Stuff We Like :: 11.15.19
This is that time of year where all-of-the-sudden it’s November, and where did the year go? Happily, it also the time of year when I get to eat a lot of pie, so it all balances out.
What’s happening at home/school/life
On the blog: How I use annotated bibliographies to practice more thoughtful research and critical thinking. (Plus: This has been an amazing week of book deals!)
From the archives: Shelli reviewed Better Chinese — a Chinese language curriculum for elementary school that's worked well for her family; 12 great book series to read together; and easy, thoughtful gifts you can make with your kids
On Instagram: Suzanne and I have been enjoying recording our Library Chicken podcast together in real life. (The Library Chicken podcast is on Patreon, but we are cooking up a new episode of the regular podcast, too — we definitely plan to keep it going, it just takes more effort on the front-end to put together.)
On Patreon: My ultimate U.S. history movie and documentary list.
At the Academy: Turning chemistry info checks into escape room puzzles has been the greatest learning innovation of my year so far.
On Facebook: You can vote on which unit study you’d like to see as our Patreon freebie for this month: An Akata Witch reading guide or a thesis writing bootcamp?
Links we liked
You know how sometimes, you just need to feel happy for a minute, and you watch a bat eating watermelon or a hedgehog stretching, and everything feels a little better? That’s what this story about the KCS Senior Dance Team was like for me.
I’m totally beginning my next academic foray into Gothic literature with a screening of Scooby Doo.
I love this: Scientists have discovered a site where humpback whales seem to travel to share their songs with each other.
Pome is back!
I always feel like I listen better when I’m taking notes, so this totally makes sense to me.
Things making me happy
Thanksgiving planning (it’s all playlists and pie crusts and timelines at our house this week!)
Smoked maple bourbon chai tea toddy (it’s cold enough that I really wanted to be warmed up from the inside out this week!)
(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.)
It's that time again! We've rounded up some great ways to celebrate your first day of the new homeschool year, whether you want to keep it simple at home or take a big adventure together.