Mad (Cuban) Mom in a Minivan

When I tell people that I homeschool my kids, they seem to be under the (very!) mistaken impression that it means that I have them chained to desks all day and they don't see another soul for hours, days and weeks. Who started this ridiculous myth?

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Right now, as I write this, Adam has a group of Jonathan and Lucy's friends, Jr. High and High School homeschool kids and he's teaching them improvisation games. This occurs here every Friday afternoon.

If we're not here, we're driving.
Boy, are we driving!!

To racquetball.
To tap.
To drama.
To tennis.
To writing class.
To the Y.
To pick up friends.
To the grocery store.
To San Diego.
To Laguna Beach.
To Los Angeles.
To the science center.
To a museum.
To the zoo.
To the theater.
To the local Mexican market.
To the train station.

Just like every other mom with kids involved in different activities.

Well, okay. On the outside we look like any other family in South Orange County.

But in my minivan, while driving to all our different activities, we're listening to Willy Chirino. =D

Making the grade

I don't give out grades in our homeschool. Not in the traditional sense. I don't have a classroom full of kids to "grade" and compare, so we can spend time mastering skills. So technically, Jonathan is a straight A student because we don't have to move on if there's stuff he doesn't understand, umm. . . at least until he understands it - then we move on. It's logical. (duh!)

NOTE: For the record, Lucy's classes are all online and she has "real" teachers that she has to impress and she's also a straight A student, but that's not important right now.

Every month I do have to turn in a sample of all the work we've been doing the previous month for school. It lets my Master Teacher (yes, I answer to a higher credentialed authority) know what we've been doing and it helps me to see exactly where we are and what things we need to work on.

But grades are so arbitrary and the work we turn in doesn't even begin to tell the whole story.  Here's what I know about Jonathan (my 6th grader) that a report card won't necessarily tell:

• Algebra and Geometry both come easily to him. (That right there proves the existence of a merciful God as far as I'm concerned, but that's not important right now. =D)
• He's got beautiful penmanship (a pet peeve of mine).
• He's got a VIVID imagination.
• He's a voracious reader.
• He has a big heart.
• Albert Einstein and Leonardo DaVinci are his heroes.
• He wants to be a Scientist, a Film Director, or an Imagineer when he grows up.
• He's a good friend.
• He's a natural leader.
• He is a thinker of deep thoughts.
• He's clever and funny and smart.
• He cares deeply about a great many things.
• He writes fabulous stories and makes delightful short films.
• He's growing up to be a decent human being.
• He's popular with his peers.

Am I surprised? Not entirely.
Am I bragging? Maybe a little.
Am I relieved. You betcha!
Am I confused? Absolutely.

How would I even go about handing out grades like A, B or C to describe this kid's abilities and talents??
Please. I'm a storyteller.  And I'm his teacher.  And I also happen to be his mother.
How do I go about giving him grades for these "subjects?"

Nope. Can't do it. But I will say this:
I'm so grateful that I've got a ringside seat for The Jonathan Show.

(Hey! There's an idea - Instead of grades, I'll just sell tickets! =D)

For Uber-Geeks only

Today is Albert Einstein's Birthday. Happy Birthday, Al!

Albert Einstein's name seems to always be connected with the word, "genius." Would it surprise you to learn that Einstein was educated at home?  He couldn't make it in public school.  He was just (by his own description) "too curious."  (I can't help but wonder what the California courts would have done with a quirky, curious kid like him, but that's not important right now.)

It also happens to be Pi Day. (Yes, Pi, but it's pronounced -  "PIE".)

Pi, Greek letter () is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  Pi = 3.1415926535
Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Which is today.

You're probably wondering what our Einstein's Birthday/Pi Day celebration consists of.

Well, there's chocolate, apple, and of course, pizza!

(I think Albert would have been proud. =D)

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." ~Albert Einstein

Time warp

I know this clock says it's about 11:18, but I can't help thinking it's really 10:18. Or at least it was three days ago. Before Daylight Saving Time.  Now when I look at the clock I have to do the mental gymnastics it takes for me to adjust to today's time. SIGH. This whole time change thing makes me crazy. Seriously. Certifiably.

Do you know that Benjamin Franklin was the one who first suggested the idea? Who knew? So I work this fun fact into my American History lesson plan, but still, I can't help but get the feeling it's a conspiracy to mess with our collective minds.  Or, maybe it's just me?  I seriously can't help playing the "It's Really Only _____ O'clock" game.

In fact it takes me weeks to begin to trust the clock again. Because it's lying. Or it feels to me like it's lying. Because I can tell the real time by the light outside. And it's way earlier than 11:18. Much more like 10:18.

Then I get all rebellious. Because "springing forward" is really code for "losing an hour" and I just have a hard time with the loss.  So when 5:30 rolls around and I should be making dinner, I argue, "well, it's really only 4:30 and it's too early to make dinner."

So I end up procrastinating.

I think we ate around 8:00 o'clock last night (but you see, it was technically only 7:00, so it wasn't too late, but that's not important right now).

And then I don't want to go to bed.  Because if I go to bed according to the new time, I will probably just lay there for about an hour and then decide to get up because I can't sleep and so I read way too late into the night and finally when I do go to bed I'm so exhausted that I end up sleeping in, but then I think, "hey, it's not really 8:30, it's 7:30, so I'm golden."

See?

Certifiable.

Nobody else does this?

Nobody?

Hello?

Anybody there?

Echo. . .

SIGH.

What's that smell?

Alina, my mom and Me. Miami, Florida. 1963

Havana, Cuba. Late 1960. Word was getting around that the new self-appointed governors of the island, those bearded rebels led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra were now planning to take away parents' authority over their own children. The parents would no longer have any say as to where or when their children would be educated. There was the possibility that they could be sent to work camps to be used as slave labor or at the age of 15 young men would be conscripted into the armed forces. The point was that those decisions were no longer in the realm of parental authority. They would now be made by the Masters of the Revolution. Shocking, isn't it? What an impossible position to be put in. Cuban parents were in turmoil.

My dad came to a swift and furious conclusion: "I. DON'T. THINK. SO. This stinks of communism."
This disturbing turn of events in our island home and the fact that my brother had just turned 15 was the final straw that caused my parents to come to the cataclysmic decision to leave Cuba.  ". . . until this madness blows over."

Obviously, my parents were right. Our beloved homeland still reeks of communism.

Lucy and Jonathan. California. 2008.

Last week Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court ruled that here in California, ". . . parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children.”

"I. DON'T. THINK. SO. This stinks of communism."

We, along with other homeschooling and Christian families have signed this petition requesting that the Supreme Court of California "depublish" that opinion in order to keep our homeschooling freedom in California and urge any of you that stand with us to do the same.

My parents sacrificed so much for us to be able to be raised in a FREE country.  This opinion is a slap in the face to them and to freedom loving individuals everywhere. To our great sadness, this beautiful state is starting to reek more and more each day.   It's already starting to smell like The People's Republic of California. (heavy sigh)

cross-posted on Babalú.

We're all in this together

The show opens this week. The director is working out the final kinks.  The kids are READY. The one in the hat, 2nd from the left is my Jonathan, who will be playing Ryan (the theater geek) in their production of High School Musical.  They've been rehearsing since September and the curtain goes up on Thursday night.

I am doing what I do best: designing and sewing costumes.

What's so cool about this whole production is that all the other parents are doing what they do best too.  So the sets are amazing thanks to the sweat equity of the set construction dads.  And the kids all hit their cues thanks to the moms who are working backstage.  And the backgrounds are incredible thanks to the artistic talents of the moms who painted the sets.  There are programs and props and makeup and refreshments and ticket sales all coordinated by the incredible parent volunteers.

Okay, I know that just about every school production couldn't be done without parent volunteers, but what's amazing about this particular group is that they do all this while continuing to educate their own kids.  And not just the ones in the production, but sometimes two or three or more other kids of varying ages.  It's not nothing.  I am humbled to be numbered among this formidable group. 

I am so inspired by them. And challenged.  And proud.  And tired.  Fifty-uniforms-for-two-casts-worth-of-basketball jocks-brainiacs-and-cheerleaders worth of tired.

But when the show opens we'll all be glad for the effort we put into it. And I'll be really proud. Fifty-uniforms-for-two-casts-worth-of-basketball jocks-brainiacs-and-cheerleaders worth of proud. =D

Finding comfort in swirls of milk

Tuesday is the day we do Science.
In this case, Earth Science.  This is Jonathan's experiment and his write up.  I know I usually include recipes, but he asked me to share it, so I'm going to.
Here's an example of what 6th grade Science looks like in the Darby Home School...

What I used:

• 1 cup of milk
• red food coloring
• blue food coloring
• shallow bowl
• vegetable oil

What I did:

I poured the milk into the bowl and added the red and blue food coloring around the bowl.  I poured a little bit of vegetable oil into the center.

What happened:

Slowly, the red and blue food coloring started to spin away from the sides of the bowl and pulled toward the middle creating a swirl pattern.

What I learned:

I learned that the oil, mixing with the fat in the milk created a current on the surface of the milk that was marked by the food coloring.   This current spiraled in a counter-clockwise direction due to circular motion that replicates the rotation of the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere or the Coriolis Effect.

What Mom learned:

No matter how out of control my small life sometimes feels, there is Divine Order in the universe, the Earth continues to spin on its axis,  God is on His Throne and Al Gore is a Great Big Idiot.

I didn't say it was all going to be pretty. ;-)

Places to go. Things to do. Kids to embarrass. =D

I've been keeping up pretty nicely with that whole taking one picture every day project.
Actually, I love having my camera with me 24/7.
In fact, I have it with me so much it's almost like a family member now. 

We're all seated at the dinner table, and one of the kids asks:
"Where's your camera?"

And it's weird when you blog (like I do) about everything that you're doing, because now I have friends who no longer ask about my family, but they do ask:
"Where's your camera?"

My kids don't even notice the camera any more.

Well, except maybe when I follow them into a public building, like umm . . . HIGH SCHOOL:

Lucy is signaling me with her eyes:
"Umm . . . Mom, don't you have other places to go?  Another of my siblings to embarrass?"

Not today, Missy.  ;-)

(NOTE: For those of you who know we homeschool, all of Lucy's classes are online, except for Drama, which is on campus and to which she goes for three hours each week, one day a week, which is just enough time spent among her peers for her to be social, but not enough time to where she becomes peer-dependent, but that's not important right now. =D)

History, Geography, Architecture, and Design - Now that's what I call a Field Trip!

Can I just tell you how much fun it is to go to Vegas?  Especially (I found out) with my two homeschooled kids.  (I LOVE going with Amy too because she and I always have so much fun and that's completely different, but that' s not important right now.)

Lucy and Jonathan know stuff. (not at all implying that Amy doesn't, it's just more surprising when it comes from these two, but that's not important right now either.)

Like about the temples of ancient Egypt and about the avenue bordered by sphinxes connecting Karnak to the Temple of Luxor.  Who knew?

Or about how the Paris Opera House is designed in the neo baroque style and is the setting for the legend of the Phantom of the Opera.  He (the phantom) was apparently haunting THAT particular Opera house and while we're on the subject, do you know just how exactly they make that chandelier crash down during every performance and how it's engineered so nobody gets hurt??  My fascinated son can tell you that it free falls 43 feet in 3.5 seconds before it comes to an abrupt stop.  Who knew?

Did you know that the man made lake that fronts the Bellagio Hotel encompasses eight acres and the Bellagio Fountains span one thousand feet across this lake?  Or that the song, Luck be a Lady, sung by Frank Sinatra (to which the waters were dancing) was from the musical Guys and Dolls which was produced in 1955.  Who knew?

And did you further know that seeing all these attractions in one afternoon and evening requires a lot of walking???  Who knew? 
(yes, that's Eric in his Old Guys Rule tshirt. =D)

And yes, I'm obviously really proud of my kids.  Homeschooling has paid off in so many ways and in so many areas of our lives.  I love how they are easy to be with and easy to take anywhere because they are so well read.  They are wonderful conversationalists and both have a quick wit which we always enjoy. 

But there are moments . . .

"Hey guys, sorry to burst your bubble, but that word in the center there means BREAD in French.  But that was a really great dramatic moment!"     Who knew?  ;-)

Math inferiority

I am an Artist.
Right-brained.
Creative.
Spontaneous.
Random.

My kids are all those things, too.  They are also comedians.  (Jon added the theory of relativity when he saw I was taking pictures - cracked me up. =D)

But part of educating them means doing left-brain functions, like math.  (heavy, heavy sigh)

My friend Pam is a Math Whiz.  I totally feel inferior to her when it comes to math. (See? I admit it.) ;-)

Well, technically, I can do Math That Has a Purpose.  I can balance my checkbook and read a ruler and measure ingredients.  And from my graphic design training I know about leading (rhymes with "heading") and kerning and picas. 

Okay, so I can do math.  But doing problems just for the sake of doing problems?  Yawn.

So how do we get around that whole pesky we-have-to-do-math-for-school thing?  They do it online.
The program is called Aleks Math and it ROCKS!  So they do their math daily and they have to do assessments and they progress at their own speed and it's a real life saver to us artistic, right-brained, creative, spontaneous and random types.

Occasionally they need help.  Which is why I'm so grateful that my brilliant husband was actually a math tutor in college.  (thanks, Honey!)

Because if it was just up to me . . .

;-)