A "New Citizen"

My oath ceremony was quite extraordinary for me. I was sworn to citizenship along with six thousand other individuals at the Staples center that day. After getting over the shock of paying $20 for parking I remembered that as anything else in life, it is what you make of it. At times I felt as if we were cattle, being herded from one room to another, one line to another and basically being kept busy for 5 hours so we could be grateful when it was all done. Honestly, I was hoping for something much more personal than that.
Then I realized the magnitude of the event I was part of and of coming together with all these people who I will never see again. Although a bit restless at times, Laura stood by me the whole time. She saw all these eager individuals waiting just like me, saw their faces and heard their native languages. She saw her mom cry with mixed emotions of sadness and relieve when she was told to give up her mother country of Colombia, heard six thousand voices pledge allegiance to the flag of her country and joined in the happiness when it was all done.
So now that I am an "American" I see that I could have never gotten to be one with out being Colombian first. Without my parent's values, my grandparent's love or the principles instilled in me since childhood. That is the road that brought me to this point of my life and the road that I hope my daughter never forgets, no matter where on earth she ends up when she is my age.

What? My voice counts too?

Never had I been so involved or interested in the presidential election as today. Here I am in bed recuperating from a back injury, devouring information on all things having to do with the upcoming presidential election. This maybe an everyday ritual for some, or a nuisance for others. To me it is an incredible new world: voting and having my voice heard.
You see, I have just been appointed to take my citizenship oath on October 9th. Suddenly a new conscience has emerged. MY rights, MY voice, MY choice. They never counted before at this time. What I thought about one candidate or the other, the media or the laws being passed never made a difference to anyone but me up to now.
I have lived in this country for 24 years, paid taxes, gone to college and paid my loans, married, give birth and have turn 40 years old since that faithful night of July 1st, 1984, when I first set foot in American soil. Here I am about to vote for the first time in my life. I don't take this privilege lightly and take great pride in it.
I share this pride with my daughter and explain to her what makes this event so special in my life. We have talked about Washington, Lincoln, the revolutionary war,the flag of our country, the suffrage movement, Martin Luther King, September 11 and Iraq. After our conversations I have often asked myself: Is this appropriate school curriculum for a first grader? Does it meet "academic state standards in social studies? Is it too much information for a 6.5 year old? Then I remind myself that we are not homeschooling to meet state standards mandated by people who can afford to send their children to Princeton or Harvard. We are in it to create a conscientious citizen who stands for her believes with dignity and passion. I conclude that these conversations certainly meet OUR standards.

Considering the choices that the media makes most readily available to the public, I find myself in quiet desperation for everyone who holds the precious right to vote. I firmly believe that no one has the right to tell me what to believe, what to think or who I should vote for. I find the lack of responsible media coverage of ALL the candidates for presidency a crime against all Americans.
I urge you to become informed of all your options. Don't settle for the "lesser" of two evils.
Please register, get out there and VOTE!
Citizenship starts and ends at home.

Sanity prevails!

From CHN’s website:

August 8: This morning the Cailfornia Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three issued its ruling in the In re Rachel L. case. In Feburary 2008 this same court issued an opinion that held that California parents can homeschool their children only if they hold a valid teaching credential. The court vacated its February 2008 decision by agreeing to rehear the case. In addition to hearing from the parties on rehearing, the court also invited numerous friends-of-the-court, known as “amicus curiae” to provide legal argument. The court heard argument from the parties and the amicus curiae on June 2, 2008 for more than 2 hours. Today’s court ruling held that (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared a dependent. Homeschooling, therefore, remains a legal educational option in California.

Comments for our Y friends

Feel free to leave your comments here for our friends! It would really help them to hear from us!
Smiles,
Stella

May is gone! oh me! oh my!

Again, time has sneaked up on me, but no worries, I have managed to publish some of our pictures from each month in the albums. I hope you get a chance to look at them.
Our Daisy Girl Scout season is coming to an end and Laura is ready to "Bridge"(graduate) to the next level (Brownies), which is keeping me very busy. Watch out everyone... Cookie time is near!

April is for Outdoors

How beautiful spring is around here! This year we really got a chance to experience it first hand. We had fun park days, attended two outdoor nature classes, learned about bees & had honey from a honeycomb, camped at the beach and hiked a lot.
Laura continued making gadgets in her "Engineering with Legos" class, learning Chinese, music on the keyboard and playing math games. We went to see "Henry and Mudge" and "Winnie the Pooh" on stage, learned about gases with Mad Science, and shared improv classes with our group. We also made a fabulous new home for cookie, Laura's new hamster. Laura made her little house.

COSTA RICA in MAY

We looked forward to this trip ever since my sister announced to us her wedding location more than a year ago. Being a native Spanish speaker I was eager to utilize my mother language and share my culture with our daughter in a more natural environment once again. Laura and I had been to Colombia (my country) two years ago visiting family.

After my visit I can say that Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I have been to. It is just like Colombia. It made me long for my own country and its beauty with bitter sweet memories of its landscapes and people.

The varied topography, biodiversity and people are amazing. Although you can’t escape from a tourist trap or two, an occasional pushy street vendor and must be watchful of your belongings (as one should anyhow) it was none the less a fantastic trip.
This was especially true for Laura, who got to experience things that she had never gotten a chance do here. We went to a butterfly farm, saw dozens of new species of insects, rode horseback for hours into a primary rain forest and swam in fresh river pools. We sailed and snorkeled, visited the mangrove ecosystem, zip lined thousands of feet above ground, visited the gold museum, hiked and walked on hanging bridges, experienced unique flora and fauna up close everyday and kayaked and swam to our heart's content.
We also met people from all over the world, including an American family that was taking their time to travel around the country by car.

We stayed in San Jose for two nights and south of Quepos for the rest of our 10 day stay. At Quepos we stayed at Tulemar, a beautiful resort overlooking the ocean nestled among the rain forest, adjacent to Manuel Antonio Natural Reserve. Most everyday we went out on a guided excursion. Most excursions offered breakfast, lunch or both depending on the time it took place.

On our return, I had to complete Laura’s attendance record for her charter school. I wondered which activities to count as “academic” enough to list each day. Admittedly, we did not worry about fulfilling any lessons at the time. However, the cultural and language immersion, ecological education, environmental awareness, physical challenges and overall experience my daughter was exposed to during our visit are worth their weight in gold to us.

BACK TO LA- End of year, development assessment

It has been a mellow "academic" return to reality for us. We have been doing a lot of field trips instead. In the last two weeks of May we managed to try out a new fencing class for the fall (which laura loved), go camping to the beach, visit the renaissance faire, go to Disneyland, visit the museum of Natural History and an Alpaca farm. Also, Laura and her friend collected donations to benefit the Chinese earthquake victims by giving out lemos, oranges and grapefruits from their gardens (our dog, Avery helped too).

Sometimes I wonder if it is just too much action. After all, there are no written rules, transportation issues, or public funds (or lack there of) to rule how many times we go out on field trips. Then I talk to veteran home school parents among our support group to take in their wisdom. Everyone tells me the same: Homeschooling is about having fun discovering, creating unconventional learning experiences and listening to your child's interests. All right then, we are doing very well.

Laura's reading is coming along great. Her math and writing skills are well were they should be. Her reasoning, logical mind is sharp and alert. Her compassion, concern, respect and love for others is one of the things that make me most proud of her. Her creativity flourishes daily, either by way of making up a new board game, gathering materials for a self directed project,solving problems found along the way or any other surprising way. She beams self esteem and is not trapped in trendy merchandising fads.

We will continue doing a little work in the summer, trying out new curriculum here and there, having fun and enjoying life.

I am glad we left the school when we did. We still love the people there and think of the fun parts of it, but I am grateful for having this opportunity in front of me. I see it as an extremely beneficial experience for Laura. I can comfortably say this for both James and I, even though we've had to make financial sacrifices and are still trying to settle into living without my income, however small it was. I will try to freelance some this summer, trying make it work better for us. Again, I consider myself lucky in that aspect because my trade and location allows me to do this. I love it and wouldn't change myself or our decision to home school Laura in kindergarten for anything in the world.

Has it been a month? or more?

I can't believe how time goes by around here. I honestly thought I would be better at keeping you abreast of our events. Really... it has been a busy month (March) and we are still moving forward!
We had great times in March, with friends who were out of school on spring break and were able to join in a few adventures.
We are still working with Right start math, taking it slow and making sure that she knows all her numbers and addition facts up to 20 inside out with games and fun lessons. We are learning about Egypt and the pyramids as well as about nature all around with hikes and lectures at the nature center. Reading is of course, the (yummy) bread of everyday.
Laura continued with her gymnastics and keyboard classes; which she enjoys enormously. She also started to take Chinese, which she can practice with daddy on a daily basis and "Engineering with Legos" for the next eight weeks.

We seem to be a lot more "in the groove" with one another. Laura is eager to learn and when she is (intellectually or physically) tired she finds an alternate activity that soothes her.

I started to convert our patio room into our "classroom" although I prefer to call it our "studio", where things happen.

The days go by so fast... even Laura notices it. She is equally amazed when she goes to sleep and realizes that another wonderful day has gone by so fast!

Sometimes I think about all the things that school kinder gardeners are learning... all the reading, all the writing, all the waiting in line, all the competition. I wonder how my daughter's life would differ is she was following the same path.
Then I realize that she IS doing the same on her own terms; without pressure of any sort and with an incredible mixture of excitement, curiosity and wonder. She challenges herself, is well rested, eats nutritious meals, runs and enjoys the outdoors to her heart's content and is kind to those around her everyday. She is proud of herself and enjoys being her age.

Then I remind myself of how lucky we are to be able to home school right now and how different our lives are thanks to it.

Are we legal?

Thanks to the irresponsible parents who think that homeschooling a child is keeping them at home abusing them... the home school community is up in arms about a recent court ruling which says that home schooling can only be done by a California state credentialed teacher. Here is what Terri Adams, Director of Golden Valley Charter School had to say to our Educational Specialists (a.k.a designated teachers) on the subject:

"A recent court ruling was made public essentially indicating that home schooling is illegal in California. Please assure your concerned families that this ruling does not apply to GVCS. GVCS students are enrolled in a state-approved public school, students whose education is regularly and consistently overseen by a California credentialed teacher. GVCS has a required standard of education, an attendance requirement based on work completion and evidence of adequate and appropriate progress, and specific subject requirements. GVCS complies with the independent study law in this state, a legal and viable method of delivery of education. There is no cause for concern."

So... although this does not "seem" to affect us I feel terrible and very much in unison with the outraged parents of our home school community who work independently.

I know that this ruling was propelled by a case that looked to protect children from their abusive parents in a home school setting. Yet I cannot help to feel angry and invaded when I think of all the loving and law abiding families that are providing their children with a highly efficient, loving, individualized and superior educational experience on a daily basis. This is something that many schools cannot come close to doing, specially for a group of twenty (or thirty) children clustered in a classroom all day.

This is how I feel about this issue.

It seems to me that what is really needed is one on one counseling, guidance, support and encouragement to developing human beings who are always growing, from birth to death. I wonder if the parents involved in this case ever got any of it. I wonder if THEY ever found it in their (probably traditional compulsory) educational experience?

ed·u·ca·tion /ˌɛdʒʊˈkeɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ej-oo-key-shuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun

1.the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

Looking back at our first month of homeschooling

I realize how many wonderful opportunities Laura has had this month. It has been a month of much learning and exploration.

We are still trying to find a good curriculum for language arts, since the materials that the school provided does not come with all of the books that are mentioned in the teacher's edition. We do the suggested lessons in the first grade curriculum (as Laura feels she can handle the material fine) and find that many a time I wish there was more to it. Still, we are doing it at our own pace and having a good time at it. Laura still does the phonics worksheet packets just as she would at school.
I am concentrating in reading to her, having her read to us and working in her phonics as much as possible. I make sure that she gets to work with her hands in drawing and sculpture throughout the week, as I think these are very strong factors in developing her eye-hand coordination, muscles and overall writing ability at this time.

Our math curriculum is coming along as I become more acquainted with the material from "the Right start math". Laura is fine with it as she has been playing math games from this program with her friend for a while now. She wants to jump right up ahead to the chapter where he is (#38 or so) but I believe that we must make sure that we understand all the concepts covered before then, as it is a new approach for us. So we are in chapter 9, moving along pretty well.
Beside this, Laura loves to practice her numbers (and defeat her parents) with monopoly.

For social studies we have started to read "Story of the world" and after learning about archeology have paused at the first chapter (about nomads and prehistoric people) in order to read "The boy of the painted cave" by Justen Denzel. Laura really enjoyed the story and is now eager to visit the LaBrea tar pits looking for glimpses of Tao's world. This, coupled with a number of other selected library books about prehistoric people and early civilizations have covered our needs.

In science, we are taking a more relaxed approach. Besides from being the most popular kid at the park, making baking soda volcanoes, Laura has had an awesome time enjoying the outdoors. She has gone on hikes, observed her surroundings, talked about the life cycle, biodiversity, pollution and the weather. Laura has also attended classes offered through our local nature center about the geology and edible plants around the area. She has collected specimens, learned about their composition, characteristics and uses. These classes are packed with so much information!

I consider the music and "PE" curriculum to be our added bonus for home schooling. Laura loves her weekly gymnastics and soccer practice meetings (soon to be a field games meetings) and time at the park running with her friends.
After a couple of lessons, she is learning about rhythm, as well as to read and write a few notes. She is very pleased with her progress and is proud to show you what she knows.

It has been a month of adjustments for all of us. Although it has been an overall enjoyable process, it has also had moments of frustration and reflection on our parenting techniques. It seems that whatever issues there are to be dealt with are much more concrete as we are with her so much more. This a good thing for us, to be able to recognize things more readily and tackle it in unison as a family at any time.

Most of all, it has been a month of discovery for all of us.
I very good month indeed!

Monopoly math and fire station tours

These are the ways we are learning about math and social studies lately. Laura has managed to defeat us for a second time in a row at monopoly. Although this is a terrible blow to our pride we take it as an excellent lesson in counting by tens, hundreds and thousands for our six year old. She loves the excitement of the game (honestly, she is fierce) and happens to have amazing good luck. Such as landing in the free parking space any time there's money on it!

Laura and Timmy made lemonade for our garage sale this weekend and sold it at .50 p/cup. After reaching a whooping amount of $4.50 Laura has decided that she needs a cut of the garage sale income as her payment for having so many things that used to be hers in the sale. I thing this monopoly thing is really sinking in!

What about social studies?
Besides from reading "Story of the world" and following their activities, we try to include our community in our lives. Laura recently made a thank you card for the fire department during one of her Daisy Girl scouts meetings. She went with James for a tour of the fire station and hand delivered the card to the firemen. This visit was specially important for our family because JB's dad (Ronnie Brown) used to be a Firehouse Captain in Texas. We then assembled our Playmobile fire house at home. It was interesting to hear Laura play with her firemen toys, knowing how the station works and what everyone's job is about. She is now very exited about adding the fire engine to her fire station set.

What about "Stella"? My friend questioned me this weekend. What about the individual, the person I am without any others, the ME, myself and I? where is she in this homeschooling enterprise?

Stella is very fine and happy right now. Stella is at ease knowing that she can be with her daughter, facilitate answers to her questions, enjoy her time seeing her grow and knowing that there is nothing else in the world that she would rather do at this moment in her life. Stella is balanced, at ease, eager to learn, calm, attentive, supportive and happy. Stella is for once in a very long time, living without regrets and guilt of not being there enough for the most important people in her life: her husband and daughter. In other words Stella couldn't be happier right now! well...except for a few extra pounds, which is a pretty minor complaint when one looks at the the whole picture.
Up to now and without difficulty I can tell you that this is the most gratifying "job" I have applied myself to do in the last few years. Ever since Laura was born it has been my worry to try and balance being a mother and a professional, no matter at what. I changed my entire career path from animation to early childhood education in order to supposedly spend more time with my daughter. I have earned a new degree and worked in a number of exceptional educational facilities (while my daughter was cared for by others) all to realize that I still wanted to give my family more of me.

My daughter's development and upbringing has been my utmost priority since the moment I knew I was pregnant. It seems that for once, now that she is six and we are homeschooling, I don't have to worry about trying to find a job that would be rewarding and still allow me to spend time with my family. It feels great.
People are worried that once she "leaves the nest" I will have nothing left. I know for a fact that can never be because no matter how far she is, I will always have my everyday with her in my heart and the assurance of doing the best I could at the most challenging "job" in my life. Yes, I may end up being a little rusty in my drawing and painting. So what? I'll have plenty of time in the future to pick it up where I left it. It is in me. Not borrowed or lost. My art can never be gone from me, as my daughter can never take a second place in my life. No matter how unbalanced that may look to others, I accept it as my truth and enjoy living it everyday. Best of all, one feeds the other constantly.

Thanks for asking!

Ready, set... Read!

I would say that this is the number one activity around our house lately. We read in bed in the morning, during the day at some point, and at night again. I would say that our average for the day is between 1.5 to 2 hrs. Laura has started to read to us too. It is very exciting to see her tackle a story never seen before. Today she insisted in doing "worksheets" after she read. She is very comfortable with the work format used at school. I prepared some reading comprehension questions, rhyming words and blended consonant exercises based on the reading. She was as happy as pie.

Today the Educational Specialist (ES) dropped by with an enormous amount of reading, social studies and science materials for us to consider using. They are mostly the same materials used in the school that Laura attended so she was very excited to see the familiar faces of the books and workbooks for K and 1st grade (She was in a K/1 combo class).

We just found out about an intro to Biology/Anatomy class where the students will be dissecting a squid, a grasshopper, a sheep's eye and putting together and owl pellet. She wants to do it very badly (funny, for a self admitted science hater, because of "all those long names of things"). I think it will be tons of fun!

I would say that my biggest challenge thus far has been getting Laura used to the idea that she won't be paid "home school dollars" for doing her work, as they did at the public school where she attended. I assure her that her prize is doing a job well done and being able to go to any museum she wants any day that she wants to.

"But you have to be the teacher! We are homeschooling!"
Laura wants me to grade her work, which to me (of course), is near perfection for a child her age. I have explained to her that I am not her teacher but rather a facilitator, an aide to help her in her learning process. I ask if she would like to know the correct spelling of words (many times she says no or checks against a book or the dictionary herself), or if she would like to check her numbers in math. I make sure she has any materials she might need for whatever project she has at hand. I read to her, I explain the meaning of words and concepts. I help her look for the answers to her questions and I drive her to the places where she wants to be.
I know that she is learning every moment from the environment and people around her, including me. Still, I do not see myself as being her "teacher" as it is in the traditional school setting. Nor do I want to be. Some teachers are fantastic, some leave much to be desired. I don't want to be either one. JB and I are her #1 fans, supporters and facilitators. That's the way I see it. We are leaving the "teaching" to her intrinsic thirst for exploration, discovery and understanding. We know that she is a superb student of life based on our criteria.
So... who is the teacher here?

So we are homeschooling...Now what?

I feel compelled to create this blog so we can share this new and exciting adventure with all of you. Some of you may wonder how we are going about it, what do we do all day? how is our daughter learning?

Educational Approach
Before anything else is said I must let you know that my own educational background is a classical one (cant' get much more than catholic nuns in Colombia) . College and post graduate classwork have shown me that there are many ways to learn, which can be very exiting, effective and self empowering. James attended public school in Texas and continued on to Texas Tech University. We both come from very traditional educational backgrounds.

I have now been exposed to the developmental theories of Jean Piaget, Howard Gardner and Lev Vygotsky. I admire the educational approaches of John Holt, Charlotte Mason and Reggio Emilia. Having said that, my husband and I feel that it will be best to form our daughter with an eclectic educational approach. We will be using hands on activities, field trips, living books (secular), individualized home instruction, private tutoring, traditional classes and any other educational tool available to us in order to help her reach her potential. This blog will follow our adventures, discoveries, frustrations, challenges and victories as home scholars and parents in this path that we have chosen. We welcome you with open arms and appreciate any comment that you think may help us at one point or another.

Since then...
Laura has been officially out of the traditional public school setting (she was in kindergarten) for 3 weeks now. We play a lot, read for hours on end and allow her to explore her interest at whatever speed and intensity fulfills her at the time. She often chooses to sit for a long time to practice her hand writing or addition, or simply make up her own "googlie" language.
We spend our days playing with blocks, play dough, phonics, math, Spanish or Art games as much as she wants to. Last week we opened her piggie banks, counted the money and deposited it in the bank. It took the better part of the week and quite a bit of coin counting and rolling ($342)!.
We have also been going to the park, digging to China, playing kite relays, enjoying long hikes and continuing with her ice skating classes. She attends Daisy scouts meeting bi-weekly.

She just had her six birthday so now it is little pony central around here.

Curriculum
As first time home schoolers looking for the right amount of guidance and independence, we have enrolled in a local home school charter school. It is a state public school and observes the traditional school calendar as well as administers state mandated tests and school records. We now have a bit of a budget to play around with and to purchase curriculum and classes that will support her educational interests. We will be meeting with the Educational Specialist teacher assigned to us every 20 school days and supporting our needs with her expert advise. She will also be collecting samples of Laura's work for her official cumulative file.

We have looked at a number of curriculum choices and have decided to follow a variety of them as guidance based on approach. At this time we will be using "The right start " for math, exploring history and social studies with "the story of the world", science with activities at our local nature center, language arts with library books, phonics games and "handwriting without tears".

Laura will be participating in weekly semi-private music and art classes at home as well as group soccer practice and gymnastics. As you can tell, we are anything but bored around here!

As I proof read this post I see how much we have on our plate. Still, we are having lots of fun! Best of all, I know that we can modify things anytime.

Laura is adapting well to our new lifestyle and loves the different activities that make each of her days.
Above all she is as happy, sweet, friendly, outspoken, creative, inquisitive, daring and on task as always.
So far we love the home schooling experience! come back to check on us soon!
Smiles,
Stella