Bug
01/09/2010
10/27/2009
How to Make Pooplpie by Bug
Bug's decided to do a little baking, specifically pies. His first one was a recipe of his own creation. He convinced his sister to make the crust for him. He managed the rest. The verdict: YUM!
recipe for pooplpie pie
ingredients
one graham cracker pie crust
1 half gallon of chocolate ice cream
a chocolate sauce as long as its cold
a hungry person
step one:
cool the pie crust until cold to the touch
09/18/2009
A Day in the Life of an Unschooler: The Day After the "Day Off"
Yesterday, Bug took the “day off.” As a contrast, I’d like to walk you through today, which actually started in the wee hours of the morning when Bug came into my room, unable to go to sleep until he’d completed his sketch of a warp tunnel he wants to design.
The warp tunnel involves the use of dual engines and power sources (to avoid single point of failure), large metal tubing (big enough for a truck to fit through), a tread (like a people-mover) that goes underground, and then he lost me. It was 1:30am. I try, but hey, I’m human. Fortunately, getting it down on paper seemed to free him up to sleep. Sometimes that boy’s mind just needs permission to shut down.
Later this morning—much later—he was ready to greet the world of the living for another round. After a shower, he loaded the dishwasher, and joined his sister and me in the car for the trip into San Jose to pick his father up from the airport. On our way, we were treated to Science Friday on NPR. Not his sister’s favorite, but she seemed to enjoy it today as the discussion was about the origins of scientists and how science and art were initially more intertwined subjects.
This was the perfect segue to our next destination, The Tech Museum. Once at The Tech, we had a quick lunch (They have the most delicious food at The Tech, I swear.) with Daddy-O, left him in the Café to do some work, and headed off to explore.
First stop, an old favorite, designing roller coasters:
And, then riding the coaster in the simulator:
We spent quite a bit of time in the new permanent exhibit area, Technology Benefiting Humanity.
Next up, trying out liquid vision glasses (glasses that use fluid for the lenses):
Powering a radio by hand:
Creating a circuit to power an LED bulb with solar power:
We toured an installation of globes representing different statistics:
Yeah, that’d be Africa, followed by North America. We talked about what it would be like to walk 15 minutes for a drink of water. Bug said, “I’d walk 15 minutes, then build my house there.” Then, he kind of chuckled and said he realized that wasn’t a feasible solution, looking at the map. And when you look at the next few globes, you’ll start to see some patterns emerge. We did.
Some of the other stats included literacy rates and energy consumption. I didn’t get pictures, but I’m sure you can guess what those maps looked like. It was striking to see them all in a row.
And that was just what I photographed before my battery died. I have some video of the kids composing music on a wall that I’ll try to upload later. I didn’t want to completely bog this post down with images. But, it was incredible to watch and hear. Have you ever wondered what polka-dots sound like?
There was time spent designing water turbines, positioning mirrors for solar power, and pedaling bikes to generate electricity for light bulbs and fans. He drove a car simulator to determine how to get the best MPG based on design and driving technique. Then, it was time to go.
We met some extended family we hadn’t seen in far too long for a reunion dinner. Time to reconnect. Even though the kids had been at the museum for hours, they were engaging and only started to wither toward the end of the evening.
Bug shared the details of his warp tunnel design and found a kindred gamer to talk shop with—someone who didn’t just nod along like I’m wont to do after the second hour or so of his impassioned explanations about Kirby or Princess Peach.
When we got home, it was time to bring Daddy up to speed on the Flight of the Conchords since he’d been out of town. Since Bug had already seen the episodes, he played Spore, but sat with us as we re-watched the series. Then, it was off to bed and podcast time once again.
Oh, one last funny I just remembered. There’s a robotic arm at The Tech that you program to spell things with blocks. Here's what Bug programmed today:
He thought it was the height of hilarity. I quite agreed.
09/17/2009
The Flipside: A Day in the Life of an Unschooler
Peanut had her schedule under control today and required very little from me, so I spent the day sidled up to Bug. He wanted to “take a day off from responsibilities” (except for feeding the dogs, of course).
What he meant by this was that he wouldn’t be asked to pitch in around the house today, something he’d normally be expected to do. Even though we embrace an unschooling philosophy, we do still expect everyone in the family to share in taking care of the house and pets. We all have our names in the chore rotation, Mom and Dad included. This throws us somewhere on the continuum in unschooling circles--more toward the eclectic side of things. But, I digress.
So, how did Bug spend his "day off"?
He played some online games (Wizard101 and RuneScape).
He explored word definitions on Dictionary.com, starting with dingleberry (he’s 12), leading eventually to onomatopoeia, which led to an exploration of poems demonstrating the use of onomatopoeia.
Then he installed the iTunes software upgrade, which led to exploring new podcasts on technology that he then downloaded to listen to later. He’s a huge fan of the How Stuff Works podcasts, and added the Tech Stuff series today.
Of course, that led to a discussion about his sister studying French and how it would be funny if he secretly downloaded the Coffee Break French podcast to help him learn French, he could understand his sister without her knowing.
Amidst all of this, I asked if I could write this blog post about his day. He readily agreed. When I got out the camera, to take a few shots, he asked me to take one of his eye and another of his scalp. Just because.
Then, he’s back to Wizard101 and watching the Scooby-Doo Movie. He explains to me that they used an animated dog for the movie because they couldn’t find a real dog to do all of the stunts required for the film.
At dinner time, he joins me in the kitchen. He learns to grill his own tortilla in a little olive oil, warming it just enough to use to wrap his burrito that he assembles himself because he doesn’t want a tostada like I’m having or a microwaved tortilla like his sister had.
After dinner, he feeds the dogs and we watch the first disc of Flight of the Conchords, Season 2 on DVD as he sits perched on a bright blue exercise ball (his favorite seat in the house). When we finish, he plays Spore for a bit, then goes to bed where he gets ready to read The Robot Novels (The Caves of Steel) by Isaac Asimov and listen to some of the podcasts he downloaded earlier today.
Before I turn in for the night, he asks me the date. “Mom, we should have a day off on the 17th of every month or the third Thursday.”
“That’s a good idea, Bug. A day off.”
Tune in tomorrow for a peek into Bug's life when he's not taking the day off. He's on deck for loading the dishwasher in the morning. However, there's a surprise in store in the afternoon, which I guarantee will be far more entertaining that caked on re-fried beans. The whole fam damily is going on a field trip!08/05/2009
Did You Read Anything?
As I sit here, working on my summaries of the kids’ learning over the past year, I am faced with the first list of the two I will produce from Goodreads that show a record of most, but not all, of the books my children have read during the past school year.
I know that homeschooling affords them the luxury to read, a lot. I also know that they tend to read in phases. They’ll go through weeks of devouring 5-6 meaty novels in as many days. Then, a drought of a month may pass where they read only a handful of light fluff.
Yet, when I’m faced with this first list, from my child who hasn’t picked up a new novel with any seriousness in over a month, I am reminded that I have no need to worry. He’s only 12, and he’s doing just fine.
Bug’s 2008-09 Reading List:
05/21/2009
Wrapping Up
Image via Wikipedia
As our school year comes to a close of sorts, I’ve been looking back through photos and posts in our private blog, among other notes and things that will be used to create our portfolio of the year.
It’s astounding to see how the kids have grown this year, mentally and physically. They no longer peruse the shelves of the children’s section of the library, having moved on to more challenging reads. Their feet are nearly as big as my own. They’re developing interests and identities that continue to reflect who they are and what they believe.
Peanut remains one with nature and her animals, climbing trees, surrounded by dogs, cats, and rarely spotted wearing shoes, indoors or out. When she’s not out exploring with her friends of the two- or four-legged variety, she can be found with her nose in a book (most likely historical fiction) or online, interacting with her Australian mates on Runescape, checking out the latest music videos (I won’t tell you the artists for fear of embarrassing her), or emailing local friends. She still loves planning events, organizing things, and is quick-as-a-whip at math.
Bug loves science as much he did when he was 5, and his knowledge continues to grow with his own exploration, 4-H projects, and field trips to The Tech. He shares his father’s love of gaming, but takes it a step further by designing games. With multiple game design courses under his belt, and kudos from every instructor, he’s certainly shown an aptitude beyond his years. He’s broadened his reading genres this year beyond the fantasy realm to include historical fiction, and even a little historical non-fiction. He completed a few UC-level U.S. History courses earlier in the year that piqued his interested.
The emotional maturity Bug and Peanut have developed in the past few months, dealing first with my surgeries, then with their father’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, has been nothing short of impressive. I could not have asked for more flexible, loving children. We have been open and honest with them. There have been tears. There have been questions. It has been hard, but we will survive. We are blessed with great support from friends, family, and professionals who help us when we need more than we can provide for ourselves.
We are blessed.
Much love to all who have made this journey an easier one for us. You have a special place in our hearts.
02/26/2009
What to Read?
Last time Peanut and I were at the library, I picked up a series for Bug with hope that it would pique his interest. It took about a week before he picked up the first one, and then he was off. Just days later he had plowed through the first two books in the series, and is now finishing up the third.
The characters are detailed in the front of each book, sorted by location to help the reader in keeping track of the many players in the Arthurian legend. Inside the cover there are also a detailed maps of Holt, Middle March, and The Manor of Caldecott. At the back of each novel is a glossary called the Word List, which includes such gems as “clipped penny” and “bullace.”
Here are the first two books in the series, Arthur by Kevin Crossley-Holland:
The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Arthur Trilogy, Book Two: At The Crossing Places by Kevin Crossley-Holland
02/24/2009
A Book Meme
I was recently tagged for this meme by my homeschooling/blogging buddy T on Facebook. The original instructions** were for ME to note the books I’ve read (in their entirety), but as I perused the list, I was more surprised by how many of these books my kids have read. At just 10 and 12, they’ve knocked quite a few off the list. In fact, they’ve read their favorites more times than I can count.
Since I am known for not following instructions to the letter, I’m going to do this meme a little differently. If I’ve read the book, I’ll note it with a C. If Bug’s read it, I’ll note it with a B. If Peanut’s read it, I’ll note it with a P.
If you decide to participate in this meme on your own blog, be sure to leave a link in the comments.
Remember, only books you’ve read in their entirety.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien C B
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte C
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling B
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee C
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell C
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman B
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens C
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X C P
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller C
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare [Honestly, the complete works? Really? Has anyone. There are like a bazillion.]
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier [I truthfully cannot remember if I’ve read this.]
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien C B
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger C
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald C
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams C B P
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck C
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll C
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame [I tried. Oh, how I tried.]
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens C
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis C B
34 Death and the Maiden (scpl) - Ariel Dorfman
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis C B P
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne C
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery P
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood [Can’t remember.]
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding C
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Chronicle of a Death Fortold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon C [LOVE this book]
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley C
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon C B P
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck C
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville C
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens C
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett P
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Night - Elie Weisel
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens C
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert C
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White C P
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 Scoop - Evelyn Waugh
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare C
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl P
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo [Does enduring the musical count?]
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read ENTIRELY
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
02/13/2009
Park Day: Unschool Style
There’s a large population of unschoolers in the Bay Area, where we are fortunate to live. However, we had yet to hook up with a group in our immediate community.
Recently a group has started a small park day, which we’ve been dying to attend. Between my initial surgery and recovery, we missed the first few get-togethers.
Finally, today, in the chilliness of the day during a break in the rain, we were able to meet at a local park for nearly 3 hours of social time. There were just two other families there on this particular day, which was nice for our first meeting.
Just five children meant that the social setting wasn’t overwhelming for Peanut, who feels shy in new situations. Bug had a couple of kids who were up for a little bit of Boshi Stick time, then some creative game playing, leaf gathering, and general exploring of the park. Peanut spent most of her time with the other girl present, running up and down hills, climbing on the play structure, and just generally enjoying herself.
I enjoyed meeting two unschooling families, both with vastly different backgrounds in how they arrived at unschooling. One, a former Family-on-the-Road, recently settled into a place with a foundation and four walls. The other, local for many years. Both incredibly interesting women, fully comfortable with their unschooling choice. So refreshing.
It was that extra step I needed to take away from the more traditional homeschooling groups. Not that they don’t still offer a great support for homeschooling, in general. But unschooling is as different from traditional school as it is from traditional homeschooling. Sometimes it just feels good not having to explain yourself. Even for a sliver of time.
01/27/2009
Our Own Backyard: The Exploratorium and The Tech
Image via WikipediaThis past weekend, Peanut got invited along on an outing to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. While Bug headed off to play some basketball at the gym with Hubs, Peanut made her way into the City with her friend, M, and M's Dad.
Peanut has been to the Exploratorium in the past, but still jumped at the opportunity to go again. I think hands-on museums have that effect on kids (and adults, at least this one), and it seems that just about every museum has some hands-on activity these days.
As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to visit the museums, zoos, and aquariums when they are less crowded.
Some of these museums even offer free admission to homeschooling educators. The Tech in San Jose is one of these museums. Other museums often have a free day each month for all visitors.
Even if you live on the outskirts of a major city, it's worth the trip in to make use of these fabulous educational resources.
In the case of The Tech, we've enjoyed many hours of exploration unencumbered by class logistics, like lunch breaks. We can easily have lunch before or after the rush, giving us even more time to enjoy uncrowded exhibits. (As a side note, The Tech's cafeteria has some of the tastiest food around. You'll often spot business people in the vicinity coming in for lunch as you can utilize the cafeteria without museum admission. It's that good. Our favorites are the pizza, which comes on a homemade crust, and the BLT. Prices are reasonable, and members get a discount.)
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