Sunday, September 16, 2018

Human Rights High School Course


The following is what my son read for a credit in human rights.   

Human Rights
Human Rights: An Introduction by Andrew Clapham
Night by Elie Wiesel
Narrative of the Life Of Frederick Douglass
Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog
Southern Horrors by Ida B. Wells
“The Nuremberg Trials” Overview on the Trials
“Reflections On AVisit to Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia” by Matthew Kneale (2017)
Why the world should not forget Khmer Rouge and the killing fields of Cambodia” Adam Taylor August 7, 2014 The Washington Post
“Ain’t I A Woman” speech by Sojourner Truth
Documentary: “Slavery By Another Name”
Films on Human Rights Issues:
Hotel Rwanda
The Killing Fields
Amazing Grace

Monday, September 10, 2018

The Realities of Working and Homeschooling


Homeschooling as a working single mom definitely has its challenges – obviously.  So, I’ve tried to establish a basic rhythm to help keep things moving along.  On the most basic level, it looks like this: Wake up around 6 – 6:30 am and cook lunch and dinner for the day.   While the food is cooking, I sit down to my coffee and an easy breakfast.   After lunch/dinner is done, I pack up my lunch box for work. Then, I drop off Seneca and leave for work at 8:00 am. I return from work between 5:30 and 6:00.  Then it’s dinner at around 6:30/7:00 followed by homeschool lessons, cleaning, showers, and bedtime. 
On some days, Seneca brings laundry to my mom’s house while I’m at work. Seneca is responsible for doing the laundry herself and loading the basket in and out of the car.  I leave work at 5:00 and when I first get home, I take some time to sit down and decompress. After my relaxation, I usually heat up the lunch leftovers and my daughter and I have dinner together.  My best laid plans of making a hot lunch and dinner first thing in the morning  don’t always work out and then it’s make yourself a sandwich day.  On some days, we are headed out the door and grabbing pizza from Little Caesar’s. 
After dinner, it’s time for formal lessons.  Right now, we are working on math, literature, writing, composer study (The Beatles) and we’re looking at contemporary artists for artist study.  Seneca reviewed some works by Jordan Sokol. I think I’ll present Ai Wei Wei to her next week.  We’re going to rotate out literature and rotate in history and science.  I do need to start adding in some more art and hopefully some handicrafts. It’s still early in the year though.  One of the great things about homeschooling, is that if things are slow to get off the ground, you can always add them in later or maybe decide to work on some things like drawing once a week instead of daily. 
                Formal lessons can be such a controversial topic in the homeschool community. It is true that homeschooling does not have to look like school at home.  However, almost all of the homeschool activities and social gatherings happen when I’m at work.  Unless something is open late for an event, most museums and learning centers close in the evenings.  The nature preserves close at sunset.  Granted, sunset is later right now, but we have also been having late afternoon storms.  And, let me be honest here, after a long day at work dealing all day long with deadlines and marketing, I am too exhausted to go on a hike or tour a museum.  I will try to make a consistent effort to get us to Kirtan on Tuesday nights.  My point is, my opportunity to work with my daughter to do learning activities is  limited, so I have to make the best of that time and the most efficient method is to sit with her at a desk and go through lessons and check workbook work.  She is fine with this. If I sense that she is struggling on working, we do stop and let things go for an evening.
                After school work, it’s time for house cleaning and showers. As you can see, so much is missing.  And, as a single mother, I am still obligated to provide everything that a two parent home can provide. People say that homeschooling doesn’t have to take up that much time and that’s true, but it takes up almost all of the time we have together.  I can’t say, “Let’s homeschool for a couple of hours and then go do X,Y,Z,” because when the couple of hours are over, we need to clean up and prepare for the next day.    And there are so many evenings that I am so exhausted, that dishes and other stuff gets put off until the next morning.  Obviously, I am not Supermom. I wish I were, but I’m not.  If my family did not live close by, then continuing to homeschool would probably not be an option.  



Education As A Feast

 Charlotte Mason is often described as referring to education as a feast.  You (the teacher) prepare a feast for your child and the child fi...