tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77889376658844733312024-02-07T04:54:13.604-08:00The Curriculum of LoveThe Curriculum of Love: The life of a Unitarian Universalist, Director of Religious Education, 2nd generation homeschooler. Mostly I'm just trying to live and love well.Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.comBlogger1241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-10539322755847850172018-03-21T12:21:00.003-07:002018-03-21T12:21:39.702-07:00Homeschooling with a Budget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeqoPqffOdH9mW6HkLqJxpqX_Uy1sX28gu1f4DuajPW4B-nPzoS0sq0QJmtr8QFOc5Qq494ezRka80i6LDaY5XbP0U9rTbBtmNMuTc3t6kIrR92iTlP4xgw4Qy85fhyphenhyphenLRKy5LeeMv5QEG/s1600/Homeschooling+on+a+Budget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeqoPqffOdH9mW6HkLqJxpqX_Uy1sX28gu1f4DuajPW4B-nPzoS0sq0QJmtr8QFOc5Qq494ezRka80i6LDaY5XbP0U9rTbBtmNMuTc3t6kIrR92iTlP4xgw4Qy85fhyphenhyphenLRKy5LeeMv5QEG/s320/Homeschooling+on+a+Budget.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The actual costs of homeschooling can be hard to calculate (although this blogger did a good attempt at it: <a href="https://www.families.com/the-cost-of-homeschooling-vs-the-cost-of-public-school">https://www.families.com/the-cost-of-homeschooling-vs-the-cost-of-public-school</a>).<br />
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After all, the costs include:<br />
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<li>The parent(s) time and possible loss of income</li>
<li>Space set aside in your home</li>
<li>gas and wear and tear on a vehicle for driving kids all over the place</li>
<li>library fines for all the overdue books</li>
<li>memberships and admission fees for museums and zoos </li>
<li>dues for homeschool groups and co-ops</li>
<li>books and curricula</li>
<li>art and office supplies</li>
<li>science kits and lab equipment</li>
<li>camps and class fees</li>
<li>musical instruments and lessons</li>
<li>sports equipment and registration fees</li>
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The calculation of how much it actually is costing us to choose homeschooling is further complicated by this question:<i> how much of this would we pay for even if our kids were in public school?</i> Sure, much would be covered by the schools, but we'd probably still be paying for private music lessons as an extra, and summer camps, and art supplies.</div>
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But it can't be denied that homeschooling and educational costs are one of the larger line-items in our family budget, and this year we needed to make a reduction in that line-item. Last year we spent $11,000 on educational expenses. This year, our goal was to make a 33% reduction. How?</div>
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I started by looking at what we had spent in the previous year and identifying "non-negotiable" expenses: math curricula, books, etc. Then we took the budget amount left after those items were covered and gave half of it to each of the kids as a discretionary educational budget for the year. They are old enough now to make their own choices, we decided.</div>
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Each of the kids are working with a $1500 budget for the year. They are researching the costs, considering their priorities, and managing a budget ... it's educational in its own right. But it's also been really hard ... mostly on me! I hate for them to miss out on ANYTHING! It's like I have FOMO for educational opportunities. A camp that I hear other parents talking about? My kids should do that! A second musical instrument? Yes! Private lessons? Give us more! </div>
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Where does that cycle of more actually get us? Tired and broke? There's a "keeping up with the Joneses" competition that we can all get sucked into, even when we start from a genuine and loving place of just wanting to do good by our kids.</div>
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My kids have not been upset or stressed over this reduced budget, and they've appreciated the feeling of empowerment to make their own choices. It's funny to realize I've been the one pushing us into over-doing and over-spending, and the kids are happy to skip the camps and the lessons. This is good for us on so many different levels!</div>
Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-63235497188527450082018-03-12T12:21:00.001-07:002018-03-12T12:21:05.573-07:00Community Schooling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've reached a wonderful age, when the kids can participate in the community as volunteers, and in the process learn a lot of great skills. We've been painting sets at a community theater company, and while we were there they were recruited into being stage hands for the upcoming show. Now they are learning from a lovely set designer and stage manager, having fun and getting a practical education in the tech side of theater.</div>
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We aren't really only "Home"-schooling, at all. We are schooling out in the community, and learning so much!</div>
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<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-62294696153014653632018-02-26T21:26:00.005-08:002018-02-26T21:26:49.997-08:00Spend Time Together, These Days Are Precious<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've recently seen a bunch of stats (haven't had much luck tracing them to the original studies, so I'm not saying they are good stats and I'm not linking here) about how much time families spend together ... and it's supposedly averaging to under 30 minutes a day now!</div>
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That's pretty shocking to me. </div>
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And, again, it makes me reflect on how much I love the homeschooling lifestyle. My family spends time together - working alongside one another, but also playing and eating meals and engaging in planned "together" time. My 12 year old, in particular, has been asking for even more together time with me recently, such as a "poetry date" where we went to a local bookstore, picked out a poetry book together, and then took it across the street to a coffee shop and read poems out loud to each other while enjoying a hot beverage.</div>
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Or there is a new fad in our house: "doing <a href="https://www.countryliving.com/life/a41187/what-is-hygge-things-to-know-about-the-danish-lifestyle-trend/">hygge</a>". We sat down with cups of tea, lit some candles, and chatted about how to create more hygge in our lives. Then we played a couple quick games of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/FoxMind-5512633-Six/dp/B00AC5B782/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519709091&sr=8-4&keywords=six+game">Six</a>. </div>
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I won't lie ... I'm just as busy as the next parent and sometimes it's hard for me to carve out this time to be with my kids. But they are growing up fast, and although it's a cliché, soon enough they won't be asking me for this time anymore and I know I'll miss them then. So thank goodness we can spend this time together now. </div>
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<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-85308672897641136002018-02-14T07:34:00.003-08:002018-02-14T07:34:41.956-08:00Learning by Working Alongside<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Before there were formal schools, the way young people learned was by working alongside older people. Families and communities worked together, or apprentice programs formalized that arrangement for learning a new skill.</div>
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In general, our society doesn't function this way anymore. Specialization, formal schooling, and increasing age-based segregation all contribute to the loss of this old pattern of learning, although they also introduce new ways of learning. </div>
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I like the new ways of learning too. I've always loved "book learning" and really enjoyed college, and I now also love youtube videos, and will happily learn how to prune a rose or pluck a chicken through a video.</div>
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But I remember learning to sew by working with my mom, and I don't know that it would have ever occurred to me to try and learn it if no one had modeled the activity and skill for me. </div>
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Homeschooling means the kids are just closer in proximity to their parents' work. They are with me for most of the days, whether they go with me to my paid employment (as I did with my parents when I was homeschooled) or are with me for my domestic housework. It gives more opportunity for them to learn by helping, whether they are making French fries, gardening, building a shed, or ironing their Dad's shirts. </div>
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I love this kind of learning!</div>
<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-19851173260826981742018-01-26T20:13:00.000-08:002018-01-26T20:13:08.212-08:00Homeschool Book Club<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfpD2m4zyhGP97mLm7aLBWBBQgczAqAqL56Ryr1NwsChaRIo1k38Bd_yL3EYHl8_y8HcEJq2-44pViOfy7NUIyo4aW2wzBaQx5vly00BBHaOSbIvTeAhF82sBV1BCho2nNkdKEflTMJhxG/s1600/IMG_2879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfpD2m4zyhGP97mLm7aLBWBBQgczAqAqL56Ryr1NwsChaRIo1k38Bd_yL3EYHl8_y8HcEJq2-44pViOfy7NUIyo4aW2wzBaQx5vly00BBHaOSbIvTeAhF82sBV1BCho2nNkdKEflTMJhxG/s320/IMG_2879.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are very fortunate to have a wonderful group on Meetup.com that we are part of ... but unfortunately we are way out on the geographical outskirt of the group. This means that we see all these wonderful group events posted, but for us to attend most of them would require a one hour or more drive each way.<br />
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There are some of us down here on the outskirts, but we just don't have the critical mass. So I decided that I needed to either quit this group this year, or make an effort to host more events in this area. In the summer it was easy, as I could host playground meet-ups.<br />
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I tried one event with a high dollar cost, and was pretty burned by folks not able to come because of a traffic problem.<br />
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But then we had a book club meeting, in a coffee shop. Most of the others no-showed on us, but we still had a great time with the one other person who did show up. I thought this was great! We read a book for our homeschool, and had fun talking about it with another homeschool family. I'll try this again!Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-79342357197664485292018-01-25T14:08:00.001-08:002018-01-25T14:08:21.522-08:00Staying in Control of the Home School<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBc_SmWyiB4jzp5fmgjGkuZ0GXO61At3WznXleMRXRYxY_ls6sbuGdAP6gE_6r3m5X2wMAcF4OBZXIPFfdokjpCKhfrJsjP1051DW0wgC0pVyC2smcMQ0K_EYPAow7Rcc9r2anN6VVDfcO/s1600/IMG_2959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBc_SmWyiB4jzp5fmgjGkuZ0GXO61At3WznXleMRXRYxY_ls6sbuGdAP6gE_6r3m5X2wMAcF4OBZXIPFfdokjpCKhfrJsjP1051DW0wgC0pVyC2smcMQ0K_EYPAow7Rcc9r2anN6VVDfcO/s320/IMG_2959.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Homeschooling can be a little chaotic in the best of times, and when I'm also working a full-time job and managing a little hobby farm and being an active citizen, etc. .... Well sometimes the question is "how much of the schoolwork can we get done in this waiting room right now?"<br />
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Starting off the new year I put together a new Life Management Binder for myself, and one of my tabs is definitely "School". I took time during the break to make collage pages for each area of my life, envisioning what I want out of them. I'm envisioning a homeschool that runs smoothly enough to be the very best of what I hope for in education:<i> inspiring, socially responsible, life changing, sustainable,</i> and<i> resilient. </i><br />
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And, perhaps most of all, I just need to feel a sense of CONTROL. For some that is a bad word ... that might be exactly why some folks homeschool in the first place, to get away from all the Control and Authority. But the opposite ... total chaos .... I find to be very bad for my mental health. And I think it's important for my children that they have two parents who are taking good care of themselves!<br />
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The binder is working out well for keeping this balance, so far. I use homeschoolmanager.com to track assignments and to create weekly check lists, and I print two copies (one for the kid, one for me to keep in my binder). I also have all the quarterly syllabi and other organizational documents in my binder. Then, when I want to check on what the kids need to do still in any given day, we sit down together and go through the checklist marking things off. Since we are working at home, in the car, at the office, and all sorts of other places, a portable system was a must.<br />
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It's only a tiny glimmer of control, but it's enough to keep me sane. ;)Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-83303358793394120472018-01-17T22:52:00.002-08:002018-01-17T22:52:23.914-08:00A Free Racial Justice Education Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I want to recommend that homeschooling families check out the excellent (and Free!) work being shared as<i> The Road to Racial Justice Game. <a href="http://www.roadtoracialjustice.org/">http://www.roadtoracialjustice.org</a></i><br />
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It is most appropriate for ages 13 and up, according to the authors, but my 12 year old was ready for it. I used the game in my Unitarian Universalist congregational setting, but as a homeschooler I think homeschooling families could also make good use of this material.Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-81164763328228673052017-11-14T21:34:00.003-08:002017-11-14T21:34:47.049-08:00A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler ....I really do love the lifestyle of homeschooling. Today was an almost perfect homeschooling day, in my opinion:<br />
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(I took the day off work today so I could do this)<br />
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<li>Mom is up at 5:45 to start chores and pack a lunch</li>
<li>The kids get up at 7am for their chores and breakfast. They went out to take care of the chickens and goats, made their own breakfasts, and got ready to go</li>
<li>7:30 Dad left for work</li>
<li>8:00 all the chores were done and Mom took 30 minutes to do emails for work</li>
<li>8:30 departure for a field trip. Audiobooks (<i>Murder on the Orient Express) </i>in the car.</li>
<li>10:00 field trip time at a Salmon Hatchery and Hydroelectric Dam with our homeschool group.</li>
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That lasted until 12:30, and then we drove back home, eating our packed lunch in the car and returning to our audiobook</div>
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1:30 return to our town, grocery shopping together</div>
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2:30 piano and guitar lessons at the music studio. Kids do language lesson apps while waiting their turn for their music lesson</div>
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3:30, drive across town with a couple errands along the way</div>
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4:00 sit down with one of the kids to do our online writing class through <a href="https://bravewriter.com/">Bravewriter</a>, while the other kid goes online to play on steam with friends. A couple shape poems uploaded to the class website and then ....</div>
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5:00 kids do some chores (taking care of animals, again) while mom makes dinner</div>
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6ish, dinner is done, Dad gets home from work, and we sit down to watch a movie (<i>The Space Between Us, </i>verdict "eh") together</div>
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8:15ish, eldest presents his finished report on <i>Frankenstein </i>to Dad, who fills in the rubric Mom created for book reports</div>
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8:45ish, both kids play some music for Dad from their latest pieces on piano and guitar</div>
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9:15ish, kids off to bed, final chores of the evening for Mom and Dad, all to bed</div>
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Is every day like that? Not at all! Every day is completely different, but that's part of the appeal for me. </div>
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<i></i><i></i><br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-77792960262370099562017-10-10T22:43:00.000-07:002017-10-10T22:43:17.174-07:00Taking a Sabbath<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Part of the "homeschooling lifestyle" that I love the most is the flexibility. There are so many ways to organize and schedule your homeschool, finding the rhythm and routine that is best for your family. We don't have to do school for 9 months and then take 3 off, but instead can take smaller breaks in different seasons and travel on the off-season. Or we can do the "Sabbath schedule" and do school for six weeks and then take every seventh week off. We tried that method last year and loved it in many ways.</div>
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However, this year I identified a need I felt to have a day "off" each week. I work for a church, as a full-time Director of Religious Education, and I also homeschool and hobby farm. It's a lot! I found myself just cramming my "day off" from work with as much school work for the kids as I could, and there was truly never a day for rest.</div>
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So this year we have scaled back. We are only doing school on four days a week, leaving weekends for scouts, chores, church, family sit-down meals, and community volunteering (sometimes for fun too), and taking a Sabbath on Mondays. </div>
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Monday is my day off work, and as much as possible I'm also protecting it from the scheduling of activities, appointments, and errands. There are no To Do lists on Mondays, no appointments, and no fancy plans. There is also no TV watching or computer or video game time allowed, and really limited social media/email (I haven't managed to really go a whole day without checking it, but that's the goal.)</div>
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What do we do instead?</div>
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Family Board Games</div>
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Movie Night</div>
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Puttering (different from chores because there is no plan and you don't have to finish anything)</div>
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Craft Projects</div>
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Read Books</div>
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Bake/cook together</div>
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Be Bored!</div>
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Play Outside/Together</div>
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Go on Walks or Bike Rides</div>
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Train the Dog to Do a New Trick</div>
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Create Music, Write a Story, Make Art</div>
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Etc ....</div>
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The kids sometimes have a hard time with it. It's boring. They long for their screens. I have relaxed a few of the "rules", so now they can watch the news and play video games that they play together.</div>
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I have trouble with it. There is work to do! Time spent this way feels decadent, and hard to justify when there is just so much to be done. </div>
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But yesterday as I spent hours playing a long board game with my children and eating warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies I had helped my daughter bake, I had a thought:</div>
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<i>This is a magazine-perfect-moment. </i>You know how we say "my house isn't magazine perfect"? I'm always wishing I could keep my house clean enough and well-enough organized to look like a magazine picture. But that's the space ... what about the way we live our lives within the space?</div>
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What if I forgot about making everything perfect so that I could have a lovely perfect moment in time, and just had the perfect moment in time right here, right now, in the situation as it was? In other words, since I'll never achieve the time when <i>all the work is done, </i>and <i>the house is perfectly clean, </i>and <i>we have already learned everything we can learn, </i>and in that impossible-mythical time then be allowed to enjoy my life and my children .... </div>
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Well, since that will never be achieved, maybe waiting for it is a waste of this one precious life we have been given. My children are growing up quickly. Yes, they need to learn their math and their history. But in the end of the day, will we measure our time together as a family by how much curriculum we covered, how hard we worked, or even how many books we read? Perhaps instead we won't measure our time at all, perhaps we will simply remember that perfect moment that was warm cookies and a board game, or the time we spontaneously broke into a dance party because a good song came on.</div>
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Maybe carving out the time to just <i>be </i>will let them grow in a way that all the <i>doing </i>in the world was never going to. </div>
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<u></u><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><i></i><br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-81039157163997192322017-08-25T10:57:00.002-07:002017-08-25T10:58:11.261-07:00High School Colonialism and Post-Colonialism Syllabus <br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">High School Colonialism
and Post-Colonialism Syllabus:</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Research the
following:</span></b></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Define the following terms: Colonialism,
post-colonialism, Third World, Global North and South, “West and the Rest”,
Tricontinentals</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Doctrine of Discovery and Liberation Theology</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">History of European Colonialism (include
Columbus, Leopold of Belgium, and look at colonialism in the Americas,
Australia, Africa, and Asia)</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Independence and Liberation movements:
especially Gandhi, Che Guevara, Frantz Fannon</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Corporate globalism, Nestle, and Fair Trade
movement</span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Relationship between women’s movements and
feminism and colonialism/imperialism</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">In your research use:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These books:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Short
History of Colonialism </i>by Wolfgang Reinhard</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Postcolonialism:
A Very Short Introduction </i>by Robert J.C. Young</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guns,
Germs, and Steel </i>by Jared Diamond</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Wretched of the Earth </i>by Frantz Fannon</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">e.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Others as you find them</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These TED Talks:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://youtu.be/I7CyPpnZ7PU"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://youtu.be/I7CyPpnZ7PU</span></a>
“How the colonial past influences how we see the world today”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://youtu.be/s7lmz4UL4wE"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://youtu.be/s7lmz4UL4wE</span></a>
“African post-colonial development”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And others as you find them</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Documentary Films:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bottled Life: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bottled-Life-Peter-Brabeck/dp/B00GCDVPQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1503683065&sr=1-1&keywords=bottled+life"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.amazon.com/Bottled-Life-Peter-Brabeck/dp/B00GCDVPQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1503683065&sr=1-1&keywords=bottled+life</span></a>
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And others as you find them</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And other resources, articles, and websites as
needed</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Final Paper:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The final paper should present your research findings <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and your thesis </i>about colonialism and
post-colonialism.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Minimum length: 4 pages, single spaced, 12 point font</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Include an annotated bibliography</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Due Date: December 1, 2017, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See Rubric for further expectations for grading</i></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-23542094144619811502017-08-13T16:06:00.000-07:002017-08-13T16:06:04.027-07:00The Weird, Lonely, Unsocialized Homeschooler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfLfU6qH-Q3NG5cRN5sLrBMnMZF1k9Ehvi5ZMGdQXpOTJa3aihi3OzHfa-b_CPsPtOQsQnhh_56uNkeU_WNEq3wrn-4OTHDQZuk_-RW135-NYX7UBdqXcRloQHD9Cbqzq8LCgzWYpzBWQ/s1600/IMG_1318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfLfU6qH-Q3NG5cRN5sLrBMnMZF1k9Ehvi5ZMGdQXpOTJa3aihi3OzHfa-b_CPsPtOQsQnhh_56uNkeU_WNEq3wrn-4OTHDQZuk_-RW135-NYX7UBdqXcRloQHD9Cbqzq8LCgzWYpzBWQ/s320/IMG_1318.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Last week I was sitting with a group of other homeschooling moms, watching our kids play at a park and chatting casually about all things homeschooling. My own mom joined me there, which launched us all into a conversation about what has changed in homeschooling in these two generations. Turns out I wasn't the only 2nd generation homeschooler in the group, although the two other moms who had been homeschooled had only been homeschooled for a portion of their education, and had also attended both public and private schools.<br />
<br />
So what has changed? This is only from my perspective and from this conversation .... I have no statistics or data to back this up. But what I see has changed is:<br />
<br />
<b>Social Acceptance</b><br />
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
When I was a kid being homeschooled, it was still perceived as a really weird, fringe thing to do. When I saw homeschooling represented in the media or discussed in the news, it was always in a negative way or framed as something for super over-achiever kids like Olympic athletes or geniuses. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now homeschooling seems to be much more accepted as another possible choice ... a minority choice but not just for the super fringe of our society. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And that might have something to do with ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Greater Diversity</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
The homeschooling population is getting more diverse. People are homeschooling for many different reasons, with different philosophies and methods, and in all sorts of communities (rural, military, urban). But there is also increasing racial and religious diversity. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Networking and the Internet</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
New ways of communicating are making it easier for homeschoolers to find each other, as well. When I was a kid, my parents were part of the state homeschool organization and had some support groups they could be part of, and we did know other homeschoolers ... but only a handful. At one point my parents organized a "science scouts" type of group for about 6 kids. And that was it. It was OK .... I made friends through dance classes or theater productions, so I wasn't completely alone or "unsocialized" (<i>that </i>whole issue is a whole other post!), but I also didn't have a homeschool community.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, there are many homeschool communities. We are part of a Meet Up group online that has almost 300 families in it, and they organize all sorts of events, ranging from a casual gathering at a park to a structured workshop or field trip.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My kids are growing up with other homeschoolers, and in a more diverse community than I did. They are being accepted in ways I was not. Things have changed, in a good way.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-30164476566549822452017-08-02T13:56:00.000-07:002017-08-02T13:56:38.793-07:00High School Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism SyllabusHere's what I've put together for another of my High Schooler's social studies:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">High School
Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism Syllabus:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Research the
following:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Define the following terms: prejudice, bias,
discrimination, oppression, racism, privilege, systemic/institutional racism,
intersectionality, environmental racism, and white supremacy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Define the following: ageism, ableism,
anti-racism, classism, feminism, heterosexism, homophobia, reverse racism,
sexism, tokenism, transphobia</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Social Darwinism and eugenics</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">United States history from the point of view of
the oppressed (see books below)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In your research use:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At least four of these books (you can search for
others as well):</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Time to
Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King Jr., for Students</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A
Disability History of the United States </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Kim E. Nielsen</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Queer
History of the United States </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Michael Bronski</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An
Indigenous People’s History of the United States </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A People’s
History of the United States </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Howard Zinn</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watch and use the discussion guides for at least
two of these movies:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46679.shtml"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46679.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mi Familia</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46681.shtml"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46681.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">American History X</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46684.shtml"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46684.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">SLAM</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46685.shtml"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uua.org/racial-justice/discuss/movies/46685.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Smoke Signals</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watch and discuss these documentaries:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://newsreel.org/video/RACE-THE-POWER-OF-AN-ILLUSION"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://newsreel.org/video/RACE-THE-POWER-OF-AN-ILLUSION</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5895028/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5895028/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">13th</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5804038/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5804038/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I Am Not Your Negro</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Read from at least 3 of the following books as
well:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Between
the World and Me </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Ta-Nehisi Coates</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Notes of a
Native Son </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by James Baldwin</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We Should
All Be Feminists </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Waist High
in the World </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Nancy Mairs</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beyond
Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Susan Kuklin</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Final Paper:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The final paper should present your research findings </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and your thesis </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">about oppression and
racism in the United States and what is needed for us to become an
anti-oppression/anti-racism society.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Minimum length: 4 pages, single spaced, 12 point font</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Include an annotated bibliography</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Due Date: November 1, 2017, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">See Rubric for further expectations for grading</span></i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-38416294574718179792017-07-25T21:37:00.000-07:002017-07-25T21:37:02.565-07:00High School Gender/Women's StudiesAs we transition to High School, we are shifting from unit studies that were very free-form (pick a subject you are interested, mom will get you as many resources as she can find, spend a month exploring them, write a paper and create a project) to a syllabus structure with set topics.<br />
<br />
From the list of options, he chose for the Fall: Women's Studies, Colonialism and Post-Colonialism, and Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism<br />
<br />
Here's the syllabus I created for Women's Studies:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">High School Gender
and Women’s Studies Syllabus:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Research the
following:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is gender? What have been the changing
understandings of gender and gender roles in American history?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When did the Women’s movement first begin and
who were the central figures? (Seneca Falls) What were the issues between the women’s
movement and racial justice movements?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How has women’s inequality been
established/enforced throughout American History?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What was the “2</span><sup><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Wave” of Feminism?
Who were the central figures and events of this moment in history?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What happened to the Equal Rights Amendment?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What are the current trends and voices in
Feminism and Gender Justice, around the world? (look for diverse voices
representing women of color and trans people as well as white American women).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In your research use:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At least two books considered classics in the
field, such as:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Mary Wollstonecraft</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Woman in
the 19</span><sup><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Century </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Margaret Fuller</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ain’t I a
Woman? </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Sojourner Truth</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Second
Sex </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Simone de Beauvoir </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Feminism
is For Everybody: Passionate Politics </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by bell hooks</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">f.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
Feminine Mystique </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">by Betty Friedan </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Find at least 4 gender or women’s studies
TEDTalks and watch them</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And look into at least 4 websites (such as the
following but not limited to them):</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">a.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.womensmediacenter.com/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.womensmediacenter.com/</span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">b.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.feminist.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.feminist.org/</span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">c.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.nwsa.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.nwsa.org/</span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://womenwatch.unwomen.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://womenwatch.unwomen.org/</span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.library.illinois.edu/sshel/genderwomens/gwsweb.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.library.illinois.edu/sshel/genderwomens/gwsweb.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also, Interview
at least 3 women or non-binary gendered people in your family or community
about how they’ve experienced their gender in our society.</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Final Paper:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The final paper should present your research findings </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and your thesis </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">about gender
discrimination in our society and where we should go from here. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Minimum length: 4 pages, single spaced, 12 point font</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Include an annotated bibliography</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Due Date: October 1, 2017, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">See Rubric for further expectations for grading</span></i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-72447023509585230642017-07-24T13:05:00.001-07:002017-07-24T13:05:47.013-07:00Back to the Books!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SOEjrgxwMCsxGPtvQeXE3HHtcJOirWtwfba0UXZkVNeztyLZvsdW2fGxctfOQiQaDaN1fDY_u-_M8jI0Es8m2BpDEdAChgEvFrCDYEKKAfUJFLMhjf8xemfbFrcZMjYS9iPV0kPTZlXF/s1600/IMG_0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_SOEjrgxwMCsxGPtvQeXE3HHtcJOirWtwfba0UXZkVNeztyLZvsdW2fGxctfOQiQaDaN1fDY_u-_M8jI0Es8m2BpDEdAChgEvFrCDYEKKAfUJFLMhjf8xemfbFrcZMjYS9iPV0kPTZlXF/s320/IMG_0601.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Summer is a great time for learning like what I've pictured above: outdoors, field trips, hands on, travel, adventure, exploring. Summer is also a great time for building, gardening, preserving and cooking food, and taking part in community through the many (often free) events, festivals, and camps to be found this time of year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But we school year round. So, although we have been on break from the books since early June, we are about to go back to them! Summer can be a good time for books, too.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7cvlPAw7oVWC6xphCzgP6VBEJFCkTRPoKunGDjFrqfqTjWTjYwBHAbjT-m0RXckHQQPnds-xqG7b_bGW6rXE-pn08LKZ8pMVri-q_NAyjzJwMBbpuoClC_f0wV4R41FrLg4w8I-pze0O/s1600/IMG_0889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7cvlPAw7oVWC6xphCzgP6VBEJFCkTRPoKunGDjFrqfqTjWTjYwBHAbjT-m0RXckHQQPnds-xqG7b_bGW6rXE-pn08LKZ8pMVri-q_NAyjzJwMBbpuoClC_f0wV4R41FrLg4w8I-pze0O/s320/IMG_0889.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
</div>
<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-16442914281181333352017-07-06T09:29:00.001-07:002017-07-06T09:29:53.018-07:00High School Literature ListThe biggest change coming up for our learning adventures is <i>High School! </i><br />
<br />
When I started thinking about what our high school plan would be, I started with the part that would be the most fun for me ... the reading list. I wanted a list that was a bit of the Classical Conversation, but also strongly multicultural. Here's what I've come up with so far (a work in progress, always open to suggestions).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">High School
Reading List:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">English Literature:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Dickens</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Bronte
Sisters</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Jane Austin</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Shakespeare</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Oscar Wilde</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">American Literature:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Twain</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Fitzgerald</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Hawthorne</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Edgar Allen
Poe</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Steinbeck</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Hemingway</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">White Women’s Literature:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Sylvia Plath</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Frankenstein</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Kate Chopin</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Herland</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Harper Lee</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Handmaid’s
Tale</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Multicultural Women’s Literature:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Their Eyes
Were Watching God</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">When the
Caged Bird Sings</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Color
Purple</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The House on
Mango Street</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Joy Luck
Club</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Classical Greek/Roman:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Plato, The
Republic</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Eurypides</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Oedipus Rex</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Homer</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Virgil</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Aurelius</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Ovid</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">European:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Kafka</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Albert Camus</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Dante</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Victor Hugo</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">African American:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">James
Baldwin</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Invisible
Man by Ralph Ellison</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">A Raisen in
the Sun</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Letter From
a Birmingham Jail</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Beloved,
Toni Morrison</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Native American:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Sherman
Alexie</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Indian
Horse, Richard Wagamese</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">An
Incovenient Indian, Thomas King</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Ignatia
Broker</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Moccasin
Thunder</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Asian American:</span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Hotel on the
Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">?</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-2472292805845524982017-07-04T06:23:00.001-07:002017-07-04T06:23:37.330-07:00It's Been Awhile ....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSJDrYGTRDmpFqWI9ZvBHue4WKvFSCbMe8Ys34qAzRqyPsjqlICDzNrcR8GA9_CUDx6fYibkcUREol12ONDP_4LqaEGTzJjxP52J05CqNhTrIIrRr3DBrmA0yaWSLn5MX_EhUeUCnR4aY/s1600/It%2527s+Been+Awhile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSJDrYGTRDmpFqWI9ZvBHue4WKvFSCbMe8Ys34qAzRqyPsjqlICDzNrcR8GA9_CUDx6fYibkcUREol12ONDP_4LqaEGTzJjxP52J05CqNhTrIIrRr3DBrmA0yaWSLn5MX_EhUeUCnR4aY/s320/It%2527s+Been+Awhile.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
This blog has been long neglected. For 2 1/2 years!<br />
<br />
In those 2 1/2 years, we fell into a happy rhythm with our homeschool, found a good software package for helping organize our school, rearranged our furniture and house to find the "right" set up more times than I can count, incurred far too many library late fees on the giant piles of books we checked out, and got one kid done with Middle School and the other done with Elementary School.<br />
<br />
I stopped blogging here for many reasons, and it is harder to blog about family life and homeschooling as your kids get older and want more privacy. Truly, their stories are not mine to tell, and it gets tricky to separate my story from theirs. However, this homeschooling and educational journey is a story I want to tell, and my urge to write and chronical is no longer fulfilled by Facebook or any other short-form social media sharing, so here I am again.<br />
<br />
And I'm back to blogging with a bang! I could have just tried to restart this blog, but no .... I also went and started another! Here I'll focus on learning adventures, and I'll write about sustainable and intentional living over at <a href="https://mypurplehouseblog.wordpress.com/">My Purple House.</a><br />
<br />
So, if anyone is reading this, welcome! <br />
<br />
<br />Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-9782114175578347262015-01-26T10:26:00.000-08:002015-01-26T10:26:28.905-08:00Bringing back out the wooden blocksI might have thought we were well past the stage of using wooden blocks around here, now that there are legos and robotics kits and so forth ... but I would have been wrong! With a choice to do a unit study on architecture this month, the need for "blocks that don't defy gravity" was expressed and we went back to the old wooden block bin (which had been donated to church but luckily could be borrowed back for a couple days mid-week without any problem).<br />
<br />
Classic toys really will never go out of style.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/16188170659" title="block arch by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="block arch" height="478" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7449/16188170659_a0cf6ac9aa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-70220283334925912612015-01-09T10:08:00.003-08:002015-01-09T10:10:20.232-08:00My 2015 Intentions<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/16029124409" title="Embroidery by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="Embroidery" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7467/16029124409_79eaaa6fef_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Happy New Year! Time is still flying past me at a crazy speed, and in this first week back at work after the break I've had meetings or classes to teach every night of the week, so I'm late getting to this blog post that I meant to write first thing in the new year.<br />
<br />
Which is both fitting and a little ironic in light of my Intention Setting for this year! I decided that what I needed to focus on the most moving into this new year is <br />
<br />
<em>To live with attention to the little things that make my life the daily experience I want to live. This means that I will make sure I'm comfortable, things smell nice, I'm eating well, getting enough sleep, living according to my values, and doing the little things (like reading and hobbies and exercise) that make up the texture of a life well lived.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
In other words, I'm choosing to pay more attention to the background rather than the highlights. I'm not setting any lofty goals or planning any big accomplishments or "once in a lifetime" peak experiences. Those are fine and good every now and then, but the problem I encounter is that they add stress and can throw life out of balance. I don't thrive on adventure and change, I thrive on routine and domestic chores. And I want to thrive, not just "do well". <br />
<br />
This doesn't mean I'm quitting my job and becoming a homebody ... I love my work and it would crush some part of my soul to leave the work I do. But even at work I want to focus more on the background feel of things and less on the big events. <br />
<br />
May we all live well, with the time that we have.Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-72139864533089517422014-12-30T16:56:00.000-08:002014-12-30T16:56:00.108-08:00The End of the 2014 Reading Challenge: Close But Not Quite!I'll be finishing this up during January, but darn, I really did come close!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
The 14 x 14 in 2014 Reading Challenge </div>
<div class="post-header-line-1">
<br /> </div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5298646195261494626" itemprop="description articleBody">
<ul style="color: #555544; font-family: tahoma, "Trebuchet MS", lucida, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Pick 14 categories for your reading</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Try to read 14 books in each category</li>
</ul>
<div style="color: #555544; font-family: tahoma, "Trebuchet MS", lucida, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Religion, Ethics, Spirituality, and Philosophy</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-cinderella-ate-my.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">What Money Can't Buy: the Moral Limits of Markets</span></strong></a> </i>by Michael Sandel</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/weekly-book-post-gone-girl-testing-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person</span></strong></a> </i>by Harold Kushner</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-post-horns-enders-game-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Reflections on the Psalms</span></strong></a> </i>by C.S. Lewis</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/03/weekly-book-post-mindful-parenting-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">How to Live in the World and Still Be Happy </span></strong></a></i>by Hugh Prather *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction </i>by Thomas R. Flynn</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>When Spiritual but Not Religious Is Not Enough </i>by Lillian Daniel</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away </i>by Rebecca Goldstein</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-superior-wives-talking.html"><em><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Serving With Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice </span></strong></em></a>by Erik Walker Wikstrom (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Growing Souls: experiments in contemplative youth ministry </em>by Mark Yaconelli (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Liberating Hope: Daring to Renew the Mainline Church </em>by Michael S. Piazza and Cameron B. Trimble (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Reclaiming Prophetic Witness: Liberal Religion in the Public Square </em>by Paul Rasor (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth </em>by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossman</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas</em></li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Work-Related</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-superior-wives-talking.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Serving With Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice </span></strong></a></i>by Erik Walker Wikstrom (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Leadership in Congregations </i>by Richard Bass (editor)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Teaching From the Heart: Theology and Educational Method </i>by Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Growing Souls: experiments in contemplative youth ministry </i>by Mark Yaconelli (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Liberating Hope: Daring to Renew the Mainline Church </i>by Michael S. Piazza and Cameron B. Trimble (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation </i>by Parker Palmer (* double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Hope on a Tightrope </i>by Dr. Cornel West</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Artist's Way for Parents </i>by Julia Cameron</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Sticky Church </em>by Larry Osborne</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Reclaiming Prophetic Witness: Liberal Religion in the Public Square </em>by Paul Rasor (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Universalists and Unitarians in America: A People's History </em>by John A. Buehrens (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Lives of Margaret Fuller: A Biography </em>by John Matteson (triple dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are </em>by Brene Brown (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Art of Extreme Self-Care </em>by Cheryl Richardson (double dipper)</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Poetry</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Sands of the Well </i>by Denise Levertov</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Leaves of Grass </i>by Walt Whitman</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Rumi </i>by Rumi</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Collected Poems </i>by Sylvia Plath * (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Collected Poems </i>by May Sarton</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats </em>by T.S. Eliot</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems </em>edited by Roger Housden</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Crooked Inheritance </em>by Marge Piercy (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Ten Poems to Change Your Life </em>by Roger Housden</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Risking Everything: 110 Poems of Love and Revelation </em>edited by Roger Housden</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Ten Poems to Set You Free </em>by Roger Housden</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Self-Improvement And Lifestyle</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-superior-wives-talking.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Superior Wife Syndrome:</span></strong></a> Why Women Do Everything So Well and Why -- For the Sake of Our Marriages -- We've Got to Stop </i>by Carin Rubenstein</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18148485-hands-free-mama-pb?from_search=true"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Hands Free Mama</span></strong></a>: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters! </i>by Rachel Macy Stafford</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/03/weekly-book-post-mindful-parenting-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">How to Live in the World and Still Be Happy </span></strong></a></i>by Hugh Prather *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/04/weekly-book-post-notes-from-blue-bike.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Notes from a Blue Bike</span></strong></a> </i>by Tsh Oxenreider</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Backyard Cow: An Introductory Guide to Keeping a Productive Family Cow </i>by Sue Weaver</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming </i>by Amy Seidl *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation </i>by Parker Palmer (* double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency </em>by Anna Ness</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has Time </em>by Brigid Shulte (Tripple Dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are </em>by Brene Brown (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Art of Extreme Self-Care </em>by Cheryl Richardson (double dipper)</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Parenting</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-superior-wives-talking.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">How to Talk So Teens Will Listen</span></strong></a>, And Listen So Teens Will Talk </i>by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-cinderella-ate-my.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Cinderella Ate My Daughter</span></strong></a> </i>by Peggy Orenstein (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/03/weekly-book-post-mindful-parenting-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Mindful Parenting</span></strong></a> </i>by Kirsten Race, PhD</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Before They're Gone: A Family's Year-Long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks </i>by Michael Lanza *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting </i>by Jennifer Senior</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>How We Love Our Kids: The Five Love Styles of Parenting </i>by Milan and Kay Yerkovich</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Fed Up With Frenzy: Slow Parenting in a Fast Moving World </i>by Susan Sachs Lipman</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>How to Be the Parent You Always Wanted to Be </em>by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink </em>by Katrina Alcorn (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Five Love Languages of Children </em>by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has Time </em>by Brigid Shulte (Tripple Dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Slow Family Living </em>by Bernadette Noll</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life </em>by Peter Gray (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Sand Bucket List: 366 Things to Do With Your Kids Before They Grow Up </em>by David Hoffman</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">My Favorite Detectives</li>
<ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Tears of the Giraffe </i>by Alexander McCall Smith *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Last Bus to Woodstock </i>by Colin Dexter</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes </i>by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle * (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Cold Dish (Walt Longmire #1) </i>by Craig Johnson</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Maltese Falcon </i>by Dasheill Hammett * (tripple dipper) </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency </em>by Douglas Adams</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Hickory Dickory Dock </em>by Agatha Christie</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Maisie Dobbs </em>by Jacqueline Winspear</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Art of the English Murder </em>by Lucy Worsley (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Grave Secrets </em>by Kathy Reichs</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Science and Psychology</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-american-nations-back.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Back to Normal</span></strong></a> </i>by Enrico Gnaulati, PhD </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11361213-situations-matter"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Situations Matter</span></strong></a> </i>by Sam Sommers</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/04/weekly-book-post-six-degrees-ocean-at.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet </span></strong></a></i>by Mark Lynas</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Before They're Gone: A Family's Year-Long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks </i>by Michael Lanza *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Ungifted: Intelligence Redifined: The Truth About Talent, Practice, Creativity, and the Many Paths to Greatness </i>by Scott Barry Kaufman</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming </i>by Amy Seidl *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way </em>by Joy Hakim (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has Time </em>by Brigid Shulte (Tripple Dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost Notebooks </em>by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (Double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Edge of the Sky: All You Need to Know About the All-There-Is </em>by Roberto Trotta</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life </em>by Peter Gray (double dipper)</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">History</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-american-nations-back.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">American Nations</span></strong></a> </i>by Colin Woodard</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Time-John-Geiger-ebook/dp/B009AEM1LS/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392940075&sr=1-3&keywords=frozen+in+time"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition</span></strong></a></i> by Owen Beattie and John Geiger</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies </i>by Joy Hakim</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>A History of US: From Colonies to Country </i>by Joy Hakim</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>A History of US: The New Nation </i>by Joy Hakim</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Story of the World: Volume One: Ancient Times </i>by Susan Wise Bauer</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>A History of Us: Liberty for All? </em>by Joy Hakim</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way </em>by Joy Hakim (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost Notebooks </em>by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (Double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Monuments Men </em>by Robert M Edsel (Double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>An Indigenous People's History of the United States </em>by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Universalists and Unitarians in America: A People's History </em>by John A. Buehrens (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Lives of Margaret Fuller: A Biography </em>by John Matteson (triple dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Art of the English Murder </em>by Lucy Worsley (double dipper)</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><strong>Books to Read Before You Die/LifeTime Reading Plan</strong></li>
</ol>
</div>
<ol><ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>T<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Sea-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/0684801221/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392940145&sr=1-1&keywords=the+old+man+and+the+sea"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">he Old Man and the Sea</span></strong></a> </i>by Ernest Hemingway (*double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Very Good, Jeeves </i>by P.G. Wodehouse (it's not on other people's lists, but it's been on my TBR list since I was in college and I finally read it)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Cloud Atlas </i>by David Mitchell *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The House of Mirth </i>by Edith Wharton *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes </i>by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle * (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Cranford </i>by Elizabeth Gaskell (* <b>Tripple!</b> dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Maltese Falcon </i>by Dasheill Hammett * (tripple dipper) </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Three Lives </em>by Gertrude Stein (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Years </em>by Virginia Woolf (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie </em>by Muriel Spark (double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Little Women </em>by Louisa May Alcott (Triple Dipper)</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Children's Lit</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-superior-wives-talking.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Squire</span></strong></a> </i>by Tamora Pierce</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Knight-Protector-Small-Quartet/dp/0375829083/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392940303&sr=1-1&keywords=lady+knight"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Lady Knight </span></strong></a></i>by Tamora Pierce</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-cinderella-ate-my.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Burning Bridge</span></strong></a> </i>by John Flanagan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-cinderella-ate-my.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The One and Only Ivan</span></strong></a> </i>by Katherine Applegate</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Book of Three </i>by Lloyd Alexander</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>A Dog Called Homeless </i>by Sarah Lean</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures </i>by Kate DiCamillo</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Red Pyramid </i>by Rick Riordan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Throne of Fire </i>by Rick Riordan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Shadow of the Serpent </i>by Rick Riordan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Summer of the Gypsy Moths </i>by Sara Pennypacker</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling </i>by Maryrose Wood</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Hidden Gallery </i>by Maryrose Wood</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Icebound Land </i>by John Flanagan</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Books Made Into Movies</li>
<ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-american-nations-back.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Great Gatsby</span></strong></a> </i>by F. Scott Fitzgerald</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-post-horns-enders-game-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Ender's Game</span></strong></a></i> by Orson Scott Card</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-post-horns-enders-game-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Horns</span></strong></a> </i>by Joe Hill</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Sea-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/0684801221/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392940145&sr=1-1&keywords=the+old+man+and+the+sea"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Old Man and the Sea </span></strong></a></i>by Ernest Hemingway (*double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Divergent </i>by Veronica Roth</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Cloud Atlas </i>by David Mitchell *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Fault In Our Stars </i>by John Green</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Book Thief </i>by Markus Zusak</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Maltese Falcon </i>by Dasheill Hammett * (tripple dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"> <a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/weekly-book-post-gone-girl-testing-and.html"><em><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Gone Girl</span></strong></em></a><em> </em>by Gillian Flynn</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Monuments Men </em>by Robert M Edsel (Double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Little Women </em>by Louisa May Alcott (Triple Dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>If I Stay </em>by Gayle Forman</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;">Recreational Reading</li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/02/weekly-book-post-gone-girl-testing-and.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Testing</span></strong></a> </i>by Joelle Charbonneau</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Insurgent </i>by Veronica Roth </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Allegiant </i> by Veronica Roth</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/04/weekly-book-post-six-degrees-ocean-at.html"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">The Ocean at the End of the Lane</span></strong></a> </i>by Neil Gaiman </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Battle for Skandia by </i>John Flanagan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Sorcerer of the North </i>by John Flanagan </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Siege of Macindaw </i>by John Flanagan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Erak's Ransom </em>by John Flanagan </li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Kings of Clonmel </em>by John Flanagan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Halt's Peril </em>by John Flanagan</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>A Discovery of Witches </em>by Deborah Harkness</li>
</ol>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"> Around the World/Book Lust to Go </li>
<ol style="line-height: 18px;">
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Book Lust To Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers </em>by Nancy Pearl</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Three Apples Fell From Heaven </i>by Micheline Aharonian Marcom (Armenia)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tears-Giraffe-Ladies-Detective-Agency/dp/1400031354/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392940240&sr=1-1&keywords=tears+of+the+giraffe"><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Tears of the Giraffe</span></strong></a> </i>by Alexander McCall Smith (Botswana) *(double dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada </i>by Will Ferguson (Canada)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Number the Stars </i>by Lois Lowry (Denmark)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Cranford </i>by Elizabeth Gaskell (England) (* <b>Tripple!</b> dipper)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto </i>by Maile Chapman (Finland)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society </em>by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Guernsey)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>The Piano Teacher </em>by Janice Y.K. Lee (Hong Kong)</li>
<li style="line-height: 20px;"><em>Caspian Rain </em>by Gina B. Nahai (Iran)</li>
</ol>
</ol>
<div style="line-height: 20px;">
14. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Women's Studies</span></div>
<ol><ol>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> <i>The House on Mango Street </i>by Sandra Cisneros</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The House of Mirth </i>by Edith Wharton *(double dipper)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Bossypants </i>by Tina Fey</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i>The Collected Poems </i>by Sylvia Plath * (double dipper)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i>Cranford </i>by Elizabeth Gaskell (* <b>Tripple!</b> dipper)</span></i></span></li>
<li><em>Three Lives </em>by Gertrude Stein (double dipper)</li>
<li><em>The Years </em>by Virginia Woolf (double dipper)</li>
<li><a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2014/01/weekly-book-post-cinderella-ate-my.html"><em><strong><span style="color: #669922;">Cinderella Ate My Daughter</span></strong></em></a><em> </em>by Peggy Orenstein (double dipper)</li>
<li><em>Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink </em>by Katrina Alcorn (double dipper)</li>
<li><em>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie </em>by Muriel Spark (double dipper)</li>
<li><em>The Crooked Inheritance </em>by Marge Piercy (double dipper)</li>
<li><em>Little Women </em>by Louisa May Alcott (Triple Dipper)</li>
<li><em>The Lives of Margaret Fuller: A Biography </em>by John Matteson (triple dipper)</li>
</ol>
</ol>
</div>
Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-52151094724735432992014-12-15T16:43:00.001-08:002014-12-15T16:43:34.423-08:00Bringing Unit Studies back into our homeschool<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15895945545" title="Norse myths unit study by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="Norse myths unit study" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7505/15895945545_6bfc52546f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
I hit a wall a few months back, and was incredibly discouraged about my ability to work and homeschool my kids at the same time - it was all too much and no matter how hard I worked at it, I fell further and further behind schedule and felt like I was drowning. <br />
<br />
Some reflection led me to realize something that should have been obvious: I had gone on sabbatical from work this year and allowed the way we do school here to mushroom until it filled all that additional time and energy I had while not working. Slow goal-creep had occurred until we were (rather ridiculously) trying to do <em>two </em>foreign languages per child (and they had selected different languages!), American History AND Ancient World History (once again different programs for each child), and on and on .... Basically each time I encountered something I thought we should be learning, I just added it right on top as if we could do it all at once.<br />
<br />
No wonder I couldn't keep up with my own expectations. <br />
<br />
We simplified. A lot. I kept the core skills stuff in place: math, grammar, spelling, handwriting, reading, writing, typing. Music lessons continue. My daughter dropped her "extra" foreign language, while my son decided to continue trying to do Spanish with his sister and German on his own. And then we just let go of all the literature, science, and history we had been studying. <br />
<br />
It's not that I don't think science and history are important. I just couldn't maintain that we had to follow these timelines and programs, on top of everything else. Instead we have turned to Unit Studies again. And I'm turning the managing of the unit study over to the kids themselves.<br />
<br />
Our interpretation of the unit study method:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Ask the kid what they want to study. Have them pick a topic for the next unit study.</li>
<li>Acquire a rich variety of resources and supplies for them to use as they study this topic.</li>
<li>Give them three weeks to study the topic, with a daily place holder of "Unit Study Time" on their assignments.</li>
<li>On the last week of the month, there are no other assignments except for the essentials(practicing musical instruments for us), and all the time is spent on wrapping up the unit study and preparing for Presentations.</li>
<li>Presentations must always consist of a written report And something else of their choice (a poster, a movie, a hands-on demonstration, etc).</li>
<li>Get a real audience for the Presentation, even if it is only the Other Parent (the one that is less involved in the daily homeschooling) or a Grandparent.</li>
</ol>
Repeat, with a new randomly chosen topic the next month!<br />
<br />
So far, this has been a Huge Improvement for us. I have handed the responsibility for this part of their learning over to the children, to a fairly great extent. They are studying things they want to study, so their motivation is their own and I don't have to supply it through my management. It's more fun, and no doubt they will remember these topics and projects more because they had intrinsic motivation and applied meaning - all that good stuff we want to foster with our pedagogy. <br />
<br />
No doubt my children will have strange and unique educations as they wend their way through the paths of knowledge guided by pure whimsy and wonder. But that will be just fine, I think.<br />
<br />
(What have we studied so far? Norse Mythology, "other alphabets" - which then settled into "Runes", Cooking, and Steampunk. In January they have selected Marine Biology and Medieval Architecture.)Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-74863082536217454942014-12-03T17:56:00.000-08:002014-12-03T17:56:08.064-08:00The Walking Challenge, a year in review<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15902363586" title="Black Friday Hike by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="Black Friday Hike" height="480" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8601/15902363586_806930b5b5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Well, it has been the full year for our walking challenge, and here are the results: We FAILED.<br />
<br />
The backstory:<br />
<br />
<em>Last Thanksgiving we went on a Black Friday hike with my mom and the kids, on a busy and popular trail. The kids were, in my opinion, ridiculously lame about it and whined and sat down and claimed to be unable to walk on. I have a crazy inner drill sergeant in my head (who yells, and I know that's not nice, but well ...) and before you could say "she's gonna blow!" there I was giving my children the full brunt of it. "You think this is bad?!!!! Alright - if you can't handle this then clearly you need to WALK 100 MILES!" Or something like that. And so we had the challenge; we would walk 100 miles before the next Thanksgiving.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
Here's the post I <a href="http://curriculumoflove.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-new-walking-challenge.html">wrote about it last year</a>, for the fresher perspective on how it went down.<br />
<br />
I set up an excel spreadsheet and instituted a policy of one diet breaking treat for every five miles logged (diet breaking in the sense that I let the kids have gluten after five miles - our convoluted dietary story can be another post for another time).<br />
<br />
We were amazing at first. I was getting them out and making them walk local trails about three days a week, even through the cold winter weather. Then it started to be an issue ... how much time did we really have for this? <br />
<br />
Then we ran out of local hikes that we hadn't done already, and that was a downer ... driving farther afield took even more time and then we couldn't do that on a weekday. <br />
<br />
All of these are nothing but excuses. <em>Excuses! </em>screams my inner drill sergeant. But you know what? I'm OK with that.<br />
<br />
We walked 50 miles together this year. Only half of the randomly selected huge scary goal I pulled out of my a$$ when my kids irritated me. We didn't count any miles I did by myself, and we didn't count miles done by bike. We did some urban walking - especially when on trips to Portland and Boston - but mostly we explored all the walking trails in our town and did some close-by hikes. And the kids got better at it. They have more stamina, and they have a reference for long walks. How long will this be? Oh, about as long as the loop around the creek. When will we get a break? When we see a nice spot for getting out our sandwiches. <br />
<br />
We went out together again this Black Friday. The kids wanted to drive out to a cool trail we had done earlier in the year, but the website warned it might be closed for the season, so we opted for a close stand-by trail. The kids weren't thrilled to be doing "this one again!", and my daughter bailed and sat down and we finished the last half-mile or so without her and then collected her again on our way back. <br />
<br />
But, folks, we did a 4 mile walk together without much fuss or bother. I didn't freak out - I'd come to understand what motivates the kids and when they can't be pushed any further. The kids whined but not too much. They know the drill now. And we talked about it and decided that this year we want to do another challenge - 60 miles, so just 10 more than we did last year. <br />
<br />
That, I think we can do. Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-72022168210006298412014-11-24T09:40:00.002-08:002014-11-24T09:40:45.698-08:00The Faith of a Naturalist: a Book Post<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15762707032" title="Darwin Book by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="Darwin Book" height="640" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8124/15762707032_6b130c37c5_z.jpg" width="478" /></a><br />
<br />
Today is the anniversary of the publication of <em>The Origin of the Species, </em>by Charles Darwin. As I regularly make it a practice to find good resources for my congregation and put them into calendars that mark dates like these, last month I checked out a bunch of Darwin books from the library. Many I was already familiar with (<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Beetle-Too-Many-Extraordinary/dp/0763668435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416849835&sr=1-1&keywords=one+beetle+too+many">One Beetle Too Many</a> </em>and <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Humblebee-Hunter-Inspired-Experiments-Children/dp/142311356X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416849894&sr=1-2&keywords=bumblebee+hunter">The Humblebee Hunter</a> </em>are my favorite picture books, and I really like the YA novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Emma-Darwins-Leap-Faith/dp/0312661045/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416849935&sr=1-1&keywords=charles+and+emma+the+darwins%27+leap+of+faith"><em>Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith</em></a><em>), </em>but I also received a stack I had not read before and I had to choose just one as I didn't have time for them all. My choice was a fortuitous one, and I am happy to say that <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pilgrim-Great-Bird-Continent-Importance/dp/0316836648/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416850068&sr=1-1&keywords=pilgrim+on+the+great+bird+continent">Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent</a>: The Importance of Everything and Other Lessons from Darwin's Lost </em>Notebooks by Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a most fascinating book.<br />
<br />
Unlike other books about Darwin that I have read, this book focuses on the inner journey and his growth as a naturalist through the daily writings he kept on his trip aboard the Beagle. Haupt is herself a student of ornithology, so she admits to focusing on his work with birds mainly because that was the part that interested her the most, but also because she thinks birds are one of the more accessible areas of nature study for the general public. As I also like to casually watch birds, I found myself agreeing with her.<br />
<br />
While there is a great deal of interesting science and history here, in the end it wasn't the science or the history of the book that was the real take-away for me. Haupt describes what she calls "the faith of a naturalist" and uses examples from Darwin and from her own life and studies as well as a few interviews she conducts that were in some way related to her topic. She weaves between the historical and the modern, the scientific and the philosophical, and it was a lovely and thought-provoking progression.<br />
<br />
A few quotes:<br />
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<em>In our own lives as homespun naturalists, the moments we do manage to spend becoming educated by our native places can wend their way into our daily lives, making it more and more difficult to see ourselves as individuals, self-sufficient and cordoned off somehow from our humus-y ground. We begin to see, rather, our lives as embodied, unseparate, inseparable, rushing forward with the whole of wild life.</em><br />
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<em>Yet it is here, in the spaces between what can be seen and what can be spoken, that the naturalist's faith often lies. This is why it is called faith. Intimacy, residence, patience, a sense of dwelling alongside wild nature, earthen insight, gratitude, affection, kindness, a kind of grace, a kind of joy - all of these unutterable things find a place in the naturalist's task.</em><br />
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Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-51056975326132162512014-11-22T10:56:00.000-08:002014-11-22T10:56:51.761-08:00Large Doses of the Outdoors<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/14529132504" title="IMG_0671 by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0671" height="480" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/14529132504_bdf4cf3b27_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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This year we found a wonderful program for my son to do, attending the "Environmental Connections Outdoor School" which is a once a week full day of nature study, free play, and exploration outdoors. They meet in a local park, and they do have a picnic shelter with a roof but otherwise they are really outdoors all day, all year.<br />
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Yesterday was a rainy and blustery day, which my daughter and I spent indoors (at church and at home) and <em>still </em>felt the need to go out for steaming hot bowls of pho for lunch. As we looked out the window at the rain, we said "poor buddy, he's probably all wet and miserable".<br />
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When I picked him up, however, the sight that met me was not a bunch of bedraggled children huddled under a picnic shelter. Instead, the children were playing in a shelter they had built in the woods, playing tug of war with an ivy vine they found that was apparently indestructible, and sliding through mud puddles and pits. Yes, my son was all wet and dirty, but he was decidedly Not Miserable. In fact, he said he had the best day ever and couldn't wait to do it again. He had spent the rainy day carving sticks, building a fort, dissecting owl pellets, hearing local history stories (about the first peoples of this land and the settlers who came later), and generally having a grand time. <br />
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We all belong outside, but children especially should be outdoors. The connection with nature, the survival and resiliency skills learned, the healthy benefits of fresh air and plenty of physical activity - these are precious and valuable aspects of outdoor education. <br />
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I'm so glad that 20 % of my son's schooling time is now spent in this way!<br />
Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-84667929922799370242014-11-17T15:40:00.001-08:002014-11-17T15:40:58.755-08:00Christmas just keeps running over Thanksgiving<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15789407116" title="ornament making at church by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="ornament making at church" height="640" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7512/15789407116_6c86e2909c_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><br />
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It's hard to keep Christmas at bay right now. We've put away all of our Halloween decorations, and the little box of Thanksgiving decorations is always a disappointment to open compared to the multiple bins I have for Halloween and Christmas. The kids are already working on Christmas songs for their music lessons, I've ordered my cards, made my plans, and we had an ornament making party for the Giving Tree project at church yesterday.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15814631212" title="ornament making by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="ornament making" height="480" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7509/15814631212_b5ef7e123c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I'm torn on this issue - on the one hand the Christmas Machine is just such a monster that it does need to be contained (and a simple Thanksgiving focused on gratitude for what we have is such a lovely thing it shouldn't get sacrificed to the beast) and then on the other hand the To Do list for December gets overwhelming and getting a jump on it makes it all much more manageable.<br />
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So I've done a few Christmas things. But now, to focus back on Thanksgiving and just tuck those things away!<br />
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Back to the Turkeys!<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15812923095" title="handprint turkeys by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="handprint turkeys" height="478" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8572/15812923095_9f5271b1eb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788937665884473331.post-80079693760827786352014-11-10T16:56:00.001-08:002014-11-10T16:56:12.812-08:00More Books (my new hobby seems to be posing books where I was sitting when I read them)<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33107035@N00/15134913563" title="2014-11-08 14.04.31 by s_lew99, on Flickr"><img alt="2014-11-08 14.04.31" height="640" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3949/15134913563_3521b71dee_z.jpg" width="478" /></a><br />
<em>Over an anniversary weekend away with my husband, I had some time to read in the Lodge lobby by the great big fireplace.</em><br />
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Last week I hit a milestone: 100 books read for the year. And yet, that leaves 75 to go if I want to finish my 14 x 14 in 2014 challenge (and only 2 months to do it in - it seems not humanly possible).<br />
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Since the 100th book (which was <em>Hickory Dickory Dock </em>by Agatha Christie), I have read a few more:<br />
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<ul>
<li><em>Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats </em>by T.S. Eliot (Poetry category)</li>
<li><em>Slow Family Living: 75 Ways Simple Ways to Slow Down, Connect, and Create More Joy </em>by Bernadette Noll (Parenting category)</li>
<li><em>Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems </em>edited by Roger Housden (Poetry category)</li>
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And then, on my weekend away I finished <em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2728527-the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society">The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society</a> </em>by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Around the World in Alphabetical Order category).<br />
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This "epistolary" novel (meaning it is written in the format of letters and telegrams sent back and forth between the characters) is the story of the German occupation of the Channel Islands and how the people survived and recovered, as well as a most delightful love story. I'm using it for the G letter of my Around the World in Alphabetical Order category.<br />
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The rules of the Reading Challenge do allow me to apply a book to more than one category, so if I pick the books with care I could finish the challenge in less than 75 books - but still I need to get cracking with my reading!Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07884797351411470248noreply@blogger.com0