mad method

Every year my need to mimic traditional schools decreases leaving me greater freedom to experiment. Last year's great experiment was using composition books for our history and language arts. We did some science in composition books, but it came late to the party and never developed the way I hoped. This year is going to be different.
Usually I choose a branch of science such as biology and we work on learning the facts. This year we are going to learn the scientific method.
Composition books are frequently used in science labs as a way of recording data and such. My goal is that my kids will be able to draft and complete their own experiments. I plan to have a workshop at the beginning where we will work through an experiment together, then I intend to move them on by providing them with kits that they can do without help. (Check out Meijer's Kid's Science section or Toys R Us' Imaginarium.) Once they work successfully with the kits I'll restrict them to books. (Janice Van Cleave, Blood and Guts, that sort of thing.) When they are doing well with the books I'm going to ask them to design their own experiment to develop a better understanding of something they've already done. Hopefully they'll still learn a lot of facts, though my only contribution to that will be to make sure the experiment kits and books come from a variety of disciplines. I'll probably go back to my normal method next year, but I hope we will always do a lot of hands-on learning.

Surprise Vacation

I'd given up on a vacation this summer when Kurt called to tell me he'd reserved a house on the Isle of Palms. My family has been vacationing on the Isle of Palms since my dad was young enough to trip over John Glen and not know who it was. What a lovely and unexpected surprise. I didn't have time to get into my normal pre-vacation lather with endless lists and optimization. We washed. We threw it into a suitcase. We left. The love bug bag and the nook were both helpful on the drive. Everyone was in a good mood when we arrived at the perfect little rental duplex. It is in my nature to come up with a list of things to accomplish. I've found that even if the vacation has its struggles you can still point to the items you knocked off your list. This year my list felt superfluous as we all enjoyed ourselves. Nevertheless I did get a lovely sea shell ornament and a practical piece of art to enhance our home and remind us of Charleston, I read 80 pages of Freud and all of Mansfield Park, I ate at Chick Fil A and Waffle House, I had special moments with everyone in my family. We went above and beyond seeing The Last Air Bender and Despicable Me. Listening to the kids critique the two movies was priceless. All we can say about Air-Bender is "Show Me the Funny." We hit the Aquarium and the Market, but most of all we lived on the beach. It was a much needed and perfect get-away.