Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Update Time! Coffee, Toast, Books and Chicks

I just wanted to take a minute to post a few updates.

Blackie, Goldie, and their three chicks are doing great.  We had a huge rainstorm yesterday and the chicks got soaked, but I found them in the covered cage, one snuggled under Blackie and two snuggled under Goldie.  They are just too adorable.  Both moms are still completely content to share chickcare. 

I finished Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting and it was excellent. If you are a parent or are going to become a parent you should consider buying or getting this book from the library. It will really open your eyes. It makes me feel so much better about raising my free-range boys. Sure, I still have Mommy Guilt at times, but I try to deal with it. ;-)

I have read The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition) a few times (especially the part covering K-4th grade). I love this book. I am also reading up on the Charlotte Mason method.  I think I will borrow her nature study and narration ideas and add that to my program. 

Duke and I are ready to start homeschooling Kindergarten in the Fall. It seems that everyone I meet says something to the effect of "so Duke will be starting school soon, are you excited?". When I tell them I am homeschooling they give me "the look". I know, I will have to learn to deal with it, but it is still a bit annoying! Maybe next time someone mentions their child starting school in the fall I will give them "the look" and say "what, you aren't homeschooling them?".  ;-)

My sis Heather is trying out the Classical Conversations program for her daughter and I am excited to see if she likes it. But for now Duke and I will work on phonics and handwriting and I am reading some amazing books to him. Books I read in my childhood, like E. Nesbit, Roald Dahl, James Harriet, and C.S. Lewis. I am so excited he will now listen to books without pictures. And I am even more thrilled to be introducing him to so many amazing books that made me the avid reader I am today.

And thanks for visiting my blog and also for your donations, kind comments, and editing excitement.  You make this blog possible.

4 comments:

  1. Ha! I know the look. Just imagine back in the day...twenty years ago. We not only got the look but it was quickly followed. " What is that?" and "Is that legal?" After which they would porced to quiz my son who became very good at "the stare". The one that says "Are you nuts?" lol. The Well-Trained Mind is a great resource just don;t torture yourself thinking you have to do everything in there. It's pretty ambitious. Boys (I did 4) thrive on hands on. Have fun!

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  2. I have such admiration for any mother who homeschools her children! I would LOVE to do the same and am still on the fence about it. I have twin boys who are 3 and if I don't go back to work I would like to homeschool them. Also thanks for all the great resources you've listed!

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  3. I'm loving your ongoing story of the mother hens. Keep the updates coming ... unless there is another tragedy.

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  4. We had the same coffee maker and loved it but after only 6 months it quit brewing and nothing we tried could get it going again. We called Cuisinart and their warranty returns are a pain. We purchased the machine from Costco (and we live in CA where warranty claims can be returned to the store where purchased) so we returned it. I did a lot of research on the Net and wound up with another Cuisinart - the DCC 1200 with the glass carafe makes equally good coffee. Fortunately we already have a good coffee grinder - it just makes for an separate step. From what I have read it appears that coffee makers of all brands have problems so we decided we'd rather have good coffee for however long it lasts. I hope yours lasts for years and years but if it doesn't just know there are equally good machines out there.

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Rita