We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
2006-06-14 - 13:37
House-keeping
I promised to share the magazine list I created several weeks ago. I uploaded it and then never remembered to share it...so here it is.
It's not an exhaustive list and I may add to it if I hear of any other wonderful kids reads. And Rod and I are still pondering them; we haven't decided what to get yet. I guess while many of them sound pretty good, none of them sounds rally stellar, so it's a tougher choice than it might be otherwise. Partly because, like most kids, Jack is at his own personal developmental level and it doesn't quite line up with expectation. Oh well, we'll get around to it.
Also, I posted a reminder last time that the photo of Jack in the left column will take you to his online scrapbook. I remembered to change the photo to more recent one, but I forgot to change the link to his fourth year scrapbook. It still takes you to his third year. Oops. When I get a chance to change the link, I'll also change the photo. That way you'll know I've updated it without my having to take up space here.
Books, books, books!
I haven't posted one of these in a LONG time -- but Jack is off and reading with a vengeance again, so...
Jack's current favorite!
Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
Hardie Gramatky wrote Little Toot in late 1938 and it was published in January of 1939. It's the story of "the cutest, silliest little tugboat you ever saw" and is a lesson in accepting responsibility and your place in society. Rod and I remember it from our childhoods and we're delighted that Jack likes it, too.
Interestingly, it is rated a "baby and preschool" reading level, and yet it has far more challenging language than most modern children's books have. I think that's one reason Jack likes it -- and he has decided that J.G. Magillicuddy is just about the coolest name he's ever heard!
We originally got the book as a part of a unit on boats. It was one of three, and we were kind of surprised when weeks later, Jack was still asking for this one over and over again. Since he likes Little Toot so well, we decided to introduce him to some other old friends -- like the Little Engine that Could, Katy and the Big Snow, and Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. All good books, with the "old fashioned" notion that kids learn language by hearing it, not by being protected from words that are "too hard", and that were written in a time when it was assumed to be important to teach kids that their goal was to take their place in adult society, and that making a real contribution is the greatest accomplishment a kid can reach for.
"Mowing my lawn ..."
With the age of three comes pretend play, and Jack is right on target.
A few months ago, Jack rarely pretended to do adult chores; he wanted to be right in the thick of it, doing the actual chores. He's pretty good at it, too. He can set the table; he can empty the flatware from the dishwasher into the flatware tray, completely sorted. He can load the dirty flatware into the dishwasher. He can load laundry into the washer and add the soap; he can put the clean clothes into the dryer, and then take them out of the dryer and put them into a basket. He can help pick up his room, though he's not good at figuring out how to do it on his own yet. He waters the garden and the roses, he is learning to pull weeds, he helps to empty the compost bucket either into the compost tumbler or into the compost pile. He helps us to cook and bake.
But that's not enough for our boy. He wants so much to help with everything!
But that's not always possible. Some jobs are just too dangerous. And that's where pretending comes in.
On Monday, when I came home from work, Rod headed out to mow the lawn, which was beginning to be a viable hiding place for our neighbor, the enormous ground hog.
Jack wanted to watch. We started at the window, but very soon, Rod headed out of sight. So, we went out to watch. From the workshop door, Jack watched, fascinated, as Rod drove his lawn tractor in great swooping swathes over the back lawn, backed up, and "made another circle".
As Rod headed for the front lawn, Jack and I headed for the front porch -- and there Jack spotted his tricycle. He hopped on, and announced "I am mowing *my* lawn!", and proceeded to ride his bicycle in great swooping swathes over the front porch, backing up and "changing gears" as he started forward again. He did that for almost an hour, stopping occasionally to see what Dad was doing, and faithfully imitating it with his "tractor" -- even ducking to avoid imaginary "tree limbs".
It's sad to see Jack's "baby self" disappearing so rapidly ... but it's also extremely exciting to watch him grow and develop amazing new skills and deeper understanding of life.
Home education
Yep. Still obsessing about this.
You see, in working together as a team, Rod and I face challenges that neither of us alone would face. Of course, neither of us would do quite as good a job alone, either.
Our strengths and weaknesses balance each other beautifully, but the fact that they are so beautifully balanced means that it takes a LOT of talking to figure out how to work together and not at cross purposes.
In the beginning, with an infant in arms and lots of theory, Rod and I agreed to a classical education for Jack, using the trivium and The Well-Trained Mind.
We both still think that's what we would prefer to do, but that system requires a LOT of discipline from the teacher. Fortunately, it doesn't begin until the age of six or so. So, I started creating pre-school curricula to use in developing the habit of using a curriculum and noticing where we are in relation to the goal.
It was mostly play-based and wasn't very challenging, since the point
was to develop our own discipline not to really start teaching Jack
formally. Pretty soon, though, it was far too simple for Jack. He
wanted MORE; the curriculum fell by the way side, and Rod and Jack
started doing what I think would best be characterized as This left me with a quandary. You see, unschooling is absolutely the ideal method for a three year
old, no matter what method one eventually wants to use. And Jack is
developing too fast for any curriculum that was written ahead of time to
meet his needs. And play-based just isn't his thing. Jack plays when
he plays, but when he "does school", he wants to work. Worksheets are
his very favorite thing in the world right now. For that matter, when he "plays", Jack is often "working". A few
minutes ago, Rod got out of the shower to find Jack playing an
orchestral CD and playing his harmonica in accompaniment. He had gotten
as far as being able to match the timing of high and low notes and was
working on matching the rhythm. (Music class, anyone?) You see, Rod is an excellent teacher of the things he knows and he was
taught by teachers who were evidently trained using the trivium, so his
instincts are excellent. He easily follows Jack's interest and works
with him -- that's why Jack is developing so fast. But he doesn't use
curricula and themes easily, and he forgets to use the books I get for
each week's planned lessons. So...what's the problem, you ask. Just this. It leaves me not sure how to contribute. My contributions
so far haven't been terribly helpful. And I'm not sure whether a classical education will work with Rod's
teaching style. But of course, "unschooling" is perfect for Jack's
current stage of development, and classical education simply wouldn't be
appropriate. It's very possible that when it's more appropriate to
Jack's level of development, classical education and curricula will also
be more comfortable to Rod. And I certainly can't complain about Rod's
results so far. We had a long talk about it last night, with my trying hard not to sound
either critical or controlling. I'm not sure how I did at either, but I think the discussion was helpful
and Rod was very patient with my concerns. What it amounts to is that research and planning are my strong suit.
Rod is much better at noticing where Jack's focus is and at meeting him
there. That makes us a pretty good team, as long as we keep talking.
So, I decided to try focusing on learning more about the trivium, since
that's not at all hard to fit into the unschooling method and if
classical education seems appropriate in three years or so, I can turn
my attention back to that then. I will also concentrate on finding excellent literature and educational
resources for Jack, based in part of what Rod tells me Jack is focused
on at the moment. Once it's in the house and I have read it to Jack
once or twice, he takes over and brings his favorite books to Rod for
reading, too, so the books will get used. And while unschooling is based on following the child's interest, I
think it's only wise to put all kinds of things in front of a child to
feed and encourage their curiosity! Oh, btw, I know there are plenty of folk who say that you *can't*
combine the trivium with unschooling, nor even with a non-Christian
education. I disagree; I think it depends on what you take from the
trivium. It has traditionally included a lot of religious content --
but you'd expect that from an education system developed in Europe in
the middle ages. I think all the same goals can be met using
non-religious material or material from any number of other religions,
but I doubt whether most of my readers are interested in the debate, so
I won't go there. One thing Rod and I have begun to consider is starting a home-school
group for parents and kids within a few months of Jack's age. Most of
the groups are for far older kids and a lot of those are very religious,
so it seems there might be room for one for folk like us. We'll see.
And with that, see y'all next time! (And hugs from all of us to "Uncle" Thomas and "Auntie" Bobbie! It
was wonderful to see you at the midsummer gather.)
