Magic and Mayhem

Here’s a bit of what’s been occupying my computer time lately….

This “homeschool” graduate is running for school board in Texas and wants to change legislation so there’s less chance for “educational neglect” in homeschool families.  What do you think?

This snowflake website is so full of neat stuff that I’ve had it open in my browser for days.  We’re having a snow themed homeschool day at the Petroglyphs Tuesday (which will ironically enough probably be postponed due to snow!) and I’ve been gathering library books and finding tons of fun stuff to use there.  The photos at this site are so amazing!  Snowflakes are so underappreciated. 

I finished my lapbooking series (maybe!) today with this article about Lapbooking Do’s and Don’ts.  I also heavily researched the right way to use apostrophes in that phrase.  People bicker a lot when it comes to grammar.

I also posted this article about the Newspapers in Education site for educators.  The link is to the Minnesota version, but they’re all over the U.S. in some very tiny newspapers (I could not find a single place online to find out how to find your local version, though I tried and tried).  This resource is really pretty cool, I’ve gotta say.  I have had several NIE windows open the past few days as a result!

I love the unit study approach this first grade school did in North Carolina about health.  I dare say they approached this subject like homeschoolers.  

I ended up researching PKU today because of a bill that’s proposed to make insurance companies pay for required foods such as PKU formula.  I was looking to find out if breastmilk could be covered under the bill (since some babies get prescriptions for livesaving breastmilk but it is costly) and also was looking to find out if standard baby formulas (like soy formula for cow-milk allergic babies) would be covered, and ended up finding out that many mothers of PKU babies have successfully breastfed.  I knew almost nothing about the condition and ended up writing an article about it.  I love the learning that comes as a result of both being a homeschooler and having to write regular columns.  Is that nerdy?  Ah well!

There was news released about a link in low serotonin levels and SIDS this week and several people complained that nothing was published about the link between AP practices and serotonin levels, so I wrote this piece about that link.  I also wrote about the government storing your baby’s DNA and why, if you care about such things.  There’s more too, but I’ve been told I’m overwhelming. 

Finally, Daryl sends you this bit of just plain fun.

Now, a certain toddler has gotten into my stash of Spanish foods (and opened all the jars!) that I had stored for a family unit study, so I have to do some last minute research on Spain.  Or wing it and take a bath instead….

A good mother would already have dinner on the table and would  not even consider taking a bubble bath instead of preparing a Spanish feast.  Oh well!  I’m a good mother in other ways!