I read this book http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Ability-Nurturing-Mathematical-Talent/dp/0802777074/sr=8-1/qid=1162302306/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9454286-4206423?ie=UTF8&s=books.   It was a very interesting read, especially as a parent of a child whom the education system has decreed will not be able to achieve more than the basics of math.     I find it so sad that the education system is so willing to give up on kids and define their potential so narrowly.    I think the techniques we are using this year flow with his ideas pretty well and I may look into his home program for 3rd grade next year at least as a supplement. 

Jordan proudly showing me the 4 digit addition problems (no regrouping) she had completed on her own.

 Jordan and Alex reading eachother a book of Halloween riddles without any prompting.  I’ve been waiting and waiting for them to read for “pleasure”.  Also, I read a couple of chapters of Mercy Watson to them and they were so into it that when I said my voice was tired they each decided to read a chapter.

 I resurrected the Hank the Cowdog audiobook that everyone had poo-pooed a couple of weeks ago for a long drive today and the kids got so into it that when we got home it came in with us.  We turned off all the lights, lit candles and listened to the last couple of chapters in the living room.

While sitting in the McDonald’s playland letting Jordan and Alex play I noticed a mom who was clearly exasperated with her boys.  I gave her what I intended to be a sympathetic smile and she told me I was so lucky to have two easy and mellow children.  I laughed out loud (noone had ever told me that before!) and said we’d come a long way and that it will get easier.   How did my babies get so big?  I still remember so vividly the sleep deprived chaos that was my life for their entire toddler years.

Aubrey finished her science project for our homeschool science forum next week.  I really thought she was going to blow it off.  AND it is pretty cool. 

 A perfect snapshot of our afternoon–I was listening to Jordan read to me and looked up to see Aubrey absorbed in her Upfront magazine (Scholastic and NYT teenager’s news magazine) and Alex quietly creating something with the snap circuits.   Ok, so not many moments around here are that voluntarily schoolish, but for just a moment I felt like an add for homeschooling.

 Alex talking to me about numbers as he was trying to go to sleep.  He always gets big ideas AFTER tuck in time.

The kids found a baby snake on Friday.    I let them put it in the critter keeper (aka temporary housing for TEMPORARY pets) to observe.   On Saturday I left the critter keeper outside with the lid open hoping the little guy would squirm his way to freedom, but he didn’t.   So now Aubrey has decided to try to keep him for a while.  So internet research commences. 

We know he is a black rat snake (note to self, find blog entry about LAST time we found a baby black rat snake and include entries about him getting lost INSIDE the house for days) and according to research, even as a baby he should be able to consume what Aubrey refers to as a “pinkie”.   That would be a baby mouse.  I’m not particularly squeamish, but a baby mouse???   Aubrey, who routinely feeds chopped up frozen rats and mice to possums and other animals when volunteering at the nature center has no qualms about this.   So off to PETCO we go and come home with a little frozen snack in a little wrapper labeled “Gourmet Rodent”.   She lets it thaw in  a bowl of warm water and puts the thing in the critter keeper.  I’m skeptical about the snake’s ability to eat this thing as it looks huge in there next to the snake.  

 When he seems completely uninterested in the “pinkie” she followed up on the recommendation of the employee at PETCO who advised her to get live rodent scent on it.   Don’t ask.   Still the snake seems uninterested and so it is back to the internet for more researching.   The recommendation?  Exposing the pinkie’s brain to entice the snake to be more interested.   Luckily that was a bit too much for even Aubrey.   I believe her next quest will be to find the much rarer “live pinkie”.   She is scheduled to volunteer at the nature center on Friday and I’m debating on whether she should ask their advice or not (I don’t think technically you are supposed to put wild snakes into a cage).    Of course, maybe they would convince her to let it go…

Got this list from a friend and it was just the reminder I needed. 

 With these meditative techniques, raising children can be a spiritual practice.
1. Try to imagine the world from your child’s point of view, purposefully letting go of your own. Do this every day for at least a few moments to remind you of who this child is and what he or she faces in the world.

2. Imagine how you appear and sound from your child’s point of view, i.e., having you as a parent today, in this moment. How might this modify how you carry yourself in your body and in space, how you speak, and what you say? How do you want to relate to your child in this moment?

3. Practice seeing your children as perfect just the way they are. See if you can stay mindful of their sovereignty from moment to moment, and work at accepting them as they are when it is hardest for you to do so.

4. Be mindful of your expectations of your children and consider whether they are truly in your child’s best interest. Also, be aware of how you communicate those expectations and how they affect your children.

5. Practice altruism, putting the needs of your children above your own whenever possible. Then see if there isn’t some common ground, where your true needs can also be met. You may be surprised at how much overlap is possible, especially if you are patient and strive for balance.

6. When you feel lost, or at a loss, remember to stand still and meditate on the whole by bringing your full attention to the situation, to your child, to yourself, to the family. In doing so, you may go beyond thinking, even good thinking, and perceive intuitively, with the whole of your being, what needs to be done. If that is not clear in any moment, maybe the best thing is to not do anything until it becomes clearer. Sometimes it is good to remain silent.

7. Try embodying silent presence. This will grow out of both formal and informal mindfulness practice over time if you attend to how you carry yourself and what you project in body, mind, and speech. Listen carefully.

8. Learn to live with tension without losing your own balance. In Zen and the Art of Archery, Herrigel describes how he was taught to stand at the point of highest tension effortlessly without shooting the arrow. At the right moment, the arrow mysteriously shoots itself. Practice moving into any moment, however difficult, without trying to change anything and without having to have a particular outcome occur. Simply bring your full awareness and presence to this moment. Practice seeing that whatever comes up is “workable” if you are willing to trust your intuition. Your child needs you to be a center of balance and trustworthiness, a reliable landmark by which he or she can take a bearing within his or her own landscape. Arrow and target need each other. They will find each other best through wise attention and patience.

9. Apologize to your child when you have betrayed a trust in even a little way. Apologies are healing. An apology demonstrates that you have thought about a situation and have come to see it more clearly, or perhaps more from your child’s point of view. But be mindful of being “sorry” too often. It loses its meaning if you are always saying it, making regret into a habit. Then it can become a way not to take responsibility for your actions. Cooking in remorse on occasion is a good meditation. Don’t shut off the stove until the meal is ready.

10. Every child is special, and every child has special needs. Each sees in an entirely unique way. Hold an image of each child in your heart. Drink in their being, wishing them well.

11. There are important times when we need to be clear and strong and unequivocal with children. Let this come as much as possible out of awareness, generosity, and discernment, rather than out of fear, self-righteousness, or the desire to control.

2 loaves of bread baking in the oven.

1 pot of soup simmering on the stove.

10 library books strewn across the room.

1 fire in the fireplace flickering

3 snuggly kids cuddled on the couch.

We’ve car schooled, floor schooled, couch schooled, bed schooled, pajama schooled, table schooled, backyard schooled…..but this was the first time we’ve ever laundry basket schooled. 

Alex made himself a nest in the laundry basket and spent almost the whole day there.   He read there, listened to books, played on my laptop…

Finished our study of Egypt this week and Jordan decided to expand her Egyptian gold bracelet craft into an entire costume.  

Hit:   When Jordan started wanting to meticulously keep track of her money I dug up an old unused check transaction register.  She gleefully input her beginning balance and then added an entry for her allowance and calculated her new balance (with help).  She’s dying to buy something so she can enter a debit.

 Miss:   Hank the Cowdog audio book.  I was shocked.  My kids have listened to lots of “great children’s literature” and enjoyed it, but every time I try to put this in they tell me to take it  out.  Maybe we’ll try Great Expectations next?

 Hit and Miss:   Have spent the last month pleading, cajoling, considering bribing Jordan and Alex to write 2-3 sentences in a journal and they’ve fought every second of it.  Then last weekend I walked in to the living room and they had their journals out and were writing in them on their own.  

 Hit:  I remembered Aubrey loving Logical Journey of the Zoombinis at Alex’s age so I dug it out and he’s now addicted.   It ranks above roller coaster tycoon most days.

Hit:  The board game Presto-Chango.  Although it is about like poking eyeballs with toothpicks for me, Jordan and Alex beg to play this almost daily and the increase in their ability to count change is amazing.   They still need me to play to help out a bit though.

Miss:   After doing their Explode the Code workbooks fairly enthusiastically for the past year and 1/2, suddenly these workbooks are the bane of their school day.   Left them in the cabinet today and just played some game type things to reinforce different phonics skills.  I think they just aren’t quite ready for the  next level yet.

Miss:  Despite being excited and signing up for a project for our homeschool space day, they decline whenever I ask if they want to start working on their project.  Debating whether this is one of those things I need to push (they DID sign up for it) or let it go. 

 Wonder what the hits and misses will be this week.

Usually every week I look at my weekly calendar and jot down what “schoolish” things I intend to do—SOTW pages, math pages, topics, etc.    At the end of the week I often look back and think over what actually happened.  Some weeks we are amazingly on course, but some weeks we veery dramatically off course.   Who knew that this dr. appointment was going to take so long…or that the trip to the craft store would get the kids inspired to do a big project (a project not on the list!) or that someone would pick up a pile of library books on a completely different topic than I had planned…

 And yet, pretty much every week I do my list and dutifully cross off the things that get done.