caught up, so it has become a drag. I helped him with his homework yesterday. And he's working on performing his Monologue tomorrow for class.
He's sticking in there with his cross country. He doesn't practice at home like he should though. He's got his next race this coming Sunday. I'm helping which means a long afternoon (4 or 5 hours). I"m bringing a folding chair! I can't stand for that long!
Today I hope to play catch up with stuff that has slid through the cracks. Josh gets to sleep in a bit this a.m. Chemistry doesn't start until 10 today instead of 8:30.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Strewsday Tuesday - 10/18/11
Right now my two youngest are downstairs recording their own songs on the computer and having a blast.
So I guess the gradual accumulation of computer/recording equipment, fueled by older brother's love for music and daddy's penchant for anything electronic strewed that for them. Very unconscious on anyone's part!
Consciously though, I did e-mail my 12 yo a link to Homeschool Connections' new Middle School Writing Class. It looks good to me and I was hoping he'd think so too. He seems favorably open to the idea but I haven't sign him up yet or anything. January is so far away!
Any strewing going on around at your place?
So I guess the gradual accumulation of computer/recording equipment, fueled by older brother's love for music and daddy's penchant for anything electronic strewed that for them. Very unconscious on anyone's part!
Consciously though, I did e-mail my 12 yo a link to Homeschool Connections' new Middle School Writing Class. It looks good to me and I was hoping he'd think so too. He seems favorably open to the idea but I haven't sign him up yet or anything. January is so far away!
Any strewing going on around at your place?
Stylish Blog- Who Me?
Leanne over at Roses, Tea and Our Lady has nominated this blog as a Stylish Blog. Woo hoo! As someone who has never had the moniker 'stylish' anywhere connected to anything about me, I am deeply honored. It seems I just have to tell you 7 things about myself, that people may not know. . . . since I blab so much, that's gonna be a hard task. Let me think. . . .
Okay, this will be all about my brushes with celebrities:
1. I met Jackson Browne back when I was 16 or so. He was on his way to his bus after a concert rehearsal and my friend got the idea to wait outside the door. Sure enough he emerged, chatted with us very politely for about 30 seconds, and then vanished onto the bus.
2. I once was at a Kennedy Center gala cocktail type thing and accidentally bumped into Eddie Albert. I turned and he apologized (it was my fault). I was so embarrassed I just turned right back around again. I should of told how much I loved him in Green Acres!
3. Once in Baltimore I was going into a bookstore and John Waters was coming out. I said to my then boyfriend, now husband: Hey that's John Waters! We later went to see the opening of Hairspray together, but I don't remember seeing Waters there, though I'm sure he must have been.
4. Once, my husband and I were in Malibu, CA (he was there on business and brought me along and we had decided to go to a nice restaurant for dinner). As we walked along I saw Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid (back when they were married) getting out of a car. Meg saw me recognize her and she ducked shyly behind Quaid who kind of sheltered her. I was polite and didn't go up to her or anything, seeing as she obviously didn't want company! I was sad to hear of their break up because Quaid seemed so tenderly protective of her.
5. I used to work at the Cellar Door in Georgetown, Washington DC. Once when Warren Zevon came to play, he asked me to run over to the liquor store next door and buy him a bottle of vodka. Which I did. He was, however, a bit of a jerk, personality-wise. Or maybe he was just chronically drunk. Still love Werewolves of London though!
6. I once was having lunch with my husband in Washington DC and sat near Ted Koppel. Koppel was with a very upset woman who dominated the conversation. He seemed to just nod and look sympathetic a lot. Some blow up at the office???
7. Once I was at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the lower church (having just gone to confession) when Raymond Arroyo came up, genuflected right next to me (I was in the first row by the aisle) and then moved to the other side of the chapel. He had the most perfect skin I have ever seen on a man! The smell of aftershave wafted through the air after he left. LOL!
Now it is my turn to nominate some other bloggers. . . . I nominate Theresa at LaPaz Home Learning, Elisa at Elisa Loves, and Willa at The Quotidian Reader.
Thanks again, Leanne!
Okay, this will be all about my brushes with celebrities:
1. I met Jackson Browne back when I was 16 or so. He was on his way to his bus after a concert rehearsal and my friend got the idea to wait outside the door. Sure enough he emerged, chatted with us very politely for about 30 seconds, and then vanished onto the bus.
2. I once was at a Kennedy Center gala cocktail type thing and accidentally bumped into Eddie Albert. I turned and he apologized (it was my fault). I was so embarrassed I just turned right back around again. I should of told how much I loved him in Green Acres!
3. Once in Baltimore I was going into a bookstore and John Waters was coming out. I said to my then boyfriend, now husband: Hey that's John Waters! We later went to see the opening of Hairspray together, but I don't remember seeing Waters there, though I'm sure he must have been.
4. Once, my husband and I were in Malibu, CA (he was there on business and brought me along and we had decided to go to a nice restaurant for dinner). As we walked along I saw Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid (back when they were married) getting out of a car. Meg saw me recognize her and she ducked shyly behind Quaid who kind of sheltered her. I was polite and didn't go up to her or anything, seeing as she obviously didn't want company! I was sad to hear of their break up because Quaid seemed so tenderly protective of her.
5. I used to work at the Cellar Door in Georgetown, Washington DC. Once when Warren Zevon came to play, he asked me to run over to the liquor store next door and buy him a bottle of vodka. Which I did. He was, however, a bit of a jerk, personality-wise. Or maybe he was just chronically drunk. Still love Werewolves of London though!
6. I once was having lunch with my husband in Washington DC and sat near Ted Koppel. Koppel was with a very upset woman who dominated the conversation. He seemed to just nod and look sympathetic a lot. Some blow up at the office???
7. Once I was at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the lower church (having just gone to confession) when Raymond Arroyo came up, genuflected right next to me (I was in the first row by the aisle) and then moved to the other side of the chapel. He had the most perfect skin I have ever seen on a man! The smell of aftershave wafted through the air after he left. LOL!
Now it is my turn to nominate some other bloggers. . . . I nominate Theresa at LaPaz Home Learning, Elisa at Elisa Loves, and Willa at The Quotidian Reader.
Thanks again, Leanne!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Nice piece about unschooling
I thought this piece was favorable and explained unschooling well. H/t to Anne Schuchman on fb for linking this!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44902003#44902003
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44902003#44902003
What We've Been Up To - 10/15/11
Just have a few minutes to post!
Becky - decided to try out Life of Fred this week, so I ordered them. We took the week off from math since she really seemed to be getting such a negative attitude toward it. Life of Fred arrived but she didn't even glance at the books. We'll try again on Monday. Becky had a full week though with American Heritage Girls nature hike on Monday (where we learned about the mnemonic device for knowing scientific classification: King Philip Came Over for Good Soup. On Tuesday she went to art class and continued her sunflower watercolor painting. Wednesday she started band with her trumpet. She was not happy with it however, as she found out there is only one other girl that she didn't know (she was hoping kids from the summer music camp would be there) and she was the only child out of the 5 there who couldn't read music. I don't know if we'll continue with it, or if it would be better to just get trumpet lessons. She did a lot of impromptu art this week also. She also continued to read Goosebump stories as well as rereading all the American Girl Samantha books. We worked a tiny bit on copywork and she also did her IEW homework for Aquinas Learning. Thursday was Aquinas day, which she just loves. She now peppers me all the time with how to say this and that word in French. She still has a lingering cough. Darn that cough. Tennis on Friday was cancelled due to rain.
Sean - Poor Sean. He is so terminably bored yet he doesn't want to really do anything. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. He did do some math but he seems to have completely misunderstood equivelent fractions. I have to sit down and clarify that with him at some point very soon. He did a bit of Latin, reluctantly. He did decide that for his 4H project he wants to design his own point and click video game based on holidays. It would have an Easter bunny actually searching for easter eggs (a pun on easter eggs in videogames) and it would be all mixed up with santa and the tooth fairy and other fun things. He needs to something community-wise with it. Maybe teaching others how to make a videogame or having sick kids in a hospital try it out??? Sean read more in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Slowly but surely we'll get through this book! He's ahead of me now, so I've got to catch up this weekend. Sean really wanted to go to the Jr. High activity on Friday evening. Since he so seldom really wants to do anything, I made sure he got there. He really likes it, even though he thinks some of it is silly. So that was a good thing. He also says he really wants to learn history by research. So this weekend I've got to set up This Week in History. I think he'll really like it. He also enjoyed learning more from Exploring the World of Physics. And we did another lesson in Harry Stottlemeier and he really enjoys that.
Josh - poor Josh! He has let himself get very behind in certain subjects. At the beginning of the year ( 6 weeks ago!) he was all gung ho, but he lost traction after getting so sick a couple of weeks ago and he hasn't gotten his footing. He's been spending a lot of time (a lot!) in front of the computer just entertaining himself and neglecting his duties). I have to admit I got angry with him on Wednesday night. But he took it okay and I do think it was a little bit of a kick in the rear to set him back on the right course. He had to miss CLC on Wednesday because we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam trying to get Becky to band and it made it impossible to get him to CLC. That hurt him because he really looks forward to CLC. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. Anyway, I am determined that Josh needs to take ownership of his own life. He relies too much on me to nag him and keep him on track and I am just too scattered to do a good job. He needs to learn to do it himself.
That's all the time I have for now!
Becky - decided to try out Life of Fred this week, so I ordered them. We took the week off from math since she really seemed to be getting such a negative attitude toward it. Life of Fred arrived but she didn't even glance at the books. We'll try again on Monday. Becky had a full week though with American Heritage Girls nature hike on Monday (where we learned about the mnemonic device for knowing scientific classification: King Philip Came Over for Good Soup. On Tuesday she went to art class and continued her sunflower watercolor painting. Wednesday she started band with her trumpet. She was not happy with it however, as she found out there is only one other girl that she didn't know (she was hoping kids from the summer music camp would be there) and she was the only child out of the 5 there who couldn't read music. I don't know if we'll continue with it, or if it would be better to just get trumpet lessons. She did a lot of impromptu art this week also. She also continued to read Goosebump stories as well as rereading all the American Girl Samantha books. We worked a tiny bit on copywork and she also did her IEW homework for Aquinas Learning. Thursday was Aquinas day, which she just loves. She now peppers me all the time with how to say this and that word in French. She still has a lingering cough. Darn that cough. Tennis on Friday was cancelled due to rain.
Sean - Poor Sean. He is so terminably bored yet he doesn't want to really do anything. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. He did do some math but he seems to have completely misunderstood equivelent fractions. I have to sit down and clarify that with him at some point very soon. He did a bit of Latin, reluctantly. He did decide that for his 4H project he wants to design his own point and click video game based on holidays. It would have an Easter bunny actually searching for easter eggs (a pun on easter eggs in videogames) and it would be all mixed up with santa and the tooth fairy and other fun things. He needs to something community-wise with it. Maybe teaching others how to make a videogame or having sick kids in a hospital try it out??? Sean read more in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Slowly but surely we'll get through this book! He's ahead of me now, so I've got to catch up this weekend. Sean really wanted to go to the Jr. High activity on Friday evening. Since he so seldom really wants to do anything, I made sure he got there. He really likes it, even though he thinks some of it is silly. So that was a good thing. He also says he really wants to learn history by research. So this weekend I've got to set up This Week in History. I think he'll really like it. He also enjoyed learning more from Exploring the World of Physics. And we did another lesson in Harry Stottlemeier and he really enjoys that.
Josh - poor Josh! He has let himself get very behind in certain subjects. At the beginning of the year ( 6 weeks ago!) he was all gung ho, but he lost traction after getting so sick a couple of weeks ago and he hasn't gotten his footing. He's been spending a lot of time (a lot!) in front of the computer just entertaining himself and neglecting his duties). I have to admit I got angry with him on Wednesday night. But he took it okay and I do think it was a little bit of a kick in the rear to set him back on the right course. He had to miss CLC on Wednesday because we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam trying to get Becky to band and it made it impossible to get him to CLC. That hurt him because he really looks forward to CLC. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. Anyway, I am determined that Josh needs to take ownership of his own life. He relies too much on me to nag him and keep him on track and I am just too scattered to do a good job. He needs to learn to do it himself.
That's all the time I have for now!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Strewsday Tuesday - 10/11/11
I have not been focused on strewing at all this past week. However, we have been involved in starting up a new 4H club in our town. I gotta get all my enrollment forms and such in soon! This club is for teens and is service oriented. The kids will plan a service project a month. Each student also needs to do at least one project this year. A nice sampling of the many possible projects are listed here:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/county/Swift/news/4-HProjectIdeas.pdf
Another good list is the directory of curriculum at this site: http://www.4-h.org/resource-library/curriculum/
Both Josh and Sean are trying to decide exactly what kind of project they want to embark on. It's kind of fun musing about it. They have yet to come to a decision though. We'll see what they pick!
So. . . any strewing going on in your neck of the woods?
http://www.extension.umn.edu/county/Swift/news/4-HProjectIdeas.pdf
Another good list is the directory of curriculum at this site: http://www.4-h.org/resource-library/curriculum/
Both Josh and Sean are trying to decide exactly what kind of project they want to embark on. It's kind of fun musing about it. They have yet to come to a decision though. We'll see what they pick!
So. . . any strewing going on in your neck of the woods?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Trivium Mastery - Book 43
Trivium Mastery; The Intersection of Three Roads by Diane B. Lockman is a book recommended by Rosario Reilly, the founder and developer of Aquinas Learning. This book on classical education breaks away from the neo-classical approach to education, which is based on the Dorothy L. Sayers' Lost Tools of Learning essay. Neo-classical is viewed as Sayers' own idiosyncratic understanding of classical education. Lockman instead seeks to imitate actual methods used by the Greeks, Romans and Medieval Scholars and others through the ages. In searching beyond the Sayers essay, Lockman jives with Andrew Campbell's approach in Latin Centered Curriculum. However, the Latin Centered Curriculum focuses on learning the traditional classical languages as one of the main methods of educating classically, while Lockman focuses more abstractly on the three roads or the goals of the Trivium; Language (Grammar), Thought (Dialectic) and Speech (Rhetoric).
These three elements of the Trivium (which literally means 3 roads intersecting) are supposed to occur all at the same time. Neo-classical approaches, like The Well Trained Mind, Mother of Divine Grace, Veritas, etc are based on the idea of Sayers that little children are in the grammar stage, middle school children in the dialectic and high schoolers in the rhetorical stage.
Language to Lockman is using phonics, in whatever way that works for your student, to become a fluent reader. While she mentions learning Latin she seems to recommend putting it off until high school. Thought is critical thinking and reasoning and again Lockman doesn't really care how you present critical thinking, just as long as it is a significant focus. She does recommend Mindbenders software. Speech is being able to present one's thinking in a clear and persuasive manner. And again Lockman has a lot of insight into how to go about following this particular road of the Trivium.
The two things I found outstanding in this book were Lockman's ability to boil all the various aspects of a classical education into succinct and orderly chapters that pack a punch! She lays it all out in a very reader friendly style that is remarkable for its clarity and thoroughness. The other thing I found attractive in this book is that Lockman is so home friendly. This is not a school at home approach. This family learning. Lockman thinks outside the school at home box. This is not kids sitting at the kitchen table filling out worksheets and making sure every grade's scope and sequence is methodically addressed. This is much more creative, joy-filled, and individual to each student. She does have certain curricula that she likes because they worked for her children, like Saxon Math, IEW and Critical Thinking Co's Mindbenders, for example, but she doesn't spell out a curriculum like Mother of Divine Grace or The Well Trained Mind. It is a more relaxed approach in that sense; she sees learning occurring in more places than just traditional curriculum..
The first half of the book is Lockman's presentation of her understanding and interpretation of what a true classical education is. The second half of the book consists of case studies of 5 families (12 students in total) and Lockman's assessment and recommendations for each child. I found this section very helpful in allowing me to visualize just how to put Lockman's ideas into action.
I have to say that I disagree about putting Latin off until high school. I think learning a classical language is a huge part of classical education. And really the crux of understanding grammar and critical thinking! I think you can put Latin off until then and still have a worthwhile and classically oriented education, but I think that children benefit greatly by having Latin introduced earlier than that. In Roman times, learning Greek was their ticket into that aspect of classical education. In Medieval times it was always learning Latin and often Greek too. I think the very things called for in learning a classical language hone that deeper understanding of how language is put together (Grammar) and how to think clearly (Latin and Greek by their nature force students to think methodically and analytically). And at some point when you get to a level of fluency, you can study the great classical orators who are really the princes of rhetoric; people like Cicero who have been emulated by all great rhetoricians through the ages.
The book also contains very helpful appendices that include suggested questions to interview yourself, your spouse and your children in trying to determine the best choices for attaining this sort of education. She also includes basic charts and lists for things like phonics, reading comprehension, grammar, a little bit of math, and literary analysis.
This book is Christian in orientation, but I think secular folks could get a lot of out of it as well.
I am very glad to add this book to my collection on classical education. I think it brings a fresh new outlook that is thorough, authentic and based in family as opposed to institutional learning. Very inspiring!
For more book reviews see 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
These three elements of the Trivium (which literally means 3 roads intersecting) are supposed to occur all at the same time. Neo-classical approaches, like The Well Trained Mind, Mother of Divine Grace, Veritas, etc are based on the idea of Sayers that little children are in the grammar stage, middle school children in the dialectic and high schoolers in the rhetorical stage.
Language to Lockman is using phonics, in whatever way that works for your student, to become a fluent reader. While she mentions learning Latin she seems to recommend putting it off until high school. Thought is critical thinking and reasoning and again Lockman doesn't really care how you present critical thinking, just as long as it is a significant focus. She does recommend Mindbenders software. Speech is being able to present one's thinking in a clear and persuasive manner. And again Lockman has a lot of insight into how to go about following this particular road of the Trivium.
The two things I found outstanding in this book were Lockman's ability to boil all the various aspects of a classical education into succinct and orderly chapters that pack a punch! She lays it all out in a very reader friendly style that is remarkable for its clarity and thoroughness. The other thing I found attractive in this book is that Lockman is so home friendly. This is not a school at home approach. This family learning. Lockman thinks outside the school at home box. This is not kids sitting at the kitchen table filling out worksheets and making sure every grade's scope and sequence is methodically addressed. This is much more creative, joy-filled, and individual to each student. She does have certain curricula that she likes because they worked for her children, like Saxon Math, IEW and Critical Thinking Co's Mindbenders, for example, but she doesn't spell out a curriculum like Mother of Divine Grace or The Well Trained Mind. It is a more relaxed approach in that sense; she sees learning occurring in more places than just traditional curriculum..
The first half of the book is Lockman's presentation of her understanding and interpretation of what a true classical education is. The second half of the book consists of case studies of 5 families (12 students in total) and Lockman's assessment and recommendations for each child. I found this section very helpful in allowing me to visualize just how to put Lockman's ideas into action.
I have to say that I disagree about putting Latin off until high school. I think learning a classical language is a huge part of classical education. And really the crux of understanding grammar and critical thinking! I think you can put Latin off until then and still have a worthwhile and classically oriented education, but I think that children benefit greatly by having Latin introduced earlier than that. In Roman times, learning Greek was their ticket into that aspect of classical education. In Medieval times it was always learning Latin and often Greek too. I think the very things called for in learning a classical language hone that deeper understanding of how language is put together (Grammar) and how to think clearly (Latin and Greek by their nature force students to think methodically and analytically). And at some point when you get to a level of fluency, you can study the great classical orators who are really the princes of rhetoric; people like Cicero who have been emulated by all great rhetoricians through the ages.
The book also contains very helpful appendices that include suggested questions to interview yourself, your spouse and your children in trying to determine the best choices for attaining this sort of education. She also includes basic charts and lists for things like phonics, reading comprehension, grammar, a little bit of math, and literary analysis.
This book is Christian in orientation, but I think secular folks could get a lot of out of it as well.
I am very glad to add this book to my collection on classical education. I think it brings a fresh new outlook that is thorough, authentic and based in family as opposed to institutional learning. Very inspiring!
For more book reviews see 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
Friday, October 7, 2011
What We've Been Up To - 10/7/11
I'll do this by child:
Becky: Her week was mostly Aquinas Learning driven. She worked on her activity sheets, a couple a day. She had one on 'grammar' which was really on rhyme. She had to fill in the rhyming words in a poem by Sara Taylor Coleridge. She had to name different muscles in the human body for science (we didn't finish that one and, frankly, she was not interested in it.). She had to fill in the blanks in the Act of Contrition in Latin (Deus Meus, ex toto corde. . . . ) She liked that one (this is a prayer the kids are all learning). For catechism she's learning the 7 Spiritual Mercies. Geography is always the sheet Becky does first. She still loves Geography. This week it was labeling all the countries in South America. History was just an explanation about the Pilgrims landing at Plimouth Rock. This was good because Becky had to do her first oral presentation this Thursday on this topic. I pulled out all the books I had on the Pilgrims. Three of these turned out to be on the First Thanksgiving. She zeroed in on If You Were At The First Thanksgiving. She read that book. Then she asked me to help her make index cards of the notes she'd need for her presentation. So she dictated to me what she wanted to say. She had a very clear idea already so while I might have helped her refine it a bit, she did the bulk of the organization of her talk. Then she would not rehearse it with me or anybody else. She went into her room and practiced. Her mentor said her oral presentation went very well. She got 11 points out of 11 points. She also did copy work one day (in my mind this is supposed to occur 3x a week, oh well) and she did her IEW 'ly' dress up paragraph.
I also did a little math with Becky. We are still just practicing carrying, borrowing and rounding. Becky has been reading a collection of Goosebump stories, which she enjoys immensely. She also watched the movie Annie a couple of times at least, as well as House Hunters on HGTV. She was still coughing badly so instead of going to her art class on Tuesday, I took her to the doctor's for an antibiotic. But she made up for missing art by getting out paints and painting lots of abstract pictures which are currently drying all over the kitchen table! Rick is just finishing reading the last Penderwicks book to her. I've started reading Treasure Island to her. She didn't like the audio for some reason, so now we are crunching to finish reading it before the book discussion at Aquinas. She's not really enjoying it though.
Sean: Is still in his perpetual state of boredom, but there were a couple of things that seemed to rouse him a bit. We reached the end of the first chapter in Exploring the World of Physics and I decided to just ask the comprehension questions. We didn't do any of the math stuff, but Sean was really interested in answering the questions and remembering the points made in the first chapter. I hadn't seen him prick up his ears for something like that in a while so it made my heart flutter a little, LOL! Also on Thursday in the a.m. when I had a lull in my Aquinas Learning Day duties, I sat down with him and finished Chapter 1 questions on Harry Stottlemeier. Sean got really into it. Josh got sucked into the discussion too and it turned out to be a really pleasant and interesting talk. So I look forward to doing more of that with Sean during that time period.
Sean is up to Lesson 14 in Saxon 8/7. He finished the first review chapter in Latin for Children B. We've been reading Journey to the Center of Earth. Sean doesn't want to like it, but I'm insisting! They've finally made their descent into the volcano; took a long time to get started! Sean got to play over at his friend's one day this week. And he went with me last night to the funeral of the retired Msgr. who had lived at our parish for the past 10 years. He was very beloved. The bishop said the funeral mass and the church was overflowing with people there to play their last respects.
I also read The Creed in Slow Motion, poems by Edgar Allen Poe and today hope to read Sunday's Scritpure readings to Sean and Becky. Also, hopefully the beautiful fall weather will last into this afternoon and both kids will be able to go to tennis lessons. We've missed them for two weeks now due to weather and illness.
Joshua: He attended both Latin classes this week, scoring higher marks on our quizzes than I did! First time ever for that! He also is really enjoying his Chemistry class. However, this morning he did not want to get up for it! I think he feels he didn't study enough for an ion quiz he has today. He didn't have Shakespeare class this week but he is busy memorizing the To or Not To Be passage from Hamlet. He worked a bit on Psychology, which he also seemed to find interesting. He's actually keeping apace of the schedule I worked out for him, pretty much. He doesn't get the Conrad Baars book, so I'm letting him drop that aspect and just focus on the text and study guide. I'm not sure what he did with Precalculus this week. He had printer problems (as did I; our printers keep acting up) and I don't think he ever got around to sending in his homework. He needs to do that today! But so far his grades have been 100%, 80% and 88%. He said he figured out why he got the 80% on the one homework, some little thing he forgot to do. Josh had finally gotten over his nasty cold and went to cross country practice 2x this week. He ran well and still likes running! Josh went to his CLC meeting on Wednesday and tonight is going on a retreat with the Youth Apostles. He'll be home tomorrow night.
Will: unexpectantly Will called up and said he wanted to come home this weekend. They have Monday off for Columbus Day. So he's coming home tonight!
Hannah: I know Hannah had a hard week last week, but this week has been taken up with Charity Week at UD.
Becky: Her week was mostly Aquinas Learning driven. She worked on her activity sheets, a couple a day. She had one on 'grammar' which was really on rhyme. She had to fill in the rhyming words in a poem by Sara Taylor Coleridge. She had to name different muscles in the human body for science (we didn't finish that one and, frankly, she was not interested in it.). She had to fill in the blanks in the Act of Contrition in Latin (Deus Meus, ex toto corde. . . . ) She liked that one (this is a prayer the kids are all learning). For catechism she's learning the 7 Spiritual Mercies. Geography is always the sheet Becky does first. She still loves Geography. This week it was labeling all the countries in South America. History was just an explanation about the Pilgrims landing at Plimouth Rock. This was good because Becky had to do her first oral presentation this Thursday on this topic. I pulled out all the books I had on the Pilgrims. Three of these turned out to be on the First Thanksgiving. She zeroed in on If You Were At The First Thanksgiving. She read that book. Then she asked me to help her make index cards of the notes she'd need for her presentation. So she dictated to me what she wanted to say. She had a very clear idea already so while I might have helped her refine it a bit, she did the bulk of the organization of her talk. Then she would not rehearse it with me or anybody else. She went into her room and practiced. Her mentor said her oral presentation went very well. She got 11 points out of 11 points. She also did copy work one day (in my mind this is supposed to occur 3x a week, oh well) and she did her IEW 'ly' dress up paragraph.
I also did a little math with Becky. We are still just practicing carrying, borrowing and rounding. Becky has been reading a collection of Goosebump stories, which she enjoys immensely. She also watched the movie Annie a couple of times at least, as well as House Hunters on HGTV. She was still coughing badly so instead of going to her art class on Tuesday, I took her to the doctor's for an antibiotic. But she made up for missing art by getting out paints and painting lots of abstract pictures which are currently drying all over the kitchen table! Rick is just finishing reading the last Penderwicks book to her. I've started reading Treasure Island to her. She didn't like the audio for some reason, so now we are crunching to finish reading it before the book discussion at Aquinas. She's not really enjoying it though.
Sean: Is still in his perpetual state of boredom, but there were a couple of things that seemed to rouse him a bit. We reached the end of the first chapter in Exploring the World of Physics and I decided to just ask the comprehension questions. We didn't do any of the math stuff, but Sean was really interested in answering the questions and remembering the points made in the first chapter. I hadn't seen him prick up his ears for something like that in a while so it made my heart flutter a little, LOL! Also on Thursday in the a.m. when I had a lull in my Aquinas Learning Day duties, I sat down with him and finished Chapter 1 questions on Harry Stottlemeier. Sean got really into it. Josh got sucked into the discussion too and it turned out to be a really pleasant and interesting talk. So I look forward to doing more of that with Sean during that time period.
Sean is up to Lesson 14 in Saxon 8/7. He finished the first review chapter in Latin for Children B. We've been reading Journey to the Center of Earth. Sean doesn't want to like it, but I'm insisting! They've finally made their descent into the volcano; took a long time to get started! Sean got to play over at his friend's one day this week. And he went with me last night to the funeral of the retired Msgr. who had lived at our parish for the past 10 years. He was very beloved. The bishop said the funeral mass and the church was overflowing with people there to play their last respects.
I also read The Creed in Slow Motion, poems by Edgar Allen Poe and today hope to read Sunday's Scritpure readings to Sean and Becky. Also, hopefully the beautiful fall weather will last into this afternoon and both kids will be able to go to tennis lessons. We've missed them for two weeks now due to weather and illness.
Joshua: He attended both Latin classes this week, scoring higher marks on our quizzes than I did! First time ever for that! He also is really enjoying his Chemistry class. However, this morning he did not want to get up for it! I think he feels he didn't study enough for an ion quiz he has today. He didn't have Shakespeare class this week but he is busy memorizing the To or Not To Be passage from Hamlet. He worked a bit on Psychology, which he also seemed to find interesting. He's actually keeping apace of the schedule I worked out for him, pretty much. He doesn't get the Conrad Baars book, so I'm letting him drop that aspect and just focus on the text and study guide. I'm not sure what he did with Precalculus this week. He had printer problems (as did I; our printers keep acting up) and I don't think he ever got around to sending in his homework. He needs to do that today! But so far his grades have been 100%, 80% and 88%. He said he figured out why he got the 80% on the one homework, some little thing he forgot to do. Josh had finally gotten over his nasty cold and went to cross country practice 2x this week. He ran well and still likes running! Josh went to his CLC meeting on Wednesday and tonight is going on a retreat with the Youth Apostles. He'll be home tomorrow night.
Will: unexpectantly Will called up and said he wanted to come home this weekend. They have Monday off for Columbus Day. So he's coming home tonight!
Hannah: I know Hannah had a hard week last week, but this week has been taken up with Charity Week at UD.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Thankful Thursday - 10/5/11
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Strewsday Tuesday - Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Strewing these days seems to take place via outside activities. Joshua's new Shakespeare class got the younger two interested in him. I spent several days looking for this book. Finally, found it last night and put it out on the coffee table. We'll see if anyone nibbles!
Poetry for October is by Edgar Allan Poe (cuz he's spooky!): I meant to only read Annabelle Lee to Becky and Sean yesterday morning, but they liked it so much they wanted another poem. So I read them The Bells. Sean thought it was excellent, except that Poe says the word 'bells' too many times. LOL!
Speaking of spooky, Becky found a collection of Goosebumps stories that I bought from a discount table at B&N a long time ago (maybe when Will was her age). She's been reading them voraciously. I remember Goosebumps being maligned as 'twaddle' on Charlotte Mason homeschool lists way back then. I have to most heartily disagree. The ones I've read are very carefully crafted and excellent at building suspense or having some kind of shocking ending that is not too graphic or adult. I think they are very well done. Becky felt compelled to read a whole story out loud to me. She said she could read it out loud very well because she could imagine the kids voices in her head. And she did a great job. Maybe she should be an actress!
Sean said he wanted to learn about World War II. I don't know what prompted this. He, however, said he would do his own research via Wikipedia. I couldn't resist though and put out some books on the coffee table. Don't know if that got a nibble either.
So what are strewing around your home?
So what are strewing around your home?
Sunday, October 2, 2011
He Leadeth Me - Book 42
Since I've been so busy and tired, I just haven't gotten much reading done. It's taken me three weeks to read this wonderful book.
He Leadeth Me is by Father Walter Ciszek, SJ, who also wrote With God in Russia, a book I read a couple years ago. Father Ciszek spent a total of 23 years in the Soviet Union. He snuck into the Soviet Union after the Russians took over Poland. After a few months working, he was arrested. He spent 5 years in solitary confinement at the dreaded Lubianka prison and then 15 years in Siberian prison labor camps. The remaining time was spent as a 'free' man, first where he practiced as a priest, though trying hard to fly under the radar so to speak. Then finally, under too much harassment from the KGB, he worked at city garage, trying to minister as best he could under the circumstances. Finally, authorities in the U.S (who had thought he was dead for years) negotiated his release. With God in Russia is Father Cizsek's memoirs of his time in the Soviet Union. He Leadeth Me goes back over the same territory but focuses more on what he felt he learned spiritually during all those years.
This book is deeply inspirational. Father Ciszek is so wise, so full of love and surrender to the Lord and has such an unshakeable faith, and he tells the story of his spiritual growth so simply and in such a straight forward way, that this book packs a big wallop in a very quiet way. He is very humble about everything. There isn't a bitter bone in his body which, whenever I try to imagine myself in his shoes, fills me with awe and respect for this man. His heart was alway open to God's will, he was always listening for God's voice and this openness gave him incredible strength to endure terrible, terrible, life threatening circumstances with joy and thankfulness!
I would like to quote extensively from this book, but I think once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop! So I'll just leave this review with an enthusiastic two thumbs up!
Thank you, God, for Father Walter Ciszek!
He Leadeth Me is by Father Walter Ciszek, SJ, who also wrote With God in Russia, a book I read a couple years ago. Father Ciszek spent a total of 23 years in the Soviet Union. He snuck into the Soviet Union after the Russians took over Poland. After a few months working, he was arrested. He spent 5 years in solitary confinement at the dreaded Lubianka prison and then 15 years in Siberian prison labor camps. The remaining time was spent as a 'free' man, first where he practiced as a priest, though trying hard to fly under the radar so to speak. Then finally, under too much harassment from the KGB, he worked at city garage, trying to minister as best he could under the circumstances. Finally, authorities in the U.S (who had thought he was dead for years) negotiated his release. With God in Russia is Father Cizsek's memoirs of his time in the Soviet Union. He Leadeth Me goes back over the same territory but focuses more on what he felt he learned spiritually during all those years.
This book is deeply inspirational. Father Ciszek is so wise, so full of love and surrender to the Lord and has such an unshakeable faith, and he tells the story of his spiritual growth so simply and in such a straight forward way, that this book packs a big wallop in a very quiet way. He is very humble about everything. There isn't a bitter bone in his body which, whenever I try to imagine myself in his shoes, fills me with awe and respect for this man. His heart was alway open to God's will, he was always listening for God's voice and this openness gave him incredible strength to endure terrible, terrible, life threatening circumstances with joy and thankfulness!
I would like to quote extensively from this book, but I think once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop! So I'll just leave this review with an enthusiastic two thumbs up!
Thank you, God, for Father Walter Ciszek!
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