red sea school - Homeschool Blogger

Updating the Archive

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:22:00 -0500

Whoops!

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:24:00 -0500

I screwed up somehow and lost a post. Anyway, I want to invite you to visit the new, improve, and expanded Red Sea School weblog and, while you're there, bookmark it! I will be maintaining this blog as my "archive" for a while, but all new material will henceforth be posted on the new wordpress page. So, if you want to find out how the purse looks felted, you'll have to start checking the new site!

I Knitted This Purse

Wed, 4 Apr 2007 16:54:00 -0500

Yes, I am ridiculously proud of my knitting.

Why? Because I am just not that good at it, and it takes me forever.

This is a purse I am knitting and felting -- these are the before photos. So before that I have not even taken care of the loose strings! I have to find the missing bag with my tapestry needles so that I can weave them in and felt away. The red is prettier than the photos suggest -- maybe the contrast with the orangish hardwood is the problem. Plain old Cascade wool.

This last photo highlights my 1st attempt at i-cord. This i-cord is 9 feet long! The garter rows at the top of the bag merely keep the stockinette from rolling, but the other rows of garter, which are also the eyelet rows for the cord/strap, are a mistake that I didn't bother to correct. Can you guess? That's right, I started going the wrong direction on my circular needles!

Thankfully, felting=total fiber absolution

Cross-posted at redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

Under Construction

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 14:28:00 -0500

FYI, I am in the process of revamping/updating our homeschool blog.

You can see the work in progress at our new address:

redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

Heading Toward Easter

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 14:15:00 -0500

This year at our parish we'll be having hot cross buns, coffee, and Easter Eggs after the first Mass, and our family was pegged to contribute some of the eggs.

So we've learned a handful of facts about Easter Eggs for the family project:

From ancient times the egg is symbolic of the grave and life renewed by breaking out of it. The egg itself is a symbol of the Resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it. In Medieval Europe, eggs were forbidden during Lent. Eggs laid during that time were often boiled or otherwise preserved. Eggs were thus a mainstay of Easter meals, and a prized Easter gift for children and servants. In addition, eggs have been viewed as symbols of new life and fertility through the ages. It is believed that for this reason many ancient cultures, including the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans, used eggs during their spring festivals. Many traditions and practices have formed around Easter eggs. The coloring of eggs is an established art, and eggs are often dyed, painted, and otherwise decorated. So you and your family are continuing to participate in this wonderful tradition.

A little update

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:08:00 -0500

So busy lately -- very little time for the blog.

Our most exciting activity right now is, for me, our professional organizer. (Thanks Mom!) We have had one meeting, and our dining room secretary is being transformed into the household management center, while the big armoire in the dining room is finally getting organized as an accessible kid-craft area (in addition to holding regular dining room stuff like tablecloths, etc.).

There is hope for us yet!

We are just sailing along with fractions. I'm thinking we have effectively skipped 4th grade math and moved on to 5th, as we have not been back to the 4th grade book in some time. And next up in the 5th grade book is area of a triangle and angles, which we did last fall.

I am delighted that we have found more math that Violet finds fairly easy. Today we started division of fractions by a whole number, and after 2 minutes she was asking (and figuring out) -- "Well how do you divide by a fraction? How do you divide a mixed number?" Wheee! It is days like this when I am so glad to be homeschooling -- I know that her comparatively harder time with long division and memorizing multiplication facts (she's getting much better as we work with fractions, but there is still some counting even by 4s or 6s on the fingers) would have kept her stuck and prevented her from doing the higher-order thinking math that will keep her interested in the subject.

Victoria went back to preschool today. She was so excited that it made me a little sad. It was really nice having her home. I am so torn about how to proceed next year and in the future. And then I read this today:

Every year spent in such [daycare] centers for at least 10 hours per week was associated with a 1 percent higher score on a standardized assessment of problem behaviors completed by teachers, said Dr. Margaret Burchinal, a co-author of the study and a psychologist at the University of North Carolina. [snip] The study was not designed to explain why time in day care could lead to more disruptive behavior later on. The authors and other experts argue that preschool peer groups probably influence children in different ways from one-on-one attention. In large groups of youngsters, disruption can be as contagious as silliness, studies have found, while children can be calmed by just the sight of their own mother.

Well, more to think about, as always.

What Do I Do All Day?

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:40:00 -0500

I forgot a choice kid quote from Victoria.

While reading What Do People Do All Day? I/the book asked, "What does your daddy do?"

Correct Answer: work with computers

Victoria's Answer: "Pick up poop."

"What does your mommy do?

Possible Answers: write books, cook, take care of children . . .

Victoria's Answer: "Drive."

Homeschooling with Two

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:09:00 -0500

All you homeschoolers with 4 and more, just bug off! For me, homeschooling with two is a 100% increase in Red Sea enrollment, so it is new to me.

Victoria is on her 2nd week of vacation from preschool. It has worked fine -- as you might expect, at least some of the time we lose by having a demanding preschooler around the house is balanced out by the time we gain not having to drop everything at a particular time and go pick her up.

I have enjoyed getting more time to spend with her, and we have spent a lot of time reading together. One book has been such a hit, and is so wonderful for her age, that I wanted to mention it. It's one of Richard Scarry's busytown books, What Do People Do All Day?

She especially loves reading about Farmer Alfalfa growing corn, then taking it to market so he can get money to buy a truck, and so the Pig family can eat it. After that she likes How Wheat Becomes Bread. It reminds me of all the great Mr. Rogers segments about how factories make basic things like peanut butter or toilet seats (!) Oh, God bless Mr. Rogers -- still chokes me up to think about him.

I also followed the advice of Painted Rainbows and Chamomile Tea and picked up What is Science and B is for Bunny, but I'll try to hold those until Easter.

(Yes, I know they have little to do with Easter, but they bulk up an Easter basket better than candy all the same!)

Time Management

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:06:00 -0500

It's too much to expect a 7 (near 8) year old to manage her time for a bit of the day, right?

It's different every day -- some days I get Violet started with her math and she whips through it, then the next day, with a similar set of problems, she sits there for 90 minutes, doodling, staring out the window, playing with the dog . . .

Last night we had some consequences for that. She must have spent 40 minutes to do two math problems. The result was that when she came home with the nanny she still had Chinese to do. During the pre-dinner PBS Kids shows she loves to watch. (Surely one of the few almost 8yos who is dying to watch Dragon Tales?)

I remember this from Linda Dobson's The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child, where she quotes several families who pull their kids out of traditional school to start homeschooling. As one mom says, "At first, when there was no one holding their hand every minute of the day, they strayed." Exactly

I'm re-reading this as a reminder to be patient -- one mom says "Four years later, they love it and manage time efficiently enough to assist me and still have the time to participate in their favorite activities." Another says, "We do lots better now, in our fifth year." Emphasis added -- it takes four years?!?!?!?

I admit, independence is something I place an extremely high value on, and I probably have extremely high expectations for young children, even a very gifted child, as far as independence and self-motivation goes. I just wish I could get across the basic concept that if you concentrate and finish your work (which I know she can do), then you have lots more time to play or do what you like later. (Like right now she is loudly singing the Korean hello song from Victoria's preschool, and then a Spanish hello/what's your name song she's making up.)

OK, I feel a little better . . .

So, here's a little photo update from some of our recent adventures.

I love this one of Victoria -- she looks like an old lady grimacing in the mirror

And another makeover shot -- to be clear, they are warriors, not just glamour queens:

Here we are skating, first Violet:

Then Victoria and I:

Time's Up!

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:01:00 -0500

Time is the theme of the 63rd Carnival of Homeschooling, hosted this week by the Cates of Why Homeschool. So check it out.

Why homeschool? Yesterday I had another reason. I listened to several different friends discuss their school troubles: no school seemed to fit, or their child was always coming home in a bad mood, favorite teachers were leaving schools because it was becoming impossible to teach there . . .

I have genuine sympathy for my friends -- I'm not thinking, "Ha Ha! If you would homeschool like me you wouldn't have these silly problems!" (Well, OK, sometimes I do, but not in these particular cases.)

But I confess I did think, oh, I am so glad my days of battling with the school system are over!