Aye, 'tis

"...it's a very affirming day for the standards and accountability movement."

-- U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on the latest math and reading test results supporting No Child Left Behind.

Darwin Has a Posse Indeed

Today, at the insistence of a friend, we watched Icons of Evolution.

What did we learn? Anything new?

That Darwin's theory is absolutely, positively correct or incorrect? No, Darwin acknowledged there were gaps that he hoped would be filled in as new fossils were found and studied.

That school textbooks are flawed and biased? Nope, Diane Ravitch demonstrated that quite clearly in The Language Police.

That you can present one side of any story and make it appear to be true by distorting facts or leaving out most of the evidence? Already knew that too.

That science is science. That it is measurable. That Intelligent Design is most emphatically not science as it cannot be measured? That you cannot prove your argument by attempting to discredit someone else? That students must question everything in order to obtain a real education? No news here.

But it might all be news to my friend and will certainly spark a lively conversation.

What exactly were the supplements that former science teacher Roger Dehart was so innocently trying to share with his class? Just the two articles referenced in the video questioning some of the weaker points of Darwin's theory? The producers of the film never do say, but you immediately suspect it was not so benign as that. See for yourself:

Science or Myth? A documentation of the controversial events.

Of Pandas and People Just one of the ID supplements producers forgot to mention.

"Not the Whole Truth" A review of the movie's local premiere.

Using gaps in knowledge and understanding of a subject only 150 or so years under study that covers a period of millions of years and deals with potentially trillions of pieces of evidence the majority of which are undiscovered and insisting that those gaps prove anything other than we need more fossils and more time to study them is ludicrous. Calling the battle Evolution (as in Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution is 100% Complete and Accurate) vs. Creationism is semantics really. I prefer the term Science vs. Non-Science. And seeing that Charles Darwin stands firmly on the side of science, whether or not he's totally free from error, I'm going to stick with him.

Grade 2 - The Reality

Changing plans on the fly is a necessity around here. How well have I stuck to my intended plan, the one submitted to the education department?

There have been a few modifications...

My downloaded version of Aesop's Fables (Illustrated by Milo Winter) in conjunction with Classical Writing -- Aesop will be put back into use soon after its long hiatus. Elle has produced some very good rewritings, though not quite the book-load of stories I thought she'd have completed by now. We'll keep on with this through the end of the year as she enjoys Aesop's fables, but I'm going to change gears a little, using a Commonplace Book to allow for a little more informal, personal writing next year. Rather than an actual bound volume, we'll start out with the lined paper that has the drawing space above and keep it in a binder.

The Children's Illustrated Bible was a bust. Be careful when ordering this book. Pay very close attention to the dimensions. I had seen the large hardcover in bookstores and was excited by all the little bits and pieces DK likes to add to its texts. When I ordered a hardcover version I assumed I would get the same edition in the bookstore. Ours was indeed a hardcover edition, but not much larger than my hand. Reading and enjoying the sidebars and other supplemental information was nearly impossible due to the teeny type. Postage to return it was more than the book cost so it moulders away on my shelf. In the meantime a well-meaning friend gave us a Bible Stories for Children book, but it veered away ever so slightly from the basic stories into a little proselytizing, and it too sits and moulders on the shelf. We have a version I am comfortable with back in Florida. I will have to wait to get my hands on it as Elle should have a cultural familiarity with the stories. Then again, if I make it back to Florida, I will probably end up in a Barnes & Noble at some point buying the big DK version anyway.

A Child's Garden of Verses? Well, I've got it downloaded, which is a start, right? Elle was memorizing poems as part of First Language Lessons and I have encouraged her to pick one out from Favorite Poems Old and New, but maybe we'll start here first.

Mother Goose hasn't been officially read yet either. I'd prefer a hard copy to read. I'm really picky like that. I'd like to get the one we already own in our Florida house because the illustrations are fun without overpowering the verses. Maybe if we go back for the holidays...

Tanglewood Tales and A Wonderbook for Boys and Girls were meant to be done as read-alouds during our study of ancient Greece, but we were enjoying The Secret Garden at the time and still have a load of other books we are eager to read aloud before we get to those. It's also not so comfy to snuggle up in bed with a laptop. Hard copies of these would also be preferable.

Andrew Lang's variously hued fairy books (Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow), have been opened once or twice since I had Jorge bring our hard copies back on his last trip, but again, we have a great stack of books to get through and these are not quite at the top of the heap. Our next read-alouds, Mr. Popper's Penguins and Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy will keep us busy and then we can get back to the fairy tales.

We were biding our time with First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind until we received Classical Writing -- Aesop. The constant review in FLL seemed to be going well for her, but today when asked for the definition of a particular part of speech, she blanked. In the meantime we watch and sing along with the grammar songs from Schoolhouse Rock and she's been working in an old McGraw Hill Language Arts workbook given to us by a teacher friend when her school switched curricula, that we'd brought with us in our original trunkful o' books. It's probably only a first grade level book, but it's very complete. She's busy reviewing and building her confidence because "it's so easy!" We haven't been working on memorizing rules so much, like for using "is" versus "are", making singular nouns plural, or changing present tense verbs to past tenses, as she has a natural ear for it and just gets it. The Language Arts book also prepares her for the inevitable standardized testing she will one day encounter -- if I can help it, not until she applies for her driver's license -- providing many fun opportunities to fill in bubbles. We skip the writing portions. If she wants to keep doing this one for fun she's welcome to it.

She loves Prima Latina. We're about two-thirds through the book and as soon as she's finished we'll begin Latina Christiana I.

Elle completed her Silver Burdett Ginn Mathematics (Grade 1)
book. My plan was to skip the Queensland Maths 2 and go right into 3 since it was not appreciably harder and slightly less chaotic looking, but she wanted to work on the same book her class would be doing. However, after observing what a confusing jumble these books are, we dropped them. The books are totally weak on basic facts practice so I've been printing off sheets from The Math Work Sheet Site. In addition to picking her own pages to work on, she gets a timed fact drill, the same sheet every time, similar to a Saxon Math warm-up to increase her speed and accuracy. We'll begin Saxon 5/4 next year.

Handbook of Nature Studies sounded nice, and it is a terrific reference, but we haven't used it as much as our bush tucker and bird identification books.

Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times was a hit. The stories held her attention and I found the Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times Activity Guide useful for the comprehension questions and map work, though I could easily skip it and do it on my own next time (but I probably won't.) See the indecision? See how things can change so rapidly around here? The coloring pages got to be a nuisance for her toward the end but she finished them. We looked up additional material in the Usborne Book of World History but it wasn't terribly enriching. We will probably continue on with the series moving into Story of the World Volume 2, not supplementing a tremendous amount other than maybe using the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (I like the photos better than Usborne's illustrations.) Unless something really strikes our fancy when we get back to Florida -- I have some super materials for this time period -- we'll keep the study of history chronological but not make it the main focus of all our studies. Unless she wants to. Indecision again. Child-led indecision.

My focus next year, by the way it's shaping up, will be on read-alouds and having her write at least once a day in her Commonplace Book. We will make enjoying quality literature our priority. I may introduce Harvey's Elementary Grammar lessons orally and then simply back them up with an example from whatever we are currently reading. History will be just another read-aloud. Math and Latin are pretty straightforward. Anything else, science, art, music, etc., will be interest led.

Natural Learning Progressions

After watching Miss Potter, Elle is inspired to pull out her new watercolor set and paint. Initially planning to paint naughty bunnies and mischievous kitties, she instead continues her work decorating a large cardboard tube that our new area rug came wrapped around, her soon-to-be didgeridoo. Later in the shower removing head-to-toe splotches of color, in another rabbit trail of learning, Elle giggles after an odiferous emanation and tells me that if she does one underwater a bubble comes up and smells bad. I explain the reasoning behind our use of the euphemistic term 'gas bubbles' and briefly introduce the subject of matter:

"There are other forms too, solid, like the tile, and liquid, like the water. And sometimes they can change forms, like an ice cube can be solid but then if you leave it out on a table and it gets warm..."

"I know! I know! Then something's the matter!"

"Uh, yeah. So, basically, things can be solid, liquid, or gas, those are the three forms of matter."

"No, you forgot one..."

"Which one?"

"Whatsa matter."

Conceits

One thing that particularly disturbs me about the reporting process required to continue our Odyssean learning adventure, aside from the insinuation that I may not be making a good effort, and the reliance on so-called experts to evaluate and validate my effort, and the time wasted on analysis better spent on actual learning, and the fact that this reporting is not required for the majority of homeschoolers who fall under the not-really-homeschooling-at-all, government-conveyor-belt Distance Education program, and the rigid, unbending, ludicrous, uh, wait, where was I going with this...oh, yeah...the constant stream of suggestions... The suggestions for quantifiable learning bestowed upon us by the education experts, to benefit and assist us in our poor, uncertified, unqualified attempts at teaching. Banal ideas that come straight from a classroom with a heavy reliance on creative writing: Imagine you are a settler and create a diary recording your daily life for one week. Create a brochure... You are a television reporter... Create a PowerPoint presentation... Write a letter to a friend...

But, maybe you say, that sounds like a fun way to encourage writing. And it might be. For you. If you chose it for your own writing projects.

When my mother was teaching, I loved to go through her materials and use them in my own way. My favorite was a box full of 3 x 5" cards with writing prompts on them. An alien lands in your backyard. How would you explain to him about... I would go through several cards in one sitting. I wanted to get through the whole box but forced myself to ration the cards to just a few a day to make it last. But I would not have been so enthusiastic if they had been assignments. In fact, I probably would have drawn a blank under the pressure of having to produce something worthwhile. Sarabelle's history lessons a few years back were supplemented using various Jackdaw publications, something that would have entertained me for days, weeks even, if I had them around when I was younger. She enjoyed a few of the projects and they made for a beautiful presentation at portfolio review time, but did she learn anything valuable? Maybe, if she ever needs to one day compose another poem about King John crossing The Reach. In hindsight I would have much rather had her practice writing by sending letters to the editor or submitting articles she wrote on a subject that interested her to an appropriate publication. For a while she was writing to the authors of books she enjoyed, one to Fearless Leader, and even received a few replies. Nowadays she writes movie reviews in a class they call English.

When Elle and I wanted to learn about the magpies in our yard the other day, we got out the bird identification book. After Elle looked up the page numbers using the index, we read about them and observed them. Did you know magpies live in extended family groups? And are very territorial, covering 2 - 40 hectares depending on the bounty of their surroundings? And that the curious watery warbling effect in their tune is actually an impromptu duet with another nearby magpie? I do now, and more importantly, so does Elle. She went and shared that information with everyone we've spoken to in the past couple days. Sometimes more than once. Did I make her write a report or create a posterboard presentation or fashion a magpie habitat diorama or paint herself black and white and fly around the room? No, I most certainly did not. What would be the point, really? Other than pleasing some faceless name in Brisbane, of course.

My problem with their suggestions is that they are frivolous fabrications. Meaningless busywork. One reason I have few original writing samples to scratch up for a review is that letters get mailed to the intended recipients, notes and cards are distributed to the proper parties, information and stories she has deemed important enough to write down belong to her or are shared as gifts, contest entries get sent off (ahem, mostly), and diaries are private. They have a meaning and a purpose. They are evidence of real life learning. As part of the coming year's plan, if our efforts are deemed worthy enough to continue, Elle will keep a Commonplace Book, a place where she can note her interesting facts and even draw magpies if she so chooses, and you can be absolutely sure the powers-that-be will just have to settle for photocopies.

Maybe I am too practical -- Buy the kids a toy vacuum? Give them a Dustbuster or lightweight stick vac and let 'em have at it -- but aren't time wasters one of the many reasons some people choose to homeschool? Creating arty little aggrandizing showpieces isn't my thing; establishing useful, real life skills is.

Quality Not Quantity

Grice is holding firm in her resolve to avoid the tasteless carrot dangled in front of her as part of the school's Read-a-thon. Points are awarded for each book a student reads. Grade sevens are encouraged to read novels. The 'novels' that have been provided for them in class, Grice told me in a disgusted tone, are about half an inch thick and contain two stories with very big type. Some kids have read 10 already. Ten probably being the minimum required for a prize.

Voracious reader Grice, though she will rack up only two points and forego an award, has decided to stay the course having finished The Good Earth and is presently enjoying The Golden Compass.

That's the sweetest reward of all.

Ancient History

Saturday night, after Sarabelle's performance, with the two youngers off sleeping at a friend's house and a chance to sleep in Sunday morning, I enjoyed a late night movie marathon of some finally-released-in-Australia DVDs.

First up was Borat, one of the most outrageously funny movies I've ever seen. It seems modern comedy has kept close to its classical roots. That impression perhaps inspired by my recent rereading of Aristophanes, or maybe the naked wrestling men.

Then I watched Apocalypto. Ancient Mayan civilization is high on my list of interests and so I had a difficult time suspending disbelief long enough to get past all the incongruities. In addition, throughout the entire movie -- which was basically run through the jungle, kill, kill, kill, run some more, kill some more, freaky child prophetess, eclipse, run, kill, run, kill, keep running, rescue family, see Spanish arrive, head back to jungle -- I was distracted by the thought that except for one cast member, none of the rest of the cast and extras looked particularly Mayan.

Accountability

A large manila envelope arrived in the mail Friday from the department of education. Was this my long-awaited acceptance to the homeschool advisory committee? Would there be a train, or better yet, plane ticket to Brisbane for our first meeting? No and no. It was the pre-end-of-the-year-reporting package.

The ability to continue writing your own course of study is dependent upon the department's acceptance of your report and plans for the following year's study. Required are two writing samples, two math samples, and four additional samples from two subjects of my choosing, each collected three to six months apart to clearly indicate an increase in learning. But we work for mastery. As part of Elle's Classical Writing - Aesop projects, the finished products have been edited into their best form, so you don't get to see the spelling or grammatical errors or their improvement. The only indication of an increase in learning might be seen in the length and complexity of the narrations and the more advanced vocabulary. Submitted material must also be an original work of the child's, no photocopies are allowed -- under the reasoning that the fine work cannot be appreciated in a reproduced state, color laser copiers notwithstanding -- so books must be pulled apart and her precious original Aesop retellings and illustrations sent off to sit in someone's file cabinet never to be seen again in order to satisfy their demands. For math, I will gladly tear apart the Queensland Maths book we began and then dropped to show how much confusion it inspired, and submit a couple of our own timed addition drills to show an increase in speed and accuracy, a skill the authors of their math book did not concern themselves with. Accompanying each set of exhibits must be an analysis of the skills learned, challenges that occurred, explanation of how the second example shows more learning has happened, what did or did not work, and what is next. In conclusion their recommended format asks for the child's remarks on what they learned and what they enjoyed about the submissions.

For the two other elective subjects, one area for consideration is sporting activities, one I will include as we have concrete evidence. Recommendations for documenting efforts include collecting trophies and awards, but how, exactly, following their own guidelines, do those show advancement in learning? Elle received a free McDonald's cheeseburger participation certificate, an encouragement award, and a first place trophy. That might suffice, but she didn't win them in that order. How, in their words, "does the achievement relate to the rest of the students [sic] learning/life? Are there lessons in the sport for other areas of achievement/personal development?" Latin, history review questions, and memorized poetry recitations have all been done orally. If we had been keeping audio recordings of them, who's to say she didn't just read the poems like a script? Who's to say she didn't just record them yesterday? Other history papers were merely coloring sheets from The Story of the World Activity Guide. She's probably staying inside the lines a little better, but that was not one of my specific short term goals for her.

What does this reporting process prove?

That I will not be using their recommended format.

That the authors of the reporting sample rely on spell check only and do not carefully proofread their own work.

That when I write my report using my own format the opening comments will probably contain a quote or two from Holt along the lines of, "[Children learn by seeing] the world as a whole, mysterious perhaps, but a whole none the less. They do not divide it up into airtight little categories, as we adults tend to do. It is natural for them to jump from one thing to another, and to make the kinds of connections that are rarely made in formal classes and textbooks."

That choosing the Distance Education option, which most people schooling at home do, is much easier.

That the qualities that makes homeschooling unique and valuable are not really understood by Queensland's powers that be nor most of the people calling themselves homeschoolers.

Not one single thing about what Elle has or has not learned this year.