My seventh-grader is doing a project in school where he describes with fond memories our homeschool experiment from five years ago (could it be that long?) We had fun reading my old blog posts from that time. I thought I would repost this one.

January, 2007
It has now been nearly three months since beginning my homeschooling experiment. And I’d be lying if I said it was all “peaches and cream.”

We’ve experienced the ups and downs that one might expect from any experiment. I’ve modified curriculum constantly, in an attempt to figure out what works best for each child’s learning style and level. I can see that there are very good reasons for using excellent homeschool curriculum, rather than that designed for a classroom.

But I don’t have time to both design curriculum and teach my kids, (let alone write a book.) So very soon now, I’m going to settle down on my picks and quit changing streams in the middle of a horse. (You can thank my mom for that whacked-out expression.) I’ve spent extensive time on selecting curriculum, and keeping track of my evolving curriculum here.

We’ve also dealt with stressful relationship dynamics. Homeschooling accentuates personality conflicts, and I find we lock horns more often than we would if the kids were out of the house for nine hours per day.

As their teacher, I need to enforce a whole new set of expectations, which makes me the “bad guy” in even more instances than I was before. This is troublesome, but we’re working on it.

But as a whole, what I’ve discovered most, is that I WANT it to work. My kids WANT it to work.

We won’t know if it’s successful until the end of the experiment, because that’s the way experiments are.

So far:

I’ve discovered that, although 2nd grader excels in 3rd grade math, and my 4th grader reads more than 500 pages per week, my kids are not gifted in every subject.

I’ve witnessed the very different ways in which each child processes learning.

I’ve watched C find out for himself how fun reading can be.

I’ve naturally integrated learning into our daily life, because I know what they’re studying and what they’ve already learned.

I’ve photographed them conducting science experiments and loving it.

I’ve learned subject matter that I swear I never learned when I was in school — and I think it’s a gift to have this opportunity.

And, in-between the arguments, I’ve come to know my kids better, understand them better, hear them more, sit with them more, relax with them more, play with them more,

love them more.

And I’m remembering, that in all things,

PROCESS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PRODUCT.

Other Homeschooling Experiment milestones:
The Beginning
Week One – Starting with a Frazzle
Five Steps to Drive Yourself off a Cliff
Week Two – Just when I thought I knew what I was doing
Week Three — Let there be CRAFTS!
One-month Review
D’s Review at One Month
Week Five – Stress and frustration
Week Seven – Flip-flopping curriculum
Note to self – Consider having low expectations some weeks
Two-Month Review — Some aha moments
Three-Month Review — Not all peaches and cream
Four-Month Review — Loving ancient history
Five-Month Review — What I underestimated
Six-Month Review – Let’s Just Skip this Month
Seven-Month Review — Curriculum Review
D’s research paper — Save the Earth Saturday series
Tales of a Fourth-Grade Guinea Pig
All posts about the experiment — including WAY-COOL FIELD TRIPS!

HOMESCHOOL EXPERIMENT RESULTS SERIES:
WHY WE STARTED
the JOYS
the STRUGGLES
the FUTURE for us
Update – Since we Quit Homeschooling

(Photos: conducting DNA and bacteria experiments at the Science Museum of Minnesota.)

My daughter did an experiment as an extra-credit assignment in her eighth grade science class, and it had very interesting results that all sour-candy lovers should watch! She soaked three eggs in different solutions for a month, and then demonstrates the results on this 3-minute YouTube video (the last five minutes or so are blank video): One egg was soaked in water, one in sugar water and one in Sour Spray.

You may want to watch the entire Prezi presentation to understand the hypothesis of the experiment, as well as the research that led her to focus on sour spray. Just click on the link in the previous sentence and click the arrow on the Prezi to move through the presentation slides.

During the presentation of her experiment, my daughter also conducted a social experiment. She offered each student a sour or regular gummy worm before starting the presentation, and 57% of the eighth graders chose “sour.” Her hypothesis was that when eighth graders learn the truth about sour spray, they will choose to change behavior. After the presentation, only 29% chose sour. Her hypothesis proved correct! You can try this in your own home or classroom, before and after watching the presentation.

Enjoy!

This is the fifth part of our LOST homeschool curriculum – focusing on history, literature, mythology, religion etc. (PART I – THEMES is here.)
NOTE: If you watch the series, this will all make sense to you. If you don’t watch the series, I highly recommend it, but you have to watch it from the beginning – we purchased the first 4 seasons on DVD. You can’t just watch a couple episodes and have any understanding at all. My series here includes only the simplest of the discussion points. For in depth LOST analysis, please visit the message boards or Lostpedia.

MYTHOLOGY/LITERATURE

Egyptian Mythology - The statue in later seasons has been identified as Taweret, and the hieroglyphics seen throughout the temple and on Jacob’s tapestry have kept LOST lovers busy translating for months.

Greek Mythology – much has been discussed about the many Greek characters and how their influence could connect with LOST, particularly Apollo, Persephone, and Cerberus . The stories of Atlantis and Pandora’s Box also offer many parallels to the storylines in LOST.

The Odyssey - This epic story was said to have been written in a way that each chapter (episode) would include flashbacks, etc. In theory, you could start at any point in the book and read it in it’s entirety – like a loop. One could possibly do the same thing with LOST.

Paradise Lost – this poem by Milton tells the story of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, and the ways Satan pushed them into sin. The battle between God (good) and Satan (evil) is central to Paradise Lost, and some say the same theme exists in LOST.

In addition, numerous other books are referenced in the show, and may or may not have meaning in the plot. For instance, here’s just a list of what Sawyer is reading during the show:
* Watership Down
* Lord of the Flies
* A Wrinkle in Time
* Lancelot
* Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
* Bad Twin
* Of Mice and Men
* The Fountainhead
* Evil Under the Sun
* The Invention of Morel
* Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Visit Lostpedia for a complete listing of books featured on LOST.

HISTORY/RELIGION

Whether you see the religious references as “religion” or “history”, they certainly exist in LOST> Possible plot lines that follow the lines of purgatory, reincarnation, heaven/hell and redemption. Themes seem to touch on history of numerous religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islaam, and Buddism.

Most major religions are used in some way in the series, and names are one of the strongest references. While this is certainly not a comprehensive list of all the meaningful names in the series, it does give you an idea about the complex discussions potentially generated by them. One of the reasons LOST is such an amazing show, is that the writing is so intelligent, weaving references to history, literature and religion into every episode.

Adam and Eve are mentioned when the skeletons are found in the cave in Season 1. Their descendents are Abraham (Bram) Jacob, Jacob’s son Benjamin, and his descendent AARON (Moses’ brother.) Ben jokingly refers to Locke as “Moses” in season five. Jacob’s descendants carry the line of David and this is the family tree that includes Jesus Christ, the Good Shepard (Christian Shepard.) Who knows how any of this will play in the final season, but it all offers lots of opportunity for discussion. SOURCE: ABC LOST MESSAGE BOARDS

LOST Homeschool Lessons Series:
Themes
Character Arc
Symbols
Games!
History/Literature

This is the fourth part of our LOST homeschool curriculum – The Games Losties Play! (PART I – THEMES is here.) Games play an important symbolic part in the series, and we may even find they’ve provided clues to the strategic storytelling in LOST.

NOTE: If you watch the series, this will all make sense to you. If you don’t watch the series, I highly recommend it, but you have to watch it from the beginning – we purchased the first 4 seasons on DVD. You can’t just watch a couple episodes and have any understanding at all. My series here includes only the simplest of the discussion points. For in depth LOST analysis, please visit the message boards or Lostpedia.

Backgammon
Clearly the most symbolic game in the series is backgammon, an ancient game that is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia in the Persian empire (present day Iran, Iraq, and Syria.) It is the oldest known recorded board game in history and its “light” and “dark” playing pieces provide the most frequently discussed theme in the show. Locke teaches Walt how to play the game in the pilot episode, and references to the light and dark imagery have continued throughout the five seasons of the show. (We bought a vintage Backgammon set on eBay for $7.)

RISK
In the photo above you see my kids playing RISK with the neighbors. This strategic war game is definitely a classic, as is evidenced by the Losties playing it in the 1970’s Dharma barracks in Season 4. The first five seasons seem to be leading up to a war in season six, so I expect to see parallels with Risk in the coming year. The gameboard set we found also as the “Castle Risk” version on the backside of the board – this wasn’t introduced until the 80’s or post-Dharma in the show.

CHESS
Locke defeats the computer chess game in season three, and Hurley plays the ghost of Eko in season four. Our kids have been playing chess for about five years, so this is already a mainstay in their game repertoire.

For more fun references to games in LOST, please visit Lostpedia.

LOST Homeschool Lessons Series:
Themes
Character Arc
Symbols
Games!
History/Literature

This is the fourth part of our LOST homeschool curriculum – symbolism (PART I – THEMES is here.) Strong references to mythology and other symbols have opened much opportunity to include symbols in the series, making it a very interesting show to analyze.

NOTE: If you watch the series, this will all make sense to you. If you don’t watch the series, I highly recommend it, but you have to watch it from the beginning – we purchased the first 4 seasons on DVD. You can’t just watch a couple episodes and have any understanding at all. My series here includes only the simplest of the discussion points. For in depth LOST analysis, please visit the message boards or Lostpedia.

Here are a few of the general points of discussion related to symbols – they often tie in directly to the themes I discussed in part one of this series:

Light/Dark – Throughout the series, you’ll find situations where two opposing forces are represented one dark and one light. Examples of dark/light include the backgammon game and the clothing worn by Jacob and the other man in the Season 5 finale. Interestingly, Rose and Bernard also represent light/dark skin color, but are both viewed as “good”, and not really opposites.

Rain — Rain is a frequent occurrence in Lost, usually supporting dramatic effect and accompanying significant scenes or plot twists.

Music/sound — Michael Giacchino’s musical score for Lost makes use of numerous recurring leitmotifs and themes, often with associations to specific characters, locations, or actions. (Source: LostPedia) Other noises are also symbolic of the Smoke Monster – sometimes a metallic/growling noise, sometimes like a scraping chain.

Babies/children — Many storylines include babies and children, and in general there’s a mystery regarding children on the island.

Pregnancy — There are numerous problems with pregnancy on the island, and I think this theme will continue into season 6.

Numbers — Numerology is strong in this series, and you’ll find the same numbers used over and over, in one form or another. Most stem from the “cursed” numbers Hurley used in the lottery: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Apparently, these numbers also represent the core to the Valenzetti Equation, a mathematical formula designed to predict the end of humanity. Lostpedia is an excellent reference for all LOST numerology.

Symbols that seem to have been a point of focus so far, but I’m not sure for what reason:

Rings – Rose’s wedding ring, Sun’s wedding ring, and Charlie’s ring.

Shoes – They appear randomly, and in many episodes.

Kate’s Horse — Possibly the spirit of her dead father? Or her guide?

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Please share other symbols that you’ve noticed in the show.

LOST Homeschool Lessons Series:
Themes
Character Arc
Symbols
Games!
History/Literature