The Traveling Jews

Reading Challenges

2012-01-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

In 2008, I participated in a reading challenge, Triple 8, reading 8 books in each of 8 categories in the year 2008. I didn't quite meet the challenge. Having skipped 3 years, I am ready to take on a new challenge, perhaps several challenges, but I expect some overlap. Some of the books can be used for book club readings, also.

First, Historical Fiction Challenge 2012 at the Struggling the Addiction level, 10 books. This is a category I often delve into and it will overlap with the second challenge.

War Through the Generations, WWI is my next choice. I plan to do this one at the Wade level, 4 to 10 books. And I personally want to focus on YA literature and books for younger readers that I missed in my previous reading. There are many classics on the suggestion page that I have never read. Now is the time.

And finally, a challenge of my own creation, Traveling the World in Books 2012. I haven't created an image or button for myself yet. The goal is one book per month and each from a different part of the world.

Obviously there is a lot of overlap in these but I still think I can use them to make a fascinating year of reading. PRM

Four month follow-up

2011-12-23T11:09:00.005-05:00

Four months since the last post and so much has happened but nothing really dramatic, just living our lives kind of stuff.

Shoshie has finished her first semester in college. She loves her school and Asheville. She is home for much of the winter break and I love having her here. We play a lot of Rummikub and watch movies.

Yakov has completed another semester at Chapel Hill and has become very active with J Street and Hillel. He was home for the weekend and has now gone to NYC to visit his Year Course friends.

Noach is doing high school work at home. He thought he might try public school next year but he has changed his mind again. However in preparation for a possible change and because he needed instruction from someone other than me, he started taking several online classes this fall. Derek Owens has provided Physical Science and Algebra 1 with online teaching and then Noach emails his homework for Mr. Owens to check. This has gone really well. We have not required a lot of personal attention but I feel it would be there if we did need it. I highly recommend these courses to anyone seeking this kind of instruction. Noach is also taking a yearlong class with Write at Home and I can see improvement in his work. The best effect has been in the improvement in our relationship; I am no longer the taskmaster for the subjects he likes least.

On Wednesday afternoons, he volunteers at the local hospital where he spends time with adults other homeschooled teens. We have continued studying Modern World History with a weekly movie, joined by a friend and her mother. And he forges ahead in Boy Scouts, enjoying monthly camping. Maybe he will be planning his Eagle project next year.

I am still trying to find my way with the changes the last few years have brought. Most Thursdays I meet a friend for a movie. I joined another book club so now I have at least 2 books to complete each month. I started Middlemarch 2 weeks ago, just reading it on my own and loving it.

That's a quick update. Have a Happy Chanukah or Merry Christmas if that's your tradition or Happy, Healthy winter if you prefer. Ruth in NC

Just saying

2011-08-22T11:54:00.000-04:00

PRM

What we are/were doing

2011-08-19T11:25:00.005-04:00

Here is Yakov this week in Colorado.

At the 1 minute mark, Noach assumes the role of Finn. He needs some singing lessons but he looks so comfortable in front of an audience of a hundred or more campers. PRM

Sending a little note

2011-06-21T10:59:00.002-04:00

June 21, 2011

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

The Supreme Court of the United States

1 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20543

Dear Mr. Chief Justice,

The integrity of the Supreme Court must be maintained. We, the American people, deserve to feel that opinions rendered by the Court are reached without prejudice.

Justice Clarence Thomas has repeatedly caused concern for those of us who care about the Court. Why did he not report his wife’s income? Why did he accept gifts from organizations that have business before the Court?

Please, Mr. Chief Justice, address this issue in order to reassure us that the Court is fair to all Americans. When I teach my children about the US Supreme Court, I want to do so with pride.

Sincerely,

A homeschooling Mom

***

My family knows me as a frequent emailer to my Senators and Representative. This is a genetic trait, I think. My father did it as well. He once received a reply from Walter Cronkite.

However, you can't email the Supreme Court so I am using snail mail. PRM

Her girl is back.

2011-05-31T14:53:00.002-04:00

Mine, too. PRM

Reunion

2011-05-30T13:40:00.005-04:00

Between my second and third years of medical school, I had a long break in which to prepare for and take my first national medical licensing exam. In the time between the exam and beginning clinical rotations, I went to England for 2 weeks with a friend. We spent a week in London and then traveled through southern England for another week. We rented a camper van much like this one,and I drove. That was a nail biting adventure, driving a van on the left side of the road. I brushed against a parked car only once, smacking the mirror. And it was my first experience with roundabouts instead of traffic lights.
We saw Derek Jacobi in Much Ado at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Twice. My friend had a bit of a crush on Derek Jacobi and we sent him a gift backstage. In response he wrote a nice thank you note.

Shortly after we got home, my friend moved to Chicago and I went back to school. We were not good long distance friends, last seeing each other when I visited her right before my graduation in 1984. And we rarely spoke by phone, the last time over 20 years ago.

In February, I heard Derek Jacobi interviewed on the radio about his coming to New York to do King Lear. I googled my friend's name, found her email address and sent her a message. Did she want to see Derek Jacobi again?

And that is just what we did last week. We met in NY, went to the play and spent two days walking around Manhattan catching up on nearly 27 years of history, children, divorce, marriage, work, travel. It was so much fun. PRM

Finally the CDC addresses a REAL problem

2011-05-20T10:02:00.003-04:00

Check out the new CDC bulletin, Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.

Noach says the material lacks a critical step, identifying the type of zombie you are facing. So I'll give you his recommendations.

Fast zombies, now the most common, require that you are in a group, have munitions and food and a hand-to-hand weapon.

Slow zombies are less of a problems. The main suggestion, don't get cornered. They can be killed in the normal zombie-way.

The best place to face zombies is a prison. There are guns, food and you can get in a cell and they can't get to you.

Finally, if faced with 28 Day Later zombies, or "infected" zombies, you need to plan carefully. You must avoid the projectile vomit; it is immediately infectious. But they are vulnerable to being shot anywhere on their bodies. A head shot is not essential.

Be careful out there. PRM

Questions about the end of the world tomorrow

2011-05-20T08:54:00.002-04:00

If you're easily offended, keep moving.

1. Is it a "rolling rapture"? And if so, where does it start? The international date line? Jerusalem? We, the no doubt damned, are wondering if it rolls east to west, could our daughter in Israel call us if she starts seeing people disappear and we could suddenly be saved? As my husband said last night, if you start seeing people disappear like that, your sudden embrace of Jesus would probably be quite sincere. But too late, perhaps. And certainly so for Shoshie.

2. Or is it a sudden event that happens at the same instant across the world? If so, we are SOL. I'll take the chance.

3. Do we know anyone likely to be raptured? Perhaps not locally. I guess that means we won't be very successful at the Post Rapture Looting event.

Just wondering. PRM

Bus bombing in Jerusalem

2011-03-23T09:59:00.004-04:00

Shoshie's last few months in Israel may have just taken a dramatic turn. Safety is a big issue for groups like hers and this may lead to restrictions on her freedom to travel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12836224

She has already called to reassure me and I have contacted relatives to spread the reassurance. Pray for victims if you are of a mind. And pray that all can find a way to peace. PRM

Periodic Table of Videos visits Japan

2011-03-22T11:29:00.005-04:00

From our favorite chemists in Nottingham comes an explanation of the nuclear reactor and the difficulties in Japan. PRM

What he said

2011-03-18T14:42:00.001-04:00

A Quick Thought on Education (Revised) by Alex Knapp

PRM

Charlie Chan

2011-03-18T11:03:00.008-04:00

In the Introduction to Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby, Sarah Vowell wrote of reading The House Without a Key, the first book in the 6 book series by Earl Derr Biggers that features Chinese detective Charlie Chan. She writes, "It turned out to be both charming and suspenseful and by the way partially about racism, in that the citizens of prewar Oahu are forced to deal with a kindly, Sherlock-level genius who happens to be Chinese." My interest was piqued when I read this last summer. Two months ago, JP and I were invited to join another couple for a week in Hawaii later this spring. Oh yes, I remembered, I never did read that Charlie Chan book.

Now I have. So evocative of prewar Hawaii. And wistful for an even earlier Hawaii. Except for being incapable of speaking English well, Charlie Chan is skilled and effectual and is respected for that. Sometimes, however, the idiomatic English hits just the right note.

Chan shook his head. "Impossible in Rear Bay at Boston," he said, "but here at moonly crossroads of Pacific, not so much so. Twenty-five years of my life consumed in Hawaii, and I have many times been witness when the impossible roused itself and occurred."

Moonly crossroads, roused impossibilities.

The main character, John Quincy Winterslip of Boston, of course, is a bit of a prig when he first arrives in Hawaii. He examines a clue, a torn out guest book inscription, that reads,

"In Hawaii all things are perfect, none more so than the hospitality I have enjoyed in this house.- Joseph E. Gleason, 124 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria"

John Quincy turned away, shocked. No wonder that page had been ripped out! Evidently Mr. Gleason had not enjoyed the privilege of studying A. S. Hill's book on the principles of rhetoric.

John Quincy mellows during his visit. Hawaii is a little too much perhaps but he gives up the "Rear Bay" for a life in San Francisco.

Also native Hawaiians are insulted numerous times in the book when mainlanders fail to recognize them as fellow US citizens, Hawaii being a territory at the time this book was written. Some people still suffer from ignorance.

This book was a hoot. I am looking forward to a few days at the moonly crossroads of the Pacific myself soon. Maybe I'll read another Charlie Chan book on the plane. PRM

Old West and the New

2011-03-08T08:57:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Chris for pointing out these photos of Western life in the 1890s. They cover much of the area we visited in October.
We had a picnic right by the river in Hot Springs, SD.
JP enjoyed Sturgis. The main street looks a bit different now.However Devil's Tower hasn't changed much.Great trip. And these old photos are cool. PRM

Just like old times

2011-03-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

Similar to old times, anyway. No Shoshie. Yakov is home for a few days of spring break. PRM

Sad day

2011-02-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

Shoshie was quite a reader but she tended to read the same books over and over again. Harry Potter books were favorites but the Redwall series by Brian Jacques was also. And there were more Redwall books. And new ones came out more often.

Sadly Brian Jacques has died.

Invited in for a nice cup of tea one day, he volunteered to read to the students. Over time, he grew dissatisfied with the books available — too much adolescent angst, he later said — and vowed to write his own.
He wrote what he called “a proper story,” brimming with battle and gallantry. Titled “Redwall” and published in 1986, it became the first installment in what is now a best-selling 21-volume children’s fantasy series.

Last year a family in our local homeschool group lost everything in a house fire. The mom mentioned that one of the children lost his collection of Redwall books. Shoshie packed up her much loved, much read books, wrote a note about how she was sorry they were so tattered but knew that spoke to the value they held for her and probably to him and sent them to this boy. I hope he enjoyed them. PRM

That's my boy

2011-01-26T18:06:00.002-05:00

At midnight Yakov called to discuss the State of the Union speech with me. Normally I would have been asleep at that time but I had only been home a little while. Last night was my monthly book club and I had not heard the speech. I'm hoping he will call again after I have had time to read the speech, my preferred media anyway. And I hope I don't get another heart-stopping ring at midnight for the discussion. But any phone call is welcome. It feels good to share their enthusiasm whether for science experiments or politics. PRM

That's my girl

2011-01-25T15:31:00.002-05:00

Shoshie just called from Israel to tell me how cool it was to make this,

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000047

Fun! PRM

Happy Tu B'Shevat

2011-01-20T10:28:00.002-05:00

Please help Noach with his Civics Project.

2011-01-19T16:16:00.002-05:00

He is doing a public opinion poll on a few controversial issues. There are only 5 questions, so it will only take a minute. Thanks for your time. PRM

Click here to take survey

Jewish women

2011-01-10T11:40:00.003-05:00

had a bad weekend with the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and also the death of Debbie Friedman. I will not comment on the tragedy in Tucson except to say that if you let mentally ill people have ready access to firearms, especially a Glock that can kill people, quickly and in large numbers, then you are going to have mentally ill people who commit these kinds of crime.I always hoped to see a Debbie Friedman concert. Our synagogue has been using her melody for the Me Shebeirach for the last few years. Shalom Rav is a personal favorite also. Her voice will be missed. PRM

Under control

2010-12-29T11:20:00.002-05:00

There has been little of substance on this blog in quite some time. In years past, I would be spending much of this break preparing for the next semester for Yakov and Shoshie, choosing books and reading ahead. I don't have much need to do that with Noach. There are no mid-course corrections needed. He is reasonably happy with his studies this year and he is moving toward our goals for the year. In fact, I need to control my tendency to tweak and meddle.

Beginning in mid-January, I expect to start a middle school age group to do the previously mentioned free chemistry curriculum. I am looking forward to that. And the experience may provoke a blog note or two. PRM

Snow Day

2010-12-26T17:01:00.004-05:00

The snow started yesterday at 11am. Yakov made it out in time but his first flight, to Atlanta, was canceled. The lady at the Delta desk was absolutely dogged in getting him to Dallas. She made phone calls, cajoled, begged other carriers to get him on a plane, a true example of good customer service, not often found in the airline, or any other, industry today. PRM

Merry Christmas to those

2010-12-25T09:32:00.003-05:00

who celebrate it.

Generally this is a boring time for us but this year I have enjoyed having Yakov home from college. He came home Wednesday and is leaving this morning to join some of his friends from his year in Israel for a 10 day reunion.

While he has been here, I have loved watching him, JP and Noach jam after dinner each evening. Noach received a banjo for Chanukah and he has been working hard trying to play it. An envious Yakov tries to play it as well. The guitars come out and music swells, cooperative and competitive. I love it. PRM

Wednesday Wayback Machine

2010-12-15T19:19:00.001-05:00

Taken just before the photo for the Abbey Road album cover. PRM

Out the other side

2010-12-10T07:27:00.003-05:00

I started this week facing a dental appointment for a cleaning Monday morning. While there I mentioned some recent discomfort with a tooth. Before I knew it, I was scheduled for a root canal on Thursday. I couldn't do it earlier in the week because I had a screening colonoscopy planned.

Now it is Friday morning and I can relax. I will spare you the pictures but no problems were found during the colonoscopy. I suspect I talked quite a bit and who knows what I said? The root canal was essentially painfree yesterday. Love those endodontists; they are good.

This is what you have to deal with when you get to a certain age. And well beyond a certain age. PRM

Wednesday Wayback Machine

2010-12-08T06:46:00.003-05:00

For this next to last day of Chanukah, we remember 2007. Now the younger brother is the tallest kid in the family. And I miss Shoshie. PRM

Chanukah

2010-12-06T12:50:00.002-05:00

in Chapel Hill with Yakov. Noach, JP and I drove in the snow to CH to have dinner and give gifts to Yakov Saturday night. We had a deliciuos dinner at a Thai/Malaysian restaurant where the server kindly provided me with a piece of aluminum foil on which we could place this tiny menorah. We lit the candles which were essentially birthday candles and chanted the blessings. The candles burned very brightly for about 3 minutes and then went out. Lovely evening. PRM

Franklin and Eleanor

2010-12-02T09:45:00.006-05:00

Recently I read a review of Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage and also heard one on the radio. I have read several books on Franklin Roosevelt, including Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship by Jon Meachem, which I highly recommend by the way, and had Yakov read for American History a couple of years ago. I want to read Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency Of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by H. W. Brands but have been intimidated by the 912 pages. Franklin and Eleanor is a more manageable 368 pages. I know, I am embarrassed that it mattered but it did. I recently finished a very large book that took me 6 weeks to finish plus, I was checking this one out from the library and would only have 2 weeks to read it. I could read 368 pages in that time frame and in fact it only took me 5 days, 5 very enjoyable, can't-wait-to-get-back-to-the-book days.

The focus is, as the title suggests, more about their marriage than his presidency. And it is a marriage that, as they say on Facebook, is "complicated." Franklin was a very needy man, who was accustomed to great attention from his adoring mother, and thus wanted adoring people around him all the time. No one person could have met Franklin's needs. Eleanor who grew up without loving parents always felt the need to earn any affection she received. Both wanted lots of people around all the time and the White House almost seemed like a boarding house and their property at Hyde Park like a commune or summer camp.

Despite infidelity on his part and quite possibly on hers, Eleanor and Franklin were inextricably linked and dependent on each other. There was a shared sense of purpose and trust in the judgment of the other. BTW this book is not a repetition of juicy gossip but an examination of the marriage, the alliance of two prominent people and how they respected each other and worked together but also worked around each other at times. PRM

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-24T10:18:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when you love to lick the very last of the peanut butter from the bottom of the can and yet have no hands. And it takes several times like this to really finish the job. PRM

Free Chemistry Resources

2010-11-23T08:03:00.004-05:00

A few days ago, someone on the WTM Boards asked about a free elementary chemistry program, Inquiry in Action. I saved a copy of this several months ago, hoping to use it sometime in the future with a small group of appropriately aged kids. My own are too big now.

I have become convinced that inquiry is the way to present science to children. I also think scientific inquiry is best done in small groups rather than with a single homeschooled kid. Peer interaction is essential, I think. And the adult needs to be more facilitator than teacher. I did this 2 years ago with 4 kids, 10 to 13 yo. I used Teaching Physics with Toys by Taylor, Poth and Portman as the outline for our activities. I enjoyed it and I think they did, too. Inquiry in Action would have been wonderful to use with my group.

Because traffic to the online book site from the WTM board picked up substantially, an employee of the American Chemical Society joined the board and responded. He mentioned a new middle school text, also free online. Although I need to spend some more time with it, this text looks very useful as well. And I was stimulated to look at the ACS website and of course there are wonderful resources there as well. I'll link them.

Inquiry in Action

Middle School Chemistry

On the ACS website, there is so much material I can only link a few. Just go look.

Cool Science where there are links to some ChemMatters articles such as Chemistry of Fireworks and Chemistry in the Kitchen.

ChemMatters, a quarterly journal for high school students. I love to read this myself.

Science for Kids, with activities for younger kids.

And Reel Science, a site with reviews of science in movies such as Inception and Food, Inc. This looks great.

Enjoy science. PRM

Living books, not textbooks

2010-11-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

Educating Shoshie and Yakov was easy really. Both loved to read and helping them find appropriate reading material for whatever topic they were working on was just fun for me. Spending hours on research at the library or on the internet, I loved it. For science and history, we eschewed textbooks. That's not entirely true. Yakov, the literature/history guy, preferred his science rather straight forward. Shoshie, the budding biologist, read widely for science but she also loved historical fiction. And Jane Austin. She enjoyed Spielvogel's World History: The Human Odyssey as a background text. When she was doing American History, she combined it with American Literature and created a good course for herself.

What prompted this train of thought was this post at I.N.K. blog. I read this blog regularly because some of our favorite authors blog there and I learn about new books as well as older books that are new to me. If you read the article, click through to Joy Hakim's article in the Washington Post. It will make you glad you homeschool, if you do. (And if you read the comments on the post, just know that the grammatical error in mine is driving me crazy but I don't know how to correct published comments.)

Oh, another blog I discovered this week, Book-A-Day Almanac. So many new books.

Noach is different. He has little interest in reading anything not specifically assigned. Neither fiction, nor nonfiction. This is hard for me but I am adjusting. Slowly. And I read a lot of books to myself. PRM

Psychological Projection

2010-11-19T08:21:00.002-05:00

"Projecting thoughts or emotions onto others allows the person to consider them and how dysfunctional they are, but without feeling the attendant discomfort of knowing that these thoughts and emotions are their own. We can thus criticize the other person, distancing ourselves from our own dysfunction."

For example:
An unfaithful husband suspects his wife of infidelity.

Or
Roger Ailes, of FOX News who says this about the executives at NPR, "They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don't want any other point of view." Gee, who is really talking about?

Ailes speaking about Jon Stewart, "He loves polarization. He depends on it. If liberals and conservatives are all getting along, how good would that show be? It'd be a bomb." Could he be talking about his whole FOX enterprise?

Rush Limbaugh accuses Democrats of being racists and then suggests that Rep. Jim Clyburn get the House position of "drivin' Miss Nancy." The blackness of Obama has brought out the black heart of Rush like nothing else.
PRM

Wednesday Wayback Machine

2010-11-17T07:56:00.003-05:00

This picture showed up on my daughter's Facebook page and it made me nostalgic. That's Yakov from 2006. And this is Yakov today, 30 pounds lighter, after a fitness program and a haircut. PRM

Classic Movie of the Week

2010-11-10T07:54:00.003-05:00

Our lunch movie this week is Inherit the Wind. It also is related to OM Civics, which as I have mentioned before is a success here. So much to discuss. PRM

Slight adjustment

2010-11-10T07:30:00.002-05:00

One of our goals for this academic year is for Noach to improve his essay writing skills. The OM Civics assigns 1 to 4 essays of varying length each week. There are additional essay assignments in OM English 8 but not every week. Rather than 3 badly written essays done over the week, we have decided to do one good essay that is then edited the following week. The remaining work is discussion BUT he must come to the discussion after preparing his answers. This prevents my waiting on him to hem and haw and mutter "I don't know. What do you think?" It is a waste of my time unless he is prepared.

Thus each week there is an essay being researched and written in rough draft and another in the editing phase. Editing is difficult for Noach since any discussion of the paper seems like criticism to him. After seeing a review on Strewing: Unschooling Resources last week, I am thinking about using WriteGuide.com in January. Noach improved his writing greatly last spring while doing K12 lit with a teacher and I think this could be used in a similar way. The assignments could come from OM and the time commitment would not be much greater than it is right now. Having another person to work with rather than me is definitely better for shalom beit. And shalom beit is important. PRM

Bad News Day

2010-11-05T11:25:00.002-04:00

If you should have 24 hours when you lie in bed praying that you don't throw up AGAIN and you hurt all over, add to your prayer that it not be the day after an election. The radio is so boring. Even if things had gone your way, how much would you really want to listen to it? Not that much. PRM

Oak Meadow Civics

2010-10-27T08:06:00.002-04:00

One of our successes this year, at least from my perspective, is Oak Meadow's 8th Grade Civics. Noach is doing this with 3 Boy Scout badges, Citizenship in the Community, Nation and World.

Last week, Week 5, was the Bill of Rights. He wrote an essay on the pros and cons of the First Amendment. Can you think of any topic more timely? We have had some wonderful discussions. The Supreme Court is considering a case involving the obnoxious Fred Phelps and his "church". The speech is hateful but legal. And I for one cannot condone limiting it. (Now I don't feel the same for Koch Industries but that's another post.)

Yesterday there was the case of the young activist stomped on the head/neck at a Rand Paul event. In the past it was common to have protesters at political events but the people who swear they love the Constitution have a problem with tolerating free speech.

This curriculum is rigorous, just ask Noach. He has one long and 2 short essays to write this week on freedom of religion. He is working on a 3 or 4 week paper, begun last week, on the Fred Phelps case. Also he has an ongoing project collecting news articles that illustrate the Bill of Rights. I had to resubscribe to the local newspaper for the year and I have to admit that I have enjoyed reading it daily. I just wish I could justify the expense of the NY Times. Many of the assignments are discussions rather than essays and he will be going to City Council meetings later in the year.

I highly recommend this. And it is especially relevant during an election cycle. PRM

2010 Trip

2010-10-23T17:12:00.008-04:00

On September 25th, JP, Noach and I flew from NC to Denver, loaded our stuff into a rental SUV and began a 20 day tour of Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The sites were wondrous, Yellowstone, the Black Hills, the prairie. I always try to imagine what our early European settlers must have been thinking when they saw the Rockies, when they looked out over prairie that seemed to go on forever. Some highlights -

Wildlife. We saw many bison but they never failed to be awe-inspiring. A bald eagle. As a birdwatcher I enjoyed Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Pinyon Jays, Western Meadowlarks, a Trumpeter swan and so many more. Mountain goats, elk, pronghorn, deer, I could go on.

Museums. We especially enjoyed the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman and the Journey Museum in Rapid City, SD. The unexpected delight was the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE. We found ourselves spending the night in this little town on our way back to Denver. Before leaving the next morning, we checked out this little museum which had a huge collection of guns, textiles and as well as the tools of the early fur trader.

Geology. I had purchased the Roadside Geology of Wyoming before we left and we consulted it repeatedly as we drove through the state. Sometimes not only could you see for miles but also for eons.

Mountains. The Grand Tetons, the Rockies and the Black Hills. Truthfully I was relieved to get out of the mountains after several days. Noach and I are both prone to motion sickness, JP less so. Thus I had to do much of the mountain driving with Noach riding shotgun and poor JP in the back.

History. Little Bighorn Battlefield.Minuteman Missile Silo. This is a relatively new national park and not exactly well organized but as children of the Cold War it was engaging nevertheless.

Homeschooling. I had a list of chemicals in my purse that I was planning to order so they would be waiting on us when we got home. One morning in Billings we drove by this as we were looking for good cup of coffee. I saved on shipping.

That's just a taste of what we saw and enjoyed. We loved Bozeman but not the flies. Actually there were flies almost everywhere. The Aspens were turning. The weather was beautiful except for rain and mist when we were at Mt. Rushmore. Fortunately it lifted in time for photos. PRM

Coloring in the states

2010-10-16T13:26:00.003-04:00

We are home from a 3 week jaunt around the West. We can color in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The weather was lovely. We saw some wonderful things. More later but here is our updated map. PRM

visited 29 states (58%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T00:06:00.002-04:00

PRM

1776

2010-09-25T11:12:00.004-04:00

Beginning this past week, one of Noach's friends and her mother, my friend, starting coming over on Thursday mornings to watch movies for American History. She is studying American History and we are just watching for pleasure. Some of the movie choices will reflect topics in Noach's Civics but I don't expect him to do any assignments related to the movies.

Our first movie was a light one, 1776. Not a great movie, only somewhat historically accurate, no memorable songs. Well actually, JP, who played in his high school orchestra and thus knows ALL of the lyrics to MANY musicals produced by high schools in the early 70s, is known to sing the Richard Henry Lee song whenever this movie is mentioned but otherwise it's not a musical known for its show tunes.

But I thought it did show how the founders, those venerated, almost worshiped, men were not of a single mind about the beginning of our country. I know this was not the Constitutional Convention but it was many of the same men, the same contentious, egotistical, opinionated men. You don't have to know too much about American history to know that there were Federalists and Anti-Federalists, that much compromise was necessary to produce a document that would be acceptable to enough people and states. That some of the compromises were quite ugly and have been corrected by amendments.

So when people talk about getting back to the Constitution, whose interpretation do they mean? PRM

All in all

2010-09-19T14:01:00.002-04:00

it was a good Yom Kippur. We all agreed the fast was not too bad, as we jostled in line to get water Saturday evening. Yakov came home Friday night and stayed through a break the fast Thai dinner.

This was the second year our family did the Jonah haftorah for the late afternoon service. We missed Shoshie's help but were grateful to have Yakov's. JP did most of the Hebrew chanting and gave the D'var. Noach did the blessings before the reading and could easily learn the blessings for after if someone would just take the time to work with him. Unfortunately my Hebrew is inadequate to the task. I'll try to pay attention next year and get it done. PRM

Cooking lessons

2010-09-15T17:24:00.004-04:00

This was Noach's submission for dinner last night. Seared fish with shallot parsley butter. Delicious, too.

He is working through the chapter on searing from the book How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson. He will be preparing something from this chapter weekly for the next few weeks. PRM

First Amendment Right to be an ass

2010-09-10T10:05:00.004-04:00

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Just as we have the right in this country to religious freedom, we have the right to free speech, a right that often equals the right to be an ass. The attention seeking preacher in Florida has the right to burn a book, even a holy book. What is most offensive to me is the press's giving this creep the attention he desires. Why can't we just ignore him? Move on! Just another religious jerk. Move on! PRM

Week 2 in Review and more

2010-09-07T12:33:00.003-04:00

Our second full week was largely uneventful. We watched all of It Happened One Night and both enjoyed it. He chose Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for the next movie.

We have settled on a routine for the morning. First we listen to the Writer's Almanac, followed by CNN Student News. Noach is very fond of poetry and the Writer's Almanac is usually a charming beginning to the day.

OM Civics really increased his workload and he was displeased by that. There is a lot of writing to do. There were two essays to be done last week. Since this is a very short week I let him put one of them off.

Math at the whiteboard is much less stressful for both of us. He hates to write on paper.

Week 2 1/2 Preview

We are not adding in any other Civics or Science during this week which will be Week 2 1/2. Rosh Hashanah will take up the last two days. Practicing the Ashrei for Thursday morning will be Hebrew for this week. Completing the literary essay from K12 Language Arts will be the prime focus of work. Finishing the last essay from Lesson 2 in Civics will be the second focus.

L'shana tovah. PRM

It Happened One Night

2010-08-30T20:44:00.004-04:00

My choice for the lunchtime classic movie festival. I wanted to chose a comedy.

I first saw this movie at a college movie festival, long before you could buy a movie and watch it whenever you wanted to. Everytime this was shown on television in Nashville, the newspaper would note that one of its editors had a brief role greeting Clark Gable in the newspaper locker room.

So far we've seen the "walls of Jericho" and the hitchhiking scene is soon. PRM

Week 1

2010-08-28T13:34:00.003-04:00

We finished our first full week. We had "preschool" the week before. During that, we began Rosetta Stone Hebrew and Math. We are doing, I hope quickly, a pass through pre-algebra topics and then will move into Algebra 1 in the winter/spring. Dolciani's PreAlgebra book was my text choice.

So our first full week

1. Continuing K12 Literature. We only have time for one more unit so we are doing Unit 11. This finishes with a literary analysis essay.

2. Oak Meadow Civics for 8th grade is our social studies topic this year. He will be completing three Eagle-required merit badges that coordinate well with this. He completed Week 1.

3. CPO Life Science, jazzed up with extra reports, labs and reading will be science for this year.

4. Modern Hebrew. We started Rosetta Stone. I'm not convinced yet that he is learning much. With the homeschool edition of RS there are supposed to be worksheets and other teaching helps. Not so in Hebrew. I am looking for supplemental materials to have him writing in Hebrew, too. This is difficult since I don't read or speak Hebrew myself.

5. Kitchen studies, some techniques, some kitchen chemistry. We won't start this until next week.

6. Math, Dolciani PreAlgebra, finished the first chapter. Chapter test on Monday.

7. Megawords to improve his spelling. We are doing 2 pages/day. I want to get through 2 or 3 books this year.

8. Handwriting. Someday he will have to write an essay for the ACT or the SAT and someone will have to read it. Right now they could not. I want to work on this for a few weeks and then just re-enforce as we go along.

9. PE. He lost about 15 pounds at camp this summer and it has given him the incentive to lose some more. I can't say he is interested in sports but he is willing to be more active this year. Right now he wants to run each morning. If that doesn't last, then I will have to enroll him in martial arts or swimming. PRM

Classic Movie Study

2010-08-24T16:58:00.002-04:00

Fancy name for watching classic movies by streaming Netflix during lunch. Noach chose The Odessa File for our first movie. I am going to try to keep a running list of what we are watching in the sidebar to make sure we are mixing it up a bit.

And "study" is a bit misleading since basically we are watching them during lunch and talking about them informally. I do plan to have a formal movie study at some point in his education but not yet. This is for fun.

The hard part will be choosing. PRM

Moving day

2010-08-20T20:36:00.003-04:00

Today Yakov moved into the dorm. His school is about 1 1/2 hours away. Shoshie, Noach and I helped him pack all his stuff into the car. Jasper says "Good bye". Or "I want to go to college". It's so hard to tell which.

Pictures of his new digs await someone's help with getting them off my phone and into email. I haven't quite mastered that consistently.

It was sad to leave him but not nearly as sad as it was last year to watch him walk through airport security and think we would not see him for 9 months. In 9 days we can watch Shoshie do that. PRM

"THEY CAME FIRST for ...

2010-08-19T17:31:00.003-04:00

Well, my small voice is speaking out. Now they are complaining about the Muslims and their community center. Someday it could be the JCC or a synagogue. Who knows?

Sometimes people just want to be angry about something. But it is so tiresome. We really need to discuss some important issues, our economic situation, our national debt. But no, let's waste our time and energy on BS. And intolerance.

For people who claim to revere the Constitution, they sure like to ignore it when it suits them. PRM

Last night

2010-07-29T17:33:00.005-04:00

Our anniversary gift to ourselves. It was great! He looked better after he took that jacket off which he did pretty quickly. It was hot, even back the in 12thousandth row.

Transitions, Pt 2

2010-07-27T13:39:00.005-04:00

Last year was a transitional year for our homeschool. Each year has been a bit different, of course, but last year, one student was out of the country and the next was at community college classes or working much of the time. The transition was mostly an emotional one, however.

Now I am transitioning the school, the space, or spaces, where we work. My last student has been the least academically interested kid I have educated. He is not a reader, so where I focused on living books for history and science with his sibs, I have to look to other ways to educate him.

I have sold some of our books, given many away to the library, and stored a few others. There is still too much around, but I am working on it. Constantly. PRM

Substance, the challenge

2010-07-23T12:20:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Suji who has awarded me a Blog with Substance award. I feel I had substance in the past but lately, I've been pretty lame. There is some substantive material in my archives. But I am feeling the challenge and I am going to meet it. Soon, I promise.

Now, to fulfill the award requirements
1. Thank the one who honored me. Thank you, Suji. It has been a great pleasure to know you and work with you on the Living Science group.

2. Sum up my blogging philosophy, motivation and experience in 10 words. Humm, thinking. Okay- I love doing science with kids. You can too. Watch!

3. Award 10 blogs with the award. I read a number of blogs but many have already received the award. So, I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to link my favorite 10 science resource websites.

a. Learn. Genetics. from the Univ of Utah. There are online activities, lesson plans, you name it.

b. Hands-on Activities for Teaching Biology to Middle and High School Students. I have used many of these.

c. Off the Shelf Chemistry. More from the Bryn Mawr site.

d. My Science Box. I have mined this site every year for something.

e. The Science House - Countertop Chemistry. From our own NC State University. Since we will soon be a Tarheel family, this may be the last time I can mention NC State. And if you are wondering why that is, well, you don't live in NC.

f. HHMI BioInteractive. This site has more than just interactive material. You can order DVDs about evolution among other topics. Shoshie did a lot from here in high school.

g. NASA. Rocketry, living on other planets. There are interactive materials here and you can order free teaching modules as well.

h. Science NetLinks. Many lesson plans, experiments.

i. The Science Spot. Another collection of many lab ideas.

j. and finally, where to buy lab materials, Wards, Home Science Tools and Carolina Biological.

I have really missed doing science with kids other than my own son this last year. I am motivated to try and organize a class or two for the fall. When I look ahead to my post-homeschooling life, I sometimes imagine having a once a week science school for homeschoolers. PRM

Follow up on that bake sale

2010-07-22T17:38:00.002-04:00

This morning on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR I heard Bill Shore, Founder and Executive Director Of Share Our Strength, the nonprofit organization whose goal is to end childhood hunger in the United States. The Great American Bake Sale in which we participated last month was one of their programs.

Noach and I baked brownies, more brownies, Snickerdoodles and more Snickerdoodles, peanut butter cookies, Whoopie Pies and lots of other things. Our friends baked also. We sold our wares in front of a Harris Teeter grocery store on a long hot Saturday. But the total sale and donations generated over $2000 dollars. What a success! Worth every drop of sweat, burned fingers, and crumbled cookies that needed to be eaten rather than sold. Wait until next year. PRM

Not exactly the summer we planned

2010-07-11T16:02:00.005-04:00

but it is turning out to be a good one nevertheless.

Yakov came home from Israel for a restless week then headed to CJ for another summer of camp counseling. He enjoyed last year and signed up for the entire summer this year. It has been a good way for him to adjust after the intense year away. He came home for one day last week, Noach's birthday, and was glad to be with us for the almost 24 hours. JP and I go to Chapel Hill with him for orientation next Thursday and Friday and we will stay an extra night to catch a minor league baseball game in Durham.

Noach was away at Boy Scout camp last week but Thursday was both family night at camp and his birthday so we were able to spend the evening with him. He was surprised to find Yakov with us. We brought lots of cupcakes to share with his buddies and their families, too. He came home yesterday but leaves again tomorrow morning for the 2nd session at CJ. He will be gone for another 3 1/2 weeks.

JP and I were expecting to have most of 4 weeks without kids here, a rare treat indeed. And don't think I don't love and enjoy my kids but I was planning on accomplishing some tasks that are most easily done when no one is here during the day. Alas, it did not work out for us. But our disappointment in that pales in comparison to Shoshie's who was not planning to be at home much this summer.

Shoshie had big plans, working kitchen staff at Camp Tel Yehudah for 4 weeks with her VERY BEST friends and then spending another week with them in New York, going to concerts and museums. She drove my car to NY in mid June, visiting friends along the way. She was sick the week before she left but was feeling well enough to drive, or at least was unwilling to admit to herself that she was unwell. She arrived at camp with fever of 102 and a raging sore throat. She felt better, then she spiked again, finally after the strep test was negative, they did a mono test and it was positive. She had to leave camp. I flew up and drove her home. She was so sad.

Within a few days of getting home, she felt much better except for some late afternoon fatigue. A friend of ours, an infectious disease specialist, told us there was really no rational need for her to leave camp but, as a society, so many of our reactions to infectious diseases are not rational.

Now she is home with me. All of her local friends are working every day so she has been bored. And she's worried about not making the salary she was planning to make at camp. So I am finding jobs for her to do here. She painted a small bathroom last week. Next week she will help me do some work on the trailer.

I have enjoyed having her around, some real mother-daughter bonding time. We've gone out to lunch at little places she and her friends like. Last week I dyed the streaks in her hair purple for her since her friends were not available to help. I told her the last time I did anyone else's hair, we were probably listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young on the radio while we did it. Yes, I'm that old. But we had hairdryers with hoods, not bowls on our heads. Just sayin'.

So, it's not the summer we planned. For me, it's better. For Shoshie, it's probably tolerable. Some of the time. PRM

The youngest and the oldest

2010-07-02T13:10:00.002-04:00

with an 89 1/2 year spread. PRM

You can't tell me

2010-06-15T08:03:00.003-04:00

that you don't have a little grin on your face right now. That little face just needs smooching. And I am the Bubbe to do it. Soon. PRM

Great American Bake Sale

2010-05-21T13:19:00.003-04:00

We are doing this with our friends June 19 at a local grocery store. We are making cookies and brownies and much more. If you can't be there, you can donate at Noach's personal page.

Sure smells good here. Wish you could join us. PRM

Elbows out

2010-05-17T13:06:00.003-04:00

In the "We're gonna miss him when he's gone" category-

In a concurrence, Stevens, joined by Ginsburg and Sotomayor, threw an elbow at one of their colleagues: "While Justice Thomas would apparently not rule out a death sentence for a $50 theft by a 7-year-old ... Court wisely rejects his static approach to the law. Standards of decency have evolved since 1980. They will never stop doing so."

PRM

Tidal blogging

2010-05-15T09:51:00.002-04:00

I like that concept. The tide has been out here most of this year, a year of adjustments.

I hope next year lends itself to more blogging than this one has. PRM

Proud taxpayer here

2010-04-15T09:03:00.002-04:00

I am proud to pay my taxes today. I am happy to have roads to drive on, medications that are safe to use, air traffic control and a military. Yes, the government is not perfect. But in a democracy, I have the option of showing my displeasure at the ballot box. PRM

Why my blue car is yellow

2010-04-07T10:24:00.002-04:00

And why some family members are sneezing and have red eyes. PRM

Tornado

2010-03-29T13:40:00.004-04:00

My street is 3 blocks long. This is what one end of it looks like today. Fortunately for us, we live at the other end.
There are MANY that are this damaged or worse. But there were no deaths or serious injuries.
That was close.

Promoting the general Welfare

2010-03-23T12:50:00.001-04:00

PRM

Surprise!

2010-03-05T16:28:00.002-05:00

New grandbaby! So sweet. Sweet big sister, too.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T08:55:00.001-05:00

What?! Not that cold, wet, white stuff again! Enough! PRM

An award!

2010-03-03T08:49:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Sarah at Quarks and Quirks for the

I must complete the requirements a bit later. We just moved back into our house from some major remodeling. And early tomorrow, Noach and I leave for a few days for a surprise mission. Look for an announcement later in the week. We are excited. PRM

P.S. What the heck is that box? Can you see it? Or is it just me?

This is pretty cool

2010-02-17T11:02:00.006-05:00

I was looking for a place we could see manatees when Noach and I go to Florida next month. We will be looking for some things to do with a 3yo. I found a site in Tampa. And online , you can control a camera and watch the manatees. And take pictures. I took these pictures.

Alas, the pictures aren't coming up anymore.

Check out the site, Tampa Electric. PRM

Myth of bipartisanship

2010-02-10T10:17:00.001-05:00

It takes two willing partners to have bipartisanship. Two.

Rachel spelled embarrassed correctly.

College Acceptance

2010-02-09T09:54:00.003-05:00

Shoshie has been accepted to Earlham College. She is very excited. And relieved. That first acceptance really lets everyone relax a bit. She only applied to 5 places, four are state schools and she should get into those. She did well in all her community college courses which weigh heavily in state school decisions. She applied to one rather competitive school that requires homeschoolers to jump some extra hoops and she has dawdled a bit on those. PRM

Addendum: A letter came the next day offering her a scholarship. Cool.

Biology, the CM Way

2010-02-06T09:03:00.006-05:00

Shoshie chose a Living Books curriculum for high school Biology. She has long been a nature lover and watcher of Animal Planet, and went to practically every class or camp that the local nature center offered. When she outgrew the camps, she became a volunteer who helped the naturalist lead the camps.

We designed the course by taking a generic high school text and listing the chapter topics. Then we looked for appropriate living books to cover the material. I also looked online for appropriate labs to include. We did labs with 5 other teens who came to our home weekly.

Her assignments varied from compositions, drawings, and regular discussions.

Some of the websites where we found labs or lesson plans that we used include

http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classbio.html

http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/natsc.fs.html

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/index.html#intro

http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/Lessons/index.shtml

She also used some of the materials from HHMI, including lesson plans on

1. Adherence: What Sticks Can Make You Sick

2. Tracking the Source of Disease: Koch's Postulates, Causality, and Contemporary Epidemiology3

3. Epidemiology, Viruses, and the Scientific Method: Independent Study Assignment

4. Food Safety

5. Microbes and Mankind

6. Microbe Hunters

Books she read included

The Way Life Works: The Science Lover’s Illustrated Guide to How Life Grows, Develops, Reproduces, and Gets Along by Mahlon Hoaglund and Bert Dodson

The Human Story: Where We Come From & How We Evolved by Charles Lockwood

Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

The Double Helix by James D. Watson

When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS by James Cross Giblin

Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives by Jeanette Farrell

Diversity of Life: The Illustrated Guide to the Five Kingdoms by Lynn Margulis

The Private Life of Plants by David Attenborough

In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild by Craig Childs

King Solomon’s Ring: New Light on Animal Ways by Konrad Lorenz

Food and You: A Guide to Healthy Habits for Teens by Marjolijn Bijlefeld and Sharon Zoumbaris

PRM

Busy at the feeder

2010-02-05T12:14:00.003-05:00

Threesome at the feeder.
Junco in the snow.
Nuthatch looking for bugs? Seems a bit chilly for that.
Robin watching.
Bluebird at the suet with a Goldfinch hidden and waiting.
The Goldfinch gets his chance.

So what are we doing these days?

2010-01-24T11:59:00.003-05:00

After a long blogging hiatus or at least very little blogging, I am hoping to get back in the swing of things again.

I am energized today. Friday morning I had bilateral cortisone injections in my knees and the steroid has taken hold. My knees feel GREAT. Which is wonderful. JP and I walked quite a bit in the mall accomplishing many things yesterday. I had to go to our small mall a couple of weeks ago and I was miserable walking just from the car to the mall doors. What an improvement!

But I haven't slept much in the 2 nights since. I'm hoping tonight will be a change. Because I am very tired today but alert. Very alert.

To homeschooling -

Shoshie awaits her college acceptances. In the meantime, she was unable to get any community college courses for this semester. The recession and changes in the state dual enrollment program have really cost her. And us. Yakov will go to UNCCH next year with 32 hours of coursework already. Shoshie will have about 12.

She is continuing American history and literature at home. She is also taking an online Modern Hebrew. I am creating a course for her that combines some Personal Finance and Home Ec. She is preparing dinner once a week, taking into consideration the specific dietary needs of the various family members. She is budgeting her money so that she can travel to Israel in April. I am having her work through some of the lesson plans at

Practical Money Skills for Life

and NEFE High School Financial Planning Program. They seem to be changing their website this weekend so I can't link it. I just hope I can find it myself on Monday. This site is the one I have used more so far.

Shoshie is working at the Deli and babysitiing next door most afternoons when the 2 little girls come home from school. This is some of the money she is supposed to be saving for her trip.

Noach has make some changes this winter as well. He may go to an Early College for high school, in 18 months or so. The skills he really needs to work on before doing that are in writing and math.

We are working through PreAlgebra skills in a variety of ways. He is doing Life of Fred, Fractions and Keys to Percents right now. I want to do some probability and Hands On Equations before the winter is out. We are also doing CodeBreakers and I have The Cryptoclub: Using Mathematics to Make and Break Secret Codes. This book just came and looks great.

To force some organization on our grammar, literature and composition studies, I signed Noach up for a K12 course, Intermediate Language Skills A. This is really a 6 grade course but the composition starts with paragraphs and that seemed like a good place for him to start. We aren't really strict about grade levels anyway. And I don't see the need for grammar every year. It's a skill you need but once acquired I think you are good to go. Maybe a refresher every now and then.

We are doing history with Oxford Press Medieval and Early Modern World books. Now we are covering the Middle East and Africa. I am including some geography from Trail Guide to World Geography. I used this several years ago with Shoshie. I don't really use it as written but it has been a good resource. I am also trying to spice up the history with some movies. I haven't found anything good to use recently.

He is doing science, Introductory Physical Science at a local private school. There is a 2 hour lab session every Tuesday and then some homework. I don't know if we will do this next year. I miss doing science at home. I miss the groups of kids. But this isn't for me and the decision for next year will be about his needs.

Noach is also taking an online Modern Hebrew class.

Shoshie and Noach need to get some regular physical education in there sometime. We are missing far more than we are hitting on that front. They are thinking about an Israeli Martial Arts course but I haven't been able to get more info on it yet.

That's what we are up to. Tomorrow the workers are coming to begin a 3 week long renovation of part of the house. New hardwood flooring, newly painted walls. I am excited. And alert. And tired. PRM

The best government money can buy

2010-01-21T16:40:00.001-05:00

The Pinocchio Project

Watching as the Supreme Court turns a corporation into a real live boy.

By Dahlia Lithwick

A bad day for democracy in America. PRM

Can we stop being nice

2010-01-20T13:38:00.003-05:00

to Joe now? It's time to stop pretending that he has any respect for the Democratic Party. PRM

In the mail

2010-01-19T10:09:00.002-05:00

Finally, all the documents, supporting documents and whatever else was demanded has been mailed. I thought our second round of college applications would be easier than the first done last year. I was wrong. It was worse. I thought Shoshie who has specific career plans would be more organized and goal directed. She was not.

But it is done now. The waiting begins. PRM

Saying goodbye until June

2010-01-04T06:22:00.003-05:00

Saturday night we waved goodbye to Yakov as he headed back to Jerusalem. His plane to Newark was already 2 hours late when we left him at the airport. By the time he got to Newark, 11pm, his plane to Tel Aviv was leaving.

So he spent about 20 hours in the Newark terminal. He told us about sleeping under a row of chairs, lying on top of his wallet and computer. It was VERY cold in the largely empty terminal overnight. It was a surreal experience he said, about a dozen strangers all spread out trying to sleep together but alone.

His 4pm flight finally left at 6pm according to the airlines website. So I believe he must have been spared the further drama of this story,

Flights Out of Newark Airport Halted for Possible Security Breach

He deserved at least one break. I hope he got it. He should be in Tel Aviv by now, on his way to Jerusalem.

Yakov is a great storyteller. This trip no doubt will add to his reportoire. PRM

Shabbat Dinner

2010-01-03T10:22:00.003-05:00

Cooked by Yakov. Chicken, wiener schnitzel style. Fried spicy eggplant. Israeli salad, or Arab salad, made by mom and dad.

A year ago, I was not happy about his decision to take a gap year. He spent much of last year in nonproductive ways, doing minimal school, working minimal hours and wasting a lot of time. Another nonproductive year seemed wasteful to me.

I was wrong. At least about the Young Judaea Year Course.

He has learned so much. Cooking, budgeting, organizing himself, things I don't think he would have gotten out of college and living in a college dorm. He also has a better sense of direction about what he wants to do in college. A better sense is an understatement as he had little sense of what he wanted to do in college last year. That was part of the problem we had when he was desultory about applying to colleges last fall and winter. Now he is talking about green technology, neuroscience, etc.

Shoshie wants to take a gap year also. I guess I'll go along with it. PRM

Enjoying the sunshine

2009-12-30T15:54:00.002-05:00

First sale

2009-12-23T10:11:00.002-05:00

Noach's Cheesecakes

Place your order. PRM

He's home

2009-12-21T15:06:00.002-05:00

About 1am, 3 1/2 hours later than expected. And for a final aggravation, he had to sit on the plane and watch some guy take his guitar out of the baggage compartment of the plane and carry it away. He asked the stewardess to help but she was not interested.

He was very kindly treated by his hosts in NYC. The dad was a "Judaean" too, so of course, he let Yakov stay with them. PRM

Well, that was unexpected

2009-12-20T19:14:00.003-05:00

Last Wednesday, Noach, Shoshie and I took a short trip to Tennessee to see my mom for a few days. We spent 2 days visiting with her and other elderly family members and had quite a good time. We planned to return Saturday, leaving early in the morning in order to be here for the return of Yakov who is coming home from Israel for 2 weeks.

That was the plan. Before the snowstorm. The storm dumped 12 inches or more on much of our path back home. And even more in Newark where Yakov 's plane from Tel Aviv was to arrive.

We plotted a new course, driving about 30% farther but coming home from the south where it had warmed up enough for the roads to be clear. We had to spend last night on the road but we did get home safely this morning.

Yakov is not here yet. His flight from Tel Aviv must have been largely unchanged because he was in Newark at about the expected time. But his flight home from there was canceled. He was stranded in the airport for at least 24 hours, possibly longer. He had $20 and no credit cards, no cell phone or warm clothes.

The Young Judaea family network to the rescue! Shoshie contacted a friend of hers in NYC. She and her family welcomed him into their home last night. He took a taxi from Newark into the city and they were planning to pay for his taxi. The details of his visit with them are not known to me but I cannot express how much we appreciate their helping him out.

He is supposed to get home tonight but the plane is already delayed. And he still doesn't have a cell phone so we can't communicate with him easily.

I will be happy when this adventure finally comes to a happy ending and all our little ducks are tucked into their own beds. Tonight? PRM

Homeschool science fair

2009-12-07T08:05:00.001-05:00

Just helping out our Virginia friends who had a great homeschool science fair. I wish we lived a bit closer.

Thank you to the following homeschool-friendly businesses for supporting the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair and the young scientists of Hampton Roads!

Green Olive Tree is an internet company based in Portsmouth, Virginia and owned and operated by a homeschooling family. They offer a broad range of internet services, from reliable web hosting to corporate infrastructure solutions and server administration.

SKS Science supplies homeschoolers and other educators with all the science supplies you need to turn your dining room table into a proper laboratory. Browse their site for test tubes, bottles, face masks and other lab supplies and books.

Book Exchange is the largest used bookstore in Eastern Virginia. Unlike most musty and confusing used stores, this one is clean, bright, inviting, and has a huge selection of used homeschool books. There's always an interesting curriculum find on these shelves!

Folkmanis Puppets makes the most delightful animal puppets available outside Santa's workshop. Meet their most unusual creations like llamas, Chinese dragons, ostriches, flying squirrels. Unusual materials create realistic textures, and they all move in very realistic ways. Irresistible.

The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf, hosts an online wonderland for budding scientists. With online science lessons, experiments to try at home, a science photo of the day, and new content added all the time, you'll love setting your kids loose on this site.

Mad Science is Hampton Roads' premier provider of science enrichment classes for children. Summer classes include "Crazy Chemistry" and a space camp developed with NASA! New homeschool science classes are being offered in Norfolk and VA Beach, with more planned for fall.

Moore Expressions is a homeschool bookstore in Virginia Beach, VA. They sell used and new homeschooling curriculum, host a support group, and publish a newsletter called the Bayith Educator. They are the premier source for homeschooling books in the Hampton Roads area.

Norfolk Karate Academy offers classes in Tang Soo Do (Korean karate) and Gracie Jiu Jitsu (Brazilian grappling and self-defense). With classes for children, teens, and adults, it's a great way for anyone to get in shape and kick things in a socially acceptable way!

Brooks Systems offers standalone software and web applications that check legal compliance in all municipalities in all fifty states, and create truth-in-lending documents for residential lenders. Using Brooks for your automated mortgage compliance, you can be sure your loans are safe.

eScienceLabs creates boxes of joy for science loving homeschoolers. In each kit is a complete science experience -- from individual lessons to full years of high school labs. Hands-on science kits are the answer to your laboratory woes. Everything is in there: test tubes, goggles, and fun.

Mariner's Museum has amazing programs for homeschoolers learning about maritime science, history, and even pirates! Their spring homeschool series features lessons about the Civil War. Visit Mariner's Museum for historical exhibits and educational programming.

Virginia Air and Space Center was host to the homeschool science fair this year, and delivered awesome

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T15:37:00.002-05:00

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T08:04:00.003-05:00

Noach making a cheesecake.

Cool Alexander Hamilton hip-hop

2009-11-08T18:05:00.005-05:00

The song starts at about a minute. Click through to YouTube if it loads too slowly. Believe me, it's worth it. PRM

This fall

2009-10-30T09:04:00.004-04:00

Our schooling life has changed profoundly this year, what with Yakov in Israel and Shoshie rarely at home because of working and community college courses. Noach, 13, is really the only one who needs daily attention. It's so quiet here now.

Noach, who has usually been along for the ride with whatever his sibs were doing, is now looking for his own way in the academic world, and social world too. He is not a big reader, so unlike his brother and sister, and this has caused a major shift in how we are doing school.

History is being done largely with movies. Our focus right now is Medieval history. We watched a 5 hour version of Ivanhoe that we loved. We also enjoyed Becket. Now we are watching a PBS documentary, Islam: Empire of Faith. Before we move on to the Renaissance, I plan for us to see Kingdom of Heaven and either The Name of the Rose or a Father Cadfael mystery. The former has one of Noach's favorite actors, Sean Connery, and the latter, one of my favorites, Derek Jacobi. I ask him to write some dates, such as the death of Becket or the reign of Henry II, in a timeline book that he has been keeping for years and we look at maps to get a feel for geography and the settings of the movies.

Science is being done in a homeschool class once a week. They are doing introductory Physical Science. From my standpoint, this is a social activity as much as science. It does require homework weekly and this is a new experience for him.

Math is daily but we aren't following a particular program right now. MUS provided some review earlier in the fall. Soon we will do Hands-On-Equations and I want us to work on probability which he seems to have missed.

We read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and are now reading Treasure Island. I plan for us to be continually reading some classic. We started Lightening Lit 7 but the formal lessons have fallen by the wayside.

He attends a class with 2 other boys on Monday and Thursday mornings where they discuss NY Times articles. Each brings one article to discuss. The boys have varying interests and so the class tends to have lively discussions on a variety of topics. The mom who leads the group also gives them vocabulary words and makes some informal research assignments, such as find out who Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela are and what they have in common. This too is a big social event for Noach and he has really enjoyed the class.

The new Chaplain's Aide also is supposed to be working on his religious award for Scouts. He should begin that next week. We have to ask someone to be his supervisor. And we have to start going to synagogue more often. Fortunately the new student Rabbi seems to be quite good.

Noach, the aspiring cook, has been cooking some too. I want him to plan, prepare and clean up from one dinner a week. Today he will plan next week's menu so we can shop for the ingredients over the weekend. He has baked 2 cakes from scratch. I purchased a Mixmaster mixer for him because I only have a handheld one and it is old. Maybe he can take a cake decorating class. I'll be looking for one.

So that's what we are doing. I have been blogging very rarely lately. I'll try to do better as if anyone cares. And soon I can blog about Shoshie's college search. And my creating another transcript. PRM

Three years old

2009-10-30T08:58:00.004-04:00

Zissa punim.

New Chaplain's Aide

2009-10-28T14:00:00.003-04:00

of Troop #. Noach decided that he was going to run for Chaplain's Aide in his scout troop. "So I can be sure we don't have any campouts on my holidays," he said. I'm really proud of him for taking on this position. He will be adding a bit of diversity. He had to lead a prayer for a meal on a campout a few months ago and he did a motzi. Then he explained what it meant to the other boys.

And he advanced to Second Class Scout. Finally.

Prepared

2009-10-14T15:07:00.003-04:00

Our chief zombie fighter is out of the country now so I'm feeling a little vulnerable. But he trained his siblings and we have a lot of duct tape so I think we will be okay. PRM

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-14T15:01:00.002-04:00

All my children. And grandchild, too. PRM

I think the Nobel means 3 things

2009-10-09T15:03:00.004-04:00

1. a thumb in the eye of George Bush,
2. an appreciation for Obama's turning the US back to diplomacy, peacemaking and moral leadership, and finally,
3. a challenge to live up to the fine words and ideas Obama has expressed.

Let's hope he meets the challenge. PRM

Remember to place your own bra mask on first

2009-10-07T15:59:00.004-04:00

before helping your neighbor or small child.
At the 2009 ceremony, Public Health Prize winner Dr. Elena Bodnar demonstrates her invention — a brassiere that, in an emergency, can be quickly converted into a pair of protective face masks, one for the brassiere wearer and one to be given to some needy bystander. She is assisted by Nobel laureates Wolfgang Ketterle (left), Orhan Pamuk, and Paul Krugman (right). PHOTO: Alexey Eliseev.

Yes, it's the IgNoble Awards. Krugman looks like he just can't stand it unless he gets to help with the bra placement. PRM

Desert Adventure

2009-10-07T09:03:00.003-04:00

Here is 19yo son in Israel, enjoying the desert with his friends. They have done a lot of hiking.

Wait, wait! What is he doing? Climbing down into a tunnel? Oh, we forgot to warn him about climbing down into strange tunnels in the desert.

And we forgot to warn him about old guns in tunnels in the desert.

What else did we forget to warn him about? What difference would it make if we had warned him? None. PRM

Letterboxing today

2009-10-02T18:39:00.001-04:00

Beautiful day. Four boxes. PRM

Big E's birthday

2009-09-11T08:40:00.005-04:00

Yes, it is September 11th but, for our family, that also means that it is the Big E's birthday. He's here with his family, soon to have another member, and his little brother, Noach. The Big E is a mensch. I am proud of him and proud to be his mother. PRM

Beatlemania

2009-09-09T11:39:00.003-04:00

A Beatles fan's dream. PRM

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-09T08:00:00.005-04:00

Tikkun Olam

Homeschooling's like lifeschooling

2009-09-04T07:27:00.002-04:00

and that's a good thing, so said Yakov this morning when he called for the second time. He said he was the only one in his group who knows how to cook and can figure out how to compare prices in the grocery store. Maybe the math-resistant Yakov is finally realizing that all that math was not for nothing.

Schooling here at home has been quite different this week. Shoshie has worked a lot so Noach and I have been working alone. Since I am not teaching any science labs this fall, he has been craving some social activities.

Wednesday we went to park day with our old group and fortunately there were a number of older kids there. We met a new homeschooling mom who is offering a language arts class that he may join. I am calling it language arts because it is not just reading and discussing books, not really a writing class, but a combination of both and more. As I said, the mom is new to homeschooling and is very intense, so I hope this works out. She really wants to meet 3 days a week but I think has realized that twice a week is about all anyone can commit to.

Noach also signed up for a physical science class at a local private school. We went to an orientation Wednesday afternoon and I was really encouraged about this class. It is a pre-chemistry class so they will be doing fun stuff. I wish I could go.

Thus we are adjusting to our smaller school size. In reality it may not be that much different from last year but the lack of Yakov makes it feel that way. Shoshie walked in at lunch yesterday and commented on how quiet the house was without our "tummler". I guess he is stirring stuff up in the Negev. PRM