Coffee adds zing, even to good books. From Snatched, by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue:
Brian took another gulp of coffee. The top of his head was vibrating. He could grow to like the stuff.
That was certainly my own reaction when I started drinking that bitter elixir.
It’s not that I’m all that excited about home schooling, but I not much excited about public schooling. I read an interresting article tonight, entitled GenJ teaches Leadership, Civics, that reported that while overall about 50% of eligible adults vote, only about 30% of the 18-24 year age group will. So much for Rock the Vote.
J Michael Smith, the author of this article went on to compare this rate to the home schooled 18-24 year old group. These vote at about a 76% rate, that is, this segment is about 2.5 times more likely to vote. The article also reports that home schooled young adults are about 3 times more likely to make financial contributions and an amazing 14 times more likely to volunteer for a campaign. The author attributes this to the heavy emphasis on American History. The author goes on to say:
This is good news because it shows homeschoolers are not only interested in the study of our government, but they actively do something to try to improve it. One of the reasons for this heightened involvement in society is that many homeschool families teach American history, which shows how important it was during the founding of this nation to have men and woman who were well-educated and powerful advocates for their positions. The great acts of civic and political leadership that led to the adopting of the U.S. Constitution occurred in a period in history that many homeschoolers admire.
In another article, this one from the NewsChief.com site, Supplemental education: When the classroom isn’t enough, other programs can step in, Andrea Calcano Cruz reports quotes a mother of twin boys with special needs that
“It’s definitely working for us. What the teachers have to deal with, I could not honestly expect my child to walk in a classroom with 20 different kids and get the one-on-one attention they need,” Neil said. “They wouldn’t be able to flourish in a regular public school setting.”
However, its clear that things are all that rosy for every homeschooling family. Find the right curriculum, or at least one that fits the budget and the desires of the parent, isn’t always easy or even achieved.
With all those choices, Neil said trial and error is how she deciphers what works best for her boys.
Note: the photograph above, Homeschooling at the Moran home!, was taken form Flickr.
Bloodwater mansion is cursed, or so they say. Tragic deaths have haunted every family that has lived there. Now the young, beautiful Alicia, whose family has recently moved into the mansion, has disappeared, only a few days after she had been brutally beaten by a lurking stranger on the property. Does the curse really exist? What is the secret of this mysterious mansion?
P.Q. Delicata, or as she perfers, Roni, is the crime reporter for the Bloodwater Pump, the High School Newspaper, and her nose for the news smells a story. She’s a bit obsessive and she can definitely be overpowering. She’s now waiting to talk to the principal because her attempt to interview Alicia about the mysterious beating turned into a scuffle. This, only hours before Alicia goes missing.
Brian Bain, a smart, observant kid with a penchant for foul smelling experiments in the High School lab is in trouble again. He’s a bit of a tagalong and capable of sudden insight. Also wating in the Principal’s office, in the wrong place at the wrong time, he meets Roni for the first time. Obsessed with a story which she can’t let go, she drags Brian into her investigation, which she is sure the police have wrong. It doesn’t help Brian resist the unavoidable entanglement in Roni’s investigation that his mother is the cop investigating the crime, because that makes Brian into another source of information for Roni.
He took a closer look at the girl driving the car. She was hunched over the wheel, driving fast, her eyes bright with excitement. Did he want to get mixed up with some crazy girl reporter, middle name Quigley, chasing after dangerous kidnappers? Did he want to risk being grounded for all of eternity? Or did he want to go home and eat tuna melt sandwiches and listen to his father describe a new type of bovine pustule infestation?
He thought about it for three more seconds.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
Together, this unlikely pair set out to find their missing schoolmate.
Snatched is a quick paced, compelling mystery that young adults and adults will enjoy. The first in the Bloodwater Mystery series, it is followed by Skullduggery and Doppelganger. Noted authors Pete Hauptman and Mary Logue have these two sleuths just right. The chemistry between them is compelling and the dialogue is fast and funny. The plot is full of twists and surprising revelations. They kept me guessing right to the end and the quick pace.
I recommend this one strongly. I’ve already read the second in the series -Skullduggery- and it is excellent, as well. I’m going to be quickly heading out for the third – Doppelganger. From these two writers I expect that it, too, will be a first rate, entertaining read.
The Bloodwater Mysteries: Snatched
ISBN: 978-0142407950
Just over a week ago I was with the family at the bookstore. The kids were looking at books that interested them and I was browsing in the kid’s poetry section. There I found John Updike’s A Child’s Calendar, and perfectly illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Until then I hadn’t any idea that John Updike had written anything for children. I opened it and began reading, and after half-way through the first poem decided I had to have this book. You should have it, too.
The poems are simple rhymes perfectly suited for children, one for every month. Each captures the essence of that month in the way a child sees it, experiences it, and remembers it. Each poem in turn develops and carries forward the rhythm of the year as it opens and closes and opens again. And each awakens in you your own memories. (more…)
On a recent trip to the library, my oldest daughter was looking for books for her younger sister who was wheelchair bound with a recently broken leg. Her pick was The Three Pigs, or Los Tres Cerdos, retold and illustrated by Bobbi Salinas. I immediately agreed with her pick when I saw folky Mexican artwork and the names of the three pigs: Nacho, Tito, and Miguel, and a wolf named José. I just knew I’d like a book with pigs named Nacho, Tito and Miguel and a wolf named José. I knew right.
Salinas’ Three Pigs is the most original and entertaining version of the tale that I’ve read, and Miguel, the builder with bricks, is the clever hero, that wins, not just by superior architectural materials, but also through wits. José, the wolf, is a more formidable foe, not only because of his prodigious lung capacity, but by his wily plotting to lure Miguel outside.
Salinas’ illustrations alone are worth the price of admission, and may be the best part of the book. Every element deserves close attention. From the paintings on the wall to the books on the shelves, the ceiling fans and the road signs; all of these reflect in loving and humorous detail the culture of the Mexican-American southwest.
The text is in side-by-side English and Spanish. There is a glossary in the back to explain some Mexican expressions that appear on the English side, and also explains some of the Mexican elements in the pictures. There are costume ideas to use in acting out the story and a recipe for Green Chile Stew, serving either 8 humans or 3 pigs.
Published in 1998 by Pinata Publications, this book is, alas, out of print. Too, too, bad.
From the book:
Just as Nacho lay down to read a book
in his new house, along came the
hungry wolf, José.He looked in the window and said,
“Nacho, Nacho, let me come in.”And Nacho replied,
“No way, José!
I won’t let you come in -
not by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin.”
Now you know why the wolf’s name is José.
For a couple years now we’ve been reading King Cat, written and illustrated by Tracy Gallup, to the kids at night. Its a frequent choice. Perhaps because King Cat is a bit like our own cat, sometimes a wild animal exploring and hunting the neighborhood yards and the woods out back, sometimes aloof and snooty, other times affectionate and companionable, winding himself around our legs and trailing us everywhere.
Gallup’s King Cat lives the comfy life with the Petticombs. Riding comfortably on the shoulders of Mr. Petticomb as if he were a piece of clothing, it occurs to King Cat that he might be seen. Other cats might get the wrong impression, thinking him a mere pet. Petulantly leaping from Mr. Petticomb’s shoulders, he declares himself King Cat and sets off to romp and rule in the garden … for a while, at least, until a few things change.
The illustrations excellently expand the story telling the story as much as the text written mostly in rhyming couplets. This makes it a great lap book that can be returned to many times.
We have a couple other books by Tracy Gallup from her “A Crazy Little Series” of books. Each of these unique little stories is illustrated with her curious dolls and natural objects; Shell Crazy with shells and sand and Tree Crazy with twigs, bark, seeds and roots. The girls are fixated by the fun little stories and the amusing little characters.
Any of these would be great gifts for young kids and the books from the “A Crazy Little Series” would be excellent for some adults, as well.
Tracy Gallup’s books are published by Mackinac Island Press.
My daughter and I are planning on getting a lego robot and experimenting with it. Here is a video some teacher put together of her students working with them. This video is from TeacherTube, and I wish I knew more about it, other than this looks fun.
Just as the teacher/narrator says, there are lots of principles of math involved, most of which are not that advanced, even for young kids. This strikes me as a great way to increase interest in math, programming and engineering in school kids.
Senor Parrot’s Perch
