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.