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[mutti]

It’s been one of those mornings where things actually go like they are supposed to: breakfast, math without whining – you know how rare that around here? I decided to take the kidlets up for a breather back in the woods. Right now the leaves are turning those indescribable colors adults fight so hard to describe with piddly little words like flame, blazing or glorious – I thought we could talk about the science of chlorophyll and dormancy – ya’ know stupid adult stuff.

The younger two gravitated toward their new toy – a 40 ft tree pushed over with a root ball the size of a VW. Those of you who are parents know what I mean – the kind with broken off branches just waiting to impale them and spindly little branches that look as thin as spider silk just waiting to collapse under the precious cargo they hold 10 feet up in the air. I crouched down in the grass and tried to figure out how to bring up the lesson. Thankfully I kept my mouth shut long enough to listen to them educate the older sibling about science.

“No. It’s an X-Wing fighter stupid! Can’t you tell from the dimensions that this would never pass as a transport ship?�
“I don’t know what the gravitational pull would be. Let’s just pretend we are too far from any planets to worry about it.�
“That’s not mud. It is our high density sealant. What’s wrong with you?�

Two hours later we traipsed down the goat run – some of us covered in sticky clay from the numerous sliding/jumping/falling off of their tree – and it was good.

Silly stuff on a day when I wonder how many will be left before the worry sets in for them – maybe we all need to climb a few more trees and play in the mud. I know I do.

[mutti]

What our unschooler decided to do yesterday.

After reading chapter 3 of Bushcraft by Richard Graves, one of the kidlets disappeared for about 3 hours. I did peek to try and figure out what she was doing through the upper window. Some limbs, twine rope and a hundred or so knots later - the Hammock came into being.

Gotta love it!
 mutti
(Chapter 4? Food and water - this should be interesting!)

[Junker]

 

fun

 

as life's school is any schoolin' oughta be

[reformedneocon]

Wonderful!  So sad to think how little time most kids spend outside!

[mutti]

Well - either I haven't learned anything about HSing recently or we have been pretty busy.

Our eldest has been training to learn to handle, drive, 'tack up", clean up, etc mini and draft Horses.  The farrier even thinks she would make a good assistant when she is old enough - another HS project!

I cannot stand the smell of the critters, but apparently it is the "perfume of the ages" for a 12 yo girl.

She has spent quite a bit of time being "socialized" with the horsey group and her confidence/independence is really improving.

For those of you who can see photos, here is a link to one of her new friends:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=i3hlm27.bbfx7qur&x=0&h=1&y=-w539w4&localeid=en_US

She is 5' 1 3/4" - the horse seemed 10' tall - I guess I overestimated!

[mutti]

Kids listen and apply what one does in their daily lives.

Our 8yo just brought me a subscription card to Shotgun News. She made up an email so she doesn't want to get spammed.  lol! How funny is that? mutti

[LaughingBear]

Your kids have great imaginary skills.

My 20 month old (I'm a start over dad with a 26yo, a 21yo and a 20mo) will not stand for staying in the house, she is constantly bringing me her "outdoor" shoes and taking me by the hand and leading me outside.  She has no desire whatsoever for television and I believe that she would stay outside 24/7 if we would let her.

My first two were in the public education system, but my youngest will be home schooled, for many reasons, the least of which is not the experience that my first two kids had in the public system...

I'm happy to find a "home schooling" category here. :-)

Jeff

[mutti]

Wow! Sounds like you have a good relationship with your daughter.

There are many here with lots of experience with Homeschooling and we like to share information when we can.

mutti

[BladeGuru]

One thing I am consistently reminded of in helping out homeschoolers is that parents don't really put enough time into creating a curriculum that fits a child's learning personality. Kids don't pop out of the womb completely blank slate. they have personalities that develop. As such, parents should home test their children with psychological testing tools, including the latest DSM tests, enneagram tests, etc to find out how a child perceives the world.  Regular standardized testing helps as well. I help out several parents in my spare time tutoring kids and have redesigned curriculum that by and large, were not challenging enough because the parents didn't know the subjects well enough to administer them!!!!!!

Constant stimulus from an early age: classical/baroque music, TV shows that highlight learning, lots and lots of reading. Science Fiction is great. Also great emphasis should be on developing reading skills even earlier than you thought. Without question I endorse nearly every speed reading technique out there. I use a combination of various reading methods, including Howard Berg's method and PhotoReading, which I endorse heavily. I am not a shill mind you. Not affiliated with them in any way. Just came across the method at the public library. Been using it for since college and I couldn't live without it. My kids WILL LEARN photoreading when the time comes.

Also, I've been teaching kids vedic math principles. Helps kids from arithmetic thru calculus 1 so your kids can learn to do math at light speed too.

People approach math all wrong. Here in the US math is approached like a chore. Survivalism is great for kids in that they learn the necessity for math from day one. From ration requirements to engineering a house, math is used.

I teach my kids heavily with the history of mathematics. I regale them with tales of Archimedes and Da Vinci when we talk about trebuchets and mirrors that burn.

Your 12 year old wants to drive to the mall right? Well explain to them that they have 4 years to save up money and calculate how much that has to be to drive a car. Explain to them that you are willing to help them build their car.. a diesel k5 blazer that they can trick out, paint, haul kids around in, etc. IF they are willing to save to buy it and learn how to rewire it, learn how to do body work. Then, when they want to buy something else, pay them back for it and use it as your BOV!!!

Of course they can make a little money on the side contracting with local restaurants to get rid of their fry grease so they can refine it themselves and run biodiesel.... which leads them to a real world chemistry lesson.

In short if homeschool fails... it is most often that the parents have not done their homework... not the kids.

Blade Guru

[Claire]

She has spent quite a bit of time being "socialized" with the horsey group and her confidence/independence is really improving.

For those of you who can see photos, here is a link to one of her new friends:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=i3hlm27.bbfx7qur&x=0&h=1&y=-w539w4&localeid=en_US

She is 5' 1 3/4" - the horse seemed 10' tall - I guess I overestimated!

Not having children, I don't visit the h'sing forums often. But I happened in here and ... mutti, that is one gorgeous horse!

As a person who read a lot of horse books when she was 10 but knows absolutely nothing about them now, may I venture a guess ... it is a percheron?

BTW, the other reason I don't spend time in the h'sing fora is that the wonderful things you folks relate about your kids and their lives fills me with envy and regret for both my standard 12 years in the state prison camp and all the lost opportunities for exploration and achievement. Ah well, too late for most of us grownups, but bless those talented, adventurous kids.

[mutti]

Claire - Yep - it is a Percheron. My vocabulary in horse knowledge is expanding because I want to listen/understand what kidlet is so excited about.

We are glad you drop by periodically just to see what our little critters are up to - your are welcome to borrow a little vicarious living if you choose to from them! Funny how having the kidlets enjoying their childhood makes up a little bit for the 12 years of insanity that many of us had to put up with.


BladeGuru -  Welcome to the HS'ing thread.

As to the testing, evaluating, Psych evals,DSM,  et al., sounds like you have a path worked out for your kidlets future.

We tend to be "Unschoolers" and that works well for us. One of the joys we have is  the opportunity to observe their development.  Our children create their own curriculum and incorporate that into their daily living.

You are correct that each child has their own learning patterns. Our goal is to encourage them to find what their driving interest(s) are and expand from there.

mutti

[mutti]

Minions like gross/fascinating things as much as I do!

While reading Jared Diamond's "Collapse : How Societies Choose to Live or Fail", I came across an interesting discussion about  Wiki link  Packrat Middens

Specifically this little snippet Page 145:

"For those of you who (like me until some years ago) have never seen packrats, don't know what their middens are, and can't possible imagine their relevance to Anasazi prehistory, here is a quick crash course in midden analysis. In 1849, hungry gold miners crossing the Nevada desert noticed some glistening balls of a candy-like substance on a cliff, licked or ate the balls, and discovered them to be sweet-tasting, but then they developed nausea." snip

To find out why minions thought this was so cool and why I will be checking our ds' room very frequently - follow the WIKI description above.

mutti

[Zookeeper]

Yuck!

[slidemansailor]

Mutti, that was a fine opening image.

Count me as one more who regrets not knowing enough about the alternatives when I had children to raise. One got a 3 year scholarship in a private high school that opened MY EYES to a U.S. history that was different from the one poured into my head. The second got fed up and quit in her HS junior year. She later excelled for a portion of a university nursing program. The third needed a Waldorf School to take her from 4th grade to 8th grade in one year and a public "alternative" HS to get her out of the system with honor intact.

Of course the worst sin is that I got 12 years of indoctrination making me incapable of correctly educating my kids.  It's a dang fine mess they've made for us.

HOWEVER, you home schoolers of today are far more heroic than any football star on the big screen TVs of the world.  Thank you for doing what you do.  Keep it up for them and all of us.. please.

[mutti]

I had debated about putting this in the "What we did to prepare" thread. The 6 yo said "So that is why you tell us not to eat stuff in the woods without knowing what it is!" (of course he does not like Coyotes, so actually wondered if he should create his own midden - yuck).

We are lucky that we have this opportunity to guide our minions along.

Example:

This "lesson" began with Pack rat middens and progressed: South West tribes, pictographs, Super Novas, Scientific Classification, ways critters defend themselves from predators.....

I hope that this is is how they choose to learn throughout their lifetime.

Having been educated through PS and being very frustrated when something of interest came up in one hour then hurried through to something else "testable" - I am working on not doing that!

Sailor - sounds like your kidlets found their paths. "We" (as a society) judge so quickly those little square pegs that just refuse to have the corners pared off to fit in a round hole.

mutti