Paper Bridges » Does this count as Unschooling?

I win!

Monica Brand — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:31:41 +0000

Isn’t she sweet? Meghan has bestowed a lovely award to my humble, little space of the Interwebs. Thanks, Meghan! Now it’s my turn. I answer the questions and pass the award on to other bloggers. The questions, with my answers, are:

What is one thing we don’t know about you? Did you know I can juggle, love spicy food, hate Lima beans, have an older brother and younger sister? (Aren’t I fascinating!)

If you were able to go anywhere today, where would it be? International: Ireland; State-side: Seattle, WA

What is your mission statement for your blog or the reason behind your blogging? The purpose of paperbridges.net is to point you to good books, warn you of the less than stellar ones and to encourage the homeschooler freaks free spirits (especially you of the unschooling/super-relaxed mindset. I want to lift you guys up to do Great Things.)

What is your favorite trait about yourself? I am not afraid to try new things.

What is your Twitter handle or Facebook page? I actually have two Twitter accounts. Most of you follow me as @monicabrand. Now I have an account for all my book related tweets as @PaperBridges. If you want to hear about my kids, homeschooling and what I had for breakfast, follow monicabrand. Follow @PaperBridges if you could care less about the little details of life. Or follow me both at both accounts, I’m trying not to give the same tweet twice.

I’m not as active on Facebook, but I will be your friend. Let me know in the invitation that you know my from my blog. My account is http://facebook.com/monica.brand

I pass the award and questions on to An UnTraditional Home, Sparking Adventures, Growing Urban Wildflowers, The Path Less Taken, Almost Unschoolers, and Adventures in Unschooling (Girls, I hope you all play along; I’d like to see how YOU answer the questions).

Readers, if you don’t know their blogs, please take a moment to go visit with a nice comment.

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For your Guardians of Ga’Hoole fan: Hoot Owl Cookies

Monica Brand — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:01:59 +0000

My daughter is a huge fan of the Guardians of Ga’ Hoole books, so this recipe for cutey owl faces in cookie form was a big hit. The recipe is from Hershey’s Chocolate and Cocoa Cookbook (which I’m guessing is out of print).

Hoot Owl Cookies

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon water

1/4 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

1/2 cup whole cashew nuts

Cream butter or margarine, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Blend flour mixture into creamed mixture. Remove two-thirds of the dough to a floured surface. In small bowl combine cocoa and baking soda; add to remaining dough. Blend water into chocolate dough.

Roll half of the vanilla dough into a 10 x 4 inch rectangle. Shape half of the chocolate dough into a roll 10 inches long; place in center of rectangle of vanilla dough. Mold sides of vanilla dough around roll of chocolate dough. Repeat shaping steps with remaining dough. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Cut dough into 1/8 inch thick slices; lay two slices together side-by-side on a greased cookie sheet. Pinch a corner of each slice to form ears. Place a peanut butter chip in the center of each slice for eyes; press a cashew nut between slices for a beak. Bake a 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet ; cool on rack.

The Homeschool Village is swapping kids in the kitchen recipes. Add your recipe and find new ones for your family here.

Can you believe I just now realized my girl celebrates 12 years today?? I am a bad mother.

Nah. If she were home, I would’ve remembered right away.

We haven’t heard a word from them at camp; no news is good news, right? I’m glad she and her brother are having fun, but I do so miss them. Especially today.

Watching her read

Bling for the Unschooling Christian blogger

Monica Brand — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:34:36 +0000

Lauren made us a pretty button for those of us into declaring our homeschooling allegiance on our blog’s sidebar. Click on it to get the code and to leave your blog address in her link-up.

As I have only had one cup of coffee so far, and stayed up too late shopping for groceries online, I have nothing else to add that sounds remotely intelligent. I’m going to be needing a nap today, yet in true unschoolish style, our day is busy, going tither and yon with dentist, picking up said groceries, library and 4H meeting. Perhaps I can sleep at the red traffic lights.

~ Monica

PS RSS readers, come see what’s new in my sidebars. I’ve added other bling, working on adding more!

PSS Can’t get button to stay centered. Makes me crazy.

Question: What’s your favorite book about homeschooling?

Monica Brand — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:18:24 +0000

The answer has changed over the years. In my early years of homeschooling, I liked books that gave me a formula to follow in teaching and books that recommended curriculum to buy. I don’t read or buy those types of homeschooling books anymore. Now just give me the books that encourage me to follow my heart to watch the learning that will take place.

Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman is such a book. In the beginning, the authors describe how they left behind Catholic education to homeschool in New Jersey (yes, another plus for me: this is another New Jersey homeschooling family), how homeschooling works as a better way to educate our children and the failure of public education today. The book ends with a advice on college. Everything in between those chapters – how the Millmans taught at home, the heart of their journey as a homeschooling family.

I didn’t need any convincing to leave public education, yet I enjoyed reading these chapters. If you have a skeptical family member or spouse that has yet to get homeschooling, these chapters are recommended reading.

Then we have the testimony of how the Millman children learned, grew and thrived at home. The Millmans do various activities and call it school. Life (moving to a new house, tragedy, and the unpredictable nature of daily living) trumps what the outside world would call schoolish learning. I love it, love it. These chapters made my homeschooling mother’s heart sing.

They take on the label “unschoolers” and we all know how the media has been presenting these people in the news lately. I would love to see a follow up book by the authors touting the benefits of unschooling.

Two of the children go to the public high school but quickly return home. I love that story. Read it for yourself to find out why. This family loves to read, they have a party as each child joins that club of Reader. The authors discuss the benefits of traveling to foreign countries as learning.

The chapter about choosing a college is excellent. Another recommended reading.

What else? What else to gush about?

I wish I had the book here right now so I could pull quotes, but, alas, a homeschooling friend has it on loan. I’m sure you’re not surprised. This is the homeschooling book you want all of your friends and family to read. Here is my Amazon affiliate link if you are so inclined: Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey

Gotta run. Meeting up with friends. Maybe pictures later,

~ Monica

Edited to trackback to The Homeschool Village’s Mr. Linky. Homeschoolers, add your link regarding your favorite book about homeschooling or read what other homeschoolers recommend.

Just so you know

Monica Brand — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:36:41 +0000

I did it again. Started another blog.

Educating Magpies: Life Without School is my new blog home for all things home schooling related. It’s still bare bones, but I have a few posts up – my most recent about bad attitudes and perfection – I hope you check it out if you are interested in following our home school journey.

Paper Bridges will continue to be my book blog for reviews, giveaways and commentary from a Christian reader’s perspective.

Thanks! See you here or over at Educating Magpies.

I bet you didn’t know

Monica Brand — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:59:47 +0000

Check it out: when newbie hens begin to lay, their eggs are slightly smaller. The egg on the left is from a young chicken. The difference is obvious.

We’re getting more eggs everyday. And all I can say is: It’s about time these ladies started earning their keep. With Susan’s love for baking, and neighbors wanting to buy fresh eggs, we can’t keep up.

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The home schooled teen: not what you think

Monica Brand — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:31:10 +0000

I’m two years away from having an official “teenager,” and I must tell you, I can’t wait for those years. This is an article aimed at the home schooled teen, learning during those so-called high school years, especially for the young adult planning to attend university.

Truth in his eyes

Watching her read

Monica Brand — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:44:18 +0000

As a mother, and as a lover of fine words and stories, I will never grow weary of watching my children fall in love with reading and books.

This week I witnessed Susan’s relationship with books deepen.

We were at the library, and as chance had it (or maybe it was a God-ordained meeting?), our dear friends came in right behind us. This is the one family in our homeschool fellowship that my children adore, and I believe the feeling is mutual on their part. When we meet, there is much hugging, giggling and shouts of joy. Because we are both homeschooling families, we don’t see much of each other. Busy at home, busy with activities. So a spontaneous, accidental meet-up in the children’s section of the library is a lovely treat.

As I chatted with the mother, I noticed Susan and her friend kneeling on the floor, heads bent towards each other, in between the shelves. They were talking, sharing secrets about something, I was sure of it. I hoped it had to do with books. Usually when we go to the library, I suggest titles to my eleven year old. And she resists, unwilling to try all my old favorites and all the new titles that look appealing to me. Susan would get books about baking or collecting TY Beanie Babies, which is fine, I’m glad she’s interested in collecting and cooking. But what of the fiction? Why wasn’t she falling in love with all those characters I adored as a young girl?

I knew Susan’s friend loved fiction, her mother told me both her daughters read constantly. As I peeked around the bookshelf to watch the girls, I hoped my Susan was considering bringing home fiction this time.

Sure enough, when it came time to leave, Susan had selected several books in the Pony Club series, a Wishbone book and an American Girl title about a blond named Julie. Finally! I thought to myself.

Susan read during the drive home. I think she may have gone straight to her room to read when we got there. Needless to say, she did a lot of reading in a short period of time. Those were easy reads for her, but that’s not the point. For the first time, my girl was captured with an imaginary world found in fiction, so taken in that reading was the activity chosen above all other enticements (computer, a sibling, writing or play).

In two days, Susan had finished all her books and asked to go back to the library for more. We went and she took more books home. Again, Pony Club, American Girl and Wishbone. She read as we walked to the car.

Me again: Finally!

But the story doesn’t stop there.

Last night, the two of us were out for her 4H club meeting. The bookstore open late. Could we go? I’m never one to pass on an opportunity to be surrounded with the written word, and I want to encourage her, so we went.

And this time our visit was remarkably different.

Susan went straight to the juvenile fiction section, found City of Ember and embraced it like an old friend. No Pony Club this time. She said she wanted a “thicker chapter book.” Last night there was no plea for a Klutz book, what she usually wants; she’s crazy for the ones with the fill in the blank pages.

Right now, it’s almost 10:30 and she came out of her bedroom looking overtired. Susan fed the bunnies, ignoring food and Internet, and is now back in her bedroom, door shut. It’s a gray day and we have no plans to take us away from the house. I suspect she will be finished with her new book by nightfall.

It’s going to be a beautiful day.

Two cool things we did this summer and me with no pictures to prove it

Monica Brand — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:05:58 +0000

I’ve been wanting to write about it for ages, since July for one of them, and I have no still pictures. Lame, lame, lame, Monica. You must have glorious color pictures! I know! Sorry, Blog. Please, forgive.

I’m going to record a quickie blurb about both anyway, so I can mark the activities here so I can find them years from now when I’m wondering what the heck we did that was fun. I’m sure I will forget.

No. 1 Activity sans picture: First Lego League Robotics Competition. Way cool. We got to hang out with the High Schoolers. Very much fun. My boys were in their glory. Husband – I convinced him to go too, because in my mind he is head of our Science Department – enjoyed it. Tween girl – sort of, eventually. Littlest girl. Yes, we all enjoyed very much. It’s a lot tougher to drive those robots than it looks.

No. 2 Activity sans picture: Shakespeare play at Raritan Valley Community College. A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, a student adaptation. Kids loved it. Having the boys listen to the Jim Weiss version before we went was a good idea. All four hung on every word, every scene. Yes, even my four year old. True, this was only an hour play, but they got it. The next day, Peter called his brother an acorn as an insult. Edmund ran around referring to himself as Puck.

Ha. Acorn.

There you go. Sorry this is isn’t so flashy. I just want to get it out of my head so I can replace it with something else. Now as long as my blog doesn’t blow up, I’ll be okay.

Okay?

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The birth of a writer

Monica Brand — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:27:09 +0000

“My story was published on Nicktropolis yesterday, Mommy.”

My story. This was a short story Susan wrote without any help from me, and as a intentional home schooling mom, that is saying a lot. I like to think I had enough sense to stay out of her way, allowing her to discover her love for writing and words on her own.

But let me back up for a second. I’m getting ahead of the beginning of the story of how this all came to be. This is a post about my eldest – whom I refer to as Susan. I’ve recorded my son’s reading journey and how I’ve come to let go of my expectations for him. Now I want to tell you about Susan. This is her story: her birth as a writer.

The beginning

Susan’s home schooling began at age six with math, oral grammar and lots of read alouds. (You can read earlier posts about teaching her here and here.)

By age seven, she was reading on her own. We continued with oral grammar lessons and read alouds. I assigned her books that she was interested in reading, like Little House on the Prairie or a Rod and Staff reader. We dabbled with history. She did Awana. She loved attending church. She visited with Grandma. She lived life.

The one thing Susan did not do was write. No book reports. No creative writing. No required writing of any kind. I did attempt the first level of Writing Stands, but it was quickly abandoned. “She’s not ready for this” was my reasoning. She did copy work easily. Sometimes Susan would write a letter to a friend, but it was always her idea and for fun.

Whenever we came across a writing assignment in Spelling Workout or Story of the World, I would have her skip it. The one thing I did require from her was narrations. And, how she hated those! Those narrations, done a few times a week, was the closest she ever got to a formal writing assignment.

We continued with a mix of oral and written grammar lessons. Still reading lots of books; Susan developed a fondness for non-fiction (reference books, Fandex and the dictionary are a few). We traveled. We stayed busy.

And she played a lot with her non-reading, younger siblings.

Connecting it all

Susan read books and magazines to her brothers and sister; sometimes the text they shared would become part of their imaginary play. Susan began making up her own stories based on toys and imaginary creatures of their playtime. This oral storytelling, along with input from her siblings, morphed into her forming her own stories in the privacy of her room, or in the backyard, away from interruptions – a talkative toddler and pesky boys (and perhaps even me, her hovering, homeschooling mother.)

Needless to say, it wasn’t much of a leap to begin writing these stories down on to the computer.

All of this without formal writing lesson from me.

This week, at age of 11, she proudly read me a short story she submitted to a kid’s website, thrilled with the comments she gets from her peers. My girl is a confident writer. Her grammar and punctuation are excellent; spelling fine. The art of well-crafted fiction she will be learning for the rest of her life, but for now – most importantly – she enjoys writing. It’s fun, bringing her joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Now if only I can transfer that passion to fractions…