So I'll still post about our sudbury experiences but I'm going to talk about other stuff too and I don't feel like I can starting the posts with "off topic" like it's some sort of warning. You'll just have to read all the entries on the off chance that there is some sudbury nugget lodged within. :)
Des is asking to homeschool again. I told him he has to finish serving on JC and he said he still wants to give it a try. I don't know what's going on. Amelia says there is no way she is ever leaving Sudbury.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
off topic-nothing new
We all need some stuff for summer time and we are doing some work around the house. I'm trying to do everything used, recycled, refurbished etc. I call it my " nothing new project".
You know what? It's really hard!!
First I have to remember to stick to it. it's like reusable grocery bags. I keep leaving them home or in my car. Now I have to remember when I want something to put it on my yard sale wish list instead of zipping out to Target. Talk about delayed gratification.
Lots of stuff going on at sudbury and I will get back to posting more regularly but a few of my kids are sick and Finn is at that wail the moment I'm out of sight phase so computer time is at a premium right now.
You know what? It's really hard!!
First I have to remember to stick to it. it's like reusable grocery bags. I keep leaving them home or in my car. Now I have to remember when I want something to put it on my yard sale wish list instead of zipping out to Target. Talk about delayed gratification.
Lots of stuff going on at sudbury and I will get back to posting more regularly but a few of my kids are sick and Finn is at that wail the moment I'm out of sight phase so computer time is at a premium right now.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The language of children
Des and Amelia have a game that they play in the car that has something to do with whether or not a car in front of us turns at the same place that we do. Ray and I have tried to figure out the rules without asking them but we can't. Even when we do ask them we still can't figure it out.
The girl that we car pool with not only gets it but seems to have brought a few ideas of her own to the game. I know the game now officially starts when we pass a certain building on the way to school. I know that the best thing that can happen is called "World Series". I know that she totally gets the game and its rules and has understood it pretty much since we started driving together.
Adult conversations can be cryptic or mysterious to children. I see my kids trying to puzzle out what Ray and I are saying. Yet it still seems strange to me that I can't always understand what my kids are saying to each other. But now that I think about it, maybe they want it that way.
Hmm. It hurts to be shut out but I know I have to accept it. My mom had me when she was very young and she loved it(still does) when people would say "Oh you look like sisters" but she took it almost too literally and would overstep. I can remember feeling resentful and thinking that she needed to act her age or that I just wanted some space. So I'll keep driving and listening and piece things together as best I can. It's like taking a semester of spanish and then trying to watch telemundo. You know enough to know something is going on but not enough to decipher it.
The girl that we car pool with not only gets it but seems to have brought a few ideas of her own to the game. I know the game now officially starts when we pass a certain building on the way to school. I know that the best thing that can happen is called "World Series". I know that she totally gets the game and its rules and has understood it pretty much since we started driving together.
Adult conversations can be cryptic or mysterious to children. I see my kids trying to puzzle out what Ray and I are saying. Yet it still seems strange to me that I can't always understand what my kids are saying to each other. But now that I think about it, maybe they want it that way.
Hmm. It hurts to be shut out but I know I have to accept it. My mom had me when she was very young and she loved it(still does) when people would say "Oh you look like sisters" but she took it almost too literally and would overstep. I can remember feeling resentful and thinking that she needed to act her age or that I just wanted some space. So I'll keep driving and listening and piece things together as best I can. It's like taking a semester of spanish and then trying to watch telemundo. You know enough to know something is going on but not enough to decipher it.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Walkin' the walk
The reason I haven't posted lately is because there has been so much stuff going on at school that I don't even know where to begin. Seriously, I think I have two or three weeks worth of material.
One thing I have been thinking about is what the school-parent relationship should be. Lately, my kick is that parents should look at schools as a resource but accept the ultimate responsibility for their children's education. My dad pointed out to me that most parents aren't that engaged or willing to become more engaged in their kids lives that way. I agree but it drives me crazy when people don't do anything more than complain about the poor job the schools are doing. I think to myself, if your kid isn't learning what you think he should, pick up the slack. It's your kid for heaven's sake.
Well, I always think I have all the answers. A few days later Des says, "Mom, I'm really interested in math. I'm really curious about numbers. Can you teach me?" I reply,"Sure but you can always ask a staff member at school. They're there to help you with that stuff, you know." WTF?!! My child is coming to me, asking for help and I'm trying to pawn him off on his school because what he is interested in falls into a realm of traditional academics. What is galling is that I know I can teach him what he wants to learn, I just didn't feel like it.
Besides humility, this episode taught me that I need to provide more intellectual stimulation for Des at home. The kid is a little sponge and tends to have the same interests that I do. He isn't going to explore that stuff at school right now because he is so obsessed with the computer games.
One thing I have been thinking about is what the school-parent relationship should be. Lately, my kick is that parents should look at schools as a resource but accept the ultimate responsibility for their children's education. My dad pointed out to me that most parents aren't that engaged or willing to become more engaged in their kids lives that way. I agree but it drives me crazy when people don't do anything more than complain about the poor job the schools are doing. I think to myself, if your kid isn't learning what you think he should, pick up the slack. It's your kid for heaven's sake.
Well, I always think I have all the answers. A few days later Des says, "Mom, I'm really interested in math. I'm really curious about numbers. Can you teach me?" I reply,"Sure but you can always ask a staff member at school. They're there to help you with that stuff, you know." WTF?!! My child is coming to me, asking for help and I'm trying to pawn him off on his school because what he is interested in falls into a realm of traditional academics. What is galling is that I know I can teach him what he wants to learn, I just didn't feel like it.
Besides humility, this episode taught me that I need to provide more intellectual stimulation for Des at home. The kid is a little sponge and tends to have the same interests that I do. He isn't going to explore that stuff at school right now because he is so obsessed with the computer games.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Odds and Ends
On the way home from school on friday Des said, "Mom, I want to try homeschooling again. I just want to see what it would be like. We never really tried." I thought, oh god what's going on now?
It turns out that he starts serving on JC this month.
There was a philosophy discussion for parents today. Such lively discourse and quite civil. Unfortunately, Finn started really acting up when they started talking about parental involvement which was the topic I was most interested in. Drat!
Amelia is going to be Snow White and Des is going to be The Prince in a Sudbury production of Snow White. It's still in the theoretical stage.
It turns out that he starts serving on JC this month.
There was a philosophy discussion for parents today. Such lively discourse and quite civil. Unfortunately, Finn started really acting up when they started talking about parental involvement which was the topic I was most interested in. Drat!
Amelia is going to be Snow White and Des is going to be The Prince in a Sudbury production of Snow White. It's still in the theoretical stage.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
off topic-parades, circuses and other public forms of entertainment
Whenever my sister and I go out together we have a great time. We're both loquacious and we both bore easily so if things are kind of dry we like to make our own fun. We took our kids to a St. Patrick's day parade and were the loudest people in our area, which isn't saying much because everyone else was just standing there. This was something that we had noticed the last time we went to the circus. Nobody really clapped or cheered, except us of course. I mean there was this troupe from Ghana and they managed to do this reverse human pyramid with 8 or 9 guys balanced on top of one big guy. It was really cool and yet nobody around us really applauded or cheered, it was bizarre.
I think the problem is that people are totally jaded by TV and Movies. We're too used to sitting and staring at the most fantastic spectacles on screen that real life amusements like a marching band or acrobats are too tame. Or maybe because we don't view things in real time or real life we forget that the entertainers might like a little feedback.
So my PSA for today is to encourage you to cheer, clap, wave, sing along or get involved, where and when appropriate, the next time you attend a public amusement. It is much more fun. Trust me.
I think the problem is that people are totally jaded by TV and Movies. We're too used to sitting and staring at the most fantastic spectacles on screen that real life amusements like a marching band or acrobats are too tame. Or maybe because we don't view things in real time or real life we forget that the entertainers might like a little feedback.
So my PSA for today is to encourage you to cheer, clap, wave, sing along or get involved, where and when appropriate, the next time you attend a public amusement. It is much more fun. Trust me.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Self -esteem
The kids are off from school this week so I haven't had much time to post. Did you miss me?
A small newspaper held a contest in our local high school to encourage kids to write letters to the editor. It was open to all of the students and the paper said it would print every letter it received. Some of the letters were great, the students had some interesting opinions and all in all I think it was a teriffic idea. A few of the letters had some grammatical errors and a few were truly unreadable. I felt sorry for these kids who seemed to be completely incapable of expressing a thought coherently on paper.
The following week there was an editorial about how embarrassingly bad some of the letters were. It also questioned the merit of financing a proposed expansion/renovation of the high school when they clearly can't teach basic skills.
This week there was a letter from an English teacher at the high school blasting the paper for ridiculing the students and only addressing the style of the letters and not the content. He felt that the important thing was that they speak out in a public forum and also said "It is true that spell check is the most revision some students are willing to do, but this was not an essay contest."
First of all, I think the paper could have shown some kindness to the students with the most egregious problems and asked them to revise their letters before they printed them. I don't think it was right to use them to make a point about the crap job the school was doing. However, the english teachers at that school should have insisted on at least looking at the letters before they were sent out as well as explaining to the students that it isn't just what you say that is important, it's how you say it that matters too. I totally reject the teacher's assertion that a letter to the editor should not be as well written as an entry in an essay contest. These letters were going to be read by a fair portion of the community and like it or not, judged by the community so I think it is actually more important than an essay contest. I also got a sense from the tone of his letter that he was saying "Let's not hurt their precious feelings, they're doing the best they can" because self-esteem is sooooo important.
These were mostly juniors and seniors in high school. If they can't write a simple letter and express a thought concisely in one to two paragraphs, what is going to happen to them in college or when they are expected to write something for a job. Nobody is going to worry about their feelings then. I find the whole goal of raising self esteem laughable. How you feel about yourself is often a by product of reflecting on your accomplishments. If you fail at something it's ok to feel bad, that can be a motivator. I don't think you should feel good about yourself no matter what, sometimes we need to change.
A small newspaper held a contest in our local high school to encourage kids to write letters to the editor. It was open to all of the students and the paper said it would print every letter it received. Some of the letters were great, the students had some interesting opinions and all in all I think it was a teriffic idea. A few of the letters had some grammatical errors and a few were truly unreadable. I felt sorry for these kids who seemed to be completely incapable of expressing a thought coherently on paper.
The following week there was an editorial about how embarrassingly bad some of the letters were. It also questioned the merit of financing a proposed expansion/renovation of the high school when they clearly can't teach basic skills.
This week there was a letter from an English teacher at the high school blasting the paper for ridiculing the students and only addressing the style of the letters and not the content. He felt that the important thing was that they speak out in a public forum and also said "It is true that spell check is the most revision some students are willing to do, but this was not an essay contest."
First of all, I think the paper could have shown some kindness to the students with the most egregious problems and asked them to revise their letters before they printed them. I don't think it was right to use them to make a point about the crap job the school was doing. However, the english teachers at that school should have insisted on at least looking at the letters before they were sent out as well as explaining to the students that it isn't just what you say that is important, it's how you say it that matters too. I totally reject the teacher's assertion that a letter to the editor should not be as well written as an entry in an essay contest. These letters were going to be read by a fair portion of the community and like it or not, judged by the community so I think it is actually more important than an essay contest. I also got a sense from the tone of his letter that he was saying "Let's not hurt their precious feelings, they're doing the best they can" because self-esteem is sooooo important.
These were mostly juniors and seniors in high school. If they can't write a simple letter and express a thought concisely in one to two paragraphs, what is going to happen to them in college or when they are expected to write something for a job. Nobody is going to worry about their feelings then. I find the whole goal of raising self esteem laughable. How you feel about yourself is often a by product of reflecting on your accomplishments. If you fail at something it's ok to feel bad, that can be a motivator. I don't think you should feel good about yourself no matter what, sometimes we need to change.
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