getting there

The sleeves are finished, the sweater has been sewn together and now the front edging is going on… and I have another idea…

Daniel is sitting beside me, working on his math.  I am looooving this work book I found for him, made by Kumon.

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who needs a cat?

This morning the kids read about Ermine, a member of the Mustelidae family, and realized that the weasels they have been seeing are Ermine! 

The ones we have here are not often seen, but traces of them are found frequently… Footsteps on the back deck and around the perimeter of the house.  I have never had any sign of them in the buildings, though, and none have turned up in any of our traps.  They can grow up to 12″ long, but most that we have seen are about 7″ long.

Ermine are brown in the spring and summer but white in the winter.  They feed off of small animals such as rabbits and rats.  It seems, we could use a few more of these, as the dog killed another rat this week.  The good news is that they have 3-13 babies each spring. 

According to Wikipedia, they are territorial, and only one of each sex is likely to be found in any given location.

Image found here.

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spring! it’s in the air

Warm temperatures greeted us yesterday afternoon, and we revelled in them.  I think it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Oh, yes, chilly still, but not so cold that we didn’t enjoy some school on the front steps, and the bikes have been dug out!

If this weather continues, I will be planning my garden, knowing full well that it will be at least two months before we can till the soil.  The town cop will be waving as he drives by while I sit on the porch, knitting — despite the snow!

Are you enjoying spring?

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teaching tips: physical tone*

• Keep slim, active, and physically fit.  Don’t get out of condition.
• Eat to live.  Don’t live to eat — and drink. 
• Get plenty of constructive exercise. 
• Get your rest, for the sake of your awn patience.  The hours before midnight are at least twice as valuable for sleep as the early morning hours.  And, the study, the hours before breakfast are three to five times as valuable as the time after supper.

* Taken from “Home Style Teaching”, by Raymond & Dorothy Moore.

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teaching tips: leadership*

• If you are a warm, responsive person, you will likely be a good teacher.  Relax, at least enough to be a loving person rather than a tense beast.  No teacher is perfect, but all good teachers see their students as persons with lives filled with acceptance and worthwhile accomplishments.  Wrap your heart around them.  It will help you forget yourself.
• Lead your students.  See yourself as a shepherd, guiding, but not as a sheep dog, barking at your “lambs.”  See a lesson in their every question, an illustration in everything touched by your life and those of your children.  Give wide rein to your imagination.
• In school and home, the job of building children, experience by experience, so that they cam take responsibility for the authority they gradually demand, required a certain risk on the part of the teacher and the parent.  You must emphasize responsibility as the foundation for authority, and practical work as a builder of self worth.

* Taken from “Home Style Teaching”, by Raymond & Dorothy Moore.

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teaching tips: poise*

• As a teacher, you are thrust into a position of prominence in the community.  Neither dodge the spotlight nor seek it; just be worthy of the esteem of all.  Parents and others will judge you, but you are not to judge them.  Your wisdom and character, your common sense and dedication, will be a constant witness.  Stand tall.  Make the Golden Rule your constant guide.
• Discipline is the art of making disciples, and a great leader must first learn to be a good follower.  Such sound discipline will come as a product of self-control, which is best developed by focusing on the needs of others.  This highest type of discipline can never be built in a selfish individual or society.  Self-discipline and self-respect are best found through service and concern for our neighbors.  The student — and the teacher — who learns this will evoke a more productive society.

* Taken from “Home Style Teaching”, by Raymond & Dorothy Moore.

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teaching tips: organization*

• Although you do not have to become highly formalized, do your best to plan systematically.  Have a place for everything and teach both your students and yourself to keep everything in its place. 
• Keep small pieces of note paper in your shirt or apron pocket.  Make a daily list of things to do.  At the end of the day, make a new list for tomorrow, carrying forward the things undone. 
• Keep a brief daily journal of your school activities, and have your students do the same.  This is a great motivator for organization and can be a lot of fun now and later.  At home or at school, the examples of your own self-discipline will teach more than you can by words. 
• Carefully make your schedule to serve you — and follow it.  But if something more worthwhile comes up, don’t be a slave to your schedule.

* Taken from “Home Style Teaching”, by Raymond & Dorothy Moore.

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a month of school: play

Picture found here.

little mother 

Play is a very important part of a child’s life.   Montessori defined play as a child’s work.  Whatever a child is learning or thinking on, he will express through play.  

When teaching something new, do not expect a child to start acting it out immediately.  Play comes when a child has integrated the information into his being.  For a young child, integration can take two weeks.  For an older child, accustomed to being taught, the time is reduced; but, even an adult needs half an hour to integrate a new thought or idea.

One afternoon, about a year ago, I heard the boys running up and down the hallway. Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Up and down, up and down they ran. 

There was also a strange grunting/chanting sound emitting from their mouths.  A sound that was not wholly human…

I went to investigate, and found the two oldest giving the next two piggy-back rides, up and down the hallway, stopping occasionally to throw their limp brothers onto the couch, and pretend to feed them.  It was very strange, indeed.

Finally they were ready for more.   They began to ask for more information…

After watching them run, for what seemed like quite a while, I asked what they were doing.  “An Orc run,” was the only answer I received, as they trotted past me with their brothers on their backs.  Big flatfooted steps they took, shaking the house as they went.

Once the concept had worked its way into their understanding, they played “Orc Run” to its full.  They played until their minds could wrap around the concept of strange warriors.  Warriors  who could run for three days, without tiring. 

What in the world?  “An orc run,” they had said. 

Oh!  Orcs! 

They had watched “The Lord of the Rings” with their dad, about a month earlier.  The concept of Orcs had been brand new to them then, and they had made no mention of them, except to refer to them as “The bad guys,” when talking of the battles.

Now the thoughts had come to some form of maturity, and they had need to act their understanding out.  Their first encounter with Orcs had been the “Orc Run” when Merrie and Pippin had been carried off… so there they where, pretending their younger brothers were Hobbits, and they were Orcs…

Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk.  Thunk…  On and on and on they went.

They did a similar thing when they learned that the sun did not just disappear in the evening, to reappear in the morning.  That it was always daytime somewhere…

They set their playthings on a table, and stationed a ball for the sun.  The “sun” would move throughout the day, and at night it would be placed under the table. 

Play:  Exploring their understanding. 

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a month of school: first reading lesson

What is in a name?  Parents agonize over what to call their little one, long before that one is born.  Children spend hours writing their name again and again.  Teenagers and lovers write page after page of their crushes name. 

One’s name is so connected with one’s identity, it is hard to seperate the two.

Children are naturally egotistical and self centered.  This is not inherently bad.  It is all they understand.  Their perspective comes from what they have learned about the world, as they have seen it.  We never fully outgrow this.  Their favorite subject is ME.  Understanding this, it makes sense to begin teaching them something that they have a vested interest in:  Their name.

Spell your child’s name out for him or her.  Teach him the letters.  Teach her the sounds.  Show your child the upper and lower case letters.  Point out the vowels and the concenents.  Teach them the vocabulary of reading, based on a subject they are deeply interested in. 

Once your child can recognize the letters in his or her name, they will be ready for more.  Find other names they have a deep interest in:  Mom, Dad, their siblings, the family pets, the neighbors dog… maybe their love is dinosaurs.  Spell out those names!

Label objects in the house.  The door, the trash can, the stove, refrigerator, and cupboard.  The plant and the mirror.  All need a label.  These labels can be made with 3×5 cards and a marker.  Tape them on, and let the child ask about them.  If they show no interest, point them out.  When they have been up a few days, and you know your child has had adequate exposure, take two down that are very different, and ask your child to put them on the appropriate object.  I bet your child can figure it out.

When teaching reading, never forget to actually read to your child.  Read them books of every sort!  Picture stories and chapter books are equally interesting to a preschool/kindergarten age child.  The first chapter book we read was The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread.  My boys absolutely loved it, and we have read it several times.  The first chapter book my mom read to me was Little House in the Big Woods.  It was the first chapter book I read to myself.

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a month of school: first science lessons

Blocks:  There are so many things you can do with them! 

A simple science lesson is built into every single one.  If your child asks about the sun picture, take time to point out the sunshine in the sky, and talk about all the things the sun does.  If your child likes the owl, read a book about an owl with him.  Talk about balance, as he builds.  Give him the vocabulary to communicate, as he works.  Talk about shape and size, texture and weight. 

Talk about how blocks are made, and where they come from.   Show your children how you built houses or bridges, when you were a child.

Get down on their level, and play with them.  Lear with them.  Teach them.  Don’t be afraid to introduce something new.  They may not learn it all.  You may not know it all, but together you can learn and grow.

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