Inspired by books

I haven't been blogging about school much lately, I realize. :) But lately school has been so busy and so great, that I find it's much better to spend my time actually doing school than worrying too much about documenting it. :) I'm sure you feel the same.

Some of the moments I love the most in homeschooling come in the completely random moments, moments I didn't plan out beforehand. The best creativity and dreaming happens then.

For instance, one day, we were reading "Dreams," by Ezra Jack Keats. Don't you just love Ezra Jack Keats? You ought to. Sigh.

The girls were fascinated by the illustrations...that each window showed what each different child was dreaming. They were transfixed.

So, rather than shutting the book and plowing ahead with math, we instead got out some construction paper and crayons. I made a very crude and simple house, with a window for each girl. Then they excitedly went to their beds for a nap.

When they woke up, they each got a chance to draw that they had dreamed in their own window. It was a quiet, simple, lovely lesson. Did it meet any academic content standard? Probably not. :) I love it. :)

We've had so many fun times with books lately. Another happened one day at lunch, when I was reading them a simple story called "The Story Game," where a class is stuck inside because of the weather, and they make up a story together, by each taking turns and adding a new and small part of the story. The girls were so excited that we now play the story game often at meals and in the car and at other times. :)

Take time to be inspired. It's fun. Everything else will get done. :) But this is the best stuff.

Making inferences from text

...or just a fancy way of saying, "What are you getting from the story?" :)

Lately, we've been doing a really fun and easy way of checking comprehension and such. I divide a paper into four sections, then begin to read a story or non-fiction selection, without showing the girls any pictures. Every so often, I'll stop and ask them to draw me a picture about what just happened, or what I have been reading about.

It is SO fun to see how their little minds are working, and to see how they each imagine the story or characters just a little differently. It is also a fun and easy way to encourage them to listen closely, because they know that at any moment, I may ask them to draw or write something.

At the end of the story, we turn our papers over, and they can draw me a picture of anything they want to from the story. That gives them a moment of complete creative license, which some kids really need and love. :)

This book has questions written along the side that make good stopping points, but it's not hard to find them on your own. :)

The best kind of school day

...may be when no "school" happens at all.

Today for school, we invited others from the community to come over and to help put together hygiene kits for the survivors in Haiti.  It was simple and profound for the girls.  Instead of focusing on their lives, it gave them a chance to look outward and to see that they can make a difference and to help others.  It gave them a chance to consider what someone else may be feeling and going through.

The kits aren't hard to make, and neither is getting together with some friends to make some.  It might be a worthwhile consideration for your family, too! :)

Red-Handed

We did another fun experiment, courtesy of Bill Nye last week.  It was fun, and involved having one child hold one arm up in the air and one down at her side for one minute, while her sister timed her.  It was good practice at timing, and at attention. 

The result was supposed to be that the hand in the air was paler than the one that hung down, because it was harder for the heart to pump blood up there.  It worked on one of the girls, and either way, they had fun!!  It was fun to talk about our bodies and help them to understand circulation better. :)

Excellent article

This article by Big Journalism is fantastic.  It's a bit of a shocker to hear some of the comments.

Oh wait.  No, not really.  It feels often that as soon as I mention that I'm homeschooling, people slyly begin looking for dandruff and head lice. 

Hole-y Water

This month has been really fun as we have been working on our thinking and reasoning skills with lots of fun science experiments!

This was an especially fun one that we did!  (Idea: Bill Nye)

Start with a clear glass literally brimming full with very hot water.

Show your kids a bag of powdered sugar.  Ask them what will happen to this full glass of water if you start to spoon the powdered sugar into the water.  Listen and talk about their answers and the reasons behind them.

Begin slowly, carefully spooning the powdered sugar into the glass (be careful not to touch the water with the spoon).  Do this with several spoonfuls.  Observe what happens!

Amazing!  No water spills out of the glass!  Did they guess right? 

Talk about the molecules of the water being spaced far apart, thus leaving room for the molecules of sugar.  Have them record their observations. 

If they are older, there are all kinds of writing and reading you can do...just modify for your particular age group!  Have fun!

My Christmas Wish

(Re-posted from my personal blog.)

This Christmas season has been such a merry one for me.  I have been at peace here, and we have been so blessed that I have just felt wrapped in love.  My children are giggling and excited, and they have wonder and reverence for the little One Who came so long ago.

But in contrast, my heart is never far from the tremendous suffering in other parts of the world.  Unlike many, I do believe, with everything I have, that we can change it, and I have begun my own work to try to change it, both by joining the efforts of others, and by trying to formulate my own inspirations into plans. 

This Christmas, part of my heart is very heavy, as I ponder what last Christmas was like for these people, and what it may very well be like again this year.  The LRA, or "Lord's Resistance Army," is a radical Ugandan sectarian militant group.  "Between 24 December 2008 and 17 January, LRA rebels killed at least 865 people and abducted about 160 children in the northeastern Haut-Uélé localities of Niangara, Dungu, Faradje and Doruma, according to Human Rights Watch.  At least 400 people were killed in a spate of attacks on 25 and 26 December alone, including about 100 killed in Faradje at a music concert"(source: irin news...the quote at the end would be laughable, were it not so appallingly pompous and ignorant).  The murders and rapes were unspeakably brutal, and practically unimaginable to us, as we sit in our warm, safe homes half-way across the world.  The LRA has made threats and circulated pamphlets that they will repeat what they did last year.  


Is there anything that we can do?  


Though there is much we can do for the Congo, no, there is not a lot we can do in this particular circumstance.  And that infuriates and agonizes me.  


So why do I bring it up?  Why am I spoiling your Christmas cheer?



Because I am praying constantly for this to somehow not happen.  I am praying with everything I have that somehow, the hearts of these evil, wicked men will be softened and turned away from this brutality.  

Futile?  Maybe.  But if you read this, maybe you will take two minutes and pray, too.  


Even in its seeming futility, I am reminded of another Christmas massacre that was avoided over 2,000 years ago, largely by prayer.  Read about it here: 3 Nephi 1:4-21.

Maybe, in taking a minute to pause from the rush and stress of your holiday preparations to pray for genuine suffering, your own troubles will seem very light, and your own blessings much greater this Christmas.   


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Update: See my personal blog entry.