on the arrival of 2013

Especially after spending several days with my father's side of the family in Georgia and North Carolina, we had to bring in the New Year with Hoppin' John and the basic cornbread recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.  After grabbing some exercise at the YMCA and a small afternoon date at the Galaxy Cafe, we had a quiet night at home.  The bigger boys enjoyed watching basketball and car shows on TV.  The youngest became totally engrossed in one of his books he got for Christmas, The Mark of Athena.  And I indulged in a little House Hunters watching, and reading, falling asleep way before the ball dropped.  (No surprise at all to Lyman.)

Starting the morning and 2013 in a quiet house while everyone else sleeps.  Setting the intention to care for myself this year with time with family and friends, adventure, good healthful food, good work, and light, in all its wondrous forms.  It has been quite the year, and this coming one holds much promise.  Blessings in 2013.

Seen and Pondered Sunday

So much input, so little time...

1)  I could be a serious documentary junkie.  An unnamed someone might be known to give me a hard time about filling up the Netflix instant queue with documentaries that I don't get around to watching.  I'm not deterred though.  I'll get to them one day.  Now I can add these to the list:
5 More Documentaries That Could Change Your Outlook On Life from New Urban Habitat.

2)  Drive In Movies.  Went to a special homeschool showing of Elf at the Blue Starlite Drive In last Sunday. It was all kinds of fun.

3)  Beyond Borders: Thinking Critically About Global Issues by Paula S. Rothenberg.  This book is required for a class on international women that I'll be taking this winter term.  I just started it, but find it fascinating so far.  I really like essays as a form, and especially a good collection of diverse essays built around an interesting theme.  (This is related to my love for a good buffet.  I'm all about a smorgasbord, be it food or books.) The second chapter by Janice Monk challenges us to think critically about the motivations and assumptions that we might take for granted when looking at maps, and how they affect our view of the world. It includes a cartogram similar to this one from worldmapper.org:


"The size of each territory shows the relative proportion of the world's population living there."

4)  Freerice.com I got my first smartphone this week, and I've spent more time than I'd like to admit looking for fun apps to load on to it.  I was giddy to find that there is a free rice app.  I've gone through periods in the past where I've stayed up late trying to get to new levels on the vocabulary portion.  And Charlie Brown and I went through a period a while back where we had a grand time challenging ourselves with the Famous Paintings.  Now they've added even more subjects, although some seem a little glitchy still.

5)  Community radio, on the internet.  My friend Molly has a new program on KOOP radio called Dear Lady Twist.  Currently broadcasting online only on Monday mornings from 8-9 am. Get your week started off right.

"'Get up off that chair, dear lady ...' These inspiring words from Gary US Bonds (Dear Lady Twist, 1961) begin the show's theme song. What follows 'has a good beat and you can dance to it.' Jitterbug, twist, waltz, calypso, funky chicken, two-step, slow stuff, salsa, whatever... 'you can't sit down...' Yikes!

P. S. '...do the twist and you'll never grow old.'"

6)  Finally, more Richard Rohr from Preparing for Christmas:

"I believe Jesus was teaching a larger version of what many of us say today when we say that we must 'think globally, act locally.'  Because I am part of the Big Picture, I do matter and substantially so.  Because I am only a part, however, I am rightly situated off to stage right-and happily so.  What freedom there is in such truth!  We are inherently important and included, yet not burdened with manufacturing or sustaining that private importance."

Happy 2nd Sunday of Advent!

Another cold chilly day

We're sitting by this

reading this

Seems like the perfect thing to be doing today.

Author Dick King-Smith

Sorry to hear of the passing of author Dick King-Smith. The boys have enjoyed many of his books, and I've found them especially appropriate for that transitional stage with a reader who is strong, but not quite ready for long, intimidating chapter books. A homeschooling friend of mine first suggested his books when Bike Monkey was about 7 or 8, and we've been enriched by his work.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/dick-king-smith-obituary

While The Sheep-Pig which became Babe is his most famous book, my boys really enjoyed The Water Horse and A Mouse Called Wolf.

Picture book love

"I really love this book." states Charlie Brown today.

Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges

I'm so glad. I'm so glad to have our picture books loved on by yet another boy.

Consuming books

In the last week or so, my almost thirteen-year-old has read the following:

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez APL J FIC ALV

The Last Treasure by Janet S. Anderson APL Y M AND (*Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee)

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes APL Y FIC HAW (Newberry Award)

Operation Typhoon Shore by Joshua Mowll APL Y FIC MOW

The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E. L. Konigsburg APL Y FIC KON (Newberry Award)

I'm so glad we have libraries.

favorite new thing at the library

One of the advantages of restricting technology in our home (my son would have me believe he's the ONLY almost-twelve-year-old he knows without a cell phone or an email account) is that my boys still get excited over things that other kids might not. Like the video games in the childcare at the gym. Or the new, exciting Playaways we've discovered at the library. We've gotten books on CD before, and enjoyed them. But there's something special and compact and "kid cool" about these little MP3-like players that just have one book on them. The library supplies the Playaway, and we have to furnish our own headphones and batteries. And I love that on one website, they're described as being "made of droppable plastic." Droppable is good around here.

We've brought home one of the Percy Jackson series (which my child has already read, but is enjoying hearing none the less) and have checked out Horrible Harry and Mr. Putter & Tabby Stories for his younger brother. So far they're a big hit.

becoming an independent reader

I realized that I haven't posted about books in a while, and have gotten sidetracked with summer travels, gardening and daily life. But I did originally intend to blog about books and homeschooling, as much for my own records as to share with the three or so other people who may occasionally see this blog.

I've just added a sidebar entitled "Favorite Books for Youngish Boys". These are books that I think are really wonderful for a younger, male independent reader. I wanted to clarify that I'm not suggesting that these books are exclusively appropriate for boys, or that they do not work well as read alouds for younger children or might not capture an older reader. I just know that these were very popular around here with my child when he first came in to his own as a reader, around the age of 7 or 8.

At the time, I searched for books that were well written, appealing to a young boy, and would be challenging but not so hard as to be discouraging. Recommended by a very wise homeschooling mom I know, the Dick King-Smith books were a great transition to chapter books for my son. And while I was initially hesitant about graphic novels (or comic books as we used to call them), my sons have loved Tintin and the Asterix series, and I'm very comfortable with the content.

Since I've got another boy coming up on this age, I want to remember our favorites and I hope to continue adding to the list.