Beans

After months of anticipation, we finally have beans coming out of Jove's Garden. They are an heirloom variety called Good Mother Stallard that we ordered from the Seed Savers Exchange ($2.50 for 50 seeds). They are beautiful and I let you all know how they taste.

Jove got to decide what we would plant in his garden and since he is a little picky about what he eats we ended up with mostly carrots (AKA the only veggie Jove eats everyday), beans and basil, to make pesto. We also had some cilantro early on and some other "experiments" like garbanzos and some snap peas that were soon to be completely shaded out by what Jove calls the beanstalk after the starring plant in the Jack and the Beanstalk story.

Now the seed package said the plants would have a pole habit, meaning they would grow as a climbing vine. I assumed this meant the plant would get maybe 6-7 feet tall, but oh no. We used some leftover 10 ft PVC pipes to support it and the stem was still looking to climb higher. Jove told me today we should save some of the seeds to plant next year and I asked him what we are going to use to hold up the vines. I think I may have to splurge on some real bean poles and I have decided to try to make a bean tunnel that Jove can hang out in.

Jove is beside himself with excitement about his beans and wanted to count them today. We counted 52 this morning and we have since picked and shelled at least 5 times that many. The beans fit neatly on the grid of Jove's hundred number chart and we did some counting by fives and tens. At the end of it all, Jove says to me, "I think we are doing math." Yep, we are, the bean counters. Where did the expression "bean counters" come from anyway?

playing and learning

Grandma and Grandpa

"Eye goggles"

A Volcano (pre-eruption) inspired by the
previous weeks lesson on volcanoes

We have been having a lot of fun and learning a lot in the past couple of weeks. We have been able to continue to enjoy the summer weather and the backyard, even the pool. My parents came for a visit (on their way to France... ahem.) and after a day of waiting out tropical storm Hanna, we spent a day at Wave Hill, a beautiful public garden here in the Bronx with spectacular views of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades.

Two days this week we hosted our homeschooling friends: for a lesson on the senses of sight and smell and for a Charlotte's Web party to celebrate the completion of our first chapter book. All of the kids really get along well and I am surprised by how much information they are absorbing from their experiences.

So far when I plan a lesson it ends up including some explaining, a book or two, maybe a song, an activity or exploration (i.e. science lab for pre-K -grade 2) and some sort of craft. I am into it, both the planning and being a part of the learning experience. Having other moms involved means that there is more than one explanation floating around the room, extra hands and eyes to corral the kids and the ability to expand the ideas back to the home of the child.

All of the kids had read Charlotte's Web and they were able to talk about the characters and remember in what part of the book things happened. It was a party, so, of course we had a cake. All of this fun and the planning for it kind of tired me out and I am so glad that next week the planning rests on a friend's shoulders. Yay for shared responsibilities!

But, I must say that the best part of learning with other families really has little to do with the lessons. The influence of kids teaching kids, having regular playmates and the sharing of ideas amongst people of all ages are the real benefits of getting together. Jove all of sudden is very interested in math because his friend knows a lot about numbers and he is also improving the writing of his name because he sees the other children do it so well.

homeschooling

I have been thinking so much about homeschooling both in practical and philosophical terms that I started to keep a journal to keep my thoughts straight and to chronicle our journey. A lot of what I write would probably bore most people that aren't directly involved. But, there are a few things that have been important realizations for me that I want to share.

I would have never made the choice to homeschool Jove or realized the scope of the homeschooling movement if it weren't for a friend of mine who is a homeschooler of her three kids. I consider her a mentor and an inspiration. She encouraged me by assuring me, providing me with materials and guiding me towards the larger homeschooling community. I have realized that many of the major shifts in my life have happened because of a person that I met or a situation presenting itself at the right moment, serendipitous encounters.

I have now met many homeschooling families and it seems like the reasons for doing it are incredibly varied: some people do it because they want their kids to be free of the pressures and negative socialization that can happen in schools, some want their kids to grow up spending a lot of time with their siblings and parents, some want more free schedules to pursue passions in non-traditional areas, some have kids who exceptionally bright or with exceptional needs that are not well serviced in schools, some have only access to inferior public schools and some have had horrible experiences in schools. I am sure there are many more reasons and that the community here is not necessarily representative of the homeschooling community nationally.

Here are the reasons we are homeschooling this year (Jove is only 4, but here almost everyone sends their kids to a pre-K program and many go full-time):

1) I want for Jove to spend as much time as possible with our family and friends.
2) I feel like I can be at least as effective as a pre-K program in teaching the basics and we can do it at our own pace.
3) I want his learning and social experiences to be positive and for him to learn about what he is interested in.
4) I want him to have plenty of time to play and have free, unstructured time in his days.
5) It is almost free (except for a few supplies) and I don't have to drive him.
6) He has expressed that he doesn't want to go to school right now that he prefers to be at home.

I am really excited about what we are doing and we already have started our little co-op with two other families. Jove will also take one class each week. We have signed up for a parent/child ceramics class at a local art center and in the winter I plan to sign him up for a gym/sports class. We also do outings to attractions or meet-up with friends at least a couple of times a week.

Just in case anyone was wondering, I think that there are a lot of great schools and teachers and I will be sending Jove to Kindergarten next year and I hope that he has a good experience. I find that I have both positive and negative thoughts about the idea of doing long-term homeschooling for our family. More on that later...

a week in the woods

We spent last week in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. It is beautiful country: forested hills, farms and quaint towns. We did a lot of hiking over the week and our last hike was to the top of Lenox Mountain, the first mountain that Jove has climbed. The woods were full of interesting critters, many, many mushrooms and a lot of moss: we found a pond filled with tadpoles on their way to becoming frogs (a few legs here and there), we saw trees gnawed by beavers, lots of dragonflies by rivers and streams and Jup spotted a plant I had never seen before called Indian Pipes which is completely white and lives on a fungus that sucks the sap from tree roots.

This area was as picturesque and inspring as I had imagined New England would be growing up. It makes me want a cabin in the woods with a stream and maybe some berry patches and a small orchard. Like Thoreau, but maybe with some electricity and indoor plumbing.

We explored the area and took the kids on a scenic railroad and to an outdoor amusement park at a ski resort. We also drove to Amherst to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I loved this place- it managed to make an art museum appealing and interactive for kids, for the big kids, too.

It was a super relaxing week. The place we stayed was fully equipped, making meals and laundry easy. There was a winding lagoon with forested islands right outside our kitchen, so our time spent just relaxing at our place was beautiful and allowed the kids to explore. We also got to swim in the pool quite a bit.

Jup has become a hiking aficionado and plans to start backpacking this fall before it gets cold. Luckily, there are so many mountainous landscapes within an hour or too of where we live.

observe

I have been writing many blog posts lately, in my head.

There is so much stuff going on around here lately that I just have to start writing.

We had a trip planned to Michigan to visit our family and friends and we ended up staying here to nurse Miranda back to health (literally) after a crazy four day fever.

Weirdly, the morning after we were supposed to leave we found some eggs in the geckos' water dish. So, we have a lot of critters in our house and garden right now and some pretty exciting things are happening and it is bringing us all a lot of joy. Now, I am a nature lover not really a pet lover, but watching the kids with the geckos may convert me.

Critter Notes:

• We have five geckos (loaned class pets from Jup's school) and two of them have laid three egss and we think we have more eggs to come. We are incubating the eggs. Geckos are smarter than I previously thought: they poop in one corner of the cage and the first egg layer laid her eggs in the water dish since they needed to be moist. We have since created a moist spot in the cage for subsequent egg layers.
• A couple of weeks ago we found a caterpillar in our carrot plants. I thought it might it be a Black Swallowtail because I had seen some of the butterflies in the back yard and they could have laid their eggs. So we bring it in and feed it carrot greens, it attached itself to the side of the container, shrunk by exuding a liquid and turned into a chrysalis (pupa) while we were camping. A few days after we got home our butterfly emerged. The picture of Munchie as adult butterfly is above. It was very exciting. Today we found another caterpillar in the carrots and we are going to rear it into a butterfly. When you touch them they poke out two orange osmetria and release a stinky smell. Jove noticed this with the first one and I got a picture of it this time.
• Look at the picture with Jove observing a green critter covered in small white pupae. I couldn't believe we found this today. The other day while watering my tomato plants I noticed some caterpillar poop on the ground. I looked at the plant and didn't see anything and then today while discussing why our tomato plants are doing so poorly: one has a fungus issue (a humungous fungus, as Jove would say) and the other one seems to be suffering from the sawdust that gathered on it, we saw a parasitized Tomato Horn Worm. I knew that wasps often lay their eggs in a caterpillar so when their larvae hatch they are surrounded by mushy food and then the pupae emerge from the skin. Adult wasps would then emerge from these little white pupae. But, this is the first time I had ever seen it. Jove was very interested and we showed the whole family and our neighbor before freezing it for posterity. By the way, the caterpillar was still alive, but not very feisty. Don't worry, wasps don't lay eggs inside humans, just Bot Flies do that and they only live in tropical America.
• You may know that honey bees, originally from Europe, are suffering from catastrophic collapse in population and farmers are experiencing a pollination problem, both in terms of cost and effectiveness. The other day I read an article about native pollinators (bees, wasps, beetles) and how important they can be when honeybee survival rates are low and now I am noticing all of the different pollinators we have here. Miranda stands in front of our marigolds and watches the bumblebees and says "bee" over and over again.

House notes:

• All of this talk and reading about insects and other animals has Jove using the word "attract" many times a day. If I try to coax Miranda and Jove away from some dusty spot in the kitchen, Jove blames it on Miranda, "She attracted me over here." Cracks me up.
• The TV has been off for the kids almost completely this summer (Psst, I really want to get rid of the TV completely, but Jup won't let me yet). So now, if Jove is completely wiped out from being outside or running around all day he asks to have the fish tank light put on so he can sit and watch them. He will also watch out the window for fireflies or watch what is going on down our street. We have now been asked by two different visiting cousins if our TV is broke. For the record, I don't think all TV is bad, but I think it is a very slippery slope with kids and I feel better staying away from the edge of the cliff.
• I have begun the homeschooling journey and it is very exciting. We had a small playdate with two other homeschooling families yesterday, a little Bronx collective of sorts. Since Jove is still young, it feels like we have the best of both worlds: a lot of his friends that do or will attend school are still pretty available since they are in pre-K or kindergarten and we are meeting some really inspiring new friends that are completely available to share time and learning with once the school year starts.

Adios!

outside

a mid-summer night's dream

We are remodeling the kitchen and putting in a half bath in one corner of the kitchen. I can use the kitchen, but a few things still need to be done. I am still in awe of the process of completely redoing a room. Thanks to my dad and my dear hubby for giving me a new kitchen and a first floor bathroom. I will post more pics when everything is done.