Aut-2B-Home in Carolina

What Is Real Learning?

2012-01-26T21:20:00.008-05:00

In my last post, I described what fruit our science readings are bearing in Pamela's mind. She continues to refine her thinking about animal feet and put notes in her science notebook. She recorded tapir under the category clawed and discovered after careful research she had incorrectly placed as clawed when they are actually webbed. She cannot decide if trolls have claws or nails, which sparked a long discussion on my facebook page. While watching the speech Brutus makes right before Anthony steals the show, Pamela shared that Brutus had bloody fingernails but decided not to put that in her science notebook.

We started another page in her science notebook based on another train of thought Pamela has been following for some time: inventions. In one book on Alexander Graham Bell, he shares his newly invented liquid transmitter (i.e., telephone) at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. On display were machines invented between 1776 and 1876. Launching from that idea, she drew two columns in her notebook, labeled 1776-1876 and 1876-1976. She came up with a list of inventions and placed them in their proper category. Pamela continued to add items here and there and two days later asked, "What about 1995?" I flipped the paged and asked, "What should you write?" I was came up with three labels but refrained from giving her any suggestions because then I would steal from her the chance to think: 1976-2012, 1976-2076, and 1976-?. She chose to write the first option.

If you look carefully, Pamela wrote the word BETAs for the video format competing with VHS. We never had the beta system, nor have I taught Pamela about it. She has figured this out through her own research. Also, note that I could have encouraged Pamela to work backward in time and create more columns. However, then I would be thinking for her, which would hinder her from following an idea where it took her. Ideas let students to places when teachers get out of the way.

This school year I have reported how Pamela chooses the order of books and things: in her mind, she has organized every book, song, art study, etc. in chronological order. She has sorted them all from earliest event in B.C. to the latest one in A.D. We are singing Joy to the World for our hymn study and she placed it in B.C. when Jesus was born. She sandwiched it between Plutarch's account of Brutus and the New Testament reading. Pamela is quite flexible in how she approaches it. Some days she moves forward in time from beginning to end, and other days, vice versa. At other times, she closes her eyes and lets me pick in any order, giving her a clue and letting her guess which one. Now, she has refined her system even more: she has developed new categories: first century A.D., the Middle Ages, the 18th century, the 19th century, the 20th century, and 21st century. Sometimes we start in one category (Middle Ages) and jump to something completely different (21st century). By avoiding a strict structure and order, as is often recommended for children in the autism spectrum, I am letting Pamela think more flexibly.

The common thread in comments on that post pointed to these examples as being "real learning". One friend compared it to contrived teaching:

This is just what we experienced regarding geography. Last year I broached the subject of learning the names of the states using a fun music CD that our nieces had enjoyed. We had already been using the idea of bringing out the map or globe whenever we started a new book. Tim resisted so I put it aside. Then in the spring we took an Amtrak trip to Iowa. Tim became interested in the states we traveled through, looking at the travel map and talking about it often. When I brought up the idea of learning the states again, he was very interested and geography became a favorite subject! The next step for him was really fun. He likes trains so he thought of the idea of using the capitals of the states as the names in the states song instead of the states' names. All of the motivation for this was internal and was really fun to watch!

Two friends were pleased to be given a way to assess what real learning is: "This is a wonderful way of distinguishing real learning, which is fruitful and branches off in various directions, from rote learning. I'd never thought of it exactly that way before." "I simply loved reading your account of Pamela's interest in toe nails etc. I thought to myself this is real learning.Something she will treasure her whole life. I so much agree with you that we as teachers need to get out of the way and let them learn."

Another friend linked real learning to flexible thinking: "I so enjoy reading about Pamela's progress. I am overawed at her dynamic thinking."

What is real learning? I think real learning is giving an alert, curious mind the scope to explore ideas and follow them into paths of thinking that begin to intertwine and weave a beautiful tapestry of thoughts.

What is an idea? Borrowing from Charlotte Mason, "A live thing of the mind, seems to be the conclusion of our greatest thinkers from Plato to Bacon, from Bacon to Coleridge. We all know how an idea 'strikes,' 'seizes,' 'catches hold of,' 'impresses' us and at last, if it be big enough, 'possesses' us; in a word, behaves like an entity" (Page 105) I remember the very moment when the idea of animals having toenails was born. Pamela stared at the feet of the young gorilla and marveled that the primate had black toenails.

What does the mind do with an idea? Coleridge wrote (Page 107-108),

From the first or initiative idea, as from a seed, successive ideas germinate.

Events and images, the lively and spirit-stirring machinery of the external world, are like light and air and moisture to the seed of the mind which would else rot and perish.

Progress follows the path of the idea from which it sets out requiring however a constant wakefulness of mind to keep it within the due limits of its course. Hence the orbits of thought, so to speak, must differ from among themselves as the initiative ideas differ.

Looking at a picture of a gorilla's foot planted a seed. The seed began to germinate. Pamela sought images and researched information to explore that idea. From that day on, her thoughts went back to gorillas with toenails and followed it to other animals with toenails, to animals with other kinds of feet, to imaginary creatures. Her wakeful mind has continued to refine her thinking in the past year and has categorized animal feet and classified animals and imaginary creatures by their feet.

Here are some questions to ponder on whether or not we are fostering real learning:

Is there time in the day for children to explore, think, wonder, and ponder?

Would your books fall into the category of a compendium of facts or ideas clothed in story

Are books, things, and things you do laid out in such away that there are no neat categories?

Is what you present wide and varied, eclectic, written with literary power?

Do you focus on getting something out of your student or seeing how the mind acts upon ideas?

Do you learn new things every week?

What do you value more, process or product?

Does you student ...

ask what a word means?
make connections between books that you never noticed?
ask you questions that have nothing to do with what you are studying?
use words you have never taught them explicitly?
desire to explore topics you are studying during free time?
act out a story or historical event for fun?
follow an idea and refine it into new ways of thinking?
look forward to starting a new book or feel sad when a beloved one is finished?
live in a larger world of ideas?
grow more flexible in their thinking?
ask questions that have nothing to do with anything you have ever done or read?

Fruits of Thoughts

2012-01-10T22:21:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, trying to visualize what Charlotte Mason meant in her writings is difficult until you see them in action. Some of my favorite moments are when her ideas come to life in the form of homeschooling Pamela. For example, sitting at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, watching Pamela record artifacts into her book of centuries last month filled my heart with joyful tears. Other moments come from grand conversations that come from living books such as the time we talked about culinary horror stories triggered by a paragraph in The Brendan Voyage. Or the day when we were sitting on the back porch rockers making a nature notebook entry and a lone monarch butterfly flashed into the corner of my eye. I could go on, but I won't bore you. Another sweet example that has been emerging all last year brought this passage to life.

[Let me] conclude with a wise sentence of Coleridge's concerning the method of Plato, which should be always present to the minds of persons engaged in the training of children:––

Plato's Educational Aim.––"He desired not to assist in storing the passive mind with the various sorts of knowledge most in request, as if the human soul were a mere repository or banqueting room, but to place it in such relations of circumstance as should gradually excite its vegetating and germinating powers to produce new fruits of thought, new conceptions and imaginations and ideas." (Page 125)

What exactly did she mean?

I think about how children "learn" today. Adults pour facts into passive minds and students regurgitate them upon request until they is no longer requested and new facts replace the old ones. True learning of knowledge begins to germinate new ways of thinking. Some ideas are like beans and they sprout very quickly. Other ideas must age for a long time like tropical seeds before they germinate and eventually bear fruit. Last year, I noted Pamela's fascination with gorilla toenails after she studied a picture in a book we were reading. A new conception in her mind, that gorillas have toenails and fingernails like her, has born fruit all year long.

At first, Pamela talked about gorilla toenails a lot. Then she shifted to other primates with nails and eventually other mammals. In time, she shifted to claws, then hooves, and recently webbed feet. She also came up with a category called nothing for creatures like snakes. Today, I thought she might enjoy recording these conceptions that have been percolating in her mind for the past year into her science notebook. She loved it. Pamela drew the vertical lines and set up her categories. She came up with so many animals with claws that she had to write on the backside of the page. When she thought of salmon, Pamela realized she needed a category for fins. Later, she added flippers since they seemed to fit together. She remembered talons and I had to look up the exact difference between talons and claws to help her classify. Tentacles popped into her head for another category.

During this process, I noticed many interesting things about how Pamela's mind works. She thinks very flexibly. After she focused on one category and ran out of ideas, I would come up with an animal in a different category. She easily shifted somewhere else and often shifted on her own. Once we went back to reading, her mind pondered some more and she was able to "hold that thought" until we finished the book. While I grabbed another book, she recorded new animals. She cares enough about spelling to ask for help but doesn't obsess if something didn't look quite right. When she realized she put an creature in the wrong category, she simply erased it and corrected her error.

Pamela's knowledge of animal names and body parts are wide and varied. She came up with some obscure animals like grackle, anteater, pike, lynx, and platypus. She came up with extinct animals like mammoth, dinosaur, and dodo. She even included imaginary animals like beast, dragon, monster, and unicorn. You might be wondering why she put aliens under the category of tentacles. Here are three reasons: (1) Kang and Kodos, (2) Galaxy Quest, and (3) A Wrinkle in Time.

Now, if your "take away" is to create a worksheet or lap book for your kid, then you are missing my point! Pamela enjoyed this process because her mind had been chewing on categorization based upon feet for the past year. One small idea led to her mind being tuned into putting her thoughts into writing.

The hard part for teachers is the art of stepping aside, waiting for seeds to germinating, and guiding the child into meaningful expressions of them when the new conceptions are bearing fruit.

An Hour at the Museum

2012-01-09T21:40:00.004-05:00

My understanding of what a book of centuries means has gone on many rabbit trails and, with the help of my friend Laurie Bestvater, I finally get it. I think! If you have not read her article on them, reading it will improve your grasp of what they are. Last summer, I ordered a beautiful book of centuries from her and, as noted last fall, Pamela has been making regular entries in it based upon pictures of artifacts we find at museum websites. She will continue to add pictures and entries as we read wide and varied books and look up pictures online.

In November 2011, I blogged our visit to the Nelson-Atkins art museum but decided not to mention how much I felt like kicking myself! I had no idea they had such a large collection of ancient artifacts. We had been reading about ancient Egypt—they had a mummy, coffins, slabs with drawings, paintings, and hieroglyphics, large and small statues, etc. We had been studying columns, and the building itself had every kind of column we had studied not to mention a ginormous Assyrian relief with the rosettes and tree of life motifs. It even had Greek pottery with the paintings of gods and heroes. Where was the book of centuries? At Steve's apartment! Ack!!!!!

During our Christmas visit to Kansas, I made a point to spend an hour at the museum and let Pamela pick a few things to record in her book of centuries. We stayed in the ancient world the entire things, focusing on what she had been reading in her history and art books. She quietly drew while I snapped a few pictures. I even teared up when I realized this was the first time Pamela was using her book of centuries in the way that Charlotte Mason's students has used them over a hundred years ago!

Ancient Egypt:
The very first thing Pamela chose to draw was the mummy, of course. We turned to the pages on the 5th century B.C. and she recorded a nameless mummy labeled Ka-i-nefer. While Pamela made her entry, I read the information about how a team of specialists examined the mummy with sophisticated equipment to gather details on how he might have looked.

In the same room as the mummy were coffins of someone who probably lived later than the mummy: a noblewoman named Meret-it-es, whose name means beloved by her father. The display included her inner coffin, outer coffin, guilded mask, body plates, figurines of slaves to serve her in the afterlife, etc. On the same page as the mummy, Pamela drew pictures of some of these items.

In that same room was a slab of a couple named Se-ankhy and Ankhu. Pamela drew a picture on the pages for the 20th century B.C.

In another room, we found other interesting artifacts of famous Egyptians. Pamela selected King Tut's falcon necklace.

A relief of Ramses II!!!!!

A relief of someone a bit more obscure, Metjetji

Assyrian High-Relief Sculpture:
My absolute favorite moment was sitting in front of this magnificent sculpture of the genie fertilizing a date tree. Pamela spent a quarter of an hour sitting on this bench, sketching the creature in her notebook. I sat next to her and simply studied the sculpture. We noticed it on our last visit but didn't stop to "see" it. We posed and snapped a picture before breezing over something else in the ancient world. We stopped and studied: Pamela drew into her book of centuries while I sat and soaked in every detail I could absorb in fifteen minutes. The experience reminded me of a post Amber Benton blogged about sitting and really seeing at a museum.

The first detail I noticed was the tree, having learned about the "tree of life" motifs common to Assyrian sculpture. It reminded me how Pamela draws trees in her nature notebook: highly stylized and sparse in its foliage. Then, my eyes drifted over to the wings. Until that moment, I had not realized the figure was not a human, but something mythical. The feathers are so detailed and striking, and that is when I began to appreciate the skill and patience it took to create this sculpture.

As I moved closer to study the feathers, I noticed the lines of cuneiform! Although Pamela and I have seen similar reliefs in her sculpture book and online at the British museum, I don't remember seeing ancient writing on it. I didn't see it in this sculpture during our last visit either.

The lines of cuneiform led me to the genie's legs: highly muscular, buff, apparently to signify the creature's power and strength. My eye moved up from the well-defined calves to an equally buff arm. I wondered why this manly creature carried a manbag, or murse, but corrected myself on the error of applying modern thinking to something crafted almost three thousand years ago.

Looking still further up reveals an answer to the murse question: the genie is fertilizing a date tree with a male cone. Most likely, it dips the cone into a bucket of pollen to accomplish the mission. I noticed the bracelets with the rosette motif common to Assyrian sculpture. The genie also wears earrings and a horned helmet. Its hair is styled in the fashion common to Assyrian royalty: long hair and long beards sporting corkscrew curls, a term I first read from our beloved copy of A Child's History of the World.

Here are more historical tidbits: the winged genie fertilizing a date tree dated ninth century B.C. comes from the palace of King Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud, which was the capital of Assyria at the time, about 200 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. The palace, which could hold five football fields, had reliefs like this lining its brick walls. This one was near the king's throne room. Sometimes the genies on these reliefs were hybrids of humans and other animals, specifically the eagle.

Ashurnasirpal II was ruthless. I cannot go into details here because I like to keep my blog G-rated. However, if you are curious, you can read the kind of grisly boasts this conqueror made about his feats in battle. He bragged about his tribute, everything from metals to exotic trees and plants to monkeys.

Greek Amphora:
Pamela recently studied the five styles of Greek jars last term. Of several on display, Pamela wanted to record the terracotta amphora (two-handled jar) with Dionysius, the god of wine, painted in black. It stood next to another amphora with Achilles. These jars are great examples of positive versus negative space. The subject (Greek heroes and gods) are positive space in the natural color of the clay. To create the image, the artist only painted the negative space in black. I'm wondering these jar paintings might be way to introduce the concept of space to Pamela.

[Art] is of the spirit, and in ways of the spirit must we make our attempt. We recognise that the power of appreciating art and of producing to some extent an interpretation of what one sees is as universal as intelligence, imagination, nay, speech, the power of producing words. But there must be knowledge and, in the first place, not the technical knowledge of how to produce, but some reverent knowledge of what has been produced....The little pictures are studied one at a time; that is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but to look at it, taking in every detail (Page 214). ~ Charlotte Mason

Wordless Wednesday: Good-Bye, Fall!

2011-12-21T07:34:00.000-05:00

You Know You're Taking a Science Exam in a CM School When the First Half Minute Is about the Government

2011-12-14T22:30:00.002-05:00

One thing you learn early on with living books is that it's hard to confine them to one subject. They have a delightful way of taking all sorts of rabbit trails. Yesterday Pamela did several examinations. The one about a science book started off like this:

They making a, they doing a bill. Congress. They wrote for your vote. Congress, they're in Washington. House, they had the bill. C-SPAN, they have President. Senate.

Was Pamela adding filler to the exam like so many of us have done in our blue books in years past? Nope! The first chapter we read in this science book was about politics. What does science have to do with politics? Money! The topic of this book is technology, the kind of technology that alters forever how the world communicates. Sometimes, expansion of such technology is funded privately as consumers drive the widening of a network. At other times, the project is so grand, linking nation to nation, requiring large amounts of money, treaties, and legal minutia. The first topic of Pamela's exam narration accurately represents the material she read, taking into account her struggles with aphasia and how well she can communicate.

This week, Pamela and I will wrap up the last few exams for Term 1. Pamela did nothing to prepare for exam week as suggested by Charlotte Mason: "Children taught in this way are remarkable for their keenness after knowledge, and do well afterwards in any examination for which they may have to prepare" (Preface). She had been preparing for them during the entire term by reading and narrating living books every day. Whenever I gave her a choice of narrating one of two stories from a book for an exam, she opted to do both! During exam week, she has smiled often, chuckled and giggled many times, and talked about what she knew supplemented with the most lovely body language. If you doubt me, I dare you to watch the video.

Compare those sweet moments to your experience with exams as a student or as a homeschooling parent. Don't you wish you had had that much fun when you took exams in school? Compare it to the typical experience of cramming as described by Charlotte Mason,

When the schoolboy 'crams' for an examination, writes down what he has thus learned, and behold, it is gone from his gaze for ever: as Ruskin puts it, "They cram to pass, and not to know, they do pass, and they don't know"...we learn that we may know, not that we may grow; hence the parrot-like saying of lessons, the cramming of ill-digested facts for examinations, all the ways of taking in knowledge which the mind does not assimilate. (Pages 155-157)

Here are some points to keep in mind about elementary school examinations:

The point is for the child to share what they know and what they think. Exams are a record of what the child knows, not an exercise in tricking the child or uncovering what they don't know.
Young children narrate their exams orally: teachers or parents record the narration. In Pamela's case, I pay attention to nonverbal communication.
Examinations are done at the end of a term.
Questions are open-ended: "Tell the story of..." "Tell the history of [a particular person]." "Describe [a particular event]." "Describe a journey through/to [a particular place]." "Tell what you learned about [a particular place]." "Tell a fairy tale." "Describe your favorite scene from [a book or play]." "Tell about the..." "Draw a diagram or map of..." "Describe [a process in nature]." "What have you noticed yourself about..." [We did worms this term]" (Appendix II)
Some things to be narrated involve opinions: "Why do you think?" "What do you think this means?" "What is [an idea] and give an example?"
Examinations include singing a song or line from a instrumental composition, describing a favorite painting, reciting a poem, acting out a scene, and speaking or singing in a foreign language.
Because of Pamela's theory of mind gaps and difficulties in sequencing thoughts, I do have to make additional declarative comments to help her share more fully what I know she knows.

Lessons Learned about Pamela

Pamela takes great delight in narrating. She enjoyed exam week.
Her sense of time and technology is exceptional. She easily spots anachronisms.
She sees connections between books.
Her nonverbal communication emphasizes what she expresses verbally. Her body language continues to blossom.
Her ability to retrieve names, pronouns, and verbs is limited. She knows them but she struggles to retrieve them while narrating.
Her sequencing is still confused.

My Lessons Learned for Me

Doing handwork helps slow me down and refrain from talking too much.
I need to think through a plan to work on word retrieval issues and sequencing.
I am so thrilled that Pamela uses her body to express herself, even when her words are limited.

The point that I insist upon, however, is that from his sixth year the child should be an "educated child" for his age, should love his lesson books, and enjoy a terminal examination on the books he has read. Children brought up largely on books compare favourably with those educated on a few books and many lectures; they have generous enthusiasms, keen sympathies, a wide outlook and sound judgment, because they are treated from the first as beings of "large discourse looking before and after." They are persons of leisure too, with time for hobbies, because their work is easily done in the hours of morning school. (Page 305)

Citizen Science

2011-12-12T22:33:00.020-05:00

Pamela and I have enjoyed the Great Backyard Bird Count every February for the past few years. This year we are stepping up our citizen science program by trying out Project Feeder Watch. We joined the program for only $15: they mailed to us a handbook with instructions, a calendar (which Pamela loved), a bird identification poster, and a sample tally sheet. Feeder watch season runs from November through April. The handbook contains detailed information about how to set up a feeding station, which you can view from indoors (it is winter after all). You can also download a free guide designed for homeschoolers. Ours has three different feeders (two different kinds of tubes and suet), seed on the brickwork, and a bird bath. The feeders hand from the camellia "tree" (it is really a shrub that is tall as a tree), which never sheds its leaves. Ivy below the tree provides ground cover for the chipping sparrows. Shrubs and pine straw near the brickwork offer similar protection.

A few weeks ago, I took apart all three feeders, emptied them, and scrubbed them down. I let Pamela practice some problem solving and use tools by helping me put them back together again.

Last Friday and Saturday, we spent time looking out the kitchen door window, watching and counting the birds. The idea is about the same as the Great Backyard Bird Count: record the maximum number of each kind of bird you see at one time. Then, take the maximum number of each kind of bird throughout the two days. The handbook explains the process of setting up the bird station and counting the birds very clearly.

Here are our results:

If you have not developed the habit of bird watching, here are links to earlier posts that might help you get started: scaffolding beginners, inspiration, Great Backyard Bird Count February 15, 2008, February 13, 2009, February 14, 2009, February 18, 2011, painted bunting, head-banger hawk, baltimore oriole.

Hope and Faith

2011-12-11T23:31:00.001-05:00

A Facebook friend posted a link to an article about Representative Gabby Giffords' road to recovery since being shot in the head last January. The first minute-and-a-half of the radio program compares an interview with Gabby four years ago to her reading from her husband's new book. Her halted delivery reminded me of how Pamela reads. The description of Gabby's expressive language reminds me Pamela's road to language:

"It's very difficult to carry on a conversation. It becomes very one-sided."
"Her language is still halting — mostly one- or two-word thoughts."
"We can have a conversation — it's difficult for her. She struggles; she gets frustrated."
"Now, Giffords speaks in full sentences, according to Kelly. The challenge for her, he says, is stringing those sentences together."
"Language recovery has come slowly."
"I've come to learn that your brain can rewire itself to some extent. And she can find where those words are now located."

Isn't it amazing that a gun shot to the head causes the same kind of challenges Pamela faces with autism and aphasia?

While Giffords goes through hours of rigorous speech therapy every day, Pamela and I both burned out on it. Unlike Giffords who has already mastered the language once, Pamela is still building language from scratch. Giffords has been at it for less than a year; Pamela has been at it for twenty!

Last week, we were doing "exams" as I posted earlier. Our exams look very differently from what is usually done in this No Child Left Untested world because exams are basically narrations. I ask her to tell me about a topic, and Pamela shares what she knows. This exam is on mythology. Because she is not ready for the book listed for the year we are doing for CLUSA, I substituted an Ambleside Online book we have never read: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Wonder Book.

I asked Pamela to tell me about her favorite story of the two we read last term, but she wanted to narrate both. The text of the two narrations are quite different and I have been pondering why. The story of King Midas was less complicated than the story of Perseus and Medusa: it involved fewer characters, fewer changes of scenes, and fewer plot developments. It had more of a repeated narrative (much like fairy tales). She could personally relate to the realistic elements of "The Golden Touch" while the story about Medusa contained far more fantasy. Pamela has an interest in children and the character of Marygold captured her imagination from the very beginning.

Pamela's knack for calendars and anachronisms came to light here. Hawthorne stated that Midas had turned a book into gold, but Pamela knew that the story was set in "B.C. times" and, therefore, he must have turned a scroll into gold. She may have trouble fully expressing her thoughts, but her chronology is superior to one of America's great authors.

Many years ago, before I learned other ways to approach language deficiencies, I drilled speech anomalies to the point of killing any joy Pamela felt in sharing her thoughts. Now, rather than stop her in the middle of a narration, I patiently listen because I know that recitation, copywork, studied dictation, and living books are more respectful ways to address grammar and speech glitches. All I do in the context of a narration is rephrase what she said to matching closely what she said in more correct English.

In the video, I edited out the long pauses between Pamela's initial sentences. I am not the most patient person, so, during this exam, I am knitting socks to prevent myself from jumping in too soon. When Pamela finally ran out of things to say, I probed a little further through declarative language. Asking questions that are too specific with clear right or wrong answers box her into a corner. Making declarative comments gives her aphasia a little wiggle room. I was fairly certain Pamela remembered Medusa's snake hair, so I guided her to it through declarative language. I reworded myself to give her a couple of opportunities, and Pamela didn't catch my drift until I asked about what animal her hair was like. You can see by her body language that she is quite confident in this process and she does not feel pressured or frustrated.

I will close an excerpt from the final page of Giffords' book, written and read in her own words and voice: "It's frustrating, mentally hard, hard work." Fortunately, we have learned to find joy, hope, and faith in this journey toward language.

Gorgon's Head. They had. He had a pierce. They had sword. They had cut your head. They had a fighting with kill Medusa's head Medusa's head was wicked. They had a shoe. They fly away. They had a horse, had a wing. Was cut. Medusa's hair was cut. Alive. Snake. Die. Medusa's head turn to stone.

Do Golden Touch: King Midas had a little girl named Marygold. They turned into gold. They had a strangers. They had rose turn into a gold. Scroll turn into gold. They cannot read. The stuff breakfast turn into gold. They cannot eat. They feel sad. They count the money. Marygold turn into statues. Feel sad. They had the water. They get rid of the gold. Marygold turned back to normal.

The Proper Care and Feeding of Worms

2011-12-10T15:00:00.001-05:00

In the past few months, I have touched on our vermicomposting experience. I had blogged more posts on worms in my head, and now I will share them with you. Yeah, it's been busy.

Sequence of Events

We spent a few weeks preparing bedding for the worm bin: newspaper, toilet paper and paper towel rollers, cardboard boxes, egg cartons, drink cartons, etc. I plan to put some of our fall leaves to good use too.
Since I did not want to invest in some pricey worm bin until we knew what we were doing, we made a cheap one out of Rubbermaid bins: Red Worm Composting's "Deluxe" Worm Bin. I blogged a bit about making the worm bin.
We prepped the proper food for worms (basically, raw vegetable and fruit waste, coffee grounds, egg shells). We set up the bin with bedding, food, and a little bit of dirt and left it alone for two weeks as recommended by the guys at Red Worm Composting before ordering the worms.
We ordered a pound of red worms from a supplier here in Carolina! The following video shows Pamela opening up the box of worms that came by U. S. Mail.

Here is how the worms looked on the first day they arrived. You cannot see them but they are there.

Here is a photograph of them today.

Every once in a while, we pull off the top layer of bedding and study the worms. Pamela has made two entries in her nature notebook so far.

Worms are more low maintenance than I expected if you keep in mind a couple of tips. I keep them in the laundry room with the light on at all times. They have a habit of trying to escape before they become accustomed to their new surroundings. We occasionally have a small outbreak of fruit flies, which I deal with in a natural way: (1) put a thick layer of bedding on top of the food and (2) keep a dish of cider vinegar mixed with dish soap near the bin (the vinegar attracts them and the dish soap traps them). I feed them only once a week and left them unattended for ten days when we went to Kansas. I am not sure how long is too long. January is the earliest we can harvest castings, but I can tell you we are already seeing a solid amount of black gold for the garden.

Since Pamela has learned quite a bit about worms through first hand experience, I picked the topic of worms for her nature study exam. Exams in a Charlotte Mason style of education are stress-free. All Pamela needs to do is tell me what she knows about worms. A couple of times I follow up with questions designed to let her narrate what she knows but has not thought to share with me. She did a lovely job of narrating what she has learned about vermicomposting this term.

This video illustrates the nature of aphasia well. Sometimes, Pamela speaks in full clear sentences. At other times, single words pop in her head. One thing that has really opened up her confidence, even when semantics and syntax are lagging, is what I learned from Relationship Development Intervention: keep a slow pace and give her time to think, avoid the temptation to correct her all the time, rephrase what she says with no pressure for her to repeat, encourage nonverbal communication, etc. In fact, following these three tips in communicating with a person with autism can forever change their ability to communicate back.

I love the ending when she says, "Feel happy," and kisses me on my arm. How many teachers do you know get kissed after an exam?

The worm was wiggling. It had small head, and it's eating foods. Worms had a hole. Go in. Worm's head doesn't have holes. Holes on the box. We have bananas. Yummy! Box, dirt, poop. Poop look yucky! BROWN POOP! It has dirt yucky. It's pink line. No legs. Get ready for the food and box. Paper was ripped: the bags, papers, white paper, newspaper. They set up the home. They get the new worms from the mail. Feel happy.

101 Plus One for Good Luck

2011-12-09T21:16:00.002-05:00

Around this time last year, I shared Pamela narrating a fairy tale in Spanish (Ricitos de Oro y los tres osos). We spent the fall listening to another fairy tale (Caperucita Roja). New readers to my blog may wonder why Pamela is learning Spanish when she is still working on English as a first language. My husband was born and raised in Latin America. Half of our extended family is fluent in English and Spanish, and we occasionally travel to El Salvador to visit them. More importantly, Pamela enjoys learning her father's language.

Back in 2010, I shared our plan to build an ear for Spanish. We teach Spanish completely orally through audio books while we study and point to pictures and sing folk songs. Last year's blog post explains our rationale, so I will not repeat it here. Because Steve is in Kansas, we found it hard to record series, so we are testing out a program for CLUSA that meets the criteria of focusing on audio and pictures in the early stages of picking up a second language. The two of us are making progress in hearing Spanish and speaking it a bit.

While we are focusing on receptive language, her expressive language is coming along, too. I assessed how her Spanish is coming along in several ways. I said words in Spanish and she pointed to pictures and I said words in Spanish and she told me what they meant in English. Pamela sang two folk songs that she learned this year ("El Coqui" and "Al Tambor"). She also narrated "Little Red Riding Hood" in Spanish while looking at pictures scanned and printed from the storybook (which I keep hidden to prevent her from seeing written words). Pamela correctly identified 102 words or phrases covered this term. She knows even more words from last year, so her understanding of Spanish is improving. She is doing so well, I think she will be ready for copywork and reading next year!

Vocabulary Words: la abuela, la abuelita, adiós, adónde, allí, amarillo, el amigo, el árbol, el autobús, el automóvil, auxilio, el avión, bebiendo, el bocado, bonita, el bosque, la cama, caminaba, la camisa, el camisón, cansado, cantar, la carne, la casa, cerró, comerte, comiendo, comió, el coqui, corría, la cuchara, la cuchillo, de, de bajo, despacio, el día, el diente, dijo, donde, dormido, en, enferma, enorme, está , la flor, fuera, las gafas, el gorro, grande, guapo, la hacha, hasta la vista, el huevo, el lápiz, la leche, el leñador, el lobo, malo, la mamá, la mano, la mantequilla, la manzana, el médico, la mesa, morado, muy bien, el nariz, la niña, el niño, nunca, el ojo, olerte, la oreja, el pan, pasa, pequeño, la piedra, el plato, el pollo, por favor, la puerta, qué asco, quién es, rico, rojo, la señora, la silla, sobre, socorro, soy yo, el tambor, la taza, el tazón, el tenedor, tengo hambre, tengo sueño, el vaso, a ver, verte, vivan, y, la zanahoria

Spanish Folk Songs

When you watch the video of Pamela, you might think she is reading. She is not. She is looking at pictures of the story and narrating what she recalls. I love how Pamela references me by turning to look at me face-to-face when she needs help with a word. She did this three times for orejas, nariz, and leñador. Her narration is a combination of memorized script but also her original wording. Many times in her narration, she uses different words not originally in the book.

"Little Red Riding Hood"

Caperucita Roja: Su mamá. She’s so bonita. Un día su mamá Caperucita Roja, “Capericita Roja, abuelita enferma. Por favor, llévale cesta.” “Muy bien, mamá,” dijo Caperucito. Caperucita Roja, cuando de repente salió un lobo detrás árbol. “¿Caperucita Roja, adónde vas?” “Mi abuelita, alli.” “Adiós, Caperucita Roja. Hasta la vista.” “Adiós, Señor Lobo.” Caperucita Roja caminaba despacio, muy despacio bosque. “Una flor bonita. ¡Flor, qué bonita!” Y el lobo corría y corría. Caperucita Roja caminaba despacio, muy despacio. “Bonita flor. ¡Qué bonita!” Y el lobo corría, corría. Caperucita Roja caminaba despacio. Esta bien bosque. “Bonita. ¡Qué bonita!” Wolf corría, corría. El lobo tan, tan. “¿Quién es?” dijo abuelita. “Soy yo, Caperucita Roja.” “Pasa, pasa, querida.” Lobo comió se. Y lobo. “¡Yuck! No me gustó abuelita. Tengo hambre... Caperucita Roja.” Lobo camisón, gorro, gafas. “¡Qué guapo!” Caperucita Roja despacio. “Flor enorme. ¡Qué bonita!” Caperucita Roja tan, tan. “¿Quién es?” dijo lobo. “Soy yo, Caperucita Roja,” dijo Caperucita. “¡Abuelita, qué ojos!” Dijo lobo. “Abuelita, abuelita ¡qué tienes más!”—What’s nose?“ Nariz, nariz más grande. Abuelita, abuelita ¡qué tienes más!”—What’s ears means? “Orejas. Abuelita, abuelita dientes los.” Y el lobo comió Caperucita. “¡Muy rica! ¡Una cestita! ¡Leche! No me gusta leche. ¡Fuera! A ver... ¡mantequilla! No me gusta mantequilla. El pan.” Lobo. Caperucita Roja. “¡Qué sueño tengo! ¡Lleno estoy!” Dormido. Poco después lobo—Woodcutter means? Y leñador see lobo. “¡Auxilio! ¡Socorro!” Un leñador say, “Crash!” Un leñador, Caperucita Roja y abuelita. Caperucita Roja y abuelita más y más. El lobo is done. !Ohhhhhh! And lobo nunca más volvió. Caperucita Roja dijo y abuela, “¡Muy rica!”

Little Red Riding Hood: Her mother is so pretty. One day, her mother to Little Red Riding Home. One day, her mother Little Red Riding Hood, “Little Red Riding Hood, grandmother sick. Please take basket.” “Yes, Mom,” said Little Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood, when suddenly came a bad wolf from behind a tree. “Little Red Riding Hood, where are you going?” “My grandmother, over there.” “Good-bye, Little Red Riding Hood. See you soon.” “Good-bye, Mr. Wolf.” Little Red Riding Hood walked slowly, very slowly woods. “A pretty flower. Flower, how pretty!” And the wolf ran and ran. Little Red Riding Hood walked slowly, very slowly. “Pretty flower. How pretty!” And the wolf ran, ran. Little Red Riding Hood walked slowly. It is good woods. “Pretty. How pretty!” Wolf ran, ran. The lobo knock, knock. “Who is it?” said grandmother. “It’s Little Red Riding Hood.” “Come in, come in, dear.” Wolf eats her. And wolf. “Yuck! I don’t like grandmother. I’m hungry... Little Red Riding Hood.” Wolf nightgown, cap, glasses. Little Red Riding Hood slowly. “Large flower. How pretty!” Little Red Riding Hood knock, knock. “Who is it?” said wolf. “It’s Little Red Riding Hood,” said Little Riding Hood. Said wolf. “Grandma, grandma, what you have big!”—What’s nose? “Nose, very big nose. Grandma, grandma what you have big!”—What’s ears means? “Ears. Grandma, grandma the teeth.” And the wolf ate Little Riding Hood. “Very tasty! A little basket! Milk! I don’t like milk. Get out! Let’s see... butter! I don’t like butter! The bread.” Wolf. Little Red Riding Hood. “I’m sleepy! I’m full.” He slept. A little later wolf—Woodcutter means? And woodcutter see wolf. “Help! Help!” A woodcutter say, “Crash!” A woodcutter, Little Red Riding Hood, and grandma. LIttle Red Riding Hood and grandma more and more. The wolf is done. “!Ohhhhhh!” And wolf never came back. Little Red Riding Hood said and Grandma, “¡Very tasty!” 

A Broad Range of Communication

2011-12-05T08:30:00.003-05:00

Communication is more than text. We have been doing exams, which are narrations of what Pamela learned in Term 1. I have been recording the exams so I can write a transcript of them. We made it all the way through Act III, Scene I of Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar"—yes, we are really reading the entire play, unabridged, bits at a time, after watching a BBC recording of the passage. Reading just the transcript only tells you the words she used and what she remembered to share. Since Pamela struggles with aphasia, you might not be impressed by what she had to say.

He is marching: Caesar. Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! They saw Brutus. They saw a fortuneteller. Ides of March. Beware of the Ides of March. They had a fortuneteller because they had a rain. Caesar was sick because party. Brutus whack Caesar. Caesar death. They had Mark Antony. Mark Antony was angry. They are having a funeral.

There are many things you cannot tell from pure text. Does Pamela enjoy reading Shakespeare, or is it a deadly dull droning of meaningless words for her? Would she be able to act out any of the play? Does the story affect her emotions? Since Pamela said so little about over two acts of a five-act play, should I give up on the bard? Why give a person with autism a task that befuddles high schoolers who speak English and understand emotion perfectly well?

Now try reading the text with a description of Pamela's nonverbal communication. Clearly, she could act out some scenes in the play for Pamela was quite active even though she sat during her narration. Her emotions change appropriately throughout the narration. Her shifts of attention to me reveals a high level of comfort with the material.

He is marching: Caesar. [Turns her head to me abruptly. Almost like a soldier. Chants and pumps fist.] Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! [Giggles and recovers her composure.] They saw Brutus. [Gazes at me.] They saw a fortuneteller. [Laughs. Turns hand as if doing an aside.] Ides of March. [Looks to the camera. Imitates the tone of the fortuneteller in the BBC play.] Beware of the Ides of March. They had a fortuneteller because they had a rain. [Looks at me again.] Caesar was sick because party. [Leans head back. Strikes her chest.] Brutus whack Caesar. [Feigns death.] Caesar death. [Turns head to think. Looks at me again.] They had Mark Antony. [Quickens pace of speech.] Mark Antony was angry. [Acts angry and covers face.] They are having a funeral.

You still do not have a clear picture of how the play captures Pamela's imagination until you see how she narrates it. As you watch Pamela narrate, keep in mind, as my friend Di points out in her presentation on communication,

Children with ASD found to experience particular difficulty with:
gaze shifts,
shared positive affect,
joint attention,
using a range of communication means and functions,
use of gestures/non-verbal's,
social affective signaling and
imitation.

Relationship Development Intervention helped me become a better guide to Pamela so that she could broaden her ability to communicate more effectively (among other things). By decreasing my verbal communication, I gave Pamela the chance to be an equal and competent partner. By increasing my nonverbal communication, Pamela learned to understand it and communicate nonverbally herself. By slowing down and feeling comfortable with long pauses, I gave her time to process what I communicated and think through her own response. (Check out Di's presentation for more specifics on this.)

I edited out my part in setting up and keeping the narration going. My role was completely opposite to what is usually recommended for teaching autistic children to speak.

I began with a very open-ended question: "What do you know about the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare?"
I did not interrupt her to correct grammatical errors.
I gazed at her attentively, smiled (because I truly enjoyed watching her narrate), and affirmed her with nods.
I did not hit her with a bunch of nit-picky questions that would cause her to falter.

The whole point of narration is to share what you know, which comes instinctively to most of us anyway. If you are a bit foggy on this effective, quick, and inexpensive way to assess children, check out this classic article: We Narrate and Then We Know.

"I Need to Be Inspired"

2011-11-27T23:22:00.004-05:00

Every Wednesday afternoon, I get to enjoy "the delightful commerce of equal minds" with first through third graders in our church afterschool program. In a blogpost for ChildLightUSA last summer, I described how children outside a Mason paradigm can learn to embrace the science of relations. In that post, I voiced a hope that we could transition to reading from the Bible, line by line, so that they could directly connect to God through His word. In September, we started the first verse of Mark's Gospel and, next week, we will finish the fifth chapter of Mark. Every Wednesday, I leave inspired by watching children read passages straight from the New Testament and ask questions like "Why did Jesus send the spirits into the pigs?" "How could Jesus sleep through a storm?" "Why do the lawyers want to kill Jesus? He's healing people!" "Why did Jesus tell the leper he couldn't talk about how he was healed?"

I love their questions and often give them time to try to answer them on their own. Sometimes, I have no answer and we continue to ponder from week to week. Their insight stuns me.

To give them a sense of place in which Jesus ministered, I drew a map and add new places to it when we read about them. One day, the children asked how the Dead Sea got its name. The next week I showed them pictures of people floating in it, and we applied trial and error to figure out how many tablespoons of salt would make a boiled egg float in water. When we read about the fishermen, I found pictures of the first century A.D. fishing boat revealed during a drought near the Sea of Galilee in 1986. When we read about the healing of the paralyzed man in Peter's house, I showed them pictures of the archealogical digs in Capernaum.

We read from a verse-by-verse translation designed for children with its clear language and storyboarded illustrations. I encourage curiosity by weaving it into our class activity. The picture of the parable of the new wine in new wineskins grossed them out. "Why are those people stepping on grapes?" I researched winemaking and answered their questions the following week. We explored a cousin of the winemaking yeast (Baker's yeast), so they could see the temperature and food needs of yeast. The children marveled at the bubbles released once we properly activated the yeast, and one little girl commented, "That smell reminds me of dance class!" One little boy narrated to his mother what one should and should not do with yeast when she came to pick him up. The following week, we made bread and some children kneaded for the first time in their lives. One little girl told me, "I asked my mother if I can have some pet yeast." Before they left that day, I showed them how much it had risen. I froze the dough and the week after that they made rolls.

Since I avoid worksheets and contrived activities explicitly connected to the lesson, I try to help them learn about God through His world. One week I brought my bird for the children to study and draw. Another week I brought a dead sad underwing moth and a dead swallowtail. Sometimes, the children draw what I have planned, but at other times they draw what inspires them. One boy brought in a book about Mozart (one of those twaddly series books) and I happened to have my classical CDs with me. I played the overture to the Magic Flute as well as other music by "Wolfie." He ended up drawing his own magic flute that day. I always have some yarn on hand to teach anyone interested finger-knitting. One of the teenagers who volunteers to help the children with their homework asked to learn. The following Sunday, my son came home from church wearing a hot pink scarf made by finger-knitting three scarves and braiding them together.

One child in particular excels in the "friction of wills." Rather than forcing total compliance, we offer several options: do the activity or something with the materials on hand, help a classmate, or quietly watch. We have learned that this child will seem reluctant at first and, when allowed to make the choice to join us, will participate with great gusto. One day, our church secretary loaned me some mounted insects she had purchased from Ben the Butterfly Guy. Ben, who lives in Peru, pays friends and families to gather dead butterflies for him to sell. By making butterflies an economic resource, people have the incentive to care for the eco-system that sustains them. I knew my class would love observing and drawing these ginormous insects!

As usual, our strong-willed student was adamant about wanting to do homework to maximize playtime. We stuck to the game plan we always use: do, help, or watch. One by one, I pulled out an insect and walked around the room for each student to get a close look. Then, I set them in different spots around the table so they could get out materials (watercolor or markers) and draw or paint whateve caught their eye. At the sight of the pink-winged grasshopper, the eyes of our headstrong kiddo nearly popped. We heard "I have to draw that grasshopper" and twenty minutes of steady concentration yielded a colorful and accurate drawing. The child was quite pleased with the results and could not wait to show the family.

Later, we gently chided the child. "Look at you! You wanted to do homework and look how much you enjoyed drawing your grasshopper." The child smiled and talked about all the details that generated the most interest and thoughtfully concluded, "I need to be inspired."

What a revelation and insight into the mind!

Had we turned the "friction of wills" into a "battle of wills" our friend might have never made such important self-discovery. We would have missed the chance to learn how best to appeal to our friend's mind with inspiration rather than harassment. What an important lesson on personhood for us all!
We as teachers depreciate ourselves and our office; we do not realise that in the nature of things the teacher has a prophetic power of appeal and inspiration, that his part is not the weariful task of spoon-feeding with pap-meat, but the delightful commerce of equal minds where his is the part of guide, philosopher and friend. The friction of wills which makes school work harassing ceases to a surprising degree when we deal with the children, mind to mind, through the medium of knowledge. (Pages 237-238)

Pictures of the Critters:
Giant Brown Grasshopper (Tropidacris dux)

Pink-winged Butterfly (Lophacris cristata)

Owl Eyes Butterfly (Caligo memnon)

Pamela's Nature Notebook Entries:

Avoiding a Culture of Overload

2011-11-26T11:58:00.168-05:00

"More is better" thinking is everywhere. When making calls to set up wireless Internet at Steve's apartment, I stunned sales peeps by declining bundles. How could anyone turn down all those channels at such low prices? They laughed when I suggested calling me back when they offer the few channels that I really want for a lot less.

It is so hard to avoid "More is better" thinking. We stuff ourselves on Thanksgiving and follow it up shopping until we drop on Black Friday. Our textbooks are getting heavier and curriculum, more extensive because every topic a student could possible learn must be covered during the K-12 years. We even feel guilty if we do not hit every single ride, attraction, or exhibit when on vacation or touring a museum.

That is why the "more is less" thinking behind a Charlotte Mason philosophy of education is so liberating.

Yesterday was Black Friday. Except for books, I am neither browser or shopper. When I buy clothes, I go in like a SEAL team. I know my mission, and I get in and out of the store as fast as humanly possible. Black Friday doesn't tempt me in the least. So, how did Pamela, Steve, and I spend the day? We spent our Black Friday bucks on lunch at an authentic Thai food restaurant, two McCoffees, parking and a donation at an art museum, four postcards, notecards, a can of whole cranberry sauce, and a can of fruit cocktail. We even applied "more is less" thinking at the museum, skipping outdoor sculptures and the exhibits upstairs.

So, how does one avoid overload at a museum in which it just wouldn't feel right if one didn't hit each and every room? We focused on the science of relations, or the relationships that we already have with items in the gallery. I scouted the website for artists we have already studied through picture study. Our top priority was to see the works of people we know well (Monet and Millet). We strolled from room to room until we found three paintings by the former and one by the latter: Boulevard des Capucines, View of Argenteuil—Snow, Mill at Limetz, and Waiting. Pamela's favorite was Monet's Boulevard des Capucines, but mine was Millet's Waiting. I loved the story behind Waiting, illustrated by Tobit's blind father with his walking stick and his mother Anna, eagerly waiting for their son. I admired the details of rural life: a beautiful sky, the perching crows, the sheep poking their heads out of the pen, etc. I kept looking at the ginger cat, wondering what was causing it to hiss and arch its back. Will we ever learn the source of the cat's discomfort?

As Pamela has not been formally introduced to van Gogh, our artist for the next term, I opted for a picture study in reverse. I described to her the picture of interest (Olive Orchard) and let her find it from all the ones in the room. I managed to record this digitally and I love how carefully Pamela listens and looks for the painting I'm narrating. After she spotted it, we sat on a bench and enjoyed the view.

This picture of Pamela cracks me up for it reminds me of Rodin's The Thinker. And, whose exhibition do you think is visiting Kansas City? Rodin! One Facebook friend asked if Pamela's mirror neurons kicked in, but I couldn't recall seeing The Thinker. But, indeed, it was there and somehow we missed it!

"True painting is only an image of the perfection of God, a shadow of the pencil with which he paints, a melody, a striving after harmony." Michelangelo

Blessings

2011-11-13T14:11:00.004-05:00

This morning started out like any other Sunday morning. Pamela and I headed to Sunday school class with a devotional about the hymn Count Your Blessings printed out. Our class has spent the summer studying hymns, their history, their meaning, and their impact on the lives of people. The author of this hymn was a retail and insurance salesman and, if he had time to compose 5,000 gospel songs, he probably had many down cycles in his work life. In the class discussion, I brought up how people can be going through similar circumstances with very different outlooks on life. I gave the example of autism and how some families become bitter and angry while others find blessings in disguise. What helps me do the latter is to keep my focus on God, not circumstances.

Right now, Steve is working in Kansas, so we do not get to spend as much time with him as we would like. His absence has unfolded a disguised blessing for us. While I am in the choir room practicing and sitting with the choir until the sermon begins, Pamela sits in the pew alone. If Steve were there, his careful vigilance would prevent her from doing something distracting and the people around her would miss the joy she brings to the service. Here are the blessings I am counting today:

Before the service began, one of the elders gave Pamela a happy meal toy. He knows she is on a special diet, so he collects toys to give to her from time to time. She smiled and told him, "That's a good one!"
She sat in the same pew as our associate pastor's family. Today, his wife was caring for their four-year-old granddaughter. Pamela sat next to the girl, sweetly held her hand, and kissed it. When asked about the little girl at lunch, Pamela told me, "We're friends."
She exuberantly and loudly recited "The Lord's Prayer." There was a time when reciting in unison with a large group was impossible because Pamela found it difficult to time her actions with others. Today, she was just a hair's breadth behind everyone else, which meant I heard her from the choir. After everyone said, "Amen," she bellowed, "AMEN!" So many people came to me after the service to share how inspiring they find her recitation. "If only we all could recite like we really mean it."
With Steve gone, Pamela has taken the responsibility of turning in our offering envelop. Pamela was so excited she stood up as soon as the deacons headed down the aisle, got tired of waiting, sat down, and then stood up again. "If only we all could give with such joy."

What strikes me most is not only the small miracles I see in Pamela, but it how people respond to her. I have read stories that break my heart about how poorly God's people treat families with special needs. Our kids can be awkward. Their behaviors disrupt the well-oiled machine of church ritual. They remind us that God doesn't always heal the way we want.

My church family really does get Ephesians 3:17-18, which our pastor quoted in his sermon today. They delight in sharing sweet moments with Pamela and telling me about them later. They see the blessings in what Pamela does, not the distractions. The "wide and long and his and deep" love of Christ pours out of their hearts when they see her doing something atypical.

I will not deny that sometimes life with autism is difficult beyond belief. On days like that, blessings are next to impossible to see. Just as life inspires the great truths in hymns of yesteryear, the ups and downs of life inspire hymns being written today. If you are having one of those days, I encourage you to warm yourself with your favorite hot beverage and read the story behind the song, Blessings. Singer-songwriter Laura Story may not know autism but she knows how to see blessings in the most difficult of circumstances.

Ephesians 3:17-18 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Images of Delight

2011-11-08T12:39:00.004-05:00

Charlotte Mason visualized the art training of young children along two lines: the ability to express himself and the ability to appreciate. "His appreciation should be well in advance of his power to express what he sees or imagines" (page 307). Through picture study, Pamela learns to appreciate the work of master artists by observing their masterpieces carefully and describing each work in her own words. We focus on one artist at a time, studying their pictures and reading of their lives when we can find a living book. Pamela is already making connections of her own about art, that the style of Millet and Monet look similar and that painting really became alive with da Vinci as the Middle Ages waned.

Pamela is also learning to express herself through art, and watercolor classes with a wonderful teacher are helping Pamela develop a lovely sense of style and color. On Sunday, the local artisans held an open house and reception to meet all of the artists and their students. They were kind enough to display the artwork of students to encourage people interested, but perhaps hesitant about taking classes. As she isn't quite the conversationalist, we popped in for about 45 minutes. We checked out all the artwork, took pictures of her with her own display, and greeted some of the artists. Then, she sat in her favorite spot (the yellow couch) where she takes little breaks during class.

I overheard one artist describe the most important aspect of drawing: the ability to see, truly see an object, which is exactly what we try to do in a Mason philosophy of education:

This is what we wish to do for children in teaching them to draw––to cause the eye to rest, not unconsciously, but consciously, on some object of beauty which will leave in their minds an image of delight for all their lives to come. Children of six and seven draw budding twigs of oak and ash, beech and larch, with such tender fidelity to colour, tone, and gesture, that the crude little drawings are in themselves things of beauty. (Page 313)

Our friends are very kind and encouraging about the scans of Pamela's watercolors that I post on Facebook. The other artists were sweet to Pamela too, even though she didn't quite know how to work a crowd. After we made an early exit as planned, a potter from Edisto toured the gallery. She loved Pamela's framed turtle enough to ask about buying. Wow! A real person who is not a friend thought that highly of her painting.

These classes have been indispensable. Pamela and I have learned so much about watercolor, drawing, and technical elements of art. She started in the spring of 2010 and took a year hiatus when her teacher gave birth to her third child. She jumped right back into classes as soon as they started up again. Here are two monochromatic landscapes; she painted the before in 2010 and the after in 2011. These two watercolors show clearly how much more refined Pamela has become in her painting and her style.

Before (Spring 2010)

After (Fall 2011)

Pamela at Her Display

The Watercolors of Classmates

Watercolor Pieces in Chronological Order

Studies - Sometimes, before starting a project, Pamela's teacher will have the class do a study that improves their ability to see and express what they see. At the beginning of the year, they tried out different kinds of brush strokes. The color value strips prepared Pamela to do the shading and shadows of the pink cake. The warm/cool colors were for the apple: the warm colors for the fruit and the cool colors for shading and shadows. The fronds taught us all lessons on what not to do for the palmetto tree. The bold green with salt sprinkles helped her see the effects of salt for the monochromatic landscape. The color star showed complementary colors for her pumpkin.

This is the background of the palmetto tree. The cloud studies she did in the first term of the school year have paid off. Pamela painted this background confidently and quickly.

Wonder-Girl

2011-11-04T15:15:00.001-04:00

Pamela never, I mean NEVER, ceases to amaze me. She read this passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling of King Midas and the golden touch in The Wonder-Book for Boys and Girls.

He took up a book from the table. At his first touch, it assumed the appearance of such a splendidly bound and gilt-edged volume as one often meets with, nowadays; but, on running his fingers through the leaves, behold! it was a bundle of thin golden plates, in which all the wisdom of the book had grown illegible.

When she narrated it, Pamela corrected his anachronistic description of the greedy monarch turning a book into gold by substituting the word scroll for book. She knew very well that these stories date back to ancient Greece, which are in B.C. times as she calls them, and that people read from scrolls, not books!

For the past two weeks, she has asked me to pick books randomly, out of chronological order. She turned it into a game by covering her eyes with her hand and asking me to make a sound to give her a clue. When I made the sound, she giggled and screamed with delight. All that changed yesterday for Pamela went back to asking for books in chronological order with a slight refinement of her old system. She inserted a hymn about Jesus between the readings on Caesar andAlfred the Great, followed by a reading set in the 11th century and music by a Baroque composer.

Then, Pamela really amazed me. Yesterday, she made four fascinating time charts in her free time. Starting at 10,000 B.C., she broke up time into thousand year chunks. You can tell what two persons and what great book have impressed Pamela. Once she hit A.D. times, Pamela shifted to century blocks. She shifted to decades once she hit the twentieth century. You can see Pamela's keen eye for the development of her favorite kind of technology. I chuckled when I saw the final block: 2010 - ???? AD.

Did I mention she did this in her free time? The best feedback on how homeschooling is going happens when you aren't homeschooling!

Some find it hard to believe that children can learn to put people and events in proper order when we have several threads of history going at once. In her book addressing children between the ages of six and nine, Mason recommended using a timeline, which we did when our children were younger, or a table of centuries. While we have never done a table of centuries, what Pamela did today looks a great deal like what is illustrated in an article on teaching chronology. I love that Pamela's own brainchild dovetails so nicely with our philosophy of education!

But, even better than that, Pamela continues to make progress in her social thinking:

On Halloween, we delivered meals on wheels in the pouring rain. It was wet and miserable, and Pamela was recovering from a mild cold. A few hours before sunset, Pamela told me to go to Walmart to get candy. Then, she promised she was taking her babies trick-or-treating in 2012.

On Tuesday, our study group was meeting. One of the moms was out in the hall, holding her baby. Pamela smiled and watched them. Then, she walked over to them and held the baby's hand. My friend knew I had brought one of Pamela's babies to show everyone the scarf she had fingerknitted, so the mom asked, "Where's your baby?" Pamela ran off, went to my box of stuff, grabbed her baby, ran back to my friend, and showed off her baby.

And, if that wasn't enough, on Wednesday, I was teaching at our church's afterschool program. Pamela looked in the window of the door to the classroom and all the kids said, "There's Pamela!" She walked into the room, waved her hands, and said, "Hi, kids!" She stuck around long enough for several to tell her their names before she bolted. Fifteen minutes later, one of the boys struck up a conversation with her while he was on his way to the restroom. Someone else was escorting him, so I have no idea what was said. However, there were several exchanges back and forth.

Of course, face blindness (not being able to recognize people by faces, especially if they are in the "wrong" place) did rear its ugly head too. After watercolor class on Thursday, we bumped into one of the ladies from the class in the checkout line at Walmart. We started chatting and, when Pamela came up to us, I asked Pamela, "Do you remember Mrs. X? We just saw her." Pamela looked puzzled and asked, "Is it church? Meals on wheels?"

Oh, well, you can't win all the time!

P.S. About an hour ago (in her free time), Pamela said, "11th century is Middle Ages. What about 1500?" So, I explained to her that when it was changing to the Reformation and Renaissance. She added, "Yes, and painting!"

Book of Centuries

2011-10-20T21:49:00.003-04:00

History is the story of the way in which man has learned, and is still learning, how to live: of how through long centuries he has sought to satisfy the practical needs of his body, the questioning of his mind, and the searching of his spirit. It is the story of the greatest adventure in the world, this story of how man, from very small beginnings, has progressed in body, mind, and spirit. ~ Dorothy Mills

When I was in school, history was not "the greatest adventure in the world." It was downright boring. History was my least favorite subject in school, and, over time, much of what I memorized for the test flew out of my head. Textbooks had all the adventure squeezed out of them to make room for dates, facts, and other "important" things. I learned only what was required to get an A. What I had to regurgitate was just factoids that went in one ear and out the other once I turned in the textbook for good. History was history after graduation.

I fell in love with history as an adult, reading and discussing living books, usually written for the young, with my children. I enjoy reading nonfiction history, historical fiction, biographies, etc. especially those written by people with a passion for their subject. Thanks to reading wide and varied living books, I remember more history now than I ever did before. And, I don't even study! I want to know more because history really is a great adventure, when well told.

I learn interesting tidbits all the time. Do you know that Wisconsin is nicknamed the Badger State, but not because of the animal? Or, that President James Garfield came up with an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem? I get to follow people in their personal quests and journeys: facing dangers in the Lewis and Clark expedition, winding through twists and turns to invent the telephone, helping family and friends survive an epidemic to which the protagonist have immunity, and finding a new home after seeing your old village burned down to the ground. I sometimes find myself taking a peeking ahead after a particularly exciting chapter. Sometimes, I even stay up until the wee hours of the morning to read straight through to the end.

The most challenging aspect of teaching this way is finding books that are living without being moralizing. Not much has changed in the century and a half since Mason wrote, "There is nothing which calls for more delicate tact and understanding sympathy with the children than this apparently simple matter of choosing their lesson-books, and especially, perhaps, their lesson-books in history."

Charlotte Mason imagined the mind as a beautiful home which we fill with ideas found in storehouses (living books). She found it better to get to know a time and place through the life of one person or event instead of a timeline or chart of the entire history of that period listing all the important facts that somebody things children ought to know. Forming a relationship with someone in the context of their time, whether they are famous or otherwise, will teach children far more about that time than a list of dates that are just as confusing as times tables to the young. A history book that reads like an encyclopedia article has sucked the life of history. She favored books with a story that "moves on a few broad, simple lines" (Page 281).

They purl along pleasantly as a forest brook, tell you 'all about it,' stir your heart with the story of a great event, amuse you with pageants and shows, make you intimate with the great people, and friendly with the lowly. They are just the right thing for the children whose eager souls want to get at the living people behind the words of the history book, caring nothing at all about progress, or statutes, or about anything but the persons, for whose action history is, to the child's mind, no more than a convenient stage (Page 282).

"The writer has chosen such stories as he thought would amuse and please his readers, and give them at the same time some knowledge of the lives and thoughts of their forefathers. To this end he has not written solely of great folk––kings and queens and generals––but also of plain people and children, ay, and birds and beasts too." Mr. York Powell (Page 288)

Other characteristics of living history are:

A single voice chronicling history in a way that was "succinct, yet often warm with life; business-like, and yet childlike in its tone; at once practical and spiritual, simply just, and the work of a true scholar, breathing love to God and man" (Page 283).
Firsthand accounts, those based upon eye witness testimony whenever possible, and contemporaries.
The heroic age, or "the echoes of some dim, rich past" (Page 284) before recorded history began because "these were giants in the land in those days, and the child wants to know about them" (Page 284).
"Graphic details concerning events and persons upon which imagination goes to work" (Page 288).
"Replete with interest, sparkling with episode, and full of dramatic incident" (Page 291).

But the bottomline is what happens to the child when given a living history book:

"The child's imagination is aglow, his mind is teeming with ideas" (Page 284).
"A child's individuality plays about what he enjoys, and the story comes from his lips, not precisely as the author tells it, but with a certain spirit and colouring which express the narrator" (Page 289).
"A narration should be original as it comes from the child––that is, his own mind should have acted upon the matter it has received" (Page 289).
"They love, too, to make illustrations" (Page 292).
"They play at history lessons, dress up, make tableaux, act scenes; or they have a stage, and their dolls act, while they paint the scenery and speak the speeches" (Page 294).
"The child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint" (Page 295).

This sounds vague until you see it in real life. When my son was little, he ran back to his room to get the "perfect prop" before we started a reading. He built triremes out of legos and pitted the Greeks against the Persians on Pamela's blue blanket. He built the seven wonders of the ancient world in legos too. A friend recently shared that her youngest has traded Leif the Lucky for Batman. Pamela peeks ahead after every Plutarch and Shakespeare lesson to figure out how long it will be until the Ides of March. When she reads aloud, her voice betrays her emotions: she is a bit worried that two different characters are about to lose their beloved horses, another faced a dramatic grizzly bear attack, a cable broke and sidelined an important project, and Aleck Bell never seems to have enough money or time to invent the telephone.

Younger children keep the order of heroes straight by century through a very large timeline, setup by centuries, in which children wrote the names of people in their proper chronology. The table of centuries provided a graphic panorama to things in their time order and exact dates becomes information overload. An article in Charlotte Mason's periodical provides greater detail if you are really interested. AmblesideOnline has another example here.

Older children (those ready for writing their narrations, or about upper elementary) keep a book of centuries. It started out as a place to record illustrations for a book written about the British Museum.

Pamela has tried keeping one off and on, but it has never quite gelled for her. So many things are coming together for her this year, so I thought I'd try again. What is a book of centuries? Well, my good friend Laurie Bestvater has scored the Charlotte Mason's archives for information to supplement what we find in her six volumes and describes her research here. Laurie sums it up her thoughts in a FAQ and is now offering a beautiful, high-quality volume that will last a child many years.

Stone Age Pages

43rd Century B.C. Page

Map Pages

Mono Monarch Mania

2011-10-19T22:44:00.002-04:00

So, there we were minding our own business, doing nature study. As planned, we were drawing the young Southern magnolia in our backyard in watercolor pencil. Suddenly, pandemonium erupted!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bright orange flash. It wasn't the red, wobbly flight of a cardinal. Nor was it an orange leaf drifting to the ground. It glided more gracefully. My heart pounded when I realized a monarch butterfly had gently landed in the butterfly bushes in front of my beloved camellia.

I scampered frantically into the house and grabbed my cheap camera, which was set to four-shot sequences. The butterfly must have realized I was stalking it because I scared it, and it too frantically fluttered around trying to avoid that crazy woman. I pointed the camera at random spots and came up with a couple of cool shots (out of a bunch of duds) that I couldn't have planned better.

The monarch finally settled down, as did my heart and I took a couple of pictures of it drinking nectar.

Then, I drew Pamela into the scene and we watched the butterfly until it left. Tomorrow, we will draw pictures in our nature notebooks! When we returned to the house, I went to the regional checklist for my county at Butterflies and Moths of North America. Alas! The monarch, a migrant for our area, is not listed, so I submitted a sighting as a monarch butterfly. It lacks the black line on the hind wings, which its copycat the viceroy butterfly sports. And, ladies and gentleman, we have a confirmed monarch, and BAMONA now includes in the listing of butterflies for our county!

Beautiful in Its Time

2011-10-19T00:29:00.008-04:00

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:11-13

Today (er, Monday, but I'll pretend I posted two nights ago) should have been a disaster. Steve came home for an extremely short visit over the weekend, leaving us bummed at how little we see him. Pamela and I began the weekend about a half a day behind schedule. In the name of masterly inactivity, we took Friday afternoon off, hoping to catch up here and there over the weekend. We did knock out some books, but we started Monday a tad behind.

I meant to wake up early to start promptly at eight o'clock. I didn't roll out of bed until eight after dreaming about accidentally putting my nature notebook in the washing machine. On top of that, I had a headache and we had to go on an errand that required an hour of driving plus an hour of running around.

We started late, already "behind." Since I don't obsess over schedules, I figured we would do what we could do with delight and no more. Pamela did her best to supply the delight. She picks the order of what we do: some days she is methodical. She usually walks her favorite route and selects books in chronological order (from ancient to modern and vice versa). Sometimes, she picks her favorite route backwards or takes a completely new one. Lately, she has preferred reading books in random order.

Today, random didn't add enough joy, so Pamela invented her own game. For every book, she covered her eyes and told me, "Pick a random one." She giggled while I picked a book out of the crate and laughed when she saw what I picked. I improvised on her game and gave her clues while she had her eyes covered. I would hum the tune of a train song when I picked a book on that topic or "Hail to the Chief" when I picked one on the presidents. Then, she really laughed uproariously. Selecting the next book was a hilarious game that melted my headache.

Mother Nature had a lovely surprise when we headed out to study the magnolia tree. The creamy peach fruit, a fascinating study in its own right, popped out cheery red seeds, something we had never noticed before. We collected three different colors of leaves and recorded all of our finds in our nature notebooks. Then, we headed to the computer to classify the tree with the help of the Clemson Extension biological key. Pamela wrote down the name in English (Southern magnolia) and Latin (Magnolia grandiflora). Pamela has enough Spanish under her belt to translate the Latin word grandiflora. Without any help, she figured out right away that it meant "big flower".

Pamela found joy in mathematics too. She was looking at the relationship between the circumference of a circle and the diameter, calculating the ratio of the former to the latter. When the book asked her "How many times does the diameter fit around the circumference?" Even though she wrote an equation based upon the ratio (C = 3.1 x D), Pamela did not think to solve for D (D = .34 x C). I think the decimal was throwing her off. Since she enjoys playing with numbers, I showed her how to plug numbers into her calculator to figure it out.

I encouraged Pamela to guess a starting number, any number. She guessed three and plugged it into an equation based on an actual data point (a cookie cutter tin): 14.3 x _____ = 4.5. Her guess (3) yielded a number much too high, so she tried and discarded 2 and 1 (too high) and 0 (too low).
14.3 x 3 = 42.9
14.3 x 2 = 28.6
14.3 x 1 = 14.3
14.3 x 0 = 0

With a upper boundary (1, which was too high) and a bottom boundary (0, which was too low), I guided her through the search: the point half-way between 1 and 0. She plugged in .5 found it too high.
14.3 x .5 = 7.15

Then, she tried and rejected .4 (too high) and .3 and .2 (too low):
14.3 x .4 = 5.72
14.3 x .3 = 4.29
14.3 x .2 = 2.86

Every time we tried a new number, Pamela grew more and more delighted as the product got closer and closer to 4.5. She squealed with joy! Then, I asked her to try "Point three what?": .3__.

She tried .35 and squealed at getting even closer: 5.005! More joy with .34 (4.862), .33 (4.719), and finally .32 (4.576)!

As always, we spent our time in the car wisely, doing our audio work (Spanish, recitation, a few audio books, music), and waiting for assistance in various offices, doing written work. I smiled at Pamela's misspellings in her studied dictation: how can you not see the logic of writing introducted? I smiled at her choice quote for her commonplace book, "Care for him as for the apple of your eye." She started her narration about gorillas in her science notebook and added two drawings of ancient sculptures to the drawings of those we have found in town.

Another delightful study is on the telegraph. I created five audio files (one per day) of a message in Morse Code. I picked quotations and lines Pamela might recognize from her reading to practice decoding using a tree. The file was not too difficult to create: I used Audacity to create series of 1,000 Hertz tones lasting 1/4 of a second for a dot and 1 second for a dash. Today's message was the title of a hymn we learned last year: Open Our Eyes, Lord. Watching Pamela's face light up anytime she makes a discovery is another source of joy.

Last June, I bought a calendar of firsts from Red Mountain Community School, but it has taken some time to wrap my head around it. How do you know a first is a first? God clued me in on Saturday when the camellia that always blooms in October revealed its blossoms right on schedule. The second issue for a math geek like me is that the book has 86 pages, each of which has four columns, which equates to 344 days of entry. A leap year, which has 366 days, would skip 22 days. That meant we needed to have two days per column, twice, in ten of the months and two days per column, once, in ten of the months. I made a command decision to set up January 1 through 27 on single columns, put 28/29 together, and 30/31 together. We will apply the same logic to the last four days of every month until we hit November and December, which will only be the last two days of the month. You can see why I have put off making any decisions because I can't even follow my reckoning here. Since we had plenty of spare time, Pamela started setting up her calendar and made it half of the way through February. Because Pamela loves calendars, she enjoyed this immensely.

They find that, in Bacon's phrase, "Studies serve for delight"; this delight being not in the lessons or the personality of the teacher, but purely in their 'lovely books,' 'glorious books.' ~ Charlotte Mason

Living in Spite of Yourself

2011-09-29T20:02:00.001-04:00

This week, my wonderful church started a new women's Bible study: Living Beyond Yourself by Beth Moore. I took this Bible study five years ago, but life has gotten so busy that I need a refresher. How do you know if you need it? Well, if it is Wednesday morning and you know you cannot possibly get everything done that you need to get done by Friday without losing your mind, this is the study for you. Why? You learn to tap into a power, and a person, higher than yourself to get through the day without losing your cool or telling someone what you really think.

By relying upon the Holy Spirit, you end up enjoying Fruit whether or not everything on your to-do list gets a checkmark: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What? Get rid of all your bad habits while doing everything on your list. Nope! Fruit like that doesn't come naturally: it comes supernaturally through the Holy Spirit working in your heart. If you really don't think you need it, check out how many times you whine or vent on a Facebook status.

Besides supernatural power, other things have helped us keep up with our studies (we just wrapped up Day 18 and are half way through Week 4). Today, I will share how I set up my audio disc. Some of our day is primarily audio: Spanish lessons, folk song, hymn, Spanish song, Spanish fairy tales, recitation, composer study, listening to Librivox recordings, etc. Having it all on the computer means it is not portable. Today, in between delivering meals to the elderly through meals on wheels, Pamela did all of her audio work: forty minutes freed up to do something else at home! I have a hard time keeping track of one CD, much less five or six. Plus, that means getting up and switching disks every time we transition to another activity. By putting everything I need for the week on one CD, the day runs more smoothly: we can take it to the car with us or we can flip through tracks with the remote control.

Here are some tips that have helped me:

1. I put everything in order of frequency. The things we do every day go at the beginning of the CD, so we avoid wasting time flipping through tracks. The stuff we do only once a week goes at the end of the CD.

2. I love Audacity, which lets you edit your sound recordings. Before making a CD, I edit individual files for various reasons.

I edit the tempo (change the speed without changing the pitch). When someone speaks too quickly (Spanish or an audio book), I slow down the recording without making the changing the speaker's vocal quality.
I remove any annoying background noise.
To introduce vocabulary words for Spanish, I copy and paste the person in the story saying the word. We listen to new words and point to pictures before the story begins to build our vocabulary.
I include only the part of the story we are reading. Because the Spanish fairy tales are short, we listen from beginning to the current stopping point. I cut the ending out so we know exactly where to stop. For Spanish only, we listen to the same segment two or three times a week. Our goal is building our ear for we already know the story.
I break up the English readings that are stories into day-by-day chunks. So, if we have five passages from the same book that week, I will have five different tracks with only the passage we need for each day. I have tabs and marks on the pages in the book so Pamela can find the right spot on the page on her own if I am driving.

3. I put all audio work in blue ink (not black) on our weekly schedule for quick reference.

The Power of Ideas

2011-09-23T08:02:00.000-04:00

Every educational philosophy seems to have some sort of emphasis around which curriculum is built. For example, unit studies intentionally build all subjects around a theme: a specific topic, a character trait, a country, etc. Traditional textbooks focus narrowly on a subject with information organized and presented very tightly, factually, rigorously. Classical education gives children what fits in each stage (in the grammar stage, i.e., elementary age, the focus is memorization of facts, rules, data, details, etc.). Unschoolers pay attention to the interests of the child and provides what is needed to pursue those interests. So, what is the emphasis for a Charlotte Mason approach?

CM homeschoolers tend to think in broad principles rather than fixed rules. When unsure of what to do, I often fall back on her principles. For example, when Pamela was struggling with picture study taught in the manner Mason described, I realized Pamela, as a person with aphasia and autism (personhood being Mason's first principle), required more scaffolding by giving her visual cues to show what I understood , having a grand conversation, and turning it into a theory of mind game with five levels of scaffolding. Now, Pamela can do picture study in the way Mason described.

Some may point to history as the pivot of a Mason curriculum, which actually takes a backseat to the knowledge of God. "The knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making" (Page 158) and "Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns" (Page 273). While that may help us structure the books and things we choose, I think there is something more fundamental. While some subjects dovetail well into a chronological way of thinking (history, literature, picture study, composer study, architecture), others do not (second language, mathematics, science, handicrafts). Mason also added books completely out of the chronology she laid out for that school year! Why? I think the reason why has something to do with what we emphasize.

And, what do we emphasize you ask? Ideas. Mason touches on ideas in several of her many principles:

In saying that "education is a life," the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

We hold that the child's mind is no mere sac to hold ideas; but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs.

Such a doctrine as e.g. the Herbartian, that the mind is a receptacle, lays the stress of education (the preparation of knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher's axiom is, "what a child learns matters less than how he learns it."

But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle that,––

Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need.

The concept of ideas seemed very nebulous to me for a very long time, but the longer I work with Pamela, the more vivid it becomes. For example, last year, we read a book that absolutely captivated Pamela: The Tarantula in My Purse. Pamela fell in love with the idea of Jean Craighead George taking wild animals into her home, caring for them, and later releasing them. Then, we had an appointment from God the week we read the last chapter in the book: we helped a friend rescue two hawks! Since then, Pamela has talked off and on about rescuing animals. Last month, a praying mantis ended up in our house: I noticed it crawling on the ceiling while I was talking to a friend on the phone. A few days later, I snapped a picture of it hanging out on some furniture. All on her own initiative, Pamela dug out a mason jar and lid from the cabinet, carefully captured the misguided insect, and put it outside. I had my camera handy and caught her comments on video.

The most recent episode was concerning a walnut sphinx moth, whose identity Butterflies and Moths of North America kindly confirmed for us. (Oh, and as a result of our citizen science efforts, BMNA has added the walnut sphinx moth to the rolls for our county!) I have to admit: it wasn't a true rescue. I spied it on the back porch while setting the house alarm for the night. I found Pamela's butterfly garden netting and sneaked out to capture the poor thing, which we kept in captivity long enough to work through a few lessons from the Comstock book (Handbook of Nature Study) and make nature notebook entries. Tuesday night, we released the moth and Pamela easily saw why the moth is sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds. Its wings flutter quite rapidly.

But, this is not the end to the ideas. More are sprouting. We cannot do nature study on every animal such as those not native to our area or close enough to visit. So, our books inform us when real living things cannot. We are now reading a book about people moving to a location where a species of endangered animals lives and monitoring their health and well-being. These people became veterinarians and animal epidemiologists and moved to a jungle or forest in a far away just to work in this field. She is picking up all sorts of interesting ideas related to the original one that captured her attention: we can give diseases to animals, and they can give diseases to us. Sometimes, our diseases kill animals and vice versa. Rather than take them to a hospital like we did the hawks, these animal doctors work outdoors and shoot medicine and sleeping potions into dangerous animals that need treatment. I cannot wait to see where these newly sprouted ideas lead Pamela.

I will leave you with her final nature notebook entries of what she learned from our guest.

Flapping, Feathers, Sphinxes, and Other Fun Stuff

2011-09-19T22:58:00.109-04:00

Yesterday, we wrapped up our second week of homeschooling, which flew by!

Language Arts - Pamela picked some interesting quotes for her common place book, one of which is a foreshadowing of Mark Anthony's speech and Caesar's funeral in the play by Shakespeare. One of the most memorable moments of the week ended up in the common place book. We have been reading a book about a girl from Boston living in Charleston at the beginning of the Civil War. Another girl insults her by calling her a Yankee, and her father smooths it over by explaining that the British call Americans that name. Then, we were reading an entirely different book in which one of our ships was visiting London and giving tours to people. The Brits remarked, "The Yankees were most civil" and, as Pamela read the line aloud, she added, "War. Just like 'Yankee girl'" and chuckled at her play on words. She laughs aloud during readings quite often when something strikes her fancy. Pamela did more copywork of Benjamin Franklin's wit and made only one spelling error in her studied dictation. I opted not to turn it into a lesson since the word was unfamiliar to her (erect).

Literature - Two weeks ago, I wasn't sure how Pamela would do with one particularly fanciful book that I'm enjoying because I can see threads that surely must have inspired Tolkien and Lewis. Pamela's narrations are wonderful, calming my concerns. I also worried about a mythology book I substituted for the one on the curriculum list which jumped from story to story too quickly. She had no problem shifting from one setting, Eustace Bright telling stories to his younger siblings and friends, to the myth. Her narration of the Gorgon's head tells me she remembers the action from day to day, which was not happening with the original book! Because the book retells six myths in great detail, she will glean the background knowledge needed to leap from one story to the next down the road. Sometimes, two steps forward requires one step backward!

Math - While I love our math curriculum, Pamela has a few issues with it. The program assumes Pamela has background knowledge that she lacks. I have continued to make sheets that blend word roots and concrete illustrations and practice activities that prepare her for the next exercise. She is doing really well and worked on things like classifying triangles (equilateral/isosceles/scalene and acute/right/obtuse), constructing her own triangles, finding the relationship between different sides and their opposite angles, etc. Last year, I took a break from the curriculum to nail down fractions, area, perimeter, etc. I gave her some review problems and she remembered what to do! She absolutely adored the "magical" moment when you are finding the median of a triangle, and all the lines cross at the same point. Not only that, all on her own, Pamela connected the word median to mediano (the Spanish word she learned for medium in last year's Ricitos de oro y los tres osos). If your math lessons lack magical "aha" moments, then you are missing out on one of the great joys of life.

Science - We have struck a great balance between reading, doing, drawing, and writing for science. The lessons are short and varied, keeping Pamela's attention. We finally shredded enough paper and cardboard for our worm composting bin, so this week we made holes in the rubber maid bin. Because the drill wasn't working, I ended up hammering nails into the bin. It proved to be great work for Pamela's fine motor skills because, once the nail was stable and no longer needed to be held, Pamela finished the job and then retrieved the nail with the claw end. This finagled approach worked well for the holes in the top and bottom, but the springiness of the sides of the bin rendered it ineffective. Eventually, I stumbled on Plan C: screw a hole into the bin, pound the nail until stable, and let Pamela finish the job. Borrowing a drill from my father would have saved us a lot of trouble but would not have given Pamela's hands a solid workout. Redworm composting is full of information for beginners: we chose the "deluxe rubbermaid bin" because I'm not willing to shell out the big bucks yet. Besides, the process of building the thing will make us both better and handiwork.

We made fewer nature study entries because we spent two days on the garden spider and two days on the sphinx moth, which I have submitted to Butterflies and Moths of North America for identification. I believe it is a walnut sphinx moth, but none are listed for our county. By the way, you know you are a homeschooler when you sneak out on the back porch in your jammies to capture a moth! I had an old swallowtail lying around the house, so we carefully observed the differences between moths and butterflies with our own eyes as Pamela wrote down details about the moth. We are collecting feathers and drawing them. Once we have enough, we will be sorting them by kind (the position on the bird). A feather is not simply a feather as you can see in the photograph.

Pamela easily distinguishes puffy versus blanket versus no clouds. She is still working on the scientific names: cumulus and stratus. We have had absolutely no rain for our rain gauges and no opportunity to paint nimbus or cirrus clouds this week. I find it hard to call these watercolor paintings science because they are so beautiful. Do you notice the little symbol Pamela invented to reflect "no clouds"?

Since we are studying clouds, we are doing experiments with evaporation. The water from last week's experiment finally evaporated below the rim lines of the jar. Pamela clearly saw that the lidless jar evaporated more quickly. We started another experiment to see which container shape will evaporate more quickly. The most fun experiment involved massive amounts of flapping, and Pamela loved it as you can see in the pictures of our flap-a-thon. We were trying to see the effect of wind on evaporation rates. You may notice that the science journal are entirely Pamela's effort: drawing and simple sentences (I guide her in the phrasing). I can spend less time on planning by letting her notebook reflect her thinking rather than represent the thinking of someone who created elaborate lapbooks. Kids really can think for themselves if given the chance.

Watercolor Class - Pamela painted the top and side views of an apple in watercolor class this week. As always, her colors make the subject seem alive.

Fine Arts - We were supposed to do a picture study this week. When it came time to open the ziplock bag of print cards, half were gone! I have no idea where they are. People think I'm organized, but I'm not. My ideas and plans are organized, but the concrete things in my life, i.e., stuff, have room for improvement. I'm still thinking through the back-up plan. Pamela has added to her collection of arches and columns in her drawing notebook.

Handwork - Pamela should finish this knitting needle case next week and get back to her finger knitting.

Foreign Language, Music, Geography, History - I have nothing much to add, except for a few morsels. Pamela and I learned some new things in Spanish: la manzana, está comiendo, and el lápiz. We are on track to finish the ten lessons (which are broken up into five-mini lessons each) by the end of the year! Pamela loves the songs we are learning. The other day, while we were walking, she was singing all the songs she knew and even making a couple of jumps for joy. While we were pounding holes in the composting bins, we sang just for fun. Pamela is still covering the same geographical places and just made the first entries into her book of centuries. It deserves a post until itself.

Physical Exercise and Community Service - I will close with pictures from the Prayer Walk for all of the schools (public and private) in our county. Hey, wait a minute! I just realized there were no signs for the homeschools. Hmmmm. Anyway, we walked three miles and prayed for schools along the way (or signs representing the schools). The organization had a great turnout: I felt so thrilled to be surrounded by so many people who care about education and are willing to pray for them. Pamela balked about a mile into it but managed to get a grip. After that, she was a champ. I took the walks off our schedule for Friday and Monday to provide rest. Oh, yes, I just had to take pictures of the yucca plant and swallowtail butterfly.

Watercolor Clouds

2011-09-17T08:04:00.013-04:00

A couple of people have remarked on the watercolor clouds. They are so easy to do, I thought I'd share it here. We are painting clouds right now to get in the habit of looking at the sky to study what kind of clouds they are. Every day Pamela writes the name of the cloud (stratus, cumulus, cirrus, and nimbus). We are also doing a couple of experiments on vapor and evaporation before we dig into books later in the year.
Step One - I cut a 9 x 12 sheet of watercolor paper in half. I use 90 lb. paper because we like to save the more expensive 140 lb. paper for special projects. To make the lovely border, tape a piece of the cut paper to a board with masking tape or painters tape.
Step Two - Collect supplies: big brushes, paper towels, and two bowls with washes (basically dirty water made by dipping you brush into a color and cleaning it off with water). We have a kit of 24 watercolor tubes: black and cerulean blue are good for this project. Then, go outside and look at the sky to see what kind of clouds you have and what colors you need. Today is a gray overcast (stratus clouds).
Step Three - Make a wet wash. Dip the brush the dirty water (we chose black because of the stratus clouds) and get it "juicy" as Pamela's art teacher likes to say. Then cover the entire paper, making it nice and wet. You may see some puddles on your paper. It's okay. You can take care of that in the next step.

Step Five - Scrunch up the paper towel and quickly and lightly press on the puddle to sop up the puddle only. In watercolor, your paper towel is your best friend: it can lift color when you make a mistake or think the color is overpowering. (Colors never over power Pamela). A paper towel leaves an interesting texture and makes lovely clouds (try color lifting from a blue wash and you will see some lovely cumulus clouds). We have not made cirrus clouds yet (the feathery ones). I will post on that once we make them.
Step Six - Dip your brush into black (or blue) mixed with a little water. Dip the brush once into the wash (only once). Then dollop the color quickly onto the wet wash. It should still be wet to get the right effect. Keep in mind you have no control over what the colors do. Wet-on-wet is quite unpredictable and bleeds into all sorts of unpredictable shapes. If you have dark storm clouds, you will want more wet-on-wet. If you have stratus clouds like we do, you will want less. You can see in the picture how quickly Pamela moves her hand.

Step Seven - If you have too much wet or too much color or want to make some clouds, scrunch up a paper towel and dab those spots. You can see how quickly Pamela moves her hands. Once it dries completely, remove the tape and write on the border.

Rare Event Here: Homeschooling Meme

2011-09-16T12:52:00.001-04:00

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed -

I'm cheating: it's a six volume set which technically you could format into one humongous book: The Original Homeschool Series by Charlotte Mason

2. One resource you wouldn't be without -

One? Be serious!

Cyberfriends who either get autism, get homeschooling, or get what it means to have a relationship with Christ

3. One resource you wish you had never bought -

Computerized homeschooling software I used over ten years ago, so long ago, I cannot remember the name of it

4. One resource you enjoyed last year -
It's a tie between my Mac (I've joined the dark side of the force) and the authors of unpublished framework papers (the basis for a book to be published somewhere over the rainbow) who helped me better understand Charlotte Mason's ideas

5. One resource you will be using next year -

A local Charlotte Mason study group - What a blessing that I've not had in all these years of homeschooling until now

6. One resource you would like to buy -

iPad version whatever

7. One resource you wish existed -

I will quote my friend Nancy Kelly about a resource that I have wished a long time ago and will exist sometime in the near future:

Non-profit ChildLightUSA Developing New Mason Curriculum

Dedicated to recovering and promoting Charlotte Mason's educational theories and practices, ChildLightUSA is developing a curriculum meticulously modeled after what Mason describes in her six volumes. A seven-member Design Team is changing the current paradigm of education, collaborating on a rich, modern and flexible K-12 Mason curriculum. This new curriculum will feature Mason distinctives such as 18 subjects per grade level for use in various educational venues including public, charter, private and web-based learning communities. The projected release date is fall of 2012.

8. One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading -

None but I do find books reasonably priced at Paperbackswap, Librivox, Baldwin, and Best Web Buys.

9. One homeschool website you use regularly -

Even though we are piloting a different Mason curriculum right now, I still go back to the old standby
Ambleside Online for information and to help other homeschoolers.

10. Tag six other homeschoolers -
Queen Mum
Black Pearl Academy
Penny
Penny
Mrs. C
Stephanie

The Last Day of the Week... Monday!

2011-09-13T22:30:00.001-04:00

We finished our first week of school yesterday. Yes, I know it was Monday. Since we started school on Tuesday due to Labor Day, our first week of school ended on the first day of the week. Years ago, I figured out the hard way that one cannot squash five days of school into four without losing one's mind! I learned so many neat things about Pamela thinks this week because we worked at a reasonable pace.

History - As always, she likes to tell me the day of the week if given the exact date (a savant ability). While most of our books are set in the industrial age, a Mason education doesn't mean unit studies, so we have books from different times in history. Keeping a timeline or book of centuries helps children sort out the chronology. We received a beautiful book of centuries, and Pamela will soon start making entries in it. All five days of school, she selected the order of reading based on chronology. The first three days of the week she went forward in history, from B.C. to A.D. The last two days, she reversed the order. She wasn't clear about the dating of a literature book, so she checked the copyright page. She asked "What year?" right before we read the book on Mississippi sharecroppers. Later, I looked up a couple of background details for her and informed her that it was set in the early 20th century. I read in a history paper on Mason's work that being able to place events in time sequence is a high school level skill!

Language Arts - Pamela started learning a new poem for recitation: Fog by Carl Sandburg. She did a lot of copywork, which she finds easy; the topic is a bit odd: Benjamin Franklin's advice on marriage. I had her try two studied dictations at a higher level of difficulty: study a whole paragraph, but only write the sentence that I choose and dictate. She adjusted well to the latest wrinkle. I was most intrigued by her selections for a commonplace book (the pages with pink lines) which she began for the first time this year. I scaffolded by paying attention to her reactions while reading and, at the end of the day, asking her for her favorite book. A commonplace book, a memento for the student, gives a glimpse into the literary development of their thinking. Clearly, Pamela favored Caesar in her quotes, choosing passages from a poem, a character study, and a play. She found humor in the wild party at the White House but turned around and quoted Jesus the next day. What tickles me the most is that Pamela quoted Shakespeare for one of her entries. Shakespeare!

Oral Narration - Readers unfamiliar with a Mason paradigm might fret over the lack of "creative" writing. Pamela is still learning English as a first language. She sees examples of beautiful writing in literary language in the books she reads every day. Through copywork and studied dictation, she learns mechanics like spelling and punctuation in context (and not dissected from the place where you would typically practice it--writing). She sees examples of beautiful writing in literary language in the books she reads every day. Pamela orally narrates everything she reads, which teaches composition and organizing ideas. I have seen many improvements since last year: she is able to speak in fuller fragments or sentences, sequence her ideas (a few sentences at a time), and recall the reading from the previous day. Sometimes, she remembers a detail she didn't narrate the day before! As I reported last week, I see some critical thinking occurring in her narrations, too.

Not only that, I see her processing it during the day. Yesterday, she read about the Ice Age in her ancient history book. That night, Pamela found Antarctica in Google maps and was looking at the street view to see pictures. She asked me what season it was, and I told her that it was always like that. She said, "It never melts. Cold and miserable." I can tell one thing about the dating of the world confuses her. She has noticed that some books talk about millions of years (old earth ideas) and other books talk about thousands of years (young earth ideas). Today, when she was looking through the atlas, which has a graphic on prehistoric ages, she was trying to pronounce triceratops and told her the number of years. I explained to her that people have different ideas about when the earth came into being.

Literature - During the day, we read passages from seventeen different books of wide and varied genre: historical, scientific, historical fiction, poetry, Shakespeare (yes, the real deal, unabridged and unadulterated), mythology, fantasy, biography, and the Bible. Avoiding textbooks gives us the freedom to read many lovely books during the day. The most beautiful thing is how integrated her learning becomes. While we are not reading a book on government right now, the two on inventions addressed the role of the President and Congress in building large pieces of infrastructure. Tongue-in-cheek realistic fiction illustrates politics. Not only that, ideas begin to emerge. This week, the overarching idea was how the North and South didn't agree on much during the Industrial Revolution.

Pamela shows much more emotion while reading than she did last year. Going through a passage about an inventor, Pamela gasped because the name of a street where he lived was West Newton Street. We used to live in a town called West Newton, and Pamela still drives through it on Google maps for old times sake. She also laughs out loud at things that strike her fancy and even shares little comments as we go.

Science (or Is It Art?) - We explored several things for science this week. Pamela painted cloud formations in water color to give her a chance to observe clouds and make their names more meaningful. We set up a simple experiment on evaporation that is ongoing. Like education, science cannot be rushed. Pamela filled the jars to the lid lines, and I waited all weekend for the water level in the lidless one to drop below the confusing lines. Yesterday, they were not low enough. Hopefully, she can make her final entry later this week. We also shredded cardboard, newspaper, paper bags, and empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls for the worm composting bin. She made several nature notebook entries. The egg sac and feathers will be ongoing as we will make more observations down the road (on our walk, we found two other feathers that look completely different). We followed up on wisteria and camellia from last year. Pamela was surprised to learn that wisteria pods are green in the fall (not brown) and camellia fruit are fuzzy. We read several living books on inventions from the industrial era and a chapter about how related species share diseases.

Physical Exercise (or Is it Architecture? or Geography? or Math?) - Every day of school, we walk for thirty minutes. Along the way, I snap photographs of details we read about in art and architecture last year. To refresh her mind on them, Pamela is recording them in her drawing notebook after we get home. We also talk about which compass direction we are heading for geography. When Pamela asks how many minutes have elapsed, I tell her the time and when we started for mental math. If she wants to know the number of minutes left, I tell her to subtract it from 30 or give her the stop time and current time.

Many interesting things happen on our walks. Yesterday, we bumped into a family from our Charlotte Mason study group. The father owns a tree service business, and we noticed the load of tree debris in the back of the truck and watched the little bulldozer move up the ramp. Last week, Pamela aimed to walk to the old Walmart but an evil blister felled her along the way. She took off her shoes and walked the neighborhood sidewalks barefoot, where she destroyed a small spider web with her toes, found a mockingbird feather, saw an expired mourning dove, and discovered a date on a water pipe cover patented on October 22, 1912--a Tuesday according to her. Google it. She's usually right.

Geography - Many of our books come from different places as well as times. One story is set in New Hampshire but takes readers back to ancient Greece. Through our reading, we have visited Charleston, SC, Mississippi, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, the Missouri River, Michigan, California, Canada, England, Africa, South America, ancient Israel, ancient Rome, and an imaginary planet in a galaxy far, far away.

Math - Pamela loves the math curriculum, but the vocabulary is intense. I created some concrete illustrations with word roots and charts to help Pamela learn them. We combined review and new material this week. Her strength (pattern-recognition) balances out her weakness (language). Math is her strongest area, and she continues to work on pre-algebra.

Foreign Language - With Steve in Kansas, we transitioned to a canned Spanish curriculum that focuses exclusively on audio and pictures for the first ten lessons (which may take us all year). Pamela and I learned some new words: la carne, el medico, and el avion. All the other words were review for us! We are also listening to two familiar fairy tales in Spanish.

Music - We sang a folk song from South Carolina, a hymn, and a Latin American nursery song. We also listened to some of Bach's harpsichord music, which soothed us after a hot walk.

Handwork - Pamela ought to be fingerknitting this term to pave the way for knitting with real needles in the next term. Since her knitting needle case is nearly finished, she has focused on sewing instead.

Less, Not More

2011-09-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

One struggle many homeschoolers face is the feeling of not doing enough. To prove we are doing a good job, we push our children harder and teach skills earlier. With special needs children, the stakes seem higher because some tell us we are not qualified to teach. That seed of doubt tempt us to forget that children are born persons. They have their own timetables. While we may know typical developmental patterns, we cannot force development to go any faster than it is. Pushing harder may very well train the habit of frustration, creating setbacks instead of progress.

It is okay to step back and table a goal when tasks cause tears. It is okay to slow down or to reevaluate what you are doing. Last year, I felt rushed to get everything done some days. This year, I cut the amount of reading by 13% (measured by word count). Rather than spend ten minutes on a book three times a week, we read for five minutes a day if ten minutes is too long because of the complexity of the language. The benefits of a more leisurely pace became evident last week.

One book was written in the 1960s. A passage describes a large room full of computing machines. That unusual turn of phrase caught Pamela's eye. She stopped our reading (we alternate reading aloud sentences) and asked, "What about computers?" I explained that back in those days they called it a computing machine, which filled a whole room. Computers didn't work very well, and they were huge. We continued the reading, and she stopped me again when the book described a long tape being fed into the computer. "Just like tape recorder. No CDs, yet," she added. I explained that, in those days, computers had reel-to-reel tapes and people used cards with holes punched into them. While Pamela said very little, the questions revealed much about the thinking going on in her mind.

Two thoughts come to my mind. First, living books have a way of shining light on other subjects. While the passage came from a literature book, the ideas led to a conversation about history and science. Second, the sign of understanding isn't the ability to answer questions. It is the ability to ask them. "The mind can know nothing save what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put to the mind by itself" (Page 16). Each time Pamela stops and asks a question, she reveals what she knows and how she thinks. A good friend who is new to Mason's ideas points out how much teacher training she received on asking the "right" questions to elicit critical thinking skills. Now, my friend realizes we take the opportunity to apply these skills in the act of reading when we do all the thinking to ask the "right" questions.

Pamela stops and shares her thoughts through reactions or in words far more frequently than she did last year. In one book, she laughed out loud at one angry character telling another to sit on a tack, just as she did with the wild inauguration party at the White House during Andrew Jackson's presidency. She applied "together or alone" thinking and said "just like RDI" when characters assessed the possibility of one character pulling all the pranks described without help. Her face lit up in another book when she learned that one character is the cousin of a president she studied last year. While taking turns reading lines from a poem about language, she suddenly felt inspired to read aloud in unison with me just as the topic switched to conversations and dialogues.

I scaffold Pamela whenever possible. I suspected she wouldn't understand the meaning of deductions in a story about sharecroppers, so I linked it to a word she already knows: debt and debtors. I told her the sharecroppers had too many deductions whenever they shopped at the store. They gave them too much debt, and they became debtors. I found a pattern in the books that didn't work for her last year. Nearly all of them have very short stories that only take a few days to breeze through. I believe she needs to live with a character or event for much longer. So, instead of reading books that leap from story to story, I substituted recommended books with Hawthorne's A Wonder Book for mythology and Tappan's In the Days of Alfred the Great for English history (part of our own history when you think about it). Perhaps, in the future, with an imagination warmed toward a few more key monarchs and stories, Pamela can start to take possession of a pageant of our historical roots.

It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts. We may not be able to recall this or that circumstance, but, 'the imagination is warmed'... (Page 178)

Expressiveness

2011-09-07T21:52:00.002-04:00

Pamela gave a couple of priceless narrations that reflect her personality and her growing vocabulary. She kicked off the day, narrating what she had previously read in Genesis:

Abraham is sad and blue because Sarah is expired. Got to bury and buy a cave. It is almost time for the debut of Rebekkah.

From a person who has struggled with aphasia most of her life, that narration was fantastic! Debut entered Pamela's vocabulary when she started researching the history of television. Last spring, she loved juxtaposing debut and debt "From the Lord's Prayer" which stood out to her because our old church used the more familiar trespasses. I have no idea where expire came from but she's been sprinkling many narrations with it.

When she read the word anxiety in the passage on Caesar, she related it immediately to her own anxious feelings and narrated,

Caesar was mad. He was freaking out. He broke his camp. He marched! Humpf!

She borrowed some language from The Big Comfy Couch when she related a story about Andrew Jackson's inaugural party,

They put mud on the couch. Who made this big mess with Andrew Jackson? They got into big trouble.

Pamela also showed spunk when she narrated the first snow of the winter for a little brother she sometimes calls a brat,

Prediction - Pinch get into trouble ice skating. He disobey.

What Really Happened - He put stone in the snow. He make a stupid stone on snowball.

Today's Artistic Expression
Pamela also expressed herself in pictures today, drawing a mosaic we found at the art gallery, for her review of ancient art. She painted the sky again for science and added monkey grass to her nature notebook.

First Turtle
Pamela started watercolor classes in August. Every time the class meets, each painting, guided by the same instructor on the same subject, looks completely unique. People accept individuality in art, but somehow that idea doesn't translate as well to reading a passage from a book. We are tempted to look for certain facts that must be recalled and certain ways in which ideas must be expressed. That is not the point of narration. Just as art reflects the personality and reaction of the artist, a narration too reflects the personality and reaction of the reader.

We loved Pamela's turtle so much that we framed it and made a latte cup for Steve.

Pat Terry's Traveling Turtles
Pamela's first turtle was based upon a picture. Her second turtle was even better because she had live models! A friend found wild slider turtle eggs and built a nest for them. She took strong measures to protect the eggs from crows. A few weeks ago, they hatched and she has been taking them to classrooms and other settings where people can study them. The adorable baby turtles inspired the whole class. Today, Pamela added the finishing touch to her watercolor.

Watercolors from August

A Day in the Life of a Mason Homeschool

2011-09-06T19:45:00.004-04:00

Every year I learn something new about Pamela and I learn how to arrange her education in ways to make it more living and more enjoyable. A couple of little organizational nuances helped: as always, I burn our weekly audio work (music, Spanish, audio books--to help Pamela develop an ear for other speakers, etc.) onto a CD but this time I put the selections in order of what we use most frequently to lessen the time forwarding to the right spot. In addition to putting page tabs in the books we are reading, I put them in the notebook of pages I keep in the reading notebook (passages for studied dictation, music pages, recitation poem, two books we don't have in hard copy, etc.). As always, I had the weekly schedule on hand and Pamela highlighted tasks as we completed him, which gives her a little thrill to see the column for Tuesday slowly turn from white to pink and yellow.

We spent 3 1/2 hours doing our thing in the morning and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, leaving time for me to shower and tidy up before our Charlotte Mason study group meeting. Today was especially meaningful to me because the first ever public school (charter) in North America opened its doors for class. Families, teachers, and those who love Mason's ideas of a relational education have worked so hard behind the scenes to make this school a reality.

I decided to give you a peek into a day. Some "exhibits"(the titles of specific books) are closed because they involve the design team developing a Mason curriculum for homeschools, private schools like Red Mountain Community School and Willow Tree Community School, and Gillingham Charter School. However, what I can show you is the process, which is what a relational education is all about.

Living Books
One thing struck me as we read very short passages, limited by Pamela's aphasia and frequent need for new horizons, from seventeen different books. Everything is so connected, but not by careful planning. The beauty of a living books approach is that the best books simply come together without special orchestration. This morning was rainy and misty, perfectly tuned into one literature book, which opens with children waiting for the fog to clear before they pick nuts, and the poem I chose for recitation is about fog. We read a poem by Kipling, which Pamela adored because it mentioned Caesar, whom we are reading about in Plutarch and slowly working through the play by Shakespeare. Our history spine touched on one president, while two books on inventions touched on two other presidents. Pamela gets a kick out of seeing all the unintentional connections between stories.

Language Arts
Pamela is doing copywork of sayings by Benjamin Franklin and studied dictation (which works on spelling, punctuation, and other mechanics of writing). This year, she advanced in her studied dictation: she studies a whole paragraph, but I only dictate one sentence to her. We added a new notebook on the menu: the commonplace book, which is a place to store copywork that has special significance to you. At first, I worried about how to spotlight this for Pamela. When we read today, the right moment emerged and I seized it. When we read the Kipling poem and Pamela's face lit up at the mention of Caesar, I shifted to her commonplace book after the reading. I told her how happy she looked when we read that verse of the poem, so that verse belongs in her commonplace book. I explained that it is like Maria and her favorite things. It is for those special passages that make her smile.

It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or reading-diary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or your own impression of the work, or of any part of it; but not summaries of facts. Such a diary, carefully kept through life, should be exceedingly interesting as containing the intellectual history of the writer (Page 260).

Science
Instead of textbooks, we read living books for science about inventions and animals, rounding about by observing and doing. Today, we spent 10 minutes shredding material to make a worm bin. Pamela painted a watercolor of the clouds (which she will do for a few weeks) to observe them and learn their names. A gray blanket of stratus clouds cloaked us for most of the day. For nature study, we made entries of an egg sac made by a garden spider who inconveniently placed it near the doorbell at the front door of our house. I absolutely love what Pamela wrote and drew today.

History
Even though history is the pivot of a Mason curriculum, I will touch on that another day as I eagerly await the arrival of what I hope will be a keepsake in the years to come: a beautifully bound book of centuries. Rest assured, Pamela did bask in plenty of history: a snippet on Stone Age people (as we test drive an ancient history book), the death of Abraham's beloved wife Sarah, Caesar's fumble, two different British monarchs, an Indian girl near the Great Lakes, former slaves in Mississippi, and three different presidents from three different books. I cannot wait to learn what big ideas Pamela finds vital enough for her book of centuries.

Potpourri of Things
We listened to our classical music, listened to more Spanish stories (and will spent another year learning this language by ear before trying to read) and sang a song in Spanish, and Pamela sewed a decorative edge on her knitting needle case. We walked and talked about directions while we enjoyed fresh air and exercise. We will spend a few weeks reviewing what we learned about architecture, art, and sculpture by finding features in our town. Today, Pamela drew an arched window from a physical therapy practice near our home.

Last, but NOT Least Math
I love the math program we use but, as always, the vocabulary challenges Pamela. I have decided to spend the first two days of the work previewing new words with homemade activities and sheets and doing only three lessons per week (four if things go smoothly). Pamela enjoyed classifying angles and triangles and the introduction to new words, which I made as concrete and meaningful as possible for her (internal, external, adjacent, and nonadjacent). I allotted a full fifty minutes to this subject, and Pamela finished it in forty!

Two for Tuesday

2011-09-05T19:27:00.002-04:00

Yes, I have been busy writing, but not blogging. I'm still writing, reading, and vetting, which put me behind in planning the school year. We postponed the first day of school until after labor day. After laboring all summer on projects, it seemed fitting.

Like-minded friends steeped in Mason gave me new ideas to help me tweak what we are doing. I cut down the amount of reading per day and increased the doing, especially for science. Since I'm a details person, reflecting what we do through pie charts allows me to visualize our day. Buried in them are the staples of a Mason program (developmentally sound language arts, living books, narration, notebooks--not adult-organized perfection, mind you--the arts, thoughtful things to do, fresh air). Hidden is the dilemma of how to categorize a living book: a narrative describing how an invention gets distributed on an international scale covers the science behind the invention, the geography and governments of the nations involved, scientists and politicians, etc. It's not just a science book, and I cannot neatly place it into a slice of a pie chart.

I have continued the system I had last year: the entire year broken up into three terms of eleven weeks and books divvied up into weekly readings, all organized in a spreadsheet. Being a numbers person, I think in spreadsheets. I have three book crates: the crate of the day, the crate of the week (we do not read the same books every day), and the crate of the next two terms (books we will hit later in the year). In the evenings, I set up the crate of the day.

You may be wondering about that bin of trash. Last year, Pamela and I enjoyed getting to know some critters through insect kits. This year, we are going to try redworm composting and our first big science project will be to set up a habitat for the wigglers. Because of my black thumb in the garden and in the kitchen, I'm not confident they will survive a month. But, as Steve Brown says, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well."

Why is the post called "Two for Tuesday"? Not only do we have the joy of the first day of school, but we are also hosting our Charlotte Mason study group in my home after school. Getting together with friends and sharing our insights, trials, and triumphs always lifts my spirits.

The Children's Art

2011-09-04T13:55:00.004-04:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Life has been too busy to blog, but today was one of those days that I had to share!

Last Tuesday, our Charlotte Mason study group discussed some of the elements of language arts, beginning with recitation. Most of the people in the group are fairly new to her ideas, so our meetings take me back ten years to when my family was first testing out her suggestions. Recitation was a flop for Pamela due to her aphasia (severe language disorder). Even the simplest line was beyond her because she skipped short, abstract words. Unlike E. in the anecdote Mason provided, committing to memory and reciting a poem required extensive and strenuous effort:

She read a poem through to E.; then the next day, while the little girl was making a doll's frock, perhaps, she read it again; once again the next day, while E.'s hair was being brushed. She got in about six or more readings, according to the length of the poem, at odd and unexpected times, and in the end E. could say the poem which she had not learned (page 225).

Modern research bears out the wisdom of Mason's suggestion to read the poem to E. "at odd and unexpected time" while doing different activities in various locations. Studying in the same place free of distractions doesn't increase memory. The brain associates what is being learned with background sensations it perceives at the time. In Mason's example, learning lines from Tennyson is shaded slightly with the sitting on the bed feeling one's hair brushed, or perhaps, stirring cake batter in the kitchen. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations to the poem scaffolds memorization. "What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting," explains one researcher.

For many years, David quickly learned whatever poem was put in front of him, while Pamela struggled with the first line. We continued to hope for Pamela to learn the children's art without any evidence recitation was within reach. About four years ago, the miracle started when we realized Pamela needed a multi-sensory approach to memorizing poetry: her brain could make the multiple associations required when she read it aloud, copied it in her own handwriting, and used it for studied dictation (how we do spelling and writing mechanics). She loved poetry so much, she spent one morning doing what she called a poem marathon.

Singing in unison and reciting the Lord's Prayer at church seemed beyond her until we started filling in developmental milestones through Relationship Development Intervention. She was missing the ability to coordinate her actions and adjust her pace to that of another person and RDI helped fill that gap. Last fall, Pamela finally started singing with me, taking turns alternating lines, and even picking up where I left off. She even sang to herself while quietly doing paperwork. This summer, Pamela has been quietly reciting the Lord's Prayer with the congregation in church. Because of my work on the church website, she has access to Sunday recitations of The Apostle's Creed (which she started preparing for recitation last year). Over the summer, she has listened to the recordings on our computer intently to memorize this challenging statement of belief.

Today, the entire body of New Covenant Presbyterian Church heard the evidence of the miracle coming out of Pamela. As if to anticipate our pastor's sermon on pursuing God (available later in the week), Pamela "boldly" (Luke 8:11 NIV) with "shameless audacity" (Luke 8:11 TNIV) recited The Apostle's Creed in unison with the church body. Because of a slight delay in her pace, I could hear her all the way up front where I sit with the choir during the first half of the service. As I looked out into the faces of our many, many friends in the congregation, I saw bright smiles everywhere from people who know what a precious moment this was.

During and after the service, they shared their appreciation. Fellow choir members chuckled, marveled, and patted me on the shoulder. A friend in the back pew stopped me on my way to sit with Pamela during the sermon. The lady who ran the children's catechism program for a long time told me she thought Pamela was ready to become a full-fledged "adult" member of the church. Her husband, an elder emeritus, commented he had no idea she knew the creed with such confidence. Another sweet friend wished we would all proclaim our beliefs with such gusto. The husband of another dear friend told me how much he is amazed by the pictures I post on Facebook of Pamela's watercolors (overdue post to follow) and the stories I share about her. Did I mention how many wonderful friends I have in my church?

And they weren't even in Sunday School class with us to witness Pamela's recitation of Tennyson's "The Eagle". For the past month, we have been studying great hymns that touch our hearts. Every week, we pick a hymn to research for the following Sunday: the lyrics, the story behind the hymn, and the person who wrote it. Someone shared their research of "Holy, Holy, Holy" by Reginald Heber and commented that Alfred Lord Tennyson considered it the world's greatest hymn. When she heard the poet laureate's name mentioned, Pamela perked up and said, "Just like 'The Eagle.'" Then she recited the poem for them.

Yesterday, Pamela was so proud of her accomplishment she recorded herself reciting the creed from memory. Just for the fun of it!

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:5-13

P.S. The symmetry of all this is breathtaking. Hebrew 11 and Luke 11, which also contains "The Lord's Prayer" which Pamela recited unabashedly in church today.

Overcoming Passivity

2011-06-23T17:01:00.000-04:00

For many reasons, some children in the spectrum become passive: executive function glitches, feelings of incompetence, overprompting, doing too much for them, doing too little for them, etc. Pamela was born passive, which we mistook for patience, sweetness, and gentleness. As an infant, she hardly cried about anything. Unlike her brother, who demanded attention from day one, Pamela sat there and watched, waiting for us to read her mind. She never connected crying to getting fed, changed, and held faster. She was so passive we took her out of daycare when she was four months old and placed her with a family where she would have more one-on-one attention from a friend and her children.

Today, Pamela is anything but passive. Not only does she figure things out for herself, she can be rather demanding and bossy at times. Now, we have to work on the other side of the equation: not letting her control us. Helping her learn to initiate has been a life-long process and requires more scaffolding than being dumped into a new home with strange people (Mary Lennox and Elizabeth Ann). People often ask how to teach chores to children who can easily get stuck into a mindless routine in which they become stuck if something goes wrong or who have executive function issues that make it hard for them to initiate or shift to another step.

First, there is atmosphere. I try very hard to avoid tying performance to rewards because I'm not a behaviorist. When working on new habits, I make sure that Pamela and I have sweet moments during the day that have nothing to do with following instruction. I go out of my way to smile at her for no reason, tickle her sweetly at random moments, say things that spark giggles out of the blue, etc. I never want her thinking "Mom is only nice to me when I do what she wants." When we are forming a new habit, I make declarative comments on what we are doing, "We're washing towels" rather than clap and gush,"Yaaaaay! Good job!"

Why should she do chores if there are no rewards? Why do I do chores? I am not Mary Poppins: I take no delight in chores, even with a spoonful of sugar. Chores are things that need to be done so life runs smoothly. Laundry needs washing or we would all be running around naked. If rewards were the only reason to do chores, I would rather skip it, sit down with a cup of coffee, and read a book. I hope Pamela will notice something needs doing and do it rather than work for rewards or stick to a mindless schedule. The atmosphere of doing chores together is slow, attentive, warm and encouraging. We are sharing an experience: we are doing something together, knowing that the relationship means more than mastering every single step of laundering in two weeks or less.

We live in a performance-oriented world. It is easy to think our kids aren't learning fast enough and give up. I try to keep in mind that doing chores is more than the task. Chores are the context for us to work many areas of development: exchanging declarative comments (communication and language), embedding body language and facial expression (nonverbal communication), adjusting to each other's pace (referencing), knowing what to do when the washer is already full or the door is hard to open (problem solving), knowing that there is such a thing as too full (judgment), etc. Because I teach life skills in a contextualized manner, I don't worry if it takes two months to master every step and contingency.

Building interaction patterns (shared with me by our RDI consultant) through chores and anything that is part of your day sets up a framework that does two things: create a framework for learning many tasks and lay a concrete foundation for the flow of conversations. Most interactions follow one of three patterns, or a sophisticated combination of them: simultaneous, alternating, and assembly line (you can read about all three here). Once kids recognize the pattern, it is easier to take an active role in a wide variety of interactions with people rather than feeling confused and withdraw.

Another important ingredient worth including is going very slowly and waiting for them to take a step. Our kids process much more slowly than we realize. When we rush and push, they feel incompetent and give up, making them more passive. We must go slowly enough for them to observe, think, and react--at their pace, not ours. Slow interactions invite our children to join in because they feel like they can keep up and succeed. Enough positive memories of taking an active role encourages them to initiate more. RDI consultants suggest waiting as long as 45 seconds to avoid missing an opportunity to think.

So, what if you had an extremely passive child? How would this look? Planning is everything: you want to set them up for success by making it easy at first. Sort the laundry and have the laundry that needs washing accessible. Have the detergent out and the cap slightly loosened. If they are too short to reach the washer, think about how your child will physically do it. An energetic child might enjoy taking turns "shooting hoops" while a sedentary child might sit on top of the dryer and drop clothing into the washer in assembly line fashion.

Another thing to think through is your hierarchy of prompting. You want to try the least direct prompt possible and wait for a reaction before trying a more direct prompt. The very first thing you do in any interaction is seek the person's attention. How would you do that in real life with a non-autistic person? Clear your throat and wait. Wave your hand. Move closer. Would you ever say to a friend, co-worker, or boss, "Look at me"?

If your child is not used to shifting attention to you, you may need to get extreme. Do or say something completely surprising like sing "Who let the dogs out?" You may need to move your face in an odd angle until your child cannot avoid seeing that you want her attention. Attention is not the act of eyeballing a person. There is a mental shift to observe you as a whole person: what you are doing and saying. I know Pamela is paying attention in how she reacts to me, not how long she gazes at me.

Timing is important too. Interrupting the credits of a movie is not a good idea (that is an issue for another day). Set everything up and wait for the right time such as after the child is in the process of transitioning from one thing to another. With a bright face and cheery voice, you might announce, "We're going to start the laundry." Then, grab her hand, walk with her into the laundry area, and guide her to the position where she will be working.

If your child is completely passive, this is the time for many long, awkward pauses. They are not used to thinking and acting! Do something to encourage her to shift attention to you and wait. Move through the hierarchy for getting attention (each time waiting) until she turns her gaze toward you and then point to the door. Pointing to something is more indirect than commanding, "Open the door." It requires the child to think: What is Mom pointing at? Why is she pointing? Does she want me to do something? What does she want me to do? Why does she keep staring at me?

Until your child opens the door, you could try a variety of indirect prompts (waiting between each one): tap on the door, put your hand on the latch, try shoving a piece of clothing through the door, guide her hand to the latch, help her partially open it, help her open it all the way, etc. You could even think out loud, "We have to put clothes in the washer" and wait. Or say, "I wonder what we should do first" and wait. Or try, "Uh, oh! The door is closed." This sounds very slow and laborious but will be worth the effort when your child starts showing initiative. If we just verbally command (or look at a picture schedule), it will be hard for them to learn to think for themselves. When she finally opens the door, you might gasp with a big smile and, when she looks at you, say, "We opened the door!" Give her some time to reflect on that big moment before going on to the next step.

Once the door is open, you start the interaction pattern of transferring pieces of clothing into the washer. At first you want to be very predictable and build their confidence in knowing what to do. Before the process becomes mindless, you inject a little uncertainty (drop a piece of clothing, put it on your head, put it in the hamper, etc.) and see how your child handles it. Without uncertainty, the interaction becomes mindless and you miss the change to foster flexible thinking and problem solving.

Pamela initiates very well and takes active roles. Here is how it went down with us. Before we started, I sorted the towels and sundry cloths in a hamper. I put the detergent on top of the washer and the hamper in front of the dryer. Then I waited. We were going shopping (something she wanted), so I waited for her to come in the kitchen and ask about it. Then, I told her we would go after starting laundry. We stepped into the laundry room, and I pointed to the washing machine door. She opened it.

Then, we hit our first glitch: David had washed his clothes the day before and forgot to transfer them to the dryer. Pamela looked in and said, "They're wet!" Then, I smelled them (my sense of smell is shot because of my cold), and I couldn't tell if they needed rewashing. I explained to her my thinking, "I'm not sure if they're clean," and I closed the door.

I pointed to the tray where we pour in the detergent. She tried opening it but couldn't because you have to shift a hidden latch to the right. She looked at me, "It's stuck." So, I pulled it a little way open and she finished. I took the cap off the detergent and gave it to her. She held the cap while I poured. I pointed to the section for the detergent, and she poured. I placed my palm on the door like I was closing it and she closed it. I showed her what button to push (which you have to push twice). I handed her the big detergent bottle and pointed to the corner of the shelf where it belongs. She put it away. We paused and I put my hand on my ear. Why? Sometimes, the door isn't closed quite right and it makes a grinding noise. When I heard the correct noise (the water being released), I smiled and said, "Whooossh!" so she knew that is the sound you need to hear.

We have started two more loads of laundry since. Because the first round went so smoothly, I added some challenges. I waited for her to open the door without any indirect prompting. I left the detergent on the shelf, so she had to retrieve it and let her open the bottle. I didn't open the detergent tray for her. I placed her hand on the latch and helped her shift it to the right. Everything went so smoothly that the third time, I added more variation. I held the cup while she poured the detergent (a more challenging task). The only problem she had was with the latch, but eventually she will figure it out. Because she is a quick study at learning chores, I suspect she will be self-sufficient in a week or two.

Talk about bliss: both of my kids starting a load of laundry!

AO, and I Don't Mean Ambleside Online

2011-05-30T12:07:00.012-04:00

Isn't it ironic that two things in my life have the initials AO: Ambleside Online and the Autism One conference, which has graciously posted videos. Since I am not sure how long they will be available online FOR FREE, I suggest you stop reading and start watching Dr. Nicole Beurkens' presentation on Relationship Development Intervention (RDI). She hits all the things that helped us so much when we started down this path back in 2007.

Now, I don't mean to be ugly or controversial, but I want to contrast what I know about RDI with the one on Verbal Behavior by Dr. James Partington. I admit I am biased against behaviorism, not only in how I handle autism but in how I teach children. My goal is to help people see that we must put first things first in teaching language-delayed children. Assuming that children in the autism spectrum cannot learn pre-verbal relationship skills is a mistake. Some can! Mine filled in these holes in her development after she turned 18—18 years old, not months old. She still has a long way to go but she has made progress in her social skills because of it. Autism therapies can be expensive, so it helps to learn from the school of hard knocks. This post represents that!

First Issue - Partington lost me four minutes into it when he talked about hitting language hard. I know you are dying for your child to speak, much less speak well. I know that! Both of my children talked late (David had back-to-back ear infections for two years). Pamela is still learning English as a first language (and Spanish too—the other day she constructed her own unique sentence, "God es mi padre." Muy bien, mi hija). What is so wrong about teaching your preverbal child to talk?

If they lack the nonverbal receptive and expressive skills, they will be missing vital components of communication when you focus on words only. I know! I made that mistake and I hope to help others avoid doing the same. As I am trying to be fair, I do applaud Dr. Partington for cautioning parents about academics (letters, colors, shapes) before their time, but now I must add a caution. He is skipping a vital step: broadband communication (and, if you don't know what that means, I refer you back to Dr. Beurkens).

Second Issue - I also applaud Dr. Partington at minute five for encouraging the first intellectual habit that Charlotte Mason prized above all others: attention, a sign of active, engaged minds. See, I'm fair! But—you knew that was coming, right—but, he focused on having many trials. Being fully engaged and attentive is an exhausting process, especially in the rapid drills typically found in behaviorism. The pace is so fast it often requires you to reward children with food. When allowed to work at a slower rate and given time to process and think rather than automatically act, children do not need artificial rewards.

Third Issue - I thank Dr. Partington at minute six for recognizing the importance of parent participation, the home, and other environments. I love how he contextualized asking a child to recall the word leaf by being outdoors when he pointed to one and asked the student, "What is it?" He used this anecdote to illustrate the importance of having many trials. Well, I have a much larger point. Does the child care what a leaf is? Has she pet a velvety bud? Has she watched a leaf emerge from its bud in the spring? Has she felt its smoothness, traced veins with her fingers, and smelled fresh green? Has she collected them in the fall and wondered how they changed color? Or, does she feel manipulated about having to learn a word for a thing that doesn't interest her in the least? While she may know how to label leaf through drilling, she does not know its essence. To quote Mason, "The question is not,—how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education—but how much does he care?" (page 170).

Fourth Issue - At 7:20, the speaker points out the need to vary what you are doing and not engage in the same type of activity. Mason educators know the value of short lessons and going from one style of lesson to another (doing math for ten minutes and shifting to singing when attention lags). However, we could completely avoid drilling the same kind of activity in trials if we worked with children in context and focused on developmentally appropriate tasks. Why would a child want to learn imitation if they see no point to it? If the child doesn't find it intrinsically interesting and doesn't understand why anyone would want to imitate, then it is just monkeywork.

When a child wants to eat an orange, that is the moment to work on imitation. Scaffold the child into success by scoring and partially pulling the peelings of two oranges. Sit at the table with your child and, once you have full attention (I will get to that in a bit), do one little thing like pick up the orange, smile expectantly, and wait for them to imitate you, even if it takes 45 seconds for the child to figure out what to do. Once they hold the orange, grab one pre-pulled corner, smile, and wait. This is imitation (and a whole host of other things) in context, rich in meaning for the child with a natural consequence, not an artificial reward. You can think of all sorts of opportunities for teaching imitation in daily life for things our children already need to learn.

Fifth Issue - At about 10:45, I agree with Dr. Partington's concern about social interaction. But, I want you to think very carefully about this. The ways in which VB teaches language sets up a very unnatural style of interaction: prompt, quick action, reward. What do you think repeating this cycle over and over tells the child? Other people think. Other people command. The only point to getting the right answer is a reward. It puts the child in a passive, receive mode for long periods of the day. Something interesting happens when the child learns to speak well. They have seen controlling the conversation modeled for them for years, and monologues about things that only interest them becomes their modus operandi! Conditioning any person in that manner might prepare children for schools as they are today. Will it prepare them to live for anything other than awards?

Sixth Issue - Yes, I appreciate the work of Lovaas in the 1970s, described in minute 13:30. I know that we should never give up on our children: there is always hope. Where are the Lovaas children now? They are adults. What kind of lives are they leading? Why has his original research never been followed into adulthood? Where are long-term studies of children who have graduated from ABA and transitioned into mainstream schools? (By long-term, I meant the adult years.)

Seventh Issue - The scariest quote in the first half of the presentation for me was this at minute 16:15: "We know how to make these kids to want to work for us." If what they are learning had meaning, if it was contextualized, if it was done at the pace in which they could process and think, if they were allowed to acquire missing developmental milestones rather than learn discrete skills, you wouldn't need to make them work for you! As the two of you share experiences, the child gleans knowledge and new thoughts from them.

Eighth Issue - At minute, 17:50, Dr. Partington gets into the whole expressive versus receptive language thing in his example of using the word book. He is missing some vital things about books and young children. Books are meant to be shared. Books are more than things to want and get. For a child to able to enjoy a book with you, many things must happen first. They must have joint attention. They should coordinate actions with you. They must be able to anticipate and enjoy novelty so that, when you read slightly differently to spotlight another way to experience the book, they find it fun. Children must have an idea of the context in the story, or the story will make no sense to them. Finally, I'm having a hard time remembering the last time I said to a friend in conversation, "What is something you can read?" But, I digress.

Ninth Issue - Again, I love what Dr. Partington said twenty-three minutes into the presentation about dogs. Through the window, a child sees a dog walking outside. The temptation is to go into teacher mode and ask a bazillion questions about dogs. Well, some teachers, that is. That is not what I would do from a Charlotte Mason and RDI perspective. He is right about punishing a kid with a bunch of impertinent questions about dogs. However, I disagree with his recommendation to say all you want. That is ineffective, too. What I would do is what Amy Cameron calls match plus one. To "dog," I might say, "Cute dog!" To "brown dog," I might say, "Brown like Loa," tugging at Pamela's episodic memories about her favorite dog from childhood. Then, I would smile and wait to see if Pamela felt competent enough to make another comment. In other words, give the child a chance to be an equal partner in the conversation.

Here is a sample conversation that just happened: Pamela just came into the room with a bowl of grapes that she had washed. Focused on writing this post, I ignored her. Suddenly, I heard, "Grapes." Without turning to look at her, I said, "Grapes are yummy!" Pamela said, "Grapes are healthy!" I turned to her and smiled, "Grapes are healthy and juicy." Now, that she had my-face-to-face, full attention, she laughed and started eating. Sometimes, people with autism complain about having to make small talk. We probably have been so focused on what must be done that we have not modeled chit-chat. When we have to work so hard to drill proper speech, grammar, and syntax, we lose track of little conversations with no agenda, no demands, no purpose. RDI allowed me to relax and appreciate small talk for what it is.

Tenth Issue - Twenty-five minutes into it is a slide about identifying existing language skills. What ever happened to pre-language skills? Does the child shift attention? Share joint attention? Understand facial expressions? Use them? How rich is the vocabulary of gestures? Do they understand gestures? Do they look to trusted adults when unsure? Do they watch others to learn? Words can only take a person so far if they are missing out on pre-language skills! I know because I had a sixteen-year-old who didn't have them! Verbal Behavior is missing out on a huge gap in nonverbal communication skills. If they lack these abilities, then they will not learn like other children, which is one reason why they become bully magnets in school. Of course, that is not their fault. It is our fault for not teaching them pre-language skills.

Eleventh Issue - Minute Thirty-Two. In the speaker's clinic, they make children look at every person in the room and greet them. Can you imagine what typical kids will think the first time that child gets on the bus? There is a time and place to do this sort of thing. For example, Pamela knows that, when we get together with Steve's side of the family, the Salvadoran custom is to greet and give your cheek to each person in the room. She also knows that my side of the family is more lax about greetings. In a small gathering, my family greets people individually, but, in a large gathering, a general "hi" works, too. Context makes a huge difference for any behavior that we have. A behavior in one situation is often the wrong thing to do in another. That is where our children get into trouble. They look at social interaction as following a set of rules, but context sometimes changes how we interact.

Twelfth Issue - At 33:25, the speaker talks about routines. Following a routine is usually not the problem with our kids. Transitions from one task to another is the problem. Deviating from the routine such as canceling a trip to the playground because of rain causes a meltdown. Thinking flexibly about the routine is the problem (it is okay to start lunch at 11:59 instead of 12:00). Seriously! Some kids are that locked into routine.

Thirteenth Issue - Responding is not thinking. Another scary quote for me was, "I'm never going to make those connections for them" at minute 35:06. I find this problematic in the school system for all children. Making connections for children robs them of the joy of thinking for themselves. To quote my friend Jenn Spencer, "I am not the fountain from which knowledge springs for my thirsty students. It is not my job to provide all the answers. When I do I rob my children of an opportunity to exercise their own minds, and a lack of exercise leads to atrophy.... One of the hardest things for me to let go of was the need to ask questions that pointed them to my way of thinking. This included giving 'comprehension tests' in which I drew out all the important ideas for my students and held my opinion as the correct answer. The result of leaving this behind has been that sometimes they do not get the ideas that I got at all, sometimes they come to the same ideas I had after having lots of time to ruminate on the material (making it theirs forever, since they were the ones doing the thinking), and sometimes they enlighten me with ideas I might not have thought of." If you focus on what a child thinks and how a child thinks, they will learn to make connections for themselves.

Fourteenth Issue - Finally, thirty-nine minutes into it, the speaker talks about non-verbals, and I'm glad he recognizes the importance of sign language for children who haven't developed their vocal musclelature! He also sees that having an ability means nothing to the child unless they use it spontaneously, without prompting, in a real-world context. Then he spent over fifteen minutes listening to his explanation of ABLLS before I became unglued at minute 56:05 when he equated "establish yourself as a conditioned reinforcer" to "make friends with them" and "make them want to do things to please you." While I completely support developing warm relationships with children, a danger in relying the same motivator most of the time: if you please people, you get rewards. I value helping a child (1) create meaning where there was none before, (2) feel competent about what they are doing, (3) trust you to provide enough support for them to feel successful but enough challenge to make it interesting, and (4) have just enough novelty to keep attention without overstimulating them. The intrinsic reward for the child is that "aha" moment, which in Pamela's case is accompanied by a giggle. Playing to one motivator "getting the good things faster" concerns me because people work for many reasons, not just utilitarian ones.

Fifteenth Issue - I was so glad to see footage of Dr. Partington working with a real child with autism at 1:04:00 (we are into hours now). Because he thinks the child is ready to express her needs in signs and words, I made a few assumptions. By the time an child is ready to communicate in words, he has mastered the art of nonverbal communication. He doesn't just walk into the kitchen and stand there like this little girl did. He doesn't simply walk to the refrigerator and wait, which is often what an autistic child without language does. He actively seeks your attention, follows your eye gaze, and, when you shift your face in his direction, he points and gestures. He watches for your response to see if you understand. If not, he finds another way to communicate. He is also at the stage where he is beginning to share joint attention with you. So, when Dr. Partington starts teaching the little girl in the video language, I assumed she had all of these pieces in place. She did not. I did not see any effort to work on these vital components: shifting attention to him, following his eye gaze, waiting to see if he is paying attention before signing eat, and sharing her enjoyment of the pizza with him. To put it crassly, Dr. Partington is nothing more than a pizza dispensing machine to her.

So, how would one go about eating pizza with this child? How do you feed infants? Often it is a game where you encourage the child to shift attention to you and the spoon by making novel sounds and closing the distance between the baby and the spoon. Then, you smack your lips, lick your lips, and say, "Mmm. That tastes so goood!" If you need a refresher go, check out a first spoon feeding video on youtube. You can see how the little boy is already communicating a desire for more: reaching for the bowl, kicking out with his legs, leaning into his mother, opening his mouth for more, etc. He checks his mother's face for reassurance, but, when he is no longer hungry, he turns away. The mother carefully watches what he is communicating and responds to him. Notice how much mutual enjoyment the mother and her son share.

Compare the two interactions. The baby boy is already communicating volumes more than the little girl does through his facial expressions, body language, and attention shifts. Dr. Partington and the girl completely miss out on any joy, mutual enjoyment, etc. Of course, they have no relationship because this is the first time they have worked together. That ought to be a greater aim. He is very instrumental with her: the minute she signs, he dispenses the food, and there's no effort at communicating any delight or mutual satisfaction. She is the manding machine for him, and he is the vending machine for her. Nothing else matters in the interaction.

In the swing segment (1:13:45), her father is wonderful. You can see how he focuses on experiencing sharing as well as the long e sound, the laughter, the joy. Notice what he does when she stares at her feet, he moves into her line of sight. He gets experience sharing. For him, the interaction is more than reinforcing her: it is emotions shared, the delight.

Sixteenth Issue - When Dr. Partington shifts to working with her mother, again you see the instrumental style. Even though the little girl is signing, she is completely tuned out from her mother. Think back to the baby and those moments of enjoyment between mother and child. That vital ingredient is missing here. Sharing food is more than nourishing our bodies. It is communal. There is joy and fellowship and enjoyment of one another's company. I will commend Dr. Partington for saying at 1:18:30 the importance of letting the little girl come to her and slowing down!

How did we work on face-to-face gazing without food? In the first two weeks of transitioning to RDI, I would walk up to Pamela and wait. If she did not shift to me, I would make a novel sound, each time different: "Yoo hoo!" Clear my throat. Or I might wave or do a silly dance move to encourage that shift. My final maneuver was to move into her line of sight. Once she shifted her gaze (which does not mean I expected her to eyeball me to death either). Then, I would tell her something. Anything. "I'm going to take a shower." "I'm going to call Dad." "I'm going to use the computer." Sometimes, my message contained a naturally rewarded consequence. "Dinner is ready." "I'm going shopping."

Very quickly, Pamela realized that Mom expects me to pay attention to her when she speaks. In fact, Dr. Partington mentions this point about waiting until a child looks at you before speaking later in the video (1:36:30). The big difference between what he does and what I do is the pace and intent of communication. When Dr. Partington speaks, he expects you respond quickly. When I speak to Pamela, I am telling her something that may or may not require a response. Think about it. Communicating is more than making demands of one another. Because I wasn't commanding her every time I opened my mouth, Pamela was learning that sometimes people share information without expecting you to act on it. Some of our communication is like that.

Seventeenth Issue - I appreciate Dr. Partington's take on stim toys at 1:19:45. I can drink a cup of coffee and enjoy my conversation with you. In fact, I might savor the moment more because of the aroma and my delighted taste buds. I agree with Dr. Partington that the little girl does something cool at 1:21:45. She uses her eye gaze to let them know that she wishes to eat from a different bowl. But, there is something vital missing that young children do when they communicate. The whole point of learning to shift attention to watching you is to see if you are paying attention to them. She is missing the key component called referencing here. This pre-verbal skill is when the child points to the bowl, checks your face to see if you are seeing the communication, and waits for your response. At this stage of development, being able to reference another person for a variety of reasons is far more important than using words. In this segment, the little girl broadcasts her intent for a different bowl like radio waves sent out into space. The mother and Dr. Partington move so quickly to respond, they do not give the little girl the opportunity to watch what they are doing and see if they get her message. I can see they were excited, but they missed that chance for the girl to look at her mother and see that mother understands.

Eighteenth Issue - At 1:24:00, Dr. Partington spends a lot of time on reinforcers. Why? His goal is to teach children to ask for what they want and make demands of you. Because he is ignoring the missed developmental stages, such as appreciating novelty, he must use artificial reinforcers. Think about peek-a-boo. Why do we spend so much time on a silly little game when we could be teaching infants to make demands of us!

We are teaching them foundational elements of mutually enjoying each other, which is naturally reinforcing. At first, peek-a-boo is done very slowly until the baby gets the pace and sees the fun of dad covering baby's face and slowly pulling off the blanket. Then, as the baby gets it, dad adds little variations, or novelty. If she adds them too soon, the baby cries because he doesn't understand the fun of anticipation and change. After baby learns that, peek-a-boo becomes a wild game with all sorts of unexpected events, false expectations, and surprising pops-up. Learning to appreciate anticipation and novelty naturally reinforce our social interactions. A child who finds novelty fun will not need fewer artificial rewards. Likewise, children who are making meaning (not just learning labels) and feeling competent about what they are doing (not just going through the motions) need fewer artificial reinforcers.

Nineteenth Issue - At 1:28:00, I admit I cracked up at his warning to parents to avoid teaching children to ask for things they wouldn't want in their wildest dreams (bed, toilet, etc.) Very few kids ever want to go to bed, so that makes sense. But, I do have qualms about his reasoning for not teaching children to say things you don't want to hear until they are bigger than you and can hurt you ("leave me alone" and "no"). Why wouldn't we want them to tell us that? Sometimes, our children are truly worn out and need downtime. That is just as much a need for them as food. I understand that children with autism may need treatments and therapies in their early years to help fill in developmental gaps. We also need to keep in mind as Dr. Beurkens pointed out that we are vastly overscheduling the lives of our children, whether they are autistic or typical. The sensory systems of autistic children are so easily overwhelmed. Because they process more slowly, a slow pace to us is a merry-go-round to them. We ought to be very careful about what therapies we chose for them: just because something is available does not mean we must do it.

I think what Mason wrote about the rights of children ought to apply to those with autism. We should not mistaken organized games and structured recreational activities as play. It is work to them because of everything they must filter out, filter in, process, and monitor. They need free time like any other child. We must allow opportunities for personal initiative in what they do without us taking over and ruining it (pages 36-39). Yesterday, I pulled out some pony beads to sew on eyes on a stuffed toy for a friend. A few hours later, Pamela came to me and showed me a bead necklace she made out of about 50 pony beads. I warmly acknowledged her effort and told her they were beautiful. Then I waited. Sure, I wanted her to wear them. But, I waited. About a minute later, she was proudly wearing them and twisting them around her finger like all girls do. Mind you, Pamela is not a dress up kind of girl, so it was a sweet moment that I could have ruined by doing the thinking for her.

Twentieth Issue - At 1:35:00, I loved how Dr. Partington shared a very important point about all people, including autistic ones. People don't mind unpredictable payoffs as he describes in the slot machine analogy! I would like to take this a wee step further. Unpredictability, one of the secret ingredients of peek-a-boo, is very hard on our kids, which is why they need it in small doses. When we worked on Pamela's anxiety's during the whack-a-mole campaign, we discovered that unpredictability heightened her anxiety, leading her to control people. We spent a long time working on it, and we still have to work at it. David and I discovered yesterday that he had spent too much time being predictable by watching movies in his room. When he tried watching one in the television room downstairs, Pamela had a nuclear meltdown. It took at least fifteen minutes for her to get a grip (and it didn't help that she has a nasty cold sore inside her lip). She eventually chose to sit on the back porch in the rocking chairs and wait for David to finish watching the movie before she came inside. After I calmed her down, David told me, "Mom, I have to make a point to watch movies downstairs sometimes, don't I?"

How do you start working on unpredictability? By adding little variations into a predictable routine. Even when Pamela was little, I made a point not to get trapped by routines. Pamela cried if I skipped an aisle at the grocery store. To help her prepare, I would smile, say "One, two, three, weeeee!" and push the cart really fast to the next aisle. Because we moved every few years, Pamela was forced out of the normal routine until she established new ones at the new neighborhood. In RDI, we use this term called productive uncertainty. You add just enough unpredictability to challenge a child without pushing them into meltdown. A very practical way is to set up doing chores, baking, putting groceries in a bag at the self-checkout, or any activity through interactions patterns. You get the pattern going, and you add a teeny, tiny variation.

Suppose the little girl wants some grapes. You get a bowl of water, place it at the table, and show her how to drop it in the water. You start an assembly-line pattern: mom picks off a grape and gives it to the girl, girl drops it in the water. Then, repeat. You go as slowly as she needs to go. Once she is competent and gets her role, then you add a variation. Just like you might gasp or make an alerting sound in peek-a-boo, you do that first to let her know that something different is about to happen. Then, you take an unexpected action: you drop the grape on the table and wait for her reaction with smile on your face. If she calmly picks it up and finishes her role, you go back to the pattern and then throw in a different variation: you put your hand at a higher or lower level than she expected, you gently bop yourself on the nose with it first, you gently bop her on the nose with it, etc. As long as she goes with the flow, you randomly insert a little variation into the interaction pattern. You might even do something really silly like eat the grape first! However, if she cries or gets frustrated, you help her to recover her emotions, get back to the predictable pattern, and wait until she is really confident before you try a smaller variation than the one that upset her. Basically, you apply peek-a-boo to routine activities into which you can weave an interaction pattern.

Twenty-First Issue - At 1:38:30, I like how Dr. Partington points out that we should encouraging our children with smile and warm facial expressions. That is true for all children! (A quick mathematical rabbit trail SMILE—breathe deeply for no purple math problems are on the horizon—do you want to know how to trip up a student who feels competent in math? Frown and look puzzled while they answer the question!) I also agree with him on timeout: sometimes, autistic children want to be left alone and act up just get a timeout.

Then, Dr. Partington shows some errorless training, which caused me to pause again. I can understand why we think it is necessary because autistic children often feel incompetent at everything. Even in RDI, we scaffold a child by setting up the situation to allow the child to succeed in some small way while still being challenged. However, when you are working for an external reward like food, then making mistakes are far more devastating. You didn't get what you expected (the reward) because you made an error! When discovering something new or mastering a step motivates you, then the stakes are lower. When you focus on process (learning to tie shoes) rather than product (a reward for tying them correctly), you feel less pressured by making mistakes.

Life is messy. Humans make mistakes, and, in fact, to err is human. Too many of our spectrum children are perfectionists by nature. Some require us to work hard to model the fine art of making mistakes, remaining calm and neutral when something runs astray, and figuring out what to do about the mistake. One of the most common questions I get from parents new to homeschooling is how to help their autism spectrum child stop melting down over wrongs answers! Making errors is not the issue: the issue is whether or not you make an error, you know you made an error, but you find a way to repair the situation. The video of Pamela making mistakes in learning to tie her shoe illustrates this beautifully.

Twenty-First Issue - From 1:40:00 to 1:47:00, Dr. Partington spends a lot of time labeling names with flashcards, a decontextualized way to learn labels. It reminds me of a friend whose child was drilled with flashcards: I am changing the situation somewhat for anonymity. Suppose we drill, "What do you find in a pool (common here in the Carolinas)? Water, ladder, and floats." The child memorizes the exact response and has it perfectly. One day, you see a duck in the poll and you head the child outside, point to the unexpected thing in the pool, and ask with great excitement, "What do you see in the pool?" The child misses the novelty and mechanically replies, "Water, ladder, and floats." This is the kind of thing that was happening to the child, and my friend had to work very hard to contextualize understanding.

Dr. Partington does recommend we "show them what a tape is and does" but it sure looks like "do as I say, not as I do." How do I teach Pamela new words in context? Here are two examples: copper and fungus. Because we look for meaning and connections, living books and real life offers opportunities to reinforce new words (copper kettle at the Revolutionary War encampment). I also like his point about the giraffe and zebra at 1:42:00. If a child can only express thirty words, I would certainly go for new words that have meaning in the child's life as he suggests chicken in Hawaii where they run on the road or iguana if that happens to be one of your pets. However, some people carry the concept of functional (1:45:07) too far, especially in choosing books for our children. If we only read books that spotlight functional understanding, then they will miss out on embracing fantasy and laughing at the ridiculous. I think focusing on meaning is more helpful than focusing on function because most of us hope that some day our children will have an active imagination and a lively sense of humor.

Twenty-Second Issue - The little boy at 01:47:00 is doing many wonderful things: he shares joint attention with the adult in looking at the book. He is using body language and looking at the therapist. I like what Dr. Partington suggests in having a child "tell me about the woman." That is narration in a nutshell. Where we do it differently in the Charlotte Mason world is that we teach in context: when outdoors, children sight-see and picture-paint by sharing what they observe. The art of knowing and narrating occurs in context in concrete, real-life situations. That prepares them for the shift to more abstract settings when they hit formal lessons starting in Year 1 (starting at age six or later for some children): picture study, nature study, narrating a passage from a book, etc.

We even follow-up narrations very differently. Rather than focus on instrumental, imperative "gotcha questions," we focus on meaning and episodic memory. When a character breaks a bone, we think back to the times when I broke my arm (1974), Pamela broke hers (1999), and David broke his arm (2003 and 2005). When a character botches a recipe, we talk about culinary horror stories. When we read about a hawk, we recall our own hawk rescue and Pamela even remembers this incident every time she catches an insect in the house and gently releases it outdoors. We seek opportunities to ponder, wonder, and share what we feel, not poke holes in her sense of competency.

Twenty-Third Issue - At 1:49:00, Dr. Partington talks a bit about intraverbals (talking about things in their absence). The contextual way to do this is telling the absent parent what happened. When Dad comes home from work, children tell him about what they did while he was away. When children come home from a trip to the hardware store with Dad, they tell Mom all the things they saw and did. When Grandma calls, they tell her about the birthday party. I see a clear pattern in how Verbal Behavior approaches tasks versus a relationship-oriented way (Charlotte Mason and RDI). We seem to focus on the whole in a real, concrete context that has meaning for the child while VB seeks to fragment and decontextualize in an abstract manner. We seem to tie an unknown to a prior known, tapping into episodic memory, while VB seeks to drill unknowns until they are memorized, which is quite a different thing from known.

Twenty-Fourth Issue - At 1:57:00, Dr. Partington makes a vital point about paying attention to what people are doing. Inattention to people becomes a problem when you focus on words before nonverbal communication. Because RDI concentrates on referencing (watching what people do and think about how we might alter our actions or stay the course), children are more able to transition to social situations even when their verbal skills lag. First, we focus on teaching them to reference their parents. They discover that people with more experience provide clues on what we should do. A great example for Pamela was when she was not sure about what to do with metered mail and she referenced me to find out. Then, they learn to reference other trusted adults and eventually peers in small groups such as when Pamela took watercolor classes.

Watching what people do is not an afterthought once we have taught them language. Watching what people do is a means by which children learn to do and learn more language. Rather than focusing on discrete details about what Michael is eating and wearing at 1:58:00, we are focusing on the relationship. The kind of thought pattern we aim for our children to learn is not focused on objective details: "Michael is eating a sandwich and baby carrots. He has brown hair and eyes. He wears glasses. He wore a red T-shirt and blue jeans." We focus on subjective details: "Michael is frowning at me. I wonder why. Maybe he doesn't like my tapping the table with my finger. What happens if I stop tapping? He still looks upset. What if I move away a little? He is relaxing. I bet I was too close to him. I'll have to remember that next time."

If you have never heard of any of this heretical, completely topsy-turvy way of addressing autism, I encourage you to study Dr. Beurkens' presentation and chew on that only for awhile. Drink it in and absorb it. What sounds so simple is really a challenge in our "more is more" and "now is better" world. Think about it. Learn to live it.

Teaching our children from a developmental, relationship-oriented point of view requires a huge paradigm shift—a major change in how we interact with our children that runs counter to the culture of enlightenment thinking. In the beginning, we focus on what we are doing as parents: are we slow enough, are we more careful with our nonverbal communication, have we cut out therapy for the sake of therapy because it is available and fairly inexpensive, are we being more declarative in my language to let our children think. It may require the guidance of an RDI consultant (ask your friends for not all consultants are created equal). You may end up changing schools or homeschooling or changing how you homeschool. Change is hard!

This change in my thinking started at the turn of the century (whoa, that makes me feel old), and I am still learning as I go. Friends of mine like Jennifer Spencer and Lisa Cadora have found the change sometimes painful but worth it. We no longer worry about learning because we are learning to live and enjoying the new life we live.

Purple Math Age Problem

2011-05-24T07:53:00.013-04:00

I've been assessing Pamela's word problem solving abilities and I'm pleased with what she can do with simple one step problems requiring whole-part thinking. In the process of assessing her, I've been transitioning her to the Singapore Math bar model concept that I explained on Wednesday. First, I assessed if she recognized whole and parts in ordinary situations that she understands. Pamela loves making her own lemonade, so this set-up was easy for her to do. I gave her this:

She easily set-up a whole-part model.

I gave her several problems like this and she set every single one up correctly. Then I gave her addition (unknown whole) and subtraction (unknown part) word problems based upon bar models she set up. Here is the one for lemonade problem:

Lemon juice has 11 calories. Lemonade has 165 calories. Sugar has 154 calories. How many calories does water have?

She correctly recorded the numbers in the model and figured out that water has 0 calories.

Once I was satisfied Pamela understood these problems, I gave her problems with distractors such as the following:

Mom baked the crust for 10 minutes and the filling for 55 minutes. She read a book for 15 minutes. How long did it bake?

She spotted the distractors right away and began crossing them out. Not all problems had them. I think from now on, I will include distractors occasionally so that she realizes she doesn't have to use every piece of information in a problem. Now, I plan to assess how well she applies the bar model graph to these concepts. I have a feeling we will be charting new territory in some cases: comparison, change, remainder, equal, excess value, repeated value, constant difference, constant quantity, and constant total.

The reason why I am so excited about helping Pamela learn to think in pictorial models is that they can solve many word problems covered in algebra without using letters and numbers. Once she understands them pictorially, I suspect the transition to letters and numbers will be easier for her. Here is an age problem I found at Purple Math. Notice that Purple Math sets up a system of equations and solves it. Now compare their method to a pictorial method, that is not quite Singapore Math and not quite Jacob's Elementary Algebra.

In January of the year 2000, I was one more than 11 times as old as my son William. In January of 2009, I was 7 more than 3 times as old as him. How old was my son in January of 2000

We will represent William's age in 2000 with an empty box:

2009 is 9 years later, and you can represent his age in this way:

In 2000, his mother was 1 more than 11 times his age, which is 11 empty boxes. You would add 1 to that to represent her age:

To represent her age 9 years later, increase the 1 to 10:

This table organizes all the information except for the last relationship we will analyze next:

In 2009, his mother was 7 more than 3 times as old as his age in that same year. So, you have to triple that age by writing the empty box and 9 3 times and add 7 to that:

We also know her age in 2009 was 11 empty boxes and 10 from the table we set up. All we need to do now is rearrange boxes and numbers until it works:

Rearrange the first line to match up the elements better. Compose 9, 9, 9, and 7 to make 34 and decompose that to 10 and 24.

Separate 24 into 8 equal parts yields 3.

That means an empty box is the same thing as 3. William was 3 in 2000. His mother was 34. In 2009, he was 12 and she was 43. Her age in 2009 (43) is 7 more than 3 times his age, or 7 + 3x12.

Now, here is the challenge for anyone wishing to try. Can you solve the other next age problem at Purple Math through pictures? If you email me your work, I will include it in my next math post.

In three more years, Miguel's grandfather will be six times as old as Miguel was last year. When Miguel's present age is added to his grandfather's present age, the total is 68. How old is each one now?

It's Not the End of the World

2011-05-22T22:20:00.001-04:00

Pamela's favorite phrase when feeling upset is, "It's not the end of the world!" While she does track news articles that interest her (Elizabeth Taylor's death), she has not kept up with the whole rapture hullabaloo (May 21, 6:00 p.m., pick your time zone). Some of my friends with autism spectrum children were not so lucky, so I thought I might share some strategies that may help you for the next doomsday prediction (December 21, 2012, when the Mayan calendar ends). If you are not a Christian, you have it easy. Just tell your kid that another crackpot Christian prophecy didn't come true. For us believers, it's not as easy.

First, the man who made this prophecy has been wrong before! Deuteronomy 18:22 tells us, "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him." So, when the man who hinted at the end of the world as possibly September 15-17, 1994 makes another prediction, stay calm! Not only that, Romans 16:17 says, "I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned." Any prediction of the day and hour of the end of the world clearly runs counter to the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 24:35-36. That is another reason to breathe easy.

Second, now that we have all survived the *ahem* rapture, it is a good time to give the children who spent yesterday in panic mode a little history lesson to be prepared for the next "end of the world" scenario. Do you remember the Y2K panic? We were living in Pennsylvania at the time and my friends thought we were crazy for spending Christmas of 1999 in El Salvador. They couldn't believe Steve was stupid enough to schedule a flight back to the States on January 3, 2000. I told them that, if we lost electricity because the power grid went down, I would rather be in a sunny tropical beach eating coconuts than freezing to death in a snowstorm. They still thought we were nuts. Y2K topped this list of top ten failed predictions of the apocalypse. And, if that's not enough, here's more.

Third, we can help our ASD children learn from our own experiences (such as Y2K) and learn from their own by making a special effort to code this into their episodic memory, something families doing RDI make a special effort to do. They can learn to pay attention to how you, their parents (their guide), react to situations and trust your response, which is what Pamela learned to do through this therapy. Children in the autism spectrum have a hard time storing valuable lessons from life in their memory in a way that they can retrieve it for future reference.

Memory is important for everyone in terms of learning, growing, and managing more complex social and emotional situations in life. We use our memories to build and strengthen relationships; to reflect on what we’ve done in order to make plans for the future; and to problem-solve based on past experiences. If we didn’t have memories to draw on, we would hardly move forward in life. Hence, developing meaningful memories is a critical skill for all people, including children with autism. Linda Murphy in her article Episodic Memory, Experience-Sharing, And Children with ASD

Scarves for the Babies

2011-05-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

Pamela finished the last scarf for her babies and has started a blue fuzzy one for herself. She is in the middle of sewing a felt knitting needle case too.

Pictorial Ways of Solving Algebraic Problems

2011-05-15T07:55:00.006-04:00

A farmer had twice as many ducks as chickens. After the farmer sold 413 ducks and 19 chickens died, he has half as many ducks as chickens. How many ducks does he have now?

I have been studying ways to solve a simple problem in algebra pictorially rather than the traditional methods as I think through how to teach Pamela how to do this one day. Since I know many folks scared off by high school math occasionally pop into my blog, I was wondering if this makes more sense to you than the traditional method which I list at the end of this post. This pictorial method incorporates two strategies: (1) working backward from the answer and (2) incorporating the techniques taught in the first four chapters of Jacob's Elementary Algebra. Pamela has been using an empty box for the unknown for years, based on how Making Math Meaningful teaches whole-part thinking.

Ducks
We want to know the number of ducks the farmer has now, which is our unknown, represented by the empty box.

We know that the farmer used to have 413 more ducks than he has now because he sold that many. So, at the beginning of the problem, the farmer had whatever number he has now and the 413 he sold.

Chickens
We want to know the number of chickens the farmer has now. We know that he has half as many ducks as he does chickens. If he has 8 ducks, he would have 16 chickens. That means that the number of chickens is double the number of ducks. Whatever the number of ducks is now, the number of chickens is twice the amount.

We know that the farmer used to have 19 more chickens than he has now because that many chickens died. So, at the beginning of the problem, the farmer had whatever number of chickens he has now and the 19 that died.

Summarize the Quantity of Ducks and Chickens Before and After

We were given one more relationship: at the beginning of the problem, he had twice as many ducks as chickens. If he had 8 ducks, then he had 4 chickens. That means the number of ducks at the beginning was twice the number of chickens. Twice the number of chickens at the beginning would be double of what is in the table, or

We can rewrite twice the number of chickens as,

The number of ducks at the beginning of the problem is the same as double the number of chickens,

We can decompose 413 in a way to help us see the answer:
413 = 375 + 38 = 125 + 125 + 125 + 38

That means 125 goes into the empty box, which is the number of ducks that the farmer has now.

To check our work, we can plug 125 into the empty boxes into the table. The number of chickens now is twice what was in the empty box, 2 x 125 or 250. The number of ducks at the beginning was the empty box and 413, 125 + 413 or 538. The number of chickens at the beginning was the twice the empty box and 19, or 2x125 + 19 or 269.

Does this make sense? At the beginning of the problem, the number of ducks (538) is twice the number of chickens (269). At the end of the problem, the number of ducks (125) is half the number of chickens (25). All relationships make sense!

Other Methods:
I found this problem at a Singapore Math blog, which offers multiple problem solving strategies that are more pictorial than the traditional method. The author linked to a more thorough explanation of Singapore's model method that you might enjoy.

Traditional Method:
Let c be the number of chickens and d be the number of ducks at the beginning of the problem. Since there are twice as many ducks as there are chickens at the beginning,
d = 2c

Since the farmer sold 413 ducks, the number of ducks at the end of the problem is the expression,
d - 413

Since 19 chickens died, the number of chickens at the end of the problem is the expression,
c - 19

We also know that now there are half as many ducks as chickens, so we can write an equation for this relationship:
d - 413 = ½(c - 19)

Substituting the first relationship between ducks and chicks, we can now solve for the number of chickens at the beginning of the problem.
2c - 413 = ½(c - 19)

2(2c - 413) = 2[½(c - 19)]

4c - 826 = c - 19

4c - 826 - c = c - 19 - c

3c - 826 + 826 = -19 + 826

3c = 807

c = 269

If the number of the chickens at the beginning of the problem was 269, the number of ducks was twice that, or 538. If the number of ducks at the beginning of the problems was 538, the number of ducks at the end is 413 less than that, or 125.

To check our work, if the number of chickens at the beginning of the problem was 269, the number of chickens at the end is 19 less than that, or 250. Since 250 is twice 125, the number of chickens is now twice the number of ducks.

Facing the Mother of All Anxieties

2011-05-14T11:43:00.000-04:00

For a long time, Pamela's number one anxiety involved selling. Back in October 2006, I blogged how just saying phrases like "sell the dogs" (when my husband talks on the phone about selling products that are clogging up inventory). Two months later, we moved into our new (actually old Edwardian era, Victoria style) house, and the new fear was about selling the house. The last time we sold our home was in 2001. Even though she knew the signs of preparing to move (dejunking, cleaning, organizing, etc.), hearing the words sell and house together triggered a screech out of her.

I first noted her fears about selling the house in May 2008, but her screeching had been going on for a long time. The first issue we addressed was separating herself from others. Through RDI, we helped her to see that just because someone else was selling a house didn't mean we were selling ours. Six months later, we addressed the second issue: having insufficient information. She screamed as soon as she heard "sell" without hearing the whole conversation. So, we applied the whole-part thinking she learned in math to her listening skills. For a few months, we had conversations about selling things until Pamela stopped freaking out at the word sell.

Getting upset at that word probably has to do with the fact that we moved often: Pamela was born in Adak, Alaska. She has lived in California, Florida, Louisiana (two different homes), Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Alaska (two different homes), Minnesota, and South Carolina (two different homes). That is a whole lot of moving for any person her age (twenty-two), much less a person with autism, who find change more difficult than the typical person. We have lived in South Carolina since 2005, right across the street from my parents, a blessing we have never experienced. We have lived here for almost six years, a record for the Glasers.

Pamela had other anxieties too that caused her to control David and Steve. For a year-and-a-half (from April 2007 to November 2008), she instituted the sacred hour in which she banned David from the television room from noon until one o'clock. She let go of that as her anxiety and control issues wained thanks to RDI. She tried to control Steve through his work schedule, which was always unpredictable, therefore increasing her meltdowns. Not only did she tell him which car to take and which highway to drive, she would stalk him until he left the house if he were running late. From January 2009 through August 2009, we addressed thinking flexibly about his schedule. Life certainly improved once we guided Pamela out of her anxieties thanks to the Whac-a-mole campaign.

Steve has been ready to try another industry and an opportunity opened up for him recently. Unfortunately, the location is the midwest. We have many reasons for not wanting to sell our home, in-state tuition for David being one of them. So, the big question was how to tell Pamela without having a nuclear meltdown. Because uncertainty plays such a large role in her anxieties, we took the route of "less is more" by only telling her what we had to at the very last moment. If anything, it would shorten the length of time she had to stew over the future.

Steve's last day of work was in April, and he took a month off, enjoying life as a handyman and all-around-good guy. When Pamela asked why he didn't go to work, Steve told her the truth. He was on vacation. Whenever we had conversations about his future job, we talked in code or made sure we were well out of her hearing. I had one lapse two weeks until D-day, and I smoothed it over with stretched truth: Steve was heading out there to work. A week before his first day of work, Pamela read one of his emails and, thanks to a brilliant download from God, Steve simply explained that he was getting a new job and we were going to have two houses.

I'm sure Pamela went back through her episodic memories of previous moves and realized she saw none of the signs. She showed absolutely no trace of anxiety, smiled at the thought of having two homes, and ran a victory lap. I felt like Snoopy Dancing because you have no idea what kind of uproar it would have caused four years ago!

Pamela is adjusting well, thanks to her hard-won flexible thinking. Wednesday was quite busy and, before we headed out of the house, Pamela asked, "What about dinner?" I told her that David could pick up some food for her when he takes her home. She said, "Just like Dad." I agreed, "Yes, he's man of the family right now." She smiled at the memory of us reading the book by the same name many years ago.

Steve headed west exactly a week ago today, and he is thriving. He loves being back in an engineering atmosphere, yet able to apply the business and computer skills he has mastered in the past two decades. This morning, I pulled weeds, picked up sticks discarded by the pecan trees after two lightning storms we had this week, and slew some ivy crawling up the brickwork. David took over his father's Saturday morning ritual of picking up breakfast at McDonald's and plans to cut the grass and edge later today. Unfortunately, David woke up too late for breakfast this time, but he will learn.

Between my volunteer efforts at ChildLightUSA and doing all the things Steve used to do on weekends, I will keep trying to blog what I can when I'm not sweating outside getting dirt under my nails, making repairs, and caring for the cars. And, those of you who know me well can stop laughing now! :-)

You Know You're a Geek When You're IM'ing about Factoring Polynomials

2011-04-22T23:01:00.002-04:00

Two posts in two days? Pass the smelling salts!

I've been busy writing what amounts to a fifty-page research paper on the teaching of mathematics. It has been eating up much of my time and distracting me from my blog, and I do it gladly. On top of that, Google has decided to delete old videos next month, forcing me to transfer my blog videos to You-Tube and download my private ones. It's a good excuse to attach labels and revamp the blog. The timing stinks!

Wednesday, I tutored an intelligent young woman taking college algebra. She was struggling with factoring polynomials, so we spent over an hour working through problems. My primary goal in tutoring math students is to put them on a search for meaning. If they understand why they are doing what they are doing, they will be more likely to remember it. Even if they forget, meaning helps them reason their way through a problem. If I sniff any hint of wavering, I will ask them why something is true.

My friend had to solve 9x⁵ - 9x³ = 0. She had no problems with step one, dividing both sides of the equation by 9 to get x⁵ - x³ = 0 and knew to pull out x³. When asked what x⁵ divided by x³ was, she made the fatal mistake. She raised her eyebrows and questioned, "X squared?"

Me: "Are you sure about that?"

Her: "Our teacher said you subtract."

Me: "Did she explain why?"

Her: "No. She's old school. She just tells us how to do it. She doesn't have time to explain why."

Sigh. She is smart. She is perfectly capable of understanding why. People who disrespect motivated students enough not to explain why bug me. So, we headed down the path of meaning, peeling back her uncertainty until we reached something solid.

Me: "What does x⁵ mean?"

Her: "You times x by itself 5 times. You know, x times x times x times x times x."

Me: "Good. Any time I'm unsure about a procedure, I start thinking about meaning. If you freeze on a test and forget whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide, you can always fall back on meaning. Write it out the long way."

So, she wrote x⁵ ÷ x³ = (x ∙ x ∙ x ∙ x ∙ x) ÷ (x ∙ x ∙ x). Then I showed her how that is just like saying x ∙ x ∙ (x ÷ x) ∙ (x ÷ x) ∙ (x ÷ x). Then her face lit up, "Oh! Then you can cancel and get 0."

Believe it or not, that is a misunderstanding because we throw around words without meaning and precision and end up confusing students. I responded, "No. Lots of students do that. Let's go back go meaning. What does x divided by x mean?"

Her face went blank. Yes, I know I'm a pain, but this is important! Math makes sense when taught properly. So, I peeled the onion back further. I said, "Sometimes, it is easier to think about numbers. What does 5 divided by 5 mean?"

Another blank stare. The way we teach math focuses on doing, not thinking deeply. I explained, "Dividing means putting objects into equal groups. Suppose you had to share 5 cookies with 5 people. How many cookies would each person get?"

Her: "Oh, 1!"

Me: "What if you shared 10 cookies equally with 10 people?"

Her: "They'd each get 1."

Me: "What if you shared a million cookies equally with a million people?

Her: "They'd get 1!"

Me: "Now, let's get back to x divided by x. What does x mean?"

Her: "I don't know."

My friend answered correctly without realizing it. I explained to her that we use x to represent a number we don't know. It's a placeholder that means a number that we don't know. Having placeholders allows us to set up relationships between known and unknown numbers and manipulate them to figure out the unknowns or refine those relationships. I added, "We have a number of objects and the same number of people. We'll call that number x. If we have x pencils to give to x people, how many pencils would each person get?"

Her: "It's 1."

Me: "What is x divided by x?"

Her: "It has to be 1."

Then, everything fell into place, and she understood:

x⁵ ÷ x³ = (x ∙ x ∙ x ∙ x ∙ x) ÷ (x ∙ x ∙ x)

= x ∙ x ∙ (x ÷ x) ∙ (x ÷ x) ∙ (x ÷ x)

= x² ∙ 1 ∙ 1 ∙ 1

= x²

We had to peel the onion for only a few more glitches. My friend said she had a much better understanding. It disappoints me to know how much rote, meaningless instruction is happening in the math world.

Training Habits without Losing Your Mind!

2011-04-21T16:04:00.004-04:00

If you are expecting charts, stickers, timeouts, schedules, programs, organizational tips-- (which seem to work best for the organized)--please find another blog. You will not see any of that here!

Back in February, a friend started a local Charlotte Mason study group. This is the first time I have ever gotten to read her books and swap stories with skin friends. Last week we covered habit training, which we can easily look like dog training with velvet gloves if we get all legalistic. When I applied the ideas our group shared to guide kids in our church's after-school program in relational ways, class went more smoothly. Another friend who teaches a college class on disabilities set up a video call with me, so her students could talk to a family living what they are learning. They asked my opinion of behaviorism and received the flip side of raising autistic children: through relationships, not rules! Last week, our church Bible study focused on living Christ's principles (by staying connected to Him Colossians 2:19-23) and to avoid becoming enslaved by worldly principles ("Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"). Then, a cyber friend asked about helping her teenager keep a cleaner room in a Mason way. God tossed all of these circumstance into my life in the past two days, so I got the hint and decided to blog it!

Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) (our favorite autism therapy) and Charlotte Mason (our favorite method of education) have similar ways of guiding children in their thinking. When our thoughts change, changed behavior will follow. Both begin with parents: the way we think affects the way we parent. We need to start with the head and heart for change to occur: the head and heart of the family changing first, which then flows into the head and heart of the child. Mason recommended parents cultivating three habits when training their children: tact, watchfulness, and persistence. These three habits dovetail very nicely with RDI.

Tact - Tact means saying, "Dave, can you come here for a minute?" instead of "DAVID JOSEPH GLASER!!" Tone of voice alone can mean the difference between a strong-willed child showing up with an open hand or closed fists. It means using a hopeful and expectant look rather than a frown and glaring eyes. It is giving a few brief words and having a conversation, not a dreary monologue, to help your child understand why a habit is important to you and will benefit them. Half the battle is won when you and your child agree about why a habit is needed. Tact means knowing your child well enough to find the right idea to inspire him to reform his ways.

Watchfulness - Watchfulness means observing your child and figuring out the best way to approach a new habit based on her nature. It means being aware of triggers for poor behavior and preventing them. It means knowing what contrary habit might work best in helping her succeed. Watchfulness means setting up a situation (timing, environment, control, brainstorming) conducive to forming the habit and keeping it in the long term. It means altering the plan if the outcome isn't quite what you envisioned. Watchfulness means never allowing friction creating an ever-widening gulf within your family.

Persistence - Persistence means being vigilant until the habit sticks and not relaxing, undoing weeks of effort. It means staying hopeful, not cranky, when progress is slow. It means realizing that building one habit at a time in the marathon of childhood gets you farther than short bursts of programs that rob you of your energy and joy. Persistence means knowing that habits are not going to change overnight and require patience and consistency. Persistence does not mean helicopter parenting.

Before describing habit training, keep in mind these points:

Habit training is hard and requires vigilance. Focus on one habit at a time or you may lose your mind.
Try indirect cues. Commands rob children of the chance to think for themselves. Use hopeful and expectant looks. Speak with a calm and friendly voice. Simply stating their name may be enough to check their behavior.
Avoid a "running fire of Do and Don't" (page 134). Consistent habit training will prevent that in the long run.
Allow natural consequences to dictate the reward: washing the dishes means Mom has time to bake brownies, controlling a nasty temper lets the whole family enjoy life, paying attention during lessons leaves more time for play!
Let divine grace rule your interactions. "But the little fellow has really not much power to recollect, and the mother will have to adopt various little devices to remind him... she never lets the matter be a cause of friction between herself and the child, taking the line of his friendly ally to help him against that bad memory of his" (page 123).

If you are habit training all the live-long day, something needs to change. Mason's analogy provides a sense of proportion once you have gotten into the habit of habit training:

Let me say that the education of habit is successful in so far as it enables the mother to let her children alone, not teasing them with perpetual commands and directions... but letting them go their own way and grow, having first secured that they will go the right way, and grow to fruitful purpose. The gardener, it is true, 'digs about and dungs,' prunes and trains, his peach tree; but that occupies a small fraction of the tree's life: all the rest of the time the sweet airs and sunshine, the rains and dews, play about it and breathe upon it, get into its substance, and the result is––peaches. But let the gardener neglect his part, and the peaches will be no better than sloes (page 134).

So, how does it look in action? Mason provides several examples, the first of a little girl who wastes time lacing her boots (pages 120-121). Instead of going for the surface issue (lacing), she zeroes on the real problem: daydreaming. (In fact, if you have a dawdler on your hands, I suggest you read Inconstant Kitty while you're at it.) Mom gives her daughter a few words about how much more time she'll have to play if she can dress for outdoors in five minutes. She watches her without a word, with expectant, warm looks, and only a slight touch if the girl lapses into a reverie. The mother makes a point to join her for all those instances where the girl dawdles. As the child becomes reliable after a few weeks, mother fades out of the picture.

The next example is about shutting the door of a room (pages 122-123). Mother gives her son the request and explains why—for the comfort of others (living in a drafty, old house, I spent the winter training Pamela on this habit). She promises to remind him if he forgets, and she does with a pleasant voice for she knows crying out in exasperation will only encourage him to increase the distance between himself and the open door. She reminds him indirectly because he needs to think for himself: she glances at the door and says, "I said I should try to remind you." Each time, she varies her gentle cues to transfer responsibility for remembering to him.

How would I work on a messy room? First, I would plant the idea of why her room should be cleaner and then I would think of a contrary habit to replace the messy one. There are plenty of good reasons to clean a room: fire hazard, tripping over stuff, not being able to find stuff, relatives coming for a visit, etc. Whatever your reasoning, it needs to be brief and presented in a way that the teenager gets. Avoid the temptation to kill interest with a monologue. On the contrary habit, you might try brainstorming possibilities that have a relational twist to it that makes you an ally. Pick just one habit and work on that. When that becomes automatic, pick another habit. Here are some ideas:

Every day, set the timer for ten minutes and the two of you clean up together. Have you ever seen the ten-second tidy on Big Comfy Couch? It can be silly, fun, fast, whatever. Turn on some upbeat music. Laugh at the disgusting things you find. Let the teenager pick the time of day: it needs to happen once a day before the deadline you set. Some kids are happier having some control.
Let the teenager pick the tasks hated least. Let the kid who hates dusting vacuum the messy room and perhaps others while you dust. In real life, people bargain.
Before watching TV, pour the stuff from one drawer into a clothes basket. Take it to the TV room and have a trash can nearby. In two weeks of watching television, the drawers will probably show improvement. Buy any organizer things and start consolidating the scattered stuff.
Brainstorm something completely different than what I have here. With some kids, having an ally to bounce off ideas is half the battle. Having a say in the matter, bargaining, and feeling like everyone's opinion matters makes a difference. It needs to be a daily habit that is short and palatable. Over time, you'll see progress.

Sometimes, family dynamics make the situation worse. The parent who is frustrated about the mess needs to back off and assess progress in a month. It helps to reframe words that may be truthful but fan the flames. "Your room is complete disaster. WHY did YOU leave it that way?" will cause the strong-willed child to fire right back. Asking why for rhetorical reasons invites conflict. It may require experimentation until the least divisive words are found. Asking "Have you had a chance to do the ten-minute tidy?" with pleasant, relaxed nonverbals may be all that is necessary. If not, asking the parent with the stronger relationship to handle may be a better way.

The Bounty of the Outdoor Life

2011-04-06T08:58:00.031-04:00

A variety of commitments have kept me from blogging. I have a little breathing space and yesterday's episode of the outdoor life gave me something worth sharing. Even though we've not homeschooled much in the past two weeks, we've made time for nature study. One can't help it with all the beautiful things blooming and the unpredictable weather.

This week, my heart has been turning over Carroll and Andy Smith's post on nature study and how to live it.

Education, including Nature Study, as Mason told the young lady whom she interviewed to attend her college, is about living. I have thought about it and I have asked myself the question, “Are these (mentioned above) ways of teaching Nature Study more about “doing” Nature Study weekly or are they about “living” Nature Study. We are to develop the habit of living fully and part of that living is relating to nature and knowing the places where we live, not just doing activities, even Mason inspired ones!"

Ouch! Even the best of intentions can end up focused on doing rather than being, especially during busy times like this past month!

I told Pamela I was heading out to do nature study, but I didn't tell her to join me. I wanted to see if she would come on her own initiative. While she was wrapping up whatever she was doing on the computer, I was outside, painting wisteria shoots. While we planted seven seeds at the same time, three have sprouted and emerged, one by one, and they illustrate stages of shooting up. I wanted to capture the differences a few days makes. The thought occurred to me that even seeds remind us of something about child development: it happens at their own pace and in their own time, no matter how much we yearn to rush it. By the time I began my notes, Pamela was sitting on the brick steps with me, admiring the seedlings.

Last night, a storm blasted our town, knocking out power for five hours, which killed our elderly algae-eating fish. Today, we found pieces of pecan branches on the ground. I picked them up and noticed a jelly-like fungus that I later learned goes by many names Auricularia auricula, wood ear, cloud ear mushroom, Judas ear, and a few others I bet. The fungus intrigued Pamela, and she began picking it off the branch. It almost looked like a cross between a golden raisin and a dark raisin after being soaked in water for a few hours. Pamela didn't seem to mind the squishy texture one bit!

For the past few weeks, I've been trying more "sight-seeing" with Pamela. By "sight-seeing", I mean looking around for something outside that is small and within reach and studying it carefully enough to supply a detailed description (pages 45-48). This activity trains observation skills and expressive language and builds vocabulary. Just like picture study, Pamela spent a few minutes observing the attributes of the fungus, knowing a narration will follow.

When she was ready, I asked her to turn around and narrate a description from memory, which I recorded in the video below.

I noticed a couple of interesting things.

She illustrated nominal aphasia quite well: Pamela knows the word branch but what came out of her mouth was bench. Word retrieval glitches are part of her language challenges and thankfully she doesn't feel self-concious about it. We value communication over perfect speech. I understood what she meant and I respect her efforts.
Her eye movements shift to the right most of the time when she is speaking. She is concentrating so hard on verbalizing what she saw that she can't look at me while figuring out what to say. Lateral eye movements are a sign of answering difficult questions. Just talking requires her to overcome the neurological barriers we feel when asked a challenging question.
She processed well enough to look up at the tree when I pointed up. RDI gave her another channel of communication and understanding when language fails her. Tapping into nonverbals must be such a relief for her!
When we had more of a conversation, going back and forth, she attempts to shift attention to me and then quickly looks away as she processes what she is going to say. When she realizes I am going to give her the name of what she described, she is better able to share eye contact because she doesn't have to talk. Once she starts repeating the word fungus, her eye contact becomes uneven again. It reminds me of how far she has come. Ten years ago, listening was just as challenging as talking for her!

Pamela sat down to draw the wisteria, and then she began writing. My jaw dropped when she asked me how to spell fungus, a word that isn't a regular part of her vocabulary. Her easy recall of a fairly unfamiliar word pleasantly surprised me--aphasia gets in way of even well-known words.

A thought struck me that the outdoor life’s bounty provided therapy for her as I alluded to in my ChildLightUSA blogpost called Rethinking the Culture of Therapy. Picking off the fungus worked on her fine motor skills, the domain of occupational therapy. Learning a new word in a contextualized way and expressing what she saw verbally was speech therapy. Touching this squishy gooey stuff—something she could not do fifteen years ago because of her tactile defensiveness—falls under sensory integration therapy. Anyone who has purchased materials for a sensory diet knows how expensive that stuff can be, and the outdoor life offered it for free! Keeping a nature notebook is an artful blend of science, language arts, and art.

If the child is left to himself he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things, and combine his impressions for himself, instead of sitting indoors at a little round table, while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he build a stone wall with his wooden blocks, or make a rainbow out of strips of coloured paper, plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experiences.
~ Anne Sullivan, May 8, 1887

Clear Thinking about Math Part 1

2011-03-19T00:13:00.009-04:00

Sometimes, the best plans fall apart. Pamela seemed to track the review of fraction addition I did early last month. When we went back to area and perimeter problems, something got lost in translation. Fortunately, a friend posted about how she made tiles with numbers and symbols to use on a magnetic board with her grandson. Having to write added enough challenge to chip away at his working memory and make it difficult to a new concept to gel. Pamela writes and draws very well, but I thought it worthwhile to remove any potential memory drain while she was trying to visualize adding fractions. I suspect Pamela lost her thread of thought every time she had to stop and draw her thinking.

I also heeded Mary Boole's advice in an old Parents' Review article,

"Beware of writing, in play-lessons, anything which does not represent some process actually going on in the child's mind."

I created a set of pie charts in a spreadsheet, some representing wholes, some representing wholes split into fractions, and fractions. I stayed simple by limiting it to halves, thirds, fourths, and sixths. I cut out all the shapes, covered them with clear contact paper, and cut them again to make them more durable. Before we worked on a problem, we sorted between wholes and fractions to help Pamela familiarize herself with these homemade manipulatives. You can see the first step in our first lesson in the video below. Since Pamela understands fractions, I am using very declarative language as we collaborate.

Then, we started working on her problem, adding 4 3/4 and 4 1/2. Before writing, she set up a model for each addend so that she could represent her mental process visually and spotlight what adding fractions and simplifying meant. You can watch how we worked through the problem together: first, she made both denominators alike. Because I didn't build any models for eighths, she had to think through another option: fourths.

Then, she added them and ended up with an improper fraction 5/4.

Using the models helped her see what she was doing when converting to a mixed fraction and adding the wholes again.

The video below shows how we collaborated step by step. We wanted to show what we were doing physically and write it on paper.

Working together like this cleared up other glitches. Pamela had a habit of forgetting to write the wholes until she needed them again. While she usually remembered to pick the wholes back up when she needed it, that mathematically incorrect habit could lead to disaster in algebra. When finding a common denominator, she tended to multiply the denominators (2 x 4 = 8) rather than going for the least common multiple (4). The lack of eighths forced her to think of a smaller denominator, which turned out to be the LCM. We worked on similar problems together for about a week. I made a set of twelfths for more challenging ones. Then, I faded myself out of the picture and she did well flying solo without anymore issues.

"Let his arithmetic lesson be to the child a daily exercise in clear thinking and rapid, careful execution, and his mental growth will be as obvious as the sprouting of seedlings in the spring." ~ Charlotte Mason (page 261)

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Nature Notebook Pages

2011-03-16T11:44:00.004-04:00

An update to what we have been doing with our nature notebooks and I have enjoyed keeping my own as well!

JC RIP Deathday Party

2011-03-15T20:51:00.016-04:00

Here at Aut-2B-Home in Carolina, we go where angels fear to tread.

We try to learn Spanish while English is being still learned as a first language.

We read poetry and teach vocabulary with nary a worksheet in sight.

We are NOT afraid of Plutarch or the bard.

We are in the middle of Act I, Scene II of Julius Caesar.

Why Caesar? Because Pamela likes him!

We have been reading some Plutarch for more background information and have been previewing the BBC version of this play. Then, we tackle reading a scene or half together. Pamela loves it as you will see in the still-shot and video coverage of our first annual JC RIP Deathday Party. I baked a semi-red velvet cake that is red-dye free, gluten-free, and casein-free in honor of the occasion. Yum! (Seriously, it was delicious.)

David's Home Next Year

2011-03-12T10:27:00.010-05:00

For the past two days, we have driven back and forth to Charleston, SC, where David stayed overnight at his number one pick for college: The Citadel, a military college with a long tradition, longer than my alma mater (United States Naval Academy). Steve and I figured that one of two things would happen: David would come home (1) fired up to put on the uniform of a cadet or (2) wondering what on earth he had been thinking. He ended up being the former and even shaved his head last night! We snagged these photos from The Citadel Admissions Facebook page.

The pre-knob visit not only held David captive with programs, classes, and experiences for 23 hours but it also provided the parents with presentations on what parents need to know to get students prepared to become cadets. David has his head and heart set on Marine ROTC and, in the next few months, he will continue to drive up the number of pullups and crunches he can do and drive down his three-mile run time. Actually, he can already pass the PFT's minimum standards but he wants to be competitive for the three-and-a-half year Marine ROTC scholarship and must work hard to be one of the few and the proud. He is excited, and we are excited for him. Ultimately, it is his choice. Nobody wants to be stuck in a place like that unless they really want to be there. I know from personal experience of having seen the most miserable human beings on earth: kids attending USNA to please their father and grandfather who were both graduates.

My biggest challenge is not to call cadets David will bring home on weekends "bus drivers" . . . gotta love the military college rivalries!

P. S. The folks at The Citadel told us this was their largest pre-knob visit ever, which makes sense since last summer saw its highest number of applicants ever.

Revolutionary War Encampment and the Science of Relations

2011-02-28T07:29:00.012-05:00

Last Saturday, we explored the annual Revolutionary War Encampment held in our county. Opportunities like that can quickly turn into information overload and fragmented thinking because the number of activities is overwhelming. Trying to do everything, even spread out over a day, makes for a pounding headache, so I heeded Charlotte Mason's advice on the science of relations,

Our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of–-
"Those first-born affinities
That fit our new existence to existing things" (Page xxx).

At first we walked aimlessly until something caught Pamela's attention. She chose the display of rifles and muskets. She saw the musket balls and didn't mistake them for marbles because of a dramatic clip from America: The Story of Us in which a musket ball spins out of the rifle, heading directly toward the camera with the footage slowed down enough to make you sweat. Steve (in the green shirt) was surprised at how heavy the British rifle was while the three-sided bayonet, which the Geneva Convention banned because of the hideous wounds it inflicted, caught my eye. The reenactor also showed us a blunderbuss, which brought to my mind The Matchlock Gun, and his powder horn, which reminded me of Little House in the Big Woods.

Then, she decided to sit for a spell in front of the fire.

Pamela is testing the weight of a cannon ball and checking out a cannon.

Activities like this encampment fit really well into the science of relations because the environment is built for everyone to enjoy. Last Thursday and Friday, local third-graders took field trips to the encampment. Friday night, reenactors led groups of fourteen people into the woods for a lantern walk in which we were being accosted by Hessian soldiers in the middle of the swamp, saw a Tory prisoner escape and get shot, and watched the barber put leeches on some poor schmuck with a musket wound, etc. We heard sporadic gunfire as we tripped over tree roots on the path. I scouted the walk out for Pamela and, next year, I think she will be able to hand the sensory stress because she enjoys pretending. A situation in which people from all walks of life and of all ages share what they love is a perfect atmosphere for the science of relations.

We all relate to things in different ways. When Pamela saw the blacksmith, she connected the hot coals to the burned hand of Johnny Tremain while I thought about The Village Blacksmith. The air bellows and other engineering details fascinated Steve. I pointed out to Pamela that, while Johnny Tremain worked with silver, the blacksmith worked with iron. She added, "Iron age. Child's History of the World." She studied the blacksmith's wares and turned to the triangle to give it a few whacks!

One exciting moment was recalling a new vocabulary word Pamela has learned, not by writing a definition and using it in three sentences, but by focusing on context in wide and varied settings. I gave her the kettle and asked Pamela if she remembered the name of the metal. Her knee-jerk response was silver. I asked her to think about the color and Pamela smiled and slowly said, "Copper!" The copper kettle contained soapy water that we used to felt real sheep wool! The lady showed us the simple steps. Pamela wasn't exactly thrilled about the texture of the soap when we squeezed it out of the felted wool. I loved this connection to the handwork we have been doing, and it reminded me of what Mason said was the point of handwork that "he may know the feel of wood, clay, leather, and the joy of handling tools, that is, that he may establish a due relation with materials" (Page 31).

Francis Marion, who was a sickly child, encouraged all his patriots to drink vinegar water to stay healthy and ward off mosquitos. The smell of vinegar didn't thrill Pamela, and the glories of leeches creeped out Steve and I. Fortunately, no bloodsuckers were on display. Pamela loved the rope bed with its hay-stuffed mattress. She thought of Ricitos de Oro y los tres osos while I recalled Heidi and the bed at her grandfather's house in the Alps.

Pamela's favorite stop reminded me of a trading post with a table of delights that Pamela explored thoroughly. She stayed here the longest and enjoyed all of its delights. It had a bone, obsidian arrowhead, bag of musket balls, lens, turtle-shell rattles, a kalimba, beadwork, knives, cups, elk rawhide, almost anything a patriot could imagine. That table alone was a wide and varied curriculum that provided scope for the imagination!