Trip to the Zoo

Last week we had a week off from co-op. I coordinated a trip to the zoo. We had so much fun. It was delightful to go with other families who were more interested in the experience then seeing everything. As we went from exhibit to exhibit, we listened to the kids. When a kid got really excited about a particular animal, we stopped to look. We had lunch in the grassy field and played all along the way. One of the great things was that some of the children who had not had a chance to really connect all this year and develop better friendships got that chance. We also took the opportunity to feed the penguins since I was doing a product review and we have been learning about penguins.

Little One enjoyed the giraffes and the gorilla. He also had fun being pushed around by a slightly silly 12 year old brother.

I Can Read the Book at Home

I have been sitting on this post to finish up for several months. As B and I were talking about education, he said, “I can read the book at home!” and then he went on to tell me about how he had some professors who merely regurgitated the readings and others who lit a fire in class and sent them home to read. I think B sums up what I have been pondering and experiencing lately. Let me explain.

We belong to a small co-op which operates on principles of Leadership Education. We believe in Inspire not Require and Time not Content. I have been pondering these principles a lot lately. Add to that, I have been taking a course on How to Mentor from Oliver DeMille recently. In the first lesson he speaks a lot on the importance of time in small groups or with the mentor is to be changed NOT to receive information. Through a culmination of events, I must say, I surprise myself by agreeing 100%. There was a time when I wouldn’t have agreed with that- after all, class was the time to learn something! Now, I believe class time is the opportunity, especially in the Love of Learning and early Scholar phases to get a fire lit and send them home for more learning (this is NOT otherwise known as homework!)

Some people really struggle with this- if they are not being fed content, how will they learn what they need to learn? I believe that through experience and lighting a fire of love for a topic the child will then have a motivation to go read more on it. For example, I just finished teaching a science class. It was hands on and I would classify it as more of a lab class than a lecture class. Indeed I only spent maybe 5-10 minutes or so talking to the kids as a group. In the time I was talking, I was asking for LOTS of input, showing small demonstrations, and giving the instructions for their experiences for the day. Even with my middle school class, it was NOT the time to lecture on the formula for acceleration or demonstrate how to calculate the force needed to move an object. My class was the opportunity to give the children experiences to teach them HOW Newton’s laws work, WHAT inertia is, WHAT thermal energy is and how it works in the world, etc. I looked for small opportunities throughout class to ask WHY? and get the children to ponder and come up with answers as to WHY something happened. My methods were accomplishing my goals. After a class on Newton’s 3 laws, one of the girls was reported to have gone home and spend time researching who Newton was, what his laws meant, and more. Other children related things they learned in my class to classes they took the next term. Still others asked me to teach more since they had learned so much and loved doing it.

Another example, Tiger and Butterfly are in a history class. When one thinks history class one usually thinks teacher at the front imparting the facts, dates, and other information. Instead, the children have been given a motivational system. They all started class sitting on the floor as “slaves” and through work outside of class, they can earn the privilege to sit on a cushion, sit in a chair, be given a glass of water with their chair, receive a scepter…. etc until they earn the privilege of being pharaoh. Most children will not attain the rank of pharaoh as it requires a huge amount of outside class work, but all are capable of it! During class, the mentors present an activity. This might be presented with a bit of background information as well as instructions for the activity. Also during class, the children present the things they have discovered or read about during the week. Each presentation earns a point on their journey towards pharaoh. I am not concerned with them not filling in the maps and being told all the details of a civilization because through the motivational system as well as the inspiration that comes from exposure without much information, they are coming home excited to explore more. They will get the other details reading at home.

Indeed, as B experienced in science labs at the university, class was not the time for the teacher to regurgitate the readings, as B said, “I can read the book at home.” Class is the time to give the students what can’t be done at home on their own or what might be more difficult to do on their own.

It’s in the Box

A few weeks ago I mentioned inspiration resources. Today, I created a learning box. Mary Ann Johnson was right- part of the magic of the box is the anticipation and the limited availability. She talks about locking it but that even if it isn’t locked, kids know how important that “lock” is to preserving the magic. My box is a large clear tub with a lid that snaps on. Butterfly commented that the box had “magical properties that would zap anyone other than mommy who opened it.” She asked me to open it when it was time to use the contents so she wouldn’t get zapped.

Today’s magic? Soap. I put my melt and pour soap supplies, a list of websites and experiments, frontier girls badge requirements and books into the box. I also told the children that the box would only be available until lunch time and then it would be closed up. They were so excited, they flew through cleaning up the rest of their room and eagerly gathered to learn.

First, we talked about safety, types of soap, read some books about soap, and then we watched a video of a science experiment on eScience (review of eScience coming soon). The girls were so excited. We learned about different types of colorants and ways to scent soap as well. Then, after watching a few short tutorials, we took some of the ideas we learned in the books and made some small bars of soap. After that, it was time to clean up and put the box away. The girls couldn’t wait to do more learning box the next day.

Strawberry was quite anxious to embed a toy in soap after seeing a picture in a book. She watched the video of how to do it and brought be a large Duplo to embed. When I told her that wasn’t going to work, she was not too thrilled. I promised to take her to the store to buy a rubber eraser toy to put in soap. The girls each picked a small eraser and we came home to embed toys. We then spent the next morning using our learning box and experimenting with colors, layering, embedding, and toys. True to personality, Butterfly created a soap sculpture. She chose an egg with a hatching chick and then created the next out of melt and pour soap. She carefully held her egg as still as possible as it set in the soap and then she twisted it ever so gently to form wrinkles across the top of the soap to resemble sticks. Strawberry made her soap with a toy in it, and Pumpkin Pie wanted to hide her toy completely in several layers of green. I wanted to play with a soap in a soap.

Then it was time to clean up and put the box away.

I wonder what the box will bring next week.

Freezing Bubbles

A few months ago someone posted a really cool picture of frozen bubbles. The story was that a mom grabbed her son and blew bubbles outside in below freezing weather. The bubbles froze and look what happened next. The pictures were beautiful. I wondered if it were possible to duplicate so the girls and I headed outside to try it out. It was 32 degrees with a wind chill making it feel like the teens. It was COLD and we only lasted about 2 minutes in the driveway before cold forced us inside again- that and our bubbles didn’t freeze…yet.

At first, the bubbles just behaved the same. We were so cold we ran back inside, but we decided to leave the solution on the porch to chill it, since it had been a balmy 68 degrees inside. A few hours later, I went out to try again. Unfortunately, it was already dark outside and my camera has gone AWOL, so I was only able to capture some iPod pictures. Sorry about the quality, but it sure was fun to do this! The bubbles did indeed begin to freeze. We watched crystals form inside the solution. Way cool. Then, we watched the bubbles shrink slightly as they cooled. We also watched them solidify and crack, even leaving a hard shell with a large hole on top. When we blew them, the frozen popped bubble pieces looked like floating clear pieces of rigid plastic wrap or maybe clear egg shells! I am going to keep looking for that camera and hopefully try this again in the morning with the girls. This bubble had frozen and popped. It truly was angular!

This picture is of the ice crystals forming. When I held the bubble up to the light, I could see ice patterns like snowflakes forming one by one in the bubble wall. It was neat to watch the bubbles freeze and then watch them unfreeze as I walked inside the house with them.

Butterfly tried to provide a background so the popped missing top of this bubble could be seen.

Making an Inspirations Folder

I recently was listening to a fabulous talk from Mary Ann Johnson on creating a learning closet. The learning closet it a place where you put resources for children to explore. These don’t need to be expensive or complicated, in fact simplicity is probably better. Even before listening to her lecture, I was pondering this very idea and working on creating a space with learning sparks. She mentioned a resource I had never heard of in all of my years of homeschooling. So, for this week’s Make-It Monday, I am sharing that resource as well as how to make that folder of inspirational helps.

Over the years, I have used Dover Publishing coloring books and resources. The illustrations are beautiful and the books are not expensive. The resource that she mentioned was Dover Publishing Samples! You can sign up on their website for their samples newsletter (as well as other newsletters if you desire).

Once a week, samples of approximately 12 of their many books are compiled. Then you can save each image. 

In the past, I have downloaded resources and then I promptly forgot about them or their location. I now have a dedicated location for these resources and I am breaking them down into folders. Here is my Inspirations Resources folder. If a sample comes that doesn’t fit into a category I already have, I create a new one. Each image I save, I assign a name describing the image so I can find it easily again.

Here is the inside of one folder- coloring pages:

Tomorrow, when I am reading to the children, I can easily come and print a picture for coloring easily. Or, when we study Rome, I can go to the appropriate folder and pull out a related activity.

I am going to be scarce…

It is January and most homeschoolers I know see January as a doldrums month- a month where it is grey and cold outside and it is hard to feel motivated to plan exciting things. It seems like Christmas wasn’t long enough and the cold and dark won’t go away… by the end of January life seems to return to normal though.

This year, January has given me barely any breathing room to feel the January slump. First, someone’s bright idea was to start co-op the first Friday after New Year’s. Woops. That was a bad idea. Several people were still out of town and several of the coordinators didn’t even realize that co-op was starting on the 3rd until the day or two before! <Raising hand> Yup, I was one of them.

Add to that, our love of learning age classes run on a 6 week rotation. As a result of the way the schedule shook out this year, instead of taking two terms to plan, rehearse, and perform a play, we are doing it in 6 weeks! Granted, I did insist on 2 hours per class instead of the usual 1 hour class. So, I am directing our co-op school play. I have an amazing assistant director, set designer, prop manager, stagehands, music director, and parent assistants to help me pull this off, and excited kids, but we did bite off quite a bit. The next 4 weeks will have my brain swimming with lines, blocking, set and prop adjustments, lighting and sound thoughts- oh yeah, I forgot to spend some time searching for royalty free sound files for sound effects this week. Add that to this week’s list!- back to the blog…

Then there is sweet Little One. He is WALKING! At 9.5 months he began walking and on his 10 month birthday he figured out how to stand up without holding onto something. Silly boy tries to run across the room and frequently trips and sprawls. He keeps falling into the drawers and bookshelves. Poor little guy has several bruises and a knot on his forehead from his adventures in walking. He is so busy and constantly ripping things off shelves and out of cabinets. Good thing I have put toys in bins with snapping lids!

Last but most definitely not least, I am in the process of doing a major house purge. I am putting toys in a cabinet in bins and creating a schedule of accessible time and routines with the children to help keep my house more orderly and free of clutter. This cabinets make me smile every time I open them! Puzzles, dress-ups, yarn, art supplies, all contained!

Add in regular learning time with the girls while Little One is refusing to take a nap, leaves me with a minimal amount of time to update the blog. I will do my best. In the meantime, I was unpacking the produce box the other day and Little One decided to attempt a snack… with only 2 teeth on the bottom, he didn’t make much progress!

Learning is EASY if someone cares

A few weeks ago, I wrote about learning and today had another opportunity to watch learning in action. I remember as a child in 1st and 2nd grade doing endless worksheets on alphabetization. I remember many kids whining and hating them and not getting them. I remember spending hours being taught how to look up words in the dictionary. For us 6 and 7 year olds, it was an irrelevant process and topic to study. Eventually we all learned it but not without a lot of repetition, drudgery, whining, and wondering why it mattered.

Tiger always asks me what words mean when he doesn’t know the meaning of a word- he always has- and I sometimes tell him what it means, and sometimes I tell him to look it up in the dictionary. The last couple of words given to him to look up had bad definitions in the iPod App dictionary and we directed him to the regular dictionary. Butterfly watched this interaction. Today, after Tiger looked his word up, she asked me how to look a word up in the dictionary. It took maybe 15 minutes, a lot of excitement, a couple practice words for fun, some giggles, and she has it mastered. She added another tool to her learning toolbox today because she cared. The last word I gave her to look up was “hasty,” to which she replied, “I better be hasty and look that word up!” and then she giggled.

If I Wait to Take off the Lid There Will be Holes

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of inspiring learning in order to help a child absorb information. As I woke up this morning, I could just hear many people shouting at their computers, “But what about _______? Children MUST learn _______! If they don’t learn ____ they will be handicapped.” So, I thought it important to continue my essays (I have another one coming) on various principles of developmentally appropriate education.

The method of inspiration differs based on the age of the child. For example, children in Core Phase (up to about 8 or so) need LOTS of play. Their primary learning environment is home and play. During this time they primarily focus on Good/Bad, Right/Wrong, True/False, and how to work, play, routines, and family relationships. This is not to say they don’t learn academic things, because mine certainly do as do many other Core age kids. What it means is that whatever academic material I want to deliver to that child must be delivered in an appropriate manner. Just as children of this age don’t understand calculus, they also don’t understand other abstract concepts. For them, learning needs to be concrete. This doesn’t mean that they need to be sheltered from history, scientific principles, or even foreign language, but it does mean there needs to be a concrete playful learning opportunity. For my children, we study history using what Charlotte Mason calls “living books.”  I choose living books with beautiful pictures, sometimes pictures of artifacts (this is concrete), and that read like stories. Stories engage the mind in a way that a textbook never will. Children this age, given the opportunity, can get excited about history and learn to love it early. For example, when Tiger was 5, we went to a museum that had an exhibit of the Titanic artifacts. He fell in love with all things Titanic. He read all sorts of books about the Titanic, and as it turned out, the Titanic was my ticket to giving him the confidence to read a chapter book! By the time he was done with the Titanic, he knew all about the science of why it sank to how many horsepower the engines were, to what a horsepower was, to why so many died. He still marvels at the arrogance of those who said that God could not sink that ship! For him, the Titanic was meaningful play.

In Love of Learning Phase (about 8-12), learning continues to need to be playful but not to the same degree. As the child matures, play begins to move from imagination and toys to more books, projects, and discussions with parents. It still needs to be meaningful though. With my older children, last year, we did a class on the Pilgrims. We read stories about them, read some of their own words, talked about what tools they needed and the decisions they made as they departed from England. We did projects and wrote letters to pilgrims. They loved it. They also learned a lot. Contrast that to when I learned history as a child. I was given a list of names and dates to memorize and talked at through a textbook. I quickly developed a dislike of history. After all, it was irrelevant! I even remember telling my grandma once that I hated history and didn’t see the point. She tried to tell me that it was interesting. I couldn’t find anything interesting about history at the time. Because I have chosen to teach history in a hands-on, with classics method, my children love history.

What about Scholar Phase? After all, since I am not requiring them to learn all the names and dates of everything they might have holes! Learning in Scholar Phase begins to look a bit more “academic” but still should avoid textbooks and arbitrary learning. Truthfully the principle of the cup applies all the way through life. I remember in college I had to take a botany class which was intended for students on the credential track. I, and many classmates, couldn’t understand why we needed to know the scientific name of several dozen arbitrary plants. We even asked the professor why we would need to scientific name of those plants. From our perspective, it was just one more thing required, in a long list of requirements, that some teacher thought was important, but really had no relevance to our own lives. We were told we needed the information because some kid might come up to us with a plant and want to know what it was and we would be able to tell him or her. To which we responded, then we can look in a field guide and figure it out since we won’t know all the plants! (The dichotomous key lessons were valued for this reason.) Like we had done many times before with irrelevant information, we dutifully memorized the facts and then promptly forgot them as we exited the exam- the water ran off the lid. Later in life, I studied herbology. Now I had a reason for knowing scientific names! Although I had covered many of the scientific names of plants I was interested in, I did not remember the scientific names anymore because the learning had been irrelevant. Once I had a reason, I memorized, and used, many of those very same scientific names. Where previously I had no reason to learn scientific names of arbitrary plant the professor selected as important, now I had a reason and motivation to learn what was once useless facts and information.

Now, I sit before a large dictionary, the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I intend to memorize events and names and dates. What would have once been an exercise in futility without purpose, now has meaning. I read enough to see references to events or literature. While I might have heard of events or have a vague recollection, I want to know more about those events and at the very least have a minimal familiarity so the reference isn’t lost on me. Since I have a purpose, the retention will be much higher than if I were just trying to sit for the exam.

The truth is everyone will come through their education with holes. These hole will either be there because a teacher didn’t teach the material or because a student didn’t retain it due to lack of relevance. If a child can read, knows how to learn, has confidence in his ability to learn anything, likes learning, and has a reason to learn something, that child will be unstoppable as he grows up. This is why the latter part of Scholar Phase is the time to worry about holes. Scholar Phase is the time to go in depth in different topics. This is the time to draw connections and to go deep and broad in all areas of learning. This is the time to worry about content. A Scholar will have a motivation to learn the material even if it isn’t his or her favorite topic because he or she will be able to see the value in learning things that might have not been important before. That reason may be for personal curiosity like my purpose in memorizing from the Dictionary. It may be for a career that the child wants to pursue. It may be in order to do do well on the SAT. Whatever the reason the child has will motivate great learning.

You Can’t Fill A Cup With The Lid On

Imagine a paper cup with a plastic lid and a straw. Now imagine what would happen if you tried to fill that cup without first taking off the lid. I hope you imagined a tiny amount might get through that straw into the cup but, for the most part, the water runs over the top and down. Children are like cups of water with a straw and a lid. If we attempt to pour information into them without first taking off the lid, only a small portion of that information will sink in. Let me explain.

Inspire not Require was one of my very biggest difficulties with TJed or Leadership Education. I used to be hung up on the not require part and didn’t have a clue what inspire meant. My mom always said, “Life is not a Dog and Pony Show.” and I couldn’t understand how to “inspire” without “require” without creating the proverbial "Dog and Pony Show.” After all, my only experience with learning that didn’t include gimmicky tricks was worksheets and requirements and checklists. How could anyone learn anything without being told what to learn in what order?

Rewind two years… The Lord showed me a tender mercy and introduced me to a woman who I call a dear friend now. She was passionate about Leadership Education and she was ok with me not getting it. She welcomed me and my children with open arms and allowed me to read and discuss and question as much as I desired. Over time, the Lord worked on me and finally I had a change or philosophy. It wasn’t entirely overnight and I continue to understand more and more. My most recent aha was WHAT it means to Inspire not Require.

Inspiring doesn’t mean I need to pull out all the stops and do a jig in front of my children or students. It doesn’t mean I need to do anything flashy or trick children into learning. It means I need to give them an opportunity to realize they have a question before learning can take place. THIS is taking off the lid! Then, after the child has formed the question, then, and only then, can he or she really understand the material. In other words, there needs to be a spark of curiosity and a reason to learn the material. Things can not be presented in isolation just because we need to cover certain content in a certain grade because the state says so.

For example, I could show my children several coins, explain their denominations and then give a worksheet requiring them to count up the pictured toys and tell how many of each coin would be needed to pay for the product OR I could get several toys and write on the white board what they cost, hand the children a pile of money and announce we are going to play store today. Then when they choose to “buy” a toy that costs 75 cents and they hand me 10 pennies, I can teach them that they only handed me 10 cents and guide them through selecting the right change through questions and discussion. Through our discussion, in context, the child will see that the penny equals 1 cent, nickel equals 5 cents, etc. and be able to apply that knowledge in a meaningful way. Not only that, but he won’t need to do worksheet after worksheet until it has been drilled into his head that a dime is 10 cents because he has physically seen that a dime equals 10 cents. His efforts, struggles, and discoveries will facilitate faster, more masterful learning and retention than any amount of worksheets will facilitate. The knowledge that a dime is worth 10 cents is worthless unless you plan to use a dime to purchase something. Until that child has a reason to learn money denominations, it is just a theoretical exercise. It is not meaningful and learning is content driven. Once that child has a question about the denominations, that learning has value and the child learn far more than otherwise.

As long as I keep in mind the importance of taking off the lid before trying to pour information in, I find my children learn far deeper than if I try to give them a worksheet or requirement according to some arbitrary standard. Waiting for the question to be formed before giving the answer requires patience and sometimes a little creativity, but it is so worth it.

I continue my thoughts on education in tomorrow’s post here.

Planning, Planning, Planning…

Every summer it is time to plan. In the past, I purchased all new curriculum, planned out assignments and wrote out the daily schedule with a slot for each subject for each child. A couple of years ago, I realized that school at home didn’t work for us. I realized that life is school was much better for us.

Instead of structuring out each assignment and each day’s list of activities to be completed like I did in school as a child, I structure our time. By this I mean we have a minimum amount of time where we come together and learn. What we learn each day differs. Some days we get so involved in learning that we are still working on projects until late in the afternoon only to be interrupted by evening activities. Other days we work until mid-afternoon and then run outside to play. Still others are a little earlier with lots of reading in the afternoon. Every day is a little different but there is some continuity.

We structure our time with family work first and then devotional and group learning and then individual learning. During our group learning, I tend to focus on either science or history. This year we will continue with Story of the World and supplement with other materials, especially with the Revolutionary war portion of our studies. I am thinking about using the Once a Week study on the Revolution from Homeschool Legacy. For science, we are continuing to use E-Science. Individual learning time is structured with a set amount of time depending on how involved we got in our group time. I consult with the children and we discuss what goals they have, what they need to learn and work on, and they make a plan. If I see they haven’t been working on an area that might need some attention, I counsel them to work on that area a bit. Between books, games, and other materials, all subjects are worked through during the year.

While I will be continuing our devotional time, (reading scriptures, sing hymn, prayer, scripture memory and maybe a poem or thought), it won’t be first thing before anyone does any learning time. This year that time is going to be a bit different. First, we have decided to enroll Tiger in Williamsburg Intermediate for the bulk of his learning time. He will still do co-op with us and join us for devotional, but he will no longer be doing our core subjects with everyone. He was already pulling away into a scholar phase, and he needs some peers his age to work hard and challenge him to new heights. He also needs a bit of motivation to stretch a little further than he thought he could. WI will help him with learning more about structuring his time, taking ownership of his projects, and also stretch him to read some more great books in relation to all classes he takes. I am really excited with the flexibility of their program as well as the caliber of projects and readings he will be doing.

So what else do I plan on?

Butterfly will be starting piano lessons this fall. She is also going to do the Samantha books for History club. She has been moving through time with a friend and her mom for the past couple of years and will do it again this year. She is enjoying ALEKS math and I think will continue with that. She is also working on improving her math facts using MathRider. The other day she realized she was judging books by their cover and committed to trying more books that I suggest and spending more time in non-American girl books. She started with The Rats of Nihm and loved it. One of her co-op classes will also challenge her to explore ancient empires a little more deeply on her own to gain stature and privileges in class. (The first day of class all students will be labeled slaves and sit on the floor. They have to earn the privilege of becoming laborers and progressing to finally getting a chair through out of class work like reading suggested readings, reports, and projects, etc.)

Pumpkin Pie is also working through ALEKS. She is also working really hard at improving her reading and is trying to read anything she can find. She will be doing some classes at co-op as well.

I have printed out a bunch of requirements related to various badges for Frontier Girls for both Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie. Some are academic and others are home ec and a few are just for fun. They will continue to work on their badges. I also want to do more audiobooks and also read-alouds too.

Strawberry will be playing with letters and other appropriate materials to keep her out of the markers. She will probably be joining us for some of our history or science explorations since she likes to do that. Strawberry will start karate officially (sometimes the Little Dragons teacher will invite her to participate in class even though she is still only 3 and has no gi yet).

All this is coming… but first 1 week of homeschool camp! Well, Tiger already started school but our official first day of school is coming the week of September 9th!

Phase of Learning

The other day we revisited the phases of learning and discussed what each phase looked like. Then I asked the children where they thought they were in the progression of phases. They were pretty excited to be where they are.

Strawberry is most definitely in Core Phase. She is learning about work, good/bad, right/wrong, true/false, family relationships, etc. What did her day look like? A whole lot of play, work along side mom, and sitting with the family for family learning when she wanted to. She helped me load her breakfast dishes, fold laundry, and then she put her laundry away all by herself. Do her drawers look pretty? Nope. But she was proud of herself for her hard work! 

Pumpkin Pie placed herself in Core phase closer to the Love of Learning Phase. She spent her day doing her family work, playing, and LOVING her reading and writing lessons and a little bit of math. She also joined us for family learning, story time, devotional, etc.

Butterfly placed herself in the middle of Love of Learning. She needs lots of guidance to fill the educational part of her days, but she spends more time reading and learning than seeking play these days. She still LOVES to play and takes any chance she can to play a quick game of animals or baby or dolls with Strawberry and Pumpkin Pie, but she also relishes her time with a book. Like a true Love of Learning phase child, she reads books of all sorts. (I am so grateful for a fabulous library system so I can check out lots of different books!) The other day she asked if she could have quiet time in the school room so she could read the books on the library shelf without going up and down stairs.

Tiger placed himself transitioning to scholar. He participates deeper with family learning than the girls, works longer on his math and notebooks, and spends even more time reading. He also spent at least an hour practicing piano because he loves it. He has many activities he wants to do and get better at and he sometimes has a hard time picking which of many great things to do. He is working hard in swimming and karate as well as scouts. He is working in his mentor meetings on setting more goals and working towards them in preparation for scholar phase.

This Week in History: Schoolhouse Review

This Week in History is a weekly subscription website with an amazing variety of historical content for each day of the year highlighting what happened on a given day in history. It is a subscription area of the very informational A Thomas Jefferson Education website. Whether you subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Education philosophy or not, this is not a resource to pass by.

Over the years I have seen many lists of what happened in history but none have been as well done as This Week in History.  Most of those lists are just that- lists. This Week in History is so much more than a list of dates. Rachel DeMille has taken the time to find famous as well as more obscure things that happened in history. All of the days she highlights are relevant to a homeschooling family. For example, one day in July she highlighted Carlo Lorenzini’s birthday. Lorenzini is better known as Collodi or the author of Pinocchio.  Following several pictures and a brief explanation, there are quite a few resource links on the topic. Some resource links are informational while others are activities or coloring pages. She then has a section of possible discussion questions. My favorite part are the rabbit trails that sometimes follow the topic. In the case of Lorenzini, she finishes with “What do you know about crickets?” and then takes the readers on a rabbit trail about crickets including more resources for exploration.  The items DeMille highlights cover all subjects. One day might be mostly literature, the next science, and the next the history of a state or a nation, still the next might cover music or a fun trivia like “National Lasagna Day” or “Friendship Day.”

This Week in History is not just a website with the current week’s materials. There is an archives available as well. The archives are searchable by date, keyword, or topic.  Although many of the topics will be brought back in a year, DeMille is always checking, updating, and editing her resources so the list is not stagnant. During the time of the review, the email was sent out for the end of July through beginning of August. A few days later, we received an updated content email with more resources for one of the days as well as a new topic. In addition to the archives and website, there is a weekly email sent out with the week’s information so you don’t even need to log into the website to access all the great resources!

I have been overjoyed with This Week in History. A few weeks ago in the resources section, it highlighted a video I had never heard of that was of high quality about the Constitutional Congress.  I was able to check it out from my library and watch it with my children. Another day my son went on a scavenger hunt about a state. I think as we get back into out normal school routine this will become an even greater resource for our group time.

This week in History is a monthly subscription for $9.99 and can be used by any homeschoolers no matter what the philosophy or grades. It is well organized and run and customer service was excellent. I loved This Week in History, maybe you will too!

Please be sure to check out what other crew members thought.
Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Too Many Choices! Which ones have I picked?

All homeschoolers know that there are many choices for curriculum available. I have tried many and looked through even more. So, what will I be doing/using this year?
First I will be using my library card. My local library is my biggest source for homeschool materials. Just this past week my girls decided they wanted to learn about snails. I popped on the library website, reserved a handful (or three) of books about snails and picked them up a few days later. Some of those books are ones I would have never thought of or found without the library search function. Above, Butterfly is devouring a book I found while looking for books about snails. She read it at breakfast, lunch, in the car, quiet time, etc. until she had it memorized.
I always have 50-100 books out of the library at a time covering all subjects from history to science to literature. I also love to check out audio books that I can play in the car while we drive both on CD or as an mp3 download. Ebooks have also recently become a great friend as well. Many of the classics are now public domain and I can get them on my kindle now.
I have my core curriculum materials, but these will be supplemented with anything I find that is great- games, books, etc. Some of them will come from Crew Reviews that I have yet to be picked for and some will come from things I stumble upon.
For our group time, I will be using a few resources. We will continue our journey through time using Story of the World Volume 3 and This Week in History for history (review will be coming mid-August). For science, we are continuing our study of Botany using Apologia Botany and the notebooks. 
Tiger will continue to work on Art of Problem Solving pre-Algebra and Alcumus, Small Basic computer programming,  IXL which I reviewed here, various logic books from the Critical Thinking Company, Institute for Excellence in Writing, Piano,
Butterfly will be continuing with Math U See Gamma as well as IXL, art, and stories for language arts subjects as well as projects she is interested in.
Pumpkin Pie will continue learning to read and write as well as continue in her math studies with IXL and Math U See Alpha.
Strawberry will be in the midst of it all with her puzzles, books, and crayons.
Our extracurricular activities will also continue with karate, piano for Tiger and art for Butterfly as well as a co-op once a week.

A Method to my Madness

This week the Schoolhouse Review Crew is doing a Back to Homeschool Blog Hop. Come hop along with us as we talk about getting back to homeschool.

As I have mentioned before, I set out to be a classical homeschooler. Over time, my style has evolved. I have included unit studies, child-led studies, and exploration. I have used classes and parent-led groups as well. Over time, I became a more eclectic homeschooler than I originally thought I would be when I set out to homeschool my children.

I don’t think it matters what method is used though. Every family will do what works for them. I think that what matters is the philosophy behind the education. This philosophy will shape the way whatever method chosen is used. While I may have evolved into an eclectic homeschooler, I have also evolved in my philosophy. Rather than a philosophy of teach the children all the things they need to get through each grade and compete with their peers, I focus on the grand picture. I have adopted a Leadership Education philosophy.

Leadership Education believes that all people on earth have a mission in life. It is our responsibility as parents to help our children prepare for and live the mission which God has placed them on this earth for. It is also our responsibility as a citizen of the world to live and prepare for our own missions, knowing that parenthood is our primary mission but God has other missions for us to do as well. In order to prepare, each person must acquire a great education. This education is achieved through hard work and dedication on the part of the student. Education is the responsibility of the student- teaching is the responsibility of the teacher/mentor/parent/etc.

How do I use this philosophy to influence my method?

School is no longer defined as a check list of subjects covered on a given day. School has evolved into a lifestyle. Someone asked my husband when Tiger did school. My husband answered he was always in school and never in school. Just today Pumpkin Pie asked me if we would ever have summer break like many other children. Once I explained why we didn’t have Summer vacation, she was thrilled. Tiger lamented that he had a burning desire to spend more time learning and wanted to also take advantage of some of the time his public schooled friends were home and available to play. He recognizes now that learning time doesn’t need to take a break for the calendar. He was not upset about spending time for learning. He was trying to figure out how to feel satisfied and fulfilled with his learning each day and balance some play time in too. Wow! What a grown up thing to be working on.

In the past, we have take summer breaks to some extent. This never sat entirely well with me, but now I understand why. We are not just teaching our children through a grade. We are teaching them to love learning and to learn something new each day. Even if our day is filled with a park day with our homeschooling friends there are lessons being learned. For example, last Friday at park day, the children observed and explored a large nest of caterpillars which had fallen from a tree. The week before it was snails which prompted a trip to the library for many books about snails.

So if I don't have a checklist, what do I do?

As I plan our days, I now look at how my end goals for my children will be accomplished. I no longer look at each grade level to determine curriculum choices. Instead, I discuss with my husband as well as Tiger and to a lesser extent my girls what topics need to be covered. I don’t discuss with the girls as much because they are currently working on Core Phase and early Love of Learning phases while Tiger is slowly transitioning to Scholar.  This means that the amount of input they have into their materials is proportional to their level of maturity. I present materials and topics which I know will be important for their futures. I spend time working with the girls on math, reading, spelling, handwriting, and reading lots and lots of classics. I provide Tiger with resources for math, computer programming, science, writing, and lots and lots of classics. I provide all the children with history and science as well as expose them to great art, music, etc. where possible. I also allow time for those things which they are passionate about. For example, Tiger is passionate about piano and science and math. He spends a lot of time on these areas of learning. He dreams of being an engineer and he finds peace and grounding in his piano playing. I have sought out a mentor for his piano to help him achieve his goals. Butterfly loves art. I am not able to mentor her in art (my idea of drawing a person is a stick man), so I have found a teacher who can mentor her and encourage her in her creativity.
I also teach my children to look towards their missions and to learn new things every day.

This year I will be focusing on teaching my children to plan their days and set goals. We have mentor meetings once a week to set goals for their education. A goal for Pumpkin Pie might be to read 10 Bob books this week. A goal that Tiger is currently working on is to read 15 books in the month of July in an effort to complete 100 books by the end of this year. These books are not simple picture books but classics, biographies, and non-fiction. I work with them to help them achieve their goals.

For more information on Leadership Education or Thomas Jefferson Education, I recommend http://www.tjed.org/about-tjed/ as well as looking through the blog on that website. To really understand the philosophy, I recommend reading A Thomas Jefferson Education, A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion, and Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning.  

Mom Needs to Continue Her Education Too!

For a little more than five years, I have trained in Shudokan Karate. In our style, we take our black belt test and IF we pass we receive the rank of Shodan-ho. Shodan-ho is a probational 1st degree black belt. The black belt test is rigorous and tough and many do not pass the first try. Last June I tested for black belt and earned the rank of Shodan-ho. I was presented my black belt without credentials. I continued to train this last year and yesterday, after turning in an essay on the topic of karate and taking another test, I earned the rank of Shodan. I am now a first degree black belt.

Thankfully one thoughtful parent in the audience took a picture or I would not have one!

 Throughout my training for black belt, training did not end at the entrance to the dojo. I continued my training and education in karate throughout my life outside of the dojo. Sometimes I would relate a karate principle to a life principle. Maybe a story that Sensei told was retold to my children to help them. Sometimes it was just practicing while waiting for water to boil. Continuing outside the dojo is in harmony with my beliefs about education. Education does not stop at the door.

Unfortunately I hear from many parents that their children get home from school and learning is DONE. Far too many children believe that learning only happens inside the walls of an institution. How sad! The attitude that learning stops at the classroom door often carries into adulthood. Just the other day as I was leaving the dojo I made a comment to another black belt about it being time to go to the library.  I always go pick up my books on hold right after class. He looked at me with a bit of a blank look and said, "At least you read." I was a bit startled. I told him that I had a pile of books to read but I also needed to pick up all the books for my kids for school. He then proclaimed that he did not read. He only read if he had to, he didn't like reading, and he couldn't wait to finish his bachelors so he wouldn't need to read any more. As we continued to talk I told him about how I love reading because I can learn all sorts of new things from books. He then said that all the books he read in school were rather worthless and it seemed a waste to him. I was so sad for this young man. Here he was about 25 and still had an attitude that learning should end as soon as he was out of the class. He was glad that he got by without even reading some of the books he was assigned.He did not have a love of learning.

Moms (and Dads) need to continue their education. As a parent, we need to set the example for our children. If we want them to develop a love of learning and a life of learning, we need to show it. I have continued my education in various areas of my life throughout my childrens' lives.  I earned a Masters of Herbology when Pumpkin Pie was 2, I took a weekend class every month last year, I read books on many subjects, and I learn along with my kids. Despite all this, my sweet Butterfly said to me a few months ago when I told her I needed to learn while she was in quiet time, "You still learn?" It was quite a profound moment for her. I remember as a child I thought that adults knew everything and were done learning. I am so glad that her view was changed that day. She loves that I continue to learn and that helps her to have a desire to do more learning herself. She sees in me how valuable it is.

So why did I write about karate instead of some great book I am reading? I picked karate because all of my children and husband choose participate in some form. Strawberry loves to play karate at home copying how to kick or punch (always in the air), Pumpkin Pie, Butterfly, and Tiger are all training and even Dad is too. Karate has become a family activity. This picture above was taken just before I had to opportunity to help grade the test for the color belts. Among those testing were my husband and son. Butterfly tests tomorrow and Pumpkin Pie tests in a few weeks.

You don't have to take karate or have the whole family participate in the same activity to teach a love of learning. What matters is being the example. Let the family see you learning and studying. Find something you are passionate about and do it!

Thought of the Day: Boy Wanted

During our devotional, after our scripture memorization, prayers, and scripture study, I pulled out the Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett.  We are in the chapter on Self-Discipline. I read the following "Wanted-Ad." Even though it refers to a boy, it was just as applicable to the girls. We discussed how if a person had all these attributes he would be quite a person and how we wanted to cultivate these attributes in ourselves. The children were in awe and so inspired by what this person would be like, they wanted to be more like this boy. May we all be more like this boy!

Boy Wanted
Frank Crane

Wanted --

A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight;

A boy whose fingernails are not in mourning, whose ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are well cared for;

A boy who listens carefully when he is spoken to, who asks questions when he does not understand, and does not ask questions about things that are none of his business;

A boy that moves quickly and makes as little noise about it as possible;

A boy who whistles in the street, but does not whistle where he ought to keep still;

A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody, and never sulks;

A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every woman and girl;

A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to learn how;

A boy who is more eager to know how to speak good English than to talk slang;

A boy that never bullies other boys nor allows other boys to bully him;

A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, "I don't know," and when he has made a mistake says, "I'm sorry," and when he is asked to do a thing says, "I'll try";

A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth every time;

A boy who is eager to read good books;

A boy who would rather put in his spare time at the YMCA gymnasium than to gamble for pennies in a back room;

A boy who does not want to be "smart" nor in any wise to attract attention;

A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from school than to tell a lie or be a cad;

A boy whom other boys like;

A boy who is at ease in the company of girls;

A boy who is not sorry for himself, and not forever thinking and talking about himself;

A boy who is friendly with his mother, and more intimate with her than anyone else;

A boy who makes you feel good when he is around;

A boy who is not goody-goody, a prig, or a little pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life.

This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him, the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys want him, the girls want him, all creation wants him.

Thomas Jefferson Education Forum 2012

I was blessed to be able to fly to Salt Lake City with a friend to attend the Thomas Jefferson Education forum this past weekend. It was probably the best homeschool conference I have been to in all my years of attending conferences. I left each class and each day excited and with new ideas. The purpose of each speaker was not to sell me a product but to share their experiences from the trenches. Some of them did have books to share, but many did not. I loved the rich family environment, the many people with an eye to the missions of each of their children, and the amazing intellectual conversations. I was awed by the youth that I met and interacted with. At one point, there was a young woman about 16 who was practicing in the hallway for a speech she was going to give. She literally stopped me in my tracks with her enthusiasm and delivery! I met an 11 yr old boy who calmly taught a room full of adults about his ebay business with some help from his father. When I met him before the conferences in the hotel lobby, this same young man had looked me in the eye, stood tall with confidence and shook my hand.

The conference was truly geared to the family. The provided childcare was more like daycamp than daycare. The teens had specific classes for them, and the adults were not only taught about homeschooling but also about finances, business management, parenting, organization, etc. There was something for everyone.

Although my family was not there with me, I attended the family ball anyway. I have been to family dances before, but they paled in comparison to the energy and joy that was in that room. All the youth were modestly dressed in dresses that reflected their own styles. Every couple of songs a couple would teach a ballroom dance step and then they would play a song so all could practice the ballroom dancing. There was a floor show performed by a ballroom dance team from nearby. A pair that performed was national champions and they performed an incredible routine. The little girls and fathers were presented like Cinderella at the ball and the moms danced with their sons. I had the opportunity to talk to other homeschooling parents and had one youth approach me and pull up a chair to talk. The night ended with a few beautiful musical numbers by a couple of the Jeppson girls who are part of The Wildflowers.

I can't wait to download all the recordings of all the classes I missed this weekend. I just might have spring for another collection of lectures from a previous year too to keep me going this next year until I can take my WHOLE family out to Utah for the forum next year.

Inspiration in Many Places

As I have been led down the road towards the Leadership Education philosophy, I ponder the question Who (or what) Inspires Me? on a regular basis. That was the question that was posed for the Blog Cruise this week...

According to Webster's 1828 Dictionary, inspiration  means:

The infusion of ideas into the mind by the Holy Spirit; the conveying into the minds of men, ideas, notices or monitions by extraordinary or supernatural influence; or the communication of the divine will to the understanding by suggestions or impressions on the mind, which leave no room to doubt the reality of their supernatural origin.

I love this definition! In my life, I have found inspiration in many places. The obvious places are in the scriptures or on my knees or singing hymns, but there are many not so obvious places and people too.

One not-so obvious place is in nature. I find that nature continually reminds me of God, the ultimate source of inspiration. I love to smell the ocean, see the new flowers, harvest berries or leaves for food or medicine, watch a stunning sunset, or gaze at the world freshly blanketed white with snow before the roads or people wake and disturb the soft billows of fluff. Each time I do these things, I turn my mind and heart to the Lord and feel gratitude for life and the beauty of the earth.

As I took the kids to the park to play on the first really nice day of Spring this year, I was thinking about this very thing. I took the following picture in a small alcove of trees on the outskirts of the park. In this alcove, my children love to play. It is a child's ultimate hideaway. The only exception is the nettles and possible brambles that lurk nearby.

As the children played I found myself marveling at the inspiration for science lessons that were just there around me. I gathered the children around and we identified some herbs and their uses. The plant pictured above is the Stinging Nettle or Urtica dioica. We harvest it in the spring and it is our traditional Easter dinner (we are vegetarian so no ham or lamb for our family). Nettles are really only available in the early spring where we live. They spring up and are ready to harvest about the time that Easter comes each year. To me, nettles,  daffodils and tulips symbolize the re-awakening of the plant. They inspire me to look forward to the beauty of the changing seasons that are coming throughout the next year. Nettles are also cleansing to the blood, just as Jesus cleanses us from sin.

I find that classic books inspire me. There are so many books that have inspired me but I will only list two recent ones. The girls and I just finished reading A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I love that book. Sarah Crewe is an inspiration to me of long suffering and enduring to the end. She also inspires me to be charitable. When she is hungry and cold and happens upon enough money to purchase 6 hot buns, fulfilling the dream she was having when she finds the coin, she gives 5 of them to a beggar girl outside the bakery. The selflessness of one so small is inspiring to me. Nathanial Bowditch in Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham inspires me to keep learning no matter what the challenges.

Karate inspires me. Every time I take my shoes off at the door of the dojo, I leave the world behind to turn inward and focus on improving myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Karate training helps me focus on the essential and release the non-essential. In other words, when we are at the dojo, the essential is being in the moment with your training. If your mind is focused elsewhere, you might harm your partner or injure yourself. Every time I have a tough day and I leave that behind at the door, I learn and reinforce in myself that I can move past the small stuff and really focus on what matters. In my home I may have to deal with inappropriate behavior, but I don't need to hold on to it. Once it is dealt with, I can let it go because what matters most is relationships and people.

My children inspire me. They remind me that we are all children of God and that he has sent us here for a purpose. They inspire me to want to be the best mother I can be and to improve myself each day. 

Other homeschoolers inspire me. I find that as I listen to their stories and really try to understand them I find that the Lord whispers pieces to me that I can take and use to help my family in our homeschooling journey. I am so grateful that I belong to a book discussion group with other homeschooling moms with a similar philosophy and desire to serve God by educating their families in the way He directs them to. These moms all believe that as mothers we have been given a divine stewardship over our children and that because of that stewardship, we are entitled to inspiration from the Lord to know the best way to educate our children for each of our children individually within our families. They also believe so deeply in this stewardship that they respect and honor and support the other mothers doing things just a little differently and rejoice in the process.

If I had to pick one person though, I think I would have to pick my sister Katie. She inspires me and has for many many years. She is selfless, thoughtful, and dedicated to the Lord. She is cheerful, kind, and has a passion for helping others. She wants everyone to succeed and to fulfill the mission that God gave them to do. She lives every day full of life and love and has a smile that is contagious. Even when she was pregnant and coming down with the flu, was caring for me and my 1 week old new baby and her son and all of my three older kids were sick, she still had a smile on her face and tried to make the best of it. She lives 1000 miles away and I miss her!  I love being around her and soaking in her positive energy. She inspires me to want to be a better person and daughter of God.

For more sources of inspiration, take a moment and sail on our Blog Cruise. (Link goes live April 17th)

Changing Homeschool Paradigms

As I mentioned before, I am revamping my homeschooling. I am leaning more towards a Leadership Education model of progression through phases and opening my home to more child-led learning with some direction from me. It has been a long time coming. I started out researching homeschooling when I was still pregnant with Tiger. I read about all methods of homeschooling I could find from Charlotte Mason to Montessori, to Unschooling, to The Well-Trained Mind, to Thomas Jefferson Education. I read and studied many methods and eventually, while reading scriptures, turned to D&C 88:118. It reads "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." This really hit home to me. I took that to mean I needed to follow a classical model as that is where most of the great books are utilized. I immersed myself in The Well-Trained Mind. It was right for a time but slowly it became more about checking off the boxes of subjects done and lessons taught than lessons learned and absorbed by the student. It became no fun and a bit too dry for all of us.

This year the Lord began prepping me to make some big changes. It all began when my daughters were invited to join a Heroine book club. It was to be mentored by a mom who is passionate about Leadership/Thomas Jefferson Education. In joining her book club, our family was also invited into the TJed organization she has been working on building in the area. At first, I was a bit resistant to the idea of agreeing to the participation agreement for the umbrella organization based on TJed because of my prior exposures and concerns about TJed.

Backing up 6.5 years, I attended a TJed forum and listened to many TJed lectures at a homeschool convention. There were many parts I loved but there were many parts I was vehemently opposed to because I didn't understand the base from which the presenter was making their assertions. And I really did not understand the concept of "You not Them." Seriously, was I suppose to focus on my education and expect my children to magically educate themselves? Hmmm. (BTW I am still wrestling a little with You Not Them but I am beginning to see in so many areas of my life that if I focus on a skill or something in me to improve, I am better able to encourage my children in the same direction. I realize now that "You Not Them" is not a statement saying, "Focus on you and ignore them." which runs completely contrary to my beliefs that I have a moral responsibility to teach my children. I am now wrestling with how does that look rather than fighting the principle.)

Back to the present day. As I pondered and prayed, the whisperings of the Spirit came to me. I was instructed to experiment upon the word. Ok. I can do that. I can give it a shot. The adults were having a book club discussing the TJed books available and although it was on a night where I finish up one activity at the time that the meeting started, I was encouraged to come late anyway. As I got there, the women were so kind to listen to my concerns, answer them, share their stories and experiences and truly allowed me to ponder and filter and come to my own conclusions. I kept going back. I really liked these ladies and their passion and their open arms! I began to realize that TJed was NOT a method but rather a philosophy. This had been totally lost on me before. I was not ready until now.

So how does this fit with the promptings of the Spirit ten years ago? TJed is still a classical model as it follows the phases of development as well as emphasizes classics not textbooks. We are still focusing on the best books. Great learning comes from great books. We read classical literature, biographies with pictures, picture books with amazing illustrations, and other books which inspire us to explore.

So, I find myself finding more and more excitement in changing my methods and switching my paradigm of education but it is so hard! There are many parts of our routine that are being refined, smoothed, and polished. Sometimes I find there are many sharp edges to smooth. I still have many things to do to clarify how this works for my family, but for now my family is reaping the blessings of following the Lord's promptings for our family. The children are once again looking forward to learning time. We are keeping our home more organized. We are having more time to read great books out loud and discuss them. We are having more time for free play. We are having more time for exploring the world God made. We are having more time for family. And I am making more time for my own education so that I can have the tools I need to share with my children. I may have a Bachelors in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Child Development specific to education, and I may have a Masters of Herbology, and I may be the mother of 4 children, but there is so much out there I have not mastered or even learned about that I can expose my children to if I know it is there... so here goes my quest to continue my own education so I can inspire my children to greatness. And while we are working on our family learning time, personal learning time, gospel studies, and family relationships, the little ones are watching. They are learning what it means to be grown up from those of us who are older just as this picture below depicts.



I am a cub scout den leader. My daughters attend the cub scout meetings and see us salute the flag while in uniform.This was the morning after cub scouts when I called the children to the flag, Strawberry prepared to salute...