tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-303173942024-03-07T04:23:09.002-05:00what has become of m and k?we're out there somewhere.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-42432539784077750852023-05-05T09:53:00.001-04:002023-05-05T09:53:05.369-04:00Portfolio Time!We love making portfolios and meeting with our evaluator. We keep a log starting July 1 of time spent on "school" subjects and a list of books and materials. I am more of a backwards planner than anything else, inclined to let life unfold and then journal about it after the fact. This means we get to March and realize that we have done a deep dive into colonial American history but neglected music history. Marko realized he only did about 25% of his math program. Handwriting and copywork fell to the wayside for 2 of the 3 kids. Laurel spent enormous amounts of time working on a fiction project but we didn't study many novels together, as we had in the past. We went to a ton of museums....Johnson Space Center, pretty much every history and art museum in Pittsburgh, a really amazing little collection of folk artist Alice Moseley in Mississippi, and of course, the "living" museum that was biking the C&O towpath and Great Allegheny Passage. How cool that we followed the path that George Washington took and it goes right past our house. My mom put together anatomy lessons for us, but we haven't done the required fire safety yet.<div><br /></div><div>What I like about the checklists is the visual representation of how we spent our time and how easy it is to see what we didn't do. Marko got to work on his math and quickly caught up. I gave a few copywork prompts to see how their handwriting was (abysmal) and decided to order some workbooks from Handwriting Without Tears. Laurel and I brainstormed about some ways to do more literature study, and started thinking about ways she can socialize more with her peers and also start taking some formal math and science classes with labs. She invited a friend over for a bike ride, and then accepted an invitation to meet some other homeschool teens at the library. We happened to get an email on fire safety from our new apartment management, and decided to take a minute to review the features and also talk about escape routes and memorize our new address.</div><div><br /></div><div>Each kid writes a letter to our evaluator to be included in the portfolio. I love seeing what they thought were the most important things that happened this year! I write a little summary about their current knowledge and skills and what we plan to work on next. There is no "below or above grade level" - just an honest assessment of what each of us did and some thinking about what we would like to do next, with an eye towards balanced living and learning. I also like that M and I can participate in a similar process along with the kids....we don't make portfolios, but we do decide what are the things we want to focus on in the next few months (bike rides! swimming! making a batch of soap!) and things we want to be done with (working on the house!)</div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-23644326001115266942023-04-15T12:16:00.000-04:002023-04-15T12:16:59.721-04:00Roadschooling Our WayRoadschooling is my favorite....it's not without its challenges, but I think the unique and diverse learning experiences we get out of it are worth it. I'm learning how to do this better all the time. <div><br /></div><div><i>Where should I go?</i></div><div>Pick a location...it can be anywhere! A lot of people want to aim for national parks, and yes, these are among the most spectacular places to visit, but they are 1) crowded and 2) very far apart. I advise that you instead aim for a region that is within your comfort zone for driving distance, weather and budget, go there for at least a week or two and explore everything slowly. Trust me, it won't matter what you pick...there are amazing things everywhere. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>How do I find things to do?</i></div><div>Scope out the big and small museums, county and state parks, regional foods, Native American tribal councils, libraries, hiking paths, and fairs or festivals. I love the Adventure Lab app that goes with the Geoaching app and find it well worth the $36 a year subscription fee. You get walking tours for many locations that give you something to do and also point out some historical or geographical points of interest. We will visit a coffee shop and get the local paper to see what events are going on. When we stay in private campgrounds there are sometimes seasonal residents there who will host potlucks or other social events and you can find out from them what is going on in the area. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Will there be a test?</i></div><div>Definitely not. We don't have grades in our homeschool. They get scores on math and then find mistakes and resubmit until they know it. For social studies and science they will write a few essays or do a big project throughout the year, but I have found quizzing them to be a waste of their time and mine. We talk about what we've seen and write down questions that we have, which often shapes the next adventure. We use maps and a timeline to orient ourselves.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>How do you know what the kids are going to learn?</i></div><div>I really don't. We have some guiding questions....who used to live here? Do they still live here? If not, what happened? This can apply to any species. The physical science is often the reason behind things coming and going. We read signs and look at museum exhibits and usually end up with a lot of questions and then look online and watch videos or read articles. This morning we turned on a livestream from NASA, thinking we would see the view from the International Space Station, but instead it was a panel discussion on contributions of African Americans to NASA and related agencies. Those historic markers you find on the side of the road are usually pretty barebones in their description but if you search for youtube or visit archives.gov you can dig deeper into the story. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>How much is enough?</i></div><div>Sometimes I panic that we are not doing enough....but don't fall into this trap. Leave space for thinking about things. We like to hike or fly kites. Not every second has to be filled with acquisition of new information. Our society has become way too rushed and we complain that our kids have difficulty with transitions. I spent years trying to figure out how to sweep children along with maximum efficiency, but I have since changed my mind about this approach. I slashed the fat from our schedule several years ago and then kept slashing until we found a place of equilibrium. When we are at a good place with our schedule my kids have zero problems getting ready and out the door. I learned about backwards planning from Julie Bogart and having a daily reflection period for sketching or jotting down a few notes about what we did has been game-changing. Trust the process. Slow down and what you've done will almost always be enough. And if it wasn't enough, you don't have to consider it a personal failure, just incorporate what was missing the next day, the next week, the next year.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Does it cost a lot of money?</i></div><div>It can cost whatever you want it to cost. Many museums have a free day. Getting a membership and visiting one place many times while you are there may be more cost effective and a richer experience than rushing through a bunch of different ones. Reading historic markers is free. Libraries are free and will have interesting highly localized collections. If you stay at state parks, programming there is usually free. The junior ranger badgework that national parks offer is free. Camping is a pretty low cost way of travel once you have equipment. Sometimes it's worth it to pay a tour guide or museum admission, but you don't have to cram your trip full of these experiences. </div><div><br /></div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-39801734033484160472023-03-16T16:29:00.001-04:002023-03-16T16:29:03.306-04:00DITL Mid-YearI started the day with granola and coffee and then did a few chores until the kids woke up. M went running with friends. When Max got up, we snuggled on the couch and I read a chapter from Winnie the Pooh. The kids made themselves breakfast and we went to my parents' house to visit with their cousin, who is about a year and a half and really starting to talk and run around a lot. He's so much fun. Then we went to a playground that has a super big slide and a ropes course. It wasn't super warm, but it was sunny. On the way to our stops today, we continued listening to the History that Doesn't Suck podcast, an episode about the Battle of New Orleans and Andrew Jackson. When we got home, Laurel made lunch for the kids and I went for a walk with M to the grocery store and coffee shop. When we got home, I read another chapter of Winnie the Pooh while everyone ate lunch together. After lunch, Laurel went to work on Khan Academy. She's planning to take an algebra placement test in a few weeks and wants to finish the 7th grade math curriculum before then. She's taking a Brave Writer class on nonfiction writing and read the message board for that class. Her topic is red tailed hawks, so she had her eye out for them today, but we didn't see any, which is actually kind of unusual. Then she composed a reminder email to her aunts for book club next week. The book they are reading is A Snake Falls to Earth, which I recommended to her (and she loved it!) so I feel pretty happy about that. The boys played a version of multiplication war. Years ago when I was teaching algebra to high school students who really hated math, I came across this <a href="https://denisegaskins.com/2006/12/29/the-game-that-is-worth-1000-worksheets/" target="_blank">blog post</a> with ideas for expanding on the classic card game, and it was life changing. After War, they did a few workbook pages. After all that, I doled out some Girl Scout cookies. <div><br /></div><div>Now it's gaming/tv/social time. Marko and Max usually log on to a google meet and play Minecraft with a few other kids and Laurel usually watches tv with one of her friends, or will do a video chat with them. Or, if our next door neighbor is home from school, they will go for a walk. During this time, I rest, exercise, do chores or catch up on homeschool paperwork (or write a quick blog post to remember how life is in the midst of an unexpected move/construction/new job....actually pretty calm and manageable, thanks to homeschooling). </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-37046284740114044342023-02-10T14:27:00.002-05:002023-02-10T14:27:00.204-05:00Galveston Island<p> We came down to the Gulf Coast to celebrate M's birthday with some Mardi Gras festivities, enjoy winter beach time and learn about space exploration. For the first part of our trip, we caravanned from one parking lot to another with my parents, putting in long days in order to get out of the cold, and luckily we got to Galveston Island just in the knick of time to avoid ice storms. The weather was cool and rainy on our first few days, but the sun eventually came out and we are enjoying the beach and pool now. I bought a membership to the Houston Space Center to allow for multiple visits and we still haven't seen everything there. We also did some Adventure Labs in Galveston (this is an add-on to the Geocaching app where it leads you through a guided tour - usually walking, but sometimes driving - to see noteworthy sites). We learned about the businessman and philanthropist, Henry Rosenberg and ended the tour with a visit to the library he funded, which also had a rare book collection with a 500 year old book (!) and an exhibit of photographs from the devastating 1900 hurricane that killed 1 in 6 residents of the island. We ate <a href="https://www.southernliving.com/food/desserts/pastries/what-is-a-kolache" target="_blank">kolaches</a>, crawfish boil and king cake. We got a new single line kite and are flying our dual line stunt kite on the beach a lot. </p><p>We are staying at a KOA Holiday here in Galveston. It's newly updated with concrete camping pads (great for rainy weather - no mud!) and full hookups. There is a lazy river pool, a regular pool, a hot tub, laundry, hot showers, a trampoline and a playground. Our site backs up to a marsh and we have spent many evenings sitting around our campfire and listening to the birds. Definitely a luxury setting for us! M is working during this trip, so having wifi or good cell is important. I also like this campground because you can walk right across the street to get to the public access beach and it's all houses down here so the beach is never crowded. </p>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-77086206149362476552022-12-31T19:23:00.000-05:002023-01-07T19:24:07.410-05:0020222021 was not the greatest year, but luckily 2022 was much better. It feels like we didn't do anything this year but that may be the after effects of having such a wild 2021. In fact, a lot happened. We took everything at a pace that felt right.<div><br /></div><div>We went to Mississippi and Texas for about a month in the winter. We went to our first Mardi Gras parade (actually a week before Mardi Gras and it was a more family friendly, though still pretty wild, parade in Bay St. Louis and Waveland, MS). We learned to fly a trick kite on the beach in Galveston and went on a swamp boat tour in Louisiana. We saw the massive Saturn V rocket that was never launched at a cool science center just off the I-10. We did a mini adventure into New Orleans to walk around some public gardens and go to Cafe du Monde for beignets. The highlight for me was seeing the mounds at Poverty Point in Louisiana. </div><div><br /></div><div>We taught classes at our homeschool co-op....poetry, a comic fan club, and circuits. The kids took lots of classes and made tons of friends. Laurel has been learning all sorts of fiber arts and how to cook things on the campfire. She did a yoga class and even led a demonstration at the end of the semester. Marko enjoyed his first acting and improv class and has asked for more of those. Max loved every class he took, but especially music theory and graphic novels. </div><div><br /></div><div>M ran a trail ultra. He ended up going to the race solo...it was important for him to get back out there, but hard for the rest of us to imagine being there while he ran. He had a decent race and felt pretty good, but it ended up being his only ultra this year. He did do a lot of running with his friends early in the morning, and started going out with the running club that meets down the street, and even ran with me and the kids! He headed up an aid station at Rachel Carson and the kids loved helping him out with that. We even took one of our out-of-town visitors up to help at the aid station for a while! I think we'll get out to more races in different ways in the next few years, because it's something I really miss.</div><div><br /></div><div>Probably the best thing we did this year was bike the C&O Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. Looking back, I bought the train tickets in mid-July for a September 1 departure. Very daring. Our first rides with the kids were only 2 or 3 miles! They constantly swerved into each other and complained about needing snacks. We just kept taking them on longer and longer day rides and got some 20+ mile days in before leaving. I think we were successful in completing the ride because we gave ourselves a very generous itinerary of 10 days to do 350ish miles, which gave us plenty of time to take breaks and ride slow. The rain was epic and the conditions on the towpath were pretty gnarly. There were two challenging detours. It could have been terrible, but it actually felt fun almost the entire time. They now have excellent trail manners and an amazing boost of confidence in their abilities to try new things. I think we'll be doing more self-propelled adventuring in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div>Homeschooling is going really well. This is our fourth school year doing it and I think we finally figured out our style. Lots of self-directed learning with a healthy dose of road-schooling and family adventuring, and a sprinkling of Core Knowledge and Brave Writer activities each month. I keep a master list of goals for each of us that are based on what the kids want to learn, the state standards, classes or trips or volunteer opportunities that are on our calendar already and any other things I think are really important to focus on. (And by "master list" I mean I have a piece of 8x10 notebook paper for each person with ideas scribbled on it. Not very flashy, but it works.) Each month I meet with the kids 1:1 to decide what they want to work on and what resources they need. Around the 25th of each month, we meet again to see what they accomplished vs what they need to finish up or push to the next month and we also make decisions at that time about what to revise or even abandon. All fall, we ended up deciding to just carry on with our study of colonial America, which was fine with me and led to a much richer and more nuanced understanding. Anything they want to save gets filed in the portfolio folder or we take a picture of it, and we shred everything else and put it in the compost. This is my favorite part...I love decluttering. It helps my brain think more clearly. I work with each kid individually on "school days" but a lot of their learning is very independent, spontaneous and with each other or with friends. For instance I just went downstairs and the boys have wired up the Makey Makey to some grapefruits and are using them to control a video game. Laurel was working on a painting to fulfill her Girl Scout Tree badge. We watch a lot of documentaries and visit museums as a group and Marko and Max tend to play a lot of games together. Each week they take turns going up to help my mom babysit their cousin, and we also go regularly to take M's mom on an outing to the library. </div><div><br /></div><div>Life is good and we are looking forward to carrying on in 2023. </div><div><br /></div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-49435182177786524822022-12-07T16:49:00.002-05:002022-12-07T16:49:58.445-05:00Holiday TimeToday we had the "Share Fair" for our homeschool co-op. This semester, M and I taught 3 classes...one on circuits, one on poetry and one on comics (inspired by Cat Kid Comic Club). When we put out the work to display today, I realized how proud I was of what they had all learned...everyone a little different and a different amount. Most of the kids came by with a family member or friends to show off their work. Lots of additional kids were interested in our circuits, which all had variable noises and lights. We boxed up the class materials into kits they could take home. <div><br /></div><div>The last few months have been a little bit of a struggle for me. I feel like the kids are on very different levels in all subjects. There's only three of them, but I feel like I have a lot of strands going on in my head at all times! I decided not to teach any classes in the spring term and volunteer in another way with the co-op because the kids still want to go. I also think I need to introduce a little more structure for each of my kids at home. The year started off a little crazy because M's dad was sick almost the whole month of August and then we went on a 2 week bicycle ride right after that. It was much less crazy than the previous year, so I didn't really think much about it at the time, but we ended up having to be really flexible for a while with a lot of "school on the go." </div><div><br /></div><div>We've been doing a deep dive into American history for a while and I'm ready to move on to some science. I have a feeling that most of our I'm trying to rekindle my crochet skills and work on a coursera on UX design. We have a few field trips planned including a return to Galveston Island. I also want to set up better project space around the house to encourage the kids to work on stuff, and finally call the piano tuner. </div><div><br /></div><div>The holidays are upon us, and I'm feeling pretty chill about it. We have a good amount of social outings to see our friends and family, but also plenty of time to be together at home. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-5911877450489310552022-11-01T06:53:00.003-04:002022-11-04T06:37:41.134-04:00October Homeschool<p> We had a lot of pleasant weather in October. It hardly rained and the leaves seemed to stay on the trees for a long time. The ones on our block are finally dropping so I'm out with my rake every day. I put them on the garden beds in a big pile, run my weed whacker through them and then spread them around. I'm finding a lot of dead spotted lantern flies in the leaves, which makes me worried about how many eggs must surely be around. I guess we'll find out in the spring. </p><p>Laurel continued her study of George Washington this month. We went to the Heinz History Center and Fort Pitt Museum, read some biographies and listened to a lot of podcasts...the favorite being History that Doesn't Suck. She's writing an essay on his leadership. She's also been learning how to sew and made her Halloween costume....a dragon based on a character from the book series, Wings of Fire. She sewed horns, scales, wings and a tale onto a sweatshirt...it turned out pretty well and she really did do the whole thing by herself. </p><p>Marko worked on his costume, which was centered around this paper mask of a mountain goat he found online. There were 19 pages of tiny pieces to cut out and fold and glue together! He decided to paint the horns gold. It was impressive when it was done, although not that sturdy. It made it through the damp weather on Halloween but I don't think it's something he can use multiple times. </p><p>Max went as baby Yoda (Grogu) and his costume was pretty simple...a headband with ears on it that he found at the thrift store, a shawl that I repurposed as a cloak, and some green face paint. We haven't done face paint on the kids before and he loved it. </p><p>We also went to Bicycle Heaven, a museum we had seen advertised when we were on our bike trip. It's a huge, private collection of steel bikes in a warehouse on the North Side. The bike from the PeeWee Herman movie is there. It's a working bike shop. Oddly, there was a nail salon as well. </p><p>Marko and Max are working through some social studies units on the miscellaneous things that textbook editors think elementary students should know....latitude, map scale, world religions. Everyone learned about the digestive system, and my mom created a hands on model of the digestive tract for them. </p><p>I bought a new math book to hopefully help Laurel level up. She's not terrible at math and actually pretty intuitive when it comes to practical applications like estimating money or ingredients for baking or sewing. But I have noticed gaps in her math vocabulary during the last two months of working in the Algebra book. Hopefully this supplemental book (called Bridge the Gap: Math) will help. I'm making Marko do it, too.</p><p>To be honest, October felt a little flat for homeschool. I think I just really prefer traveling and loved doing the bike trip in September. Part of that joy comes from my ability to focus solely on our kids. On the bike trip, I didn't even turn my cell phone on except a few times in town. We were really focused on one thing and experiencing it together. When we are home there are a lot of other situations that need my attention and our activities are scattered. </p>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-80777781369393271992022-09-28T23:01:00.000-04:002022-09-28T23:01:06.041-04:00Bike Camping from Washington DC to PittsburghWe went on a pretty epic vacation with our kids. I'm still somewhat shocked that we managed to pull it off and actually ride our bicycles, together, from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, over 350 miles! It was also amazing in other ways....we got to spend a lot of time together with M actually taking time off work, we happened to be riding at the absolute best time to be harvesting paw paws along the Potomac, and we met so many cool people along the way. The weather was rather terrible at times, and there were two challenging detours, but mainly we had fun. So, how did we arrive at this idea? And more importantly, how did we get our kids to actually do it?<div><br /></div><div>Literally everyone thought that our idea was crazy and that there was no way we were going to be able to do it. Haters gonna hate and all that. However, M and I had previously biked an equivalent distance towing 2 of the kids (an out and back to Cumberland, MD), and I have ridden on the GAP many times alone or with friends, and once did the Washington DC to Pittsburgh trip by myself. So, we were very familiar with the trails, the logistics of getting to Washington and what it's like to do a multi-day trip on bikes. M scheduled his vacation days, and I bought train tickets and booked a hotel in Georgetown. Now we were committed. </div><div><br />The first time I took the kids out on bikes for a group ride, they were constantly swerving into each other, yelling at each other, failing to signal, nobody could make it up a hill, and I think we went about 4 miles. It was terrible and I was worried, for sure. However, we just kept going out, and their trail manners improved. They built up some stamina for hills. In August we made it out for several 20+ mile rides where everybody learned a lot about hydration and nutrition and Sheetz saved the day. In the meantime, we were getting our bikes serviced...there was something wonky with my headset that a mechanic at REI fixed and M took his 20 year old Surly Trucker to a neighborhood bike shop and had it spruced up. We bought a bunch of bags and worked to fit 2 tents, 3 quilts, sleeping pads, food for 5, water vessels, clothing, extra tubes and repair gear, and a stove. This was complicated by the fact that not everybody could actually haul gear, but we managed to make it work, although M definitely had a LOADED bike. </div><div><br /></div><div>The train to Washington leaves at 5am, so the night before we biked down to a hotel near the train station. The train ride was long, but we got there in the afternoon with plenty of time to make the 5ish mile bike trip through the National Mall and up the Rock Creek Trail to Georgetown. We stopped for some very expensive ice cream ($8 for a cone!!??) and took a look at the monuments, but it was very hot and we did not linger. When we got to Georgetown, our hotel was right on the Canal. We had time for showers and dinner out at a restaurant before going to bed. The next morning we set out on the Towpath. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our plan was to camp along the C&O Canal because we really didn't know how far the kids could go, but we did know there are plenty of campsites...every 5-10 miles along the entire 184 mile path. They don't require reservations and all have water, so we figured we could just go as far as we could go and always have a place to camp. If we got behind schedule and ran out of time, we could always hop back on the train in Cumberland and go to Pittsburgh. But every day the kids rode a little further than what was on our itinerary and despite truly epic amounts of rain, and two difficult detours, we got to Cumberland on the 5th day. The hotel clerk directed us to the bike wash station and even gave us special towels to dry our bikes off. We were so muddy and smelly but she didn't even blink an eye. Then it was up to the rooms for showers and laundry. We let the kids watch tv and we ordered pizza and wings for dinner. We were pretty grimy after 5 days of pedaling in the heat and 4 nights of primitive camping. Plus the mud (oh the mud). But we had also really gotten into the rhythm of being together, of eating camp food and riding as a group, and sleeping in tents. We had 5 days left to ride the Great Allegheny Passage, and at 150 miles with a lot of downhill, that suddenly felt very achievable. </div><div><br /></div><div>The weather was still pretty rainy so we ended up riding part of the way up Savage Mountain - only 15 miles - and stopping for the day at a hostel in Frostburg. We got soaked the entire way. We had the leftover pizza with us for lunch and had to eat it quickly before it got soggy. It was still raining when we left the next morning but the skies did clear when we got to the top and we had a great view. We had our sights set on Confluence, so we kept moving. We camped at the Yough Overflow Campground, which was super nice and had hot showers. The next day we went to Connellsville and stayed at the KOA, with not only hot showers but also a swimming pool! The weather was looking gnarly though, and we had to make some decisions about how to get home. The kids ended up agreeing to ride almost 50 miles from Connellsville to Homestead, so that we could stay in a hotel for our last night (and not camp and ride in the rain). It ended up being a great plan, and we enjoyed another restaurant dinner and a fairly leisurely 8 mile ride into Point State Park the next day...in the rain of course. We then had to get home, which was another 6 or 7 miles, and up the dreaded giant hill. There's just no way around it. But we were all cheering when we pulled into our driveway. </div><div><br /></div><div>Along the way we met a French family on a 6 month bike tour of North America, a retired couple who had ridden a tandem bicycle to Maryland...from Oregon, and a disabled veteran who was walking 1,300 miles with his dog towards the 9/11 memorial in Somerset. </div><div><br /></div><div>We ate dehydrated meals I prepared at home, Kraft mac, tortillas and crackers, cheese, pepperoni, peanut butter, loads of candy, oatmeal, PopTarts and paw paws! We used our Jetboil to heat water, for lack of a better cooking system. Cooking for 5 is pretty time consuming, but this worked out ok.</div><div><br /></div><div>We saw herons, egrets, bald eagles, turtles, frogs, toads, cats, and a bear.</div><div><br /></div><div>We slept in an ancient Mountain Hardware tent and a new Hogback tarp tent. One regret is that although we also carried a sil nylon tarp we didn't have a good way to set it up to make shelter for cooking or sitting under. More line? Extra poles? I'm not sure what the solution is but I'll definitely be working on that before our next camping trip. </div><div><br /></div><div>We thankfully didn't have many mechanical issues, but did have one flat tire (in a rain storm, of course). We tried to patch it but ended up swapping out the tube. Maybe the glue didn't set because of the rain? We were lugging enough stuff to be able to stop and help another cyclist with HIS flat tire, and even had a spare tube to give him, since he didn't have the right one. That felt pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div>We kept safe by carrying a first aid kit, foil blankets, water filtration, and being first aid/CPR certified and experienced in backcountry safety and risks. We wore helmets. But probably the safest thing was being away from cars. I am definitely up for more rail trail or gravel riding, but I would not take my kids on a road tour any time soon. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have a bungee strap called a TowWhee, which I used to give Max a boost, since he's on a 20" bike with 3 gears (just not a fair fight, lol). It loops around his handlebars and loops onto my saddle. It definitely requires good communication between riders. Max still has to pedal and balance and brake and all that so it cannot be used if a kid is totally exhausted or not able to pay attention. We probably used it about 30% of the time. When we were not using it, I just stowed it in a little cupholder that I attached to his handlebars. </div><div><br /></div><div>And finally, how did we keep everyone motivated? We knew that we each had different strengths and weaknesses and that we would all be supporting each other...and needing support in different ways. The boys did not ride as fast as the rest of us might have liked. But they were also the best at finding paw paws and delighted in catching toads or playing games. All of us got down from time to time. It is actually kind of hard to be dirty and tired and far from home and very wet. We brought a lot of candy. We took breaks whenever anyone asked for one. When we were actually riding, we could go around 10 miles per hour. If you can do that a 30- 50 mile day is really only 3 to 5 hours of pedaling out of like 14 hours of daylight. We also sometimes rode very slowly for many hours. But we knew we definitely had time for all those breaks and slow miles and we leaned into them and enjoyed them. In one rainstorm, Marko kept pulling over to move turtles off the trail. It's not what I would do, but it's actually a pretty thoughtful act. We spent the days exploring river banks and reading historic signs and telling each other stories. At night, we would light a campfire if we could, and read aloud. We suffered from a lot of bug bites and a few cases of road rash, and nobody can believe this, but we were not sore at all. I think because we never rode too hard, or maybe because it felt like we were constantly getting on and off our bikes. </div><div><br /></div><div>Pedaling towards your home is very motivating. Every rotation a little bit closer. Beyond offering delicious snacks, we didn't bribe the kids. The reward was finishing, and doing it together, and we all definitely feel really good about that. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-35558991008150722362022-07-20T07:47:00.000-04:002022-07-20T07:47:05.913-04:00Soft Launch on a New School Year"School" starts July 1 for us, and by start, it means we file some papers with our local district and begin logging our activities. Max is joining the official roster this year as he is now at the age where school is compulsory. Our homeschool style has largely become to follow interests, with lots of backwards documenting on my part, and a healthy sprinkle of word study and arithmetic to fill in gaps and promote strong literacy and math skills for everybody.<div><br /></div><div>Max and Marko just finished the Phantom Tollbooth with M and loved taking the quizzes on the SparkNotes website. Max is working on math in Khan Academy, reading lots of Cat Kid and Dogman and learning to ride his bicycle safely in a group and on the street. He is really into making paper airplanes and does a lot of age-appropriate creative writing....lists and plans and notes to us. As long as he keeps writing on his own and shows improvement with spelling and handwriting, I will not do any formal curriculum in that subject. </div><div><br /></div><div>Marko is at tree camp this week and doing lots of interesting things like working in the tree nursery and setting bait on wildlife cameras. He reports that they have to write things down in a little notebook they were give, so I'm hoping that will come home and I can do some additional writing with him about that experience. He's getting a lot better at swimming in deep water and diving and holding his breath. Organizing gaming time with his friends, both virtually and IRL, is a priority for him. He reads a lot. Of all the kids, he is the least enthusiastic about anything school-ish, but I'm finding if I observe him, I can see lots of ways that he is developing math and vocabulary skills. He's also very intuitive about geography.</div><div><br /></div><div>Laurel is starting 7th grade and working on her sixth grade math book to keep preparing for pre-algebra and higher level math. When she feels like she is ready, we will enroll her in some kind of accredited algebra class. This might not be for six months or a year. She writes a lot for fun, and enjoys meeting monthly with her aunts in a virtual book club. She is currently working on building a list of literature to read through with them this year. We will use some Brave Writer Arrow guides as well as Core Knowledge Series assignments and prompts, and maybe some Spark Notes. Some of the titles I'm excited about include Atlas of the Heart, The Nerviest Girl in the World and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She started riding horses again and is working on jumping at a canter. </div><div><br /></div><div>M is ramping up at a new job, doing a ton of house painting and other home maintenance things, and learning to build circuits from scratch. I'm working on a Coursera course on UX Design, and recently completed my safety certificate in flat water boating for Girl Scouts. Now I can take the scouts out on a lake in kayaks or paddle boards without having to hire a guide. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a family, we're working on planning together more. As the kids get older it's easy to just go off in a million different directions and get busier and busier without really having a purpose behind our activities. FOMO is a strong force, and there are many things competing for your attention these days. We know that having rest days built in and lots of "margins" between social situations is key for our health and happiness. "Lovingly holding each other accountable" has become a catch phrase. Writing things down a marker board helps us to 1) set a reasonable number of action items in a day and 2) finish what we started out intending to do. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-55964458347429698352022-06-23T07:18:00.001-04:002022-06-23T07:18:28.399-04:00What are you doing out there anyway?<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e5a4843-7fff-7970-3812-bfd2e0bd8cfc"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are you doing out there anyway?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes, I just want to exchange pleasantries with a stranger at a gas station pump</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Browse the local authors shelf at a library I’ll never go into again</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collect acorns that look so different from the ones on my street, but will sprout into magnificent oak trees nonetheless</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Watch a sunrise over a different urban roofline</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Order beignets instead of crullers</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time, we couldn't stop staring at the bridges</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marveling at how many there are, in every direction, crossing ravines and valleys, bays and marshes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wondering if they were new or just recently painted</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Holding a collective breath as we crossed, and they held fast every time,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Safe passage through our curiosity</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Home looks different through traveler’s eyes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That scent will hit you when you turn the key and open the door for the first time in a week, a month, a year.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But pay close attention, because it only stands out for a few short minutes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can see your life as a stranger would, which mostly ignites gratitude, but may also spur you to finally patch that crack in the back stoop, move the chair to a better spot by the window, exchange pleasantries with a neighbor you’ve known for a decade at the gas station down the block. Bask in familiarity. Appreciate that the market has your favorite brand of milk. Enjoy the incremental change of a sunset from the same spot each evening.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So what am I doing out there anyway? Is it for the adventure or the homecoming?</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-78391172289712166762022-06-21T21:51:00.014-04:002022-06-23T07:14:05.450-04:00A Year of Experimentation and Recovery2021-2022 school year was pretty wild. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and repeating, "<i>You are on time for whatever the universe has in store for you." </i>Sometimes it felt like we were standing still, stuck in a weird loop, Groundhog Day-style. Other times it felt like life was changing way too fast, and that all the stuff that happened last summer was just a dream. <div><br /></div><div>We gave the kids a huge amount of free time and autonomy this year, with mixed results. Everybody learned and grew enough, and I am entirely unworried about that aspect. They also made a lot of friends, which was probably one of our biggest goals. Managing social time continues to be a challenge with the pandemic. I appreciated the very clear communication that our homeschool groups have around this issue. People have varying degrees of risk tolerance and everyone seems really respectful of this. The culture is to be very transparent about your possible exposures and allow people the opportunity to give consent to the contact they want to have with you. Often times this meant gathering outside and wearing masks. I miss having people over for tacos, though. Or spontaneous visits from neighbors for a cup of coffee. Nobody stops by unannounced.</div><div><br /></div><div>The main downside to the autonomy was a chaotic home environment. We had a lot of friction over chores and use of computer/game systems. Our kids do a lot of things together, but they are three years apart, so there are definitely differences in what they can each contribute. For instance, Max cannot reach inside the washing machine to get the clothes out without basically falling in. Laurel can use the oven safely. Marko is the most awake in the morning. He doesn't get up super early, but is extremely efficient in getting things done within a few minutes of waking. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have taken Rest seriously this year, leaving Sunday as a day free from work and in general giving people the option to stay home or sleep more or read in bed or whatever they feel like they need, listening to their own bodies. I have seen a big shift in M taking days off running or sleeping in or playing video games after work or whatever he needs to do to chill out instead of always pushing himself. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm about to do some planning for the next school year, which will actually just sort of roll over on July 1 without much notice to anyone, because the further we sink into this home education thing the less we pay attention to things like "school year" or "grade level." </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-89740366415435500252022-04-18T15:19:00.001-04:002022-04-18T15:19:55.948-04:00Natural EbbingMonday afternoon and the house is silent, but for the ticking clock and the periodic swishing of paper pages. We went out today, to drop off recycling and tidy some things in the camper, a quick stop at the grocery store. We went to the rock climbing gym to boulder, and finally the library. The rain has been falling steadily since mid-morning, with an occasional snow shower mixed in. Even though we did errands by car and not on foot, just the dashing from the curb to the door was enough to soak us through, and now everyone wants to snuggle up and dive into their stacks of fresh library books.<div><br /></div><div>The fact that we <i>can</i> feels a bit illicit on some level. Like we are getting away with something. After many years of Powering Through, it occurred to me that I could just....not. Nothing bad happened when I took a break. Ditto for the kids. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-58531734493776807332022-03-20T05:46:00.001-04:002022-03-20T07:02:33.678-04:00Snowbirds for LifeWe loved our winter trip to the beach. Flying kites and hunting for seashells is better when it's not super hot. Everyone wants to go back next year. The most stressful part was getting home. We had some problems with our car and the weather was (as is typical in March) stormy. It was 75 when we left Galveston and actually started snowing on us as we pulled in to our parking spot in Pittsburgh. <div><br /></div><div>On the way home we went to the earthworks site at Poverty Point in Louisiana. This was one of the places I found online months ago when we were thinking of traveling through the area. It turned out to be a fantastic stop. The walking tour was really comprehensive and the rangers gave demonstrations and helped the kids complete Junior Ranger badges. The museum had tons of interesting displays as there were a lot of spear tips and pottery at the site. Since then, I've discovered that there are other mounds/earthworks in Ohio, and I want to plan a trip to look at them. The archeological discoveries at these sites are always evolving and I love learning how the story of the human history of our continent is changing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Since we've been home, a lot has come up about what our next steps should be. We signed up for a homeschool co-op this spring, so we are here for the time being, but what should we do after that? </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-31671176188789652072022-02-16T21:02:00.001-05:002022-02-20T08:26:29.564-05:00To the Edge of AmericaBack in early summer, when our road trip was the Best Thing Ever, M and I started looking at places in Florida to visit over the winter. We love being home for the holidays but winter always gets a little old by February. You have to book campsites far in advance, but we were ready to commit to more time on the road. Things got turned upside down a few weeks later and we spent the next six months recovering from the medical, mental and financial upheaval. But then, things kind of just went...back to normal? And since we have the homeschooling, remote work and camper all lined up, it seems silly to not take advantage. Florida was booked up, so we headed to Mississippi. It's warm and there are miles of white sand beaches, great birding, delicious seafood, carnival parades and really cheap camping. It's called the Secret Coast here because this is where the pirates hid all the treasure. Hurricanes have flattened a good number of towns on the Gulf Coast, and the sea is creeping ever higher. The town has optimistically rebuilt their park and put in a massive wave pool to attract visitors, but the road that runs along the coast is falling down in places. Many, many empty concrete pads hold spaces in between shiny new houses raised on 10 foot pilings. Rising sea levels are acutely felt here. Tomorrow's forecast includes a warning about coastal flooding. The tide will be a foot higher than usual and some roads will be underwater. The weatherman from the New Orleans station didn't bother to say which ones, he just laughed and said if you are in Waveland or Biloxi you'll know which ones to avoid. I'm not sure this park will be here in twenty years.<div><br></div><div>But for now, it's just high enough for us. We drove 1,100 miles in 2 1/2 days. It was really cold when we left so we didn't even dewinterize the camper until we got here.</div><div><br></div><div>Now we are playing outside happily for many hours, reading a Dart book, looking for pirate treasure, bird watching, drawing times tables in the sand, holding poetry teatime and learning about carnival season on the Gulf Coast. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-17572344580142586022022-01-29T10:03:00.001-05:002022-01-29T10:03:53.859-05:00When the Earth Crumbles Beneath Your FeetYesterday morning when I got up, I heard a ton of sirens passing in front of my house. The roads looked very icy, so at first I assumed car crash and went about my business. But then there were just too many of them to be that. My neighbors were posting on Facebook about weird noises and a strong natural gas odor. Then somebody said a bridge over a creek collapsed and I was trying to think of where that could be. When I saw the first picture, I actually jumped up and ran around the house because I was so shocked at the image of pieces of Forbes Avenue laying in the ravine of Frick Park. True, the bridge does cross a creek, but it's at least a hundred feet high and probably 500 feet across! When you walk across it, you are looking down at the tops of the tallest sycamore trees. We more often are looking at from below, because the trail passes underneath. My kids liked to scamper up the steep hillsides and tag the underside of it. Yeah, it was rusty, but what isn't in Pittsburgh? The image was horrifying because so many of my neighbors and friends and kids I know travel on that bridge. During a normal rush hour, cars would be backed up at the light across the whole span. A lot of school buses pass through that intersection. Thankfully the winter weather + Covid closures kept a lot of people home and only a few cars and one bus fell down in the collapse. <div><br /></div><div>I was also briefly panicking because M was in the park, as he often is at that time, running with his friends before work. There is no way someone could make a complete recovery from multiple organ failure just to get crushed by a bridge in his neighborhood park. Right? RIGHT?? Anyway, he was fine, but had to take the long way back to our house, because police were closing everything off, due to the natural gas gushing out of the pipeline. <br /><div><br /></div></div><div>Our street was closed all day while they figured out what to do, which I guess is put up some Jersey barriers and hang a few detour signs. Car and bus and bicycle traffic is going to be really negatively impacted, as this was a major four lane road in and out of my neighborhood, plus connecting all the suburban commuter routes from the neighboring boroughs. The bridge fell directly onto the main path that goes through the whole park. </div><div><br /></div><div>There were helicopters buzzing overhead all day and night, and it made national news, mainly because the President was already on his way to make a speech about infrastructure. But I imagine it will quickly fade from everyone's minds, except those of us who live here and will have to look at this pile of rubble for a long time, and be reminded of our collective priorities and fragility.</div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-30108374714431214152022-01-23T13:34:00.002-05:002022-01-23T13:34:34.023-05:00Marko is nine!Wow, we have big kids in our house. Marko turned 9 years old today and I love how self-sufficient he is with many things. He has a really sweet personality and is thoughtful about including others and making sure everyone is having fun. His best quality is just always being so true to himself and knowing who he is. He spends a lot of time playing with Max these days, but also has made some good friends in the homeschooling community. He loves playing Minecraft, doing art projects, building with Lego, reading about Greek and Norse myths, fart jokes, and being cuddled at night before falling asleep. For this next year, I hope for him to continue to meet new friends and find things he is passionate about. khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-84967749724195182932022-01-20T14:55:00.001-05:002022-01-20T14:55:47.613-05:00January Homeschool<p> Snow day! It snowed a ton on Sunday night so the kids have been digging snow forts and sled riding nonstop. The city actually closed all the schools today so our neighbors can even join in on the fun.</p><p>For January, I had a few things I wanted to prioritize. The first thing was to somehow connect over activities we could all do together. I downloaded a two week calendar of prompts from a blog called the Natural Learner and invited M and the kids to do them with me every morning. They were pretty simple little things for the most part. One day we painted name art using masking tape. Another day we each came up with a question that we would like to be asked about ourselves. My favorite activity was creating scratch n sniff art with salt and essential oils. There were additional prompts for the adults to pay focused attention to the kids and add more physical contact, if the kids desired it. For example, holding hands when you walk, or snuggling on the couch while reading. </p><p>The second thing I wanted to kick off was project time, or self directed learning time. It's not that my kids never do projects they come up with on their own...they actually have a lot of things going on at any given time, and M and I are also very self-directed with our projects and how we learn to do them. However, it didn't feel very integrated with our homeschooling. The kids often talk about the workbook or textbook or copywork type things we do as being more recognizable as learning experiences, even though building a circuit from scratch or programming their Spheros to navigate an obstacle course are just as good, if not better. The projects were lumped in with "fun" stuff that could be done after you did a workbook page of math. My hope was to formalize our project time by dedicating a certain amount of time where they could work on stuff and I could be available to help them if they needed it. I also wanted to honor and respect the work they were doing by creating some kind of routine check in where they could talk about their work. So far this month, we have done a good job of setting aside specific time to work on projects. I am doing a good job of working on my own projects and being more transparent with my process behind them. M already serves as an excellent example of a life-long learner. He is never without a project, actually. Currently, he's trying to build a synthesizer. (From scratch!) The trials and errors are pretty endless, but he persists. </p><p>We are also spending a ton of time playing outside with friends, especially when there is snow. Disney+ is giving us lots of viewing material for the times we want to cozy up. </p><p>Laurel and I just finished reading a graphic novel version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the new Rick Riordan book, Daughter of the Deep, which draws heavily on cultural references from Jules Verne. We had our monthly book chat with her aunts. </p><p>I'm going to do a reading assessment on a homeschooling friend in a few days, so I'm brushing up on my assessment skills with the kids and giving them tests this week. </p>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-31100437379329938832021-12-31T21:42:00.171-05:002022-01-11T16:37:52.070-05:002021<div>Worst year ever. That is all.</div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-55409411531782705672021-12-19T17:49:00.021-05:002021-12-19T17:56:06.314-05:00Holiday TimeIt's been a pretty chill December so far. Laurel and I read a Christmas Carol and finished her unit on the Industrial Revolution (2 thumbs down to child labor and debtor's prison, says Laurel). We watched the Muppet version, and I wanted to watch some other ones, but my kids are so freaked out about ghosts! They even considered the Muppet version to be too scary. We discussed the book in our Aunt Niece Book Club, which meets once a month on zoom, and one of the highlights of the month. Thank you so much to my aunts for showing up every month for it, since like April 2020. <div><br /></div><div>We have been doing lots of hiking and playing outside with our homeschool friends. I love the fact that we can be outside during the day when the sun is out, especially on these extremely short days. </div><div><br /></div><div>We are reading Heartwood Hotel for Brave Writer. So far, it's a really sweet novel and Max is totally into it. Marko stole my kindle and read the whole thing in one sitting, which he is not supposed to do. It's supposed to be a read aloud, where you discuss it along the way and do things like Copywork and little writing projects based on what you just read. Oh well. He is listening along again as I read it aloud to Max at breakfast time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Marko is hyper focused on Minecraft. He starts a video call almost every day and various friends join in. Some of the play gets a little on the murderous side (!) but it seems to be a good way for the kids to practice working out conflict. He has a google doc where he logs all of his research on ways to build things and other cheats, which he shares with the other kids. I like that they all look forward to connecting at the end of the day and it kind of reminds me of daily happy hours with friends when we were in our twenties.</div><div><br /></div><div>Laurel is working on a gingerbread house. The first iteration experienced a catastrophic collapse. She enlisted M's help on a second one, and they are busily measuring angles and cutting out a new template. On Brave Writer this month, the focus was on project time and it's so cool to witness Laurel's project unfolding. In the beginning it was all recipe research, and whimsical sketches. Actually tackling the baking and assembly herself was pretty stress inducing, but she talked herself off a few emotional ledges. There are crumbs everywhere, royal icing everywhere, sketches and crumpled cardboard, and baking pans and wet rags. It's a hot mess down there. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have some shopping to finish up and will be smoking a turkey later this week to take to my parents' house. My brother and Laurel are working on a "Christmas Light Bingo" driving tour that we will all do sometime on Christmas Eve. </div><div><br /></div><div>I love how relaxed our schedule is these days. I don't miss being busy at all.</div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-51736365316574569802021-12-09T21:01:00.000-05:002021-12-12T19:37:54.172-05:00Max is 6!<p> He's still as cuddly as ever, so don't worry. I'm not sure he'll outgrow that. I think for his whole life he's going to be one of those people who will give you a hug when you need one.</p><p>He seems to have taught himself to read, the decoding part anyway. He still loves being read to, and we are continuing our daily routine of "Max reads 5 books" which means he hears books from each of us and reads to one of us each day. We bought him the new Cat Kid Comic Club for his birthday and also got him a gift card to the bookstore, which he can't wait to use. I'm not sure about his spelling and handwriting. He can write notes and add things to our to do list, but he really balks any sort of writing assignment. I didn't even submit paperwork on him because school is not compulsory until the school year after they turn 6. </p><p>He is definitely the least schooled of any of the kids, so it's kind of interesting to see what skills and learning practices he develops on his own. He's very intuitive about numbers and computation, and works out a lot of problems in his head. He works on Khan Academy on his own sometimes. He is an enthusiastic participant in Poetry Teatime.... reading and sometimes even writing a poem, to share with everyone. He enjoyed his homeschool co-op classes in the fall, and was able to participate appropriately whether they were on zoom or in person. I don't have any solid assessment data points to know that he is 'on the right track' but I also feel super confident that he's doing fine. Maybe that is just part of the homeschool journey, you start to trust your intuition more?</p><p>He loves playing Minecraft with the older kids, pretty much any board game with Marko, riding his bike, hiking and running around in the woods with friends, and cooking. </p><p>His bedtime routine is to take a melatonin gummy, brush his teeth, and listen to a story or snuggle in his bed with either M or me. He's almost always awake by 6:30, and eats a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every day. He has not lost any teeth yet. </p><p>I am such a different kind of parent to him at 6, than I was to Laurel when she was 6. I ponder this a lot, but I wonder how it will turn out in the end.</p>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-31631842696871098252021-11-27T15:44:00.004-05:002021-11-28T20:18:30.700-05:00November is Almost Over (already??!!)<div>I'm in a cycle of observing and listening to the kids more. I've been reconsidering my role as teacher in the house, and wondering what happens if I, basically, don't teach. This might sound crazy because if I am not going to teach the kids then WHO is going to teach the kids? I recently came across the acronym W.A.I.T. that stands for Why am I teaching? Or sometimes Why am I talking? I definitely talk too much in classes/scout meetings/homeschool situations, especially if I'm nervous that kids are getting rowdy or are veering off the path of understanding. More talking on my part, of course, doesn't really correct anyone's behavior, and usually I'm saved by the proverbial bell. I don't have any solid conclusions, I've just been trying to think my thoughts instead of saying them out loud to the kids constantly, and asking them more questions. </div><div><br /></div>Max has been working on a little 3x5 index card that has the days of the week, the word "dinner" and a meal for each day. He started making this spontaneously during a dinnertime conversation in which we discussed our upcoming schedule and meals we might cook. He mostly writes in capital letters. He can read back what he writes. The letter S always seems to confound him for a moment. <div><br /></div><div>Marko set a goal to improve his writing in November, but he continued to protest about pretty much any writing practice I offered up to him. He doesn't have anything very nice to add to his portfolio, but we'll stick it in there anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div>Laurel wanted to focus on the Middle Ages as a topic to study. She enthusiastically dug into this activity book we got last year from my aunt. There were six models to build (things like a castle that showed a cut-away so you can see how the rooms were arranged). The book also contained some basic information about life in Europe in the Middle Ages. We found a website called the Medievalist, which had tons and tons of great articles, a whole podcast series, and links to youtube videos. It is not for children, so has the downside of being pretty technical and academic. However, there is something very compelling about listening to scholars talk about their passion....whether it is how coconut shells were actually widely used in Europe or how the peasant class felt about the Hundred Years' Wars. She also read a few of the Canterbury Tales, with the help of SparkNotes, which is like the CliffsNotes that I remember from my school days, but better. There are nice little charts that show the characters and annotated text. The internet is an amazing thing these days. So much garbage. So much amazing content.</div><div><br /></div><div>We wrote some letters to friends and family. Marko met with his aunts about the book they are publishing together. Laurel and I had a book club with these same aunts, where we all discussed Raina Telgemeier graphic novels. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Brave Writer One Thing topic was Service, and we picked an organization that collects gifts for kids (at the urging of my mom, who organized huge gift collections every holiday season when I was a kid). We didn't really talk much more about service, but we are helping a loved one navigate a really difficult situation, and definitely building our empathy muscles that way. </div><div><br /></div><div>Laurel and I toured the Chatham University arboretum with our Girl Scout troop. We went to the zoo with another homeschooling family and had a blast. We finally made it to the library to swap out our books again. My mother taught them all about bones. We finished our homeschool co-op classes, and Gymkhana classes, and took a break from horse lessons, and had some completely free days at home. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-8177742510155209832021-11-14T06:53:00.048-05:002021-11-15T06:42:23.217-05:00Modge-podge All the ThingsLast week, we went on a lantern walk with some homeschool friends. To prepare, we decorated some plastic containers from our recycling bin with colored paper and leaves, and then modge-podged the heck out of them. Our headlamps fit perfectly inside the lanterns and by screwing the lids on, the headbands even made a nice handle. The weather was really lovely that night, clear with a sliver of a moon and many visible stars, even in a city park. On the walk home through the park, it was only about 6:30, but pitch black in the woods. Walking in the dark can be unnerving, but the cheerful colored lights from the lanterns made it feel much less scary. Max observed that his feet work differently in the dark. We were hoping to hear an owl, but only saw deer. We liked the whole experience so much we went on another lantern walk the following night, this time with our next door neighbors, and all week we lit the lanterns in our living room each night when the sun goes down...which is super early this time of year! <div><br /></div><div>I have a habit of collecting leaves when I go walking and now the kids pick up leaves they think I will like. Today we walked to the bookstore to pick up Laurel's order and she and M got a whole bunch of gingko leaves for me. I modge-podged those ones onto another plastic container for another lantern, as well as onto the cover of my journal. Modge-podge all the things! Humans have a need for creative outlets, and it doesn't have to be high art to meet this need. It's also interesting to see the kids observe the leaves that are always lying around in a pile until they get too dry and crumbly to keep. So many different varieties of maples and oaks. Even leaves from the same tree are sometimes different sizes, or even shapes. I'm looking at you, sassafras trees. The color of the maple leaves this year is particularly interesting, I think due to the fluctuation in temperature this past month. They are more variegated that I can remember from past years, with lots of vein-y yellow streaks in between the red. Absolutely beautiful. (But not good for modge-podging because they get dry very fast.)</div><div><br /></div><div>This month, we are supposed to be studying the Middle Ages, and playing math games and doing service projects, but there's been a flurry of medical appointments and vaccination appointments and lots of opportunities to play with friends outside and also playing Minecraft with friends on a daily google meet playdates, so at this halfway point of the month I really need to stop and consider if we need a reboot of our academics, or if maybe lots of learning is occurring despite our lack of attention to the plan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some things that I would classify as learning but may or may not have been part of the plan...</div><div><br /></div><div>Max built a simple circuit with M.</div><div>Marko wrote 8 things about himself in response to a Brave Writer writing prompt, spontaneously and without me nagging him about it.</div><div>Laurel cantered on a horse! She's learning lots of slowing down and speeding up and postures. She also got to go on a trail ride this week which was pretty much her birthday dream come true.</div><div>Our Girl Scout troop visited the arboretum at Chatham University and identified about 30 of their trees. </div><div>Marko and M ground some rye berries into flour, with the hand mill. </div><div>We wrote letters to friends and family. </div><div>We are all learning the melody of Little Drummer Boy on various musical instruments we have laying around the house.<br />The kids learned lots of things about bone health and healing from my mom, who prepared a bunch of wonderful anatomy lessons for them. </div><div>We are learning to throw boomerangs. </div><div>We read the first few paragraphs of the Canterbury Tales at poetry teatime....in Middle English! </div><div>Marko and his aunts had a meeting on zoom about a book they are writing together.</div><div>Laurel and her aunts had a zoom book club meeting on Raina Telgemeier. </div><div>We wax dipped leaves with some homeschool friends. </div><div>Laurel dyed a piece of clothing using natural walnut dye. </div><div>We made some of the models in this kit of medieval history we got several years ago. </div><div>We watched a video where modern day kids ate medieval food and reviewed it. Nobody liked the rabbit. </div><div>They all learned lots of Minecraft skills by playing with other kids, watching youtube videos, and finding books at the library.</div><div>We are listening to a ton of Greeking Out podcasts.</div><div>We raked some leaves at my brother's house and Max read one of my favorite childhood books to his cousin Oscar. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-50099200822748822962021-10-28T11:30:00.005-04:002021-10-28T11:30:37.245-04:00Sick DayIt's bound to happen occasionally...somebody is sick and you have to cancel plans. Nobody here is <i>very</i> sick, but there are enough symptoms to stay home. I appreciate participating in a community where people take this seriously. This is a major bummer because Thursdays are the one day we have in person classes for everybody and we meet at a lovely park outside of the city and then go for a horse riding lesson after. It's been a wonderful routine this fall. M is out of town on a business trip right now, but normally he would be baking pizza from scratch so that it is ready when we get home from our day out. <div><br /></div><div>I'm taking the opportunity to do some fall deep cleaning around the house, and letting the kids relax and read and watch tv and play video games. We have finished a lot of our goals for the month...wrapping up the Dart and Arrow guides and choosing our next novels. Laurel is working her way through the history textbooks...currently responding with a fair amount of outrage at the child labor practices of the Industrial Revolution. Max is reading so fluently! We have a habit of five books a day for him. He listens to a story, article or poem from each member of the family and then chooses one person to read out loud to. Once in a while I pull out my Wilson Reading System cards to do a little phonics/spelling, but he is mostly just picking it up naturally. Sometimes I despair over Marko's reluctance to write anything by hand, but he is working on an extensive Google Doc that he shared with his Minecraft buddies, so when push comes to shove, he actually can produce something. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've been listening to a lot of Sue Patterson podcasts and thinking about how experts can and should be used in learning...and whether or not an elementary teacher, or even a secondary teacher in a school would fall into this category. I certainly have known lots of teachers who were experts in pedagogy, because that's the majority of what they teach to early childhood or elementary teachers. Back before NCLB, teachers had more freedom to do units on topics of their choosing and that's where you would see their expert knowledge or interest. Secondary teachers were more likely to have a passionate interest in a subject. I will never forget Mr. Brown and his collection of bones. I only had him for homeroom, but I learned so much about the skeletons of local woodland creatures in those 15 minutes. Not that he was teaching a lesson, he was just boiling and assembling skeletons and we would ask questions because holy-crap-teachers-were-weird-in-the-90s. He had a definite passion for anthropology. But on the other end, I was hired to be a math teacher purely because I was the most qualified candidate, having taken Calculus in community college 10 years earlier. I just had to take a test and BAM I was certified. So in this century, you never know what sort of "expert" your kid's teachers are, and unschoolers love to point that out. </div><div><br /></div><div>I hesitate to climb aboard that train, though because there are a lot of Americans running around saying they did their research and basically ignoring or disputing what actual professional and life-long researchers are putting out there. Twitter is a place where I often see people very convincingly write about a topic but sometimes it turns out they are missing some important nuances. Still it gets shared 1.1million times and becomes part of the American canon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Somewhere there are facts, right?</div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-75597075338553582852021-10-19T07:36:00.027-04:002021-10-22T18:45:44.059-04:00Confront Your Fears<div>We went to Titusville over the weekend to volunteer at the Oil Creek 100. I thought it would be a really good thing for us to 1) see some friends we haven't seen in a while and 2) get back to an ultra to clear the bad mojo from our last experience. I'm not sure when/if M will run one of these events again, and I didn't want Western States to be our last experience at an ultra as a family.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back in 2015 (which now feels like a million years ago), OC was the first hundred that M attempted. I have really fond memories of that weekend. The weather was gorgeous, my parents watched Laurel and Marko (I was pregnant with Max) and I was free to wander (waddle) around and enjoy the scenery, weather and general good vibes of this race. Some of our friends came up to to keep me company and cheer for M. This is when I first met Paul and Jeff, who came to pace M. Being new to ultras, I was blown away by the efforts of the volunteers, who were cooking up a storm and keeping up a festive vibe. The forest was a magical, technicolor rainbow. M ran well. We slept blissfully in the back of our 4Runner in the parking lot. </div><div><br /></div><div>M was thrilled to get his first belt buckle. For some people that might have satisfied their urge...you want to see if you can do something hard, so you do it, and then that's it. But M genuinely enjoyed the experience, and went on to run a lot of races over the next few years. Like, a LOT. I think he did ten hundreds in about 3 years, plus many more 50K/100K/50mi races. Ultra/trail running became a part of our family culture. I started a weekly running club for kids in our local park. Evening walks/runs with our next door neighbors helped the kids sleep better. Our travel became very oriented towards finding trails to explore or races to run. We developed real friendships with M's running buddies. The seasonal rhythm of our years were marked by certain events. Always Hyner in the spring. Oil Creek in the fall. Volunteering at an aid station at the Rachel Carson in June. The pandemic pretty much killed races for a year, but they were starting up again and I think all of us were happy about that.</div><div><br />The weather was terrible at OC this year. Pretty much the complete opposite of Western States....cold, rainy, epic mud. We weren't too bothered by the conditions, as we had a cozy tent to sleep in and were volunteering in the aid station, under cover. It was definitely a slogfest for the runners, though. It was great to see some friends, and I also had a chance to talk in person to a lot of people who messaged me on Facebook over the summer. It's really different to go to a race when you aren't waiting for a runner. When the boys got tired, I just took them to the tent and put them to bed. So many people dropped out of the race, that there wasn't a lot to do at our aid station. But it definitely still had that ultra vibe. People huddled around the fire all night, the kids made signs, somebody had a cow bell. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was worried that a runner would get hurt or sick, and how that would feel if the kids saw it. I was worried we would feel like we didn't have a place there anymore. But that wasn't how it was at all. It just felt like we were home. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30317394.post-27209623779728976662021-10-09T08:12:00.004-04:002021-10-09T08:14:06.196-04:00Got the car back....againShortly after returning from Reno the second time, the transmission in our Yukon broke. For reasons related to an internet misunderstanding over the location of a horse riding lesson, I was with the kids way out in the country at the time and after failing to get AAA to send a tow truck, and also failing at getting an Uber to drive us to Pittsburgh (basically expected, as I only have one review and it's from Reno), I limped the car into a dealership in the town of Washington, PA. <div><br /></div><div>There is a classic children's book called <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/955191.That_s_Good_That_s_Bad_" target="_blank">That's Good! That's Bad! </a>(Rabbit hole alert, I got a kick out of the reviews on Good Reads, people really have strong negative opinions of this book! But I remember my students loving it.) The story shows a ridiculous series of events, many of which seem bad on the surface, but then turn out to be good, and vice versa. </div><div><br /></div><div>I find this to be <i>extremely</i> relatable.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I rolled in there just before they closed for the day and at the exact moment I was describing my transmission woes to the service tech, another customer came in to return the keys to the dealer loaner car. My children were being extremely well behaved while simultaneously looking a bit weary, which made them all the more charming. Before I knew it, we were back on the road back to Pittsburgh in a brand new Buick. (That's Good) M had some homemade pizza and a cold beer waiting for me when I got home. (Also Good)</div><div><br /></div><div>It took 3 weeks for them to get the transmission in (That's Bad), but it was covered by the warranty (That's Freaking Fantastic, actually). And now we are left to wonder if we somehow toasted the transmission by towing, although it is well within the weight parameters and we never experienced any problems while actually towing. The mechanics said sometimes they just fail at this mileage and there is some sort of advisory issued by GMC on this particular transmission. We could sell it while it's in good shape and get a truck, but I would definitely miss the 8 seats, and the fact the Yukon fits in our garage. To tow, or not to tow, that is the question. </div><div><br /></div><div>I try to make good decisions and exercise reasonable caution. But life happens and something will happen. It might be bad, but also good. Or it might be good, but also bad. </div>khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04800994151833752834noreply@blogger.com0