Today, we tried to focus on what we have been attempting to finish for the past two weeks. Yes'm, you read it right, two weeks have gone and we should have completed Sonlight Core 5 - Eastern Hemisphere study of Japan but so many things have diverted us from the flow of things.. or is it just me, the mom, who thinks we are very late in accomplishing this. My children seem unabashed by how time is ticking so fast and the calendar pages flying off the wall so quickly every day. They are faring better than me with all this relocation and short vacation fuss these remaining months. To M-E, tis starting to get S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L. I am just glad it isn't showing...yet!
Enough of that blah.
So, it is just Japan today and I hope I am not sounding too un-CM-like ;-) - more like unit-sy study. It is a very interesting way to learn, too!
For Japan, we have ...
1. Read-aloud the books The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Patterson and Commodore Perry in the Land os Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg.
2. Done a poster map (an all-in-one lap-note, timeline, mind map poster), as our narration activity. You won't believe it we managed to come up with a hybrid of all the fun stuff we enjoy doing together.
3. Indulged in 200g Sakura Mix to get the taste of Japan while keeping busy hands and minds busy,.. it is hard to keep the young ones from munching, especially Fuzzy. They love "nori" best of all.
4. Eaten california maki, sashimi, beef and chicken katsudon at the food court using chopsticks called "hashi" or "otemoto"..but would love a real good Japanese bento at Nihon-Bashi, one of the few Japanese resto here in Colombo. Get your wallet ready, DH.
hashi Wikimedia under GFDL
5. Exchanged email with my brother who lived in Japan for 18 years but is now working for UN in Sudan.
6. Been trying to schedule a interview-chat for my kids with their cousin who is now in Japan working for a big camera company, a fave brand for me =).
7. Folded dozens and dozens of origami of animals, toys, boxes using this book and lots of download ideas from the web, of course.
Lil Ruffin proud of her origami collection made by the Dynamic Duo
8. Bought really expensive paper for kimono origami as Vibrant Bea gets over-enthused about paper kimonos and dolls.
9. Scoured the World Book and World Wide Web for anything Japan.
This painting by Juan Luna garnered the gold medal given by Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884. At present, it graces the main gallery entrance at the ground floor of the National Museum of the Philippines. It is now included in our art tour itinerary in January 2009 which also includes the Amorsolo tour.
Here are some links to a more detailed study of this great artist and his art.
Day One. A downloaded public domain image of the art sits as a backgound image on my screen (Wikipedia is one source). The children zoom on it and have a good look to take in details on the first day.
Day Two. They try to look at it for a few minutes before we start are morning lessons. I post a careful colored printout of the picture on a wall of our learning room visible to everyone so the children can view it anytime of the day.
Day Three. They look at it again for a few minutes, but this time I ask them to narrate their observation and the details of the picture they can remember. Chances are they see more details now which they have not seen on the first and second day.
Day Four. We read related materials about the artist, his life, the history of the picture and the historical events or context when the picture was painted. I ask them to narrate information they remember from our readings.
Day Five. A copy of the reprint with their reading materials go to their art appreciation binder.
Together with picture studies, we are slowly doing our art appreciation lapbook.
We have finally completed the lessons of Mystery of History 1, or what is also known as MOH1! Of course, we can not wait to start the next volume, the Mystery of History 2 (it has been sitting here on our to-read shelf for months now). We are not going to jump on it right away though. For now, we would like to catch up with our readings of other history books and historical fiction. These books are waiting to be cracked open. Our Filipiniana has been guiltily neglected, I confess, so our sights are geared towards that direction. Also, we wish to read more about the lives of the people featured in MOH1, other mathematicians, scientists, artists and musicians during that period.
It is enlightening to learn that history is linear and not just random events that transpired in our world. With MOH1, we learned that historical events since the beginning of time unfolded under God's sovereign will and act of providence. Be it good or bad, God has willed or permitted history to unravel His perfect plan of salvation to mankind and the establishment of His Kingdom. I never thought my children of ages 11 and 10 to comprehend the depth of this message. It just seems so unfathomable for a young child but no, they simply did. They understood and love it. I am happy to tell you history is one of their favorite subjects - a total contrast of what I was keen about when I was their age.
I must say this subject is by far one of our most productive studies. We made memory cards and drew on them, timeline figures and timeline, plotted places on maps, narrated orally, write narration on homemade notebooks, did many activities, viewed some films, read from living books, and searched the World Book and Wikipedia.
Here is our timeline on the wall. We re-used the clean side of a cabinet box which used to house the assembled bookshelves we bought when we came here. Shall we ship it to our next destination? Hmmm, we are still deciding on that.
Detail of the timeline.
Here is a link to the notebook pages I have made for MOH1.
And here the subscription email addy of a yahoogroup support for MOH1, if you want to know more about this great resource and meet other parents who use this online. The publisher is Bright Ideas Press.
What makes history worth studying is when it holds true meaning, not just a rigid record of random events, dates and facts that happened in the past, AND when you see a greater hand, a Greater Power, who moves people, places and events much like a conductor leading his orchestra to it's grand finale...the ultimate glory.. you know it is not just a mere story but His Story.
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We will be off tomorrow for a three-day trip to the mountains. I will continue blogging on Monday.
It must be that I am running out of things to write. Hmmm, anyway, it's a Saturday, a weekend, and that is expected, since I have already drained out most of my creative juices the whole week. For all I know, I might be mounting up and gaining momentum for next week's learning adventure. Ha! You couldn't tell. Anyway, I have only two things to mention.
One is swimming.
After 9 gruelling months in Level 1 due to off and on allergies and skipping most of her weekly classes, Vibrant Bea was promoted to Level 2 and managed to finish it in 2 months. Today, she is promoted to Level 3! Wheee! She is doing breast stroke quite well now but has to work more on her butterfly and dive. She is getting there for sure. Recently, she told me that she is enjoying swimming more than ever. It keeps getting better. Isn't that great news or what?
Fuzzy remains on Level 2 which he started on last September. But with the rate he is going he might get promoted to Level 3 by November. He is learning very well and has met new kids in his class. Swimming keeps him trim. We will see.
They didn't take part in the recently concluded meet. It was on a Sunday. Most athletics meets are held on Sundays in this country. For that reason they have never joined many. I noticed they have added interesting activities after their regular laps. Now, they have games and mock relays. Everybody gets to cheer the swimmers including us, parents. It is undeniably fun and exciting on swimming days.
As for Lil Ruffin, she just got to Toddler 2 today after 2 months in Toddler 1 class. We had a blast watching her this afternoon. Her instructor brought her class to the edge of the deep pool (3 meters) to jump. Each child was told to jump and an instructor in the water dived down to get the child. Mind you, these are 3-5 year olds. Our kid is 3 and a half and looks the smallest of them. Each were given two jumps. Lil Ruffin did well on the two jumps. When it was her classmate's turn to jump, unexpectedly she too jumped quite suddenly with so much glee. The instructor was caught by surprise and dived down to get her and the other kid underwater. They all surfaced safely; the instructor couldn't help smiling and Lil Ruffin was giggling! A funny thing about her is she accompanies her jumps with a loud shriek of excitement, like one on a roller coaster dip, and without hesitation would plunge legs first in the deep pool. She just loves it and not one bit afraid.
Lil Ruffin enjoys her swimming lessons so much she would eagerly take a nap when I tell her it is important to rest before going to swim. Other days, you need to be pretty smart to convince her.
Mushrooms. Well, that is the second one.
How did I get to buy a bag of mushroom culture today? As any Saturday, we always get our supplies from the supermarket on this day. It was too late to realize that it is World Animal Day. The freezers in the meat and poultry sections were empty except for the cold cuts which we never fancy anyway. No animal shed blood under the butcher's knife. That is neat!
Actually I can go on days without the meat but the children love chicken. So we just picked our usual veggies and greens; and guess what I found on the veggie shelf? Bags of mushroom culture. For only RS140 Sri Lanka rupees, if we do it right, we can have a month's supply of mushroom for every 10 day intervals. It sounds promising. We haven't tried this before so we decided to get one and learn from it.
The bag looks like this.
We cut off the upper part to leave a small opening. We placed it in a dark and damp box near the door to our reading room.
Let us see what happens after 10 days. Vibrant Bea and Fuzzy will take turns spraying it with water daily.
At one time or another, homeschool moms experience burnout. Children are the very first ones to notice or feel this and they too get affected. It is a normal phase but it shouldn't discourage you. The good news is you can do something about it.
I have been through this stage many times. As you might know by now, we are living in a foreign country. Here in Sri Lanka, homeschool is a strange word. The terms "homeschool support" or "homeschool coops" are even stranger. I get support mainly through prayers of brethren back home and later on, the internet and another homeschooling family we have met by God's Providence.
How is homeschooling like in a place and situation like ours? The answer is NOT easy. =) Burnout is as familiar as an old friend. But the wonderful thing about it, I realized that it is not in my own strength that I do these things - to homeschool, to manage a home, to be a mom and a wife and all the roles that go along with this noble calling, but in His strength. I have learned to step back, shelve or drop whatever causes the stress and call help. And often, wisdom comes when you seek it. The Lord provides it abundantly. It is not only that! He spices it up with creativity and humor. It is always in His grace we were able to make it each day, learning a little bit of this and a little bit of that when Mr. Burnout strikes.
Now here are ideas, some we have done during our transition here and some we haven't tried but lined up to do. But all came up from the need to beat homesickness and boredom from just being holed up in the house (or in many cases, hotel)...
1. Holed up in a hotel? Why not a unit study on how it runs? I couldn't think of a better way to make learning real. If you have stayed there long enough maybe you may request if you can visit and observe areas usually off limits to guests (for your homeschool/lessons) like the kitchen, laundry area, control rooms, supply room, etc. Have a short interview with people how the hotel is managed and specific jobs of staff like the housekeeper, chef, manager, concierge, tour guide, lifesaver by the poolside etc.
2. Take the school outside! - Have a walk in the hotel garden or nearby park . It is your chance to see what flora or fauna are living in the vicinity. Great to bring sketch pads too or a handy camera. Your child might be happy to take photos of plants and birds not familiar to him and then sketch it later.
3. Explore the nearest bookstore. You might be interested to see what kind of books are available and interesting for you and your child.
4. Where is the post office? I usually take my children to choose and buy postcards, write on it and stick a stamp and post it to their grandparents, cousins or friends back home. This is a ALWAYS a big hit! Later on, you can encourage your older kids to write to penpals who are also homeschooling. If you are in an online homeschool support group, you may post your children's interest to write snail mail with other homechooled children. Vibrant Bea found penpals this way in a HomeLife Academy yahoogroup.
5. Visit the public market. If it is a safe place, make it a morning trip. Mornings are usually when vendors arrange their fresh goods to sell. The sights and colors are a feast to the eyes. Markets are always noisy and interesting. You will learn a lot of the country's culture from their markets. However, seek advise too from the hotel concierge/receptionist of the "do's and don'ts" on walking by yourselves in crowded public places.
6. Have you seen the parks and usual tourist spots (museums, landmarks)? Well, not to sound too "touristy", but to a child, a change of environment might just do the trick.
7. Check out the local events/activities - are there free concerts going on? plays for kids? a playgroup for expat's children? other homeschoolers? art class for kids? storytelling sessions in the library? swimming class? I have picked up a book when we arrived here entitled Sri Lanka for Kids and it helped a lot. There might be a similar publication there - say a magazine or a brochure/book.
We have been away from home for 4 years and I have homeschooled 3 children ages 3, 10, 11 - 24/7 - which started back home. It wasn't a perfect deal but I wouldn't have it any other way, admittingly the older 2 spent a short period in an IS but were pulled out. We have been through burnout phases, sickness, boredom, disappointment, frustration and almost giving up many times. Yet each time my husband and I look back to our vision for our family, as to why we homeschool, that snaps us back right into place.
When I got burnout, I arranged with my husband if he can stay with the children for a few hours on a weekend while I go out, take a walk or visit the places that interest me but never had the chance to go. We would plan it ahead so he can set his work pace (as sometimes he brings home work ), he would then rent a movie or set a board game and kids cook pop corn... anything to spend time with the kids. He would sometimes help out with the math problems while I am out. If he comes home early and there is still extra time, the family would take a walk just round the block and enjoy the afternoon breeze.
We are again facing another relocation by the end of the year. We thought at first it will be back home for good. Now, we just got news that the same process we went through years back awaits us in another country. Leaving a familiar life and friends we have known and grown fond of is rather stressful, too and we are slowly coming into terms with it. So, here we are facing the new unknown (again!).
