Seven Quick Takes on Traveling, Free Live Webinars, Testing Grammar Programs, and MORE!

:: 1 ::

I’m traveling most of the day today with my dear friend Hayley {of Sunshine Days fame}. We’re on our way to the Northwest Charlotte Mason Educator’s Conference. Pray for safe travels for us, and also for our husbands while they fend for themselves! 😉

 

:: 2 ::

We got away last weekend for the first time in a year! It was very kind of my parents to let us tag along to their villa in Newport Beach, where we were able to enjoy this stunning view each day:

The villas have a huge campus — multiple pools {Daughter A’s favorite was a salt water pool} and lots to do. I tried to teach three of my children to play tetherball, but the only thing that really happened was that I hit them each in the face at least once with the ball. We learn through failure — can I get an amen?? I sort of want one for the backyard now. Maybe Si would play with me?

I think the {unexpected} highlight for me was singing Karaoke with Siah — he played John Travolta to my Olivia Newton John. I had never sung Karaoke before, but it was a blast, especially once the giggly high school girls showed up.

 

:: 3 ::

This week’s links collection:

• A Controversial ‘Cure’ for M.S. from The New York Times.
  • A cure? Not a cure? A cure for some symptoms? For another condition that exists alongside MS in many patients? It’s interesting.
• Celiac Disease Might Hold the Clue to How Other Diseases Work (And How to Stop Them) from Gluten-Free Living.
  • Did I mention our older daughter is on a gluten-free diet? I’ll have to write about that sometime. Until then, I thought this was fascinating — a sort of bright side to Celiac. Or something.
• Christian Education and How Children Read from Sunrise Christian School.
  • I thought this post contained some thoughts worth afterthinking about in regard to reading.

 

:: 4 ::

This month in 2011:

I was comparing the book Raising Real Men with Howard Pyle’s Men of Iron. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I read those books!

 

:: 5 ::

Mystie-My-Pretend-Life-Coach and I are doing a free LIVE webinar on Friday, October 9th called Work the Homeschool Plan. It’s at 1:30 PM, and I hope you are all going to go sign up because I think it’ll be a lot of fun. We’re going to take Mystie’s general get-it-done principles and apply them to homeschooling. Click the image to go reserve your spot!

 

:: 6 ::

Here’s something exciting: a new grammar program to test out! You all know I regularly have angst over grammar. Not being taught grammar well myself, I never really feel like I’m doing it right. I always resort to KISS because it’s simple to do and makes sense to me.

When CAP contacted me and asked me to do a test run on this new curriculum, I was a little nervous. What if I can’t do this? I have bombed all grammar programs except for KISS, people! But then I read the subtitle: The Curious Child’s Guide to Grammar. That sold me on at least trying it. It might be wrong to judge a book by its cover, but I almost always judge one by its subtitle, don’t you?

We’ve just finished up our midterm break, so I’ll be incorporating this into Circle Time beginning next week {if all goes well and I don’t have too much of a conference hangover}. I will let you know what I think once we’ve done it for a while.

 

:: 7 ::

I don’t have a question for this week! {Unless I forgot something … hmmm … } Since I find myself with an available Seventh Take, it seems like a good time to mention that I bought this funny math book to read aloud upon the recommendation of the QoC. It’s called The I Hate Mathematics Book and all I can say is that sometimes we have to do extra things to woo our children into loving good things. Right now, this is my extra thing.