Archive for August, 2006
August 21, 2006 @ 6:59 am | Filed under: Fun Educational Stuff, History
Scott’s birthday present to Rose was a surprise visit home for the weekend. Home! As in HERE! Which is to say: not California! All weekend! Here!
And now it’s Monday, and he has to go back, but let’snotthinkaboutthat.
On Saturday we decided to do some Virginia things we hadn’t gotten around to doing yet. One thing in particular, a place I would have felt really chagrined to leave this area without having visited: Monticello.
Like pretty much everyone I know, I’m awfully fond of Thomas Jefferson. Now, for me, I think the attachment was formed during childhood viewings of the musical 1776. (No WAY. Just now when I looked up the IMDB link for this film, I discovered that Jefferson was played by well-known actor Ken Howard. I had no idea. He was so young! And red-haired!) What I chiefly took away from this film (which must have been on HBO, I watched it so many times) was that Thomas Jefferson was manipulated into writing the Declaration of Independence by a duet-singing John Adams and Ben Franklin; that Tom played the violin (a phrase I can only hear in melody and had to forcibly restrain myself from SINGING during the house tour on Saturday); and that he had a pretty wife who fell for him precisely because of that there violin-playing (which turned out to be a metaphor I totally didn’t get as a kid, fortunately).
The result of all this musical-comedy indoctrination is that I’ve always had in my mind an image of the young Jefferson, not the twinkling yet demanding esteemed-grandfather personage presented to us by our energetic tour guide at Monticello. The Monticello Jefferson (on the family tour, at least) is the doting gentleman who gave his granddaughter Cornelia six gray geese as a present for sending him a letter at the White House, the affectionate scholar who rewarded children with valuable books after they’d managed to read the books in question. Everything about our Monticello tour pointed to Jefferson’s love of education, his fascination with the arts and sciences, his determination to raise articulate and knowledgeable heirs.
There were unsettling incongruities—how can there not be, since this man who spoke out so passionately for liberty as a human right lived on a magnificent estate whose productivity depended on the labor of slaves—but the children’s tour did not delve into these. The slaves’ contribution was acknowledged matter-of-factly, at the beginning of the tour. (Tour Guide: "And how was all this beauty made possible? Who made it possible for Thomas Jefferson to live here in comfort?" Beanie: "GOD!" Tour Guide: "Um, well, yes, but…")
For the most part, though, the tour focused on the architectural details of the house and on Jefferson’s passion for learning. The kids were enchanted by the museum of Native American artifacts collected by Lewis and Clark (local heroes in these parts) and displayed by Jefferson in the entryway of his home. There’s a famous clock there, too, which Jane had read all about in some book or other and shared some interesting facts with the crowd, much to the tour guide’s amusement. (Tour guide: "You’ve certainly done YOUR homework!" Jane, blankly: "Homework?")
Some of the books on the shelves are Jefferson’s own copies: a Don Quixote in four volumes; many texts in Latin. I admit to some goose bumps as I peered through the protective glass to read the titles. I thought of little Cornelia standing on tiptoe to see the names inscribed on the leather covers of her grandpa’s books, wondering which of them she might one day earn for herself.
I could say a lot more, but we’ve got Scott for just a few more hours and I am ditching this computer posthaste. Instead of trying to be, you know, articulate and stuff, I’ll just leave you with some links on Thomas Jefferson education.
ThomasJeffersonEducation.org
One-Sixteenth on TJE
George Wythe College bookstore
Dumb Ox Academy—TJE in a Nutshell
August 21, 2006 @ 3:37 am | Filed under: Books, Picture Book Spotlight
Please Say Please: Penguin’s Guide to Manners by Margery Cuyler.
This charming picture book was one of last week’s library discoveries, and Beanie likes it so much she just about has it memorized. Penguin has invited a small menagerie of friends to dinner, and let’s just say their manners leave something to be desired. But they’re amiable creatures, willing to improve.
“When a hippo sits down for dinner, she should put her napkin on her head. HOW PRETTY! Is that right?”
This is a great approach to teaching manners—presenting extremely silly behaviors and asking if they’re appropriate. Beanie belly-laughed over the animals’ hijinks and delighted in shouting “Noooo!” every time the narrator asked, “Is that right?”
“No, that’s wrong,” the book continues. “When a hippo sits down for dinner, she should lay her napkin on her lap. THAT’S BETTER!”
Likewise, we learn that a lion shouldn’t say “Ew, I hate cauliflower” without a taste, a pig shouldn’t wipe his muddy hooves on the tablecloth, and a giraffe shouldn’t burp on purpose, no matter how tasty her serving of leaves.
The art is fun and lively, and the colorful text interjections (”Splat!” “Sticky-poo!”) were a fun opportunity for my emerging reader to practice sounding out.
Picture Book Spotlight, picture books
August 20, 2006 @ 4:22 pm | Filed under: ClubMom
ClubMom has added some nifty new features to the MomBlogs section, including a way for you to subscribe to a daily alert email that will let you know when there’s a new post at, say—just to throw a random example out there—The Lilting House. See the link over there in the sidebar? Handy-dandy.
August 18, 2006 @ 5:51 pm | Filed under: Photos
Guess who’s home for the weekend?
August 18, 2006 @ 7:02 am | Filed under: Joy of Learning Quote of the Day
"Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking—the strain would be too great—but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest…The question is not,—how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education—but how much does he care?"
—Charlotte Mason
August 18, 2006 @ 4:27 am | Filed under: Carnivals
The 6th Carnival of Children’s Literature is up at Castle of the Immaculate. Hooray!
August 18, 2006 @ 4:15 am | Filed under: Nature Study
Remember a long while back when I posted about a raptor that ate its lunch in our backyard? And we weren’t sure what kind of hawk it was? Well, a helpful reader called in the experts, and it looks like we finally have an ID:
Here is what a raptor biologist friend said when I emailed her. Hope
it helps. Also, thank you for posting this because my oldest two kids
and I had so much fun yesterday trying to figure out what it was. They
got to use their newfound knowledge and I got to learn so much. It was
great!Here is the email response—
"I’d say Sis is right—it’s a Cooper’s and probably a 1-year old,
judging by eye color (which is difficult to tell in that photo). It
could be a Sharp-shinned but it looks too big to be one of those.
Sharpies and Merlins aren’t much bigger than the bird it’s eating. The
kind of slate-grey feathering on the back and head can look bluish. ~K "
Thanks so much, Jo and kids, for helping us solve this mystery!
August 18, 2006 @ 4:00 am | Filed under: General Homeschooling
The Bookworm tagged me in her homeschooling meme, so here goes:
1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
Only one? This is torture. So many have gripped 
2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT
The Real Learning booklist.
3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
Right Start Math. I know it’s a great fit for some, but all that prep time! And with my kids begging to watch the Math-U-See dvds FOR FUN all the time, why did I even think I needed more math curriculum anyway? What can I say, it was an impulse conference purchase (several years ago).
4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
Last year. Hmm. See, this is why blogs are a good thing. Let me check my archives. (Interjection from Rose: "Greek!") Aha! I’ve got it: Journey North. We joined with a group of online friends and had a ball charting photoperiods and deciphering clues to mystery locations around the world. Can’t wait to do it again next year.
5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
I already told you about my plans, but let’s see, what haven’t I mentioned? Well, there’s this book, American Sign Language the Easy Way
6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
An audible.com subscription and then whatever device I’d need to be able to play audio books for all of us to hear, including in the car.
7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
A really good weekly current events newspaper for kids.
ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING
FUN-Books! I’ll take one of everything, please.
9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
The Deputy Headmistress
Spunky
Becky
Denise
Shannon
(Because I know all my Real Learning pals will get tagged by one another. Just in case, all of you consider yourselves tagged.)
August 17, 2006 @ 6:41 pm | Filed under: ClubMom
Nope, I don’t mean what I used to dream of during my days as a waitress at Friendly’s. (Tangent: I was a TERRIBLE waitress. Spilled a lot of ice waters. Had to make three times as many trips back and forth to the kitchen as the other waitresses because I was too spaghetti-armed to carry a tray full of plates. The day I quit, I felt like Scarlett O’Hara: "As God is my witness, I will never wait tables again!" So of course I got married and had a bunch of younguns on whom I wait at table several times a day. And LIKE it. Go figure.)
No, what I’m talking about here (besides long-gone ice-cream-and-burger-schlepping days) is a Very Enticing Contest being held by Amanda at The Naked Ledger. She is offering a $50 gift card (your choice of vendor—the list is long) for the person who submits the best budgeting tip. The judge: her husband Dave. So pony up the advice, my dears. I know what a smart, frugal bunch you are.
I’m trying to think if I have any budgeting advice. Nope, it turns out I don’t. But I can advise you on excellent books to read about Fictional People Who Are Thrifty Yet Likeable. So if you hear of any contests offering prizes for that, please let me know.
August 17, 2006 @ 5:22 am | Filed under: Joy of Learning Quote of the Day
*Where "day" = "as often as I remember to do it." How’s this for a fun idea? In addition to regular posting, I’m going to start posting daily quotes about How People Learn Stuff. Such as:
"The child is curious. He wants to make sense out of things, find out how things work, gain competence and control over himself and his environment, and do what he can see other people doing. He is open, perceptive, and experimental. He does not merely observe the world around him, he does not shut himself off from the strange, complicated world around him, but tastes it, touches it, hefts it, bends it, breaks it. To find out how reality works, he works on it. He is bold. He is not afraid of making mistakes. And he is patient. He can tolerate an extraordinary amount of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, and suspense."
—John Holt, How Children Learn
"Tastes it, touches it, hefts it, bends it, breaks it." Boy is that right. Actually this is just what Maria Montessori was talking about in that quote I posted on Bonny Glen the other day.
"Supposing I said there was a planet without schools or teachers, study was unknown, and yet the inhabitants—doing nothing but living and walking about—came to know all things, to carry in their minds the whole of learning: would you not think I was romancing? Well, just this, which seems so fanciful as to be nothing but the invention of a fertile imagination, is a reality. It is the child’s way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so passes little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love."
So there you go: your Joy of Learning Quote of the Day, where "quote" is sometimes plural.
