Fractions

Yes, we are still working on fractions.

I want to write this post for all the people out there who think that their grade 6 or grade 7 student should know fractions by now. It's not that easy. We holistic home learners can be so flexible when it comes to when a child learns to read and so very inflexible when it comes to math skills.

We did fractions in grade 4, the very gentle introduction that Live Education brings to the student. We did about half of Life of Fred: Fractions in grade 5. Technically we worked with fractions before grade 4 when we were using the Miquon Math Lab materials. And here we are still doing fractions.

I want to tell you something about teaching fractions: they will expose your child's weaknesses with other math skills. It's okay to have weaknesses and it is really good when you can find them, because it means you can strengthen those skills.

Today my boys were reducing fractions. Yes, we've done this before, but we are reviewing the early fraction work so that they can become Fraction Ninjas (thanks to Papa for the label, because they boys are really into the idea). I can tell you right away that J-Baby still struggles with knowing his multiplication facts inside out and backwards, because his answers are wrong when he doesn't remember his multiplication facts. T-Guy, on the other hand, makes mistakes because he doesn't reduce enough. Part of his problems is taking directions literally (so if the instructions don't say to reduce again if necessary he doesn't), but the other issue is not finding the greatest common factor.

In a nutshell: J-Baby can easily find the greatest common factor but sometimes does the math wrong, T-Guy does the math correctly but doesn't always find the greatest common factor.

(Can you imagine how this would play out in a classroom? I am one teacher with two students and they each have a different weakness. My guess is that there are other things that could be going wrong and that it must be hard for a teacher to address the needs of 30 students.)

I realize that math and writing skills are the most important things we need to be working on this year. Soon I will determine just exactly what our goals will be and I will imprint them in my brain.  Grade two was place value and reading at the Frog and Toad level; in terms of skills everything else was gravy. I'm inclined to think that grade 6 is going to be all about having a solid understanding of fractions, decimals, and percents and the ability to write a five paragraph essay.

I didn't fully realize before that the story content of the Waldorf curriculum is the easy part. I'd bring stories to the boys, we'd draw (or paint or model), we'd summarize, and we'd write a little bit. They know so much about history and science and have been exposed to a great deal of children's literature (all of these things being partly what we've brought to them and partly what they have sought on their own). They've been to museums, plays, and concerts. Well-rounded describes their content learning, but their skills aren't exactly where we want them to be. Which isn't exactly where everyone else is (hence my reminding everyone that all skills come in their own time), but isn't where they are right now either.

This is where I stumble.  Do I trust in unschooling, in their inherent desire to learn and the belief that sometime soon they will set goals for themselves and dive into math and writing? Or do I acknowledge that I am not going to harm them with skills work and make it a part of everyday life, something that they simply must develop the discipline to do? (I do pause for a moment and realize that this is exactly who I am, a person who had difficulty choosing between two options when both have something going for them.) Is requiring skills work a fear response on my part (how will they get into college?) or simply requiring them to develop the skills they need (yep, buddy, everyone has to learn fractions)?

Homeschooling can be fraught with questions we don't ask ourselves otherwise. I don't wonder if I am pushing my children to learn to do the dishes or vacuum the house. I don't think that having them fold their own laundry is pushing them. I don't consider myself unfair because they must care for the dogs. I make them suck it up and eat kale when they don't want to. I do all these things because I believe they are good for them, that they help develop them into caring, responsible, healthy people.

So maybe, for now, we push forward with skills work and see where it takes us.

Sick Days ... Sweet Dogs ... Strange Vibrations

Yesterday was a sick day, today will be too. The boys aren't thrilled to be missing park day, especially as they know that most of the moms don't mind sick children attending. But I do mind; I think people who are ill should stay home and recuperate, more to care for themselves than to prevent the spread of germs to others (although that is good as well). Since my boys don't have the instinct to slow down and care for themselves I must care for them, and that includes keeping them home. Heck, I had Papa stay home yesterday, finally convincing him that taking time to rest on the first day he is ill will go a long way to shortening his illness.

I was just sitting here and realized that my house and body are vibrating to this odd low hum. I suppose it is the construction going on at the church down the street. When asked what my husband thought the church might be building he responded "bomb shelter" without skipping a beat. We're actually guessing a basement for their new building, but it could be a bomb shelter.

Puppy Girl likes to turn her paw out when she sleeps. Sometimes it is especially cute as she will rest her head on her paw. Other times it just looks like it might hurt. Both dogs sleep a lot; that is part of their low energy charm. Big Dog is a dreamer, often running and barking in his sleep; he's probably keeping us safe even during his naps. They take turns on door duty now; there is almost always a dog blocking the front door.

More Keva

By request, here are several more shots of Keva structures done by the boys:

 A basic tower in a very messy bedroom.  I'm so glad we decluttered again!

Baseball stadium, which they had room to build because we got rid of so much junk in the bedroom.

 An earlier baseball stadium (2009).

 A locomotive (2007).

 Their earliest towers (2007).

 A Major Battlement (2008).

 Side View of Battlement (2008).

 Aerial Shot of Battlement (2008).

 Castle Towers and Entrance Gate (2008).

 Tall Tower (2008).

Other Buildings (2010)

Things I Learned in 2011

That my ability to forgive is stronger than I thought.
That I can have compassion toward people that I thought would never deserve it from me.
That knowing that someone loves you means something.
That good friends are a treasure.
That I need to stop holding everyone - including myself - to impossibly high standards.
That I need to let go and stop worrying about other people's problems.
That not only can I not change people, but wanting them to change won't make it happen either.
That I have the right to stop hearing about situations that people only want to complain about but refuse to change.
That I can change, that my husband can change, and that all the change is wonderful.
That my boys can take care of themselves pretty darn well.
That they still need me.

Fun With Keva

I take photos of KEVA structures on a regular basis, but most of them stay on my phone until there isn't room or the boys say they can be deleted, as often we are just taking a photo to show Papa. However, since Shelley of Along the Crooked Path posted some KEVA photos I thought I'd look on my computer and see what I could find.

 This is a fairly recent structure as T-Guy is in his own (somewhat messy) bedroom. His face is so much leaner here than in the final photo; it isn't weight loss since he is perpetually skinny. It's just part of the process of becoming a young man.

 This is a coliseum of sorts, with a Lego Mini Figure battle taking place. I believe that is a homebuilt Lego dragon up top.

This is a tower that the homeschool group kids built; they were going for height. The photos was taken almost exactly one year ago, and wow, all three of these boys have grown since then. T-Guy is so much taller and is face is far more angular now.

Thanks for the inspiration, Shelley!

Popping In ...

I really didn't intend my blog silence to go on this long, but my laptop stopped working so I couldn't post.

We really haven't been doing much that is exciting in terms of lesson work. For math we are doing a fraction review block.  We've also started with the Vimala alphabet, and we're fitting in crafting when we can. We have one more week of PE before the winter break.

December is a great month for experiencing performing arts. So far we've seen The Nutcracker, a holiday choral concert, and a dramatic reading (with music and sound effects) of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory.

Saturday I took the boys to the San Diego Natural History Museum; we watched a movie about prehistoric marine animals (Sea-Rex) and took in many of the permanent exhibits; however, our main focus was a limited time exhibition of All That Glitters: The Splendor and Science of Gems and Minerals. It was a wonderful exhibit of both cut gems and gems and minerals in their natural state, and touched on crystal forms, hardness, mining, and even semi-precious "gems" that come from living matter such as pearls, jet, amber, and coral. Some of the jewelry pieces were breathtaking!

J-Baby was beyond delighted to touch a real iron meteorite, something he said he never thought he'd ever do. I didn't realize he'd ever thought about it.

So mostly this month is pretty relaxed, which is often when the best learning occurs. We don't get to the math or handwriting everyday, but we do do something each day that brings learning.

Blog Silence

I'm giving myself a break, a real break. I don't plan to blog the rest of this block or through the holidays. I'm not saying that I won't post, but it won't be my focus. I'd like to slow down and turn inward as we approach the solstice and the return of the sun. I'm actually planning a bit of a computer break as well; there are a few books that I have been meaning/wanting to read that I haven't gotten to. So other than keeping up with people that I know via Facebook or email and moderating over at Homespun Waldorf I am going to make a real effort to turn off the computer.