Christmas is Complete

We had a good Christmas.  Dave got to call Christmas morning and talk to everyone.  His parents spent the night, so they were able to talk to him also.  The presents were a hit, even if the girls didn't get everything they wanted this year (especially since most of what they wanted was expensive), but they got a lot since I found some great bargains on a couple of items.

Legos were the big hit this year.  They loved all their Lego toys and spent hours putting them together.  Sami ignored her new Nintendo DSi for hours so she could put together her Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle set.  Educational and fun is how I like it!

Now I am going to plan out this Winter's educational pursuits.  We are still unschooling, but adding a little bit of curriculum here and there.  The unschooling is working, and I can see Sami's reading level increase all the time, but I still want to plug things in there that they may not get from unschooling, such as history and math.  They do get exposed to history and math already, but I am anxious to add more and make it fun.

Christmas Readiness

We're more ready for Christmas this year than normal, even with Dave in Iraq.  I think that is because I was forced to complete everything early to have it ready when he was home.  That included getting most of the shopping done weeks in advance. 

We are trying to have a relaxed Christmas season this year, without stress and chaos.  So far, so good.  We've had some hiccups, but mostly it's been a good season.  The hardest part is keeping the house tidy with us all stuck in the house.  At least the mess is because the kids are busy playing with toys and reading books. 

The kids have had a great attitude about Christmas this year.  I was worried that they would be grouchy since their father is in Iraq, but they've been cheerful little troopers.  They were a little miffed that I put the dog and cats' stocking stuffers in their father's stocking this year, but I just couldn't let his stocking sit unused.  It looked too lonely. 

Legos

It's been just over a month since I've blogged.  We've been busy!

Dave was home from Iraq for two wonderful weeks.  We got to spend a lot of quality time together as a family, and Dave and I got to go deer hunting a few times.  Two deer and two weeks later, he had to go back to Iraq but we have some great memories.

Now, what about Legos?  The girls have become obsessed with them!  They lurk online looking at new sets, they look at them in the toy isles, and they want new sets for Christmas.  We never had any Legos till this year when they got their first set last Christmas, and they were hooked. 

I like Legos for several reasons. 

1.  The girls have to follow detailed directions to put together Lego sets. 

2.  After initially building a set, they use their imagination and rearrange the sets in hundreds of different combinations.

3.  They use their imagination in playing with them and making story lines.  They even have political discussions between the characters (apparently our Legos are conservative). 

4.  They use a camera and take stop-motion photography pictures to make "movies."  They even write on the white board to make captions, like in old-fashioned black and white movies. 

5.  They are (mostly) durable and last for years. 

What I don't like about Legos are the price (I consider them very expensive) and how they get spread all over the room (they really hurt when I step on them).  Are they worth it?  At this point, I'm saying yes.  It falls in line with our unschooling philosophy and creativity. 

This had been the year of the Lego, and for that I am glad.  Webkinz were really starting to get on my nerves. 

Reading Classics

When I was in public school, I didn't have time to read any classics, or much of anything.  I was so busy doing school work and home work, that there was precious little time to read anything. 

When I was in high school, I was able to make some time to read quite a bit.  My bus route changed from 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours when I entered high school, so I was able to read quite a bit on my home every day.  I mostly read science fiction because those were the types of books that my older university-attending brother left laying around, so I picked them up and read them.      

So why didn't I read any classics?  Remembering back, there were several reasons:

1. If the teacher assigned them they were WORK, not pleasure.
2. Even if we did pick out a book on our own, the teachers expected a book report or a test, not an open discussion of the book.  Reading a book to test is a joy killer.  An oral report just brought anxiety and fear of failure. 
3. The teachers would have written tests where we regurgitated names, dates, and useless facts of the book.  It's a lot easier for the teacher to grade names and dates than to read about what we thought of the book.  
4. What the teachers did make me read was BORING.  I can't even remember any titles of books that we read.  Just because it was labeled a classic didn't make it enjoyable to a child with a huge imagination. 
5. I remember a particularly hateful high school teacher making us read Shakespeare.  I say "making us read" because she didn't make it fun or enjoyable, and did a terrible job of explaining it to us.  She pampered her theater students and the rest of us were treated as fodder for her jabs and hurtful comments of how we weren't going to amount to anything.  I still don't enjoy Shakespeare because of her. 
6. My parents didn't take me to the library.  We lived seven miles from town, we had one car for years and six children, and extra-curricular activities were non-existent.  The elementary school library was one tiny room (maybe 10x15 feet?) that 25 other children were jumbling around in at the same time for 10 minutes a week.  The high school library was only visited if we were doing a paper and given special permission to visit. 

I did have a couple of teachers in elementary school who would read classics to us in class, like The Little House series, or the Chronicles of Narnia.  That was great!  I think it is because of them that I was able to finally realize that books could be wonderful and entertaining in the right environment.  I didn't even know that these were classics that they were reading to us; they were just fun to listen to. 

I think that it's somewhat of a miracle that I love books after all of that, let alone classics.  I am passing on my love of books to my children.  Here is how I am passing on this love:

1. I read out loud to them. 
2. We listen to books on CD.
3. We read fiction, science fiction, historical fiction and classics.  Non-fiction get looked at and used, like our bird book and caterpillar book. 
4. I keep tons of books available on the book shelves.  We get bargain books at library sales, hand-me-downs from growing cousins, and an occasional new book for special occasions.  
5. Whatever they pick up at the library is fine with me.  Graphic novels are perfectly acceptable.  We visit the library weekly at a minimum.
6. We talk about the books that we read, both the good and bad.  We discuss what we agree with and what we don't like. We discuss moral issues that come up, and views in books that challenge our own views.  We discuss about how written words don't make something correct or moral or even fact, but rather a point of view.  We also quit reading books after the first few chapters if they just don't sit well and aren't fun to read. 
7. I encourage them to read on their own and I let them choose what they want to read to themselves.  I don't assign books to them.  Often times they choose the same book again and again, and I just let them.  It will be a loved book to them as they grow older, and not a book that their mother criticized them for reading. 
8. I read in front of them often.  They always ask me about what I'm reading and what's happening now.  It's hard to tell a quick synopsis of what I'm reading, but I try.  I'm hoping that they'll want to read my more complicated books when they are ready.  It's funny to be reading a book while soaking in the tub, and the girls are sitting around me asking me about what I'm reading. 
9. I'm reading classics now and reading classics to the children.  I listen to classics on my MP3.  There are some really good classics out there, but I sure wouldn't have told you that as a child.  It's all in how they are presented.  

I'm glad my children love reading and love books.  I wish I were that way at their age. They are getting classics and they don't even know that they are classics.  They just enjoy the stories. 

Megan turns 9

Megan turned 9 years old.  My baby.  When did she grow up?

I think the hardest part of homeschooling is loving them so much and then letting them grow up and become independent.  I'm glad that I can be such an integral part of the growing up process and not let strangers push their agenda on her.  What a blessing she is.

Halloween

We have fun during Halloween in the Newlin house.  Some homeschool families get offended at the notion of celebrating Halloween and won't even discuss fairies, the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus.  Their loss!

We walked through Franklin, Indiana and started at Martin Place, a street that the police block off so that the hundreds (thousands?) of children can walk without cars driving through.  We started at 6 PM, and the kids were done at 8 PM with a bucket full of goodies.  It was a blast!  And we got to sleep in as late as we wanted on a "school day." 

St. Louis, Missouri

This post is long overdue, but I still wanted to write about our wonderful experiences in St. Louis this last week.

The trip there was interesting and offered some great bonding time with me, my children, and my parents.  My parents aren't going to be around forever and I think that it's very important to spend as much quality time with them as possible.  My children will cherish those memories forever.

We somewhat surprised my brother and his wife when we arrived.  I had left a couple of messages, but apparently I left the messages on the wrong phone line.  Oops.  They knew we were coming within week, but just didn't know which day.  They were still ready for us and were great hosts.

We went to the St. Louis Science Center, which is a really fun free place to go.  They got to run a giant hamster wheel, build an arch just like the Gateway Arch, play with electronics, see dinosaurs, see real rocket ship capsules...there's too much to list. We finished up that day with a great dinner at a Japanese steak house, complete with the entertaining chef right at our table who cooked up wonderful food.  I forgot the camera there, so no pictures of Megan catching a shrimp in her mouth that the chef tossed at her, or the volcano onion that exploded with fire then "lava" (sauce) as it heated up on the grill.

 We went to The Butterfly House, a division of the St. Louis Botanical Gardens.  They have a wonderful green house that was full of thousands of butterflies and even a roach dome that the girls could climb inside.

No visit to St. Louis would be complete without a visit to the Gateway Arch.  It was the middle of the week and we had NO CROWDS!  That was a far cry better than the last time we went on a weekend and had to wait for hours to get in the Arch.  I love homeschooling and seeing sites during the week! 

 

The girls got in the Mississippi River, but just barely.  It wasn't very clean and I was afraid they would step on glass (which was all around).  We had a picnic on the Arch Mall and gazed at the Arch and the river.


On the way home we visited the Cahokia Indian Mounds in Illinois.  These are about one thousand years old and are the largest structures of their kind north of Mexico. 

It was an exhausting but rewarding week. 

Conner Prairie

We went to Conner Prairie this Wednesday.  It is an interactive history park set in the very early 1800's.  Visitors to these pioneer villages are encouraged to touch the items shown and visit with the "actors."  The girls help haul firewood, make pie, string pumpkin for preserving, pump water, water flowers, weave, pet farm animals that walked loose, learn in a one-room school house, play period games...it was total immersion.  The reinactors were completely in their rolls and did not know anything about modern times; an older man used a bull horn as a hearing aid, and a lady with a runny nose used a real handkerchief.  I wanted to take more pictures of all the buildings and people, but my camera battery went dead.

The girls want to go to a civil war reenactment with their Aunt Cindy this spring, so we may work towards that goal.  I think it would be a blast.  Dave and I were born in the wrong time period and love living off the land when we can. 

Busy Week and Music Lessons

It's been one of those busy weeks.

We got school pictures done, had a library visit, got pumpkins, visited family, had a playdate, cooked out with more family, visited an orchard, did shopping, cleaned...nothing that was too time consuming, but there none the less.  Fortunately, it didn't add any stress to our week.  At least not as much as usual.

We are going to carve pumpkins today, or at least that's the goal. 

Something we're debating in this house:  After our SECOND music instructor bailed on us before lessons even started, we are feeling very frustrated in finding a guitar and voice instructor.  A couple of days ago I found an announcement in the local paper for (surprise) voice and guitar lessons, and I want to call and find out more.

Now Sami and Megan want to take gymnastics instead.  I want them to take music lessons.  I really don't want to pay for both since we're on a budget, so we're in a dilemma as to which direction to take.  Sami has the voice of an angel and I really want her to pursue music because it comes so naturally to her.  They want to take gymnastics because it's fun. 

I'll pray for good guidance in this matter.  It is hard to know what to do.  I remember what it was like to WANT to do something when I was young, but was goaded into doing what other people (well meaning parents and relatives) thought was practical to do.  My siblings had the same experience.  I never did work in the areas that I was told that I SHOULD study and took the classes in.

My sister wanted to study art and was talented, but was discouraged and told it was stupid, so she didn't take those classes.  My brother did take art classes (he is more stubborn), but it was still discouraged.  Our parents and relatives were raised during the depression and WWII, and one did what was practical.  In unschooling, I want to let them pursue what they love, but I don't want them to waste a natural talent either.

I wonder what Dave Ramsey would say in this matter, since it is a matter of finances.

Persimmon Pudding

Today was a fun day.  We went with the grandparents to pick persimmons at the park.  After we raided about five trees in five different locations, we brought them home and mashed the pulp out of them.  We then made persimmon pudding and had to wait for two hours while it baked.  It was worth every minute of work and waiting, because it was the best!

Sami was holding Megan up to reach the persimmons.  We had to explain that the ones on the ground are the best as they are ripe and soft.  Most of them in the trees are hard and bitter.

Grandma helped knock down ripe persimmons with a cane. 

Beautiful persimmons!

Grandpa supervising.

A nice plump persimmon. 

Using a special colander to pulverize the persimmons. 

The pulp squishes out of the small holes and leaves the seeds and skin behind.

Mixing the pulp with other magical ingredients to make the persimmon pudding.

The final result.  It was beyond delicious!

According to legend, the inside of the persimmon seed will predict the winter's weather.  These spoon shapes mean lots of snow to scoop.  A knife shape means a sharp, cold winter.  A fork means little snow is expected (forks don't scoop much) and it will be a mild winter. 

Quilts and Sewing

The sewing lessons are continuing.  Our next project will be lap-blanket sized quilts made with simple squares and a border. 

We had a field trip Thursday, and Amy took us to a quilting store in Greenwood called Back Door Quilts.  We got to see hundreds of quilting fabrics that were of excellent quality.  I didn't want to spend to much, but it made sense to spend a little extra to get fabric that wasn't going to shrink and warp as we tried to work with it. 

It was very difficult to choose our fabrics, but we all seemed to like the Batik fabrics.  Here is what we chose:

These are Megan's fabrics.  

These are Sami's fabrics.

These are my fabrics.

Even though we all seemed to gravitate towards the Batik fabrics, we all chose different colors.  As soon as I know what I'm doing, I'm going to make a much needed quilt for my bed.  The hard part will be choosing the fabrics since there are so many choices! 

Electronics

For the purpose of this blog, I consider electronics to include video game systems, hand-held game systems, computers and televisions.

I used to allow electronics in the morning when the children first woke up until we were ready to start the day.  They would play video games or watched cartoons while I made breakfast, then I would have them shut it off so they could get dressed and start their unschooling for the day.  I found that having electronics turned off during the day forced them to get creative and find things to do and learn.  At some point in the late afternoon I would let them turn the electronics back on.

Fast forward to present time.  That system did work at first.  Four things happened that has altered my original plan.

1.  They would play on their electronics, and I would use that time to cook breakfast.  Then I would do dishes while cooking.  Then I added tidying.  It eventually turned into breakfast, dishes, laundry, sweeping, putting away, and whatever else needed done.  This was obviously allowing them more time on the electronics and not being creative.

Of course I would tell them to turn it off and get dressed, brush teeth, etc. while I finished the tidying, but I would turn my back and they would be all engulfed in the game or cartoon again and would say (every time, I swear), "I forgot."

2.  They would beg for more time to finish the game they were on or finish watching the cartoon that was on.  I got duped a few times using this ploy.  I didn't want them to turn a game off in the middle of a scenario or they would lose their progress.  Well, as you could imagine, it would turn into minutes then an hour or more, because once I gave permission to finish the "one more thing," then they would take that as consent to just continue.

It was easy to dupe me because I would be off trying to tidy up just one more thing.  And I wondered where they got that attitude.

3.  Once the electronics got turned off, it would sometimes be close to lunch and they were ready to eat. After lunch they would start begging to get the electronics back, and ask every few minutes if they could have them back yet. 

On occasion I allowed them to play active games on the Wii (games that made them jump and dance, for example).  Sometimes that worked, but it ended up being a begging session where they would try and manipulate for more games or spend too much time doing it.

4.  The girls would argue about the games.  They would argue over who got to do what, or who got to play it first, or who got to pick the game, or who had it last, or who didn't put it away when it was done.  A stupid game is not worth the bickering.  


I know that some homeschool families eliminate all television and gaming systems, and I'm not planning on doing that.  But I am going to get control of the electronics again.  I've already banned the morning electronic games.  They can watch Fox News if they want, they can type a letter if they want (Megan likes that), or they can play a learning game on the computer (they hate that).  They complain for it in the mornings, but then they start getting creative right away and have a lot of fun now.  I get to hear them fuss still, but it's worth it.

Journals

Sami asked for a journal.  She was worried because, even though she wanted a journal, she didn't know how to spell very well.  I told her that a journal would be hers alone so she didn't have to worry about spelling. That eased her distress a lot, so I told her I would find her one. 

I found a couple of decent journals at Sam's Club and bought one for each daughter.  Sami immediately started writing and drawing in her journal, and even put a few clippings in it from different writings.  I'm glad I haven't been pushing her to write, because now she is doing it on her own terms and she is really enjoying it.   She asked me why she likes writing in her journal so much.  She delayed eating her dinner so that she could write a little more.  She wrote in bed before going to sleep. 

Meggie saw how much Sami was enjoying her journal, and started writing in hers as well.  When someone enjoys what they are doing, is shows in their body language and demeanor, and it is contagious.

I have no idea what they are writing, because it is private.  I know that they are writing because I can see pages of words and Sami occasionally asks for the spelling of a word. 

Thank you, Jeff Kinney, for writing the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  I think that is what inspired Sami to take this journey.   

Breakfast

I bet you didn't eat snails and jack o'lanterns for breakfast!  Yum!  A fun breakfast makes for a good start to the day. 

Outdoor Play

Waldorf education puts a strong emphasis on natural play, using natural things to play so that it brings forth a good imagination.  I know that isn't the exact wording of Waldorf methods, but it's pretty close.  The girls like playing outside, and they were fussing at me to turn on the electronics, so I moved us all outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Megan making a shelter for her toy chinchilla.

The chinchilla peeking out from under it's shelter.

A leaf crown.  I showed the girls how to make them and they made more things.

 

A chinchilla pen, to keep it safe.

Choosing a leaf to use is serious work.  Notice the yarn in the tree, another part of their playing.  

Sami loves to make "lakes" in the pea gravel.  

Rose and Hugo loved the action of the gurgling water.  They played in it, too.  

Totoro watched from the swing with me.  He's a mama's boy.  

They played outside for a long time and were happy.  I listened to a "Hands of a Child" lecture from Rudolf Steiner and fell asleep in the swing. 

Sewing Lessons Today

We are having sewing lessons again today, but today it's my turn to sew.  The last two times have revolved around the wood sprites getting their chance to cut, piece together and sew.  Today I get to sew, or at least that's the plan.  I already know the very basics of sewing, but I've got so much more to learn. 

Sometimes the girls see me learning a new skill, such as knitting, and then they want to try it too.  I love showing them new skills, but sometimes they have to be patient while I learn the ropes (or yarns).  At their age and skill level, it's hard enough to teach them knitting unless I know what I am doing as well. When I barely know what I am doing in knitting, it makes it hard to show them and correct them in proper technique.  When they are older, we'll be able to do more in this area. 

With sewing, it's been nice to have someone else who already know the ropes who can help them jump right in and get started.  It's been fun learning sewing together.  I think it's good for them to see a parent excited about learning as well.  It also demonstrates that learning happens throughout one's life.

Learning should be natural and fun, and I think we accomplished that with sewing.  

Learning Styles

I thought I knew about different learning styles.  I was never an expert, but I thought that I knew enough to help my girls be better learners.  For example, I know that my girls hate workbooks and worksheets, so I avoid them as much as possible.  I also knew that they love to use their hands and move while learning. 

After listening to some podcast from www.homeschool.com, I realize that I still have a lot more to learn.  Mariaemma Willis, David Laezear and Pat Farenga each had a lecture recorded, and each stressed that there are more learning styles than just auditory, visual and kinetic. 

They mentioned how some children wiggle and have to move while learning.  That is definitely what my girls do, and I knew that already.  Sometimes I try to curb it a little, and I found out that I shouldn't do that and I should just let them move. 

When I used to use worksheets (I plan to get back to them someday for math), Sami used to doodle all over the pages.  I would get onto her for not concentrating on her work and not paying attention.  She would spend more time drawing than doing the actual work, and it took three times as long as it should have taken.  The speakers said that is a style of learning where the child HAS to doodle to concentrate on the work.  I'll keep that in mind when we get back to worksheets. 

I also accused the girls of not paying attention when I'm reading aloud to them.  I'll be reading away (or we'll be listening to a book on CD), and they'll ask some off-the-wall question that has nothing to do with the story.  Apparently some children hear something in the story that triggers a thought of something else that might trigger a thought of something else, so then they ask a question about that other thing.  I can definitely understand that, as it happens to me all the time.  I should have picked up on that one on my own.

I plan on listening to these two speakers again, and I am also going to find more resources at the library.  Even though we unschool, these speakers were a valuable resource to me and in turn will help the children. 

Apple Works

We took a trip to the local apple orchard here called Apple Works.  They don't just grow apples.  They have a small petting zoo, a barn with a big slide and rope swings, nature trails, and a shop to buy their products.  In the fall they offer field trips to explore the orchards and pumpkin patches while explaining the apple growing processes.

We went with friends and had a really good time exploring everything.  While both my kids enjoy being outside, Sami especially enjoys it and can stay outside for hours.

  

Megan wore her witch's hat and cape. 

Sami really likes feeding the animals.  She tries to "talk" to them.

This is the barn where they can explore, go down the slide,

and swing on the rope swings.

Waiting for a friend to come out of the slide.

The straw bales were fun to climb.  Megan waited patiently

for her friends to climb up with her. 

Four friends waiting for their mothers to quit taking their picture. 

The sunflowers, while not a tall variety, were very pretty. 

Exploring.