love to paint

Two weeks ago, the current issue of the Economist arrived at our house one afternoon and when my husband saw it, his immediate comment was, "Ah, the article that will irritate my wife in a thousand different ways!"  I chuckled and wondered what the Economist magazine would have to say about the state of teaching in America and the world today. So, later in the evening I sat down to read the article.  I knew a couple of things it would probably say because of the title--1)  The issues with education are because we have bad teachers and 2) we need good teachers.  That was actually exactly what the article said.  There was a second article that expounded the idea more in-depth that good teachers are made/taught, not innately formed natural teachers. The premise of the second article is one I partly agree with, but as with most things the picture is a lot more complicated than it seems and it can't be simplified as much as people would like.  Politicians wa...

Today a friend asked me if I buy a lot of books.  My answer was, "Yes."  I do.  I have found places and ways to make money stretch, but, yes, I buy a lot of reading books for my kids.  I save on curriculum and spend it on reading books.  The main reason is that my library doesn't carry a lot of the books my kids want to read.  So, when my kids find an author they like (and that I like) I try to collect the books.  When they grow out of the books, I don't hold onto them.  I pass them on or donate them back to the library book sale.  I used to try and find people to give them to, but now I give them to the library. In any case, when you have children who read a lot (like mine), I have found there are two big issues. #1  Finding good books to read.  The WHAT to READ #2  Getting those good books to read.  The WHERE ARE THOSE BOOKS question. Here are the answers I've found: For #1... Every parent I know has websites, ...

I always chuckle when I read reviews of mysteries that say, "I knew it the whole time."  The funny thing about mysteries is that readers are caught in a catch-22--we want to figure out "who did it", but we don't want it to be too easy to figure out.  In the case of a mystery that I read this week, I had figured out "who did it" early on in the book. The book was AH Gabhart's new book, Murder Comes by Mail .  This is the second book in Ms. Gabhart's Hidden Springs Mystery.  It's not her usual genre.  I feel that the first book in this series was more enjoyable than this one.  This second book felt dry, slow, and plodding.  I hate to use words like those, but that is how I felt as I read the book.  I was more annoyed with more characters than is usual for most books I read. The story is about Michael Keane and the town of Hidden Springs.  In the beginning of the story, he saves a man from jumping off a bridge and becomes a hero.  Sh...

When my kids were younger, I read so many, many parenting books.  When they came across my desk for review, I read them.  Some were good, some were strange.  Some were on the mark, and some were way, way off the mark!  Over time I found a few that I love. 1.   The Journey of a Strong Willed Child by Kendra Smiley 2.   Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson 3.  The Bible Study that goes along with Shepherding a Child's Heart (it walks through all the Bible verses about parenting) 4.   Little Lamb Who Made Thee? by Walt Wangerin Jr. For parents of infants and toddlers: 1.   Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron 2.   Healthy Sleep habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth But, every once in a while I read a new parenting book out of curiosity.  That's the case of the book in front of me, The Mother Letters:  Sharing the Laughter, Joy, Struggles, and Hope , edited by Amber C. Haines and Seth Haines. This book is...

There is a young adult novel sitting on my desk right now waiting for a verdict. The author of the novel, Nan Willard Cappo, has written an interesting story.   Cheating Lessons is about a high school student named Bernadette Terrell.  She’s not a very likable character actually—not someone I would have been friends with at the beginning of the story.  She’s sassy, overconfident, and sees herself as better than other people.  The relationship between her and her mom is one that made me cringe each time they interacted.  The plot of the story centers around Bernadette and three other debate students who qualify to take part in the classics bowl.  Their goal is to beat their biggest rival, a private school named Pinehurst.   Not only does the main character’s attitude and actions make me cringe, but the story does as well because it broaches several subjects that I am uncomfortable with—cheating, teachers lying, and inappropriate relationships ...

Watching movies and tv has changed drastically in the last few years.  I grew up watching public television--the main networks.  We never had cable.  It wasn't even on my radar as a kid.  Cable was an extra expense.  But, then public television went away.  ABC, NBC, CBS... they've all privatized their services for folks wanting to watch via the internet.  Yes, you can still watch some things, but not as much as you used to be able to.  The lone network I can still watch for free that I watched as a kids is PBS.  I am thankful that I can Masterpiece Theater online and other shows. Many families have digital cable today via their internet provider or DishTv.  The other substitutes are subscription services and the outright purchasing of movies on DVD or via iTunes and Amazon. It's strange to realize how much the world of entertainment has changed in the last five years alone. One of the companies selling movies online is FishFlix.com. ...

In our culture, it seems like we get used to the glamorous films of Hollywood.  Everything's professionally, smoothly done.  The acting is believable.  The lines flow.  So, it's interesting to watch independent films that aren't as professionally, smoothly done, where the acting is sometimes stilted, and the lines don't always flow. How does one judge these films?  Are they good?  bad?  worth watching? I watched one of these films yesterday.   Ashes of Eden .  The movie is about an 18 year old boy--he's really a boy in a man's body.  His mom is a cop and he's gotten out of the joint.  He returns to high school to find that he's been expelled.  All he's got is the ability to sell drugs.  And a girlfriend. This is a Christian film, but it isn't as heavy handed as many I've seen (like The Princess Cut).  The filming is clearly independent film quality.  The acting is okay.  The plot's okay.  The c...