Part of what I need to do with myself is to find those things that I've forgotten about. I've let the tumult of the last few years get the better of me, and I feel I've let too many things go away. Essentially I need to look at habits and ways I accomplish or fail to accomplish things. I have less good habits that need adjustment, and I've stopped a lot of things that are just good for me.
There are of course other things like the bike. I am truly in love with that machine, though right now I still need to look at his rear derailleur so that we can get those two gears back, and his chain needs to be looked at. Having been in a bit of rain lately we might need to look into some oil, and a general wipe down would be nice.
In speaking of those old habit that were good I have to get to my real story. I finally paid the library off and found the two "lost" books. When I've read books lately they've been rereads, and while I have no problem with reading a book again, there's nothing quite like reading a book you've never read before, and to make it even better add a new author to that list as well.
Or add an old friend like J.R.R. Tolkien when you discover his The Book of Lost Tales. I'm only a couple of pages into his son's foreword in which he's spoken about The Silmarillion more than not and has even discussed other people's discussion of it. I'm not sure why I bother with forewords sometimes, and sometimes while reading I won't get why I bother. Either way I'm a fan of Tolkien, and better yet I'm sure Big Brother will be happy to get his hands on it also.
He's certainly happy to have the library back. He's rereread so many books lately. The Boy has yet to finish a chapter book on his own, but I know the day is coming. I feel like I hate that he doesn't love reading as much as his brother and I do, but I also get that his interest just doesn't right now and may never. Or maybe he just needs to find the right book.
He happened upon Shiloh which is about a boy and a dog if the cover has any truth to it. I feel like it might be one of those books I should have read by now, and I do plan to read it before it's due back. The Boy picked it up because his teacher is reading it to the class, and he happened to see it. He likes his teacher and loves dogs, so perhaps this culmination of influence will be that catalyst. or not.
I've already finished The Wanderer by Sharon Creech. Sophie is a young girl about to sail across the ocean with three uncles and two male cousins to visit their grandfather. It's a story about a girl getting to make her own decisions though not without having to put up a fight. It's about the family and about the idea of family as Sophie's story comes out. It's about the power in the act of fixing up the boat and setting sail to test people especially as this family is thrown together to actually perform this feat.
The Wanderer is also about the sea. Sophie is drawn to the sea in a way I can almost feel I understand. I've never spent that much time near the sea, and I've never been in it on a boat. All my sea experience involves freshwater. But seafaring adventures tend to make some of the best books in my opinion, and this one has become a favorite. It is a kid's book, ages whenever they can read on up to well past my few years. There's nothing questionable or violent or sexy in this book, and I may be wrong, but I kinda feel like Cody might be gay.
And speaking of Cody, he's the second narrator. Most of the book is Sophie's journal about the voyage. Throughout the book though we also get to read Cody's "dog-log." I enjoyed having the second point of view as well as a bit more of the family background. Even with Cody's dog-log the story is still Sophie's.
I hope Big Brother reads it. I'll definitely suggest it to him, and if I put off our next library visit just long enough he'll have read all his own and may be willing to give it a try. He picked four books total. He was already reading The Wizard of Oz, not a library book, as that's the book he was reading most recently at my house and is the one still on the dining table. He's also reading whichever Artemis Fowl book he's up to, and I had to go look next to his bed to remember that. Along with that Artemis Fowl he grabbed The 39 Clues, How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse, and The Land of the Silver Apples.
I won't bore you with all his books, but The Land of the Silver Apples is a sequel to a book that we actually own, Sea of Trolls, written by Nancy Farmer, and as I google I see that both books are part of a trilogy. Big Brother and I both enjoyed Sea of Trolls, so it looks like I have yet another option of reading material for the next three weeks.
I'm so happy to have paid off the library. I love going there. I love the librarians. I don't know about the people on the computers, though they do make me appreciate having one. This is not only one of the best things I've done for myself in a while, but it's also one of those habits that was always a good one. It's honestly been at least a year since we've been regular library users, and I'd say it may have been a good bit longer. I'm not delving into the story right now, but the main point is that I sucked in my pride and blew out whatever shame I'd built up in letting the situation get out of hand. The librarians, though shocked, were not mean when I humbly approached to find out exactly what I needed to do as the computer told them the full weight of my transgressions.
And just now, rereading and editing, that last paragraph has me forming a plan. Working my Saturday split shift I usually get about an hour break in the middle. I can ride to the downtown library for music and set whatever mood I want for the ensuing Saturday night shift. This is gonna be fun.
Showing posts with label edumucation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edumucation. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
not like the other . . . yet again
Moments ago, The Boy put his book down and asked if his bath was ready. He apparently didn't actually make it to the bath. I can hear him playing with Big Brother.
I'm going to step away for a moment and remind him of his cooling bath water and will take up right there when I get back.
And I return, several hours later, having washed hair, allowed computer time, and texted Big Brother. I thought he was in his room, and I wanted to tell him his brother was out of the bath and that he needed to get into the shower. He was already in the bathroom though occupied in other pursuits at the time.
And all of that is finally done, they are in bed, yet I can still hear them talking. I'm not even a little worried, but we do need to start soon getting ourselves back to school hours.
I mentioned earlier that The Boy's bath was ready, and I came back into the living room and told him so. He was sprawled on the sofa reading an Akiko book.
Big Brother is a somewhat self taught devourer of books and words. He's been reading since he was four and with little prodding on the part of me or Momma. We have always been available and willing, but we've always tried, in that true unschooling spirit, to not help when it wasn't wanted or helpful.
With The Boy we wanted to be the same, but like so many kids he just wasn't into it in the same way. He really didn't want help unless he did and then only on his sometimes (always) strict and difficult to understand terms, so all the lessons we thought we'd learned with his brother were of no use. We remained available and willing, but he always seemed as if he knew he could put it off and that we'd continue to help him.
With the boys' transition last winter from unschool to public school, lots of things changed, and one of those changes was that The Boy, so far a slightly interested, beginning reader was having to read and to learn to read very suddenly. And he took to it like a pirate to booty. He brought the books home that he'd worked on at school, and he sat and worked on them and read them to us.
He still sometimes would prefer to have some reading done for him, but he's been doing it for himself as well. He attempted to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea recently and didn't get very far. I'd playfully suggested it one day, knowing that he'd likely enjoy the story but that the language would likely be a bit much for him. He did ask me to read the first chapter for him.
He also spent some time reading the Frog and Toad books recently, but I don't know that he ever really read them. They went from one house to the other a couple of times, but each time they seemed to sit in the same place until they traveled again.
I've suggested he read any number of books over the past few weeks. I don't want him to have to relearn anything as he enters school again, but as importantly I want him to realize joy in reading. Mostly I suggest books when the code words "I'm bored" actually mean, "it sure would be nice to play some video games."
Also, he does love a good story. His bed time reading is The Silver Chair at my house, and at Momma's house they're reading Farmer Boy. The Silver Chair is one of the Narnia books, while Farmer Boy is Almonzo Wilder's childhood before he goes west and meets Laura Ingalls.
And tonight, even though it was bath time, and even though I worried I'd have a cold bath to rewarm, I let him read. It took him a while to read through the first chapter, but he did, and maybe he'll remember tomorrow that Akiko has just set out on an adventure, and maybe he'll be interested enough to continue the story.
I don't care if he becomes the reader his brother is, but I want him to read. It really is the best thing since whatever was before sliced bread. But then I'd argue that sliced bread isn't that great an invention, but that just opens the door for all sorts of nonsense about expediency versus quality along with the increasing pace of our lives. And I'm just not doing that one right now.
My point is that he sat (sprawled, knees and elbows everywhere) and read the kind of book you need a bookmark for. I'll rewarm a bath for that.
p.s. I hate using the phrase "worked on" along with the word "reading," but it really is apt. It just makes it sound so . . . and has connotations of all the evil gschool stuff one might have heard me preach not so long ago.
I'm going to step away for a moment and remind him of his cooling bath water and will take up right there when I get back.
And I return, several hours later, having washed hair, allowed computer time, and texted Big Brother. I thought he was in his room, and I wanted to tell him his brother was out of the bath and that he needed to get into the shower. He was already in the bathroom though occupied in other pursuits at the time.
And all of that is finally done, they are in bed, yet I can still hear them talking. I'm not even a little worried, but we do need to start soon getting ourselves back to school hours.
I mentioned earlier that The Boy's bath was ready, and I came back into the living room and told him so. He was sprawled on the sofa reading an Akiko book.
Big Brother is a somewhat self taught devourer of books and words. He's been reading since he was four and with little prodding on the part of me or Momma. We have always been available and willing, but we've always tried, in that true unschooling spirit, to not help when it wasn't wanted or helpful.
With The Boy we wanted to be the same, but like so many kids he just wasn't into it in the same way. He really didn't want help unless he did and then only on his sometimes (always) strict and difficult to understand terms, so all the lessons we thought we'd learned with his brother were of no use. We remained available and willing, but he always seemed as if he knew he could put it off and that we'd continue to help him.
With the boys' transition last winter from unschool to public school, lots of things changed, and one of those changes was that The Boy, so far a slightly interested, beginning reader was having to read and to learn to read very suddenly. And he took to it like a pirate to booty. He brought the books home that he'd worked on at school, and he sat and worked on them and read them to us.
He still sometimes would prefer to have some reading done for him, but he's been doing it for himself as well. He attempted to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea recently and didn't get very far. I'd playfully suggested it one day, knowing that he'd likely enjoy the story but that the language would likely be a bit much for him. He did ask me to read the first chapter for him.
He also spent some time reading the Frog and Toad books recently, but I don't know that he ever really read them. They went from one house to the other a couple of times, but each time they seemed to sit in the same place until they traveled again.
I've suggested he read any number of books over the past few weeks. I don't want him to have to relearn anything as he enters school again, but as importantly I want him to realize joy in reading. Mostly I suggest books when the code words "I'm bored" actually mean, "it sure would be nice to play some video games."
Also, he does love a good story. His bed time reading is The Silver Chair at my house, and at Momma's house they're reading Farmer Boy. The Silver Chair is one of the Narnia books, while Farmer Boy is Almonzo Wilder's childhood before he goes west and meets Laura Ingalls.
And tonight, even though it was bath time, and even though I worried I'd have a cold bath to rewarm, I let him read. It took him a while to read through the first chapter, but he did, and maybe he'll remember tomorrow that Akiko has just set out on an adventure, and maybe he'll be interested enough to continue the story.
I don't care if he becomes the reader his brother is, but I want him to read. It really is the best thing since whatever was before sliced bread. But then I'd argue that sliced bread isn't that great an invention, but that just opens the door for all sorts of nonsense about expediency versus quality along with the increasing pace of our lives. And I'm just not doing that one right now.
My point is that he sat (sprawled, knees and elbows everywhere) and read the kind of book you need a bookmark for. I'll rewarm a bath for that.
p.s. I hate using the phrase "worked on" along with the word "reading," but it really is apt. It just makes it sound so . . . and has connotations of all the evil gschool stuff one might have heard me preach not so long ago.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
adding to the list
At some point last night I wrote a post. As is my usual habit I walked outside to smoke before editing and fixing and posting, and I never got around to posting it. And now I probably never will.
But I will tell you some of what it said. Also, are you tired of bike talk yet?
Leaving work yesterday I stopped in at the downtown bike shop to learn that my new stem will be in today, that I can bring the bike in today and likely pick it up tomorrow with new handlebars. They didn't have any helmets that I like.
I rode a few minutes down the road to the next nearest bike shop and also didn't find any helmets that I liked, but I did find the bike that I thought might be just right for Big Brother, so I continued riding to Momma's house where I locked my bike to her front porch rail and took The Boy and Momma's car to go pick up Big Brother from school.
From there we went back to the bike shop so Big Brother could voice an opinion and perhaps choose from the available models within our price range. The one road bike they had was really sweet looking and too small for me and sort of pink looking. It actually looked like it had once been red but had faded to pink, as Big Brother pointed out, also mentioning that he nonetheless still didn't want a pink bike.
He did like the Schwinn mountain bike that looks an awful lot like a slightly smaller version of mine but in black, dark gray, and yellow. While the back tire is knobby, the front tire is the type I'd considered looking at for my mountain bike before letting the mania talk me into the road bike.
Our next shopping adventure was to Kmart for a helmet and bike lock and a pair of inner tubes for the bike we already have that I hope The Boy will learn to ride on. He has a pretty cool big wheel that he's loved riding the past couple of years, but the bike mania is at least a little contagious it seems.
This morning, as the boys were eating breakfast, I handed Big Brother the instructions that came with his helmet so that he could adjust it properly for his head. He was working on that when I drove The Boy to school, and was wearing it and ready to go when I arrived back home about ten minutes later.
The weather was a bit chilly, and though he rode the bike a bit both before we bought it and after we brought it home, it's a bit new to him still. It's a great fit for him, but he's used to a BMX bike and also hasn't ridden since before winter.
I trailed him to school and did that thing I do where I probably talk to much and try to help too much. He was a little skittish facing downhill and didn't want to go too fast. I kept having to slow down and not run him over. And overall it was a really nice way to start the day. Google maps is telling me it's 1.3 miles and should take me six minutes. We easily doubled the time, but that's fine of course.
And now I'm off to run errands. Deposit a check, bike stuff, something to eat, home, laundry that needs to be folded, pick up The Boy from school, look out the window for Big Brother riding by himself. I'm sure I've forgotten something.
But I will tell you some of what it said. Also, are you tired of bike talk yet?
Leaving work yesterday I stopped in at the downtown bike shop to learn that my new stem will be in today, that I can bring the bike in today and likely pick it up tomorrow with new handlebars. They didn't have any helmets that I like.
I rode a few minutes down the road to the next nearest bike shop and also didn't find any helmets that I liked, but I did find the bike that I thought might be just right for Big Brother, so I continued riding to Momma's house where I locked my bike to her front porch rail and took The Boy and Momma's car to go pick up Big Brother from school.
From there we went back to the bike shop so Big Brother could voice an opinion and perhaps choose from the available models within our price range. The one road bike they had was really sweet looking and too small for me and sort of pink looking. It actually looked like it had once been red but had faded to pink, as Big Brother pointed out, also mentioning that he nonetheless still didn't want a pink bike.
He did like the Schwinn mountain bike that looks an awful lot like a slightly smaller version of mine but in black, dark gray, and yellow. While the back tire is knobby, the front tire is the type I'd considered looking at for my mountain bike before letting the mania talk me into the road bike.
Our next shopping adventure was to Kmart for a helmet and bike lock and a pair of inner tubes for the bike we already have that I hope The Boy will learn to ride on. He has a pretty cool big wheel that he's loved riding the past couple of years, but the bike mania is at least a little contagious it seems.
This morning, as the boys were eating breakfast, I handed Big Brother the instructions that came with his helmet so that he could adjust it properly for his head. He was working on that when I drove The Boy to school, and was wearing it and ready to go when I arrived back home about ten minutes later.
The weather was a bit chilly, and though he rode the bike a bit both before we bought it and after we brought it home, it's a bit new to him still. It's a great fit for him, but he's used to a BMX bike and also hasn't ridden since before winter.
I trailed him to school and did that thing I do where I probably talk to much and try to help too much. He was a little skittish facing downhill and didn't want to go too fast. I kept having to slow down and not run him over. And overall it was a really nice way to start the day. Google maps is telling me it's 1.3 miles and should take me six minutes. We easily doubled the time, but that's fine of course.
And now I'm off to run errands. Deposit a check, bike stuff, something to eat, home, laundry that needs to be folded, pick up The Boy from school, look out the window for Big Brother riding by himself. I'm sure I've forgotten something.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
school stuff
Big Brother is reading for fun, which is sorta what he does. He told me earlier that he's supposed to read seventy five minutes a week, and he even has a sheet to list what he's read and for how long. I get to initial it, I suppose as proof that he read what he said.
Seventy five minutes? I laughed when he said that and pointed out that he'd only need to read for fifteen minutes a night and only on school nights. He told me that he thinks some kids do exactly that. I felt bad for those kids. I just can't imagine not reading for pleasure and not enjoying reading.
When I initialed Big Brother's reading sheet earlier he'd already been reading for just over two hours. He has a book that's due back tomorrow, and he wanted to finish it. He's already well into the next book. Before the night's over I'll initial his sheet again for another two hours worth of book two.
The Boy is hating doing his homework. I suggested throughout the evening that he do it, but I never said "do it" as opposed to "you really should do it." Part of me wants to get him to learn and understand the benefit of doing the work earlier rather than later in order to have that time later.
Right now he's taking a break. He's written two of the six sentences that are his homework. He's learning contractions and has to rewrite six sentences changing the underlined words into contractions. It's easy enough, but he hates the writing. I try to remind him that it's great practice and gets easier, but that's absolutely lost on his seven (nearly eight) year old point of view on how the world works.
I have to remember sometimes to pronounce words properly, but I also have to point out sometimes that we are in fact southern and mostly used to the accents around us. I myself do sound southern, just so you know, and I'm pretty much okay with that. Apparently I sometimes say "aigs" when I mean "eggs."
I also had to make a point when reading contractions to pronounce the word "didn't" properly instead of my more common "dittun." I don't think they cover "ya'll" leaving to society to instill the proper use of the word.
He's finally on sentence number four, and he's got ten minutes before we need to get him moving toward bed. They've been at Momma's for the last few days, so we haven't gotten to read The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe for a while. Three of the four Pevensie kids are about to leave the Beaver's dam, while one already has.
"You can always write smaller," I mentioned moments ago to The Boy. Before he begins each sentence he extends the line that he has to write the sentence on to the edges of the page so that he'll have enough line to write the sentence.
He answered, "I don't really like writing smaller." I can't argue with that.
p.s. This is what's playing right this moment.
p.p.s. I do understand that The Boy may disagree about whether it's better to finish the homework earlier or later, but I can't help but think my was is better, and I can't help but wish he'd at least try it once.
Seventy five minutes? I laughed when he said that and pointed out that he'd only need to read for fifteen minutes a night and only on school nights. He told me that he thinks some kids do exactly that. I felt bad for those kids. I just can't imagine not reading for pleasure and not enjoying reading.
When I initialed Big Brother's reading sheet earlier he'd already been reading for just over two hours. He has a book that's due back tomorrow, and he wanted to finish it. He's already well into the next book. Before the night's over I'll initial his sheet again for another two hours worth of book two.
The Boy is hating doing his homework. I suggested throughout the evening that he do it, but I never said "do it" as opposed to "you really should do it." Part of me wants to get him to learn and understand the benefit of doing the work earlier rather than later in order to have that time later.
Right now he's taking a break. He's written two of the six sentences that are his homework. He's learning contractions and has to rewrite six sentences changing the underlined words into contractions. It's easy enough, but he hates the writing. I try to remind him that it's great practice and gets easier, but that's absolutely lost on his seven (nearly eight) year old point of view on how the world works.
I have to remember sometimes to pronounce words properly, but I also have to point out sometimes that we are in fact southern and mostly used to the accents around us. I myself do sound southern, just so you know, and I'm pretty much okay with that. Apparently I sometimes say "aigs" when I mean "eggs."
I also had to make a point when reading contractions to pronounce the word "didn't" properly instead of my more common "dittun." I don't think they cover "ya'll" leaving to society to instill the proper use of the word.
He's finally on sentence number four, and he's got ten minutes before we need to get him moving toward bed. They've been at Momma's for the last few days, so we haven't gotten to read The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe for a while. Three of the four Pevensie kids are about to leave the Beaver's dam, while one already has.
"You can always write smaller," I mentioned moments ago to The Boy. Before he begins each sentence he extends the line that he has to write the sentence on to the edges of the page so that he'll have enough line to write the sentence.
He answered, "I don't really like writing smaller." I can't argue with that.
p.s. This is what's playing right this moment.
p.p.s. I do understand that The Boy may disagree about whether it's better to finish the homework earlier or later, but I can't help but think my was is better, and I can't help but wish he'd at least try it once.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
i didn't even have to use my ak
The weather has turned back to cold. Perhaps we're getting our little bit of the big storm. The forecast I looked at has us having a good chance of snow and rain by the weekend but with temperatures higher than freezing. Maybe it'll just be a pretty snow.
Today was sunny for the most part. I opted to stay awake after Momma came to get the boys for school and hadn't really planned my day when the phone rang.
It was work asking if I'd come in to replace a sick coworker who was there but needed to not be and would come and pick me up. Being inside working meant that I didn't see a lot of the sun, but the nicest part of the day might have been my walk to the bus station after work.
I tried to chase the sun as much as possible but kept finding myself in the shadows of buildings until the last and longest stretch. That final stretch involves two long blocks headed east which put the sun at my back.
One of those little things I crave during the winter is that sunny day with the sun at your back creating that little circle of warmth. It helps, I think, that I wear a black leather jacket that seems to soak up the energy.
A little tense from the cold I turned that block and was a short way down when I felt that little spot growing on my back as the sun shone down on me. I relaxed a little bit and might have even walked a little taller. I certainly didn't slow down my pace. I was cutting my timing a little close and didn't want to miss my bus again.
I had no need to worry. I arrived on the platform with time to spare, though not much at all. I met the driver as he came from the driver holding pen and boarded the bus right behind him.
I'm glad to have picked up the hours at work and will be glad to see them on my check. My favorite coworker was there, and she and I nearly always have a great time in the kitchen. I got a needed dose of sunlight and blew some of my last little bit of money till I get paid Friday on pizza because Papa John's delivers and I can pay online with my debit card. If I'd had a bike I could have easily taken the #22 bus to the grocery store and biked home from there, but alas that has yet to transpire and is not germane to this conversation. Homework help was provided, pizza was eaten, Scribblenauts was played, and chapter five of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was read.
title of post taken from
Today was sunny for the most part. I opted to stay awake after Momma came to get the boys for school and hadn't really planned my day when the phone rang.
It was work asking if I'd come in to replace a sick coworker who was there but needed to not be and would come and pick me up. Being inside working meant that I didn't see a lot of the sun, but the nicest part of the day might have been my walk to the bus station after work.
I tried to chase the sun as much as possible but kept finding myself in the shadows of buildings until the last and longest stretch. That final stretch involves two long blocks headed east which put the sun at my back.
One of those little things I crave during the winter is that sunny day with the sun at your back creating that little circle of warmth. It helps, I think, that I wear a black leather jacket that seems to soak up the energy.
A little tense from the cold I turned that block and was a short way down when I felt that little spot growing on my back as the sun shone down on me. I relaxed a little bit and might have even walked a little taller. I certainly didn't slow down my pace. I was cutting my timing a little close and didn't want to miss my bus again.
I had no need to worry. I arrived on the platform with time to spare, though not much at all. I met the driver as he came from the driver holding pen and boarded the bus right behind him.
I'm glad to have picked up the hours at work and will be glad to see them on my check. My favorite coworker was there, and she and I nearly always have a great time in the kitchen. I got a needed dose of sunlight and blew some of my last little bit of money till I get paid Friday on pizza because Papa John's delivers and I can pay online with my debit card. If I'd had a bike I could have easily taken the #22 bus to the grocery store and biked home from there, but alas that has yet to transpire and is not germane to this conversation. Homework help was provided, pizza was eaten, Scribblenauts was played, and chapter five of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe was read.
title of post taken from
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
figuring it out
The idea of homework has always been part of the deciding factor in homeschooling the kids. I just don't believe in homework. Very few jobs really require you to do work outside of doing your work. Sure, there are some times when you might spend some personal time taking care of some business, but when do we, as adults, really have homework?
So to think that schools can't, in the time they have, do the job we expect of them maybe suggests we should assume something is wrong. But now that I'm seeing some homework and helping, I'm actually developing a different appreciation, though I'm only going so far with this. I'm not really changing my mind.
By the time I got home The Boy had already finished his math homework, and he's doing well it seems. He needs very little help except with understanding sometimes what's being asked. The homework I helped with tonight involved eight sentences which were missing their verb. The verb was place at the end of the sentence, apart and hugged only by ( ) but needed to be translated to past tense and inserted into the blank space.
Out of eight sentences offered there were only four verbs, so each was repeated. We worked through the first four, and he once again impressed me with his reading. He's taking his time with it, but he's actually doing it even though it takes a lot of reminders of what things sound like. Of course we're also learning American English, and it feels that sometimes you almost need to work in our own Southern dialect. How many times can you tell a kid that this time that letter sounds different from nearly every other time that you see it, and it actually sounds just like a letter that exists, which begs the question why it's spelled this way instead of another, and I'm not even stopping homework to discuss how many non English words seem to exist in American English, which is still only some amount of the issue, none of which is even the point.
After completing the first four sentences we agreed to take a break. I settled back expecting a few minutes of playing followed be requesting food which would then be followed by a reminder from me that we needed to finish. Less than five minutes passed before The Boy was back telling me he was done with his break.
He sat down and took a few seconds to look at his work paper before making the realization. He looked at the four remaining improperly tensed verbs and realized that he didn't even need to do anymore reading. He explained completely what he was doing, that the words repeated and he could just write them in without needing to read the sentences, and I couldn't argue with him.
It's true that reading the sentences would have been reading practice, and I even pointed out that it would be good to read them anyway. I tried to entice him with the idea of being able to work on reading and to get better at reading. I told of reading for pleasure, and he agreed that he'd like to be able to read better and to read whenever he wanted to.
I couldn't argue with his better way. And I'm willing to go with the idea that he's learning not to work any harder than the worksheet. He did the assignment, and he saved himself some time so that he could get on the computer quicker.
And honestly, he's really doing great with reading. He isn't fighting it, a concern I once had, though he's not at the point where it's easy enough to do so much. He'll get there, and in unschooling fashion I'm going to step aside if he figures out how to beat the system once in a while.
And I'm glad I just remembered to look up Turkish Delight. The White Witch enticed Edmund with it, and we've read about it the last three nights that the boys were here. The Boy keeps asking what it is, but the only answer I have is that I think it's a confection. Then he asks, What's a confection? and I have to tell him it's kinda like candy or a sweet treat or something, that I'm not really sure, but I'll look it up.
so . . .
So to think that schools can't, in the time they have, do the job we expect of them maybe suggests we should assume something is wrong. But now that I'm seeing some homework and helping, I'm actually developing a different appreciation, though I'm only going so far with this. I'm not really changing my mind.
By the time I got home The Boy had already finished his math homework, and he's doing well it seems. He needs very little help except with understanding sometimes what's being asked. The homework I helped with tonight involved eight sentences which were missing their verb. The verb was place at the end of the sentence, apart and hugged only by ( ) but needed to be translated to past tense and inserted into the blank space.
Out of eight sentences offered there were only four verbs, so each was repeated. We worked through the first four, and he once again impressed me with his reading. He's taking his time with it, but he's actually doing it even though it takes a lot of reminders of what things sound like. Of course we're also learning American English, and it feels that sometimes you almost need to work in our own Southern dialect. How many times can you tell a kid that this time that letter sounds different from nearly every other time that you see it, and it actually sounds just like a letter that exists, which begs the question why it's spelled this way instead of another, and I'm not even stopping homework to discuss how many non English words seem to exist in American English, which is still only some amount of the issue, none of which is even the point.
After completing the first four sentences we agreed to take a break. I settled back expecting a few minutes of playing followed be requesting food which would then be followed by a reminder from me that we needed to finish. Less than five minutes passed before The Boy was back telling me he was done with his break.
He sat down and took a few seconds to look at his work paper before making the realization. He looked at the four remaining improperly tensed verbs and realized that he didn't even need to do anymore reading. He explained completely what he was doing, that the words repeated and he could just write them in without needing to read the sentences, and I couldn't argue with him.
It's true that reading the sentences would have been reading practice, and I even pointed out that it would be good to read them anyway. I tried to entice him with the idea of being able to work on reading and to get better at reading. I told of reading for pleasure, and he agreed that he'd like to be able to read better and to read whenever he wanted to.
I couldn't argue with his better way. And I'm willing to go with the idea that he's learning not to work any harder than the worksheet. He did the assignment, and he saved himself some time so that he could get on the computer quicker.
And honestly, he's really doing great with reading. He isn't fighting it, a concern I once had, though he's not at the point where it's easy enough to do so much. He'll get there, and in unschooling fashion I'm going to step aside if he figures out how to beat the system once in a while.
And I'm glad I just remembered to look up Turkish Delight. The White Witch enticed Edmund with it, and we've read about it the last three nights that the boys were here. The Boy keeps asking what it is, but the only answer I have is that I think it's a confection. Then he asks, What's a confection? and I have to tell him it's kinda like candy or a sweet treat or something, that I'm not really sure, but I'll look it up.
so . . .
Thursday, January 27, 2011
liberal locust that I am
Let's get all the perfunctory out of the way, so I can bitch about the dumbass. A friend on the book of faces posted this Salon story about a mother who defrauded the government out of millions of dollars and punched a clown AND a kitten. She also tripped kids in glasses and made puppies feel really bad about themselves.
The piece was written by Elon James White who also has his own blog, This Week in Blackness, which I've added to my reader because he's awesome apparently. FWIW, he's also kinda cute, but the smarts is why I want to read more of him.
Actually, the mother in question apparently told the local school board that her kids lived with their grandfather. She did this so that her kids could go to a better school, described in the article that spawned the piece as a "rich white school."
If I have regular readers then they likely know that my kids have started attending school after having been homeschooled for all their life up till this year. The Boy, from Momma's house, is zoned for the school he attends, though for middle school both boys are zoned for the school Big Brother attends. We could probably have given either address for the kids as their primary domicile as they stay at whichever house makes the most sense based on the day, Momma's and my work schedules, and any number of other possible reasons that may come up based on any number of things that we may or may not foresee. They're zoned for a different elementary school from the house I'm currently in, but I don't know anything about that school. They can see their potential high school from Momma's back porch. I don't really know anything about it other than it's much more racially diverse than the rich white school, and yes, we have at least one of those. There's a fair variety of schools around this town, and there's really no point in arguing the fact that the whiter the student population is the nicer the school seems to be.
Most of the comments to the story at Salon seem to suggest my own feelings, that this mother did what any number of other people do or would do. She did break a law, but what she wanted to accomplish by breaking the law was to get the best education for her children. And the reasoning behind her act should be considered in whatever legal issues arise from this act.
The bigger point, and the bigger problem, has little to do with this one family. The real problem is that within any one city there can be such a variety of schools so that one could actually know, based on ethnic makeup, which school was likely to be a better school, to have better and newer equipment, to have more options for the students. It's sickening that this happens, but it does.
And while I considered posting my own rant about this story I hadn't made up my mind till I got to the comment HERE, by someone calling himself something that he isn't. I'm not a regular reader or commenter at Salon, so I can't know how well this guy is known. But something I notice in blog comments is how open people are. If you hide behind the veil of an anonymous and nebulous username then you can get by with being the world's biggest douche and a half.
Let me just give you a snippet of the insanity so that you don't have to actually visit the comment.
-liberals (the locusts that they are) destroy poor neighborhoods by building welfare offices and abortion clinics
-that boogeyman, “racism” that we are always told is everywhere all the time except that we never ever ever ever fucking see it
-Liberals are disgusting baby killing race exploitive pieces of shit
Seriously, he says all those things.
Let's look at it one at a time.
How many "welfare offices" does your town/city have? I know of one here. Momma and I, once upon a time, received what were essentially food stamps. And we went to the same place as everyone else, sat in the same shitty waiting room, and were just as happy as most people when we were doing better and no longer qualified for the help. I could easily qualify now if I'd swallow my pride. Also, abortion clinics? Really? I know where two are, and I know some people who've had abortions. I don't like that they felt they had to, but that's not especially my place. I'm glad they could do so safely. I know of two places that will perform abortions, and both of them are nearer campus than in our city's poorer neighborhoods.
That boogeyman racism is alive and well, or at least more well than many of us would like. But that doesn't mean we all see it all the time. That doesn't mean that we all see it when it happens, and it doesn't mean we recognize it when we see it happening. I can see things I think are racist, but I can't suddenly be black and see life through the lens that growing up black would give me. I can be gay and see homophobia, but at the same time I'm still a white male that can pretend he's not gay. Yes, that comes with it's own baggage, but I wouldn't dare compare being black to being gay or being gay to being black. Black people who are not gay can't see through my lens any more than I theirs.
Finally, I've never killed a baby, and I don't think I've ever exploited race. I killed a snake once, and I've killed my share of mosquitoes, and some of the bugs I've squished might have been babies, but I'm not stopping to look. I want to not understand what he means by "race exploitive" because ignorance is supposedly bliss, but I have to accept that this is proof that racism is alive and well. I may have mentioned that. It gets back to that lens thing. I don't get to decide what is or isn't racist to black people. I can disagree all I want, but my balls aren't really that big.
My point with this post isn't about this one commenter. I live in the south, and I think I have a slightly better handle on racism than some white people. I do think being gay gives me at least a little peak into, but as mentioned above, I don't think there's a way to compare racism and homophobia, and I don't want to say either is worse or less worse.
I hate reading comments like this because it just makes my brain hurt. It makes my heart hurt. It makes a bad place in my day. It's too good to be satire, and it's too likely that this guy believes what he says. He really, honestly thinks what he is saying is true. He doesn't see a problem with black schools and white schools, or he just doesn't see that this problem exists. If he does see it then he just doesn't care that racism is alive and well and that he's perpetuating it.
If you happen on an alligator that wants to eat you, hiding your face in your hands won't make it go away.
The piece was written by Elon James White who also has his own blog, This Week in Blackness, which I've added to my reader because he's awesome apparently. FWIW, he's also kinda cute, but the smarts is why I want to read more of him.
Actually, the mother in question apparently told the local school board that her kids lived with their grandfather. She did this so that her kids could go to a better school, described in the article that spawned the piece as a "rich white school."
If I have regular readers then they likely know that my kids have started attending school after having been homeschooled for all their life up till this year. The Boy, from Momma's house, is zoned for the school he attends, though for middle school both boys are zoned for the school Big Brother attends. We could probably have given either address for the kids as their primary domicile as they stay at whichever house makes the most sense based on the day, Momma's and my work schedules, and any number of other possible reasons that may come up based on any number of things that we may or may not foresee. They're zoned for a different elementary school from the house I'm currently in, but I don't know anything about that school. They can see their potential high school from Momma's back porch. I don't really know anything about it other than it's much more racially diverse than the rich white school, and yes, we have at least one of those. There's a fair variety of schools around this town, and there's really no point in arguing the fact that the whiter the student population is the nicer the school seems to be.
Most of the comments to the story at Salon seem to suggest my own feelings, that this mother did what any number of other people do or would do. She did break a law, but what she wanted to accomplish by breaking the law was to get the best education for her children. And the reasoning behind her act should be considered in whatever legal issues arise from this act.
The bigger point, and the bigger problem, has little to do with this one family. The real problem is that within any one city there can be such a variety of schools so that one could actually know, based on ethnic makeup, which school was likely to be a better school, to have better and newer equipment, to have more options for the students. It's sickening that this happens, but it does.
And while I considered posting my own rant about this story I hadn't made up my mind till I got to the comment HERE, by someone calling himself something that he isn't. I'm not a regular reader or commenter at Salon, so I can't know how well this guy is known. But something I notice in blog comments is how open people are. If you hide behind the veil of an anonymous and nebulous username then you can get by with being the world's biggest douche and a half.
Let me just give you a snippet of the insanity so that you don't have to actually visit the comment.
-liberals (the locusts that they are) destroy poor neighborhoods by building welfare offices and abortion clinics
-that boogeyman, “racism” that we are always told is everywhere all the time except that we never ever ever ever fucking see it
-Liberals are disgusting baby killing race exploitive pieces of shit
Seriously, he says all those things.
Let's look at it one at a time.
How many "welfare offices" does your town/city have? I know of one here. Momma and I, once upon a time, received what were essentially food stamps. And we went to the same place as everyone else, sat in the same shitty waiting room, and were just as happy as most people when we were doing better and no longer qualified for the help. I could easily qualify now if I'd swallow my pride. Also, abortion clinics? Really? I know where two are, and I know some people who've had abortions. I don't like that they felt they had to, but that's not especially my place. I'm glad they could do so safely. I know of two places that will perform abortions, and both of them are nearer campus than in our city's poorer neighborhoods.
That boogeyman racism is alive and well, or at least more well than many of us would like. But that doesn't mean we all see it all the time. That doesn't mean that we all see it when it happens, and it doesn't mean we recognize it when we see it happening. I can see things I think are racist, but I can't suddenly be black and see life through the lens that growing up black would give me. I can be gay and see homophobia, but at the same time I'm still a white male that can pretend he's not gay. Yes, that comes with it's own baggage, but I wouldn't dare compare being black to being gay or being gay to being black. Black people who are not gay can't see through my lens any more than I theirs.
Finally, I've never killed a baby, and I don't think I've ever exploited race. I killed a snake once, and I've killed my share of mosquitoes, and some of the bugs I've squished might have been babies, but I'm not stopping to look. I want to not understand what he means by "race exploitive" because ignorance is supposedly bliss, but I have to accept that this is proof that racism is alive and well. I may have mentioned that. It gets back to that lens thing. I don't get to decide what is or isn't racist to black people. I can disagree all I want, but my balls aren't really that big.
My point with this post isn't about this one commenter. I live in the south, and I think I have a slightly better handle on racism than some white people. I do think being gay gives me at least a little peak into, but as mentioned above, I don't think there's a way to compare racism and homophobia, and I don't want to say either is worse or less worse.
I hate reading comments like this because it just makes my brain hurt. It makes my heart hurt. It makes a bad place in my day. It's too good to be satire, and it's too likely that this guy believes what he says. He really, honestly thinks what he is saying is true. He doesn't see a problem with black schools and white schools, or he just doesn't see that this problem exists. If he does see it then he just doesn't care that racism is alive and well and that he's perpetuating it.
If you happen on an alligator that wants to eat you, hiding your face in your hands won't make it go away.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
duckface
If we're Facebook friends you may already have seen this, but this syndrome is so out of control that I feel this song needs to be shared as widely as possible.
I'd like to think none of my friends do the duckface in their pictures on social networking sites, but sadly I know that I've seen it on people who should be smart enough not to.
Watch the video and stop making the duckface.
I'd like to think none of my friends do the duckface in their pictures on social networking sites, but sadly I know that I've seen it on people who should be smart enough not to.
Watch the video and stop making the duckface.
Monday, December 27, 2010
resolute these nuts
I've never made new year's resolutions. I don't really believe in them. They always seem like they were made up in a moment of clarity that happens to be surrounded by a lot of getting and then being way too drunk because you were at a NYE party, and it's what you're supposed to do.
At the same time I want my life to be different, and a lot of this wanting is coming to a bit of a head right about now. I've been thinking and thinking, and I think I've come up with some ideas.
The only solution that I have is to give myself this arbitrary date at which point I want to begin putting my bad behavior to an end. And it's not that I'm so bad of a person or that my behavior is so bad, but it's not even a little bit helpful, and I want my life to be different.
What I've come up with, in my head, is this idea of new. I've done things the old way for a long time, and I'm still here, broke and alone and unhappy. The old ways aren't working, so I need to try some new ways.
I'm not sure the shape this will take, but I'm setting a deadline, and after that I really have to figure out what changes are going to get me to a point. I need now to figure that point out. I need now to set some goals. I've got twinnyleven to figure my ass out, and then I've got twinnytwelve to make a point of it.
How will I start? Putting the boys in school is a big start, both for them and for me. I'm going to worry more about their education, and I need to be involved in their school/schooling. Another step that should be easy and maybe even fun is to begin to put more concern into both my diet as well as the boys'. We don't eat very well, and I could easily solve that problem. Beginning work in those areas will help me to want to work harder to better myself.
How happy am I in the world of food as I've known it? What would I rather do? I've been in food service seemingly as long as I can remember. It's what I do. It's how I earn my dough.
How can I find a way to make my life better in solely monetary terms? I hate to think of it that way. There's a stink of "selling out" that punk me finds repulsive, but punk me barely pays the bills and seldom on time.
I need to remember throughout the year that "I'm too old for this shit." And I need to devote my efforts to better things, better places, better meals, better friends. And it has to begin with me. I have to take that first step and then the second and on and on.
Repeating past mistakes will never yield new successes.
At the same time I want my life to be different, and a lot of this wanting is coming to a bit of a head right about now. I've been thinking and thinking, and I think I've come up with some ideas.
The only solution that I have is to give myself this arbitrary date at which point I want to begin putting my bad behavior to an end. And it's not that I'm so bad of a person or that my behavior is so bad, but it's not even a little bit helpful, and I want my life to be different.
What I've come up with, in my head, is this idea of new. I've done things the old way for a long time, and I'm still here, broke and alone and unhappy. The old ways aren't working, so I need to try some new ways.
I'm not sure the shape this will take, but I'm setting a deadline, and after that I really have to figure out what changes are going to get me to a point. I need now to figure that point out. I need now to set some goals. I've got twinnyleven to figure my ass out, and then I've got twinnytwelve to make a point of it.
How will I start? Putting the boys in school is a big start, both for them and for me. I'm going to worry more about their education, and I need to be involved in their school/schooling. Another step that should be easy and maybe even fun is to begin to put more concern into both my diet as well as the boys'. We don't eat very well, and I could easily solve that problem. Beginning work in those areas will help me to want to work harder to better myself.
How happy am I in the world of food as I've known it? What would I rather do? I've been in food service seemingly as long as I can remember. It's what I do. It's how I earn my dough.
How can I find a way to make my life better in solely monetary terms? I hate to think of it that way. There's a stink of "selling out" that punk me finds repulsive, but punk me barely pays the bills and seldom on time.
I need to remember throughout the year that "I'm too old for this shit." And I need to devote my efforts to better things, better places, better meals, better friends. And it has to begin with me. I have to take that first step and then the second and on and on.
Repeating past mistakes will never yield new successes.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
hs to ps
My family will soon join the normal world, as, after this winter break, when the public school kids return to school, Big Brother and The Boy will be joining them.
Momma and I have had to face the we haven't been doing the job right recently, oddly enough for the last couple of years. We haven't really focused our attention with all we've been up to, if you know what I mean. We discussed over the summer putting them in to start the year, and in retrospect we probably should have, but I argued for one more chance. I really believe in the idea of homeschooling, but I also argue more than anything for a variety of options when we think about educational models.
A huge part of my desire to continue homeschooling, I have to admit, is that I've allowed homeschooler to define my identity to such an extent. I can kinda invoke the closet again here, though I hope that I'm not just continuing to blame the closet. But part of my whole thing here is to try to understand the power of the closet even if this isn't really the blog post for it.
Having said that, I keep losing my identities and keep not figuring out how to get/form new ones. Having said that, I keep finding that it sorta happens sometimes when you're not looking. It's like that whole homeschooler thing. I don't really think that I'm losing the identity or becoming not a homeschooler, I'm becoming more, maybe?
We've visited both their schools, and while The Boy seems excited, Big Brother is his usual calm and somewhat impassive self. The Boy's school is on the route we drive daily to get to most places we go, and Big Brother's is on a common route to some place we don't go as often, but we have used their field as a practice field a few times over the years during soccer seasons. They've been pointing out their schools as we've been driving past.
And while we think of school for them I kinda think maybe I could think about school for me. I think I can't imagine what I would study, and this time it wouldn't be about getting a career like last time. I'd have to only study things I enjoyed learning, or it wouldn't be worth it. And fwiw, look for a post soon that might be a clue.
I'm excited for them. I've kept them too close to the rut I'm in for too long, and if I were honest I've been worried for their sake. I put my own fears onto them and worry that it'll all be too much, the lines, the crowds, the noise.
It's a part of a journey inside the journey I suppose, and it's time for it to happen. I'll tame my distrust of the man, and I might even try to get involved. I'm sure the schools can find something I can do. I could always be a lunch lady.
Momma and I have had to face the we haven't been doing the job right recently, oddly enough for the last couple of years. We haven't really focused our attention with all we've been up to, if you know what I mean. We discussed over the summer putting them in to start the year, and in retrospect we probably should have, but I argued for one more chance. I really believe in the idea of homeschooling, but I also argue more than anything for a variety of options when we think about educational models.
A huge part of my desire to continue homeschooling, I have to admit, is that I've allowed homeschooler to define my identity to such an extent. I can kinda invoke the closet again here, though I hope that I'm not just continuing to blame the closet. But part of my whole thing here is to try to understand the power of the closet even if this isn't really the blog post for it.
Having said that, I keep losing my identities and keep not figuring out how to get/form new ones. Having said that, I keep finding that it sorta happens sometimes when you're not looking. It's like that whole homeschooler thing. I don't really think that I'm losing the identity or becoming not a homeschooler, I'm becoming more, maybe?
We've visited both their schools, and while The Boy seems excited, Big Brother is his usual calm and somewhat impassive self. The Boy's school is on the route we drive daily to get to most places we go, and Big Brother's is on a common route to some place we don't go as often, but we have used their field as a practice field a few times over the years during soccer seasons. They've been pointing out their schools as we've been driving past.
And while we think of school for them I kinda think maybe I could think about school for me. I think I can't imagine what I would study, and this time it wouldn't be about getting a career like last time. I'd have to only study things I enjoyed learning, or it wouldn't be worth it. And fwiw, look for a post soon that might be a clue.
I'm excited for them. I've kept them too close to the rut I'm in for too long, and if I were honest I've been worried for their sake. I put my own fears onto them and worry that it'll all be too much, the lines, the crowds, the noise.
It's a part of a journey inside the journey I suppose, and it's time for it to happen. I'll tame my distrust of the man, and I might even try to get involved. I'm sure the schools can find something I can do. I could always be a lunch lady.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
it's that time in where I live
Tomorrow is my turn to get up early for the testing. Big Brother has reached that point of homeschool life when we take him to be tested.
We printed up a copy of the test, though I must admit we could have paid more attention to what we were looking at. We did want the test on paper to better simulate the testing environment, though I can't say we sanitized the place and put in buzzing lights to truly get the feel.
As mentioned we copied the test, and we could have thought more about, maybe looked at the totality of options available when printing a multi page document. One might ask themselves if they really need those several mostly gray pages with only the words, "DO NOT MARK ON THIS PAGE." We certainly didn't, but apparently The Boy needed drawing paper, so he got some, and he certainly marked on those pages. Hope the law don't get after us.
We didn't print the answer pages, so that was paper saved . . . oh, wait. We got lucky and ran out of paper just as the last actual test page was printed. I actually had to find a random still blank sheet to feed into the printer at the last moment.
After this week we'll certainly have plenty of scrap paper. I imagine it will be perfect for drawing on the back of, and Momma has used some amount of paper in her ongoing home search, so she can now print the information about her possible soon to be dream home on the backs of the testing pages, though that may at times not leave her with a lot of room on the back to write any notes, though there are plenty of test pages with a single question occupying about one quarter of the paper to go along with the red stripe at the bottom holding both the page number and either the arrow or the stop sign.
They didn't offer the answer sheet that the kids get with the little bubbles to fill in, so he just circled his answers.
And that's that. Now I get to wake much too early and take the boys and go . . .
And if anyone reading this knows what local phrase I've parodied sorta to get the title of this post they will win a prize. It's a line I often tweak, but that likely won't help most anyone, so I can't say it's a clue, but it's something.
We printed up a copy of the test, though I must admit we could have paid more attention to what we were looking at. We did want the test on paper to better simulate the testing environment, though I can't say we sanitized the place and put in buzzing lights to truly get the feel.
As mentioned we copied the test, and we could have thought more about, maybe looked at the totality of options available when printing a multi page document. One might ask themselves if they really need those several mostly gray pages with only the words, "DO NOT MARK ON THIS PAGE." We certainly didn't, but apparently The Boy needed drawing paper, so he got some, and he certainly marked on those pages. Hope the law don't get after us.
We didn't print the answer pages, so that was paper saved . . . oh, wait. We got lucky and ran out of paper just as the last actual test page was printed. I actually had to find a random still blank sheet to feed into the printer at the last moment.
After this week we'll certainly have plenty of scrap paper. I imagine it will be perfect for drawing on the back of, and Momma has used some amount of paper in her ongoing home search, so she can now print the information about her possible soon to be dream home on the backs of the testing pages, though that may at times not leave her with a lot of room on the back to write any notes, though there are plenty of test pages with a single question occupying about one quarter of the paper to go along with the red stripe at the bottom holding both the page number and either the arrow or the stop sign.
They didn't offer the answer sheet that the kids get with the little bubbles to fill in, so he just circled his answers.
And that's that. Now I get to wake much too early and take the boys and go . . .
And if anyone reading this knows what local phrase I've parodied sorta to get the title of this post they will win a prize. It's a line I often tweak, but that likely won't help most anyone, so I can't say it's a clue, but it's something.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
not really parallels
Something came up in my reader in one of the blogs that I've only recently discovered, The Bygone Bureau. It has absolutely nothing to do with the German homeschool whatever, but it is about aspects of German education as seen by an American living in Germany and teaching.
If you aren't a homeschooler or into home education news then you may well have no idea why I even mention Germany and homeschooling together, but if you are aware of this particular not a news story then you can imagine I thought of it when I saw an article about Germany and education. I'm only aware of the story because as homeschoolers we can't help but at least know it exists as a story.
Unlike my usual m.o. I offer no opinion. I found the article interesting, but then this writer, Locke McKenzie and the particular blog The Rambling American were what coaxed me to look further at The Bygone Bureau in the first place.
If you aren't a homeschooler or into home education news then you may well have no idea why I even mention Germany and homeschooling together, but if you are aware of this particular not a news story then you can imagine I thought of it when I saw an article about Germany and education. I'm only aware of the story because as homeschoolers we can't help but at least know it exists as a story.
Unlike my usual m.o. I offer no opinion. I found the article interesting, but then this writer, Locke McKenzie and the particular blog The Rambling American were what coaxed me to look further at The Bygone Bureau in the first place.
Monday, December 01, 2008
world AIDS day
Today is World AIDS Day, and if I'm the one introducing you to this then you should spend less time under your rock.
Perhaps one of the scariest aspects of AIDS today is the fact that we seem to have come to a place where we don't recognize it as the deadly disease that it is. Too many people are still dying of AIDS, but it just doesn't seem to be the looming danger we remember from years past.
I'm still unsure of my place in so many places, and whatever this thing called the gay community is is still so new to me. AIDS is not new, though I have to admit I barely remember those days in the '80's when we first heard about AIDS.
I remember it being this thing that we suddenly started hearing about, this thing for which there was no cure, that killed whoever it touched. Then suddenly it was a disease that gay men got, and suddenly it didn't seem that big a deal. It was understandable as something that "those people" got, were likely responsible for, probably they were deserving. Yes, that's how I was raised, and there is still some amount of that attitude in too many closed minds.
I can't really do this topic justice. It hasn't touched me like it has so many others, but it's a fear I live with. I truly believe that it's only a matter of time before it does touch me somehow.
I can't really do this topic justice, so I'm sending you to Doc's blog.
Perhaps one of the scariest aspects of AIDS today is the fact that we seem to have come to a place where we don't recognize it as the deadly disease that it is. Too many people are still dying of AIDS, but it just doesn't seem to be the looming danger we remember from years past.
I'm still unsure of my place in so many places, and whatever this thing called the gay community is is still so new to me. AIDS is not new, though I have to admit I barely remember those days in the '80's when we first heard about AIDS.
I remember it being this thing that we suddenly started hearing about, this thing for which there was no cure, that killed whoever it touched. Then suddenly it was a disease that gay men got, and suddenly it didn't seem that big a deal. It was understandable as something that "those people" got, were likely responsible for, probably they were deserving. Yes, that's how I was raised, and there is still some amount of that attitude in too many closed minds.
I can't really do this topic justice. It hasn't touched me like it has so many others, but it's a fear I live with. I truly believe that it's only a matter of time before it does touch me somehow.
I can't really do this topic justice, so I'm sending you to Doc's blog.
Friday, November 14, 2008
stand up
Very quickly, because I should already have taken a shower and be headed out to continue the job search.
Saturday, November 15 is a national day of protest for gay rights. In light of the passage of Prop 8 in California, which basically took away marriage rights for gay people in California, gay men and women and our non gay supporters in cities across the US are gathering to show solidarity and to demand that we be treated as equals.
That's really what this is all about, equality. We aren't asking for special rights nor are we asking for more than we deserve. We want the same as everyone else.
If you feel the same, whether or not you are gay, you are invited to attend this rally. We need all the support we can get, and we need to stand up and show everyone that we are no different from them. We are your brothers and sisters. We are parents. Quite simply we are human.
Please find time to join us at World's Fair Park at 1:30. Go HERE for more information about this local rally.
Saturday, November 15 is a national day of protest for gay rights. In light of the passage of Prop 8 in California, which basically took away marriage rights for gay people in California, gay men and women and our non gay supporters in cities across the US are gathering to show solidarity and to demand that we be treated as equals.
That's really what this is all about, equality. We aren't asking for special rights nor are we asking for more than we deserve. We want the same as everyone else.
If you feel the same, whether or not you are gay, you are invited to attend this rally. We need all the support we can get, and we need to stand up and show everyone that we are no different from them. We are your brothers and sisters. We are parents. Quite simply we are human.
Please find time to join us at World's Fair Park at 1:30. Go HERE for more information about this local rally.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
proves how little i really understand taxes
Relative to the services that you receive from the government, do you feel you pay too much in taxes? Explain.
So begins the project known as Thinking Homeschoolers in which participants blog concerning the current question. You can read other entries HERE.
The following is my rambling, probably often disjointed, view of the question. I will admit openly and up front that I'm almost the last person to ask for an intelligent discourse on taxes, how they are collected and how they are spent. Where I lack in knowledge I overflow in opinion.
In a sense I don't feel that we are getting certain services that we should be getting that would be paid for by our taxes. In many areas I feel that we do get adequate services for the taxes we pay. At the same time, I feel that many of the services for which we pay through our tax dollars should be completely changed.
Many of the other posts that have already been added to the Thinking Homeschoolers project mention schools, a service for which most of us pay without getting any of the benefits. Some of the homeschoolers use online charter school options, so it's arguable that they are getting those benefits. The utopian ideal of school that festers in my brain would first of all not be mandatory. It would exist to provide education for those that choose to use the service, and it would be available for anyone at any age to use the service when they were ready for it. That's a system I would happily pay for.
Medical care in our country is a very unfunny joke, and I don't only mean for the people like my family who have no medical insurance. My ideas would certainly cause many people to scream socialism, but I don't understand why anyone could think we don't have a right to basic medical care. Just being born, to me, should provide the right to be able to have regular medical, dental and vision screenings giving us the ability to spot potential problems and fix them early enough to avoid the high prices we face when something is allowed to grow worse.
The continuously failing war on drugs is a sponge that can never be full of our money no matter how much we throw at it. The very idea that we are ever going to fully prohibit people from finding ways to self medicate and/or tilt their brain a little is laughable. Since the very first human first drank the intoxicating grain brew and liked the effect we have tried to duplicate it, and along the way we've found increasingly interesting ways to achieve a broad array of highs and drunks.
It would be stupid of me to not recognize that many of the drugs people choose to use are extremely dangerous and addictive, but I don't believe our government should be using our money to address this particular moral issue. By decriminalizing most drugs and legalizing others we would free up a huge cash resource that is currently being spent on more cops, more weapons used by the cops, more jails and would allow that money to flow into programs designed to study, understand and treat addiction and the people who become addicted. We make criminals of people who need help, and we incarcerate them, insuring that they will not only not get help but will exit the system in worse condition than when they entered, more likely than not to reoffend and reenter the system.
Legalizing certain drugs would also allow for their sale, much the same as with alcohol and tobacco. Taxing these would create new tax revenues that could help to fund medical care for all as well as our new school system.
Corporate subsidies just don't make sense to me and never have. If you have a solid business plan and run your business intelligently and provide a product or service that people want or need then you don't need the government holding your hand and slipping you money to stay afloat. Having said that I do feel that it is often a good idea for government to look at taxes and business and help when it's appropriate.
My town is in long range discussion of TIF's or Tax Increment Financing which basically allows certain businesses, usually developers, to temporarily hold onto some of what they would be paying in property taxes in order to feed that money back into the business. Because of well used TIF's our downtown has, in recent years, seen a number of new businesses open. We have several buildings that were once sitting empty and abandoned and are now newly remodeled as condos and stores and restaurants. We have a growing population downtown that is breathing new life into what was once a dead area, pretty to drive through with nothing to do. There is now excitement and reason to go downtown more than once a year. The TIF's were part of what helped all this to happen, but now other developers want a piece of the pie, and they want to do an end run around how business should operate in order to line their pockets and increase their own profit. I'm happy that my tax money can help revitalize our downtown, but I certainly have no interest in helping someone pave over a wetland or flatten yet another ridge in order to build yet another mall. I certainly am not interested in allowing yet another big box to abandon their big box in order to build a bigger big box down the street. We already have enough empty big boxes.
In the interest of keeping this from growing too much larger and keeping me from talking even more nonsense out my ass I'll try to bring all this into a tight little bundle. Do I think we are getting our money's worth? Sort of, but I also think that all too often the taxes flow into the wrong hands. It's not that we pay too much in taxes for too little service, it's that we are paying too much for all the wrong services and too little for what would really benefit your basic, average tax payer.
So begins the project known as Thinking Homeschoolers in which participants blog concerning the current question. You can read other entries HERE.
The following is my rambling, probably often disjointed, view of the question. I will admit openly and up front that I'm almost the last person to ask for an intelligent discourse on taxes, how they are collected and how they are spent. Where I lack in knowledge I overflow in opinion.
In a sense I don't feel that we are getting certain services that we should be getting that would be paid for by our taxes. In many areas I feel that we do get adequate services for the taxes we pay. At the same time, I feel that many of the services for which we pay through our tax dollars should be completely changed.
Many of the other posts that have already been added to the Thinking Homeschoolers project mention schools, a service for which most of us pay without getting any of the benefits. Some of the homeschoolers use online charter school options, so it's arguable that they are getting those benefits. The utopian ideal of school that festers in my brain would first of all not be mandatory. It would exist to provide education for those that choose to use the service, and it would be available for anyone at any age to use the service when they were ready for it. That's a system I would happily pay for.
Medical care in our country is a very unfunny joke, and I don't only mean for the people like my family who have no medical insurance. My ideas would certainly cause many people to scream socialism, but I don't understand why anyone could think we don't have a right to basic medical care. Just being born, to me, should provide the right to be able to have regular medical, dental and vision screenings giving us the ability to spot potential problems and fix them early enough to avoid the high prices we face when something is allowed to grow worse.
The continuously failing war on drugs is a sponge that can never be full of our money no matter how much we throw at it. The very idea that we are ever going to fully prohibit people from finding ways to self medicate and/or tilt their brain a little is laughable. Since the very first human first drank the intoxicating grain brew and liked the effect we have tried to duplicate it, and along the way we've found increasingly interesting ways to achieve a broad array of highs and drunks.
It would be stupid of me to not recognize that many of the drugs people choose to use are extremely dangerous and addictive, but I don't believe our government should be using our money to address this particular moral issue. By decriminalizing most drugs and legalizing others we would free up a huge cash resource that is currently being spent on more cops, more weapons used by the cops, more jails and would allow that money to flow into programs designed to study, understand and treat addiction and the people who become addicted. We make criminals of people who need help, and we incarcerate them, insuring that they will not only not get help but will exit the system in worse condition than when they entered, more likely than not to reoffend and reenter the system.
Legalizing certain drugs would also allow for their sale, much the same as with alcohol and tobacco. Taxing these would create new tax revenues that could help to fund medical care for all as well as our new school system.
Corporate subsidies just don't make sense to me and never have. If you have a solid business plan and run your business intelligently and provide a product or service that people want or need then you don't need the government holding your hand and slipping you money to stay afloat. Having said that I do feel that it is often a good idea for government to look at taxes and business and help when it's appropriate.
My town is in long range discussion of TIF's or Tax Increment Financing which basically allows certain businesses, usually developers, to temporarily hold onto some of what they would be paying in property taxes in order to feed that money back into the business. Because of well used TIF's our downtown has, in recent years, seen a number of new businesses open. We have several buildings that were once sitting empty and abandoned and are now newly remodeled as condos and stores and restaurants. We have a growing population downtown that is breathing new life into what was once a dead area, pretty to drive through with nothing to do. There is now excitement and reason to go downtown more than once a year. The TIF's were part of what helped all this to happen, but now other developers want a piece of the pie, and they want to do an end run around how business should operate in order to line their pockets and increase their own profit. I'm happy that my tax money can help revitalize our downtown, but I certainly have no interest in helping someone pave over a wetland or flatten yet another ridge in order to build yet another mall. I certainly am not interested in allowing yet another big box to abandon their big box in order to build a bigger big box down the street. We already have enough empty big boxes.
In the interest of keeping this from growing too much larger and keeping me from talking even more nonsense out my ass I'll try to bring all this into a tight little bundle. Do I think we are getting our money's worth? Sort of, but I also think that all too often the taxes flow into the wrong hands. It's not that we pay too much in taxes for too little service, it's that we are paying too much for all the wrong services and too little for what would really benefit your basic, average tax payer.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
you mean that HSLDA?
Yeah, there is only one HSLDA, Homeschool Legal Defense Association, and yes I see homeschool as one word, so that's just one more strike against them. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I posted some other asinine rant about these bozos, but an easy target is an easy target, so . . .
Anyone reading here that is not a homeschooler may well be unaware of the HSLDA, and if they have heard of them then they may know that they are a bunch of uber religious nutters that have as much to do with the legal side of homeschool issues as a basket of dirty underwear has to do with getting supper on the table.
HSLDA likely fancies themselves the ACLU of the homeschooling world, and many of our more zealously christian homeschooling friends would agree to the spirit of that comparison while quickly pointing out the evil nature of the ACLU and homaseckshuls and libruls and women in pants. Yeah, those people.
I won't be entering this contest, though I do thank Lynn at Bore Me To Tears for noticing and showing us all. The contest is an essay contest in which entrants are asked to explain what the HSLDA means to them. As Momma pointed out when I showed her, "Twenty five words? That's not an essay. That's a couple of sentences."
Should you choose to enter, the prize is a gift certifacte to the HSLDA bookstore, which brings up another question. What kind of crap do they sell in the HSLDA bookstore? I can well imagine, but I'd rather make uneducated guesses, as it's so much funnier that way. So before I complete my essay I'll give some examples of things that aren't quite likely to really be there, such as the
-ladies tea cup (because coffee is probably too strong for them) reading, I got married and all I got was these bare feet and a growing stack of babies
-t shirts that read I homeschool my child for all the wrong reasons and we don't need your filthy and unBiblical logic
-the classic full armor of god play set
-book titled "Conservatives Today: Working Our Asses Off To Take America Back To The Dark Ages"
But I digress when I really should be working on my essay.
So, what does the HSLDA mean to me?
And added from Lynn's comment due to sheer awesomeness, check out this fine offering as an additional option from the HSLDA shop.
Anyone reading here that is not a homeschooler may well be unaware of the HSLDA, and if they have heard of them then they may know that they are a bunch of uber religious nutters that have as much to do with the legal side of homeschool issues as a basket of dirty underwear has to do with getting supper on the table.
HSLDA likely fancies themselves the ACLU of the homeschooling world, and many of our more zealously christian homeschooling friends would agree to the spirit of that comparison while quickly pointing out the evil nature of the ACLU and homaseckshuls and libruls and women in pants. Yeah, those people.
I won't be entering this contest, though I do thank Lynn at Bore Me To Tears for noticing and showing us all. The contest is an essay contest in which entrants are asked to explain what the HSLDA means to them. As Momma pointed out when I showed her, "Twenty five words? That's not an essay. That's a couple of sentences."
Should you choose to enter, the prize is a gift certifacte to the HSLDA bookstore, which brings up another question. What kind of crap do they sell in the HSLDA bookstore? I can well imagine, but I'd rather make uneducated guesses, as it's so much funnier that way. So before I complete my essay I'll give some examples of things that aren't quite likely to really be there, such as the
-ladies tea cup (because coffee is probably too strong for them) reading, I got married and all I got was these bare feet and a growing stack of babies
-t shirts that read I homeschool my child for all the wrong reasons and we don't need your filthy and unBiblical logic
-the classic full armor of god play set
-book titled "Conservatives Today: Working Our Asses Off To Take America Back To The Dark Ages"
But I digress when I really should be working on my essay.
So, what does the HSLDA mean to me?
HSLDA doesn't mean a square inch of turd. They haven't done shit for the vast majority of homeschoolers, so they can go and suck it.And it's exactly twenty five words, but I really don't think it's a prize winner according to their standards. Regardless, I think it's honest and heartfelt.
And added from Lynn's comment due to sheer awesomeness, check out this fine offering as an additional option from the HSLDA shop.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
somehow no matter what
In keeping with the undercurrent of a theme running through a few of my favorite blogs by homeschoolers I present the following song, Science of Myth by the mighty punk rock lords Screeching Weasel.
Homeschoolers are a subset of the population as a whole, and to further divide us many find that there is a further division between Christian and secular. The Christian side of this division would be more accurately characterized as evangelical fundamentalist, or a term I find fairly descriptive, exclusionist. The secular side does in fact include many Christian people as well as atheist and all points in between.
It's almost funny that the secular side is so much more inclusive and open than the Christian side, especially as they're condemnatory nature likes to suggest that it is we secular hsers who are not open.
So, I present you with a song that I feel sort of plays into this discussion, and I include the lyrics below the player for those of us unable to tease the words out of the noise.
if you've ever questioned beliefs that you hold you're not alone
but you oughtta realize that every myth is a metaphor
in the case of christianity and judaism there exist the belief
that spiritual matters are enslaved to history
the buddhists believe that the functional aspects override the myth
while other religions use the literal core to build foundations with
see half the world sees the myth as fact
while it's seen as a lie by the other half and
the simple truth is that it's none of that and
somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
somehow we get by without ever learning
science and religion are not mutually exclusive
in fact for better understanding we take the facts of science and apply them
and if both factors keep evolving
then we continue getting information
but closing off possibilities makes it hard to see the bigger picture
consider the case of the women whose faith helped her make it through
when she was raped and cut up left for dead in a trunk her beliefs held true
it doesn't matter if it's real or not cause
some things are better left without a doubt
and if it works then it gets the job done
somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
Homeschoolers are a subset of the population as a whole, and to further divide us many find that there is a further division between Christian and secular. The Christian side of this division would be more accurately characterized as evangelical fundamentalist, or a term I find fairly descriptive, exclusionist. The secular side does in fact include many Christian people as well as atheist and all points in between.
It's almost funny that the secular side is so much more inclusive and open than the Christian side, especially as they're condemnatory nature likes to suggest that it is we secular hsers who are not open.
So, I present you with a song that I feel sort of plays into this discussion, and I include the lyrics below the player for those of us unable to tease the words out of the noise.
if you've ever questioned beliefs that you hold you're not alone
but you oughtta realize that every myth is a metaphor
in the case of christianity and judaism there exist the belief
that spiritual matters are enslaved to history
the buddhists believe that the functional aspects override the myth
while other religions use the literal core to build foundations with
see half the world sees the myth as fact
while it's seen as a lie by the other half and
the simple truth is that it's none of that and
somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
somehow we get by without ever learning
science and religion are not mutually exclusive
in fact for better understanding we take the facts of science and apply them
and if both factors keep evolving
then we continue getting information
but closing off possibilities makes it hard to see the bigger picture
consider the case of the women whose faith helped her make it through
when she was raped and cut up left for dead in a trunk her beliefs held true
it doesn't matter if it's real or not cause
some things are better left without a doubt
and if it works then it gets the job done
somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
calls you shouldn't answer
At some point, some people should just shut up. You can be against homeschooling as much as you want, but the proof is in the children, and ours just keep on being okay, one grown up homeschooled child after another. I'm friends with a number of homeschooled families, and they all seem pretty much normal. Granted, my idea of normal is pretty wide open, but that's how I roll.
To say Greg Laden is a blank is putting it mildly. He can't let go of his antipathy for homeschoolers, be it the parents or the children, and his newest post may easily be the absolute stupidest jab at us I have ever been sadly astounded by. I honestly can't do his idiocy justice, so you'll have to go and read for yourself.
Greg Laden is the kind of person who is so secure in his infallible rightness that he feels quite happy to assume that his will should be law. He has a problem with homeschooling, and no amount of answering his questions will change his mind. He's so sure that we are wrong to homeschool that truth and proof are of no consequence to him.
Talking to him is like trying to thresh wheat with a pair of socks for a flail and the idea of wheat instead of real grains. You can beat all you want, but you're not going to get any wheat worth shit out it.
And thanks to JJ of Cocking a Snook for bothering to keep going back for more. JJ, if you're out there, leave the mad dog alone. He's just going to keep growling and slathering, and reason doesn't seem to live where he is.
To say Greg Laden is a blank is putting it mildly. He can't let go of his antipathy for homeschoolers, be it the parents or the children, and his newest post may easily be the absolute stupidest jab at us I have ever been sadly astounded by. I honestly can't do his idiocy justice, so you'll have to go and read for yourself.
Greg Laden is the kind of person who is so secure in his infallible rightness that he feels quite happy to assume that his will should be law. He has a problem with homeschooling, and no amount of answering his questions will change his mind. He's so sure that we are wrong to homeschool that truth and proof are of no consequence to him.
Talking to him is like trying to thresh wheat with a pair of socks for a flail and the idea of wheat instead of real grains. You can beat all you want, but you're not going to get any wheat worth shit out it.
And thanks to JJ of Cocking a Snook for bothering to keep going back for more. JJ, if you're out there, leave the mad dog alone. He's just going to keep growling and slathering, and reason doesn't seem to live where he is.
Monday, June 18, 2007
go, read, learn
Who doesn't love a Country Fair? How about when that fair is in reality a blog carnival? Think you know a little something about homeschooling? This month we celebrate the ways we celebrate diversity.
I am sadly not featured at all in the fair, but that's all my fault. I scribbled out a little something a week or so ago and sent it in. Then I paid attention for a moment and realized that what I had written was in no way going to fall under the theme of celebrating diversity. I should read all of things before assuming I know what's up.
That's actually a common them among people who are anti homeschool. Too often, people scribble some anti homeschooling rant and post it on their blog or as an article in their local paper. The nature of the internet is such that we can find these people and their rants laden with untruths and misconceptions. It doesn't take much looking around and reading all the way to the bottom to understand homeschooling better or even just to learn whether or not we've already covered your concern. And we probably have covered your concern, and we've probably covered it over and over and over and over and . . .
I am sadly not featured at all in the fair, but that's all my fault. I scribbled out a little something a week or so ago and sent it in. Then I paid attention for a moment and realized that what I had written was in no way going to fall under the theme of celebrating diversity. I should read all of things before assuming I know what's up.
That's actually a common them among people who are anti homeschool. Too often, people scribble some anti homeschooling rant and post it on their blog or as an article in their local paper. The nature of the internet is such that we can find these people and their rants laden with untruths and misconceptions. It doesn't take much looking around and reading all the way to the bottom to understand homeschooling better or even just to learn whether or not we've already covered your concern. And we probably have covered your concern, and we've probably covered it over and over and over and over and . . .
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
about nothing
I've slipped once again into my sucking-as-blogger funk, having posted so fitfully that I probably ought to be ashamed.
I had a rant all worked up about a bunch of people complaining about anti homeschooling media bias for not informing us all that a spelling bee winner was homeschooled, and their comments to the story are just ridiculous, especially when you learn that the child in question isn't really a homeschooler. He's actually a student of the public school whose family has opted into a program that allows children to do public schooling from home.
Outside of the homeschooling universe it may seem that the differences are not worth being concerned with, but inside our little world, it is a big deal. My family has opted out of compulsory schooling for a variety of reasons, though many of our reasons are shared by both the left and the right side of the homeschooling world.
Public school at home programs often sound like a great idea. The program often offers the family many resources, presumably free, such as computers and access to teachers. If that is the best idea for your family, then your family should by all means pursue such a program, but we ask that you not pretend that you are homeschoolers. In fact, most homeschoolers, though they may agree with my opinion that this family is not homeschooling would in fact argue for their right to seek out the best educational model for their family, and to me, that's the very heart of homeschooling, reviewing all possible options to best aid your family.
The problem has to do with questions of law. As homeschoolers, we often have chosen this to allow our family an amount of freedom from the teaching that happens in a public school. Teaching history provides a great example of my opinion. I want my kids to find history through a variety of sources and develop the ability to pick out the thread of truth. While this is possible even with children who attend brick and mortar public school, it's much less likely as the children need not be concerned with truth so much as the answer that is expected and deemed right by the system.
A further problem comes when these public school at home families start to represent homeschooling more than we are able to represent ourselves. We fear that legal issues will arise that will eventually erode our freedom to educate our children as we see fit. We fear that these programs will come to replace what we feel is our right to raise our children and educate them.
And that's my rant. The people on the wings never help anyone, and we'd all be glad if they'd just shut the fuck up. I did provide a link to the wackos that I'm discussing, but I'd be doing you a disservice if I suggested you go and read it. No one has that much time in their day.
I had a rant all worked up about a bunch of people complaining about anti homeschooling media bias for not informing us all that a spelling bee winner was homeschooled, and their comments to the story are just ridiculous, especially when you learn that the child in question isn't really a homeschooler. He's actually a student of the public school whose family has opted into a program that allows children to do public schooling from home.
Outside of the homeschooling universe it may seem that the differences are not worth being concerned with, but inside our little world, it is a big deal. My family has opted out of compulsory schooling for a variety of reasons, though many of our reasons are shared by both the left and the right side of the homeschooling world.
Public school at home programs often sound like a great idea. The program often offers the family many resources, presumably free, such as computers and access to teachers. If that is the best idea for your family, then your family should by all means pursue such a program, but we ask that you not pretend that you are homeschoolers. In fact, most homeschoolers, though they may agree with my opinion that this family is not homeschooling would in fact argue for their right to seek out the best educational model for their family, and to me, that's the very heart of homeschooling, reviewing all possible options to best aid your family.
The problem has to do with questions of law. As homeschoolers, we often have chosen this to allow our family an amount of freedom from the teaching that happens in a public school. Teaching history provides a great example of my opinion. I want my kids to find history through a variety of sources and develop the ability to pick out the thread of truth. While this is possible even with children who attend brick and mortar public school, it's much less likely as the children need not be concerned with truth so much as the answer that is expected and deemed right by the system.
A further problem comes when these public school at home families start to represent homeschooling more than we are able to represent ourselves. We fear that legal issues will arise that will eventually erode our freedom to educate our children as we see fit. We fear that these programs will come to replace what we feel is our right to raise our children and educate them.
And that's my rant. The people on the wings never help anyone, and we'd all be glad if they'd just shut the fuck up. I did provide a link to the wackos that I'm discussing, but I'd be doing you a disservice if I suggested you go and read it. No one has that much time in their day.
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