Family Favorites Friday: The Library

We love the library;  any library, any place.

My children grew up with a weekly trip to the library.  They spent many hours perusing the books and choosing some to check out and take home.  

It is a good thing our local public library did not have a limit on how many books we could check out!  With seven children choosing books, we easily carried home 70 or more books each week.

Week End Field Trip/Get-Away: Little Rock River Market

I spent the last four days in downtown Little Rock with my son while he participated in the Southwestern Division American Choral Directors Association High School Men's Honor Choir.

Admittedly, downtown Little Rock, AR is not an area that comes to mind when I am looking for a week-end getaway that is fun and educational. However, I was surprised to discover a wealth of activities that fit that description.

My Dream Trip

My dream trip has always been to visit Ireland and Scotland.  That trip is finally becoming a reality.  When my son was in Belfast, that seemed like the perfect reason (excuse) to plan a trip to Ireland.  Even though he is not there now, the plans moved forward and we are going!  Me, my husband, oldest daughter and her husband will be leaving soon to visit Scotland and Ireland.  Our itinerary is so full, I'm not sure when we will sleep, but I guess there will be time for that later.

We have planned our own trip, including car rental and vacation house rentals.  Be prepared for photos and reviews when I return.

While I am gone, I have lined up some guest bloggers for you to enjoy.  I will only have one post per week while I am gone, but I think you will enjoy these lovely ladies and their stories.

What is your dream trip?

High School Elective: Drafting Fundamentals

Over the last ten years, I have taught a Drafting class at our homeschool co-op classes. The first time I taught the class I found a book on Ebay, Exploring Drafting, fundamentals of technology by John R Walker (I have an older version). I didn't know anything about the book other than the title chapters covered what I wanted to teach and it was aimed at high school students.

What To Do About the New SAT (uncut version)

As you probably noticed in my last post titled What To Do About the New SAT, my editor believes in brevity.   She thought my original post was verbose, but I wanted to share it anyway.  What follows is the uncut version of the post.

The SAT is getting a makeover.

Current high school freshmen will be the guinea pigs for this test in Spring 2016, according to the College Board.

There is a lot of ‘chatter’ on the internet in response to this announcement.

What can students do about the new SAT?  

Don’t take it.  

Banoffee Pie: Irish Pi Day Pie

Pi Day is today.

St. Patrick's Day is Monday.

Today, I am sharing a Banoffee Pie recipe.

What To Do About the New SAT Test

The brevity of this post is brought to you by my mean editor. 

Don't like the new SAT? 

Take the ACT instead. 

The end.

* the 400+ word unedited version of this post is coming soon

Free College?

Recently, I was talking to my friend Courtney about the cost of college and the average student loan debt for college graduates.

She asked, "Have you heard about colleges that you work to pay your tuition?"

I responded, " Do you mean like College of the Ozarks?"

She said, "I haven't heard of that one, I was thinking about Berea College. Are you familiar with that school?"

"I have heard of it," I said, "but, I didn't know they did that."

After doing a little research, I discovered that College of the Ozarks in Lookout Point, MO

 and Berea College in Berea, KY are very similar.

Annoyance or Adventure?

My mom recently sent me this poem .  I thought it was a great reminder to parents

 everywhere that time is fleeting, even when it seems unending; that the petty

  annoyances of adults are often adventures to children.

Remember, all learning is not done at a desk with a book. 

 Big Mud Puddles and Sunny Yellow Dandelions

Author Unknown

  When I look at a patch of dandelions, I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.
My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

Homeschool Grading Scale?

The following story might prove  one of several things:

1. I really am the meanest mom.

2. My son really is funny.

3. What I say is not always what my children hear.