tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157312532024-03-07T13:56:48.224-08:00Two Kid SchoolhouseHomeschooling, cooking, sewing and reading with my family in Southeastern PA.Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.comBlogger969125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-63919297440962664892013-09-17T18:23:00.002-07:002016-09-10T06:40:14.840-07:00Wherein I discover that I have only myself to blame<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yesterday we opened the box on a much-anticipated new program for our little homeschool: The One Year Adventure Novel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My kids like adventures, and novels, and writing stories. They've "won" NaNoWriMo three years in a row now, though they have never done anything with their novels. They would like to learn to write well.</span><br />
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year I tortured them by sending them to a very typical early
high-school writing class, complete with literary analysis and the
five-paragraph essay, and this year we needed something different. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They aren't too hot on following a curriculum, though. They just want to write, even though they know they have a lot to learn about writing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So I showed them OYAN and they were hooked, quickly. Still, I was dubious; I've been burned by curriculum purchases before. So I had them watch and read every available bit of information on the program before I clicked the purchase button. They were ready, and we ordered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We weren't all the way through lesson one before they started to rebel. "No! I don't want my character to be a kid!" "No! I don't like this exercise." There was moaning and eye-rolling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh boy. I said a few things to try to make it better but of course only made it worse. So I bit my tongue and we went on with our day. As usual, I seethed and wondered how much I could sell the stuff for. I was done already too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After a while we talked about it and decided that maybe it could still be good, and useful, and fun... but maybe, just maybe we didn't have to do everything exactly as the instructor said to. Hmmm... still dubious. But, I can't junk an entire (costly) program just because lesson one didn't click, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Today things looked better. Ideas started to bubble. We're on track to go on to lesson two tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Still, it's frustrating. Why do my kids have to have their own ideas, always? Why can't they just follow the program the way it's written? Why do they always have to think outside the curriculum box?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh wait.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I guess I trained them to do that. Their dad did too. From the day we decided not to send them to school at age 5, we've been doing things our own way. We've modified curriculum, or skipped it altogether. We've followed a nontraditional path with more than homeschooling: my kids saw their dad walk away from a 20-year career to go back to school to start a new one. They've followed me (sometimes kicking and screaming) as I've gone from classical methods to Charlotte Mason to unschooling to school-at-home and back again. (Just kidding on that last one. We've never really done school at home.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's my fault! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So now I guess it's time to panic that they won't ever be able to manage in a classroom situation where there is no veering from the curriculum. Right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Except... they did fine in that writing class last year. And the speech class the year before that. And the art class they've taken for the past three years. They didn't love every minute of every class. Even in art! They didn't enjoy every project. But they understood the purpose of each class, and they did it. They didn't complain and refuse to do work in the way the instructor told them to do it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So maybe, just maybe, they are learning when they can change things up, and when they can't. I'm guessing by the time they start college classes (assuming they do), they'll have that figured out pretty well. Reading about unschoolers going to college pretty much confirms that at least <i>some</i> kids can do that. So maybe mine can too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So tomorrow we'll move on in OYAN and see what happens. You can see the program by clicking the photo at the top, or by clicking <a href="http://www.oneyearnovel.com/index.html">here</a>. I'd love to hear from some families who are using it!</span><br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-23260012140519748552013-09-13T06:04:00.001-07:002013-09-13T06:59:54.684-07:00It's the little things<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Why can't anything ever work right?"</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Do you ever ask that question? I do, far more often than I should. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Broken appliances, colds, allergies, learning disabilities, car troubles... sometimes it seems that nothing, and <i>no one</i>, works right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Like most people, I have some difficulties in my life. I'd say mine are pretty light by first-world standards. (Of course by any other standard, I live the life of a queen.) I do see people whose lives are (apparently) easy and stress-free: their kids learn easily and conventionally; illness rarely strikes; their cars never break down; they don't even ever seem to forget some needed item every time they go to the grocery store (to which they travel once per week, max, of course, not every other day like I do). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But we don't know what's really going on. Some people have problems they can't talk about, or prefer not to talk about. The ability to be organized and the blessing of healthy children doesn't mean a person has a perfect life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But back to my (nonworking) life, as that's the example here. I've got some things going that are out of my control, and sometimes I feel very alone as I wait for others to resolve them. People aren't as responsive as they should be. Documents I'm waiting for don't arrive as expected.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As a Christian who believes in a sovereign God, I should be more relaxed about this stuff. I should know - indeed I do know, in my head - that God is working and I am not alone. But it <i>feels</i> that way: that I am alone with no help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So today I picked up another small burden. You might laugh at how small this burden is, but then again you may get it, because it's just <i>one more stupid thing</i> in a long list. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I discovered that my oldest, who is taking the PSAT next month, hasn't used his calculator in a while (an embarrassingly long while) and probably doesn't know, or has forgotten, all the things he can do with it. Things that might, you know, <i>be useful to him </i> on that test. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And I wondered where the manual was. Because I knew I hadn't seen it in a long, long time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A better mom would know where those things are. Actually, a better mom would have made sure her teenager learned how to use the calculator right off, and would have given him the manual to store with his other school stuff so he could refer to it as needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So this morning I thought about where it could be. And with a bit of dread I went to one of the three likely places: the pile of appliance manuals that lives, rather haphazardly, in one of the cubbyholes of my IKEA bookcase/cubbyhole thing. (I don't remember its cute IKEA name.) I dug through the pile, and as I approached the bottom and was about to start crying, there it was: the operations manual for the scientific calculator. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, it was a good place for it. Yes, I'm the one who put it there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But still it lightened my heart a bit this morning, and made me feel just a little bit less alone. A bit less disorganized and helpless and hopeless. Some might laugh to read that I said a little prayer of thankfulness. Because it felt like a little signal from God: "Yes, I am here, and no, I haven't forgotten you."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's a little thing. But it was pretty big for me this morning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nothing else has changed. <i> Except my attitude. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What is your small thing today? </span></div>
Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-11901038033461331612013-09-10T15:15:00.002-07:002013-09-10T15:17:19.857-07:00Faire excitementIt's Tuesday of week 4 in our little homeschool and we're already off our plan. It's Renaissance Faire season.<br />
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I'm an old "Faire Junkie" from my days in California, when I went to the beloved Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Black Point Forest, just a bit north of San Francisco. A friend and I drove up from the South Bay every Faire weekend for years. Somewhere around here I probably still have one of my "Fairever Cards" which is a quaint way of saying "season pass." I have fond memories of those days and miss it.<br />
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Since we've lived in Pennsylvania I've been aware of the <a href="http://www.parenfaire.com/faire/main.php">Faire </a>here. It's a bit of a drive, and expensive for a family, so we've never gone. One year we attended a small local faire, but... well, it was pitiful. I knew going into it that it wouldn't be anything like <i>my</i> Faire, but it didn't even come close to measuring up. Even my kids said "meh, don't need to go back."<br />
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So this year it's time for the big Faire. We're studying Medieval history (still) and it's just time. I need a Faire. You know what I mean? <br />
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Though I had always dressed up for the Faire, we weren't planning to this time around. Then, the kids got the the idea to make wooden swords to carry. And then my girl decided to try on the dress she wore to the Reformation celebration we used to go to. Well, she's grown a little since 2006 (!) but it got her thinking about dressing up. I dug out what's left of my old Faire outfit... and away we go.<br />
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Now the kids are sanding and painting wooden swords and figuring out how to make a sheath and how to "peace-tie" their weapons. We searched the fabric store for the best-looking, yet cheapest fake leather for sheaths. We found a few items at the thrift store. We're sewing capes and drawstring pouches and pulling buttons off an old shirt, to be replaced with lacing. My girl doesn't need a dress after all - she and her brother are outlaws, so pants tucked into boots will work just fine.<br />
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We haven't given our days over completely to Faire prep, but close. But there's still some regular academics going on. But did I mention that my math-fighting boy admitted (a bit grudgingly) that he found his geometry skills useful for measuring and marking the wood for his sword. Right now he is measuring, cutting, and sewing. <br />
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All my old (pre-digital) Faire photos are stashed in a box somewhere. I couldn't take the time to find some online to post without worrying about copyright. But I did find this video of the opening ceremony at my old Faire, featuring Sir Francis Drake himself. It's a bit long, unless you miss the Black Point Renaissance Pleasure Faire, as I do. </div>
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Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-10177572961747563782013-09-05T05:38:00.000-07:002013-09-05T05:39:54.237-07:00Another reason to love homeschooling high school<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Reading Canto V of <i>The Inferno</i> to my kids, with Tchaikovsky's <i>Francesca da Rimini </i>for the soundtrack. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And check out<a href="http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/mss/holkham/misc/048.a.htm"> these illustrations</a> from a 14th century manuscript. They are copyright protected which is why you can't see them here. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've been waiting to share Dante with my kids for a long time. Rather than just hand the book off to them to go through alone, I'm reading it aloud. We spend a good bit of time talking about it. I suppose I should make them do some sort of writing on it, or at least give them a quiz. Talk of putting a grade on "work" like this requires another post, another time. For now...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>This is what makes my homeschooling heart sing. </i></span></span></div>
Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-73029126250147766962013-08-30T18:10:00.003-07:002013-08-30T18:10:59.833-07:00A reasonable start - but aren't they all?It's the end of Homeschool week 2. It's 9pm on Friday night, and I'm tired out! In a few minutes, though, we're going to start watching the Jeeves & Wooster tv series. I plan to knit the latest in a long line of dish/washcloths while we watch. Mindless entertainment at its finest.<br />
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The first two weeks went pretty well. We haven't found our groove yet but I'm optimistic. We're all optimistic in August, aren't we?<br />
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The boy who is sick is still sick, but maybe coming out of it a little. Everyone is tired; no one seems to be getting enough sleep. The mornings don't start quite when I'd like them to and we just aren't in sync yet. When I'm ready to discuss the history reading, the boy wonders if it's a good time to ride the exercise bike. And he's right; it is. So we work around that till he finishes, and then, whoa, it's almost lunch time!<br />
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But we are moving along in pretty much everything. Science and math are still problematic for us; they always have been, so I'm not sure why I thought it might be different now. Optimism!<br />
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One surprise is my girl's sudden change of attitude toward the history book. We are using a regular ol' high school textbook as part of our history this year. One of the features of the book is the "reading check" - short questions every few pages, just to, well, check the reading. I have my kids keep a notebook in which they write their answers, and we talk about them at the end of each section of the book. Before summer break, she hated that book. Now, she has decided it's not so bad after all. Is it because we are moving into a more interesting time for her, or did she turn a corner over the summer and decide that maybe history is pretty interesting? It doesn't matter, does it? <br />
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Another cause for optimism is the purchase of the microscope. We waited a little too late, maybe, to finally get a good microscope, but it's exciting to have it. The day it arrived, we found a dead yet perfect cicada on our front steps. It is still in the fridge in a baggy, but next week it's going under the lens! <br />
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I guess I should make a page for our studies this year. But now it's time to Jeeves & Wooster!Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-60775638357092611252013-08-11T14:12:00.002-07:002013-08-11T14:14:22.271-07:00Week ZeroTomorrow begins Week Zero of our 2013/2014 school year. Why Zero?<br />
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In a sudden, late burst of enthusiasm for the new school year, I typed up 2 weeks worth of work plans. Then I realized that after the summer we've had, there's no way we're jumping right into all the work we have planned. So, Week Zero.<br />
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It begins tomorrow, at the pool at a local-ish state park. This is the last week the pool is open, and the first time we'll get there, despite plans to swim there oh, three or four times over the summer. It's been a weird summer, in terms of both weather and ability to get out to the pool. On the days we were free, it rained. Is there a message for me there? <br />
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On the way there or back, we'll listen to a Great Courses lecture, from the series "The World was Never the Same." The lecture is called "Dante Sees Beatrice" and we're listening in preparation for reading <i>The Inferno</i> together this year. The speaker is very engaging, so I don't expect listening will be a burden. <br />
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I'll finish reading <i>The Giver</i> aloud, and we'll talk about it a bit. We're reading that because we needed a family read-aloud that is fairly short. But also, it's on a lot of lists so I thought I should read it. There are sequels but my kids can decide to read those if they want. I think my 16-year-old will be taking on <i>1984</i> and <i>Brave New World</i> next, though. <br />
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We'll also clean out the school crates, recycle the old science and test-prep workbooks we never finished, and generally clean up.<br />
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The 16-year-old will do a practice CLEP test (Humanities or Western Civ I, we're not sure yet) to see how he does and if testing like that is a viable option for us. This isn't an official test, just at the kitchen table with the practice test book. Should be fun!<br />
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It's been almost three months since my last post, and this is only my fifth post for 2013! I don't have any illusions that I'm going to be a regular blogger again anytime soon. I don't know if I'm going to go back to my 2013 reading page and update it. Goodreads seems to have taken the place of that. Whenever I make a blogging commitment to myself, I almost immediately have cause to break it. I do miss it, though.<br />
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Despite our lack of swimming, it wasn't a terribly bad summer, but not a terrifically good one, either. I was seriously burned out on homeschooling, even parenting in general. I read a few fluff books. I did some cleaning and organizing. We did manage some field trips, though not the trip-per-week I had planned.I stopped reading blogs altogether, even my favorite homeschool blogs. But I seem to be coming out of it. <br />
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A good session of homeschool planning, with books and papers piled all around me, will do it every time. Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-15544639765971575212013-05-15T15:32:00.000-07:002013-05-15T15:33:07.577-07:00Cultural HomeschoolersA couple of weeks ago I was at a medical appointment with one of my kids (the sick one) and the nurse asked him about school, specifically, if he was missing much school because of being sick. He said he was not exactly, because he is homeschooled. So she turned to me and asked "are you homeschooling because he is too sick to go to school, or are you..." I could tell she didn't how to finish the sentence.<br />
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So I said no, we are not homeschooling because he's sick, but we are... (pause, because I couldn't think of the word either)... cultural homeschoolers. Yes, that's it! Cultural homeschoolers. It's part of our culture.<br />
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She got that. She smiled and said "that makes sense." It was nice to see that she got that. If you are a homeschooler who has tried to explain yourself to people who don't get it, you might understand what I mean.<br />
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So now I know what we are. We are cultural homeschoolers.<br />
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Having a definition doesn't change a thing, but it's still nice to have one.<br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-70842949104371595462013-04-06T06:18:00.002-07:002013-04-06T06:55:23.615-07:00Life in the SchoolhouseIf I was to examine my blog archives (which go back to 2005, so I won't), I wonder if there would be a blogging break every year around late winter and early spring.<br />
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So the schoolhouse still has two kids. And a mom and a dad. And the dog! The sick kid is still sick, but things are looking up. A little, maybe. Spirits are up, anyway.<br />
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We are still homeschooling. I saw a great quote on <a href="http://www.bravewriter.com/">Bravewriter</a>'s Facebook page the other day:<br />
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<i><span class="userContent">In the fall, it's classical education.<br /> In the winter, Charlotte Mason.<br /> By spring, it's all unschooling.</span> </i><br />
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Yep.<br />
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As usual around this time of year, I'm panicking about the homeschool
evaluation and portfolio. As usual, we haven't produced much this
year. We didn't even do a project, like our <i><a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2008/04/science-geography-fun-voyagers-stone.html">Voyager's Stone</a></i> map or the <a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/ant-project.html">Leafcutter Ant</a> display. But we'll manage; we always do.<br />
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In other news, I finally got semi-mobile by getting a Kindle Fire for my birthday. I still don't have a smartphone but that will be coming. My old phone, which is my husband's old phone, was once a hot commodity: a Motorola RAZR. Yeah. Some guy standing in line behind me at a doctor's office the other day expressed his amazement that I was still using such an old phone. Well, it works! Every time I use it!<br />
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I'm really itching to start blogging with photos. There are technical reasons I
don't, and they go beyond "middle-aged mom can't figure out this
new-fangled gadget." My daughter is taking some great photos lately;
she is following a talented aunt in this way. And dreaming of a DSLR
camera which is way out of everyone's budget right now. But her babysitting business is picking up! <br />
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Spring is here, and though that means the hot, humid, hated summer is coming, it's hard not to be optimistic, content, and even happy. <br />
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Doesn't it seem like a photo of just-about-to-bloom daffodils should go here? Hm... I think we have some in the back yard....<br />
<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-55137407945556444222013-01-31T18:17:00.000-08:002013-02-01T07:27:34.478-08:00A Day in the Life (with 14- and 15-year-old)The folks at <a href="http://simplehomeschool.net/share/">Simple Homeschool</a> have invited us to post about a day in our homeschooling lives. I have enjoyed writing these sorts of posts in the past. It's fun to follow a day and document it. It might be a typical day, or it might not. It's also fun to read about other homeschooling families' days. Well, OK, sometimes it can be a little distressing, if we start comparing (negatively) our day to some other family's day, so we should remember it's just one day out of many. Maybe that Mom isn't <i>always</i> so creative, fun, organized...<br />
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Much of the past two years haven't been such fun for me to document. My son (the 15-year-old) is chronically sick with, as far as we can tell, a non-life-threatening, nonspecific illness. In other words, tests don't show anything and none of the many doctors we've seen can figure it out. And since no one can figure out what's wrong, no one can figure out how to make him feel better. So we deal with nausea, coughing, sleep disturbances, fuzzy thinking, and other symptoms we'd rather not talk about, all day, every day, while trying to homeschool at a high school level. (By the way, my boy gave me permission to tell you about this.)<br />
<br />
So let's get started and document this day. I don't know what will happen! It could be a good day, meaning we will get some things done. Or, maybe not. We are doing things a little differently today. Usually our day starts slowly, and late, at least compared to most homeschool families I know. But today my boy has a "playdate" at 2pm. Since he is a teenager, this is not what you're thinking. He and a friend want to play a new game together via X-Box Live, and that's the time the friend is available. Since there is a general ban on X-Box after 9 am and before 4pm, this gets special consideration. A promise was made to get up early and get started on his work right away. His usual practice is to get up anytime between 9 and 10, depending on how many times he woke up in the night. Sometimes, despite the general ban, he does play a little X-Box in the morning to help himself wake up if he's had a bad night. <br />
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And yes, he does get up early: 8:30. Yes, that's early for him. First off, he takes his meds, has a drink, then hits the exercise bike. Since sleep disturbances can be caused by a lack of physical tiredness, exercise is important, though it is usually not done first thing. <br />
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While he is exercising, my girl, the 14-year-old - who just had an orthodontist appointment and is still in a little pain - gets up and starts puttering around the kitchen, talking to the dog and looking for sympathy and something soft to eat. (I gave up on a family breakfast a long time ago; it's every man for himself around here.) <br />
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I take this chance to get my shower. The Dad of the house is long gone to work.<br />
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Because we didn't follow our usual routine, I missed our morning Bible reading. Bad Mom! We'll do it tomorrow.<br />
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Usually the morning (after the Bible reading I forgot today) is the time for independent work. (Morning is a relative term. Sometimes that means 11!) I try to supervise as needed, bouncing from one child to the other while trying to clean the kitchen and do laundry in between. In theory, we get together to do work together after lunch. This is the rare day when that might work; we don't have anyplace to go! The kids have a checklist to work off every day so they can't forget anything, though things do get skipped. I'm working toward a weekly, then a monthly, then maybe a quarterly checklist, then - complete independence! <br />
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After his exercise, my boy does some reading in<i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Middle-Ages-Morris-Bishop/dp/061805703X">The Middle Ages</a></i>, a nice non-scholarly history book on the time period we're studying this year. We are all reading it, together but separately; from time to time we talk about it and everyone has to write a short paragraph for each chapter. I am behind everyone else in my reading. When he's done with that, he goes to the computer to read a chapter in <a href="http://www.ck12.org/about/">CK-12's Biology 1</a> course and watch the associated videos. He's doing pretty well today; he hasn't gotten tired and he hasn't thrown up! Maybe he's pushing himself because he wants to get a lot done before 2. But it's pretty hard to hold back vomiting, so we'll just call it a good day. <br />
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My girl goes off to read <i>Animal Farm</i>; she's using a study guide from <a href="http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/">Glencoe Literature Library </a>along with it. After that, she does some grammar, some reading in our history text, and then practices piano. When she's finished with that, she does a little math; she's working in Key To Percents and an 8th grade Spectrum math book. She has to take standardized tests this year, so I need to be sure she is at least familiar with 8th grade math concepts. No, this is not ideal - we don't like "teaching to the test" but, you know, we do what works at the time, right? <br />
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One thing about having a sick kid: the other kid(s) in the family are often affected. If I'm at the Children's Hospital with him having some sort of test, she's not getting help with math. So no one is really working at grade level in math right now.<br />
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Now it's about time for lunch. We make some refried bean nachos (hey, it's pretty healthy) and use that time to listen to a history lecture (<a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8298"><i>The Early Middle Ages</i> </a>from The Great Courses). We look at some examples of Carolingian Miniscule print online and briefly peruse a web page about Alcuin of York. Next, it's time for Latin. We use <a href="http://www.visuallatin.com/">Visual Latin</a>, and we're going through it very slowly. But we get part of a lesson done! Then both kids check their homework for tomorrow's writing class to be sure it's all set to go. <br />
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Now it's time for the playdate. My girl finishes up her history reading, then goes outside to take some photos. She's trying to find the perfect entry for an upcoming contest. I notice she didn't do any science work, but I don't want to stop her photo shoot. We'll get it done tomorrow. <br />
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I start making dinner and do some paperwork. I spend a minute worrying about high school transcripts and grades, then set it aside for another time. <br />
<br />
4pm, and the game is over. My boy thanks me for letting him do it and tells me he feels better today than he has in a while. He goes to his room to ride the exercise bike again. My girl gets ready for a babysitting job she has later, then downloads photos and studies them. I don't think she got that perfect shot yet.<br />
<br />
Dad blows in and we eat dinner. Usually we talk about the day's history learning, and today is no exception. Then he runs out to a meeting. My boy showers, then sits down to do his math. This is new for us; I can't remember the last time anyone did work
after dinner. He's tired now, and would rather not do it, but that was
part of the deal. He's working his way through <a href="http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/Courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1014">Mastering the Fundamentals of Math</a>; he had been doing Algebra 1 but with his fuzzy thinking problem, math has gotten harder and some things have been lost. So we're reviewing the basics. Sometimes he needs me to sit with him and help him through some of the problems, but not today. He's determined to soldier on. (When I checked it later, he got 75% of the problems right, so we have to go back tomorrow and work on those.)<br />
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While I take my girl to her babysitting job, he does some more history reading. It sounds like we do a lot of history around here, doesn't it? I have a post about history that's been in draft status for a long time; maybe I'll get that done soon! After he finishes, we talk for a bit about the fate of Europe and thus the US if the Germanic tribes had not invaded the Roman Empire. We have talks like that a lot. He loves to speculate. <br />
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Now, he's watching a creepy-sounding tv show, my girl is still babysitting, Dad is still at his meeting, and I'm here. Our day is done.<br />
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This was not a typical day. I don't know what a typical day is right now! But it was a good day. It might not seem like much of a high school day. We didn't really produce anything except some math work (which can be a bit problematic here in Pennsylvania where portfolios are required). But we're doing what works for us right now, not unschooling (which hasn't worked for us), but sometimes close. Some days it is very unschoolish around here! But they are learning, every day.<br />
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Thanks to Simple Homeschool for the opportunity to do this. I hope this is helpful to others who have chronically-ill children or who otherwise have homeschools that don't look like everyone else's.<br />
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You can do your own A Day in the Life post and link up too, at <a href="http://simplehomeschool.net/your-turn/#more-22716">Simple Homeschool</a>. If you don't have a blog, you can share your day in the comments there, so go ahead and do it!<br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-6671093120329846612013-01-01T06:15:00.001-08:002013-09-17T18:28:29.000-07:00New Year's Eve at the SchoolhouseThe kitchen is a mess. The dishwasher is full of clean dishes but the sink and counter are littered with dirty ones. There's a small table in the family room covered with coffee cups, a wine glass, and plates with pumpkin pie crumbs. Pillows are scattered on the floor between the couch and the television.<br />
<br />
The remains of a wild New Year's Eve party?<br />
<br />
Yes! My little family spent yesterday and evening watching two of the three movies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We'll watch the third movie today. <br />
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If you knew us, you'd know how wild a party that was.<br />
<br />
We like movies. We'd like to watch more than we do. But it's so hard to fit a movie in to our day or evening. On a typical evening we're sitting down to relax about an hour before everyone should be getting ready for bed. So we will content ourselves with watching a 40- or 50-minute tv show, or we'll plan to watch a movie over two nights. For some reason, even though we can sit for two or more hours in a movie theater without getting up, when we watch a movie at home we rarely can go an hour without someone needing to get up: to get more water, coffee, or something to eat; to use the bathroom; to get the barking dog into the house. <br />
<br />
So when we started talking about watching the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> again after seeing <i>The Hobbit</i>, I wondered how long would it take us to watch 10+ (12?) hours of movie. At our rate, it could take over a week! But the adults conferred and we decided to surprise and thrill the children by announcing the <i>New Year's LotR Film Fest</i>: all three movies over two days. We began about 1:00 Monday afternoon, and wrapped up our day just before midnight.<br />
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No, we didn't make it through all three films. We didn't even attempt that. We took breaks for a couple of dog walks, some room cleanup, a little laundry, and dinner after completing <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i>. We started <i>The Two Towers</i> around 7:30 and planned to watch half of it. (Some of us didn't feel the need or desire to stay up till midnight.) But though that is not a movie I truly enjoy, even I had to admit it: there's not a good place to stop. If you've seen it, and disagree, tell me where you'd take an overnight intermission. In the middle of Helm's Deep? During the Ent walk? I think not. <br />
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This morning everyone is still sleeping. As always, I'm the first one up. I'm tired, and feel a little sluggish from the lack of activity yesterday. This morning we'll clean up the debris from last night, restart the dishwasher, take the dog for a good long walk, and sit back down again. I hope to finish before dinner, so we can have a calm and early night. <br />
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I'm glad it won't be such a long day of movie-watching. I'm happy that we're doing this, but I wouldn't want to do it too often. I hope my kids feel the same way. <br />
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Wild parties like this shouldn't happen too often.<br />
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How do you spend New Year's Eve and Day?<br />
<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-6960011639006248362012-12-31T15:05:00.000-08:002012-12-31T15:05:29.630-08:002012 Reading and 2013 PlansThe other day I talked about my Bible reading for 2012 and pondered plans for 2013. Now it's time to talk about all those other books.<br />
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I'd set myself a goal of two books per month, one fiction and one non-fiction, not including reading for our homeschool. That's not a very impressive goal, but even at that I didn't exactly make it. I read 15 novels but only eight non-fiction books for myself. But, as always, there is overlap in my worlds. I picked up <i>1066: The Year of the Conquest</i> for myself, but ended up handing it over to my fifteen-year-old to read and discuss with me. So was it a homeschool book or personal reading? I also read <i>The Monk in the Garden</i> to my kids, but I listened to myself as I read, so I also got the benefit of it. (What, you've never zoned out reading a book to your kids?)<br />
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So, I can't say I did <i>enough </i>reading, with 33 books all told, but it was OK. I did exceed my goal, so I'm happy about that.<br />
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My favorite non-fiction book for the year was <i>The Brother Gardeners</i>; my favorite fiction was either <i>The Invisible Bridge</i> or <i>Jane Eyre</i>. I could break out categories (contemporary fiction, classics) but that requires too much thinking. <br />
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Now for next year. I found a couple of flaws in setting a specific number of
books to read: I tend to shun very long books, and I tend to read too
fast if I feel I am running out of time. <i>Jane Eyre</i> is a book to
savor, but I found myself getting impatient because it was taking me too
long to finish. So, I'm sure I didn't give every chapter the attention
it was due. So for next year I'm not setting a goal for a number of
books, but rather for time each day to read. An hour a day of reading of my own
sounds good for a start. Actually right now that seems like a lot; an hour goes by so quickly in this house!<br />
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I will be doing even more reading related to homeschooling, but
look at what's coming up in the Schoolhouse in 2013: <i>Beowulf, The Divine Comedy</i> (well, at least <i>Inferno </i>because that's the most interesting and fun of the three), <i>To Kill A Mockingbird</i>, <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>, and others I would have to look up in my homeschool notebook, which has been nowhere to be found for the past two weeks. I've read all those before, but reading them again is not going to be a burden. There's another plus for homeschooling teens - all the good books we get to read together. I learn at least as much as my children do, of course. I know that's a cliche but it's true.<br />
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I also want to tackle at least one really big book next year. For a long time
I've wanted to read the unabridged <i>Les Miserables</i>. I count that as one
of my favorite books but it's been many years since I read it, and I didn't even know
till two years ago that I'd read a heavily-abridged edition. So I want to read it again for the first time. By the way, I feel compelled to say that my interest in <i>Les Miserables</i> has nothing to do with the movie. I saw the stage musical years ago and despised it. I'm not a big fan of musicals anyway, but this book in particular seems ill-suited for that treatment. I know that I'm pretty much alone in that opinion, but there it is. <br />
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My reading list can be found on my <a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/p/2012-reading.html">2012 Reading page</a>. I'll set one up for 2013 when I finish my first book, which will probably be <i>Clouds of Witness</i> by Dorothy Sayers. I don't expect to do any better on keeping my list updated book-by-book or month-by-month than I did last year, but as always I will give it a try. I had to do a bit of catch-up today to get it done. I also keep track of my books on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3717253-margaret">Goodreads</a> and am happy to see people over there too.<br />
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What did you read in 2012? What are you doing to read in 2013? What should I add to my to-read list? It's already pretty long, but I'm always open to suggestions. <br />
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Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-25119056869328375882012-12-29T07:20:00.001-08:002012-12-29T10:41:48.996-08:002012 Reading: Bible in a YearIt's the season of looking back. And forward. I don't make a lot of New Year's resolutions anymore. In my experience and observation, change doesn't come about because a new year came around on the calendar. Just look at the parking lot of the local YMCA or other gym in January, and then again at the end of February. Hey, I can say that, I've been among them! <br />
<br />
But I did set some goals (or made some resolutions) for my reading and will continue to do that. I shouldn't need to set goals, after all, reading is something I enjoy and truly want to do. (Compare with going to the gym which perhaps I know I <i>should </i>do, but don't<i> want </i>to do.) But it still helps to have some goals or I tend to get lazy with magazines and websites and pretend that's real reading. <br />
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My big reading goal for 2012 was to read the Bible in its entirety. I did it! This is the 2nd time in my life I've managed it. It's hard. It's not a lot of reading each day in terms of minutes needed to complete it, but some of it is hard to understand and, I'll just say it, boring. Some of it even seems weird. I used <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-kingdom-bible-reading-plan">The Kingdom Bible Reading Plan</a> that I found at the Desiring God site. There are plenty of different plans around. I liked this one because it has daily readings from four different books of the Bible: Old Testament Law and Psalms, Old Testament Prophets, Old Testaments Writings (such as Job and Proverbs, among others), and New Testament. Let's face it, a chapter or two a day of Leviticus is going to be easier to manage than four or five. It's also got a built-in "catch-up" feature, with readings scheduled for the first 25 days of the month. Let's face it again, most people are going to get behind.<br />
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I did get behind, often. Many months found me scrambling to finish on the last day. I started one or two months already behind. That is one of the weaknesses of setting such a reading goal: There were plenty of chapters I read quickly, even mindlessly, just to get it done and the box checked off. That is not the way to read anything important! <br />
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So I'm not going to try this again in 2013. I still plan to read the Bible every day, or most days. I've started using YouVersion (thanks to <a href="http://fallinglikerain-sandy.blogspot.com/2012/12/youversion.html">Sandy</a> for reminding me of it) which I had always thought was just for mobile devices. Imagine my surprise when I found that even desktop users can benefit from it. (Yes, I am not mobile yet. It has nothing to do with not <i>wanting</i> - not be be confused with <i>needing</i> - to be mobile, and I'm sure I will be soon.) I've already signed up for a couple of short Bible reading plans. I do like having stuff delivered to my inbox, even the Bible. <br />
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A better goal for me this year might be to spend x amount of time reading the Bible via YouVersion plans, personal Bible study, working with my kids on their Bible curriculum, and joining the study at my church. I wouldn't mind an online study with discussion either, if I could find one that fit. I'm thinking of keeping track (via a paper chart?) of my reading, so I can see just how much of the Bible I read in a year without a formal plan to do it. It would also be interesting to me to see what books I return to again and again, and which I avoid. I already know a couple. <br />
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I read books other than the Bible, of course. But it's time to stop typing and do a little reading. I'll update my general reading goal results and plans later or tomorrow.Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-5770497439350976252012-12-01T06:15:00.004-08:002012-12-01T16:46:21.684-08:00Christmas traditions, changing againCan a tradition change? If it changes, can it even be a tradition?<br />
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Three years ago <a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-tradition-is-born.html">I wrote about my family's new Christmas-tree-fetching tradition</a>. Now, we are making a new one.<br />
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For most of my life I heaped scorn on the artificial Christmas tree. I grew up with real trees and fake trees were just so, so... fake. Like my aunt's white tree with the color wheel, circa 1962. But it didn't matter how many nice, realistic, <i>green</i> trees I saw: they were just <i>not</i> <i>right</i>. <br />
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But a few years my kids ago we discovered that our kids are allergic to just about every tree there is. We wondered about sinus problems in winter. We took advice and started hosing down the tree to get some of the nastiness out of it before bringing it in the house. Last year we decided it was enough: next year, we will have a fake tree.<br />
<br />
Just before Thanksgiving my girl and I went out and scouted trees. After checking out a few stores and online sites, we ended up with a shortish (maybe a little too short), not-too-wide tree. We set it up to make sure there were no broken branches or burned-out lights, with the intention of taking it back down till after December 1. Who were we kidding? Once the tree was up and plugged in, there was no taking it back down for a couple of weeks. We left it in place, unadorned, till we returned home from our Thanksgiving trip.<br />
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Today it is fully decorated and looking gorgeous. No one is sneezing. We didn't have to hose it down, or mess with the heavy tree stand. We don't have to water it. We don't have to scream at the occasional spider crawling out of it. (I am not sure that actually ever happened, but it might have. Or it could, anyway.) We don't have to constantly sweep up needles. <br />
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We are never looking back. Our new tradition is born. It's hard to think of a way to make "let's go drag the tree out of the attic" festive, but we'll find the way.<br />
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Do you have a real tree, artificial tree, or no tree at all? Give me a link to your blog post about <i>your </i>traditions.<br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-11275986807456644182012-11-24T05:54:00.002-08:002012-11-24T05:54:21.399-08:00Almost perfect start...to the Christmas season. Well, as perfect as a day spent traveling can be.<br />
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Yesterday while others were resting after the Thanksgiving feast, or enjoying Black Friday shopping, or just going about their usual business, we were northbound on I-81, returning to Pennsylvania from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. That's a 14-hour drive for us, with stops to stretch, use the facilities, and stop for coffee. Of course, lots of coffee. <br />
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(Just an aside: the "Welcome Centers" (aka rest stops) along I-81 in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia are welcoming indeed. We've stopped at all of them, I think, in the 5 years we've been making that trip. They are comfortable, clean, decorated for the holidays, and just all-around pleasant places to stop.) <br />
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But how can a day spent on the road be almost perfect?<br />
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We started off in good moods. It's always hard to leave the grandparents after a too-short visit, but we were also ready to get home. Our first-ever artificial tree is waiting to be decorated. Our dog is waiting to be picked up at the kennel. We have things to do at home.<br />
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We had Christmas music. A mix of secular pop music tunes, Christian carols, some <a href="http://www.freddyclarke.com/solo-guitar-music/">Freddy Clarke guitar</a>, and bits of Handl's <i>Messiah</i>. All that was missing was Nutcracker. I put the mp3 player on random play, and let it go. I admit it can be a bit jarring to go from one of the solos from <i>Messiah </i>right into "Blue Christmas," but... it worked.<br />
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We had a Christmas story: Jim Dale's reading of <i>A Christmas Carol</i>.
We've been reading this book together for years, and this time went
with a new reader instead of Dad or Mom. It was so good, and took up
three hours of our time!<br />
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We found a great place for a quick, cheap, road dinner: <a href="http://www.sheetz.com/main/">Sheetz </a>gasoline and convenience store. We felt a little guilty loving it so much, being the <a href="http://www.wawa.com/WawaWeb/">Wawa</a> fans we are, but as far as I know, Wawa doesn't serve pizza by the slice, which is what half of our number were craving. My BLT was perfect, and I hear the pulled pork sandwich is pretty good too. About $15 and change, and we were fortified for the rest of the drive home.<br />
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I won't say the trip went
quickly, because 14-hour drives just don't. But it went as well as it
could. We're safely, happily home, and in the Christmas spirit! <br />
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How about you?<br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-43543578321977343412012-11-09T10:31:00.000-08:002012-11-09T10:31:02.675-08:00Homeschool Moments: Political EducationA major election always causes a distraction from homeschooling, but it also provides lots of opportunities for homeschool moments. I'm not just talking about teaching my kids how the electoral college works,
or why it's important to be an educated voter, though. This election cycle we
ended up focusing on political discourse and how to converse with and
about political opponents.<br />
<br />I know I'm getting old, but elections seem to be getting nastier and
uglier. This one was pretty bad. On facebook, on blogs, in casual
conversation, people spewed nastiness with abandon, never thinking that
someone might disagree with them. People posted assassination threats on twitter
(were they joking? who knows?) and put up facebook statuses saying that
"no real _______ would vote for __________" (fill in your own. I've seen
it applied to both sides: woman/Romney, American/Obama.) Or "anyone
who votes for _______ is a __________ " (fill in your own
profanity-laden description of a stupid person). <br />
<br />So my young teens see this, because we encourage them to read the
news, read political blogs, engage with appropriate adults on facebook.
(Appropriate meaning people we know.) We do have "safe" sites that
have good articles to read, but no one can control comments, and telling
kids "don't read the comments!" rarely works. And so they are exposed
to this spewing because sometimes even people we know and like find they
can't follow that old adage "if you can't say anything nice, don't say
anything at all." <br />
<br />And we have to talk about why this is wrong and how to express their
own opinions without denigrating and demonizing their opponents. <br /><br />It's
been quite an education for them. They are a bit disillusioned about a few people they like and respect but who couldn't keep from
making nasty, unnecessary comments, or from using language that used to
be taboo in polite company. They're learning about media bias and about the way people form opinions and can't be swayed from them, no matter what evidence is presented to them. They're learning about what's important to people (not always a happy lesson, sorry to say). <br />
<br />
They'll be able to vote in the next Presidential election, and the lessons aren't over yet! But at least we have a little break from it now. On to other things!Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-75709959125346544292012-11-03T06:53:00.000-07:002012-11-03T06:53:01.685-07:00We are still having homeschool moments...but there are more "real life" moments going on right now.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/plans-what-plans.html">mystery sickness</a> that seems to hit my kid every year at this time, the doctor visits that go along with that, and the difficulties of homeschooling someone who is sick. all. the. time. <br />
<br />
The kidney infection that had me in the hospital for three days. I know I'm not the only mom who has ever had the fantasy of a few days of leisure in the hospital with a non-life-threatening illness and a pile of books. Lots of time to read, people bringing water and tea and food... Forget it. The reality is nothing like the fantasy.<br />
<br />
Then there was The Storm. We were not hit hard; we just lost power for about 30 hours, and one of our trees fell, taking out the landline. (Yes, we still have a landline.) That was easily fixed, and the tree was no great loss - we hated it. There are a few more old trees that we wish would fall down. <br />
<br />
After the storm, there was the flurry of appointment-rescheduling for the mystery sickness. Then, my lithotripsy (aka kidney-stone-blasting) procedure which took most of a day. <br />
<br />
I really need to stop making blog plans. Maybe I'd blog more!<br />
<br />
Hey, it's NaNoWriMo month! I'm not doing it, but my kids are! There'll be at least one homeschool moment in November, as they share bits of their stories! <br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-28735643593918827512012-10-06T05:19:00.001-07:002012-10-06T14:57:43.758-07:00Saturday morningBlogging commitments (though always self-imposed) never work well for me.<br />
<br />
We do homeschool, after a fashion, pretty much every day, but I don't seem to have a notable<a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-new-endeavor.html"> homeschool moment </a>every day. Or, if we do, I tend to miss it. <br />
<br />
I do read, but I don't keep my<a href="http://2kidschoolhouse.blogspot.com/p/2012-reading.html"> 2012 Reading page</a> updated very well. (I did update it today - with 3 months worth of books.) I tend to do more of my book talking on<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3717253-margaret"> Goodreads</a> now, so come see me over there. <br />
<br />
But it's Saturday morning and both my kids are out, my husband is sleeping and my dog is waiting patiently for me to let him out the back door. But I can't, because it's nut-gathering season, and squirrels are all over the place. And he barks at them. They never come down to play, but he can't stop insisting they do. <br />
<br />
My girl is on a church youth group retreat. Our junior high group is small - only two girls and three boys - but they have great leaders and enjoy themselves. Two of the boys are new to the group this year, having moved up to 7th grade. Last year there were three girls and one boy, so I wondered how it would go when that dynamic changed. I was happy that my girl said the boys were a lot of fun and that she was happy that last year's sole male had some cohorts now. They will be home tomorrow afternoon.<br />
<br />
I was up at 6am with my boy, who is off on a Scout event. It's amazing how a boy who can sleep till 10 am with no trouble will jump out of bed at 6 am when he needs to. Mommies of late-sleeping kids, take heart! They can get up when they need to.<br />
<br />
As always, I have a lot of things I'd like to write about. But now it's time to go have a cup of coffee on the back deck. The husband has arisen. The dog can't wait to get outside anymore. <br />
<br />
Have a lovely Saturday.Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-917869353287753262012-10-06T05:01:00.000-07:002012-10-07T04:44:07.137-07:00The Flight of Gemma Hardy<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12002819-the-flight-of-gemma-hardy" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Flight of Gemma Hardy" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1319761825m/12002819.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12002819-the-flight-of-gemma-hardy">The Flight of Gemma Hardy</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/182609.Margot_Livesey">Margot Livesey</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/361121816">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I'd been looking for something to take me to another time and place, and this did it pretty well. Well, the time isn't so exotic - 1950s and 60s - but the place is Scotland, specifically the Orkney Islands which have long fascinated me, and Iceland. This has been called an homage to <i>Jane Eyre</i>, and I probably should have reread that first, but I knew the basic story - orphan girl becomes a governess (or the more current au pair) for a mysterious man with a secret. Chaos ensues. <br />
<br />
All in all I'd say this is a very good book with some infuriating moments. First, it's got that first-person narration that I am really tired of. The main character, Gemma, was frustratingly stupid and naive at times, but I suppose that might be expected of an orphan with nasty relatives and a bad boarding school experience. <br />
<br />
But the story was engaging and had me hiding from my kids to snatch bits of reading time. The ending was no surprise, of course. But it wasn't a satisfying ending simply because there were too many loose ends left undone. Gemma had left a few people behind in her flight, and I wanted to know what became of them - or rather, what became of her relationship with them. I suppose my desire to know what happened to all those other relationships means I was more engaged with the book than I had thought. <br />
<br />
The scenes on the Orkneys reminded me of our visit to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, seven years ago. I loved that part of it. I doubt I will ever get someplace so remote again, but... maybe.<br />
<br />
I'll be looking for more books by this author. But first I need to go read <i>Jane Eyre</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3717253-margaret-simpson">View all my reviews</a>
Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-77918809221150352242012-10-01T04:30:00.000-07:002012-10-02T04:31:33.884-07:00Homeschool Moment: HaircutMy homeschool moment for today is: leaving my kids home alone with their work, and walking out the door to go get my hair cut. Alone. <br />
<br />
Sure, moms who send their kids to school get to do all sorts of things on their own during the school day.<br />
<br />
But with young teens in the house, I get the best of both worlds: I get to homeschool my kids and hang out with them most of the time, but I also get to walk out the door - alone - for a haircut. Or a cup of coffee with a friend. Or a trip to the library. No, never mind the last one - the kids want to go to the library with me anyway.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it seems that as homeschoolers, we are trapped at home with our kids. But once the teen years hit, they can be home alone. <br />
<br />
And they even - mostly, anyway - do their work!Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-91574973955389283312012-09-28T14:19:00.001-07:002012-09-28T14:19:38.366-07:00Teach Your Children Well by Madeline Levine, PhD<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13426187-teach-your-children-well" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1340737595m/13426187.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13426187-teach-your-children-well">Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/129539.Madeline_Levine">Madeline Levine</a><br />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/423907771">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I picked this book up at the library after hearing the author speak on an NPR talk show. <br />
<br />
As I read the introduction I thought, "Hmm, maybe I should buy this book, it seems like something I'll want to read more than once." But I waited to see how it went before making a commitment to it.<br />
<br />
The premise of the book is that there is more to success than high grades and "fat envelopes" which I assume to mean acceptance packages from elite universities. I didn't need any convincing on that, but I wanted to read a book with that perspective, since it seems sometimes that I am surrounded by people will high-achieving children bound for academic (and financial) greatness. Ive been bothered by parents' insistence on rigorous STEM education, for example, for their kids regardless of the child's interest in and aptitude for it. <br />
<br />
After the introduction, there is a discussion of the developmental stages in kids' lives: elementary, middle, and high school ages. I skipped the elementary school section since I am out of that. I found the middle school section to be pretty accurate.<br />
<br />
But then I got to high school. The author's attitude toward teen sexuality stunned me. As in, sex seems to be nothing more than a pastime to be enjoyed (responsibly, of course) by teens ages 16 and above. There was no mention of love or committed relationships; I think the word the author used was "affection" in describing teen sexual relationships. <br />
<br />
I nearly stopped reading the book at that point; I didn't want to go on when I have an area of strong disagreement. But I carried on anyway.<br />
<br />
After the age/grade sections, the author goes on to discuss skills and attributes kids need to be given/taught to be successful. These are qualities such as resilience, creativity, work ethic... nothing to argue with there. Each section has a do/don't list for parents to guide them in helping their kids.<br />
<br />
Mostly the advice is good though there's nothing I've not read or otherwise come across before. I do have two other disagreements about the book, though. One is the near-absolute absence of God, religion, spirituality in the book. I think "religious practices" gets a nod as something that might be important to some families, and "religion" appears in a list of life priorities for the parents to rank. I get it that this is a secular book, not written from a religious perspective. But it seems odd to leave the religious/spiritual aspect out completely.<br />
<br />
And, I was surprised that the book contained no reference to homeschooling at all. Again, I get it that homeschoolers are not the target audience, and that we are a minority in the US. But when talking about school problems, school reforms, etc., it seems odd not to mention (at least) an educational segment that is growing each year. <br />
<br />
Three stars is a bit higher than I'd like to rank the book. I'm not going to buy it and I'm not likely to need to read it again. Two stars seemed too low because much of the advice is sound. 2.5 stars would have been more accurate.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3717253-margaret-simpson">View all my reviews</a>
Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-12283495528023262342012-09-26T06:49:00.002-07:002012-09-26T06:49:13.587-07:00Homeschool Moment: New carpet and Playmobil<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The giant bin of Playmobil figures has been in the dungeon for a while. No one's played with it for a few years now, but of course Playmobil is a legacy toy, not to be donated or given away, but saved for the as-yet-hypothetical grandchildren.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But yesterday, after the new carpet was installed in the boy's room, he stood in the vast expanse of emptiness, with wonderful softness underfoot and asked:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Can we get the Playmobil out?</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So we did. And after reading history, doing some math and Latin, after piano practice and Python programming online class... my teens played with their Playmobil. It was so fun to hear them exclaiming over old favorite figures. And renaming some: the old Roman Centurion was rechristened Rory*. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The only downside? We may never get the furniture out of the living room and back into the bedroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">*Doctor. Who reference.</span>Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-58557019318427111912012-09-24T16:43:00.001-07:002012-09-24T16:55:37.353-07:00Homeschool Moments: Atlatls and WatercolorsThis new blogging endeavor is not going so well. We do have at least one homeschool moment a day, but sometimes I forget to look for it... or forget to write about it.<br />
<br />
Today was a good one to remember.<br />
<br />
The Scout is involved in a project for an upcoming district-wide (council-wide? I never know) campout and is in charge of teaching/demonstrating the use of the atlatl. This is an ancient hunting device consisting of a throwing arm and a 5- 7-foot-long dart. (I keep mistakenly calling it a spear. It looks like a spear to me!) He and his dad have been kicking around ideas, doing some research, and taking frequent trips to Lowe's for lumber. Today he spent refining his throwing arm and preparing two different types of darts for his Scout meeting tonight. He also worked up his (simple) budget proposal. <br />
<br />
I might have to have a big atlatl post at some point. But that was today's highlight. <br />
<br />
While the boy was working on darts, my girl was out on the porch working with watercolors. She's been focusing (haha) on photography lately but suddenly got the urge for watercolors. We had an A C Moore (craft shop) coupon and got something a little better than the kiddie set she'd last used. So yesterday and today she's been outside, in the cool fall air, working on watercolors.<br />
<br />
We've also managed to do things like math and Latin, too! Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-79667535217280171812012-09-14T17:04:00.004-07:002012-09-14T17:05:30.306-07:00Homeschol Moments: Tower and TrebuchetWe had two good ones today. Maybe I should cheat and save one for another day. Or go backward in time and date one yesterday.<br />
<br />
We're doing medieval history this year, which is always a treat. We've been watching a documentary series on the Tower of London, appropriately called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Tower-Sean-Pertwee/dp/B000NDFHX4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top"><i>The Tower</i></a>, together. Though the tower was built in the middle ages, this dvd doesn't just cover those days. It's been such fun to watch and relive our own visit to the Tower back in 2005. My kids were pretty little then, but they have some memories. Of course the boy remembers the armory best.<br />
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Then tonight after my girl left for her church youth group meeting, my boy and I sat down to watch <i>Castles of War</i>, a DVD I picked up from the library. It's a bit cheesy for a documentary, put on by the Travel Channel. It was a fun 45 minutes, though, particularly for the running commentary by my local weaponry expert.<br />
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Lots o' forts and weapons today... <br />
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<br />Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-75400002757104364772012-09-11T10:12:00.003-07:002012-09-11T10:12:53.582-07:00Homeschool Moment: Porch SchoolIt's not really a porch, and more than a moment. This is the golden time in Pennsylvania - the humidity is (relatively) low, the temperature is perfect, and there is sunshine on the back deck. (Deck school seemed to imply school on a boat.) So why not haul the math, grammar, and some reading - oh, and I see the camera made its way out there too - for a little porch school after lunch?Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15731253.post-70339437248136611352012-09-06T17:36:00.003-07:002012-09-06T17:36:30.764-07:00September 6 Homeschool MomentTalking about the effects of the Norman Conquest on Western Civilization with my 15-year-old as we drove to a doctor appointment. On the way home, having the same kid explain how an Icee is a great model of how oil sands work. I just have to trust him on that.<br />
<br />
He's been reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/1066-Year-Conquest-David-Howarth/dp/0140058508"><i>1066: The Year of the Conquest</i></a>, which I read in anticipation of this year's history studies. I thought I had written something about it here, but it turns out I did that on goodreads. Looking for it reminded me that I need to update my monthly reading. Anyway, I handed it off to him and he's been enjoying it too. It's a fun popular history, not academic at all, and gives a good overview of the time period.<br />
<br />
It is so fun to share "adult" books with my kids now. It's fun to hear him speculate on what his world would have been like if Harold had defeated William. Maybe someday he'll write an alternate history novel about it. Could happen!Marbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03396985630486715494noreply@blogger.com1