Big winners and losers from the last two weeks. The gold star goes to the Asian Peanut Butter Pork in the crock. DadR exclaimed about every third bite. AND everyone else--picky Tai, little picky AMCD--liked it too (Shock-a-roo!!) Full of flavor but not hot.
But the Walnut and Sage Potatoes au Gratin in the crock went flat. They tasted OK --if you could get past the look of curdled cheese and gray taters. And I'm stuck with LOTS of them. AMCD is getting fond of making "casseroles" with bits of leftovers that she swirls together on her plate and then tops with shredded cheese to be nuked 'til melted. This was a way to sell some more of the au gratins. But not much.
So now it's Thanksgiving week, but that actually makes it more difficult to plan because there are so many more factors involved: leftovers, taking food to the hostess's home, family coming and going more over a long 4-day weekend. AND it's DadR's birthday thrown in too!
Also there were several missed nights last week, leaving us with stuff that was never cooked to carry over to this one.
So here goes:
Monday: Leftover Peanut Pork and sticky rice
Tuesday : Steak on grill, mash-those-potatoes-au-gratin? (the crocked potats that didn't work out), peas or salad
Wednesday: Kansas City Steak Soup ( nice and healthy vegetarian meal before the artery-choking next day) cornbread
Thanksgiving Day: SIL will do turkey, stuffing etc. We're bringing a big green salad, Tai's Szechuan Green beans, my apple pie, and cupcakes to celebrate DadR's and Papa's birthdays.
Late night: leftover soup or pizza
Friday: I'm outta here. Tai's turn.
Saturday: DadR's Birthday: Lasagna, brown 'n' serve rolls, salad. Boston cream cake from store.
Sunday: His choice.
Nov 22, 2009
"Understood MeiWei"
There is a book we're reading right now that should be on every helicoptering parent's reading list. I'm sure glad it's on ours, and I didn't think I was that much of a pilot.
It's called Understood Betsy
.
It was written by my new educational heroine, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (I've even gotten her name memorized) back in 1916. For the many ways Mrs. Fisher contributed to our country, she was named one of America's most influential women by Eleanor Roosevelt, which included the introduction of the Montessori method of teaching to the US. There are many facets of a Montessori education, not the least of which is the child's self-pacing, but that is not what matters here so much. What matters is this book, and what it says to both children and parents.
And this is what it says.
To children, "You'll figure it out. You have what it takes. Have confidence. Try. Fail if necessary."
To parents, it says, "Let THEM figure it out. They DO have what it takes. Have confidence--in them. It's okay to fail."
I have been convicted by this book in my handling of MeiWei. I thought that because I derided over-protective parents who would fight all their children's battles and protect them even from the "dangers" of walking home from the busstop unchaperoned that I was not a 'chopper parent. But because she is rather clumsy and careless, I have gotten into a bad habit of hovering to avoid disasters. This has led to doing things for her. That in turn has created a child that lacks self-confidence, initiative, and risk-taking. It has fed her already innate desire to remain a baby.
The book is extremely funny and at the same time tragic when we realize how much of Betsy's life--nine years--has been wasted by her well-meaning guardian, Aunt Frances. Frances parodies today's helicopter parents: walking Betsy to school every day because she is "so shy", creating in her a fear of dogs, dirt, food, other children, and heaven knows what else. The child even fantasizes her own death since she believes that she is so "frail." Only when fate forces her to be taken in by the "horrid" Putney cousins, quintessential unflappable, unimpressible, mind-your-own-business Yankees, does the chopper land and does Betsy soar.
Understood Betsy is an AmblesideOnline Year 2 reading requirement for children around Betsy's age. What it should be is a reading requirement for every parent who wants to truly understand what a child needs.
It's called Understood Betsy
.It was written by my new educational heroine, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (I've even gotten her name memorized) back in 1916. For the many ways Mrs. Fisher contributed to our country, she was named one of America's most influential women by Eleanor Roosevelt, which included the introduction of the Montessori method of teaching to the US. There are many facets of a Montessori education, not the least of which is the child's self-pacing, but that is not what matters here so much. What matters is this book, and what it says to both children and parents.
And this is what it says.
To children, "You'll figure it out. You have what it takes. Have confidence. Try. Fail if necessary."
To parents, it says, "Let THEM figure it out. They DO have what it takes. Have confidence--in them. It's okay to fail."
I have been convicted by this book in my handling of MeiWei. I thought that because I derided over-protective parents who would fight all their children's battles and protect them even from the "dangers" of walking home from the busstop unchaperoned that I was not a 'chopper parent. But because she is rather clumsy and careless, I have gotten into a bad habit of hovering to avoid disasters. This has led to doing things for her. That in turn has created a child that lacks self-confidence, initiative, and risk-taking. It has fed her already innate desire to remain a baby.
The book is extremely funny and at the same time tragic when we realize how much of Betsy's life--nine years--has been wasted by her well-meaning guardian, Aunt Frances. Frances parodies today's helicopter parents: walking Betsy to school every day because she is "so shy", creating in her a fear of dogs, dirt, food, other children, and heaven knows what else. The child even fantasizes her own death since she believes that she is so "frail." Only when fate forces her to be taken in by the "horrid" Putney cousins, quintessential unflappable, unimpressible, mind-your-own-business Yankees, does the chopper land and does Betsy soar.
Understood Betsy is an AmblesideOnline Year 2 reading requirement for children around Betsy's age. What it should be is a reading requirement for every parent who wants to truly understand what a child needs.
Dinner Date
It was tough this week since I came down with a bit of a cold. I wondered if it was possible to go to Macaroni Grill on Saturday night feeling fine and waking up Sunday morning with those "funny feelings" so suddenly. 'Course if you're trying to avoid germs during a swine flu epidemic, a crowded restaurant is not the best idea.
As we sat at the bar waiting for a table, we ordered their "best" house Chianti and a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lemon for me. As I watched the bartender squeeze that raw lemon with his bare hands into my raw water, I wondered at the risk of infection that he could have passed to me in that unsanitary movement. My concerns may have been valid.
The dinner was great, and WOULD have been extremely economical. All that singular MacGrill rosemary bread dipped in olive oil, their new olive sampler on the side gratis, the signature Pour-Your-Own bottle of Chianti parked on your table (we had two glasses each). Then some terrific calamari--a new dish---and our pasta favs. All that came to $28! BUT, those two glasses of Chianti at the BAR were an additional $22!! That goes to show you what pride in not wanting to look like a tightwad will cost you. I think I MAY have found out how MacGrill makes a profit.
As we sat at the bar waiting for a table, we ordered their "best" house Chianti and a glass of sparkling water with a twist of lemon for me. As I watched the bartender squeeze that raw lemon with his bare hands into my raw water, I wondered at the risk of infection that he could have passed to me in that unsanitary movement. My concerns may have been valid.
The dinner was great, and WOULD have been extremely economical. All that singular MacGrill rosemary bread dipped in olive oil, their new olive sampler on the side gratis, the signature Pour-Your-Own bottle of Chianti parked on your table (we had two glasses each). Then some terrific calamari--a new dish---and our pasta favs. All that came to $28! BUT, those two glasses of Chianti at the BAR were an additional $22!! That goes to show you what pride in not wanting to look like a tightwad will cost you. I think I MAY have found out how MacGrill makes a profit.
Rabbit Lapbook Update
Boy, I don't know about this. I can see why some AmblesideOnline people would say this is "twaddly." What a lot of work for a relatively small amount of end result! I've spent HOURS putting together these little minibooks, designing some by hand and hunting for others on Homeschoolshare.com.
For example, I was inspired by another mom's rabbit lapbbok her 2 daughters had made which included some math facts. Well, seeing as how we're talking RABBITS what could be more obvious than MULITPLICATION facts?? MeiWei is doing "pre-multiplication" with skip-counting by 2's, 5's and 10's as Math-U-See instructs. So I planned for nine little "matchbooks" that when closed displayed the fact and when opened revealed the answer. A template on HomeschoolShare showed a nifty book that would hold eight of the matchbooks inside. I could paste the ninth on the cover. Then I would cleverly entitle it "Multiplying Like Rabbits!"
So a couple of hours later, after downloading the PDF, copying to various papers, cutting, labeling and pasting the matchbooks into the cover, I place it on the lapbook. The "mini"book is too BIG for the lapbook. Wonderful! And this minibook was designed for lapbooking.
I had to cut the whole thing apart into little matchbook facts and redesign the cover (into thirds, mind you) to make it work. I don't like to gripe but I feel I've gotta go onto their Community Board and say a thing or two. Homeschool moms don't have time like this to waste.
For example, I was inspired by another mom's rabbit lapbbok her 2 daughters had made which included some math facts. Well, seeing as how we're talking RABBITS what could be more obvious than MULITPLICATION facts?? MeiWei is doing "pre-multiplication" with skip-counting by 2's, 5's and 10's as Math-U-See instructs. So I planned for nine little "matchbooks" that when closed displayed the fact and when opened revealed the answer. A template on HomeschoolShare showed a nifty book that would hold eight of the matchbooks inside. I could paste the ninth on the cover. Then I would cleverly entitle it "Multiplying Like Rabbits!"
So a couple of hours later, after downloading the PDF, copying to various papers, cutting, labeling and pasting the matchbooks into the cover, I place it on the lapbook. The "mini"book is too BIG for the lapbook. Wonderful! And this minibook was designed for lapbooking.
I had to cut the whole thing apart into little matchbook facts and redesign the cover (into thirds, mind you) to make it work. I don't like to gripe but I feel I've gotta go onto their Community Board and say a thing or two. Homeschool moms don't have time like this to waste.
Nov 15, 2009
Nov 14, 2009
Rabbit Lapbook
Well it looks like we'll finally bite the bullet and try this lapbooking thing. Apparently, in this Homeschool 2.0 universe that I now find myself in (Homeschooling in the internet age) you aren't home educating unless you're creating lapbooks. In Homeschool 1.0, you were cutting edge if you had foregone textbooks for unit studies. (We were sooooo clued. As in "Konos." Back then, the Hulcy kids were the kids. Not the grandkids.) In this millenium I'm feeling longer in the tooth and less inclined to build full-scale teepees in the backyard or create walk-through models of the ear.
So now it's these lapbooks.
A lapbook is like a pop-up book for showcasing a child's knowledge of a topic. Of course she could write a report or take a test. But if you are the grandparent at the holiday dinner, wouldn't you rather play with a pop-up book than read a book report?
This form of documenting MeiWei's knowledge may be well suited considering her aversion to handwriting. Oh, it's not that she has nothing to say! I have to persuade her that we only have so many allotted words we can use in a day and she shouldn't waste them.....(No, it's not true. You do what you have to do to get a little peace.)
With a lapbook, she can present bite-size pieces of info in the form of mini-books written by hand or even typed, it doesn't matter. And knowing that her audience is going to really love looking at her work is an incentive.
Need a visual? Check out the Queen of Lapbooking
So upon concluding the Rodent chapters of Thornton Burgess' Animal Book
I asked her what her favorite animal was and she quickly replied, "Rabbits!"
I got a good start with other mini-books (the bones of a lapbook) pertaining to rabbits at Homeschool Share
So here we go! Give us a week. We're going to try and have it done to shove in front of all the relatives at Thanksgiving.
Oh, and I found out that rabbits are not rodents. More later...
So now it's these lapbooks.
A lapbook is like a pop-up book for showcasing a child's knowledge of a topic. Of course she could write a report or take a test. But if you are the grandparent at the holiday dinner, wouldn't you rather play with a pop-up book than read a book report?
This form of documenting MeiWei's knowledge may be well suited considering her aversion to handwriting. Oh, it's not that she has nothing to say! I have to persuade her that we only have so many allotted words we can use in a day and she shouldn't waste them.....(No, it's not true. You do what you have to do to get a little peace.)
With a lapbook, she can present bite-size pieces of info in the form of mini-books written by hand or even typed, it doesn't matter. And knowing that her audience is going to really love looking at her work is an incentive.
Need a visual? Check out the Queen of Lapbooking
So upon concluding the Rodent chapters of Thornton Burgess' Animal Book
I asked her what her favorite animal was and she quickly replied, "Rabbits!"
I got a good start with other mini-books (the bones of a lapbook) pertaining to rabbits at Homeschool Share
So here we go! Give us a week. We're going to try and have it done to shove in front of all the relatives at Thanksgiving.
Oh, and I found out that rabbits are not rodents. More later...
This Week's Menu
Monday
Fried Chicken, baked potatoes, green bean casserole. I hope I can equal my mom's reputation for the chicken. Good advice here if your mom is not available.
Tuesday
Chili for crock, cornbread
Wednesday
Herb-crusted Pork Chops , Walnut-Sage Potatoes au Gratin , (test-driving for Thanskgiving), steamed broccoli
Thursday
Orange Chicken in Crockpot (or "crocked" as AMCD coined), rice, stir-fried asparagus
Friday
Mac'n'Cheese "crocked" , green salad
Doing this cuz the family LOVES Dad's "mac-cheese" as we call it , again thanks to AMCD. Wish me luck though after reading all the comments posted to CrockPot's site.(eyeroll)
Saturday and Sunday: no plan. There are leftovers or DadR and Tai can cook. They both love to. To be frank, I love to do almost anything else.
Fried Chicken, baked potatoes, green bean casserole. I hope I can equal my mom's reputation for the chicken. Good advice here if your mom is not available.
Tuesday
Chili for crock, cornbread
Wednesday
Herb-crusted Pork Chops , Walnut-Sage Potatoes au Gratin , (test-driving for Thanskgiving), steamed broccoli
Thursday
Orange Chicken in Crockpot (or "crocked" as AMCD coined), rice, stir-fried asparagus
Friday
Mac'n'Cheese "crocked" , green salad
Doing this cuz the family LOVES Dad's "mac-cheese" as we call it , again thanks to AMCD. Wish me luck though after reading all the comments posted to CrockPot's site.(eyeroll)
Saturday and Sunday: no plan. There are leftovers or DadR and Tai can cook. They both love to. To be frank, I love to do almost anything else.
Cooking Again
I've been blessed abundantly for the last two years with DaddyRobin's willingness (even eagerness) to make dinner virtually every night. In fact I had practically forgotten how to cook! He can grill, he can stir-fry, he can put together interesting ingredients and all without a recipe.
He had been laid-off in the spring which allowed him to be home all day and do odd jobs, cut grass, help with MeiWei, and most importantly COOK. But when that ended last week (and we are singing God's praises that it has, don't get me wrong! :-)), I confess I was in tears at the thought of homeschooling all day and being responsible for dinner every night along with other evening "taxi jobs".
I'm that spoiled. How embarrassing.
I always chastise myself about this, how "other mothers", particularly those homeschooling ones that have five kids under 10 and one on the way, who garden organically and bake all their own bread--whole grain--do it. Okay, my excuse can be GAD (general anxiety disorder), but then that kind of thinking only adds to my anxieties!
Well, sweet, supportive hubbie talked me through it and my fears began to subside as he assured me that frozen entrees by Stouffer's were OK.
Then I found some blogs other homeschoolers were using:
I'm an Organized Junkie and A Year of Slow Cooking . "Junkie" encourages weekly menu planning. So that's what I've done for a record two weeks in a row.
This week I've even added home delivery from Giant Food's Peapod program. I'm justifying the $7.95 delivery fee as the time-value of money saved for not driving there and back, spending on spontaneous purchases, and exhausting AMCD and me at the end of a school day. AND they'll give me free delivery on my next order over $100.
I'll keep you posted. Delivery is Monday morning!
He had been laid-off in the spring which allowed him to be home all day and do odd jobs, cut grass, help with MeiWei, and most importantly COOK. But when that ended last week (and we are singing God's praises that it has, don't get me wrong! :-)), I confess I was in tears at the thought of homeschooling all day and being responsible for dinner every night along with other evening "taxi jobs".
I'm that spoiled. How embarrassing.
I always chastise myself about this, how "other mothers", particularly those homeschooling ones that have five kids under 10 and one on the way, who garden organically and bake all their own bread--whole grain--do it. Okay, my excuse can be GAD (general anxiety disorder), but then that kind of thinking only adds to my anxieties!
Well, sweet, supportive hubbie talked me through it and my fears began to subside as he assured me that frozen entrees by Stouffer's were OK.
Then I found some blogs other homeschoolers were using:
I'm an Organized Junkie and A Year of Slow Cooking . "Junkie" encourages weekly menu planning. So that's what I've done for a record two weeks in a row.
This week I've even added home delivery from Giant Food's Peapod program. I'm justifying the $7.95 delivery fee as the time-value of money saved for not driving there and back, spending on spontaneous purchases, and exhausting AMCD and me at the end of a school day. AND they'll give me free delivery on my next order over $100.
I'll keep you posted. Delivery is Monday morning!
Nov 10, 2009
Nature Notes
We had three great spottings today in the wild. On our daily walk, we were surprised to hear--in broad daylight--an owl calling from far off. It turned out to be a Barred Owl . You can hear it at: Barred Owl - Whatbird.com
Then, while we didn't actually SEE it, we must have startled some small rodent or shrew scuttling under the fallen leaves right next to the road we walk on. It had a raspy squeak of an alarm that it sounded many times. We hoped it would show itself, and finally we started poking around. Within seconds however we saw movement 10 or more feet away. It hadn't taken any time for it to be outta here!
It was an especially well-timed event as we have been reading about the Rodent family for many weeks now using Thornton Burgess' Animal Book for Children. Just today we had read about shrews, and came to know that in point of fact, neither shrews nor moles are rodents! They are in their own group, the Family Insectivora, or "insect-eaters." Now that I think of it, they don't have gnawing teeth, the hallmark of Rodentia. Learn more about the Northern Short-tailed Shrew.
Then towards evening, Father Robin, who was on his way to the mailbox, almost stepped on a little garter snake. He called out to me, but it wriggled away just before I got to it.
As I was planning to lead a Bible study of God's creation at our Pioneer Girl meeting that night, I thought having the little snake available would have been the icing on all the natural materials that I had collected for observation. I could just hear the girls scream!! :D More on Garter snakes
Even on the WAY to the meeting, our luck continued as I warned myself that, with Mother Nature hitting us from all sides today, that I better turn on my high beams to avoid really being hit--by a deer! No sooner was the switch flicked than a large bird of prey--owl or hawk--swooped across the road right in front of my car!
Before leaving, I did capture a possible kind of stink bug (in the kitchen) so we would have something from the Kingdom Animalia to observe. The girls actually fell quite in love with the ugly little thing. It was long and thin with large, heavily jointed legs, brownish gray in color all over. It moves slowly and deliberately and its friends like to hang near my windows (where they get caught in spider webs!) The odor it emitted wasn't even unpleasant. It did not have the standard shield shape, so it may have been some other kind of beetle. We had a grand releasing at the end of the meeting.
I think the girls got the message: God's world is very cool when you stop and take a look.
Nov 9, 2009
Science Fair Display Board
And Here is MeiWei's final project (most of it).
All the kids, right down to the kindergarteners, did a superb job! Watch out, world!
All the kids, right down to the kindergarteners, did a superb job! Watch out, world!
Nov 8, 2009
Coop Science Fair!
For six weeks, our coop met on Friday afternoons for 2 hours of PE, art, and this season, Science. Since it was Mother R's idea to have a science fair, MotherR ended up teaching it. Such is what happens to people who have a popular idea.
The focus was on the scientific method--you know, lite stuff. Each week we explored another step of the process. If you've forgotten, it goes like this (with small semantic variances): Problem, Research, Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment (within which lies Materials, Procedure, and Data collection), Results, and Conclusion.
The kids in my group were between 3rd and 6th grade. We had lots of fun (I think) doing experiments and discussing the progress of our projects. I made sure we made messes and blew things up. But in the end, I was not sure if the fair would fly or fail.
MeiWei was very gung ho with a hypothesis of her own making after a subject near and dear to her heart: doing laundry. She postulated that clothes hung outside would fade at the same rate as clothes in the dryer.
The materials were purchased: a half dozen t-shirts in an array of colors, cut up into pieces that would be divided between line-drying and machine-drying. But after a couple of loads, the scientist ran into weather problems that prevented collecting enough data. The trending forecast was not good. With a week to go it was time to bail.
Experiment 2 was out of a God-send of a book entitled Last-Minute Science Fair Projects (Scholastic): When Your Bunsen's Not Burning but the Clock's Really Ticking . She chose (with a little urging by Mom who thought the mommies would be interested) "Young and Lovely: Does Vitamin E Really Prevent Aging?" Three rose petals were treated to either a dip in water, a smear of vitamin E oil, or plain old air and then baggied.
Sho' nuff! After several days the "E" petal was still fresh while the others had shriveled to brown little wormy things.
Research showed it's best to apply topically, so I'm headed to that health food store and get me some youth in a bottle!
Like MomR always says, "You never stop learning!"
The focus was on the scientific method--you know, lite stuff. Each week we explored another step of the process. If you've forgotten, it goes like this (with small semantic variances): Problem, Research, Observation, Hypothesis, Experiment (within which lies Materials, Procedure, and Data collection), Results, and Conclusion.
The kids in my group were between 3rd and 6th grade. We had lots of fun (I think) doing experiments and discussing the progress of our projects. I made sure we made messes and blew things up. But in the end, I was not sure if the fair would fly or fail.
MeiWei was very gung ho with a hypothesis of her own making after a subject near and dear to her heart: doing laundry. She postulated that clothes hung outside would fade at the same rate as clothes in the dryer.
The materials were purchased: a half dozen t-shirts in an array of colors, cut up into pieces that would be divided between line-drying and machine-drying. But after a couple of loads, the scientist ran into weather problems that prevented collecting enough data. The trending forecast was not good. With a week to go it was time to bail.
Experiment 2 was out of a God-send of a book entitled Last-Minute Science Fair Projects (Scholastic): When Your Bunsen's Not Burning but the Clock's Really Ticking . She chose (with a little urging by Mom who thought the mommies would be interested) "Young and Lovely: Does Vitamin E Really Prevent Aging?" Three rose petals were treated to either a dip in water, a smear of vitamin E oil, or plain old air and then baggied.
Sho' nuff! After several days the "E" petal was still fresh while the others had shriveled to brown little wormy things.
Research showed it's best to apply topically, so I'm headed to that health food store and get me some youth in a bottle!
Like MomR always says, "You never stop learning!"
Nov 6, 2009
Learning To Sew!
MeiWei had her first experience with the sewing machine a year ago when she made a Christmas present of a patchwork polar fleece dog blanket for Mr. Bingley (dog print natch). Mr. Bingley loves it and carries it around to show to visitors.
Right off the bat, MeiWei showed such considerable skill with controlling the speed of the machine that she "seamed" (haha) ready for something more advanced.
We decided on flannel jammie bottoms, otherwise known as lounge pants by lazy teens. MotherR, using her 30 years of sewing knowkedge, wanted a really simple pattern and found it in Simplicity "It's So Easy" # 2738 (CLICK HERE to order from Joann.com
.)
She picked out a very loud, surprisingly pink, not-surprisingly puppy print which she planned to hem in glittery pink ribbon.
She finished the pants in three sessions of about an hour each. (I had to force her to stop--not the usual routine.) She then went on to make the matching button-front top, trimmed in more glitter ribbon and heart-shaped buttons. Here she is with her runway escort in the pants:
Nov 4, 2009
All The Way Home
Everyone asked me when we were in the "paper chase" stage of adoption whether I would homeschool this one like I had the older one. My resolve not to was strengthened the more I got to know MeiWei's head-strong ways.
"If I homeschool her, at the end of the year one of us will wind up dead, " I would lament. (Note to social workers: it would be me by a self-inflicted wound with a Sharpie. Please do not prepare a file.)
But the decision was clear: if she didn't get out of the classroom now, the damage might be irreversible. But what did MeiWei want??
One day, we were driving around and I brought up the homeschool topic. (Driving around is always a great time to embark on topics of giant proportions and remain seemingly casual about them. It was while driving around that Tai-tai made the connection--haha--about how babies are made.) MeiWei knew that Tai-tai had been homeschooled, so I thought I'd test the waters and see if it would interest her. I used the journal episode as a springboard.
"You know if I was your teacher, I'd let you write whatever you want, " I reflected.
"OH, MOMMY! WOULD YOU PLEEEEAAASSSEEE BE MY TEACHER????"
I guess it was settled then.
"If I homeschool her, at the end of the year one of us will wind up dead, " I would lament. (Note to social workers: it would be me by a self-inflicted wound with a Sharpie. Please do not prepare a file.)
But the decision was clear: if she didn't get out of the classroom now, the damage might be irreversible. But what did MeiWei want??
One day, we were driving around and I brought up the homeschool topic. (Driving around is always a great time to embark on topics of giant proportions and remain seemingly casual about them. It was while driving around that Tai-tai made the connection--haha--about how babies are made.) MeiWei knew that Tai-tai had been homeschooled, so I thought I'd test the waters and see if it would interest her. I used the journal episode as a springboard.
"You know if I was your teacher, I'd let you write whatever you want, " I reflected.
"OH, MOMMY! WOULD YOU PLEEEEAAASSSEEE BE MY TEACHER????"
I guess it was settled then.
The Way Home
As the frustrations and the dots mounted, we investigated all possible alternatives. Expecting the school to push desks apart or raise walls between classrooms was probably expecting too much. (The classrooms were doubtlessly designed around the plan of clustered desks to conserve real estate: education per square foot.)
A suggestion was made that MeiWei could have a "study carrel" to work in the following year to help her distractedness. (I always think of Steve Carrell who might have also been exiled to one when he was seven.) She could also have an assistant teacher assigned to her to help her stay on track.
But kids being smarter than we give them credit for, she, if not her peers, would eventually be asking, "Why the special treatment? What's wrong with me?" Everyone- being-different-in-their-own-special-way doesn't hold up very well on the playground.
After looking into all the private schools in the area and seeing our little life savings going down the tubes before she graduated high school, darling hubbie turned one day and said, "You were the best teacher Tai (big sis) ever had. Why don't you homeschool this one?"
I must say I got a knot in my throat, even though I had a knot in my stomach as well at the thought.
A suggestion was made that MeiWei could have a "study carrel" to work in the following year to help her distractedness. (I always think of Steve Carrell who might have also been exiled to one when he was seven.) She could also have an assistant teacher assigned to her to help her stay on track.
But kids being smarter than we give them credit for, she, if not her peers, would eventually be asking, "Why the special treatment? What's wrong with me?" Everyone- being-different-in-their-own-special-way doesn't hold up very well on the playground.
After looking into all the private schools in the area and seeing our little life savings going down the tubes before she graduated high school, darling hubbie turned one day and said, "You were the best teacher Tai (big sis) ever had. Why don't you homeschool this one?"
I must say I got a knot in my throat, even though I had a knot in my stomach as well at the thought.
Background to Homeschool Part 2: Why MeiWei Can't Do the 3 R's
Now there was the math curriculum to be dealt with.
It was deemed logical to introduce a subject, work on it for three days, and then introduce a new subject that had NO BEARING ON THE PREVIOUS SUBJECT!
Not: Count by 10's, then Count by dimes, then count by 5's, count by nickels, etc. More like: Count by 10's; fractions; addition facts of 3 and 4. In the space of ten days. Huh?
So MeiWei is getting farther and farther behind. And developing that all too familiar song of "I hate math." Who wouldn't?
Another peeve was the introduction of Spelling. This was, after all, first grade. These kids were still learning how to FORM THEIR LETTERS! What is the sense of cramming spelling down the throats of little kids who barely know how to write? So every night there would be spelling homework. Always the same rote lesson too. Monday: copy all the words; Tuesday: alphabetize; Wednesday: use in a sentence; and on and on. You knew what day of the week it was by the spelling homework. If any of those kids was blissfully thankful the following month that she was able to remember how to correctly spell a word she was using in her "journal", I'll eat her report card.
Speaking of the journal, what's the point of that?? Well, it would be fine if they had been allowed to write whatever they wanted (scrawl would have been a better description). But there was a Format! (All hail the Educational Powers-That-Be.)
The Format was, on Monday, to write a sentence stating whether they had a good or bad weekend, another sentence stating what they did, and then a concluding sentence. This consisted of summarizing that they had had either a good or bad weekend. How's that for creativity? And being persuasive?
So when MeiWei, the reluctant, left-handed writer, was finally inspired, in February, to write about a subject dear to her--horseback riding--she acknowledged that it had been a "bad" weekend. She explained that she had been riding. She further explained that it was bad because she had fallen off her horse. Then the expected summary.
THIS entry was lambasted. Why? Because--gasp--she had given a supporting argument (that dreadful extra sentence about falling off the horse) for her declaration that it had been a bad weekend! The teacher actually drew a big line through it and marked "Follow the FORMAT."
So from then until the end of the year she only churned out Formatted entries. And boy were they boring.
It was deemed logical to introduce a subject, work on it for three days, and then introduce a new subject that had NO BEARING ON THE PREVIOUS SUBJECT!
Not: Count by 10's, then Count by dimes, then count by 5's, count by nickels, etc. More like: Count by 10's; fractions; addition facts of 3 and 4. In the space of ten days. Huh?
So MeiWei is getting farther and farther behind. And developing that all too familiar song of "I hate math." Who wouldn't?
Another peeve was the introduction of Spelling. This was, after all, first grade. These kids were still learning how to FORM THEIR LETTERS! What is the sense of cramming spelling down the throats of little kids who barely know how to write? So every night there would be spelling homework. Always the same rote lesson too. Monday: copy all the words; Tuesday: alphabetize; Wednesday: use in a sentence; and on and on. You knew what day of the week it was by the spelling homework. If any of those kids was blissfully thankful the following month that she was able to remember how to correctly spell a word she was using in her "journal", I'll eat her report card.
Speaking of the journal, what's the point of that?? Well, it would be fine if they had been allowed to write whatever they wanted (scrawl would have been a better description). But there was a Format! (All hail the Educational Powers-That-Be.)
The Format was, on Monday, to write a sentence stating whether they had a good or bad weekend, another sentence stating what they did, and then a concluding sentence. This consisted of summarizing that they had had either a good or bad weekend. How's that for creativity? And being persuasive?
So when MeiWei, the reluctant, left-handed writer, was finally inspired, in February, to write about a subject dear to her--horseback riding--she acknowledged that it had been a "bad" weekend. She explained that she had been riding. She further explained that it was bad because she had fallen off her horse. Then the expected summary.
THIS entry was lambasted. Why? Because--gasp--she had given a supporting argument (that dreadful extra sentence about falling off the horse) for her declaration that it had been a bad weekend! The teacher actually drew a big line through it and marked "Follow the FORMAT."
So from then until the end of the year she only churned out Formatted entries. And boy were they boring.
Nov 1, 2009
Background to Homeschool
MeiWei went to PS for 2 years. The most she learned was how to count to three. As in the number of DOTS it would take to get a nasty-gram sent home from the teacher....As in "3 dots, you're sunk."
Apparently the teacher's job, along with guiding 20+ little faces through readers and number lines, was also to walk around with a Magic Marker poised to strike a special "report card" on each child's desk. Of course, most kids probably never even knew of the system, they were THAT kind of kid. But MeiWei got to know it all too soon.
This of course was supposed to be an effective Pavlovian tool to shape behaviors. The child would certainly NOT want to get dots, so she would be shamed into altering her actions. That was their plan, anyway.
But they hadn't encountered Mei. She was non-plussed about dots. Dots, shmots. You could turn her into a dalmatian and she'd smile brightly.
The problem was, she was much too interested in what was going on around her. Naughty girl. No looking at your classmate--even if we butt his desk next to yours. And two other kids. No dropping your pencil, breaking your crayon, needing too much help. (?) No being distracted by the open-plan classrooms that allow teachers and students from other classes to drift in and out of your line of sight all day while announcements interrrupt the already-established din.
Naughty, naughty girl. There's something wrong with you. You just don't pay attention.
Apparently the teacher's job, along with guiding 20+ little faces through readers and number lines, was also to walk around with a Magic Marker poised to strike a special "report card" on each child's desk. Of course, most kids probably never even knew of the system, they were THAT kind of kid. But MeiWei got to know it all too soon.
This of course was supposed to be an effective Pavlovian tool to shape behaviors. The child would certainly NOT want to get dots, so she would be shamed into altering her actions. That was their plan, anyway.
But they hadn't encountered Mei. She was non-plussed about dots. Dots, shmots. You could turn her into a dalmatian and she'd smile brightly.
The problem was, she was much too interested in what was going on around her. Naughty girl. No looking at your classmate--even if we butt his desk next to yours. And two other kids. No dropping your pencil, breaking your crayon, needing too much help. (?) No being distracted by the open-plan classrooms that allow teachers and students from other classes to drift in and out of your line of sight all day while announcements interrrupt the already-established din.
Naughty, naughty girl. There's something wrong with you. You just don't pay attention.
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