Books Read in May

The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne
I picked this one up almost a year ago, read the first few chapters, got sidetracked by easier/more fun reads, and recently picked it back up.  I think if I had read just one more chapter, it would have held my interest longer.  Still reading.


I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
I had heard about this for years, and had always been curious about it but never read it.  So I finally did, and I'm glad I did.  It was well-written and touching.

The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens
Been working on this one for a while now.  It's fairly entertaining, but very long.  I figure it originally came out in installments, so I can read it the same way. 

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business - Charles Duhigg
I kept hearing about this, and it sounded interesting.  It was, but I have to admit that I skipped over a couple parts about football and corporations.

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions -  Edwin Abbott
This is another one I've been working on for a while.  I kept hearing about/reading references to, so I thought I would check it out.  For some reason, I thought that it was written in the 1960's, but after looking it up, discovered that it was actually published in 1884.  That makes a lot more sense!  Not sure I really like it, although part of my problem is that I'm reading on my Kindle so there are no illustrations, and I think the illustrations may be an important part.

The Student Whisperer - Tiffany Earl and Oliver DeMille
I've mentioned this one here.  This is about how to be a better mentor to your students.

All Creatures Great and Small -  James Herriott
A re-read for me.  A read aloud with Turtlegirl, although Swimmah occasionally listens in.  Swimmah has gotten busier with her own studying and Turtlegirl needed something with me.  Always enjoyable.  Still reading.

7 Keys: #6 - Simplicity, not Complexity

Keep it simple: read the classics and biographies of the greatest characters in history, write about what you've read, and discuss with others who have also read and written about the same book/character.  Do some related projects or activities. 

Many schools today have so many requirements that just complicate the process of learning.  I was talking with some extended family members recently about all the hoops my niece has had to jump through this past year, her high school junior year.  Apparently, junior year is when they take the SAT's - in the fall and again in the spring, the ACT's if they're taking those, and possibly an AP standardized test or two.  In my niece's state, they also have to take another standardized test as a requirement for graduation, plus they also have a year-long project that is a graduation requirement.  With all of this, it's easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal: getting a great education (not merely finishing/graduating).

I've always kept things pretty simple in our homeschool, which I think is typical for most homeschoolers.  After all, we don't have to answer to a board of education (at least in our state).  But I do need to keep this key in mind while planning for the marine biology course we'll be studying this summer.

7 Keys: # 5 - Quality, not Conformity

Quality for younger students is more about personalizing their education.  Why should Johnny learn the properties of magnets when he's really interested in animal classification?  Because that's what all the other kids his age in town are learning?  But if he's thinking about animals while you're trying to teach him about magnets, he won't remember much of it anyway.  And chances are, he will become interested in magnets at some point in time.

For older students - the more self-motivated "high school" level students, Quality, not Conformity comes more in the form of "This is good, but I think you can do better."  (And they will be self-motivated if allowed to follow their interests.)

For both younger and older students, this is about encouraging them to become their best selves.

7 Keys: #4 - Structure Time, not Content

Once again, this is similar to Montessori theory.  In Montessori schools, children are given the freedom to choose their own work, as well as how long they will spend on it.  The time in the classroom is the structured time for children attending a Montessori school, but homeschoolers need to set up a routine of study/learning time.  This is something that most homeschoolers do.  However, instead of setting a time for math, then for writing, then science, etc., I set up a time for studying and let the girls choose what they will do during that time.  They are strongly encouraged to do a bit of math each day, and sometimes there are other things that need to be done, such as homework for a class taken outside the home.  But they do have a choice of what order they will do it in, as well as what resources they will use.

Swimmah, at 15, has set up a schedule for herself: first, she practices piano (usually for 30-45 minutes, although occasionally she plays for an hour or more).  Then she studies French, then does her math lesson for the day (Math U See Geometry, which she helped choose).  Recently, she read a book of retellings of some of Shakespeare's plays, and today she picked up The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and started reading. 

Turtlegirl, on the other hand, is 2 years younger and has a different personality.  She prefers to spend most of her time feeding and caring for her animals.  Right now, she has a mini nature center in our "all purpose" room.  She has tadpoles at various stages of metamorphosis (in different containers based on how many legs), another tank with the new toadlets, a bigger tank with adult newts, a small tank with newly hatched newts, another with fish, and finally, a big tank with 2 turtles.  She also has a lizard in her bedroom.  This all takes a lot of her time!  I do need to remind her to do a little math and writing and practice trumpet most days.  But, my goodness, she knows more about reptiles and amphibians than I ever will!

During this time, in addition to being available for any questions or to give needed help, I do my own studying.  I have been working through Math U See Geometry myself, and I spend time reading whatever book I have going at the moment, or perhaps work on writing a blog post.  I am setting the example that studying is a worthwhile activity and that learning never ends.

By choosing what to work on when and for how long; in other words, by taking ownership of their education, students learn that their education is their responsibility.  Ultimately, they must educate themselves.

7 Keys: #3 - Inspire, not Require

This is one of the most misunderstood of the keys.  People often hear "not require" and think that means they can't require their kids to do math, or whatever.  They then either take it as gospel and let their kids do what they feel like, or they decide that it sounds like unschooling and, therefore, TJEd is not for them.

Or, people think this means they need to be all-inspiring and get overwhelmed.  Luckily for me, as the words "contagious in her enthusiasm" are generally not applied to me, we do not need to be an all-inspiring being.  What we need to do is create an inspiring environment.  Again, this is similar to what Maria Montessori said: that we should create a specially "prepared environment" that would draw the children to it.  And how to do that?  Set up a routine of studying and learning that works for your family.  Keep inspiring books around the house, read some with your children, and let them see you reading some to yourself.  Talk with them about what you are reading and share passages that you think might interest them.  Have educational games they enjoy at hand.  Get outdoors regularly and enjoy nature.  Go to museums.  Vary the daily schedule now and again.  Most importantly, you need to be learning about something you are interested in yourself.  Sure, study algebra if you want to, but learning to knit is great, too!

What this all comes down to is that no one can educate another person. In order for your children to get a great education, they need to be drawn to it.  So I pay attention to what their interests are and I find resources to spark and sustain those interests.  That's not to say that there have not been days, or weeks, or even months, when one of my daughters has seemed uninterested in just about everything I tried.  But I kept trying.  And I think we've turned a corner - she seems much more enthusiastic now than she did most of the winter.

7 Keys: #2 - Mentors, Not Professors

Montessori called an adult who worked with the children in her schools a "directress", rather than a teacher.  ("Directress" probably sounds better in Italian.)  Anyway, she said that their job was not to teach the children, but to direct, or guide, them to activities beneficial to their individual development.

Likewise, in TJEd, we are called to be mentors, rather than "professors" or teachers.  This is not to disparage professional teachers or professors, but to make a distinction between teaching and mentoring.  Teaching involves telling the students what they need to know and grading them, or rewarding/punishing in some other way.  Mentoring, on the other hand, involves getting to know each student personally - their interests, talents, goals, etc. - and helping him/her to develop and carry out a plan to achieve those goals.

As a homeschool mom, I feel like I know my students pretty well.  We do spend a lot of time together, after all, and because of my Montessori training I have always observed them to see what they are interested in and would watch/listen to what they pretended to be and do in their fantasy play.  It seemed so simple 7-10 years ago.  It was fun to think, "Oh, Swimmah loves dinosaurs, let's get some books from the library and we can also go to the museum of natural history."  Or: "Turtlegirl loves to paint, let's read that picture book about Jackson Pollock I saw at the library and then set up a big sheet of paper in the back yard and let her have at it!"

Now it's all starting to seem so serious.  Not that I think they need to decide at 15 and 13 what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but adulthood is just a few short (to me, not them) years away.  I do know that there's still time for exploration, but as I said, it just seems more serious now.

So I have been reading books like The Student Whisperer to help me be a better mentor.  Never having had a formal mentor myself, I'm learning on the job.  To a certain extent, it's an expansion of what I have always done, but I have been trying to involve them in the process more, to get and keep a dialogue going.  (Easier said than done - neither of them are the most forthcoming of youngsters.  No idea where they got that from...)

Mainly it comes down to the homeschooling advice I have read/heard countless times from various sources: focus on the relationship first.  When your relationship is healthy and nurturing, the learning comes much easily and effectively.

7 Keys of Great Teaching

Thomas Jefferson Education, or TJEd, is based on principles of great teaching, such as that received by Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers, as well as many other great world leaders.  There are seven principles described in the book A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille.  I will write a post on each of the seven principles as we use them in our homeschool.

1. Classics, Not Textbooks

 Maria Montessori believed that the books children are given to read should be of interest to him/her, which would preclude most textbooks.  Although she did not have a specific term for the type of books she recommended, Charlotte Mason did: she called them "living books", or books that are written by someone who is passionate about their subject, so that the people, places, and events in the book come alive and it "touches your heart and mind". How else can we expect a person to develop a love of a particular topic, or for reading itself, if only exposed to dull, dry books?

A "classic" can be defined as a book/work that is timeless, uses beautiful language (in the case of a book), and speaks to you personally.  A book (or artwork, piece of music, etc.) may be a classic to me, but not necessarily to you, regardless of how many lists of classics it appears on.  In fact, most lists you find will likely have different books listed, for this very reason.

I try to find "living books" or classics for all the subjects we study.  You may have noticed, however, that I did mention back in my post on marine biology, that I bought a marine biology textbook (gasp!).  That is mainly to use as a guide to ensure that we cover all the important areas of marine bio - not to say that we won't read it at all, but it won't be our only source.  We will supplement with other books that will bring the subject alive, such as biographies of people like Jacques Cousteau, and books about specific marine animals.  We have also watched a couple of TED Talks by marine biologists and will continue to look for more of these, as well as other videos related to the ocean/ocean life.

Recently, Swimmah, Turtlegirl and I were waiting in line at a big box bookstore, looking at the display of bookmarks.  Turtlegirl noticed one with a timer on it for keeping track of minutes read.  With a horrified look on her face, she said, "What do you need that for?!"  I explained that often school kids need to read for a set amount of time every day.  She had surmised as much, and exclaimed, "Just give the kid a good book!" 

Exactly.

Aquatic microorganisms

So Turtlegirl is responsible for the rotating population of critters in our home.  A week or so ago, she got a couple of newts, who promptly laid some eggs, from a nearby pond .  Yesterday she asked to go back to the pond to collect some small aquatic animals to feed her newly hatched newts.  She collected some pond water and scooped up some muck from the bottom and brought it home.  Then this morning, she put some pond water on a slide and looked at it under the microscope (nothing fancy, we got it at Wal-Mart for about $160) and took a video of what she saw with her digital camera:

We're still trying to figure out just what it is - we're thinking it's some kind of freshwater microscopic crustacean, based on our preliminary research.

And this:

And:

Very cool, huh?  We were surprised she got such good results with the equipment we have! 

Marine Biology

Swimmah, 15, is very interested in marine biology.  Despite the fact that she has been less than enamored with the general biology class she has been taking, she wants to study marine bio.  So I found a used copy of an Introduction to Marine Biology textbook and have been working on putting together a course for her (and her sister).  I've been brainstorming ideas for projects and activities to bring the reading alive.  Certainly a trip to the aquarium will be included, but I also want her to do some more hands-on activities.  That means field trips to various kinds of beaches, such as sandy or rocky, etc.  Too bad we don't live closer to the coast - it's at least a one and half hour drive, depending on which beach we go to.

Here's what I have so far:

• adopt a sea turtle/other marine animal http://www.worldanimalfoundation.net/catalog/item/8198532/8893334.htm
• research a career in marine bio
• possible jobs
• required education level
• possible income
• research animals in specific ocean habitats, such as coral reef, kelp forest, open sea, etc.
• visit aquarium
• visit nature center at one of our state beaches
• visit various beach/coastlines: sandy, rocky, tide pools, etc.
• collect plankton and observe through microscope

I'll add other ideas as I think of them.

Movie Review - The Tempest

In preparation for seeing Hartford Stage's production of The Tempest, we rented the 2010 film version, starring Helen Mirren as Prospera - a female in place of the traditional Prospero.  I have seen other plays where they change one of the character's gender, or the setting, and it has felt forced.  The change was made to make a statement, and that's what it felt like - someone forcing their vision on you.

But in this particular instance, it worked.  I don't think having a female lead was meant to be a "statement", rather it came about more naturally.  According to the "Extras" feature on the DVD, the director, Julie Taymor, ran into Helen Mirren one day and in the course of their conversation, discussed that Prospero could easily be played by a woman.

The special effects were, of course, much more elaborate than can be done in a play.  They lent a more "artsy-fartsy", independent film feel to it, which the girls called weird.  But overall, we all enjoyed and would recommend it.