Library Day

Once a week or more we go to the library. It's one of Arielle's favorite places. Mine too when I was a child. We didn't always have an accessible library in the towns I lived, so that made the trip even more special when one was available. I still remember the smell of books back then and the excitement of choosing one from the shelves. It would have been a book without a colorful cover or beautiful illustrations like children's books have now. But a good story to take me on a journey into another world was enough for me.

Arielle makes the rounds to her favorite shelves that hold fairy tales and folk stories from other lands, the Nancy Drew mysteries, magazines for young girls, or her favorite--historical fiction. Liana looks for books about musical instruments, art, or ancient civilizations. And of course ducks. The girls never want to leave, yet the longer we stay the stack of books to check out gets taller and taller. I go through the readers to find books to interest Liana. She is a very discriminate reader. Forget talking animal books, ones with TV characters, or even books about kids her age. No, she wants action, history, and foreign places. Once I thought I'd found the perfect book and even ordered it on-line from our inter-county loan service. It was called A Doll Named Dora Anne about a girl who's given a doll handed down from her grandmother. (I would have liked it when I was Liana's age.) Liana read it but it wasn't nearly as interesting to her as Escape North about Harriet Tubman or Ben Franklin's Big Shock.

I remember long ago coming home from the bookmobile on a hot, summer day. My mom and I would get a cold drink (no A/C back then) and curl up with a great story and read away the afternoon. Well, my mother probably had to stop reading way before she wanted to in order to cook dinner or care for the younger kids, but she would read as often and as much as she could and still does. She left a legacy and my children are following in her footsteps.

We're home from the library and the girls' chosen books are scattered on the carpet around them. The house is quiet as they read, lost in other worlds.

CAT Day

My girls were supposed to take the California Achievement Test with the homeschool co-op at our church. But they were both sick with high fevers that day--after all our hard work in preparing them! It was very discouraging. But why do I get so stressed over things like this? God always has a better plan. Since they couldn't be tested with the group, my friend came over today to test them. They were in their familiar home with a woman they know. It took away all their apprehension and I'm sure they did well.

My friend has two children she homeschools--her 14-year-old boy, recently adopted from Russia, and her 8-year-old daughter who is Liana's best friend. She put her kids in the car and drove halfway to my house. I put my kids in the car and met her at the halfway point. We then switched kids and went to each other's homes. I supervised her children in their school work and she administered the test to my children. When my girls finished, I drove her kids back to my house and we all had lunch together. Mom swap! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her children. It was fun getting to know her son Jacob a little better. I found out he has a great sense of humor! He was very proud of the two math books he has already completed and wanted to show me his work. And little Julia was so eager to share her lessons with me. We read some books together and did an oral spelling quiz. It turned out to be quite a pleasant day--the Big Test Day I had dreaded for so long!

Lapbooks

Last summer at the SEARCH conference, I partipated in a mini-workshop on lapbooking. I was so excited about this method of teaching. I just knew the girls would love it. At the used book sale I found a FREE old set of World Book Encyclopedias. What a pain to haul them out to the car stack by stack, but I knew they would be invaluable for cutting out pictures for the lapbooks. Before school started I stocked up on file folders and card stock. Still motivated by the conference, Liana and I even started a lapbook on the orchestra. That was her latest craze. So what happened? Liana's excitement remained, but mine dwindled off. My creative ideas fizzled out. I just couldn't think how to put it together.

We started school and Liana occasionally asked when we were going to continue her book. I put her off. Too many other "important" things to do. Then one night, just last week, someone posted a question about lapbooks on one of my yahoo groups. Someone else sent some links. I checked them out. Then I knew we must get back to this idea. Why? Because it is very appealing to Liana, my right-brained, imaginative child.

I gave the girls an option--create a lapbook on one of the topics we are studying or a book they are reading. Arielle has been reading Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan. Something in history? How about the transcontinental railroad? Science? How about Isaac Newton? How about birds? Liana wanted to do birds. "But aren't we going to finish my book on the orchestra?" she asked. Arielle said she wanted to do birds too, although she isn't studying birds. (She was not so enthusiastic about this project.) She chose to do hers on woodpeckers since we have seen several in our yard this winter. Liana is doing hers on lessons from her book Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.

Liana LOVES working on her book. She cuts out pictures and glues them in. She draws pictures . She has her own ideas about what the book should look like and what she wants to include. She writes long descriptions of her bird topics. That is the best part of this project. Without complaining, she writes and writes. She is learning to organize her thoughts and express herself. I don't hassle her about spelling.

Arielle has already stalled out. She half-heartedly searched for information on woodpeckers. She wasn't interested in reading what she found. This lapbook thing is not her medium. Unless maybe woodpeckers just isn't her topic. Maybe she is too old for this?

We're beginning a study on Vincent Van Gogh. I can see this making a great lapbook. Maybe I can interest Arielle in this one. Liana will not want to do another one until her bird book is finished and yes, the orchestra book too. Infinite possibilities for lapbooks!

Different kids

Liana had a better attitude the next day. Some of our work was beyond what she has learned, so we skipped it. Better to review what she knows than to teach something new right before the test. I realized too that the test prep book we are using covers the entire third grade, and we are only halfway through the year.

Arielle enjoys worksheets. She always has, so she is not complaining. I remember the early Explode the Code books that I thought were great. I would have to ask Arielle to please stop doing so many pages in one day and save some for later! Then I bought them for Liana. She would cry when I asked her to complete one page. The books were torture for her. Different kids, different learning styles. That is one of the main benefits of homeschooling. I can find books and methods to suit each child. I had to learn this the hard way though. Hard on Liana. I regret how I tried to conform her into a little twin of Arielle. Thank goodness Liana is a tough little character and fought back until I finally caught on that she is her own person.

Back to School

The girls had no school for two weeks. This is the longest mid-year break we have ever had. With Christmas and New Year's Day falling on Thursday, it just made more sense to do that.

Now we begin again and I might be regretting my decision. At 9:00 as we sit down to begin, Liana is in tears because she doesn't want to read aloud. Then, she isn't at all happy about our plans for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, our state requires standardized testing in grades 3 and 5, so both girls have to be prepared by the 23rd. That means most of our month is wasted on test prep. I say wasted because now I have to teach to the test rather than continuing our regular studies in the textbooks I have chosen for the girls. We have to pull topics out of context from what we have been working on all year.

Liana is stressed. We did a practice test last spring at home and both girls did quite well. But today Liana feels pressured and keeps saying, "I can't do this!" Her hair is bothering her. She takes it in and out of a ponytail, impatiently pushes back the little flyaway hairs around her face. She says, "My hair never feels right." I wet it down, slick it back, tie it back, anchor it with a barrette. I need to remember to do that on test day too. I don't push her too much. She has blocked her brain from learning today. We'll try, try again tomorrow.

Questions

My pulmonologist got me through a serious illness a few years ago and I respect him for that. But as I've gotten to know him better, he seems more comfortable asking me about homeschooling. And I feel more uncomfortable answering his questions. (His wife was a public school teacher.)

Every homeschooling mom's radar picks up the subtle thoughts behind the questions. "How long do you plan to homeschool?" "Are your kids involved in outside activities?" "Do you have any other families you interact with?" Interpretation: Surely you're not going to continue this through high school! Your kids do associate with "normal" kids, don't they? They aren't isolated from the world, are they? I always feel the need to assure him we are quite fine, thank you.

This last visit he focused on me. After a discussion about my health, I happened to say I am only so concerned because of my girls. I've never been one to obsess over aches or pains or illness. So the doctor now thinks I'm obsessed with my daughters. He says, "What do you do for fun?" Fun? The question takes me by surprise. He elaborates, "Do you have any hobbies?" Who has time for hobbies? I try to think...yes, I do quilting. Right now I've making quilts for my grandchildren. Oh, that plays right into his stereotype. He gives me a knowing smile. He's sure now I'm holed up in my house, alone with my girls and my sewing machine.

I didn't tell him this: I've never been more at peace in all my life. It is the contentment of being totally at the center of God's will, doing exactly the work He's called me to do at this moment in time. It's not about fun or hobbies. It's the joy of spending the days with my precious daughters, raising them to be godly women, enjoying their desire for knowledge and celebrating their achievements. I value this time to let them grow at their own pace, keeping them children for as long as possible, not pushed to adulthood ahead of schedule by our culture. The world will never understand this.

Testing

My special ed reading teacher friend offered to test my daughter in reading so Liana will be prepared for the California Achievement Test she must take in January, as required by our state. We drove to Colleen's house on Election Day and she generously gave Liana about two hours of her time, and I was able to listen in from the next room. My difficult daughter amazed me!

Liana alternated between reading a passage aloud and then answering questions, to reading silently and then answering questions. I heard no complaint from her and there were no tears. She was cooperative and willing to do all that Colleen asked of her. Liana has never in her life read so much for so long! Results: Colleen said reading is difficult for her but she is reading on level and I should continue teaching her on grade level. We need to review some forgotten phonics concepts and push sight words that seem to hold her up. She reads slowly, but she can do it! That was encouraging to me. We will keep plugging away. Some other advice from my friend was helpful too. I should ask Liana to look for certain facts or ideas in the story before she begins, so she can anticipate what might happen. I should also ask increasing more complex questions about the story after she reads it and also allow her to ask me questions about it. Liana loved that part. Colleen also said she should read independently below her instructional level. I've found she then doesn't protest and actually seems to enjoy reading.

I've wondered for awhile about some sensory-overload issues and one thing Colleen said confirmed this. Liana's comprehension is better when she reads silently. (I would have thought the opposite--that she would skip over words.) Colleen said she understands more because she isn't trying to articulate words plus keep track of the story. A homeschooling friend of mine gave me another great idea--I read a page from the book, then Liana reads a page. Then the passage doesn't seem so overwhelming to her and we end up actually reading more.