Lifetime Learning - Homeschool Blogger

I've Moved

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:12:00 -0500

I have maintained two blogs for some time, one because there were advantages to homeschoolblogger that aren't available to blogspot. I am, however, finding it difficult to work on and fine tune two blogs, and so I am no longer going to post here, but at http://lifetimelearning.blogspot.com. There you will also find a link to my blogs which have been recorded for radio.

Thanks for reading, and please come to see me at Lifetime Learning

Conversations with William

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:52:00 -0500

We were driving home from the recycle center and passed an old building next to the railroad tracks. The building houses a junk shop that rivals Sanford & Sons. The following conversation occurred on the way home with my four-year old.

Wm: What's that place there?

Me: They sell stuff.

Wm: Stuff?

Me: Yeah, junk people don't want anymore.

(I hear him in the back seat whispering: stuff-junk, stuff-junk)

Wm: I thought you said "skunk".

Me: No, stuff, junk.

Wm: You know if you take a rifle and point it at your neck and pull the trigger, you'll die.

Me: Uh, yes.

Wm: Do people eat skunks? (We're back to the skunks.)

Me: No.

Wm: Why not?

Me: Well, the meat is probably not good, and skunks stink.

Wm: You could shoot it with a rifle.

Me: Yes, but the skunk would still stink.

Wm: You could put confume (perfume) on it.

Me: You could.

Wm: You could shoot a deer or a skunk with a rifle.

Me: Yes, but why would you want to shoot the deer?

Wm: Maybe if someone was hungry. They could eat it.

Me: (bleeding heart animal lover) Won't the deer's mommy be sad?

Wm: (future hunter?) She's probably already dead from someone shooting a rifle. You could shoot either a deer or a skunk with a rifle, couldn't you?

He nods his head knowingly, confident we've completed this train of though which all started at a junk shop.

Foaming at the Mouth

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:56:00 -0500

I saw this on one of my email lists, from Louise in Israel:

While you're at it, you can do the wild-animals-foaming-at-the-mouth "trick"- it's the old volcano using baking soda and vinegar, except that you mix together baking soda, citric acid (powder) and powdered sugar (to make it a bit palatable). Add a tiny bit of food colouring and put a teaspoon of it inthe mouth. The saliva in the mouth causes the reaction, and of course youdon't want to swallow this (not that it'll harm you if you do however), soyou just foam at the mouth, in whatever colour you chose. Messy, but fun.

So, being the total fool that I am, I tried it:

Thank you to my friend Christine for being willing to photograph my more glamourous moments. (Anyone have Katie Couric's Photoshop editor to work on my facial lines?)

And my adventurous Lauren also tried it:

I'm not quite sure what learning we accomplished, but we did have fun.

Global Warming

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:29:00 -0500

I grew up in the space age. I am just old enough to remember my father getting me out of bed to watch the �giant leap for mankind�. As a teen, I gazed at the stars with a telescope and still wonder what�s out there. I�ve cheered the space shuttle, and agonized over the disasters. I�ve wondered what�s beyond what I can see with a naked eye.

Yet, in today�s world, I cannot help but wonder what we are doing spending billions and billions going back into space. The Europeans are heading to the moon again. We are hoping to reach Mars.

There is much news about global warming, but very little news about what they�re doing about it. Alaska is melting, �which may be triggering a self-perpetuating climate time bomb�, Greenland is dumping fresh water into the ocean which may cause Europe to cool, and any day, you can drive to the nearest big city and see a dirty, brown cloud over it.

Yah know what I think? I think the people in power, those with money, those in Congress, are planning to leave. Yup, and though I�m fit for space flight, (Are you? Take a quiz.) I haven�t the more than 20 million dollars it takes to book a berth, like this woman. And do you think they�ll take us peons? No, you�ll have to pay for a spot. The scientists and politicians, they know this planet is doomed, and they�re planning to colonize somewhere else, only they�re not saying, and they�re not taking you!

So here�s my plan. Let�s take all the billions of dollars they are spending on the space station and space programs, and use the money on alternate energy programs. We can start with the government buildings. They sure use a lot of hot air. We could install solar panels on the houses of lower income people, so they can use the money for more interesting things, like food. We could build light rail systems. Now there�s a novel idea. We could actually move away from dependence on oil!

Let�s take some of those billions and feed the starving babies I see in the news, give medicine to the AIDS victims, who leave those babies orphaned. Let�s use some to give people clean drinking water. Let�s use it to save what we have now, instead of trying to find a way out.

Immigration

Sat, 9 Sep 2006 20:27:00 -0500

My father said he is tired of having to press �1� to hear an automated system in English. And so opened the door to the topic of illegal immigration. He didn�t disagree with a local politician who promises that, if given my vote, he�ll see that a wall is built along our border to stem the flow of people sneaking over in the night.

And whom, I asked him, do you think will build that wall? The Mexicans, of course. No one else would work for low wages in the hot Texas climate doing thankless work. And did he think that the builders wouldn�t know every inch of it and tell their friends the best place to cross over?

Does he think a wall will stop them? An image flashes of National Guardsmen atop the wall with vats of boiling oil. These people are willing to cross the ocean in a boat made for half the number of people on it to get to our shores. They are willing to risk death in the back of a hot truck. Come to think of it, when did a wall stop anyone? The Appalachian, and later Rocky Mountains, natural walls, did not stem the flow of white settlers into Native American territory even at the risk of a deadly attack.

No, the wall is a breadcrumb thrown from our politicians� tables to appease us, make us think they have a plan. At the same time, their gardens and houses are kept by Hispanic people. They clean our barns and build our fences. They become part of our community.

Until and unless we admit our need for such workers, and try to become part of a solution to the problem that makes them leave their own part of the world to support their families, they will come.

Dad thinks they�ll take over �the world�, his world. And maybe they will. Maybe, hundreds of years from now, everyone in this part of the world will speak Spanish, just as hundreds of years prior, no one spoke English here. In the meantime, I�ll try to learn a few Spanish words and bring a smile to the face of someone far from home.

On Being a Boy and Four

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 17:31:00 -0500

Someone wrote in an email that they thought four year olds were the most difficult stage. Myself, I love four. Four is wonderful. Okay, I have my moments when I have to do a sanity check but let me list a few things:

A four year old is old enough to do things for himself, yet young enough to still need you.

Four is old enough to play independently, but love still to sit in your lap.

A four year old can communicate well, but still has a few baby words to cherish, like maz-a-gine (magazine), to make you laugh.

A four year old (without a cast) is old enough to walk, but young enough to pick up. Nothing feels like the warm, loving hand on the back of your neck while you hold him.

A four year old can go to the bathroom by himself, but is young enough to still go in the Women's restroom where you can see him.

A four year old can (almost) sleep through the night, but is young enough to still sometimes fall asleep in your arms.

A four year old can dress himself, but isn't old enough to know that orange pants with a purple turtle shirt isn't cool.

A four year old is old enough to not cry when they cut off his cast, but young enough to stir your sympathy when he shakes like a leaf.

A four year old likes to sit in your lap while you read, and can laugh at the book. He's not old enough that you worry yet about how well he is learning to read.

A four year old is still young enough to enjoy finding a cool worm, but old enough not to eat it.

And yes, there are moments when he asserts his grown up self that we all grrrrrrrrrr through our teeth. Still, I see our four year old slipping away into a five year old. It won't be long now and it won't be cool to be your mama's boy. Cherish the days.

Note: William did indeed have his cast removed today. The bone is healing well. He trembled as they removed it, but did not cry. He laughs that it feels funny, and says he can walk now, but has to go slowly. It'll take a few weeks. And, he's shedding his skin (yuck!).

Barn Raising

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 08:20:00 -0500

The Amish don't do things the way ordinary Kentuckians do. A good old boy would tell you he'll be there on Friday, not show up until Tuesday with only an explanation that he had to go fishin'. Here's what the Amish, who we weren't expecting at all until the end of September, accomplished in one day using regular hammers, no power tools:

Notice Chicken Lickin' in the foreground with her three babies.

Chicken Bowling

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 08:15:00 -0500

My friend, Christine, gave me a container of grapes that had seen better days for my chickens. They love just about any fruit or vegetable. William and I sat on the driveway and rolled the grapes, laughing to watch the chickens run after them. Sometimes, the grapes would roll between their legs, and they'd look around confused. Where did it go? Then, they'd turn around and start running. Like little children, they'd fight over every grape even though there was plenty.

We saved some for the next day, and while out bowling for chickens, they all suddenly lost their appetite. At first, I thought the presence of the dogs was bothering them, until a shadow crossed the driveway. Looking up, I saw a red-tailed hawk, trailed by a turkey vulture, both looking for dinner. Minutes later, the hawk was joined by five of his friends, circling our backyard. What am I - the Colonel? We are not serving KFC here.

Dh wondered if we could put fake beaks on the Chins (very small dogs) and pass them off as chickens. The kids would really appreciate seeing their pets being flown off by large birds. Hawks are beautiful and facinating, but from the point of view of a chicken, terrifying. It must make their blood run cold. I wonder if they'll be back?

Archaeology

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 08:14:00 -0500

Yesterday, we spent the day at Riverside, the home of the Farnselys and Moremans in the 1800s. Once the largest farm around, slaves built the brick home from clay found there on the Ohio River. The kids got to actually dig at the site, tour the home, and make their own bricks. Here's William in front of the house:

I was struck by the quietness of the inside of the house. No refrigerator, no electricity. The first man who lived there ran a bed and breakfast. He'd built the house for his sweetheart, but it took so long that she was engaged already when he went to ask for her hand, and he never married. The second family had eleven children, all homeschooled. There is something about the time period that calls to me, although most likely I'd have been a servant or slave!

Here are the kids on the back lawn with the Ohio River in the background:

And here's Wm's first job as an archaeologist:

Notes

Wed, 6 Sep 2006 20:56:00 -0500

Lauren is home, and trying to recover from jet-lag. All went well with her trip, and she reveals a new story each day about the food they ate, the people they met, and of course, the horses they rode. Here she is with friends in front of Notre Dame. Lauren is on the far left.

William reports that he cannot possibly eat his dinner, as his belly is full, but there is room for one doughnut. Two more days until his cast comes off!! Yeah!! He is nervous about having it removed given his history with cutting implements.

Tomorrow, we'll be going on an archaeological dig at the Farnsley-Moreman Landing.