We had made some items out of clay the night before, but they weren't ready to paint yet. We'll check them again tomorrow. She really wants to do a swimming lesson again, but without swimming, just splashing. *sigh*
Math : 3 sheets each of fractions and also subtraction. It was a lot of math for her..she wasn't very happy about it. But, with coaxing, she did do it.
Reading: Her reading aloud: "Unloveable" D. Yaccarino I read 20 pages of the first Sisters Grimm book to her before bed.
Science - Creation of the Moon questions/videos, reading aloud Backyard Beastiary: snails, hamsters, video Hidden Kingdoms: Secret Forests
We played in Minecraft in an ice world seed and she made a hamster burrow with multiple rooms and food storage after she read the article about them.
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Second Grade Curriculum (updating)
This is just the beginning of our collection... I will update this as needed until August, when we will begin again.
Our Core ValuesMixie Engineering Primary School
is about:
Asking questions:
---and learning HOW to find answers.
---Reading and Writing
---Math and Science
---Building and Engineering
---Art, music, history, learning new skills
Trying hard:
---not giving up
---and working together for goals.
Meeting People in our Community:
---learning from each other
---changing the world around us for the better
And - adding for second grade (we've discussed this) -
Discerning truth from evidence and experience.
This one is so hard - and also so very important. It is at the very core of Critical Thinking.
I also have doubts as to whether this prepares or excludes her from public education...a lot of what she got in trouble for was questioning the rules, the processes etc... things we actually raised her to do. She was called 'argumentative' and 'disrespectful'.... At this young age it does seem like that - unless you are purposefully trying to teach these skills and are willing to draw the lines clearly for the child. Everything is open to question up to a certain point...and she knows that point with us. Trying to find that point with a public school teacher didn't reach anything - except a seat in the principals office (which doesn't make the line clear..only move it into the principal's court).
Special Needs: Expressive language development - moving into the writing stage. Asynchronous - very good reader, science topics, one level ahead at least on math, one level behind with anything to do with writing original thoughts.
Curriculum:
Art :
More drawing and painting on the easel. Introduce chalk pastels at some point. I really like how many details she is putting in her art now, and the way she is working on background.
Social Studies and Geography (Tied together with History):
People Together: Adventures in Time and Place :: I got this at the library book sale. It is social studies, history and geography with lots of big type and graphics. (comparison shopping, this was an expensive book and we got it extremely cheap) // paired with Our Neighborhoods (1979) also library sale.
Continue with maps an geography games. She wants to do a program like Little Passports - we kind of have all of the stuff to do that on our own, debating whether to spend 15.00 for a month to try their service. Mark says I can tear maps out of our fifty-cent 1950s world Atlas...but it seems like a travesty to do that...even though the binding is already half-broken the prints are perfect inside...*debating*
Add the 'day in the life' and sightseeing info for her 'passport countries' from Time for Kids : France
Picked up two dollar HISTORY overview type books - good for starting off points. (She is already reading the Ancient History one)
Using Minecraft to talk about economies, transportations, projects and goals - recognizing and accomplishing goals etc. She said she can make some world flags in Minecraft.
Science:
Geology - Rocks and Minerals book, microscope, crystals, geology samples cards (tie with geography, too). Planning a visit to Ben Clement Mineral Museum (tentative). The Pinson mounds are close to us, and she has expressed great interest in the archaeological finds on display at the library - try to tie some of that together. Reelfoot Lake would be a good 'not too far away' field trip this year.
Biology : She came up with an idea for Ocean 'Aquarium' of paper fish, drawn out from pictures in book and internet and learning specific facts about them to write down (what they need, where they live, any important facts, also how big they are). Use geography, art skills and measurement. I think that is a great project - we painted a background for the 'aquarium' today (July 13).
Astronomy -online night sky program, Zoo in the Sky book, maybe we could visit the planetarium at Land Between the Lakes as incentive to know what she is seeing.
Body chart (hand drawn using our book set The Human Body TorStar books and Mom's artist talent) - labels for major parts and also anatomical parts - add these to spelling lists
Looking for more Chemistry experiments etc..
She wants to make oobleck again,with 'variations' -sprinkles transfer their dye to the oobleck slowly...we mixed potato starch and salt with the recipe to see what the differences were.
She asked to investigate how real the DNA idea in Jurassic Park is - can it really be recreated from amber?
Amber is tree sap. We discussed what tree sap is - 'resin', and how it captured the mosquitoes.
We discussed seeing tree sap in a tree in our forest in real life - and sealing some plants in acrylic resin from the hardware store as a project in 'pretending' the process from the movie.
I asked on our 'Eclectic Academic' support group and they gave me a TON of articles and website links to science and biology related things we can discuss. She is at that age of asking more biology type questions, too...figuring out how to approach the subject - we've discussed some things and want to be prepared as she continues to come up with the questions.
What are fossilized fuels - and how do we know about them? This ties in with the population questions she has asked lately...the population of the Earth multiplying and resources etc.
Don't want to forget the Space book Aunt Dot sent us.
Language / English:
Thrid grade vocabulary words (we did second and some third last year)
Continue with the first grade and move to the second grade spelling words when appropriate.
Punctuation.
Continue dictionary use.
Reading - Stink series, Little House etc. Try to advance to less picture books as possible - might try some short stories on her to see how she fares. I'd like to find more Encyclopedia Brown - I loved those (although I was reading my brother's copy at her age). Movie series : Emily of New Moon Farm, about a little girl who dreams about becoming an author and just 'has' to write - it is in her bones. Poetry : I am copying and illustrating some important poems for her to go over with me. We've mentioned her helping me illustrate some of them as part of her art projects.
Harcourt Language: probably grade 1... This is the subject she needs the most catch-up in, so having this to go over topics will be good. Also a Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing book grade 1, for the same reason. The library was selling them at less than a buck each :)
Writing:
Script - reading script writing, writing her signature. I won't do official penmanship unless she shows some interest - but it can't be 'a foreign language' to her like she claimed this summer.
First Grade writing prompts - on to second grade after we finish the first grade ones.
Poetry - Will introduce her to some basic poems beyond the kids book she has.. some wider variety, have her take her hand to writing a few more two or three verse ones on her own.
Science explanation/exploration - She will need to write a sentence or two of what she studied, and/or discovered in her science.
Math:
Continue with Khan math where we left off, we were 70% of the way through the K-2 material.
Review addition and subtraction borrowing and carrying.
Review money counting and change making.
Review measurement- add more real world scenarios and tasks.
Continue with multiplication - use in real world scenarios.
Continue with geometry/coordinates - review graphing and data from where we left off.
Continue with parts-to-whole, percent etc.
Events:
There is a quilt show in September by Murray, KY.
She wants to go to the roller rink a few more times this school year.
Materials List:
I need to buy some more : Large painting paper, acrylic paints
Ideas for : themed travel stickers, foreign coins and stamps for our passport theme
Link to other post: More notes and babble as I plan
Monday, May 18, 2015
Homeschool and Summer Activities
We went in to the School Board today to fill out the papers for second grade homeschool, and to turn in our attendance record from this year. We had talked to Esme about maybe trying to get into third grade - but she said she would rather do the things we had planned for at home than have to work that much harder on her writing (and what we said about older kids worried her some). So, we put in our order for the Astronomy and Geology books.
I also cleaned up the school and craft areas a bit today and sorted things out. We played several hours in our shared Minecraft world, just for the fun of it. I started on her summer clothes - as she has torn holes in a lot of her other playclothes. I finished a pair of shorts that she will try on later. We had a good lunch, and Harry Potter is on the TV again.
We have kept the Summer Journal for three days in a row - reluctantly a little, but hers has to be at least one full sentence with punctuation. Then I share something as well for her to read. Her spelling has noticeably improved since last year. It gives me hope that we can start on writing prompts a few days a week when we start 'class' again in August.
I am really glad to see her using her skills she has learned. That makes all the difference.
I also cleaned up the school and craft areas a bit today and sorted things out. We played several hours in our shared Minecraft world, just for the fun of it. I started on her summer clothes - as she has torn holes in a lot of her other playclothes. I finished a pair of shorts that she will try on later. We had a good lunch, and Harry Potter is on the TV again.
We have kept the Summer Journal for three days in a row - reluctantly a little, but hers has to be at least one full sentence with punctuation. Then I share something as well for her to read. Her spelling has noticeably improved since last year. It gives me hope that we can start on writing prompts a few days a week when we start 'class' again in August.
I am really glad to see her using her skills she has learned. That makes all the difference.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Thursday
7.00a - laundry and self-care // She had put all of her things in the washer by herself and was taking a bath and washing her hair. She was very proud that she did it all by herself. Our little girl is starting to really starting to get and use her self-care skills. (It's about time.. she has been so reluctant and at some point we really want to see her gaining these skills and using her own judgement)
7.45a - Sims - building a palace with seventeen rooms, a hedge maze outside and ponds. She is paying attention to lots of details and playing with little features of the game we hardly notice ourselves.
9.15a - Spelling quiz, writing several sentences, going over words in the -ouse and -e changes to -ing families Pulled up a couple of jazz songs on Spotify, which she disliked.. her taste in music is very narrow. Pointed out that 'Everybody Wants to be a Cat' is Jazz. She likes that song, but put her head down on the table and sulked while it played.
9.45a - Labors of Hercules #7 through #9. Man eating horses of Diomedes were quite frightening, so she was glad when the Gods on Mt. Olympus sent the wild beasts to make sure there weren't any around anymore. She said she knew all about minotaurs from a cartoon - but I said we might add that on as a legend to look at after the Labors are finished.
10a - gardening // planting her six celosia plants. Some complaint, but when I said what she didn't plant (since she chose them) I'd give away instead of plant she dug the holes and put them in the flower bed.
10.45a - fishing - learning to cast on my fishing rod, she caught two leaves and a piece of duckweed, but there were several strikes and she was happy with her progress. She picked these flowers all the way home from the lake.
11.30a - done
//When I got home at night I asked her several math/measures questions while she brushed her teeth. She passed them all, except she couldn't remember the word 'scale'- she said 'the weights' and made a hand-sign showing a scale balancing in air. I asked her what things were measured IN - and she said grams, and pounds. I asked what was heavier, 5 grams or 5 pounds, and she said pounds, and then told me she weighed only X in pounds, but it would be HUGE amount in grams. We compared 5 grams to being measured in a few beans where 5 pounds would be several apples. She knew there are 12 to a dozen, and 24 to two dozen. I asked if there were 12 inches in a foot, and 3 feet in a yard, how many inches were in a yard. She thought through and said 36 in less than ten seconds.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Thursday miscellany
We finished the Sound of Music, and stopped several times to discuss what was really happening, and what the historical implications of World War II starting was in reference to the movie.
8a - Sound of Music, history discussion about the War they are escaping from, what it meant to the world- why the father was willing to walk his children over the mountain rather than fight for the Nazis. She also talked with me a bit about the seven children in one family, why their mother had died etc...she still wonders why it was so hard for us to have her, and she doesn't have siblings, etc.. it is a tough topic.
about 3/4 of the way through the second half she had a small break where she did an x-ray pretend with her doll, made some 'charts' and a fabric cast for her doll's foot. She used the sewing scissors with care to cut a long lengthways strip of cloth and tied it around the foot in a double-knot - both things she was almost unable and definitely unwilling to do in October.
11a - dragon city
12p - done
Mark counted the movie and her math as most of the official school - but she really did a lot of her own learning today, which is a great thing to see. She had a good day - played with the big dryer box I had gotten her, built more with blocks, drew a picture outside (on her own initiative) with crayons and a tablet, got the mail by herself and brought it to Daddy. Daddy also had to take care of our dog Sweetie who had torn her ear in the woods early this morning and needed watching over and some first aid once the bleeding had clotted a bit. She is doing very well, and accompanied them on a walk to the lake this afternoon before I came home from work. Mark says the grass is tall and golden down there- I want to try to see it tomorrow, as that is one of my favorite things. It is tough being cooped up inside (at my work) when the weather is finally a bit nice.
We have a town run tomorrow, library, groceries, allowance spending... she also wanted to cut the box and paint it, but now we have duct taped another box to it to make it a shop with a counter - so maybe that is what it will be. She is watching a Harry Potter movie she requested now, and then it will be bedtime.
8a - Sound of Music, history discussion about the War they are escaping from, what it meant to the world- why the father was willing to walk his children over the mountain rather than fight for the Nazis. She also talked with me a bit about the seven children in one family, why their mother had died etc...she still wonders why it was so hard for us to have her, and she doesn't have siblings, etc.. it is a tough topic.
about 3/4 of the way through the second half she had a small break where she did an x-ray pretend with her doll, made some 'charts' and a fabric cast for her doll's foot. She used the sewing scissors with care to cut a long lengthways strip of cloth and tied it around the foot in a double-knot - both things she was almost unable and definitely unwilling to do in October.
11a - dragon city
12p - done
Mark counted the movie and her math as most of the official school - but she really did a lot of her own learning today, which is a great thing to see. She had a good day - played with the big dryer box I had gotten her, built more with blocks, drew a picture outside (on her own initiative) with crayons and a tablet, got the mail by herself and brought it to Daddy. Daddy also had to take care of our dog Sweetie who had torn her ear in the woods early this morning and needed watching over and some first aid once the bleeding had clotted a bit. She is doing very well, and accompanied them on a walk to the lake this afternoon before I came home from work. Mark says the grass is tall and golden down there- I want to try to see it tomorrow, as that is one of my favorite things. It is tough being cooped up inside (at my work) when the weather is finally a bit nice.
We have a town run tomorrow, library, groceries, allowance spending... she also wanted to cut the box and paint it, but now we have duct taped another box to it to make it a shop with a counter - so maybe that is what it will be. She is watching a Harry Potter movie she requested now, and then it will be bedtime.
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Wednesday
9.45a - dragon city
10.15a - PE(200x jumping jacks, 20x 20lb stair laps)
10.30a - break
11:30a - discussion about volcanoes
11.45a - copywork
12.30p - reading (3 billy goats, stone soup)
12.45p - Frozen planet ep 2, 3, 4 (Spring, Summer, Fall)
3p - done
//She wants to play soccer in the hallway, show me her new LEGO builds and then we might talk more about either seals or volcanoes. We had done some discussion about volcanoes before I left for work - had promised her a video but didn't have time before I had to go. She told me that Daddy and her talked about different kinds of seals. I asked her what they eat, and what eats them - and she was able to tell me good answers. She still wants me to make a seal toy for her - but wanted it to be 'real'..said that wasn't going to happen and she said oh, yea. heh
She was reading some in the new HONEY book she had borrowed from the library. Her complaint is that the books are just so long - but she had trouble only with a few higher level words. 'barrelling', 'honestly', 'forged', 'meant', 'Peterson', 'fostered'. Her reading is really 'forging' along, but she still gets tired of it quickly. Daddy and her had an argument today about what day of the week it is...she wanted it to be Thursday so she only had one more day of school left.
//We watched a geography video about volcanoes, and went over some of the vocabulary written down.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Thursday geometry and town run
10.30a - English worksheets
Reading comprehension sheet: 'The Weather', also a long -i recognition sheet (circle the ones that are) and then a fill in the blank I had made of which word goes where - 'where', 'were', 'they', 'there', 'their', 'we', 'which' and 'when'. She fussed for a moment - but with the goal of playing her pet doctor/care game she then sped through them...even after I told her the first two were first grade and the last one was second grade. She has been insisting that first grade was too hard for her, not too easy...but she continues to show me again and again that she is bored and 'why should I do this?' when I hand her the first grade stuff....unless I identify it as such. //thoughts here....
11a - pet playing game, 'pet doctor', feeding, care
11:30 - break
12p - pyramids; solid geometry, pinata
----I used the net boxes from Math Salamanders to cut out lots of geometric solids, some of which she helped me put together - or compared, talked about features of etc. She really 'gets' it. We cut cones from construction paper - that she found hard, because we started with no pattern. Then also with no real pattern - we cut out a cube box and a rectangular prism. She started to fuss that it was too easy yet too hard for her to do it..we did it together, and she understood the fundamental of what we were doing --then she thought it was fun and worthwhile. We went downstairs and made a pinata in the shape of a pyramid. I showed her the process for cutting a square out of a rectangular piece of paper, and we compared the triangle from the pyramid to see if all the sides were the same. Then, I showed her how to make an isosceles triangle out of a square.
1.15p - break
1.30p - town & stores
--she helped us shop for the first time in 12 days....we had a lot of things to get. Her attitude was very good.
--There is a lot of cooperation, thought and learning in this - she sees us all work together, we make decisions, she asks questions and we answer... we pack things in the cart and back out of the cart - she also counted her own change at one store and bought a small toy with her allowance.
3:3p - break, home, put things away
4p - hang pinata and break it
4:15p - break
Reading comprehension sheet: 'The Weather', also a long -i recognition sheet (circle the ones that are) and then a fill in the blank I had made of which word goes where - 'where', 'were', 'they', 'there', 'their', 'we', 'which' and 'when'. She fussed for a moment - but with the goal of playing her pet doctor/care game she then sped through them...even after I told her the first two were first grade and the last one was second grade. She has been insisting that first grade was too hard for her, not too easy...but she continues to show me again and again that she is bored and 'why should I do this?' when I hand her the first grade stuff....unless I identify it as such. //thoughts here....
11a - pet playing game, 'pet doctor', feeding, care
11:30 - break
Solid geometry experiments in construction paper
and a poor turkey with a cone on his head
12p - pyramids; solid geometry, pinata
----I used the net boxes from Math Salamanders to cut out lots of geometric solids, some of which she helped me put together - or compared, talked about features of etc. She really 'gets' it. We cut cones from construction paper - that she found hard, because we started with no pattern. Then also with no real pattern - we cut out a cube box and a rectangular prism. She started to fuss that it was too easy yet too hard for her to do it..we did it together, and she understood the fundamental of what we were doing --then she thought it was fun and worthwhile. We went downstairs and made a pinata in the shape of a pyramid. I showed her the process for cutting a square out of a rectangular piece of paper, and we compared the triangle from the pyramid to see if all the sides were the same. Then, I showed her how to make an isosceles triangle out of a square.
1.15p - break
1.30p - town & stores
--she helped us shop for the first time in 12 days....we had a lot of things to get. Her attitude was very good.
--There is a lot of cooperation, thought and learning in this - she sees us all work together, we make decisions, she asks questions and we answer... we pack things in the cart and back out of the cart - she also counted her own change at one store and bought a small toy with her allowance.
3:3p - break, home, put things away
4p - hang pinata and break it
4:15p - break
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Wednesday zen
I promised if she did hard math with me for an hours time she could 'present' Goat Simulator for time in school today. She said that would be her 'perfect day'... it turned out more like a course in anger management and finding our zen balance.
11.30a - Kahn academy math - practiced all early math!
----She has yet to do the mastery on a lot of them, has earned her Aqualine of more than 20 skills mastered. She is now at 65% done K through 2nd grade - since October - and has at least practiced every activity in the K through 2nd grade set. Although she got snippy at me and sarcastic several times, she demonstrated she does understand borrowing and carrying (which she can 'forget' often when she feels like it) but is still having trouble telling time on analog clocks. That makes her very frustrated...and we had to take a break
12p - break
12:30 - Kahn and Matific math
-----I promised some 'easier' picture math after she did one more mastery exercise in Kahn.
1:30 - Goat Simulator controls presentation
--She showed me what each control does, what the powers of different goats are, and her favorite places - also where some of the powers are got and what the process is to get them.
2p - spelling test and reading passage
---Spelling mastery article #5, 16 words spelling - 'were' and 'said' made her mad because they don't follow rules the other sounds do... that was my problem as a young reader, too.
2:15 - 'teaching' 2nd player to use controls from presentation
---I played and she gave me pointers, then we did a quest in MMO simulator
3 - Snap Circuits # 16
3:45 - anger manageent - there were lots of other things going on and she wanted us to do the project for her... we talked through and completed the circuit.
4 - break
4:45 - put away snap circuits
5 pm - done
We tried to get to town, leaving Esme at Grandma's house. The county road is still too slick on the hills and we can't get over. Getting over is half the battle - you have to get back. There is another snowstorm predicted tonight... we'll see how this all goes.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Monday bits (of ice)
I made the doll as an extra (and Esme got one, too) because we are so iced in... it turned out okay, will work some more at them :)
School:
9.30a - laundry, operating washer and dryer, she needed and wanted to - so it was a great time to introduce it all to her. She can reach all the buttons if she stands on the dog food container, which she did!
9.45a - reading & summarizing story, reading comprehension sheet First Second Third
--------Had her draw out a figure as well that showed the clothing and colors in the sheet.
10a - reading aloud (stink frog book & how birds got colors)
10.30a - break, 'brunsh' and cartoon movie
12:00a - drawing and writing 'comic book' about movie Quest for Camelot
----She had wanted to count watching the movie for school, but we said it had to be more than that - so after the movie she did an hour making three pages with drawings and writing, and a cover. I counted this as spelling too, as she had to ask for words she didn't know and copy other things like 'Excaliber' that I wrote for her.
1 p - dragon city and copycat game - monster city, upkeep, interface, reading
2p - break
2.45p - mathific - 1st and 2nd grade activities
3.15p - break
4p - Joy of Painting s04e13
4.30p - done
Some of the Camelot book she made
Saturday, February 21, 2015
First Grade Curriculum materials
Will update this as I go here.. but want a collection to refer back to and add on to...
Spelling : K12 reader list of spelling words We are using the first grade spelling words as 'spell it from hearing it' and the third grade spelling words as vocabulary and copywork. I have a 1968 spelling primer 'Language Mastery Primer' that I bought at a library sale we are using, as well. We picked up a 1.00 dictionary for her to learn to use, at the same place.
Reading Comprehension : k5 Learning Reading Comprehension This is a hard one to find something simple enough for her writing ability but tough enough for her logic capability. She can read a lot more complicated items, but her handwriting still is a barrier at times, and she is just beginning real composition. We have a book from the Calvert school that Aunt Dot sent to us that has lots of fables and questions in it - we've used that, and also some of the poetry from it for copywork.
Reading - books, poetry and rhymes. plurals, tenses, etc... too many to list, but we are active in searching out books to introduce her to, read with her, etc etc...I have bought several 'old school' textbooks that are on her reading level, and we've read them sometimes when she doesn't have something else she is 'into' and we haven't finished. She has her own library card now, and we have went often. She likes the chapter books from Franny K. Stein and also the Stink Moody series, they are fun. We've read some Charlotte's Web, and I have Half-Magic and Little House in the Big Woods on reserve, but I don't want to start more than two chapter books at a time.
Handwriting: 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog', for copywork, mixed with other sentences and copying names of dragons, etc.. She has a perfectionism tendency...but once in a while she lets me correct her and I do see her improving steadily.
'English': First, things that come up, like homonyms she doesn't understand, or capitalization and punctuation while we are writing some sentences. Second, 'voice' in reading actually falls under this, I believe - because once you understand how sentences in books flow, the punctuation and forms come easier. Third, identifying
Math with : Khan Academy, Matific and using specific games online that make her think about math while she is playing them - multiples, scarcity, probability etc... She has done the Dragonbox algebra prep for age 5 and up from start to finish. We also downloaded and used Math Stretch as a mobile app and some calculation apps for basic addition/subtraction. We started with multiplication tables up to 10x10 earlier in the year and very simple division with fractions (circle pizzas) and regular numbers (counters/word problems). Still working on the 11/2 is 5 and a half TWICE... maybe find some materials for that or make a prop to help.
Math / Geometry : Matific and Khan again, and trying to put some hands-on in there. Also have used Solid shape Geometry worksheets from Mathworksheets4Kids which she is ready for. Making PVC items from our kit works in here, too. Math Salamanders 3D solid nets
Science:
Asking questions and finding answers - researching for information, creating tests and recording the results. Started with the Chemistry cards at Pinay Homeschooler, introducing them 9 at a time (page) and talking about them. She is picking up on the ideas with the pictures and categories much better than she did with just the letters. We have done lots of experiments, ones she found online and some we got from a Lowes kit, oobleck and such. For nature science she is learning a lot about different animals and environments, how to prepare and care for different pets and animals and learning about plants with her greenhouse. When it was warmer we went for lots of nature walks around the house and answered her questions as they came up.
places to investigate more, GeoDetective , Try Engineering and Edheads
Geography:
Started her out playing World Explorer map geography game at the library. She didn't really believe all of these other places could be real at first - thought it was just stories. We have three hallway maps, bought and from National Geographics. We are using National Geos and youtube videos to investigate different places, the animals and people who live there, as well as tectonic plates, volcanoes and etc... We printed out a map from Printable maps and put it up on her wall, for us to fill it out and color it in as we learn from the other maps.
History
We had her watch Liberty's Kids from start to finish, and have talked about history in general, where people lived, where they moved to, Columbus discovering America, wars, Indians and the settlers - taking little bits as she is interested in them. She has played the Civlization game with me and it gives some good ideas that people had to learn things slowly etc.. I think once she has a better idea about the world in general- from our geography studies and relating those studies to history and people, she will be ready to take on more lessons.
Languages: She did a little modern Greek online at the beginning...waned off of that and it became too much of a chore. She agreed recently she should go back and learn it some more. BUT - she had remembered several words all this time!
Photography, Video : She has used our smaller camera, printed out the photos with me at the store - and is learning to take photos and video on the tablet.
Computer interface: A lot of the games, Minecraft, PBS kids etc that she plays fall under this. She is really good (and has been for years, really) at figuring things out to play complicated games. Now, she is learning from them, learning how to look things up about them and really getting into them for strategy and quests.
Other supplies:
Electric Company series videos
Blue Planet series videos
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (on Youtube)
SnapCircuits electronic building kit
art with Joy of Painting videos, art supplies with Mom
other building kits we picked up long ago...Da Vinci and so forth
mancala and dominoes, checkers and dice
balltrack building kit
Knex and Lego
dolls and figurines, making up stories
Scrabble and Monopoly
paper, glue, scissors, yarn, macaroni, beads etc.. making things
simple cooking with Mom and Dad, measuring etc.
weighing with a balance scale
woodcrafting with Mom and Dad
candlemaking with Mom
sewing and weaving lessons with Mom
rollerskating, weight lifting, running laps and general exercises
taking care of her chickens, puppy, cats
cleaning up after herself, putting away clothes, organizing desk etc.
Specific materials I've sourced for her:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books from The New Basic Readers collection (several years ago), Fun with our Friends etc.
-----she has almost outgrown these, now - but will keep them for a while
-----There are two other similar books 'Up and Away', and 'Seeing New Things'. That last one is a science book. They were both from library sales.
Library discard sales:
Sun and Shadow (1982 primer book 'Level 4'...of 1st grade, perhaps? it doesn't say)
Pets and Promises (1980 primer book - listed as 2nd grade level 1) , seems more difficult than the other one.
Books from the 1979 Childcraft How Why Library - we have four now, one from my original set (Indian Book), the Story of the Sea, Things we Make and Rhymes and Poems. Probably will add more as we go.
Power Pack and Supergirl comic books
A book called 'the Car', on the history and construction of the car, also car racing.
A topographical map showing mountains, volcanoes and ocean currents.
was going to buy a world political map - but found one at the big box for 5.00
The Half Magic, Charlotte's Web and Little House in the Big Woods books
A compass and binocular multitoy from Toysmith called Optic Wonder
A vintage Speak and Spell
candle molds
Seeds for her gardening projects, dianthus, cockscomb, geranium and herbs.
Spelling : K12 reader list of spelling words We are using the first grade spelling words as 'spell it from hearing it' and the third grade spelling words as vocabulary and copywork. I have a 1968 spelling primer 'Language Mastery Primer' that I bought at a library sale we are using, as well. We picked up a 1.00 dictionary for her to learn to use, at the same place.
Reading Comprehension : k5 Learning Reading Comprehension This is a hard one to find something simple enough for her writing ability but tough enough for her logic capability. She can read a lot more complicated items, but her handwriting still is a barrier at times, and she is just beginning real composition. We have a book from the Calvert school that Aunt Dot sent to us that has lots of fables and questions in it - we've used that, and also some of the poetry from it for copywork.
Reading - books, poetry and rhymes. plurals, tenses, etc... too many to list, but we are active in searching out books to introduce her to, read with her, etc etc...I have bought several 'old school' textbooks that are on her reading level, and we've read them sometimes when she doesn't have something else she is 'into' and we haven't finished. She has her own library card now, and we have went often. She likes the chapter books from Franny K. Stein and also the Stink Moody series, they are fun. We've read some Charlotte's Web, and I have Half-Magic and Little House in the Big Woods on reserve, but I don't want to start more than two chapter books at a time.
Handwriting: 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog', for copywork, mixed with other sentences and copying names of dragons, etc.. She has a perfectionism tendency...but once in a while she lets me correct her and I do see her improving steadily.
'English': First, things that come up, like homonyms she doesn't understand, or capitalization and punctuation while we are writing some sentences. Second, 'voice' in reading actually falls under this, I believe - because once you understand how sentences in books flow, the punctuation and forms come easier. Third, identifying
Math with : Khan Academy, Matific and using specific games online that make her think about math while she is playing them - multiples, scarcity, probability etc... She has done the Dragonbox algebra prep for age 5 and up from start to finish. We also downloaded and used Math Stretch as a mobile app and some calculation apps for basic addition/subtraction. We started with multiplication tables up to 10x10 earlier in the year and very simple division with fractions (circle pizzas) and regular numbers (counters/word problems). Still working on the 11/2 is 5 and a half TWICE... maybe find some materials for that or make a prop to help.
Math / Geometry : Matific and Khan again, and trying to put some hands-on in there. Also have used Solid shape Geometry worksheets from Mathworksheets4Kids which she is ready for. Making PVC items from our kit works in here, too. Math Salamanders 3D solid nets
Science:
Asking questions and finding answers - researching for information, creating tests and recording the results. Started with the Chemistry cards at Pinay Homeschooler, introducing them 9 at a time (page) and talking about them. She is picking up on the ideas with the pictures and categories much better than she did with just the letters. We have done lots of experiments, ones she found online and some we got from a Lowes kit, oobleck and such. For nature science she is learning a lot about different animals and environments, how to prepare and care for different pets and animals and learning about plants with her greenhouse. When it was warmer we went for lots of nature walks around the house and answered her questions as they came up.
places to investigate more, GeoDetective , Try Engineering and Edheads
Geography:
Started her out playing World Explorer map geography game at the library. She didn't really believe all of these other places could be real at first - thought it was just stories. We have three hallway maps, bought and from National Geographics. We are using National Geos and youtube videos to investigate different places, the animals and people who live there, as well as tectonic plates, volcanoes and etc... We printed out a map from Printable maps and put it up on her wall, for us to fill it out and color it in as we learn from the other maps.
History
We had her watch Liberty's Kids from start to finish, and have talked about history in general, where people lived, where they moved to, Columbus discovering America, wars, Indians and the settlers - taking little bits as she is interested in them. She has played the Civlization game with me and it gives some good ideas that people had to learn things slowly etc.. I think once she has a better idea about the world in general- from our geography studies and relating those studies to history and people, she will be ready to take on more lessons.
Languages: She did a little modern Greek online at the beginning...waned off of that and it became too much of a chore. She agreed recently she should go back and learn it some more. BUT - she had remembered several words all this time!
Photography, Video : She has used our smaller camera, printed out the photos with me at the store - and is learning to take photos and video on the tablet.
Computer interface: A lot of the games, Minecraft, PBS kids etc that she plays fall under this. She is really good (and has been for years, really) at figuring things out to play complicated games. Now, she is learning from them, learning how to look things up about them and really getting into them for strategy and quests.
Other supplies:
Electric Company series videos
Blue Planet series videos
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood (on Youtube)
SnapCircuits electronic building kit
art with Joy of Painting videos, art supplies with Mom
other building kits we picked up long ago...Da Vinci and so forth
mancala and dominoes, checkers and dice
balltrack building kit
Knex and Lego
dolls and figurines, making up stories
Scrabble and Monopoly
paper, glue, scissors, yarn, macaroni, beads etc.. making things
simple cooking with Mom and Dad, measuring etc.
weighing with a balance scale
woodcrafting with Mom and Dad
candlemaking with Mom
sewing and weaving lessons with Mom
rollerskating, weight lifting, running laps and general exercises
taking care of her chickens, puppy, cats
cleaning up after herself, putting away clothes, organizing desk etc.
Specific materials I've sourced for her:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books from The New Basic Readers collection (several years ago), Fun with our Friends etc.
-----she has almost outgrown these, now - but will keep them for a while
-----There are two other similar books 'Up and Away', and 'Seeing New Things'. That last one is a science book. They were both from library sales.
Library discard sales:
Sun and Shadow (1982 primer book 'Level 4'...of 1st grade, perhaps? it doesn't say)
Pets and Promises (1980 primer book - listed as 2nd grade level 1) , seems more difficult than the other one.
Books from the 1979 Childcraft How Why Library - we have four now, one from my original set (Indian Book), the Story of the Sea, Things we Make and Rhymes and Poems. Probably will add more as we go.
Power Pack and Supergirl comic books
A book called 'the Car', on the history and construction of the car, also car racing.
A topographical map showing mountains, volcanoes and ocean currents.
was going to buy a world political map - but found one at the big box for 5.00
The Half Magic, Charlotte's Web and Little House in the Big Woods books
A compass and binocular multitoy from Toysmith called Optic Wonder
A vintage Speak and Spell
candle molds
Seeds for her gardening projects, dianthus, cockscomb, geranium and herbs.
notes for later
A few thoughts and articles about homeschooling.
Why Schools are Failing our Boys - and girls! I will say that many of the reasons they give were also our reasons for pulling Esme out of first grade. It was crushing her spirit and creativity. AND, the school thought that was a good thing, because it made her easier to control. It was NOT a good thing, and making her 'easier to control' was not our goal as parents. Teaching her about the world and leading her to use her own brain and make decisions, good judgement and ideas for herself is our goal. We would also like to show her the benefit of hard work and allow her to do the more 'questionable' things that kids her age could do even back when we were kids - that they can't now.. play outside, jump in mud, make and light candles (with supervision), use hand tools (again, with supervision). She is ready for these things with us as her guides - and she will appreciate the idea of being an adult much more if there is fun and learning involved with the adults in her life every day.
Role of Rigor in Kindergarten (Fred Rogers) - a great article about the role of art, music and imagination in childhood..and how we seem to be losing that in the modern public school system for more and more testing and worksheets.
About our own school method. I saw in a book somewhere about the 'retelling method' of learning. The child learns something, and later, they come and tell you, or someone else - just what they learned. They get to reabsorb the information, frame it, see reactions and maybe get extra info from the other person. We've been doing this naturally with Esme - but I am doing it more consciously now. I will have her tell Grandma, or tell Daddy something we did earlier in the day. One, for her to remember it. Two, for her to reframe it and try to get the relevant bits out of it (good for her language development) and Three, to reinforce that it was a valuable thing to learn and that other people will think so, too.
One of the things we have been having her recite is the 'Thirty day hath September' poem - and I've put it up on her wall above her calendar. This is to attempt to put an end or at least a method to the 'how many days until (holiday or date)' question she keeps asking me. Now she knows how to add double-digits. Now she knows how many days are in each month. Go find out. /haha evil supervillain laugh... but it's working - we don't tell her 'I don't know'...or 'it doesn't matter'.. we say if it matters that much, here is how to find out.
//more later the weather is still awful, and we are still stuck at home until at least this afternoon
Why Schools are Failing our Boys - and girls! I will say that many of the reasons they give were also our reasons for pulling Esme out of first grade. It was crushing her spirit and creativity. AND, the school thought that was a good thing, because it made her easier to control. It was NOT a good thing, and making her 'easier to control' was not our goal as parents. Teaching her about the world and leading her to use her own brain and make decisions, good judgement and ideas for herself is our goal. We would also like to show her the benefit of hard work and allow her to do the more 'questionable' things that kids her age could do even back when we were kids - that they can't now.. play outside, jump in mud, make and light candles (with supervision), use hand tools (again, with supervision). She is ready for these things with us as her guides - and she will appreciate the idea of being an adult much more if there is fun and learning involved with the adults in her life every day.
Role of Rigor in Kindergarten (Fred Rogers) - a great article about the role of art, music and imagination in childhood..and how we seem to be losing that in the modern public school system for more and more testing and worksheets.
About our own school method. I saw in a book somewhere about the 'retelling method' of learning. The child learns something, and later, they come and tell you, or someone else - just what they learned. They get to reabsorb the information, frame it, see reactions and maybe get extra info from the other person. We've been doing this naturally with Esme - but I am doing it more consciously now. I will have her tell Grandma, or tell Daddy something we did earlier in the day. One, for her to remember it. Two, for her to reframe it and try to get the relevant bits out of it (good for her language development) and Three, to reinforce that it was a valuable thing to learn and that other people will think so, too.
One of the things we have been having her recite is the 'Thirty day hath September' poem - and I've put it up on her wall above her calendar. This is to attempt to put an end or at least a method to the 'how many days until (holiday or date)' question she keeps asking me. Now she knows how to add double-digits. Now she knows how many days are in each month. Go find out. /haha evil supervillain laugh... but it's working - we don't tell her 'I don't know'...or 'it doesn't matter'.. we say if it matters that much, here is how to find out.
//more later the weather is still awful, and we are still stuck at home until at least this afternoon
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Our not a snow day snow day and recipe
There was still snow, and we were still going nowhere today. But, Esme was becoming listless and ornery about 10 am ... so we decided to do school today, but do it slow. There were lots of grumpy times - mostly because I wasn't doing exactly what she wanted and I tried to hurry her to feed her chickens. She was lolling in the bath and there was no more hot water. She didn't speed up and Daddy did it while I was still fighting with her about clothes to put on to go back outside. She did come back to center a bit later - she probably started out on the wrong foot having a corndog for breakfast (her own cooking). Thus, I didn't press her to eat anything else 'big' later. We snacked instead of making lunch anticipating a heavy spaghetti supper with garlic bread and possible baking.
Coming in from sledding from the top of the drive almost all the way down to the lake (about a half mile) with Daddy as the steering gear. Daddy says: 'successfully negotiated three curves and missed the truck (which was still mired halfway up the drive)'
12:00 - sledding outside with Daddy, then by herself
1 pm - break
1:45 - 2:15 - researching articles about what it takes to take care of a pet bird, kinds of pet bird
break
Playing dragon game on her own...playing outside
Attitude Check, discussion, bath and grump session - more playing outside and talking to chickens about why she didn't feed them (she insisted they needed to be talked to)...
break
Watching Joy of Painting - two episodes while eating dinner, discussing what she was seeing
Baking lemon cornbread cookie sheet with me.
Reading another chapter in the Stink Moody Freaky Frog Friday book.
We ended at 7 pm.
Lemon Cornmeal Flat Sugar Cookie
adapted from Martha Stewart magazine recipe
--we had no anise seeds, or lemon zest , or almonds - all of which was in the original.
--We made do, and it turned out great.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp of room temperature butter or fridge butter slightly melted in microwave.
1/2 cup white sugar plus some to sprinkle on later
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice or 1 tsp ground lemon zest
1 whole egg to beat in
1 egg separated - for the egg white to brush on - very important
ground nuts - we had black walnuts and ran them through the food processor
baking chips or other toppings
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a sheet of aluminum foil with coconut oil and set aside on a flat baking sheet.
mix the flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl
beat the butter and whole egg together in a larger bowl. Add lemon juice or zest - we had no zest. Mix in the flour mixture in small amounts.. may add a tiny touch of whole milk if needed to combinen all ingredients. It stuck to our beaters really badly - but we used a spoon to get it out from between the beaters.
.
Spoon batter onto the aluminum baking foil and press down as best as possible into a flattened ball. Spoon on egg white and start to smooth mixture out to the edges until mixture is 1/4 inch thick or so. It was amazing how easily the mixture began to smooth when the egg was spooned on to it - it felt like a whole different batter. Sprinkle white sugar (optional mix some cinnamon in) over the egg wash. Sprinkle ground nuts on to mixture and other toppings (like dried fruit, baking chips etc.).
Bake at 350 degrees for 27-30 minutes. Edges should be browned and little bits of brown showing up in the middle here and there. Remove from oven, carefully use a butterknife to separate the cookie from the aluminum foil... leave to cool and tear off piece
12:00 - sledding outside with Daddy, then by herself
1 pm - break
1:45 - 2:15 - researching articles about what it takes to take care of a pet bird, kinds of pet bird
break
Playing dragon game on her own...playing outside
Attitude Check, discussion, bath and grump session - more playing outside and talking to chickens about why she didn't feed them (she insisted they needed to be talked to)...
break
Watching Joy of Painting - two episodes while eating dinner, discussing what she was seeing
Baking lemon cornbread cookie sheet with me.
Reading another chapter in the Stink Moody Freaky Frog Friday book.
We ended at 7 pm.
Baking with me the recipe listed below.
She had taken her jacket off and had a bath in between all of this...
and ended up never taking it off again after she came in the last time.
adapted from Martha Stewart magazine recipe
--we had no anise seeds, or lemon zest , or almonds - all of which was in the original.
--We made do, and it turned out great.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp of room temperature butter or fridge butter slightly melted in microwave.
1/2 cup white sugar plus some to sprinkle on later
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice or 1 tsp ground lemon zest
1 whole egg to beat in
1 egg separated - for the egg white to brush on - very important
ground nuts - we had black walnuts and ran them through the food processor
baking chips or other toppings
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a sheet of aluminum foil with coconut oil and set aside on a flat baking sheet.
mix the flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl
beat the butter and whole egg together in a larger bowl. Add lemon juice or zest - we had no zest. Mix in the flour mixture in small amounts.. may add a tiny touch of whole milk if needed to combinen all ingredients. It stuck to our beaters really badly - but we used a spoon to get it out from between the beaters.
.
Spoon batter onto the aluminum baking foil and press down as best as possible into a flattened ball. Spoon on egg white and start to smooth mixture out to the edges until mixture is 1/4 inch thick or so. It was amazing how easily the mixture began to smooth when the egg was spooned on to it - it felt like a whole different batter. Sprinkle white sugar (optional mix some cinnamon in) over the egg wash. Sprinkle ground nuts on to mixture and other toppings (like dried fruit, baking chips etc.).
Bake at 350 degrees for 27-30 minutes. Edges should be browned and little bits of brown showing up in the middle here and there. Remove from oven, carefully use a butterknife to separate the cookie from the aluminum foil... leave to cool and tear off piece
Monday, February 16, 2015
snow bits
It snowed, sleet and ice. I stayed home from work - and we gave Esme a snow day. She was awake at 6:30 and I kept her in the house as much as I could until 9 am.. when she just kept popping out the door every five minutes to make sure I knew it wasn't cold outside. Bundled her up. She played. The dogs played. They all ran around the yard like giant hopping rabbits chasing her about. Minerva and Sweetie were rolling each other around in it like puppies. She threw 'glitter' snowballs, because it wouldn't hold together at all. She tried to use the sled and had forgotten how to use it - momentarily.. then she was at the top of the hill paddling like a pleiosaur down the driveway. I just couldn't bring myself to go out there - so cold! Mark went out for a few minutes, and came back in freezing after a short trip down the hill.
Esme finally came in, and I made her black tea and milk and sugar, with a hot chicken patty for breakfast. She ate. She went back outside... I played Civilzation V and she played some with me...bopping around me until the afternoon. We played the Earth map and talked about the geography compared to the map...even though it wasn't a school day. The falling ice and freezing rain finally stopped somewhere in there. Mark made us a lunch of hot buttered rolls, and then we went out and fed the chickens and gave them feed in their house and hot water in their bowl. They were walking around hopping from foot to foot.. but were very glad to drink from the little bit of water while it was available. I had to use some of the hot water to open the gate latch, as it was frozen solid from the sleet and freezing rain. Then I finally said it was time for me to sled with her. We took two trips and then I retreated back inside, too... playing more CIV and talking her into taking a warm bath since Daddy had just left the hot water from his. She really needed one...and it has been so cold we didn't press it last night (Wet hair at night, etc.)
Some dinner, some playing campfire in her room with spooky ghost stories and etc...She had torn up a cardboard paper towel tube and was pretending it was logs for a fire. She had a big wheel K'nex on each of two K'nex sticks and was 'roasting marshmallows'. She had a story for me about a vampire potato that gave zombie-like instructions to its victims and made roots grow out of their heads. She told Mark the story, too... I told her the real story about the man whose car smelled bad for days and then one day he had a dead snake come out from under his seat when he moved it forward getting something out of the seat. She said EW...
Now she is playing more games after having built a robot with K'nex. She is trying to solve where the batteries are in goat simulator and where to put them. I think she just got it.
Have to think about if we're going in tomorrow...the roads won't be any better, and there might be more weather on the way. If I'm home tomorrow and can work up the ambition.. maybe make this: Corn muffins with peanutbutter or a recipe out of one of the magazines I have for lemon cornbread sugar cookies.
Quote from Esme today: While I was playing CIV she leans on my shoulder and sticks her hand out palm-up to me and says 'Do we really need this war, Mom? I mean, really need it? Can't you just stop this and go home?' The moments. She played it quite a bit on her own later, including battles... but just can't help writing that one down for her for later.
Esme finally came in, and I made her black tea and milk and sugar, with a hot chicken patty for breakfast. She ate. She went back outside... I played Civilzation V and she played some with me...bopping around me until the afternoon. We played the Earth map and talked about the geography compared to the map...even though it wasn't a school day. The falling ice and freezing rain finally stopped somewhere in there. Mark made us a lunch of hot buttered rolls, and then we went out and fed the chickens and gave them feed in their house and hot water in their bowl. They were walking around hopping from foot to foot.. but were very glad to drink from the little bit of water while it was available. I had to use some of the hot water to open the gate latch, as it was frozen solid from the sleet and freezing rain. Then I finally said it was time for me to sled with her. We took two trips and then I retreated back inside, too... playing more CIV and talking her into taking a warm bath since Daddy had just left the hot water from his. She really needed one...and it has been so cold we didn't press it last night (Wet hair at night, etc.)
Some dinner, some playing campfire in her room with spooky ghost stories and etc...She had torn up a cardboard paper towel tube and was pretending it was logs for a fire. She had a big wheel K'nex on each of two K'nex sticks and was 'roasting marshmallows'. She had a story for me about a vampire potato that gave zombie-like instructions to its victims and made roots grow out of their heads. She told Mark the story, too... I told her the real story about the man whose car smelled bad for days and then one day he had a dead snake come out from under his seat when he moved it forward getting something out of the seat. She said EW...
Now she is playing more games after having built a robot with K'nex. She is trying to solve where the batteries are in goat simulator and where to put them. I think she just got it.
Have to think about if we're going in tomorrow...the roads won't be any better, and there might be more weather on the way. If I'm home tomorrow and can work up the ambition.. maybe make this: Corn muffins with peanutbutter or a recipe out of one of the magazines I have for lemon cornbread sugar cookies.
Quote from Esme today: While I was playing CIV she leans on my shoulder and sticks her hand out palm-up to me and says 'Do we really need this war, Mom? I mean, really need it? Can't you just stop this and go home?' The moments. She played it quite a bit on her own later, including battles... but just can't help writing that one down for her for later.
Saturday, February 07, 2015
bits
Chicken soup has become breakfast two days in a row, as Esme is trying to get/not get a cold. We wish it would hurry up and be Spring already. I was reading this excellent article Techies Hack Education by Homeschooling their Kids and it sounded a lot like our house. The banter later in the article was pure gold. We really are 'unschooling' but steering a little and making sure we cover the basics and track our time. It seems to be keeping her engaged, although she yearns for more peer interaction. Which, I am trying to get for her. If Spring can get here, if warm weather can get here, there will be more outdoors time and everyone will be happier.
The puppy is settling himself in. Squeaker, our last Great Dane, is very lonely outside without his mother and sister. We are wondering if there is a way to rotate the dogs through the yard to spend time with him -- they are kind of thinking the same thing. Mark mentions he has seen (And I have, too.) the Catahoula crew rotating who stays at the fence edge and spends time with him and who is out hunting and patrolling. They know he needs someone, too - and are doing their best to see he gets it.
The puppy is settling himself in. Squeaker, our last Great Dane, is very lonely outside without his mother and sister. We are wondering if there is a way to rotate the dogs through the yard to spend time with him -- they are kind of thinking the same thing. Mark mentions he has seen (And I have, too.) the Catahoula crew rotating who stays at the fence edge and spends time with him and who is out hunting and patrolling. They know he needs someone, too - and are doing their best to see he gets it.
Sunday, February 01, 2015
Saturday Sunday
It's been a weekend, but between giving a few puppies away and going shopping I feel about the same as the rest of the week. Esme and I have had two conversations about her homeschooling - and how it will most likely continue over the next year. She was arguing hard the other day - and we cut her off finally to think over what we said.
Today, I talked to her in town a bit more about it. I know she misses the specific kids she was friends with - even worries about them - but I am trying to have her see that the rest of the environment was just not right for her style of learning. In fact, although she doesn't remember it that way now - it was shutting down all the curiosity and questions in her. We are so glad to see those back - and to answer her questions when she has them (usually, within reason) - that I don't want to see her going back to rocking in her chair, angry at the world and then fighting her to bed and back awake every day of the week for something that just doesn't fit her.
Just sitting there in the car she was full of questions - Why are the gauges dark and showing 'nones' right now? How does the car know when the electricity is on from the key to make the gauges know the gas tank is full or empty? Can she see those wires? Why does the air conditioner button go on or off even if the key wasn't in? etc etc...The other day she saw me sorting some beans out of my collection, and asked why. I told her there was a spot of green mold on this package and I didn't want it getting into anything else - so I was going to throw it out. She asked if we could keep it to 'do science' on it, and see if we could make it grow more mold. So, I've kept it aside in another jar - and we'll try to wet it and put it in a warm window next week to see what happens.
She has all the curiosity we had as kids - which gets her in trouble sometimes, her brain is always moving.... Yet, I know she isn't entirely like we were as kids - too much has changed. There is now 24/7 computer access with internet, games at the touch of a finger, books are 'always here', not often fragile treasures to be discovered and perhaps never seen again... VCRs were just roaring up when I was a kid.. and it was amazing, not 'ordinary' to have things to watch over and over.... but the loneliness and not being around any other kids like you, even sometimes when you were in a swarm of kids... that rings with me. And that feeling of being alone, or worse - singled out - in a crowd, was worse than being alone in reality and having to make everything up in my head. She told me this morning she was still confused by her 'special eyes' that cannot see themselves but can see all the things she saw in the past - if she thinks about them. And the next minute she is discussing what her plans are for building something, or trying a new combination in a game she hadn't tried together - just to see if it does anything. She is just so many ages at once... and our school system isn't about cherishing and nurturing that - it is about stomping it into a mold instead. Maybe I am protecting her from too much there - maybe not.
I want her to grow into her own person and not be forced into a box by the pressures around her... so hard to find a good way to do it. But it is nice to see her 'melt' into crowds in the roller rink, even if she stands out like a fish out of water at the library or park sometimes... she gets along very well with older kids. That is a little scary - but she develops skills and language in a blink of an eye sometimes in those situations... even sometimes just watching a television series, she suddenly tells me I'm not the Tree of Wisdom today, because I didn't know the kids would all disappear an hour after we got somewhere... I'm taken back and amused at the same time...
I tried to remind her again today about all of the reasons we are homeschooling, and the things she DOES get to do now that she couldn't when she spent 10 hours of her day at school and had an early bedtime to boot. She does like being able to do the greenhouse and building and science things - and meeting all the people at different stores and places. We talked about how the cold and wet weather has kept us from doing a lot of the fun things, park, lake, etc.. that were very fun for her last year. And how when it gets a little warmer again we can go to a farm again, make our garden, go to the lake often, run at parks for hours etc... and she will not feel so cooped up and miss her friends (who by the way HAVE grown and are doing their own things) from her class.
Today, I talked to her in town a bit more about it. I know she misses the specific kids she was friends with - even worries about them - but I am trying to have her see that the rest of the environment was just not right for her style of learning. In fact, although she doesn't remember it that way now - it was shutting down all the curiosity and questions in her. We are so glad to see those back - and to answer her questions when she has them (usually, within reason) - that I don't want to see her going back to rocking in her chair, angry at the world and then fighting her to bed and back awake every day of the week for something that just doesn't fit her.
Just sitting there in the car she was full of questions - Why are the gauges dark and showing 'nones' right now? How does the car know when the electricity is on from the key to make the gauges know the gas tank is full or empty? Can she see those wires? Why does the air conditioner button go on or off even if the key wasn't in? etc etc...The other day she saw me sorting some beans out of my collection, and asked why. I told her there was a spot of green mold on this package and I didn't want it getting into anything else - so I was going to throw it out. She asked if we could keep it to 'do science' on it, and see if we could make it grow more mold. So, I've kept it aside in another jar - and we'll try to wet it and put it in a warm window next week to see what happens.
She has all the curiosity we had as kids - which gets her in trouble sometimes, her brain is always moving.... Yet, I know she isn't entirely like we were as kids - too much has changed. There is now 24/7 computer access with internet, games at the touch of a finger, books are 'always here', not often fragile treasures to be discovered and perhaps never seen again... VCRs were just roaring up when I was a kid.. and it was amazing, not 'ordinary' to have things to watch over and over.... but the loneliness and not being around any other kids like you, even sometimes when you were in a swarm of kids... that rings with me. And that feeling of being alone, or worse - singled out - in a crowd, was worse than being alone in reality and having to make everything up in my head. She told me this morning she was still confused by her 'special eyes' that cannot see themselves but can see all the things she saw in the past - if she thinks about them. And the next minute she is discussing what her plans are for building something, or trying a new combination in a game she hadn't tried together - just to see if it does anything. She is just so many ages at once... and our school system isn't about cherishing and nurturing that - it is about stomping it into a mold instead. Maybe I am protecting her from too much there - maybe not.
I want her to grow into her own person and not be forced into a box by the pressures around her... so hard to find a good way to do it. But it is nice to see her 'melt' into crowds in the roller rink, even if she stands out like a fish out of water at the library or park sometimes... she gets along very well with older kids. That is a little scary - but she develops skills and language in a blink of an eye sometimes in those situations... even sometimes just watching a television series, she suddenly tells me I'm not the Tree of Wisdom today, because I didn't know the kids would all disappear an hour after we got somewhere... I'm taken back and amused at the same time...
I tried to remind her again today about all of the reasons we are homeschooling, and the things she DOES get to do now that she couldn't when she spent 10 hours of her day at school and had an early bedtime to boot. She does like being able to do the greenhouse and building and science things - and meeting all the people at different stores and places. We talked about how the cold and wet weather has kept us from doing a lot of the fun things, park, lake, etc.. that were very fun for her last year. And how when it gets a little warmer again we can go to a farm again, make our garden, go to the lake often, run at parks for hours etc... and she will not feel so cooped up and miss her friends (who by the way HAVE grown and are doing their own things) from her class.
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