(The house we have hope of purchasing)
30.8.09
School On the Move?
We've had a plan in the back of our heads for some time now that in two to four years, we're going to be moving. We know what we want in a new house, approximately where we want it to be, and an approximate price range. We even have a list of things that would be really neat, but we don't necessarily expect to find.
On a whim Friday night, I looked at real estate listings. I was getting tired, and told myself I'd look at just one more page. I clicked, and on that page was the magic listing. It has everything on the list of what we want, and most of the things that would be really neat to have. The location is pretty much exactly where we would want to be. In short, I managed to find what appears to be a perfect house for us.
Being the weekend, we haven't been able to actually get inside the house. We'll try to do that Tuesday or Wednesday. Assuming we still like the house, we're going to cautiously move forward. At every step, if we encounter substantial roadblocks, then we'll stop, and let it go, knowing it wasn't meant to be. There is, however, every possibility that it is supposed to be (though I admit that percentage is small), in which case... we'll be moving, during the school year.
Let me pause here to say that even though I only found this listing less then 48 hours ago, I've poured over the virtual tour, driven past it, learned more about the neighborhood, and discovered I could walk to my good friend's house from it. In short, unless the tour reveals a very grievous flaw, there's a high chance that I'm going to be devastated if/when this doesn't happen.
Right now, though, I want to dwell on the five percent chance of it happening. Even if things proceed relatively slowly, we're potentially looking at a move before Christmas. Let me pause to say this is one advantage of purchasing at least some Christmas presents early; if we move and it takes all of our money, at least I know there's something to put under the tree for all three kids. Let's also accept that from here on out, everything I say should have "potentially" or "maybe" or "if this happens" in front of it. We all know it's conditional, I just don't want to rewrite that fact repeatedly.
I like being done for the year the same week or one week earlier than the public school kids, and consequently, there's no extra time in the spring semester to make up missed days this autumn. I also don't think I'd have a high compliance rate or very good attitudes if we tried to skip our spring break. Ideally, a move would take just a few days of absolutely no access to schoolwork, and with proper packing, some work could undoubtedly be continued almost constantly - each kid does have a backpack, after all.
It's actually more the idea of selling this house that worries me, the idea that we could be settling in for a good morning of learning when the telephone rings and it's an agent, saying someone wants to see the house in an hour or two. Suddenly, then, I'd need to put away dishes and the like, and get everyone out the door. Let's not forget that I have Purple Child on top of my two students. The chances are high that some things would fall further and further behind. Spelling for EG, math perhaps for FB; neither are particularly portable.
My only conclusion is that, if we proceed forward, then starting on September 13, we're going to have to become 7-day-a-week homeschoolers. Finishing subjects that aren't daily, grabbing extra days so we can build up a 'bank' of extra days, all of that. It's not a horrible idea, but it does sound a little bit exhausting, especially since the week of September 13 promised to be a bit stressful on its own.
Yes, this house is awesome enough, though, that it'd be all worth.
On a whim Friday night, I looked at real estate listings. I was getting tired, and told myself I'd look at just one more page. I clicked, and on that page was the magic listing. It has everything on the list of what we want, and most of the things that would be really neat to have. The location is pretty much exactly where we would want to be. In short, I managed to find what appears to be a perfect house for us.
Being the weekend, we haven't been able to actually get inside the house. We'll try to do that Tuesday or Wednesday. Assuming we still like the house, we're going to cautiously move forward. At every step, if we encounter substantial roadblocks, then we'll stop, and let it go, knowing it wasn't meant to be. There is, however, every possibility that it is supposed to be (though I admit that percentage is small), in which case... we'll be moving, during the school year.
Let me pause here to say that even though I only found this listing less then 48 hours ago, I've poured over the virtual tour, driven past it, learned more about the neighborhood, and discovered I could walk to my good friend's house from it. In short, unless the tour reveals a very grievous flaw, there's a high chance that I'm going to be devastated if/when this doesn't happen.
Right now, though, I want to dwell on the five percent chance of it happening. Even if things proceed relatively slowly, we're potentially looking at a move before Christmas. Let me pause to say this is one advantage of purchasing at least some Christmas presents early; if we move and it takes all of our money, at least I know there's something to put under the tree for all three kids. Let's also accept that from here on out, everything I say should have "potentially" or "maybe" or "if this happens" in front of it. We all know it's conditional, I just don't want to rewrite that fact repeatedly.
I like being done for the year the same week or one week earlier than the public school kids, and consequently, there's no extra time in the spring semester to make up missed days this autumn. I also don't think I'd have a high compliance rate or very good attitudes if we tried to skip our spring break. Ideally, a move would take just a few days of absolutely no access to schoolwork, and with proper packing, some work could undoubtedly be continued almost constantly - each kid does have a backpack, after all.
It's actually more the idea of selling this house that worries me, the idea that we could be settling in for a good morning of learning when the telephone rings and it's an agent, saying someone wants to see the house in an hour or two. Suddenly, then, I'd need to put away dishes and the like, and get everyone out the door. Let's not forget that I have Purple Child on top of my two students. The chances are high that some things would fall further and further behind. Spelling for EG, math perhaps for FB; neither are particularly portable.
My only conclusion is that, if we proceed forward, then starting on September 13, we're going to have to become 7-day-a-week homeschoolers. Finishing subjects that aren't daily, grabbing extra days so we can build up a 'bank' of extra days, all of that. It's not a horrible idea, but it does sound a little bit exhausting, especially since the week of September 13 promised to be a bit stressful on its own.
Yes, this house is awesome enough, though, that it'd be all worth.
28.8.09
Weekly Report: Week Three
The big news for the week happened on Saturday. I posted on facebook that it was the end of the world as I knew it, to paraphrase R.E.M. Why? Purple Child took her first steps. She was all of two days past the nine month mark. I admit, I had hoped for a later start date!
Fabulous Boy is making me somewhat crazy. It's clear he sees little to no use for phonics (or reading in general). After all, he has me, his father, and Eclectic Girl all to read to him, should he desire. He has a great deal of enthusiasm for handwriting, though, as well as his math. I do think FB thinks some of the math work is a bit silly (tally marks, for starters), but if I can rework anything to make it a game, then we have a winner. I also remembered this week that I have the Book-on-CD for Visual Perceptual Skill Building. I printed out the entirety of the mazes and he worked his way through them quite steadily.
FB has memorized three poems, and EG has memorized seven!
Both FB and EG were excited for the first day of Master's Academy. Our new co-op started this week as well. Here, they're getting ready for the first day at MAFA:
And here, they're exhausted from the first day at MAFA:
Eclectic Girl had a good week. She read Ghosts of the Civil War, If You Lived At the Time of the Civil War, Lincoln: A Photobiography, Caddie Woodlawn, and started its sequel, Magical Melons (it's my old copy, so yes, it just says Magical Melons on the cover!).
EG finished her review of fractions (she needed some review with adding & subtracting mixed numbers), and continued working in LoF: Decimals & Percents. She passed the Bridge to Chapter 11 on the first try: 100%! She also "beat" two different levels of math drill this week (we alternate between an addition/subtraction and a multiplication/division drill each day). It was a really great math week!
Grammar is still simply editing, but I can see it's getting easier for her to find each need correction. Spelling is still spelling. In Writing Tales, she finished Lesson 12 with a great retelling of "The Little Red Hen." Her next story to work with is "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
As might have been apparent from the reading selections above, we're quickly approaching the time of the Civil War in history. EG read Chapter 4 in Story of the World, and wrote a summary about Italy becoming a nation, along with the accompanying map work. In addition to her other memory work, she's got "The Charge of the Light Brigade" about 90 to 95% committed to memory.
Science lab was Thursday. I discovered that rather than reading the instructions, both of my pupils were constructing their circuits and the like merely by looking at the drawing of the finished product and attempting to replicate it. Needless to say, this meant that their first attempts just didn't work. After the cause of the trouble was discovered, though, things proceded nicely. Science, as you can see, is exciting.
Fabulous Boy is making me somewhat crazy. It's clear he sees little to no use for phonics (or reading in general). After all, he has me, his father, and Eclectic Girl all to read to him, should he desire. He has a great deal of enthusiasm for handwriting, though, as well as his math. I do think FB thinks some of the math work is a bit silly (tally marks, for starters), but if I can rework anything to make it a game, then we have a winner. I also remembered this week that I have the Book-on-CD for Visual Perceptual Skill Building. I printed out the entirety of the mazes and he worked his way through them quite steadily.
FB has memorized three poems, and EG has memorized seven!
Both FB and EG were excited for the first day of Master's Academy. Our new co-op started this week as well. Here, they're getting ready for the first day at MAFA:
And here, they're exhausted from the first day at MAFA:
Eclectic Girl had a good week. She read Ghosts of the Civil War, If You Lived At the Time of the Civil War, Lincoln: A Photobiography, Caddie Woodlawn, and started its sequel, Magical Melons (it's my old copy, so yes, it just says Magical Melons on the cover!).
EG finished her review of fractions (she needed some review with adding & subtracting mixed numbers), and continued working in LoF: Decimals & Percents. She passed the Bridge to Chapter 11 on the first try: 100%! She also "beat" two different levels of math drill this week (we alternate between an addition/subtraction and a multiplication/division drill each day). It was a really great math week!
Grammar is still simply editing, but I can see it's getting easier for her to find each need correction. Spelling is still spelling. In Writing Tales, she finished Lesson 12 with a great retelling of "The Little Red Hen." Her next story to work with is "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
As might have been apparent from the reading selections above, we're quickly approaching the time of the Civil War in history. EG read Chapter 4 in Story of the World, and wrote a summary about Italy becoming a nation, along with the accompanying map work. In addition to her other memory work, she's got "The Charge of the Light Brigade" about 90 to 95% committed to memory.
Science lab was Thursday. I discovered that rather than reading the instructions, both of my pupils were constructing their circuits and the like merely by looking at the drawing of the finished product and attempting to replicate it. Needless to say, this meant that their first attempts just didn't work. After the cause of the trouble was discovered, though, things proceded nicely. Science, as you can see, is exciting.
23.8.09
What's For Dinner?
I had to do last minute rearranging of my meal plans for the week, which meant an additional trip to the grocery store this evening. Instead of thawing flank steak, my other half brought in cube steak. Oops. So, with cube steak freshly thawed, we're changing dinner for the week. I am bummed, a bit, because I like cube steak, but we've already had it this month. Additionally, this is the last of the cube steak from our quarter cow. While we're definitely wanting a half (versus a quarter) next year, which will mean six packs of cube steak, late May/early June is quite awhile to wait!
Monday: Cube steaks in the crock pot, leftover mashed potatoes from Saturday, and green beans
Tuesday: Leftovers - bbq chicken, hot dogs, etc.
Wednesday: Hamburgers, baked beans, and some fruit
Thursday: Leftover cube steaks, fried okra (hopefully that's in our CSA box this week), and Annie's macaroni and cheese
Friday: Payday! We'll either still have leftovers, or we'll have pizza night or spaghetti.
Saturday: French bread pizza
Sunday: Rib steak, squash casserole, hot cinnamon applesauce
Monday: Cube steaks in the crock pot, leftover mashed potatoes from Saturday, and green beans
Tuesday: Leftovers - bbq chicken, hot dogs, etc.
Wednesday: Hamburgers, baked beans, and some fruit
Thursday: Leftover cube steaks, fried okra (hopefully that's in our CSA box this week), and Annie's macaroni and cheese
Friday: Payday! We'll either still have leftovers, or we'll have pizza night or spaghetti.
Saturday: French bread pizza
Sunday: Rib steak, squash casserole, hot cinnamon applesauce
21.8.09
Weekly Report: Week Two
We had a good second week, though it was interrupted somewhat on Thursday by a migraine on my part. Ouch!
This week's reading included Invincible Louisa, the remainder of Abraham Lincoln's World, Clara Barton (from the Childhood of Famous Americans series, this is my mother's copy!), portions of Physics (Basher), and part of The Cartoon Guide to Physics. I'm not sure what chapter Eclectic Girl and her father are reading in Sing Down the Moon, but I know it's ahead of where I expected.
EG finished her grammar for the week, completed steps 18 and 19 in AAS 4, and did a lot of writing. She finished her retelling of "The Doll in the Grass" and did a great job!
In math, EG completed a drill level (yay!), and worked on a few pages in Key to Fractions Book 4. She completed her first Bridge in LoF: Decimals & Percents and finished chapters six through nine.
We fortuitously listened to a podcast about Florence Nightingale this past weekend, and part of EG's reading in SOTW 4 this week mentioned her. (The podcast in question was an old episode of Math Mutation.) Instead of writing a summary this week, she has a poem to memorize ("The Charge of the Light Brigade") and a project on taking medical records for a week.
On Thursday, we had physics lab again. They did three separate activities this week.
No Master's Academy or co-op this week (both begin next week), but activities at the YMCA began, which for EG means stroke clinic on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. As it happened, EG is the only one in the clinic, so she essentially gets private lessons for the cost of group ones! She's also swimming on Wednesday mornings and possibly Saturday mornings, on her own.
Fabulous Boy's YMCA activity is the much-beloved Tumbling Teddies class on Wednesday mornings. He was so excited to go back to class! We worked through two more lessons of OPGTR, and he read the first three Bob Books. Another set of pages in HWT's Pre-K book. We worked a lot on the Memory game and memorization for math. I did get him a basic Kumon workbook on telling time, which he thought was fantastic. He got a new book this week which we read a few times - Seymour Simon's Stars.
Memorization-wise, EG has now memorized the first five poems and is working on the sixth. FB has the first down cold but still stumbles on the second. I think he'll probably move on Monday or Tuesday.
Purple Child and FB both have well child visits this afternoon, since chorus and band don't start until after Labor Day.
This week's reading included Invincible Louisa, the remainder of Abraham Lincoln's World, Clara Barton (from the Childhood of Famous Americans series, this is my mother's copy!), portions of Physics (Basher), and part of The Cartoon Guide to Physics. I'm not sure what chapter Eclectic Girl and her father are reading in Sing Down the Moon, but I know it's ahead of where I expected.
EG finished her grammar for the week, completed steps 18 and 19 in AAS 4, and did a lot of writing. She finished her retelling of "The Doll in the Grass" and did a great job!
In math, EG completed a drill level (yay!), and worked on a few pages in Key to Fractions Book 4. She completed her first Bridge in LoF: Decimals & Percents and finished chapters six through nine.
We fortuitously listened to a podcast about Florence Nightingale this past weekend, and part of EG's reading in SOTW 4 this week mentioned her. (The podcast in question was an old episode of Math Mutation.) Instead of writing a summary this week, she has a poem to memorize ("The Charge of the Light Brigade") and a project on taking medical records for a week.
On Thursday, we had physics lab again. They did three separate activities this week.
No Master's Academy or co-op this week (both begin next week), but activities at the YMCA began, which for EG means stroke clinic on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. As it happened, EG is the only one in the clinic, so she essentially gets private lessons for the cost of group ones! She's also swimming on Wednesday mornings and possibly Saturday mornings, on her own.
Fabulous Boy's YMCA activity is the much-beloved Tumbling Teddies class on Wednesday mornings. He was so excited to go back to class! We worked through two more lessons of OPGTR, and he read the first three Bob Books. Another set of pages in HWT's Pre-K book. We worked a lot on the Memory game and memorization for math. I did get him a basic Kumon workbook on telling time, which he thought was fantastic. He got a new book this week which we read a few times - Seymour Simon's Stars.
Memorization-wise, EG has now memorized the first five poems and is working on the sixth. FB has the first down cold but still stumbles on the second. I think he'll probably move on Monday or Tuesday.
Purple Child and FB both have well child visits this afternoon, since chorus and band don't start until after Labor Day.
17.8.09
This Job I Do For Free
Don't let anyone tell you that homeschooling isn't a job. No, it's not one for which you'll receive any monetary compensation. There may be other rewards along the way and at the end, but they aren't monetary in nature (unless, of course, your child gets merit scholarships, but you still don't personally receive that money).
Don't let anyone tell you that being a homeschooling parent is just like being a stay-at-home parent. I've been a stay-at-home parent, and I've been a homeschooling parent. They aren't the same.
I have three distinct jobs. I'm the stay-at-home mom to Purple Child. I'm both stay-at-home mom and teacher to Fabulous Boy and Eclectic Girl. I'm also the administrative and support staff - I have to make disciplinary and curricular decisions, after research.
This job I do for free is one that I choose to do, out of love. I care enough to do it to the best of my ability. I devise replacements for colored cardstock (construction paper, trimmed to 8 1/2" x 11"). I collect slow cooker recipes. I chauffeur to classes, co-ops, and extracurricular activities. I do everything I did as a stay-at-home mom, except I also research curriculum, make lesson plans, correct math work, discuss literature, teach Latin, run a science lab, and desperately wonder where to post a timeline. Without meaning to be conceited, I do this, and I do it all well.
Don't tell me it's not a job.
Don't let anyone tell you that being a homeschooling parent is just like being a stay-at-home parent. I've been a stay-at-home parent, and I've been a homeschooling parent. They aren't the same.
I have three distinct jobs. I'm the stay-at-home mom to Purple Child. I'm both stay-at-home mom and teacher to Fabulous Boy and Eclectic Girl. I'm also the administrative and support staff - I have to make disciplinary and curricular decisions, after research.
This job I do for free is one that I choose to do, out of love. I care enough to do it to the best of my ability. I devise replacements for colored cardstock (construction paper, trimmed to 8 1/2" x 11"). I collect slow cooker recipes. I chauffeur to classes, co-ops, and extracurricular activities. I do everything I did as a stay-at-home mom, except I also research curriculum, make lesson plans, correct math work, discuss literature, teach Latin, run a science lab, and desperately wonder where to post a timeline. Without meaning to be conceited, I do this, and I do it all well.
Don't tell me it's not a job.
16.8.09
Some People Should Not Homeschool
Homeschooling is not an activity that should be undertaken by all. Just as not all women should attempt an unassisted birth, not all parents are willing and/or able to take on the responsibility associated with homeschooling. Many parents realize this and do not attempt to homeschool.
Other parents, it seems, do not.
I don't wish to single out particular people, but I do see examples, and I'd like to cite some of them.
• If you've been reading a book for some time as a family, shouldn't you know that it is called Johnny Tremain and not Johnny Tremaine?
• A message board post reads "What would you do for kindergarten if you only had thirty minutes a day four days a week? My daughter will be a kindergartener in the fall, and she is my last child, so I want this to be fun for both of us. ...but with three older dc, I need it to be short and sweet." I don't really understand this at all. What will this woman do in two years' time, when she will have a high school age student (14), a middle school age student (12), an upper elementary age student (10), and a second grader (7)? Will she still relegate her youngest to a half-hearted, quickie version of school? I understand that formal academics is not as important at the kindergarten age, but it seems desperately sad that you would limit your interactions with one child so severely. How will the following year be different? How will more time appear in her schedule so that she can teach her then-first grader?
Homeschooling is a commitment. Many experienced homeschooling parents will argue that it should be approached as if it were a job. I would agree - and I suppose some would argue that four years lets me speak as one of those who is experienced. Unless you are planning to unschool, which is a completely different philosophy, you need to have plans, goals, and expectations. No, homeschooling doesn't have to mean drudgery. Often, enough school is completed to enable us to go out of the house by 10:30 or 11 am. However, that doesn't mean that it does not require some commitment from the parents. Depending on the approach that is taken, it can mean a significant investment of time and resources. Since I fall into the camp of "if it's worth doing, it's probably worth doing well," I'd argue that if you're not willing to make those investments, you need to look at why you're doing it.
What level of investment do I mean? It looks different for different families, of course. For us, it means a significant amount of time that I spend researching resources and approaches before purchasing, and then a smaller but still significant amount of time spent planning how we'll use those resources. On a daily basis, I instruct Eclectic Girl in spelling, provide direction with writing, discuss reading assignments, and check work in all other areas, requiring her to correct those exercises that were initially wrong. I also spend time teaching Fabulous Boy phonics, handwriting, and math. I guide both of them to do memory work. There's also a lot of reading aloud. Apart from the home instruction, I'm often driving them to enrichment classes or extracurricular activities. Yes, I would still take my children to the YMCA to swim or participate in swim lessons, even if we weren't homeschooling, but I think it's safe to say that many of our weekly activities would no longer be on the calendar.
My personal schedule has two thirty minute blocks, per day, for reading. One is labeled "Reading for Pleasure," and the other is labeled "Reading for Research." The latter one generally consists of items I am researching for school. Currently, the "Reading for Research" pile is relatively short: Classical Writing's Poetry for Beginners, Nonsense: A Handbook of Logical Fallacies, and The Snake and the Fox. I'm at the nadir of planning, though, as we've just begun a school year, and I have 51 weeks to plan for the next. That list will surely increase!
I also consider it my (and my partner's) responsibility to model life-long learning, and a love of learning. My stack of books for "Reading for Pleasure" is composed primarily of non-fiction works, especially concerning various science and social science topics. Eclectic Girl is going to be learning to play the trumpet, which has inspired Titian Fellow to get out his old clarinet, and has equally spurred me to investigate at last fulfilling an old dream - that of playing the saxophone. We list to educational podcasts as a family, but not out of an effort to impress Learning upon the children; we just happen to enjoy them. Lately, too, TF and I have tried to showcase ourselves learning new things together. This has mostly taken the form of reading from the same book and then discussing it, but we've also purchased some courses from The Teaching Company that should be fun (and educational!) to view. Now, with regards to this paragraph, I'm certainly not saying that non-homeschooling parents don't do some or all of these or related things, or even more than this. I want, however, to draw the point that TF and I continue to do all of these things, in addition to homeschooling-specific duties.
In sum, then, homeschooling entails a significant amount of dedication as well as zeal, and this should be carefully considered, along with more commonly cited issues such as "don't you get tired of being around your kids all day?" or "my kids wouldn't listen to me, we'd just argue all day." Even when you are willing and eager to be around your kids all day, and your kids do not argue with you, there are deeper requirements that should be met. Yes, many homeschooling parents will tell you that of course you can homeschool; after all, you helped your children learn throughout the first years of their life. Advancing academics, though, are hardly comparable to biological imperatives such as walking, and you must be certain that you will follow through on your commitment.
I don't mean to be discouraging. If someone wants to homeschool, but fears they may have an issue with the time and thought needed, the desire can help make the necessary commitments happen. I do think, though, that any homeschooling parent must periodically evaluate what their homeschool is accomplishing, and if there are serious issues, they need to be rectified as soon as humanly possible, or the parents may need to consider other educational options.
Other parents, it seems, do not.
I don't wish to single out particular people, but I do see examples, and I'd like to cite some of them.
• If you've been reading a book for some time as a family, shouldn't you know that it is called Johnny Tremain and not Johnny Tremaine?
• A message board post reads "What would you do for kindergarten if you only had thirty minutes a day four days a week? My daughter will be a kindergartener in the fall, and she is my last child, so I want this to be fun for both of us. ...but with three older dc, I need it to be short and sweet." I don't really understand this at all. What will this woman do in two years' time, when she will have a high school age student (14), a middle school age student (12), an upper elementary age student (10), and a second grader (7)? Will she still relegate her youngest to a half-hearted, quickie version of school? I understand that formal academics is not as important at the kindergarten age, but it seems desperately sad that you would limit your interactions with one child so severely. How will the following year be different? How will more time appear in her schedule so that she can teach her then-first grader?
Homeschooling is a commitment. Many experienced homeschooling parents will argue that it should be approached as if it were a job. I would agree - and I suppose some would argue that four years lets me speak as one of those who is experienced. Unless you are planning to unschool, which is a completely different philosophy, you need to have plans, goals, and expectations. No, homeschooling doesn't have to mean drudgery. Often, enough school is completed to enable us to go out of the house by 10:30 or 11 am. However, that doesn't mean that it does not require some commitment from the parents. Depending on the approach that is taken, it can mean a significant investment of time and resources. Since I fall into the camp of "if it's worth doing, it's probably worth doing well," I'd argue that if you're not willing to make those investments, you need to look at why you're doing it.
What level of investment do I mean? It looks different for different families, of course. For us, it means a significant amount of time that I spend researching resources and approaches before purchasing, and then a smaller but still significant amount of time spent planning how we'll use those resources. On a daily basis, I instruct Eclectic Girl in spelling, provide direction with writing, discuss reading assignments, and check work in all other areas, requiring her to correct those exercises that were initially wrong. I also spend time teaching Fabulous Boy phonics, handwriting, and math. I guide both of them to do memory work. There's also a lot of reading aloud. Apart from the home instruction, I'm often driving them to enrichment classes or extracurricular activities. Yes, I would still take my children to the YMCA to swim or participate in swim lessons, even if we weren't homeschooling, but I think it's safe to say that many of our weekly activities would no longer be on the calendar.
My personal schedule has two thirty minute blocks, per day, for reading. One is labeled "Reading for Pleasure," and the other is labeled "Reading for Research." The latter one generally consists of items I am researching for school. Currently, the "Reading for Research" pile is relatively short: Classical Writing's Poetry for Beginners, Nonsense: A Handbook of Logical Fallacies, and The Snake and the Fox. I'm at the nadir of planning, though, as we've just begun a school year, and I have 51 weeks to plan for the next. That list will surely increase!
I also consider it my (and my partner's) responsibility to model life-long learning, and a love of learning. My stack of books for "Reading for Pleasure" is composed primarily of non-fiction works, especially concerning various science and social science topics. Eclectic Girl is going to be learning to play the trumpet, which has inspired Titian Fellow to get out his old clarinet, and has equally spurred me to investigate at last fulfilling an old dream - that of playing the saxophone. We list to educational podcasts as a family, but not out of an effort to impress Learning upon the children; we just happen to enjoy them. Lately, too, TF and I have tried to showcase ourselves learning new things together. This has mostly taken the form of reading from the same book and then discussing it, but we've also purchased some courses from The Teaching Company that should be fun (and educational!) to view. Now, with regards to this paragraph, I'm certainly not saying that non-homeschooling parents don't do some or all of these or related things, or even more than this. I want, however, to draw the point that TF and I continue to do all of these things, in addition to homeschooling-specific duties.
In sum, then, homeschooling entails a significant amount of dedication as well as zeal, and this should be carefully considered, along with more commonly cited issues such as "don't you get tired of being around your kids all day?" or "my kids wouldn't listen to me, we'd just argue all day." Even when you are willing and eager to be around your kids all day, and your kids do not argue with you, there are deeper requirements that should be met. Yes, many homeschooling parents will tell you that of course you can homeschool; after all, you helped your children learn throughout the first years of their life. Advancing academics, though, are hardly comparable to biological imperatives such as walking, and you must be certain that you will follow through on your commitment.
I don't mean to be discouraging. If someone wants to homeschool, but fears they may have an issue with the time and thought needed, the desire can help make the necessary commitments happen. I do think, though, that any homeschooling parent must periodically evaluate what their homeschool is accomplishing, and if there are serious issues, they need to be rectified as soon as humanly possible, or the parents may need to consider other educational options.
15.8.09
I'm a Birth Advocate... not a Midwife Advocate
There was recently an interesting discussion on a mailing list to which I subscribe. It was, as so many conversations are, an offshoot of a previous thread. When retitled, its new name became "Is birth for everyone?"
The original author went on to elaborate her position. I'd like to quote most of a paragraph: "Nearly every basically healthy, normal woman can give birth entirely on her own. The most serious handicap most of us face is our mental state. After that are general health concerns like adequate nutrition, sanitation, and serious disease or malformations."
She further makes a statement which with anthropological researchers such as Wenda Trevathan would take issue.
"Birthing on our own is normal. 'Assisted' birth is a choice."
Another respondent rephrased that statement as "People don't NEED doctors/midwives for birth... they want them."
This also then began a good discussion on the fact that true choice must be truly informed to be any sort of real choice. Further, it was pointed out that it is very difficult to know how many women are truly benefitted by having an assisted birth, and since that knowledge is missing, it can be hard for mothers to make an informed choice. One of the theoretical, somewhat rhetorical questions then posed struck a chord with me (and I apologize for the pun) - "Does a cord around the baby's neck make a midwife a hero?"
Because too often I see midwifery advocates and clients not offering up midwives as partners, who can help women to reclaim both responsibility and freedom, but instead substitutes for obstetricians. Yes, the skills of a midwife can be important in some births, in ensuring the health of the mother or the baby. Yes, the support of a midwife can make a true difference in a woman's emotional and mental state, giving her the power to continue through a difficult labor or long period of pushing. However, midwives are frequently portrayed as saviors, just as obstetricians are. How they act as saviors does differ - obstetricians often save the day with the snip of a perineum or the slice of a belly, and the "saving" they provide may be unnecessary and necessitated by their own actions earlier in the course of labor. Midwives, on the other hand, are presented as the saviors in that women hand their own power to the midwives. Rather than "I did it," the woman may, in effect, say "My midwife and I did it!" The woman may give credit to an intervention performed by the midwife that "allowed" to experience a natural or vaginal birth. Many times, motives and actions will be ascribed to the nameless, faceless Hospital Doctors, and the actions of the midwives will be contrasted with those that the woman supposes would have happened had she been in a different location, with different care providers.
Make no mistake - location of birth and choice of provider (and choice to have a provider) are fundamentally important, and no two decisions will have greater impact on a woman's eventual birth experience. However, there often remains an ascribing of actions to an external locus of control, even by the women who had their beautiful, midwife-attended homebirth. This redirection of power is a negative thing, and can only serve to stroke the ego of midwives across the country.
Unassisted birth is emphatically not for everyone. However, the premise that midwives can be heroes and saviors must, I feel, be rejected. What must be remembered by all birth advocates is that birth is ultimately about the mother and the baby, and all involved in a birth should be careful not to take the power of the mother from her.
The original author went on to elaborate her position. I'd like to quote most of a paragraph: "Nearly every basically healthy, normal woman can give birth entirely on her own. The most serious handicap most of us face is our mental state. After that are general health concerns like adequate nutrition, sanitation, and serious disease or malformations."
She further makes a statement which with anthropological researchers such as Wenda Trevathan would take issue.
"Birthing on our own is normal. 'Assisted' birth is a choice."
Another respondent rephrased that statement as "People don't NEED doctors/midwives for birth... they want them."
This also then began a good discussion on the fact that true choice must be truly informed to be any sort of real choice. Further, it was pointed out that it is very difficult to know how many women are truly benefitted by having an assisted birth, and since that knowledge is missing, it can be hard for mothers to make an informed choice. One of the theoretical, somewhat rhetorical questions then posed struck a chord with me (and I apologize for the pun) - "Does a cord around the baby's neck make a midwife a hero?"
Because too often I see midwifery advocates and clients not offering up midwives as partners, who can help women to reclaim both responsibility and freedom, but instead substitutes for obstetricians. Yes, the skills of a midwife can be important in some births, in ensuring the health of the mother or the baby. Yes, the support of a midwife can make a true difference in a woman's emotional and mental state, giving her the power to continue through a difficult labor or long period of pushing. However, midwives are frequently portrayed as saviors, just as obstetricians are. How they act as saviors does differ - obstetricians often save the day with the snip of a perineum or the slice of a belly, and the "saving" they provide may be unnecessary and necessitated by their own actions earlier in the course of labor. Midwives, on the other hand, are presented as the saviors in that women hand their own power to the midwives. Rather than "I did it," the woman may, in effect, say "My midwife and I did it!" The woman may give credit to an intervention performed by the midwife that "allowed" to experience a natural or vaginal birth. Many times, motives and actions will be ascribed to the nameless, faceless Hospital Doctors, and the actions of the midwives will be contrasted with those that the woman supposes would have happened had she been in a different location, with different care providers.
Make no mistake - location of birth and choice of provider (and choice to have a provider) are fundamentally important, and no two decisions will have greater impact on a woman's eventual birth experience. However, there often remains an ascribing of actions to an external locus of control, even by the women who had their beautiful, midwife-attended homebirth. This redirection of power is a negative thing, and can only serve to stroke the ego of midwives across the country.
Unassisted birth is emphatically not for everyone. However, the premise that midwives can be heroes and saviors must, I feel, be rejected. What must be remembered by all birth advocates is that birth is ultimately about the mother and the baby, and all involved in a birth should be careful not to take the power of the mother from her.
14.8.09
Weekly Report: Week One!
Weekly Report: Week One!
We're just wrapping up our first week of 2009/2010. I referred this being our Emeril year, and in keeping with that, I'll just say we started off with a "BAM!"
Eclectic Girl started off fourth grade even earlier than anticipated. Somehow her clock's time was changed, so when she thought she was waking at 6:45, it was actually 5:45! This week, she read Little Women, Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House, If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad, half of Abraham Lincoln's World, Where Does Electricity Come From?, Waves, and portions of Electricity and Magnetism, plus she listened to seven chapters from her read-aloud selection, Sing Down the Moon.
EG started her study of cursive, using the Spencerian Penmanship materials, and resumed spelling, completing review and Step 17. Grammar consisted of three editing activities in Editor in Chief A1, and in Writing Tales 2, she finished the equivalent of seven days as laid out - working on the story "Moses and the Bulrushes."
In math, she resumed work on Caluladder drill (speed is still not her forte), and she reviewed some fractions concepts using selected pages from Key to Fractions Book 4. EG also started her study of decimals & percents with Life of Fred: Decimals & Percents. I was really impressed, once again, with her quick grasp of the concepts presented (though I shouldn't have been surprised).
The Story of the World Volume Four was begun, with reading and mapwork centered around chapter 1. She also read the history-related titles listed above, and wrote a summary of one section from the chapter in SOTW. On Thursday, we had physics lab with one of her best friends, who's a brand-new homeschooler! They worked on the first five activities from the TOPS Electricity module, and appeared to have a great time.
In between all of her schoolwork, EG also attended the orientation for Master's Academy of Fine Arts, where she was excited to have moved into the third, or oldest, rotation; the open house for a brand-new co-op where she'll be taking martial arts, creative writing, and math club; and went to the instrument fitting to determine what instrument she'll be playing in the beginning band class of the local homeschool band. (The winner was trumpet, about which we're all excited!)
Next week, stroke clinic (swimming) begins at the YMCA twice a week. EG has had a great week to start off the year!
Fabulous Boy kicks off his official entre into homeschool with "prekindergarten" this year. We covered lessons 27 & 28 in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which he did very unevenly. It's perfectly clear that he both knows how to sound out words and how to read at least some common words, but it's equally clear that he's not going to be very serious about letting us know just what his abilities are. As far as handwriting goes, though, he's quite motivated, and he's zooming through his Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K book. He's suspicious of the crayon use with it, so while I'll have him finish it, we'll move on to the K level book by mid-year.
FB has requested a math workbook; silly Mom, separating math ability and writing ability! I'm on the look for an inexpensive complement to Right Start Level A. I may simply buy a couple of Kumon workbooks to appease him until he at least Kindergarten age. He's extrapolated the concepts to new situations and also is beginning to understand "parallel."
FB and I read lots of books together - too many to list. Next week, I'll begin being more purposeful about our selections at least once a day. FB also attended orientation for Master's Academy - his first year, and he's pretty excited. Next week his favorite tumbling classes start again at the Y, and a week from tomorrow, he'll resume swim lessons.
Both kids are using IEW's poetry memorization program. EG has learned the first three poems already, and FB has learned one and is working on the second. I originally bought this over a year ago and just hadn't implemented it, but I'm pleased with the return we're getting for a modicum of effort.
Last but not least, Purple Child finally ate food that didn't come straight from me. Really.
A great first week to begin the year.
We're just wrapping up our first week of 2009/2010. I referred this being our Emeril year, and in keeping with that, I'll just say we started off with a "BAM!"
Eclectic Girl started off fourth grade even earlier than anticipated. Somehow her clock's time was changed, so when she thought she was waking at 6:45, it was actually 5:45! This week, she read Little Women, Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House, If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad, half of Abraham Lincoln's World, Where Does Electricity Come From?, Waves, and portions of Electricity and Magnetism, plus she listened to seven chapters from her read-aloud selection, Sing Down the Moon.
EG started her study of cursive, using the Spencerian Penmanship materials, and resumed spelling, completing review and Step 17. Grammar consisted of three editing activities in Editor in Chief A1, and in Writing Tales 2, she finished the equivalent of seven days as laid out - working on the story "Moses and the Bulrushes."
In math, she resumed work on Caluladder drill (speed is still not her forte), and she reviewed some fractions concepts using selected pages from Key to Fractions Book 4. EG also started her study of decimals & percents with Life of Fred: Decimals & Percents. I was really impressed, once again, with her quick grasp of the concepts presented (though I shouldn't have been surprised).
The Story of the World Volume Four was begun, with reading and mapwork centered around chapter 1. She also read the history-related titles listed above, and wrote a summary of one section from the chapter in SOTW. On Thursday, we had physics lab with one of her best friends, who's a brand-new homeschooler! They worked on the first five activities from the TOPS Electricity module, and appeared to have a great time.
In between all of her schoolwork, EG also attended the orientation for Master's Academy of Fine Arts, where she was excited to have moved into the third, or oldest, rotation; the open house for a brand-new co-op where she'll be taking martial arts, creative writing, and math club; and went to the instrument fitting to determine what instrument she'll be playing in the beginning band class of the local homeschool band. (The winner was trumpet, about which we're all excited!)
Next week, stroke clinic (swimming) begins at the YMCA twice a week. EG has had a great week to start off the year!
Fabulous Boy kicks off his official entre into homeschool with "prekindergarten" this year. We covered lessons 27 & 28 in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which he did very unevenly. It's perfectly clear that he both knows how to sound out words and how to read at least some common words, but it's equally clear that he's not going to be very serious about letting us know just what his abilities are. As far as handwriting goes, though, he's quite motivated, and he's zooming through his Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K book. He's suspicious of the crayon use with it, so while I'll have him finish it, we'll move on to the K level book by mid-year.
FB has requested a math workbook; silly Mom, separating math ability and writing ability! I'm on the look for an inexpensive complement to Right Start Level A. I may simply buy a couple of Kumon workbooks to appease him until he at least Kindergarten age. He's extrapolated the concepts to new situations and also is beginning to understand "parallel."
FB and I read lots of books together - too many to list. Next week, I'll begin being more purposeful about our selections at least once a day. FB also attended orientation for Master's Academy - his first year, and he's pretty excited. Next week his favorite tumbling classes start again at the Y, and a week from tomorrow, he'll resume swim lessons.
Both kids are using IEW's poetry memorization program. EG has learned the first three poems already, and FB has learned one and is working on the second. I originally bought this over a year ago and just hadn't implemented it, but I'm pleased with the return we're getting for a modicum of effort.
Last but not least, Purple Child finally ate food that didn't come straight from me. Really.
A great first week to begin the year.
Three Days Down
"Hey, Mama. Nine is five and four!" So said Fabulous Boy yesterday as we headed home from co-op open house. If you've used Right Start math, you might guess the origin of his statement, but what thoroughly impressed me was that we haven't discussed nine as a quantity yet. We're only up to eight, which means he had to extrapolate to reach that conclusion.
I've settled upon calling this our Emeril year of homeschooling. In other words, it's time to "kick it up a notch." For the first time, FB is having regular, scheduled school time with me, covering phonics, handwriting, and math. We read a lot of books, too, so he'll touch upon not just literature but also history and science through those books. He's asked for a math book "like Sissy;" Right Start Level A just doesn't have much written work (which I, silly Mom, thought was a point in its favor), so I'm on the hunt for an inexpensive workbook series that he will complement what he's learning in Right Start. I'm going to try to take a look at Singapore, and I've had a recommendation to look at Math Mammoth.
"Kick it up a notch" takes on a different look entirely with regards to Eclectic Girl. Being in fourth grade, The Well-Trained Mind would consider her in her last year of grammar stage, but as the authors acknowledge, kids will enter the logic stage at different times. It became readily apparent in the spring that in the areas where she had not already been doing logic stage-type thinking, she was quickly entering it. Our expectations of her have risen accordingly and she seems ready for the challenge. The first day went extraordinarily smoothly, we had only a few hiccups on the second day, primarily due to fatigue, I think, and today (the third day), we've managed to work ahead of our schedule.
The schedules are new. Over a year ago, I had purchased Managers of Their Homes. It's an extremely Christian book, to the point that I couldn't separate the wheat from the chaff the first time I read it. I went through it again this summer, though, with a great big filter in my mind, and I began to see how scheduling could help things run more smoothly here, especially as I added a second student. So I completed the process, and we have beautiful, color-coded schedules, one for each day. I warned everyone that they were guidelines, and that not everything on the schedules would happen every day. That's true. On the other hand, a vast majority of it is getting accomplished, which is something amazing, indeed.
I've settled upon calling this our Emeril year of homeschooling. In other words, it's time to "kick it up a notch." For the first time, FB is having regular, scheduled school time with me, covering phonics, handwriting, and math. We read a lot of books, too, so he'll touch upon not just literature but also history and science through those books. He's asked for a math book "like Sissy;" Right Start Level A just doesn't have much written work (which I, silly Mom, thought was a point in its favor), so I'm on the hunt for an inexpensive workbook series that he will complement what he's learning in Right Start. I'm going to try to take a look at Singapore, and I've had a recommendation to look at Math Mammoth.
"Kick it up a notch" takes on a different look entirely with regards to Eclectic Girl. Being in fourth grade, The Well-Trained Mind would consider her in her last year of grammar stage, but as the authors acknowledge, kids will enter the logic stage at different times. It became readily apparent in the spring that in the areas where she had not already been doing logic stage-type thinking, she was quickly entering it. Our expectations of her have risen accordingly and she seems ready for the challenge. The first day went extraordinarily smoothly, we had only a few hiccups on the second day, primarily due to fatigue, I think, and today (the third day), we've managed to work ahead of our schedule.
The schedules are new. Over a year ago, I had purchased Managers of Their Homes. It's an extremely Christian book, to the point that I couldn't separate the wheat from the chaff the first time I read it. I went through it again this summer, though, with a great big filter in my mind, and I began to see how scheduling could help things run more smoothly here, especially as I added a second student. So I completed the process, and we have beautiful, color-coded schedules, one for each day. I warned everyone that they were guidelines, and that not everything on the schedules would happen every day. That's true. On the other hand, a vast majority of it is getting accomplished, which is something amazing, indeed.
9.8.09
Back To HomeSchool 2009
Tomorrow is the official first day of our 2009-2010 school year! Eclectic Girl will be in 4th grade and Fabulous Boy will be doing pre-kindergarten work, largely at his insistence. We had a fun day on Friday - Daddy took a day of vacation from work - that included swimming and going to lunch at Henry's in Acworth. Yum! The kids have back-to-school cards sitting at their places at the table everything is ready for the new year.
This shelf is holding most of the biographies EG will be reading this year. She's studying 1850 to the present in history. The second shelf from the top is sunscreen and bug spray - this shelf is also right next to the door to the backyard!
This year's read-alouds. I select them, and her dad reads them at night. From left to right, Sing Down the Moon, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Hobbit, and The Hunt for Red October. Beside the books are the file boxes for the final two levels of All About Spelling.
Three of this year's science kits: on top, Adventures with Color and Light, then TOPS Magnetism, and finally TOPS Electricity.
The top shelf is this year's supplemental history books. The second shelf is this year's literature books.
Science books! EG is studying physics this year. The blue binder on the left is my Master Binder, or that without which I would be lost.
Notebooks for the year. On the far left, you can see EG's assignment book. Then we have Latin, English, Math, Physics, and History.
Inside the history notebook, there are 36 tabs, labeled 1-36 for each week. Each has a sheet like this inside, along with mapwork and other relevant papers:
Sample History Page for 1850-Present, Late Grammar Stage
Our storage system - Trofast from Ikea.
EG's desk, including her new planner and her new timer.
More science kits! Water Physics, Sound Vibrations, and Flight! From Gliders to Jets, all from Science in a Nutshell.
The last science kit: Physics Workshop, from Thames & Kosmos.
That's it - I think we're ready!
This shelf is holding most of the biographies EG will be reading this year. She's studying 1850 to the present in history. The second shelf from the top is sunscreen and bug spray - this shelf is also right next to the door to the backyard!
This year's read-alouds. I select them, and her dad reads them at night. From left to right, Sing Down the Moon, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Hobbit, and The Hunt for Red October. Beside the books are the file boxes for the final two levels of All About Spelling.
Three of this year's science kits: on top, Adventures with Color and Light, then TOPS Magnetism, and finally TOPS Electricity.
The top shelf is this year's supplemental history books. The second shelf is this year's literature books. 
Science books! EG is studying physics this year. The blue binder on the left is my Master Binder, or that without which I would be lost. 
Notebooks for the year. On the far left, you can see EG's assignment book. Then we have Latin, English, Math, Physics, and History. Inside the history notebook, there are 36 tabs, labeled 1-36 for each week. Each has a sheet like this inside, along with mapwork and other relevant papers:
Our storage system - Trofast from Ikea.
EG's desk, including her new planner and her new timer.
More science kits! Water Physics, Sound Vibrations, and Flight! From Gliders to Jets, all from Science in a Nutshell.
The last science kit: Physics Workshop, from Thames & Kosmos.That's it - I think we're ready!
27.7.09
Unethical Decisions Have Consequences, or Another Reason Homeschoolers Can Have Bad Reputations
When my daughter recently completed her standardized testing, as required at the end of third grade by state law, we chose to have her tested through the same organization that runs her arts enrichment program. We reasoned that a familiar location with familiar faces would likely be a boon, and we appreciated not having to delve further into our testing options with this, our first venture into the world of testing.
Accordingly, I admit that I failed on some level. I didn't inquire as to through whom the test would be scored (though I knew that it wasn't directly from the test publisher). To be honest, I didn't want to know. If I didn't know for sure, then I wasn't deliberately doing something I found distasteful and unethical. My fears were confirmed, though, when her score report arrived. The accompanying booklet about interpreting scores was, in fact, marked as I feared - BJU Press.
I don't buy from the major fundamentalist curriculum companies, such as Alpha Omega or A Beka. Beyond my reasoning for those decisions, though, are even more reasons not to purchase from Bob Jones University. I think most people are aware that they had a ban on interracial dating until the year 2000. I'm upset that any part of my money went to their organization, and I'm forced to conclude that we'll be testing on our own next year, or through an organization that gets tests from another supplier.
If that weren't bad enough, though, there was the oddity on the score report. The subtest Math Computation had an asterisk beside it, and the explanation given was simple. "Math Computation not included in Totals or Composite." My daughter and I were both understandably a bit bummed by this - she had gotten all twenty-five problems in this section correct! I didn't go back to it, though, and more or less put it out of my mind.
Just a few days later, though, a thread was started on the Well-Trained Mind forums. Another poster had tested her children using ITBS through BJU, and since her child's scores could have been brought up by inclusion of the math computation score, she wanted to know why it wasn't included. A few of us responded that we, too, would like to know the answer to that question. Then a few more people responded that their children's score reports did not have the asterisk or the explanatory note. It was finally pieced together than those who had the asterisk all had, purposefully or inadvertently, tested their children through BJU.
The original poster decided to call and ask why this was the case. Here's what she reported back to the board:
Yes, you read that correctly. Homeschoolers felt that including a timed drill on their children's tests would bring down their children's scores, and consequently, BJU opted not to include it in the totals or composite.
I almost don't have adequate words to discuss this. No, the ability to do add, subtract, and multiply whole numbers (the three categories tested by Math Computation) does not directly relate to mathematical reasoning ability. However, the ability to quickly calculate sums, differences, and products is essential, especially as one leaves arithmetic and begins to study mathematics proper. Beyond that line of reasoning, however, is the fact that standardized tests are explicitly designed to measure certain items. People may argue about what standardized tests do and don't reveal, but rarely will you hear an argument that a standardized test is anything less than carefully planned - because it is almost painstakingly prepared. Further, no other subtest is singled out for elimination. True, the science, social studies, and maps & diagrams subtests are labeled optional, but if the student opts to take the test, they are included in the composite score. No other scores are eliminated, even though, in truth, they all are "timed drills." It's a test that is timed and each question, due to the nature of a multiple-choice test, has just one correct answer. It could be argued, and probably quite persuasively, that the ITBS in its entirety is a timed drill.
Manipulating the totals and composite score so that homeschooled children appear to do better on standardized testing than their public-schooled counterparts is, in my mind, distasteful. It's just another reason to continue to avoid ever giving my money to BJU Press.
Accordingly, I admit that I failed on some level. I didn't inquire as to through whom the test would be scored (though I knew that it wasn't directly from the test publisher). To be honest, I didn't want to know. If I didn't know for sure, then I wasn't deliberately doing something I found distasteful and unethical. My fears were confirmed, though, when her score report arrived. The accompanying booklet about interpreting scores was, in fact, marked as I feared - BJU Press.
I don't buy from the major fundamentalist curriculum companies, such as Alpha Omega or A Beka. Beyond my reasoning for those decisions, though, are even more reasons not to purchase from Bob Jones University. I think most people are aware that they had a ban on interracial dating until the year 2000. I'm upset that any part of my money went to their organization, and I'm forced to conclude that we'll be testing on our own next year, or through an organization that gets tests from another supplier.
If that weren't bad enough, though, there was the oddity on the score report. The subtest Math Computation had an asterisk beside it, and the explanation given was simple. "Math Computation not included in Totals or Composite." My daughter and I were both understandably a bit bummed by this - she had gotten all twenty-five problems in this section correct! I didn't go back to it, though, and more or less put it out of my mind.
Just a few days later, though, a thread was started on the Well-Trained Mind forums. Another poster had tested her children using ITBS through BJU, and since her child's scores could have been brought up by inclusion of the math computation score, she wanted to know why it wasn't included. A few of us responded that we, too, would like to know the answer to that question. Then a few more people responded that their children's score reports did not have the asterisk or the explanatory note. It was finally pieced together than those who had the asterisk all had, purposefully or inadvertently, tested their children through BJU.
The original poster decided to call and ask why this was the case. Here's what she reported back to the board:
Apparently it's an option for a company to include it or not. The math computation section is a timed drill, and apparently based on feedback from other homeschoolers, BJU has opted to not include it in the totals, so as to not drag down the scores.
Other companies, who have that same option to include it or not, apparently do include it.
Yes, you read that correctly. Homeschoolers felt that including a timed drill on their children's tests would bring down their children's scores, and consequently, BJU opted not to include it in the totals or composite.
I almost don't have adequate words to discuss this. No, the ability to do add, subtract, and multiply whole numbers (the three categories tested by Math Computation) does not directly relate to mathematical reasoning ability. However, the ability to quickly calculate sums, differences, and products is essential, especially as one leaves arithmetic and begins to study mathematics proper. Beyond that line of reasoning, however, is the fact that standardized tests are explicitly designed to measure certain items. People may argue about what standardized tests do and don't reveal, but rarely will you hear an argument that a standardized test is anything less than carefully planned - because it is almost painstakingly prepared. Further, no other subtest is singled out for elimination. True, the science, social studies, and maps & diagrams subtests are labeled optional, but if the student opts to take the test, they are included in the composite score. No other scores are eliminated, even though, in truth, they all are "timed drills." It's a test that is timed and each question, due to the nature of a multiple-choice test, has just one correct answer. It could be argued, and probably quite persuasively, that the ITBS in its entirety is a timed drill.
Manipulating the totals and composite score so that homeschooled children appear to do better on standardized testing than their public-schooled counterparts is, in my mind, distasteful. It's just another reason to continue to avoid ever giving my money to BJU Press.
15.6.09
101 in 1001 List
Considering there are around thirty of my items that cannot be completed yet, due to time specifications, I feel like I'm doing fairly well. My entire list can be found here.
In Progress: 2 previous, 13 total
002. Read the unread books that I own and have owned for more than one years' time, or get rid of them. 36/45 read or discarded
007. Re-read one book I already own each month for twenty-four months, not including the books to re-read that are mentioned by name elsewhere on this list. One book each month for January through June.
009. In 2009, for every book that enters the house (bought new or used), remove one book, through donation, giving away to a friend, or selling. I've purchased 27 books, and removed 43 books.
010. Watch the entire Angel series. Halfway through season one.
056. Lose weight to at least 165 pounds. Seven pounds lost so far.
076. Hold a big birthday party for Jacob in 2009 and 2011. Jacob had his fourth birthday party at American Adventures, 21 March 2009.
088. Knit a hat and one other item for Jacob. Finished a hat, 3 June 2009.
089. Knit two items for Brigid. Half done on a hat, 14 June 2009.
093. Keep a paper journal, writing in it at least once every week for six months. Began on 1/1/2009, and have written each week through 6/14/2009, with the weeks starting on Sunday.
094. Tag all LJ entries. 2002 & 2003 entries tagged.
099. Make a new website. Re-registered domain name.
Completed: 7 new, 9 total
001. Read a novel per week for twelve weeks. Completed 19 April 2009
012. Watch remainder of Buffy. Completed 24 February 2009
053. Journal 'coulda woulda shoulda' once a month for the first six months of 2009. Completed 1 June 2009
061. Continue taking iron supplements through six months postpartum (May 20, 2009). Completed 20 May 2009
066. Get a land line installed again. Completed 25 April 2009
067. Buy a new freezer. Completed 5 June 2009
071. Fix the kitchen sink faucet. Completed 10 April 2009
Failed: 1
051. Listen to PC session once a month throughout 2009 and 2010. I didn't listen in January, February, or March, at which point I declared that I had failed. Previously, I had considered that if I missed just one month, I could listen twice in the next month, because the point was to listen periodically, not necessarily by the calendar. In the end, it was a somewhat unrealistic goal and if I were rewriting the list now, I wouldn't include it because it's a little too much focus on something that might not even happen. How's that for cryptic? I don't feel horrible about it, though, which tells me it probably wasn't actually important enough to me to get on the list.
In Progress: 2 previous, 13 total
002. Read the unread books that I own and have owned for more than one years' time, or get rid of them. 36/45 read or discarded
007. Re-read one book I already own each month for twenty-four months, not including the books to re-read that are mentioned by name elsewhere on this list. One book each month for January through June.
009. In 2009, for every book that enters the house (bought new or used), remove one book, through donation, giving away to a friend, or selling. I've purchased 27 books, and removed 43 books.
010. Watch the entire Angel series. Halfway through season one.
056. Lose weight to at least 165 pounds. Seven pounds lost so far.
076. Hold a big birthday party for Jacob in 2009 and 2011. Jacob had his fourth birthday party at American Adventures, 21 March 2009.
088. Knit a hat and one other item for Jacob. Finished a hat, 3 June 2009.
089. Knit two items for Brigid. Half done on a hat, 14 June 2009.
093. Keep a paper journal, writing in it at least once every week for six months. Began on 1/1/2009, and have written each week through 6/14/2009, with the weeks starting on Sunday.
094. Tag all LJ entries. 2002 & 2003 entries tagged.
099. Make a new website. Re-registered domain name.
Completed: 7 new, 9 total
Failed: 1
28.5.09
Freedom, Responsibility, and Leaving the Dominant Paradigm
A little over a year ago, I wrote about being in the first trimester of an unassisted pregnancy (UP), leading towards an unassisted birth, or UC (unassisted childbirth; also known as freebirth).
I wrote, in part,
"I wish I could be dumb. Ignorant. Unquestioning. Willing to worship at the altar of modern Western medicine.
A friend of mine said that her mother, when talking about birth, made the statement "...that is faith. You were willing to stand under, even when you did not understand."
And 99.9% of the time, I am content to have faith in pregnancy, faith in the process, faith in evolution. Yes, I realize the last is particularly ironic. But in those moments of doubt that come to all, every one else has something upon which to fall back. The early ultrasound, the heartbeat they heard on Doppler, the later ultrasounds, whatever.
All I have is myself. All I have to fall back upon is my own faith, and to a lesser extent, the faith in the process that is shared by Sam and by a handful of people in this world, in that I can look to their confidence and say, No, I am not insane to trust.
I don't have any particular doubts at the moment. It's just that I have the awareness that I am it. I am all that is standing, that is holding this space. It's an awareness that I will not leave this process the same person that began it. It's one thing to step outside the main paradigm for birthing, but this - this is somehow different. It's all on me.
It's scary... and it's extremely liberating and empowering."
Yes, it was and is scary. Yes, it is and was liberating and empowering. What I did not anticipate was the exhilaration.
My UP/UC baby turned six months old just over a week ago. The process of unassisted pregnancy and birth was scary at times, because I had to accept not just part of the responsibility, but rather, all of the responsibility. Taking on all responsibility is especially nerve-wracking in our society because it encourages the exact opposite action - to take on no responsibility for one's actions or the outcomes that result. In taking on the ultimate responsibility, though, I think there is immense freedom to be found.
Many times women will talk about wanting to refuse this prenatal screen or that procedure, and will ask for advice about how best to approach their provider with their desires. Many times, women find themselves compromising, and some are angry about this. However, the reason that they do not have this freedom is because they do not want to take the ultimate responsibility.
I'm not saying this as a condemnation. There are a variety of reasons that a woman may choose to have an attended birth, or may variously need an attendant at her birth, because of outstanding health issues. However, women need to understand that freedom and responsibility are joined. When an outside attendant becomes willing to take some of the responsibility, she (or he) necessarily has an investment in seeing that certain protocols are followed, those that best make she (or he) comfortable with the assumption of responsibility.
This is not a wholesale call for unassisted birthing. I don't feel that unassisted birthing should be a default state, and I definitely think that there are people that should not birth unassisted. In this, I find definite parallels between homeschooling and freebirth. Both require the parent or parents to take all responsibility for actions and outcomes. Beyond that, however, I certainly feel that both are decisions that need to be carefully made, and should not be made for the "wrong" reasons. There are many people who should never freebirth or homeschool. Quite apart from physical, mental, or emotional health, or intellectual ability, there is an inner willingness to assume all responsibility that must be present.
I found great joy in my decision to freebirth. It was a gift I was given, in exchange for the responsibility that I embraced.
I wrote, in part,
"I wish I could be dumb. Ignorant. Unquestioning. Willing to worship at the altar of modern Western medicine.
A friend of mine said that her mother, when talking about birth, made the statement "...that is faith. You were willing to stand under, even when you did not understand."
And 99.9% of the time, I am content to have faith in pregnancy, faith in the process, faith in evolution. Yes, I realize the last is particularly ironic. But in those moments of doubt that come to all, every one else has something upon which to fall back. The early ultrasound, the heartbeat they heard on Doppler, the later ultrasounds, whatever.
All I have is myself. All I have to fall back upon is my own faith, and to a lesser extent, the faith in the process that is shared by Sam and by a handful of people in this world, in that I can look to their confidence and say, No, I am not insane to trust.
I don't have any particular doubts at the moment. It's just that I have the awareness that I am it. I am all that is standing, that is holding this space. It's an awareness that I will not leave this process the same person that began it. It's one thing to step outside the main paradigm for birthing, but this - this is somehow different. It's all on me.
It's scary... and it's extremely liberating and empowering."
Yes, it was and is scary. Yes, it is and was liberating and empowering. What I did not anticipate was the exhilaration.
My UP/UC baby turned six months old just over a week ago. The process of unassisted pregnancy and birth was scary at times, because I had to accept not just part of the responsibility, but rather, all of the responsibility. Taking on all responsibility is especially nerve-wracking in our society because it encourages the exact opposite action - to take on no responsibility for one's actions or the outcomes that result. In taking on the ultimate responsibility, though, I think there is immense freedom to be found.
Many times women will talk about wanting to refuse this prenatal screen or that procedure, and will ask for advice about how best to approach their provider with their desires. Many times, women find themselves compromising, and some are angry about this. However, the reason that they do not have this freedom is because they do not want to take the ultimate responsibility.
I'm not saying this as a condemnation. There are a variety of reasons that a woman may choose to have an attended birth, or may variously need an attendant at her birth, because of outstanding health issues. However, women need to understand that freedom and responsibility are joined. When an outside attendant becomes willing to take some of the responsibility, she (or he) necessarily has an investment in seeing that certain protocols are followed, those that best make she (or he) comfortable with the assumption of responsibility.
This is not a wholesale call for unassisted birthing. I don't feel that unassisted birthing should be a default state, and I definitely think that there are people that should not birth unassisted. In this, I find definite parallels between homeschooling and freebirth. Both require the parent or parents to take all responsibility for actions and outcomes. Beyond that, however, I certainly feel that both are decisions that need to be carefully made, and should not be made for the "wrong" reasons. There are many people who should never freebirth or homeschool. Quite apart from physical, mental, or emotional health, or intellectual ability, there is an inner willingness to assume all responsibility that must be present.
I found great joy in my decision to freebirth. It was a gift I was given, in exchange for the responsibility that I embraced.
18.5.09
2009/2010 Plans: Literature & Read Alouds
Having titles for reading aloud allows me a little more freedom in composing our literature list. This year, I've placed just four on it.
Sing Down the Moon, O'Dell.
The Hobbit, Tolkien.
Where the Red Fern Grows, Rawls.
The Hunt for Red October, Clancy.
Our literature list is much longer. We'll study these to varying degrees of depth. I have four different goals for her literature study, so the books vary widely. On one hand, I want to challenge her current reading level and have her progress. Secondly, though, I want to expose her to classic good books, many of which fall below her current reading level. Third, I want to expand on her history study with good historical fiction. Finally, I want to spend time studying some of these works in a more in-depth fashion. She's not going to be writing a high school level essay comparing and contrasting Twenty and Ten and Number the Stars, but I certainly think we can have a great discussion about the two and the time period that they both depict.
Little Women
Caddie Woodlawn and Magical Melons
Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years
Gone Away Lake
Heidi
Pinocchio
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Terrible Wave
All of a Kind Family
The Secret Garden
all of the Peter Rabbit stories
The Red Fairy Book
Peter Pan
Cheaper By the Dozen
Hero Over Here
The Enchanted Castle
A Christmas Carol
Chronicles of Narnia
Thimble Summer
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
Out of the Dust
The War of the Worlds
Twenty and Ten
Number the Stars
Code Talker
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
The Twenty-One Balloons
Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot
Miracles on Maple Hill
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
The Cricket in Times Square
Charlotte's Web
The Wall
A Year Down Yonder
Plain Girl
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Maniac Magee
The Wind in the Willows
Poetry, including The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems, Walter de la Mare, Carl Sandburg, and Robert Frost.
Over the summer, she's going to read Home Price, The Perilous Road, and a simplified version of Treasure Island. I have the suspicion that the full Treasure Island would intimidate her, so I want her familiar with the story; we'll likely tackle it in fifth grade.
It's a really long, full literature list, and as I said, for some books, the point is merely exposure, but if I feel like she's just reading and not getting anything out of it, we'll cut some books. On the other hand, she reads quickly.
Sing Down the Moon, O'Dell.
The Hobbit, Tolkien.
Where the Red Fern Grows, Rawls.
The Hunt for Red October, Clancy.
Our literature list is much longer. We'll study these to varying degrees of depth. I have four different goals for her literature study, so the books vary widely. On one hand, I want to challenge her current reading level and have her progress. Secondly, though, I want to expose her to classic good books, many of which fall below her current reading level. Third, I want to expand on her history study with good historical fiction. Finally, I want to spend time studying some of these works in a more in-depth fashion. She's not going to be writing a high school level essay comparing and contrasting Twenty and Ten and Number the Stars, but I certainly think we can have a great discussion about the two and the time period that they both depict.
Little Women
Caddie Woodlawn and Magical Melons
Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years
Gone Away Lake
Heidi
Pinocchio
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Terrible Wave
All of a Kind Family
The Secret Garden
all of the Peter Rabbit stories
The Red Fairy Book
Peter Pan
Cheaper By the Dozen
Hero Over Here
The Enchanted Castle
A Christmas Carol
Chronicles of Narnia
Thimble Summer
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt
Out of the Dust
The War of the Worlds
Twenty and Ten
Number the Stars
Code Talker
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
The Twenty-One Balloons
Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot
Miracles on Maple Hill
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
The Cricket in Times Square
Charlotte's Web
The Wall
A Year Down Yonder
Plain Girl
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Maniac Magee
The Wind in the Willows
Poetry, including The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems, Walter de la Mare, Carl Sandburg, and Robert Frost.
Over the summer, she's going to read Home Price, The Perilous Road, and a simplified version of Treasure Island. I have the suspicion that the full Treasure Island would intimidate her, so I want her familiar with the story; we'll likely tackle it in fifth grade.
It's a really long, full literature list, and as I said, for some books, the point is merely exposure, but if I feel like she's just reading and not getting anything out of it, we'll cut some books. On the other hand, she reads quickly.
17.5.09
The Year Of Hard Truths
In the next twelve months, my daughter's going to be learning about history from 1850 through the present. She's also going to learn that Santa Claus nor the Easter Bunny are real.
There's a tiny part of me that's afraid of what this will do to her.
Despite being alive on September 11, 2001, she has no idea of what happened that day. Going further in time, she has no real knowledge of assassinations, the Holocaust, or various deprivations of war. I can't help but imagine that all of this new knowledge will weigh upon her.
Given that, I suppose it's a bit cruel, on some level, to assault her with the truth about Santa Claus et al at the same time, but yet - she'll be nine years old in August. Many of her peers ceased to believe in Santa as much as two or three years ago now. If she still maintained a belief but seemed to be losing her dependence on it, I'd feel differently, I think. However, she instead clings to these fantasies, wrapping them ever tighter in imagined rationales and logic, pushing them into other parts of her life.
I want my children to have imagination, but I worry that she actually lives in the World of Make Believe. Correct as usual, King Friday? It's one thing to enjoy imagining things and to create stories. It's somehow quite another when your newly four year old can seem to distinguish more easily between reality and what is simply an enjoyable story.
It's unfortunate timing, though. My daughter will be plunged straight into history within weeks of this planned discussion, progressing quickly to the Civil War and going from there. I hope that she can look at the horrible events of recent history with some of the cheerfulness that infuses her view of today's world.
There's a tiny part of me that's afraid of what this will do to her.
Despite being alive on September 11, 2001, she has no idea of what happened that day. Going further in time, she has no real knowledge of assassinations, the Holocaust, or various deprivations of war. I can't help but imagine that all of this new knowledge will weigh upon her.
Given that, I suppose it's a bit cruel, on some level, to assault her with the truth about Santa Claus et al at the same time, but yet - she'll be nine years old in August. Many of her peers ceased to believe in Santa as much as two or three years ago now. If she still maintained a belief but seemed to be losing her dependence on it, I'd feel differently, I think. However, she instead clings to these fantasies, wrapping them ever tighter in imagined rationales and logic, pushing them into other parts of her life.
I want my children to have imagination, but I worry that she actually lives in the World of Make Believe. Correct as usual, King Friday? It's one thing to enjoy imagining things and to create stories. It's somehow quite another when your newly four year old can seem to distinguish more easily between reality and what is simply an enjoyable story.
It's unfortunate timing, though. My daughter will be plunged straight into history within weeks of this planned discussion, progressing quickly to the Civil War and going from there. I hope that she can look at the horrible events of recent history with some of the cheerfulness that infuses her view of today's world.
6.5.09
Top Two Things Learned This Year
I started the year with a different approach to planning. Instead of scheduling dates, I scheduled days, and had a separate spreadsheet that lined up the days with actual dates. That way, there was flexibility, yet it ensured we'd still finish everything that was written. I scheduled 180 days of work, since we're required to do 180 days for the state.
Therein lies the only problem. Education, of course, is more than finishing a texbook, but I forgot that cardinal rule. Accordingly, next year, I will be scheduling only 165-170 days in most subjects, allowing us to take a day here or there for classes, field trips, and other enrichment activities. The only exception would be our writing programs, which are structured for a five-day week. Still, a day where all that had to be completed was writing work would definitely accommodate other activities.
We also started using an assignment book. Each weekend, I write in the week's assignments, so that Eclectic Girl can see what is required of her for each subject each day, and mark the completed subjects as they're finished. I've also used it for teaching notes, though, and I'm wondering if I should separate the two functions next year. My teaching notes would actually be much less extensive, and could be in a small supplementary notebook easily. In general, I only need notes regarding writing, spelling, and read-aloud books. I could also use the space to jot down what I intend to do each day with Fabulous Boy.
Overall, though, the assignment book has been a huge boon. I don't think we would have been nearly as successful this year without its use.
With that said, we have seven days of school left. We've officially finished history, and both the read-aloud list and reading list have been read in their entirety. It looks like we'll be able to mark Life of Fred Fractions complete either this week or on Monday.
Therein lies the only problem. Education, of course, is more than finishing a texbook, but I forgot that cardinal rule. Accordingly, next year, I will be scheduling only 165-170 days in most subjects, allowing us to take a day here or there for classes, field trips, and other enrichment activities. The only exception would be our writing programs, which are structured for a five-day week. Still, a day where all that had to be completed was writing work would definitely accommodate other activities.
We also started using an assignment book. Each weekend, I write in the week's assignments, so that Eclectic Girl can see what is required of her for each subject each day, and mark the completed subjects as they're finished. I've also used it for teaching notes, though, and I'm wondering if I should separate the two functions next year. My teaching notes would actually be much less extensive, and could be in a small supplementary notebook easily. In general, I only need notes regarding writing, spelling, and read-aloud books. I could also use the space to jot down what I intend to do each day with Fabulous Boy.
Overall, though, the assignment book has been a huge boon. I don't think we would have been nearly as successful this year without its use.
With that said, we have seven days of school left. We've officially finished history, and both the read-aloud list and reading list have been read in their entirety. It looks like we'll be able to mark Life of Fred Fractions complete either this week or on Monday.
