What a Day!

Amazing how we have leaps in interest and understanding. We do very little structured "schoolwork" around here, except for the occasional Hippo Campus lesson and sometimes a writing exercise or two. We're mostly unschoolers, though, and our days are consumed by TV (Nick, HBO, and Discovery and History Channels ROCK!), the internet (mostly Runescape and Webkinz), and music (all of us listening and Noah playing).

As an experiment, I purchased the CAT test for Noah. He's been test-averse in the past, so giving it to him was simply to see how he'd handle it. No pressure, no expectations.

Well. We've had the test for weeks now. He did the first section (20 questions, 10 minutes) and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was. We managed to knock out two more sections within two weeks. (Yes, I know most people do the whole thing in a day or two. Have I mentioned before how very relaxed we are around here?)

Along came Easter and a visit to family in PA, followed by a visit from my mom (that's a whole 'nother post), a big field trip, and some sleepovers. Needless to say, we're not quite back into the let's-do-a-little-more-structured-work-and-see-where-it-gets-us mode. We're still in the who-the-hell-cares-whether-we-adhere-to-their-timeline-and-who-says-we're-not-learning-anyway mode. Frankly, I could stay there all the time, but Noah did say he wanted a bit more structure. Maybe it's about time to at least finish the test, I figured.

As Noah and I sat down to review fractions and do another section of the CAT, I was distracted by a little book I had ordered about a month ago. It's a pocket-sized copy of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It's put out by a fundamentalist group, so it has some rather religious quotes by some of the Founding Fathers. But it has the exact text of the original documents, including the Amendments.

WELL.

I asked Noah if he'd ever read the Constitution or Declaration. He hadn't, of course. I noted to him that were he in school, he'd have to memorize the Preamble of the Constitution and possibly the entire Declaration.

"Good thing I'm not in school," came his witty reply.

So I read him the Preamble and paraphrased the remainder of the Constitution. Funny, the Preamble seemed much, much longer when *I* was in school -- and trying to memorize it.

Anyhoo, I then started reading the Amendments. We spent -- no lie -- HOURS discussing them. Jason (yeah, he was actually there, for once) and I would explain an Amendment or give Noah the historical background or reason for it, and we had a lively little talk about each. It was fantastic!

Then I read the complete Declaration of Independence to him. Now, do you remember what all the grievances against King George were? I urge each and every one of you to go back and read the Declaration in its entirety. Then come back here and riddle me this: Could each of these grievances not be also said by the Iraqis regarding King George Dubya? It was an eye-opening experience reading the Declaration. It was wonderful to hear Noah interject, "But wait, isn't that what we're doing to Iraq?"

He thinks I was joking, but I think our next exercise in writing is going to be a paper or blog that compares, line by line, 18th-century Britain's actions in the Colonies with 21st-century America's actions in the Middle East.

After this wonderful discussion, we turned to HBO On Demand to watch the first episode of John Adams. (Pause for review: Though well done and fascinating, I wish it were more than a miniseries. I'd like to see each of these men's points of view, not just Mr. Adams's. Personally, I think it should be a full-on series about the founding of our country and the formation of our government. Westward Expansion included.) Noah thought it was good, though I had to explain a few things along the way (they hint at additional actions taking place elsewhere in the country that the general public should already know. Noah needed a running commentary). Today, episode two, in which the Declaration is signed.

That was enough for one day, I figured, so we skipped both fractions and the CAT. My head hurt, and Noah HAD to get his guitar on.

Later, when I was about to close my eyes for the night, a show I had discussed with a friend came on HBO. It's called Autism: The Musical, and I highly recommend it.

Now, I'll never know what it's like to have a child with Autism. I know a few "Auties," so I catch glimpses. But I had no idea just how challenging it must be. But those kids were absolutely beautiful and amazing. I wish the world would look at them and see the person inside, because they are most *definitely* in there. My favorite comment was from the mother of Lexi, who said that her daughter "is different, not wrong."

Indeed.

All in all, it was quite a day. Noah got about a semester's worth of civics, in a non-threatening, relevant, interesting, and respectful way. It was exactly the kind of homeschool I want for my kids. (We'll ignore the fact that he's been working on the same book since October and is only halfway finished.)

Off to check the progress of the chicken Aengus and I are trying to mummify...