Using Goats the Way God Made Them July 11, 2008
Posted by Laura in Homeschooling, Scouts.1 comment so far
We’ve had a bit of rain this week, but the deficit is still noticeable. The grass in the refenced pastures is turning brown and has been eaten down very low. It is imperative that the animals get into new paddocks, but we haven’t been able to refence them yet. The spring growth along the old fenceline has made a terrible snarl of brambles, saplings, and honeysuckle vines. In the heat and humidity, clearing that is a truly awful job requiring bushhog, chainsaw, loppers, pick-up truck, etc. We decided to employ the goats instead.
Joe weed-eated and chopped enough away to run temporary electric fence on the first section of it. Then he and the older children sunk the posts. We turned (or in some cases, wrestled) the goats into their new paddock. The goats looked around in awe and elation and then disappeared into the thicket. We’ve scarcely seen anything but back ends sticking out occasionally since.
Benjamin was handy with the post-driver for the T-posts.
After Joe cleared an area to run the wires, Rachel helped him step in the posts. This was the “tame” side of a new enclosure. What’s behind them will be cleared sometime in the future.
Crackle surveys the grass in front of “the jungle.” There was a good 10 feet at least of this tall stuff, then the blackberry brambles, then the honeysuckle-entwined fence when we first turned them in. Within 2 days, all that was left of the tall stuff was a canopy of leaves.
You can’t tell it, but there is a herd of goats back there. When we go outside in the morning, we call our hellos and faceless voices call back from the shadows.
The Little Graduate May 24, 2008
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.4 comments
Rachel has worked very hard this year learning to read and add and and write neatly and all the other important Kindergarten skills. She was rewarded with a graduation ceremony with our homeschool group.
A little nervous before going onstage to receive her diploma. She seemed to have a “popcorn hat”- the elastic in it would cause it to suddenly pop up off her head.
You can just about count on being at the end of the line if your last name starts with W.
Rachel received some awards from her teachers, most notably one for always being cheerful and seeing the good in other people. We are very proud of her!
Art on Display May 23, 2008
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.1 comment so far
We participate in a wonderful homeschool enrichment group that we enjoy very much. While I am teaching Science to first and second graders, Benjamin and Rachel are taking a wide variety of classes from Guitar to Geography to Art. While I’m in class Lydia plays with other teachers’ children under the loving care of several students’ moms who are a blessing to the kids.
Last week was the art show- an opportunity for each child to choose their favorite 2 pieces to frame and showcase for all the parents. Here are Benjamin’s and Rachel’s choices.
Maybe this one by Benjamin should replace the masthead on our blog since Joe used to insist that we might as well call this the Poultry Pages given what he considered unequal coverage of chickens.
This one reflects Benjamin’s ongoing interest in knights and chivalry.
For Rachel, it was a close tie between this Crazy Spotted Frog and a bold sea life picture she had painted using salt in the wet watercolors to create the look of bubbles.
Now, this is a testament to a girl’s love for her father. Rachel loves color and her artwork typically is more exuberant and splashy. Rachel’s teacher has really stretched her to consider and try a wide variety of mediums and styles. I can tell you that this would NOT have been one of Rachel’s own favorites. But Joe was extra complimentary about this one when he remarked on how impressed he was with her technique and shading. As usual, she drank it up. When it came time to decide which to submit for the show, she quickly picked this one. Daddies take note- your daughters crave your approval and flourish under your compliments.
Science Fair March 5, 2008
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.4 comments
I’ve mentioned in the past that we participate in a homeschool enrichment group and that I teach science classes there. Well, yesterday was the big day- Science Fair!
The kids really enjoy doing experiments at home with me, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to do a project for the Fair. Rachel chose a project that tested the preferred environment of worms (damp or dry) and then for fun, we also did warm or cool. (As an aside, when Rachel was about 3, she’d yell out “Aaaah! Crabs!” every time she saw a worm. We never did know where that confusion came from. Now she tries to save them all from opportunistic chickens. She’s been known to take them and rebury them when we are digging in the garden because she knows they are good for the soil 
).
We teachers encouraged the younger students to use the “lapbook” style of presenting their projects. It is essentially a file folder (or 2 glued together, like Rachel’s) that provides a more proportional (and less overwhelming) size for smaller people. Rachel spent a lot of time illustrating her lapbook with drawings of worms.
Benjamin tested the distance various styles of paper airplanes could float when released. He has been very interested in flight and space travel recently, so this fit right in with his study.
Benjamin’s favorite part of the project was making the planes- no surprise!
The children did their best on both their experiments and their displays and we are proud of their efforts.
Hanging Out at The Hermitage March 3, 2008
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.3 comments
Our family recently accompanied one of our homeschooling groups to visit Andrew Jackson’s home (The Hermitage) in Nashville and had a really nice time. Here we are in Rachel Jackson’s garden, though not at it’s best this time of year. Though the sun was shining, it was still pretty cold too.
In the weeks before our field trip, we read a biography on Tennessee’s famous president. Here are just a few of the things we learned:
- he became the nation’s 7th president in 1828
- there were 24 states in the union at that time, and only white men were allowed to vote then
- Jackson won the popular vote against John Quincy Adams in 1824, but lost the electoral college vote
- he served 2 terms, but the first began only days after the death of his much-loved wife Rachel Donelson Jackson
- Rachel had been unhappily married when she and Andrew met. They both thought she was officially divorced when they married but found out 2 years later that the marriage hadn’t been legally ended. They remarried, but this caused much controversy and mud-slinging during his campaigning.
There were many other things, including how he got his nickname Old Hickory, his military career, his hot temper, the infamous duel with Dickinson, and lots more. He certainly led a very exciting and colorful life, though some things wouldn’t make us Tennesseans very proud anymore. For instance, he owned many slaves on his cotton plantation and he was integral in the large-scale removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands.
The kids are standing in front of the inaugural garb of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. He was 6′1″ and weighed 140 lbs!
The tree-lined drive as visitors would have approached the house.
Andrew and Rachel Jackson are buried on the Hermitage grounds out in Rachel’s garden.
To the Moon! February 18, 2008
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.3 comments
We have been doing a long study of Space in our homeschooling. We are almost finished with a biography of astronaut Gus Grissom. I believe he inspired this role playing.
Notice those fabulous Moon Shoes. They really help give the illusion that you are bouncing across the lunar surface. The footwear was a recent thrift store find.
Who knew that the moon was populated with chickens and guineas!?
On the Schoolroom Bookshelf: The Educated Child and Home Learning Year by Year February 8, 2008
Posted by Laura in Faith, Family, Homeschooling.add a comment
In previous posts, I’ve explained some of our reasons for homeschooling our children. One of the main ones is that we feel we can provide a better education for them one-on-one than they can get in a 30-1 public school classroom. Our goal has not been to just replicate the curriculum at home either. We’ve always striven to go beyond that in terms of both depth and breadth.
There are many homeschooling curriculum companies out there, all striving to provide the best materials available. We have looked at and adopted some of those texts, but still find them missing some important elements or find they don’t address our preferred learning styles. This has left us in a bit of a quandary. How do we make sure that we cover all the skills and content we need to be well educated? I have a good foundation in education, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t overlook anything. Beyond that, I had done all my classroom teaching at the middle school level.
The county school board was of no help at all. A few weeks into Benjamin’s first grade year, we decided to withdraw him and homeschool. When I asked the county office for a listing of content and skills at each grade level to refer to, they stared at me blankly. I explained why I wanted them and the reply I got was, “Well, just go get one of those everything-for-first-grade workbooks at the dollar store.” I was dumbfounded.
I’ve since found listings on the state education site that gave me a little more help, but they aren’t very user-friendly. There are lots of very long vague statements in education-ese. I was looking for something a bit more straight-forward. I found that in these two books.
The Educated Child by Bennett, Finn, and Cribb was not written with homeschooling in mind at all. It was actually intended for parents that wanted to evaluate the public education their children were getting. It is a rather thick book, but well worth reading. It covers a good bit of the theory and reasoning behind the education children should be getting as well as outlining the topics and skills that should be covered grade by grade. The authors advocate tackling far more weighty topics (in social studies especially) than I have ever seen in practice. I would honestly be surprised if there are more than a handful of schools that would pass their evaluation.
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School by Rebecca Rupp has has also been very valuable. The author writes from years of experience and also advocates a much more rigorous plan of skills and topics than public school books tackle.
Both of these books have kept us at the library a lot, but we are really enjoying our learning. I love seeing our children make the connections between what we have studied and items in the news or in documentaries we watch or novels we read. They are developing a good understanding of cause and effect and are adding pieces to their mental “big picture.”
One father’s perspective on home schooling January 28, 2008
Posted by Joe in Homeschooling.2 comments
Before we home schooled, I had very serious concerns. I don’t take my role as a parent lightly and I wanted to make sure that we were making the absolute best choice for the education and growth of our children.
I had absolutely no doubt that Laura could teach our children very, very well, at least as well if not better than the education they were receiving in a traditional school. She has an undergraduate and graduate degree in teaching and has taught for a number of years in both public and private schools. She has the knowledge to impart and the skills to do it successfully.
No, my concerns were not about what they would learn. It was about the the other skills, like socialization, that they may be missing if home schooled. So, before we home schooled, we talked with home school families.
We were told over and over that the amount of socialization opportunities would be so numerous that we would have to set limits and consciously help our kids select what they would do. Still I was skeptical.
Then I looked at the home schooled kids. They were very respectful to adults and very comfortable around other kids. They seemed to confident in both small groups and as part of a larger crowd of kids.
Laura and talked it over, prayed about it, and came to the conclusion that benefits of home schooling far outweighed any potential drawbacks. We began the home schooling adventure with an intentional awareness of the socialization issue and we made a conscience effort to include our kids in activities that involved other kids of their age.
And I am happy to report that the advice provided by other home school families – that the socialization opportunities would be plenty – has been confirmed in our experience. Benjamin, Rachel, and Lydia all have lots of opportunities to play and learn with other kids of their own age. Whether it’s in a structured environment like soccer, gymnastics, or Tae Kwon Do, or on a field trip to an ice skating rink or the zoo with other home schoolers, or in Children’s Church, or just a play date with friends, or whatever.
None of this is to say that we focus exclusively on the socialization aspects. We take the traditional school curriculum very seriously. Laura strives continuously to ensure our kids are learning what their traditionally schooled counterparts are learning – in math, science, literature, etc. For if we ever feel led to place our kids back into the school systems, we want to ensure they enter at grade level. We also want to provide them with a solid educational foundation so that when they enter college, the can pursue any course of study they wish, from medicine to engineering, from business administration to teaching.
In addition to the traditional school curriculum, home schooling provides other opportunities for learning important life skills. Since they are home most days (and I frequently work from home, too), the kids are available to help out with farm and home related activities. These activities, though not measured on any standardized test, can contribute to a child’s growing up with confidence and developing a good work habit. Activities such as loading and splitting firewood, fixing a leaky faucet, plugging a nail hole in a flat tire, and preparing a home cooked meal. As home school parents, we can take advantage of these learning opportunities as they arise. Education should be about preparing a child for life. These activities certainly help with that.
Home schooling is not for everyone and we certainly don’t look down our noses at those who choose otherwise. Each family must take into account their own circumstances, their children’s innate and God-given proclivities, and the school systems available to them, and draw their own conclusions. What’s best for one family is not necessarily best for another. And within a family, what’s best for one child may not be best for another.
Our hope is that each of our children will grow as Jesus grew – in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). I think that homeschooling provides the best opportunity for that.
A Homeschool Day January 25, 2008
Posted by Laura in Faith, Family, Homeschooling, Uncategorized.2 comments
I am always interested to hear what other homeschoolers are doing, so I thought I’d share a typical day in our house to get the ball rolling. Maybe some of you will tell how you spend your days in the comments section.
We begin each day with a Bible story. We are currently reading from Ezra about how the temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem during the reigns of Cyrus and Darius. We have prayer, and then say the Pledge of Allegiance. Lydia always looks from person to person and grins whenever we say or sing anything in unison.
We frequently start with our least favorite tasks to get those behind us. For Benjamin, that is math. For Rachel, phonics. Once completed, we usually move to a theme study that both children are able to do. Right now, that is The Arctic/Winter/Inuits. We have read up on blizzards, covered several books on Arctic animals and people, worked on the science of snow and other winter precip, and have enjoyed lots of picture books like Katy and the Big Snow by Burton. From that wonderful book, we have studied all kinds of map skills, discussed the necessity of road signs, defined municipal vs. private businesses, and looked at industrial equipment used to keep cities running. Tonight, we are planning to have a family movie night to watch the old classic Nanook of the North. We’re looking forward to seeing them build a real igloo.
Besides those topics, we are concurrently working on a space unit and we periodically pick up biographies of people involved in our theme studies. Any other skills that don’t fit into our theme studies, we do separately, but we prefer to incorporate them whenever we can.
Both children will get some Physical Education in this afternoon at their respective gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do classes.
Nearly every evening before bed, we do a family read-aloud. We’ve recently been reading the Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary, but plan to get Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George and maybe Winter Room by Gary Paulsen to tie into our cold weather theme. The public library is our friend!
We plan to make some snow pictures by painting and then sprinkling them with Borax while they are still wet. We’ve cut oodles of snowflakes and talked about the symmetry of them. Seems like I should be able to find some winter/snow songs besides the Christmas ones if I put my mind to it.
So that’s most of what we’re doing around here right now. How about you?
Orators in the Making November 17, 2007
Posted by Laura in Family, Homeschooling.4 comments
I mentioned a while back that we joined 4-H and that both kids were elected to officer positions. It has been going quite well and they have enjoyed the activities and responsibilities a lot. This month, the focus was on speechmaking. Participation was technically optional, but Benjamin and Rachel’s mean old homeschool teacher required it (wink, wink).
The kids are divided into two groups at meetings: K-3rd grade, which are known as Clover Buds,; and the ones 4th grade and older. (Rachel is in K and Benjamin is in 3rd grade this year). The Clover Buds’ speeches were to be between one and three minutes long. The older kids were eligible to go on to county wide 4-H competition and then possibly the state level. Their speeches were up to eight minutes in length.
Benjamin chose to give his speech on “Fire Safety“- a very timely and informative topic as we hear of so many wildfires burning out west. Rachel’s was entitled “How to Take Care of a Baby”- a choice of particular interest to her since she has a baby sister that she likes to mother.
Benjamin dutifully read up on his topic and organized his facts. Rachel drew more on personal experience to outline hers. Both of them made notecards to use while speaking. Here are Rachel’s.
(That first card says Lydia is fun but a lot of work- that still makes me giggle every time I see it. She must mean all those diapers she’s changed and all the hours of missed sleep for middle of the night feedings).
They worked hard preparing and practiced for anyone who would listen. When the big day came, they were ready. They both volunteered to go first and ended up going one after the other right away. They didn’t show a bit of nervousness.
They remembered to speak up, look at their audiences, and stand straight and still. We were very proud of them, not only for the speeches themselves, but also for having the courage to stand up in front of peers to make a presentation. That can be very hard to do.
They each received ribbons to help them remember their accomplishments.
