link to Rose's blog

http://theredrose.doodlekit.com/gallery

Beatlemania!

Rose is currently reading, listening to and watching everything Beatles-related that she can get her hands on. Luckily we have a vast collection of Beatles music and some beautiful videos Yoko Ono put with John Lennon's music after he died (I can't watch them without bawling). It all started with the movie Across the Universe, a work of historical fiction in which characters resembling John Lennon, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix walk through race riots, the draft, the Vietnam War, and war protests, all the while singing Beatles songs. Now Rose is reading lots of biographies and stories about John and the Beatles. She intends for it to be a very long-term project (aah, the beauty of homeschooling - creating your own timeline that does not depend on the arbitrary school-year schedule).

Khan Academy is another fixture of homeschooling these days. Everyone should check it out. The free videos cover math, science, finance and history, all taught because the teacher (Khan) is truly excited about how the world works and he loves passing his excitement on to others and explaining things in ways that create deep understanding. He started out making videos to tutor his cousins, and it grew from there. It is also great because Rose can be totally self-directed, which is the best way for things to work with both of our busy lives.

Rose also listens to Yale University Introduction to Psychology lectures on iTunes U. Again, the teacher is engaging and entertaining, and she has no problem with the subject matter. She eats it up.

Yesterday Rose decided that a way to overcome her resistance to writing is to start a blog. I will get her to help me post a link to it.

We got 20 new chicks that Rose is helping to care for. We lost one (she blogged about it) but the rest are doing well. It was a learning experience because the chick drowned in the waterer and we now have it set up higher and with rocks in the water to prevent future tragedies.

Rose has recently taken the initiative to plan a field trip to KUAF, our local public radio station. I have been 100% hands-off. She made the call to the radio station and discussed the logistics of a tour, and she is now collecting names of people who want to participate from our homeschool group. This type of real-world experience is priceless. Figuring out what you want to do and how to make it happen, communicating with adults, planning, time management, all are learned just because something sounds fun. Excitement for life drives learning. I have seen these same types of skills blossoming in the help Rose has given me in working on our local foods website. She contacted two different musicians whom we know peripherally and requested to use their music to go with our videos, as well as contacting the folds at The Perennial Plate to offer ideas of places to visit on their upcoming US tour. She communicates clearly and maturely, both by phone and via email, and she has gotten positive responses on all fronts.

For the current semester Rose has been tutoring on Monday afternoons at Lifesource International, a service organization that runs a food and clothing pantry, after school tutoring, summer camps, and other programs to help those in need. I am usually in the background helping out in the clothing closet and sometimes overhearing the work going on. Rose seems to get a great response from the kids - they laugh and have fun, but they also get real learning done. Last time we were there I heard the girls Rose was helping telling her they thought she was 15 (she is tall and mature) and calling her a "baby Einstein!" All the other tutors are college students. I think it is a great idea to run a tutoring program, although from a homeschool perspective I do see flaws in their approach and I am considering speaking with the board to address the issues I see. I am not sure what response I will get, but I might as well take Rose's example and give it a shot. The main flaws I see are that they are giving the kids more of what they get all day in school, i.e. sit still and do worksheets. I hear language that is based in shame (that is easy, you should be able to do that) and the reward-and-punishment system is in full force. I also think that snack and outside time should come first, not last, because the kids are probably experiencing low blood sugar and needing to run around after sitting all day. I would love to introduce some radical ideas like those found in Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn, and How to Talk so Kids can Learn by Faber and Mazlish.

Rose has chorus and hip hop performances coming up, and then our schedule will be freed up a bit for the summer.

Haas Hall Academy

Rose and I went to visit Haas Hall Academy yesterday. It is a charter school in Fayetteville that provides a college preparatory education FOR FREE! Check it out here: http://www.haashall.org/

Rose will be going in either the Fall of 2011 or Fall of 2012, depending on whether or not her number comes up in the lottery for 2011. The school starts in 8th grade, but based on meeting Rose and on her test scores, Dr. Schoppmeyer, the founder and superintendent, said she could definitely skip a grade and enter this Fall.

We are so excited to have found such an amazing educational opportunity here! Haas Hall is one of the top schools in the nation. Many former homeschoolers attend, and it has a very safe, family-like environment, as well as superior academics. All scholars (as they call them) take college level courses and AP courses. It will be great for Rose to be in a socially rich environment with academics that are worthy of her intellect and abilities! I will miss her, but I will be busy farming and I am sure I will be very involved with the school. They do a lot of fundraising because as a charter school, they receive the minimum state funding per student, without any millage dollars, and also because they do not take federal funding so they can have more educational freedom.

Background and Introduction

My daughter Rose is 11, and she has always had a love of learning, like all children who haven't lost it yet... I always intended to homeschool (with an unschooling-based approach), however after Rose went to Nursery School, a wonderful, loving environment, she wanted to continue to public kindergarten with her friends, so she did. Kindergarten was great, 1st grade was OK, and 2nd was terrible, with a teacher who seemed to hate children. So, Rose went to Montessori school. The teachers were better but there was a level of elitism, as one may expect from a private school, that didn't feel good. When we decided to move for Peter's work, I decided to stop working and homeschool Rose. The first year I continually doubted her and myself, and she went back to school for a year for 5th grade. She made friends (whom she still sees and loves) but the work was remedial so here we are!

Here is a summary of some "learning activities" from the time of leaving public school up until this point, however since we are constantly learning, it is just a small view into Rose's learning.

May through October

Rose read a lot of fantasy - Cornelia Funke's Inkspell series, Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time series, re-read the entire Harry Potter series

We have been working aloud through Cambridge Latin Series, books about Pompeii up to and including the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, that I used in 5th and 6th grades. Rose especially appreciates my hilarious drawings and additions to the illustrations!

June Trip to East Coast:

Mark Twain House, Hartford, CT: guided tour

CT capital and state house: self-guided tour, Rose told me a lot about the similarities and differences with the Arkansas State House which she visited with school.

Saw lots of old friends and family

Went to Washington DC and saw:

The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946 at the Renwick Gallery

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2010/gaman/

At the Museum of Natural History: Since Darwin: The Evolution of Evolution exhibit which focused on the significant role that Darwin’s theories have played in explaining and unifying all biological sciences

http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/darwin/darwinatnmnh.html

Gems and Minerals

Breeezed through Human Origins, Ocean Life, African Cultures, and Dinosaurs

A recreated Tibetan Shrine

http://www.theartistscenter.com/in-the-realm-of-the-buddha-opens-at-freer-sackler/2010/02/

A chain of monkeys made out of the word monkey in many different languages and alphabets, constructed of wrought iron - Rose wanted to stare at it for hours! http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/xuBing.htm

Statue of Albert Einstein

Lincoln Memorial

French food in Georgetown

Missouri botanical gardens: Ottoman Garden, Rose Garden, lots of cool statues and glass sculptures, Mausoleum, Herb Garden, Maze, and Japanese Garden

July

Figure Skating Camp

Comedy Improv Camp

Musical Theater Camp

Took chickens to PelFreez to be processed

Went to our friend Ray's art opening

Firefly Fling festival at Botanical Garden - made a fairy house, watched fire-dancing show, played with friends

August:

Putnam Museum, Bettendorf, Iowa (where we went for a family wedding): River, Prairie and People exhibit

Zoo in Saint Louis. Saw sea lion show.

Live bluegrass at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks

Lots of sleepovers with friends

Swimming in pools and rivers

Rose made a diorama depicting collinear, noncollinear, coplanar and noncoplanar after reading about those terms in a Geometry text book

Played chess

Played rummy 500. Rose rapidly progressed to being a viable opponent. She overcame her frustration with losing at first and persevered.

Hip Hop Abs workout video

Fit TV shows: Namaste Yoga, Shimmy bellydance, Bollywood workout

Figure skating

Hip Hop class

Ozark Girls Chorus http://www.ozarkgirlschorus.com/

9/7/10 Rose is listening to Willy Wonka to prepare for an audition this weekend

9/8/10 We did geometry, geography and anatomy.

9/9/10 Party and orientation for treehouse homeschool coop. Rose hung out at the library while I got groceries. She talked to the librarians and helped me by sending a couple faxes.

9/29/10 Right after the Treehouse orientation, it came out that Treehouse had denied membership to a transgendered child, as well as imposing some illegal restrictions on public breastfeeding. The outrage about that effectively shut down Treehouse or sent them underground. Of course, much of the difference of opinion is based on religious beliefs. Luckily we have found a wonderful secular group, and we are starting a homeschooling cooperative. We are getting together each Friday morning for 5 weeks starting October 22nd to plan the coop structure and details.

9/30 Rose's Grandma passed away. Rose learned about the end of life.

10/1 Rose went with a friend to the Cherokee Heritage Center and heard stories and saw demonstrations of Cherokee crafts.

10/5 Rose has been reading and listening to all the Harry Potter books backwards in rapid succession. I suggested she look up all unfamiliar words as she read, which she did for a while.

10/7 Insect Festival at Universtiy of Arkansas. Saw demonstration of cotton gin, and heard a scientist tell us about her mother and grandmother picking cotton, and her own work developing less-toxic controls for boll weevils. Saw lots of interesting insects and spent time with friends.

10/8-9 We went with a group of homeschool friends to Ponca, Arkansas to visit the Elk Education Center http://www.agfc.com/education/Pages/EducationCenterPonca.aspx

and hike at Lost Valley, where we explored a cave with a friend of one of our friends who teaches at the Ozarks Natural Science Center.

10/23 Rose is taking more responsibility for caring for the chickens and earning money from selling eggs. We sold 5 dozen to friends from our homeschool group.

10/29 Rally to Restore Sanity. Rose's friend Will Phillips spoke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Phillips

10/30 This week Rose decided to do a report on Marilyn Monroe after listening to Candle in the Wind repeatedly. She got movies and books at the library during her day in town with her friend wherein they walked the 6 blocks from her friend's mother's office unaccompanied. They are both gaining independence.

Rose has been working 10 hour shifts on some Saturdays at the Ozarks Figure Skating Club concession stand at the Razorbacks football games to earn money toward her skating expenses - registrations, costumes, etc.

Hiking http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/naturalfalls.html

Birthday Parties

Playing with friends every Friday at the park