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November 28, 2005
Freedom to Learn Who You Are
What about socialization? I have gotten that question before and so has just about every other homeschooling family. As if the typical school of today provides the right social experience for our children.
I found a nice piece on the "S" word written by a young woman who had been unschooled her entire life. This sentence really stood out:
Making children face relentless, inescapable peer pressure does not prepare them to face adult life: more often, it weakens and confuses them and teaches them to judge themselves by the opinions of others.
Click here to read all of "Freedom to Learn Who You Are."
Posted by Julee at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2005
Mexico and Mexican Culture
When I learned we were moving to San Antonio last year I was really excited to have my children learn about Mexican culture first hand. Well, since we discovered that our stay here has been significantly shortened I am trying to accelerate the experience.
Last Friday we went to the Institute of Mexican Culture to look at the paintings. There were 3 galleries in the main building. The boys really enjoyed the paintings by Luis Filcer. Though that probably had to do with the fact that the title of the show was "La Revolucion" and there were many paintings of soldiers.
From there we went to Market Square, which is billed as the most authentic Mexican market outside of Mexico. We browsed in the shops and Henry charmed a shopkeeper by practicing his Spanish with her. We picked up a Lotteria game which they have played in their Spanish class and a Mexican calendar.
You can't go to Market Square without stopping at the Mi Tierra Bakery for treats. The restaurant still has its Day of the Dead displays out. So we spent quite a long time looking at them while we snacked.
Since it was a weekday there was not much going on there. We will have to go back on a Sunday for the music and to see some dancing.
Posted by Julee at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2005
Turtle Links
Here is a site that shows some very, very short video clips of sea turtles: Sea Turtle Video Clips. Check out the hatchlings. They are so cute. Too bad the quality of the video isn't too great.
Seaturtle.org: Really cool site with a google map of Satellite Tracking Projects. Also some quicktime videos of seaturtle crittercams.
Western Pond Turtle "Turtle Cam"
I think a weekend trip is in order: Sea Turtle, Inc.
Turtle Fun & Games:
Sea Turtle Sliding Puzzle
Sea Turtle Concentration Game
Draw a Sea Turtle
Eastern Box Turtle Coloring Page
Sea Turtle Coloring Page
Another Sea Turtle Coloring Page(this one has the names of different kinds of turtle)
And here is one last page- a long list of various Turtle & Tortoise Links.
Posted by Julee at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2005
Aquarena Springs
On Monday we went to Texas State University Aquarena Center in San Marcos for a turtle presentation. The place is actually on the site of an old amusement park, Aquarena Springs, which closed in the 1990s. Some of the old structures are still standing. It is also the home of the actual San Marcos Springs which puts out about 200 million gallons of water a day.
It was really great trip. We started off with a ride on a glass bottom boat and saw a ton of turtles swimming, as well as a variety of fish. We also saw the springs in action: it looked like the mud on the bottom of the lake was boiling.
We then went into their small aquarium and saw a handful of local endangered species, including a very cute soft shelled turtle. We also went on walk across a boardwalk over some restored wetlands and saw even more turtles.
We capped off the field trip with another set of turtle shell paper plates:
(notice my children were still dressed in summer clothes)
Posted by Julee at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)
Turtles
This month our Audubon Club is learning about turtles. Last week when we met we read turtle books and made turtle shells out of paper plates.
Posted by Julee at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2005
Sea Turtles
Sadly, all sea turtle species are listed as endangered except the loggerhead, which is listed as threatened.
Posted by Julee at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2005
Charlotte's Web
We like Charlotte's Web. So far I have read aloud the book, we have watched the animated version on DVD and the boys frequently listen to it on their audio CD. Today we saw a stage production of the story presented by the Madison High School Drama Department. I had not seen a high school play since...well, since high school. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a really cute production with really great costumes. Most of the acting wasn't half-bad either.
Another homeschooling mom organized the outing and I'm glad she did. I would have never thought of going to the high schools for a fun but inexpensive way for my kids to experience theater.
Posted by Julee at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2005
Homeschooling on the Rise in France
The homeschooling movement seems to be starting to spread, albeit slowly, to a few other countries. According to the article more than 50,000 British children are homeschooled. (In the US, it's more than 1,000,000 children)
While less than 20,000 children in France are homeschooled the numbers are rising....
Home-schooling in France on the Rise
Posted by Julee at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)