The other day I packed a picnic lunch and we traveled 15 minutes up the freeway to the Mission San Xavier del Bac, the White Dove of the Desert. When you drive along the freeway, it’s hard to miss this striking white building with stone carvings. Built in the 1700’s, it is still used today for Mass. It’s incredibly ornate inside. Mark liked all the gold. I liked the history, art, and architecture. What’s the oldest structure you have visited in the United States? This is the oldest one for us.
We invented this game yesterday when math got a little bo-ring. I put two numbers on Mark’s face and I tell him the sum. He has to guess the correct combination of addends. There are many combinations for some numbers, so he has to continue guessing until he gets the right one. Sometimes he’ll ask for a hint and I’ll tell him one of the numbers. It’s good fact family practice. He’s pretending to think hard about this one.
Math. It’s good for you.
by Mark, age 5
We went to a Be Smart CES fireside last night to hear representatives from Church schools discuss what it takes to be admitted. It was inspiring. Most information presented was not applicable to home schoolers, though. As I looked around the room, there were many of us there, hoping for a more information.
I talked to the recruiter after the meeting and learned that all of the records, hour logs, lab notebooks, carefully and honestly scored tests, assignments, papers, literature lists, and carefully-selected textbooks will not really be considered. For home schoolers (using a non-accredited curriculum), two thirds of the selection process will come down to an ACT or SAT score. Period. The other third will be extra-curriculars and other factors: ecclesiastical endorsement, music, (dance), leadership, service, and “unique” factors (which I hope will include a perusal of our work). A home schooled student will need to have a 27 on the ACT to be considered for BYU. Now for BYU Idaho, they want to see a GED, which is a little insulting, but it can be done.
This ratio was a surprise to me. I always knew I didn’t “count” as a teacher or an institution, but that 2/3 of the measure comes down to one score takes my breath away. But I will continue to keep good records. I will ask more questions of college admissions offices. We’ll definitely prepare for the ACT and SAT tests. And I will eat chocolate…lots and lots of chocolate.
I share this to be helpful, not to invite criticism or pity. I’m off to teach some classes which don’t count, but will ultimately prove helpful in building individuals of substance and character.
I’m taking my first teacher prep day for the school year. The kids need to play together and remember that they are friends. It’s good for all.
This is Timothy’s painted tissue paper collage, “Ocean, Sand, Grass,” inspired by Eric Carle.
A long time ago I did a post about a Bayeaux Tapestry project. I realized I never followed up with the completed projects.
Here is the next project which exceeded the time we set aside for it. I decided that Daniel can finish it if he wants to. The point was to gain an appreciation for the magnitude of the tapestry and learn the history and I think we achieved that.
Mark didn’t want to be left out. The boys were being allowed to stab fabric with sharp metal objects. This was what he had always wanted to do!
Our friend Nina took us on another birding adventure to improve our skills. Timothy and Paige have studied birds recently in science, but each goes about it a different way. Paige enjoys sketching them. Timothy takes time to learn anatomy, range, behavior, and markings. He is distinguishing himself as quite a little birder.
He is good at finding and identifying birds. Wow.
We saw many hummingbirds as we sat on the porch of a small bed and breakfast in Madera Canyon.
We’re deep in contemplation and relaxation. We’re also feeling relief from the intense heat down in the valley.
Naughty but adorable squirrel.
I think this is a Lesser Goldfinch. I’ll have to ask Timothy.
House Finch.
Daniel took all of these pictures. He enjoys photography. Timothy and Mark carry binoculars; Paige carries her sketch book; Daniel carries the camera.
Mark found *another* walking stick for his collection. It was a good day!
Sometimes homeschooling means smelling up your whole house. And getting bone chips in your hair as you try to expose fish brain.
My younger children are scarred for life over the dissections we’ve been cramming in this month. Emphatically spoken, “Mom, I don’t WANT to do dissection when I’m in high school!”
To which I reply, “Okay. You don’t have to.” And I mean it. I don’t know if we will do this again, even if we do it in the winter when we can do it outside.
I took pictures of our last dissection because it was incredibly smelly and difficult. Just skip them if you’re queasy about this kind of thing. Paige and her friend have one more dissection next week: a big old frog.
I’m a teacher of many grades. It’s been done before and it has been done more efficiently by countless schoolmarms in sparse schoolhouses without math manipulatives, microscopes, or the internet. I don’t count myself as being remarkable or unique, but it IS a very exciting life.
My subject matter ranges from early phonics lessons to Dante’s Inferno. In the same day I will answer questions such as, “What is a mushroom?” and ask, “How do roots help trees?” Later I will teach teach field markings for birds. Then I’ll correct errors in scientific method questions and give directions for a dissection at my kitchen table. I juggle time periods in history, algebraic algorithms, and geometric proofs. I drill basic addition and multiplication facts and direct Mark to color the longest snake orange and the shortest snake blue. I snicker at inventive stories and correct grammar in book reports; I dictate sentence after sentence for my young elementary student to write. I search out and make up thought-provoking essay questions for the study of classic literature.
Why do I do it?
I have insatiable curiosity, I perceive a necessity, and I love teaching.
