What did you learn in school today, honey?

Last night while telling their father about school GooseyGirl saw something crawling across the ceiling. "Daddy, look! It's an arachnid!", GooseyGirl hollered. Sure enough, there was a spider crawling on the ceiling.

Being the man of the family, Shawn got up and attempted to reach this spider but since the ceiling is 9' tall, he was unsuccessful. GooseyGirl brought him a stool and that helped get him a little closer but not quite all the way up there. Keep in mind that spiders make Shawn squeamish... very, very squeamish.

Shawn decides that while he cannot reach the spider himself on the stool, a child sitting on his shoulders WHILE he is standing on the stool, could reach it easily. BirdMan, being the brave little man he is, volunteers for this dangerous assignment. You must remember that BirdMan is the biologist of the family. He tells us he has been born to care for animals. The last thing he wants to do to any critter is kill it, especially something he just studied in school.

BirdMan gets atop Shawn's shoulders. Shawn climbs up the stool. Mr. Spider watches all of this transpiring and starts forming a plan.

This two tiered man-boy-spider-killing-machine approaches the spider and BirdMan reaches out with his little wad of tissue to get the spider which is now directly above Shawn's nose. Of course, BirdMan is simply trying to gently pluck the spider from the ceiling in order to lovingly carry it to a new home outside. He has no intention of killing the thing.

Shawn isn't aware of this aspect to the plan.

The spider goes into free fall right in front of Shawn's face. Shawn tries to stay calm but his suddenly loud high-pitched voice gave him away as he screams out, "GET IT! KILL IT! SQUEEZE IT!"

"Ummm.... where is it, Dad?", BirdMan says.

The other two cry out, "It's on your leg, Dad!"

Shawn got the child off his shoulders and got off the stool in one fluid motion. I never knew he had that talent!

We found the spider dangling from Shawn's pants. I suppose the rapid twitch of Shawn's leg must have convinced the spider to make a run for it because the spider bounced to the floor. BirdMan then spent the next five minutes finding a way to gently cushion the spider in the tissue in order to carry him outside. Shawn's heart rate was still racing as he kept saying to BirdMan, "Just kill it! Step on it! Smoosh it!". But BirdMan was committed to helping Mr. Spider relocate to more desirable neighborhood.

More than once BirdMan would stop, backtrack, find the spider again and pick it back up, only to drop it two steps later. Of course, before we said goodbye to Mr. Spider the kids had to count his legs and body parts.

I should have had the video camera going. We could have won a lot of money.

Arachnid wrangler

Today we started the Arachnid unit in our science curriculum. I had pulled a bunch of books about spiders to show the children the eight legs and two body parts that make up a spider. I was excited about this unit but the photos were about as close as I wanted to get to the real thing. I begin the lesson by explaining that we are going to look closely at a spider to identify it's body parts and start to get out the books and photos I had collected.

BirdMan leaps up and says, "I know where there's a spider!" He walks about two feet from where he is sitting and says, "See, mom, right here!" Sure enough, in the corner of the room was a spider and its web.

At this point I'm seriously considering what this means about my housekeeping skills and nothing positive springs to mind. RocketMan brings me a container and hands it to me expectantly.

That's when it hits me. They want me to PICK UP this spider and place it in a container! I notice my heart rate has just skyrockted as I say to myself, "Well, I'm a grownup, surely I can do this without freaking out and embarrassing my children."

A few minor squeals later, the spider is in the container and three children are armed with magnifying glasses excitedly counting legs and body parts. Not the way I had planned our lesson but forget the photos and books, a real live critter is MUCH better.

Meanwhile, I'm dreading Thursday's lesson on ticks and scorpions. If BirdMan leaps up and declares he knows where one of those can be found, I'm bolting.

The value of a dollar.

A few weeks ago BirdMan decided to climb on the toilet paper holder in order to look the window. Of course, the holder ripped out of the wall and crashed to the ground. This was one of those fancy toilet paper holders that has porcelain trim and it all broke in too many pieces to count.

BirdMan was very sad and was told he'd have to earn some money to pay for it. They've also been told that they'll need to earn some money to pay for the Christmas presents they are buying for their siblings. The warm weather over the weekend gave us an opportunity for them to learn about earning money.

They stacked firewood. Hard, sweaty work for an hour and they each earned $10. They were thrilled with their money but had a new appreciation of how hard it is to earn money for what you want.

Fast forward to Sunday night. GooseyGirl and I go to the grocery and stop by the pet store to look for a Christmas present for her brothers. This new pet store had a beautiful, quiet, well-behaved Amazon parrot. The price, $1500 and then you have to buy the cage, the toys and the vet bills.

We came home and GooseyGirl told BirdMan all about the parrot. BirdMan got more and more excited with each revelation. You could literally watch the sunshine spread from his eyes to his entire body as she described the beautiful parrot. More than anything in the world, this boy wants a pet bird. He checks out books about it, he writes about it, he talks about it, he dreams about it. He wants a bird.

Then GooseyGirl told him the price. It was like someone had hit BirdMan in the head! He reeled back and said, "Oh, no, that will take me FOREVER!" Suddenly that bird looked like a TON of firewood to BirdMan.

But I secretly smiled. The leap was made in his mind for the first time between hard work, money and objects of desire. It clicked.

All was going well until BirdMan said, "Momma, we'll just use that MASTER card to get me a bird!"

Ahhhh.... two steps forward, one step back....

Why Classical Education?

Someone emailed me recently and asked, "What are the advantages of a Classical Education"? I thought I'd post my response here. I really appreciated this question because it allowed me to think about a succinct way to express our educational approach. I could go on for quite some time about this topic but here was my response.

The thing I like about the classical method is that it is goal-oriented with clearly defined progression in terms of tackling subjects chronologically and skill mastery. I think maybe "logical progression" is the expression I would use to best define classical homeschooling. It's a very good methodology for breaking down subjects into learnable "bites" with an emphasis on critical thinking.

Classical education makes use of the three stages, or trivium, in which children (and adults) learn any subject. In the Grammar Stage (1st-4th), the foundation of each discipline is laid. This is a time of gathering facts and developing basic skills.

The second stage is the Dialectic Stage (5th-8th) in which the student learns to reason or apply the basic facts he has learned. In this stage logic is introduced. The student concentrates on the cause and effect, or the "why," of a subject.

The final stage of the trivium is the Rhetoric Stage (9th-12th) in which the student learns to communicate what he knows about the subject at hand in the most convincing way. The child is led to see the interconnectedness of all academic subjects and to apply their skills to synthesize their subjects.

Basically it teaches our children HOW to learn so that they will have the tools of learning at hand enabling them to teach themselves any subject. This approach resonated with me.

Homeschooling is a decision of the heart and the classical education method is my map.

Theseus and the Minotaur

Today in history we talked about Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The kids loved this myth and proceeded to make a maze out of their blocks and toys for their animals to act out the story. These are pictures of their mazes.

GooseyGirl is holding the Minotaur (Ruff the dog)and RocketMan is holding Theseus (silver the cat). BirdMan built his own and that is his Theseus (kiwi the bird) who will soon fight the Minotaur (Elizabear the bear). BirdMan's maze is surrounded by LAVA! In case you couldn't tell, they had fun today!

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Today during our grammar lesson we talked about the pronoun "I". The children were asked to dictate a story about themselves to me and I typed it on the computer as they spoke. What I discovered is that they rarely speak in the first person. Instead they speak in a collective voice.

It isn't, "I found a frog". It is "We found a frog".

It isn't "My mom gave me a cookie". It is "Our mom gave us a cookie".

It isn't "I am 6 years old". It is "We are six years old".

The tiny psychologist within me is fascinated by the notion of growing up in a group setting. I was an only child until I was 16 so, as the poem says, "It was I, I, I. It was me, me, me." The proportions of my teenage self-centeredness astound me.

I didn't have to share my toys, share my room, share my clothes. Everything in the house that was for children was there for me and me alone. It took a loving husband and three kids to break the selfish cycle that I lived in. Now, my life is spent on others. I have to remind myself to take time out just for me and my interests. That transformation was a huge life lesson which is why being a triplet is so fascinating to me.

How will their development be impacted by being a part of a collective? What does it mean to consider yourself as a part of a whole? I can see the good and the bad side of this issue. There are many books written about birth order and how that affects your personality on a fundamental level. But there aren't many books about being a triplet and how that impacts your self worth and identity.

The next 14 years should be an interesting ride, eh?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas? Check!
We spent the weekend shopping for a "simulated" Christmas tree and then putting it up in the family room. Of course, the kids wanted to get all the decorations out and deck the halls. So... we are now ready for Santa! Actually I'm grateful we got the decorating done early. Now we can enjoy the holidays just a bit longer and it gets me in the spirit of things.

This is the first year that the children will be buying presents for their siblings. They are so excited and have spent a great deal of time thinking about each other and what would make a good gift for each person. The hard part will be finding the time to shop individually with each child as they shop for their siblings!

They've been thinking of the gift in light of what each person's passion is. N loves birds, E loves cats, L loves maps and numbers. We've talked about how every person has different passions and how those passions are glimpses into the gifts and talents that each of us possess.

Yesterday we were watching a rodeo on TV. There were men strapping themselves onto the back of a fierce bull and then getting flipped into the air as they attempted to both land and scamper away from the hooves and horns aimed at them. E looked at them and said, "Boy am I glad THAT's not my passion!"

Funny, I thought the same thing and then I thought, "Where's his momma!?!"

Talk amongst yourselves

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats

The Great Worm Hunt

We use a science curriculum that is hands on and requires lots of squishy, dirty experiments which my kids LOVE. This week we are studying worms and Monday we went on our great worm hunt. 6 worms, 2 slugs, a centipede, a purple mushroom and 4 pills bugs were found. The 6 worms were then examined with magnifying glasses in our schoolroom.

Lesson #1:
If you place your worm on the table and then leave to go to the bathroom, it will be gone when you get back.

Lesson #2:
Worms camouflage perfectly in dark green carpet.

After examining our backup worms we then made a worm habitat which we built out of layers of moist sand and oatmeal.

Lesson #3:
When carrying your worm habitat don't hold it only by the flimsy lid.

The habitat was placed in the basement so that we could observe the composting abilities of our worms.

Lesson #4:
Worm habitats stink after 3 days.

Today we held the Great Worm Experiments. First we had to get one of our worms out of the habitat we had built for them.

Lesson #5:
Worms aren't as stretchy as you might think. If you are pulling on one end, be sure your brother isn't pulling on the other.

Using another back-up worm we were able to find out that they like cold, dark, wet places. But I'm pretty sure we knew that when we found our worms huddled in the moist dirt under that rock in the freezing cold three days ago.

Science lesson..... CHECK!

We're back!

We had a great vacation in our nation's capital. The kids attended a soccer workshop led by Uncle Ole and Auntie Juliet. There is a rumor circulating that N scored on Ole but that is disputed by some parties.

Strangely enough, while at the White House, a group of tourists from Japan figured out that the kids were triplets and then asked to get their pictures taken with our children. So there they were in front of a tourist destination, the White House, standing with the "Triplet" tourist attraction from Fisherville. That happened once before in Georgia at Stone Mountain and it was weird then too.

The kids were very impressed with the Lincoln Memorial. They just couldn't believe what a great job the builders did making that memorial look just like the building on the penny!

Now that we are back, we got started with our lessons again. However, this morning when I went down to the schoolroom I found that our big fat cat, Yogi, had been locked in the basement all night long. While locked in the room, he needed to use the facilities. Fortunately, he managed to perch himself on top of the Sheriff Woody hat located in the middle of the floor and pee perfectly inside it. I thought I had really gotten lucky since his mark was true and the hat wasn't picked up by an unsuspecting child and put on the child's head. So, my job was very simple, I thought, empty the hat and throw it away.

Mission accomplished! Time to start our day, right?

However, that wasn't the only present Yogi left for me. Apparently, he also pooped in the corner. How did I discover this gift, you ask? I didn't. N did.

He stepped in it.

Then N panicked and ran to tell me that he had stepped in cat poop which successfully tracked the poop through the schoolroom. At that point his brother, L, who couldn't understand why N was screaming, ran into the schoolroom to determine what was amiss. Can you guess what happened next?

Yes, L then stepped in the poop and he also panicked. L started screaming and running to tell me what happened which made an identical but separate poop track through the schoolroom, right next to his brother's.

This afternoon I'll be shampooing the carpet in the schoolroom. BLEH!

Hiatus

Fisherville Academy will be on fall break until November 14. Check back then!

Happy Halloween!

L was a Knight. E was a veterinarian. N was Peter Pan. They got TONS of candy and are having a ball trading back and forth. "I'll give you a kit kat for M&M's", "I'll give you three tootsie rolls for a sweettart." FUN!!

Just a little off the top?

Today we went to the local Great Clips to get the boys a haircut. The owner of the store was going to be our hairdresser for the day. She put L up in the seat and asked him how old he was. He answered and then proudly said, "So is my brother and sister. We're triplets!"

The hairdresser stopped, looked at me and said, "Oh, my, I feel so sorry for you. You have my sympathies."

I was shocked and I couldn't find any words. She said it right in front of them as if they were a burden to be consoled over!

She then looked at N with his blonde hair and blue eyes and said, "Well, how come you look so different from your brother and sister?"

At that point I was seriously considering grabbing my kids and leaving. However, she had just lopped off the back portion of L's overgrown locks and there was no turning back.

I smiled at her and put my arm around N as I said, "Well, he takes after his Uncle Bernie. He also had blonde hair and blue eyes."

She looked at N and said, "So you're Oddball, you know, like that puppy in 102 Dalmations."

I looked at N and could see an alarm bell going off in the far reaches of his mind. He knew something was strange but he just couldn't pin-point it.

Then she said, "So you all must homeschool."

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Yeah, I could tell since you weren't in school."

I then braced myself for some wildly rude remark about homeschooling and was shocked when she had nothing to say about it. Maybe her internal editor had finally kick started into gear and she was able to refrain from saying anything else idiotic.

I'm still reeling from this encounter. I used to encounter rudeness whenever I ventured out with my children when they were babies. But it hasn't happened in so long that I'd forgotten how much it stings. I think the difference is that I'm not the one getting stung. It's my kids.

Whoops and Yee-haws

Did you hear the whoops and yee-haws emanating from Fisherville this morning? All three kiddos finished their independent reading books today. N finished Mr. Popper's Penguins. L finished Emily's Runaway Imagination. E finished Sarah, Plain and Tall. I think I'm just going to rotate the books to the next kiddo for their next assignment.

We've started reading Harry Potter together. Each child reads a page aloud and we stop frequently to talk about a word they may not know or to talk about what is happening. It is so much fun to share a book like this! The funny thing is listening to E read her page. She changes her voice for each character's dialogue. For example, she uses this low, old creaky voice for Albus Dumbledore. Too cute!

This afternoon is dedicated to quilting. I'm participating in a Round Robin. Two months ago I made a 24" square, that's it above, and mailed it to an internet friend in St. Louis (hi, Sandy!). She added a border and sent it to another internet friend in Puerto Rico (hi, Leora!) who is adding a border. Next it wings it way to Minnesota (hi, Cat!). Can you detect a pattern? Anyway, I don't get to see it until next summer at our annual quilting retreat after it receives 7 borders. I can't wait to see it!

While they are working on my quilt, I'm working on their quilts. I get 6 weeks to add a border to the square I receive and this month I've got a BEAUTIFUL one from a Missouri internet friend (hi, Sally!). I can't post a photo of it because it can't be revealed until next summer. I have to finish the borders I'm adding by next Wednesday so that I can mail it in time for my deadline! So.... this afternoon I'm barricading myself into the sewing room. Wish me luck!

Greek Calamari

Today during science we studied the life cycle of a jellyfish. I had no idea they changed during their lives like a butterfly. They begin life in the polyp stage stacked upside down like nested cups with their tentacles pointing up waving in the ocean. Then they pop off one polyp and turn upside down as their tentacles hang from their body. This stage is called the Medusa stage.

The kids immediately exploded with recognition. We'd been talking about Greek mythology so they recognized the Medusa reference immediately. Their eyes were positively beaming as it "clicked". Then we talked about the simple freshwater hydra and again they perked right up. "The HYDRA mom! Like what one Hercules fought!" They could immediately see why the animal was given that name based on what they know about mythology. It is so cool to see the different subjects intertwine unexpectedly like that!

I was able to finish our logo. Here is the final version. I really like it.

Gifts and Talents.

Everyday this week we are reading Mirette on the High Wire. After we read it we do activities based on the book to explore the characters and storyline. This story is about a girl who discovers her passion is wire walking. She then studies and practies everyday for hours to increase her talent and finally achieves great sucess. The story also talks about the nature of fear and what it takes to overcome it.

I'm using this story to talk about identifying personal passions and interests. We talk about our talents and how we must perservere when something is difficult. We've had conversations about what interests us the most in the world and how we can explore that topic to its fullest. It is such a good life lesson but it makes me so curious about my kidlets.

I wonder how they will use their interests and passions in life. I wonder how I can best encourage and nurture those talents. I wonder what topics they will persue with zeal and which will prove too great a struggle for them.

Our conversations today over this book reminded me of one of the fundamental reasons we homeschool; To provide an atmosphere of learning that allows them to find thier passions and then let them wallow in it. Come to think of it, that's my hope for myself too!

Hmmmm.... wallowing....
Maybe our school mascot should be a pig instead of a phoenix, eh?

Toasty!

Today was the first day this season that we had a fire in the schoolroom's fireplace. Outside our thermometer may have read 40 but inside is was TOASTY! I always feel like Laura Ingalls when I put the wood on the stove in our one room schoolhouse but it does make everything seem more festive somehow. The kids love curling up in front of the fire to read their books.

E finished Strawberry Girl today and was so excited. She had to call Daddy and Grandma to tell them it was 193 pages. It was wonderful to share her sense of accomplishment. She immediately wanted to know what book was going to be next. I think it will be Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Sometimes it is hard to settle on the next book for them since they are reading so well and yet they don't have the reasoning skills of older kids just yet. What I've found is the book list from Sonlight. It is a Christian homeschool curriculum-in-a-box that leans on quality literature to teach each subject. Some of their selections wouldn't fit my family but most of their booklists for reading are excellent.

My latest book is The American Way of Death. I HIGHLY recommend this book. It is suprisingly funny and is an eye opening book about the events and industries that center on the end of life. It really should be required reading.

Dreams but not reality

Yesterday we had an impromptu family "vacation". DH was going to a meeting in Ashland and staying in the local motel with an indoor pool. We packed up the car for their first real road trip. Then it started.

Daddy, how many more miles?

Daddy, when are we going to get to the hotel?

Mommy, how much longer?

Thank goodness for the DVD player in our car! Pop in Toy Story 2 and suddenly all was fine!

I've had this dream that some day we'd pile the kids in the car and carschool. You know, study American History by visiting the cities and sites that can make our history come alive. However, after this road trip I'm not so sure I'd survive! But one can dream, eh?

Goodbye bodies, hello critters!

Today we left behind our study of the human body and moved on to our study of the Animal Kingdom. The lab today involved taking pictures of alien critters and attempting to group them together in pairs. The kids had to pay attention to the critters similarities and differences in order to figure out a way to group or classify them. Then we got the key and saw how they were supposed to be classified. L did especially well working through the logic of classification. E enjoyed coloring all the critters based on whether she thought they were a girl or boy and what type of habitat they'd call home.

They are doing well with piano lessons. I'm taking the frugal/economical route and teaching them the Suzuki method myself! I couldn't believe how much $$ it was going to be for three kiddos to learn piano! I figure if I can teach them to read, surely I can teach them piano. After all, I took piano for a number of years. The fine motor skills required to press the keys in the desired order is challenging them but I'm seeing steady improvement! Today they played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by themselves for the first time.

This morning our principal, DH, left notes for each kiddo with an encouraging remark about their schoolwork and their progress. They beamed with pride when they discovered their notes! My heart felt good when E beamed, "Mommy, I LOVE school!"

School logo

The kids decided we needed a mascot! We've settled on the phoenix. I decided we needed a logo. Which one do you like?