Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Overheard on the IRS Callcenter Automated Telephone Menu...
"If you are calling because you received a notice in the mail and are wondering if the Innocent Spouse Act applies to you, please press #7."
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Summer is upon us...
In Indiana, it goes from winter to summer in about a week. So instead of being bummed that we have hot weather already, today we've been using it as an excuse to try out our swimsuits and let our skin see the sun before we get to Hawaii in a few weeks. So far, so good!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Living in Bible Times
Today, we made "Bible robes" for the kids. If my sister and sister-in-law recognize the fabric, it's because I used remnants from your quilts! While I'm hoping that these robes gets lots of use, today Carver and Ellie were Moses and Zipporah, and Laura was along for the ride. Pretty fun!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Hike!
Beautiful spring has finally hit Bloomington. We've had several weeks of colder weather, but today was beautiful, and all the trees are in bloom, so we went on a hike! The kids did great, and I had intentionally chosen a short hike, since they all would be walking. It was perfect, and I succeeded in my objective of making the kids like hiking, because they're all ready to do it again.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Homeschooling Explanation
I've had a few friends ask me recently what curriculum we've decided to use for Carver. I thought the answer might be interesting to several people (including grandparents), so I'm going to go ahead and put my answer up for the whole internet to read, with the caveat that I have been homeschooling for 3/4 of 1 year, and am by no means an expert at this. I'm sure Carver will look back on his homeschooling experience, like many firstborns do in many areas, and feel like he was the guinea pig. That's ok--he'll be more flexible that way, right?
That being said, we have decided to go with no set curriculum. I know there are many out there, and there are several that I know are good, including the one that my mother chose, Calvert. But I have never been in love with the idea of doing that. It seems much more interesting to use various textbooks and ideas and methods from several different places, and combine them into a system that both the kids and I will love. (I know, I know, I've been doing this for 3/4 of a year, and am aware that I'm overly optimistic :) There are, however, two theories of homeschooling that I'm trying to combine, so I will tell you a little about them.
The first is the Charlotte Mason philosophy of schooling children. To my shame, I have not read any of her actual writings (it's on my to-do list for this summer), but have several excellent books summarizing what she said in more modern language (she was writing at the turn of the 20th century). If you're interested, the ones I have read and like are A Charlotte Mason Education, More Charlotte Mason Education, and A Charlotte Mason Companion. The basic idea behind her philosophy is that education needs to be hands-on and enjoyable, otherwise children will learn to hate learning. So, for science, if you're studying plants, go and plant a seed and watch what happens. As you do this, your children will naturally ask questions, which you can then go look up in a refrence book or textbook. Go for a hike and look at the different kinds of leaves on trees. Have you kids take rubbings to remember what they look like. Don't ask them to memorize the shapes and names of the different leaves, but as they draw, look, and ask questions, they will give that leaf a permanent place in their memory. And the memory will stick, because it was interesting for him. The same goes for books. Have your elementary student read an interesting biography of George Washington (at his level, of course), and as he reads, he'll ask questions about the War for Independece, the Declaration, the Constitution, and what it meant to be a revolutionary soldier. He'll remember the answers because he's fascinated by the story. Charlotte Mason refers to these types of books as living books--fun for the child to read, and memorable because they weren't boring. I can attest that this is totally working for me. I've been reading many books on American History the past few years, and they're fascinating. They're well-written by authors who are interested in the subject matter, and now I'm interested in the subject matter. It sure made our trip to Boson fun!
The Charlotte Mason philosophy includes much, much, more, but you'll have to read the book for that!
The other philosophy that I'm tapping for our homeschooling is that of Classical Christian Education. There are also many books on this subject (with very long titles), including several by Susan Wise Bauer and Harvey Bluedorn and family. For some fun websites, go check out triviumpursuit.com and veritaspress.com. I believe Doug Wilson has written on this as well, but I have not read his writings. The basic idea here is that children have three distinct periods of learning as they go through their years of education. I won't discuss all of them, but the first period, called the grammar stage, is what's applicable to my children right now. At Carver and Ellie's ages, they are capable of memorizing insane amounts of stuff, and this ability will decrease as they get older. I can take advantage of that and give them mountains and mountains of knowledge that they can then tap into at a later period in their life. Seriously, how many of you can say, "Oh yeah, I remember the books of the Bible--I learned it back in 2nd grade?" So, this year, we've been memorizing Bible verses and chapters, and also a children's catechism. Next year, David and I mapped out some ideas, which include beginning multiplication tables, books of the Bible, states in the Union, more Bible chapters, and more. Just as with Charlotte Mason, there is a bunch more I could say, but time constrains me.
So, we're trying to mesh these ideas. This does involve buying some textbooks, but they're generally ones that people have recommended to me as being excellent. We've used Alpha-Phonics for reading this year, Miquon Math (which I love!!!), and a geography book called Legends and Leagues. Those are just a bit of the different things we've used, and I'm sure I could talk much, much longer about the different things that we've done, good and bad, but I would like to quit with one final note.
This post does not touch at all on the reasons we decided to homeschool this year, but homeschooling is not necessarily a permanent decision for us, especially for Carver. It will depend on what kind of public and private schools are available to us as Carver gets bigger. I strongly believe that he is going to need to learn accountability to authority outside Mom and Dad, and that will probably involve outside schooling, at least at the High School level. It may be public school (David got a great HS education in San Clemente), private school, or simply enrolling him in community college classes or letting him go wherever Dad is a professor and sitting in on classes there. We'll see. But, all that to say, the plan is flexible!
That being said, we have decided to go with no set curriculum. I know there are many out there, and there are several that I know are good, including the one that my mother chose, Calvert. But I have never been in love with the idea of doing that. It seems much more interesting to use various textbooks and ideas and methods from several different places, and combine them into a system that both the kids and I will love. (I know, I know, I've been doing this for 3/4 of a year, and am aware that I'm overly optimistic :) There are, however, two theories of homeschooling that I'm trying to combine, so I will tell you a little about them.
The first is the Charlotte Mason philosophy of schooling children. To my shame, I have not read any of her actual writings (it's on my to-do list for this summer), but have several excellent books summarizing what she said in more modern language (she was writing at the turn of the 20th century). If you're interested, the ones I have read and like are A Charlotte Mason Education, More Charlotte Mason Education, and A Charlotte Mason Companion. The basic idea behind her philosophy is that education needs to be hands-on and enjoyable, otherwise children will learn to hate learning. So, for science, if you're studying plants, go and plant a seed and watch what happens. As you do this, your children will naturally ask questions, which you can then go look up in a refrence book or textbook. Go for a hike and look at the different kinds of leaves on trees. Have you kids take rubbings to remember what they look like. Don't ask them to memorize the shapes and names of the different leaves, but as they draw, look, and ask questions, they will give that leaf a permanent place in their memory. And the memory will stick, because it was interesting for him. The same goes for books. Have your elementary student read an interesting biography of George Washington (at his level, of course), and as he reads, he'll ask questions about the War for Independece, the Declaration, the Constitution, and what it meant to be a revolutionary soldier. He'll remember the answers because he's fascinated by the story. Charlotte Mason refers to these types of books as living books--fun for the child to read, and memorable because they weren't boring. I can attest that this is totally working for me. I've been reading many books on American History the past few years, and they're fascinating. They're well-written by authors who are interested in the subject matter, and now I'm interested in the subject matter. It sure made our trip to Boson fun!
The Charlotte Mason philosophy includes much, much, more, but you'll have to read the book for that!
The other philosophy that I'm tapping for our homeschooling is that of Classical Christian Education. There are also many books on this subject (with very long titles), including several by Susan Wise Bauer and Harvey Bluedorn and family. For some fun websites, go check out triviumpursuit.com and veritaspress.com. I believe Doug Wilson has written on this as well, but I have not read his writings. The basic idea here is that children have three distinct periods of learning as they go through their years of education. I won't discuss all of them, but the first period, called the grammar stage, is what's applicable to my children right now. At Carver and Ellie's ages, they are capable of memorizing insane amounts of stuff, and this ability will decrease as they get older. I can take advantage of that and give them mountains and mountains of knowledge that they can then tap into at a later period in their life. Seriously, how many of you can say, "Oh yeah, I remember the books of the Bible--I learned it back in 2nd grade?" So, this year, we've been memorizing Bible verses and chapters, and also a children's catechism. Next year, David and I mapped out some ideas, which include beginning multiplication tables, books of the Bible, states in the Union, more Bible chapters, and more. Just as with Charlotte Mason, there is a bunch more I could say, but time constrains me.
So, we're trying to mesh these ideas. This does involve buying some textbooks, but they're generally ones that people have recommended to me as being excellent. We've used Alpha-Phonics for reading this year, Miquon Math (which I love!!!), and a geography book called Legends and Leagues. Those are just a bit of the different things we've used, and I'm sure I could talk much, much longer about the different things that we've done, good and bad, but I would like to quit with one final note.
This post does not touch at all on the reasons we decided to homeschool this year, but homeschooling is not necessarily a permanent decision for us, especially for Carver. It will depend on what kind of public and private schools are available to us as Carver gets bigger. I strongly believe that he is going to need to learn accountability to authority outside Mom and Dad, and that will probably involve outside schooling, at least at the High School level. It may be public school (David got a great HS education in San Clemente), private school, or simply enrolling him in community college classes or letting him go wherever Dad is a professor and sitting in on classes there. We'll see. But, all that to say, the plan is flexible!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Busy Day
We've had a busy morning this morning so far! Piano movers showed up at 9 AM to take the piano to the repairman's shop for the week. The kids are loving playing in the big empty space in the middle of the living room. Carver thinks the carpet is extra soft there :). Sad commentary on the state of the rest of our carpet!
Over the past few days, we have been carving out a space in our upstairs bonus room to serve as our official homeschool spot. At the suggestion of David's mom, we moved out outdoor kid's picnic table up there for a few weeks to see if it's going to work out. Might as well see if the kids like it before buying a kid's table and chairs! Yesterday I spent some time covering bulletin boards in awesome fabric and having David put them up for me. Today Carver and I moved the picnic table in, cleaned it up, and heaved it up the stairs. We'll see how it works!
The picture makes it look a little barren, but it's actually a very cozy corner (let's blame the camera lens). I love the fabric, and when I get tired of it, it will be a very quick fix for a totally different feel.
Our third project for this morning was signing up for one of our local CSA Farmshares. For all you who are not organic nerds, this stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and means we bought a share of a local farm's produce for the summer. The guy said our first "share" will be available the first week of May, and we will continue getting produce all summer long, though September. I'm very excited, especially to try some of the wierder things that I'm sure we'll end up with. David's a little dubious, and worried that I'll be feeing them beet, kale, and parsnip soup all summer. I did promise him that I'll make as normal of dishes as possible with the produce we get, and that I'll be happy to eat what everybody else doesn't want to. I'll let you know how it goes!
Over the past few days, we have been carving out a space in our upstairs bonus room to serve as our official homeschool spot. At the suggestion of David's mom, we moved out outdoor kid's picnic table up there for a few weeks to see if it's going to work out. Might as well see if the kids like it before buying a kid's table and chairs! Yesterday I spent some time covering bulletin boards in awesome fabric and having David put them up for me. Today Carver and I moved the picnic table in, cleaned it up, and heaved it up the stairs. We'll see how it works!
The picture makes it look a little barren, but it's actually a very cozy corner (let's blame the camera lens). I love the fabric, and when I get tired of it, it will be a very quick fix for a totally different feel.
Our third project for this morning was signing up for one of our local CSA Farmshares. For all you who are not organic nerds, this stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and means we bought a share of a local farm's produce for the summer. The guy said our first "share" will be available the first week of May, and we will continue getting produce all summer long, though September. I'm very excited, especially to try some of the wierder things that I'm sure we'll end up with. David's a little dubious, and worried that I'll be feeing them beet, kale, and parsnip soup all summer. I did promise him that I'll make as normal of dishes as possible with the produce we get, and that I'll be happy to eat what everybody else doesn't want to. I'll let you know how it goes!
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