When I hear or read people lamenting about the evils of today's technology I think back to some old passages I've read and wish I could find again.
The authors of old wrote warnings about how those newfangled book things were going to rot the minds of youth and keep them from doing real work.
I guess it takes us a while to realize that those emerging technologies eventually turn into the way we work and interact with the world, minds still intact.
Thanks to the Daily Mail for those newly found Edwardian fashion photos that inspired my blog post!
I hate to admit it but I get *so* grumpy when my husband brings home the groceries.
Don't get me wrong. I am supremely thankful he does all the cooking and all the grocery shopping.
My husband = Top Chef!
His ability to cook wonderful things from whatever is lying about (and in whatever state of chaos is found in the kitchen) amazes me.
But me? -- I'm easily overwhelmed by choices (ack! all those shelves in the grocery store) and by disorganization.
When the new groceries come home I have to try to figure out where to put them and there never seems to be enough space.
I like spaces to be designated for one type of item in the fridge, pantry, and storage closets.
But somehow everything spills over into the space belonging to something else...sort of a theme here!
So every couple of months I reorganize everything.
Rows of condiments, pickles, pasta sauces/cheese, jelly, dairy
We all know it won't last. But for now I'm going to just breathe and enjoy my few days of peace whenever I look at my shelves and see symmetry.
Every bean has its own row = Joy.
I save the boxes that bulk canned items come in and recycle
them into storage for different cans.
Rows for condiments, dressings, every form of canned tomato, broths, pastas, fruits, veggies = More Joy.
I've been doing everything on the cheap. But these clear stackable Fridge Binz items would be great to help organize the refrigerator. Maybe it would help enforce boundaries of items?!
These can organizers would be fabulous too. Rotating can racks would save time instead of taking everything out and reorganizing rows by "last in first out."
I'm paranoid about food safety. So I'm always throwing things out when in any doubt. My husband and I debate who opened what and when.
Hopefully we'll have fewer of those conversations now.
I simply put a Sharpie permanent marker in the magnetic holder on the refrigerator.
When anyone opens a new jar of something they are supposed to write the date on the lid.
You can even use the permanent marker to write the date on glass dishes with leftovers. The marker comes off with fingernail polish remover.
If you want to high tech you can invest in these digital timers.
The DaysAgo Digital Day Counter counts down days until the food expires based on how many days you set. It has a magnetic backing and attaches to a variety of things.
The Bean Tag timer will actually beep to remind you before the food expires. Perhaps I should get some of those to attach to bills.
It's been a little more than a year since our kids got their fish and the had the big fish party when they arrived.
Thanks for the cake Grandma!
Our son's Betta died so that experiment is done. He didn't want another one. He also gave his hermit crab to his little sister. He's on to building computer servers, online broadcasting, streaming, and gaming. Tween fun.
RIP "Guppy" the Betta
Our daughter's 4 fish have turned into almost 30. And we've added plants to help deal with the changing conditions. So it is a continual experiment in chemistry and biology.
"Before" the population explosion
Really, we need to take a bunch of our fish back to the amazing "pet store." It's really more like a zoological learning center than a store. They are so dedicated to education and their care taking responsibilities.
Back at home...our daughter has been wondering about how fish swim among other things. The fish have provided opportunities for several immersion learning style lessons. Here's some of what we are learning...
Fish locomotion
There are some great images and resources from A Quick Course in Ichthyology by Jason Buchheim, Director, Odyssey Expeditions"
The Art and Science of Swimming
Here is an awesome combined art project and science experiment from The Helpful Art Teacher that examines the hydrodynamic properties of fish.
Alternatively, here's an easy tutorial on drawing fish from How to Draw 200 Animals from a side view, albeit with less dynamism that the technique above.
Fish Anatomy
Here are some great illustrations of internal and external fish anatomy for outdoor fish and more geared toward tank fish.
Platy Fish
Since most of her fish are Platys we were look for some specific information on their origin, variations, life span, differences between males and females.
Fishlore and the Tropical Tank have been helpful resources for breed information. We're still having trouble trying to find a comprehensive photo index of all the different types.
If you've been waiting to try out your Project Runway design skills but didn't have a sewing machine it could be a good time to jump on the bandwagon.
If you are lucky you might also find a free sewing machine on Craigslist. They are SUPER popular though so keep an eye on the ads if you want to be the first to respond.
This computerized 4+ star (out of 5) user-rated machine is on sale for 40% off.
They write about how public education made a difference for them and how they personally value the principles of education for all.
My husband and I feel similarly. We have benefited greatly from public education from public loan programs. We both chose public service careers, though I left mine to be a home educator and now do volunteer work, part of which supports our neighborhood school.
We have amazing teachers at our local schools. And honestly, if I could have the teachers without the "system", teaching to tests, crowded classrooms, crappy food, limited recess and physical activity, icky physical environments, lack of air conditioning, needing permission to use the bathroom or get a drink of water, and all the other restrictions, and the sometimes negative social environments, I would consider public school. But that's a lot of ifs.
Things have gotten better with more families with social and educational capital using our local schools. And together, people can make a huge difference! A part of me wants to be part of that change. But it just feels like there are too many things to change in time for my children to benefit, and many of those levers of change require serious lobbying efforts at state and federal levels.
So it just becomes a decision of where to focus our energies.
How do other homeschoolers and unschoolers deal with this dilemma???
I've always followed the Reggio Emilia principle that "the environment is the third teacher." We've tried to have interesting and educational elements in our home schooling total immersion environment.
Granted, keeping it innovative and new can be challenging. It's hard to rotate and store things in a small space. (Send me tips, people!!)
And I've learned (sometimes the hard way) that it is better to just make things "available" but without pressure. In fact, the less I draw attention to something the more motivating it is to my self-directed learners.
But I didn't realize this practice has a term. It's called "Strewing" in the unschooling world.
"Try to see yourself as a secret agent! You mission is to infiltrate your child's education with something that delights and interests them. You will blow your cover if you point the item out or try to get them interested in it! Your mission is successful when they discover it – and it DOES interest and delight them." - Homeschooling Ideas.
Research professor of psychology, Peter Gray, summarizes different approaches to learning math and determines that Kids Learn Math Easily When They Control Their Own Learning. Dr. Gray describes these types of math and how they are learned.
Playful math - Discovering and creating patterns and doing math for the sheer beauty and joy of it. It's how young children and math scholars alike approach math in a playful and joyful manner. This can be learned through self-discovery.
Instrumental Math - Math can be used as a tool in daily life to solve a problem. It is learned naturally in the course of living, handling money, cooking, reading recipes, playing cards, reading maps, recording batting averages, etc. It is learned in the context of community with a more advanced learner providing some mentoring in the self-discovery process. There is no curriculum involved.
Didactic Math - This is the traditional model of math instruction in schools. A math expert teaches math to a student with the expectation that the student does not already possess knowledge. Often the assumption is that the the process will be difficult, that math is necessary rather than fun. Formal curriculum is typically involved. Didactic math, in the sense that curriculum is used, can be found in unschooling settings but with some differences. Students are allowed to access math curricula online or in workbooks on their own schedules and when they are desired. Parents are available as a resource person when the child needs them.
College Admissions Math - This is the math parents often worry about. This math is studied for the purpose of college entrance exams regardless of its connection to a student's chosen area of study. The math needed to do well on ACT and SAT tests can be learned in a relatively short period of time through tutoring. And that this point, students are often motivated to learn the math for that purpose so it can be learned more quickly.
"The best evidence I know that math is not hard comes from the experiences of people involved in the unschooling movement and the Sudbury "nonschool" school movement. I have written about these movements in previous posts." See Children Educate Themselves IV: Lessons from Sudbury Valley. "The Sudbury Valley School has, for the past forty years, been the best-kept secret in American education."
Self-Directed Math Resources for Unschoolers
Here are some resources that students can use in their self-directed interest in learning more about math
When we think about what our homeschool kids will do in their careers we often think that it would be good for them to have an entrepreneurial education to enhance their options.
All these years of self-directed learning, lack of meaningless busywork, following passions, and enjoying learning might make it difficult for a student to feel less than satisfied in working for someone else, though I'm sure they will be stellar employees!
And we weren't sure if colleges and universities are adapting as quickly as we need them to teach in the ways that today's kids learn and to prepare them for the changing market forces.
We have been discussing the issue of "busywork" the context of our "Total Immersion Learning" aka
"unschooling" paradigm at home.
Figuring out what is best for our kids and their future is never easy.
And we're always trying to fuel the passion for learning for its own sake, but also know there is a bigger goal of preparing our kids for meaningful employment.
We were just talking about whether or not a a person can be prepared for a career without mastering the art of completing busywork and then this article was published last week.
Taibbi specializes in teaching gifted students and this question of busywork is a common one.
Parents: "Teachers need to stop giving my child boring busywork and turning them off to learning!" Photo source
Teachers: "Kids need to understand that some work is tedious and not fun!" Photo source
Taibbi agrees that some work that might feel like busywork is definitely needed to practice and acquire some skills.
But meaningful busywork has these characteristics (from what I gleaned from his article):
(1) Purposeful toward a goal that meets a need for the student
(2) Respectful*
(a) Appropriately challenging, not something already mastered
(b) Engaging
(c) Honors the strength of the student
Taibbi posits that too much irrelevant busywork for the gifted student can lead to a vicious cycle of disenagement in which feelings of boredom become generalized to all schoolwork.
Since gifted learners tend to need less repetition to achieve mastery (depending on their learning modality and how the material was presented, e.g. visually, auditory, kinesthetic) their busywork can turn repetitive and have less purpose more quickly.
Hopefully kids, parents, and teachers can all work together to be on the same page!
*See Carol Ann Tomlinson, How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms, ASCD, 2001.
Well, that was an interesting homeschool tour today!!
Usually when our family has gone to the Maple Syrup festivals in the spring we want to cuddle up next to the warm fires where the syrup is boiling. Not so much today.
Today, the campfire evoked thoughts of hot dogs, s'mores, and swimming holes, and we could use the smoke to keep the mosquitoes away instead of warming ourselves.
Hard to believe it was almost 80 degrees! I suppose this unseasonable warm weather is going to make Maple Syrup expensive since it cut the sap collecting season short.
The notebook is handy for gathering phone numbers for play dates and taking notes at at community meetings when I don't feel like schlepping forget to take my binders.
I'm just thinking about what Tim Gunn might say about the nature and placement of skirt graphics given his past statements that made us all laugh. lol.
Let's see where this adventure in pattern-making and design goes.
I could REALLY use a professional (and homeschool mom) like Rowena and her amazing pattern-making skills, ability to refashion one thing into another (including converting regular clothes into nursing wear).
Rowena's famous and amazing easy to sew infinity dress that can be worn a zillion ways
Her daughter is lucky to have a mom who would be able to help her turn her drawn inspirations into real world designs.
But I'm going to just delve into this attempt with to create a pattern with Rosalie drawing inspiration from Ella's mom Rowena who says this about her imperfect dress from 8th grade:
"what's my point??? it's just this: not knowing how to do something is no reason not to do it. just make something, learn as you go, before you know it you'll be teaching someone else all the tricks of the trade."
