New tradition in the making: Jesse Tree

The holidays are speeding toward us this year, once again catching me off-guard with their approach. This year, I want to make a greater effort to contemplate the significance of Christmas as a family and get away from the materialism and commercialism. I considered celebrating Advent and looked locally and online for some Advent devotions but didn't seem to find anything that was a good fit for us. While looking, I came upon the Jesse Tree and realized right away that this is a tradition I want to start.

The name "Jesse Tree" comes from the Old Testament prophecy that says that the Messiah would spring up from the root of Jesse. In a nutshell, starting on December 1 (or the first day of Advent, which actually falls on November 29) we will do nightly Scripture readings starting with Creation and ending with the birth of Jesus on December 25. Our nightly readings will tell the story of God's loving relationship with mankind, how we've fallen short, and why we need a Savior. Each night following our readings, an ornament corresponding to our story will be hung on our Jesse tree. I'm looking forward to seeing the big picture of God's love for us and the redemption he has provided for us through Christ during the month.

There are many ways to go about making a Jesse tree. We will start off very simply this year since Advent is approaching quickly and the coming week is a busy one for me. I have an extra Christmas tree that we will use for a Jesse tree. As I'm out in the next few days, I will search for a few ornaments in stores that we can use with our devotions. I plan on making a few, based on some ideas I've gotten from the internet. For the remaining ornaments, I will likely print patterns that I will download from here and have the kids color them. I'm putting aside my perfectionistic tendancies on this project, because I realize that if I wait until I have the "perfect" ornaments I may end up missing the joy of experiencing the Jesse Tree. Then, over this holiday season and once ornaments go on sale, I will be on the lookout for nicer, heirloom quality Jesse Tree ornaments for future years.

If you are interested in doing a Jesse Tree for your family, I encourage you to do a quick search for "Jesse Tree" on the web. There are many ideas out there, and quite a few free resources as well. Check out these cool ideas! I've even heard of having a Jesse Tree party, where Moms (or kids) rotate through stations making the various ornaments used for the tree. Doesn't that sound fun? (Another year...perhaps?)

Current Electricity

We have spent the past 2 weeks of co-op talking about current electricity. The kids have learned about insulators and conductors, switches, and closed and open circuits. This week we had a total experiment day. I pulled ideas from many wonderful books, including 101 Great Science Experiments, a Step by Step Guide (by Neil Ardley) and Fascinating Science Projects: Electricity and Magnetism (by Bobbi Searle).

Here we find the kids entranced as I demonstrate how to make a tangerine clock. You may have heard about a lemon clock, but it turns out you can use lots of things. I had a tangerine on hand, so that's what we used. I happened to have zinc and copper strips for my anodes and cathodes, but paper clips and galvanized nails can be substituted easily.
We really enjoyed making our own batteries, which actually resembled the very first batteries ever invented quite a bit. To make our batteries, we just needed copper coins (pennies), vinegar, cotton pads (we used felt, but paper towels may be used) and aluminum foil. We cut the felt and foil to the same size as the pennies, then soaked the felt in vinegar (our electrolyte, necessary for allowing the electricity to pass from material to material). We then assembled our battery in the following order: foil, felt, coin, foil, felt, coin. We used a clothespin to keep our voltaic pile (battery) in place. To test our battery, we used a noisemaker with leads attached to either side of our battery. We had to listen very closely to hear the sound.

The kids hypothesized that the reason it was so hard to hear the noisemaker was because our battery was too weak. They decided to put their hypothesis to the test by constructing their own batteries with more layers than our original 2 layer battery.

We ended up with some pretty large batteries!

However, when we attached our noisemaker to every single multilayered battery the kids constructed, we could hear the noise from the noisemaker across the room. Hypothesis correct! I'm so proud of these kids!

Remember how I mentioned that learning about or experimenting with electricity is not my strength or passion? Well, it turns out to be something that JD really enjoys. After a quick trip to Radio Shack for some new bulbs, wire, a buzzer, and another battery holder (Radio Shack has EVERYTHING you could ever want or need for a kid's electronic exploration), JD built his own burglar alarm. This is an idea from the Fascinating Science Projects: Electricity and Magnetism book mentioned above. A buzzer is hooked to a battery as well as two pieces of aluminum separated across a stretch of bent cardboard. A closed circuit is only completed when someone steps on the cardboard forcing the two pieces of aluminum foil to touch. When that happens, electricity flows through the circuit and makes the buzzer sound.

JD had big fun hiding his alarm under the front door mat in anticipation for our friends to come over for our history crafts today.

I see many more electricity experiments in our future!

Periodic Table of the Elements

Check out a really cool interactive Periodic Table of the Elements here. It is formatted just like a regular Periodic Table, but a picture is given to go along with each element (for visual learners!) along with a description of where the element is found, in what state it is normally found in (gas, liquid or solid) and how it is most commonly used.

Awesome (if you're a science geek!)

Free Rice

Have any of you tried the Free Rice website? I think I'd heard of it, but today it appeared in the Homeschool Buyers' Co-op newsletter and I decided to try it out.

Basically, you go to the website where you answer problems on different subjects ranging from math to English grammar to vocabulary to geography, even foreign language. For every question you answer correctly, the sponsors of the website donate 10 grains of rice to needy people around the world. It is such an easy way to help the less fortunate. I clicked over, and in no time had earned 500 grains of rice. At first, I started on the vocabulary words. Then, I clicked over to the geography section where I was challenged to name the countries of the world. Oh, I forgot to mention that the questions start out easy, then every time you get a correct answer the questions get harder. So I was pretty stumped when I got to the African countries. But my kids thought it was cool, and I think it's a great way for ALL of us to learn our countries better. I wish they had a section for the US states and capitals! Just now, as I'm drinking my lunch, I'm in here doing the math questions. I quickly made my way to the algebra questions, and boy, what a great refresher!!!

How awesome to help others while flexing the gray matter at the same time. JD, always the competitor, got on our other computer and earned 1000 points on the math section. He loved beating my score, and was so happy to earn a heap of rice for hungry kids. I love it.

Check it out here

Guess who I met last night

This is me with Susan Barton, the developer of the program that has changed the way we homeschool, the Barton Reading and Spelling System. She was in town last night giving a free 3 1/2 hour seminar on the Warning Signs, Symptoms and Solutions for Dyslexia. She travels the country educating parents and teachers about the warning signs of dyslexia (which can be seen in preschool-aged children) because early intervention is the key to success for these kids. I was so happy to see so many people there. A good number of the attendees were teachers, trying to learn how to spot dyslexics in the classroom. I think that is great. These folks gave up 4 hours of their free time to learn how to find and help these kids. (20% of the American population has dyslexia to some degree, so in a classroom of 30 kids at least 5 or 6 should be affected). The rest of the audience consisted of parents with a struggling child, wanting to find out if their child has dyslexia. As Susan spoke of the classic symptoms of dyslexia, I saw lots of nodding heads and whispering as suspicions were confirmed.

Joel came along to learn more about the biological causes and effects of dyslexia. He came away so impressed with Susan's knowledge and all that she's personally done to advance the field. She does not have dyslexia herself, but has a nephew who spent 12 years floundering in special ed classes in public school only to come away reading at a mid-2nd grade level. She was inspired to educate herself about dyslexia, and then to develop an Orton-Gillingham based reading system that can be implemented by the parent.

I had watched her presentation before (at home via a free webcast), but I couldn't pass up a chance to meet one of my heroes in person. When she walked in to the room, I was giddy. I waited until her talk was over, then waited again in line in order to get the chance to thank her for all that she's done for my son. With tears in my eyes, I tried to express how grateful I am to her for the work she does. JD has learned so much using Barton and doesn't even seem like the same kid that 2 years ago couldn't spell or read simple 3 letter words. I feel empowered by finally knowing how to teach JD.

Great experience! So thankful for the opportunity.

God's Masterpiece

We had an awesome message in church today on God's will. Part of the message was realizing that each of us is God's masterpiece. While many of us find ourselves comparing ourselves to other people (a topic I've read on multiple blogs recently), we are not to do that. We each were designed by God before the beginning of creation to be unique individuals. The only One we should compare ourselves to or try to become more like is Jesus. We were challenged to think about how the the goal of our lives should be holiness, not happiness. God is constantly trying to chisel away all the things in us that keep us from being in His likeness. To refine us like gold.

So thankful for today's message.

Understanding dyslexia

Dyslexia is a hidden disability; you can't tell by looking at someone whether or not they have it. You don't ask someone with a broken leg why they can't run fast, but when a kid has trouble reading, the assumption is that they just don't try hard enough.  When a kid with dyslexia is asked to read something and can't, other kids can be cruel.  I've heard kids ask JD, "Well, why can't you read that?  It's easy".  Or, "You need to work on reading better".   (That one really gets me, because JD works harder on learning to read than just about anyone I've seen do anything.  He's got more determination than any other kid I've met.)  Even adults wonder aloud why a 9 year old can't read.  The dyslexic child often comes away feeling stupid.   I have personally witnessed this with JD and it breaks my heart.  I shouldn't care so much what other people think (it's an issue I'm working on), but when my kid is affected I start to get upset.

I've joined many dyslexia Yahoo groups, because it helps to find a community where others can relate to the struggles and triumphs of homeschooling a dyslexic.  I have no friends in my area that can relate with me, and there are times where I really need that connection.  On the group websites, many wonder whether or not to tell their child that he or she has dyslexia.   We chose to tell JD once we figured out that is what he has and I don't regret it.  Prior to knowing he had dyslexia or understanding what it was, JD struggled with his self esteem. He just couldn't understand why reading came so hard for him while his friends learned to read effortlessly.  (On a side note, having a child  with dyslexia and a child without has been very illuminating.  Jackson learns new phonograms with no problem, and seems to figure out new spelling patterns on his own.  After the years of struggling to find a system that works for JD, it is such a relief teaching Jackson to read.  It's amazing to me how easily kids without dyslexia can learn to read).  To this day, JD's reading isn't as smooth or fluent as he'd like.  He still gets disoriented when he's confused or nervous, and will get his b/d's mixed up, or start reading a word in the middle rather than the beginning.  Fortunately, at home we are in a situation where we can back off reading on days where he is exhibiting confusion.  JD does participate in Sunday School and AWANA, where he is not with me and is required to read.  In those situations, I try to let the teacher know that JD has dyslexia and shouldn't be required to read aloud (though he can volunteer if he wants to).   I didn't get around to telling JD's AWANA teacher until a couple of weeks ago, and it turns out that JD told her himself.  He understands what dyslexia is and has learned to explain it to friends and teachers.  I'm very proud of him (I know adult dyslexics who to this day won't admit to having it).   I think it's very important for anyone with dyslexia to understand that they aren't stupid, but that their brain is just wired differently and they can learn to read with the right system.  I'm glad we've given JD the power to explain himself and the way his brain works, and to preserve his self esteem.