Knitterly funnies

Enjoy!

~ SP12 Q#3 ~

The question of the week is,

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

the perfect amount of stash for me would be containable and accessible. At present, my stash is neither containable nor accessible. Hmm....sounds like I need to get myself some organization going. I would love to have my stash full of yarns I absolutely love but at the moment there are some there I purchased on sale, was given or traded for that I don't love nor like. I need to set some standards for myself and stick with them. My friend Robin has done that and I may need to destash like she did too keep my focus. I know "less is more" but for some reason that doesn't seem to apply to my stash. What a joke?! ~ I want to live more simply having less but I also love my sock yarn stash, which is growing all the time, and don't want to give it up. It will be alright, I'll just keep knitting and one day........

Whaddup!

well I had to start it with somethin', right?! Its been very busy around here. I've not been motivated since I'm too tired to truly think. Though I have been reading and enjoying my family. I'm reading plenty ~ CMs writings Vol 1 , 5 & 6, Yarn Harlot book and will probably start a book on cd this weekend.

I've managed to eliminate a large portion of the newspapers that have accumulated around the house and I've also clipped coupons. I plan to do more clipping tomorrow and getting them organized into my container. I'm looking forward to shopping again and have decided that it would be really in our family's best interest to save as much as I can since the electric bill has hit the $200s. Whew ~ way too high for me and will have the a/c guy coming out to take a look since its not cooling the house at all. I guess I should be grateful that we can breathe since it does seem to keep the air from being stagnate.

On the knitting front ~ I was so unmotivated it isn't funny. However, I stop by my LYS on tues ~ sock nite ~ and took the plunge to make a pr of "Not Peds." These are a secret pair and I'm hoping to have them done by the middle of July, though I've had to rip them out yesterday and start again today. Yes, I ripped out 3days worth of knitting b/c they were too tight for me therefore they'd be too tight for the intended ~ which I'm not telling you who that is since its a secret. The colorway is gorgeous and I won't be sharing that info w/you either, I'll post a pic in blacknwhite and thats all you'll get for now. I've purchased another set of #6s for my CPH but can't find the pattern ~ I'll give a gallant effort in my search this weekend. I don't really have anything else going though those UFOs are calling my name.

In other news ~ I've restarted my school blog and will be posting all major school related info there. You can read about our school journey here and I will be posting on my personal learning blog again too ~ hopefully will post tomorrow.

Not much else going on so I'll call it a nite ~ have a great one!

~ SP12 Q#2 ~

As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?

Most summers I would be shipped to VA to spend time with my relatives but it was more fun to stay home, without the relatives that would be shipped to my house, and do whatever I wanted. Growing up in NYC had a lot of advantages ~ walking cross bridges eating ice cream; window shopping at Macy’s, Gimbles and various other stores in and near 42nd St; roller skating everywhere; eating pizza and playing video games; making up games and playing pieces with candle wax in container tops; and the list goes on and on. Though I could and did do all of these, I loved going to the library the most. The only time I could go and really enjoy being there was in the summer. I guess this is why I go very often now especially in the summer. ;D

~ '08 CM Conference ~ pt 2

During one of our evening chats, we discussed the Art of Knowing ~ Narration. In this group, a few of us discovered that we were allowing our children to summarize instead of narrate. The children were giving several key points but not actually asking themselves mental questions to produce a true retelling of what was read or heard. We also learned that we were not allowing true narration when we do alot of prompting or asking questions or interjecting with our experience before the narration had been completed. The child's brain wasn't being engaged and allowed to develop through the use of narration. In essence, we are to allow the child to narrate fully and once the narrator is satisfied, we can begin the great discussion. The great discussion is when all minds involved share their love and experience for a particular topic. It is highly used by great thinkers and considered a very enjoyable past time over great books.

I realize that I have been guilt of starting the “great discussion” before the narration or having them do something else which has resulted in either a poor narration or an overly emphasized one ~ one that has embellishments from others. This discussion has spark anew the desire to fully use CMs methods and I have embarked on a study to find out how to narrate so that I can effectively model this to my children. I don’t want summaries ~ they water down the retelling and I don’t want embellishments from me ~ they destroy the originality of the narrator.

So what is narration? We know its not summarizing or having a great discussion. Is it simply retelling what you’ve read or heard? Or is there more to this relatively simple method. I will be studying Volume 1 and 6 along with several Parents Review Articles. As I process this reading, I’ll share my thoughts.

I will leave you with a statement that I’m pondering found in PR Article Some Notes on Narration ~ “The less the teacher talks the more the class will have to think.” Now thats a very important point us homeschool moms need to grasp.