"Twas the Night before..." POV on reciting

My love affair with Clements "Twas the Night Before Christmas" started when I was a Junior at Lake Oswego High School.  All the smart kids in advanced English got to recite this poem, while dummy me was stuck with boring old dusty books.  I do not know how I got this weird gene, but I love memorizing and reciting.  So since I was deprived, I gave my children the gift of reciting this very old poem from 1823.  But that was not enough, now my son gets to work on reciting things like  The Gettysburg Address,  The Declaration of Independence, the periodic table , presidents and more!!!  Now it seems to me that memorizing and reciting have gone out of fashion, but I truly believe they have a lot of value and much to teach.

First, they make a good backbone for learning.  They teach and familiarize you with vocabulary and concepts.  There are many big ideas in the famous speeches and documents of history, that it gives you opportunity to break down and explain.  To learn a larger vocabulary you first need to have word in your long term storage for retrieval at later dates and when you are already familiar with these vocabulary words it will then be easier for your brain to retrieve when needed.

Second, it teaches the child HOW to break learning down, and how to build on earlier learning.  For example, when we are learning a poem or speech, we will read it many times to familiarize ourselves with it, then we will start with the first sentence and slowly build on that sentence.  With "Twas the night before Christmas"  I even had my son write it out and it makes a really nice book for a Christmas present.  I think so many children are just NOT taught HOW to learn.  How to break things down into learn-able pieces.  How does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Third it teaches patience, practice and perseverance.  I  think that those are the 3 most undervalued words, yet the MOST IMPORTANT words in the English language.  Those 3 words change lives.

And fourth, a sense of accomplishment.  The sense of pride that you know these great pieces.  To be able to spout off your great knowledge and understanding.  I believe positive experiences breed more positive experiences.  Children like that feeling of knowing something special and yes the ohhhs and ahhs.  I love to hear my son recite "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Always remember, though.  Use it or lose it.  Until these pieces are moved into long term storage in the brain, they will begin to lose bits and parts and sometimes all.  It took a lot of practice for me to keep Clements poem in my mind, but every December I pull out my old and trusty note card out of my jewelry box and refresh my memory.

Junior Rangers National Park Services

Last summer my family toured the inside passage of Alaska, where we discovered an amazing (and free) program through the National Park Service called the Junior Ranger Program!  I can not rave about it enough!  Basically, we went into a participating National Park Services building and told them we were interested in their program and we walked out with a borrowed backpack full of goodies to help us learn about the park, a checklist of things to do and learn and when we returned with the goodies and everything was checked off our son was sworn in as a Jr Ranger.

First we enjoyed Skagway, Alaska, a boom town in the Gold Rush Days.  They let us borrow a really neat backpack with old fashioned toys, a check list of places to visit, games and learning information about the olden days.  Since we were stuck in Skagway (poor us) because our boat had problems, it gave us so many fun and interesting things to do in the little town and we really got to dive deep into the history.  And again it was FREE!

Then once our boat was fixed we headed down to Sitka, Alaska and they had an AMAZING program there!  They had a wonderful backpack full of awesome learning material and tools to beach comb, a pamphlet of things to accomplish to get a Jr Ranger Badge, and again FREE!!!  We had such a wonderful time and such a wonderful adventure.

Now our son needs to visit one more park and he will become a special Alaska Adventure Ranger award!  There are so many parks to choose from and we will get to learn about the rich environment  and history.  I Googled this and YES, there should be a adventure near you too, ANYWHERE in the USA!  Go to the Juniors Rangers site  http://www.nps.gov/kids/jrRangers.cfm  and find a wonderful adventure for you and your family!

Teaching the ABC's in 3 easy steps

This morning I overheard a commercial where the father was worried about his preschooler learning the ABC's  and to the rescue comes a computer web site, because he is the father, not the teacher.  Well I know you parents have heard this before....  But YOU are your child's first teacher.  And honestly, I can see why a parent may not feel empowered, but I am here to help.  Teaching your child their ABC's really is not hard or technical.  It is really quite easy.  Just do these 3 things OFTEN (practice makes perfect kind of thing), even from the day you bring your child home from the hospital and your child is guaranteed to get them down pact. I am even going to give you a bonus to help them transition into reading!  I personally have raised 2 children, my daughter who is a typical learner had them down by 3 and my son who is not a typical learner had them down by 18 months.

First step, and this is easy.... SING YOUR HEART OUT, sing your ABC's over and over again and AGAIN.  You can even start this at birth, sing when you change a diaper, walk them around calming them, in the car, anywhere and anytime.  Sing with them as they learn the song and encourage them to sing it to you often, you can even get geeky and teach them the alphabet in sign language.  You see, you want your child to know the letter "w" but how often do we go around saying "w"???  The name is not in the brain and if it is not in the brain, then it is harder for them to retrieve "W" when they need it and they can feel frustrated.  But the alphabet song is fun and easy, and your child will be able to retrieve the letter.

Second step I used ... READ!  Oh my, every parent should get Dr. Suess's ABC book!!!  Read it and read it and read it some more!  I read this book so often that I could tell it to you by heart!  While you read, talk and point out letters, and really expose them to this book.  You really do not want to know how often we read this book!!!  There are so many other great Alphabet Children's books out there, hundreds and hundreds to choose from.  Just Google Alphabet books and the world of letters will open up to you!  Some extra advice, once they start mastering their ability to recognize the letters by sight, then start going over it using the phonic sounds!!!  This is an AWESOME way to build a reader without lots of frustration, and it is natural and easy!  I tried this and I had a son who was a phonetic reader at 3 and my daughter was reading Junie B Jone chapter books at the beginning of Kindergarten.

Third step, when you are out, just point out letters and take that boring moment when you are waiting for something to review letters, really simple!

Teaching your child their alphabet is really easy,  not fancy, not expensive and really no need for a web site.  But I do have to admit that I do actually like Starfall and it is free.  But what I love the most, is the bonding time, sharing the moment, the enthusiasm and the love.  Like everything in life, you have to practice a lot, you have to put in the effort, but it is well worth the time and the bonding is priceless!

Renaissance Man Hall of Fame: Thomas Jefferson

Shhhh....
Don't tell my husband but I have a crush on another man.

The man of my dreams not only has  articulate mastery of  English, but he spoke Latin, Greek, Spanish, French and 10 Native American Dialects.  He had college equivalent mastery over the law, physics, mathematics, philosophy, zoology and chemistry.  It was also said that he would sometimes practice the violin 3 hours a day.

He was an plantation owner and grew many plants from all over the world in his famous gardens and designed his famous home Monticello.  He was a business man, inventor and attorney.  He drafted the Declaration of Independence, served as United States Minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President and President of the United States.  Ahh... what a dream man.

Thomas Jefferson had quite the life, and did many amazing things.  But he was a shy man, the love of his life died at a young age and only 2 out of his 6 children lived into adulthood. What an amazing life this man lead,  so very much to learn about him, but this is only a blog.

Save Your Money Product Review : Dunecraft

My seed bombs...  Well they BOMBED!!!
When I saw the seed bombs in a catalog, I was interested, very interested!  They had my number!  Plants and a new and interesting way to grow them, well sure!!!  I can go for that!  So I got my bombs and looked at the box and set one in a pot with soil and watered it and waited, and waited and waited.  Nothing happened.  Well I am experienced gardener, so I tried to cover it, and waited and waited and waited, and nothing happened.  I tried one outside, and the last one I tried in a bag. Yeah, even after weeeeeeks, nothing is happening. Sigh...  Oh and I just learned that I was supposed to get 6 and I got 4.  The box shows a beautiful product in 5 days, well, not mine.

Well, a few weeks ago, I just so happen to have ordered another product by Dunecraft, a peanut growing kit, yeah, still nothing....

I then remember a cactus growing kit I tried last year and you guessed it......
nothing.

If I was not an experienced gardener, I would really think it was me, but considering my hundreds of starters are hogging up every window and table, I highly doubt I have a black thumb.

So please take my advice and save yourself some money and time, and just buy fresh seeds and soil and pots and don't waist your time and money on this company.  3 strikes and in my book, they are out.

You Had Me At "Amado Mio"

I remember it like it was yesterday, my husband and I were playing pool and drinking beer at the Eastside Pub in downtown Olympia and out of the jukebox China Forbes belted out "Amado Mio" and I fell in love completely!  I had to have Sympathique by Pink Martini!!!  They are an amazing band from Portland Oregon, amazing artistic voices and a amazing orchestra!  Oh it was candy for the ears of this  Renaissance mama! "They are a cohesive blend of Cuban, French, Greek, Japanese, Italian, classical and Brazilian music" perfectly remarked a reviewer on Amazon.

They have produced many more albums, not as romantic as the first one, but having a son, I fell in love with their style.  I loved how they played music spanning many cultures and languages, some I loved, but I admit there is a Japanese song that kinda is out of my range.  They would play many instrumental pieces, jazzy pieces and classic children songs like Que cera, cera.  I even love 2 song off of Splendor in the Grass where there is a female song and a male song in response.  Only one song has made me raise an eyebrow, and that is about a cross dressing DA in Bitty Boppy Betty, but it is cute!

Even though their latest album Dream a little dream is not my favorite, I like the feel of the CD.  This CD has the Von Trapps grandchildren, and not as much of Pink Martini style that I like.  But culturally, I really like the influence of the Von Trapp children for my son.  I like the feel of the songs that come from all over the world, like Ireland, Sweden, Japan, France and Rwanda. 

AND do not worry, all this cultured music, and my husband is sure to round out our son with Pixies, Decemberist, Nirvana and more.  All children need a well rounded musical education!

Renaissance Man Hall of Fame: George Washington Carver

Last week I realized that even though I had heard the name George Washington Carver and heard that he invented the peanut, I had never actually read anything about the life of this man.  But once I did, I discovered a new hero.  I love the kind of people that even though they had to face extreme odds and ugliness, they go on to do amazing things with their lives and for the good of others.  But what is even more amazing about this man, is that he wanted to live a simple life and to contribute to society, but he asked for nothing in return.  He could have lived the life of a rich man, but he lived a practical life, he felt that he should not get rich off of science.

So I honor thee......

George Washington Carver was born to slaves in January of 1864, it was a very turbulant time for slaves, he had lost his father before he was born, he was born weak and sickly, and saddly in the night a group of men kidnapped him and his mother from their owner Moses Carver.  Moses got George back, but they never saw his mother again.  George was raised by Moses and his wife, even after slavery ended, and he was a curious and intelligent little boy.  He loved plants and growing things very much and people called him Doctor Plant, but because he was black he could not go to school where he lived.  He moved away and lived with foster parents so that he could go to school,  he worked and did odd jobs to earn his keep. 

Carver loved art and considered being an artist, he played the piano and loved to sing, but because he did not have parents, it was a long time before he could save enough to go to college.  Finally he earned enough to go to college at 30.  He had to move to Iowa, where there was a college that would accept black students.  He worked his way through college doing other students laundry and odd jobs and finally he graduated from college.  He studied agriculture and set out to help the farmers. He became a proffesor and did  many experiments with peanuts and sweet potatoes.  Carver tried to convince farmers that peanuts and sweet potatoes were a good alternative crop to grow, that cotton was bad for the soil and was damaged easily by weather and insects.  At first farmers did not want to change and they feared that no one would buy it, especially since peanuts were considered monkey food.  Carver did lots of experiments and came up with hundreds of ways to use peanuts and it was said that he served a several course meal to distinguished guest made entirely of peanuts.  Eventually farmers started to listen to Carver and peanuts became a very important crop in Georgia and South Carolina.

Being wealthy was not important to Dr. Carver, he lived a very modest lifestyle, but it was very important to him to help farmers, and his fellow scientist.  I am touched how Dr. Carver came into the world facing many obstacles  like being poor, slavery and being orphaned, but he never let these things destroy his spirit, he worked amazingly hard to follow his dreams and to help other people.  What an amazing story, what an amazing man.  The kind of man I want my children to grow up to be like.  People need hero's and Dr. Carver has definitely become my hero.

Save your money review... Little Passport

Sigh...  Just opened my credit card statement and hmmmm....  $13.95 a month- that is how much I am paying every month for Little Passports.  That's about $167.40 a year and it really hit me. WOW...  am I really getting my monies worth???  I love to try new things and was hooked at the thought of my son running to the mailbox, all excited to get something new.  But...  that excitement maybe lasted 5 minutes. Sigh...

Now please do not get me wrong, I absolutely love and am a very big fan of American Entrepreneurs, Little Passports is a very cute product, but for 13.95 a month for shipping and handling, a piece of paper with facts, a postcard, a little trinket, a sticker flag, country label, and pointer for the map, a little card with your internet access, couldn't I do better with my money?  This price point is just so high!  Like I said, this is $167.40 a year! And being the frugal Renaissance mama I am, I considered the fact that I could not resell any of it on Ebay ;)  So, I reconsidered and decide that for geography and culture, I would go back to the old plan, a much less expensive plan!

So back to the old ways I go....
I was/am using A Trip Around The World, , there is also Another Trip Around the World and A New Trip Around the World.  These books are K through 5, there are 12 countries covered in each book and about $12.00 each new.  They have printable maps, relevant facts on language, culture, food and recipes, printable flags, and a list of recommended books.  I love these books!  So much information and very inexpensive, oh and you can resale them ;)

Instead of a huge map on the wall, may I suggest  a educational jigsaw world puzzle!!!  I LOVE PUZZLES,  LOVE THEM!

Sit with your children the first time and discuss the puzzle, while you put it together (and if you are anything like me you really start saying things like "I did not realize those countries were so close").  Then have them practice on their own, if they enjoy it, and they will build familiarity with the puzzle through time until they an ZOOM through it really fast.  Meaning that if they are zooming, they are remembering and internalizing where countries are.  The beauty of puzzles is that they have to really focus on individual pieces, and I like to time my son, the faster he gets, the more he is learning and he loves to get a little prize (okay, that might sound like a little bribery, but trust me, if he truly did not want to do it, I would never push him)  But in the end, they are learning.

But I realize the "mail thing" is a big draw to kids, children love to get mail!  But maybe get a few magazine subscriptions, like National Geographic or Click.  My son is so excited and reads from cover to cover Boys Life!  But there are so many great publications out there!

A Day as an Artist

Harlequin's Carnival, 1924-25, by Joan Miro

This week we are studying Joan Miro.   Miro was born in Spain in 1893 and moved to Paris later in life to study art.  He was influenced by Picasso and Cubism, and Catalan art, but later became known for being a surrealist..  He was also a sculptor, tapestry design and painted murals.  

At first I really did not care much for his style, and thought since my son loved Picasso, that he would love Miro.  But it worked the other way, my son took no interest and as I practiced painting in Miro's style, I began to really enjoy him!  I especially enjoyed splattering my art, odd huh!

We are just wrapping up our last lesson in our Atelier video based art program level 2.  I have to say I love this program, though maybe a bit spendy.  I love how many ways she approaches art and the different artist that she uses, I love to see on DVD her explain the days lesson, do it, and then we get to watch the children make the project.  She uses many mediums and I really feel she is very creative in her ideas. Personally I love art now, I rarely remember having a lot of art lessons in grade school and something about having to earn grades in high school took all the fun and exploration out.  Plus, me being me, I love to just sit at the table with my son and share in the experience :)  Like I said earlier, it is really a great experience to see what your children's personal choices are in art!

You sunk my battleship!

It's Saturday morning and instead of being seated in front of Saturday morning cartoons, my son is building his very own battleship with his tinker toys!  I just love to sit and drink my coffee and watched him engaged in his play.

It does not bother me one bit that he is trying to destroy the Japanese fleet, I smile with pleasure as he adds one gun after another.  This is a time where I get to just sit and watch  the recent book that we have been reading being internalized.  I can hear the vocabulary and the information he just learned streaming out in his play and I am so very happy and content!  He IS getting it.  I love "play" because it is also a chance for me to see what he loves and it gives me ideas of what direction to go, what kind of books to introduce him to.  With my son, I have found that he loves military history, whenever he reads a book about anything war or military, it will show up in his play.  Some books we read, I never ever hear a peep about.  To me this is not a good sign , because I am a firm believer that THE CHILD should be passionate about what they learn.  And right now we are reading What Was Pearl Harbor.  The "What Was"and  "Who was/is" series is AWESOME!

My son is a 2nd grader though they are rated for 3rd graders.  But they give you the perfect amount of information for a starter book and for the adults who have been out of school for a little while, these are PERFECT!  Quick and easy read with the perfect amount of information.  There are so many books in this series to choose from.  My son just recently read "Who was Davy Crockett" and "What was the Alamo" and for weeks he was running around with coon skin caps and building forts!  I hope that you will enjoy these books as much as we do!

Please join me at "Raising a Renaissance man" on Facebook and like our page.   I would love to meet many families of future Renaissance Men!

Take a Lesson From Your Kid

I don't have much time to write this because I really need to get back to my studying..  My teacher is pretty tough and I have a Minecraft exam later on! WOW! How am I going to remember the Minecraft Table of Elements, mining rare elements, how to make a stone shelter , stove and armor, all about Minecraft animals and their enemies like skeletons, zombies, Endermen and the dreaded Enderdragon!  I am feeling the pressure!  But my son is a pretty darn good teacher!

I love my son and every time he has a new fascination, I get an education!   And honestly, I am not going to lie to you, I love it!

My favorite part of my Minecraft education is to watch my son glow!  It's definitely a bonding moment that we share!  He loves to get to share his passion with me and he relishes the experience of "being the teacher"!  And the hugs and kisses are a definite bonus!

But I wouldn't be a Renaissance Mama if I didn't admit the intellectual processing my son develops is just as important to me.  Its a great opportunity to encourage more reading .  He reads many of his books to me and he stops and discusses the content with me, explaining it to me and asks questions.  When he teaches it helps him to internalize the material.  Studies have proven the best way to learn is to teach the information.  I love that teaching me also encourages him to organize and verbalize his thoughts.

And, what lesson would be complete without tests! Test making requires that he understands the material, can form questions, and I love that it is an opportunity to encourage writing.  So even if your child's latest obsession makes you want to run away with your fingers in your ears and singing "La, la, la, la, lahhhhh" your involvement  in their passions will not only mean the world to them, and develop loving and tender moments, but you will also be helping them to intellectually grow, think and learn.

Think out of the box.

Show your child you value them.

And build loving memories

Nothing says "I love you" more then letting them share their passions

Cheese for dessert?!?! Cheese making!

I fell in love with cheese when we last went to France,   I remember being at a convention in La Londe France,  with people from all over the world, and when they served cheese for desert, all the Americans looked puzzled.  Cheese for dessert, who had heard of such a thing?!?  Then we  stayed with friends in Lyon, France and we were delighted when they would bring out a platter of cheeses!  I have gotten to enjoy many fine cheeses in Belgium and I have even been to Asiago, Italy and enjoyed their very fine cheeses!      

 Cheese, what an amazing food!  I always had a unquenchable curiosity, I wanted to know how everything and anything worked.  How things were made and how they were formed.  And luckily I married a man that showed me that is was perfectly acceptable to tear things apart  and to explore!  So cheese, I needed to know how it went from milk from a cow (or goat, yummy) to this delicious texture!  So being the Renaissance Mama I am (and a geek at heart,)  I set out to have some fun with my son and got myself  a book called Home Cheese Making!  And we have been enjoying our own mozzarella cheese!

Making Mozzarella is really quiet simple and takes about 30 minutes,  it is perfect for making with children.  You need a gallon of milk that is NOT ultrapasturized, pectin, citric acid, rennin, cheese salt, and a thermometer.  You can also buy a cheese kit  that will have everything you need.  What I love about mozzarella, is that though sanitation is important, this is a quick cheese, you use a microwave too, and you do not have to worry as much about sanitation as you would with more advanced cheese.  Plus, we always make mozzarella when we are going to make lasagna.  A natural and easy extension is to make homemade whey ricotta cheese, oh it is so yummy.  But please take this advice and do not forget it like I did , always use a really good cheese cloth or you will see your yummy ricotta go down the drain!

Oh and gloves are helpful, this is my son pulling the very hot cheese!  The author of Home cheese making also has a youtube video if you are a visual person.  So, enjoy some fun and bonding time with your wonderful children, and have some fun making yummy cheese!

Please like my page on Face book Raising a Renaissance Man, and let raise a generation of children that are passionate about the world all around them!

Sushi even your child would eat!

I love love love to try new and unique items, and when I came across Kracie candy sets, I knew that I just had to try it!

When I ordered my Popin'cookin' sushi candy set  it had to be shipped from Japan, but that was a part of the fun and adventure to us!  I try really hard to encourage my future Renaissance Man to explore different cultures and what is more fun to anticipate a package from Japan.  The packaging is all in Japanese, and so are the instructions, but do not fear, there is always youtube to the rescue.  So I simply went to, KraciePopin'cookin' Japanese Sushi candy and followed along with the video.

I helped my son follow the directions, and I thought that the little roe was fascinating to make because you had to add droplets to a solution.  Then after in the tray they make the candy, they have to form the little sushi candies.

And EAT!  

Fun, interesting and he got to explore a different culture in a fun way!  

I also have a Bento Box candy kit and a donut kit.  I am looking forward to seeing how my son handles trying to deccifer the instructions on the box.. They are visually set up, step by step, and I want to see how he will draw on his past experiences  to figure out the challenge.  I know the results will be fun and actually they were enjoyable to eat!

Future peanut farmer!

When I was a little girl, I remember just being mesmerized and fascinated by a pulled up peanut plant with little peanuts hanging from it's roots.  It is like a photograph in my brain, and it's inspired me to share it with my son this month.

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                    I bought the  Dunecraft Sprout an d grow peanut kit and I borrowed "A Weed Is A Flower" by Aliki from the library and we started our new adventure.  I had my son read me the book and I was am amazed that  I still had not read a book about George Washington Carver!!!  I was so very touched and amazed by his story!  We had so many wonderful conversations about this Renaissance Man!  I truly have a new hero!  I can not encourage you enough, that if you have never read about him, you should!  This man has a wonderful story and aI hope that he inspired my son to be his best no matter what!

After we read our book, and planted our seeds, I have my son write about his experiences in his science journal.

       

Another fun and exciting day in the Fox Household!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a geeky mom!

Spring is in the air, and being the Renaissance Mama that I am , I have an experiment that still gives me the giggles!  I have been doing this experiment for years and considering I have been in Early Childhood Education for almost 30 years, that IS a long time!  And I daydream of the day that I am holding my dear little grandchild and we are giggling at this little experiment!  Yes, everyone loves the flowers in the dye experiment.  What is not to love?!? Flowers, color and science! What a awesome combination!

This year we decided to go with white tulips, some years I have used daffodils or carnations, or even celery.  We used lots of food coloring in a little water to make it go faster, you could see the changes within 15 minutes and we let it sit over night.  I also added leaves, to show veins in those also.

And WAHHHLAAAHH!!!

You have a beautiful centerpiece!  I have to admit, every Valentines day I say no to the store bought flowers.  But I am a sucker for hand picked flowers and these very special bouquets!!!

BUT that's not all, there is more!  As a Renaissance mama, I try to get the most for my buck, so then we open one up and dissect and label all the part of the flower.  We have tried this year to hand pollinate them, add food to the water and see if we can get the ovaries to continue to grow and we will dissect that too!

But of course, as always.  I just love spending the time with my son building loving memories.  I hope that one day my children will look back on their childhoods and get a kick out of such goofy but fun experiments!

Easy Learning Product Review : Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum 5

Handwriting, cursive and typing,  oh my!  Personally, writing has always been the roughest part of my home school career.   If I were to confess the one subject that has given me the most headaches it would be hands down, WRITING!!!  Every step of the way, from getting my now 7 year old son to form his first letter, to writing grammatically correct sentences, has been like pulling teeth!  And now we stand , at almost the end of the 2^nd grade and next year we are expected to start cursive! Sigh….  one more battle, yippee!  BUT, this  IS the 21 century, the bar has been raised higher for our youth.  In my day, back in the 80’s we took typing in high school and the classes were dominated by females!  It was the female thing to do because we were going to be the and office workers, little did I know back in the 80’s, that this would become a very important skill to acquire!

  

Now our youths are growing up in the technology age and typing is more important than EVER!  You would have to be a fool not to realizes that computers and technology are here to stay FOREVER!  It is such an important skill to have for the next generations to come, that it is really hard for me to not agree with the Hated Common Core and giving states the option to drop cursive and to teach keyboarding instead.  My head says it is common sense, the worker of the future NEEDS keyboarding skills, but my heart, the cultured center of me, does not want to see cursive disappear out of American curriculum.  If for any reason but the fact that our founding fathers wrote our constitution in English and everyone should be able to read the founding documents.  But I am an extremely practical  person, youths need keyboarding more than they need to read old documents! IMHO!

Then I tried this GREAT product, the Typing Instructor for kids Platinum 5 ( if I did not live in the middle of nowhere, I would get the downloadable version, but my internet stinks)  And I kept thinking, “If every home had this product, we would not have to choose, my son and I love this product!”  This is a very inexpensive program that more than one child can use!  My son uses it, the boy I watch before and  after school uses it and EVEN I use it.  Let’s just say my skills need some cleaning up L  I seem to have a hard time typing without looking!  I tried many “online free programs” but I had so many problems  from having problems downloading, having to WAIT and WAIT and nothing turns a kid off more than waiting, or no real fluidity to the program.  I just kept feeling frustrated!  But this program is INEXPENSIVE!  No waiting and very fluid!   My son loves the program!  The fact that he will choose to do this program on a Saturday morning, makes me want to give it 2 thumbs up!  I have noticed a DRASTIC improvement , at 7 years old, in his positioning of his hands.  The program starts out easy with drills that can be changed given the child's age and ability, it says it is for 6 to 12 year old.  They explore an island and as they improve they open up new areas of the island.  There are games for them to play and stories to type and my son really seems to enjoy the range of music they offer. I think the music encourages rhythm.  Personally, all families should have a program like this, it is so easy and save the tough cursive for the professionals who get paid to do it ;)  Personally since I am a homeschooler, it just means that this is fun and easy and all I have left to do is teach cursive and hope that I do not pull out the last remaining hairs on my head!

H.S. Point of View; Schedule, What Schedule?

H.s. Point of View: Schedule,  what schedule?

When you get a more experienced home school parent talking to a newbie,  schedules always come up.  I’m about to wrap up my third year of home schooling,  I homeschool all year long and I am beginning to see a pattern emerge.   I understand, all of our lives revolve around a schedule.   Most of us had gone to school, so we are used to schedules, and many are obsesses with them.  I find when I CAN stick to a schedule, that I personally fell more productive!  Every person and every schedule is different , so I thought that I would share my strange and unique schedule with you in hopes that I can find someone just like me or to let newbies know that some people are quirky or you can be grateful that you can stick to something that others OBVIOUSLY can’t! 

Fall is in the air, time for the public school parents to wrap up their bundles of joy and put them on the bus.  I am always in high spirits too!  Refreshed after spending months outside I am on it, I follow our schedule precisely.  We begin the day with PE, dutifully start first session at 8:30; reading, math and science.  Break.  Dutifully start session 2; math lessons, Language Arts, and more science reading. Break. Session 3; history reading,  math drill, Latin, thinking skills and other.  Everything is done on schedule,  5 days a week!

December!!!  I really lose interests in schedules, when there is so many fun holiday things to do!  Homemade grandparents presents take up a lot of time, cookies, parties, etc.  I tell myself that it’s not a bad thing, think social skills, art, and cooking.  Plus we have the tradition of reciting “T’was the Night Before Christmas”. So we are learning holiday style.  Then 2 weeks off for Christmas……

Jannnnn uuuuuaaaarrrryyyyyy.    It starts out strong, for about 2 weeks, but then the blahs set in ( here is where I should mention I live in the freakin middle of nowhere Alaska- AKA Delta Junction, yes we are a part of the USA and no I cannot see Russia)  So we trudge through homeschooling, but we argue a lot, and I really just want to hibernate.  So what used to be done in 5 days a week starts to be 7 days a week again .

SPRING!!!!!  I can never really give you a date, even Alaska refuses to stick to a schedule!  So we had trudged through the winter pulling ourselves along and NOW it is SPRING!  I personally think it should be considered TEACHER ABUSE to force me to stay inside!  I think that this is why I garden and at this rate my son will have his bachelors in horticulture by the time he is 14! Any excuse to  stay outside!  School continues to be 7 days a week, a mixture of inside and outside learning, things get done mostly in the morning! Or fit whenever we are forced inside!

AHHH the long (again Alaska, almost 24 hours of daylight) days of summer!  Let us just say that if my son gets a bachelors by 14 in horticulture, he will surely have a entomology degree by 15 and a geology degree by 16!  Summer is the time to heavily explore outside and my philosophy becomes that if my son appears bored, refuses to entertain himself or being naughty, we do school work.  It is amazing how well that works!  So schooling becomes 7 days a week, fitting things in along the way.

I would love to know how other people work their school year, someone, somewhere,   has to be as crazy as I am, but life is a journey, not a destination!  And believe it or not, even with my erratic schedule, he is still advanced!  At the end of the day, the truth speaks for itself, LEARNING IS A PASSION!

Peeps tradition

It is that time of year again where you walk down the seasonal isle of a grocery store and find a colorful selection of Peeps, and it is that time of year that I get to enjoy a Geeky Mom tradition!  Blowing up Peeps in the microwave!  You know, even if you are an adult with no children, you should give this a try at least once in your life.

1. Buy Peeps, take home and unwrap them.  I add the unwrap them because apparently in America some people can  not figure that out, I have seen warning labels on packages of bread, sheessshhh!

2. Place on plate, I am not a environmentalist, so I prefer paper.  Much much easier to throw in trash than scrub off microwaved on sugar.

3. Place plate in the Microwave, depending on the microwave set to cook at full force for about 20 seconds.  this is where your kids come in great, and make sure you get them a stool to stand on first.  I like to ask my kids to think through the process of telling the microwave "what to do" or go step by step if they are really young, and let them be apart of the process.  We experiment with this, sometimes I do more than 20 seconds so I can try to get that hard "Lucky Charm" effect, but the burned effect is no good!  The children LOVE to watch what happens and love to eat their experiment even more!  All the while you give them a little science lesson.  Me, I am no expert, so I basically say " Matter, when hit with the microwaves vibrate and get hot and they bounce off each other and cause the Peep to expand"  But you brilliant minds out there can really expand, depending on the age of the child.  There are usually several Peeps and honestly we do this a few times a season, and they release Peeps several times a year (yeah I am a bit addicted to candy), after you begin to teach them what is happening, then start asking them what they think is happening and guide their answers.  The tough part about learning is that you have to teach over and over again to get ideas through, thankfully Peeps are cheap, and yummy!

You can expand on this by having toothpick fights with them (google it) and another thing you can do is use marshmallows.  Put a few drops of food color on a plate, give them a toothpick for each color and tlet them use the tip of the toothpick to paint their marshmallow.  It is really cool to see your design expand!

So have fun, explore, think, grow and love your kids!  Trust me, it means the world to them when you take the time to do dorky little fun stuff!  Fill their lives with fun and rememberable moments!

Today's out of the box thinking...

Food for thought.

Once in a while I read a book that has a real profound effect on me, one that changes the course of my life and how I am going to educate my son.  This profound moment came after reading the first chapter of the Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  I saw my sons first 12 years of education  differently, and I realized what a disadvantage my son has.  The premise of the chapter was about hockey players and how  the  majority of the best players were born in the first quarter of the year.  No it was not that winter babies were better physically, but that the cut off for leagues was Dec 31 and if you were born Jan. 1  you had to wait a full year to play.  Well that is a full year a child has to mature and develop.  Then it leads to the fact that  these children  were viewed as more talented, and children viewed as more talented get better training and more ice time, which makes them even better.  I noticed this same thing to a point when my son played hockey, the better the child was at hockey, the more ice time they played.  The stronger gets stronger and the weak then get ignored.

After reading this and internalizing it I realized what a huge disadvantage my son had, my son was born July 31, just one month from the cut off!  He was only five by 2 weeks when on the first day of school!  There had already been many studies showing up about the advantages that girls have over boys in school, now look at a fall born girl over my summer born boy!  You just could not compare the 2, it was an unfair disadvantage!!!  I know, your puzzled,  because I homeschool, what does it actually matter ?!?  Plus my boy was reading at 3 and advanced in math.  Well, it WILL matter later in his education.  So I marched in and demanded that we “red shirt” my son.  What is “red shirting”, it is a little trick of waiting a extra year to enroll your child in school,  giving your kid one more year to mature.   But they would not let me do this, I think schools actually frown on this method because usually only the educated parents  use it.  BUT I learned something new I could do!!!  Keep in mind that my boy will be 17 when he graduates from high school on his current path, and personally that is way to young to send him off into the real world.  So I learned about a NEW IDEA!  Give him 5 years of High School!!!  I could be wrong, and please leave a comment on my blog, but there is no where on the college application asking if you did high school in five years, my son will just be a regular senior!

Think about it!!!  Really think, especially if you are fiercely competitive like me and really wish for your child to have a chance at going to an elite university ;)  If you have a summer child like I do, our kids have a big disadvantage, and we can even up the odds.  Summer children are underrepresented in college!  They are forced to compete with children older, socially/emotionally more mature, physically more mature, and cognitively more mature!  When you are 5 years old , 11 months makes a huge difference developmentally!!!   The older children get treated like they are smarter and more mature, while the younger child who can be just as intelligent will not be treated as well.  Leaving a younger child feeling inferior and that can last their whole school career.  Even IF your child is gifted, there are other gifted children in your child’s grade all across the country,  born 11 months earlier!   And if you love sports, image how much more mature a fall child is to the summer child.  It is simply not fair to put such a wide group of children together and expect fairness!  But there is a way to get around it and even up the odds if you’re  willing to put in an extra year!

Few points to consider.

1.     1. ` Students today can go to college and high school at the same.  There are programs like running start.  Getting the advanced math and science classes are easier to aquire and will continue to become easier as home schooling continues to grow.  They can take a language class and it can count as college credit too.

2.  2.      Think SAT and ACT scores,  giving your student one more year will increase their scores.  If you have a gifted student, can you image what another year will do.  My intention is for my child to get into Air Force Academy , MIT or Harvard.  With one more year to raise his scores, it should really help to increase his chances in getting into these schools.

3.      3. Sports, are you looking at getting your child’s college paid for with scholarships?  Giving them one more year to grow and mature will help them to get into leadership or captain positions. 

4.    4.   We are working towards a goal of  earning an Eagle Scout award, black belt in Karate, accomplished musician, etc. etc. This will give him one more year to boost their college application.

5.     5.  One more year to emotionally and socially mature.   They will have another year tomature and be able to handle life on their own.

    It is just a thought, think out of the box.  If you have a spring or summer child, our kids are at a great disadvantage.  I am not one to cry in my beer, but instead to seize control of the situation and do what is best for my child’s future!!!  I joke around with my kids that I am going to do the absolute best that I can do now, because they are going to be the ones to pay for my old folks home.  Thankfully I know that they love me very much and know that there has never been anything I would not do for them .

“Easy Learning” product review, Liberty Kids DVD

Who the heck is that guy in the funny looking wig?

Once upon a time I heard that kids in America could identify and tell you all about Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus, and tell you all about the dumb things that people do on “Duck Dynasty”, but they could not identify important historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, nor could they explain why and when we fought the American Revolutionary War.  Honestly, I could believe it, because not so long ago, I would have to admit that I was one of them.  And I did not like that about myself one bit!!!  So of course, I dedicated myself to begin learning about this very important time in history and like the Renaissance Mama  I am, vowed that my son was going to learn it forward and backwards and upside down! He WILL be an expert, LIKE IT OR NOT!  So, that is why I am so very grateful that I found this great  product!  One thing about me, and my goal with my blog, is that I LOVE products that make learning easy and fun!  And this wonderful DVD series is easy enough!

“Liberty Kids” is a wonderful, yet very inexpensive ($5.00 on Amazon ratings over 400 reviews and almost 5 stars) 40 episode historical fiction DVD on the American Revolutionary War.  I will  admit, since I am not a historian, I am not 100% sure that it is completely correct, but none of the reviews I have read suggest that anything is wrong.  It starts in the beginning with the dumping of the tea in the harbor and seems to chronicalize the war.  There are 2 youths that are journalist and they write about the events of the war.  I like the girl Sara, who is English and visiting America, because she gives you the  perspective of the Tory and the English people.  What I love is that it builds up a familiarity with George Washington, General Howe,  Layfayette and how he had to sneak out of France, Benedict Arnold and his growing frustration with being passed over for a promotion, Benjamin Franklin and his role in France, the use of the Hessians, and the role of the Continental Congress. And on top of that! My son loves it and wants to watch it over and over and over again!  He acts it out, he even takes notes during the episodes, and he will even take out his civil war kit and pretend to use it for the Revolutionary War!  All this interesting history he is learning and I just get to sit back and watch!  We do follow up with books on the great leaders, do not want to sound like all I do is sit around!  But, I will have a Historian in no time!

Liberty Kids  You can go directly to Amazon and get this great set!

Hmmm…  Someday soon we are going to be tackling Roman History!  I really hope to see him as engrossed with the Centurions!!!  Note to self, need to start looking for some Roman Soldier costumes and action figures!  And maybe a trident!  It is going to get real fun in the Fox household!

  

May I introduce to you Mr. Round Peg and Mr. Square Peg

First let me introduce to you Mr. Circle Peg, we will call him Mark.  When Mark was a young boy his dutiful parents  enrolled him into music lessons and he began his formal education.  Lots of instruction,  practice and time.  Mark went from recitals, to high school orchestra, to his college orchestra and performing  with an  orchestra professionally.  Finally one day he is proud to be sitting among the finest and most accomplished musicians in his handsome tux, playing amazing pieces by brilliant composers at Carnegie Hall.  He had worked hard all his life for a moment like this.

Now I would like to introduce to you Mr. Square Peg, let’s call him Jimmy.  Jimmy’s father bought a guitar for his son when he was young because he was fascinated with them.  Jimmy had very little, if any, formal training.  But he loved playing his guitar and was passionate about it.  He taught himself by trying to play his favorite songs and trying to develop new songs  with his own personal style. It was said that Jimmy loved his guitar so much that he took it everywhere with him so that if he had a melody playing in his head he could practice it.  Jimmy worked on his own style that would set himself apart from other performers, like playing behind his head and he was even known to set his guitar on fire!  With dedication and practice his career grew and grew.  Eventually Jimmy would play many gigs, even play at the most famous music concert in history, where he played on of his most popular performances ever!  Even after 40 plus years after his death, he is still a legend!

Here I am trying to reflect on the differences between “schooled” and “unschooled.”  Many people do not understand “unschooling” and a stigma has been attached to it as a thing bohemian, hippy parents do.  But unschooling is not new or unusual if you really look at education throughout human existence, it is quite normal, and “schooling” has JUST recently become the norm .  Some people actually really thrive in school, they tend to be the more conformist type, they like routines and order and can handle sitting for long periods of time and concentrating.  Then there are people just like me, who are active daydreamers, nonconformist, obsessive and creative, who thrive when they can throw themselves into subjects they love.

Both Mark and Jimmy were very successful in their paths, but how they got to where they were was very different.  You have to ask yourself, if Jimmy would have been forced into a round hole, where he could not personalize his gifts would he have thrived or just given up.  And Mark, would he have had the creativity and passion to pursue music in a “unschooled “  manner.   As you know, no two minds are the same, we all think differently, and  I want to help in raising awareness that we all have something to offer.  In schools sometimes  we see the hyper, distracted, daydreamer as a child we have to fix, not understand.

As a mom, that chooses mostly to unschool, (yes unfortunately I still mostly school math and Language Arts, and I have written about what a battle that is)  We mentor our children, not necessarily teach.  We encourage their exploration and be there for discussions, activities and often gentle reminders that they sometimes need to do more than just their one thing.   I make sure that there is a wealth of learning material around,  and I try to find fun and interesting ways to stimulate my young boys mind.

Developing the Love of Learning

Most of my life I have been treated like "Oh your JUST a preschool teacher. You teach ABC's and 123, how hard can that be???"  UNLESS you were a client, then you saw someone passionate about  opening up this amazing world to their young child's mind. I chose preschool over primary because I loved that I could TEACH, and not worry about standards. Standards drained the fun out of learning. Infant, toddler and preschool children have the most amazing minds, it is the time they will be learning faster than any other time in their life. The world is full of amazing things and a few loving people want to take their little hands and introduce them to all the beauty, to answer their precious questions and invite them to explore the world all around them. I want to encourage creativity and through love and active learning introduce them the all the math and science around them in their natural enviroment, and to prepare them to read. I love that preschool is a time for the simple "love of learning" And then they enter school... yeah! Sit still, get it done, read this book! Science and exploration, what is that , we have a test to prepare for!

I entered into education almost 30 years ago and my passion for it has grown, and my ECE background has helped me perfectly with my love of homeschooling.  I try to allow my son to explore and create.  When he finds something that he is absolutely passionate about I am relaxed enough to facilitate him, by offering him plenty of materials for him to learn with.  I do still lead him in his learning, but I try to take guidance from him as to what he needs.  Ever is it so apparent in his dislike in forced education than in his reaction to grammar and his work books.  I have to fight my son, set timers and get mad at him for waisting his time away with daydreaming.  Education becomes a real battle.  Yet when we study things that he is passionate about, it is easy, he practically teaches himself.  When he loves something, he wants to read it, talk about it, write about it and he even internalizes it so much that he acts it out and I can see it in his play.  I just know that it is working, because we have many many interesting and stimulating conversations.  Please, do not ever get me wrong.  I am NOT a hippy type of mom, a slacker. Anyone who knows me knows that I have extremely high expectations of my children.  But I am more passionate about the "love of learning" , than passing a bunch of test and I know that there will come a time, where he will have to narrow down his pursuits and focus heavily and with mastery his future career goals.

What the heck is this floating in my soup?

I can just see it now, my child at an important meeting with the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies, and he leans over to the guy next to him and asks “What is this green stuff floating in my soup?”   Well fortunately for us, my son has seen plenty of green stuff in his life.  But I am always amazed when I am in the process of going through the checkout lane at the grocery store .  When the cashier gets to my produce I am always asked a long string of questions. “What’s this? “,  and me “ An endive.”  “What’s this?” and me “A horseradish root.” “What’s this?” and me “Watercress.”    You get the picture.  The amazing thing about the kids I live around in Delta Junction, Alaska, is that a lot of these kids are vegetable genius, these kids know their veggies!  Gardening in Interior Alaska is a way of life, and right now Alaskans are starting our plants indoors!  It may only be March, but we are getting started on our leeks, celery and celeriac and those with green houses get to be even more adventurous! 

A Renaissance Man Mama, believes that every young child would greatly benefit from the lost art of horticulture.  Not only does this Latin Lover Mama get some vocabulary in like hortus/garden, herba/plant, flos/flower, humus/dirt, and folium/ leaf, but the science behind plants and gardens is amazing!!!  There is a cornucopia of activities that you can do with a garden.   Plus your exposing a child to a garden CAN (but not always) encourage young ones to try a greater variety of vegetables, plus save you some bucks in the grocery store.  Personally speaking, but I am an experienced horticulturist, I only grow the vegetables that cost me a small fortune at the grocery store, like fennel, leeks,  and gourmet lettuce.  This year we are going to experiment with lemon grass, celeriac,  kohlrabi, broccoli raab, and even more varieties of radishes!  My idol, the ultimate Renaissance man, Thomas Jefferson,  had a very large garden, he experimented with plants all from all over the world and tried to learn about the natives horticulture styles.

Culturally speaking I really do believe that it is important to expose your children to as many types of vegetables as possible.   You find that food is culture and culture in foods.  Being well versed in vegetables is a way of being exposed to many cultures.  Before my first trip to Europe, there were a lot of  vegetables that I had never been exposed to, but after traveling through Europe, I was enlightened!  It really changed how I view food.  When I cook Asian food (major and minor) I recognize that they have their own vegetables and spices, and it inspires me to grow new types of vegetables to make my food more authentic.  Exposure makes children more worldly, and let’s face it,  but do you want your offspring to grow up and go on an important lunch interview and order a hamburger because they are to  afraid to explore new foods.  Or how foolish they will look if they are invited to the bosses house for dinner and do not recognize the food their bosses wife just put in front of them!

Dedicated to the Future Musical Genius's

Any proper "Renaissance Man" enjoys fine music, right?  Play classical music and you become instantly refined, right? And as your Grand Renaissance Mama, it is my duty to expose my son to the finer things in life!  Yeah, well thankfully we both actually do enjoy classical music and Opera!
In my husband’s very musical family children start playing musical instruments at 8.  I have though spent the last 3 years trying to develop a love and appreciation for music.  I once read a book by Amy Chua “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom”, who gained notoriety by pressuring her children to excel at playing masterpieces on the violin.  Please do not get me wrong, I am an insanely tough mother on my children to excel academically.  But our lovely author wrote a piece that white mothers are the worse mothers in the world. Honestly I did not read that piece, because I have already read her book and I already know what her attitude is!  Because OBVIOUSLY she thinks the Chinese are so superior to us white slacker folks!  BUT, my goals with my “Renaissance Man to be”  is not to have him REHASH the masterpieces of our WHITE Genius’s over  and over and over again, but to BE THE GENIUS!!!  My goal with my son’s musical teaching is to INSPIRE CREATIVITY, NOT to JUST rehash others creativity over and over and over, like some folks think! Because us Neanderthal like white people honor and value creative thought, we value originality and ingenuity!  THAT is what sets us apart!
To try to properly musically educate our “future Renaissance Man” we really enjoyed a DVD series called Wunderkind Little Amadeus, it did not have as many facts as I would have liked, but for a 5 or 6 year old, it excited and inspired him.  My fondest memories was walking into Barnes and Noble and my son was telling everyone that he was going to be just like Mozart when he grew up.  We of course listened to a lot of Mozart’s music and I felt really proud to be somewhere and my little guy could pick out Mozart’s pieces.  We read “Famous children, Mozart” by Ann Rachlin and “Getting to know the World’s Greatest Composers, Mozart” by Mike Venezia.  A very interesting find was by Classical Kids called Mozart’s “Magical Fantasy” and we got Mozart’s “Magnificent Voyage”.  These were Mozart’s operas simplified and in English on CD and my son loved to listen to them over and over and OVER again!
Then one day….   “I don’t like Mozart anymore, I like Beethoven” said my little guy.
But I got to enjoy weeks and weeks of listening to my son hum Mozart, pretend to be Mozart and pretend to write masterpieces.  What a gift I got watching my son internalize his experiences!

The joys of being a mother and to get to educate my son!  Such a gift.  Please join me on my Facebook page “Raising a Renaissance Man” and we can grow together!  I love homeschooling my son and watching his passion for learning grow!  If you are new to homeschooling I would love to be there as a friend, and help to inspire you.  Homeschooling is so fun, but a little overwhelming.

Dead Language Society

Do they speak Latin in Latin America?

Latin?!?  Why teach Latin?  It’s dead!

True, no one speaks “High Class Latin” anymore,  but  “Vulgar Latin” is spoken every day!  Romance Languages are versions of Vulgar Latin, like French, Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese,  and  Italian.  And a “Renaissance Man” is often multi-lingual.  When we left Spanish to teach Latin, my son would find that a lot of the words he learned in Spanish were the same in Latin!

You know some Latin already and probably do not even realize it, like pro and con, vice versa, via, and status quo.  Did you realize “am” and “pm” are Latin, and our government uses many Latin quotes like on money “Annuit coeptis”  which means “he favored our undertakings”  or “Novus ordo seclorum” which means “A new world order.”  Latin (and Greek, but that is another post) is also a common language used  in medicine and science.  My son was having a hard time keeping the Revolutionary war and the Civil war straight and it helped him to look at the meanings of the Latin roots of these words to try to remember which war was which (he is only 7).  Learning Latin roots(and Greek) will really help them in the future with advanced science and history classes.

We started Latin when our son was in first grade and this is our second year.  I really enjoyed the first book “Song School Latin” by Amy Rehn.  It teaches approximately 100 words in 32 lessons, through songs and jingles on an accompanying  CD.  We personally only teach Latin to English, since we do not expect him to speak it for now.  In addition to the book, we make flash cards and you may not agree, but we keep a bowl of jelly beans and reward him for his correct answers.  But the flash cards help to retain the old words, and the jellybeans help to motivate.  We are now on the second book in this series.  In addition we have some playing cards called Rummy Roots.  These are a mixture of Latin and Greek roots, though they are made to play Rummy, which I do not know how to play, with young children they are great for a version of “Go Fish” , memory, and drill.  We try to spend atleast 15 minutes a day doing Latin, on weekends because of the jelly beans, it is easy to get my son to drill.

I hope that this might encourage you to consider Latin, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to contact me!  Song School Latin is available on Amazon    Song school Latin

Birth of a Renaissance Mama

Being philosophical here...

I wonder if the growing movement of homeschooling is the Renaissance of learning and culture in the Modern ages.  My peers that I connect with, have the same goal, we want to groom our children into Renaissance Men (children). We feel that we want to leave the "dark ages" of institutionalized education and their desire to "teach to pass the test" and "pump and dump" mentality and create an environment that nurtures the love of learning and culture.  

     So, what is a Modern Renaissance Man?  Is it a "person" who knows a lot about many different subjects?  My personal goal, when mentoring my son, is to guide him in learning all about the world all around him.  I expose him to the arts and music, Latin, science, great leaders and history, and modern technology.  We spend a great deal of time researching,  creating,  exploring and trying new things, and I would like to share with you our experiences.  

     I am a stay at home mom who has been homeschooling my son since birth.  I have a background in high school and college in Early Childhood Education.  I loved ECE because instead of feeling the pressure of tests and making sure children met standards, it was a time to explore, create and imagine.  Everything in life was a "wonder" to them, I remember when my son had a strange fascination with the washing machine, he would love to just stand there and watch and feel everything the machine did.

  As his mom, I just watched patiently, and enjoyed the delight I saw in his face.  Everything was new to him and if allowed, he would explore everything until he was completely satiated!  I "try" to approach homeschooling in the same manner, to let his natural curiosity lead his way.  I am not saying that we do not do the drudge work, but I emphasis the creative achievements and the love of learning.                                                                Latin is a growing language, especially among home schoolers, but also the passion for the arts and music are being reignited. We treasure music in this household and my son is exposed to opera and classical music on a daily basis. I looked at public schools curriculum and I am not fond of the material that they present, but I teach my son about the greatest minds in history, to inspire him. I teach him a great deal about Ancient history and great civilizations! Then I pursue STEM, because I am training my son to enter the work force as a professional, not a worker.

     When I talk to people that are on the fence about homeschooling I find that they already have the same dreams and desires for their children, I am new at blogging, and I promise that with time I will get better.  But I hope that you might enjoy the journey with us and we might inspire you too, to develope a generation of Renaissance Men (and girls of course).  I have so much to share and a great deal of passion for learning. 

     I am always open to ideas and encourage new thoughts and ideas.  Please feel free to share.  This path that we take with our children, speaking as a homeschooling mother, is difficult and I love to learn from other mothers how to make this an enjoyable experience.  Please feel free to ask questions!