Noah’s two new fave things
Oct 18, 2002 Homeschooling, Parenting
1. Chasing the dog around and around the coffee table and screaming while the dog barks like a maniac.
2. Climbing the doorways by putting his hands and feet on the doorframe and inching his way to the top then yelling for me to come see (for the 978th time) before dropping with a resounding thud.
The other night he and Brett did this experiment where you fill a bowl with water and then shake some pepper into and then squirt a little dishsoap. The pepper flees from the dishsoap for some important scientific reason. Noah said, “I think it’s running so it doesn’t get soap in its eyes.” And then guffawed heartily at the joke.
I love this kid!
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Tags: Noah
Schools being built without playgrounds
Oct 2, 2002 Homeschooling
Development experts say children suffer due to lack of unstructured fun
This article is depressing. And frustrating.
Here’s the next one in the series: Creative play makes better problem-solvers
You know what makes me sad about this series? It’s the reminder that Noah will not have the care-free childhood I had. Even if we lived in the out-lying suburbs as I did as a child, there aren’t enough stay-at-home families to sustain the kind of running free that I enjoyed. When I was growing up, there was a mom in just about every house on the block and so it was safe to have the children cutting across backyards to get to each other’s house. My neighborhood here in Columbus was built on a big U-shaped street so that all of the backyards touched each other. The neighborhood code didn’t allow fencing so it was like we shared this big community backyard. It sucks that Noah won’t have that.
This neighborhood where we live now isn’t the kind of place that Noah could take off on his bike someday when he’s older. And there are no kids on our street. None. So I have to drive him to playdates where the time is already mapped out. I hate that. I wish he had more unfettered time with friends. More casual time. More just showing up at each other’s house time.
Well, at least he’s not growing up in the London blitz, right? It’s a luxury to be worried that my son’s play isn’t playful enough, I think. I guess I better quit my moping and go count my blessings instead.
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Multiple Intelligences
Sep 21, 2002 Homeschooling
I just read a book called In Their Own Way by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. He’s a former special ed teacher and the book is about what’s getting called “multiple intelligences.” Basically that means the different ways that people learn. He gives short definitions of the various intelligences and is clear that we are all gifted in more than one. It was interesting to read and find Brett and myself in them but of course I was reading for Noah.
The seven intelligences are: Linguistic (I see Noah here), Logical-Mathematical (possibly Noah), Spatial (not sure yet for him but this is very Brett), Musical (definitely Noah), Bodily-Kinesthetic (Noah is very expressive with his body), Interpersonal (again, I don’t see Noah here very strongly), Intrapersonal (all of us but really rings true for Noah).
The Intrapersonal info is this:
Like those who have interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal children possess strong personalities. Yet many of them tend to shy away in isolation. They have a deep awareness of their inner feelings, dreams, and ideas. They may keep a diary or have ongoing projects and hobbies that are semisecretive in nature. There’s a certain quality of inner wisdom, intuitive ability, or even a psychic nature that accompanies many of these children throughout their lives. This deep sense of self sets them apart and causes them go off on their own toward some goal known only to themselves. … Intrapersonally talented children:
* display a sense of independence or strong will;
* react with strong opinions when controversial topics are being discussed;
* seem to live in their own private, inner world;
* like to be alone to pursue some personal interest, hobby or project;
* seem to have a deep sense of self-confidence;
* march to the beat of a different drummer in their style of dress, their behavior, or their general attitude;
* motivate themselves to do well on independent study projects.
Later in the book Armstrong writes about the way intrapersonal children learn:
Children inclined in this direction learn best when left to themselves. These youngsters are self-motivating. Provide them with the chance to pursue independent study, self-paced instruction, and individualized projects and games. It’s very important for them to have their own private space at home where they can work on hobbies and interests undisturbed and spend time in quiet introspection. In the same way, they need a special place out in nature — a tree house or fort, for example — where they can get away to think things over. Respect their privacy, let them konw that it’s okay to be independent, and provide them with resources they need to help them pursue their particular interests.
Noah is very private about his play and I can tell he’s getting annoyed with people who ask him what he’s learning at homeschool. He feels very self-conscious. I need to think of activities that he can control and do without my help. Mostly I am struck by how spread out Noah’s skills are.
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Tags: homeschool, Music, Noah
More homeschooling hell
Sep 20, 2002 Homeschooling
My friend loaned me the book Pocketful of Pinecones, which is the fictional account of a woman homeschooling her two children using Charlotte Mason principles in the 1930s. It’s treacle with sugar sprinkled on top. My teeth hurt after reading it. However, the chapter titled “What Education is All About” was useful. This is what she says.
Presently I aim to give the children three opportunities in our little homeschool every day as I am able: 1) something or someone to love, 2) something to do, and 3) something to think about.
Now that’s lovely. I’m going to copy that out and hang it up above my desk because that’s really what it’s all about, right? It’s very relevant for me because I’m struggling with needing “proof” that Noah is learning.
There’s this T. Berry Brazleton book that I like because it gives detailed portraits of three very different babies. The baby that’s the quietest — who rolls over late, talks late, is less chattery — is actually doing very complex work. After reading that book, I had a better understanding that an awful lot goes on behind the scenes in child development.
The problem is that I’m hung up on measurable stuff (that’s why I need to be deschooled) and I know that in kindergarten around here, a lot is expected of kids. I freak out because even though I don’t think those curriculums are developmentally appropriate, the kids who are attending school are doing stuff that Noah’s not doing. Then I think, “Am *I* holding him back?”
I did end up buying a very simple curriculum by Ruth Beechick but I’m not sure if I’ll use it. (It comes with a colored wall chart — gag me with a spoon!) Despite my crazed yearning for a kid who will pass proficiency tests that I don’t even believe in, I do think that kids should not be formally schooled until they’re about 8.
When I read books about brilliant middle and upper class children in Britain (because as a child, I always wanted to be live in England where they had things like Mary Poppins and crumpets), they always started school “late” and by 12, they were quoting poetry and learning Latin. There’s a book that backs me up about this with tons of studies but it’s such a rotten book that I hesitate to recommend it.
Oh well, you’re all grown-ups, read it at your own risk: The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook. It assumes Christianity, which I don’t like. It also tells you all about how kids don’t need this or that or blah blah blah, unschooling stuff and then goes on to say that unschooled kids do better on all the tests and win all the spelling bees. But aren’t we supposed to not care about that stuff? Isn’t that why we’re unschooling? Or are we unschooling because we *do* want super-babies just like all the traditional schooled people they despise? I’m getting whiplash from reading it.
I am insane. In one of the zillions of homeschool books I’ve been reading, they go on and on about how the homeschooling mother should have a loving spirit of quietude and that perhaps mummy might do well to hang pictures of the gentle virgin Mary around the house to remind her of how beatific motherhood ought to be. I told Brett that I was going to get me a big old copy of The Scream as a more accurate reflectoin of my state of mind.
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Tags: homeschool, Homeschooling, Noah, unschool, unschooling
Homeschooling hell
Sep 19, 2002 Homeschooling
Here’s my problem. I am drawn to both unschooling and so-called classical homeschooling. I’m trying to figure out what it is about each of these methods that appeals to me and also trying to figure out how much structure and direction Noah needs/wants if any. I don’t think I could take a purist unschooling stance right now but I hope that we can grow into it.
This is very hard. Thinking practically about homeschooling is forcing me to confront my values about school. What do I think is important in education? What do I think education is?
Right now I’m liking the idea of “living books” as described by Charlotte Mason and I’ve ordered one of the Five in a Row books from the library to take a look at it. That’s the part of me that likes classical homeschooling — no dumbed down texts and “twaddle.” But the lessons — the sitting down and doing lessons — part of it doesn’t appeal to me. Still, I can explore the various books out there as a way to dip into the different teaching methods. I do wish that all the cool resources weren’t from a Christian point of view but I can modify ‘em.
I think I need to deschool myself. I have such attitude problems with authority even when that authority is me. Noah may *like* sitting down and doing “lessons” if I can just bring myself to do it.
Anyway, right now I’m doing a lot of reading and thinking. I thought I was ready to dive into this but then when I dove, I realized that I have a lot of schooling issues of my own that are in my way.
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Tags: homeschool, Homeschooling, Noah, unschool, unschooling
