Texas Field Trip Destination, The Pacific War Museum

Yes, this museum is located in  land-locked Fredricksburg, Texas. Kind of an odd place for a museum that chronicles the Pacific theater of World War II.  It is also known as the Nimitz Museum, where Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz grew up.

Hotel Facade and entrance to the three-part museum

(We are getting oh-so-close to wrapping up the WWII study. This week, the war in the Pacific, next week, D-Day and V-E Day. Then, then beginning of the modern nation of Israel. I was excited about starting WWII and now I'm excited about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, in terms of finishing WWII.)

M, trying to be studious and listening to the lesson on the Pacific War, also trying to irritate Q just a bit more, before we "finally!" (Q's word) leave the Pacific War Museum portion of the day.

Today, we went to the Pacific War Museum. As far as museums go, it's really nice. You walk into the steam-boat shaped entrance to the original Nimitz Hotel. There you learn about the history of the nimitz family and Chester Nimitz's life.

N, (6' & 1/2"!) trying to see the rifling inside.

The second part of the museum is the George H. Bush Pacific War Museum. It tells the story of the Pacific Theater of WWII, from the Japanese invasion of China to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Q had a bit of a melt-down less than half-way through. He was hungry and not willing to wait to read all the captions and look at the artifacts. I am happy to report that no one was punished for bad behavior, though.

Q, happy as he gets, being very respectful and listening to the docent. 

The third part of the museum is 2 and a half blocks away and is an outdoor mock-up of a Japanese occupied beach-head. They do several re-enactments through out the year. Today it was only Chuck guiding us through the large artillery, tanks, PT boat and hospital.

 

Top photo, Inside a mock carrier hangar.

Bottom Photo, a PT boat used in the Mediterranean. They burned most of the wooden PT boats after WWII. This one had been sold as surplus to a commercial fisherman. The museum bought it and restored it to tell the story of the PT boats in the Pacific. 

This is a YouTube video of the reenactment that they do at this museum.

And here's an excellent PBS piece on the museum.

BTW, F-burg does have a Sonic for happy hour drinks afterward. (Not what you're thinking, half-price sodas!)

Do the Job Right

Homeschool criticism seems to come in waves. You'll see a lot on the web, then not so much. Months later, there will be another set of waves. It used to bother me a lot. Now, it is just a mild annoyance. Granted, I am annoyed enough to feel like I need to dedicate a whole (long) blog post to it.

Several months ago the National Center for Educational Statistics, a department of the Department of Education, released their latest report on homeschooling statistics. This report basically said that the number of children being homeschooled in the United States rose from 1.1 million students in 2003 to 1.5 million students in 2007. This report is the catalyst that has launched the most recent wave of homeschool criticism.

There have been dozens of articles and blog posts on the subject. I get Google alerts that are tagged "homeschool" in my inbox. There is at least one article a day that references the rise in homeschool numbers. Some of the articles are positive and some no so much. I don't read them all. Sometimes, I just skip ahead to the comments. And that is where I usually become annoyed.

There are so many ignorant people out there. And what agitates me, or makes me laugh (depending on the time of day, hormones and caffeine levels), is when people say things like, "I'm all for homeschooling, as long as they're doing the job, right." Doing the job right?! What does that mean?

Let's try to take a look at what the "doing the job right" mindset might mean.

They think we should be tested. Do you mean like the dumbed down tests that public schooled students have to take in order to comply with No Child Left Behind? Everyone agrees that NCLB is no stellar success. These tests do not measure what a child knows. Standardized tests are set up to reward schools and teachers that perform and punish schools and teachers that don't. Aren't those the schools and teachers that need more help? Not to be punished. Here is an excellent blog post (that references an article that I am unable to access) on the subject of testing. (Even if you don't read the rest of my post, I encourge you to read this post, it's one of the best I've ever seen.) Why should homeschools submit to testing that is set up to reward performing teachers and schools? We aren't receiving any money from any government source. We don't even get a tax deduction for our supplies like other teachers do.

The "doing the job right" mindset is still very worried that homeschooled kids will not be able to function in society. I have read where this mindset agrees that homeschooling is probably better academically, but they say that the POINT of going to school is the social aspect. The school that I know the most about is our local elementary school. I know that they have a severe bullying problem. And when I talk about bullies, I'm not talking about the traditional playground bully that has been there since the dawn of time. I'm talking about a little criminal who preys on kids in the halls and bus. A kid that is so vile, teachers apparently, are afraid of him. He's in the 5th grade. He's been terrorizing the school since Kindergarten. Next year he moves to the middle school. The elementary school teachers that I know are relieved. Talk about not functioning in society. This kid is going straight to the "big house." And just like all other character issues, this is not a "school" issue, this is a parenting issue. The socialization of any student is a result of parenting, not where they go to school.

Perhaps "doing the job right" means that we should all submit our curriculum to the appropriate authorities. Should this be a person specially hired by the school district to oversee such things? How much should that person earn a year? Is this an expense most districts can afford? What qualifications should this person have? Can they evaluate Charlotte Mason curriculum? Or only traditional textbooks? One of the strengths of homeschooling is that we are not tied to traditional methods that do not work for every child. Or maybe they will give this job to a person who already works for the district. Which person should that be? A principal? Doesn't that principal (or other disctrict employee) have enough to oversee already, without worrying about the (possible) hundreds or thousands of students not enrolled under his care?

How about just registering that you are indeed a homeschooler? "Doing the job right" means that someone at least knows that you homeschool. I haven't talked to anyone who can answer the question of how registering means that you're "doing the job right." The people I have talked to always reference a  kid they know who transferred from home to public school and didn't know their ABC's or how to read or add or fill-in-the-blank. Good. The parents recognized they were not "doing a good job" and put their child in a situation where they might learn. Yes, the person who tells me this story every year, thinks that simply registering as a homeschooler will somehow prevent kids who fall through cracks. That person is an educated, professional teacher.

I spoke with someone who told me that they know somoeone who homeschools so they can sleep in. So what?! Great! in fact. Imagine the trouble their poor children would have if they were late to school every day. This person thinks "doing the job right" means that you get up at 7 am, and start "school" by 8 am and do school until 2:30 or 3 pm. This is where a bit of ignorance comes in. Homeschooling is so efficient that having a 7 or 8 hour school day means that your child is going to graduate by 13 years old. Homeschooling doesn't take an hour per subject (well, not until puberty). It just doesn't. Homeschoolers (don't laugh) don't have to call roll, and spend 15 minutes settling the class down. Homeschoolers don't have administrative way markers that they have to make sure are ticked off as they go. "Doing the job right" does not mean running your home like an institutional school. 

"Doing the job right" means loving your children and doing what is best for them. They are your children not products of (or for) the government.

This is How You Eat an Elephant

One bite at a time.

I am of course, referring to Physical Science and my 14 year old son. We've decided to change companies for high school science, until then, we still have to finish the Apologia Physical Science course that he's officially half way through (Yay!) This has almost killed his interest in science. Sorry to burst any bubbles out there.

At the beginning of this year, we set up a notebook according to a notebook that another blogger had. It has dividers labeled "Vocabulary", "On Your Own", "Experiments", "Study Guide" and "Tests." Let's just say we had issues.Seeing that big notebook full of empty paper is overwhelming.

On a slight sidenote, I have been listening to Andrew Pudewa talk about teaching boys and teaching writing.
He is very helpful in understanding the male psyche. Boys are made different and you can't teach them like you'd teach girls, hence the "one bite at a time." (If you have boys, I highly recommend buying these downloads, it'll be the best $6 you'll spend.)

By Module 3, I was taking individual pages out, so that it wasn't so overwhelming. Thus, defeating the purpose of a notebook. When he started Module 4, I started stapling all the pages that he needed for that Module. I had to do it on a weekly basis and lost track after only two modules. N generally did not get the work done on his own. He'd read and do the questions, etc "in his head." Uh, OK. You can imagine how that has been going.

With the arrival of next year's curriculum, I have had to clear some space in the school room. This means going through curriculum, papers and notebooks and getting rid of things we are done with. Today, I put the rest of the Modules' paperwork into packets.

Each packet has a weekly schedule on top. The schedule instructs N to divide the reading into 6 days and WRITE down the number of pages he should read a day. We do school Monday through Thursday. So days are labeled, 1, 2, 3...8. Days 1 through 6 have listed under them, Reading, On Your Own, Technical Drawings and Experiments. Day 7 says, "Open Book Study Guide." Day 8 says, "Do the test." The packets are stapled together and in the notebook. He is supposed to take a packet out at the beginning of a module and put it in the book. Then, when he has completed the packet, hand it to me. I'll grade it and file it back in the notebook.

I got printable On Your Own pages, technical drawing pages and lab sheets from Donna Young's Apologia Physical Science page.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Better Than Christmas!

 

 

We are gonna have SOO much fun!

Come, Be Appalled With Me, Updated

You know I am working like crazy (and enjoying it) planning N's high school A little known fact is that I am also working like crazy putting together materials to have a Home High School seminar in June.

As a homeschooler in Texas, I can determine when my child has done enough to graduate. I am working with the end in mind. At this point in time, that's a Texas University. (Not UT)

In researching options for the seminar attendees, I looked up graduation requirements for public school students in Texas. Texas Education Code 74.51-74.54, each section is a different "level" (ie honors, recommended, minimum). Under Social Studies for all three levels, including honors, "American History Since Reconstruction."

That's IT for American History. The Texas Legislature decided that knowing HOW and WHY this country was founded is not pertinent to graduating high school! The Civil War isn't even important. I am emailing my uncle today to ask him about that. What history is he teaching to high school students? I'll update when I hear back from him.

My Uncle C, a Doctor of History, teacher of college history and high school Spanish, says, "Well this is true. The students cover the first part of US history in 8th grade. This "supposedly" provides students an understanding of the period. Students may opt to take College US history... one semester early US and the second  Reconstruction and onward."

Home High School Science, or Dissection and Microsopes and Chemicals, Oh My!

NumberOne son tells me that he wants a biology degree. He feels like it will be more diverse if he decides to go into the Navy after college or goes to work at King Ranch.

N's science studies have gone like this:
From K to 5th or 6th grade, we did a lot of nature study. We also completed Considering God's Creation, in 5th Grade, I think. When N was in 6th grade, we tried to use Observing God's World, from ABeka (through CLP). Coming from a Charlotte Mason-esque science background, we found it very boring. In fact, I threw it out half way through the year. Really. Not a lot of "real" science, as far as "classes" go.

Most of our homeschool friends use Apologia, and Apologia is very popular among Christian homeschoolers. I do love the apologetics throughout the books. That said, for the last two years, N has struggled with Apologia. We find it so wordy that it's hard to just pull out the facts. There are lots of great experiments that illustrate the lessons. He has had a hard time with the wording of the study guides and tests, as well.

Given that he tells me he wants a science degree, I am torn. Apologia is said to be the best college prep. But we can't use it. I thought about putting him in a biology class next year. But it still uses Apologia.

When I was researching curriculum for next year, I came across a new product from NOEO, Chemistry 3, for 7th to 9th graders. It's similar to Tapestry of Grace, in that there is a guide and many different "living:" books that you use, rather than one textbook.

Chemistry before biology? Every public schooled 9th grader does biology in 9th grade and chemistry in 10th. I wondered why. I emailed Lee Binz and the answer was math.

I still felt like NOEO's Chemistry 3 would work for him, even though he would be doing algebra at the same time.

But there was this nagging in the back of my head. We still had to tackle biology at some point. And other sciences for that matter. His high school plan has him doing 4 years of high school science. What would we use?

I read about Bob Jones sciences. They have a reputation for being "hard." And we already know how we feel about Apologia and ABeka, both. I just kept at it, until I found this link on the Well Trained Mind Forums.

Here's the review that sold me.

In case you're wondering, some of the places I looked for ideas were Home School Reviews, The Old School House Product Reviews and Google. The Well Trained Mind Forums are great if you're utilizing a largely classical model.

What I like about High School Biology in Your Home:
1. It is a guide for research, not a textbook. N loves to do research. He's my kid, after all :)
2. The sample pages appear to be clear and concise.

You can buy the kit from the publisher. I priced each piece of the kit at Home Science Tools and it's cheaper through them. She recommends this company for a microscope, they do have good prices.What do you think the shelf life for double dyed frogs is?

One of our goals for our children is to "own" their education, so I asked N which he wanted to do, Apologia with a weekly class, NOEO Chemistry 3 or Home Science Biology. He chose the third :-) I'm pretty excited!

Now, I'm researching microscopes, any recommendations?

Benefits?? of Homeschooling

1. You can get a drink or go to the restroom when you need to.
     - Those seem to occur right when I say it's time for math. And my children must be diabetic, or something,  because they are always thirsty.          

2. You can work at your own pace.
     - my children's pace is sometimes that of snails and other times that of puppies with ADD