Monday Wrap-Up, Lammy Awards, Bloggiesta

I'm experimenting with a new format for my Monday wrap-ups. I'll give it a go and see how I like it. :-)

This Week: I believe there is a Hebrew proverb that says, "If you want to make G-d laugh, tell Him your plans." This week is Spring Break at Trisha's school and the beginning of spring soccer season for Trisha and James. So we got hit with a few inches of snow.

On the up side, this gives me another week to work out how to get two kids to different Monday soccer practices, in different locations, at roughly the same time.

Philosophical Ideas Through Movies Part I: Relativism

Philosophical Ideas Through Movies is a series of posts I began several years ago based on lesson plans for my homeschooled teens. I started this at my neglected homeschooling blog: Confessions of an Erratic Eclectic Homeschooling Mom. I'm reposting them with significant changes and revisions. They're meant to be springboards for discussion, with some Big Ideas sprinkled in, rather than heavyweight philosophy courses.

Note: The movies discussed in these posts are often not "family friendly" fare, but they may be suitable for adults and mature teens. I am O.K. with my teens seeing films with strong language, violence, nudity, and sex. Your mileage may vary. I recommend checking parental advisories at IMDb or Common Sense Media for more information.

There are no facts, only interpretations. -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Parents, Raise Your Children To Question Authority: Discussion of Compliance & Other Chit-Chat

We've been bad bloggers lately. Between continuing to plug along through Stephen King's 11/22/63, which I'm loving, watching old episodes of American Horror Story and The Wire, and ... y'know ... working and parenting and stuff, there hasn't been time to finish books, watch new movies, or blog.

Sarah and I are still digging The Wire. We do love complex, morally ambiguous characters, and there is a load of them here.

She and I watch American Horror Story with John on nights he's off work. It's an interesting pastiche of ghost stories and horror films, with shades of The Shining and Rosemary's Baby, that is if Rosemary decided to forgo chowing down on a little raw meat in favor of a nice bloody raw brain.  It's definitely beyond by fucked-upness threshold, especially with the recurring theme of dead babies, one of the few things I consistently can't stomach. Yet I can't look away. :-)

Last weekend, Sarah and I watched Compliance, the next movie I plan to discuss with her and James as part of homeschool. This film was difficult to sit through, especially for Sarah. This kid, who introduced me to the likes of Tyrannosaur and Red, White and Blue, found Compliance too disturbing. She swears this is my ultimate revenge for all the spectacularly unsettling movies she's gotten me to watch.

Film Review: Everyman's War & A Few Thoughts on Our History "Curriculum"

In exploring history with my homeschoolers, I basically have two goals. I am not interested in my kids memorizing names, dates, and battles. I never thought that was the proper goal of history instruction, and in the era of Google, it seems even more pointless. First, I want them to understand the "big picture," the links between interconnected events. This helps us grasp the complicated, far-reaching consequences of choices our leaders make, the lessons history has to teach us. It enables us to become thinking citizens.

Monday Round-Up/Homeschooling With Tarantino

This week we found ourselves inching back into a "normal" routine after the holidays. Trisha was VERY excited to get back to school. She attends a small private school, part time, as a homeschooler.

Happy Birthday, Trisha

It's official. As further proof that only the good die young, I am -- in fact -- getting old. :-) My "baby" turns 9 today. How did we go from this?

Weekly Round-Up: Books, Films & Homeschooling (No Zombies)

There has been a little too much crazy around here lately. Sometimes I feel like Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day. Waking up every day to the same old mess, hoping something changes yet powerless to make it happen. :-P Things are starting to look up, though.