A few weeks ago I picked up a book on frugal living from the library. It didn't seem to be very well edited; there was a lot of repetition in it. For example, twice within the first couple of chapters the author assured the readers that this wasn't one of those frugal living books that talked about reusing dryer lint. I guess I should have been relieved to read that. But I was just curious: for what purpose do people reuse dryer lint? And, if they are reusing it, for what purpose did they use it the first time?
I'm afraid I didn't get far enough into the book to learn the answers. If anyone reuses, or just uses, their dryer lint, please enlighten me. I'd love to know what I'm missing out on. I just throw my dryer lint away.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Celebrating the first day of school
I came across a discussion of the first day of school on a moms' board I check out now and then. Someone asked for ideas for celebrating the first day of school with their kids. I was surprised (I probably shouldn't have been) how excited some of the moms were about getting their kids out of the way and on to the school bus. I suspect they were not quite as delighted to say goodbye to their kiddies as they made out to be - I know how people can get carried away with the joking - but some of the comments were pretty shocking to me.
I do enjoy some time away from my kids. But I can't imagine being so excited about having them away from me all day, 5 days a week, institutionalized. OK, I realize that people who send their kids to school don't think of them as institutionalized. But the comments about having parties to celebrate getting the kids out of the house (and out of their daily lives) really hit me the wrong way. Wonder how the kids would feel if they heard that?
Then I started to wonder how they'd feel if, say, their husbands were so gleeful when they left on a solo shopping trip. Or if their older children talked about how excited they were to move out of the house to get away from their mother.
Think it would still be funny?
I do enjoy some time away from my kids. But I can't imagine being so excited about having them away from me all day, 5 days a week, institutionalized. OK, I realize that people who send their kids to school don't think of them as institutionalized. But the comments about having parties to celebrate getting the kids out of the house (and out of their daily lives) really hit me the wrong way. Wonder how the kids would feel if they heard that?
Then I started to wonder how they'd feel if, say, their husbands were so gleeful when they left on a solo shopping trip. Or if their older children talked about how excited they were to move out of the house to get away from their mother.
Think it would still be funny?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Local school advertises for homeschooling!
Seen on the local middle school marquee this week:
Welcome back
Fits day of scool
September 5 2007
Those are not typos. It's been like that all week. Has no one cared to fix it, or has no one noticed?
Welcome back
Fits day of scool
September 5 2007
Those are not typos. It's been like that all week. Has no one cared to fix it, or has no one noticed?
Learning to multi-task
"Tablework" just doesn't go over well here. Math worksheets, cursive practice, spelling words - ugh! Who wants to do that when there are great books to be read, experiments to perform (can we skip the lab sheets today puh-leeeeeze?) and life to enjoy?
But there are things we have to do. Though I am an unschooler at heart, I know there are things my kids can't or won't learn without just sitting down and working. I try not to exasperate them too much. I try to explain the value of learning these things. Usually they get it, even if they don't want to admit it.
But today, a small breakthrough. J has learned enough cursive that he can use it to copy out his spelling words. (He has "issues" with phonics and spelling and so we don't do traditional spelling tests. For now it's just copywork.) So I wrote out his word in manuscript and in cursive. It took a while because I had to do my best cursive, which is not great. (I still remember missing an A+ on a spelling test because of my inferior "r." I never did master that letter.)
He was thrilled to discover that if he wrote out the words in cursive, he would not have to do a cursive worksheet today. Either way, it's practice, isn't it? I told him he just saved himself about 15 minutes of schooltime. Which, he was quick to tell me, he already cancelled out by dawdling over his math. OK, another breakthrough! Could it be that he is finally grasping the concept of time and the passage thereof?
But there are things we have to do. Though I am an unschooler at heart, I know there are things my kids can't or won't learn without just sitting down and working. I try not to exasperate them too much. I try to explain the value of learning these things. Usually they get it, even if they don't want to admit it.
But today, a small breakthrough. J has learned enough cursive that he can use it to copy out his spelling words. (He has "issues" with phonics and spelling and so we don't do traditional spelling tests. For now it's just copywork.) So I wrote out his word in manuscript and in cursive. It took a while because I had to do my best cursive, which is not great. (I still remember missing an A+ on a spelling test because of my inferior "r." I never did master that letter.)
He was thrilled to discover that if he wrote out the words in cursive, he would not have to do a cursive worksheet today. Either way, it's practice, isn't it? I told him he just saved himself about 15 minutes of schooltime. Which, he was quick to tell me, he already cancelled out by dawdling over his math. OK, another breakthrough! Could it be that he is finally grasping the concept of time and the passage thereof?
Holly doesn't have this phone number anymore.
Everyone has this experience, I'm sure: after they get a new phone number, they get a lot of calls for the person who previously had the number. We're getting a lot of calls for Holly. It struck me this morning that it's kind of sad, isn't it, that Holly changed phone numbers almost 2 months ago and these people weren't notified. Most of them sound like friends by the say they say "Holly?" when I answer. And some sound very puzzled when I tell them I'm not Holly. Even disbelieving: "This isn't Holly?"
Our last phone number, which we had for 9 years, had been the number of a woman who rented out a vacation house. We got calls for her for years. But they were people looking for a cabin to rent, not people who knew her.
I don't mind getting wrong numbers unless the caller seems to think it's my fault they misdialed or the phone number changed. At least Holly's friends don't slam the phone down when they hear "sorry, Holly doesn't have this number anymore."
Our last phone number, which we had for 9 years, had been the number of a woman who rented out a vacation house. We got calls for her for years. But they were people looking for a cabin to rent, not people who knew her.
I don't mind getting wrong numbers unless the caller seems to think it's my fault they misdialed or the phone number changed. At least Holly's friends don't slam the phone down when they hear "sorry, Holly doesn't have this number anymore."
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
More on The Garden Angel
Who would have ever thought the author of a book I posted some rather off-the-cuff comments about would come across my little homeschool mommy blog and then leave me a note? Well, now I know better.
So, a bit more about the book The Garden Angel. Because although my little "review" will not have any effect on Ms Friddle or her books, I don't want to leave a bad impression. She was kind enough to respond to me, after all! And so graciously.
Yes, it was fluff - which is what I wanted and needed in a book at that time.
The characters were annoying at times. Maybe they were meant to be. Of course we all know that I am easily annoyed, and perhaps annoyance is better than indifference. I did care enough to finish the book, after all. I have sometimes rejected a novel after 2 pages.
This book was uplifting and did not contain the bleakness I so often find in contemporary fiction. It's true I didn't like the ending. I had set up the ending I wanted fairly early in the story. It didn't happen that way.
I wanted one particular character to "get hers" and it didn't happen - I like bad behavior (sin, if you will) to have consequences. Maybe, though, the author would find that that more contrived than the ending she gave it. It's her book, after all, and I suspect she was happy with the ending.
Even though I doubt she will read this, I thank Ms Friddle for reminding me that real people write books, and real authors might come across even this little mommy blog.
So, a bit more about the book The Garden Angel. Because although my little "review" will not have any effect on Ms Friddle or her books, I don't want to leave a bad impression. She was kind enough to respond to me, after all! And so graciously.
Yes, it was fluff - which is what I wanted and needed in a book at that time.
The characters were annoying at times. Maybe they were meant to be. Of course we all know that I am easily annoyed, and perhaps annoyance is better than indifference. I did care enough to finish the book, after all. I have sometimes rejected a novel after 2 pages.
This book was uplifting and did not contain the bleakness I so often find in contemporary fiction. It's true I didn't like the ending. I had set up the ending I wanted fairly early in the story. It didn't happen that way.
I wanted one particular character to "get hers" and it didn't happen - I like bad behavior (sin, if you will) to have consequences. Maybe, though, the author would find that that more contrived than the ending she gave it. It's her book, after all, and I suspect she was happy with the ending.
Even though I doubt she will read this, I thank Ms Friddle for reminding me that real people write books, and real authors might come across even this little mommy blog.
Summer reading
Seems like I used to do a monthly reading post. Well, June and July were a blur of packing and moving and unpacking, and August was little better. Still, we read some books.
First, the audiobooks. These were a life-saver during the move. I don't think we'd have made it across the country without them:
- Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye. This was a gift from some friends, and I admit I did not hear a word of it - the kids listened to it on their own, while Daddy and I were working. They enjoyed it so much they both read the sequel, The Sands of Time, on their own. I know this is against the mommy rules - letting kids read/listen without previewing the books or listening along. But I'd heard enough good things about the books, and I trust my kids to let me know if something's amiss, so...
- Urchin of the Riding Stars (Mistmantle Chronicles Book 1) by M. I. McAllister. This cd set was loaned by a friend. We all enjoyed it very much. A squirrel epic of bravery. Epic of squirrel bravery? What's with all the fantasy books involving small forest animals anyway? I'll look for the further books in this series soon.
- A "Hank the Cowdog" book, the name of which I've forgotten.
- The Fellowship of the Ring by oh, you know. Actually, we didn't finish this. Started listening to it late in the trip, and tried to finish it at home. The kids say they enjoy it but not at bedtime. Hard to go to sleep after an encounter with a Balrog! And they don't ask for it any other time. So we've shelved it for now. Plenty of time.
Now "real" books. Hm, not many:
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. A fun romp, meant to be full of messages about media and government and letting your mind go soft, but we just read it as fun.
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. For history (though we didn't learn much from it). Fun.
American Revolution by Bruce G. Bliven. A Landmark book I read for history. Very good overview of the war. The most exciting moments came when we read of the soldiers marching up Skippack Road - we drive on that road frequently!
J's reading had been picking up but is dwindling a bit again. Well, that may not be exactly true. He often has his nose in a book but he is a "browser" and will look through nonfiction books with lots of pictures (think DK "Eyewitness" series) and will read the parts that interest him. I don't try to log those. But I don't nag him about it either. I'm starting to assign him books to read now; he just finished The Winter at Valley Forge (a Landmark book; I can't find it and have forgotten the author's name) and is now reading Hero of the High Seas: John Paul Jones and the American Revolution by Michael L. Cooper.
But for fun he read:
Akiko and the Alpha Centauri 5000 by Mark Crilley.
It's a Dog's Life by John R. Erickson (Hank the Cow Dog).
Pick of the Litter by Bill Wallace.
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden - his kind of book: he received 3 copies of it as gifts!
E is a reading machine. I can't keep up with her. Only difference between her and me at about her age: she's not into Nancy Drew. This is just some of what she's read:
Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
Dick Whittington and his Cat by Marcia Brown
Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
It's a Dog's Life by John R. Erickson (Hank the Cow Dog)
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
More American Girls
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Pippi in the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren
Ramona the Pest by Beverley Cleary
Ramona's World by Beverley Cleary
Ramona and Beezus by Beverley Cleary
Too many Beverley Cleary books to keep track of
She needs some new challenges. These books are fine, but pretty fluffy. Last week she complained of having nothing to read. I gave her Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, and Black Beauty, but she wanted none of those. So we have to work on the classics. She does want to read Alice in Wonderland but I want the pleasure of reading that one to her!
Oh, both kids are now reading Little House in the Big Woods. We are using The Prairie Primer this fall, making a notebook so we have something tangible to show for our efforts this year. New state, new rules, you know! Also I think everyone should read the "Little House" books and they are not ones J would pick on his own. We're just reading a few chapters a week and doing some of the activities. E would fly through them if I let her. She's read several of the prequels by Melissa Wiley and Roger Lea MacBride.
As for my own reading... well, I'm even behind in my daily Bible reading - I use Tabletalk magazine as a devotional aid (what a weird term) and am just now on July 10. To the kids I've been reading an old story Bible I found in our books. They're enjoying it and we're filling in on some of the less-familiar stories. So I am not living a Bible-less existence, even if my own reading is poor. I did read two novels for fun:
Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle which was complete fluff and annoying at times, but I finished it. Annoying ending, too. For more on this book, please come here.
The Girl With The Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which was just wonderful. I don't usually go for best-sellers because I am usually disappointed. But I kept seeing that picture and finally picked it up at the library. What a wonderful book. I had some moments of annoyance with the main character - a maid in the house of the artist Vermeer - when she seemed weak and didn't do what she ought. Then I remembered how powerless a maid in such a house is. I had a hard time giving up my reading moments once I got into the book, but I didn't peek at the end, as I sometimes do when trying to decide if I want to bother finishing something. Very good, satisfying ending, though not what I expected.
The ending of a book is very important to me. I am very dissatisfied with contrived "happy" endings. I am thinking of the otherwise wonderful book Time of Wonder (about the village that quarantined itself during the time of the plague) which was so good but spoiled by a contrived ending. A bad ending will truly ruin a book for me.
Now I am starting to read Miniatures and Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen by Peter Leithart. I've had the book for quite some time and had intended to reread the novels mentioned before reading it. I've changed my mind and am reading it and the novels as they come up.
So, that's our summer reading. Hope to have a long list for September!
First, the audiobooks. These were a life-saver during the move. I don't think we'd have made it across the country without them:
- Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye. This was a gift from some friends, and I admit I did not hear a word of it - the kids listened to it on their own, while Daddy and I were working. They enjoyed it so much they both read the sequel, The Sands of Time, on their own. I know this is against the mommy rules - letting kids read/listen without previewing the books or listening along. But I'd heard enough good things about the books, and I trust my kids to let me know if something's amiss, so...
- Urchin of the Riding Stars (Mistmantle Chronicles Book 1) by M. I. McAllister. This cd set was loaned by a friend. We all enjoyed it very much. A squirrel epic of bravery. Epic of squirrel bravery? What's with all the fantasy books involving small forest animals anyway? I'll look for the further books in this series soon.
- A "Hank the Cowdog" book, the name of which I've forgotten.
- The Fellowship of the Ring by oh, you know. Actually, we didn't finish this. Started listening to it late in the trip, and tried to finish it at home. The kids say they enjoy it but not at bedtime. Hard to go to sleep after an encounter with a Balrog! And they don't ask for it any other time. So we've shelved it for now. Plenty of time.
Now "real" books. Hm, not many:
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. A fun romp, meant to be full of messages about media and government and letting your mind go soft, but we just read it as fun.
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. For history (though we didn't learn much from it). Fun.
American Revolution by Bruce G. Bliven. A Landmark book I read for history. Very good overview of the war. The most exciting moments came when we read of the soldiers marching up Skippack Road - we drive on that road frequently!
J's reading had been picking up but is dwindling a bit again. Well, that may not be exactly true. He often has his nose in a book but he is a "browser" and will look through nonfiction books with lots of pictures (think DK "Eyewitness" series) and will read the parts that interest him. I don't try to log those. But I don't nag him about it either. I'm starting to assign him books to read now; he just finished The Winter at Valley Forge (a Landmark book; I can't find it and have forgotten the author's name) and is now reading Hero of the High Seas: John Paul Jones and the American Revolution by Michael L. Cooper.
But for fun he read:
Akiko and the Alpha Centauri 5000 by Mark Crilley.
It's a Dog's Life by John R. Erickson (Hank the Cow Dog).
Pick of the Litter by Bill Wallace.
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden - his kind of book: he received 3 copies of it as gifts!
E is a reading machine. I can't keep up with her. Only difference between her and me at about her age: she's not into Nancy Drew. This is just some of what she's read:
Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
Dick Whittington and his Cat by Marcia Brown
Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
It's a Dog's Life by John R. Erickson (Hank the Cow Dog)
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
More American Girls
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Pippi in the South Seas by Astrid Lindgren
Ramona the Pest by Beverley Cleary
Ramona's World by Beverley Cleary
Ramona and Beezus by Beverley Cleary
Too many Beverley Cleary books to keep track of
She needs some new challenges. These books are fine, but pretty fluffy. Last week she complained of having nothing to read. I gave her Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, and Black Beauty, but she wanted none of those. So we have to work on the classics. She does want to read Alice in Wonderland but I want the pleasure of reading that one to her!
Oh, both kids are now reading Little House in the Big Woods. We are using The Prairie Primer this fall, making a notebook so we have something tangible to show for our efforts this year. New state, new rules, you know! Also I think everyone should read the "Little House" books and they are not ones J would pick on his own. We're just reading a few chapters a week and doing some of the activities. E would fly through them if I let her. She's read several of the prequels by Melissa Wiley and Roger Lea MacBride.
As for my own reading... well, I'm even behind in my daily Bible reading - I use Tabletalk magazine as a devotional aid (what a weird term) and am just now on July 10. To the kids I've been reading an old story Bible I found in our books. They're enjoying it and we're filling in on some of the less-familiar stories. So I am not living a Bible-less existence, even if my own reading is poor. I did read two novels for fun:
Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle which was complete fluff and annoying at times, but I finished it. Annoying ending, too. For more on this book, please come here.
The Girl With The Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which was just wonderful. I don't usually go for best-sellers because I am usually disappointed. But I kept seeing that picture and finally picked it up at the library. What a wonderful book. I had some moments of annoyance with the main character - a maid in the house of the artist Vermeer - when she seemed weak and didn't do what she ought. Then I remembered how powerless a maid in such a house is. I had a hard time giving up my reading moments once I got into the book, but I didn't peek at the end, as I sometimes do when trying to decide if I want to bother finishing something. Very good, satisfying ending, though not what I expected.
The ending of a book is very important to me. I am very dissatisfied with contrived "happy" endings. I am thinking of the otherwise wonderful book Time of Wonder (about the village that quarantined itself during the time of the plague) which was so good but spoiled by a contrived ending. A bad ending will truly ruin a book for me.
Now I am starting to read Miniatures and Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen by Peter Leithart. I've had the book for quite some time and had intended to reread the novels mentioned before reading it. I've changed my mind and am reading it and the novels as they come up.
So, that's our summer reading. Hope to have a long list for September!
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