tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13017072405178414452024-02-06T21:33:36.989-06:00Luminous Fire - our homeschool journalRebel education for a radical family of three in Guatemala. Stories about and resources for our secular homeschooling adventure.Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.comBlogger289125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-43481657414351943602017-03-27T16:23:00.000-06:002017-03-27T16:26:17.441-06:00Sharing What We Learn With Our Community<br />
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We read a few pages of this book together every day.</div>
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Sometimes there are activities.</div>
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Lu's been facilitating origami workshops with the children </div>
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who come to our after-school arts and recreation program.</div>
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One day, they saw some of the drawings in Lu's notebook.</div>
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They are very much inspired by what we've read in</div>
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"The Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe"</div>
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They asked him to give a class on this style of drawing.</div>
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We didn't have enough compasses and Sharpies,</div>
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so Lu raised the money by selling cupcakes and pie</div>
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at the local community market.</div>
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He bought a dozen compasses and a dozen sharpies,</div>
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and they got to work on some awesome mandalas!</div>
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Being able to homeschool my child is a privilege,</div>
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as was my own private-school education, </div>
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so we see sharing what we learn as a very welcome obligation.</div>
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Good job, Lu!</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-51440587306097785212017-02-23T15:56:00.000-06:002017-02-23T15:56:10.907-06:00Random Cool Stuff My 8th Grader Does<div style="text-align: center;">
Drawing stuff: </div>
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Lu's really getting into his dot-work.</div>
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Some of the designs are inspired by </div>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204068.The_Beginner_s_Guide_to_Constructing_the_Universe" target="_blank">THIS AWESOME BOOK</a></div>
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we're reading this year.</div>
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It's all about seeing geometry in everything.</div>
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Here he learned how to make Borromean Rings - </div>
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Guitar stuff: </div>
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The guitar is a big part of Lu's life. </div>
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He plays every day. Draws guitars. </div>
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Sells baked goods to save up and buy more guitars. </div>
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His room is full of guitars. </div>
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He's a little guitar crazy :)</div>
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Ed has been Lu's guitar teacher for 3 years now.</div>
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Computer stuff:</div>
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And here is Lu doing something very complicated with his computer. </div>
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Installing or rebooting or hard-driving or something like that. </div>
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I would tell you more, but I understand no-thing about it.</div>
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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. </div>
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I love seeing Lu find and follow these interests. </div>
Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-12932869901463968932017-01-20T13:17:00.001-06:002017-01-20T13:22:52.312-06:00First Week of School, 2017<div style="text-align: center;">
8th grade, here we come!</div>
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May this year be more successful than this selfie </div>
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we tried to take with the chihuahua. </div>
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It's been an awesome week and our schedule has a nice flow.</div>
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Lu takes the goats out to pasture 3xweek. He's out there for 3 hours, so he takes an assignment with him. "Cambalacha" is the afterschool program we run from our home, where Lu will be acting more as a facilitator than a participant. I started the program when he was a few months old, so he's been a part of it his whole life. It will be beautiful to watch him come into the role of "tallerista". On Wednesdays we'll go out for some yoga, ping-pong, kayaking and lots of swimming. "Free Time" is for Lu to go hang out downtown with his skateboard *if* all Mon-Wed schoolwork is done. Anything incomplete from Thursday or Friday will get done on Saturdays. This system helps keep the motivation high for getting the job done!</div>
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But what about having the freedom to take as long as you like on something if it's interesting? Well, we've done that too, but Lu needs to work on turning things in on time - an important skill in life. This involves being realistic about how much time you have to do something, planning how you're going to do it in that amount of time (again, realistically), and doing the best you can in the time you have. So, that's what we're working on this year. I *do* imagine us going back to a more time-relaxed way of learning, with lots of lounge-y reading and discussing. But then again, there are goats and chickens and jobs to be done, and only so many hours in the day.... </div>
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Most of what we're doing this year requires me to read ahead </div>
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and prepare discussion questions. So, lots of homework for mama.</div>
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For algebra, we're continuing with our resource </div>
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from last year - Great Courses, videos and workbook.</div>
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For the next couple weeks, </div>
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Lu is participating in self-defense classes.</div>
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Cooking and guitar continue to be his main passions.</div>
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He'll be apprenticing at a French bakery/restaurant on Saturdays,</div>
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and practicing at home (yum!).<br />
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Our schedule is a guide, flexible, not written in stone. Activities are changeable, but we *are* trying to do 5.5 hours of school a day over fewer days (990 hours in 38 weeks vs. fewer hours/day over 40 weeks), for longer vacations, because, as much as we love homeschooling... ... ... we REALLY like vacations π</div>
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Having this as a clear goal that we both agree on, as well as the "Free Time" agreement, is already proving to be very positive for maintaining good attitudes in a headstrong teenager and a <i>not-the-most-patient</i> mother π</div>
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We are both enjoying the resources we are using (score!) and all the physical exercise we're getting. Lu is excited to start facilitating workshops. Our little farm is producing lots of awesome, organic food. Life is good. π And these new emojis on blogger are fun π Lol.<br />
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Hope you're having a great start to your year, </div>
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and thanks for stopping by!</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-88533775623165518632016-11-25T12:19:00.001-06:002016-11-25T12:19:30.693-06:007th grade. Check.<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today is officially our last day of 7th grade. Lu will still need a few more days to finish his final project - a compare/contrast essay about the American, French and Russian revolutions. But other than that, we are D O N E.</div>
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This was our sixth year homeschooling. Every year I seem to blog a little less. Our academic activities/projects are less and less photo-worthy, and they also take a lot longer, so there's not as much variety. It's a lot less taking nature walks, and a lot more trying to wrap our heads around algebra and chemistry. We also recently got chickens and started a vegetable garden, so our little farm is growing and giving us more work.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Tinich is undecided on the chickens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">And maybe a little jealous :)</span></div>
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But really, this year, I haven't written as much because it's been a difficult year. So difficult, I sent Lu to public school for a few months. Hormones and attitudes were raging, and it felt like I had to learn (in about one second) how to be the mother of a teenager who took the place of my baby boy from one day to the next. Well. It was a bumpy ride, but it was one of much growth. </div>
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We've learned so much about love, patience, acceptance, respect, and communication.</div>
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These last months, since returning to homeschooling, our objectives have been more about creating harmony in our day-to-day, our home, our family, and ourselves. Academics took a backseat, but we still covered our 7th grade bases. </div>
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We studied a little chemistry with different online resources like these videos - <a href="http://www.periodicvideos.com/">http://www.periodicvideos.com/</a> and this site - <a href="http://www.softschools.com/facts/periodic_table/">http://www.softschools.com/facts/periodic_table/</a></div>
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Lu completed this workbook that I found in an old box of books from when my mom was a teacher in the 80's, dated but clear and thorough, and something Lu could do on his own, while out with the goats.</div>
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We got halfway through our algebra course and then circled back to review. We'll do the other half next year. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I had no idea how to do this a year ago. lol)</span></div>
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Lu mostly does art through the after-school program we run from our house two afternoons a week, but sometimes we do art on our own.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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Here's Lu with the other kids from the program, performing with the "diabolo" in their circus show.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEiyo2P29DNqF0RtYU0zNlBVGh_6c-es8gc50LehHJXhfEtyvqezUlK4W4kYJbi0sjzGZFwZ1l4HKrWSkpZJRi6OBpMcO3wMySmH5hgFW6I6hpwDPiE-k8k9VkZf9Q1I3MNSnwyfzJLVYd/s1600/118_8660+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEiyo2P29DNqF0RtYU0zNlBVGh_6c-es8gc50LehHJXhfEtyvqezUlK4W4kYJbi0sjzGZFwZ1l4HKrWSkpZJRi6OBpMcO3wMySmH5hgFW6I6hpwDPiE-k8k9VkZf9Q1I3MNSnwyfzJLVYd/s400/118_8660+copy+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We did lots of creative writing over the last couple of months. Lu remains very passionate about cooking and playing the guitar. We do yoga, go swimming, and dance regularly. We used this list of 100 words for spelling and vocab - <a href="http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/100middle/">http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/100middle/</a> and got quick at finding words in an actual, for real dictionary. But WHY MOM? He argued that it was ridiculous when we have online dictionaries. I insisted, and he later actually confessed that he enjoyed looking up the words. Like, he really actually said it was "fun". So, see, you never know. </div>
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Try it, it might work. </div>
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(I need to go look up synonyms for "actual and actually" lol)</div>
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Besides our regular viewing of (lots of) history and science documentaries, we also watched movies about growing up, life and its difficulties, freedom, passion, compassion, love, loss... and I'm recording them as school activities because I think we learn a lot from the right movies at the right time. Here's the list, in the order we watched them:</div>
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Whale Rider</div>
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Ixcanul</div>
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Ratcatcher</div>
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To Kill a Mockingbird</div>
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The Outsiders</div>
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Earth to Echo</div>
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Rainman</div>
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The Color Purple</div>
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Awakenings</div>
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Little Big Man</div>
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What's Eating Gilbert Grape</div>
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Juno</div>
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O Brother, Where Art Thou</div>
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Dead Poets Society</div>
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Les Miserables</div>
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So, it's vacation time :happydance: !!! And, despite goats, chickens and adolescence, we had a productive homeschool year.</div>
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See you in January, when we embark on our 8th grade adventure, and start preparing for high school!</div>
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***If you're struggling with a just-turned-teen, don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Just remember to breathe and try not to take it personally (that's the hardest part). Good luck! </div>
Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-52023427429378788902016-09-28T15:40:00.002-06:002016-09-28T15:40:43.373-06:00Movement Morning WednesdaysWednesday is our favorite weekday.<br />
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Most mornings, Lu is out with the goats from 7-10am, but on Wednesdays we have help and he gets a break. So we start our mornings with a game of Scrabble which I count as school because, besides being a game we both love, it's a fun way of improving spelling and developing vocabulary. We allow free use of the dictionary and learn new words every time. </div>
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Then we grab our mats and head over to one of the yoga classes in town. Both Lu and I can be pretty intense, hyperactive people with short fuses, so we're trying yoga with the intention of learning how to </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">c h i l l</span>. </div>
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Lu very relaxed after shavasana.</div>
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After yoga, it's time for some swimming.</div>
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We walk to the next place over - a luxury hotel with lake access, ping-pong and pool tables. It's still under construction, so not a lot of people using the facilities yet. Most of the time we have the whole place to ourselves! </div>
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Lu gets some laps in and mama sunbathes</div>
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while sipping a cappuccino :) </div>
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Then it's ping-pong time!</div>
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After a few rounds, we order fries and drinks,</div>
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and move on to the pool table.</div>
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It's already 1pm, and we've been out and about for 5 hours!</div>
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Time to go home.</div>
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In the afternoon, Lu will do some schoolwork </div>
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while I teach a dance class.</div>
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Then two more days and it's the weekend. </div>
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Woot!</div>
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It really helps to have such a fun day in the middle of the week</div>
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to look forward to :)</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-44476685179483499212016-08-26T14:26:00.000-06:002016-08-26T14:26:13.935-06:00We're BackIt's been three months since my last post.<br />
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A lot has happened.<br />
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Lu and I needed a break from each other. We were having a hard time getting along. During a heated argument, it was decided he would go to the local public school. It was dreadful academically, but turned out to be a very beneficial experience for Lu, socially. </div>
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After two and a half months of it, we're homeschooling again.<br />
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On the upside, he made friends and went from being that weird kid from up the hill who
doesn't seem to go to school, to just another kid. When
walking down the street, he is no longer harassed by his peers, but
greeted. I don't have to worry about him getting beaten up when he goes
out by himself anymore. </div>
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All of this made the experience well worth it. But, living by the school schedule, wearing a uniform (and keeping it clean), having to follow rules about hairstyles and piercings, and the insane amount of time-wasting that went on in the classroom proved to be too wearing of our patience to go through with the original plan of Lu finishing the school year (in October) there.</div>
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At the same time that all of this was happening, Lu went into anaphylactic shock from a scorpion sting. We all get stung by scorpions pretty regularly here, they're everywhere. But it had never been a problem. Now we have to carry life-saving medicine with us wherever Lu goes. Bees, ants and wasps can trigger the allergic reaction too, and we live in tropical countryside (lots of bugs), so... it really sucks. It was so scary in the beginning, but we're learning how to live with it.</div>
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Anyway. We took a three-week break after pulling Lu out of the school. Family was visiting, the sun was shining, and we needed a vacation. We swam, ate, enjoyed and rested. </div>
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The last Sunday of our holiday I came down with Chikungunya (like Dengue fever). I couldn't do anything for a week, but Lu read, practiced guitar, and we watched documentaries. Even though I was feeling like death, I couldn't have been happier to be cuddled up on the day-bed with my kiddo again, listening to David Attenborough talking about an exotic jungle bird. </div>
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By Friday, Lu was running the fever and suffering from the signature pain in the joints. A week later, he's still in bed. So. Lol. It hasn't been the best start to our back-to-homeschool, but we are back, and no matter how difficult it gets, I won't forget again. I won't forget how lucky we are to be able to homeschool, how much I love the lifestyle and the freedom that comes with it, and how much I love learning together. Homeschooling a teenager can be hard, but I know it's worth it.</div>
Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-84282963371161388722016-05-25T15:36:00.002-06:002016-05-25T15:43:54.521-06:00The Post I Never Thought I'd Write<div style="text-align: justify;">
We decided to take Lu out of school five years ago on a Friday, and we started homeschool the following Monday. It was very sudden. It was a decision that brought much happiness to our lives. We have learned so much together over these years, and being able to spend all that time with my 8-13yo has been an amazing gift.</div>
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But just as suddenly as we started to homeschool, we stopped. Just under a month ago, Lu started attending the local public middle school.</div>
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We live in a small Mayan village in Central America. </div>
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The schools are poor. Very poor.</div>
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Lu is not going for the classes, he is going to make friends. </div>
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He's the only white boy in the whole school and has suffered from bullying in the past at the hands of local boys in the street, so we were a little worried in the beginning.</div>
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We went to ask the principal if Lu could go to the school as an auditing (unregistered) student. He agreed and gave us a list of the things we'd need, like 18 (eighteen!) notebooks, covered in paper and plastic. The school year starts in January, so Lu had some catching up to do. He couldn't wrap his head around covering the notebooks, but he did it in good spirit. And, hey, wrapping skills are a good thing to have. He's a pro now! lol</div>
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We were also going to need a uniform, but they didn't have any available, so they just asked him to dress formally - dress pants, dress shirt, belt... Definitely a big change from our "uniform" (me in pj's and Lu in goat-smelling jeans and T).</div>
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The school schedule is from 1-6pm, which is typical around the country as many middle-school-age children are already working to help support their families. </div>
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Lu was nervous on the first day. We talked to some of the teachers and he was introduced to his class of 44 (forty-four!) kids. I asked him to please call me at recess time to know how it was going. The phone call went something like this:</div>
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Lu: Hi, it's recess time.<br />
Me: Are you okay?<br />
Lu: Yeah, I'm good. Actually, I'm very good and I already made 8 friends!<br />
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I don't know if the teachers had prepared the students for Lu's arrival, but the whole group was exceptionally welcoming and accepting. It's a small town, everybody knows everybody, so he wasn't completely the "new kid". Some of the kids in his class had bullied him in the street for years.</div>
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On the second day of school, the boy who Lu was most terrified of from street bullying, went up to him and asked if they could be friends, even though they'd had problems in the past.</div>
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We run an after-school program from our home since Lu was a baby. Forty kids come to our house twice a week for arts and recreational activities. So Lu has had this social outlet his whole life, but being the director's son isn't the same as being just another kid in school.</div>
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The school doesn't have running water. The toilets are not flushable, so the janitor flushes them with buckets in the evenings, for the next day's... load. A big bucket of water in each bathroom is for hand-washing, so it's a giant germ and parasite pool by the end of the day.</div>
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But Lu needed this. He needed to feel like just another kid in a big group. He needed more friends. And I'm definitely not saying that all kids need this, but Lu did, even if I wish he didn't. </div>
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I'm writing this post nearly a month after this HUGE change in our lives because it took me that long to pick myself up off the floor and accept that, for now, we are no longer homeschoolers. It was like losing my (favorite) job, my lifestyle, and my boy all at the same time. Of course I didn't lose my boy, but not having him around that many hours a day is a major change.</div>
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The school schedule works well with the goat schedule, so mornings look like this now - Lu doing his homework (argh! homework!!!) while the goats graze.</div>
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I don't want to dis the school, it is giving Lu what he wanted the most - a place to make lots of friends. But if I couldn't homeschool, and this was my only choice, I would be very, very active in trying to change things. </div>
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Don't even get me started. </div>
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But that's not why we're doing this.<br />
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This is temporary, for social purposes only. Although there are some added benefits like changes in hygiene habits (haha! all those girls make him very worried about being smelly), he is learning how to turn work in on time, follow instructions, respect authority, be part of a team and do your part without complaining... yes, we were having problems with some of these things at home. </div>
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He also gets to play basketball and be in the band.</div>
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Yesterday the school celebrated Mother's Day and Lu's class sang a song while he accompanied with his guitar. They got together on weekends to make the decorations. They have class presidents who organize everyone and give or take away points depending on their classmates' participation. It's all about points, and Lu takes the point system VERY seriously. lol. I think it's because the principal said that he could be an auditing student there as long as he was "very formal" in his studies.</div>
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The school is not secular, at all. Prayers happen at every event. The teachers remind the students that they'll be looking for them in church on Sundays. They allow religious organizations to come in and hand out literature. OH! And the other day, Lu came home to tell us that all the girls had been vaccinated with no warning or parental permission (for HPV I'm guessing - Lu would get up and walk out if they try to vaccinate him at school). At the end of yesterday's activity, the girls were asked to go serve food to the mothers, while the boys were instructed to take down the stage. These are just a few examples of things they do and say that make me furious. But I bite my tongue.</div>
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If Lu was any younger, we wouldn't be doing this. But I know he is strong in his beliefs and can navigate through religious, sexist or prejudice brainwashing without being swayed. We've talked about looking at it like a sociological observation, and a way to understand how a lot of the world works. He'll come home and tell us the stories of the day, and we talk about it.</div>
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I miss him. I miss homeschooling. But we needed this break. And I'm very happy that he is making friends so easily. In the meantime, I'll continue to share our experiences or anything insightful about homeschooling if it comes to me. A friend suggested that I think about this as an unschooling experience, where Lu is choosing to spend his time at the public school, learning how to be part of a group and deal with The System. </div>
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I'll go with that :)</div>
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But being slave to the school's calendar and seeing all the time-wasting
that happens there are not things I'll be able to take for long. So, we'll be homeschooling soon again I'm sure. </div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-40553877688126338562016-04-15T12:52:00.001-06:002016-04-15T12:52:42.646-06:00Caramel, Clay, Scrabble, and Siddhartha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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Just look at that tired little face. </div>
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It's around 9:30am when he's done making cheese, </div>
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he's already been up and at'em for 4 hours, </div>
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and it's time to start school. </div>
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We've been playing Scrabble over breakfast almost daily. </div>
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Lu has now beaten me a few times and suddenly LOVES the game :)</div>
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I'm the family Scrabble champion, so this is a pretty big deal,</div>
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and I'm thrilled to finally have some real competition!</div>
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After breakfast, it's time for reading.</div>
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Lu is currently reading Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse.</div>
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We had a blast sculpting this week,</div>
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it was so much fun! </div>
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I'm not very artsy/craftsy, </div>
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but I think my purple Mama goddess came out pretty awesome :)</div>
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And I love the combination of these two <3 </div>
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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.</div>
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Other stuff we're doing that I didn't get pictures of this week: </div>
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Geography review - capitals of Americas, Europe, and Asia </div>
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Documentary series "Journeys to the End of the Earth"</div>
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Dance improvisation class with other kids </div>
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Music composition with Garage Band</div>
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Making a poster of the Periodic Table </div>
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Guitar practice</div>
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Algebra</div>
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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.</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-57264156358902431782016-03-04T20:03:00.000-06:002016-03-05T10:32:57.519-06:00A Goat/Kitchen-Centered Life<div style="text-align: justify;">
This picture of our kitchen table is very telling of what our lives are like these days. Lu is trying to figure out how to assemble his new cream separator that came with a manual in some Eastern European language. You can see our 30-yr-old Scrabble board. That red tub is goat lice treatment. And the baby bottle you ask?</div>
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The baby bottle is for our little Almendra (almond). </div>
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She and her sisters were born on another farm</div>
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and separated from their mother,</div>
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so she needs to be bottle-fed.</div>
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Her sisters have since gone to other homes,</div>
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and we officially have six goats now.</div>
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The cream separator is still learning how to be used. lol</div>
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But we'll soon be eating goat butter and goat cream! </div>
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Lu has been experimenting with different cheese recipes,</div>
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and we're having ricottas and mozzarellas daily!</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This is a chili and herbs rolled cheese. </div>
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Lu is managing an on-going fermentation process </div>
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that makes a hibiscus flower probiotic fizzy drink.</div>
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He also has some ginger beer fermenting :)</div>
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It's a pretty goat/kitchen-centric life right now,</div>
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but we also do normal school things.</div>
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Like guitar-playing:</div>
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Lu is currently reading <i>Don Quixote</i></div>
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Our algebra skills are getting pretty solid</div>
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if I do say so myself.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://orig15.deviantart.net/4e8d/f/2014/168/f/8/cat_math_by_smtp007-d7mr4i4.jpg" target="_blank">(If you've been here a few times,</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://orig15.deviantart.net/4e8d/f/2014/168/f/8/cat_math_by_smtp007-d7mr4i4.jpg" target="_blank">you probably know that math is NOT my fortΓ©)</a></span></div>
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This is a year of Revolutions in History class. </div>
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We finished our studies on the American Revolution</div>
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and now we're learning about the French Revolution.</div>
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Besides all the exercise Lu gets walking the goats</div>
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for two hours every morning,</div>
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we also do swimming and dancing for P.E. </div>
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Goats and school make for a hectic schedule, no doubt.</div>
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Our days start at 5:30am and it's go, go, go until dinner time.</div>
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But we're happy and inspired with everything we're doing,</div>
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and that's a lot to be grateful for. </div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-35033950454698430132016-02-05T15:37:00.000-06:002016-02-06T08:23:10.874-06:002016, Here We Come!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the beginning of our sixth year homeschooling. Lu is 13yo and roughly in 7th grade. It's going to be a very different year than we're used to, because now we have a small farm. It all started with Lu wanting a goat, and now we have five! Chickens are soon to come, and we're thinking about pigs and rabbits too.</div>
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We recently had our first litter. </div>
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Lu delivered two healthy kids!</div>
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They're so frickin' cute, they're like bunny-kitty-ponies. </div>
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Lu gets up every morning at 5:30am to take the goats out to pasture for a couple of hours. Right now he's only milking one goat, but another is shacking up with a neighbor's buck, so we'll have two milking goats by the summer. I get fresh goat's milk in my coffee now!</div>
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Once all the goat chores are done and a shower is had, it's around 10am and time for academics. Lu starts with reading, then history or writing, math, and guitar practice. <br />
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Then it's time for lunch with a documentary </div>
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or a game of Scrabble.</div>
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We started out this year re-watching<i> Mankind: The Story of All of Us,</i></div>
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which we just might make a yearly tradition of because </div>
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it's such a great summary of our chronological history studies.<i> </i></div>
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On Monday afternoons Lu has a private guitar lesson. </div>
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Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are for the after-school arts </div>
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and recreation activities we run from our home.</div>
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Typical activities are team-building games,</div>
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dance, singing, arts&crafts, drumming, and circus arts. </div>
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On Wednesdays and Fridays, 2-9pm, Lu is doing his second apprenticeship at a local restaurant a couple times a week. He's working with a team of chefs and learning loads, and doing so well that they even let him be head chef sometimes. This means he gets to design the menu and order the other chefs around. </div>
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He loves those nights :)</div>
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So, as you can see, we have a very busy year ahead of us!</div>
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<br />Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-61462814280410492592016-01-15T11:23:00.000-06:002016-02-05T15:38:45.236-06:00Cities of the World<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last year, Lu worked on an independent research project on fifteen of
the world's most influential cities. He worked on it over several
months. He had many technical difficulties: his computer breaking down,
realizing that he had only downloaded the thumbnails of the hundreds of
images he'd found for his presentation, and losing information several
times. He continued working over the Christmas break and finally gave
his presentation. It worked out nicely because grandma, aunts and uncle
were visiting, so Lu had a good audience.</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-41974676207421038202016-01-02T17:25:00.000-06:002016-01-03T19:12:47.145-06:002016 Homeschool Resolutions<div style="text-align: center;">
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After a fabulous holiday with family, friends, </div>
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parties, wining and
dining, </div>
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we'll be starting our school year in a week or two. </div>
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We're in
middle school, but not any specific year. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In a regular school, Lu
would probably be placed in the 7th grade. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He's 13 now and he's a very
busy young man. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Jl82fcD2dS0hSnNWixgF4DdYkrGKcYgM8XXJ2LbWCJnSrZ8V-Q5U_yMeLLuaNiVDLD6oSVatBvAI52F4CIeuSl7kT58ZqNEQDO6sLkG-_avTvzM5coywJX7F9ExQqKPhAS666mFa3d3/s1600/IMG_0714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4Jl82fcD2dS0hSnNWixgF4DdYkrGKcYgM8XXJ2LbWCJnSrZ8V-Q5U_yMeLLuaNiVDLD6oSVatBvAI52F4CIeuSl7kT58ZqNEQDO6sLkG-_avTvzM5coywJX7F9ExQqKPhAS666mFa3d3/s400/IMG_0714.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
He's got goats. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhWq1m0Wg8dJ5ZjkZGunmCh66aW5hJxKuDfa4up3p_blHg7VZSF33TVD4cGKOKwu7QRCCDaB7c5f7oNb97hk6a6_KubsvpwGd7iBfr18yWlZ1mBGMKTVYmhQMcIWr7J9PGVOcC1sfhd-r/s1600/IMG_0297.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhWq1m0Wg8dJ5ZjkZGunmCh66aW5hJxKuDfa4up3p_blHg7VZSF33TVD4cGKOKwu7QRCCDaB7c5f7oNb97hk6a6_KubsvpwGd7iBfr18yWlZ1mBGMKTVYmhQMcIWr7J9PGVOcC1sfhd-r/s400/IMG_0297.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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He's got a girlfriend.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC3fXiyvJ4C-F2U2fCvzsXBMvaViHEcs2QOfdVe7f4rESMyxw6Md-pC_Up2Ozg6St2GyE7qBu833XV3jBBwoXRcJsizvvpougPDZE54PfXAj3V_FF3AlUx71NvKPz7kGmFadh2VV3SzeW/s1600/IMG_0986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC3fXiyvJ4C-F2U2fCvzsXBMvaViHEcs2QOfdVe7f4rESMyxw6Md-pC_Up2Ozg6St2GyE7qBu833XV3jBBwoXRcJsizvvpougPDZE54PfXAj3V_FF3AlUx71NvKPz7kGmFadh2VV3SzeW/s320/IMG_0986.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
He's got ongoing (non-alcoholic)
fermentation projects. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And he's got
occasional catering jobs. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1EgSNmhKC9-NREI3n92CfMFVItxSjoOk1rS-U-BksgeDQh3lgs_LaYUTHQKG1hyphenhyphenDaV7knDG5__9AGndDXM7WYMImYn1xaffYYpa51YLI-GO_FX7Ps81MSAwQnQ2JnPxNgSyRc8BbYeat/s1600/IMG_0834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1EgSNmhKC9-NREI3n92CfMFVItxSjoOk1rS-U-BksgeDQh3lgs_LaYUTHQKG1hyphenhyphenDaV7knDG5__9AGndDXM7WYMImYn1xaffYYpa51YLI-GO_FX7Ps81MSAwQnQ2JnPxNgSyRc8BbYeat/s400/IMG_0834.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's going to be tricky fitting in our homeschool schedule with all
of this. Goats and fermentation can be called Science Class, but there
are still many things I want to cover: reading the classics, developing
essay-writing skills, ALGEBRA, world history and Guatemalan history....
And there are things that Lu wants to cover: developing culinary skills
(workshops, tutorials, recipe books, experimentation...), guitar,
carpentry, photography...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72-cqkL6TnqyCPX2zYZM_0gfjbq1GR2O-SsnCwqAfRpmR-FibQBkQWU6-XldPWln2BKNueFczR6cj5WyFT3uWVZTsI2fSpSaHT7cb4RWwZYmrSVrT192phWazUdtQFelstOjylOlcfLbV/s1600/IMG_0849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72-cqkL6TnqyCPX2zYZM_0gfjbq1GR2O-SsnCwqAfRpmR-FibQBkQWU6-XldPWln2BKNueFczR6cj5WyFT3uWVZTsI2fSpSaHT7cb4RWwZYmrSVrT192phWazUdtQFelstOjylOlcfLbV/s400/IMG_0849.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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There are only so many hours in the day, so we have a lot of planning
and decision-making ahead. We're going to have to give and take, and
negotiate, and come up with something that works for us.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZMFYUSU4it9Qmd5aAlEGS16bJUdVHvjtVVAaDpE74OQGZZL1JV29S3dxUvBXpzWje_px5ZBAv0jFvlaQ2mVGF1q4vumEVP0cvSDws8MqHbk-ULkSDknKeJ4y_utl0p5eeRZ0I8eRD3My/s1600/IMG_0853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZMFYUSU4it9Qmd5aAlEGS16bJUdVHvjtVVAaDpE74OQGZZL1JV29S3dxUvBXpzWje_px5ZBAv0jFvlaQ2mVGF1q4vumEVP0cvSDws8MqHbk-ULkSDknKeJ4y_utl0p5eeRZ0I8eRD3My/s400/IMG_0853.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
But before I sit down with Lu to do all of this, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I want to commit to these 2016 Homeschool Resolutions:</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I will give priority to Lu's interests.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I will be supportive of projects that Lu decides to undertake.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>I will let go of conventional ideas like </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>"Math HAS TO BE an every day class." </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<b>I will trust in Lu's desire to learn.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>If something isn't working, I won't try to force it.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmOCnyh9m04gPmrJegIZn5zA1QLNUkR2MSwPUMkQirmHTV12BkN0ygFzm8HzmSggSS2w_Ch6MZQOG2UpGagGW7rSKUIaItLkIgdMJppUs85SLsxbBd7na2l1IoOOH-GskwT30l19hVIXe/s1600/IMG_0971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmOCnyh9m04gPmrJegIZn5zA1QLNUkR2MSwPUMkQirmHTV12BkN0ygFzm8HzmSggSS2w_Ch6MZQOG2UpGagGW7rSKUIaItLkIgdMJppUs85SLsxbBd7na2l1IoOOH-GskwT30l19hVIXe/s400/IMG_0971.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-56700923174189745102015-11-30T11:35:00.000-06:002015-11-30T12:06:39.820-06:00Getting our Goats, Ginger Bugs and Sourdough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We got our first goat!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Friday, 20th of November</div>
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We named him Jocote (ho-ko-teh) after a fruit that grows here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_cj_lKHhVqMUyJsgL_kmyOuj13F5Th4Q4AVGC36U4yXr3NzmXamGaFIKByaWTqNku0QrRttqSXsEYFOUobWmqFoAqy-qJYyejRsSuDGM0iTqQ5Pwe02jMGlKji2SAEkYheTUvtcOZDIc/s1600/102_8397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_cj_lKHhVqMUyJsgL_kmyOuj13F5Th4Q4AVGC36U4yXr3NzmXamGaFIKByaWTqNku0QrRttqSXsEYFOUobWmqFoAqy-qJYyejRsSuDGM0iTqQ5Pwe02jMGlKji2SAEkYheTUvtcOZDIc/s400/102_8397.jpg" width="365" /></a></div>
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You can see why we chose the name :) </div>
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He was born to the goat farmer that Lu has been apprenticing with for the past two months, who then sold him to a family as a pet. Jocote was living in very poor conditions with them. He was SO happy to come live with us and the dogs, and lots of space to run and play in. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sweetest, most affectionate goat there could ever be.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp8IZ1kFKOrqy-sEOPrNJC_fezvrgRW-la-X7bWSakn7AN2NhcWCNtS7R3gN3EWFv4fAGD76wvKnbT6banio8gtVDYQZJY-JRGRQUWJ0kCm8cX4g8k5WZryvw-UEB0JVSEmqhHuuhyphenhyphenwIv/s1600/102_8427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrp8IZ1kFKOrqy-sEOPrNJC_fezvrgRW-la-X7bWSakn7AN2NhcWCNtS7R3gN3EWFv4fAGD76wvKnbT6banio8gtVDYQZJY-JRGRQUWJ0kCm8cX4g8k5WZryvw-UEB0JVSEmqhHuuhyphenhyphenwIv/s640/102_8427.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeLS446fQKR6uFtFvbkXaor0sErMtt8-X7xk07tMjTr7fQ1TqyNL5ad2sQRD-aKuXQbVr44c9oCEGfDrFGUh-2m_cfQ-4AfwLgJUA2K6VfhnAV3-754SniCqHYZYF_DwT2zkQow_qsJtc/s1600/102_8431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeLS446fQKR6uFtFvbkXaor0sErMtt8-X7xk07tMjTr7fQ1TqyNL5ad2sQRD-aKuXQbVr44c9oCEGfDrFGUh-2m_cfQ-4AfwLgJUA2K6VfhnAV3-754SniCqHYZYF_DwT2zkQow_qsJtc/s400/102_8431.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Goats don't like to be alone, so we needed to hurry</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and get a companion for Jocote.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu got in touch with another goat farmer, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and on Sunday, we got Mocha!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYMxN4CEmrg_Tq9aR_no3_BfTSUKUOl6xn_MWI1C_iJ3N-qBFg8RZwH6-1_3qsG7q4yV_GSKACjRPVVP44ZFn4CFhu-jHWzVbK9J99bs2P5JmLoYAvnEoFfAnXnHj5u-ZVBp42rKwCnF0/s1600/IMG_0082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIYMxN4CEmrg_Tq9aR_no3_BfTSUKUOl6xn_MWI1C_iJ3N-qBFg8RZwH6-1_3qsG7q4yV_GSKACjRPVVP44ZFn4CFhu-jHWzVbK9J99bs2P5JmLoYAvnEoFfAnXnHj5u-ZVBp42rKwCnF0/s400/IMG_0082.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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They weren't immediate friends, Mocha is a bit of bully, but even so, it was better than being alone. Everything was going perfectly. They both seemed healthy, except for the lice that Jocote came with. We gave him a special bath and got rid of most of them, but they had already affected his health. On Friday, a week after getting him, Lu found poor little Jocote dead in the morning. There were many tears. Lu and Mocha went to spend the rest of the morning at the goat farm where he apprentices. His wonderful teacher said many wise words about life and death, and the nature of goat farming, after which Lu called me to tell me not to bury Jocote. He had decided that he wanted to keep the pelt, so he came home to skin and then bury our first goat himself.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hepJ65oxGsBA9_gD3JltazVXZMgJIBen8RP8WnPVc0fyqYEr_yIxQCiiskRBHEQnyXno_Y-hfENlKs7W8vnt3SLVEE1pdXj1ywGTj96c0H2SxjEtsjroPu1JPTqSzq1FJf_Ws-P1y0xK/s1600/IMG_0196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hepJ65oxGsBA9_gD3JltazVXZMgJIBen8RP8WnPVc0fyqYEr_yIxQCiiskRBHEQnyXno_Y-hfENlKs7W8vnt3SLVEE1pdXj1ywGTj96c0H2SxjEtsjroPu1JPTqSzq1FJf_Ws-P1y0xK/s400/IMG_0196.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lu had already slaughtered and butchered a couple of chickens and a sheep, but I have no experience in these things. As a child, I saw a lamb being slaughtered and it was very traumatic, so much so that I have never eaten lamb in my life because of it. But watching my son do this, especially with an animal that he was emotionally attached to, has me very much in awe of him. He did it respectfully, ritualistically, and it was beautiful. </div>
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* * * * *</div>
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With Jocote gone,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
we needed to find a new companion for Mocha asap.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On Sunday, Cajeta (caramel) arrived. </div>
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</div>
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<br />
<br />
Our goat dealer convinced us to go ahead and get another,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
older, PREGNANT mama goat,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and brought her to us the next day. </div>
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Here's Melanie:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZM6-Y-iytaeUZBCjHdfk7lDv9lOqJiSy_U74xiYkHlBH8A8JJ2ir6WPHcqEFqqvTkPGJzgLi62KBOLmGyVtFvuVlFkSR_DY41QFrSoW-k6tHycgu2QsT9FCvP4Y2OG3cNX_6dKemzdwzs/s1600/IMG_0225.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZM6-Y-iytaeUZBCjHdfk7lDv9lOqJiSy_U74xiYkHlBH8A8JJ2ir6WPHcqEFqqvTkPGJzgLi62KBOLmGyVtFvuVlFkSR_DY41QFrSoW-k6tHycgu2QsT9FCvP4Y2OG3cNX_6dKemzdwzs/s400/IMG_0225.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbYO5asKO8xgJZW-m6dU5NpuVsmta1o7kngX0IbcV9q3_GEc20lwelgnz7wYfnoFzDjo6UAiNX1PHkPut_h8V_Z9-5BOcpFZelIJWyG7ANrpDU4q9mFzX3uc-EuUGS9rgCNKK9TyqzsBJ/s1600/IMG_0220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbYO5asKO8xgJZW-m6dU5NpuVsmta1o7kngX0IbcV9q3_GEc20lwelgnz7wYfnoFzDjo6UAiNX1PHkPut_h8V_Z9-5BOcpFZelIJWyG7ANrpDU4q9mFzX3uc-EuUGS9rgCNKK9TyqzsBJ/s400/IMG_0220.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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During all this Goating Frenzy Lu took a most awesome fermentation workshop. It was an all day, 9am-5pm, event. He was the only kid in the group, so I was a little worried about him being there all on his own. But of course, as it is with Lu, he made friends with all the adults and impressed the facilitators with "some of the best questions we've had so far" and what an "attentive student and super keen learner" he is. Proud mama moment :)</div>
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Here's some sauerkraut he made in class:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzuxSwfRww6tT_fGpY_7fVAHmY1OlO5qRSvQuVrbDqJNvHAeeuHOat3b2RM2jb9G5yRrsgdz2jLBhstWhzQKgMKFzEFHgJRwKgO3iF7wDdnTyp_OhWt8DJFqZRBjv0aByhCWbUF3k_0dE/s1600/IMG_0209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzuxSwfRww6tT_fGpY_7fVAHmY1OlO5qRSvQuVrbDqJNvHAeeuHOat3b2RM2jb9G5yRrsgdz2jLBhstWhzQKgMKFzEFHgJRwKgO3iF7wDdnTyp_OhWt8DJFqZRBjv0aByhCWbUF3k_0dE/s400/IMG_0209.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And sourdough bread starter</div>
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and ginger bugs for (non-alcoholic) ginger beer</div>
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that he made at home:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VPCqGPqwa2I8xhRC2lZv2VErQWVnH3Bg23NCn11bnOzSskO-imW8JSYj0G92MpD8bQ0RdRs80ykU_AfG5i72DCTPKFYZb6rKlo-aeSOmdK0gctMnC-rtiEviwoB_zGth9HQGi0UfHM0m/s1600/IMG_0212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VPCqGPqwa2I8xhRC2lZv2VErQWVnH3Bg23NCn11bnOzSskO-imW8JSYj0G92MpD8bQ0RdRs80ykU_AfG5i72DCTPKFYZb6rKlo-aeSOmdK0gctMnC-rtiEviwoB_zGth9HQGi0UfHM0m/s400/IMG_0212.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSbjvcZXllwCMV7myz79kH1TQmdsFN8uBhcCPbODSmGwwUQoVCQj2LofiLnJKgKspncKc1jrmcPqjb6kIg4FfhcjrbXYvCjBNN830d_iee7mOQiT5tz7-ho7cK5HgrQN6k7RI3-JWAT8J/s1600/IMG_0210.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSbjvcZXllwCMV7myz79kH1TQmdsFN8uBhcCPbODSmGwwUQoVCQj2LofiLnJKgKspncKc1jrmcPqjb6kIg4FfhcjrbXYvCjBNN830d_iee7mOQiT5tz7-ho7cK5HgrQN6k7RI3-JWAT8J/s400/IMG_0210.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK0nPuE0Lp9sJyqWnuv2dE9UDgKmYhndpax51cAwFAF-QBfCphGEy4oaW2Qp8iC43ItsfcD7jIqdeFa85bygPz9pyI0e73LNxvlaPJG_7YKZVzS-8MJbqLaikZ_WxKOBh89sQMQ98WQDu/s1600/IMG_0207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK0nPuE0Lp9sJyqWnuv2dE9UDgKmYhndpax51cAwFAF-QBfCphGEy4oaW2Qp8iC43ItsfcD7jIqdeFa85bygPz9pyI0e73LNxvlaPJG_7YKZVzS-8MJbqLaikZ_WxKOBh89sQMQ98WQDu/s400/IMG_0207.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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YUM!</div>
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As a mama who's never baked a loaf of bread in her life,</div>
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having it fresh and at home is truly dreamy. </div>
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Thank you, Lu! <3</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxq3aqTS9amaIidF6m_muY05QanuVL3FDqiBn3jA92ZoWNf3KoiM78uQGgasDHZ9chns33NNw6YKlmCobTowx7CqFS8dvvq1c8pjoL_SkdF7uXuRMTgtAM_YzDu2Qqsajkfnh7ozHZ92lx/s1600/IMG_0214.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxq3aqTS9amaIidF6m_muY05QanuVL3FDqiBn3jA92ZoWNf3KoiM78uQGgasDHZ9chns33NNw6YKlmCobTowx7CqFS8dvvq1c8pjoL_SkdF7uXuRMTgtAM_YzDu2Qqsajkfnh7ozHZ92lx/s400/IMG_0214.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Lu now has a very big commitment to these goats. He has to take them up the mountain for at least two hours a day. I'll need to get some good audio-books for him to be able to multi-task. lol</div>
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I love how meditative it is out there with the goats. </div>
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It's very slow. Stop. Munch. Walk a bit more. Stop. Munch. </div>
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Look around. Greet the occasional passer-by.</div>
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And they follow him.</div>
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Somehow, they know to follow him.</div>
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They don't follow Cha or me,</div>
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but wherever Lu goes, they go. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2PpGlMo6FgVxUAIqP9XiPdecafikV2WIcAQp_OlSEquK_fH6gHCQrRQo0jLsOnAn2ferP9Mbu3NKQIiHXJj8Eo7H9C1ThPnIJ9T26qRwGC3OH4LVfF8NDWWoRuu10L4Itv766EXemPdI/s1600/IMG_0258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2PpGlMo6FgVxUAIqP9XiPdecafikV2WIcAQp_OlSEquK_fH6gHCQrRQo0jLsOnAn2ferP9Mbu3NKQIiHXJj8Eo7H9C1ThPnIJ9T26qRwGC3OH4LVfF8NDWWoRuu10L4Itv766EXemPdI/s400/IMG_0258.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So, we are officially, and very unexpectedly, goat farmers!</div>
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Allowing my child to pursue his interests (even when they are way outside
of my own realm of experience, in unknown territory to me) has brought wonderful, new gifts to our table. It's a whole new world
of knowledge and possibilities that our family did not have before. </div>
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My son is his own person, with his own unique perspective of the world, and giving him the freedom to follow his curiosity is one of the greatest things I can do for him, as a homeschooling mama. </div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-49722904553342076322015-11-18T14:55:00.000-06:002015-11-19T08:10:06.047-06:00Thirteen<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu just turned 13!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0hBDsj3FeewRJEu4W4Aqm7jMwx4oFZlHfa0mz53gUywqyA08FUnSA57aeP-wSAy8macvtMVXMcUScfvV3HLwnK52Pf7Bf0qoor0ZrPLDRM9J_0zhcYkBlphtyNEi385WucdSced0UdxR/s1600/102_8265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0hBDsj3FeewRJEu4W4Aqm7jMwx4oFZlHfa0mz53gUywqyA08FUnSA57aeP-wSAy8macvtMVXMcUScfvV3HLwnK52Pf7Bf0qoor0ZrPLDRM9J_0zhcYkBlphtyNEi385WucdSced0UdxR/s640/102_8265.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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Here he is with all his presents, minus a goat.</div>
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Yup, a goat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoW2SWrn6UdgpHy0r3uIJGTtX2HbWYjlrPUGIiLL1PZP3H1_a0VgVJAUYKkCZiqMvgGTIfz69D55p-BXWVxX3yCv4-ah50jScA6puZ069P7_ckrCRm-fQVQgHFbJW8-S7xuOvyIL_ALDB/s1600/DSC02708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoW2SWrn6UdgpHy0r3uIJGTtX2HbWYjlrPUGIiLL1PZP3H1_a0VgVJAUYKkCZiqMvgGTIfz69D55p-BXWVxX3yCv4-ah50jScA6puZ069P7_ckrCRm-fQVQgHFbJW8-S7xuOvyIL_ALDB/s400/DSC02708.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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About a month and a half ago,</div>
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Lu decided he wants to get into the goat farming business.</div>
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Since then, he's been getting up at 5am, </div>
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three times a week, to go apprentice on a friend's goat farm.</div>
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Cha and I take turns dropping him off.</div>
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We run with the dogs, Lu takes his bike. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDbk42DYxwM0tTipRU61M8Ewe8IxShrUr1avVh7DlVeQFumlR7zOaYn7NQKQSSO8eerD9XtkQDPBLdNhg0NuACw4WEYMWdaVXQAnmgRX741pKh2P1fCs1GIQhIZAxv6cxwBAQ02mOkkZM/s1600/DSC02729+-+Version+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDbk42DYxwM0tTipRU61M8Ewe8IxShrUr1avVh7DlVeQFumlR7zOaYn7NQKQSSO8eerD9XtkQDPBLdNhg0NuACw4WEYMWdaVXQAnmgRX741pKh2P1fCs1GIQhIZAxv6cxwBAQ02mOkkZM/s400/DSC02729+-+Version+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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5am is not my favorite time of the day,</div>
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especially not for actually being awake.</div>
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But I can't complain about my early morning walks</div>
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with views like these: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-m5Fp4xj2zp8C6C-qDokiuUg4GvTT9sLcvutyZ9lPjuuUckQGGa7fXTqAY2GpPkLOpHUcpUYLghxMhuOQjT6AGEhI4P8dmhDfh98T9mAK33lP9duJ53pWTVz_GOoxb2nVxILeZXvaHejN/s1600/DSC02715.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-m5Fp4xj2zp8C6C-qDokiuUg4GvTT9sLcvutyZ9lPjuuUckQGGa7fXTqAY2GpPkLOpHUcpUYLghxMhuOQjT6AGEhI4P8dmhDfh98T9mAK33lP9duJ53pWTVz_GOoxb2nVxILeZXvaHejN/s400/DSC02715.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13O8s906jTC_pJLh04VgckloBF6EkxtRwVp7HCB_TMqbi4tG7VbV9yva71CGvAz9SKaIhz4gnXWRRDwAzPrYoLPTqq0Qo5PJMwHjNFr-H2CTG5nNp8_PhRCBPrZGOOBfdFPKOfiK4EEQ6/s1600/yellow.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13O8s906jTC_pJLh04VgckloBF6EkxtRwVp7HCB_TMqbi4tG7VbV9yva71CGvAz9SKaIhz4gnXWRRDwAzPrYoLPTqq0Qo5PJMwHjNFr-H2CTG5nNp8_PhRCBPrZGOOBfdFPKOfiK4EEQ6/s320/yellow.png" width="279" /></a></div>
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He's already put in over 50 hours, so,</div>
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as promised, we're getting him a goat!</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The goat house, companion goat, and goat accessories</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
will have to be paid back in milk, cheese, and meat.</div>
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But the first goat is a gift.</div>
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</div>
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<br />
Lu's already done some successful cheese-making</div>
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with cow milk. Can't wait for that goat cheese!<br />
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AND he helped slaughter and butcher a sheep! </div>
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Here's Lu moving rocks on the land</div>
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where the goat house is now almost up:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTY_heFs4PDFlomSTe-znXhPAgRWFiiQ2ISm8kGumk4iWOdpbwiMgxZFlWxdVf5LQxpuA989sWt5hY4W8QzyYY_EUa7b-iVCoK6umrLiy4fpZO__Bcj-yCv0AVKHA8dH7H0O0wXAW2DZ54/s1600/DSCN0288+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTY_heFs4PDFlomSTe-znXhPAgRWFiiQ2ISm8kGumk4iWOdpbwiMgxZFlWxdVf5LQxpuA989sWt5hY4W8QzyYY_EUa7b-iVCoK6umrLiy4fpZO__Bcj-yCv0AVKHA8dH7H0O0wXAW2DZ54/s320/DSCN0288+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And taking a break by getting some jocote fruits<br />
down from the tree:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBt4Fg-KefDz5DgvbMAUXUlKrhsV0UU_t-eTCLdtXEujUfG6QOh0ALsNAy9fIlCAG5JrwWYbRgMywpSda_MdJY9pfH_j9Gdd9WnFNppyPqLmUi_vQkDi5jqJ9bnqahnoHga1wtt5VbT0-/s1600/DSCN0292.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQBt4Fg-KefDz5DgvbMAUXUlKrhsV0UU_t-eTCLdtXEujUfG6QOh0ALsNAy9fIlCAG5JrwWYbRgMywpSda_MdJY9pfH_j9Gdd9WnFNppyPqLmUi_vQkDi5jqJ9bnqahnoHga1wtt5VbT0-/s320/DSCN0292.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Jocote season is definitely a favorite time of year. <br />
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On the academic front,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu's been busy writing essays.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We took a class with a professional writer</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
who taught us basic structure and gave us</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
lots of useful tips.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here are some paragraphs from his</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
instructional, compare/contrast,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and character development essays.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He's editing and typing his favorite two</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
for our homeschool archive. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n74jkCc4ENrUXW-xBgy1BUkPf7AzghUsBxuWX1Ck6cRVn3PYCVqbkZ9PWT9ox5clzmGDrPBJnMQel4b95TJNyJ_OHnqcT3xwvesmOJoMkgY043aLZZfmZZqxJJTr52bCsKc14b0yGLC8/s1600/102_8387.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5n74jkCc4ENrUXW-xBgy1BUkPf7AzghUsBxuWX1Ck6cRVn3PYCVqbkZ9PWT9ox5clzmGDrPBJnMQel4b95TJNyJ_OHnqcT3xwvesmOJoMkgY043aLZZfmZZqxJJTr52bCsKc14b0yGLC8/s320/102_8387.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This year's math was mostly algebra and geometry.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To keep up with Lu, I covered all the new stuff with him during</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the first half of the year, and then got a tutor for reinforcement,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the second half of the year (for my sanity).</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's his last math homework assignment:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
And making shapes with M.C. Escher:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Jlbtr1AM_e5JFats3jIK017EJhwdxrUOXSbAlCLX-IB-g3EgA8Dn5mTt3HMh1h9dZlM1m_vLRjufRiMBp35WXpJcoxgSUrrL_r4PO8-agdM5kEynaj7fYK55pI6Y0nvnPbWEfO7nYYJS/s1600/DSCN0312.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Jlbtr1AM_e5JFats3jIK017EJhwdxrUOXSbAlCLX-IB-g3EgA8Dn5mTt3HMh1h9dZlM1m_vLRjufRiMBp35WXpJcoxgSUrrL_r4PO8-agdM5kEynaj7fYK55pI6Y0nvnPbWEfO7nYYJS/s400/DSCN0312.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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With the rains finally over</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(rainy season is about half the year here)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
it's time for swimming!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And swimming with friends: </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrMWOXymv1cbBMh7HoKOqVf3cBSV4ivMRiUCudgkNvGzdGp6ktyKpu1XMMkXZxgwsoI1Jo4a6ZzMbJ0DB-k1EG6ywMjYDIvHRg1jpMo0OsEhUo6BfBkR6r0PwLh3x_0ckqsNRd5nZRk9q/s1600/102_8365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrMWOXymv1cbBMh7HoKOqVf3cBSV4ivMRiUCudgkNvGzdGp6ktyKpu1XMMkXZxgwsoI1Jo4a6ZzMbJ0DB-k1EG6ywMjYDIvHRg1jpMo0OsEhUo6BfBkR6r0PwLh3x_0ckqsNRd5nZRk9q/s400/102_8365.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi4v_u5wlQ51Nsj6yHPF55gIggDyg3EG8Knnc9i5D7y_g1jDXQzQhw2fW749xshTzYIGlRHp0awnqIjZYTu-fpr4ZkC9o2vttvFXFIfPnDg5W91z_bFlFEVnlnbtenj-f3cd2bzTP9Uf3/s1600/102_8376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi4v_u5wlQ51Nsj6yHPF55gIggDyg3EG8Knnc9i5D7y_g1jDXQzQhw2fW749xshTzYIGlRHp0awnqIjZYTu-fpr4ZkC9o2vttvFXFIfPnDg5W91z_bFlFEVnlnbtenj-f3cd2bzTP9Uf3/s320/102_8376.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
For one of his 13th birthday presents, I gave Lu permission to join
facebook. This was something I decided on just over the last few months.
I used to think we'd wait until he was at least 16, but I found myself
often thinking "this article would be great for Lu" or "I wish Lu was on
here to share this with him". And indeed, it is very handy for
homeschool, as well as for keeping in touch with long-distance friends (one of the downsides of living in a town that is a tourist attraction, is that friends are usually temporary or seasonal). But having a facebook account comes with many rules, like not blocking me from
anything, showing me his news feed whenever I ask, and only friending
new people with my consent.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu has grown up so much this past year. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He's done two major apprenticeships </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(<a href="http://luminousfire.blogspot.com/2015/04/all-about-cooking.html" target="_blank">restaurant</a> and goat farm), </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and showed serious commitment and responsibility in both. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm so proud of my official teen-ager.</div>
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<br />Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-20718198009053602062015-10-09T15:46:00.000-06:002015-10-09T15:46:27.114-06:00Goats and Chickens<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lu really wants goats and chickens. So, he's doing some apprenticing with two different homesteader friends as a prerequisite for any animal-purchasing. It's all very new to me too, so I've been reading up and learning all about coops and feeds and all that farm-y stuff. Like all farmers, our friends start their day very early, which for us has meant waking up at <span style="font-size: x-small;">(the ungawdly hour of)</span> 5am, eating a quick breakfast, and rushing out to their places on time to milk the goats. Since Lu is the main force behind this project, he is the designated pancake-maker on these days.</div>
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We want eggs, milk, cheese and meat, </div>
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so slaughtering has to be part of the apprenticeship.</div>
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He thanked the chickens before slitting their throats,</div>
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and then plucked and eviscerated them.</div>
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<br />He did it decidedly and respectfully,</div>
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as our friend told him to.</div>
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It was a proud mama moment,</div>
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not only of how well he did it,</div>
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but of how I didn't faint while watching.</div>
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We'll have our own goats and chickens in a few months.</div>
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It's all very exciting :)</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-46443350738089111722015-09-25T16:14:00.001-06:002015-10-02T11:03:24.102-06:00Science Is All Around<div style="text-align: justify;">
Lu recently finished the book we used for science this year. A book all about our universe. A very thick book, with lots of information and beautiful illustrations. I thought it would take him all year, but we still have two more months of our school year. But this is not a problem in my house, with my science-loving kid. Lu will be in charge of his science curriculum for the rest of the year.</div>
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He's been doing daily science experiments </div>
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that he finds on websites and on YouTube,</div>
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like this balloon launcher:</div>
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Science projects/experiments are so much more fun </div>
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now that Lu is old enough to find all the stuff he needs, </div>
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follow the instructions, and research the explanations</div>
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with no help from me. lol</div>
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The homemade thermometer: </div>
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Making a saltwater battery:<br />
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Listening through a stethoscope: <br />
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Here Lu and a friend are building a forge.</div>
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They spent all day forging metal into knives and swords.</div>
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On Sunday, we went to our friends' goat farm</div>
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and Lu got a chance to play with the little ones,</div>
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and milk one of the mamas.</div>
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He drank a WHOLE liter of goat's milk! </div>
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We're lucky to have science learning built into our every-day lives.</div>
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And there's so much wonderful stuff to be found online. </div>
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Science is all around! </div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-72093289483453808242015-09-03T09:17:00.000-06:002015-09-03T09:17:12.980-06:00Old Books, Big Cities, Free Flow, and a Rock Star<div style="text-align: center;">
Our school year runs from Jan-Nov,</div>
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so these are the last few months of 6th grade for us.</div>
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After finishing the first two books of the "Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" series, and not having the third, Lu pulled "Black Beauty" off of my childhood bookshelf and is reading it mostly from a lack of a better book, aka We Need More Books. </div>
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Morning reading time is VERY important around here </div>
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(specifically for mami's quiet coffee time).</div>
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Creative writing has always been a struggle for Lu, so we let it go for a while, but recently we bust out a notebook and started </div>
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"Free Flow Writing/Doodling Time" and it's been a HUGE success!!!</div>
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The first half of our year was very science-heavy with lots of documentaries, including the complete "Through the Wormhole" series with Morgan Freeman (the only man I'd leave my husband for, I luuuuuv Morgan). Now Lu is just chilling with some reading on deep space from another book from my childhood, this Nat Geo "Our Universe" book that my great-grandfather gave me when I turned five, 35 years ago:</div>
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For history we're reading about the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Guatemala. It's a very old book written by a Spanish soldier. We take turns reading aloud in a Spanish that is old and difficult to read. We're slowly working through the over 800 pages, but it's worth it because the story is truly fascinating.</div>
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As a final 6th grade research project, Lu is putting together a slideshow presentation of ten major cities of the world. He's having a great time with it. He'll come running to ask "Did you know there's no toilet paper in Tokyo, because the toilets wipe your butt for you?!" or "Did you know that pinball machines have been illegal in New York since the year...?!" Some of his findings are questionable, but it's so much fun to see what he gets excited about. lol</div>
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We recently participated in an artistic photo shoot </div>
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for a make-up artist friend. </div>
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Lu had a blast getting made up and posing.</div>
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Here's one of my favorites: The Rock Star</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-67984963395430052712015-08-16T16:48:00.001-06:002015-08-24T11:41:45.316-06:00Our 7-week Break<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is our fifth year homeschooling and we had never taken such a long break as we did this year. The original plan was for a five-week break, but it just felt so good, we stretched it out a bit longer. </div>
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We really needed this.</div>
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We didn't go anywhere fancy or even do anything all that exciting.<br />
We just swam a lot, ate a lot, stayed up late a lot, and slept in a lot.<br />
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And it was blissful :)<br />
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At the lake:</div>
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Even Cha managed a WHOLE week off! </div>
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At the pool:</div>
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Bonfire in our yard:</div>
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Lu's clubhouse is finally finished!</div>
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Making his first pizza:</div>
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At the pool again, with friends:</div>
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We had a blast!</div>
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Tomorrow we're back to business, with lots of cool new projects,</div>
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Lu's main project will be researching </div>
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the twenty most influential cities of the world,</div>
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and creating a slideshow presentation.</div>
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This will be an independent project,</div>
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and I'm so excited to see what he does with it :)</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-30293816795795787202015-07-06T10:16:00.003-06:002015-07-06T10:16:37.805-06:00BBQ and Clubhouse<div style="text-align: center;">
Last week, Lu received an outdoor grill from his grandmother.</div>
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He'd been asking for one since he got to help out at a friend's bbq</div>
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back in February.</div>
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He assembled it all by himself and started defrosting meat.</div>
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He started marinating on Thursday...</div>
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and on Sunday, he was ready to go!</div>
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We just ate and ate and ate...</div>
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It was a perfect afternoon. </div>
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Another big project Lu's been working on</div>
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has been the building of his clubhouse.</div>
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Since we're on a semi-break from academics</div>
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(still a little math and reading, but minimal)</div>
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he's made a lot of progress.</div>
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He's been working on his clubhouse for about two years.</div>
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All it needs now is windows and it will finally be finished! </div>
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<br />Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-65148608183308500332015-06-16T09:47:00.000-06:002015-06-16T09:47:14.080-06:00A Cool Dude<div style="text-align: justify;">
For weeks now, I've been in a constant state of awe at how quickly my boy is growing. It still surprises me how these spurts come on. He's almost as tall as me, weighs only six pounds less than me, and wears shoes I could swim in. </div>
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He's a big boy, but he's also still my baby.</div>
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He's 'getting' things. Subtle things. Life's nuances.</div>
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He's insightful. More thoughtful. More aware. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7anG4Fbn3hQUeuMtfhDPqj8How29f_Av-0Db-RMjC6a46v7TMz2oiRVJ3glskiJo6ERWrQbXEq6MfS32t0KYZeQt7qGjFj4z45KI_yaGqFkFF6TDo2-KZOedtPiPdBzLNKlP7JjCuY0X9/s1600/DSCN1331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7anG4Fbn3hQUeuMtfhDPqj8How29f_Av-0Db-RMjC6a46v7TMz2oiRVJ3glskiJo6ERWrQbXEq6MfS32t0KYZeQt7qGjFj4z45KI_yaGqFkFF6TDo2-KZOedtPiPdBzLNKlP7JjCuY0X9/s400/DSCN1331.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He's becoming a dude. A guy. You know?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And I run into this guy throughout the day and think:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey, he's a pretty cool dude.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoXLq1Aa2gEqV03alhYy3nsodgg47l-KwQWuxIsGaDGIYhsisOZ_aNcwSMg1lUo3k534SEAdB841vU2hxZ06unz4KetHrog5Xy7RiLD9pVQhoi8sToVJrLcMx2XC9JdXD32msiR9eYXs2/s1600/DSCN1375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoXLq1Aa2gEqV03alhYy3nsodgg47l-KwQWuxIsGaDGIYhsisOZ_aNcwSMg1lUo3k534SEAdB841vU2hxZ06unz4KetHrog5Xy7RiLD9pVQhoi8sToVJrLcMx2XC9JdXD32msiR9eYXs2/s400/DSCN1375.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The other day, Dude got to go hang out in a coffee shop by himself</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and drink a cappuccino while I was getting a massage.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He was feeling mighty cool.</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sometimes Cool Dude gets overtaken by Kid, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
such is the see-saw of tweenhood,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and I find myself having more patience for Kid than ever before, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
because I know he's not here for much longer. </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The thought of Lu's childhood ever coming to an end</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
brings about all kinds of emotions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
One very strong one is the gratitude I feel for being able to homeschool.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
We started homeschooling in 2011, when Lu was eight.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLIn69gHsmg9tu88P19vopnW98p5ldGsDF2KoZD2kmANX425NaJ1llOON_kf72t0WlXN4XD6_hyo2KFku_jioJUv5cRV1OmbaH-NNlnYETmrPUj9OO9m9h_ojDI4eslUfKLNYpVkMaBJt/s1600/100_0122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLIn69gHsmg9tu88P19vopnW98p5ldGsDF2KoZD2kmANX425NaJ1llOON_kf72t0WlXN4XD6_hyo2KFku_jioJUv5cRV1OmbaH-NNlnYETmrPUj9OO9m9h_ojDI4eslUfKLNYpVkMaBJt/s320/100_0122.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8E1TVjqnxEhC1QqHgPLqUXSa_V6ugGNuZfc71m5VCqt9slN2Vg7_EOs7mFzICjvzT1oM1GvTtcCR0e-__73kjOGeaGeTZasTjIUjfTpXcdqQ0S-WHtw7Rxa5RhZzKhnuG6bUUS6_goFI/s1600/DSC_0173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8E1TVjqnxEhC1QqHgPLqUXSa_V6ugGNuZfc71m5VCqt9slN2Vg7_EOs7mFzICjvzT1oM1GvTtcCR0e-__73kjOGeaGeTZasTjIUjfTpXcdqQ0S-WHtw7Rxa5RhZzKhnuG6bUUS6_goFI/s400/DSC_0173.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
In
the beginning, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being lost in a
sea of possibilities as far as options and styles, now it's just our
life. This is what we do. We read together, learn together, exercise
together, eat together, take care of the house together... </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We do it our
way. All of it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYVpbyClQZ1-TzdJv7_BhoE_q9aNw0bWa21NZHwTSD82asVGnBxCVAsSSEh3v_j4Sq5sW98jYm814hrdH4oFQg2HTx2-jrOscKgzC8q-G_alufklq9JBExVufR-twV1EqPD_WeraLmi6j/s1600/DSCN1401.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYVpbyClQZ1-TzdJv7_BhoE_q9aNw0bWa21NZHwTSD82asVGnBxCVAsSSEh3v_j4Sq5sW98jYm814hrdH4oFQg2HTx2-jrOscKgzC8q-G_alufklq9JBExVufR-twV1EqPD_WeraLmi6j/s400/DSCN1401.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
AND I get to BE with my boy as he turns into a guy</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
who will one day turn into a man. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Homeschool rocks. </div>
Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-27471097043580846572015-05-27T10:43:00.000-06:002015-05-27T10:43:40.913-06:00Concert, Mom's Day, Algebra, and a Protest Poster<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu played a few sets of background music </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
with his guitar teacher at a comedy show. </div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkpZ6VqjIZtGHNSmTVOC4JGY-FcYYv8wRa1SACZqfzaOfXJtvHSps4Kzdf16E3jJGiTewaO9Z6H-rsOHz11aKhitWK4uCrwpksDsaBa1nmHHrir0PGQ7ymENOnS3Jskd2NfTptf5KY-rJ/s1600/DSCN1214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigkpZ6VqjIZtGHNSmTVOC4JGY-FcYYv8wRa1SACZqfzaOfXJtvHSps4Kzdf16E3jJGiTewaO9Z6H-rsOHz11aKhitWK4uCrwpksDsaBa1nmHHrir0PGQ7ymENOnS3Jskd2NfTptf5KY-rJ/s320/DSCN1214.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I was well-celebrated for Mother's Day <3 </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqL9XncVlf3NgV9PxnzDDY2pRsGU2uKsjxMyGTbJvSaUqQULdAP8ax2sB2W6MiGatKBKxxJ2Nxxqd2k3_LSEq8m7sR2cgBr645I5R6j-u4vnaC4Hkncm4LFxY7PTW_UYMKekCE3EbiLhgI/s1600/DSCN1291+-+Version+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqL9XncVlf3NgV9PxnzDDY2pRsGU2uKsjxMyGTbJvSaUqQULdAP8ax2sB2W6MiGatKBKxxJ2Nxxqd2k3_LSEq8m7sR2cgBr645I5R6j-u4vnaC4Hkncm4LFxY7PTW_UYMKekCE3EbiLhgI/s320/DSCN1291+-+Version+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Lu completed 50 hours of a cooking apprenticeship,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
which is now over until the chef comes back</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
for the next high tourism season. </div>
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Until then, he's practicing his gourmet skills at home!</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
We've had incredible plates like Pad Thai</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Mango Coconut Shrimp</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and SUSHI!!! </div>
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We started the second chapter in our Algebra book.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Chapter 1 took us four months!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X0lMVkiCuXdK8W5-s-lh-inMkQFA7dHW0U-hvhZgJnOvAWHKoe3n7yXxR_x8hyphenhyphenTON_VBhYJ5UGcvqzPpRhUxrieYBShjfCw98TXOBiV5sjseToX-KsOiKeakKcHUEdnykyFo6Bl7QHw_/s1600/DSCN1302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X0lMVkiCuXdK8W5-s-lh-inMkQFA7dHW0U-hvhZgJnOvAWHKoe3n7yXxR_x8hyphenhyphenTON_VBhYJ5UGcvqzPpRhUxrieYBShjfCw98TXOBiV5sjseToX-KsOiKeakKcHUEdnykyFo6Bl7QHw_/s320/DSCN1302.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is hard stuff, but we're doing it. And I'm proud of myself for not hiring a math tutor, because this does NOT come naturally to me. I failed math my last year of high school after years of barely passing, and now I'm successfully teaching it to my son. It's a great feeling. So if anybody out there is doubting homeschooling because you feel like you can't teach something, I'm proof that YOU CAN!</div>
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<br /></div>
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This weekend we're going to the city to participate in the on-going peaceful protests, with dozens of thousands of other people, to demand the resignation of our president and the rest of his corrupt government. Here's Lu making a poster for it:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwPjqJ0AA2gFZIuPHCM_fAr5lg-vP1BD6NMDO-sqEG2PeWAhWd1rBsMDV1LsO9QkaMNVweYr638AVoUkD7XP3jGbwbqPwWXkE4wNH4J0atXT0PioZ_JGiR1rMiWrQs9ZDW4tmSUAcrdO2/s1600/DSCN1311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwPjqJ0AA2gFZIuPHCM_fAr5lg-vP1BD6NMDO-sqEG2PeWAhWd1rBsMDV1LsO9QkaMNVweYr638AVoUkD7XP3jGbwbqPwWXkE4wNH4J0atXT0PioZ_JGiR1rMiWrQs9ZDW4tmSUAcrdO2/s320/DSCN1311.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
So we'll be in the middle of this in a few days:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV51ux6mw_27DQUB7NLTBVRK8_ocXQeFtNT4x6y-A5FinNltSSjUHFqpnuf6-fEBmvgrVOigXVWJhulWfgmAdt_ISn2KUo6cxfTopRNBwysasJLYfGc6NM-D3nm_FJLNgsRsvpNPKq_pq8/s1600/pueblo+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV51ux6mw_27DQUB7NLTBVRK8_ocXQeFtNT4x6y-A5FinNltSSjUHFqpnuf6-fEBmvgrVOigXVWJhulWfgmAdt_ISn2KUo6cxfTopRNBwysasJLYfGc6NM-D3nm_FJLNgsRsvpNPKq_pq8/s400/pueblo+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And lastly, here's Lu making up a new tune on his guitar:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9FScfinK8uU/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9FScfinK8uU?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-45796356683737757842015-04-24T10:06:00.000-06:002015-04-24T10:06:00.870-06:00All About The Cooking<div style="text-align: justify;">
At the beginning of the year, when we were making our homeschool plan for 2015, Lu said he wanted to cook at least twice a week and bake at least once. When I count cooking as school, it has to be with a new recipe each time, so he also does a lot of researching. With the baking, it is not uncommon for me to walk into the kitchen on a day with no planned baking time, and find him making a pie, or cookies, or cake... and be like: <i>"Well, I had 15 minutes to kill, so I thought I'd bake something."</i></div>
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Lu recently took on an apprenticeship at a restaurant with a gourmet chef. Once or twice a week, I drop him off around 2pm and then go back for him around 7pm. I'll order a beer and a little something to eat and hopefully get a glimpse of him whizzing around serving tables. But he's mostly in the kitchen "plating" the food and helping with the cooking, under the chef's supervision. He LOVES it. <a href="http://thejunglechef.blogspot.com/2015/04/my-apprenticeship.html" target="_blank">Here's a post he wrote about his experience.</a></div>
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It's kind of tricky getting pics of him in the restaurant kitchen, </div>
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because it's busy and I'm not supposed to go in, </div>
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but I snuck this one: </div>
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and took this one of Lu serving a table: </div>
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<br />Between what he has learned from his grandmother, on his own,<br />
with Chef Pauly, and from the vegan desserts workshop he recently attended, we get some pretty awesome food at home when it's his turn to cook, and a vastly different experience from my nutritional-value-oriented and minimal-effort take on cooking equals beans and salad everyday.<br />
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So far this year, Lu has made:<br />
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Bacon potato fritata</div>
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Banana crunch cake</div>
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Key lime pie</div>
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Stuffed cabbage</div>
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Grilled marinated eggplant </div>
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with anchovy dressing on tomato salad</div>
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Baked pork chops in a citrus marinade</div>
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with french fries and curried zucchini</div>
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Pork and rice stew </div>
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Bacon and chard quiche</div>
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Texas rice casserole </div>
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Spanish flan</div>
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Chocolate cheesecake </div>
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Almond rice with nori and curried vegetables</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWsIQb4eJf5d0KeYpvfgaaRq7aYtjHzg4TFZShBaB_e7KsJggP-_50up0TRq_9qvr4TWzJMTYy48bCn18TzU2EM0LWRss-Me_tL2RXfghtIVFsb-d_QCeoWotXOpX_3HbzU9e_oZAyGJo/s1600/DSCN0290.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWsIQb4eJf5d0KeYpvfgaaRq7aYtjHzg4TFZShBaB_e7KsJggP-_50up0TRq_9qvr4TWzJMTYy48bCn18TzU2EM0LWRss-Me_tL2RXfghtIVFsb-d_QCeoWotXOpX_3HbzU9e_oZAyGJo/s1600/DSCN0290.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Cornbread</div>
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Cornbread casserole</div>
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Flourless brownies</div>
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Orange chocolate cupcakes</div>
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Chocolate, avocado, amaranth cake</div>
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Shepherd's pie</div>
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Homemade yogurt</div>
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Scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon breakfast</div>
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Citrus glazed tuna steak with lemony potatoes </div>
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and broccoli in soy sauce</div>
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Vegan cheesecake</div>
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Almond, coconut, chocolate meringue pie</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUb3T-fegGnH6E_XJwjhhOpMtXdiVqOgeCnwXHIuz_SH626v6c7DEdYe6z2y8cO2izb8FG-71-WTG_IssAvaROxcJTvcfSkrI7rOs6813syVa74ZBVhmzurkgoFRvVoxDcr8B6LvcXTDyK/s1600/DSCN0734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUb3T-fegGnH6E_XJwjhhOpMtXdiVqOgeCnwXHIuz_SH626v6c7DEdYe6z2y8cO2izb8FG-71-WTG_IssAvaROxcJTvcfSkrI7rOs6813syVa74ZBVhmzurkgoFRvVoxDcr8B6LvcXTDyK/s1600/DSCN0734.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sour cream chocolate mousse</div>
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Bahamian pork chops with sesame broccoli</div>
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Vegan orange cacao nut pie</div>
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Vegan cacao bliss balls</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMBlR3Yfv9F_lwXXSPBhC6XD2IKQ5yTjYfmo6GoowNlCSn4KRunErMJW3EE8ynNdsoFBPBLtFivyTJU_ERD0gVb5eTNIT3Xa9ijJe6ERz1Db35WTdDHZ-bIc5-PjTZsNdyMewK_wiV0Ct/s1600/DSCN0884.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMBlR3Yfv9F_lwXXSPBhC6XD2IKQ5yTjYfmo6GoowNlCSn4KRunErMJW3EE8ynNdsoFBPBLtFivyTJU_ERD0gVb5eTNIT3Xa9ijJe6ERz1Db35WTdDHZ-bIc5-PjTZsNdyMewK_wiV0Ct/s1600/DSCN0884.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a> </div>
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Garlic butter shrimp and zucchini rolls</div>
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Tuna steak in peanut sauce and salad</div>
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Cheesy minced meat casserole</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrk54hYVUvjmupCiHvShYuxht9NFNOBmEnrRSqJ2rHYoqc9dn615ZexKKVSTRXmVbxsd9OxfDN_48GUHp78TfjSouu44eBgUY-19r7tcm6hzbfPJqWjO0FAXm-E4wkZneXI3ksZE909nqZ/s1600/DSCN1101.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrk54hYVUvjmupCiHvShYuxht9NFNOBmEnrRSqJ2rHYoqc9dn615ZexKKVSTRXmVbxsd9OxfDN_48GUHp78TfjSouu44eBgUY-19r7tcm6hzbfPJqWjO0FAXm-E4wkZneXI3ksZE909nqZ/s1600/DSCN1101.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Pickled cucumbers and onions</div>
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Pork chops in tomato sauce with potato/broccoli with herbs </div>
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Cornbreaded fish, stir fry veg with peanut sauce, </div>
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blue cheese stuffed potatoes, and glazed nuts</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8I4pyMJuSIvIB0v4_qTXI3nFxkvzx73WCzhu2AP3O2Djt1kocUxbmehmw3Qc4W0Ks_uLwVNBnYiR_yoZXYNn8HGmDSmrpVGDOHBsozxss3TdDvzKwbeXJZva_uQ4tTWtVi4pRI6cfIqP/s1600/DSCN1182.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8I4pyMJuSIvIB0v4_qTXI3nFxkvzx73WCzhu2AP3O2Djt1kocUxbmehmw3Qc4W0Ks_uLwVNBnYiR_yoZXYNn8HGmDSmrpVGDOHBsozxss3TdDvzKwbeXJZva_uQ4tTWtVi4pRI6cfIqP/s1600/DSCN1182.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Lemon cupcakes </div>
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Chocolate chai cake</div>
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Chocolate caramel balls</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ9hlgka1AZvxK1a-MYe4vxN5SmR2ubNjlL2ILEos4fJGpKNnouVq7arOHHDFYtafTLcybTnZY5JGvN_fYwBckQ6mv05v5FrVmLXzsrNEC95-VwmCZaBodHMqweOdIKzMagY2HSpZ8zbj/s1600/DSCN1198.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ9hlgka1AZvxK1a-MYe4vxN5SmR2ubNjlL2ILEos4fJGpKNnouVq7arOHHDFYtafTLcybTnZY5JGvN_fYwBckQ6mv05v5FrVmLXzsrNEC95-VwmCZaBodHMqweOdIKzMagY2HSpZ8zbj/s1600/DSCN1198.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Birthday cake for his grandma, </div>
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and several other birthday cake commissions </div>
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from friends and neighbors</div>
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To see my son finding his passions is exciting and inspiring.</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-50529281009070689882015-03-13T14:43:00.002-06:002015-03-13T14:43:46.971-06:00A Peek at our Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaJo4FRGJZQRJewX8BvqmNc0n6oJ9ERtNEXiHxqysWrOup3F7NlpLm8qoWT_R16-agfER92-Al8pXZYi2ez9oEoCASfHBEb1oH5Wdq7gkaswh2NVaHkKW25nnmGBCFKxEVLIh_RNNLgG4/s1600/DSCN0841.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghaJo4FRGJZQRJewX8BvqmNc0n6oJ9ERtNEXiHxqysWrOup3F7NlpLm8qoWT_R16-agfER92-Al8pXZYi2ez9oEoCASfHBEb1oH5Wdq7gkaswh2NVaHkKW25nnmGBCFKxEVLIh_RNNLgG4/s1600/DSCN0841.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We've been busy, busy, busy...</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Reading Lord of the Rings </div>
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Studying Newton's Laws of Motion</div>
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Working on Creative Writing/Photography Assignment: <i> </i></div>
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<i>"My Town"</i></div>
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Learning to change the strings of his guitar:</div>
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A New Haircut</div>
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Hip Hop video for P.E.</div>
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Making a Lampshade </div>
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Dissecting a Fish</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Gagging Mama did not participate in this one)</span></div>
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Learning to use Excel</div>
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Participating in a Raw Vegan Desserts workshop:</div>
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My mom sent him a food processor shortly after this workshop, </div>
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and he's been non-stop making yummy, healthy treats for us <3</div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-76075573518019703112015-02-27T12:17:00.000-06:002015-02-27T12:17:33.726-06:00Building an Electric Generator<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last week, Lu got to participate in a 5-day workshop with <a href="http://apptechdesign.org/" target="_blank">ATC <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<i>Appropriate Technology Collaborative)</i></span></a>. They were building an electric generator using old microwave parts. He learned all about magnetism and electricity, and a bunch of other cool stuff. He's been very lucky to be able to participate in workshops like this with ATC, when they used our workshop space in the past.</div>
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At noon, he'd run up to the kitchen for lunch and show me all kinds of neat thingy'ma'jiggies and make them move with batteries and magnets, and - at about a gazillion words per minute - excitedly try to explain everything he was learning to his non-science-minded mother.</div>
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It's really cool to see my kid understand stuff I know nothing about. </div>
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I love it when *he* can teach *me* something,</div>
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which he does. Often. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowzQUBVUTObwwRKrV9my0H-vZwuEfqTY9nzcL-1i-8M81D7Q2WWIU-JaCbRAgvqjG9QQmCHY76BTsqujC_iqOGaypHcXjewVL52KOFoda2Q2tPbMrm1Ohd5sHqlGrWKY0rzD5Bdj_55pI/s1600/DSCN0774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowzQUBVUTObwwRKrV9my0H-vZwuEfqTY9nzcL-1i-8M81D7Q2WWIU-JaCbRAgvqjG9QQmCHY76BTsqujC_iqOGaypHcXjewVL52KOFoda2Q2tPbMrm1Ohd5sHqlGrWKY0rzD5Bdj_55pI/s1600/DSCN0774.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a> </div>
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I can teach him what I know.</div>
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We can look stuff up together.</div>
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But it's SOOOO important to find opportunities to learn with other people, experts when possible. Like when he made sushi with a real sushi chef. Or took a plastering workshop with an expert in a specific technique. Last week he took a soap-making workshop. This week he started swimming lessons, to work on his form, with a certified lifeguard. Next week he'll be taking a 3-hour workshop on vegan and raw desserts. And of course his weekly guitar lessons, which are well worth the investment because he is really rockin'!</div>
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Some of these learning experiences are expensive, and we can only afford a few classes. Others are free and just happen naturally with friends,
or nice people we meet (like the sushi chef). Either way, the
opportunity for Lu to learn with other people is always something we
jump at whenever we can. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPaHsEKd80e1_VXl4HlAfUpA3D-5j2ILrdHrb7OISuyLomPKerdQSVYqkQNsGS2OWGcBdT65ysnQctLdSr4t50bHzPtvlNGJiRY6woPWe0F_-_Nrj4Yg3YxN6IHJO2_a2lxee4dcKqYqa/s1600/DSCN0779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPaHsEKd80e1_VXl4HlAfUpA3D-5j2ILrdHrb7OISuyLomPKerdQSVYqkQNsGS2OWGcBdT65ysnQctLdSr4t50bHzPtvlNGJiRY6woPWe0F_-_Nrj4Yg3YxN6IHJO2_a2lxee4dcKqYqa/s1600/DSCN0779.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I, personally, prefer to spend </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
whatever money we have for homeschool </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
on experiences, rather than on packaged curriculum. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Any day. </div>
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Gabrielahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11009468362041053140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301707240517841445.post-9349851295621349372015-02-13T11:03:00.000-06:002015-02-13T11:39:30.368-06:00Lake Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
All these big, thick books! It feels so... scholarly!</div>
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I was intimidated by our million-page algebra book in the beginning,<br />
but we're managing just fine.</div>
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<br />
We've been learning about stuff like</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(read with loud, thundery voice) </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Transitive Property of Equality</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(say whaaa?)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Oh yeah.</div>
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If a=b and b=c, then a=c. </div>
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<br /></div>
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And we've been learning about stargazing and</div>
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the ideas of Copernicus and Kepler and Galileo...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsbw3Uh3h37PcKD4rJNEBf-tSh5_-wNoNI80nZMRlmNYBOb6qOWCvKLg-J56_qfaU2h75ODefypb7DNEuxUTg0eyUbEesmVHyGySt9wqB0IZU9Wrzk5Dxk8fkAZz1mLvR6klC09V0z9Sn/s1600/DSCN0536.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsbw3Uh3h37PcKD4rJNEBf-tSh5_-wNoNI80nZMRlmNYBOb6qOWCvKLg-J56_qfaU2h75ODefypb7DNEuxUTg0eyUbEesmVHyGySt9wqB0IZU9Wrzk5Dxk8fkAZz1mLvR6klC09V0z9Sn/s1600/DSCN0536.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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In history we've been reading and watching documentaries</div>
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about the Ottoman Empire.</div>
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<br />
Oh so much sophisticated learning!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
****</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But in the middle of the week, on Wednesdays,</div>
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we leave the books on the kitchen table,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and we take a Lake Day.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXozS4W8lOYZvYKkrZOVjnS_uDAH8H08rprD6RkoWQ6BW9DPUxuAW-Im51wbJEos1e_pSzflEHZV2GpNIZlayKMLGiMoMq5433VjY9F91yuZSTdNon2hwqeMJbZPPoL_USPK9jEJoH0G0Z/s1600/DSCN0172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXozS4W8lOYZvYKkrZOVjnS_uDAH8H08rprD6RkoWQ6BW9DPUxuAW-Im51wbJEos1e_pSzflEHZV2GpNIZlayKMLGiMoMq5433VjY9F91yuZSTdNon2hwqeMJbZPPoL_USPK9jEJoH0G0Z/s1600/DSCN0172.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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It's a 7-minute walk from our house. </div>
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<br /></div>
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On the weekends we go swimming too,</div>
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and sometimes run into friends</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(ya know, 'cause they go to school and can only go to the lake on weekends ;)</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
We moved here when Lu was one month old. I was a young, single mother. Everyone thought I was crazy. What would I do for money? Where would Lu go to school? There are no hospitals nearby! Were we safe, alone on the mountain? We didn't even have electricity in the tiny house I'd built for us!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But it was my dream,</div>
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and it all worked itself out, </div>
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and it was the best decision I've ever made.</div>
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Lu agrees :)</div>
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