Hi Annie.  Just wanted to say Hi.  I haven't checked in at She Writes in a while and I noticed your note.  My email is:  jojojaffe@gmail.com

I also just visited your blog.  It is just wonderful.  I just posted a post on mine about with a smattering of suggestions to make math, science, reading fun - just a few suggetitons but you might like it.  I also allude to an earlier post where I linked to an article about making math real and fun.  You might find it really interesting. I am curious what you think.

 

Anyway, I look forward to being able to access and comment on your blog.  In the meantime I will visit from time to time as you have some wonderful gems.

 

All the best,

Meryl Jaffe PhD

www.departingthetext.blogspot.com

Hi Annie.  I am sorry I have not responded earlier - also sorry to read on your blog that you are not feeling well.  I just love your recent blog entries on homeschooling and the icivics games.  Went to the site and it looks great.  Again I tried to leave a comment but couldn't.

 

The thing is that I am reluctant to sign up using my email because I don't want my email used for anything but to sign in.  So, before I give my email I want to ask what it will be used for.  Your having is no problem, I just don't want anyone I don't know to use it or have access to it.  On the other hand, I would love to be able to sign in, comment and follow.

 

In the meantime, I will keep visiting and comment to you here.  Wishing you a speedy recovery and all the best,

 

Meryl Jaffe PhD

www.departingthetext.blogspot.com

Absolutely! Thank you.

Thanks.

Still having trouble. Does it take a while to process? I joined but when I tried leaving a message it didn't go through. I will try again later!

Thanks Annie. I will try to set it up now. Wish me luck!

Hi Annie. I just read your comment on my blog and am responding for two things:
1. Thank you so much for your encouraging remarks. I know all about the kind of day you had and responses like yours make me want to get up and shout "hooray!!!! Someone gets it!"

2. We all have difficult days. And I think you said it well in your blog (which I visited but could not leave a message because I do not have an account/password) - it 's all in the planning. When I had an actual (as opposed to my current virtual) classroom, I only taught language arts classes, so unlike homeschooling where you have captive minds for the DAY - I only had them an hour...I kept books, games and activities for when I felt rotten, or couldn't think, or things just didn't work. Here are some of the things (off the top of my head) that worked for me:

Pictionary (great vocabulary game)
Books to read aloud and for kids to just find a cozy cushion and read on (picture books, graphic novels, young adult novels, poetry)
MUSE Magazine - published by the Smithsonian - great articles to feed off of
Set (great game for developing higher order cognitive skills)

Hope you're having a better day today. Thanks for the support, I hope to have another post up in a day or two!

All the best,
Meryl
www.departingthetext.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Hi Annie. Thank you so much for leaving me a message - I really appreciate it. I am glad things are fine and I know exactly how you feel about putting family first. While I did not homeschool, I did an awful lot of enrichment and I too made the decision to put family before work - a decision I never regretted. I also thank you for your kind comment about my blog. That too is really appreciated - and, if there is anything you would like to suggest I talk about, I would love to hear your suggestions. I have a good number of homeschoolers following and they great comments and questions.

I have tremendous respect for those who chose to homeschool. It is not an easy decision but I teach an online course through Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (something you may want to look into at some point) and I find many of my most talented students are homeschooled. So good luck and please stay in touch.

All the best,
Meryl
www.departingthetext.blogspot.com

Hi Annie. Haven't heard from you in a while so I decided to visit your blog - saw why! I tried leaving a comment but had trouble signing in. So I will leave it here:

I believe parents should lead from the 'gut' and I think you are right to keep things low. Let Galen explore his world on his terms. It is great that he is bursting to read. You might want to take wordless picture books and ask his older sibs or parents/caretaker to write his story for the pictures - and write his own book. Or he can color and 'write' text (which you can transcribe). I also love Sandra Boynton's board books with great illustrations and a few words. He can begin building a sight vocabulary and begin reading those words. Maybe I'll write a blog entry about this. What do you think - would you be interested?

Talk to you soon and good luck with the camera,
Meryl
www.departingthetext.blogspot.com

Hi Annie. Just read second blog. As it is clearly your space I hope I am not intruding, but I did learn... I loved the part about the public library with free wifi and no need to buy coffee!

Hi Annie. Thank you so much for your response. You too sound so nice and I also look forward to getting to know you better. As I am new to blogging, if you let can tell me how to add you to my page, I will gladly do it as well. And I will now check out the other blog, because I love the idea of a curious mind garden!

Talk to you soon, and thanks.