long time, no see

It's been too long since we got to visit my nieces, but we sure had a great time seeing them this past weekend!

Here are the dolls!

And here are the guys and dolls!

Unschooling "Language Arts"

It's been a long time since I've forced Sly to do anything referred to in the school world as "Language Arts" for homeschool. What I find fascinating is that since we dropped formal "Language Arts" (including spelling, creative writing, composition, grammar, etc), he has gotten so much better at spelling and writing and such--gee, go figure! He even has very neat cursive handwriting. Instead of using a graded curriculum, he is drafting and writing things that have real meaning in his life, things he cares about and that other people will actually see (and which therefore really do reflect upon their opinion of him)--an email to get on a Civil Air Patrol flight list, short game or movie scripts he comes up with, or a letter to the luthier who sold him his new fiddle. Here's the letter from the 13yo homeschooled/unschooled boy who can't spell (I am not correcting anything--typing it as it is written, including his colloquialisms). He drafted his letter on the computer, but then hand copied it to mail (because our computer and printer aren't talking to each other at the moment). Not bad for a boy no longer doing LA, and without any significant help from his mom/teacher (other than telling him he needed to write Mr Stanton a letter telling him thanks and how he's used it so far. He IS still just 13!).

3:58PM 10-19-2010

Dear Mr. Wayne Stanton,

Thank you for helping us find and purchase the right fiddle for me. I am enjoying it very much and someone I know at one of the Bluegrass jams said it sounded better than his.

I used my new fiddle the first time I played at the Chestnut St. Opry, and everyone said it sounded very good.

I'm also lovin' having a key for my new fiddle case and Westley my instructor likes the whole shebang.

Thank you very much,

I'm lovin' my new fiddle.

Sincerely,

Sly (his real name, with middle initial, in cursive)

Sly (his real name, with middle initial, in print)

Jamberry recommends . . .

There are several excellent youtube videos of Sir Ken Robinson speaking about education, creativity, education systems, ADHD, etc. Here are a few "must watch" links. I ought to gethis book to read, as if I have the time to read!

Changing Education Paradigms

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Bring on the Learning Revolution!

Huckabee

A Wider Notion of Ability

Little Critter and Little Sister

Sly has a new fiddle--this time for keeps!

When Sly first said he wanted to learn bluegrass fiddle, I shrugged him off and waited. He continued to ask for fiddle lessons, so we went and rented him a violin from one of the local music stores. There was a 4 month minimum to rent, and it was a rent to own. That worked for me--a chance to try this fiddle think out, without sinking TOO much money, and we could decide later whether to keep the fiddle we rented, give it back, or maybe even upgrade if he really did take to playing fiddle.

During that rental time I had done a little more research online, and discovered I could get the same fiddle online for less money, or more fiddle for the same money. And so, the decision was made to give this rented fiddle back, and to watch how Sly progressed. Needless to say, it became obvious he was going to keep playing fiddle, and getting a better fiddle for the same price might be a fair idea.

We talked to Sly's excellent fiddle player, and he directed us to an excellent luthier (violin maker) who was not TOO far away and provided violins for him and many other professional violinists, along with many student violinists as well. And so we went to Mr Stanton's in with a recommendation for a 'student 3' package.

What a neat person! He had three awards on his wall from the governor of the state, plus a framed invitation to GHW Bush's Presidential Inauguration. He was full of stories about local history too. It would be so much fun to get to follow him around and watch him work! But we were pressed for time, and I was stressed trying to manage Jman and SB3, who I had to bring along as well. Ah well, maybe another day!

Anyhow, a pretty piece of change later, and Sly now has his very own fiddle for keeps, including a much nicer bow, a nice case, a new and better shoulder rest, and an extra bow for back up. The boy is set! We spent the same amount of money we would have spent on the other rented fiddle, had we purchased it outright, but this new fiddle sounds SOOOO much better, even to my untrained ear. Everyone at the jam last Saturday agreed too--Sly has a terrific fiddle now! One of these days I'm going to figure out how to efficiently upload video so you can hear him play if you want (or you could come visit us!).

Spewtiful Iago is 3 months old!

King's Mountain NMP

King's Mountain National Military Park
King's Mountain was a very significant but somehow not 'famous' battle in the American Revolutionary War. Loyalist Tories from NY, NJ, CT, SC, and NC, and led by British Col Patrick Ferguson were soundly defeated by Patriots from NC, SC, VA, TN, and GA, including the Scots-Irish mountain men from the Appalachians, who had stayed out of the war until now. The European military tactics were no match for the guerilla tactics used by these mountain men, especially when the British camped on top of King's Mountain (which is really a big hill, but is a mountain for the region).
Jam and the kids managed to hike the 1.5 mile loop around the mountain, even though Jman was very stressed. For starters, it was all new, and that's challenging enough. For seconders, he kept wanting to go back the way we came, not understanding that it was a loop hike and it was shorter to keep going forward (to more new sights, of course, which was more stressful yet). But, we eventually made it, and it was a Lovely day.
Sly completed the work for yet another Jr Ranger patch. Jam bought patches and Tshirts and books and a couple Jr Ranger backpacks.
Jam's favorite trail marker was entitled "Be Your Own Officer."