Magic and Mayhem

Here’s all sorts of cool things online that have caught my eye lately…

• Get a Free Seasons Lapbook from CurrClick right now.  This looks like about the kindergarten level, depending on the child.
• Make Magazine has an intriguing article asking Is It Time to Rebuild & Retool Public Libraries and Make “TechShops”? Cool concept!
• Scholastic is having Dollar Days again right now on lots of books.  (You may need to create a teacher account to view the link.)
• I wrote up 10 Ways to homeschool when you’re too sick to homeschool, after brainstorming ways to get through this rough period here.  I’m actually feeling more optimistic about everything now that I have a game plan. 
• If you’re a math curriculum sort of HSer, there’s a good deal on Math Mammoth packages right now at the HS Buyers Coop.
• You can get free bird watching posters, seeds and more if you sign your family up to be bird watchers and help some scientists.  We’re in!
• I love these ten facts and stories about Dr. Seuss!
• The new Homeschool Book Award sounds like a great way to discover some new books that show alternative types of education (and lives), plus I love that homeschool kids pick the winner!
• Lastly, this article from CNN talks about the few parents who are opting out of having their kids take part in standardized testing and why.  I’m on the hunt for the Facebook page it talks about (why don’t articles give links???).  It’s time for a wave of parents (and educators) to take a stand against the overuse of these tests and stop trying to compete with China and focus instead of what’s best for our kids.

I’m reading a book right now called “Radical Homemakers” and it’s led to some great conversations with the kids. I’m really enjoying it and the ideas the author throws out about how our homes and family goals have changed in modern times.  She points out that homes used to be about production (we raised animals, grew crops, made clothes, etc.) and now they’re about consumption (we buy food, clothes and services), and how we are now slaves to unsatisfying jobs in order to afford all of the things we used to happily produce ourselves.

I really agree with so much of what the author says, and it resonates with how we try to live.  While we’re not exactly raising goats and weaving our own cloth, we live on a fraction of what most American families supposedly need in order to get by — and I think we live pretty well.  I know that a big part of that is because we do run our home like it’s about production and not consumption.  We grow some of our own food and preserve tons that we acquire in other ways at harvest seasons.  We buy used and make do without.  We make our own meals, mow our own lawn, watch our own kids, paint our own walls, and so on.

I’d love to hear what other homeschoolers think of the book.  I got it from the library and am not even 1/3 of the way in, but I like the way it makes me think.