Shakespeare Though

I've become obsessed with Shakespeare. 

Perhaps it is because I am currently repurposing costumes we used in The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged and using them for a kids show, Rumplestiltskin, so I am literally, conjuring up memories as I handle the costumes. 

Perhaps it is because we, the community theatre board just approved next year's season, and so I had time to think about what I love and what I wanted to see. 

Maybe it's because I experienced "1599" at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn some months ago and haven't been able to get it out of my psyche.  If hubby's job was still in NY, I would to see it again! (I wasn't asked to promote this). 

I wrote on my Facebook page today "Theatre without the Shakespeare is like reading without the alphabet". To me, it is the foundation of acting and an actor who chooses to skip it chooses to not

learning by playing

free learning games for grade 3

For early elementary school kids, I favor unschooling as a method of teaching, but not the kind of unschooling where the kids vegetate and don't want to do much of anything, so you leave them alone, kind of unschooling... instead the kind of unschooling where you don't really let them know you are teaching them, but you are.

 Apps like the kind I mentioned in my last post would go a long way in doing that, but so would all the same games we played as children, counting games, calling our car colors, watching school house rock, and lots of reading and storytelling.

Something I came across today would also fit into this, but it is for older kids.  Playing battleship using the periodic table. I wish I'd had this as a kid. Check it out!

Shakespeare not for black people? Think again.

My favorite Shakespeare versions

It was reported today that a "top Shakespearean actress says black people are not interested in theatre (Shakespeare most specifically) as it is part of white culture".  It is not in their (our) DNA she said.

Well, Shakespeare may  not be in my DNA, as in I may not be a descendant, but I have always been interested in and intrigued by Shakespeare, especially since it can be interpreted in many ways and transposed into many cultures.  Yet, Janet Suzman, says black people are just not interested.  She's seriously misinformed. Now I don't think this woman is racist at all. She's just reporting what she sees, where she has worked, that there haven't been many blacks in the audience. I propose a different issue. Perhaps the ticket prices are out of line... cost prohibitive for many, especially the black working class.  Perhaps, and most likely, she is only seeing the upper-upper class in theatre audiences, and only a very few of those people are black... But, she is letting her eyes override her good sense.

She needs to get out more.

These people and others would disagree with her:

http://www.african-americanshakes.org/education/
http://shakespeareinamericanlife.org/identity/africanamerican/perspectives.cfm
http://www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org/transcripts/hall2.cfm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7WRR2_70s

A grammar correction tool, a learning tool.

As a content writer,  I began using Grammarly to perfect my article submissions.  After all, it is very embarrassing to send in an edit request, when you notice a couple weeks after publishing, that you wrote "to" instead of "too".  The site is very effective for perfecting my work.  I find it most useful when I write late at night as that is when I make the most errors.

As a homeschool parent, and somewhat of an advisor, Grammarly helps me to catch spelling and grammar issues that I might not see at a glance.  You can use some features of the site for free, but a subscription will help you find not only spelling issues, but problems with conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs, subject-verb agreement, modal verbs, sentence punctuation, sentence structure, and commonly confused words.

Useful to both content writers and students is the plagiarism checker.  It will help you to prevent inadvertently using another's information in your work, and will also eliminate accusations that you attempted the act of plagiarism.

Another thing about this tool that needs pointing out is that you choose what kind of editing you want.  When I am writing for Yahoo, for instance, I use the "Business" option, and when I am checking a 13 year old's term paper, I use the academic option.  For my daughter, who likes to get creative, there is even a "creative option".

Must remember to use technology

  I can't believe that I have been surrounded by all of this technology in my home, yet, I neglect to use it.  Each person in my home has a computer, and an iPad, and a smartphone, and one also has a Kindle (and is already checking out the new Kindles being released today).   Some computers are newer than others.  Some iPads are bordering on Dinosaur status.  Some smartphones are really paperweights and need replacing, but the point is... this household is chock-full of technological tools. But we are not using them.

We tend to forget that iPads are for much more than Angry Birds and Scrabble. Iphone are for more than chatting and texting. Laptops are for more than word processing and bill paying.  We have to get it through our heads that each and everyone of these tools that we own, love, and use have a bazillion uses that we are

Vocabulary for homeschoolers or people who slept through Grammar Class

About three years ago, when my kids were about 12 and 15 I overheard an argument. One said "Its pronounced QUEW-EE-YOU"  the other said "It's pronounced "QUAY-AWAY".  This went on for a while, so I walked up and say what word are you arguing over.  They showed it to me.  It was:

queue [kyoo] Show IPA noun, verb, queued, queu·ing. noun

1.a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.

2.a file or line, especially of people waiting their turn.

3.Computers . a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.

I chalked it up to a homeschool mistake.  

I had a similar incident the other day with my daughter. We were watching the Dragon-con parade and I couldn't see the sign that a group of black colored elves were carrying and asked her to

5 iPad Apps for College Freshman Preparation (Guest post)

I thought this guest post was especially relevant because many of our kids are taking college level tests and CLEP exams.  We don't have to wait for college to take advantage of these "college apps".

The iPad is such an amazing, new tool for education. Many homeschooling groups are now using this tool to supplement traditional book lessons. In addition to complementing current class content, the iPad can also help incoming college freshman prepare for their first year of college.
The following five apps are perfect for helping high school seniors prepare for common first-year college courses.

College Algebra
This app has received top ratings from users who say that it helped them get through their college

New "Time Engineers" Educational Game (Giving away 2 copies)

Last week, Happy Elf Mom wrote about Christmas Shopping  and was having a hard time justifying purchasing gifts that would soon end up in the toy bin or some other miscellaneous corner.

Coincidentally, I received a sample of an educational video game, that I know would be perfect for her kids.
Time Engineers is video game/learning tools.  If you remember Math Blasters, Where in the World is Carmen Santiago, and Learning Adventures, you will be glad to know that this game has made learning while

My five favorite homeschool books

It's show and tell time.  Here are my favorite books for homeschooling.  You could actually have these books and need little else (through grade 6).




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Are You Smarter than an 8th Grader

Here is an 8th grade test from the year 1895. The answers are at the bottom of the page.

Can you answer the questions? Can your eighth grader answer the questions? I can probably answer half of them, with research.

I will make sure my kids can answer this before they finish high school.

Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom

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