Learning in Freedom

Fibonacci Numbers, Triskaidekaphobia, and the Mayan Calendar

2012-01-13T10:02:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we watched a lecture from "The Joy of Thinking: The Beauty and Power of Classical Mathematical Ideas" on Fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci numbers, or nature’s numbers, are numbers that are created by adding together the two previous numbers in the series starting with 1 and 1: The sum of one and one is two, one plus two is three, two plus three is five, three plus five is eight… The Fibonacci sequence is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144…

Anyway, the lecture was really interesting and Professor Edward B. Burger, Ph.D., explained how these numbers were revealed in nature. He demonstrated this by counting the seed-spirals of a sunflower, the tiny floret-spirals in the face of the daisy, and the spirals created by the bumps on the exterior of a pineapple and pine cone. Counting the clockwise spirals and then counting the counter-clockwise spirals gave us different numbers, but all of those numbers were Fibonacci numbers.

Vi Hart has a wonderful doodle video, "Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant [1 of 3]" demonstrating this in a much more entertaining and visual way:

The next lectures in our The Joy of Thinking course will continue on with Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Triangle and the Golden Ratio, so I probably should have waited until we watched those lectures to share this information with you, but I couldn’t resist. The lecture inspired me to look for these patterns in nature, but I was noticing them this morning as I prepared breakfast in my kitchen. As I cut open an apple, I noticed five seed sections that created a five pointed star, and I counted eight sections in the orange, and three seed-sections in a banana. Hey, we are a family of five! I guess we are a Fibonacci family. (Well, we are a household of four now that one has moved away to college, but I will be taking him ONE box of goodies THIS week-end.)

Anyway, the Fibonacci numbers got me thinking of this Friday the thirteenth. I was thinking how silly it would be to suffer from triskaidekaphobia, because not only is the number 13 a beautiful prime and sexy Fibonacci number, but the Mayans believed the number thirteen to be sacred.

This Friday 13th has Fibonacci all over it. Friday is the 5th (work) day of the week, the 13th day of the first (numero uno) month in our calendar year, a year whose digits add up to five… January is the first month of the year after our calendar rolled over to begin the new year, much like the Mayan calendar might simply roll over and start anew on December 12, 2012. End of World in 2012? Maya "Doomsday" Calendar Explained

Do we fear the world will end each New Year ’s Eve?

Jolly Rancher Vodka (gift idea)

2011-12-19T11:31:00.012-06:00

Speaking of trying to be more healthy...

I am made a few batches of Jolly Rancher Vodka for a few of our lucky friends and family members.

Of course, my batch doesn't look that fancy because I used the small 12 oz. mason jars. I added about 20 Jolly Ranchers to each jar, so we will see if my guessculation was accurate:

For directions on how to make your own Jolly Rancher Vodka and other fun infusions, visit and browse Mix that Drink's website: Jolly Rancher Vodka Tutorial.

If our attempts fail and for some reason we are embarrassed to give away our Jolly Rancher Vodka as gifts, I hope to have a girls' night out where we dispose of it all appropriately. =P

...I'm sure I am secretly making a few jars for me and hubby. ;) ;) ;)

Jump Start on New Year's Resolution

2011-12-19T09:46:00.005-06:00

I thought that I had decided on a New Year's Resolution. A few family members and I had toyed with the idea of taking "The Vegan Challenge.” The Vegan Challenge is to eat vegan for a whole month. No meat. No eggs. No milk. No cheese. No YUM!

A New Year's Resolution that would only last one month? Sounded good.

The Vegan Challenge - the new year - would start off with a trip out of town to a store that I have never heard of in search of products and brands that have never resided in my pantry.

With a picky family of five, I decided that going vegan, even for one month, would be too much of a challenge for me THIS YEAR.

I searched for a NEW New Year’s Resolution. I found a site that shared one famhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifily's challenge to eat non-processed foods for one-hundred days, 100 Days of Real Food. This site has a Facebook page where fans can take the ten day pledge. Ten days? That's less than one month! I figured I could do that before the New Year! It’s never too early to eat healthy, right?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The Facebook page featured a yummy looking breakfast/brunch recipe, Whole-Wheat Crepes. No special trips for this recipe or challenge. All of the ingredients were familiar.

Avoiding processed foods for ten days is still challenging, but much easier than totally going vegan for a whole month. Baby-steps…

I announced to my house that we would eat a healthy breakfast. I explained the benefits of avoiding processed foods. I decided to make crepes to prove how delicious healthy can be.

There was one moan.

I opened my refrigerator to retrieve the milk and eggs to prepare our healthy breakfast when I found a surprise. Hubby had picked up McDonald’s on his way home from working nights.

One person was ecstatic.

The End

Additional Thoughts: I think it would be very hard to be vegan in America. Most of our food products contain ingredients derived from animals, even foods you wouldn’t suspect. For example, marshmallows are not vegan friendly. You would think that an innocent white-as-snow marshmallow would be safe for everyone, including vegans, but the common popular brands use some type of ingredient derived from PIGs. “The squishy parts” as a Facebook friend explained it. This renders marshmallows not only off limits for vegans, but off limits to people trying to eat kosher or vegetarian!

I haven't given up on Veganism. I am thinking of adding a Vegan Night, right along with Italian Night or Mexican Night. I will have to plan Vegan Night for the evenings when hubby is working nights.

Fireworks in Port O'Connor July 2, 2011

2011-07-03T12:33:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, we went to my grandpa's beach house in Port O'Connor to watch POC's annual Independence Day fireworks display. I took three gallons of Red Diamond sweet tea and two huge watermelons. My Grandma-Ethel had already purchased two gallons of Red Diamond ice tea, so the sweet tea tooth must run in the family!

Many interesting conversations took place last night. My grandpa told us the many ways to test a watermelon to determine sweetness. They were all new to me. He even told us that if you pick a watermelon and place the stem in sugar water, the watermelon will absorb the liquid and will taste extra sweet! Since I pick my watermelon from the big box in HEB, I have to use my favorite technique: I play the watermelon like a drum and if it sounds hollow, I will purchase it.

Another topic of conversation was reincarnation. I explained to one of my cousins that our most recent pet tragedy prompted me to share the concept of reincarnation with my nine year old. "Reincarnation is the belief that even when a body dies, the spirit continues to live. When a spirit leaves the body, it goes into another body. In fact, if we go to the pet store and buy another hamster, there is a small chance that..." My cousin immediately took the baton and finished my thought, "...the hamster you buy will be the same hamster as the one that died!"

;)

Anyway, we sat out on the porch talking and eating hotdogs and drinking tea until the sun went down. Then we walked to the beach and found a place to sit so that we could get a better view of the fireworks.

After the city's display was over, the people in the beach houses started their own shows! There was screaming and smoke...

As we were leaving, we got to see people being arrested. Everyone must have had a good time!

Anyway, here is a short clip of the end of the POC fireworks display:

I still have two huge watermelons. Where to go?

Another boring post.

2011-06-12T11:58:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, the whole family worked on the landscaping around this house. We are thinking that we might just stay here, but we are going to fix this house up the way we like it and not wait until we are putting it on the market. That was the mistake we made with the Tanglewood house. When we put the Tanglewood house up for sale, we finally did all the updates and improvements that we had put off for the ten plus years we had lived there. The things we wouldn't do for ourselves. We tiled the floors, replaced the gold double ovens with stainless steel double ovens, changed out all the kitchen appliances, replaced the gold kitchen counter-tops with tile, and even put texture and fresh paint over the walls that still had paneling. Wait, there's more! We replaced the shop doors, re-textured the entryway, replaced light fixtures, and even - REPAINTED THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE! Let's just say that I didn't want to leave after that.

The one thing we DID do for ourselves while we were there was gut and update the master bath. It had the fanciest 12 x 12 tiled shower in town! Unfortunately, it had the fanciest tiled LEAKY shower, and we fixed that before we left too. We also let the kids pick out the paint color for their rooms and we had to paint over that. I don't know who would want a house with crazy room colors. One bedroom had two walls painted red and two walls painted blue and another bedroom had two walls painted purple and two walls painted green. That's what you get when kids pick the color: indecision. My room was painted orange - UT orange - and we painted over that, too. I miss my orange room! When my reading lamp was on I felt I was surrounded by soft candlelight.

While hubby and I were doing yard work, we found a doggie septic system in our back yard. Yeah. I didn't know that such a thing existed.

Catching Up

2011-06-09T09:44:00.012-05:00

We are going to look at a house we can't afford today. It has some acreage and my mom would like to put some of her horses on it. That means she might help us buy it. We don't need that much land.

The house only has three bedrooms, but Matthan is going off to school next year to major is Psychology/Psychiatry. We could afford to send a kid to Victoria College, but our house hunting turned to downsizing once we understood how much his college would be... Psychiatrist = medical school.

Did I mention I need a job? Yeah. Because I have travel plans! Hubby and I are coming up on our twenty year wedding anniversary and we are dragging the whole family with us on a cruise to Jamaica, Cozumel, and ... somewhere else. We are leaving out of Florida.

After *planning* a trip for five to England and France, the top of the line cruise seems affordable. (Did I mention that *planning* is my favorite part of vacationing, schooling, cooking...) Planning is dreaming. I love dreaming.

I figure if I work part-time and put everything into an account, we can travel more and consider it SCHOOL. I don't want the kids to think that THIS - Victoria, Texas - is it. Recently, my daughter (14) had some jealous-teen drama and I reminded her, "You are about to be on a cruise with rich boys from around the world. Do you really want a boyfriend? Tell the boys that you want to remain single because when you travel, you want to be free..." It's advice I wish I could have been given, but I was stuck in the country in an even smaller town, just trying to get out.

We took the kids to The Oak Room for the first time the other evening. My daughter said, "I will never eat at McDonald's again!" The duck was everyone's favorite. I can't wait to go back!

Trips for FOUR will be more reasonable. Which is why I want to travel more. I was going to write a whole post on WORLD SCHOOLING the other day, but I got too busy. I'm still working on a recipe for itisi.

Land. **BEGIN DREAM** Maybe I can train horses again... Teach horseback riding lessons! Have a FREE SCHOOL in the country that revolves around equine management or training, breeding, and showing horses. **END DREAM**

I would like to substitute-teach because I do not want a full-time job. I already have a part-time job: parenting and housewifen' (yeah, it's really only a part time job if you do it right... or wrong, however you want to look at it). As far as homeschooling, the kids are old enough to read the instructions, work the sample, and complete the work on their own. I only have to plan, motivate, and check.

Hubby tore his calf muscle playing basketball with the homeschool high school boys. This, after declaring that he "didn't feel old," though he had just turned forty. I guess if I ever want to do P90X again I better not skip the Yoga. Now I understand why Yoga is important... S T R E T C H without breaking.

My friend's husband passed away. I spent the night at her house the first night and I've been spending much time with her. I think she's going to be looking for a house soon, too. She also wants to travel. Hopefully, when our girls graduate high school, we can plan a senior trip - for the girls, not us - to Paris. Our girls are the same age. That's what I want to do when Kelsey graduates high school - big trip. It's what Matthan did when he graduated.

I hope she keeps up with her French! I gave up. Information tends to leave my brain, and new information doesn't tend to stay.

The kids' passports are on their way! Then we will all have passports! YEAH! I hope it serves as valid ID for PSAT... I had to get a Texas State ID for Matthan when he took his PSAT.

Good Idea: Gradeless schools!

2011-05-16T13:31:00.008-05:00

We gripe about what all is wrong with our schools and forget to point out when a community tries to do something right.

Here is an article about a school that focuses on a student's ability instead of focusing on age or grade level.

School Teaches by Ability, not Grade Level

It makes sense to focus on ability instead of age. We know that children are different and develop at different rates in different academic areas. A child might be ready to move ahead in one area while still needing improvement in another. A gifted math student might be delayed in reading. This type of approach allows a child to soar where he is gifted while receiving remediation where improvement is needed. Students are not passed on to the next grade with "gaps" in their learning. Focusing on ability allows a more "individualized" education - an education tailored to fit each child.

There is a local homeschool support group, Tailor Made, which offers support for parents who are trying to give their child a unique or "tailored" education. The founder explained, "You wouldn't buy one-size-fits-all clothing for your child; you would find the clothing that fits him best and alter it when needed." I'm sure she did a better job of explaining it.

I think focusing on individual development instead of age or grade level is a good idea! Grade-less schools deserve an A.

P.S. When I saw the mention of the boy who wasn't sure what grade he was in, I thought that usually it's the homeschoolers who aren't sure what grade they are in. My fourth or fifth grader gets a deer in the headlights look when he's asked what grade he is in. "You are in third grade in reading and sixth grade in math, so I guess that makes you about fourth or fifth grade." Most of the learning materials that I use in my home are not designed for a specific grade level.

Our testing culture is like...

2011-05-16T11:17:00.009-05:00

...manipulating symptoms to diagnose a disease and then blaming the doctor for the disease.

Here is a rant (meaning I don't expect anyone to read it) that just goes on and on:

I think our testing culture is ruining education. Education should be child-centered, especially childhood education, and not test-driven. I think we give our state mandated tests too early, too often, and that we depend on them too much.

Is the goal of these yearly tests really to improve education? No, the purpose is to judge teachers and punish schools. Since the tests are not able to improve education, and can actually harm it, think of all the time spent learning test taking skills, why do we support the tests? Do educators create these tests? No, the people who create the tests are making six figures while the teachers who are judged by those tests are not. Testing has become a multi-million dollar industry while our small schools are being closed and teachers are being "contract not renewed." Are public schools just about supporting the testing industry? The politicians who push these tests and the people who make the money from these tests, usually didn't attend public school and do not send their own children to the same schools where these tests are administered. I think the community should protest these tests.

I don't know if this is true for Texas, but in some states, tests are given three times a year - a practice for the practice test - and sometimes the tests take six hours to complete. Could the test be measuring a child's attention span? I think in Texas we just have the one mid-year practice TAKS. That's a lot of time spent not learning. Whose education is it? I think students should protest.

I understand the need for tests, like the PSAT for scholarships or the SAT or ACT for college admission, or subject SATs for credit, but for tests like the TAKS to actually control and shape our educational system - insane. The test is driving the curriculum and publishing companies. Our dependance on these tests are making the very thing we focus on, obsolete.

Tests are not an accurate measure of what a child knows. It's a measure of how well the child takes tests - a measure of test taking skills which can be taught - and a measure of attention span. Is the purpose of schooling to prepare students for tests? Is that the goal of public education? To produce good test takers?

There are all kinds of factors that affect a child's performance on a test, knowledge of basic skills is a factor, but not the only one. Sleep, anxiety, culture, and nutrition - attention span - can affect a child's score and then a teacher is judged or a school is judged by those factors? Factors that are out of a teacher's control.

Used correctly, tests could help a teacher determine a student's strengths, and could give an educator a hint as to how to tweak teaching methods to help the child. But, these tests are not to help students, they are to compare, track, punish, and pit schools against schools and even countries against countries.

I think we give the state mandated test too early. We teach kids more and more earlier and earlier hoping that they will be ready for the test by third grade. The test is driving our scope and sequence. Late readers cause alarm instead of being allowed more time to mature, physiologically, which is not an indicator of intelligence or knowledge. We want the physiological development to speed up for these tests. Not all children develop at the same rate.

I'm for a test maybe right before Junior High, maybe before high school, and before college. But testing all year long every year as if the goal of schooling is really testing - is insane!

But, I'm sure, as usual, I am the one who is really insane. I don't think that things should be done just because "that's the way it is done."

I would provide links and edit this, but I have so much more on my plate today. I think we are leaving for College Station tomorrow and we might watch a baseball game while there...

Let go my EVO

2011-05-14T17:47:00.010-05:00

It was wild taking all the drama of the VicAd comment section with me to my nine year old's soccer game this morning. I imagined all the fights happening in the bottom of my purse. Yes, I finally got one of dem der fancy phone-a-ma-jigs. I'm still in the explore-tweak-play phase, so bear with me. I'm finding it hard to type in complete sentences or to keep a thought in my head for very long. Also, the keyboard on this laptop seems gigantic now that I have grown accustomed to typing on the display screen of my phone.

My husband and I both upgraded to the HTC EVO from phones that were so old we were laughed at by everyone in the store. How old were they? My phone had an antenna. (My daughter upgraded to a Samsung Triumph.)

I love the EVO because it is similar to my iPod Touch, which I liked, and which made me doubt that I would like any phone but the iPhone. I have to admit that I love my EVO! The apps that enjoyed on my iPod, I now have on my EVO.

The negatives are that it's not holding a charge as long as my old phone. I can't stick my new phone on my iPod dock. (I love listening to Pandora Radio through those speakers.) The EVO won't replace the iPod in that regards. Also, the EVO is pretty big and won't fit into my phone holder that I strap on my arm when I go walking. Ok, I only go walking three times a month... I secretly want an iPad, but it ain't going to happen on my salary. =P

I can't find anyone to Skype with and no one to stalk on Latitude, because everyone here is now addicted to Angry Birds. My husband and my nine year old have been playing day and night (one night and one day) since we bought the phones. I even downloaded Google Chrome so we could install Angry Birds on my laptop. That kept the nine year old off of my EVO.

Here are two pictures that I took with my laptop of me with my phone taking a picture of me:

That sounded really narcissistic...

Now I have to follow hubby to Port Lavaca so that he can pick up the van that he will drive to fire school. I'll use my EVO like a Garmin on the drive there and back - just because I can.

Thoughts on BorgLord's Post

2011-05-05T16:16:00.014-05:00

Well, I should say, my COMMENT that was too long to actually submit on BorgLord's Blog, How Do I Know?. It was really in response to the comment thread and not to BorgLord's Post. I don't care if he is an atheist. I do care that "fighters" see everything as an opportunity to engage in what they love: THE FIGHT.

Do nonbelievers come to believe when fighters fight and argue? I think it's counter productive. Knowing that fighting to convince someone of your point of view, even if you just KNOW that God would agree with you, only turns them off from what you are trying to get them to believe, means that your only goal in arguing is to FIGHT. Sometimes I want to fight. =P But, to do it as a representative of God, makes me against God. Right? Wanna fight?

I did post two or three sentences from the last paragraph on the comment section.

"Faith is the evidence of things NOT seen. Science is man trying to understand the physical or the things seen, or observed. I think it's wrong to use the Bible as a science text or to tweak scientific observations based on its literal translation.

Those who argue that the bible is the word of God have to admit that it was physically penned by men who had limited scientific knowledge. The message to them was not one of science. Even if that message was of science, they would not have understood. They would have a roach-like understanding.

I love the synagogue-explanation of trying to explain creation/evolution: "It would be like trying to explain the internet to a roach." Humans have such limited knowledge before the Creator. Imagine the roach trying to explain how the internet works to other roaches. There wouldn't be comprehension so an accurate picture wouldn't be shared.

An example: in the bible it says that the earth stands still and it can not be moved. For years that made good scientists, ones that admitted to belief in a heliocentric solar system, "heretics." That type of literal translation stunts us.

Recently, a lady stood up during a lecture by Bill Nye and shouted, "We believe in God!" because he said that the moon (the lesser of the two lights) was not actually a light source, but a reflectant.

I think that if you want science (physical) to line up with or prove your faith (things not seen) it's a sign that you have no faith, unless you think that the message of the bible was one of science. I don't let "the inspired word," as shared by humans thousands of years ago, dictate my understanding of modern day science."

Innovative or Orwellian?

2011-05-04T10:10:00.016-05:00

I don't know if the phrase, interest driven learning or individualized learning, had been coined, or if it was a popular subject of discussion in the late eighties, but Isaac Asimov was describing the concept in this 1988 interview with Bill Moyers:

That's not the amazing thing about the interview. Computers weren't in every home at the time, yet Asimov envisioned how this technology could revolutionize learning.

Has his vision been realized with the availability of the internet and with the many sites created for autodidacts or independent learners? Sites like HippoCampus, Khan Academy, iTunes U, BBC Languages, just to name a few. Independent and *pure* interest driven learning is possible.

Today, if we want to know about anything, we just search it on the internet, like Asimov described. We don't even have to buy the book, the floppy disk or the cd-rom at the store. Whole courses are available online - most are free. Maybe Sci-fi writers ARE able to see into the future.

Some feared that computers would "dehumanize" learning, and Asimov answered that. I think this technology would become cold and impersonal *only* if it were forced, uniform, controlled and the knowledge gained from it, tested with a one size fits all test. That would make the innovative seem Orwellian.

I think, as a society, we've outgrown the one size fits all type of education that was once so convenient. Technology has allowed for higher quality conveniences. We have the opportunity to make learning a unique experience for each person, based on their "bent." The interviewer asked, "What if I only want to learn about baseball?" Asimov answered, "That's alright...The more you learn about baseball the more you might grow interested in mathematics to figure out what they mean by those earned run averages, the batting averages, and so on... you might, at the end, become more interested in math than baseball, if you are following your own bent..." He sounds a little like John Holt and the many unschoolers I've encountered over the years. ;)

Do you think his vision of learning via computer (the way he described it) was innovative or Orwellian? I think the distinguishing factor is Freedom.

I also think that, contrary to what Asimov said, it could replace school for the independent and motivated learner.

Tuesday (Homeschool Drama Party)

2011-05-03T16:54:00.005-05:00

Today was the end of the year homeschool drama party at the park. Tots to teens played basketball, volleyball, tennis, or soccer for several hours. Lots of playing.

My nine year old played so hard, that one of his tennis shoes ripped almost in two. When he showed us his broken shoe and told us that he needed a new pair, I said, “ I’ve seen several homeschooled kids running around with duct tape on their shoes. It’s almost a fad.” My daughter agreed and began to name a few of the homeschooled high schoolers who were guilty of sporting the fashion.

As soon as we got home, my son found some duct-tape and was about to tape up his shoes when I reminded him that we had leopard print duct-tape somewhere. He couldn’t find it so I had to add it to my grocery list.

One of the homeschool moms had brought eggs from her farm to the park and I was lucky enough to scratch off one of the items on my grocery list.

Off to the store for fancy duct tape and the rest of my groceries (minus the eggs) and then to soccer practice...

*I ended up buying the camouflage duct tape.

Kelsey in "Mission Possible"

Monday Monday

2011-05-02T15:29:00.004-05:00

Today, I opened all of the windows to bring the outside in. I thought that since the windows were open, it was a good time to clean around the frames. No telling how many insect carcasses now reside in the bottom of the vacuum cleaner bag.

I love it when all of the windows are open because I can hear the birds and the wind chimes. It’s windy enough that I can also hear the trees. The only problem is my nineteen year old playing Call of Duty Black Ops. I mostly hear machine-gun fire and the occasional dove.

I should be making the kids finish up school, but my spring cleaning was contagious. My daughter removed the screen of her bedroom window and is cleaning the glass with Windex. My nine year old built a car for his hamster out of a paper-towel tube and Tinker Toys. His hamster loves to go inside of the tube just as much and as quickly as she likes to exit. He is upset that she won’t poke her head out and stand still so that it looks like she is driving the little makeshift car. He even sang, "Doo da dippity."

Osama. After the news of his death, one of my Facebook friends posted, “is wondering what sort of childhood Osama bin Laden must have had to turn into the man he was.”

That's food for thought.

Easter Eggs

2011-04-25T08:29:00.003-05:00

Our inspiration:

Our interpretation:

Notice the blue egg at the very top of the image? Christian decorated one of his with a battle ax. I thought that was cute. These aren't Faberge eggs, but we had fun Easter morning with crayons and food coloring. We are planning on making deviled eggs and tuna salad with our "art." Christian suggested that we decorate all the eggs that we buy from now on.

Crumbs for Breakfast?

2011-04-23T11:36:00.000-05:00

This morning, my nine year old and I woke up shortly after 6:00am. Though he's usually the first one up, he’s not accustomed to waking up that early. He walked to the kitchen windows, looked outside, and shouted, “Wow! I’ve never seen it look like this before!” I told him that he should go sit outside on the porch and listen to the birds. I think all the doves in town congregate in the oak trees around this house. (I’ve shared the tragic dove story with you all.)

I have a little rule in my house: the early bird gets to choose what we will have for breakfast. This morning I asked my son what he wanted, and reminded him that we had sausage, eggs, and tortillas, for his favorite morning meal, taquitos. At one time, his favorite morning meal was Deviled Eggs. After the Deviled Eggs phase, he played chef and made us all breakfast. He prepared what I can only describe as migas*, but instead of using crumbled tortillas, he made his migas with Fritos. I thought it was crazy, but then one day while looking through the Come to the Table cookbook, I found a recipe called Frito Eggs on page 285. No way!

This morning, my rara avis was in the mood for noodles, “spicy noodles.” Maruchan Instant Lunch was the breakfast of champions this a.m. I’m ok with it, because an equally fast and healthy meal that he will eat is made with a rotisserie chicken from H.E.B., a bag of flatbread, and a Caesar Salad kit. We call this Caesar Chicken Wraps and we load the bread with the chicken and the yummy green salad. It's usually difficult to roll or fold.

I tell my children that if they don’t add some color to their meal, their body will make bricks. =D

*Today I learned that the Spanish word, migas, means "crumbs."

Dream:

2011-04-22T11:15:00.003-05:00

My items were being scanned at the checkout of H.E.B. Plus as I woke up. This was another dream that created a storyline around the sound that pulled me out of sleep. Before I had placed my items on the conveyer belt, I was walking around the store wearing a hat that was three feet tall. I wanted to laugh out loud as I imagined what the other customers were thinking as they looked at me. I tried to keep a straight face. A man sporting a head of disheveled hair gave me an inquisitive look, and I told him, “You have strange hair.” I was projecting in my dream. =D

Before I had selected the tall hat, I had tried on others. I was looking at my reflection in the glass doors of the frozen food section. I remember thinking that the hats were similar to something Lady Gaga would wear.

Before the hats, I was sitting at a table in a restaurant when my Aunt Lucy came up to me and said, “Grandma’s kidneys are failing.” She put her head on mine and I could tell that she was very tired. I asked Lucy if she could help me with Kelsey’s prom dress, which I remember thinking was selfish even in my dream.

I can’t remember much before that.

***

Looked at some houses yesterday. The kids fell in love with one on Riata, but I think it's too small. Where will we put MY books and HIS tools? I sure do miss our old Tanglewood home! He had a 20x20 workshop...

Yard Hunting

2011-04-15T11:07:00.004-05:00

We are getting ready to go house hunting. We have been in this house for almost two years. It's not that we are unhappy with our home or this neighborhood, in fact, I doubt that I will ever find a house I like as much as I like this house. I picked this house for me, big kitchen and a heaven of a back porch.

Did I mention that my heaven of a back porch was pretty much our back yard? My lovely home is basically an over sized patio home. Perfect for my favorite activity: lounging around reading books, but not conducive to my family's active life-style.

As soon as we moved, our needs changed. First of all, my daughter developed an interest in basketball. She went from being anti-sports to a sportaholic almost overnight. This house has a sloped drive-way which left us no choice but to set up her basketball goal on the curb, which means that she plays basketball in the street every day. That's fine, because this street has hardly any traffic, but I would rather have a flat driveway for her 24/7 hoop shootin'.

Also, my youngest put on some weight around his mid-section and has become an avid gamer. This alarms me because I've never seen any of my children this sedentary.

Active families should be on the other side of John Stockbauer OR they should have an over-sized backyard.

More on Dreams

2011-04-01T10:57:00.006-05:00

“Jaime had never realised that trees made a sound when they grew, and no-one else had realised it either, because the sound is made over hundreds of years in waves of twenty-four hours from peak to peak. Speed it up, and the sound a tree makes is vrooom.” Good Omens

I hate it when, in my dream, I am lying down or viewing the dream-world from my bed. Maybe it is another symptom of sleep paralysis, only instead of being totally conscious while unable to move my body, my unconscious mind is restricted by the placement of my physical body. How is that for a role reversal?

That happened to me last night; I dreamed that I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling. A vine poked through the ceiling and began to grow straight down to the floor as if the sun was below me and the sky was the earth. I was amazed in my dream that I could witness the growth of the vine. I thought that maybe this is what happens when I am sleeping – I go into slow motion as time around me goes into fast forward mode.

I saw that another vine was growing up from a pot sitting on the floor. The two vines stopped midway and began to spin around as if blindly feeling for the other. Finally, they connected and began to tangle and grow towards the right side of the room. The vine that had come from the ceiling suffocated the vine that grew up from the floor and this was very disturbing to me. The vine I had watched in amazement caused me to forget about the vine that I was to nurture. It was my fault and I felt guilt and remorse.

I’ve wondered if dreams are symbolic or if they are so literal that we are forced to give them too much meaning. I remember a dream I had as a little girl after a bout with a stomach virus. I was dreaming that my step-dad was chasing butterflies with a butterfly net. I emerged from that dream to my mother saying, “Tony (my step-dad) caught your bug.” That always fascinated me. Why, in a dream state, would my mind interpret the dreaded “pukes” as a beautiful butterfly? Literally, my step-dad had caught my “bug” which was symbolized as a butterfly?

I did go outside this morning to check on the landscaping. I often pull and redirect passion vines from roses, but this morning I attempted to pry tight tendrils away from my grapevine and ended up just yanking the aggressive vine out of the dirt. I had redeemed myself!

Which makes me wonder: What does poison ivy look like again?

Making Money

2011-03-20T21:31:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, while I was washing dishes with the television tuned to TLC, my nine year old said, "Mom, we should build a machine so that we can make money."

"Really? What type of machine should we build?" I love it when children come up with creative ideas. Children are natural entrepreneurs.

"A machine that makes money."

He didn't want to build a machine that could do something useful and that we could sell, he wanted to create a machine so that we could print counterfeit currency. I assumed that he came up with the idea after the program about the man who had won five million dollars in the lottery. I guess, in his little mind, it would be easier to just print money than to win the lottery. The two are probably just as ethical, in his mind. Who knows?

I asked him what he thought would happen if we did print money. His said, "We would get rich."

I told him it was illegal. He said, "We wouldn't get caught."

"So, as long as we don't get caught you would be happy with printing money, even though it's against the law?"

"Yes."

I didn't judge. Mainly, because a part of me was busy spending...

A few hours later, I asked him again if he wanted to make money. He said, "We can't." I was relieved that he had come to that moral conclusion on his own without my help. Children are natural learners, after all. I was proud of myself for avoiding didactics.

I asked, "Why can't we make money?"

"We could if we lived out in the country."

The truth is, he has "made" money before. He turned our dining room into a restaurant and created menus for his customers and even "made" money so that they could purchase food. Does a restaurant like that exist? "Here's fifty Chili's Bucks, have a nice meal."

Now, isn't that the kind of person you would want "making" money; The kind of person who would give it to you?

Guess what this is:

Patchwork of Springs (not too silly)

2011-03-18T12:08:00.001-05:00

Our Texas Mountain Laurel has been adorned in purple cascading blooms. The scent always takes me back to Southwest Texas State University (Texas State), as there was a long walkway seasonally walled by the lavender flowers. The trek to class was an event when the little trees were in bloom. When the air didn't smell like the river, it smelled like the grape flavored powder from Fun Dip and Pixy Stix candies.

The breeze brings the yummy fragrance into the house when the doors to the backyard are open. If I close my eyes I can imagine myself back on campus. I remember some of the characters I encountered on the way to class. I remember the frat guy who wore base; I remember the mean Prozac PETA girl, and I remember the fighting stallions.

I miss living in a place where you could safely, and without destination, walk from evening until sunrise, and where you could, without guilt and with a few new acquaintances, eat breakfast before finally going to bed. I miss the guy in the dorm beside ours who would play Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover” so loud that we could open our windows and hear the music as if it were playing on the stereo in our room.

I wonder why I was in such a hurry to get out of the dorms and into an apartment. Looking back, dorm life was the best part of college, though I hated it at the time.

I wonder what I was thinking when I chose a Saturday morning class as if I would actually attend a Saturday morning class. Only I can boast that a lack of common sense was the reason I failed Philosophy.

It’s amazing how a scent can gather up old memories and press them together at the folds. For a brief second I can see right through the fabric to all of my springs, but they quickly fade and wilt like the flowers on our Texas Mountain Laurel.

Saturday Silliness (dream)

2011-03-05T09:35:00.003-06:00

Salvador Dali "Sleep"

The sound of thunder woke me up this morning. Remember that earthquake of a thunderclap? Anyway, I was in the middle of an audio-dream. Do you ever have audio dreams; the dreams that are more verbal than visual or emotional? It’s as if someone is talking to you in your ear - real time. It’s not always associated with a story or a plot. Sometimes, the words conclude a dream, like a punctuation. I don’t always remember the actual dream, but sometimes I will remember the parting words.

This morning my dream ended with a voice saying, “Some people wake up to light and some people wake up to wind…” just as the thunder was pulling me out of my sleep.

At first, I thought, “Silly unconscious brain! You forgot about how some people might wake up to sound!” But, after I thought about it, I realized that when you are experiencing something, it speaks for itself. The fact that it was happening to me completed the thought. “Some people wake up to light, some people wake up to wind, but you will wake up to thunder!” How cool to become a part of the narrative. Wait, I already was, it was I who was dreaming.

It’s very windy right now. If the wind woke you up, I guess you were one of the people who woke up late! Lazy!

Isn’t that fun? My dream made me didactic. =P

That concludes my little post on "Saturday Silliness." But, before I go, I have to share with you something my nine year old told me:

Last night, while watching a play put on by the junior high homeschoolers, I leaned over and whispered something in my nine year old’s ear. He put his hand up in front of my mouth and whisper-screamed, “Mom, your breath is burning my eyes!” Isn't that sweet?

It wasn’t onions, I promise, it was my menthol cough drops. I’ve been hitting the cough drops like an addict lately. I've been coughing for three to four weeks since the flu. Seriously, it was the cough drops!

P.S. Don't you think it's hypocritical of me, unemployed and all, to call someone sleeping in on Saturday "lazy?"

Unschooling Anthem (song)

2011-02-12T10:20:00.009-06:00

Artwork by Amy Steinberg

I am fascinated with the unschooling philosophy. I think it is a nice compliment to my natural parental instinct: bossy control-freak. I guess I like to think that the unschooling philosophy balances me.

I would love to attend a conference like the LIFE ROCKS! Radical Unschooling Conference.

On their website they say that Amy Steinberg's song, "Exactly," from her album, "Must be the Moon," is becoming their anthem.

I always thought that the perfect song to describe this alternative educational philosophy was John Lennon's, "Imagine" or Pink Floyd's, "Another Brick in the Wall." Freedom is a big enough place for many anthems.

I wanted to share the song "Exactly" because the lyrics are amazing and part of the song reminds me of slam poetry. Slam poetry put to music. A worthy anthem.

Here is Amy singing "Exactly."

Exactly

i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am a blessing manifest
i can undress the moment
naked time unwinds beneath my mind
and from within i find the kind of beauty
only i can find

i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am surrendering so willingly
to be the perfect me inside this now
and truly how else could it be
destiny she blesses me
destiny she blesses me

when i try to fight or run
i only wind up back at square one
when i think i know what's best for me
fate she takes me back
to exactly where i need to be

i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am divinely timed and shining brightly
yes i believe that there's a purpose just for me
yes i believe that we are light
and we shine infinitely

i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am not aimlessly existing see
i am in perfect harmony with universal energy
and i am truly free when i accept my own divinity

look at me look at me closely
what exactly do you see
if you are paying attention you will now begin ascension of the mind
why, because if you look at me just right you will see a kiss
for it took a kiss to make this breath exist
the intersection of my mother's and father's lips
to touch twist and perfect what came next to produce me
look at me and you will see the breeze
the breeze it took to shake the leaves to make
my mother's hair move, my father dare touch it and say
please may i have a kiss
yes the breeze made me exist
and if you want to get even deeper into this
when you look at me you will see a cloud
the cloud it took to form the storm to shake the leaves to
inspire the liplock - yes a raindrop will pop up out these words
you heard me right
if you look at me close enough you will see a dark stormy night
and what is night without it's polar opposite of sunlight
so if you watch the way my hands sway
you'll see the light of day
and everyday is a testament to the sediment of the earth's core
it's ever spinning enormous force so if you look at me just right
you will see a spark of the source
but the most fascinating thing about this, and it's true
is that if you look at me close enough, you see you
it's only what you perceive how you believe the space between
you and me
that creates reality
so when i sing you can feel it
when i cry you can heal it
when i speak words you can be the words i speak by singing with me

peace love free
peace love free
peace love free

and when i am alone and full of fear
i just remember the rising sun always appears
everyday miracles that i see
well they take me back to exactly where i need to be

* * * * * *

I hope that you are exactly where you need to be!

Day of Wuv or Wust?

2011-02-10T10:26:00.008-06:00

I was looking at some of the latest headlines from around the world and saw a few articles that I thought were very interesting. Apparently, some deeply religious men on the other side of the globe are protesting the infiltration of western "lust." Not our rated R movies or our Paris Hiltons, mind you, but our "lust" manifested in the shocking form of card stock folded in half with a red image printed on the front. Buildings and shops are being burned down in protest of Valentine's Day. “Death to those who would partake in this Western day of lust!” or something like that.

But, it’s not murder if they were lusting when we kill them, right? They were evil first? They started it by handing me this darn card with lacy looking stuff on it! Too girly! I guess no one over there wears pink to prove they are real men.

Maybe these deeply religious men have a point. As a child I would have identified with them. I don’t know how it was where you guys grew up but when I was a wee-Becca Valentine’s Day was not a fun day. I would have gladly faced death rather than the mortification of having to give BOYS cards with hearts on them! I remember holding the list of classmates in my hand and the humiliation and horror I felt as I imagined Shane or Mark getting the big “will you be mine” card. I was picked on enough as it was back in elementary school. Everyone called me “horse lady” and all the boys pulled my pigtails IF THEY COULD CATCH ME. I could outrun them all except for Anthony.

Anyway, the process of deciding who would get what card was a very intense time of strategic planning. First off, I would not hand out the cards that actually had the word “love” or “be my...anything ” on them. Those went to the trash can. Maybe I would have liked to burn the offensive cards in a public display of outrage like our anti-western pals. That would have been very dramatic! Nah, I was too mature for that.

I would have loved to throw some of these anti- ♥ -Day articles in my teacher’s face. Could you see little snaggle-tooth with her Pippy Longstocking braids (that’s me as a 7 year old) squeaking, “I will not practice this lustful tradition with you infidels!” to my elementary teachers? I wonder if they would have bought it.

Now that I’m older and more mature I enjoy a gushy card! Why can’t these men just be flattered and get over it? I did. It’s just so strange to me that on the other side of the world people are threatened with violence if they DO buy cards and flowers for their loved ones. There would be violence if my husband ever decided to NOT celebrate Valentine’s Day in the form of flowers and chocolates. I think I lust after chocolate? Is that a crime somewhere? Probably.

Not only are Valentine’s Day cards and the practice of this "day of lust" seen as evil but in India couples are actually fined if they kiss in public. I saw an article about how during a wedding ceremony when it was time to "kiss the bride" there was someone ready to give out a ticket for the offense!

We think we have religious fanatics here in America? Ours have nothing on theirs! Valentine's Day a day of lust? PLEASE. Evil IS in the eye of the beholder - what are they thinking they are getting with their cards? ::giggle::

First published here.

Food Cravings During Pregnancy (Silliness)

2011-01-31T14:28:00.004-06:00

Pregnancy: a time when my body had a very strong-willed mind of its own, a time when I was blindly obedient to the commands of my food cravings. Not satiating a food craving was punishable by nausea. Nausea was a state that I spent my pregnancies desperately trying to avoid.

I wonder what those intense food cravings meant and if I interpreted the signals correctly. I bet that something got lost in transit.

Imagine The Depleted Vitamin Store in The Pregnant Body weakly reaching out to The Brain and pleading, “We are low on Vitamin C up in here. Can you send a shout-out?”

The Brain sends the most obvious signs so that Rebecca can get what she needs, “Hey, Body, we need some ascorbic acid. You are officially craving something fruity, citrusy, sweet, and sour. Oh, and, we need it now, or else!”

The Mind: “Or else what?”

Rebecca gags a little.

The Mind is repentant and immediately goes to work decoding the messages with all the mystery and precision of John Edward...

Rebecca to hubby: “I want gummy bears.”

Hubby to Rebecca: “It’s after midnight and we live 20 miles outside of city limits.”

The Brain and The weak Depleted Vitamin Store exchange confused looks.

Depleted Vitamin Store: “What? Rebecca, no, try harder.”

The Brain clarifies, “Stop thinking SUGAR!”

Rebecca to hubby: “I need SOUR gummy bears! NOW!”

Depleted Vitamin Store to The Brain: “Tell her to think more along the lines of citrus. Oh! Oh! I got it! Tell her to think NATURAL.”

From Rebecca’s little mental scrap-book The Brain selects a stunning image of an orange grove to convey the point.

Rebecca to hubby: “I neeeeeeeed O R G A N I C sour gummy bears!”

That was silly, but I imagine that THAT is how it all goes down.

Dream (planes, panic, cruel boss)

2011-01-23T11:48:00.014-06:00

I pull back the covering of a very large swimming pool. Leaves are floating on the surface, though no trees are around. In the distance, I hear airplanes. There are two planes and because I am not there to watch them land, my “boss” yells at me, “I told you that when I land, you are to be there waiting!” He says this over an intercom system so his words are loud, though he is a tiny speck in the distance. He is standing on a metal structure. He is angry.

***

I’m inside preparing and serving frothy cappuccino. The froth is overflowing the silver cylinder and I'm scooping it with a soup ladle. People are enjoying their coffee. I think of monks, cappuccino, and ivory soap. It's the "air." I hear the sirens and I know that the planes are coming in to land again. I panic because I know that I am supposed to be there. I am going to be in so much trouble. I am too far away. I won’t get there in time. So much fear.

I miss my boss’s plane, but a second plane lands and crashes. For some reason it is my fault. I’m in a lot of trouble so I go to investigate the damage. On my way, I walk through wreckage. I come up to an empty helmet ... it's all my fault ... and then a body – whole – unscathed. His eyes are closed. I walk around him, he is wearing light jeans and a light gray shirt. ...his eyes open. It’s ____ who is referred to as "the husband" later in the dream.

I’m *severely* punished for this.

***

We are at my D-mom’s house in San Antonio. (My favorite place to be as a child.) I am showing a group of people her house. “This is where I used to hide and pretend that Darth Vader was looking for me. And this is where I always dream that there are stairs and as you can see, it’s just a wall.”

I hear the planes outside. This causes panic, but for a different reason. We are at war and when people are found, they are killed, so I tell everyone in the house to hide in the attic. I take a gallon of water with me because I don’t know how long we will be hiding.

***

We are at a little college, small like a community college, but bustling with student activity: people playing football and studying in groups along and around the outside of the building.

We are inside of the building. Hubby and I are going up the stairs and hubby grabs me by my shoulders and turns me around, “It’s the husband.” He won’t let me see him. He's protecting me from him and we are leaving quickly.

***

I go into a room and “the husband” is there. He is tied to a chair and someone (like a mob boss) is going to kill him. “You realize that he gave a woman $100.00 for her night gown?” The mob-boss throws a white gown at me. I have compassion on “the husband” and I’m told to leave or they will kill me too.

The next room contains all of my school books. I have to leave them behind. I had doodled much in one of the notebooks and it is open. I had written the letters “ABE” in cursive down one side of the page. I'm looking at the letters, wondering what "abe" means. For some reason this doodling is incriminating, but I don’t have time to close the book or take my stuff with me.

Dream (spinning room, orange and white)

2011-01-22T12:45:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, I decided to take a little nap.

I was dreaming that I was standing in the middle of a circular room. Instead of windows, the perimeter of the room contained door after door. The room and the doors were spinning around me. I could look into each door for only a split second. Each door led to a room filled with information that I felt I needed to know more about. I couldn’t get to the rooms. Not only were people (unintentionally) blocking the entrances, but I couldn’t see around the people and the room was spinning too fast around me. One of the doors contained people and information made up of orange and white. I was frustrated, but the people were happy and weren’t aware that they were blocking my view. Crazy dream - spinning.

I don’t know what happened first, me waking up or the buzz of the dryer startling me. My dream seemed to last about a minute. Could all that information, the people and the unreachable mysteries in the rooms behind them spinning around me, have just been one packet of data sent in a split-second as the dyer buzzer startled me to consciousness?

Fact: We dream even during non R.E.M. sleep.

Lilith-tov (silliness)

2011-01-19T16:56:00.007-06:00

I’m sitting in a huge bus with other girls my age. We are headed to a youth camp and I am very excited. I feel more like I am seated on a sofa and less like I am riding on a bus. I’m worried because I’m not wearing a seat belt. We are facing each other and not the front of the bus which allows for conversation. Everyone is talking but I am very quiet because I imagine myself as a projectile and worry about which girl I would fly into if the bus were to wreck.

The bus slows down and stops in front of a beach-themed restaurant. I look down at my bare feet. I’m sure that I can’t go in if I’m not wearing shoes. Just then I realize that I didn’t even pack for camp!

As I’m getting off the bus I confess my shoe-less state. A lady tells me, “That’s alright, we sell shoes here.” This is perfect because I love to shop! Inside, I find a section of the restaurant dedicated to boutique-cute clothing and footwear.

I expect to quickly purchase a pair of cheap flip-flops, since the restaurant has a beach theme, but the shoes look more like fancy boots. They are made of soft leather and they are decorated with real fur and jewels. The prices start at $80.00. If I spend $80.00 on shoes, I will have no money left for the rest of the trip.

I must have “shopped” too long because we are back on the bus and I don't remember eating. The girl seated across from me has straight black hair. She tells me, "Lie-lah had slanted eyes.” I realize that she is talking about Gutav Klimt’s painting, “The Tree of Life,” which I had looked at with much curiosity a few weeks before. How did she know? The girl has “slanted” eyes and looks just like “the other woman” in the painting. I realize that she isn’t just a stranger, or even a kid on the way to camp, but she is the daughter of the woman who wrote “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” I had just read her reply, "Why I love my strict Chinese mom" the night before. The girl across from me is a combination of the Tiger-daughter and the lady in Klimt's painting. The contradiction reminds me that I am dreaming.

Awareness of the dream always wakes me up or puts me in a state of sleep paralysis.

Dreams are fun to decode. Last night, before I went to bed, I completed a second lesson of Hebrew. I remember thinking after the first lesson that the Hebrew word for night, lialah, reminded me of the name, Lilith, as mentioned in the Talmud. “Lilith,” and all that the name implies, was how I remembered the Hebrew word for “night.” Maybe my trick backfired because last night I told hubby, “Lilith-tov,” instead of "Lialah-tov."

Weeks ago I had wondered if Klimt’s painting was of Adam, Eve, and Lilith. I wondered that, but couldn’t find anything to confirm or dispel it. I wonder if unsatiated curiosities manifest in dreams because they have not been filed or solved. Are mysteries the stuff of dreams?

Dreams fascinate me.

French, Dreams, and Learning

2011-01-17T15:08:00.005-06:00

I am having a difficult time learning French. It's not finding a sticky place in my brain.

Yesterday, I forced myself to listen to a French talk-radio station (France Info 105.5 FM) that I found on the internet. French conversations served as background noise as I went about my day. I cooked to French, cleaned dishes to French, read some of “The Four Agreements” while trying to tune out French, and I commented on this site while listening to French. (My laptop is in my kitchen.)

Something interesting happened last night as I was falling asleep in the dark and quiet of my bedroom. As I was slipping into an unconscious state, I heard someone speaking in French. I didn't know what the words meant, but I knew that my brain was dealing with the new sounds and patterns that I had heard throughout the day. I hate it when awareness of dreaming wakes me up.

I had many dreams last night. In one of my dreams I was watching a huge pyramid-like structure in the process of being constructed. It was like an inverted Sierpenski gasket and as the little parts of the whole were being hoisted up and snapped into place, I was aware that each piece represented or contained some random bit of information that I had encountered throughout the day, including the Sierpenski triangle itself. I was an observer of the building process and I was being shown each piece and what it represented before it became a part of the whole. My reaction in the dream to each was, “Yes! I remember seeing that!” Of course, sitting here, I can’t remember the details of each piece that I was so aware of during the dream. It doesn't translate.

Research Links Sleep, Dreams, and Learning.

Dreaming is when new information finds a permanent home in the brain. Awareness of this influenced my dreams along with the new patterns, new shapes, and strange new sounds...

Here is another French radio station: RFI Monde 89.0 FM Paris

The image of the triangle was taken from The University of British Columbia's Math Department's web page.

Buckle up! The train of thought can't stay on track.

2010-12-31T22:46:00.023-06:00

One evening I was bored so I began to follow tweeted links and ended up at an interesting article, “Slow Down,” over at The Beautiful Brain. It was a little write-up about how our perception of time can be distorted when we watch a slow-motion scene in a movie. It included a video montage which only took a few seconds to watch.

One of the links on the side of the webpage caught my eye, as it looked more interesting, “The Neuroscience of Avatar.” Gustav Klimt's "The Tree of Life" decorated the article.

I began to wonder about Gustav Klimt. If this was a painting of THE biblical Tree of Life, then who were the people in front of the tree? A couple seemed to be locked in embrace as another woman watched jealously from the other side of the canvas. From deep in the prison of my memory escaped the name, “Lilith.” I was off to search for more information about Lilith and Adam, and Adam and Eve. I had no idea that Lucifer himself might be a vertex in a love triangle.

On my way to the first couple, the other first couple, I found a web page warning of racism in the Talmud and then another site that explained the purpose of the Talmud. Midrash. Why don’t we have that? It would answer at least one of the questions posed by Legion over at the Victoria Advocate Online. Of course, answering that question would give us many more.

Back to triangles and The Tree of Life. If that was Lilith, she was clothed mostly in triangles while Adam and Eve were robed in geometrical shapes, mostly circles. The ground contained circular shapes; the branches of the tree coiled around and around... Lilith was not from the earth like the tree and Adam and Eve.

Speaking of circles and embrace, Henri Matisse was born on this date.

Anyway, back to that night: That night I had a dream about a painting similar to Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

In my dream, the woman was made of water. Two men, not just the one with the pitchfork, were standing beside her with a look of malcontent. A love triangle? It was inspired by the occupants of the painting, The Tree of Life. I am not grasping the point of the dream.

The song from the video montage was beautiful. If you didn't watch the video montage earlier in this post, please listen to the song: Sigur Ros "Staralfur."

Another song that was in my head around this time was "Lunatic Fringe." Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe According to Wikipedia, "The song was inspired by a book about humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg and is about the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1970s." I figured it reminded me of the religious and political debates over at The VicAd - and myself as I feel I'm sort of on the fringe, at least when it comes to education.

And here is another song written by Tom Cochrane, the man who wrote "Lunatic Fringe," Life Is A Highway - Rascal Flatts Official Music Video

Be safe out there and Happy New Year!

Sylvester the Cat

2010-12-31T13:37:00.005-06:00

Our family cat, Sylvester, enjoys Yoga throughout the day. His favorite position is a very sloppy interpretation of the shavasana also known as the corpse pose. He can maintain this zen like solitude for hours. So deep are his thoughts that he sometimes slips into an unconscious state. I can only imagine the thoughts that are scurrying through his mind.

Cats sometimes remind me of Greek philosophers in the same way that dogs do not. It baffles me that Sylvester hasn't figured out that humans can't see in the dark and that I don't have X-ray vision. I've tripped over him several times while carrying overflowing laundry baskets.

I have a theory that cats are masochists. I came to this conclusion after Sylvester, who is always dressed in a tuxedo, gave up Yoga to court me. For two days he followed me around, forced his head under my hand so that he could simulate being pet, and purr-meowed every time our eyes met. Coincidentally (I think not) his food bowl had been empty. This can only mean that “cat people” are unwitting sadists. I’m forgetful so cats naturally love me.

When Sylvester isn’t engaged in Yoga, meditation, or sunbathing in the shade, he enjoys chasing string and playing soccer with marbles or lone tinker toys. He really enjoyed the time the kids tied a long piece of yarn to one of the blades of the ceiling fan. That kept him dizzy, I mean busy, for awhile. Yes, additional proof that cat people are sadists.

Coffee Infused Memories

2010-11-07T15:54:00.000-06:00

My love affair with coffee began when I was a little girl. My best friend and grandmother started out her day with one cup of coffee. I loved the flavor of coffee because she always had coffee flavored ice-cream and coffee flavored candy in her home.

“D-mom’s” home on Sylvan Oaks (?) in San Antonio was the one place I longed to be. Not because of the coffee, of course, but because I knew that my grandmother loved me and that she loved me unconditionally. When I stayed the night at her house, I woke up each morning to the warm fragrance of fresh coffee. I would follow the scent down the long hallway towards the kitchen where I was greeted with an enthusiastic, “There she is!”

With memories and associations like that, you better believe that I wake up excited and ready for my coffee each morning.

My oldest son enjoyed staying the night with my "D-mom" just as much as I did when I was a child. When we were little (we were not little at the same time you understand) we both had to be pulled away from our D-mom's house kicking and screaming. He called her "D-mom" too. There are probably twenty people in Victoria, Texas, who referred to her as "D-mom."

I could call her on the phone and chat with her like we were high school girlfriends. I could share my opinions and she wouldn’t hesitate to tell me that I was wrong. (She didn't agree with my decision to homeschool my children.) That unconditional love coupled with honest and gentle chastisement helped keep me balanced.

We shared a cup of coffee once or twice a week until she passed away a few years ago. I think of her every morning and throughout the day.

I didn’t mean to type all of that. I was writing about some of the changes in our home since my husband and my oldest son returned from Europe. It had to do with how my husband has started to drink tea instead of coffee. The mention of coffee stranded me on Memory Lane.

She would be ok with my husband's mutinous preference for tea. I know this because she would have been thrilled that they were able to go to Europe. She would be proud that my son is saving up his money so that he can go back.

She always told us that we were "baked in the squat."

I'll post the post-Europe post later...

Karaoke with Jewel (link)

2010-10-18T16:53:00.000-05:00

The other day my daughter asked me a question. “MOM YOU KNOW THE SINGER JEWEL?” (I typed it in the exact same style as I heard it.)

My children ask lots of questions and this was one of the most random.

She repeated, “YOU KNOW THE SINGER JEWEL?” She was obviously setting up context.

Her question made me think of the Singer Mansion and a big diamond like The Heart of the Ocean diamond from the movie, Titanic.

Then, I remembered April, a friend who rode and showed Arabian horses with me and how she and her family had moved away from Port Lavaca to Arizona. They had visited the Singer Mansion. She had written me about it. We were pen pals for awhile. I recalled a picture she had sent me of her with her big teased blond hair sitting together in the back of a limo. They were on their way to a Motley Crue concert. I was so jealous. She was younger than me and I wasn’t allowed to go to concerts. She also had bigger hair. Why is it that everyone who moves away always seems to have a better life? Bigger hair. Where is the Singer mansion? The Singer jewel?

So, I responded to my daughter’s question with, “The Singer jewel? Is the Singer mansion in Arizona? I bet it’s a really big diamond!”

My daughter gave me a confused look and my husband said something like, “Unbelievable,” as he began to walk away. My daughter remembered that she was talking to her mother so she hummed a tune from a song made famous by the singer, Jewel, and then it all made sense to me.

“Oh! the singer, Jewel. Yes, what about her?”

Sometimes I like to blame a head injury for my "ding dong" mom moments, but then I remember that even BEFORE the car wreck people had always apologized to me after telling blonde jokes in my presence. I wasn't blonde.

Anyway, all that so she could tell me about this:

Undercover Karaoke with Jewel

(I didn't tell her that I had seen it before.)

Where is the Singer mansion? Maybe it was the Hoover mansion? The Hoover Dam?

Confessions of a Former Hooker

2010-09-03T08:27:00.004-05:00

“Open confession is good for the soul,” or maybe “There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.”

Confession is good for the soul but I wonder how much information is too much information when it comes to confessions on our local logosphere. Scottish proverb or Joni Mitchell?

I figure we all have a past, some shadier than others.

My shady past began during my childhood. Times were tough when I was growing up. Once or twice a year we were faced with the daunting challenge of getting a hundred bales of hay from the flatbed trailer into the second story loft of the barn. This required everyone to take on a specialized task. My job was usually that of the “hooker.”

As “hooker” I stood in the opening of the barn loft with my hook in hand ready to pierce the bale of hay as it was hoisted up and swung in my direction. It was the “swingers” job to cause the bale to swing towards and away from the opening of the loft. I had to learn to use that momentum to strategically guide the bale into the loft. If I didn’t accomplish my goal as the bale was swinging towards me I had to quickly let go of the hook or else I would leave the loft still attached to the bale. Once the bale was hooked and pulled into the loft the person behind me neatly stacked the bales – I was probably “stacker” too.

I didn’t weigh much more than a bale of hay so I am not sure how I defied the laws of physics to avoid falling to my death. Looking back I wonder if my parents had it out for me.

The greatest reward, besides completing the task, was finally getting to play with the rope and two-story-high pulley. You can imagine the rappelling that took place.

At the time, I hated growing up in the country: it’s where I developed my skill of artfully avoiding manual labor. Looking back, I realize that the chores I hated the most while growing up now provide me with my fondest and my most rewarding memories.

It hurts to confess that to my mom.

My sister recently confessed to me that while in the Navy she was a “stripper” aka deck hand, so I’m not the only one in my family with a shady past!

Maybe Peter De Vries, “Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff—it is palliative rather than a remedy.” Also, the “stoned by popcorn” quote is fun.

Originally posted August 31, 2010 Here.

Chasing Zen

2010-08-22T15:57:00.001-05:00

I miss running. I compare running to psychotherapy. I remember thinking during one of my sessions that if it weren’t for my evening treatments I would be clinically insane. I love that alternate state that is reached after ignoring all cries of “are we there yet?” from the body. Only after the messages from the physical are hushed can communing with the subconscious begin. Is that “Zen” or “Nirvana?” Fasting only faster?

Well, one leg injury and six years of snowballing emotions and shallow introspections later, I think I’m insane.

But, there is some good news for us all. Last night hubby and I hit the trail. I thought we were there for a romantic stroll when he asked, “Think you are ready to run?” I felt like a parakeet who had been given permission to leave the cage. I’m very competitive so if hubby is jogging I have to jog faster. I won’t stop until hubby stops. Eventually, I was covered in sweat, doubting the effectiveness of P90X -- this only after a few steps. How is it that I can get through an hour of Plyometrics but only jog for a few minutes before I am physically spent?

After my injury I did walk in the evenings, but the rewards weren't the same. Walking takes you out of yourself only as far as nature. Don’t get me wrong, I love to hear the cicadas and watch the setting sun, like Midas, touch and turn the landscape into gold, and smell what people are cooking for supper… A few of you were BBQing last night and one was playing Tejano music. I'm Czech so Tejano feels like home.

I want an escape that’s deeper; one that transcends time. Will I ever reach that sacred place again?

This morning when I woke up I could walk without pain. So, if I can have patience, there’s hope. My lack of patience is what caused my injury in the first place.

I look forward to being able to bring my everyday problems, stresses, and wounds to that invisible spacetime in the universe to be assured of how insignificant they really are.

I miss running.

I'm chasing running.

Love at First Sight

2010-08-02T16:07:00.002-05:00

I want to talk with you about love at first sight. I’m not talking about romantic love. I’m talking about a type of love that results from when your soul recognizes itself in another. A love that won’t die even though you know you will never see him again. The vision unreachable; a soul-mate found and lost in one day. Your gut wrenches and the artist is born to safely channel the feelings.

I’ve experienced this type of love once in my life. The first time I saw him he was standing in the sun. His temper matched his fiery red hair. He was intelligent, melodramatic, and tricky --and I was in love. I understood him. I related.

His trainer said that he was one of the meanest horses she had dealt with. My mom told me that he was too young and too green for me. Green? He was a chestnut! I remember staring at him as he stood in the round pen resting from giving someone hell.

We drove home from Seguin to Port Lavaca without Ibn. But I was melodramatic and stubborn too. I cried for Ibn. I drew pictures of Ibn. I wrote stories about Ibn.

Our discussion of love at first sight ends right where our discussion of fate begins. Do you believe in fate?

Fast-forward a year or so to my eleventh birthday. No one showed up to my birthday party. The lady who taught me horseback riding lessons pulled up to our house hauling a horse trailer. Guess who was inside? Fate.

My mom had learned that someone in Port Lavaca had bought Ibn and that they were ready to get rid of him. He was living up to his name.

(I explained the meaning of his full name in my previous post.)

I don’t remember IBN as mean. I remember him as my best friend. I could relate to horses better than I could relate to people. People wounded and horses healed.

He was playful. Before he would let me catch him and halter him he would run about fifty tight circles around me as fast as he could with his head in the air, his nostrils flared, and his tail over his back. He may have been three-quarters Arabian but he acted like he was 150% Arab.

I told you that he was Rebecca-trained. He responded to my voice commands as quickly as to my physical cues. I could jump on him and tell him to “canter” and he would go from a stand-still to a lope in one movement. He wouldn’t do that for anyone else. I also trained him to bow and to rear on command. He was a fast learner and an even better teacher.

We were soul mates.

I don’t know if “fate” is the best word up there but it is shorter than destiny. I'm too lazy to look up the right word. I was also too lazy to saddle Ibn and I usually rode him bareback and barefooted with just a halter.

Missing Horses

2010-07-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

I loved horses as a little girl. I was collecting model horses and constructing stalls and fences out of pieces of wood when other little girls were playing with Barbie. Ok, I was playing with Barbie too, only I was trying to help her ride my Breyer horses. Her legs wouldn’t bend the right way and she always sat a horse cockeyed. Barbie made Breyer's Clydesdale look like Breyer's Shetland pony. Barbie was far from perfect.

I fell in love with The Black in the Sears catalog and named him, Cass Ole, before I was sure he was my Christmas present. Even my favorite celebrities were horses.

I had a Shetland pony named Charlie Boy and eventually I graduated to a three-quarters Arabian named, IBN. “Ibn” means “son of” in Arabic and his full name was Ibn Sharamoot. (Don’t look that up unless you want to get schooled in Arabic profanity.)

Ibn was "Rebecca-trained" and extremely versatile. He could run barrels and poles, and go from Western Pleasure to Hunter Hack. We won high-points at horse shows. He didn’t wait for my cues in pleasure classes; when the announcer said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please trot your horses,” Ibn would assume the gait. Like I said, he was Rebecca-trained --and I was a mouthy little girl. I was also a one horse girl.

During my teen years the horse bug had morphed into a pesky fly as our love wasn’t strong enough to withstand my hatred of back-breaking labor in triple digit heat. Plus, it was more fun to chase boys than it was to chase horses. (I couldn't outrun horses but I was faster than all the boys.)

My knight in shining armor would not be a cowboy. I wanted to get away from horses.

I have been horse free for almost nineteen years. But, for the past two days I’ve had to “cowgirl up” and live the life I thought my husband had rescued me from: back-breaking labor in triple digit heat.

Ibn is still around. He is 34 years old. That’s pretty old for a horse.

Today I looked into one of his big brown eyes and saw the familiar shades and patterns engraved in his iris. His iris always reminded me of rough craggy rocks sketched around his cavernous rectangular pupil. In his eye is a miniature scenic shot of the Grand Canyon. I remember thinking he had the Grand Canyon in his eye. Not literally, of course, that would be impossible.

Regaining that twenty-year-old observation made the fact that I was covered in sweat and mud worth it. It also made me miss horses.

NOT THE WORK.

(I can't sleep again. I am so wired and I don't know why.)

Originally posted July 31, 2010 here: http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/weblogs/learning-in-freedom/2010/jul/31/missing-horses/

Do you believe in ghosts?

2010-05-30T18:24:00.001-05:00

I was shocked when I looked at the clock and realized it was 2:00am. I couldn't sleep. The steady noise produced by the box fan seemed to solidify the air -suffocating me. Every few seconds the chain from the ceiling fan struck the metal casing that shields the bulb, acting as a cymbal in the symphony of my insomnia. I wasn't tired.

Usually, when I can't fall asleep I tell myself (imagine) a story just to cast a shadow over the thoughts that keep me wired. I always fall asleep before a plot unfolds. Sometimes I read a book and sometimes I watch television, but hubby was asleep and I was scared to move.

I feel like my mind has stagnated and it's because I have not allowed thoughts to flow, naturally. I fill up my waking hours with purposeful thoughts or some type of digital entertainment, even when I'm doing "work," which should free my mind to wander. As I fall asleep at night I try to corral the stream of thoughts that run through my mind. A wandering mind during consciousness is like entering dream-state during sleep - both are important to our mental health. I haven't allowed my mind to be free.

I wondered if controlling the thoughts of children five days a week was healthy for intellectual growth. I wondered if it was healthy for me, so I tried to think of nothing - just to see what would surface.

I pushed my thoughts out of my mind and sometimes caught myself slipping into sleep. This awareness quickly woke me up and I was back to the humming of my room.

Box fan and ceiling fan - there was a rhythm. I could stack it like blocks in my mind.

Maybe someone was mowing their yard? I was standing in the tall grass back at my childhood home admiring the gray water. I looked to my left and I noticed that a stranger was using a push mower to mow our fourteen acres along the bay. My "mee-mee" always mowed the grass on her riding lawnmower. I felt sorry for the stranger but there was a nice breeze.

Someone whispered in my ear that my childhood home was now for sale and I wanted to buy it. In real life the two-story country home on the water I grew up in would never be affordable - even if I had a job. I knew hubby would never move back to Port Lavaca, even if to live out in the country and on the water.

I turned to go up the hill towards the house but I was standing in a grass-less unfamiliar pasture looking back at an unfamiliar one-story small white house. I had never seen it before, but it felt like home.

Little Tykes toys littered the yard. I imagined myself reading a book on a blanket under the sun. I wanted to have a family from Canada come and stay for a few days. I thought about how I would approach the subject with my husband. "They are free-range hippies."

When I woke up I was sad. There is a part of me that I can never have. I miss the house I grew up in. I feel like a part of me is still there. I feel sorry for whoever lives in that house now. I haunt that house in my dreams.

I am the ghost.

*****

This song reminded me of this dream:

Making fun of Homeschoolers

2010-05-19T17:10:00.007-05:00

Love this.

Astra Taylor on the Unschooled Life

2010-04-17T22:30:00.005-05:00

John Holt used the word "unschool" to describe those families who opted out of institutionalized learning. As the community grew and as the movement became mainstream it morphed into something that looked less like "unschooling" and more like "school at home." By the time I began to teach my own, "unschooling" was a sub-group of the homeschooling community. Over the years I have developed some negative associations with the word "unschool" and have always tried to distance myself from the word but it, in it's most original meaning, probably describes my philosophy of education. As Astra explains her mother's schooling she touches on the history of educational alternatives and talks about radical pedagogy. She asks what happened over the last forty years to stop the conversation. She shares how unschooling shaped her as an artist. This is my favorite topic!

She mentions A.S. Neill's Summerhill School, and at some point, when I feel like it, I am going to try to look up and share links to the books Astra mentions as well as any of the sites...

Diamonds for a Girl's Best Friend (recycled from the VA site)

2009-12-08T19:19:00.002-06:00

When my daughter was about four years old I told her that we needed to clean the house because her best friend was coming over. “We need to make the house really pretty for Alexa.”

Alexa’s mom and I had been friends since we were pregnant with our girls. Alexa had been my daughter’s friend since birth.

My friend was a self-professed obsessive compulsive clean freak and I’m not lying. Example: One time we went to visit Alexa and her mother at their house. I had to “powder my nose.” The bathroom was fresh and clean decorated with butterflies in shades of purple and green. I washed my hands and dried them on a new purple towel with beautiful butterflies embroidered along the edges. I can’t remember why, but a few minutes later I walked back in to the bathroom and noticed that the towel was now a mossy green! I was puzzled. She admitted that she had replaced the hand towel because it had been used! ONCE!

You understand how absorbed I was in straightening up my house knowing that my clean-freak friend was coming by to pay me a visit. My daughter, however, was no where to be seen and she was not being much of a help. Four year olds are capable of cleaning up their own toys.

She had disappeared into her room for quite awhile. When she came back into the living room her hands were full of little pieces of paper; these shapes that she had cut out of construction paper. She began to place these pieces of paper around the house.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“I’m making the house pretty for Alexa!”

“What are those?”

“They are diamonds.” She said, proudly.

The little pieces of paper were diamond shape. She had been in her room drawing diamonds on construction paper with a silver crayon and then cutting them out with scissors. To my daughter, making the house pretty meant placing diamonds all over the floor and furniture.

I don’t think Alexa’s mom would have been impressed, but I was. My daughter had created diamonds for her best friend. I was running around trying to impress my friend in another way.

I need to stop and see the diamonds!

Alternative Methods and Homeschooling

2009-10-02T08:33:00.002-05:00

While we are here discussing the pros and cons of homeschooling there is an ongoing and revolutionary discussion taking place within a section of the homeschooling population. It involves how children learn and what methods are effective in transmitting knowledge.

Many parents who opted out of institutionalized learning decided to not utilize any of the methods used in public schools. Instead of setting up a mini classroom in the home some families took to worldschooling, unschooling, natural, autonomous, child-directed, interest driven, unstructured, informal, life learning... They decided to live a more natural non-traditional approach and to create an educationally rich environment instead of a school in the home.

A few of the heroes in the alternative homeschooling community started out as TEACHERS who tried to change the public schools. They found that the schools would not change.

Bureaucrats speak of raising standards and punishing teachers because even after increasing the amount of water poured onto the saturated sponge the sponge refuses to absorb. I doubt lengthening the school day will change the storage capacity of the human brain, Mr. President.

Instead of constantly trying to fill and measure the child some homeschooling families are changing the way they interact with children - questioning roles - teacher-mom, facilitator-of-learning, fellow learner, to mom. Some are even allowing children to be in charge of their own learning.

Anyway, I just had to share a tiny glimpse into a small part of the discussion among some homeschoolers. I love the discussion of alternative methods because it speaks to that optimistic "future teacher" who never became employed and disillusioned.

This video was circulating in the international alternative home education scene. It might strike some as radical but after living and learning with my own for 17 years it's "well that's just common sense!" It's from Education Otherwise:

Just a glimpse into what is going on out there in the alternative world of education. I know it's not a thorough account but at least I was able to get some rants squeezed in. That's always free therapy for me. =D

World History vs Acorn 101

2009-09-22T20:33:00.005-05:00

I have confessed to you that we are very relaxed in my home. Some people might even say that we are lazy. Well, my daughter must have agreed with "some people" because the other day she told me that she wanted to do real school with real text books and real tests. I told her that if that's what she wanted to do then we needed to do that.

Where else can a student become so academically bored that they become motivated to create their own schedule; their own course of study? I think it's important for a child to come to the conclusion that their education is their responsibility and it's important for that child to become self motivated and an autonomous learner...

Side note: Apparently, in the homeschool or unschool community, it is common for many students to take control and direct their learning at about the age of 11-13. This is the age when my first born also sat me down and told me how he wanted his school to look. Actually, he wanted it to look just like Crain Middle School, so I enrolled him. =D

My daughter and I sat down and talked about what subjects she wanted to learn. She said she wanted to learn the same subjects she would have to learn if she attended a public school: reading, writing, math, history, and science. When she decided on which subjects she wanted to include in her course of study we looked through our collection of various learning materials and programs so that she could choose the ones which would suit her. I have some courses on DVD, some courses and texts on computer, and even a few text books in MP3 format. Pick your poison!

After we decided on materials or approaches to each subject she created a weekly schedule. It reminded me of a college schedule and it was built around her already existing extra curricular activities. You know, "Thursdays are tennis and volleyball practice so I only want to read and write in my journal that day." She only wanted to do World History twice a week and Physical Science once a week.

Well today's schedule called for reading, writing, and World History. But, we weren't alone. Last night after her out-of-town volleyball game two of her teammates spent the night. I had told their mom that they could join us for school in the morning. We could all learn some world history together! I imagined each girl with iPod Touch in hand researching various historical figures, civilizations, regions... a little cooperative learning group in my living room. We had three times the research power in my house today!

However, we woke up to the most beautiful weather and that pushed school to the back burner. I feel bad that I didn't force World History but there was so much going on in our backyard! First off, it was cool and windy, eventually a cat caught a hummingbird and ate it in front of us, and the neighbor's tree was filling up the backyard with acorns.

I gave the children a bucket and begged them to collect them so we had a bucket full of acorns.

We were all lounging around on patio furniture or porch swings with our ipods when I asked the girls if they knew whether or not acorns were edible. I tweeted the question and then googled it. You know how you lose track of time when playing on the internet? By the time I found my answer the girls were inside.

The girls had done their own research and were in the process of tasting fried acorn that they had already boiled, peeled, and fried!

Well, I had read that acorns contain tannins which can be toxic so I had the girls bring me leaves from the oaks around the house. We used "Trees of Victoria" to identify the specific oaks so that I could get more information on the acorns we had just tasted. They tasted like nutty squash... and were not bitter at all.

Did you know that acorns were a staple to some native Americans? They would place the acorns in a basket in a river to cleanse them of the toxins. How did they know to do this without google? They were truly educated!

It just blows me away how every time we set out to learn about one thing we jump track and end up learning about something else. When we do that we are doing the opposite of school. We are learning from what life throws at us, in this case, acorns.

The beauty of learning in freedom - not having any time restrictions on when we "school" - is that it's not too late to watch our history DVD and maybe read some of "Pride and Prejudice" before bed. I'm pretty sure my daughter's schedule will be honored by midnight. ;)

Never mind, I know it will, because three girls just walked in and said, "Let's do school!"

Guess we are doing night school.

Dragons and Rockets and Pi, Oh My!

2009-09-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

I attended a Homeschool 101 meeting for new homeschoolers and I was blown away by some of the observations and examples of "interest driven learning" and "child directed" learning and how allowing a child to follow his passions and interests unfolds as the child matures and grows. As the child gets older he may go from asking hundreds of questions about a wide range of subjects to honing in and becoming an expert in one.

The typical scope and sequence designed for the classroom can work against that natural learning and curiosity for the child learning in freedom - the home. It seems mind boggling that strictly adhering to a program designed to teach children "everything they need to know when they need to know it" could actually slow some children down. A few of us have observed this.

I heard a few examples but I have an example of how my children's curiosities take us away from our school books or my lesson plans:

The other day I decided to read "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi" to my children for math. Looking through the book I realized that there were a few words I needed to familiarize myself with: circle, radius, diameter, and circumference...

I wrote these words on one of our dry erase boards and let the children witness as I review-taught. That's mom purposefully thinking out loud as she familiarizes herself with something she should know by now. Believe it or not my children have learned much from my bad memory.

For radius I told the children to think of sun rays. I drew a sun and several "rays" which "emanated from one point." I drew these rays about the same length which eventually suggested the shape of a bigger circle. (This was to set up my explanation of circumference.) As I drew these many "rays" I said, "rays" and "radius" out loud.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the book: Just mentioning the word "sun" set my seven year old off into a question tangent. He wanted to know "how come our sun is a small star but it's so bright?"

I explained that our sun is very close to us compared to the other stars and that is why it appears bigger and brighter... I didn't finish my explanation because that triggered another question, "How far away is the sun from earth?"

My hubby and I couldn't remember so I said, "I don't know the exact distance but if you headed towards the sun in a rocket it might take several months to get there." I added, "If you headed for the nearest galaxy at light speed you wouldn't get there in your life time..." Which brought up more questions... "How fast is light speed?" which triggered more questions...and more...

We ended up in a family discussion of what all it would take to get a human to the nearest galaxy - alive.

It is common for one topic to trigger curiosity about other topics. This is part of the reason many homeschoolers see adhering to a typical scope and sequence as limiting their child's learning.

Even my own plans to read a book and to talk to my children about "radius" had us orbiting subjects like "the solar system" and "light speed."

I think these questions that take us away from the lesson plan can be more important than the lesson. When a child asks questions it shows that child is thinking. Thinking should be the goal of learning and not just finishing a workbook. The questions can then be the curriculum.

Trying to review these words so that I could read a book I planned to read sparked so many questions that we almost didn't make it to the book. It got to the point where I told the kids, "Go get your notebooks because I want to read this story to you TODAY but keep asking questions and I'll write them down..."

The story is about a little boy who has to solve a riddle to save his father's life. The riddle is the definition of Pi and the little boy has to find that number. You get to be there for his "ah hah" moment and you are there as he tests his theory on an onion, a pie, a wagon wheel...

After we read the book we did our own hands-on discovery of Pi. We collected several round objects from the kitchen and cut strips of paper the exact length of the diameters. Then we could see how for each object (circle) three of the diameter sized strips fit around the circumferences "with some left over."

Days later we are still using the questions and looking up and talking about exact distance from the earth to sun, astronomical units, and today (now a few days ago) I said something crazy like, "I guess the closest we can get to time travel is looking up at the stars at night." Which was a remnant of our discussion of "light years" and galaxies being so far away it would take several generations to get there...

So we have already "put down the school books" to go off down a "bunny path" as one veteran mom put it...

This is an example of what I mean when I talk about focusing on the learning and avoiding the schooly things. I will abandon our "school" for "learning." The questions are the superior curriculum and I will "let the questions be the curriculum."

Rebecca ツ

This is your brain on tired.

2009-07-21T19:08:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about dreams earlier. Not my hopes and aspirations but the little stories that play out in my head when I'm asleep. I close my eyes every night to end my predictable mundane day and enter an exotic world where the laws of man, God, and even physics don’t apply.

If I’m lucky I sleep. I have nights of insomnia which might explain my fascination with dreams. Dreaming is proof of sleep, right?

Sometimes I keep a notebook and pen by my bed so that I can write down my dreams as soon as I wake up. Consciousness pushes many dreams out of my memory. Maybe dreams weren't meant to be remembered.

I read somewhere* that during R.E.M. newly acquired information is filed and stored in the memory. I guess new facts and data whirl around like bits of confetti until we sleep and dream. That’s when the bits get defragmented and sorted allowing for more efficient retrieval. McMemory.

So while our brains are busy filing and doing very important serious work that’s for our own good we repay that feat by reducing it all to a nonsensical story.

It’s kinda funny how even when we are asleep we get bored. The tedious task of storing and filing data causes our unconscious minds to wander. To zone out. Dream.

*Every time I hear myself say "I read somewhere" what follows reminds me of Tim-the-tool-man-Taylor as he tried to relate Wilson's fence side chats...

My six year old's journal entries:

2008-11-13T12:58:00.000-06:00

I encourage my children to keep a journal even before they can read or write. Of course, my six year old mostly draws:

He is on the verge of reading and he wrote his first sentences yesterday:

"I miss you I loves you DAD"

I read it back to him and he erased the "s" after love. He tore the page out and put it on his dad's pillow. Isn't that sweet? His dad has been out of town this week.

One thing that is so helpful to me, the teacher-mom, is that I can always look through the journals and see what they are learning or what they are READY to learn.

Like, yesterday, I noticed that my son had not only written a few sentences, but he had written a few words: boom, boo, pop, poop. I took a cue from the word "boom" and showed him how to write the words: broom and room. So, now he has a few more words in his journal:

He is not only thinking of words but he seems to be thinking of math. He hasn't officially learned multiplication but he seems to pick up whatever his big sister is doing:

Guess what this is:

He loves us all: (He loves his dad FIRST and me SECOND, Oh well.)

Coffee thoughts - multiple ages in the learning environment

2008-10-18T10:37:00.007-05:00

This post should follow Family Learning: Converting Fahrenheit to Celcius (turned into a rant on democratic schools):

This morning my son and I were playing around on the internet. Actually, he had woken up and crawled in my lap while I was reading about Eva Braun. I had a dream last night about her children surviving….something about an article that was written before WWII coming back to haunt us…... something about two rivers… one was discovered to be frozen….for some reason that was important. You know how dreams are? I recently read, “Eye of the Needle,” by Ken Follett, so my mind must be wrestling with pieces of the book and my constant flipping between channels 75 and 29.

Anyway, as usual, my son started to quiz me. “What does H K L E spell?” May be when a child is on the verge of reading they have these random letters dancing around in their head mocking them as their minds try to make sense of them. He needs my input to help him crack the code and find a way to stick these random letters together. I guess it’s like my mind as I sleep. I have experiences during my day and at night my mind is trying to file but some things aren’t definable and easily classified so they hang around and torment me. I wake up and look up Eva Braun. Maybe the unsolved information gets left on the surface so that we can figure it out. So, my WWII dream and ABCs are on our minds this morning.

After the spelling quiz my son went over to the dry erase board and began to quiz me in math. “What is C plus 5?” I told him that it could be anything depending on what he wanted C to be. I told him to give me any number and we could find out what C was. We did this a few times until he was satisfied. Then I walked away to start this blog because something about my dream and his first morning thoughts about his ABCs seemed important to me before I finished this cup of coffee.

As I was typing he called me back to the dry erase board and he had written: F=9/3+365 He must have paid attention to his sister’s calculations on the dry erase board the past few days. The formula has been and is still on the board today. I told him that it was easy to solve because 9/3 is another way of expressing the number 3. I solved it and told him that F was 368 and that he had done Algebra today. He looked upset and said, “Now I have to skip to Algebra.”

I assured him that he didn’t have to skip to Algebra.

Now he is singing and playing bottle cap wars with his bottle cap collection.

But, this reminded me of when my oldest was learning Algebra. My daughter played around with some trinomials and factored a few with him. I made sure to make hers easy as she was just seven or eight. I blogged about it back then.

Over the years I have learned and observed the benefits of having different ages or grades learning in one room. I can see how multiple stages and ages are a good blend in the learning environment. They influence and challenge each other…….

Just sharing my morning thoughts over coffee.

I forgot to mention that at one point he asked me, "What is a google plus a google?" I answered with, "TWO google." He said, "No because a google is a mystery number." I went with it because he was defining google as a mystery number and he drew it as circles in circles. We could work with that. I just thought that was interesting. I guess to him as he learns how to add and subtract he watches his sister as she seemingly breaks all of the rules so he breaks and creates them too.

Paper Plate Puzzles

2008-07-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

Paper Plate Puzzles - Create your own materials to teach number, letter, and word recognition:

All you need is: cheap paper plates, some markers or crayons, and a pair of scissors. Depending on the purpose of the puzzles you can tweak the design and its placement. We have used many variations.

For the younger ones who are learning their ABC's you can draw a letter and image in the middle of the plate and with the scissors make a distinct zigzag or wavy cut down the middle of the plate so that the image can be easily matched to its other half. This is easy enough as the child completes and image and sees the letter that starts the word. Notice the consonants are dark blue and vowels are light blue!

Maybe after the child knows his ABCs you can make the design placement or unique cut where matching is more of a challenge. For example: Take the paper plate and write one letter of the alphabet on the top of the plate with a marker and draw a picture that starts with that letter on the bottom of the plate. Use the scissors to cut a funky shape to divide the letter from the image. The picture can be matched with the correct letter like one big puzzle with two pieces. The child isn't simply completing the image by matching the two halves of the plate but trying to find a picture that starts with the correct letter.

Another variation would be to draw an image and have the child match the whole word:

My daughter made these paper-plate puzzles to help her little brother work on his reading skills. After he matches them he can try to read only the words back:

I have made number recognition paper plate puzzles too! Notice that the even numbers are red and the odd numbers are blue!

Have fun!

Converting Fahrenheit to Celcius (turned into a rant on democratic schools)

2008-06-07T10:19:00.002-05:00

My children and I have a little game that we play whenever we get in the car. When I start the engine we all look up to see what the temperature is in Fahrenheit and then everyone guesses what the temperature would be in Celsius. Then I click the button to change the temperature display to Celsius and the winner gets nothing but the hoorays or boos from the other family members. If my oldest is with us he will win. After today, the game will forever be changed as my daughter was introduced to the conversion formulas in her math work book.

Do you remember the formulas? I certainly didn’t remember the formulas and I just went over all of this with another child just a few years ago. I’ve been in the fifth grade THREE TIMES and still, I am NOT SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER.

Here it is just in case you are like me and can’t remember:

F=9/5(C)+32

That’s three easy steps!
1. Replace the letter C with a numeral (temperature) and multiply it by 9.
2. Divide your result by 5.
3. Add 32 to that.

C=5/9(F)-32

What is interesting is while I don’t remember the temperature conversion formulas that I’ve learned and that I have taught twice; I do remember what my first child was ‘into’ when he learned how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. I remember because it was during a time in our home school adventure when I decided to try out the methods used by “democratic schools.” If you haven’t heard of democratic or free schools let me just say that they are a shocking contrast to the schools that you and I spent 13 years attending. Many of us can’t fathom their existence without some twitching of the eye.

A democratic school is a school where the child is free and has control over what she will and will not learn. The child would work with teachers to create a curriculum and the “teacher’s” job would be to find ways to bring that learning to the child. The child may want to learn to play the guitar for the next few months and/or may want to learn how to create web pages. The child has that freedom. The children are encouraged to teach classes and to share what they have learned with others. The graduating body will have its share of “slackers” just like any other school. The alumni stories are amazing!

Anyway, after a several months break from academics and encouraged by a bit of “burn out” academically, I decided to give democracy a chance – in education. I told my children that we would only learn about the things they wanted to learn about. I told my children to make a list of all the topics that they wanted to learn about and that their lists would become their curriculum. They were in charge of “school.”

Each child created their own list. My daughter dictated her list to me. Her list contained the names of various fluffy creatures like: lion, fox, cheetah… We took the lists to the library and checked out many books on the first words on each list. We spent the next few days on the living room floor reading, learning, and sharing our discoveries with each other. This was a wonderful time in our educational journey together as a family.

My son had “gems and minerals” first on his list. He was always fascinated with rocks. One of the first books that he dictated to me before he could read was titled, “MY ROCKS” and it was a book about his rock collection. So it was natural that he would check out many books on this topic. He began to take an interest in diamonds and “diamonds” was added to his list of topics that he wanted to learn about. As he was reading about diamonds he found out that they had a melting point or boiling point, I can’t remember. This book only gave this temperature in Celsius. This made him curious about what how to go about converting Celsius to Fahrenheit. Converting Celsius to Fahrenheit was added to his list. One day, he came to me and said, “Mom, help me memorize the periodic table of elements.” It was amazing to watch one topic, “gems and minerals,” trigger a curiosity about diamonds, converting temperature, and eventually the periodic table of elements. When he wanted to rest, I let him.

My daughter at some point in her self created interest driven curriculum ended up wanting to learn how to create a webpage to display some of her favorite animals and her artwork. We did that. I miss those days and my son just told me the other day that he thinks he actually learned more during that time of academic freedom that at any other time in his life.

Many people fear that allowing a child this type of freedom would result in havoc or laziness but I can assure you that I didn’t see that.

I saw the opposite. I watched as one topic or interest would trigger another like a domino effect. Something happens to a child when they are allowed to be in charge of their learning. It becomes “theirs” and they cherish it more. Freedom is a good thing, especially for children, and it's very important for learning.

All that flooded back to my memory yesterday as my daughter’s math book explained the concept and gave the formulas for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit and vise versa.

My son was very influenced by his sister's lesson. Here is the post about that: Family Learning: Coffee thoughts - multiple ages in the learning environment

A few things I have learned while teaching my own children at home.

2008-06-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

What have I learned from over ten years of teaching my own children at home? I have learned with each child that many of the educational materials out there are a waste of money, children can learn without a “qualified” teacher, and that children need a reason to learn.

I wonder how many children associate the first day of school with a big brown delivery truck. My six year old son’s school year began when the UPS man dropped off his school books. For me it was like Christmas but I don’t think all of my children shared my enthusiasm.

I wasn’t sure if my son would be in kindergarten or in first grade this year so I ordered materials for both levels. He picked up the kindergarten math workbook, flipped through it, and said, “This is too easy!” He had learned basic math skills by just living with competent counters. We made a point to count out loud and to verbalize our thought processes as to instruct. He ran off with the 1st grade math workbook and completed the first twenty lessons on his first day of school! “I’m in first grade like eleven year olds” he told his big sister.

He wanted to “do school” even on the week ends. I found myself saying things like, “No more school!” or “No school if you don’t eat all of your dinner!”

I witnessed the same thing when my now 15 year old was about five years old and ready for kindergarten. UPS was on strike that year and our materials were late. By the time the school books finally arrived my son had learned how to read on his own. What a waste of money! If I knew that a child could learn to read by playing around with refrigerator magnets I wouldn’t have invested what little money we had in expensive instructional materials.

Like his little brother, he ran off with his math workbook and completed the first 20-30 lessons on his first day of school. He finished his whole kindergarten math workbook before Christmas and had learned to read on his own. I didn’t even get a chance to “teach” him.

I think one of the things that helped my son excel in math was that his favorite computer game, Math Blaster, required that he work several math problems quickly so that he could save the world from enemy invaders. If that's not a reason to learn I don't know what is. Armed with an abacus and the ability to count to twenty, he spent much of his day solving math problems.

My daughter had a similar reason to learn to read. Her favorite computer game, Roller Coaster Tycoon, required her to read the messages that were flashing on the screen. She knew that in order to please her park guests she would have to read those messages.

She taught herself how to read without the aid of instructional school-like materials. She had this wonderful Leap Pad alphabet desk that would say any three letter word that she entered. She figured out how to get this toy to help her read Dr. Seuss books.

I didn't know that she was able to read until I caught her reading a book to one of her beanie babies. She acted embarrassed when I caught her. I don't know why. I guess she hadn't perfected her reading ability and she wasn't ready to share it with the world.

She figured out the concept of multiplication by organizing and grouping her beanie babies. She taught herself many basic math concepts during play time. I wrote about it at the time.

It would be a big confidence boost to be able to say that I was a wonderful teacher. More important than a good teacher are good learners who have a reason to learn! More important than a "qualified" teacher is an atmosphere conducive to learning, a reason to learn, and freedom to play.

If I wouldn’t have allowed my children the freedom to play most of the day I don’t think they would have had the time to use an abacus to solve math problems to save the world, cuddle up on the couch and demand that mom read ten books, figure out how to make their toys help them read words, or learn mathematical concepts while playing with their beanie babies. If I would have made my children sit in a desk and do school would they have learned as much? Would they have learned to read naturally and with ease?

A loving and educationally rich atmosphere or environment can be more important than a "qualified" teacher. I know that because I can’t say I’m a “qualified” teacher, yet my children still learn.

Did I mention that my daughter would be considered a "late" reader? I had read enough research to know that children don't need to learn to read at such an early age. That is the only reason that I can say that teaching her how to read was not a struggle - I waited until she needed a reason to read and saw the value in it. I had to tell myself "Just so she can read by the time she takes her SATs." And she did. ;)

Teaching Reading IS NOT Rocket Science!

2007-10-28T23:24:00.001-05:00

I remember watching a program on PBS about teaching children to read. One statement that stuck out was “teaching reading IS rocket science…” Good thing I didn’t have a mouth full of liquids at the time. I thought it was a joke when I first heard the statement, but they were serious. A web search for “teaching reading is rocket science” brought up the article which I assume the PBS show was quoting. My reaction to the statement was “Only if you try to teach 30 children before they are developmentally ready!” For the average child learning how to read isn’t difficult; we make it difficult by expecting results so early.

Two of my children taught themselves to read. Any teaching on my part was purely accidental yet 100% effective. It wasn’t rocket science but my methods would be just as difficult to transpose to a classroom setting. I spent one on one time with each child for several hours a day. When my son was an only child I would read a stack of books to him during the day and another stack at night to try to get him to fall asleep.

Reading was an important part of our world. He lived 24/7 in a home that placed a high emphasis on reading and he spent much of his time sitting in front of a book or having a book read to him. We also wrote books together. He would say the words and I would write them down. I would fold the pages in half, punch holes in the paper, and secure the pages with ribbon or I would fold the pages down the middle and staple the folded area to create a spine. Our "readers" were written by the child. We created these books whenever we could and he could read these little books because he was the author.

Our refrigerator was decorated in refrigerator magnets shaped like the letters of the alphabet. We had alphabet puzzles, alphabet building blocks, alphabet shaped water toys, and many “ABC books.” Each day as we read side by side on a comfy couch I would point out a letter of the alphabet and then I would challenge my son to find the letter as I read to him. The only plan I followed was mother’s intuition. We did this almost every day until he learned how to recognize all of the letters. Eventually, I would challenge him find three letter words or common words. This family reading time eased him into becoming a reader. I didn’t teach him to read on purpose, it was purely accidental and natural. I followed a curriculum of love and a scope and sequence driven by mommy's intuition.

My daughter also taught herself to read but maybe because my time was divided between her and her brother she learned at a much later age. She and I didn't read 10 books a day. Still, I had confidence that she would eventually learn to read so I didn't force her to become a reader at an early age. At some point, using educational toys, she figured out how to read. She might be considered a late reader but she reads just fine now and she learned with little or no instruction.

I have one child who was an early reader and one child who was a late reader but both taught themselves how to read. I think the secret to their success might have been that they weren't taught how to read. They were allowed to learn when they were ready to learn – late or early. They lived reading and were read to often. Learning to read might be a lifestyle instead of some expensive miracle program.

There’s a point to all of this. Either children are smarter than rocket scientists or we are trivializing something that should be simple and natural. Are we trying to teach many children how to read too early thus making something as simple as child’s play seem as difficult as rocket science? Waiting until the child is developmentally and physiologically ready to learn would make teaching reading as easy as pie!

I know if I were teaching in a classroom I would be forced to observe the conclusions of the article that I mentioned and to understand why some people think that TEACHING reading is like rocket science. A child who is surrounded by love, books, and plenty of time and patience will find learning to read is as easy pie most of the time.

You want a nation of proficient readers? Then you want everyone to be the same and that's not reality. Read to your children daily, model the importance of reading by reading, and don’t expect all children to read so early. Let them learn when they are ready. I think children are better learners than we are teachers, anyway.

Here is the article "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science." You have to give some of these people credit. They are masters at making something very easy and natural look like a very daunting task. Glad I didn't read this article ten years ago when I started homeschooling. They make a pretty strong case with their big words! As a homeschool mom I felt like the message of this article was "Don't even try it. It's too hard for you! Leave it to the 'educated' 'qualified' 'experts.'" Fact: Many homeschooled children are learning to read without these "experts" and some times before mom gets a chance to try to teach! I wish our public school teachers had to freedom to allow more time when it comes to learning how to read....

Homeschool burnout indicates a need for change.

2007-10-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

A discussion of “free schools” over at the local Homeschool Yahoo! Group reminded me of one of my favorite memories of homeschooling my children. It was a time in my life when I had come out on the other side of a bout with "burnout." Burnout is terrible but it forced me to rethink “school” and “learning” and to decide which would take precedent in our home.

All teachers and students know what burnout is. For the teacher or homeschool mom it’s when going through the motions of school becomes drudgery and the family is stressed out. For the student or child it’s when the mind just doesn’t absorb anymore, the ability to focus is lost, and eager learning has been replaced with frustration; a learner’s block. Just going through the motions of school had replaced the excitement of life and learning in my home.

Burnout was inevitable, but it caused me to take an honest look at my goals for my children’s education. It forced me to ask myself some very important questions. Was I homeschooling my children so that we could play school at home or was I homeschooling my children so that we could take advantage of their unique learning styles and their individual personalities and interests? Was I homeschooling my children to play school with them or so that they could learn effectively? Was I trying to engage their short term memories or to change their thinking and their lives? Who should be in charge of designing curriculum publishing companies or children? Should a school day have a beginning and an end or should children be free to learn from their community all day long?

The answers to these questions were obvious to me. Burnout was the symptom and change was the only cure. I put the school books away and I told my children that they were now in charge of what they would learn. I told them to make a list of everything that they loved or wanted to learn about. My daughter dictated her list and her list consisted of various fluffy creatures that you would find in a zoo. How’s that for a curriculum? We took our two lists to the Victoria Public Library. I told each child to checkout books about one or two of the items on their lists. My children took home about 20 books each and we spent the next few days on the living room floor surrounded by several piles of books. My daughter couldn’t read at the time so I read to her.

I remember that my son’s long list contained the word “rocks.” I remember “rocks” from that list because that topic took him on a self directed journey through various topics and subjects. It was amazing to watch my son’s list of interests morph and flow through these various topics. He was in about the 5th grade and his curiosities lead him from gems and minerals to a focus on diamonds which led him to try to memorize the periodic table of elements and then to learn how to convert Celsius into Fahrenheit – all knowledge that would never be tested on the fifth grade TAKS test or some standardized achievement test! One of the books on gems and minerals gave boiling and melting points in Celsius only. A reason to learn!

I remember my knee-jerk reaction when he handed me the periodic table of elements and said, “mom help me memorize this.” My first thought was, “But 5th graders don’t have to know this.” Isn’t that sad that my old mind-set would creep back in and limit my child? Allowing him to follow his interests actually freed him to learn about concepts that his 5th grade math or science texts didn't address. That year I learned about myself and my preconceived notions about children, learning, schooling, and testing. Do you think I learned to respect the TAKS test and it’s results that year?

Sitting on the floor in a pile of books exploring topics that my children were interested in was rewarding on a whole new level. I was connected with my children, learning with them, and my children were actively engaged in and in charge of their learning. I was a part of that learning journey and it did take us all, as a family, on a roller coaster ride through various subjects. Because they were learning about the things they enjoyed their days were filled with excitement and our home was full of eager learners once again!

When I feel burnout creeping back into my home these discussions of free schools, democratic schools, interest driven learning, and unschooling remind me to be more flexible and that change is needed in my home; a change that will free my children so that they can learn without frustration or drudgery.

We have experimented with many different educational philosophies and approaches over the years but that was as close to a "free school" as my family had ever been. I'll share other examples of my favorite memories of homeschooling later.

Greek and Latin Roots Binders

2007-09-03T07:31:00.000-05:00

All we did this week for “school” was start on our Greek and Latin Roots binders. We are using "English from the Roots Up" as our guide. (You can find a list of common Greek and Latin roots on the internet and use that for free, but "English from the Roots up" has a list of derivative words and even a lesson to go with each root).

I printed out a little homemade sheet that has the name of the Greek or Latin root on the very top of the page and then a list of words that are derived from the root at the very bottom. I left a big space in the middle of the sheet for drawing and coloring. The child can then decide on how they want to illustrate the meaning of the root or the meaning of one of the derivatives.

For example, one of our roots this week was "tele" which means far away or distant. An example of one of the words was "telephone." Kelsey decided to draw a picture of a telephone to illustrate the meaning of the Greek
root “tele.”

(image is of Kelsey's art work showing "telephone" and then a page from "English From the Roots Up")

For the root “photo” which means “light” Christian decided to draw a picture of a person taking a picture (photograph) of the Eiffel Tower. I will put these sheets in those clear plastic sheet protectors that have the three holes so that they can go into a three ring binder. Instant organization!

By the end of the year each child will have a HUGE binder full of his or her artwork which can serve as review of their Greek and Latin roots or which can go in our book shelves with the other books.

I think it’s cool to see “Kelsey’s Greek and Latin Roots” printed out on the spine of one of our books in our book shelves. She decorated a sheet that we slipped into the front of the binder, too.

We did this years ago when Kelsey was Christian's age and we still pull out the binder from time to time!

How could we tweak this and make it work with my high schooler? I am thinking that he can create a power point presentation to show each root, its meaning and derivatives by using pictures and sound. This would be part of his High School Language Arts (vocabulary) and Computer Science "credits." OR he could actually make a little book and try to have it published with one of the many self-publishing tools out there......

We created binders for other subjects too. I like this idea of creating binders because then you can make your study of history (or whatever the subject may be) last for several years. It's an ongoing learning project that you can ad to it as you come across information. Not only that but it's also an awesome way to review! And if you have to document learning, there it is!

Some examples of binders that we have made over the years are "Kelsey's Artwork" which included artwork from the time Kelsey was three years old. I would ask "What is this" and then label it and date it and stick it in the binder! I only did this with Kelsey because art is her bent. Another binder that we made was a Science binder. It was really just a collection of Robert Krampt's (how do you spell that) science experiments. Matthan created a "mind bender" binder where he kept his collection of brain teasers and riddles. I am keeping a binder with course details for my high schooler.....

Here are some samples from our World History binder:

A print out from "The Story of the World" and then Matthan's name in hieroglyphs that we found on the internet at virtual egypt, I think.

A writing project and a word search:

A color page and a map from "The Story of the World" and then a page that we printed out with some information that we found on the internet to ad to our binder:

Another root sheet. For "philia" which means "love" Kelsey drew a picture of a fox because she loves foxes. But, it led us on a wild goose chase as we searched the internet for a word meaning "lover of foxes" and even "fear of foxes" and couldn't find any so we created our own: lover of foxes = "vulpinphilia." LOL

Anyway, I want to get back to "note booking" or keeping binders to document our learning. Not that it is required in Texas to do so but because looking back at our old binders is a great review, a sort of SHOW AND TELL to friends and family, it tricks people in to thinking that you are organized, and also brings back great memories (for me.) Which makes me think, WHY NOT SCRAP-BOOK OUR LEARNING JOURNEY??? Because I'm lazy. I guess you could BLOG your learning journey! Imagine a WORLD HISTORY blog! We actually created one for our History Co-op one year. Where you link to images or information about what you are learning........

Labels - Goths and Emos and Unschoolers and School-at-homers...

2007-07-10T12:23:00.000-05:00

Thoughts tonight in response to an e mail thread on the A2Z Yahoo! Group:

Goths and Emos and Unschoolers and School-at-homers...

This thread reminds me of the many times I asked or saw others ask "What is the difference between 'unschooling' and 'homeschooling'" which reminded me of a question my daughter asked the other day. With her fingernails and toenails painted black she asked, "What's the difference between GOTH and EMO?" "'Emo' and 'Goth' aren't they both freaks?" was my first reaction. I bet when anti-homeschool people see someone ask, "What's the difference between homeschooling and unschooling" they think the same thing, "aren't they both crazy?"

In our search to find the answer, to the Goth vs EMO question, we realized that there were as many definitions for each label as there were people who claimed to be one or the other. There also seemed to be much concern about who was a true GOTH and who was just a wanna be. Sure, there were some common characteristics for each, but still, the definitions were fluid.

I said, "Be above the labels." Don't worry about the labels or other peoples' image wars. Look at how they both claim that they aren't "conformists" but aren't they conforming to each other? There's a type of peer pressure to adhere to these peer-produced not-so-norms.

And then we found out that there were not just "goths" and "emos" there are "punks" too. Just when you thought you had figured out these two labels you find out that there are not just unschoolers and homeschoolers but there are "eclectic" homeschoolers and even "John Holt unschoolers" too!!! What the heck.

We didn't get anywhere. So we played around with some GOTH paper dolls and she realized that it was actually all kind of silly. People want to belong. It's what makes us cling so tightly to a group or label.

I told her that I loved the way that she dresses! I love her camo capris with all the pockets and buttons and how her t-shirts are always so long. I love her flip flops and her hair in her face. I love the way she is and everyone should be just like her - she's so neat! She should be proud of who she is and not worry about other groups. She's such a cool person! Then I realized, "Hey, I was GOTH and EMO before they had a label for it!" (went through that phase 25 years ago.)

But, seriously, I want to be above the labels. I don't want to be an "unschooler" or a "school at homer." We are just a family living and learning together and that means we can fit into all these labels or none depending on the mood. I can identify with all and with none. I love the way we are and I love the people my children are becoming. Let other people who are so inclined entertain themselves by trying to define us. I am not worried about their conclusions.

Don't identify with a label and don't try to fit into one. If you don't wear your label like a banner you won't be offended when you feel someone isn't on your team. There are only imagined teams anyway. GOTH vs EMO wars or the UNSCHOOLER vs School-at-Homer wars - hey, we are all freaks when it gets down to it. Be above the labels.

We've had some fun with this EMO GOTH thing. When I was taking this picture she wanted to make sure that some of her hair was covering one eye. When I was uploading her images to Xanga, Kelsey said, "See you later, I'm going to go write some depressing poetry!" She has also painted her little brother's fingernails BLUE.

I like to say, "ELMO instead of EMO." (Reminds me of that cartoon where the little boy opens his Christmas present and finds a "POLKA MAN" inside. His parents say, "you wanted a polka man, right?")

And speaking of LABELS and STEREO TYPES - THE BREAKFAST CLUB has been on T.V. lately! I love that movie!

Thank goodness the black nail phase gave way to a more summery nail phase....

Alphabet Soup

2007-03-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

Learning happens all the time and doesn't have to look like school; it can look like play or even lunch.

I'm ecstatic that my three year old understands that there exists tiny squiggly lines that he calls, "A B C's." That's all a three year old needs to know about reading. This is the first step towards literacy. My intent, at this stage, is to just refer to those squiggly lines as "ABC's" and to make no distinction among them. Though some letters you can't help pointing out. The "O" looks like a circle or a ball and the golden arches are hard to avoid. Is “M” the first letter all children learn?

At this same time he is going through a stage where he won't eat and I'm trying desperately to find some food that will be palatable to him. While at the grocery store, I told my children to pick out anything that they would eat. My three year old picked out several cans of "ABCs." I asked him if he thought that the soup would taste good just because of the large, colorful, puffy "A" "B" and "C" printed on the label, and of course he said 'yes.' I warned him that it was a can of chicken noodle soup and that he didn't like chicken noodle soup, but he wanted "ABC's." So we bought several cans of alphabet soup.

Today, when I asked my children what they wanted to eat, my three year old shouted, "ABC's!" As he stared into his bowl, I took his spoon and fished out some letters. His big sister pointed out the "H for hhhhhhhhiney" so I dragged a refrigerator magnet 'H' down to where he could see it. As he captured individual "ABC's" in his spoon he would ask, "what this one do?" and we would tell him, "That's a W for wwwwwwwwwow" or "that's P p p p pop pop." We did this over and over again until I thought he was finished.

I began cleaning up some dishes at the sink, and he called me over again, "what this one do?" In his spoon was a green pea. He knows what peas are. I thought about telling him, "That's a pea," but then I realized how confusing that might sound in light of our recent conversations. I told him, "That's an O like a ball." I should have said, "That's a vegetable," or something like that. I didn't think that he might be asking because he knew the little green thing in his spoon was a "pea" but I had just told him that the squiggly noodle shaped like a "P" was a pea. This little inconsistency stuck out in his mind. He had to question it.

I think that's how children's minds work! If something doesn't make sense they set out to solve the mystery or to understand it! That's wild untamed learning. Children are scientist-detectives, naturally. He only asked about each letter once as if he remembered which letter he had captured and inquired about. Do you think he remembered each one? I don't know, and maybe not in the way I would prefer him to because he later told me that "H hhhhh is for butt. "

A Bad Day

2007-03-12T22:08:00.000-05:00

My "paragraph panic attack"

March 3, 2004

I am schizophrenic when it comes to living my philosophy of education. I remind myself of a two headed dragon. One head looks like your stereotypical librarian and carries a crop and the other has chocolate all over the face from eating bonbons with the children. Unschooling is a natural but sometimes terrifying lifestyle for me. I freak out every once in awhile and panic because ‘we are not doing enough.’ Yesterday, that fear reared its ugly head and compelled me to dig up my son’s old Language workbook, which I wish I had thrown away.

Looking where we left off, I realized that we should be learning about paragraphs: what a topic sentence is, how to construct them. I tried to show my son how important it was to learn about “paragraphs,” so I got out seven Language text books; texts that would be used from 6th to 12th grades. These texts were some used by our local public school and had been given to us. I opened each of these seven books to the section on “paragraphs” and placed them all out on the floor in front of my son. I said, “See! If we were using and keeping up with our curriculum we would be learning about paragraphs every year for seven years! That’s how important it is to learn about constructing paragraphs!” Something about saying those words out loud ended my panic attack.

If my son were in public or private school or we were using a traditional curriculum he would be learning many of the same things over and over each year. Not only that, but each year starts out with a review of the year before. Traditional education is much like a soap opera: you can jump in at anytime and easily pick up on the plot.

I showed my husband how the table of contents were the same in EACH book year after year. Even Language books sold by other companies have basically this same table of contents. Why?? My husband said, “Well, we kept forgetting the information so we had to learn it again each year.” If this is true, why not learn the information that final year, like, in 12th grade? Even in my college freshman English course we had to purchase a book with a similar table of contents including how to construct a paragraph. Another suggested book was Strunk and White's, "The Elements of Style," which I highly recommend to anyone. It starts out with an explanation on "how to form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's." So, if you didn't pick up how to add an 's to show possession somewhere during the 13 years of your public education, Strunk and White will be right there to teach you so that you can pass your Freshman English course! I still use this book to this day because for the life of me I can't remember how to properly use a colon and a semicolon. I am sure that I passed the 'colon and semicolon tests' in Junior High and High School.

I figure that as long as we are: keeping journals, reading books together, and researching whatever interests us; we will be fine! Basically, if my children enjoy reading and writing, they will have an advantage over children who are forced to read and write all of their lives and who might end up hating reading and writing.

Looking at how traditional curriculum is basically the same information year after year, helped me to relax. Even if we start “formal” academics in High School we won’t miss anything. I am totally delaying “formal academics” and focusing on relationships and having fun together while my children are young. Childhood is so brief and our home is not a school. I don’t want to create childhood memories of school work and stress, instead, I want to create good memories of being a loving home.

We flew kites outside in our front yard. I would rather my children fly a kite than sit in a desk learning how to construct a paragraph. They’ll have plenty of time for that. Right now they are gaining the experiences that they can one day write about.

I’m not for burning books or banning books, but, I think a practical hobby for my family should be origami. I can think of at least seven books with hundreds of pages with which we can start.

A Good Day

2007-03-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

Selection from my Journal

February 15, 2002

Today I woke up to find Matthan looking through various History books. The name of one, in particular, is "The last 1000 years" by Dempsey Parr. I thought to myself, "If he is looking through a history book, I am not going to stop him for school." Was it Mark Twain that said, "I never let schooling get in the way of my education." I decided to fold clothes and wait until he got tired of the book, but he was really involved! In the back of this book there are many lists: Important battles; Prime Ministers; Notable People, etc.

While I was unloading the dishwasher, Matthan quizzed me on the U.S. presidents and then made fun of some rulers' names. He noticed that there were Danish Monarchs who were named, "Christian" like his little brother. He later asked, "Mom, why are there still Kings and Queens?" He had noticed that many countries who had once had Kings or Queens, didn't have them any more, but a few countries still did. He then went to the computer to look up Elizabeth II in the encyclopedia. This, strangely, lead us into a tour of Composers. I didn't know that J.S. Bach had a son who was a composer. His son's name was Christian! We listened to several excerpts of classical music which somehow lead us to World Languages, then we hopped to population growth charts which lead us to probability.

Our Encarta Encyclopedia has an "interactivity" section involving probability using a pair of dice. The computer can instantly generate and graph the results of up to 6,000 rolls which, when the results are graphed, would create a bell curve.** We made our own chart and rolled our own dice to see these results for ourselves. Then we flipped a penny about 100 times to see if we could show that there is a 1 in 2 chance of it landing head side up or tail side up. Then we used a paper cup! You know out of 100 tosses it landed on it's side 85 times! I think we might have tasted a bit of what John Taylor Gatto meant when he said that there is a difference between "school" and "education." What did Matthan and I learn? Nothing! But, Christian learned about gravity!

I had no idea that "chance" (probability) was a field of Mathematics! Things that seem random, might not always be, or they are predictably random.

**There are 36 possible different outcomes when you roll a pair of dice which will add up to either 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. You have a 1 in 36 chance of rolling a 2 - "snake eyes," or a 1 in 36 chance of rolling a 12, with 7 being the most probable with a 6 in 36 chance or a 1 in 6 chance if you reduce the fraction. There are six different ways that the dice can land and add up to 7. See how this can create the bell curve?

The Eight Parts of Speech jingle

2007-02-03T12:50:00.000-06:00

1. All names of person, places, things,

Are NOUNS, as Caesar, Rome, and kings.

2. PRONOUNS are used in place of nouns:

I think; she sings; they work; he frowns

3. When the kind you wish to state,

Use an ADJECTIVE, as great.

4. But if of manner you would tell,

Use ADVERBS, such as slowly, well.

To find an adverb, this test try:

Ask, “How?” or “When?” or “Where?” or “Why?”

5. PREPOSITIONS show relation,

As with respect, or in our nation.

6. CONJECTIONS, as their name implies,

Are joining words; they are the ties

That bind together day and night,

Calm but cold, dull or bright.

7. Next we have the VERBS, which tell

Of action, being, and state as well.

To work, succeed, achieve, and curb—

Each one of these is called a VERB.

8. The INTERJECTIONS show surprise,

As Oh! Alas! Ah me! How wise!

Thus briefly does this jingle state

The PARTS OF SPEECH, which total eight.

(Some authorities give a ninth part of speech, the ARTICLE. A and an are called the indefinite articles, and the is known as the definite article. The words are, in reality, adjectives….)

"Let the questions be the curriculum" Socrates

Matthan's Favorite Photo

2007-01-29T19:32:00.001-06:00

Here is a really neat picture that Matthan took from outside of the house looking through the glass door to the inside of the house where kitty was. It looks like a double exposure but it’s not. The light was behind Matthan so everywhere his shadow is you can see the inside of the house and kitty. Everywhere else you can see the reflection of the outside. You can see our outdoor UT welcome mat and then our indoor Persian rug. I like how you can see the white house bricks and then the inside tile. We thought this was a really neat ‘inside and outside’ picture!

Field Trip to HEB

2007-01-26T09:44:00.001-06:00

We went on a field trip the other day to H.E.B. Plus. It’s our latest and greatest supermarket. You may wonder, “A field trip to your grocery store??” But, it was really nice! When we arrived the lady gave each child a crown, a buddy buck, and a balloon. Then we all got free cocoa. It was a very cold and rainy day – flood warnings even – so the hot cocoa really hit the spot. My son was the first to spill his all over the floor. We then toured the produce area and learned to use the scale to weigh our produce. We then learned about where some of the snow crabs, fish, and other seafood came from. The children got to see a live lobster up close and listen to some facts about them. They got to go inside the store’s main cooler and the milk cooler and then each got a group picture over in the photo area. Then the group ate lunch at chic fil a so that the little ones could go crazy in the play area.

Matthan's Photographs

2007-01-24T07:16:00.000-06:00

I'm impressed with my son's pictures that he has taken for his photography class. I am also impressed with his subject. His little brother is such a camera hog:

New Year's Eve

2007-01-05T19:28:00.000-06:00

The children love smoke bombs on New Year's and July 4rth.

Organization

2007-01-02T12:38:00.001-06:00

The one thing that has eluded me in my 10 years of homeschooling is organization. Wait, two things: organization and consistency. Coincidentally these are the two most important prerequisites to my peace and sanity. One I can't control. Children change and grow; interests wax, wane, and morph. Maybe consistency will, understandably, forever be elusive. We have tried everything to remain organized here in the home but nothing has "stuck."

Our home doesn't have much storage and we have no built-in book shelves for my obsession - BOOKS! Giving each child a crate for their materials worked very well because if we ever had to leave the house and stay with a family member we could just grab our crates and go! The little one had blocks and coloring books to tow. The downside was that the high-schooler's crate could only be lifted by Hercules.

One year I emptied out part of the pantry and put all of our most used books, games, and materials right by the dining room table for easy access and clean-up. This was wonderful until our family grew, or we acquired more junk, and we needed the WHOLE pantry for food and kitchen materials.

One year I decided that each child's room could house their learning materials and books but that was the same year we lost many of our educational investments to the abyss of the toy boxes or closets.

For this new school year I cleaned out our laundry room-mud room and lined one side of the room, floor to ceiling, with bookshelves. I gave each child their own level of shelves to store their own books, educational games, and writing utensils. This worked beautifully for the first few months but you can imagine the chaos that eventually resulted! You have probably already wondered, "MUD and BOOKS are you a paper wasp??" We would find missing books under the pile of dirty clothes.

Since we do most of our learning together as a family we have morphed into a system I can only describe as rotating learning stations. We seemed to all gravitate to the cozy couches in the living room while learning about history so I have put all of the books we use for history in the living room. I also placed the globe in the living room on the coffee table so that we can easily spin it to find the country or region on which we are focusing. We seemed to all sit at the dining room table for math so I put all of our Math materials in the dining room: a little television for our videos and a dry erase board to solve problems. The supplies and manipulatives can quickly and easily be removed if the President comes for dinner. Science seems to happen in the kitchen but that will change when we have specimens to dissect and store. Maybe Biology will happen on the picnic table in the back yard!

Only one thing has remained the same in those ten years - CHANGE! Maybe two: inconsistency and disorganization. Maybe three: inconsistency, disorganization, and insanity! That's not good when your three most prominent character traits start with "in" and "dis."

Morphing Educational Philosophy

2006-09-21T07:03:00.000-05:00

(I found this in my draft folder)

I was rambling earlier:

My philosophy of education has changed since I first started teaching my own children. I started out teaching the way that I had been taught and our style here at home was very much like a public school. Playing school was very comfortable to me and I've had plenty of practice. I went to public school for 13 years of my life and was raised by two public school teachers. I would often help my mom grade tests. Not only that, but I used to line up my plush animals and teach to them, create tests for them, and then take those tests for them so that I could grade them. Yes, I even kept report cards for each of my plush students and sent them to the principal's office when they misbehaved. Guess who their principal was. You got it. I find myself constantly rediscovering our family learning style and reevaluating my philosophy of education. The definitions of the words "learn" and "teach" have dramatically changed over the years, for me, and I can see a difference between "education" and "schooling."

I decided to homeschool my child while obtaining my degree in education. I didn't have anything against public schools, I wanted to be a teacher, and my parents were teachers, but I really wanted to teach my child myself. I was really excited about the concept of home-education. I had all these wonderful fantasies playing out in my mind of me, the teacher/mom, teaching to my very interested and attentive student/child.

HA! (Shouted like the 'basket case' when she interrupts Molly Ringwald's pity party in THE BREAKFAST CLUB)

When I first started homeschooling my now 13 year old, we ordered the K5 Abeka, but he was already reading when it came in the mail, UPS was on strike that year. Needless to say, much of my purchase was a waste of money! We had been playing around with refrigerator magnets and reading many books together. I think that THAT interaction or life-style was enough to make him a reader.

He quickly learned Math in pretty much the same way. He could count, so with a Math Blaster computer game and an abacus, he learned quickly how to solve basic math problems so that he could save the world. (He had to work about 10 Math problems before he was allowed to fire at invaders..) He learned basic math skills so that he could save the world. What motivation! His kindergarten Math book was completed before Christmas, "for the fun of it."

I liked Abeka because it was what my brothers and my sister were using at their private school and I was very comfortable with it. I had helped them study for tests by quizzing them. I guess I tried really hard to play classroom here in my home but it just wasn't working out that way! I lacked the 20 other students to help encourage my son to sit still? That was hard for me!

I can remember reading out loud to my son as his body would move very much like the minute hand of a clock: his head would start out pointing to the 12:00 position, like in my fantasies, but would end up at 6:00, 9:00, and 3:00.. feet in the air. He always knew what I had just read, but his body couldn't be still! In fact, if I forced him to be still, he couldn't comprehend what I read because he was focusing so hard on trying to be still! It took some rethinking of what "learning" meant to allow me to accept my son's hyper-learning style. It wasn't a discipline problem, but how he learned. One of the reasons I decided to homeschool him was because he was very advanced but not when still. Can you imagine how that would have translated to a classroom setting?

He seemed to be learning in non-conventional ways. He learned better when he played educational games or read what he wanted to read or researched what he wanted to research. He was so far ahead that we didn't use curriculum for a few years - just let him collect and label bugs or focus on whatever other hobby he wanted to dive into. He had the audacity to continue to learn without school or without the aid of ‘schooly’ things! I experienced what Mark Twain meant when he said, "I never let schooling get in the way of my education." I don't know if I would have ever understood that quote before I saw it lived out in front of me.

For third grade, we tried to use Abeka again and we lasted a whole year! We did the tests and kept report cards! (Though that's not required in Texas.) He made all A's, of course. When you homeschool you don't move on to the next concept or lesson until the child has mastered it, so you can't make a C or fail! It's not possible. (No pass no play? No pass no turn the page!) I was so proud of his A's and it was a very fun year and I felt so productive! Maybe playing school was the ticket.

The next year I decided to start out by quizzing him with some old tests that he had previously aced. I was shocked and appalled that he couldn't remember most of the answers! The facts and details of what he had learned for the tests the year before didn't seem to make their way to the long term memory or to survive the summer! Had we wasted a whole year? That's when I realized that I probably didn't remember the answers to many of the tests that I had passed either! He could still read, thank God. I guess learning to read is like learning to ride a bicycle, without the skinned knees.

I decided that "tests" and "grades" would not be our educational goal, but rather skills that he could use for the rest of his life. For example: What if we focus on finding the answers and asking the questions instead of memorizing the answers? What if we made research a major part of how we learn here in our home? This skill can come in handy when he is in college and expected to write a research paper or thesis. My favorite quote is by Roger Lewin, "Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve." While looking into Classical Education I ran into another quote that I really love. It is by Dorothy Sayers: "Is not the great defect of our education today...that although we often succeed in teaching our pupils subjects, we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think: they learn everything, except the art of learning." If I remember correctly, she was referring to the Nazi educational system. They had taught much about what to think, but no one seemed to be able to think for themselves or to think. She warned that when people are not able to think for themselves they will easily be controlled by a tyrant.

Instead of doing a traditional study or course called "English" what if we learned all we could about our language by learning where each word originated and what the history behind how the word came to mean what it means today? What if we focused on our language and its rules in action and in context by reading often, aloud to each other and silently to ourselves? We could learn the rules of our language from a deductive approach instead of an inductive approach. (I asked ZOLAonAOL to define 'inductive' for me and she said, "The act of eating waterfowl" so I am not sure if I am using 'inductive' and 'deductive' right.) Becca I. had mentioned that Jack London taught himself to write by copying the writings of his favorite writer, Mark Twain. We would learn Greek and Latin roots as a family and read together often!

Focusing on a Greek or Latin root a week gave us a small history lesson, as the root usually had a story behind it. Focusing on roots also introduced us to a list of new words (spelling) and helped with our vocabulary! I made it my goal to find other ways to combine several subjects into one - to free up time for more important things like playing or traveling or visiting friends.

Each time we read a book together something mentioned in the book sparked an interest or curiosity about some other topic. When we read "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" we became interested in researching and learning more about orbits, satellites, and eventually the solar system. I guess we allowed literature to provide us with ideas on what we could research and learn more about. The children's curiosities provide the energy, but following those curiosities is a bit like trying to steer a sailboat without a rudder: we are moving, forward maybe, but I don't know what our destination is or when we will 'arrive.' There is always more to learn about any topic or subject!

I pray for God to be our curriculum guide and to bring educational opportunities into our lives and to help me be able to recognize and take hold of 'teachable moments' in our every day lives. When I start out our day with that prayer and mindset the random dots that pop up throughout the day seem to become connected and to form a more tangible picture of where we are going.

(WOW, I need to take my own advice!)

Rebecca

"Let the questions be the curriculum" Socrates

Play is synonymous with learning

2006-09-18T20:46:00.000-05:00

Here is the e mail I wrote when Kelsey “discovered” the concept of multiplication in her room while playing with her many beanie babies:

I believe and have observed that there is a direct link between children's play and the development of common sense. A common sense intuition about how the world works. It is through play that children learn and internalize scientific or mathematical concepts that they won't be formally taught or required to put a name to until jr high, high school, or maybe even college. Without this experience - this internalization, the book knowledge is empty. (No one ever said that books were better than experience, I know.)

Children are naturals at the scientific process and experimentation; they are wired to learn about the world they live in - by playing. Watch them on a slide; they are gaining experience and living "object in motion stays in motion" until they hit the ground. They learn about friction when they realize that if they take off their socks they can slide much faster or that the baby doesn't go down the slide very fast if he is naked. Rub your socks on the carpet and shock your friends and family members, literally. Then try it in the dark and see the spark! How many times did it take the cat to run when he saw you rub your feet on the carpet? Hmmmm association and conditioning?

You know, the more children are seated on a merry-go-round, the harder it is to stop? The children seated on the inside of the merry-go-round aren't actually spinning as fast as the children on the outside? A child in a bathtub causes displacement, experiences some buoyancy, and learns about what type of toys float and what types sink. Some of the toys that usually float will sink when filled with water. What about those bubbles? Children might notice that when they get out of the bathtub, the water level seems to drop. (When mom gets out it REALLY DROPS!) After playing in the mud, there might be a ring around the tub! A washcloth appears darker when it is wet. The wet cloth can actually stick to the side of the tub, but a dry one can't. The wet cloth, after a few days falls off of the tile and hardens - molds if left in the hamper... (great time to talk about seeds, spores, and buds)

I've observed my children's discovery of mathematical concepts through play! And not just with the abacus and Math Blaster at the computer. When my daughter ran out of fingers and toes to count on, she found that beanie babies were great for counting. She learned that she could divide her 25 favorite beanie babies into equal groups of five's, but she couldn't divide them up into equal groups of 3's or 4's, however, if she tossed ONE beanie baby and only played with 24 beanie babies she would divide them up into equal groups of 3's or 4's!!! This discovery thrilled her and she explained it all to me. When I realized that she had discovered the concept of division and multiplication on her own, I knew that she would be able to understand these concepts if I explained them to her. It was her hint to me that she was ready. I just participated in her play and showed her many other ways to divide up beanie babies. "By the way, you know how to divide and multiply, Kelsey." My daughter also discovered, on her own that, "If ten plus ten is twenty, then ten plus eleven is twenty-one!" She announced this to me before she ever heard of place value or had any type of lesson on adding two digit numbers.

These simple concepts that children discover or experience while playing have scientific explanations that they won't have to learn until later, but they have internalized examples of these concepts. What if instead of letting my daughter play with her 25, then 24 beanie babies, I had made her sit down to do seat-work for math? I could have filled up her busy play days by teaching these concepts in a very organized and structured way. Maybe she would have learned these concepts earlier. Maybe I could have bragged to my homeschool friends or family members. Would the lessons have been as important to her? Would these same concepts that she learned on her own, been as important to her if I had sat her down and taught them to her?

My daughter learned many similar mathematical concepts by playing with her many beanie babies! Not only did she learn these concepts on her own while playing, but she OWNS these concepts. They weren't mom's ideas or some concepts dictated by a scope and sequence, they were HER discoveries. She is learning to learn from life! Unfettered play is soooo important to learning and common sense.

Go play.

"Watching" a basic math "course?"

2006-09-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

I never thought I would find myself using a basic math course to teach basic math to a 10 year old. I have a degree in elementary education and elementary math is pretty easy and fun! I didn’t even intend to use this course for instruction here at home. But, it’s the best thing that ever happened to us.

So, if I could do it all over again, here is what I would do for math:

1. Nothing!
2. Nothing for a few more years!
3. Play fun games that teach basic math skills like “Math-It,” “Multi-flyer,” and “Knock-out” when the child is about 9 or 10. This would give competency in the subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division fact tables. By this age the child has already discovered and has a working knowledge of these basic concepts. (I remember that Kelsey “discovered” the concept of multiplication while playing with her many beanie babies by organizing them, sorting them, and grouping them - I wrote about it and maybe I will share that in another post.)
3. “Basic Math” over the course of 1-4 years or as long as it takes to ease and relax through math. No hurry!
4. I guess then, when they are ready, programs like Teaching Textbooks, Classmates Math, or Video Text could be used for high school math courses….

This system seems to be working for us today, September, 18, 2006, but, as anything does when you follow your child’s lead, it could change tomorrow! But, it will “change” to something that works better, so it’s ok! Well, there might be a bumpy transition…..

Cool things about MATH

2006-09-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share some of the cool things I’m learning while watching my 10 year old’s “basic math” course with her. (“Watching” a basic math “course?” You might wonder. I’ll defend my silliness in another post.)

Did you know that the sign for multiplication (the little line with a dot on top and underneath) actually symbolizes a fraction? I had never heard of such a thing, but it makes so much sense. AND in a multiplication problem the remainder is always the numerator when you express the problem in fraction form. I guess when my teachers taught me math (they had their work cut out for them) they never used mathematical language. Math is so deep and rich if you go beyond the memorization of steps to get an outcome. I was just told HOW to solve mathematical problems; how to get a correct answer with little regard for the layers and layers of conceptual information that could be pointed out and used to further expand my knowledge and understanding of math!

When I compare Kelsey’s experience with formal math to my experience I feel joy. I feel a sense of freedom for her that I didn’t feel: the freedom to do in life what you want to do without being limited by your mathematical ability. The freedom to declare a major without concern for the math requirements… Ok, she’s just 10. But, she did factor trinomials with her brother when she was 9…. (that's really just basic math)

I hated math...

2006-09-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

…until I had to teach it to my children!

I am learning so much from Kelsey’s basic math course. (I’ll tell you some cool things in another post) It amazes me how little I know about math as an adult, after attending public school for 13 years, and then college for what ended up in a bachelor’s degree. (That’s nothing to be impressed with, let me tell you, if I can get a degree anyone can.) I was never good at math and I took Algebra twice in high school and twice in college. I was ahead in math up until I hit Algebra.

I don’t think that my inability to grasp Algebra was because of a lack of intelligence but rather because of a lack of maturity and interest. I was one of those goofballs that had to take a Basic Math course in college. The first time I took Algebra in college I got a D and then I tried again a few years later and I got an A or a B, can’t remember, but it was easy for me in my 20s. I later took Trigonometry in college one semester because it fit my schedule and I got a B. Math wasn’t as difficult anymore, but I had chosen a major which did not require much math so I was free.

Teaching my children is teaching me to enjoy and not to fear Math. I’ve learned that sometimes people aren’t ready for a topic or a concept and if they aren’t ready it’s a waste of their time and life to force or demand proficiency in that subject. This is easy to see with reading and children but I can now see it with children and teenagers when it comes to math.

Just a thought on how I was terrible at math and always hated it until I was older.

Math workbooks have PROBLEMS!

2006-09-14T21:26:00.000-05:00

I don’t know if any of you knew that Kelsey was very “behind” in Math. You might ask, “Behind what?” To which I would answer, “You know, like if a comet fell on me and she had to go to public school NOW, she would be considered behind – grade-wise.” (Grades are for eggs?) Anyway, we had been so relaxed here and I just didn’t make her do the tedious work found in her math workbooks. She was always drawing, playing with the cat, or pretending that she was a cat. She was happy and free. But, she was 10 and still hadn’t finished, and maybe I should admit, hadn’t really started her 3^rd grade math workbook! More confessions: We never bought the kindergarten, first, or second grade math books! This was starting to make me very stressed out.

I got nervous and decided to just get out the game “Math-It” and NUKE the basics within her. I wanted to make sure that she at least knew her basic math facts. I created a plan that would guarantee proficiency in all her facts in just three weeks. I learned that “Math-It” could be just as boring as workbooks! I guess anything can become boring when forced on a child. We also played around with “Multi-flyer” on-line so that she could get extra practice with her multiplication facts.

I decided to buy a “Basic Math” course from the Teaching Company. The course was geared towards high school students who needed remediation in Math. It was taught by a college professor but for some reason I thought it could help. Looking at the workbook that came with the program I feared it would be worthless to us. We had just learned our basics and here was a book with big problems. All math books have problems. Well, for example, the division section started out with long division! That’s the only concept that gave Matthan a problem in Math – which meant dividing monomials and polynomials would be our next stumbling block….

Kelsey loved watching the lectures. She had no problem doing the big problems in the work book. I only made her do five a day. This was not tedious! She now loves Math! And guess what? Long division came easier for her than it did for Matthan!

I’m not saying it’s this particular program that helped. I think it was the waiting until she was more mature to begin formal math coupled with avoiding the tedious work.

Now WHEN Kelsey does math I only require that she work just five problems; five challenging problems. She works each out on a dry erase board so that I can watch her every mathematical move.

Now if a comet falls on me she will be right on track like a good little train.

Biology test boo boo:

2006-09-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Today, Matthan took his second Biology test over Module #1. (Don't ask.) Anyway, he was doing so well and I thought he would score 100% until he got to this question:

To which Kingdom does mankind belong?

a. Monera
b. Animalia
c. Fungi
d. Protista

Well, Matthan answered "a. Monera" to which I wrote in big red letters:

Is mankind a bacteria or a pathogen?

How come we don't know the obvious things, but can grasp the hard stuff?????

Christian's first day of art:

2006-09-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

Before we left for art, he was counting on his fingers. It all went fine until he counted down from five. When he got to "two" he held his fingers like we all do, but when he got to "one" he put down his pointer finger instead of the OTHER finger!

You know how if you make a big deal out of some act, gesture, or word it is sure to create repeated incidences? I was trying to get him to not count like that without telling him why or he would be sure to do it ad nausum in front of the other homeschooled children..

It caused some nervousness around here.

I didn't want to be the mom with the 5 year old who knows how to sign - with a very limited vocabulary.

In Memory of Kitty

2006-03-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

Kitty was given to us when Kelsey was just 3 years old. The two watched cartoons together on the couch. Kitty quickly replaced Kelsey’s baby dolls and could often be found strapped in Kelsey’s baby doll stroller. Sometimes you could find him in that stroller rocketing up and down the hallway. He seemed to enjoy these rides! He knew to just jump up in the baby-doll stroller so that he could go for rides. He enjoyed jumping in empty laundry baskets on cue. We could carry him around in boxes or laundry baskets – he was a very brave kitty!

When he would attack our arm we could calm him down by rubbing his nose. We don’t know why this would tame him.

He thought he was one of the children and would follow them if they crossed the street. He always wanted to be where we were. He would sit with the family on the couch if we were all watching tv or a movie. Kitty slept at the feet of our bed waiting for us to fall asleep so that he could sneak up to our pillows and sleep by our heads. Well, after he outgrew the “attack feet under the sheet” stage. Sometimes he would stay out all night, but he was always meowing at the door in the morning.

Kitty got hit by a car two years ago and with some time and $$$ was almost back to normal. After he got hit he was never as playful as he had once been. I attributed much of it to age as he was probably about 5 years old. He did still go up in trees and follow us around, but he never jumped in a laundry basket again.

Because of infections resulting from those many injuries we had to put him down yesterday. We had two extra years with him.

Kelsey and I have cried off and on for days. For days because we had made the decision a week ago but couldn’t follow through with it.

I thought the boys weren’t too concerned, but today while I was talking on the phone to a friend, Christian, (4 years old) told me that he had something to say - so I handed him the phone. He whispered, “Kitty is dead” in a very serious tone. So, I guess though he doesn’t cry with us he still thinks about it. Christian is right here with me while I type this and I told him, “I’m writing about Kitty what do you want to say?” and he said, “Kitty died.”

Little children are so black and white sometimes.

University of Texas' Open House

2006-03-05T18:23:00.000-06:00

This event, though wonderful for families who are interested in attending UT or visiting college campuses, was not just for teens! There were even activities for the young ones, like Christian. This was basically a big 'show and tell' and 'science fair' all in one. UT students from each dept.

or professors had set up demonstrations, experiments, and activities. We visited many different types of labs, We made slime, got to see a solar powered car (I asked many questions about the car and the solar panels), saw a wind tunnel, saw a trebuchet, saw water flowing uphill and what happens to objects as they move along that flow, watched the vortexes created in flowing water when the water has debris or an obstruction in its path, felt an earthquake thanks to T-Rex, built structures out of gumdrops and toothpicks and then tested the strength of the creations with weights, looked in a few microscopes.. So much to see and do!!!

The next UT Open House is on March 3, 2007. So let's go! The drive was easy and the day was so much fun and it was FREE.

My favorite part of the day was when our children, inspired by all the experiments they had seen, decided to try to break the world's record for the longest string attached to a set of balloons. They collected string from other balloons, took donations even, and tied the strings together until the balloons soared above a nine story building. It didn't take them long to encounter problems and make some very scientific observations about their endeavor. Eventually the string broke and this huge group of balloons floated off dragging behind it well over 100 feet of colorful string! It was quite a spectacle and some of the UT students were taking pictures of our kids as they did this.

We want to recreate this again when the wind is not as strong - maybe at the beach.

Rebecca

FW: John Taylor Gatto (Sudbury School in Houston, Tx)

2006-01-17T00:19:00.000-06:00

During the question and answer time at the end of the talk, a tenth grader who attended a performing arts high school stood up and asked what he could do to make a difference? The suggestion: “Create groups of 3-5 students who go to nursing homes and children hospitals and put on free performances…..” I really got the idea that instead of rocking the titanic we could make a difference in a more grass roots – community minded type of way? Not causing a ‘stink’ but DOING what works.

Though he didn’t mean to, I was motivated to stop trying to make things feel and look so official. Why? That’s not working. Form organizations and offer support or build real relationships with people and support each other on a more personal level.

I’m still working these things out in my mind, so I’m sure these thoughts will marinate and make more sense later…….

Rebecca

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin

Homeschool Victoria

FW: John Taylor Gatto (Sudbury School in Houston, Tx)

2006-01-17T00:18:00.000-06:00

The Sudbury School in Houston invited John Taylor Gatto to speak. Is anyone familiar with that school? It is a parent created democratic school where the children plan what they are taught each week. They don’t turn anyone away and they are in desperate need of donations. http://www.houstonsudbury.org/

One thing that John Taylor Gatto said that stuck out was that, “short answer tests are making us dumb.” He said that when parents and teachers say, “No thank you, I’d rather not” that maybe that is how we could make a difference? When he said, “No thank you, I’d rather not” everyone started clapping and standing up. So I assume that the audience was against testing. This is Texas after all and most teachers hate having to teach to the test.

“Short answer tests are making us dumb.” John Taylor Gatto seemed to solve the mystery of WHY Public Schools were making America stupid. It was like an answer to the problems exposed by John Stossel. How can short answer tests make us stupid? That wasn’t a ‘true’ or ‘false’ question so we will have to think about the answer and use sentences and discuss, disagree, explain and maybe change some as we learn. Make our minds grow. Oh, we are going to THINK! See! We will have to use our brains.

Short answer tests don’t allow us to think. Retrieving information isn’t thinking. Recall isn’t thinking. Being able to discuss, debate, and convince someone of your opinion is really thinking. Working an idea out verbally or in writing is doing more for your brain than simply answering , “Do you think a short answer test accurately measures knowledge? Yes or no?” To think we need the “Why or why not” and the “But Tammy doesn’t agree let’s try harder to explain it or maybe we aren’t finished thinking it out….” That’s thinking. Now we can be “man-thinking” instead of “man parroting.” (Someone find the latin words for those two terms LOL)

Why don’t we allow daily Socratic (?) teaching and discussion in schools? Because there isn’t enough time in the day and real knowledge can’t be quickly evaluated. In a room full of 22 students how can time be given for everyone to speak? Short answer tests save time and can be graded quickly and the results seem to please everyone. It’s like learning in a microwave, only thoughts are half baked and nothing was marinated. YUCK But there is no test created that can measure real learning – just retrieval. A scantron machine can’t think so it has to be fed mindless answers. Our fast food society has already come to the place where people want learning measured quickly and in a way that they can compare their children to others and say, “Look, he learned something, because it says so right here!”

As Homeschoolers we have the perfect opportunity to do what WORKS in the long run and not get caught up in and not model our homes after a failing method of “education.”

Here is another thing that John Taylor Gatto said that stuck out in my mind. “The homeschooling movement is the greatest populist movement of the last 2 centuries.” So, be encouraged! or scared of rocking the boat?

Public school? “No thank you, I’d rather not.” (the “no thank you I’d rather not” quote had a story about someone who ‘said it all the way to jail,’ so there is a bigger story there that I can’t RECALL. Does anyone remember that?)

Rebecca

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin

Homeschool Victoria

Teaching Reading Idea:

2006-01-12T07:19:00.000-06:00

Let your child tell you a story. Write their words down on a piece of paper. Let the child (if they want to) illustrate their story. Then let the child read their own words back to you.

Let the child create many books to read. Take printer paper and cut it in half, fold the paper to form a little book. Maybe you could make a cover out of construction paper - the child can illustrate that too.

I think this helps them learn to read - because they are reading their own words.

And making books is fun! You have the crafty stuff, art, reading, and grammar in one swoop.

Just telling a story helps with language - formation of sentences etc.

we use our dining room table for school

2006-01-12T06:48:00.000-06:00

Everyone pretty much does their school work at the dining room table in our house. We have a dry erase board, books, maps, and a computer in our dining room. Oh, and a fish tank.

Yesterday we caught Christian drawing on the dining room table with markers! At first I got mad and said, “Christian, what are you doing??” We use these markers for our dry-erase board – not the table!

“It’s ok, it comes off,” he assured me. He erased the green scribble with his fingers and sure enough it came off! I never thought of using our dining room table as a big dry-erase board! It’s glass, after all.

I told a friend about how the kids were drawing on our glass dining room table with dry-erase markers. She told me that she knew of someone who would slide a workbook behind a plexi-glass book holder and let her child fill in the answers using crayons or dry erase markers! The worksheets could be filled out without any marks ever being made in the book! I thought that if we taped a picture under the glass table that the image could be traced – an image from a coloring book.

So today as Matthan works out Algebra problems with a black dry erase marker on the dining room table, Christian draws pictures and makes us guess what they are. Kelsey is making up some math problems and solving them on her own. When Matthan needs help with Algebra I can grab a dry erase marker and work out a problem right there on the dining room table with him!

So we use our dining room table for school…..

Isn’t that fun? I never thought of using the dining room table this way! I guess we could do math on windows too! Just so the marker doesn’t slip and hit the wall!

Rebecca

Teaching Math (number recognition) Idea:

2006-01-12T06:28:00.000-06:00

We don't ask him for every throw, or he would catch on, but every few throws and when he lands on a number that might be familiar with, like 1-9.

Anyway, I thought I would share that in case someone wanted to know a fun way to teach number recognition.

Of course, the older kids could keep a running score in their heads or they could add or multiply their HITS to have a total for each throw - to work on that.

What else? I guess you could pretty much use a dart board much like you use the game MUGGINS!

factoring trinomials with children

2006-01-11T15:33:00.000-06:00

Matthan, my 13 year old, is factoring trinomials again today in Algebra. Remember how to do that? If you are an average person who didn’t major in math or go into pipefitting, you might not remember much about your advanced math courses or factoring trinomials! Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal to have taken a course in high school or college and then not remember a darn thing after you’ve lived your life in freedom for a few years. Factoring trinomials is when you have something that looks like this:

x(squared) + 6x + 9

and you have to make it look like this:

(x+3)(x+3).

You will remember that a factor of 9 is 3? This is the same thing only with some parenthesis thrown in there just to trip you up. You are finding the multiples of a number only now the number has googely eyes and fangs.

When I asked Matthan, “What number gives you nine when multiplied by itself or 6 when you add it?” or “What numbers when multiplied give you 8 yet when added give you 6,” I realized how elementary basic Algebra really is. It’s all the other stuff that confuses me like the parenthesis and the ‘unknown variables.’ We can all add 3+3 and multiply 3 times 3; add 4 and 2 and multiply 4 and 2, so why do we get all tripped up when we see it in the context of Algebra?

I think I know why. When we were in elementary school we were taught that “X” means to multiply.

3X3=9

We were very impressionable and we accepted that fact and used it most of our little math lives. Then one day, we are told that the very symbol with which we have come to associate multiplication is now an unknown variable. “What?” Then we are told instead of using an “X” you can put 4 in a parenthesis and 2 in a parenthesis and that now means what the “X” meant all those years before. Oh, and your ABC’s are now coming to join us for math class – well, Algebra. We learn one thing and use it all of our lives and just when it becomes second nature we have to give new meaning to old symbols and learn all new ways to do the same old things. Algebra seems to be a whole new world and it’s not peaceful to some of us.

It shouldn’t be new or scary at all. In fact, it’s not new, it’s just playing around and rearranging and expressing numbers that we are familiar with in many different ways. Why did it feel different? Why did we learn that multiplication could be expressed by putting an “X” in between two numbers when the whole time we could have just put those numbers in parenthesis? If we are expecting children to grow up and learn Algebra why don’t we just start Algebra in third grade? Maybe I’ll figure the answer out one day. Until then, we are going to play around with Algebra from the get go.

When I asked Matthan, “What numbers when multiplied give you 8 and when added give you 6,” so that we could factor a trinomial, I looked at Kelsey and thought, “She could do what we are doing!” So, I wrote a trinomial out: “x(squared) + 6x + 9” and under it I wrote two parenthesis with an X in each one like this: (x + ) (x + ) and let her decide what numbers should go after the plus sign. She picked up on this pretty fast!

When I told her that she was doing high school Algebra she became very excited. Her confidence in Math was boosted. I hope that when Kelsey enters the world of Algebra and is greeted by my googely eyed monster, that it won’t be something frightening for her.

She can factor trinomials now because that takes basic elementary math! And of course, as her understanding of math expands so will the complexities of the trinomials.

A few years later, as my daughter was learning how to convert Fahrenheit into Celsius, my six year old was inspired to play around with equations and variables. Here is the post.

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin

Teaching Reading idea - Dictation:

2006-01-10T01:10:00.000-06:00

Let your child tell you a story. Write their words down on a piece of paper. Let the child (if they want to) illustrate their story. Then let the child read their own words back to you.

I think this helps them learn to read - because they are reading their own words.

And making books is fun! You have the crafty stuff, art, reading, and grammar in one swoop.

Just telling a story helps with language - formation of sentences etc.

Greek and Latin Roots (weekly activity)

2006-01-10T00:55:00.000-06:00

Equus = horse (latin) equine

Caballus = horse (latin) cavalry

Hippos = horse (greek) hippology-study of horses (a hippopotamus was literally a "water-horse")

I got these from English from the Roots up vol II. Of course, there are more words associated with each root.

The big children can use the words for copywork, handwriting, vocabulary, and spelling as they write the derivatives and their definitions and thesmaller children can draw a picture to illustrate the meaning.

We usually just take one root a week, but we took these three for the past two weeks.

Rebecca

http://www.homeschoolvictoriatx.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolVictoria

Darts for Math! Making Math FUN!

2006-01-10T00:32:00.000-06:00

Matthan just reminded me that for many throws you are required to multiply your hit by 2 or three and the whole game you are adding your totals. A family game of darts could be educational for all age levels. An older child could keep score for the younger child who is focusing on recognizingthe numerals.

I know that when we play darts with Rodney he is able to keep a running total of everyone's score in his head. He played darts competitively and I bet that helped his brain store those numbers that way! He got used to doing math in his head and keeping a total for multiple sets of numbers. Mental math! So a game of darts will work on more than just multiplying andadding - there is something else going on!

And you are doing a family activity and teaching (modeling) taking turns....

Hey! When you guys catch yourself or your children learning on accident share your ideas!

A family game of darts can help with number recognition:

2006-01-10T00:25:00.000-06:00

My 4 year old, 9 year old, and 13 year old are playing darts (magnetic not the dangerous kind) right now. We are asking Christian "what number did you land on?" when he hits the board so that he can work on number recognition. We don't ask him for every throw, or he would catch on, but every few throws and when he lands on a number that might be familiar with, like 1-9.

Anyway, I thought I would share that in case someone wanted to know a fun way to teach number recognition.

Of course, the older kids could keep a running score in their heads or they could add or multiply their HITS to have a total for each throw - to work on that.

I guess you could pretty much use a dart board much like you use the game MUGGINS!

Cured picky eaters?

2005-12-26T20:41:00.000-06:00

My children are so picky. I don’t know how that happened because I will eat anything, even if most people claim the food is not edible. For example, I love sardines and canned smoked oysters. I love raw oysters dripping in horseradish. I sometimes wish I didn’t, but I do! I even enjoyed the “bitter herbs” at a Passover Seder I attended once. Guess the lesson wasn’t the same for me as it was for the other people who attended.

When my children won’t eat things like my taco soup or my pizza casserole I am deeply wounded and offended. They are better than anchovies, sardines, horseradish, and bitter herbs?

Recently, there has been a breakthrough. I noticed that at least the meat portions from their plates have been eaten. I was so excited! Did I also mention that we had recently acquired a few extra cats? I would never make a good detective.

Tonight, as I was commenting on how much food my children had been eating, I looked down and noticed half of a steak finger. Two cats were licking their lips. I guess the cats will be healthy.

I don’t know how children know to only eat as much as their bodies need to survive and not a DROP or MORSAL more! How do they do that?? I wish my body had that type of gage. I eat even while FULL! L

Oh well, thought I would share that.

Happy Holidays.

Rebecca

checking in (on Rita from Rita's)

2005-09-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

After hearing horror stories from friends about what
evacuees are experiencing trying to get through
Houston or Dallas, I feel petty and selfish about not
being more chipper. My gal pal's aunts have been on
the road for 24 hours! (If I understand correctly,
they were only trying to get from Lake Jackson to
Houston usually a one hour trip that turned into
20??) They lost their dog after they had to turn off
the a/c so that the car would not over-heat. The dog
died from the heat. (That's Houston) Im hearing the
same thing about people trying to get to or through
Dallas! People having blow-outs and ditching cars?
Stations being out of gas! One family went from
Victoria up 77 and it took them twelve hours to get
from Hallettsville to Waco??? Once they hit I35
traffic picked up to 40mph? It only took me four and
a half hours to get to my destination - usually a 2 -
2 1/2 hour drive. We had it easy! (Victoria to San
Marcos)

At one point, a girl ran by our car and then ran back
by with some cokes (pops? for you Yankees). I jokingly
told the children, "Look! That lady is out-running all
of these cars and the speed limit here is 70 mph!" Of
course, those of us not-on-foot were only going about
2 miles per hour, at the time... I've heard of
families (in Houston) that waited until evening to
evacuate and were told to go back home, because of the
grid-lock on the interstate. They will be heading to
the VICTORIA area - where I drove FROM. So I might
just go back home tomorrow!

Rita (the hurricane, not my mother in law) is
projected to hit Beaumont. If people from Houston are
going to the Victoria-area, then I think I can go back
home! RIGHT?

My husband stayed behind. He was told that if he
didnt show up for work that it was his butt. Now,
all the stores are closed in Victoria because people
had to leave town by 7:00pm and there is a curfew. He
works in a town RIGHT on the coast. He called the
police station and they told him that he would get
pulled over but if he was going to work, it would be
ok. Im thinking, and dont get any ideas, that
anyone could SAY that they were going to work??? I
took the food from the refrigerator so that it
wouldnt spoil! Good thing we are a family that opens
cans, we open cans

Oh, my car is acting up! Thats not a big deal to me,
but to my husband, it is. Im thinking, So it makes
a subtle grinding noise when I hit the breaks? So
what if it is having a tough time getting into the
next gear when I accelerate, Im patient. Im hoping
that these problems are ONLY because of having to stop
and start for 4 ½ hours.. The car will cool down and
be ok tomorrow? So, you guys who were planning on
toughing it out back home in Victoria, give me your
phone numbers in case we get stranded and you need to
come and get us??? Surely I can make it home
tomorrow!

How are the evacuees who end up grid-locked in Houston
able to sit in traffic for 20 hours?????? I wonder
what percentage of cars are breaking down trying to
evacuate there! I heard Rick Perry say, Id rather
people be in their cars, than experiencing the winds
of the hurricane (Something like that) and Im
thinking, Why would it be safer to sit in the Texas
sun all day, on black tar and asphalt, breathing
everyones car exhausts!?!?! When the winds hit
them, will they fare better in their cars? Theyll
be ok. Has anyone else heard from friends or family
stuck in grid-lock?

Were we so scared of the complaints over the lack of
preparation during Katrina that we overcompensated
and experienced the flip side of the coin - panic?

Just thinking. I wish I didnt leave Victoria! Ive
never missed my town. I was just starting to wish I
could escape it, but then I had to evacuate it.
Nothing like being told, You CANT that makes you
say, I WANT TO.

Rebecca
Too often we give children answers to remember rather
than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin

Homeschool Victoria
www.homeschoolvictoriatx.com

FW: Mandatory Vacation (evacuation)

2005-09-21T23:00:00.000-05:00

We are getting ready for a mandatory road trip! I had to wait in line to ‘top off’ my gas tank for the first time in my life, today! My husband stood in line for over three hours to get some plywood so that we could board up our windows. He was lucky! We’ve never done that in all of my life, and I grew up right on the gulf. RIGHT on the gulf; we had a pier in our backyard. Now that I live 30 miles up coast, I find myself boarding up windows?

The children loaded up the car today with toys and clothes. I caught Kelsey walking by with an armful of clothes and she was just walking up to the car and throwing them in! So, we had to clean the car out… My mom said that when we evacuated for a hurricane when I was a child that she told me to pack only what I couldn’t live without. When she looked at the car, I had filled up the back seat with all of my plush toys (stuffed animals.)

Some of my family members in Port Lavaca are going to stay and tough it out. They stayed through Carla. Older people are harder to convince to leave! My cousin drove down from San Antonio to try to talk them into going back with her, even though she already has 15 people at her house! The city officials in Port Lavaca said, “If you refuse to leave, please write your name and social security number in permanent marker on your body so that you can be easily identified.” (I think it was PL)

My gal pal tried all day to find a hotel to stay at and everything in Texas was booked! Their word of advice, “Try Oklahoma.”

Anyway, I thought I would keep you guys up to date on what we are going through over here…. I’ll have access to my e mail at my mother-in-law’s house, coincidentally named, Rita. Hee hee

Oh, on our homeschool group’s webpage I put some links to our local news station, newspaper, and a few local web cams, just in case you want to take a peek in where the hurricane is projected to slap down.

http://www.homeschoolvictoriatx.com

Hurricane Rita

2005-09-21T08:41:00.000-05:00

Headline Stories - Wednesday, September 21st 2005

Golden Crescent Hurricane Preparations
Newscenter 25Web posted on: September 20th, 2005 - 10:43 pm
**All Golden Crescent residents are urged to make hurricane evacuation plans now -- just in case mandatory evacuations are issued in the coming days.**As of Tuesday night, only Jackson and Refugio counties have issued voluntary evacuations.

Victoria County: A hotline has been set up for Hurricane Rita Information. Call 485-3600 or 572-2711. Full Story

KAVU NEWS
http://www.kavutv.com/

Family Camera: Kelsey's Self Portraits

2005-08-31T08:47:00.000-05:00

My digital camera is docked by the family computer and the children are welcomed to it anytime, without having to ask for permission. This 'open camera' policy means that I am always happily surprised by the lively unconventional images that I find on my camera when I finally pick it up to use it.

Each child documents their play through photographs. Kelsey likes to take self portraits or mug shots. She will take about 10 pictures of herself in various poses making different faces. She is our little family photographer. But, her subject is so cute, how can she go wrong?

Oh, to be a child!

Multiplication FUN FUN FUN!

2005-08-23T11:19:00.000-05:00

Memorize your multiplication facts by playing fun interactive games! (I think the multiplication.com was posted through the Texas Home Educator’s List)

http://www.multiplication.com/index.htm - Links to interactive games, free downloadable software, and ideas to help give your child added practice with multiplication! Why do the worksheet when you can play games to learn or master the same skills while having fun?

http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm - Learn Multiplication through FREE interactive Games, including Multiflyer! (remember that game that was sent out months ago?)

I would rather a child appear "behind" in Math and LOVE Math than for a child to be considered 'on track' while hating it.

2005-08-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

I feel like such a fruit loop! I hope there are no cereal killers out there! All the cool little worksheets and activities that I was planning on doing today are just not her "thing!" I keep forgetting that she has her own natural scope and sequence and that we should follow hers and not someone else's - or the one I imagine for her. She completed the silly math worksheets that I printed out for her (up to the 12’s) in just a few minutes. She completed them just to show me how beneath her they were. Oh well, we are having some good laughs at my expense! I guess I should go back to letting her interests determine our activities and her interests guide our day – I need to be more trusting. But it is really hard! She seems to learn more and “higher level” stuff when I am able to follow her lead. Repetition insults her.

For example, my idea of school was to do some fun little work sheets that I had found on the web. She thought they were silly (actually, she's more creative than the worksheet allowed) and she decided to do some work out of her brother's 5th grade math workbook that he used years ago. By letting her do what she wanted to do, we ended up doing something that was above her 'age-level.' She loved adding and subtracting 3 and four digit numbers and asked me to create "more" each time she would work a page of problems. So, we are keeping a Math journal.

Today, August 23, 2005, I gave her several equations and she had to find the different variables (a, b, or c) to make the equation true. 2+b=7, b=? a+6=13, a=? 8+4=c, c=?

She loves adding and subtracting four and five digit numbers. This is what she wants to do for Math. I started to "stack the numbers up" by giving her about 4 four digit numbers to add. This naturally led into multiplication-division and I showed her the many different ways that you can express "division" including fractions. She believes that Math is fun, and that is my goal!

I would rather a child appear "behind" in Math and LOVE Math than for a child to be considered 'on track' while hating it.

The child who loves it, will not be “behind” for long! I was "on level" and I hate it to this day! Maybe I would have loved Math if I would have been allowed to focus on the things that I loved about it and to spend more time with Mathematical concepts, instead of just busy work.

I remember when she Kelsey learned to read; she would lock herself in her room because she didn’t want me to know that she could read. Sounds silly, but I think she had a fear of not being 'perfect,' as if she was still working on the skill and she was not ready to take it public? I caught her reading a book to her beanie babies and that’s how I found out that she could read. Back then I felt like a fruit loop too, because at this same time I was trying to teach her "a apple...." It insulted her because she already knew how to read, but she wasn't letting on to it! Has anyone else experienced this?

Who's doing the teaching?

2005-08-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

I always start off the year with fantasies of the perfect day filled with learning and excitement. Well, I’m the one learning today! I gave Kelsey our little Fact Family Graphic Organizer Math worksheet that I mentioned a few blogs ago, and she rolled her eyes like I was stupid. She exhaled and said, “Mom, this is too easy.” I didn’t mean to insult her with the worksheet, just to live out my school-room fantasies! To me, easy is fun.

I said, “Oh, it’s just for fun, really! You just start with the answer and think of all the equations!” Then she said, “There needs to be more spaces because I can do 1+1+2 to get four.” I felt really stupid because I had never thought of that! When I read ‘fact family’ I imagined 2+2, 3+1 and 1+3….. as did the person who designed the worksheet?

She is more creative than I am. Talk about thinking outside the box! She thought of more answers than spacing allowed! I saw the directions as a “no-brainer” and she saw them for people with ‘no brains.’ She saw the directions as limiting her where I saw them as obvious. So, once again, my kids are teaching ME!

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin

Create Your Own Worksheets! (hey, they are free!)

2005-08-17T10:03:00.000-05:00

You could create individualized activity sheets for free! It is easy to make up little "work sheets" to go along with anything that you read with your children. This only takes a few minutes for YOU to create and only a few minutes for your CHILD to complete!

I took a few paragraphs from our Nature Reader and designed an activity sheet around them. I selected some words that could be used for Spelling, took a few informative sentences that could be used for copywork or handwriting practice, and then created a little activity to demonstrate one of the concepts that the selection taught. I combined Spelling, Handwriting, Science, Reading, and Drawing into one! Less time, less stress! You could even go to Puzzle Maker to make puzzles with the Spelling words that you have selected! Collect these activity sheets in a three ring binder if you feel you need to document what your child has learned....

Example:

“A Look at an Ant”

insect

living

creature

divided

feelers

family

outstanding

curious

flight

firmly

carefully

quite

Copywork:

The body of an insect is divided into three parts. The first part is its head which contains the mouth, eyes, and feelers. The back part, or abdomen, of the body of many insects is fastened to the middle part, or thorax, by a small joint. God Created insects in this way because they need to bend, or even double up, to do some of their work.

Draw an ant to show the three parts that make up an insect:

(Reading selection from Christian Liberty Nature Reader)

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

2005-08-17T09:25:00.001-05:00

Math with Graphic Organizers!

Today, for Math, I printed out the 'math facts' graphic organizer sheets from this website: http://math.about.com/od/addingsubtracting/a/facts.htm

For example, the “facts that add up to 4” page: Instead of working from the ‘bottom up’ and having Kelsey review by completing the math equations, I want to have her think ‘top down’ and come up with the equations herself! This is just a twist on the standard way we did Math in school. The ‘worksheet’ actually looks really cool as it has the number four in the middle of the page surrounded by cute shapes where the equations can be added.

It allows her to be a little more creative! Instead of finding the answers, she’s going to give the questions!

Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. -Roger Lewin