Miya is now independently reading chapter books.
A few weeks ago, I started reading the Animal Ark Pets series of books to Miya and Mulan. I read the first book, Puppy Puzzle, and got halfway through the second book, Kitten Crowd.
But about a week or so ago, Miya couldn't wait to hear the rest of the story, and so she took the book and finished it by herself. She then continued on to the next book, Rabbit Race, and beyond.
She also picked up our Nook e-reader, which has the Magic Tree House series on it, and has continued reading those by herself. (I had previously read up to number 13 in that series to her.)
I think I can safely say that our project to get Miya reading, which we started 15 months ago, has been a success. (I blogged about it in August last year, with an update this April.)
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Sunday, 4 June 2017
Congratulations Mulan
Yesterday, Mulan finished her US 6th Grade maths at Khan Academy.
She is now working on 7th Grade, and as of today has finished 24%. (There is some overlap between grades, so some skills mastered in 6th Grade are counted as mastered in 7th Grade.)
Miya is also doing very well, and has completed 70% of 3rd Grade.
I last wrote about the girls' maths work in January. Since writing that, we have slowed down a little with regards to introducing new skills. The girls are still doing some Khan Academy every day, but on many days they are consolidating skills by repeating already "mastered" "practices", rather than continuing on with introducing new skills.
My general rule of thumb with how much new stuff to introduce to them is that it is okay if they can't do the work completely independently, but of the bits of the problem that I talk with them about, they need to be able to understand my explanations and do the steps of calculations themselves.
She is now working on 7th Grade, and as of today has finished 24%. (There is some overlap between grades, so some skills mastered in 6th Grade are counted as mastered in 7th Grade.)
Miya is also doing very well, and has completed 70% of 3rd Grade.
I last wrote about the girls' maths work in January. Since writing that, we have slowed down a little with regards to introducing new skills. The girls are still doing some Khan Academy every day, but on many days they are consolidating skills by repeating already "mastered" "practices", rather than continuing on with introducing new skills.
My general rule of thumb with how much new stuff to introduce to them is that it is okay if they can't do the work completely independently, but of the bits of the problem that I talk with them about, they need to be able to understand my explanations and do the steps of calculations themselves.
Friday, 26 May 2017
Continuing the theme
I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression that this is an obsession of mine. I really almost never think about it.
But in my inbox this morning was an ad for ballet lessons for homeschoolers in our local area. Part of it went as follows:
Well, obviously not. Obviously the boys have simply been overlooked as possible ballet students, and the teacher has forgotten to mention the boys' uniform in her ad.
No harm done, no big deal, right?
Well, sort of. But much like my previous post about casual sexism with homeschooling dads, these sorts of public writings both show and reinforce gender stereotypes of what is socially acceptable for boys and men to do. This ad shows that the teacher's vision of her class didn't include boys. And when parents read the ad those with boys will be less likely to consider signing their sons up.
Fortunately, we attend a ballet school (Rowe Dance) in which boys are very welcome. About half of the students in Mulan's ballet class are boys, and the teacher also teaches separate boys-only ballet classes.
For this reason alone we would support attending Meaghan Rowe's classes, but on top of that she is a great teacher and also her classes are cheaper than this homeschooling one.
But in my inbox this morning was an ad for ballet lessons for homeschoolers in our local area. Part of it went as follows:
Dress Code:
A pink leotard is ideal but any color leotard or swimming costume is fine. Alternatively leggings with a fitted t' shirt will suffice.
Well, obviously not. Obviously the boys have simply been overlooked as possible ballet students, and the teacher has forgotten to mention the boys' uniform in her ad.
No harm done, no big deal, right?
Well, sort of. But much like my previous post about casual sexism with homeschooling dads, these sorts of public writings both show and reinforce gender stereotypes of what is socially acceptable for boys and men to do. This ad shows that the teacher's vision of her class didn't include boys. And when parents read the ad those with boys will be less likely to consider signing their sons up.
Fortunately, we attend a ballet school (Rowe Dance) in which boys are very welcome. About half of the students in Mulan's ballet class are boys, and the teacher also teaches separate boys-only ballet classes.
For this reason alone we would support attending Meaghan Rowe's classes, but on top of that she is a great teacher and also her classes are cheaper than this homeschooling one.
Monday, 8 May 2017
Casual sexism?
The AHE (Auckland Home Educators) conference is happening in a couple of weeks.
I know this because they've been advertising on a few of the Facebook homeschooling groups I am subscribed to. One repeated ad went as follows:
My question was ignored, though the poster of the ad sent me a private message to say that she is friends with a homeschooling dad. I guess this means that none of these conference panelists are the main homeschooling parent. (I'd be very happy to be corrected if I am wrong.)
Let's put that aside for a moment.
Suppose there was a medical conference. And suppose that at that medical conference there was a panel discussion called "Women's Panel", which asked the question of what role women play in hospitals. Now, it would seem a little odd (at least to me) if all the panelists at that discussion were receptionists, cleaners and part-time junior staff. Moreover, it would seem a little odd (at least to me) if, in reply to a question about whether any of the women there were doctors or nurses, one were privately messaged by someone saying that they are friends with a woman doctor.
But let's return to the topic of the homeschooling conference. And at the risk of being boringly pedantic, I'll spell out my thoughts more directly.
As we know, in almost all of the homeschooling families the dad is the main money-earner while the mum is the main day-to-day educator. That is, the dad is part of the essential support (like receptionists, cleaners and part-time junior staff in hospitals), without which the institution would probably very soon collapse. But his role is not to be full-time involved in the core function of the institution (medicine for a hospital; education for a homeschooler).
With this in mind, it is understandable that, at a practically-focused homeschooling conference, the emphasis should rightly be on giving advice/information on how main-money-earning dads can also get involved, in a part-time way, in the educational side of things. So, it makes sense that a majority of panelists on a "Dad's Panel" should be experienced "support staff", rather than main homeschooling parents themselves.
But is it right that all of the panelists are support staff, not main homeschooling parents?
I say no.
Firstly, there are some of us dads who are the main educators, and we may be interested in hearing the wisdom of other, more experienced, dads-as-main-educators.
But secondly, and more importantly, this is an issue of gender roles and casual sexism. Just as in the early days of feminism (and sadly sometimes still today) we needed to go that extra distance to acknowledge and promote women's inclusion in male-dominated professions, so too do we now need to acknowledge and promote the possibility of men as full-time stay-at-home homeschooling parents. Having one full-time homeschooling dad on the panel would raise the possibility in people's minds that such a thing is possible, and hopefully take that little step towards reducing gender-role prejudices.
Consequently, I say, on these sorts of panels and at these sorts of conferences we should have at least one dad who is the main homeschooling parent.
If you think I am overreacting, underneath some of the Facebook ads for the "Dad's Panel" was this picture:
Sigh! Really?!
I mean, in other contexts it is kinda funny and cute.
But used to advertise a panel discussion at a conference where they are discussing the role of homeschool dads?
It just reinforces those sexist notions that the dad could never, gasp, actually be the kid's teacher. That his role is, dare I say it, one of sexual titillation and amusement.
I have a sudden urge to burn my g-string.
I know this because they've been advertising on a few of the Facebook homeschooling groups I am subscribed to. One repeated ad went as follows:
So what DO Dads do? What role do they play? What’s their perspective?
Don’t miss out on the “Dad’s Panel” at the AHE conference in two weeks time. A bunch of experienced homeschool fathers will share how they are involved in the home-schooling journey and respond to your questions.
The panel includes [five names].In all seriousness (to get an idea if it was worth me going to the conference), I replied to one of the more actively commented ads, asking whether any of the dads were the main homeschool parent.
My question was ignored, though the poster of the ad sent me a private message to say that she is friends with a homeschooling dad. I guess this means that none of these conference panelists are the main homeschooling parent. (I'd be very happy to be corrected if I am wrong.)
Let's put that aside for a moment.
Suppose there was a medical conference. And suppose that at that medical conference there was a panel discussion called "Women's Panel", which asked the question of what role women play in hospitals. Now, it would seem a little odd (at least to me) if all the panelists at that discussion were receptionists, cleaners and part-time junior staff. Moreover, it would seem a little odd (at least to me) if, in reply to a question about whether any of the women there were doctors or nurses, one were privately messaged by someone saying that they are friends with a woman doctor.
But let's return to the topic of the homeschooling conference. And at the risk of being boringly pedantic, I'll spell out my thoughts more directly.
As we know, in almost all of the homeschooling families the dad is the main money-earner while the mum is the main day-to-day educator. That is, the dad is part of the essential support (like receptionists, cleaners and part-time junior staff in hospitals), without which the institution would probably very soon collapse. But his role is not to be full-time involved in the core function of the institution (medicine for a hospital; education for a homeschooler).
With this in mind, it is understandable that, at a practically-focused homeschooling conference, the emphasis should rightly be on giving advice/information on how main-money-earning dads can also get involved, in a part-time way, in the educational side of things. So, it makes sense that a majority of panelists on a "Dad's Panel" should be experienced "support staff", rather than main homeschooling parents themselves.
But is it right that all of the panelists are support staff, not main homeschooling parents?
I say no.
Firstly, there are some of us dads who are the main educators, and we may be interested in hearing the wisdom of other, more experienced, dads-as-main-educators.
But secondly, and more importantly, this is an issue of gender roles and casual sexism. Just as in the early days of feminism (and sadly sometimes still today) we needed to go that extra distance to acknowledge and promote women's inclusion in male-dominated professions, so too do we now need to acknowledge and promote the possibility of men as full-time stay-at-home homeschooling parents. Having one full-time homeschooling dad on the panel would raise the possibility in people's minds that such a thing is possible, and hopefully take that little step towards reducing gender-role prejudices.
Consequently, I say, on these sorts of panels and at these sorts of conferences we should have at least one dad who is the main homeschooling parent.
If you think I am overreacting, underneath some of the Facebook ads for the "Dad's Panel" was this picture:
Sigh! Really?!
I mean, in other contexts it is kinda funny and cute.
But used to advertise a panel discussion at a conference where they are discussing the role of homeschool dads?
It just reinforces those sexist notions that the dad could never, gasp, actually be the kid's teacher. That his role is, dare I say it, one of sexual titillation and amusement.
I have a sudden urge to burn my g-string.
Friday, 14 April 2017
Update on Miya's reading
We've now been consciously working on Miya's reading for a little over a year. Last March, when we began, she was a near complete non-reader, recognising maybe only a half-dozen words or so and knowing only some of the letter sounds.
In August, I wrote about where we were at, five months into our project, and the method that we were using for her learning.
In the past eight months, we have mostly followed this same method, with Miya reading out loud to me most days and me reading out loud to her most days. (We do skip days sometimes if we are too busy with other things!)
So, here is where we are at, right now.
A couple of days ago, we got out our Frances books (some pics of the books in the link below) and Miya started reading out loud to me A Birthday for Frances. She didn't feel like reading it all in one session (or even two), and she will likely finish the last couple of pages today. She is probably about 95% correct in her reading of it for the first time.
Notably, she didn't know words like "closet" and "pail" (she struggled to pronounce them and also didn't know what they were -- they are not Kiwi English words). She also struggled to pronounce names like "Ida", "Albert", and "Gloria". But with all of these words, after a few repeat occurrences of them in the story she was saying them smoothly. She continues to sometimes mix up "said" and "and" with each other, as well as mix up "when" and "then" with each other -- that is an ongoing thing with all the books she is reading at the moment, though she almost always self-corrects immediately after saying the wrong word.
But all in all, a pretty good effort. Sometimes I get Miya to read a book two or three times to solidify the new words, but I don't think we need to do this with these Frances books.
Back in 2013, I wrote about Mulan's experience reading these Frances books. It seems that Miya, at 6 years 8 months, is reading at about the same level that Mulan was when she was 6 years 3 months. But Miya started later and is learning faster than Mulan did.
In August, I wrote about where we were at, five months into our project, and the method that we were using for her learning.
In the past eight months, we have mostly followed this same method, with Miya reading out loud to me most days and me reading out loud to her most days. (We do skip days sometimes if we are too busy with other things!)
So, here is where we are at, right now.
A couple of days ago, we got out our Frances books (some pics of the books in the link below) and Miya started reading out loud to me A Birthday for Frances. She didn't feel like reading it all in one session (or even two), and she will likely finish the last couple of pages today. She is probably about 95% correct in her reading of it for the first time.
Notably, she didn't know words like "closet" and "pail" (she struggled to pronounce them and also didn't know what they were -- they are not Kiwi English words). She also struggled to pronounce names like "Ida", "Albert", and "Gloria". But with all of these words, after a few repeat occurrences of them in the story she was saying them smoothly. She continues to sometimes mix up "said" and "and" with each other, as well as mix up "when" and "then" with each other -- that is an ongoing thing with all the books she is reading at the moment, though she almost always self-corrects immediately after saying the wrong word.
But all in all, a pretty good effort. Sometimes I get Miya to read a book two or three times to solidify the new words, but I don't think we need to do this with these Frances books.
Back in 2013, I wrote about Mulan's experience reading these Frances books. It seems that Miya, at 6 years 8 months, is reading at about the same level that Mulan was when she was 6 years 3 months. But Miya started later and is learning faster than Mulan did.
Sunday, 26 February 2017
Waitomo
Last weekend, we had a quick 30-hour car trip holiday down to Waitomo and back.
Mostly, it was in aid of showing Mama's friend from China (who Mulan and Miya call Ganma) around the country. (Ganma is here in New Zealand for about a month, staying with us in our home.)
We left on Saturday afternoon, after Mulan and Miya had finished their morning music lessons.
Our first stop was Huntly, to do a property inspection of an investment property we own there. The little two-bedroom cottage, which we bought a couple of years ago, is about 110 years old.
All was good at the property, so our next stop was an afternoon tea break in Hamilton.
With not much of a plan, and simply wanting a nice scenic park alongside the Waikato River, we found the Parana Park/Soldiers Memorial Park area and wandered down to have a look.
After eating, the girls and I discovered the old Rangiriri boat, and so took the opportunity to learn a bit about the history of the area. The official information signs at the park taught us something of the English colonisation of the area in 1864. The handwritten graffiti scratched into the signs taught us that what some see as "acquired" land, others see as "stolen" land.
And then it was off to Kihikihi, where we were staying at Free Range Farmstay for the night (no they are not homeschoolers, we were told, but they do let their kids run free there). The accommodation was very comfortable, and we highly recommend it. They had set up their homestay accommodation in the granny flat above their main house, giving the five of us two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette. The flat had its own external entrance in the form of a spiral staircase up to the bedroom balcony.
The next morning it was raining, but we had a short walk around the farm and a swim in their pool.
Just after 11 am, we headed to Waitomo to see the caves. Our farmstay owners work in tourism in the area, and they were able to get us discounted tickets to the caves. So, since two caves was cheaper than one we decided to go to both the Ruakuri Cave and the Glowworm Cave.
Two years ago, the four of us had visited the Glowworm Cave during our winter campervan holiday, but none of us had been to the Ruakuri Cave.
At just over an hour, the Ruakuri Cave was a decent walk through a pretty spectacular cave system. The highlight for me would have been the sheet-like stalactite formations on the ceilings. There were glowworms in the cave, but not nearly as many as in the Glowworm Cave.
Immediately after that tour finished, we drove the few minutes to the Glowworm Cave entrance for the start of our tour there. This tour is less than an hour, and has much less walking. Once again, the big highlight for us was the boat ride through the dark with countless star-like glowworms above us.
Visiting these caves is expensive, and it is not something that we would want to do regularly, but they are indeed spectacular and must-sees at some point for everyone.
After the caves, we headed back up north towards home. We stopped off for afternoon tea at Pirongia, parking on a side-street in front of a small alpaca farm. The girls enjoyed watching the animals, and were fascinated to observe that each animal had a quite distinctively recognisable face.
All in all, a pleasant little holiday. It is a good reminder that we should do these sorts of short trips more often as a family.
Mostly, it was in aid of showing Mama's friend from China (who Mulan and Miya call Ganma) around the country. (Ganma is here in New Zealand for about a month, staying with us in our home.)
We left on Saturday afternoon, after Mulan and Miya had finished their morning music lessons.
Our first stop was Huntly, to do a property inspection of an investment property we own there. The little two-bedroom cottage, which we bought a couple of years ago, is about 110 years old.
All was good at the property, so our next stop was an afternoon tea break in Hamilton.
With not much of a plan, and simply wanting a nice scenic park alongside the Waikato River, we found the Parana Park/Soldiers Memorial Park area and wandered down to have a look.
After eating, the girls and I discovered the old Rangiriri boat, and so took the opportunity to learn a bit about the history of the area. The official information signs at the park taught us something of the English colonisation of the area in 1864. The handwritten graffiti scratched into the signs taught us that what some see as "acquired" land, others see as "stolen" land.
And then it was off to Kihikihi, where we were staying at Free Range Farmstay for the night (no they are not homeschoolers, we were told, but they do let their kids run free there). The accommodation was very comfortable, and we highly recommend it. They had set up their homestay accommodation in the granny flat above their main house, giving the five of us two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchenette. The flat had its own external entrance in the form of a spiral staircase up to the bedroom balcony.
The next morning it was raining, but we had a short walk around the farm and a swim in their pool.
Just after 11 am, we headed to Waitomo to see the caves. Our farmstay owners work in tourism in the area, and they were able to get us discounted tickets to the caves. So, since two caves was cheaper than one we decided to go to both the Ruakuri Cave and the Glowworm Cave.
Two years ago, the four of us had visited the Glowworm Cave during our winter campervan holiday, but none of us had been to the Ruakuri Cave.
At just over an hour, the Ruakuri Cave was a decent walk through a pretty spectacular cave system. The highlight for me would have been the sheet-like stalactite formations on the ceilings. There were glowworms in the cave, but not nearly as many as in the Glowworm Cave.
Immediately after that tour finished, we drove the few minutes to the Glowworm Cave entrance for the start of our tour there. This tour is less than an hour, and has much less walking. Once again, the big highlight for us was the boat ride through the dark with countless star-like glowworms above us.
Visiting these caves is expensive, and it is not something that we would want to do regularly, but they are indeed spectacular and must-sees at some point for everyone.
After the caves, we headed back up north towards home. We stopped off for afternoon tea at Pirongia, parking on a side-street in front of a small alpaca farm. The girls enjoyed watching the animals, and were fascinated to observe that each animal had a quite distinctively recognisable face.
All in all, a pleasant little holiday. It is a good reminder that we should do these sorts of short trips more often as a family.
Friday, 17 February 2017
Free online courses
I've just discovered this site, which collects free online courses. It looks very useful, and I'll probably sign up to some of the courses.
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