This year, there will be no lessons. No study of the pilgrims, nor Native Americans, nor other significant historical Thanksgivings.
There will be no plays, nor poems, nor essays, nor even word searches.
There will only be turkey, and lots of it.
And for that break I am truly thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving!
[...]Now there’s a blog giveaway I can get behind. Leave Amber a comment, and she may make a donation to your favorite charity! Oh, and there could be coffee in it for you, too.
[...]Seated around our table with five of her friends, Mouse celebrated her eleventh birthday.
One is two years younger than she. One is three years older. The other three are her age. All five are Christian. Only three attend our church. Three are homeschooled. Two attend public school. One lives down the street. Four [...]
In case you’ve been procrastinating, take a few moments to vote for your favorite blogs nominated in the Homeschool Blog Awards and take time to get to know a few new ones!
And a message from my official spokesbaby:
We had a roll off delivered to our new property today in order to begin clearing out all the old carpeting and drywall. As the driver backed into the drive, he couldn’t help but notice our many small children running about, anxiously absorbing all that was going on.
How many you [...]
In his book New Pioneers, Jeffrey Jacob quotes a homesteader from Idaho’s description of the joy she has in the way of life her family has chosen:
There is so much more to say, and all I can start with is–this is a most beautiful way to live. [...]
After speaking with my campaign manager about my slip in the polls, we decided a change in strategy was in order. I quickly ruled out mass quantities of spam email, campaign promises I couldn’t keep and ballot box stuffing courtesy of my technologically inclined relatives.
I am going to try [...]
This dog has got to be the most annoying dog we have ever owned. He charges the children when they open the door, knocking them aside for his taste of freedom. Once outside, he runs in mindless circles at top speed, just out of reach, all [...]
I was rather surprised and humbled to find myself on the list of nominees for the Homeschool Blog Awards so a heartfelt thank you is in order for whoever thought my blog worthy. I’m in the Best Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog of 2009. [...]
A repost, in honor of the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9, 1989:
This, for me, was the most powerful image depicting the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The Ziggy-like figure drawn here is der Deutsche Michel, a national self-portrait much like [...]
A commenter recently pointed me to Rod Dreher’s book (and blog) Crunchy Cons in response to my thoughts on the politicization of [...]
Dreams are curious things. They provide a certain sense of purpose and drive, pulling my thoughts ever into the future. My thoughts have been racing along this path since we decided to make this move. Now that we have actually taken the first major step toward those dreams, they are [...]
When we bought our four little chickens, I inadvertently stumbled into the curious world of the backyard chicken. One of the most active forums I have ever participated in is about keeping chickens, especially in suburbia. I guess farmers in rural Nebraska are probably not [...]
Hey, did you know we’re Mexican?
says the little girl at craft table at the library. She couldn’t have been older than six. Her little friend across from her dropped her scissors, mouth agape.
Don’t you call me that!
She was clearly insulted and the table fell silent, all eyes on the offender. [...]
This blog should be moving servers over the weekend. For once, it will be down because it needs to be down rather than just some problem with the host!
The only real problem is that the person doing this all for me has a life, so I’m not exactly sure how [...]
It’s that time of year again. With 25 categories, you should have ample opportunity to show some love to all of your favorite bloggers in this year’s Homeschool Blog Awards.
I’ve decided to go all out for the Occasional Homeschool Blogger Award. I’ve never occasionally homeschooled [...]
Max and Ruby is quickly becoming my favorite children’s show. Each episode is a slow-paced, whimsical tale of everyday life, told from the perspective of a child. Little Max is adorable, and has the coolest toys ever. Let’s face it, what kid wouldn’t want an ear splitter space cadet or [...]
So, we’re moving. That’s not exactly news. We’ve been moving for a year, at least. With a house closing a week away, however, it all seems a little more real this time around. We have been talking and dreaming and planning for so long, it really was beginning to [...]
I’ve been teasing my daughter all week that we were going to get up at four in the morning, grab some sleeping bags, a thermos of coffee and camp out at the State Fair Grounds so we could be the first in line for the library book sale. She just [...]
How do you alienate Christians and make a mockery of conservatives in a single act? Undertake a new Bible translation! The Conservative Bible will allow you to read the Bible without those annoying liberal verses such as these:
John 7:53-8:11 We all know Jesus wouldn’t have stopped a good [...]According to Harold Bloom, professor of English at Yale University,
More than ever in this time of economic troubles and societal change, entering upon an undergraduate education should be a voyage away from visual overstimulation into deep, sustained reading of what is most worth absorbing and understanding: the books that survive [...]
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, spoke on the future of America to students at Lehigh University. Focusing on a depleting oil supply, he pictures the downfall of suburbia (and Vegas) and a revival of small towns.
And, interestingly enough, he sees a reversal of our current trend of [...]
Today, Nickelodean will celebrate its Worldwide Day of Play with three hours of broadcasting silence to encourage children to go outside and play, to encounter that oddity of modern times known as actual reality. I know there are many kinds of play, but the quietness of neighborhoods and even of [...]
With over two million views already, you just may have already seen Kseniya Simonova’s compelling storytelling through sand. But it is well worth the second, third, etc. viewing.
I’m only vaguely aware of the events depicted, yet find myself captivated by the telling of the story and brought almost to tears [...]
I was going to post tonight, but then I got a call at 9PM to show the house in the morning.
I was going to post yesterday, but then my husband got an unexpected day off.
I was going to post the day before that, but then I had a fussy baby.
And, [...]
I completely forgot Omaha public libraries were having their yearly book fair this weekend. Maybe because we do not live in Omaha and rarely go to Omaha, but things like that normally make it on my refrigerator, in my calendar and posted prominently on my computer. This is a revision [...]
Like I mentioned yesterday, I will be watching President Obama’s speech to America’s school children with my children later today. We have little ones around here, so we’ll be using the elementary lesson plans, legal or not. Actually, we’ll be focusing specifically on this question, because it fits [...]
Update: The text of the speech is now available. Is he seriously going to say “God bless you. God bless America” to every student in America?
Tomorrow, President Obama will speak to the nation’s school children, presumably about setting education goals and staying in school. At least that is what [...]
497. While surrounding school districts were starting back to school, we were heading off to visit my parents.
498. While students were still sorting out new classroom procedures and class schedules, we were sharing a water park with thirty other families.
499. While everyone else is in the midst of review, we’re [...]
A week and a half away from our formal start to the homeschool year and I’m feeling excited and apprehensive. Excited because I’ve found some really good resources, the kind I’ve been lamenting the seeming non-existence of for four years. Excited because who wouldn’t be excited at the door of [...]
I understand, little buddy. Really, I do. You are reaching for new things, new abilities, that are just outside your grasp. You are stretching and striving for one thing: the next step. I know how that feels. I’ve been there before, myself. Am there now, actually.
I’m all grown up, though, [...]
Nina Schuyler’s thoughts on the Slow Language Movement struck a bit of a chord with me, especially as my days seem to have become filled with noise. Noise from a house full of young children, noise from an infant who even now is just beginning [...]
I’m totally reposting an old post for My 3 Boybarians’ Blog Hop. Not all that much has changed since the last time I posted on the topic, except that I have a fifth child now. And a kitchen table which is currently buried under their latest project.
First, we have [...]
I received my acknowledgment letter from the state and most of the resources I wanted at least for the first semester. I have a field trip planned which I am very excited about. I made each of the children a little slate on the back of a clipboard to practice [...]
On the way to gymnastics this week, my Baby Bear shouted, “No! Stop!” as we were approaching the railroad tracks. I instinctively slowed down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Railroad tracks,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Yes, dear. But there’s no train.”
“I know. Can we wait for one?”
Sometimes, I wonder if we don’t induce ADHD on [...]
This blog is going to take a short vacation, probably until Monday, while I do my best to catch up on a number of things. I will be reposting a few older entries that strike my fancy as repostable.
While sitting in the children’s area of the [...]
‘Tis the season to inquire about homeschool curriculum and as I’ve been reading along in these discussions, it occurred to me that we have our own cliques in homeschooling circles. “What curriculum do you use?” seems the quickest way to size someone up and file her away neatly with [...]
Rosie Boom, New Zealand homeschooling mother of six, has just a touch of the homeschooling blues.
OK, maybe it is a bit early in the year for that here in the US. After all, most of us are in the throws of planning and purchasing for the year which is my [...]
Somehow, there is a new level of risque attained when you slap sexual messages on a four month old. I’m still trying NOT to picture this sweet little cherub
kicking about in a T-shirt with “I’m living proof my mum is easy” slapped on the front. Even if [...]
Wired’s recent round-up of games being marketed to “tween” girls has stirred up a few emotions recently. With titles such as The Clique: Diss and Make-up, Top Model and My Boyfriend, the list reads like a list of the worst stereotypes of the “in” junior high cliques I was so [...]
After the discussion on my last post, I’ve been wondering just how involved the average homeschool father is in homeschooling. And it looks like the discussion has already begun a bit with Homeschool and Etc., Zimmszoo, and Only Sometimes Clever sharing their thoughts. So I thought [...]
By all accounts, Lisa Naeger is an outstanding homeschooling mother of eight years. She appears to be in compliance with all homeschool laws in Missouri and her children have excelled on measures of academic success according to two professional testing companies, one of which was picked by the court. How [...]
Hey, look! I’m speaking in Heart of the Matter’s 2nd annual online home education conference! My session is so top secret I don’t even know what I’m speaking on yet.
OK, so I’m going to speak on developing an educational philosophy. I’m just behind on getting a picture of myself [...]
Driving into Olathe earlier in the week, I was greeted by a large flashing highway sign:
Fireworks illegal. Happy Fourth of July!
All fireworks. At one time, at least, that included sparklers, though the police seemed to have enough to do that one day without crashing barbecues to confiscate [...]
How I manage homeschooling with children across such a broad age range (10, 6, 4, 2 and 4 months) is probably the most common question I am asked. It is also one of the more difficult ones for me to answer. The hardest is “How do you get it [...]
Catholic Dads recently asked how other homeschool families discuss homeschooling with family, friends and paticularly with the homeschooled children. Particularly the questions of children seem to draw out uncertainties. After all, we have so much power to frame the entire discussion and insert our views into our children. Catholic Dad’s [...]
This happens so rarely, I thought I should make note of it: For once, I agree with the school district.
[...]Check out my daughter’s interview over at The Creative Homeschool regarding her e-zine. Just one more thing to add to the list of what she has been learning through blogging…
Last week, Michael Farris tweeted that Senator Jim DeMint had introduced the parental rights amendment into the Senate, followed by a Friday tweet announcing that the parental rights amendment had garnered 100 supporters in the House. After Michael Farris predicted that the UN Convention on the Rights of [...]
