Little-Homeschool-on-the-Prairie

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2007-10-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

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The Midwife of Souls and Chocolate Cake

2007-10-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Today the Punk Pastor is doing his first funeral. It has been a long week for him of bedside watching and praying. Pastors are among the few people in our society who actually confront death on a regular basis. It puts them face to face with their own mortality. "Remember Pr. S-- (a seminary professor), how calm and self-contained he was, like nothing could shake him?" he said, returning from the hospital earlier this week. "It was thirty years of this. Of watching other people die and dealing with the details of his own mortality." Needless to say, the man needed some space.

Yesterday, I found suddenly that I was the pastor's wife, not just my husband's wife. I was leading a Cub Scout meeting. The kids and I had volunteered to run a booth with some other homeschoolers at a fall festival today. The shopping hadn't been done yet, since the Scientist needed the doctor yesterday, and the pantry was bare. I took calls from the funeral home. How many pallbearers are there? Can we come set up at 8:30 in the morning? Has the pastor received a copy of the obituary?

And in the midst of this, the ladies of the church called and asked if I could bring a dessert of salad for the funeral lunch. I'm not by nature a seamlessly organized person. A day like that would ordinarily send me into a tailspin. But I was calm as a summer's day. It must have been grace. I thought, if I grab something easy to make while I'm at the grocery store, I can get it ready this evening after Scouts and it will be ready for tomorrow. And I said yes. And somehow, in between things, I popped a cake into the oven. I went to Scouts. I came home, stacked the layers, and warmed up leftovers for dinner. I put the Cookie Mouse to bed and frosted it. And the I went to the funeral home for visitation.

The family is all here from out of state, four siblings, of this dear lady, and their spouses. There were two more who were unable to come. She had been the eldest and had raised them all when their mother died. It's funny the details you learn about people after they die, the big picture you get of their lives, things no one ever mentioned when they were living, that just don't come up in conversation. They were all so warm. They seemed so glad that I had come. I thought as I left the funeral home that it was sad that the only reason I was meeting them was because someone they loved had died, and that they would all go home and I would probably never meet them again.

I came home and folded bulletins -- church bulletins and funeral bulletins -- while sitting in bed with the Punk Pastor watching As Time Goes By.

And today is the funeral. Two funerals, actually. Another lady passed away the same day, not a member of our church, but the mother of one of our parishioners. So while the kids and I are stuffing scarecrows in the Land of Oz, the Punk Pastor will be attending one funeral and preaching another. It's like a meatball sandwich. You'll have to read the Forum Letter to understand that one.

And in the spirit of a meatball sandwich, here is the world's easiest and most delicious chocolate cake, the one the Scientist made for her tea party last week, the one the Swordmaster will make for the Cub Scout cake auction next week, the one I made for the funeral lunch today.

+In memoriam L.P.A.W. +

Time for Thyme

2007-10-12T10:42:00.001-07:00

Even though I always have a pot of thyme on my porch, I had forgotten what a wonder worker this herb is and neglected to use it.

Then yesterday the Scientist woke up feeling terrible. This is not unusual when her allergies are acting up, but this was more terrible than average. I gave her a benedryl and some tylenol. It didn't help, and after half a morning of listening to her whine and dragging her through her lessons, she said, "Mom, can I go to the doctor? I have pressure in my ears."

"Pressure in the ears" gets you an immediate trip to the doctor at our house. I was pretty sure she wasn't infected, just stopped up with allergies, but I don't like to mess around with ear infections, and that's how they start. I got her a doctor's appointment for the afternoon, then looked around the house for some decongestant to help relieve those ears. There was none. Then I thought of the thyme on my porch. It is very effective for congestion. In fact, last fall, I had taken a teaspoon full of thyme vinegar each morning and suffered no hay fever misery at all.

I had been reading one of Susun Weed's Wise Woman Herbal series the night before. I'm always conflicted about whether to sell the one book by her I do own, or buy all the rest. She takes a very Pagan approach to herbalism, so a Christian reader has to sift through the wheat and the chaff when using her material. Still, she knows her herbs, and her book offers the most clear, exact, practical instructions for preparing herbs that I have found anywhere.

With her instructions fresh in my mind, I brought in a couple of handfuls of thyme from the porch, placed them in a large glass jar, and put the kettle on. The thyme was infusing while we were at the doctor's office.

The doctor looked in the Scientist's ears and throat, made and face, and wryly commented, "I'll have to say something to the receptionist about giving the kids red lollipops before they come in here!" He then pronounced (as I had expected) that her ears were not infected, but they were full of fluid. Since the tylenol hadn't given her any relief, he prescribed some ear drops for the pain and told us to come back if she developed a fever.

The ear drops brought almost instant relief, though she didn't like the gooey glycerin based stuff oozing down into her ear. So she wasn't very keen on drinking down a cupful of thyme infusion afterwards, even if it was sweetened with over a tablespoon of honey. Still, she was up against a mother determined to stop this thing from getting infected, so drink it she did.

It didn't have the immediate effect of the ear drops. Herbs are gentle, and thyme doesn't instantly open your sinuses the way diphenhydramine does. But by this morning, she had no ear pressure and didn't need any ear drops. I gave her another cupful of infusion at breakfast and she has been her rosy self all day.

Please note: Thyme is an emmenagogue and uterine stimulant, and should not be used medicinally during pregnancy.

Dessert First!

2007-09-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

I hope it was as much fun for my kids as it was for me to take off on vacation the very week that public schools in our town went back in session. Sort of like having dessert first. We spent the first week with my parents and 9 year old brother (the kids call each other cousins, and we haven't broken it to them yet that he's quite technically their uncle!) They all had a blast staying up much later and watching way more television than any of them is ever allowed, cleaning out the treehouse, and riding go-karts and bumper boats in honor of the Scientist's birthday. (That's me on the bumper boats...)

After all the family frivolity, we headed home, spent a night under our own roof, and then went west for a week to Manitou Springs, Colorado. The best kept secret in Colorado, as far as we're concerned, is the Red Wing Motel's hot tub suite. There is no tuxedoed wait staff or marble floors; this is an older, family owned, fifties motel, nothing fancy, but they take care of you in all the ways that matter, right down to knowing how many people would be in our suite and leaving an appropriate number of mints and towels, and even a bed pad for the Cookie Monster (although she doesn't need one). There are novels and books to borrow in the lobby, and a notebook containing menus from all the nearby restaurants. The owners live on site and do everything related to the motel themselves, right down to cleaning the rooms (with environmentally friendly cleaners), and they greet you and ask if there's anything you need as they go about their business. Having a microwave, coffee maker, and refrigerator in the room allowed us to subsist on sandwiches and keep our eating out within reason. There is a children's playground and skate park right across the street, and a great Chinese restaurant a block away. The heated pool and the in-room jacuzzi were vacation enough, and if we had done nothing but swim and soak, drink our daily bottle of water from the mineral springs, and stuff ourselves with Happy Family and Sweet and Sour Chicken, everyone would have been completely satisfied.

But we couldn't just lounge around like we were on vacation or something. Homeschool is in session here, people. First stop -- Garden of the Gods, a paradise of hiking trails amid huge sandstone rock formations:

Not only does Garden of the Gods have free admission, they also offer a Junior Ranger Program. Most state and national parks offer this program, in which children 6 and up can complete learning activities relating to the park and earn a patch and certificate recognizing their work. The Scientist and the Swordmaster both had a lot of fun learning about geology, native cultures, and wildlife as they earned their patches.

Next stop, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings:

These cliff dwellings are partially reconstructed and a bit touristy, but visitors are allowed to touch and explore inside the dwellings, which made it lots of fun. Plaques all around the site explain what how the different rooms were used. The details of the architecture were fascinating; for example, in the photo, that's a door behind the kids, not a window. And some doors were T-shaped, to allow the elderly a hand grip when climbing through. It took a good bit of parental direction to get the children to slow down, read the plaques, and find out what they were seeing, since the whole place just seemed to invite them to climb and run from one room to the next:

In the museum (once we found it amidst the maze of gift shops) we learned about cradle boards and skulls, how manure is used in the making of the traditional black pottery, how to build an adobe pit house, and the numerous uses for the yucca plant (who knew?)

Pike's Peak was next; I survived the drive, and we all enjoyed donuts, coffee and hot chocolate at the top. The kids were introduced to the aspen, the ponderosa pine, and we discussed what was the Gold Rush, why trees don't grow above 12,000 feet, why it is colder on a mountaintop, what happens to an empty plastic bottle when you carry it up Pike's Peak and down again, and what happens when brakes get too hot.

On our way to Pike's Peak, we saw a sign for the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and set aside an afternoon for it. Florissant is the site of an ancient lake, and is one of the richest fossil beds in North America. Our hike was hurried because of an approaching thunderstorm, but we were all still amazed by the fossilized stumps of ancient giant redwood trees.

On the last day, we visited the Van Briggle pottery, and the Ghost Town Museum. The museum was hokey, but we did get to pan for real gold. I suspect the kids -- at least the older two -- were a little disappointed at how labor intensive and unproductive the process really was, but we did come out with four small specks of gold. This we compared in the gift shop to pyrite, or fool's gold. After taking the children back by the Garden of the Gods nature center to pick up their Junior Ranger badges in the afternoon, I detoured into the Rock Ledge Historic Ranch. With a buy one get one free coupon from the nature center, it cost us a mere $8 admission, and was far and away the best of the west. (Sorry, no pictures -- I didn't have the camera that day!) Rock Ledge is a living history ranch, with interpretive sites ranging from American Indians of the 1600-1700s on through the turn of the century. It is authentic, authentic, authentic, with knowledgeable re-enactors who answered the myriad questions the children threw at them, and the original and meticulously refurnished homes of the various owners and inhabitants of the ranch over the course of three centuries. The carriage house offers an exhibit about Thomas MacLaren, a Scottish architect who came to Colorado Springs -- like Van Briggle of the Van Briggle Pottery -- because of tuberculosis. So, on top of it all, we discussed tuberculosis, sanatoriums, and the open air cure.

All in all there was ample fodder for nature notebooks/discovery journals, plus postcards written to faraway friends (a lesson from First Language Lessons we saved especially for the trip), reading of road maps, and calculating the cost of the journey... a full week of non-stop learning punctuated by moments of utter relaxation. And I didn't have to cook anything more complicated than a sandwich -- now that's a vacation!

And King Arthur was Homeschooled Too...

2007-08-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

...with Merlyn as his tutor. In T.H. White's The Once and Future King, Merlyn kicks off the Wart's (Arthur's) education by turning him into a fish:

The Wart found that he had no clothes on. He found that he had tumbled off the drawbridge, landing with a smack on his side in the water. He found that the moat and the bridge had grown hundreds of times bigger. He knew that he was turning into a fish.
"Oh Merlyn, " he cried. "Please come too!"
"For this once," said a large and solemn tench beside his ear. "I will come. But in future you will have to go by yourself. Education is experience, and the essence of experience is self-reliance."
--T.H. White, The Once and Future King

Merlyn has made us a beginning. And so has Muad'Dib. That education is experience, that every experience carries its lesson, that self-reliance is a necessary element -- are true. But education must necessarily be more than experience. It must go beyond experience. After all, what is life but one long succession of experiences? And how many people go through life's experiences without ever learning its lessons? Experience alone is a shaky foundation for knowledge, shakier still for faith. It is not our experiences, but how we reflect upon our experiences, which matters. And if our reflection leads us to the wrong conclusions, what then? Thus education also means imparting a framework through which we can interpret our experiences.

"Logic!" said the Professor, half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools?"
-- C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Muad'Dib was Homeschooled

2007-08-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

That's what my dh quipped to me last night while reading his mooched copy of Dune. Okay, maybe not homeschooled, but at least instilled with one of the primary tenets of homeschooling:

Many have marked the speed at which Muad'Dib learned the necessities of Arrakis. The Bene Gesserit, of course, know the basis of this speed. For the others, we can say that Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. MuadDib knew that every experience carries its lesson.

-- Frank Herbert, Dune

cowboys herding cats

2007-08-13T07:20:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, on "those" days, I liken parenting to herding cats. My children were asking me about this simile, and as is often the case, a picture is worth a thousand words -- and a YouTube video is worth a hundred thousand. I don't know who EDS is, but I hope their stock goes out the roof.

Stereotypes and Reality

2007-08-12T13:05:00.001-07:00

For this past week's Carnival of Homeschooling, Henry Cate of Why Homeschool wrote a Response to a Comment criticizing his blogging about the negative aspects of public schooling. The original commenter held some strong opinions about homeschooling, but his arguments demonstrated that he was more informed by stereotypes than by any real familiarity with actual homeschoolers. One of his assertions was that, "Only parents who can afford to stay home all day can afford to home school." This sparked the following little exchange, which caught my interest:

Janine Cate said...
>What I don't understand is why homeschooling elicits such animosity that traditional private & parochial schooling does not.

I think middle class parents don't feel guilty about not sending their children to a parochial or private school because of the cost. With homeschooling being within reach of middle class, it would be easy to get defensive.

Anonymous said...
Just to be picky ... many, many middle class families send their kids to private school. Private schools are not the exclusive domain of the rich. Very often, middle class private schooling parents make similar financial sacrifices that many homeschooling families make in order to give their children the education that's best for them. It's all about freedom of choice for each family.: But the commenter is correct that private schoolers do not seem to be called out as having "abandoned" public schools the way homeschoolers are.
Janine Cate said...
That's very true. For some reason middle class families are seen as noble for sacrificing to pay for private school while homeschool parents are seen as selfish. Go figure.

And then Dana at Principled Discovery has been playing around with some homeschool stereotypes . All this has had me thinking a bit about homeschool stereotypes, so it profoundly satisfied the armchair anthropologist in me to stumble across this poll, which demonstrates that the reality is much more diverse than the stereotypes:

Q: Will the stands the candidates take on education affect how you vote for President?
(of 58 respondents)

59% - They must support homeschooling!
16% - I don't care, I'll homeschool anyway.
14% - I will vote for my chosen party anyway.
12% - I don't vote.

NOTE: Well over half of those responding to this poll want the highest office filled by someone who recognizes the needs and contributions of homeschoolers.

Q: Why do you homeschool?
(of 459 respondents)

42% - Just feel it is the right thing.
22% - Religious reasons.
19% - Academic reasons.
12% - Child had trouble in public school.
04% - Secular reasons.
01% - Medical reasons.

NOTE: This counters the standard assumption that most homeschoolers do so for religious reasons - 78% of those answering this poll teach their own children at home for other than religious reasons.

Q: The media think homeschoolers have above average income.
Where do you really fit?
(of 386 respondents)

11% - $10,000 - $20,000/year
18% - $20,000 - $30,000/year
20% - $30,000 - $40,000/year
15% - $40,000 - $50,000/year
13% - $50,000 - $60,000/year
23% - more than $60,000/year

NOTE: With 49% of respondants living on under $40,000.oo, it is hard to uphold an argument that insists we are all 'well-off'. Only 23% are earning over $60,000.oo.

Q: How many children are you homeschooling?
(of 539 respondents)

17% - Only one! An only child.
08% - Only one! The rest go to public school.
33% - 2.
17% - 3.
13% - 4 or more.
12% - None, yet! But Thinking about it.

NOTE: 25% of respondents have a one-to-one student-teacher ratio! 67% are schooling three or fewer children for a ratio of 3-to-1 or better. 12% are looking into the possibility (some even before they have their children!).

Q: What style of homeschooling do you use most? ?
(of 246 respondents)

07% - Umbrella School/School at Home
18% - Packaged Curriculum/School at Home
43% - Eclectic Curriculum/School at Home
18% - No Curriculum/Relaxed Homeschooling
10% - No Curriculum/Unschooling
04% - Other

NOTE: Only 25% of those responding are using commercial pre-set curriculums. 43% are using some varied combination of the vast and diverse resources available, and 28% utilize little or no structure at all. -I've no clue what the other 4% are doing, but hey - it's probably pretty interesting!

Q: Have you seen a big difference in your homeschooled child?
(of 319 respondents)

22% - Yes, improved academically over PS.
16% - Yes, improved attitude over PS.
39% - Yes, better attitude AND academically.
10% - Yes, better attitude compared to peers.
06% - Yes, better learning compared to peers.
07% - No, behavior and learning no different.

The first two answers are those who have taken their child out of an institutional school. The third answer is those who felt *both* criteria were better. The fourth and fifth are those who have homeschooled all along. The last is those who felt *both* criteria showed no improvement.

NOTE: 39% said they see both better attitude and academic results in their homeschooled children compared to peers and/or the institutional schooled situation. A full 93% said that they had definitely noted improvement. 65% said they saw better attitudes in their homeschooled child than in peers and/or the institutional schooled situation. 67% said that they had noted academic improvement over peers and/or the institutional schooled situation. Only 7% said they had noted no improvement at all.

Q: Have you found homeschooling to benefit your family?
(of 485 respondents)

34% - Yes, we are closer than ever!
11% - Yes, less school related stress.
05% - Yes, the kids are happier.
45% - Yes, all of the above!
02% - No, my kids hate it!
03% - No, I hate it!

NOTE: Fully 95% of those responding to this poll said "Yes!". 5% noted that at least their kids were happier. 11% found at least some stress relief, while 34% said that they at least found their family social ties to be stonger. 45% felt that they had all those things going for them. Only 5% found homeschooling not helpful.

Back to Homeschool Week: Getting Out There

2007-08-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Today we are "getting out there" to the county fair so dd7 can enter her 4-H displays. She joined 4-H mostly as an opportunity to make friends, but it hasn't been such a successful venue for that, mostly because meetings are structured around club business without much time for socializing. "Getting out" has one of two purposes -- relational or educational. It's ideal when then two overlap and mesh. We've had some great educational outings this past year...wild days on the prairie, the aviation museum, the zoo, the history museum. The relational thing though, has been difficult. In our old home, we got together with other homeschoolers every week, plus there were friends in the neighborhood and friends at church. So dd was used to a fairly high level of social contact -- not lots of friends, but a few friends she saw frequently. But this past year we moved, and in our new town, try as we might, we find ourselves more isolated. We've participated in two different homeschool groups, but we have to drive an hour and a half to get to either of them, so that limits our involvement. We've gone to the park and the pool, but all the children seemed to be either preschoolers or teenagers. Where were all the school-age children? Then we passed the schoolyard. It was full of kids. Oh. That's where they are. They're all in the school's summer day camp.

In spite of discouragement, I'm still determined to be proactive. So we're hosting a Not-Back-To-School Social for the area homeschoolers, whom we haven't seen all summer.

And we're not entirely friendless. The kids have found a few neighborhood and church friends, good kids from good families that I consider quality friends. And it's time for two important life lessons: learning the difference between acquaintances and real friends, and finding that your siblings can be your best friends.

Back to Homeschool Week: How We Homeschool

2007-08-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Montessori preschool: When my oldest children were three and four years old, I began learning about Montessori education and making and creating Montessori materials became quite a hobby. I used to stress and obsess, trying to be a Montessori purist, but now, with my third child, I find that Montessori teaching comes more easily and naturally to me and incorporates quite seamlessly into the rest of our homeschooling -- now that I am NOT trying to adhere rigidly to Montessori ideals. My dream was that my youngest would occupy herself with Montessori activities while I worked with my older ones on their lessons; sometimes that happens, sometimes not. But I find if I put in one or two ten-minute sessions of working with my littlest one each day, she is much more likely to involve herself with the materials independently (sometimes even at a time that is convenient for me!)

Montessori strove to make her schools more like a home than a school, and much of the work done by the children, especially the youngest ones, is "Practical Life" and "Care of the Environment" -- washing hands, dressing themselves, dusting, mopping, sweeping, polishing, folding, washing dishes, preparing food. So much of this is naturally a part of living at home with young children anyway, but the Montessori way of following a child's interest, breaking down a task into its parts, demonstrating slowly and with few words, and observing the child's progress, are incredibly effective and take only a few minutes to do while caring for your child or when he "helps" with chores.

Practical life is the foundation of Montessori education. Following that, works which focus on a specific tasks can be prepared and set out on a tray for the child to use. These are fun to make and can usually be put together using household or dollar store items. Examples might be transferring objects using a spoon, tongs, or tweezers, pouring, sorting, and sequencing. Many of these exercises are "Sensorial", that is they develop the use of the senses and the act of evaluating, naming, and classifying information received through the senses. (And if you've read Rand or Aristotle, it makes perfect sense why this would form the basis of a young child's education. I actually read Montessori first, then got very excited as I began to dabble in philosophy and found these same ideas.) My older children still fondly remember our Montessori trays, and are delighted now to revisit them and show their little sister how to do them.

Every Montessori activity is intended to foster self-direction, independence, concentration, precision, carrying out tasks in sequence, and small and large motor control. Tasks always move from simple to complex, and from concrete to abstract. Beauty, simplicity, and order are of essence in the "prepared environment" -- which is essentially an environment with work prepared and ready for the child to do when he is ready for it, and child friendly tools and work spaces at hand. In a classroom this means everything is available on low shelves at all times, everything is child sized, and nothing is off limits. At home, this is utterly impractical, but I have found that just having a few, rotating work choices available on shelves, and a few other mom-supervised activities prepared and at hand, as well as including my wee one in chores and giving her "jobs" to do is all that is needed to keep her busy and actively learning and working.
Several Montessori games have become a permanent part of our homeschool. One is the Silence Game. The children try to sit as perfectly quietly and motionlessly as they can until they hear me whisper their names one by one. The period of silence is gradually lengthened over the months and years, from less than a minute to several minutes as the children gain self-control. Another game we enjoy is the Birthday Game. On his birthday, a candle is lighted, which represents the sun. Then the birthday child carries a small globe around the candle once for each year, representing how many times the earth has travelled around the sun in his lifetime. Our older ones still ask for this game on their birthdays! Walking on the Line is yet another game --it's just what it sounds like, walking toe to heel on a line drawn on the ground. Montessori invented it after observing how children do this anyway!

From Practical Life and Sensorial works, we move to Math and Language activities. Maria Montessori was herself an excellent mathematician, and the math materials she designed are excellent. In fact, many of the math programs used by homeschoolers -- such as Schiller and Right Start -- are Montessori based. However, I have made most of our math materials inexpensively -- and gained a better understanding of math myself in the process. We are still using our Montessori math and geography materials on through the elementary years.
In future I'll be posting photos and instructions of how we've made and used Montessori lessons and materials for anyone interested.

Reading Reflex: I used the Montessori language works --sandpaper letters, moveable alphabet, "I Spy" game, and pink-blue-and-green cards -- up to a point. But then we found ourselves stuck. Montessori's reading system probably works well for Italian, her native language, but leaves something to be desired in English. Reading Reflex by Carmen McGuiness filled in the holes for me. My older children are very proficient, happy readers. I've written more about Reading Reflex in this post.

Classical content: A classical education was my husband's idea. I am eternally grateful that he insisted on this. Our children thrive on it and are challenged, and it gives me structure and direction. The three stages of the trivium follow and nurture the natural pattern of human cognitive development. I follow the four-year cycle outlined in The Well-Trained Mind, with history forming the spine our our studies.

Independent work: A friend of mine who is a veteran homeschooler and is mom to six makes a weekly list for each of her children with tasks (schoolwork and chores) which must be accomplished and checked off during the week. I tried this out with my own children and found that, with a little coaching ("Good, you finished that one. Check it off and see what's next...") they quickly learned to work independently with their list as a guide. At this point, they each have about 1/2 to 1 hour's worth of independent work each day -- Bible/Bible story reading, reviewing catechism, math practice, typing practice, coloring and mapwork for history, and some additional reading.

Charlotte Mason:

narration:This has been such a useful tool for developing attention to detail, memory, and verbal expression (as if my little yappers needed help with verbal expression!)

copywork: I have actually struggled with copywork, how much to expect (especially when my children were just beginning to write), figuring out how to do it, and being prepared for it. Lindafay's blog has been helpful in this area, and I feel like we're finally getting the hang of it. However, for awhile this year we did some formal spelling study, and this made a big difference in the kids' spelling (and they loved it and begged for more -- my kids just seem to really like formal academic work) so we may go back to that. Getty Dubay handwriting books are also my favorites.

nature study: Can you believe I was stressed out by nature study? I couldn't plan for it, and I didn't feel knowledgeable enough to just let it happen. Wild Days by Karen Skidmore Radcliffe made it doable -- it is one of my favorite homeschooling books. I try to do two "wild days" per month, but if we find something interesting in the backyard -- which we do with ever increasing frequency as our habit of observation has increased-- I've learned to say, "Go get your nature notebooks!" We focus on nature study when it's nice outside, and save hands-on "hard science" for long, dark winter days when everyone has cabin fever anyway.

short lessons: Even though my dc often beg to go on, keeping lessons short keeps everyone interested. And, true to Montessori's principles, the children practice, internalize, and extend what they've learned through our lessons together in their play and free time. We spend 2-3 hours per day on formal studies.

arts, crafts and handwork: I don't do this during our "formal" lessons, but keep things ready to pull out on a rainy (or snowy) day. We've been enjoying Winky Cherry's sewing books, Drawing with Children, watercolor painting, origami, calligraphy, and nature crafts.

year-round schooling: Since our state has a "teaching time" requirement, I opted for keeping up our homeschooling year round, in order to (more or less) accomplish that and still maintain a relaxed pace. It also allows us to take a break when we feel we need it, and prevents end-of-summer boredom.

music: My dh and I have eclectic musical tastes, so there is always a variety of music playing in our home, from classical to liturgical to folk rock to ...some of dh's more extreme tastes. I have taught my children Suzuki violin, but we need to be more dedicated to that. The children have taught themselves recorder from a book pretty much independently after a brief introduction by me. Learning hymns and chants by heart has been a big part of family catechesis -- chanting has the bonus of being an excellent introduction to singing and ear training. And we keep meaning to get back to Mrs. Stewart's Piano Lessons.

languages: Dh and I both have language majors and post-graduate linguistics training, so we are language oriented as a family. The children have worked their way through the Hey Andrew! Level 2 Greek book; Dad is going to take over teaching that next year, now that they have a handle on the alphabet and a little vocabulary. Both children also expressed a desire to learn Spanish, so dh ordered the Pimsleur Spanish course. I was dubious since this is an audio course for adults, but the 30-minute lessons are perfect for kids too -- no reading or writing involved.

using the computer as a tool: I keep the computer stocked with a limited choice of educational games: typing, math, spelling, geography, and chess are the current ones. Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- And What We Can Do About It by Jane Healy really opened my eyes about how to make the best choices for educational computer use.

He Puts His Name on Us

2007-08-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."
Numbers 6:22-27

The Aaronic blessing concludes the liturgy of the church -- and it is not just a ritualistic goodbye, but a sacramental act. The Divine Name is actually being placed upon the people of God -- recalling baptism, when we were first signed with the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It it the triune name, indicated by the threefold repetition: the LORD bless you...the LORD make his face to shine upon you...the LORD lift up his countenance upon you..." When the pastor, acting in the name of Christ, puts God's Name on the people, He will -- and does --bless us.

Why? ...Why Not?

2007-08-05T14:43:00.001-07:00

I really cannot remember a time, at least from the time I got married and had any conscious thought of having a family of my own, that I was not planning to homeschool. It was more like an intuitive decision, a natural action. So to delineate my reasons for doing so is actually quite an exercise.

Still, once we hit that first challenging year of formal homeschooling, I found I needed to be able to remind myself "why" I was doing this thing. And this year, when we moved to a small town, with few if any other homeschoolers around, where community life centers around the schools, where we were not only the new kids in town but the oddballs as well, I found I needed to really spell out, for myself, why I homeschool.

It all seems like one reason in my own mind:

Family unity. Raising our young Christians in keeping with their baptisms. An integrated life. A meaty education. Learning to think. Learning right and wrong, rather than how to follow the crowd. Real history instead of "social studies". "Sex education". The precedence of the family over the state. Really belonging to an organic whole instead of being lost in the herd. Making sure my children go out into the world as adults, not as large children. Imparting practical skills, not just head knowledge. Sharing a way of life. Restoring what is broken in the modern world.

It's Back-to-Homeschool Week

2007-08-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Randi at I Have to Say... is hosting Back-to-Homeschool Week:

Next week, here on my blog, I will be hosting "Back to Homeschool Week". There is a topic for each day and my hope is that my fellow homeschoolers here in the blogosphere will participate by posting their own experiences on their blogs. This is the time of the year that our thoughts begin to turn towards curriculum, planning and scheduling, and I thought that gathering together to encourage one another would be beneficial all of us.

Join in the fun! I'll be posting my thoughts on the daily topics here. (Oh goody! I loove essay questions!)

Toothpaste

2007-07-29T19:32:00.001-07:00

It is a good thing to find blobs of toothpaste in the children's bathroom sink. It means they are brushing their teeth.

Year 3

2007-07-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Theology:
NT Catechesis w/Dad
Memory work
read Exodus & Matthew
The Story of Icons
Icon coloring book set

Math & Logic:
Developmental Math workbooks
Montessori math lessons: multiplication, division, fractions, decimals
Memorization of multiplication and division facts
(on the link, scroll down to "The First Year Student and Math Facts")
Mind Benders A1
FamilyMath & Let's Play Math activities
Mathematicians are People Too Vol. 1
Mathmagic (Childcraft)
Math for Smarty Pants
On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales
Anno's Magic Multiplying Jar
The Story of Clocks and Calendars: Marking a Millenium

Language:
copywork: copying own narrations which mom writes out
dictation
Getty Dubay handwriting book C or D
English for the Thoughtful Child
Greek: study of John
Typing with Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor
memory work: selected poems & psalms, the Gettysburg Address, the Preamble to the Constitution, Chief Joseph's speech

History: Early Modern
Spine: Story of the World vol. 3 & activity book
Usborne Book of World History
Squanto's Journey
Pilgrims First Thanksgiving
Buttons for General Washington
Louis Braille, the Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind
America's Paul Revere
Naya Nuki: Shoshone Girl Who Ran
Seaman: The Dog Who Travelled with Lewis and Clark
Tree in the Trail
Great Speeches of Native Americans
Trail of Tears
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin
Ben and Me
American Adventures: True Stories from America's Past
Phoebe the Spy
The Double Life of Pocahontas
Betsy Maestro American History series
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution!
The Birchbark House
How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark

Geography:
Montessori puzzle maps
Montessori pin maps
State by State

Science: Chemistry & nature study
nature notebooking
4-H projects
Handbook of Nature Study
Burgess Bird Book
Learning the Birds podcast
A Drop of Water
Fizz, Bubble and Flash: Element Explorations & Atom Adventures
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

Literature:
Favorite Poems Old and New
Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare, 6 stories
A Treasury of North American Folktales
Kildee House
The Wheel on the School
The Sign of the Beaver
Caddie Woodlawn
The Prince and the Pauper
The Incredible Journey
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Courage of Sarah Noble
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Art, Music, & Handwork:
Suzuki violin
Recorder using Recorder Fun!
My First Patchwork Book
My First Machine Sewing Book
origami projects from Easy Origami
nature crafts from Nature Smart
Native American crafts: moccasins, beadwork, pine needle baskets
Hymns: 1 per month
continue observation drawing using Drawing for Children
Watercolor for the Artistically Undiscovered
picture study of 6 artists
music appreciation 6 composers

Most of the books are on Amazon in a listmania list here.

Bored.

2007-07-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

That's right. The almost-eight-year-old is bored. I informed her that this is the normal condition of being almost eight, and that it will likely pass once she actually turns eight. But I am confused. This is one of two imaginative, resourceful children who are adept at entertaining themselves, spending hours painting with watercolors, reading (very challenging) books, writing, pretending, playing chess and Clue and card games, and begging to be allowed to help with the cooking. Today this very same bored child spent a long, peaceful morning looking at a book of string figures and figuring out how to do them.

I am also chagrined. Because this bored child is asking to go to public school, thinking that it will alleviate her boredom. But in his essay Against School, John Taylor Gatto writes:

School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently. Well-schooled kids have a low threshold for boredom; help your own to develop an inner life so that they'll never be bored. Urge them to take on the serious material, the grown-up material, in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, economics, theology - all the stuff schoolteachers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your kids with plenty of solitude so that they can learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct inner dialogues. Well-schooled people are conditioned to dread being alone, and they seek constant companionship through the TV, the computer, the cell phone, and through shallow friendships quickly acquired and quickly abandoned. Your children should have a more meaningful life, and they can.

What is happening here? I thought we were already doing this. Shall I utter the lament of Everyparent: "Oh-where-did-I-go-wrong?" Or is it Gatto that is wrong, about school being the source of boredom?

But Gatto goes on :
Who, then, is to blame?

We all are. My grandfather taught me that. One afternoon when I was seven I complained to him of boredom, and he batted me hard on the head. He told me that I was never to use that term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my fault and no one else's. The obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and people who didn't know that were childish people, to be avoided if possible. Certainty not to be trusted. That episode cured me of boredom forever, and here and there over the years I was able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable student.

This is, in essence, what I tell my daughter. Boredom is the product of the undisciplined mind and body, not of environment.

But I also investigate further. What activity or benefit is she expecting school to provide? Why, specifically, does she think school will solve her boredom problem?

Her younger brother is ahead of her in math, she tells me, and she feels bad about this. This is true. Actually, they are at about the same level. She is doing perfectly well with math, but he is a year and a half younger, and has a knack for math. "The way to get better at math," I point out, "is to work on it more. Do you want to work more on math?"

"Yes," she says. "I want to work on it every day!" She goes on to tell me that public school kids work six hours each day instead of two or three, so they must be learning more. I point out that that is not necessarily true, since she knows as much as, if not more than, schooled children her age. Learning only happens if interest an attention are there, which is why we get more done in less time at home. "Do you really want to have someone else do your thinking for you and tell you what to do with your time?" I ask. "That is what your six hour public school day would be like."

"Yes," she replied, "sort of. Sometimes I don't know what to do." The answer is dawning on me. Her request for public school is a request for more structure, more direction, more responsibility, and more challenge. I think of what would have been expected of a seven or eight year old child 100 or even 200 years ago -- perhaps not so much academically, but several hours of home and farm chores and learning practical skills like sewing and knitting. A girl of eight in those days was halfway to adulthood; it was time for intensive training in the complex tasks of running a home. I think back over the past few days: happy, smoothly-flowing days. I had assigned her more tasks than usual: baking something without my assistance, entertaining her little sister, mopping the floor, writing her 4-H story. She is asking for more of this sort of day: guided days, so she can move into more complex projects, greater responsibility, and a larger sphere of independence. I run this idea by her. Yes, she says, that's what she wants. More projects. And more jobs.

As homeschoolers we often argue, along with authors like the late Raymond Moore and Charlotte Mason, that we want to allow our children to have a childhood, to not push their learning, to not hurry them to grow up too soon. We want to give them the gift of time, to look at the clouds, to dig in the sand, to think for themselves and discover their own interests. So, then, isn't it paradoxical that John Gatto also resonants with us when he says:

Don't let your own have their childhoods extended, not even for a day. If David Farragut could take command of a captured British warship as a pre-teen, if Thomas Edison could publish a broadsheet at the age of twelve, if Ben Franklin could apprentice himself to a printer at the same age (then put himself through a course of study that would choke a Yale senior today), there's no telling what your own kids could do.

Are we talking out of both sides of our mouths here? I don't think so. Our culture does force children to grow up too quickly...and at the same time it inhibits maturation, pushing the age of adulthood back farther and farther. Perhaps it is that we foist upon children the problems and privileges of adulthood without establishing a foundation of responsibility, identity, belonging, and order. Or perhaps it's that we give them breadth without depth, as Dana has been pondering. I'd like to hear from others -- what do you think?

At any rate, with my "bored" child, I am reminded that "giving the gift of time" and "letting them follow their interests" doesn't mean doing nothing or giving no direction. Instead of leaving her so many free hours to play -- she has matured beyond that -- I need to revisit the Moore formula, and make sure she has a sufficient dose of study, service, and work.

You Call Me 'Good'...

2007-07-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

Did Jesus come to teach us to be good people?
Well, that depends on how you want to read the Bible. We can read the Bible, beginning to end, as a book of rules telling us what will make God happy, what we have to do, and then go out and try to do it. We may make an admirable try. Yet we know that, without exception, we will fail. Not only will we fail to do what is right before God, we will actually break his law and make him angry. Then what? If we don’t manage to follow that old saw, “What Would Jesus Do?” every minute of every hour of ever day, what good does it do us? None. Yet we can’t do it perfectly. Nobody ever has.

So where should our focus lie? What did Jesus come to teach us? He wasn’t crucified for what he said about how to live a good life. The Pharisees were all in favor of rules. They were angered, and plotted against him, and crucified him, because of what he said about Himself. “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the light of the world.” “I am the bread of heaven.” “If you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life in you.” When they asked him clearly if he was the Son of the living God, he said that he was, and that they would see him coming in power. And see him come in power they did– as he went to the cross, and paid the price for all our falling short.

Did Jesus come to teach us to be good people? No. He came to teach us that we cannot be good people, but that he, the only Good Person, would pay the price for our not being good, and give his goodness to us so that we could stand beside him, without fear– so that we could see God. Any teacher who says that the core of the Christian faith is “How to be good people” has entirely missed the point. Any church that makes our goodness the center of their preaching is not a church of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ has gathered us on the foundation of his goodness, not our own. He laid down his life to buy us, poor miserable sinners that we are. That is how we read the Bible– the whole Bible– as the story of God’s love for us, which led him to give his life for people that would never be good without him.

82nd Carnival of Homeschooling

2007-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

...is up at Tami's Blog. Check it out!

The Story of Christianity

2007-07-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Church history has become an area of passionate interest for me in the past couple of years, so among the books currently on my bedside table is The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez. It is a general overview of church history, and I have been working my way through it slowly over the past eight months -- I'm sure it's going to take me at least another eight months to finish it, since I have barely reached the Middle Ages. (It's not dense reading at all; I just don't have lots of time to devote to it, and I am trying to fully process what I am reading as I go along.) Gonzalez is a Methodist, and although his Methodism peeks out in corners, it is so far an engaging read without too much bias. The is my first chronological jaunt through the entire history of the Christian faith. I'm learning a lot and thinking about a lot, so I thought I'd begin posting my thoughts on this reading as I go along -- they will have the tag "the story of Christianity."

Abortion and the Weight of Glory

2007-07-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Marcy at Marcy's Musings wrote recently about The New View of Abortion . This "new view" is embodied in Dr. George Tiller "the Killer" of Wichita KS. Tiller is the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, an abortion clinic specializing in late-term procedures.

Tiller's clinic is unique in that, rather than trying to persuade women that what they are disposing of is not human -- a difficult case to make for a late term abortion -- women are offered grief counseling, photos, memorabilia, funerary services, and "spiritual care" (more here) -- including baptism of their aborted infants. (Yeah, that makes sense: kill them and then baptize them.) Indeed, in the counseling process, patients are shown photos and given information about fetal development. They are also informed of their rights according to Kansas law. It's all very clean and above board.

The "chaplaincy" page on Dr. Tiller's website states that "abortion is acceptable in ten of the world's religions and in Christianity many denominations affirm and uphold the right of a woman to make the choice of abortion." Sorry, Dr. Tiller, but right and wrong is not determined by consensus of the world's religions. And within the Christian church, abortion has been soundly and universally condemned by the historic church from its inception, in every century but our own.

The pro-life movement has won a victory. The ignorance --willful or genuine-- of the mainstream "it isn't human; it isn't a baby" argument is crumbling under the tread of thousands of "tiny feet". But in its stead, an uglier and deeper evil has reared its head: rather than kill believing -- or persuading ourselves -- that we are simply removing unwanted tissue, now we kill what we acknowledge to be human, premeditated murder in full flower, and then desecrate the comfort of heaven and the sacrament of baptism by using them not to comfort the repentant, but to assuage the consciences of the guilty. "Your child is going to a better place. He won't suffer anymore." God be praised for His infinite mercy that that is true -- for the babies.

But the power of baptism resides in the death of Christ and in the Divine Name of the Triune God -- so the second commandment is broken as well as the fifth. Luther's Small Catechism defines the second commandment in this way: "We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use Satanic arts, lie or deceive by His Name, but call upon it in every trouble (including an unwanted pregnancy or a terminally handicapped child), pray, praise, and give thanks." Thus the new abortion is infinitely more harmful to the souls of the women involved than the former, as if the whole thing weren't both damning and damnable to begin with. There is no love in that. Tiller's baptisms belie him; they have nothing to do with the concern for the souls of babies, because he cares nothing for the souls of women -- the body, the opportunities and comforts of the world, maybe, but not the soul. And so the demon has returned, found his house swept clean, and has brought seven of his fellows, so that the latter state of the man -- and society -- is worse than the first.

Dr. Tiller, I am ashamed to say, is a Lutheran. He is even an elder in his church, but it is a liberal church in a liberal synod which has drifted far astray from the Lutheran Confessions. He ought to be excommunicated, according to the Scriptures, according to the canons of the ancient church, according to Luther. Instead he enjoys the protection and blessing of his church. Two theological errors are at the root of George Tiller's twisted humanitarianism: Gospel without Law, and the theology of glory. It is the Law in all its harshness which gives the Gospel its sweetness. When the Gospel is preached without the Law, Christ's death is an atonement for nothing, and grace is cheap -- "There is no right or wrong, just what's right for you." But what does Jesus say? He who is forgiven much, loves much. When we lessen the seriousness of sin and the weight of its penalty, we lessen love.

The Theology of Glory is any theology which attempts to sidestep the cross and its sufferings. It is best illustrated by the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, when Satan tempts Jesus to bypass the cross by using His divine power to establish his Kingdom. Tiller presents himself as a Christian humanitarian because he performs late-term abortion on babies which have terminal genetic conditions. This is one of the two circumstances in which late -term (post-viable) abortions are permitted under Kansas law. Examples include spina bifida, cystic fibrosis, and fatal dwarfism. Isn't it the duty of doctors, especially Christian doctors, to end suffering? Yes, it is right to alleviate suffering, but within the bounds of God's Law. And yes, it is the duty of doctors to save life, but not to decide when it should end.

Aren't these children going to die anyway -- why should they be allowed to suffer pain and difficulty, when death will take them to heaven and ultimate healing? This is where the theology of glory really causes us to stumble. Suffering came into the world as the result of sin. But in taking up the suffering of the cross, Jesus Christ absorbed it into Himself and transformed it. When we suffer as Christians, we suffer with Christ, and if we suffer with Him, we will be glorified with Him. This is the theology of the Cross, which stands in opposition to the theology of glory. Christ Himself suffers not only for us, but in us and with us. In our suffering we are united with Him in His suffering; His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

We cannot eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferers. In this life God calls upon us to suffer, even little babies, who are made in His image, who share fully in the condition of humanity, and who participate fully in the riches of God's grace through baptism. Some of us suffer much, some of us little, and those of us who suffer little are called to serve those who suffer much, and to take up their burdens. We'd like to spare those children their time of pain, spare their families the emotional agony of caring for them, and the overwhelming expense of paying for that care. But we must do so unselfishly, by not sparing ourselves the spiritual burden of crying with them and praying for them, the temporal burden of providing respite for their families, and the financial burden of giving up our movies and our eating out to share in the medical expenses. If we really believed in eternal life, rather than hastening little ones on to glory through murderous means, we would recognize, as St. Paul teaches us, that our sufferings here are small in comparison to the incomparable weight of glory which will be ours in heaven.

Thoughts on Modesty

2007-07-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, when my husband was out of town, I indulged myself and stayed up all night on the internet surfing and following whatever bunny trails interested me. I started out shopping for long flowery skirts (which are not as easy to find as you'd think!), but what resulted was an all-night research on the topic of modesty.

It may seem odd to start out a post on the subject of modesty with a discussion of nudism, but bear with me! Yes, there really is a philosophical rationale behind soci al nudism (note: this Wikipedia article does include photos) and it is exactly the opposite of a perverse voyeurism/exhibitionism. Social nudists (no, I'm not one) maintain that clothes are an elitist expression of rank and power; they speak of the "textile world" in which people use clothing as a power tool to assert their status, wealth, knowledge, and sexuality and to present an (often false and pretentious) image of themselves to society.

This is an anthropological certainty and an important point in any discussion of modesty. Every culture uses clothing, and decoration, to communicate something to others. Often that something is false, pretentious, and power-driven. But because sin is in the heart, simply removing our clothes doesn't remove the problem.

Social nudists also base their ideology in respect and acceptance of the normal, natural human body, in the face of a culture which programs the mind and the eyes with images of impossibly perfect, over-sexualized bodies. This is truly a problem in our culture, and it is important to recognize that modesty is not the same as embarrassment. It is evidenced in our double standard for women of different ages and physiques. A curvaceous teenager wears something tight or revealing and receives compliments and catcalls. An older or overweight woman dons the same outfit, and passersby are appalled at her "lack of shame" -- not meaning that she ought to have a sense of modesty, but that she ought to be embarrassed about her unattractive body and cover it up. This inversion of values also becomes evident in American attitudes toward breastfeeding: a woman can wear a tight, sexy blouse with a plunging neckline and bare midriff that amounts to little more than a bra and no one blinks, but discreetly lift a modest top to breastfeed a baby in public, and you might find yourself the object of the anger, embarrassment, derision, or even legal actions of those around you.

Another assertion of social nudists is that nudity is not in and of itself sexual. Among some native cultures such as the Hawaiians, nudity is (or was) the norm. When Christian missionaries arrived in Hawaii in the early 19th century, one of the first cultural changes they introduced among converts was the mu'umu'u. To their great surprise, instead of increasing modesty and chastity, the exact opposite ensued. The men, accustomed to seeing bare female bodies, found themselves inflamed with lustful curiosity upon being confronted with so much mystery.

Which bring me to this: modesty is a universal social more. Every culture, even those which to our western eyes are completely naked, have rules or customs of modesty. Amazon tribal mothers teach their daughters to squat with their knees together. Fathers teach their sons to tie their male members up into a vine belt worn around the waist.

Though modesty is a universal ideal, its cultural delineations are not. Googling modesty took me far and wide, from Christian sites, to funky swimwear, to conservative Jewish instructions on how to tie a head scarf (I want one of these!), to high fashion Muslim styles. Everyone has a different idea about which body parts must be covered. Jewish customs define the torso as upper arms to the elbows, thighs to the knee, and chest to the collarbone, all of which must be covered, as well as every bit of head hair (no curls peeking out!). Serbian Orthodox cover the neck as well as the head and wear socks. Fundamentalist Christians do not uncover the thigh. This Catholic author express the concept well:

Modesty, however, can vary from place to place and time to time. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains, modesty concerns four areas of human behavior,

First, "the movement of the mind towards some excellence, and this is moderated by "humility." The second is the desire of things pertaining to knowledge, and this is moderated by "studiousness" which is opposed to curiosity. The third regards bodily movements and actions, which require to be done becomingly and honestly, whether we act seriously or in play. The fourth regards outward show, for instance in dress and the like" [ST II-II q160, a2].

Dress, external behavior, mannerisms, etc. are signs of the person, and become so in the cultural context in which the person lives, and in which it indicates something to others. The Christian conforms to the culture in such matters, unless sin is intrinsically involved (clothing which will have the general effect to tempt the opposite sex). Modesty is humility in dress and mannerisms, an outward sign of the disposition of the inner man. By not standing out the Christian assumes a humble posture toward his neighbors.
Head Coverings in Church, Colin Donovan STL

He rightly points out that modesty has a larger definition, encompassing much more than sexual mores. Modesty is a humble attitude before God and others, a desire to decrease that Christ may increase, self-restraint in all things. St. Paul illustrates this by vivid contrast between outward ostentation of wealth and beauty, and inward meekness and quietness. Donovan's article goes on to argue that head coverings are neither obligatory nor meaningful in our current cultural context. His argument falls flat, however, when he tries to use 1 Cor. 11:16 to support his point that head coverings are a merely cultural expression. An interesting and well-reasoned counterpoint can be found at Fisheaters.

Three points in all my researches interested me most. First, a comment by a fundamentalist Baptist about why clothing with a crotch is inappropriate for women: she points out that crotched clothing draws attention to the crotch area, while a skirt or dress draws attention to the face. When I looked at traditional women's clothing from many cultures, there was one commonality: the crotch area is covered. If pants are part of the costume, as with the Pakistani salwar kameez (which looks deliciously comfortable) a long tunic top covers the crotch area.

Second, the use of head coverings during worship has been a consistent custom among Christian women of every stripe (including us Lutherans) up until the 1960s -- it has been the norm in every generation but my own, as demonstrated by this telling pictorial history.

Third, the Greek word in 1 Timothy 2:9 katastole refers specifically to loose, flowing clothing, like a robe. It doesn't necessarily imply that only skirts or dresses should be worn, but that clothing should obscure the curves of a woman's body. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago at a public park where a pentecostal group was having an outdoor service. One of the young ladies definately stood out from the crowd in a pretty blouse, a long lacy head scarf...and a long black skirt that hugged every inch of her lower body. There are a million little ways to flaunt the external rules of modesty, because true modesty is an attitude of the heart, born of love for neighbor and a recognition of our place before God.

Now, does anyone know where to buy long flowery skirts?!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

2007-07-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

...make Limoncello!

This is a delightful traditional Italian lemon liqueur that is sweet, refreshing, intensely colorful, and easy to make. Check out the recipe and try it yourself!

Christmas in July

2007-07-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

And is it true? And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue,
A Baby in an ox’s stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for
me? . . .

No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with the single Truth compare—
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.

--Christmas, John Betjeman

John Betjeman was the most popular British poet of the twentieth century. Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984, he won the affection of the British middle classes, and his books were bestsellers at a time when poetry had generally ceased to sell.

The Wood Between the Worlds

2007-07-10T10:27:00.001-07:00

In Dumbing Us Down, John Taylor Gatto writes:

One thing I do know though: most of us who've had a taste of loving families, even a little taste, want our kids to be part of one. One other thing I know, is that eventually you have to come to be a part of a place, part of its hills and streets and waters and people -- or you will live a very, very sorry life as an exile forever. Discovering meaning for yourself, as well as discovering satisfying purpose for yourself, is a big part of education is. How this can be done by locking children away from the world is beyond me.

Some people think homeschoolers are depriving their children by locking them away from the "real world." They would probably agree with Gatto's statement if they didn't know its context. Homeschool families find this a very strange and incomprehensible point of view. In fact, we tend to think exactly the opposite -- as Gatto is actually asserting, that it is institutional schooling which locks children away from the world.

What is really at odds is not so much the definition of schooling, but the definition of home. Home in our modern society has been deconstructed into little more than a way-station, a place to sleep and eat (and not always even to eat!) and watch TV and store your stuff before you go out into the real world and live your real life. Home is a Wood between the Worlds:

"No, I don't believe this Wood is a world at all. I think it's just sort of an in-between place."
Polly looked puzzled
"Don't you see?" said Digory. "No, do listen. Think of our tunnel under the slates at home. It isn't a room in any of the houses. In a way it isn't part of any of the houses. But once you're in the tunnel, you can go along it and come out in any of the houses along the row. Mightn't this wood be the same? -- a place that isn't in any of the worlds, but once you've found that place you can get into them all. "
"Well, even if you can --" began Polly, but Digory went on as if he hadn't heard her.
"And of course that explains everything,' he said. "That is why it is so quiet and sleepy here. Nothing ever happens here."
---C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

Nothing ever happens at home. How can children grow up if they are trapped in such a nowhere place all day every day?

One of the essential elements of homeschooling, as a movement, as a philosophy, is the reconstruction of home and family life, of home as the hub, home as the place where the most significant interactions take place, home as the place around which the activities of life revolve. I have yet to meet a homeschooler, fundamentalist, atheist, or other, who doesn't seem to have at heart a profound concern for the restoration of genuine family and community life.

It isn't in any of the worlds, but once you've found that place, you can get into them all. After all, isn't a Wood-between-the-Worlds exactly the right place for children with magic rings?

On War

2007-07-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

"You've gotta learn that you can't shoot at people without letting them shoot at you."
--Aidan, age 6

In Reality...

2007-07-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've got a post in my drafts that I've been working on for awhile (and will continue to work on for awhile) about why I'm Lutheran -- the "why" being mainly the Sacraments. I have long desired to spell out my reasons in detail for my confused family and friends, and I am better able to do that in writing better than in conversation. In the meantime, Rebellious Pastor's Wife discusses with a Baptist how baptism now saves you also (1 Peter 3:21)

The title of her post calls to mind one of the turning points for my husband and I in our conversion. The footnote to 1 Peter 3:21 in the NIV Study Bible begins, "In reality..." and goes on to explain how "baptism now saves you" doesn't really mean that baptism saves you. How can you begin a study bible footnote with "in reality"? It belies a fundamental lack of faith in the words of Scripture, as if the Apostle Peter were a bit mistaken about reality and needs the commentator to help him out. That was when the scales began to fall away from our eyes. As evangelical protestants, we claimed to possess the highest view of Scripture, taking the words on the page at face value. But -- in reality -- we were reading our theological presuppositions into the text.

Presuppositions like: baptism is a human work. Human works cannot save. Therefore, baptism cannot save. So, almost unconsciously, we read "baptism" as "the spiritual reality that baptism symbolizes" -- or even "spiritual baptism".

But St. Peter, far from being out of touch with reality, goes on to clarify: "not as a removal of dirt from the body" (because he is talking about an actual physical washing with real water, he specifies that its effect is not ritual outward cleanliness) "but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience" (the remission of sin and guilt). How can water do such great things? "...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him."

First Butterfly

2007-07-07T14:26:00.001-07:00

Today the first of the swallowtails emerged from its pupa in our butterfly house:

We set him free in the back yard this afternoon. He fluttered across the lawn and visited two rosebushes before leaving the yard for the big world beyond. You can see one other pupa on the back wall in the photo. We still have plenty of big fat caterpillars devouring dill and parsley and pooping at an astonishing rate. (I had never really considered the scatological implications of keeping the Very Hungry Caterpillar in a small enclosed space!)

By the way, we ended up building a very different butterfly house from the one pictured in my previous post. This one is made from a cardboard box, with pieces of fiberglass screen taped into place over the windows. (The instructions can be found in Nature Smart by Gwen Diehn.)

One thing that I haven't been doing that I need to start doing is lining the bottom with paper towels so that the poop (frass) doesn't build up, creating a moldy environment. I keep their greens in a small vase, narrow necked to prevent any caterpillars falling into the water. A second vase is handy for replenishing the dill/parsley every few days. I take out the old vase full of greens, caterpillars and all and set it on the kitchen counter. I prepare a fresh bouquet in the second vase, then I carefully transfer any stems with caterpillars on them to the new food supply. (It's important to move the caterpillars by cutting off the stem or leaf they are standing on and carrying that. Pulling them off the branch with your fingers can tear off their prolegs, the false legs at the back of the caterpillar's body used for gripping and climbing.) Then the old vase is washed out and ready for the next feeding.

Color by Numbers

2007-07-07T06:16:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, we learned that Aidan has some "color deficiency", as the ophthalmologist put it. Poor guy -- he was squinching up his eyes and glancing alternately at me and the doctor unbelievingly as he tried to see the image on the card that we assured him was there.

This week, Erin asked me, "Mom, why do numbers have colors?" My eyes got round as I questioned her further; it appears that we have a synesthete in the family.

All this is making me wonder about my own genetic weirdness -- both of these are X-chromosome linked traits.

Punk Pastoral Care

2007-07-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

So yesterday was the Fourth of July. We had a good time at the city's hot dog feed at the park, and met up with several of our parishioners there. As we were saying goodbye, M. said to my husband, "See you Sunday, Pastor!"

To which the Man in Black replied, "Do I need to get out to the golf course for that?"

This isn't the first time Punk Pastor has gotten away with this sort of thing. When we were on vicarage, he visited H., a parishioner who hadn't attended church since anyone could remember, in the hospital. Now, this was in southern Arizona in the summertime, and temperatures were soaring into the 100s. The sidewalks were like the walls of an oven, and H. was in the hospital for treatment of second degree burns on his hands and thigh that he gotten falling on his driveway. "It was hot like hell," he told the vicar.

With holy love and almost-apostolic authority, the vicar speaks. "Hmm. Let that be a warning to you, then."

Blame the office of the Holy Ministry. "That must have been my office talking," he told me later, "because it wasn't me!"

Remembering Rich Mullins -- Ten Years Later

2007-06-21T15:48:00.001-07:00

I don't normally listen to CCM, but a couple of weeks ago I was driving home from some activity in another town, surfing round the radio dial, when a familiar, much-loved song that I hadn't heard for a few years came pouring out of the airwaves. It was Rich Mullins' Calling Out Your Name. It's a song that has always resonated with me, but listening to it while driving across the grasslands at sunset brought tears to my eyes. No wonder. The song is about the very same wide, empty corner of the world I was driving through. Or very nearly. Rich was "raised on Indiana clay" (where we spent most of the past four years), lived in Wichita for eight years and attended Friends University, and afterwards resided in New Mexico. He must have driven through our neck of the prairie to get there.

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man
"Creed", R. Mullins & Beaker

Though we're strangers, still I love you
I love you more than your mask
And you know you have to trust this to be true
And I know that's much to ask
But lay down your fears, come and join this feast
He has called us here, you and me

And may peace rain down from Heaven
Like little pieces of the sky
Little keepers of the promise
Falling on these souls
This drought has dried
In His Blood and in His Body
In the Bread and in this Wine
Peace to you
Peace of Christ to you

"A Communion Blessing from St. Joseph's Square", R. Mullins

Reading about his life I was both shocked and baffled to learn that he was a lifelong . . . Quaker???!! "I was twelve years old in the meeting house...listening to the old men pray..." Still, that didn't make sense. His music was so creedal and sacramental. It was one of the subtle driving forces, in fact, in my conversion to creedal, sacramental, catholic faith. Friends consider creeds and sacraments human inventions and shy away from them. But further searching revealed the answer to the mystery: Rich had been preparing for and was ready to receive communion in the Roman Catholic Church immediately prior to his death.

We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are
"Not As Strong As We Think We Are"

Rich Mullins' music shaped my faith as a teen and young adult in a multitude of ways. His music is profound and poetic, but what really gives it substance is the rich theology behind it. Before I knew what to call it, I learned the Theology of the Cross from Rich's music. He deals much with human frailty, with the "not yet" of the Christian life.

Why do the nations rage?
Why do they plot and scheme?
Their bullets can't stop the prayers we pray
In the name of the Prince of Peace

For the Lord looks down on the sons of men
To hear the cries of the innocent
And the guilty will not stand
For the day of reckoning soon will come
And the whole world will see justice done
By the Lord's almighty hand
"Why Do the Nations Rage?"

So I'm telling you the just shall live
I know the just shall live
I know the just shall live
By faith

And You will raise them up
I know that You will raise them up
That You will raise them up
On the last day

And the prayers stand where the fighters fell
And time testifies with the tale that it tells
That the meek shall inherit the earth
And the Church advances on the gates of hell
And she clings to a light that will not be quelled
By the kingdoms of this world
"The Just Shall Live By Faith"

His songs are replete with recurring themes of social justice, of identification with the poor and lowly, of the incarnation, of the glory of God revealed in the creation, of the church and her calling, of suffering and death, and of hope in Christ. He lived what he believed, teaching music and Christian faith to Native American youth on a the remote reservation where he made his home, mostly unaware of how successful his albums were because royalties went directly to his church, which paid him a modest salary and divided up the rest among various charities for the poor.

This life has shown me how we're mended and how we're torn
How it's okay to be lonely as long as you're free
Sometimes my ground was stoney
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it's done
Well if they dressed me like a pauper
Or if they dined me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind
I don't care

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye
"Elijah"

Rich Mullins left this life on September 19, 1997, in an auto accident on his way to a concert in Wichita, Kansas.

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals... like maybe loyalty or maybe faith... or maybe even love. But now we told by people who think they know, that we vary from amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are forever bound up in certain genetic reigns - that we are merely products of the way things are and not free - not free to be the people who make them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that we could believe that we were something to be made - something to be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars - used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way. Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap - dung heap though it is - and who say it is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either. What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means we are spiritual - that we are responsible and that we are free - that we are responsible to be free.
R. Mullins, "Introduction to Higher Education and the Book of Love"

Homeless Man: Rich Mullins (on YouTube)
Wikipedia bio
Lyrics
An interview
I love what he says about the illusion of choices and about politics.

More quotes:
On mourning

On family values:

This whole "family values" thing is hugely misleading. It sort of implies that what your life is about is being happily married and having a beautiful family. And I go, "Wow, that's not what Jesus said."

You can have a wonderfully happy marriage or you can have a very successful experience with singleness and still not have anything at all when it's over. When we're dead, we're not married or single. And who we are is who we will be when we die. I think everyone should keep in mind that we will be dead very soon and live our lives in light of that. And your identity has to be something other than your marital status or your income.

On identification with Christ:

Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken. speech begins at 7:40 of the video

Use Real Words

2007-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, some teen-aged friends were asking my 6-year-old son what sports he liked to play. "Basketball, "was the reply.
"Oh, do you have your own hoop?" they asked.
"Yes, we have a little one on the trellis," he said. The two teens looked at each other in dismay. "What's a trellis?" they whispered to each other.

My husband and I both have post-graduate training in applied linguistics, and we have always operated on the notion that to little children, words, big or small are "just words", and they love to learn new ones. It is a fact of human mental processes that we cannot think about things until we can name them. That is why the first phase of the trivium, the grammar stage, involves identifying and naming; that is why Montessori education has so much material for nomenclature. That's why we use real words when we talk to our children.

Words are the means by which engage with the abstract realities of our world. I couldn't begin to understand or discuss an airplane engine or an oil rig or even a game of golf (things about which I know precious little) without first learning a lot of new jargon -- words.

That said, I think vocabulary is best caught rather than taught. Good books and a good dictionary are really all that's needed. I had to do "vocabulary building exercises" in school; I'm sure I benefited and learned some new words from it (like "donned his attire" -- I remember that one!) but I'm also sure that most of my vocabulary skills came from my dad -- who uses real words -- and from reading.

Provoking my thoughts on vocabulary --a thoughtful post at Dewey's Treehouse: "It ~~Pays~~ Makes-Some-People-Very-Nervous-That-You-Want To Increase Your Word Power"

Letting Go

2007-06-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at the pool, I waited at the bottom of the waterslide for my oldest to come shooting out the flume. My kids love the waterslide, but are not yet strong enough swimmers to swim to the ladder without help. But that changed yesterday. Erin hit the water paddling like mad. I reached out to put a hand under he belly as usual, but she shouted, "Let go, Mom!" So I let go, and she paddled on, all the way to the pool side. Of course she just had to tell the story to Dad when she got home.

Today I put her into somebody else's SUV with three other kids and sent her off to 4-H camp. I waited around until they were ready to leave. Then I told her goodbye, got in my van, and drove home with tears in my eyes. It is her first time to go to camp. It's her first time to spend a night away from home any place other than grandma's house.

Last night I checked over her bag. She had packed it herself, and there were a few things missing I knew she'd need. A flashlight. A bathrobe. Sunscreen. I tucked in her camera. And I found her swim goggles in the closet -- she'll wish she had those, I thought, and put them in the bag too. This morning she noticed the extra items. "Thanks, Mom," she said. "You're nice."

Sometimes people think that homeschool parents do what we do because we are clingy, or controlling, or overprotective. That we don't want to let our kids be independent and try their wings. That we're avoiding that universal milestone of putting our children onto the school bus for the first time and telling them goodbye. But the truth is that parenting means letting go. It's going to happen sometime, somewhere, some way, regardless of the choices parents make for their family. And it's always bittersweet.

I want my kids to try their wings. But I want to make sure they have roots as well.

Erin's going to have fun at camp. I can't wait to see the pictures.

My Best Advice

2007-06-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

To anyone reading this who may be considering homeschooling, reading about homeschooling, dreaming about or dreading homeschooling, my best advice ... do it. It's the toughest job you'll ever love.

But if you're going to do it, commit to it for at least a year. The first year is bumpy, and it takes a degree of commitment to iron out -- or ride out -- the bumps. The payoff often doesn't come until after the first year.

And have a care: homeschooling will reorient your worldview. It will challenge and probably change the way you look at many other aspects of life. It will very likely completely reorder the way you spend your time, organize your home, and relate to your children. In my experience it makes life much more integrated and full of connections. It also motivates you to open your own eyes and discover new interests and new questions and further your own education in ways you never imagined.

And speaking of organizing your home, some order and planning in the homemaking department is necessary to keep you from going insane. I use Flylady's system and consider it my lifeline; there is a link under her picture if you need to put a halt to your chaos. Planning meals, especially lunches, is essential. And anything you make that freezes well, always make double and freeze half when you make it. That ways you always have backup suppers handy for busy days.

Even though homeschooling tends to be mother's domain, don't forget they are their father's children too. Consult your husband when making decisions. Run your plans past him and ask what he thinks. Ask his advice...and follow it. I was never inclined toward a classical approach-- it seemed too rigid and structured, too heavily academic. But to my husband it seemed the most obvious, logical choice. I was amazed to discover my children's voracious enthusiam for world history and Greek myths. I found that they settled in happily to a structured routine of challenging work, and that structure and the interests it inspired spilled over into their play and free time. They needed it, thrived on it. And it took Dad to see it.

If homeschooling gets to be a struggle, if you find yourself butting heads with your child over certain lessons, ask yourself: is this an educational problem or a parenting problem? An educational problem has an educational solution -- a change in method or material, getting some specialized help, or just trying again later, will do the trick. A parenting problem rears its ugly head no matter what educational methods you try. I learned this the hard way with my oldest -- reading lessons simply became her chosen field of battle because she found that if she whined a little I would leap tall buildings in a single bound in an effort to "meet her needs".

Two years ago, when I was teaching my children to read, I found I was lost once we got beyond simple phonetic words like c-a-t. So I went to the library and checked out every book I could find on teaching children to read -- some that friends had recommended, and some that I just found in the library catalog. That's how I found Carmen McGuiness' Reading Reflex. I can't speak highly enough of this book. It's available on Amazon for about $16; Borders and Barnes and Noble carry it as well -- much less than a phonics program, and it takes children on up to a 6th-8th grade reading level. It is a phonetic method but is more intuitive than a traditional phonics approach. It gives simple diagnostic tools, and shows you how to analyze your child's errors in order to help them improve (e.g. if he makes this mistake, say this...). My children are 6 and almost 8, and spend their leisure time reading their Bibles and books like The Chronicles of Narnia. Enough said?

Actually not enough said, because there is one other factor to which I credit my children's enjoyment and skill in reading (and if you read the intro to Reading Reflex, you'll learn how skill and enjoyment in reading always go together) -- an environment rich in language. A rich pre-reading vocabulary is the main key to reading. Think of it this way: if a child does the work of deciphering the phonetic symbols on a page, only to discover that the resulting word is meaningless to him, he will be disappointed. And if he is disappointed in this way most of the time, he will become discouraged and give up. A broad vocabulary is easily imparted to a young child in the home -- by naming and explaining things using real words and not baby talk, and by reading aloud daily from living books.

My best advice with regard to math is: teach concepts concretely using manipulatives at least a year in advance of abstract work . I did this by accident, but it is actually what author Ruth Beechick advises in her books. So, for example, last year, (K and 1st for my two) we used only manipulatives the whole year. This year, (2nd and 3rd) the kids are working through workbooks using the addition and subtraction concepts they learned last year, and we are working with manipulatives only on multiplication and division concepts. Homemade math manipulatives work great and simple is usually better.

The principle of "less is more" definitely applies to homeschooling. We do formal "schooling" four days per week, two or three hours per day, year round, taking a break when family needs dictate. (Although when they get older, I'm sure they'll have to spend more time studying, but that additional time will be independent work.) Less is more applies to books, curriculum, and methodologies too. That's why I like CM. You can't get much more simple and paper free than narration, copywork, and real books. It isn't necessary to produce reams of written work, or to do every subject every day.

One big challenge my first year homeschooling was figuring out how to plan, and what to do if we didn't complete the plan. I'm not much of a planner...and for precisely that reason I require some sort of structure to keep me from completely flying apart. I finally got a grip on planning when I ordered Tanglewood's corebook -- I don't use it any more, but it did teach me how to plan enough to make sure we covered our intended materials in the course of the year. Counting pages and dividing them up to see how many pages per week you'll need to cover in order to finish by the end of the year is my simple proven method. I stop and take stock every few months to see if we need to work more on something or can loosen up on something else. I followed Tanglewood's curriculum pretty closely the first year, but have since branched out into choosing books myself as I have gained confidence and a better idea of what we want and need and what is out there.

Read widely and talk to people about the various philosophies and methodologies of homeschooling and take what appeals to you most from each. Don't get trapped by the idea that there is only one right way to homeschool or that you have to be a purist for something to work. I use Charlotte Mason's teaching methods, Maria Montessori's materials and manipulatives, classical content and underpinnings, and still allow for plenty of unschooling to happen in between. (Our unschoolish moments are some of our best.)

Live where you are. I live in a tiny corn-wheat-and-oil town, well over a hundred miles from huge museums, symphony orchestras, art galleries, zoos, science centers, or anything else that might be anyone's idea of "cultural and educational" experiences. But we have a great county museum that focuses on local history. We have a National Grasslands that comprises most of our county just waiting to be explored. The Santa Fe Trail runs past our town, and Coronado engraved his signature on a rock outcropping. We have a county fair to participate in. We've visited a vet's office and a taxidermist's studio. Our family doctor is always happy to answer the kids' questions. There is plenty to explore wherever you live, and things that seem ordinary and dull to you may prove fascinating to your children -- you may find as I did that your own boring little corner of the world is full of wonders.

Don't forget that playing and cooking and doing chores and doing art and building and swimming and exploring and playing games and all that other stuff is as much part of what you're doing as sitting around the kitchen table with "school" books. These are the things that turn children into whole, balanced adults and give meaning and purpose to the stuff in the books. It's HOMEschooling not homeSCHOOLING.

Favorite books:
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Schoolproof by Mary Pride -- the chapter on educational clutter is especially relevant
Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe -- the most useful and practical book I've found for incorporating nature study into homeschooling. Nature study stressed me out until I read this book.
Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds -- And What We Can Do About It by Jane Healy -- mostly addresses the use of computers in classrooms, but her recommendations to parents on how to choose educational software and use computers wisely is excellent
The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer -- a classical education through high school
Kingdom of Children by Mitchell Stevens --- a sociological study on homeschool parents; interesting insights into homeschool "culture"
Ruth Beechick's books

Other "best advice" on this blog
Attention, Retention, Comprehension...and Some Painting
Link to a tip on Charlotte Mason's principle of perfect execution applied to handwriting

Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

2007-06-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

For just ages I have been wanting to raise butterflies with the kids, but I haven't screwed myself up to order one of those kits with the caterpillars. It just seemed like kind of a big commitment, requiring a chunk of time and attention (and money). It also seemed a bit ridiculous to spend $30 for bug larvae that can be found crawling all over the green earth. So I've just kind of waited around for God to grace us with some caterpillars...and today He did.

The kids all came running in from the garden shouting ,"Mom! Mom! Caterpillars!" And there on our overgrown and bolting dill plant were two very fat black, orange, and white caterpillars. Upon closer inspection I found a third smaller one. We cut off the dill stalks with the caterpillars and placed them in a Ball jar with a coffee filter to cover it. Out came the nature notebooks, followed by about a half hour of drawing and writing about the caterpillars. They were promptly named: Bippy, Snippy, and Nippy.

I've just been online trying to find out what kind of caterpillar we've got. At first glance I thought they looked like Monarchs, but Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed, not dill. Also, ours have orange spots, not just stripes. Then I found this picture on What's That Bug:

Apparently they are Black Swallowtail caterpillars, which makes sense, since I have seen the butterflies in our yard. They feed on members of the carrot family: carrots, parsley, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace...and dill.

So tonight we are constructing something like this:

(Ideal, since we just replaced the screen to the back door and had a scrap. The top and bottom are round cake pans.)

Here are the most helpful links I found on raising caterpillars:

Butterfly School
Science News for Kids: Raising Caterpillars
Bug Guide: Black Swallowtails
Bug Guide: Raising Caterpillars

27 Things

2007-06-10T13:17:00.001-07:00

From ZenHabits, here are 27 Things Your Child Needs To Know and Isn't Getting in School. So much of this is what is kicked around in conversation in homeschool circles -- so much of this is the very reason many of us homeschool. But whether one homeschools or not, this is great food for thought. It would indeed be a shame to homeschool and not cover the territory ZenHabits lays out here.

More Dandelions

2007-06-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

I suppose in response to my recent blog on dandelions, my mom emailed me this blast from the past -- a poem I wrote in high school for a national fine arts competition sponsored by our church denomination. I've deleted the final two lines of the poem as it was entered in the competition, because they weren't part of my original composition; they were added on the advice of my mentors to make the poem's relevance to the theme of the competition more obvious (entries not in keeping with the theme would be eliminated). But I always felt those two lines were hokey and contrived, and detracted from the overall effect of the poem. So, since this is MY blog, and MY poem is appearing in print here -- probably in defiance of "full rights" -- I have deigned to publish it in its original, unadulterated form:

Dandelion

Are these the bold and mighty lions,

These fluffy, flighty dandelions?

The daisies laugh; the rose entices,

But dandelions sacrifice.

Shedding off their lions manes

As soft and silvery sailplanes:

Sailplanes to bear the seed

Wherever autumn’s wind may lead.

And in the spring, the ‘lions roar,

A thousand...

Plus a thousand more.

Shall I then merely bloom to die,

Or shall I be a dandelion?

Speaking of "full rights", I am reminded of my own naivete when I see this poem. I did not realize at age fifteen, nor was it explained to me, that my poem would become the property of the religious body operating the competition, and the implications thereof -- that it was theirs to publish without remuneration as often as they liked. So I was a more than a little bit shocked a few years later (in college in fact) when a friend showed me my poem in print in teen devotional booklet. I admit it was thrilling to see my poem in print in something fairly widely circulated, with my name on it and all. But mostly I was taken aback -- I had no idea that I had prostituted my poem in this way. How public -- like a frog! What did I sign where it said that my poem was no longer my poem? First rights is an acceptable exchange for participating in a competition -- but full rights is asking too much. It's too much like stealing.

A Voice From Beyond the Grave

2007-06-10T10:48:00.001-07:00

Today's Gospel portion was the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

Chris (dh) pointed out in his sermon today that the rich man is not looking around wondering why he is in Gehenna or trying to figure out which beggar he might have neglected. His seemingly selfless request that Lazarus be sent from the dead to warn the rich man's five brothers is merelya veiled attempt to pin the blame on God -- if the brothers will repent, it is God' fault, for not "doing enough" to save the rich man.

But Abraham answers, "If they did not repent upon hearing Moses and the Prophets, they will not repent even if someone is raised from the dead."

Ironically, Jesus later raised from the dead a man named Lazarus -- and the same scribes and Pharisees toward whom this parable was directed sought to kill him and send him back to the grave.

And then Christ Himself is raised from the dead.

Hear the message of Stephen before he was stoned:

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One *, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." (Acts 7: 51-53)

If they did not repent upon hearing Moses and the Prophets, they will not repent even if someone is raised from the dead.

*There's that tzaddik concept again...

Christ in the Psalms

2007-06-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

Chris (dh) has been reading a book called Christ in the Psalms and moderating an online study group for some of his seminary brothers on the same topic. He has been sharing with me some of the insights gained from this study, most recently the repeated references to the tzaddik --the righteous man --in the Psalms.

In Jewish tradition, tzaddik is more than just a generic word for a righteous individual. It is a title of honor for a person of exemplary righteousness, who plays a specific role in the community as such:

The word " tzaddik" literally means "righteous one." The term refers to a completely righteous individual, and generally indicates that the person has spiritual or mystical power. A tzaddik is not necessarily a rebbe or a rabbi, but the rebbe of a Chasidic community is considered to be a tzaddik. (From Judaism 101)

In the Psalms we find tzaddik in the singular (many translations fail to reflect this) -- the righteous man, rather than the righteous ones or the righteous people, or even the righteous individuals. Christologically speaking, the tzaddik in the Psalms is not just any righteous man, but the Righteous Man, the very embodiment of the Law, the Word incarnate. Read a few Psalms with this in mind, and the prophetic and the Christological leap off the page. Then read again remembering that in baptism we are united with this Tzaddik in His sufferings and triumph, and that He has placed His righteousness in us.

A Bad Year For Baby Birds

2007-06-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

The baby birds in our yard have been having a tough time surviving all around. Observing them, I wonder if it has just been an unusual year, or if nature is just this harsh all the time. There were three eggs in the robins' nest early in the spring; only two hatched. We saw the two leave the nest -- but found one dead a couple of weeks later under the pine trees on the north side of our house.

At the same time, a European starling had a nest in a hole in the sinnets of our house; to enter her home, she would perch on the electric wire running to the house, then dive down and maneuver straight up into the hole. Starlings are a nuisance bird, non-native invaders, unprotected by the law. This one had raised one brood early in the spring at the same time as the robins. I don't think any survived, since we found two near-fledglings dead on the ground under her hole, and never saw any others leave the nest. She is raising a second brood now. Two days ago, the children came running in from the back yard in a panic, shouting, "Mom! Mom! A baby bird has fallen out of the nest!" Dubious after the last batch of baby starlings, already dead when we found them on the ground, I went to have a look.

This was no near fledgling like the last ones. A tiny naked nestling with a wobbly head and a great yellow beak, lay curled on the ground, large read ants crawling on his pink skin. It seemed impossible that he had survived the fall of nearly nine feet. I picked him up. He fit neatly in the cup of my hand. I had never held a bird so small.

We carried him inside, brushed the ants off with a makeup brush, and wrapped him in a wash cloth. An internet search produced instructions on what to do. Put him back in the nest? I went back outside and studied the hole. I couldn't reach it, not even standing on the air-conditioning unit, and even if I could have, looking inside I could see that I would have to reach quite a ways into the hole up and over the joists...I couldn't even see where the nest was.

The little starling struggled in my hand. With immense effort, he hoisted his tiny naked chicken body up on his little feet, raised his huge, wobbly head...and then his yellow mouth bloomed open, and everything that is mommy within me melted into a mush of pity and admiration.

No, returning him to the nest was quite impossible, so we did the next best thing: put him in a cottage cheese container, lined with his washcloth, high up on top of the electric meter (the nearest the hole we could get him). I lashed it to the meter with yarn...the wind here blows ferociously most of the time.

We watched throught the day to see if the mother would find the makeshift nest and feed him. She came and went a few times. We saw the baby's little head peep up out of the container a few times, yellow mouth open wide, then flop back down. But she never went to him.

Evening came, and I considered taking him inside for the night. I was worried that he would get too cold. No, I thought. If we keep messing with him, that lessens his chances of being fed by his mother. He's survived longer than he would have had we left him to the ants. He has a chance. Leave him be.

But in the morning he was dead, motionless in the washcloth.

Carnival of Homeschooling

2007-05-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at About.com:Homeschooling. Take a peek!

Is It OFF?

2007-05-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our lovely 3-year-old goddaughter Sarai (in pigtails, on the left --if you look closely you can see the bandage on her fingers) suffered a terrible accident in which the tips of her second and third fingers were severed. A four hour wait for a doctor's care at a West African hospital may have cost her at least one of the fingers permanently. It's not certain yet what the outcome will be, and we are still praying for her recovery.

This has put a lot of thing into perspective at our house. Instead of rushing to the rescue, I find myself responding to cries of anguish from the backyard by simply calling out the door... "Is it OFF?" Most of the time, this brings silence, followed by a return to laughter and play as the kids, who have been apprised of and updated on their little friend's injury, remember what real suffering is.

Today, Abby came to me crying because of a teeny-weeny scrape on her finger. After a kiss and a "kiss-it-stroke-it-pat-it-bless-it" she was still carrying on quite inconsolably. Finally I told her, "Get over it, baby. Sarai's was OFF." And I put her down. She stopped crying and went off to play.

We joke about the old "you'd-better-eat-that-because-children-are-starving-in-Africa" parental lecture...but it's true. Having lived in a developing nation where malnutrition and diseases like polio and tuberculosis still devour lives each day, my thoughts turn frequently to families who suffer through war, hunger, and disease, reminding me to be very content that we can live in peace with a roof over our heads and food on the table.

In the meantime, watch out for finger-eating chairs.

The Big Green Lawn

2007-05-21T19:24:00.001-07:00

I am not by nature one of those individuals who aspire to a pristine monoculture carpet of green grass in front of (or behind) my house. I love dandelions; they are fun, pretty, and marvelously nutritious -- even medicinal. I think Hare and the Big Green Lawn is a wonderful book. I like to keep a chunk of backyard habitat and a vegetable garden, because I have this crazy notion that land is meant to produce food for people and animals. The only real use I have for expanses of cultivated grass is as a place for children to run around.

However, the house we live in was vacant for two years before we moved in. It hasn't exactly reverted to prairie like Hare's lawn; it's weedy in parts, and bare in parts, and so thatched it's almost dead in other parts. It is neither wild nor cultivated...it's just... scruffy.

We could have a lawn service come in and do the job...but I have this thing against putting chemicals on the place where my children play and my salad grows. No, it must be an organic lawn (more here and here). Crunch crunch. And so the restoration of the Big Green Lawn has become my personal quest, nay, battle...

My dear dedicated husband so loves his hippie wife that he rented the seed thingy from the hardware store and reseeded the whole mess. He has also assured me that he will rent the de-thatcher and the aerator in the fall and do that job as well.

Meanwhile, I am obsessed, anxiously nursing my tiny seedlings of blue fescue and waging a one-woman war on the weeds, following the tractor sprinkler day after day and filing ten-gallon bucket after ten-gallon bucket with anything that isn't grass -- but leaving the dandelions, of course.

Do Nothing

2007-05-21T18:31:00.000-07:00

Pastor Petersen muses on how God commands that we worship Him by doing nothing.

The Homeschool Wars

2007-05-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Homeschool Wars are uglier than the Mommy Wars ever were.

I was working up to posting this week about how I am fascinated by the diverse, even polemical, worldviews of homeschoolers. About how people who live in seemingly different universes could have this One Thing in common. One rather radical, counter-cultural Thing. One Thing which changes the whole shape of your daily life and family interactions.

I was going to write about how ironic it is that many Christians homeschool because they find the public school environment hostile to the faith and the values that they hope to pass on to their children -- and yet many pagans, atheists, Muslims, Jews, and others homeschool because they find the public school system too Christian. (It makes you feel a bit sorry for the public schools...by trying to please everyone, they can't please anyone.)

I was going to write about how my daughter said, "Mom, I don't know why, but I make friends with homeschoolers more easily than with other kids." I think it's because there is some underlying cultural commonality that homeschoolers share. Maybe it's because they stay home and spend more time relating to their parents and siblings. Honestly, I don't know how you could ever pin down what that commonality is...once you thought you'd found it, you'd find an exception.

I'm not a "why-can't-we-just-all-get-along" type. I have strong convictions; I believe in objective truth. My former pastor pointed out that it is actually disrespectful to those who hold convictions other than our own to exalt tolerance and attempt to assign equal validity to all viewpoints -- by so doing we negate them all, reducing them to mere mental constructs. But there is danger in the other direction as well -- loving others is not just a means to an end, gathering notches on our belt for our Christian witness.

As Lutherans, we're usually the odd ones out at Christian homeschool events. We're not arminians; neither are we calvinists; we don't believe in the rapture and we do believe in the sacraments. But we'd be the odd ones out at an inclusive group as well. As it is, we live in a little bitty country town. It's two miles wide. Life here revolves around the activities of the local public school. As homeschoolers, we make friends and fit in where we can. We have to drive sixty miles even to go to a homeschool group activity. That puts things in perspective. Anything less than fun and friendly isn't worth my gas money.

I'm glad my children are learning to make friends with practically everyone they meet. They get on just fine with little girls who only wear dresses. They hardly even batted an eye when they found that the children they wanted to play with didn't speak English; they just found ways around it. But they also have firm convictions. They know how to stand quietly with heads unbowed when prayers are said to another god. Homeschooling affords us -- I hope -- the opportunity to guide them and talk with them as they relate to all kinds of people and ideas, think through their faith, and learn to be gentle and humble as well as truthful, to be salt and light, and to genuinely love others. And, by God's grace, ample opportunity to set an example ourselves.

Teaching Children to FLY

2007-05-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

I hope I'm not violating any copyrights by posting this message from FLYlady here...mostly for my own benefit so I can refer to it:

Dear Friends:

Many of you over the years have sent in requests for helping your
children establish routines. I believe that everyone needs routines
and zones. As adults our zones involve the whole house. We can teach
our children all about BabySteps and Zones by taking their rooms and
breaking them down into Zones. This is long but worth the read.

Years ago, I implemented zones when I realized that my kids were
overwhelmed when I made the classic parenting mistake of sending my
kids into "clean" their rooms without any real instruction from me.
Then the tears that came when I went to check on them; they had done
what they thought was clean and of course it was not what I thought.
I realized that they feel the same way I do when a room seems out of
control and I don't know where to start. So we made zones. The
floor, the desk, the dresser, the bed and the closet. We set a timer
and they only had to work on one zone at a time. Instead of the
overwhelming task of "go clean your room" we set the timer for focus
only on the floor. Next was to let them know what they needed to do
with the items on the floor example: put the legos in the bucket, put
the books on the shelf, put the crayons in the box.

When the tasks are broken down into manageable BABYSTEPS they can
FLY too! Beating the timer was always the goal! They were able to
see how fast they could really do what needed to be done and feel so
proud of their accomplishment! Then you move on to the other "zones in
their rooms and then they learn how to "clean" their room one area at
a time plus they will see how little time it takes when they stay on
top of it before it gets out of control. They will find that they
like the order and the peace they feel with it.

This takes time, you have to lead by example and be patient. You
can't expect a 10 year old that has lived with CHAOS in their room
their whole life to change because you want them to. You will have to
help declutter their rooms first and then slowly implement what your
expectations are and teach them BabySteps. Give them praise for their
efforts and be careful of negative reactions when you think they have
not done something the way you would like it to be done. They are
looking for you to be proud of them.

You must help your children declutter their rooms before you can
teach them the zone way of taking care of their rooms. Once again
decluttering can be done the same way that you have done it in your
home. Do super fling boogies, hot spot fire drills, teach them about
these and help them early on how to let go of things that are just
taking up space that they don't love. Help them learn the difference
of owning things because they bring you joy and just being surrounded
by stuff that just takes up space, this will help them later in life
not to fill their own homes with stuff. Teach them to let go of
broken toys, teach them if they are so blessed with so many things
that maybe they can bless some other children that are not so
blessed.

Teach them the value of 15 minutes and keep your word. Set
a timer for 15 minutes and work together, if you don't get as much
done as you would like too, let it go and let them go. Try again
tomorrow, set the timer for 15 minutes and go again. Let them see
that it does not have to be torture. As SHE's we tend to hyper-focus
and want to keep going, but your kids need to believe you when you
tell them it is only 15 minutes. When they start to see what they
can accomplish they will be more agreeable to jump in for 15
minutes.

I will be perfectly honest here, I have decluttered their
rooms when they were not around to see it, things that I knew they no
longer played with, books that were no longer read, coloring books
that were full, broken crayons, dried up markers, a lot of what I
decluttered were things they never noticed were gone, but they would
have not considered giving up. I prefer to let them make their own
choices but sometimes we have to rely on when Mom knows best. I
would not recommend this for children over the age of 8 or 9, past
this age kids have established a sense of personal ownership and most
likely will notice things missing that the younger ones will not.

Now, you can take the zones in their rooms to the next level. Just
as we have the whole the house broken down into zones for a month we
can do the same for our kids and their rooms:

Week one can be the detail clean of the dresser. This means that you
straighten the clothes in the drawers, get rid of the stained, torn,
worn out clothes, the clothes that are too small and the clothes that
never get worn because they don't like them. Detail dust the tops of
the dresser by removing the things on top and really get it dusted
from side to side and end to end. This can be done in 15 minutes once
they understand how to do it and when to do it. There are 7 days in a
week that they can get this one detail task accomplished.

Week two can be the closet. Straighten the clothes, straighten shoes
and items stored there and vacuum the floor. The next week the desk:
go through the drawers, have a trash bag ready for this (kids love to
stash stuff in their desk drawers) and dust the top again taking
everything off, dusting and then putting things back.

Week three can be the bed zone - have them strip their beds to get
their linens washed (personal choice as to how many times a month you
do this depending on whether your kids bathe at night and if they have
pets that sleep with them) and remake the bed and check under the bed
for things that have gotten stashed under there.

Week four can be the floor zone, this is when the floor gets swept or
vacuumed really well, under the bed, behind the door, the corners and
against the baseboards. This is the detail cleaning that goes on for
the monthly zones. All of these things take less than 15 minutes and
only have to be done once a week, once a month per zone.

This takes time and effort, remember that you did not FLY overnight,
you took BabySteps. Teach your children to bless their rooms so they
can go out and bless the world.

Love,
Kelly

PS Remember that the examples I gave you are what I did, you take
them and adapt them to fit your child's room and your schedule.

On Robins and Teenagers

2007-05-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about "our" baby robins for awhile...about two weeks ago, I lifted the kids up to peep inside the nest -- and one of the now-mostly-feathered babies jumped out! Needless to say we were a bit alarmed since they obviously weren't the least bit able to fly, and tried to catch the little fellow to return him to the nest. But he scurried away under the bushes and we lost him. So we peeked into the nest again -- and the other baby jumped out! We managed to catch that one, but when we returned him to the nest, he promptly jumped out again.

At last we went indoors and searched for information on baby robins. It turns out that robin fledglings leave the nest about two weeks before their flight feathers are fully developed. The mother and father follow them around bringing them food and water on the ground until their flight feathers grow in and they can fend for themselves. My husband's comment: "Hmmm... sounds like college."

Sure enough, Mr. & Mrs. Robin are still to be seen hopping about our yard watching over their fledglings. Two days ago, we spied one of the babies hiding on a low branch of one of the pine trees on the north side of our house. His red breast feathers were growing in and he looked much more like an adult robin, though he could still only flutter to the lower branches of the tree. (Photos coming soon!)

Some time ago I read about a cross-cultural study (I think sponsored by the UN?) which compared the ages at which young people reached "functional adulthood", defined by the study as being intellectually and emotionally prepared to assume the responsibilities of adulthood. What was interesting was that in industrialized nations the age is getting higher and higher, while it remains somewhere in the mid-teens in the rest of the world. I was thinking about this topic last night, and thinking I'd write something about it, and today I find it popping up all over the homeschool blogosphere. I won't reiterate what others have said better than I , here and here ... and be sure to follow Principled Discovery's link to Susan Wise Bauer's blog on allowing high schoolers to specialize.

I realize my children are only 7, 6, and 2, but what happens now and in the next few years must get them from here to there. My goals for my children in high school:
Deeper faith formation
Preparation for married life
A specialized area of interest and an idea of what they want to do in life
Organizational skills, the ability to manage time, and to balance life (work, study, prayer, service, recreation, rest)
Lots more household responsibilities -- a teen should be able to run the household in a basic way, including the kitchen, the garden, maintaining the car, caring for children, etc.
Vocational training and/or working part-time at a real job in an area of interest, or possibly starting and operating a small business if that is their inclination
Specific training and practical experiences in finances and managing money
Basic high school academic diploma requirements, keeping in mind specific goals (college or other)
Higher levels of critical thinking in all areas

Geocaching

2007-05-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

This sounds like fun. Maybe someday I'll try it if I can get my hands on a GPS unit.

Zenhabits

2007-05-09T10:22:00.001-07:00

Last night my husband said to me, "You need to go to Zenhabits.net" The he showed me his nifty new zen PDA -- a few notecards held together with a binder clip and a small pen.

I'm definitely going to be working on the "Ten Habits" of Zen to Done. I'm also signing onto FLYlady's e-mail reminders again -- I need them. Hmmm... FLYlady is all about habits; ZTD is all about habits; Charlotte Mason is also all about forming habits. From the zenhabits blog, this quote from Aristotle: ""We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

Homeschooling by the Seasons

2007-05-04T11:05:00.001-07:00

It's spring, the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing -- and yet here I am dreaming up sewing projects and art lessons and cooking activities to do with my children. Last night I went outdoors in the early evening to turn off the sprinkler, spied a bird I'd never seen before, and wondered why we weren't sitting outdoors on these nice spring evenings...oh, that's right, we're sitting indoors listening to Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings on CD. And yet all winter long I brooded that we weren't doing nature study. Somehow I got out of step with the seasons. Winter is for cozy, cooped up in the house kinds of things like knitting, cooking and crafting, kitchen science experiments, extra academic lessons, and evenings spent listening to stories and playing games. Spring and summer are for gardening and sunflower houses and nature study and long afternoons playing outdoors. Press flowers in summer but save them for making notecards on snowy days.

So I'd better start a list now of all those indoor types of things that will keep us from having cabin fever next winter when it keeps snowing on into March!

The Door in the Wall

2007-05-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Today we just finished chapter one of The Door in the Wall by Marguerite deAngeli; we are already entranced and can't wait til tomorrow. Ten-year-old Robin ought to have begun serving as a page on the way to knighthood, but has through illness lost the use of his legs. He is being cared for in the monastery of St. Mark by Brother Luke, and must learn patience and courage to overcome his handicap. The book paints a lovely and accurate portrait of life in the Middle Ages, weaving seamlessly into the story details such as where English surnames and words like "window" and "sheriff "come from, what houses and clothing were like, the plague, the training of a boy for knighthood, the hours of prayer, and the religious life. I'm so glad I stumbled across this book --it is a wonderful, well written and well researched story with a rich vocabulary which should be on everyone's reading list to accompany medieval history studies.

Attention, Comprehension, Retention: Fruits of Narration...and Painting

2007-04-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

Use of narration in Charlotte Mason's teaching method is intended, among other things, to develop the habit of careful attention, with comprehension and retention, when reading or listening. I was treated to the fruits of this budding habit in my six-year-old this week at a Cub Scout meeting. A police officer came to talk to the boys about "stranger danger"; at the end of his presentation, when he called on the boys to review what he had told them, I found myself impressed at Aidan's precise recapitulation of the points of the officer's talk, especially since he is the youngest boy in the pack.

On another note, all three children have been very busy painting this past week. I limited the older ones to two sheets of paper each, and suggested that rather than making painting after painting as they usually do, they spend more time on each one and pay attention to details. They really did careful work -- more CM fruit, I think, this time from short lessons and perfect execution in handwriting and coloring -- and I can see it's time to give some real instruction in watercolor techniques and invest in some good paper. If they like it perhaps I'll add this book to our Year 5 booklist.

For Abby, I just give her a thick brush and a small amount of one color of tempera paint... and as many sheets of paper as she wants (Brown paper bags work well). This is the method/sequence I have used introducing all my children to painting as toddlers (with credit to Young at Art by Susan Striker):
one brush, one primary color of tempera
one brush, one secondary color of tempera
two or three colors, one brush each
two primary colors, one brush each, one empty pan and one more brush for color mixing (go through all the primary combinations)
one color, one pan of white, one brush (go through all colors + white)
one primary color, one secondary color, one brush each, plus extra pan and brush for mixing
It actually takes a couple of years to get through the sequence, allowing the children to really spend time mastering each stage. And of course, show them how to use a sponge to clean up the table and fingers afterwards.

Striker's book by the way is excellent in many ways, and lacking in others. The outline of the developmental stages of children's drawing is especially interesting and helpful (did you know your child's drawing can tell you if he's ready to begin writing?) She favors real child-produced artwork over pre-made partially-adult-done projects, and the real strength of the book is its explanations of how to do this with a controllable amount of mess (the one brush per color set-up for toddlers, for example). She opposes coloring books in favor of real drawing, but the neutral, non-judgmental, non-interfering approach she takes toward developing this skill leaves something to be desired. It's a bad idea of course to constantly criticize children's work (constructively or otherwise) rather than just enjoying it (isn't that what art is for). But while observation drawing comes naturally to some children (who will flourish without much direction), others (like mine!) need some adult direction and explicit instruction to get going. My children attempted little or no representational drawing until ages 4 and 5, until I got past Striker's bad advice in this department, and Mona Brooks' Drawing With Children got us moving in the right direction.

Baby robins!!!

2007-04-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

The baby robins have hatched at last. Mr. & Mrs. Robin are very diligent in protecting them -- they will let us sneak a peek but begin to squawk and swoop at us if we take too long about it. They had to endure a pretty rough storm this week with high winds and hail -- Mrs. Robin sat on her babies throughout. I am amazed at these tough little birds.

Terrific Twos

2007-04-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Robin family update

2007-04-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

We suffered an unseasonal winter storm, complete with sleet, wind, hail, and a couple of inches of snow. The robins were faithful; they sat and they sat. It's back up to 75 degrees now and the robin family seems to have weathered the storm well.

Educational standards and the Buskeros case

2007-04-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Cathy Duffy hits the nail on the head with regard to the Educational standards movement. The issues she raises towards the end of the article are at the core of the Melissa Busekros case in Germany. What is especially ironic about Melissa's case is that of six children in her family, she was the only one being home educated, only for the past 2.5 years, and only because she had fallen seriously behind in two important high school subjects.

The basic question is whether the family or the state bears chief responsibility (and authority) for the education of children. It is a sticky problem because governments do have both a duty and a legitimate interest in insuring that its populace is in some wise educated, in providing quality educational opportunities for those who do not have the means to provide or acquire them privately (but let the government also remember that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink!), and in defending children whose parents genuinely neglect or abuse them.

However, is it the proper role of government to engage in social engineering -- to construct culture? Because once you get beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, that is what education is -- the assimilation of ideas, beliefs, and values which drive our public and private behavior and relationships and thereby shape the social order. Education is enculturation because those ideas are passed on through stories and poetry and art and song, through the handing down of history and the observations of science. All too often this is what is meant by "socialization", that big "s-word" that so many are concerned that homeschoolers will lack -- not merely the opportunity to make friends or to know how to get along with others, how to accept people who are different than yourself and how to behave in a social setting (which is all too often taught rather poorly in schools -- viz all the problems with bullying and cliques), but the acceptance and internalization of a unifying national value system. This is what the German government is concerned about when they wish to prevent the "formation of parallel societies". In the U.S. it is in vogue to wax eloquent about our "pluralistic society"; however, our fear of homeschoolers belies our real fear -- and our superficiality. We embrace the outward trappings of ethnicity and religion -- aren't the Amish quaint in their bonnets and buggies? -- but if we were to allow for the flowering of true internal plurality, what then would be the glue to hold our nation together? I'm not opposed to national values or national cultural identity -- a common culture -- but I am opposed to an artificial, top-down construction of common culture. I am opposed to an insipid, lowest common denominator, media-inspired, market driven common "pop" culture as the basis for national unity. And, as a Christian, I must of course oppose -- at least for myself and my own family -- that which is contrary to the Christian faith.

In our country we have determined that the state shall not establish a religion nor inhibit the free practice thereof...that would be very simple if only religion would stay neatly in it's little compartment. But it cannot because of what it is...our core beliefs about what the universe is and how it works bleed out into our relationships, our work, our politics, our choices.

Umbert the Unborn

2007-04-08T08:48:00.000-07:00

I wish I could post a sample strip of this cute little preborn guy, but that would violate his copyright...so you'll have to visit his website or check out his daily strip for yourself.

Good Friday

2007-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

The bare altar at Christ Lutheran, stripped for Good Friday.

Robins in our backyard

2007-04-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

Weaving the fabric of life

2007-03-25T06:41:00.002-07:00

One of the best homeschooling articles I've read in a long time...

When I was in college, my friend Jimmy pointed out the design flaw in the campus sidewalks. The sidewalks went all the way around the grassy quadrangle behind the chapel, but the students had worn footpaths diagonally across the grass, taking the most direct routes to their classes. "They should have waited to see which way people would walk, " reasoned Jimmy, "and then laid out the sidewalks."

When we moved into our present home 8 months ago, I thought I knew just what I wanted...a schoolroom. A whole room to keep all our books and materials and plenty of workspace. I staked out the front sitting room as the boxes were being carried in. Having sacrificed an entire room of the house for educational purposes, my husband was constantly chagrined to drop in during the day to find us sprawled all over the living room sofa reading aloud, or spread out across the bar in the kitchen doing math or handwriting.

Finally I realized that I had laid my sidewalks around the quadrangle. Confining lessons to the schoolroom prevented me from working in the kitchen, switching the laundry, or keeping Abby busy with playdoh or pouring water while supervising the older two as they worked So last week, we disassembled the schoolroom, turning it into a sitting room. Now, instead of being a house with a schoolroom, our physical surroundings really reflect the reality of homeschooling...the lines between academic learning and "everything else" are blurred, even cease to exist.

Christians say, "Lex orandi, lex credendi" -- "The rule of prayer is the rule of faith". It means that what we do (in this case, in liturgical worship) reveals what we believe, and what we believe (our doctrine) shapes what we do. The same is true for all of life, including homeschooling. The fact that we homeschool, in itself, reveals something about what we believe -- about life, family, children, and education. The physical arrangement of our home, our daily schedule, and our priorities must be shaped by that same belief --or, as we discovered, life gets bumpy.

my Virtual DNA

2007-03-25T06:41:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

2007-03-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today's blog entry is dedicated to Higher Up and Further In, homeschoolers living and learning in Turkey, because today I put into to practice this tip about Charlotte Mason's principle of perfect execution during our handwriting lesson. Far from being drudgery, the children were delighted with their success, and Erin commented, "Mom, the lady who wrote that blog is right. We can do a lot more than you think!" We also caught up on last week's history lesson about the Ottoman Turks and the conquest of Constantinople, so just had to introduce my kiddos to Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants. I first heard this song performed live at Imo's Pizza in Springfield MO. I wanted to get up and belly dance. I still do. Maybe I will.

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

Home-grown Faith

2007-03-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Rebellious Pastor's Wife is standing on her favorite soapbox again. I add my hearty amen.

Last Sunday, I was teaching my preschool Sunday school class and realizing again how precious few little minutes of real, focused attention I have from them during our class time. And, I have no real means of knowing how much of the lesson they really take home with them. Most of them don't remember last week's Bible story the following week. I cannot repeat things as often as they need to be repeated. I cannot tailor each lesson to meet each child where he is. A Montessori approach like Catechesis of the Good Shepherd would do rather better in those areas, but even so, the truth is, I simply cannot accomplish in an hour a week what a parent can accomplish at home by simply taking a few minutes here and there each day to talk with their children about Christ, answer their questions, tell them stories, pray with them, sing with them, teach them the catechism, lead by example, point out life's lessons as they arise, and follow the child's interest. A thousand and one teachable moments arise during a child's week; as a Sunday school teacher, I get about two or three of them. Sunday school is an excellent supplement, but a poor substitute, for parent-led discipleschip.

The Wearin' O' the Green

2007-03-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

This week I enjoyed a big St. Patrick's Day treat...going to see Riverdance perform live with my SIL! (Maybe I'll blog about that later.)

But here's what we did at home: We read about the life of St. Patrick (more here), and the kids each made a St. Patrick mini book, with The Breastplate of St. Patrick (below) as copywork. Then they learned to make shamrocks by tracing/drawing three hearts and adding a stem, and talked about why the shamrock is associated with St. Patrick. Later, we made these (very cute and easy) shamrock pins, and we've been busy learning to sing LSB #604, which is a musical setting of the Breastplate. (John Michael Talbot has also done one.)

For dinner it was corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, chocolate Irish creme cheesecake, shamrock cookies (kid-made), and (for the adults) our favorite Irish beverages.

Readings: I came to the Irish people to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my earthly pilgrimage, suffering many persecutions, even bondage, and losing my birthright of freedom for the benefit of others.

If I am worthy, I am ready also to give up my life, without hesitation and most willingly, for Christ's name. I want to spend myself for that country, even in death, if the Lord should grant me this favor.

It is among that people that I want to wait for the promise made by him, who assuredly never tells a lie. He makes this promise in the Gospel: "They shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." This is our faith: believers are to come from the whole world.

from the Confession of Saint Patrick

Christ shield me this day:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me

Saint Patrick, from his breastplate

One Week in March

2007-03-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

I meant to post these photos last month...but for what it's worth, here they are now, both taken in our backyard during the same week in March -- a photographic demonstration of the crazy weather we have been subject to this spring:

My Friends Call Me Phlegm

2007-03-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

The notion of the Four Humors (sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic) was conceived by the Greek physician Galen, who proposed that a predominance of one of four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, black bile, or yellow bile) determined an individual's temperament or "humor".

I ran across this quote from an essay called The Role of Temperament in Child Development:

One Friday [during watercolor painting] there was an accident, and a huge bucket of water got kicked over. What did the melancholics do? They got up and stood in it. The sanguines were immediately standing on their chairs and shouting, 'Ooh -- what is that?' The cholerics rushed out after mops and buckets. What did the phlegmatics do? You may not believe it, but they sat in their chairs and lifted their legs above the water. I got the best lesson in my life.'

From this illustration alone, I know that I am definitely phlegmatic. The water spilled. Get over it, sanguines. And what the heck is the rationale behind standing in it? Put your feet up and carry on with your day. Absolutely. Now, I might conceivably go get a mop, but not because I particularly care about the mess, but to make nice with the cholerics.

Just to be certain, I took this temperament quiz (after all the Internet is your one-stop source for accurate scientific personality and psychological testing) -- and, yep, I'm phlegmatic:

You Have a Phlegmatic Temperament Mild mannered and laid back, you take life at a slow pace.
You are very consistent - both in emotions and actions.
You tend to absorb set backs easily. You are cool and collected.

It is difficult to offend you. You can remain composed and unemotional.
You are a great friend and lover. You don't demand much of others.
While you are quiet, you have a subtle wit that your friends know well.

At your worst, you are lazy and unwilling to work at anything.
You often get stuck in a rut, without aspirations or dreams.
You can get too dependent on others, setting yourself up for abandonment.

Favorite Baby and Toddler Books-n-Stuff

2007-03-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

I have three children and I've read lots of parenting books. I've tried and failed and tried again. These are my "tried-and-true" resources -- the things I've found that actually worked. I'll update as I find or think of others.

Your Amazing Newborn by Marshall H. Klaus
An astonishing book, focusing on the innate physical and social capabilities of the newly born child. Beautiful black and white photographs.

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
I started out as a diehard AP mommy. Sorry, Dr. Sears, but a toddler and a baby down the road, I was a physical and emotional zombie. Sleeping through the night? What was that? It was supposed to just happen naturally when I met my baby's needs. Only a selfish parent wants their baby to sleep through the night. Weaning? That happens naturally too, right? I don't disagree with the basic tenets of AP -- connecting with your child by understanding and meeting their needs and lots of physical contact and play are the very foundation of a healthy human psyche -- but that is only one piece of the parenting puzzle. I found myself lost trying to "follow my instincts" and "learn to follow my baby's cues" as most AP authors advise -- it was just too vague. Tracy takes a balanced, middle-of-the-road, "family-centered" rather than "child-centered" or "parent-centered" approach. She actually spells out how to distinguish a baby's different cries and understand their body language (there are charts), and then shows you how to build a sensible routine around those needs. Her approach is based on observing and understanding your baby, then respectfully and responsively creating a flexible structure which will allow everyone's needs to be met. Her sensible sleep plan is gentle, responsive, and it works. Although she doesn't advocate sleep-sharing, extended nursing, or babywearing, her mantra is, if it's working for your family and you enjoy it, keep doing it -- but if it's not working, don't exhaust yourself thinking you are doing your baby a favor. Her other two books, The Baby Whisperer Solves All your Problems and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers, are also excellent.

Baby Talk by Dr. Sally Ward
This is a readable and practical book which takes you through speech development in the first five years and outlines simple activities for fostering language development and averting/correcting speech problems and delays. Emphasizes the relational aspect of language learning.

MamaToto Project
Babywearing was the best thing I learned as a new mom. One of my favorite memories of my first child's infancy was going to a market in Peru and buying a manta, which the ladies at the market then helped me use to tie my five month old daughter onto my back. I found the Peruvian manta hard on my back, so I moved on to circle slings, ring slings, and finally fell in love with the Mexican rebozo, which I have used ever since. This website has everything you ever wanted to know about babywearing, including visual step by step instructions on how to tie oodles of different baby wraps (front, back, side, for sleeping, for nursing, for different ages, for moms with back trouble), traditional wraps and carriers from cultures around the world, and how to make/sew your own wrap or carrier.

Signing Baby
I did a little baby sign language with my first child, but she learned two signs and then began to talk. Now, with my third, we've done lots of signing and had lots of fun. She learned about 25 different signs which she continued using as she learned to talk. This website is has great information for getting started with baby sign language.

Infant Potty Training, Early Potty Training, and Three Day Potty Training

"Just as babies signal when they are hungry and need to be fed, they signal when they are about to eliminate and need you to help them stay clean and dry. By tuning into your baby's signals and responding to prevent accidents, you strengthen attachment and provide the early learning experiences that ease potty training down the road."
-- Dr. Linda Sonna

After what I considered good success at potty training my daughter by age two and my son by 2 1/2, I thought I was a pro. I had heard of infant potty training with my firstborn (not called by that name, though) from a Peruvian friend who suggested I save myself a few diaper changes by holding my baby over the toilet to pee. "You just figure out when they are going to go, take off the diaper, and hold them over the toilet." I was intrigued, but found her instructions too vague -- how did you "figure it out"?
When my third child came along, I stumbled upon the book Infant Potty Basics: With or Without Diapers -- the Natural Way by Laurie Bourke , which finally gave me the specifics I needed: take your baby to the potty upon waking and twenty minutes after nursing or feeding. There's no pressure for her to go, but if she does go, clap and coo and carry on like she's done something wonderful. I started IPT with Abby at 5 or 6 months, and by 9 months she was going pretty consistently in the potty.
We sort of fell off the potty wagon in the midst of moving to a new house, but when she was 15 months old, I knew she had both control and comprehension -- and even a "potty" sign. So when a friend who has four children under age four came singing the praises of "one day potty training", I thought I'd give it a go. After reading up, I decided that one day was a bit overambitious, so I cleared my schedule for three days, filled a jar with Reese's Pieces and set it in the bathroom, took the diapers off my little girl, and gave potty learning my complete attention. It went beautifully -- by the end of the weekend she was fully trained and wearing her new underwear day, night, and on the go, and very proud. She still says "potty" every time she sees Reese's Pieces, though! I haven't read all these titles, but here are some books on the subject:

Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer
Early Start Potty Training by Dr. Linda Sonna

Ash Wednesday

2007-03-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

I love Pastor Petersen's comments on Ash Wednesday because I love Ash Wednesday for the same reasons he does. On a lighter note, though, these talking church signs were hilarious and right on the money.

I've made it a habit the past few years to review/update my will on Ash Wednesday. I happened to write my will on Ash Wednesday, and it occurred to me that it was rather appropriate for the day...a reminder of my own mortality. And, since it's a good idea to look over your will once a year, doing it on Ash Wednesday makes it easy to remember to do.

The Four-Day Homeschool Week

2007-02-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

All the songs about Monday are depressing ones. (eg. Monday, Monday by the Mamas and the Papas, Manic Monday by the Bangles) The weekend is over, it's back to the daily grind, it usually rains. Not at my house. The children are playing outdoors, it's my husband's day off, I am cleaning out my closet, dinking around on the computer, making an easy lunch. Later we'll play games, maybe go shopping.

It wasn't always this way. When we first started "officially" homeschooling, I tried keeping up our routine of lessons five days a week. It didn't work. Big cleaning and organizing jobs around the house never got done, I never had any down time, I didn't play with my children anymore -- just "did school". It was like an avalanche of days, and Mondays were the worst.

Then I was leafing through a Sonlight catalog ( I don't use Sonlight, but I like looking through their catalogs to get ideas.), and noticed they offered a choice of four-day and five-day curriculum. Wow! You mean it's really okay to just do formal lessons four days a week? (Duh!)

It works for us. Less IS more. Don't you love Mondays?