Learn at Every Turn

Some time back, I had a problem on my blogs with spammers. Jerry and I made some changes, which solved the problem. A little too well, actually. it seems no one can comment at the moment.

I'm aware of the problem, but my guess is that it's going to take quite a bit of time, effort, and research to fix it. That wont happen till we are done with school.

I really love to hear from those who read my blog. Frankly, it just makes me feel good to know others are reading my words and responding to them.

So, if you are so moved to want to comment, please feel free to shoot me an email through the link on the sidebar until I can beat Movable Type into submission once again. :)

Thanks for your patience!

Things have been quiet here on the blog because. . .well, things have been quiet behind the blog. Last week, Kipp and Landry finished their state-mandated STAR testing. We are now in our final weeks of school. I think it is fair to say that we are all looking forward to summer.

This year has been a trying one. For the first time, I was responsible to a charter for all three boys. Galen starting school really changed the dynamic of our homeschooling. For the longest time, I've listed as a potential blog post the topic of how to homeschool more than one child. And, when and if I ever figure out how to do that, I will post about it. Today, I still feel like I really don't have a clue, except that my Mom is a living saint for volunteering to take one aside so I can work with the other two.

We also faced other changes this year. We changed charters in December. I still think this was a positive change for the boys. Still, the routines and understandings I have had for the past six years changed immediately. I think we came through it fairly unscathed, but I look forward to starting next year with a clearer plan in place that flows better with the requirements of our new school.

Finally, Jerry's job change in November and, more significantly, our decision to pursue a move to Seattle cast a damper over our homeschooling. It is hard to explain, but having part of your mind two states away is simply distracting and tiring. This one is a continuing distraction. We have yet to move, but it will happen eventually. We just have no idea when.

And thanks to a month of really nasty viruses in December, we haven't had a good break since last August. So, we are truly ready for summer this year.

For these reasons, we are not where I expected to be at this point in the year. Still, I can see the boys are growing and learning. Yes, I wish there had been more growth in some areas, but I suspect I always will. However, I see the boys discovering new interests, exploring new opportunities with pleasure, making friends, and enjoying their childhoods.

For these facts, I am grateful. There will be time for improving the details next year. :)

I'm afraid my posts may be short for a while. I outlined our calendar through the end of the school year and discovered that we will have little free time. Still, all the activities are worth our while, so I have no complaints.

Still, I wanted to take a moment to post about our Easter baskets. Okay, I'm going to come right out and say it. As the older boys get older, I struggle to find interesting things to fill their baskets because they seem to have one of everything. This year, however, I'm proud!

Of course, the boys each received the requisite stuffed animal, chocolate bunny and jelly beans. However, I wanted the baskets to encourage their curiosity and desire to get outside. So, I came up with a bugs, birds and seeds theme.

To that end, I filled the baskets with:

-- nesting boxes for wild finches
-- seeds for native California wildflowers, poppies and (if all else fails to grow), beans.
-- a soil testing kit for a bit of outdoor chemistry
-- a cup of Painted Lady caterpillars
-- a butterfly kite
--a case for catching live bugs, frogs and lizards

I also included a book for each boy. I tried to find something to go with the theme, but didn't have much luck. They've read too many books!

The baskets turned out to be a great success. Now, what am I going to do next year??

I am interrupting my regularly scheduled post reviewing Galen's curriculum to discuss something more personal: what it really feels like to be a homeschooling mom. Or at least, how it feels for me.

I suspect most have heard of the stereotype of the homeschooling mom who is eternally patient and kind, who has instilled a passion for learning in her children, and whose homeschooling runs on a perfectly timed schedule. Her children practically dance to their breakfast of homemade whole-grain muffins each morning, begging to do advanced molecular biology and read The Brothers Karamazov in the original Russian.

And those of us in the trenches also know the stereotype will help to grow fantastic vegetables in the organic garden.

For the past month or two, I feel as though I have been living in what degenerated into homeschooling hell. To start, Landry decided that everything was boring but computers and technology-related devices. As a result, my ten-year-old made the barest efforts at his studies and was a sulky joy with which to live. Restricting his computer time made it worse. Increasing his computer time just made every task something to get through to get back to his computer.

Remember that we are not unschoolers. The boys are enrolled in a charter that expects them to complete a well-rounded curriculum, as do his father and I. Furthermore, one reason we homeschool is so that we can attempt to provide the boys with ways of learning that ignite their interest. Somehow, however, this translated to Landry that we are expected to entertain him, and he has no responsibility for his own learning experience. To add to the fun, his perfectionist streak has been intense. If a task couldn't be completed perfectly with ease, a meltdown often ensued.

At the same time, Kipp has always concerned me. I love my slightly silly and goofy middle son for those very traits. Still, my daydreaming boy could drive me to distraction. I've had serious, nagging concerns about he is really learning and retaining anything. In my darker moments, I heard the parents who told me that their children behaved completely differently in a classroom than they did at home. I've been haunted by the thought that, although my instinct says otherwise, I may be preventing Kipp from thriving in the social venue of the classroom

Finally, while Landry was melting down and Kipp was staring out the window, I have been left wondering if Galen was getting the attention he deserved. I've never seen a kidlet so driven to learn. Yet, could I adequately homeschool three and give everyone what he needs when I felt so thinly spread?

In the midst of all that, I am still a mom, and I wondered if the kids are enjoying their childhoods? Did they have time to play and have fun? While I'm trying to prepare them for the future, are they enjoying today? Apparently, that is a tension faced by other homeschooling moms.

All of this came to a head over the last week because the boys have been taking practice tests for the upcoming STAR tests. I realize that many have strong opinions about testing. Suffice it to say, they are required by our charter. Furthermore, I am not opposed to occasional testing. I think test taking is another skill that the boys will need if they choose to pursue higher education. A chance to practice being in that setting is not a bad thing. More importantly, Jerry and I choose to follow the state requirements at least loosely so that, if our circumstances change and I had to go back to work, the boys' transition would be less difficult. These practice tests provide me an opportunity each year to discover any gaps that might occur in their education because we do not teach to the test the remainder of the year.

Turning to the practice tests, Landry completed the multiple choice, but decided not to answer almost anything that required writing. When he reached the portion of the testing where he had to write compositions of various types, he wrote a couple of illegible sentences. When I told him, his work wasn't acceptable, he sulked or melted down when he tried again. Meanwhile, I couldn't guess what Kipp was doing with his tests as he seemed to be looking around the room every time I glanced at him. Between the sulking and the staring, I attempted to focus on Galen.

Throughout all of this, I was questioning my abilities as a homeschooling mom. We've all heard that those who can't, teach. While that may not be true, what if those who can, still shouldn't necessarily teach? And where are those wonderfully self-motivated homeschoolers? How could I create an environment for self motivation, while still making sure they understand correct grammar and learned their multiplication tables? What about the upcoming years, when the courses of study are more demanding? What if homeschooling negatively affected my relationship with my boys? I never signed up to be their friend, but I also never sought the role of evil taskmaster.

Just when I was starting to contemplate whether the boys would be better off if I enrolled them in a private school and went back to work to pay for it, I started noticing things. For example:
                 -- Watching Galen crawl into my lap while I read a Magic Tree House, pulling the book from my hands, announcing that it was "ina-westing" and that he wanted to read it himself. Then listening as my five-year-old read a full page to me.
                 -- Going to the boys' piano lesson and having the teacher take me aside to admire the complexity and beauty of the piece that Kipp and Landry are playing, while we reminisced that just a few years ago, they were playing pieces where we would say, "One-two-three-rest." And hearing once again what I've always known: Kipp has a natural gift of musicianship that is all his own.
                 -- Pulling out a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle of Theodore Gray's The Elements, spending some delightful hours with the boys totally engaged, and realizing that Kipp had somehow memorized the poster over the years, so that he knew when element photographs were different than the one on the poster in our hallway. 
                 -- Discovering that my daydreaming boy is in fact a sleeper, who shocked us with his knowledge on the practice tests.
                 -- Finding out that my oldest boy will rise to the occasion when his back is to the wall and write an essay that could bring tears to my eyes, not only for its technical merit, but for the thoughts expressed therein. And he will beam with pride when he's done. And that same boy would decide on his own to monitor his own bedtime and find an alarm clock to help himself rise at a reasonable hour in the morning so he could be ready to study on weekdays. 

No, I don't have clue how I'm going to handle the coming years. I'm still not really sure how I'm going to divide myself up tomorrow. And I'm going to have more dark days where I face my doubts. But, today, I can see my boys thriving in their own way, and I'm sure I'll find the answers I'll need in the future when I get there.

So, we celebrated today. After robotics class, I had the joy of telling the boys that school was out. With a makeshift picnic from Whole Foods, we headed to the playground to enjoy spring. I sat with my Mom watching my three, blond stair steps walk away from me side by side, with the two older naturally watching over their littler brother. Given that view, I don't see any major changes coming in my life in the near future.

I absolutely adore Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series. It's my idea, both as a reader and a writer, of brilliant children's literature.

Well, now she's gone even further. Osbourne has created a curriculum that follows her series. And it's free!

I haven't gone too far into it, but from what I've seen, it will be great for Galen next year.

It's getting late, so I'm keeping this short. Ben Hebebrand has written an interesting post on his blog, Gifted Education Perspectives, entitled, Motivating the Gifted Learner. I found the idea of a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset particularly enlightening. Furthermore, I would argue that the more of the ideas in this article that could be incorporated into any child's education, the better for the child.

Enjoy!

This is part two in my incredibly late, three-part mid-year review of our curriculum.

Kipp is making steady progress with his studies. I really wonder how much of it has to do with my brilliant choices and how much has to do with the natural maturation process. I would guess it's more the latter than the former. However, curriculum choices do matter to an extent because Kipp is clearly more focused and interested if he is learning through stories or through hands-on methods.

Turning to the details, I posted Kipp's original curriculum here and here. Again, I will only highlight the changes.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I decided to read Human Odyssey to Landry and Kipp at the same time. Kipp loves this series of textbooks because many chapters incorporate fictional stories. I wish, however, that I had infinite time. I feel a tension between depth and breadth of knowledge. In an ideal world, I would take each major time period addressed in the text and find some historical fiction for Kipp. I think he would be enthralled by history if I could do this. However, I feel as though we need to keep moving through history, and so I have not done so. Still, I'm pondering ways to improve.

Kipp continues to work on Exploration Education. However, he's working through it slowly because Jerry has less time to oversee his science right now. I will say that Kipp enjoys the building aspects, but Jerry feels some of the lab work is vague. He did not elaborate, but indicated that he would like to jump around some in the materials. I'm not sure where this will lead.

Kipp genuinely enjoys his work with Project Feederwatch. He is demonstrating great responsibility in tending his three feeders and takes care with his counting and data entry each week. The BirdSleuth homeschool materials add greatly to the experience. A few weeks ago, Kipp studied bird feeders and feed to design his own bird feeder. This past week, he studied the various characteristics that differentiate bird species, drew a beautiful male American goldfinch in winter, and completed a Venn diagram comparing the goldfinch to a house finch. More importantly to me, he did these activities readily without any prodding from me. That is proof positive that he is engaged and taking charge of his own learning. Wahoo!

Despite his reticence to read, Kipp surprised me by testing above grade level in his reading ability in December when we switched charters. So, we nudged Kipp to move beyond the Magic Tree House series for his oral reading. He's been making steady progress through Dragon Rider, but is taking a break to read The Mask of Destiny and write a review for the May children's literature issue of City Book Review. (Actually, all three boys are working on reviews for that issue.)

Finally, Kipp, like Landry, has added swimming lessons, a Lego robotics class, and a novice horsemanship 4H project to his studies since the fall, and really enjoys all three.

I've been meaning to get these curriculum review posts done only since Christmas. I think it's pushing it a bit to say "mid-year" in March, but I'm going with it anyway.

Before getting to specifics, I will say as an overview that I'm pretty satisfied with our curriculum. The one thing that troubles me is that we seem to be a bit spread thin. I wonder if I couldn't simplify somehow so that it wasn't quite such a push to reach every subject each week, and we had more time to review material to get a deeper understanding. At the same time, the individual parts seem to be working, so I'm not sure what to do.

I posted the original overview of Landry's curriculum here and here. We have stayed with the original plan for the most part. I will only mention the modifications.

World History Detectives has yet to be published, so we are not using it. However, our CT recently found an assessment workbook that dovetails with Hakim's A History of US. Landry will use it primarily as a quick way for me to determine that he is comprehending what he is hearing, since he listens to the audiobooks completely independently.

Landry completed Infinite Potential at the Jason Project and has moved on to Terminal Velocity. He does not do every lab and journal entry. What seems to work best for him is to listen to the lectures once on his own and then to repeat them with Jerry. At that point, they follow bunny trails on whatever parts of the lectures perk their interest. Jerry draws from a variety of sources from YouTube to Mythbusters to Nova to only he knows what else to further their understanding. Finally, Landry types up a summary of what he has taken away from the experience. I wish it were a bit more hands on, but this seems to suit Landry.

Landry is working his way through his Spectrum Writing 6 workbook, but it's a battle. I suspect that it is not the workbook, but the fact that Landry only likes writing creative fiction pieces and resents revising his work. Still, I will take some time this summer to see if I can find a different writing curriculum.

For PE, both Landry and Kipp made clear their preference to discontinue bok fu, and I respect that. In its place, all three boys are taking private, weekly swim lessons and seem to genuinely enjoy them. 

Both programming and chess have been set aside due to lack of time or inclination. Landry is enrolled in Stanford's Computing 101 and MIT's Circuits and Electronics courses, both of which begin in March. I don't know if either of these will be a good fit, but I'm curious.

Moxie Mail has also fallen to the side for the time being, although I think that interest may re-ignite at some point. I wonder if Landry needs the space to make the project more his own.

In the fall, both Landry and Kipp joined our local 4H group. They enrolled in hands-on science, which ended in January, and novice horsemanship. Because it is their first year and we underwent some transitions in the fall, I chose not to help the boys keep record books this year in favor of enjoying the projects and gaining a better overall understanding of 4H procedures for next year. I would call this activity a success as the boys seem to genuinely enjoy the meetings and activities.

Landry and Kipp are currently taking a five-week Lego Mindstorm Robotics class, They have only had one class, but that one seemed to be a success.

Finally, Landry is currently working his way through Journey North Mystery Class. I strongly suspect that he would quit if I would allow it. However, I also suspect it is something he will enjoy if he will see it through to the end. So, I've told him that he must complete this project, but I wont make him do another.  

As some of you may know, I live in Northern California. Over time, it's become increasingly apparent that families homeschooling gifted kids in Northern California could use a space where they can share support and resources.

For this reason, my friend Suji of Funschooling and I have created the Northern California Gifted Homeschool yahoo group. So, if you live in Northern California and homeschool a gifted child, please feel free to check our group out.

I wrote the following review of Katy S. Duffield's California History for Kids for the San Francisco Book Review.


As a homeschooling parent, I have come to realize that history can either come alive for a child or die on the page, along with the child's interest in history. For this reason, I like Katy Duffield's California History for Kids. In just more than one hundred pages, Duffield covers the major events in California history from the Pleistocene era to Schwarzenegger's governorship. In doing so, she includes authentic black-and-white photographs and anecdotes that break up and enliven the text. Better still, she provides twenty-one fun, hands-on activities, such as Chumash rock painting, making an astrolabe, sailing a Spanish galleon made from a milk carton, baking a hardtack snack, creating a railroad cipher, and packing an earthquake preparedness kit. Finally, Duffield includes a nice timeline summary of California history and a list of additional resources, including books (noted for appropriate age group), websites and places to visit.

California has an interesting past, and this book will prove an excellent resource for the teacher or parent who wants to making learning about that past a memorable experience for children.

I've updated the link to the email so it should work now.
__________________________________________________

I received this email this morning.

Apparently, MITx is offering a free online Circuits and Electronics class, which starts in March. The course is free, but certification has some cost. Enrollment is open now.

Rick Ackerly has written a thought-provoking post at The Genius in Children entitled, Building Strong  Brains: The Real Reason Schools Need Environmental Education.

This is another post that does not directly address homeschooling, but I think it has value for homeschoolers. Ackerly argues that children need outdoor play, music, art, theater and dance to foster and strengthen the complex connections in the various parts of the brain requisite to tackling issues across a variety of subject matter.

What does this mean for me? At the midpoint of our school year, the over-achieving, perfectionist side of my personality starts to rear up a bit. I begin to focus on the end of the year and what remains to be done in the boys' curriculum. Ackerly reminds me that tossing aside the texts on occasion and heading out of doors to tramp across the countryside or sketch or even play some music and dance, is a worthy activity in and of itself, whether or not it results in a satisfying check on my to-do list.

Two follow-up notes:

First, Landry has taken up my challenge. He is working at writing up his best arguments for changing my computer game rule. He is struggling with what approach he wants to take. Does he want to argue for a complete abandonment of the rule or simply an amendment? If the latter, what amendment? I am observing his process with interest. I'm not sure he wont abandon his task, but it still seems to be a worthwhile effort.

Second, Landry just informed me that he and his brothers used Legos to build a small cannon that will shoot five Legos (scatter shot) half way across our great room. Okay, I'm not especially delighted that they are building weapons of destruction (mass or not), but I love that they did this of their own volition. This is the sort of creativity that fills the void left whenever the boys are made to put aside electronic devices.

So, Landry, if you are reading this, and I know you are, explain to me how more time with electronic devices will not destroy the wonderful, creative play in which you and your brothers engage when you are not obsessively playing with or talking about your electronic entertainment? How is engaging in more computer time going to encourage you and your brothers to seek out and enjoy the toys, activities, and friends around you in the real world to which you become oblivious once you can play on the computer, iphone, etc.? Therein lies your strongest argument for changing my computer rule.

On my request, I received a copy of Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners from Prufrock Press for review. I only wish I had had this book when I began homeschooling seven years ago.

In a little less than 140 pages, Cindy West manages to address the major issues involved in educating these children who simply need more. Among other topics, West discusses definitions of giftedness, advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling gifted children and of different homeschooling approaches, learning styles, adapting curriculum to a child's strengths and weaknesses, differentiating instruction between more than one gifted child, project-based learning, organization and record keeping, various options for socialization, and planning for college. Throughout the text, West provides toolboxes with resources specific to each topic and an additional 20 pages of resources at the end of the book. In my experience, she provides an good survey of both secular and religious resources. 

Furthermore, the author knows of what she writes. West holds a masters degree in education. Even more compelling, she is a 14-year veteran of homeschooling her own gifted children.

I would definitely recommend this book for novice homeschoolers of gifted children. While I am now familiar with most of the information in this book, it took me years of research to discover most of it. This small book would have made my journey far easier. Furthermore, I think a good argument could be made that this book would be valuable to any novice homeschooler because the sections on learning styles, approaches to curriculum, differentiating curriculum, and socialization are thorough and applicable to all. Finally, even as an experienced homeschooler, I intend to retain this book in my collection in part for the resources listed and in part for the chapter on preparing for college.

I purposely chose not to include the title of this article in my post's title because I'm not sure it is the best title for the original post. However, the content is fantastic.

M J Hayes' post at Life Among the Gifted entitled, School is Irrelevant, is one of the best posts about homeschooling and how to approach it that I have seen in a long time. She articulates my own instincts and goals. I undoubtedly fail, but these are the goals for which I strive when creating my homeschooling environment.

KJ Dell'Antonia at the New York Time's Motherlode blog wrote an interesting post on the benefits of reading books rather that e-books with children. I'm not sure that the issues mentioned surrounding e-books are insurmountable, but I think being aware of them has value.

I'm away from home for a long weekend of reading, writing, and recouping. As a result, I finally have time to read and evaluate an ever-growing list of blog posts and articles in my RSS reader. So, I suspect this is the first in a series of posts addressing the post and articles I deem pertinent and interesting.

The first is Why Education Without Creativity Isn't Enough by Anya Kamenetz which was originally posted at Fast Company. While this article does not directly address homeschooling, it looks at what is working in our educational system and the future of jobs in America. I think those insights are valuable for those of use shaping the curriculum of the next generation of workers.

Lately, I've been having a recurring go around with my oldest son. You see, I made the decision to limit computer games to two hours on Friday and two hours on Saturday.

I realize that many may disagree with my decision to draw an absolute line in the sand on this issue. Truthfully, my parenting inclinations would not typically run along this line. So, you will just have to trust me when I say that every fiber of my maternal instinct feels this is the right decision on this issue for my boys at this point. Interestingly enough, their serious-gamer father supports my decision.

That said, lawyering genes run deep in my family. My father was well respected for his abilities by his clients and colleagues, including a former California Supreme Court Justice. I am also a lawyer by profession, although inactive, and I spent my youth honing my skills by debating with him. No topic was off limits, and discussions were a normal part of our daily lives. It was a wonderful experience.

Those same genes showed up early in Landry. I remember very distinctly the day he stood at the refrigerator and explained to me that he was thirsty, milk contained protein, and protein was good for him. Puzzled at first as to what he was doing, it dawned on me that, rather than just ask for yet another glass of milk which I would probably deny, he was arguing to his one-person jury. He was around three years old at the time.

Lately, my beloved son has been making end runs on my computer time rule. I've heard every possible counter proposal in the last couple of weeks. Today, I was taken into my office for a serious discussion about how my rule might be affecting his friendships. (I confirmed with a parent of the child in question that this in fact was not the case.)

Tonight, I received one final salvo. Landry argued for five hours instead of four and implicitly placed the burden of proof on me to explain my choice of four hours. In a moment of exasperation, I came up with a brilliant solution. If Landry could type a cogent, persuasive argument with a serious analysis of his reasons for requesting a fifth hour, his father and I would give his "brief" serious consideration. 

Suffice it to say, Landry dropped the matter this time. However, I will not hesitate use this approach again, nor will I be surprised when we hit an issue of such importance that he does produce the requested writing. Indeed, I will not only be unsurprised, I will be looking forward to it.

I must admit that I am exhausted tonight. We've had a couple of long days of homeschooling. The boys are doing great, but I could use a nap, a cup of coffee that I consume before it's room temperature, and two hours of uninterrupted silence.

So, this will be a very short post.  

In February, Stanford University's Nick Parlante will conduct a free online Computing 101 class. Follow this link to learn more and to sign up. 

Enjoy!

This isn't the post I planned for tonight. But, sometimes, things just need to be said.

Kipp continued with Project Feederwatch and the BirdSleuth curriculum today. Things aren't going perfectly, and I simply do not care.

Kipp put out two feeders a little over a week ago. He designated one feeder for the Project Feederwatch count, and the other just for his added amusement. The Project Feederwatch sock is in the back of the house and is filled with nyger seed. It will attract one kind of bird: goldfinches. The other feeder is a bowl of mixed seeds that sits on the railing of our front deck and will attract a wider variety of birds and the occasional squirrel. (I'm confident of these results because we've used these feeders in these locations on prior occasions.)

Kipp chose the sock as the Project Feederwatch count site because it is typically mobbed by goldfinches. This makes counting fairly easy because Kipp must only identify and count one species. 

After a week, the front feeder is beginning to get some attention by a couple of varieties of birds.  However, no goldfinches have visited the back feeder, so Kipp's counts have been rather uninteresting. (He is recording them, nonetheless.) This is not exactly the exciting scientific pursuit for which I'd hoped. And yet, as I've written, I'm still delighted.

Today, we pulled out the BirdSleuth science curriculum and attacked the first activity. After reading and discussing different types of seeds, feeders and bird beaks, Kipp sorted out and identified the different seeds in our mix and researched which birds eat which seeds. He seemed to genuinely enjoy his task.

While Kipp worked on the activity, I happened to remember that the kit included the children's bird journal and the guide describing the habits of various birds. Now, Kipp is my daydreamer son. Kipp is my son who has wonderful ideas and the ability to easily read above grade level, but would prefer not to pick up a pencil or read anything beyond comic strips, thank you very much. Never in a million years did I think Kipp would give the journal and guide more than a passing glance. And yet, when I looked over, he was busy identifying the birds on our front deck and writing their names in his journal. He then started thumbing through the guide and reading sections aloud to me about goldfinches to figure out why they were not appearing at the feeder. When he was finished, he was actually concerned about where he should store the journal and guide so he could keep them handy. Considering the ability to put anything away is completely lacking in my progeny, I about choked.

I will continue to update Kipp's progress. However, if these materials continue to enervate him to use his skills to pursue his evident interest, I will have to conclude that this has been a success.