Over 500 Posts and Butterfly Fun!

Wow! I just noticed that my post on Sky Magic was my 500th post on this blog.

I started blogging on Sunday, December 3, 2006, and my first post was Why I Homeschool: A Response to Dr. Phil. When I re-read my first post, I was both amused and amazed. I have certainly learned a lot about formatting, posting, and blogging since that day just a little over two years ago when I started this blog.

I am also amazed by what has happened in our personal lives since that day, and what changes have come to us and the world since then. I am also impressed by the amount of learning that I have done, thanks to my fellow bloggers! Long life to you all!

I am now sold on the power of journaling!

And now for some fun!

Frankie, over at Kitchen Table Learners has given me a Butterfly Award. I know I have received some other awards during this very busy fall, but I kept delaying my response until I forgot altogether. So I am not going to make the same mistake with this one.

The rules are to link to the person who gave you the award, post the graphic, and name ten blogs for the award in turn.

Ten is hard for me, but Frankie named a few that I had already named.

Here are my ten:

Boy Story . . . And Beyond!

Homeschooling the Doctorate!

The Thinking Mother

Corn and Oil

Junkfood Science

Mom in Madison

Deliberate Wanderer

Magpie Ima

Rational Jen

NeuroLogica

Some of these are mothers, one is a dad, some are homeschooling, and some of these are about science. Among them, there is quite a diversity of ideas: religious, non-religious, scientific, and political. I like something about each one, and none of them reflect my ideas and opinions completely. That is why I have learned so much!

One more thing: each of these blogs links to a whole world of blogs. Following links can bring you to more blogs that I'd like to put here, but then I'd go over the limit.

Enjoy!

Some Sunshine on an Unsettled Day...

Frankie, over at Kitchen Table Learners, just passed along some sunshine on an unsettled day.



She has put this "E for Excellent" stamp of approval on Ragamuffin Studies!



I would like to pass it on to:


Judy Aron over at Consent of the Governed. I read this blog almost every day, and sometimes more than once in the day. This blog will give you information on what is going on in the world of politics, the politics of homeschooling, and the politics of education and children, and more, including humor.

Sandy at Junkfood Science. Whatever you think about the politics of food, you owe it to yourself to check out this blog. Sandy, a scientist herself, writes very good reviews of the studies about food and health that often get reported wrongly by the uncritical media.
I appreciate the good science writing here and the rational approach to food.

Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight. This is a beautiful and intricate blog, and Dawn writes with a quiet spirituality about nature, crafts, faith and her life as a homeschooling mother. Peace and comfort are the gifts for which I stop by frequently.

Thanks, Frankie!

This Just In: Blogger Reflection Awards

Crimson Wife over at Bending the Twigs has given me the Blogger Reflection Award along with five others.

Blogger Reflection Award: this award should make an individual reflect upon five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and who have provided an example. In other words, five dear bloggers whom, when you reflect upon them, you are filled with a sense of pride and joy. . .of knowing them and being blessed by them.

I am honored, Crimson Wife! And I will be in the Bay Area week after next. Maybe I can buy you a cuppa and some of that wonderful San Francisco Sourdough Bread!

And there are some blogs that come immediately to mind when I think of "encouragement" " source of love" and being "blessed by them." This community of homeschool bloggers has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to this! So here are my five, though it could easily have been more!

First, is Megan from Down Under, who hosts Imaginif... She is also author of Homeschooling Aspergers blog (on hiatus at the moment), and she was one of my first friends in the blogosphere. Although she is currently hit a rough patch in her life, she is still the dear, unfailingly loving, person she has always been. She is a blessing, a person who puts her heart and soul into advocating for abused children and for the safety of every child. Megan, I am still saving my pennies (and airline miles--does United fly into Brisbane?) for that trip down under, so that we can sit by the pool with a cuppa and solve all the problems of the world.

Another is Woman of the Tiger Moon. Beth is a single mother who has homeschooled one child to adulthood and is homeschooling two others, while continuing her own education. She is a person who is very accepting of differences and talks to her readers from the heart and with beautiful phrases. And her pictures are amazing! I come away from every post with a feeling of joy and wonder at the way she finds "serenity and grace" in her life.

And then there's Kathy Jo over at Barefoot Meandering and her husband Ernie at Deliberate Wanderer. Just the name of her blog makes me want to take my shoes off and go wandering over the green fields of Tanglewood Farm. They are people who inspire me because of how tenaciously they go after their dreams. And as they learn how to farm, they see every day as an adventure and every setback as a learning experience. Kathy Jo's joy in life is a pleasure to behold. And she has a wicked sense of humor as goes about her days homeschooling her boys. And Ernie is always ready to share his wisdom and advice and humor on his blog, making me think and providing me an example of someone who lives what he believes.

And, of course, there is Miranda up at Nurtured by Love, blogging from the beautiful wilds of British Columbia. It is so much fun to check in and see what she and her tribe of unschoolers are up on any given day. I take joy in the beautiful music she and her daughter make using the Suzuki method (Miranda posts snippets to give readers a listen) and laugh about how they deal with life, wild (bears and wasps) and domesticated (the AD). This is one of the blogs from which I have gained the courage to move toward unschooling. N. thinks this is the greatest blessing of all!

That's five. And there could have been more. But really, two posts in one day? Neither of which are about the COH?

Boy are my hands tired.

Bloggers for Positive Global Change

I have been remiss!

I have been tagged in the last month for several memes and I have not dealt with any of them.


I have some excuses:

1) It's the "lazy, crazy days of summer" in the nothern hemisphere
2) I have had some stuff I really wanted to write about

3) I am working on a presentation I am giving at the New Mexico Javits Grant Gifted Conference


But today I opened my e-mail to find that Megan, of Imaginif and Homeschooling Aspergers has given me a meme that I really can't refuse.

It is the Bloggers for Positive Global Change award.

The meme is from Climate of Our Future, whose mission statement is:

"Our particular mission is no small task — changing the world we live in for the better — but we take great comfort in the fact that we’re not struggling alone to achieve this."

Over at Imagine If, Megan said this about my blog: "....In a single blog, she has taught me about American history and Judaism. Peaceful to her bones, this one woman oozes social understanding, acceptance of diversity and helpful knowledge beyond belief."

Wow! When I looked at the blogs she put me in company with, I am humbled. I mean, I'm just a "homeschool mom" with some things I want to say. I guess the best way to actually deserve this award is to point to blogs that I look to for inspiration and guidance. And I guess I'll have to come out of hiding about global climate change and science as well. Oh, boy!

So here goes--5 Blogs that I turn to for inspiration when I am feeling too small to make a difference:

Life Without School : This unique blog is put together by 13 "featured authors" who have their own blogs as well. They manage Life Without School as a "blogging community" that includes blogs about all aspects of homeschooling by guest authors, as well as pages and pages of information for anyone interested in homeschooling. The featured authors comprise a very diverse group and the blogging community allows for an even greater diversity of voices to be heard. This blog is an inspiration to me in many ways. They are voices for positive change.

Consent of the Governed : Homeschool mom turned activist and researcher, Judy provides a great deal of varied information about the legal issues involving homeschooling, as well as commentary on the educational establishment and government that keeps me thinking. She is also a researcher for National Home Education Legal Defense. Based in Connecticut, this is a non-sectarian alternative for those of us who want to pool our resources to preserve our freedom to educate our children ourselves.

Edie Neurolearning Blog : The Edies are on hiatus right now, due to illness in the family. They might not be posting for a while, but their blog is a magnificent resource for those of us educating children with learning differences. Through timely discussion and reviews of neuroscience papers, the Edies show us the wonderful diversity and potential among our developmentally different children. Posts like Gifted? Autistic? Quirky? - Embracing the Different , give readers a way to imagine each child as an individual with much to offer our world, if only we are willing to appreciate difference and nurture each child. These people are truly out to change the world on behalf of our gifted and neurodiverse children.

Nature Skills Blog : This blog is hosted by The Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Oregon. Hosted by students in the year-long nature awareness adult program, this blog teaches a variety of wilderness survival skills and links up with the NatureTalk Forum, for students in the various programs of the school. The whole Wilderness Awareness School community is a voice for positive global change in that it seeks to help us re-learn our link with the world of nature. We often act as if we are aliens on our own planet. The Wilderness Awareness School is one of several organizations that seeks to help us remember that we are children of our mother, the earth. For without that awareness, how can we be expected to change our relationship with her?

Junkfood Science : The mission statement of this blog is: "The truth about food, fat and health. Learn the science that mainstream media doesn't report and how to critically think about the junk they do that's not fit to swallow. Plus some food for thought." We live in a world in which one of the accepted prejudices has become intolerance against fat people. The powers that be would have you believe that all of us will be healthy if only we are emaciated as fashion models. at Junkfood Science, Sandy S., BSN, RN, CCP, keeps me up to date about the real science behind the propaganda put out by the diet industry. And she reminds me that human beings come in all shapes and sizes, and that this kind of diversity, like any other rooted in biology, is important for our health, happiness and our future as a species.

So there they are--five blogs that I think are voices for positive change in our world.

Check them out.

And here are the rules for the Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award:

1. When you get tagged, write a post with links to up to 5 blogs that you think are trying to change the world in a positive way.

2. In your post, make sure you link back to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Leave a comment or message for the bloggers you’re tagging, so they know they’re now part of the meme.

4. Optional: Proudly display the “Bloggers For Positive Global Change” award badge with a link to the post that you write up.