IdyllopusPress Presents

Tag: homeschool

  • National Geographic Kids magazine has a mission – to prep a child to spend, spend, spend

    H.o.p. was reading his “National Geographic Kids” magazine the other night and yesterday got up and asked me about a cute rabbit he’d seen in it, which he believed was like the Microsoft Agent, Peedy the Parrot, only this creature would text-to-speech “email and blogs!!” which he thought was great. “Can I get it?” H.o.p.…

  • Ten Year Old Child Begs for Bergman’s "Seventh Seal" (Don’t They All)

    I’m not big on Bergman. Yes, I’ve got “Bergman on Bergman” on the shelf but that’s from my late teens and early twenties. However H.o.p. came across Bergman’s Seventh Seal I don’t know but a couple weeks ago he brought it up. “What’s The Seventh Seal?” he asked. Yes, I watch great movies with H.o.p.…

  • Well, one can't say the universe isn't into novelty

    I read the Bad Astronomy Blog and watch Phil Plait’s films, and sometimes read parts of the posts to H.o.p., like today’s which was on the age of the universe and how it was formed and the birth of hydrogen. “That is so cool,” H.o.p. said. Hydrogen means something to us as we’ve purchased a…

  • The Quandry

    The Quandry

    H.o.p.: Mom, there’s something I want to talk to you about. I have this problem that freaks me out sometimes. It’s about life. Sometimes when I think about life it’s like something I can’t escape. It’s hard to describe. How can I forget about it, mom? Bad mom softly laughs. H.o.p.: And I sometimes get…

  • It Worked for Us – BBC Typing School (Ages 7 – 11)

    BBC has an online typing program for kids ages 7 to 11, Dance Mat Typing. I thought I’d go ahead and give it a plug as it worked for us. H.o.p. began the lessons last year but his interest collapsed. He started them again this year back in November or December and finished them, this…

  • Cosmeo No Longer Has Maths Mansion (durn)

    We use Cosmeo quite a bit and H.o.p. really enjoys it. He really enjoyed the Brit show Maths Mansion which he discovered via Cosmeo, which was filmed about 2001 and is a math adventure game geared for 9 to 11 year olds (not to be confused with the Ms. Infinity’s Math Mansion). Then suddenly the…

  • Rosetta Stone Doesn't Like Libraries

    I discovered what’s going on with Rosetta Stone and libraries. They’ve decided to not license them any longer. So I was reading that a library, patrons being hooked, had ordered CDs to lend out. But the new Rosetta Stone license is for one computer alone. The librarian had felt that Rosetta Stone had used them…

  • Let's Not Watch it Again!

    Netflix has some Sundance Film Festival animated shorts from 2007. H.o.p. and I watched “Ask the Insects”, “Der Ostwind”, “In Passing” and “One Rat Short”. “Ask the Insects” was the only one he asked to see again, the effects having sparked his interest, and then before I even began to replay it he had changed…

  • Slinky in the Sky with Jittery Diamonds

    Lo and behold the clouds cleared up and after watching for a while from the window we stepped outside for around 20 minutes of eclipse viewing with the binoculars. “Wasn’t that exciting?” H.o.p. said. It was pretty. I tried taking pictures but not having brought along the tripod the moon came out looking like a…

  • Out of the mouths of ten year old boys

    H.o.p. watching a show on myth and meaning and it mentions the pain of childbirth. “How can childbirth be painful?” H.o.p. objects. “It’s a joyous time!” I laugh and I laugh and I laugh.

  • Tullie Smith Farm Log Cabin

    Tullie Smith Farm Log Cabin

    Tullie Smith Farm Log Cabin Atlanta History Center, 2008 View On White Atlanta History Center, Tullie Smith Farm Area View On White Little log cabins and farm houses don’t exactly thrill me. Before H.o.p. was born, these are not scenes I would generally elect to go seek out, but if they were THERE right before…

  • Some Book Buying Out of the Way

    Anybody got a Harold Jacob’s “Mathematics, A Human Endeavor” book they want to sell me for cheap? Never mind. I found a second edition copy that I purchased for $26. I should not have. H.o.p. will hate it. But we’ll have it none-the-less. I’m on a math list that is starting a study using the…