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Bella and the Rocking Horse

Bella and the Rocking Horse

I took this short video a while back, I think at the time I was taking pictures of my new glider. Finally got it downloaded from the camera and online.

Isabella had just figured out how to climb aboard her rocking horse all by herself. With the new rocker, though there isn’t a whole lot of space for it in her bedroom. I guess she decided it would be nice to play near the window, in the sunbeam. But when it turned out to be even more cramped over there, she changed her mind.

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5 comments
  • i had forgotten that you taught english.
    I was wondering if you can help me.
    May you give me tips on how to improve my grammar (reccomendations of books/sites etc)?
    I am an ESL even tho I was born here, I learned when I got to 1st and my parents hardly speak any english at home and to this day they hardly speak that well, thanks

  • This is still a hurdle for me to overcome as a homeschooling mom…I like to quantify things, and so grades seem natural to me…but I agree that I would not like to be graded on everything I do all day long!  I do like the concept of Charlotte Mason where you measure what they KNOW not what they DON’T KNOW…so that’s what I try to focus on, and if they can tell me a lot, that’s quantified for me! grin

  • Cynical aside:  until their friends ask about their grades!

    Seriously, I do try just to correct, guide and encourage, and I think it has an impact, but they are comparative beings by nature… SO my sixth grader is asking for percentage grades on his creative writing (something I refuse to do) and bragging about his math papers, even though I only mark mistakes so he can correct them. 

    But in the lower grades, not grading does have an impact … lots of creativity not squashed.  As my second grader reminds me daily.

  • MM,

    Even though I taught English, I really don’t know much about ESL and will freely confess that I felt most like a failure as a teacher when dealing with students whose first language wasn’t English. My goal was always to teach literature and teaching composition was kind of something I fell into as a result of the fellowship I got in grad school.

    I don’t know much about teaching grammar. Grammar books I’ve enjoyed which you might like too are Eats Shoots and Leaves and Woe Is I.

    But my strongest recommendation is to just read, especially good literature, read as much as you can get your hands on, whenever you have free time. And then write as much as you can, even if it’s only in a diary; but preferably to a real audience.

    Also, I know that my French improved by leaps and bounds when I tried to help a friend who was failing his French class. Having to explain the rules made me get them straight in my own head. So if you know anyone who is struggling to learn English, you might try to help them.

    Sorry I can’t be much help. Good luck.

  • Lori and Meg,

    Thanks for the responses. Of course for me homeschooling is all theoretical still. I can only speak from experience of teaching college students, of being a student myself and observing friends and siblings. You bring up good points about our inherent needs to be competitive, to compare ourselves with others, and to have some kind of measurement of our progress, both as students and as teachers.

    Of course there will always be a tension between those needs for affirmation and a healthy competitiveness and the problems inherent in judging and being judged. I’ve never seen a perfect answer, just various attempts at juggling, some which work better than others.

    Lori, I really like the point about CM and evaluating based on what is known rather than not known. That seems to be a good guiding principle for a teacher.

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