Samut Saring Ceylon

Mon 6 Oct 2008

How is the Insect Mind Map Going?

Just a quick post today.

You might be wondering how our mind map on insects has turned out. Well, I have taken some photos today. I have mentioned earlier that Vibrant Bea has misplaced her mindmap so they joined efforts in making this one. The lost map, however, turned up just recently but since we have covered many lessons already, we preferred to complete this map for them both. The team set-up is helping them to learn how to cooperate and work together. Patience needs some practice and it seems to be working here.

I will make another post once it is completed.

Mind maps are great tools for learning and remembering!

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Sat 4 Oct 2008

Swimming and mushroom weekend

Posted in learning, living, loving it

I wonder how these two topics came together.

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.

Hang on, I will keep you posted =)

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Thu 2 Oct 2008

Homesick and burnout?

Posted in learning, living, loving it

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!).

Yet, God remains faithful.. in Him we trust.

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Fri 26 Sep 2008

CM Pinoy: Keeping 'em short and sweet

Posted in learning, living, loving it

When the children were younger and we have never heard of short lessons yet, we spent most of our day trying to cover all the lessons scheduled for the day from an instruction guide. For sure, we did complete all the lessons for the year even before the term was up. But it wasn't a smooth process and we found ourselves exhausted in the end.

Each day could be described by whining, a lot of dawdling and plenty of fussing about. I would find myself nagging them when they lag behind and negative habits start to breed. For whatever reason, I couldn't remember why I didn't adapt short lessons right away. As I have told you, we started adapting CM methods slowly but short lessons were not prioritized. I remember incorporating narration, dictation and copywork at first but would tackle a lesson for about 25-30 minutes when it should be just 10-15 at their age that time. Somehow, I was a doubter of short lessons. I didn't have the confidence if I can really teach enough in 10 to 15 minutes.

We haven't incorporated all of CM methods in our studies yet. We have just started with the short lessons a year ago, but some subjects often take more time to finish than the others. Now that they have grown and matured a bit, the lessons tend to get more difficult which take a longer time period (25-30 minutes each). But I have learned my lesson, which wasn't short and sweet for me for it took me long years to realize. It is indeed important to keep 'em short and sweet. We are now realizing the benefits of applying short lessons. I am no longer struggling if we had to finish a Sonlight Core for more than 36 weeks - took us more than 12 months actually.

Right now, I am hopeful with Fuzzy that we will be able to apply short lessons more. He tends to fuss and dawdle more so shorter lessons will benefit him most. As for Vibrant Vera, she is now capable to learn and study on her own with very little supervision. As for Lil Ruffin, the future is bright that she will have the best short and sweet CM lessons when her time comes.

Here are some links about short lessons, the importance and advantages of applying them in your homeschool. It is applicable in any Filipino family homeschool doing CM methods.

Realistic Charlotte Mason : The Benefits of Short Lessons in the Charlotte Mason Method By Catherine Levison

What Drew Me to a Charlotte Mason Education By Karen Andreola

_______________________

Day Twenty Six Pakistan's Hindko speakers

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Tue 23 Sep 2008

Tweak or twist?

Posted in learning, living, loving it

If you are doing Sonlight Core 5, I am sure you have the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer somewhere on your desk. The Explorer is excellent! It is an in-depth study of countries in the Eastern Hemisphere. A lot different from the earlier Sonlight Cores we have gone through, it paved the way for my children to be more adept in looking up facts in Geography and History of the region. But ironically, they have finished reading most of the History Books, Readers and Read-Alouds from this Core and yet, this is the only one of the few books left to be completed. We have yet to explore and conquer it.

What is taking us so long? I realized early on that a lot of the exercises in this workbook are fill-in-the-blanks type of activity, which is a far cry from what Vibrant Bea and Fuzzy have now been accustomed to, that is oral and written narration. But we proceeded with it at a very slow pace and we wouldn't want to skip this chance of surveying the countries in the Explorer.

Until recently, it seems like it will take us forever to cover the whole book. My mind is already thinking on how we can even start Core 6 if we go on like this. It took me awhile before I got the Eureka! moment I have been waiting for. I realized their love of learning through lapbooks, notebooks, mind maps and such kind of activity. My kids are highly visual learners and tweaking this study might help a bit. So I made several changes in the approach. Instead of having them research and answer the exercises individually. I teamed up both kids to make a project. They will still have to look up information, of course, from World Book and Wikipedia. Instead of filling up the blanks, I told them to design and make a poster ad endorsing the country under study. Somewhat like a tour agent selling a package trip to New Zealand. That clicked! Now I am amazed by how faster they have finished the lesson as compared to merely looking up facts and filling in answers.

So the New Zealand study took just more than a week... and here is the result. It is quite good.They used a map, minibooks, downloaded photos, a blend of lapbook cum notebook activity on a poster.

Now, they are busy preparing for their presentation as a form of narration. In one of our family nights, they will act in a role play as tour agents orienting tourists (played by us, the parents) about New Zealand.