Chickens

One of my current interests is raising chickens. (Can you guess what little animals are in a cardboard box in our kitchen?) I've spent quite a bit of time on backyardchickens.com. I've also enjoyed the following two books.

Chick Days: Raising Chickens from Hatchlings to Laying Hens by Jenna Woginrich. It has beautiful photography.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Raising Chickens by Jerome D. Belanger. I appreciated how this book explored the physiology and behavior of chickens (in addition to the expected "how to take care of chickens" information).

A Thomas Jefferson Education

After hearing about it for the second time, I decided to read A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century by Oliver Van DeMille. I don't feel like summarizing, but I'll just say that I agree with several of his ideas-- especially that children need to learn "how" to think and that classics and mentors (good teachers) need to be an important part of a child's (and adult's education). I feel inspired to again work through a lot of the "classics" sitting on our bookshelf and to encourage and help my kids to do so too. I don't feel inspired to follow DeMille's ideas to a tee (or assume that all his "phases of learning" or "seven keys of great teaching" are gospel). There's also a bit of a haughty, over-idealistic tone in the book that I didn't like. Overall though, this was a wonderful book with opinions on education that really opened my mind.

American Playgrounds

I've been thinking about buying or building a playground for our backyard. I've heard from many parents who've purchased fancy backyard equipment that their kids enjoy it for a few days and then don't play on it much. So... I decided to read a little bit about playgrounds/playground design/playground history. I found this great blog: http://playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/ (and got wonderfully distracted from the goal of getting a backyard playground). It has tons of photos and information about playgrounds as well as book recommendations. I recently read one of these books: American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space by Susan G. Solomon. It talks about playgrounds at the turn of the century (big fenced areas with a "play leader" to facilitate games), postwar WWII steel slides/swings/seesaw playgrounds, a creative period of playground design in the 1960s, and the current trend of very "safe" boring equipment. A good chunk at the end of the book talks about several well-done individual playgrounds. This part I didn't read completely and sometimes read out of order. I wanted more photos to more easily visualize the different playground features. All in all a wonderful read though!

Reading lately?

Not so much time for blogging. I've read lately:

Free-Rage Kids by Lenore Skenazy

From Microsoft to Malawi by Michael L. Buckner

Beyond 2012: Watch Where You're Going by Jaimy Mauricio

Bicycle Journeys

I've been interested in the idea of long-distance bicycle touring with families. Recently, I've read several "trip journals" at crazyguyonabike.com (great site!). I've also read the following:

Mud, Sweat, and Gears by Joe Kurmaskie. This book is the story of Joe, his wife, and three children (including a nursing baby) as the bike across Canada. I enjoyed it, but expected (and wanted) something more like a simple travelogue. It's interspersed with stories of Joe's past adventures (that don't always have to do with bikes) and is also a little crass at times.

A Pedouin Life by Bill and Amarins Harrison with Cheyenne, Jasmine and Robin. I couldn't put this book down! It's about the Harrison family's year-long adventure biking from Kentucky to Alaska on quint bike. I loved the writing style and despite the fact that I'd already read their whole blog of the adventure (which I also had trouble peeling myself away from!), the story didn't seem old and retold. I find it especially fascinating that the family is self-described "blue-collar" and left Kentucky with just $300.

The Homeschooling Option

The Homeschooling Option: How to decide when it's right for your family by Lisa Rivero preaches homeschooling as something wonderful. It gives insight into why people homeschool and how their days run and has lots of quotes from a variety of happy homeschooling students and parents. It was interesting to peek into the world of homeschooling, but the book glossed over any homeschooling negatives or problems so isn't necessarily helpful for a parent truly considering that educational option.

Homeschooling Books

I've been curious about homeschooling lately, so have read:

Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling by Marsha Ransom. This book is exactly what the title says it is. I knew little about homeschooling before reading it and after reading it, knew the basics. It briefly discussed common homeschooling philosophies and how to go about teaching your children. It was informative, but I also skimmed large chunks of it that were full of common-sense information.

100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy was a much better book. It went through the different philosophies more in depth and had several lists of questions to help you decide on which type of curriculum best suits you and your child(ren)'s needs. About 2/3 of the book is curriculum reviews.