Giant Telescope field trip

We went on a field trip this evening to Lake Afton Public Observatory to view Earth's moon and Jupiter through their big telescope. The view of the moon was close to this photo. (While looking for a good picture to use, I found EduGraphics.net which has lots of great science posters.) Jupiter and 3 of it's moons lined up were really cool to see also.

There were several displays inside the observatory about planets, the earth, stars, and meteorites. There were also computer games, including one that was simply alphabet letters with pictures of something astronomy related starting with that letter. DS1 also played with a light spectrum display and a refraction display. One display that I liked was a box with the Big Dipper inside. From the end, it looked like it does here on earth. From the side, it looked like it would from a different planet, since the stars are in 3-dimensional space, not on a plane as they appear to us here. There were binoculars and small telescopes outside for viewing also. Even before our group went inside, we got to see Jupiter through a telescope. There was a guy set up in the parking lot, and DSs went over to him and asked if they could take a look; he was really nice and said "yes."

They both fell asleep on the way home. (It started at 8pm, and we got home around 10:30.)

7 Day Virtual Field Study of Kansas

While looking for Lake Afton Public Observatory teacher resources for tomorrow night's field trip, I stumbled across this wonderful virtual tour of the geoscience features of Kansas. Each day in the 7 day trip has its own page, with an itinerary, photos, maps, and plenty of informative and interesting commentary.

It appears to have been written by Randall Mousley at Mississippi State University in the summer of 2003, for a Field Methods class in the Teachers of Geoscience Masters Degree program. He currently teaches 7th grade science at Stucky Middle School in Wichita, Kansas. If his classes are anything like his virtual field study, then his students are fortunate! (If my deductions are incorrect, I would appreciate receiving correct author information.)

YEA! Today

We had a good day at YEA! today, but I'm exhausted. DS1 was signed up for a class every time slot. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, but it turned out to be very good. He has really matured since last spring regarding being able to go to a class without me, participate in the class, then come find me (with a helper) when the class is over. It is a big relief to me, allowing me to only have to watch DS2 like a hawk, instead of both of them.

Class time 1:
    DS1 was in "Painting without brushes". They used things that rolled to make 2'x4' creative pictures in purple and blue. DS1 came to me afterwards, saying he was done. He had not told the teacher he was leaving, so I escorted him back there, to tell her.
    DS2 was in "Social Hour" which is basically free play for those not in classes. It is also a place for teachers to take their "littles". The gal normally in charge was absent. I'm sure someone else was "in charge," but it was not evident to me who that was. At one point, while all of the other adults were sitting around a table talking, I stopped a toddler from escaping. Her mom was teaching another class, so I know that the "in charge" person should have been watching her. While I was doing that, DS2 escaped out the other end of the room. (It's a long multi-purpose/fellowship hall type room.)

The "Social Hour" class used to be in a smaller classroom. I liked that a lot better. Now it's almost like at our previous place where chaos reigned in the big room the whole time. We have "Social Hour", then "Little Explorers", then lunch, then "Exploration Stations" in the fellowship hall. They all need the big space; it is just very stressful for me.

Class time 2:
    DS1 was in the kitchen making noodles. The planned teacher was absent (same gal as "Social Hour"), but her 2 helpers did the the class anyway. Thanks! It was great. DS1 even liked the chicken noodle soup after I convinced him to try one taste. I'm sure he would have liked the spaghetti noodles also, if he had tried them.
    DS2 did one of the circus crafts with "Little Explorers", but he doesn't like to sit for the stories with a big group of kids. He likes being read to at home, so I think it's just the bigger group and overstimulation that causes him to want to stay away. LE seems to get done in about 30 minutes, or maybe it's just that we get done with it that quickly. Then there is 30 minutes to kill before DS1 is back from his class for lunch, or like last week, he's ready, too, so we eat early. Then there is a lot of time to kill before the afternoon class.

Lunch:
    Both boys have been eating well at lunch. I'm glad because sometimes they didn't last spring. I've brought cheese sandwiches, chips, applesauce, and lemonade the last 2 weeks. I think I've discovered our standard Tuesday lunch. :-)

Class time 3:
    DS1 was in the kitchen again, making "no bake cookies." Again, this went very well. He came out to ask me if he could go to the playground with his class and teacher. I'm very glad he asked! He says he remembered that he was supposed to ask first, not that his teacher told him to.
    DS2 and I were in "Exploration Stations." I brought big cardboard blocks for a "construction and demolation" station. It took a little while to get the other kids warmed up to building and knocking down towers, but overall it was a HUGE hit. We even had one tower that was taller than me. I held the girl up over my head to put on the last few blocks. The main problems were keeping DS2 from knocking over other people's towers, telling kids to use hands not feet, then when the bigger kids came in after their classes it was too much and we had to put them away. It was clean-up time anyway, but I was letting them continue to play for a few more minutes. The kids were good at helping pack the blocks away, and I think they will be excited to see them again the next time I facilitate that station. If I can figure out what to transport them in, I will bring more next time. The blocks certainly went over better than the puzzles did last week. Several of the other moms commented on the blocks also.

Afterward:
    I "lost" DS1 for a short time. After his cookie class went outside he came back and brought me his cookies. I told him to take them over to our stuff. He didn't come right back to me. I looked around and didn't see him, so I thought he went back outside to play. DS2 and I took the blocks out to the car, passing the playground, but DS1 was not there. So I left DS2 with the playground mom (although we don't have an assigned "playground adult"), with explicit instructions to make sure he didn't escape, particularly when someone else opened the gate. I went back inside looking for DS1 and even asked if anyone had seen him in the last 10 minutes. "No." Then we found him playing in the tent. It was in the same area as the blocks, so we just crossed paths. He and I had a little talk about Mommy always needing to know where he is. He said he was playing with our magna-doodle earlier, by our stuff, then he came over to play in the tent. We gather up our bags and headed back to the playground. It was beautifully cool this afternoon, after being drizzly and muggy this morning, so they played and I watched while talking with another mom. Then DS2 fell from the monkey bars. Everyone heard the thud! Then the crying. I even saw him fall but couldn't get to him fast enough. He had dirt all over his face and even a little in his mouth. No blood, though! I asked if he was hurt or just scared, and he replied, "just scared." After a few minutes of brushing off and snuggling, I encouraged him to climb up one more time before we left. He whizzed up to the top again and asked me to catch him this time! :-) All is well. He's one tough cookie!

So that's today's YEA! report.

Computer innards

DH and the boys took apart a computer this evening, and put it back together again. Now the boys will understand more about what Daddy does at work. DS1 said it was the most fun he had today.

Old computer... $0
New computer... $900

Failed system board (looks like a city), memory cards, power plugs, CD drive cables, CPU slot (looks like a ball park), resisters (that move), the back (pokey), and comparing a 10-12 year old computer to a brand new one... priceless!

Kaleidoscope Fun

It wasn't fun (for me) at first, because DS1 dismantled a kaleidoscope that I had made many years ago. The tiny pieces of cut glass that made up the colors were scattered on the kitchen floor. I calmed myself, asked him to be very careful while picking them up, and got some other things that we could put in the viewing end.

The kaleidoscope was made from a Pringles chip can, with a triangular mirror inside, a viewing hole (with rubber grommet for safety) at the bottom end, and the colorful glass baubles at the top end. It was similar to the one described in this kaleidoscope building webpage, but with the ends of the can intact. The clear plastic Pringles lid was taped back on to keep the tiny items in place.

Since DS1 took the tape off and opened the top, we had the opportunity to try other things inside it. Beads from a broken necklaces made nice black and white patterns because they were interesting shapes and completely opaque. Some semi-transparent beads and things with interesting silhouettes made fun patterns, too. The colored glass drops are the prettiest, in my opinion. We also looked through it (as a teleidoscope) at things around the house. This was quite fun also.

More good articles from The Link

Ten Things That Have Kept Me Sane (sort of) By Bette Solomon
Michele's Musings - Squelching Sibling Rivalry By Michele Hastings
Critical Thinking (Logic) By M. Joseph Treppel
Why Study Algebra? By Illana Herzig Weintraub

Make Your Own Timeline

A link to save on the Learning is Fun site for a blank write-on/wipe-off timeline. $12 for 32 pieces, finished timeline is 12' long by 6" tall, plus the arrows, bubbles, and boxes.

Freedom Within Structure

Freedom Within Structure by Michele Hastings is an article about blending the freedom of unschooling with the structure of having some specific expectations for your child's education. Mrs. Hastings gives examples from her family's life in the areas of math, language arts, science, and social studies.

I can really relate to this article. Her introductory paragraph begins, "So...you long for structure but your kids have a mind of their own. And although you appreciate the concept of unschooling or interest-initiated learning, you can't relax that much! " She goes on to describe the middle ground between "dictatorship" and the "hands-off approach" that she calls "freedom within structure."

Both this article and the one blogged below were links from a homeschooling e-newsletter, the online version of The Link. I remember getting a trial of the print version and deciding against subscribing. (It's free, so it was either because of the advertising or the general political/philosophical leanings, I don't remember.) I do like the e-newsletter because I can be selective in what I choose to read without having to wade through all of the things that don't interest me.

Unschooling Writing Skills

Writing Skills the Unschooled Way by Alison McKee is a great article about how children can learn to write without formal instruction. Ms. McKee compares it to how children learn to talk and walk, by "babbling", copying, trial and error, and asking for assistance and/or instruction when they are ready for it. Her article describes how her 2 children learned to write, and how she and her husband learned to stay out of their way and help them in the appropriate ways.

Reasons We Homeschool

On the Sonlight forums, in the New Instructor area, there is a thread asking WHY we homeschool, for us newbies to get to know each other a bit. Here is my post:

Originally Posted by kittie313 : "we don't do mornings LOL"
SSSHHHHHH! I try not to let people know that this is one of my big reasons.

I started thinking about homeschooling when my older son was less than 2 years old. I started my blog 2 months after he turned 2. I was working full-time and missed him so much, even though it was a very good daycare and I visited everyday his first year to nurse at lunch. Even in the 1-2yr old class the teachers were telling me he was "smart", "advanced" and similar adjectives. In the 2-3 yr class the teacher was borrowing puzzles & toys from the pre-k room for him. Both DH and I excelled in school, so we had a good idea what was ahead for him in a regular classroom (or even gifted program). One of our babysitters when he was 4 was a K teacher. She told us he already knew most of everything that she would be teaching her K kids. And now we can tell DS2 is a very quick learner also.

The academic individualization is our most publicly known reason. However, my DH and I love to travel around the US on vacation. We were married 10 years before kids and really enjoy vacationing in Sept/Oct and April, when all of the families with school kids AREN'T on vacation, too. So the family flexibility is a biggie for us. DH likes the idea that every vacation can be "educational". I try to remind him that we don't have to make it like "lessons" when we go somewhere, just going and experiencing the new places and things is educational in and of itself.

And my other reason seems selfish, but I suppose it isn't really: I like my kids and I want to spend time with them. I don't want to miss out on their joy of learning.

ETA: Things I don't like about our local PS system: I think homework for early elementary kids is ridiculous. My PS system does not have 1/2 day K anymore. (The suburban district does, though.) Fortunately we live 2 blocks from "our" elementary school so we would have been able to walk, but many K'ers have to be driven by parents or ride a bus for 30-60 minutes EACH WAY around here. School fund-raisers (daycare even had these) -- yuck.

ETA (edited to add) again: Another thing I remembered I don't like about PSs in general: Random drug testing. Not just for kids in activities (which isn't fair), not for kids with behavior problems, not for kids with unexplained dropping grades, not for truant kids, not for kids seen with drug paraphernalia, but RANDOM of ALL kids. No "just cause", completely RANDOM. I'm so glad they didn't do that when I was in school. It annoys me so much that I quite likely would have refused and been kicked out of all of my extra-curricular activities and maybe suspended from school. That would not have been a good thing for the valedictorian.