Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ClickSchooling - finding resources on the internet

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The girls are, technically, in third and first grades this year, but we continue to develop our own curriculum that meets their needs and interests. There is no sewing standard, nor is there a knitting standard, and E far exceeds the expectations in the civics/social sciences standards thanks to her interest in history, geography and people of the world. So we continue to develop our own program, devise our own curriculum, through resources found at our local library, bookstores, through friends and family and online.

One fantastic resource for educational (and often even FUN) websites is ClickSchooling. The site's founder has provided links to thousands of sites. You can get lost here, spend days, perhaps even months, online. Or subscribe free and she'll send you one link each day via e-mail, following a subject-matter pattern (math Monday, arts Saturday, etc.)

Isn't the internet just incredible?

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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Fun in the Sun Ski Trip

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I'd heard of spring skiing, had even seen photos of people skiing in swimsuits, but this week in the Sierra Nevada provided a bit of everything. Our first three days on the slopes involved LOTS of sunscreen and no coats, sometimes not even gloves and short sleeves even for Mr. B. The fourth day we watched a storm roll in and enjoyed some good fresh snow in the afternoon. And of course as we packed to leave we enjoyed stomping through half a foot of freshly fallen snow, light, powdery, begging for skis, but we were headed down the mountain.

The girls picked up RIGHT where they left off last year. You may recall that, at the very last minute on the very last day, we finally took our first family run - all four of us skiing down the big hill together. What a treat! This year we played on the bunny hill for only a few minutes before beginning a long series of extended runs with the entire family on the big hill. The girls did so well. I really enjoyed skiing with them on the green slopes as much as (and often more than) taking the tougher, faster runs by myself, so I only did grown-up runs a few times throughout the course of the week.

As always, V found plenty of other things to do with the snow, including multiple snowfolk and other structures, sliding, climbing and fully enjoying our one week in "winter." E was bound for the mountain, and nothing was going to slow her down.

We returned home just in time to clean up before my sister-in-law and my niece arrived for a weekend of crafting (photos at link). We had a fantastic first day today. Niece L made her first pillow. S-I-L learned to use her sewing machine. E finished her Project Linus quilt. V proudly used the sewing machine on a cat pillow which she began. And I had a few minutes to play with my Project Linus quilt. Good company, some completed projects - a great day.


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A late farewell

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Some parting words from our 43rd president:





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