Category: Posts
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Who Was JRR Tolkien? (book review)
Confession: My family is Tolkien crazy, and “Who Was J.R.R. Tolkien?” is not a question one should ponder aloud in my presence. We love hobbits, elves, dwarves, and ents, wizards, dragons, elevensies, and one of our kids is named after a Lord of the Rings character. Both the books and films of The Hobbit and Lord of the…
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Scandinavian for a Day
Genetically my family’s not Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish —nor even Finnish or Icelandic— but today we were honorary Scandinavians. Uffdah! We enjoy learning about and celebrating other cultures, and immersive experiences —such as Junction City’s Scandinavian Festival— broaden our world while placating our wanderlust. Save for Frozen’s Elsa & Anna, IKEA’s swedish meatballs, and our dear friends with…
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What to Read Wednesday: Summer Camp Hangover & Library Woes
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Cicero Firstborn’s back after a marvelous week away at summer camp, and we’ve resumed our normal reading routine… though one week deviating from library visits & family read-alouds and we’ve almost completely derailed: We missed a bunch of due dates, racked up overdue fines…
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Exploring the Detroit Wilderness
Back in the 50’s, the Army Corps of Engineers dammed Oregon’s North Santiam River to create a reservoir. The dam still stands tall and proud today, providing Salem’s drinking water supply and generating electricity while protecting the Willamette Valley from seasonal flooding– though arguably the best part of the deal is the recreation it’s created…
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What to Read Wednesday: Summer Camp Edition
Hello Muddah, hello Faddah… We’re dropping the ball as bookworms this week because Firstborn’s away at summer camp. Sob! It’s a big deal for all of us– her first time overnight. I’m confident she’s having a blast, enjoying her independence and quality time with a bestie, but it’s still hard for a mama to have a chick so…
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Six Years & Six Thousand Miles
Six years and six thousand miles ago our son was born. At that same time, in Oregon, Husband had just accepted a new job and was poised to relocate our small family of four to Montana. Taking a break from packing, we hosted an impromptu playdate with Firstborn’s sweet pal from school– a cleft-affected girl who…
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Library Life & Book Recommends
This is not inaccurate. Still, the library’s best when you want to “try before you buy.” As homeschoolers, we’re frequent flyers of our local library year-round, but it remains on our regular summer rotation for more than merely literary pursuits– an ideal hangout, with piles of free resources, fun summer programs, performances, classes, friends we bump…
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Summer Term
Learnin’ needn’t cease entirely simply because of the tilt & rotation of the earth ’round the sun. I find it easier to keep some educational momentum going with our homeschool studies by following an abbreviated schedule during summer months: Heavy reading, light math, loads of field trips and hands-on backyard science projects, regular library trips, sneaky writing (pen-pal correspondence,…
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Summer Book Club
The Kindergarten graduates recently had another themed “book club” party, after procuring identical copies of Happy Pig Day at the library. Willing to do ‘most anything to keep them reading during the summer, we simply added piggy-themed treats and an easy craft to make it special. The rest of us are also actively racking up reading…
