New Friends

Arielle used to attend a homeschool co-op at our church, but our church is not close to our house. The morning drive during rush hour became just too stressful. We left the co-op and the girls joined Awanas instead for their social time. A co-op should be educational as well as a social outlet, but I felt I could provide the academics at home. Up to this point I really have not needed help teaching my girls. But I realize their needs change as they grow older. My friend Connie who also homeschools lives very close, but otherwise, the girls and I are somewhat isolated from any other homeschool families. Not isolated! But we haven't mingled much with other families like ours. People always seem to be so concerned about that "s" word--socialization. My girls are quite socialized! Anyway, things have changed.

Connie called to tell me a group of moms were trying to connect with other homeschooling families and would I like to join them? Some of the families had recently moved here and were trying to find friends for their children and some support for themselves. So last week we all had lunch together. This kind, generous woman opened her home to all these moms and kids. They all live within a few miles of here. I never knew. We are not alone! And best of all, there were some girls Arielle's age. We moms discussed our state's laws and the required evaluations and portfolios that will soon be due. We talked about books our kids love and textbooks we use and like. We planned possible field trips and considered interesting co-ops in the area. It was very encouraging to find like-minded women. My girls had so much fun with their new friends and we all look forward to seeing each other again soon.

More on Books

A few days ago we visited a small local bookstore to find a First Communion gift for a friend of ours. I found a beautiful picture book on Mother Teresa written by Demi. We've enjoyed many of Demi's books of Chinese folktales, but I had never seen this book before. Then I told Arielle and Liana that they could each choose one book.

I rarely buy books except used ones from book fairs. There is no need--we have a great little library only a mile or so from our house, and what we can't find there we can order through the inter-county loan system. At home we have a collection of very special books. I always love when the girls receive books as gifts, especially if the gift-giver has written something in the front cover to one of the girls. But mostly, all the books the girls read are from the library.

My family never had much money when I was growing up but books were very important to my mother. In the small desert town where I lived as a child, there were no libraries or bookmobiles. That came later when we moved to Missouri. But we did have the Arrow Book Club at school. My mother allowed me to get as many as I wanted with the condition that I read every single one of them. I always had the largest stack on my desk when the orders were delivered to the classroom. I'm amazed by that now because I don't know how my mother paid for them all. I still remember some of the titles: The Shy Stegasaurus of Cricket Creek, Emily San (about Japan), and Elizabeth Blackwell, Woman Doctor. I still remember that new book smell and the pleasure of holding a crisp new paperback in my hands.

The girls were excited to actually buy a book and what fun they had choosing. They skipped over most of the modern series and then paused for some time over the non-fiction, picking up books on presidents and ancient Egypt. They examined the American Girl mysteries. Then Arielle discovered the shelves with the Newberry Medal winners. She found several she wanted, reading the back cover and exclaiming, "This looks good!" I reminded her only one book. We wrote down some titles that she could request from the library.

At home Liana had just finished her first chapter book, read silently rather than aloud to me. I encouraged her to choose another. She found Treasure Island, a Stepping Stones adapted classic and immediately decided that was the one. Arielle settled on Johnny Tremain, a book on the Revolutionary War. My girls love adventure!

Creative Writing

Liana's teaching time is long. Not because she is slow to learn; she is not. She has a very quick mind. But the style of learning that she enjoys and that is most effective for her is time-consuming. She loves the artsy-crafty things. She loves me to read her stories. She loves making up stories.

Yesterday her assignment for language arts was to write a paragraph on this topic: what would you do if you woke up and found out you were two inches tall. Liana sat down to write a rough draft, asking me how long it had to be and did she have to write in cursive because she HATES handwriting. She finished quickly, a sloppy job, with half the words misspelled. I encouraged her with a few questions to continue her story. This time she dictated to me while I wrote her words down. She went on and on since I was the one doing the writing. Then she looked at the paper and said, "Oh no, I'm going to have to copy all that!" So she didn't want to say anymore. I suggested she continue with her story while I typed it. She was excited about that. We went upstairs and she dictated a long, long story, full of detail and imagination.

Now I know she needs to learn to write neatly by hand. (Although that is a debatable idea among educators since computers now dominate our lives. On the other hand many homeschoolers believe daily copywork and penmanship are important.) But should I squelch her creativity by torturing her to handwrite her ideas on paper? I don't think so.

The answer is obvious to me as I write this. I need to teach her to type. Then her fingers can fly at the same speed as her lively brain.

Van Gogh Lapbook

We have been working on three lapbooks this year. Liana is working on one of birds and one of the orchestra. I will post pictures when they are complete. It's hard to describe a lapbook if you've never seen one. I'd call it an informational artistic display of learned material, small enough to hold on your lap. We use file folders and cardstock to create the "book." We glue in pictures copied from books or downloaded from the internet, and we cut out pictures from a great resource we have--a very old set of World Book Encyclopedias. I got these books free at a homeschool conference, and I specifically planned to use them for this purpose.

Liana immediately took to the idea of making a lapbook. She created the one on birds as a review of all the topics we covered this year and then the orchestra book was just her own idea because musical instruments greatly interest her. Arielle was more reluctant to make one. I gave her a choice from different subjects she's studied and she finally settled on Vincent Van Gogh. It's finally complete! Here is how she did it:

On the cover is a picture of one of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings. When the lapbook is opened, she has displayed several of his self-portraits and an accordian-fold time line of his life. On the flaps on either side are questions and answers. Inside the first page is a gallery of paintings. Then the next section is a written report about Van Gogh. I had given Arielle the option of making a lapbook OR writing a report in the conventional way of reviewing a subject. Still, she chose to write a mini-report anyway and then put it in her book. That's her style of learning.

Arielle also has a pocket with index cards with "fun facts about Vincent Van Gogh." We had some trouble finding maps of the different countries where Van Gogh lived because the individual maps are not to scale with each other. But she does have small maps of England, the Netherlands, and France marked with the important cities and corresponding events of his life.

Lapbooks are not Arielle's preferred way of learning, but I think she enjoyed making her book and it stretched her in a different direction and that was good for her.

Please share your ideas on lapbooks!

Poem about India

I promised Liana I would post the poem she wrote about India. She wrote it last fall when she was eight:

A Great Place

India is so very hot,
I have a sari that I bought.

We saw elephants in the street,
I thought it was very neat.

Gita was a girl I met,
She had an elephant for a pet.

The Taj Mahal is very nice,
After that we ate some rice.

The sitar is lovely to hear,
We wanted to get very near.

We saw girls dancing along,
I thought it was a pretty song.

Now it is time we must go home,
Gita my friend gave me a comb.

So I will remember her yet,
The nicest girl I ever met.

Arielle's Passions

Arielle's passion is people. From the time she was a baby, people fascinated her. In restaurants she would twist around in her high chair to study them. She was never fussy or bored in public places.

Arielle enjoys people. She has never been shy to join a group of children and has never been inhibited around strangers. She is quiet, but not timid. She watches and learns. When friends come to play, she has never been very interested in getting out toys, rather she wants to talk. She loves to hang out on the outskirts of the room when women are talking, seemingly fascinated by our conversation. Arielle is a communicator, verbal from a very early age. She likes to talk! She now has her own e-mail, carefully monitored by me. This has opened her world so she can connect with family members and friends across the country.

One summer the girls and I helped out at a day-care center for a week. Arielle discovered her very favorite of people--babies. She truly shone that week as she helped care for 1-year-olds. They delighted her and each day she came home with stories of the cute things they did.

Her love of children is evident when the grandkids are over. She is attentive and nurturing with the little ones. She will gladly give up a whole day to care for baby Laci. She is gentle and kind with 4-year-old Mattie and 5-year-old Lana. She is never impatient and never grows tired of them. And what a help she is to me!

Of course, her gift with children will carry her far in life. But how does being a people-person translate into our school day? Arielle is a very orderly person. She is methodical and conscientious. School work that doesn't really interest her is done quickly and accurately just to get it out of the way. But she thoroughly enjoys reading stories of her favorite topic--people! She is not a read-for-information kind of girl. She loves stories. Arielle is a child who would enjoy a homeschool co-op. Right now she doesn't have that, but I think it would be worth pursuing.

Last night we had a homeschooler's book fair at our church. Arielle was in her element--books and people! She and her friend wandered around talking with others they knew. I gave Arielle $5 to spend and she took such pleasure in choosing her books. She proudly told me she bought a total of 15 books with her money! Maybe she also has a talent for finding bargains.