Internet, fiiiiinally!!!

Yayyy...we finally have internet! We moved to Portland about three weeks ago, and it has been really hectic. We've been having a lot of fun too.

The day after we got here, there was a "Not Back to School Day" at the Oaks Amusement Park. The park is about 100 years old. We didn't make any friends, but Tania had fun on the rides. There were all types of homeschoolers there: big families, small families, religious families, secular families...I even saw a gothic family. It was a really cool way to spend our first day.

We've mostly been spending time setting up our new house. The garage sales here are amazing. We've gotten so many cool things. One of the things we got was an old-school typewriter. Tania has been using it to write little stories.

Portland has this huge park called Washington Park. It was designed by the same brothers who designed Central Park in New York City. Inside the park is the Oregon Zoo. We took Tania there a couple of weeks ago. The zoo is huge. Hawaii's zoo has more animals, but Oregon's zoo is larger and prettier. It's a very pleasant place to visit. There's a large lawn with a stage where there are sometimes concerts.

There's another place in Washington Park called the World Forestry Discovery Museum. We went there a few days ago. The exhibits teach about the different forests of the world: how they exist as ecosystems, how they are threatened, and what the public can do to help. I really enjoyed it there. I learned a lot of new things about forests in Russia, China, Africa and South America, to name a few areas. Tania got to ride in a tree lift that took her to the top of a tall tree.

I think my favorite attraction that we have been to has been OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It's the coolest place. They have a chemistry lab and a physics lab in which you can do actual experiments. Just about every exhibit is interactive. It's not far from where we live, so we walked. It just happened to be the one day it rained since we got here though, so we got soaked.

We've been to some cool parks, like Laurelhurst Park, Mt. Tabor Park and Crystal Springs Rododendron Garden. We go to our local park, Brooklyn Park, just about every day. Tania has made a little friend who lives right across the street from the park. I love our area. We're in the Southeast part of Portland, but we're slightly removed from the trendy neighborhoods. Not that I don't enjoy visiting those neighborhoods, I just like the quiet of our neighborhood. All the homes here are old and full of character.

So, we're liking Portland. We miss Hawaii, but we're getting used to it here.

Goodbye, Hawaii!!!

Well, today is moving day. We leave in a couple of hours to go to Portland, Oregon. We've just spent the last week or so having all the Hawaii fun we can manage. We stayed out at the Turtle Bay Hilton in Kahuku last weekend. It's so friggin' expensive now. But they have a pool with a slide, so for Tania it was worth it. We 've been attending various barbecues, one at a friend's house in Hauula, one at Waimanalo beach. We had a barbecue here at my parents house. We've been swimming at the Kaneohe Yacht Club quite a bit. We just wanted to do all we could do with water, sun, and friends.

Seeing Tania say goodbye to her best friend was heartbreaking. It sort of made me feel more gung-ho about getting our plane tickets to come visit. I hope to come back in April.

Well, if anyone is reading this, wish us luck!

Look who her favorite student is...

I usually let Tania watch Talula while I make us breakfast. This is the scene that I saw when I went to check on them. Tania is teaching a class. She told me that Talula is her best student. She said that she's way ahead of the rest of the class. Well, I would hope that she's ahead of a pink dog, a bear, and a plastic baby!

Anyway, my parents are back in town now. My mom got to meet Talula for the first time. Moms can be very...interesting...when it comes to their grandchildren. They think they know everything. That's all I'll say.

We walked to the beach yesterday and Tania got a ton of much-needed attention. She has learned to share her mom, but she has not even considered that she might have to share her grandma.

Today, Tania is out with my mom shopping and having lunch. Talula and I are just hangin' out. She's smiling a lot more lately and is just getting to be a really happy little girl. When Tania gets back, we're going to get me a haircut. It will be my first since December. It's so ratty and gross. I can't wait to get something cute.

She wants to be a Cheetah Girl

Tania had me put her hair up all pretty like this because one of the Cheetah Girls had her hair like this. We watched Cheetah Girls II last night on the Disney Channel. I swear, Tania is obsessed. I'm trying ever so hard to let her make her own T.V. decisions right now, but man oh man am I sick of it. In Oregon we won't buy a T.V., I keep telling myself.

And so it was sort of strange last night when I found myself watching a That's So Raven marathon and then the Cheetah Girls II movie. I could actually see what the fascination is. It's all about friendship and singing and dancing and being funny and silly. I just worry about Tania sitting and watching hours and hours and not living in real life.

Anyway...we also went to the park yesterday (Aikahi again), where I watched Tania get her heart broken by her best friend. We went to the park so that she could play with her friend, but the friend had one of her new friends there from her new school. Every time Tania would go over to play with them, they would run away somewhere else. She followed them around the playground like a little lost puppy. I wanted to cry. The friend's mom wanted to make her daughter play with Tania, but I'm not about that, so I decided that we would leave. Tania was in tears when we left. I can't tell you what it's like to watch your baby get hurt like that. We saw the friend at Safeway later and she said she was sorry. Tania had sworn that she would never talk to her again, but she easily forgave her. Kids are so great like that. Later, when we were watching the Cheetah Girls, there was a scene where one of the best friends found a new friend and the other girl was hurt over it. Tania said, "Mom, that's how I felt today." It was really sad, but I'm really glad that she can talk to me. I kept a lot to myself when I was a kid.

I think Tania may be getting into photography. She has been taking my camera and taking pictures of Talula or her dolls or whatever. She has actually been successful getting Talula to smile for the camera. I'm not as successful. I haven't really showed her how to use the camera. She just sort of figured it out. I think she might be really good at photography because she's creative and focused. Anyway, she took this picture of Talula. Minus the flash effect, I think it's pretty good. I like the positioning. It's unique. Not that I'm a professional or anything.

Tania's a newsanchor now

Tania has been obsessed with being a newsanchor for the past couple of days. In this picture, she's a weather person (geologist?) and she's put the fan there to make it seem really windy. Normally, she sits at that little desk behind her and reads the headlines.

Today's headline: "Evil Mom on the Loose." I kid you not. She says that the evil mom makes her kids taste the spinach before they can have their Soy Dream ice cream.

She writes out her headlines before she begins the newscast. She wrote out a headline yesterday about our dog, who I swear is autistic. (She started getting weird after being vaccinated. Now she barks incessantly any time anyone comes to our house and she will not stop crapping on this one rug.) So Tania wanted to know what the word was that I called our dog. She said, "Mom, what do you call Pua? Sarcastic?" Hee hee.

So you see what we have here? Today's lesson on writing, reading, oral communication, acting, spelling...? I think so.

Whoa...Talula's 2 months old already!

I can't believe it! She's two months old and weighs 14 pounds, 15 ounces. She's a serious chunker, all courtesy of my amazing boobs, thank you very much. Here's a picture of Talula sticking her tongue out. She's so adorable...

We've been trying to get out of the house everyday for Tania's sake. On Monday, we went to the zoo. We were looking at this animal encyclopedia that Tania has and it seemed like a good idea. Of course, in Hawaii all the kids are in school right now, so there were only little kids there. Tania said, "Mom, I need a friend." I felt so sad, but I think we'll be able to make more homeschooling friends when we get to Portland. It seems to be somewhat of a Mecca for homeschoolers.

On Tuesday, we went to go play at Tania's old school after everyone got out for the day. It was fun for her. She got to see a lot of her friends. We're going to go again today and tomorrow. But while we were there, I witnessed an afterschool leader totally verbally abusing his group of kids for about two hours straight. I have to talk to the principal about it, because it was absolutely ridiculous.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we went to the Children's Discovery Center. It's really cute there, but of course Tania just wants to run from place to place, not fully enjoying each station. It reminds me of Christmas, when kids open up a present and then throw it to the side and look for the next present. But what can you do?

So anyway, countdown to Portland: Two weeks. I'm getting excited.

Boobs were not made to sell beer!!!

I've been meaning to post something about this for a while now. Recently, Babytalk magazine put out a cover that depicted a close-up of a baby breastfeeding. The photo captured the mother's breast as well. Much to my surprise (and others' I'm sure), many people were outraged by the sight of a breast on the cover of a family magazine. One woman said that she shredded up the magazine so that her son and husband wouldn't see it! A mother of a four-month-old baby said that she was sick of seeing a baby attached to a mother's boob!

Anyway, I'm really sick of all this hype about boobs. I just think it is so ironic that people in America have this Puritanical belief about boobs and fail to realize when boobs are being used for their intended purpose. Why is it so offensive to see a mother feeding her child the best possible food that the child could get? It makes me feel like we live in a culture where children are hated. Not fetuses, now --- everyone just looooooooooooves fetuses. But children --- not so much. We want to make them eat in bathrooms, we want the right to beat them, we want to control every aspect of their sad little lives.

Alright, that's my little rant, complete with a picture of my boob doing what it is supposed to do.

Geography Lessons?

So I guess you could say that this was our geography lesson over the past two days. It took some time, but we finally finished our 500-piece map of the world puzzle. Tania is really good at puzzles. I like that it sort of tricks her into learning about the continents and oceans. She might forever have this picture in her mind and be able to sort out where things are. There are also picture of different animals at different parts of the map to show from which area the animals originate. Joey suggested that we pull out Tania's coin collection and place them on their corresponding continents, but Tania didn't feel like it. She has a really cool coin collection that my dad gave her. He collected coins from all over the world back in his Navy days in the 60s and 70s.

The Kailua Library gives away free magazines, old issues that they have extras of. We always grab the National Geographics. Some of them are from the 80s, some are more recent, but they're all pretty priceless. We were looking at one that had an article about flamingos. We learned that they put their heads upside-down on the shore to sip water in. They actually eat spirulina, which is algae in the water. There's this spirulina drink that I get all the time, and I had no idea that flamingos ate the stuff.

That's pretty much it for the day. Tania watched too much T.V., as usual. I hope she gets over it. She actually turned it off after a while and I started singing, "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah." She thought it was funny. She just bought a Pippi Longstocking book for $2.00 at Bookends today, but has yet to crack it open. I'm having a hard time with control today. She said she didn't want to read the book because she wants to do something new. So she went to play with her dolls. Oh.

I'm taking deep breaths.

Starting to Realize the Beauty of Unschooling

Today, I started to realize the beauty of unschooling. It was such a normal, simple, uneventful day. But for some reason, I really saw that all these layers have been stripped away from Tania lately, and her true personality is really shining through. And it's a great personality.

Joey left yesterday. I miss him so much, but we have spoken on the phone about fifteen times since he left. He has had good news every time, so I hope it will stay that way. We have had a few minor setbacks, but nothing too disheartening. His most important task is to find us a place to live. He may have something, but I really do not want to jinx it, so mum's the word for now. He is loving Portland though, and he says that he knows I will love it there too.

Well, since I feel like an official unschooler now, I should probably give a little recap of our day. That's what unschoolers have to do to prove to people that their kids actually learn. Oh, I'm just kidding. We have also been trying "consensual living," which basically goes along with unschooling, since unschooling has to do with consent to be educated and about what to be educated. So there are no T.V. rules in our house right now.

We woke up around 8:30. Tania rushed to the T.V. I took care of Talula's boobie needs, then put her in the sling to make breakfast. Right after we ate our eggs and whole wheat English muffins, I checked my email. Then I got a phone call from Joey. I had to fax him something, so we had to rush to get ready and jump in the car to go to the printing center.

After that, we went to get smoothies at Lanikai Juice, which Oprah loves when she's in Kailua, by the way. Since Talula was asleep in her sling, we took advantage of the time and went to this really cute baby store nearby called Baby Showers, Hawaii. I bought a couple of outfits for Talula and a swimsuit for my friend's little girl. They're moving back to Hawaii in two weeks. (Good timing.) Tania got two finger puppets, a little man-pig and a little woman-pig. The lady who worked at the store also gave her two more finger puppets as gifts, since we told her we were moving. Then we went to this store called Mary's Toys (I think). They have wonderful toys there: wooden wonders, chemistry sets, craft kits, puppets. Tania put on a puppet show for me while we were there. We decided to buy two puzzles. One was a 100-piece picture of ballerinas and one was a 500-piece map of the world. We also bought a little kit that has bookmarks to paint and bedazzle.

We went home and Tania immediately made two bookmarks. Then she put together her ballerina puzzle all by herself. Then she watched some T.V. Then, then, I turned my head to look at her for one second, and what did I see? Tania was turning off the T.V., opting to write in her diary and play with her finger puppets instead. Imagine my surprise and delight.

Later in the afternoon, it was getting ridiculously hot, so we decided to go to the beach. We drove to Waimanalo, since it's the best place to take a baby in the water. We had the best time! First, we all went in the water. Talula loves the water, as long as it's not too cold. Then we sat on the beach for a little while. Tania collected little trinkets and told me that she was a chef and that we were diners in her restaurant. She created elaborate meals out of leaves, broken pieces of plastic, water, sand, and anything that she could find. Then we walked down the beach to where there was a tire a swing and another swinging rope with a stick attached to the end. Tania spent about 45 minutes spinning around on that rope. She spent some time entertaining me with songs, dances, and impressions of people. Then she wanted to play a game in which I told her an animal to simulate and she pretended to be that animal. She pretended to be several different animals. The funniest one was a fish. She laid on the shore flopping around until a wave washed up and then she'd roll down with the wave. It was hilarious. Then she spotted some tiny crabs that she wanted to catch, so she spent some time chasing them around before giving up.

When we finally left the beach, we drove to Hawaii Kai. Tania said the cutest thing while we were driving. She said, "Mommy, Talula has such pretty eyes. They're blue with a brown firework in them." I thought that was the most adorable thing. We were going to Hawaii Kai because we wanted to go to Kale's Natural Foods (or something like that). It was our first time there. It's really small, but I like their vitamin and natural healing section. It's better than the ones at Umeke Market and Kokua Market. Unfortunately, Talula started screaming, so all I got out of the store with was peanut butter, taco filling, and yogurt-covered pretzels. I'll have to go back on a better day.

We drove home and I made dinner: whole-wheat pasta with butter and parmesan and asparagus. Tania said the asparagus was gross, because it was too crunchy, so she didn't eat it. (That's a frustrating thing about consensual living: you can't exert tyrannical control over your child's diet.) I guess she didn't eat any vegetables today, and the only fruit she ate was in her smoothie (a banana). Let it go, let it go.

We also watched So You Think You Can Dance. Benji's the big winner! I like him, but I liked Travis too. I knew it wouldn't be one of the girls.

Well, that was our day. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was such a nice day. I feel like I really enjoyed Tania today. The more freedom I give her, the happier she becomes and the more pleasant she becomes. I feel like I'm learning more about her every day, and learning more about myself, and life, and education too.

Here's What Mom Is Learning About

The Natural Pharmacy
edited by Alan R. Gaby, M.D.,
and the Healthnotes Medical Team

So I'm trying to learn about natural ways of healing, like using herbs and vitamin supplements. I got this book from the library, and it's really useful. I'm just starting to learn, so what do I know, but I would really recommend this book for someone who wants to learn about natural healing. It's designed to be a reference book and the layout is great. It's divided into three sections: Health Concerns, Nutritional Supplements, and Herbs. So if you have a specific health concern, say, a cold, you can look it up that way and see which remedies have be used, tested, or recommended. Or, if you have heard a lot of talk about a specific vitamin supplement or herb, you can look it up that way and see how it has been used. The book also has different diet and lifestyle changes that can be made to help heal certain ailments. It cites to specific studies that show how well or how poorly certain treatments worked, so it's not just telling you "do this" or "do that"; it tells you how the treatments have worked for others.

Now, I must slowly start building my aresenal.

Talula's First Time in the Ocean

Yesterday was Talula's first time going in the ocean. If you're into slings and you like to go in the ocean or pool a lot, you have to get a water sling. I got mine here. It's made out of mesh, which is the same sort of material that basketball jerseys are made out of. I have used it in the shower several times, but this was the first time going into the ocean. Talula is so happy being snuggled up with me that although she was sleeping when we went into the water, she didn't even wake up when she got wet. The waves were sort of rough, so I couldn't go in very far. I basically went in about thigh-deep and then crouched down to get her wet.

Tania and Joey played in the ocean while I sort of hung out near the chore with Talula. They like to toss a tennis ball back and forth. It's crazy that time goes by so quickly --- I remember when Tania couldn't catch a tennis ball; now she's a pro. Joey also likes to throw Tania into the air. He wishes that there were someone big enough to throw him too, but since he's 6'6", he'll have to get over it. He hopes that there's a heaven, because in his heaven there will be some bigger than him to throw him in the water and to crack his back.

Talula did not like the beachpark showers. She screamed at the top of her lungs when I took her into them. I don't blame her. It was freezing.

We sat at a picnic table and had a beer before walking home. We just wanted to soak in Kailua, soak in Hawaii, before we leave. Joey leaves in 5 days. It's pretty sad, but we're excited too. Portland will be a new experience for us, and hopefully a good experience. I'm excited to be able to walk and catch the bus everywhere, and I'm excited to be able to afford an all-organic diet. There are some things in Hawaii that you just cannot afford. I'm also excited to not pay sales tax. My mom says that I should be excited to have 4 seasons. In Hawaii, we really only have two seasons --- warm and wet, and cool and wet.

Anyway, we stopped at Triangle Park on the way home where Tania played for a while. She was such a big girl. She rode her bike ahead of us and crossed a busy street all by herself. She just waited at the crosswalk, and then when both sides of traffic had stopped for her, we saw her run her bike across the street. I'm really proud of her that she can use her good sense to determine when it is safe to cross, and that she doesn't freeze up and get all scared when it's perfectly safe. Some of her friends would never be allowed to cross a street by themselves, but I think it's more important to teach your child how to do it than to make some blanket rule about at what age it is appropriate to learn.

Today, Tania has gone with her friend to Sea Life Park and to the beach in Waimanalo. She's a busy girl. I prefer to take her to do things that are free, but she has a friend who takes her to all these places that cost a million dollars, so I'm running with it. I just don't want her to need paid entertainment all the time.

I'll close this post with a totally unrelated topic. I want everyone to know that some states in the good old USA still permit corporal punishment in public schools. Most people I have talked to about this are shocked when I tell them this, but it's true. And it's not a thing where the law allows it, but it's not practiced. One Mississippi school board just passed a law allowing corporal punishment in its public schools. Check out this website to find out more information about corporal punishment in schools.

We Went Camping!

We went camping this past weekend at Malaekahana State Park. It was so much fun. This was Talula's first time camping, and she held up like a champ.

Before I recap the whole camping trip, I should say that I have not been posting much because I have had my hands full with Talula and planning our move and all sorts of other things, mostly involving excessive paperwork.

We haven't been doing much, as far as schooly-stuff. Tania is just not having it. I try to gently ask her if she wants to do any math or grammar, and the answer is always, "No!" I think she needs some time to reconnect with herself. I think that traditional public school is very hard on a child. She's sort of gone back to being more childlike since we quit "The Plan." So anyway, the only planned activities that we have really been doing lately are bike rides, beach trips, library visits, and farmer's market night. Other than that, we've just been lounging, cleaning, and relaxing.

But back to camping...

We spent all day Friday packing and prepping to go out there. We were using a tent that we found in my parents' garage, so we had to set it up to make sure it actually worked. We finally started driving out around 4:00 p.m. About 30 minutes into the trip, when we had reached Kualoa, Talula started screaming, so we pulled over. I had put a disposable diaper on her and planned to use disposables the whole trip, because I didn't really want to lug 25-or-so dirty diapers home with me. But they weren't exactly holding up --- she had poop coming up the front of the diaper. So I changed her, boobed her, and we were off. We had to pull over again because Talula started screaming again about 5 minutes later. I boobed her and then stayed in the back seat with her. She finally went to sleep. We got to Malaekahana at around 5:30 p.m.

Joey started to set up the tent. It took a couple of hours, a lot of rope, and half a roll of duct tape, but he got the job done. It basically looked like a homeless tent with a big tarp over it.

The first night was great. We barbecued steak, chicken, corn, zucchini, and asparagus, and drank beer. We roasted marshmallows and made smores. It rained while we slept, but we didn't get wet. Talula slept like a little angel, waking up once to boob and then passing back out. Tania and her friend Bella had their own little tent.

In the morning, we ate fruit, eggs, and turkey bacon. It was a sunny day and we played at the beach. Right before we had left to go camping, I got my new favorite thing in the mail --- my water sling. Since we were having a diaper crisis, I just let Talula go naked in the water sling all day long and used the cloth diapers at nighttime. Every time she would poop, we'd go shower off. The campsite has a solar-powered shower. I just wore my swimsuit all day.

There were man-o-war washing in with the waves, so I couldn't take Talula in the ocean. Tania went swimming though. She's brave. We saw these weird little blue creatures that washed up on the beach. They sort of looked like dragonfish, but they were blue and about a half-inch in size. When they washed up on the beach, they just looked like little blue globs of goo, but if you put them in a bucket of water, they fluttered and swam around. I tried to find a picture of them on the internet, or even find out what they are, but I haven't had any luck.

The rest of the trip was awesome, except for the last night. It freaking poured rain and the winds were a million miles per hour. It was ridiculous, and our tent could not handle. Talula and I went to sleep with Tania. We left as soon as we could after the sun came up.

Since we've been home, Talula has been totally cranky. I think she really likes being outside all day. She calms down when we go outside. She gets sort of pissed and cranky if we don't go anywhere during the day. When we go outside, she has this incredulous look on her face. She stares at everything for awhile and then passes out.

A Little View of Tania's World

She looks so much older than 7, but she really is very much a child. She really is still interested in serious play. I still hear her in her room talking to her dolls. I'm seeing lately that she really is not ready for school-type learning.

So what we have in this picture is a restaurant that she has created. See the little pillow? That's the roof to the entrance. That little box near it is a piece from her dollhouse that is now a hostess stand. A bottle of nail polish is the hostess. She sits on one of the dollhouse chairs. To Tania's right, she has put down a Judy Moody book and The Twits as the dining area floor. You can barely see it, but a set of paints serves as cafeteria seating, and there are two tables that some finger puppets are sitting at. That little green guy by her leg is the waiter. Behind her is a tray of food. The beads in front of her are being made into various food dishes.

See that guitar in the picture? It used to be a pink Barbie guitar. I walked outside the other day and Tania was in the process of painting it red. You see, "Pink is not very rock n' roll."

Tania has also created an entire area that replicates the baby area that I have for Talula. She has this little day bed in her play area of the living room. Today, I walked out there and Tania was in the bed pretending to sleep next to her baby. Talula sleeps right up next to me, so Tania was copying me. She even had a little nightstand with a fan, a journal, a pen, and some books, just like mine. She has taken the little clothes that Talula has grown out of and started using them for her babies.

Other than that, Tania has been going to the beach, to the pool, hiking, and to see the horses. Today, we are going to a bridal shower.

Life is busy. I'm not sure what things she is learning lately, but our home is peaceful at the moment and Tania is happy.

Talula is learning, too!

Talula was one month old on the 22nd. She's doing a great job holding her head up to stare at her new friends. We took her to the doctor yesterday and she weighs a whopping 11 pounds, 13 ounces! She's gained over 4 pounds since birth, more than half her original weight. Breast milk is the most amazing potion ever invented.

In other news, Tania has been extremely busy playing at the beach. She's been out with the visitors almost every single day, and spent the night at her friend's house one night. She's been to the Polynesian Cultural Center, where she attended a luau and learned about Polynesian cultures. She's been hiking at the Hau'ula trail and swimming at the Hau'ula Beach Park. She's been to Kailua beach almost every day. She's been snorkeling in Waimanalo. Sunscreen cannot even keep up with her. She's sort of reddish-tan even though she has had to get out of the water every 30 minutes to reapply. She doesn't look half as red as the visitors, though. They look like skin cancer, just waiting to reveal itself.

When Tania has not been at the beach, she's been on the computer. She's all about these girly websites where she can print out paper dolls or create virtual outifts. She informed me that when she grows up, she wants to be a fashion designer.

It got me to thinking: What if she does grow up to be a fashion designer? What if I fill her days with grammar, literature, history, math, and science, and she grows up to be a fashion designer? What if I fight her to get her work done, chatising her for her lack of interest, scolding her for rolling her eyes, and she grows up to be a fashion designer? What if I spend a good chunk of my day in frustration, trying to get her to enjoy the books that I enjoy, the subjects that I enjoy, and she grows up to be a fashion designer?

Even worse, what if in her heart, she wants to be a fashion designer, but she grows up to be a literature professor or a lawyer or a journalist?

When I was a kid, I loved art and fashion. I won art contests all the time. But the more people told me how smart I was, and the more my parents focused on getting me an education in the subjects that would take me somewhere in life, the more I doubted my abilities in the areas I actually enjoyed. I think that people believe that you are either smart or artistically talented. And that if you are both, you should run with the smart thing and forget about the artistic thing.

So I have pretty much decided to ditch the Classical method. I still want to purchase all of the books that I was going to purchase, but I don't want to require Tania to learn anything that she has no interest in. We will continue math and language for a while, so that she can do well on the state-required tests. The history books will just be read to her as stories. We'll keep the science books around the house for when she has science questions.

This is all very scary for me. I'm a very controlling person by nature. But I've raised my girl to be stubborn and opinionated, to question authority, to be independent, and she has shown me that she would very much like to direct her own education. We talked about the language and the math, and she agreed that she wants to do well on the tests so that she can continue to stay at home. We talked about the history, and she agreed that it would be fun to learn as a bedtime story, but that she still wanted to draw pictures for each lesson, but only if she felt like it.

I think that this will give us a great deal of freedom to do the things that are very important to us. And I think that our new way better reflects the title of this blog: A Learning Way of Life.

Building Cities and Other Beachy Fun

We took Joey's friends to the beach in Waimanalo yesterday. It's the beach where Joey and I fell in love. Awww...cherish. It was really windy, and the surf report said that the waves on the east side were 4 to 8 feet.

Joey and his friends had some boogie-board fun. It's fun to watch people get pounded by the surf.

Tania had no interest in going in the water, but she built a little city in the sands. There was a playground and a cemetery. The cemetery had "rhinestones" where each person was buried. She was very proud of herself. She took some of the materials with her when we had to leave.

Talula and I sat in a chair the entire time. She slept in her sling, as usual. It was nice to be sitting in the breeze though.

We had to leave abruptly because the rain clouds were coming in pretty quickly. As soon as we got in the car, the rain started. Whew!

Not up to Much Lately!

It's just too...summery...to do any sort of schooley-stuff lately. Yesterday we walked to the library to check out some books that correlate with Tania's history lessons. We are studying ancient times right now, so we got books about ancient Greece, Egypt, Africa (yes, I know that Egypt is in Africa, but they have separate histories), India, and Israel. I couldn't find any about Mesopotamia, which I found strange because civilization started there. I'll look harder next time. Tania checked out some books that personally appealed to her as well.

Joey carried Talula in a sling and she slept the entire walk over there and until I had finished selecting books. I just had to take her outside, boob her, change her diaper, and put her back in the sling. (I carried her home.) They sure make cloth diapering easy for being on-the-go nowadays. We have gotten to a point where we only use Fuzzi Bunz. I just don't have it in me to learn how to use prefolds and all the various covers. Well, you just bring a little waterproof diaper bag and throw the dirty one in there and you're good to go. We bring the Ziploc of our cloth wipes with the special potion (water, pure aloe gel, lavender oil, and tea tree oil). It's no harder than dealing with disposables.

Well, we have also have had guests in town since July 6th, and they will stay until the 27th. They are friends of my parents and they brought a little friend for Tania to play with - an eleven-year-old girl. Tania adores her and they pretend they are spies or play on the slip-n-slide most of the day. They like to spy on Joey. They put on disguises and carry newspapers with eyeholes in front of their faces. Today, they took Tania with them to the beach. So she has been having a blast.

Joey went to pick up his friends from the airport today. They will be staying for a week. So we have a full house. It's fun though. Tania loves having a lot of people around. She'll play herself to death, though, if we don't stop her.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Whew! I had to read this book again after having some frustrating moments with Tania and her schoolwork. I was on the verge of turning into "Mommy Dearest" because Tania's whining and complaining has been driving me crazy. Everything is, "Do I have to do this now?" and "Why do I have to do that?" I just want to bring back the old-fashioned beating sometimes. But since the law wouldn't be on my side, I have to find a better way. (Obviously, I'm kidding. I wouldn't beat Tania because I love her, not because there are any legal barriers.) I read this book a while ago, but had fallen out of the habits encouraged in it, so here I go again.

I guess the basic premise of the book is that children react to the way that we treat them and speak to them. The book gives four important tools to use when your child is talking to you: 1) listen with your full attention (turn off TV), 2) acknowledge that they are saying something (mmm..., mm-hmm, oh...), 3) name the feeling that the child is feeling (I bet that made you feel angry), and 4) offer a fantasy (I wish I had a magic wand that could fix your broken toy). These tools actually do work. It's just hard to keep up the habit of using them, so I am again trying to incorporate them into our lives. I used them today, and things went a lot more smoothly than they do when I yell and give completely useless time-outs.

Singapore Math

Singapore Math

We have been using the Singapore Math program for about a month now. I guess the main selling point of this program is that it is the program used in Singapore schools, and children there consistently score high on math tests (much higher than children in the United States score). The program is said not to just teach math, but to teach how to think mathematically.

I started Tania at the beginning of the First Grade series, because the program is taught much differently than the program she learned from in school. In the first grade, students learn basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Most programs in the United States teach addition and subtraction, from basics to advanced, then move on to multiplication and division. This program seeks to show the relationship between addition, subtraction, multiplicaton and division by teaching them all simultaneously throughout the first few years.

The program uses kid-friendly pictures, but there are no manipulatives. Some children learn fine this way, but many children need manipulatives in order to learn math concepts. I think I would say that just about any child could use this program, but different children might need different supplements to fully benefit from it. Tania is a "logical-mathematical thinker," much like I am, so she doesn't really need manipulatives, but I have added addition/subtraction and multiplication/division tables for her to memorize. I know that a lot of homeschooling parents think those sorts of tables are useless, but I still use that memorized information most days of my life. Memorizing those tables made more complicated math courses easier as well. I didn't have to waste time figuring out components of math problems that I had already memorized. And I think that as long as children are memorizing the tables along with learning the mathematical concepts of what they are memorizing, the information doesn't become useless.

A lot of the contents of the First Grade series are extremely easy for Tania, but some of its contents are new material (like multiplication and division). She'll be finished with the first workbook next week, and finished with the second workbook and all of First Grade by the first week of August. Then she'll be where she needs to be in order to begin the Second Grade. We'll be able to take a couple of months off to just enjoy the remainder of our time in Hawaii, then set up in and get to know Portland without the pressure of schoolwork.

Tania actually really likes working on math. She always asks to do math before doing any other subject. I think she likes it because it's sort of "schoolish," what with the workbook and all. She likes to get graded. It's bizarre. I think she also likes the coloring she gets to do in the workbook. It's really set up to be attractive to children.

Fourth of July Festivities

We had a fabulous Fourth of July! Joey had to work during the daytime, but Tania, Talula and I went to watch the Kailua Parade at our cousin's house. Tania rode her bike and I walked with Talula. Tania had to wear her baby in a sling just like her mama. Strangers thought she was pretty cute.

The parade was okay. I always expect parades to be all clowns and floats and guys on stilts, but the groups that participate are mostly veteran groups, political candidates, churches, and sports teams. But each group always has someone passing out candy to the kids. You should have seen Tania's loot! (I secretly threw it away this morning. She'll forget all about it. That's my move on Halloween too.) It was a hot day, though. Talula and I got really sweaty, but it was totally worth the walk.

In the evening, we had a little barbecue at our house. About ten people showed up. We barbecued and drank beer and had watermelon. The kids ran around and popped firecrackers. At 8:00, the fire department puts on a fireworks show out at Flat Island in Kailua Bay. We all climbed onto the roof and watched the show. It was pretty spectacular, but I was distracted watching Tania. She was sitting with her two best friends. One of them is moving away in a week, and of course, we are moving away in September. The three girls were telling each other that they were best friends and that they would be best friends forever, and it just really broke my heart. I really hope that they do keep in touch forever. I wonder if I am doing a terrible thing by moving Tania to a whole new state and away from her best friends who she has known since she was three years old. I just wonder if this will be a traumatizing part of her life that she looks back on with pain.

Well, I don't want to end this on a sad note, so I'll say that we had a wonderful Fourth of July. Today, Tania and her cousin are visiting a hotel in Waikiki that their little friend is staying at. He's a nine-year-old boy, and they both have a crush on him. (Shhh!) Tania painted her fingernails blue and white this morning and had me put her hair up in a pretty hairdo.

I feel like my heart is going to explode because my kids are so cute.

"Animal School"

I came across this slide show/movie thingie yesterday called "Animal School". I think the movie shows the incredible differences between children in a really neat way. Here is the text:

"Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had to create a curriculum that would satisfy everyone, so they chose four subjects: running, climbing, flying, and swimming. All the animals, of course, studied all the subjects.

The duck was very good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He received passing grades in running and flying, but was hopeless in climbing, so they made him drop swimming so that he could practice climbing. After a while he was only average at swimming, but average is still acceptable, at least in school, and nobody worried much about it except the duck.

The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there that was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write, "Cheating is wrong," five hundred times. This kept him from soaring, which he loved, but schoolwork comes first.

The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in the winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn't open then.

The zebra played hooky a lot because the ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.

The kangaroo started out at the top of the racing class, but became discouraged when was told to move swiftly on all four legs the way his classmates did.

The fish quit school because he was bored. To him, all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that because they had never seen a fish.

The squirrel got an A in climbing, but his flying teacher made him start from the ground up, instead of from the treetop down. His legs got so sore practicing takeoffs that he began getting Cs in climbing and Ds in running.

The bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to Doctor Owl for testing. Doctor Owl said that the bee's wings were too small for flying and they were in the wrong place. The bee never saw Doctor Owl's report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway. I think I know a bee or two, how about you?

The duck is the child who does well in math and poorly in English and is given tutorials by the English teacher while his classmates are doing math. He loses his edge in math, and only does passably well in English.

The eagle is the child who is turned into a troublemaker because he has his "own style" of doing things. While he is not doing anything "wrong," his non-conforming is perceived as troublemakeing, for which he is punished.

Who does not recognize the bear? The kid who is great in camp, thrives on extra-curricular, but really just goes flat in the academics.

The zebra is the heavy, tall, or short, self-conscious kid whose failure in school few realize is due to a sense of social inadequacy.

The kangaroo is the one who instead of persevering gives up and becomes that discouraged child whose future disappears because he was not appreciated.

The fish is a child who really requires full special education and should not be in the regular classroom.

The squirrel, unlike the duck who "manages," becomes a failure.

The bee, oh the bee, is the child who the school just feels it cannot deal with, yet, against all odds, with the backing of his parents, has enough self-motivation to do well even though everyone thought he couldn't. I had the pleasure of knowing many bees.

Your child is a unique blend of talents, personality, and ingredients nowhere else to be found.

Some children are skilled intellectually, others are blessed emotionally, and many are born with creative ingenuity.

Each child possesses their very own exclusive collection of gifts.

The kids didn't come with direction booklets.

Effective parents are always learning, studying, and customizing the instructions for their individual child.

Each and every child is as unique as their fingerprints; a sparkling diamond of unparalleled beauty.

Don't let your child be a kangaroo!"

Tania seems to be sort of a duck-eagle-kangaroo when it comes to school, but we'll help her to be a little bee that defeats everything and buzzes on through life as her own person with her own unique way of doing things.

I am really excited to see what Talula will be like. If there's one thing Tania has taught me, it's that a child is born with their own personality! It can be cultivated through the way they are raised, but they are born with an identity of their own. Talula might be a completely different type of animal than Tania! I'm excited to get to know her.