#1. Resurrect a lapsed blog.
As I told you last summer, I signed up for a Writing Fiction class at my local community college, rather than deciding what kind of graduate degree I want to pursue. I was very excited. And as you know if you've been reading me, to get warmed up and make sure I didn't embarrass myself in class, over the summer I did a free online course through Open University called Start Writing Fiction. I was concerned because I had never written a story before, not since I was a tiny little girl and wrote only a few sentences. Class started in late August, a little while after I wrote my last post for this blog.
At first I was really inspired, I had a bunch of ideas (mostly hare-brained) for short stories. I wrote one of them over the course of a number of weeks, but it turned out sounding stiff and bloodless. It was about a middle-aged character having a very quiet sort of experience. Even though the class I'm taking is at a community college and meets in the evening, I am the only 'adult learner' in there, the rest of them look to be 18-19 years old. I wanted to write something that they would like, since we have to read our stories aloud and have the class critique them. I scrapped my first story at the last minute (one week before my first 'workshop') and wrote another, a YA short story about teenage Wiccans. My classmates ate it up, although they misunderstood the story somewhat.
Once I survived my first workshop, I found to my dismay that all my ideas and inspiration had dried up, and I didn't know what to write. I tried writing another story, and started it twice but both times it sounded stiff and contrived.
Meanwhile, Ariel had told me about the Young Writer's Program part of NaNoWriMo , and I helped Primo sign up. He got really excited about it, and started writing character bios and story ideas. Soon his friends were signed up too, and even Radish asked me to help him make an account. I decided to sign myself up for the regular adult version of NaNo, the 50,000 word write-a-novel-in-a-month challenge. I figured there was no way I'd make it to 50K, but writing toward that goal would give me something meaty to bring to my second (and final) workshop for class. The professor seems to prefer unfinished 'first chapter of my novel' pieces over finished short stories, and the class, too, criticizes those less. Anyway, I took my most substantial idea and wrote an outline, put it aside until November 1st.
Today. I tried, this morning, to write from that outline, and the result was the poorest, most bloodless writing that I've done so far. I think I might scrap the whole idea and write 'by the seat of my pants' in a genre, rather than straight real-world fiction.
But for this evening, I'm finding lots of other things somehow more pressing or interesting than getting to work on writing fiction. There's this poor, neglected blog, for instance. How could I let it languish for one more day? :) Also, there's:
#2. File away the kids' homeschool work in their notebooks.
#3. Make a cup of tea, and some toast with jam to go along with it.
#4. Hmm, laundry. No reason to let it sit, just because it's Saturday night!
#5. Christmas shopping! Online, natch...
#6. Email. Oh, so urgent, these messages, must read right now...
#7. Get ahead on tomorrow's chores: plan meals for the week, write lessons for the week (including all-new 'Baby Lessons'! more on that in my next post!)
#8. Read-- if I can't write fiction today, I can still immerse myself in it. Specifically, a terrific book by Octavia Butler, Wild Seed. It's so interesting to read this book after reading about it and reading the first paragraphs, broken down, in Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm having one of my reading crises again-- I've stacked myself up with too many things to read, trying to find inspiration. I have an old favorite, Orson Scott Card's Maps in a Mirror out from the library for over a week, but untouched. And a fun, YA collection of short holiday stories called My True Love Gave to Me. Then there's the short story collection (Best American Short Stories 2014) that I don't have to read for class, but I feel like I should anyway (it was the 2013 edition that was mandatory for class, but I finished that). And the boys have several things out from the library that I want to read, and I have a few more on my NOOK, and don't get me started on magazines and non-fiction (I have three or four books about helping your homeschooler get into college which I haven't started yet).
#9. TV- and this one is ridiculous, because we only have the most basic cable and on a Saturday night there is *nothing on*, not until SNL and that's hours away.
#10. Make a list of some kind. Oh. Check.
I guess I'll be mad at myself tomorrow if I don't at least make an attempt to write something worth continuing (the 150 words I put down this morning is not it). But first, I hear Snorzy talking upstairs, more than an hour after I put him down in his crib. A few more minutes before I have to face the blank page!
Showing posts with label Primo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Primo. Show all posts
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
The Merciful Edit
Well, we've been back to lessons for almost two weeks now, and it feels like we never stopped. The boys and I fell right back into our groove, and I have to keep reminding myself that no one else we know is in the midst of their school year. I actually assigned the boys watching CNN student news on our first day, and we were all briefly confused when the newest video on the website was from early June. Then, "Oh, yeah-! There's no student news when all the students are on summer break!" I hope we'll remember to pick back up on that resource when the 'school year' begins for everyone else. Although Sweet Hubby is a bit of a news hound, I tend not to follow current events very closely (too cynical, I don't believe much of anything that's reported), and as a consequence my boys are growing up a bit ignorant of the world around them.
I guess I still have to get around to writing a post about History Odyssey and why I love it so much. I'll add to that my newfound affection for Microscope Adventure!, a unit study on the use and history of the microscope (this is going to comprise much of Radish's science curriculum for 4th grade, and Primo will do it along with his Holt Life Science textbook, to round things out for his 7th grade science). What's on my mind today, though, is a tiny moment in our homeschool related to History Odyssey, and the quality of mercy.
A window into my methods as a homeschooling mama: when Primo was small, I used to write out his lessons daily, the night before. After a year or two of this, I realized that I found it stressful to have to do this each day, and I sometimes had a hard time making the work over the course of the week add up to a satisfying whole. At some point, I came around to a better way-- I sit down every Sunday and write out lessons for the week, in a little yellow notebook:
I make a section on the page for each day, and divide that into 'Radish', 'Both', and 'Primo'. Then I list their work, using the textbooks and curricula that they're working from, and figuring out which lesson they need to work next, and also trying to make my best guesses about how much work they can reasonably complete in one day. That's where the finesse comes in. It's not unusual for me to under-plan, and have both boys turn up 'finished' after just an hour or two of work. This is especially frustrating at those times when we've had a bunch of days in a row in which we have had to spend a lot of time out of the house, and then we finally have a good, solid day 'in'. If the boys finish all their assigned work for the day, they get understandably salty when I say, "Huh, it looks like I didn't give you enough work. Let's look in the yellow notebook and have you do some lessons listed under tomorrow."
So, sometimes I go too far the other way and load up my planning book with lessons, to make sure they'll have enough to do. I was starting to do that this past Sunday, I had actually written in my planning book three separate History Odyssey lessons for Primo (we do three days of history each week), when I happened to look closely at the lessons I was assigning. I noticed that the second one was pretty involved, and included a particular piece (a Record of War or Conflict) that Primo has had a hard time with in the past. I thought about it for a moment, considering leaving things the way they were, and just letting him stretch things out during the week if he really needed to. I even called him over to the table and pointed out to him that I was giving him a lot of history work, but that we could cut it down later. He just said, "Ok," and wandered off to go back to whatever he had been doing. Then, I chose mercy. On him, and on myself-- I crossed that third history lesson out. Drew a pen line right through it. And breathed. Nothing broken, just a little extra space in our week.
This is one of the things I continually struggle with in homeschooling my boys. With my tiny class of one seventh grader, one fourth grader, it can be hard to figure out exactly how much each boy is capable of doing. I have no basis of comparison, I just have to make it up as I go along, and pay attention to each boy to see if he is bored or stressed by the amount and level of work that I give him. It can be really difficult to see, though, because neither boy will complain about too much work, nor will they ever ask for more challenge in their lessons. I used to think that at some point I would notice that the boys needed more, and we would start grade skipping and then they might even outgrow homeschooling early and move on to college work. Instead, I think that we adjust as we go along, so what I call '4th grade' might not look like '4th grade' level work in school.
I just read a somewhat ridiculous book called The Brainy Bunch, a memoir written by a homeschooling mom and dad who have sent each of their children to college at around the age of 11 or 12. They have 10 kids, and I can empathize a little with wanting to hurry the older ones out of the nest, with so many coming up behind. What struck me, though, was that these weren't really success stories, nor did it sound like these were kids who needed more of a challenge. Instead, the parents had embarked upon a program of rushing their average IQ kids through boxed curricula, and then having them take college entrance exams and start community college when they had reached some minimum level of competence. One of the oldest daughters had always wanted to be a doctor, but after graduating college at the age of 17 or so, was unable to pass her MCATs to get into medical school. Instead she ended up pursuing a D.O. degree, and entering the navy as a medical trainee. Her parents were pleased and proud as could be, but I was left wondering, "what if?" What if she had been allowed to stay home through her high school years, pursuing biology and doing some kind of medical internship or job? What if she had entered college, maybe even a four year college, at 17 or 18 and graduated with other kids her own age? Might she have done better on her MCATs, been able to go to medical school the way she wanted? How do these kids feel, knowing that their parents expect them to be 'done' with homeschooling at the age when their peers are in middle school?
I was glad this book came to my attention now, as my oldest is just beginning what I think of as the 'transcript years', when he's old enough to conceivably do things that might be interesting or high-level enough to show up on a transcript for college entrance. Reading what these parents had done, and the results, gave me a push in the other direction. I don't need my guys to enter college early in order to give my homeschooling legitimacy. They can take their time and be 'ordinary', I can refuse to step on the crazy train of college expectations that so often is a part of modern parenting. I want to help my kids find opportunities to do neat things, especially the kinds of things they wouldn't have the time for if they were in school and bogged down with homework. But the last thing I need them to be, for my sake, is impressive.
I guess I still have to get around to writing a post about History Odyssey and why I love it so much. I'll add to that my newfound affection for Microscope Adventure!, a unit study on the use and history of the microscope (this is going to comprise much of Radish's science curriculum for 4th grade, and Primo will do it along with his Holt Life Science textbook, to round things out for his 7th grade science). What's on my mind today, though, is a tiny moment in our homeschool related to History Odyssey, and the quality of mercy.
A window into my methods as a homeschooling mama: when Primo was small, I used to write out his lessons daily, the night before. After a year or two of this, I realized that I found it stressful to have to do this each day, and I sometimes had a hard time making the work over the course of the week add up to a satisfying whole. At some point, I came around to a better way-- I sit down every Sunday and write out lessons for the week, in a little yellow notebook:
I make a section on the page for each day, and divide that into 'Radish', 'Both', and 'Primo'. Then I list their work, using the textbooks and curricula that they're working from, and figuring out which lesson they need to work next, and also trying to make my best guesses about how much work they can reasonably complete in one day. That's where the finesse comes in. It's not unusual for me to under-plan, and have both boys turn up 'finished' after just an hour or two of work. This is especially frustrating at those times when we've had a bunch of days in a row in which we have had to spend a lot of time out of the house, and then we finally have a good, solid day 'in'. If the boys finish all their assigned work for the day, they get understandably salty when I say, "Huh, it looks like I didn't give you enough work. Let's look in the yellow notebook and have you do some lessons listed under tomorrow."
So, sometimes I go too far the other way and load up my planning book with lessons, to make sure they'll have enough to do. I was starting to do that this past Sunday, I had actually written in my planning book three separate History Odyssey lessons for Primo (we do three days of history each week), when I happened to look closely at the lessons I was assigning. I noticed that the second one was pretty involved, and included a particular piece (a Record of War or Conflict) that Primo has had a hard time with in the past. I thought about it for a moment, considering leaving things the way they were, and just letting him stretch things out during the week if he really needed to. I even called him over to the table and pointed out to him that I was giving him a lot of history work, but that we could cut it down later. He just said, "Ok," and wandered off to go back to whatever he had been doing. Then, I chose mercy. On him, and on myself-- I crossed that third history lesson out. Drew a pen line right through it. And breathed. Nothing broken, just a little extra space in our week.
This is one of the things I continually struggle with in homeschooling my boys. With my tiny class of one seventh grader, one fourth grader, it can be hard to figure out exactly how much each boy is capable of doing. I have no basis of comparison, I just have to make it up as I go along, and pay attention to each boy to see if he is bored or stressed by the amount and level of work that I give him. It can be really difficult to see, though, because neither boy will complain about too much work, nor will they ever ask for more challenge in their lessons. I used to think that at some point I would notice that the boys needed more, and we would start grade skipping and then they might even outgrow homeschooling early and move on to college work. Instead, I think that we adjust as we go along, so what I call '4th grade' might not look like '4th grade' level work in school.
I just read a somewhat ridiculous book called The Brainy Bunch, a memoir written by a homeschooling mom and dad who have sent each of their children to college at around the age of 11 or 12. They have 10 kids, and I can empathize a little with wanting to hurry the older ones out of the nest, with so many coming up behind. What struck me, though, was that these weren't really success stories, nor did it sound like these were kids who needed more of a challenge. Instead, the parents had embarked upon a program of rushing their average IQ kids through boxed curricula, and then having them take college entrance exams and start community college when they had reached some minimum level of competence. One of the oldest daughters had always wanted to be a doctor, but after graduating college at the age of 17 or so, was unable to pass her MCATs to get into medical school. Instead she ended up pursuing a D.O. degree, and entering the navy as a medical trainee. Her parents were pleased and proud as could be, but I was left wondering, "what if?" What if she had been allowed to stay home through her high school years, pursuing biology and doing some kind of medical internship or job? What if she had entered college, maybe even a four year college, at 17 or 18 and graduated with other kids her own age? Might she have done better on her MCATs, been able to go to medical school the way she wanted? How do these kids feel, knowing that their parents expect them to be 'done' with homeschooling at the age when their peers are in middle school?
I was glad this book came to my attention now, as my oldest is just beginning what I think of as the 'transcript years', when he's old enough to conceivably do things that might be interesting or high-level enough to show up on a transcript for college entrance. Reading what these parents had done, and the results, gave me a push in the other direction. I don't need my guys to enter college early in order to give my homeschooling legitimacy. They can take their time and be 'ordinary', I can refuse to step on the crazy train of college expectations that so often is a part of modern parenting. I want to help my kids find opportunities to do neat things, especially the kinds of things they wouldn't have the time for if they were in school and bogged down with homework. But the last thing I need them to be, for my sake, is impressive.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Rooting
Our month off from lessons is half over. When I mentioned that fact to the boys yesterday they groaned but I'm looking forward to getting back to it soon. Due to our weird homeschooling year, they've already completed one 10-week 'quarter', before we took our July break. I have yet to do my paperwork for the coming year, but that's par for the course-- I always send it in sometime in August. I don't know why I'm so looking forward to going back to lessons-- because we started back in May, there is nothing new to the work they'll be doing. For now, I'm happy with all the materials we're using (and beyond happy with History Odyssey, but that's a separate blog entry, or will be soon). Next year I'm going to look into Discovery K-12, a free online comprehensive curriculum that I just heard about from Ariel, homeschooling mama extraordinaire.
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Blooming
In two weeks we'll take another break from homeschooling, this time so that the boys can go to summer camp(s). In a perfect world they'd do all of their summer camps in August so we could stay on our 'three months on, one month off' homeschooling schedule, but over the years I've had to loosen up about that, so that the boys can do the camps they want to do (this year: Primo is going to one week of sleep-away Boy Scout camp, while Radish gets a week of Wayfinders role-playing day camp). Later in the month they'll do two weeks at a local town Youth Department day camp, not our own town but a 'better' one nearby. We'll start back to lesson in August, which means we'll have *four* months is a row 'on', before we take a break in December.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Change the Conversation
"If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation." I've been somewhat obsessively watching Mad Men lately, catching up on this series after Sweet Hubby and I took a loooong break from watching (we don't get the channel and have to wait for it to come along on Netflix). I find myself lying awake at night, unable to sleep, thinking about what's going on with the characters and what could happen next. I can't blame Mad Men for my insomnia, I'd be awake anyway-- I just think it's funny that after I go through the catalog of my own worries, I turn to those of the fictional characters I'm most involved with at the moment. Today I was trying to express to a friend what I find so interesting and escapist about this series-- and I realized (aside from the costumes) it's the relationship of the women in the show to motherhood- or rather their complete lack of interest in their children. Even the stay-at-home trophy wives in the show (with one exception) have very little to do with their kids, more interested in their clothes, husbands and affairs. It's not that there are no women on the show, or no mothers, or even no children-- there just aren't mothers who build their lives around their children, even while they are new mothers and the children are adorable babies.
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thoughts on Testing
I wonder if public school teachers ever feel guilty about spending class time on 'test prep', or if they don't have any feelings about it because so much about the whole testing situation in schools is out of the teachers' hands.
Every year since Primo was in first grade I've ended our school year with a standardized test (we use the CAT-E), even though here in our state we only need to report test scores to the local district in 5th, 7th, and 9th-12th grades. So these tests that I give them each year are just for practice (at the end of Primo's first grade year it was also because I was a little curious/worried about how our homeschool measured up compared to public school), with no consequences attached either for them or for me as their teacher. This year is not a reporting year for either of my big boys, and even if it was I would have no concerns about their scores being below the percentile that they need to meet or exceed as homeschoolers.
So, why? Why do I buy test prep books and spend a precious week of our school year having them run through exercises on topics that we haven't covered, or haven't covered in much depth? I reassure myself that it is mainly so that they don't feel nervous or frustrated when they see those topics pop up on next week's test. Also, it's good for me to know (by giving them the practice tests in the prep book) which areas they are weak in, in case I want to incorporate any of it into our new school year (for example, I found to my surprise that both boys could use a refresher on literary genres). In a way, it's even fun-- these are, by definition, things we have not spent a lot of time on before, so they are fresh and new in a way that none of their other lessons would be, in this penultimate week of our school year.
And yet. I have a niggling fear in the back of my mind that 'prepping' them for the test has something to do with my pleasure when I open their test results and see that they did very well in all sections of the exam. It doesn't matter, doesn't give an accurate picture of them as students or certainly not as people. But I've come to like seeing those high scores, and I'm afraid I would be disappointed if they didn't do as well, one of these years.
Just to be clear, they love the testing itself--they're amused by the formality of standardized testing, they think it's funny when I read the script word-for-word and time them (it probably helps that they are good at testing, and rarely run up against the time limits). When Primo was six, in first grade, and we completed his first CAT-E exam, he turned to me and said, "You're the best teacher, Mama, and I love homeschooling". Traumatized by testing, these kids are not. They don't even seem to mind the test prep.
It just feels to me almost like cheating, to do anything at all to get them ready for the test instead of just giving it to them cold, after going about our usual business up until testing day.
I think I'm thinking too much about this. To make myself feel better, I'll enumerate some things I *don't* do:
1. look at the contents of the actual CAT-E exam in advance, in order to truly 'teach to the test'
2. teach to the test in general, throughout our school year
3. help the kids during the test in any way, or give them extra time
Maybe one of these years I'll be brave, and just hand them the tests without a minute of prep. Maybe next year.
Every year since Primo was in first grade I've ended our school year with a standardized test (we use the CAT-E), even though here in our state we only need to report test scores to the local district in 5th, 7th, and 9th-12th grades. So these tests that I give them each year are just for practice (at the end of Primo's first grade year it was also because I was a little curious/worried about how our homeschool measured up compared to public school), with no consequences attached either for them or for me as their teacher. This year is not a reporting year for either of my big boys, and even if it was I would have no concerns about their scores being below the percentile that they need to meet or exceed as homeschoolers.
So, why? Why do I buy test prep books and spend a precious week of our school year having them run through exercises on topics that we haven't covered, or haven't covered in much depth? I reassure myself that it is mainly so that they don't feel nervous or frustrated when they see those topics pop up on next week's test. Also, it's good for me to know (by giving them the practice tests in the prep book) which areas they are weak in, in case I want to incorporate any of it into our new school year (for example, I found to my surprise that both boys could use a refresher on literary genres). In a way, it's even fun-- these are, by definition, things we have not spent a lot of time on before, so they are fresh and new in a way that none of their other lessons would be, in this penultimate week of our school year.
And yet. I have a niggling fear in the back of my mind that 'prepping' them for the test has something to do with my pleasure when I open their test results and see that they did very well in all sections of the exam. It doesn't matter, doesn't give an accurate picture of them as students or certainly not as people. But I've come to like seeing those high scores, and I'm afraid I would be disappointed if they didn't do as well, one of these years.
Just to be clear, they love the testing itself--they're amused by the formality of standardized testing, they think it's funny when I read the script word-for-word and time them (it probably helps that they are good at testing, and rarely run up against the time limits). When Primo was six, in first grade, and we completed his first CAT-E exam, he turned to me and said, "You're the best teacher, Mama, and I love homeschooling". Traumatized by testing, these kids are not. They don't even seem to mind the test prep.
It just feels to me almost like cheating, to do anything at all to get them ready for the test instead of just giving it to them cold, after going about our usual business up until testing day.
I think I'm thinking too much about this. To make myself feel better, I'll enumerate some things I *don't* do:
1. look at the contents of the actual CAT-E exam in advance, in order to truly 'teach to the test'
2. teach to the test in general, throughout our school year
3. help the kids during the test in any way, or give them extra time
Maybe one of these years I'll be brave, and just hand them the tests without a minute of prep. Maybe next year.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Big Buy
Every year around this time we get a tax refund, and it's time once again to make our big homeschool purchase. The project of deciding what books and supplies we need for the coming school year has been consuming all of my spare time for the past week and more. It was a little more work than usual; in the past I've mostly just ordered the next book in each of the series that I've liked over the years. This year, though, I felt a need to make things more challenging and comprehensive for Primo, as he goes into 7th grade. And after six years of trying to put together something on my own for science that I can be happy with, I'm going to cave and try a textbook-based curriculum for Primo. I think I've almost settled on what we're getting (for all the boys and all the subjects) after *many, many hours* researching various curricula, previewing books through interlibrary loan, reading reviews, and taking stock of what we already have (and what sorts of things I buy and then find we never use-- that's right, I'm talking about you, art supplies). This may change a bit, there's no hurry to order since we won't start our new school year until May 1st. Here it is then, for anyone who is curious:
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Friday, January 10, 2014
Wipes Box Toy
For my first project of my 2014 craft challenge, from this blog post, as seen on Pinterest: I made a baby wipes box ‘toy’ for Snorzy, with fabric squares that he can remove again and again. Maybe making this was a little bit stupid, since none of my three kids ever did the ‘pull every baby wipe out of the box’ thing, maybe I’m just encouraging bad behavior. He drives me so crazy anyway, though, in that he hardly plays with toys but instead looks around for anything he can get his hands on that he *shouldn’t* play with. I think I wouldn’t even mind so much if he pulled real wipes out of a current box of wipes, if it would keep him sitting still for five minutes and not pulling on electrical cords or knocking over my things.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
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