When Family Disapprove of Homeschooling...

I was going to post this at a later date--this is something I wrote a few years ago, but a friend of mine asked me to encourage a discouraged homeschool mom whose family disapproves. So, I thought I would post it now so she could read it. Perhaps it will encourage others as well.












When Family Disapproves, by Jill © 2003

I come from a family of teachers, in fact I have a teaching degree but chose to stay home and have a large family (5 children) instead of working. My parents were opposed to homeschooling from the start---and that was in 1990. We treated homeschooling as the proverbial "Elephant in the Room" -- we didn't talk about it. My dad did teach the boys drafting and woodshop, but my parents felt the kids needed a classroom setting in order to be able to go on to college, etc. At that time we were in a church of about 3000, and we were the only home educators in our church.

I was raised with the premise that education is your salvation. It is how my dad pulled himself out of poverty, so it is no wonder they were skeptical. Although Christians, they did not understand any of our convictions for educating our 5 children at home.

After SEVEN YEARS, my dad came and sat at the table where I was checking over some math papers and said, "You know we never approved of you homeschooling the kids. (Long Pause) But I see what great kids you have, and the closeness they have, how well they are doing and want to tell you your sacrifice was worth it. You have done a great job and you made the right decision."

Sometimes you just have to live it out---you can't talk it out or prove it with statistics, you have to live it out, just like your faith---day by day. My dad died a few years later, and oh what a sweet memory the above is for me. How glad I am that we stuck to it, that we lived it out, that we were kind and gentle with scoffers. Hopefully you will be able to tell your own stories of acceptance in the years to come.

Take care,
Jill

ESL thoughts...

This weekend I attended the Indianapolis IAHE Homeschool Convention. I had many moms ask me questions about teaching adopted international children. Most of these moms had adopted older children [6-10 years old] from countries such as Ethiopia and other African countries. They wanted advice about where to begin with Sonlight.

I am not an ESL expert, nor have I adopted an international child, but through the years I have talked to many parents who have successfully used Sonlight in this situation. I know there are attachment issues and so on that parents need to deal with, but I am not speaking to this. What I want to offer is some help for actually teaching your adopted children when they are ready to begin learning to read, after perhaps a year of aclimating to their new family and culture. Teaching English as a Second Language can be challenging, but many have gone before you and done a terrific job of it.

My best advice is to start with P3/4 or P4/5. These contain great literature and have lots of pictures. Your children can infer a lot about the story by looking at the pictures and they will also have a lot of opportunity to gain a foundtion in American cultural literacy. By reading and discussing the many fairy tales, nursery rhymes and classic children's literature in one of these cores they will learn about your beliefs and about how the English language sounds when used in rhymes and tales, all while enjoying the brightly illustrated books.

God made us to enjoy stories-just look at the Bible--it is full of them. So, regardless of age, everyone can enjoy the antics of Harold and the Purple Crayon and Leo the Latebloomer. Also, in order to play the games that come with P3/4 a child does not need to have a great vocabulary. They can be enjoyed in any language and will improve spatial and reasoning skills.

For beginning readers, I suggest starting with Language Arts K and the matching K Readers-Fun Tales. An older child who is ready to learn, will probably catch on quickly and progress much faster than a young child. The Sonlight readers are engaging and fun and would be perfect for ESL students.

Also, ESL moms have told me that using Explode the Code works well too. If you are using Language Arts K, then you would want to use Explode the Code books A, B and C. They are scheduled in the LA instructor's guide and will help reinforce phonics in a fun manner.

I am sure you can find other advice that will be helpful too, but I just wanted to give parents an idea of where to start. Let me know if you have other questions or suggestions. I am always looking to learn more so that I can help and encourage others.

Take care,
Jill

Recycled Educational Philosophies..

I read an article this weekend entitled "The End of Grade Levels."

It is about a school in Colorado where students will be grouped into multi-age levels based on what they already know and will move up when they master the material at that level. [Wow! what a concept!]

Some "experts" are saying that this makes sense and many districts are hesitant. One expert from New York was quoted as saying, "It's very hard to get people to believe in something new."

NEW?

Have they never read Little House on the Prairie? Have they never studied early American History? I almost laughed out loud--NEW! Why this is not new at all.

When a new little pioneer child walked into the school for the first time he was not asked how old he was, but what reader [as in McGuffey] he was in. If you were 7 or 9, it really did not matter. If you were in the first reader, that is the group you studied with. When you mastered the first reader, you moved on to the 2nd reader. This explains why sometimes there was a 16 year old teacher who had 16 year old pupils.

How about Understood Betsy? Published in 1917 it is the inspiring story of a little girl who is transformed by love and understanding. There is a wonderful chapter called "What Grade is Betsy" where Elizabeth Ann [Betsy before she really became herself] says to her new teacher, "I don't know what I am at all. If I'm in second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and 3rd grade spelling, what grade am I?"

The teacher laughed, "You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in? And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication tables?"

Later, referring to this incident, the book says of Betsy, "She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up."

Ahh, new indeed. This, like just about every other educational philosophy is not new--it is old and is being recycled for the 21st century. Homeschoolers I encourage you, keep on doing what you are doing. Don't get caught up thinking the educational experts have it all figured out. They don't. They recycle ideas regularly. They could learn from you.

Imagine...

starting where the child is and with what he knows and having him progress in his learning?? It is something homeschoolers have know and practiced for years. It is kind of nice to see the "Professional educators" finally catching on.

And, if you haven't read "Understood Betsy," by Dorothy Candfield Fisher, I think you would enjoy it-it starts a little slow, but is a very rewarding read and if you have a child to read it to, so much the better.


Take care,
Jill

I live in Mayberry...

Well, maybe not literally, but it sure feels like it.

Last Friday night my husband, father-in-law and I went up to the local IGA for the Friday night Bluegrass Concert.

Yes, you heard me right. Leonard, the owner, moved the banana table to the side, set up some chairs and then the band came in. They set up speakers and microphones by the deli and then they were good to go.

I am not kidding! I was laughing to myself most of the time because it tickled me so much. And you should have seen the poor folks who were trying to fight their way through the audience to buy apples and salad in a bag. I saw one lady pushing her shopping cart down the aisle while doing a sort of down-home stomping dance [remember Jed Clampett?].

To be fair, the music was really good. Besides Crazy Joe Gerlach on the Dobro, there were other musicians on the bass, the guitar, the banjo and the mandolin. It was great.

Drew Scaggs--son of Ricky--played guitar and the musicians kept trading places and trading being the lead singer. They were all very good. It was kind of amazing that this high quality of music was being played in the produce section of IGA. People were smiling and clapping and were all in generally good humor.

Some folks brought their own chairs so there would be enough seating. Also, there were hotdogs available in the deli for $1.00, chili dogs for $1.50. Crazy Joe suggested people buy the chili dogs if "you aren't kissing anyone tonight."

It was really a little slice of Americana only 2 blocks from home. More Friday night concerts are planned and I can honestly say I look forward to getting a front row seat right next to the cabbage!

I have to say that once I saw what a treasure this was, my great husband went home to retrieve my camera. Thanks, Bob, for making this blog post seem a bit more real.

[Photos: top, Drew Skaggs singing, see the deli in the background?; middle photos showing the seats along the produce section-one of the empty ones is mine; bottom a photo of all the folks in chairs].

Stretching Cores--How can I do this?

Many people have asked me over the years, how to stretch a Core Curriculum out so it takes a year and a half. I have thought about this and have actually implemented the following plan and it works well. I hope it can help you too.

A school year is typically 180 days, or 36 five day weeks. However, we all know, there is no way we actually do every lesson, every day, for 180 days. I mean, no one does. That is why in my whole school career I never came close to finishing a math book. You have to figure in sick days, holiday events, field trips and so forth. So, for argument's sake, let's say we plan for 30 full weeks of school. The other weeks can be for whatever-such as I mentioned above—and/or maybe a two week Christmas school and a three week state history--something along that line. I will elaborate on these ideas at the bottom of this post. So, let's look at the 30 weeks this year and 15 weeks next year. A total of 45 weeks of school over three semesters.

Get a FIVE day core. Do FOUR days of it every week.

That's my advice.

Do days 1-4 the first week, then days 5-8 the next week, and 9-12 the next week and so on. You can either stretch out the daily work so it is an even amount each day, or do all the work in four days and use the fifth day to do science experiments, map work, time-line work and maybe give the house a nice cleaning before the weekend. Or, maybe you can have a continuing book series that isn't scheduled in Sonlight-like my personal favorite the "Little House" books-- and you read a few chapters of those on your "off" day.

Doing a core this way, gives you 45 weeks of curriculum and you haven't had to tweak or worry about pacing--just do four days every week and you will have it paced out for you.

[What this translates to, is use 12 "tabs" worth of Sonlight Curriculum every semester and you will come out just right!]

NOTES----

CHRISTMAS SCHOOL:

I started in 1990 the week after Thanksgiving! This was not a good time, but we were desperate. [To see why, go here]. At any rate Christmas and all its activities was looming.
I was so stressed out--I mean really! Ugh! School, decorating, shopping, cards, school, shipping presents--oh, my--I mean I was totally stressed out.

So, the next year I got smart. I planned for Christmas. We did no formal school for the two weeks before our Christmas break [for late middle/high school kids I did have them keep up with their math]. I had the kids help with cleaning, baking and addressing the Christmas cards. I had them help with wrapping presents, deliver goodies to neighbors and everything else there was to do. It was part of the school day.

In addition, I read great Christmas Classics--I read the Best Christmas Pageant Ever for 20 straight years. I read Dickens’s Christmas Carol and then we watched the Mickey's Christmas Carol Cartoon. Christmas was fun and not stressful. The difference--I planned for Christmas, made it part of school and included the children as much as possible. The work got done and we were not stressed out at all.

So, my advice: Plan for the times you will be stressed and incorporate your children as much as possible.

STATE HISTORY:

Most states require you to teach state history. We did it this way. We did about 2 -3 weeks or so worth of state history every year the kids were in elementary school--or at least 3-4 years.

In our case, each child got a notebook or scrapbook. They could decorate it the way they wanted. In preparation for state history studies, whenever we would go in or out of our state I would have the kids collect those shiny brochures that are in the welcome station. Also, I would have them each get a state highway map or two.

The map will have the state bird, state flower and lots of other information. Talk about this and have them cut these things out and put them in their scrapbook. Have them sort the brochures into historical things and into tourist traps. If you can, chose 1-2 historical places to visit during your state study. Take photos, talk to the interpreters or curators, learn as much as you can about these places and the people that were involved with these events and locations. Older children can do extra research and do reports, younger children can just make a scrapbook page. Keep it fun and interesting. Have your children cut up the colorful brochures and use those in their scrapbooks too.

Use the highway map to plot out how you will get to the historic site. Have your kids keep track of the miles and so forth, this will be good experience on how to read and follow a map.

Ask your librarian for good books about your state. These could be biographies or historical fiction. Do these as read-alouds during this period of study. We found some nice historical fiction about our state at the local Christian book store. Ask people in your area--perhaps the local mayor or the folks at your city hall, if they have suggestions of local historical places you can visit. My kids and I learned so much this way. It was exciting and gave us a little break from our regular routine.

Hopefully this will help you see how you can stretch your curriculum. If you have other ideas, let me know. I am always looking for ways to help and encourage homeschool parents.
[Photos of Shakertown, a historic place close to home]

How do I limit the toys we have?

In response to my post "Tools or Toys" Lori asked this quesion:

This is fantastic advice. I'd like to move more in this direction with my kids, but I wonder if you have any advice for how to handle/decrease the junk toys that the extended family tends to lavish upon us?

I think the first thing to do is to talk to your husband about the idea of tools vs toys to be sure you are on the same page and he is behind your decision to move in that direction. Also, if you kids are old enough talk to them about reducing toys and blessing those less fortunate.

Next, find a good charity that can use toys. Perhaps Good Will or a children's charity. Even though you have too many toys, if they were divided up they would probably bless many families.

Now have your children help you pick their favorite toys. Maybe you can give them each a box and everything they love has to fit inside the box. Or maybe you can just ask them to choose 6 things to bless a less fortunate child with and put those in a box. Either way, you can start to reduce the amount of things they have. If they have a TON of stuffed animals you could tell them to get them all gathered around them and you want to take a picture. After the picture, tell them they need to put 1/2 of them [or all but 3] in a big garbage bag and you will store them. Then in 6 months if they miss them, they can switch them out for the ones they didn't store.

When my kids were little we used to do the rotating toys thing, where I would put 1/2 the toys away and rotate toys every month or two. If some toys were not missed, they made a trip to the Good Will store.

So, no matter how you do it, reduce what you have.

Now comes the hard part. Limiting what come in. I guess there is no easy answer but I have a few suggestions.
Print off a copy of my article and give to each person, and say this really resonated with you and your family and you would love to move in this direction, and ask them to help you.

• Keep a running list of tools and clothes your kids could use and give copies to grandparents and others in your life that give gifts to your children. If you have a nice varied list, and keep it current, they will have a better idea of appropriate gifts.
• Other gift ideas would be to have grandparents help with cost of being on a team. If you child regularly is on a little league team or is in cub scouts, perhaps grandparents could buy the uniform or pay the registration. And let you kids know who paid for it. Take a picture of them in their uniform and have them write a paragraph about the activity and send the photo, the paragraph and a thank you note to Grandma and Grandpa.
• Perhaps suggest you would like tickets to a museum or aquarium, some family event. I know when my kids were younger we lived in Florida and we had grandparents pitch in to buy us seasonal tickets to Disney World. We had unlimited access to Disney for 4 months a year and since we lived close, we really got our money's worth. Every time we went I would remind the kids how both Grandmas and Grandpas paid for our passes.
• If you have a big ticket item you would love, perhaps a play house or kid sized picnic table, a swing set or bike or bunk beds, ask the people who gift you to go in on it with you, This way you could get some good quality tools for your family.
• If worse comes to worse, and you can't get extended family on board, have your child play with the thing, take a picture, then quietly donate it.
  
• If you have enough nerve, you could take the item back, even asking for the receipt, and put the money towards camping equipment or something else that the kids would love, something that won't break in a month.
• I think if you ask grandparents to think about how to get your children outside more that will give them good ideas for tools. Some great tools are a pogo stick [yes they are still made], a good long jump rope [nylon-you can buy heavy duty and cool-looking rope at Tractor Supply or a hardware store], gardening items, bubbles, a basket ball hoop and ball, sports equipment, bikes, sandbox, a big dump truck full of sand, orange cones to be used for goals, making obstacle courses, etc.. Anything to get kids moving and playing--building muscles and also interpersonal skills that come from interacting with others in a positive way.
• Another idea, my mom used to take Kari shopping once a year for her birthday, starting when she was about 7 or 8. They would go to the mall [which I rarely did], have lunch out and then buy Kari an outfit and maybe something at the Disney Store. When Kari and I were shopping a couple of weeks ago for her 23rd birthday we happened upon the Disney Store. She started to reminisce about the great times she and Grandma had and about the Beauty and the Beast tea set Grandma bought for her. What great memories she has! And, you know, my mom and dad always sent a limit--they did not fling money around. So when they went shopping, Mom had a budget and she let Kari pick out something, but it had to be within the set limit. Those trips were so precious.
• Another idea for grandparents or aunts and uncles. My dad used to send Scotty $5 every year to buy a present for our dog. I mean, that was a big deal. Scotty would ride his bike up to the IGA store and really take his time picking out the best dog treats for Lucky. It was like a present for Scotty. It taught him to shop carefully and really made a bond between he and his grandpa.
• You might want to suggest the idea of a money bag to your parents. My dad had a cloth bag that he would keep change in . In fact, he would sometimes have to buy change at the bank. I have a funny story about that I will have to post another day. At any rate, a couple of times a year the kids could put their hands in the money bag and get as much change as they could! He would do this with nieces and nephews too! What memories were made through such a simple act. He would also, at family reunions, put money in a sand box or in the sand if there was a small beach. Starting with the youngest kids, they could search for the coins. Even in the evening, you could see the parents of the kids sifting though the sand absently as they chatted with each other.
• I guess in summary, Tools are better than Toys, and memories trump them both.
  

I don't know if this his helpful or not, but I suspect most grandparents, aunts and uncles would love to get on board with this idea. They want what is best for your kids and they want to be part of it. If you can lead them in this direction I think they will feel more fulfilled in their gift-giving and everyone will benefit.

Thanks for the question, Lori,
Take Care,
Jill

[Photos: Top to Bottom--On a day trip with Grandma and Grandpa--they paid; Kari in new boots purchased by Grandparents; At Disney World with tickets bought from Grandparents]

For more of my Pre-School thoughts and suggestions:

• Results of a Scientific study-Why you should keep your pre-schooler home
  
• Play is work-Is Preschool Necessary?
• Tools or Toys? A lesson from my Dad
  
• How to tame your toys--Some practical advice
  
• Ideas to Keep Preschoolers happily occupied
• The Top Three Things You Need to Know if You Have a Pre-schooler

Tools or Toys...

~Dad in his workshop making himself a new workbench~

My dad had a lot of great advice. I mentioned before his idea about "Grant Writing," in relation to kids and allowances, but another thing I learned from him was the art of giving gifts to kids. I remember it clearly--at that time I had 3 little boys and Dad and I were standing in his workshop. He was making something and I was holding some tools for him and I commented that he and Mom always gave such great gifts to the kids. At that time I was in a ladies Bible Study and that same week some of the moms were discussing how their kids got so much "toy junk" as gifts and they were lamenting it and wondering how they could curb the toys, limit the junk.

Dad said, "You have to give kids tools, not toys."

That was the advice. He didn't really elaborate--which if you knew my dad, you would be smiling because he generally elaborated on everything. Tools not Toys--actually, he didn't have time to elaborate because someone [with three boys six and under--it happened a lot] started crying in the house with Mom and I left Dad in his workshop to see what the trouble was. Then I was off to other things and the conversation never really got finished. But, when I was driving home that afternoon those words came back, "Tools not Toys."

It goes back to the thought that we are raising kids to be well adjusted, functioning adults that will one day hold jobs, have families and be responsible citizens. We just have our kids for a little while and during that time we are to prepare them to take their place in society. So they need to learn a lot along the way. They need to be molded and shaped and directed along the way--they need the tools, we need the tools, to get them there.

My Dad, way back when, was a history and shop teacher. And one thing he instilled in us from a young age is, "You have to have the right tool for the job." He would sometimes shake his head when he looked at my husband's tools in our early married life. Many times he would give us the correct tool for the job, or let us use his. I mean, you can not fix plumbing without a pipe wrench, or work with electricity without a volt tester.

The same is true with kids. What kids need are tools not toys. If folks could just get a handle on that, much of the junk found in the typical kid's section of most stores could be reduced by half or maybe even 90%. But, what is a tool? [Happy days in the sandbox]

Tools, in no particular order: Balls, blocks, dolls, flashlights, sand box, wagon, bike, swings, picnic table, paper and markers/crayons, legos, scissors, games, backpack, fishing pole, compass, knife [older child], mess kit, camping supplies, books, actual tools like a screwdriver and hammer, woodburning set, knitting or crochet or any kind of handwork, magnifying glass, leather craft, jump-rope, kid sized baking or cooking set, puzzles, kitchen set [play food and so on], a cash register and play money, paddle ball, a big empty box, capes and costumes, gardening items like a pail, shovel and so on...really most traditional toys. I consider Match Box type cars and most action figures tools too.

Toys, in no particular order: Anything that has batteries or makes noise that drives a mom crazy [anyone remember the Tooneyville Choo-Choo?], if it is meant for the child to watch it rather than interact with it, video games, computer games--even educational games can be toys if you are not careful, anything that is cheap plastic and will break easily, stuffed things that talk and entertain--really anything [Scotty, age three, he loved his Dr. Drew blocks] that is meant as an entertainment. I am sure if you and I went together to a big box store, we could find tons of toys that would fall in this category.

Now, I am not saying "NO TOYS EVER!" What I am saying is: Tools should be a child's main diet and toys should be like a dessert. Dessert is nice, but you only have occassionally, not at every meal.

Tools will encourage imagination, develop large and small muscles, and should get the child outside daily. Tools will stand the test of time, can usually be passed down from child to child in a family, and have a lot of play value.

So, the next time you need to give a gift to a child,remember my dad's words, "Tools not Toys." Thanks for advice Dad.

Take Care,
Jill


For some suggestions on how to do this, you might want to read my next post--how do I limit the toys I have?

For more of my Pre-School thoughts and suggestions:

• Results of a Scientific study-Why you should keep your pre-schooler home
• Play is work-Is Preschool Necessary?
• Tools or Toys? A lesson from my Dad
  
• How to tame your toys--Some practical advice
  
• Ideas to Keep Preschoolers happily occupied
• The Top Three Things You Need to Know if You Have a Pre-schooler

Homeschool? Me? I don't know everything...

And some mornings I wonder if I know anything at all.

I hear this question a lot:

"How can I homeschool, I don't know everything? I am not a teacher."

I want to ask you, “Does anyone know everything?” I mean, I probably know a lot of stuff you don’t know, and you probably know a lot of stuff I don’t know, and yet we are functioning adults and do quite well.

We do not need to know everything in order to teach our children. We can learn right along with them. And, we really do not need to teach them everything they need to know by the time they are 18. Haven’t you learned a LOT since you were 18? I bet you thought you knew a lot when you were that age and now you realize how little you knew then. More frightening yet, is how little you know now. It seems like the more we learn, the more we realize we don't know. But, maybe that is a discussion for another day.

Take heart! Teachers don’t know everything either. Doctors, lawyers, rocket scientists—they don’t know everything either. In fact, and this is the honest truth, I talked to a rocket scientist last year. She and her rocket scientist husband were going to homeschool their five year old so she called me for advice.

I was mentioning how she could teach using literature and how effective that can be. She didn’t know she should be reading aloud to their children! I mean can you believe that? Here is a rocket scientist, someone who we think should know it all, or at least know a LOT, and I was giving her advice about reading aloud to her children in order to develop language skills, family closeness and to transfer core beliefs. She didn't know that. She learned something new that day and so did I.

No one knows everything.

Also, if you really get stumped, help is pretty close. I have found that there are people in my community that can help if chemistry or calculus is more than you can teach. There are community college classes that students as young as 14-15 can take. There are co-ops and other opportunities—tutors if you need them and the amount of help you can get on line or with DVD's and the like is staggering.

Maybe one of the best lessons your children will learn is that "we are not quitters" and "you're never too old to learn something new." I think if our kids see that someone as ancient as mom or dad can tackle Algebra 2 for the first time, surely they can do anything they set their minds to.

You don’t need to know everything. What you need is a strong desire to enable your child to learn as much as he can in the time you have him home. You can help him pursue his desires and encourage him as he struggles though something that does not come easy. You can learn Calculus along with him if you need to, or have him take it away from home.

Homeschooling does not mean that you know everything or that you have to teach everything. I loved it when my kids would say, “You didn’t know that, did you Mom?” And I didn’t. We learned it together.

What a blessing, to learn along side of your children.

Sometimes you teach, sometimes you learn, sometimes you tutor or mentor and sometimes you bring in outside help.

You can do it. You can homeschool. Take the first step now and don’t worry about chemistry labs and foreign language. You can worry about that when the time comes. And when the time comes you will be surprised how many different ways there are to accomplish an incredible high school education without going to a traditional school. You can do it-I know you can.

Take care,

Jill

[Photos: High school student Cris with book written and illustrated by Cris; Chad and Dusty in middle school working on school work, Scotty learning outdoor cooking.]

The Long Path, part 2

[ Part 1] We started up. And up. And up. There was only one way to get there, and that was up. It was dark. Very dark. There was a low cloud ceiling so not a star, not a ray of moonlight, nothing but our feeble flashlights to show us the next step. We couldn’t see the whole trail, just the next step. I kept thinking of bears but about had myself convinced they were not nocturnal, so they were probably sleeping.

The trail was rocky—I mean we were in the Rocky Mountains-what did we expect? I can’t remember who tripped first, but before long, both of us had fallen more than once and we had scratched up our hands and I think I was crying. It was awful and so dark and so hard and uphill and the air was so thin. We must be crazy. I think our flashlight broke, but maybe not.

At any rate, we were about ready to give up. I wanted to; Gail said why didn’t we try just a few more minutes. But, it was too hard for flatlanders like us. Just too hard.

Then it happened! If I live to be one hundred I will always remember this image. We came to the end of a switchback, kind of hovering over the valley below, and the sun broke through the cloud cover. The clouds were swirling around just below our feet—like waves on the beach except the sun broke over them and turned them gold and orange and red! It was like heaven itself, all shiny and glowing. The radiance was unimaginable and the whole side of the mountain leapt to life under the rays. We knew, without saying a word, that giving up was not an option.

We were going up.

After that, the going was still steep but at least we could see where we were going. We knew it was overcast and cloudy for those poor campers below, but we were above the clouds and all was right with the world. We continued on—over the boulder field [just like the ranger’s slides], through the key hole where it is so windy that on some days hikers can’t go past it because they will get blown off the mountain, and then we scrambled up the back side of Long’s Peak following the “fried egg” symbols on the rocks. There isn’t a path there, it is too rocky, so the rangers or naturalists many years ago spray painted fried egg symbols on the rocks so hikers will know where it is safe to climb.

I don’t think I mentioned why we had to leave so early in the morning. The reason is that you have to leave the summit at 11:00am to get far enough down the mountain so that when the usual afternoon storms come in you don’t get hit by lightening. I mean, you are the tallest thing in the park when you are up there, and unless you want to get fried like the egg symbols, you better be leaving the summit at 11:00 am.

We arrived at the summit, panting and exuberant! The air was so thin. We signed the register which is kept in a screw tight metal container, each ate an orange and some granola and just soaked in the view and the knowledge that we did it! We couldn’t have done it alone—no way. We needed each other. We encouraged each other. We helped each other up when we fell. Together we did it!

Then, before we knew it, it was time to head back down to our camp. Down the fried egg trail, through the key hole and across the boulder field where we picked up the path again and we were on our way down.

I can’t remember how long it took to get down, but I know we were gone about 11 hours or so altogether. What an experience! After that, no matter where we went in the park we could see Long’s Peak and we knew we had been there, we had been at the top. We could do anything!
I am not going to make analogies to parenting or homeschooling or setting goals or anything. I think you can make them yourself. I just wanted to recount this adventure so you could see the significance of my blog title, Paths to Learning.
[The Long Path, part 1]

[ Also, as a note, the total distance was 15 miles round trip, elevation 14,259 feet with a gain of 4,259 feet, difficulty rating: strenous.I found this great blog with really awesome pictures and way more description of how difficult the trail to Long's Peak really is.]

The Long Path...

When I started this blog, I named it Paths to Learning because I love to take walks, especially ones that are off the beaten path. Raising 5 kids, being a stay at home mom and homeschooling besides, was another “off the beaten path” hike I took and I saw many similarities between the two.

I started to think about the hardest [non-metaphorical] path I ever took and my mind went back over 35 years to a time when my sister Gail and I were camping in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We had driven out from Michigan in her VW bug for a week’s vacation. We surveyed the topographical maps and took short hikes to accustom ourselves to the thin air and higher altitude. I always get altitude sick, so for the first few days we did the regular tourist hikes around Bear Lake, up to Emerald Lake and a few others. We took a hike up to Twin Sisters and got in a hail storm attempting Flat Top. Then, two days before we were to go back to Michigan, we went to a ranger talk in the park.

It was the old days, where the ranger built a nice fire, got out his slide projector and then proceeded to talk about the night’s theme. That night it was “Long’s Peak.” Long's Peak is the highest peak in the park—towering over the other peaks at over 14,000 feet. The East face is bleak and threatening and only skilled mountain climbers can make the peak that way; but, if you go around the back, there is an easier way.

The ranger showed flora and fauna, talked about seasons and so forth, but when he said that if you wanted to make the peak in one day you had to leave the base station at 3:00 am—Gail and I looked at each other and smiled. We have always been kindred spirits of sort, and we knew.

We were going to try it.

We actually left the fire-side program, and smelling of wood smoke and bug spray, we made our way back to our tent. Gail said, “Well?” and I nodded. We set the alarm for 2:30, packed our day packs and lay down to sleep. Morning was going to come way too soon. By 3:00 am we were parked at the trail head, dressed in layers, flashlights in hand. We signed in the trail registry, and were off.

It was dark and very lonely. I don’t know if Gail was scared, but I was. I mean, what were we doing? Two girls on a path in the mountains in the middle of the night—what were we thinking?

[Continued tomorrow--picture of me about 35 years ago, resting on a path in the Smokey Mountains]