Buddha 101 (simulcast on Blogger!)
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Wednesday, 09 May 07 - 02:39 AM (GMT -05:00) By Andrea S. Stolz in homeschool |
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I get a chatty, philosophical email everyday from Brian Johnson of Zaadz. Usually a quote to urge me further down the path of the examined life with a bit at the end elucidating further on the life or ideology of the quotee. It's like a little slice of crunchy California sunshine every morning...
I've started to read and discuss some of these quotes with the boys. Today's quote was from Buddha:
"One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield."
"What do you think is meant by 'one who conquers himself'?" I asked first.
Glum silence of disinterest.
"Well, what does conquer mean?" I continued.
"To FIGHT AND KILL AND DESTROY!" the second-born shouted in a most un-Buddha-like manner, suddenly enthralled by today's lesson.
"Okay, those are some examples of conquering," I agreed. "But would you do those things to yourself? Do you think that Buddha wanted people to...hit themselves with a big hammer over the head? Would that be better than conquering a thousand times a thousand people on the battlefield?"
Upon deeper consideration...about five minutes worth...with re-enactments...and sound effects...we decided that no, that's not what Buddha was after. We decided that Buddha wanted us to look at the things we most wanted to change in ourselves.
And that's when things got good.
"I wish I weren't so quick to yell," Ben said. "And I wish I didn't argue so much with Dad."
"Kinda feels like a battle, right? Fighting against those habits?" I asked.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Absolutely."
"I wish I weren't so wiggly," James offered then.
"Do you think there's stuff that mom fights against, too?" I asked. "Stuff I'd like to do better?" We agreed that mom most certainly had her own internal struggles...rarely such unanimous assent here at home school high...
Afterwards, the boys drew pictures of some of the habits and traits they battled. I'm gonna work on my drawing later, after the boys are in bed...
Supplies-Side Economics
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Thursday, 26 April 07 - 03:46 PM (GMT -05:00) By Andrea S. Stolz in homeschool |
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So it turns out that Amazon has a home school store. Hunh. So much for being avant garde...I'm just another lemming...
Still, for sheer online-shopping, flippin-the-bird-to-the-establishment entertainment value: I like www.thislittlepiggystayshome.com as a book-shopping option. And according to my NYHEN listserv, vegsource.com and the Yahoo! group teachingtotstoteens are also quite good. And the local library has, of course, suddenly become my favorite place...
Devising a curricululm on the fly like this would be a lot more complicated if there weren't so many helpful websites to turn to...how did people do this before the internetz?
Worksheet & Rationale: How Whales Walked into the Sea
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Tuesday, 03 April 07 - 04:33 PM (GMT -05:00) By Andrea S. Stolz in homeschool |
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Sheet: HOW WHALES WALKED INTO THE SEA
By: Faith McNulty; illustrated by Ted Rand
1. Why do animals evolve?
Important to discuss how the world is always changing...supports theme of resilience and adaptability that will be woven into all subjects this quarter.
2. True or false: Whales are mammals.
How do you know?
True or false questions are nonthreatening. The meat of the question is the phrase "how do you know?" because it gets kids manipulating information and using higher order thinking processes.
3. Who were the mesonychids? Describe them.
Important to the concept of evolution. Whale starting point. Very different from today's whale: furry, four legs, land animal.
4. How do we know about mesonychids and other animals that only existed millions of years ago?
Important to be thinking about fossils. Also shows children evaluative process scientists must go through. Emphasizes the idea that science is about hypothesizing and is a process.
5. What was one adaptation of the mesonychid that helped it survive?
Reinforces the idea of evolution as an adaptive response.
6. After a few million years the mesonychid changed into the ambulocetus. What does ambulocetus mean?
Gets children looking for meaning from word origins as well as context.
7. Did the ambulocetus ever come on land? If so, when.
Again, important to the progression of evolution, adaptation, change.
8. What type of animal evolved from ambulocetus? Did this animal ever come on land?
Simple recalll questions. Nonthreatening.
9. What is your favorite fact from this book?
Opportunity for personal response.
10. Which was your favorite whale? Draw a picture of your favorite whale. Show whether it has baleen or teeth. Don’t forget to draw a blow hole so your whale can breathe! Draw your whale doing something—taking care of a baby, eating krill, etc.
Another opportunity for personal response and synthesis of new content.
Free Floating Anxiety
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Wednesday, 28 March 07 - 09:37 PM (GMT -05:00) By Andrea S. Stolz in homeschool |
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Ben was unloading the dishwasher yesterday (one of his new chores now that he's home a bit more of the day...LIFE SKILLS TEACHABLE MOMENT!) when he turned and told me:
"Mom, I don't know about this homeschooling."
"What's the matter?" I asked. "What are you worried about?"
"I'm just worried...that I'm not...worried enough. This isn't hard enough."
I rapped on the kitchen table and laughed. "You hear that? It's the Happy Police! They're coming for you! You better run!"
I know we're still in the honeymoon period...but my guys have really taken to the idea of being homeschoolers. And there has been some real tangible improvement in sibling relations (never horrible--but still...) as well as the 'spontaneously pick up a book and read' quotient. They want this. And they're trying to help me make this happen. And their concepts of learning, of education, and of their role in the learning process are altering in an immediate and positive way.
Ultimately, what Ben was worried about was that we hadn't been concentrating too much on math. I assured him that, instead, he should enjoy the break. That he still had many hours of math misery in his homeschooling future...
"Okay," he laughed. "I feel better now."
Oh, yes. Definitely my child.The Adventure Begins...
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Tuesday, 20 March 07 - 12:27 AM (GMT -05:00) By Andrea S. Stolz in homeschool |
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A wonderful, fantastic friend who I desperately need to call gave me the best piece of advice regarding the start of this homeschooling journey:
Don't panic.Which is what I resolutely repeated to myself as I spoke to the Assistant Superintendant of my district the other day. The one who initially bounced my complaints back down to the principal who wouldn't return my calls in the first place...
"If you homeschool," District Woman explained matter of factly, "you will receive no curriculum, no textbooks and no assessments from this district. And your children will not be eligible to receive a New York high school diploma. I'm just telling you the facts."
Where's the LOVE? I wanted to ask. Are you in this for the kids? Cause that just sounds like extortion.
Oh, I know: I'm biased. And not likely to interpret anything positively at this point...
There was a reason for my call, though. More than just getting the homeschool ball rolling.
"Do you realize that I had a legitimate concern for my son's safety and that I was not called back?"
"Did you try making an appointment with the secretary?" This woman asked.
In small, gutteral barks of explanation while my brains slowly leaked out my ears I assured her that I had TRIED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SPEAK TO THE PRINCIPAL but that she wouldn't do me the courtesy of even returning my phone calls. Even after I informed her that I was not sending my children back to school until SHE CALLED ME.
"Do you understand? I have a medically fragile child who I thought was in danger, that I thought needed protecting AND SHE WOULDN'T RETURN MY CALLS!"
"Oh," District woman tells me noncommittally. "Well, I wish you good luck with homeschooling. There are a great many helpful websites out there and a very strong community of local support. Please get your letter of intent in so we can get the paperwork started."
Okay. I know that I have trouble sometimes understanding complex social situations...but...huh?
Bern called me about an hour later. "Well, your crusade is already having positive effects. Em got squirted with a water bottle today on the bus and was upset...so I called the office and asked to talk to the principal about it. She called me back about three minutes later, assuring me that she was going to get right to the bottom of this issue."
So maybe some good for everyone will come out of this. My guys are delighted to be learning at home. I've actually had to tell them to play the issue down. They've been telling all of their friends how much cooler homeschooling is than attending public school.
"You can't make the other kids feel badly about something they have no choice over, okay guys?" I told them today.
They both nodded. As if they were in on some delicious secret.
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