Jason's First Book -- Published!

Yes folks, this morning the editing was finished and the book has been sent to the publishers -- hopefully in time for Christmas! Jason is planning to give copies to family and friends as a unique and different sort of gift. Myself, I think the book is very funny and I know that the people to whom he gave draft copies of the various episodes enjoyed them thoroughly. Should be interesting to see what the final book form looks like. We are even giving one to the Childrens' librarian here since she has been urging Jason to write and publish since he was about five (LOL). And, in keeping with that theme, this book was started when he was about five and a half, maybe six. Now if only he can keep focused and finish his Ninja Time Travel series. That would be a wonderful one to get published as well. Wish him success on this journey... and if you are interested, here is the place to see Jason's first book:

The Adventures...

Pirate Extrodinaire

By Jason E. Dean

Book Preview

Morning Cogitations

I am not an unschooler... but I have been re-reading John Holt's 'Teach your own' and much of what he says makes sense. Children have their passions and delights and when they are allowed to follow their noses, what some folks call 'rabbit trails', they learn easily and with joy.

I was recently reminded of how *rabbit trails* can lead to wonderful learning: As with many children, my eldest son is fascinated by Ninjas and Samurai. He has, at various times, read books on the subject. Recently, though, he conceived of a novel -- and a good idea it is too. Right before falling asleep one night, he outlined his idea for his father (who, in the tradition of all good fathers, wrote it down) and in the morning, he and I started writing the novel. It is going slowly -- the words are being shaped to match his ideas. He knows what makes a story he wants to read. Now he is trying to create just such a story. But that is not the end of it. In addition to his novel, he has taken up game programming and is trying to create a computer game to go with the novel! He does not lack ambition, my son:)

pokemon math

Still working on this one but I did come across one approach that I am going to try out! Here is a link to a post by a second and third grade math teacher. We will see how this works with my two. I also have some ideas for a board game and a dice game but haven't fully worked the bugs on those out. When I do, I am going to pull them together and test them....

Anyway, for those who are interested in 2nd and 3rd grade Pokemon math.. here is the linkPokemon Math

Pokemon Passions -- A different Perspective

These days, with all of us suffering from the winter blahs -- flu like illnesses, bronchitis, sinusitis, etc -- I don't have time to write much. But I have been reading and so I thought I would share a few of the rather interesting articles across which I have come. In my previous post, I noted an article sent me by my mother in law. In this post, I share an article on a topic close to my heart -- the challenge of the Pokemon Passionate Child. Here is a different perspective on that passion: Marshmallow Boy versus Pokemon

Shakespeare in the Bush

What happens when someone takes Shakespeare to Africa? Read the following article and find out --Shakespeare in the Bush

Pluto

      Imagination is a wonderful thing and the overheard remark can be the beginning of a long conversation: point in case -- our evolving discussion of the planet/not planet Pluto.

 

   Discovered in 1930, Pluto was once listed as the Solar Systems ninth Planet -- famously remembered in the mneumonic phrase 'My very eager mother just served us nine pizzas'. In 2006, Pluto was removed from the list of major planets and reclassified as a 'dwarf' planet. This was not an undisputed move... and there are those, including my sons, who still argue for Pluto's inclusion in the Major Arcana.

 

     There are some anomalies about this little piece of ice, however. It's orbit is distinctly odd. Unlike the other astral bodies which orbit the sun in a flat plane, Pluto cuts through the plane at an angle. This brings it, on occasion, closer to the sun than does Neptune's orbit. Pluto is, it turns out, a part of a collection of icy astral bodies. This collection is called the 'Kuiper Belt', named after the astronomer who hypothosized its existence almost 40 years before it was discovered.

 

    All of this we discovered listening to an interesting book on tape 'When is a Planet Not a Planet?: The Story of Pluto' The boys were fascinated. Actually, to be honest, so was I. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to have the skies as I knew them changed at the whim of the scientific community. Having some sense of why they change them -- and having a chance to argue the point, if only in my own home, gave me back a sense of control. And so the discussion began.

  

   The first idea that was put forth came from my science fiction eldest -- at 8, Jason is a passionate fan of the science fiction genre. What if, he wondered, Pluto is really a space observation station, placed on the outer reaches of our solar system to monitor the happenings within? He was quite excited by this idea and so, when we arrived home, we set him up on the computer so that he could begin writing. I promised him that, if he finished writing the story, we would get the book published using the Blurb it site -- and perhaps even submit it to the 'Written and Illustrated by' contest. The younger brother was not to be outdone, however. This morning, early -- and I do mean, early -- 5:30 am to be precise -- he announced that his theory was simply this: Pluto had once been part of a much larger planet. There had been a massive explosion and Pluto, a small piece, had been BLASTED away. It was, therefore, truly a 'wanderer' as the Greek word 'Planete' implied. Moreover, the reason for its odd orbit was that it was new to the whole process and was so just 'learning' to orbit. No wonder it wobbles a bit!

Echos

How we speak and what we say really is absorbed by our children -- if you don't like the way they talk to you or their responsiveness, take a look at how you treat them. It can come as a shock to see that many of the behaviors you dislike are ones that you yourself display...

 

And then there are those echos... Once upon a time, a little boy attended Tae Kwon Do class. As a standard part of the class, the students had to repeat the 10 'home rules' at each class. One of these, extremely popular with his parent, was rule #9 'Children shall abide by their parents' decisions.' Every time the little boy would begin to argue, his parents would say 'Number 9' and he would sighingly repeat the rule. At one of the TKD classes, the Sabunim was asking the children to repeat three children's home rules -- a step in recieving a 'stripe' towards testing for the next belt level. When this little boy was called he repeated rule number 9 -- three times. The class was in hysterics and he was, initially, clueless. He honestly had not realized what he was doing! The Sabunim smiled and allowed that he would give the repition 1.5 points since obviously the little boy knew the rule so well!

 

The real question that comes from this though is -- why should a child abide by a parent's decision? Sometimes, of course, the decision is rational -- there is a good reason, perhaps it is a matter of safety or of finances or of time. Sometimes, however, it is a knee jerk reaction: The parent is tired, or stressed and does not actually listen to the request. He or she says 'no' simply because it is one straw too many.  Here then is a moment when a parent can learn: stop and listen and think.  Is the child requesting something unreasonable or is it just that you don't want to do it? If you are too tired, too stress or otherwise feeling unable to fulfill the request, take the time to explain that to your child. (I am talking about older children, of course) Getting into the habit of having honest discussions with your children is a good one to cultivate. Explain to your children "WHY" this is something you cannot do right now. You might be surprised. Children can be very empathetic and compassionate.

Dinosaurs and Fossil Hunting

 

     Perhaps it is the nature of little boys to love Dinosaurs. They are a rather fascinating subject (Dinosaurs, I mean... though little boys can be quite interesting themselve!) My sons were always interested but that interest became fascination when, during a trip to Tucson, Arizona, we discovered a little but by no means small museum -- TRex Museum Tucson Arizona  The museum was created, owned and run by a retired Paleontologist. He built it, he told me, to be the sort of place he'd always wanted to visit when he was a kid. Though the space is small, it is packed with fossils, dioramas, a small movie theatre and lots of hands on practice. There is also a small shop where parents, grandparents and fossil fools can find all sorts of wonderful treasures. My two sons enjoyed themselves enormously -- so much so that, as we were driving away, my youngest said reflectively "When I grow up, I want to be a Paleontologist!" My eldest, then 7, looked very wise and replied simply 'You don't have to grow up. You just have to keep digging!' Truer words

 

     Upon our return to the Emerald City, the boys set to digging with a will. To date they have excavated a hole in our raised bed that is deep enough that when they sit in it, they disappear from sight... No fossil finds there, sad to say, but J. (my eldest) believes that he has found a piece of fossilized wood in the nearby Cedar River.

 

     While the boys dug in the dirt, I dug online and came up with several interesting field trips. The first was a Mammoth Dig site in Eastern Washington. Run by Central Washington University, the site is on private property but the owners have kindly allowed visitors to come to the site to observe a real fossil dig in actions.

 

     So one day this summer, I packed all my boys into the car, along with a cooler of food and plenty of 'Hank the Cowdog' CDs (And added one grandfather for interest) and we set off, over the mountains to the Eastern side to go see Mammoths. Ummm... yes, it appears that Eastern Washington is a mecca for beasties. A desert now, it was once the site of a gigantic Icewall meltdown. In the case of the place to which we were going, it was home to Mammoths -- not the Woolly Mammoth that most people think of but the other, larger Columbia River Mammoth. The trip took three hours driving -- with one rest stop. All in all, the boys were wonderful.

 

   The Mammoth Dig(Central Washington University Wenas Creek Mammoth Site) sits on the side of a hill, on a private farm. The beast was discovered when someone, driving a bulldozer and digging ground for a road, slammed the dozer's plow into the Femur of the creature. Great excitement ensued and Western Washington University sent a team to investigate. Using computer tomography, they scanned the area and discovered what appears to be an almost completely intact Mammoth skeleton. Even greater excitement arose when a 'purposeful flake' was found -- potentially an indication of human presence on the site.

    We arrived in a swirl of dust. The boys unloaded with C roaring, in his inimitable way, "ITS HOT!" Hmmm... sorta what one expects in a desert, isn't it? We trudged over to the sign and J, who'd been given my Sony camera for use that day, took a few photographs.

     Then off into the visitors' tent -- a relatively high comfort affair, we were assured by the resident archeologist. Here is where the stories start to get funny. The young man, an

archeologist post grad out of WWU, asked the assembly 'Does anyone know what a paleontologist is?' J said 'A paleontologist is a scientist who studies the oldest fossil remains, before the coming of man.' The archeologist blinked. 'That is the best definition I have heard in a long time. Okay, can you tell me what an archeologist does?' J, ever ready to oblige, smiled and said ' Archeologists study the human past and ancient cities before the beginning of written history.' The archeologist stared at him with increasing interest 'You know a lot!' he commented. J smiled again 'Indiana Jones is my favorite archeologist.' At that, the young man's face split into a grin. 'Mine too! Dya know -- I was about your age when the movie first came out and that is why I became an archeologist! But' he added solemnly, 'all of us here have tee-shirts that say 'Indiana Jones LIED to us!' because archeological work is dirty and hot and hard, not as easy as he made it look!' They smiled at each other in agreement and then the discussions about the site began.

      After an introduction to the site, the young man took us to where the real work was being done

     As one might imagine, it was hot and dusty but, according to the archeologist, this was a *cushy* dig. There were tents, running water, and even places to sit and listen to the radio! Then he began to explain about the process of uncovering the Mammoth. He pointed to the sides of the square holes that had been dug, explaining that each layer of dirt told a story. After he had explained what the layers meant, J. asked reflectively 'Could it be that the Mammoth got caught in a Mud slide and was buried almost immediately? That would explain it's intact condition.' The young man gazed at J. with an expression of amazed delight and answered slowly 'Yeah, that's our best theory.' You should've seen his face when my then 4 year old explain his theory about dinosaur extinction! Grin.

 

     The Mammoth dig, hot and dusty after a long drive, whetted all our appetites. Our next trip was to a place called the Stonerose interpretive center in Republic Washington. At this site, an ancient riverbed, normal everyday people can come and dig for fossils. Each person is allowed to take home three fossils a day though the site reserves the right to retain any that might be of scientific interest and importance. A number of such finds have been sent to the Smithsonian for further study.

     The drive was about six hours -- and interesting in and of itself for the variety of landscapes that we saw. We arrived too late that first day to do more than check into our Lakeside cabin, take a dip in the lake and grab dinner at the nearby 'Fly In' -- private pilots had flown in their planes for people to look at and admire. But the next day... we were there when the site opened and my eldest and my husband spent well over six hours digging. The younger one flagged after about three hours so he and I explored the town.  The haul from the day's work: An ancient redwood *leaf*, the flower of an extinct ancestor to the cocoa tree, a 'mash' of fossil fish bones, a bug and a 'stone rose'.  The boys would've stayed forever but life and work do not so allow. We left after having promised them faithfully that we would return.

     I did make one rather happy making find: a book and map called 'Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway.' (There is a link to it in my bookstore at the bottom of the page.) A paleontologist and an artist wrote a book about their travels through the Pacific Northwest to various fossil sites. Our next planned trip is therefore a longer one: We hope to drive from Washington to Arizona, following the fossil freeway and ending up in Flagstaff, site of the Dinosaur Dance Floor: See Fox News: Dinosaur Dance floor discovered in Arizona

A good link and an interesting article

Just a quick note since I need to go attend to my son:>

     Found a nice blog -- though I haven't had time to go through it in depth. Still it offers some wonderful links for curriculum etc, material that is free or low cost. If you are interested, check the following:

http://homeschoolingmommaof4.blogspot.com/

    

     Another item that is worth a mention: An article by Susan Wise Bauer of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Editition) and The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Edition fame -- I don't always agree with this lady and I have some issues with her history texts (I think she made some serious errors... but that is material for another blog). In this article, however, I think she makes a good point: Reading is the key to an educated mind and spirit -- and, though she doesn't say this -- reading in front of one's children sets an EXCELLENT precedent/example. The article can be found here:

http://homeschoolingmommaof4.blogspot.com/

    

     Finally, if you are interested in a Classical education, I strongly reccommend Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin. It is an interesting and well written book.

 

Handwriting

     I recently attended a conference on the Handwriting program called "Handwriting without Tears.' The program was created by a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Jan Olsen, for her son. Over the years, her method and approach attracted a great deal of interest and excitement and eventually, Olsen opened her own company -- publishing teachers' guides, student workbooks, specialized paper and other tools.

 

     The HWOT program is very interesting -- it begins with the assumption that in handwriting as in so much else, there are developmental stages and that teaching writing according to alphabetical order is not necessarily the best approach.  Moreover, Olsen has designed her program to be friendly to lefties as well.  When faced with kids whom schools and teachers have abandoned as 'hopeless' in the handwriting department, Olsen responds with 'This is not about the child. This is about bad teaching -- and why not since teachers are not generally taught HOW to teach Handwriting?"

 

     And so I learned some very interesting information -- for example, if pencil grip has not be properly learned by third grade, it can't be changed. And WHY is pencil grip important? Simply put, proper grip means less strain. One can write more comfortably for longer periods and faster as well. How then does one create the proper grip (and what is it?) Olsen's books demonstrate two different positons -- the better known one being the tripod grip -- whener thumb, pointer, and middle finger hold the pencil and the last two fingers rest, folded, in the palm. (An OT friend uses this technique to remind kids: Place green dots on the three working fingers, red dots on the resting ones. She says that this has never failed her.)  One technique to encourage the proper grip is to break crayons and pencils into small pieces. Small pieces encourage proper grip and discourage the palm grip. Another tool are the three sided pencils -- Ticongeroga makes both primary pencils and adult pencils in this format and crayola has recently introduced markers and crayons that are triangular. The most important part of grip, however, begins back BEFORE one thinks about a child writing -- when children, at about 6 months, begin to self feed. That chase after the cheerio is actually developmentally crucial to the development of fine motor coordination....

 

     So, of course, I came home and broke crayons! Grin. You should've seen my sons' faces. They were horrified. They adapted, however, and set right to work creating all sorts of interesting images.

 

     Olsen is not the only OT to have developed a Handwriting Curriculum, of course. I find hers to be very useful in developing neat printing habits but what about cursive. Well, for children who have learned printing in the HWOT method, the Cursive that is taught should be fairly simple. It is simply linking letters. For others, however, it may be a bit more challenging. That is where 'Loops and Groups' comes in ( See Therapro -- Loops and Groups Cursive Handwriting) This program, also developed by an OT, is aimed at an older audience, 2nd grade and up, and teaches the letter formations by their forms.  It looks quite fascinating and would work well for children who are pattern oriented. Indeed, I intend to use this program with my eldest son this fall.

 

      The point of all this? Handwriting does count, regardless of what others may tell you. And developing proper habits now will stand you in good stead in the future. Both of the programs mentioned here were developed by people whose job is to redress problems that children develop in response to bad or non teaching. Both aim at preventing the development of these problems by offering approaches that are friendly to children's learning styles. I, at least, am excited that these products exist and look forward to working with my children... especially since both boys are writers at heart!

The Bed Monster

There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.  ~Andre Gide

 

Monsters seem to inhabit children's rooms. My eldest is worried about these wee beasties that go bump in the night -- in the dark, his hearing improves and suddenly every thump and bump is something to jump at. Then, the other night, his little brother provided a momentary respite:

Bedtime discussion:

Youngest brother: The bed monster is here!

Older: NO! DON'T! THAT SCARES ME!

Younger: You don't have to be scared of the bed monster.

Me: Honey, if he says it scares him, then please lets not talk about it.

Younger: But he doesn't need to be SCARED! The bed monster is not scary!

Older: He is a green blob with red eyes and a scaley tail!

Younger: Yeah, but he has no arms and no legs.... (a pause) and no nose and no ears and no mouth AND (triumphantly) he doesn't eat little boys! He only eats clothes and stools which he spits out in unexpected places!

Me: OH! Is THAT why I am always tripping over stools?!

Older: (Stifles a snicker) No, I keep moving them.

Younger: No, you move them and then the bed monster eats them and spits them out somewhere else.

Older (Curious despite himself): Does he ever get splinters?

Younger: Not anymore. He used to when he ate wooden stools but he prefers plastic.

 

 

 

Summer time Fun

The other day, as a break from the endless packing and cleaning that have filled our weekends, we decided to take our two sons to the Camlann Medieval Village. The last time we went we saw a joust and archery from horseback competition, a cider press, and strolling jonglers. My sons were younger then...

 

This weekend the events were different: No joust and the archery was done afoot rather than astride. There was no cider press -- it is too

Desire and the source of learning

Desire, like the atom, is explosive with creative force.
Author: Paul Vernon Buser

Meet our ocean alien -- a little bitty creature, smaller than a dime, looks remarkably like a carbon atom. We saw this bitty beast while exploring the coast of western washington. My sons called it an 'alien' but truly, given the importance of carbon to our world (we are, after all, carbon based life forms), this creature is perhaps less 'alien' than we might think.  Nature is amazingly conservative at times.

 

Now I have been thinking about creativity, atoms and the power of desire -- this last element is crucial, after all, to the learning process. Someone with no desire to learn something most often won't... or will learn something unintended by the teacher.  I was reminded of that while reading the book, Soft-Spoken Parenting: 50 Ways to Not Lose Your Temper With Your Kids. There are those who will not look at the book (the book is aimed at a Mormon audience) but I have and I will say, many of the suggestions are very sensible. Amongst them is the comment that yelling and punishing do not teach a child about the topic at hand but rather that adults yell and punish. How one person views an event is rarely the way someone else does. Ever read the The Complete Father Brown Stories (Wordsworth Classics) (Wordsworth Collection) ? G.K. Chesterton, who writes very well, makes this point repeatedly: every person, every individual sees and experiences life differently. A group of people may be present at the same event but what they see and what they remember will be very different. In  the Soft-Spoken Parenting: 50 Ways to Not Lose Your Temper With Your Kids, the author emphasizes learning what it is that the child believed to be the truth BEFORE making a decision about appropriate responses.  Moreover, the author acknowledges that anger and frustration are a normal experience in parenting -- but he points out that just because feelings are common, that does not mean that responses that flow from those feelings are necessarily right or acceptable. The author offers a host of quite useful suggestions as to how one can handle difficult situations appropriately... and how to teach the lessons that you want to teach, rather than teaching something else entirely.

 

But more important than the teacher is the student: the source of the desire. If there is a desire to learn, the student will learn. If that desire is lacking, so shall the learning be. My eldest taught himself to read, more or less, because he wanted to know what happened in a particular book. His fascination for the story -- though by some standards 'twaddle' led him into another world and he has never looked back. Now my youngest wants to learn to read -- truth to tell, he already knows a great deal. He recognizes many words and has been known to correct me if I misread or miss entirely a word in the text. So... how to teach him? From watching him, I see that he has a passion for writing and for patterns. That seems to me to be the road to follow. We are going to use a program called 'Spell to Write and Read'. (Spell to Write and Read) this fall.  I am actually looking forward to trying out this curriculum but then  I have always loved to create patterns and, in some sense, that is all that writing really is.

 

So if learning comes easiest when there is a desire to learn, how does one deal with those 'lessons' that are of no interest? T.S. Eliot once wrote: "No one can become really educated without having pursued some study in which he took no interest. For it is part of education to interest ourselves in subjects for which we have no aptitude." Thomas Jefferson agreed with him yet I think that they both missed something. In the early stages of education, it is the passion to learn that must be encouraged. Learning to study that which is of less interest comes best and most completely when one has learned the discipline of study through the desire to study. Once that desire has been burned deep into the bones of our soul, then the understanding and willingness to pursue less interesting topics is much easier. Discipline is best sowed where Desire has readied the soil. [I think I am reading TOO much!]

 

The Joy of Boys

If you want to make God laugh, just try and make plans for the future.
- Ron Litzler


This quote is so right on the mark! Yesterday, I planned. I planned with great care and forethought. I knew that I was going to take little boys to a park near a river so I bought them rubber boots. But I planned without remembering the nature of little boys.

We arrived at the park. The boys were all set, rubber boots tramping away. Xander was even wearing his beloved Fire Marshal rain coat. Down to the rushing Cedar River.

"Now you can walk in the river," I said, "But not too deep. There is a strong current. And don't go into..." Too late, in they plunged, water well up over the top of their boots.

C., our visiting friend, looked at me in indignation. 'THERE IS WATER IN MY BOOTS!!!' he roared. Xander grinned. 'Mine TOO!' he shrieked in delight.

"Okay" I said, " Come out of the river. Sit, SIT, SIT!!! down on the bench' (This as they both attempted to stand one legged in the river to remove the boots.) Pull off your boots and...'

C yelled even louder 'MY SOCKS ARE WET!' I looked at him for a long moment. 'Yes," I agreed,'that is what happens when you get water in your boots." "I can't wear WET SOCKS!' he told me. 'So, take off the socks and the boots, put the socks in the boots...' 'BUT THE BOOTS ARE FULL OF WATER!' I sighed. 'Dump the water out first, then put the socks in the boots.' "BUT THE SOCKS ARE WET!" I looked at him, sighed deeply and said 'The boots won't mind. They are wet too.' 'OH.' he thought about that a moment. Then I said 'You can go into the river barefoot.' 'YEA!' all three boys were for this and off came the boots and socks in a fury of wet.

'Roll up your pants legs' I said in a last stab at hope. They did and charged back into the water. C, having gotten out knee deep shrieked 'THE WATER IS COLD!' and then looking down at his pants "AND NOW MY PANTS ARE WET!' I grinned a little. 'Yes, the water is cold. You could put your boots back on... without wet socks. And your pants were already wet...' Xander, who had been bending over to examine a rock, leaned back in an impossible position and somehow managed to get his entire backside soaked... without soaking his front. Jason, meanwhile, was happily clomping around in the 'COLD' water, soaked to his hips and examining the bottom.

C came out, intent on collecting his boots. At the shore, he discovered mud and spent several minutes squishing it between his toes before rinsing his feet off. Then up to the table to collect his boots only 'MY FEET ARE DIRTY!' Sigh. "Carry your boots down to the shore. Rinse your feet in the water then put on the boots.' He did and clomped out again... 'MY BOOTS ARE FULL OF WATER!' Sigh and double sigh.

Xander had been watching this and collected his boots. He took them down and washed THEM, then washed his feet, then debated how best to put on the boots. He got them on, clomped out, got them FULL of water and with a delighted shriek, slogged over to a log. There he climbed up and, standing on the log, took off his boots, dumped the water ('Did you SEE? MOMMY? I gave the water back to the RIVER!') and, replacing his boots, climbed down off the log to go examine river rocks. This repeated and repeated. Meanwhile, C kept getting his boots full of water, shrieking that they were full, climbing onto the shore, dumping water, squishing mud, rinsing feet and replacing boots. Through all this, Jason serenely waded about, almost entirely soaked, now and then wearing boots full of water and thoroughly pleased with himself.

C had fixated on his wet pants. 'I want to take my pants OFF!' he announces. I tell him, 'When we get back to the car, you can take off your pants but it is not allowed to take them off in a public place.' 'But they are WET!' he points out. I agree. 'Yes, they are wet. That is what happens when you wade deep into a river.' He humphs at me but is disinclined to leave the river.

After about 1/2 an hour, all three boys were beginning to get cold and hungry so I suggested we go home. 'but our SOCKS AND BOOTS ARE WET!' C roared. I smiled. 'You can walk barefoot and carry the boots but the rocks may be a bit sharp.' 'YEA!' yelled the boys and started out of the water. Jason, careful as always, collected his boots and (of course) filled them with the rocks that he had collected. Xander, seeing this, did the same. C, meanwhile, was screeching ahead, yelling 'I walk BAREFOOT on rocks ALL THE TIME!' Hmm...

So we start back. Sure enough, before too long I hear C 'THESE ROCKS ARE SHARP!' I look over at Jason who is walking tentatively across the rocks. 'Put your feet flat down instead of rolling your feet.' I suggest. 'It will be less pokey that way.' Xander, at the back of the pack, is struggling mightily to carry his rock laden boots while walking barefoot over rocks. I dropped back to take his boots from him. 'How're you doing?' I ask. He smiles sunnily at me and says, as if it were news 'I'm all wet and sandy.' Yes.

As we walk towards the parking lot, we see a man and woman approaching. They are smiling and pointing at the boys and talking. When we get close enough, I say 'I don't know why I bothered to get them rubber boots!' The man grinned and said 'Yeah, we were just discussing that.' Hmmmm....

Once back at the car, boots loaded in the trunk, the three boys strip down to underwear. I watch in amazement as they deposit half the river bed of mud on the ground near the car. 'You brought back half the river.' I gasp. Xander grins wickedly and says 'I like being wet and mostly naked. Can I stay this way?' C, ever proper, tells him firmly 'NO! When we get home you will get DRESSED!' Ah, to be 6 and to KNOW the way! Then he looks at me and says reproachfully, 'I am COLD!' Before I can say anything, Jason, who always seems to be the voice of moderation, smiles sunnily and says 'Once we are in and buckled, Mom will turn on the heat and we won't be cold anymore.' Marching orders given, all three boys load up, I do too, heater is turned on and we head home.... sigh... why did I bother with boots? Oh yes, they were needed to carry ROCKS!

Shaking the Shakespeare Tree

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.  ~Vita Sackville-West

 

    To capture the moment: That is the gift of words, of film, of art in its many forms. It is the reason I write and draw. But more than just capturing the moment, writers write to capture the spirit of the moment, the place, the time. And their words are powerful.

 

     So what is the power of the word? We watched As You Like It , an HBO/BBC production with Kenneth Brannagh's Shakespeare crew. Wonderful. Both boys loved it. So did I, though periodically, I had to dive out of the room, the play was so silly. But its effect: now that was interesting. That afternoon, we had a friend over. He is six and had not seen the play/movie -- nor to my knowledge has he ever seen any Shakespeare production but he was game. Jason was charging around the yard, creating his own play -- using Shakespearean English and timing and thoroughly amusing himself. Our friend, who quite admires Jason, watched for a bit then shouted 'Do you want to see MY Shakespeare play? It is called 'The Revenge of BOO BOO!' (Somehow I think he confused Shakespeare with 'Star Wars' -- LOL) For my sons, the word woke their own imaginations. And their words sparked their friend's ideas.

 

     Truly, though, I am becoming more and more convinced that what we read/watch/listen to shapes our perceptions, our speech and our actions. Such ideas are not new. Thit Nhat Hahn has commented on this, for example -- talking about the effect of violent shows. And there exists a large body of evidence that indicates that children who watch violent shows become deadened somewhat to the implications of guns et al. Horrible thought. Of course, that makes me wonder about some of the books that I was required to read in High School -- not a funny one amongst the lot, only grim and horrifying: Lord of the Flies, Bless the Beasts and the Children, A Rose for Emily. GAWK. Awful stuff. Why don't they require works by people like Mark Twain? Oh, we read 'The Jumping Frog of Calavares County' from an anthology but I never knew, until much later, that he had written a host of short stories. My father read us The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain Library) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when my brothers and I were little and I later reread them on my own. On a trip to England, I found a copy of The Complete Mark Twain Collection (Over 300 works, with active table of contents) in a shop. I carried that book with me all over Europe and Twain, with his acerbic wit and clever insights, kept me grounded. So why isn't Twain a required part of reading?

     There are so many wonderful writers out there and not all of them are grim and gloomy. Perhaps I am odd in my preference for the lighter stuff. It is not that Twain does not speak of serious matters. Anyone who has read Huck knows that Twain had very strong views on issues such as slavery. But Twain, like Bill Cosby today, puts human behavior into perspective. He offers his insights with wit and a measure of kindness, something that writers like William Faulkner often fail to do. So here is what I think: I think I shall have to create, for my sons, a 'required' reading list that highlights the good in humanity. We have already started there. We read and watch Shakespeare -- and he is very clever and insightful... Think, for example, of my sons' favorite line from 'Much Ado About Nothing' -- 'For Man is a Giddy thing'.  Boys certainly are!

 

     What would be on such a list? Well, Twain and Shakespeare, of course, But then too, I should add things like The Brendan Voyage: Across the Atlantic in a Leather Boat . Who needs The Swiss Family Robinson (Signet Classics)or Robinson Crusoe (Norton Critical Editions) when one can read about a real adventure. Don't get me wrong: Both SFR and RC are wonderful reads -- and read in context of their time and history, they are valuable. It is interesting, though, to read a novel that references RC, something like Elizabeth Speare's  The Sign of the Beaver.

 

     I know that this latter book is not approved by Oyate. The critique of the book by Doris Seale is interesting and the points are well made but for me, the book did have redeeming characteristics -- as noted by the reviewer, the relationship between the boys is uneven. The indian boy is MUCH more sophisticated in the ways of survival. Without him, the settler boy would never have survived. This is in strong counterpoint to the book -- Robinson Crusoe -- which the settler boy uses to try to teach the Indian boy to read. Early on, Speares makes the point that the portrayal of Friday is deeply flawed. That the same critique is leveled at her writing is interesting but in neither case are these critiques sufficient reason to discard the books. Both books are good reads, raise many questions and used with care, can teach us a great deal about ourselves and about the past. Both books are well written and engaging. Both draw the reader into the story and excite the interest of the reader to learn more about peoples, places and events. As with all material, these books should be read with care and with awareness. If we do so, then we learn valuable things.

 

     The critiques available at Oyate are balanced by their catalogue wherein one can find a number of excellent and 'approved' books. Some of these we have read, some we have not. Of the ones that we have read, I will say that they have been lovely -- and the point made, that cultures are not interchangble, as so often happens in popular books, is clearly respected here. Each book presents material from a particular tribe and in doing so, offers up the richness of human experience.

 

   The power of words is not to be underestimated. Words, used well, take us into the world of someone else's imagination and sparks our own. Badly used or misused, words can damage and warp our view of the world. The power of the writer is to share words, ideas and images so as to capture and activate the reader's imagination. Surely this is something one should keep in mind when one writes, just as when one speaks. Words can hurt... and just as surely, they can heal.  Remember 'Man is a Giddy Thing' and given to changableness. Let us write and read with care and with appreciation.

Organizing, disorganizing and Moving house

     Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. --Arnold Bennet, British Playwright

 The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.  ~e.e. cummings

     I am sure that somewhere in this vast universe there must be an award for the most disorganized woman. I am sure that I am in the running, perhaps passing all the leaders in a flash of speed. It will be one of the few races that I have ever won and certainly not the one I would choose if I had a choice. Have you ever had that feeling? As if someone just threw everything you own into the air, letting it fall where it will? That is my house at the moment. See, we are in the middle of packing. Why? Well, we are going to try to sell this house(in THIS market? Friends ask in amazement and horror) and buy another. Of course, we are doing it topsy turvey. We have a bid in for another house... it is something called a short sale, that step BEFORE foreclosure, so the Lender is taking its time. We don't mind that, actually. We are hoping that the Lender takes several months, enough time to pack up, clean up and at least market this house. Meanwhile, though, the house -- and our lives -- are in a state of complete Chaos.

 

Perhaps this is why we have started watching DVDs of Mel Brook's
Get Smart - Season 1 (The Original TV Series)
comedy . I still remember that immortal line when one Chaos leader looks at his subordinate (who has just immitated a motorcycle) and says firmly 'This is KAOS! We do not phfft! here!' Don't know why I loved that show but it still can make me groan and cringe and my sons adore it. Thank heavens, however, that they haven't started acting it out. THAT would be too much... on the other hand, a little light (and I do mean LIGHT) comedy is a welcomed change after the tension that packing always creates.

 

Of course, I am not the first one to recognize the power of laughter. There are quite a few articles on the subject: Laughter remains good Medicine, Laughter is the best medicine for your heart,  Laughter is good Medicine, Humor Therapy,  Laughter: The Best Medicine and the list goes on.  There are also books on the subject: THE LEARNING POWER OF LAUGHTER, The Healing Power of Humor etc. 

 

So why, I wonder do schools seem to think that Great Literature has to be grim? I have always wondered that, even as a young kid. I never knew why 'A Rose for Emily' was better than 'The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'.  The first always made me want to weep, the second made me laugh until tearscame to my eyes. And these days, with all the stresses and strains of the economy and world conflict, surely we need laughter more than ever? I know that the kids do. Too many kids these days walk around with perpetual frowns. Laughter, the full out, 'this is too funny for words' kind, is missing... a chronic absence that leaves the world aching. So I am doing my small part -- every day we try to find something to laugh about. We watch silly shows (including Shakespeare's comedies), we do Mad Libs ( Star Wars Mad Lib, Indiana Jones Mad Libs, Kung Fu Panda Mad Libs), we act out silly plays... and sometimes, when I am feeling artistic, we film the latter.  It is amazing what a difference laughter makes to the day. If we can begin the day with a laugh, everything else just seems to fall into place.

 

I mentioned, in an older post, that we used something I called 'The Humor Curriculum'. I have decided that I will write up a tentative 'schedule' for the coming year. I am still in the process of 'roughing' out scope and sequence as well as learning goals but when I have it done, I will post it here for those who are interested in following it with us. Now the question becomes, in this chronically disorganized mess of home moving, when will I do this? Hmmmm.... something else to plan and organize!

For Writers

Found a carnival for all those readers and writers out there!

 

Summer Links

Although lists of this sort abound on the web, I thought I would give our list of sites -- for those of you who simply can't think of what to do this summer

http://childparenting.about.com/library/docs/nhomelearningplan.htm -- An 8 week plan

http://www.lapl.org/kidspath/books/index.html -- LA Public Library Great Books Page -- with lists by grade

A Summer Plan

     So here it is -- a puzzlement: What to do to entertain three boys, ages almost five, six and eight? My answer: work through The Dangerous Book for Boys. When the book first came out, I spoke with my youngest brother about it. He laughed and said that he'd seen the book and that he and our older sib had done pretty much everything in the book at one time or another plus a few extras. There is some wonderful material in the book. In addition we are going to recreate the idea expressed in Paddle-to-the-Sea . The boys and I will create a small wooden boat and set it adrift. 9Once it is built, I will upload pictures for folks to see.)  We will include on it an address where people who find it can notify us... it will be interesting to see what happens!

 

      Meanwhile I am going to begin posting our 'DFB' lesson plans. Anyone who wishs to join us in this event is more than welcome to do so. Off to start the day. Have a wonderful one!

Poetry

     It has always been my contention that what we read shapes the way we write: when one reads something well written, one picks up and echos the rhythm of that author's pen. The same might be said for poor writing. Here is a shining example of the phenomena: A poem, written by a not quite five year old shortly after listening to a selection of William Blake's poetry:

 

That fearful symmetry

That no eye could spot

The colors of the darkness, he

could not be seen

by the brightest moon.

The deadly death of his prey

He squeezed it TIGHT!

As lightening could... destroy a tree.

 

The deadly lion as his prey

That deadly lion spelled

The cast of his magic,

blasted the creature.

 

The snake of poison early grasps

the thin air.

 

By Xander, Age almost 5

Born July 20, 2004 (Birthday and age added at author’s request)

 

     The implications are clear. When you are preparing to write, select an author whose style you admire and wish to emulate. Immerse yourself in that author's works. When you emerge, write and write and write some more. Eventually, as you write more and more, you will begin to find your own voice but for the novice writer, this exercise -- of immersion followed by writing -- works well.

 

     There is another reason to immerse yourself in fine writing -- one can learn proper grammar almost painlessly by so doing. Truly. Again, select an author whose work reflects a true grasp of the language in which you wish to write and read, read, read. It is true that as authors become more skilled, they move away from a slavish devotion to proper grammar. The difference between the good writer and the bad (in this case) is simply that the good writer makes his grammar 'mistakes' knowingly and for effect, an effect that can only be achieved if the rest of the work is properly written. The bad writer ignores all the rules and writes as if he/she had developed a nasty illness of the pen.

 

     For those who wish to write and hope someday to be published, I have several suggestions: There is a wonderful program called Written and Illustrated by: A Revolutionary Two-Brain Approach for Teaching Students How to Write and Illustrate Amazing Books (See my links for the Contest website). People such as Dav Pilkey (The New Captain Underpants Collection (Books 1-5) and Stacey Chbosky (Who Owns the Sun?) have gotten their start this way. I am hoping that I can get both sons involved this year:> For others, there is the program called 'National Novel Writing Month' (Again, see my links for this). I became aware of this latter program while reading 'My life+Insanity' -- a blog by a homeschooled student, Galadrial. (See Friends). The program sounds like a very good one -- designed to get people up and writing, rather than just talking about doing so.

 

     Which reminds me: Last night my eldest read one of our favorite authors, Cynthia Rylant. The book? Mr. Putter & Tabby Write the Book These are young reader's books but delightful even for an adult. In this story, the erstwhile hero sets out to write a novel -- and spends more time eating and sleeping than he does writing! Oh how familiar that is.

 

     It was Maya Angelou (The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou) who once commented that she had discovered the key to overcoming writer's block: She had a room, bare of anything, with just a typewriter and a ream of paper. She would set her timer and stay in that room at the typewriter writing until the timer went off. She did that everyday without fail. And while a good deal of what she wrote, she eventually threw away, she said she never suffered from writer's block. She knew she had to write so write she did. Writer's block, in her estimation, was simply laziness and fear. Write, write, write and you will not suffer from the block.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

 

Adieu for now.

 

Wakings

The Waking by Theodore Roethke

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ah, good advice: Take Life slowly, savouring the moments. Not something we do when we are young. Then life is a carnival -- you want to see all of it, DO all of it before the time runs out and you have to go home. I know that that was my view of life, especially as a teenager. I felt this bone deep need to go and see and do NOW! And I did go, see and do quite a lot, enough to know that there were places (and people) to which I would return again and again.

And now, I am a mother -- not something I ever truly imagined -- and I want to take Life slow. I watch as my sons grow too fast, much too fast. Every day there is a change -- small to some but immense to me. I look and remember the first moments and though I wouldn't change the present for the past, there are times when I miss parts of the past -- the way my eldest born could smile with delight over the simple act of catching (finally!) a cheerio and conveying it to his mouth. Oh the joy  Or the way my youngest moved himself from spot to spot, not by crawling as so many children do but by bouncing along on his bottom. He reduced watchers to tears of laughter on more than one occasion and smiled as he did so. He still reduces people to tears and distraction, always by being himself in all his glory.

Why is time as it is? Have you ever noticed how, when you want time to fly, it drags but when you want to freeze it, it melts away? There are many discussions about time -- especially about the physics of time. There is even a website dedicated to the discussion of the possibilities of time travel -- something that I tend to think would be a BAD idea... my science fiction reading background combined with my training as an historian makes me think that 'mucking about' with the past or future would be dangerous. And people wouldn't be able to resist 'fixing' things, had they the oppurtunity. But I do admit, there are moments that I wish I could hold onto, relive when I wished. And as I watch my boys grow, oh so quickly, those moments seem to happen more and more often.

Perhaps it is also an awareness of myself growing older. Though there are many moments when I feel like my frustrated 16 year old self (On the morning of my birthday, I asked my dad why, on this momentous day, did I NOT feel any different? He just looked at me and asked 'Why should you?') there are times when I wonder where time went.  How could I not have noticed its passing? Truthfully, the Buddhists have something important when they speak of Mindfulness and of being in the Present moment. Grin. I am reminded of the passage in "Kung Fu Panda" -- 'The past is over, the future is yet to be. All we have is now and that is why it is called 'The Present'" A good point and one I try hard to remember.

My sons apparently have no problem with being 'in the moment.' I expect that that is true of all children. Though occasionally they discuss the future (as when my eldest thinks about what he wants to be... a lego designer, an oceanographer, a mad scientist) or the past (there was a little girl who BIT me when I was two and in preschool' the older brother tells the younger in an attempt to explain why homeschooling is better) most of their days and times are spent firmly in the now. My four almost five year old rescues earthworms, fearing that they might drown in the watering of the yard while my eldest carefully sets up bird feeders and bug zoos so that he can observe life up close. Their delight in the present moment wakes me to its joys and so, for a brief time, I am back in childhood when mud was fun and earthworms a wonder. What a gift...

But this is all horribly philosophical and not very helpful, I expect. We have been trying to follow Charlotte Mason's reccommendation as to Nature study but have wandered a bit off the path and in those wanderings, we have come across a fascinating book:How to Make a Miniature Zoo . This, of course, immediately caught our attention and I have, perhaps foolishly, promised that once we are moved, we will work on it. The boys, of course, are ready to start collecting NOW.

Actually, if anyone is interested in such things, Vinson Brown's other books:

How to Make a Home Nature Museum COMMON EDIBLE And USEFUL PLANTS Of The WEST. Edited by Vinson Brown. Investigating Nature Through Outdoor Projects (to name just a few!) are wonderful. And then, of course, there are always the books by Gerald Durrell:My Family and Other Animals A Zoo in My Luggage Birds, Beasts, and Relatives Menagerie Manor The Aye-Aye and I: A Rescue Journey to Save One of the World's Most Intriguing Creatures from Extinction (there are more...) are all wonderful. Indeed, it was through a film version of Durrell's My Family & Other Animals [VHS] that my sons first came to be interested in the idea of being naturalists. Now children are, by their nature, naturalists so the idea wasn't a strange one to them. What intrigued them, I think, is the idea that ADULTS actually did this for a living. LOL. Wait until they discover all the other crazy things that adults do!

Update on the issue of Charter versus homeschools

Here are a few links for those of you interested in reading more on the topic of Charter schools:

 

Essay: Why will I not sign the 'I stand for Homeschooling' pledge? (interesting perspective and well worth reading)

A to Z: Umbrella schools, Virtual schools, Charter Schools (If you like lots of links, this is a great site)

Charter schools versus Homeschools (The debate -- live and in person)

The California case

The Charter School Challenge (This is a book and not one predisposed to Charter schools...)

Cyber and Home School Charter Schools

Court Rules that Virtual charter schools can receive public funds

SED Charter School Reports (Interesting government survey indicating that while students in Charter schools SHOULD out perform students in their home district, this is not the case.)

I will add more links as I find them