If I Could Do It Over

I am in the midst of my annual curriculum collection before I go back to China. This means that one entire suitcase will be full of books (or in this case, probably one and a half).

I've been reading through The Well-Trained Mind this summer in an effort to transition more to a Classical Education philosophy (I figured I should really nail myself down a little more to something and this appeals to my structured self). In reading it, I've been realizing what I like about the curriculum and methods we've chosen so far.

So by way of retrospect and possibly encouragement to any potential new homeschool moms, here are my thoughts on "If I had to do it over again from the beginning" not only in curriculum but also in practice:

1. I would read to them even more than I did
2. I would start from the beginning using Math U See, Spell to Write and Read, Story of the World, Easy Grammar, and Considering God's Creation.
3. I would make reading, writing, and math the main things and do other things occasionally.
4. I would spend more time reading and memorizing poems and scripture. Thankfully AWANAs helped me out with that latter one.

Hmm . . . actually not as much I would change as I was thinking there was! That's good. Not that I was regretting anything, because I think that this is a process and God uses the turns and trials to shape us and help us understand how we learn and what we like. It's just good to write out since it helps me see more clearly where I want to go from here.

You Know You're a Homeschool Mom When . . .

You have nightmares about those standard tests the kids took. Seriously!

Last night I dreamed that I got a notice in the mail on the flimsy paper people often use for receipts here. It said that Ethan had failed the math portion of the standard test and he would have to retake it. This seemed odd at first because he said the math was easy, but then I panicked a little. Then I woke up and gradually unpanicked as I realized it wasn't true. Yet. Nor likely to happen.

I fell asleep again, then dreamed that I got reports on both the kids, and neither of them had scored higher than the 20th percentile in anything. Mostly they were in the single digits. I had to wake up again and realize that while I don't know what scores our kids got, I'm fairly confident they won't be that low given that they said the tests were easy.

Now I know I told the kids we didn't really care what scores they get, but I think some dream analysis here might indicate that that is not entirely true.

The Roots of Culture

At Ethan's request, we are currently studying Chinese history. It's fascinating! Did you know that the Great Wall as we know it isn't the one that was built during the Qin dynasty (the first dynasty when China was united as a country, and from which we get the name China) like everyone thinks? That one was further north. This one was actually built during the Ming dynasty, several hundred years ago. So much for thinking that thing is 2,000 years old.

But even more interesting was our study of the main philosophies of China - Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and Buddhism. The first two were developed during the Zhou dynasty, centuries before Christ, but as we read some of the tenants of them yesterday, we realized that the principles are still prevalent in Chinese culture today. For example, Daoism believes in non-interference with others; the Chinese will rarely step in and get involved in a situation that doesn't involve them. Or take Confucianism, which encourages education and harmony in familial relationships. These values are strong in Chinese society. And so on.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but since I have never met a Chinese person who says "I follow Confucius" or "I follow Daoism" it was surprising to see how much these philosophies have infiltrated their culture. I suppose it's similar to the ways that we still see Christian principles evident in American society, even if many do not profess Christianity. It's just lasted a lot longer here!

Standardized Testing

Today is day 3 of the kids participating in standardized testing. The tests are being conducted at one of the international schools in town. The kids were incredibly nervous about it before the first day, and I absorbed all their anxiety to the point where it made me sick the first day (good thing a friend of mine drove them down there!). We've learned a few things from this process:

1. Standardized tests are not that hard (or so the kids tell me). This was my main objective in sending them, so yay!

2. Megan wants to go to school (mostly because she's seen that some of her friends from church go there)

3. The amount of stress involved in getting the kids out the door by 7:15 is equal to or greater than the amount of stress I have in an average day, but crammed into 45 minutes. Yuck.

4. Never drive south from our house between 7-8 in the morning. It's just depressing how slowly you move.

Some unexpected lessons in there, but all in all it's accomplishing what we'd hoped - teaching them that tests aren't a big deal and seeing where they are lacking. I'll be glad when this is done though!

Tamen kaishi shuo

The title of this post means, "They begin to speak." I can finally say this about our kids when it comes to Mandarin. They have been taking class for about a year now. It's become more intense as this semester as they have it four hours a week. I also made the decision to have them start over in a more beginner class with some friends - best decision I could have made! In my experience, the people who speak Mandarin well are the ones who did the basics more than once. If you don't master the tones, forget it. You can just pack up and go home!

Since they have started over, it's really clicked for them. They are so far managing to remember how to read and write every character they learn. Even better, they are starting to use and understand it in public. I fear the days of Erik and I speaking Mandarin as code are numbered, as already Megan will overhear me speaking with our Chinese helper and understand what I've said.

I think the most fun is hearing them use colloquialisms like, "Wei?" (what we say when we answer the phone) or "Ai yo!" (their version of "Oh no!") or "Wa sai" which is more recent slang to express shock or amazement. Here they are hard at work writing:

My Attitude

I was fairly convicted this morning by this quote by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

Good words for a homeschool mom this morning. Good words for anyone actually!

gaps

This spring I plan to have our kids take a standardized test, partly to see how they are doing, and partly for them to have the experience of taking a timed test. I decided it might be a good idea to have them try some practice tests online. Yes, that was a very good idea! Despite having a math curriculum I really like, it appears that there are huge gaps in their education like, oh say, the entire subject of geometry? Honestly, I couldn't tell them what a vertex was either so I wasn't much help.

So as I generally do, I hopped online to look for resources. I found this great website www.ixl.com which has practice "tests" for subjects I have a hard time believing are really being covered in public schools in America. It's leveled by grade and gives the kids rewards for practice time, questions answered, and subjects mastered. Of course this isn't free, but they like it so much and are so motivated to do it that it's absolutely worth the money.

Yay for finding new resources to fill in gaps!