Something more traditional, for Junior at Chicken Spaghetti

For Susan’s son Junior, who has the good taste and good timing to wonder about that neighbour to the north.
It’s not Canada without:
Sam’s cousin, John Steele, RCMP action figure
The RCMP Musical Ride by Maxwell Newhouse
The Maple Syrup Book by Marilyn Linton
At Grandpa’s Sugar Bush by Margaret Carney, illustrated Janet Wilson
Your own 5-foot tall, glow in [...]

Relief

First, we are done, done, done with Swim Club. Yes, the kids had great fun with ready access to a pool, their swimming improved tremendously, they loved wearing swim caps and goggles, and they adored swimming races and winning. But we don’t have to be in town four evenings a week any more, and the [...]

Having a Field Day

Grab a water bottle and pack a lunch, because today is the first ever (and Early Summer Edition) of Dawn’s Field Day, packed with posts and photos.
I thought Dawn’s closing thought, from John Muir, was wonderful: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

Don’t get your hopes up

but inspired by the recent discoveries of the kildeer and bluebird nests, the peony’s blossom, and how darn cute my kids are in the summer, I’ve been inspired to haul the digital camera out of the sock drawer. Since I know my courage and confidence need bolstering in the face of mod-ren technology, I’ve enlisted [...]

Box of books: "Eating Outdoors"

My parents, who believe that the way to a person’s heart is through the stomach, helped us celebrate our anniversary earlier this month by sending along a box of new cookbooks. Nothing is more fun than getting a box of books from Amazon or Chapters than getting a box of books you didn’t order yourself. [...]

Quintessential Canada ahead of Canada Day

Some new and different things to share with your kids:
Sir John A. Macdonald action figure (at left), $11.99 CAN
Mike Ford’s “Canada Needs You” CD, nominated for a Juno (Canadian Grammy) in 2005 for Best Children’s Album. The 12 songs from pre-1905 Canada include I’m Gonna Roam, Thanadelthur, Les Voyageurs, The Oak Island Mystery, La Patriote, [...]

Growing with Grammar 4 is here!

Great good news from my friend Tamy Davis at Growing with Grammar: she’s finished with Growing Grammar 4, for fourth graders! Laura enjoyed using GWG3 this past year, and is looking forward to the next book. My Farm School review of GWG3 is here.
Don’t forget, Canadians can find GWG at Academic Distribution [...]

Speaking of education

Here’s the latest in edumacation news in our fair province, where money is gushing out of the ground faster than brains can think:

According to the Alberta School Board Association, nearly half of the province’s school boards are reporting annual deficits, four times the number in financial difficulty five years ago. Because I tend to think [...]

Carnival Time

over at The Lilting House, where Melissa and her daughter Jane have done a wonderful quotefull job. Archives for previous Carnivals of Educations are here at the archive. And next week’s Carnival of Education will be hosted by NYC Educator; officially, you’re submit your posts to nyceducator (at) gmail (dot) com by 6 pm [...]

Intermittent blogging ahead

I’ll have to admit right now that I’m just not spending enough time by the computer, or even indoors, to do much blogging and I don’t think that will change much in the next while, especially with Canada Day, two weddings, and the fair in our future. So you’ve been warned.
We’ve had hot, dry, [...]

My deal of the week

Possibly of the month. Found at the Loblaws supermarket this afternoon: MGM’s The Frank Sinatra Collection of three wonderful movies in nobody-wants-it-but-us-anymore-video-format, for a grand total of $1.33 each. Even in U.S. dollars that’s a steal. It sure beats $10 for a collection of Pink Panther cartoons on DVD; we love PP around here, [...]

That’s it then. Give us back our Stanley Cup…

From The Guardian:
The author of what has been described as the definitive dictionary of slang is gobsmacked, gutted, throwing up bunches, honked, hipped and jacked like a cock-maggot in a sink-hole. A North Carolina school district has banned the dictionary under pressure from one of a growing number of conservative Christian groups using the internet [...]

Special occasions demand special things (so said Mrs. Bird)

“Oooh,” said Paddington, “is it really for me?” He stared hungrily at the cake. It really was a wonderful cake. One of Mrs. Bird’s best. It was covered with sugar icing and it had a cream and marmalade filling. On the top there was one candle and the words: TO PADDINGTON. WITH BEST WISHES FOR [...]

Poetry Friday: The long, the lovely day

Somehow my E. Nesbit poem disappeared. Blame Blogger. Will repost as soon as I get a chance (probably sometime after our 17 hours of daily sunshine disappear).

Speaking of fairs…

Melissa at The Lilting House has a great roundup of the current (home) learning fairs, festivals, and carnivals, but my new favorite has to be one post down at Lilting House, Dawn at By Sun and By Candlelight’s terrific idea of a Field Day, a veritable “carnival of nature study”. Dawn would like to post [...]

Homeschooling Country Fair: First Day of Summer edition

What better way to celebrate the longest day of the year than at the Country Fair?
Head over to Doc’s for a variety of articles tucked everywhere from the Pavilion to the Grange Hall to the midway to the livestock pens. She’s done a blue-ribbon job putting it all together!
The next Country Fair will be [...]

What we did on our first day of summer vacation

from formal homeschooling. Yesterday was a gorgeous June day, complete with deep blue sky and big, fluffy clouds, so we
– picnicked by the dugout [Western Canadian term for a manmade pond) to watch the mallard pair, the coot family with its redheaded babies, a Sora rail, and assorted sandpipers
– (this is an “I” and [...]

The Well-Upholstered Couch

The other day hornblower wrote a post called The Well-Decorated Home, which was wasn’t really about home decorating or even home schooling, but a few hours later the kids and I walked to the mailbox where I collected the latest issue of Canadian Home & Country magazine. Paging through it later that evening, hornblower’s article [...]

Oops

I completely forgot about Farm School’s anniversary/birthday last Friday. I was reminded this morning when I read Chris Barton’s anniversary post (congratulations, Bartography!).
I have no idea and don’t much care about Farm School’s Sitemeter stats (which tend to make me nervous, truth be told), or its status in the blog zoo and stock [...]

Call for submissions for the 4th Homeschool Country Fair

Heads-up from Doc:
For the summer season, one carnival a month will be published, on the third Wednesday of each month. The next carnival will be published June 21st (first day of summer, if you need a writing prompt!). Submit your entries as comments here, or email me here [I'm not sure how to link to [...]