Nicholas has finished his third grade math and decided to jump directly into fourth grade maths :\ He initially had planned to do another math book while his brothers did theirs, but when I pulled out the 4th grade book to make sure I had everything ready for August, he jumped on it and won't let go. I think he's jazzed at the idea of being WAY ahead of his brothers and lording that over them for all eternity. I am not discouraging him ;)

Jonathan is about 25 lessons away from finishing his maths (he got behind whilst visiting grandma over winter), and Benjamen has about a dozen lessons left to finish. I anxiously await their decision when they finish. It will be interesting to see whether Nicholas exerts any peer pressure on them to "get ahead" or whether they'll take the time off until August.

Time off is relative of course. We have loads of things to take the place of math work :) The current plan for July (and maybe part of June) is to thoroughly gear up for the release of the last Harry Potter installment on July 15. Benjamen asked for the 6th book on CD for his birthday (yesterday), and we already have the previous 5 on CD, as well as all of the released videos. We'll listen to the books, and read them on our own, and I plan to incorporate the spells (which are all in Latin) into our lessons. We'll try to translate them all accurately and add them to our Latin vocabulary (though I think the boys all know lots of the spells already and what they mean). We'll also brush up on our mythology by tracing those allusions as they crop up in the books. Benjamen's our current mythology expert, with Jonathan coming in a close second (mostly because his interest has waned, I think; Lovecraft is now his all-encompassing obsession), so B can spot any I might miss and give us the background. I'm looking forward to it and I think we'll all have fun with it. Even Jonathan, though he may be loathe to admit that anything I've thought of could possibly be fun ;)

The boys are all doing well. I'm working on spelling with Nicholas, which seems to be his one soft spot. I think more reading time will fix it naturally, but I'm also giving his spelling lessons special time and focus. I don't worry about it. He's made loads of progress since we've been working on it. We hit the library often so he has focused reading time, and I try to remember to keep up "reading hour" at home, too, in addition to the story time reading where I read aloud. We just finished one of the Moomintroll books, which was a popular choice. Very silly stuff. After storytime, they write a bit in their journal about the chapter we've read and I correct their grammar/spelling/handwriting/whatever. They seem to enjoy the whole process (B & N, J is exempt from the demeaning, humiliating, babyish story time ;P )

Jonathan's weak spot is writing, due entirely to lack of interest and a little bit of fear, I think. We've gotten to the point where he's writing daily, but without interest. He writes every night in his personal journal, as well, and has been for years, unasked, though I don't read that so I can't speak to the quality of that writing ;P I think it's a phase, and I think it will pass. He's very much in disinterested, apathetic teenager mode right now, across all subjects and in most areas of life in general, though he particularly balks at writing.

Benjamen's weak spot it grammar. As with Nicholas, I think reading will go a long way towards his absorbing more of the rules of grammar, but I'm also working with him in a focused way, daily, on understanding and consistently using the rules that he does understand. I think he may be overwhelmed by the quantity of mistakes that he's making, so I'm having him write one sentence at a time and we go over them individually. If I correct a paragraph, he gets disheartened by the number of mistakes, even when it's really just the same few mistakes made multiple times. I think I also need to separate grammar practice from handwriting practice for the same reason. I've generally been correcting handwriting mistakes in every lesson, and asking them all to practice writing neatly for every lesson, but Benjamen, in particular, gets overwhelmed by too much correction, so I think I'll shift tracks a bit with him.

With all three boys doing so many different lessons, I've been losing track of who has done what from day to day, so I've started keeping a simple check-list for each boy and encouraging them to go through their own cycle of lessons, which they pick, depending on what they feel like doing at any given time, so that we hit everything once before we cycle through again. It's helped me notice what they enjoy doing, what they don't mind doing, and what they procrastinate with. And it's not static, it generally depends on their mood, though it seems they each have a particular lesson that they enjoy the least. Benjamen almost always leaves spelling for last, even though he's quite good at it. He had a few lessons (on apostrophe words for instance) where he stumbled quite a bit, and he still hasn't shaken that off, I think. Nicholas leaves science for last, and I think that has to do with the nature of the lessons we chose for this year. They're challenging and writing-intensive, and he has to do a bit of thinking, so he generally leaves those for last. Jonathan, of course, generally leaves writing for last, but not always. Noticing these patterns has been an interesting side-effect of keeping better track of things.

We've had loads of workbooks this year, many of them hand-me-downs collected from friends over the years, sort of as an experiment on my part, to see how they boys would do. They've not had any problems doing the work, but I do think it bores them. They've been exposed to things they might not otherwise have been exposed to, and I do like that, but I think the boredom outweighs any novelty benefits. I don't think I'll be doing any more workbook-type lessons in the future. As I suspected, they all seem to thrive more when we follow their natural interests and find "real" source books to learn from, rather than workbooks and curricula. A good example emerged from a recent trip to the bookstore. I was looking at the middle school and high school science texts, and not finding anything that I thought might interest him. So I went over to the adult science section and immediately saw lots of books that I thought he would enjoy. I called him over and he chose The Elegant Universe (about string theory), the Quadrivium (about number, geometry, music, and astronomy), and a host of other books from the same publisher on evolution, coincidence, alchemy, and the like. He's been chatting me up ever since about all of the cool little tidbits of information he's picking up from them.

That's what works for my kids, when they become naturally interested in something, are allowed to make a choice about what they want to do/read to pursue that interest, and then find cool/fun/amazing sources of information on whatever the topic happens to be. I can encourage them to learn about this or that science topic all day, and I can even cajole them into doing it, but when they choose, they inevitably choose wisely for themselves, and the kind of real learning they do when that happens is leaps and bounds above what they accomplish when they have no intrinsic interest in the subject.

It's a rainy day this morning. We were going to go help a friend, but she called to say she was in too much pain today. So our plans were aborted around 9AM and we started maths instead. Benjamen is doing much better this year on that front. Concepts seem to have gelled and he needs much less guidance and help from me. We're still in the review phase with a few new concepts thrown in here and there, but I'm very pleased with his progress. Nicholas is still doing very well in math. We got out all the measuring cups and dug through the refrigerator this morning and reviewed cups, pints, quarts, half-gallons, gallons, and pints. We went over how many ounces were in all, how many cups in all of the larger vessels, and generally had fun pouring water everywhere. He picks up concepts easily and plays with them for weeks afterwards, asking all sorts of interesting questions that let me know he's holding them in his mind and turning them over in new ways.

Benjamen is heavily, heavily into Greek myths and legends this year. Jonathan got him into the Percy Jackson books back in the spring, and that has branched into an insatiable exploration of all things Greek. He's interested in the myths and legends of other cultures as well, and we've bought all manner of books from all over the world. He's reading versions of the Iliad and Odyssey at night before bed, and quizzes me hourly on which goddess did what. He was Poseidon for Halloween and Nicholas piggybacked with a Hades costume. We go to the library and he sits for hours with books about gods and goddesses.

For history we're listening to The Story of the World whenever we're in the car. We have all four sets of CDs, from ancient history through modern history and they seem to absorb it all as we travel around. They ask lots of questions and we look up the answers at home. Like so many of their subjects of interest, the formal things I throw in their path are really the least of their learning. Benjamen is interested in presidents and reads biographies on them and asks thoughtful questions about their terms and decisions as president. He classifies them as Good Guys and Bad Guys and it's been interesting seeing which qualities get each president sorted into their group.

Nicholas has been reading, reading, reading this year. We go to the library and bookstores every week, usually more often, and he reads steadily for hours. I've seen a big improvement in his spelling and vocabulary throughout. We have spelling books, vocabulary books, reading books, etc, that we work on daily, but the biggest effect on his improvement in all of those areas is simply letting him read and providing quiet opportunities for him to do so. He likes books about holidays, animals, and those "step" books that have numbers on them (step 1, step 2, etc). He likes trying the different numbers to see how far along he's come. Over summer he remarked to me that the book he was reading had paragraphs (!) and I was pleased that he noticed how the distinctions were made between the different levels of books.

Benjamen and Nicholas both have geography and science books that we work on daily, and they've thrown some new concepts in our path. Ultimately, they learn more and remember concepts better when the science & geography lessons come to us through our everyday lives, rather than from those books. Benjamen gets a series of animal cards through the mail and sits with the books (he organizes each card that comes into its proper category) for hours, reading about the creatures, their habitats, habits, and where in the world they live.

I purchased lots of books on different subjects this summer (geography, science, reading, writing, etc) because I was anticipating another busy year for myself, and thought it would help me stay on topic and make sure we cover what we should, but I've found they're not as helpful as I might have wished. We do the work, but it's not always relevant. We've come across some interesting topics that we've explored further on our own, but not with much frequency. The boys don't seem to enjoy the studies very much and alternate between thinking that the topic at hand is irrelevant, repetitive, or beyond them. All in all, I think we do better to follow their interests, play often, read often, talk often, and seek out more information about what we're interested in. Every night the boys choose a bedtime story and I'm always amused at the academic subjects they invariably choose. Biographies of artists, Gilgamesh, stories by Shakespeare, Beowulf, stories by Homer...it always gives me a giggle, but also makes me proud.

Jonathan is with his grandmother since September, and I'm not sure when he's coming home. He has lots of books (classics) that I sent with him, and lots of study books (writing, which he has been balking at, math, science, algebra, geometry, etc) and his grandmother has him on a schedule for completing all of his studies. She sends me a spreadsheet with his progress every so often. I can't imagine that he's not learning and thriving with her, as he did here. He's voracious in his interests, and they're wide and varied. We talk several times every week and he seems very happy and productive. He misses us, and we miss him, but he's a happier, healthier person with his grandmother than his is here at home with his pesky brothers and his nagging old mom.

We're almost finished with math, now, and have karate to look forward to this evening. In between, Nicholas wants to make a play about the sun and the wind. I think they have determined that we are going to make shadow puppets for our play out of cardboard. Not a bad way to spend a rainy day :)

01.29.09

Benjamen, who is all about Japan ever since starting karate, learned about World War II today.

He has a Japanese language tutorial on his Nintendo DS, loves going to the Japanese Steakhouse and trying all sorts of different dishes there, and checks out Japanese cooking books (and Japanese folklore, Japanese language, Japanese fact books, etc). Today he was listening to a CD of Japanese stories and came across the story of Sadako and the Paper Cranes. When he was finished listening (with his brothers, but they weren't as interested as he was) he had an avalanche of questions about leukemia, the atom bomb, World War II, etc., so we sat down with the laptop and googled to our hearts' content.

We found photos of Sadako and memorial statues erected in her honor. We found photos of what leukemia does to the blood and photos of children ravaged by the disease. We found photos of the mushroom clouds over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. We found photos of the Enola Gay and I reminded him of the trip we took a few years ago to the Air & Space Museum where we saw it up close and personal (he didn't remember, so we're planning another trip back).

He wanted to know which president was in charge when the bombs were dropped (he's memorized all the presidents in the order that they took office, so I guess that piqued his interest). We looked up several bios on Harry Truman to get a good overview of the whats, hows and wherefores of the decision. We read about how many civilian men, women and children were killed and how many more suffered for decades from the radiation exposure. He asked, at that point, "Didn't they even care about all those little kids?" Broke my heart. His questions eventually led us to pages describing Hitler and the holocaust, at which point, he said, "No more photos."

All told, we spent a good hour and half reading, talking, and searching out the information he asked for. He's been processing it all ever since and has sought me out every half hour or so to ask more questions, most of them philosophical rather than factual. He just came in to ask, while I was typing this, "Why did they have to kill all of those people just because their leaders refused to surrender?" I didn't have an answer for him, of course. I asked him in return, "It seems like it doesn't make sense, doesn't it?"

We've were studying ancient history at the beginning of fall until everyone seemed to lose interest in the materials I had on hand. I've let it drop and we've been studying history as it affects us in our daily lives through holidays, the news, and spontaneous questions that the boys have posed themselves. I think that Benjamen learned more in a few hours today than he's learned all year, and in a way that was meaningful and important to him. I would bet any earthly possesion I have that this lesson will stick with him for the rest of his life, and that he'll still be talking to me and asking questions about it a month or a year from now.

01.23.09

Lovely week. We kept up with our maths, did some kitchen chemistry (yeast!), have been reviewing lots of book on Japanese culture, language, history, and folklore (because Benjamen is so very into karate), and are gearing up for Chinese New Year on Sunday/Monday. We had a library day and spent a morning at the playground, despite the cold. Jonathan and I hit yoga on Wednesday evening and that always makes for a nice time. And of course, Tuesday and Thursday nights are karate nights, and Thursday night karate was followed by a night at the local Japanese steak house. They're getting to know us by name up there!

Jonathan has been doing some more writing this week, as well, and I thought I'd include a sample of his cursive penmanship.



It's a history of his Bionicle (LEGO) guys and reads:

The Great Spirit Mata Nui created an island named after him. He also created inhabitants for the island called Matoran. However, his brother Makuta was jealous of Mata Nui, and cast a spell over him making him fall asleep. However, the Turaga, the elders of Mata Nui, used six Toa Stones to summon six Toa, heroes that control one of six elements: Tahu, Toa of Fire, Kopaka, Toa of Ice, Pohatu, Toa of Stone, Lewa, Toa of Air, Onua, Toa of Earth, and Gali, Toa of Water. They must collect six Kanohi masks in order to defeat Makuta. But Makuta, in the last few seconds before he was defeated, awakened the Bohrok swarms. The Toa defeated them and changed into Toa Nuva, the Bohrak Kal came, To Be Continued.

(The lines on top are where I was showing him that his lower case letters needed to be smaller --half as tall--as his upper case letters.)


And a book review! I bought him the book last night after karate, and he had finished it this morning when I woke up. He wrote up the book review this afternoon:

I bought the book for Jonathan last night and he read it for a few hours before falling asleep. He finished it this morning and wrote the review this afternoon.

Dragon Rider

I really enjoyed the book Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. It's about a dragon named Firedrake, a brownie named Sorrel, and a boy named Ben. They travel all over the world looking for the Rim of Heaven, a place where dragons can live and not be afraid that humans (apart from Ben) will find them. One of the adventures that they had along the way was getting a map from a rat map maker. The map looked like an atlas, only on each page there was a ribbon, and if you pulled it, a new section of the map popped out. They are searching for the Rim of Heaven because humans are planning to flood the valley that they live in. I liked this book because it had a good ending, because it had sandmen, and, of course, it had dragons! I recommend this book to just about anyone who likes dragons. It had a whole lot of details, interesting characters, and a djinn with a thousand eyes! I would give it a rating of 9/10. I hope that you like this book as much as I do.

01.19.09

We had such a lovely weekend. We took the boys to the children's museum on Saturday and they just caught a showing of The Princess and the Pea as we walked in the door. They got to interact with all sorts of scientific displays, dress-up exhibits, construction stations, etc. The animal room was a big hit with Benjamen and Nicholas, while Jonathan most enjoyed the play and the pulley exhibit.

Afterward we went out for Indian food at a new place that just recently opened in town and the boys all tried lots of foods that they'd never had before. They drank enough lassis to drain their college funds, but I was really happy to see them being good sports about trying new things and enjoying the majority of them. I think there was just one shrimp dish that didn't go over. I was happy, too, that Dan, who's recently gone vegan, was able to have a wide variety of dishes from which to choose.

Sunday we just ran errands and grabbed some pizza, but it was a fun day, too. The boys each spent some of their allowance and brought home toys to play with for the rest of the evening. Benjamen and Nicholas came up with a plan to combine their money and go in on a toy together. I was pessimistic and thinking that there would be conflict, but so far, they've been taking turns or playing together with it, drama-free, a pleasant surprise that reminded me to give them more credit and to stop expecting the worst.

Today we've done our day's maths (actually Nicholas took a break, so I need to finish his in a moment), watched Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech on YouTube, and wrote a little bit about it afterward. I had Benjamen write a sentence for me and then we corrected his mistakes (grammar mistakes, not letter formation), and Jonathan is finishing up his essay right now:

An Essay on Martin Luter King, Jr.
By Jonathan Peter Baltzell

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who spoke up for all colored people in America. He was a Baptist minister. He made a speech called the "I Have a Dream" speech. In his speech, he said that Mississippi was the state that racism was most common in. The point of the speech was to give colored people equal rights to white people. He wanted them to be able to drink from the same water fountains, sit wherever they want on the bus and in restaurants, etc. We celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to remember that without him, colored people might still be treated badly. We also remember him because he protested against racism peacefully and because he urged others to protest peacefully. Also, if it were not for Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama would probably not be president right now. Basically, Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the United States forever.

Feeling Like Fall

The weather has grown cool and the leaves are changing, so we're spending as much time as possible outside enjoying the transformation. I put the boys' old little blue table outdside and we sit around it throughout the day eating, talking, and studying together. The cat plays with bugs and tumbling leaves at our feet and the chickens peck around looking for grubs and stray birdseed from the feeders.

Jonathan has undertaken the study of piano and meets once a week for a one hour lesson with a gifted teacher who is both patient and captivating. He studies for five minutes at a time throughout each day, working toward an hour of study per day. I'm envious of the opportunity, and if the instructor weren't already working in exchange for my baked goods as it is, I'd be tempted to ask for lessons as well.

Likewise, Benjamen is studying karate twice per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour each evening. He is really thriving on the exercise and discipline, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying every class. In addition to the physical exercise, he's picking up on the concepts, such as respect, the practice of meditation, and is learning Japanese in the process. His sensei is pleased with his progress, and I'm over the moon that he's found something that's just his own.

We've moved past the ancient Egyptians in our history studies and are knee-deep in the Biblical stories of Abraham and the Jewish tribes. We listen to CDs in the car as we run errands, go on field trips, etc, and discuss the concepts, new words, and any questions they have. It's been hassle-free, so far, and they all seem to be enoying it. Having the chapters on CD makes review simple and pain-free, and they're good about letting me know when enough's enough.

This past week, with the weather feeling so deliciously autumnal, we took a drive out to Ridgefield Farms and picked their available apples. They conveniently had 3 types available for picking, so each boy picked a row and filled his bag. Afterward they each chose a pumpkin from the huge pumpkin patch while I chose two pots of gorgeous dark mums. They also helped me snip flowers from the pick-your-own patch and we assembled a gorgeous fall bouquet. On the way out we picked up a huge sunflower full of seeds for the birds. It was immediatley descended upon by a wild horde of rogue squirrels who utterly decimated it beyond any reckoning.

Everyone's chugging along in maths and not resenting it too terribly. Jonathan still has the worst time of it, but I see much maturation on that front. Nicholas enjoys his lessons and Benjamen speeds through them so we can move on to more exciting adventures. They all are making excellent progress, despite their varying approaches to lessons.

This next week we're taking the week off from studies and doing some fall cleaning/decorating. We're all looking forward to the change in our rhythms as cool weather sets in.

End of Year Recap


Math All three boys are a few short lessons away from completing their year of math. We fell behind with a month of illness in March and an unanticipated 2 week trip to South Dakota in May for a memorial for their grandfather. They've all done very well with their lessons, though none of them are particularly excited by them. I'm looking into some new ideas for math next year.

Reading Jonathan is still plowing through everything he can get his hands on. He's reading the fourteen Oz books, at the moment, at the rate of a book or more per evening. He still freaks me out slightly.

Benjamen picks up books and magazines everyday, on his own, and especially likes books and magazines about animals. He has his own subscription to West Virginia Wildlife magazine and looks forward to each new issue. He and I are reading the Little House books, still, and are more than halfway through the series.

Nicholas and I are doing 100 Easy Lessons together, and he is enjoying them. He brings me the book on his own, usually several times a week, and I try to remind him if several days have gone by without a lesson. He brings books to me throughout the day for reading and both he and Benjamen each pick out a bedtime book every evening.

Writing Jonathan's handwriting is lovely to behold, and he's getting much more confident (and less resistant) to using cursive handwriting. I find little notes around the house, most of them in cursive these days. He writes letters to his grandmother, stories of his own making, comics, etc, and has a stellar grasp of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and the mechanics of writing. His form isn't bad, either.

Benjamen's handwriting varies, naturally, but when he's diligent and concentrating, it's perfection. Like Jonathan, he also writes to his grandmother and writes notes and cards for his friends and family. He also keeps a journal a la Junie B. Jones, and is working out the mechanics of writing, gradually. His spelling is fabulous and he's really surprised me with what a great speller he is.

Nicholas has writing pads and a writing white board, which he adores. He can often be found sitting at the table writing and pelting me with spelling questions as I work in the kitchen.

Science I didn't pursue any formal science with the boys this year when their interest started waning. Jonathan finished two chemistry books last year and started physics lessons this year. He was bored by what we were doing, so I opted for some science kits that he often did with his father. He also plowed through several science texts on his own in his evening reading. He also has a subscription to Weird, Wild Creatures, a series of fact cards that arrive through the mail with information on creatures from the animal kingdom, mythology, etc.

Benjamen and I still pursue his avid interest in animals. He received binoculars for his birthday and can often be found out on the deck watching birds. We're currently following a nest of wrens who have made a home in one of my planters. We check on them several times a day, watch their mother and father bring them worms, and are waiting for them to fly off any day, now. Benjamen is also my foodie boy and we've spent untold hours doing kitchen chemistry, carefully measuring, following recipes, and, unbeknownst to him, uncovering the basic principles of laboratory technique.

No formal science for Nicholas, of course, but he's following along with his brothers' "lessons".

History Benjamen has been following along with Jonathan's modern history lessons this year and they both memorized all of the presidents this year. They challenged each other in that pursuit and I was surprised to find that Benjamen memorized them more readily and easily than Jonathan (who also memorized the Gettysburg address this year). Next year all three boys will begin all over again with ancient history and I'll be glad to have everyone on the same page from here on out. We're actually going to start history when we get their math tied up since it's so full of fun projects.

Musings

For Jonathan's birthday, he asked to go to a local Japanese steak house where they cook the food right in front of you and throw food in your mouth and try not to set you on fire. So we went, and something interesting happened while we were there. There were eight of us seated around the table, my family of five and two couples flanking us. The couple sitting beside Dan chatted with him, especially the woman side of the couple, while the couple on my side, who were younger, were friendly, but not talkative.

Jonathan was his usual talkative self, telling jokes (Two atoms were walking down the street. One atom said to the other, "I think I've lost an electron." The other asked, "Are you sure?" The first atom repsonded, "I'm positive." Ba-dump-bum.), asking questions, giving us dissertations on string theory--the usual. Benjamen was a little shy somehow and kept his jacket on, hood up--but he talked to me excitedly and was happy to be there, anticipating the show. He also surprised me by ordering scallops. And he loved them. Nicholas was seated near Dan and the talkative couple and he was his usual five year old self, laughing and talking and playing.

Toward the end of the meal, the talkative lady leaned toward Dan and said, "I'm assuming your boys are homeschooled." Dan was taken aback and I was a little surprised, too. He asked how she knew, and she answered, "Well, your boys are so well behaved," (ha!), "and they all seem so bright and interested and interesting. I heard your oldest talking about electricity and religion and shellfish, and I saw how you all interact, and it's just not the way regular children behave, in my experience." I wanted to ask her if she was a teacher, but I didn't.

That was a week ago, and I'm still not sure what I think of the whole thing.

It's not the first time people have guessed that we were a homeschooling family, but it was the most out-of-the-blue instance, I think. There were really no overt clues that would mark us as homeschoolers. It wasn't a weekday morning, when they should have been in school. We weren't in a library looking up Greek Myths or classical children's literature. We weren't hanging out at the park with a bunch of hippy, funky homeschooling friends. But still she assumed we were homeschoolers. We exude homeschooliness, now, I guess. Whatever that is.

Another thing that bothered me (bothered isn't the right word, but neither is disturbed or unsettled) was that when she was talking about Jonathan, and the way he talks, the things he talks about, the way he interacts with us, she talked about him as if he wasn't there. This happens alot. People don't take kids seriously. She would never have talked about me in the third person, she would have addressed me directly. And she would never have made any comments about my intelligence or lack therof, but it's socially acceptable to make those kinds of comments about a child even in the child's presence.

Jonathan always, always responds to those kinds of comments by dumbing himself down. He'll start randomly yelling out things like, "Pie!" or "Muffins!" or some other nonsense. We're used to it, but it's always still disconcerting. It seems obvious to me that he resents being discussed in that way, and that he finds it insulting. I talked to him about it a few days afterward and asked him if he knew why he did that (the shouting). He said that she was talking about how smart he is and he just wanted her to know that he's also "completely random." Maybe that's all it was, but after seeing the same response ever since he was two years old, I kind of doubt that that's all there is to it. It's a defense mechanism, in my humble mom opinion.

I've let some things go with him this year. I realized that the experiments we were doing were actually boring him. He would go through the motions, and he didn't object or say anything, really (which was my first clue). He just wasn't into it, and so I let it go. I realized that I don't need to set up science learning opportunities for a kid who lies awake at night reading science encyclopedias and has an abiding crush on string theory.

Ditto for grammar, reading, spelling, and all things language. He's very advanced, verbally. There, I said it. Out loud. He corrects my grammar (and I'm no slouch). He reads The Deluxe Transitive Vampire for fun (OK, I do, too). He out-spells me and I often find myself asking him how to spell words that are stumping me. He's a voracious reader. He doesn't need artificially constructed learning opportunities.

Benjamen is a different kid. Or else I haven't learned my lesson with him, yet. We do math and spelling every day. We read out loud and study animals, a subject about which he is still very passionate. We talk, talk, talk. He has subscriptions to magazines (all of the boys do), and we read them together, completing activities. We play card games and board games. We watch movies together.

And Nicholas. We do math meetings a couple times a week. He brings me a huge Learn-How-To-Read type of book and we do a lesson or two. He writes constantly. "Mom, how do you spell..." is his constant refrain. He sends me messages via fridge magnets. This fall he's be a first grader, whatever that means, and he'll be on the grid with the local board of education. Sometimes I wish that we had gone underground when we moved out here. As easy as the hoops are to jump through, I don't like having School in my head, even if it is way in the back. It has an effect on me, psychologically, and that extends to the boys on some level, I know it.

Next year we begin the four year history cycle all over again. This year (modern history) Jonathan memorized the Gettysburg Address, the whole thing, and he speaks it with such inflection, and such understanding. When we first encountered it, we went over all of the troublesome words and phrases and we discussed the historical context. This is so much more than was done for me in school. To me, the Gettysburg Address (and the Preamble to the Constitution, and every other thing I was forced to memorize) was just a jumble of words. Sometimes I had a vague understanding, but no one, of course, ever sat down with me one-on-one and made sure that I understood the words and the broader meaning. And of course, I don't force the boys to memorize (Benjamen was memorizing the Gettysburg Address in parts, just from hearing Jonathan recite them, and even Nicholas would chime in when Jonathan stumbled, which surprised me). I ask them if they want to. I tell them school kids do it. I tell them I did it when I was younger. We discuss whether it's important, or fun, or interesting, and they decide whether they want to do it. Jonathan and Benjamen have also embarked on memorizing the sequence of US presidents. We're up to James A. Garfield (# 20).

So next year, like I said, we start over again with ancient history. It will be Nicholas' first formal year of history study, if he wants to join in (and judging by his participation this year, he definitely will) and I like that we're back at the beginning for him. We'll all be able to do history together, and that's new. Last year I did the Renaissance with Jonathan and and ancient history with Benjamen and it was a bit of a pain. This year I just let Benjamen follow along with Jonathan's studies of Modern history. Next year, begin anew and I'll be able to let them all engage with the material on their own levels. We'll read aloud and Nicholas can do coloring pages while we read or afterward. Benjamen and I can read myths and story books from the time period, and Jonathan, who already has a good grasp on the basics (and more, probably) can delve deeper.

It's going to be a fun year, I can already tell.

Non-Newtonian Fluids




We're playing with them again today. Several times a year, it seems, the boys ask me to whip some up.

If you're not familiar, check out this YouTube video.


It's a simple suspension of corn starch and water that changes back and forth from a liquid to a solid. You can pick it up like a ball, but then it goes gooey and drips like a liquid.

The Mad Tea Party

It was a roaring success (photos!)! I was half-afraid that only the children of the folks who helped plan the party would show up, but there were so many kids and parents that I hadn't met before, and I had a wonderful time getting to know them all.

Our dress-up box full of play silks, leftover pieces of material, my husband's old sport coats, and odds and ends was very popular. The kids had fun dressing up as clowns and princesses, and they mixed and matched the play clothes in charming and imaginative ways.

The food was wonderful, and everyone really came through, helping out through donations, preparing wonderful food and drink, and helping set up the table beforehand, and clean up afterward. We ended up with some leftovers, but remarkably few, considering the amount of food we had on hand.

We also had loads of activities available for the kids. We had a coloring area where the children could color "stained glass" scenes from Alice in Wonderland, a musical instrument area, a train set for the smaller children to play with, chess sets available for children, whether they already knew how to play, or wanted to learn, and Alice in Wonderland tattoos were applied by one of the adult planners. Another planner helped the kids play Pin the Tail on the Cheshire Cat. My husband also set up a projector on the stage which played the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland throughout the party, with the sound very low so that it didn't dominate the kids' attention. I think they all had a wonderful time.

It was lots of work, and I was exhausted by the time the clean-up was done, but the rewards were sweet. I'm already thinking about a fall evening party out in our yard. I must be crazy.

Rhetoric


Mom, can I have these scented markers?

Do you have money for them?

No, but I thought you could buy them for me as a supply for my art.

Jonathan, we have markers at home, sweety.

Yeah, but do any of them smell like dragon's blood?!?!!

...

Well?

OK, throw them in the cart.




Jonathan, is it a good idea to have markers up in bed when it's your time to get some reading in before bedtime?

Well, I was just translating the chorus of Jabberwocky into Dragonese.

Well. Um. OK. Carry on.

Things They Teach Me (a continuing series)

A female ballet dancer is called a ballerina, but what's a male ballet dancer called?

A danseur.

Who knew?

How I Find Jonathan Most Nights



Jonathan's always been a voracious reader, but these last few years, since he moved into his own bedroom, he's been staying up late into the wee hours, reading himself to sleep. He can do it without disturbing the rest of us (late night bursts of laughter aside) now that he has his own room. I came home from Dog Club around 11PM and was surprised to find him already asleep, his latest dragon tome by his side, of course.

Mad Tea Party

Jonathan has been reading our big Lewis Carroll book for the last year or so. Every once in a while he goes on a jag and I find him reading it every day for a week. I think he's read the whole thing several times, but he keeps coming back to it. I can't blame him; it's fascinating to me, too.

We've decided to have a Mad Tea Not-Back-To-School Party on August 25th, and we've decided to invite the schooled kids on the mountain, too, because we're inclusive like that, don't you know. We'll be having it up at the local community center, and have amassed quite a pile of crazy hats, Chinese lanterns, coloring pages, mismatched china (from Good Will, of course), bud vases, Alice in Wonderland tattoos (believe it or not), and tea sandwich recipes.

In preparation for the big day, we've read the pertinent chapter repeatedly, and the boys have gone on an Alice movie-thon. One of the things they want to do at the party is taken from the famous scene in the movie in which The Hatter tries to fix his watch by smearing it with butter and mustard and then proceeds to smash it to bits. I don't know how we're going to make that happen for them, but they've taken the first step into their own hands:

A pocket watch made from two yogurt lids and a strip of packing tape


With gears inside, naturally

Dan has suggested a rubber mallet for the smashing. Or perhaps Nerf makes something for these kinds of occasions? And I suppose we'll need smocks for the flying mustard and butter. ::sigh::

Creative Math

Jonathan's been reading The Sorcerer's Companion, a companion book to the Harry Potter books (which he has been devouring at the rate of one book per day--night, really--over the last week). For the past few days, he's been figuring out arithmancy charts for all of us, all of the pets, his Bionicle guys, etc. It entails ascribing each letter of a person's (or animal's, or toy's) name a value, adding the values in an arcane and labyrinthine way, reducing those addends, and then looking up the "meaning" in three different areas (social, heart, and character) to derive a personality sketch.

He's adding up these looooong strings of numbers and doing all of this math that's much more involved than anything we've done in our "lessons" and beyond that, he's enjoying it, doing it for hours on end, and, obviously, not complaining about it one bit.

So then I bought him this book, and he's in love with it.

I think I'm on to something, here.

Bionicles

Jonathan likes entering his Bionicle creations into contests on the Bionicle forum he visits, and also on the official LEGO website. He takes photos of them and submits them online. One of the latest tableaus:

I love the focus on the little guy, front center.

He also likes photographing the patterns that he makes with his math manipulatives:

He had to alter the bottom because he ran into the edge of the table

He works on these for sometimes hours at a time, arranging and rearranging them, trying to use up every block, experimenting with different kinds of symmetry. I love looking at them; they're so intricate.

Summer Time

And the living's easy.

Yesterday was summer solstice and now the days are getting shorter. The big brothers have had their yearly reviews turned into the school board and are enjoying these long summer days outdoors. It's unseasonably cool and we haven't had many scorchers as yet, so I head outside as often as I can, myself.

We have no plans for the summer except to enjoy each other and our occasional visitors. My mother arrives next week and is staying until late July. My sister and her husband will be here before the 4th of July and will be staying a week or two. The three of them will watch over the boys and the dogs and the cats and the hamster and my plants while Dan and I enjoy a week in Hawaii. Our 10th anniversary is coming up this fall, and by strange coincidence, his company offered to fly us both to Hawaii this summer, all on their dime. I can't seem to get excited about the trip, and that may have to do with never having been away from the boys before. I've only slept away from them one night, and that was after surgery. It will be strange to just be with Dan for a week, and in a new place. I think I may get more excited as the trip draws nearer.

I'm very happy with how far we've come in the last year. Benjamen is a bona fide reader, now, and seems to understand what he's reading, even when the sounding out gets labored. He loves science and history, but is good natured about learning in general. He's excited to be a reader and has been spelling things out in conversation instead of using the words. Nicholas has taken to mocking him, but makes up his own spellings, so we have to guess at what he means. Jonathan is devouring literature at his normal break-neck pace, and is always excited about a trip to the library, as are all of the boys. Benjamen actually listed the library on his birthday list of places he wanted to go that day. We spent a wonderful morning quietly reading and stacking up towering piles of books to take home with us. Nicholas, too, has shown more interest in letters and spelling, constantly asking me how to spell things, arranging and rearranging the magnetic letters on the refrigerator, and sitting down to draw and write for a little while almost every day. He'll be five next week, and I just don't know where the years have gone.

End of January

Tomorrow is the first day of February and I'm feeling the need to take stock for some reason--maybe because I haven't been keeping a very detailed record here of what we've been up to. To make it easy on myself, I'll go through the "subjects" and try to explain where we are.

Math

Jonathan is more than half-way through his chosen course of study (Saxon), and with three lessons per week (down from five) he's on track to be finished by the first of June. He doesn't love math, but when I suggest we can it, he's horrified by the idea. We're working on multiplication, which he picks up well (he's got a great memory for facts), temperature (F and C) standard and nonstandard measurement, geometry, written problems, graphing, and money, among other things. He does love the supplemental math books (Anno books and others that I pull from the library) and pours over them for pleasure. He's also getting alot of mileage out of those Cyberchase programs on PBS and the Jumpstart (and other computer) programs.

Benjamen, too, is more than half-way through his Saxon math, and with three lessons per week will be done in early May, I think. He seems to enjoy math more than his brother does, and is proud of his progress. He is doing single-digit addition and subtraction, calendar work, graphing, measuring, money, simple geometry, and math sentences, among other things. He loves the videos and videogames, as well.

Reading

Jonathan continues to devour literature. I haven't been keeping a list of his reading this year, but I would say that he's reading with the same interest and at the same pace as in the past. He's currently reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and enjoying them thoroughly. Last year he was reading Encyclopedia Brown, so that primed him for the Holmes series, I think. He also reads his supplementary history and science books with pleasure, enjoying the stories and myths moreso than what he calls "fact books". He loves the Eyewitness books, though, so go figure. He does enjoy an interesting and well-written biography, but so few of them are well written.

Benjamen is a full-fledged reader, now. We're almost done (lesson 86, I think?) with 100 Easy Lessons (which we have been doing whenever we feel the urge), and I question whether we really need to finish, but he enjoys the stories and is very proud of himself after each lesson. We read something history- or science-related every day, in addition to other stories and a story or two before bed. We're working our way through the Little House books at night and are reading On the Banks of Plum Creek, at the moment. Their Papa reads them other books of their choice before bed, too.

Writing

Jonathan's only writing practice is in other lessons throughout the day. His knowledge of grammar and the mechanics of writing exceed my own in some ways, and I don't see any need for creating assignments for him when he grasps so much intuitively. He writes books and stories, writes dialogue for his comics, and writes in his blog. We practice cursive when he shows interest, and he can copy all of his letters beautifully, though he doesn't show very much interest in mastering them or using them, at the moment.

Benjamen has writing practice attached to his reading lessons, grammar lessons, spelling, and even his math. We don't do anything extra, other than the writing that comes up in our daily life (writing letters to Gramma, labeling drawings, writing notes to his brothers and parents, etc.). I think his handwriting is beautiful, and he's very proud of it, himself.

Grammar

Jonathan doesn't really need lessons in grammar. I think he could teach a grammar course at the high school level. He's finished grammar lessons many grades ahead of his age and reads my college grammar texts (The Deluxe Transitive Vampire is a favorite) for fun. Still, we do pointed lessons whenever he asks, and those are a favorite; I think because they are so easy for him, and he always says at the end of the lesson, "I'm really good at grammar." He seems to have intuited most of the rules from his daily reading, and amazes me with the depth and breadth of his knowledge. I'm trying to explain to him that correcting the grammar of our acquaintances is considered rude, but he doesn't quite get it. He thinks he's being helpful. The whole time my mother was here, he kept asking her why she referred to herself in the third person and why she used double negatives, etc. She took it well, but not many people do.

Benjamen and I do fun grammar most days. He picks up much of it, but some of it goes over his head. He's only just started reading in the last year or so, and much of what escapes him will come with more exposure to reading, I think. In some ways, I think the lessons are somewhat pointless, but he enjoys them and so we continue. The mostly consist of talking, reading stories together, discussing different concepts contained in the reading, writing out some sentences he makes up which illustrate the lesson or him copying a sentence I write, that kind of thing.

Spelling

Jonathan is several grades ahead of his age in spelling lessons and rarely has any trouble spelling the weekly list of words before he's studied them. If he spells them without problem on the first day (Monday) he does lessons or doesn't do them, as he wishes, throughout the week. If he has a problem spelling words on the first day before having looked them over, he works through an activity each day and is spelling them easily by week's end. I think this is the last spelling book I'll buy for him as they seem to be a waste of time and money. I much prefer keeping a running list of words he misspells in his daily writings and working from there.

Benjamen has taken his first stabs at spelling this year and while he, naturally, didn't know how to spell much of anything beyond cat and dog in August, he's really caught on quickly and can spell many of the spelling words on the first day without having looked them over. I'm impressed with how far he's come and how quickly. He seems to have an affiinity for spelling, like his brother.

Latin

We're getting into serious Latin territory with conjugations and declensions and translating sentences. Jonathan is doing well with it, and his interest comes and goes with the level of difficulty he's facing. He generally shrinks from a challenge only to come back to it in his own time. He knows so much, though, and his recall is amazing. I'm honored to help him in the little ways that I can.

Benjamen shows a little bit of interest in what we're doing, and I include him as he shows interest. I don't really know how much he has absorbed, but he seems to be maintaining the same low-level interest for the last many months. Mostly I think he likes the way it sounds to hear us going through our paradigms.

History

We're moving through late Renaissance/early Modern era history, at the moment. We're currently investigating the attack by the Ottoman Turks on Vienna (a battle which started on September 11th, by the way). We generally set aside time for history on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. On Mondays we read the story and find the regions on the world map. We talk about what we've read and color illustrations relating to the chapter. On Wednesdays we read supplementary books from the library and discuss them. On Fridays we do more reading and do activities relating to the reading. This week we made Turkish Delight, for example, and in researching it, found that it's one of the oldest confections in the world. We also researched the origin of the name and found that Turkish Delight is a pretty faithful translation of the its Turkish name, lokum, from rahat-al hulkum, which means a piece of contentment.


We all do history together, and I make adjustments for the little boys, reading stories to them, while Jonathan reads on his own, printing out coloring pages for them to do after we look at maps together, and putting more focus on the fun activities than the historic details.

Science

Jonathan has been plowing through his chemistry experiments. We've started our 2nd book of chemistry experiments, which include an experiment that demonstrates a concept, vocabulary words and their definitions, and an explanation of the principles at work. The experiments use everyday household items, are usually quick and easy, and they demonstrate pretty nifty concepts. He's enjoying it immensely and has been using supplemental experiment books to explore on his own. Yesterday I found him stacking sugar cubes on top of a puddle of food coloring in a little platter in the kitchen, watching the dye travel up the cubes as the bottom cube dissintegrated and the whole tower toppled.

Benjamen and I did a bit of zoology throughout this past year, and I got to watch his love of animals grow. We started with worms and moved all the way through to higher mammals. We would start with a science text, watch movies about the different critters, read supplemental books, and talk all about them. We're "supposed" to be doing anatomy since Christmas, but we've extended our zoological studies and will move on when his enthusiasm for all things mammalian wanes. I think our investigations may have been behind his determination to obtain another cat around Christmastime. He enlisted his brothers' help in saving up and combining their allowances until they had enough to purchase a kitten, and they also scooped the litter boxes for our own two cats every day for months to prove that they would care for a new cat properly. Her name is O'Reilly:




Music

Jonathan continues to study composers fromt he periods/countries that we investigate historically. He dabbles with our musical instruments but hasn't show enthusiasm for any instrument in particular.

Benajmen, on the other hand, loves every instrument he picks up and asked for a guitar for his last birthday. We've also started working through an Usborne piano course book together, and he looks forward to it more than anything else, I think.

Art

The boys direct their own artistic pursuits every day and I try to manage the paper consumption and storage as best I can. We have watercolors and colored pencils and markers and crayons, all out for their consumption and they move through them regularly. We also do some more formal lessons when they ask for them, and Jonathan is reading through biographies of major artists. We also rent movies from the library on the artists' lives and the boys enjoy them.

Social Studies

The only formal way that I approach social studies is to borrow books from the library a few weeks before every holiday and make a point of including them in reading time. We talk about holidays and other social customs in the course of living our lives, discuss the different people we meet, cover geography and other societies in the course of our history, and generally cover most of the aspects of social studies informally.

How We Learn To Count Backward By Even and Odd Numbers

I was having gall bladder attacks prior to the holidays (since Halloween) and then had surgery on the solstice, which accounts for some of my slacking here.

Today Benjamen and I are counting backward by even and odd numbers. We mostly do it because it's fun, and it's fun because of a song I found years and years ago. Jonathan picked up counting backwards by evens and odds effortlessly and Benjamen looks to be picking it up likewise.

The song is a recording of Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant singing "The Counting Song"a capella at a club in 1987. Here are the words:

The Counting Song

On yonder hill there lives a lassy
And her name I do not know.
One fine day I'm going to find her
Whether she be rich or poor.

Round and round on the wheel of fortune
Round and round, turn the wheel in me.
Young women's hearts are so uncertain
Sad experience teaches me.

19, 17, 15, 13,
11, 9, 7, and a 5, 3, 1
20, 18, 16, 14,
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.

Lassy, I've got gold and silver;
Lassy, I've got gooses and land.
Lassy, I've got ships on the ocean,
All to sail at your command.

Round and round on the wheels of fortune
Round and round, turn the wheel for me.
Young women's hearts are so uncertain
Sad experience teaches me.

19, 17, 15, 13,
11, 9, 7, and a 5, 3, 1
20, 18, 16, 14,
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.

Round and round on the wheels of fortune
Round and round, turn the wheel in me.
Young women's hearts are so uncertain
Sad experience teaches me.

I don't want your gold your silver,
I don't want your gooses your land.
I don't want your ships on the ocean,
All I want is a good young man.

19, 17, 15, 13,
11, 9, 7, and a 5, 3, 1
20, 18, 16, 14,
12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, none.

Round and round on the wheels of fortune
Round and round, turn the wheel in me.
Young women's hearts are so uncertain
Sad experience teaches me.

It's lovely, and I have it saved as an MP3, if anyone would like to hear it.

Liquid Density Experiment

Liquid Density Experiment
Originally uploaded by jjfbaltzell.

We've been doing chemistry experiments for many moons (atomic and molecular stuff in the kitchen with CO2, liquids and solids, soap bubbles--that kind of thing), but this one was photogenic. We were exploring liquid density using oil, water (blue) andcorn syrup (red).