Keep some old stuff

I do follow the FLY lady and try to get rid of clutter. I think that when my house is cluttered it dampens my happiness. But I also think it is possible to go too far the other way.

When I was in college I bought this little calculator that could also do some BASIC programming. It was very small and powerful enough for the engineering classes I was taking. Then I bought the printer/microcassette add-on for it. Now I could save my programs on the microcassette and print them out on thermal paper. It was as much a toy and gimmick as it was helpful. It was rather quickly outdated, but it was my first pda.

I never got rid of it mainly because it is so cute and small enough to stick in a corner of a closet. It made me smile when I saw it (so it wasn't weighing me down). When Sam saw it a few years ago he was hooked, but not old enough to really understand it.

But recently his babysitter showed him how to get to a dos command prompt and change directories. He was playing with this like with joy and enthusiasm even tho not much was happening. He was thrilled when he remembered the exact right key sequences.

This made me realize he was ready to learn BASIC so last night I got it back out and he and I wrote a program to calculate the area of a circle when the radius is inputed. He was so excited. This morning with me just showing him where to find information in a book and teaching him the basics of BASIC he wrote a program that generated a dice throw and then a random number from 1 to 100. We also tested the INT(a) command which we found in his pre-algebra book. It worked.

Dwight is looking to find a BASIC platform for Sam's computer that he can truly explore a more modern version of BASIC and I will be trying to find a book that teaches it to him. I don't think I'll have to do anything--I think the boy will run with this faster than I can keep up.

Sam still prefers to play computer games than read. He does his school because playing a computer game is his reward. And yet, his love of learning is back, too. He drinks in anything we talk about. Last night it was how the brain sends messages (electricity and chemical reactions). He took that thought and really got imaginitive with it. He spent the evening picking up signals from one neuron and sending them along to another.

Yesterday Dwight took the day off to see an opthamologist about his cataract. It has grown a lot since the eye doctor saw it (which was four months ago). This doctor thinks that it will need to be taken care of in about three months. Sam went with him (I was testing a student) and so he had a field trip and learned about eyes. He got to see his dad's eye up close with some kind of magnifier.

With that visit, the discussion about the brain and the programming late at night--yesterday was definitely an unschooling day!! There is no way I could relax if that was the way I did all school, but I certainly can see the value of that kind of learning. Since it is child directed you have an eager student. With a mind like Sam's there are so many thing he is curious about. But with my work schedule we can't just up and run to the library whenever his curiosity hits. And to do it well I think all "mindless" entertainment like television, computer games that are not educational, etc. would need to be removed or severely limited.

But combining formal learning with an unschooling spirit seems to work well for us.

As we wrap up this school year, I am looking to what we'll do next year. Here it is so far:

SonLight 5 Eastern Hemisphere
SonLight 5 Language Arts (which goes with same literature)
Algebra 1 (which we'll start this summer)
Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science (finish)
Aplogia Exploring Creation with Physical Science (after above is finished)
Rosetta Stone Latin (finish)--then move to Rosetta Stone Spanish maybe

and maybe continue with Easy Grammar Plus (it depends on what SonLight 5 Language Arts looks like).

Personal news:

We are now advocates for our friends the Lott's who are heading back to Africa this summer. We have come to love them deeply this past year. They will be in the process of moving from Botswana to Zambia when they first return, but don't know where in Zambia. That is their first job when they return--to pick which of two places to go in Zambia.

Summer is still up in the air. Waiting for schedules to be set and get a final answer from some potential students. I will continue working with my first grader. I will be tutoring my neighbor's daughter in algebra. I have a potential NILD student from a recommendation by her neighbor (my church friend). Another first grader may switch to me or continue with her current therapist (I give than less than 50% chance). Another person gave my name to a family who's son needs math tutoring, but haven't heard anything. So things are normal. I won't know anything until beginning of summer--anther opportunity to trust God (he's my boss, financial advisor and schedule problem solver--pretty much CEO and behind the scenes fixer of all problems!)