Today it's twelve years

I never expected Dewey's Treehouse to last twelve years. But here we are.

Happy Blogaversary!

Things going on around the Treehouse

What is up around here? Besides spring coming?

Today was the local homeschool conference. Some years I have done workshops, but this year I was just an attendee. It is a good chance to see friends and get a look at how the world of homeschooling is going. Lydia went with me this year for the first time. She got lots of freebie pens and things, and found a purple Bible she liked for half price.

Mr. Fixit has been busy working on his fixing and selling. Did you know there are still people out there who like CB radios?

The Apprentice has been busy working out of town, but she will be here for Easter, next weekend.

I have not been writing as much here lately because I've been working on an off-blog writing project. I can't say much about it yet but when it's got more shape to it I'll let you know.

On our Tenth Blogaversary: We are not just aggregate data

It's ironic that the tenth anniversary (blogaversary) of Dewey's Treehouse falls on the same day as the first U.S. Common Core-based standardized testing.

It's ironic partly because this blog has never been all about education, but, in another sense, yes, it is. It's about the past ten years of watching our children experience different sides of home and government education. It's about the growth and changes of the AmblesideOnline curriculum in those ten years, and the ongoing discussions of Charlotte Mason and "subversive teaching." Even when I'm posting about what's for supper, it reminds me that "education is a life."

Last night I finished reading Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, by Martha C. Nussbaum. (Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago.) In vocabulary and in some of her suggested solutions to education issues, Nussbaum does not run along all the same tracks as Charlotte Mason or the Circe Institute. She spends a lot of time discussing the Socratic method, and she has a surprising amount of respect for the current U.S. president, although (even in 2010) she said she did not entirely trust his educational outlook. I think that she's not totally into "dead white (Protestant) guys"; she would prefer a more global and inclusive curriculum. She believes in democracy, in spite of what "Uncle Eric" says about it.

However, when it comes to the need for a more humanizing education, and the consequences if it's lost, I'm right in there with her. Charlotte Mason warned against utilitarian education. Nussbaum warns against allowing education to be controlled by economics. This week, the Truth in American Education website posted this:

"Then the vice-chair of the NGA Education and Workforce Committee said something peculiar.

 “'The Elementary and Secondary Education Act will allow states to align our needs through early education to higher education with the needs of our innovative businesses, developing a stronger workforce development pipeline, expanding opportunity for all of our people and ensuring that students are prepared for success in all phases of life,' said Governor Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

"There you have it.  They believe education is about the needs of our business and not the needs of our children and their families.  It’s not about teaching kids to be well-educated, well-rounded citizens.  Instead education is to be a pipeline for the workforce.  That’s the shift from classical education to workforce development."

A word that Nussbaum uses throughout Not for Profit is "sympathy." In a list of abilities that citizens should have (page 25), she includes "the ability to have concern for the lives of others, to grasp what policies of many types mean for the opportunities and experiences of ones fellow citizens, of many types, and for people outside one's own nation." Next on the list is "the ability to imagine well a variety of complex issues affecting the story of a human life as it unfolds...in a way informed by an understanding of a wide range of human stories, not just by aggregate data." (emphasis mine)

On this day when the success or failure of Common Core will be tested...by computer, no less...let's celebrate sympathy. Let's hold up the failing hands of imagination. Let's have some fun that is funny.

Happy Blogaversary. Climb on up, share some stories, have some cake.

Dewey's Treehouse Christmas archives: where to look for things

Just so everybody knows: a while back I started a Christmas page, here; that isn't the family-keep-out page, it's a collection of links to our holiday recipes, some seasonal posts, book quizzes, a series about Christmas picture books, and Dewey's Favourite Christmas Songs (with You-tube links, most of which are still functioning). Anything from the past almost-decade, it's there.

Dewey's Treehouse, inside and out (photo post)

Living room

Bone china flowers inherited from Mr. Fixit's grandma.

One of Mr. Fixit's specials.

Cookbook browsing

Corner of the kitchen (the picture on the wall is my spice wheel)

Chocolate-chip muffins

Backyard apple tree

Rhubarb

Hosta aren't supposed to blossom this time of year.

Treehouse Bookshelves

Books new, books old:

Photos by Mr. Fixit. Copyright 2014 Dewey's Treehouse.

What's up in the Treehouse

The weather is hot and sweaty.

Ponytails has one grade 11 exam left to go today, then she's free free free for the summer.

The Apprentice has been doing some odd jobs.  Today she's training for one of the oddest yet.  (It's legal. Just unusual.)

Mr. Fixit (and the Apprentice) did a bunch of fixit stuff around the house, involving cement work, water pumps, and plastic tubing.

Mama Squirrel has been cleaning out books (some are going to a church yard sale), typing up a schedule for September's school, and doing a few other homeschool-related things now that we're not actually doing school.  We just received a few lovely new (old) arrivals for the bookshelf--photos to come.

What's for supper on our ninth blog birthday?

I knew there was something special about today.  What would that be in squirrel years?  Probably way over the hill.  Well, I like round numbers; let's go for a decade.

Tonight's dinner menu was going to be marinated chicken chunks, pan-cooked and served with pasta and tomato sauce.  I decided to skip the tomato sauce and make it more of an Alfredo thing with cream cheese, Parmesan,  and milk sauce.  And lots of garlic.  Peas on the side.

I almost forgot! Today is...

Our eighth blog birthday.

Yay!

Come on up and celebrate with us.  You are all welcome!

What's up in the Treehouse?

It is a pretty quiet day here.  There is a brushing of snow on the ground.  We've started our Advent devotional book even though it isn't Advent, because Advent this year is only about three weeks long, and the book is written for four.

Dollygirl has been writing first-term exams and working on her term project, which is to design a new historical 18-inch doll for any decade of the 20th century that American Girl skipped.  She chose the 1950's.

Mama Squirrel has been making things, cleaning things, and working on Term Two.  We have a church dinner on Saturday, which I'm helping with, but someone else is doing the planning for that.

The Apprentice has had an insane amount of project work, but the university term is almost over now except for exams.  So she'll be around more next month.

Ponytails is at school, which is going okay this fall.  (Ponytails, you can add to or correct that at your pleasure.)

Mr. Fixit is doing his usual fixiting.  And chauffeuring--today it's dentist appointments for the Squirrelings, after Ponytails gets home from school. Also he's putting the finishing touches on his annual comedy monologue for the church dinner.

There's Reuben Chicken in the slow cooker, and pumpkin bread thawing on the counter.

Yes, it's been a slow week

What's up in the Treehouse?

Mr. Fixit is fixing (and selling) as many things as he can.  Unfortunately, that didn't include our water heater, which suddenly quit after fifteen years, or our mattress, which gave its last bounce after twenty-plus.  Even Mr. Fixit has his limits. But clocks and radios--that, he's very good at.

The Apprentice is still cutting hair and getting ready to go back to classes.

Ponytails is getting geared up for Grade 10.

Dollygirl is trying to ignore the fact that school is around the corner.  Well, actually her school is in the basement, not around the corner, but you know what I mean.

Mama Squirrel is working on a lot of small projects.  Mr. Fixit and Dollygirl have one in progress too (not a radio). When a few of them are done, we'll do a photo post.

Till then...

In the Treehouse: the teacher's desk

We were moving some furniture around in the Treehouse today. This is Mama Squirrel's new corner.

Treehouse happenings: catching some up

As opposed to some down...I've been pretty much out of things with a virus (human, not computer) for a few days.  But the worst seems to be over.  I'm back to working on my craft challenge.

Dollygirl is finishing her term three exams--then she's done for the summer.  She has a temporary job every day watering a vacationing neighbour's flowers (a lot of flowers).  And her swimming lessons start up again in July.

Ponytails wrote her grade nine science exam yesterday--so she's done too.  She's getting together with some homeschooled/used to be homeschooled friends for a movie (Brave) and end-of-school celebration later today.

Our zucchini has pretty much lost its fight, and the marigolds are similarly terrible--both those in the regular flowerbed, and those we added to the lasagna garden.  So we can't blame the peat moss.  The two apple trees and the magnolia blossomed too soon because of the mild winter, then got hit by frost (i.e. no apples this year).  It just seems to be an all-round terrible year for gardening (not including the neighbour with the flowers?).  Anybody else?

(One thing that has done almost too well: our hostas by the side pathway are so big you almost can't get by them.  Go figure--I don't think you can eat hostas, though.  --You're kidding.  You can?)

What's up at the Treehouse?

We Canadians had our long weekend LAST week.  So today is just another school day.

We are going to build a lasagna-style garden for zucchini at the side of the house where we used to grow green beans.  Used to, because the last couple of years the rabbits and other critters haven't left them alone, along with spinach and several other things we like to grow.  Sprinkling various nasty meals, hot pepper, etc. does not seem to work on these iron-stomached varmints. But they don't have much of an appetite for zucchini, so we're going to put some in and hope their tastes don't change.

Mr. Fixit found a special clock last week, and it's now hanging on the Treehouse living room wall. I'm going to ask him nicely to post something about it here.  The clock looks something like this:

The Apprentice thinks she has finally found a job.   (It's pretty much for sure.)  It's not here in town, though; it's closer to her university, so we may not be seeing her much for the rest of the summer.

Ponytails is working on a variety of school projects involving leeks, supermarket shopping, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (not all for the same class).

Crayons/Dollygirl is taking every chance she can get to be outside. Homeschooling at the end of May...sometimes that's harder to get motivated about than in the dead of winter!  Last week we helped out at a church work day (our church is moving itself into a building this year), and she got to fill up a whole planter with pink and white petunias.

(Not that kind of Petunia!)

What's happening around the Treehouse

We are still settling into some new routines.

Mr. Fixit has been finding things to fix.

This afternoon he's out with the Apprentice, looking for a new mattress set, because the Apprentice and Ponytails switched bedrooms and beds, and Ponytails' old mattress turned out to be on its last bounce.  The Apprentice and Crayons are now sharing the bigger bedroom, and Ponytails can do glam design things in her own room.

The Apprentice is taking a night course at the university, but she's here most of the time otherwise because she doesn't yet have a summer job. (Jobs are generally hard to find right now, and even hairstyling jobs are a bit tricky when you have to quit in September.) 

Ponytails got an excellent half-semester report card.  Her English class is just about finished reading The Hunger Games and will be moving on to A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Some of the grade nines are apparently not looking forward much to Shakespeare.  One student reportedly said, "Who's that?"

Crayons/Dollygirl and I read a scene from The Tempest, a chapter about how inventions are inspired, some of Orphan at My Door, and a chapter from Robin Hood. She also did some multiplication, some copywork, and we tried to see if we could stump Mr. Fixit on Ontario map questions. (What is the large lake southeast of Georgian Bay? If you go south from that lake to Lake Ontario, what Canadian city are you in?)

In the oven:  a pan of  Brownies for a Crowd.  Planned for supper:  fish and tortellini.  Weather: the sky looks like it's about to break open any time.

Coming up later this week:  something involving the number eleven.  Here's a hint.

Photo:  Mr. Fixit.  Copyright 2012 Dewey's Treehouse.

Happy Blog Birthday to Us

Seven years old, and still squirreling.

Photo: Ponytails, 2009.