Home Spun Vignette #10

OK, so maybe this is more about how you would have spotted me five years ago. Or last month, if you take away the toddler and make her seven.

Home Spun reprint: #48-49

I'm feeling better, although not 100% yet. I think the worst of this thing is the cough. It seems to flare up at night, so I haven't slept too well. I'm very glad that this one hasn't turned into something the whole family can "enjoy." Some things are not meant to be shared!

Home Spun reprint: #229

Due to illness, my comic strip will be delayed this week. I dug out this reprint for you to enjoy. I thought it best reflected how sometimes we need to be selfish with our time. If we try too hard to be there for everyone else, sometimes it is to the detriment of our own health. It has been a crazy, busy year for our family. I have one child in dance and preparing for first Communion, another who was completing requirements for his black belt and preparing for Confirmation, and a third who works but doesn't drive and has needed monthly checkups for her braces (the bottom brace is finally off, the top brace is supposed to come off next month). Add to this that we are down to one car and I try to give my husband lifts to and from work when possible, and I think I was primed with a big target for whatever virus decided to settle in last Wednesday.

Why do we do too much? Because we love our family! And I have to say, they have stepped up since I got sick. Chase has made dinner a couple of times. Sierra has been proving I wasn't crazy in letting her try to unschool by moving past the easy reader books and taking on a book with a bigger time commitment: Nancy Drew. Marina is Marina, picking up my slack in straightening and answering her little sister's endless questions. And my husband has helped keep on top of meals, trash, cleaning dishes and passing me my meds. Everyone has been wonderful about bringing me warm drinks and food. I feel like a slacker, but I already took a backslide by not resting when I felt a little better, so I'm trying to behave. I am simply thankful I have my family to take care of me while I'm on the mend.

Anyway, that's why there are no comics this week ... yet. (No, really, I promise not to work on them until I'm really feeling better.) Sometimes we need to be unsocialized.

Comic Book Philosophy Lessons

One of the benefits of having a big brother when I was a young teenager was access to his comic book collection. You know, as long as I was careful not to crease them and return them to their plastic envelopes when I was done reading them. One of my favorite series was the Marvel What If...? comics. These were comics that took the Marvel super hero mythology and created alternate scenarios. What if Peter Parker hadn't been bitten by the radioactive spider? What if Jane Foster had found the hammer of Thor? What if the world knew that Daredevil was blind? The idea of taking Marvel history and offering an alternate reality for it spoke to my inner philosopher. It probably helped that the series had a philosophical alien called The Watcher to introduce the issues.

Several years ago, I was reminded of What If...? when one of my children's favorite cartoons, Ben 10, did something similar. They redid their first episode and had Ben's cousin, Gwen, finding the omnitrix, a device that turns the wearer into different aliens. She handled the bracelet much better than Ben. It was an interesting twist and very reminiscent of the old comic book series.

If you think about it, there are many opportunities to think about the what ifs of real life. There are many scenarios where you can think about what might have happened if. What if Hitler had been killed in World War I? Would the second world war have happened? What if Lincoln had decided to stay home instead going to the Ford Theatre on April 14, 1865? Would he have finished his second term, or only momentarily escaped his fate? What if Columbus had landed in North America rather than the Caribbean? What if? What if? What if? It's an interesting exercise. Does the journey of one person make such an impact on our world, or does society create several people with similar qualities to set along particular paths?

In some of the comic series, the original hero eventually gets his power anyway. Thor gets his hammer. Peter Parker eventually chooses to become Spiderman. Although the Watcher considers this destiny, I consider it more an act of free will. Proving my point, Daredevil chose to give up his secret identity and fight the bad guys as district attorney. Instead of becoming a hero by chance, they enter knowing the risks, choosing to be true to themselves, whether or not they choose to wear the mask.

Note: I found the What If series is available digitally through Marvel. Unfortunately, there is an annual subscription rate. Just so you know.

Home Spun comic strip #450

Home Spun comic strip #449

As I'm posting this, Sierra is enjoying a sleepover with one of her best friends. Her friend was planning to participate in our storytelling group tomorrow, so we offered to take her. It isn't that it's impossible to wedge in some friend time with our favorite homeschoolers, it's just that you have to be a bit more creative when every child has their own schedule that takes them in several directions each day. I may have free time on Tuesdays, but Fridays are better for another family, a third family is always busy on Wednesday afternoons, etc. As the children develop and pursue their interests, setting aside time for good friends to get together can be an acrobatic feat worthy of Olympic gold.

Carnival of Homeschooling at SmallWorld

I hope everyone is enjoying Mardi Gras today! The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: Think Spring edition is going on at SmallWorld. Please take a moment to stop by and enjoy the carnival for Carnavale!

Home Spun comic strip #448

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Home Spun comic strip #447

Yes, my husband has actually played Yu-Gi-Oh with my son. He described it as chess, if each and every piece had its own set of rules. We went through a lot of problems with my son when he first played. He would set the deck to assure his best cards were on top. He would glower if my husband tried to actually win. It finally occurred to me that he wasn't as interested in playing the game as he was in pretending he was Yu-Gi. Which, of course, meant his father had to be whoever the bad guy was. It was his own version of cops and robbers, your basic good vs. evil play.

Eventually Chase did start playing the game. And after a longer period of time we even managed to teach him to play fairly and lose gracefully (he didn't always lose, thankfully). For the record, it's not easy to teach a highly competitive child these skills. For us, it took years of work, a lot of patience (which we didn't always have) and lots of after-game decompressing. You're welcome.

Sights in the Snow

We had some snow this week. We haven't had a good snowstorm in a while. The kind that cancels all of our activities so that we can stay home. When we're home, we get to appreciate all the little things. Like the birds and squirrels at the feeders. Below is a song sparrow. We also saw a fox sparrow, which we tend to only see them when there is a lot of snow. The white-throated sparrows and squirrels are more common sights.

The snow was excellent for packing. We had a little snowball fight and Sierra began building a snowman. Marina did a double take when she saw the size of the first two snowballs her little sister had rolled. Chase and I helped put a head on it and packed everything in to make it solid. This is the result. It was taller than me!

Home Spun comic strip #446

I admit, Yu-Gi-Oh was a sore spot for me for a long time before I realized I could use it for learning. I taught Chase to read with dinosaur-themed workbooks and simple math operations using his dinosaur collection as manipulatives. Yu-Gi-Oh was another tool waiting to be used. I truly believe that anything can be used to teach. Sometimes it takes a little time to figure out how best to turn a child's obsession into educational material, but it's worth it, because the interest inspires learning.

Home Spun comic strip #445

Accidentally About Homeschooling

Back at the beginning of January, Stephanie (Laughing Stars aka the Stark Raving Bibliophile) gave an interesting review of the book "Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning!" by Marc Prensky. This book offers a rare positive perspective of children's video gaming habits and how they can learn from games. Not games expressly marketed as educational games, but the "fun" games that are popular with kids.

Just the other night, there was a news report about sexual predators approaching kids through an XBox Live game. Whenever there is a report about kids and gaming on the news, it is usually negative. Most parents worry when their kids play games online. I know I do. But then again, I worry in any situation where I need to send them off on their own and hope nothing happens. All you can do is make them aware of the dangers in the world, real or virtual, and give them the tools and skills they need to face whatever comes up. I also pray a lot!

This book is refreshing in its attitude about gaming. Games aren't bad. As in all things, it needs to be done in moderation and it is the parents' job to set limits and be aware of their child's involvement. But used correctly, a child's interest in games can lead into all areas of his life and the author's opinion is that the child receives an entire curriculum worth of learning based on his games. This sounded so familiar. Like I've heard it in my homeschooling circles. Can you say child led, interest based learning? I thought you could!

In fact, toward the end of the book, Prensky is ready to turn the field of education on it's ear with his "new way" of learning. Listen to this quote:

What if we created a school with no teachers at all, as we know them today, but rather with the same number of empathetic "learning counselors"--people who have no "required" academic training in subject matter, but have great skills at understanding and helping kids? ~page 200

Oh! Oh! I know this one. Now don't tell me...

I don't know how the professional educational community received this book, but I am reasonably certain they considered it as radical as homeschooling!

While I did find this book thought provoking and full of interesting ideas for integrating gaming into a learning curriculum, I did have some technical issues with it. Most notable is that the beginning of the book needed better editing and proofreading. If you are going to present reasons for major changes in education, at the very least, your writing must be professional and with as few grammatical errors as possible. I'm very forgiving of errors in blogs or online discussions I read, but I feel if you are going to go the trouble of putting your thoughts to paper and publishing them, you should make sure your opinions are presented in a clear and concise manner. Some sections spent too much time telling me what the next section would be about. I also don't need to be reminded of the companion website twice in every chapter. While it is true that the gaming industry is rapidly changing, I would rather that the book stand on its own, current for when it was written. Especially when a search of the website found it sadly in need of updating. Frankly, in some sections it was sadly in need of links. This book was only published four years ago. What happened to the website? (Note: I am currently trying to register and log in to see if any of the information is available only to registered users. I will update if this is the case.)

As I said before, the content of the book itself is very interesting and has a homeschooling/unschooling feel about it. Most useful are the parts about what children learn from their games, what children can learn on their own, talking with your children about their games, and the final chapter on what to do right now. I believe it is definitely worth the read.

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On a lighter note, I picked up a picture book at the library called "What to Do About Alice?" by Barbara Kerley. This book is about Teddy Roosevelt's daughter, Alice. It is subtitled, "How Alice Roosevelt broke The Rules, Charmed The World, and drove her Father Teddy CRAZY!" This is a charming book I borrowed to read to Sierra. I did not know it would end up being yet another story of a homeschooler! Maybe this is what comes of homeschooling for over ten years, you start seeing examples of it everywhere. I saw my own little girl in this high spirited, adventurous President's daughter. At one point, Teddy thinks it is time to send Alice to boarding school to learn to be a proper young lady....

Alice was appalled. The idea completely "SHRIVELED" her. Every afternoon, all summer long, she made a point of going to her room to weep.

In the end, she came up with the solution for her father to let her loose in his library every day. Every morning she told her father what she learned the day before! I am definitely going to buy a copy of this book for our own collection. And I'm also going to hope Sierra doesn't decide she needs a pet snake. (Alice's was named Emily Spinach, after a thin aunt and the color it resembled. She greeted visitors to the White House with it!)

As far as the historical accuracy of this book is concerned, I would have to do more research. I noticed some reviewers blasted it for making her life seem happier than it was. They must not have understood that it was a children's picture book. For young children, especially young homeschooled girls, I believe this is a wonderful story worth reading!

And there you have it, two more books accidentally about homeschooling!

Home Spun comic strip #444

The miracle of speech. Making sounds. Turning them into words. Applying them to people and objects. Establishing ownership...

And for some reason, the youngest child is especially good at staking claims. Very true. Ask my big sister, she'll be happy to tell you about it!

Home Spun comic strip #443

February is the Longest Month

I've spotted it all over the internet, in my email inbox, in my living room... It's creeping into the hearts of friends and family. I've noticed a lot of gloomy dark clouds, and they aren't in the sky.

Midwinter. Can you feel it?

February is the shortest month when it comes to days. But Einstein said something about time being relative. It depends on which side of the bathroom door you are on and how badly you've got to go. By my calculations, February could be measured in dog years and still fall short of the mark on how long it feels. Kind of like windchill.

I just told Sierra that today is Groundhog Day. She said, "What?"
I said "It's Groundhog Day."
"What?"
"It's Groundhog Day."
"What?"
"I feel like I'm in Groundhog Day."
And that's my point. February is actually the longest month of the year. Maybe that's why they only gave it 28 days. Every four years, there is panic in the streets because February gets an extra day. That's like another week in winter month years.

So we fight it. We stick as many holidays and celebrations into little February as we possibly can. Anything to make it feel like it's moving faster.

Here are some suggestions to help bring your February to a quick and painless end:

~Visit the Carnival of Homeschooling! This week the Carnival is being hosted at As for My House. The theme is "What Matters Most."

~Get moving! I found out from my friend Mrs A that February is Heart month. Do your heart a favor and keep it healthy by getting some exercise.

~Laugh. You know I'm always going to suggest this one. Find something that tickles your funny bone and spend some time laughing. Laugh even if you don't mean it. Laugh with your kids and your friends. Need inspiration? Check out John Cleese in this video about laughter yoga.

Home Spun comic strip #442

So maybe I'm not really the nurturing type. I can live with that, cat person that I am. Sierra had to be taught that Marina wasn't "mama." She settled for "Mina" and later, "Na-na." Me? I was "MinaMama" or "Nurses." Hopefully I won't have to explain that last one.