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About Florimell

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  1. You might check out The Neverending Story -- the book, not the movie
  2. You might look at someplace like Green Bay -- you can rent a cabin in Door County, but if there isn't much snow, you can check out things like the Titletown Park, which has a tubing hill and a skating rink with snow and ice that are manufactured and maintained throughout the winter. They are pretty much designed for people not used to winter -- with a warming fire, hot beverages nearby, etc.
  3. Sophie Quire by Johathan Auxier is one of DD9s favorites (though it follows Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which is not about a girl, specifically, but is still a great book). I recommend both. Sweep, by the same author, is also great -- like Dickens for kids, with some supernatural elements thrown in and a girl as the main character. Also, the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon trilogy is a hands-down favorite here -- there is befriending, but not battling dragons. The Girl Who Drank the Moon was also a huge hit.
  4. Right now, my main project is working with DD9 to make a series of twelve dolls as part of a world costume unit we are doing. We are using this pattern from iKat bag and modifying the hair, skin, and clothing. DD is SUPER excited. We have the bodies cut and will do the hair and shoes next. I am also looking for suggestions. A friend gave me an antique wooden chest full of silk embroidery floss that belonged to her late mother. Most of it is from China, and it is stunning. There are hundreds and hundreds of skeins, mostly in reds, pinks, greens, and purples. I suspect it had a companion with the blues, grays, yellows, and oranges, but it has been lost. Given the volume of floss, I also suspect it may have once been in a store or something. The question I have is what to use it for. I know all the basic stitches and can readily learn new ones, and I can sew just about anything, but I don't know what to make. One can only have so many embroidered handkerchiefs or pillows, and I am not the type to do samplers and hang them in my house. I am thinking of using it for the hem of a skirt, maybe part of a bag, but beyond that, I am at a bit of a loss. Any ideas? Part of me thinks I should leave it untouched because it is just so spectacular, but it was made to be used, and even if I embroidered every single day, I couldn't possibly come close to using it up.
  5. We're working our way slowly through the Spencerian Penmanship books -- it's best done a little at a time, but a great step up from cursive and very lovely.
  6. I second the recommendation for MCT's Grammar Island, and Practice Island if you want to reinforce the concepts -- very little writing, but effective. You might also consider just letting your DD write whatever she wants for now (maybe set aside some time each day where she has to write something, perhaps choosing from a list if she does not have ideas). Then, down the road, when she is forming sentences with ease (i.e. the process of getting words out of her head and down on a page is not arduous), look for something more formal or structured. She could write stories (even picture stories with a caption), lists, bedroom door hangers, signs, menus, post cards, greeting cards, set up a "museum" and have her make tags for each exhibit, advertisements, design cereal boxes, etc. etc. My priority would be to make sure that she enjoys writing, even if it is hard for her. It can still be fun. You might also check out Peggy Kaye's Games for Writing or Jennifer Hallissey's The Write Start. Some of the stuff in the Write Start will be too early/easy, but there are lots of good ideas too, especially for incorporating writing into play (doctor's office, memos, library, etc.)
  7. Don't Forget to Write has a lot of good ideas, and it is written for that age group.
  8. I am an active reader, but rarely post for these reasons. Could I get an invite too?
  9. Having taught British Lit surveys at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, I can't help but think that most of these lists are WAY too long. If you just want students to gain a passing familiarity with works, it will be fine. However, If you want them to see the humor in Beowulf, to marvel at the extensive discussions of embroidery in Sir Gawain, or to understand how each one reflects its historical context and fits into the larger landscape of British literature, you will need more time to discuss these things. My own bias is for depth over breadth and to be very judicious in the works I select. There are many different ways you can do it, but I would focus on poetry, prose, short stories and a very small number of longer works (at most 2-3 per semester). Shorter texts are easier to cover in their entirety and with some depth.
  10. Do you happen to have an answer key for these tests?
  11. You might check out these books -- both have lots of fun, playful activities for helping kids develop writing skills: The Write Start Games for Writing
  12. I would try to find a graduate student in an English department -- they would likely appreciate a bit of extra money and would love to do just what you are asking. I would have jumped at a chance like this when I was in grad school. As far as compensation goes, I would expect to be paid only for the time spent during the meeting if they were books that I had already read or that did not take a huge amount of time to work through (i.e. not Vanity Fair, Moby Dick, or Boswell's Life of Jonson). If they are at all far along in their program, they have likely read a LOT and could probably recommend books that would be interesting and relevant for your boys. If you have a specific list of books you want them to cover, though, then you might offer to compensate them for that time in some way, but not on an hourly basis.
  13. You might check out these books, each of which you can find used for under $5. They have a lot of fun ideas for young writers: Games for Writing The Write Start Playful Learning Don't Forget to Write (written for use with groups of writers, but has a lot of ideas to use at home too) Even though both of my kids were capable much earlier, I don't teach formal writing until late elementary (paragraphs) and middle school (essays). They have spent their early years producing lots of text in various forms and developing their own voices as writers without much formal instruction (though we do spend time with handwriting, conventions, and grammar). My goal has been for them to become fluent in getting words out of their heads and onto paper and arranging them in ways that make sense before we turn to the highly structured academic forms.
  14. I'm looking for a written curriculum (not an on-line course or web-based lessons) for beginning German. I have and use BTB French with my DD, and would love to find something similar for German to use with my DS. Any ideas?
  15. I just requested one through ILL -- I won't be able to keep it, but I will have it long enough to copy down some information or scan a page or two, within the limits of copyright law, of course, and for my own personal use. Plus, its free 😀
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