I am a foodie. I love food and I love to eat. I am also raising two young bodies who are quite healthy, eat well, and know how to make good choices regarding food and nutrition. I'm not saying they always exercise good decision-making skills, but they are at least able to identify the healthier choices!
As such, I particularly enjoyed the last 2.5 years we spent living in Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest's culture includes a focus on green living, sustainable farming, buying local and so on. Not to say everyone buys into it, but I fell for it hook, line and sinker - and I loved it! We enjoyed raw milk, the best lemon custard you can imagine, fabulous kombucha, grass-fed beef, eggs, poultry and more from Kookoolan Farms in Yamhill, OR. Seriously, I couldn't recommend them, their food, or their farming philosophy more highly. We joined the Cellar Club at Ponzi Vineyards, less than one mile from our home, and enjoyed other local wines at the plethora of vineyards throughout the Willamette Valley as often as possible. We enjoyed Beaverton Farmer's Market, and myriad similar Portlandesque green/local/organic/sustainable/yadda yadda experiences.
And what's funny is, I haven't even started talking about what living in Alaska does for one's awareness of food, where it comes from, and how it is grown, packaged and stored. Suffice it to say, we were fortunate to indulge in fresh, wild protein sources including salmon, moose, and halibut, almost exclusively. We have made good food a part of our lifestyle as much as we can afford to!
So here we are in Hawaii. TDH has been reading about spear fishing (very different from his Alaskan fishing ventures, but still holds plenty of intrigue for him). We do not yet have a stable home, so I have no access to my gardening supplies and am not eager to get a garden or any containers started "temporarily", so we just have to move them or leave them... But I am definitely committed to purchasing fresh, local produce, wild-caught local fish, and supporting Hawaiian individuals and businesses who strengthen or further the cause.
For now, our family has elected to live on the leeward side of Oahu. I recently learned that there is a weekly "green and farmer's market" nearby. Hosted by Malama Learning Center at Kapolei High School is the Makeke Kapolei, Thursdays from 3pm-6:30pm.
We attended the market yesterday for the first time, following an afternoon of wave-jumping with Waddles and Hopper while TDH surfed. We took our goodies home, grilled up a delicious meal of blue marlin, corn on the cob, and a green salad made with tomatoes and cucumbers. We filled the fridge with plenty more fruit (including pineapples, bananas, papayas, and honey dew melon) and made a promise to ourselves to return weekly. Other items we took home included fromage blanc from the Naked Cow Dairy and Coconut Peanut Butter and Hibiscus Flower Honey from North Shore Goodies.
In addition to the meat, dairy, produce, plants and even some vendor booths offering delicious smelling cooked items, the Makeke Kapolei offers an opportunity to learn about the Hawaiian culture. Activities will vary from week to week, but yesterday the kids participated in traditional games and crafts. By the time we left, they had made new friends, learned ways to entertain themselves using things they can find outdoors on the islands, and increased their understanding of the Hawaiian culture.
Needless to say, we can purchase more food for less money at the Navy Commissary. We will, however, follow our goals for a healthy lifestyle, to eat locally, and to learn more about the environment and our surroundings by attending this market and enjoying the many things it has to offer.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
What's Her Motivation?
My biggest challenge with homeschooling right now - surprising, perhaps, to those of you who know her - is Hopper. She complains. She puts on a terrible, grumpy face and says, "Why do we have to do work?" Nevermind the fact that she is very smart, capable, and can get through all her work in less than no time! She simply lacks motivation to do anything other than what SHE wants to do.
By and large, Hopper is a gem, a jewel, my sweet, loving, cuddly girl and constant, committed companion to Waddles. She is kind, considerate, and respectful - a good friend to all. She also comes with a significant dose of willfulness and determination. I am grateful for this - I know it is important that she be able to put her foot down and succesfully hold her ground. As a parent, however, it is also important to make sure she knows if and when she is stepping on the wrong toes....
For example, Hopper was 2 years old when I used the go-to parenting threat of the holiday season: "Do as you were told or Santa won't bring you a new doll." She looked me in the eye and said, "I don't need Santa to bring me a new doll. I already have dolls." Last year, she attended kindergarten at a wonderful school and had a loving teacher and friends whom she looked forward to playing with. Nevertheless, several mornings each week, she would come to my room, ask if it was a school day and run back to her bed in an angry huff when I told her it was. She would begrudgingly dress herself, then sit through breakfast with her pouty face and ask, "Is tomorrow a school day, too? Ugh! I wish it was a day off and I could do what I want!" She can entertain herself independently for hours, as long as she is doing what SHE wants to do.
Much to my dismay, Hopper has greeted several homeschool mornings with this sort of bad attitude - not in the mood to do anything other than what she wants to do. "This is boring. Why do we have to do work?" I took it very personally at first, then eventually (with reminders and encouragement from TDH) remembered that this is not new behavior. It is not unique to homeschooling and therefore not strictly a result of my curriculum choices, the way I present the material, etc. Okay then, we can proceed with our plan...
So far, after gentle prodding, followed by several stern looks as necessary, then a few threats, and only once, being sent to her room and told to return when she had fixed her attitude, Hopper gets on board and settles into the routine. By the end of each session, she admits that it was "not so bad". The math was kinda fun, the handwriting was kinda like artwork, etc. However, I have set my own expectations for our homeschool experiences above "not so bad".
Waddles, two years older and wired completely differently, has complained very little and does not lack motivation. He has three years of school under his belt and a better perspective on the value of education and how it will help him do the things he wants to do. Waddles has very different hurdles to overcome, and we continue to work together to help him succeed.
I believe Hopper has astronomical potential, and I am eager to help her transition into a willing learner, too. My challenge is to give her perspective on how she can use knowledge to enhance her life, the activities she chooses to participate in, and the future she envisions for herself. I need to get creative and exercise one of the many advantages of homeschooling - tailoring the plan to meet the needs of the individual learner.
Hopper is a sucker for sweets and according to several sources, cooking is a great tool for homeschoolers. Shall we bake a cake?
By and large, Hopper is a gem, a jewel, my sweet, loving, cuddly girl and constant, committed companion to Waddles. She is kind, considerate, and respectful - a good friend to all. She also comes with a significant dose of willfulness and determination. I am grateful for this - I know it is important that she be able to put her foot down and succesfully hold her ground. As a parent, however, it is also important to make sure she knows if and when she is stepping on the wrong toes....
For example, Hopper was 2 years old when I used the go-to parenting threat of the holiday season: "Do as you were told or Santa won't bring you a new doll." She looked me in the eye and said, "I don't need Santa to bring me a new doll. I already have dolls." Last year, she attended kindergarten at a wonderful school and had a loving teacher and friends whom she looked forward to playing with. Nevertheless, several mornings each week, she would come to my room, ask if it was a school day and run back to her bed in an angry huff when I told her it was. She would begrudgingly dress herself, then sit through breakfast with her pouty face and ask, "Is tomorrow a school day, too? Ugh! I wish it was a day off and I could do what I want!" She can entertain herself independently for hours, as long as she is doing what SHE wants to do.
Much to my dismay, Hopper has greeted several homeschool mornings with this sort of bad attitude - not in the mood to do anything other than what she wants to do. "This is boring. Why do we have to do work?" I took it very personally at first, then eventually (with reminders and encouragement from TDH) remembered that this is not new behavior. It is not unique to homeschooling and therefore not strictly a result of my curriculum choices, the way I present the material, etc. Okay then, we can proceed with our plan...
So far, after gentle prodding, followed by several stern looks as necessary, then a few threats, and only once, being sent to her room and told to return when she had fixed her attitude, Hopper gets on board and settles into the routine. By the end of each session, she admits that it was "not so bad". The math was kinda fun, the handwriting was kinda like artwork, etc. However, I have set my own expectations for our homeschool experiences above "not so bad".
Waddles, two years older and wired completely differently, has complained very little and does not lack motivation. He has three years of school under his belt and a better perspective on the value of education and how it will help him do the things he wants to do. Waddles has very different hurdles to overcome, and we continue to work together to help him succeed.
I believe Hopper has astronomical potential, and I am eager to help her transition into a willing learner, too. My challenge is to give her perspective on how she can use knowledge to enhance her life, the activities she chooses to participate in, and the future she envisions for herself. I need to get creative and exercise one of the many advantages of homeschooling - tailoring the plan to meet the needs of the individual learner.
Hopper is a sucker for sweets and according to several sources, cooking is a great tool for homeschoolers. Shall we bake a cake?
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Freedom, Fresh Air and Time
I love books. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I have an ever-growing list of favorites and always wish for more time in the day to sit down with a good book and lose myself in it. I love to read at the beach, at the pool, in bed before I fall asleep, on a cold day in front of a crackling fire, next to the window on a rainy day, by headlamp in a tent, you name it. When Waddles and Hopper ask me what my favorite thing to do is, "Read", I say.
Reading came easy to me. I would have to confirm this with my mother, but I was practically born reading. According to TDH, however, reading did not come naturally to him. In fact, he didn't read for pleasure, or by choice, until roughly 2 years ago. And he still prefers to be read to. He subscribes to Audible and can be found listening to books anytime of day, any day he is not working. He consumes an enormous quantity of books this way. It cannot be argued that he, too, loves books!
That being said, one of the driving reasons for us to begin homeschooling this year was that Waddles struggles to read. It is surely not due to a lack of interest. He shares our love of books, and he will listen for hours on end when he is being read to (like his father). He won't necessarily sit still during those hours (again, like his father - TDH gets a LOT done while he listens to audiobooks), but Waddles never misses a word and his comprehension is truly out of this world.
The fact remains that when he reads it is painfully slow and full of inaccuracies (e.g. he reads "what" instead of "that"). He has to sound out many words and has limited recall of any words he previously sounded out. He skips lines and becomes increasingly frustrated as the number of words on a page increases. He was barreling toward 3rd grade with all those "reading-to-learners", but he was still learning to read.
"Have you had him tested?", you may ask. Yes, we have. The pertinent question TDH and I began to ask ourselves was, "How much and to what end?". During 1st grade, Waddles was diagnosed with visual learning disabilities. We followed the prescribed 12-week vision therapy program and saw improvement. Nevertheless, through 2nd grade he remained below the expected reading level. I will spare the details of many conversations with teachers, optometrists, an occupational therapist who prescribed another several month long program to help eliminate (related/unrelated) "movement seeker" behaviors, etc. Suffice it to say, we were receiving feedback from multiple sources that Waddles was having difficulty fitting into the classroom.
Last Spring, he came home from school several times with those words - "I can't do it" and "I'm not smart enough". I know neither of these statements is true, but I also know that the likelihood for him to feel increasingly inferior and incapable of meeting expectations was a guarantee.
TDH and I reached our conclusion to remove Waddles from traditional schooling and teach him at home in a way that works better for him. I admit, I want many things from this choice. Part of what I seek most is the opportunity to allow for Waddles' reading skills to develop without sacrificing content or complexity of material and without causing him to develop the sense that he is "stupid". I have no doubt his reading skills will catch up, but I don't want that need for more time to stand in the way of his ability and desire to absorb substantial amounts of information and to satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
With this in mind, it thrills me to say that our first official day of homeschooling was spent reading. It was a packing/moving day back in Oregon. TDH and I opted to divide and conquer, as we often do. He stayed at the house with Audible playing in his ears while the kids and I skipped off to a large, open field at McMenamins Grand Lodge . We found a spot under the shade of a large tree and began reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I read while they listened, for hours. They begged me to continue from chapter to chapter, they inquired about the plot and characters throughout, and I occasionally quizzed them to ensure they were not only paying attention but actually "getting it". We read all day long, shifted to a picnic table for lunch, enjoyed a few chapters at bedtime, and so on. We finished the book in 2 days. I even rested my head in Waddles' lap for part of the time. It was magical - we were blessed with freedom, fresh air, and time. It was just what we needed to get started on our flavor of homeschooling.
When we arrived in Hawaii, it was time to choose a new book to read. I exercised my hard-to-define and impossible-to-repeat approach to book selection. In doing so, we discovered Calvin Coconut by Graham Salisbury. I can't say enough about how much we are enjoying reading these books together as a family.
Calvin Coconut is a boy about Waddles' age who frequently, through little fault of his own, gets into what Waddles calls "funny trouble". He has a younger sister, Darci, about the same age as Hopper. This sibling relationship is key to my enjoyment of the books because it reflects that of Waddles and Hopper in their mutual support and obvious love for each other. Calvin experiences some lessons in life - bullying, divorce, and making new friends for example. These books offer a way for us to discuss these challenges in a safe and low-stress context. In fact, this post may have just been a really long way of saying if you're looking for a fun book for your kids to read, or to read to your kids, I strongly recommend Calvin Coconut!
Who knows what we will read next, but for now I am happy to say that reading together is a large part of our homeschool curriculum. I look forward to rereading several of my old favorites as well as selecting new books. All we need is a little freedom, fresh air and time. I am grateful that our new way of life permits just that, so we may enjoy this and countless more educational activities stress-free, considering that our experiences over the past three years have been anything but!
Reading came easy to me. I would have to confirm this with my mother, but I was practically born reading. According to TDH, however, reading did not come naturally to him. In fact, he didn't read for pleasure, or by choice, until roughly 2 years ago. And he still prefers to be read to. He subscribes to Audible and can be found listening to books anytime of day, any day he is not working. He consumes an enormous quantity of books this way. It cannot be argued that he, too, loves books!
That being said, one of the driving reasons for us to begin homeschooling this year was that Waddles struggles to read. It is surely not due to a lack of interest. He shares our love of books, and he will listen for hours on end when he is being read to (like his father). He won't necessarily sit still during those hours (again, like his father - TDH gets a LOT done while he listens to audiobooks), but Waddles never misses a word and his comprehension is truly out of this world.
The fact remains that when he reads it is painfully slow and full of inaccuracies (e.g. he reads "what" instead of "that"). He has to sound out many words and has limited recall of any words he previously sounded out. He skips lines and becomes increasingly frustrated as the number of words on a page increases. He was barreling toward 3rd grade with all those "reading-to-learners", but he was still learning to read.
"Have you had him tested?", you may ask. Yes, we have. The pertinent question TDH and I began to ask ourselves was, "How much and to what end?". During 1st grade, Waddles was diagnosed with visual learning disabilities. We followed the prescribed 12-week vision therapy program and saw improvement. Nevertheless, through 2nd grade he remained below the expected reading level. I will spare the details of many conversations with teachers, optometrists, an occupational therapist who prescribed another several month long program to help eliminate (related/unrelated) "movement seeker" behaviors, etc. Suffice it to say, we were receiving feedback from multiple sources that Waddles was having difficulty fitting into the classroom.
Last Spring, he came home from school several times with those words - "I can't do it" and "I'm not smart enough". I know neither of these statements is true, but I also know that the likelihood for him to feel increasingly inferior and incapable of meeting expectations was a guarantee.
TDH and I reached our conclusion to remove Waddles from traditional schooling and teach him at home in a way that works better for him. I admit, I want many things from this choice. Part of what I seek most is the opportunity to allow for Waddles' reading skills to develop without sacrificing content or complexity of material and without causing him to develop the sense that he is "stupid". I have no doubt his reading skills will catch up, but I don't want that need for more time to stand in the way of his ability and desire to absorb substantial amounts of information and to satisfy his thirst for knowledge.
With this in mind, it thrills me to say that our first official day of homeschooling was spent reading. It was a packing/moving day back in Oregon. TDH and I opted to divide and conquer, as we often do. He stayed at the house with Audible playing in his ears while the kids and I skipped off to a large, open field at McMenamins Grand Lodge . We found a spot under the shade of a large tree and began reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I read while they listened, for hours. They begged me to continue from chapter to chapter, they inquired about the plot and characters throughout, and I occasionally quizzed them to ensure they were not only paying attention but actually "getting it". We read all day long, shifted to a picnic table for lunch, enjoyed a few chapters at bedtime, and so on. We finished the book in 2 days. I even rested my head in Waddles' lap for part of the time. It was magical - we were blessed with freedom, fresh air, and time. It was just what we needed to get started on our flavor of homeschooling.
When we arrived in Hawaii, it was time to choose a new book to read. I exercised my hard-to-define and impossible-to-repeat approach to book selection. In doing so, we discovered Calvin Coconut by Graham Salisbury. I can't say enough about how much we are enjoying reading these books together as a family.
Calvin Coconut is a boy about Waddles' age who frequently, through little fault of his own, gets into what Waddles calls "funny trouble". He has a younger sister, Darci, about the same age as Hopper. This sibling relationship is key to my enjoyment of the books because it reflects that of Waddles and Hopper in their mutual support and obvious love for each other. Calvin experiences some lessons in life - bullying, divorce, and making new friends for example. These books offer a way for us to discuss these challenges in a safe and low-stress context. In fact, this post may have just been a really long way of saying if you're looking for a fun book for your kids to read, or to read to your kids, I strongly recommend Calvin Coconut!
Who knows what we will read next, but for now I am happy to say that reading together is a large part of our homeschool curriculum. I look forward to rereading several of my old favorites as well as selecting new books. All we need is a little freedom, fresh air and time. I am grateful that our new way of life permits just that, so we may enjoy this and countless more educational activities stress-free, considering that our experiences over the past three years have been anything but!
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