Entries from June 2009 ↓
June 29th, 2009 — Gamma, homeschool, kindergarten, science
In my frantic search of other people’s blogs for anything science-y to be of interest to my budding engineer, I found a link to Think! This site hosts a weekly problem-solving challenges for your young engineer/scientist wannabe. Right up Gamma’s alley!
This week’s challenge was to create a catapult using only the following: six chopsticks (or substitutes), a plastic cup, a few rubber bands, a pen, and some paper. Initially, I thought this challenge might be a bit too much for Gamma — he is still only five, no matter what big words and big ideas he voices. But why not give it a go?
I found a few pictures of catapults online, and a few demonstration videos, and then gave him his supplies. At first he was stumped. I tried offering a bit of help, made a mess of things, and then got distracted hanging laundry. Then he surprised me with his handheld catapult.
It consists of four chopsticks rubber-banded together, and a fifth jammed through the middle. A bit of tape held a plastic bottle cap to the end of the fifth chopstick. The ammo? Raisins. They flew about 8 feet. Not bad for a first attempt, I think!
READY…AIM
FIRE!
June 29th, 2009 — Gamma, boys will be boys, unplugged
I have been meaning for weeks now to get involved with the Unplug Your Kids challenge. But there has always been some reason or another that we’ve missed out. Epsilon was sick for a good week and the only thing that brought peace to the household was Thomas the Tank Engine, that kind of thing. And it seemed kind of dishonest to do an unplugged project with one while the other was lying on the couch watching television.
This week, however, Gamma and I finally got our acts together. While Epsilon was napping today (three hour naps, how I love thee, never leave me!), we decided to make a bean mosaic. I prepared a simple salt dough while Gamma decided on his mosaic picture. A spider, naturally, thanks to yesterday’s Lego project, which he painstakingly pieced together all by himself.
So, with this image in mind, we drew a simple spider shape onto the salt dough, then selected beans of different colors to complete the mosaic. If we’d thought of making colored rice the mosaic would have turned out even better! Still Gamma’s quite pleased with the outcome. I only wish we’d had a paper plate to make it on. So we’ve sacrificed a cheap plastic kiddy plate. We had a great time and are looking forward already to next week’s challenge!
Gamma’s second creepy crawly creation in two days. What can tomorrow possibly hold?
June 28th, 2009 — Epsilon, Gamma, boys will be boys, homeschool, methodology
Deciding on a homeschooling method has got to be one of the most frustrating tasks I’ve ever set out to accomplish. Why? Because every method sounds perfect. Well, maybe not perfect. But every method appeals to me in different ways. Although there are many, many more approaches out there, these are the ones we’ve considered for Gamma and Epsilon. I’m assuming most readers here are already well-familiar with all the terms I bandy about. If not, visit Ann Zeise for a good overview.
School at Home: Ahhh. Familiar, structured, and all the details laid out for me in textbook format. No gaps to worry about — at least, no gaps that aren’t common to most children. But, knowing Gamma, also no joy. Although he’s young and we’re still discovering his learning styles, I’m pretty sure his style isn’t sit-still-and-glue-your-eyes-to-the-textbook. He’s not a multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank kid. He’s an experimenter. A doer. A think-for-himself kind of kid.
Classical: We love the idea. Rigorous academics, real books, chronological history. All these things are very appealing. But WTM seems… well, a little too rigorous. The emphasis on memorization and the hard-hitting grammar and spelling programs etc… I guess I find this to be a little too much like school at home. Better school at home than if we followed the traditional textbooks and timelines of the public schools, but still not something that is ideal for my sons.*
LCC, in some ways, appeals a little more. The principle of multum non multa makes sense to us, and the pace seems a little more relaxed while still maintaining a great academic standard. However, the division of classical, christian, and modern studies seems a little awkward to me, and I’m having difficulty seeing how that would really play out in our very secular household.**
Charlotte Mason: I, Beta, find CM very appealing. It’s kind of classical with an unschooling twist. The short lessons I think are especially good with young boys like mine, who don’t like to sit still and listen intently because there is so much more to see and do! It allows plenty of time for children to be children and play and be free. Real books? Check. Chronological history? Check. Art and music appreciation but in a fairly laid-back way? Check. Where CM fails us (or perhaps where we fail CM) is in one critical-to-CM area: nature study. I tried to start this with my son. I really did. And he went along, fairly patiently. But he doesn’t want to observe polliwogs or butterflies or learn how flowers grow. He wants to get out a telescope and stay up all night and watch the stars. Or put on a lab coat and explode something in my kitchen. But nature study? Meh.
Unit Studies: The idea of picking a subject near and dear to Gamma’s heart (say, the moon, for example) and then basing our other studies around it is very appealing at the outset. The whole family would be learning together, and be totally immersed in the subject. It sounds great, but the few times I’ve tried to implement this, it seemed a little forced, and Gamma quickly tired of it. And a lot of work goes into preparing for a unit study. To have it fall flat means hours of wasted time, time I could have spent building Legos or reading with him, instead of sitting in front of the computer while he plays quietly beside me.
Unschooling: I find unschooling to be a siren-call — it’s alluring and seductive, and yet terrifying when I fully contemplate it. First-hand experience has shown me that self-directed, self-motivated learning is an amazing, wonderful thing. And it really does happen. Gamma already astounds us with things he’s learned by himself — he asks questions and experiments with how things work, and tries out new ideas all the time.
So why the hesitation? Firstly, I don’t know that I can trust it. Don’t get me wrong. I trust the kids. I don’t think that all they’ll do is watch television all day long. The television is on right now. Gamma is playing with the Lego spider he built – only he’s turned it into a spider-spacecraft hybrid and is flying it around the living room. Epsilon is playing with trains and scribbling on a piece of paper. But I worry about my ability to be able to answer questions, when I don’t know what question will come next. Or how effective I would be at strewing. And Alpha? Alpha, too, can see the learning happening, but is too much the engineer to feel comfortable with something as touchy-feely as unschooling. Perhaps with a different label applied he’d be more accepting.
Sigh.
What we’re really searching for is a well-rounded, academically-sound education for our boys, with science and math at the heart. Real books, hands on, but still plenty of time for boys to be boys. Any suggestions? CM, with “real science” (as Gamma puts it) in place of nature study? Our own take on LCC? Any other suggestions or options I haven’t considered? Whatever we do choose, I’m sure it will be a meld of a multitude of approaches. In a word: eclectic!
*At this point I’m assuming Epsilon will have similar interests and learning styles. Only time will tell! We’ll obviously adjust to his distinct personality when the time comes.
**Yes, of course we plan for our children to be biblically literate. In fact, we plan for them to be familiar with tenets of all the worlds major religions, not just christianity. But that’s a topic for another post!
June 26th, 2009 — Epsilon, Gamma, boys will be boys, literature
There are some boys that love to listen to the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, and the other good reads most moms remember reading as girls. Gamma is not one of those boys. Mostly, he loves non-fiction. Space exploration, dinosaurs, the history of trains… he loves that kind of stuff, and I love to supply it and watch his interests grow and change. But I also love to curl up on our reading couch with a good work of fiction and get engrossed in a story. I’m on a mission to find quality literature that will appeal to my growing boys.
Jill at The Well-Read Child hosts a weekly meme highlighting book choices for kids. I’m hoping to find some great reads for my boys among the participants. Here’s what we’re reading this week:
Leave That Cricket Be, Alan Lee, by Barbara Ann Porte, pictures by Donna Ruff, reviewed by Gamma
Alan Lee hears a cricket in the house and wants to find it and keep it as a pet. He looked for it for days but couldn’t find it. One day, he trapped it in one of his shoes and he covered it and put the cricket in a glass jar. But the cricket wouldn’t sing because it was sad. Alan Lee was sad. This made me sad, too. A few days later he let the cricket free from the jar and it sang. The end.
The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown
Our second time checking this one out of the library — one of Gamma’s favorites. A young boy named Liam, living in a city without any parks or gardens or greenery of any kind, finds the tiniest bits of green life popping up on an old, abandoned elevated railway. He nurses the garden back to health, and brings nature back to the other city residents as well. Nice story, interesting pictures — probably the only time my boy has ever requested a book filled with pictures of flowers!
Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary
We’ve just finished chapter one of this classic. Ribsy is lost and separated from his beloved Henry Huggins. Gamma is desperate to know what happens next?! Last week we read another Cleary classic, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, which really kept him enthralled. I hope Ribsy will have the same effect. Tune in next week to find out!
The Little Red Caboose, by Marian Potter, pictures by Tibor Gergely
I have to give Epsilon some time here as well. He would be quite content to sit and read this for hours at a time. We reserve it as our special, before-bed book. It’s a charming book I remember from my childhood. The little red caboose, who feels unloved and unrecognized, saves the day. Proof that being littlest and last doesn’t stop you from doing great, important things.
And that’s what we’re reading this week… along with a host of DK books and old favorites!
June 23rd, 2009 — homeschool, secularism
Ironically, our journey to secularism started when we began researching homeschooling as a means of educating our children. At the time we were what I would consider nominal Christians — we celebrated Christmas and gave a nod to Easter, if Alpha had to fly away for business I’d toss up a token prayer, and I was constantly wishing I was more spiritual and felt more inspired to really commit myself.
I was also a seeker. I’d go to one church, but not feel what apparently everyone else felt. This must not be the one, I thought. So I’d look elsewhere. I had multiple copies of the bible, all in different translations, hoping one of them would reach me in a way the others hadn’t. Because I was obviously missing something. Other people felt this wonderful, spiritual connection. If I wasn’t, there was obviously something wrong with me. I think deep down inside, Alpha never really believed. He went along with my whims because he saw them as harmless. He’d attend this church or that, but he was just as happy not to bother.
In researching various curricula for teaching our boys, we were astounded to find that nearly all the the resources targeted to homeschoolers were of a religious nature. Yes, we knew that most homeschoolers WERE religious. But did that really need to flow over into each and every subject area the child would cover? Grammar? Math? SCIENCE? We didn’t mind if some literature had religious content, and could understand it’s value in history — to a point. But math lessons with bible verses in the corners of the pages? Science that clearly ignored science? We began to get a distinctly uneasy feeling.
This was beginning to feel a lot less like education, and a lot more like INDOCTRINATION..
Somehow I came across a recommendation for Dale Gowan’s Parenting Beyond Belief. It was an eye-opener. Real parents that clearly loved and cared about their kids, but didn’t believe in god. I began to want to learn more, but was afraid to look into it. What if everything I thought was true, was false? Alpha, if he was aware of my inner turmoil, wisely kept silent. Truly a first for him, I assure you. With great hesitation, I purchased a copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
It was NOT a comfortable read for me. It was so obviously RIGHT, and that made me feel stupid for following along as long as I had. And,much more importantly, it meant re-examining everything I believed. Those relatives that had died that I longed to see again….right. I’d NEVER see them again. Time to lay that idea to rest. Death itself… time to come to terms, as best as possible, with that unavoidable eventuality. And the chasm between my new beliefs and those of some of my closest relatives? Those fissures would ultimately prove too great to truly bridge.
But would I go back, knowing what I know now?
June 23rd, 2009 — Gamma, curriculum, homeschool, kindergarten
This is our attempt at a kindergarten curriculum. Gamma is five and a half, so obviously this is just a warm-up phase for the real deal starting next year. This is my chance to figure out what learning styles do and don’t work for him, and what record keeping methods work best for me. Before anyone lectures me on how the work of a child is play, trust me, 95% of his day is play.
Language Arts — Gamma detested OPGTTR and the McGuffey’s Eclectic Primer — he found them immensely boring. Now we’re using Click N’ Read Phonics for phonics and beginning reading, and while it’s not the best fun he’s ever had in his life, he’s enjoying it. And reading full sentences. Narration usually takes the form of “tell Daddy what happened on our walk today” or some such thing. For penmanship…. oh, right… I knew I was lacking something. I’ve given him worksheets and had him work a bit on penmanship, and he’s been obliging, but he hates to do it. The kid just isn’t a worksheet/workbook kind of kid. Since I want to foster a love of learning, not a dread, I’ve pulled the worksheets for now. I’m still looking for what works for us. Currently, Gamma’s enjoying making lists and labeling the pictures he draws, and that’s good enough for me at this point.
Literature — The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter, the original Thomas the Tank Engine series, A Treasury of Mother Goose, A.A. Milne’s series, and all the best age-appropriate children’s literature I can get my hands on. Our library here is a little limited, but we’ve managed to locate some good finds. Still struggling to find good, age appropriate material that appeals to my very boyish boy.
French — for right now our French “curriculum” is really just life. When we’re out and about I dole out a little vocabulary here or there. He hears me converse in French and I explain what I’m saying and repeat certain phrases I feel would be useful for him. If we watch any kids’ programming during the day, it’s in French. Easy readers from the French children’s section at the library. Eventually, I’ll need to get a little more focused on this, but I’ve yet to find a boxed curriculum for French that I’m happy with. Rosetta Stone is great, but he’s just too young for that. TBD.
Art — very informal at this point. Gamma draws when he takes a fancy to do so. We have Drawing with Children and it’s already helped ME tremendously! Other than that, if he sees a project he wants to try, on Mister Maker or some such, I’m game. Not talented, but game.
Music — Classics For Kids is a great resource for this. Obviously he’s a little too young for the “lesson” side of things, but he’s enjoying listening to the music and being able to identify the composer. Ever heard of Dmitri Kabalevsky? No? Gamma has!
Math — games, games, and more games. Board games, dice games, card games. And some basic mental math. We plan to use Ray’s Primary Arithmetic for our actual “textbook”, but while we’re building familiarization with numbers and numerals I see no need to adhere to rigidly to a book.
Science — Science is the love of Gamma’s young life. And my bane. I never “got” science, thanks to the “science is for boys” mentality that ran rampant in my public school. I’m working on that, as we want science to be the spine of our schooling, so to speak. We have a few simple experiment books we work from, we browse the internet and find cool and unusual ideas and experiments, and we’ll be making good use of some of the great museums available to us. But choosing a curriculum? Unfortunately, science is the weak link in homeschool curriculum. I’m leaning toward R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey starting next year, and will probably spend this year letting the subject be led by his interests. Meanwhile, I’m educating myself. But that’s a topic for another post.
Social Studies — A Life Like Mine offers a good understanding of basic needs, as well as a look at children around the globe. Various internet sites like National Geographic Kids let us learn more about people, places, and cultures. Easy readers from the library, and simply being out and about in the community, round out SS for kindergarten. We’ll start formally with History and Geography next year.
Life Skills — from road safety to tying shoes, and everything in between. Our curriculum? Life, of course!
June 22nd, 2009 — homeschool, secularism
I’ve maintained a home blog for some years now, mostly filled with pictures of our kids to keep the long-distance grandparents in touch with the daily goings-on. Yet now I find myself at a crossroads. Interested though they are in the kids’ education, questions of classical vs. unschooling vs. unit studies befuddle them. Discussions of different curriculum choices are met with blank stares.
There is another aspect to this crossroads. As we begin to more and more strongly identify ourselves as “secular”, I find an ever-widening gap between that which I want to say, and that which family members wish to hear. They know where we stand, and, to their credit, do not push or attempt to re-convert us. At the same time, I do not feel comfortable expounding on something I know will make them uncomfortable on a site that has always been solely for their use and enjoyment.
There are other secular/atheist/freethought/humanist-homeschool blogs out there. I’m adding my voice to the fray.
