Lvov's cool, self-referential artwork
Akychame's Manga artwork - the kids always doodle while listening to me readABOUT THIS WEEK: This was Lvov's transitional week from the Saxon 54 math text to the Saxon 76 math text. She's starting at lesson 2, and feeling totally comfortable with the higher level. Note: Thursday, October 30th is the end of the 1st quarter (47 possible instructional days so far), so there is no school on Friday. During this first quarter, the kids have attended school 45 out of a possible 49 days. Right on track!
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CURRENT INDEPENDENT READING: The kids started reading The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson. They are now on page 50 (10 pages per day). This story takes place in Japan, where we lived for 6 years. Over vacation (the past 2 weeks or so) the kids read teenage magazines, comics, and travel guides.
EDUCATIONAL MOVIE: We watched Immortal Beloved about the life of Beethoven, acted by Gary Oldman. It was interesting to see what the world was like in Beethoven's day. It was of particular interest to Akychame since she has been practicing his "Moonlight Sonata" for weeks in preparation for her piano recital. Old composers can seem so dull and lifeless; this movie is a bit dramatic, and possibly not too accurate, but at least it brings Beethoven to life and cements him in the kids' minds.
FIELD TRIP: After touring Paris and Venice last week, we are happy to stay close to home and catch our collective breath a little.
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Monday
GERMAN: The kids completed a section of Lesson 2 on German Level 2 on Rosetta Stone online.
HISTORY: In the "World of Wonder" section of The Republic newspaper, we read about the life of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. His life is the stuff of legends, especially since he believed he was descended from Achilles and Hercules (big shoes to fill!), he was undefeated in battle, and because his empire stretched to India (this was 300 years or so before Jesus was born!!!) Wow.
This article led to an awesome, meandering conversation about a million things. Our reading is always a jumping-off point for discussion and debate. We ended up talking about Cleopatra (who we watched a documentary about 2 weeks ago). We thought of her because she was from the same general area as A. the G. Which then led to marveling over how she came to rule Egypt, even though she was from Greece. Akychame compared that to Barack Obama, who was born in Africa, but who might be the next president of the USA.
We also did a little historical time-lining for comprehension and connection-making: Alexander the Great was as far in the past to Jesus as the Salem witch trials are to us today! It's too easy, I think, to clump anything over 1,000 years old (or 2,000 or 500) into the "old boring stuff" category. It's important to me that my kids learn to sort events into relative eras, to know what was going on in the world at the same time, to be able to make connections between events in history (the butterfly effect), etc. Similarly, from our documentary about Cleopatra we learned that the pyramids were as "ancient history" to her as she is to us today! Wow.
There is a wonderful TV show that aired on PBS called Connections. Wikipedia describes the show much as I would describe my own philosophy of history:
Connections explores an "Alternative View of Change" (the subtitle of the series) that rejects the conventional linear view of historical progress. Burke contends that one cannot consider the development of any particular piece of the modern world in isolation. Rather, the entire gestalt of the modern world is the result of a web of interconnected events, each one consisting of a person or group acting for reasons of their own (e.g, profit, curiosity, religious) motivations with no concept of the final, modern result of what either their or their contemporaries' actions finally lead to. The interplay of the results of these isolated events is what drives history and innovation, and is also the main focus of the series and its sequels.
CURRENT EVENTS: Our A. the G. discussion led to a long talk about politics and the presidential race. We discussed the backgrounds of all of the candidates, and what we learned from interviews with the candidates and their families. They are all so interesting to us. It's not clear who the good guy and bad guy (or gal) is. They both have redeeming qualities and interesting lives.
It's so interesting to me that just 50 years ago or so, when my parents were teenagers, the thought of a black man becoming president would have been the stuff of fantasy. It's such an interesting race to me, and to my kids. We were so psyched to participate in history and the progression of humanism by voting for Obama. Amazing.
SAXON 76 MATH:
Akychame - Discussion, Lesson 51, problems 1-15
Lvov - Discussion, Lesson 2, problems 1-15
SCIENCE READING:
In our Holt Life Science text, we read about the 6 characteristics of living things: reproduction, DNA, growth, reaction to stimulus, etc. We compared a river to a human, a slime mold to a tree, etc. We also read about homeostasis, and a few ways in which the human body maintains homeostasis.
or instance, when we are in the cold, we shiver, which makes our muscles spasm, which produces heat (like rubbing hands together). The body also redirects its blood to the vital organs (brain & heart) to keep them warm, while letting less important parts of the body (fingers, ears) freeze.
Also, this week we read about pupil dilation, how the tiny circular muscles in the iris dilate and contract the pupil-hole to let in more or less light, thereby maintaining homeostasis within the retina.
In addition, we have started listening to The Naked Scientists podcast while driving in the car. The show is hosted by several scientists from Cambridge University in England. Each hour-long show is devoted to a particular scientific theme, and they do experiments, interview experts in the field, and discuss many current issues pertaining to the subject matter.
This week we listened to the podcast all about Mars, if life could ever be sustainable on Mars, what Mars' atmosphere is like, how scientists are recreating Mars' atmosphere in laboratories on earth to gauge whether their shuttles and instruments would be able to weather the conditions over time, etc. They also talked about this scientist who is creating a liquid that would allow aircraft and space shuttles to "heal" themselves the way the human body might, like blood clotting! How cool is that? We really enjoy listening to this podcast. It's also training our ears to make sense of some pretty thick British accents, which will be very useful in exactly 8 months!
HANDS-ON SCIENCE:
After reading about pupil dilation, one of us at at a time shut our eyes for several moments in a dark room, then flicked the lights on and opened our eyes. The other two of us would watch the pupil dilate to a pin prick, then adjust slowly and open more and more. We opened the blinds of the room to mimic dilation, and closed them to mimic contraction.
ADDITIONAL LEARNING TODAY:
HOME ARTS: The kids learned how to identify recyclable plastic bottles (the code and the system is different in Germany). Then we went through our plastics recycling bin, stuffed the bottles into our backpacks, and rode our bikes to a German grocery store where each 17-cent bottle earned us 25 cents! Germany's recycling program is great. paying the consumer 25 cents for a bottle of water that originally cost 17 cents is really good motivation.
PIANO: Akychame has practiced the piano about 2 hours this week, in addition to her 1-hour lesson.
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Tuesday
MATH DRILLS: We did a rapid-fire oral review of multiplication facts
HOME ARTS: We went through all of our homeschooling notebooks, folders, binders, and loose papers and made sense of it all. Since it is the end of the first quarter, it was the perfect time to take stock and organize. It also teaches the kids to take pride in their educational materials, to identify what is needed, and what is superfluous, and to take personal responsibility for the tidiness and clarity of their work folders.
SAXON MATH 76:
Akychame: Further discussion of Lesson 52, completed problems 16-30.
Lvov: Further discussion of Lesson 2, completed problem 16-30.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
We voted for Barack Obama today!
I just received my overseas voting packet in the mail today, and the kids read through all of the instructions with me, and we talked about the race a little more.
We also talked about an initiative in the states to legalize euthanasia to terminally ill patients who have less than 6 months to live. I was very glad to be able to vote in favor of this, as I have been applauding the work of Dr. Kavorkian for years.
This led to a discussion about a person's right to choose death in the face of suffering (wouldn't we kill animals if they are suffering, and beyond help - an act of compassion?) I never force my views on the kids, but instead give them a few differing views on any topic, then play the devil's advocate, spurring them to defend whatever stance they choose. It's not all that important that they agree with me, but it is important to me that they can think for themselves, be able to defend their beliefs and views, and to do so graciously and eloquently.
They happened to agree with me on the issue of euthanasia, and we talked about how Doc Kavorkian was seen as a crackpot maverick and sent to prison for relieving people of suffering. It's good for the kids to see that there is no such thing as stasis - ideas, trends, beliefs, practices all cycle in and out of public acceptance. Interestingly, later on when we were listening to a show about stars blowing themselves to bits at the end of their lives, it reminded us of euthanasia. And of connections in general, and to be on the lookout for connections everywhere.
GERMAN TEXTBOOK: We finished lesson 1 today! The kids have been practicing German for a couple of years now, through Rosetta Stone and in their daily interactions in the German community, but since this is a college-level textbook, I thought it would be wise to begin with the beginning. Today we quizzed one another on conjugations and vocabulary, and the kids completed all of the end-of-chapter exercises (plurals, definite articles, conjugations).
LANGUAGE ARTS: The kids wrote reviews of Hotel Karraz, the hotel we stayed at in Paris a couple of weeks ago. They wrote their reviews with three distinct demographics in mind: teenage backpackers, parents with young children, and the elderly. They had to identify pro's and con's for each group.
For example, for teenagers, it is ideal all around: cheap, sleeps four, funky, close to nightlife and cheap eateries, etc. And it's just minutes from the Metro and a 24-hour internet cafe. For parents with children, there are safety concerns such as wide open windows with no screens, and the noise from the street at night would undoubtedly keep a baby awake. For elderly people, the incredibly tiny, steep, spiral staircase would pose a physical challenge. But, it's cheap, friendly, close to the Louvre and endless walking adventures, etc.
This exercise helped the kids see travel and accommodation from different viewpoints, it helped them become more informed guests, and it also helped them to be very clear and thorough in their writing.
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Wednesday
MYTHOLOGY: Because we started studying Southeastern Europe today, our mythology story took on a special significance. We found Crete on the map, and the Sea of Crete, as well as the Aegean Sea, which takes its name from Aegeus, the father of Theseus. This sea is where Aegeus jumped to his death when he mistakenly thought his son Theseus had been killed by the Minotaur on Crete. So we re-read the Theseus story, which led us to recount how the city of Athens got its name. It's all about an olive tree. Also, while studying our Latin text, we read the story of Medusa, who was slain by Perseus (who wore winged sandals!!!) and avoided being turned to stone by looking at her reflection in his shield, instead of at her.
MATH: Today the kids and I did an important real-life math project. It was payday, so I showed the kids Phil's pay stub, the online bank account and how it works, which companies we need to pay every month, how much we need to pay them, how they are paid, in which currency, and how to do conversions.
We touched upon this project more superficially a couple of months ago, but this time around the focus was much more intense. The kids helped me to brainstorm solutions to hypothetical financial crises, such as how to split up payments to make all of the creditors happy.
They also learned to differentiate between what payments are fixed (rent and bills) and what ones are more fluid (groceries - pizza out on the town vs. rice & beans at home).
Armed with this knowledge, the kids created their own budget that reflects their allowance "paycheck" every two weeks, as well as an average of their dog-walking income. This is their "incoming." Then they made lists of their recurring "necessities" (guinea pig food, etc.) and "wants" (magazines, junk food, souvenirs, etc.). Then they totaled it up and made sure that their spending was in sync with their earning. They enjoyed this!
After this, I showed the kids my monthly payments grid, which gives me an instant overview of an entire years' worth of bill-paying. It helps me enormously. On the left margin is a list of my creditors, and on the top are the months. Below this is a grid of boxes, wherein one box reflects payments made to each creditor each month. Each square is divided diagonally, the top # reflecting how much I actually paid, and the bottom # reflecting how much I should have paid for that month. It's very basic, and very helpful.
I like giving my kids real-world know-how like this. I like to think that if they got an apartment together next week, that they could probably function more confidently and efficiently than I did at 25.
Later, the kids accompanied me as I visited several German companies to pay our bills. They've done this countless times before, but now they have a better understanding of why I was there, and of how important it is. For example, if I don't pay Gasanstalt, there will be no hot bubble baths this winter.
POETRY:
We read three poems by Maya Angelou: Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, and Little Girl Speaking.
The kids loved the straight-forwardness of the poems, and the sassiness. They both read the poems aloud, taking on the speaker's attitude and strength of character. We especially loved Little Girl Speaking, the way Angelou mimics African-American speech. It's wonderful that many African-American writers have preserved the intonations and slang of their communities. It's very beautiful, I think. The way a culture expresses itself is important, and shouldn't be white-washed.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is another example of natural speech in literature, and of course, Langston Hughes was famous for this too - giving voices to those who were not heard. We talked about some of Angelou's metaphors and similes that are especially effective, such as "raking the ceiling with the teeth of her smile" and her shoulders drooping like tear drops.
We also discussed the significance of Maya Angeou's career, and how it is remarkable that her work et with such success, given the racism and sexism she was up against in her lifetime. Later, I asked the girls to write poems entitled "Phenomenal Child," with instructions to brag about what makes them special and wonderful. As women and girls, we are often taught to belittle ourselves. I think a poem celebrating oneself is lovely. LATIN: We read the birthday party section in our "Minimus" text. It involves saying "happy birthday,"" here is a present for you," "it is so beautiful," etc. I need to download a really good starter Latin podcast so that we can work on our pronunciation.
Akychame - piano lesson (1 hour)
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Thursday
GEOGRAPHY: Today we actually memorized all of the South Eastern European countries and bodies of water. Yeah! Next week we'll memorize the cities, and then travel to North Eastern Europe. We came up with all kinds of silly pneumonic devices to remember all of the names.
For example, Croatia looks like a big piranha with its toothy mouth about to gulp up Bosnia and Herzogovina. B & H is the only country in S.E. Europe to have two names, so that's why Croatia the piranha is eating it - because it figures it's getting two for the price of one. After it gulps it down, Croatia crows, "I ate ya! I ate ya!" It crowed-"ate-ya."
Then, above it, looking over its shoulder, is another fish who is clearly disgusted with Croatia's horrible manners. It says, "You're so slovenly!" The fish is named Slovenia. Slovenia's rival, beneath B & H, who witnessed the whole thing, retorts, "You go, girl! To the east, we find Bulgaria, which we remember because it starts with "B," as does the Black Sea, which it borders. Above this, we find Romania, "roaming" to the north. With these little memory aids, we have memorized nine countries in one day. It was fun, too! These are just a few examples of how we memorize geography.
