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HomeMum

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Posts posted by HomeMum

    How would your homeschooling be different if money was wasn't a concern?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    So many people have said "Math tutor" or "Foreign language tutor." I realize no matter what, you still have to pay the person, but are you all opposed to online or Skype tutoring? I don't use one personally, but I know people who have bi-weekly 30 minute Skype sessions with an online tutor overseas for Spanish. And for math, there are so many free online math videos I don't really see the need for a tutor.

    • Like 1

    Lots of stuff going on in the news today

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'm trying to understand this from a non-partisan POV. Why do exiting Presidents do all these pardons? It just doesn't seem there's any logic to it.

     

    "Eh. Nevermind. Go on home. Be good now, ya here."

     

    Pardons are intended for people who have atoned for their crimes and are thus being rewarded for good behavior, or for those who have completed their sentences. Pardons have historically been used to help the nation move forward. Its supposed to be a healing tradition.

    • Like 1

    She started writing a novel at age 12 because she thought YA novels should be beautiful and uplifting stories. 4 years later, she finished.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by HomeMum

    Because the market right now is SO flooded with poorly written, totally unedited self-published ebooks. Plus, authors improve through rejection. You write something, you send it out, and you get what feels like a billion rejections, so you look at the piece, rework it, and make it better. Rinse, repeat. By the time you've spent many years doing this, you're a pretty darn good writer. If you get to skip the rejection and reworking by just plunking everything you write onto Amazon, there's never any incentive to look critically at your writing and improve it.

     

    This was actually really insightful, thanks for taking the time. Publishing is something that several of my fam members are interested in, so its really applicable. 

    • Like 1

    She started writing a novel at age 12 because she thought YA novels should be beautiful and uplifting stories. 4 years later, she finished.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I think the problem with homeschoolers is also that the parents are so invested in their child that when said child finishes his or her first novel, the parents are like, "OMG YOU WROTE A NOVEL?!? We must publish it immediately, my little wunderkind!" And with self-publishing being so easy to do, the parents and the child don't really stop to ask themselves if the novel is actually any good.

     

    If my daughter decides to write, my advice to her will be to not, under any circumstances, publish her first novel. First novels always suck, period. And to only publish subsequent novels through an agent and a real publishing house, if at all humanly possible. Your parents and your best friend since preschool are not professional editors.

     

    I could stay up on this soapbox all day, but I'd better stop there. ;)

     

    I understand what you're saying, and I imagine most 1st books aren't great. But, what is your reasoning for not publishing? Because poorly written books don't deserve publication? Because a poorly written book won't sell? Because it is unhealthy for children to receive overexaggerated praise from their parents? Is your argument that it will 'look bad' later on when publishing with an agent?

    She started writing a novel at age 12 because she thought YA novels should be beautiful and uplifting stories. 4 years later, she finished.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'm glad you said it, that was my only thought. After first reading the OP, I bounced over to my library's web site to see if it were listed. There are about three dozen other books titled Fire & Ice.

     

    BTW my library didn't have it. Perhaps it's self-published?

    Yeah, when I first saw this on Facebook I thought they were talking about game of thrones and I was pretty confused. And, like you said, there are multiple other similar titles out there. I believe I read it is available on Amazon and Barns and Noble.

     

    I wish I could be more excited, but the quality of books written by teenage homeschoolers is hit or miss, to say the least. I wrote my first novel when I was around twelve, and thank god no one tried to publish it.  It was horrible, sort of a cross between Sailor Moon and Valdemar, lol. I still shudder when I think about it.

     

    At the very least, this author needs to do more reading in the genre. Enough to know that a self-published series called "Fire and Ice" and set in a land called "Aisling" are horrible ideas. In any search she's going to be something like the forty-seventh search result. And for the love of god, NO MORE FANTASY NOVELS ABOUT SUPER-TALENTED TWINS!

     

    Cliches are bad. Don't use them.

    You're so spot on. Unfortunately, authors and artists are rarely good marketers - they do what they love and hope people follow along. Nevertheless, I still applaud her. Even if she looks back on it and shudders, at least she has accomplished something pretty monumental and is self-motivated and working toward high goals.

     

    I wish I had time to actually read her book. Too much else going on.

    • Like 2

    She started writing a novel at age 12 because she thought YA novels should be beautiful and uplifting stories. 4 years later, she finished.

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Stories like this are always so affirming and inspirational for me & the kids. It's an interview so it's hard to 'quote' the good parts without quoting almost everything. Homeschooler Started Her First Novel At Age 12; Published Author At 16

     

    My favorite bit:

     

    This story came to me during the age when I was transitioning into the YA book section. I was feeling very flustered, because I realized that the vast majority of these books were quite discouraging to the teenage spirit. I wanted to be reading beautiful and uplifting stories. Therefore, I decided to write the kind of book that I had always wanted to read.
    • Like 7

    A Virginia school pulls 'Finn' and 'Mockingbird' over slurs

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    This saddens me so much. Virginia school pulls ‘Finn’ and ‘Mockingbird’ over slurs: ‘It’s not right to put that in a book.’

     

    The irony is that teaching your kids To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best ways not to have a divided nation. Exposure, followed by discussion, is how children (and people and general) learn to think outside their own belief sets. It's how we grow as empathetic individuals. It breaks my heart to see this happen, year after year. 

     

    How does this still happen? It's as though they've missed the countless times libraries across America have had banned books days, displaying and encouraging the reading of controversial books in the pursuit of knowledge and against censorship. 

    • Like 7
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