Discovering the Power of the Written Word; Unschooling-Style

Charles, at ten, is a happy, eager reader, but until a few days ago, was not an avid writer. However, he figured out how to bug his sister through note-writing last night, though where the impetus came from is anyone's guess. The first slip of paper read; "Greetings. Valentine is fit. I am a robot from outer space." HE was about fit...to be tied...when he found out the insult he had meant for his beloved sister had been turned to a complement through the mistake of a single vowel.

 Spelling instantly became a hot topic with him, after a second attempt gone awry to do harm through writing. He spends way more time than I seem to have free, asking me to spell this, or making sure he spelled that right. He said himself; "Mama, I am so happy to write what I want to write, instead of what you make me write."

Go for it, kid.

Spanish Co-op Class

I realized, after yesterday's post on Spanish Class, that I had not posted previously about this addition to our homeschool year; a co-op with one other family, two days a week, where we exchange children and areas of expertise to teach science and Spanish. Up until this year, the sheer number of children and a sometimes unpredictable schedule, have made me hesitate to take part in a co-op. The need to hold a daily rhythm was greater than the desire to take advantage of extra opportunities. Add to that illness, work, and simply children reluctant to leave the house...it was enough.

However, when a good friend offered an exchange, just a small one; I would teach a Spanish class to her one son and she would take my TWO boys for a science class, Tuesday and Thursday each week; it sounded like an excellent idea. And here we are; five months into our lessons and having the time of our lives.

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I studied Senderos, an approach to teaching Spanish in a Waldorf classroom, available there and at other Waldorf bookstores. I thought about what has worked well and not so well in past French classes that I have offered. I knew I needed a plan; one teen girl, three boys ages 7-10 would be my pupils, and their favorite thing to do (at least for the boys) is to tear around the house or the yard like crazed warriors, yelling battle cries and brandishing boffers or Nerf guns. First part of plan; lots and lots of "recess" time. This has been beautifully captured by their science facilitator on her own blog Archie Down! Next up; a set rhythm for each lesson. They have ten minutes or so to greet each other before we begin by reciting our poem. They learn new stanzas and work on a project, which may be drawing or sculpting...or spray-painting and glue-guns. For "Estando la Mora en Su Lugar," a sort of Spanish version of "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly," we created a set of flashcards to remember the sequence of the mosca, rato, gato, etc. They each have a Spanish good book in which they write new vocabulary, dialogs, verses and illustrate to their hearts' content. Then they have free time. Once they have rid themselves of a bit of energy, we sit down and read together, in Spanish and English.

Content is not novel; colors, weather, clothing, food, numbers, the basics of what one needs to begin functioning in a language. We do many mini-dialogs, however, based on real-life, the same way I've been teaching French. "Come in, give me your coat. Honey, take his coat. You can put your shoes over here, etc." One of those dialogs was designed to be used in a special situation; eating out in a Mexican restaurant. We learned how to greet, request and thank politely, and then studied the menu to learn how to order before we went. Our server was gracious in speaking to us in only Spanish. It took her a lot longer, I imagine, than a normal table, but she was very patient and we left a good tip.  It was a fun outing!

Thinking of offering language lessons? Go ahead, there are many resources out there. Are you already teaching a foreign language in your homeschool or classroom? Please share your best ideas in the comment section below! And bonne journée!

January and Birthdays

A busy month for such a normally cold, quiet one.  Starting on the 6th, la Fete des Rois, or Epiphany:

For my birthday; a day in heaven! Thierry stayed home and offered me breakfast in bed, time to read and knit while he took care of dishes and cooking. In the afternoon, we went to see "The Hobbit," in the theatre, then came home and watched "The Lord of the Rings." Birthday photos taken in the basement, where the screen resides...as well as many other useful things. The bowl? Homemade mousse au chocolat.

The December birthdays fell behind this year, as I was not posting much. Here is my new 18-year-old:

And her father, with whom she shares a birthday:

A present from her 10-year-old brother...something about poo, I'm afraid, but really containing Swedish fish:

Christmastime at church:

Cate singing in holiday church program:

Lunch afterwards with my parents:

Spanish Class

In our little Spanish class, we are on to our second poem of the year. The first was the traditional; "Estando la Mora en su Lugar," set to music and learned so quickly that I was taken off guard. We tried a couple of others until we found one that best fit our first-year Spanish needs. This is it, and this is how we've gone about learning it:

Una Poesia de Parches

It is a poem of patchwork colors, knit with love. So, as far as vocabulary is concerned, we cover the colors and another important term; "knitting." Perfect. Also; sky, sun, night, day, happiness, sadness.

First; we made our own patchwork on paper:

Next, came the construction unit. We are going to present it as a play, and there was a request for masks, which led to papier maché and spray painting and 3-D paints.

They are a work in progress, but here are, so far, sadness (gris), night (negro) and happiness (rojo):

The books we are reading aloud now during lessons are:




And a fun kit we use for the games and vocabulary review:

For reference and for reading together, a picture dictionary:

!Que tenga un buen dia!

Happy New Year! (and where have the posts been?)

There is only so much free time for a mother of five. Even eschewing proper amounts of sleep, there are not enough hours in the day. So, a sort of choice, not really a conscious one, more of an "oops, another day without a blog post," consequence came about, because of an ambitious knitting project,

Simple Bread That Even the French Approve Of

Our daily bread; this is the one I make almost every day. I use a bread machine, but you can knead it by hand, I'll give the directions for that method too. It is simply perfect warm with butter to be eaten with your soup.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

                                         Martinmas Lantern-Making:

                                        Valentine turned 13, Happy Birthday, Dearest!

                   Not quite French patisserie, but made with love:

Vegan Stuffing Recipe...or What do I do With the Leftovers?

Portabella Stuffing Stuffed Mushrooms

 Happy Post-Thanksgiving Day to the Americans here and abroad. I hope each and every one of you was privileged with a lovely family dinner...and all the holiday entails. Now what to do with the leftovers? Turkey is easy; freeze it and feed it to the kids in sandwiches for the next three weeks, but the dressing won't keep. Here is my recipe for both dressing and a dish to make today special.

Portabella Stuffing Stuffed Mushrooms

From Homeschool to College, Part 2

So, what are college admissions officers searching for in a candidate? What would they see as desirable in a non-traditional applicant's portfolio?

This was my research assignment as I battled with words, memory and with my own inclination to get a bit warm and fuzzy and nostalgic, looking back over all the wonderful years of living with my daughter and watching her grow and become herself. How do you capture that? Is that even what is needed in the situation?

With her brother, during a moment of camaraderie; 

Here are the results, straight from the horse's mouth (though what truck a horse would have with college is beyond me):

1) Academic: an applicant will need to somehow convey the fact that they are college-ready. This could be through teacher narratives about what was studied, reading lists (saved!), information on curriculum used (hmmm), and copies of papers written or projects completed.

From Princeton's website:

"We understand that for many home schooled students there is not as clear a distinction between academic and non-academic activities as there might be for students in a traditional high school.

The Day the Books Fit

The Day the Books Fit is a new holiday in our family. I know so, because I declared it on October 22, as I slid the last remaining volume onto a shelf, with room to spare and TWO free shelves for library books. The dog promptly took a nap in the sun spot on the bottom of these. This is a really big, wondrous deal. No more searching high and low; either for a book or for a place to put it away. No more piles of books in too many corners and on flat surfaces. And the shear accomplishment of what turned out to be a serious project. Not only are there now enough bookshelves, but there is also an extra bedroom in a third of what used to be our playroom/classroom.

Here is what it looked like during the divide and paint phase:

And here is the bookshelf: (dang it, someone left Balzac and Murderous Maths where they should not be... just when you think you've got it all figured out!) And, if you see one that belongs to you on the far left shelf, second one from the top, that's because the gnome is guarding the shelf of "books that belong to other people." Please stop in for a cup of tea and recover your missing volume.

How to Cook a Chicken

HOW TO COOK A CHICKEN

Ingredients:
1 chicken
salt
pepper

First: find the chicken. You will not find this bird in your local supermarket. Seek out a farmer, either at the farmer's market, through a co-op or through word of mouth.

Hamburgers and Fries at Our House

As I wait for the fries to be done frying and the boys to finish grilling the hamburgers, I thought about how our favorite (though naughty) meal is also a very simple one to make from real food. It is so simple that I have time to jot this down while it is all cooking. Here is my top secret recipe for hamburgers, and my French husband's recipe for French fries (of course).

A Soup to Astonish

A Soup to Astonish

This will taste like the best, creamiest tomato soup you have ever served, but it really contains an extra ingredient that makes it that way, just don't tell anyone until after they've tasted it.

Beauty, and Learning to Appreciate It

In the interest of training our eyes, minds and hearts to recognize what is beautiful; a painting, great music, a well-crafted speech, architecture, as well as a desire to take advantage of events in our community, I have made a resolution to say "yes" more often to invitations and opportunities. Within reason. There are, after all, meals to be cooked and little people to tend to. What I have mostly stopped doing, is coercing those who are not interested into coming along. It makes for a more peaceable, enjoyable experience, and they are old enough to pursue their own interests without me.

Prompted by a friend who was away this past year and had made the same resolution, I was inspired to catalog the wealth of the past month in terms of what we have seen and learned:

Mama Fitness: Don't Stop: Pain or No Pain!

Advice from the doctors when wondering what to do about pain, be it joint, muscle, tendon: keep exercising! Really. See here: When it's OK to Run Hurt.

I had heard this from my GP and also from a rheumatologist, who says even if I have arthritis in my foot, knees and elbow, the best counsel she can give me is to keep going with my weight lifting, walking and biking, "at least 60 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week." Yes, ma'am.

As my elbow bit the dust badly two weeks ago, I had my doubts. I added painting the walls to my list of activities, when it already hurt to knit, and...my elbow was so stiff and sore it kept me awake at night and kept me from straightening my arm or even picking up the car keys without pain. I asked the teacher after class yesterday about modifications in Body Pump and CX Works (my latest add-on to classes). She told me to lighten up, to use free-weights instead of the bar or tube when it helped, drop all weight if need be and just do the movements, but she did not say to stay home and sleep an extra hour.

I think I was sort of hoping she would say to go home and sleep an extra hour. But not deep down.

I went back this morning, followed all of her advice, and I felt BETTER after my morning workout.

As for my questions about why we weigh more in America, I found a super blog post here; DoctorMama, confirming much of what I've suspected and going into more depth on the topic.

Don't let pain or lack of results that the scale can measure keep you from getting out and staying active. You will feel better with each extra step you take, each 2lb.weight you pick up. I promise. And if you don't feel better right away, be patient with yourself. You will. Go slowly, and if that fails, go more slowly, but don't stop, don't ever give up.