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Poetry & Words

I turned forty today.

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

I turned forty today. Here’s a picture of me, not for posterity, but for vanity.

We do not write memento mori in birthday cards, but it’s always written in the sky and in the dust. We buried my cousin when he was thirty three. Age is not a guarantee or a safeguard or anything else except a gift. Some parents complain time is a thief, but this is not true. Time is not a thief; time is a gift we do not treasure as deeply as we ought.

My four-year-old woke up shrieking this morning, yelling, “The sun has turned its light on, and I do not know why!” It has been a dark January, and we forget the sun exists. We are arrogant, we are small, and “not as strong as we think we are.

Continue reading “I turned forty today.” →
Book Reviews, Curriculum Reviews, Homeschooling

(Why you should) learn Eastern Hemisphere History with Sonlight Curriculum

Gina @ Oaxacaborn
Learn Eastern Hemisphere history with Sonlight's History / Bible / Literature F homeschool curriculum for middle school grades

Disclosure: Sonlight provided me with History/Bible/Literature F: Eastern Hemisphere (4-day version) and compensated me financially for this post. I have used many Sonlight products in our homeschool prior to reviewing this product. All opinions — and photographs! ;) — are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

The case for exploring non-Western cultures in your homeschool

Finally, Level F! I’ve been waiting to study Eastern Hemisphere countries with Sonlight ever since we opened our first big blue binder years ago. And at last, Aveline is the right age. I’m so excited!

Sonlight’s History / Bible / Literature F: Eastern Hemisphere (HBL F) — designed for students ages 11-14 or grades 6-9 — is a year-long history and literature curriculum focused on non-Western countries. I don’t know of any other program quite like this! (Take a look.)

Continue reading “(Why you should) learn Eastern Hemisphere History with Sonlight Curriculum” →
Curriculum Reviews, Homeschooling

Creating an American History Lapbook with Sonlight

Gina @ Oaxacaborn
Sonlight history lapbook review 
Disclosure: Sonlight provided me with a lapbook kit and compensated me financially for this post. I have used many Sonlight products in our homeschool prior to reviewing this product. All opinions — and photographs! ;) — are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

I tend to struggle with keeping engaged when it comes to American history. I’m so much more of a globetrotter in my preferred reading material! But Sonlight’s American history literature selections are impressive. (I rave about them here.)

In addition to reading through Sonlight’s extensive US history booklists this year, my twelve-year-old has also spent hours pouring over Sonlight’s incredible US history lapbooking kits.

Continue reading “Creating an American History Lapbook with Sonlight” →
Poetry & Words, Travel/Moving

Ketchup Tastes Like Freedom

Gina @ Oaxacaborn
When I was eight, I came to America, land of the unlimited condiments. None of my books had prepared me for America’s ketchup spouts. And yet, there they were, like mythical fountains of eternal wealth. Ketchup, I knew, tasted like freedom.

When I was eight, I came to America, land of the unlimited condiments. A precocious brush with history prepared me for Ponce de León’s springs of water, but none of my books had prepared me for America’s ketchup spouts. And yet, there they were, like mythical fountains of eternal wealth, on fast food countertops spread with bins of sugar packets and cups of red plastic sticks, in a land where burglars and kings battled for America’s hearts and stomachs.

Continue reading “Ketchup Tastes Like Freedom” →
Book Reviews, Homeschooling

Stealing Home Book Review: Japanese Internment in Canada

Gina @ Oaxacaborn
Non-fiction history graphic novel for learning the history of Japanese internment during World War II in Canada

Tough topics aren’t always fun to teach. It’s not fun to talk about the Holocaust, or Japanese internment, or concentration camps, or Holodomor.

But we must know history.

We must know the truth about what happened, or we risk repeating history’s horrors. We must not shy away from difficult periods of the past. We must learn from them, and then remain vocal and vigilant so such tragedies will not be repeated on our watch.

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Book Reviews, Homeschooling

What Happened After “The Endless Steppe”?

Gina @ Oaxacaborn
Creative writing enrichment lesson idea for The Endless Steppe

Have you ever wondered what happened to the main characters after the last page of a book? My sixth-grader did. 

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After reading The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia with her liberal arts class at St Raphael School, Aveline continued to think and talk about not just The Endless Steppe, but about history and injustice in general.

This book, actually, impelled Aveline to read a whole stack of books about the Holocaust, and listen to radio theater productions of both Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom and The Hiding Place. One good book — in this case, The Endless Steppe — can open up Big Conversations about difficult topics, and plant a seed for courage against injustice.

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Curriculum Reviews, Homeschooling

Create Pixel Art with Pix Brix: Great Wave Off Kanagawa Review

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

Aveline has spent the last several weeks creating a pixel art reproduction of Katsushika Hokusai’s famous woodblock print The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. (Do you think Hokusai realized we’d still be obsessed with his views of Mount Fuji all these centuries later?) With 13 different shades of blues, greys, and browns, she’s brought Hokusai’s masterpiece to life — I love it so much.

Continue reading “Create Pixel Art with Pix Brix: Great Wave Off Kanagawa Review” →