Studio Ghibli Movies

We waited with baited breath for the arrival of Ponyo to our local movie rental store, and when it finally did I'm not sure who was more ecstatic--the kids--or me--but the woman behind the counter must have thought we'd lost our minds!

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese manga artist, a prominent film director and animator of a number of popular animae feature films.  Miyazaki has attained international acclaim partly due to his relationship with the Walt Disney corporation.  It wasn't until 1997, when Princess Mononoke was released in the West that his notoriety began to grow.

Laputa

Miyazaki's films usually incorporate the recurring theme of humanity's relationship with nature and technology, and the struggles involved in living a pacifist's lifestyle.  The heroes in his stories are often strong, independent girls or young women, and the villains tend to be morally ambiguous antagonists presented with redeeming qualities.  All themes that resonate strongly with me, and which I am glad to share with my children.

This is a list Hayao Miyazaki movies--the linked entries will take you to locations where you can watch the movie in its entirety free online:

• Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind(1984)
• Laputa: The Castle in the Sky(1986)
• My Neighbor Totoro(1988)
• Kiki's Delivery Service(1989)
• Porco Rosso(1992)
• Princess Mononoke(1997)
• Spirited Away(2001)
• Howl's Moving Castle(2004)



Howl's Moving Castle

• Ponyo(2008

I would recommend highly all of the Studio Ghibli movies, but if you're not so piqued about the animes, I strongly recommend watching at least Castle in the Sky, though I really love Howl's Moving Castle (who am I kidding?  I love them all!), and the kids especially like My Neighbor Totoro and Ponyo.  My husband liked Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke better than some of the others, but we all agree that Hayao Miyazaki'smovies are absolute favorites.

Be sure to look for english-dubbed versions, though I also like to watch them in Japanese, sometimes with subtitles, sometimes without.  Because the nature of the Japanese language injects so much oral inflection into the spoken word that it's really more moving?--powerful?--more evolved? to listen to the stories as Hayao Miyazaki wrote them.

Homemade Playdough

I make a lot of things from scratch in my home.  A lot of our food is made the old fashioned way, from scratch--without the aid of a boxed or packaged-mix.  I do this partly to prevent ingestion of preservatives, dyes, and other harmful chemicals, and partly to stretch our budget.  I also make a lot of our school supplies by hand; a little creativity goes a long way, and since kids are generally less particular than adults, it doesn't take much sometimes to make something that thrills kids.

I've been making our playdough myself since Winter was two.  The recipe was given to me by the developmental therapist who was coming to see us regularly at that time.  I've since given up the assistance of professionals regarding Winter's possible autism-spectrum disorders, but we still make good use of the playdough recipe that I've deemed "Really Great Homemade Playdough".

Playdough is a terrific manipulative for any child, but especially for children who might be struggling with some sensory issues.  It's calming to sit working with the dough; it can help children to clear their mind, focus--I like to use it before school-sessions sometimes, to help Winter prepare himself for what's expected of him during lessons.  Play dough is also a great tool to use if your child struggles with fine-motor skills.  Winter has difficulty with handwriting, and with using scissors (basically anything that requires more nimble hand-action), so again, playdough is a benefit to help him strengthen and practice using those muscles that he has less control over.

This recipe is very soft, and smooth, so it's pleasant to use.  The kool-aid fragrance is invigorating, but we've also used cinnamon and cloves in dough, particularly in the fall season and around Thanksgiving.  The fragrances only add to the sensory experience, which makes it an enjoyable experience and easy to entice a reluctant learner into participating.

REALLY GREAT HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH

1) Sift in a Large Bowl:

2-1/2cups flour

1/2cups salt

2packages kool-aid(for color)

 2) Bring to a boil 2cups water.

 Have ready 3tablespoons any oil.

 3) Add boiling water to sifted mixture; stir with wooden spoon until well combined.  Allow to cool until you can handle it to knead the dough smooth. 

4)  Store in 1gallon ziplock baggie.

I have not had good luck using food colorings on this recipe, but kids and parents alike typically like the dough, as it is soft and smooth.  I've even given the playdough out for Christmas gifts and birthdays, and it is an easy fix for a group activity when cousins and friends visit.  And with so many benefits it's hard to judge such a versatile manipulative by it's clean-up alone.

Summer Vacation

We've been avidly enjoying our summer vacation.

The boys are eating up the free time (among other things),

and I've been taking the time to pursue some of my many interests.

But here is a brief glimpse into some of

our summertime activities.

Nothing beats eating blueberries right off the bush.

  A flair for dramatics.

"Workin' Girl"

A stunning yellow flower in my garden.

Putting on fruit.

Time for cole-slaw! Yay!

Stunning red flower in my garden.

Bean-blossoms.

End of the Year Assessments

With our 2009--2010 school year drawing to a close I find myself taking a look back on the last year.  Taking a scrutinizing look at all the things that worked for us, and all the things that did not.

After a rough start in the fall getting into a consistent routine, we eventually managed to get quite a bit accomplished this year.  Though we'd done preschool and kindergarten at home, this was our first "Official" year homeschooling; our first year accountable for what Winter's learning. 

Taking into consideration Winter's learning style and his unique needs as a child on the Autism spectrum, I had already learned that strict adherence to a structured routine helped him to function throughout the day.  For our first year of serious schooling I simply adjusted the routine we already had established.  The problem I had with that was Winter's stubborn resistance to change, and to formal schooling.  It took us until well into January before Winter and I had really broken in the new regimen; consequently our school-year ran late--it is now the end of June and our last day of 1st Grade is schedule for Saturday, July 3rd.

Winter is not a self-motivated child, and so the practice of unschooling that is becoming so popular among many homeschoolers--does not work for us.  Personally I like the principle behind the ideal, but I have no doubt that left to his own devices Winter would simply park himself in front of the nearest computer and play video-games all day, every day.  Also, I feel that a certain amount of formal schooling is beneficial so long as the individual's learning style and personal needs are considered.  And so, following a story-time period we congregate at the kitchen table for lessons five days a week.  

This year I mainly focused on the 3-Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Handwriting is a major struggle for Winter, but he's made great strides with it this year, through copy-work and journalling.  His reading ability exploded in the fall--we suspect he was reading some on his own when we started the school-year, and after persistent  demands for a period of oral reading during our formal school time, Winter's abilities were revealed.  He is currently reading at a 3rd to 5th grade reading level, and still sometimes insists that he's "not a good reader".  


We've covered most of the same maths that first-graders in the system would have learned: addition, telling-time, patterning, skip-counting, measuring inches and centimeters.  I also introduced greater-than and less-than, place-value, and money.  I would have been well-satisfied if he had memorized all of the addition math-facts, but I think he had a good firm foundation, and I intend to increase attention to math in the new school-year.


Alright--science isn't one of the 3-Rs--hell, it's not even an 'R', but this is a scientific homeschool, and so science education played a headlining role in our curriculum.  My husband and I strive to provide a scientific foundation with our very lifestyle, so the inquiry and process habits were already there.  I simply provided direction with the Earth-Studies Units, which look at science through the history of our planet Earth.  We studied the Big Bang theory, the Hadean Eon, volcanoes and plate tectonics, the Archaean Eon and evolution.  We looked at the Proterozoic Eon through a unit study regarding microscopic life, where I introduced the microscope to not only my children, but also my nephews.  And we looked at the start of the Paleozoic Era with the Cambrian Explosion and vertebrates vs. invertebrates.
  


I tried to provide a science education that was both factual and hands-on.  So we utilized reference books, as well as performing hands-on experiments and multi-sensory activities such as games, videos and documentaries, and data-keeping through lapbooking.


Overall I think our first year of serious schooling was a success.  Winter made good progress and we've all learned a lot about what works for our family, and what does not.  We'll be celebrating our accomplishments this Sunday with a bar-b-que, as requested by Winter, and he will receive his awards and a new TinTin book as a prize for all his hard work.  Then I'm looking forward to a few weeks off to regroup before we start again.  Hooray for summer vacation!

Homeschooling Research

Since I began the homeschooling journey, beginning with the momentous decision to keep my children out of the school-system, I have sought to learn more about said system

Sharing My Garden Enthusiasm

Summer is nearly upon us, and I am in full garden-mode right now.  My mind obsesses over the garden and its many facets.  I'd spend every waking minute in the garden--if only my body didn't protest so!

New Bee-Lens Finished at Squidoo!

As promised the link to the finished bee unit-study lens:

Preparing for the Arrival of Our Bee Colony

For those of you who don't already know--I'm an avid gardener.  I garden using the biointensive method, companion planting, and other organic methods.  This year I am excited to be adding my first backyard beehive to my organic garden methods.

Climbing Bald Mountain in Rangeley

As an early Mother's Day gift, my husband arranged to take me out--without kids--to do whatever I wanted.  I chose to climb Bald Mountain in Rangeley.

We Love TinTin! and Comic Books

It all started when Winter went out with Grammy one afternoon to the thrift store in Skowhegan.  He came back with a few little trinkets they'd found together, including a paperback copy of The Adventures of TinTin in America.

When I Say Northern Maine I Really Mean North of I-95

Okay--so the title of my blog says that we're in northern Maine, I know.  But according to the Maine map we're actually located in central Maine.

FIDDLEHEADING: A Maine Tradition

Fiddleheading is a long-standing Maine tradition.  It's an annual adventure to trek to your local river-flats to pick the ferns before they unfurl in the Spring.  Locals prize their picking-spots like a secret family recipe;

The Maine Atlas

Somehow I lost my Maine Atlas, which is a key tool to roaming the state, so I had to go track down a new one.

Vernal Pool Education

Vernal pools are a vital part of any forest ecosystem and so many people are unaware of their existence. 

No Place for Citizen Scientists in Rural Northern Maine

I love living in Maine.  I love the mountains where I live, and the forests, and I love the rural setting.

However, as secular homeschoolers, sometimes the remoteness of northern Maine can be frustrating to say the least.

Top Five Must-See Maine Migrations

Spring-time draws out the age-old instinct for migration in animals as well as humans.

Winter's Story

As I mentioned before, my eldest son Winter has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder--Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), which is on the high-functioning end of the Autism Spectrum.  When he was about 2yo some developmental delays were noticed,

Burns Family Homeschool

This blog will be different from my "starter-blog" in that it will be strictly about our family's unique journey along the homeschooling path.  We are a new kind of homeschool family, a secular family homeschooling with a scientific method that is as unusual as we are.  And in the Foothills region of Maine homeschooling is uncommon enough, but to add our secular views to the mix really makes us stand apart from mainstream homeschoolers.

Life in the Foothills

The Foothills Region of Maine is made up of an area of high hills and low river valleys that sit alongside the northernmost section of the Appalachian Mountain Range.

Spring Celebrations

As we did not celebrate Christmas, neither did we celebrate Easter this year.  As secular homeschoolers we do not observe religious holidays, but as a self-proclaimed tree-hugger, I do make it a point to hold festivities relating to the changing of the seasons (please note: we are not wiccan or pagan, simply secular folk who appreciate our planet Earth).

So we observed the 1st day of Spring, hosting a Spring Celebration, and inviting the kids' cousins to come participate in our festivities. We decorated eggs in recognition of the fertility that Spring brings.  We held the annual egg-hunt outside--yes, that's snow falling.

When the kids came back inside to devour their spoils, I read "A Spring Story" a myth from Anglo-Saxon legend about their goddess of the dawn and springtime.  Her name was Eostre or Ostara.  Not much is known about this goddess.  One legend says that she was always accompanied by a magical hare who could lay eggs, but the story we read told how Ostara transformed a bird into the rabbit, who could then only lay eggs once a year on the 1st day of Spring.

My son Winter has a keene interest in mythology, so the story suited us; however others might have used different literature, or skipped the story-session altogether.

We finished the events off with homemade carrot cake (my first try at carrot cake--it was delicious!).  We all had a good time, but the festivities did not end there.  We finished the day of celebration, by watching the first two episodes of LIFE on DiscoveryHD.  Our family owns the BBC series Planet Earth, and several of their Walking With...documentaries, so we all were excitedly awaiting the première of this new series.  It seemed only fitting to finish this special day with this.

A Tubal for Earth Day

I did it, and I'm proud of it.

I gave the Earth the best gift I could think to give her this year for Earth Day (yes, I know I'm a little early, but she won't mind)--I underwent Tubal Laparoscopy, in order to permanently prevent myself from incurring any other pregnancies in my life-time.

A little extreme, you think?

To me, nearly 7 Billion people on this small planet is extreme.

We have a problem with population control.

There.  I said it.  It seems like no one in a political seat or position of power wants to address this "growing" problem.  And so I speak upon behalf of the Earth.  My one small voice, calling out to all the world from my small corner of cyberspace.  Please consider your position on the issue of population control.

This is a small planet.  We do not have unlimited resources, people already go hungry and homeless, and the idea of colonizing other planets to solve our problems is not something we can rely on--or should rely on (morally), for than matter.  It is time for humanity to step up and accept our responsibilities.

The folks at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine, were all super nice.  I feel fortunate to have had them there for me.  My nurse was very conversational, she made me feel welcome and at ease.  The anaesthesiologist was very good looking (always appreciated!--yes, I'm married, but I appreciate good looks no matter who it is!  It's the artist in me.) and he and a fifty-something year-old male nurse, who looked like he could have been a biker in another life, both wore bandanas that reminded me of those that bikers wear.  The whole crew were just fun and efficient, which made the frightening business of being on an operating table easier to deal with for me.

I was put out for the procedure, by my own choice, and when I woke up it was done.  After a couple of days taking it easy, I was up and going again.

I can't tell you what a consolation it is to know that I won't have any surprise pregnancies.  I have two children, both boys, which I am satisfied with (I have no desire to have a girl, so I guess I lucked out there!).  I don't need more children to make me happy, and if there is ever a point in my future when I want another child for whatever reason, I know that there are many, many children all over the world, who need good homes and loving families.

For me, the  biggest reward from this whole experience, is knowing that I've done my part for the Earth.  In many ways, humanity has become a parasite upon her flesh, feeding off her, and if we do not correct our behaviour we are only dooming ourselves.

Laparoscopy for Tubal Sterilization

The Foolish Traveler

The story of the foolish traveler speaks to me on a personal level, since in the past I have been exactly this person portrayed here.  I didn't realize that just because I am good, and decent and kind, that others are not necessarily the same way.  I was cheated, lied to, manipulated, and abused.

Now, in my 30th year, I've faced the fact that evil exists as surely as good does, and while I still go to great lengths to be kind to those who cross my path, I've learned to be a little selfish, and not to take everyone at face-value.

I've learned to let go of those past abuses, and I even accept them as part of life's lessons.  This is the journey I must make, and I will not allow my turbulent past to influence my bright future.  I will go forth to shine my light wherever I may be.

Winter Earns His First Badge and Beads as a Tiger Scout

I've been trying to stress to my eldest son the importance of work in our lives.  Trying to make him understand that we all have to work in order to receive those priviledges we hold so dear (ie-new things, playing on the computer, video games, a new car...etc.).  Last night I think the message might have hit home when he received his first badge and beads from the Scouts (unfortunately I forgot to take the camera with me to the meeting, so this picture is pre-badge).

Winter struggles socially sometimes and has been diagnosed with both Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD--sometimes called Sensory Integration Disorder) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).  Not that I put too much stock in those labels, to me they are a tool only to assist me, and others, better understand how my son's little mind works.

I was really nervous about the Pack Meeting (for anyone not involved with scouting, that's when all of the various groups: Tiger-Scouts, Wolf-Scouts, Webelos, and Boy Scouts, etc. in your area, come together for an event or meeting), since Winter suffers from hyperaucusis (he has super-good hearing!) being in large groups can sometimes be a challenge, especially if there's singing, or a lot of loud clapping, confusing laughter, etc.  But I needn't have worried, Winter did excellent.  He sat right next to our Den-leader, and I sat "far-away" on the bleachers, to watch the Pack and Den-leaders' demonstrations, and the boys receive their awards, badges, pins, beads, etc.  Winter was so small when he went up to receive his, but so proud when he came running to show me what he'd earned.

Getting ready for this meeting was the first time he'd shown so much excitement about the Scouts.  When we first began he was disappointed to find out that he would have to work at the meetings, he began to resist going, but we persevered and last night I think he realized the pay-off for all his hard work.  Hopefully this lesson will stick with him into other areas of his life (say--school-work??).

I'm Back!

Okay, so I haven't done so well with this whole blogging thing.  But one of my many New Years' goals (I don't like to call them resolutions), is to become a regular blogger.  You know--like-posting regularly.  So I am here today to say that I am back with renewed determination to rekindle my blog.  Yay!

I have a whole list of New Year's Goals this year, but the theme that runs consistently throughout all of them, is this desire to get in the habit of certain routines.  I am a creature of habit, personally.  My eldest son, "Winter", is very much the same.  Winter needs a lot of structured routines, and I am realizing that I have a lot of those same basic needs.  So this year's theme is ROUTINE.

Routines are important for many reasons.  It takes some of the chaos out of life, children like the predictable nature of a routine and function better.  A lot of the research I pulled in preparation for this New Year's goals talked about children and routines, but I think that even adults need routines; pets certainly like to be fed on a routine-basis, and isn't this whole world built upon routines (weather cycle, seasonal-cycle, orbitational cycle, etc.)?  So, I put forth that routines are important for all life, and for you, too.

It can be hard to get in the habit of those new routines though.  I made routines for everything (I made up charts for myself, and routine-charts for Winter that utilized a pec/image system), routines for the chores, routines for the meal-planning, routines for homeschool, and routines for the kids.  I have a routine in place for my garden, and a very specific system (which I will go into more detail about as garden-season approaches).  I have routines for my writing, and routines for the childrens' personal hygiene.  Okay, so this may be a bit extreme for most folks, but you get the idea.

All of these routines serve one purpose for me:  they organize my time, to allow me to be as productive as possible.  In this way I can make the most of my days.