Homeschooled students in fiction

Earlier this week, I mentioned four excellent novels featuring homeschooled students. The scent of back-to-school is in the air, so I figured some M-mv readers might find one or another of these titles a neat seasonal tie-in for their students. Here they are again:

:: Wendy Orr's Nim's Island
Read-aloud, five and up; read-alone, seven and up

:: Gordon Korman's Schooled
Read-aloud, eight and up; read-alone, nine and up

:: Katherine Hannigan's Ida B.
Read-aloud, eight and up; read-alone, nine and up

:: Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl
Read-aloud/read-alone, twelve and up

Hardworking minds
From "High-Aptitude Minds: The Neurological Roots of Genius" (Scientific American Mind, September 3, 2008):

In humans, brain size correlates, albeit somewhat weakly, with intelligence, at least when researchers control for a person’s sex (male brains are bigger) and age (older brains are smaller). Many modern studies have linked a larger brain, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging, to higher intellect, with total brain volume accounting for about 16 percent of the variance in IQ. But, as Einstein’s brain illustrates, the size of some brain areas may matter for intelligence much more than that of others does.

A thankless job
It has been unseasonably cool here, and Mr. M-mv was home Tuesday morning, so it seemed like as good a day as any to tackle the windows. Our home has old eyes -- that is, windows that would likely be featured on one of those home design shows. "Replace these! Now!" the snappily dressed real estate agent would demand. But they're pleasant enough, the house's eyes are, warm and serviceable, and our heating and cooling bills are the lowest we've heard, so why spend the money to replace something that's working well enough, right?

Washing them, though, is a two-person task, and a thankless job, at that. After all, in no time at all I will be wondering, "Didn't we just clean these windows?" And we did... inside and out, storms and screens, curtains and sills.

Next up on my "thankless job" list? Trimming the hedges and bushes. At least I get to use a loud (somewhat) dangerous tool to do that.

Heh, heh, heh.

Speaking of eyes
My cheaters are now +1.50. "You'll notice that your eyes will worsen faster now," the optometrist advised me, offhandedly.

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Low board
The Misses are taking another springboard diving class this year, so I've had an extra hour of reading time each day this week. Companions have included Twisted (Laurie Halse Anderson), Confessions of a Contractor (Richard Murphy -- a review copy), and The Search for Modern China (Jonathan D. Spence).

Did you know cheaters come in sunglasses?

Business
As I said, you know you want it.