We live in interesting times. We also live in anxious times where promises are glibly made and broken. We huddle for warmth around the illusion of a better government and a fairer society that is marked by clasped hands instead of clenched fists. As time passes, we find that instead of healing there is distortion- words have become merely tools for the furtherance of greed, bigotry and dishonesty. The fire burns but it is cold and those who need it most are left to contrive their own flames, their own means of being clothed and warmed.
And contrive we must in times like these. In darkness, what is needed most is light ; not electric speeches and high-octane rhetoric. Light for the one next to you, light for the one before and behind you. Light that warms because it is fueled by mercy and understanding. Light that burns but does not destroy because its source is beyond you. Light that won’t go out because of He who gave Him a long, long time ago, and still gives to all who come near to its tender flame. Light that won’t go out when its wick flickers. Light that considers the bruised reed and leans gently upon its bent back.
Sometime in March, we read about different kinds of volcanoes . Joy “built” her own virtual volcano on the Discovery Channel ( see http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/interactive/interactive.html)
We also read about Pompeii and viewed photos on the web of the actual site. I visited the ruins back in the nineties and took several shots of the place; so we browsed through those old photos .
After we’d done all that, she wrote a “written narration” about that fateful day when Vesuvius erupted and “buried” Pompeii and drew some illustrations in pencil. Sometime between that and the virtual volcano, we actually made a model with dough which we shaped and then baked. Then the fun part began where Joy and Grace poured the vinegar into the baking soda and walla!…our volcano erupted! Well, perhaps it wasn’t as volatile as we would have liked it to be; nevertheless, there was gooey reddish liquid oozing out of the dough-volcano. Grace said she felt like drinking it.
We’ve been formally homeschooling for almost half a year now. That’s not a long time in comparison. I must qualify that statement though. for we’ve not stopped homeschooling our children from the time they were born.
From the time when they were weeks out of the womb, we sang, talked and read to them. We showed them sunsets, leaves and spectacular creatures like spiders and lizards. We took them for walks in the park and occasional vacations by the sea. They played peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek with their maternal grandparents and listened to their paternal grandfather’s lectures about what little children should and shouldn’t be doing.
In short, we live as a family, doing things and being what we loved to be most- together, enjoying each other. That is what homeschooling is about after all – the putting aside of things that tear asunder: tight schedules, unrealistic expectations, external pressures to perform and to keep up.Hence, homeschooling for us has been that deliberate “no” to these destructive forces, and a “YES!” to the life we have been called to live.
It has not been that long a journey, and yet it begun from the time we became a family.
In the weeks ahead, I will be putting up some pictures of the learning activities and projects that we have done for this first half of the year. The rest of the pictures of our homeschool, I’m delighted to tell, are too voluminous to be placed in this space.
“Augustus And His Smile” by Catherine Rayner.2006. Little Tiger Press. Picture Book. Ages 2-6.
The storyline is very simple: Augustus the tiger, wants to find his smile. He searches for it across hills and forests. In the end, he finds it in a pool of water. Augustus realizes that his smile is there all the while, on his face. Joy is found within oneself , this book seems to say.
The illustrator won the Best Illustrator Award in the Booktrust Early years Awards 2006.
I can see why. The drawings of Augustus ,the tiger, draws out the mystery of the animal and the child-likeness of his quest. The brush strokes are bold , much like what you see in Chinese paintings of horses and tigers.
Another lovely tiger book is “ Tiger Who Came to Tea” by Judith Kerr, Illustrated by the author, 2002. HarperCollins Publishers.
A tiger pays Sophie and her mother a visit in their home. He is warmly welcomed and is invited immediately to join them for tea. He eats and drinks everything up, including the water from the kitchen tap. His tummy full, he bids Sophie and her mother goodbye. But there is no food left for dad when he gets home. The problem is amiably resolved with a restaurant supper of sausages, chips and ice-cream.
The appeal of this book to children lies in its simplicity. A creature of great majesty and mystery –the tiger- drops in on an ordinary simple English family. He wallops up their resources, but leaves their lives unperturbed by his intrusion. The reader gets the impression that Sophie and her family are safe, because they are strong and love each other. Problems can be overcome.
My children have borrowed the book three times from the library. When they do, they insist on reading this story again and again. They are delighted with the tiger. And they are delighted that dad gets home and settles the problem of having an empty larder, so wonderfully. I , myself, love the gentle nuances of family life depicted in this story. A good read for Christmas I should think.
This most be the most ridiculous rewriting of Cinderella ever! Cole rewrites the fairytale by plucking out the female Cinderella and replacing her with ta-daaah…the sensitive male- Prince Cinders! In this tale, Prince Cinders has to contend with three “big hairy brothers”, who- more hirsute than the average silverback- party-hop and tease poor Cinders about his limp biceps and sweet nature. Cole retains the ball motif but throws in plenty of curve-balls: a confused fairy, a princess dressed in sequined pants and a pair of tight trousers.
We laughed so hard our tummies ached !This version is pure anarchy, expelling weeping- damsel and macho -hero stereoptypes. We hope to get our hands on more of her books like ‘Princess Smartypants” and the Dr Dog books. The children haven’t viewed the video of the book yet. You can view it via the link below, but nothing beats the book which has Cole’s handprints all over it.
