Nov. 20, 2006 - Talk about bursting a bubble....POP!!!
I prepared the kids’ lap books and had everything ready to go. Their binders with the ENTIRE year’s worth of work were organized, and everything was in ship-shape. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I felt wonderful as I reminisced over the year’s studies. Truly, I felt good; better than I’d ever felt any of the other 6 years we’ve done this.
We drove to the ends of the earth to the evaluator's home. Dd was called in to go first. After 20 minutes or so, dd is dismissed and ds is called in. She gives ds his math test. He was totally psyched about math. He’s worked hard this year; slow, but hard, nonetheless, and as a result of his tedious, meticulous work, he did extremely well on the test. She then gives him a reading inventory and a comprehension test. He finished and she called me in.
She proceeds to tell me that I need to work with dd on the Dolch list because she sight recognition needs improvement. She does well with contextual clues, but missed a few without them. Okay. Fine and dandy. She's still really little.
Next comes ds' review. She showed me where he was last year and his improvement this year. Great! Hip-hip hooray!!! Then, she proceeds to tell me that his writing needs help, and serious help at that. Now, mind you, all his writing was in his lapbook, which dd says she didn’t even look at, and ds doesn’t know if she did, because he was too busy working feverishly on his math.
She asked what we were doing for writing and I told her that we were using IEW, along with copywork and dictation.. “Oh. Well, his writing lacks structure. There’s not enough structure, blah, blah, blah.” She goes on to tell me what she does in her classroom. (She formerly homeschooled her own kids, but doesn’t impress me at this point.) Now, if I gave a monkey’s butt about what they do in public school, he’d be going to public school. She wrote out some suggestions and I’ll share them with you…
Expository writing should have 4 paragraphs, sound words, transitions, dialogue and tags.
Always begin with an introduction: If I was dad, I would have no curfew and I could eat out. To begin with, I would have no curfew…………….. One time when I was at the movies, I had to leave early…………..In addition, I love to eat at Wendy’s……….One time, when we were at Wendy’s I got a baked potato.
Conclusion.
Narrative Writing should have 5 paragraphs, and introduction which states the problem: Each paragraph should state your attempt to solve the problem and the last paragraph should be the conclusion, which shows how the problem was solved. Here’s her example:
I was at home. It was me and P.J. It was to hot, there was no air. We went to get ice cream, but it melted. We went to go in the sprinklers, but they were broke. So, we went to the mall and cooled off.
She wants to see: to begin with… and in addition to…… Is she kidding me? Who could possibly write 5 paragraphs about such a ridiculous topic? Here's my attempt. It was such an oppressively hot day, and after various attempts at cooling off, which included eating ice cream and running through the sprinklers, my brother PJ and I finally enjoyed relief when we made it to the air-conditioned mall. THE END. Who the heck wants to read 5 paragraphs about the same thing????
The look on my face must have said the same, because she asked why I looked that way. I told her that if my son gave me a paper like that, I’d tear it up. That is garbage. She goes on to tell me that that is what the standard is in schools across the country. Well, duh!!! That’s precisely why I homeschool!!!!
Truth be told, we do a lot of narration from the Ambleside and Sonlight reading assignments, as well as IEW’s Writing Trails. This year we’ve begun with SWI B and he’s loving it. Is he a master writer? Of course he’s not. He’s 11. Nevertheless, I was pleased with what I have gotten from him thus far. In one hour, this lady killed it.
I couldn’t rejoice in the fact that he jumped two levels in math, or that his reading comprehension is on a near 9.1 level. All I could hear was the fact that his writing is “all over the place.”
“Get him to do creative writing and set aside the history writing.. Kids like that. When I have my kids do writing on history, they have fits because they don’t understand history. They can’t pretend they were there, because they weren’t. It’s too big for them.”
Well, my kids love history and have absolutely no problem narrating it, or writing as though they were there, because they can imagine that they were there.
I’m livid. I need to have someone read some of his work to see if I’m totally off base, or if here ideas hold any water.
Sorry for the rant.
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Nov. 18, 2006 - Musings of a thankful homeschooling heart...
Tonight I have been putting the finishing touches on my children's portfolios for our annual evaluation (which is to take place tomorrow at 10am for anyone interested in praying for us!). As I leafed through the lap-books and nature journals, I realized the sheer joy, the absolute delight in our homeschool. They do not have workbook upon workbook filled with mind-numbing blanks. Instead, they have leaf rubbings, butterfly collections, sketches of what I believe are birds ;) , maps of the winter night sky, sketches and notes on last fall's hurricane Wilma, narrations of the readings they did on American Indian tribes and our young nation's fight for liberty, along with many other wonderful things.... Oh, I am so thankful for this blessing called homeschooling....
Just today, I was at our enrichment program and a friend told me of how her 10 and 5 year old do eight subjects every day. They do a dvd program, of which she offered to bring to me for sampling. She went on to explain that she could never take a little from here, a little from there, and make a curriculum of it. No, she is too "anal" (yes, that was the word she used), and went on to say that she has to know exactly where she started, exactly where she's going to end, and in how many lessons it will be done.
Now, I have an idea of what we'll cover. I mean, really, I do plan, but I don't know exactly how many lessons it will take my kids to learn the exact mathmatical concept they are currently studying, or why that red-headed woodpecker likes our tree so much, or why the bass in our lake prefer yellow Laffy Taffy over real worms, or any of the other things in God's lovely creation that tickle their fancies. But I do know this: we are enjoying our journey immensely.
PS. I did call the company to request a copy of the dvd so that I can see just what we are missing out on. After tonight's preparation, I can confidently report that there is not one single thing that my children are missing out on. :)
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Sep. 26, 2006 - 8yodd's narration on Louis Braille....
Louis Braille
One day, Louis Braille was sitting on his front porch, looking around at all the beautiful things that God has created. One day, he was in his dad’s workshop. He wanted to help his dad make leather. His father said, “No. You may not help me because there is an awl and the awl is very sharp and it can cut you. Do you promise me that you will not play with that awl?”
“I promise, Daddy,” said little Louis.
Now it’s very hard to keep promises, isn’t it? One day, Louis went into his dad’s workshop while he wasn’t there. He wanted to play with the awl, so he took the awl and he tried to make the leather. The leather was VERY slippery and so was the awl. He tried to cut out a piece of leather. The awl slipped from his hand, flew up into the air, went into his eye, and poked him. He started to scream. His mother came running and said, “What is the matter?” He did not speak. He kept crying and crying. His mother had to call the doctor, but he was lucky that it did not take his eye out. Instead, it made him blind. He could see for many weeks, but after that, he could not see very well. Then weeks after that, he could not see at all.
In those days, people who were blind, could not go to school and could not learn very much. Louis could not go to school, either. He stayed home and helped his mother. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, he helped his mom set the table. In the morning, he would take a bucket, go to the well, and get some drinking water.
One day, a priest named Father Palluy came to the Braille’s house. He heard that Louis was blind, so he went to his house and he helped him and he started to tell his parents that he was going to teach him four days a week.
When the weather was good, Father Palluy would take Louis out to the garden to teach him about many things. On days when the weather was bad, Father Palluy made Louis stay in the church. The priest taught Louis many things from the Bible. Louis was coming to the point that Father Palluy could not teach him any more, so he needed to send him to a school. He asked a schoolteacher named Mr. Becheret if Louis could be a student of his school. Mr. Becheret thought, “Oh my goodness! I’ve never taught a blind boy.” Finally, the schoolteacher said, “Okay. I will teach little Louis.”
Louis started school and the school was very good. He went to school until he was eight years old. Now, whenever Louis heard, “Take out your reading,” Louis felt bad because he could not read because he was blind. He always had to sit there and do nothing until they were done reading. Now, at that point, he couldn’t go to that school anymore. He had to go to a blind school.
Father Palluy had to write to The Institute, which would teach Louis how to read, write and do arithmetic like all the other people who could see. Father Palluy needed someone to write to The Institute so that Louis could become one of the students. He asked a man named Marquis d’Orvilliers, who was the richest man in town, to write the letter.
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Sep. 1, 2006 - How shall we ever count our blessings?
I sit and ponder the fact that I am positively exhausted after having spent the better part of the last two weeks researching, understanding, planning and implementing a new method to educate my children. After many sleepless nights, groggy mornings and frequent requests from my kids to join in their play, the work is FINALLY done.
The choices were many; the books have piled up. Which do I use? Which do I discard? Do I need new materials to pull this off? All these questions would require no answer, were it not for the one gift making it all possible: freedom. I am ever thankful knowing that I have been given the freedom by my wonderful husband, freedom from my government, and freedom in Christ to educate my children for His service.
I suppose that is the part that had me stalled for the longest time. I am ultimately equipping them to serve Him and want to be certain that they will be ready to face such a challenge. My husband often reminds me of a verse in Proverbs 6:6, which reads, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise." He reminds me that we are not to be lazy, but diligent in our work, always prepared for the task set before us. I have peace that I am ready and now, I will claim that I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength.
