The Well-Trained Mind

Last night I did a foolish thing. I thought the baby would eat at 10:00 pm (three hours after her last feeding), so I ran a bath and soaked happily with a book until almost 10, when I got out and got ready for bed. And waited for baby to wake up. To keep myself occupied while waiting since I knew it would be any minute, and falling asleep only to wake up ten minutes later is the worst, I took notes on the first 60 pages of the book I was reading in the tub.

She didn't wake up until almost midnight. I'm so tired. WHY DIDN'T I GO TO BED WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE??? Sigh.

But--I'm totally in love with the book--The Well-Trained Mind, as you already guessed from the title of this post. I'm sure Kelly and Julia are aghast that I haven't read it before as it is the Bible of homeschool literature. The reason is simple--I didn't go into homeschooling worried that I wouldn't be able to do it (although that worries me a little now :)) so I didn't feel compelled to read everything that homeschoolers all read.

I should have read this.

First, I love that it is a practical guide divided into age groups and subject matter. The fantastic organization makes it very useful as a reference book. What are some good grammar books for an 8 year old? Oh, I'll turn to the 8 year old section and look it up. Obviously, you don't have to use all their recommendations, but what a great starting point. I only read 60 pages and much of that was introduction, but I have a spelling book and grammar book written down in my notes that I want to look into before picking curriculum for next year. I like tried and true materials (which is why I read a lot of reviews on Timberdoodle and other places before purchasing anything).

Other things I love: 1) their entire approach is literacy based--also the best part of TJEd; 2) it is not child-led but it is child-centered; 3) it is ambitious; 4) it is age-appropriate.

I really like that Jessie Wise emphasizes that all parents can homeschool if they want it badly enough, regardless of their education level. I believe that. I worry about homeschoolers who don't love to read, but on the whole, I think most people of average intelligence and abilities can do a good job of it. As an educator it makes perfect sense that a much smaller teacher/student ratio is going to pay dividends. Your child might not end up as accomplished and educated as Susan Bauer, but he should be on a comparable level to public-schooled children.

I also like that there isn't a lot of philosophy mumbo-jumbo involved in their approach. At least I haven't reached any yet and hope that I do not.

I also like that it is a very useful book for non-homeschoolers. Or "friends of other educational approaches." Just kidding. Kami and Ana came to mind often as I was reading. Kami does a supplemental approach with Ana during the summer and frequently calls and asks me for curriculum advice. This book would be perfect for her to get some ideas and also a little bit of child development. (I love that Wise is an educator. I know she only taught for a few years, but she had all the child development classes and that does make a difference. Plus, I love teachers!) Kami wouldn't have to read the entire 800 page tome, just the part on 11 year olds.

I also like that Wise emphasizes that not everything can be taught and you have to pick and choose. I don't know that I agree with all her choices, but it is still a good thing that homeschoolers be reminded that there are a limited number of hours in a day.

So--what don't I like? Nothing really. There are some things with which I disagree. First, I don't think that having children read abridged versions of great books is a good idea. The Iliad, okay--it isn't that great of a book anyway. The Odyssey--okay, it is an adventure story that lends itself well to illustration. But Dickens? Wise claims that if children are familiar with a story they won't be scared to read the original. That's ridiculous. What literature loving child is going to be afraid of a book? I read Les Mis in the seventh grade. No fear here. Besides that, and most importantly, if you already know the story, why read the book? I'd much rather have my children read the really great stuff when they are ready to so they appreciate the story from the brilliant author that came up with it. In light of my view, it is funny to me that Cowen has an abridged and illustrated (about 200 page) version of The Three Musketeers that he carries around and sleeps with. They fence, after all. I've never read the book to him, but Timothy has told him most of the story line.

Also, I don't like that Wise minimizes art during the early years. I agree that an art curriculum or art appreciation isn't necessary, but I do think creating is important for children. Maybe she'll talk more in-depth concerning art later in the book. I have only scratched the surface.

In conclusion, I'm glad I'm reading this book if for no other reason that it got me thinking and excited about homeschooling next year. Since I still burst into tears when I see a full laundry basket or a sink of dishes or my children demand food, I'm cutting myself some slack and allowing my post-partum body and hormones to recuperate before jumping back into homeschooling. However, it is nice to feel excited about the coming year and have some ideas about what I want the schedule to look like and what I want different children to achieve.

YOU CAN STOP READING HERE.

For those who homeschool, some of the ideas she gave about teaching reading really made me stop and think. Miriam learned to read in 15 minutes--no joke. It was no work at all. Cowen, on the other hand, is trickier. He doesn't want to sit still, he won't look at the word--he's a "glance and guess" sort of a dude. In short, teaching him to read is more of a chore. However, the teaching reading ideas were great and got my own creative juices flowing. Since Emeline is ready to read, I thought I would take this summer and do some remedial reading with Cowen and get Emeline started. First, I'll make a checklist of the capital and lower-case letters and using a letter game on the wall to figure out which letters they recognize and which they do not. (I realized a few weeks ago that Cowen knew the sound for the letter 'n' but didn't know its name. Bad teaching on my part.)

My checklist will also have the sounds of letters. When the kids get all those checked off (and that should take a week at most--we mostly know all this stuff, it is just a double-check), I'll have them make words out of letters on the wall and find cans out of the pantry and play memory games with letters and short words.

In short, I'll make it fun. That is what is missing from Cowen's reading program right now. He can read lots of words, but it isn't fun. After playing games for a few minutes a day, he'll still have to read his reading books to me, but hopefully it won't be so much of a chore.

Other ideas I've taken from the book include a different spelling approach for Miriam. We've struggled with writing because she hates to misspell words. Sigh. I think a more intensive approach to spelling combined with copy work will help her get over the writing hump this summer and then next year, when she's in third grade, hopefully she'll be more willing to write. If not, I'll think of something!

I also love the idea of taking Miriam to the library and making her get different types of books. I created a reading group for her to force her to read a variety, but once a month is not much. This way I can take her on her own to the library (special) and she'll learn the dewey decimal system (awesome) and she will have books picked by herself (ownership) but not all Hardy Boys. We'll save the Hardy Boys (which I am actively in favor of) for free time reading. Excellent idea.

Those are the main ones. I'm going to keep posting about this book as I read so I can remember all the things I've thought about. I wrote down my practical notes in a notebook, and here are my overall thoughts. Lucky you, right?

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Here's our cleaning the house checklists. Leo calls them SOPs. Whatever. I made them because in an adoption book I read it said that foster and adoptive kids often have difficulty remembering more than one or two things at a time (ie clean this, then do your homework, then practice piano, then read, and finally.....etc) and Ana really did have a horrible time with that. So I made these, and bought a whiteboard for Ana to keep track of her tasks. They've both been amazingly helpful. Anyway, here's what we have.

Kitchen

• Shake out rug and sweep floor.
• Using a rag, bucket with cleaner, wash

1. cupboards and counters
2. refrigerator
3. stove (top and front of oven)
4. microwave (inside and out)

• Wash sink with Comet, dry afterwards
• Wash garbage can lid
• Mop kitchen floor
• Put out clean kitchen towels

Bathroom

• Take everything out of bathroom (shampoos, soap, etc)
• Put toilet bowl cleaner in toilet
• Wash the mirror using paper towels and windex
• Use same paper towels to Wash toothbrush holder
• Sweep floor of bathroom
• Wash the cupboards with rag and cleaner
• Wash the sink and counter with Comet and then dry with towel
• Wash the tub with Comet and then dry with towel
• Mop the floor with bucket and Pinesol
• Clean baby toilet
• Clean toilet inside and out
• Put everything back and put out fresh towels

Living Room

• Use the broom to get rid of cobwebs
• Straighten magazines and put away any books, toys, etc.
• Straighten couch cushions
• Dust computer desk, tv, bookshelves, piano, coffee table, end table and pictures
• Vacuum
• Sweep and mop entryway

Life Skills

Sadly, Andrea, I think you are just as far along - if not more - as I am in planning these classes.  I pretty much just copied Diann Jepson's ideas as a starting place and tweak them as I go.  Although my oldest daughter is nearly 13, they have just recently become more pertinent to her.  She has a much bigger desire to learn these things now that she's seeing the benefit in her life.  Not that getting her to cook was ever a problem. 

Our cooking class has been our most successful so far, and has involved giving my child the responsibility of cooking for a certain meal every day.  Breakfast has worked well for us.  I teach them how to make everything, and then they have to get up early enough to have the meal ready in time.  The great thing about doing the life skills class this way is that it was real-world consequences.  If they sleep in and don't make breakfast, dad goes to work hungry. 

Now that Hannah's 12, and is ready to move on from her "Bank of Dad" account to a real one, we need to create a money management course, but I haven't gotten it done yet.

Some other ideas for life skills classes I'm working on:
first aid/babysitting
event planning
meal etiquette - how to properly set a table, serve, play hostess
gardening
car care
basic sewing
driving (only two years until I actually have to think about this one!!)

I read that practice scholar phase is the best place to really work on a lot of these adult skills.  We are in the middle of figuring out exactly how that's going to look in our family.  Lots of discussions going on with my husband and daughter as she moves into a new phase of life. She's definitely our guinea pig!

Kelly

Are you willing to share your Life Skills Classes?? I've only put together the baking/cooking/meal preparation/menu planning/grocery list writing/grocery shopping/lead the singing classes. Obviously, I have a ways to go. If you are willing, I'd love to look through yours and steal your ideas, if possible.

My husband wants a course for creating a business. Thanks for the book tip, Julia.

Also, Kami, I know you already have a binder with detailed instructions on how to clean all the rooms in the house. Would you be willing to share that with me so I can steal it for the cleaning course? That would be awesome.

Andrea

More Ideas on Work

This is one of my favorite blogs to browse every once in awhile.  I like how she integrates work into her home  & thought it was fitting for this discussion.

http://thetaleofourquest.blogspot.com/2011/03/creating-inspiring-learning-environment.html

I used to worry a lot about finances and teaching my kids about finances.  So far we're doing it how my parents did it....which wasn't the best way I assure you, but it seems to have worked for my siblings and myself.  Basically, whenever the kids earn money they have to save some.  We don't just give them money for things they want.  My parents taught more by example, my dad was very entrepreneurial, my husband thinks that same way.  So that's what we do.  As they get older I'm noticing that they sense the desire and need to earn money and are all starting to think of ways they can earn money.  John has had a lemonade stand and just read the first winning Apprentice's book (you know that reality show?) "Beyond Lemonade Stands" which teaches kids how to start their own business. We all sell our plums each summer, the girls had a temporary babysitting/dog walking job for a couple of months, when we go to the Farmer's Market they all start talking about things they want to sell someday, John wants to teach piano lessons when he turns 14....those types of things.  This year, all three of my kids put "Save $100" as one of their yearly goals and then they set up different baggies for spending and saving.  Of course, I had to encourage John that it's best to create two different baggies because he wanted to just put it all in one pot and "Just not spend it."  We all know how unrealistic that is!  :-)  I haven't read the book.  I've heard it's great and when I can get my hands on it I'd like to read it.  But for now I just don't see any purpose for young children to have money.  I'm more on the same page as the lady who wrote the Headgates article:  it's an adult responsibility they can earn when they are ready. 

My very unhumble opinion!  BUT with that said, I love that your family found what you needed, Andrea, and it's so fun to get excited about these things!  :-)  (sorry....not trying to deflate your excitement on the subject).

JULIA

Response to Kelly

The problem with Boyack's approach to work is that she was very specific about what she felt children could do at certain ages (those lists were nice) and she was very emphatic about making your children work--but she didn't really have a plan to implement it per se. She said that kids get bored with the same approach so she rotated through different job charts. Basically, her chapters on work were to motivate parents to think that children working was important.

I also didn't agree with everything she said about raising independent children. For example, she told the story of when she was having a primary presidency meeting in her kitchen and her three year old came in and made a peanut butter sandwich on the floor and then left the kitchen eating it. Boyack used the story as a good example of letting your kids be independent. I thought it was a good story to illustrate why her kids needed to work so much (letting kids eat anywhere but at the kitchen table pretty much drives me nuts). Her tolerance levels for certain things are clearly different from mine. I'm not trying to judge her--I'm just saying my type A personality is not okay with crumbs all over the floor and babies eating wherever they please.

I still think the work chapters are worthwhile because it is important for our kids to learn to work and it is worth it to allow a little mess to facilitate independence. But overall, the chapters on finance were the best part of the book.

One of my favorite topics....

WORKING CHILDREN!!

I haven't read that book - I don't think - but I have read something similar...  Oh yes, a book about a Dad opening a National Bank of Dad.  I can't remember what the title was.  We started that and it was so awesome to see.  I also really loved having Josh in charge of it.  Nerd that he is, he has a wonderful spreadsheet set up to track everyone's accounts.

But, I don't think you talked enough about the working part, Andrea!  I have read the TJED Home Companion and have used a lot of Diann Jepson's ideas.  I still go back to the tickets every now and then.  I rotate between three different systems to accomplish work.  Tickets, going room by room as a group, and just plain assigning jobs that need to be done to specific children.  I let them choose between tickets and family work on most days.  They choose base on how they feel about working together at the moment. ;-)   Adult Skills classes have been a big hit.  My oldest - who is what would be considered practice scholar - is still working on getting everything passed of - but a lot of it she can do we just haven't made it "official".  I love having a list of basic skills to work on - and love that someone else put thought into putting it together!  As they've learned to cook, I've been printing up their mastered recipes and putting them in their adult skills binder so that they are also developing their own personal cookbook as they learn.

I'm curious what Boyack does differently regarding work!

I read an idea about having kids earn privileges.  So if they ask to be able to do 'A', you say sure - do 'B' and then you can do 'A'.  Everybody wins.  ;-)

What I've Been Reading

So, this is what I've been reading lately:

The Parenting Breakthrough: Real-Life Plan to Teach Kids to Work, Save Money, and Be Truly Independent by Merrilee Browne Boyack.

Sorry about the large font--I cut and pasted from amazon and was too lazy to change it. However, this book is good enough to "yell" about. It is the best parenting book I've ever read. Not that I've read a lot, but of the ones I have read--this is the best.

The first part is all about teaching your children to work. I've already spent a lot of hours thinking about how I was going to do that, so I didn't find that part as helpful as the rest. It was still helpful--just, you know, I already have a plan. My plan mostly comes from Dianne Jeppson's (is that her name?) ideas in the Thomas Jefferson Home Companion. I've already started putting together Life Skills Courses for Miriam when she turns 8. I'm really excited about them, actually. I'm also excited to take her out on special outing and introduce the classes to her and give her a new apron (and show her my matching apron) in honor of her new responsibilities. So much to look forward to. So much to do to finish putting classes together!!!

Anyway, back to the book. The second half of the book is about teaching finances and it is AWESOME. I am just amazed at how many good ideas she has. After I read the book I asked Timothy to read the chapters on finances. He did, and then we scheduled a time to talk about the chapters. I said, "Is there anything you want to do with our family that she did with hers?" Timothy said, "Yes. All of it." Which delighted me because I felt the exact same way. Timothy also told me to buy the book as a reference. The copy I read I checked out from the library.

So, at the beginning of Feb. we gave our kids an allowance for the first time. Something I thought I would never, ever do--but now seems like the perfect introduction to saving vs. spending. Cowen has opted to save his money for a mountain bike and get 100% matching interest from the Young Family Bank, but Miriam and Emeline decided to blow their dough. Emeline on a really cute and beloved Calico Critter rabbit baby, and Miriam on dollar store junk that she has played with endlessly. Whatever--the point is, they are getting interested in spending money and learning to make decisions and will eventually grasp interest and the value of saving. In short, I'm pleased with the experiment so far.

Her finance chapters cover why an allowance is a good idea until a child is 12 and reaches "financial independence," creating a family bank, teaching about interest, savings, bills, the value of money. My favorite idea she shared was giving kids age 12 and older a large sum of money in August for clothing and school supplies for the year. That way, they get to make grown-up decisions when they are still young enough to listen to you a little bit. They learn to budget out the money because when it is gone, it is gone. They have to decide whether or not an item is church approved, because if it isn't they can return it or it goes in the garbage. For me, the best part of that is that they have enough money that it matters. Growing up I never had more than $10 to my name and I think that really hurt me when I left home and had no finance skills.

She also talks about money chores and not giving your kids privileges for nothing (you want to visit a friend on Friday and borrow the car--then you wash the car to earn the privilege). I think all of her ideas are really helpful in combating the tendency of parents to do too much for their children.

She also discusses how to teach your kids about mutual funds, the stock market, wise investing and other things I don't understand. Timothy said he would help me. She also talks about the Mission Savings Fund--a really great plan that requires a child to contribute a certain amount of money every month to a savings fund with the contribution increasing as a child gets older. The parents match the child's investment and when a child hits age 19 they should have roughly $12,000 saved. Enough for a mission or, for girls who opt not to go on a mission, quite a bit of school. Pretty brilliant. Since the parents contribute half the funds, it makes it easier to be firm that it is mission money if a child starts to balk.

Anyway, there was too much good stuff for me to go into it all here. Let's just say, Timothy and I completely and radically changed our plans to teach about finances after reading this book. I definitely think this is an IMPROVEMENT and that our kids are lucky we read it.

What I've Been Reading

In October I did manage to read one book. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann. I loved it. Literally, from beginning to end, I couldn't put it down. It's about this Victorian explorer, Percy Fawcett, in the Amazon and how he disappears and over 100 people have died looking for him, (it's kind of an Amelia Earhart type obsession) and because he wrote articles for occult magazines and went to seances and that sort of stuff, many people still think he found his lost city and it's this otherworldly mystic place. I thought it fascinating in so many ways. First of all, it's a brilliant look at Victorian society, it's also interesting to learn how those explorers, ie Livingstone, Shackelton, Burton, etc., operated and how that morphed into the scientific expeditions you have now. Secondly, learning about the Amazon itself was crazy--I still think I have no comprehension of a forest that large. At first, after reading this book, I thought I really don't think I would go there, but then again, why not? Hee. Hee. Another part that I enjoyed was how this guy went into the Amazon with his 16 yr old son looking for traces of Fawcett in 1996, and barely made it out alive. Crazy! Basically the natives there said the same things to them as they had said to Fawcett 70 yrs before, that the natives that live to the east are pretty bad, you shouldn't travel in that direction. I mean, doesn't that make you just wonder whom that tribe of Indians are? And what do they know about Fawcett? Maybe there's still someone alive that could tell? What else do they know? I mean they still have no contact with the outside world at all. It kills me, I just want to pack up my bag and head out to ask them all sorts of things. I'd probably end up dead though. Anyway, lastly, my favorite part about the book was his discussion of archaeology in the Amazon. Basically I grew up believing that the Amazon was full of all sorts of tiny tribes that barely subsisted on hunting and gathering and that the Amazon was so sparsely populated and really not that interesting unless you liked eating bugs and getting nasty diseases. However, the conquistadors' accounts of the Amazon included that it was so populated that they would go days traveling on the Amazon with the banks being jam-packed with people and that huge bridges crossed it, and Amazonian women and the like. Well, everyone blew the conquistadors accounts off because they had good (monetary) reasons for exaggerating what they found in the Amazon. But now, archaeologists have actually found traces of huge civilizations in the Amazon complete with well-planned out right-angled streets, highways, and bridges that crossed the Amazon at points that were over a mile wide, etc. Now they think that diseases brought in by the conquistadors wiped out 90% of the population or more, so by the time anyone else came to explore they didn't find anything that the conquistadors had described. This is also due to the fact that there's very little stone in the Amazon, so everything was made with dirt and wood, which with flooding leaves very little traces. In fact, the native tribes made this kind of enriched soil, terra preta de Indio, (because of the Amazon's horribly infertile soil) and companies have started exporting it now because it's some of the most fertile soil you can find anywhere on the whole earth. Yet it's entirely man made and they made literally, TONS of it. Basically, any high ground in that part of the Amazon basin is man made, because it floods, so they built higher plateaus to keep above the floods and so they could grow crops during the flood season. Considering the engineering of it (technicalities and size), it's as grand as the pyramids of Egypt. Also in 2006 they discovered what's called the Stonehenge of the Amazon, believed to be anywhere from 500 to 2000 years old, which is a huge astronomical observatory tower made of huge granite blocks, each weighing several tons. Anyway, I think people still have a huge tendency to underrate ingenuity of other people. It also makes me think about all those BOM scholars and of their general belief that Guatemala and the central Americas are the "BOM lands." I personally think that's just what has been easiest to study in the past. Not saying they're necessarily wrong, maybe they're right, I just haven't seen any evidence given on why other places in the Americas should be eliminated from consideration. Anyway, just my thoughts on this cold, bleak, wintery day.

Anna Karenina

Anyone read Anna Karenina? 
I'm reading it now.
Not so sure about it.
I love his writing . . . but the theme is a bit . . . questionable.
I'll probably finish it. 
The end.