This is the way we (don't) go to school

What about Math?

2011-11-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

I picked up this book Loving+Hating Mathmatics at The Liberty science center b/c admittedly I thought I was a hater of mathmatics. Turns out I was taught to hate it as most people are in school by having it drilled into me and being told, I wasn't any good at it. . This book is not a book for( or even about) homeschooling and to be honest I jumped to the last chapter about how math is taught in schools. I wanted to read that first so I could make sure in my homeschooling I wasn't teaching my kids to hate math.
In reality math has not been joy over here in our ecclectic sometimes panicky homeschooling and it is b/c Math makes me panic. It's not that I don't know how to add and subtract and do all the basic arithmetic, I can, but numbers get murky sometimes with their stubbornness of having only one answer and their superiority over other subjects.
The book calls for education reform in the way in which we teach students and inspire them to love math or to accept that, just as some kids don't enjoy reading as much as others, some will never enjoy factoring. Highly acclaimed educators and mathematicians say, "that's ok"
The book talks about NCLB and how teaching to the test is making more haters of math and this has inspired me to inspire my kids with more than just numbers as math.
The book has fabulous quotes about how society lies to kids telling them they will NEED calculus and geometry but the truth is the need is in an arbitrary exam colleges give to weed out certain students. The highest professors admit this is mistake and admits that Doctors and Engineers are not using either of these in their day to day work.
When i was in school struggling with Geometry my parents got me tutor and, like all teens, I questioned her about why I needed to learn this b/c I would never use it. She said, "It's true you may never need but it's good exercise for your brain" Math can and should be presented as good exercise b/c the more you get to know ins and outs of numbers the more they make sense. Rote memorization doesn't make sense so is easily lost in years but once you truly get know something you understand it fully.
I would like to highly recommend this book to everyone who might need a little math inspiration. Let me know what you thought of it.

2011-10-04T20:58:00.000-07:00

Overheard at the sleepover

2011-09-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Kid #1 Do you think school is boring?
Kids all shrug and look around and mumble variations of " I don't know"

Then

Kid #2 answers: Probably, b/c in school you have to learn early in the morning but in homeschool you can learn anytime.

Oak Meadow contest

2011-08-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Win a curriculum

If you are going to use a curriculum this one seems nice and nature based and not too rushed.

We are now reminding kids to play?

2011-08-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

There is a commercial that airs on the radio with a child asking for a dollar from mom's purse. Have you heard it? The mother seemingly can't remember where she put the purse and has the kid running all over the house to look for it. The message? Get creative to get your kids moving. Wait..What?
What happened to "no running the house, stop jumping on the couch, Take that energy outside."

Doesn't play come naturally to kids? Leave it to the grown ups who ruined education by inventing school to ruin childhood by turning play into a PSA.

There's even a website.
And here are the great suggestions to get moving:
Make commercial breaks Let’s Move! breaks. Here are some active and fun ideas:

Jumping jacks
Dancing
Racing up and down the stairs
Sit-ups
Stretching
Jogging in place
Push-ups
Active house chores
Come up with your own activities and share them with friends and family

Ah yes the fun of calisthenics!! Here's another problem, Do kids even watch commercials anymore? I know here we use the DVR to fast forward through them .
That is another way adults are ruining play they are equating adult excercise with childhood physical play. These are two completely different entities. Adult exercise is repeptivie with it's main goal to "get or keep fit. Childhood physical play surely keeps kids physically fit however it also keeps their brains fit. Their imaginative play keeps them bright and focused and frankly fun to be around.
They don't how many miles they've run unless they are cars in the game, they don't wait for the show to come back on so they can stop doing military style exercises.

The webiste says it's ok to be quiet and sitting while reading or doing homework. Oh ok but let's say the kid doesn't want to do homework or read but says, "I would rather go climb trees" I want to have a nerf gun war or play with my friend"

Is it that going to be acceptable? Can you send in the note to the teacher that says, "My child is not doing homework or his required reading this week b/c we are involved in getting moving and we feel that is more important"?

It's all talk. Lip service. It makes us feel good that we are doing something. A website was created the 1st lady is hula hooping and getting the word out. However if you really believe in play you will Let them play at the risk of not getting homework done b/c play IS that important. In my humble opinion.

Putting the home back in our homeschooling

2011-04-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

.It all started with me yelling, surprise! Yelling hurry up get ready if you want to play at Karsten's. Hurry up get ready we need to get the playground (yeah I said that) I was yelling a lot and asking the kids rhetotrical questions like, "well do you want to go? because you sure aren't showing me that you want togo"
Rush rush rush...and where were we going? To play. I never felt so stressed getting kids to go and play, to see their friends.
Last month after a non stop week of , get get ready let's got to; piano, the museum the sciences center, ice skating, friend's houses, the day came where we going to the highly anticipated Crayola Factory.
Michael refused to get dressed. Refused to go. I was shocked and tried reasoning, threats and "are you serious?
He outright did want to go. He spent the day at Mike's work with him while Johanna and I went off to Pennsylvania.
Time to slow things down.

Although all we were doing was in the name fun, all thing my kids like to do, all the activiutes they've chosen and all the friendes they like to see.
Yet it was so stressful. Most days we don't have the luxury of hanging anywhere past 3 b/c I need to get home for work so everything needed to be done in the AM so we could have "enough time"
My kids were fighting me and with each other. Our connection needed some recharging.

So now we are focusing a bit more on some home time. I am not filling each second with playdaes, where the kids play and the moms chat. I had to face to truth I was not spending time guiding my kids, it was a break for me and I wasn't actually parenting the way I should be. My kids actions showed me , time to come together again.
We are still attending all of our activites but only ice skating requires us to hurry out the door. Also I didn't want to leave them to just sit on the floor playing star wars, Brady Bunch , monster trucks or dolls all day.
I wanted to be in the mix but not be playmate.
So I invented, "Popcorn Literature" Each afternoon I make a bowl of popcorn and read actual literature to the kids. No Franklin books, No Nancy Drew,No Puppy place. Those are all fine books for the happy quiet reader but reading aloud should be more challenging at this point, in my opionion.
Pop corn Literature starts with humorous poetry. I have book tha we took out the library that was written in 1955 so I doubt it is available in the stores but it really is very funny. We will also include poetry from, If I were in charge of the World, which we own, when the library book is finally after all the renewals, due back.

Then we move on to our actual literature story which right now is "Around the World in

80 DAys " by Jules Verne. It's a good read and quite challenging.
Our slower pace has made me feel calmer.
So you will still see us at the zoo, at ice skating and all the fun places but we will just be a bit more absent from other people's homes as we reconnect in our home on our time.

Under construction

2011-03-27T19:02:00.001-07:00

I apologize for the look of this blog. I was trying to get a new background and my layout is all jumbled now. I am trying to get everything straightend out.

It's not ever all about academics

2011-03-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

Nobody ever asks me how will they have strong bodiesd if all they do is sit at home? No one ever asks, how will they know their physical strengths and how will they improve coordination without gym?

Nobody asks about gym, not really. Once at the playground I was asked if my kids were in gym and once a lifeguard at a pool told me she could give them "gym credits"

Otherwise most people are interested in how they will mkae friends, how will they ever learn math and how will I survive being around them all day.

I love watching my kids' cooridation imporve espevcailly Johanna who struggles so much with controlling her body and effectively concentrating enough to mkae it be still and keep her feet going on the right direction. However just like those life skills of cooking and sewing that I find so important but lacking in my own 12 year education I find learning to trust your body and increase it's strength an extremely important life skill. Kids in school lose gym as punishment for being restless and too chatty thereby relegating gym to nothing more than a privledge for the select "good" kids who can be still. Who needs to expend the energy more. I'm preaching to the choir, I know. It just saddnes me what we put emphasis on in this school culture. It's funny that our sports stars are paid the most but gym is ranked as least important. Maybe that's b/c gym isn't challenging enough in school but I don't really know. I only know of one freind who laments that the kids do actual calistenics instead of playing, otherwise I am in the dark about gym class. Mostly I think I don't know what goes on b/c parents rarely complain about, "My kid isn't learning enough in gym. The gym teacher gives too much (not enough) homework. My kid is falling behind in gym" I never hear about gym.

I think along with strong minds you must have a strong body, I'm not talking about 6 packs or muscle arms for kids, I am talking about a strong body the kids trust. A body that moves is being used to it's utmost purpose. Sitting at a desk for many hours is so un-natural for all bodies but most especailly itchy twitchy kids whose bodies are set on the "go" postion.

And for people who wonder how I survive all day with my kids , I survive by letting them play and play hard.

Check out this awesome offer! 50% off Pass it on

2011-03-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

To:

madisonhomeschoolers@yahoogroups.com

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Wow!

2011-03-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here thinking what book to post along with my post when I saw this book for under 2 bucks. Although this has pretty much nothing to do with the subject of homeschooling it is all about how to teach kids how to move in the world without burdening them or you with "stranger danger" lessons. It's how to listen to your gut and teach your child the same. It's how to move through the world and not think every person is about to steal you or your child. It's pretty much a 180 turn away from telling your kids not to talk to strangers but rather how to talk to anyone.
Sounds like homeschooling to me.
Enjoy!

Hey look A giveaway contest

2011-03-10T07:31:00.001-08:00

Enter the contest here:
http://www.secularhomeschool.com/content/422-March-Giveaway?&page=4#comments

If you win let me know so I can be jealous

Homeschool isn't for everyone

2011-02-27T17:44:00.000-08:00

I have to give in to the above statement sometimes b/c you can't can't just go around being all preachy about the way you raise your kids. Truthfully though the further i go on this journey with still so many more miles to go, I agree that homeschool isn't for everybody but home is still the best place for kids. Unless a parent is seriously abusing a child then really the best place for that kid is at home. The use of the word,"home" for this post means anywhere but in a tradtitional school.
I keep traveling further and further away from accpeting that this is just what works best for our family and I keep running into example after example that this is really what works best for kids. I understand the complete life change it would mean. No more free babysitting, no more guarantee that kids were learning the right thing at the right time and the right way(As if there were such a thing) That must be a scary hurdle to jump but if we collectively can get off this Fred Flintstone highway of schooling kids and calling each new rule and obstacle and format , Education reform, then we can really educate the kids and no one need worry that the kid wasn't learning, "right"
From the outside people think we homeschool parents are doing the job of parent and school. This is not true for most of us, in fact we do only the one job, parent. I mean I know several parents who send thier kids to school but still feel like the primary educator of thier child, these parents assure me in light hearted conversations that thier kids will be fine b/c they, the parents, take the kids to museums or on educational vacations or play math games, or even spend hours doing with homework with them. So why not eliminate the middle man who keeps messing things up?
I do feel like this country could run so much more efficietnly if we didn't pigeon hole and quarantine off our kids for so many hours a day.
Let them out in this big world to learn all the time. Unlock the kids and get them on the streets. If school is a necessary babysitter than let's call it that and not make anything that happens in there mandatory but just a place to go for some enrichement while mom or dad is at work.
Take the self importnace out of the school and put it back on the family. Reconnect with siblings and parents and let the certified teachers take second fiddle row in your child's orchestra.

Story of the world

2011-02-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

We are having so much fun with this program. We don't use it curriculum style b/c we can miss weeks if other things come up however it has so many fun actitivites that we just love it when we do get to work on it.

The Nile

This is ancient Egypt with The Nile. I never said we were artists. :)

My Homeschool village

2011-02-18T23:14:00.000-08:00

Quoting an old African proverb Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". I will tell you, I think people misunderstand this. At the time I remember people taking umbrage at this b/c they didn't think it was OK for their neighbor or some other unknown to be telling their kid how to behave. I get that. I, as a libertarian attending a UU church with a high democratic population; as a homeschooling mother who believes in letting the kids get dirty, REALLY dirty and take risks that might cause them some harm(tree climbing, fence climbing) I get that when some stranger reprimands you (or your kid) acting as some unknown authority that they know what's best, I get a litle indignant myself.

However I really do believe in "it takes a village" it's just that in this amazing fast paced world the village does not mean your neighbor in the wig wam, or igloo or even just the condo next door.

I have created a village for my children with our homeschooling community. These are people with whom during a "playdate" the moms (or dad but it's rarely dads simply b/c the dads are usually working in the day. We do have some dads but it's few and far between )stay for coffee on purpose to chat.

My kids' friends are my friends' children. So a playdate often is a time for moms to catch up over coffee while the kids play. Sometimes the play dates are drop off if the "other " mom needs to run errands or has a change in a work schedule. Since we know each other and the children pretty well few instructions are needed if any.

My village, through my kids eyes, is place where they can play but also feel secure with the parent of the other kid. They call adults by thier first names , some adding the formality of "miss" before the name. The kids' lives, however are not seperate from the family even with friends. The line between family and friend is slightly blurred . As mothers and as parents we share the same goals. We know each child's struggles nd personal history. We know who is allergic to what thereby Birthday party offerings , such as, "Gluten free" "Peanut free" "No artificial colors" and "Vegetarian" reflect our intimate knowledge of each other's children's needs.

Our children learn and grow up together but not the same. Sometimes they struggle to get along and maybe a parent helps to guide them. Maybe they will be life long buddies and maybe they will grow aprt but the connection to the homeschool lifestyle is what keeps our village strong. The kids don't change friends each September. Even as new kids are welcomed into our community the "old" freinds are still constsant. We mothers lament over sibing discourse together , we share schooing ideas and parenting ideas. We work together. We are package deal and we are a a village even if we live miles and miles apart.

It's National pengiun awareness day

2011-01-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

..and on tis day of honor to our lovely penguins I would like recomened this book!
Enjoy!

Curses....

2011-01-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

Oh I mean cursive!!! Now some of you who have been here for a while know that my daughter struggles with handwriting or I should say, struggled. My lovely daughter who still struggles to get print letters to face the right way has taken a liking to, of all things cursive handwriting.
Cursive Writing

Using no workbook but simply a desire to learn it she just took off. Her name is gorgeous and legible in all that fancy connected togetherness.
Yippeee!

Educational Vs. Academic

2010-12-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

I was talking about christmas gifts to a co woker recently and as all parents,I'm sure, I was complaining about toys and the "too manyness" of them. I was remarking that this year we were asking for memberships to various places and during this conversation my co worker stated that b/c we homeschool we must only want "educational" toys.
Hmmm, That is pretty much not exactly true. What is traditionally considered "educational"; things like Leap frog products and Dora the explorer and anything that is made to outright act like an academic teacher is just not allowed in my home. I dislike anything that pretends to teach.
I Am Learning All the Time
In my opinion toys should be fun but that is not to say they wont be educational. My kids learn a ton just from playing with each other and working out compromises with very simple tools: some stuffed animals, some Star Wars people and a Hess Truck or two.. Nobody would really call those educational (and truth be told I do think too many toys are a hindrance to learning) however the education lies in the team work in the sharing. Creativity is where kids brains get the most exercise so in that I find Traditional educational toys a bore for the brain (although often the lights and the sounds make kids happy) Dolls that don't "do" anything until the child breathes life into it by sheer imagination and stuffed animals that are loved so strongly that they become part of the family do more for kids brains than a frog teaching them to read at ever decreasing ages.
So yes I like to have educational toys but not academically teaching toys. Santa wont be bringing a toy lap top or Leapsters to teach my kids foreign languages.

Rosetta Stone will be responsibe for spanish and I will be responsible for Latin and math. The books will be in charge of reading and Miss Diane will take care of Piano lessons. In this way to toys are free to just play and quite frankly I think "shadow" has come a long way in learning his Roman numerals.
I much prefer my kids teaching the toys than the toys teaching the kids; academics anyway.

You must be so patient

2010-12-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

Homeschoolers raise your hand if you ever hear these words, "I could never homeschool. You must be so patient" Now keep your hands up if you are really THAT patient. I saw those hands go down. When people say that to me I always say, "Well you know that's a myth we homeschoolers like to keep alive b/c it makes us look good" It generally gets a laugh and I follow it with the truth. There is no way I could ever be as patient as they are to have to follow someone else's rules about how my kid should and must be learning, socializing, waking up, eating for lunch and whether or not my kid is at "grade level"

I don't think it takes any more patience to homeschool your kids than is needed to raise them. So that is not to say the job is without effort just that effort is only equal to having kids anyway.
I find the stressors of homeschooling to be only about parenting woes and I am glad that it isn't exacerbated by someoone else putting pressure on me and my kids to be at some arbitrary level they deem appropriate.
The number one "issue" that I hear over and over in my homeschool circles is trying to make time to teach the older one when the little one is underfoot. Sharing comes up and even bossiness of siblings; things that are just part of the whole parenting package anyway.
Mostly, we are happy to go slowly to help a struggling kid learn to spell and we are happy to challenge the quick study with frequent trips to the library or more math puzzles.
Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child's Education

Patience is required when stuck in traffic on your way to meet friends to see the Statue liberty and more patience is needed when it turns out you are never gonna get there. However , a report on the Statue Liberty will not be "late" and no one is going to fail the test on what is written at the base.
As homeschoolers we only require as much patience as is needed to meet the day to day life existence but rarely do we need to muster up strngth to hear someone else tell us our kids aren't applying themselves.
We get to choose and that is truly the blessing of the whole thing.

The social experiment needs a change

2010-10-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

It has been said that school is the biggest social experiment of the time of humans. I see the President calling for "Education reform" I see zero tolerance policies expelling small children for toy guns, I see the NJEA claiming to care about students but seemingly caring more about Superintendents inflated salaries and I see bullying gone so far as to cause young people to take their own lives.

Oh yes we need reform but not in the form of longer days, stricter classes, harder tests. We do not need more school. We need less.
Children need one on one supervision and care. Children need to be heard. Children need to play and they need to wonder and they need to make mistakes.
They need adults to guide them and show them right from wrong.

You can't win a battle with a bully by legislating behavior or using zero tolerance polices or lenghty assemblies on bullying.
Bullying starts and ends with self confidence and an abiltiy to feel empathy. This is milestone and kids don't have it immediately.
Throwing them all together in a classsroom where emotional needs of all can not be met is the makings for bullying.
I know not all kids can be homeschooled. It's just not reality. However while the subject is on Education reform, let's stop and think what the kids need not what we think will make them into smarter faster little robots that can outperform other countries.
Let's slow them down, let them create and show them that the adults around them care about them and will guide them through difficult feelings. Show them we care more about how they feel than we care about math grade.
Sounds like an impossible plan , I know.; However as long as reform is on the table let's really reform it and not just make it stricter and firmer. That's not reformation. That's just more of the same.

Socialization is the number one question people ask about homeschooled kids. How will they make friends everyone wonders. My biggest mistake in homeschooling was letting the worry about making friends more important than family life. It's not that I don't think kids should have other kids to play with but it isn't the be all end all that we sometimes think it is. I think there is a school mentality that is so pervasive that it influences how children are raised. School is not the answer to social children. With cliques and bullies the experiment shows over and over that children's basic needs are being neglected yet the rules just keep stricter and kids are being expelled b/c the school can't deal with any infraction (Hey they might get sued for the 5 year old bringing the toy gun to school)
If the school can not deal with teaching the child then maybe that's where reform needs to start. Not with grades not with test scores but with making the school enviornment one that meets children's needs.

Let them play let them learn.

So how do you like your parents?

2010-08-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

A shoulder shrug. A bored or irritated expression. So the asker wonders, "hmm I guess they don;t like their parents. They would probably be better off with other parents. If they had other parents these kids would answer, 'We love our parents!! It's great and so much better than having other parents'
Or maybe the inquisition begins with, "So how do you like life?" Again my kids stare off wonder about this odd question and get bored and want to leave this place where people ask strange questions and make them feel "on the spot"

Well my kids aren't asked those exact questions but they are sometimes asked, "So how do you like homeschooling?"
Of course it would be great if my kids gushed on about how great it is and how we go to so many museums, and have so much free time for playing and they learn at their own pace but sometimes mommy rushes the pace but we understand b/c we are well adjusted (more so than you school types) and incredibly bright for our age.
..but they don't.

My kids stumble on that question everytime and I see the wheels turning in the askers head. "AHA!" they think. These kids would rather be in school"
My kids have never been to school so the question "how do you like homeschooling?" requires a comparison my kids can not make.
They would prefer not to be interviewed about ths homeschool stuff and would rather go on not feeling different. They feel like regular kids and do not know why people are so hung up on this subject.

September

2010-08-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

September is looming around the corner and of course my thoughts are of, "Back to school". The weather changes and my body can feel the back to schoolness of the air. For some this feeling might be of exccitemet of new beginings, of clean pristine notebooks and paper ready for the new student who is going to buckle down this year.
For me,I still get nervous and I like reminding myself, "You are not going back" I generally have to remind myself this until the end of September.

For my kids though, September is just one more month closer to Johanna's birthday and Christmas, which they count down all year long.
I try not to make September sound like the beginning of anything and hope they feel the same about September as any other month. We enjoy the back to school sales in August and we celebrate the 1st day of NOT back to school at the zoo each year on the first day of our town's first day back to school.
In my head though the plans are reeling for the "school year" which we do not follow but my own habits wont let me relinquish.

I try and introduce my kids to various subjects and see what sticks throughout the year. My kids dont; know that in September I get his urge to "buckle down" to "do" school. I'm pretty sure it is really just that clean notebook smell in the air that makes me want to get down to business. So I placate myself with trips to Staples for "back to school" supplies; which include glue sticks and pens and rulers and oh those lovely brand new notebooks. 10 cents a piece!!!! I love those notebooks because they make me feel ready to face the world because I can write things down and take notes and make lists. I will conquer homeschooling,oh I mean eclectic homeschooling, no no I mean unschooling, whatever it is called I can conquer it with those notebooks.

...And then I remember; there is nothing to conquer. September is merely about "almost fall" and my birthday and one month til Johanna's birthday and 3mos 'til Christmas.
I'll keep trying to save the "New year" for January.

Michael snapped the above pic with a camera he got for his birthday. )

2010-06-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

The best way to to get Johanna interested in any subject (Ok except handwriting) is to bring animals into it.
Recently we discovered on youtube some wonderful Animaniacs videos that starred some very cute and funny but most importantly very bright cats.
these cats, Yakko, wakko, and Dot through their very catchy lyrics have taught my kids the all the states and their capitols, the nations of the world, the planets , all the presidents up until Bill Clinton and some information about the universe. (Note to Steven Spielberg; you're missing out on cash cow not making these songs into CDs. )
My kids are glued to maps and globes and USA puzzle maps. The latest car game is "guess the state!" and both kids can correcty give clues as to East. West or Mid West , although Michael sometimes gets confused or maybe jsut an't remember which state he WAS thinking of they have the right idea.
Geogrpahy is fun! These are also not lessons that end. They go on all day for days with kids learning things about states and making up new games. "Guess the state bird is a new game these days. We have some maps from "Which Way USA" and they give littel bits of info on them including state birds. One day Micael yelled out to me "What is the state bird of Oregon?" while staring at the map.
"Um oriole?" I guess, wondering if he will try and read it or if he even can
"I can't it read it he yells back"
"Spell it to me"
"Ok " he says then very slowly he says, "S-t-a-t-e b-i-r-d" At least he was in the right place on the map.

Another oldie but goodie game is license plate identification, which has us yelling out out of state license plate as they pass by or taking the long way out of the parking lot so we can see , "yup Illinois has President Lincoln on it" Speaking of Abraham Lincoln did you know he is Johanna's favorite president?

This book tells the story abut how Lincoln was an animal lover and pardoned the 1st turkey on Thanksgiving.

If it is true that the way to man's heart is through his stomach then the way to my kids knowledge is through animals.

Homeschooling is a Great Adventure

2010-06-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Six Flags Great Adventure Homeschool day! No lines, Plenty of fun rides but unfortuantely not all the rides were open.
Johanna's favorite was of course the safari and Michael loved all the wild rides. He went on every ride he was tall enough to get on, including the the big log flume and the buccaneer!

We don't just go to the playground

2010-04-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the laundry needs to get done, too.

this is laundromat math. how many quarters in a dollar? how many in 5 dollars?

..and if you deprive your kids of enough TV they will sit and watch anything.
but you know after all the clothes were in the dryer we headed off to....

the park. No wonder the laundry is never done!
The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom

Monday mornings

2010-04-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

We were invited to an organic garden Co op where the kids got kid got pick and eat onion grass, kale, and suck dandelion nectar all in the name helping weed and aerate the soil. Such a lovely way to spend a Monday morning.
Organic Gardening

I know the difference!

2010-04-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

I can tell when I'm asked a question that is simply based in curiosity and one that is meant to "trip me up"
Honestly, this post might get little obnoxious and I do not mean to offend my lovely readers whose children go to school but seriously I am sure I would get into a great big fight if I asked questions to school kids' parents like this:
"what about being out in the real world? how will your child learn that if they are in school all day?"
"What about learning to love learning? how you will your child learn that?"
" How will your kids learn that your word means more than some government institution?"
"How will your kids learn to be unstructured ?"
"How will your kids play outside?"
"how will your kid learn that it's ok to talk while learning?"
"How will your kid learn that you as the parent are knowledgeable in subjects taught in school and it doesn't matter that your not his teacher?

You see these questions are obnoxious and rude are they are not?
Somehow though people think it is perfectly OK to ask me how kids will learn a whole laundry list of ridiculous things.
It isn't the curious questioner that I mind. I actually like that person b/c I get talk and talk about homeschooling and they are genuinely interested but it's different sometimes.
Sometimes the questions are meant to say not, "how will your child...."
but rather the intent is, "your child never will...." b/c no matter how you answer, the other person is ready with an answer as to why your reasoning (not to mention countless hours researching) just wont work and your kids will somehow be handicapped b/c of not attending school.

I can't imagine how this would work the other way around but someday I will be brave enough to try it out on some overly invasive questioner/doubter.
Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

Are we really overscheduled?

2010-03-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

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T ball, swimming, music,ice skating twice a week, ,and gymnastics. sometimes little random things come up that we participate in like winter classes which meet once a week.
sounds like a lot doesn't it? Sounds like maybe our homeschooled kids are overscheduled, something many felt like we should avoid. The thing is though when I (or you) break down the actual times of these classes and the amount of free playtime we still have I don't feel like my kids are over scheduled, I feel I am.
The kids enjoy getting out and interacting and learning different activities and the truth is they aren't in school for 6 hours a day so the dragging from here to there and getting dinner and homework isn't really an issue.

To me the over scheduling can be a direct result of kids being in school for so many hours. People don't say your kid should drop geography in order to have time to play little league. School kids days aren't cut shorter to make room for the fun, "Extra curricular" activities. they are doing the fun stuff in addition to being in school.

We don't fill our kids days with activities but they are exposed and the list makes it seem like, "Wow they do a lot"
Maybe they do but they have still have tons of free time to sit and play and learn. There is almost no homework (Music class gives homework)
In one week the total hours my kids spend in class is between 7 and 10 hours..A WEEK! Add in a special class and maybe the number goes up by 2 hours.
In between the scheduled classes they have friends over or play with each other.
So while our calender is chuck full of activities,play dates, and my work schedule if I had an hour by hour schedule most lines would be blank.
I don't think unless your kid is in class all day being told what to learn, how to learn, when to eat, then hurry hurry to the next activity where someone is telling them how to stand , how to dance, how to hit a ball, then hurry hurry to the tutor for homework practice then hurry for dinner then bed. Yes that is over scheduled b/c of the lack of down time.
In spite of the long list activities we still have tons of downtime.
So even though most of my homeschooling brethren are often lamenting, "Why do we call it homeschooling if we're never home" and most of us are calling to see who is free to play which day, I do not believe we over scheduled.

I can't help it!

2010-03-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's true, I can't help it and I apologize if I sound like I am pushing homeschooling. I just feel so sorry for those kids you tell me about. I feel sorry for the ones who are so anxious they make themselves throw up in the morning, the ones who can hold it together for school but let in to you when they come home. My heart breaks for the kids whose parents tell me, "she doesn't have any friends" "She thinks the teacher doesn't like her" and "they must sit quietly at lunch"
This isn't judgment. I don't judge you for sending your kid to school I REALLY don't but when you say things like, "I don't think I could I could do it" I want to change that. I want to empower you, show you that YES you can teach your child.
When I hear you tell me that your child wishes to be homeschooled I want to show you how easy it can be, especially in this state. I don't want you to think I am a pushy homeschooling mom trying to tell everyone how to live but that door feels left open for a reason. I sometimes think maybe you want me to convince you that you can do it, because I know you can.
While I don't think school is detrimental to every child, my own niece thrives in school. I do think that many do not thrive and actually end up solely surviving and that school grades are not the best assesmentof whether a child is thriving.
So Yes I would love to convince everyone to homeschool if they could so I apologize if I sound overzealous I just don't want you or child to miss out. There really is another way.

..but you live in a good school district.

2010-03-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

I do. I live in lovely town with "great" schools. What that means I guess is that most kids graduate and go to college. However in my circle of homeschoolers who take their kids out of school the complaints are such that I do not consider much of anything a good school district. kids that I know have been taken out to be homeschooled b/c class size was outrageous, kids having homework in Kindergarten, or kids spending all day coloring; Kindergartens that are full days and just way too much for a small 5 year old and kids who needed recess but were punished for talking so that privilege was taken away. Those are not good schools are not good school policies for children in my very humble opinion.
Good schools I can recognize but those are in my opinion charter schools which are very hard to come by in NJ. I do however love the The Ridge and Valley charter school philosophy and if I ever had to send my kids anywhere that is where they would go.
This http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2010/03/petition_circulating_to_save_c.html is from the "excellent" school district, which although not exactly my district, we are close enough neighbors that it could be.
Please for moment remember what Kindergarten was like for you. I remember the play kitchen, the big wooden blocks; which a student once dropped on "Miss" O'donnel's ankle and sent her to the nurse. I remember our round tables and warm milk and cubbies. I remember needing a smock for finger painting and using my father's old shirt.
I can't say I LOVED kindy but I do remember not hating it. The smell of warm milk is really the biggest memory for me and that smell is not pleasant so the association is not warm and lovey.
Kindergarten was for little kids to get used to going to school but that has been replaced with Preschool. The problem however is that kids are still 5 when they go to kindergarten and whether they learned to write their name in Pre K or not they are still 5 year olds that need lots of imaginative play, creative outlets and freinds. No one learns best by being lectured to but children need to figure stuff out.
They need to play and learn to play together. The brain is still growing and some parts of it are not ready for what we are shoving into it at this young age. This does not mean that we can't manipulate a kid and shame them inot learning something but where does that leave the desire to learn? What might a "red card" sent home for mis behaving do a child's view of education.
Is education all about being quiet and learning or is education bigger, louder wild and unleashed.
Information is everywhere not just in classroom full of kids and teachers and pricipals who think art is not as important as writing. Maybe they forgot the rule that art skills help develop handwriting. I don't know, but I'm glad my kids don't go to a "good" school.

Field trips...

2010-02-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

If you went to school as opposed to being homeschooled do you find yourself remembering fondly going on field trips? Or do you remember being worried about a seat mate on the bus? Was the trip special because of a school bus or a walk to town? In grammar school were you especially proud to have your parent along as a chaperon? Maybe a special brown bagged lunch?
Well those are my memories, anyway. the good and bad about riding bus. I was worried about having a freind to sit next to and was thrilled to find Yoo hoo in my lunch bag. My dad was always the chaperon because Field trips were on Wednesdays and that was his day off. My father was in charge of the unruly kids.

The Butterfly school school bus leaves on class trips several times month on average. I, the bus driver, load up my 2 students. We go on so many field trips it seems we are mistakenly labeled homeschoolers. We really do so little at home that might look academic. Although we live by the rule that we are learning all the time somethings just look better as learning. field trips work well for pictures of learning.
I know school kids go on class trips and adore them and learn from them as well. However the nice thing about homeschool field trips is that we rarely go just once. You don't need to learn all there is to know or experience on that one trip.
The other side of the homeschooling field trips though is, there is never Yoo Hoo in your lunch box, although that may be a sign of the times and so not so much homeschooling. The other thing is, if your feeling unruly your own mom is right there to take care of it, that could be a plus or minus depending on your feelings.
See ya on the road my fellow homeschoolers.

Fosterfield's

2010-02-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

Fosterfield's is a living farm that runs as though it is still in the 1800s. this year they did the maple sugaring and I still prefer it over at the Great swmap but it was interresting to see the farm in the freezing cold. (ok maybe not interesting b/c it was FREEZING) but I suppose it had some educational value right?

Anyway, I love this farm (in the spring most of all) because the kids really get hands on experience and great time outdoors. In the summer they can wash clothes by hand after filling the bucket from a pump then hang them on the line to dry.

The kids' favorite part in the winter was churning butter because it was inside. and in the summer they like washing the clothes and looking for barn cats.

2010-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

We celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King jr. By watching the youtube video of his speech. The kids take in very little but the power of that man's voice will not be lost on them. what he says they can't fully grasp but they and anyone who watches can feel the power behind those words.
Celebrate his life today and always!

2010-01-17T20:13:00.001-08:00

2009-12-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

..and here we are on a school day doing what we believe is important work; Fighting against discrimination. We were in and out of the State house. We were at the state capitol and talked about the marriage rights not as a gay issue but as a civil rights issue. We do not believe that the government should have laws that discriminate.

Madlibs!!

2009-12-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Sure they're obviously good for teaching parts of speech but you know what, Johanna has been hiding a hidden skill; her handwriting!
There she was asking for parts of speech and how to spell things when I looked over the sheet and what do I see? Perfectly written letters all small and fitting on the line provided.
School teachers have no idea how lucky they are that she is homeschooled. My beautifully stubborn little girl who knows herself so well she does not need to prove anything to anyone.

Our own game show

2009-11-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

The kids created a game I like to call, "the point game" It started off with me trying to get them to stop fighting in the car and with them bickering about some arbitrary points they were assigning to things.
So our game involves questions and points. It's kind of like that game show with Drew Carey, Whose line is it anyway?" b/c just as in that show, "The points don't matter. Just don't tell my kids that.
The kids tell me the points they want and I give them a question worthy of that value based on their age. Sounds official doesn't it?
Johanna prefers just regular questions whereas Michael likes me to ask him to spell things.
The nice thing about this game is that there can be no cheating b/c you are allowed to ask for answers or help b/c that is considered research.
So a game might go like this:
Johanna: "I want 3 points"
Me: Ok what is your full address
Whereas a 7 pointer might ask which president freed the slaves.
My favorite answer to: What do the 13 stripes on the American flag represent? came from a very confidant Johanna when she said, "The 13 original continents."
Also since the last gubernatorial election we have had some conversations about the role of government and we talk about freedom. So some of questions are based on that.
Today after a great day at birthday party where the kids bounced in a bounce house played on the playground, did lots of running and enjoyed cake and hot dogs my kids piled into the van buckled up and Johanna said, "Now what were we talking about? oh yeah the governor"
she got 10 points!

The intrepid Air and space museum

2009-11-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

What an amazing day! As I drove my van down the west side highway I saw it in all it's hugeness. I yelled, "Look!! look out Michael's window! there it is the ship. We're going to go on that ship!! Holy cow it's soo big!!!"

Johanna asked what the baby planes were doing up there. Later she would see they were not baby planes at all. A lesson in perspective I suppose.
We went to the museum for reciprocal day b/c we are members of the Newark museum. I probably never would have thought to go otherwise or would not have wanted to spend the money.
However for "free day" it was worth a shot. The kids got feel for how incredible it was to be on ship that big. The flight deck was jaw dropping and yet inside the ship was so little b/c of all the narrow hallways. Bunk beds that went to up to 5 were a huge hit with each declaring no one had to be on top or bottom!
I'm not one who keeps the guns play under wraps so the kids got to play "good guy bad guy" and pretend they were firing off the big guns. I didn't tell them that the bad guys at the time were the Japanese b/c I don;t think we needed that much history. It was more for the enjoyment of the ship and honestly I would have felt very uncomfortable b/c there were Japanese tourists on the ship. I wasn't ready to field those sorts of questions. Luckily my kids were happy to have an unnamed "bad guy" that they could shoot unencumbered by guilt.

It was an amazing experience.

2009-10-22T19:48:00.000-07:00

While Johanna is parked firmly in the "I hate handwriting camp" Michael really wanted to learn to write his name. I thank Handwriting without tears for the simple instructions; "Start at the top" I never thought it mattered which way a kid wrote as long as they got the letters on the paper but boy what a difference starting at the top makes. Although I still can't used to the strange way they line the paper.

No more inching along the wall

2009-10-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Remember my little wall cling on? Well 4 weeks into skating lessons the kid can move. She can even go backwards.
Michael is having a bit more trouble but he keeps on trying.

What I did on my summer vacation

2009-09-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

People often ask me if we stop during the summer. Are you kidding? we get in our best learning in the summer.
Our summer was chock full of trips to the shore where the kids went fishing and crabbing and jumped waves and made sand castles.
There were camps attend; Music camp which stunk b/c my kids were the only ones enrolled. Theater camp where Johanna said her big line,(after much prodding from the other kids on stage) "Holy cow" in play the class wrote themselves; there were the day camps at the museum; Colonial food camp was a big hit, what with making butter and tea bags. There was Reduce reuse recycle in colonial times camp and Gargoyle camp for Michael, whose theater camp got canceled b/c of low enrollment (If only music camp did the same thing)
Johanna passed the deep water test and was allowed to go down the slides at the pool. My big regret is that I never brought a camera to capture her jumping from the diving board or splashing in off the slide.
Theater camp, besides being fun, also gives us a taste of what it's like to have to get ready right away in the morning. It was hard for 2 weeks and I am glad I don;t have to do it for 9 mos.
so no, homeschool doesn't get time off for the summer or even snow days. Even with the bit of sit down academics we do, I save for it for "nothing else to do" kind of moments.
..Yet somehow in those flung together brief moments, Michael has learned to recognize words like Cat, Pen , Hen, Michael,Johanna, hot and pot.
and Johanna can skip count by 5s and 2s and sort of by 3, In the big picture though I think bike riding, ice skating and swimming take priority over the academics for now. If a child's work is play I want my kids to have all the play tools available to them.
Next semester..jump rope!

Love the canal museum! Love homeschool days!

2009-09-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a little secret. On the top floor of the Crayola factory is the canal museum. Why is this a secret you ask? I don't know. we've been to the Crayola factory twice and each time I tell someone how much we LOVE the canal museum I am met with, "we've been there I didn't know about that place.
So in case you didn't know,I'm letting the cat out of the bag. We are not an especially crafty family. Everything my kids paint turns into a body art competition. Paper is cut for the sheer thrill of cutting and not so much for making anything. So while it's fun to do some out of the ordinary coloring at The factory and of course seeing crayons get made is great, the canal museum is our favorite part.
There are boats and an awesome water table where I really want to push all the kids out of the way and make a really wavy stream; sheer will power keeps me from doing this. I let the kids make their own formations and I live vicariously through them.
There are pulley systems and a tain table. Johanna loves dressing the donkey. when the weather warms up we can go on an actaul canal ride with a doneky (this part does costs extra but the museum is included in the price of admission, which during homeschool month was only 6.50)
So while i would recommend the Crayola factory I would HIGHLY recommend spending more upstairs! but don't leave without your free model magic!

A little more ecclectic than unschooly these days.

2009-09-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

I got a nice deal on a program called, "ABC teach" on the homeschool buyers Co op. It was 20 dollars for a year membership. So every morning my kids find a word search or dot to dot on the table for them. The cool thing about the dot to dots is the choices. I can choose count 2s or 3s or 5s. or even words or the alphabet. I'm having so much fun playing around with all the worksheets...aggh did I just say, Work sheets? I meant puzzle games. I have to figureout how to do some of the other ones.

Michael is also now old enough for Starfall so he loves that. The kids are also enrolled in some classes this fall. Both kids are taking music and ice skating lessons and Johanna is taking swimming lessons also. Michael is once again a swim class drop out!
These swimming and ice skating lessons seem the most important to me. The more you can do the more options you have for play. No need to sit on the sidelines b/c you can't skate or swim. My kids will be able to get in on the action. I'm not sure if learning how to skate is the same as riding a bike; Once you learn you never forget, but I like to think these skills will help them when they become parents as well. They can help their own kids along the ice and enjoy lots of fun together b/c they will know how to play lots of things! I am not looking to make little athletes out of my kids. I want only for them to have little background so they can go off and feel secure in any type of activity.
Bike riding, swimming, ice skating all the things a well rounded childhood are made of...oh and don't forget the work sheets!

On the move

2009-08-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Were you ever moved to tears by the sheer determination of your child?
I was crying watching Johanna inch her way along the wall. No she did not want help and she could do it. Inch inch inch...then she let go and was so proud to move her feet across the ice. she turned to the kid behind her and joyously yelled, "I did it" She turned back around ; inch inch "I can skate!!" she beamed. What she could do was ever so slightly move her feet so she didn't need the constant support of the wall.
Tears poured down my face as she inched along.

This week Johanna also learned to ride her 2 wheeler. Last year we tried the "Hold the seat and run until the kid takes off" method but she just fell over and over. We put the wheels back on and stopped pushing her.
This year, as she she clanked down the driveway 3 bumps with her very well worn training wheels She noticed she was staying in the middle. So we took the training wheels off to see how she would do. She took off riding. The first night she had trouble actually getting on the bike and going but once on she could ride.
The next morning I lowered her seat and she could balance easier and off she went, an independent bike rider.

Ah the joys of the outdoors or not

2009-06-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

So outdoorsy we homeschoolers are; Aren't we? Well if by "we" you mean, "the kids" then yes.
I am not the outdoorsy type. Sure it looks like we are b/c I consider time outdoors essential for optimum growth of young bodies and minds.
Touch the leaves, feel the grass between your toes, climb a tree, feel the breeze, see the butterfly, all awe inspiring just not to me.
The day we took the strawberry pictures I reached down and saw a snake in between the plants. I let out a scream and ran far up the path. 2 other mothers said, "what happened?"
"A snake" I cringed. The other mothers were crestfallen. I had let them down, my own homeschooling brethren. I was not calling the kids over to inspect this cool specimen, I did not wrangle it Crocodile Hunter style. I wouldn't even pick strawberries in that row again.
"A garter snake! It was a garter they don't even hiss" I was told. I do not care if they hiss or not. they slither and wiggle and are in fact SNAKES...so I hightailed it to the end of the aisle where my homeschooling license was abruptly revoked.

Math at a snail's pace

2009-05-27T13:45:00.001-07:00

We played counting games and had snail races as we caught more and more snails on the crab traps.

JP Licks...

2009-05-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

When we got home from Boston Johanna wanted to write a letter to Jp Licks .
It was a painstaking ordeal b/c writing is not her favorite thing to do and she struggles with letters like, "S" and "W". Also the letter, she was writing, needed to have punctuation, which isn't really something we have gone over at all.
I wish I had taken a picture of the letter but I did not. Anyway, she wrote and told them how much she liked the ice cream and she asked a question about the decoration tea cup ride which you could sit in but it said, "Please do not spin". Johanna was curios about this b/c it didn't spin anyway so she wanted to know why it said that.

Well can you believe that wonderful Josh over at JP Licks wrote her back? A very nice handwritten letter. He thanked her and explained that the tea cup used to be an old ride. We didn't actually get the answer to her question but it was first and foremost so kind of them to write her back.
I am so impressed that I want to tell everyone who heads off to Boston to please stop by JP Licks and enjoy some nice homemade ice cream!

Wordless Wenesday

2009-05-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Make way for us!!

2009-05-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

I don't remember how old Johanna was when we got the book, Make way for ducklings but I do know that right after reading it, for the first time, I thought, "Hey this would make a great field trip!"
...and it did!
It was a day trip many years in the making. Everytime I read that book I planned in my head going to Boston and following the route of the ducklings. The funny thing is I didn't realize that many people before me had the same idea.

Finally my kids were at an age to appreciate the "tour" I had someone willing to come along and help navigate.
I was thrilled to learn that there would statues of almost all the ducks; Mrs. Mallord, Jack, Kack, Lack,Mack, Nack ,Oack, Pack and of course quack!
No Mr. Mallord though and we assume it is b/c he did not take the same trip.
The kids quacked up Mt Vernon street and we all thought better of trying to cross over to the Charles river since we would now be crossing a 4 lane highway. Mrs. Mallord at least had some help from officer Micheal. We just pointed and said, "this is where they crossed"

Our nagging question since reading book was, "Do ducks really eat peanuts?" In NJ they are always fed bread so we brought peanuts nd do you know what? Boston ducks love peanuts! They would eat them right out of our hands. (We did learn later we were not supposed to feed the ducks but we honestly did not know it at the time)

We rode the swan boats and ate JP licks ice cream (Oh wait that wasn't in the book)
I am so thrilled that this trip came to frution.
Since it rained the 2nd day we only saw Paul Revere's house and The old Norht church (And a really cool automated port a potty) but by then the kids were soaked and really done walking around in the rain.
this is a trip I defiently plan on doing again..who's with me! Quack!!

I can't wait for Monday

2009-04-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

I am going to call my nephew on Monday, say around 10 or 11am. Monday is his first day of not going to school.
Friday was his last day of school. Oh he hated it there and didn't want to go back. I wish every kid who begged, "Please don't make me go" could hear back, "OK" what a collective sigh of relief that would be.

Tea party protest (Wordless Wednsday)

2009-04-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrate Yoda style

2009-03-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

Yoda stopped by stop N shop and dropped off this cake for Johanna to celebrate her new milestone.

..and on the matter of subjects

2009-03-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Why is home ec considered and extra curricular activity? why is it not pushed more and kept on the same plane as say, Algebra?
I remember taking sewing in 7th grade and barely learning how to make a wrap around skirt. Nobody cared whether I could do it or not. Truthfully not even me. Cooking was joke and we learned how to make one meal and planned out the menu from start to finish. What if I didn't want to make the dinner? Would I have gotten a tutor? Would letters be sent home, "Valerie is not doing her cooking homework and may not graduate" ?
I don't think so.
However, not finishing my assigned accounting homework almost held back my diploma. who decides what classes are important?
At no point in my life do I wish I had paid more attention in chemistry. Sure there are important chemical reactions that a person might need to know about..and I can't tell you how many times I have needed to know the periodic table (Oh wait only when someone orders water and I write h2O)
This is not to say that kids should not be taught these subjects. Yes kids should be taught everything but they should not be taught that one set of learning is more valuable then another.
when I was high school I had a tutor for algebra and when I asked her, "Why do I need to know this? I'll never need it?"
she gave me this answer, "It's exercise for your brain"
I know it sounds silly but that really changed the way I thought about all my classes. I didn't even particularly like that tutor but that answer has always stayed with me.
I went from straight Ds to high Bs and even a few As in that algebra class. However what I really wish was considered equally as important was sewing and cooking. Those are skills I could use. Skills I need.
Imagine the shift in thinking if home ec were considered more important than algebra or Ancient and medieval history. Principals calling home for dropped stitches and rosemary chive mix ups (Did he even study the recipe at home?" )
It's funny, too b/c when people ask about homeschooling they get very worried that I I wont be able to teach things like, chemistry or calculus...but no one ever worries about my kids not learning to sew or cook. Those are 2 skills that they will need no matter their life direction or career choice. Those are thoe ones I need to really bruah up on.

News bulletin...we are no longer homeschooling

2009-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

From now on when anyone asks about school I am just going to say,. "they don't go"
I am imagining something like this:
"What grade is she in?"
"She doesn't go to school"
"Oh...at all?"
"nope"
"you homeschool?"
"No no school at all...home or otherwise"
"oh..I mean you must do something?"
"Holy cow yes..I am very busy"
"no I mean to teach them..don't you have to do something"
"I don't think so"
"Aren't you worried they wont to be able to go to college or even read?"
"No"
"don't you have to report to the school or something"
"no"
"Is that legal?"
"Yup"

See I don't think I am schooling them at home. Sure I'm educating them but parents who have their kids in school are educating their children as well. Mine just don't have added in a routine stop for several hours a day away from me.
So we are officially not sending our kids to school...but we are not homeschooling.

Not to diss a man on his birthday but....

2009-03-08T18:38:00.001-07:00

Johanna is not a huge Dr. Suess fan. As a "preschooler" (Do homeschoolers use that classification? I don't know) she was actually terrified of many of his books.
The only story she loved was the ever popular, McElligot's pool
What? You never heard of it? I'm shocked ;)
Anyway I think she liked it b/c it had to do with fishing. She also did enjoy Green Eggs and Ham as toddler but really that was it.
Cat in the Hat made her shake with fear..that was just the cover. I can't say if we ever read it or not.
So as Johanna is learning to read the very fun Dr Suess books are not really her choice. Maybe later when her reading is stronger but they do not capture her the way they do for so many other children. Mostly they confuse her or scare her.
Up until today I was using a book called "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons but I had used up all my renewals so back to the library it went. It is on hold again but, until we get it ,I wanted something easy for Johanna to practice reading. Many of the easy readers are still just a little too hard throwing in words that are good for the story but not good for sounding out.
So I went with a very classic standby. Dick and Jane. These are the books that my mother used to learn how to read. I have heard they are quite out dated and dull compared to todays fun Dr. Suess easy readers.
All I knew was that Dick and Jane had a cat so Johanna would be happy.
Tonight she read 2 chapters entirely on her own.
Yes, the words are simple..yes the stories are repetitive but the illustrations are adorable. Johanna does not seem to mind the simplistic story and actually got quite a kick out of "Puff" as the baby and jumping from the stroller.
The nice thing about these stories is that she can feel that sense of accomplishemnt over the story.
Yes the stories are simple but so is childhood.

Shhhhhh.....

2009-03-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

Can you keep a secret? Well you know the truth is some days I worry that I am not cut out to do this at all.
I can't really tell anyone that because the first reaction is, "well put them in school"
I often think I either am a martyr or people think I am. I can't always figure out the truth. If a kid in school is doing poorly or acting out you don't often hear, "Well just pull him out and homeschool him" but as homeschoolers life has to be perfect or people question us and I sincerely think they don't really want to help b/c well, we did this to ourselves. Just put them in school..as though that would solve all the problems. In my opinion I really think it would create more problems but again...no one wants to hear that.
So my blog has pictures of smiling learning children in their happy carefree homeschooled life. There are no pictures of the bad mommy AKA teacher moments. There are no photos of the worry I have for my daughter and how something is just not right. How I see her struggling in some inside way that has nothing to do with homeschooling but will assuredly be blamed on it.
I joke that she is not "that way" b/c we homeschool but rather we homeschool b/c she is "that way".
Her anxiety peaks and puts everyone on edge. I hear, even my husband's thoughts, "Put her in school"
and sometimes when I am on my last ounce of patience..I want her in school but not for any other reason then; I need her to get into enough trouble, that someone looks into it. That someone says, "this child needs help" That something IS wrong. I don't know how to to go about telling someone what I see when it's so hard to explain anxiety and not have it sound like a child who needs to be disciplined more effectively or a child, who of course is like that, b/c she is homeschooled.
But Shhhhh don't tell anyone about that.

No cafeteria food

2009-02-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

...and no one sits alone

Sending my own interim reports....

2009-02-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

Please advise: Johanna is still talking in class. She laughs during reading group. Today she played Star Wars with her friend instead of sitting down for lunch.
She thinks it's funny to refer to the President as "Barrcoli Obamaali" She is not interested in coloring.
As for Michael
He dances during the reading group he is not even in. He insists on trying to sound out letters. He insists we call him Luke or R2D2. He has shown up in a dress and pig tails.
Both kids are chewing gum in class. Both kids spend more time playing with other kids than they do on book/seat work.

Thank you for homeschooling!

We don't know nothin 'bout no book learnin'

2009-02-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

This is Johanna in her swimming class learning to dive. I got permission from the swim teacher, "Miss" Sarah that I could post her pic as well.
I think a myth of homeschooling (and also something that might worry people) is that We as parents do all teaching. My own mother was concerned that perhaps when it was time I would be unable to teach higher math subjects.
The thing is though we utilize everyone as teacher b/c no one in my kids' lives is the be all end all "Teacher" No higher authority for my kids to hold over my head and say, "but that's not how Miss Teacher told us to do it"
Sure my kids take classes but the teachers mostly are other parents or someone who is very knowledgeable on a particular activity.
Sunday school teachers are volunteer moms and dads, maybe some are licensed teachers for their "day job" but it is not a requirement.
Johanna is taking a class on winter at the OEC and that guy who teaches is fabulous. The kids trek through the woods and search for birds and trees and twigs. learning how to identify each on the way.
"Miss" sue at the Y has helped Johanna transition from mommy and me classes to drop off in a very gentle way..as far as my experience the only Y teacher who was truly helpful in this endeavorer when Johanna was 3 and 4. She has connected with Johanna and lends her books from her personal collection.
I read once that in a small town in (I think) Italy school teachers are often over the children's homes for dinners and all the families and teachers spend much time together so that there is a connection...a trust built for the kids and for the teachers and the families.
And even if my kids were never enrolled in a single class I still could not look to myself or Mike as the sole teachers. At the Morris Museum just the other day the grandmother to a little girl we didn't know was trying to tell her granddaughter about the ink well pens and Johanna gleaned a bit of really cool info from her..so a quick teacher moment but lesson none the less. We would likely attend programs or plays or museums. We might watch the history channel or Youtube. Speakers and artists are everywhere. Grandparents who know how to sew or to swim. Friends who teach what friendship means and adult friends who teach about far away lands such as England. They all go about living their lives and help me homeschool my children Most of whom never wear a "teacher" label but teaching all the same.

Barracoli Obama

2009-01-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

Well we have a new President. Wait that should be; holy cow! A new era in American history. We have elected a president who is man of color.
It was tightrope walk for me teaching this to the kids. I did not want to miss this very historical election. However I also did not want to harp on the idea that finally a back person was elected b/c the subject is fraught with so many layers that I don't think they can fully grasp.
Also..uh I didn't vote for him.
My kids know perfectly well that my guy didn't win. They also know my guy never wins. My kids had been known to say, during the election season, "Vote 3rd party" Michael was particularly thrilled b/c 3 is his favorite number.
They were prepared that our guy wouldn't win. So I wanted them to understand the importance of this election but I did not want them to think I was happy that he won.
Tricky subject.
So it was good that the inauguration came around during Martin Luther King's bday. Last year I showed Johanna MLK's speech on Youtube and she really liked the part where he talks about the little children all holding hands.
Obviously the speech doesn't hold her interest long but we listened to it again this year and I plan on making it yearly event. (As an aside if you've never heard the whole speech please go and watch it. It is incredibly moving. The speech will move you to tears and then you might just be crying a little more abut his death. He was truly AMAZING)
This year we had small set back when she saw a video about MLK in Sunday school and some of the video scared her. So we had to tread lightly and then get back into the discussion. But anyway...we talked about how some people thought b/c others had another color skin that they couldn't be friends with them or that they had to drink from a different water fountain. I asked her if that made sense. She agreed it did not. I did tell her that even though many people were wrong in their thinking that not ALL people were like this. That there were people who helped and knew that everyone should get to be friends and skin color should not matter or eye color or anything else about one's appearance. Only how one treats others.
She knows, also, that her great grandmother was known to say, "I don't judge people on how they look but rather whether they can look me in the eye"
What makes it trickier is that I don't have kids who ever once asked me why someone looks different. They never ask about skin color, disability, tall, fat nothing. My kids are just happy to play with anyone who will play them.
I did not want them to now see something they never did before...but how do you discuss the first black president without discussing skin color? Tricky!
So luckily whole foods had some coloring pages for the kids and we got a couple of those and the kids sat watched and colored. I cried.
Aretha Franklin brought me to tears (yup even in that hat) and seeing this historical moment really moved me. I let go of the Democrat being elected for just the inauguration and was so happy and proud that this country with a vile hateful past of discrimination and judgment and violence that all these people came together to say, "It does not matter his skin color, we need a new man for the job" That our country was able to overlook what so many generations harped on; what so many generations murdered for and tortured for. Imagine being afraid to walk down the street lest one white person decide you shouldn't be there...and now so many colors came together and said, "We know what's right" We came together on MLK's bday and elected the first black president. Even a libertarian can see the beauty in that.

My kids however..eh they were a little bored. they were munching on broccoli and thought it would be much funnier to call him barracoli obama.

Ok so now we're "eclectic"

2009-01-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

Doesn't that sound lovely? "Eclectic". It just means that now we do things that some people might recognize as school but not so much so that it might confused for an actual curriculum :)
Everyday after breakfast we do one lesson in "100 Easy lessons for teaching your child how to read" this is what's called, "the DISTAR program and I highly recommend it for any kid wanting to learn to read. It is amazing and really showed me what I was doing wring in the teaching to read department.
The sound blending and step by step approach is easy and quick.
Johanna is learning quickly and even Michael comes over and does the sounds with us. who knows maybe they'll learn to read at the same time.
Wouldn't that be great?
I don't really like or even think it is necessary to push academics but reading feels different to me.
Once kid a can read their whole world changes and they can do and learn anything. So, I am not unschooly enough to leave learning to read up my child. Perhaps if she were struggling, and seriously fighting it, I might consider postponing it; as I did with handwriting but, since she is catching on I see no reason to slow down simply b/c it was my idea and not hers.
So our workload looks now like:
Learning to read everyday for 10 minutes
Johanna has just started an amazing music class and has already decided she wants to play the violin. She goes every week...seriously I wish it were more.
She is also signed up for 4 winter classes at the swamp. The first one got canceled already due to snow and ice. Seems to me they are going to have to hold the winter class in the Spring.
So then the rest of the day consists of playing, picking up toys and alternating being best friends with her brother and fighting him for everything.
I look forward to the day where I hear hr reading to him just like my sisiter did for me.

The homeschool conversation

2009-01-11T18:59:00.001-08:00

"Is she in kindergarten?" is the small talk question of the day.
"No..we homeschool" I say bright and cheerful as if I am just telling them that she goes to school in another town.
Invariably I get;
"Oh I could never do that"
"you must be so patient"
"How do you know what to teach?"

I know some homeschoolers get sick of these questions. For now, and maybe b/c my kids are younger the questions don't bother me. I often find people are genuinely interested and I try to present it as just another choice. As though it were no different then then asking if she went to the local PS and I replied that, "no she goes to whatever private school"
I try to answer without saying how terrible I think the school system has become.
I explain that our initial decision was not based solely on the ineffectiveness of schools but, rather, on my daughter's high anxiety, in large groups. My fear of her getting labeled. All that is true.
I reassure parents who say, "I could never do that" That, in fact, yes they could. I do this not to mean, "Hey do what we're doing" but rather to say, "hey I'm no different than you"
The view of homeschooling is that we parents are either quite religious (nope) or that we are uber organized (uh double nope) and that we have the patience of 3 saints and Mother Theresa (definitely a big ol nope!)
This notion is because people view homeschooling as "school at home" they think what the schools we do. Except the kids have no friends.
That is just not true. Even parents who follow curriculum and teach what the school teaches are not doing school at home.
I can not imagine how anyone can recreate the institution that is school in their home.
For us we are unschoolers but becoming more eclectic. However I would never give this answer to some friendly sand box mom just trying to make conversation. When I am asked "So what do you do; how does that work?"
I try not to get all caught up in trying to represent every homeschooler b/c I could go on and on.
I try to keep it simple.
"Well we mostly follow their leads and incorporate lessons in real life situations"

The surprising thing for me, though, is the reaction of, "I agree with you."
The moms go on about troubles in school, no toys in Kindergarten, too many tests, too much homework, no time to be a kid. All things I leave out for my reasons to homeschool b/c I feel like they might feel the need to defend school.

They never do.

Snow days

2008-12-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

We got barely an inch of snow the day these pics were taken. The grass was still visible but the kids were so excited that it "Finally snowed" they bundled up and went playing. Johanna even attempted to build a snowman but frankly he looks more like mud man to me.
Last year the snow took forever and the kids waited and waited. It would lightly in the night so often but by morning it was barely anything.
It got so bad that I told Mike the next time it snowed in the middle of the night I was going to wake Johanna an let her play in it. (Michael was too small for such things)
as I recall we did end up getting some snow for them to play in but it was very late..Maybe in late January or Feb.
Anyway...this is all to say that while the schools don't close for less than an inch we here in Butterfly school have snowdays no matter the accumulation. However. my kids don't know the feeling of anticipating "no school". The odd feeling of being out and about when you might be doing science or math right now.
It's a strange dynamic b/c I still get that feeling.
snow days have different meaning for them..it just means it snowed. Luckily though snow when you're little is exciting all on it's own.
As of this post we did get more snow and I think the schools closed early on Friday. I think we have many snow days in our future if the winter is gearing up already. I think I better invest in some snow pants.

Good night Engines!

2008-12-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

We first found the book, Goodnight Engines at the library. It had an inscription inside from the author that read, "To all my friends at the (name of our town) public library, sweet dreams, Denise Dowling Mortensen"
Michael considered the inscription part of the story so when we got him his own copy he still wanted to hear the autograph.
So we pretended it was there and "read" it . We knew it by heart b/c we read so many times.
Earlier this month I saw a sign in the local bookstore that Denise dowling Mortensen was going to be there.
So off we went to meet the author and get Michael his own autograph.
I can not tell you how nice this woman was. She took time to really talk to Johanna and Michael. We had a nice conversation where she told me that did homeschool for a time. I also learned that authors of children's books don't really have say about the illustrations. She said she sends her story to the publisher and they choose the illustrator.
This explains why sometimes the pictures and the story don't match correctly. (A thing that bothers Johanna.) I always thought they worked side by side.
I told her about Michael loving the inscription in the local library's copy and of course she gave Michael his own autograph it reads:
To Michael,
Sweet dreams
Denise Dowling Mortensen.
So if you know a small child who LOVES trucks may I highly recommend this book to you.
http://www.denisemortensen.com/books/

Thanksgiving pics

2008-11-27T18:54:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving would not be complete without a game of football
Testing the oysters
Among the feast, Michael shops for black Friday deals
Look how beautiful the bread turned out
The Usborne books have arrived and Johanna decides to do some math and learn about Antarctica
Eeeeew raw turkey

We recreate the 1st Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T18:28:00.001-08:00

I was reading a book to Johanna about the 1st Thanksgiving. In the book it says that while no one really knows what the Pilgrims and Indians really ate it can be assumed that they ate, Turkey because it ran wild there, also they probably had clams, oysters and lobsters.
When Johanna heard clams she was thrilled.
"can we have clams?" she asked while licking her lips.
This year it was just going to be the 4 of us for the actual Thanksgiving day and I saw no reason not to enjoy the feast of whatever your heart desires.
So, "yes!...Johanna we can have clams" and oysters and...ok shrimp.
Mike wanted antipasti you know to commemorate the Italian settlers.
So please enjoy the pictures of our our thanksgiving..the first one here in our own place

Johanna enjoys her 1st oyster..she is one brave Pilgrim!
she never had an oyster before but could not wait to eat one. She enjoyed the clams but at the end of the night she did ask about Turkey. "Aren't we going to have turkey?"
Luckily I was cooking a turkey but I wasn't planning on it being served today...so I told her she could have turkey for breakfast...hey the 1st Thanksgiving lasted 3 days and I'm sure they had turkey for breakfast, too.

Adventure aquarium

2008-11-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here are the Loews pictures!!!

2008-11-16T21:19:00.002-08:00

I finally got the memory card to put the pics on my computer so here are the very funny pics from Build a truck.

Again I highly recommend doing this if you can.
..and again IT WAS FREE!!

Things you can't do in grammar school

2008-11-16T21:12:00.002-08:00

Stare out the window

Drink coffee while labeling your leaves

Fire Prevention week

2008-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

For Fire Prevention week we did what all kids do; we went on a firehouse tour. As it turned out though ours was really a firetruck tour.
Not much to the firehouse I guess.
the kids got to see what is on a fire truck and look through a heat sensitive light.
They saw what firefighter looks like when he's in all his gear and they were told how funny he looked and if he came to their house they should not hide under beds or in closets.
Near the end of the tour the chief was talking to me b/c I booked the tour and he told me he had hand outs and hats for the kids and this years focus was; "Preventing household fires"
I told him I thought that was good focus for a fire house and wondered what last years focus might have been.
In case your wondering if the kids got to slide down a pole they did not. Our firehouse recently relocated to a new home and when I spoke to the firefighter to make the reservation he said they had a pole but it was soley for nostalgic reasons.
Apparently even the firefighters are not allowed to slide down it b/c get this. "It's too dangerous!"
It seems even their, "but we're firemen!" lament is no match for the insurance companies.

I hear funding for art in school is suffering

2008-10-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

I hear schools are cutting out recess

2008-10-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

This really is the way we don't go to school

2008-09-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Since pictures tell a thousand a words I am cheating in these last few posts b/c it is so much nicer to see what we do.
Of course everyday is not a beautiful outing and some days are struggles about putting away toys. Or the time when Michael spit at Johanna b/c he was angry with her. I kind of lost my temper and reprimanded quite strongly telling (ok maybe yelling) "Michael you do not spit at your sister. It is disgusting and very rude...You may not do that"
Michael countered with, "YIKES!"
and "yes" I had stifle a giggle.
There are no pictures of those days. No pictures of us folding laundry but in our home we do it all and we do it all together.
We went to Lowes today for build and grow. It was build a fire truck day and we sat on the floor hammering nails and trying to figure out the the correct nail to use.
The mom next to me said, "Wow you took them both together you are brave!"
I said, "We're always together"
and we are.
I suppose I shouldn't get upset when the kids fight b/c they really are always together and who wouldn't fight with someone who is ALWAYS around. They even sleep in the same room.
Although I did find the comment odd. Who doesn't bring the kids together and in reality there were families there with 3 and 4 kids.
The only thing made me different was that I was the only not scolding my kids to "do it right" for 2 reasons..one I don't care if they nail it right so long as they are actually trying and 2 I couldn't do it right either.
Anyway..the Lowes pictures will come at another time b/c they are on memory card that our computer can't read. So enjoy all the rest of the pics!

Montclair Art Museum Indian Pow wow

2008-09-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

Indian Art

Butterfly school

2008-09-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

The cafeteria at "butterfly school"

The bird is nibbling Johanna's hand in case you don't see it
I love this action shot

Earlier this week it was the 1st day of school in our town. I decided to take the kids to the zoo b/c it was officially DD's first day of not going to school.
She would have entered Kindergarten this year. It felt to me like the last day of school...we celebrated freedom and we piled into the van and off to the zoo we went.
Johanna wanted the van to be our (home)school bus so she could pretend we were on a class trip.
I said, well we need name for our school then.
She decided on "butterfly school" fitting don't you think?
As you can see the "butterfly school" students had a great time in the new aviary at the zoo. We also spent at least an hour in the play ground. I was sitting next to the employee who is in charge of watching the playground and she said, "Thank goodnes all those kids are back in school...now things are quieter." Hee hee.

2008-08-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

So these are our Earth Scouts. http://www.earthscouts.org/.
Our first assignment was a project called, Urban birds
we met a nearby park and we had some books read by other members about birds and then we went on our excursion to site some urban birds. We had our lists and our binoculars.

Ok bird lookers let's go!!
Well first let's cross the bridge. Ok ok climb on the bridge, Oh that is cool waterfall. Yup it certainly is a good place to play pooh sticks.
Wait wait..no no no swimming. Please don't climb down so close.

Come on Earth scouters we have birds to find!

We do finally get the kids away from the bridge and off into the trail

Ooo look horses.
Oh wow look a ciccada
Watch the poison ivy
Is that snake?
Oh little pond.
whoops! Ok Michael take your wet shoes off. It was slippery I know.

wow another creek.
Not so far in
Not sooo
too far!

Wow did you see that caterpillar??
he was munching away on his leaf.

we had wet muddy kids. we had tired kids, thirsty kids, kids still ready to climb more trees.
Did we see any birds?
um I think 2.

The reason 5 year olds shouldn't learn about Helen Keller Part 2

2008-08-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

They think the movie is funny.

I showed Johanna and Michael a couple clips on youtube. They were both rolling with laughter at Helen's poor table manners and you just know they were rooting her on.
"Yeah Helen..no don't sit. don't listen. Hooray she wins!!"
Helen the unlikely hero to the wannabe unruly masses!!
Oh well. this still counts as learning history right?

Go for the Gold!!

2008-08-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Olympics are upon us. While I know many are boycotting watching for humanitarian reasons (and I totally respect that) we are not. I want my kids to see the athletes through their young innocent eyes. I don't want to tell them about human rights violations or the murder of the coach or even steroids or impartial judges.
They are too young to be bogged down by the politicalness of it all. We watch for the sheer excitement that the Olympics should be but really never are...or ever were as far as I can I tell.

I wasn't home to see the openning ceremonies but I asked Mike to put it on for the kids. The next morning i asked Johanna if she watched the show.
She told me she saw the fireworks.
I asked, "did you see the athletes walk in?"
"What are athletes?" she asked.

So in my home my kids are gymnasts today. They are leaping off the couch, turning cartwheels and wearing leotards. We made paper medals and they wore them proudly claiming they won the Olympics.
Michael was watching and waiting for a gymnast to spin in the air during her floor number. "fly fly!!" he cheered. Finally she did and he said, "yeah good job!!" clapping.

I guess they are learning what athletes are.

Johanna made a banner with " GO USA" (only her "S" is kind of backwards and looks more like snake facing the opposite way) and she drew a picture of the balance beam on it.

I want them to have the feel of an exciting game. Will they be looking up on Youtube, years from now, the USA team winning the swimming relay the way I was showing them Nadia, win the perfect score?
Who knows? I know I just don't want them miss out while they can still watch and believe the world is one.

The reason 5 year olds should not learn about Helen Keller....

2008-08-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I really loved the book, "Helen Keller". I read it over and over. I was in the fifth grade when we were going to act out characters from books we liked. I told my mom I was going to be Helen Keller.
My lovely mother explained to me that while it was great I took a such an interest in her life that acting out her life but come off as, "making fun" of handicapped people.
So I moved on to something else. I don't remember what else I was but I learned a little about tact.
Helen Keller however, is becoming a bit of a common thread for me.
Last year when we arrived, for the first time at our new Unitarian Universalist church we saw a banner that read, "Life is either and adventure or nothing" a quote by Helen Keller.
I read the banner to Johanna and told her who Helen Keller was. Just a bit about her being deaf and blind and than learning how to communicate.

So each week Johanna would ask me to tell her about Helen Keller.

So I thought it would be a good idea to get a Helen Keller book out of the library.
please remember that I also thought it was good idea to teach my daughter the song, White Rabbit and I also thought reading the real version of the Little mermaid was good idea. so you know my track record is sort of marred.

Well I take out the easy reader version. We read it several times..and my daughter now pretends to be Helen Keller. At 5 I don't think she would understand how this might appear as "making fun"
I don't think 5 year olds fully comprehend, "tact"

She isn't trying to hurt anyone's feelings by closing her eyes and feeling around to be blind. She's just doing what she does with all her favorite stories. She acts them out. It's just when she announces in public, "I'm Helen Keller" that certain uneasiness fills me.

When someone commented on her "Alice in wonderland" dress in Stop N shop Johanna asked me, "why didn't you tell them I was Helen Keller ?"

I just said, "well with the dress I didn't feel like getting into a whole conversation. "

So for us dear Helen, these are the adventures!

Hooray it's back to school time...

2008-08-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Why am I cheering you ask? Is it because all the kids will be off the playground during the day? No! Is it because I am looking forward to more questions about why Johanna isn't in school during the day? No!
Crayons folks..It's all about the crayons. 4 packs of Crayola crayons for ONE dollar. That's right the medium size box of 24 beautiful perfectly tipped waxy rainbowness on sale for ONE dollar.
Oh and let's forget notebooks, marble notebooks, looseleaf paper, folders..oh the joy that is Staples back to school sale.
I know my kids have very little use for notebooks and paper b/c they are so young but some day they will. Ok Ok it's for me. I love the perfection of new paper..new marble notebooks..did I tell you that you can TWO not one but TWO notebooks this week for 25 cents????
Ooo now..what should write in them???
Decisions decisions....

I hate defending homeschooling!

2008-07-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

I really just stink at it. What I love about homeschooling is the lack of pressure on kids, the lack of labels, the infinite number of chances kids have to be kids and learn academics later. I love that my kids can take their time to look at the bugs and not have to fill in a fact sheet about that bug.
I love that my kids can play and use their imaginations ALL day.
I really believe that their childhood should be about learning to love nature and pretending and climbing and running and NOT ABCs or counting.

Yet when faced with, "Oh how's home schooling going?" Do you guys use a curriculum? How do you teach math?

I get all caught up in school mind and talk about education and how Johanna can recognize words and is on the cusp of reading.
I talk about statistics and how homeschoolers are being sought out by high end colleges b/c of their ability to self learn. UGH!!

I want to say..homeschooling is great. We played Alice in Wonderland today. Johanna shared her Alice dress with Michael. I want to just say..."If you want to homeschool and are looking for help I would love to help you but if you just want to question what we do then please don't ask"

I don't.

and no we don't follow a curriculum and no we don't sit down each day at the kitchen table except to eat.
and no..I am not worried about college.
and to answer, "have you started?" yes we never stopped. From the day they were born we were teaching them. "do you stop for the summer?" No life and learning never stop.

I am amazed how indoctrinated people, myself included, are in the school mentality. I know what I am doing seems odd but truthfully if you look at the facts what I am doing is really normal. It's sending kids away that should be questioned.

Read to you!

2008-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that Johanna's first full sentence was, "read to you". she said it meaning ; "read to me"
This kid LOVES books! she was beyond simple board books before she was 1. I read the book C is for cookie before every nap and who knew that if read a book over and over it can actually make you nauseaus and even thinking about that book years later you will get queasy all over again.

A friend gave me the book Stellaluna as baby gift when she was born. We read it many nights and it soon became a favorite. I read this to her while she was in my lap on the glider chair. She wasn't even 1. she loved it (and still does) and I can still do most of it by heart.
For her 2nd birthday she received her 1st "chapter' book, The sign on Rosie's door" from Rachel, chloe and Ellie. It quickly became her favorite and we read it almost every night. I knew so many of her books by heart that I could read them outloud while falling asleep. Me falling asleep that is...not her! she has never fallen asleep listenning to a book and I often wonder if that is just in the movies.

Now we are into longer chapter books. We have read, charlotte's web. The mouse and the motorcycle, James and the giant peach, Wizard of Oz , The Lion the witch and the wardrobe and of course,Alice in wonderland and Through the looking glass.

I like the nightly chapter books and often if I am working at night I ask Johanna to have daddy read a different book b/c I want to hear the next chapter, too.

the cool thing is that I am reading a lot of classic stories and we try to read the story beofre we see the movie.

Some times this works out great. We compared the book version of Alice in wonderland to the Disney movie and to another live action version of through the looking glass. Other times it is probably best to stick to the movie versions. I don't mean like how we both preferred the movie Wizard of oz to the book version but more like I how scarred my daughter for life reading the real Hans Christian Andersen version of "The little Mermaid"

I had no idea the real version contained bloody feet, sharp knives unrequited love, death and such sorrow.
Sure some argue that the Disney version is sexist and yeah the little mermaid disobeyed her father...which she did NOT do in the book but the real version is downright creeepy.
This homeschooling is giving me a real education as well.

Music lessons....

2008-05-18T09:59:00.000-07:00

My kids are enjoying this Sesame street counting CD and they want to listen to it over and over. So we have bad music covered over here...however we also have some good ol Rock N Roll going on.
I am pretty sure there isn't a Kindergarten teacher anywhere who teaches her students, "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Starship.
I also know that is a good thing. However, really how can I help it when Johanna is so involved with Alice in wonderland ? We have read the book a couple times and she really loves it.
So how could I resist?
So if I have the choice of listening to, "My favorite number is 6" by Bert and Ernie or a little Grace Slick...I choose Grace every time.

Liberty science center....

2008-04-29T20:12:00.001-07:00

I chose the pictures that looked really educational b/c well this is our education blog. :) The micro scope picture looks very scholarly indeed however what your not hearing is Johanna saying, "nope nothin' in there"
The most wonderful about this membership which my parents so thoughfully gave us is that we have the luxury of time. No need to hurry to see and experience it all and get our money's worth.
On this particular visit we did not even have enough time to visit the water monitor and the poisonous frogs. Instead we lolly gagged around letting the nose in the "infection connection" exhibit sneeze on us...and by us I mean Johanna b/c Michael wasn't too sure it was a good idea to have giant nose sneeze on you. He sat in my lap but laughed heartily every time Johanna got sprayed. We stayed in "I explore" where Johanna climbed up and down the platforms and Michael painted with water and made cars. There were balls to shoot and flashlights to make shadows and when they were done we moved on.
and b/c we were able to really soak it all in we had time to reflect on what we saw. It wasn't all a blur of going in one room then the next and rushing to see or touch the next thing.
I know Johanna really took in some valuable infection information b/c when she got up this morning she announced, "I'm a germ!"
I'm not sure how much Michael took in b/c he is still "Shamu" from Seaworld.

Snap

2008-04-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

Guess who can snap? Yup..Johanna. She has been practicing and practicing and now she can do it. Now that she can she doesn't stop. *snap snap snap* go her fingers on both hands whenever they are not otherwise occupied by eating or trying to cartwheel.
That's her next endeavor. She can get her hands on the ground really well. Then she, kind of, leaps her feet; so it is more like jumping that actual cartwheeling. She's determined though to get it.
Also on her "To learn" list is bubble blowing with gum. She's got the chewing down really well and she gets it on her tongue but mostly when she blows , well the gum shoots off her tongue.
So her spring report card looks something like this:
Snapping A+
Cartwheel C
gum blowing B

As for spelling, Johanna handed me a piece of paper and said, "I wrote Michael on it" and you know what was on that paper? This:
MICL
Isn't that great??
She didn't ask anyone how to spell it (Obviously) and she sounded out all the right letters. I am really quite impressed by it.

I am glad the spring the weather is here b/c it is easier to practice cartwheels on the grass and if your gum blows off your tongue nobody cares.

Where have all the children gone?

2008-03-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

Afterreading this http://playborhood.com
I did my own informal watch. I drive to work approximately 25 minutes and on this trip I glanced back and forth when I passed houses. I looked for swingsets. I passed probably 10 or 12. Some I know are there and see all the time some were set further back and yet until I started counting them it never occurred to me that I have NEVER seen one kid on those swingsets.
The drive I take is the same route I have taken for years on and off. I pass beautiful homes with those nice wooden swingsets in the back. Some just have a single swing in a tree for a toddler and with the exception of one birthday party I saw a few years ago which consisted of a moon walk I never see the kids outside.

I do see them walking in town on their way home from school with back packs in tow. They are in groups heading off the bagel store for an afterschool snack and are probably middle school age and high school.
I see the smaller kids at the park when the weather gets nice and we head to our local park for climbing and sandbox digging but never do I see kids riding their bikes furiously down the street or playing in their front yard.
There is an advertisement in the magazine, "Wondertime" for the children's TV show, Clifford. A little girl is peeking out from a tree and behind her is The Big Red Dog and the caption reads, You could tell her about the big outdoors or let her experience it"
I am reasonably certain that a better way to experience the big outdoors is to actually go out in them and play and not watch cartoon animals doing it for you.
That might just be me though.
I can say however, that I do see 2 kids who play outside whenever it isn't really cold or lightening out.
I let my kids play in the rain in the mud , dig for worms climb trees.
The sad thing is it's just us.

From Amelia Bedelia to Henry Berg.....

2008-03-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

you may recognize the Easy reader confused easily character of Amelia Bedelia. She is the housekeeper who mixes just about everything up that is asked of her. When asked to put out the lights, she literally brings the light bulbs outside for some air.
The early books by the original author, Peggy Parish are silly and and fun to read. Johanna loves them. I tire of them easily but they do make her laugh.
Within their silliness there is a lesson of homonyms/phones and Johanna loves to point them out. The later books written by her nephew miss the mark sometimes as they seem to be trying to make point or prove a school of thought. In Amelia Bedelia the bookworm it seems the author is trying to teach kids to love to read instead of just having fun at the library with Amelia Bedelia.
I grant him a little slack though b/c he did keep the character alive after his aunt, Peggy Parish dies. He was never a writer and only wanted to keep the books alive.
Now that is an easy reader that kind of has me as the teacher. I do the reading Johanna learns and recognizes homophones/nyms and since the books were written ad illustrated by 2 different people over time Johanna tries to figure out who the author or illustrator was based on comparisons.
So that's a lot of learning in one style of book and we certainly don't stick to one style.
However, I was surprised when I picked up an easy reader at the library titled, The Man who loved animals.
I started to glance through b/c Johanna loves animals and the titled sounded like something she would enjoy.

As I started to read I was compelled to keep reading b/c this was not some silly easy reader with the same words over and over.
This was simple book with simple language but it was factual. I sat there in the kids section while my kids colored and *I* learned about Henry Berg.
I had never heard of him but he is the man who created animal and child protection laws. He founded the ASPCA and created laws against beating both animals and children.
When I read it to Johanna I do edit out the part where people used to drown puppies for a dime but I leave the rest in.
We read about how people worked horses too hard and Henry berg made water fountains for the horses in the street. We see an illustration of people being shocked when Henry Berg tells them , "they get thirsty too"
Johanna's favorite part though is when Henry Berg gives the kids puppies and kittens and says, "Kids have the kindest hearts and make the best pet owners"
So as I have been promised by all the homeschooling books..we are all learning together.
Stay tuned for how I learned to make paper boats!

or they could sit at a desk!

2008-03-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

These are my kids learning about bees. We saw the inside of the hive which includes the cells and the honey comb.
Mike brought the hive home for the kids dissect and they had a blast.
In the flood pictures you can see the paper boats that we (read, "I") made and the kids floated them out in the gigantic puddle that rose up in front of the apartment.

2008-03-10T19:47:00.001-07:00