Carnival of Homeschooling: 42 edition

Welcome to the Number 42 edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! Early this December, I celebrated my 42nd birthday. My son loves that I'm at birthday number 42. I now hold the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything! To celebrate this important age, I searched the internet and picked through books to find meaning in the number 42...

~In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything! Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. I think the reason it is so hard to find the Ultimate Question is that it is unique to each person and it changes in the course of our lives. Right now, my question might be "Why do you homeschool?" and the answer would be "I have at least 42 reasons for homeschooling."

• In Transforming Family Life and Learning Through Homeschooling (Part One of Two) Parent at the Helm explores the many reasons we homeschool and how it brings meaning to our lives and the lives of our children. Love this quote from the article: Following this natural, loving approach, children involved in community service, volunteer work, and apprenticeship opportunities build experience, increase maturity, and find connection with the greater world.
• I believe all homeschooling parents share one very basic interest, regardless of educational style, political leanings or religious affiliation. We all desire the freedom to educate our own children. Corn and Oil discusses our parental rights in The Right Thing to Do for Children.
• What is the right thing? Sometimes it is radical unschooling. Balderdash and Blokus ponders why some homeschoolers consider radical unschooling evil in The Ultimate Question.
  

~Element number 42 on the Periodic Table is Molybdenum, a metal found primarily in steel alloys which are used for machine tools. It gives great strength and heat resistance. Homeschoolers could all use some strength and resistance at times, especially when answering questions about homeschooling.

• The Family talks about how some people think you Have to be Patient to Homeschool.
• Sometimes strength lies in knowing how to prioritize. Everything Home...with Carol explains why she doesn't do it all in I'm No Superwoman.
• Learning at Home doesn't do it all either, but she still manages to squeeze in some stealth learning this time of year while her children are Writing Christmas Lists.
  

~By the end of The Twelve Days of Christmas, there are 42 swans a swimming and 42 geese a laying.

• Are you in the mood for counting birds now? Punctuated Equilibrium has a cool project for you-- The World Parrot Count.
• And speaking of Christmas, Sage Parnassus has been thinking about What to Read for Christmas.
• Barbara Frank has found a Great Advent/Christmas Idea for Young Children. I read this suggestion when she first posted it and loved it! I wish I had known about it when Marina and Chase were younger.
• If you are tired of giving the typical swan or goose for Christmas, you might want to take a look at Crack the Egg and learn how to make your own Christmas Kits for Kids-Muffin Baker.
• And if you are doing too much...don't! Read this wise advice, 3 Ways to Avoid Martyr Syndrome this Christmas from Successful Homeschooling.

~In the last verse of Jingle Bells, we are told to "Just get a bobtailed bay/Two forty is his speed"... OK, I know this one is stretching it, but the two forty was close enough to forty two for me to use it. We are actually talking about a two minute forty second mile in this quote. Ever listen to the entire song? A young man recounts his sleigh riding adventures to a friend.

~Lewis Carroll used the number 42 often in his work. As a mathematician, numbers in general fascinated him. It is possible that his supposed obsession with 42 had to do with the 42 seconds he needed his subjects to be still when photographing them.
~Alice's Adventures in Wonderland had 42 illustrations. What I love about the Alice stories is that nothing is ever what it seems. Sometimes the lesson we imagine turns into something completely different.

• Ina's 5 & our Native Homeschool Blog tells about the poetry lesson she fantasized about and what really happened in Poetry: Fantasy Meets Reality.
  

~Rule Forty Two, also from Alice in Wonderland, directs "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court". Sometimes we need rules to help guide our teens into adulthood.

• In Facebook and Your Teens, SmallWorld has some great tips to share for keeping your young teen safe on the popular social networking site.
• Guiding our teens toward the next phase of their education is an important step for homeschooling families. Why Homeschool talks about that First Step to College.
  

~Mathematician Paul Cooper calculated it would take 42 minutes to fall through a tube straight through to the other side of the earth. The idea of travel by a gravity train was first proposed in Lewis Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded" (chapter 7). Half of the trip would be downhill, the other half uphill until it reached the other side. Imagine being able to take your children on a field trip to China, Brazil or Madagascar!

• The California Homeschooler offers some great ideas for having children start The Culture Notebook as a way to introduce them to different traditions and cultures.
  

~In Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, the centipede has 42 legs. Imagine the stamina you would have for your homeschooling journey with 42 legs!

• Sprinkle on the FUN discusses her own journey in Home Schooling my Boys.

~Gimli, the dwarf from The Lord of the Rings, kills 42 enemies in battle, one better than Legolas the elf. (The Two Towers, Chapter VIII- The Road to Isengard) How do our kids stack up against the competition? Are you keeping score, or are others doing that for you?

• NerdFamily has finally realized the reason why she doesn't have to worry about testing her kids in Evaluation.
  

~Juliet will be dead for "two and forty hours/ and then awake as from a pleasant sleep" according to Friar Lawrence (Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 1) Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could awake as from a pleasant sleep? Homeschooling can really wear you down! That's when it's a good idea to look for support.

• For homeschoolers who are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, Lesson Pathways has some helpful ideas and advice about Managing it All.
• Speaking of managing, good management skills are important for home educators and their children to learn. EverydayChristianFamily.com is Reviewing The One Minute Manager.

~There are 42 lines on each page of the Gutenberg Bible.

• Adventures in Mama-Land publishes a weekly Bible-based kids' poem, based on the Jewish "parsha" or yearly Torah portion cycle. Take a look at Vayigash. It's set to music! If you want to see more, she has several in her Parsha Poem series.
• How good is your bible knowledge? Take the T or F? Christmas Trivia Quiz at Chrysalis!
• Witty Jester shares a unique take on the story of Noah and the Ark in Just Like Old Times!

~According to the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, there are 42 Principles of Ma'at, one of the oldest sources of moral and spiritual instruction. History is one of our favorite subjects. I remember rolling out the old timeline we made so Marina could write in important events on it.

• Practical Pages has a wonderful article about how to make and use timelines, wall charts and Book of Centuries. Check out the Frugal Timeline Book.
• If you have a history buff in the family, you might want to take a look at The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson which covers life in Chicago from 1890 -1912. Read the review by Alasandra.

~In the Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Milo meets half a child. The child explains he is a little bit more than half, ".58 to be precise." The child tells Milo, "A few years ago I was just .42 and, believe me, that was terribly inconvenient." (Chapter 16: A Very Dirty Bird) This idea boggled my daughter's mind when she read the book. Math concepts are tricky enough, but now she wondered how a half child could exist!

• Math curricula are commonly divided into mastery vs. spiral. But perhaps there is a third way that works more naturally for younger learners: a number-centered approach. Introducing the World talks about Math: A Third Approach.

~There are 42 spots on a pair of dice.

~The symbol for 42 in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is * (an asterisk). Technology is wonderful isn't it? Where else can you find useful lists of links to various resources?

• DIY Learning offers this list of The Top 50 Education Pundits to Follow on Twitter.
  
• Online Masters in Education offers a list of 20 Trend-Setting Teachers Worth Following on Twitter.
  

Every time you frown, you use about 42 muscles.It's only 17 if you smile. I hope I've made you smile today and brought a little meaning to your life. Thank you for visiting the Carnival of Homeschooling! Next week, the carnival will be hosted by No Fighting! No Biting! You can submit an article to the next carnival here!

"42" Sources:

Wikipedia: 42 (number)
42opus: 42 Reasons to Love the Number 42 by Brian Leary
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray
My First Body Book by Melanie and Chris Rice
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Wikipedia: Jingle Bells