Do it Daily

I just found the greatest website.... http://www.dailylit.com/

Check it out, esspecially if you are pressed for time but really would like to get some reading time in. Pick out a book and really short excerpts are send daily, or every other day via email. You can even request the time you want it to arrive in you inbox. I love it. Currently I am reading a few at once ( a nasty habit of mine),Cousin Bette by Balzac, Walden by Thoureau and my favorite of the bunch Anna Karinina by Tolstoy.

Blue Bird Pas de Deux

My daughter just danced in her first ballet recital, and lucky me, it was to my favorite... Sleeping Beauty! I can wait for more to come, this spring's production will be Giselle! I am absolutely mesmerized by ballet. It is so beautiful to watch, I often want to cry by the sheer beauty and grace of the movements.
I recently got Elements Ballet Conditioning DVD, and man, it is ROUGH! I feel way beyond my 29 years. Truthfully, I can not even may it through the whole workout. Those dancers are fierce. The strength they have in their obscenely lithe bodies is insane. I am totally jelaous.
Besides all that I am definitely a girlie girl and I LOVE those ballet costumes.....who doesn't love a tutu?

To Joana

Love and Friendship - Poem by Emily Bronte:
Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree --
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most contantly?
The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who wil call the wild-briar fair?
Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly's sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green."

Lady Likes

I often aspire to look something like this; with big black sunglasses and a pair of fabulous driving gloves. (This is my mini-fantasy of the day.) It is a work in progress sort of thing.

Today my mission is to find the perfect red lipstick.

Vintage Valentines

Create Vintage Victorian Valentines: www.vintagegolidaycrafts.com

Full Speed Ahead

Ok, so I took a hiatus from the blog I have barely started. I needed to really sink my teeth into this homeschooling adventure and January flew by as a result. I was hoping to use thig blog as my pseudo-log for are daily doings, but found my self scribbling on papers and sticking them in to a pretty but unorganized tab folder. I am hoping to correct that, but only really time will tell if I succeed.
At this point in time we have tackled quite a bit. I am really glad that I was able to create a cirriculum that was tailored to our needs, it makes it easier then following another's model.

One website that I really recommend for chemistry is http://www.chem4kids.com/, the site also follows the other sciences, but I can only speak to the chemistry component. Great foundation material.

I also totally recommend The Story of the World Series by Susan Wise Bauer. It is excellent. The series also includes activity and test booklet (sold separately). I have the test booklet that I use for pretests, but I fill in the readings from the book with my own activities. We have a great time and it is very interactive, which is something we enjoy.

On other fronts, I have started to meditate; this is something that I never had the capacity for but miraculous overcame just recently. I stumble across I website that really helped be "get in the zone". A gem of a site called http://www.wildmind.org/. Good Stuff.

Personal Book Recommenation: The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim. Awesome. Coming of Age story set in Japanese occupied Korea.


"I am fortunate indeed. Whenever I make a mistake, there is always someone to notice it."
-Confucius

Signing off,

Ms. LittleWhiteGloves

The Homeschool Experiment

At the end of the holiday vacation I will begin the journey and adventure of homeschooling my 9 year old daughter. I am very excited to be able to provide her with a more traditional form of education, I am definitely against this "dumbing down" that I see going on in the public school system today. I hope that I can provide her with rigorous courses but in an environment that is nurturing and allows for personal investigation.
This is also an overwhelming endeavor and I am looking to this blog to be my sounding board for my triumphs and (hopefully few) setbacks. The curriculum that I have put forth for the remaining of this school year centers around the study of the ancient world. History, Literature, Music and Art will center on this theme. In science we will be studying chemistry and physics. In math we will be focusing on decimals, fractions, pre-algebra & pre-geometry. We are already studying German together through an great website- www.livemocha.com , it is free, free, free!! It also offers most any language you could imagine. Interact with native speakers who help you refine your skills. Just check it out!
Anyhoo, I will be updating on the homeschooling front come January 4th 2010.

Until tomorrow,

Ms. Little White Gloves

Not to know is bad, not to WISH to know is worse. -African Proverb