Making it to the End

 

This can be a tough time of year for all of us-kids are tired of doing school, moms are tired of sticking to the routine, I am tired of creating lesson plans; the sun is shining, the beach is so close…But even with all of this and more, I think it is very important to finish the year strong.  We want to model to our children and students the value of commitment, perseverance and hard-work, qualities that are sometimes hard to find in our society.  We do want to keep this commitment to virtue balanced with our need to enjoy the life God has given us.  So how can we make that happen in the last few weeks of the school year?

Here are a few ideas to keep you going-

1.       Take school outside for part of the day.  Do your reading on the grass.  Take a walk and observe nature.

2.       Start the day with mom reading aloud.  This is such a nice way to ease gently into the demands of the day!

3.       Make a special breakfast and enjoy it together before starting the school day.  Sometimes we all benefit from being together and just resting, after we have completed the busyness of the morning routine and before we start our school day.

4.       Declare a pajama school day and make a really big deal about the privilege to school in pajamas (admittedly this only works if you make the kids get dressed every other day! J )

5.       Take some school to a coffee shop one afternoon.

6.       Make time for oral school work-oral spelling, oral Latin practice, memory work review, reading aloud to siblings.

7.       Excuse your child from some of their math problems.  That usually makes everyone very happy!

8.       Have a picnic for lunch.

9.       Plan a field trip.

10.   Plan a creative activity-have the kids put on a puppet show about something from history or literature, make a cookie dough relief map, or have them write a song about a key person you are studying…

And know when you are going to end!  I think it is so helpful for parents and children to know that the end of this year is in sight.  Your end might be a certain time, it might be a certain place in the books, but we all benefit from having a goal we can meet.  Remember that you will start school again, but you will probably start refreshed and renewed if you give yourself a break!

Oregon’s Progressive Discovery

Oddly enough the educational establishment in the state of Oregon has discovered  the benefits of good old-fashioned grammar.  In a wonderful trend, they are seeing a drastic rise in the success of their ESL programs with a recent teaching change:

Educators chalk up the improved results to a new way of teaching that has swept Oregon ESL classrooms in the past couple of years.

Schools have begun explicitly teaching the grammar, rules and structure of English. And they are doing it in a carefully ordered way, making sure that students don’t miss any of the building blocks of how English verbs are conjugated, words are ordered, conversations are expected to proceed and sentences are constructed.

 

You can read the full article here.  Just imagine what the results would be with the powerful combo of English Grammar and Latin.

 

Dorks or Dedicated Learners?

Every once in a while, or rather every once in a very frequent while, my high school students are able to veer a class slightly “off topic.”  This thrills them since it means we spend a little less time exercising our brains to near exhaustion by converting logical arguments to the first form and testing their validity…  It doesn’t bother me though, because I am delighted with our topics of conversation.

This week our off- topic conversation started after I tossed out one of my crazy ideas-

I am thinking that maybe we could have Latin Club next year! (Imagine my wild enthusiasm here.)

What?!? Latin CLUB?  Miss Lutz, are you trying to turn us into dorks?

Me, no, never!  You know that my deepest desire is for you to all be movie stars, pop singers and pro sports icons.

(Oddly enough they didn’t believe this…)

But really Miss Lutz, I mean, Latin CLUB!  No one does this!  You are trying to make us way too weird!

Ok, I will concede that the name “Latin Club” is a bit dorky, we can tweak that.  But the idea-isn’t it exciting?!  We’d have the class once a month, talk in Latin, learn more about literature and history, and read classic Latin excerpts-fun right?

Surprisingly, they were not as enthused about a Latin Club as I was…hmmm…they think I am turning them into dorks.  Being the loving teacher that I am, I gently and kindly reminded them that they are already a bit dorky by some standards, that dorky is all relative, so just don’t worry. 

But in the course of our discussion we were drawn back to the fact that working hard at anything, like in this case Latin, is not popular in many circles these days.  We all reflected on the reality that we are pulled towards the path of least resistance.  We live in a culture of the immediate, the quick, the simple. 

But how bad is this really?  Does it really matter?  I asked my students-what was easy about pursuing wisdom and virtue?  What is the easy way to know the true, the good and the beautiful?  They know there is no easy path to wisdom and virtue.  Our calling is to become more human, to become more of the people God created us to be, to know Him (and thus all of His world) and to enjoy Him forever.  There is something hard about all of this-it involves sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, honor, and it is never-ending. 

And when my class ended that day, my heart was rejoicing, not because I have a class full of Latin dorks, but because I have a class of teenagers who desire to pursue wisdom and virtue.

Oops, Glad We’re Not in CT

Since we just passed out some gummy insects and worms yesterday… If a student can be suspended and removed from the student council for buying a bag of Skittles at school, what would happen to a teacher who distributed that evil substance?

More Support for CA Homeschooling

Those who have homeschooled for a long time know that we have not always had support from the Superintendent of Education here.  The individuals holding this position have in the past expressed their displeasure with homeschooling.  Jack O’Connell has stepped up in support of homeschooling rights several times and it is wonderful to see this latest statement on the current court ruling.  This does not remove the need for the ruling to be depublished, this action is still very important!

March 11 Update: O’Connell Supports Right to Homeschool

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell comes to the defense of homeschool families. “The California Department of Education policy will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still have the right to homeschool in this state,” he said.

Support Homeschooling in CA

We have the Terminator on our side! 

The Governator supports homeschooling

But actually there are many, many dedicated and skilled people and organizations working to keep homeschooling legal in CA.  It is unfortunate that this particular situation is such that it led to this.  Homeschooling is still legal in CA and I fully expect it to stay legal.  If you would like to keep up to date-

The HSLDA Response

CHEA

Family Protection Ministries

California Homeschool Network

Food for the Soul-the pursuit of an enduring education

At just the moment I needed it most, God brought me to this wonderful essay on the value of an education that pursues the true, honorable, lovely, just and pure over the expedient, happy, self-fulfilling pursuits of much of our modern education.  Christian education is hard, very hard sometimes, but it is without a doubt what we are called to.  We are not only called to pursue Christ-centered education, we are privileged to do so.  Being a teacher and administrator has its ups and downs, but in the end I am so honored and humbled by the calling to aid others in the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. 

Please take a few minutes to enjoy the article “Whatsoever Things are True”  over at the Trinity Forum.  Here is a brief excerpt to whet your appetite. 

“…it’s continuity, or loyalty, or perseverance, or honor, or idealism, or any number of other firm and steady traits that we used to think of as “noble,” that is truly difficult. When we choose to forego the fleeting in the name of the enduring, we affirm what is deepest and most admirable in our humanity. But we also swim against the current. “

My Pride

On my way to a lavish Medieval Feast last night, I had a very strong urge for some coffee.  I haven’t been drinking any caffeine since about Thanksgiving, but the urge was strong-it was that afternoon slump time and I had a 2 hours drive…I was all psyched up to savor that real Starbucks, no decaf this time.  Really, you have no idea how much I was looking forward to this!

And then it hit me!  I couldn’t get coffee. 

It wasn’t the desire to keep to my no caffeine plan, it wasn’t a concern that I might interrupt that evening’s sleep pattern, and it certainly wasn’t the sudden urge to prepare for the upcoming recession.

It was my pride.  There was no way I would walk into a coffee shop.  I had just passed the one drive-through Starbucks I knew of.  Aghhhh!  Why had I dressed up BEFORE my drive?!?

The Iliad of Homer: Name that Character Game

Name that Character

In our study of the Iliad we are having a fun time with review and discussion.  One of the games we came up with is Name That Character, and we all contributed important or favorite phrases that can be matched with a particular character.

Mummy Making

In our studies of Ancient Egypt, we of course spend some time on the mummification practices of the Egyptians.  Reading, writing and talking about a subject are all integral parts of a lesson, but some lessons just cry out for something more…

        Meet Little Pharaoh Chicken Tender!

I like fun projects, and having a bunch of germ conscious city dwellers mummify chicken tenders is definitely fun.  I’ll open up right now and admit that my bravery does not include the mummification of an entire chicken-way too much risk for smell and rot.  Chicken tenders are perfect-pack them in salt, sprinkle on some embalming spices…you have mummified chicken in just a couple of weeks.

  Many kids wanted to wear gloves for the wrapping ceremony, but a few trusted the process enough to tough it out.  In the far left of this shot you can just see a bit of the mummy sticking out, all shriveled and leathery.

At the end of the lesson, we had a whole group a happy embalmers!