The Diosa Dotada Endeavor

Yes.  I made that last word up.  Do you like it?  Here.  I’ll even provide a definition for my newly created lexiconic invention.  Biophyschemophobia: A pervasive fear of teaching, studying, reading about or exploring in any manner any material remotely related to the complex fields of biology, chemistry and physics or any combination thereof.  A condition occasionally affecting homeschool parents and increasing in severity as their children do that annoying thing they do all the time (get older.)

In her fantabulous (I’m on a role with the new vocabulary, here.  Just go with it.) book, The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, Pulitzer Prize winning science writer, Natalie Angier, bemoans the low value placed on basic scientific knowledge in everyday American society.  For the most part, if you ask the majority of people in your life who are not professional rocket scientists what they think about science, she explains, you’re more than likely to hear about that high school (or on rare occasions- college) chemistry/physics class they failed that sounded the death knell to any further scientific study or interest on their part.  I know she’s got me pegged at any rate.  For me it was high school physics and a terrible case of senioritis.  The only science class I took after that was a college chem class (under duress for four required lab science credits) that I passed with a C because in that class you could average a 32% on your exams and still make a C.  What did I need science for anyway?  I scoffed upon completion of the glorious financial transaction which was selling the hated chemistry text back to the campus bookstore for Friday night’s beer money.   I was a liberal arts major, not a science geek.  And there you have it.  This illustrates the unfortunate reality that is a majority of us, sneering in some wholly unattractive manner at those who chose to torture themselves needlessly (in our eyes anyway) with the study and pursuit of scientific matters versus appreciating the benefit to us all of attaining a fundamental understanding of these major fields of science.   

Why is understanding science important?  There are lots and lots of answers to that question, some more common than others and Angier addresses many of them in her witty, entertaining style.  But for me, re-visiting science has become important in a whole new way.  And it’s really, honestly, in spite of the fact that I, oddly enough, find myself in the inevitable position of filing the role of science teacher as we venture further and further down the homeschooling path.  Science has become important to me in the same way that history has become important to me.  It is an integral part of the human story.  Science is part of your story.  Part of my story.  Part of our human story.  And if I am to continue to strive for peace and understanding in this world, I cannot achieve even a modicum of that without paying homage to the part of myself that owes that very understanding to the sacred discoveries of science.  Suddenly, science has become the shiny new key to furthering my personal and spiritual growth and with that tiny shift in perspective, brand new obsessions are taking hold of me these days.  But darn if it didn’t take a good three decades for that shift to happen. 

There are loads of factors I can blame my delayed appreciation of science on, I am sure.  Terribly dry textbooks, poor instructors (from the utterly sleep inducing to the terrifyingly bizarre,)  hip to be square peer culture, sheer adolescent sloth and the list goes on and on.  In my first half decade of parenting, I have observed a most fascinating phenomenon.  Young children are natural scientists.  They do not have to be taught to think scientifically.  Almost every aspect of life is new to them and therefore they live in one big, grand, and ongoing experiment.  Formulation of a hypothesis is as easy as breathing and wonder and awe are provoked by the results of every venture.  The Maximus family spent all day today indulging in the delights of young scientific exploration at Texas A&M University’s annual celebration of National Chemistry Week.  Honestly, I was seriously impressed.  There was an amazing variety of hands-on demonstrations and activities for the Triad of Chaos to venture through wide-eyed, staffed by eager college students who managed to adjust their vocabulary and presentation at a moment’s notice to the aptitude of their audience, be that mildly intrigued preadolescent or curious preschooler.  Each of the Triad had a clear favorite exhibit.  Athena loved the acid/base indicator station where she got to use plain old goldenrod colored printer paper and a bottle of window cleaner to make bright red handprints.  Apollo was totally captivated by a crazy contraption that channeled the carbon dioxide let off by dry ice dropped in a plastic bottle through PVC piping and into a soap bubble that fell to the floor and burst, disappearing impressively into nothing but a wisp of smoke.  He actually cried when we first tried to move on to the next station.  And Artemis was just as dazzled by the milk kaleidoscope where she got to add a few drops of food coloring to a dish of milk and then watch what happened when she stuck a toothpick dipped in dish soap into the solution. 

Right now, the Triad loves learning about science just as much as they love learning about anything else.  It is my hope that my recently altered perspective on the importance of science is a tool I can utilize for myself when it comes to presenting new and increasingly challenging science material to my eager learners.  Hopefully, it is also a perspective I can even manage to share with them so they may continue to at the very least appreciate and possibly even enjoy exploring various topics across a variety of scientific disciplines.  In my own small way, I will endeavor to do my part to halt the spread of biophyschemophobia to the next generation.  

Not homeschooling in general, but the form in which you’ve been doing it.  You children wake up on an ordinary Tuesday morning and suddenly what was working before now produces fights and tears, power struggles and anything but passionate learning.  This is one of the beautiful elements of homeschooling.  Your children (and their teacher) do not have to suffer through bending to the will of a methodology that no longer sparks their flame.  Your family does not have to commit to one homeschooling philosophy and practice for the entirety of your journey.  You have the freedom, dare I say even the responsibility, to reasses and reevaluate you program at any time it is no longer working under your roof.   In fact, by doing so, you have an unprecidented opportunity to teach them by example how to examine a challenge from many points of view and how to discover unconventional solutions in lieu of giving up.  Keep what they love, pitch what they don’t and strike out to try something totally new. 

We are going through one of these blessedly frustrating, but hopefully fruitful,  reassesment period right now ourselves.  I like to think we have always been fairly child-led to a point, but I would not have every used the term unschooled, especially since most who ascribe to this philosophy see it much more as a lifestyle than an educational approach and there are large areas of our lives that we are decidedly not anywhere near unschooling.  But about a week and a half ago, Athena basically said to me that she wants to keep going to her various co-op classes and she wants to just learn about stuff that she is curious about but “not other stuff that’s boring.”  The “other stuff” being advanced phonics and mathematics that has no apparent real world purpose or a direct connection to ancient history.  Now on one hand, as I explained to her, she will have to eventually sit down and work through the boring stuff in order to progress through her education.  But on the other hand, I estimate we are about one to two years “ahead” anyway so I feel I can totally afford her the luxury of taking her foot of the educational gas so she can slow down and enjoy a bit of the facinating scenery at her own pace.  She has begun expressing specific views and insightful opinions on how she learns best and the types of methods she’d like to see us put into practice for various subjects.  I am reminding myself to stay open to her feedback, even though part of my brain is just dumbfounded that these sorts of conversations are taking place between my five year old and myself. 

So for now, she and I have come to an agreement about what will take place “school-wise” over the next two weeks or so.  Her list includes a long overdue aformentioned Egyptian Feast Night, continue the study of the Arabic and Hebrew languages via the library and iTunes, make her Halloween costume as Nut the Egyptian Sky Goddess, read about animals in different biomes, do projects about the tundra biome, do projects involving our microscope, read National Geographic, complete an Ancient Egyptian history pocket and treasure chest, finish listening to A Wrinkle In Time via audiobook, make herself a chore chart with self designated chores, memorize the Girl Scout Promise and Maya Angelou’s “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me,” learn to meditate with a set of prayer beads and write letters to all her friends back in Virginia about her recent birthday party.  When I look at it all written out, the girl is still interested in doing (at least) a (metric) ton of learning.  She just wants to do it her way and on her terms for right now.  I can understand that.  Meanwhile, I will continue to converse with her about the rest of this semester and we will see how everything shakes out. 

If you live in the Greater Houston area, are a (homeschooling) family and have yet to take advantage of Free First Sunday then I say for shame, for shame! On the first Sunday of every month, a certain retail mega-chain with a bull’s eye for a logo foots the bill and everyone gets into the Museum of Fine Arts Houston gratis. In addition to a total lack of admission fees, sprinkled throughout the museum are a multitude of multisensory art experiences for children (and adults) of all ages and abilities. Every month there is a different theme that incorporates different hands-on projects in a variety of media, highlights various pieces of art throughout history, and ties in quality children’s literature for a well-rounded interdisciplinary flourish. The Triad of Chaos unanimously approves of this activity. When Patris Maximus and I issue the monthly proclamation detailing our destination as we pull out of our church parking lot and turn left instead of right, shrieks of joyous laughter erupt from the back two-thirds of our minivan. This month was the first opportunity we’ve had to get over there since the traditional school year began and unbeknownst to us, we were in for a treat from Athena. After completing a sketching project at the first station, we headed to the restrooms for a pit stop when Athena froze in her tracks. She looked up wide eyed at the sculpture before her and whispered Rameses the Second! For the next twenety or thirty minutes she jumped, twirled, whirled and bounced from one breathtaking example of Ancient Egyptian art to the next, up the escalator and through the next gallery in search of more. Once she had taken it all in, she turned beaming at us and asked What’s next? We managed to hit almost every station throughout the rest of the afternoon. As we made our way to and from each one, I watched her bypass Greek vases, PreColumbian metal work, Native American craft art and wooden African sculptures (all part of the permanent collection) without a single side glance. I couldn’t help but smile to myself in anticipation of our next several visits to Free First Sunday because I know as we continue our adventures through ancient history those very galleries she now ignores will ellicit the same radiant reaction the Egyptian works brought forth today. And how luck am I that I get to be there to see it?