Archive for April 5, 2008

Looking Ahead

{ April 5, 2008 @ 3:43 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Comments (3) }

Well, I can’t say that I’ve been keeping up with Home Education Week very well but I did want to participate with this last prompt from Principled Discovery. It goes like this:

What are your goals for home education? What do you hope to instill in your children? Are you planning any changes in how you educate your children?

I am going to break it down and answer it in bits.

What are your goals for home education?

This is a tough one!  My goals are to have well educated children but that is so vague.  I don’t want my children to leave here having learned all they need (how could you do that anyway?) but fully ready to spend their life learning.  I would hope that the way they have learned as children would leave them ready and willing to learn more and more and more until the day they die.  I want them to know that if they don’t know something the answer is not to give up but to go and find the answer. I would also hope that my kids would be well on the way to knowing who they are and where they would like to be in the world and to have the foundation to get themselves there.

What so you hope to instill in your children?

A sense of wonder, a thirst for learning and a passion for life.  A respect for the earth and each other.  Tolerance of differences and the ability to embrace the cultures of others.

Are you planning on any changes in how you educate your children?

Well, I do plan on becoming a bit more formal with K next year since she will be a freshman and even with B who will be in 3rd grade.  More so with her then with him of course!  The thought of a transcript looming makes it necessary for us to become more formal with K’s education.  B is just getting to the age where he can handle the occasional lesson plan :)  

At the heart of it though, nothing will really change.  I will still consult them as to what they want to learn.  I will respect their differences and special learning needs.  I will still read to them (yes, even the 14yo) and work with them on projects. Whatever hoops we have to jump through educationally I will try and make it as painless as possible.  In short, I will try my best to do what is best for them.

 

Updates-world map, tomatoes and mice

{ April 5, 2008 @ 3:13 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

I’m not sure if this post will have any pictures because I can’t seem to get the *add media* button on the new dashboard to work.  UGH!

Anyway…we have really been enjoying having the big world map up!  We got our push pins and marked all the countries we have sent a postcard too as well as those we have received one from.   Some even got both! B is fascinated with the map and constantly asks what this country or that is called.  Yesterday we played a game where he spelled out names of locations on the map and I had to find them.  Turns out I’m better at geography then I thought, although he did stump me with Svalbard!

I took the tomato plants that we had left after making our Mars greenhouse and planted them in baskets.  The next morning I found that the cats had a fun time digging most of them up!  Bad Kitties! >:^( I think I managed to salvage one or two seedlings and they now live in B’s room where the cats (in theory) can’t get them.  The greenhouse itself is doing great! The plants have not died yet (I know, I’m surprised too!) and are actually growing!  I feel a strange urge to call Ripley’s!

The mice are still cute and we have figured out their personalities. 

Thimble (aka Mindy, aka Mystery) is an escape artist, or at least she aspires to be one.  She spends all her awake time not spent eating getting as high as she can and making mad jumps for the top of the cage.  Of course it has a cover so I can’t figure out what she thinks she’ll do if she gets up there but..  She does not like to be picked up and will try to bolt.

Princess is the biggest and laziest.  *She* also stinks.  All of this makes me think she might actually be a *he*.  If I’m right time will tell! Princess (Prince?) is easy to catch and hold and will sit in your pocket but always cleans excessively when returned to the cage ;)  

Rosie is mellow and always hungry.  She lets you pick her up but isn’t all that happy about it.  She likes to hang out with Princess.  She loves to crawl into the plastic tunnel B buried under the litter for them so if you don’t see her, look there first!

No Dennis update this week :(   We are still stuck on how to make his eyes and need more supplies for his legs.