I can unequivocally say that this is the busiest Fall I have had in a very long time, and I haven't enjoyed the pace at all. We have finally gone over the edge from busy to INSANELY busy. I am counting the days until I can say goodbye to some of the stuff we are doing. I have officially put my last co-op teaching commitment behind me now however, and I am really looking forward to getting back here on my blog and sharing things.
In the writing vein of things, I should also mention that November is NaNoWriMo month (National Novel Writing Month) and my daughter plans to not only do it again, but to up her word count considerably. The only thing complicating it for her is the fact that in the past month she has started and failed to complete 3 more stories. She'll have to start a new one in November and keep it going A WHOLE MONTH. I'd dearly love to see her finish something and turn it into something truly good with some editing for a change, but they say it takes many years to make a great writer/artist/dancer/etc....
For my part, I have decided that instead of trying to write something new, I will be editing the story I wrote last year, and hopefully posting it here. It's all about a homeschool family, so I think putting it here on my blog is the right place for it. If people like it, I might be tempted to try something new. I won't get any credit for NaNoWriMo for this, but it will mean a lot to me to finally feel like I've got something I want to show people.
If you are interested in joining in on the fun. The website is here. Adults aim to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. The Young Writers Program allows kids to set their own writing goal and they "win" if they reach it. There are "pep talks" by famous writers and other supportive resources, and it can be a great deal of creative fun, not to mention very educational. Sometimes I have found that having a fun goal to reach can be very rewarding and motivational for us. This is why I find myself entering the kids in contests like this (or a Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, or science event like Science Olympiad or Odyssey of the Mind). Some kids do better with this than others though. I know that many kids would not like the pressure of a contest. The great thing about NaNoWriMo though, is that you are only competing against yourself and the clock. In the end there is a great deal of positive reinforcement and a glowing sense of pride in having accomplished something you weren't really sure you could do.
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