Okay, so we’re sitting around talking, and two of my daughters are complaining about the way that their contemporaries use (or more properly, don’t use) the rules of grammar.  They complained about dangling participles and ending sentences with prepositions…it was enough to make a homeschooling mother cry with joy on Mothers’ Day.

I also had a chance to talk to one of my children about reading this weekend.  She is a voracious reader, and just can’t understand why a lot of the people that she knows aren’t.  I had to confess that I was at a loss to explain that as well, since I am one of those people who will read old cereal boxes if I’ve run out of other material at hand.

Reading has been such a great help with homeschooling for me.  It reinforces both grammar and spelling rules (painlessly) and opens up worlds that might otherwise be completely closed to us.  I’ve been very lucky that (so far) all my children love to read, because without reading, all of schooling is so very much harder.

Posted: May 12th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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I heard about the Live and Learn Unschooling Conference to be held near Asheville, North Carolina in September.  It sounds very interesting, and seems to be very loosely organized–which is sort of like unschooling itself.

Posted: May 6th, 2008 under Conferences.
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Well….Today is one of those homeschooling days when I start to wonder why my children aren’t in school.  There is something about homeschooling–or any other seemingly countercultural position–that makes me want to present to the world a faultless exterior.  I want our homeschooling experience to be wonderful; I want my children to be happy and involved in learning complex subjects constantly; I want them to be perfectly behaved, but still playful and “edgy”.  I want our house to be absolutely spotless, but still reflect that we are learning here and not consumed with housekeeping.  I want it all.

I forget (or maybe I just want to forget) that we are all human here.  That they are still children and act in childish ways on occasion.  That I get tired and want to do what I want to do instead of what is best for them and our family.  That we can do this successfully–in our own time and with a good outcome.

It never seems to matter on days like this how successful we are.  Last week, I heard my children introduced (by someone I have a huge amount of respect for) as “some of the brightest and most talented children” he had ever met.  Not good enough today.  Not good enough that they have standardized test scores that set them apart from the average child (schooled or not).  Not good enough that they are recognized as artistically talented by professionals in the fields that they are involved in.  Not good enough that people like them and want to be around them.

Maybe writng this was the best thing I could have done for myself today.  Maybe I’ve just reminded myself  that they ARE good enough–and more.

Posted: May 6th, 2008 under emotions, learning.
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This is our crew at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. 

Posted: April 25th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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And just for the record, I’m still obsessing about finding the right geometry program.

Posted: April 24th, 2008 under Resources.
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For some reason today I’m feeling particularly energized.  I’ve been thinking about creativity and how my children express their own individuality.  The three oldest either are or have been interested in theatre (and we can now add film, now that Joseph’s through with his shooting on the movie he’s been involved with), and the littlest one is trying to figure out where she fits in and how to be her own person among all these much bigger and louder people.

I could say that homeschooling allows my kids more time to pursue the things that they are interested in (and, in fact, I’ve probably said that a million times or more).  But since I’ve been involved in writing again, I am trying to look past the surface to what drives creativity in the kids.

When Martha or Joseph is involved in a theatrical production and trying to create a character (especially when that character is small and not necessarily filled out by the writer), I love hearing how they decide who “they” are in terms of the show.   I think that in those moments where they don’t feel a pressure to be “creative”, they find so many ways to create that we often overlook.   Movement (even hand gestures or facial tics) goes a long way to fleshing out a character.  Posture and stride can say a lot.  When the kids create a person, they have to learn to observe and mimic–but also to categorize the things that people do.

It’s like science applied to art–biology creating theatre.  If you can’t see, you can’t know.  A scientist who doesn’t observe won’t ever be able to draw conclusions.  An actor who doesn’t see will never be able to draw a believable character.

I wonder what they would think if I told them that they were being just like biologists when they “sold” that song that they were singing?

Posted: April 24th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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Well, I’ve finally gotten tired of the tortured sentence structure that comes from trying not to post the names and ages of my children.  From now on, they will appear as themselves.

Posted: April 15th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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In the process of reading some of the political/feminist blogs out there, I came across one post which confronted a problem that still puzzles me.  What is a blog–is it only stream of consciousness writing; is it a series of essays that confront “problems” or “issues” that face a community; is it a diary of day to day experiences that may or may not have any relevance to the reader?

 I am never sure what I am doing here.  It becomes more difficult because blogging is often something done “in the dark”, so to speak. There is little feedback, so I can never tell if what I am saying ever connects with any one else. 

That never stopped me before.  But it would be nice to hear from people.

Posted: April 15th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

Here’s an article I missed from the Daily Advertiser on April 9th about homeschoolers and access to public school sports.

Posted: April 9th, 2008 under legal, opportunities.
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Oh my gosh. I just found myself (and a friend) on the internet.

Posted: April 9th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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