Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Week That Got Away

Well this was quite a week...
I don't think I've ever gone so quickly from 100% to 0. Last Saturday I was happily mowing the front yard and in a sudden burst of energy I decided to replace the mailbox post. I had been putting this on the back burner for way too long and it was in serious need. I mean, it's a bit embarrassing to have a mailbox on a bent post. Once the post rusts apart, is duct taped and strapped to the fence... and then the duct tape wears away so that the box and half of the post are hanging limply from the fence like the remnants of a scarecrow after a tornado, it's time to replace it. And I did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself. I wanted to do more to our front entrance, but I figured it could wait until I had more time. At least my mailbox was no longer a bobblehead.

The following day I felt a little sore. No big deal. I'm used to being sore following a busy day of yardwork. I shook it off and went on with my day. The soreness continued into Monday. Strange. Even the joints of my fingers hurt. But Marina had work and Chase had taekwondo and I needed to pick up a few things at the store.

Which was when I really started aching.

By the time I had picked everyone up and drove home I hurt. Holding the steering wheel hurt. Turning my head hurt. By evening I had a fever of 101 and a killer headache. A dose of Tylenol brought it down by the next morning, so I figured it was a 24 hour bug and I would be better soon.

Except I wasn't. By the afternoon the fever was back. This time it was closer to 102. The body aches were getting better, but the headache and stiff neck were worse. I took more medicine and spent the afternoon shivering as I took Chase to his film class and then later picked him up and drove Marina to work. (Are you noticing a pattern here for me?) Keep in mind that I was shivering on a hot and humid day inside a car that was parked in the sun all morning. And stop yelling at me, Vicki. I was still keeping hydrated.

Before I needed to leave to pick up Marina, my temperature jumped to 103. Yes, at this point I deserve the tongue lashing. But in my fevered mind I figured, "I'll just drive up to the drop off area, pick her up, get her dad (he's 5 miles from the library) and he'll drive home." Simple, yes? Unless your daughter is surprised by a staff meeting and told it will only be a half hour. By the time I gave up stalking the front entrance, parked, and headed in to find her, that meant I should only have needed to wait ten minutes. But add thirty more for a late start and a talkative meeting. Marina would tell me on Friday that half the staff were worried about me and thought I was going to faint. That just wasn't true. I was fine as long as I rested my head against the table every now and then. My husband, thoroughly worried, wanted to take the bus to the library, but since I thought she might be out any minute, I figured I would prefer to do my suffering privately. Needless to say, more than an hour after I started this final odyssey of my day, I ended up with my highest temperature yet--103.4--and a very worried family.

By Wednesday morning my temperature dropped again. I was feeling better, but my head still throbbed and by the afternoon my husband was driving me in to the doctor with a fever again. My doctor is awesome, by the way. And left-handed. She figured it might be from a tick so I'm being tested (no results yet) and she gave me antibiotics to start me off. I've since found it's a hard pill to keep down, but I'll spare you the details. I must have looked like death itself, because her nurse asked if I wanted to be wheeled down for the bloodwork. I told her I could make it. If not, my husband would carry me. I was kidding. But I figured the lab was on the way out anyway, and I wasn't alone.

Since then, I'm improving. But again I marvel at how fast health can slip away from us, even if we are in the greatest shape (I'm not). This had nothing to do with asthma. I take precautions because our area is notorious for Lyme disease-carrying deer ticks. But it is never the one you find that gets you.

And those of you shaking your heads about me driving people hither and thither with a fever, I did too. Because I know I would do it again. That's what I do. I love my family and I tend to put them first. And what's great is that I know they put me first as well. They took care of me. They cooked. My husband got groceries with Sierra's help. No one did the laundry, though. They're not perfect.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Home Spun comic strip #486

Home Spun comic strip #486

There are actually some good reasons why we've gone after some of our cats. Just as not every cat is a good mouser, not every cat is good at getting down from trees. When Dusty climbs a tree, she'll mew just to get attention. If we ignore her long enough, she gets bored and climbs down. Other cats have contemplated jumping from the tree to the house. Not a good idea since we would have to get them down from the roof. I prefer taking chances with a tree rescue. There was at least one cat that would hyperventilate and start chewing the bark. I have no idea why he thought that would help. We eventually figured out that the promise of deli-turkey was a good way to get him down.

If you do need a professional to get a cat out of the tree, don't call the firemen. We learned from some news articles a few years back that they don't really do cat rescues anymore. The fire department doesn't want to risk personnel on a cat, which makes perfect sense. What you can do is try calling a good tree service.

Marina is our resident tree climber. She's really good at getting up the multiple trunks of the elm, which is the favorite tree for the cats to get stuck in. Her favorite tree is the upright yew. It has a nice branching system she can climb like a ladder. Sierra's now taken over the "reading tree." Possibly because Marina has gotten a bit too tall for it. I guess she needs bigger trees to climb.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Home Spun comic strip #485

Home Spun comic strip #485

Please forgive the late posting of Wednesday comic. Both the computer and I were sick. The computer had a video card change and I got a trip to the doctor and some bloodwork for tick borne viruses. Fun.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Carnival at Bugs, Knights and Turkeys in the Yard

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: The May 25th edition is up at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in the Yard! Celebrate Memorial Day a little early and read some of the interesting offerings this week from homeschooling bloggers like you!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Behavior MODification

Back in March I wrote about watching Molly the Barn Owl. At that time, Molly had five eggs and we were all eagerly anticipating the future owlets. Since then, four owlets have hatched and three are now hop-flying about outside the box. It has been a wonderful experience watching them grow, watching the parents tend to their needs, and getting an intimate look into their lives.

But...

There are some things that have put me off about the whole experience. From the start, it bothered me how Carlos, the owner of the box, would come on to sell things. There were Molly mugs, Molly t-shirts, Molly mouse pads and an audience of thousands ready to eat up the merchandise offerings.

Then there was the misinformation. Because Carlos put up this box, he was seen as an expert. He was very modest at first, and simply stated that he was observing them and learning right along with the rest of the viewers. But reading the chatroom messages on the page, I had the impression that whatever Carlos said was taken as fact. I only went on chat once, trying to correct someone who said that barn owls were screech owls. This viewer even posted a Wikipedia entry to back her claim. (Note: Anyone can post on Wikipedia. Do not use it as a source.) In Wiki's defense, it correctly noted that Barn owls are called screech owls. This does not make them screech owls any more than calling a bluejay a bluebird makes it a bluebird. They are two different species.

The fervor over the owlets increased as eggs started hatching. Viewers in the chatroom started calling themselves MODs- suffering Molly Obsessed Disorder. Carlos began talking to school and homeschool groups. The more of these he did, the more he seemed to believe he knew a lot about owls. I have to say, I've lived with cats for over twenty years now and I don't believe I know a lot about cats. With anything I do, I prefer to assume there is always more I can learn. I believe this keeps me open to accepting, or at least considering, new ideas and viewpoints.

The false facts bothered my family so much, we started viewing the owl box at the merchandise page. I left this page on my tabs for a while, and it always loaded and went to the bottom of the page. This is why I didn't notice at first just how much merchandise was added to the page. I give Carlos full marks as a good businessman. True, part of the proceeds were going to local wildlife habitat projects, and as an environmentalist I appreciate that. But something still bothered me about it all. As of this writing, I no longer see any disclosure on the merchandise page about how much money will be donated to wildlife efforts. Why is that? And where is the money going?

As the owlets grew, I went back to viewing it on the chat page and noticed some controversy about the owl box set up. It had no branching system for the young owlets. Many in chat insisted that the owls did not need this and those who disagreed ended up being banned from chat. I had never heard of branching, but I am not an owl expert. So I looked it up. From the Massachusetts Audobon website:

BRANCHING
Occasionally one comes across an apparently helpless young owl, most often in spring or early summer. When young owls leave the nest, their first exploration is usually on foot, hopping and climbing from branch to branch, and flapping their wings to strengthen them for flight later on. Falconers call this activity "branching." Due to their inexperience, the young owls sometimes end up on the ground.


After being hounded about this, Carlos finally put up a system of platforms and perches, but insisted that branching was a made-up word.

At this point, I started actively looking for a second opinion, since Carlos seemed to be acting more and more defensive and the blind faith displayed by the chatroom MODs was making me uneasy. Stacey O'Brien, the author of Wesley the Owl, a wonderful book I read last year, has her own blog. I decided to check if she was following any of the owl box discussion. I found many entries regarding the branching question. You can view her blog here.

Another controversy involved the constant flashes while the owlets hop-fly outside. He has insisted that his flash photography is not a problem, the birds are used to it, and anyway, some of the flashes are due to cars in the neighborhood passing by or parking. Again, I noticed the chatroom gang mentality. Those who were concerned were ridiculed. I read one comment on Stacey's blog that mentioned some owl box viewers insisted "they're his owls, he can do what he wants."

I saw this as an opportunity to do an experiment with the kids. On more than one night, we watched the owlets and observed when the flashes occurred. Every flash we observed during a period of one to two hours happened when an owlet was taking off or landing. The owlets do turn when they see a flash, so if they do not see it (and that is a big "if"), they definitely hear the sound of the camera.

I do appreciate that Carlos set up this camera and allowed us a view of Molly's family. I will continue watching with the children until the owlets fly off on their own, or until the site charges me to watch. But I will also encourage my children to continue to observe, to question, and to research. I think all of it, including what has gone on in chat, is a good opportunity to learn. And learning is what this experience is all about...isn't it?

Home Spun comic strip #484

Home Spun comic strip #484

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The May Cakes....

The month began with Sierra's birthday on the third. Sierra remembered she wanted the little doll cake picks from the craft store, so off we went to pick some up...

Mini Dolls Cake

Each dress is a cupcake and the dance floor is a buttercream frosted 8 inch round cake. For this one, I baked my first Lady Baltimore cake.

Mini Doll Cupcake

Next came Marina's birthday on the fifteenth. For Marina's birthday, I was going to make the cake look like a volcano. I started by (successfully, yay!) making a Tunnel of Fudge cake from scratch. Unfortunately, it is very hard to tint chocolate glaze red. It just looked more...chocolatey. So I decided to add a phoenix bird around the edge. Everything was going wrong with the frosting here. I inadvertently made a buttercream filling, thinking it would be the same. I ended up having to thicken a portion of it. Then my pastry bag bursted and the food coloring didn't blend well. Most of the frosting turned yellow, but there were only small sections that absorbed the red. (I tried to mix the colors in the pastry bag, which is why it popped. Never try to rush the process.) All of the orange and red color you see below is from drawing it on with a toothpick dipped in the section of red frosting in the burst pastry bag. I think it came out well.

Phoenix Cake

My son loves the Monty Python Spanish Inquisition sketches. He wanted this as the theme for my cake. Luckily, it was the last cake of the month (today) so I had time to figure out what I wanted to do for it. Using my handy dandy Velvet Cake recipe and a Ghirardelli brownie mix, I went all out with this one.

Spanish Inquisition Cake

I put Marina in charge of making the "cardinals" and I made the comfy chair and soft cushions from Velvet Cake cupcakes. I used leftover frosting and filling from my second cake. Marina made costumes for cookie men out of fruit roll-ups and features from melted chocolate.

Spanish Inquisition Cake

The Boy at Fourteen

And now we reach the final birthday of the year. Chase, my middle child, my only son!

Like the eyebrow raise? He can do this on either side. This coupled with his dimpled smile, he seems to have been born with the ability to make people smile and to find something to laugh about! This sense of humor is balanced by a gentle, nurturing side that shows so strongly in his love of family and friends and especially for his cat, Merlin. I don't think any cat has ever had a prouder "father," whether cradling the cat in his arms or calling our attention to Merlin's cuteness.

Chase was born at 7:35pm fourteen years ago. A gentleman from the start, I didn't even realize I was in labor for the first half of it. He was born at the Birth Cottage, a free-standing birthing center on hospital grounds. Unfortunately, it has closed since then. I'm glad I had the opportunity to use it. It was a wonderful choice, all the benefits of giving birth at home without the anxiety of cleaning up before the midwife gets there.

Fourteen years with my wonderful boy, now more of a young man! How lucky I am to have you in my life.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Chase!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Rites of Spring, Part 2

Last weekend was busy. In fact, the busy has been nonstop for a while now, but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel and I finally have time to post about last weekend.

On Saturday the Fifteenth, Marina turned 17. It seems my oldest child is reaching the end of her official childhood, although I hope she keeps the childlike wonder for many years to come. I remember back to all of those past struggles--sleepless nights, potty training, learning to read, first lost tooth, higher math concepts...The days slipped by and now I am helping her with her latest milestone, college. How time flies!

On the same day, we celebrated Chase's Confirmation.

Kids: May 2010

To me, it is a graduation of sorts. It signifies the end of religious education, he gets the robe and a certificate, and now he is considered an adult in the eyes of the church, responsible for his spiritual life. Here is a picture of him with my mother and the bishop.

Confirmation

My mother sponsored him since his godmother lives in California and we had no time to contact his godfather. I had so much paperwork and meetings between his Confirmation and Sierra's First Communion this year, I'm lucky I remembered anything that wasn't written down.

One more birthday to celebrate tomorrow and May Madness will draw to a close. I wonder how long it will be before I stop waking up panicked thinking there is something I need to do?

Home Spun comic strip #482

Home Spun comic strip #482

Monday, May 17, 2010

Various Resources in One Post

I thought I would share some of the resources I've found over the years that proved helpful in our homeschooling/unschooling.
I hope no one feels intimidated. These are tools I've used over 10+ years and is actually only a partial list. I've added links where I thought they might be useful, fun or interesting.

(Note: Not all of these worked for all of my kids, so it's good to try to borrow the books or DVDs from the library whenever possible to test them out. I originally found many of the books and DVDs through our library system.)

General:
-The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise
-Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar by James Marcus Bach (my son just read this, it has an unschooly feel)
-Teach Your Own by John Holt
-Freedom to Learn blog
-TED Talks
-Brainpop (many free featured videos on this site)
-Free Rice (mini quizzes on various topics)
-Random Facts (facts on different topics--this is a new one I just found out about that will be very useful)

English and Reading:
-Guys Read
-Starfall (Online reading program)
-Schoolhouse Rock's Grammar Rock
-Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Sandy Asher (on writing)
-Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? by Kenneth Koch (on writing poetry)
-Nitty Gritty Grammar by Judith P. Josephson and Edith H. Fine:
-Elements of Style by Strunk and White
-Barron's Painless Grammar and Painless Junior Grammar
-Vocabulary Cartoons series by Sam, Max and Bryan Burchers

Language:
-Muzzy Spanish
-Laugh 'n' Learn Spanish by Lynn Johnston and Brenda Wegmann
-Minimus by Barbara Bell (for Latin)
-TuTubusLatinus (many lessons in Latin, we use the Aeneid of Virgil, where the Aeneid is translated in a series of videos)

Math:
-Sir Cumference series by Cindy Neuschwander
-The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster
-Singapore Math
-Murderous Maths series by Kjartan Poskitt
-Khan Academy (site offers video help with math and physics)
-Algebra Unplugged by Kenn Amdahl (good for readers)
-Barron's Painless Geometry
-Geometry Success in 20 Minutes a Day

Science:
-Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock
-The Usborne Complete First Book of Nature
-eBird
-Exploratorium
-Best of Beakman's World DVD
-Delta Education's Science in a Nutshell kits (expensive, but worth it if you have several children or worry about doing experiments)
-My First Body Book by Melanie and Chris Rice
-Adventures with Atoms and Molecules by Robert C. Mebane and Thomas R. Rybolt
-The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios (there are great videos at his website)

History:
-Horrible Histories series by Terry Deary
-Various biographies by Mike Venezia
-Wicked History biographies
-The Kingfisher Complete Book of World History (this one may be out of print)
-The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History
-American Girl series

Home Spun comic strip #481

Home Spun comic strip #481

I've filled out a ton of forms and surveys that ask for employment status. I know this is more an issue of semantics for me, but I find it very difficult to choose an answer. I wish I could choose all that apply instead. Financially, I am self-employed, although I rarely pursue more than a workshop or two these days. I am not employed outside the home, but I consider homeschooling a full time job, even though I do it for love, not money. I suppose I could consider myself a homemaker, except I spend a lot of time driving kids around so the home isn't very made.

Do you see my dilemma?

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Happy Birthday Sweet 17

There are things that truly amaze me. The beauty of a sunset. The overwhelming grandeur of a tall old tree. A perfect tiny flower.

What amazes me today is to celebrate a beautiful 17 year old, full of joy, mirth, imagination and love. How did I get so lucky?



Happy Birthday, Young Lady! You are my shining star!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Kidding Cats #5 and 6

Sierra has allowed me to post some of her comics so I can have a week off for Mother's Day. Home Spun will be back next week!

Kidding Cats #5

Kidding Cats #6

I hope you've all enjoyed Sierra's comics! I've been showing her your comments and she is very proud! I'm ending the week with two cartoons that she colored in. My own comics are ready for Monday. At some point today I have to bake a cake. Saturday is Marina's birthday and Chase's Confirmation. Sunday will be busier than I originally anticipated. More on that as the weekend progresses...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Kidding Cats #3 and 4

Sierra has allowed me to post some of her comics so I can have a week off for Mother's Day. Home Spun will be back next week!

Kidding Cats #3

Kidding Cats #4

Thank you for your kind comments on the first two strips! I have done very little in putting them up on the computer, other than cleaning the page a little.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Carnival at Apollos Academy

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: May Flowers edition is happening at Apollos Academy. Please head over and check out this week's links!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Kidding Cats #1 and 2

Sierra has allowed me to post some of her comics so I can have a week off for Mother's Day. Home Spun will be back next week!

Kidding Cats #1 Kidding Cats #2

Saturday, May 8, 2010

To All of the Mothers....


May You Enjoy
A Peaceful and Joyous
Mothers' Day!

And a Little Child Led Us...

I first heard the term unschooling when Marina was four. All of my teaching and psychology instincts kicked in: Let the kids lead? How can you do that? It's permissive parenting. They'll stress from having to be in control. When will they learn to read?

In all fairness, the homeschooler who told me about the unschoolers in the group was not an unschooler. In fact, she was a retired teacher. She spoke a lot about alternatives to traditional teaching, like using cooking to teach fractions and multiplication, but she felt letting kids choose when to learn to read and do math was a mistake and could lead to all sorts of problems in the future. I shared that belief. Needless to say, Marina was more traditionally taught in the beginning. I had my classical model of "The Well-Trained Mind" and Marina was very willing when it came to sitting down and listening to history or practicing writing. That is, she was very willing once I overcame the hurdle of teaching her to read.

But at the start, Marina did not want to learn to read. A neighbor had given me her copy of "Hooked on Phonics" and I was excited to begin teaching my daughter how to read. That's what you did in school, right? I was determined to show I could do this as well as any school, maybe better. So I forced phonics and reading upon my poor little five year old.

And she pushed back.

Reading ended up being the one thing I couldn't teach to my daughter. She happily went on walks where we counted steps or spotted nouns and verbs. She loved the museums she went to with grandma. She enjoyed our kitchen experiments. She even liked going to the library and taking out books for me to read to her. But reading by herself she hated. By the end of her kindergarten year I was sure I had ruined her for reading. True, the BOB books went over better than the Hooked on Phonics, which I set aside. But she just didn't get it, or didn't want to do it with me. Summer was approaching, I was tired, so I figured I would take a break for the summer.

That summer was the first year she was encouraged to do the library's summer reading program. Participants received prizes for reading so many books for their age level or higher. I credit this program for teaching Marina to read. At first it was the draw of the prizes, but eventually the joy of reading took hold of her. Reading finally began to click, and she did it by having fun without anyone forcing it on her! I may have given her some basic phonics instruction, but in the end she read because she wanted to.

Chase was harder to teach than Marina. Chase needed motivation. I shamefacedly admit that I threatened him to get him working. ("If you aren't going to learn it from me, I'll send you to school and let them try!") It's a good thing we don't stop learning as adults. Because of Chase and Marina, I started "Stealth Teaching"--laying out interesting books or activities that they would notice and use because they "found" it. Little did I realize at that time that my stealth teaching was just another form of unschooling. I was exposing them to new subjects and ideas hoping they would be of interest.

By the time Sierra came along, her older siblings had their routines in place, so I felt confident I could focus my efforts on her and more easily teach her. This was something I had never really done. When Marina started homeschooling, my toddling Chase divided my attention. The only problem was Sierra didn't want my attention. She bucked at any premise of teaching. It had to be her idea or she didn't want to hear about it. She didn't want my phonics books or beginner readers because they were "baby books." All of my stealth teaching tricks were transparent to her. I didn't know what to do. She was still a kindergartner, so I figured I would step back a little and see what happened.

Sierra copied what her older siblings did. She began watching Chase play Spore and she wanted to do it too. Playing Spore taught her how to read. She would listen to history with Chase. Marina would read to her. Eventually, workbooks were used as an excuse to stay up late. I could hear Marina helping her figure out the puzzles and other activities in the workbook when I was turning in for the night. I think she knew I wouldn't disturb an educational moment. Sierra will only learn if it is of interest or serves some purpose for her. This is how she has always been. It's why I've dubbed her "the aggressive unschooler."

Two days ago she decided she wanted to write her name in cursive. She told me that she didn't like to do cursive before, but now she's interested in it. Yesterday she asked me to write some of the big and small letters in cursive so she could copy them. She asked me questions about how to connect them. She let me teach her! Sierra led us to fully embracing our inner unschoolers.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Home Spun comic strip #479

Home Spun comic strip #479

I can tell when I'm tired. I had a hard time with Jess' face in the first panel. Two layers of white out and then I was still adjusting it after I scanned it. Don't look at it too closely, OK?

I have to say, one of my favorite experiments is mixing baking soda and vinegar. It's one of the few I can't mess up. And I've messed up a few that were supposedly foolproof. I have a rock candy experiment that I'm going to dump soon. It's been sitting on the shelf for two months and no crystals have formed. I know I got it to work once. . .

Several years ago . . .
. . .Too bad the cat knocked it down . . .
. . . . . . And broke the glass . . .

Monday, May 3, 2010

Rites of Spring, Part 1

Sierra had a busy weekend. She made her First Communion on Saturday.

1st Communion

Notice the cake below? We combined some events because we have multiple celebrations this year. The 70 candle holders are for my dad's birthday. The cake says "Congratulations on your Communion, Confirmation (for Chase), Birthday (for Sierra, Marina, and Chase)" When you have so many events, you learn to be economical.

1st Communion, cont.

And today, my sweet youngest child, my bonus baby, is eight years old. Seems like only yesterday she entered the world, ready for anything, a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. My free spirit girl!

Sisi's Birthday 1

Sisi's Birthday 2

Happy Birthday Sierra! We love you!

Home Spun comic strip #478

Home Spun comic strip #478

Some of us don't get to read the paper regularly. Some of us prefer the comics section, but will also read the letters to the editor and the editorial cartoon, time willing. Of course, it can be hard to understand the editorial cartoon if you aren't up on your currents events. Lucky for me, I have Marina and Chase to bring me up to speed and explain the jokes!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The May Carnival of Unschooled Life is Up!

The May edition of the Carnival of Unschooled Life is happening at The Expanding Life! This is my first time submitting to this carnival, but I've been reading it for some time now. Head on over and check it out!
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