Back on track

Getting back into the fresh food prep.  Looking forward to the start of the CSA season in 3 weeks!

The first three are from the Eat to Live Cookbook:

Super Slaw with cabbage, apples, and beets among other things

3 Bean Mango Salad over greens

Veggie lasagna with sliced zucchini instead of noodles

This one is from the Crazy, Sexy Cancer Cookbook, and it is my favorite of the day:

Asian Stir Raw- also good over greens

And finally, my sister's favorite- the You Are What You Eat Cookbook's Shepherdess Pie in the making:

Weaving!

So, in my last post, I shared how the kids learned about weaving to better understand an English assignment.

Today, we went to the library for a homeschool music class, and when we walked into the meeting room, the walls were covered with fantastic woven art.  This was a fabulous chance to start a review  discussion of looms and weavings.

There was also a woven basket with slips of paper and pencils and a sign asking visitors to vote for their favorite pieces.  It was interesting to watch the boys make their selections.  We all had a hard time choosing.  Everything was really beautiful.

You don't know this?

Seriously, why don't you know this, Child?

I think we homeschooling parents are often shocked by what we consider to be gaps in our kids' educations, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  I'm saying this tongue in cheek, here, but there is an element of truth to it.  All kids have gaps in their educations because it's physically impossible to teach someone every aspect of human knowledge.  Darn kids.  Why can't they just absorb ALL the information by osmosis?

So, we were diligently working on our Writing & Rhetoric book, and discussing the story of Arachne and Athena, where Athena gets angry at Arachnes's depiction of the Greek gods acting like jackasses, and smashes Arachne's loom with the shuttle.  It didn't take much discussion to realize that my boys had no basic knowledge of how a loom worked, let alone the components of a loom.  Therefore, they didn't have as deep an understanding of the story as they should have.

As we often do, we took a pause from the writing program, and took a little tangent to learn about looms and weaving.  We watched a couple videos of people working looms, we looked at diagrams of loom parts and we talked about what kinds of things were made on looms.  Then, I had the kids do some weaving of paper strips, so that they would understand how threads can be interwoven to make fabric.  This was a time consuming project for them, but they enjoyed seeing the progression of their work. With a little help, Andrew even turned his weaving into an Easter basket.

One very good reason why I like homeschooling so much better than sending my kids to public school:

Math.

Math is a huge reason that I prefer homeschooling over public school.

From the very early days, when my Kindergarten son would bring home random worksheets that didn't seem to be related to anything at all, and we were expected to do them for homework, I've been perplexed with what passes for math.

This article appeared in my Facebook feed this week, and led to some discussion of math instruction in various groups.

Why do Americans Stink at Math?

I thought this article was well written, and it emphasized the need for math teachers to receive better instruction in math itself, and in how to actually teach math.

One thing I did not entirely agree upon in the article is that the traditional way of teaching math has no value.

I do agree that the newer methods of teaching math can probably create a greater understanding of the concepts behind math problems, and that the variety of ways there are to solve problems can appeal to the variety of ways children learn.  What I disagree with is the emphasis on concepts over actual performance.  It's terrific if you understand that multiplication is basically skip counting to a certain number, but if you can't quickly round up and estimate the cost of 3 cans of beans at the grocery store by multiplying the price of one can, it doesn't matter if you understand the concept.

I even understand the theory behind teaching different methods.  Take multiplication again.  I see that using the lattice method or extending out each place value can really make clear to a kid what exactly is happening when you multiply large numbers together.  The problem with these methods, though, is that they are more complex, with more steps in which to make errors.  So, yes, demonstrate with these methods, but teach the traditional algorithm, too, so that the kid understands what they are doing, but can do it quickly.

Another problem, is that I'm not sure how the research was done to evaluate the age/grade level appropriateness of some of these concepts. It seems that kids are being asked to explain how they arrived at answers when they don't even have the language skills yet to do so.

Math at our house

Now, back to this past fall, when my kids were briefly re-enrolled in our local public schools.  Every night, there would be detached workbook pages in the homework folder.  Invariably, the kids would have no idea what they were supposed to be doing on the math homework.  I would ask, "Well, didn't you cover this in class? Isn't this just practicing something your teacher showed you?"  And, invariably, the responses would be, "I don't know." or "Maybe."or "I'm not sure."

My husband and I are well educated, literate, intelligent human beings.  I know that we've never been instructed in some of the new methods for solving math problems, but we never even got that far with the homework.  We couldn't even understand what half of the questions were asking.  The language and new math terminology were so convoluted that it took excess brain power to even figure out what  information was being requested by the questions.

So, being an old-fashioned kind of mom, I'd say, "Well where is your math book?  Don't you have a math book that explains what you're supposed to be doing?"  Again with the "I don't know.", "Maybe.", and "I'm not sure."  I'd get frustrated at this point and demand to know why my children didn't know whether or not they had math books.

So, I emailed the teachers.  Oh- there are math books.  They're online.  You can search for the tiny link on the teacher's website and voilà, the math book will be on your computer.  So, if you're a dinosaur like me, and you need to reference the math book, math homework can only be done in the location of the desktop computer.  I didn't have a laptop or tablet at that time.  I do have a tablet now, but I was just flabbergasted at the limitations that we encountered while trying to help our kids with math homework.  It wouldn't have been so bad if my kids had actually come home with an understanding of what they were supposed to be doing on this homework, but they didn't.  We, the parents, were left with the onus of trying to figure out how to help them.  And, we certainly weren't able to instruct them in these unfamiliar methods.

So, I'm glad to be back to homeschooling.  It's so much more convenient.  If we don't understand a math concept, we have many different ways of finding out what we need to learn.  We have internet, DVD, and actual books that we can take with us.  The curriculum I've chosen is self explanatory and logical and easily reviewed.  And the kids test well in math, so I'm not going to worry about trying to meet some new standards that I don't understand.  If my kids leave my house able to balance a checkbook, pay their bills, read their bank statements, estimate their expenses, and calculate percentages and understand compounding interest, I'll be happy.  If they can find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a right triangle, I'll be ecstatic.

Summer goodness

Saturdays in the summer are splendid.  I simply adore seeing what is in my CSA box, and this week was a great share.  Blueberries, snap peas, new potatoes were among my favorite items in this box.

I had a rough week and hadn't used up the veggies from last week's share, so my mom and I spent today prepping a lot of veggies and cooking up some delicious food.  My mom has been a huge help to me this summer, since I'm having some health issues.  I couldn't have done any of this without her.

We sliced zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes, and layered them in a baking dish that had sautéed onions on the bottom.  We stuck fresh basil in between the veggies.  We baked this in the oven for a while then added a topping of ground almonds and nutritional yeast, and put it back in the oven until the topping browned.  Tasty, mediterranean type dish.  I forgot to take an "after" picture of this one.

Next, we made a cole slaw that used raw cashews as the base for the dressing, with raw ACV, water, onions, and honey mixed in.  This cole slaw is fantastic.  I've eaten several bowls already.

I get two dozen free range eggs every week, and we had 4 dozen in the fridge, so I thought some quiches were in order.  We made a bacon and cheddar quiche, and then two bacon, cheddar, broccoli, and onion quiches- one with a crust and one without.  I don't know if I was just starving today or what, but I had a couple pieces of quiche, too, and I'm contemplating another.

I have more bacon and more cabbage, so tomorrow I plan on making bacon wrapped cabbage in foil. Then I will attempt to make beet chips for the first time.  Good eating weekend!

Getting Started in Homeschooling

This post was written by a friend of mine, and I loved it so much, I had to share it on my blog!

http://sandboxtosocrates.com/2014/06/16/homeschooling-where-to-start/

Homeschooling in Ohio

People who are unfamiliar with homeschooling regulations often ask me questions about homeschooling.  Many times, they'll ask if I get the curriculum from the school district (No). Another frequent question is how I know that the kids are working to grade level.  People are also curious about any testing we have to do or how I prove that my kids are learning.

Each state has their own rules and regulations regarding homeschooling.  Some states really have no regulations, while others are fairly stringent.  Ohio is a moderately regulated state for homeschooling.

I have found a wealth of information on the Ohio Home Educators Network website.  They have links to the Ohio Revised Code sections pertaining to homeschooling, as well as links to print off the notification and assessment forms.

In a nutshell, Ohio parents must inform the superintendent of their local school district of their intent to home educate.  The parents sign an affidavit that the schooling will encompass a specified variety of subjects.  The state also requests a brief outline of the proposed curriculum and a list of any materials being used.  If you have never sent you child to school, you must notify the school district once your child is 6 years of age.  If you are withdrawing a child from school, you need to send your notification documentation at that time.  Once the school district receives your paperwork, they have two weeks to send you a letter excusing your child from school attendance in favor of home education.  The school district can also request further information if they feel you haven't provided the legally required documentation, but they are not giving or withholding approval for homeschooling.

 ***Word of Advice*** - Send your documentation via certified mail.  Two years ago, I sent all my paperwork in early August.  By mid-September, I still hadn't received my letter from the school district.  I called and was told they never received my papers.  I read the name of the person who signed for the package, and was then told to just email copies to the superintendent's secretary.  She got the letter out the next day.

You must send the notification documentation to the school district before the start of each school year if you continue to homeschool.  With all but the first notification, you must also send one of two things- standardized test scores or a letter stating that your child has been assessed by a certified teacher.  We have done both testing and teacher assessment.  We all prefer the assessment, but some families prefer testing.

The boys showing off their Ancient Egypt History Pockets.
They were proud of these, so we took them to the Portfolio Review.

You can order standardized tests online from a variety of companies.  We have used Seton in the past, and had no problems with any aspect of the process.

If you can locate a local homeschooling group, Yahoo or Google group, list serve, etc., you should be able to find teachers that advertise their assessment services toward the end of the school year.  I belong to several email groups, and there are always a few teachers who send out posts in May and June.  We are fortunate to have an absolutely superb teacher do our assessments.  I prepare a portfolio of the kids work and activities for the year, and she discusses what we have done with the kids and me.  She's very thorough, and helpful with curriculum suggestions and ideas.  We hope she never retires!  When she's finished talking about our year with us, she writes a brief letter stating that each child has performed to their abilities for the year.

The notification process is not very taxing, nor is the portfolio review.  I find the testing to require more time and the kids don't like filling in all the little circles, but each family must decide what works best for them.  All in all, I feel that Ohio is not too difficult or rigid in its homeschooling regulations.

It's CSA time again!!!!

And I couldn't be more excited!

I got two heads of green leaf lettuce, one kale, one big bunch of swiss chard, beets, broccoli, bunching onions, rhubarb, a slicing tomato, cherry tomatoes, garlic scapes, bok choi, and tangy sweet strawberries! That's the best first share of the season I've ever received!

Used the broccoli, onions, and bok choi in a stir fry.