Ordinary Time

I've been on a bit of a reading jag here recently... if you hadn't already noticed. As I've been thinking about it, it's how I function pretty much all the time. Get consumed with something, spend every moment of free time doing it, losing a bit of interest, and moving onto something else with the whole cycle starts again. My family is rather used to it and are pretty OK with it since I still manage to keep everyone fed and dressed. Usually. It's also how I functioned in school as well, though it wasn't always good for my grades to become consumed with the class I was auditing and not the class I was being graded in. I have also noticed that in several of my children, they tend to function the same way. Being really interested in one thing, working on and reading about that one thing to the greater exclusion of the rest of their schoolwork, then moving on. I have learned to try not to interfere too much in this process as it usually averages itself out in the ...

I read an interesting book last night, The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Wa y by Amanda Ripley. While I'm drawn to books about education, I always approach them with a little trepidation because the theories and worldview behind them can be all over the board. This one turned out to be interesting, if only from an anthropological point of view. The author looks at three countries whose children scored extremely well on the Program for International Student Assessment or PISA. The interesting twist is that she follows three US exchange students as they get a front seat view into the schools of Finland, South Korea, and Poland. I didn't agree with everything the author espoused, but it was fascinating to see into the schools of other countries. There was one interesting bit that I thought worth sharing here. "Parents who read to their children weekly or daily when they were young raised children who scored twenty-five points higher on PISA by the time ...

We're surviving the cold. The Big Ugly House manages fairly well in the cold, especially since we did the big remodel five years ago. (I don't even want to think what the house would feel like without all the new insulation and windows.) That means there are parts of it which are fairly toasty and other parts of it which, well, aren't. M. definitely has the warmest room. It was completely redone in the remodel and the only room which is entirely surrounded by insulation on all walls and with all new windows. Currently, if you go in her room, it has a vague sauna-like feeling. It is probably above 80 degrees in there and I found her and a friend wearing tank tops because it was so warm. Of course, this makes it difficult for her to leave her room, because the rest of the house is NOT 80 degrees. The bedrooms in the middle of the house (J.'s and mine, the little girls, and the big girls) are a pretty average temperature. Slightly cooler than one would like, but not bad ...

We are just a little chilly here at the moment (-15 degrees, last I looked), and as a result, A. has abandoned the Folly and has moved up into G. and L.' room. Actually she moved up there after the ski accident because we thought that extremely bruised and sore legs would fare better in a warmer environment. It was so fun and so warm that she decided to stay. G. and L. are loving it, because it is a party in their room all the time now. A. will put her iPod on the speakers and they will have dance partied together, or they will all snuggle together in bed, or A. will get out her camera and take dozens of pictures.  Since we have been given a day's reprieve before life starts again (J.'s school closed), I am taking down all the Christmas decorations. While I have fun doing that, you can enjoy the fruits of A.'s last photo session with her little sisters. L. is in stripes and G. is in short sleeves (G.'s version of warm pajamas). ...

I did an experiment this fall and tried a modified version of the Five in a Row idea with my preschoolers (both actual and developmental). Knowing that I would never be able to keep up with it every week, I decided to do this style of learning just one week a month. As I think about going back to our regular schedule, I decided to share how things went. Plus, it fits in with my whole book theme for the week. For those who do not know, or are not in the homeschooling world, let me describe to you what Five in a Row is. It is a curriculum that takes good books, usually picture books unless you are using the older child curriculum, and reading the book five days in a row. At the end of each reading, there is some type of learning activity that happens, usually broken up into different subjects... language arts, math, science, geography, and art. I have always been rather taken with the idea, mainly because it closely matches to how we homeschool. In full disclosure, thought while I have...

I currently have books on the brain, so that's what you get here. Perhaps someone needs a new reading list for the new year and I'm actually doing a public service. There was a meme on facebook going around asking people to list the top 10 books that you think about the most. I thought it was pretty interesting and enjoyed seeing other people's lists. I even though of participating myself, but quickly realized that there was no way I could just write a list without annotating it and 1200 word facebook statuses are generally frowned upon... and ignored. So here's my list of the 10 fiction books which I find I myself thinking about; the books which leave traces of themselves in my mind long after I've closed the covers. They are not necessarily my favorite books, but the ones that have made me think the most. They were all good reads and I would recommend them all. I've also tried to be as honest as possible and not just pick the impressive heavyweights that I...

Let's start out the new year by talking about books. It's pretty appropriate because I spent a good chunk of yesterday just reading. It was wonderful. I also stayed up far too late in the evening (early morning?) reading as well. What absorbed my attention? Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. It is the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey series and is far more novel than mystery. If you haven't read it, be sure to start with the other books in the series, first. In order to really enjoy and appreciate it, you have to know Lord Peter and Harriet Vane. A warning, though. I'm pretty sure the series would never get published today. Dorothy Sayers was a proponent of a classical education and was extremely well-educated herself. As a result, there are chunks in her books in Latin, Greek, and French. The Latin I can get one or two words of, none of the Greek, and I can make a passable attempt at the French. She doesn't ever translate, but you can appreciate (and understand) the book...