Stuff We Like :: 8.4.17

This is the time of year when I feel a little sorry for all the kids in our neighborhood going back to school but also I can’t wait to have the library to ourselves again!

around the web

I am obsessed with my disposable fountain pens, but Jas swears by the humble stick pen.

It’s like The Toast knew just what I needed.

Relevant to our interests: Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite children’s books

at home/school/life

on the blog: We published a review of a science curriculum that wasn’t actually secular, and we’re sorry

in the magazine: The good news: We’ve finally got a print edition! The bad news: It’s pretty pricey. (Maybe someone will buy it for you for the holidays if you start dropping hints, though?)

one year ago: Our favorite school supplies

two years ago: What to read next if you loved The Phantom Tollbooth

three years ago: Mindful Homeschool: Find Peace in Your Home

reading list 

This week in Library Chicken: A Circle of Quiet (+1, lovely whenever I need to feel that the world is a better place and I can be a better person in it); Labyrinths (+0, because it was on sale for the Kindle, and you can’t buy Borges and not read him immediately); The Hazel Wood (+0, advanced copy, and it was so weird because I don’t think it was a good book but it was so creepy that I couldn’t fall asleep until I finished it so maybe it actually was good? I will have to think further on this.); Dust Tracks on a Road (+1, and if you are a Zora Neale Hurston fan, you should definitely read this, and if you are not a Zora Neale Hurston fan, you may become one if you read this); Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin (+1, work-related); Howl and Other Poems (+1, work-related); People of the Book (+1, didn’t love it but it was still pretty good, and I was happy to cross it off my TBR list finally); The Library at Night (+1)

at home

We’ve been doing our homeschool planning meetings this week, and I think we’re all set to tackle 4th grade and 10th grade. I am especially excited about our NOT WHITE MEN world history year, which both my kids will be tackling in different ways. Putting together a plan for this was a little challenging, but I am so happy with what we came up with for both tracks. (If everything works as planned, maybe I’ll publish them here next summer.)

I finally got around to watching Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and while it is nothing like either of the Dirk Gently books, it is silly and fun and interesting. And it entertained me while I finished the knitting parts of my Tiny Tea Leaves and matching headband, so onto the Tiny Shoes!

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