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.
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