Amy R, Roberts's blog

Great Big Sea-Altamont Fairgrounds

Littlefan

When you are trapped living a hotel for a couple of months waiting to move into a house that does not yet belong to you, it's nice to have a treat occasionally.  A  delivery dinner once a week breaks up the food monotony, buying a hand vac keeps the cheap carpet more tolerable while giving small children something to do, a primitive sort of Pacman game.  But you know you are in real need of soul overhaul when you drive three hours each way to see a concert.  The drive to Altamont New York really wasn't so bad.  It was a crisp, clear day, more like fall than summer.  We were just happy to be out of the hotel and the commercial park where it's situated.  We dropped our dogs off at the kennel, a new kennel, which makes any dog owner nervous, at about 9 A.M.  I had already visited the kennel so I knew it was a great place to be a canine, and they specialize in bull terriers so we knew our sweetie Josaphine was welcome and would not be marginalized.  (I'll post a blog on dog prejudice and bad owners another time).  I would recommend Ocean View Kennel to anyone near Revere, Massachusetts. 
    We were tooling down 90 toward New York state when I realized what was niggling at my brain about the lovely surroundings.  It had been four years since I had driven through a region with no billboards to spoil the view.  In Hawaii, of course, lawmakers would have to be nuts to allow the scenery to by ruined, since their economy depends on tourists finding it breathtaking.  We were about  five miles from the Altamont Fairgrounds when we realized our GPS only had the town programed in since we didn't know the exact address.  We stopped at a gas station to refill for the 9 PM ride home and a friendly lady inside directed us to the Fairgrounds.  '
   The parking was organized and tidy, there were plenty of food booths although $7 for lemonade is too steep for me.  We had a huge Bloomin' Onion we regretted later, but only becuase we rarely have anything deep fried,  A bag of kettle corn the size of a twin pillow kept our hunger at bay most of the afternoon.  We loved the band Celtic Cross, http://www.celticcross.com/press.html, and I would check it out if you like pop-folk.  Kathleen Fee has a powerful voice.
But of course, the reason for the long haul was to see the Great Big Sea and Gaelic Storm, and this would make our fourth pilgrimage to their shores. We have never seen both bands at the same event.  I definitely appreciate attending a concert with a ticket assigned your own seat for the entire show that will not be enshrouded with smoke (of all flavors) and will not be moved at the whim of your neighbor who may have consumed too much Guinness.  We've done that twice to see Great Big Sea, and Gaelic Storm and Jack Johnson, etc...But an outdoor event does have it's own personality, which depending on the event security level, can add to the experience.  The weather was perfect, outdoor cooking in the air, and a festive crowd which was still behaving in the late afternoon light.  The outdoor event The Shamrock Fest in Washington DC,  which featured Carbon Leaf,  Great Big Sea and others was nothing like the Altamont Irish  Music Festival.  In RFK there were drunks puking, fighting, yelling, using illegal substances in broad daylight and none of the fifty security people we passed on the way through the gate were visible.   By the time it got dark at Altamont I would say some adults were making fools of themselves, bothering others and even smoking pot in the dark.  However, it was nothing like the Shamrock, which I would never return to no matter who was playing.  The problem with indulging in mother nature at an event like a music fair is that you are packed in with other people who, for one thing, need to drive home.  I had minors with me at both events, some not my own children.  If someone is drinking beer next to me I am still capable of driving three hours home.  By the time Gaelic Storm  www.gaelicstorm.com was halfway through their set we had to leave because the air was so pungent.  It took a very Tall Nasty Coffee to get me on track.  Okay, off my soapbox.  Plenty of photos from both events below.www.greatbigsea.com
Set included:

Donkey Riding
Captain Kidd
Love Me Tonite
Paddy Murphy - Very funny intro as Paddy Murphy was "in the house"
When I'm Up
Jack Hinks
England
Charlie Horse
I'm a Rover - kinda missed this one a bit - glad to see it back in the mix
When I Am King
General Taylor - AWESOME audience participation
Scolding Wife
Here and Now
Helmethead
Walk on the Moon
Consequence Free
Ferryland Sealer
Ordinary Day

Live to Dream - absolutely LOVE this song!!
Excursion Around the Bay
Fortune Set

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Threekings

Russcrow

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Irishdancer

Littletown America

I think that you can return to your hometown and see it in a fresh light.  Especially if it has been putting on a make-over of its own while you've been away.  I'm spending a few weeks visiting my family and I thought I might have a little PR blog  about how cute the downtown of Bethel Connecticut is, in case you readers are looking for a weekend vacation.  I grew up in Danbury, actually, but way out on the fringe closer to Bethel and West Redding.  We used to be about 5 minutes from the old Danbury Fair Grounds and racetrack (which you may have seen in the film Arthur). It's a mall now, with a lovely carousel. 
   Downtown Bethel has lots of shops, a very good size library in relation to the population, a small movie theatre, an attractive supermarket that includes gourmet options, and book stores.  I've lived and traveled from Hawaii to the east coast for twenty years and some of my favorite downtowns include Old Town San Diego, Weston Missouri, Kailua Hawaii, Fredericksburg Virginia and Swansboro North Carolina.  Bethel has plenty of Victorian and Colonial homes and corners of town greenery to make it a pleasant walk about.  The Molten Java coffee house has good coffee, plenty of seating indoors and an eccentric outdoor seating area where you can watch the foot traffic or read a book you just bought at the used/new book shop next door.

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    Don't think you're done shopping for used books yet, you need to meander up Greenwood Avenue to the Rainy Day Paperback Exchange to examine the stacks there.  Don't worry, the
little pooch that greets you at the door is friendly, tell him I said hello. 
www.rainydaypaperback.com
   Behind the Rainyday is Redding Roasters, the best selection of
coffee beans you'll find in a 60 mile radius, so stop in and get a pound
or two.  My kids got to see the roasting equipment in the back, if
you are that kind of homeschooler be sure to ask.
www.reddingroasters.com
   All that book worming has worked up an appetite, so now make
your way back down Greenwood Ave to Villarinas Market and buy a couple of cannolis.

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    In the same shopping center you will find Olive's Armoire, an midscale consignment shop.  After my cannoli's I could browse the racks for an hour and find several bargains, like J Jill or Talbots.  There are lots of other shops to see: candy, flowers, antiques, but you get the picture.
   Once you're done walking through downtown get on 53 toward West Redding and pull over at Hollbrook Farm roadside market.  There are organic fruits and veggies, and eggs you can buy without guilt because you can visit the happy chickens living right out back.  It's a great place to get some goat cheese and snap photos.

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Stop into Bethel if you find yourself in the southwestern tip of Connecticut.

On the Road Again

    I spent the first twenty years of my life in Connecticut, other than the occasional vacation in summer break or to cross country ski in winter.  My first move was to Columbia, South Carolina.  It was temporary for the summer of 88, then I was off to Monterey, California.  It was beautiful there, and so different from New England.  We used to go running at 5 AM along the wharf in Monterey and listen to the sea lions bark at us.  From there I moved to San Angelo , Texas.  Not San Antonio, which is beautiful.  San Angelo seemed to have a building boom that abruptly withdrew before I arrived in 1989.  The cost of living is cheap but you get what you pay for I suppose.  I visited Ohio for the first of many visits that year and we drove back to Texas instead of flying.  No air conditioner.  That's when I knew I had met a man I could spend my life with because we actually enjoyed the trip.
   In 1990 we moved to Fredericksburg, Virgina where I got an apartment and took classes at Mary Washington where my mother had graduated about 25 years earlier.  It was the first of three times I would live in the area of Quantico and I saw many changes to Spotsylvania and Stafford Counties each time I returned.  It became a suburb of D.C. and the last time I left it was still trying to catch up to the task.  The next move was to Jacksonville, North Carolina in the summer of 1990.  We arrived in the dark and when I saw all the neon lights for pawn shops and topless bars I cried all the way to our three room quadraplex.  Is that even a word?
   In January of 1994 we drove from North Carolina to San Diego.  Our daughter and I came down with pheumonia  during the trip somewhere in the midwest. I was 7 months pregnant and my other daughter had to take Dramamine the whole five days so she didn't throw up in my husband's truck.  He shipped out about a week after we arrived, during that week we bought a Dodge van we would always regret and rented a very expensive mouse hole in Tierra Santa.  We lived in two houses in two and half years in San Diego and I gave birth to a couple of boys there.  Now we had four great little kids with us on our way back to Virginia for the second time.  Did I mention we lived in three houses in North Carolina?  Well....we did.
   After a few months in VA we moved back to Jacksonville, North Carolina for another three years.  That was in 1996 and although the inlets are beautiful, I'm done with NC for my lifetime.  We moved to Leavenworth, Kansas for a year.  We lived so close to the prison I could hear the loudspeaker telling them to pick up their clean laundry.  The Big House looks like something out of Gotham City.  Father's Day the whole town was filled with parked cars.  Don't do the crime if you don't want to do the time.
   We flew to Hawaii from Kansas with the four cherubs, a dog, and a very nervous cat.  She marked the floors for the three years there to pay us back.  What can I say about Hawaii?  It's gorgeous, expensive and three months after we arrived 9-11 hit.   Oahu became a ghost island as far as the sights were concerned.  80,000 people out of jobs by October.  It was a much happier Hawaii that we left in 2004.  We left to come back to Virgina, Stafford this time, struggling to keep up with the growing population and traffic.  We lived that for four years, tried to sell our house, and ended up renting it for way under what it's costing us.  We are on the road again.  This time it's to the North Shore of Massachusetts.  And this time it should be for a long stay. 
   

Inclusive Homeschooler T-shirt Key

I knew eventually someone would ask about symbols on our Inclusive Homeschooler t-shirt so

InclusiveShot

the kids and I made up this key.
To buy this shirt click:
here

Top left block:
Confucianism
native Australian - Emu Earth Mother

Left side panel top to bottom:
Buddhist Wheel Symbol (Dharmachakra)
Library traffic sign
Om (also spelled Aum) is a Hindu sacred sound that is considered the
greatest of all mantras.
The butterfly has meaning as a symbol for many world cultures. It can
represent change, growth, free-spiritedness, or be a reminder of how
brief our lives are in the expanse of time.
G Clef musical
Test tubes for science, curiosity, experimentation, and doubt
Double helix: a testimony to the unique characteristic of humans to be
able to discover more about the world and our own foundations.

Top banner: l-r
Dove of peace and love
Female symbol
Humanism
Food allergy awareness
Peace- originally the symbol for Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament designed in 1958
Crescent and star-Islam, not all Muslims accept this a symbol of Islam because it is actually a polytheistic symbol from the Ottoman Empire, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to use the Arabic word for Allah on a t-shirt, and this symbol is used so often in English speaking countries.

Top right corner:
Maori symbol of Love--The indigenous M�ori named New Zealand Aotearoa, which is commonly translated into English as The Land of the Long White Cloud.

Right out panel:
Khanda, the symbol of Sikhism
The Scientology symbol is an S imposed over two triangles.
Male symbol
Jainism

Bottom right corner:
breastfeeding
Zoroastrianism

Bottom panel, l-r:
buy local
reduce/re-use/recycle
industrial hemp which supplies paper, food, oil, ethanol fuel, textiles, housing materials and medicine and less than 1% THC
atheist atom
the dandelion-my personal symbol www.mydandeliondays.com
Yin-Yang or Taijitu of Toaism
Hands to work, hearts to god-often used by Shakers

Top left inner corner:
American symbol for certified vegan. Other countries have different symbols for vegan food

Next panel, l-r:
One With the Earth Symbol design represents Earth, sun (the source of all life's energy), water (covers 70% of the Earth's surface), land (30% of the Earth's surface) and life. You can get free stickers at their website.
Chinese religion-symbol represents a combination of religions, including folk religions, that are influential in China

Top right inner corner:
the Wi-Fi symbol of the newest technological system of beliefs aimed at linking all life forms into one global communication network.
Portals to the Divine can often be found in coffee bars and bookstores.
Related practices-worshipping the Blue Alter seen blinking in windows of homes at night.

Left inner panel, t-b:
Hinduism, the lotus (Sanskrit: padma) primarily represents beauty and non-attachment.
Acorns appear only on adult trees, and thus are often a symbol of patience and the fruition of long, hard labor
Mother-Many cultures have goddesses. Most often these goddesses are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities.

Bottom left inner corner:
incandescent light bulb the spirit of ingenuity and perseverance

Bottom inner banner:
@ If we can't be found at home most of us can eventually be found @ our email address
Crusafix-primarily used in the Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox Churches
The most common Shinto symbol, which represents a torii (shrine gate).
The turtle is another animal that has meaning for different indigenous religions it often represents patience, and courage to make progress only by sticking its neck out.

Bottom right inner corner:
the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). I included both light bulbs to represent the right to choose. Some countries are considering banning incandescent light bulbs, but a lot of people have adverse reactions to cfl, such as migraines.

Right inner panel:
spiral-The spiral is one of the oldest symbols of spirituality. It has been found carved into rocks from thousands of years ago, on every continent in the world.
Animal pawprint to recognize the importance of animals in our lives, whether you eat them or not. We have a lot to learn by observing the natural world.
Mormonism (LDS)
Chalice Unitarian Universalism

Inner block top left clockwise:
Baha'¡­ nine pointed star,
earth- our residence
The fish was an early symbol of Christian faith that endures today on bumper stickers and businesses as a sign of Christian faith.
Evolved homeschooler- Dawn at Day by Day Discoveries came up with this logo and many homeschoolers have found a community of friends through it.
Frog-I just like frogs. They are usually the first temporary pet children adopt.
Wicca-"If it harms none, do what you will."
Polytheism, centered on the Goddess and God

Inclusive Homeschooler

InclusiveShot

I've always liked wearing t-shirts, collecting them really.  It's probably because we've moved every couple of years and I can't help myself.  All my regular hang-outs, coffee bars and parks offer skins that will bring back memories after we've unpacked in our new house.  Over the years they move their way through the stages of favorite shirt to lawn mowing attire, sleep shirt, and possibly dust rag or part of a quilt.  I'm not usually dressed formally because  I'm an artist and often find myself unexpectedly in a mess before I remember to change my clothes.  There are more and more homeschool t-shirts on the market but I just never found one I wanted to wear.  My kids and I played around with the idea, then a friend on my homeschool yahoo group mentioned the same idea.  So, we've done it.  If you're interested in an inclusive...really inclusive, homeschool t-shirt, it comes in a variety of colors.

 

http://www.redbubble.com/people/hazelberry

 

HOMESCHOOL : wake up- start learning

This will be a very dull post for my children, I know.  But since I have described myself as a homeschool mom, you knew eventually I would write about teaching in some context, so let's just get it over with.  Occasionally, I meet someone interested in homeschooling, as in they are actually thinking of starting.  There are other times, however,  I am questioned by parents who want to ask a couple of pointed questions that they hope will reinforce their faith in the school their own children attend.  That is a different kind of interest, and  I may post something in that vein at another time when I am in need of a rant and I'm out of coffee.
   I was talking with a parent at the University of Richmond last week and she wanted to know how we get our teaching resources.  Some people are under false impressions that homeschoolers get tax breaks, receive money from the local school system, or have special sources that require a membership card, password and secret handshake.  We pay full state and federal tax like everyone else, kiss the money goodbye, then pay for every pencil, music lesson  and book our kids need.  I don't know where the money our local school would get for my child's attendance goes to...Swiss bank account?  I don't have access to it, so it has nothing to do with me. 
   I compiled a list for her and thought that after all that effort I really should put it on my blog.  It isn't the first time I have made such a list for someone.  Now I can just send them here. 
   If you are a homeschool parent or student I'm sure you have your favorite books and methods, you also have your own reasons for homeschooling.  They may be the same as mine, they may be different.  If you want to know more about WHY some families homeschool, the titles at the end of the list are all good places to begin your quest.  These authors are much more eloquent and knowledgeable on the topic, and most likely I would end up paraphrasing my favorite passages from their books, losing something vital in the translation I'm sure.

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy And Successful Children

James R. Delisle

Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense

David Guterson

Online curriculum

www.aleks.com
www.teachingtextbooks.com
http://www.apexlearning.com
http://www.k12.com

Multi-subject sources
www.hrw.com
http://www.oakmeadow.com
www.netflix.com (lots of expensive documentaries, also instant watch library with membership with internet Explorer)
www.aplusvideorentals.com
www.hippocampus.org
www.brainpop.com monthly membership under $10
http://www.standarddeviants.com (can be found at library, ebay used, amazon used)
http://www.teach12.com
www.paperbackswap.com (good sources for textbooks)

General homeschooling info-including resources

Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement (Princeton Studies in Cul

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com
www.hoagiesgifted.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling
http://homeschooling.about.com/home
http://www.homeschool.com
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com
http://www.holtgws.com/index.html

Language Arts
http://www.easygrammar.com/index2.html
http://www.spellingpower.com
http://www.epsbooks.com (particularly Wordly Wise series)

Good Reads

Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense (Paperback)
by David Guterson (Author)

A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century by Oliver Van DeMille

100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach For Your Child's Learning Style (Paperback) by Cathy Duffy

Homeschooling: The Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year-Old (Prima Home Learning Library) (Paperback)
by Cafi Cohen (this author has many great books on homeschooling especially leading up to college applications)

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy And Successful Children (Paperback)
by James R. Delisle

Kingdom of Children; Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement  by Mitchell L. Stevens

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn

Guerrilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver

Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto

A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century

Homeschooling: The Teen Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year

The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom

Learning All The Time

100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach For Your Child's

Trip to D.C.

I'm glad we were here together in 
                         our nation's capital.
Forrest Gump

Don Quixote

Miguel De Cervantes

I spent the day in our nation's capital, I found it interesting that some websites spelled it "Nation's Capitol" and some (most) "Nation's Capital".  I believe capital is correct unless you are referring to the actual Capitol building, although the "ol" spelling was being used for both on some sites.  We were there seeing things we hadn't seen yet and really wanted to see before we move this summer.  I remember going on a seventh grade trip, oh...quite a few years ago.  Let's say more than a quarter century ago...yikes.  I had been in these buildings- the Lincoln Memorial, the

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Jefferson Memorial, stood before the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial newly finished, and I was impressed even then.  I, a jaded junior high student, around whom the world revolved, felt something special being in those huge structures of stone.  What is it about architecture on a grand scale like that which can make us feel hushed and ,at first, speechless?  I would love to travel to Greece and stand in some really big buildings, thousands of years old but still hanging on to existence.  We know as humans we are just a puff of life on this thin crust on a ball hurtling through space but we can't help being impressed by other humans who audaciously strut their stuff on the stage.  Maybe we didn't personally build the coliseum, but darn it if they could do it I can master the dvd remote and then the sky's the limit.  I had a similar feeling when I finished Don Quixote or War and Peace.  Sure, I didn't write them, but I read them.  Don't I get a little credit?

Author: David Bodanis

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

David Bodanis

David Bodanis is one of my favorite writers in non-fiction.  I recently finished Walter Isaacaon's Einstein and I really enjoyed it, which reminded me E=mc2.  Bodanis has a tongue-in-cheek humor I enjoy, akin to writers such as Bill Bryson.  Fiction is for when I'm in another place mentally.  I read a lot of non-fiction.  I will post on Richard P. Feynman another time because he is my favorite NF writer and lecturer and  deserves a separate post, well thought out.  If you have never read Bodanis I recommend starting with his older titles, the Secrets I call them.  The Secret House, The Secret Family, The Secret Garden are all focused on one day in an average home in any suburb.  The story explores the science in a 24 hour stretch that is dancing out its existence in ways we cannot see with the naked eye or we are simply unaware.  The is a whole lot of history, psychology, biology, sociology...well several ologies explored smoothly from morning wake-up to lights out. The Body Book , although not a 'secret' title, is very similar but pinpoints anatomy and biology.  I used these volumes in our homeschool for middle school science curriculum and there is no dry wood here.  It is engaging reading.