If you want to read a good book, try Marina Nemat's memoir, "Prisoner of Tehran." It's the story of her teenage years as a political prisoner in Iran. She was arrested because she walked out of class (at the teacher's order) after asking the teacher to teach math rather than politics. When most of her classmates followed her, it was assumed she was a communist leader!
She would have been executed after being tortured, but her interrogator fell in love with her and saved her life--reducing her sentnce to life in prison rather than death by firing squad. Later he forced her to marry him--when she tried to refuse he said if she didn't he'd have her family killed.
Anyway, it's an amazing story and I won't tell any more of it. Read it!
Jen
A blog about a busy mom who homeschools her four children, juggles activities and housework, and still manages to find quality time to be a family.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Daily Quote
Friday, July 27, 2007
Air Conditioning
Being married to Matt, the Saver of All Things Environmental, makes me feel guilty about having a house with central air. Unlike a lot of people with air conditioning, we do not turn our air on when it first gets hot and leave it on till the leaves start changing color. Seriously--our neighbor in our old house ran her air from May till October, even though the nights on Long Island are often in the mid to high 50's even in July and August!
We take a much lighter take on using the air. On the days it's hot enough to warrant it (and here we are at the end of July, and I think we've only used it 10 or 12 days so far) we leave the windows open until it's uncomfortable. Then we seal up all the windows and put it on at 70 degrees. After it's cooled to that, we nudge it up to 72 or even 74. Then we watch the conditions. If the heat dissipates at night, off it goes and the windows are opened after the chill is gone. If we're going to leave it on for another day, we make sure it won't be too cool for the night. Then when Matt gets up early for work, he puts it down again, to cool it off using the least energy (when it's coolest outside) and I turn it back to 72-74 when I get up.
Having said that, when the days and nights are hot and humid--it's been going in cycles this summer, with a week of stunningly perfect weather, then a few icky humid days, then maybe a day or two of rain, then back to perfect--I am happy to be an energy-hogging American with a cool, comfortable house!
Which I guess, you could argue, is the problem with being an American!!!!
Jen
We take a much lighter take on using the air. On the days it's hot enough to warrant it (and here we are at the end of July, and I think we've only used it 10 or 12 days so far) we leave the windows open until it's uncomfortable. Then we seal up all the windows and put it on at 70 degrees. After it's cooled to that, we nudge it up to 72 or even 74. Then we watch the conditions. If the heat dissipates at night, off it goes and the windows are opened after the chill is gone. If we're going to leave it on for another day, we make sure it won't be too cool for the night. Then when Matt gets up early for work, he puts it down again, to cool it off using the least energy (when it's coolest outside) and I turn it back to 72-74 when I get up.
Having said that, when the days and nights are hot and humid--it's been going in cycles this summer, with a week of stunningly perfect weather, then a few icky humid days, then maybe a day or two of rain, then back to perfect--I am happy to be an energy-hogging American with a cool, comfortable house!
Which I guess, you could argue, is the problem with being an American!!!!
Jen
Daily Quote
If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then only giving him two of them!
--Ed Norton
--Ed Norton
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Emma Talk
Yesterday we decided to drag the wading pool out of the shed. This would be the first time we've used it since moving into this house. Reason one: we live at the beach! Reason two: we have in ground sprinklers now, so the kids often just run through them, having a blast with no effort on my part!
However, we were looking for something new to do, and Julia got a little rubber fish as a prize at the library, so they wanted to have a place for it to swim. So out the pool came, filled with icy hose water, and in went three (and later four) kids.
Emma's comment while I was filling the pool, while she was putting on her suit, and the first ten minutes they were in there?
"I'M SO INCITED!!!" (excited, if you aren't versed in 2-year-old)
Almost a match for Rachel's 2-year-old phrase, "That's anfastic!" (fantastic)
Jen
However, we were looking for something new to do, and Julia got a little rubber fish as a prize at the library, so they wanted to have a place for it to swim. So out the pool came, filled with icy hose water, and in went three (and later four) kids.
Emma's comment while I was filling the pool, while she was putting on her suit, and the first ten minutes they were in there?
"I'M SO INCITED!!!" (excited, if you aren't versed in 2-year-old)
Almost a match for Rachel's 2-year-old phrase, "That's anfastic!" (fantastic)
Jen
Daily Quote
Women and cats will do as they please; men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
---Robert A. Heinlein
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Planning Lessons
Although it goes against my grain to even think about school when July isn't even over, I have to be practical this year. With Ben going into Kindergarten, therefore leaving me with three lesson plans to do, the time is now. I began with Ben because the younger the child is, the easier the lesson plan is to make. This is the first time I am beginning school with a child who doesn't yet read, so my main focus is on that.
However, he shows all the signs of being on the brink of reading, which is nice. He can write several different words--Ben, Emma, Mama, Hess, love--without any help. He asks how to spell words all the time. He puts letters together in nonsense patterns and asks what that spells. And he even comes out with surprises, like when he told me that "ooze" was spelled O-O-Z, or just this morning when he pointed to the egg carton and read "eggs". I felt a bit guilty on Sunday because I quizzed him with a story book that had the alphabet on the cover. I kept asking him to show me different letters, and he got them all right. And then we sounded out the word cat (which in retrospect was a bad example because C is such a confusing letter!)--and then I asked him how to spell fat, mat, bat, rat, sat, vat, hat and pat--and he got them all right, too. So he's just fine, especially since he won't even turn 5 till next week.
Basically, every day we'll do some phonics/reading workbooks, we'll practice writing letters--he wrote the entire alphabet by himself for the first time yesterday, but of course his technique could use some polish! Also, although he wrote left to right on the page, he began at the bottom of the page, so ABCDE was on the bottom line, and WXYZ was at the top of the page....Then I have two simple math workbooks on shapes and numbers, which I'm sure he already knows, but it's always nice to make sure there are no gaps, and it gives young kids confidence to breeze through things. I also got two workbooks from Kumon that focus on cutting and pasting, which can double for art and improving coordination and endurance for writing. Then there's science. I got a book I love called "More Science Through Children's Literature" that we'll be using. Basically it uses stories or age appropriate non-fiction to teach different concepts, and then there's a list of maybe 20 activities that range from art projects to experiments to journaling. The first one I chose is based on the Robert McCloskey book, "One Morning in Maine," and we'll learn about fish, the fishing industry, feathers and seabirds, and even dental hygiene. In 1st grade, Julia had the same book for Social Studies, and it was great, so I'm looking forward to it. Add in our music CDs (they combine singing, movement and simple instruments, with directions to the kids right in the songs) and there you have it.
The greatest thing about Kindergarten homeschooling is that the child feels big--he's joining Lessons, he's now part of the pack of learners--and yet it takes about an hour a day! No muss, no fuss, and it's done. The 5 year old child needs plenty of freedom and time to run around--and he'll get all that while still doing school. None of this sitting in school all day and THEN coming home with homework--and I guarantee he'll learn more than he would in school, anyway!
I only planned about 5 weeks for Ben, though, because I want to reevaluate at that point. If he's learned how to read in those first weeks, which he very well could, then a lot of the things I was using will be too easy. If his writing of the letters is very good, then I won't need to use the several alphabet books I have---one thing about homeschooling several children is that you usually have more than you need. When I went through materials, I found I had 4 different beginning handwriting workbooks--more than I have kids in school! So rather than press on with the planning and having to re plan later, I'll do less than I normally would and see where he is by the end of September.
Jen
However, he shows all the signs of being on the brink of reading, which is nice. He can write several different words--Ben, Emma, Mama, Hess, love--without any help. He asks how to spell words all the time. He puts letters together in nonsense patterns and asks what that spells. And he even comes out with surprises, like when he told me that "ooze" was spelled O-O-Z, or just this morning when he pointed to the egg carton and read "eggs". I felt a bit guilty on Sunday because I quizzed him with a story book that had the alphabet on the cover. I kept asking him to show me different letters, and he got them all right. And then we sounded out the word cat (which in retrospect was a bad example because C is such a confusing letter!)--and then I asked him how to spell fat, mat, bat, rat, sat, vat, hat and pat--and he got them all right, too. So he's just fine, especially since he won't even turn 5 till next week.
Basically, every day we'll do some phonics/reading workbooks, we'll practice writing letters--he wrote the entire alphabet by himself for the first time yesterday, but of course his technique could use some polish! Also, although he wrote left to right on the page, he began at the bottom of the page, so ABCDE was on the bottom line, and WXYZ was at the top of the page....Then I have two simple math workbooks on shapes and numbers, which I'm sure he already knows, but it's always nice to make sure there are no gaps, and it gives young kids confidence to breeze through things. I also got two workbooks from Kumon that focus on cutting and pasting, which can double for art and improving coordination and endurance for writing. Then there's science. I got a book I love called "More Science Through Children's Literature" that we'll be using. Basically it uses stories or age appropriate non-fiction to teach different concepts, and then there's a list of maybe 20 activities that range from art projects to experiments to journaling. The first one I chose is based on the Robert McCloskey book, "One Morning in Maine," and we'll learn about fish, the fishing industry, feathers and seabirds, and even dental hygiene. In 1st grade, Julia had the same book for Social Studies, and it was great, so I'm looking forward to it. Add in our music CDs (they combine singing, movement and simple instruments, with directions to the kids right in the songs) and there you have it.
The greatest thing about Kindergarten homeschooling is that the child feels big--he's joining Lessons, he's now part of the pack of learners--and yet it takes about an hour a day! No muss, no fuss, and it's done. The 5 year old child needs plenty of freedom and time to run around--and he'll get all that while still doing school. None of this sitting in school all day and THEN coming home with homework--and I guarantee he'll learn more than he would in school, anyway!
I only planned about 5 weeks for Ben, though, because I want to reevaluate at that point. If he's learned how to read in those first weeks, which he very well could, then a lot of the things I was using will be too easy. If his writing of the letters is very good, then I won't need to use the several alphabet books I have---one thing about homeschooling several children is that you usually have more than you need. When I went through materials, I found I had 4 different beginning handwriting workbooks--more than I have kids in school! So rather than press on with the planning and having to re plan later, I'll do less than I normally would and see where he is by the end of September.
Jen
Monday, July 23, 2007
Eggs
Those chickens!
Last week Julia and Ben were playing outside and found a DOZEN eggs in a nest in the garden. They were not rotten, but when we cracked them we didn't want to take the chance eating them either. I suppose Marie and Scarlett have come to see the coop and even Lila's cat house as too dangerous to potential babies and are trying to be sly. The thing is, we didn't even notice that we were "missing" eggs--these two hens really lay a lot!
So now the kids have to have an egg hunt every day...I have noticed that we haven't had as many eggs in the past few days, so I think they've found a new hidey hole. Another chore to tend to....sigh!
Jen
Last week Julia and Ben were playing outside and found a DOZEN eggs in a nest in the garden. They were not rotten, but when we cracked them we didn't want to take the chance eating them either. I suppose Marie and Scarlett have come to see the coop and even Lila's cat house as too dangerous to potential babies and are trying to be sly. The thing is, we didn't even notice that we were "missing" eggs--these two hens really lay a lot!
So now the kids have to have an egg hunt every day...I have noticed that we haven't had as many eggs in the past few days, so I think they've found a new hidey hole. Another chore to tend to....sigh!
Jen
Pig Pile
No, we didn't get a new pet!
Pig Pile is a charming game, invented by Julia (of course), which involves kids and any unwitting parent who may be reclining in bed piling on top of each other....for the first few moments everyone is happy, and then someone shifts position and chaos ensues. Either that, or Emma, who naturally is always the "top pig," can't maintain her balance and rolls off onto the floor.
Anyway, what's really funny about the game is that we can be cruising along, just snuggling or hanging out reading, and one of them will happily announce, "Pig pile!" and they all gleefully stop what they're doing and flock to their places. I wanted to put it on here because it's one of those games that can be talked about (probably embarrassingly!) all through a family's history--but it's also something that could be easily forgotten. I didn't want to forget it.
Jen
Pig Pile is a charming game, invented by Julia (of course), which involves kids and any unwitting parent who may be reclining in bed piling on top of each other....for the first few moments everyone is happy, and then someone shifts position and chaos ensues. Either that, or Emma, who naturally is always the "top pig," can't maintain her balance and rolls off onto the floor.
Anyway, what's really funny about the game is that we can be cruising along, just snuggling or hanging out reading, and one of them will happily announce, "Pig pile!" and they all gleefully stop what they're doing and flock to their places. I wanted to put it on here because it's one of those games that can be talked about (probably embarrassingly!) all through a family's history--but it's also something that could be easily forgotten. I didn't want to forget it.
Jen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)