She's Still Got It

I thought I'd wrap this year up in my last post, but Melissa still had a couple weeks of school left, so I should have known there would be more to share.

While I was in Brazil, Melissa reconnected with her love of law enforcement. She and her dad went to a book store where she got a criminology book called The Gift of Fear. She read it every spare moment. One day her teacher said, "Melissa, this is English. Put down the book." The irony is not lost on any of us.

Her math teacher noticed how much she was reading, looked at the book and said, "Are you really a fifteen-year-old girl?"

During P.E., they have been going to a nearby putt-putt golf course, so Melissa would bring her book, but leave it on the picnic table. One day her teacher noticed the book wasn't there because she had forgotten it. "But I was almost done!" Now she's borrowing it so she can read it anytime she wants.

"Whenever I get really interested in something, it's hard to sit in class. It's all I can think about, and I just want to get home." Ah, yes.

She made her bedroom a command center. She now has a police scanner and a map of our city above her desk. And since the police chief's office doesn't have clothes laying all over the floor, her room got cleaned up nicely. As she was going through her desk drawers, she found an FBI pin she had once bought online, all her old police/spy supplies, and some tickets she had issued to family members over the years.

"It's a good thing I was homeschooled. I had time to really focus and do fun stuff." That makes me feel good because it's been a hard year, letting go and letting her go to school. Oh, and by the way, she was the only person in her English class who knew the difference between "to," "two," and "too." Her teacher has stopped calling on her because "I know Melissa knows all this stuff. I want to hear from someone else."

Tonight, as we walked to the car from the grocery store, she noticed the brown paper bags we were carrying. She said, "You now, these bags would make great treasure maps. You could cut them open and draw a map..."

"then crinkle them up..." I add.

"then burn the edges. Yep, I still got it."


pictures: Missa around age seven and going to prom this Spring

Let's Wrap it Up

The school year is coming to a close and I've decided to put my blog aside for awhile. But to tie up some loose ends, here you go:

Melissa has loved her freshman year at the public high school. She got straight A's first semester, and with only about 10 days left, she's got solid A's in every class. She played basketball and was on the track team. She sees the problems with the traditional school system, but she's willing to "play the game" and so far, I see that it's working for her. This summer she'll go back to Mexico for a couple weeks.

Meg will probably take some community college classes next fall as she enters her senior year of high school. This will give her some general education courses to take with her to college. She is still undecided about a major, but it will probably have something to do with theater.

Peter is finishing up his first year at the University of Chicago. It's been a wonderful year and I couldn't be happier for him. He plans to stay up there this summer and to keep working with the public school system. His ultimate goal is to be a professor of history or philosophy or the history of philosophy and science, or...He should be the one blogging!

Keep in touch. You can talk to me by leaving a comment or emailing. I'll always take questions, so feel free. And don't be surprised if I post once in awhile. I love talking about education!

Back from Brazil

Just a couple days ago, Meg and I returned from Brazil. Here she is in the historic part of Sao Luis in Northeastern Brazil (my kind of field trip!). We traveled with four other ladies from our church and visited a missionary couple we know there. As part of our trip, Meg got to sing to a few hundred people, and we provided a children's program while the moms were in seminars.

I was very impressed with Brazil. They have so much more going for them than the people of India (my main point of reference for life outside the US). I saw no homeless, no begging children, and no roaming cows. They even have garbage pick up! But there is still a lot of poverty and a real need for better education in all areas. We were thrilled to get to go on this trip and do what little we did.

Now I'm back home, playing catch up in several areas. Thanks, Duska, for taking care of the give away while I was gone. I missed you all.

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Micah for winning our Mother's Day give away from Persimmon Lane! You will be contacted right away to make arrangements for the delivery of your goodies!

Thank you to all of you for your thoughtful comments....some truly lovely sentiments about motherhood! The winner was chosen randomly from among all of our participants. We hope you enjoyed being part of our giveaway...perhaps we'll do another one very soon!

A happy Mother's Day to you all!
Duska (for Jena in her absence!)

A Mother's Day Giveaway

I will be away from my blog for awhile because Meg and I are going on a trip together. I'll tell you more when I get back. So as I pack and head out, I want to leave you with something fun--A Mother's Day Giveaway!



My friend Duska has just opened an etsy shop called Persimmon Lane. So as a way to introduce her and to give me something fun to do on my blog, here you go. To enter, leave a comment about motherhood. That's it! And of course you don't have to be a mom to comment.

On Saturday April 24, at midnight, we'll pick a winner with the random number picker, counting down from the first comment.

How will we contact the winner? Blogger doesn't automatically capture your email address, so you'll either have to leave it in your comment or have it available through your profile page. Or you can check back here, and if you win, you can email me with your mailing address (yarnsoftheheart@gmail.com).

Here's how she describes the giveaway:

In this giveaway, you will receive three items. First, a lovely milk glass dish with a pedestal and scalloped design. It is filled with a fun collection of "button babies." There is a mix of both shell and acrylic buttons with no holes. These were purchased at a sale including items from a former button manufacturer. They are great for display, and they also make fun game pieces or math tools for your schooling projects.

Second, I'm including a delicate handmade doily with cutwork. Very pretty. Last, but certainly not least, is a 1929 edition of Little Women. Don't you love to read from old books....it just adds to the charm of the story!

Yes, button babies and Little Women! I'd go for just those. The button things without holes are amazing. They're smooth, cool and weighty. Nice and tactile.

So there you go. Leave a comment and good luck! And visit Duska's shop to see what she has. We live next door to each other, and I must say, she has treasure over there! She's always adding new things, so check back often.

Homeschooling for Free: Science Links

Every Friday I get The Scout Report from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This week they highlighted the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Here's how they describe it:

Created by science teachers for science teachers, the Teacher Institute Podcasts are five-minute podcasts that give educators science facts, science history, and pedagogy tips for new teachers. The podcasts are hosted by the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and support for the project comes from the National Science Foundation, The Noyce Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and others. Visitors can browse through the podcast series, and they will find thoughtful and fun suggestions on how to make a straw oboe, how to better manage the classroom, and how to build a Brazilian instrument called the cuica. Also, visitors can read up on the Teacher's Institute's summer institute program for science educators and also sign up to receive new podcasts via iTunes or RSS.

After some poking around, I found these useful pages on their site:

hands on activities

more hands on activities they call "snacks"

They have short pod casts and webcasts, so you can watch the science demonstrations. I think these would be fun, easy-to-do activities as a family or for a child on his own. If you have an interest in a particular area, say weather, just look for what they might have on that topic.

Also, check out Topsy Techie's Friday's Hardwired Hints. Every Friday she gives us links to great places around the Internet.

It really is possible to completely homeschool your child for free just using the wealth of the Internet. Do you have any favorite links to science places on the net?

Education Observations from My Teenagers

Our public school district allows homeschoolers to take classes if we notify them by May 1 of the previous school year. So with that deadline coming up, I asked Meg what classes she'd like to take next year. She said she just wanted choir again.

"But this is your last year. Maybe you feel like you've missed out and want to be able to say you experienced more of high school." She has brought that up in the past.

"No," she said. "Everyone hates high school." I just had to laugh. She hangs out with public school kids, so it no longer holds its magic. Last night she went to their musical practice. Because she's not a full timer, she can't be in their musical, but she is the assistant choreographer, and she loves it. She came home just glowing. She told me how she gave various people pointers and explained a dance or two. Everyone was very appreciative, and she beamed, "I feel so smart in theater!" That was a very telling comment, because Meg could not read until she was 10, and academic things have always been a struggle for her. When she was little she'd cry that she just wanted to be "smart." Well, I think she's found her place in the world. She loves theater, and she's realizing she likes behind-the-scenes work even more than being on stage. She'd love to direct. So now we're thinking about which college would have a major for her.

Yesterday I got an email from a friend asking how to prepare her 8th grade homeschooled son for math in a public high school. I told her to shore up his elementary math foundation (multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents) and maybe introduce him to pre-Algebra. That's what I did with Melissa. She went into Algebra 1 and is doing great--A's so far. When I told Melissa about it, she said, "He'll have no problem. It's easy. They dumb everything down in high school." And a few nights ago, she said, "The days just fly by in school. I don't learn anything, but they sure go fast!" Great. But at least she's having fun, right?

Peter has also been thinking a lot about education this week. He helps out in a fourth grade classroom and went to a political meeting about education in Chicago. He called me as he walked home, and he had some very interesting observations. I asked him to write a post for me. Let's see if he gets around to it. :)

Psst...today is StoneAgeTechie's birthday. Go wish her a happy one.