By a Whisker... or "Finally! A February Post with One Hour to Spare".. or "Ice, Ice, Babies...too cold!"

Kitten's potato-stamp valentines

I'm afraid this post is going to be somewhat like listening to a talk through a photo album, so grab a cup of tea and find a cozy spot.  The last weeks have been a blur of adjusting to work, juggling homeschooling and life in general. So, although I've tried to come up with witticisms, the best I can do is a running commentary on a few of the projects, events, and chores that have filled our winter this far.  

Localmotion!  The Bike path being restored to it's former glory

February has been full of stuffed noses, icy front steps that threaten long convalesces, and the very occasional 30 degree day with sunshine to bask in.  It’s the time of year when winter-haters are fed up to the eyes but there’s the word “spring” floating around and suddenly, on the eve of March, I’m not preparing dinner in the dark.  Chocolate Easter bunnies are sprouting and seed catalogs arriving.  It’s happening fast.

My grown-up world of back-to-work has been an adjustment.  The first week I thought I would die.  I was so tired, so rusty, and so overwhelmed that I felt the return to work was sheer misery.  Now I’m six weeks in and (maybe it’s the longer light-filled days) I feel like I’ve hit my stride again.  My job as a community nurse means a lot of driving and flux all day, one of my bosses describes it as a “dynamic work place” with a wry smile on her face.  I just never know what’s going to happen from day to day, or visit to visit.  I’ve been a nurse almost eight years and I feel pretty well prepared for whatever comes my way, I actually enjoy the variety.  One of the best parts is hanging out with other clinicians; I forgot how much I liked the feeling of shared misery (just kidding), it feels good to be identified as someone other than “mom” and occasionally “napkin”.

Enough said about my work life.  Back to home…

Dodger made some adjustments when the icing wasn't quite right

"Happy Half-Birthday to You!"

We've continued to follow the school year based on public school so the kids are off this week for winter break, which means a break for all but my husband who is mired deep in taxes-yuk.  Up 'til vacation I've been writing assignments on the chalkboard every evening and the kids have been dutifully completing them.  The text books are still a go-to for starting the day but (as predicted) my husband adds his own teaching style like "Decimal" a dominoes game he picked up in Panama, though the kids play it without the coconuts filled with liquor.  I came home the other day from work to find they had baked a cake for their half-birthdays (all summer babes).  Dodger had taken the kids heights, worked out the ratios, and then decorated the cake in a pie chart.  Yes, the kitchen was a mess.  A fun mess.

A break from rink-making

Ahhh, here we are enjoying ice.  Ice, ice, ice...not enough ice for my husband who once crossed the lake on foot.  But ice nonetheless.  As exercise, Dodger and Kitten and I headed down to the lake to make a skating rink.  Four hours later we had cleared a nice rectangle while loving the feeling of being out on the quiet ice, it's how I imagine walking on the moon must feel.  Every now and then a crack of the ice moving and the sun setting over all the white...I can go on.  Finally it was time to skate, but guess what?  The skates didn't fit, the kids outgrew them!  I promised a trip to town to get replacements planned for the next day, but I was saved from this fate since the wind whipped around the lake at 40 miles an hour while we slept and by morning our rink was no more. 

In the summer she'll be swimming here!

More rink-making

Other news...finally the local kids group trip to the mountain to snowboard went ahead, it had been postponed multiple times due to bad weather, not good bad like snow, just bad bad.  I consider the kids enthusiasm for the mountain sports with mixed emotion.  An elitist sport, an expensive sport, how many folks do I meet who have been born and breed in our snowy area and never strapped on skis?  A lot.  And yet it's so fun, and they make the tickets and deals so sweet for kids-hoping to hook them young I guess.  A few more days are planned and so in this respect I hope spring waits a little longer.

Our friend Lion on a foot of ice over 15 feet of water

A rare shot of me on ice, note the auger to check depth for safety

Adding to the general insanity of heading back to work I also realized I'd volunteered to paint the backdrop for the local school play a while back.  The deadline approached and I regretted with every fiber in my body this task.  When I opened the canvas on the first day and it stretched from here to the Great Lakes and kept on unrolling I swore under my breath and saw the hours piling up like pancakes that I would be slaving over it.  Well...it's over now.  So I can feel a sense of pride that we accomplished it.  I add this thought to our blog forever etched in cyberspace, it's something I never want to forget.  And that is, "Dodger has my back".  For every hour I spent slopping on paint Dodger was right there with me, never complaining, always helpful.  What a kid.

I'm going to end here though there's lots more to tell.  It's late.  I've added my February blog post by a hair, and now I can head to bed...lovely bed.

A Popasquash project...fixin' chairs

Tension ;)

Sailor art...priceless

Dodger's bird feeder

Kitten wearing the latest style...a hand made cardy from Grandma!!!  So impressive, and yet so warm and versatile!

Mud and ice formation aka Art in the North County

A Dodger dessert..another masterpiece.

Handing on the Home School Torch

Mesopotamian dinner

If  I am honest, when it comes to change it takes me a while to find the comforting space of mental calm.  Messy Change.  Ruin my routine Change.  What’s going to happen next? Change!

As I head back to work Popasquash will be taking over the kids, the home school, the house, and I am trying not to let it become a case of prying them from my cold, dead, hands!  I am going to let Change happen gracefully, beginning with a ceremonial handing over of the torch.  And that took the form of a Mesopotamian dinner.

Sailor's date pickers in Sumeria

We have come to the end of our first round of learning about the Ancients and celebrated with a Mesopotamian dinner with friends whose menu included; lemon-mint-coriander chicken, flatbreads, couscous (not factual I’m afraid but a hit with the kids), salad, dates, baklava and cheesecake (‘cause let’s face it without the Ancient civilizations we never would have made it all the way to the American classic!).  A delicious meal, and so good to spend time with friends, especially at this time of year in the North Country when it becomes harder and harder to identify people as the warm layers get piled on!

Ice forming on the Lake

The cheesecake was Dodger’s creation and he has been baking away with his stand mixer, whirring out a Yule log, pizza dough, and other treats.  Dodger spent some of his Christmas money on a spring-form pan!  Sailor, on the other hand has been debating buying a wand with his money, one of the light-up jobbies that they sell at Barnes & Noble.  However, my husband is staunchly opposed to anymore toys that combine plastic and the need for batteries, so one of their home school tasks last week was designing a wand to make.  Sailor’s will be made of ash wood with a Black Kitty hair at the core ;)

The Yule log

Apple pie

The new routine (dreaded Change) includes my continuing to write assignments on the chalkboard the night before and the next day my husband helps the kids with them.  So far, so good.  And now that Grandma is settled out in CA for the winter working she has begun Skyping lessons with the boys.  Brilliant, and such a great addition to their learning.  It’s really something to look forward to seeing Grandma in person and having science lessons via webcam.  As a child of the 80’s I’m still awed by the technology.  In keeping with the Classical approach Grandma has been working on “classification” with the kids, Dodger is learning about the kingdoms starting with fungi, protista, and monera.  Sailor is working on worms.

Skyping with Grandma

Worms!

On advice from Grandma (and partly due to the current popularity) the boys are reading The Hobbit for their next Classical book.  Today they hit the movie theater to see the first Hobbit movie in 3D.  Other additional home school assignments, apart from the daily spelling, reading, math and grammar, have been watching a documentary on MLK Jr., sewing their own ski goggle cases, and helping Dad fix up the van for winter.  

Really it has been a smooth transition so far and I don’t gamble, but I’m going to make a few guesses about what will be different about home school with Dad vs. home school with Mom just based on our personalities…

My husband is patient.  He’s a details man.  I come up with ideas and move on them right away.  He’s a gather-all-the-information first, get it right, logical man.  I learn as I go and tend to make mistakes.  He can debunk arguments with a genuine smile on his face.  I get emotional.  He won’t yell, he won’t rush, he talks a lot.  I talk a lot too ;)  My husband will spend four hours teaching the kids how to play dominoes Panama-style or tie knots or spend days teaching them the techniques for splitting wood.  Once the kids master the splitting wood thing they will be given their own axe…and they’ll love it and think it’s the best thing ever.  I worry about germs, walking on ice, not having car seats installed correctly and axes, I blame my job as a nurse for my worries! He loves the kids in their entirety.  Me too.  If he puts the kids to bed it can take two hours...they just talk.  I run on a tighter schedule.  My husband is going to do an amazing job learning, teaching, and being with the kids.  A job he's been doing all along, but now he's getting the time he's been missing with our three little souls.

What he won’t do?  Remember to make the bed.  I know, not a major flaw to most.  I’ll just a deep breath and accept that things are Changing.

Happy New Year!

Christmas tree keeping us cheerful as it drops it's needles on the deck (rather than the living room)!  Yes, I'm aware that it's wonky...3 hours and five opinions later I decided we'll never go to a "Cut Your Own" Christmas Tree farm again!  Especially since we ended up with the wonkiest tree on the farm...I think by hour number 3 we were just desperate!

Oh yeah, we lost water and the well guys came through deep snow to save us!  Fascinating!  Yet, expensive :(

Classical Learning and Classical Mistakes

Industrious little hands at work

It's hectic 'round here.  A flurry of glittery homemade ornaments and text books on Classical Education are building up in breeding piles (and library late fees) everywhere.  Whether it's due to the end of the year arriving or the fact that I'll be returning to work (Popasquash will be taking over the home school reins for a bit), I've been focused on streamlining school as much as possible.  The trouble is... I'm recently inspired and as a result altering the plan to add a classical approach to home schooling.

Dodger's Christmas bird

Now...we haven't had to change too much because it turns out that the way we live our lives actually falls in step with the classical approach (another reason to learn more about it).

My Christmas bird

The book that crops up most on this subject related to homeschooling is, The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home, written by mother and daughter Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.  It’s quite a read.  I have found that my assumptions are correct and that a classical education is language based, Susan Wise Bauer writes;

Kitten's Christmas bird

“Language learning and image learning require very different habits of thought.  Language requires the mind to work harder; in reading, the brain is forced to translate a symbol (words on the page) into a concept.  Images, such as those on videos and television, allow the mind to be passive.  In front of a video screen, the brain can “sit back” and relax; faced with the written page, the mind is required to roll it’s sleeves up and get to work”

Sailor's Christmas bird

I find that the classical approach makes sense to me, I can buy into the idea.  Classical Education is based on the Trivium, the three stages of learning; grammar, logic and rhetoric.  Sailor and Kitten are in the grammar stage, soaking up the world around.  Their job is to work on the fundamentals; reading, writing, math, and beginning spelling.  Dodger is at the beginning of the logic stage, he is learning how to hone the tools of language acquired during the grammar stage to make logical inferences and arguments. 

What we’ve been doing so far that fits in with the classical approach:

Including books daily and constantly

Listening to audio books from a young age including E.B. White, C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens

Talking and explaining the world; including the children in cooking, chores, budgeting

Visiting the library

Filling our lives with a variety of experiences and ideas

Memorizing poetry

Learning about the natural world with Grandma

Sailor making bread

Math daily

What we have added to our days:

Daily grammar rules during breakfast for example; definitions and examples of nouns, pronouns, prepositions, verbs, adjectives, rules of capitalization, contractions, silent “e”, r-controlled words, vowels, consonants and  compound words. 

Spelling Workout books daily

Expecting more in terms of grammar and spelling
Dodger does logic puzzles daily

The fruits of Sailor's labor (and patience)

What we haven’t been doing but plan to:

Study history starting with the Ancients-specifically Mesopotamia (we had been looking at American history but Wise-Bauer makes the argument that history is a "story" and therefore you should begin at the beginning, at the "cradle of civilization")

Lay down the foundation of grammar-and not shy away from rote memorization

Consider learning as “hard work” and reap the benefit of putting in time and effort

Dodger will start Latin (despite my earlier fears I think this is a good move, he really loves the little tidbits of Latin he gets in his spelling book)

Diagramming sentences
Music lessons (has been on the back burner but now we have actually scheduled a piano tuning and so hope to get rolling with this!!)

Here's a nice description of what the heck I'm banging on about!

“The classical Trivium - grammar, logic, and rhetoric - describes the way in which all human beings learn. First, we begin by memorizing the fundamentals, the grammar of the subject. Next, we learn how the fundamentals fit together, the logic of the system. Finally, we grasp the true meaning and beauty of the system and begin to contribute our own ideas. This is the rhetoric, or poetic level.  Students who have been classically educated will have the skills required to excel in college or in the workplace. They will have learned how to learn.” http://www.pcastl.org/benefits-of-classical-education.html

Why study The Ancients?  Susan Wise Bauer makes the argument that, "History…is not a subject.  History is the subject.  It is the record of human experience, both personal and communal.  It is the story of the unfolding of human achievement in every area-science, literature, art, music, and politics.  A grasp of historical facts is essential to the rest of the classical curriculum."

Fantastic book...caused a few nightmares though!

I feel as if Wise & Wise Bauer have formulated arguments in The Well-Trained Mind that support my “gut” feelings about education.  Initially I argued that I wanted the kids to “write more often”, I felt they were lacking the ability to write with ease.  By understanding language from the foundation I feel that the kids will be well-equipped to move into the “logic” stage of the Trivium.  

Having said all the above, I am still motivated to follow the children’s interests as well as continue to spend time on art projects, handwork, and learning through our day to day chores and life.  I don’t want it to be all blood, sweat and tears!  Actually there haven’t been any leaky body fluids …the funny part is that the kids quite happily fall into step with the required work.  

Each evening I write out their assignments on the chalk board and in the morning the kids work their way through them.  Sometimes even without prodding…what can I say?  We are creatures of habit and tasks with a clear beginning and end are appealing.  Who doesn’t love ticking things off on the list?  This set of tasks to accomplish doesn't mean that we don't follow tangents and have conversations and enjoy learning new skills.  It feels as if I've gone in a bit of a home school circle...a bit 'Pooh Bear'.  I started with a strict schedule...tossed that out...tried chilling out...and now I'm back to a strict schedule (with chill-out time scheduled in).  Madness.

There are lots of moments of grumpiness, bickering, and general sloth around here.  But on afternoons when we sit around the table sharing a pot of tea and yummy food and our conversation leads us from Scrooge to Pandora's box, I feel so lucky and it's just so cool when it flows...

Re: "Classical Mistake": The mistake I've made so far is assuming that because a book is classical that I should automatically introduce it to the kids.  Now that Dodger and I have finished Animal Farm (and Dodger has written his first compare and contrast paper, there was some blood shed over that one !) I was looking for a book to begin (to clarify; this is a book we will read and discuss together), I decided on an "age-appropriate" retelling of Homer's Odyssey.  That plan back-fired.  It turns out my hard-to-scare son was actually a little traumatized by the Cyclops squishing humans on rocks and eating them alive!  It made for a late night...History was brutal and very often disgusting!

Happy Holidays!

Merging Public and Home School...Some Thoughts

This isn’t going as smoothly as planned.  I support public education.  I plan to have our children return to public education.  I want to have the two worlds merge seamlessly.  That isn’t happening.

Today's assignments

The public school is a very sticky glue that holds our rural community together.  But now we are outsiders.  It’s kind of weird and comes up subtly, but I can see how over time the separation could become significant.

To keep in touch and continue to support our local school Dodger joined the soccer and basketball teams.  I spend Wednesdays running an after school LEGO club and I have volunteered to help with the school play again this year by painting scenery.  Sailor attends an after school yoga class with his old classmates and Dodger has joined in on the school field trips.  He wasn't invited, but I asked if he could go along.  It’s a little awkward. 

It just is.

Dodger, who has a healthy self esteem and rarely displays awkwardness or embarrassment, was nervous heading into the school for a field trip with his old class.  He wasn’t sure how to act or where to sit.  Granted this was only a few moments of hesitation and once back with the old crew things went smoothly, but still it was a little tough on him.  Kids ask him why he’s home schooled, and what he does all day.  He’s an outsider in the group now.  I didn’t imagine kids would even take much notice…but they do.

On the flip side the kids are going to home school events and classes where public school kids are absent.  They’ve joined a home school 4H group and the boys went to a monthly event at a local library where there was a book discussion on DCF and Red Clover books, again filled with home school kids. 

It turns out it’s pretty hard to merge the worlds.

They are really different.

Is one better than the other?

No.  Not in my opinion.

They are too different; it’s not a fair comparison.

Should I be forcing the merge between home school and public school in the effort to stay connected?  Maybe I should back off and not try to have the best of both worlds.  The kids didn’t even want to go to LEGO club last week.  Once they were there, preparing for the club and surrounded by kids who were packing away books into lockers and laughing and grabbing coats, Sailor turned to me and said, “I miss my friends”.  And I know that he doesn’t mean “I want to have a play date” he means, “I want to be part of it, I want to be a part of that group.  I want to belong”.  I felt as if I were rubbing it into his face that he wasn't a part of the school by dragging him there to run clubs with me.

Now, I have to add that as soon as we are home and I explain that it’s fine with me that he goes back to public school and we start to discuss how the days will be, what time he needs to get up and so on.  I find that “rejoining” the group has lost its luster for him and he’s willing to take a rain check on public school.  I’ve told the kids multiple times that they can go back, the only stipulation being that I’d like the return to be after a vacation to ease the transition.  They continue to decline and say they plan to stick out the year!

And so, we’ve been discussing the term “the grass is always greener” at the dinner table lately…

Thanksgiving Madness...Written by Dodger

Meringue

In the last couple of weeks I made a cake, a pie and almond cookies. The cake was coconut-cream topped with meringue. I got the idea for the cake from a Fine Cooking magazine but don’t expect to see it in a recent issue because the one I got it from was dated back to December 2009. It took about three days to make and had me real cranky by the time I was done. The pie only took a few hours and I did it the night before Thanksgiving. Kitten and Sailor were out kayaking with Dad so Mom and I were left to the baking. I worked on my cake filling then did the pie. It was apple pie with extra cinnamon. I made the finishing touch by adding a pastry flower to the top.

Almond cookies with powdered sugar

The almond cookies were actually treats for when we went to our friends Sparrow and Winter’s house and had little to do with Thanksgiving but I want to include them because they are fun and new. They are basically butter cookies, you just substitute half of the butter for almond paste and add almond extract.  

Apple pie

Making advent calendars

We took Thanksgiving week off and on Monday Sparrow and Winter came over to our house to make advent calendars. Rather than taking the little chocolates from behind the doors each day (like the ones Grandma usually buys) we add a star to the calendars we made ourselves (I liked the old way). And on a final note, Mom asked me my opinion on homeschooling vs. public schooling. A couple of things I like about homeschooling are...

• It’s more flexible than public school, for example; if we want to go on a walk or let out some energy we can.
• My family feels closer; I am able to be around them more.
• I get to sleep in more; hey, I’m tired!

November campfire in the sun...Sailor's perfect marshmallows!

The thing I miss most about public school is seeing my friends and my teachers.  I get to see them at basket ball in the winter and soccer in the summer but it’s not quite the same. I also miss getting together and playing soccer at recess, although I do play a lot with my brother and sister. 

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, personally I never want to see a turkey again!

PS.  Mom had us each memorize a poem to recite for Thanksgiving and mine is below.

FINALLY!  The chickens are laying!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitten's Thanksgiving roses

A Late Walk By Robert Frost

Family hike during deer hunting season!!

 When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Finishing up with Fall

We picked all our flowers to enjoy in case Sandy hit us hard!

 I feel at this time of year that I've trod on a "Slip'N'Slide" and it's one long slip into the next one.  The Fall and early winter are so packed with holidays and activities in the United States that it's hard to relax until you're up to your neck in January snow and winter has truly set in.

"Lela" Kitten's Araucana

On the everyday front we've been doing lots of learning through just simply living.  The kids have been recruited to stack wood, clean up the garden and yard and generally get ready for winter.  Our chickens, who are pushing 7 months, are still not laying well so we've decided to give them more love and attention (since they already have fresh water, organic feed, loads of delicious scraps, and a well insulted coop with a lake view-'cmon ladies!).  I was also motivated to clip their flight feathers to avoid escapees and needed partners in crime.

Sailor's art

Hold still!

We spent an afternoon catching, clipping, naming and photographing all the chickens.  Then the kids adopted some for their own and we've been working on watercolors of our chickens as a sort of reference. I've also added a light to the coop to give them at least 14 hours of daylight now that the days are darker.

Digging for treasured potatoes!

"Hermione" sans poop.

Child labor

More Sailor art

On the subject of animals it was our black cat's 13th birthday on Halloween this year and so he was treated like a king with candles in some (gross, wet) cat food-see the photo!  The kids were all agreed in being scary for Halloween which we wholeheartedly support, even Kitten decided to be a "dead" bridesmaid.  We live in a rural community so there's no real door-to-door candy collection, instead the town does "Trunk or Treat" and folks get themselves and their vehicles dressed up and hand out candy at the school parking lot...it's a fun time and there's a clear end which, as a parent, I appreciate.

Happy 13th birthday Mr. Black Kitty

On the official  home school front we have been working on our usual math and reading but we've been doing more writing which I am happy about since it's an area I think the kids need to practice often.  The kids wrote ghost stories and turned them into books with pictures and a front cover painted.  We also listened to Garrison Keeler's Halloween audio CD and took a spooky walking tour at a local town cemetery.  But by far the most successful creative writing exercise I've initiated so far was having the kids pick characters, locations, and "triggers" from a hat and then giving them a half hour to write a story.

Here's what I did...I took small pieces of paper and wrote names on them, all sorts of names like Mr. Fizzy, Drex and Geraldine and put them in a hat.  Then I wrote down locations, for example...the desert, a toy store, a field in winter, and put those in another hat.  And finally I wrote down "triggers" like, "Your main character can time travel", "Dinosaurs have returned", "Money grows on trees" and put these ideas in a hat.  I let the kids choose as many names as they liked and reminded them that the characters didn't have to be people.  Then they each chose one location and one trigger.  I set the timer and they wrote stories.

It may seem that I gave them too much to go on, but the purpose of the exercise (the intended purpose) was to show the kids they can do it.  They can churn out stories and not get hung up on the details such as a character's name.  Picking the ideas out of a hat was really fun and I will certainly use this game again.  The kids are very concerned about getting it "right" the first time and I want to shake that notion from them.  We proof read, we discuss what makes a good story and we talk about the process of flushing out ideas and trying things rather than expecting perfection.  However, I do want them to write with ease since it is an essential skill.  I feel if you can't write well (and quickly) then your learning is seriously impaired.  If you spend too much time in simply translating thoughts to paper you don't have time left to really explore the ideas in depth. 

I see snowy-rain coming as I write so I should go and gather the boys up...they've been outside by the fire playing a game where they are giants.  It sounds complicated.  I wanted to write about the experience of blending with the public school community now that we are home schooling...but I guess that'll have to wait til next time.  For the two of you (probably my parents :) who are reading the blog can you try to leave a comment?  I think there may be issues with this on the blog...though I have been able to leave a comment myself.

The LAST mow..in October