Before Christmas

My poor blog has been neglected by me for so long that I feel sorry for it. It's homeschooling, parenting, housework, "talking" to friends and relatives on WeChat,shopping, and reading, etc. It's life, happening everyday, and almsot never easy. Of course, my deepest struggles are relational which tend to make me emotional.

Although the frustration is often beyond my patience, the pain beyond my tears, I am thankful. How can I not be?

You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.

Revelation 4: 11

Now, it's the week before Christmas, but I've truly procrastinated on Christmas preparation this year.

Our Advent wrath is out, but I've not been consistent doing Advent devotion with the kids. In fact, we only did it twice.
Our Christmas tree was up last weekend and was not decorated till today.
Kids Christmas picture? Taken today.
Greeting cards? Ordered tonight and probably won't be in before Christmas even with upgraded shipping.
Oh, Christmas lights are still in garage.

Here's what we did today. Decorating the tree, kids making a gingerbread house, Daniel taking pictures of hummingbird in the back yard, and a shopping trip with 3 stops. Oh, school is not totally out yet. We did do Bible, a little bit math, and reading.

A Tale of a Common Core

Once upon a time, in a land far away, in a vast country lived a population 4 times of the U.S. Not only did they have a common core, albeit called something else, there was a common curriculum--national standard curriculum. Furthermore, there was only one national standard college entrance exam. Ah, the beauty of standard and the efficiency of centralization!

That's right. It was true for all the years of primary and secondary education (12 years in all) and for all the school aged children (over 200 million). All the elementary kids used the same curriculum. All the middle school kids used the same curriculum. And all the high school kids used the same curriculum. There was no private schools, let alone home school. Each year, on the same dates (three hot summer days in July), all high school graduates from all provinces who intended to go to college had to take the same national standard college entrance exam, which was the sole determinant of their college entrance and usually their fate too. That extremely important exam was not even in standardized test form during most of the years.

You guessed it right! That country was China, where I was born and educated all the way through college. This "one common standard", "one common curriculum", and "one common college entrance exam" system was put in place in 1950's right after the Communist Party came to power.

As I am learning of the U.S. common core, I cannot help thinking about the highly centralized Chinese education system. During the last decade, however, that centralization of education in China has been gradually weakened by a series of reformation. National standard curriculum is no more. Many provinces and districts are given the freedom to choose curriculum from quite a few publishers. Private schools appeared in every city and town. There are even a handful brave souls homeschooling their children. Although the college entrance exam is still held on the same dates (now moved to less hot days in June) for all examinees, the exams are now province specific or district specific. Some colleges and universities are even privileged to glean a portion of new students through their own admission process. The picture is far from rosy, but even a small amount of decentralization is progress.

How ironic it is that in the United States of America, the land of the free, some people are attempting to steer the education system seemingly toward the path that was once trod and then diverted from by the communist China.

Wild Flowers and Vernal Pools

Nature Study Field Trip to vernal pool and splash pool. Beautiful field and beautiful wild flowers. 

Nature Bowl 2013 Semifinal

Nature Bowl 2013, sponsored by Department of Fish and Game. Daniel is part of the SCOPE team competing in one of the semifinals on April 10, 2013 at Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Their team did very well on Bell Ringer and Environmental Commercial. Overall, they got the 2nd place among the 8 participating schools.

Before the competition.

Getting ready for Team Problems and Bell Ringer.

"What do you think?" Working on a Team Problem.

James got bored watching the competition, snuggling with "salmon eggs".

Taking a break.  They met a friend from church who was on another team.

The 3rd and 4th grader SCOPE team with coach Mrs. Fenner.

Award Ceremony.  

Homeschool Project Fair

The whole week before the SCOPE Project Fair, Daniel did not do any regular school work but worked on his project. It's his first time participating. Because he is in 4th grade, he has to do written work besides an exhibit (a display board). He did most of the work, including reading a book, researching on the internet, drafting the written report, and designing the display board. I was his secretary, helping him with editing, formatting,  purchasing materials, and putting the pieces together for the board. While it was busy and fun working on the project, seeing all the wonderful works done by these homeschooled children at the Project Fair is truly inspiring and encouraging.

Here are a few selected favorites.

Attracting Pollinators. By Daniel, 4th grader. He got a blue ribbon!

He picked a few wooden accents and drew a diagram of the inside of a flower.

Art: A Reflection of Western Philosophy. One of my favorite at the fair. Very well researched. Beautifully laid out. Pleasing to the eyes and a delight to the soul. Done by a highschooler.

Hunting with Dogs. This is James' favorite. With lots of interesting objects on display, such as animal skins, horns, feathers, and skulls, and bullet shells, etc.

All About the Yo-Yo. By Nolan, a friend of Daniel and James. He had a video showing himself demonstrating some cool Yo-Yo tricks.

Some of the fine art entries.

Human Anatomy: Medical Illustration. Both Daniel and James liked it. 

American River Ecology. Another favorite of mine. A group project by eight highschoolers. Very comprehensive and intriguing! It came out of their high school biology co-op class and was based on three field trips to the American River.

Wild Edible Plants Sacramento Region. A unique collection of wild edible plants.

Volunteering at Native Plant Nursery

It was was exam/break week last week on our homeschool calendar . Monday and Tuesday were exams, mostly only for Daniel. Wednesday morning we went to Elderberry Farms Native Plant Nursery at Rancho Cordova.

Daniel is working on a school project "Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden" for both the Nature Bowl  hosted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the SCOPE Project Fair. It is a tiny nursery run totally by volunteers. We were assigned to pull weeds from the walk way and were treated with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch after work. We then bought several plants to take home and plant in our yard. James got distracted after half an hour or so. Luckily, one of the volunteers brought along a friendly golden retriever, who James had fun playing with.

James' First Basketball Game

James' very first "game" on March 23, 2013. I have to say that he has more athletic talents than mom. Dad says that it's all from his. Haha. It's really fun watching these little kids playing so seriously or so causally.

Some of James' recent schoolwork

James' first homeschooling year (his kindergarten year) was spent mostly playing with Lego. I attempted to teach him phonics but apparently he was not ready.  This school year, probably right around Christmas, his reading finally took off. I had read so many good reviews for Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons that I bought a new copy. But it did not work for James. What had helped him build confidence and interest is the little I See Sam books. I purchased the first set of 24 small booklets, then switched to free ones online. Now he is reading McGuffey Primer.

I tried "Cursive First" for handwriting, but it seemed too much for James. Now I either have him copy a poem or spelling words or use pages from a copywork book.

Free play time. He was playing "breakout" with Daniel and neighborhood kids. Does it count for P.E.?

Some of Daniel's recent schoolwork

A page from Daniel's Book of Century. He doesn't do it every week. As I paged through the completed pages, a common theme jumped out. What else could it be but the theme of war and battle? Not sure if it's because of human history is never short of bloodshed or because this boy of mine loves things of battle. We're reading about Renaissance this year. Our Island Story is used for British history and This Country of Ours for American history. We're also reading Trial and Triumph for stories from church history.

 
One of Daniel's copy work pages. His cursive writing is quite good, but he often writes sloppily in any other schoolwork. Seems that he  is still "allergic" to putting pencil on paper.

Speaking of handwriting, I don't request so much of it at all. Narration is the major vehicle to evaluate the student's comprehension and retention. Sometimes, if he chooses so, he could use drawings or Legos to enhance his narration. Last week, he built the ship Argo with Lego while telling the story of  ow the Argonauts Were Driven into the Unknown Sea.

Free play time. Playing "breakout" with James and their neighborhood friends. Call it recess or P.E..

Trip to Berkeley

It was last month, Present Day. We went visiting a family friend at Berkeley and the two families went on a day trip to Tilden region park. It was a very pleasant visit in spite of the low temperature and the high wind. We went to the Little Farm (a farm-like petting zoo), the Botanic Garden, and the Little Steam Train. These three places are at least 10 minutes drive apart, but are all lots of fun. We especially enjoyed the steam train ride. While most train rides at parks are very short and not what you would can scenery  ride. This ride is winding through tall redwood and is quite long.

Two more poems

We are memorizing two more poems this week.

One Chinese poem that virtually every Chinese knows.

锄禾

锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。

谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。

James is having some difficulty with this one, even after I made some stick figure drawing to help him understand. I'm not asking them to recognize the characters. Sign. 

We all love the next little poem by Issac Watts. Of course Daniel had to modify the words to his naughty taste, but I won't share his version.

Let Dogs Delight to Bark and Bite

 Let dogs delight to bark and bite, 

For God hath made them so; 

Let bears and lions growl and fight, 

For 'tis their nature too.

But, children, you should never let 

Such angry passions rise; 

Your little hands were never made 

To tear each other's eyes.

Baby tooth, reading, and poems

I have neglected my poor blog lately, because of sickness and busyness. There are photos sitting in my digital camera, waiting to be uploaded and posted. There are stories and thoughts incubating and waiting to be birthed. Now some trivial updates of life.

James lost his first baby tooth on 2/7, 2 days before Chinese New Year. All the kids his age in his Sunday School class, including those who are a couple of months younger, have gaps in their mouths. That little tooth became loose weeks ago, and its falling was greatly anticipated. James got quite excited. "Yeah, I lost a tooth too!".

Oh, James has been making headway in phonics and reading since around Christmas. It's sheer joy to be the one with him the moment when the light bulb went on and to see the his eyes shine with excitement. This morning at breakfast table, while I was spreading butter on my muffin, he said, "it's butter with sea salt". "What? How do you know?" I asked in a absent-minded way. He pointed to label on the butter tub, "it says here." Sure enough, it does say so. Reading is indeed liberating! Even for a 6 year old.

Poems. I'm adding poem memorization into our homeschool. It's fun and painless. I use Poems Every Child Should Know from Gutenberg. Here is what we did  last week:

The Arrow and the Song
Henry W. Longfellow.

I shot an arrow into the air,It fell to earth, I knew not where;For, so swiftly it flew, the sightCould not follow it in its flight. I breathed a song into the air,It fell to earth, I knew not where;For who has sight so keen and strongThat it can follow the flight of song? Long, long afterward, in an oakI found the arrow, still unbroke;And the song, from beginning to end,I found again in the heart of a friend.

This week it's The Little Things.

The Little Things

Little drops of water,Little grains of sand,Make the mighty oceanAnd the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes,Humble though they be,Make the mighty agesOf eternity.

My ambition is to have my ABC boys memorize and appreciate Chinese poems. We will see how that goes.

A Trip to Muir Woods National Monument

Our initial plan was to go on a day trip with my sister's family during the Christmas and New Year break. My nephew Richard caught a cold before the planned outing date, so it was just our family plus Longlong, Guibo's nephew who was visiting and staying with us for his winter break from his graduate study at UC Berkeley.

We went to Muir Woods National Monument on December 30, 2012, a very sunny day. It was warm elsewhere, but not there. I knew that redwoods are very tall and big, but never made the connection between tall trees and their ability to block out sunlight so efficiently. It was cold and not sunny in the woods! Had I not been that cold, I would have enjoyed the walk more. But, the trees are truly magnificent .. Did I hear the melody of "This is my father's world" singing somewhere?