As we think about what we're going to be doing in 2012 I've been browsing the web (obviously avoiding doing domestic things) and have added a few links to the right hand side of my blog.
Firstly there are some history/prehistory links in preparation for starting Story of the World Vol1:
A 'walk through a cave to see prehistoric cave paintings' site (I can't think of how better to describe it).
A BBC Scotland website on Scara Brae on The Orkney Islands (with slightly irritating childish graphics, but some good videos)
And The History Cookbook site with videos of cooking techniques of different eras, and recipe ideas. (thanks to Belzi on alittlebitofstructure for pointing me towards this site).
Then I've added a link to a free unit/lesson plan on oceans and climate here . Might be worth supplementing it with some more recent info, but as a basic starter it looks good.
And a free Design and Discovery 'curriculum' from Intel, which starts with redesigning the paper clip and moves on to...well...I need to print out another trees-worth to find out. But it looks interesting anyway.
I'm starting to think my link list is getting out of hand and that I might need to consolidate or relocate it to my resources blog (which is rather bare). Something else to think about in 2012
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Hello to my followers, fans and - er - hangers on
Because I'm having a warm and fuzzy feeling tonight (possibly brought on by sobriety due to lack of alcohol in the house) I thought it was time that I said 'hello' to those people signed up to follow this blog. There are, according to Blogger, a wholesome 32 of you. Which is really quite a crowd. An admirable audience.
Of course it is quite possible that some of you signed up mistakenly. Possible that some of you were expecting something else from this blog. Possible that some of you have been disappointed. And also possible that some of you don't care and don't read anyway.
But whatever. I want to say 'hello' to you all. And 'thank you'. I feel toasty to know that there are 32 people who might occasionally drop by and lurk (plus those of you who comment but aren't followers - yes yes, I love you all too).
Thank you audience. Please give yourself a round of applause and take a bow. Oh, and if you wish to step up from your seat and comment while cheering yourself, please do.
Of course it is quite possible that some of you signed up mistakenly. Possible that some of you were expecting something else from this blog. Possible that some of you have been disappointed. And also possible that some of you don't care and don't read anyway.
But whatever. I want to say 'hello' to you all. And 'thank you'. I feel toasty to know that there are 32 people who might occasionally drop by and lurk (plus those of you who comment but aren't followers - yes yes, I love you all too).
Thank you audience. Please give yourself a round of applause and take a bow. Oh, and if you wish to step up from your seat and comment while cheering yourself, please do.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Apple White and The Emperor's New Clothes
Ok, I'm still fiddling around with the blog colours.
It occurred to me that brown and blue don't really go, so I changed and went all-blue. Well, it shows up as blue on my p.c. However, on my laptop it just looks like shades of white. I don't want shades of white! White reminds me of when I was a teenager and the 'in thing' was to paint your walls with Dulux 'apple white''. It was all a con of course, an Emperor's New Clothes thing, cos to anyone walking into the room it just looked like you'd painted your walls with a tin of cheap white emulsion. Dulux must have made a packet ['Let's tell them it's white with a hint of green and charge them a rip-off price. Nobody will notice.']. Mind you, most people were desperate just to paint anything over the brown and orange flowery wallpaper left over from the 70s.
Anyway, I don't want my blog to be white. So is it just me? Does it look blue or white to you?
Today we were at the sailing club. The kids went swimming as the water is getting warmer at last. Last week I christened my new super fluorescent pink 'n' swirly swimming costume in the lake, but was feeling a little more self-conscious this week. I do like it. But it's not designed for people who want to slip their lardy wobbly bits into the water with minimal audience. I mean, this thing glows in the dark.
Ds1 and ds2 have been working on various animations and games. At the moment I can't upload them onto this blog cos they're made using Scratch which (I think) can only be uploaded to the Scratch website and I can't convert them into a different format. Will keep trying. I've booked the boys into the annual Summerscreen animation/green screen workshops this year, so maybe they'll pick up some more tips.
Knitting. Sigh. I have numerous projects on the go as usual. One arm and some borders to go to complete a cardigan. It's the first thing I've knitted for myself (apart from socks) for years. I am feeling rather wary about completion. Usually I would lose interest halfway through, or get bored, or just decide I don't like it anymore and unpick the lot. But I've only one arm and some borders to go. It is worryingly near the endpoint...
A friend is heavily pregnant at the moment. I don't envy her in this heat. In fact I don't envy her at all. I never did like the baby stage (or the pregnancy stage, or the toddler stage, or the preschool stage). Now my children are at the perfect age, the 7-10 age (well ok, I'm stretching it a bit: one is 6 and one is 11, but it's the best I'm gonna get). I just need to cryogenically preserve this moment. Fast-freeze my children straight from the field like baby peas. I wonder what I'll be doing when my eldest is 16 and my youngest is 11. What will life be like? Will I be celebrating my freedom, or mourning my loss? I guess only blog will tell.
It occurred to me that brown and blue don't really go, so I changed and went all-blue. Well, it shows up as blue on my p.c. However, on my laptop it just looks like shades of white. I don't want shades of white! White reminds me of when I was a teenager and the 'in thing' was to paint your walls with Dulux 'apple white''. It was all a con of course, an Emperor's New Clothes thing, cos to anyone walking into the room it just looked like you'd painted your walls with a tin of cheap white emulsion. Dulux must have made a packet ['Let's tell them it's white with a hint of green and charge them a rip-off price. Nobody will notice.']. Mind you, most people were desperate just to paint anything over the brown and orange flowery wallpaper left over from the 70s.
Anyway, I don't want my blog to be white. So is it just me? Does it look blue or white to you?
Today we were at the sailing club. The kids went swimming as the water is getting warmer at last. Last week I christened my new super fluorescent pink 'n' swirly swimming costume in the lake, but was feeling a little more self-conscious this week. I do like it. But it's not designed for people who want to slip their lardy wobbly bits into the water with minimal audience. I mean, this thing glows in the dark.
Ds1 and ds2 have been working on various animations and games. At the moment I can't upload them onto this blog cos they're made using Scratch which (I think) can only be uploaded to the Scratch website and I can't convert them into a different format. Will keep trying. I've booked the boys into the annual Summerscreen animation/green screen workshops this year, so maybe they'll pick up some more tips.
Knitting. Sigh. I have numerous projects on the go as usual. One arm and some borders to go to complete a cardigan. It's the first thing I've knitted for myself (apart from socks) for years. I am feeling rather wary about completion. Usually I would lose interest halfway through, or get bored, or just decide I don't like it anymore and unpick the lot. But I've only one arm and some borders to go. It is worryingly near the endpoint...
A friend is heavily pregnant at the moment. I don't envy her in this heat. In fact I don't envy her at all. I never did like the baby stage (or the pregnancy stage, or the toddler stage, or the preschool stage). Now my children are at the perfect age, the 7-10 age (well ok, I'm stretching it a bit: one is 6 and one is 11, but it's the best I'm gonna get). I just need to cryogenically preserve this moment. Fast-freeze my children straight from the field like baby peas. I wonder what I'll be doing when my eldest is 16 and my youngest is 11. What will life be like? Will I be celebrating my freedom, or mourning my loss? I guess only blog will tell.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Some Changes
As regulars will have noticed I've made a few changes to my blog.
It wasn't entirely intentional. I made the mistake of trying out a few of the new templates that blogger invited me to... why not, I thought...and then I found that those templates screwed up my main photo (the background of the blog title). So I thought I would change back to my original template, except that I couldn't because it appears not to exist any more(?).
So then I spent the afternoon fiddling with the few templates on offer, altering font size/colour and background and photo sizes etc etc, until eventually I got to something that didn't look like a psychedelic swirly bubbly scene out of 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' . And then I realised I had about 20 windows open because each time I edited the darn thing it opened yet another window. So I clicked 'save' only to realise that I'd clicked it on the wrong window. Sure it had saved, but it had saved the very first version that I'd created and I had to go through the whole process all over again! And this was after I told the boys I didn't want them on the computer today because when they get on there they spend all afternoon on it. Ho hum...
Blogger is annoying me. Why, to edit the various gadgets on my layout, do I have to click on to 'template', then click on 'back to blogger'? Whose idea was that? And why in the 'advance' bit of 'template' does it not let you do anything whatsoever advanced? I wanted to put a bit of text to one side of my blog title/picture. Could I? No! It all has to be put exactly where blogger wanted you to put it. And yes, I know I should learn html and then I'd probably be able to do all of these things. But life is short and I'd rather spend it wisely: like drinking wine, eating chocolate and shouting at the dog.
It wasn't entirely intentional. I made the mistake of trying out a few of the new templates that blogger invited me to... why not, I thought...and then I found that those templates screwed up my main photo (the background of the blog title). So I thought I would change back to my original template, except that I couldn't because it appears not to exist any more(?).
So then I spent the afternoon fiddling with the few templates on offer, altering font size/colour and background and photo sizes etc etc, until eventually I got to something that didn't look like a psychedelic swirly bubbly scene out of 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' . And then I realised I had about 20 windows open because each time I edited the darn thing it opened yet another window. So I clicked 'save' only to realise that I'd clicked it on the wrong window. Sure it had saved, but it had saved the very first version that I'd created and I had to go through the whole process all over again! And this was after I told the boys I didn't want them on the computer today because when they get on there they spend all afternoon on it. Ho hum...
Blogger is annoying me. Why, to edit the various gadgets on my layout, do I have to click on to 'template', then click on 'back to blogger'? Whose idea was that? And why in the 'advance' bit of 'template' does it not let you do anything whatsoever advanced? I wanted to put a bit of text to one side of my blog title/picture. Could I? No! It all has to be put exactly where blogger wanted you to put it. And yes, I know I should learn html and then I'd probably be able to do all of these things. But life is short and I'd rather spend it wisely: like drinking wine, eating chocolate and shouting at the dog.
Monday, 15 March 2010
HELP!!!
Ok, now that's got your attention...
I'm writing a magazine article for the UK home education group, thenuk (magazine is scheduled to restart in September) and I need your help. [yeah, I'm a lazy cow, you didn't think I was actually going to write it all by myself did you?]
Anyway the article is going to be on 'blogging', specifically home educating people and their blogs. Why they blog, how they blog blah di blah blah, you get the gist.
I would like to know your views about blogging, particularly home ed blogging, BUT other comments welcome too.
So, feel free to comment on some or all of the below, in no particular order. Give me some nice juicy stuff to quote (yeah!). If I mention names, it'll only be usernames (e.g. Big Mamma Frog), but if you wish to be totally anon please say so and I'll give you a pseudonym. And if you don't mind having your blog address emblazoned across the article in full flashing lights as a demonstration of a masterpiece, then let me know. Send a cheque to... (ha ha!)
So here goes...some thoughts please on:
Why do you keep a blog? Why not a diary or other method? What do you use your blog for?
How long have you been keeping a blog?
Who contributes to your blog - do your children post entries too?
Do you find it easy to keep? How regularly do you post? What time of day do you generally post?
Do you belong to any blog circles? If so, which ones would you recommend.
What advice would you give to a beginner blogger? Which blog provider would you suggest and why?
Do you include photos and videos on your blog. Do you take these specifically for your blog?
What features do you think are essential on a home ed blog? E.g. list of other blogs, links to relevant sites, search facility,etc etc.
Do you think that blogging has been a positive experience? Why?
What about privacy and privacy settings - do you reveal your location and children’s names etc? Is your blog open to the public? Do your relatives have access to the blog - why?
Do you allow/welcome comments on your site?
What improvements would you like to make to your site?
Do you read other people’s home education blogs? Which ones would you recommend and why?
Do you have contact with the LA, would you let them see your blog? Do you use Information from your blog to help e.g. write a report to your LA?
What's the best thing about blogging?
Please write comments below. Or if you feel an essay coming on, let me know and I can give you my email address.
I'm writing a magazine article for the UK home education group, thenuk (magazine is scheduled to restart in September) and I need your help. [yeah, I'm a lazy cow, you didn't think I was actually going to write it all by myself did you?]
Anyway the article is going to be on 'blogging', specifically home educating people and their blogs. Why they blog, how they blog blah di blah blah, you get the gist.
I would like to know your views about blogging, particularly home ed blogging, BUT other comments welcome too.
So, feel free to comment on some or all of the below, in no particular order. Give me some nice juicy stuff to quote (yeah!). If I mention names, it'll only be usernames (e.g. Big Mamma Frog), but if you wish to be totally anon please say so and I'll give you a pseudonym. And if you don't mind having your blog address emblazoned across the article in full flashing lights as a demonstration of a masterpiece, then let me know. Send a cheque to... (ha ha!)
So here goes...some thoughts please on:
Why do you keep a blog? Why not a diary or other method? What do you use your blog for?
How long have you been keeping a blog?
Who contributes to your blog - do your children post entries too?
Do you find it easy to keep? How regularly do you post? What time of day do you generally post?
Do you belong to any blog circles? If so, which ones would you recommend.
What advice would you give to a beginner blogger? Which blog provider would you suggest and why?
Do you include photos and videos on your blog. Do you take these specifically for your blog?
What features do you think are essential on a home ed blog? E.g. list of other blogs, links to relevant sites, search facility,etc etc.
Do you think that blogging has been a positive experience? Why?
What about privacy and privacy settings - do you reveal your location and children’s names etc? Is your blog open to the public? Do your relatives have access to the blog - why?
Do you allow/welcome comments on your site?
What improvements would you like to make to your site?
Do you read other people’s home education blogs? Which ones would you recommend and why?
Do you have contact with the LA, would you let them see your blog? Do you use Information from your blog to help e.g. write a report to your LA?
What's the best thing about blogging?
Please write comments below. Or if you feel an essay coming on, let me know and I can give you my email address.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
I'm not tired, I'm just checking my eyelids for leaks...
Ok, behind on my posting again. Just a quickie to say that I haven't disappeared (honest). May is the month of birthdays and I've been having a bit of a frenzy this week trying to organise ds2's birthday party (today). All went well and now feel shattered. Will post photos when I get a chance. Just one more birthday to go- dh's birthday at the weekend - and I can start trying to pay off my overdraft lol!
Another reason for my lack of posting effort is that I've been focusing on keeping up with my writing class. I have lots of ideas, but as always it's taking me a long time to get any of them into the required format; the more I work on them the less appealing they become and the further away from my initial enthusiasm I trail. I feel like I should put a 'lol' in here, but if there was an abbreviation for wry smile {ws} ?that would suit better.
The tutor is looking for 'sparkling prose' in our work, a term which has completely frozen my brain into petrified squid intestines. If she keeps mentioning sparkling prose I'm not going to be able to write a darned thing! Personally, in between keeping the house from meltdown, home educating and going out to work, I think she should just be grateful I appear in class with 2 shoes the same colour. Sparkling Prose!!! What does this woman want - Blood??!!
I don't have writers block. I just can't stay awake long enough to finish a ....
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Searching for sea shells...
As you can see, I've been tinkering with the blog layout and colours. What do you think?
Not having the time or inclination to learn html, I'm a bit limited by the templates that blogspot offers, but I quite like this layout. I was worried that it might look a little too sophisticated,but I figure the content will compensate and bring it right back down to common {g}.
Anyway, a new format for a new year.
The main photo is of ds1, head down, searching for sea shells on a beach in Cornwall. I like it. Not sure why, but to me it symbolises what childhood is all about. It's also a bit symbolic of my aspirations towards autonomous home education. You can give a child a handful of nice washed shells that you've found, or you can let them go spend the day on a beach, sandy and barefoot, searching for their own shells. Which would you prefer if you were a child?
Not having the time or inclination to learn html, I'm a bit limited by the templates that blogspot offers, but I quite like this layout. I was worried that it might look a little too sophisticated,but I figure the content will compensate and bring it right back down to common {g}.
Anyway, a new format for a new year.
The main photo is of ds1, head down, searching for sea shells on a beach in Cornwall. I like it. Not sure why, but to me it symbolises what childhood is all about. It's also a bit symbolic of my aspirations towards autonomous home education. You can give a child a handful of nice washed shells that you've found, or you can let them go spend the day on a beach, sandy and barefoot, searching for their own shells. Which would you prefer if you were a child?
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