All posts by NerdMom

egypt, first grade, gift worthy, literature, SOTW

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile

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The NerdBug read Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile as part of his literature reading on Egypt. It paralleled the history reading in Chapter 2 of SOTW.

This was a pleasant little book where Bill the crocodile goes to school, which consists of traveling the Nile. We learn about the Sphinx, mummies and Isis. Then he saves the Isis jewel from a bad guy. All this history tied together in a great story made it very memorable to my 1st grader. He now thinks sarcophagus is a normal word to use.

I personally enjoyed the book as did my son. I will be using this again with my other kids!

Homeschoooling

Nerds, High School, and Socialization

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Apparently when you search “facts about nerds” on Google we come up 2nd. The first site returned is fascinating article by Paul Graham on “Why Nerds are Unpopular”. It brought up many great points that spoke to my own popularity issues in high school and also to many reasons as to why I homeschool. While I am quoting many pieces, I recommend you read the article in its entirety.

One of his great points is that nerds don’t want to be popular enough to be popular.

But in fact I didn’t, not enough. There was something else I wanted more: to be smart. Not simply to do well in school, though that counted for something, but to design beautiful rockets, or to write well, or to understand how to program computers. In general, to make great things.

At the time I never tried to separate my wants and weigh them against one another. If I had, I would have seen that being smart was more important. If someone had offered me the chance to be the most popular kid in school, but only at the price of being of average intelligence (humor me here), I wouldn’t have taken it.
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The main reason nerds are unpopular is that they have other things to think about. Their attention is drawn to books or the natural world, not fashions and parties. They’re like someone trying to play soccer while balancing a glass of water on his head. Other players who can focus their whole attention on the game beat them effortlessly, and wonder why they seem so incapable.

He also speaks as to how real life compares to high school.

Why is the real world more hospitable to nerds? It might seem that the answer is simply that it’s populated by adults, who are too mature to pick on one another. But I don’t think this is true. Adults in prison certainly pick on one another. And so, apparently, do society wives; in some parts of Manhattan, life for women sounds like a continuation of high school, with all the same petty intrigues.

I think the important thing about the real world is not that it’s populated by adults, but that it’s very large, and the things you do have real effects. That’s what school, prison, and ladies-who-lunch all lack. The inhabitants of all those worlds are trapped in little bubbles where nothing they do can have more than a local effect. Naturally these societies degenerate into savagery. They have no function for their form to follow.

When the things you do have real effects, it’s no longer enough just to be pleasing. It starts to be important to get the right answers, and that’s where nerds show to advantage. Bill Gates will of course come to mind. Though notoriously lacking in social skills, he gets the right answers, at least as measured in revenue.

So once again all this just points out the obvious, if high school isn’t real life why is it so important to make your kids learn how to fit in? I feel it harms the kids more than anything, so I homeschool to combat it all and raise functioning adults.

politics

Giving Huckabee a Chance

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With Fred Thompson being a bit of a disappointment I am going to start looking into Mike Huckabee. While I only saw part of the debate last night, I was impressed by what I saw and what I have heard. My concern is that NerdDad has heard that he is a big spending Republican. That is my one really big problem with George W. Bush. So what do you all think of Mike Huckabee?

house management, organization

Christmas Card Time

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So I received our first Christmas card of the season today! It is a delightful picture card from our niece (on NerdDad’s side) of her 2 cute little kids. But that brings up a time honored quandary. What do you do with all these cards? Of course you display them for the month and then what? Well, here is my multi step process that is very simple. The key is taking them fro the display and fully dealing with them.

The first thing you must, and I mean MUST, do is make sure you have the address of the sender in whatever permanent address book you have (be it day planner, outlook, or database) and then toss the envelope. One less piece to hold onto.

After Christmas I toss all plain cards into the recycling. Take all the letters and make any notes you need from the information (new baby birthdays, anniversaries, upcoming graduations, etc) in your planner. Then toss!

Now on to all those great pictures. Now this is a new area for me. You can toss, if you want but I am a girl so I am immediately invested;). First make sure that all the pertinent information is ON it some where. Now not on the face of the picture but the back, bottom etc. Make sure the year is on there also. Then we are onto a collection vessel. You can use a shoe box or photo box and put dividers in by year. The other option (the one I am going to use) is a scrapbook. You can get them cheap at any craft store and it doesn’t have to be fancy. Then just slap them in an write all the information next to them. You can go further if you want but I am just not that good.

That is it! All of the cards, their information and all their mess is dealt with! One less thing to worry about. Go and enjoy your cards.

Food

The Best Mashed Potatoes!

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So I tried something new this year when it came to mashed potatoes. First off I used Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 1/2lbs) and then I just peeled and boiled them like normal. Then I dumped them in the colander to drain them and then I let them just sit there for a few minutes while the excess water worked its way out. Then I dumped them into my KitchenAid Mixer and added about 1/2 cup of 2% milk and 2-3 ounces of Brie cheese. Then I put the spurs to it.

Now I have had the mashed potatoes with all the sour cream, creamed cheese and whole milk and these were better. While brie seems a bit decadent just remember that you are just adding a little bit versus recipes that call for both cream cheese and sour cream. I have also found that brie isn’t that expensive. Today I saw it for less that $5 a pound.

All said, they were delectable. Even my nephew who doesn’t really like cheese loved these potatoes!

first grade, gift worthy, history, SOTW, WTM year 1

It’s Disgusting and We Ate It!

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We read It’s Disgusting and We Ate It! True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History as an additional historical read for Chapter one in Story of the World (Nomads) and it was very good. While it seems a book of modest page count, the information (and words) was astronomical. It focused on what used to be eaten, what is eaten other places, and what we eat that others find gross. All of my kids loved it. In addition to the typical paragraphs there was also a variety of poems and rhymes. The illustrations were also entertaining all on their own. This is something that I would like to have on my bookshelf for my kids. The drawback…. I go this book from the library as a read to go with the history lesson but due to it length we read it separate. I had alloted about 45 minutes in the morning to read it and it took considerably longer. This isn’t a flaw with the book but something to be considered when working it in with other material for a history unit. I think we might have this book to just read for edification not just for a history chapter. We will be using this again!

first grade, literature, SOTW, WTM year 1

One Small Blue Bead

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We read One Small Blue Beadby Byrd Baylor for Chapter one in Story of the World (Nomads). It was really good. It focuses on a young boy in a group of nomads and his wondering about other people being out there. It is written in a very poetic form and and the illustrations were beautiful. It seemed communicate just how separate the nomadic groups were from each other. My kids related to the boy and could empathize with his wondering. This was an easy pre-bed read for us due to its calming effects. We will definitely be using this again!