Sells baked goods to save up and buy more guitars.
His room is full of guitars.
He's a little guitar crazy :)
Ed has been Lu's guitar teacher for 3 years now.
Computer stuff:
And here is Lu doing something very complicated with his computer.
Installing or rebooting or hard-driving or something like that.
I would tell you more, but I understand no-thing about it.
So, besides the Portuguese explorers, and the linear inequalities, and the ionic bonds we've been studying, there's also all this cool stuff that sometimes isn't even on the schedule. It's the magical stuff that happens when there's time to explore and listen to what calls you.
For first-time visitors: My 13yo son, Lu, and I have been homeschooling for five years. This year, Lu wanted to start a goat farm. He got his first goat at the end of last November, and now has six goats - three of which were born here, that Lu delivered himself.
Having goats means waking up very early to milk the goats, many hours of grazing on the mountainside behind our house, coming home to make cheese (we are getting LOTS of cheese), keeping their water bowls full and clean, and occasionally cleaning the goat pen. So, Lu is a very busy boy.
Just look at that tired little face.
It's around 9:30am when he's done making cheese,
he's already been up and at'em for 4 hours,
and it's time to start school.
* * * * *
We've been playing Scrabble over breakfast almost daily.
Lu has now beaten me a few times and suddenly LOVES the game :)
I'm the family Scrabble champion, so this is a pretty big deal,
and I'm thrilled to finally have some real competition!
After breakfast, it's time for reading.
Lu is currently reading Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse.
We had a blast sculpting this week,
it was so much fun!
I'm not very artsy/craftsy,
but I think my purple Mama goddess came out pretty awesome :)
And I love the combination of these two <3
* * * *
One evening Lu decided he was going to make caramel out of 10 liters of milk that had accumulated. He started at 4pm and continually stirred the milk until 10pm. It wasn't until about the last hour that we could actually start seeing a change in color and texture. He says we'll have to eat it slowly because he doesn't plan on doing that again for at least another year! It was a helluva job.
Other stuff we're doing that I didn't get pictures of this week:
Geography review - capitals of Americas, Europe, and Asia
Documentary series "Journeys to the End of the Earth"
Dance improvisation class with other kids
Music composition with Garage Band
Making a poster of the Periodic Table
Guitar practice
Algebra
And that's about it for this post! No insightful ideas on how to deal with teen-agers (but please do pass them along if you have any :) No step-by-step activity descriptions. No book reviews or analysis of our homeschool style. Just some of the cool stuff we get up to with the freedom that comes with homeschooling.
Last weekend, Lu was in an Improv Theater dinner show with his improv crew. They worked hard to put a lovely show together which included a three-course meal served by the actors.
Lu did some hooping.
And the improv skits were funny.
Improv is a great way for kids to practice quick/clever response,
develop verbal agility, and build confidence in general.
Lu also debuted his song: "Face to Face"
It was a wonderful evening.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Our year starts in January,
and this was our second week back from break.
This year, we're not quite sure what grade we're in.
Last year we were in 5th grade, but we didn't quite get to everything. See, I spread myself a little too thin, taking on more work (dance classes), and leaving Lu to try to do the work on his own. I thought that the independence and responsibility would be good for him, but it was too much. Math skills and handwriting suffered the most. So we need some time to catch up in these areas - not catch up to some standard, but to where Lu would be if it hadn't been for my absence. Also, because I was so busy running around between assigning assignments to Lu (that I didn't even have time to check), and working, I was Stressy. All. The. Time.
And that is not how I want to be.
So, we're calling it 5th/6th for now, because we'll be doing 5th grade math and 6th grade language arts. But really, all the rest of it (history, science, geography...) is pretty... gradeless, as in who knows what grade this would be taught in at a regular school.
And I am not taking on any work until the afternoons, so that I can have all my focus on being a present and good-humored learning partner for Lu again.
On Fridays, we do math in English with Arithmetricks.
Lu LOVES this book. Yay!
He reads a chapter or two,
and then explains the tricks to me.
In this week's science experiment,
Lu made paprika dance!
In History, we're reading about feudalism, castles, lords, vassals, and knights, and Lu's interest in history is returning having been briefly lost during the collapse of Ancient Rome.
In Geography, Lu learned about
the Scandinavian Countries, the Lower Countries,
and the British Isles.
We have a collection of mythology books from around the world that I like to keep handy. They get used a lot. Whenever we start learning about new places, people, cultures... we pull out one of our books and read a myth or legend from that place or culture. This week Lu read several Norse myths.
Not only does Lu love them,
but they connect us to something essential and magical
about those places and cultures.
This week, Lu made Arroz con Chorizo,
from his Colombian cook book.
Accompanied by diced zucchini, garlic, and onion curry.
It was really delicious!
(not the best pic, sorry, but I had to show it cause it was so YUM)
