There Goes September

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October looms large and what have we learned? Lots. For one, we love middle school. Our children are in 8th grade and 6th grade respectively. Maybe they are more mature or maybe I am more relaxed, but things are going smoothly.

Grotto Falls

Hiking the Grotto Falls trail

With the pandemic, nobody is living their Plan A, and we are no exception. We wish we could do orchestra again, but alas, they require masks. My children cannot play violin for one minute with a mask on, let alone one hour. This is our second year of not doing orchestra and we miss it dearly. Continue reading »


More Book Ideas

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We borrowed more books from our library, to continue our quest to finish the Great Words, Great Works book list put together by the National Spelling Bee. Anna Porter Public Library in Gatlinburg, TN may be small, but it is mighty. When they do not have a title, they will get it for us through ILL.

Selections from Great Words, Great Works

Selections from Great Words, Great Works

I have learned to send about five title requests, especially if we are talking chapter books. Picture books require 20 minutes to read. A chapter book written for a third grader can have 188 pages. They may be small pages with seven pages of illustrations total, for instance, but it will still take about three or four hours to read out loud. If you have to take these books back in 14 days with no renewal possible, then you have to really hurry up. Continue reading »