MetroPark visit: kind of a bust.... or was it?

Yesterday we went to yet another MetroPark program. This one was all about compasses and orienteering. It was really interesting and very well put together, and the naturalist who led the class was great. The extent of my knowledge of compasses was that the needle points North, but I had never learned what to actually do with one.


First, the guide handed out compasses for everyone and taught us the basics of using them. Then we were off on a scavenger hunt. She'd give us the heading and we had to figure out which direction to go in and pick a fixed object to walk toward, and then she'd tell us how many paces to go and we all walked and counted out loud together. The scavenger hunt included several different canisters containing clues indicating what kind of animal lived in the particular area where we were. I thought Max would really like this but unfortunately he was not nearly as into it as I was. (BTW, this brings me to one selfish reason for why I have chosen homeschooling - I love to learn stuff & am totally psyched about learning things along with the kids.) I think it was a combination of factors - it was pretty hot out, and the pace of the class was just a bit slow for him. He quickly started to get bored and wander off to look at other things. I was doing okay with just accepting that this wasn't something he was ready for yet, and I figured at least he was out enjoying nature; he observed turtles, fish, a couple great blue herons, and was especially fascinated by all of the dragonflies. As the program was nearing the end, I was starting to get frustrated with him because he had wandered way ahead and was refusing to stay with the group and listen to the guide. So I turned in our compass and we left. I was disappointed, thinking that he hadn't gotten anything out of the class. On the way home, he looked up at the van's digital compass and said, "Hey Mom, we're going West." (!!!) He was right, the "W" was lit up. When we turned onto another road and changed direction, he said, "Oh look! Now we're going South!" Right again. My frustration vanished and I started laughing... I guess he did get a little bit out of it after all!

The things you do for your kids...

So tonight, as I was leaving work at my part-time job, I noticed a great big beautiful bright green grasshopper on the window of my van. I instantly thought, "Oh, Max would LOVE to see that guy!" and wracked my brain trying to think of something I could put it in if I caught it. I remembered I had a small plastic food container in my purse so I dug it out, dumped out Emmett's graham cracker snacks (sorry buddy) and got out to try and catch him. Unfortunately I failed. He jumped off and flew away into the dark. But for anyone wondering what the hell that crazy lady was chasing in Home Depot's parking lot at 11pm, that's the story.

Bedtime chats are the greatest

We always have the most interesting whispered talks at bedtime. Last night's made me smile.

Max: Do you remember when I came out of your belly?
Me: Yes.
Max: I don't remember when I came out of your belly.
Me: It was my favorite day ever.
Max: When was it?
Me: February 27.
Max: Ohhh! *gears in head click* (he knows that's his birthday)
Max: Was it dark out?
Me: No. It was the middle of the afternoon. It was wintertime, but it was an unusually warm day and the sun was shining and there was a beautiful blue sky with white puffy clouds.
Max: Where were we?
Me: At the hospital.
Max: First you were a little baby, then you grew up, then I was in your belly.
Me: Yep, that's right.
Max: And Dad was before you. So I think you came out of Dad's belly.
Me: *stifling laughter* Ah, no. Babies only come out of girls' bellies. Babies don't come out of boys' bellies.
Max: Oh. Then where did you come from?
Me: I came from Grandma's belly.
Max: You mean your mom?
Me: Yes. And Daddy came from Gommy's belly.
Max: Ohhhhhh!
(I am a little relieved that it hasn't yet occurred to him to ask how we all got in the bellies to begin with. I'm sure it won't be long though...)

And tonight as I was putting him in bed: "I like Daddy better. And I like you super better. And I like Grandma super better. And I like everybody a whole lot."

Announcing the decision

Just curious - how many of you out there have had this same conversation? This is sort of an idealized reenactment/compilation of conversations I've had with my mother-in-law (Disclaimer: I adore her. She just doesn't get the homeschooling thing... yet.) Well, except I wasn't this articulate in expressing myself in my conversations with her because I tend to get a little flustered when I really want to say something just right.

PS. This post was totally inspired by Free Homeschooling 101's Facebook page, where she posted a bunch of these xtranormal videos. I thought it would be fun to play around with and it really was!

You let him draw... where?!?

Yep, that's right - on the dining room windows!





Don't worry - they're window markers! I picked them up on impulse at Wal-Mart the other day because I have been trying to think of ways to encourage Max to spend more time on creative activities. They're a big hit! And they also do indeed wipe off very easily. I'm thinking this may also have an added benefit of motivating him to wash the windows for me...

Learning moments

A couple of learning moments from the past few days that I wanted to mention...

1. On Friday, as we were getting ready to go shopping with my mother-in-law and sister-in law, Max asked me, "Mama, how do you know where things are?" At first I wasn't sure what he was asking me, but then I understood that he wanted to know how I knew the way to the store. I told him that I have a map in my head, so I know which streets to take to get me where I want to go. I asked him if he'd like a map of our route and he said yes, so I quickly printed driving directions from Google Maps, and drew in a few landmarks (our house, Daddy's work, cousin Christy's house) so he could have a little more perspective of what he was looking at. He held the map and referred to it as we went, and whenever I stopped at a stop sign, I quickly reached back and pointed out where we were. Just a simple little thing to help him see the big world a little differently.

2. Today, we were at my mom's for dinner (YUMMY!) and while we were sitting out on the patio Max brought out a huge cupful of ice. He had apparently been playing with investigating the ice dispenser on the refrigerator. He asked me if the sun would melt the ice, and I got an idea to do a quick, simple experiment with him. I took two handfuls of ice of about equal size from his cup, and put one pile on the ground in the shade and one in the sun. I asked him which pile he thought would melt faster. He guessed the pile in the sun. He sat there on the patio and watched that ice melt with great focus. At one point my parents were trying to call him to the table and he replied "I am watching the ice melt!" in a tone that indicated that he was not going to budge until it was gone. And he was correct - the pile in the sun did melt a bit more quickly than the pile in the shade. I then showed him how the line between the sun and shade, which was formed by the shadow of a fence, had moved since I put the ice on the ground. The edge of the shadow had been centered between the two piles, but by the time the ice had melted the shadow had almost reached the "sun" pile. I asked him why the shadow moved. He said, "I don't know," and I decided not to give him an answer right away, and let him think about it. A short while later he noticed that the sun was going down, and then we had a conversation about how the movement of the sun caused the shadows to move too.

Life is a better classroom than any classroom.

Great article

I've heard about Khan Academy all over the place, and am already planning to incorporate it into our homeschooling when the boys are older. I just had to share this excellent article from Wired magazine: How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education. It's kind of long but totally worth the read. If you haven't heard of it, Khan Academy is a website full of free video lectures, many of which are about math, but there are other topics as well. It all began when Salman Khan started making videos to help tutor his young cousin who lived across the country, and over time it turned into the huge thing it is today. Even Bill Gates was using it for his own children! The article is about how a few school systems are now using his program and are being blown away by the results. Towards the end is an interesting bit about how Khan doesn't want to work too closely with them because "he doesn’t want the school system and its byzantine standards determining what he does with his site". He insists he isn't trying to be a reformer of the school system, he just wants to help kids learn. The following paragraph really stood out to me:

"Even if Khan is truly liberating students to advance at their own pace, it’s not clear that the schools will be able to cope. The very concept of grade levels implies groups of students moving along together at an even pace. So what happens when, using Khan Academy, you wind up with a kid in fifth grade who has mastered high school trigonometry and physics—but is still functioning like a regular 10-year-old when it comes to writing, history, and social studies? Khan’s programmer, Ben Kamens, has heard from teachers who’ve seen Khan Academy presentations and loved the idea but wondered whether they could modify it “to stop students from becoming this advanced.”"

That's right... I have to say that again. They wondered if it could be modified "to stop students from becoming this advanced." Students becoming too advanced? Oh the HORROR! Only public school administrators would see that as a problem.