No time to blog. Gotta read.
I’m a day behind in my reading for Bible in 90 Days. No blogging, no Internet, no tweeting (oh, the agony!) until I’m caught up.
Be back soon.
July 26, 2010
· 
Monica Brand · 
2 Comments
Tags: the Bible · Posted in: Believing, Reading
It’s Friday, you know what that means. . .
It’s Book Blog Hop time. See you there.
July 23, 2010
· Monica Brand · One Comment
Tags: Book Blogger Hop · Posted in: Blogging
Daydreaming of the future
Susan is off on another adventure.
She’s at my parents’ house. It’s not as far away as camp, but it’s still away from all of us here at home. I know at 12 years, that is the point. Being apart from your siblings and mom and dad. It’s quite the big deal.
I miss her.
Last summer, she came home from Grandma’s declaring she only wanted to do one night away from home. She couldn’t wait to get back home, to her own room, her special things. I know she missed her little sister terribly. Yesterday, she called to ask if she could stay an extra night, making it three nights total. Looks like being away from home for a week at camp has made all the difference.
No homesickness for Susan as a 12 year old.
I’m glad. She having fun with my parents taking her out to her choice of restaurant, a splurge shopping trip at the dollar store, and I think my brother is treating her at the bookstore tonight. She packed three books in her overnight bag. Lots of quiet for reading at my mom’s.
Susan is growing up.
July 22, 2010
· Monica Brand · No Comments
Tags: growing up, Susan · Posted in: Living, My Girls
Kids in the library: exploring, fantasy owls, eating worms
What treasures my children found in our local library this week:
Susan (12):Â Gwinna by Barbara Helen Berger. A fantasy story of a young girl, her parents and owls; the illustrations beautiful. I will be reading this book too; blogging thoughts and comments when finished.
Poppy and Ereth by Avi
Eclipse by Erin Hunter
Peter (10): How to Eat Fried Worms (Unabridged audio) by Thomas Rockwell
Edmund (8): Explorer (A Daring Guide for Young Adventures) published by Candlewick Press. I like this book a lot – full of historical facts about real-life explores in faraway lands. Part history, part adventure, part survival book. A boy’s dream read.
Lucy (5): Lady and the Tramp. A Disney book.
What have you found in the library lately?
Visit 5 Minutes for Books to see what other children are reading
July 21, 2010
· Monica Brand · 13 Comments
Tags: Barbara Helen Berger, explorers in history, Gwinna, library, owls · Posted in: Reading
When your five-year-old sneaks off with the camera
You find all sorts of random, goofy pictures. SpongeBob Squarepants (she took 20 shots of the TV show); self portraits (9), the dog (2), a Chuck E. Cheese commercial (horror!) and a few images too dark to tell what it’s supposed to be. I love the obvious freedom and completely in-the-moment attitude. Lookit, me! I’m five!
I look and I love.
I might also be thinking: How the heck did she get away with playing with my not cheap camera for so long?
Curse you, Twitter.
July 20, 2010
· Monica Brand · 4 Comments
Tags: Lucy · Posted in: My Girls, Silly stuff
Isabel in Chains: learning with YA historical fiction
Madam looked down without seeing me; she looked at my face, my kerchief, my shift neatly tucked into my skirt, looked at my shoes pinching my feet, looked at my hands that were stronger than hers. She did not look into my eyes, did not see the lion inside. She did not see the me of me, the Isabel.
O, joy! A new literary heroine to love. 
I’ve fallen for the spunky slave girl in Laurie Halse Anderson’s YA historical fiction book, Chains. Isabel is a fighter, despite that fact that she is a slave in 1776 America. She has nothing, yet she fights with a fierce determination within her. Like the patriots fighting around her to be free from a British king, Isabel is waging her own private war. Her goal: freedom from slavery.
I was never much for history as a subject in public school – I hated the memorization of dates and dull text books – but now as a homeschooling mom, I’m filling in the gaps of my own learning. I have much to learn about slavery and Revolutionary America. I’m happy to have Isabel teach me.
I picked up Chains for my 12-year-old, my girl who gobbles up books with an eager hunger for more. Susan has yet to let the Story in history capture her imagination. I’m hoping Isabel, a true-to-life, spunky girl will help my daughter discover there is more to history than just past truth that happened to now dead people.
I’m hoping historical fiction, like Chains, will be the gateway for my daughter to love learning history.
In the meantime, I wait for the sequel, due in October. And I’ll be looking for more books by Laurie Halse Anderson.
July 19, 2010
· Monica Brand · 2 Comments
Tags: Chains, historical fiction, Laurie Halse Anderson, Susan, YA · Posted in: Home schooling, Reading
