Life of Pride
Saturday, February 18, 2006
My annotated bibliography is up to 43 items, and it is on its 8th page. I'm almost starting to be happy with it. I've spent the last three days solid on research, and I can almost "see" the homeschool movement as a whole with others' eyes. It's not too hard, because I never formed much of a picture on my own. I never really thought about what was happening around me on a macro scale when I was growing up.
At the same time, I'm beginning to "see" the public schools as a whole, since the start of the great education experiment of the 1800s. The course of the experiment fascinates me, because it explains a lot of the problems around us in the larger society. Right now, though, I only have a fuzzy, big-picture view. I am purposefully not trying to cultivate much more right now, even though my interest is piqued, because I don't need to travel much deeper than the surface level on the overall history of education for the purposes of my current project. I definitely want to learn more at some point.
My mom and I were discussing a few evenings ago what I can do with my project when it is completed. She suggested that I turn it into an eBook and sell it. Sounds good to me! I'm sure it will be highly useful to other researchers and interested persons - perhaps for this extensive annotated bibliography alone! This discussion led off into a conversation about grad school and about writing in general. I told her that I would like to write a nonfiction book for an audience at large, about what it is like to grow up homeschooled. It would be partially serious, partially humorous - I don't think I could write such a thing without it being funny. That, and I want desperately to work on Erthe. We together came up with a scenario that greatly appeals to me. Instead of departing for grad school the year after I graduate from PHC, I will probably take a year off in order to write and publish my first book(s). YAY!!! I've been longing to write for so long! If I had to go away to grad school immediately, I think I would just starve. Or whatever the mental equivalent is.
This could work out quite well. I was talking to Maggie, my roomie, on the phone some weeks ago, and we mentioned writing the homeschooling book at least partially together for practicum. That would be ideal, and so much fun! If we wrote the outline and a few chapters during the school year, we'd be ready to go during the summer. This is one book I know I could write. Further, few other people could, and, the way I'm envisioning it, nobody else has. I'm excited just thinking about it. :) :)
At the same time, I'm beginning to "see" the public schools as a whole, since the start of the great education experiment of the 1800s. The course of the experiment fascinates me, because it explains a lot of the problems around us in the larger society. Right now, though, I only have a fuzzy, big-picture view. I am purposefully not trying to cultivate much more right now, even though my interest is piqued, because I don't need to travel much deeper than the surface level on the overall history of education for the purposes of my current project. I definitely want to learn more at some point.
My mom and I were discussing a few evenings ago what I can do with my project when it is completed. She suggested that I turn it into an eBook and sell it. Sounds good to me! I'm sure it will be highly useful to other researchers and interested persons - perhaps for this extensive annotated bibliography alone! This discussion led off into a conversation about grad school and about writing in general. I told her that I would like to write a nonfiction book for an audience at large, about what it is like to grow up homeschooled. It would be partially serious, partially humorous - I don't think I could write such a thing without it being funny. That, and I want desperately to work on Erthe. We together came up with a scenario that greatly appeals to me. Instead of departing for grad school the year after I graduate from PHC, I will probably take a year off in order to write and publish my first book(s). YAY!!! I've been longing to write for so long! If I had to go away to grad school immediately, I think I would just starve. Or whatever the mental equivalent is.
This could work out quite well. I was talking to Maggie, my roomie, on the phone some weeks ago, and we mentioned writing the homeschooling book at least partially together for practicum. That would be ideal, and so much fun! If we wrote the outline and a few chapters during the school year, we'd be ready to go during the summer. This is one book I know I could write. Further, few other people could, and, the way I'm envisioning it, nobody else has. I'm excited just thinking about it. :) :)
Comments:
Hmm...can't say that I've come across such a book either. If you publish it, I know I'll read it =)
Hothouse Transplants was a fun book when it came out.
I, for one, would like to hear more about your motivation to write such a book :)
Read any of Charity Bishop's books?
Hothouse Transplants was a fun book when it came out.
I, for one, would like to hear more about your motivation to write such a book :)
Read any of Charity Bishop's books?
I told her that I would like to write a nonfiction book for an audience at large, about what it is like to grow up homeschooled. It would be...
Hey! You can't steal my idea! Ah, well, you're one of a very few people I wouldn't mind seeing beat me to it - you could do a lot better job than I.
If you do decide to write it, you ought to find some way to incorporate other's stories in the book. So many homeschooler's have unqiue and different experiences growing up, it would be very difficult to capture them all with a single autobiographical narrative.
Hey! You can't steal my idea! Ah, well, you're one of a very few people I wouldn't mind seeing beat me to it - you could do a lot better job than I.
If you do decide to write it, you ought to find some way to incorporate other's stories in the book. So many homeschooler's have unqiue and different experiences growing up, it would be very difficult to capture them all with a single autobiographical narrative.
# posted by 
: 1:40 AM
: 1:40 AM
David: No, I haven't read any books by Charity Bishop. I've never even heard of her.
Mathew: There are lots of people who would like to write this book. ;) But I (God willing) am actually going to do it. I don't think it would matter so much if it was an autobiographical account of all homeschoolers or just of my life. We homeschoolers have more in common than we think. But anyway, I will hopefully be co-writing it with one of my friends, who had a very different life. That should help balance things.
Nate: Cool idea. Maybe so.
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Mathew: There are lots of people who would like to write this book. ;) But I (God willing) am actually going to do it. I don't think it would matter so much if it was an autobiographical account of all homeschoolers or just of my life. We homeschoolers have more in common than we think. But anyway, I will hopefully be co-writing it with one of my friends, who had a very different life. That should help balance things.
Nate: Cool idea. Maybe so.
