Homeschooling High in the Thin Cold Air
Life at 10,000 feet is not as bad as it sounds. Breckenridge is a walkable town. It very quaint with lots of little shops, cafe’s and museums depicting life in the mountainous frontier. There are historical miner cabins everywhere. It has been quiet and fun.
The boys ski four days a week – twice with a group and twice with an instructor. They are doing great and really enjoying it. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend all day covering all the basics — math, grammar, history, literature, Spanish, spelling and typing. They also do a few pages of journal each week.
Thomas has read amazing books this school year for his online literature class: Call of the Wild, Kidnapped, The Yearling, A Christmas Carol, Around the World in 80 Days, The Jungle Book. He is now reading Little Women, which he is beginning to like now, well into Chapter 6. It seems the class has given him a good perspective on life in various parts of the world in the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s. It has been fascinating watching him thoroughly enjoy historical fiction.
Gabo’s online lit class is a little easier. He has read four books including The Chocolate Factory and Mary Poppins. He is now reading The Hobbit and loving it. As opposed to Thomas who has to answer a ton of comprehension questions and do quite a bit of writing for his class, Gabo has to do story boards and dioramas.
Math is going great. They are both very good at it, so I have taken to giving them 3 -4 lessons daily, as long as they master the exercises.
We are also enjoying history quite a bit, with a lot of independent reading. We have finally gotten to early American History and are learning all about the French and Indian Wars, the different Indian tribes and colonial America.
A few days ago we studied a little poetry, and they asked to read The Raven. Turns out we ran into a huge Raven on Peak 7 who kept yakking back at us while we were skiing. They had heard about the poen from a Simpson’s Halloween episode.
So we took a detour from grammar, and delved into The Raven, which was amazing. We read all about Poe, and the many literary references in the poem. We read about Lenore, and the variety of symbols he uses to set the mood. We found an interactive site which highlighted many of these literary devices in various colors. Then we watched the Simpsons’ episode, which was very funny and remarkably true to the original poem. I have to admit it was one of my favorite homeschooling moments — they directed the whole experience and we were all learning so much.
When they get everything done I let them go out into town by themselves, which is a HUGE deal. (For both of us!) They love walking around town and running into people they know. They seem to be quite popular on the mountain — they know all the ski patrol people, most of the instructors, and all the locals. Whenever I run into them at lunch they are surrounded by people. Sometimes when I’m on the chairlift I’ll hear someone scream – “Gabo!”
They seem to have befriended many of the local shopkeepers, and most of the shopkeepers dogs. They even are allowed to walk certain dogs around the block.
At night, if it’s not too late, we curl up in the tiny living room and watch either Stargate or Chuck, a new show we have been following. They love it.
We love life here. It’s simple. We all have three outfits and very little stuff. Mom does a lot of cooking. I made Captain Crunch French Toast today, with plenty of fresh strawberries and blueberries and whipped cream.
When we finally put them to bed, I am reading a few great books. The surprise hit is a book about Richard J. Daley called American Pharaoh. It is extremely well written and very interesting, with lots of background stories about his upbringing and the Chicago Democratic political machine in all its machinations. I’ve also decided to leap forward a few years from the Founders and tackle the Civil War. I found a book of 12 essays called Struggle for a Vast Future which has proven a good start. Each essay is by a different historian and covers a different aspect of the war – from leadership, to soldiers, to espionage, military tactics – it’s been fascinating. Of course I also have Sarah Palin’s book, which I am sure will be a little lighter than these, and a few others. Rounding out my limited mountain library are two books about christianity and Funny in Farsi, about an Iranian woman’s experiences in American culture. My sister Juli thought I’d get a kick out of it as she thought about me when she read it.
Tio Juan Carlos is undergoing surgery in Argentina today. He has prostate cancer and I am awaiting news from my mom who went down to take care of him. Also, we are praying for our dear friend Miss Jeanne in Florida, who has developed severe back and leg pain and they have not been able to figure out why. Rounding out our prayers is securing a husband for Miss Jo, our dear Breckenridge friend who has had trouble with immigration after having lived here in the winter for the past 15 years.
Living on a very tight budget can be extremely rewarding… Really I think the key is plenty of comfort food, a close family, good books, a nice view, a fun kitty and good hiking boots. Oh, and a fast internet connection!
Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. Any Latin person can picture these two characters immediately. Picasso painted them. Young children pretend to be them. The story of Don Quijote mistaking the windmills for menacing giants is ubiquitous in our childhood. It is hard to fathom that these names and images mean nothing to most Anglos. These are the King Arthur and Lancelot of Spanish culture.
As we are finishing the Middle Ages, we have found that Shakespeare wrote plays about all these dubious characters we have been encountering in our studies. There is Richard III, Macbeth and Henry V, along with historical fiction such as the Merchant of Venice and Hamlet.