It's the end of Homeschool week 2. It's 9pm on Friday night, and I'm tired out! In a few minutes, though, we're going to start watching the Jeeves & Wooster tv series. I plan to knit the latest in a long line of dish/washcloths while we watch. Mindless entertainment at its finest.
The first two weeks went pretty well. We haven't found our groove yet but I'm optimistic. We're all optimistic in August, aren't we?
The boy who is sick is still sick, but maybe coming out of it a little. Everyone is tired; no one seems to be getting enough sleep. The mornings don't start quite when I'd like them to and we just aren't in sync yet. When I'm ready to discuss the history reading, the boy wonders if it's a good time to ride the exercise bike. And he's right; it is. So we work around that till he finishes, and then, whoa, it's almost lunch time!
But we are moving along in pretty much everything. Science and math are still problematic for us; they always have been, so I'm not sure why I thought it might be different now. Optimism!
One surprise is my girl's sudden change of attitude toward the history book. We are using a regular ol' high school textbook as part of our history this year. One of the features of the book is the "reading check" - short questions every few pages, just to, well, check the reading. I have my kids keep a notebook in which they write their answers, and we talk about them at the end of each section of the book. Before summer break, she hated that book. Now, she has decided it's not so bad after all. Is it because we are moving into a more interesting time for her, or did she turn a corner over the summer and decide that maybe history is pretty interesting? It doesn't matter, does it?
Another cause for optimism is the purchase of the microscope. We waited a little too late, maybe, to finally get a good microscope, but it's exciting to have it. The day it arrived, we found a dead yet perfect cicada on our front steps. It is still in the fridge in a baggy, but next week it's going under the lens!
I guess I should make a page for our studies this year. But now it's time to Jeeves & Wooster!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Week Zero
Tomorrow begins Week Zero of our 2013/2014 school year. Why Zero?
In a sudden, late burst of enthusiasm for the new school year, I typed up 2 weeks worth of work plans. Then I realized that after the summer we've had, there's no way we're jumping right into all the work we have planned. So, Week Zero.
It begins tomorrow, at the pool at a local-ish state park. This is the last week the pool is open, and the first time we'll get there, despite plans to swim there oh, three or four times over the summer. It's been a weird summer, in terms of both weather and ability to get out to the pool. On the days we were free, it rained. Is there a message for me there?
On the way there or back, we'll listen to a Great Courses lecture, from the series "The World was Never the Same." The lecture is called "Dante Sees Beatrice" and we're listening in preparation for reading The Inferno together this year. The speaker is very engaging, so I don't expect listening will be a burden.
I'll finish reading The Giver aloud, and we'll talk about it a bit. We're reading that because we needed a family read-aloud that is fairly short. But also, it's on a lot of lists so I thought I should read it. There are sequels but my kids can decide to read those if they want. I think my 16-year-old will be taking on 1984 and Brave New World next, though.
We'll also clean out the school crates, recycle the old science and test-prep workbooks we never finished, and generally clean up.
The 16-year-old will do a practice CLEP test (Humanities or Western Civ I, we're not sure yet) to see how he does and if testing like that is a viable option for us. This isn't an official test, just at the kitchen table with the practice test book. Should be fun!
It's been almost three months since my last post, and this is only my fifth post for 2013! I don't have any illusions that I'm going to be a regular blogger again anytime soon. I don't know if I'm going to go back to my 2013 reading page and update it. Goodreads seems to have taken the place of that. Whenever I make a blogging commitment to myself, I almost immediately have cause to break it. I do miss it, though.
Despite our lack of swimming, it wasn't a terribly bad summer, but not a terrifically good one, either. I was seriously burned out on homeschooling, even parenting in general. I read a few fluff books. I did some cleaning and organizing. We did manage some field trips, though not the trip-per-week I had planned.I stopped reading blogs altogether, even my favorite homeschool blogs. But I seem to be coming out of it.
A good session of homeschool planning, with books and papers piled all around me, will do it every time.
In a sudden, late burst of enthusiasm for the new school year, I typed up 2 weeks worth of work plans. Then I realized that after the summer we've had, there's no way we're jumping right into all the work we have planned. So, Week Zero.
It begins tomorrow, at the pool at a local-ish state park. This is the last week the pool is open, and the first time we'll get there, despite plans to swim there oh, three or four times over the summer. It's been a weird summer, in terms of both weather and ability to get out to the pool. On the days we were free, it rained. Is there a message for me there?
On the way there or back, we'll listen to a Great Courses lecture, from the series "The World was Never the Same." The lecture is called "Dante Sees Beatrice" and we're listening in preparation for reading The Inferno together this year. The speaker is very engaging, so I don't expect listening will be a burden.
I'll finish reading The Giver aloud, and we'll talk about it a bit. We're reading that because we needed a family read-aloud that is fairly short. But also, it's on a lot of lists so I thought I should read it. There are sequels but my kids can decide to read those if they want. I think my 16-year-old will be taking on 1984 and Brave New World next, though.
We'll also clean out the school crates, recycle the old science and test-prep workbooks we never finished, and generally clean up.
The 16-year-old will do a practice CLEP test (Humanities or Western Civ I, we're not sure yet) to see how he does and if testing like that is a viable option for us. This isn't an official test, just at the kitchen table with the practice test book. Should be fun!
It's been almost three months since my last post, and this is only my fifth post for 2013! I don't have any illusions that I'm going to be a regular blogger again anytime soon. I don't know if I'm going to go back to my 2013 reading page and update it. Goodreads seems to have taken the place of that. Whenever I make a blogging commitment to myself, I almost immediately have cause to break it. I do miss it, though.
Despite our lack of swimming, it wasn't a terribly bad summer, but not a terrifically good one, either. I was seriously burned out on homeschooling, even parenting in general. I read a few fluff books. I did some cleaning and organizing. We did manage some field trips, though not the trip-per-week I had planned.I stopped reading blogs altogether, even my favorite homeschool blogs. But I seem to be coming out of it.
A good session of homeschool planning, with books and papers piled all around me, will do it every time.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Cultural Homeschoolers
A couple of weeks ago I was at a medical appointment with one of my kids (the sick one) and the nurse asked him about school, specifically, if he was missing much school because of being sick. He said he was not exactly, because he is homeschooled. So she turned to me and asked "are you homeschooling because he is too sick to go to school, or are you..." I could tell she didn't how to finish the sentence.
So I said no, we are not homeschooling because he's sick, but we are... (pause, because I couldn't think of the word either)... cultural homeschoolers. Yes, that's it! Cultural homeschoolers. It's part of our culture.
She got that. She smiled and said "that makes sense." It was nice to see that she got that. If you are a homeschooler who has tried to explain yourself to people who don't get it, you might understand what I mean.
So now I know what we are. We are cultural homeschoolers.
Having a definition doesn't change a thing, but it's still nice to have one.
So I said no, we are not homeschooling because he's sick, but we are... (pause, because I couldn't think of the word either)... cultural homeschoolers. Yes, that's it! Cultural homeschoolers. It's part of our culture.
She got that. She smiled and said "that makes sense." It was nice to see that she got that. If you are a homeschooler who has tried to explain yourself to people who don't get it, you might understand what I mean.
So now I know what we are. We are cultural homeschoolers.
Having a definition doesn't change a thing, but it's still nice to have one.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Life in the Schoolhouse
If I was to examine my blog archives (which go back to 2005, so I won't), I wonder if there would be a blogging break every year around late winter and early spring.
So the schoolhouse still has two kids. And a mom and a dad. And the dog! The sick kid is still sick, but things are looking up. A little, maybe. Spirits are up, anyway.
We are still homeschooling. I saw a great quote on Bravewriter's Facebook page the other day:
In the fall, it's classical education.
In the winter, Charlotte Mason.
By spring, it's all unschooling.
Yep.
As usual around this time of year, I'm panicking about the homeschool evaluation and portfolio. As usual, we haven't produced much this year. We didn't even do a project, like our Voyager's Stone map or the Leafcutter Ant display. But we'll manage; we always do.
In other news, I finally got semi-mobile by getting a Kindle Fire for my birthday. I still don't have a smartphone but that will be coming. My old phone, which is my husband's old phone, was once a hot commodity: a Motorola RAZR. Yeah. Some guy standing in line behind me at a doctor's office the other day expressed his amazement that I was still using such an old phone. Well, it works! Every time I use it!
I'm really itching to start blogging with photos. There are technical reasons I don't, and they go beyond "middle-aged mom can't figure out this new-fangled gadget." My daughter is taking some great photos lately; she is following a talented aunt in this way. And dreaming of a DSLR camera which is way out of everyone's budget right now. But her babysitting business is picking up!
Spring is here, and though that means the hot, humid, hated summer is coming, it's hard not to be optimistic, content, and even happy.
Doesn't it seem like a photo of just-about-to-bloom daffodils should go here? Hm... I think we have some in the back yard....
So the schoolhouse still has two kids. And a mom and a dad. And the dog! The sick kid is still sick, but things are looking up. A little, maybe. Spirits are up, anyway.
We are still homeschooling. I saw a great quote on Bravewriter's Facebook page the other day:
In the fall, it's classical education.
In the winter, Charlotte Mason.
By spring, it's all unschooling.
Yep.
As usual around this time of year, I'm panicking about the homeschool evaluation and portfolio. As usual, we haven't produced much this year. We didn't even do a project, like our Voyager's Stone map or the Leafcutter Ant display. But we'll manage; we always do.
In other news, I finally got semi-mobile by getting a Kindle Fire for my birthday. I still don't have a smartphone but that will be coming. My old phone, which is my husband's old phone, was once a hot commodity: a Motorola RAZR. Yeah. Some guy standing in line behind me at a doctor's office the other day expressed his amazement that I was still using such an old phone. Well, it works! Every time I use it!
I'm really itching to start blogging with photos. There are technical reasons I don't, and they go beyond "middle-aged mom can't figure out this new-fangled gadget." My daughter is taking some great photos lately; she is following a talented aunt in this way. And dreaming of a DSLR camera which is way out of everyone's budget right now. But her babysitting business is picking up!
Spring is here, and though that means the hot, humid, hated summer is coming, it's hard not to be optimistic, content, and even happy.
Doesn't it seem like a photo of just-about-to-bloom daffodils should go here? Hm... I think we have some in the back yard....
Thursday, January 31, 2013
A Day in the Life (with 14- and 15-year-old)
The folks at Simple Homeschool have invited us to post about a day in our homeschooling lives. I have enjoyed writing these sorts of posts in the past. It's fun to follow a day and document it. It might be a typical day, or it might not. It's also fun to read about other homeschooling families' days. Well, OK, sometimes it can be a little distressing, if we start comparing (negatively) our day to some other family's day, so we should remember it's just one day out of many. Maybe that Mom isn't always so creative, fun, organized...
Much of the past two years haven't been such fun for me to document. My son (the 15-year-old) is chronically sick with, as far as we can tell, a non-life-threatening, nonspecific illness. In other words, tests don't show anything and none of the many doctors we've seen can figure it out. And since no one can figure out what's wrong, no one can figure out how to make him feel better. So we deal with nausea, coughing, sleep disturbances, fuzzy thinking, and other symptoms we'd rather not talk about, all day, every day, while trying to homeschool at a high school level. (By the way, my boy gave me permission to tell you about this.)
So let's get started and document this day. I don't know what will happen! It could be a good day, meaning we will get some things done. Or, maybe not. We are doing things a little differently today. Usually our day starts slowly, and late, at least compared to most homeschool families I know. But today my boy has a "playdate" at 2pm. Since he is a teenager, this is not what you're thinking. He and a friend want to play a new game together via X-Box Live, and that's the time the friend is available. Since there is a general ban on X-Box after 9 am and before 4pm, this gets special consideration. A promise was made to get up early and get started on his work right away. His usual practice is to get up anytime between 9 and 10, depending on how many times he woke up in the night. Sometimes, despite the general ban, he does play a little X-Box in the morning to help himself wake up if he's had a bad night.
And yes, he does get up early: 8:30. Yes, that's early for him. First off, he takes his meds, has a drink, then hits the exercise bike. Since sleep disturbances can be caused by a lack of physical tiredness, exercise is important, though it is usually not done first thing.
While he is exercising, my girl, the 14-year-old - who just had an orthodontist appointment and is still in a little pain - gets up and starts puttering around the kitchen, talking to the dog and looking for sympathy and something soft to eat. (I gave up on a family breakfast a long time ago; it's every man for himself around here.)
I take this chance to get my shower. The Dad of the house is long gone to work.
Because we didn't follow our usual routine, I missed our morning Bible reading. Bad Mom! We'll do it tomorrow.
Usually the morning (after the Bible reading I forgot today) is the time for independent work. (Morning is a relative term. Sometimes that means 11!) I try to supervise as needed, bouncing from one child to the other while trying to clean the kitchen and do laundry in between. In theory, we get together to do work together after lunch. This is the rare day when that might work; we don't have anyplace to go! The kids have a checklist to work off every day so they can't forget anything, though things do get skipped. I'm working toward a weekly, then a monthly, then maybe a quarterly checklist, then - complete independence!
After his exercise, my boy does some reading in The Middle Ages, a nice non-scholarly history book on the time period we're studying this year. We are all reading it, together but separately; from time to time we talk about it and everyone has to write a short paragraph for each chapter. I am behind everyone else in my reading. When he's done with that, he goes to the computer to read a chapter in CK-12's Biology 1 course and watch the associated videos. He's doing pretty well today; he hasn't gotten tired and he hasn't thrown up! Maybe he's pushing himself because he wants to get a lot done before 2. But it's pretty hard to hold back vomiting, so we'll just call it a good day.
My girl goes off to read Animal Farm; she's using a study guide from Glencoe Literature Library along with it. After that, she does some grammar, some reading in our history text, and then practices piano. When she's finished with that, she does a little math; she's working in Key To Percents and an 8th grade Spectrum math book. She has to take standardized tests this year, so I need to be sure she is at least familiar with 8th grade math concepts. No, this is not ideal - we don't like "teaching to the test" but, you know, we do what works at the time, right?
One thing about having a sick kid: the other kid(s) in the family are often affected. If I'm at the Children's Hospital with him having some sort of test, she's not getting help with math. So no one is really working at grade level in math right now.
Now it's about time for lunch. We make some refried bean nachos (hey, it's pretty healthy) and use that time to listen to a history lecture (The Early Middle Ages from The Great Courses). We look at some examples of Carolingian Miniscule print online and briefly peruse a web page about Alcuin of York. Next, it's time for Latin. We use Visual Latin, and we're going through it very slowly. But we get part of a lesson done! Then both kids check their homework for tomorrow's writing class to be sure it's all set to go.
Now it's time for the playdate. My girl finishes up her history reading, then goes outside to take some photos. She's trying to find the perfect entry for an upcoming contest. I notice she didn't do any science work, but I don't want to stop her photo shoot. We'll get it done tomorrow.
I start making dinner and do some paperwork. I spend a minute worrying about high school transcripts and grades, then set it aside for another time.
4pm, and the game is over. My boy thanks me for letting him do it and tells me he feels better today than he has in a while. He goes to his room to ride the exercise bike again. My girl gets ready for a babysitting job she has later, then downloads photos and studies them. I don't think she got that perfect shot yet.
Dad blows in and we eat dinner. Usually we talk about the day's history learning, and today is no exception. Then he runs out to a meeting. My boy showers, then sits down to do his math. This is new for us; I can't remember the last time anyone did work after dinner. He's tired now, and would rather not do it, but that was part of the deal. He's working his way through Mastering the Fundamentals of Math; he had been doing Algebra 1 but with his fuzzy thinking problem, math has gotten harder and some things have been lost. So we're reviewing the basics. Sometimes he needs me to sit with him and help him through some of the problems, but not today. He's determined to soldier on. (When I checked it later, he got 75% of the problems right, so we have to go back tomorrow and work on those.)
While I take my girl to her babysitting job, he does some more history reading. It sounds like we do a lot of history around here, doesn't it? I have a post about history that's been in draft status for a long time; maybe I'll get that done soon! After he finishes, we talk for a bit about the fate of Europe and thus the US if the Germanic tribes had not invaded the Roman Empire. We have talks like that a lot. He loves to speculate.
Now, he's watching a creepy-sounding tv show, my girl is still babysitting, Dad is still at his meeting, and I'm here. Our day is done.
This was not a typical day. I don't know what a typical day is right now! But it was a good day. It might not seem like much of a high school day. We didn't really produce anything except some math work (which can be a bit problematic here in Pennsylvania where portfolios are required). But we're doing what works for us right now, not unschooling (which hasn't worked for us), but sometimes close. Some days it is very unschoolish around here! But they are learning, every day.
Thanks to Simple Homeschool for the opportunity to do this. I hope this is helpful to others who have chronically-ill children or who otherwise have homeschools that don't look like everyone else's.
You can do your own A Day in the Life post and link up too, at Simple Homeschool. If you don't have a blog, you can share your day in the comments there, so go ahead and do it!
Much of the past two years haven't been such fun for me to document. My son (the 15-year-old) is chronically sick with, as far as we can tell, a non-life-threatening, nonspecific illness. In other words, tests don't show anything and none of the many doctors we've seen can figure it out. And since no one can figure out what's wrong, no one can figure out how to make him feel better. So we deal with nausea, coughing, sleep disturbances, fuzzy thinking, and other symptoms we'd rather not talk about, all day, every day, while trying to homeschool at a high school level. (By the way, my boy gave me permission to tell you about this.)
So let's get started and document this day. I don't know what will happen! It could be a good day, meaning we will get some things done. Or, maybe not. We are doing things a little differently today. Usually our day starts slowly, and late, at least compared to most homeschool families I know. But today my boy has a "playdate" at 2pm. Since he is a teenager, this is not what you're thinking. He and a friend want to play a new game together via X-Box Live, and that's the time the friend is available. Since there is a general ban on X-Box after 9 am and before 4pm, this gets special consideration. A promise was made to get up early and get started on his work right away. His usual practice is to get up anytime between 9 and 10, depending on how many times he woke up in the night. Sometimes, despite the general ban, he does play a little X-Box in the morning to help himself wake up if he's had a bad night.
And yes, he does get up early: 8:30. Yes, that's early for him. First off, he takes his meds, has a drink, then hits the exercise bike. Since sleep disturbances can be caused by a lack of physical tiredness, exercise is important, though it is usually not done first thing.
While he is exercising, my girl, the 14-year-old - who just had an orthodontist appointment and is still in a little pain - gets up and starts puttering around the kitchen, talking to the dog and looking for sympathy and something soft to eat. (I gave up on a family breakfast a long time ago; it's every man for himself around here.)
I take this chance to get my shower. The Dad of the house is long gone to work.
Because we didn't follow our usual routine, I missed our morning Bible reading. Bad Mom! We'll do it tomorrow.
Usually the morning (after the Bible reading I forgot today) is the time for independent work. (Morning is a relative term. Sometimes that means 11!) I try to supervise as needed, bouncing from one child to the other while trying to clean the kitchen and do laundry in between. In theory, we get together to do work together after lunch. This is the rare day when that might work; we don't have anyplace to go! The kids have a checklist to work off every day so they can't forget anything, though things do get skipped. I'm working toward a weekly, then a monthly, then maybe a quarterly checklist, then - complete independence!
After his exercise, my boy does some reading in The Middle Ages, a nice non-scholarly history book on the time period we're studying this year. We are all reading it, together but separately; from time to time we talk about it and everyone has to write a short paragraph for each chapter. I am behind everyone else in my reading. When he's done with that, he goes to the computer to read a chapter in CK-12's Biology 1 course and watch the associated videos. He's doing pretty well today; he hasn't gotten tired and he hasn't thrown up! Maybe he's pushing himself because he wants to get a lot done before 2. But it's pretty hard to hold back vomiting, so we'll just call it a good day.
My girl goes off to read Animal Farm; she's using a study guide from Glencoe Literature Library along with it. After that, she does some grammar, some reading in our history text, and then practices piano. When she's finished with that, she does a little math; she's working in Key To Percents and an 8th grade Spectrum math book. She has to take standardized tests this year, so I need to be sure she is at least familiar with 8th grade math concepts. No, this is not ideal - we don't like "teaching to the test" but, you know, we do what works at the time, right?
One thing about having a sick kid: the other kid(s) in the family are often affected. If I'm at the Children's Hospital with him having some sort of test, she's not getting help with math. So no one is really working at grade level in math right now.
Now it's about time for lunch. We make some refried bean nachos (hey, it's pretty healthy) and use that time to listen to a history lecture (The Early Middle Ages from The Great Courses). We look at some examples of Carolingian Miniscule print online and briefly peruse a web page about Alcuin of York. Next, it's time for Latin. We use Visual Latin, and we're going through it very slowly. But we get part of a lesson done! Then both kids check their homework for tomorrow's writing class to be sure it's all set to go.
Now it's time for the playdate. My girl finishes up her history reading, then goes outside to take some photos. She's trying to find the perfect entry for an upcoming contest. I notice she didn't do any science work, but I don't want to stop her photo shoot. We'll get it done tomorrow.
I start making dinner and do some paperwork. I spend a minute worrying about high school transcripts and grades, then set it aside for another time.
4pm, and the game is over. My boy thanks me for letting him do it and tells me he feels better today than he has in a while. He goes to his room to ride the exercise bike again. My girl gets ready for a babysitting job she has later, then downloads photos and studies them. I don't think she got that perfect shot yet.
Dad blows in and we eat dinner. Usually we talk about the day's history learning, and today is no exception. Then he runs out to a meeting. My boy showers, then sits down to do his math. This is new for us; I can't remember the last time anyone did work after dinner. He's tired now, and would rather not do it, but that was part of the deal. He's working his way through Mastering the Fundamentals of Math; he had been doing Algebra 1 but with his fuzzy thinking problem, math has gotten harder and some things have been lost. So we're reviewing the basics. Sometimes he needs me to sit with him and help him through some of the problems, but not today. He's determined to soldier on. (When I checked it later, he got 75% of the problems right, so we have to go back tomorrow and work on those.)
While I take my girl to her babysitting job, he does some more history reading. It sounds like we do a lot of history around here, doesn't it? I have a post about history that's been in draft status for a long time; maybe I'll get that done soon! After he finishes, we talk for a bit about the fate of Europe and thus the US if the Germanic tribes had not invaded the Roman Empire. We have talks like that a lot. He loves to speculate.
Now, he's watching a creepy-sounding tv show, my girl is still babysitting, Dad is still at his meeting, and I'm here. Our day is done.
This was not a typical day. I don't know what a typical day is right now! But it was a good day. It might not seem like much of a high school day. We didn't really produce anything except some math work (which can be a bit problematic here in Pennsylvania where portfolios are required). But we're doing what works for us right now, not unschooling (which hasn't worked for us), but sometimes close. Some days it is very unschoolish around here! But they are learning, every day.
Thanks to Simple Homeschool for the opportunity to do this. I hope this is helpful to others who have chronically-ill children or who otherwise have homeschools that don't look like everyone else's.
You can do your own A Day in the Life post and link up too, at Simple Homeschool. If you don't have a blog, you can share your day in the comments there, so go ahead and do it!
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
New Year's Eve at the Schoolhouse
The kitchen is a mess. The dishwasher is full of clean dishes but the sink and counter are littered with dirty ones. There's a small table in the family room covered with coffee cups, a wine glass, and plates with pumpkin pie crumbs. Pillows are scattered on the floor between the couch and the television.
The remains of a wild New Year's Eve party?
Yes! My little family spent yesterday and evening watching two of the three movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We'll watch the third movie today.
If you knew us, you'd know how wild a party that was.
We like movies. We'd like to watch more than we do. But it's so hard to fit a movie in to our day or evening. On a typical evening we're sitting down to relax about an hour before everyone should be getting ready for bed. So we will content ourselves with watching a 40- or 50-minute tv show, or we'll plan to watch a movie over two nights. For some reason, even though we can sit for two or more hours in a movie theater without getting up, when we watch a movie at home we rarely can go an hour without someone needing to get up: to get more water, coffee, or something to eat; to use the bathroom; to get the barking dog into the house.
So when we started talking about watching the Lord of the Rings again after seeing The Hobbit, I wondered how long would it take us to watch 10+ (12?) hours of movie. At our rate, it could take over a week! But the adults conferred and we decided to surprise and thrill the children by announcing the New Year's LotR Film Fest: all three movies over two days. We began about 1:00 Monday afternoon, and wrapped up our day just before midnight.
No, we didn't make it through all three films. We didn't even attempt that. We took breaks for a couple of dog walks, some room cleanup, a little laundry, and dinner after completing The Fellowship of the Ring. We started The Two Towers around 7:30 and planned to watch half of it. (Some of us didn't feel the need or desire to stay up till midnight.) But though that is not a movie I truly enjoy, even I had to admit it: there's not a good place to stop. If you've seen it, and disagree, tell me where you'd take an overnight intermission. In the middle of Helm's Deep? During the Ent walk? I think not.
This morning everyone is still sleeping. As always, I'm the first one up. I'm tired, and feel a little sluggish from the lack of activity yesterday. This morning we'll clean up the debris from last night, restart the dishwasher, take the dog for a good long walk, and sit back down again. I hope to finish before dinner, so we can have a calm and early night.
I'm glad it won't be such a long day of movie-watching. I'm happy that we're doing this, but I wouldn't want to do it too often. I hope my kids feel the same way.
Wild parties like this shouldn't happen too often.
How do you spend New Year's Eve and Day?
The remains of a wild New Year's Eve party?
Yes! My little family spent yesterday and evening watching two of the three movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We'll watch the third movie today.
If you knew us, you'd know how wild a party that was.
We like movies. We'd like to watch more than we do. But it's so hard to fit a movie in to our day or evening. On a typical evening we're sitting down to relax about an hour before everyone should be getting ready for bed. So we will content ourselves with watching a 40- or 50-minute tv show, or we'll plan to watch a movie over two nights. For some reason, even though we can sit for two or more hours in a movie theater without getting up, when we watch a movie at home we rarely can go an hour without someone needing to get up: to get more water, coffee, or something to eat; to use the bathroom; to get the barking dog into the house.
So when we started talking about watching the Lord of the Rings again after seeing The Hobbit, I wondered how long would it take us to watch 10+ (12?) hours of movie. At our rate, it could take over a week! But the adults conferred and we decided to surprise and thrill the children by announcing the New Year's LotR Film Fest: all three movies over two days. We began about 1:00 Monday afternoon, and wrapped up our day just before midnight.
No, we didn't make it through all three films. We didn't even attempt that. We took breaks for a couple of dog walks, some room cleanup, a little laundry, and dinner after completing The Fellowship of the Ring. We started The Two Towers around 7:30 and planned to watch half of it. (Some of us didn't feel the need or desire to stay up till midnight.) But though that is not a movie I truly enjoy, even I had to admit it: there's not a good place to stop. If you've seen it, and disagree, tell me where you'd take an overnight intermission. In the middle of Helm's Deep? During the Ent walk? I think not.
This morning everyone is still sleeping. As always, I'm the first one up. I'm tired, and feel a little sluggish from the lack of activity yesterday. This morning we'll clean up the debris from last night, restart the dishwasher, take the dog for a good long walk, and sit back down again. I hope to finish before dinner, so we can have a calm and early night.
I'm glad it won't be such a long day of movie-watching. I'm happy that we're doing this, but I wouldn't want to do it too often. I hope my kids feel the same way.
Wild parties like this shouldn't happen too often.
How do you spend New Year's Eve and Day?
Monday, December 31, 2012
2012 Reading and 2013 Plans
The other day I talked about my Bible reading for 2012 and pondered plans for 2013. Now it's time to talk about all those other books.
I'd set myself a goal of two books per month, one fiction and one non-fiction, not including reading for our homeschool. That's not a very impressive goal, but even at that I didn't exactly make it. I read 15 novels but only eight non-fiction books for myself. But, as always, there is overlap in my worlds. I picked up 1066: The Year of the Conquest for myself, but ended up handing it over to my fifteen-year-old to read and discuss with me. So was it a homeschool book or personal reading? I also read The Monk in the Garden to my kids, but I listened to myself as I read, so I also got the benefit of it. (What, you've never zoned out reading a book to your kids?)
So, I can't say I did enough reading, with 33 books all told, but it was OK. I did exceed my goal, so I'm happy about that.
My favorite non-fiction book for the year was The Brother Gardeners; my favorite fiction was either The Invisible Bridge or Jane Eyre. I could break out categories (contemporary fiction, classics) but that requires too much thinking.
Now for next year. I found a couple of flaws in setting a specific number of books to read: I tend to shun very long books, and I tend to read too fast if I feel I am running out of time. Jane Eyre is a book to savor, but I found myself getting impatient because it was taking me too long to finish. So, I'm sure I didn't give every chapter the attention it was due. So for next year I'm not setting a goal for a number of books, but rather for time each day to read. An hour a day of reading of my own sounds good for a start. Actually right now that seems like a lot; an hour goes by so quickly in this house!
I will be doing even more reading related to homeschooling, but look at what's coming up in the Schoolhouse in 2013: Beowulf, The Divine Comedy (well, at least Inferno because that's the most interesting and fun of the three), To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, and others I would have to look up in my homeschool notebook, which has been nowhere to be found for the past two weeks. I've read all those before, but reading them again is not going to be a burden. There's another plus for homeschooling teens - all the good books we get to read together. I learn at least as much as my children do, of course. I know that's a cliche but it's true.
I also want to tackle at least one really big book next year. For a long time
I've wanted to read the unabridged Les Miserables. I count that as one
of my favorite books but it's been many years since I read it, and I didn't even know
till two years ago that I'd read a heavily-abridged edition. So I want to read it again for the first time. By the way, I feel compelled to say that my interest in Les Miserables has nothing to do with the movie. I saw the stage musical years ago and despised it. I'm not a big fan of musicals anyway, but this book in particular seems ill-suited for that treatment. I know that I'm pretty much alone in that opinion, but there it is.
My reading list can be found on my 2012 Reading page. I'll set one up for 2013 when I finish my first book, which will probably be Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers. I don't expect to do any better on keeping my list updated book-by-book or month-by-month than I did last year, but as always I will give it a try. I had to do a bit of catch-up today to get it done. I also keep track of my books on Goodreads and am happy to see people over there too.
What did you read in 2012? What are you doing to read in 2013? What should I add to my to-read list? It's already pretty long, but I'm always open to suggestions.
I'd set myself a goal of two books per month, one fiction and one non-fiction, not including reading for our homeschool. That's not a very impressive goal, but even at that I didn't exactly make it. I read 15 novels but only eight non-fiction books for myself. But, as always, there is overlap in my worlds. I picked up 1066: The Year of the Conquest for myself, but ended up handing it over to my fifteen-year-old to read and discuss with me. So was it a homeschool book or personal reading? I also read The Monk in the Garden to my kids, but I listened to myself as I read, so I also got the benefit of it. (What, you've never zoned out reading a book to your kids?)
My favorite non-fiction book for the year was The Brother Gardeners; my favorite fiction was either The Invisible Bridge or Jane Eyre. I could break out categories (contemporary fiction, classics) but that requires too much thinking.
Now for next year. I found a couple of flaws in setting a specific number of books to read: I tend to shun very long books, and I tend to read too fast if I feel I am running out of time. Jane Eyre is a book to savor, but I found myself getting impatient because it was taking me too long to finish. So, I'm sure I didn't give every chapter the attention it was due. So for next year I'm not setting a goal for a number of books, but rather for time each day to read. An hour a day of reading of my own sounds good for a start. Actually right now that seems like a lot; an hour goes by so quickly in this house!
I will be doing even more reading related to homeschooling, but look at what's coming up in the Schoolhouse in 2013: Beowulf, The Divine Comedy (well, at least Inferno because that's the most interesting and fun of the three), To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451, and others I would have to look up in my homeschool notebook, which has been nowhere to be found for the past two weeks. I've read all those before, but reading them again is not going to be a burden. There's another plus for homeschooling teens - all the good books we get to read together. I learn at least as much as my children do, of course. I know that's a cliche but it's true.
My reading list can be found on my 2012 Reading page. I'll set one up for 2013 when I finish my first book, which will probably be Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers. I don't expect to do any better on keeping my list updated book-by-book or month-by-month than I did last year, but as always I will give it a try. I had to do a bit of catch-up today to get it done. I also keep track of my books on Goodreads and am happy to see people over there too.
What did you read in 2012? What are you doing to read in 2013? What should I add to my to-read list? It's already pretty long, but I'm always open to suggestions.
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