52 Books in 52 Weeks - Books 77 - 79
I managed to read three more books over the Christmas break. Here's a quick run down:On Hummingbird Wings by Lauraine Snelling - This is a very nice story about a family taking care of it's own....
View ArticleA Homeschooler Responds to the Common Core
As the states gear up to implement the Common Core Standards, I have heard more than one person wonder what it means for the homeschool community. More than once, I have heard it said that we need to...
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The Homeschool Lunchroom
Lunches are often "catch as catch can" around here. Too often, I find myself declaring the local Chick-fil-A to be our local lunchroom. Well, you can imagine what that's done to my waistline and my...
View ArticleDifficulties with the Common Core
The Common Core has once again come to my attention, giving me an opportunity to do clarify my thoughts by writing them out. I'm not sure that this is drastically different than what I have written...
View ArticleSome Immediate Benefits of Learning Literarary Analysis
All semester I've wanted to sit down with the materials we are using for literature and writing and work ahead to remind myself of the big picture. It's been, well, I'll just say "a long time" since...
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Cycling 101
This past September our family spent a week in Amsterdam, North Holland, NL. It was a great trip, one I enjoyed as it gave me a glimpse into the area where my grandfather was born. It's a beautiful,...
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A Custom Designed High School English Credit
 It's not uncommon for people to design their own unit studies or their own electives, especially at the elementary level. At the high school level, when the pressure is on for college prep students,...
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High School Math - Beyond the Textbook
Textbooks are a staple in high school math. They are a great format for providing information in an incremental manner, accompanied by examples and practice problems. Sometimes, though, math is just...
View ArticleScience is Cool
The theme this week for the Virtual Curriculum Fair is "Exploring the World: Social Studies and Science."Â I could write about the various science textbooks we've used over the years, but that would be...
View ArticleDraw What?
When I read the theme for this week's Virtual Curriculum Fair, "Seeking Beauty: The Arts and Everything that Brings Beauty to Our World, I wasn't terribly excited. Art has never been my thing. You see,...
View ArticleBooks to Read in 2014
Well, I've been doing a lot of reading, but honestly, it's been a long season of reading books that Charlotte Mason would call "twaddle." I'm able to occasionally listen to a remarkable talk show...
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Quilting Runs in the Family
Last year I began the journey of learning to quilt. One of the questions that comes up a lot is "Why do you want to do that? Well, the short story is, quilting runs in my family & my immediate...
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Welcoming the New Year - An Unexpected Start
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:12014 started off in one of the worst imaginable ways. My son became suddenly, critically ill with internal...
View ArticleRetooling Junior Year
As you can probably guess, Â given my previous post, the semester got off to a late start. We ended up dropping the outside Algebra 2 class Rocket Boy was enrolled in. He was having some trouble keeping...
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Welcome, Baby!
In March I was able to attend my very first quilting retreat. It was so much fun spending uninterrupted time at the sewing machine! I completed two quilt tops, both baby quilts for friends who are...
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Marking Time
Today is the first day of summer. It is also the 171st day of the year, which means it has been 172 days since we arrived in the PICU with our son. There have been 170 days since his last blood...
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Crossroads
The season is certainly changing right now. We've had a few days where the high temperature didn't make it out of the forties, I've found all of my sweaters and all of my fuzzy socks and have been...
View Article52 Books in 52 Weeks
I am once again participating in the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. The goal is pretty obvious - read one book each week for a year and then write a blog post about the book. Since I read over...
View ArticleFree Homeschooling Resources for Middle and High School
I remember "way back when" we first entered the middle school years as a homeschooling family. Suddenly the websites that I had routinely visited to create a special activity or worksheet seemed too...
View ArticleWeek 1: 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
Every year Robin McCormack hosts a reading challenge. The goal is to read at least one book per week throughout the year and she is gracious enough to host a blog for participants. If you take a look...
View ArticleReading Challenge Week 2: I Capture the Castle
I Capture the Castle is a lovely book to escape into, written by none other than Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmatians.The story consists of the musings of Cassandra Mortmain, a young woman who has as...
View ArticleReading Challenge Week 3 - Such Good Girls: The Journey of the Holocaust's...
"So, you were in Poland during the war?" asked author R.D. Rosen, making conversation with a likable woman in her seventies during a Passover seder. With her affirmative answer, he then asked a...
View ArticleWeek 4: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in...
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.Edmund BurkeIn the Garden of the Beasts is a factual retelling of the lead up to World War II, when Hitler had a free hand...
View ArticleReading Challenge Book 5: North of Here by Laurel Saville
This story is about a search for "self." Miranda, the main character, must try to discover who she is after tragedy visits her life in spades. While some parts of the story are compelling, others make...
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Book Review - The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish
I thoroughly enjoyed The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish. It is, however, not at all what I thought it would be like. I expected a book about women who were known for their...
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