Actually, right now the kids (Rachel-17 yr old senior, Sarah-14 yr old freshman, and Sam-13 yr old 8th grader) are doing what I call "independent study". That's 30 minutes of studying or looking up anything informational. I told them to just use the encyclopedia for today. I'm not really sure I should call it independent, though. They spend the whole time telling me all about the things they are reading.
Did you know that cats have two sets of vocal chords? They use one set for meowing and one for lower sounds like growling. And they don't really use their whiskers for measuring a space to see if they will fit through.
We're doing a photography course this year from The Great Courses. We are loving it! We got a new camera with all kinds of settings we've never heard of, and it takes amazing pictures. The teacher on the course is a National Geographic photographer, and he knows everything! We did lesson 6 today, because we had started before; and I couldn't keep straight all he was saying about aperture and depth of field. I'm going to have to listen again and make notes. And then go out with the camera in my hands before I'll remember it. It's amazing how putting your hands on something helps you learn. I'm sure if I listened to the lessons enough, I could explain all kinds of technicalities, but I'd never take better pictures without actually taking them!
Sarah's having a piano lesson today. My husband Jeff is teaching her. He taught our adult son too, who just got a bachelor's degree in piano performance. And his wife did too! So all of the sudden a few months ago, Sarah decided to learn to play; and she has been flying! She's playing with both hands and can sight read surprisingly well for playing such a short time. I told her that most of the time kids who have only been playing a few months aren't really playing anything yet. She's not sure she believes it. Here's a little video of some very simple duets she and Jeff were playing around with the other day.
See you tomorrow!
I am enjoying your blog posts. I started from the most current and am reading back to the older ones. I am a newbie homeschooling mom. I am going into my 3rd year with our youngest. My other kids have graduated, one just last month from the local high school. I love photography as well. While I am not a Nat. Geo. professional photographer, I do understand some of the technical things. Let me know if you need help. I have a blog as well, a much neglected from my scrapbooking days. There are plenty of photos there. There is a photography tag on the side bar in all of the tags. http://momma-paparazzi.blogspot.com/search/label/photography
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great time at Julie's retreat.
Thanks, Michelle. I will definitely be checking out your blog. I may take you up on the photography help! My older daughter is hoping to use it to make money during college, so she'll have to learn it for real. Also I'll answer any homeschool questions you want to ask, too! I like to help if I can.
DeleteOh, and the retreat was amazing!