On Saturday, my sister, brothers and I went to a ward service project. It was at a park by the Goodey's home. For a while we pulled weeds, then we hoed and pruned.
Corbin and I went up to the pile of wood chips and filled the wheelbarrows up. For a while Corbin took the wheelbarrow, but after a while he came back because it was too heavy.
It was raining the whole time so our coats and hats were soaking wet.
When we were almost done we got chips, lemonade, and really great strawberries.
The kids ate, while the adults worked some more. Then some of us started to help again. We had to leave early because we were all tired.
I liked doing it because it was a lot of fun. It looked really great when we left and I hope I can do it again.
Addisen (10)
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
OMSI
At OMSI you can go into a ball room and shoot balls into these things that go into a half sphere things. You can do it all sort of ways. Once it is filled up, pull on a string and the sphere will open and the balls will fall on you.
There used to be a Star Wars exhibit. We got to figure out how some stuff float in Star Wars. the next time we went there was an amazon exhibit. It was really cool!
- Corbin (9)
There used to be a Star Wars exhibit. We got to figure out how some stuff float in Star Wars. the next time we went there was an amazon exhibit. It was really cool!
- Corbin (9)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
history fiction books
I love fiction history. Actually, I love history altogether . For two weeks , two hours every day, I sat down and read books about ancient rome . I really learned alot.now, I am reading a book that is WWII. It is the best book ever. I hope I can read more on WWII.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Transfer from old Blog
Disneyland
Disneyland was better than I thought it would be. We went with our grandparents, and we went for four days. We saw cockroaches, I lost my tooth, we rode on two planes, and went on a lot of rides. It was a lot of fun. It was REALLY hot. on our last night we got to see the fireworks. They were really cool. Some lit up as different shapes. The rides were A LOT of fun, (especially the ones with water.) I don’t think we are going again for a long time. I am glad we went.
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4th May 2007
Evergreen Aviation museum
Yesterday my brothers, sisters, mom, grandma, and I went to the Evergreen Aviation museum. The planes were cool. We saw the Spruce goose, it was huge!!!!!!!!!!!! We got to go in a couple of the really small ones and see how they work. We also played a game on the computer. On it we were trying to fly a plane. It was kind of hard.
We also went to the IMAX theater. We wore special glasses to make it 3-D. It looked really cool. It was about the moon. We saw pictures of the moon and people on it.
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20th April 2007
Swimming Lessons
At the YMCA we take swimming lessons. After me and my sister are done, we swim around. Sometimes, we get to play racketball after we are bored.
I can hit some hard ones. My favorite racket is an orange one. It is big for me, I like it. There are see-through courts that I think are bigger than the others.
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18th April 2007
Disneyland
In May we are going to Disney land. We are going to fly there on a plane. We are going with my grandparents. we are going stay there for four days.
I can’t wait! My younger brother and I can go on every ride except one. My Dad had been there a couple times, and my Mom has been there twice.
I have heard a lot about the rides and I am excited.
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12th April 2007
Disneyland
The title of this blog will be Disneyland! I can’t believe it! In less than a month we are going to Disneyland! First, I will go on the Star Wars thing. I will probably go on the Race Car thing next. I will probably go in the Haunted House last.
When my Dad went there he liked Pirates of the Caribbean the best. I am going to like the Space thing a lot. Tessa (my sister) will probably like Mr. Toads Wild Ride (it’s perfect for six year olds).
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11th April 2007
Crocodilian
Crocodilians are crocodiles, alligators, gharials and caimans. Only two crocodilians will go and eat you if they see you, the Nile Crocodile and the Saltwater Crocodile. Crocodilians can stay in water for two hours.
Crocodilians are often mistaken for a log. Crocodilians will dig holes and then it will rain, after that…. pond! It is called a gator hole, that’s cool!
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4th April 2007
History
Just this week, my Mom changed school for my sister and I. My Mom said that we could pick a subject and learn about it during reading. We can pick words that we don’t understand and make them our vocabulary. For my first subject I chose to learn about Romans. I love the subject. I also love all kinds of history, Greek history, Egyptian, Mexican ect. All of the subjects I want to learn are history, history!!!!!!!
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4th April 2007
Learning By Projects
We have just started our kids on more of a project-based learning. At the top there are some projects I created for fun. They were not spurred on by my kids, but something I thought would be fun to do. When asked what they wanted, they came up with some great topics - things that they will be more engaged in and really get in to. If they find it boring, they drop it. There have so many ideas that there is a great reservoir of topics.
They also started another book group - just for the kids. And someone in that book group has written a Shirlock Holmes play off one of the books. They are going to practise and then perform. I am really looking forward to it!
Also, because we are homeschooling, we have been able to start swimming lessons when others may not be able to. I am able to get of work earlier than normal and come and join them on the latter end of their excursion. So the schedule is to go to the YMCA and go swimming two days a week and then possibly another time just for fun. My oldest son and I started playing raquetball. This should be a blast!
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4th April 2007
Projects
Since spring break we have done school a little differently. We have been focusing on a subject for as long as we are still interested in it. We will study on the subject during writing and write about it. In reading we will read books from the library on our subject. We can study one thing for as long as we want: one day, a couple days,a week, or longer. I think it is a good idea, and I have already learned a lot.
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2nd April 2007
Spring Break!
During Spring Break I went to the YMCA. We went to the YMCA on a Saturday. After we went swimming, we went rock climbing. My favorite part of rock climbing was going down (because you would jump off the wall).
On Monday, we went to a awesome friends house. We got sticks and swords, and fought each other inside a tree house! After that we went to a rope park and fought on that. 
THE OTHER Y.M.C.A.
(continued from “Y.M.C.A.”) Now for the other Y.M.C.A. It has a big pool , a sport court, a few racket ball courts, work out room, a lap track, and a few other things. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. So I don’t remember very much . Over all, I am happy that we get to go to the Y.M.C.A.
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28th March 2007
Spring break
Today is the second day of spring beak. It has been a lot of fun. Yesterday we went to our friends house. It was about an hour drive. On the way there we listened to music, and played games. I like it when we have breaks, because we get more time to play. Every nine months we get a two week break. I really like it. Home-schooling is fun because we get to take school off whenever we want.
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27th March 2007
Home schooling in Oregon
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23rd March 2007
Science class
Every Tuesday we have science class. We have to wake up early on Tuesdays so we can be done with school before science class. We have been doing it since about January.
The first thing we learned about was earthquakes and volcanoes. Then we learned about the earth. Now we are learning about rocks. When we go there, we do experiments, have treats, and look at pictures of what we are learning. In school we don’t study science, so I am glad we still get to learn science.
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22nd March 2007
Why the change?
How are technologies implemented? In the past it has been those with a lot of money. They are the early adopters. They buy the toys, try them out and then they are refined, miniturized, mass produced and made usefull and cheaply enough that the general public can and do start using them. Examples? Cars. CD players. Plasma TVs. Computers. Printers. Walkmans.
Now it has changed.
Who are the early adopters? Those who either, a) can’t afford the big toys and/or b) don’t want to pay the big bucks, so they start making things for themselves and for others. For free. Open sourced. Anyone can change and make it do what they want. Anyone can make something new. Or share what they have. All of the sudden, there is a rash of not only new products, but whole technologies created and run and pushed by the little guys. So much so that it is throwing the big guys off - many don’t know what to do with it all. They are used to driving the changes. Now the changes swell from beneath. They are coming from the bottom.
Now the ‘top’ has two choices. Either ignore it or try to embrace it. When embracing it they can either let it happen (because it will) or try to force it. Either way, the Microsofts are being left out, even though there is a demand for it.
Schools are even missing the boat. Kids live in one world and go to school in another.
Home schooling has a unique opportunity to make some real changes. We are like this movement of new technology. If we learn to use these tools appropriately to the advantage of our children, I predict that home schooling will grow an incredible amount. The chasm between life and regular school is growing. As it does, home schooling will be on the forefront if played correctly.
Our assignment? How to use the new technology to enhance and engage our children’s learning. It will take some getting used to. It is a whole new way of thinking. But it must be done carefully. There is a tendency to adopt because it is cool or flashy. We should only adopt because of the results it would bring.
Learn these tools. Use them. Make them powerful arrows in your quiver. Use the old tools. Use them together. Let the chasm grow.
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21st March 2007
Devotional
Monday through Thursday we have a devotional. Devotional is where we read scriptures, sing, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and read stuff out of Preach My Gospel. Then we would go back to doing school. We use to switch off each week playing the piano while the others sang to it. But we don’t do that anymore.
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21st March 2007
Done with Potty Training!
Hadley is officially Potty Trained in my book! She has been dry after all her naps since we started except one. She now has had two dry nights in a row. I hope it continues. With our other girls, they have all been dry at night after a week and a half of potty training. Hadley now comes to me and says “Potty”. I take her she goes. She has been doing great on her poopy too! She goes 3 times a day and just says “Poopie”. She is amazing to me. She feels so excited and good about herself. I just heard her say “I did it!” (her brother just took her to the potty). I’m not taking the potty in the car unless we are not going to have a potty where we are going. She has been so good at this!
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21st March 2007
Math
We do Saxon math. In the book it teaches us what we need to know, then it asks us questions about what we just learned. After that we do a mixed review on what we have learned earlier in the book. That is a lesson. Every day my older brother and I do a lesson and a half. And my younger brother does one lesson a day. After I do my lesson and half lesson I double check it. It really helps when my mom corrects it. If we get four or less wrong on our lesson, and two or less wrong on our half lesson all week we get to choose a reward. If we get 100% then we get to go to wendy’s and get a frosty. I really like this way of doing it.
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20th March 2007
Y.M.C.A.
A couple weeks ago we signed up at Y.M.C.A. The main reason that we were able to do it is because we started homeschooling . There are two main Y.M.C.A’s that we can go to . The one we have been to awesome . Pros ; There is a big sport court , workout room, rock wall, pool, water slide, ping pong and foosball. There is a little room called the Teen Center . It has ;Wii, Game-cube, Xbox, PS2 , Pool, Air hockey, Foos ball, Ping Pong and a few other cool things .
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History
I like it when people test me on where states of the United States are. (that’s a little thing I wanted to put in). I like history because there is a lot of fighting in it. (you can tell I like fighting). I do like the plans.
George Washington, he held up for a long time! He was fighting a lot! He held up for like three years! George Washington was the general, and I think he was the last one to live! That usually doesn’t happen!
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14th March 2007
Preschool
Today I did preschool with my sisters. Preschool is where my brother and I get to take writing off once a week. Instead of writing we do preschool. Today I did preschool. We went outside and gathered leaves, flowers, and grass. One of my sisters and I used them to make a picture of ourselves. We glued them on to a piece of paper. The flower was the head, the leaf the body, and the grass was the arms, legs, fingers, and toes. My other sister put dirt at the bottom of the paper, a pile of grass vertically, a flower above that, and leaves on the side of the grass.
Sometimes we do: flubber, board games, card games, crafts, and a lot more. My sisters I do it with are 5, 3, and 1. So we can not do as many games.
The purpose of this is to teach them something every time. Sometimes we have to repeat because we run out of ideas.
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13th March 2007
Potting Training day 2 - AMAZING!
This had been the fastest potty training ever! She is doing so well. This morning I listened for her to wake up in hopes to snag her out of bed and catch her before she pooped in her pull up. It worked! She went pee and after about 4 tries (on and off the potty) she pooped in the potty! She has not had one urination mistake all day! She wanted panties on and she was taking them off and on all morning. Around 11:00 am she did go in her room and poop in them. I don’t worry about that until day 3ish. The pooping part always comes around. We even ran errands for 1 1/2 hours and I just took the potty chair in the back of the car and offered it to her before we went in and when we came out of the stores. It was all about her the entire time. I kept reminding her to wait to go pee until we stopped. She kept saying ok with a smile. She is loving it all. We did have to run from one end of Target to the other when she asked to go pee. She didn’t even go, but that is ok with me. I am so proud of her even caring. She also woke up from her nap dry again and went on the potty right after I ran there. She is playing outside and comes in when she needs to go. The other kids have been helping dump her pee when she chooses the little potty. They are all such a great help! What fun this all is!
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13th March 2007
Technology and Home Schooling
I am very interested in how technology will aid home schooling. There are a few resources I turn to constantly:
- Steve Hargadon: He talks about technology in traditional education, not specifically home schooling. But just about everything he talks about relates. The interviews he does are fabulous and need to be listened to.
- Dion Hinchcliffe: Dion’s focus is on Web 2.0, not on education. But there is an easy leap to understand the implications.
- Read/WriteWeb: Again, not focused on education, but on Web 2.0.
After reading these and others, I feel there will be a “Digital Divide 2.0″ as well. The first Digital Divide was the disparity between those who owned computers and had access to the internet and those who did not. Those with less of an income generally did not have these resources and then, it is assumed, did not have as great a chance to become successful in life. Now, whether through home, school, the library, or a friend’s home, just about everyone who wants a computer and internet access has it available. It may not be as equally as convenient for everyone, but it is there.
The next version of the Digital Divide deals not with who has access, but how they use the access. When kids are at home they use Google, MySpace, YouTube, Digg, Technorati, Flickr, blogs, forums; they use cell phones, ipods and other accessories to learn and express themselves and collaborate with each other. (Granted, they use them for other purposes, but they also use them to learn.) All of these are updated instantly with up-to-date information. When they go to school, how do they learn? Lectures, books, memorization, etc. DISCLAIMER: These are not evil, outdated modes of learning. They have their place and should be used appropriately. As schools largely ignore how we (and yes, I mean WE) learn now they create the next version of the Digital Divide.
Google is the largest learning company in the world. The current generation in schools understand that in school they need to memorize. Outside of school they need to memorize very little because it can always be Googled and there is almost always a computer or other device connected to the internet near by. Both views are wrong. Both views feel that they are correct. Since schools are to compliment the home there needs to be some type of melding. Why hasn’t it been done? It is not easy.
Since we home school, we need to meld ourselves. We need to figure out what is the right mix. It starts with our goals for home schooling. Then we need to take a look at new resources and find out if learning can be facilitated better with those new resources.
Up and coming - how to use the new resources in homeschooling…
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13th March 2007
I Love Potty Training: A Parenting Style
I started Potty Training our 6th child today. She turns two on April 13th. Each child has surprised me by their abilities in this area. I have now learned (in my opinion) that when you set the bar high (but still in reach) amazing things can happen with your children. I have always wanted to write down how I do it, so I thought I would do it here.
A quick summary……. I start off with a week ahead of me that I can completely devote to that child (realistically, with 6 kids, I do the best I can with my schedule). I truly believe that most people have problems potty training their children not because of the child but because of the inconvenience to the parents.
We start in front of the TV watching the Potty Movie. She only had a shirt on with out anything else. I give her tons of
At this point (and it happens in one form or another with all my kids) I have to pull out all the pro-parenting I can and figure out what it takes to get her to do it. I used every ounce of energy and had a very bad head ache. I always think about giving up at this point but I don’t consider it a choice. If I do, it will only be that much harder next time, because she will know what to do to get what she wants. I always stay right with her the entire morning. NO PHONE CALLS! Its’ so hard and boring but completely worth it.
Sooooo, eventually, after some accidents and successes she went down for her nap. I put a pull up on her and called it “Ni-Night panties.” I told her to not pee in them and to go in the potty when she wakes up. I always do this and they seldom get it for about a week. She actually did it. I heard her wake up from her 2 1/2 hour nap and I ran there fast. Her pull-up was dry and we went right to the big potty and she peed tons!!!! We spent the rest of the afternoon using the big potties.
She would either say Poo-Poo or I would ask her if she needed to go about every 10 minutes. I made sure I was always happy and upbeat, like it was a fun game. The other kids were outside which helped a lot. I made a new discovery during this: I made sure she felt like she was controlling it all! I let her choose where she wanted to go, asked her if she wanted to turn on/off the lights and flush etc. She thought it was so fun and that she was the greatest! I have always done this, but I never realized what I was doing until today. She only had one little mistake the rest of the afternoon and night. My 10-year old even got her to go two times while I picked up another child from practice. She was amazing! I am so excited to get up tomorrow.
So, to hook this in with parenting styles……. I love doing things before it is a reactionary disaster. A 3 or 4 year old child already is so set in their ways with diapers. To undo that seems so hard. Let alone they can be stubborn and argue with you. My little one, talks really well, but not that well. She is so pliable that she doesn’t need to argue. When I am being a “Good Parent” I try to nip things in the bud. Make it a game and turn it around. Teach them things while they are excited about it, rather than when they are already negative about it. It takes more energy at the beginning but in the end it is so much better than trying to fix things. I could explain this better, but I need to go pamper myself so I will be ready for tomorrow! :)
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11th March 2007
Mother of 13!
We attend a home-school group every Friday. We have 6/7 large families that participate. Two of the families are not always able to come. So, we average 5-6 families each week. These other families amaze me. I feel so blessed that I am able to gleen imformation off of their years of experience.
Yesterday, one of the mothers of 13 children was there and we all were able to ask her questions that had been stewing in our minds. She has children that have attended great Universities on full ride scholarships. They are married now and have babies. It was amazing to find out how to help guide our children through the High School years and College. She has so many wonderful techniques that have helped build the character of her children (the children I have seen are outstanding).
At the moment, I can not go into all the things that we learned. I appreciate the time, that anyone with experience in Home-schooling successfully, shares with me. I am just busting with ideas to implement!
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10th March 2007
This ain’t your father’s education
Chew on this. Those who are baby boomers were educated by people who knew what the workforce was like. They were preparing them for real jobs. When they were young they heard what their jobs would be like and most of the time they were right. Not that they picked a job when they were young and stuck with it until they were older, but they had a solid picture of what the world was like.
My generation, GenX, was educated the same way, only when we got there, the world was nothing like we were told. Modern technology changed everything. The jobs we were educated for were still around, but the way we do them did not exist then. They were not even thought of. In fact, when I was young I thought I would pretty much have the same job when I was an adult. Instead I have been laid off three times through acquisitions and major down-sizings. Not something that was foreseen by my educators.
Fast forward to today. We now recognize that when our children enter the workforce and really get into their career, we have no idea of what that will be like. Sure, there will be finance people, managers, educators, scientists, doctors, lawyers. But the way in which they will perform their job has not been, and cannot be, identified - because it doen’t exist yet.
So how do we prepare our children for the future?
Yesterday my 12-yr old son called me at work, wanting me to help him with a math problem - probability. We talked about it and I led him through it. Because I could not show him anything, it was difficult. Had we both been hooked up to a net meeting I would have easily been able to do it. But instead, when I got home, we talked about it.
I asked him, “Have you ever had a glass of gasoline?” Of course he had not. “Why,” I asked him. Because it is not good for your body. “But I never told you not to drink it.” True, but he knew that if he put harmful things into his body, there would be an averse reaction. I talked to him about principles - in mathematics, formulas. X= ? and Y=? If you know the formula, you can plug any numbers in there for similar problems and get the right answers every time. That is like life. If you know the principle behind it, you can be put into any situation and know what to do. He would know, for example, not to drink gasoline.
This is the only way we can prepare our children. Sure, teach them the basics, teach them the three Rs. Then, teach them how to lead, how to solve problems, how to recognize patterns, how to analyze those patterns, how to put a plan in place and execute against that plan.
We have no idea what their world will be like. If you look at the last few years, everyone, even those that cannot afford it, carry cell phones. That has changed so many different aspects of our culture, let alone has large, previously stable land line phone companies more than a little worried.
And with us, we should be a little worried - no anxious. Anxious to find those things that will prepare our children for a world that we cannot predict, a world that holds great opportunities. They must learn the principles - the formulas - and learn how and when to apply them.
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10th March 2007
Today’s homeschool group
Today in home-school group we talked about people in Japan. We also celebrated Chines new year.We had a fake dragon resembling the ones used in China. We even got to walk around in it. We had fortune cookies and pretzels covered in chocolate.
After we talk about the book we play and eat lunch. The book has taught me things I didn’t know before. Home-school group teaches me a lot, and I am glad I can do it.
hogolate
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9th March 2007
T.V.
T.V. when we started homeschooling we cut out T.V. At first it was hard, but then we started to play outside more, and (I can’t believe it) we actually started to get along. Even then we didn’t totally cut T.V. out. We still watch it, like when I babysit at home. But lately I havn’t been babysitting much at all because I have basketball almost every night. I got so desperate that I was trying to persuade my mom to let me watch Little House on the Prairie just so I could watch T.V.
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9th March 2007
For Me: Lucky and Not!
I will start off with the things that I don’t like. First of all I don’t like math (I’m a 3rd grader and I do 5th grade math).
Now what I do…. like….. we get like two or three weeks off every nine weeks. We also entered a YMCA on the 28th of February. It is fun!
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Our Reading Time
Everyday, (except Sunday, Saturday and Friday) we read for two hours as a part of school. Yesterday, I finished a book. It was “Pinocchio” by C. Collodi.
It is a very good book. It follows the movie, but adds in a lot.
It is probably the real story, but it is not the one I am used to, because we have the movie, and it is different.
This isn’t the only time we read. We also read at night until about nine.
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7th March 2007
Accountibility in learning - who is responsible? It is not who you might think…
Who is responsible for your child’s learning? That is a completely different question than who is accountable for your child’s learning. Accountability cannot be delegated or reassigned. Responsibility can. The responsibility for one goal can be split up between many different people/groups. They will all have bits and pieces. But if it does not all come together, they cannot be held accountable. The one who delegated is usually the one who is accountable.
Apply it to your child’s learning.
Situation #1: Your child is in the public school system. In other wards, you have probably given the majority of the responsibility for your child’s learning to them. If they are doing well*, congratulations - you are managing their learning correctly. If they are not, there needs to be some tweaking done. But this should be done by you, not the school. The school is one tool out of many. Most make it the only or majority tool. In some cases that is OK. In most cases, however, it will not help you reach your goals. They may be responsible for that part of the learning, but you are still accountable to it.
Situation #2: Your child is homeschooled. They also attend a co-op and a book club and… Again, if they are doing well, great. If not, adjust it.
Your child’s education cannot be left to others to manage. Since you are accountable for their learning, you MUST be involved. There are no two ways about it. PTA and an occasional classroom visit are not enough for what we are talking about here. It must be on a personal, individual level. Making sure that the child is challenged, but not overwhelmed; learning, not bored; learning to learn, not learning to regergitate.
Use the tools given to us all to manage their learning. They are tools and must be used with care or overused. Go back to my previous post about tools. These tools are the same.
The accountability cannot be shrugged. The responsibility can, but then we are only playing roulette.
(*”WELL” is defined as meeting your goals and the goals of the child. It is not a comparison to others, of which grades are an indicator. Grades have very little to do with what or if your child is learning. They may be in indication, but are not always an indication of results one might expect. )
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6th March 2007
Response to 12 year old and a few thoughts…..
I would like to respond to the 12 year old’s comment. I never said anything to the affect that he is a social misfit. :) He is very social and amazes me. I love to watch him is group settings, he can pull a group together for any game or project.
A quick thought on home-schooling: I started April 2006. It’s a long story as to why, but I love it now. Our family is so close, the kids play together all the time and we are achieving the goals we have always wanted for our family. Looking back I can see the hardest part was the intimidation of failing. I have learned more than I ever thought possible and I realize this is just the tip of the iceberg. I will write more on how we made the decision to home-school later……
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6th March 2007
Lucky or not?
When I am with friends they say I am lucky to be home-schooled. At first I did not think so, but now I kind of like it. In some ways we are lucky, and in some ways we are not. Home-schooling gives us lots of things, and takes away lots of things. Some of the good things are: we can take days off, we get to choose the level of schooling we are at, we get a little bit of social, like home-school group, and we make our own lunch and it’s different. The things that we don’t get: we don’t get to see our friends everyday, and we don’t have recess. A good and bad thing is that we don’t have a teacher in front of us, we self teach from books. It’s easier to go at our own pace, but I miss all the teachers and the activities.
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6th March 2007
Looking at homeschool social
I think home-schooling is OK. For me it was really hard at first - my mom says it’s because I’m abnormally social (don’t listen to her) . The main thing that helped me hang on was sports and our home-school group
posted in The 12-yr old | 0 Comments
6th March 2007
The three pillars of education - and home schooling
There used to be three pillars of education: school, community, and family. In this podcast, John Seely Brown mentions that ‘community’ as it relates to education has been diminished, as has the family. That leaves school as the main pillar of education – and doesn’t it show? We, as a society, have pretty turned over education to the schools and have walked away. The major exception? Home schooling. The very nature of home schooling takes in all three still.
How has community been drowned out? I used to ride a train to work. At least half of the people had some type of iPod or MP3 type player. There wouldn’t be a chance for interaction even if we could talk above the roar of the tracks. Go to a favorite hang out place for teenagers. Many of them will have the same buds in their ears. And it reaches beyond iPods.
Many times if you see a teenager walking down the street, they will be listening to an iPod, or to their friend on the phone or text messaging their friends, or all at the same time. And as they walk, life and the community pass them by. It is sad, really. Community is drowned out by not giving the time and attention to those things which don’t immediately need it, but do eventually. The same can be said of movies, video games, DVDs in the minivan, the internet.
These are all tools and have their time and place – they are not inherently evil and I don’t want to be misunderstood that they are. In fact they can be powerful! But tools are tools. And when use these tools out of context, sometimes it is genius, other times, and most of the time, it distracts us from real life.
What does this have to do with home schooling? For whatever reason, I have noticed that most home schooled kids don’t take this to an extreme, or do it at all. Maybe because they are focused on the family and community to make their education work. Coincidence? Some how I don’t think so. Do you think there’s something here?
Next: The Family…
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