HomeSchooling
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not alone and isolated from anyone. You belong. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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oh, the month ahead. and the month now.
If I could draw a picture of me right now, what I feel like somewhere inside, it would probably look a little like some Monet version of me because I feel more like an impression lately than a solid shape. And I’d probably have my hands at my head, maybe pulling my hair in two directions and shouting, “THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME.” Because. There isn’t. At Book Club this week Heather said, “It’s about to be Mayhem” and I was like – what, why have I never heard that phrase before. BECAUSE MAY IS INSANE. Was it always insane? It it only insane to parents because schools try to…
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you can’t call it a mid-life crisis.
I doubt I’m living until I’m 100. (And I’m mostly okay with that.) So I can’t fairly call All The Current Feelings mid-life related. In fact, it is possibly precisely because I recognize that I am no longer mid-life that I am feeling whatever it is I am feeling. Were those sentences helpful? Doubtful. Flannery O’Connor said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” Same, Flannery. Same. I’ve been waking up in mid-night with these thoughts. I’ve been missing sleep with these thoughts. I’ve been preoccupied with these thoughts. I have a senior again this year. Third row straight. And I’ve been…
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The Nomadic Professor: A Timberdoodle Review
You know the routine. This is a sponsored post. I received this product at no cost to test and to review. But that’s the end. The words and thoughts and opinions are completely my own. _________________ Just like ALL of my own life, homeschooling has shifted and changed in the seasons of our family’s life. I only have older students and this year I graduate my FOURTH child and no, I cannot comprehend all of that. So far all three graduates have chosen their own good paths, as they do, and I could write an entire book with my thoughts on the pressures we put on high school students to…
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Let’s Start Coding: A Timberdoodle Review
This is a sponsored post. I received this item from Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and these words and these opinions are, as always on this page and in real and regular life, all completely and totally my own. _____________________________ Every homeschooling family I’ve ever met has a “speciality”, if you know what I mean. While some magical folks excel in ALL THE THINGS (and therefore cannot be my close friends – kidding, kidding) most of us have a certain knack for one subject more than another. Or love for one field over another. Maybe it’s all about the music in your house. Violins and cellos and guitars…
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Needle Felting: A Timberdoodle Review
This is a sponsored post. I received this item from Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and these words and these opinions are, as always on this page and in real and regular life, all completely and totally my own. ______________________________ I’m in love with this kit. I won’t try to set you up for a pitch or a build up. I’ll just start out right with the truth. This has been one of the best Timberdoodle items we have received. Everyone wanted to try it, but Piper was the lucky winner this go round. This is a complete, everything-included, Needle Felting Kit. Literally the perfect read aloud activity.…
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Plus-Plus: One of our Favorites from Timberdoodle
This is a sponsored post. I received this item from Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and these words and these opinions are, as always on this page and in real and regular life, all completely and totally my own. ________________________________________ I guess I gave this one away with the title. But, to me, Plus-Plus is a lot like Legos – what on earth is there not to love? And in our house – we LOVE Plus-Plus. They’re just so versatile and fun. They are the nearly perfect occupation for playing quietly while listening to our nightly novel. Much quieter than Legos. Any age can be entertained by their…
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Film Making Class: A Timberdoodle Review
This is a sponsored post. I received this item from Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts and these words and these opinions are, as always on this page and in real and regular life, all completely and totally my own. ________________________________________ Until now, I’ve never tried to count how many years I have been working with Timberdoodle, writing reviews for products, trying out new books or curriculum or projects. A quick blog search reminds me our relationship started in 2016! (And goodness, what a fortunate friendship we have formed over the years.) You can see a whole host of my reviews here and here and there and right here…
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today. (teens are wonderful wonderful too – PSA)
I know I’ve written a LOT about my feelings this year – about graduation and kids growing up and oh whatever floated across my mind. (This may not be called “My Space” but it sure as heck IS my space.) I stand by all these feelings. They are true and they are mine and I have felt them all. (And I still do and I still will. Parenting and motherhood AND LIFE are just all bubbling over with feelings. It’s what makes us HUMAN. Sitting in my living room yesterday with friends and co-workers (how lucky that they are both?) we watched our teenagers drive off in one car together…
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afterwards.
Well who even knows where to start? A whole bunch of a lot of stuff happened in the last few weeks. I’m sitting on my porch, enjoying the new and improved twinkly lights that accompanied graduation on this porch a few Fridays ago. Our school year is complete. I homeschooled a sixth grader, a seventh grader, a sophomore, a junior and a senior. My teaching at Meadowlark is done, for now. I finished my third year as a Writing and Literature teacher. I’m going to sincerely and deeply miss my students but next year I won’t be in the classroom. I’m not finished with education. I’ll still be on the…
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a couple things …
I just finished reading Jane Eyre for the 19th time. (At least.) I just adore the novel. Every single time I read it something new strikes me. I see it with different eyes. Remember the cool Literature Odyssey I was planning to take my students on last year? The one that was canceled when everything for everyone was cancelled? We’re reinventing it a little bit. It’s a teeny bit less literary (because so many of our spots in Massachusetts are still closed) and that hurts my literary-loving heart. But it’s also still really fun and (Lord willing) will take place in June and involves seeing wild ponies. I’m just excited…
Keep Reading . . .
making music (and art) accessible
thirty years of July Fourthing.
five finds friday
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spring madness. it has descended upon us.
Distracted. Unable to complete tasks I begin. Unmotivated. Moving from one space to the next. I remember feeling this way at the end of my senior year of college. (Probably my senior year of high school too but that’s so very long ago.) This is what spring and right now looks like at my house. We’re all just barely holding on. This is a picture of my car. It is where I sit sometimes when I want to be alone or have a private conversation. I call it my office. I’m ready to pull the plug on assignments and what difference does any of it make anyway and it’s getting…
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Scrunch Map: A Timberdoodle Review
This is a review post. Timberdoodle graciously sent me a free product in exchange for a review. A review that is always my own, honest and hopefully helpful. _________________________________________ If it says map, I’m probably interested. I like maps. Of any kind. For as long as I can remember, this has been true. I loved the gigantic car Road Atlas my dad kept in our maroon station wagon. I used to pick up every free map available from the rest stops on road trips. I love spreading them out over a table, mapping my route by tracing my finger across the roads. I like looking at the options and thinking about short…
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evening thoughts or why I can’t get it together this month
Two weeks before Christmas I started a bathroom remodel project. It was supposed to take two weeks. Maybe even finished before Christmas. The mirrors were hung this week and the towel hooks are in place and it’s April. So goes everything in my life. (Side note: I adore the finished product and couldn’t be happier with the whole shebang. It was worth the wait.) Last week was Break Week and I didn’t even come close to finishing my long list of MUST DO items. I think the only mantra in our house lately has been the one that has all of us looking at a clock and exclaiming, “Are you…
