A Strengthened Resolve

My 16 year old daughter was sitting between my mom and me at the dinner table.  We got into a discussion about her school stuff, her AP Biology class, and some reading assignments she has had (and didn't do, and isn't planning to do).  In the course of the conversation she said many things which showed/reminded me that what she is learning about learning from being in her school is:

-if it isn't going to be on a test or quiz or be graded in some way, I don't need to know it or do it
-hard things are not worth doing if I cannot see how it will be fun or rewarding for me
-I do not see learning opportunities as opportunities, only as a thing that gets in the way of my facebooking and texting
-doing the bare minimum to play the game of How To Get OK Grades in High School is the goal

There was more, but those are some of the highlights.

My mom and I both tried to engage her and challenge her thinking about these things.  I know that usually she thinks more about these things later when she isn't feeling defensive, but in the moment she was quite resistant.   While keeping part of my mind focused on the conversation with her, another part of my mind was comparing and contrasting her educational experience with that of kids in CC.

CC kids learn early-on that big, hard learning goals can be reached, and that they can have fun doing it. 

In the grammar stage, CC kids become accustomed to learning about things that they have no frame of reference for, but they embrace it, memorize it, have fun with it, and then are delighted when they learn more about the world around them and they see where their knowledge plugs in, and they love it.

CC kids are getting an experience that I believe (hope?!) helps mold their attitudes about learning into that of acceptance and enjoyment of challenging things, confidence that they can do tough stuff, and the pride and satisfaction of achieving big goals. 

CC kids are learning that what they are given to learn, memorize, and, in the upper levels, debate and discuss are things that are worth knowing.  The develop trust in their tutors, and an appreciation that they are being lead through an educational process that is worth their time and efforts.

My oldest son was in high school for 9th and most of 10th grade.  I saw his attitude go in the same direction as I now see in my daughter.  He resisted being homeschooled again, but I prayed like crazy and eventually one day toward the end of his 10th grade year he told me he was ready to come home, and he did.  While I was waiting and wishing and praying for a way to get him out of public school (without starting a war with my kid) I remember thinking that I would gladly pay whatever ransom was necessary to entice him to leave.  We found a little cottage school option with a la carte classes for homeschoolers, and we enrolled him there so he could have some time with friends and another teacher to answer to.  Ultimately, that didn't turn out to be as great as we had hoped, but the point is that we were happy to do whatever we needed to do to get him out of the environment he had been in.

So here we are.  As my daughter was spouting off her lackluster philosophies about doing as little as necessary to get by, my resolve was strengthened.  I do not know why hand-drawing the USA map and labeling 41 rivers is important to do.  But I do know that my Challenge A son had a good attitude about it (better than mine!) and he was willing to try.  He is surrounded by peers in his class who are also rising to meet these challenges.  He is surrounded by friends that have a good attitude about learning and hard work.  He is not learning that there is a bare minimum "game" to play.  He is not learning that being dyslexic means he will learn less.  He is working very hard every day, and I have been reminded that these habits and attitudes are so important to develop.  They will pay off for the rest of his life. 

On we go!  This was a great reminder.  I am paying the ransom for my children's minds, not only in money, but also in the effort that we put together as a family to master these things. 

CC 2012 Hand Motions

It's almost time for CC to start again, and this year we have a new set of timeline cards!  There has been some difficulty in my own CC community to decipher the meaning behind the timeline motions provided from CC, so boy-howdy! were we all happy to find these motions already made up for us.  I am sure that tutors and parents alike will appreciate having this video available to make this easier on us!

We are always with our children (and our mothers!), and they are always with us

So often scientific discovery echoes what we already know instinctively and in our hearts.  This article is awesome, and so is this video.  And it goes with what I wrote yesterday.  What a beautiful comfort.

  

Inspiration!

‎"A farmer does not throw up his hands at the prospect of drought 

and refuse to plant his crops that year, 

nor does he throw up his hands at the prospect of perfect growing conditions 

and refuse to tend his crops. 

A good farmer knows that there is always work to be done." 

An inspiring comment today from Leigh Bortins. Wow. So true in the life of a parent.

Read Leigh's post here.

Timeline of Classics: Product Review

There is an awesome new resource available to homeschoolers that pretty much every home educating family should get their hands on:  Timeline of Classics.  Gail Ledbetter put together this simple and ingenious resource, and you are going to love it!

This simple book packs a powerful punch for the homeschool families that utilize great literature (as well as audios and film) in their educational approach.  If you use Sonlight, Classical Conversations, Ambleside Online, KONOS, a Thomas Jefferson Education, Charlotte Mason, Tapestry of Grace, Winter's Promise, etc. YOU WILL LOVE THIS.

What it is:  This spiral-bound book uses a simple chart format to take you chronologically from the beginning of time up until modern times, recommending the best of the best resource books, literature, audios, and films for the time period (including specific events), gives you the author information and web site references if applicable, plus lets you know if the book is suitable for elementary, middle, or high school levels.

So, let's say, for instance, that you are studying Renaissance Europe.  You can easily find that in chronological order (it's in the Middle Ages section), and then see the recommended audio book Galileo and the Stargazers: Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, & Galileo.  You see that you can obtain this resource from Jim Weiss' site greathall.com, and that it is recommended for all three age levels.

Does this book include every possible book about each time period and major historical event?  Thankfully, NO.  Gail has used her many years as a home educator to weed out the junk, and only recommends the really great stuff.  You won't have to sift through twaddle here!

I can see that Timeline of Classics will be an excellent resource when you want to find books at your library that will fit with what you are currently studying.  A quick flip through the pages of the book will give you many fine options, and you can easily figure out which of these items you can borrow from the library.  Really, I don't think this book could have been designed to be simpler or better than it is right now.

Absolutely, positively, this is a fresh book that is destined to become a beloved classic by homeschool families everywhere.  You will want to have this resource on your shelves and your desk from the time your little ones start homeschooling, all the way through college courses.  It's *that* complete and *that* good.

Timeline of Classics is available both in a sturdy print version, a CD version, and an ebook version, depending on your needs.  All versions are priced extremely reasonably, particular for such a powerful resource that you will get so much mileage out of!

(I was not financially compensated for this product review, this is not an affiliate promotion, and these opinions are my own.  I did receive a review copy of Timeline of Classics so that I could check it out and share my impressions with you.)

Older Moms/Younger Moms

This is a post I wrote about a year ago but hadn't shared here yet.  Maybe some of you will find it helpful in some way.


I saw a post on a blog today that partially talked about the way older moms and younger moms relate (or don't), and I found myself replying in the form of a post long enough to be featured here. So, breaking the silence, possibly with something I've said similarly before, here's something fresh:

When I was a new mom I found that the older moms that I knew were too busy for me to get much time with them. The few times that I did get up close with moms I admired were good, but they were rare and I was not able to make close relationships with those ladies, for the most part. 

There were some older women who took an interest in me, but in some cases they were ones who were really looking for a disciple, someone to make be like them, and honestly, I didn't like the results that I was seeing they had. They may have felt that they were equipped to lead or teach me, but I wasn't interested in going in the direction they wanted to lead me. (and I can say that even in looking back on it all these years later, I was spot-on in those impressions. These were unhealthy people with an ax to grind.)

Now I am 40, and don't have any babies or toddlers or preschoolers or sippy cups. There are no outward markers to signal to the like-minded moms that they have anything in common with me. I'm not sporting a baby in a sling, refusing to use a pacifier, or tandem nursing to show my true colors. :) Even when I try to encourage a mom who is making choices that I can identify with from my own baby days, I sense their hesitation to trust others that they do not identify as part of their parenting sub-set. I have to overtly identify myself, "I come in peace!" and still they don't seem to believe it fully.

My oldest is 18. I've homeschooled for a long time. A lot of the younger moms I know seem to think of me in an older mom/big sister kind of way, but know what? I am so busy with what I've got going just managing my own life and children and homeschooling, that I really don't have a lot of time to invest with those gals. I don't have any more days with room for play dates. 

Also, possibly a bigger issue, I have fewer pat answers than I had when I was in my 20s. For moms who want absolutes, I have few, if any, of those to offer. Doesn't seem to speak their language. 

A couple months ago a couple from church asked if they could come over and visit with us and have us tell them about homeschooling. They have four small children and were looking for some wisdom, I guess. Someone to fan the flames of their naiive enthusiasm, perhaps. It was hard for us, not only because our schedule was slammed, but also because we know how long and hard the homeschooling road can be, and at the time we were not feeling particularly positive about all that we were doing or experiencing in regards to homeschooling our kids. What can we say to them, we wondered? Here they were, all stars in their eyes, chomping at the bit to Create All Of Their Own Unit Studies! and have Rigorous Standards from the get-go! and have each of their tiny tots academically advanced and extremely precocious. In the end, I ended up telling them what I really felt at the time: It's hard work. It won't always go well. You will have times when you doubt that you are doing the right thing or doing things well. And in the end, even when you have done all you could, your kids might just disappoint you, scare you, be mean, or make you cry. There are no guarantees that anything you are going to do will give you a particular result. It's a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself, young friends. And for goodness sake, take your vitamins, because you are going to need all the good health and energy you can maintain for the next 23 years! I don't think they got what they were expecting, and I don't know if they were really able to absorb it, since of course when your kids are tiny and adorable and practically perfect in every way, how could you really understand how things can develop in the next 15 years or so?

I see the complexity of the whole younger woman/older woman thing differently now. Certainly our societal norms do not make that sort of relationship easy or natural. I'm not sure what the answer is. Moms in my category are probably busier and less available in some ways than moms of babies. Ladies a generation older than me are not often familiar with many of my choices in life, and are looking toward retirement, travel, or careers without the impact of growing children. The internet can be great for a mix of encouragement, but is weak in that we only get to see what the person shows us through their words, and in so many cases people are comparing themselves to a myth, or following the advice of someone that they otherwise would not admire if they could more fully observe their life. 

There I go again with no pat answers. Annoyingly real, I suppose.

President Resources

Later this year we'll be learning the US presidents. I found this video and thought it would be good for my kids to learn since it gives a little bit of historical information about each president. Unfortunately it doesn't go up to the current president, but so far I haven't found a better one. Will keep looking!

CC Preposition Song with Motions

CC Cycle 3 John 1 Resources

CC Cycle 3 Periodic Table Weeks 16-19

CC Cycle 3 Week 16

CC cycle 3 week 15

CC cycle 3 week 14

CC cycle 3 week 13

This episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy does a great job explaining about atoms, and at the end he even does the science experiment we did this week! This video has our science info for weeks 13-15: This version of the video has science for weeks 13-24 English for weeks 13-17:

CC Cycle 3 Chemistry Resources

These might come in handy when learning the periodic table of elements in second semester:




 And also check out the Periodic Table in pictures here.

CC Cycle 3 Latin Lapbook

I found out about this neat resource today and thought that others would enjoy it.  Latin Lapbook here.  Enjoy!

CC cycle 3 week 12

CC cycle 3 week 11

CC cycle 3 week 10

Tin Whistle Resources

Very handy not only for tutors and subs, but also for parents working on tin whistle skills at home!




This site looks helpful as well. Includes starter, intermediate, advanced, and tricky tunes, and more.