Tuesday, December 14, 2010

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."
~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.
~By the end of The Twelve Days of Christmas, there are 42 swans a swimming and 42 geese a laying.
~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.
~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.~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!
~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!~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.
~There are 42 lines on each page of the Gutenberg Bible.
~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.
~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?


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

17 comments:

Subadra said...

This is so awesome, Cristina. I loved reading it and also let my children enjoy the tidbits too...Happy belated bday btw...Hope you had a great celebration....
-Subadra

Susan Ryan said...

Hitchhiker's Guide is too clever! Thanks for including my post.

Nancy Kelly said...

Creative theme! Just watch, now I'll notice things with "42" in it all the time. Thanks for including my post on Christmas reading. I look forward to reading all the posts.

Godspeed,

Nancy

Vicki said...

Yes, you brought a warm smile on this otherwise chilly morning =) Excellent carnival!

christinethecurious said...

Great Carnival Christina - I wish I could think of a compliment with 42 in it!

C T said...

Love the cartoons!

Carletta said...

Ah... Your sources! I was wondering how you knew so much about the number 42, lol. Great job!

Inner Elder said...

What a treat! I never realized how popular "42" was. If I were a gambler I'd play that number. Your Carnival is awesome, Tina. I will revisit and click the links. Loved your cartoons. Love you, Mom

AFSS said...

Thanks for including my post. I am looking forward to reading everyone's post. Enjoyed the theme, I never knew so many interesting facts about the number 42. ~Alasandra

Stephanie said...

This is so awesome! As soon as I opened your page to start reading, I was grinning from ear to ear over the Hitchhiker's Guide reference. :-)

April said...

A for Awesome effort!!! Love the theme and looking forward to reading the posts!

Unknown said...

Hey, come get this award:

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I gave it to you here:

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Angel R said...

6 in spanish has "4 y 2". You have te most amazing correlations with your 42 and your carnival. I'll follow up with some of your contibutors. It was quite an enjoyable reading.
I love it and I love you,
Dad

jugglingpaynes said...

Thank you everyone for your kind words! Last week was a long one, what with fitting posts in, getting comics drawn and checking sources, so I really appreciate the positive feedback!

Peace and Laughter!

Topsy said...

What a terrific carnival!! Kudos on all your hard work...I hope you will host again soon!!

Barbara Frank said...

Happy belated birthday! Great theme.....thanks for including my post :)

Maureensk said...

Thanks for hosting this carnival! You did it in such a clever way too, love it!

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