Paradise Found

Ooh, I’ve been quiet, yes? It’s been a month or so of slight craziness combined with winter yuck. I’m in a making-things-happen period, and much of that has little to do with homeschooling. For sake of an update, here’s what’s been going on around here:

• Eldest is teaching ‘ukuele lessons twice a week. One session for two 7-year-old kids, the other for a 50+ year old man. I think that’s funny. His ‘ukulele website is nearing half a million hits, too, and he’s starting to look into finding advertisers. I think that’s cool.
• Youngest is in a manic Lego mode, building all kinds of vehicles and has discovered this site where he can upload his creations.
• I’ve got one Destination Imagination team this year, with tournament happening in ten days or so. My garage is filled to overflowing with cardboard, duct tape, PVC pipe, and paint.
• Husband is laid off, which leads me to be ever more manic about finding work for ME.
• I just finished an article for Parents magazine that will be out in June. My editor was funny and enjoyable to work with, which is always good.
• I’m in the process of creating two different partnerships with other writers to create two new and exciting projects that I will be telling you about soon!
• I fear that I am finally going to have to succumb to bifocals, as removing splinters is becoming increasingly difficult.
• I’m expanding my garden area to grow more this summer, and anxiously awaiting springtime.
• After reading ‘The Untold Story of Milk’ I’m buying unhomogenized milk in glass jars. If I could find raw milk, I’d be drinking that. Worth a read!

Rumor has it that this is pretty cool stuff!
NASA will send free supplies to any K-12 school, public or private, as well as home schoolers (yay for NASA!). Send the following information to: Rebecca.Griffin@cox.net

School name
School address
School phone number
Teacher’s name
Number of students
Grade
Type of class for 7th to 12th (for example, chemistry, calculus, etc.)
Sounds like a good resource, and who couldn’t use some free supplies??

I can’t remember if I’ve talked here about Omnivore’s Dilemma (excellent book!). But if you aren’t inclined to sit down and read it, the next best thing would be to watch King Corn. If your local video store doesn’t carry it, check your library or put it on your Netflix. It’s absolutely worth seeing, and except for one short shot that might bother really squeamish kids (a cow procedure – no blood, but stomach contents) there’s not anything that I would consider objectionable in the movie.

What is objectionable is what we’ve done to our food system. Incredible. If the recent mercury in high fructose corn syrup news hasn’t dissuaded you from eating the stuff, this movie might. Important stuff to teach our kids, I think!

[Hey! Look! An actual post. About homeschooling, even!]

Yeah, well. Kind of. But mostly it’s going to be a link over to another post that I think some of you may find useful. Miranda addresses the issue of teaching kids to read – or not – over at Nurtured by Love.

My eldest was very much like her kids in the reading department. Always with a book.  Reading avidly and always, from the time he was around four. It just happened.

My youngest? He was slow to read. He like to listen to stories, but reading and putting the letters together to form words was hard for him.  Something about the visuals (for math, too!) just made him freeze up. And yet, now? Always with a book.  Reading avidly and always. It just took him until about the age of eight or nine to get there.

If you’re concerned at all about your child’s reading skills, go read what Miranda has to say!