Petco Field Trip

Group Shot
Everyone petting a guinea pig

Monday we had our first homeschool field trip. We could have gone to others if we had a working car/driving Mommy. But without the working car, the second is impossible. This trip we could take a bus to. So for us this was an all afternoon event. It was a small group, and all the kids except one were somewhat quiet. Until the reptile section. Justin particularly enjoyed that one. The ferrets were popular also. Since we arrived early, the kids visited Santa in the mall, just to tell him what they wanted, not for a picture. $14.00 just for a single 4x67! They were each given a stuffed bear in pajamas, holding it's own stuffed reindeer. Jacob and Leanna particularly like this. When we got off the bus a woman walked up to me and handed me $10.00 and said, "this is for the children." Just out of nowhere, and I was so caught off guard that I accepted it, thanking her of course. I actually had no money at all, so that was really nice and it worked out well. I was able to get the kids drinks afterwards, which was nice because we were going from one appointment to the next that day, with no time to stop at home in between.

Waiting to begin......

I had my orientation at the Phoebe home this week. It was an hour and a half of walking around and learning their policies. I have a packet of information to go through and circle answers for and I will have to repeat that every year I'm there. Volunteers mainly take residents to appointments (haircuts, Bingo, inside doctor visits, therapy, etc.) or help with activities, act as a Companion/visitor, Library assistant (some sites), Distribute water, Deliver mail, Receptionist (some sites), Office helper, or as a Tour guide She said she'll probably have us just go around visiting different floors and maybe help with some activties. But we can't start volunteering there until the ban on young people visiting is lifted.Now not even their junior volunteers can go because of the swine flu. It's to protect the elderly there, they have to get word from the state when the ban can be lifted.
So far I'm really impressed with the place. Since it's such a large place I was worried they might be very corporate. But they said they are very life friendly-full of plants and birds, fish, cats, and a rabbit. They stressed ways to deal with people so that you aren't frustrating or belittling them, and so that you remember to give them their privacy since this is their home now. They have murals painted all over. Decorations and birthday lists and pictures of events all over the walls. In the alzheimer's floor they have shaddow boxes outside each door, so the residents and their visitors can remember who they used to be before the disease. That floor is painted in green-chosen because it's a soothing color, and has lots of pictures of a time that would be the resident's childhood. It just seemed really sweet and caring.......as though the staff truly cares about the work they do. And she said they have a lot of volunteers who have been there for many years, some over twenty! To me that says that they are happy there and it's a good place to be. I'm looking forward to this, I think it will be a good experience for us!

Today in School

Leanna, happy that she's finally getting the place values stuff right. Here's an example of where having money really can help with homeschooling. I was trying to get through to her and we were sitting there over and over trying to get this material done. And at night I was looking up new ways to teach it. Nothing seemed to be working. I mentioned it to my Mom by chance, and she said, "Oh! We have place values stuff at work!" And a night or two later she brought me the packet. We tried it once, and then had to wait for my Mom to take it back and laminate it (or else in our house it would have been toast!) and it was amazing how fast Lfeanna learned the material that way. All the books say that money has nothing to do with homeschooling sucess. I'd say that's generally true, but I think this demonstrates one way that it can make a difference. I would not have gone out looking for something I could buy to help, we just don't have the money now. In this case it made the difference though. It's nice to have options when you get stuck!
Leanna's journals, she writes in them nearly every day. Though some days it's a story, some days it's a poem or a song, or a cheer. It ought to be interesting to see the evaluator read through those. The L.I.W. biography I'm currently reading, then Leanna will too.

This is Leanna doing the place values today. I have no clue why it was necesary to wear a baby blanket over her head while doing it, but it was.

Justin and Timothy were at work, hammering away at some wood their Dad gave them. They even try to put crayons and markers behind their ears, like Daddy.

Since people often wonder what we're doing in school, this is today's stuff. We also read two Chameleon books, Timothy joined us for those. I read one, Leanna did the other. We broke for Curious George (I'm amazed by how much information Justin picks up from that show!) Later we'll read another chapter of Little House on the Prairie. Leanna also did more of the booklet from the pet store(quizzes on animal care, mazes, and coloring, etc.) We're planning a notebook/lapbook Frog project, we've been looking at techniques. We might do a bit more later on. We mainly work in the afternoons. Today is a shorter day because of Brownies, we stop a little earlier to make her supper beforehand and for her to be ready in time. Tonight she will be making pumpkin pie for the church they use, to show their appreciation.

Popular culture ruining good names?

I like this post on a parent loving a name but being afraid to use it because it's the name of a character in a currently popular movie/tv show. It's discussing Twilight, which is funny, I may be kind of strange, but I've always liked Jasper. And for me, Esme' reminds me of J.D. Salinger's short story, To Esme' with Love and Squalor. (that's the author of the Catcher in the Rye.)

I happen to like the name Ariel, but wouldn't use it because of the movie (although I've only heard the name because of the movie!). Hmmmmm.....maybe that's part of the reason I like the name Lorelei? (Still hoping for another girl so I can use that name!!)

Entertaining conversation?

I just thought I'd add this for those of you who are beginning to wonder if the conversations at my house are normal.

I think I needed to see this....

A good reminder, for me: sleep to suceed

Notebooking

This is a technique for compliling information for display and as a visually pleasing way to record what you have learned. I just found info on lapbooking and notebooking (they're closely related). The cool part is that I was actually trying to do this on my own, just not as fancy. Now that I found a name and style for this technique, I can go farther with it, and it means I shouldn't have a problem with it being accepted by an evaluator at the end of the year! Less for me to worry about, woohoo! Lapbooking and notebooking are forms of scrapbooking but educational! You see why I am excited. For an explanation, go here.

Before I forget

I keep meaning to post that Justin wants a snuggie blanket for Christmas! LOL! He's serious. If the commercial comes on the kids start singing with it. When I said I was going to post that Leanna said "I want one too! A pink one. With princesses!" It cracks me up. I guess they look cozy.

My Little Storyteller

Justin was telling a story to Leanna, who was writing it down. But she kept wanting to change the story to fit what she thought was proper, which would have completely changed the story. So I picked up the camera and taped him telling the story, so it could come out in his own way.

Justin likes to tell me stories in the morning. He'll crawl in bed and lay there telling me a story. He just volunteers this! I would not have expected this from him, it was a pleasant surprise to learn he is a storyteller.

Cranberry Drink

I saw this page in Woman's Day Magazine, and it looked really good. Although I'm generally not a huge fan of sour things, I do love cranberry sauce on holidays, so I decided to give it a try.

I added about two bananas (mine were going bad so three bananas minus the bad parts) Jacob liked it, and at first Justin did too. Everyone said it was too sour. If you add more bananas though it should cut the sourness. And the recipe didn't give exact amounts, so you could always add less cranberries. I really liked it, and it was a nice change from our usual strawberry banana.

Cooking blog

I ran across an interesting blog, for those of you interested in food or cooking.

How to Cook Like Your Grandmother

Expectations of help

An article on expectations of help. Basically a male author talks about how he and his wife were surprised to find that her relatives, who lived close and had seemed so excited to meet the baby suddenly dropped off the face of the earth shortly after the child's birth. They had expected a little more-maybe a phone call to ask how they or the baby was, offers for a cooked meal here and there or occasional babysitting. The author's mother in law stayed with them for the first three months though until she had to go back home (far away). They don't ask for help because they feel it'd be a sign of weakness and the wife's family never offers any. Miscommunication occurs and hurt feelings are on both sides. Eventually they reconcile with regular unsolicited calls for babysitting and even a spa package donated for the couple! Wow.

Here's a link to the article, "The Incredible Disappearing Family" and here's a link to the comments.

I like most of the commenters, am jealous! Even in the situation the author describes, it seems as though they have more help than most people do. And they were still struggling. But maybe both are working demanding jobs? Multiple jobs? Who knows, maybe they just have more trouble during the early years and will have few problems with an older child. Everyone has a different situation. Does it make you a bad parent if it takes a while to adjust? The author really got slammed for this article because people felt he was whiny with absolutely no reason for it. Suck it up, they said! Many said they had it harder and managed and didn't expect any help. (my favorite was the woman who cooked a Christmas meal for her husband and in laws the day after giving birth. They let her do that) Some suggested if they found it that hard they shouldn't procreate. Many pointed out that parents have no business expecting help from anyone at any time. And others said you should either hire help or find other parents to exchange babysitting and favors with.
I take issue with this modern ideal of complete self-sufficiency. Although you may be granted a pass if you can afford to pay for help, otherwise, depend on no one, ever. I think it's ridiculous to assume that parenting, one of the weightiest responsibilities people have, should be performed from birth to self sufficiency by only two people. (This attitude rears it's head in discussions about absent grandparents as well.) Do people not realize that it's not only the parents that benefit from having other people involved in raising a family? Children benefit from having more loving individuals in their lives, more varied experiences, and differing values that they are exposed to, and of course they benefit by having less stressed parents. The people helping the family benefit from their relationships with the children and with their grateful parents. And it's nice to feel useful. Society benefits because happy loved and loving children make better citizens. For most of time, in most of the world, people lived with extended family or in communities where everyone helped with child rearing. And even back a few generations ago, although grandparents may not have still lived with their grandchildren, parents still had more support from the community-from their neighbors and churches and organizations. Today we isolate ourselves and say parents must bear that incredible task alone. If you need help you are either weak or inept or have an "entitlement mentality."
I don't think parents should expect people to help in certain ways or at certain times, but a general expectation that relatives who live close Will help in whatever ways they are able, when they are able......I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I believe that's how child rearing was meant to occur, for the benefit of all. People, particularly family, SHOULD help each other. The author mentions that eventually they realize that they were forgetting that the relatives also worked all week long, and their weekends were precious to them also and that others might not be aware they could use some free time....they were wrapped up in a bubble of new parenting and sleep deprivation and they weren't seeing things clearly. They were selfish too. That happens. Doesn't make them bad people. It' just makes me sad that so many people are so quick to judge (and judge so harshly); and condemn parents for wanting what's been normal for most of time. As one commenter said, " I've always found it incredibly sad that modern society in America has stopped expecting its people to really invest in the nurturing and care of a new family."

I also like this comment:
Wow, what a bunch of jackasses. I agree, the writer's tone is a bit over-the-top, and 3 months worth of help is nothing to complain about. But, seriously, what is wrong with you people? Why shouldn't we reasonably expect or hope for certain things from our family, especially when we generally have a good relationship with them? Not because of entitlement per se, but just because family *should* do things for each other. My family does things for me; I do things for them that aren't convenient.

And I'm so sick of the "you chose to have the kid" attitude. Believe it or not, even in this age of chemical birth control, not all couples *choose* to have kids, or, I should say, *plan* their children. Sometimes kids just happen, and some of us happen to believe that kids are a *natural* part of family life, not something that you *get* after you've got your career, house and SUV (or Prius, whatever) all in line. I think that the "you chose it" attitude is a huge part of the hostility on here: "Why should anyone have to clean up anyone else's mess?" It sounds like half the people on here have rotten parents who can't be bothered, and now they've clearly picked up the attitude. *sigh* No wonder why our world sucks. Most of you accuse the author of an entitlement attitude, but your own attitudes scream, "I'm entitled to not have to worry about anyone but myself, EVER!"

You can't always plan out every detail of your life, and often not even the big stuff. People expect that responsible people should plan just the right moment to have children, if they do. And if they have more than one, then you should plan out the spacing of them beforehand as well. Your car and your house and your perfect job should be in place beforehand......one commenter even said since parents have about seven months to prepare beforehand, they should arrange for all help before birth. As though everyone knows exactly what their baby will be like and what they will be like as parents, as though you know what your thresholds will be! That is something you don't find out until afterwards!!!

Just very sad, in my opinion. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Explaining How we made butter

Making our own butter

We made butter as part of our Little House studies. The boys LOVED it, Leanna barely tasted it and exclaimed "Yuck!" Surprisingly easy to do and it's really neat to see the liquid turn into solid. This way isn't 100% natural, as that would involve using fresh milk from an animal and culturing it. We used heavy whipping cream.

A butter churn is a mechanical device used to agitate milk cream until it becomes butter. Churning the cream brings its fat globules together and causes them to clump into lumps of butter, leaving a liquid called butter milk.
The physical phenomenon which occurs is called phase inversion - the inner phase and outer phase of an emulsion exchange places: oil in water emulsion (cream) becomes water in oil emulsion (butter).
Many configurations of churns were used throughout history. The end-over-end churn stands about 4 feet (1.2 m) high and swings on a central axle. The "barrel churn" was similar but rolled on its long axis. The plunger-type is harder work than the end-over-end or barrel churn. A plunger or dasher has to be moved vigorously up and down by hand.
The upright plunge or dash churn is the earliest kind of churn. There is evidence that this type was in use by C. 600 AD[1]. The barrel churn was one of the agricultural innovations of 18th century Europe[2].

Justin finally got his first dental checkup this week. We had several false starts with that. The dentist Leanna's been to doesn't see kids until they are four years old (despite all modern parenting magazines recommending kids begin going at age one). He refused to even get in the chair or open his mouth and the dentist was just not willing to work with him at all and was kind of mean. He waited a minute, then said, bring him back when he'll open his mouth. So when I mentioned this at Justin's doctor checkup, they recommended the dental van. I was told they're very good with kids and would probably let him look at all the equipment first and talk to him about what they were going to do first. So I made an appt. to go when they were at Central school and we walked there and got in, and the lady said, well if he's that afraid, maybe he should go to the clinic. They're really really good with kids. But call today, as soon as you get home!! They're very hard to get in, so call RIGHT AWAY! I said, yes ma'am! And went home and called. Well it took two months, but I finally got a call back from the dental clinic to set up an appt. They're very busy, they said usually they're overbooked.
I am so happy, as far as I'm concerned it was worth the wait. This is the first time I can remember really liking medical professionals. They were so nice, and so patient and good with Justin. It was no big deal at all that four people came along into the room with Justin. They brought back some chairs for us! They talked to all of us and showed Justin every tool and told him what they were going to do before doing it. He was so nervous at first that when they put the chair back, he stayed stiffly sitting up in the seat. I had to gently lay him down because he wouldn't do it. After that he was ok though.
He has to come back in January unfortunately and they said they'll use nitrous oxide (spelling?) which is what they used to call laughing gas, to calm him down when they work on him. They didn't want to start anything on the first visit in case he would expect bad stuff to happen every visit then. They were just so friendly. Two people came to gawk at us though, they were amazed to see so many people in the room, and commented that they would never have known that there were so many kids there. The dentist and hygienist both said they were so well behaved and complimented me on my children. It is so nice to hear that!!
Also this week and last at the Phoebe home staff members complimented me on my nice family. Anyway, I wanted to be sure to mention a positive experience with medical professionals, for years now, almost every experience has been bad/horrible/insulting, particularly at that hospital. If I have time I will write them a letter to say so, I believe in letting people know when you recieve superior service. In person I did compliment the dentist and she clutched her chest and said, "Aawww! Thank you!" It made me feel good to make someone else feel good too!

Lovin the internet

On a homeschool blog I ran across this mention of a song I sang way back in elementary school Dona Nobis Pacem by W. A. Mozart and haven't heard since. I liked it and I still remember the words to this day. I've sung it to all my children and never expected to hear it anywhere again. But there it was, on you tube!
For a version without words, click here.
For a version sung by a choir, click here.
I think it's best sung as a round.

There's that evil genius again!

When asked why he keeps smacking people's heinies, Justin replied (quite seriously), "Well, God made me that way!"

Sometimes I wish they weren't quite so smart!!

Bonnets

This picture shows the bonnet Leanna wore for Halloween, worn by me many many years ago. My paternal grandmother believed that every young girl should have a bonnet. I believe this was during the famous Little House on the Prairie show period still, so praire stuff was still quite popular. This is the grandmother I associate Holly Hobby stuff with as well. She bought me a Holly Hobbie doll and things with her on them. I am still fond of Holly Hobbie/praire things for this reason (others too, but this gives them a sentimental pull).
I'm actually not sure what you call this type of picture-it's not a shadow box, it's in a regular picture frame. Anyway, both pictures are with my sister Laura. (Maybe my Mom can offer a date or approximate age for me?)
(I loved that shiny pink jacket!)
EDIT: And that's a strawberry shortcake doll in my hands!!

Just recording things

One day I'm sure I'll hear, "You never spent any time with me!" or "You never

let me do anything!" Especially if the social climate stays the way it is currently, where everyone is so sure there's no way anyone could emotionally care for more than 2.1 children. So sometimes I take pictures of things, just to record the fact that they do indeed do many things with me and with each other. I actually don't find it particularly difficult to have special moments with each one regularly. It comes naturally.
Here's a picture of Timothy mashing bannanas for bananna muffins, and then later Justin stirring the batter for apple muffins. 24 muffins and this morning only three were left! (And Leanna and Tom won't eat muffins! )

Cute stuff from Justin

Last night as I was about to get in bed I heard a sleep-hazy little Justin voice call to me. "Mommy! Come here!"
"What Justin?"
"Come here!"
"What??"
"Mommy....................(long pause here).......................coffee.............................is bad for you."
Then he went back to sleep.

What the heck was he dreaming about, LOL.

From the local halloween parade

Love the attitude here as she sees us.
The above picture was taken when they walked by the judges' table and the video cameras. HERE she smiles and waves!

I walked to the end to be there when she finished the parade and when I caught up with them Leanna was marching with the sign.

Jacob, waving at the trucks going by. He was yelling (quite belligerently) "Hi truck!" at each one as they passed.

Ethical Wills

I think this is a really neat idea, check out this website to read more about Ethical Wills.

I found this concept here.

To quote her post from the A Passion For Letter Writing blog:

When I became a mother I started writing letters to my son because, at first, I was afraid I wouldn’t be up to the task of motherhood and it seemed inevitable that I’d mess it up in some way and that eventually he would do what all kids frequently do… torment their parents about all the ways they messed up their children resulting in years of therapy and thousands of dollars in “couch time”. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if my son had a chance to know me as I am NOW when he is a baby because by the time he is able to have adult conversations with me I will be a vastly different person than I am now. I will be a different mom than I first was and he will never have a way to know that FIRST mommy that I used to be.”
As I wrote these letters I found myself passing on bits of advice and other things I thought were important, little things I wondered if my boys would ever sit still long enough for me to tell them, things they would probably just roll their eyes at. To be fair, I never appreciated the advice people gave me until I got well into my 20’s. I think that’s just human nature, a simple issue of maturity.
Today I ran across a web site that talks about legacy letters or ethical wills. These are documents you can write to pass on your values to your children or grandchildren as a legacy to them, just like you might pass on your grandmother’s tea set or whatever.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had documents like this from our fathers, mothers, grandparents, and many many more way back to hundreds of years to the past? What a fabulous legacy! Would you consider writing one to your children or other relatives?
Go check out the site at Life-Legacies. The site has some sample legacy letters as well as a free e-newsletter that contains tips that will help you make your own letters. At the site you can also read about how legacy letters can not only benefit those who come after you but how it can help you in your life today.

Good Works

I'm not in a mental state to be good at this one, but I ran across this site: SendLoveToday which is about sending emotional support to brain tumor patients and their families in the form of cards and small gifts.
I thought I'd pass it along in case anyone else is interested.

Amusing Halloween pictures

More Halloween pictures

Jacob's costume was of course the easiest, since I made it back in 2003 for Leanna. Each of our kids has worn it now.

Timothy's costume was also fairly easy, it was pulled together from things we had around the house-Justin's dress shirt, Timothy's sweat pants, Leanna's old boots, Justin's cape, Timothy's toy hospital parrot, and a hat from Timothy's party as a belt with a toy pirate hat I got on clearance last year after halloween. His facial hair was curtesy of an eye pencil.

Justin's costume was a sweat shirt and sweat pants (and they didn't even match-one was blue, one was black!) I printed out bones found on the internet-but I had quite a time finding a set the right size! and I simply pinned the bones to his clothes. The mask is a milk jug, it fit his face perfectly! And he didn't mind it at all. It helped that it was kinda cold out, but his head was just big enough for air to circulate but not so small that it flopped around. He's rather fascinated with skeletons right now, so this really was perfect for him. He really wanted to have bloody hands too, after seeing a skeleton like that in someone's yard, but I wasn't going to let him do that at five year old!

Leanna's costume was Laura Ingalls Wilder, or more generally, a prairie girl. I thought the bonnet and braids were a dead giveaway, but apparently that's only with people my age or older. I found the pattern and it fit perfectly with our studies and I know she looks adorable in braids. It was about three day's work, off and on of course. At least she can always use it as a nightgown!

Halloween posting

Claire was dressed as Velma, from Scooby Doo.

Happy Halloween

More later................

Busy Week

The award she won tonight for most funniest costume. Except that her costume wasn't supposed to be funny.

Rushed to get Leanna's costume done by Thurs. night for the Girl Scout halloween/Juliette Low birthday party. Plus gathering supplies and putting together Justin and Timothy's costumes. Everything that could go wrong did. The stupid tension on my sewing machine kept holding the thread too tight and I'd have to take it out and redo whatever I'd just sewn. The gathering strands broke off so I had to redo that. Jacob kept going after my sewing machine (because of all the lead on the third floor I had to bring the sewing machine down if I wanted to use it) and several times I had to rethread it or fix settings he'd changed on the machine. I must have pinned the yoke on wrong six times in a row! And the kids were all noisy and crabby and constantly needing me today, since I had to finish it. I thought this might never get done. I am likely the entire world's worst sewing machine operator.

Leanna did not want to wear her mermaid costume from last year (since she hadn't worn it at girl scouts I thought she might wear that if I didn't finish hers on time). "It's not that I don't like it. I just think other people might not!"

Right.

Then when she saw her costume she did say it was pretty. Justin kept telling me how nice it was. So she put it on with minutes to spare before she had to be at Brownies. It's a little long and big although it's a 7/8 and she's an 8. That would be fine with clothing underneath for trick or treating. But at an indoor party-not necesary, so it was a little big. The junior girls voted it the funniest costume and no one knew what she was supposed to be. Leanna said she's not wearing it again, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hurt.

Today was generally just a very sucky day.

Sunday, the Timothy edition

My Mom took Leanna and Justin to the parkway on Sunday afternoon for a little. She only has two carseats and that's all that fits in her car anyway. So Timothy and I started his vehicle mosaic kit from his birthday. It's a pretty easy option for younger kids who want to try mosaics-it's pieces of foam with a sticky back. Timothy used them for about 15 minutes, then moved back to his perpetual favorite, playing with cars!

Later that evening, long after his siblings had returned, he fell asleep on Daddy's lap. It's probably been a year and a half or more since that's happened!

Wahoo!!!!

I interviewed at the Baum today and we g0t a full scholarship! It was easier than I thought and she even complimented my letter and me! She'll begin a homeschool art class in January, free of charge! That is wonderful! I'm excited for several reasons: it's free, she gets an intro to art with materials I can't afford to provide her with, she'll be around other local homeschoolers, she'll be around other creative people, she'll get another experience on her own, away from her brothers for two hours at a time! I hope we can inspire of a love of art and creativity in her!

I needed something to go right for a change! I hope this becomes a trend!

Evening's work

All from last night: Glowstick earrings, fashioned by Leanna (a gift from the halloween party), my first ever attempt at Brownies completely from scratch (so they're Jacob safe!), and more zucchini bread!

A weekend gym class

Yesterday after we picked Leanna up from the sleepover, we stopped at the playground. We had the place to ourselves, which is how I like it! It's much easier to keep an eye on four kids when they are the only ones there! It was warm, but really windy! When I put Jacob in a baby swing and pushed him, he just leaned backwards with his eyes closed, clearly loving it! That's brave, to lean backwards in the wind-you'd feel like you were falling. But the little free spirit LOVED it! It made me laugh just to see it. The fall colors on the trees were just beautiful. I love fall in PA. Unfortunately my camera batteries were almost dead, so I could only take so many pictures, and I had to do it quickly before the camera shut off!

What to do with that degree

Just mulling stuff over....The only problem here-I have zero interest in the careers mentioned, and yet, this is the stuff I'm good at. There must be something specific out there somewhere that fits both my talents and interests, right??

Top Row (L-R): Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice; Diane Sawyer, TV journalist; Carol Browner, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency and now chair of the Board of the National Audubon Society; Geoffrey Rush, actor (we're not sure about the monkey); Barbara Walters, TV host.

Middle Row (L-R): David Duchovny, actor; Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist (we figured you'd recognize the cartoon better than her picture); James van der Beek, actor; Vin Diesel, actor; Randy Owen, lead singer of Alabama; Joe Paterno, legendary football coach; Sally Ride, astronaut.

Bottom Row (L-R): Amerie, singer; Harrison Ford, actor; Reese Witherspoon, actress; Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize laureate, former head of the National Institutes of Health and now CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Research Center; Jodi Foster, actress/activist; Alan Alda, actor-activist.

What can English majors do?

The obvious choices are teaching, graduate school, or becoming a writer, but graduates also excel in many other areas. Because English majors have learned how to write, analyze material, and communicate effectively, and are good problem solvers, they work in many different fields, including sales, management, advertising, and many others. English majors are found in program management, marketing, editing, reporting, creative and technical writing, public relations, medicine, social work, government work, non-profit organizations, and financial services. The kinds of text analysis, writing, and thinking English majors specialize in enhance their creativity, their understanding of human motivation, and their ability to present clear and logical arguments, both in writing and orally.

September 22, 2009
Jobs for English Majors: They Do Exist
Posted by Bridget Quigg

The butt of every cocktail party joke – the English major. “Oh, that’s nice that you read Shakespeare. But, how does that get you a job?”
Well, it turns out that wordsmithing just might be the ticket in to today’s job market. According to a survey of HR professionals by global outplacement agency Challenger, Gray and Christmas and quoted in a New York Times article, “Young Workers: U Nd 2 Improve Ur Writing Skills,” the number one skill missing amongst entry-level job applicants is “writing skills.” Huh, sounds like that business degree may not do the trick for getting started in a new career.
In even better news for English majors, according to PayScale’s 2009 College Salary Report, English majors end up in some reasonably lucrative careers post-college. The most popular jobs for English majors and their median annual salaries 10 years out of school are:
Career Salary
Technical Writer $65,700
Paralegal $54,300
Copywriter $53,400
In terms of cash flow, the problems of English majors aren’t exactly solved. Their salary after 10 years doesn’t top aerospace engineering majors, who come out number one overall with $109,000 per year. But, hey, the English major probably is happier writing the next “Just do it” campaign rather than negotiating where to place the toilets on an airplane - not that ensuring comfortable bathrooms isn’t a worthy pursuit.
We’ll end with some other artsy, socially-minded, non-lucrative majors and their median yearly salaries according to PayScale’s 2009 College Salary Report:
College Major Starting After 10 Years
Journalism $36,300 $65,300
History $38,800 $70,000
Art History $36,300 $62,400
Public Relations $36,700 $62,600
Anthropology $37,600 $63,200
Social Work $33,400 $41,600