Thanksgiving Poems

Mayflower

Tossed uncomfortably

Voyage to Plimoth

Seasick, scared, optimistic Pilgrims

Hope

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Thanksgiving

Yummy food

Lots of fun

Holiday to give thanks

Thankfully

We don't do a lot of creative writing–it's not something that comes easily to EJ so I try to only do small bits at a time. I've been seeing a lot of these poems from my awesomely creative friend at runawaysentence.com so I thought we'd give one a try and ended up completing two!

I think I skipped creative writing in school don't actually know what a Cinquain is. If you are like me check out this wiki article for starters. As part of our First Thanksgiving study we did a modified Cinquain from a lesson plan we found on Hot Chalk.

The form looks like this:

Title (one word)
Description of title (two words)
Action (three words)
Feelings (four words)
Refer back to title (one word)

Mayflower was done together, brainstorming for each of the lines before writing. After brainstorming EJ put each line together himself. He then wrote Thanksgiving completely on his own. He didn't do any brainstorming which might have allowed for a bit more creativity but I really liked that he came up with it fairly easily. He was engaged and that's big! These really are very simple and easy to do poems–great for increasing confidence. I think we'll bring this lesson up more often now that I am familiar with the form.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends! 

Paper Making

EJ picked this poject. After we finished up learning about butterflies and Monarch migration I asked him what he wanted to learn about; he chose papermaking!

First we learned a little bit about the history of paper from HP Papermaker: History of Paper. Then we watched some videos from the TV series "How It's Made". This show is so popular in our house that it has become our thing to do on Friday evenings before the kids go to bed so I knew the kids would be captivated.

Toilet paper:

Copy Paper and Handmade Paper Part 1 (starts at 3:50), Part 2

Finally we got down to business and made our own paper. I have never done this before so first I did a lot of research. For a good basic overview I found this Arnold Grummer video helpful but as you can see we didn't use Grummer's products. Ours was very much a home made affair!

Our supplies consisted of:

• Cat litter box
• Homemade deckle*
• plastic canvas used for cross stitching
• towels
• rolling pin
• blender
• scraps of paper
• botanicals—nothing fancy, EJ chose fall leaves and pine needles, JD choose flower petals.

*I made our deckle from an inexpensive shadow box style photo frame (7.99 at Joann.com). Disassembled the thing, placed a sheet of plastic canvas (if you have it use window screen instead) and closed it back up minus the glass and backing.

The first step is to find some scrap paper and tear it into smaller pieces, about 1-2 inches. EJ chose all white, JD wanted green. Do not use old newspaper as the ink will cause your pulp to be gummy.


Tearing scrap paper into smaller bits.

We added hot water, about 1-2 cups. It turns out that more water is better than less. Blend for about 1 minute until you have a pulpy mess.


Using the blender to make the pulp.

In the cat litter box I have about 3 inches of water. Pour the pulpy mess into the box and then dip the deckle into the liquid pulp mixture. Use your hand gently stir the mixture as it stands in the deckle to help evenly distribute the pulp. I found this to be the hardest step, trying to get the pulp not too thick and not too thin. Add botanicals.


Draining the deckle with paper pulp and botanicals

After allowing it to drain for a few moments we placed a second piece of plastic screen on top and put the deckle onto a large piece of cloth. We used a hospital blanket we had, but I think dish towels would work well enough. Using a clean sponge gently daub off excess water. This also helps the fibers to lock together.


Gently sponging off excess water.

The next step is to flip the deckle over and very gently tap the bottom to release your paper, much like turning a cake out onto a dish or cooling rack. Place the paper with the plastic canvas on top onto your towel and release the paper from the canvas. Then I used waxed paper, placed it on top and using the rolling, pin rolled over the paper to squeeze out even more water. Then I transferred the finished paper to a safe place to dry.


EJ's final paper!


JD's paper!


The boys showing off their dried paper.

I think we're all pretty happy with the results, but of course as the grown-up I have to mention a couple of things.

EJ's paper too heavy. We never quite got the pulp to the right consistency, I think because we used too little water. Also, his botanicals didn't really blend into the fibers well enough and are falling off. If we do this again I'll do more research for this part. I think we could have used a cornstarch and water mixture added to the pulp to help the fibers glue together with the botanicals. JD's paper came out a bit better as our second attempt. It was fun figuring out how we could gather the needed supplies without breaking the bank, some of our supplies were less than ideal but our deckle worked wonderfully! We learned a lot and the boys expressed an interest in doing this project again. I think it would be great to do in the spring when there are more living things available to use.

Is it hard to homeschool?

Because I'm new to homeschooling I don't have much experience fielding questions from non-homeschoolers. Like this one I got the other day from a neighbor's sister. She said: "I heard you are homeschooling. Is it hard?"  My answer, the simple but perhaps not very helpful: "Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it's not at all hard. We have really good (easy) days and really bad (hard) days, most are somewhere in between."

Not knowing where she was coming from I took the safe answer. Some people who ask questions are genuinely curious. Some are curious because they've considered it themselves. Some have already pre-judged you but want to see if you fit the mold. Some have given it no thought at all. Questions about homeschooling can be loaded with so much baggage that I usually stick to a quick answer and move on.

As I thought about this later I realized I could have said so much more. I mean, that in this question there are quite a few things the asker could have intended. For example:

Is it hard to get started - what kind of hoops do you have to go through to be allowed to homeschool?  

That depends on your state laws. I didn't find it difficult at all though the Homeschool Legal Defense Association* considers Massachusetts a "red state" meaning difficult or restrictive. A very basic education plan was all I needed. It can be tricky, you have to know your state laws. 

Is it hard to know you are teaching the right things?

Sort of. It's very daunting at first. But first you have to figure out what that means: the "right" things. There are books that can tell you what your child would most likely be learning in school and at what grade. Each state or district has their own set of standards that you can probably find online. But you do have to decide whether you even want to stick to the standards. I chose to homeschool in part because I want a less traditional education for my kids, so I feel it's appropriate to make my own way to a degree. What it comes down to is the realization that everyone has gaps in their learning. I try not to worry overly much about it, it's more important for me to know MY children. What are they capable of and what is developmentally appropriate for them. Take 10 kids from the same class and you'll find that they don't all have exactly the same knowledge. There will be things my second grader knows that your second grader doesn't know and vice versa. 

Is it hard to teach your own children?

Yes and no. I've discovered for us it's a different kind of relationship. At first EJ seemed unable to see me as a teacher—he questioned everything I told him and it made it very difficult to get anything done. After the first few weeks I think I was able to develop a sort of trust with him and now mostly it's good. I think that doing an hour of homework after school was more of a battle, harder, and more frustrating than doing 4-5 hours of school each day! Seriously! We have a routine now, but for us it's very important to stay flexible and be attuned to the boys when the day isn't going so well.

Is it hard having your school age kids home all day?

Some days it's impossible!  Today is hard. It's raining. I have a few things to get done this afternoon, but the boys are having trouble, we're all a tiny bit ill, and they are fighting a lot. Some days I just want to want to scream "why can't you just give me a break and get along!"  Other days its fun! Easy, breezy, beautiful! For me, it would be much harder to go to work all day and then come home and try to be there for my kids. No matter how you slice it, raising kids, while rewarding, is hard.

Is it hard to find playmates for your kids?

I'm convinced it's not possible to have a conversation about homeschooling without someone stating matter of fact that homeschooled kids are more isolated. Fortunately there is little evidence that this is true. Yes, it can be more work, but kids don't have to be isolated and most aren't. We are extremely fortunate that the house we rent is in an amazing neighborhood. The boys have an opportunity to play with other kids, outside, usually for two hours or more a day! That's WAY more social time than EJ (7) had when he was in school, and for JD (4.5) it opened up a whole new world. If we didn't have that, it would be harder, but there are homeschool groups (like playgroups), there are classes for homeschoolers, and of course they can take many of the same after school and summer classes that other kids take. This is a frustrating stereotype. Because for me, to believe that homeschooled kids are isolated requires an unspoken belief that homeschool parents don't value friendships and social interactions for their children. It's as if we do all this work to educate our children all the while not lifting a finger to foster their emotional wellbeing. 

I imagine there are more "is it hard..." questions embedded into that single question than I could ever think up on the fly. The truth is in my original answer. Yes and no. But I feel that I can't really adequately answer the question. Is it hard? Of course it is. But it's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Not easy, but not too hard.


*HSLDA is not an organization I am a member of, nor do I recommend. 

One Wonderful Day in October

After a cold, rainy, foggy week, today was Indian Summer and we took full advantage.

When the ladybugs came out to celebrate the warm weather we had an impromptu ladybug study, right in the middle of math. The boys captured 2 ladybugs, or ladybird beetles to put in our "Creature Peeper".  EJ wanted to make sure we had a male and female so they would mate. We found out that you can't tell a ladybug's sex by looking at it. In fact it's often not possible to identify gender without dissection (which we, of course, did not do). Sadly for EJ, fall is not the time for ladybugs to mate anyway. In temps below 55º F they hibernate, or more correctly they enter a wintering state called diapause which is more akin to dormancy than hibernation. We also found that in addition to feeding on aphids some ladybugs eat milkweed, which the kids remembered is the only food that Monarch caterpillars eat. We found out that their coloring, in conjunction with a foul smelling fluid they secrete, is a ladybug's defense against predators. The ladybug is the official state insect of Massachusetts (also New Hampshire, New York, Delaware, Ohio, and Tennessee).  The most fun thing we learned is that 4 ladybugs and some aphids were sent into space in 1999. Researchers wanted to find out if aphids were able escape from ladybugs in zero gravity. It turns out the ladybugs did just fine and ate all the aphids. We fed our ladybugs raisins and released them later this evening. It seems doubtful we'll see our friends again this year unless this warm weather continues tomorrow.

Later we cut our school day short to head to Look Park where the boys made a giant leaf pile to jump in, played zombie tag with some other kids they met at the playground. They followed the train tracks part way around the park and climbed a big orange maple tree. We walked through the small zoo (while mom and dad talked about the ethics of keeping Red-Tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles in small enclosures). It was so much fun just exploring this huge park when it was relatively empty of other visitors.

The great thing about today is that we were able be completely spontaneous. T's schedule will always be irregular; weekends, evenings, nights, you name it. If the boys were in school we would have very little time together as a family. Things just came together today. T was off, we had a beautifully warm fall day, and the insight to chuck our schedule to the wind. This flexibility is quickly becoming one of my favorite reasons to home school!

Home School Week 1

While I wait for the district to contact me about our ed. plan I figured we might as well get started. I plan to use my blog as a way to keep track of what we've done each week so here's a round up of our first week.

 

Math: EJ is doing the MEP (Math Enhancement Program) from the Center for Innovation. We are working through Year 1 rather quickly because much of the material he covered last year. We started working back in July and completed the first 6 weeks of lessons before we broke for the move. Turned out this was a bad break. I'm not sure exactly what happened but EJ just couldn't seem to get his mind wrapped around some of the problems in the book and what was more difficult, he insisted that everything I was saying was wrong and that I was confusing him etc. In hindsight I probably should have done some review with him before we really dove back in. Unfortunately this started us off on a sour note. We did get math in every day this week (M-F) though and started to work better as the days went by.

 

Science: We have  Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding K-2. I'm doing this with both boys even though JD isn't kinder age yet. He won't be ready for some of the activities but I think he'll enjoy doing science with us and learning what he can. We did the first lesson "Organizing Things into Categories" the day we moved because it seemed to fit. I found that we didn't need to spend much time on that lesson beyond discussion and some reading. I think it will be a topic we have many opportunities to revisit.  Yesterday we played the "Solids, Liquids, and Gases" game from the next lesson "States of Matter". They had fun with this one and we'll continue to review playing 20 questions.

 

I have plans to set up a calendar area for EJ to practice and to start to introduce the days of the week to JD. I have  "Meet the Masters" for art, and Handwriting Without Tears ordered for both boys. I have a few other things in mind but for the next few weeks I think this will keep us busy.

 

EJ should be reading more, which he claims to love and yet doesn't really do, but I want to be careful how I get this accomplished. I read to both boys at least once a day and I've had him reading our science supplements out loud. My fear is that I will inadvertently make reading a chore, something he does only because I tell him to. So for now I'm going to think on it and try to find subtle ways to encourage more reading.

 

One thing that strikes me as funny about home schooling is that even the things we do for fun sort of count as school. Today we went to a Tomato Festival. I'm not sure it was particularly educational but we all had a lot of fun and did get to taste a lot of tomato varieties. The boys particularly enjoyed the tomato toss and were filthy with tomato pulp 20 minutes after we arrived. Tomorrow we're going to the Cummington Fair--I can fit some learning in between the rides and fried dough right?

Semi-Official Home Learners here

Well, I sent of our education plan for EJ the other day. Part of me feels like it's no big deal, we're doing it no matter what hoops we have to jump  through. But, the part of me that wants approval, wants things to go smoothly, will have a bit of anxiety tucked away somewhere inside waiting for the day I get my first communication back from the district.

 

EJ is raring to go, I'm still wanting to get the house more in order first. I'm gratified that he seems to be excited--I know it's a big unknown for him. The other day he asked me if we could have recess like he does at school. I chuckled and explained that I expect he will have much more free time than 20 minutes of recess.

 

A funny thing about moving and doing home schooling is that everyone in your new neighborhood immediately asks about school and I can't bluff my way though it. I'm pretty sure they'd notice when my kid isn't getting on the bus. Who knows what most of them are thinking about us "crazy" home schoolers. ;) So far I've gotten reactions from 'cool, we wanted to homeschool' from a jovial "are you crazy!". I'm sure we'll get more questions as we get to know everyone, I just hope I can answer them without sounding like a doofus.

A risk, a decision.

I started researching homeschooling a few months before EJ started kindergarten. It was my fear response. What if he hates it? What if the school is awful? What if his teacher is a hag? (Sorry, his teacher was wonderful as I believe most are. Remember this is my fear talking). Could I, would I want to...dun dun duuunnn, homeschool!

What I've found along the way has changed my previous perception of what homeschooling is and who is doing it. Much of the curricula marketed to homeschoolers is Christian or Bible based which is in line with the common perception that most homeschoolers are strongly Christian. But what I immediately discovered, thanks in part to people I've met online, is that there are more parents choosing to homeschool from a secular perspective. They might be Christian (for example) or atheist/agnostic, but their reasons for choosing to learn from home are varied and don't necessarily involve religious belief. Learning this helped me to understand that homeschool is an option for us if I want. However, as much as I have changed my tune on homeschooling it still feels like a risk and I have until now kept the idea in the back of my mind, mainly as a back up plan.

I've been thinking and reading about homeschooling quite a bit since then. I ordered a book called "Homeschooling and Loving It", it was free (for a limited time with coupon code LSS). I told myself I can order this, it doesn't mean I've decided to homeschool. I also picked up (for the second time) Alfie Kohn's "The Schools Our Children Deserve" and a new book by Todd Farley "Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry" (seriously, this is a must read if you have kids in public school).

I also had an epiphany. It occurred to me that I tend to avoid making decisions on issues that feel risky to me. And let me leave no doubt, deciding to homeschool is not a decision to be taken lightly, it is a risk. The risk isn't whether I am capable of teaching my children, I know that I am. The risk is that I or my kids will hate it. That I won't be organized enough, that I'll miss teaching them something crucial, etc. In the case of homeschool, I would tell myself "if he starts to dislike school", "if his teachers cross the religion line", "if he and his teacher just aren't a good fit", THEN I'd homeschool. In a nutshell, I was looking for an excuse to present itself that would make the decision easier, less risky.

Armed with a better understanding of the failings of traditional school and my new found self awareness, something odd happened. I realized that I had already made the decision. I wanted to homeschool EJ next year. I let that roll around in my head for a week or so barely believing I had made the decision. I wasn't ready to approach my husband. I didn't know what he would say and it wasn't the right time. He was in the midst of looking for his first job after residency, we didn't even know where we'd be living this time next year. Happily I can report that he was offered and has accepted a job in Northampton Massachusetts. We are ecstatic! We feel it will be a great area for us to live although it's still far from our family. This job doesn't start until next summer, he still has to finish his last year here, so that gives us a lot of time to think about the move. We were talking about renting a home while making dinner the other day and T said we'd have to think about where the good schools are before we decided. I immediately blurted out "well, I've been thinking that I'd like to homeschool EJ next year so if we did that it wouldn't matter". Without even skipping a beat he told me he thought I'd be an excellent teacher to our kids. That was it. No convincing needed, no incredulous "are you kidding me?"  I don't know if he's totally on board, but once again I am reminded that for the most part he trusts me to make these big decisions about the kids even if I don't always trust myself. I haven't talked to EJ about this at all yet and of course I need to. He loves school and I know he loves the friends he's made. Moving is going to be hard on him and I don't know whether he'll accept my plan to keep him home. I'm going to have to think carefully about how to approach him and when, most likely it won't be until after we've moved and settled in a bit.

Have I mentioned before that I'm a researcher by personality? That I analyze everything? That I always try to be objective and see different perspectives? It will probably take me the next 9 months to feel fully confident in this decision and to get T in on the plan so that he and I are on the same page. I want him to be involved too, there are things he would teach much better than I could, a different perspective is always a plus too. But yes, I think this is what we will be doing. I might change my mind, but if I do it will be because of my fear and that's a bad reason. So for now I am operating under the premise that EJ will be homeschooled next year. Most likely I will keep JD in school through Kindergarten, although I expect after that I'll keep him home as well.

Soon I will write on the some of the specific reasons I have decided home learning is what I want for my kids. But enough for now.