Many writers suggest that while modern students might be poor readers, who struggle to follow what is going on in a book, they are instead media savvy consumers of film and other visual content.
Thomas Bertonneau suggests in Can't Read, Can't Watch, Can't Comprehend that they aren't that great at reading a film either.
I would suggest that several things feed into this from the general passivity that is fostered by heavy media consumption, to the shallowness of much of what passes for modern media to the self-centeredness and short attention span of the average young adult. Watch even a television series episode from twenty years ago and marvel at how long some of the scenes are, how little it flits from one locale to another. Then try to watch something like Manon of the Spring or even an older action movie like The Great Escape or Rear Window. You do in fact have to develop an attention span and the background to understand allusion. It doesn't just come upon you one day while you are texting.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Picking Homeschool Curriculum
I enjoyed this post from Peace Creek on the Prairie about when not to make a change in curriculum. Reminds me of the refrain in Brave New World: I want new things. I don't want old things. I want new things . . .
Last year we did our first Sonlight core after years of happily doing other stuff. We loved it, but I'd viewed it as a departure from norm and set about trying to plan what came next. I was having conversations with my husband along the lines of, "This year was great, but I have to change." Finally he asked me why I was putting so much work into planning a switch from something that I'd been pleased with.
I was truly speechless. And that's pretty rare.
Turns out that I hadn't realized how much the reputation of Tapestry of Grace had swayed me. I was turning my back on something that had worked really well for our family because it didn't match up with the time I thought we should spend on historical periods. But I was turning to a curriculum that matched the time periods, but where I was spending hours on the computer trying to figure out what books we owned I would use instead of the listed books.
I was proposing spending a couple hundred dollars on a framework, but I was going to change the books and ignore most of the questions in favor of my own. Tapestry of Grace has worked perfectly fine for many other families, including some dear friends and homeschoolers I trust. But I was spending hours trying to make it perfect and I hadn't even gotten past the trial weeks.
My husband asked me why not just do two cores over a longer period of time so I could use Sonlight's scheduling and still have the time sequence that I was looking for. That was such a wonderful cutting of the Gordian knot that I couldn't really argue with it.
So that is exactly what we've done. Sonlight Core 6 schedules about 18 weeks of ancients. That was quick for me, plus it would have swiftly carried us into midaeval and the books for this era are all in storage until we move again. So what we're doing is alternating Sonlight's reading schedule with a few weeks of independent research. We've started with four weeks of Ancient Egypt from the core schedule. Then the kids get four weeks of ancient Egyptian research projects. They pick one topic a week to read up on and make a report for. This is also giving me some space in which to really concentrate on their writing skills.
After the four research weeks are done then we move on to Greece, which will probably have a couple of cycles of alternating schedule with interest units. It will take some discipline to make sure that we do stay on track with the research and writing. But I think this is working so far.
Updates to follow as we see how everything holds together.
Last year we did our first Sonlight core after years of happily doing other stuff. We loved it, but I'd viewed it as a departure from norm and set about trying to plan what came next. I was having conversations with my husband along the lines of, "This year was great, but I have to change." Finally he asked me why I was putting so much work into planning a switch from something that I'd been pleased with.
I was truly speechless. And that's pretty rare.
Turns out that I hadn't realized how much the reputation of Tapestry of Grace had swayed me. I was turning my back on something that had worked really well for our family because it didn't match up with the time I thought we should spend on historical periods. But I was turning to a curriculum that matched the time periods, but where I was spending hours on the computer trying to figure out what books we owned I would use instead of the listed books.
I was proposing spending a couple hundred dollars on a framework, but I was going to change the books and ignore most of the questions in favor of my own. Tapestry of Grace has worked perfectly fine for many other families, including some dear friends and homeschoolers I trust. But I was spending hours trying to make it perfect and I hadn't even gotten past the trial weeks.
My husband asked me why not just do two cores over a longer period of time so I could use Sonlight's scheduling and still have the time sequence that I was looking for. That was such a wonderful cutting of the Gordian knot that I couldn't really argue with it.
So that is exactly what we've done. Sonlight Core 6 schedules about 18 weeks of ancients. That was quick for me, plus it would have swiftly carried us into midaeval and the books for this era are all in storage until we move again. So what we're doing is alternating Sonlight's reading schedule with a few weeks of independent research. We've started with four weeks of Ancient Egypt from the core schedule. Then the kids get four weeks of ancient Egyptian research projects. They pick one topic a week to read up on and make a report for. This is also giving me some space in which to really concentrate on their writing skills.
After the four research weeks are done then we move on to Greece, which will probably have a couple of cycles of alternating schedule with interest units. It will take some discipline to make sure that we do stay on track with the research and writing. But I think this is working so far.
Updates to follow as we see how everything holds together.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Will the Brits Ban Homeschooling?
Having lived in Germany for three years, I'm well aware of the fact that homeschooling is not universally legal nor are parents universally considered to be operating in the best interests of their children. In fact in many places, it seems that the movement is to assume that the children's interests are best determined by outside government officials and "professionals," who operate under guidelines about what is good for "children" even though they may have only a couple hours of experience with the particular child in question.
So I sat up and took notice when I read about some of the proposed legislation to radically regulate homeschooling in Britain. It would seem that the legislation would mostly be effective in England and that it would give immense authority to (dis)approve homeschooling on just about any pretense.
Homeschooling and parental rights protection isn't just an uphill battle. It is a struggle that must be continued by each generation. I'm not a sky is falling conspiracy theorist. But I don't think for a minute that the powers that be on the other side will ever concede that maybe their ideas are beneficial than the decisions of millions of parents who act based on a lifetime of experience with their children.
H/T Why Homeschool
So I sat up and took notice when I read about some of the proposed legislation to radically regulate homeschooling in Britain. It would seem that the legislation would mostly be effective in England and that it would give immense authority to (dis)approve homeschooling on just about any pretense.
Homeschooling and parental rights protection isn't just an uphill battle. It is a struggle that must be continued by each generation. I'm not a sky is falling conspiracy theorist. But I don't think for a minute that the powers that be on the other side will ever concede that maybe their ideas are beneficial than the decisions of millions of parents who act based on a lifetime of experience with their children.
H/T Why Homeschool
Monday, January 25, 2010
Boom and Bust
I love reading about economics. But even if you struggle to understand the basis for economic policies, I think that you'll enjoy the new Boom and Bust video from Econstories.tv the brainchild of a video producer and an economics professor from George Mason University (also home to Walter E. Williams).
Love it.
Love it.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling - Library Week Edition
The latest carnival of homeschooling is up. This one is the library edition at Home School Dad.
In addition to all the posts about homeschooling, the host describes his family's tradition of spending one week a year just visiting different libraries. It makes for a pretty cool adventure, comparing all of those different libraries.
When we are in the US, we tend to haunt used book stores. We are lucky to have family living in areas with Half Priced Books and good library book sales. We even managed to once stumble across a newly opened Half Priced Books in a suburb of Kansas City. We spent the evening eating ribs and visiting the bookstore. Our kind of vacation.
In addition to all the posts about homeschooling, the host describes his family's tradition of spending one week a year just visiting different libraries. It makes for a pretty cool adventure, comparing all of those different libraries.
When we are in the US, we tend to haunt used book stores. We are lucky to have family living in areas with Half Priced Books and good library book sales. We even managed to once stumble across a newly opened Half Priced Books in a suburb of Kansas City. We spent the evening eating ribs and visiting the bookstore. Our kind of vacation.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Daibutsu Hiking Trail - Kamakura
I’ve been itching to go on a good hike ever since the Webelos hike up Jinmuji got rained out. So with my in-laws visiting in December, we decided that it was the perfect time for a hike around Kamakura.
The Kamakura tourist websites have several nice walking tours and hiking trails laid out. And we have picked up the trick of taking a digital picture of the trailhead maps for future reference. This is especially helpful when the map has Japanese and English but the trail signage is only in Japanese. We stopped at a couple of trail markers to compare the kanji with our photo.
We started out at the Daibutsu in Hase. From Yokosuka, this is a short ride on the JR train from Yokosuka station. Then you change to the electric train to Enoshima. Hase is the third stop. I had no trouble reading the line map, but the ticket machine stumped me. Fortunately, the ticket window staff had no problem helping me out. The walk to the Daibutsu was pleasant, with lots of fun shops along the way.
The Daibutsu is one of the most famous Buddha images in Japan. It is a hollow bronze statue and visitors are allowed to go inside, where you can see some of how it was constructed. Don’t miss the giant plaited rice straw sandals next to one of the shops inside the grounds.
The Daibutsu Hiking Trail starts outside the Daibutsu temple area. We left the temple and continued down the street to the right. Just before a tunnel, there is a set of steps heading up the hill. Somehow, I’d neglected to associated “natural walking trail” and “along the ridgeline” with having to go straight up at least a couple times. The kids did fine, but I have a lot of practicing to do if I’m going to climb Fuji-san anytime soon. The trail map was at the top of the stairs.
The trail was well used and generally obvious. There was a fair amount of climbing up wooden trail steps or up the natural steps made by roots. None of the kids had any trouble with the trail, although it would probably be tough for kids with shorter legs.
The upper sign here shows the way to the Daibutsu, while the lower sign indicates the path for the hiking trail. After about two km we emerged into a neighborhood with a view of the bay. From here, most of the walk was on pavement.
Shortly after the trail met up with the road, we took a set of stairs down the hill, following signs to the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine.
The Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine is also known as the money washing shrine. There is a natural spring here. Tradition holds that if you wash your money in the water, then spend it, that it will come back to you many fold. It is a quiet hollow approached through a tunnel in the rock face.
The Kamakura tourist websites have several nice walking tours and hiking trails laid out. And we have picked up the trick of taking a digital picture of the trailhead maps for future reference. This is especially helpful when the map has Japanese and English but the trail signage is only in Japanese. We stopped at a couple of trail markers to compare the kanji with our photo.
We started out at the Daibutsu in Hase. From Yokosuka, this is a short ride on the JR train from Yokosuka station. Then you change to the electric train to Enoshima. Hase is the third stop. I had no trouble reading the line map, but the ticket machine stumped me. Fortunately, the ticket window staff had no problem helping me out. The walk to the Daibutsu was pleasant, with lots of fun shops along the way.
The Daibutsu is one of the most famous Buddha images in Japan. It is a hollow bronze statue and visitors are allowed to go inside, where you can see some of how it was constructed. Don’t miss the giant plaited rice straw sandals next to one of the shops inside the grounds.
The Daibutsu Hiking Trail starts outside the Daibutsu temple area. We left the temple and continued down the street to the right. Just before a tunnel, there is a set of steps heading up the hill. Somehow, I’d neglected to associated “natural walking trail” and “along the ridgeline” with having to go straight up at least a couple times. The kids did fine, but I have a lot of practicing to do if I’m going to climb Fuji-san anytime soon. The trail map was at the top of the stairs.
The trail was well used and generally obvious. There was a fair amount of climbing up wooden trail steps or up the natural steps made by roots. None of the kids had any trouble with the trail, although it would probably be tough for kids with shorter legs.
The upper sign here shows the way to the Daibutsu, while the lower sign indicates the path for the hiking trail. After about two km we emerged into a neighborhood with a view of the bay. From here, most of the walk was on pavement.
Shortly after the trail met up with the road, we took a set of stairs down the hill, following signs to the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine.
The Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine is also known as the money washing shrine. There is a natural spring here. Tradition holds that if you wash your money in the water, then spend it, that it will come back to you many fold. It is a quiet hollow approached through a tunnel in the rock face.Then we continued down the hill toward Kamakura, generally following signs either for Kamakura Station or Kamakura Hachiman Shrine. Along the way, we took a quick side trip to Sasuke Inari Jinja Shrine.
It has a trail up the hill that is lined with vermillion torii gates. The shrine has scores of fox statues, large and small. The fox is considered a messenger. It is a pretty shrine with trees all around. It was very photogenic with reddish leaves and large ferns, punctuated by the red flags and shrines.
Once we emerged from this neighborhood we were quite close to the main section of Kamakura. We just kept following the signs.
It has a trail up the hill that is lined with vermillion torii gates. The shrine has scores of fox statues, large and small. The fox is considered a messenger. It is a pretty shrine with trees all around. It was very photogenic with reddish leaves and large ferns, punctuated by the red flags and shrines.
Once we emerged from this neighborhood we were quite close to the main section of Kamakura. We just kept following the signs.
We crossed a set of railroad tracks and then emerged on a side street quite near the Hachiman Shrine.
This is the gate at the entrance of the shrine (from the shrine side looking out). There was a large crane perched on top of the torii posing against the setting sun. We have had good bird watching here, seeing ducks, cranes and even a kingfisher.
This is the gate at the entrance of the shrine (from the shrine side looking out). There was a large crane perched on top of the torii posing against the setting sun. We have had good bird watching here, seeing ducks, cranes and even a kingfisher.
We fortified ourselves with sweet potato and green tea ice cream in order to have the strength to make it to our favorite ramen shop. They were out of dumplings and ton-katsu, but we made due with some fried rice and numerous bowls of ramen. They were all good but the one with hot chili sauce was especially welcome on this chilly December day.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Egyptian Art Projects for Kids
I've been thinking about adding more art to our week, especially as I admire Barb at Harmony Art Mom's projects with her older kids and I realize that we'll never get there in the high school years without some steps now.
The way that we're stretching out ancients this year almost begs for some good projects (the kids are asking to do a chicken mummy, which would either mark me as totally nuts or the greatest homeschool mom ever).
By far, the site that seemed the most promising was The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia which had a section on Treasures of Ancient Egypt for kids. These activities struck a chord with me because they were about emulating Egyptian art or trying to copy a specific style or technique, rather than being observant about a particular object. I have a pile of Sculpy clay that may become a faux Egyptian scarab in the near future.
I did run into a number of other big museums with education pages about Egypt. Some were keyed to specific exhibits. Others seemed dependant on the museum collection. Others were very nice background info and would probably be a good resource for an afternoon of browsing. I'm sure that I missed several good sites. I'd love to hear about your favorite in the comments.
I checked the National Gallery of Art's education and kids' pages about art, which I had enjoyed before to see if there was anything we could use. They do have the family guide for The Quest for Immortality, an Egyptian exhibit in DC back around 2002. But unfortunately, Egypt isn't this museum's strong suit.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website was more of a success. There is a guide for looking at sphinx sculptures and a guide for looking at mummies, especially later mummies with painted faces from the Greco-Roman period. Also The Art of Ancient Egypt, a web resource which has connections with several curriculum areas. I think you could use these guides if you lived anywhere that had a moderately sized Egyptian collection.
The British Museum had some interesting pages, including a link to their site specifically on Ancient Egypt . This was more directed to teaching about Egypt than discussing art. But it was still a nice resource.
And yes, I did look up the directions for a chicken mummy. I'm still waffling and wondering if a pizza mummy would do instead.
The way that we're stretching out ancients this year almost begs for some good projects (the kids are asking to do a chicken mummy, which would either mark me as totally nuts or the greatest homeschool mom ever).
By far, the site that seemed the most promising was The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia which had a section on Treasures of Ancient Egypt for kids. These activities struck a chord with me because they were about emulating Egyptian art or trying to copy a specific style or technique, rather than being observant about a particular object. I have a pile of Sculpy clay that may become a faux Egyptian scarab in the near future.
I did run into a number of other big museums with education pages about Egypt. Some were keyed to specific exhibits. Others seemed dependant on the museum collection. Others were very nice background info and would probably be a good resource for an afternoon of browsing. I'm sure that I missed several good sites. I'd love to hear about your favorite in the comments.
I checked the National Gallery of Art's education and kids' pages about art, which I had enjoyed before to see if there was anything we could use. They do have the family guide for The Quest for Immortality, an Egyptian exhibit in DC back around 2002. But unfortunately, Egypt isn't this museum's strong suit.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website was more of a success. There is a guide for looking at sphinx sculptures and a guide for looking at mummies, especially later mummies with painted faces from the Greco-Roman period. Also The Art of Ancient Egypt, a web resource which has connections with several curriculum areas. I think you could use these guides if you lived anywhere that had a moderately sized Egyptian collection.
The British Museum had some interesting pages, including a link to their site specifically on Ancient Egypt . This was more directed to teaching about Egypt than discussing art. But it was still a nice resource.
And yes, I did look up the directions for a chicken mummy. I'm still waffling and wondering if a pizza mummy would do instead.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling
The latest Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog.
In this age of failing magazines (not to mention the extra month some take to arrive in my mailbox) and homeschool boards that have been consumed by discussions of appliances, movies and political rantings (from every conceivable viewpoint and a few that aren't all that conceivable at all) I'm finding blog carnivals very helpful in discovering reliable and helpful blogs about homeschooling.
Some of the best ideas and my favorite blogs were discovered from past carnivals. I hope it's the same for you.
In this age of failing magazines (not to mention the extra month some take to arrive in my mailbox) and homeschool boards that have been consumed by discussions of appliances, movies and political rantings (from every conceivable viewpoint and a few that aren't all that conceivable at all) I'm finding blog carnivals very helpful in discovering reliable and helpful blogs about homeschooling.
Some of the best ideas and my favorite blogs were discovered from past carnivals. I hope it's the same for you.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Homeschool Mini Conference
Our homeschool group has about forty families, who are ever changing since we are mostly military families stationed here in Japan. Last year we had a delightful curriculum fair that was a chance to swap and sell books, show off some of our curriculum and stand around talking about the highs and lows of homeschooling while eating and having our kids play on the playground outside. I found that it was very encouraging and was also an opportunity to showcase homeschooling to the dozen or so families who dropped in just to find out what homeschooling is all about. It took some advance planning but I think it is something almost any small group of homeschoolers could pull off.
Location: We used the party room of one of our apartment towers. The room is pretty big, about 30' x 80' with a few tables and chairs. This tower happens to be within sight of a nice playground, which allowed several of the moms to just bring their kids along.
Setup: We added a few folding tables and set out all of the tables along the perimeter of the room. One by the door held piles of catalogs and information sheets. A table nearby was a place to put books, manipulatives and toys that families were giving away. Another table by the kitchen held food. Other tables were for various homeschoolers to display some of their favorite materials. If they had things for sale, they were labled and on the table or under the table in baskets.
Advance Work: The mom in charge spent a couple months before the fair emailing companies and asking them to send copies of their catalogs for the curriculum fair. Many companies were incredibly generous. A couple even sent sample copies of some of their materials. Try to give an estimate of how many people will attend. One company sent about 75 copies of their catalog, which was far more than we could use, even after giving some extras to the library. One of our handouts included a list of over thirty different homeschool publishers and vendors.
Advertising: We simply put out the date on our email list and posted flyers in the housing areas and at the base grocery store and library. This year, we may add some take home flyers that we could set out at the library and community center or for our members to pass to interested friends. We may also try for a short notice in the base newspaper. I think that email contacts and word of mouth may be the best way to get the word out about this sort of homegrown curriculum day.
Attendees: We had not only about twenty families from our own group, but a couple of families who were brand new to the base and were long time homeschoolers, a number of moms of kids who were interested in learning more about homeschooling and even the base school liaison.
Program: Last year we were very free form. We had about a half hour of set up (which could have been a bit longer). In general folks just stood around their tables and talked about what they'd brought. As non-homeschoolers filtered through, we would answer whatever questions they had about homeschooling in general and subjects and curriculum in particular. I brought a lot of science, history and language curriculum that I've collected over the years, just so people could page through them. Since we have to order everything online it really helps to see what different programs really look like. One of my sons set up a laptop with Rosetta Stone in the corner and demonstrated the program to anyone who was interested.
Timing: Last year's fair was around May, which was a good window. Families here tend to go on long trips back to the US over the summer and generally want to have books ordered well before September. This year we're going to try March, which would give non-homeschooling families a chance to visit with us before the April school registration window. If I were doing this somewhere that did have a large conference with a vendor fair, then I would plan the mini conference for earlier so families could look over the show and tell materials and do some research before trying to buy from the larger conference's vendors.
Workshops: Last year we just answered questions as they came up and let the conversation flow. This year we're talking about adding a couple of panel discussions. One thought is to have a discussion on homeschooling in general, especially the rules that govern it and common styles and practices. Sort of a Homeschooling 101 session. Another idea is to have a break out session on a topic, like upper level math, history or writing. Possibly a panel discussion to give us a chance to discuss multiple approaches and viewpoints. This will be something quite new for the group as we tend to focus on field trips and activities rather than philosophical discussions of subject and technique. I'd love to hear what sort of topics other homeschoolers would be interested in hearing in an hour long workshop.
There was some advance preparation required, like ordering catalogs and arranging for a date and location. But other than that, it was pretty much a matter of setting out tables and giving everyone a chance to open up about what they loved and what frustrated them. I think this is an approach that even a small group could pull off. Even a handful of homeschoolers meeting in a living room or church classroom would probably have plenty to share.
Location: We used the party room of one of our apartment towers. The room is pretty big, about 30' x 80' with a few tables and chairs. This tower happens to be within sight of a nice playground, which allowed several of the moms to just bring their kids along.
Setup: We added a few folding tables and set out all of the tables along the perimeter of the room. One by the door held piles of catalogs and information sheets. A table nearby was a place to put books, manipulatives and toys that families were giving away. Another table by the kitchen held food. Other tables were for various homeschoolers to display some of their favorite materials. If they had things for sale, they were labled and on the table or under the table in baskets.
Advance Work: The mom in charge spent a couple months before the fair emailing companies and asking them to send copies of their catalogs for the curriculum fair. Many companies were incredibly generous. A couple even sent sample copies of some of their materials. Try to give an estimate of how many people will attend. One company sent about 75 copies of their catalog, which was far more than we could use, even after giving some extras to the library. One of our handouts included a list of over thirty different homeschool publishers and vendors.
Advertising: We simply put out the date on our email list and posted flyers in the housing areas and at the base grocery store and library. This year, we may add some take home flyers that we could set out at the library and community center or for our members to pass to interested friends. We may also try for a short notice in the base newspaper. I think that email contacts and word of mouth may be the best way to get the word out about this sort of homegrown curriculum day.
Attendees: We had not only about twenty families from our own group, but a couple of families who were brand new to the base and were long time homeschoolers, a number of moms of kids who were interested in learning more about homeschooling and even the base school liaison.
Program: Last year we were very free form. We had about a half hour of set up (which could have been a bit longer). In general folks just stood around their tables and talked about what they'd brought. As non-homeschoolers filtered through, we would answer whatever questions they had about homeschooling in general and subjects and curriculum in particular. I brought a lot of science, history and language curriculum that I've collected over the years, just so people could page through them. Since we have to order everything online it really helps to see what different programs really look like. One of my sons set up a laptop with Rosetta Stone in the corner and demonstrated the program to anyone who was interested.
Timing: Last year's fair was around May, which was a good window. Families here tend to go on long trips back to the US over the summer and generally want to have books ordered well before September. This year we're going to try March, which would give non-homeschooling families a chance to visit with us before the April school registration window. If I were doing this somewhere that did have a large conference with a vendor fair, then I would plan the mini conference for earlier so families could look over the show and tell materials and do some research before trying to buy from the larger conference's vendors.
Workshops: Last year we just answered questions as they came up and let the conversation flow. This year we're talking about adding a couple of panel discussions. One thought is to have a discussion on homeschooling in general, especially the rules that govern it and common styles and practices. Sort of a Homeschooling 101 session. Another idea is to have a break out session on a topic, like upper level math, history or writing. Possibly a panel discussion to give us a chance to discuss multiple approaches and viewpoints. This will be something quite new for the group as we tend to focus on field trips and activities rather than philosophical discussions of subject and technique. I'd love to hear what sort of topics other homeschoolers would be interested in hearing in an hour long workshop.
There was some advance preparation required, like ordering catalogs and arranging for a date and location. But other than that, it was pretty much a matter of setting out tables and giving everyone a chance to open up about what they loved and what frustrated them. I think this is an approach that even a small group could pull off. Even a handful of homeschoolers meeting in a living room or church classroom would probably have plenty to share.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Field Book Bag from Jeans
I once saw a set of directions for making a bag for holding a field book or sketch book out of an old pair of jeans.
I can't remember where I saw it and my internet searches are failing me.
Before I had the directions and no old jeans. Now I have several old jeans and no directions.
Does this ring any bells?
I can't remember where I saw it and my internet searches are failing me.
Before I had the directions and no old jeans. Now I have several old jeans and no directions.
Does this ring any bells?
2010 Declutter Challenge
Someone over at the Well Trained Mind board suggested a challenge for the year of decluttering one thing a day. It doesn't matter if it is big or small, just so you pick at least one thing a day to get rid of.
For me that is so simple, because our apartment building has the custom of leaving unwanted items in the lobby. I've seen (and left) furniture, clothes, books and appliances. Most of the time whatever I leave is gone within an hour or two. So all I really have to do is to decide what I'm decluttering and set it out. No trips to the library or thrift store required.
I thought it might be amusing to keep track of what I get rid of, just to see the quantity of what I didn't need to keep maintaining.
January:
large tub of Tinkertoys, 4 Ikea dinning room chairs, child's folding camp chair, cookie press, candle chime, Hawaiian Christmas cards, slippers, suitcase
For me that is so simple, because our apartment building has the custom of leaving unwanted items in the lobby. I've seen (and left) furniture, clothes, books and appliances. Most of the time whatever I leave is gone within an hour or two. So all I really have to do is to decide what I'm decluttering and set it out. No trips to the library or thrift store required.
I thought it might be amusing to keep track of what I get rid of, just to see the quantity of what I didn't need to keep maintaining.
January:
large tub of Tinkertoys, 4 Ikea dinning room chairs, child's folding camp chair, cookie press, candle chime, Hawaiian Christmas cards, slippers, suitcase
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Photography as Life Skill
It honestly hadn't occured to me to consider photography as a potential life skill to encourage, although you'd think I would, given all the photos we have that are blurred, too distant or missing the tops of heads.
The One Thing has a post on photography that includes several links to tips for better pictures and a photo challenge with levels for different ages.
This was part of the recent Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival hosted by Adventures on Beck's Bounty.
The One Thing has a post on photography that includes several links to tips for better pictures and a photo challenge with levels for different ages.
This was part of the recent Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival hosted by Adventures on Beck's Bounty.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
New Winter Nature Study
If winter is getting you down because you feel like you've been cooped up by snow and ice with no fun nature stuff to look forward to until spring, then you should check out the upcoming winter nature study at Handbook of Nature Study.
You can participate in weekly nature observation challenges available for free each week. Or if you are a planner, you can get all ten weeks at once (with notebooking pages tailored to the study) from Barb's ebook shop. You can even buy just the notebooking pages. Barb has even incorporated music and art study into the nature study.
This is one of the first years in several that we've experienced a good winter (not counting last year when we were totally heads down in moving overseas). We may not have much snow here, but we do have winter birds, bare trees and hibernating insects (not to mention howling winds and alternating cloudy and breathtakingly clear skies).
Looking forward to shaking off some of the post holiday blahs with some good outdoor nature time.
You can participate in weekly nature observation challenges available for free each week. Or if you are a planner, you can get all ten weeks at once (with notebooking pages tailored to the study) from Barb's ebook shop. You can even buy just the notebooking pages. Barb has even incorporated music and art study into the nature study.
This is one of the first years in several that we've experienced a good winter (not counting last year when we were totally heads down in moving overseas). We may not have much snow here, but we do have winter birds, bare trees and hibernating insects (not to mention howling winds and alternating cloudy and breathtakingly clear skies).
Looking forward to shaking off some of the post holiday blahs with some good outdoor nature time.
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