Archive for September, 2007
September 28, 2007 at 11:54 am · Filed under My Musings, publishing
Kids are funny. Being a book author is NOT very impressive to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. However, having your NAME on the cover of a book is decidedly more impressive.
Here are just a few of the questions I was asked today:
- Do you know what was Shakespeare’s first book? (asked by a very serious student who was slightly disappointed that I didn’t know the answer)
- How did they make jewelry during ancient times? (asked by a group of four very hip, bejeweled girls)
- Are you … famous?
- Do you know where the free bags are?
- Do you have anything I can have?
Note to self: next time bring either free stuff, ride in on a fire truck, or bring a dog like to police department did.
September 26, 2007 at 9:48 am · Filed under home education, curriculum, history, books
I love reading biographies, and love sharing them with my kids, so I was happy to read about Anneographies over at Cynsations (via Jacket Flap). Anne Bustard, author of the excellent looking Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly, features picture book biographies on her blog. A whole blog about picture book biographies. How’s that?
September 26, 2007 at 8:50 am · Filed under island life
I found this beauty on the path to my mailbox yesterday. Surprise!
September 24, 2007 at 11:07 am · Filed under home education
Just in case you haven’t been by LaPaz Home Learning lately, you’ll want to know about the coolness going on over there - A Term at Hogwarts! Check out this link for the plan, and then keep an eye on the blog, where Theresa is posting some fun pictures of the study in action. I am utterly impressed!
September 24, 2007 at 7:59 am · Filed under island life
So, up at 5:30 a.m. AND sore beyond belief. We hiked up Pu’u Wa’awa’a with another family this weekend - 6.5 miles round trip and UP hill. This is the largest cinder cone on the Big Island - we made it all the way to the top.
Notice the foggy looking quality of the picture? It’s vog, a volcanic smog that drifts over the island. With the volcano becoming so active, the island has been pretty hazy.
The kids were far ahead of the adults. Here they are at the top of the pu’u. We were able to see (and hear!) them across a small canyon before we actually reached the top.
September 24, 2007 at 6:53 am · Filed under My Musings
When the phone rings at 5:30 a.m. here we ignore it. It happens frequently enough that we’ve learned it’s usually a time difference challenged caller from the mainland who will either leave a message cluelessly, or leave a stammering message about just having looked at a clock. This morning there was no message, but caller ID showed that it was my dad (unusual). From his cell phone (very unusual). Which he is now not answering. Does this mean emergency? Or does it mean he missed me early this morning? So far, after checking with other family members, no reports of trouble. But 5:30 in the morning is too early to be wondering!
Oh, and here’s a little bit of neighborly insight. Little tiny dogs have barks that carry a long way. It may sound cute to you, but if your dog is barking incessantly, you can be sure that the neighbors two blocks away are saying some not very nice things about your sweetums.
September 21, 2007 at 3:54 pm · Filed under home education
My 12 year old knows how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, but he’s having trouble recognizing when to choose each function. (This is troublesome when doing those dreaded word problems. Given this problem: “Jamie wants to buy a toy car. She earns 5 cents for every bottle she collects. How many bottles must she collect before she has enough to buy the $3.67 car?”, rather than solve the problem, he will first suggest that Jamie ought to get a real job.) In calculating the area of triangles and rectangles, he has trouble knowing what function to use AND remembering the formula for each problem.
Can anyone recommend a game that is 1) fun and 2) encourages players to figure out HOW to solve a problem before doing they do the calculations? I can’t recall ever seeing anything like this. Maybe I’ll have to invent it.
September 20, 2007 at 5:37 pm · Filed under publishing, books
Amazon has a new tagging feature that allows visitors to “tag” a book, helping to place it in appropriate categories. If you own (or are familiar with) any of my books, would you do me a favor and head on over to Amazon (just click the covers in the sidebar) and tag the book(s) with whatever tags you feel are appropriate? The tagging section is about halfway down the page. Thanks!
September 20, 2007 at 4:03 pm · Filed under My Musings, publishing
Well, it’s valentine season in magazine land. So, while everyone else is thinking back to school and Halloween in the no too distant future, I’m playing with hearts and flowers to create some fun valentine crafts. Hey, that’s even worse than Christmas items showing up in stores in September, isn’t it?
Meanwhile, check out the October issue of FamilyFun for my article Ready, Set, Play! It features five energy burning games for kids. Also in the October issue are some very cool Halloween costumes which I had absolutely nothing to do with.
September 19, 2007 at 7:18 am · Filed under fun stuff
It’s What Else Wednesdays, pirate style over at Great Solutions to Team Challenges. And while you’re there, check out my cool slide show. I’m still trying to figure out how to put one up here.
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