We recently finished The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum. I had originally thought that the kids would find it semi-dry, especially in light of the somewhat archaic prose, but each reading brought clamouring for more. They were truly bummed when it ended. Now I'm looking for supplementary materials, so if anyone knows of any great books or films, let me know. I've checked out Troy from the library, but have no deslusions as to its suitability for children. Still, I'll preview it and see. Prawnie made a lovely painting of the sea nymph who helped Odysseus, and Fishy made a fun diorama out of Sculpey that has Polyphemus the Cyclops and his cave, one of his big sheep, and Odysseus with his wine skin and sharp stick (for putting out Polyphemus's eye.) Maybe someday I'll be able to post a pic. In the meantime, I won't attempt to describe it with 1,000 words, lucky for you.
I'm about to embark on another math book spree - Alg II for Mollusc to accompany her Geometry, and the 4th grade book for Dags. I can't believe it. Realli. I was talking with friends about Geometry's application beyond the actual class, and we were all hard-pressed to come up with any times we've actually used it. Even playing pool is more Physics than Geometry. Perhaps it's a time filler so that kids can get ready to embrace the headier concepts of higher level Algebra and Trigonometry. Surely there are useful principles, but beyond those that can be taught in about 1 week, I'm not sure what they are. So I think that doing Alg II concurrently with Geometry will be good. Less chance to forget how to do "real math" and all that.
We got our passport photos done on Saturday, and now all we need for our apps is proof that I was born. Here's hoping that the lovely state of California isn't so broke that it takes my $ but can't afford the postage to send out my birth certificate.
Penultimately, while I'm wasting your time with the trivia of my life, I finally downloaded some songs from the net. MuNKi* was able to get a Linux-friendly downlad app installed. I am now the proud owner of Coldplay's Viva La Vida (song, not album), Gavin Rossdale's Love Remains the Same, O.A.R.'s Shattered, and Blue October's Calling You and Into the Ocean. I need to look for Peter Gabriel's cover of The Book of Love next.
And finally, I have about 7 books going, but the one I'm reading the most is The Hindi Bindi Club, by Monica Pradhan, which is fantastic. It also makes me terribly hungry for good Indian food. Fortunately, there are recipes at the end of each chapter.
If you made it this far, tell me what you're listening to and/or reading. Please! :)
*Is this a sonic screwdriver which I see before me? Hur hur hur!
12 comments:
Listening to Django Haskins (the son of the poet I met last October) and Rodrigo y Gabriella (still). Reading student papers :-)
Occasionally, I've been known to use the Pythagorean theorem in real life, but all those proofs we had to do in geometry never came in handy.
I MUST defend Geometry! I use it all the time when figuring materials for home improvement projects. When building our shed, I figured out which roof pitch would require the least materials.
Geometry proofs have been another invaluable tool in my life. I've won many arguments by applying proofs to the known facts. ;)
I'm reading Ken Follet's World Without End, the sequel to Pillars of the Earth. EXCELLENT read!!
Almost forgot...Geometry comes in VERY handy when quilting!
Kitkat, does Django have CDs out? I agree that the pythagorean theorem falls into the "useful" category, though I think it can also be put into the "teach it in one week with the other stuff" category. Oddly, Sluggie just learned that in Pre-Algebra.
Tshsmom, I don't think it's entirely useless, but there does seem to be a lot that isn't very practical. Could your applications fall into the one week category? Maybe it's just Mollusc's book, but there seems to be a lot of time spent on things that don't need much time at all, LOL!
Tshsmom - I'm looking up those books. :)
Good point about Geometry. I'm going through all this stressful triangle-measuring and polygon-angling for nothing?
Tenners looks completely bloody mad in that shot. Love it love it love it. Hee hee.
When not poring over the stuff I read for school (which I'm hopelessly and nerdishly addicted to) I tend to read and re-read classic novels. Recently it's been Lawrence Durrell's 'Justine'.
Beautiful, inspiring prose. Highly recommended!
Ash, it helps you not get through Calculus by age 15. Because then what would you do? ^_^
Winters - It's going on my short list. I ADORE his brother Gerald's books. Much insight about Lawrence in them, too. OK, well some. I think it was Lawrence who helped him name his boat, the Bootle-Bumtrinket. ^_^
Hee hee. Good point. I hadn't thought of that.
IT'S JUST FILLER. Does that mean it doesn't matter if I do every other question wrong and call it a day?
If I answer 42 is it still wrong?
You, too, raise a valid point. My answer is 42. What was the question again?
Django does have a CD out, though I can't remember the name of it now. He also plays with a band called The Old Ceremony, and they have a couple albums. I got them on iTunes.
Oh, cool! So I can preview them there. :) Thanks.
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