Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins: A Review

I have a weakness for books with funny titles– especially if they are about writing, grammar, style, and usage. Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins: The Careful Writer’s Guide to the Taboos, Bugbears and Outmoded Rules of English Usage by Theodore M. Bernstein has finally made its way from my Amazon wish list to my desktop, and I’ve been enjoying it immensely.

Bernstein, a former editorial director of the New York Times Book Division, a 25-year journalism professor at Columbia’s School of Journalism, and consultant on usage for the Random House and American Heritage dictionaries, tackles some of the unfortunate strictures that have made writing more difficult than it needs to be. With delightful good humor, he routs “Syntax Scarecrows” and other distractions, while answering grammar, usage, and style questions you didn’t know you should be asking. Read more

Review: Pick Two Deluxe- Is It the Perfect Game?

Be sure to visit the December sale on my audio workshops- Homeschooling Through High School: There’s Joy in the Journey and Teaching Language Arts the Easy, Natural Way! They are only $9.95 for the month of December.

As the year winds down, it’s time to start thinking of fun things to do during the semester break. How about a delightful game that almost anyone can learn and enjoy?

Our family enjoys playing games. When we get together with extended family or with friends, chances are that we’ll be sitting around the table with a board game or cards before the evening has ended. Our favorite games include Scattergories, TriBond, Cranium, Mille Borne, and a few others.

However, a new game has taken center stage since we first discovered it this summer. Pick Two Deluxe, billed as “The Definitive Crossword Game,” is fast, fun, and even educational (though many people don’t even realize they’re sharpening their brains as they play!). This super simple game comes with 240 letter tiles, a pencil, score pad, and a velvety bag for the tiles. (There a non-deluxe Pick Two, but it comes with fewer tiles, so you can’t play with as many people.) Read more

Purposeful Planning- A Review

Summer’s winding down, and we’re already preparing to head back into the school year (it’s almost too hot to think of!). Even though the boys are finished with homeschooling, there’s still plenty of schoolwork happening with all three of them in college.

I enjoy looking ahead to the new year, considering priorities, and creating a fresh schedule to help us all juggle rides to school, computer time, and everything else that goes into our busy lives. This is the time of year when I like to re-read some of my personal planning favorites– Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Marilyn Rockett’s Homeschooling at the Speed of Life, David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and others.

This year, I came across Purposeful Planning, a very different sort of planning guide– one written especially for families. Author Phyllis Sather shares the story of how she and her husband began taking short planning weekends together. As the years passed, they included their children, and the planning weekends have become a significant family tradition. Read more

Homeschooling at the Speed of Life- A Review

Homeschooling at the Speed of Life by Marilyn Rockett
Reviewed by Janice Campbell

As you wrap up the school year and start planning the next, there’s one thing you can do to make your next school year run more smoothly– read Homeschooling at the Speed of Life by Marilyn Rockett. An organizer extraordinaire, Rockett is also the graduated homeschool mom of four sons. I can tell you from personal experience that four sons will hyper-test every organizational theory that mom can dream up! Read more