Homeschool Mami's World

Why Homeschool: The Carnival of Homeschooling: Week 9 is up! It's beautifully arranged around the classical muses--very clever and lovely as well. If you like folk songs be sure to check out Mrs. Happy Housewife's entry and for a great idea on how to recycle junk mail and magazines check out Carrot Queen. My own entry on bilingual conversation is included.

Happy reading.

Homeschool Mami

My kids can talk. They have a limitless supply of questions. Infinite curiosity. Interesting observations. Surprising insights. And sometimes just plain old silliness.

When people first get to know our family usually they are most interested in the fact that my children only speak Spanish with my husband. Then the questions begin: Don't they ever get confused? Don't they mix the languages? How do they do that? Do they really understand both languages?

These are normal questions, of course. When I was pregnant with my first child I researched bilingualism and found out that in our situation the best way to teach the languages was OPOL or one parent/one language. So from the time they were born, my husband has spoken to the children in Spanish and they respond to him in Spanish. When they babbled as toddlers sometimes I could tell that they were babbling in Spanish because I could hear the pure vowel sounds of Spanish in the midst of their ga-ga goo-goos. As they learned languages they associated Mami with English and Papi with Spanish. No confusion there.

Everyone agrees that being bilingual is an advantage, but unfortunately it is an anomaly in most of American culture. Among most first generation immigrant kids, the minority language is usually lost because of the pressure to learn English. Sometimes educators mistakenly believe that maintaining the minority language means not learning the majority language. This is not true.

When I am home alone with the kids, our talk is primarily in English. I do occasionally speak Spanish, but that's for my benefit, not theirs. When we are together the talk is pretty much constant. I do enjoy the most fascinating educational conversations, and I love to make connections with my kids from one idea to another (like a spiderweb) and talking about ideas if my idea of a day well spent. However, all this talk, talk, talk (in English or in Spanish)can wear me out by the end of a long day. Sometimes when my husband comes home after a long shift, I decide that I am done with talking and tell the kids to address all conversation to their father--I am off-duty for the day.



Homeschool Mami

you plan to spend your tax refund on museum passes.

We got the Worcester Art Museum family membership for Christmas, so that one's covered. Just today, my husband took the kids to Higgins Armory and bought that pass. We plan on buying or renewing the following:

The Ecotarium
Old Sturbridge Village
Audubon Society
Tower Hill Botanic Gardens

We also will continue to take the kids to the homeschool classes at the Auburn Sportsplex which we LOVE and will enroll the older ones in another class at the Worcester Art Museum.

I don't think running out of things to do in the area will be one of our homeschooling challenges.

Homeschool Mami

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Beverly Hernandez' homeschooling.about.com. Check it out including Love of Learning by a homeschooler who is "forever mom" of the three siblings that she adopted out of foster care, removed from public school and began to homeschool. She sounds like one great mom. Also good reading is Following Rabbit Trails and how that enriches learning. My post on Black History Month is included.

Homeschool Mami

Well, since church was obviously cancelled, we are all home cozily holed up together.

We have been reading, playing on the computer, watching Winnie the Pooh on DVD with the Spanish dubbing, practicing the piano, playing board games and staying warm.

I'm about to make Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust, which is a recipe I've had bookmarked for a while, and will try today for the first time. I'm also making 12 bean soup with turkey sausage which is very yummy and healthy.

Eventually we have to consider shovelling out--but not just yet.

Homeschool Mami

Check out Carnival of Unschooling #3 over at cool blog Atypical Homeschool where my post February is Black History Month is included. Carnivals are a great way to hear new voices and to find new readers!

Homeschool Mami

Superlassogirl is on an African-American history kick. We visited the African-American Festival last weekend at Mechanics Hall and enjoyed some traditional Liberian drumming, dancing and masks, listened to gospel music and jazz, and enjoyed making homemade dolls. We had such a great time that it reignited her interest in the topic.

When she was only five, she read picture book after picture book about slavery, the Underground Railroad, segregation, and African American families. Even though slavery is something that she is familiar with, each time she reads about it she is horrified anew. "How could people do that? Didn't they know it was wrong? What were they thinking?" And honestly I don't know that my attempt at answering her questions satisfies her: "People are selfish and when they convince themselves that other people are less than they are they can treat them like animals. They cared more about money and having people to work for them, than they cared about the fact that everyone is created in the image of God and is worthy of respect. I think they must have known it was wrong on some level. I don't know how they could do it. Isn't it awful?"

One of the things that upsets her most is the idea that people would choose their friends or playmates based on their color. Our own circle of family, friends, neighbors and church is full of many beautiful skin tones, and it doesn't affect our love for one another.

In our last two library visits we we have borrowed books and books on Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, slave diaries, and integrating schools. One of my favorites is a simply beautiful book illustrating the classic Gershwin song, Summertime, from Porgy & Bess. I'm a sucker for musical theater, and it's a tune I want the kids to know.

Tomorrow I'm going to show her this link on Black History Month and our learning journey will continue.

Homeschool Mami

you juggle a wallet full of library cards and max them out like a shopaholic maxes out credit cards on a spending spree.



Homeschool Mami

More "You might be a homeschooler if..." here and here.

We love the public radio station out of Emerson College in Boston: 88.9, WERS. On weekends our favorite listening is the Playground which has fun children's music from 5 PM - 8 PM Saturdays and Sundays. It includes "old stuff" that I remember from my childhood like Schoolhouse Rock and the Brady Kids singing "It's A Sunshine Day" as well as Silly Songs from Veggie Tales, Disney tunes, tv theme songs and really funny artists like Trout Fishing in America and their contemporary nursery rhyme polka classic, "The Window." (If you've never heard this song, it's worth listening to the Playground just to request it.)

Also a big favorite around here is the Broadway show, Standing Room Only Saturdays 10 AM to 2 PM and Sundays 12 Noon to 2 PM. It's one of my educational biases that my kids should know the great American songbook as part of their cultural literacy.

Happy listening, and don't forget to sing along.

Homeschool Mami

Breaking news: Moe's, the best "fresh-mex" around, has opened in Worcester, practically down the street from my house. They are one of the hottest new franchises according to Entrepreneur Magazine. And it's yummy.

The family unit had lunch there yesterday, on opening day, and it tastes even better than the Moe's in Shrewsbury. Check out the menu here. The restaurant itself is where the old Bickford's used to be on Stafford near the intersection of Main Street in the Webster Square area. It's beautifully furnished and the cheerful "Welcome to Moe's" that you hear from the counter guys and gals sets a great tone as you walk in.

See you at Moe's. (No, I don't own this restaurant or know the owners.)

Homeschool Mami