Well, I attended my first WALDSFE (Washington LDS Family Educators) conference yesterday and it was great. Made for a long day, but I enjoyed it. There were 19 other ladies there ranging from those who have been homeschooling for 25 years (with two having graduated college, two in college, and three at home) to those of us who just rank in a year or two.
It was very refreshing to learn that those I would deem succesful aren't really doing things that much different than we are. At the same time I saw a lot of things that I would like to incorporate into our school.
Laurie (my friend from highschool that teaches Michael in Coop) was there and we were able to spend quite a bit of time getting to know eachother again, which was nice.
I left with a lightened feeling and an overwhelmed feeling. Not really overwhelmed about schooling my children, but overwhelmed at how much there is out there to learn, and how little of it I am familiar with. Reminds me of that saying "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
So true, I have learned more about things in general in the last six months than I ever cared to know, and yet I have this sinking feeling that there is just not enough time to learn everything I want to.
Speaking of that, there was a lady who was knitting socks! I immediately became intrigued and watched her probably more than I should. I had visions of my family running around in knitted socks next fall and winter. I may have to ask her to teach me how. (she is the wife of Seri's science teacher).
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Coop
We signed up for an LDS homeschooling coop awhile ago, but due to the snow and such their first day was yesterday. The kids really enjoyed it.
It meets once a week and the children have three periods. Each period they get their choice of three different classes when they register and the classes are taught by the mothers.
Seri is taking Intro to dance, Survival stories, and physical science. She is really enjoying all of them but wont stop talking aobut the physical science. I guesse he made almost pure oxygen by mixing hydrogen peroxide and yeast, and then did another "really awesome" experiment. When I picked her up, Seri and the teacher were talking about the SRB's on rockets and how much liquid oxygen the externals tank use, how it is stored, etc..... It's all a above me, but I guesse she found her niche.
Michael is in Pirates, Math and art, He is still hollering at me for not putting him in chess, maybe next sesmester. Of course his favorite class is Pirates.
Isaac is in the pre-school session and they worked on the letter A the whole time.
All the children are a little nervous about not being together the whole time, especially the boys. They are very close and the Coop is probably a good thing because it forces them to do things apart.
On an interesting note, one of the mom's and Michael's teacher for Pirates is a friend I went to highschool with. It was nice running into her again and we have a play date for next week.
It meets once a week and the children have three periods. Each period they get their choice of three different classes when they register and the classes are taught by the mothers.
Seri is taking Intro to dance, Survival stories, and physical science. She is really enjoying all of them but wont stop talking aobut the physical science. I guesse he made almost pure oxygen by mixing hydrogen peroxide and yeast, and then did another "really awesome" experiment. When I picked her up, Seri and the teacher were talking about the SRB's on rockets and how much liquid oxygen the externals tank use, how it is stored, etc..... It's all a above me, but I guesse she found her niche.
Michael is in Pirates, Math and art, He is still hollering at me for not putting him in chess, maybe next sesmester. Of course his favorite class is Pirates.
Isaac is in the pre-school session and they worked on the letter A the whole time.
All the children are a little nervous about not being together the whole time, especially the boys. They are very close and the Coop is probably a good thing because it forces them to do things apart.
On an interesting note, one of the mom's and Michael's teacher for Pirates is a friend I went to highschool with. It was nice running into her again and we have a play date for next week.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Couldn't have explained it any better
One Little Boy
Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy.
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside,
He was happy.
And the school did not seem quite so big
Anymore.
One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make pictures.
He could make all kinds:
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats-
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.
But the teacher said: "Wait!
It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make flowers.
And he began to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!
And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's flower.
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better that the teacher's.
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.
On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay>"
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and Snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks-
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.
But the teacher said: "Waite!
It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher.
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.
But the teacher said "Waite!
And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's dish.
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his dishes better than the teacher's.
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again.
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.
And pretty soon.
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch,
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon he didn't make things
Of his own anymore.
Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school. This school was even bigger
Than the other one,
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
And he waited for the teacher
To tell him what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.
When she came to the little boy,
She said, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," the teacher said.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, any way you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower,
With a green stem.
-Helen E. Buckley
Moore, Raymond. The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, INC, 1994.
Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy.
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside,
He was happy.
And the school did not seem quite so big
Anymore.
One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make pictures.
He could make all kinds:
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats-
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.
But the teacher said: "Wait!
It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make flowers.
And he began to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!
And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's flower.
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better that the teacher's.
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.
On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay>"
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and Snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks-
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.
But the teacher said: "Waite!
It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher.
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.
But the teacher said "Waite!
And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's dish.
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his dishes better than the teacher's.
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again.
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.
And pretty soon.
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch,
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon he didn't make things
Of his own anymore.
Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school. This school was even bigger
Than the other one,
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
And he waited for the teacher
To tell him what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.
When she came to the little boy,
She said, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," the teacher said.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, any way you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower,
With a green stem.
-Helen E. Buckley
Moore, Raymond. The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, INC, 1994.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Frustrated!!!
The children seem to like the new Internet Academy program but I am starting to get frustrated.
The other day Seri did a chapter on the Olmec's. I came to check her test and she had not passed, getting nearly half of the questions wrong. She asked to take it again stating that she was confident she knew the material. Once again she bombed. In sheer frustration I made her sit with me and go back through every lesson. Now the lessons are presented just like pages in a book that she has to read through. We drew maps, I constantly asked her repitious questions, we looked up things we didn't know but were curious about and generally did everything I could think of to make it sink into her brain. So after two hours she took the test again and did not miss a single question.
So why did she have such trouble the first two times? I think I have narrowed it down to a few reasons. First, she was in a hurry to "get through it". The material was just another obstacle for her to pass in her quest to stay on time with her assignments. There was no incentive to actually know the material, just to pass the test and move on, not to remember any of it beyond the day. Secondly, she could care less about the Olmecs and thus had no desire to truly learn it just because someone told her to. Besides, what is she going to do with her very limited knowledge of the Olmec people?
Somewhere along the line, love of learning for the sake of satisfying curiosity has been rejected for the sake of "well roundness". Let's make you a well-rounded person who knows a lot of crud about everything, but nothing significant about anything. The all to familiar "Jack of all trades, Master of none".
I truly regret that I did not homeschool from the beginning. That my children were exposed to these traditions of force-fed education. That passing a test means more than having learned, really learned- not reguritate, something new. Seri is in such a hurry....... she doesn't even grasp the true meaning of everything she reads. She now has this uncanny ability to memorize things she thinks will be on a test without really knowing anything. How is this OK? No wonder half the children the schools are producing really know nothing.
Michael on the other hand truly tries to learn but is so afraid of failing. Every time he answers a question, even if he knows it, he does it hesitantly, trying to see in your face any kind of sign that he is going to get it right. Such a response to the fear he felt during the short time we had him in PS.
It is amazing how much I am having to "de-school" my children. Finding ways to bring back their curiosity, question why about everything, become passionate about a subject or two, find joy in solving problems and peace and securtiy as they grow up way too fast.
So in spite of all of this, why can I not let go of some "formal" education. I have this fear that keeps me tied to some sort of resembalance of Public education even though what I really want to do is break free completely and bunk the system all together. Is it my fear of failing and society telling me "I told you so?". Is it my lack of trust in God when he reasures me according to my constant praying that this is what he desires for my family?
The other day Seri did a chapter on the Olmec's. I came to check her test and she had not passed, getting nearly half of the questions wrong. She asked to take it again stating that she was confident she knew the material. Once again she bombed. In sheer frustration I made her sit with me and go back through every lesson. Now the lessons are presented just like pages in a book that she has to read through. We drew maps, I constantly asked her repitious questions, we looked up things we didn't know but were curious about and generally did everything I could think of to make it sink into her brain. So after two hours she took the test again and did not miss a single question.
So why did she have such trouble the first two times? I think I have narrowed it down to a few reasons. First, she was in a hurry to "get through it". The material was just another obstacle for her to pass in her quest to stay on time with her assignments. There was no incentive to actually know the material, just to pass the test and move on, not to remember any of it beyond the day. Secondly, she could care less about the Olmecs and thus had no desire to truly learn it just because someone told her to. Besides, what is she going to do with her very limited knowledge of the Olmec people?
Somewhere along the line, love of learning for the sake of satisfying curiosity has been rejected for the sake of "well roundness". Let's make you a well-rounded person who knows a lot of crud about everything, but nothing significant about anything. The all to familiar "Jack of all trades, Master of none".
I truly regret that I did not homeschool from the beginning. That my children were exposed to these traditions of force-fed education. That passing a test means more than having learned, really learned- not reguritate, something new. Seri is in such a hurry....... she doesn't even grasp the true meaning of everything she reads. She now has this uncanny ability to memorize things she thinks will be on a test without really knowing anything. How is this OK? No wonder half the children the schools are producing really know nothing.
Michael on the other hand truly tries to learn but is so afraid of failing. Every time he answers a question, even if he knows it, he does it hesitantly, trying to see in your face any kind of sign that he is going to get it right. Such a response to the fear he felt during the short time we had him in PS.
It is amazing how much I am having to "de-school" my children. Finding ways to bring back their curiosity, question why about everything, become passionate about a subject or two, find joy in solving problems and peace and securtiy as they grow up way too fast.
So in spite of all of this, why can I not let go of some "formal" education. I have this fear that keeps me tied to some sort of resembalance of Public education even though what I really want to do is break free completely and bunk the system all together. Is it my fear of failing and society telling me "I told you so?". Is it my lack of trust in God when he reasures me according to my constant praying that this is what he desires for my family?
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Seattle Asian Art Museum
Our coop was supposed to visit the Seattle Asian Art Museum today. After a morning of dental appt.'s (takes awhile when you have three children seeing the dentist), we headed down to seattle. Of course we got there a little late and did not see anyone else from our group there.
We had a great time though. They are featuring an artist named Vik Muniz from Brazil. Man, this guy is talented!!!
He works with very odd and yet common day mediums. Some of his collections included art from paint chip cards, clustered small toys, mounds of odd things, dirt, sugar, peanut butter, chocalet.........
Each work of art had meaning also, he did a set called "Sugar kids". While he was in the Carribean he met children that were in poverty and worked on the sugar plantations. When he came home he copied pictures of them by using sugar on brown pieces of paper, amazing......
He did WW1 images out of toy soldiers, Frankenstien out of caviar, Medusa out of spaghetti (The children accused him of playing with his food), and our favorite, a double Mona Lisa, one out of peanut butter the other out of jelly. Here is a great link to the artist and his work.
http://www.artnet.com/awc/vik-muniz.html
I am off now to find a frame for our new peanut butter and Jelly Mona Lisa poster :)
We had a great time though. They are featuring an artist named Vik Muniz from Brazil. Man, this guy is talented!!!
He works with very odd and yet common day mediums. Some of his collections included art from paint chip cards, clustered small toys, mounds of odd things, dirt, sugar, peanut butter, chocalet.........
Each work of art had meaning also, he did a set called "Sugar kids". While he was in the Carribean he met children that were in poverty and worked on the sugar plantations. When he came home he copied pictures of them by using sugar on brown pieces of paper, amazing......
He did WW1 images out of toy soldiers, Frankenstien out of caviar, Medusa out of spaghetti (The children accused him of playing with his food), and our favorite, a double Mona Lisa, one out of peanut butter the other out of jelly. Here is a great link to the artist and his work.
http://www.artnet.com/awc/vik-muniz.html
I am off now to find a frame for our new peanut butter and Jelly Mona Lisa poster :)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Binary code over dinner?
Seri was working on her IA work today and they taught a small section on binary code. Unfortunately the explanations were not all that great. I could figure it out only if the numbers were 1 and 0, throw in any other number and I couldn't translate it. So, I told Seri to wait until her father got home.
When he did I promptly sent him to Seri's aid. The whole time I was cooking dinner I heard their chatter and what was strange was that it sounded like they were actually having a good time!!! Go figure.
So they come downstairs and I am pleased to hear Seri say that she now understands it. So she sits down with a piece of paper on which her father has written numbers using the base ten system for her to translate into a base two and vice versa. she is enjoying it so much that none of her dinner gets eaten.
Now at dinner time we have a ritual of High points, Low points, where each member of the family tells of their days high and low. Seri's high......"learning binary code!!!!
After dinner they are so thrilled with this new concept that they set out to teach it to me. Now I purposefully avoid math to all ends. That is the one area I have always used curriculum for the children in. (Saxon, and now Math-U-See). But despite my best efforts I couldn't dissapoint them and really tried to understand. So, now I understand it but just can't muster up the enthusiasm that they share for it. Now they are duscussing hexadecimal and base eight systems! Oh the joy (literally) of homeschooling. I will let math be their own secret language :)
When he did I promptly sent him to Seri's aid. The whole time I was cooking dinner I heard their chatter and what was strange was that it sounded like they were actually having a good time!!! Go figure.
So they come downstairs and I am pleased to hear Seri say that she now understands it. So she sits down with a piece of paper on which her father has written numbers using the base ten system for her to translate into a base two and vice versa. she is enjoying it so much that none of her dinner gets eaten.
Now at dinner time we have a ritual of High points, Low points, where each member of the family tells of their days high and low. Seri's high......"learning binary code!!!!
After dinner they are so thrilled with this new concept that they set out to teach it to me. Now I purposefully avoid math to all ends. That is the one area I have always used curriculum for the children in. (Saxon, and now Math-U-See). But despite my best efforts I couldn't dissapoint them and really tried to understand. So, now I understand it but just can't muster up the enthusiasm that they share for it. Now they are duscussing hexadecimal and base eight systems! Oh the joy (literally) of homeschooling. I will let math be their own secret language :)
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
"Worlds Without Number"
" O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then, sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art".
This was the opening song we sang to a presentation given by Robert K Wilson. How appropriate!
He is the project manager for SPITZER at jet propulsion labs, a contractor for NASA. This man and the amount of knowledge he holds is absolutely amazing!!
He has been involved in the 1976 Viking project that landed on Mars, Magelan, Galeleo, And Casini that went to Saturn.
SPITZER is one of four of the "great observatories". With the other three being the famous Hubble, Chandra, and compton. The hubble shows images in actual form, Chandra and Compton show images in X-ray form and Spitzer shows them in infra-red.
Herschel discovered infra-red when he was attempting to measure the temperature of the various colors of the rainbow. He noticed that one of the temperature markings had been jostled and was just outside the red line giving us infra-red.
The amazing thing about being able to see in infra-red, especially in space, is that you are able to see through all the clouds and space debris to see things that were never seen before because of the visual blockings.
Because of this advancement they are now able to see the actual evolutions of stars occuring.
The outside of Spitzer has to be maintained at -400 degrees farenheit so that it is cooler than the image it is focusing on.
He had slides that showed amazing pictures of stars that have never been seen brfore by the general public.
He also mentioned that the number of stars and/or planets is 70 sixtillion, that is a 7 with 26 zeros after it (or 700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, sorry just wanted to see what it looked like). To put that in perspective, if you were to take every grain of sand that is on the earth, it would still not be equal in number.
I loved listening to this man. He is so passionate and so knowledgable that I was left wondering what it would be like to sit and listen to him randomly talk about all the things he must know.
The best part was he tied these findings to things that we find in the scriptures.
* "And where it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations" Moses 7:30
* "And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words". Moses 1:38
* " But only an account of this earth, and the inhyavitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all tings are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them". Moses 1;35
And my favorite : " And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose;and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten". Moses 1:32
This was the opening song we sang to a presentation given by Robert K Wilson. How appropriate!
He is the project manager for SPITZER at jet propulsion labs, a contractor for NASA. This man and the amount of knowledge he holds is absolutely amazing!!
He has been involved in the 1976 Viking project that landed on Mars, Magelan, Galeleo, And Casini that went to Saturn.
SPITZER is one of four of the "great observatories". With the other three being the famous Hubble, Chandra, and compton. The hubble shows images in actual form, Chandra and Compton show images in X-ray form and Spitzer shows them in infra-red.
Herschel discovered infra-red when he was attempting to measure the temperature of the various colors of the rainbow. He noticed that one of the temperature markings had been jostled and was just outside the red line giving us infra-red.
The amazing thing about being able to see in infra-red, especially in space, is that you are able to see through all the clouds and space debris to see things that were never seen before because of the visual blockings.
Because of this advancement they are now able to see the actual evolutions of stars occuring.
The outside of Spitzer has to be maintained at -400 degrees farenheit so that it is cooler than the image it is focusing on.
He had slides that showed amazing pictures of stars that have never been seen brfore by the general public.
He also mentioned that the number of stars and/or planets is 70 sixtillion, that is a 7 with 26 zeros after it (or 700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, sorry just wanted to see what it looked like). To put that in perspective, if you were to take every grain of sand that is on the earth, it would still not be equal in number.
I loved listening to this man. He is so passionate and so knowledgable that I was left wondering what it would be like to sit and listen to him randomly talk about all the things he must know.
The best part was he tied these findings to things that we find in the scriptures.
* "And where it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations" Moses 7:30
* "And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words". Moses 1:38
* " But only an account of this earth, and the inhyavitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all tings are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them". Moses 1;35
And my favorite : " And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose;and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten". Moses 1:32
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Doughnuts and book clubs
Yesterday was an odd day filled with errands. The children did some of their work on IA and then we were off. After a few hours and a few errands we passed a Krispy Kreme and decided to reward them for great behavior with a stop. Lucky for us this was a shop that had a large windowed area where you could watch them make the dougnuts and they had just started on a batch.
The kids and I were fascinated as we watched them come off the rack and into a tunnel of grease, they then went through an oven and then passed by a man who was holding a tube with chocalet covering. They went through another oven and then a man at the end packed them up. We were noticing that there were points when the chocalet guy would purposely hold the tube over an area where there was no doughnut and let the chocalet run through the slats. We pondered for quite awhile on what the reasoning would be and at the end asked him. He explained that he had to let the chocalet run until the next batch of doughnuts was in the perfect position because if he held it over a doughnut to long the weight of the chocalet would collapse the doughnut, who would have thought?
There was also another home school group there. Of course we got to talking and they use a different curriculum and were trying to sell me on how wonderful it was. That is the other thing about homeschooling, it is hard enough to make the decision, only to make it and then find yourself bombarded by the different styles, methods, and curriculum that are availiable. Everyone has their favorite and one can quickly become overwhelmed. I have discovered that we need to decide on a year curriculum and then remain solid on that and re-evaluate come summer if needs be. The other thing is finding your style, School-at-home, waldorf, unschooling, child-led, curriculum based, no curriculum, the possibilities are endless.
Today we attended a bookclub that our coop has once a month. The members are largely Members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This was our first time meeting them and we had a great time. A completely different type than our other group and yet we feel very comfortable with them also. The fact that we share the same religion really helps. We read "A Cricket In Times Square" and I am not afraid to say that I cried at the end when Chester had to say goodbye to his friends and his friends were left at the station with "a million things left to say".
We discussed the book and the characters and listened to some of the musical pieces which Chester had performed n the book. We made origami cats and mice, ate fried rice, and then were given "cricketers" of our own. So we are now the proud owner of five crickets, not just one, no five.... They are comfortable in their fish bowl and we are just hoping that they survive at least a little while.
The kids and I were fascinated as we watched them come off the rack and into a tunnel of grease, they then went through an oven and then passed by a man who was holding a tube with chocalet covering. They went through another oven and then a man at the end packed them up. We were noticing that there were points when the chocalet guy would purposely hold the tube over an area where there was no doughnut and let the chocalet run through the slats. We pondered for quite awhile on what the reasoning would be and at the end asked him. He explained that he had to let the chocalet run until the next batch of doughnuts was in the perfect position because if he held it over a doughnut to long the weight of the chocalet would collapse the doughnut, who would have thought?
There was also another home school group there. Of course we got to talking and they use a different curriculum and were trying to sell me on how wonderful it was. That is the other thing about homeschooling, it is hard enough to make the decision, only to make it and then find yourself bombarded by the different styles, methods, and curriculum that are availiable. Everyone has their favorite and one can quickly become overwhelmed. I have discovered that we need to decide on a year curriculum and then remain solid on that and re-evaluate come summer if needs be. The other thing is finding your style, School-at-home, waldorf, unschooling, child-led, curriculum based, no curriculum, the possibilities are endless.
Today we attended a bookclub that our coop has once a month. The members are largely Members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This was our first time meeting them and we had a great time. A completely different type than our other group and yet we feel very comfortable with them also. The fact that we share the same religion really helps. We read "A Cricket In Times Square" and I am not afraid to say that I cried at the end when Chester had to say goodbye to his friends and his friends were left at the station with "a million things left to say".
We discussed the book and the characters and listened to some of the musical pieces which Chester had performed n the book. We made origami cats and mice, ate fried rice, and then were given "cricketers" of our own. So we are now the proud owner of five crickets, not just one, no five.... They are comfortable in their fish bowl and we are just hoping that they survive at least a little while.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
School shooting
Yesterday an 18 year old shot a 17 year old in their highschool which is in the next school district from ours. Made me thankful that I know where my children are and who they choose to be with. They are safe at home with me.
Why on earth would I insist in sending my children to a place where the chances that they are exposed to some physical and emotional harm each and every day are great. A place where they will be made to feel as if they are in some way less than the person next to them, a place that makes them believe no matter what they wont do good enough. Somewhere where they understand that to learn means to memorize, regurgitate and get an A instead of recognizing that rush and enthusiasm that comes when you are truly learning. A place where they are told by others what to learn and what they are interested in, so much so, that they forget what they are truly passionate about. Here they will be led in a dictatorial manner by someone I don't even know, let alone know what their values are or what they are exposing my child too.
When given a choice between letting my kids be raised in this environment or raising them myself in the shelter of their home, under the guidance of parents who truly have a vested interest in their welfare, with security and love. A place that is secure. Where you can mistakes, be different or go at your own pace without fear. Well, there really is no choice to make after all.
Why on earth would I insist in sending my children to a place where the chances that they are exposed to some physical and emotional harm each and every day are great. A place where they will be made to feel as if they are in some way less than the person next to them, a place that makes them believe no matter what they wont do good enough. Somewhere where they understand that to learn means to memorize, regurgitate and get an A instead of recognizing that rush and enthusiasm that comes when you are truly learning. A place where they are told by others what to learn and what they are interested in, so much so, that they forget what they are truly passionate about. Here they will be led in a dictatorial manner by someone I don't even know, let alone know what their values are or what they are exposing my child too.
When given a choice between letting my kids be raised in this environment or raising them myself in the shelter of their home, under the guidance of parents who truly have a vested interest in their welfare, with security and love. A place that is secure. Where you can mistakes, be different or go at your own pace without fear. Well, there really is no choice to make after all.
Internet Academy
The children started a new program yesterday. Before Christmas I discovered that our school district offers the curriculum online. Your child is placed into an online classroom with a supervising teacher and does all their work online. It is much the same as when I attended UMUC online. Michael worked through math and loved it. It is suprisingly interactive for being internet based. Both children are really enjoying it so far, but it is new and as with all things we will see how long their excitement lasts.
Being in the program does change our status from homeschooling to public school enrolled, go figure. So according to the school district my children are enrolled in public school. The good points are that I now don't have to worry about those people who think my children are not recieving as much academic education as they should (I'll rant about that later), and that if they continue through highschool it is treated just like PS and they get a diploma and graduate officially (heaven forbid we don't document the accumulation of their knowledge with a piece of paper!). Another thing is that it is free!! So the tax dollars that should be going to educate my children actually are and I am not paying out of pocket for curriculum (again, a rant for another day).
On the other side I am a little wary. It goes against my child lead philosophy and back to force feeding information they may not care about and thus will not learn, such waisted time. It also demands quite a bit of time. I would rather my children be living life and learning through exploration then a slave to some timeline someone else thought was good for them. But, with an open mind we will try and see how it goes. In the summer we will reevaluate if neccesary.
Being in the program does change our status from homeschooling to public school enrolled, go figure. So according to the school district my children are enrolled in public school. The good points are that I now don't have to worry about those people who think my children are not recieving as much academic education as they should (I'll rant about that later), and that if they continue through highschool it is treated just like PS and they get a diploma and graduate officially (heaven forbid we don't document the accumulation of their knowledge with a piece of paper!). Another thing is that it is free!! So the tax dollars that should be going to educate my children actually are and I am not paying out of pocket for curriculum (again, a rant for another day).
On the other side I am a little wary. It goes against my child lead philosophy and back to force feeding information they may not care about and thus will not learn, such waisted time. It also demands quite a bit of time. I would rather my children be living life and learning through exploration then a slave to some timeline someone else thought was good for them. But, with an open mind we will try and see how it goes. In the summer we will reevaluate if neccesary.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
New Year
I brought the children back home in mid Nov. I was going to leave them in public school (PS) for the rest of the year but I was so disatisfied with their behavior and what they were learning (or rather not learning) in school that I decided to bring them back home when we moved.
My major reason for thinking to leave them in was that I thought your Declaration of Intent had to be in to the school district before the year started. When I found out that you had a month to submit it after taking the kids out no matter what time of year, that cinched it. Now I don't have to worry about them starting another school, trying to fit in to a crowd that I would rather them not fit in, waiting for the school bus in the dark in the pouring rain and waisting their time at school being shuffled around with other children whom I do not know, under the care of a dictatorial adult whom I do not know.
After much prayer and discussion with Matt I am confident and secure that the right decision was made. If I ever had any doubts, they are gone as I see my children's behavior change for the better. Michael is much more active and talking with us more, Seri is no longer acting out in strange ways to try to gain attention from other people, and Isaac is estatic that he gets to be with his siblings again.
The past month has been crazy with the holidays and such and we didn't do much formal homeschooling. I felt bad at first but then when I thought about it the public school had a week of half days because of parent/teacher conferences and those don't really count (believe me I have taught and there is not enough time in a half day to do anything substantial with children who know they are going home in a few hours anyhow). Then there was Thanksgiving break followed by days off for a power outage that involved the whole west side of Washington, closely followed by Christmas break. Guesse the PS kids didn't have too much formal schooling for the month either.
We really focused on behavior, communication skills, manners, empathy, kindness.... things they seemed to have forgotten during their stint in PS. Amazing what the difference is. For one the name calling has dropped dramtically and so have the little tiffs that they tended to get into. They now do what is asked of them without throwing a huge fit or insisting that they shouldn't have to clean it up since they weren't the ones who did it, etc....... In fact a lot of times they will perform a service just because they want to serve their family and without being asked.
We attended a presentation of the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis. How amazing that was! Thing is, it was the greatest naval disaster in history and noone knows about it. Such a tragic story. I will post more about it on the family blog www.olsonclan.blogspot.com .
We went to the Pacific Science center twice, hard to tell about all the things we learned while we were there, there were somany things and they were so random.
The Dead Sea Scroll exhibit came to Seattle and we went to that, very enlightening. I am planning a unit study on this subject. It wasn't just about the scrolls but also about the ancient inhabitants of Kumran and how their civilization existed, and we learned about different dating methods used by researchers to determine how old an object is. One of them I found fascinating but am not sure I understand it enough to explain. I have to do some more research. I will attempt it though. When living things die their bodies decompose into a carbon I think is what it was. by measuring the percentage of something to identify how much of it has turned into carbon it can be determined how long ago this thing has been dead. The interesting part though is that this method can only be used on things that have died before the 1940's because experiments with atomic bombs and other radio-active endeavors have changed the way that substance turns to carbon. Hope I explained this enough that you have a sense of what I am talking about.
Another method they use involves measuring themagnetism in an item. When things are heated to a certain temparature (clay items and such) they take on the level of magnetism that exists in the earth at that time. You can figure out what period they come from by comparing the magnetism of the item to the time when the earth carried the same magnetism.
They also discussed how hard it was to piece together the scrolls because they were like puzzle pieces. Parts of one scroll would be written by different people and the same people would write on different scrolls. They used handwriting analysis to put them together but it didn't always work. They also discussed the difference between papyrus and parchment and the different methods used to make each.
We learned so much. I hope the children will always remember visiting the exhibit. It gave us a lot of jumping off points where we can learn more about the subjects.
We joined a homeschooling group and went to a few potlucks and a lego club and a drawing club. Sounds funny I know but they really learned a lot from each. At the lego club they were taught how to plot their ideas of what to build onto graph paper to make their design and then assign a point value to each square and them build it following the pattern. Not quite as easy as it sounds. At drawing club they discussed different drawing elements and drew some characters from Thomas the train.
Last week we visited the Morse Wildlife preserve and learned a lot, there is also a post about this on the other blog.
We started and finished reading aloud "Sheila the great" by Judy Blume and during reading time the children took turns reading to me. Michael's reading is amazing, I can't believe how much he wants to read. I often find him tucked away some where reading by himself or to his brother. This from the child whom all his teachers where concerned about because he wasn't on "grade level". He wants to read now, without being asked to. I think bringing him home took the pressure off of him to perform. At school he knew he was getting special help with reading and I think it made him feel like he couldn't do it or he was failing, he wasn't as good as the other kids. How it hurt to watch him go through that. Things are much better know.
Seri was a great reader, right on grade level. but when I had her read to me I discovered that she wasn't good at reading aloud. Her mind works quicker than her mouth and she didn't know how to slow it down which resulted in her running her words together and basically noone being able to understand a word she was saying. We really had to work on her slowing down and pronouncing each word individually. Who would have thought that learning to read aloud correctly would take so much time? I am happy to say that I now enjoy listening to her and don't have to concentrate half as much as I used to.
Reading time begins with me reading aloud and then each child takes a turn reading to me from a library book of their choice. We ahve read some excellent books that I would highly recommend.
-Why Explore? by Susan Lendroth. It is a rhyming book about why we need to always ask questions and seek answers.
-Is There Really a Human Race? by Jamie Lee Curtis
-A friend for dragon. by Dav Pilkey
-Train to Somewhere. by Eve Bunting. This is an emotional storybook that had both Seri and I crying by the end. It is about a girls journey on the oprhan train. Another subject we are now interested in and I am hoping to do a unit study on.
So I guesse when I take our life and fit it into their little boxes, we did study the 11 subjects that I am required to teach. After all that is what the PS does. Try to emulate life and teach it and then disect it so it fits into it's own category of Math, Reading, Writing, Social Studies, etc. I am just bypassing the emulate phase and living life (don't give me a story problem about buying apples, take me to the store and let me buy apples), and not being bothered by disecting it into the pre-determined categories.
My major reason for thinking to leave them in was that I thought your Declaration of Intent had to be in to the school district before the year started. When I found out that you had a month to submit it after taking the kids out no matter what time of year, that cinched it. Now I don't have to worry about them starting another school, trying to fit in to a crowd that I would rather them not fit in, waiting for the school bus in the dark in the pouring rain and waisting their time at school being shuffled around with other children whom I do not know, under the care of a dictatorial adult whom I do not know.
After much prayer and discussion with Matt I am confident and secure that the right decision was made. If I ever had any doubts, they are gone as I see my children's behavior change for the better. Michael is much more active and talking with us more, Seri is no longer acting out in strange ways to try to gain attention from other people, and Isaac is estatic that he gets to be with his siblings again.
The past month has been crazy with the holidays and such and we didn't do much formal homeschooling. I felt bad at first but then when I thought about it the public school had a week of half days because of parent/teacher conferences and those don't really count (believe me I have taught and there is not enough time in a half day to do anything substantial with children who know they are going home in a few hours anyhow). Then there was Thanksgiving break followed by days off for a power outage that involved the whole west side of Washington, closely followed by Christmas break. Guesse the PS kids didn't have too much formal schooling for the month either.
We really focused on behavior, communication skills, manners, empathy, kindness.... things they seemed to have forgotten during their stint in PS. Amazing what the difference is. For one the name calling has dropped dramtically and so have the little tiffs that they tended to get into. They now do what is asked of them without throwing a huge fit or insisting that they shouldn't have to clean it up since they weren't the ones who did it, etc....... In fact a lot of times they will perform a service just because they want to serve their family and without being asked.
We attended a presentation of the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis. How amazing that was! Thing is, it was the greatest naval disaster in history and noone knows about it. Such a tragic story. I will post more about it on the family blog www.olsonclan.blogspot.com .
We went to the Pacific Science center twice, hard to tell about all the things we learned while we were there, there were somany things and they were so random.
The Dead Sea Scroll exhibit came to Seattle and we went to that, very enlightening. I am planning a unit study on this subject. It wasn't just about the scrolls but also about the ancient inhabitants of Kumran and how their civilization existed, and we learned about different dating methods used by researchers to determine how old an object is. One of them I found fascinating but am not sure I understand it enough to explain. I have to do some more research. I will attempt it though. When living things die their bodies decompose into a carbon I think is what it was. by measuring the percentage of something to identify how much of it has turned into carbon it can be determined how long ago this thing has been dead. The interesting part though is that this method can only be used on things that have died before the 1940's because experiments with atomic bombs and other radio-active endeavors have changed the way that substance turns to carbon. Hope I explained this enough that you have a sense of what I am talking about.
Another method they use involves measuring themagnetism in an item. When things are heated to a certain temparature (clay items and such) they take on the level of magnetism that exists in the earth at that time. You can figure out what period they come from by comparing the magnetism of the item to the time when the earth carried the same magnetism.
They also discussed how hard it was to piece together the scrolls because they were like puzzle pieces. Parts of one scroll would be written by different people and the same people would write on different scrolls. They used handwriting analysis to put them together but it didn't always work. They also discussed the difference between papyrus and parchment and the different methods used to make each.
We learned so much. I hope the children will always remember visiting the exhibit. It gave us a lot of jumping off points where we can learn more about the subjects.
We joined a homeschooling group and went to a few potlucks and a lego club and a drawing club. Sounds funny I know but they really learned a lot from each. At the lego club they were taught how to plot their ideas of what to build onto graph paper to make their design and then assign a point value to each square and them build it following the pattern. Not quite as easy as it sounds. At drawing club they discussed different drawing elements and drew some characters from Thomas the train.
Last week we visited the Morse Wildlife preserve and learned a lot, there is also a post about this on the other blog.
We started and finished reading aloud "Sheila the great" by Judy Blume and during reading time the children took turns reading to me. Michael's reading is amazing, I can't believe how much he wants to read. I often find him tucked away some where reading by himself or to his brother. This from the child whom all his teachers where concerned about because he wasn't on "grade level". He wants to read now, without being asked to. I think bringing him home took the pressure off of him to perform. At school he knew he was getting special help with reading and I think it made him feel like he couldn't do it or he was failing, he wasn't as good as the other kids. How it hurt to watch him go through that. Things are much better know.
Seri was a great reader, right on grade level. but when I had her read to me I discovered that she wasn't good at reading aloud. Her mind works quicker than her mouth and she didn't know how to slow it down which resulted in her running her words together and basically noone being able to understand a word she was saying. We really had to work on her slowing down and pronouncing each word individually. Who would have thought that learning to read aloud correctly would take so much time? I am happy to say that I now enjoy listening to her and don't have to concentrate half as much as I used to.
Reading time begins with me reading aloud and then each child takes a turn reading to me from a library book of their choice. We ahve read some excellent books that I would highly recommend.
-Why Explore? by Susan Lendroth. It is a rhyming book about why we need to always ask questions and seek answers.
-Is There Really a Human Race? by Jamie Lee Curtis
-A friend for dragon. by Dav Pilkey
-Train to Somewhere. by Eve Bunting. This is an emotional storybook that had both Seri and I crying by the end. It is about a girls journey on the oprhan train. Another subject we are now interested in and I am hoping to do a unit study on.
So I guesse when I take our life and fit it into their little boxes, we did study the 11 subjects that I am required to teach. After all that is what the PS does. Try to emulate life and teach it and then disect it so it fits into it's own category of Math, Reading, Writing, Social Studies, etc. I am just bypassing the emulate phase and living life (don't give me a story problem about buying apples, take me to the store and let me buy apples), and not being bothered by disecting it into the pre-determined categories.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Here we go.
We have once again brought our children home and are homeschooling them. I am finding that I need an outlet, a sounding board of types, just somewhere to get my random thoughts down... so here we go.
These are my personal thoughts, feelings and opinions about homeschooling, public schools and my children. They may change frequently. I in no way mean to be ofensive or hurtful to those who may come across these words. Join me on my journey and experience the lows (which I am sure there will be plenty of) and the highs (which hopefully there will be a lot more of).
These are my personal thoughts, feelings and opinions about homeschooling, public schools and my children. They may change frequently. I in no way mean to be ofensive or hurtful to those who may come across these words. Join me on my journey and experience the lows (which I am sure there will be plenty of) and the highs (which hopefully there will be a lot more of).
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