So Much Learning, So Little Time

I decided that too much learning was going on in the course of a week to try and recall it all in one sitting. So, maybe I'll post a daily summary from now on, or at least every couple of days. We'll see how it goes. So, this is the latest from inquiring minds.

Jacob made a whole army of "American Revolution" style paper-doll soldiers with generals, tanks, horses and everything. Great uniform design too, I thought! (See the pictures below.) He and Micah have spent a lot of time playing war with them in the hall, using a marble as a cannonball. I picked up several books for Jacob at the library on the topic, and he's already read a couple of them, sharing the info with everyone. (That's how they take tests, by the way; proof that they understood and retained the information. It is a "Charlotte Mason," founder of homeschooling, technique, geared to show what a child knows and not what he doesn't.) I was quite amused when Jacob admitted, somewhat apologetically, that he liked the redcoats better! The little traitor!





These photos were taken before we put them on posterboard to make them stiff and made stands for them.

One morning when Jacob woke up before everyone else, he read a book about gladiators and another book about Julius Caesar. Later that day, he then helped me think of creative, pictorial, rhyming multiplication flashcards; a fun project we're working on. Also, we drew up plans for a medicine-capsule filler that would fill six capsules at once. I discovered a need for a device of that kind while I was sitting in the kitchen tediously filling empty blue-green algae powder capsules with a drinking staw.

Many games of solitaire and rummy were played the last couple of days. I taught Hannah how to play and she picked it up rather quickly. This helped her in critical thinking, memory, judgement skills, and comprehension. It also served as a review in counting and adding in fives, tens and fifteens. The whole of the experience was, of course, fun, quality time!

Mostly, they have been taking turns for hours-on-end with the keyboard. Even Eden, who would be happiest singing or dancing or playing music all day long, enjoyed it all. Nathan made up tunes, but then told a story to go with what he was playing. I gave Hannah her first real piano lesson. She can play half the C scale with both hands and also "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with both hands. We drew out notes, along with their names and lengths, on staff paper. Hannah was able to the connection as to how the notes on the paper related to the keyboard.

Jacob, Hannah and I had a long discussion on diesel fuel, oil drilling and spills, and alternative energy. This conversation was prompted by Jacob, who out of the blue, asked whether or not our van used diesel fuel. He said, "Some kind of cooking oil would work if you add a couple of chemicals to it." Hmmm. I have no idea where or when he read or heard about that.

The kids received letters from cousins writing to be pen-pals, so Jacob, Nathan and Hannah made crafts and cards. Yeah, some actual writing! It was music to my ears to hear, over and over, "How do you spell such and such?" They didn't get finished writing back to their cousins but hopefully they will before the week is over.

I am most pleased to see that Hannah is now initiating reading times on her own(albeit with a book below her level). It has renewed her confidence in herself and her desire to read. She started to read an ABEKA reader full of short stories that get progressively harder one evening before bed. I bumped bedtime back and kept reading to Nathan as she tried to finish the whole 128 pages. She reached 84 pages before I finally said she had to turn off the lights. I formerly had to really push her just to read 5 pages at a time. The moment she woke up, she grabbed the book and started reading again before breakfast (or anything else)! She finished and we, and especially she, were quite pleased with her accomplishment. I honestly thought that I would have to wait a lot longer than that. She still dislikes reading aloud to anyone or reading anything that is a little more challenging than she's accustomed to, but I am pleased with her progress.

Nathan has had many library books read to him, including a book all about pandas. He has accomplished singing the alphabet correctly, all the way through. Additionally, he has counting to the number 12 consistently and correctly. Not that he can yet recognize all the numbers and letters by name; he currently only knows about half of them in that way.

Wednesday, we all went to the park on base for a homeschool get together and potluck. We stayed all day, had a lot of fun, and returned home at around 9:00 p.m. with new books and videos from the library, of course.

We started a new missionary book about Amy Carmichael this week and have been reading a couple of chapters aloud as a family each day. This always provides for much discussion, and Hannah benefits the most from the vocabulary, as I am always having to stop and explain some new word to her. (Although exasperated, the boys are learning patience and kindness.) During these reading times, Nathan and Eden are made to sit still and quiet and to practice self-control, even if they don't understand a word of it. So as you can imagine, it is a lot of work and somewhat time consuming to even get through one chapter!

Quality of Life

This was going to be a mid-week summary posting, but it's kinda hard to figure out when mid-week is. With organic learning, it is no longer a Monday through Friday, over-at-afternoon experience. Learning is going on all of the time now, even when lights are already out; it's a 24/7 deal. This makes for a lot of freedom, seemingly a lot more time, and certainly a much more relaxing atmosphere. I actually read 3 whole books this week and, of course, have had time to do all this blogging that I normally would not have had time to do.

But what I have really loved, now that the burden of planning lessons, gathering material, and teaching are gone is that I can focus on the kids more. I've been able to laugh, dance, play, tickle, giggle, play games, cuddle, read, and wrestle with them more. Especially the little ones, who I felt didn't ever get enough of that since I had to teach the older ones "school". I have been able to enjoy all of them more; I've learned new things about their personalities, interests, and talents. And I dare say, that they have too now that they've been given ample time to explore themselves and their world. I've had time to hear them; to hear their heart. It has had a profound effect on our relationships.

Just because someone is together 24/7 doesn't mean that it is always quality time or that you're really connecting with that person. Relationships seem to get swallowed up a lot in agendas and schedules. Seeing the kids delight in a topic or an interest and then initiate learning, and to be so creative, is awe-inspiring. I enjoy seeing them enjoy the whole day learning and just being together.

It's like someone let us out of a prison. All resistance is gone.(Not that all resistance in life is bad. We definintly train them to submit their will.) But it's a far cry from before when all day long, it was me against them, dragging them along and continuously trying to find ways to motivate them! That was a nightmare! And hard on the relationships between them and I. I guess I would describe it as legalism verses walking in the Spirit; your own strength verses flowing in the friut of the spirit naturally, effortlessly full of love. Maybe I should call this Spirit learning.

In the Course of a Week

During the course of one week, I have been amazed at how much the kids have initiated learning on their own concerning various interests. Below is a list of topics:

Music-Piano, guitar, and composition (mostly Micah, but Jacob too). (about 6 hours)

Electronics- Micah took apart several items, a radio, etc., to see how they work; he then read up on it thoroughly in science textbooks. He then excitedly showed Jacob and I what all the parts were, what they did, and how they worked. (2 hours)

Nathan and Hannah watched me strip and splice a wire that had broken in Nathan’s electronic train. We studied the inside workings thoroughly and discussed copper and conductivity, as well as circuitry (which I now understand thanks to Micah’s crash course). Nathan and Hannah both used screwdrivers to open and close the little toy train up. (30 min.)

History-Jacob and Micah both read a book on the French revolution (albeit it was a little geared to the gory side.) (15 min) They also watched part of an 8-hour video about Napoleon. (2 hours) Micah read about Stalin, Marx, communism, and researched Black Liberation Theology online. (2 hours)

Science- They all watched National Geographic videos on Wolves, Dolphins, and Forces of Nature. After that, they all watched Popular Mechanics videos covering topics such as rockets, submarines, sailboats, speedboats, lightning, volcanoes, and ice/water.

I read books to Hannah and Nathan about spiders, snakes, and bloodsuckers (fleas, leeches, mosquitoes, and bats). We studied, close up, spiders outside in their webs through binoculars, identifying different kinds. We also made spider habitats out of toilet paper in the living room and in the dining room.

Hannah, Nathan and I took a trek into the woods to see the fort that the boys made. We gathered 11 different species of mushrooms on the way and later researched online for about an hour trying to identify them. We never did positively identify identify any of the mushrooms we collected, but we did learn about many different and poisonous kinds. (No, we didn’t eat any! I regret that I didn’t take any pictures before throwing them away!)

Hannah wanted to know “Why does sugar make you hyper" after she was told that she couldn’t have any ice-cream right before bed. Whether she was really curious about the workings of sugar in our bodies or not, I took the opportunity to look it up on the computer for her since I only had a vague idea of why in my own mind. We learned all about simple and complex carbohydrates, sugars, the structures of them, and how the body responds to them and why. The trick was to explain it in terms she would understand and to not be too lengthy in the time it took to do so. She was satisfied and I was then armed with real scientific answers for further such questions about sweets before bed.

Micah and Jacob built several rockets and launched them in the course of their ”play”. (2 hours) Micah read a lot about rocket science and began designing his own aircraft on graph paper using newly learned geometry, physics and algebra concepts. (2 hours)

Language arts- We read aloud a Russian Missionary story over several days, locating on a map all the places referenced in the story. I always stop and ask the kids lots of questions as we read in order to test their listening and comprehension skills. The children stayed very excited about the book throughout the reading and, at each chapter's end, always begged for the next chapter.

I read to the younger ones many fictional and non-fictional stories from the library, including excerpts from Uncle Remus.

The boys are both avid readers and read any number of topics and stories from the library. One such topic and story being all about the history of poop, plumbing, sanitation, disease, and how waste was dealt with throughout time. It really was fascinating to hear them share all of the dirty details. (Boys will be boys!)
I don’t believe that any of them did much actual writing this week that I know of. I might suggest a journal log book to the older ones for recording their thoughts and ideas, and anything else.

Hannah is so hesitant to read, even though I believe she reads well for her age. She lacks confidence in the light of her brother’s abilities and, so far, has shown hostile aversion to all my reading-related suggestions. She tends to do that with anything she struggles with or believes to be too hard. After only about 2 seconds of trying, she’ll shut her mind off. Probably fear of failure and ridicule from brothers is the cause. I am not going to push her, but wait till her need and desires outweigh her fear, and then let her rediscover the joy of reading that she once had when she first started.

Nathan continues to enjoy sounding out and recognizing letters. We use all sorts of manipulatives such as tiles, puzzles, flashcards, gummy candies, pretzels, alphabet noodles, and worksheets and activities ranging from gluing cereal or noodles in the shape of letters, to scavenger hunts. We have crafts, stories, songs, and countries all starting with a particular letter. He still loves ”doing school,” but learns just as much doing everyday life things.

Micah has not felt motivated to finish his Stalin paper yet.

Math- This week, Micah was motivated to learn and do several lessons in his algebra and geometry books and was very excited about it. I get occasional questions, but mostly he learns well on his own and will bombard me very enthusiastically with everything he is learning.

Jacob and Hannah learned how to play Solitary and Dominoes, thus reinforcing their adding and sequencing skills. That was all the math they felt motivated to do this week.

Creative and Practical Arts (This category will include arts/crafts, music, foreign language, fine-motor skills, sewing, cooking, woodworking and other life skills.)

Hannah cut and sewed a felt, stuffed teddy bear that she got the idea for out of a craft book (without any help)! She also drew many pictures of horses and made umpteen amount of snowflakes. She also designed and made clothes for her Barbies out of wet wipes. She, Nathan, and Jacob made many wonderful confectionary delights with her new Ice Cream Shoppe Playdough set that she received for her birthday. She also designed a saddle, bridle, and reigns for her play horse out of play dough.

Nathan colors and cuts endlessly, especially since he got a large box of crayons and new coloring books for his birthday. He also handles a saw and hammer as skillfully as his big brothers. W found that out when we went to see their forest fort. I got great delight seeing Nathan pound and saw trees to his heart’s content and exercising his little muscles. I really regretted not having a camera with me. He helped me make omelets that day as well. He always asks to help me in the kitchen. He worked with screwdrivers that day, helping to repair his train as well. He also played computer craft games.

Micah and Jacob had their Forest Fort project that they worked on with their German friend who stayed with us for 3 days. The boys’ German language skills are getting better and better; often times, the boys talk only in German. Jacob also designed and sewed a Revolutionary Soldier (Redcoat) costume for his bear. He also draws all the time, mostly battle or aircraft scenes, or "War of the Worlds" type stuff.

Micah read several books about training dogs for the dog that he hopes to have some day. We have discussed ideas of a dog training business some day as well.

And of course, everyday the kids practice their skills in the art of washing dishes, sweeping, cooking, dusting, cleaning toilets, laundry and other general cleaning skills; keeping their rooms neat, organized, brushing their teeth and changing their underwear daily at a minimum.

Besides all this, we have daily devotional bible reading and prayer time, as well as general character training ALL DAY long it seems. They learn the Godly way to treat one another. They practice patience, forgiveness, honoring parents, sharing, perseverance, diligence and all that good stuff, which if truth be told, will probably be far more important to learn than anything academic.
Whew! It’s been quite a week!

Forest Fort

What did we learn last week? The boys spent three days out in the forest building a tree fort in the rain. They didn’t really have big enough nails, but did the best they could using a lot of twine and a few small nails. They measured, cut, sawed, dug with shovels, ( they worked on a latrine and a bunker) cleared brush, and generally got filthy and worn out. It was marvelous! They got one floor up in the trees, pretty level and sturdy, with a support beam under it- enough for one or two people to walk on. They also built a very nice ladder. All said and done, I was impressed considering they had no knowledge, plans, experience or even nails. Other than physical exercise and learning to use tools safely; what I was most pleased that they were learning was how to physically work hard for several hours in a row, in unpleasant conditions, while dealing with their frustrations; starting over when needed and learning to cooperate; and with the critical thinking and problem solving skills they acquired, made this the most valued learning experience, that in my opinion, will equip them best for real life. It truely thrilled my heart to see them walking off into the forest each day with their packed lunches and man tools!

Spiderman's Toilet Paper

I gave Hannah and Nathan several rolls of toilet paper and we webbed the entire living room and dining room. Nathan would hide behind a chair. When anyone tried to get through and touched or “triggered” his web, he would jump out and pretend to bite them. This was very fun for a long time and even drew in some of the older ones. I got the encyclopedia and we looked up spiders and learned about different kinds, webs, and characteristics. He really liked the wolf spider and the tarantula, but finally decided to be a black widow. He thought it was so cool how some spiders blow a bubble and live in it underwater. Needless to say, I had found an interest for him and we loaded up on books about spiders and snakes at the library.

What About Math?

Well, that’s a good question. One that a lot of unschoolers answer with trepidation; or it is the one subject that they don’t unschool. Most assert that when the child needs the math to accomplish whatever goals they have or to accomplish something else they want to do that requires math- that they will learn it. Some simply out of curiosity and interest. I still had my doubts that they would ever be interested on their own, despite numerous stories ( true)declaring otherwise……until…..Micah bombarded me this morning with his excitement over ALGEBRA! He had apparently stayed up later last night with an algebra book, zipping through several lessons, become wholly engrossed( and obviously surprised at how fun( yes I said fun) it truly is. All this from a casual statement I made when he asked what math he would need to be a NASA engineer (did I mention they had been learning about astronomy lately too? That reminds me , I need to get more baking soda and vinegar) I explained to him that before he could learn the higher maths and sciences he would need to understand algebra and then geometry.( I had already gotten prepared by getting books and videos from the library and strewing them about invitingly-he he, he he, he he. Learning (even math) has suddenly become, “ the world’s best kept secret”.

Disneyland in Heidleberg?

Knowledge (via the library) had never held any appeal to them, with the exception of Micah. Our frequent trips were viewed as a necessary evil. After I informed them that we would no longer “do school,” that they would be in charge of their learning, and could choose what and when they wanted to learn, the library had suddenly transformed into DISNEYLAND.

Nathan, now 4, was astonished at all the cool books about snakes and spiders that he could take home. “No,“ he said laughing with a mischievous smile, ”We can’t take these home. They’ll put us in jail.” (Another learning opportunity which I quickly explained.) To my embarrassment, I was equally shocked that as many times as we had gone to the library, he thought it was only to pick out a new video. Jacob surprised me with choosing a biography on Leif Erickson so I quickly showed him how to use the computer to find more Viking books. Hannah choose mostly craft books and a few fiction stories. Micah will devour any and everything that has words. One of his choices that he was especially excited over (aside from the "History of POOP" book) was a video documentary on Stalin…

You see, our study on astronomy had led to the space race, which led to Russia, which led to Lenin and Stalin and communism, and Karl Marx, which led to Micah (totally unprompted by me) to write a paper on Stalin that he wanted to enter into a Reader’s Digest contest. It’ll probably win too, if he ever finishes it before his interest wanes. I had never seen such quality of writing from him, although I knew he was capable of it- I’m talking college level.

Anyway, our mound kept growing and growing, and I was thankful, for three things: That there was no library book check-out limit, that I had so many helpers to carry all those books out, and that there are never any late fees at military libraries! Twenty videos and about fifty books later, a happy troo loaded their treasures in the back of the van. Yeah, enough materials to hold us over for a few days.

Natural learning

Hello family, friends, skeptics and others:

Announcing, effective immediately, we are no longer "homeschooling." Well at least not in the traditional sense of the word. No, we are not enrolling the kids in any private or public school. We will no longer try to duplicate school at home. A faulty system and concept from the start- which kills love of learning and curiosity faster than anything. We are endeavoring to reignite the natural love for learning that children are born with through whole -life learning. This is sometimes referred to "unschooling" within the homeschool world. By providing support and a learning environment, we are confident that our children will aquire much more real knowledge faster and retention- true learning, as their interests lead them, then forcing facts, concepts and skills on them that they might not be ready for, nor retain for lack of interest. I could go on and on siting references, examples, success stories, and reasons why we are taking this direction. This is the path our ever evolving learning quest has led us, and we are all very excited to LEARN! I am setting up this blog for a couple of reasons. First to document this experiment to prove to ourselves and skeptics that much learning is taking place, AND to share our lives with all our friends and family- and maybe inspire a few of you out there to be whole-life learners!