Personal Math Classic: "The Man Who Knew Infinity"

This is an incredible movie for very personal reasons...and just because it is a pure, passionate and truth-filled film.

Several things stuck out to me in this film but I feel I must record some feelings.  I can completely relate to his experience. He received inspiration of truth.  He knew it was true, but he was required to prove it by his mentor. I am not sure this requirement was good.  It did give the rest of the world a pathway into the validity of his theories.  It gave him credibility in his lifetime.  But how many of his theories were lost in the need to prove just one or two of his theories out of the many he had?  How much time was wasted in the mentor-driven routine when there was untapped genius that ended up not having time to be shared?

When I started on my quest to homeschool my youth, I was very idealistic.  I wanted a program, a system that would allow for maximum agency yet allow for enough structure that there was a format that would bring minds together on similar issues so they had common ground to discuss and share and learn and grow together.

I wanted a way to take all the amazing subjects, topics, everything that was possible to learn and wanted to organize it so I could capture everything.  Everything.  All truth brought together in a system that made sense.  Connections.  Application.  Context.  I know that the more context and connection a student can experience with a subject the greater their chance to truly learn.  Connections can be made not only with other knowledge and in context but with the many different ways that we can interact with a subject (the Multiple Intelligence theory).

I started feeling a way to educate, discovering patterns and truths in ways that I saw Ramajudan discover mathematical theories and connections.  I too am finding mathematical patterns and truth in the field of education: I just use words, visuals and ideas to demonstrate the patterns.

The other day, I was playing with my visual of the seven monthly themes and seeking more truths in connections.  Do you see the power of this? We have so much information contained and associated with each of these themes.  To be able to further our understanding between the different themes will help us align our understanding about how all those principles and information can be interchanged and applied.

I understand the young man's frustration in needing to explain and clarify.  When I first did Vanguard, I just did what felt right.  When people would ask why I would do it, I couldn't really explain.  I would just say it felt right.  Over time, through the help of many others, we have discovered ways to communicate the "proofs" behind the theory, but like with Ramajudan, I feel like the truths exist in the forms that I felt inspired about and to find the proofs and explanation have not been easy. In truth, at times I have felt very broken.

But this movie resonates with me on a deep level, helping me understand the importance of the proofs but also the danger of not taking enough time to record all of the vision and the overall truths.  I could feel his frustration and the sacrifice that was made on his part to try and make sure these ideals were not lost with him.

Sigh.  The work is great but the truths are too beautiful to be lost. I feel like Ramadan, with all those beautiful truths in my head and the overwhelming compulsion to record them, to discover them, to teach them and share them.

Incredible movie.  Words cannot capture it.

Prep Schedule For Mom

Right now it should be spelling, but here we go!  Seize the moment! Here you go, Marni. How much prep time do I take per class...approximately.

I prepare almost all the devotionals to go along with our monthly theme, which starting in March has to do with Civility, in the context of "What makes a good society/government?"  (Hey, just watched "The Giver" as an example of false civility...hmmmmmm.)

I try to pick out books that are either classics themselves or as classic as they can get (first-hand sources, etc.)  I try to pick something for the whole year to study out of gradually, sometimes finishing it before the end of the year or not finishing it at all. I try to consider what age group might want to join me on my personal journey of learning and accommodate the assignments accordingly.

As I prepare, I keep in my mind that this is about my education as well as theirs and I need to treat it as such. I cover this in my second video segment of "you, not them".

I generally don't do any curriculum that spells out assignments, Saxon math and Wile's biology books are the closest I get.  I do a lot of reflection time and discussion, hand's on, treats and supplemental quick videos.  The more ways of learning something, the better they learn it!  I also sometimes cut things short or make them longer, depending upon the need.

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Monday: Leadership Academy
6 am "Aspire" Class: (from Kevin Hall's book) only my 13 year old has been coming, but it has been fantastic one-on-one time and good for both of us.
Prep: Read "Aspire" chapter (15-30 minutes) and try to think of video, story or small activity to reinforce it.
Donuts/breakfast food and hot chocolate/juice

Leadership Moment: most everyone 14 and under
-Sometimes I just do this as part of the devotional.  This morning we finished up "Service-Oriented Leadership and watched an "Encouragement" video on Values.com and read the story about Maximillian Kolbe ("The Angel of Auschwitz"?) from the Book of Virtues.  Powerful stuff.
-Sometimes we do a group word study (I try to do this at least once a month)
-Spelling encouragement, poem review, penmanship, leadership games...these are all ideas!

Thinking About Thinking: my 17 and 19 year old have been doing this with me
Prep: Read the article for the week out of "Thinking about Thinking" (a textbook of articles from BYU-Idaho)--30 min prep-- or on the fourth week be prepared to do the "Great Books Discussion"
We are working our way through the 10 year reading plan.

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Tuesday: Geo-conquest
I try to do a "Geo-Safari" or seterra.org map on these days...just one.  The kids are out-doing me on this one.  

State Spotlight: 13 and under (14 y.o. wanders in and out)
Prep: none, unless I am the one in charge of the state presentation for the week.  Normally I just have one child who has volunteered to do a presentation or a prezi.  I will roll out the map, help them sing the "Fifty Nifty" song while they try and follow along or we will put mini-marshmallows on each state and let them take turns picking and naming them to get them familiar with where they are at.

Time Machine: 13 and under
Prep: read the stuff for history and pick one or more chapters to do a quick activity on, something interactive, artistic and memorable.  Sometimes, when we are on the road for some kind of trip, I will just pick a chapter to read, like the one on "Gettysburg."  "History of US" by Joy Hakim.  Powerful stuff.

World Summit: 13 and older
Prep: Everyone who comes has to have gathered at least one news article from the area of the world (or the topic--last week's was "presidential candidates" and we each took one or two).  Normally we each have two and sit and present and discuss while looking at our world map laid out on the table.

History: 11-17, depending upon who comes prepared
Prep: Read the section and do either a graphic summary, come prepared to teach one or more of the chapters, or do a project. (My project is normally to get the "Time Machine" ready, find one or more videos to supplement the material and then help take turns teaching the chapters.)
This is the most reading prep I do for any other class except for the Great Books discussion.

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Wednesday: Eureka! 
I am normally completely burned out by this point and the rest of the week is a walk in the park...or (if I plan ahead) I work on the reading for next week.  Never happens until Saturday...maybe.

Anatomy: 13 and under
Prep: Glance through chapter to determine topic. (We are using Apologia's "Anatomy" book but also like Wile's "Science in the Beginning" book.)  Make sure I have materials I need for experiments (or find out which ones I cannot do because I don't have the materials :), lol.)  Pick out a couple "supplementary" videos online.

I read through it with the kids as we discuss it, supplementing with any awesome knowledge I have picked up over the years.  Or just enthusiasm.  I have them "stop and teach" each other frequently, encourage them to take notes in their books and use my white board to draw pictures.

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Thursday: Imaginative Arts

Authors in the Attic: Everyone except 17 year old.
Prep: write my own "thing," whether a blog post from earlier that week or a poem. (Check out "poemswoems" for our blog of awesomeness :).)

Art project?  Sometimes I just get out paper and art supplies.  Sometimes I actually sit and do it more with them. I have natural artists who don't need a lot of encouragement.  Sometimes I even come up with a cool project before hand (4 times since the beginning of the school year).

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Friday: Catch up day!!
All those classes we didn't get to the rest of the week because of sickness, arguing, doctor's appointments, etc, we have this day.  Generally, I will just shift days if we have major interruptions to keep our "flow."

Latin: we do this twice a week, but we use the "Getting Started With Latin" which involves absolutely no prep for me.

Mom's Reading: only prep for this is finding a winner!   We have stopped reading books mid-read because they "feel wrong."  Just finished "Heidi" and "Tuck Everlasting"...next one will be...hmmm.  So many options. So little time. We do this pretty much every day but Saturday and everyone except my college student and husband listen in, although I think my oldest son (17) will be stopping soon.

Follow-up ideas on "You not Them" in answer to some questions I got from people:

(I was nursing my baby at the time and had just exercised, but I had to seize the day!...here are my answers.  As people have ideas, I hope they will comment below!)

My studies Feb 18

I think setting the example to our children is imperative in inspiring them!  As they see us imperfectly and consistently striving to learn and grow--a living model of joy, frustration, and determination--they will see the beautiful part learning can have in their own lives!

I will be putting in periodically what I am currently reading and studying almost as much for my own reference as for anyone who is looking for stuff to learn and listen to...or if you are reading or have read it and want to come over and discuss it with me! :)

 Family history: Indexing on Tuesdays

Hungarian: Write down, read aloud and translate 3-7 verses from the Hungarian Book of Mormon, once or more a week

"A Patriot's History of the United States": slowly making my way through this awesome book.

"Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen: for a young lady/mother dating discussion group (I like to listen to these on librivox.com when I am cleaning or walking)

Just finished listening to "Henry V" by Shakespeare on librivox while making dinner tonight (loved it!) and started "Othello"...horrible!

"Gifted Hands" by Ben Carson: for our theme of this month of "service-oriented leadership" (his life is full of examples of sacrifice, service, and motivation).  It is also a blessed coincidence that we are reading it for our neighborhood ladies book group :).

"Thinking About Thinking"...amazing book full of short, incredible articles.  I am currently reading "A School in Zion" by Jeffrey Holland from it.

Studying and reviewing "Biology" from the Apologia series to discuss with Tova.