Another Week, Another Test

That would be a test for Little Fish. He had his Young 5s/Kindergarten assessment this week. I thought he did great. A little shy, but came back smiling. Only he came back with the occupational therapist (who was like fifteen - no, not really, but it seemed like it) who then gave me a handout and instructions on how to improve his fine motor skills.

Huh? What's wrong with his fine motor skills? Oh, he can't hold a pencil right, and his sister draws almost as well (and she's 1.5 years younger). He did start drawing people with eyes and limbs. I was so excited about this when it happened a few weeks back. But ... I guess I should have been more focused on why he hadn't been drawing people with arms and legs earlier. You know, focus on his deficits rather than his strengths?

Old Yeller For Girls

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. 2000.

It’s like Old Yeller for girls. DiCamillo writes this story in the adorable 10-year-old voice of India Opal Buloni, the preacher’s kid whose mother ran off when she was three. The story opens with a lonely Opal rescuing a stray dog, who within a day helps her gain a new friend, a party invitation, and a tree that she’s growing herself. There are many points of note in this charming and deceptively simple story.

• There’s a simplicity to the voice that contrasts well with the depth of lessons “taught” by Gloria Dump, such as not judging people on what they’ve done.
• Themes develop fairly naturally, like friendship, empathy, letting go and moving on (another lesson from Gloria, that you can’t hold on to things, you’ve got to love what you’ve got while you’ve got it).
• A Holes-like story-within-a-story set up with various characters telling of their past relatives and such.
• A sweet protagonist hooks the reader while tension slowly and gradually builds; the reader grows more and more dependent on Winn-Dixie until his ultimate almost-loss helps us and Opal face the real loss of her mother.
• Everything is tightly foreshadowed—the dog’s fear of storms, the final party in which we just know a thunder storm will send the dog fleeing into the night. It felt almost too tight, like I could feel the bones of the book, see the edges of the framework. 

An update: the movie wasn't quite so captivating. My kids gave up on it mid-way through.

Since I'm Quitting and all...

Since I've put away Sonlight and am therefore not keeping tack of what we do, here's a little record of the past week (new "method" is to give St. Nick his to-do list on Monday and he can decide when/what he does each day, but if it's not done by Friday evening he doesn't eat).

Last week: MCP Phonics pages 105-110. Printing Power pages 21-25. Math - Singapore 2B exercises 22 and 23 plus Review 2. Poetry: Knock at a Star pages 42-56. Scholastic Success workbook pages 213, 241-246 and Reading Skills Test 4.

Well, that was short and sweet. Now to shower and head to the library to confess that the Tweety's Amazing Adventure DVD went to Goodwill. Ooops.

The clincher

I've been toying with the notion of quitting homeschooling for the past year (actually, it's been my unofficial plan). But this was the moment that really solidified my resolve:

St. Nick was fussing over his homework. Loudly. Reminding me of a 2yr old, actually, which I pointed out to him. And I asked, "Would you act this way in a regular school?"

Pause, but not for thought. Rather to look at me as if I had my brains leaking out my ears. "No."

"Well, why are you acting this way here?"

"Because you're my MOM!"

Point taken.

Just to prove we do actually do educational things, some photos (St. Nick doing an experiment on conditioning with the dog).

It's 2009 Now

Long time, no post! Nothing much to update. Basement flooded in February (beginning) and we spent the next two months scheduling our lives around contractors and repair people. The boys got in the habit of spending the day avoiding whatever part of the house was being fixed, I got in the habit of letting them. After months of slacking, school has become the Evil Thing that Mean Mom forces on her unwilling subjects. So guess what? I quit homeschooling!!! That's right. I'm selling Sonlight Core 2, all the books, everything and the boys are going to "real" school in the fall. Until then we'll push through the essentials (math, handwriting, language arts).

Of course, I feel like a failure, a fraud. Can't I handle homeschooling one child? Fish isn't really schooling yet and Mud Pie is far from it. Aren't I deficient somehow, that homeschooling is making me hate my home and loathe my children? Shouldn't I *want* to do this so-called best of things for my kids?

It Really is Perfectly Normal

It’s Perfectly Normal by Robbie Harris. Illus. Michael Emberley. . 1994.

Clear, accessible, and always a tone of normalcy, this book strives to be a thorough and objective introduction to all things sex from anatomy and baby-making, to sexual abuse, homosexuality, puberty and STDs. Several things stood out and merit comment.

• The illustrations are both engaging and rather shocking in their level of detail. And yet they lack any feeling of being scientific or explicit. They mirror the text, making sex, our bodies and intercourse seem perfectly normal.
• While the author strove for objectivity, he ended up with relativism (because, of course, objectivity is impossible). Harris states that masturbation, for example, is considered sin in some religions, but goes on to say it’s perfectly normal. Which would mean it can’t be a sin and therefore (although he doesn’t go this far) those religions that call it a sin must be wrong. (Sorry, Logic was my fave course in undergrad.)
• The “perfectly normal” theme can be taken too far. I felt calling a Caesarian section “normal” was a bit of a stretch. And some of his information is downright flawed. Care of the uncircumcised penis, for instance. The foreskin should never, ever, ever be forcibly retracted, particularly not in infancy. This can lead to breaking of normal adhesions between foreskin and glands, which can lead to a build-up of scar tissue, infection, and many other complications. He also missed a major method of birth control, apparently mistaking the outdated “rhythm method” with the reliable but natural method used by many across the globe (called the Sympto-Thermal method, in case anyone wonders, which I doubt. Still, it is very much not the old rhythm method).

A Common Question: Are You There, God?

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. 1970.

A delightful coming of age story involving controversial topics such as bras, menstruation, and religion.

Margaret Ann Simon’s mother is Christian, her father a secular Jew. Her grandmother, quite an influence in her life, is a devout Jew and hopes to see Margaret become the same. So Margaret begins a quest. Which shall she be? Jew or Christian? She attends church, temple, confession, and all the while a lighthearted, upbeat tone is maintained, one devoid of weighty theology or mention of Christ. She ends up not finding God in any religion; only when she’s alone does she sense him.

The backdrop of her journey is her friendship with girls at her new school and her anticipation of her first period, which, as answer to prayer, comes in the final pages and renews her faith. This is an interesting and almost irreverent look at religion, attempting to remain neutral by being fairly shallow. No real deep preteen issues are discussed. Her faith quest seems natural, largely due to natural dialogue and a very real and sympathetic protagonist.