Black's Cool Homeschool

Educating the Will

2012-01-23T21:16:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about the principle of moral agency--the power to choose. The ability to act for ourselves and not to be acted upon. I believe it is an incredibly precious gift from God.
So I find it enlightening that two of my favorite "mentors"--Charlotte Mason and Rudolph Steiner--had much to say on this topic. They both called it "Will," but it is the same. And schooling the will should be one of the fundamental goals of education.
Charlotte Mason noted that a child who is called "strong willed" because he always wants his own way has actually a weak will. He does not have enough control to choose what is right when what he wants is wrong. If a child is always choosing the easy way, it is a parent's job to help strengthen that child's will by giving him experience and practice in choosing right.
Rudolf Steiner believed that "thinking, feeling, and willing" are parts of the soul. He, too, proscribed exercises for cultivating the will. And Steiner's educational model (Waldorf) includes daily activities for not only head and heart, but the hand--where the will is manifest. (Notice that "will" involves action.) By exercising the will, we train it to choose right.
Charlotte Mason felt that good ideas are the best way to inspire the will. Her recommendations for reading living books and for studying good art and music are both ways of nourishing the will.
I love Charlotte Mason's school motto: "I am, I can, I ought, I will."

Winter Solstice 2011

2012-01-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

"Last night was the longestnight of the year. But, starting today,the days will be getting longer. The sunwill be getting stronger and climbing higher in the sky. This is also the time that we celebrate thebirth of the Son of God—He who is the Light of the World, who gives uslight and strength.

"Taking turns, let us walk tothe light and light our candles, and then share our light with those who comeafter us."

Thus began our celebration of the winter solstice: our advent spiral. This was the first year we had celebrated with other homeschool families, and it was our biggest spiral ever. (Maybe a bit too big, since it took a long time for each child to walk all the way in and out!)

Cream of Butternut soup for our solstice feast!

It may be our family's last spiral celebration, since D decided he didn't want to walk this year. (He did help to build the spiral, however.) Perhaps he has outgrown it. But I always welcome the chance to think about light and what it means. Jodi Mesler, another Waldorf mom, recently shared her insight that the fall equinox to the spring equinox is the time for inner work: prayer, meditation, planning. There is less light outside, so we find it within ourselves. Spring equinox to fall equinox is the time of outer light and outer work--implementing our thoughts and plans of the darker time. From now on, this is what the advent spiral will mean to me.

Language Arts with Norse Myths--Waldorf grade 4

2011-10-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Throughout my years of homeschooling, I have used literature to teach language arts. Mostly I let the authors of Learning Language Arts Through Literature figure it out for me. For 4th grade, however, there just wasn't a good way to get through the whole LLATL book and do all the Norse myths recommended for the Waldorf curriculum. So I began with a "scope and sequence" of what is typically covered in 4th grade. Here is one online list. Then I found a good book of Norse myths. Children of Odin by Padraic Colum was my favorite of the several I read. It is available here, but having the book is nice too.

Instead of doing several blocks of Norse myths, we are doing them throughout the year. Each week I read one of the stories to D. The next day he narrates (retells) the story and we talk about it ("Reading" and "Thinking Skills" topics).

The third day he--sometimes with help--decides on a summary of the story or part of the story. I write down the summary and he copies it or writes it from dictation in his lesson book. (We started dictation in 3rd grade, and he does it a little over half the time now. But I think there are good skills learned from copywork too.) That covers "Penmanship" and many of the "Composition" topics in the scope and sequence, though the summaries are pretty short. Other projects throughout the year will give D a chance to write longer pieces. Of course he illustrates each story too.

The fourth day, we cover the "Grammar" goals. This turned out to be easier than I thought, because I just choose one of the items on the scope and sequence list and spend two or three weeks on it. (D is also doing Editor in Chief, Beginning level once a week, so I mostly coordinate with what he is learning there.) With capitalization, for instance, we talked about the rules then I typed up a paragraph from the story that had lots of names in it. D had to fill in all the necessary capitals--first word of each sentence and proper names of people and places. For identifying nouns, I found a section of the story with a variety of words and he circled all the nouns. This gave us a chance to talk about pronouns too. Another day I had him take a few paragraphs and change them from past tense to present tense.

There were still some units in the LLATL book that I wanted to cover, so I have scheduled them in over the months. For instance, we did "friendly letters" just after D's birthday when he had thank-you notes to write. We will study poetry (and book making) when N is doing a poetry unit in her literature class. And I have planned a research skills unit for part of our state history study.

I am having a good time, and D is LOVING the Norse myths. Rudolf Steiner really knew what he was doing to cover them in 4th grade.

Textiles and Fibers--Waldorf grade 3

2011-06-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

According to Waldorf philosophy, the third grade child is emerging from his little world of family and imagination and is finding his place in the bigger, outside world. That is why we study Old Testament stories: people on a journey, learning how to relate to authority. But we also study the ways we get along in this bigger world--namely food, clothing, and shelter. Here's an outline of what we learned about textiles:
*Introduction
What was it like to be a baby? We told D's birth story. Was he born with any clothes? What kind of things did he need? In main lesson book (MLB), he drew a baby with his "layette."

*Leather
The first peoples' clothes were animal skins--leather. D made a handwork project with leather. (The Tandy company has lots of kits.) What are the advantages and disadvantages of clothing made from skins?

*Cotton
D played with some actual cotton plants. (I bought mine on Ebay for just a few dollars.) I let him pull apart the bolls to find the seeds inside. Wasn't the cotton gin a great invention so we didn't have to do this by hand?
We read Cotton by Millicent E. Selsam which talks about the history of cotton, the plant, and how it is processed. In what kinds of weather would you like to wear cotton?

*Silk
I told the legend of the Chinese princess who discovered silk when a silkworm cocoon fell in her cup of tea. (I found this story several places, but my favorite was "The Secrets of Silk" by Elizabeth Seward in Living Crafts magazine, Spring 2011.) We also read Material World--Silk by Claire Llewellyn and got some new colors of play silks. :) D drew the life cycle of the silk worm in his MLB.

*Flax
We watched several You-Tube videos about how flax is grown and processed. D illustrated the process in his MLB.

*Wool

We read Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow. (Pelle's suit is too small for him. He shears his sheep, then he has to help the people who card, spin, dye, weave, and sew his wool into a new suit.). We made a drop spindle and did our best to make yarn. (It wasn't very even!)

With every fabric, we tried burning a piece to see how flammable it was and how it smelled.

This was a really fun (and informative!) unit. I think older children would enjoy it too.

Language Arts grade 3--Creation Unit

2011-03-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

In January, I used the Old Testament creation story for a language arts unit. D made his own Main Lesson Book out of watercolor paper.

On the cover he wrote in Hebrew "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. (This is the most fun he's had with form drawing ever!)

For each part, we would read the account of a "day" in the book of Genesis, then D would paint. The next day, he would summarize the events and write his summary.

Day 2; God made the firmament....

Day 1: God divided Dark from Light.

Day 4: God created sun, moon, and stars.

Day 3: God separated land from water.
He made plants.

Day 6: God created land creatures
(note spider in web) and man.

Day 5: God created birds and sea creatures.

For this part of the unit, we were working on capitals at the beginning of sentences and periods at the end.

After finishing the book, we talked about Adam and Eve naming the animals, and brainstormed animal names (nouns) and the things they did (verbs).

Shelters and Building Unit--Grade 3

2011-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is D's "Shelters" unit from Fall, 2010
(borrowing heavily, with permission, from Marsha Johnson of Shining Star School)

Week 1--Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles
--Tell story of Sinai and 40 years of wandering.
Sing “Follow the Prophet”—verse about Moses
--Watch YouTube videos of building a Sukkah
Why is it important to the Jews to celebrate this holiday?
--Build our own Sukkah! and have lunch inside.
Draw a picture for Main Lesson Book.

Week 2—How do we live in our region?
--Walk around the neighborhood and look at the homes.
--Draw a picture of our house (MLB).
Look at parts of house: foundation, walls, roof, doors, windows, porches, eaves, rain gutters, siding, trim, chimney, stairs.
What materials were used to build our house?
How does the house look from different sides?
Which window goes with which room?
--Copywork—poem “My House’s Night Song” by Betsy Rosenthal
--Tell Stories of Northwest Native Americans—how they live, what they did, how they found food and shelter.
Choose a story for MLB.
If possible, visit a museum with exhibits of NW tribes.

Week 3—How do people live in other parts of the world?
--Talk over places we have visited. What are the homes like there?
--Copywork—from Come On Over to My House by Theo LeSieg
--Focus on different regions (via library books) and examine:
• Hot dry climates (cool, thick adobe, African kraal, mud-n-daub homes)
• Hot wet climates (homes on stilts, reed walls, roll-up-the-sides house, boat)
• Cold icy climates (igloos, thick felted yurts)
• Snowy mountain climates (pointed roofs with 2nd story “doors”)
• etc.
Draw the homes from these climates—showing proper flora and fauna around.

Week 4—Building a home
--Look at a building in process.
Notice foundations, steel rebar, studs, headers, footings.
Draw construction structures in MLB.
Examine, use, then draw hand tools including hammer, saw, screwdriver, chisel, ruler, square, plane, and drill. Make a simple project with carpentry tools
--Make a foundation of stone or bricks. (We made a raised garden bed.)
--Build a miniature dwelling and report on it.

Building Skills

2011-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

I recently finished reading a book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle which discusses the neurological means by which genius is built. In other words, how do you myelinize the right nerve pathways to make a skill come easily? The author suggests three parts to the process:

Deep Practice—specific strategies to make practice really count

Ignition—motivation which triggers passionate commitment

Master Coaching—teaching traits which inspire the previous two elements of genius.

I wonder, of course, how I can apply this to teaching my children. Coyle discusses the Bronte sisters: geniuses who started out as very ordinary children writing “little books.” He even includes an excerpt from one of their books. There are huge spelling and punctuation problems, and not much talent evident. Coyle concludes

“The unskilled quality of their early writing isn’t a contradiction of the literary heights they eventually achieved—it’s a prerequisite to it. They became great writers not in spite of the fact that they started out immature and imitative but because they were willing to spend vast amounts time and energy being immature and imitative, building myelin in the confined, safe space of their little books. Their childhood writings were collaborative deep practice, where they developed storytelling muscles.”

It makes me happy that L loves to write novels! Maybe I don’t have to wade through and edit all of them, if I can help her to apply the principles of deep practice while she’s writing.

What about math? Part of deep practice is making mistakes, then backing up and correcting the mistakes before forging onward. To apply that, it seems I need to sit with my children as they work their problems. When I see an error, we will correct it immediately and then practice another similar one. (That keeps Mom busy, but it’s worth a try!)

In the epilogue of the book, Coyle speaks specifically to how the talent code can be applied in various disciplines. The “Education” section mentions the Phonics vs. Whole Language debate, and Coyle points out that each is an incomplete part of building reading skills. “Phonics is about building reliable circuits, paying attention to errors, and fixing them. It’s about chunking: breaking down a skill into its component parts, and practicing and repeating each action involved in that skill….Whole Language, on the other hand, is about ignition, about filling motivational fuel tanks by creating environments where children fall in love with reading and writing.” Both are needed for reading success.

This book has certainly given me a lot to think about. I hope you will comment on how you feel these principles can be applied in homeschooling.

Research By Raymond and Dorothy Moore

2011-01-18T16:26:00.002-08:00

The Moores are generally considered the "grandparents" of the homeschool movement. Their books were the only books available when I first started to learn about homeschooling. They were both professional educators whose research guided many of my homeschool philosophies. (And I actually got to meet them at a conference in 1989!)

I recently saw this excerpt from Wikipedia's entry on homeschooling. All quotations are from an article by Raymond and Dorothy Moore titled “When Education Becomes Abuse: A Different Look at the Mental Health of Children”:

Social research
In the 1970s Raymond S. and Dorothy N. Moore conducted four federally funded analyses of more than 8,000 early childhood studies, from which they published their original findings in Better Late Than Early, 1975. This was followed by School Can Wait, a repackaging of these same findings designed specifically for educational professionals. Their analysis concluded that, "where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages eight to ten."
Their reason was that children, "are not mature enough for formal school programs until their senses, coordination, neurological development and cognition are ready." They concluded that the outcome of forcing children into formal schooling is a sequence of "1) uncertainty as the child leaves the family nest early for a less secure environment, 2) puzzlement at the new pressures and restrictions of the classroom, 3) frustration because unready learning tools – senses, cognition, brain hemispheres, coordination – cannot handle the regimentation of formal lessons and the pressures they bring, 4) hyperactivity growing out of nerves and jitter, from frustration, 5) failure which quite naturally flows from the four experiences above, and 6) delinquency which is failure's twin and apparently for the same reason." According to the Moores, "early formal schooling is burning out our children. Teachers who attempt to cope with these youngsters also are burning out." Aside from academic performance, they think early formal schooling also destroys "positive sociability", encourages peer dependence, and discourages self worth, optimism, respect for parents, and trust in peers. They believe this situation is particularly acute for boys because of their delay in maturity. The Moores cited a Smithsonian Report on the development of genius, indicating a requirement for "1) much time spent with warm, responsive parents and other adults, 2) very little time spent with peers, and 3) a great deal of free exploration under parental guidance." Their analysis suggested that children need "more of home and less of formal school" "more free exploration with... parents, and fewer limits of classroom and books," and "more old fashioned chores – children working with parents – and less attention to rivalry sports and amusements."

Today, more than ever, these are controversial views. However, I believe they are true.

Ruth Beechick's "Three Little Books"

2010-08-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ruth Beechick's name isn't exactly a household word among homeschooling moms, but her writing has had a big influence on me. In my early years of homeschooling, I especially appreciated her three little books about the "3 R's" for young children. I highly recommend these books, and believe that you don't need any other resources for K-3. Following is a brief summary:

A Home Start in Reading talks about teaching and doing "real stuff" (cooking, cleaning, hygeine) with your child before teaching reading. Then Beechick outlines five steps for teaching reading, with suggested games and activities for each step.

A Strong Start in Language discusses using models from great writing--via copywork, dictation, and rewriting--to learn writing skills. Beechick states, "Efficiency is a correlate of learning from wholes" because you learn on a need-to-know basis. She lists skills and sa

mple lessons by grade level.

An Easy Start in Arithmetic begins with ways of thinking about number: manipulative (up

to age 6-7), mental image, and abstract (after age 12-13). Good abstract thinking comes from lots of manipulative and mental image thinking in the early years. Along with "typical" grade level skills, Beechick provides many ideas for activities and games. She says, "We cannot overemphasize the importance of games for growing children."

You can probably tell, if you have read much of my blog, that these ideas are fundamental to my educational philosphy! I really appreciate Ruth Beechick's

ideas and insights, and I hope you will too. The best news: I discovered that these "three little books" are now in one volume, listed on Amazon for $8.62! That's less than I paid for them 25 years ago!

Harold Jacobs' Math Texts

2010-07-21T06:00:00.001-07:00

I've been hearing about Harold Jacobs' books for years, but finally had the chance to try one. My other Algebra II texts didn't seem to be a good fit for L this past year, so we tried Mathematics: A Human Endeavor. It is roughly an Algebra II text, though it has elements of more advanced algebra and lots of probability as well. I loved it, and even L (who is somewhat math-o-phobic) liked it most of the time. :o) It is much different from any other Algebra II course I have seen.

Actually, I wasn't even sure it was Algebra II level--the Forward in my book (3rd edition) says it was used as a "high school and college introductory textbook." That could mean al

most any grade level! What I finally did was to compare the Table of Contents (see below) with that of other Algebra II texts. (I have collected several of those, unfortunately!) Jacobs' text covered basically everything the others did, plus a little.

Chapter 1--Mathematical Ways of Thinking

Chapter 2--Number Sequences

Chapter 3--Functions and Their Graphs

Chapter 4--Large Numbers and Logarithms

Chapter 5--Symmetry and Regular Figures

Chapter 6--Mathematical Curves

Chapter 7--Methods of Counting

Chapter 8--The Mathematics of Chance

Chapter 9--An Introduction to Statistics

Chapter 10--Topics in Topology

The approach is quite different than other texts so I was afraid there would be gaps, but mostly I have just noticed different emphases (i.e. a topic covered in detail by Saxon might be briefly mentioned by Jacobs). There is a lot of "hands on" work, which is perfect for a kinesthetic learner. These models, for example, are part of the lesson on "Regular Polyhedra: The Platonic Solids."

Probably the only complaint I have (and it's minor) is that the "real life" problems don't have nice, neat solutions. The messy numbers were sometimes discouraging for L.

This book was given to me, so I had it on hand to try out. We liked it so much, though, that I'm going to take the plunge and try Harold Jacobs' Algebra next year for N.

Ancient Greece, 2010

2010-07-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

My girls had a great time making a Power Point presentation at the end of their unit on Ancient Greece. I have tried several things, but have not been able to put the Power Point on this blog! So I’ll just try to outline what we did.

Week 1

*The art and ideas of the Greeks are still all around us today (art, architecture, science, mathematics, government).
--Watch video: Athens and Ancient Greece (overview of Greek geography and what the ruins looked like in ancient times)
--Brainstorm ideas for a list of things we got “From Ancient Greece”
--Watch video: Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land (first part—talking about Greek use of the golden mean in architecture, geometry, music)

--Make a map of Greece, with names of major islands

*The stories of the heroes are considered the beginning of the history of Greece.
--Watch video The Aegean from Time Life's Lost Civilizations series
--Read an overview of Greek gods and goddesses in D’Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths.
--Do crossword puzzle or matching game (Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Greece)

--Read aloud The Golden Fleece: And the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum
vocabulary: protean, arachnid, lyric

Week 2—Trojan War
--Read The Children’s Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum

--Make model Trojan horse (while Mom reads).
--Read Aeschelus’ play Electra. (This was remarkably short. We took parts and read aloud. This also led to a discussion about Greek drama--masks, chorus, etc.)

Week 3—City States
--read aloud Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker. (This is a fictional account of a boy who lives in Athens then moves to Sparta.)

--Watch Ancient Greece from Time Life’s Lost Civilizations series

--read aloud Plutarch’s Lives—Cimon, Pericles
--Report on Lycurgus, Draco, Solon, Pisistratus

--Watch The First Olympics: Athens 1896

--Add people & events to timeline/century books.
vocabulary: trireme, draconian, solon, democracy, hygiene

Week 4--Wars
--Mom tell about the Persian Wars (490-479), using pictures from textbook.

(This included Battle of Marathon, Darius I (522-486), Militiades, Pheidippides, Xerxes I (486-465), Themistocles, Battle of Salamis, Aristides the Just.)
--Read aloud Leonidas, Hero of Thermopolae.

--Mom tell about the Delian League and the Peloponnesian War (431-404)
--Add people & events to timeline/century books.

Week 5

--Read aloud The Last Days of Socrates (selected sections) by Plato.

--Report on philosphers--Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes
--Read aloud Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick (and try out some of the math stuff!).

Week 6

--Read aloud Alexander the Great by John Gunther

THEN make a Power Point presentation about all of it!

(L and N did a great job--with music and lots of special effects.)

Edible and Healing Plants

2010-07-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

That's what I called our latest unit this spring. It included basic botany concepts, hands-on learning in the garden, plant- or gardening-related copywork, and instruction about healing herbs.

I followed the basic outline of the Apologia book Exploring Creation With Botany. (It is elementary level, but the concepts are easily expanded.) Each week we covered one chapter in the book, spent a few hours in the garden, and "met" two healing herbs. The kids each made a notebook of what they learned.

Week 1

*Plants are classified by whether they have tubes and by how they make seeds.

*How do non-vascular plants work?

*Make dandelion root tea.

Week 2

*Dissect a bean seed.

*Make a flip book about germination of a seed.

*Find out the difference between monocots and dicots.

*Learn about fennel and garlic. Make fennel candy (for digestion).

Week 3

*Dissect a flower

*Learn about flower families

*Discover yarrow and elder

Week 4

*Discuss various types of pollination

*Get to know comfrey and clove

Week 5

*What is the real definition of fruit?

*Classify types of fruit.

*Learn about cayenne and peppermint.

Other books I used were 10 Essential Herbs by Lalitha Thomas (a real gem, but currently out of print) and A Kid's Herb Book by Lesley Tierra. I highly recommend both. We found some good pictures of herbs in Medicinal Plants Coloring Book by Ilil Arbel.

May Day 2010 at Camlann Village

2010-05-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Our family and several friends traveled to Camlann Village--a living history town from the middle ages--to celebrate May Day.

L and N had to have costumes, of course, including enough hats for all of their friends.

And the MAYPOLE!

Homeschool Writing Contests

2010-04-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Tori, for the heads up on this one. I have a daughter who loves to write and is VERY excited to learn about all these contests.

For those of you who didn't see Tori's comment in a previous post, click here to find out about the Homeschool Writer of the Year competition. Check out the "Contest Chart" at the left on that website for a long list of available contests.

Chicken Math

2010-04-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

D’s third math block for this year was about the times tables. Although we have talked about multiplication before, we haven’t tried to memorize the math facts. Like other Waldorf blocks, these facts are introduced through stories. Since D loves to help with our chickens, I decided to make them the basis for our unit. D did request, however, that I do one story about beetles. (He has a “pet” beetle.) Since beetles have six legs, I used them for the sixes. And no, I could not have a story where a chicken eats a beetle!

For each times table (2 to 9), there is a story or instruction about chickens, skip counting on a 100’s chart (to see patterns), and practice with the math facts. We do this in the three-day rhythm (overlapping days to do two in each week). The times tables can be done in any order, but following is what I did. Note that, by the time you get to the last times table, there is only one fact to learn.

2’s tables Intro, then “Eyes and Ears of Birds” from Handbook of Nature Study, p. 36
Practice math facts with a beanbag.

9’s tables “The Secret Nests of the Spotty Dotties” from http://www.boggycreekfarm.com
(Tell it with 9 chickens standing in line waiting for the Spotty Dotties.)
Note how multiples of 9 always add to 9, etc.
Practice with the Math-It board

5’s tables “Feathers as Clothing” from Handbook of Nature Study pp. 27-29
Practice with the skip counting CD
Poem on p. 29

3’s tables “The Form and Use of Beaks” from Handbook of Nature Study pp. 37-38
“The Chicken Who Wouldn’t Eat Gravel” from http://www.mainlesson.com/
(Tell it with 3 chicks in the brood.)
Practice with Wrap-Ups.

6’s tables Story about beetles running, then hiding under rocks. How many legs?
Or “The Black Spanish Chicks” from http://www.mainlesson.com/
(Tell it with 6 eggs.)
Practice with times table song

4’s tables “The Feet of Birds” from Handbook of Nature Study pp. 39-40
(4 toes on a hen’s foot)
Practice with Math-It board, and review all previous times tables.

8’s tables “Chicken Ways” from Handbook of Nature Study pp. 41-44
Use “Chicken Talk” from http://www.upc-online.org/stories/chicken_talk.html to find 8 things that chickens say.
Practice with Wrap-Ups.

7’s tables Only one fact left! 7x7=49
Our seven chickens each ate seven weeds from the garden, etc….
Practice all with times tables songs.

I hope you can tell that you can do this around ANY theme. Just try to match the numbers with something in the story. Some stories (like the Spotty Dotties) can be used for any number by just adjusting the facts. I found that once I started looking, the stories came to me. It was fun!

Driver's Education

2010-03-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Driver's education isn't a homeschool class, at least in our state. But L wrote about her experience, and I thought you'd enjoy her observations. Writing IS a homeschool class! (Thanks to Je who originally got L to write this and posted it on her blog.)

When I took driver’s ed these past two months, I was told I would have to go on six drives, and I was a little nervous. However, all nervousness faded after my first drive, when I met the driving instructor. She was everything an instructor should be: calm, business-like, and cheerful. She would politely point out when I should start to stop, when I should turn, and about when the wheel should be moving for me to successfully make the light.

Everything went great on my first two drives, so I was absolutely confident in myself when the third drive came around and I was told I would have the substitute, Derek, because my instructor was going out of town for a wedding. I smiled and said okay, not worrying about it because of my past experience. The day came and I hopped happily into the car with the driving instructor, who, sadly for him, had the misfortune of looking like a certain older brother of mine who is famous for having a need for speed.

In his own way Derek was just as polite as my other instructor. He insisted on singing a solo of lady gaga for me the entire way and I was forced to smile and nod, smile and nod. Derek was an absolute gentleman. There was no need for me to drive, thought he, and he gallantly relieved me of both wheel and brake. As we drove along, I had one side of the wheel, and he had the other. I controlled the accelerator, but long before we reached the stop light, he politely used my brake, despite the fact my foot was already easing down on it. When I turned a corner, I signaled, and he turned. When he told me to angle park, he explained it, drew a picture of it, and then did it himself. I not only felt like a bad driver, I didn’t feel like a driver at all. Even in the parking lot, going five miles an hour, he insisted on letting me relax while he told me how--and then demonstrated--all the various kinds of parking and passing. I did my best to smile and nod, but I now realize I should have taken this time to take finish my book. It’s really sad I left it at home, but when I left I had no idea I would have the opportunity to read! At one point he asked me how I would back from the parking place I was in, to one on the far side and far end of the lot. I told him I would put the car in reverse, pull out of this spot, back along until I reached the other, and then back into it. He told me he had a serious problem with me backing for such a long time. “What I would do,” he told me, “would be to back out of this, pull forward to the next one, and then back into that.” I was confused and asked him if it was just me, or if he had really said “Back from this spot to that one.” He told me that is exactly what he said, but that there was no need to back the whole way! Needless to say (unless you are one of the rare breed of Derek-understanders) I was confused. It ended up okay though, because he did it for me. After that drive my confidence was in need of patching up, but it was partially repaired at my next class when the other students who had had the pleasure of being chauffeured by Derek said he did the same thing to them.

On my next drive I was once again with my normal instructor. After getting into the lesson car and adjusting the seat, she asked if I had practiced parallel parking. “Well,” I said, “Derek did.”

Only in homeschool...

2010-02-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

What was D singing this morning?

"Hello Salamis, I am a Greek trireme" (to the tune of "Hello Seattle").

We worked on timelines today, and he made a magnificent trireme that was about 400 years long!

Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?

2010-01-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

It’s pretty easy to figure out a timeline for the patriarchs of the Bible. Assuming the Fall at about 4000 B.C. , one can easily piece together the details from genealogies given in the Bible. Coordinating secular and sacred history is, however, a little more difficult, but Truth is Truth and everything will fit together when we find it. (See a related post here.)

Ramses II usually gets the nod as the Exodus pharaoh because of several Biblical scriptures stating that Israel sojourned in Egypt for 430 years. But this idea never seemed right to me. Why do we never hear about such a big event in Egyptian history? And why (my husband always asked) didn’t Ramses die in the tenth plague when firstborn sons were killed?

Then one day I read Galatians 3:16-17 which specifies 430 years from the Covenant (before Abraham went to Egypt) to the Law (at the time of the Exodus). That’s more than 200 years different than if you count 430 years from when Joseph went to Egypt. Based on those numbers, I knew the Exodus was during Egypt’s 18th dynasty—the dynasty that drove out the Hyksos pharaohs of Joseph's day. The 18th dynasty not only “knew not Joseph,” but hated him and his associates. I couldn’t pinpoint a specific pharaoh though, because there are so many discrepancies with the dates.

That’s where I left it, but I shared my conclusions with my friend Heidi and she discovered more when she was studying Egypt with her family. Heidi determined that Hatshepsut must have been the pharaoh’s daughter who adopted Moses, and that Thutmoses III was the pharaoh of the Exodus. I’m sure she’s right, and here’s why:

Hatshepsut—a.k.a. “His Majesty herself”—is known as the female pharaoh who locked her young stepson away with the priests while she (who was supposed to rule as his regent) seized power and ruled for 21 years. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it would take a woman with such chutzpah to adopt a Hebrew baby at a time when Egypt was killing all the Hebrew boys. Hatshepsut never had a biological son (only two daughters), but she named her adopted son Moses after her father, mighty Thutmoses I. It makes perfect sense that she was preparing Moses to rule next.

But then Moses left (to Midian). A short time later Thutmoses II (successor to Thutmoses I and husband of Hatshepsut) died. That left Thutmoses III—son of a harem wife and practically a commoner himself—as Pharaoh. Hatshepsut’s young daughter married this half brother, and Hatshepsut was Dowager Queen and regent—for awhile. But she wanted more. Perhaps she was hoping and waiting for Moses’ return. In a bloodless coup d’etat, she seized all power and proclaimed herself Pharaoh of the Two Lands.

By the time Moses did return 40 years later, Hatshepsut was dead. Thutmoses III had been sole Pharaoh for many years and had created a huge empire: setting out every spring to quash rebellions and to conquer new lands. In spite of his might, however, he certainly felt threatened by Moses who was the true heir. Thutmoses III blustered and bullied to hide his insecurity. But it took the tenth plague—where his own firstborn son died and Thutmoses III didn’t—to prove he was an imposter and to shatter his pride. And then the Israelites were gone.

Thutmoses III had no more conquests following the Exodus; after 17 years of empire building, he stayed home. He had to, since his army was at the bottom of the Red Sea. He did, however, have a big temper tantrum and demolished all of the shrines and monuments which Hatshepsut had built. (Many of these had pictures of Hatshepsut with a little boy.) After a long reign, Thutmoses III was followed on the throne by Amenhotep II—his second son.

As great as it is to finally have all the pieces fit together, it’s even better to see how this strengthens Moses’ position as a type for Jesus Christ. I already knew that both were deliverers, both were lawgivers, etc. Both of them escaped death because of kings who killed baby boys. But add to that that both were adopted into royal lines where they should have ruled an earthly kingdom. Both of them had younger brothers who wanted (and tried) to rule in their place. It’s this testimonial to the life of Jesus Christ that is best of all. (And the fact that I can teach it right along with our history.)

Candlemas

2010-01-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite holidays is Groundhog Day. Did you know that it’s about halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox? So the sun is growing stronger (hence we have the tradition of looking for our shadows). It’s also the day in the Catholic church when they bless the candles for the coming year.

So this is the day that we’ve chosen to make our own candles.

Every year we gather the wax that drips from burning candles or candles whose wicks are gone. Anything usable we sort by color. Then we melt it all and make new candles from old. Some years we dip candles, if we’re ambitious. This past year we used small milk cartons and cardboard juice cans as molds to make pillar candles. We bought our candle wicking at Paper, Scissors, Stone.

Happy Candlemas 2010! I hope you make some beautiful candles.

Our 2009 Christmas Spiral

2009-12-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

Somehow our Christmas spirals never turn out the way I plan them, and this year was no exception. It was, however, a happy success.

The weather cooperated for once, so I was able to make a BIG spiral that looked beautiful! (Our house is small, so we have to make our spiral outside under the carport. This year's didn't have to be totally under cover, though, because we didn't have rain or wind.)

Several of D's friends helped me carry and arrange the branches. They got so excited just looking at what we were making that I impulsively invited them to come. Seven to nine year olds seem to enjoy this tradition more than anyone. One of the boys did end up joining us.

My older kids were not extremely enthusiastic about another spiral (this is our third), so I told them they didn't need to walk but I would appreciate their singing. B--my 25 year old--not only wanted to walk the spiral, but he made himself a torch! (I'm sure you can see where the unexpected comes in here!)

The evening turned out to be very fun. I talked a little at the start about how we were in the season when the light was coming back and how we would soon celebrate the birth of Jesus--the Light of the World. I think only the little boys were listening though, because everyone was anxious to get started.

In spite of their misgivings, everyone walked the spiral except for Ju who was taking pictures. My grandson even did it twice. (These little ones can really feel the wonder of the season and the candlelight!)

While they were walking, we sang some reverent Christmas songs--"Still, Still, Still"; "Stars Were Gleaming"; "Shepherd's Carol." When B skipped around with his torch, we sang "Torches Here, Jeanette Isabella"! (That is actually one of my favorite songs.)

We finished by singing "The Lord is my Light" and going in for spiced hot cider.

Studying Egypt, 2009

2009-12-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

I started this unit with things my children already knew about—pyramids and mummies. After about a week, we continued by using the book Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt (by Elizabeth Payne) as our outline. This book discusses some of the more prominent pharaohs and the archeological discoveries related to them. I added a few other things—trade routes in connection with Hatshepsut, Egyptian religion in connection with Akhenaton, Biblical Joseph during the Hyksos’ reign, etc.

One of our books for this unit was The Curse of the Pharoahs by Zahi Hawass (Egypt’s current Director of Antiquities). Hawass has an engaging, instructive style. After reading his book, we started noticing Dr. Hawass everywhere—in our DVD’s (not always named, but we recognized his face) and mentioned in other books. Then I started to wonder… it seems that this man has a lot of energy…and ego. One book I read talked about how American researchers were “kicked out” of Egypt because Zahi Hawass didn’t like what they were learning about the Sphinx! I’ve decided this is one of those cases where we learn more than we planned on: not only about Egypt, but about the “politics” of archeology.

Along those same lines, Motel of the Mysteries by David McCauley is a must-read so that you learn not to believe everything the archeologists might say.

I really enjoyed a DVD we happened to find about Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten (Nefertiti Resurrected). Archeologist Dr. Joann Fletcher believes that a damaged mummy—found in the Valley of the Kings—may be Queen Nefertiti. There is evidence that this woman died from a stab wound, which is consistent with the fact that Nefertiti had enemies in high places. There is also evidence (from the positions of her mummy’s arms) that this woman ruled as pharaoh! Fletcher has theorized that Nefertiti was renamed Smenkhkare, the pharaoh who was Akhenaten’s co-regent and who ruled for three years after Akhenaten’s death. The evidence is compelling!

Another excellent DVD was Discovering Egypt (Video Visits series). The feature title shows mostly modern-day Egypt, but the “Cities of Ancient Egypt” option has com

puter imaging that turns the ruins into what they may have looked like anciently.

Finally, my favorite part of this block was our foray into archeoastronomy. Robert Bauval has written a series of books about the ancient Egyptians and how their immense knowledge of astronomy guided their building of pyramids and temples. This is FASCINATING! I no longer accept the premise that those pyramids were just a bunch of tombs.

Now I want to visit the land of the Nile :)

The Math Gnomes Visit Egypt

2009-12-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

(First math block for grade 2)
Since my older kids were studying Egypt, D was naturally very interested in pyramids and mummies. It was time for the math gnomes to take a trip! D decided they would travel by rocket.
Following is a brief summary of our block, to show how you can make any theme fit specific math concepts....

*When the gnomes arrived, they decided to visit the Giza plateau. Those 3 giant pyramids are awesome! We decided to see how much treasure could fit into each one. The littlest pyramid can only hold 9 treasure bags. When we got more than 9, we had to make a bundle of 10 and move it to the next pyramid. We tried all different numbers of treasure bags (Gnome Add was a big help), until D understood place value.

*The pharaohs lived in Egypt thousands of years ago. D is writing all the numbers from 1 to 1000 on a LONG strip of paper. (I never realized how much the writing would help with place value, but it was a good eye opener.)

*When you have big numbers (years, stones in the pyramid, workers to build the temples…), it helps to add and subtract in columns instead of lines. D learned to write his problems a new way.

*And when Gnome Add has too many numbers in one column (pyramid), he can carry over to the next. Thus we learned renaming. (We did this with manipulatives too.)

L (now 10th grade) asked why she didn’t get to learn math this way!

Mesopotamia Unit, 2009

2009-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

This was a challenging unit to put together. All of the books at the library had pretty much the same information, and none of it was very inspiring (or very high-level). Besides the Epic of Gilgamesh, the only literature I could find to read aloud was a short story about the Tower of Babel that I had cut out of Omni magazine ages ago! (It wasn’t totally relevant, but provoked lots of good discussion!)

Finally there was the question of the “whole to parts” approach. What does that look like for ancient history? I decided to begin this unit from an archeologist’s point of view—considering clues to the culture then adding each subsequent discovery to see the big picture. We didn’t study the religion, daily life, education, government, and other aspects of the culture separately, but considered them as we moved along the chronological history of the area. I specifically didn’t include much about Biblical history—except when it intersected that of Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria—because we are already familiar with those stories.

Following are my weekly plans. Throughout the unit each of the kids worked on a flapbook to record what he had studied. And one final note: the Spirit told me I needed to talk about Babylon in the scriptural sense (worldliness), not just in the historical sense. So we spent several days just on that.

Week 1
*Archeologists found one civilization on top of another in the Fertile Crescent.
Trace the clues to the existence of Sumer (ancient stories, clay tablets…).
Learn about discoveries and prominent archeologists (Wolley, Koldeway, Windler, Laird).
Standard of Ur—what are the pictures showing?

Other artifacts: clothing / tools / jewelry / sundials…
Try writing with a stylus in wet clay!

Vocabulary: ziggurat, cuneiform, tel

Tower of Babel
Read aloud “Tower of Babylon” by Ted Chiang (fun!)
Ziggurats related to astronomy and time-keeping

*Mesopotamia is called the “Cradle of Civilization.”
What makes a civilization?
Look at geography of the region

--Make a map of physical places and early cities.
Vocabulary: alluvial, delta, meso-potam-ia (related to the word hippopotamus!)
Babylonia = Shinar (Gen 10:10)—lower end of Tigris & Euphrates valley / city: Babylon
Assyria = Asshur—Tigris valley north of Babylonia / city: Ninevah
Sumer, Akkad, Ur

Week 2
*The Epic of Gilgamesh is Sumerian literature.
Read aloud. (It took about three days.)

*The Sumerians have many gods.
Identify diety—relationships, what they stood for, Sumerian vs.Babylonian names
Vocabulary: polytheism

Week 3
*City-states become empires
Mesopotamian government

Organization of society
Sargon of Akkad—first “empire”
Ur-Nammu—Third Dynasty of Ur
Hammurabi of Babylonia —written laws (Hammurabi’s Code)
Vocabulary: city-state

*Many nations, in turn, control the Fertile Crescent
Assyria (Senacherib), Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar), Persia (Darius)
Add to timeline.
Memorize poem “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron

Week 4
*Babylon has everything the World can offer.
city walls / Euphrates River / Ishtar Gate ….
Seven Wonders of the World—Hanging Gardens
Make watercolor paintings of the hanging gardens

*”Babylon” is the Lord’s symbol for worldliness.
actual city
Rome (Revelation / I Peter 5:13)
The World (D&C 1:16, 35:11, 64:24, 86:3, 133:14)
Sing “Ye Elders of Israel"

Timelines for Ancient History

2009-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

How do you have your students make timelines when even the experts can’t decide on dates?

Over the years I have compiled my own list of people and events. I started with the Bible (beginning 4000 B.C.) and all the ages of the patriarchs. (That covers an amazing number of years!) From that, I got an approximate date for the Flood (2340 B.C.).

Here’s where things get tricky. The experts think that Mesopotamian culture got going around 3500 B.C. But mud bricks would never have made it through the Flood, so Sumer had to have started after 2340. Remember, though, that Noah’s family didn’t have to start their civilization from nothing. They were already accomplished artisans (they built an ark!), so they had a better head start than the experts suppose.

The Book of Mormon tells us that the Tower of Babel was in 2243 B.C.—a mere 100 years after the Flood. Many archeologists think it was part of Nebuchadnezzar’s great city, but I think that he probably just restored what was left of the original tower.

Egypt is another puzzle. Experts’ dates for the Old Kingdom are all before the Flood. (One book I read, however, indicated that Dynasties One through Three may have been mythological.) Could the pyramids have made it through the Flood? I’m pretty sure there would have been some evidence of water damage to them—so I’m betting that the whole thing started with Ham’s descendents. The Sphinx, however, does have water erosion! It must be much older, and has had the head re-carved several times (which is why it looks out of proportion).

Another Egypt question is the date that Moses led the Israelites out of bondage. I grew up watching The Ten Commandments and thinking it was Ramses that wouldn’t let them go. But the New Testament (Galatians 3:17) indicates that the Exodus was 430 years from the time of the Lord’s covenant with Abraham. That puts it about 1490--the 18th dynasty. (Ramses is the 19th.) I should add that the writers of the LDS Bible Dictionary don't agree with me, and put the Exodus during the reign of Pharoah Manephtah, almost 200 years later and 430 years after Joseph went to Egypt. I'm sticking with my dates though, because I think they make more sense!

My timeline is still being modified slightly, as I read and learn more. I'm sure it's not totally correct, but generally it has worked out well and given us a good idea of how things fit together.

Astronomy Unit, 2009

2009-11-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

I’ve been asked to get more specific about my unit studies :o) While I do feel that you need to individualize your lessons for your family, I’m happy to share the details about our units.

Our astronomy unit this fall was really just an introduction—a prelude to this year’s study of ancient cultures, including their knowledge of the skies. I wanted to take some time, however, before the winter rains set in so we could see the night skies.

I tried to figure out how to approach astronomy in a “whole to parts” format and finally decided that I should start with what we can see, beginning with the sun and moon and their cycles. From there, we went to the stars. (We didn’t discuss the planets in this block; we’ll be doing that as part of our study of ancient cultures.) In my studying, I found numerous examples of connections between astronomy and religion. As stated in Genesis, there are lights in the heavens “to divide the day from the night, and … for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”. I felt inspired that this was the approach I should take for my children, and it has been fascinating to learn what God has put into the skies!

There are many good resources available, but the most comprehensive (and free!) were numerous articles by astronomist John Pratt. He has a whole astronomy course on his website. We also found some wonderful lesson books (from a Little Garden Flower) which had alternating white and dark blue pages—just perfect for making pictures of the heavens!

As usual, I tried to identify about two key points each week, and plan activities around them.
Week 1

*The Sun’s path through our sky changes with the seasons.
--We pounded a post into the lawn next to our driveway, and marked the shadow of the post every hour.
--We drew pictures of the sun’s paths across the sky—low in the winter, high in the summer.
--We learned what the ecliptic is.

*The points of the earth’s orbit are the solstices and equinoxes.
--We looked at Earth's orbit around the sun, with the seasonal "cusps." Click here for some excellent graphics.
--We celebrated the fall equinox.

Week 2

*The Moon goes through phases in a 29.5-day cycle.
--We drew the phases of the moon and learned their names.
--We learned how the moon’s appearance and path changes with the sun.
--We observed the wonderful Harvest Moon!
--We discussed solar calendars and lunar calendars. The sun and moon are heavenly timepieces: 12 months like the hours, and 60 half days like 60 minutes on a clock.

*The first men landed on the moon on July 20, 1969 (40 years ago).
--We read a book about the early days of the space program and preparations for the moon landing.
--We listened to an actual recording of Walter Cronkite’s broadcast of that day.
--We watched the movie Apollo 13 (about a subsequent voyage to the moon).

Week 3
*Michaelmas was this week! (See more about it here.)
--We learned about the constellation Draco, the dragon.

*The constellations of the Zodiac tell of Jesus Christ.

--We learned that the Zodiac was shown to the prophet Enoch and this knowledge passed down through th

e ages. Every culture “saw” the same pictures on the ecliptic.
--We drew pictures of each constellation and its brightest stars.
--We read the stories of how each sign of the Zodiac is a symbol of Christ.

One last note: it’s helpful to have an astronomy reference book to show the arrangements of the constellations and identify the brightest stars. We used the book Astronomy by Ian Ridpath (a DK “Companion” book). I also like Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey, but I discovered that some of his drawings of the constellations are not the traditional pictures (which was important to our study!). For instance, Sagittarius is traditionally a centaur, but Rey makes him a Native American with a feather in his hair. So I couldn’t use Rey’s book as much as I would have liked.

Three weeks isn’t really enough time to get familiar with the night sky and how it changes, so we’ll continue to revisit astronomy topics as we study ancient cultures. I'm hooked!

Do I Get Any Time For Myself?

2009-10-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been some of the busiest of my life! The busy-ness wasn’t just homeschooling, but a combination of back-to-school, harvest and food preservation time, and beginning chicken raising. Also, maybe I’m just not as good at multi-tasking as I used to be when I was younger. Anyway, I have had the topic of “time” on my mind of late.

The actual “school” doesn’t take much of my time: about one hour per day in the lower grades to about three hours a day in middle school. My high school students spend more time than this, but only some of it requires my attention. (Actually, the children usually get more and more independent once they learn to read.) I find that the best way to keep from being frustrated about time for school work is to never schedule anything else during the morning. I often have to remind other people that I have a full-time job teaching school and am not available until the afternoon.

Another time consideration involves housework. When the kids are home all day, the house gets messier than if the kids were at school! I spend a lot of time with cooking and laundry, and have my kids do most of the cleaning. We work mostly on one section of the house each day (Monday is kitchen day, etc.) so we can more or less work together. I spend time with younger children who are learning skills, but mostly the kids do the housecleaning. It’s an important part of their education.

Next, is time for planning. I usually spend 20-30 minutes on Sunday laying out the specific assignments for each child that week. In addition, I've found that planning unit/block studies can take a lot of time when I do it the way I described here. I think my greatest desire is for uninterrupted quiet time. Not only do I need time to plan my curriculum, but I need to be able to ponder—about spiritual things and about the needs of each family member. Unfortunately, I seem to only get this time late at night or early in the morning—when everyone else is in bed. I do recognize that early mornings may be almost impossible for young mothers who never get enough sleep. (I remember!) A daily quiet time might not be achievable, but I feel that a regular time away—with husband or friend watching the kids--is incredibly helpful.

And this leads to the big question: do I have time for my own needs and hobbies, or are they just swallowed up in the needs of my children? The answer is….yes and no.

There are things I want to do that I rarely get around to. I’m sure that is true of every mother—not just homeschooling mothers. And yet I find that my needs and hobbies have evolved somewhat over the years to be more about my children. Homeschooling is such a passion for me that much of my reading (of which I do a lot) is about topics I want to cover with my kids. I probably read three times as much as they ever hear about in their lessons! And this isn’t out of a sense of obligation, but because it interests me. When I’m chauffeuring to lessons or sports activities, I always bring along needlework (something I didn’t used to do before chauffeuring) or reading. Waiting in a car can be a great “quiet time!”

Also—though you’ve heard it many times before and it doesn’t seem true when you’re in the middle of it—remember this is just a short time of your life. With nine children, I had 23 years of nursing (some of the most time-intensive care—right?), yet it doesn’t seem very long in retrospect. With my youngest now in 2nd grade, I’m realizing that these homeschooling years will be over before I know it. Then there will be time to make quilts and learn to play the harp. I may even have too much “quiet time.”

Michaelmas 2009

2009-10-04T21:37:00.001-07:00

--or Michael's Day as we like to call it--was last week. We spent some time reading scripture about Michael and his fight with the dragon, Satan (Revelation 12). We talked about modern revelations about Michael and his role in the future. Since we've been doing an astronomy unit, we looked at Draco, the dragon, and learned to find that constellation in the sky. And of course we made dragon bread. Everybody made a different section of "the old serpent," and he was pretty scary-looking!

Back to School at our House

2009-09-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

While I've been busy, L has been having fun with Smilebox!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Harvest Unit

2009-09-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Good heavens! I just realized that I skipped posting for the whole month of August! It must be because it was more fun to be outside in the garden than inside at the computer.

But now it's time for school--yet I'm still not ready for book work. It's so hard to do academics when we're trying to do canning, dehydrating, and freezing! One year I realized that this was just as educational as math, so I call it our "Harvest Unit" and count it as school. Today we dried basil and froze peaches. Tomorrow is applesauce....

We spend our "days off" at the park or in the mountains with our sketch books. We'll add in the academics gradually so that we're covering all our subject areas by the time the rainy days of winter are here.

"Educating" a Preschooler

2009-07-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I hear more questions about what to teach to preschoolers than about anything else. (Maybe it’s because young mothers are the ones who read blogs about homeschooling!) Anyway, this has been on my mind of late, and I hope I can communicate what I’ve been feeling.

We often hear that little children are “sponges.” They have an amazing capacity for learning before age five. Shouldn’t we capitalize on this ability and help them get ahead in the world? But how do you define “ahead”? Is it all about the three R’s? What are your priorities for your children? What do you think makes a successful adult?

I will say that I was all about early academics when I first contemplated homeschooling. My husband was doing graduate work in gifted education, and that was a topic of interest for me as well. I observed and taught many gifted children and saw what they could do. (And I knew, of course, that my children would be gifted too.) Of course one must accelerate the academics so as not to hold back a talented student.

But I also saw that these gifted children were CHILDREN. They laughed at the same silly jokes that would make any child laugh. Some were incredibly disciplined, but they were still learning how to make good choices. All of them needed their parents nearby.

My priorities began to change as my own children came along. I moved from a world of “high grades and test scores are everything” and “you can go as far as you want, if you’re smart enough” to a world of just enjoying the sweet smell of a baby and wanting to keep my little ones close (usually). That high-pressure, competitive world—though I sometimes missed it—was no longer my main goal. I also wanted my children to feel secure, to have deep spiritual roots, to grow strong and healthy in every way. I saw homeschooling not only as a way to maintain high academic standards, but as a way to protect my children from bad influences which could jeopardize these other priorities.

What I finally realized is that LIFE is the curriculum for a young child (and hopefully that will continue to some extent as he grows older). Ideally, the preschool years should be spent around Mom and Dad, observing them and helping them as soon as the child is able. This is an education in how a family works and how a home is run. The family celebrates the seasons and holidays, and the child learns about his culture. The family visits friends and relatives, and the child learns how to get along with other people. I wonder how different our society would be today if children got more of this education?

The child plays outside where big-muscle movements stimulate his brain and make his body strong. What his body and brain need most--especially in the preschool years--are good food, plenty of movement, and ample sleep (12-14 hours every day).

Daddy tells stories at bedtime. The child wants the same stories over and over—and that is also a part of his education. Daddy never speaks in baby-talk though, so the child learns rich use of his language. He knows the stories so well that he can fill in those wonderful-sounding words even when Daddy misses them.

Mommy sings songs while she makes the meals. She sings about what she’s doing or just sings songs that make everyone feel happy. Sometimes she makes up little rhymes when the child has a question. (You don’t have to be a poet! One of D’s favorites was a silly song that went “When the ground shakes, it’s called an earthquake. Doodly doodly doo.”)

Of course the child will ask lots of questions and will want to learn things, especially if he has older siblings that are doing them. If he wants to know how to write his name, he should be shown his name—but not asked to learn the alphabet. When he asks about numbers, they can be explained—but with concrete objects, not with symbols. This time of life is more about a child observing his world than about memorizing facts. If there are older children in his family, the child probably “does school” with them, but his work consists of modeling with clay, knitting with his fingers, or building towers with the math manipulatives.

Two of my children taught themselves to read in their preschool years, but one didn’t read until he was ten years old. That gave him a slower start, but didn’t seem to make a difference by age 12. Did you know that research (Bloom, University of Chicago) has shown that an entire K-12 curriculum can be taught to an older student in just nine months? THERE IS NO RUSH! There is plenty of time for the academics, but only a few short years of carefree, light-hearted, imagination-filled childhood. As my dear Marsha Johnson puts it, “You are not filling up a bucket. You are lighting a fire.”

The World will tell you otherwise. You will be pressured—by friends, perhaps by family, even by the government—to help your precious little ones “get ahead” (of what?). Please take some time to write down your priorities for your children—both long- and short-term. Ponder and pray about what is needed to help your children achieve those goals. Then don’t be swayed by others who don’t know your family as well as you do. Your educational choices may be different than mine, but I hope they will include much more than academics.

My Four- (or Five- or Six-) Year Plan

2009-07-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

(aka "Scope and Sequence")
When all my children were young, our homeschool lessons were totally interest-based. I didn’t really have an over-all plan. As Je got closer to high school, however, I got more organized. I decided to follow my state’s requirements for high school graduation, although homeschoolers don’t earn a state-recognized high school diploma. College entrance requirements tend to match (or exceed) the high school guidelines—so we needed to follow them.

All of my children do math and language arts at their individual levels each year, but our social studies and science we do together. My state requires two years of high school science, but exact courses aren’t specified so we can follow our interests. It’s the social studies requirements that are more detailed, and so I plan my years around those guidelines.

*We spend a year on ancient history (of the Western world)—Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome.
*Our next year of world history covers mostly the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
*When we have time (depending on who’s in high school and what they still need), we study other parts of the world—the Orient, the Arctic, or Africa, for example
*We begin U.S. history, beginning with exploration of the New World and including a significant unit on the U.S. Constitution.
*Whenever we get to the Westward Expansion, we do a semester of Washington state history. Then we finish U.S. history, up to the present.
And start over!

Plannning for Fall

2009-07-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

It’s summer vacation :o) and I’m having fun planning for the coming year.
I asked each of my children what they want to learn about (astronomy, nutrition, disease, plants, herbal medicine). I looked at Steiner’s themes for my second grader (fables and saints). And I considered my general “scope and sequence,” which has us studying ancient history this year.
All I’m doing at this point is blocking out the units we will study for each month. I’ll plan in more detail when I actually get there. Here’s how it has come together:
SEPTEMBER
Most of our time will be spent with canning and dehydrating, so we call it our harvest unit. Also, while the weather is still nice, we’ll go to nearby state parks where we’ll draw in our new nature journals (a back-to-school gift). We’ll study astronomy, which will continue through the year as we learn about various ancient cultures and their views of the sky. It’s a good time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of men on the moon!
The last week of the month we’ll celebrate St. Michael’s day (the 29th). I’m thinking the dragon would be a good constellation to learn first….
OCTOBER
We’ll study Mesopotamia / Babylon. Scripture equates Babylon with worldliness, so we’ll spend some time with what it means to separate ourselves from the world.
D will be hearing stories about St. Francis of Assisi (his day is October 4th), who renounced worldliness to serve God.
NOVEMBER
L and N will be studying Egypt, so I’ll make up related stories for D to review his math operations and learn place value. I guess the math gnomes will visit the Nile River!
St. Martin’s day is November 11th.
DECEMBER
We’ll catch up on any loose ends, celebrate St. Lucia day, the winter solstice, and Christmas! We like to relax and enjoy this season.
JANUARY
We’ll study Greece. D will be learning fables from the Greek story teller Aesop. I’ll introduce Hippocrates, in preparation for our next unit. We’ll definitely tie in astronomy, because the Greeks knew a lot about the heavens.
FEBRUARY
We’ll learn about nutrition and disease. This should make for some interesting stories for teaching D about mathematical equations!
MARCH
L and N will learn about Rome. I will choose stories of 8 more “saints” to tell to Daniel, and he’ll make a reading book.
APRIL
N and L will have a unit on health and healing herbs. D will be hearing more fables, so I’ll choose some about plants.
MAY
We’ll all be helping with the vegetable garden, so we will study more botony. D will learn about Northwest animals, as well as plants.
JUNE
We may do a short unit on marine science. We often like to go visit our favorite tide pools for the low tide this time of year. I’ll see how we’re doing by next June!
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to a really fun year (but enjoying every leisurely minute of summer too).

More Waldorf Principles--Steiner's Themes

2009-07-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned that the Waldorf curriculum “speaks” to a child at his level. Let me tell you what that means. Language arts, math, and social studies are all taught through stories. But there are specific stories for each age group:

A first grader is rapidly changing and growing physically. He is losing his baby teeth. He is becoming more coordinated. All of his energy has been going to his physical body rather than to his intellect. He is still more in his imagination than in the “real world.” So he is told fairy tales—simple, archetypal stories where there are powerful Kings, where wickedness is punished, and where there may even be a little magic.

A second grader is learning to make decisions for himself as he approaches the age of accountability. Thus, his curriculum includes stories of “saints” and other revered people so he can see what GOOD is. And he also learns fables—to show him how to make choices between right and wrong, and that every choice has consequences.

A third grader is facing what Steiner called the “nine-year change,” and it can be traumatic. So he studies the Old Testament (even if it is not part of his religion) because its history parallels his inner journey. The expulsion from Eden, the slavery in Egypt, the wandering in the wilderness…over and over the Hebrew people fail, yet they are loved by a generous God who always gives them another chance and guides them to the Promised Land.

A fourth grader is discovering who he is and what the world has to offer. He hears stories about what it means to be human, to be different than the other animals. And he learns of Norse mythology, which is all about nines (his age). These ancient stories don’t always end happily: they are full of mischief and ambivalence, just like the real world.

I appreciate the way that each curriculum doesn’t just teach facts, but actually nourishes the child. Although I don’t follow Steiner’s themes up through grade 12, I like to use them at least in these early years.

Disclaimer...

2009-07-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about Waldorf education. I feel it is the best educational model I have seen, especially for a classroom environment. I love the fact that it is protective of childhood and that it follows life’s cycles and rhythms. Each element of the curriculum “speaks” to a child at his level. The arts and the handwork are healing and inspiring. But I don’t DO all of it at my house.

My biggest hang-up involves how to teach multiple topics—specifically science and history--to multiple children. All Waldorf homeschoolers have this challenge, but there is a reason why I’m not really willing to try others’ solutions. Ask any of my children, and they will tell you that our read-alouds (our family unit studies) are/were their favorite part of homeschool. How can I take that away to teach the age-appropriate topics? I haven’t figured it out.

So, when I talk about what we’re doing in our homeschool, you’ll notice that I’m not following a strictly Waldorf curriculum. We make music and work with our hands, but we also study famous artists and composers the Charlotte Mason way. We joyfully celebrate many holidays and festivals, but we don’t always do circle time. I always try to teach “whole to parts.” But we study science and history together as a family. I have tried to learn the principles that make Waldorf education what it is, but I don’t feel bound to other people’s views of what the details must be. I seek inspiration for the current needs of my children, and go with that. Isn’t that what homeschooling’s all about?

There are many wonderful and inspiring websites and blogs where you can learn about Waldorf education. Here, though, you’ll find more of a hodge-podge. Just thought you should know….

Saxon? or Something Else?--My Opinions on Options for Homeschool Math

2009-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

When I started homeschooling, there weren’t many math curricula to choose from; most people I knew used Saxon. I started out that way, but I have tried many different things over the years. Here are the pros and cons of the different programs our family has used. Though your children will have different needs from my children, I hope this will help you in your search for a good “fit” for your family.
And here’s the punchline (in case you don’t want to read through my whole review to get it): I prefer living books--with enrichment from various sources as needed--for the elementary years, then MUS for secondary students.

Saxon (I haven’t used the DVD's, only the books)
Saxon is thorough. There is lots of repetition and lots of drill. So students using Saxon usually test well. The explanations are pretty good, so students can learn independently.
What I don't like about Saxon books is that they tell how to do the math, but not why. This isn't too bad in the lower level books, but gets really obnoxious by Algebra II. Some of my kids weren't bothered, but others hated it.

traditional textbooks
Obviously I can't cover every publisher's math books, but I've had a pretty good experience with the ones I've seen and used. One advantage is that they're colorful. (Some of my kids had a hard time with Saxon's lack of color.) But they are, of course, a "parts to whole" approach--so I think there are better options.

MathUSee (MUS)
Math U See has the best explanations I have seen of why we do math a certain way. Often it takes the "long way around" a topic in order to help the student see the why before showing the shortcut.
Another advantage of MUS: Steve Demme is funny! I have caught my reluctant math students smiling as they watched the DVD's.
I love the basic manipulatives and the fraction manipulatives. We use the algebra manipulatives only rarely.
A disadvantage of the elementary MUS levels is that they spend a whole year focused on one topic (while reviewing other topics, of course). I got the Gamma level when L was struggling with multiplication. It helped her, but spending a whole year on multiplication would have been way too much.
I like the secondary levels a lot, especially with the Honors problems added.

Life of Fred (See my previous post.)
We have only used Fred's Beginning Algebra, and it was very engaging. It is whole to parts, but I feel there is not always enough explanation. We used it along with MUS.

Miquon Math (uses Cuisinaire rods)
This is a curriculum for grades 1-3 only. You do need the teacher's book, because it has fantastic explanations and additional activities.
Miquon is pretty structured, but I like to pick and choose from the wide variety of activities. Even though it is workbook-style, the pages seem appealing to kids.

Cuisinaire books
These are not a specific sequence of books, but just books on a variety of topics, published by the same people who make the rods. Not only are there books for the basic arithmetic operations, but spatial problem solving, perimeter & area, and others.
One thing I do not like is that Cuisinaire equates a color with a number (e.g. add brown + green). I prefer the MUS manipulatives where marks on the block show what number it stands for. However, there is something nice about the wooden rods. D's math gnomes love to use them for all kinds of problems.

living books and activities
One of my favorite math resources is livingmath.net. This website has suggestions for living books about math (as well as lots of other very cool ideas and even lesson plans). It is totally "whole to parts" and I believe this type of math education is really plenty for the youngest children. As children get older, they can do games or other activities to drill the math facts, and don't really need texts at all.
Even in later years, "living math" is good for review and building interest. Though I wish we could have tried all of the recommended books, our favorites of what we have tried are the "Murderous Maths" series, certain of the "Math Start" series, the "Sir Cumference" books, and the game Mythmatical Battles (a card game using the times tables). Last, but not least, I love the DVD Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land.

Of course we have our math gnomes and other Waldorf-inspired activities. I'm not sure where to categorize them, but they are an important part of math classes at our house. If you need help with more ideas for those, look at alittlegardenflower.com.

Teaching math has probably been the most challenging part of my homeschool journey, but these days there are lots of resources to help.

More Learning Together

2009-06-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

I get lots of great ideas for homeschool projects, but my children’s results aren’t always as wonderful as I had hoped. When I learned about flap books, for instance, I watched this video where a homeschooling mom showed folder after folder of cleverly made books. (She called them lap books, but it was the same thing.) However, though my children (most of them, at least) like making flap books, their books never turn out like those in the movie.

And then there are the century books. Our wall-hung timelines are for the little kids, but I wanted the century books to be beautiful. Some of my kids would spend a lot of time working on their books, but others would write down some names and be done. I tried to help by asking them to add ten people and events at a time, but only five if the entries were illustrated. That only helped a little.

I was really sad about this situation, until I realized two things. First, I have to remember what my goals are for our homeschool. I don’t like to use photocopied patterns or lots of unique folded papers every day (although the foldables are fun occasionally…). My goal is for us to love learning and to be culturally literate. We can do that without perfect projects.

Second, a motto of the Thomas Jefferson Education model is “Inspire, not require.” I haven’t found that very successful when it comes to most school work (like math drills), but it was the key for this situation. When I work with my children, I really gain an appreciation for the work they put in to complete their projects! And it’s been fun for us to work together on something other than day-to-day assignments. So now I show them my “vision” of what a project can be. I don’t do this every time (I remind them that I did do quite a few of such things before they were ever born), but my participating occasionally has been a real boost for all of us.

Here is a page from my century book. My children have 6000 years to do, but I’m just doing U.S. history!

On Homeschooling (from a Homeschooler)

2009-06-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hello, Je here (oldest graduate of the Black's Cool Homeschool). I was recently asked to write a guest post on another blog about homeschooling from the other side of the coin--not as a homeschooling parent, but as someone who was a homeschooled student. Mom asked if I would share it here as well, so (with a few small edits) here it is.
As you may have noticed from the information on the sidebar, I have a degree in teaching, and have spent some time in public school classrooms. I think that training gives me some additional perspective when considering my homeschooling experiences.
Enjoy!
~j

When people hear that I was homeschooled, one of the first things that always comes up is socialization: did I feel left out? did I have friends? was I shy? how was it when I entered 'the real world'?
I always have to begin my response by asking this: how many of your friends have birthdays within 1 year of yours? Do you really think that the school form of 'socialization' is representative of real life? Because I have friends of many ages--I always have--and I think that my homeschooled experience gave me more 'real life' socialization than any public school.
Did I feel left out of things? Sure, sometimes I did. At 17 I wanted to go to a dance with a certain boy. My parents didn’t object, but someone else invited him first, and I ended up staying home. I've heard many similar stories from public schooled kids though, so I don't think my being homeschooled had anything to do with the way things turned out.
Like most homeschoolers I've known, we were not 'unsocialized.’ We were active in church, had music lessons, and participated in community sports and theater. There are lots of places where kids can work/play with other kids, practice teamwork and sharing, and all those other basic social skills.
Was I shy? Yes, but so were my public-schooled parents, while several of my siblings were not. I believe that shyness is mostly about the personality of the child, and very little about their schooling environment. As for being sheltered from the 'real world,' yes, I absolutely think that we were sheltered from many things. On the other hand, I think that is part of the responsibility of a parent: to protect and shelter their children when they're young so that they will be strong and ready for that real world when it comes. I think mom explained it best in her "Tomato Theory of Child Rearing."

The second thing people usually ask about is curriculum: did we have a formal schedule? did we work from state-approved textbooks or programs? did we use a religious curriculum? did we have a specific room or place for school work? what did the average day look like?
If you are a reader here, then you already know some of these answers. Of course the answers would be different for each homeschooling family, depending on their reasons for homeschooling as well as their philosophy about learning. Mom always tried to facilitate each of our learning in the way that suited us best. When we worked together on things, we often gathered around the kitchen table, but I did a lot of work sprawled across my bed, B learned times tables while bouncing on a pogo stick, and K preferred to sit at a desk. K also liked to have each day's assignments written out day-by-day, and completed a little work in each subject each day (much like a public school format). I preferred to have a week's-worth of assignments written together, then I'd spend one day reading the entire book, one day doing several math lessons, one day really getting into history, and so on. In elementary school the average school day was an hour or two, in high school it was usually around four. Our average day started with family devotionals, then breakfast and chores. Mom read aloud to us for a while, then we would each work on our assignments.

Mom collected numerous resources and created her own curriculum from them (which she often adapted from one kid to the next anyway). We studied math from a standard textbook; English from a variety of novels, poems, and workbooks; and history from biographies, timelines, historical fiction, and traveling to historical sites. Religion was part of our lifestyle, so it came into our studies, but we didn't use a 'religious curriculum.'

The last question people ask is whether I would choose to homeschool my own children. I don't think that homeschooling is a perfect default educational plan any more than I think public school is a perfect default. Each has benefits and drawbacks. In our family, my husband and I evaluate the needs of each child each year, and make a fresh decision about what we should do that year. My oldest son was part of a co-op preschool, then we waited a year on kindergarten (during which time we informally homeschooled). At 6 he attended kindergarten at a charter school, but then attended the next two years at a public school. What's next? I don't know! Like I said, we have no default, we just take each kid and each year as they come.

Nature Journal Inspirations

2009-06-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

A Nature Journal—a written and pictorial record of things one observes in nature—is a foundation of Charlotte Mason’s science study. Though I loved the idea when I heard it, my perfectionist tendencies made me put off actually getting started. What kind of supplies do we need? What should we actually draw or write in our journals?

Two books helped me get going and continue to inspire me. The first is Wild Days by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe, available from Amazon or from here. Karen’s descriptions of her outdoor adventures with her children are illustrated with drawings, watercolors, and descriptions of plants and animals. It is a fantastic how-to book.

My second inspiration is The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. Edith’s diary is what I want my Nature Journal to look like when it “grows up”! Beginning in January, she has poetry, weather observations, quotes, and beautiful watercolor illustrations for each month of the year.

Though not necessarily inspirational, field books are definitely helpful. I like the Peterson’s First Book of ----- series because they are simple enough for a child to use. Anita Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study must be mentioned here as well. Although it is mostly text, with small black and white pictures, it is full of delightful stories to introduce a child to new things.

With these tools, we have compiled our notebooks—though often in fits and starts. We like to put the correct name (if we can find it) of the specimen, including its Latin name. Then we add notes about when and where we saw each plant or animal, and information about its characteristics. Here are two pages from my nature journal. Although it's not much compared to Edith Holden's, it's been a delight to make.

How to "Build" a Unit Study

2009-05-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

When I’m preparing for a new unit, I start by gathering all of my resources. Some of them I own, some I get from the library, some I glean from the internet. If I haven’t read or watched them, I do so (at least skimming through). I make a list of everything I want to use. (If I own something that I decide is not worth using, I get rid of it!)

The challenging part comes next. I spend some time thinking about what are the important ideas of this unit. [I know that’s easier said than done; I always have to find this quiet time in the early morning or late at night.] For instance, here are my ideas for our U.S. history unit about the 1950’s and 60’s:

--Americans are afraid of Communism. (Truman Doctrine, McCarthy, NATO)

--The US and USSR “fight,” but not with guns. (space race, arms race)

--The “Domino Theory” drives the Vietnam War,

--Vietnam is a different kind of war than we have fought before.

--There is conflict on the home front too.

--After Vietnam, America needs to heal.

--Blacks still don’t have equal rights.

--Non-violent protests bring needed changes.

I don’t articulate these ideas to my kids, but the ideas are the focus of our activities. I plan about one read-aloud book each week, along with movies and other short readings. Sometimes we do research, like the project we did with the above unit on learning about PresidentsTruman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and the part each played in the Vietnam War.

Usually, I have my kids make a Flap Book, Main Lesson Book, or some other project as a way for them to gather and remember what they have learned. I often keep those projects (especially anything 3-D) in an “interest box” which the kids can get out to look at or play with later. For instance, our astronomy interest box has star charts, a model of the sun-earth-moon, our tin-can constellations, and our Flap Books. Our middle ages box has castle models, wind-up knights, costumes, illuminated alphabets, and coloring books. Then the kids can re-visit that unit whenever they want.

I should mention that I don't usually worry about incorporating ALL of the subject areas into my unit study. We usually do some writing as part of our unit and there may be charts or graphs to work with, but we continue to do our separate language arts and math work as well.

What is Science Education?

2009-05-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

My cousin Tim noted recently that my blog doesn’t say much about science.Is this is a weak area in our homeschool, he wondered? (It is true that many homeschooling parents are nervous about science, at least in the upper grades.) Anyway, it got me thinking about what really constitutes science education. If I know what my goals are, it’s much easier to decide if I am achieving them!

My goals in science education are to give my kids the tools to learn about their world. I want them to be familiar with the scientific method—both as a way to make their own discoveries and as a way to evaluate others’ work. I want to give my children at least an overview of many areas of science so that they know enough to choose what they enjoy most. But mainly, I want to leave my children with a sense of wonder and reverence for all of God’s creation—so that they want to keep learning.

I don’t think that textbooks do that very well. I had a K-8 series of science texts when I first started homeschooling. Each grade level skimmed over the same set of units without ever really digging deep enough to “get into it.” That wasn’t very appealing.

Instead, my kids and I spend many hours outside—in the yard, in the vegetable garden, in the forest, by the river. We explore, we paint or draw, we collect. We have a small “nature shelf” at our house where we put our seasonal discoveries of rocks or acorns or flowers. (N has taken charge of this shelf and reorganizes it at least monthly.) My children know, from experience, about different kinds of rocks and where they’re found. They can identify most of the flowers and trees of the Pacific Northwest and all of the plants in our yard and garden. They’ve visited dozens of National and State Parks.

My children have pets—a dog, Guinea pigs, rabbits, and turtles at last count. The kids provide (and pay for) all of the care for these animals, and the kids also read and research just what constitutes the best care so they can make wise decisions. They become experts!

Each child in our family has a nature journal. Nothing is assigned in this notebook, but it is a place where we can draw pictures of an interesting caterpillar, take notes on the habits of a bird, write poetry about flowers, or philosophize about the seasons.

When we do have formal science classes, I like to read LIVING BOOKS, or books that are interesting in their own rights and not just “educational.” For instance, we liked The Microbe Hunters when we studied bacteria and Phineas Gage—A Gruesome but True Story… when we were learning about the brain. When we do use textbooks, it’s after hands-on experience (whole to parts). There are lots of places to get science “stuff,” but one of my favorites is Tobin’s Lab.

Of course any family—homeschooled or not—could do “real life” science this way, but I have the advantage of TIME. We can learn about science WHEN the science learning is relevant. Our science fits right in with our gnomes and fairies, because our science learning aims to instill wonder.

No, Tim, I don’t think we are weak in science. Over time, we do cover all the state learning objectives. But we definitely don’t do it the way they do in public school.

The Tomato Method of Child Rearing

2009-05-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

It’s springtime, and I’m working in my vegetable garden almost every day. I’m already looking forward to those yummy tomatoes (my favorite), but they’re challenging to grow here in the Puget Sound. We have a short, wet growing season—without much of the sun that tomatoes need to thrive. Getting ripe tomatoes takes effort.

I start my tomato seeds in March, inside my house, near a good window with lots of light. Soon the seedlings sprout and then get replanted to bigger pots. They have to stay warm, so I keep them inside even when my other vegetable starts go out to the cold frame. When my tomato plants are finally big enough, I “harden them off” by putting them outside—first for just part of each day, then finally around the clock. Even once they get planted in the garden, though, I cover them to protect them from the rain and the cold. They’re finally “on their own” sometime in June.

What does this have to do with homeschool? No, I didn’t get confused and post something from a gardening blog. This metaphor is the way I explain one of my (many) reasons for keeping my kids at home.

One of the hardest queries to answer is when people inquire about why my kids aren’t in the public school system where they could be models for other children. This is a tough question, because I do want my kids to be a good influence on their peers. But then I remember my tomatoes. My children have their whole lives to be good examples. But I want to make sure they have the “root system” and the strength and have been “hardened off” by slow, careful exposure (to things of MY choosing) before I plant them out there in the world. Yes, they would probably grow if I let them go earlier—many children go to public school and turn out just fine. But I’m not taking any chances. If it’s worth all that care to get delicious tomatoes, it’s definitely worth it for my kids.

Math Gnomes Teach Division

2009-05-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Gnome Divide loves to share. In fact, "Share" is her nickname. So she supervises whenever we want to split things up and give everyone equal parts. Here is D trying to divide 24 jewels into four parts. He also did three parts and six parts. Five didn't work so well, of course.
Waldorf first graders use lots of manipulatives (and then make drawings of what they have done). We don't do too much with written equations until later. However, D did learn and draw the sign for division. It looks just like a stick splitting up a set of two jewels.

Shhh...A Fairy Lives Here

2009-04-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Though this isn't strictly about school, it's about life and imagination--both of which are integral to our family's education....

It was last month that N "found" the first evidence of a fairy in our back yard. She told D, and the two of them kept watch on the little house under the fir tree. N would often spend time out there, but it was D who usually came running in with the exciting news that something else had changed where the fairy lives. It wasn't long before we nicknamed our fairy "Spring," because she loves the sunshine and flowers of the season as much as we do.

Each week, Spring's home becomes more elaborate and more beautiful. Dishes of flower food, a well (filled with water), a wood shed, a "landing pad," and a leaf-drying rack are just some of her possessions. D was sad when a "For Sale" sign appeared in Spring's yard one morning. After I talked with N, though, it turned out that Spring was just selling some of her rocks.

We all "help" with developments around the home site, so D knows that not everything is done by the fairies. But Spring is real to him; he speaks of her the way he does of his imaginary dragons--he wants them to be real. My older kids worried that it was bad for D to believe in a fairy, but I don't think so. The other day he asked me, "Do you think Spring is real?" I hope I answered wisely when I told him about my childhood dreams of little people in my life and said,"I would love for her to be real."

Homeschool Memories

2009-04-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

K said:

--Historical fiction in history. (This is always the first thing I think of when asked for favorites.)
--Field trips, specifically the East Coast trip. (This is the second thing.)
--The time line/century book idea.
--The lifestyle of learning. The fact that you and Daddy knew all of the answers to our questions. The love of learning.
--The confidence you instilled in me that I can learn/understand/do anything.
--The way you got excited to relearn calculus with me.
--I liked that typing tutor program we had, and it has served me well.
--I think it was very important that I wrote the senior research paper that I did. I think we could have done more writing in high school, since college is all about writing."

B said:
" One of my memorable moments occurred when I took two classes at the public school. I thought my public-schooled peers were ahead of me academically. To my surprise, I shot straight to the top of my high school classes and it was then I realized that homeschool had prepared me better academically than public school would have. With homeschooling I was able to learn at my own pace which, while it varied between subjects, was overall vastly more effective than the public school environment would have allowed."

U.S. Civil War / Slavery Unit

2009-04-22T17:21:00.001-07:00

My units change every time I cycle through them. (I like to think the units are getting better each time.) For our most recent study of the Civil War, I made this assignment:

Make a FLAP BOOK with some information about each of the following:

Slavery

Abraham Lincoln

A Civil War battle

A Confederate leader

A Union leader

Reconstruction

Also, add something from at least two other topics—medicine, photography, constitutional issues, famous ships, movie reviews, timeline, or any additional from the list above.

I didn’t direct the construction of the Flap Books. We spent most of our “togetherness school” time reading aloud, watching movies, or doing activities. Then the Flap Books were each student’s synthesis of all the information.

Some of our other activities included making a map showing Union & Confederate states, adding to our timelines/century books, contrasting industrial North with agricultural South, memorizing the Gettysburg address, and making a chart of major battles of the war.

There are so many great resources for learning about Civil War times! Of course I don’t use all of my resources in a given unit, but each of my children will study this at least two times in our homeschool, so each will probably be exposed to everything by the time we’re done. Following is a list of resources I like. Although I have many more Civil War books than this, I have purposely included only my favorites. I recommend that you find additional books—especially biographies of other people from that era (Clara Barton, Matthew Brady, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Eli Whitney, etc.)

Books to read aloud:

*Across Five Aprils (Hunt) [historical fiction]

*Lincoln: a Photobiography (Freedman)

*Killer Angels (Shaara) [made into the movie Gettysburg]

*Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln (Fritz)

*A House Divided [biographies of Lee & Grant]

*Runaway to Freedom [Underground Railroad]

*Behind Rebel Lines [true story of a female spy]

Videos to watch:

*Gone With the Wind

*Shenandoah

*Gods & Generals

Rhythms

2009-04-18T23:56:00.000-07:00

What do I mean by the word “rhythms” when referring to school/life at our house? Basically, it’s just the structure of our days, weeks, and years.
Probably every family has a daily rhythm: up at 6:45, school at 9:00—or whatever works for your family.
But have you ever considered your weekly rhythms? I’m grateful that Sunday is a unique day at our house. It’s a day for worship, for attending church, for wearing special clothes, for staying at home with our family. It refreshes our spirits and gives us a break from the rest of the week. Sunday is also when I write out our school assignments for the week. Monday through Friday are often much alike, but we have rhythms there too: Monday we clean the kitchen, wash clothes, and have music lessons. Tuesday is downstairs cleaning, making bread, C’s paper route, and youth group. . . . Each day has certain activities. Saturday is our day to do big projects and to get ready for Sunday.
Yearly rhythms are the most fun. We try to celebrate many special days, not just the ones that the retailers think are special. We take note of Christian and Jewish holidays, including those not so well-known. We also observe days that mark the passing of the seasons. (Growing much of our own food really connects us to the cycles of the earth as nothing else can.) Thus, we recently celebrated the Spring Equinox, Passover, and especially Easter. A celebration can be just a special meal (or even one special food), a certain ritual, or a whole day of activities. We never spend much money, though we may spend a lot of time. Sometimes we “try” a celebration and decide it’s not important to us. But other celebrations we look forward to for months. What matters most is that such cyclical events provide joy and stability for our family.
While it may not seem intuitive, I’ve learned by experience that children thrive on such structure. It gives them security, because they know what to expect and they anticipate familiar favorites.

There are several books I have used for seasonal celebrations, but my favorite is probably Festivals Family and Food by Diana Carey and Judy Large.

Learning Together

2009-04-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how many times I have mentioned that I homeschool my children and people say “That’s neat” followed by “I could never do that.” The reasons they think they could never do that seem to fall mostly into two categories:

1) I’m not patient enough.

2) I don’t know enough.

I take issue with both of those reasons (though I’m not sure #1 is an honest reason), but it’s #2 that I want to address.

Nobody knows enough! I personally have a good background in math, which is what most homeschool parents seem to worry about, but I had almost no background in social studies when I started. (I got perfect grades in history, but I promptly forgot any facts I had memorized because they weren’t relevant to my life.)

The great thing about homeschooling is that you get to learn right along with your kids. And it’s fun! For those who think you can’t learn this stuff as an adult, how can you require your children to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself? How can you convince them that it’s important for an adult to know something that you don’t know? What an opportunity you have to build relationships with your children as you discover new things together.

One of my greatest blessings from homeschooling is the chance I’ve had to become a history buff, to review calculus, to renew my art skills, to learn more biology than I ever got in high school. In the process, I hope that my kids have seen that learning never stops, that every kind of knowledge is relevant, and that education is a delight.

Don’t tell anyone, but the student who learns the most in our homeschool is…me.

Whole to Parts

2009-03-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve really been thinking about this post, since Tori requested it. (Thanks for the nudge!) It’s one thing to know the definition of “whole-to-parts learning” and another thing to apply it. That’s why I didn’t consciously apply it for long after I was first exposed to the idea. And why I discovered I was actually teaching whole to parts in some cases, but didn’t know it. So, I will explain the idea as I understand it, and then try to give lots of examples of applications.

In whole-to-parts learning, instruction begins with the “big picture,” or in a natural setting. Then learners construct their own understanding of the components. (That doesn’t mean that students never spend time practicing facts—such as the times tables, for instance—but such practice comes later.) This is in direct contrast to a method where subject matter is taught and mastered as factual bits and then (hopefully) synthesized into a whole. Whole-to-parts learning is supposed to appeal to some specific learning styles, but I think it works best for anyone because it is the way that little children learn everything before they go to school. This type of teaching is student-centered (perfect for a homeschool!) and tries to create a context for learning instead of forcing students to be passive recipients of the teacher’s knowledge.

Confused? Here are some examples:

1. Waldorf students are taught the letters of the alphabet using fairy tales. We find a letter in each story, then draw a picture in which that letter IS the picture. I taught the letter “R” with Rapunzel. One side of the "R" is the tower wall. The top of the "R" is the window. The other leg is Rapunzel's hair. (If this isn't obvious, remember that the artist is a 6 year old!) Providing this picture-context has helped D to no longer reverse his letters.

2. Our history study is always based on biographies or historical fiction. (I didn’t want to teach history in the boring way I had been taught, and reading stories just felt right.) So, we might not get all the facts and dates, but we get a feel for the people and the time period.

3. In Waldorf 1^st grade, we learn all four basic math operations together. The math gnomes help each other with their work, so the children see that the operations are all related (eg. multiplication is fast adding).

4. Also in Waldorf math, we always work from the “answer” when learning math facts:
12 is two sixes
12 is three fours
12 is six twos
Also:
12 is two sixes
10 is two fives
8 is two fours
Etc.

5. One of my favorite grammar resources, called Editor in Chief, offers a short passage for the student to read and then tells him how many errors to find. It’s much more challenging than just identifying parts of speech or grammar rules out of context! And it seems less threatening to the kids to edit someone else’s work rather than their own.

6. When modeling with clay, Waldorf students are encouraged to start with one big lump and then pinch and pull to make legs, ears, windows, doors, etc.

7. Our science studies always begin with a “lab.” Even when using a textbook, I rearrange the order so we are doing something experiential at the start. The kids understand the concept much better when they’ve already seen it first-hand.

8. Both the Charlotte Mason and Waldorf models have kids spend a lot of time outside, in nature. They don’t get just a leaf to look at in the classroom; they have seen the whole tree (and probably drawn a picture of it and collected its seed pods and …).

As you have probably noticed, this teaching philosophy is not exclusively a Waldorf idea. But it is part of the foundation of Waldorf ed., and that has prompted me to pay better attention to how I am doing things.

I’d love to hear your ideas of other applications of this philosophy.

A Better Way to Factor Trinomials!

2009-03-10T23:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, that’s really the topic of this post. Maybe only we mathematicians get excited about such things, but I thought this was so neat when I saw it in L’s math book. She is using an algebra book from the series called The Life of Fred. It has worked well for my social, verbal daughter, because the math is taught in the context of a story. What I like, though, is that Fred has some unique ways of doing things.

Remember (or maybe you don’t) how it’s easy to factor trinomials when the coefficient of the x²term is one? But it gets a lot more complicated when that number is something bigger. I was taught basically to make successive guesses until I found what works. But Fred showed me this way--

Factor 3x² + 11x + 6

Consider 3 (the coefficient of x²) and 6 (the constant term).

Which of their factors, when recombined into 2 new numbers, will add to 11 (the coefficient of x)?

3=1*3

6=2*3 or 1*6

Recombining those factors, I get 1*2=2 and 3*3=9. The sum of 2 and 9 is 11.

(I didn’t use the factors 1*6 because they don’t combine with the factors of 3 to get 11.)

Now rewrite the problem: 3x² + 9x + 2x + 6.

(This is exactly the same as above, but the 11x is split into 9x + 2x.)

Find the common factor in the first two terms, then in the second two:

3x(x + 3) + 2(x + 3)

Find the common factor again. It is (x + 3):

(x + 3)(3x + 2)

Done! You have to factor twice, but it’s much easier than the guessing game I learned in my algebra classes.

This algebra book is the only one I have used from the Life of Fred. As I mentioned, it has been a good fit for my daughter. It is the only math series I know of that is "whole to parts." I feel, however, that there are some places where Fred moves too quickly. There have been a few times when I have supplemented with additional explanation. I also highly recommend the Fred Companion book for this same reason; it helps to pace one’s progression through the chapters, and it offers more problems for extra practice.

Watercolor

2009-03-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

In Waldorf schools, the students paint with watercolor every week. In case you have never used watercolor (the stuff in the tins doesn’t count), it is one of the most difficult media I have tried. I took a class in college and learned some techniques which gave me a moderate amount of success. But that was 29 years ago!

So it’s good that I don’t need to remember those techniques to teach painting the Waldorf way. Now, it’s all about getting to know the colors. What is yellow’s personality? (Who knew you could paint a whole picture in yellow?)

Which colors like each other? How do the colors mix with each other to make new colors?

D uses only the primary colors. He paints stories like “Yellow and Blue met one day. When they recognized each other, they had a big hug.” These simple paintings are amazingly beautiful.

L and M are free to paint what they want on our painting days. Occasionally they choose a subject we are studying, but usually they just try out ideas. They use a variety of colors, and mix new colors too. They’ve done really well, but not without some frustration about how to control wet paint on a wet surface. We all continue to learn. :o)

I’m trying to experiment and rediscover some of those tricks I used to know about painting. But I’ve also gained a new appreciation for clear, beautiful colors. And if my paintings don’t turn out quite right, I can cut them up and use them for math manipulatives or for flash cards. [See Land of Numeria for an example!] Mostly, I’ve found that painting feels therapeutic for all of us, and we look forward to these days.

A Day in the Life...

2009-03-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

I always wished I could watch, minute by minute, a typical day in the life of another homeschooling family. How do they REALLY do it? In case you’ve had the same desire, I will attempt to re-create March 3, 2009, at our house.

We start our day at 6:45 pm. We read scriptures, sing a song, and pray. Then C is out the door for school at the community college, and Daddy leaves for work. L and N each have a 1^st period class: 6^th grade band for N, and seminary (our church’s daily religious instruction) for L. They usually ride their bikes, but today they ride with Daddy because of swimming lessons later.

While the girls are gone, D and I have “1^st grade.” We work on his chores (he can do most of them independently now), then we usually do some reading and math. Today Gnome Times helps D to multiply with the manipulatives. Finally, it’s time to go to swimming lessons. The pool is near N’s and L’s classes, so they walk over and we all meet at the pool.

When we get back home, we have a science lab. Today we make a nail into an electromagnet. We finish by reading aloud from the science book, then L and N have their individualized math and language arts assignments. L does more (vocabulary, writing, literature), because she’s a high school student this year.

After lunch, it’s time for jobs. N and D get a bit distracted though. They find a fairy house under a fir tree in the back yard! N had built it secretly, and she keeps adding small details throughout the day so that D is excited about each new discovery. We all finally get our jobs done though, and I finish planting the starts for the veggie garden.

C gets home about 2:00 and has to leave again at 3:30 so he can pick up his newspapers for his route and go to his drivers’ education class. After helping him fold papers, I leave with L for her Irish Dance (think “Riverdance”) class. She is so fun to watch! We had to look for awhile to find this class, but it’s been great for her.

To end the day, C delivers his papers, we go to a potluck dinner at church, and some of the kids stay for their church youth group. We get D in bed early, because we’re going to an opera tomorrow night! Before he goes to bed, C talks to me about ideas for his project for his college geology class. It’s all in a day’s work for a homeschool mom.

The Math Gnomes are Coming!

2009-03-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

In Waldorf education, it is traditional to introduce most things—including the mathematical operations--with stories. I’ve heard of fairies, ponies, squirrels, or almost anything else for math. We decided to use gnomes, and D helped me to make them out of felt and wooden bodies I purchased from A Child’s Dream Come True (http://achildsdream.com/index.htm). This is a very fun store, with reasonable prices.
Here is a photo of our gnomes. Besides the four operations, there is also King Equals and his treasurer Alpha. (The gnomes spend their time collecting jewels which they take to Alpha.) Not included in this picture is Omega ("Meg"), who is Alpha's wife. D and N thought that all of the math gnomes needed spouses.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of D and the math gnomes....

Waldorf Principles

2009-03-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned Marsha Johnson, another of my mentors. By showing me the principles of Waldorf education (as opposed to just examples of Waldorf education), she enabled me to incorporate this model into everything we do. Here are those principles as I understand them:

1. Look for archetypal knowledge, eternal truths--vs. knowledge where the perspective can change with time. Look for cross-cultural lessons from history. Be able to perceive and express these spiritual truths yourself, then teach them without stating them obviously. This can be hard, but it helps so much when you have done your own inner work ahead of time. The truths seem to emanate from you.

2. Identify time period, culture, or sources of info as the foundational core focus for a block. Then plan to present 2 new ideas around that focus each week. (For a 4-week block, you will cover 8 main concepts.) This really helped me, because I'm often guilty of trying to cram in too much!

3. Identify skill threads (vocabulary, grammar, math, etc.) to be incorporated into the lessons. This is pretty easy, for those of us who are used to unit studies. Marsha recommends choosing for each week an artistic goal, an academic goal, and a social goal. (Social would be different at home than in a Waldorf school, I expect.)

4. Be conservative with words. Then we spend more time with hands-on or artistic endeavors, and it isn't just mom talking all the time. (This one's a challenge for me too!)

5. Bring reverence to the lesson--respect for culture, belief, people, nature, God, and the earth. Set the scene, eliminate distractions, incorporate the beautiful.

The idea of Whole to Parts is an important principle as well, one I will cover in a future post.

The Land of Numeria

2009-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last fall, I decided to start the year with a review of math facts, since everything seems to be forgotten over the summer. Math facts are not our favorite, so I tried to make it more fun with a Waldorfy idea inspired by Marsha Johnson of Shining Star School.
We began by looking for numbers in the world around us. (What a good excuse to go outside!) This is a standard first grade Waldorf study on the “quality” of numbers. My first grader, D, made a book with a different page for each number. Here is 4, the legs on a Guinea pig, and the Roman numeral IV. My older kids filled their books with beautiful numbers and their own review of Roman numerals.
Next we made a map of Numeria which included a forest, a river, and a village. These were our destinations for the next several days. The key to enter this land was found in the hidden numbers at the gate (which I made).
D had to count all the numbers in order to get in. L and N had to find their sum and product.
We gathered in the dark forest, surrounded by D’s stuffed wild animals. There we practiced addition and multiplication, using our flashlights to see the cards. (Somehow flashlights made math drills more fun!) D did his addition with manipulatives. The next day in the forest, we made trees: factor trees for my 6th and 9th graders, sums for my 1st grader.At the river, instead of skipping rocks we did skip counting. (We also visited a real river and we did skip rocks there.)
In the village, the buildings were tall. D practiced counting on, while the older kids reviewed adding long columns of numbers and other tricks.
This is just a quick overview; each part of this math block took several days. And our math review turned out to be fairly painless. :o)

We like Apologia Science

2009-03-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve never done a great job of teaching science. My kids were interested in nature, and it seemed they figured out what they needed to know. They could identify most of the local plants and animals. They understood volcanoes and glaciers because we had visited some relevant national parks. Occasionally I did a science unit like “the human body” or “space.” But I never saw any textbooks that I liked.

Until now. I currently own four science texts published by Apologia: General Science (about 7^th grade), Physical Science (8th grade), Biology (9^th grade), and Physics (11th grade).

The text is okay. Concepts are explained well, but the constant repetition drives my kids crazy. (I read aloud and edit as I go.)

What we like are the labs. There are a LOT of labs in these books, and they teach significant principles. (You can only go so far with kitchen chemistry, even if it is fun.) In the interest of teaching “whole to part,” I like to start the day with a lab and then read about the principles involved.

This picture of a lab--from the physical science book--shows how liquid was sucked up into a bottle to replace the air used by the burning candle. That was from our study of air pressure. Probably our favorite lab (so far) was from the biology book. We made cultures of pond water (very stinky!) then looked at them under the microscope. Watching a paramecium suddenly swim across your drop of water is definitely an “ah ha” moment!

I have science textbooks and I have books of science experiments. But this is the best I have seen for do-able labs along with text. The companion CD’s are helpful too. I should add that our family does the labs together, then older kids participate in the reading and the oldest kids will do the study guides and tests.

My Homeschool Philosophy

2009-03-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling was my husband’s idea to begin with (even before our first child was born). He had studied gifted education, and knew that giftedness flourishes in a rich, individualized environment. Of course our children would be “gifted”! If not though, intelligence will increase if the teacher thinks a child is smart.

I’d never even heard of homeschool before, but I started reading. And there wasn’t much to read at the time, mostly some books by Raymond and Dorothy Moore with titles like Better Late Than Early and School Can Wait. Soon I had decided that homeschooling was important, not only for superior academics, but so that I could respect my children’s time and not waste it with the administrative and disciplinary details that have to occur in the public school. I wanted time for them to play, to enjoy their childhood. (I remember calling my elementary school a prison.) I didn’t want them to have to repeat things they already understood. My goal was to have children who love to learn and who know how to learn.

Inspired by the Konos curriculum, I soon settled into a plan for our homeschool based on unit studies. The idea of tying all subject areas together under one topic really appealed to my step-sequential brain! The reality wasn’t exactly that way, however. We had some great units, but they were heavy on the history and language arts and somewhat lacking on the math and science. (We usually did math separately.) And all the things I wanted to teach my kids didn’t necessarily fit into logical little units (although I kept trying to make them do so!)

Along the way, I heard about Charlotte Mason’s ideas. Most of them were things I had already found to be successful in my homeschool, especially the concept of “living” books. Some were new ideas for me though: short lessons, nature journals, century books. These principles have worked well for our family. The idea of short lessons was a life-saver with one daughter who really struggled with math in the later elementary years. We agreed to ten minutes a day, and I would condense the lesson to one principle and just a few problems. She could do math, if it were only for ten minutes.

You can see why I call this a journey! Recently, I have moved closer to the Waldorf model of education. I haven’t abandoned the things I’ve been doing all these years, but Waldorf adds ideas that appeal to my spirit. Now I am more cognizant of life’s rhythms: the daily, weekly, and yearly patterns that structure our time. (I have long understood that structure was important to children, but Waldorf makes an art of structure.) Now I try to incorporate more creativity and imagination. We have more art and music in our home. We tell more stories. I feel that my life is richer than before.
My friend and mentor Melisa Nielsen, a Waldorf consultant, said, “Steiner [founder of Waldorf education] meant for this path to be for the teachers as much as (if not MORE than) for the students, because if the teacher is spot on then the students will absorb what they need as they need it.” I guess that’s why I love Waldorf!

Truly though, I love everything we have done as a homeschooling family. No matter what curriculum or game plan I have used, just the fact that I could spend every day with my children has been an incredible blessing. It’s really all about my children.

Timelines

2009-02-26T15:27:00.000-08:00

I first encountered the idea of timelines in the Konos Character curriculum. (Those books were so appealing, but I could never afford one!) But I could make my own timeline. The only wall in our home that was long enough was on the stairway, so it was a slanted timeline. And the children made the most elaborate people for it. We were learning about medieval Europe at the time, so there were some colorful characters to work with.

Right away I learned something that most timeline makers get wrong: MAKE ALL OF THE CENTURIES THE SAME LENGTH! I figure that the purpose of a timeline is to give us a sense of where people and events are in the grand scheme of things. To show how short a time this century is compared to the whole history of the earth. To show how the years I have lived are only a fraction of the years Methuselah lived. So make the 20th century the same length as the 1st century—even though there is a lot more stuff to fit in.

When I discovered Charlotte Mason, I discovered century books—timelines in a binder. Thus began our tradition that the “little kids” make the timeline on the wall, while the older kids have their own century books (one century per two-page spread). Receiving a century book at age 12 became one of our family’s rites of passage. By that age, the child is old enough to make a beautiful book so that he doesn’t feel the need to “do it over” as his skills increase. And the remaining years before graduation allow him to have at least something on every page.

Occasionally—when we move, or when we need to paint the wall—we get a new timeline and the younger kids get a fresh start. The older ones can keep their century books for as long as they want.

What does Daddy Do?

2009-02-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

My husband is a school teacher, so people assume he contributes a lot to the academics of our homeschool. Well, not really. He doesn't even need to handle the math or science, as many dads do, because those subjects are my strengths.

While he doesn't contribute to the actual lessons, however, Dad helps to create an atmosphere of learning in our home--probably one of the most important aspects of our children's education. He is always learning himself, and he shares his discoveries. He creates little contests and trivia games. ("The one who wins this classical music identification games doesn't have to pay for car insurance this month.") He speaks multiple languages at the dinner table, and encourages others to do the same. He plans amazing road trips. Yes, he helps . . . though not in ways one might expect. And don't forget that his work outside our home enables me to stay in our home with the kids. I know our homeschool wouldn't be nearly as successful without him.