just a ditty on CM Method.

          For my seventh grade son, I spent time researching curriculum options and ideas on simplycharlottemason.com.  I found this site to be very helpful and their free curriculum guide on the site is terrific.  The Charlotte Mason Method focuses on living books. The goal is to have the child read well written books on a subject or a person instead of text books or abstracts.
     I have ordered the books, but now I just need to work with him on focusing and on documenting his work.  I also need to work on documentation myself.

Returning to Homeschooling

   Wow, I have really neglected this blog.   At the start of this school year, all three children were back in school, as in public school.  The older kids were at a charter school.  Well, the two older ones decided to return to homeschooling, so we did.
    Yasmeen is in 9th grade and Liam is in 7th grade.  The youngest started kindergarten this year and she will  continue in public school at least until the end of her kindergarten year.
    I've been searching the web to decide how I best wanted to go about homeschooling the older two.  One option was an online school called Florida Virtual School. I'm sure it is a wonderful option for many families, but just not for ours.  One of Yasmeen's friends from school asked how she was being homeschooled if she wasn't doing it online.  I loved her response of, "My mom's really good at this sort of thing."  (Thank you sweetie!)
    In my homeschool research, I decided to read more about the Charlotte Mason Method.  Initially, I had been turned off by all of the mentions of Christianity.  This method does seem to be one of the darlings of he Conservative Christian homeschool world. However, after researching Waldorf and being encouraged to keep an open mind, I resolved to reconsider Charlotte Mason Method and see it through my humanist, liberal lenses.  Once I did that, I fell in love!  This does seem to be a nice middle ground between Waldorf and Classical.  In fact it was so similiar to Waldorf in many ways, that I began to wonder if others combined the two and yes many do!  I found some beautiful blogs by mothers who combine these methods.  My two favorites are serendipity.com and irienarrowpath.com
 I will admit that serendipity.com is very, very Catholic and not my type of Catholic.  My mother is very liberal in her politics and is a Mass going Catholic.  So I was raised with a progressive interpretation of the Catholic faith.  I left the faith as a child.  It wasn't logical.  However, I have lately enjoyed going to Mass with my oldest daughter, the atheist.  She says she enjoys Mass too.  We missed it this week though.
     

The Six Swans

Picture from storynory.com inspired  by  The Six Swans

This week we have been working on the fairy tale, The Six Swans by the Brothers Grimm.  On Monday I told her the story. On Tuesday, I re-told her the story and then we listened to it on story nory.  Storynory.com is a website of free stories to listen to.  On Wednesday, Seneca told me the story of The Six Swans and I wrote down her narration in her lesson book.  A few times, I would prompt her with questions to help her remember the story, but all in all she did quite well.  I was going to have her practice writing some  s words, but she became so frustrated and angry when she felt her writing wasn't good enough.  I tried to re-assure her that she was doing a good job. In truth, she really was doing a good job.  She has perfectionist tendencies at time.  As a mom, those can get to be annoying.  I don't tell her that though.  She did calm down and took to cutting out construction paper to make shapes and forms.  Cutting is such an important fine motor skill and one that leads to developing writing skills.
     She has been digging in her grandma's side yard today and yesterday. She collected and washed off some rocks to share with me today.  I hope that can counter some of her time spent on tv, though I do try to be sure that she is watching PBS Kids if she is watching tv.

     We continue to play mini math games with mancala pieces. We call the pieces fairy or gnome jewels.  We did a pattern sequence together on Wednesday using the different colored pieces.  She did well with continuing the pattern.  She also drew some patterns of her own.

The Road to Seneca Falls

This is the book that I mentioned earlier under the post about Seneca's name.  I had met the author of this book by coincidence.  Of course, I told her that my daughter was named Seneca after the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.  The next time that she was in Florida, she brought this book as a gift for my daughter. There is even a signed inscription to my Seneca.

       I had recently been trying to get some information on the role of Quakerism in social reform movements as well as some history of Quakerism.  There is vast information on the internet, but I was having trouble finding what I was specifically looking for.  Then, along came this book with an entire chapter on Quakerism within the families of many of the reformers.  There was even a brief mention of Unitarian Universalists, which is what we are.  

      It is so interesting to read the sections of family raising within a liberal context.  I think about the families that I know, mostly through the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and I see the similarities between us and the families in this book.  We are trying to give our kids a holistic upbringing that values human dignity and respect for our planet.  That is being very simplistic of course, and the exact issues are very different from 150 years ago, but the essence is the same.  

     I am very interested in visiting the Friends Meeting House again soon. I also need to get back to the UU Church as well.  (I've been out of the loop on many things dealing with a bad leg.)  Quakerism and UUism are often considered to be very complimentary to each other.  It is quite likely for one to meet a UU Quaker.  

       I will post some more thoughts on my readings of The Road To Seneca Falls as they come to me.

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Seneca-Falls-Elizabeth-Convention/dp/0252071735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342716299&sr=1-1&keywords=the+road+to+seneca+falls

Journal

July 11, 2012

            Seneca wanted me to re-tell the story of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm.  As I did, she acted it out.  This version is more detailed than the Disney one.  The wicked queen makes two attempts against Snow White before using the poisoned apple.  Seneca seemed to like all the times that she got to pretend to faint.

            Seneca is becoming a bit grumpy when it comes to lesson time.  She had lots of fun with acting out her story, but she hasn’t wanted to do her form drawing lately.  She did some forms today, but I wanted her to calm down and focus on just one form.  I gave up on that fairly quickly though.  I had hoped that we would do some phonics words today, but she wasn’t having it.  We did however play more make believe and she played with a mancala board and pieces.  

            Seneca heard me speaking to her brother about nocturnal animals and she piped in that she remembered that Jaguars were nocturnal.  She said that she remembered learning that from her library book.

            I’m struggling at times between wanting to introduce new concepts and lessons to her, but at the same time making sure that we have time to review lessons that we have already done.  I know that she gets more out of repetition at this time.  However, as she gets closer to potentially entering kindergarten, I want to be sure that has progressed along as well.

            I’m thinking about only adding on a few more fairy tales to the ones that I tell her.  My curriculum book for her is full of many fairy tales, but I am leaning toward telling less and then repeating them throughout the year. 

Plugged In Summer

  So, I've had to take a grand plunge into the world of what many may call mainstream parenting.  I have a pinched nerve in my back which is affecting my right leg.  I hobble around and can't stand for very long.  I have a chair in the shower.  I can't stand up long enough to cook anything, so this means that the kids and I have to live on take out. 
      As most everyone knows though, take out does not equate healthy.  It definitely equals expensive though, except for McDonald's.  So, I suck it up and we eat a lot of McDonald's.  Granted, we also try to get salads from McDonald's.  I have had friends go shopping for me and pick up things like yogurts, ready to eat fruits, hummus and pita bread. 
       Another foray away from my ideals is the amount of tv the kids have been watching.  I had all of these glorious plans for our summer.  I have tickets for Sunken Gardens in St. Pete as well the The Florida Aquarium.  They are just sitting in the limbo of the computer just waiting for me to print them out.  I also had plans to go to the beach and to the parks in the evenings just to get the kids unplugged.  Well, if I can't drive and can barely walk, those things have proven to be impossible. So, Dora the Explorer to the rescue in our house these days.  Oh well, at least this situation is only temporary.  
            In the meantime, I do try to encourage non media activities as much as possible.  The older kids are working on their summer reading for school.  A lot of the shows that Liam watches are educational. He was just watching the civil war era movie, Gods and Generals, and he was looking at one of his civil war books. 
        Seneca worked on writing some of her phonics words yesterday. She also spends a good amount of time somersaulting and running through my mother's house.  She'll get to go to a mall in Tampa tonight with her awesome sitter.  I know, I'm raising a mall-chick, what can I say?  Well, we hardly ever go to the mall, even when my leg is good, so again, choose my battles.
    And she has spent many a time with me in my bed reading her phonics books, telling stories, playing I Spy, cutting and gluing at her table, coloring, and more.  So, she is not a drone all day long.
       Just before class started the other night, one of the young ladies was talking about how her friend has a 3 year old daughter and the little girl has these neat games on ipad to play.  I thought about how glad I am that my child will not have an ipad until she is much older.  Even, my teenage kids don't have an ipad.  So, while my five year old will be watching more cartoons than I would like, she still is free from the ipad craze. 
     The thing is, I know we will come out the other end of our plugged in summer just fine. 

10 Things You Now Get to Keep with Obamacare

Mushrooms After Rain

For anyone who either lives in Southwest Florida or has been following the weather news, you may know that it had been raining here - a lot.  As in Tropical Storm Debby has meant days of rain and more rain.  For Seneca, this meant go outside and get soaked!  I assure you we are in a safe area and the times when she was playing outside, there were no high gusts of wind.  The gusts of wind did occur during these days, but not at the specific moments when she was outside.
     Yesterday the raining here had stopped and we could see its effects on our neighbor's lawn - mushrooms!  Seneca has recently been quite enthralled by mushrooms after learning that gnomes live in mushrooms.  So, for her, a great kingdom had just sprouted!  She went and got one rather large mushroom with a very round and smooth top, not like the typical mushroom we often think of.
  We spent some time exploring this mushroom of hers.  She compared the different textures  on it. Then, she held it up and said, "It's the sun!"  We also figured out that it could be a wheel, a gnome's home, or a table.  She then washed her hands thoroughly after so much mushroom touching.
       From there, I decided to tell her the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Now, I had pretty much remembered the story, but I was really second guessing myself on my memory of it.  I decided I had better look it up on the internet.  Fortunately, I found a site which re-told the Norwegian folktale.  It was a good thing because I had forgotten the nuances like the "trip-trap, trip-trap" each goat makes as he crosses the bridge.  I re-told her the story before bedtime as well.

On hiatus

So, all homeschooling stuff has been put on hiatus while I am dealing with a herniated disc in my back. I did do a mini geometry lesson with Liam.  Seneca and I do still do phonics books and I can still tell her fairy tales. 
 It is so frustrating because I had so many things that I wanted to do with them.  Some of it will just have to be done from textbooks I guess.

Seneca's Day June 16, 2012

June 16, 2012
Seneca and I listened to The Grimms' The Sleeping Beauty on storynory. It is a free resource of audio books. After that I read three books to her. We read Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge, and The Carot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
We did form drawing after reading time. Seneca walked a straight line. I drew a straight line on Seneca's back. Seneca found a crayon and a pencil and held them up as straight lines. She practiced drawing the straight line form on scrap paper. She then put her first entry into her Main Lesson Form Drawing book.
Seneca painted with home made paint from flour, corn syrup, water and green food coloring.
Then, it was outdoor playtime with friends.

We re-read The Carrot Seed at night just before dinner and ate pot roast with beef, potatoes, onions and lots of carrots.

June 2012

  Yasmeen has completed eighth grade and made honor roll three times this year. She made honor roll for fourth quarter.  Sadly, I wasn't able to attend her moving up ceremony as I was in the hospital with a bad back. 
  Liam and Yasmeen will both attend the same school in the Fall. For the summer, Liam's goal is to work more on math.  He is really  excited about going to this school, so we are approaching math in a more traditional manner than with unschooling.  Although, many unschoolers will say that if a child wants to learn a subject and wants to learn it in a traditional method of textbooks and workbooks, then there is nothing wrong with that.   We reviewed long multiplication tonight.  He did fairly well with it.  He knows how to do it, this was just getting the gears in his head turning again.
 Seneca continues to work on her phonics with me.  She also has glue and glitter at her disposal for whenever she wants to do some crafts.  She likes to go outside and dig in the dirt and make a cup of mud. She calls this her "project."  Seneca has a collection of shells and she decided that the cone shape ones are gnomes' hats.  Another set of them are the ships in which the sea gnomes sail away. 
   

5/30/2012

I made a few phonics flashcards today for Seneca. We just went over them twice and then Seneca lost interest for the time being. Seneca chose out two books for us to read together tonight. She chose Colors as well as The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. After I read to her, Seneca then "read" The Very Busy Spider. She was using the pictures as her cues and her memory to recite back the story.
Earlier today, I filled up a used bread bag with colored water. After that, I filled up a small ziploc bag with corn syrup, blue food dye, and artsy gems for some more sensory fun! She loved both bags and even when the water bag had a leak, we had fun squirting the water out of the hole.

Sidewalk Astronomy

I have been getting email updates about events for a local sidewalk astronomy group, but I have never been able to attend any of the events. Well, this past Saturday, we finally went to one. I told Liam and his friends that we were going to X Beach City Hall. Of course, they heard "beach." So, we decided to make it a beach day followed by planet gazing. Best laid plans though..... In any event, by the time we got everyone (Liam, three of his friends, Seneca, and I) ready to go, it was just about sunset and I wanted to get to Sidewalk Astronomy right at sunset. So, we skipped the beach (for the time being.)
So many generous people set up beautiful telescopes and allowed other people there to look through. The kids saw the gasses surrounding the sun. They saw Venus in one telescope. Venus looked like a crescent moon. The kids and I got to see the moon in several different telescopes. The moon is either in light or in dark, no in between. And the kids and I got to see Saturn in one telescope! Afterwards, the boys said to me that they were disappointed about not going to the beach, but the sidewalk astrononmy thing was awesome. "Can we go again in September?"
From now on, I will certainly make an effort to attend the X Beach City Hall set ups. There are other set ups around town, but this one is the closest to us.
After leaving, we did stop at the beach for about thirty minutes. No going in the water, but the kids dug in the sand and I did get my feet wet. :)

Library ForgivenessWeek Plus New Card Equals Lots of Learning!

Thanks to our local unschoolers group, I found out that this past week is fine forgiveness week at our local county libraries in exchange for non-perishable foods to be donated to the local food banks. So, we went shopping and brought in some food donations and got my oldest daughter's slate wiped clean! Yay! It wasn't entirely her fault. She was much, much younger when she got her library card. Her dad and step-mom got it for her, then there was all this confusion as to whether what she checked out was at her dad's or my house. Anyhow, it was so many years ago now, that there is no way of knowing.
Seneca and I spent a little time at the library. She found a puzzle in the kids' section and was only all too happy to work on that. She chose out a book on Jaguars. So, I had to get a library card. Even at 35, I'm actually excited about getting a library card. :) I picked out a book for Liam on Film.  He says he wants to be a filmmaker.  He was reading his book last night and loving it. 

          I read the Jaguar book to Seneca last night. It is full of beautiful photographs of Jaguars. Many of the photo captions in the book identify exactly where the photo was taken. After reading, Seneca and I went over to our map on the wall. She pulled up her little stool and stood on it. I pointed out Belize, Peru, and Brazil to her. My goal isn't for her to know where Belize is, but rather to give her a sense of place and a feel for the essence of geography. She can point out Florida on a map. In fact, she saw how close Belize looks to Florida that she asked if we could drive there. (LOL) I showed her that the blue on the map meant water and that we would have to fly. (Ok, I know we could, in theory, also take a boat. However, our reality is that we would fly in a plane IF we were to go to Belize.)
Speaking of maps, Seneca can point out Florida, Maine, and Saudi Arabia on the map.
Seneca spent some time drawing a picture using both block crayons and stick crayons. The picture itself was very abstractionist. There was no set object or person, but rather an experience in colors. Seneca is not used to block crayons and she was experimenting with technique. I am very excited to use block crayons with her next year for her Waldorf curriculum, but for now, it is more appropriate that she becomes comfortable with the medium itself.

The day before yesterday, Seneca and I played shopkeeper. She helped me to cut out squares of paper for play money. I then wrote $1, $5, $10 on different squares. I was the customer and I would buy a shell or a crayon from her. A shell might cost $5, I would give her $10, and would instruct her to give me a $5 that she was holding. In another scenario, the shell is $3, I give her $5, and I instruct her to give me back two $1s. The idea is not to teach her subtraction, but to show her math in action. The point is for her to be able to relate subtraction to something real and tangible to her own life when she does start to formally study it.

Impromptu games of Improv and Duck Duck Goose

After playing outdoors, I told Seneca a new fairy tale.  I told her the fairy tale of the The Poor Miller's Boy and The Cat.  Seneca then made up her own fairy tale about a magical horse and a castle.  She used shells as props for jewels.  The story didn't always "make sense," but I didn't tell her that.  I just loved my chance to be in another magical world.  I have to appreciate her eye for detail in her story.  When talking about a carriage, she was sure to include "the man who opens the door and the man who stands behind the carriage."
    She has been watching her brother draw in his sketchbook, so she wants one too. Only, her way of expressing it is, "I want a checkbook."
  Today, Liam learned about St. Francis of Assisi.  He also reviewed his math skills.  He continued to work independently on sketching.
    Yasmeen has been hard at work writing an essay on the Cuban Missile Crisis. She is a BIG fan of the Kennedys.  She has a gift for working well with words and transforming her knowledge into descriptive and well-flowing words on paper.  

Our New Chalkboard!

Unschooling Moments

  I am beginning to realize that the value unschooling is often grasping a concept.  Sometimes we can hear an idea, say yes, that sounds good in theory, then move on.  Today was one of the those days in which I was able to allow the concept, or the theory, of unschooling work for our benefit.  Now, to be clear, this was not a total unschool day.  Liam did take notes on the Magna Carta from off our new chalkboard.  We did discuss the connection from the Magna Carta to the Mayflower Compact to the US Constitution.
   However, afterwards Liam had a complete a total unschooling day and it was perfect. He knew what he needed and he pursued hit.  Liam is, generally speaking, not an artist.  For that matter, neither is anyone in our family.  However, Liam spent the day sketching.  Mostly, they were simplistic projects, but he approached each sketch with reverence.  My son usually resists doing anything artistic.  But this was all his doing, under his own guidance.  He even had fun!  We all know the value of creativity and art, so I won't write on that subject.  My point is that I did not stress out that we weren't working on more academic work or that it was taking too long.  I was able to just let him BE and I was able to BE OKAY with that.
     As for Seneca, our day was filled with play dough, phonics books curled up together on my bed, suncatcher painting, and she was a great helper around the house.  She got to use a sponge and soap to help wash the doors.  She also played "Memory" card game.  Yesterday, it was imaginative play with stuffed animals and puzzle time!

Seneca's Saturday 5/11/2012

Water-slide bouncy house fun today! Seneca went to a birthday party today. Afterwards, we read together from her Starfall phonics series. She is doing well with memorization skills, but she still struggles with remembering words when she sees them in new places. For example, she can read the word "can" if she had memorized a story. She doesn't always recognize the word "can" when she sees it another book. So, of course, she is not really reading, but keep in mind that memorizing and recalling little books verbatim is still a very important pre-reading skill.
She painted her birdhouse some more this evening. We both painted suncatchers together. Seneca put together her Fox in Socks puzze, which she hadn't done in a while. She always amazes me with how well she does. I give a little guidance, but really very little.
Tonight, I put on our VHS of The Aristocats. I still want limited screen time, but she did have a very busy and fun day without using any electronic devices. Oh wait, I did let one online Dora game slip in though. I need study time, so I concluded that The Aristocats (and yummy almond chocolate milk) would keep her occupied; and we all need a little Disney classic in our hearts.

A Lesson on Scapegoating

Yesterday was a great natural learning day. Liam was watching the miniseries Holocaust (with Meryl Streep and Michael Moriarity). He then came over to me asking about how something like the Holocaust could happen. We then had a discussion on the role of scapegoating. I explained to him how scapegoating is used throughout history to maintain or achieve power. I used the current example of how many Americans are scapegoating illegal immigrants. For that matter, some are scapegoating all immigrants/foreigners.
I also discussed the role of economics when it comes to war. For example, my father kept asking himself what does Afghanistan have that we want? He knew very well that the Taliban and Al-Qaida were just the perfect excuse to invade, but what did America want? Then, he said he read about the oil pipeline in Afghanistan and he got it instantly. I told my son this anecdote in a hope to really help him absorb the lesson "follow the money." I kept repeating, and even wrote on the chalkboard, "scapegoating" and "economics."
We then went into a conversation about how Iraq and Saddam Hussein were blamed for 9/11 when they had nothing to with it. Again, we see scapegoating (they are Muslims, from the Middle East, etc.), and we see economics...OIL.
Later in the day, he read a chapter on feudalism in the Middle Ages. This portion of the day was not part of his self-directed learning, but rather what I assigned for him to complete.

Civil War Websites

Civil War Websites
civilwar.org
http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/index.htm

"Deadliest Warriors" on Spike TV

"Deadliest Warriors" on Spike TV
Crazy Horse vs Pancho Villa
Napoleon Bonaparte vs George Washington
US Army Rangers vs North Korean Special Ops
Joan of Arc vs William the Conqueror
Hannibal vs Genghis Khan - Liam saw this episode as unfair as Khan was hundreds of years later and had more advanced weaponry.
French Foreign Legions vs Gurkas
Ming Warriors vs Musketeers
Saddam Hussein vs Pol Pot
Spartans vs Ninjas
Persian Immortals vs The Celts
US Navy Seals vs Israeli Commandos

   Liam noticed the bias of the show and that the American, when an American is featured, always seems to win.  The show pits two historical figures against each other in battle.  Through a study of weapons of the time, injuries caused by said weapons, and knowledge of each historical person or group, a panel of experts determines who would have won.  The adversaries are pitted against each other in a computer simulation five thousand times.
  I am sure many people would object to the war nature of this series.  I belong to a congregation that helps young adults fill out Conscientious Objector forms and believes in non-military solutions.  Why then, would I not object to my son watching a program featuring confrontation and battles?  Well, my answer is that because my children have been raised in a family and congregation that teaches non-violence, they can easily watch programs that have violence in them and feel no need to absorb that violence into their soul.  They can easily distinguish that this is a simulation and it is NOT REAL.  I'm not trying to suggest that all other children raised in mainstream households cannot distinguish between real and fantasy. I am suggesting that since no glorification of violence of ANY kind is around my kids, then what they see on the screen remains on the screen. 

Momma's Waldorf Crafts

Hat I crocheted

Scarf that I knitted.   Cast on 20.  Row 1 Knit, Row 2 Knit One Yarn Over, Yarn Over (to add 2 stitches) repeat all down row.  Row 3 Knit 1, drop off, drop off ( you are dropping off each yarn over)  Row 4 Knit the row.  Repeat until the scarf is the length you desire.

Me with the gnome that I knitted. Seneca loves this gnome. The pattern is available as part of an e-course in Waldorf Homeschooling called Thinking Feeling Willing from waldorfessentials.com

Unschooling with a conch shell

Seneca had an awesome unschooling moment today.  She was holding a shell from the beach when she asked me what kind of shell it was.  We then went to google images for "types of shells." Seneca typed in the word shell as we sounded it out.  She learned that s-h makes the "sh" sound.  We compared Seneca's shell to pictures of other shells and determined that it was a conch shell.  I then read briefly about conch shells on wikipedia.
  Seneca and I went over to her craft table and got out her lesson book.  She worked on phonics skills as I guided her to sound out and write the words conch shell.  She still gets a bit confused on the short a versus the short e sounds.  We also worked on writing lowercase n and lowercase h.

Islam Studies for 5/1/012

     Liam continued his studies on Islam using A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Grade 6 from A Little Garden Flower (http://shop.beaconmama.com/A-Journey-through-Waldorf-Homeschooling-Grade-SIX-Curriculum-215.htm). The presentation of Islam in this curriculum is thorough and sensitive to its subject.  Mrs. Nielsen not only covers the basics of Islamic beliefs, but also explains to the parent-teacher the reasons for the customs of Islam.  As somebody who has lived in the Middle East for fifteen years, I can say with a lot of confidence that this program both covers the subject in an appropriate academic fashion and covers it with a human understanding.  Mrs. Nielsen does not shy away from presenting to her audience the common ground she finds with the followers of Islam and herself as a Christian woman.  The curriculum also offers topics for further study by the pupils of her program.  The program is both concise and informative.
     Liam also watched more of the PBS documentary "Empire of Faith."  For writing practice, he wrote the Five Pillars of Islam.

Paper Puppets and Islam Studies

Both yesterday and today, Seneca made her own puppets. She drew pictures of people and then cut them out. She gave her puppets the names "Riding Hood" and "Starla." Today, she sang Selena Gomez's "Love you Like A Love Song" as part of the puppet show. I also made another "fairy creature" for Seneca to play with. The pattern came from A Little Garden Flower'sThinking Feeling Willing program.
Seneca also colored with block crayons. I read "An Egyptian Cinderella Story" to her. Seneca retold the story of her birth using simplistic illustrations that I had made.
  Liam watched a documentary from PBS called "Empire of Faith" on the birth of Islam.  Liam copied the opening Surah of the Quran for writing practice.  We discussed how the Angel Gabriel appears in both the Bible and the Quran. In the Bible, it is the Angel Gabriel who informs Mary that she will give birth to Jesus.  In Islam, it is the Angel Gabriel who reveals the Quran to Muhammed.

Legoland in Florida 4/26/2012

Helen in cahoots with Agamemnon

Helen, the wife of Menelaus, leaves her husband and runs off to Troy with her lover Prince Paris of Troy. The Greek armies, lead by Menelaus' brother Agamemnon invade Troy. It is interesting to me that Helen's husband doesn't seem hell be

nt on invading Troy. However, Agamemnon is willing to sacrifice his own daughter to please the Goddess Artemis in return for favorable winds. As I was reading, it struck me that Helen's betrayal (or abduction) was the perfect excuse that Agamemnon needed to invade Troy. Of course, I am sure that expanding the empire was the real goal of Agamemnon. Historians and literary critics have argued for centuries over whether Helen was a harlot who ran off with another man, a victim who was kidnapped off to Troy, or just a woman in love with a man who was not her husband. However, I hadn't yet heard the theory that maybe she ran off to Troy with the consent of her brother-in-law for the sole purpose of providing the Greeks with the excuse that they needed to attack Troy. Also, (Spoiler Alert!!) the fact that at the end of the story, she re-unites with her husband as though nothing had ever happened, makes me suspicious that she was always loyal to Greece. Now, one could argue that if Helen was still loyal to Greece why didn't she open the gates of Troy thereby forgoing the 

need for the Trojan Horse. My response to that would be that as a woman, and especially as a royal, she was probably secluded in the palace.

Seneca Makes a Birdhouse 4/19/2012

Liam woodworking

Famous Men of Rome

   Liam continues to work independently on much of his studies.  I bought him Famous Men of Rome from Memoria Press.  The book just sat on the shelf at first.  He did already have a fascination with Julius Caesar, so I suggested that he read that section first.  From there, he took off on reading the different biographies in the book.  He has been telling about Sulla and Augustus. 
     He continues to read from D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths and to work his workbook on the subject.  I have him do workbook work to help him get used to that format for when it comes to standardized test taking. 
    The hard thing for our family is that I work and Liam is expected to do a certain amount of his work independently. When he doesn't, it throws everything back quite a bit.  On the other hand, I am trying to embrace some of the unschooling philosophy of everything in its own time.

Gun in a church

         The incident that really makes me want to have better gun control is actually the accidental shooting here in Florida of a minister's 19 year old daughter in the church itself.  One man was legally buying a handgun from another man.  The two men were in a closet to look at the gun when it accidentally went off.  The bullet went through the wall and shot the lady.  The man buying the gun was her fiance.  No doubt, this was a tragic accident.  But who in the world brings a gun into a church under ANY circumstances?  And had that happened in a mosque or Pagan gathering I am sure there would have been outcries of terrorism, "this is proof these people are violent/satanic/choose your word." But because it happened in a Christian church, the public and the media saw it for what it was, a tragic accident. 
      But I know that I would never want to attend a church that allowed guns through its doors.  I understand that this was a product demonstration for a possible sales transaction. However, this particular product demonstration could have been done somewhere else.  When a gun owner takes his or her gun into a public place he/she is taking the lives of every person in the vicinity into their hands. 

Seneca's Name

Today, I met a woman who wrote a book called The Road to the Seneca Falls Convention.  Seneca was specifically named after the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. I then found out that the newspaper published by the movement was called The Lily.  How perfect that my Seneca is Seneca Lily.
    I had first learned of the Seneca Falls Convention in my women's studies class in high school.  I later did a presentation on it for AP History.  When I was doing my research for the project, I thought that Seneca would be a great name to give to my future daughter.
  I just about gave it to my first daughter as a middle name, but I didn't follow through with it.  Now, I am so glad that I didn't.  My older daughter has a beautiful Arabic name to reflect her heritage from her father.  And, I did get to name a daughter of mine Seneca and use it for her first name.  In truth, I chose Lily for her middle name because Stargazer Lilies are my favorite flowers, but what a happy coincidence!

4/9/2012

When I arrived home from work yesterday, Yasmeen and Liam came out to greet my car. They told me that they played charades together and played the board game Stratego.  I am so thrilled when my kids find my ways to entertain themselves without using a computer or a tv.  They did still have computer and tv time, but I appreciate the non-media moments.
   Tonight, all three kids and I played Stratego.  Liam decided to watch documentaries on The Battle of Thermopylae, The Battle of Marathon, and another documentary on weaponry of the Dark Ages.  He has already covered Greek History, but homeschooling allows him the advantage of being able to re-visit a subject matter as it speaks to his heart.  After all, we re-watch our favorite movies and re-read our favorite books, why not re-study a fascinating subject?
   Seneca was given a new puzzle for Easter. As Agnostics, we skip the religious part of Easter.  The puzzle is very flimsy and made her very frustrated when it kept breaking apart.  I hope she will work on it again soon. Lesson to mom, don't buy the cheap puzzles.
 

When Parents Behave Badly

      I have been quite shocked many times at how some parents speak to their kids and around their kids.  I used to be friends with one mother who said the f word at any given time. There was never an effort to censor herself around her kids. One day, she was talking about needing to get a truck to move her things. Someone recommended some man she knew who owned a truck.  Right in front of her twelve year old daughter, this mom says, "Oh, he won't do anything for me unless he thinks he can have sex with me."  I was dumbfounded. If one of my kids had been in the room, I would have said something, but the girl is her child.  Not an appropriate conversation to have in front of one's child.  I don't care if that child is twelve; still not appropriate.
      On another occasion, I was with my then four year old at a six year's pool party.  Another family consisting of Dad, Mom, and baby were in the pool. Adults were chatting, but this dad kept using the "f" word in regular conversation.  He wasn't angry. He was just talking about something that had happened. Again, this was what would have been very normal conversation except it was laced with profanity.  There were children all around.  Excuse me, but an adult should be able to watch his mouth. It didn't even phase him in the least that kids were all around. 
      All of the experts write about being careful who your child's friends are. At this rate, be careful who the parents are.  I guess most of us parents assume that other parents know better and know that when a child enters the room or is in the vicinity, they should watch what they say. Sadly, I have experienced many occasions when children have entered a room and the adults just keep continuing their profanity laced conversations without a single pause.  When I am with adults only, my mouth can get bad, but NOT when kids are around. That's not to say that I don't let certain words slip out around my kids; I do.  It is not intentional though. And, yes, I get cross sometimes and my mouth gets the better of me. 
      I have stopped being friends with a couple of different women over how they parent their kids.  It just seems that so many parents don't even want to be bothered with their kids.  I'm not talking about differences of opinions.  I'm not talking about things like co-sleeping vs crib sleeping, vaccines vs no vaccines. Those are personal choices which most people make very lovingly regardless of what is decided. I'm talking about the parents who have NO censor around their kids.  I'm talking about parents who act like they have never read a single parenting article.
       I also have seen many parents not bother to use good manners towards their children.  "Anne, bring me a tissue," could easily replaced with "Anne, bring me a tissue please."  The end result is still the same, but the child has been shown a courtesy and will now associate that when a request/command/demand is given, the word please should accomany such a request. The parent should also remember to say thank you when the child brings the item.  This will help the child to remember to use good manners and say please when asking for their needs to be met and thank you once those needs are met.  The saying "we teach by example" is so true.

Eden Farm 3/30/2012

Homemade Detergent and Shampoo

 One of the things that I try to do for the family is to encourage a more holistic lifestyle. I don't always succeed.  However, I will consider last night a small victory.  A new batch of laundry detergent was made.  Seneca and her friend had their hair washed with homemade shampoo and conditioner. Now if I can just get around to buying and setting up a clothes line..............
  Laundry Detergent Recipe
1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda
1 bar of grated Kirk's Castille Soap
   We made a batch of powdered soap this time around.  I'm still working on perfecting the art of homemade liquid detergent. For one thing, I need a 5-gallon bucket.

Shampoo
2 tbs baking soda
2 cups of water
  The actual recipe is 1 tbs of baking soda to 1 cup of water, but I feel that doubling the recipe is more effective. Of course, you can adjust this based on the length and volume of your, or your child's, hair.

Conditioner
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
  I like to keep the water for both and shampoo and conditioner very warm, but not hot.  Regular temperature water goes on the head feeling very cold.  Just be very careful, especially with kids, to test the temperature of the warm water before applying it.

     I haven't been successful in making dish detergent, so we will continue to use Seventh Generation Dish Detergent available in our supermarket. Yes, our corporate owned supermarket. I said I was trying friends, not always succeeding.

When Book Stores Promote Movies

      Our Books-A-Million store here in Bradenton is having a Hunger Games party today. Sounds great. However, anyone who brings in their movie stub gets $5 off of a $25 order. What kind of message does that send to my kids and families like mine who promote, or at least try to promote books over movies?  Also, I try to raise my kids to not go out and buy the lastest fad. I feel like Books-A-Million is telling my kids that our values are wrong, so we shouldn't get to be part of this discount.
     We are the type of family that snaps pictures of people in lines before Black Friday, so that we can laugh.  We have no cable, very few tv channels, no ipads, or such.  And we LIKE it this way.  We very rarely go out to see a movie before it makes it to the dollar theater.  This is part of our family culture that values other things besides the latest fad. Now, my daughter did go see Breaking Dawn on opening night, but she had read the books first. Whether or not the books were great literature or garbage is not relevant.  My point is, she READ them first and then was allowed a treat of seeing the movie.  I am sure that many of Books-A-Million customers who saw the movie will have read the books too. I am not commenting on the customers.  That is their business. There are plenty of movies that I have seen without ever having read the book. 
        My point is about the message that the discount if you bring in your movie ticket sends.  I understand that the bookstore gets lots of business because of the movie. I'm glad that the movie has sent more traffic into a bookstore. 
  I used to love the Harry Potter parties, but those coincided with the release of a book, not the movies.  I think it is wonderful that Books-A-Million is having this celebration. My first thought when I saw the flyer was to attend the event even though I have never read these books.  I thought it might get my 13 and 12 year olds interested in reading these books. We've been on the lookout for new books to read. 
     However, it is more the insult hurled out us for not being a fad-obsessed family that has made me decide that we have better things to do with our time than attend this event. 
  Movie ticket stub?  For a discount at a BOOKSTORE!  Really? 
    Dear Books-A-Million, what message do you think you just sent to my kids?  You're basically telling kids like mine who probaby would have read these books out of their own natural curiosity that said curiosity in and of itsef is not something to be rewarded.  Society will reward those kids who need to be enticed with movies and electronic gadgets, but God forbid MY kids get a discount. MY kids broke the rules of our culture by choosing NOT to see a movie.  

Seneca at Manatee Historical Park

Homeschool Planning

  Planning is definitely what drives me the most crazy when it comes to homeschooling. The planning in and of itself isn't the problem.  The problem is implementing that plan.  I work a somewhat scattered schedule.  So, official homeschool lesson time comes in these bursts.  Liam does have independent work to do while I am at work.  I have roommates, so Liam is not home alone, but legally he could be.
  I will say that doing some unschooling during these times does work very well.  Liam's assigned work is actually quite minimal.  The rest of the time, he is free to pursue his own interests.  The more technical stuff, like grammar and math, are held off until he and I can be together for quiet learning time.  The problem is, our time together is so scattered that I don't feel like we are really gripping and feeling the lesson.  I know that I need to re-arrange my schedule at work and I will probably do so soon, but I have part time hours as it is and I don't want to jeopardize that.
  I guess this scattered way of doing things isn't SO bad.  He has learned the importance of working independently.  We do take a lot of little excursions.  Time for friends and socializing is given as much importance as lesson time.
  Our homeschool just needs a little finessing.  On the other hand, a positive about not having a set schedule is that all of my kids have always been able to handle anything out of the norm/routine very well.  For example, nobody gets agitated if we have a flat tire or just little unexpected things happen. My kids tend to be very :go with the flow" type.  Not always, but most of the time.

Lowery Park Zoo

Field Trip was taken by the three kids to Lowery Park Zoo.  My friend took them because my back was hurting.