May. 3, 2008
Sierra at Six
Posted in Sierras Work
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Six years ago, a little girl was born in her parents' bedroom.
  She was our special, unexpected blessing.  Happy Birthday Sweetie! |
Apr. 15, 2008
Just Proving the Last Comic Strip...
Posted in Sierras Work
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Oct. 4, 2007
Kindergarten Power Struggles
Posted in Sierras Work
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I have been tired lately. I couldn't figure out why. September sped by without even stopping for a cup of coffee. What's going on? That's when hubby reminded me. "You've started trying to school Sierra." Ah. I forgot about that. Homeschooling kindergarten is hard around here. The greatest strain in my relationship with my oldest was kindergarten. I don't even remember kindergarten with my son (I was pregnant with Sierra at the time, and his school career started in September 2001, so it's probably better that I've forgotten.) I consider kindergarten my greatest challenge for homeschooling. This is the year I try to convince the 5yo that mom is teacher, that I try to determine the child's learning style, and consider strategies for getting the basics into her head. Marina was probably the easiest. Too bad I didn't realize it at the time. As I tripped along the beginning of our homeschooling journey, I made a lot of mistakes. The biggest was following the public school idea of "one hour for this subject, 45 minutes for that, etc." Let's consider what that 45 minutes to an hour entails. Given a modest class size of 25 students, about 5-10 minutes are used in coming in, pulling out the correct books, and taking attendance. I am allowing that for the lower grades you probably only have one teacher, but there is still time eaten up by pulling out the correct books and papers to start each subject. Let's say the hypothetical teacher has a model class that doesn't need to be quieted down every time she turns around. She still needs to spend time getting the entire class to understand the lesson. So I'll figure 15-20 minutes to get everyone understanding the topic. Then the students get down to working on exercises. Let's say there are a handful that understood the lesson completely and they finish the workbook exercise in 5-10 minutes. They will still have to sit and wait for the rest of the class to catch up, so figure another 10-15 minutes. By now, the teacher is running out of time (if she hasn't already) so the rest of the class goes toward checking answers and assigning homework. Once I had perspective on how much time children spend in class waiting, and just the nature of teaching a class of similar age students versus my one student, I relaxed more. And the more I loosened up, the more my self motivated student learned. Reading improved in the summer, when I was taking a break from teaching her to read. Counting, including the multiplication tables, were learned on daily walks. Writing, as tomorrow's strip will prove, was more about interest than dexterity. If the writing assignments were tedious, she plodded along and complained about how much she hated it. If it was self motivated, she could write for hours. Chase taught me that it is impossible to teach a group of students because each has their own way of learning. He didn't want to hear about sitting down and doing subjects. That was why I started "stealth teaching." Strategically place a picture book, count and sort with his dinosaurs, write down his stories until he wanted to write, I simply had to stop thinking in terms of schooling. Which is ironic since I had settled on the concept of classical schooling. Sierra is still a mystery. She likes learning, but it has to be done her way, which is not always the most productive way. Lately, I've simply been trying to convince her that the letter N exists and D doesn't come after S. It's kind of like homeschooling the Queen of Hearts. Once again I feel green as I walk along the homeschooling path. It's a well-worn path now, but there are still plenty of stones to stumble upon. |
Jul. 17, 2007
Buzzness
Posted in Sierras Work
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I spent a good portion of yesterday reading about bees to Sierra. Why bees? Funny story. Sunday was a beautiful day here. I figured I would enjoy the last hours of daylight sitting outside reading. Yes, my guilty pleasure, the source of this week's inspiration. I was only 2 chapters from the end of "Fowl Weather," a book that was not as light a read as its predecessor, "Enslaved by Ducks." I have a long list of books I'd like to read this summer and July is whizzing quickly by. I settled into my chair, my feet propped on an oak tree round, and opened my book. "Mommy, how do we get honey from bees?" I look up at Sierra. She is practicing her balance, hopping from one tree log to another. This is why we saved so many pieces of the oak we cut down. I tried to briefly explain the honey collecting process, based on my observations of beekeepers and stories told by my uncle when I was a kid. Uncle John had a farm in the hills of West Virginia when I was young. He was also a coal miner. Not exactly the profession you would expect for someone growing up in NYC. Anyway, he used to keep bees. He also had a gift for storytelling. My brother, sister and I could listen to him for hours. The beekeeping stories were particularly interesting. I remember his unorthodox method of collecting combs (open the hive and run away until the bees calm down) and his story of when the hive divided and the swarm of displaced bees waited patiently for him to give them a new hive before giving up and flying off. Sierra decided she wanted to keep bees. I told her we could consider it when she's older, and in the meantime we could learn as much as possible about bees. "NO!" she insisted, "I want to do it now, while I'm still five." Carpe Diem. |
Apr. 14, 2007
Reading Readiness?
Posted in Sierras Work
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I think Sierra's getting ready to learn to read. There are subtle clues, like magnet letters scattered all over the kitchen floor. (Our black cat, Merlin, likes to knock them off the refrigerator.) She sets them up and then asks me what they spell. If anyone could tell me how to pronounce "dDyAabmKsOwQszso" I would appreciate it. Bonus if you know what language it is and what it means. She'll ask. She's gotten pretty good at writing her name, too. A few days ago, as she was writing, she asked me, "How do you spell 'meow'?" "M-E-O-W," I say. After looking at her paper, pen poised, she replied, "Umm, I don't know how to spell that." |
Mar. 10, 2007
Sierra's "Computer"
Posted in Sierras Work
  Here is a picture of Sierra's work, the insides of the computer. For details, read "Look Out, Bill Gates" below.
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Dec. 22, 2006
Sierra's View of Christmas
Posted in Sierras Work
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I decided to save my last two holiday strips for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the meantime, Sierra got hold of our camera again! Here's a 4 year old's view of Christmas... The tree...  Her Creche... The old family Creche...   And the young photographer's self portrait...  |
Dec. 19, 2006
More Song Lyrics
Posted in Sierras Work
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As sung by Sierra: Deck the halls with fa la lolly Ah la la la la, la la la la To the season to be jolly Ah la la la la, la la la la Donny now and get a pair of Ah la la, la la la, la la la... She also makes up her own carols as she plays with her Nativity set. Speaking of which, I realized we have a number of Nativity scenes. I will have to take pictures of them for later in the week. |
Oct. 3, 2006
Two Pictures by Sierra (age 4)
Posted in Sierras Work
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I can't believe it, but these were done by my 4y.o.! I actually asked her big brother if he had taken them. These kids never cease to amaze me.
Silohuette of Apple and Oak trees (Sierra's eye view) |
