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.