Everyone has been asking us about how the homeschooling has been going. Well, it's been going pretty well although it is not without its challenges. Usually the girls are very self-motivated and get a lot of studying done, checking each subject off their list daily. Getting through the 3 "Rs" has been easy. Fortunately, I shipped twelve boxes of books here, including all their school books from home. The girls are reading as never before; at the rate they are going they will have read every book I sent, twice! Roxy is almost done with the Chronicles of Narnia series and she has also found that she loves the books of Julia Alvarez. Sarah has read dozens of Pony Pals books and has also discovered a new favorite author, Pam Munoz Ryan. She has enjoyed two books by her, Becoming Naomi Leon and Riding Freedom and is starting Esperanza Rising next. It's also been easy doing lots of writing. Besides books reports, they have been busy writing in their journals and each has published their own blog, too (see the links to their blogs at the top of the page, left). We have many math books here, and the girls have been hard at work on those. There are always plenty of real-life experiences where math is needed. They have been doing a lot of cooking, doubling recipes and often needing to convert our measurements to metric.Science was a bit of a challenge at first, but Roxy got a chemistry kit so she can work on some experiments to compliment her science workbook. Also, we have met an incredible biologist and ornithologist here, Paola, and gone on several bird-watching excursions with her. The pictures on the link below are from a trip to a wetlands bird sanctuary near San Antonio and another to Cajón del Maipo where we saw some spectacular condors flying along the cliffs and also visited an animal rescue and rehabilitation center, el Centro de Rehabilitación de Fauna Silvestre, where we had an incredible tour with Loreto. The work they do at this center was truly amazing.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/ExcursionsWithPaola02
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/ExcursionesConPaola
We are in a great place to study social studies, history and geography. When General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte died in Santiago on December 10, 2006, it renewed a debate that has polarized this country for decades. Roxy and Sarah learned about the golpe de estado on September 11, 1973, and the years of dictatorship that followed in Chile. They are proud to be living in a country where, on January 15, 2006, the people elected Michelle Bachelet, the first woman president of Chile. Just a couple of weeks after the girls arrived in Santiago, we went and saw a documentary, in Spanish, about the new president, La hija del General. They have become expert map readers and can easily navigate their way around this big city, taking the buses and subway. We are also learning a lot about the geography of this long, thin country, which is as varied as you will find anywhere on earth. We hope to explore Chile this summer from north to south, traveling from the driest desert on the planet to the beautiful, lush lakes district, always with the majestic Andes mountains as our backdrop to the east, and the Pacific Ocean less than 180 km to the west.
And, muy importante, our Spanish lessons. The girls are lucky to have the best Spanish teacher in all of Chile giving them private lessons at home each evening. In addition, we have very quickly gone from a family who watched no television back home to a family who cannot miss a single episode of our favorite nightly teleserie, Floribella. Although we are starting to get a little impatient for Flor to finally wake up and realize that Fede is a complete loser! Click here for a sample Spanish grammar lesson and another of a cultural lesson:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/FUNNYCLIPS/photo#5014874638396284882
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