Two Kinds of Writing

Jeannie Fulbright makes some more good points in her blog post today, Academic Writing vs Creative Writing. It's definitely worth taking the time to check out. And she's promising more to come on the subject.

Good points...

...made in today's post by Jeannie Fulbright. I just wanted to put it here so I wouldn't forget about it. Here's a quote from it - "Anytime we make decisions based on fear of failure, fear of inadequacy or based on our emotions, rather than a strong peace from God - we are may be falling onto a trail that is dark and much more difficult to traverse - and it often leads us where we didn't want to go."

A couple of things...

...that caught my eye in my google reader today.

From Homeschool Nations Nova Scotia blog - Nova Scotia homeschoolers hold an annual end of summer "Not Going Back to School Camping trip". And they even have a facebook group. how cool is that!


From Stellae Boreales blog - The Stellae Boreales, an advanced performance group from SuzukiMusic in Ottawa, have arrived safely in China. You can follow their tour through their blog. I happen to know that there are some homeschoolers in the group. :)

A day of remembrances and celebrations

July 1st - Canada Day. A day to celebrate our country and the freedoms we enjoy. It has always bothered me how little the activities that I've seen at Canada Day celebrations actually have to do with what the day is supposed to be about. I'd love to see activities that teach, or review Canadian history, geography, politics, etc. There's no reason why that couldn't be incorporated in the games that are a part of most celebrations. Even the decorations could help in that respect, with a little bit of forethought. It seems, however, that people are content just to party. Oh well.

Mind you, with all that's happening in our country lately it seems our freedoms are slowly slipping away from us and we have less and less to celebrate in that regard. I'm still thankful for the freedoms that we do have, but I'm also sad for some that I see slipping away.

A few years back, while studying with my son the book No Man's Land, by Kevin Major, I discovered that there are a lot of Newfoundlanders that actually struggle with celebrating Canada Day on July 1st. July 1st to them is Memorial Day - the day they remember the terrible battle at Beaumont Hamel when the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was nearly wiped out. Kevin Major's book is an amazing read about that battle.

Many communities in Newfoundland start the day, July 1st, with Memorial services and end the day with the Canada Day celebrations. It's a day with a mixture of remembrance, mourning, and celebration.