MeiWei and Miss Katie round-up Dude for lesson time
A surprise snow blanketed the horse farm as thoroughly as the trainer blanketed the horse on this frosty day.
MeiWei has been riding for four years now, and last winter switched barns to ride where there is an indoor ring, allowing for riding in any weather, any season. The trainer is a sweetie and all the horses are good, ol' boys. I love going there for the scenery, taking Mr. Bingley along and getting MY exercise while Mei gets hers.
I am indebted to Blossom at North Laurel School for her meritorious efforts in cataloging all (or almost all) the Ambleside Online curricula that is available for use on the Kindle. At the turn of the year I always find myself re-evaluating our schooling and looking ahead to the next grade (I say singular "grade" because we are in this .02% of homeschool families with only one student). The thought of curriculum fairs--an excuse for shopping with the girls--fills my head and urges me onward through the dark days of winter (of which in truth I don't mind because they give me an excuse to go to bed earlier and sleep in later).
Last year I had the notion, with that partly-Scottish blood kicking in, to do a side-by-side economic analysis of the cost of "paper" books vs. e-books to determine if I would be doing our budget a service by investing in a Kindle rather than obtaining curricula in the usual format. Alas, I could not justify it: too few books for AO Year 3 were downloadable. ("Tell Amazon you would like to see this book available for the Kindle!" the searches would always chirp.) It IS possible that my somewhat limited (zero) understanding of the Kindle's Wi-Fi capabilities, which would allow for accessing public domain books online from sources such as Project Gutenburg , misled my calculations. Or whether that generation of Kindle had even been rolled out yet. It's hard to keep up. They change faster than hemlines on Paris runways.
So I donated plenty of bread to well-deserving Mom-and-Pop curriculum dealers, especially the USED curriculum dealers. (Score one for the tight-fisted Scots.)
But now, Blossom's blog convinces me that I've hit the break-even point! (Oh, joy, a toy!) And then she points us to another Jimmie "I'm-a-Homeschool-Mom-with-30-Hours-in-My-Day" lens on Squidoo.com (love you, Jimmie) that not only gives us all HER reasons for buying--ready?--not one but TWO Kindles, Hers and Little Hers, but includes a video from Simply Charlotte Mason.com comparing the different e-book readers including the iPad.
Ok, now I'm really in trouble because NOW I have to decide if it's wiser to buy the iPad for a "little" more and get all its bells and whistles or go with the e-reader because I could sorta trust MeiWei with it. Great. I love decision-making.
What would you choose?
I know God has a plan for everything, so is it a sign of a fallen world or really His desire that Christmas Tree Needles should proliferate until Easter?
I think glitter should be sold with an NC-17 rating--available for sale only to consenting adults who know how to use it safely and without harming themselves or the environment, especially the indoor environment better known as my house. What might be "pretty" glimmering on paper is akin to slime or excrement on my furniture, carpet, clothing, kitchen counters, washing machine, washCLOTH.....It's used in one end of the house and I find its evidence three rooms away. Send it back to Tinker Bell; I'm done with it! Now how am I going to get rid of these little early Valentines from my DD without scarring her psyche?
PS Let's add sugar cookie sprinkles to that list of controlled substances too.
I've stumbled upon the blog "52 Books in 52 Weeks" before and was overwhelmed at the very thought, not to mention the execution, especially for me. It took me at least 3 months to get through some Jane Austen books. How could anyone who does more than read by the fading light of the afternoon eating bon-bons while reclining on a fainting couch possibly have time to read a book a WEEK? A MAGAZINE a week would be a challenge!
But "52 Books" gives bonus points/grace to those who tackle more than Oprah's Book Club selections. You're allowed to read a classic a month for instance. I might be able to do that with a prod.
I really liked the category options, especially the Well-Educated Mind list. Since homeschooling MeiWei using Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online, I feel the push personally to become better-read. (Can't have the child out-educate me!) So the challenge of 3 selections each from 4 of the five categories. Here's the page from "52 Weeks" WEM list.
But first I have to finish Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford.
I am indebted to Blossom at North Laurel School for her meritorious efforts in cataloging all (or almost all) the Ambleside Online curricula that is available for use on the Kindle. At the turn of the year I always find myself re-evaluating our schooling and looking ahead to the next grade (I say singular "grade" because we are in this .02% of homeschool families with only one student). The thought of curriculum fairs--an excuse for shopping with the girls--fills my head and urges me onward through the dark days of winter (of which in truth I don't mind because they give me an excuse to go to bed earlier and sleep in later).
I've stumbled upon the blog "52 Books in 52 Weeks" before and was overwhelmed at the very thought, not to mention the execution, especially for me. It took me at least 3 months to get through some Jane Austen books. How could anyone who does more than read by the fading light of the afternoon eating bon-bons while reclining on a fainting couch possibly have time to read a book a WEEK? A MAGAZINE a week would be a challenge!
Mind list. Since homeschooling MeiWei using Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online, I feel the push personally to become better-read. (Can't have the child out-educate me!) So the challenge of 3 selections each from 4 of the five categories. Here's the page from "52 Weeks" WEM list.
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