Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Saxon Math Strikes Again
Miss Dog Lover is on the final lesson in 7/6, wherein they introduce finding the volume of a cylinder by saying "Imagine pressing a quarter down into a block of soft clay. As the quarter is pressed into the block, it creates a hole in the clay. The quarter sweeps out a cylinder as it moves through the clay. We can calculate the volume of the cylinder by multiplying the area of the circular face of the quarter by the distance it moved through the clay."
At this point I stopped reading, looked at her blank face, and said, "Do you understand what they are talking about?"
Miss Dog Lover, "I understand but it sounds sort of useless. Who would want to put a quarter in clay? It's messy."
There ya go.
Nov. 12, 2009 - My Man!
We met at church. We got married. We love each other. He is sweet.
Look here, see how sweet he is.....
he wears the hats that I knit for him. The above hat is a 'skinny' form fitting hat with just about a 6 stitch brim. It covers his ears a little, and when it gets too warm, he just turns the brim up over his ears a bit. It is wool and a nice fall hat.
I just finished this hat for him. Maggie is modeling it for the picture. It is also wool, but I knitted more rows in the rib stitch brim so that he could turn it up over his ears and cover them with an 'extra' layer of warmth.Just wanted to share. Have you knitted anything new lately?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - Mr Music
There really are no words to say how cool it is as a non-musically oriented mom, to have a son who is studying piano and can sit down at it and make something up and holler to you in the kitchen, "Hey Mom, doesn't this sound like seaweed?" and you realize that is EXACTLY what it sounds like.
Nov. 11, 2009 - Girlhood Home Companion Magazine Giveaway!
I must say that I am a MAJOR fan of The Girlhood Home Companion, even though I have only ever had one issue. I absolutely loved it! I would love to get the magazines, but that's not possible right now, so I entered their giveaway to win one of their Between Friends issues!
If you would like to enter to win their Anne of Green Gables edition of Between friends, plus the companion workshops on CD, then hurry over to the blog today!
Girlhood Home Companion Magazine Giveaway!
Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions
November 11, 2009 - Wordless Wednesday: I Got You Baby!
He leaves me wordless! So precious!
©AmandaDixon2009
Nov. 11, 2009 - Courtship in the 24/7 Era
My friend, Kim, has a saying on her Facebook, "A woman's heart should be so lost in God, that a man has to seek Him in order to find her." But this generation seems to be lost to Facebook and their cellphone making it way too easy not only to find her but everything about her too. The combination has made any rules of engagement (pun intended) obsolete.
David Brooks examines how cell phones have changed the dating game.
Once upon a time — in what we might think of as the “Happy Days” era — courtship was governed by a set of guardrails. Potential partners generally met within the context of larger social institutions: neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and families. There were certain accepted social scripts. The purpose of these scripts — dating, going steady, delaying sex — was to guide young people on the path from short-term desire to long-term commitment.As a parent, we've encouraged our young adults to establish appropriate guardrails which will help them navigate the temptations that are ever before their eyes. But it isn't easy for them or us. We understand the traps that lay before them that could derail their hopes and dreams, but frequently our young people only see another "friend" to add to their growing list.
Over the past few decades, these social scripts became obsolete. They didn’t fit the post-feminist era. So the search was on for more enlightened courtship rules. You would expect a dynamic society to come up with appropriate scripts. But technology has made this extremely difficult. Etiquette is all about obstacles and restraint. But technology, especially cellphone and texting technology, dissolves obstacles. Suitors now contact each other in an instantaneous, frictionless sphere separated from larger social institutions and commitments.
In the "Happy Day's era as Brooks identifies it, a young man thought longer before he reached for a phone and called a girl. More importantly, the ring of the phone and one-side of the conversation were heard throughout the household. Now, the instantaneous access to a new friend through cell phones makes it easy, very private, and speeds up the courtship process. Add in social networking sites like Facebook and young adults quickly learn what their new friend's favorite food, music, song, and a whole lot more before the first date. They become emotionally bonded and "in a relationship" before parents and others in their social sphere know they even exist.
Even parents like us, who have encouraged our children not to commit to a long-term relationship until they are ready for marriage are struggling how to navigate these waters. The only "script" seems to be written by the next generation as they go along, eliminating many safeguards that prevented heart break or at least softened the blow.
God said it was not good for man to be alone, so He created woman and said it was very good. We created technology that has become our constant companion and what is happening to our generation because of it isn't so good.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
Nov. 11, 2009 - Young Maiden's Daybook!
Today…November 11, 2009
Outside my window… It's cold and foggy
I am thinking… of the sleepover we're having for my JV team
I am thankful for…winning all of our games so far and having a great coach, my daddy!
I am wearing… My pjs, what else is new.
I am reading… Urgh! Still reading Rebecca's promise by Jerry Eicher
I am creating… Nothing at the moment
One of my favorite things… Horses
For education this week… I'm learning how to groom, bathe, and manicure different animals
A keeper at home skill I am using/learning … Being diligent in all I do
A spiritual lesson I’m learning… the identity of Jesus Christ the Son of God
A godly character trait I plan to work on… patience! It's still a biggie for me!
Scripture I am memorizing… Sadly I forgot my workbook at church with the verse I'm memorizing on it! Oops!
I am praying for… My friends and family who are going through tough times
For the rest of the week… I'll be busy with bball as usual
A picture I’d like to share…
I started taking up photography and found I may have a nack of it! God Bless Everyone!
Nov. 11, 2009 - Are You Worthy of THE WAVE?
One of the pleasures of country living is the getting to wave at the passers-by.
We wave when we are mowing the yard, working in the garden, sitting on the porch, playing croquet, throwing the Frisbee for the dog, etc.
It is no different when you take a walk down the road.
I try to walk every morning.
That involves motoring down our quite busy country road during most folks' drive to work. I observe the rules for walking: walk against traffic. In Fall I wear my hunter orange hoodie so I am not mistaken for a 'dear' deer. I don't walk in fog or thunderstorms. (a light warm rain is nice though). I don't walk in the middle of my lane, I walk as close to the edge as to comfortably amble along.
Most drivers coming toward me will slow a little and move over to the other lane, wave and sometimes smile as they pass by. I give them a return smile and a standard "thanks for moving over and not running over me" wave.
They are worthy of the wave.
Then there are the drivers who DON"T slow down but DO move over a lane. If I have time to get a wave in before they are just a blur, I wave. (it is generally a half-hearted wave)
There are those who slow down a little but DON'T move over and as they pass at 40 mph I could touch their car IF I wave. (but I don't wave because I am too busy trying not to get hit
)The motorists I struggle with the most don't slow down and don't give an inch of the road. That is why they made side ditches-so I would have an avenue of escape, which I use on occasion.
I guess I shared all of that to say this: As a motorist, be worthy of the wave.
As a pedestrian, be worthy of giving the wave
To change gears a little I would like to know if you have used Algebra EVER since you studied it in school. We will finish up Algebra in the Spring, but I often wonder when the usefulness of it will take place.
Also, I would love to hear what pies you are making for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Until Next Time.
Nov. 10, 2009 - Reaching Homeschoolers
At a homeschool convention last year, another vendor and I struck up a conversation. He had a lot of energy but seemed a bit uptight; however, he readily admitted that he felt totally out of place because he didn't homeschool and this was definitely not his "typical convention." Not really interested in finding out what his "typical convention" was like, I smiled and assured him that we all knew he was out of place the minute he walked in the vendor hall, but we're a polite group and so we didn't point or stare as we talked about him to each other. He grinned and relaxed a bit.
"Obviously, you're a pretty direct person," He said. "So I was wondering, how does a guy who knows nothing about homeschooling sell his product to homeschoolers?"
Ignoring the fact that this out of place "greedy capitalist" was there just to make a profit, I chuckled and asked him, "Why do you think homeschoolers would even want to buy your product if you know absolutely nothing about us?"
He didn't seem to want to answer that, so I continued, "Get to know us a bit and you'll figure out it's not that hard to sell to us. We're pretty frugal but can be gullible in the right circumstance with a promising product, especially at a homeschool convention."
"Fair enough." He replied. "Then I'd like to show you my stuff and see what you think. But first there's one thing I've been wondering about homeschoolers for quite a while now."
"Oh, and what is that?"
"Why do you homeschoolers have so many kids?"
"Umm, gee, maybe it's because we have more exciting things to do than watch Jay Leno after the kiddos go to bed?!?" (Okay, I didn't really say that but I did think it.)
Instead, I politely tried to explain that for some of us homeschooling isn't just an educational choice but a life decision based on a belief that children are as a blessing from God. He wasn't getting it and I was getting hungry so the conversation quickly died of natural causes.
If I ever run into him again, however, I'm sending him over to Ethan Demme (of Math-U-See fame) who gives a much more thoughtful and complete answer to the question, How do I reach the homeschool community? His post is directed at politicians but he starts from the same premise that you have to know something about us, past and present, in order to reach us.
As a homeschool grad and marketing guru, Demme provides an excellent round-up of information and resources to understand this growing but changing movement of homeschool radicals who actually believe they can teach their children at home and live to blog about it. Check it out and keep in handy if you ever run into my vendor friend at your state homeschool convention.
(Note to Demme: Please add a paragraph on fecundity and homeschoolers, thanks in advance.)
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
Nov. 10, 2009 - NaNoWriMo: Day 10
Yup, I'm still plugging away at this thing they call a novel. There are days when I can write thousands of words, and then there are days when I don't even open my documents. Of course, there have only been ten days since NaNo started, and here I am talking as if I have been doing this for a least a month.
The novel is doing well. I think. So...I really don't have much else to say on the matter.
Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions
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