Seven Quick Takes on Christmas, Taking Vitamin D3, an Awesome GIVEAWAY and More!!

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I’m thinking about Christmas, how about you? I try to slowly collect gifts so that December isn’t quite so shocking. I don’t want my faithful wallet to give up and walk away, after all. I’ve hit a bunch of sales to get clothing items, and of course used book stores for … surprise! … books. One thing I’m considering buying is a Kindle for A-Age-10. This is the age when E-Age-13 first got his. Friend R. recently told me about the Kindle for Kids Bundle, which sounds like it might be a good investment. It’s more than we are usually able to spend, but it has been such a wonderful thing for our oldest that I think it might be worth it.

At this age, it gets harder to keep them in books, and the ability to send documents to the Kindle has helped a lot with school and life in general. So I’m thinking about it. Do your children have Kindles?

:: 2 ::

It’s October, which means it’s time to stock up on some Vitamin D supplements! Depending on where you are, you may not be able to make Vitamin D already. For some of us, it’s coming soon. The proverbial window is closing! Here is the quick test: if your shadow is longer than you are tall, you can’t make it. If it’s too long to make it around noon, then you are done making it until 2016, unless you go to Baja or something.

I used to be rather ho-hum about the whole D3 thing, but I’ve become a believer over the past few years. Taking D in the winter keeps my energy up, and it also seems to help my immunity. Mom to mom, I encourage you to try it if you struggle in the winter like I do. {Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. I know you are shocked by this.}

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This week’s links collection:

• Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain from Psychology Today.
  • It’s also possible that damaged brains gravitate to screen time. There is no proof of causation here. Still, it’s interesting.
• Evidence Sodom is Tall el-Hammam from Geeky Christian.
  • Speaking of interesting, this one was, too.
• HALLOWEEN: ITS CREATION AND RECREATION from The Calvinist International.
  • I’m not telling you what to do with Halloween. I’m just sharing what seems like a good history. I have seen so many articles over the years that are so extreme and historically weak, so I thought I’d share one that a historian friend of mine says is actually well done.

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This month in 2009:

As I was searching through ten Octobers, looking for what to highlight this week, this one jumped out. I don’t remember writing it. {It was six years ago.} But the interesting this is that I can see how this post took root in my soul and grew up to become the Aquinas talk that I shared earlier this week. That was sort of startling.

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Who wants to win a Your Morning Basket big basket from Pam Barnhill? You know you want it!! This is everything you need in terms of inspiration and organization to get your family started {or restarted, as the case may be} on Morning Time. I call this Circle Time, and you can find out why I love it so much here. Pam’s built an amazing resource, and I can’t wait for one of you to get one. 🙂 Here’s what our lucky winner will receive:

So I was trying to decide what hoops I should make you jump through was required for your entry, and I have to tell you that the two blog comment options {you can do both of course!} are my faves. Please note that a regular comment does not count as your entry — you have to answer one of the questions in the form.

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We’ve been doing a bit more reading aloud lately. It was a big downer when we finished The Return of the King, and we didn’t have the heart to move on. But eventually, you know, it just has to be done. We usually have two books going — one with my husband and one without. More accurately, this would be a Lunch selection and an After-Dinner-ish selection. Right now, the children and I are finishing up Captains Courageous. This is the second time I’ve read that one aloud, and it’s one of my favorites.

With my husband, we just began The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.

I bought a new copy of The Swiss Family Robinson, which is what we’ll go to next. What was wrong with my old copy? I’m glad you asked! Nothing. It’s just that I could never make out whether it was abridged or not, and that always bothered me. So when I found a Sterling Unabridged Classics version super cheap, I bought it. Just in case.

:: 7 ::

Answering Your Questions:

• Question:  I was trying to find if AmblesideOnline listed how much specific copywork, dictation, memory work, etc. each year does. I looked at the detailed plans and nothing is specific. Any suggestions?
  • Answer: My understanding of these things has come about organically, and I don’t think there is a single page on the AO website that I can point you to that will tell you all of it in one place {bummer, I know!}. Plus, AO doesn’t say a lot about memory work in the curriculum, I don’t think. My ideas have mainly come from two places: the copies of Charlotte Mason’s programmes that are available on the AO site, plus the copy of one of her time tables. Here’s an example: with memory work, I just combined what I learned from these various places. In the programmes, she’s prescribing a poem, three hymns, a Psalm, and two six-verse Scripture passages {one from the Old Testament and one from the New} for one term for a Form 1 student. In the time tables, she has her schools working on these for about 10 minutes per day, multiple days per week {but not every day}. I don’t do exactly this, but my practices are based on it. Does that make sense? To make a long answer even longer, we have to put clues together from various places to figure out what she was doing for some of these things. And then there is also the consideration of what works for each particular family.