How Does She Do It?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-04-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

Much has changed since my last post on this blog.

I have picked up an evening part-time job at a local grocery store. It has not been what I expected. The truth is, I actually like the job more than I expected. Of course, it has created some serious time crunches in my life. I don't get to sit around in the evenings anymore eating bon-bons while lying lazily on my futon staring at the TV. Admittedly, I didn't get to do that often before I took the job, but now, it's nearly impossible. The bon-bons are even going out of date in the cupboard. Maybe I should start refrigerating them, or even freezing them. Hmm...not a bad idea. Of course, that makes it much less conducive to just grabbing them for a binge after a long day on my feet. This is a moot argument, ultimately, since I don't actually know what a bon-bon is. I'm guessing it's some kind of candy, but I don't believe I've ever really consumed any. And if I had done so while lying around on the futon staring at the TV, you'd think I would remember that. Especially since we don't have any type of TV reception/cable/satellite/etc.

Back to the point. I began this job last summer, so it has seriously affected my ability to keep up with my Take Off! responsibilities this past school year. I'm still working on getting all of my bookkeeping up to date, which is quickly nearing its looming deadline. And if you haven't noticed, I still haven't finalized the list of wonderful donating families for this school year. Which is almost becoming superfluous, as the end of the school year is approaching. Still, I have greatly appreciated everyone's patience and tolerance as I have had to take my time in replying to emails and compiling info, etc. You've all been great, really.

FYI, there are times when I cannot reply to your emails immediately because Gmail has cut me off for 24 hours. So, it can happen that you have something urgent that will have to sit, even if I'm looking at the email, simply because I'm not allowed to send another email. (They're worried that I might be a spammer if I send more than 500 emails per day. Yes, it is not uncommon for me to reach that limit. It usually happens when I have to send something to the whole group, and then answer individual emails as well.)

I feel like I may be (finally) getting into a rhythm with the job, Take Off!, schooling, etc. At least, I hope I'm finding my rhythm. Of course, things never stop changing, so the rhythm is always evolving as well. I don't write this so that you will feel badly for me. We are all, as home schoolers, extremely busy with whatever busy-ness we have chosen to fill our lives.
This is just a piece of mine.

Hope you are all having a wonderful spring.

Dumbest Things Ever Said About Home Schooling

2007-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've heard your own dumb things, but someone sent this to me a while back, so I though I would share. Please, feel free to leave other dumb "sentiments" you've heard in the comments.
People definitely have dumb things to say...

The Dumbest Thing YOU Ever Heard, Part 1 By Mike Farris

My recent column requesting "dumb statements" people had made
regarding home schooling yielded a bumper crop of lols (laugh out
loud) and a few rofls (rolling on the floor laughing). I got a
great number of wonderful entries -- far too many to publish.
Today's column is the first of two.

From Kara Becker:
Our realtor learned we were home schooling. She commented about
the lack of social development that would result, but tried to still
be positive by adding, "Even though they couldn't be realtors, thank
goodness that there are lot of jobs out there which don't require
people skills."

From the Austin family:
A stranger said, "Don't you think your children are being deprived
of the thrill of buying school supplies at Wal-Mart when everyone
else does?"

From Angela Blackman:
A friend who is a paralegal at a very busy law firm said, "How can
you ever think you can keep up with having four kids at home?
Don't they just run you off your feet? I'd be exhausted by the end
of the day."

From Pamala Minerd:
My father asked, "Will I have to bail you out of jail for this?"

From MDT:
My neighbor was picking my brain about getting the public school to
challenge her first grader. She was concerned because my first
grader was already reading while her son of the same age was just
learning the sounds of letters. Nonetheless she challenged my home
schooling saying my son would still miss out. "It's important for
him socially too. He needs to be offered drugs so he can turn them
down."

From Marci Zinn:
A family member said, "You are just doing this for yourself so you
won't have to buy the kids any school clothes."

From MDT:
A friend asked, "Do you use books?"

From Rose Mary Coffey:
When my husband told his mother that we were going to home school,
she replied, "What makes Rose Mary think she has the right to teach
my grandchildren?"

From the Karoutsos Family:
My six year old son was very fidgety in the dentist's chair.
Afterwards the dentist spoke to me and told me of his fidgetiness
and said, "Your son did not sit still. It is possibly due to the
fact that you home school him."

From Pam Hynes:
I told an old friend from high school how my son was able to
progress in each subject at his own rate. She earnestly
replied, "What if he learns it all before he finishes high school?"

From the Austin family:
A female public school teacher said, "Your son will turn out to be
much too feminine or gay because you home school him. Being with
his mother so much is not good for boys."

From Laurie Winkelmann:
I took my daughter to a podiatrist who specialized in treating
plantar warts. I asked how children contracted these warts. He
told me that they often come from locker rooms or swimming pools.
When I told him that since we home school it wouldn't be a locker
room, but we do take a swimming class, he replied, "Yup, home
schooling, that certainly explains it."

THIS WEEK'S WINNER

From Dawn Howey:
A Christian friend, "God didn't homeschool Jesus, He sent Him away
to school."

~~~The Dumbest Thing YOU Ever Heard, Part 2

From Susan Shay:
"Won't they miss out on learning a lot of important stuff? I mean,
how will they ever learn to stand in line?"

From Tracy Pina:
An acquaintance said, "Every kid has to get beat up a few times in
public school or they won't be able to cope in the real world."

From Clarence and Barbara Hawkins:
A home school family in our town took their school days off in the
middle of the week to match the father's job schedule. Some nosey
neighbors had the family investigated for home schooling on
Saturday!

From MDT:
A friend said, "MY child is being a light in a dark place, but I
guess SOME children are not able to do that."

From Michelle Nichols:
A woman asked a home school friend of mine, "If you don't send your
children to school, who is going to teach them their morals?"

From Barb Palmer:
Our girls' friends from the neighborhood ask, "If you are home
schooled, who teaches you?"

From the Austin family:
A friend said, "Won't your children miss the experience of the goods
and bads of dating people from other cultural and religious
backgrounds?"

From Char Brady:
A mother from my daughter's former public school class said, "If you
were more involved in your child's education, then you wouldn't have
to home school."

From MDT:
An acquaintance asked, "How can you possibly give them enough one-on-
one time?"

From "Ozchick":
A friend asked me what we were going to do during a public school
snow day. I replied that we were going ahead with school. The
friend replied, "That's silly. Why make your kids work since no one
will be around to grade their papers?"

Not to be outdone, that same friend heard me describe how I was
teaching my children baking from the Colonial period. A recent
project was making a cake from scratch. She replied, "Where can I
buy a box of scratch, I've never heard of it?"

From Nancy Persaud
(although this comment is not within the rules of the contest as
Nancy recognized, it is too good to pass up): From a 5th grade
geography textbook, "Maps are smaller than the areas they
represent."

From Dana Estes:
A friend said, "I could NEVER home school my children. I can't
imagine spending that much time with them." She is a public school
teacher.

AND THIS WEEK'S WINNER:

From Cherie Oliver:
My daughter was born three months early and had severe brain
damage. We were told to put her in a home and forget about her.
At the age of three the state said that "special" children needed to
be sent to the public school system so that they could get the
classes they needed. When I told them I was going to home school
my daughter, the school worker came unglued. She said, "But the
state can make her into a better, more dependent entity."

My daughter is now a first grader who reads, writes, and does all
the other first grader things. She is the most independent six
year-old I know.

Just do something!

2007-01-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been learning an awful lot, and I do mean awful.

I used to be perfectly content to keep my head in the sand. I bragged about being an ostrich when it came to current events, and, to a degree, I still am. I refuse to watch "the news." We don't even have television reception of any kind. Our tv is employed, quite regularly I might add, to watch only dvds that we choose to view. Yes, we are discerning about our movie and tv viewing, but we also watch many movies and tv shows that you might not expect, and possibly, you wouldn't choose to view yourself. Isn't freedom wonderful?

As home schoolers, we are inherently questioning society. By the very nature of our personal educating choice, we are placing ourselves in a skeptical or critical position toward the local school system, or possibly even the national and international systems of education. This doesn't mean that we all think the local schools are wrong or inadequate. I personally do not feel that way. Our household made the decision to home school entirely and independently based on our own circumstances and situation. Since we have moved 4 times during my daughter's home education, the local school district really had no influence on our decision. I have no idea of what the local schools have been like, because it doesn't matter to me. I chose to teach my child because I believe that this is the best way for my child to learn.
This decision puts me in a skeptical, even critical position outside of the norm whether I want it to or not. I'm sure that you have each experienced a bit of backlash for your decision from someone, even if it's just a simple "look."
My personal decision causes others to look at their own choices, and often question them. Many people don't enjoy this feeling, and they lash out at me with hostile comments (rare) or defensive statements (constant), which I try to deflect with humor.

What I have found since making this choice to be different is that I discover more and more instances where I realize that the "norm" is not necessarily a good thing to be. Following the crowd has never been my choice, but now, more than ever, I am learning that if we don't start to rock the boat, it will eventually be a lot more dangerous than just getting grounded by our parents.
Our world, our society, our health, our freedoms are at stake. There are many issues that are being raised by people who are paying attention and doing something to increase awareness of the many problems in our society and our world. As parents, we often see no further than the doors of our minivan/SUV or whatever boundaries encircle our children, but I am saying that we need to look around. Pay attention. Don't take anything for granted.

We are the richest country in the world. We live happy, hopeful lives. We spend much of our time daydreaming about what our children will be when they grow up. We home school them to give them every opportunity possible. Be thankful that we have those possibilities.

Take a moment to find out something you don't know. Watch a documentary that takes you out of your comfort zone. Pray. And then do something about it.

Here is a list of some books and movies that have recently caused me to make some personal decisions and some changes, in many cases. I highly recommend them, although I'm sure that there are others some of you could recommend. If you have any suggestions, please, tell me.
I'd love to see/read them and share the info.

The Food Revolution by John Robbins (he has numerous books, all of which are worth reading)
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price - movie
Supersize Me (yes, the one about McDonald's) - movie
Blue Vinyl - movie
Born into Brothels - movie

For me, changes are rarely immediate. Every change has been gradual, with a few exceptions. It's been a journey, to borrow the common metaphor. Different issues are brought to light, and there is a realization that it all fits together.
Believe me, it begins with denial and unbelief.
"No, that can't be true!"
"You can't believe everything you hear."
"I'm sure that they wouldn't allow that to happen."

Truly, it does happen. It is happening.
There is a movie coming out about William Wilberforce, who helped end slavery in Great Britain in the early 1800s, called "Amazing Grace." I haven't seen it, but it is about his fight to abolish slavery. I've heard it's very good.
What many of us don't realize is that there are more slaves now in the world than there were then.

I want to write about other issues in our country which need some attention, but I don't want to get into those now.
Suffice it to say that there is a high cost to our many conveniences and affordable groceries. It is important that we know and make decisions based on facts, not supposition.
If you don't know, then you just don't know, but once you know...

A Momentous Meeting in Cleveland

2006-11-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think it really hit me until I walked into the stark white conference room in the basement of the Cleveland Museum of Art and saw the pink copies of the meeting agenda at each seat. It was when I glanced over this paper that I realized I wasn't just here to answer a few questions, but I was a key speaker for this meeting. I suppose that this idea might have occurred to me if I had had a moment to think about it ahead of time. I knew that I had been invited there by University Circle Inc. of Cleveland to enlighten the Museum Curators of Education about home schooling, and that in itself was monumental, but a speech was a different thing altogether.

I am not an authority on home schooling. I happen to be a home schooler and I know quite a few home schoolers, but I am definitely not an authority. Well, I wasn't before this meeting. Fortunately, I was not alone. My friend, Isabel, a leader of the HEART home school group in Hudson was kind enough to come along and even do the driving for us.

After a presentation by a woman from Cuyahoga Community College, I gave an impromptu speech about Take Off! and home schooling in general. This was followed by Isabel and I answering questions from the museum education coordinators. The museums represented included: The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Children's Museum of Cleveland, The Museum of Natural History, The Western Reserve Historical Society, Healthspace, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Temple Tifereth Israel, Cleveland Botanical Gardens and a few others. Although our portion was supposed to be the beginning of the meeting, it ended up swallowing the majority of the meeting time so that the curators had to rush their current news at the end in order to vacate the building in time. From learning the basics of home schooling to understanding how to create programs for home schoolers, these curators showed nothing but interest and excitement in wanting to reach what they referred to as "a new movement in education."

We were pumped! What an exciting day for home schoolers! We have come from fighting for our rights to teach our children to being sought out by world class museums and educational facilities. No longer are they wishing we would just stay home or act like the schools, but instead, they were working to understand the best ways to entice home schoolers to visit their museums and attend their programs.

Expect more!

Keep your eyes open or you'll miss something! There is a change happening. It's not immediate, but the tides are changing. Where once we were fighting or, at least, pushing a bit, we are now being welcomed. They want to provide what home schoolers need. Multi-level classes. Higher grade level programs. Daytime programs. Individual payments. Etc. Etc.

I encouraged them to state up front what their expectations are so that we know when we sign up for a program. Some of these places had never considered daytime classes for home schoolers before, and I know that at least 2 of the museums walked away creating plans for new home school programs. They all want to know how to reach us, so be available.

Expect more from Take Off!
This meeting gave me even more ideas of things to bring to Take Off! Ways to serve the home schooling families and ways to serve the museums and educational venues. There is so much coming, I can't even list it all, but you will want to be a part of it.

Still not an authority. Just a mom.
Jen