Tree of Life Homeschool

Gnome House

2011-12-05T20:20:00.000-06:00

Dunagan's Gnome House with a fully set table for two.

Playdough

2011-11-29T10:45:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving Tree

2011-11-28T20:26:00.000-06:00

Our Thanksgiving Tree this year...

Happy Birthday, Kirven!

2011-11-28T20:24:00.000-06:00

Kirven turned 9 on the 21st. He decided to have sleepover this year instead of a party, so we had two of his best friends over the Friday before. We had hot dogs for dinner, and Kirven decorated his cake before blowing out the nine candles. The rest of the evening was spent playing LEGOS. We got them off to bed (or at least in sleeping bags, if not actually sleeping) by 10pm. And then they were back up at 4:30am. Yes, you read that right. They played very quietly until about 6am when the we parental units finally drug ourselves out of bed to make chocolate chip pancakes.

Paper Helicopter

2011-11-28T20:09:00.000-06:00

Dunagan spent a morning recently constructing a 3D helicopter (complete with pilot) of his own design.

Lost Maples

2011-11-14T21:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great time in Leakey, TX, this past weekend at the River Haven Cabins. We hiked at Garner State Park on Friday, and then Lost Maples on Saturday with good friends. The maple trees were really a pretty, vibrant red. All of these pictures are from Lost Maples.

Halloween

2011-11-07T20:24:00.000-06:00

SR-71 Blackbird

2011-10-24T20:44:00.002-05:00

2011

2009

Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction

2011-10-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

For your mini revolution.

Occupy the Kitchen.

Stand up for your Rights!

Colonial Williamsburg

2011-10-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

I only remembered to take pictures one day of the three we were at Colonial Williamsburg. I finally remembered just to give it to Kirven and let him take the pictures.

Colonial Williamsburg was amazing and so much fun. We had three full days of things to see, and we still didn't see it all. The place is huge.

We watched all the tradespeople at work that we could find, and I hope that when the kids are older, we can make a trip back to see more of the Revolitionary War events that they have going on all the time.

I'd also like us to see Jamestown and Yorktown, too, on a future trip.

Disappearing Oxygen

2011-10-24T20:22:00.000-05:00

Another good single element experiment is place a lit candle in a plate of water.

Then, place a cup over the candle.

When all the oxygen is used up, the candle will go out and the water level will rise in the cup taking the place of the oxygen.

Making Hydrogen

2011-10-23T11:22:00.002-05:00

We're officially on break this month, and just got back from spending 10 days in Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC. We had a wedding in the middle of those 10 days, but took the opportunity to see some interesting things while we were in the area. More on that in a later post (hopefully).

Before we left though, we made hydrogen. And it was pretty cool. Cool enough to share, because it made a big boom.

We have been reading this book: The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray.

This is an amazing book. Chemistry was just about my least favorite subject in school. I had no idea what we were doing. But this book has all of us excited about the elements of the world around us. It does a great job of bringing chemistry out of the abstract and into the real world. This is a must have book for the homeschool. It's, of course, over the three year old's head, but Dunagan (the six year old) likes it nearly as much as Kirven.

Since we have been enjoying it so much, I decided, hey, let's see if we can do any experiments with single elements. Turns out, there aren't many safe ones, but there are a few. One experiment was to make homemade hydrogen using instructions at Theodore Gray's website. It was easy and fun to do, but please *do* read the instructions all the way through.

As a general rule, with anything involving electricity or fire, I require Daddy to be present. I tend *not* to read instructions all the way through. I am usually so excited and ready to get to the "boom," that I just skim through the blah, blah, blah, and get the gist of things. The drawback to this approach is beautifully illustrated by this scenario that actually occurred:

(After two failed attempts to get our collected hydrogen to ignite)

Me: Why do we have to hold the cup in the water? It seems like we would collect more gas if we hold the cup at the surface.

Evan: Did you not read the instructions all the way through?

Me: (silence)

Evan: *IF* you have read the instructions all the way through, you would know that he specifically said NOT to do that.

Me: Oh?---- Why?

Evan: Because the hydrogen mixed with oxygen is *too* explosive.

Me: Ah.

Me: I still think it would work better. Are you sure you don't want to try it?

Evan: No.

Me: Killjoy.

Kirven: I think Dad's right, Mom.

Me: Ok, I think we've got enough in the cup, let's try again.

Evan: Ok.

Evan lights the lighter and brings it up to the cup, and I carefully tip the cup up, and BOOM. Big surprising BOOM.

Me: WHOA! Ok, you were right. Anything bigger would have been singed eyebrows.

Evan: (smug smile) Uh huh.

So, as you can see, it is best if we have Evan-supervision on these types of projects since he takes instructions more to heart than I do. In fact, it's more his rule than mine that he is present, but it's a good thing.

In Memory

2011-10-05T21:07:00.001-05:00

Molly

1997-Oct. 2, 2011

Star Wars

2011-09-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

And now, the trip we have all been waiting for... Star Wars in Houston! Months!--- we (and when I say we here, I mean Dunagan) have been waiting months.

The Health Museum in Houston hosted an amazing exhibit, and it has been there all summer, but I waited until September for us to go. I have figured out the secret--- go to museums in September. School groups aren't yet moving through like cattle going to market. We have the place to ourselves.

Anyway, they had lots of actual artifacts, props, models and costumes from all six episodes. They also had lots of interactive spots illustrating "star wars" technology that we have today.

(Some of my pictures are a little blurry. My excuse is that is was *very* cold in there. You know... shaky camera...)

Anyway, we saw comparisons between Hoth and Antartica, and Tatooine and Tunisia. We saw how hard it is to get robots to walk on two legs in real life, and we saw some examples of current technologies in robot facial and emotional recognition.

The kids also got to experiment with maglev technology that is used in high speed trains in comparison to the landspeeder in the movie.

It was about this time that Ayla really lost it (cold, hungry, bored), and she and I abandoned ship to sit outside and start in on lunch--- and slowly thaw. All that is to say, *I* did not get to see their final cars run down the track, but I hear it was cool.

After lunch, we went into a second exhibit that was a Star Wars robot lab. I have to say, I was very impressed. One drawback to going to an exhibit that is on its way out is that most of the interactive stuff is broken and inoperable. But everything here still worked!

So, you take your little R2 unit, and you decide which style of wheels you want, and then you take it over to two more stations and program it to run through a simple little course.

True to their natures, Dunagan dove right in and figured it out as he went along. Kirven sat back and watched until he was sure he could do it perfectly, and then he knocked it out as everyone else was ready to go and move on.

Though I didn't get pictures, we got to ride in a simulation of the Millenium Falcon.

The boys loved it; wanted to do it again. Ayla was: "A little bored, a little scared."

But she did become rather attached to her R2 unit and had a hard time understanding that it was not a take-home project or our new pet.

Mayborn Museum

2011-09-14T20:57:00.000-05:00

We went up to the Mayborn Museum in Waco with our usual partners in crime. They had a really great exhibit on Egypt that was on the way out.

Lots of hands on things for the kids to do.

Then we went upstairs to the children's wing where we spent the rest of the afternoon. The girls are standing inside a big bubble, though it doesn't show very well.

They spent a long time in the water room. Why does Waco have a better children's museum than Austin? I just have to say...

Anyway, well worth the drive. I contemplated getting a membership, but realistically, I don't know that we'll be back that often.

The kids built nice little arch and then had more fun knocking it down.

We began running out of steam in the pioneer room. We could have probably spent another hour or two.

Of course, Big Baby (seen here in the pink doll stroller) had to go with us, but Ayla somehow talked Q into pushing the stroller for her all day.

Tape

2011-09-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

One day, the boys wanted to tape Dunagan's eyes shut. It quickly devolved into what you see above. And then, of course, they wanted to take pictures of it. The picture really doesn't do the creepiness justice.

Generator

2011-09-14T20:46:00.000-05:00

The generator at the ranch went kaput, and Evan discovered that it was cheaper to buy TWO new (and much quieter ones) than it was to have the old one fixed. Gotta love consumerism.

Well, we thought the old generator was scrap, so Evan started taking it apart with the boys. Lo and behold, he discovered what caused it to seize up, and it was simple (loose bolt flying around in the wrong places) and fixable. Very exciting!

We are now awaiting new gaskets arriving in the mail, and then I might be able to have my parking space back.

This is my favorite vantage point for these types of projects.

Ayla's manicure

2011-09-01T08:04:00.001-05:00

Ayla painted her fingernails with a pink highlighter this morning.

Not Back to School

2011-08-21T21:28:00.003-05:00

School starts tomorrow--- for everyone else that is. But not us! :) I dearly love that I can sit on the sidelines of back-to-school shopping and 8 1/2% off sales weekends. I am so, so happy that I do not have to fill out endless pages of school forms. Tomorrow, we can get up at our usual time, and we do not have to get out the door at the bootie crack of dawn to get anyone anywhere on time. I am not packing sack lunches right now. No child of mine is lying in bed sleepless with anxious butterflies in their stomach.

I'm glad summer is winding down, and with the school kids gone during the days, we get the parks and the museums to ourselves again. When school was let out at the beginning of summer, I met a homeschooling friend at a crowded park, and she looked at me and said with a voice full of irony, "Darn all these kids!" I laughed. Yep.

We did a few week-long day camps this summer (at the opposite end of town no less!), and as I was filling out those forms and making those lunches and getting people places on time and picking them up on time and making sure I wasn't late and charged extra fees, I realized, this is a little taste of school. Just a little. And I didn't like it, not one little bit. Sure, my week was quieter than the usual noise-level I deal with, but it was more hectic. The kids had fun, and I was glad they got to taste rock climbing and LEGO robotics and rocket science, but they also came home exhausted and grumpy. And I felt like I didn't really see them during those weeks. There was very little connection, and it was weird not knowing what they were learning or being involved in some way.

Sometimes I envy school moms for their free time, but then I remember those few weeks of day camps, and the price for that free time is too high for me. While it's fun for a week or two at a time, I don't want to hand my kids off to others to raise and educate. Where's the fun in that? I recently had an open and frank conversation about educational choice with a dear friend of mine. She sends her children to public school, and I, of course, homeschool. For her, the annoyances of teaching a child at home are too great, while she could stand the annoyances that came with sending her child to school ("parent" homework masquerading as kid homework, bureaucracy, etc...), whereas I would tear my hair out if I had to deal with the things she has had to deal with in connection with "school." It all comes down to what sorts of hassles you are willing to deal with, and which ones are just too much to be endured. (Not to mention I like teaching, while she prefers her career).

I would rather be at home, teaching my children. Sure, I have less free time, but it's an easy price to pay because I can't, I really can't, imagine what I would do instead. I want to be the one sitting beside my child when the light bulb goes off that c-a-t says "cat." I want the freedom to travel whenever we want, to take our vacations in April and October when it is actually a joy to be outside. I want to be the one holding their hands and saying, "I don't know. Let's find out!"

So, to all our friends who are starting school this week, good luck! I now know that we each see the other's road as too hard to walk and are happy in our own shoes. And even though we are on different schedules, there is a looseness to summer that I am ready to be at an end, so we will be buckling down, too, in much the same ways to finish out our summer term--- and looking forward to our own break in about a month and a half. Whoohoo!

The Case of the Missing Part of Speech

2011-07-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

One last cool find for the night. I did this play, The Case of the Missing Part of Speech, in 5th grade (I think), and I had those catchy grammar songs stuck in my head for years and relied on them for successful answering on grammar tests for as long as I had to take grammar tests. I have been looking for a CD of the songs for awhile now, and I happened to do another search this week and found it!

Good Times Travel Agency

2011-07-27T21:15:00.002-05:00

I've just discovered a really great series of historical picture books by Linda Bailey. The one pictured below is Adventure in the Middle Ages (Good Times Travel Agency), and each one in the series is similarly titled.

The boys are just eating them up. Each story begins with the Binkerton twins, Josh and Emma, and their little sister Libby accidentally being drawn into the Good Times Travel Agency. It's not your normal travel agency, and if you pick up any one of the magical travel guides, it whisks you away to another time period. The storylines and historical details have been fantastic. So far, we have read the ones on the Middle Ages, Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. There are several more in the series. We have also been reading the Ms. Frizzle Adventures books, which are similar to Bailey's books and star Ms. Frizzle from the excellent Magic School Bus science book series. While those are good, too, I think the Good Times Agency books are much better.

Description of a Pencil

2011-07-20T22:15:00.003-05:00

by Kirven (with the help of spell check)

pencil triangle in pencil box dirty yews often me not like

(Background information: Kirven doesn't like narration/recall and summary making, so I am going to find him a different writing curriculum. In the interim, I asked him to describe his pencil today, and he was allowed to type and use spell check. He uses the Lyra triangular pencils, and his pencil box is very dirty. We are going to edit his little haiku-- count the syllables, it's really close!--- into an actual sentence tomorrow, and work on expanding it a little.)

Learning How to Cook Without a Book

2011-07-12T16:38:00.003-05:00

I don't mind cooking. No, that's a lie. I don't really like cooking. I thought I did for a while, but I really don't. The chore of getting dinner on the table every night is a real drag. You can throw baking right along in there, too.

I also don't really know how to cook. I mean, I can follow a recipe like anyone else, but I don't think that really counts as knowing how to cook. Not that many generations ago, women knew how to cook. I want to be able to do that.

Couple that with being in a serious dinner rut, and with various personal wishes of wanting to eat local, organic, in season, blah, blah, blah, I decided I needed to learn how to cook. I have tried getting the local box from Greenling three different times (local produce delivered to your doorstep once a week), but I always found it overwhelming and ended up with vegetables rotting in their drawers.

I wanted to be able to open up the frig and the pantry, see what I had available and make something sufficiently tasty for a weeknight dinner out of it.

So I began my quest, checked out a bunch of books from the library, and here is what I have to share:

How to Cook Without a Book by Pam Anderson

This has become my bible, and I am working on memorizing it. I have learned how to sear any meat, prepare any pan sauce, steam/saute any vegetable, a stir-fry formula, pasta sauce formula, frittata formula, make up my own salad dressing... all with stuff I have currently available in the house.

Previously, I would plan out every meal for the week ahead, and buy only those ingredients. Now I am learning how to keep my pantry stocked with basics, and when I go to the grocery store, I can buy the meats that are on sale and know that I will use them that week and they won't be forgotten in the freezer. When I get our produce box or shop for it at the grocery store, I can wait and buy what looks good because I feel confident now that I will make something good out of it, even if I don't know yet what that will be. I might put that summer squash in a frittata or a pasta sauce, or I might saute it with onions and something else lying around in the fridge.

Plus, Anderson has written with the busy mom in mind. Her formulas are bare bones and meant to be fast. And I have found her ideas to be fast, not just wishful-thinking fast. These are weeknight dinners. She intends for you to save the more elaborate stuff for entertaining. You won't find a prize-winning roast in this particular book; you have to look elsewhere for that.

I am finding this exciting and very freeing. Dinner is kind of an adventure now. Some things have turned out barely palatable, but some things have been really, really good. And it will never again be the same way twice... cause I'm making it up as I go along.

The "barely palatable" dishes sent me on a hunt for this book that I eventually found:

The Flavor Bible by Page & Dornenburg

This is not a recipe book. I don't think there is a single recipe in it. What it is is a 2 inch thick dictionary of flavor. You look up what you have (like say, asparagus) and they tell you good ways to prepare/cook it and what flavors traditionally go with it and which flavors are daring possibilities. I'm not the kind of person who gets excited about cookbooks, and I'm not that much of a foodie, but this is a pretty cool book for the ignorant cook (like me) as well as the gourmet chef (who I think the book is really written for)....because it is one thing to cook without a book, and it is another to stare at your spice rack while dinner is beginning to burn in the pan and you are contemplating what to throw in.

And finally, I applied this same line of thinking to baking, and I found this:

Ratios by Michael Ruhlman

From bread to batter, it is all really the same thing, just a different ratio. He also has ratios for sauces and other sorts of things. We made Ayla's 1-2-3 cookies from this book, but I am looking forward to playing around with this cookie ratio some on the next project day. Just as Anderson's book is very basic, so is this one. The 1-2-3 cookie, as Ruhlman says, is not art, it's just the basic food chemistry of a cookie. The art comes in playing around with it.

I'm pretty jazzed about all that I am learning, and I fully intend to pass this along to the kids.

Ayla's Cookies

2011-07-12T16:20:00.004-05:00

Tuesdays are Ayla's project days, and today she wanted to make cookies. We made 1-2-3 cookies, and we made a really small batch. 1-2-3 is the ratio of the essence of cookieness. 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, 3 parts flour. Play around with the ratio, or the types of flours, fats or sugars, add flavorings, and you have infinite possibilities in cookiedom. Take flour away and you have icing, take sugar away and you have roux.

So, anyway, as I said, we did a very small batch: 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup of flour, and it only made 10 cookies. Very nice. I can do that any day of the week. I have a gigantic 6 qt. metal mixing bowl with a rubber bottom that I have realized works great with the toddler. I mean, this bowl is really big. She can mash flour and butter and sugar around with her bare hands, and it all stays in the bowl. Hallelujah.

The cookies turned out ok. Definitely needed salt and chocolate. But I like knowing the basic cookie now. And Ayla had fun creaming the ingredients with her hands and licking as much as she could before I reminded her that they needed to go into the oven next.

Dunagan's Boat

2011-07-11T19:53:00.001-05:00

Dunagan built a boat today to test the effects of a rudder. He used a foam meat tray, a cup from an egg carton (& hot glue), a rudder from a milk carton (waterproof cardboard), a twig mast and a construction paper sail. He had three separate slots for the rudder, and when he blew the sail, he could see which direction the rudder would steer.

Ayla's Painting

2011-07-11T15:59:00.001-05:00

I've finally figured out toddler painting.
Paint directly onto the painting board (the ones used for older kids doing wet-on-wet watercolor), no paper. Use washable tempera, and a big fat brush you don't care if they rub back and forth. Take clothes off, don't bother with smocks.

Water Shooters

2011-07-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

The kids and Dad made Easy $5 Water Guns today from Instructables.

They shoot really far. Like, you think you're out of range... surely... but you're probably not.

Then we took them down to the neighbors' pool and made ourselves unwelcome. No, really we were invited. But I hope they invite us back.

For a pacifist family, we have a disturbing number of weapons. Guess it's the Texan in us.

Rockport Beach

2011-07-10T21:23:00.003-05:00

We spent the 4th of July with friends in Rockport at the beach.

We played at the beach in the mornings and hung out at the pool in the afternoons.

We even got to see fireworks, which we would have missed had we been in Austin. Fireworks were banned due to the drought.

Dunagan had this cool idea for a photo. I took his picture through a paper towel roll.

Water Rocket

2011-07-10T21:12:00.002-05:00

Project from a couple of Sunday's ago. You fill it up half way with water, and then use a bicycle pump to pump it full of air until it shoots up. They shot it in the culdesac until the fins broke off.

Glassblowing

2011-07-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

We went one evening with some homeschooling friends to watch my sister blow glass. It's always fascinating to watch the artiste.

The boys really enjoyed watching her. They've seen her work before, but it has been a very long time. I know Kirven has, but maybe Dunagan hadn't.

Dunagan spent a good deal of time collecting little bits of colored glass off the driveway. He has quite a collection now.

Boy, was it hot. Hot summer day plus the blazing glory hole.

How's and Why's

2011-07-10T11:05:00.006-05:00

I've been asked to share a little bit about why and how my homeschooling approach has shifted. I'm not sure I can keep it in a nutshell, so for those uninterested in the nuts and bolts of what I'm doing, please consider this a warning that your eyes may glaze over and feel free to skip this post. This is going to be ridiculously long. In fact, the commenter may give up before she reaches the end. :)

Enki is a holistic method in the sense that it takes into consideration not only the mind (which is what conventional and "classical" education focuses on pretty much exclusively) but also the heart and the body. (Waldorf and Montessori are also holistic). Most homeschoolers are "holistic" by default, in one sense I think, because as parents, we have our eye on the whole child all the time anyway. We look to their physical and emotional (character) health, as well as the development of their minds.

But Enki means holistic slightly differently. In Enki, new material is brought to the student through "all" the doorways: body, heart and mind (among others). So for example, say for math, you would tap and clap in appropriate rhythms the multiplication tables (for putting it into the body), hear a story in which the energy of the mathematical relationship is at play (and it will mirror where the child is developmentally--so this addresses the heart level), and then, after working with manipulatives and games for a good while, and letting a good amount of literal sleep play a role in making brain connections, then you bring pencil to paper to work math problems. So, there is this foundation of body and heart elements; movement, story and games, that comes before any real mental output. And "discovery learning" plays a huge role in Enki. The student is not told things directly and is left to discover things for themselves as much as possible.

Enki also has something called the "Enki Web" which is used as a tool to guide the teacher in picking appropriate topics, materials, whatever, to bring to the student. I just tried to cut and paste a picture of it, but it didn't work. That's probably for the best, since I don't want to run into copyright issues. Anyway, I'll try to describe it, because the Web *is* Enki. There's no way to stress that enough.

Imagine a large outer circle and a smaller inner circle. The large outer circle is labeled "Community & Family." The smaller inner circle is labeled "Vitality & Wisdom." Between these two circle are connection "web" lines, each labeled. It really looks like a web or a mandala. It's very pretty actually. The different lines are:

Activity of Learning

Teacher Health

Adult Models

Essential Energy

Environment

Rhythms

Unity & Diversity

Body, Heart & Mind

Developmental Mirror

Each of these items could have (and do have) pages and pages written about them, and it is a very useful tool for the teacher/parent. All of the materials that Enki Education sells have been "taken through" this Web and meet all the criteria it entails.

Having worked with Enki for five years now, I can safely say that it is a complete paradigm shift. It requires a lot of work to implement. In many ways, that extra work is well worth it. But after taking a class on the Web last summer and ruminating on my own experiences, I have come to several different conclusions.

#1: Not only Enki, but every educational method, theology, political/economic philosophy, etc... they all have their own "webs" and they are all different. In my home, with my children, Enki's Web isn't working out so well for me. Parts of it work, but not the whole. Therefore, if I jettison the Enki Web, I'm really not "doing" Enki anymore. Which is ok. As a homeschooler, I think I ultimately have to make my own "web." I'm not sure you can get around that.

#2 There is a big difference between working with a class and working with your own children. Enki is primarily for the classroom. It has been adapted for the homeschool, but there are so many things that would be totally awesome and amazing if you had compadres to do them with. They're not impossible to do on your own, but they become more work than I want to do. Because I am lazy.

#3 I can't make my children do things they hate. They liked to do circle at Enki camp with lots of other kids (that's where all the academic and sensory movement work happens), but they dug in their heels at home. So we were skipping a huge foundation, the movement work.

#4 I was spending way more time in lesson prep than I wanted to. Practically every spare moment. And then I had no energy to follow through. And I began to feel very resentful of my uncooperative kids who would not do what I had so lovingly prepared for them. I concluded that I needed to simplify and find things that they wanted to do (because, heck, isn't that why I'm homeschooling?)--- or that I could force them to do more easily.

#5 I found Enki to make learning more complicated than it had to be, at least in our home. I'm not sure it is necessary to bring something to the student through every possible doorway. I think that makes sense in a classroom with lots of different kids and different learning styles. But it began to feel like I was medicating for problems we didn't have, if that makes sense. The Enki approach does things in this way in order to keep all those doors open in the student and so that the student doesn't primarily become a visual learner or a kinesthetic learner to the exclusion of other learning styles. In theory, I agree with Enki, but in practice, I found it very difficult and overwhelming to implement.

#6 I began to feel really boxed in by this approach. The Enki Web is both Enki's strength and it's weakness. While it some respects it is freeing, because it is not a recipe and you have to ask the deep questions, I found it restraining because I began to realize that I had different criteria and questions. My "web" looks different and it will probably change as we go along. In fact, I don't even really want to sit down and articulate what my web is now, because I think I would just be creating another box for myself. I have a general idea of it in the back of my head, and beyond that, it is just a matter of staying present and aware of my kids and their interests, abilities and developmental stages.

#7 If Life circumstances or traveling threw us off schooling, all of my lesson plans went to pot. I just didn't find a way be flexible about it. Since it was all interconnected, it would either flow beautifully (and I would be exhausted at the end of the day) or it would all fall apart. I need everything separate and nothing contingent upon anything else. If every subject is on its own separate track, I can miss something and pick back up where we left off without dragging everything else down. I think this is a personality issue on my part. Perfectionism probably. This is not an inherent weakness in Enki.

So, what have we shifted to?

Language Arts:

I found Enki to be Incidental Phonics in orientation. I am actually a pure and direct phonics girl. This was a lack of understanding on my part going into Enki. They're actually very clear about it, but I didn't understand the difference enough. But now I do. I found Enki's approach to language arts (reading instruction, handwriting and spelling) akin to throwing my kids in the deep end and letting them figure it out. In some ways, this is not a fair statement, but this was my kids' experience with it, and I watched my oldest's interest in reading and self-confidence wither away to nothing. Other families have had wonderful results, and I want to be clear about that, but I finally pulled out my copy of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and haven't looked back. They don't necessarily like it any better than the Enki way, but they're reading. And really, I picked Enki because I thought learning would be more enjoyable for them... but if they're hating it... what's the point then if I find it an inefficient method of instruction to boot.

Math:

I really like the Enki way of introducing math concepts. We're definitely sticking with that. I was on the fence about ordering Enki Grade 3, but I ordered yesterday. I decided there was enough that I could still use. Let's hope I'm right. But rather than Enki being a foundation, I'm going to use it more as a support. Kirven is now doing the Teaching Textbook 3, and whenever we do the Enki math stuff, it will be more as an illustrative review. So, to say "introducing" math concepts is a little misleading in how we'll use it, but I think the stories and activities make good connections in understanding.

Humanities:

I love Enki's approach to other cultures and the acknowledgment of inherent wisdom in all people. They're serious about it and deep and respectful. And it is not multicultural in a white guilt or Disney-esque sort of way. But the kids are also enjoying The Story of the World, which does not fit in with the Enki developmental mirror. It is my understanding that that sort of study of history would come later. But, we're going to do both. In Grade 3, everything is unit studies based, and I actually hate unit studies, so I will be breaking it all apart, I believe. We'll do what interests us, and I'm not going to sweat the rest. There are some really massive projects (build a Haudenosaunee long house---really cool, but, um, where?) that would be awesome with a class, but much more than I want to do. I get heart palpitations just thinking about the farming blocks that go along with the culture in focus. As Evan said, "why don't you learn how to garden in our own climate first." The boys have been known to plead on behalf of the plants I want to buy in order not to bring them home to our house of death. Enough said.

Science:

There's not much to Enki's approach to science in grade 1 & 2. Until Grade 3, it has been nature walks and nature stories. My boys are totally into robots and space and Mythbusters and Maker Faire and Instructables and The Elements and blowing things up. Enki science has been too lightweight for them. Everything is to remain in the realm of discovery learning, and it is best to give evasive answers to questions; answers such as "Hmm... I wonder..." And while we do do this a lot, there are a lot of times when the boys want meaty discussions about how the space shuttle works or why helium makes you sound funny. I don't think kids should learn everything from their own discovery all the time. I think there is a lot of self-impowerment in that approach, but I don't think they should have to reinvent the wheel on everything.

Media:

We were strictly no media for a very long time. I am still leery of it. We will never have violent video games. In fact, if they should ever cross our threshold because I've become apathetic about that too, please take me out to pasture and shoot me. But we are watching more and more things from Netflix and Kirven is doing several things on the computer. His math work is on the computer, as is Spanish and Typing (another thing not introduced this early in Enki). He is also going to be starting beginner programming with Dad whenever Dad reads up on it (way not Enki). Through Netflix, we've been watching Diego and Dora for Spanish, David Attenborough (love him) nature shows and Mythbusters. Now that we are in the deep of Texas winter and it is bloody hot outside, the kids have been watching 1-2 hours a day. And frankly, I like the babysitter. Good god, did I just say that? I still hate our Wii and the whining and fighting it creates, but they do move a little and they enjoy it a lot. And bizarrely enough, ever since the boys saw Star Wars, their creative play has skyrocketed. They have this game called Kings Game that is a mix of Star Wars and them being supreme rulers of the universe and it ranges all over the house and into the car and continues on in the grocery store, back into the car and then the house and they can play that for 2 or 3 hours and little bits in between. So, while I am still a total wet blanket about most media, I have my favorites and pandora's box was opened a long time ago around here. And need I mention how inspirational and educational Mythbusters is? Scientific method, problem solving, passion about science, blowing things up properly, what more can you ask for?

Geez, what else....

I think that about covers it. We're not in a box anymore, but Enki has influenced me in large and small ways, and it will continue to influence my approach. I'm still volunteering for them by writing some curriculum stories, and I enjoy that work. And I like working with Beth Sutton. I consider her a friend and a mentor. They really nail it when it comes to describing child development, and for that alone I have bought Grade 3, but I am also going to be bringing things to my kids that would be coming later (or never) in a pure Enki homeschool. It's just more interesting that way.

Firebox is Out

2011-07-10T09:33:00.001-05:00

The sheetrock was still damp.

Anyone need a firebox?

Chimney

2011-07-07T12:06:00.001-05:00

It's coming down today. After discovering the chimney leaks like a sieve when we got that big 12 inch rain (that wet stuff that falls from the sky, remember) last fall, we've known we had to take the chimney down and replace it with a window. The kids have set up camp in the front yard to watch.

Changing Directions

2011-07-06T20:18:00.002-05:00

Our homeschool has undergone a slow and necessary transformation as I have sifted through what works for us and what doesn't. As a result, I am a little bit at a loss as to who my audience is now on this blog.

With Enki no longer our primary curriculum, and with a general feeling that I don't need labels anymore as much as I did in the past, I don't have quite the sense of purpose writing here as I did before. Impulsively, I deleted all the links in the side column, as some have noticed. Now, I kind of wish I hadn't, but that's ok, too. I don't think I want to be a hub of information for something I don't believe in 100%. Our homeschooling is much more eclectic now, and we're no longer exclusively using a method that requires so much outside support. In the past, I felt this blog was helping to fill a need, but now, not so much.

So, who am I writing for now? Family and friends, I think; my own personal scrapbook really. I plan to still post here, and actually want to get back to more regular posting. My biggest hurdle right now is forming a picture-downloading habit and finding a regular, dedicated blogging time.

And when I get my awesome Sportsmobile, and we're traveling across the country, I think this will be a great travelogue. No, seriously. Stop laughing.

But anyway, if you have been a longtime reader of my blog because of Enki (or Quakerism) and wondering why things have really fallen off, that's why.

Splash Party

2011-06-18T13:36:00.001-05:00

We're at a birthday party for a good friend today. Lots of water fun in the backyard.

And next up... Shark!

2011-06-15T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well, we busted the one balloon we had for the hovercraft right out of the chute. So, we're off to Joann's tomorrow or Friday to hunt down balloons and buy other various craft supplies we really shouldn't buy.

Dunagan's next project pick is to sew a great white shark, of his own design, out of blue and white felt. When he first started dreaming this thing up, he was holding his hands about six inches apart. Tonight over dinner, he was telling Daddy all about it, and when it came time to illustrate size, he held up one hand and said, "From here..." and then got up and walked a few feet away and said, "to here." He also wants to make infinite rows of little white teeth (all out of felt) because "you know, sharks just have rows and rows and rows of teeth!" Daddy commented that this sounded like a big project. "Oh yes, this is going to take me a LONG time."

Hovercraft Additions

2011-06-15T16:58:00.001-05:00

Hovercraft

2011-06-14T15:38:00.001-05:00

Dunagan is making a hovercraft from on old records. (The Four Lads for those curious.)

Time for the maiden voyage.

Dunagan's Party

2011-05-25T21:09:00.000-05:00

Star Wars party, complete with awesome decorations...

awesome cake...

and beating Darth Vader (daddy) with pool noodle light sabers!

Happy Birthday, Dunagan!

2011-05-22T18:30:00.001-05:00

Dunagan turned six today! Pictures and party details whenever we empty the camera.

Waiting

2011-05-22T18:23:00.001-05:00

Ayla and I are waiting outside Macaroni Grill while everybody else finishes eating. She just strikes me as very 3 today.

Project Days

2011-05-19T16:08:00.001-05:00

I've given each child their own day of the week for a project of their choice. Kirven's choice was "science," and we have been having a lot of fun playing around with the Big Bag of Science. I struggle with gathering materials for projects, so it has been nice to have it all (nearly) in one bag.

Done!

2011-05-08T15:59:00.001-05:00

Dunagan bought a jigsaw puzzle while he was at NASA, and we just finished putting it together.

Illness in the Kingdom of Jewel

2011-05-05T09:40:00.001-05:00

Kirven drew from the story 'Illness in the Kingdom of Jewel' yesterday. It is a review story for Place Value.

Two Kumbas

2011-05-05T09:21:00.001-05:00

Dunagan and I drew from the story Two Kumbas this morning. He didn't want his drawing posted, so just mine is here. He'll find the hidden 'L' tomorrow. Can you find it?

First Day

2011-05-03T09:58:00.001-05:00

The boys are back from NASA. They had a great time in spite of the mission being scrubbed and saw everything space related to their heart's content (and to the point my eyes would have been glazing over). Ayla and I had a VERY nice time here at home, but oh how we missed our guys and are glad they are home safe and sound.

This morning, we started our summer term, and today is Dunagan's first day of First Grade! He receive his own roll of crayons and a blank Good Book. I led him in drawing darkness all around the outside. As we colored yellow in the center, I talked about how long ago, some one figured out fire and clothing and shelter and alphabets and reading and machines and rockets to the moon. And it was a little less dark each time. Now he was also old enough to join people in learning and discovering new things.

Fingerpainting

2011-05-01T14:39:00.001-05:00

Dollhouse

2011-04-28T09:53:00.001-05:00

The boys are off to NASA with Dad and Grandpa to see the shuttle launch tomorrow. And Ayla and I are having a Girls Only! Weekend. We're going to my parents'/grandparents' house tomorrow to have tea and scones and watch the royal wedding with my sisters, mom and grandmother.

In the meantime, Ayla and I are working on a cardboard box dollhouse with egg carton furniture. Family Fun magazine had some design suggestions in last month's issue, and we've been working on it a little bit at a time today and yesterday.

I need to scare up another box for a kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Ayla!

2011-04-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

Ayla's 3! Ayla did the sprinkles on her cake. Pink.

91 degrees

2011-04-01T15:32:00.001-05:00

Well, geez, Spring's over, I guess. It was nice while it lasted. No rain. No bluebonnets. Breaking 90 the first day of April. I'm scared.

Medieval Read-Alouds & Music

2011-04-01T10:07:00.002-05:00

I was a little more organized with our St. Francis block. I thought I would share some of the other things we mixed in.

Along with the Enki trickster and sage stories, and reading European folk and fairy tales for Dunagan, we read:

The Making of a Knight by Patrick O'Brien was a particular favorite picture book of Dunagan's, and we read it several times.

Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt was a particular favorite of mine. The kids enjoyed reading it as well. It is not a chapter book, but it is a very long, illustrated journal of Toby's first year as a page in his uncle's castle, and it took us several days to read through it all. The illustrations are very detailed, fun and informative. Highly recommended read. I hate to give it back to the library.

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli was our main chapter book. I must confess, I found it a slow read, and it was not my favorite. The boys, however, really enjoyed it and would beg for another chapter. I found the language difficult to read aloud, and wonder if it would perhaps be a better silent read for an older child.

For some period music, we used:

Shining Light: Music from Aquitanian Monasteries

and

Nova Stella: A Medieval Italian Christmas

One cd would have sufficed, and I think I would pick Nova Stella over Shining Light. It was a little more upbeat.

bed & deb

2011-04-01T09:32:00.001-05:00

Someone commented asking if I had done anything more with my 'b' and 'd' glitter cards and if I could illustrate bed and deb. bed likes to be slept on, deb does not. Hope my drawing is helpful.

Some kids seem to find that image helpful; mine was apparently confused by it, but it was easy to try. Quote: What does that mean, Mom? I don't get it. My second child did find it helpful and is having less problems mixing them up.

The glitter cards have been marginally helpful. I pull them out during reading lesson if he begins to mix them up. In retrospect, I should have made them the same color.

There has been improvement, but we're still working on locking those correct images in. Any other suggestion would be welcomed! :)

Mosaic

2011-04-01T09:21:00.001-05:00

The boys made mosaic coasters as a craft to go along with St. Francis. It was a big hit and very easy. I have a paper "stained glass" kit that we didn't get to yet, but figure we will sometime this month. We're planning a trip to Brenham next week to visit the Bluebell Ice Creamery. There is also a Franciscan covent there called the Monastery of St. Clare. They have a miniature horse farm, and with any luck, we'll get to see some miniature foals.

St. Francis, Ch. 4 & Followup

2011-04-01T09:14:00.001-05:00

We finished St. Francis this week, and we have officially started our break!

Turkey Creek

2011-03-30T16:37:00.001-05:00

First Tooth

2011-03-29T13:56:00.001-05:00

Dunagan just popped out his first loose tooth with a piece of floss! He's been working on it for weeks!

Dragon Castle

2011-03-28T16:16:00.001-05:00

Home of the magic dragon egg in its nest of fire.

Playing

2011-03-28T10:30:00.001-05:00

Dried out model magic is still useful, apparently. Dunagan wants me to make a monster with him.

Napping Outside

2011-03-24T12:48:00.001-05:00

It's beautiful outdoors. The boys are playing in the mud, and after our picnic lunch, Ayla and I are resting on a blanket. It's going to be hard to finish our last week of lessons.

St. Francis, Ch 3

2011-03-24T10:30:00.001-05:00

St. Francis, Ch 2

2011-03-22T09:56:00.001-05:00

Letter Sounds-Done!

2011-03-22T09:20:00.001-05:00

Dunagan finished all his letter sounds this morning. G was the last one. We've started doing the lessons in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading as well. I've skipped all the letter sound lessons in that book and used starfall.com instead, and I just had him start with the first lesson in blending in the OPGTTR.

We're going to take the month of April off, and when we pick back up in May, we'll throw in fairy tale/recall/hidden letter drawings to bring all the sounds to life.

Mutton Bustin'

2011-03-19T23:28:00.002-05:00

Dunagan did it! He mutton busted at the Star of Texas Rodeo this evening! He was very excited.

All the riders were escorted by the Rodeo Queens. Here he is lining up in the arena.

Evan was able to get a little bit of a video of Dunagan's ride. I don't think it is going to load more than the initial frame. He didn't hold on the longest, but he held on longer than most!

He and Evan had front row seats next to the bull pens and was right there to watch the bullriders come out spinning. He told me that, someday, I'm going to go to the rodeo and then be surprised that he is riding a bull! Lord, help me.

All in all, we had a wonderful time today. Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, significant others and friends all came out to see Dunagan ride. The boys and I rode lots of carnival rides (Evan and Ayla declined), we all ate way too much carnival food, cheered on the pig races and caught a really great La Charreria show. The Charro was a truly amazing horseman and trick roper. Don't miss him if you go! It was fun to watch the rodeo itself. I had never been. I know, amazing.... I've been a Texan how long? And now I have a mutton buster? who wants to be a bull rider? Thank goodness we don't actually live at the ranch.

All the kids were exhausted when we got home. Dunagan threatened to go to sleep on the stairs if I didn't drag him up. I told him he was my calf and I had just roped him and now I was dragging him up the stairs with my horse and into the bathroom to brand, I mean, brush his teeth. He liked that. Once he was in bed, he was literally asleep before I could turn out his bedroom light. Kirven and Ayla weren't far behind him.

Maybe I got the video to load. Fingers crossed:

St. Francis

2011-03-16T10:27:00.001-05:00

We started St. Francis this week. I helped Kirven make his summary after he recalled chapter one.

Thinking Putty

2011-03-16T09:35:00.001-05:00

Kirven has been complaining that his hand hurts when he writes, and I remember that feeling so well! In addition to just straight out handwriting practice, I've gotten the kids a couple tins of Thinking Putty. It's basically silly putty, only in a larger quantity and in lots of cool colors and heat-sensitive (remember hypercolor shirts?!), magnetic, glow in the dark... lots of choices. The idea is that it will strengthen all those fine motor control muscles, and it is something to do while listening to chapter books. Typically, beeswax modeling and handwork (to some extent) would fill this role, but there has been resistance to both in this household.

Caterpillars

2011-03-15T17:36:00.001-05:00

They arrived today! Someday soon, they will be painted lady butterflies.

Letter Sounds

2011-03-14T12:00:00.001-05:00

Dunagan has been working on his letter sounds lately, and I decided to make him a chart like Kirven's counting-by chart. Now, he and I can both see which ones he knows and which he doesn't. We were playing a magnetic fishing game for this work, but he really didn't like it, so he has been doing starfall.com instead. I'm still going to have him do letter work with stories and drawings and verse writing in the coming months, but I'm going to use those blocks to reinforce and bring to life rather than introduce. At the end of first grade, Kirven was still sketchy on letter sounds, so I am trying a different approach with Dunagan.

Counting By- Done!

2011-03-14T11:52:00.001-05:00

Kirven knows them all!

Princess

2011-03-12T16:32:00.001-06:00

Always. Even at the ranch.

Lumberjacks

2011-03-12T16:24:00.001-06:00

Clearing out a cedar tree at the ranch, and learning how to handle an axe.

Playing Chess

2011-03-11T20:09:00.001-06:00

He usually beats me.

Ayla's Climbing Tree

2011-03-10T17:06:00.001-06:00

Four Square

2011-03-10T17:05:00.001-06:00

Four Square has been 'the' game lately. They're missing their fourth today. Maybe he'll be down soon.

Man, have the rules been enhanced. The one at the top of the square is 'king' and can have all sorts of powers. I find it confusing, but they seem to be able to keep all the intricacies straight.

Tricky b & d

2011-03-10T16:35:00.001-06:00

Little b and little d can still be confusing around these parts, so I made these glitter letters today. I'm hoping they'll work like sandpaper letters without damaging my scissors. When they're dry, I'm going to draw a bed out of the word 'bed' and then we'll play around with switching the letters. Bed likes to be laid on, but deb does not! We'll see how it works.

The Wolf and the Kid

2011-03-10T09:50:00.001-06:00

Wolf comes across a kid that has become separated from his flock. The kid convinces the wolf to play the flute for him while he dances one last time. Happily for the kid, two dogs are drawn by the music and scared the wolf away.

I like Kirven's musical notation next to the wolf.

Next week, St. Francis!

Put-Put Golf

2011-03-09T11:27:00.001-06:00

Shields

2011-03-09T09:05:00.001-06:00

We went to Sherwood Forest Faire this past Sunday, and the boys both got shields. They have had swords since Christmas, and were both swearing up and down that they NEEDED shields. The faire was fun and timely for our St. Francis block, and I hope to post more about it.

The Fox and the Stork

2011-03-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

Fox was jealous of Stork, and decided to invite her to dinner. He fed her a weak broth from a shallow bowl. Of course, she couldn't drink any of it, but was well aware of Fox's motives. So, she invited him in return and served his meal in a tall, narrow-necked bottle.

Morning Wrestling

2011-03-09T08:16:00.001-06:00

The boys wrestle every morning until they wear themselves out. It really helps with morning lesson, which immediately follows.

The Fox and the Goat

2011-03-08T10:46:00.001-06:00

The Fox came across a well and being thirsty looked down into its depths longingly. Goat happened to see him leaning over the well and decided to play a trick on him since Fox had played so many tricks on Goat. He took a running start and butted him down into the well. Fox figured out what happened and told Goat it was the best thing that happened to him all day. Why didn't he join him since he was thirsty and it was a hot day. Goat did, and Fox promptly leapt up and off of Goat's head and out of the well.

The Old Woman and the Doctor

2011-03-03T09:29:00.001-06:00

Once there was an old woman who had lost her eyesight. A rascally doctor promised to cure her if she agreed to pay him well with silver and gold. This she promised to do. While he pretended to treat her, he carried away all of her possessions piece by piece. When she began to grow impatient, he went about curing her in interest. When her eyesight returned, she saw that he had stolen everything of value and put off paying him in silver and gold. He brought his case before the judge, and while she confirmed that she had promised to pay him if she was cured, she said she couldn't have been cured because before she was blind, she could see all her possessions. Now, she can't see her possessions so she couldn't have been cured. And so, she outsmarted the doctor.

If you'll notice, Kirven used gold and silver glitter in his drawing.

Math Practice @ Terra Burger

2011-03-02T15:02:00.001-06:00

Because we can! Man, it's a pretty day. We had to celebrate Spring with baby shakes.

March 2nd

2011-03-02T13:50:00.002-06:00

It's Texas Independence Day! For my out-of-state friends, this is the birthday of the Republic of Texas. We used to be our own country, don't you know? Most people don't know that, and we even had dreams of becoming an empire (just ask former vice president Lamar)... until we joined the Union. Not sure why we did join the Union, other than assuming that that empire thing didn't work out. It's all kind of fuzzy. And we haven't gotten to Texas State history yet. That's 4th grade. I'll let you know when I find out.

But! "You're Texans first, no matter what." That's what I tell my kids. We could secede if we want to. Really. There was a clause or something. It's just nice to know that we could. If we wanted to.

And our capital building dome is taller than the federal capital building dome. So there.

Where's our Texas flag... gotta go hang it up... why aren't there fireworks today? Shouldn't it be the most important day of the year in Austin, Texas? That should at least warrant fireworks... day off from work...

The Rooster and the Fox

2011-03-02T09:45:00.001-06:00

The Fox tried to trick the Rooster out of his tree by saying that all the animals had declared a truce, were no longer eating one another and to come down and celebrate with him. Rooster thought this was great, but knew Fox to be tricky. So, knowing that the Fox was scared of the Dog, he called Dog over to celebrate, too. Fox declared that he was needed at home and would celebrate with Rooster later! Rooster now knew all about the truce. I love Kirven's question marks for the Rooster thinking.

Counting By

2011-03-01T09:44:00.001-06:00

Counting By is moving along very nicely these days since we started listening to Multiplication Unplugged. We typically listen to one song in the car. I'll put it on repeat so that we hear it about three times before we move onto regular music. I made Kiven a chart so he could see what he had memorized and what he hadn't. When he can recite one cold to me, I fill in the penciled number with red. He only has the 9's and 12's to go.

Playing Fiddlesticks

2011-03-01T09:32:00.001-06:00

Handwriting

2011-03-01T09:31:00.001-06:00

Thought I would show an example of Kirven's latest handwriting. We're following a separate handwriting curriculum, Getty-Dubay Italics (not affiliated with Enki), and Kirven does one worksheet a day. He's finished the second book, but I'm having him do a set from the blackline masters for Book B before moving on to Book C. C brings in cursive, and I just don't think he's mastered printing enough yet to introduce the next step. I've recently asked him to circle one letter out of the set which he thinks is his best. It's helped him to slow down and print more carefully rather than just rushing through to get it done.

The Fox and the Crow

2011-03-01T09:24:00.001-06:00

Crow stole a lovely piece of cheese from the farmer and took it high up in the tree. Fox came along and asked for a piece. Crow refused. Fox tried flattering Crow, but she just ignored him. Then he said, what a shame you are so beautiful, but don't have a beautiful voice to match. Crow opened her mouth to prove him wrong, and down went the cheese where Fox quickly gobbled it up.

Ecology Action

2011-02-28T14:00:00.001-06:00

We took a tour of Ecology Action, a non-profit recycling sorting facility, downtown with some fellow homeschoolers this morning. We saw how all the recycling is hand-sorted into appropriate bins, and we even got to see them crush a huge bin of paper into a bale that weighs as much as a car! Fyi, Austinites, they're starting up composting in 2011, and we will be able to take tours of that facilty next year.

Pets Need Pets

2011-02-27T17:59:00.001-06:00

Dunagan has four gold fish. Their names are Speedy, GoldWhite, Goldie 1 and Goldie 2. They now have pets of their own: 4 gold snails. Dunagan is perplexed as to how to name them since he can't tell them apart, but they must have names! For the moment, he is allowing the fish the privilege of naming them themselves (since he figures they can tell them apart better than he can.)

The Donkey and the Load of Salt

2011-02-24T09:21:00.001-06:00

Donkey figured out that if she stumbled crossing the creek, she could lighten her load by half as the spilt salt melted away. The farmer compensated by doubling her load each time until he figured out she was doing it on purpose. So, next instead of salt, he loaded her with sponges. When she "stumbled" this time, the sponges soaked up so much water she could barely carry it all home.

Ayla's Train

2011-02-23T12:28:00.001-06:00

Ayla is getting close to turning three, and that fact is really starting to show in her play. She can play by herself, and keeps up a constant monologue with her imaginary friends. This morning, she pulled out the train while the boys were playing star wars, and she built a long track all by herself.

It is fun for me to see her feeding her babies, playing house, or having a tea party. Girl play is so different from boy play. There is such a different feel to it, even if the toys and props are neutral. We can argue nature vs. nurture, but I have yet to see Ayla tackle one of the boys just because he is passing by, whereas with the boys, it's hard for them to pass by without some sort of full contact greeting. It's kind of like asking a mountain climber why he climbs--- because it's there. That's the energy that is present in the boys' play and absent in Ayla's. She's much quieter.

Sick Lion

2011-02-23T10:05:00.001-06:00

We started a new block today. We will be reading about St. Francis in the coming weeks, and doing medieval Italian cultural activities. Our first trickster tale this morning was about an old, sick lion who can't hunt any more. He sends a messengar out to invite all the animals to his bedside where he can impart his secrets and wisdom to them--- but he gobbles them up instead. Only fox is clever enough to foil his plan. When he sees all the tracks going into the cave, but none coming back out, he politely declines lion's invitation until his cave is less crowded.

Brazos River

2011-02-21T12:11:00.001-06:00

We decided to blaze a trail to the Brazos this morning. The ranch cave is .27 miles from the river, and it took us about one and a half hours to blaze a trail along the creek and through the briars. It was a little sketchy at points, but this was high adventure. We're having a snack and exploring a little, and then will head back to the trailer in a little bit, and then home to Austin.

Second Casts

2011-02-20T10:34:00.001-06:00

The boys caught these fish on their second casts! Ayla caught the rare pink small mouth bass.

Dunagan and Friend

2011-02-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

Snow

2011-02-16T21:53:00.000-06:00

Snow! Shelley, you can skip reading this post. I know how you feel about snow. :)

But, we still get to be amazed and delighted.

And it was real snow. We usually call sleet snow, but this was jin-u-wine snow. Snow balls. Sledding. Sledding!

Fishing

2011-02-16T21:48:00.000-06:00

I caught my first fish. Everybody else has caught fish before, but not me, ever in my entire life. Evan make me hold it after he took it off the hook. I was never so scared of microscopic teeth in my life.

Fry Bread

2011-02-16T21:43:00.000-06:00

We're nearing the end of our Apache block, but we made Fry Bread a couple of weeks ago. We used 5 cups of lard to fry those babies. But, oh, we're they worth it. Our whole house smelled like a donut shop for days.

A little powdered sugar, a little honey... think sopapilla, except solid.

Hmm... I think Kirven must have dusted that one. Here's the recipe I used (watch out, it uses way too much water!): Apache Fry Bread
The recipe makes a lot---more than any one gut can take! Be prepared to send the kids out to all the neighbors to pawn them off.

Ranch Cave

2011-02-16T21:25:00.001-06:00

So, apparently, there is a cave at the ranch. The ranch I have always known did not include a cool cave. Or a picturesque waterfall.

In Evan's defense, there has never been an easy way to get down to the cave, and a staircase has recently been built to give access.

On our last visit a couple weeks ago, we ventured down there to check it out. The dust under the over hang was the most interesting part. I wish I had gotten a picture of the kids. The dust was so fine and so white and so thick that after they had been walking and sinking and rolling around in it, and I do mean rolling, they looked like they had been in a flour fight. Here's to hoping that that dust was a million years worth of pulverized limestone and not a million years of pulverized bat guano.

But the double cool thing was that you could see all sorts of animal tracks in the dust---whole trails of them. We saw what we guessed were mice, raccoon, possum, and heron and some-sort-of-animal. We saw a lot of some-sort-of-animal.

We're headed back this weekend, and the weather is supposed to be beautiful.