Stuff We Like :: 9.7.18

Anybody else having trouble wrapping your head around the fact that it is September already? And also wearing new Nikes?

What’s happening at home/school/life

I have set up an online meeting for high school curriculum users that I hope will turn into a weekly thing. Our first session is Monday at 11 a.m. EST in the curriculum Facebook group, so if you are a curriculum user who hasn’t joined the group yet and you want to join the meeting — you can ask questions, get me to check something for you, clarify points, nerd out over the readings, etc. — shoot me a message, and I will add you to the group.

Did you see that we’ve brought back the Kindle Book deals from their long hiatus?

We published this a few years ago in the magazine and last year on the blog, but I still get excited when I read it: There are so many post-high school possibilities for homeschoolers, and college is just one of them.

The easiest way to inspire your kids to love learning is to be a learner yourself.

Fun fact: Aaron Burr introduced Dolley and James Madison, which just proves Suzanne’s theory that Burr was the kind of guy you’d want at your parties. (Just don’t lend him money!) Dolley Madison’s parties were office-defining for the President’s role, and she’s a fascinating figure to learn more about.

one year ago: How do you cope when life interrupts your homeschool?

two years ago: Still the best homeschool advice I ever go: Keep a joy journal

three years ago: What to read next if you loved The Mysterious Benedict Society

four years ago: Learning to let go of homeschool fears

The Links I Liked

I feel like I need to be reminded of this sometimes: We have the power to spend our privilege to address injustice.

I really enjoyed this: How do you find new music?

I hadn’t taken a real vacation in years, and I didn’t actually plan to take one this summer — but our beach house ended up having the world’s worst wi-fi, and there’s only so much work you can do for an online magazine when you can’t connect to the internet. I was convinced the world would fall apart because it took me a week to answer an email, but I came home to no emergencies, no angry emails, and no where-have-you-been drama. It was a good lesson for me — I am allowed to not be available sometimes. I’ve actually been inspired to try to implement a little of that no wi-fi spirit into my routine this fall — I’m setting office hours for students and logging off the computer by 9 p.m. every night. I’m sure I’ll fall back into work overload sometimes, but I hope I can hang on to the realization that my 24-7 availability to work is not a measure of my success. Which is all a very long-winded way of saying that I related a little too much to this piece about U.S.-ians and vacations.

Long and thinky, but totally worth the effort: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the Tyranny of Language

What I’m reading and watching

Jason’s school officially started back this week, so I’ve been all aflutter staying on top of the million little things that need to get done — change the toner! off-campus lunch permission slips! Latin grammar reviews! I haven’t had a lot of time to read and watch things, but I’m proud to say that I have gotten my children hooked on Mystery Science Theater, and we’re having so much fun watching it together.

Hectic times call for comfort reading, and I’ve discovered a new one for my soul-soothing shelf: The Story Book Girls by Christina Gowans Whyte ticks so many of my comfort reads boxes: big happy family on a budget, quirky neighbors, serious attention to dresses and dinner preparation, cozy musical evenings, etc. Don’t read it if you’re looking for lots of action or big adventure — save it for the times when someone else’s hat shopping seems like the most excitement you can handle, and I think you’ll find it’s pretty much perfect.

(We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.)

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