We made the plunge to start homeschooling in January 2000. It was a fairly sudden decision as it was over Christmas break that I knew I could not send my oldest son back to school. The withdrawn and unhappy child from the fall semester disappeared over Christmas break and the buoyant irrepressible child returned. I finally accepted it was pointless, even heartless, to force him to adapt to the classroom. The classroom had to adapt to him, and homeschooling was the best choice.
That child who prompted us to start homeschooling graduated back in May 2009. He is still an effervescent being, not following the standard and expected path of going to a traditional university, but is instead forging ahead with his own plans for himself, and doing very well.
And now my younger son is moving on. At the tender age of 15 he will be attending community college full time. He passed me by in math and science, the two subjects that most interest him, so needs the higher level courses, and he has had enough of mom as teacher/mentor/nag-in-chief. He is ready to move on, and proved himself quite capable in his intermediate algebra course at the college last fall.
So after 11 years, my primary identity as a homeschool mom is no more. I'm back to just being mom!
That is a huge change. Another big change coming with 2011 is that my husband will be working at home full time, something he hasn't done in 20 years. And my oldest boy will be back under our roof after living in Orlando for a year. It is going to be a very full house!
I'm no longer going to be writing blog posts about book lists and course or lesson plans. I'm trying to wean myself from the 11 year old habit of hanging out on the WTM boards every day. And yet, I'm still interested in education, still honing my skills as a teacher and mentor as I move into my second year of teaching private violin lessons. And I'm still an avid reader, still sharing books with my youngest. There should still be blog material worth reading!
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Stylish Blogger?!!
What a great way to start a morning! Stephanie from Daisies and Dominos passed the Stylish Blogger Award to me and 14 others this morning. Thank you, Stephanie! I'm always pleasantly surprised that people even read my blog, and am really delighted that you find it stylish!
The rules for accepting the award are to:
- Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
- Share 7 things about yourself
- Pass this on to 15 other bloggers you've recently discovered
- Contact the selected bloggers and tell them about their awards
So...7 things about myself...
I've been married almost 25 years to my college housemate's cute brother
I play violin and now teach violin, a topic I've yet to blog about
I have a golden retriever that foams at the mouth an embarrassing amount when on walks
I have an MA in Chinese Studies, read Confucius in the original back in grad school.
My Chinese language skills are now reduced to the limited but useful ability to order a cold beer
Worst job I ever had was demonstrating a toilet bowl cleaner at Long's Drug Store
I have yet to master making a pie crust from scratch
Now to pass this on to 15 other bloggers. Except, well, I don't think I know of 15 other blogs! It seems I'm as much of an on-line introvert as I am in real life. I do follow bigger blogs like Pioneer Woman, but wanted to give props to other humble efforts like mine. So here's 12 stylish blogs that I know and love and 3 big national blogs that make me smile.
1. Golden Grasses Stephanie sent her the stylish award as well.
2. Shades of White This is a peaceful spot to visit, with lovely photos and poetry
3. 52 Books in 52 Weeks Robin keeps us reading, and has inspired me to start writing book reviews of my own.
4. My Two Blessings Robin's non-book blog
5. Without Excuse Sydni is a creative homeschool mom and I love seeing photos of my home town, Albuquerque
6. Tumbleweed Road Sydni's other blog makes me want to start homeschooling all over again. She profiles all her terrific projects and the books they are reading.
7. Agenda Forty is by a homeschool DAD, yes folks, there are such creatures in our midst!! He is also a NaNoWriMo kind of guy, and the DM for my son's bi-weekly D&D games.
8. Four Squares is another cool blog by a creative and interesting homeschool mom.
9. Slowly Climb Mt. Everest yep -- another creative homeschool mom!
10. Home is where you start from is by a fellow Southern California homeschooler, yet another creative soul
11. Herding Ducks I like to stop by here now and again to look at the photos of farm animals. Not due to some weird proclivities on my part, but 'cause I'm a city girl who can't imagine living in the country!
12. A Little Rebellion is by another thoughtful homeschool mom.
Visiting each of the above today inspired to get busy and start blogging again more regularly!
The final 3 -- the bigger blogs that I enjoy:
13. Strange Maps, which is exactly what the name says. Check it out!
14. Patrick Rothfuss -- a blog by a fantasy author who usually makes me laugh.
15. Pioneer Woman -- I have "known" Ree from the old WTM days, and have loved watching her become a national phenomenon.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Rigorous Rant
A “rigorous curriculum that is easy to implement” is oxymoronic. Reading, answering comprehension questions, memorizing highlighted vocabulary words, and having the grading rubric predetermined by the publishers does not make for a rigorous education. It is simply learning to identify what to regurgitate the points someone else has determined are important.
A rigorous education is thinking for yourself about what you’ve read, analyzing, finding what points resonate with you, then persuading others to see the work as you do through persuasive and logically constructed arguments. It is taking what you’ve read and learned then applying it in unique situations. Of course it is harder on the mom -- it is harder for the student, too and that is the point. It is far harder to think for yourself and defend your thoughts, but that is ultimately more important than being able to parrot what you’ve read.
Grade levels, reading levels, lexile numbers -- all those are handy measurements when dealing with a school full of children. In your home all that matters is the child in front of you. Meet each child at his or her level then move forward. Read, explore, talk, create and have fun. And talk some more, encouraging your child to express opinions and all his or her creative ideas. That is when the real learning happens. Spend some time each day on skills but don’t make it the sum total of your existence. The skills are simply tools for furthering the joyous endeavor of learning.
A rigorous education is thinking for yourself about what you’ve read, analyzing, finding what points resonate with you, then persuading others to see the work as you do through persuasive and logically constructed arguments. It is taking what you’ve read and learned then applying it in unique situations. Of course it is harder on the mom -- it is harder for the student, too and that is the point. It is far harder to think for yourself and defend your thoughts, but that is ultimately more important than being able to parrot what you’ve read.
Grade levels, reading levels, lexile numbers -- all those are handy measurements when dealing with a school full of children. In your home all that matters is the child in front of you. Meet each child at his or her level then move forward. Read, explore, talk, create and have fun. And talk some more, encouraging your child to express opinions and all his or her creative ideas. That is when the real learning happens. Spend some time each day on skills but don’t make it the sum total of your existence. The skills are simply tools for furthering the joyous endeavor of learning.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
52 Books: September Reading
September was a productive reading month. Here's a few short reviews and one rant.
Dreaming in Mandarin by Deborah Fallows is a quick and delightful read about her three years of living in China and trying to master the language. She nails the challenges of coping with such a foreign language where there are no familiar hooks. The grammar is easy, but the tones and compound words are tough, and the language is even more confusing to master it reflects an entirely different way of experiencing the world.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson is a nicely written, literate and charming romance. I figured out the ending probably before the end of the first chapter, but it was a pleasure to get there because of the characters and the pacing of the plot.
Wilkie Collins is an author I had never heard of until there was a thread on the Well Trained Mind forums about his books. The Moonstone was the first book I read on my new iPad, a free download from the Project Gutenberg site.
I loved it. Loved reading on the iPad, loved the mystery, loved having the story told from the different perspectives of different characters. It is considered the first British mystery. Collins was a friend of Dickens, and it is a shame he isn't as well known as this mystery, especially, still holds up. If you've read the Sherlock Homes Sign of Four story, read this as it is a perfect companion piece.
Now for a short review and a rant about an audio book. I really wanted to like Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French. It is a look behind the scenes over several years at Tampa Bay's Lowry Park Zoo. When the book is straight journalism it is quite good as it explores the ethics of zoos, the logistics of caring for dangerous animals, the blurry line between conservation and entertainment.
But the author and especially the narrator couldn't leave it as straight journalism and had to play the emotion card, anthropomorphizing the animals with whole passages like "What were the animals thinking just then? Were they remembering the warmth of the sun on their back in the open savannah?" There were too many passages like that, all unnecessary interruptions in the narrative, and all insulting. Do journalists not trust readers to have imaginations and empathy? It also made the author seem like he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to write an objective piece on the zoo or if he wanted to write about his own conflicting opinions about the role of zoos.
The narrator made things even worse by reading the story like a bad tv anchor on the local evening news. He felt he had to use different voices reading quotes. I like a good reader using different voices in fiction where there are fleshed out characters and the voices make sense. but in a piece of journalism it sounded stupid, especially when he used a bad Southern accent. When the book inevitably got to the death of some of the animals, the author's words sufficiently captured the emotion of the event -- how the zoo keepers reacted, how the other animals reacted. But the narrator decided it wasn't enough, so he read the passages with a choked up, deeply emotional voice. It was a jarring and unnecessary cheap ploy. I turned it off with about a half hour left as I just couldn't take the narrator any more. It left me angry with the book for the rest of the day!
Dreaming in Mandarin by Deborah Fallows is a quick and delightful read about her three years of living in China and trying to master the language. She nails the challenges of coping with such a foreign language where there are no familiar hooks. The grammar is easy, but the tones and compound words are tough, and the language is even more confusing to master it reflects an entirely different way of experiencing the world.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson is a nicely written, literate and charming romance. I figured out the ending probably before the end of the first chapter, but it was a pleasure to get there because of the characters and the pacing of the plot.
Wilkie Collins is an author I had never heard of until there was a thread on the Well Trained Mind forums about his books. The Moonstone was the first book I read on my new iPad, a free download from the Project Gutenberg site.
I loved it. Loved reading on the iPad, loved the mystery, loved having the story told from the different perspectives of different characters. It is considered the first British mystery. Collins was a friend of Dickens, and it is a shame he isn't as well known as this mystery, especially, still holds up. If you've read the Sherlock Homes Sign of Four story, read this as it is a perfect companion piece.
Now for a short review and a rant about an audio book. I really wanted to like Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French. It is a look behind the scenes over several years at Tampa Bay's Lowry Park Zoo. When the book is straight journalism it is quite good as it explores the ethics of zoos, the logistics of caring for dangerous animals, the blurry line between conservation and entertainment.But the author and especially the narrator couldn't leave it as straight journalism and had to play the emotion card, anthropomorphizing the animals with whole passages like "What were the animals thinking just then? Were they remembering the warmth of the sun on their back in the open savannah?" There were too many passages like that, all unnecessary interruptions in the narrative, and all insulting. Do journalists not trust readers to have imaginations and empathy? It also made the author seem like he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to write an objective piece on the zoo or if he wanted to write about his own conflicting opinions about the role of zoos.
The narrator made things even worse by reading the story like a bad tv anchor on the local evening news. He felt he had to use different voices reading quotes. I like a good reader using different voices in fiction where there are fleshed out characters and the voices make sense. but in a piece of journalism it sounded stupid, especially when he used a bad Southern accent. When the book inevitably got to the death of some of the animals, the author's words sufficiently captured the emotion of the event -- how the zoo keepers reacted, how the other animals reacted. But the narrator decided it wasn't enough, so he read the passages with a choked up, deeply emotional voice. It was a jarring and unnecessary cheap ploy. I turned it off with about a half hour left as I just couldn't take the narrator any more. It left me angry with the book for the rest of the day!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Words to Live By
Spotted on the back of a plumber contractor's truck, this profound motto:
"How much do you suppose they charge for that optional package," quipped my son. "An extra 50 bucks?"
We considered all the companies and institutions that could adopt the motto, such as a college, an airline, a hospital. As my son said, it is a very versatile motto. Indeed they are words to live by.
"Where Quality is Always an Option"
"How much do you suppose they charge for that optional package," quipped my son. "An extra 50 bucks?"
We considered all the companies and institutions that could adopt the motto, such as a college, an airline, a hospital. As my son said, it is a very versatile motto. Indeed they are words to live by.
Monday, September 20, 2010
A whole new world
My son has a community college math class that meets at 7am 3 times a week. 7am!! The kid who hasn't been up before 10am for the last 2 years sets his alarm clock, has his book bag packed the night before, and is ready to head out the door at 6:30. That alone is stunning.
What is even more stunning are all the people who are out and about at 6:30 in the morning. I had no idea. The freeway is packed with heavy traffic. It isn't gridlock and isn't the frenzied panic traffic that we hit on the way home from his class at 8:30. I figure those are all the people who are worried about being late to work so ride your tail, accelerating to pass you and cutting you off when your lane ends. The 6:30am traffic is a more sensible, though sizable beast.
Starbucks is packed by 7am with a never ending line of 10-12 people. There are school kids with their parents, college students, and people dressed for work. As I write there is a little boy who asleep in one of the over-stuffed chairs. And Santa Claus just walked in wearing a bright aloha shirt festooned with tropical Santas. I may need more coffee...
As we get back to our neighborhood on the way home the elementary kids are heading to school. Another slice of life I've never experienced. Their backpacks are bigger than they are!!
6:30 to 8:30 am has been my quiet time for the last 11 years. If I'm up, I'm reading the newspaper, enjoying a quiet house. Or I'm out walking the dog or getting grocery shopping done before the family gets up. The grocery store is great in the early morning hours, although you have to dodge pallets of boxes while the shelves get re-stocked. And if you time it wrong on Monday morning, they haven't gotten around to restocking milk after the weekend rush so you have to make a second trip to get milk later in the day.
I was dreading this 3 times a week early morning routine, but it hasn't been bad at all. And it's been fascinating seeing how the rest of the world lives!
What is even more stunning are all the people who are out and about at 6:30 in the morning. I had no idea. The freeway is packed with heavy traffic. It isn't gridlock and isn't the frenzied panic traffic that we hit on the way home from his class at 8:30. I figure those are all the people who are worried about being late to work so ride your tail, accelerating to pass you and cutting you off when your lane ends. The 6:30am traffic is a more sensible, though sizable beast.
Starbucks is packed by 7am with a never ending line of 10-12 people. There are school kids with their parents, college students, and people dressed for work. As I write there is a little boy who asleep in one of the over-stuffed chairs. And Santa Claus just walked in wearing a bright aloha shirt festooned with tropical Santas. I may need more coffee...
As we get back to our neighborhood on the way home the elementary kids are heading to school. Another slice of life I've never experienced. Their backpacks are bigger than they are!!
6:30 to 8:30 am has been my quiet time for the last 11 years. If I'm up, I'm reading the newspaper, enjoying a quiet house. Or I'm out walking the dog or getting grocery shopping done before the family gets up. The grocery store is great in the early morning hours, although you have to dodge pallets of boxes while the shelves get re-stocked. And if you time it wrong on Monday morning, they haven't gotten around to restocking milk after the weekend rush so you have to make a second trip to get milk later in the day.
I was dreading this 3 times a week early morning routine, but it hasn't been bad at all. And it's been fascinating seeing how the rest of the world lives!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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