Docendō Discimus...

...by teaching, we learn. This is my favorite Latin idiom because I have found it to be the most true. I have learned more as a homeschooling mom than in any other role I've ever filled. Fourth grade has taught me a great deal and I'd like to share just a few things...

Lesson One: It is necessary to spend time out-of-doors. Quite apart from the exhilaration of being away from the dishes and laundry that call loudly to me from the various rooms of my home, there's just so much going on out there! There are rocks that must be turned over and sticks that should be broken against solid tree-trunks. Outside you'll find grass that beckons you to roll, stones that beg to be tossed into water, dry leaves that call to be crunched, and seed pods bursting to be torn open. But this is only a small sampling of the excitement. I've not even mentioned all the crawling creatures or the plants!

Also, this is where I have found that God whispers most loudly to me. If I'm engaged in nature, my mind is not distracted by list of things to do, laundry piles, or dusty shelves. I find that I'm completely open to what's going on in front of me and much more likely to hear or see what God is doing.

"Nature study cultivates the child's imagination, since there are so many wonderful and true stories that he may read with his own eyes... All things seem possible in nature; yet this seeming is always guarded by the eager quest of what is true." -Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study

Lesson Two: A true education should give ample opportunity for Trying New Things. The news that we'll being trying Something New for dinner is usually followed by no small amount of groaning. Roughly 83% of all New Things are distasteful to the nine-year-old palette. However, when dinner is made to be an extension of a geography lesson, a nine-year-old might happily choke down a few bites of Whatever Is On His Plate. The key is to make the dinner a Big Deal. You get some music, make tiny flags, issue a passport, and draw up a fancy menu.

This approach can and does fail from time to time. Weisse Bohnensuppe + Kartoffelknodeln + Apfelschorle = Fehlschlag. The German meal didn't work out; we all ate peanut butter and jelly instead.

Lesson Three: There's really a lot of things that you can do with feet. Take, for example, this science experiment. Is it possible to tell the difference between male and female feet? Apparently so, under certain variables. Folks actually let you take photos of their feet, and then others are willing to sit and look through an entire folio of feet photographs and tell you what they think of them. It's all pretty amazing. Just read the data.

Lesson Four: You can't force art. I'm a fairly artsy, crafty person. I don't think this stems from creative talent as much as from plain ol' practice. I've been creating things I was a wee girl. My grandmother would give me all kinds of beads, wire, thread, canvas and plenty of inspiration. I took art classes all through school. I've been told I have an 'eye' for things (though I think this is simply unfounded rumor).

It turns out that you can't just sit down and explain to someone why certain lines, shapes, or colors look good and why others do not. The only way to get people to 'see' art is to give them sample after sample of the good stuff and hope that they recognize it later. The only way to inspire someone to make good art is to give them art supplies and set them free, over and over and over. At some point (you hope), a piece of work will emerge that will make you shout, "Aha! There it is! There's some art."

Lesson Five: There are two kinds of smart: there's the kind of smart that just knows the answer and there's the kind of smart that knows how to find the answer. I heard this truth at a meeting of homeschool moms this year and it has stuck with me. As much as I would like to fill my boys' minds with lists and tables and names and dates and story-lines and quotes, it's much more important that I teach them how to find the answers that they need. This means teaching them to observe, study, research, experiment, deduce, and reason. They'll need to know how to use the library and the internet to their advantage, sifting the good information from the bad.

Most importantly, I need to teach my children to seek answers from God. No amount of study or practice or work can take the place of sitting quietly at the feet of the One who knows us and has written all our days, the One who created everything and holds it together.

Project FeederWatch

This last weekend, Chase and I officially became citizen scientists! In an effort to give purpose to the time we spend staring out our kitchen window, we signed up for a program called Project Feederwatch through Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This program requires us to identify and count the different species of birds that visit the feeders in our yard. We then send this information to (official) Cornell ornithologists who use it to keep track of winter bird populations across the country.

Chase excitedly points out birds and squirrels to Ian.

We began watching birds this last summer after I received a bird feeder for my birthday. With the purchase of a large bag of sunflower seeds and a small bird identification book, we began our 'birding' adventure. By the beginning the fall, we found ourselves to be fairly proficient at identifying the birds who visited. We moved our tube feeder and suet basket so that it could be monitored from our kitchen and dining room during the colder months. The Hubs was kind enough to use his skill and muscle to construct a windowsill platform feeder, to attract the birds closer to the house.

Our first 'counting day' was rather boring. We were visited by only two kinds of birds, albeit our favorites: a downy woodpecker and five dark-eyed juncos. The second counting day was marvelous. Around lunchtime, while we were sitting by the windows anxiously waiting for winged visitors, they came! The woodpecker returned and the juncos brought four of their friends. In addition we were charmed with the arrival of nuthatches, chickadees, a northern cardinal, two (gluttonous) blue jays, a house sparrow, four mourning doves, a house finch and a lovely red-bellied woodpecker.

The little chickadee that visits our window feeder.

The feeding frenzy made it hard to keep track of numbers, but Chase did a great job taking down the information. The blue jays and the chickadees were brave enough to perch on our window platform and allow us to admire them up close. For about 45 minutes, the birds came and went in quick swoops and flutters. And then they were all gone. Either birds have very strict lunch schedules or a stray cats wandered into our yard, but just like that, it was all over. Today we entered the data we gathered, including temperature and precipitation information, into Cornell's website.

Chase's tally sheet for our first two count days.

We will wait five days before we count again but the excitement of watching birds continues. I have heard Chase say things like, "Wow, God is so creative!" or "I love God; He made such great birds!" I am thrilled to hear the praises burst so sincerely from his heart and have had no choice but to join in.

So God created... every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen. 1:21

I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. - Psalm 50:11

Praise the Lord, O my soul;all my inmost being praise His holy name. - Psalm 103:1

logos 'speech' + -phile 'friend, lover'

Romans 11:34a


For who can know what the Lord is thinking?

Car qui a connu la pensee du Seigneur?

Τίς γὰρ ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου

quis enim cognovit sensum Domini

For some (not yet fully-known) reason, God made me a logophile. I have a deep, deep love for words. I think there is something lovely about orthography and syntax. I enjoy skimming through texts in other languages and trying to puzzle out the meaning. Verb conjugation and noun declension make me giddy.

It started my sophomore year of college, after my summer of salvation. I took a course on French linguistics and was instantly hooked. This class was followed by more phonetics courses, some serious novel reading, and random minor obsessions over various literary and linguistic topics.

Until this year, my love of words and language has found little practical application in my daily life. Sure, I've read (a lot), and have whimsically studied this and that, but my logophilia (I think I made that word up) has never had a serious impact on my life. This year, however, I'm swimming in it. As part of his third grade education, Chase has been learning French, Latin and Greek! And I've been learning, too!

The French is a familiar friend to me, having studied it from my freshman year of high school until I graduated from college. I've been surprised to find how quickly the language has come back to me. I remember the vocabulary and grammar and even the cute little teaching helps that I received from different French professors along the way. (For example, my high school teacher helped us to remember the names of the acute and grave accents by drawing a picture of "a cute grave" and placing the accents above a curved tombstone).

Latin and Greek are new and fresh languages for me (though ancient and dead), and I am loving every linguistic morsel. As a bonus, I get to learn along with Chase. Our study of Latin and Greek is less like a teacher-student relationship and more like a couple of friends trying to crack into a locked safe. Chase loves helping me with my Greek writing and pronunciation and I love helping him come up with ways to stuff all that information into tidy categories in his (endlessly stuffable) mind.

Someday, I will understand why God placed this odd love of words in me. Perhaps Chase (or I) will grow up to become a Bible translator or scholar. Maybe we'll just be able to turn a nice phrase or put an abstract idea into words so that someone can understand it in a new way. Whatever the purpose, may it be to the glory of God.

Romans 11:36

For everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. Amen.

C'est de lui, par lui, and pour lui que sont toutes choses. A lui la gloire dans tous les siecles! Amen!

ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ἀμήν

quoniam ex ipso et per ipsum et in ipso omnia ipsi gloria in saecula amen

Third Grade Texts

My previous post about third grade was supposed to include a brief description of the texts that we chose, but I was taken away by philosophical meanderings and never got around to it.

Our homeschool curriculum is roughly based on The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. Years ago, before we seriously considered homeschooling, I randomly found Bauer's book in a bookstore and was inspired to research classical education. I was quickly hooked. Though the Hubs isn't quite as fired up about the whole thing as I am, he's given me his reasoned support.

We plan to continue our study of the Bible with Christian Studies Book II from Memoria Press. Last year we used a Bible curriculum from Veritas Press, but we tired of it about 1/3 of the way through. Fortunately, this year's study picks up right where last year's left off, with Joshua and the settling of the Promised Land. Of course our Bible study is always complemented with family-centered prayer and study as well as awesome teaching from the Children's Ministry at our local church.

This will be our third year using the RightStart math curriculum. Three years ago, at a homeschooling convention, I attended a break-out session on mathematics. I became interested in programs that emphasized conceptual understanding, as opposed to rote memory. Though this approach isn't classical and though these texts are kind of pricey, we have loved them. Chase has enjoyed the hands-on activities and I have come to understand more deeply some elementary math strategies I had either forgotten or was never taught.



The part of classical education that I was most taken with from the start was the learning of classical languages like Latin. In Kindergarten, we started with Latin and in first grade was started Greek and a little bit of French. We have continued these three languages and now that we are entering third grade, our curriculum will become a bit more demanding. In prior years, we used workbooks from Greek 'N' Stuff to learn the very basics of Latin and Greek (and my own head for French, since I have a degree in that language). We also used Prima Latina from Memoria Press on and off for Latin. This year we're using texts from Memoria Press for Latin, French, and English roots, and a Greek curriculum from Open Texture.

We have followed a winding path of language arts for the last few years. There's not enough room to list here all the many plans and texts that we've tried in the past. For spelling this fall, we will try Spelling Wisdom Book 2 from Simply Charlotte Mason and for grammar we will follow First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 3 from Peace Hill Press. I routinely have Chase perform oral readings for me from scripture or literature and we memorize poetry, too. We are always in the middle of a classic work of literature. This year I hope to finish the Little House books and move onto The Little Prince, A Christmas Carol, and others.

Having completed Life Science, Earth Science, and Astronomy in first and second grades, we'll be moving on to chemistry this year. We'll learn about some very basic chemistry concepts from our Usborne Science Encylopedia and then follow up those lessons with some small experiments. Hopefully we'll be inspired for the science fair this year. We will learn about the Early Modern period in history this year with The Story of the World Vol. 3 by Susan Wise Bauer. We've used this history curriculum for the last two years and have enjoyed it a great deal. We'll also spend a great deal of time studying scientific and historical topics with the help of our local library.

These texts comprise the rough plan for our upcoming year, but we will add or subract as needed to meet our needs or the leading of the Spirit. There's always more to do than time to do it and we've found that there is no text or curriculum that perfectly 'fits' our homeschool. I'm looking forward to jumping into the work in a few weeks. Chase might have a different opinion after his fun-filled summer-- one that involves a week or two of feet dragging and potentially some kicking and screaming. Lord willing, we'll be chugging along smoothly by the end of September.

Third Grade, or a Recommitment

For the last week, our house has been a disaster zone. In an attempt to move a bookshelf from the dining room, we were forced to move item after item of furniture from room to room. At the end of our project (which should be soon), a Great Deal of Stuff will be squished out our back door and into the garage where it will be sent away to friends, thrift stores, or the recycling center. Some things, like the Moon Sand, will be sadly put in the garbage. What else can one do with Moon Sand? That stuff is so lame! I digress.

In the midst of the spatial uproar, I had the chance to rearrange our homeschool resources, organize and store away the records of past years, and fill a shelf with the texts we've selected for this next year. I spent some time perusing the tables of contents, increasing my anticipation for September. Chase has learned from Calvin (Bill Waterson's creation, not the Reformer) that school is something to be endured and avoided, but I have fallen more and more in love with the books and knowledge and potential of learning. My prayer is that Chase will catch my attitude this year and embrace the privilege of education. I pray that he would become a willing learner, and strive to be all that God created him to be in Christ Jesus, to His glory, amen.

I love this time of year, with the fall looming on the horizon. The season always brings me to the first things. What is necessary? What is essential? Where are we going? Who's in charge around here? What is the destination? How do we make love the central aim of our homeschool? Do Latin and Greek declensions, mathematical strategies, or historical narratives help us love God and our neighbor? I am suddenly humbled by the responsibility of stewarding these lives and the blessing of easy access to knowledge. Lord, teach us Your ways.

Flower Dissection

Being unhappy with our first grade study of plants, we set out this summer to (re)conquer grammar-stage botany. Our new text, Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeannie K. Fulbright has been challenging. I was aware that my knowledge of plant life was not extensive, but I had no idea there was so much I didn't know. There are endless Greek and Latin root words, unfamiliar botanical references, and anatomical jargon. More than once Chase and I have shared a sigh of woe and scratched our heads. But we're pressing forward and enjoying every minute.

In addition to our regular seed collecting, this week Chase tackled two projects with a big smile. The first was a collection of drawings of carnivorous plants. Some of these bizarre plants he was already familiar with, but the sundew caught his attention. He thought it was the scariest of the bunch. His second project was flower dissection. We carefully tore apart a rose and a day lily and identified the flowers' anatomy. Below you'll see our notebook entries. Chase loved peeling away the rose petals. I was struck by the delicate beauty of the lily. Its parts were simply gorgeous.

Nature Field Trip

Last week, Chase and I were lucky enough to go on an extended field trip with a group of homeschooling friends. Our day included a nature hike, pond skimming, soil study, and some lessons on simple machines. Though it was windy, we enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot of interesting things. We heard and saw a number of creatures including a turkey vulture, geese, a mallard, a house swallow, and a few different frog species. We put some of our pond friends under the microscope and were amazed. Chase wasn't terribly thrilled with the large leech that he discovered, but he got along nicely with the smaller critters. The soil study was interesting; I've never done anything like that before. We were tired when we arrived in the barn to learn about simple machines, but we had a nice time experimenting with the tools and toys.

Here Chase is holding a praying mantis egg sac.

Pond skimming!

Studying a soil sample.

Using a lever to weigh something.

Corners

Here's the results of a friendly game of Corners. Our math program (RightStart) uses card games for drilling and practice. Here we practiced the multiples of 5, as well as some adding. Chase pulled out a victory over Mommy with an awesome 'corner' that scored him 20 points.

Falling in love with nature (again)

Last fall, Chase attended some classes at Chippewa Nature Center near Midland. As I walked the grounds waiting for his class to finish, I was inspired to explore the idea of nature study more and see if it was something that might fit with our educational philosophy. I loved it! Even before I studied the topic, Chase and I had both been keeping a nature journal. The new information (specifically in Last Child in the Woods) motivated me to keep contact with nature at the top of our educational priority list. We didn't do much nature study during winter (I need to get over my aversion to the cold), but already this spring we have found a great number of things to observe and record. I also ordered The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock to use as a reference. What a lovely book!

This last week, we were delighted to watch the antics of three squirrels in our side yard. One of them came quite close to the window that we watching from so we were able to see him closely. The creatures in our side yard, which is viewable from our kitchen windows, are like little friends to us. On a side note, this winter, we were sad to see that an animal control agent had trapped the scraggly-tailed little fox squirrel who always entertained us with his skittishness. We were quite convinced that he was slightly crazy. He lived up in the roof of our neighbor's house and each day he squeaked his little heart out with such a sincere passion. He was cute. We noticed during our observation that a new, healthier-looking fox squirrel has taken up residence somewhere nearby. I hope that he's a better singer.



We were also visited by One Very Large daddy-longlegs spider while we were eating lunch. I caught him in a jar so that Chase could get a good look at his jointed legs and the eyes on the top of his head. We held him in captivity long enough to make our drawing and then we set him free outside. I'll be honest, I am not that thrilled with insects, bugs, and spiders. I don't wish them all ill, I just wish they'd keep their distance from me and my small children. If Ian had found that spider before I had, he likely would have picked it up and tasted it or brought it to me, both of which would have been Outrageously Gross Scenarios.

Little Ian went on his first Exploration of the outdoors today. He crawled all over the back yard, unmindful of dirt and debris. He took a couple of faceplants into the soft grass, examined walnuts, leaves and sticks, and practiced his walking technique on the uneven ground. I was really impressed with his nature study skills until he tasted a walnut husk. That was a No-No. Judging by the 'blahyy' sound that he made, I'm guessing he wasn't real impressed either.

Medicin, gueris-toi toi-meme

As we were considering our curriculum choices for next year, I tried to get Chase excited at the prospect of learning French. He seems generally interested in words and languages, so I don't think that he'll put up too much of a fight. It will fit nicely alongside our Latin and Greek curriculum.

During our conversation, the thought occurred to me that I should continue to study languages as well. I've learned Latin and Greek with Chase for the last couple of years (though I do need to practice my Greek writing more) and I remember a bit of the French that I studied so many years ago through high school and college, but I need something more. That's where the title of this post comes in: Medicin, gueris-toi, toi-meme. That's roughly the French equivalent of "practice what you preach" (and oddly enough, Jesus' words in Luke 4:23). If I'm going to expect Chase to work hard at languages, I should expect the same from myself.

So I've begun reading a small French novel called Une Vie by Guy de Maupassant. I've only read two pages thus far. It takes me a while because my brain has had to relearn French literary syntax and because I need to stop and look up so many words in the dictionary! It's been fun though. I'm sure that I'll be dreaming in French soon.

I made a little green journal for my word lists and revelations. I feel very 'green' with my handmade, recycled-paper notebook. I'm planning to read each page out loud to Chase as I go along so he can get an 'ear' for the language. I'm so glad that God gave me a child that loves words as much as I do, and the opportunity to stay home and enjoy them together.

Moshi Moshi!

I realize that 'moshi moshi' is the Japanese telephone greeting. I'm just gonna go with it, since I'm not greeting you in person and because it's a fun way to begin our account of Chase's latest project: a presentation of Japan. On March 20th, our homeschool group organized an International/History Fair. From a short list of options, Chase chose the country of Japan. Jim has been to Japan a few times for work and we've had three individuals stay with us from Japan, so we were able to pull together a large number of items that represented Japanese culture.

Here we see Chase-san in his Danny Larousso costume holding up an origami swan (which he, incidentally, didn't create). Behind him is a display board with his short essays on engaging Japanese topics like 'Sumo Wrestling' and 'Mt. Fuji'.

We had a great time preparing for the International Fair. Chase worked hard on his writing and he learned a lot. We were able to look through many of our 'artifacts' and remember the people and places that we (as a family) have connected with. Chase and I made an origami crayfish and monkey.

We served Cherry Blossom tea to those who were brave enough to try it. This tea is beautiful to prepare. It's made by pouring hot water over a preserved cherry blossom. If you gently poke at the flower with your chopstick (which may not be proper chopstick ettiquette), it opens up into a lovely blossom. The tea tastes a bit salty, I think because of the salt preserves that it's packaged in, but you can also taste just a hint of cherry. This tea was a gift from our dear friend Norio, who spent a day with us last Summer while he was at CMU learning English.

Have I mentioned that I love homeschooling? This is a good example of the fun and interesting things that we do every day! What a privilege!

Science Fair

Last week, our family participated in our first Science Fair. This year, for science, Chase is studying Earth science and astronomy. When we began planning for the Fair, we were studying rocks and minerals, so we decided to do a project about iron. We found some instructions on the internet for removing the iron from breakfast cereals with a magnet. Very interesting!

After learning some facts about iron and Nutrition Facts labels we started our experiment. We made slurries with our three cereals (Total, Cheerios and Honey Smacks) by blending them with water. Then we poured the slurries into plastic cups with magnets attached to the side. We stirred the slurries and the little iron bits stuck to the side of the cup where the magnet was. It was really neat! The Total cereal gave us a sizeable chunk of iron. It's pretty amazing that we eat that stuff! We titled the project, "Nails for Breakfast?"

During the process, Chase learning about the scientific method and about how to organize information and prepare a presentation. Last Friday morning, we set up at the Science Fair and Chase was drilled by the judges. When we returned Friday night for the awards ceremony, Chase was given 2nd place for his project. Hooray Chase! He looked very proud and a bit shy as he accepted his ribbon in front of everyone.

The science project was pretty fun for all of us. It was hard for me to find the balance between guiding and teaching Chase during the process and taking over the whole project, but in the end, I think we did alright. All the other kids who entered projects in the Science Fair did a great job, too. Homeschooling is fun!