tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36052604587574006272024-02-19T06:54:58.839-08:00The Effectual ScholarBuild a vessel, load it with substance, teach them to sail, plot a sure course, bid them Godspeed, pull up the anchor, let them sail free.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-63948536589477598372009-06-18T08:09:00.000-07:002009-06-18T09:05:21.451-07:00Teaching without Fear or Frills<strong>If you could teach however you wanted, do anything you wanted to train and educate your kids with no worries about a school system, a state law, standardized tests, or anything, would you be doing things differently?</strong><br /><br />I read this question in a book the other day and it has made me think alot. Even in our great state where there are very few restrictions placed upon homeschoolers, I still feel a need to prove my homeschol method is adequate. I don't have to give my kids standardized tests, but I have given them EOGs I found online and tormented them, then brutally assaulted myself for not having kids who measured up. Which honestly is insanely ridiculous. I gave them a test on material they never studied. We do not cover the same material every other 4th and 6th grader in Texas studies. We may be studying botany while they study anatomy. We maybe studying slavery and emancipation whereas they may be studying the Cold War. I am humiliated to even make the admission I was trying to measure up and put myself and my kids through a process that induced so much anxiety and sorrow.<br /><br />Since then, I havebeen learning more about Charlotte Mason. And I have really rethought the standardized test and even grading in general. <strong>Grading is only necessary when a teacher is not present.</strong> Grading replaced relationship when our classes became depersonalized and overcrowded. Grading becomes a product sought versus the process of learning which should be our goal. <br /><br /><em>"We parents can become quite anxious about covering and completing all the requirements for a particular grade level, and seeing that our children excel in the skills demanded of that grade level. It's a woeful business when parents look toward doing what the grand system of education says is right for a child within their little homeschool. But when parents pursue knowledge for its own sake they need not be subservient to this grand system. Many young children hunger for knowledge. Yet they dutifully serve the system of textbook overview with never-ending worksheets, and under a system that does not feed their hunger for vibrant, vital knowledge, they begin to pine away. It is then that Mother loses confidence and feels discouraged and unqualified to teach. The children, for their part, find it harder and harder to obey. Parents and children are stuck in a system that stifles curiousity and intitiative, and makes learning uninteresting." <u>Charlotte Mason Companion, Andreola.</u></em><br /><em></em><br />Iworked in the private school system within a small Christian school that promoted small class sizes. Meaning 20 kids, 11 kids, 9 kids. Still, it was a very vigorous curriculum we used, and it was very writing intensive. Kids did one of two things in the classroom: listened to a lecture quietly or worked quietly on their worksheets. Kids who have a drive to get 100's did very well. Kids who were active, spirited, and naturally curious did poorly. My kids did poorly.<br /><br />So I started homeschooling. I chose a different boxed curriculum. I was teaching a full curriculum that year to a 1-student class for 2 grade levels. I taught 1st grade and 3rd grade. They did their reading, I made them sit quietly at the table for hours. They filled in their worksheets so I could grade them so I would know whether they understood their lessons or not. How else would I know if I was doing my own thing while they completed their math problems? I certainly would have had no idea whether they "got it" without right/wrong answers and a teacher's answer key and a calculator and a fabulously helpful little cardboard sliding thing that told me if they got 12 wrong out of 24 they earned only 50%. I got frustrated, they were crying. It was fabulous. It was just as Charlotte Mason said.<br /><br />My daughters and I were discussing the other day how I have improved as a mother and teacher. I asked them to tell me something they learned about in our early years as homeschoolers. Tara could remember crying, me yelling at her to stop crying, and not understanding what I expected her to understand. She did remember one thing she learned from the years prior to Charlotte Mason, whose method we use here in year 5 of homeschool: She remembers me doing an experiment with her on sound where we tested sound moving through the table, through a 2x4, through paper, through the air. She remembers me being there learning beside her. I remember it, too, as a pleasant learning experience. It sticks out. No book, no lesson, just discovery. Hannah remembers workbooks and red ink. YAY! GO me! Awesome job, mom!<br /><br />As I have been thinking about what little I accomplished in homeschool years 1, 2, 3 & 4, I realize my focus was clearly on getting through a curriculum, hoping to God my kids could get enough right answers to pass, and being so entirely focused on other things. My goal was good grades. Their goal was to be finished.<br /><br />It is different today because we read things through literature. I sit down and pick up the biography on Alexander Graham Bell, and ask one of them to tell me what we learned when we read from the book two weeks ago. Tara, formerly a completely indiffierent, lazy, unmotivated without extreme external pressure type of learner, now starts this 2 minute description of Bell's attempt to patent the first multiple telegraph and how he helped develop the Visible Speech (sign language) to help deaf people (which he felt was his life's calling), and can tell me the circumstances surrounding inventing the telephone. We are driving down the road and she brings up Greek Mythology, she tells me how she learned in Seton's Two Little Savages this and that. Tara who could not read a 200 page book within 2 weeks about a year ago, just finished reading Pride & Prejudice. That is a testimony to the Mason method. Hannah told me yesterday voluntarily that she is glad I am "making" her read a classic book of literature in between each modern library book. Because she just finished Little Men, and in it she learned just how much we squander, how intensely we are spoiled, how we appreciate so little. She told me thank you for "making" her read literature.<br /><br />A year ago I read the <u>Charlotte Mason Companion</u> and was inspired. I was obesssed really. Then I thought right before we started our school year with Mason's philosophy, "Ok, this is probably going to be like every other year we have thought it would be a fabulous year and my kids will LOVE to learn this year, and I will probably be disapppointed again. They will probably hate it.." I have not even completed half of what I intended this year, and my children ARE CHANGED. They are more mature, they are thinkers, they are insatiable readers of really difficult books, they are lovers of learning, and they are changed.<br /><br />So how does this change how I plan to continue homeschooling my kids through high school, how I intend to teach my 1 year olds?<br /><br />I hope I will continue to teach my teenagers without regard for what other 6th and 7th graders are learning. I will try my hardest to not worry about whether my 7th grade can spell as well as other 7th graders she is texting. She is different. She is not them. Education whereby we compare each child to the other children their age in skill level is like comparing me to my husband. We are both 37 this year. Should we take a test to see who is more skilled in spelling? Does it matter? The point is whether I am spelling to my ability, and whether he is within his aptitude. Anytime we try to teach with a goal to achieve a number or a percentile or a grade equivalent, we lose sight of why learning should matter. I am not trying to just get my kids through a series of workbooks or a list of educational goals on the Texas websites. My highest goal is that my children will be Christ followers, moral and ethical citizens, responsible and able to live independently on few resources, and lovers of learning. As long as the spark and desire to learn is the passion that drives us, we will be all we can be. When we seek to achieve an A on a test or a good percentile on the EOG, we are seeking wrong.<br /> <br /><em>It should not be "How much has our child covered?" but "How much does he CARE?" </em><u>Charlotte Mason Companion</u>, Andreola.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-18950182117022885342009-06-08T17:04:00.001-07:002009-06-08T17:38:25.579-07:00Teaching Without Lecture<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVjPnHjLvCFnBVDu5K-obxvZqRT5M_cyCMdR1CcD_Ue7f0roxRn5sG05Hm4wK8htp8lTEMiYOPtDVUNLA_QGlaq9y5QS2gsEJg7Y4OCispgwNXpKzL3MX5_Oirt6IxzAKLjypu0x-_iw3/s1600-h/mother%2520and%2520child%2520reading%25202.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345114956166142242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVjPnHjLvCFnBVDu5K-obxvZqRT5M_cyCMdR1CcD_Ue7f0roxRn5sG05Hm4wK8htp8lTEMiYOPtDVUNLA_QGlaq9y5QS2gsEJg7Y4OCispgwNXpKzL3MX5_Oirt6IxzAKLjypu0x-_iw3/s400/mother%2520and%2520child%2520reading%25202.jpg" /></a> I saw something come to fruition before my very eyes last week. I felt like a promise was kept even though a formal oath was never sworn. My kids really learned.<br /><br />I do remember having teachers who made learning interesting. Mr. Lewis had a way of telling stories that made me sit with my mouth open, to wish I didn't have to go home at the end of the 5th grade day, to chatter endlessly about World War II and the Battle of 1814 at the dinner table, and my older siblings say, "Yeah, Mr. Lewis...." even though they hadn't been in his classroom for 8 years. Oh, how many conversations we had about dear Mr. Lewis.<br /><br />He loved what he taught. It showed. Teaching wasn't a chore. It wasn't an occupation. It was as if he dearly loved learning and his goal was just to share his passion. And that passion caught fire. Of course, that was quickly extinguished in 6th grade with the dry note-taking, points earning, mid-terming EOG type learning. Learning which basically means memorizing, passing, and forgetting. It lacks any sort of passion or joy, really. If there is some, it will not be remembered in 20 years, not like Mr. Lewis' singing Old Man Tucker.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrkLGbpHQA06i3K3uZVmt1uBaY3GWIV7KoAlOlntxKhMrLvIDvyFCHLPQz_GIRxS6Awm74-iT1W3dbiZ4LVWmM2dbPHUZ2ay1W4H1ZwTLobK0XDjuay9tzBB8anDLr18DUsTYNqBaKrJB/s1600-h/mother%2520and%2520child%2520full%2520and%2520colorfull%2520-%2520perlinger.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 380px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345114954276446818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrkLGbpHQA06i3K3uZVmt1uBaY3GWIV7KoAlOlntxKhMrLvIDvyFCHLPQz_GIRxS6Awm74-iT1W3dbiZ4LVWmM2dbPHUZ2ay1W4H1ZwTLobK0XDjuay9tzBB8anDLr18DUsTYNqBaKrJB/s400/mother%2520and%2520child%2520full%2520and%2520colorfull%2520-%2520perlinger.jpg" /></a> This is the first year we have used Ambleside Online and followed the principles of Miss Charlotte Mason. Wow. That's all I can say. I had no idea that my daughter who was behind in reading comprehension and decoding would be able to read high school and college level books...in one year. I had no idea things would stick, that they would enjoy learning, that their skill levels would grow to such a degree...in one year.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2C8DCTlNnFBBYdq7AdhyKJEmJRZLRczH1FI5JhUApqbClg_xRD-M1qaYrLkofN_8e0iYxDrSe7axrNgEfZzuF9Rx9PC0pP7Ulhh5iKSiczU5GmnpbnczG9xoSkzD0Zu8Qq01-OoouTYs/s1600-h/mother%2520readingJPG.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 372px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345114950590084002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2C8DCTlNnFBBYdq7AdhyKJEmJRZLRczH1FI5JhUApqbClg_xRD-M1qaYrLkofN_8e0iYxDrSe7axrNgEfZzuF9Rx9PC0pP7Ulhh5iKSiczU5GmnpbnczG9xoSkzD0Zu8Qq01-OoouTYs/s400/mother%2520readingJPG.jpg" /></a> But mostly, I had no idea we would all enjoy learning together, that homeschool could be a joy. I left behind the workbooks and adapted to a reading-together, learning-together type learning environment. No lecture is necessary. No need for me to elaborate. No need for drawing on a marker board or waxing eloquent. Our books take care of that.<br /><br />Last week, I experienced something magical. In both our science and greek mythology books, I finished reading the selection for the day, and there was a little silence. Before I even had a chance to say a word about narration or anything, my daughters launched into a discussion on the moral and ethical complications of the passages. <br /><br />Think about this. I simply read aloud to my teenagers on our porch swing. Sure they could read it themselves and report to me, but there is something about our deepening bond and enjoyment of reading it together. I finished. I was thinking. They were thinking. They learned things from these passages other than the story, the facts, the history, the critical analysis. They could apply it to their own lives without me having to give them a worksheet, to ask them, "What did you learn?" The two of them began to discuss the morals of the characters, the strengths and weaknesses of their decisions. My eleven year old said she felt like the father (a greek god) made a catastrophic mistake in giving his son the license to act on his impulses freely. The father ignored his better judgment and the whole world (in the story) suffered the consequences. Days later she brought it up. Days later we were in the car and they brought up the science lesson, which included a powerful example of hardwork, persistence, the fruit of one's labor, disrespect, crushed dreams, and resilience. <br /><br />Thank you Charlotte Mason. Thank you.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-453220819362565922009-01-19T12:22:00.000-08:002009-01-19T14:34:06.382-08:00Last Week in School<div align="center">I (should) post here to serve as a virtual record of our educational journey. However, I have not been on top of things for quite some time. Now I'm Ba-ack!<br /><br />Last week we really got fully back into our educational plan after a long holiday break.<br /><br /><br /></div><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293106991628388322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 288px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6eIQQ7FsxipqMJ7q3ma4SYXieJ2cml6EhWNrF2B1LyuPzssSSCPA5ohumx4oJlXZP4vdg4oZaDizcy4WZAilkog0UxodokvZ3adMT3jC5YwUqBjGmKktYpfQnUKqN94o_I1UcDTE0vmRa/s400/432px-Josephine_de_Beauharnais%252C_Keizerin_der_Fransen.jpg" border="0" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Josephine de Beauharnais, by Artist Francois Gerard, 1808</span></p><p align="center">We have been studying world History period from around Abraham Lincoln's living years. Since we have spent quite a bit of time discussing this, I was very pleased to find myself "in the know" when I watched a documentary about French castles over the weekend. I was really just listening to it while reading, but then I heard some discussion about <strong>Josephine Bonaparte's</strong> influence on a castle's bathroom design/decor, my interest was piqued because I enjoyed learning about her before the holiday break. </p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dgJK0t7X2DUFVFq11IJPwWxtv1H5zpubxFU3FL-aJQt91T7hyphenhyphennDxF7RpiJQJYhNZbnS4qTEttHlb3ldhl-ouWQMs45OEjTw8eqY1lr-Z-mYWq7xsX9WNs7vqkaYwDitaK4iI4WlfUScj/s1600-h/KeysCastleFrance-Brissac-_s4x3_lg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293118085945962738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dgJK0t7X2DUFVFq11IJPwWxtv1H5zpubxFU3FL-aJQt91T7hyphenhyphennDxF7RpiJQJYhNZbnS4qTEttHlb3ldhl-ouWQMs45OEjTw8eqY1lr-Z-mYWq7xsX9WNs7vqkaYwDitaK4iI4WlfUScj/s400/KeysCastleFrance-Brissac-_s4x3_lg.jpg" border="0" /></a>When at the Chateau de Brissac, they talked about the treaty signed there in August 1620 by Louis XIII and his mother to overcome their differences. It was short-lived, but the cool thing was...I knew what they were talking about! Can you imagine living in a place so rich with history? Some of the castles were 1,000 years old! Good Gravy!<br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgXzLi5-biJYpOB2APY8raHwlLCTopF0WD2z6H6alv3My6RAzqeyz11zd-toE14zgfLEwguWqY9PM0UOLo-cvaZJgYaKWLR8SR9HoprxtEkhBqhR4_AP2HG_dfJcvnRD_kZlMJUHZ_Z-N/s1600-h/359_Image_npg_2002_90.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293106997970400578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 241px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgXzLi5-biJYpOB2APY8raHwlLCTopF0WD2z6H6alv3My6RAzqeyz11zd-toE14zgfLEwguWqY9PM0UOLo-cvaZJgYaKWLR8SR9HoprxtEkhBqhR4_AP2HG_dfJcvnRD_kZlMJUHZ_Z-N/s400/359_Image_npg_2002_90.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Sojourner Truth, photo by Matthew Brady, 1864</span></p><p align="center">In addition to our prescribed History reading (through literature), I am having the girls read a biography about Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree). Her speech <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t_I_a_Woman%3F">Ain't I a Woman?</a> is a must read. Where would we be today without abolitionists like Sojourner? Would we be swearing in our first African American president tomorrow? No! </p><p align="center">Which reminds me of what we read in Matthew 4 this morning. <em>Verses 30-32 say (paraphrase) that the Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest when it is planted into the ground. But when it grows, it is the biggest of the herbs and has such large branches, birds are able to build nests in it. </em></p><p align="center">When the girls and I were discussing that, it brought to mind our reading about the disciples and historical heros we've been reading apart, particularly in regards to abolition. A tiny thing, a frail older black woman who is willing to use her life for the betterment of mankind, can become something strong and powerful.</p><p align="center">The girls and I have been reading <u>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</u>. I wholeheartedly believe in my kids reading good literature. I also believe that my kids need guidance as they read this book, because Tara especially finds it disconcerting to read how African-American people were treated, as the story would have taken place before emancipation. I picked up my copy at a homeschool sale for a dollar, and I am so glad I did! Because it has information in the margins accompanying pictures from the historical time period explaining what was going on in our country at that time. Which is how I came to find myself studying drawings about slavery, emancipation, the Old South and the New South, etc., into the wee hours one evening. I will have to order the bio on Frederick Douglass next, I think.</p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBifDxsA0irAbJ5p7ctPal_V6sKo4osn0-DrpseeFfCcQHMIbe33MBPnDzR95ydJQhPdzPK4a7b2rYWdI5Vbjvj1dt0jnzZbIoWHYWPCAteIu0nLT4IYDCBJNQyX1_39aeaYiDyYlYtp-/s1600-h/NastEmancipation.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293111930978565218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBifDxsA0irAbJ5p7ctPal_V6sKo4osn0-DrpseeFfCcQHMIbe33MBPnDzR95ydJQhPdzPK4a7b2rYWdI5Vbjvj1dt0jnzZbIoWHYWPCAteIu0nLT4IYDCBJNQyX1_39aeaYiDyYlYtp-/s400/NastEmancipation.jpg" border="0" /></a>Thomas Nast drew this idyllic vision of the way life would be for African-Americans after emancipation. This picture tells a story. It has a lot of hope in it. The family in the middle is drawn to show their respectability, to show the peace the multi-generational family now has after being emancipated.</p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXVniR28ZP6y_19W0A37pCcQYbIwaedzqBbWvz666H6t5fXfrurfOab8j9wO0OyYpj3jXuSUEmrWZnlBLda6vt4CNSHF1wJljcpFuInuMOSRKItvLO2aJKzUx0qf3pIGJx1EIoedRdfUR/s1600-h/NastUnionasitWas.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293111929802111666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 385px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXVniR28ZP6y_19W0A37pCcQYbIwaedzqBbWvz666H6t5fXfrurfOab8j9wO0OyYpj3jXuSUEmrWZnlBLda6vt4CNSHF1wJljcpFuInuMOSRKItvLO2aJKzUx0qf3pIGJx1EIoedRdfUR/s400/NastUnionasitWas.jpg" border="0" /></a> But, two years later Nast drew reality in "The Union as It Was." Our copy of Tom Sawyer discusses how recently freed slaves were drawn to new places because of posters depicting African-Americans dancing and singing and flourishing. Families left everything in order to go to these mythical place where life was easy and they could have the life they dreamed of. Only to find once they got there, there were enslaved by fear, intimidation, grueling labor, poverty, relentless suffering. And that is where we ended last week.</p><p align="center">In Shakespeare's <u>Twelfth Night</u>, we are still lingering over poor Olivia being in love with Cesario who is really Viola posing as a man. Viola is in love with Orsino who is in love with Olivia. And so life is a soap opera, apparently. Tara really enjoys Shakespeare, and frankly, so do I.</p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG0uKz8EmIEzuCeXUL7HZnfcDHgPlTv_gdedGn34xy2OIRpyz9V0n8mjBIBm3qiuI2pWnd9VlD6sufurE6jsSrH20dhnxnfc_rsv3U0fJn4legAGy9WW7d7Ma6xfCSILQvXFlh291pFIM/s1600-h/Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_Olivia.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293106995916787234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 313px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFG0uKz8EmIEzuCeXUL7HZnfcDHgPlTv_gdedGn34xy2OIRpyz9V0n8mjBIBm3qiuI2pWnd9VlD6sufurE6jsSrH20dhnxnfc_rsv3U0fJn4legAGy9WW7d7Ma6xfCSILQvXFlh291pFIM/s400/Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_Olivia.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> Olivia, by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1888</span></p><p align="center">I admit that I dropped the Greek Mythology for a bit of time because I just get frustrated with the pronunciation of the names. I was taught as a child that Mythology was ungodly, so I have NO familiarity with it. Now that we are Charlotte Mason enthusiasts, I picked up the Bulfinch's Mythology and started it with the kids, only to find I couldn't stop stumbling over names. Well, Hannah insisted after reading a library book based upon mythology, that we restart it. So this past week we started at the beginning with Pandora, who was the first woman according to Greek Mythology. </p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6grmjgspFdR29IDA8rBLaqkg1opxSHxlsNiMuLQyOlyAekQ6IaNiqvbKX1MdanRzshs2qx_r4ivcBvyGPOIFSPNzzq0Z6F-NnmszKucrMXRt7Y6bnmZdW20itgSkj8ThhsiSoAVXs2AqX/s1600-h/Nicolas_R%25C3%25A9gnier_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_%2528Pandora%2529.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293106991652944578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 327px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6grmjgspFdR29IDA8rBLaqkg1opxSHxlsNiMuLQyOlyAekQ6IaNiqvbKX1MdanRzshs2qx_r4ivcBvyGPOIFSPNzzq0Z6F-NnmszKucrMXRt7Y6bnmZdW20itgSkj8ThhsiSoAVXs2AqX/s400/Nicolas_R%25C3%25A9gnier_-_Allegory_of_Vanity_%2528Pandora%2529.jpg" border="0" /></a>Allegory of Vanity (Pandora's Jar) by Nicolas Regnier, 1626 </p><p align="center">I'll admit I never had a CLUE what was meant by the opening of Pandora's Box. Come to find out Erasmus mistranslated JAR into BOX . The story goes (according to Bulfinch) that Prometheus created man, and his brother Epimetheus named and betowed gifts upon all of the creatures of the world. When it came time to bestow a gift upon man, there were no gifts left because they had all been given to the creatures. So Prometheus snuck into heaven and stole fire to give to man as his gift, which solidified man as leader of the world (over the creatures). Jupiter made woman for man and named her Pandora. She was bestowed a gift from all of the gods: beauty, music, persuasian. Epimetheus had a jar in his house which held evil, noxious properties. Naturally, Pandora was curious and slipped off the cover. Out came illness, disease, "envy, spite, and revenge," and all things vile and hateful. Pandora's "box" emptied evil into the world as everything escaped...except one thing which remained, which was Hope. The girls and I discussed how there is a different interpretation that Pandora's Box contained her marriage blessings from all the gods, and once she released them, what was left was Hope. But we preferred the interpretation that most parelled the Bible, and also, we felt like Hope was more critical when paired with evil. When else would you need more hope than when evil prevails? I am most happy we restarted Mythology.<br /><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQtPQP5t5MC_7oW3iuvNZxLf_uMKjVrT1ejfFAXMZ4ljNFImC8axcb1R-a3ESS-BPhb0VFLafnZ_diO6JDKcQYPbWhKwjoSr_eI-305y7W0BjsrPnCP0_2ecQm5-jdeOU1pXeALmTrtoO/s1600-h/503px-Laurent_de_la_La_Hyre_002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293106983469684978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 336px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQtPQP5t5MC_7oW3iuvNZxLf_uMKjVrT1ejfFAXMZ4ljNFImC8axcb1R-a3ESS-BPhb0VFLafnZ_diO6JDKcQYPbWhKwjoSr_eI-305y7W0BjsrPnCP0_2ecQm5-jdeOU1pXeALmTrtoO/s400/503px-Laurent_de_la_La_Hyre_002.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Theseus and Aethra, by Laurant de La Hyre</span> </p><p align="left"><br />We also finally received our copy of <u>Plutarch's Live Vol 1</u> which we waited for FOREVER! We started reading about Theseus. His mother Aethra was married to Aegeus, but on her wedding night, met and lay with the god of the sea and earthquakes (Poseidon), so when Theseus was born, he was half god, half human. His father Aegeus went back to Athens, but he buried his sword and sandals under a heavy rock. One day his mother told him about his earthly father, and told him if he could lift the rock, he could then have the shoes and sword of his father, and he could take his rightful place as heir in Athens. Of course he did this with no trouble. Then he had to make the choice whether to travel to Athens by sea, which was quite safe, or to travel a path around the Saronic sea. He had many heroes in his family he felt like he had to live up to. He also was quite obsessed with Hercules, so he therefore chose the dangerous road to Athens, which is where we ended. We discussed how teenagers often feel like they are invincible, as Theseus apparently did as he set out on his journey. And certainly I gather he is going to make it fine since there is more material in his chapter; however, what if it had turned out badly because he felt he had big shoes to fill?</p>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-75299412299022134972008-10-30T17:27:00.000-07:002008-10-30T19:21:48.801-07:00And again<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzC4UEdv1I-TwhX3chhMu5b5UkCNOIMY5lZhM4WlSTtG_Y2W8oy3thUHSXMJomvyvJz1xWMv0F02EM0Xuilmg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-10150526058057545372008-10-30T16:45:00.001-07:002008-10-30T17:27:36.168-07:00Trying...Again<p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyvnlP0UByBA_lkBMOD6QHy5wZqWjjYYXl4q7nEOUSGz_xm3nSS43wQ6PDqco0pWQ_s77Dfay_gAGLoXa3elQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>These recitations were due a couple of weeks ago. I finally got them to stand still long enough to record them last night. Both thought speed was of the essence since they were 2 minutes from leaving for church. But at least I got it! And they remember it!</p>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-90285858790360981822008-10-12T15:32:00.001-07:002008-10-12T16:26:49.171-07:00Sometimes You Gotta...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRvfWXJgwpe6z86BoZ3qLOngkAOPrUV8ZsEpgWqaZX_lZuFUgd-sxG-mPB8tpoRqkRnueUHwubg9Fz8CYb-f2uBXuEc0DJyKf2ifSNwpPy9cvv4xlHDO9nJhk_FQGq61DihyRwwfPycR4/s1600-h/statue.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256412905575971634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRvfWXJgwpe6z86BoZ3qLOngkAOPrUV8ZsEpgWqaZX_lZuFUgd-sxG-mPB8tpoRqkRnueUHwubg9Fz8CYb-f2uBXuEc0DJyKf2ifSNwpPy9cvv4xlHDO9nJhk_FQGq61DihyRwwfPycR4/s400/statue.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />drop a few books out of your educational repatoire. We did that this past week with <u>The Story of King Arthur and His Knights</u> and <u>Of Courage Undaunted.</u> They were living books, but we were not feeling the fire. So we moved on to other living books.<br /><br />We use a literature study method for homeschool because we want to learn through living books. Charlotte Mason advocated reading living books versus books with cold, boring facts.<br /><br />It took me a while to understand what a living book is. Still, sometimes, it seems like it escapes me philosophically. But the finest way I can venture to explain it is like this: your son is 8 years old and needs to eat. You have a choice, as a parent, of what to feed him. You can feed him some cold chicken nuggets and salty french fries and a coke from McDonald's. He might thoroughly enjoy tasting this nutritionless meal with all its salt and oil and preservatives, but as for what it does for building his body, I think we all would agree if we have seen the documentary on McDonald's....it is not best for the healthy. Have you seen the experiments people do where they take a home-made meal and a McDonald's meal and see how they decompose? Three weeks later...McDonald's french fries...no detereoration. That tells you how preservative-rich it is.<br /><br />Or you can serve him some home-made, preservative free baked chicken, iron-rich spinach, mashed potatoes, whole wheat bread, and a cold glass of farm-fresh milk. This meal is going to be digested by enzymes and be able to carry actual nutrients through his blood stream out to nourish the rest of the body, support organ function, improve eye sight, etc.<br /><br />This is what Charlotte Mason advocated in living books. We could give children all the same cold facts books we read in school that are supposed to help them perserve dates, names, wars, titles, anatomy (but they forget by the end of the school year or sooner). We can give them twaddle (life-less reading material). Or we can give them something sustaining, life changing, rich, comforting. Instead of a cold-facts easy read on wolves we can read a book where someone has a life-long relationship with a pack of wolves, can tell you first hand about their spirit, their customs, their diet, their charm, their brilliance, their obstinacy. You can read a book on wolves and walk away with two or three hard facts, your can feel like you are there with the wolf in a living book, and never forget what you read.<br /><br />Charlotte Mason advocated children reading books that come alive, that light a fire in you and alter your life. Books that make you think. Why would we give our kids SpongeBob when we can give them Shakespeare and Thoreau? Why would we not want our children to be challenged? Why would we want a watered-down education?<br /><br />I, too, was afraid my kids would go, "Plutarch Who? Shakes...huh?" A few days before school started I worried they would completely reject classic literature. I worried they would find it irrelevant, boring, and too difficult.<br /><br />What I found is that they find it extremely relevant. They are alive with ideas. They are insatiable readers. Our biggest problem these days is having to say, "Please put your book down!" Hannah read over 1,000 pages in less than 7 days, not including everything we read in school. They have a fire lit within them.<br /><br />But I need to challenge them more. I need to alter our homeschool even more toward Charlotte Mason's tenants. I see how I held on to a few chicken nugget and cold french fry mindsets and I have suddenly become of aware of that this weekend. I think sometimes God has us see changes we need to make a little at a time. I am one quarter of the way through the school year and we have made terrific changes. It is better than what I ever imagined possible for my children's education. But I see more...we can do more.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-30765985648752610992008-10-12T01:37:00.000-07:002008-10-12T22:44:14.288-07:00TweakinI have grown frustrated with our spelling curriculum, which we have used since 2006 at the recommendation of some educational testers that evaluated my daughters in Winston-Salem NC while we were vacationing there. It is a great concept, but it is too complex to use effectively. I'm thinking if it were softened and streamlined, it would be a great concept. <br /><br />Why the change? We've pulled what we could use out of it for almost 3 years. So why change? Two reasons:<br /><br />1) Charlotte Mason has changed my outlook on education. And what I have read of this woman's philosophies has already changed our homeschool, our parenting, our home life. Everything she said that I have put into practice has come to be just like she predicted. So why not take spelling and align it with her precepts as well, and see even greater improvement?<br /><br />2) Our kids seem to have hit a plateau here.I think we used the program to the best of its ability and it is time to move on.<br /><br />So what did we change from? No matter. What are we changing to this week? Spelling Power! I got the book yesterday in the mail and read the manual and looked over the 2 DVDs, discussed it with Michael, and so we will implement it this week. HOORAH!Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-34969425576171084222008-10-09T13:04:00.001-07:002008-10-09T14:25:21.436-07:00Week 9<div align="left">Weeks 4-8 were kind of harsh. We welcomed our 4th and 5th children in a 2 week span! Chicks get maternity leave for a reason right? I allowed myself 5 weeks of "Oh SNAP" leave where they did independent study, but finally we are back on track. I desperately missed our 1 hour together before lunch to read interesting things!<br /><br />This week at Integrity Academy:<br /><br /><strong>Geography</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />We learned about the Apostle Paul speaking at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, which was once the 7th Wonder of the World. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0M06wm7gt0K9_e4ntrLLTIgfE3I__fg2JtvwIpoeFQpu7hRYTuD63UrEiQr_8-6NT__zSk92M-0CZ3mmS_afk3AYeQP9t9Y4QHDx4r9U24HYFZzsFJckoRFcDN28n43w-JgAyVr0Pn1Q4/s1600-h/artemision.jpg"></div></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255259843837561138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0M06wm7gt0K9_e4ntrLLTIgfE3I__fg2JtvwIpoeFQpu7hRYTuD63UrEiQr_8-6NT__zSk92M-0CZ3mmS_afk3AYeQP9t9Y4QHDx4r9U24HYFZzsFJckoRFcDN28n43w-JgAyVr0Pn1Q4/s400/artemision.jpg" border="0" />It is now just one pillar. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMi09VZ1FbxmDiraKwhHvpi8cSJlJsxzEjm8qcr_7jwOQL8AvYIrikMKZ4zb6-D5sanBHj79FghKmoh_5YId-gLMo12IBIH5lDsNWsAJFeDcScXGQWin8DNWlHQnOX0IEWh0QYKI62Qjn/s1600-h/artemis.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255259846232637586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMi09VZ1FbxmDiraKwhHvpi8cSJlJsxzEjm8qcr_7jwOQL8AvYIrikMKZ4zb6-D5sanBHj79FghKmoh_5YId-gLMo12IBIH5lDsNWsAJFeDcScXGQWin8DNWlHQnOX0IEWh0QYKI62Qjn/s400/artemis.jpg" border="0" /></a>We wrapped up our study on Turkey by learning about the Whirling Dervishes (NOW I know what they are!) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacVXhEu24GI55472T0D7w-LUBf407UqSmj7eFPvDB1oZEV1sfKt9flEwUMEZlidAyvRZe3Y3MULDvxKRhdZRTwUT52S2OPZxAhdjqsevcLCoYo0nGLeDNVAcVfSEbruUn6ea1FqOBgGN8/s1600-h/whirling-dervish.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255259848552788834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacVXhEu24GI55472T0D7w-LUBf407UqSmj7eFPvDB1oZEV1sfKt9flEwUMEZlidAyvRZe3Y3MULDvxKRhdZRTwUT52S2OPZxAhdjqsevcLCoYo0nGLeDNVAcVfSEbruUn6ea1FqOBgGN8/s400/whirling-dervish.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />and a brief study on Islam. The girls had to learn the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pillars_of_Islam">5 pillars </a>of the Islamic Faith. I don't agree with Islam but I think we should teach our children about other religions so their Christian worldview is not ignorant, but rather well-informed. I learned about the Islamic 5 Pillars in college and it helps me make more sense of what I hear on world news. I want them to understand what a Hajj is, even though it is on the other side of the world. I desperately want them to be deeply rooted in their Christian faith and know WHY it is the TRUE faith!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPMS-lXOHaE9FH9oK7K4W5sB9WZN32XNAMnXxhA1eEZB7lV7ZqgyE_qsTGJhkBaEHrG5z46rxiJtiDItfNlr16RFGiPSyX60PfPQoCyscsiQTPB4O93ODgIS2tDhGmkQ2NfGyzPgdS-MD/s1600-h/250px-Mecca_skyline.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255259842242308130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPMS-lXOHaE9FH9oK7K4W5sB9WZN32XNAMnXxhA1eEZB7lV7ZqgyE_qsTGJhkBaEHrG5z46rxiJtiDItfNlr16RFGiPSyX60PfPQoCyscsiQTPB4O93ODgIS2tDhGmkQ2NfGyzPgdS-MD/s400/250px-Mecca_skyline.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p><p align="center"><strong>Mecca </strong></p><p align="left"><br /><strong>Shakespeare</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />We're still in 12th Night. Viola now realizes that disguising herself as a man named Cesario is ruining the world. Now she is in love with Orsino. Orsino is having her/him hang out with Oliva to win Olivia to Orsino, and Olivia is in love with Viola, who she thinks is a man. Viola and her brother Sebastian both think the other is dead. Sebastian has a friend Antonio who Tara thinks has gay love for Sebastian. Charlotte Mason advocated studying Shakespeare. However, I do think there are some things here we could parallel in 100 ways to our modern society. 'Nuff said. Tara could sit and read nothing but Shakespeare and Geography.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-av6MEYt15kI01UCVnLvea__s41rirWRbbCPsZ4aQm9c9D6JFpLLKan1rwvAaEGcprrF9CT6sMGWzfKojaQ9x9dpcBmj-2fTtnuT91kKN4VK0H4NfZw6SAPeCdqwgviBF744jTFxuqff/s1600-h/R_Staines_Malvolio_Shakespeare_Twelfth_Night.jpg"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255262204024678242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-av6MEYt15kI01UCVnLvea__s41rirWRbbCPsZ4aQm9c9D6JFpLLKan1rwvAaEGcprrF9CT6sMGWzfKojaQ9x9dpcBmj-2fTtnuT91kKN4VK0H4NfZw6SAPeCdqwgviBF744jTFxuqff/s400/R_Staines_Malvolio_Shakespeare_Twelfth_Night.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><strong>History</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Sometimes you gotta just pick and choose. We were using 4 books for our textbooks. I dropped one on Lewis and Clark because it seemed like chapter-to-chapter we were just getting nowhere but bored. I did add on two short books since we are getting into slavery study: bios on Sojourner Truth ("Ain't I a Woman?") and Harriet Tubman (<u>Go Free or Die</u>). This week's study centered more on there being rising opposition in the North and South on slavery. Abe Lincoln's mammy died and they moved to Indiana (as many poor did) to get work, because it was a slave-free state where the poor could earn a living. The next year his daddy went home to Kentucky and picked up a new mammy. She was a caring mammy. His birth mammy had been very sick and unable to care for him. His father completely inept at raising children. So when Sarah came, he was bathed, he was encouarged to read/write/cipher, though she was illiterate herself, and he found a soul mate in his angel mother, Sarah.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWc1C7zkzUzR6RcQI3JOm6X8O-WA9YgC0AU6GedYR7KaUJEiv4l3e3Q-sRdNGuwXYtjZnaSHfGuGYbJBChIg9i2D-dPPL-G5kuXtqUBzn31hVdcd8CnJllAOTjaYQFBGhYC3-p5Qswt-mL/s1600-h/lincoln%2520stepmom%2520resize.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255262204185973234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWc1C7zkzUzR6RcQI3JOm6X8O-WA9YgC0AU6GedYR7KaUJEiv4l3e3Q-sRdNGuwXYtjZnaSHfGuGYbJBChIg9i2D-dPPL-G5kuXtqUBzn31hVdcd8CnJllAOTjaYQFBGhYC3-p5Qswt-mL/s400/lincoln%2520stepmom%2520resize.gif" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a><strong>" All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."<br /></strong>Abraham Lincoln on his stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln</p><p align="left"><strong>Science</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />This week we learned more about the variety of things the sun does for us. That would be a 17 post job to describe. We also learned about the tools God gave animals ON their bodies! Man is inventive, so he can create his own tools. Animals are created to have a quest and a special diet, and their bodies help them fulfill that. Just amazes me! We also learned about a cottontail rabbit who is being taught by his mother how to avoid being killed....lessons such as "FREEZE" so the enemy cannot see you, and if all else fails, hide in the thicket! This old book <u>Wild Animals I Have Known</u> really impacts Tara and I! We could read it over and over all day. It is really for nature study but I put it in with our Science reading.</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADacfceurOV2dfhyphenhyphenYLwhZdJVjXmjSnAECj4OF8h-AXWbbaqtCjRW81mRF-eHJjETRD_wOf22ckxp4QYua5LHmuvQoq3ctun9oujHp_dYKfjlxpukVMXaL2UuSNcwGH64kyRrA-Y5EzYrg/s1600-h/2258686134_2d2d3d5e64.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255259846298350306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADacfceurOV2dfhyphenhyphenYLwhZdJVjXmjSnAECj4OF8h-AXWbbaqtCjRW81mRF-eHJjETRD_wOf22ckxp4QYua5LHmuvQoq3ctun9oujHp_dYKfjlxpukVMXaL2UuSNcwGH64kyRrA-Y5EzYrg/s400/2258686134_2d2d3d5e64.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Which makes me curious...how do you explain Brer Rabbit to kids who have no idea what you're talking about? I'm going to try to get the DVD on AA folktales from the library.<br /><br /><strong>Literature</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />We've been reading about King Arthur and His Knights, and for some reason, we are the least motivated to read this book than anything. So I dropped it. We're just bored with it. So we are just going to move on to <u>Oliver Twist</u> and <u>A Christmas Carol</u> in addition to our weekly briefings on Greek Mythology. I don't think I have ever read <u>Oliver Twist</u>. Looking forward to that. We are going to get into some Mark Twain later in the year. I am stoked!<br /><br /><strong>Reading</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />They are going through the Little House Series (cuz I want them to). They are about to finish <u>Farmer Boy</u>. I am hoping by the time we get to <u>The Long Winter</u> it is going to be like freezing cold for a couple of days and we can really feel for Laura and her starving family.<br /><br />They are also reading <u>Anne of Avonlea</u> and I just remembered! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngM9evWZ_jR2Pu0to1ePVSac9zrYRrYlpiv9RDE9IajNnbuNrqGXvzHaq_Upwol3P7yvR26-t9lstjv4395qVnAOSNelhFI56YpC9iAgwQsBswYgIMxQSxKZVPezAGWaluz4HqBruDQ2L/s1600-h/anne2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255260455624981506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngM9evWZ_jR2Pu0to1ePVSac9zrYRrYlpiv9RDE9IajNnbuNrqGXvzHaq_Upwol3P7yvR26-t9lstjv4395qVnAOSNelhFI56YpC9iAgwQsBswYgIMxQSxKZVPezAGWaluz4HqBruDQ2L/s400/anne2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Since we finished <u>Anne of Green Gables</u> we can now watch the DVD! So I hope to pick that up from the library after dinner for CHICK FLICK NIGHT! Hannah read 2 big books this week and is foaming at the mouth until she has something more to read.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-16426874238434014762008-10-09T12:05:00.001-07:002008-10-09T13:03:07.132-07:00D'art<div align="left">Hannah has been taking art lessons for 4 weeks and has completed 2 projects. They study a geographical location for 2 weeks, along with art of the area and culture.<br /><br />Sometimes I am intensely sad that I have no frame of reference for my culture. I'm a "mutt" I guess. I have no claim to a specific culture other than supposedly I am 1/16 Choctaw. I was born and raised in New Mexico, so many things about the Mexican culture (and some even Navajo) I identify with. That is the closest thing to having a culture, living amongst Mexican Americans for 17 years.<br /><br />Anywho...though I have not traveled the world, I have friends who have! So here is our tiny collection of international pieces, if you will. LOL<br /><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Om5m7aeKnWXC1jQoy3_ufXjTV1H6r1HGZ3CsOcA9_Wilbrtbe5Q-JAodShoQMPDn1U_A4e3-mtqBG2S1rCJqgvECWwtddlc7Y5CrZwzro5LuMgTLGArS-EDiqF05tNBp_vWelXxtpJed/s1600-h/IMG_0772.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255236973458270562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Om5m7aeKnWXC1jQoy3_ufXjTV1H6r1HGZ3CsOcA9_Wilbrtbe5Q-JAodShoQMPDn1U_A4e3-mtqBG2S1rCJqgvECWwtddlc7Y5CrZwzro5LuMgTLGArS-EDiqF05tNBp_vWelXxtpJed/s400/IMG_0772.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p>All the things here came from Africa or South Africa except for 2 items, which Hannah recently made in art class. Can you guess which ones? I also have a beautiful woven basket with a lid that I forgot to photograph and a couple of misplaced South African pieces.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mwxa3nPST3feiE6U9oURJMrs3mppyKvSV-BA5kQ2ICtKySeVxZ7TuyAEOmnXutUaW7LgEzElcG71uki-dDruuKyJ4yNeAjG600WHvybV9US2FduveqWyreIUXLisSGkHG_6ZtMeEqMqp/s1600-h/IMG_0773.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255236980461227410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mwxa3nPST3feiE6U9oURJMrs3mppyKvSV-BA5kQ2ICtKySeVxZ7TuyAEOmnXutUaW7LgEzElcG71uki-dDruuKyJ4yNeAjG600WHvybV9US2FduveqWyreIUXLisSGkHG_6ZtMeEqMqp/s400/IMG_0773.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p>Some of my students at the Christian school had grandparents who served as missionaries in Peru, so each year I got something new for Christmas! These are all Peruvian hand-made items.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qMTV2IStDG_-307IwHL6ninzmnNFaPjv_7lQq8XRNrceqBcyWPLp9juTDR6gh5wZh017FTu6PBGuWauAmfFwpgwyPxbTH-LbDHoP92U51potC5opAGqdvriLPww-kMio113jNnC6CIUw/s1600-h/IMG_0775.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255236985541288802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qMTV2IStDG_-307IwHL6ninzmnNFaPjv_7lQq8XRNrceqBcyWPLp9juTDR6gh5wZh017FTu6PBGuWauAmfFwpgwyPxbTH-LbDHoP92U51potC5opAGqdvriLPww-kMio113jNnC6CIUw/s400/IMG_0775.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p>These coasters are handpainted. Some are almost identical but again, since handcrafted, there are subtle differences (slips of the hand while painting, etc).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGSUWE0dmfwXnP4QlYw_m8avXeBHNwxxLVZH2xApbvjEV7MD2lHthvkUbMer1barSOMkG9m-dYlV_VJUwzd1Z_qF8MSqujI90aY3HHEDt3o_ueb7fQa7Gmekg-u-8iHkNYwxfZL44H5vg/s1600-h/IMG_0779.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255236984740405122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNGSUWE0dmfwXnP4QlYw_m8avXeBHNwxxLVZH2xApbvjEV7MD2lHthvkUbMer1barSOMkG9m-dYlV_VJUwzd1Z_qF8MSqujI90aY3HHEDt3o_ueb7fQa7Gmekg-u-8iHkNYwxfZL44H5vg/s400/IMG_0779.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a></p>I don't know what happened but I am missing entire Korean tea sets. I used to have a lot of Korean students at the school (mostly in K3 and K4). I miss those kids! Hannah used my tea sets and they have not yet returned. <div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilokn-tmetfZLHdgrJ4S0vf9CDAegmp-IaQieHjVSU2wlzY4RbUlI4n8CJvHWP5K1UHaWfKK_Bt5hFt4o72gaAfZ-uP1fY179H5Bl7Talx_SxMRzATs35P4C562i5G_ZWUk5eh0YyqfgD6/s1600-h/IMG_0780.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255235557341026978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilokn-tmetfZLHdgrJ4S0vf9CDAegmp-IaQieHjVSU2wlzY4RbUlI4n8CJvHWP5K1UHaWfKK_Bt5hFt4o72gaAfZ-uP1fY179H5Bl7Talx_SxMRzATs35P4C562i5G_ZWUk5eh0YyqfgD6/s400/IMG_0780.JPG" border="0" /></a> You guessed it! Hannah made this African mask! They formed it out of clay and let it dry for week, then she put on 3 layers of glaze and they fired it. They told her to put the stuff around the face and she just did not like it but can't get it to come off. She is pretty irritated everytime she looks at it. It is very 3D. She did not feel like the color came out African enough after firing.</div><div align="center"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVaviYxbXzTCjnwpzOhN5b17DS5U9HDIZwPRk_eL5q6omJEMTJdvU6m_EuOEa9I_XKztLDnAvigzo1jfHjkm6IivzBUkgV7ia3IoGC58L3L2H_T1ZIEO-xUErJ7fTdrgeP6uEMX1Al-jh/s1600-h/IMG_0781.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255235561513913346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVaviYxbXzTCjnwpzOhN5b17DS5U9HDIZwPRk_eL5q6omJEMTJdvU6m_EuOEa9I_XKztLDnAvigzo1jfHjkm6IivzBUkgV7ia3IoGC58L3L2H_T1ZIEO-xUErJ7fTdrgeP6uEMX1Al-jh/s400/IMG_0781.JPG" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>This is an African Gourd made from paper mache as you can probably tell. They studied so much about culture they only had 30 minutes to construct the gourd on a couple of weak layers. She wants to redo a really good gourd at home. </p><p align="left"><br /><br />Something funny: she is always the last person out of class because she is perfecting details. She wants her art to look culturally authentic. She said all the other gourds were hot pink and white polka dotted, or Hannah Montana, or whatever. Two of the kids painted Dallas Mavs gourds....can you figure out why? </p>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-83659926970552327962008-10-09T11:01:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:12:19.210-07:00Interesting Parallel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLmzBo-MsOjFrjqo1XHONUmbB3_0hZ6l5r3iySZLLAz3DUT20PZC9igUUEzhsg0gdpk9prDNUPDm4JrSa2k8evdX551VoHggd4KsEk3DAlqQqdz2LQJzDiuSBaHHE2LOOa1GqGf4_RxJz/s1600-h/matt-die1.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255217027251894418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLmzBo-MsOjFrjqo1XHONUmbB3_0hZ6l5r3iySZLLAz3DUT20PZC9igUUEzhsg0gdpk9prDNUPDm4JrSa2k8evdX551VoHggd4KsEk3DAlqQqdz2LQJzDiuSBaHHE2LOOa1GqGf4_RxJz/s400/matt-die1.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We are going through the Anne series, partly because it mandatory each girl read about Anne. I don't see how a girl can make it through to adulthood without just reading Anne of Green Gables. Secondly, because in History this year, we are studying the pre-Civil War through WWII.<br /><br />The girls are halfway through Anne of Avonlea and I just wrapped up Anne of Green Gables yesterday. Hannah and Tara told me they cried when Matthew died. I had forgotten, though, what brought it to pass until I read it yesterday (and cried).<br /><br />Matthew, who along with his sister Marilla, adopted orphan Anne, had been having spells with his heart of recent. And when he opened the door and read the news of the day, he learned that his bank had failed, along with countless others during that time. And his heart failed at that moment.<br /><br />Interesting parallel to be reading about the birth of the Great Depression considering the nature of today's US and world economy.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-49749683057390402212008-09-23T10:37:00.001-07:002008-09-23T10:42:58.649-07:00War of 1812 - Battle of New OrleansToo cute. Absolutely too cute. The girls really enjoyed this after we (finally) got to study the Battle of New Orleans. So much happened during this war! Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner, Dolley Madison saved the portrait of George Washington and our Declaration of Independence before the British came and burned and gutted the President's Mansion! What a tough chick! They had to paint the sandstone white on the Mansion b/c of the damage from the burning AND a hurricane and then it became known as the White House! <br /><br />History is SO Honkin' Fun!<br /><br />My 5th grade teacher, Mr. Tom Lewis, used to play this song for us on the record player. An afternoon favorite. He would sing along off key. I love it.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OWkOeK5AmI8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OWkOeK5AmI8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-5244356876879133922008-08-26T21:44:00.000-07:002008-08-26T21:48:01.609-07:00Art<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQD1z10_vOAiZFUOfpuFy0BYUbB_C63Pg-PhJClLuhzGrzPLcOvo5Diu3m3QaNqYQI_xLwcKrITZm8GrVt9UPd9fh17cIbtWJEZ8TDDuYs87g66k8YB_zSwlUGWmOcxSAqp1thOLtE63mf/s1600-h/_IMG.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239054448913824562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQD1z10_vOAiZFUOfpuFy0BYUbB_C63Pg-PhJClLuhzGrzPLcOvo5Diu3m3QaNqYQI_xLwcKrITZm8GrVt9UPd9fh17cIbtWJEZ8TDDuYs87g66k8YB_zSwlUGWmOcxSAqp1thOLtE63mf/s400/_IMG.jpg" border="0" /></a> A Hannah Toucan<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidT8YJ8r0ioI2q3jYYYnNsHLLRcTzh0TOK7f0xBGkhGf4W93YEP-j4UF6mG6uNdsqobhdlx7Tf8BLJCmwChiSAAURCIMVQ0dsZrPHRyqvLSGiBmSwtCzI_VWXQek-eqiQe0pMRIKtiEzfr/s1600-h/_IMG_0001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239054451863652514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidT8YJ8r0ioI2q3jYYYnNsHLLRcTzh0TOK7f0xBGkhGf4W93YEP-j4UF6mG6uNdsqobhdlx7Tf8BLJCmwChiSAAURCIMVQ0dsZrPHRyqvLSGiBmSwtCzI_VWXQek-eqiQe0pMRIKtiEzfr/s400/_IMG_0001.jpg" border="0" /></a> Art inspired by the book she was writing before the book she is writing now.<br />She says we are going to print actual books of teh book she is writing now.<br />You know. Self-publishing at lulu.com!<br /><br /></div>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-60093138995412949202008-08-21T18:48:00.001-07:002008-08-26T18:03:47.227-07:00Week 3 --- Check!<div align="justify">We made it through week three. Seems like with all the rain this week, we wanted to be lazy and do things like READ, and create ART and NAP all day. It was hard to concentrate!<br /><br />If Education is an Atmosphere, then everyone in this homeschool should be learning, right? Even dear old mom! That's me! The girls are not interested in blogging, but I can tell you what <u>I</u> learned this week!<br /><br />--> <strong>Be Who You Are. </strong>Tara asked me not to stop reading from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. We're rather getting into it! Who knew it was so funny??? I guess people who read it. Ok, dumb question. Moving on. This week we learned that Viola is dressing up as a boy named Cicero and is working as a page for Count Orsino. Viola/Cicero loves Orsino. Orsino loves Olivia. And Olivia loves Cicero, not knowing he is really Viola, a chick. How humiliating would that be? <strong>MORAL: </strong>There are always consequences when you pretend to be someone you are not, negative consequences.<br /><br />--> <strong>Choose Your Associates Well. </strong>In History we learned about Tecumseh, a Native American who tried to rally all of the Indian Nations to rise up against the new Americans (by now an independent nation from Britain). Tecumseh realized that the new Americans were pushing them farther and farther into "Indian Territory" and taking over their land. The Native Americans were losing resources, land, pride, their tradition ways, and were finding themselves very dependent on alcohol, which caused chaos and terrible decision making. Tecumseh was going across the United States unifying the Tribes to fight...and almost succeeded. Except while he was gone, his brother "The Prophet" allowed the tribes that had already assembled to steal some new American's horses, which caused a battle to take place before the Native Americans had a chance to build their army. "The Prophet" told his people he would cause the bullets not to hurt them. So when they fell dead, those who remained lost all faith in Tecumseh because of his brother. So the moral of the story is -- and Michael and I have learned this in minstry painfully--be very careful whom you build a partnership with.<br /><br />--><strong>God's Word is like TRUE and stuff! </strong>We are continuing our carpet ride through Turkey (aka, geography study of the Holy land!<br /><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Nkgux-wtCOqty7hly3T0-ZD_QCJLbO5pNZc_STZ1_eKwe2eSsVY00RRd8ikyN0f00vkoP-S0WMqm3QIOpIks05qiuarrDno3iEzpTVx1tiVw_exA4xwZurp9dw5fMvi_dvmmtUJjHxNz/s1600-h/254502667_cd702e2c90.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237161163320162738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Nkgux-wtCOqty7hly3T0-ZD_QCJLbO5pNZc_STZ1_eKwe2eSsVY00RRd8ikyN0f00vkoP-S0WMqm3QIOpIks05qiuarrDno3iEzpTVx1tiVw_exA4xwZurp9dw5fMvi_dvmmtUJjHxNz/s400/254502667_cd702e2c90.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>The New Testament Christians hid out here in Cappadocian cities!<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkA5pbmm4M_4636gsXMWHyKzGsDdcfTxLelwufBmiEHHZqI8h04q6dWM-_lAoORBoFbpMuLoPQ7kXuM2l4ppOsoGBFEKneXjhmbujP8GXj5ecBuMCyR5VSHbKXRWfkVydAHttdcyWPI74/s1600-h/254507214_d51eab510e.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237161169305971298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkA5pbmm4M_4636gsXMWHyKzGsDdcfTxLelwufBmiEHHZqI8h04q6dWM-_lAoORBoFbpMuLoPQ7kXuM2l4ppOsoGBFEKneXjhmbujP8GXj5ecBuMCyR5VSHbKXRWfkVydAHttdcyWPI74/s400/254507214_d51eab510e.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>A temple inside one of the cities in Cappadocia.<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFqfzFHIOB6zR8v-f3v0Fhety8euuCnS55-5lsjzRtXscPwoKmmE2Nve2up-maCcmkkGrRi3AW22oRGLsBRVyustVYYJDehcgLlCczgvzSeKzoVwNeDcDkUPb9uNbflk9MzTEeErtInWy/s1600-h/300px-Harran-beehouses.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237161171570442754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFqfzFHIOB6zR8v-f3v0Fhety8euuCnS55-5lsjzRtXscPwoKmmE2Nve2up-maCcmkkGrRi3AW22oRGLsBRVyustVYYJDehcgLlCczgvzSeKzoVwNeDcDkUPb9uNbflk9MzTEeErtInWy/s400/300px-Harran-beehouses.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"></a>This is Haran. Can you remember who lived in Haran?<br />It was ABRAHAM! These are mud huts. People for thousands of years lived in houses made of resources available to them. These now have cable and electricity, but are very good shelter. Obviously they have started bringing in like WOOD and SHINGLES from the looks of the background.</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuTD4ZIU3RlFCSaQzc8pFztItLZTX4mv199yOWvpX1jzQ2H-glBDSkQfANpt6bVO2E8idzI1kB_a2uLLU9ThpbdujdVjePefuzTWxK1pAAo8vfjSUuDICs8liCBB-u4v0EXppKIfb87SN/s1600-h/noah-2003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237161177027474658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuTD4ZIU3RlFCSaQzc8pFztItLZTX4mv199yOWvpX1jzQ2H-glBDSkQfANpt6bVO2E8idzI1kB_a2uLLU9ThpbdujdVjePefuzTWxK1pAAo8vfjSUuDICs8liCBB-u4v0EXppKIfb87SN/s400/noah-2003.jpg" border="0" /></a> <p align="center">God's word says the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat.<br />This is Mt. Ararat, which is in Turkey near the border of Iran. There are many theories on the "Ararat Anomaly" and if you have a few hours, google it. It is fascinating seeing top-secret, recently declassified photos through the years of what some believe to be the ark of Noah resting on the mount.</p>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-43126120839021378412008-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:002008-08-19T11:10:46.373-07:00Nature Study<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5qmGKqderKpGjzFYXwpR5N9-R79HR7VismgMGyxlX9pAsCXlpjMwWq2j4ef9DUT42DloT_e7qTDSE6BcBisWw9Oi8AUbXLZo1f-LUV1Ht6rvB9SnOhLf0dd7cn4DTpyw0_-8UO2cdl0Z/s1600-h/IMG_0854.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236291861840168162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5qmGKqderKpGjzFYXwpR5N9-R79HR7VismgMGyxlX9pAsCXlpjMwWq2j4ef9DUT42DloT_e7qTDSE6BcBisWw9Oi8AUbXLZo1f-LUV1Ht6rvB9SnOhLf0dd7cn4DTpyw0_-8UO2cdl0Z/s400/IMG_0854.JPG" border="0" /></a> The House by Hannah (she drew it in reverse for fun)</div><div align="center">A chronic problem with her art is that she gives incredible detail in the beginning and then gets tired, and rather than finishing another day, she slops off the rest of the picture.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf7jL2OHj-2SlRsPmKmFIkCMExLKVoxQTamggwXtSmDs7gKcFpVKFQEi1aL4MUKoM0PSCH01PivHrlMRFSTAdH8fmWv6IxRcyT1zzYu2gjk3ZpsJbuwxBSPhKhEhBkVkzEu9R6QWVh_n9X/s1600-h/IMG_0857.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236291867950815698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf7jL2OHj-2SlRsPmKmFIkCMExLKVoxQTamggwXtSmDs7gKcFpVKFQEi1aL4MUKoM0PSCH01PivHrlMRFSTAdH8fmWv6IxRcyT1zzYu2gjk3ZpsJbuwxBSPhKhEhBkVkzEu9R6QWVh_n9X/s400/IMG_0857.JPG" border="0" /></a> The Tree & Baby Swing by Hannah<br />This is a favorite of mine. I just love that baby swing and what it represents to me when I look out the window every day.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZiGv4-80oxtrBVn5YssbTnh6uO4zWE20DRc0MaeOueaJ7yURuZ6LFd7aSyAFYppsV8lzV20IxMCKLoR3X0u8ZF6hi79rR_iSfgvw-ZkGpfwZdlGIOogQ40HwA85_4etBK-fwUuCZ7Pca/s1600-h/IMG_0861.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236291888625425026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ZiGv4-80oxtrBVn5YssbTnh6uO4zWE20DRc0MaeOueaJ7yURuZ6LFd7aSyAFYppsV8lzV20IxMCKLoR3X0u8ZF6hi79rR_iSfgvw-ZkGpfwZdlGIOogQ40HwA85_4etBK-fwUuCZ7Pca/s400/IMG_0861.JPG" border="0" /></a> The Tree by Hannah<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPFbjuvm9Mkc6BUTmw6hg99_36lLY16VVwYkm99tg2oD9fA4CmdU9LuR2gPDgUhyphenhyphentsndnZuah_A0ATYC3p_ZeHKWY3RoNFDO8H6l8p-EJA_0hVOa_I3QKCVu7DaCoWgPKqEHKa7X4tVCn/s1600-h/IMG_0858.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236291911213305826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPFbjuvm9Mkc6BUTmw6hg99_36lLY16VVwYkm99tg2oD9fA4CmdU9LuR2gPDgUhyphenhyphentsndnZuah_A0ATYC3p_ZeHKWY3RoNFDO8H6l8p-EJA_0hVOa_I3QKCVu7DaCoWgPKqEHKa7X4tVCn/s400/IMG_0858.JPG" border="0" /></a> Leaf by Hannah<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTo0bsMaE4q8D6ine7URJgyJHdRI1MOT8vgZ2fo9g5OsjbAwbNS7d029mmMRcPpOd1dT0cM2MNW6NXbLi58vkHtc11WTRWozub_kbvusXEBVQMEEdpiZylW9viWJ8zHeGgk90aqT1w1wm/s1600-h/IMG_0865.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236291918456674882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTo0bsMaE4q8D6ine7URJgyJHdRI1MOT8vgZ2fo9g5OsjbAwbNS7d029mmMRcPpOd1dT0cM2MNW6NXbLi58vkHtc11WTRWozub_kbvusXEBVQMEEdpiZylW9viWJ8zHeGgk90aqT1w1wm/s400/IMG_0865.JPG" border="0" /></a> A Rose by Mom. This was drawn using a kid's book on how to draw flowers. I can follow instructions but that could never come out of my head.<br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqWeBLA1c8PuYVNHYe2uAq94t5GDbjUHDiLdQVfG2WEsq5uLqgRtfprWhQPvLb2A1wFBDkBilleeVCRWuOl-OfwnHH39o8CEJ-oqqx_A2uJPeMF6smGfRFi6x_vnTU0ps6rLxq5_iy1Ng/s1600-h/IMG_0846.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236290393272514770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqWeBLA1c8PuYVNHYe2uAq94t5GDbjUHDiLdQVfG2WEsq5uLqgRtfprWhQPvLb2A1wFBDkBilleeVCRWuOl-OfwnHH39o8CEJ-oqqx_A2uJPeMF6smGfRFi6x_vnTU0ps6rLxq5_iy1Ng/s400/IMG_0846.JPG" border="0" /></a> Our Family by Tara </div><br /><div align="center">Baby, Dad Mom by Tree, Hannah looking orangey. </div><div align="center">I love that her sun is always cool looking!<br /></div><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxy-4BIMdep1w3J9Bo33kAmC80ETIp2xr1bC7HmkgDMMtqawqzlAkHOKppG7cX0S_AHooPktElYstDSKo5V02Xo1ne5JKi3VpWTdd5iUDejYaoQ3a7CV_WfW23xC6iA3HryZa8fxkOLZM/s1600-h/IMG_0847.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236290406759372882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxy-4BIMdep1w3J9Bo33kAmC80ETIp2xr1bC7HmkgDMMtqawqzlAkHOKppG7cX0S_AHooPktElYstDSKo5V02Xo1ne5JKi3VpWTdd5iUDejYaoQ3a7CV_WfW23xC6iA3HryZa8fxkOLZM/s400/IMG_0847.JPG" border="0" /></a> Banana Spider by Tara </p><p align="center">Tara and I miss that banana spider. RIP<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZKVYjCo97aIx6O8yK67eIMAFf-oswTy_-9agbZhB0iMCpONMeuypqbr6U6ZPvZ-KIVkJ2XbEkuOYqyFUhU7Y_QyrQg0sH42_sZrID4Ildyd5B34_l1AG5GWr58qxJ0N0MAY4NK7-Vzp7/s1600-h/IMG_0850.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236290412781523522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZKVYjCo97aIx6O8yK67eIMAFf-oswTy_-9agbZhB0iMCpONMeuypqbr6U6ZPvZ-KIVkJ2XbEkuOYqyFUhU7Y_QyrQg0sH42_sZrID4Ildyd5B34_l1AG5GWr58qxJ0N0MAY4NK7-Vzp7/s400/IMG_0850.JPG" border="0" /></a> Garbage Pickup by Tara</p><br /><p align="center">THIS TOTALLY CRACKS ME UP!<br />SO much for NATURE study in the CITY!<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00XmdrAZlR5LlJnHLK55o65M8qwnRaCs1UxlID9kHyxB9-S1wfjY7RZWYkrJu5FwjE1oGHSQznurfpfKvCbaLliYtBP298h58qKJeQK33h5N2narI7e8QBCzc-B15QTujypMmd-4mYwnC/s1600-h/IMG_0851.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236290420242903554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00XmdrAZlR5LlJnHLK55o65M8qwnRaCs1UxlID9kHyxB9-S1wfjY7RZWYkrJu5FwjE1oGHSQznurfpfKvCbaLliYtBP298h58qKJeQK33h5N2narI7e8QBCzc-B15QTujypMmd-4mYwnC/s400/IMG_0851.JPG" border="0" /></a> The Lake by Tara (acrylic paint) </div><div align="center">It is so pretty in person.<br /><br /><br /></div>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-13938383534604362722008-08-18T21:30:00.001-07:002008-08-18T21:30:29.777-07:00Today's Quote<strong>"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think."</strong> -Anne Sullivan (Helen Keller's teacher)Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-40379056136786569762008-08-18T07:19:00.000-07:002008-08-18T07:37:44.380-07:00Classroom ManagementI was talking to a public school special education teacher yesterday. She is in year 2 as a teacher and is in a new classroom this year. She used to be a teacher's aid, so she has observed teachers for years and noted areas of general incompetency. We had a great conversation about all it takes to get a classroom ready for students and how to start the year off right. It brought back a lot of memories from when I was a Christian school principal and how hard it was for us to get our classrooms organized, decked out, and streamlined before the students ever arrived.<br /><br />I have the benefit of knowing my students before the first day of school! I also live in the homeschool environment, so I can take all summer, if need be, to lesson plan (I don't) or organize last year's mess (I do) or decorate (not much) or pre-study (I do) or get inspired (I do! I do!).<br /><br />School week 1 went fabulous. School week 2 was almost a complete bust.<br />Monday was productive.<br />Tuesday we were gone from 10:15 to 4:00. That cuts out a huge chunk of the day.<br />Wednesday we had therapists, drop-in visitors, plus getting to know a new baby.<br />Thursday we had more therapists, drop-in visitors, appointments, and new baby.<br />Friday we had a play date, activities, etc.<br /><br />Part of managing a classroom is making sure that the work spaces for the students are organized and the processes are streamlined. A big part of classroom management is making sure the schedule works for everyone. Two weeks of school gives clear insight into what needs tweaking. So this morning I worked on the schedule.<br /><br />A big factor in my schedule is that I am a crazy night owl. I think a lot of people go through this. No matter howe exhausted you are at 6pm, you get a second wind about 8 or 9PM and find yourself up until 2AM. Which makes it impossible to get up at 6AM to jog on the treadmill. My kids stay up reading. And I am thinking, "Why am I so notorious about getting up at 7? I have teenagers! Even public schools are starting at 9 cuz teens stay up late and need to sleep til 7:30 or 8!"<br /><br />So the first adjustment: start my day at 7 with a workout and shower before everyone else gets up. Get girls up at 8. Get baby up at 8;30 for meds and bottle at 9. Follow the 9,1,5,9 schedule for him with a midnight bottle for extra hydration. Reformulate the schedule based on that. The reformulation comes in where I am working with the girls solely while baby is napping and when he is playing (playing spiderman and trying to injure himself, the girls do independent work). And then build the schedule off of that.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-22262903179067591122008-08-12T20:24:00.000-07:002008-08-12T20:34:38.689-07:00LessonsI have signed Hannah up for art classes at a studio in Plano that does classes for homeschooled students. Today we went and toured the facility and looked at examples of the art she will be doing. It will be a cultural study. She will have 30 minutes of instruction each week on a new geographical location, the traditional art of that culture, and the medium of the week. Then she will have an hour to create. I really thought the art examples done by kids in after-school care LAST year (the same study) were exceptional, but they were downplaying the work. Hannah has an eye and I don't comprehend it because I am not artistic or creative at all. So it blows my mind. Tara is also a good artist, but she wanted to take swimming lessons. Hannah will have her lesson every Wednesday at 1PM.<br /><br />I signed Tara up for swimming 3 at the Frisco Athletic Center (across the street from where one of our USA Olympic female gymnast trains, consequently) for a month or so. I want to secure her spot for the following months through to Christmas, but I can't predict what class she will need to be in, so I need to call and find that out. Tara does very well in her lessons and zoomed through Swimming 2 in 2 weeks and had 2 weeks to just get some one-on-one instruction while the other kids worked on swimming 2 stuff. So she is excited!<br /><br />I also signed baby Gabe up for Parent & Me swim, which just puts the baby in the pool, teaching the child to be comfortable in the water. He is a FISH. For all teh aspirating that boy does on liquid and food, he always holds his breath in water. Go figure! However, the immunologist told me his immunodeficiency means I have to cancel his lessons. So I will use the $37 for that and put it toward Tara's lessons for October/November I guess.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-71511193474055930712008-08-11T16:18:00.000-07:002008-08-11T17:14:09.391-07:00Open House<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrMO-UW0U7FmWXCmDaYHHq62_s15_WVKmZdUv-JseqpgFsNhUM_fhRwSdY1PIE0jMR2aB-m6dPnkmKwYMZIrhU8W-2wooQSXatwQymPSF_oxOgztChz2MXCU-lmoXwlW8I3VKxnLQWCpN/s1600-h/IMG_0768.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233416001937349362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrMO-UW0U7FmWXCmDaYHHq62_s15_WVKmZdUv-JseqpgFsNhUM_fhRwSdY1PIE0jMR2aB-m6dPnkmKwYMZIrhU8W-2wooQSXatwQymPSF_oxOgztChz2MXCU-lmoXwlW8I3VKxnLQWCpN/s400/IMG_0768.JPG" border="0" /></a> These are this week's lesson plans. Lots of fine print!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnn2nxQnDJcg1T5SZIWdNQTD7HpPbVesCkq42fbOfkeZx4836DTJNL1GaQ2Pf1Hftyys3Tk4qCyUfwdXSU5JnAJr29T0IMIxmW2_gekacnF43y7zg7gOO1vY6GbmTJqifVzWz8S2iYmO5/s1600-h/IMG_0764.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233405198096706178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnn2nxQnDJcg1T5SZIWdNQTD7HpPbVesCkq42fbOfkeZx4836DTJNL1GaQ2Pf1Hftyys3Tk4qCyUfwdXSU5JnAJr29T0IMIxmW2_gekacnF43y7zg7gOO1vY6GbmTJqifVzWz8S2iYmO5/s400/IMG_0764.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is our daily schedule.<br /><br /><div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWx_LnjcjANYQp3aMWgBZEm2MiAjUMC5H6BQByY7xQiQUXGqtaE9MaWSh6xqa0IczPmHsBMrvXxf2GKM_NMUKn1aiiAM5ZzJvrzqGXt_qsEXBNjNkCxPDpyWXucrqNWNexqm__kWBcX3J/s1600-h/IMG_0754.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233405164032132034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUWx_LnjcjANYQp3aMWgBZEm2MiAjUMC5H6BQByY7xQiQUXGqtaE9MaWSh6xqa0IczPmHsBMrvXxf2GKM_NMUKn1aiiAM5ZzJvrzqGXt_qsEXBNjNkCxPDpyWXucrqNWNexqm__kWBcX3J/s400/IMG_0754.JPG" border="0" /></a> Top shelf holds sharp things and pictures and not-for-children markers<br />Next shelf holds school supplies, etc.<br />Next shelf holds paper, calculators, index cards, and one of my fave things: label maker<br />This shelf tends to catch some of the girls stuff.<br />The bottom shelf holds a bin for each girl to put their books in. <br />Not exactly tidy on day 5 of school, eh? LOL<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAzCOLJoiuDLr9qf7-0j6Rpu392Pgb-XnaLQK5VKF2pEvqE8QWp-rYMbgEtOx_AbHYE_k0nndC3mMmoZEe1bVhQFfO1Q8oL47v353q-Wrvuh1xIGcLoS_9w7VKK5HHjajPtYOQxqbiHd1/s1600-h/IMG_0757.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233405166856519970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAzCOLJoiuDLr9qf7-0j6Rpu392Pgb-XnaLQK5VKF2pEvqE8QWp-rYMbgEtOx_AbHYE_k0nndC3mMmoZEe1bVhQFfO1Q8oL47v353q-Wrvuh1xIGcLoS_9w7VKK5HHjajPtYOQxqbiHd1/s400/IMG_0757.JPG" border="0" /></a> These are some of our supplemental and resource books.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmw4KbOiYgUahYSxNoHl7oNFTVWcxP2Ubzvwit_IQIEj-1UzTldn7WRs6-lzM6vbYslnU6bPT43meT1o6bCx0XFlI1j1X0JN9yguMtULQtqP0fZtWdtunw7KJVO9xW0hNgRd1lofFHDeT/s1600-h/IMG_0765.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233405174406242994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmw4KbOiYgUahYSxNoHl7oNFTVWcxP2Ubzvwit_IQIEj-1UzTldn7WRs6-lzM6vbYslnU6bPT43meT1o6bCx0XFlI1j1X0JN9yguMtULQtqP0fZtWdtunw7KJVO9xW0hNgRd1lofFHDeT/s400/IMG_0765.JPG" border="0" /></a> These are the books we are reading for Science, History, Art, Literature as well as a couple of Teacher's Manuals.</div><div align="center">Side note: The red notebook is my financial notebook. I keep a monthly list of what bills came in and waht I paid, E confirmation numbers, dates of payment, etc. I have a list for months way back in 2003 still!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfucbrAGfFhLHxKOfJpvA84w3Xq4GaxZiVDe5FxftcyYKpcrrVON5rdDrpA-VKIsGL5UdihaiEoG0knoliz4kCwXT1yFa6Q237BTpm_w0MR80BwRxPm5PuJ8IZBcW0ajm4po7sBnDb1i9/s1600-h/IMG_0756.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233405187379760610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbfucbrAGfFhLHxKOfJpvA84w3Xq4GaxZiVDe5FxftcyYKpcrrVON5rdDrpA-VKIsGL5UdihaiEoG0knoliz4kCwXT1yFa6Q237BTpm_w0MR80BwRxPm5PuJ8IZBcW0ajm4po7sBnDb1i9/s400/IMG_0756.JPG" border="0" /></a> These are some spelling words we are doing this week (kind of reviewing).</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Ultimately, our office holds our books and supplies. We also have a coat closet filled with art and craft materials. We have school on the couches most of the time. Some things they do in bed (like literature reading). Hannnah does math on the laptop and Tara does math at the desktop. Sometimes they work at the kitchen table. Sometimes they work in the van or at the hospital. You just never know!</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Sometime this week I'll post some of their sketches from "Nature Study" from this and last week.</div>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-55212659656227930442008-08-09T08:25:00.000-07:002008-08-22T19:36:26.444-07:00School Week One<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjED67VoAwW7oRtFtYCr9fhZP82NCYzyMjI5SerPafxDK7XJv0gyboLc27ofxYEbI_MpJ8BTRu9VLYrgfesIs0ptAgovq4yQLGc-TXHJLyEWAkiUcQE0gi0RaDZvbO-g0qIGZIroZoJbSH8/s1600-h/IMG_0696.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232540764787621826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjED67VoAwW7oRtFtYCr9fhZP82NCYzyMjI5SerPafxDK7XJv0gyboLc27ofxYEbI_MpJ8BTRu9VLYrgfesIs0ptAgovq4yQLGc-TXHJLyEWAkiUcQE0gi0RaDZvbO-g0qIGZIroZoJbSH8/s400/IMG_0696.JPG" border="0" /></a> Tara concentrating on Math.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-yFmrIdIbfT6Zo0wRu-nGjCeo-B8XlaODSn4sNiXjlDnpqTtnw6quGEc3pbweYuyJWLZFNFOD3_g4DOsgJKwe0U-ZE7_v7mlaW5fsZZHLVw2icsZsVnDtDV3lCtMQq5JNrGW_4wMnmN6/s1600-h/IMG_0703.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232540792981340498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-yFmrIdIbfT6Zo0wRu-nGjCeo-B8XlaODSn4sNiXjlDnpqTtnw6quGEc3pbweYuyJWLZFNFOD3_g4DOsgJKwe0U-ZE7_v7mlaW5fsZZHLVw2icsZsVnDtDV3lCtMQq5JNrGW_4wMnmN6/s400/IMG_0703.JPG" border="0" /></a> Hannah doing math.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTOTkQtK0KikucBRq8EIq8bs4oksA4fs5QOjMIISxjmxhoslVFzY-ChtUaMxLdwIC2gYXT-Xx7ZyztO815_ZceulIJZNI_bkcDeNZdotazpbERK02TzYzfYyHK4r9fIfecljvmJB38pWq/s1600-h/IMG_0704.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232540795426867106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTOTkQtK0KikucBRq8EIq8bs4oksA4fs5QOjMIISxjmxhoslVFzY-ChtUaMxLdwIC2gYXT-Xx7ZyztO815_ZceulIJZNI_bkcDeNZdotazpbERK02TzYzfYyHK4r9fIfecljvmJB38pWq/s400/IMG_0704.JPG" border="0" /></a> Hannah saying, "I didn't shower yet. Don't take my picture!"<br /></div>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-68316090617040571122008-08-07T16:50:00.000-07:002008-08-09T08:56:06.913-07:00Homeschool Today<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7cP6P-4gW-ZSJsjlURno3nK8xjVS7m7QtJ_k6JyhKBmtYC9MzwzKFQ-VnJv4g_f1zzoYWE773SMJNdS5gIly_QTEKeeQZfnAZ5vdtG6no44WTSmQnuEZS1X-8yc9xXLc93xFJA2ysWBVp/s1600-h/IMG_0712.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232543222915995890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7cP6P-4gW-ZSJsjlURno3nK8xjVS7m7QtJ_k6JyhKBmtYC9MzwzKFQ-VnJv4g_f1zzoYWE773SMJNdS5gIly_QTEKeeQZfnAZ5vdtG6no44WTSmQnuEZS1X-8yc9xXLc93xFJA2ysWBVp/s400/IMG_0712.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I had no idea that school could be so enjoyable. I studied Charlotte Mason's precepts all summer. I prepared myself, dreaming of the learning splendor that was to be. And then last week, I became petrified. I was afraid that I would find myself once again failing, that it is too good to be true. I proceeded with the 4-day school week, something new for us, and though we did have many interruptions of plumbers and tile layers and phone calls and therapists, which did put us temporarily off course, we did complete all studies this week. The only thing the girls did not do was spelling, instrument studies, and typing instruction. Those are afternoon activities and I was not die-hard about those this week.<br /><br />Everything came about, despite the interruptions, very smoothly. We do need to go to bed earlier so 7am is not so painful, but that will come in time.<br /><br />There are many things I knew I would enjoy learning about this week, but Geography was not one of them. Instead of letting my apprehension show, I proceeded to read the lesson out of "Explore the Holy Land" as on the curriculum. I found it was fascinating. The premise is that we are exploring Turkey as we ride over it on a magic carpet! It is so imaginative, a true "living book" with narrative, that it is enjoyable!<br /><br />So after reading about Turkey today, learning about the 4 bodies of water that surround it, about Istanbul being what separates Asia from Europe, about the Bosphorus Straight, and so on, we were reviewing by letting the girls pretend they were doing a "Special Report" on the travel channel on Turkey.<br /><br />So I prompted Tara to start talking by asking her a question: "What can you tell me about the great seas we discussed?" She looked very serious, when she said, "Well, the seas look like this..." and she drew two C's in the air. I thought she was serious, because she does oftentimes take things VERY literally. We had an issue of "literal translationitis" earlier today when Writing Strands said to look in the dictionary for an etymology of a word and she looked in the dictionary and....defined etymology. LOL<br /><br />So imagine how scared I was for 3 or 4 seconds when she showed me the formation of two C's in the air. I thought, "Jesus, if this whole time she thought I was talking about a literal gobbling turkey and 4 C's, I don't know what I will do!"f Then she started laughing. A joke. And I laughed until I cried. I couldn't stop laughing and crying, the girls joined in, and for 10 minutes we were useless. I guess I can scratch "laughed at silly pun til I cried" off my Bucket List.</div>Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605260458757400627.post-52500165368475384752008-08-07T10:12:00.001-07:002008-08-07T15:56:20.027-07:00What is a homeschool?I've always had trouble figuring out how to define what we are doing. Are we homeschooling? or home schooling?<br /><br />I read an article several months ago, and I only wish I could find it again. The gist of the message was that if our goal is to be an alternative to group school, then why not call ourselves a home school. In that case we are just one of the educational options, so take your pick:<br /><br />public school<br />private school<br />home school<br /><br />If our desire in educating our children at home is to be a mimic the group school environment, call it a<strong> home school</strong>. I mimiced group school in the first few years: misunderstanding what socializationis and what my children <u>really</u> needed, using cold-facts books, expecting my students to follow a list of to-do's following a little instruction and then put out remarkable results. I thought we needed the best curricula you can find in a box, complete with teacher's manuals, showing red answers on my copy of the exercise sheets to show me the answer they SHOULD have gotten. I focused on getting through the pages, two by two. I gave them the prescribed verbage and the lessons on the whiteboard, and then asked myself, "Why? Why aren't they getting it?" I was failing them.<br /><br />I never planned to fail. When I decided to educate my children at home, I had nothing to model the education I wished my daughters after except with the education I had received. My mother was a single woman raising 5 children and working several jobs. She did not have the occasion to read me a single book, to teach me to sew or knit, to ever help me with homework. Her business was working and I took on the motherhood role. I was my own mother and the mother to my siblings. My education took place in the classrooms of public school, and I feel I was served fairly well. But it was because I served myself. The teachers put out the buffet, and I came and took what I needed, showed them my full plate, and tasted of the meal. I had a love of books, no learning disabilities, an insatiable drive, and a desire to please. Other kids were drowning. My own children were drowning 20 years later in private school. And then they were drowning in my own living room.<br /><br />It was just a home school...a school in a home.<br /><br />Earlier this year, I came upon an educational philosophy that was new to me. I had previously dismissed it because I associated it with "unschooling." And I associated unschooling with doing nothing. I am strongly against "doing nothing" in place of educating children, because in my role as principal, I saw many children who lost years of educational "something" with "nothing" in the home. I have a someone who is dear to me, an adult, who only has an 8th grade education because of this "doing nothing" at home and calling it education. Yes, circumstances were difficult, but he is strongly affected into his adulthood by this doing nothing.<br /><br />I was doing a search one day, desperately, on how to IMPACT my children in home education, and came across the name: "Charlotte Mason." I thought, "What is it about this woman?" I read a website, then another. I bought a book, and another. I read 4 more. I became aware of how polluted my concept of education was, as was the education I had received and was now trying to pass on to my daughters. I cried many, many bitter tears. It is earth shattering when you realized you've been duped, and when you realize you passed of twinkies as a well-balanced, nutricious meal to your children for years. It hurts.<br /><br />I began to seek God about Charlotte Mason's philosophies and methods. I began to see that education as an opportunity. It is not a classroom or a "something we do" from 8-noon on weekdays. Education is not something that can be prescribed: "Read this book, answer 40 questions in your workbook, and then start math." Education is not something you DO. It is something you are. Education is an atmosphere. It can't be contained in a span of 4 hours. It is a lifestyle. True education is deeply contemplative, life-altering, life-giving. It hypnotizes the teacher as well as the student. Education is enrapturing. True education is a gift.<br /><br />I'm truly not speaking about doing nothing. A Charlotte Mason education is rigorous. It is based on classic literature, world history and geography, Greek Mythology, Plutarch and Shakespeare, classic composers and artists, and a thorough understanding of the Word. Expecations are high, yet the child doesn't know it. Because they are so excited about learning, they are so happy to finally be getting a well-balanced meal, they find it pleasurable. This is why some liken a Charlotte Mason education to "unschooling," because the child doesn't find learning (or "School") a chore any longer. So in that sense, a Charlotte Mason education is very unlike education as we know it. But it is deep, profound, rigorous, and challenging while also being peaceful, profound, and liberating.<br /><br />How do you know when true education is taking place? A child doesn't want to stop learning. They ask you to read just a little bit more of Little Women. They don't say, "How many more pages," but rather say, "Oh, I accidentally read 4 chapters instead of 1. Is that okay?" It's when a child says, "Mother, do we have to wait until Thursday to have our next Geography lesson?" True education is when you become utterly absorbed, and learning takes precedence over every other activity in the home: sleeping, eating, and all forms of inactive entertainment (electronic-based). Real learning is taking place in your home when your 10 year old child says, "Act 1, Scene 3 of Twelfth Night is very funny." Or when they say, "Why don't I have math on Fridays? Why can't I have it 5 days a week?" Real education is when your child goes to youth group, and when asked what their favorite activity was all summer, she says, "I started school early, and I love math." <br /><br />Real education is taking place in your home when you have a <strong>homeschool</strong>. A home school is just a school in a house. But a homeschool is where home and school are one in the same. It is where the learning never ceases, education is a lifestyle and a joy, and lives are truly changed.<br /><br />We started home schooling in December, 2003. But August 4, 2008, was our first day of homeschooling. And I am proud to say my kids now know the difference.Boneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13956935016401705771noreply@blogger.com0