there must be a name for this

My Girl is at the age when it seems she should start preschool. I say "it seems" because people keep asking me where and when she is going to start school.

Well, she's not. For about a million different reasons she's staying home with me.

However, that doesn't mean that we won't be doing preschool at home. And I guess that mean I'm homeschooling... (Does this mean that any parent who has ever taught their child anything at home homeschools? Or is it only homeschooling once education becomes mandated by the state?) I'm not sure.
  
Our preschool plans can be summed up thus: read, create art, explore the world, play, build, run, jump, read, read, go to museums, have fun. It's not much of a departure from what we do already.

But I decided to gather some books and other resources to make this fun and fantastic and a bit more methodical. Also, I am not a childhood education specialist, so I'm happy to get help from those who are...in the form of books.

Here are the books I'm using:

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander
We've been using this book for almost a year. And while the reviews complain about the design and layout, I say "get over it." The content is excellent. The activities are enjoyable. And My Girl gets plenty of fun learning using this book as a guide.

Honey for a Child's Heart  by Gladys Hunt
I bought this book because I've been buried in piles of reading lists. Every blog I read has a list of recommended books to read. There are list at the library. There are reading lists within books. There are lists at the dentist's office. Reading lists at the grocery store. And there is no way that I can read ALL those books. Nor should I. I want quality books. And from what I've seen of this book, the author does a good job finding the best. This book helps me from getting reading list whiplash.

Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert
A lovely book. The ideas are simple. I don't feel pressured to do every suggested activity. I pick and choose what questions and activities seem the most appealing and fun for My Girl. So far, this is a big hit. My Girl is all about reading books multiple times. I make sure to do the books that she really loves. I think this is the key to success when using this book.

Teach Me to Do it Myself by Maja Pitamic
This is a Montessori book that tells you exactly how to do Montessori. I've read many  Montessori theory books. This one puts it into practice. Another hit. I especially like how the author addresses introducing letters and numbers.

Science Play by Jill Frankel Hauser
A simple way to explore the world with sections on water, air, weather, plants, soil, sounds, movement and more. We've only done one experiment, but we like it so far. The instructions are simple, the required materials are usually on hand and the lessons are short.

First Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl
I was hesitant to get this beginning art book, but decided to go for it - as opposed to purchasing the next level art book. There were so many activities in this book that we hadn't done yet and it was easy to see ways to make the activities more sophisticated as My Girl grows. And honestly, I don't want to rush her. I want her to take it nice and slow and make her jumps in understanding in her own time. So, the beginning book was the place to start.

Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl
We just got this today. And honestly, it seems that it's a bit advanced for my 2.5-year-old but I kind of suspected that when I ordered it. But, I got it anyway because I really loved the ideas about organizing space and creative centers. And I know that we'll do the fun ideas in the future.

summer reading

In honor of the kick-off of our local summer reading program (yippeee!), here are two links about preventing the "summer slide" from the International Reading Association and Reading is Fundamental.  Happy summer reading!

#4

I purchased this book after reading an article about a successful (published!) author saying that reading it was the equivalent of completing an MFA program. The book was expensive; right now it's listed at $44.81. I bought it anyway. I figured that was a bargain when I considered how much it would cost to actually enroll in and complete an MFA program.

Of course, it took me a year to read it. But, read it I did. And I learned a lot from it.

What I took away from it:
1. If I ever teach Rhetoric at the college level again, this will be my text.
2. I read this book a chapter at a time. I definitely recommend this approach. I enjoy studying grammar, but many of the proper grammatical terms escape me. (They probably always will.) So taking small bites of this book helped increase my comprehension.
3. I will probably never read this book cover-to-cover again, though I will refer to it often.
4. I learned more than I expected to. The authors really revealed a lot of methods that were previously unnamed to me, to change the rhythm and focus and emphasis of a sentence. They revealed and explained some useful tricks of the writing trade.
5. This is a must-read for writers.
6. This means I can cross #4 off The List!

j.d. salinger

I am reading this right now:

What are you reading?

library love

I just stumbled over this great story at NPR and wanted to share. The Library Card As A Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket to Geek Paradise. Hope you enjoy it.

Also, Happy National Library Week!

We are going to bring our favorite librarian a bouquet of flowers, check out a wagon full of books and rejoin the Friends of the Library Association.

How are you going to celebrate?

5 more people I'd like to meet

1. Beatrix Potter
2. Amelia Earhart
3. Keri Smith
4. Nikki McClure
5. Harper Lee

How about you? Whom would you most like to meet?

desirous of everything at the same time

Oh, hi!

Well this last month has really gone fast. I apologize for disappearing without warning. In fact, I had no idea I'd be gone so long. I got out my calendar in an effort to figure out what I was doing that kept me from my blog for so long. Here are the bits and ends of my last few weeks:

• Attending many Great Lives lectures. Most recently I learned about (Nelle) Harper Lee and I was inspired by the way she lives her life. There are many more interesting lectures coming and I plan on attending many of them.
• Contemplating entering an art show. Should I? Shouldn't I?
• Completing #25 on The List. Yes, we have a huge tipi in the middle of our living room and it is lovely. I took a nap in it this past weekend and woke with a smile on my face because, um, I woke up in a tipi.
• Taking a road trip to That Little Quilt Shop, Yoder's Country Market, the Tulikivi showroom and then to Culpeper, VA.
• Visiting friends in Maryland and northern Virginia. And, you know, making bread and gifts to share with them.
• Continuing with my drawing class. Learning to draw is like learning a new language. And it also feels that after each class I've both learned a whole lot and realized how very little I know. That old double-edged sword!
• The Hubby was out of town for a week...while I had a sinus infection.
• Attending multiple doctor appointments. All is well. But these things always take so long. So much waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.
• Contemplating whether to participate in the 150-mile bike ride in June to benefit the MS Society.
• Reading, But No Elephants by Jerry Smath, too many times to count since I found it in a used book store. Is this book familiar to anybody else? I saw this book and it felt as if I fell into a childhood porthole. It is even better than I remember it.
• Enjoying three consecutive beautiful, sunny days which we spent almost entirely outside. What a welcome reprieve.
• Talking with friends: one was just diagnosed with MS, the other is in the midst of a messy divorce and the legal wrangling has reached a high pitch.
• Dealing with the fact that my family keeps eating (and I must keeping menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking) and wearing clothes (meaning I must keep doing laundry).
• Putting together an application for a work-for-hire gig. This has been a long time coming - years! - and it feels as if things are finally falling into place for me to pursue this. But just applying has been consuming most of my evening hours.
• Trying to figure out how to do this blog. I haven't been satisfied with my very shallow, daily posts. I would rather offer something of substance, though not as often. So, the search for some sort of style and balance and substance for content. Bear with me as I find my sea legs.
• Working on The List: I've purchase (but not assembled or used) a pinhole camera kit, I'm methodically reading "Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects" one chapter at a time, I've put together a list of publications to submit my quilt essay to, I'm reading my Nikon D70 camera manual and it is so interesting and I'm not even being sarcastic (if you have a digital camera and haven't yet read its manual, I urge you to do so now as opposed to waiting 6+ years like me!), deciding not to attend the Virginia Festival of the Book (sadly, the only event that was of interest to me was $100 per ticket and sold out), working on reading Shakespeare (4 down, 2 to go).
• Feeling more and more like Jack Kerouac and I have so much in common.

frank lloyd is haunting me

Last year I read two novels about FLW, “Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan and “The Women” by T.C. Boyle.  (The former was my favorite, by far.) And you know these things go, once you put your awareness on something, it seems to be everywhere. So here’s the web that FLW is weaving around me. Are you ready?

Shortly after I put those two books down the local arts community in Tucson hosted a studio open house. I found the most amazing art, my favorite being this. It made my stomach flip. I went back multiple times to the artist’s studio and home. Ultimately, I bought a piece.

The artist’s wife gave my family a tour of his studio and home. And the home was lovely, the most perfect house I have ever been in. No grand entrances, no granite countertops, no artificial trappings of what these modern times call “success.” What was evident was a safe, welcoming, inviting floor plan and the type of décor that suggests a life well lived: art, textiles, photographs. Things were functional and beautiful, nothing obnoxious or ostentatious. Everything was honest.

So how does this connect to FLW? One of his apprentices was the architect. (I’m not sure which one. I must find this out.) And once the artist’s gracious wife told me this, and I stood in that powerful house, I understood how relevant and radical FLW’s work is still today.

Fast forward a few months and I’m taking a watercolor class and decide to research my favorite watercolor artist, Carl Larsson. I picked up “Carl and Karin Larsson: creators of the Swedish Style” by Snodin and Hidemark at the library. It’s the kind of book that reveals itself over time. I could imagine discovering something each time I read it, never really understanding all of its implications. The Larssons were about a lot of things, the relevant one here is that they believed that home and family life should be beautiful.

The book mentions Ellen Key, a Swedish feminist writer who wrote on ethics, education and family life – just like the Larssons – and many other fields. It is this similar interest of the importance of family life, as well as their shared nationality, and the simple fact that they lived during the same times. I’m not sure if they ever met or collaborated though it’s interesting to see how closely connected many important people are. (By important I am referring to those people who think and contribute to the advancement of the world. This is in direct opposition to what our society deems important now: reality TV show stars, the latest antics of celebrities and buying, buying, buying.)

The FLW connection? Several of Key’s writings were translated into English by FLW’s mistress Mamah Borthwick.

The next week I’m at the library and I pick up a book, “The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning and the Water” by Daniel J. Boyne

because though I had high hopes of rowing when I moved out here, it seems that I should have moved to Alexandria, VA – an hour north – if I wanted to give it a go. So it seems that this book will have to satisfy my desire to row. (I did not seek out this book; it was just in a display of books about boats. I casually picked it up.) I begin reading the book and first learn about Carie Graves, who eventually becomes the lead rower of the first international women’s crew team.

The FLW connection? Graves was raised in Spring Green, Wisconsin which also happens to be FLW’s home base. Graves’ childhood was filled with a conflicting mish-mash of reserved, conservative farmers and the bohemian, creative, free-wheeling element that FLW brought to that part of the world.

Do you believe me yet that FLW is haunting me?

Finally, driving to my book binding class I pass a sign for the Pope-Leighey House. I discover that this house was designed by FLW and is a “modestly-scaled family dwelling that was (relatively) affordable, designed for family life, and responded to the surrounding environment.”

Of course, I need to visit it and soon. Not just because I’m here but because I am curious how similar it is to the house in Tucson that is a “modestly-scaled family dwelling” that was designed by one of his many apprentices.

Also, I really don’t think FLW will leave me alone until I do.

gollie, that was good

Inspired. Uncategorizable. Different. Welcome.

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

a circle of quiet

This book changed my life.

Maybe it will change yours, too.

5 people I'd like to meet

1. Madeleine L'Engle
2. Mary Oliver
3. Natalie Merchant
4. Melissa Sweet
5. Mark Rothko

splurge

I have probably checked this book out from the library upward of 12 times. I've lost track. But as of early this week, I am a proud owner of my very own copy. It is a perfect marriage of word and art.

The pleasures of being surrounded by things that you love and that inspire you.

my name is memory

I just finished devouring "My Name is Memory" by Ann Brashares and I am urging you to read it. Now.

Reserve it at your library or order it online. Whatever it takes, this is a book that must be read.

Yes, it's fiction. Yes, it's a love story. Usually these two facts would be enough to deter me from reading a book. However, a large theme in this book is about souls, how they develop, how they grow, how they change. And while I don't believe in reincarnation, I do love the ideas and thoughts that this book has ushered into my life.

I am all about new ideas.