The joys of car schooling

Homeschooling high school is, and this is a glaring understatement, a lot of work. More work than the earlier years because it really matters and it is the last chance for cementing skills and imparting wisdom before your kids fly the coop. I find older teens to be interesting young adults, but they still don't necessarily LOVE every subject, don't greet each school day with heart-felt enthusiasm. They still don't give me all the praise I am due for creating such brilliant courses of study for them.

The 4 day car trip I had with my son last weekend turned out to be a wonderful break from the worries and pressures of high school. It reminded me of the old days when learning was a simple, natural and unrushed endeavor, and it was a relief to see that meaningful learning, without assignments and expectations, can still happen with a teen.

I could have insisted we listen during the drive to a work from his world history and literature syllabus, but instead we listened to a book he had been impatient for me to read, Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He talked about what he liked about the book, I talked about what I didn't like, we talked about Libertarians, and utopia and current politics. We compared the book to Dune, he compared it to Starship Troopers and told me not to read that one based on the things I disliked about this one. It was relaxing yet engaging and the hours passed quickly.

We also went on a couple of organized tours. Neither was really planned to connect to this year's science or history, they were just interesting and available. One was a behind the scenes tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was quite interesting -- we could have spent another hour with that docent. The other was at the beach where the Elephant Seals hang out in the winter. That was quite amazing, and my son surprised me with some random knowledge of the physiology of the animals.

Part of me wishes we could school like this for the rest of high school. I'm a former unschooler who only planned for math during the early elementary grades, otherwise everything was learned simply through exploring the world via books, videos or being out in the world. My kids thrived with this set up, yet they adapted and thrived as things became more formal and structured. I guess it was a good reminder for me that it is still worthwhile to spend some unstructured time outside of our routine, that simply sharing books can be more edifying than dissecting great works. And with the high school years passing by so quickly, we definitely need to make time for a few more of these excursions.

Wordless Wednesdays: Ano Nuevo State Reserve, CA

Car Schooling

My 14yo and I spent the last 4 days together in northern California. We went up there for a robotics tournament in San Jose, but one of the unexpected pleasures of the trip was simply driving past all the happy California cows. It looks like Ireland or New Zealand, but the green hills are in California after a winter of El Nino rains.

We spent a day at the Monterey Aquarium, both in the exhibit halls and behind the scenes on a tour. We were delighted earlier in the day, though, to spot an otter or two out in the ocean just off the bluffs. This guy kept bobbing on his back, disappearing to get more food, then popping back up on his back and eating. Another happy, laid back California critter

The most interesting part of our trip was the naturalist led tour around the elephant seals of Ano Nuevo State Beach. Talk about your laid back creatures. They are slugs from the time they are born!

The above group are a bunch of pups called "weaners" because they have been weaned. Their mothers nurse them for about 4 weeks then take off. The little weaners hang out for another 2 months then get hungry enough to head out to the ocean and start feeding. Nobody protects them from predators or clumsy 1 ton bulls who sometimes flatten them. No one teaches them to hunt or swim -- they just hang out. The wild El Nino storms swept about a third of them away last month.

But aren't they cute?!!

The bulls definitely get a little weird looking, like some sci-fi creature from another planet, and they are only capable of galumphing along on the beach for a short stretch before they collapse for a rest. This one wanted to join our little tour group!

Elephant Seals were thought to be extinct back in the late 1800s as they had been killed for their blubbler. It was much easier to hunt the slug like seals on the beach than the big whales in the open ocean. A small group somehow survived and started reproducing and today a couple thousand return to Ano Nuevo beach each winter to give birth and mate, and again in the spring to molt. There are new colonies also forming on beaches further south along the California coast.

But the Elephant Seals seem unimpressed with their history and small gene pool.
The bulls in particular seem eager to loudly proclaim their awesomeness to the world!!

On my nightstand...

Robin of My Two Blessings started a thread at the WTM boards asking "what's on your nightstand?", prompting me to pull out the basket of books gathering dust next to my bed and see what goodies are waiting for me there.

It looks nice and tidy, which is not typical for my house, but I have my rare artistic moments of organizational inspiration. There's at least 14 books in there, a small LED reading light, my paisley reading journal. And the basket leaves enough room for the all important kleenex box!

My iPod dock usually is on the table top, but it just died. I have at least 3 audio books to start and several that are favorites to listen to during the occasional bouts of insomnia, bringing my total nightstand library up to about 30 titles!





Some of these are Comic-con purchases -- the interactive Sherlock Holmes mystery is published by the same folk who brought you Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The Peter S. Beagle and Wizards books are collections of short stories, and red lips is the first of the Charlaine Harris vampire novels. The book seller described the series as "literary crack"! I'm sure I'll devour them once I start.

The book with all the red rings is a collection of articles about wine. Loving Frank is historical fiction about Frank Lloyd Wright and it sounds interesting. Banana is a non-fiction history and economics and science tale about, well, bananas. I never read the Beedle Bard tales, which is silly because I'm a Harry Potter fan and it is a short book. The Nine Tailors I have read, and it is there for when I want to re-read it as it is brilliant. The collection of short stories, Say You're One of Them is amazing, but almost too visceral for bed time reading.

I started the Book Thief a while back and will have my 10th grader read it before the year is out. Which means I'd better get around to finishing it. Finally, Looking Beyond the Ivy Leagues is something I'm reading casually as the entire college search process has barely started.

Guess I'll avoid the library and book stores and get to reading all the good stuff I already have!

Wordless Wednesdays: Mid-morning in February

Wordless Wednesdays

Shouldn't a bird this exotic be someplace other than suburban Orlando?

Releasing my fledgling

Last week my firstborn ds turned 18 and moved to the other side of the continent to start living his dream. I flew out with him to help him get settled in his new apartment and to share in the excitement of the first days, then said good bye and came home without him. I didn't cry when we hugged good bye -- he is where he wants to be in an excellent situation and I'm so happy and excited for him.

It struck me during the last week that setting your child free is much like giving birth all over again. The nesting instinct kicks in as you help them buy things they'll need, and help them choose what to take. The need to feed them and nurture them feels as primal as it did when they were newborns. Emotions are running high. And there is both the excitement of the new and the relief of not having to deal with the things that have become so annoying -- in pregnancy it was getting rid of that big belly, with a teen it is getting that huge teen personality out of the house. Just as when you gave birth, life will never again be the same.

Now I have to get used to a quieter house, but I'm looking forward to hearing all the news from my ds. I guess I'll eventually have to learn to wean myself from updates several times a day, but for now I'm thrilled to have Facebook and Skype and text messaging.