Reading List on the Net {02.18.15}

It seems right when I hit "Publish" on a Reading List on the Net post, there are two more things I want to add! It (usually) takes a couple of days to get a post published but I'm always reading something. I'm trying to decide if bullets in these posts will be easier to decipher one 'bit' from another. What do you think?

• Sketch Tuesday. Harmony Art Mom (Barb who also does Outdoor Hour Challenge). We used to do this...sometimes. I just happened to see the last 'issue' on Google+. I rarely go there; not sure why. Glad I did this time. *IF* I get this post out in time, the next challenge is "Starts with E."

• I avoided it last time, and I've no links to any this time, because I'm about sick of looking at them but I've been trying to research, and read, articles that show "meaningful learning" within "online learning." I am not finding much more than the students are able to correctly pass their tests. Okay, okay. That's not quite all I find but it's the predominant finding. I do online courses and for a 36-year-old mother, I think that's just fine. I'd rather do a different kind of class but it is what it is. But for K-12? I don't think that it's a good idea. At least not the cookie-cutter way that a lot are designed nowadays (have they always been this way?). They [online courses in general] are designed with older learners in mind and just replicated for children with flashy colors and animations; labeled as age appropriate. Bah! Perhaps I've gotten off track but this post by Tammy is very very inspiring. It shows how a Charlotte Mason education is beneficial to all kinds of learners. I may have shared this before and you know...I don't mind doing it again. What a breath of fresh air...

• Reading...reading...reading. How to read a book. Or how to lead a book discussion. And coincidentally, this post at the Huffington, brought to my attention by Jeanne: Reading on screens. There are opposing posts to this view all the time. And vice versa. It's an ongoing debate.

"The ways we use technologies lead us to develop particular habits of mind. With print, even though we might skim and scan, the default mindset is continuous reading. It's also focusing on what we're reading, even though sometimes our thoughts wonder. Digital technologies engender a different set of habits and practices. Their default state is what I call reading on the prowl. Think of how much time you spend on each hit after doing a Google search. A minute? Ten seconds? And how likely are you to be multitasking while reading onscreen?"

I am and am not a fan of digital tech. As Jeanne pointed out: It is here to stay; learn to read better with it.

• Mapwork with Charlotte Mason...and Helena in Ireland. Followed by Brandy's post on Geography and History: "But at the end of the day, one of the primary ways God has directed history is through creation's topography." Hadn't ever thought about it like that.
• Who is Rob Bell?? I don't know exactly but the megachurch, Mars Hill, is familiar in name to me. This particular post is referring to Mr. Bell's comments on the Oprah show that the Bible is really irrelevant. Yikes. While I think the main point that Mr. Bell is attempting to make is that gay marriage will be accepted by the church, the fact that he is no longer looking to the Bible really puts his opinion to the side of not being worthy of even listening to. Not that I listened to him before. And he calls himself a Christian...?

"This is not being misguided, misdirected, or mistaken. This is leading people astray and publicly denigrating, indeed, snickering at the Word of God. This is the pattern that we always find ourselves in. We begin by being embarrassed by portions of the Word of God. And we move to being to massage the Word of God so that it starts to say the things that we want it to say. Soon we begin to move into ignoring the Word of God." emphasis mine

• And totally unrelated to any of that- Amigurumi. I've not heard of this before (no surprise- there's lots I don't know about). Linda's posts have me itching to try this! And yet, I cannot even make dishcloths correctly. So many things I want to learn and do...