Monday Reading, On Wednesday

Well, this was started MUCH earlier in the day, and then got set aside as other things came up. It was supposed to be an afternoon post. Oh, well. Enjoy!

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Hello, friends. It's cool today here in Miami. Nice.

The Daddy told me a few minutes ago that the high for the day back home is twenty-one. Twenty-one degrees. Maybe I'm a weenie, but that seems pretty darn cold to me!

It's not sunny - rather, it's overcast and grey - but there no rain, so that's good. The wind is strong today, pushing and tugging at the lychee, palm and mango trees in the backyard. It's a jungle out there, the backyard of my childhood - not just palms, but also coconut, key lime, gardenias, and hibiscuits (as KayKay used to call the hibiscus); lizards, chameleons, chickens, dogs, and certainly (although we generally don't see them) snakes.

The girls love it. And when it's like this, I do, too.

Sometimes, when I come back, I feel like I've been transported to an alternate universe, complete with alternate versions of me. Because when I'm down here, for good or for bad, "Miami Kristen" comes out. But that's a post for another time.

But right now, I am watching the Ladybug push a motley circus of plastic animals across the floor - there's a monkey, an elephant, a plastic princess, a toucan, and a frog. Oh, and a butterfly. Let's not forget the butterfly.

They are, at this moment, all drinking pretend tea from a communal teacup.

KayKay is dutifully doing her schoolwork. So far, no complaints. Hopefully it'll stay that way. We're set up, even with a perfect little desk in my old bedroom for her to do her work.

I recently bought KayKay the Yellow Book and the Purple Book of the Miquon Math curriculum. We're about 15 pages into the Yellow Book, and she hates it. *Sigh* It came SOOO highly recommended. I was so excited about getting the books and starting them. I think it's interesting and unique. She's fought me tooth and nail every step of the way.

She doesn't like that it doesn't have enough words. Sound familiar? Not that anyone else in the family likes a WHOLE lot of words or anything.

But still. One of the basic principles of Miquon is that you simply don't need lots of words to be able to do math. And it's true.

For math before, we were working through a basic third-grade workbook and doing handmade worksheets. And when the workbook came to an end, I figured I couldn't go wrong with Miquon. Argh! I don't know what to do here - mathematics were never my strong suit, and my aversion started at right about the same age as KayKay is now. I DO NOT want this to be a repeat performance of my experience. Both my Dad and the Daddy are both brilliant at advanced mathematics. And I mean, BRILLIANT. It stands to reason that my children would be good at math, too. Right? The "math brain" has to come out sometime. And so far, KayKay has been quite advanced. I mean, she learned the basics of numbers squared and cubed at age 6. Any kid who can do that can conquer Miquon.

But now she says she HATES math. With emphasis. H-A-T-E-S it. *Sigh* And I'm afraid it might be all my fault.

At this point, I am pretty good at basic things - percentages, fractions, multiplication, division, etc. I use those things every day mentally, in estimating discounts and price comparisons. I even like it, most of the time. But, in this, I freely admit, I have no idea how to foster a love for numbers, for fractions and percentages, for number formulas.

I could use some ideas! We can't afford to fumble around with 37 different curricula trying to find the perfect one. That was one of the (MANY) reasons why I was drawn to Miquon. SO CHEAP!

I am fairly well certain that KayKay is an auditory learner, so verbalizing things definitely helps (As long as she's FOCUSED. Otherwise, it's in one ear and out the other.). Truly, most of our battles through the year so far have been about mathematics and certain principles. She doesn't deal with change and new ideas very well, and at this stage, pretty much everything is new and different. But I honestly think there's gotta be an approach I can take that will ease this issue.

So if you have any ideas, please, please, PLEASE pass them along! This needs to be fun and effective... For BOTH of us.

Anyway.

I'll leave the homeschool drama for now. It's reading time.

The list will be light this week - I have several links on my computer at home that I'm excited to share, but those will have to wait, because I'm very obviously not home. So this post would do better with the title, "Holding Pattern Monday Reading".  

Books

So my start of Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature was rather derailed by this trip. I'm about sixty pages into it, though, and still enjoying it. I am into the early years of her life right now, and in my opinion, she had a childhood and adolescence worthy of envy. There were constant visits to country homes and her childhood was steeped in art and literature. She was quite the witty one as well, and I've laughed out loud through several passages. There is a particular paragraph about a "horrid" hamster that had me giggling and the Daddy giving me another one of his "Oh, no, she's lost it again" looks.

I decided not to bring it with me on this trip, though,  because I got sucked into a book that one of my very dearest friends, the glorious Miss Gretchen, suggested. She and I have often traded books and have similar taste in fiction, at least most of the time! I'm not a lender, in general (although as I've gotten out of college, that has changed somewhat), but with my books, I have a pretty much open-door policy. I am working to become more of a library-goer, but most years I my "library" has been other people's bookshelves. Even now I frequently trade and talk books with my friends. 

So anyway, train's back on the tracks. It was derailed there for a minute. So Gretchen loaned me a book. It's called Rooms, by an author I'd never heard of, James L. Rubart. And it's got a very interesting principle. It's about a man, Micah Taylor, who runs an extremely successful software company. He receives a mysterious letter telling him that he's inherited a multi-million-dollar mansion on the Oregon Coast, at almost the exact place he had suffered a tragedy as a child. 

Several authors whom I admire recommend this book, as well, so I picked it up and am already about halfway through it. 

I like it, but I want to like it more. It has a great premise, and I do like the way it is unfolding, but it feels really preachy to me in a lot of ways. Not church-preachy, but still preachy... Like, everything-is-a-little-too-perfect-when-he-starts-to-bring-God-into-the-mix kind of preachy. The writing is also not as compelling as I would typically like, so I guess this book is what I consider fluff, sort of mindless reading. 

On an aside, the Daddy and I just had this conversation about the term I was looking for to describe what kind of reading I feel like I'm doing right now (the ones above still don't quite fit): 

Me: What is it called when you watch something for ONLY it's entertainment value? Like, you're not looking to get really anything out of it, and if you miss a part of it, it's not really a loss?

The Daddy: Fun?

Me:     AHAHAHAHAHAHA. NO.

Here's the word: Distraction. This is distraction reading. I get the point he's trying to make, the writing isn't all that great, but it's not awful, and I want to find out how it ends (Because, unlike other "fluff" books, I actually can't really see how it's going to end.), so I'll plow through it. Gretchen was right, that it is a good book, if you're looking for something easy. But I guess I'm just looking for something more. 

It seems like the last few books I've read and talked about on here, I've been rather critical, and honestly, I guess I either have extra-high expectations, or I'm just not picking great ones. I don't know.

But I'll finish Rooms, and maybe I'll be happier with it when it's finished. I'll let you know.  

In the meantime, I've gotten finally Scarlet, the sequel to Hood by Stephen Lawhead, from the library, and have read about twenty pages of it. I actually got it a lot sooner than I'd anticipated. Yay! So far, very interesting. I like it. 

In other book news, I ordered the D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths for the girls for Christmas, and started reading it to them, and letting KayKay do some independent reading in it. Thus far, we all love it. And considering I'm not well-versed in Greek mythology, I've been learning a lot. 

KayKay has made several comments about the "silly Greek gods," and even mentioned, how for being "gods" they did an awful many things just like regular people. The Ladybug had lots of questions, and it was a little difficult to try to explain to her four-year-old brain why Cronus decided to EAT HIS CHILDREN. 

But we love it. I'm definitely going to be planning on getting the other D'Aulaire's books in the future. 

Links

We Interrupt This Existential Crisis: Throwing Marshmallows. This post struck me because that's very nearly what I'm doing right now. My blog post last week, The Revelation, caused a little buzz, and I haven't even mentioned it since I've been here in Miami. 

Listening In The Car: Throwing Marshmallows. Another post from her... I like this idea - it's not a new one by any standards - however, I didn't know that The Story of the World came on CD??? Wow. Awesome. We may be picking those up in the near future.  

If Your Resolutions Are Already Mocking You: The Gypsy Mama. Love this post. It was recommended by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience. The author centers this post around Christmas, but I really love how she talks about parenthood and how plans just totally get derailed when you have kids. SO TRUE. Love it. Since I'm a planner, this makes my life miserable at times, but it is a really stretching and growing experience. If having kids teaches nothing else, it teaches that you simply can't plan for everything. Or anything at all. Because having a child means that life is FULL of unexpected moments. Unexpected STUFF.

Jesus Wasn't Radical: Inspired To Action. Speaking of unexpected, Kat always throws stuff at me that I'm not expecting (Kind of like my kids, but with a grown-up twist. Ha!), and this post was one of them. Made me think, that's for sure. I would like to increase my faithfulness in a serious way, because there are times when I find myself floundering in this area. Would you? 

12 Words For Setting Goals In The New Year: Inspired To Action. Just... WOW. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do this year. 

January Joy, 1000 Gifts: Planted By Streams. Also referencing Ann Voskamp and her book, this post feels like a gratitude list, which I have not yet tried, but am very interested in doing! 

Chores In Our Family: The Thinking Mother. Oooooh, the endless chores debate. I love how she handled the laundry thing. I may have to consider that (I loathe the laundry, and the kids complain about it a lot) at some later date. I just discovered this blog, and from what I've read, I LIKE IT. 

Carnival of Homeschool, Week 252: Why Homeschool. And, as if all this wasn't enough reading, here's a post with about a bajillion links in it, ALL about homeschooling. I haven't even gotten a chance to look through half of them, but wow. AWESOME! There is some fantastic stuff in here. And, even better, it's Princess Bride-themed! Whooo! 

Oh, and check out this video. SOOOOOO CUTE. SOOOOOO SWEET. I've never liked Jonah all that much (selfish, ungrateful man that he was), BUT... This little girl actually makes me want to like him. And that's saying something! 

Alright. I'm done (finally). Good night!