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June 09 The Blog Has Moved!I've decided to move over to wordpress...you can find all these entries (and more!) at: http://childplay.wordpress.com/ See you there! May 29 "But how do you KNOW?!"I get one particular question a lot, when I open my big mouth to gleefully announce that not only do we homeschool, we don't even use a curriculum or do state testing! The one question that follows from people is: "But how do you know they're learning anything?"
It wasn't too long ago that I wondered the same thing...if I take my kids out of public school, then how can I make sure they are learning what they need to know? If I can't compare them with what other kids are doing at their age, in their grade, then how do I know they are learning up to par with everyone else?! It caused no fair amount of stress and anxiety in my psyche, I can tell you.
But here's what Brooke taught me: Kids learn best at their own speed and in their own time. And comparing their progress against one another with standardized tests negates any unique strengths and pigeonholes kids into 'smart', 'average', or 'dumb'. Brooke tested average/below average on state tests--and I believed it for a while. The teachers believed it. They didn't expect any more from her because of it, and denied her any services for her dyslexia/LD because she was performing according to the results. Imagine my surprise that in the battery of tests the neuropsychologist did, Brooke showed as very gifted. When I brought the results to the school, they told me I had an average child who performed average on tests. End of story. She didn't spell well, but that was to be expected from an average kid. They never once considered her aptitude--state testing is all about comparing and ranking. Nevermind she can name dozens of birds native to Colorado and whistle their calls. That's not on any test. Nevermind that she couldn't spell or do math to save her life and broke down into anxiety filled fits when she had to do either...she did well enough on the tests to be within average range for a 3rd grader. Nevermind that she spends hours pouring over a Nature Encyclopedia, even though the dyslexia made it difficult to make sense of the words. Nevermind that her visual perception/short term memory were in the 2%. None of this made any difference because to the school district, she was an 'average kid' with 'average scores' (the quotes are theirs). They had defined her in a box that didn't fit her. So, standardized tests lost their cache with me.
Here's how I 'know' that my kids are learning, and what they know: I listen to them. When Brooke and Carter were cleaning the kitchen after dinner, and Brooke accused Carter of being "Pope Julius" and then fumed that now she "knows how Michelangelo felt while painting the Sistine Chapel" because Carter kept pointing out all the dirty areas to clean...I learned what she knew.
When Carter wanted Blackberry Izze, and I only had Pomegranite left so gave it to him hoping he would go by color and not by the label, and he totally called me out and said, "Hey, this says Pomegranite!" then I learned what he knew.
When Brooke announced to me that "people didn't have to be married to have babies"--which is how we had previously described procreation--"in fact, mom, they don't even have to LIKE each other to get pregnant!"...well, I learned a lot then, and even more about her new friend's family.
When I offer to share 1/4 of a piece of cake, and keep 3/4 for myself, I learn just how well they know fractions by their reaction. When I give them back $1 in change when they should really get $5.75, I learn a lot about their money skills if they notice or not.
Kids are an open book--it's not hard to figure out what they know or don't know by what they talk about and notice. It's easy to become focused on test results instead of the child...all I've done by homeschooling is take out the public school middle man--who was w-r-o-n-g wrong about my daughter anyways--and go directly to the source. May 24 Somewhere Out There...Somewhere, there is a 10 year old girl on a farm/ranch. Brown hair, blue or brown eyes, a little bit tall for her age. She likes to sleep in, go out to eat at restaurants, wear cute clothes that she doesn't like to get dirty, and brushes her hair more than a few times a week. She probably doesn't like farm animals all that much and gets freaked if a horse or cow looks sideways at her. She is an anomaly in the community and people marvel that such a strange girl comes from such hardy farm stock.
If you know of a girl like this, or have one in your midst, email me. I think our daughters were switched at birth and I have your real child.
Brooke was supposed to be born on a farm/ranch (what is the difference?!). She wakes up before dawn, antsy to get outside and DO something. If we had eggs to collect or cows to milk she would happily do that. Instead, she moons around my bed, looking at me and waiting for her lazy mom to wake up. Actually, now she goes in to watch Animal Planet and live a vicarious life through other people who live in Texas.
Horses are her passion, and if she could ride all day to wrangle up cattle she'd be in heaven. Last summer I enrolled her in a 'horse camp' where I paid an obscene amount of money so Brooke could hang out at a farm all day and do 'horse work'. I realized they were having her do all the dirty work like mucking the stalls, filling the troughs, redistributing hay, and brushing the horses. My first thought was...'Shouldn't they be paying HER rather than the other way around?' followed quickly by my second thought which was, "I've never seen Brooke happier". She was surrounded by horses, farm dogs, chickens, pigs, and cute little lambs; working her tail off from sun up till sun down without a complaint. It was one of the best weeks of her life.
She also is an explorer. It's hard to have an idealic 'Daniel Boone' upbringing when you only live on 1/4 of an acre, in the middle of a subdivision. However, she makes the best of it and has found an oasis of nature in a creek that runs on the outskirts of the houses here. I think that if we actually lived on some land, Brooke would hitch up her horse, pack a sleeping bag and ride off to explore the far corners. I probably would only see her again when she ran out of food.
When I started bawling in "March of the Penguins" because all those penguin babies were being picked off by the seagulls, it was Brooke who comforted me by explaining that "that's just the way of nature". When I walked blindly through a sidewalk full of earthworms that had become stranded in the sun after a downpour, it was Brooke who stopped long enough to pick each one up and place it gently in the grass. "They are important to the energy cycle, Mom! They may be little, but they do a lot!" she gently scolded me.
So, you see, she obviously is not my child. I mean, I think cows are adorable and they make me all melty inside, but that's only when I'm standing on the other side of a fence from them. I am horribly allergic to most animals, and really REALLY like to sleep in. If you have a child that fits that description, then we may need to make a trade. May 22 Does a watched garden grow?It's that time of year again, when the danger of frost passes by and the kids and I look longingly at our barren garden box. Last year we planted corn, squash, cucumbers, peppers, celery, & strawberries. The best producers were our cucumbers & squash...the celery grew OK but ended up with a horrible taste that I can't account for. (A hot July?) The stawberries sent runners all over the place, bloomed prettily, but only produced a few puny fruits. The corn was ruined by a freak hailstorm, darn it....they took up half the space in our box, and we didn't get to enjoy any of them!!!
This year shows promise for the berries--they're already in the early stages of bushels of strawberries. We're skipping the corn and Brooke has staked out what veggies she wants on her side. Onions, peppers & carrots. I'm growing cukes, tomatoes & more peppers.
We spent Mother's Day out measuring & planting....is it too early to expect green shoots? We watch for them every day. I don't have the greenest thumb, and just the fact that I bought the seeds almost dooms them to die a tragic veggie death under some dry dirt that I forgot to water properly.
May 07 "Unusual Learners""One of the great unrecognized dramas of childhood has been the struggle throughout history...of the unusual learner to find his best place in life. What has gone unrecognized for centuries is that this unusual learner is not stupid, neither is he bad. Indeed he may be gifted. He carries within his mind the cognitive equivalents of genetic mutations, the ability to recombine elements of experience in new ways. For centuries, the word stupid, combined with various internsifiers like bad, lazy, wilfull, or weak has been used to create a moral 'diagnosis'. That moral diagnosis has ruined millions of lives. It turns out these kids have a lot to offer. At last we are beginning to understand."
--Dr. Hallowell, in the forward to "Learning Outside the Lines" by Jonathan Mooney & David Cole.
I'm just beginning to read the book I've quoted above--so far it has been a worthwhile read. The tagline is "two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools for Academic success and educational revolution". And you all know what a sucker I am for anything having to do with an educational revolution! The two authors--one with dyslexia, the other with ADHD--first give their own personal accounts of enduring elementary, middle, & high school with learning differences, and then devote the rest of the book to helping kids succeed by 'learning outside the lines'.
I have come a long way since Brooke entered kindergarten. Like the stages of grief, I think there are stages to acknowleging a LD. Confusion, denial, anger, more confusion, self doubt, anger, shame, denial with self doubt....this cycle can endlessly repeat for both the parent and the child. Some never recover, and it becomes a shameful thing that defines them (or their children) negatively for a lifetime. But a lucky few find support through online support groups, a timely book, through someone who has already been through it, or an intuitive teacher. It only takes one person believing that a LD kid is capable and important to change that child's life for the better.
At the beginning of 4th grade, Brooke would often refer to herself and stupid. She encountered every problem with defeat and resignation. She developed panic attacks when thinking about going into a group of her peers. Not knowing much about LD, I had personal fears that Brooke was broken mentally somehow. However, I pushed these doubts to the backburner and chose to actively trust in Brooke--trust that all kids are learners if they can be reached in the right way. The story of Helen Keller became my source of hope...and then I added more stories to my list. Edison, Einstein, DaVinci, Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, and countless others.
Learning differences do NOT mean that a child is not a capable learner. It means that a child is an unusual learner, and that is a big difference.
April 24 It's Raining! It's Pouring!Is there anything better than sleeping in a warm, cozy bed while it's raining outside?
The morning broke with gusty winds, rainclouds, and a constant drizzle...I remained nestled in bed while the kids got up and started their 6:30 am routine--watching Animal Planet and then Mythbusters that we have TiVo'd. Dakota snuggled up with me until she noticed Todd going downstairs, and then she hit him up for waffles.
Once everyone assembled for waffles, I tidied up while Brooke and Carter made Tinkertoy boats to float down the rivers that had appeared in our sidewalk gutters. Dakota watched Little Einsteins on Disney for a while, and then she and I snuggled back up in my bed again so she could sit in my 'boat' (what she calls the space in between my two legs...so cute...) and we read a pile of her favorite books.
Brooke and Carter came back inside after being buffeted by strong and rainy winds...had some hot chocolate...went back outside after constructing some Balsam wood boats they remembered that they'd bought at the DMNS store.
Dakota went off to play with her toys, which left me some quiet time to whip up some shea butter for a client of mine.
Brooke and Carter decided that the winds and currents were too strong for their balsam boats outside, so came back inside to set them to sail in our bathtub. Being very cold themselves, they both got in the hot bath and are now directing the jets in the tub into different gulf streams. Dakota is hanging around the outside of the tub, because ever since her last 'bathtub incident' when she pooped in the water, she has been forbidden by the older kids from bathing with them. It's so hard to be 2.
I have a streusel coffee cake made from scratch cooking in the oven, and when that's done I'll get some hot chocolate made from milk (in glass bottles!) that was delivered this morning from the milk man. Aside from the fact that I used the computer to get the coffee cake recipe, and I wasn't the one actually milking the cows this morning, I feel like a pioneer mom today.
I anticipate this afternoon will see Dakota taking a nap (pleasepleaseplease!) and the kids and I snuggling up in my bed so we can listen to the rain while we finish Robinson Crusoe and "You Wouldn't Want to be a Colonist". May 11-13 is the celebration of the 400 anniversary of Jamestown being settled, which is a perfect fit into what has become an early American focus of interest for both Brooke & Carter.
Later on in the day I'll have to change out of my pajamas and ship some orders out, go shopping for Todd's birthday tomorrow, and run a few more errands....but other than that this has been a very enjoyable, slow paced, old fashioned kind of happy day. April 14 DyslexiaI was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race. -- Winston Churchill -------------------------------------- Our History: We were given an official diagnosis of Brooke's dyslexia in the middle of her 3rd grade year. Interestingly, it did not come from the school district's tests-- they expressly denied any learning disabilities or language based disorders--but came from outside and independent testing we paid for ourselves. Even WITH a dyslexia diagnosis confirmed and reconfirmed by no fewer than 3 doctors/neuropsychologists, she was denied any remedial services or even an acknowlegement of the learning difference by 2 different school districts (comprised of at least 12 'specialists' in each district.) How It Affected Our Daughter: I anticipated Brooke would do well in school--she had always been bright, curious, creative, confident, and enthusiastic. However, she struggled from the first day of Kindergarten. She cried every day before school in K-3. She cried every day after school, doing homework, from K-3. She developed stomach aches and headaches. She became increasingly quiet and withdrawn. She stopped being curious (except for her interest in animals and nature). She started second guessing herself and calling herself 'stupid' and 'dumb' and she believed it. She developed a pretty significant eye twitch or tick. She developed anxiety and phobias. She became unresponsive and angry towards learning. Although the school refused to acknowlege or accomodate her for any learning disabilities, they suggested we medicate her for anxiety and ADD. Why Does This Matter? Aside from the obvious feelings that a mom has towards her child that is being neglected & abused by a system put in place that has a duty to help that child...there are societal implications that go far beyond the people and families dealing with dyslexia. The fact is, everyone is affected by dyslexia/learning dissabilities. The price we pay as a society is high: teenage pregnancies, high school drop out rates, juvenile deliquencies, illiteracy, and the lost potential of these unique minds. What Needs to Happen? Understanding and awareness about dyslexia on behalf of the schools. Across the board training of teachers who need to understand that up to 20% of the kids in their classroom any given year will have some kind of learning disability. Flexibility in the school curriculum to accomodate these unique learners. Widespread change in how dyslexia is classified and tested for. Understanding and awareness about dyslexia on behalf of parents who have kids that are getting lost in the system. ----------------------------------------- April 08 Happy Easter!Honestly, what I'd like to title this is "Happy freaking Easter. Whatever." But I'm trying to rally for the occasion. I love holidays, but I especially love Easter. After a long, dark winter, I usually am really receptive to the feelings of rebirth and hope that come around this time of year. However, I have a few things going against me this year.
1) It's snowing outside. TONS. After 4 blizzards this year, I'm done with snow. I hadn't even gotten out the kids Easter outfits...but if I'd had, they still wouldn't be able to wear them because it's 30 degrees outside. We bundled up in our winter wear to get to church. Ba Humbug.
2) My dogwoods & crabapples haven't bloomed this year, and after this storm I don't think they will. BOO!
3) I'm pretty sure this storm is slowly killing any new hydrangea blooms that survived the winter, as well as my tulips (which were just starting to bloom!). I'm still holding out for the colombines...they're used to this, right? You'd have to be, if you're the state freaking flower, right?!?
4) Dakota is sick, and I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with it too. Aches, chills, sore throat, headache. BOO!
5) My tradition is to put on a dinner with lamb, lots of sides, and a special themed cake. This year? Costco steaks from last week, and maybe hot potatoes if I can rally enough to get them in the microwave for 8 minutes. Green beans from a can. Pastel M&M's for dessert. Served on paper plates with a big side of cranky.
6) Did I mention the snow?
I think I'll soak myself in a hot bath until next week.
While I'm soaking, I'll post some of my 'Easter Greatest Hits' pictures to remind me of how things used to be.
April 07 Rip Roarin' Readin'The kids and I have read our way from Benjamin Franklin to Daniel Boone and on to George Washington, but we've taken a detour to Davy Crocket, Pecos Bill, & Paul Bunyan. We're finishing up a few more biographies about Daniel and also are having a great time with the book 'American Tall Tales' by Mary Pope Osborne. In the book, she retells some of the classic and most outlandish stories from the people in America's home grown myths.
It is, hands down, the most fun book I have read aloud to the kids. The colloquialisms and spirit of the characters really come across in her writing and I've developed a really low, gravelly, southern twang-like speaking voice to say phrases like, "Hello there! I'm Davy Crockett, and I'm real hungry! Which means bad news to any little warm-blooded, four-legged, squinty-eyed, yellow-bellied creature!" For his wife (Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind) I've got a slightly higher southern twang-like speaking voice full of sassiness: "I'm a streak of lightning set up edgeways and buttered with quicksilver. I can outgrin, outsnort, outrun, outlift, outsneeze, outsleep, outlie any varmint from Maine to Louisiana. I like to wear a hornets nest for my Sunday bonnet!"
The kids even got into the act and did an impromptu reenactment of Davy Crocket meeting up with 'ole Mike Fink and trying to start a fight. Brooke was Davy, Carter was Mike, and there was a lot of crowin', neighin', roarin', flappin', shakin', thumpin', & howlin' goin' on. Needless to say, after all that to-do, Davy and Mike were too tired to actually fight. And after laughing so hard, the kids and I were pretty worn out, too.
 April 06 Must See TV for Friday NightsFriday night, 7pm. Dogfights on the History Channel.
"The men and aircraft behind the most intense air battles ever waged...
The new series DOG FIGHTS recreates famous battles using state-of-the-art computer graphics. With up to 25 percent of the program consisting of animation, viewers will feel like they're in the battle, facing the enemy. First-hand accounts will drive the story. Rare archival footage and original shooting supplement the remarkable computer graphics." Carter discovered this show in a hotel room while we were travelling back from a trip to California. Todd and I were in our room, and the kids were in the main area, on the couch/bed on the other side of some french doors. Noticing it was getting late, I walked in to tell Carter it was lights out time (the girls were already asleep despite the sounds of warfare from the TV set) and he was transfixed with the reenacted dogfights he was watching. So, I sat down to watch a bit with him and became equally as engrossed. Now, it's a Friday night tradition! This show set in motion Carter's fixation on aviation warfare. Particularly those that happened in WWII. I've watched his interest bloom in so many areas because of his focus--geography (particularly in the Pacific but also the locations of the nations fighting in WWII), history (general warfare, also the dates of major battles of--you got it--WWII), math (comparing strengths and weaknesses of different planes, measuring distances between armies), & strategic thinking. It's even the subject of a nerdy ballad that Todd had on his itunes and that I always teased him about. Please, link through and scroll down to the sample of "Sink the Bismark" by Johnny Horton. It's worth your listen. Here's a link to the lyrics. And remember that yes, Todd has sung this for years and had it on his playlist for as long as he's had a playlist. Who can't fall in love with that?! (also, here's a random link I found while searching for lyrics: A very modern video/song about sinking the Bismark. Kind of like a cross between a song from the group 'Midnight Oil' and a cool high school history film.) April 02 Macgyver with the popsicle sticks. for the kids. I thought I had saved enough to get one this Christmas, but it only took a few compulsive internet shopping sprees to put an end to that. However, I did have enough to invest $2.00 into popsicle sticks. Hundreds of them. As far as inspirational things go, popsicle sticks have never been it for me. Even in school--I remember being in first grade, having to make a popsicle christmas star (Imagine! Celebrating Christmas at school! Isn't that quaint?) and not quite getting it.
Brooke is another story. All she needs is some duct tape, a handful of popsicle sticks, and in a couple of hours she'll have constructed the Taj Mahal. You think I'm exagerating, but I'm not. Case in point...her newly constructed toy treehouse--like the one in my dreams, except about $130 cheaper and much more fun! She started with a basic platform at ground level, then added some rope ladders with more platforms at varying heights. She is continually adding to it, and now she has a few trap doors, a lookout tower, and various other attachments. I'll attach a few pictures I took of her starter house, as I don't have any recent pic's of the newer developments.
It is a perfect place for all her toob animals to hang out and party.
Everytime I look at one of her intricate popsicle stick creations, I am reminded of the powerful creativity that is a byproduct of dyslexia and file it under 'the glass is half full' category of learning differences.
March 27 Benjamin FranklinThere are about as many ways to homeschool as there are ways to diet. If one were to use the google oracle to search 'homeschooling philosophies' one would be faced with this: "Results 1 - 10 of about 1,310,000" . Yowza...where does one start?!
There is a wide range of curriculum in the spectrum between classical homeschooling & unschooling. Each has it's own 'leader' or source of inspiration...Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise wrote "The Well Trained Mind". John Holt is widely considered the founder of the 'unschooling' movement. Dr. Oliver DeMille wrote "A Thomas Jefferson Education". These are just 3 examples (which I personally have read and loved!) in a sea of many other approaches to the subject of teaching children. A nice comprehensive list of the variety of theories for learning/homeschooling can be found here.
So, what does this have to do with Benjamin Franklin? Back a year or so ago, when we were still using an online homeschool curriculum, one of the assignments was a reading on Benjamin Franklin. I am embarrased to admit that even though I was an American Studies major, I never delved more into his life beyond the whole kite/lightning experiment and his contributions to developing our new country. However, one thing led to another, and the kids and I fell in love with Ben. Head over heals, go to the library and check out every book they had on him, read about him every night, LOVE. We were neglecting our other 'studies' to make time to learn about this extraordinary life, to the point where I became a little anxious. "Let's read about Benjamin!" the kids would beg. "First, we have to get these worksheets done! Focus! Sit down! Learn!" I would tell them. They would sulk off, halfheartedly doing their work, until it was finished and they would come alive again. "Benjamin before bed!" they'd shout.
It didn't take long for Brooke to make a connection. "Hey Mom." she said one day. "Benjamin is a pretty good example, isn't he? I mean, he was smart, funny, and always thinking of stuff to do and experiments to try, right? He did a LOT of good things." Walking blindly into her trap, I enthused, "Yeah, he really is amazing, isn't he?!" "Mom, I really want to be like that." she explained. "I mean JUST like him. Because he did all of that without going to school. He taught himself the things he wanted to know. He talked to different people, and read lots of books, and looked around at life. I think I have a lot in common with him! I think of things all the time, and I always find things to do, and I want to learn the things that interest me, not the things you want to teach me." Finally, her evil plan was made clear. And she was making such a good arguement, darn it. She was happy to be out of school, but would be even happier (& productive!) one more step away from a curriculum.
To make a long story a little bit shorter, that was the start of our disconnection with a formal curriculum. It's amazing the power that one man, who lived 300 years ago!, can have with the present. He's our 'mascot', if you will, and inspiration. DeMille has the Thomas Jefferson Education....we have a Benjamin Franklin Education going on.
Imagine our excitement when we noticed that the DMNS was sponsoring a temporary exhibit in honor of the 300th anniversary of his birth! You cannot possibly imagine the nerdy glow of happiness that enveloped me to see Brooke and Carter so excited and bouncing around the displays in the exhibit going, "Oh my gosh! Is that his actual signature?!" "Look at this! An almanac!" "Check out what he wore to visit France!" "Look at his glasses!". The icing on the cake was the whoopie cushions they sold in the gift store (did you know he signed an essay on passing gass: "Fart Hing"? Love, I tell you, nothing but love for this man.).
March 17 Science ClassesBrooke signed up for a class a few weeks ago, for a dissection class similar to this one. She's never been squeamish, so off she went to spend the day dissecting things like a cow's eye, a sheep's brain, a frog, and a heart of some animal. She was OK with the brain & heart, but the dead frog saddened her, and the cow's eye freaked her out. Who knew it would be the size of a fist?!?
March 15 "Time to Tee Off!"Introducing the world premiere of Brooke's first claymation movie, "Time to Tee Off", staring her original cast, The Y's.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
March 14 Happy Pi Day!Yessiree, today is indeed a day celebrated by math wizzes everywhere as Pi Day. Not a real math wiz myself, I wondered why today of all days, until I read that the date--3/14, mimics pi--3.14. Ha!
And so, to honor this day, I will relate a recent experience that Brooke and I had with Pi.
We noticed that there were well formed fox tracks in our backyard, and were attempting to make plaster casts of them.
What we knew: The tracks measured 2 inches across, so we would need a circle that would be 3 inches across.
What we needed to know: How long to cut our rectangle cardstock, so that it would measure 3 inches across when bent into a circle.
Thankfully, we had just read Sir Cumference and so we could identify what the radius was, and that we needed the circumference, but kept saying to ourselves, "How do we measure the circumference? How is it done?" and then (in case saying it slower would help) "hooooow. dooooo. weeeee. getttttt. circumfereeeeence?" I got that panicky feeling I remembered so well from high school geometry class. The only math class, by the way, that I ever got an 'A' in. But somehow I couldn't remember ever using the formulas to determine the correct shape for a plaster cast circle.
By the way, if you already know the answer, please google 'great math minds' and read those blogs. This place is strictly for people like me who attempt to recieve answers to math problems through the mysterious ether, or through divine intervention, or through quiet meditation.
The math gods heard Brooke and my frustrated exclamations: "This would be so much easier if we could find circumference with only diameter!" and a stored away and long forgotten memory floated to my conscience. "Brooke, I think there is a way!" Excitedly, we both ran to the computer to ask the google oracle about 'circumference and Pi', and it did not dissapoint. Eureka! C=d*pi !!!!
Thanks to Pi, we were able to construct our circles, make our plaster casts, and sleep well that night. We also developed a certain appreciation for the need for Pi.
And so, we celebrate this day with the math geeks of the world. Cheers to Pi!
March 09 Directionally challengedThat's how I would describe myself. Both for following or giving directions, also, for finding my way different places. You know, like from the inside of the mall to my car. I get lost 1) getting from a store to the right part of the mall, 2) finding the right doorway out, & 3) finding my car once I get to the proper exit. Thank goodness for car alarms that go off if you hold down the lock button. It helps me narrow down where to start searching for my ride home. Frequently, once I've found the right car, I still manage to get it wrong. I look for a white minivan, I see a white minivan, I go to a white minivan. Then I notice, when I can't open the door, that it's not the right kind of white minivan. More searching, unless the kids happen to be with me and can point me in the right direction. I also still cannot give people directions to my house from the highway. It's not difficult, I've lived here almost 3 years now, but I have to keep written notes nearby..."if coming from North...", "if coming from South...". Usually I can't find them when I really need them, so panic ensues. Thank goodness for mapquest and a quick internet connection.
In any case, my kids seem to have not gotten this curse from me. They are little compasses, like their dad. And as if to rub it in, Carter also likes to carry a compass around his neck and randomly announce "We are now facing North!". In an effort to get some practice with directional activities, and to foster my kids inate ability, we are looking forward to trying some orienteering this spring. I'd thought that we could get out and practice a little this winter, but it's been so cold and snowy (you know, blizzards will do that). So, we set up a mini-course in our playroom. Duct tape squares spaced out every 2 feet, 4 square rows total, each square of duct tape with its own number. Facing due North (yay! I did it!). The kids start out on a number with a compass and a set of directions from me...'4 feet North. 2 feet East. 6 feet South...what number are you on?' It's been a fun game, and now we take turns charting courses for each other.
In order not to suck the fun out of it, I won't mention the mental math & computation this activity takes. Nor will I talk about how some people call it "running while playing chess..." or "the thinking sport". So far it's just been a fun thing for the kids and me to do while waiting for spring, and it will be even more fun when we can all get out as a family and run the course!
(side note...if you look carefully at one of the pictures, you can see proof that I really used to be a serious homeschooler. Charts on the walls! Multiplication tables! Calendars! Slowly they are being removed to make way for the kids homemade pirate treasure maps and pieces of work. I'm hoping I can sell the old teaching charts on ebay or something.)
Brainquest 'Around the World' GameI like any company with the tagline, "Because it's OK to be smart". So we have quite a few of the fandecks from Brainquest. They are portable, quick, easy, and can be used with a group of people or by one person. We use them in a lot of ways--a quick game in the car or at a restaurant, a bunch of levels for our own 'Jeopardy' type game, or Brooke & Carter's favorite 'Tickle' game where each wrong answer gets you tickled.
We branched out and got this 'Around the World' board game from Brainquest. What I like about it is it has 4 levels that can be played simultaneously so kids from 6-12 can each play the same game. Carter LOVES it, and has declared himself 'Game Reader' so he is the only one that can read the questions on the cards aloud to people. This is quite something, considering that Carter is a rather reluctant 'out loud' reader. Brooke doesn't find it very interesting--if it were an "Animals Around the World" game she would be into it as well. But geography doesn't quite do it for her. She rarely plays a game, but will sit around and give us more trivia facts about the question/answer.
We play this with an inflatable world globe that gets a lot of use in this house. It's the same globe that we tracked Captain Nemo's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" voyage on (the big black bullseye is where he found Atlantis), the same one we tracked Captain Ahab's "Moby Dick" journey, and the one we use as reference for any kind of 'where in the world' question that comes up. You will see in the pictures how marked up it is...like the Velveteen Rabbit, its worn exterior only shows how loved it is.
March 08 Big Blue MarbleWhenever we visit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, we stop off at the Space Odyssey first thing. It's on the first floor, right before the elevator, and you get to walk through this cool hallway with flashing lights and eerie 'space sounds'.
It's interesting to see how different kids will approach walking into a room full of experiments and activites. Brooke is all over the place..bouncing back and forth between interesting exhibits. Carter is a bit more methodical, and walks in a general counter-clockwise motion, stopping at what he is interested in but making sure to see everything.
Now that we are familiar with the museum, the kids have definite things they like to see every time. One of them is a big model of Earth that is tucked away behind the Planetarium entrance. It's quite hidden from the rest of the Space Odyssey exhibits, but worth the look for it. It's huge...over 6 feet tall...and shows a nice detailed image of the Earth...every nook and cranny, every hill and vale. Even the trenches and seams under the ocean, which Carter likes to point out. It is set on a rotation speed of once every 3 minutes, which gives you just enough time to spot things that are interesting but not enough time to study them in detail...leaving you on the tips of your toes waiting for the next rotation. Unless you are like my kids who shadow the turn until they run into the wall 3/4 of the way around, and then zip 280 degrees back (or whatever 3/4 of 360 is...you know me and math) so you can catch it on the flip side. And then, don't forget to lay on the floor so you can glimpse Antarctica.
It's a pretty amazing thing for kids, whose reality revolves around themselves, to feel a bit of the scale of space. Something bigger than anything they know, bigger than anything they can imagine...bigger than the idea of 'me'. It's scary and exhilirating all at once. Brooke and Carter like to sit still, underneath the big Earth, close their eyes, and try to feel the rotation underneath them. They imagine themselves hurtling through space, round and round, until they fall over from the vertigo of the thought. Giggling and tumbling, time stops for a while underneath the big blue marble.
March 07 Roll Over, Beethoven!Do you often forget where you placed your keys, yet recal the words to your favorite song in 7th grade? Do you struggle to remember lists and important information, yet can sing the entire "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel? The best thing my 4th grade teacher did for me was introduce the 50 States by teaching the class a song, "50 Nifty United States". I would have been sunk by the end of the year if it weren't for that jingle...I still wow! and amaze! all my friends by recalling, verbatim, all 50 states in alphabetical order.
In College I was introduced to Humanities, which I loved. History with pictures and sounds! I was hooked.
I'd noticed this same tendency with Brooke...her rote memorization skills are on vacation somewhere in the Rainforest, but her recall for song lyrics is spot on. At the same time, music really moves her, and as I've mentioned before--2E kids who can make a connection with something are less likely to forget it or blow it off. I remember a few years ago, she and I were listening to one of my favorite classical songs. The melody suddenly changed tempo & octaves, and she giggled. I asked her what was so funny, and she told me "it's like the music just told me a joke!" This sensitivity and connection to music can be such a great companion to learning! Because of this, I'd been looking for a 'music appreciation' CD to introduce my kids to classical music in a fun, exciting way.
Enter the "Beethoven's Wigs" collection of songs. Each CD has a compilation of composers & songs set to really funny lyrics. Most of the words include the composer's name, facts, or something to do with the era/subject of the song. They're up to 3 CD's now, and we love every one of them. The kids now know about and recognize great pieces of classical music and the composers, and I didn't have to 'make them' learn it at all. It's all from listening to it when we run errands in the car! If you click on the link, you can hear some song snippets on their website. March 05 Reaping what we sew.Brooke comes from a long line of people who sew. Each of her grandma's on both sides of the family sew, as well as their mom's, and probably their mom's moms. This unbroken chain is shattered when it reaches me. The most I can recall sewing is a plush computer 'pillow' in 7th grade. Literally, a pillow in the shape of a computer...the bottom half was a keyboard, the top half was the monitor. I think I stitched an alien invader game into the screen.
Brooke has compensated for my inability to teach her anything about the use of a sewing machine by creating entire wardrobes for her stuffed animals by using fleece, scissors, and tape. I thought I would try to expand her horizons by enrolling her in a sewing class.
First up...a square blanket. Before class, we (Brooke, Carter & I) stopped off at the local 'Hobby Lobby' to get some fabric. Brooke paired a lovely leopard pattern with a dramatic horse print. Carter surprised me by coming up to me holding a bolt of red fleece and a bolt of flaming tiger striped print. He wasn't about to stand by while Brooke made a nice, soft blanket!
All the way to the class (which I hadn't signed him up for) and then back to home (where I told them I would sweep the cobwebs off my sisters sewing machine so we could use it) Carter would say, "I can't wait to get sewing!" Proving the point that real men DO sew.
That day was very productive. Blankets, pillows, baby blankets, doll blankets, more pillows, and new fancy doll wardrobes were created. Brooke and Carter LOVE their soft, fleece blankets and sleep with them every night. I don't know if Carter will sew again...he liked making the machine go really fast by pressing on the pedal, but doing the stitchwork just wasn't his bag.
I won't talk about how mathmatical sewing is, or how great it is for things like fine motor skills, perceptual concepts, and eye hand coordination. That would take all the fun out of it, really. What we did talk about was how much fun we were having, how girls throughout history must have felt while sewing, and then we sang to Kelly Clarkson and munched on some snacks. Carter, by that time, had gone to practice his golf swing, but he came back just in time for me to finish up his blanket.
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