Last week I had a lady who paints murals and borders come to the house to give me an estimate on doing some work in my daughters' room. As she walked in our front door, her eyes were immediately drawn to our dining room on the left. This is where we do much of our homeschooling seatwork, and the table was covered that day -- as it is every day -- with books, papers, drawings, pencils, rulers, art supplies, plastic geometric solids, a puzzle or two, and a globe from the 1960s that I've marked up to reflect contemporary changes to geopolitical information. Oh yeah, I also drew the equator and prime meridian in with black permanent ink so they'd show up better.
Anyway, I quickly hurried her up the stairs to the room I wanted her to paint. As we reached the landing, I cautioned her to steer clear of the toys, dolls, books, train track pieces, and other miscellanea of childhood.
My daughters' room was actually quite tidy that day, but I could tell she wondered about my younger girl's small roll-top desk fairly bursting at the seams with papers, puzzle books, crayon box, paper dolls, sketch pad, and complete Hello Kitty art set in a hot pink plastic case. My older daughter's nightstand piled high with books was also a sight to behold.
After our consultation as to colors, mural theme, etc. we went back downstairs and finished up our visit in the entryway where only a legally blind person could miss the enormous pile of unfolded laundry on a bench nearby. That, and the equally enormous pile of folded laundry that rose up out of a chair in the family room back behind me.
Smiling, the woman said to let her know when we were ready to have her come to work her artistic magic, and as she walked out the front door she remarked, "You know, I have a good friend whose name I'd be happy to give you. She's a professional organizer and I know she could help you dig out from under all this. Is it alright if I give her your phone number?"
I mumbled something about having four children, homeschooling, and being abnormally busy 30 hours a day and then graciously thanked her for her concern. The personal organizer did call a few days later. For a minimum of $200 per three-hour session she could come to my house and make it into a showplace.
If I had that kind of cash to burn, it would be tempting. Tempting, but not likely to happen. Here's what she'd find and I just know she'd want me to re-shelve, discard, donate or hide all of it:
The "tares and the wheat" sculpture my girls made in Sunday School to illustrate the famous parable. It sits on our mantle and competes for visual attention with a colored picture one of my daughters taped up nearby.
The wooden bin near the fireplace that's overflowing with battered but much-loved board books my toddler son likes to "read."
The stack of empty cardboard boxes all four of my children use as cars, boats, planes and other modes of transportation.
The 3-D sculpture my oldest girl made from discarded objects as part of a study on recycling and the environment.
The stacks of books that appear every few days like sprouting mushrooms alongside every toilet in the house, the window seat in the kitchen, the sofa table, the end table near my comfy chair, the kitchen table, the kitchen counter, and on pretty much any flat surface not already occupied by other books. We have shelves, we just don't like the hassle of re-shelving books we know we're going to want to see again in the next 48 to 72 hours. My two oldest read voraciously and they're not picky about where they do it. My two youngest also like to study books and be read to, so we can't skimp on them, either. Since none of the kids ever watch TV or play video games, their books, each other, and the great outdoors ARE their entertainment.
The reams of paper and cardstock for use during art lessons, private drawing sessions, lapbooking, scrapbooking, and diagramming of everything from nuclear fusion to the water cycle. "Here, let's draw a picture so you can see how this works," is a familiar refrain around here.
The boxes of photographs and scrapbooking supplies that I need to chronicle the lives of my four beautiful and immensely entertaining children -- if I ever get enough downtime to actually do this.
The egg-carton "gardens" my girls made in Brownies that sit on the counter over my sink.
The costumes that drape themselves around the house after my younger daughter and her brother have finished playing yet another game of knights and princesses, cowboys and Indians, Pilgrims and Indians, Bible-era characters, or house with them as Mom and Dad and their little brother as the baby.
The train tracks, gears, flashlights, magnets, wires, and other gadgetry that belong to my inquisitive four-year-old son -- they are literally to be found in every room and in every configuration possible.
The magazines -- nature magazines, literature magazines, homeschooling magazines, current affairs magazines, religious magazines. We read 'em. We need 'em. We share 'em, we cut 'em up for notebooks and art projects. We like their portability so we keep stacks of them in the van for long trips.
The video camera I leave out in case one of the kids does some unusually and awesomely film-worthy thing. Or we see a cool bird, or it snows, or the children put on an impromptu dance recital.
The paper lanterns my kids made to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Boxes of completed homeschool workbooks, notebooks, and art projects. I save it all in case the state or anyone else REALLY wants to know what we've done these past three years. That's a lot of stuff to sift through. . .
Boxes of clothes catalogued by size and gender so I can find the next set of hand-me-downs as my kids grow.
Toys that all get played with, maybe not every day but by the end of a given month. Their worn places, scrapes and scratches attest to their regular use. "We love them all and we use them all," my six-year-old proclaims. "We get so busy going from one activity to the next we don't want to take time to put them away," she explains earnestly.
Puzzles for all age ranges -- some with missing pieces, true -- that escape their cabinet for the great outdoors of the family room.
Projects to be done on rainy days or the hot afternoons of upcoming summer -- papermaking kit, crystal growing kit, perler bead kit.
In short, the only way my house will ever make it into the annals of Better Homes and Gardens is if one of two things happens: Either my children all grow up and leave home or we stop homeschooling so we're never home to think, learn and do and, by default, mess things up.
Some days I wonder if the first will really ever happen, knowing we'll be sad when it does. But I never contemplate the second option.
I love my house because everywhere I go I am reminded of four beautiful brilliant minds hard at work on the mysteries of life, and this blesses me more than uber-neatness ever could.
Besides, $200 will buy a lot of books.
Wordly discourse on everything from the sad state of public education, politics and world peace to vegetarianism, breast vs. bottle, religious persecution, bad media, and all manner of life's vagaries.
March 30, 2009
March 24, 2009
Hair and windowpanes -- math instruction gone awry
Our local public school district has come up with some inventive, nay ridiculously complicated, ways to teach what ought to be fairly plain and simple.
Ever heard of "hairy" math?
Yeah, this was new to me, too, until someone in a neighborhood chat group mentioned it and I had to know more.
I am always interested in what my children's publicly schooled peers are doing because I don't want my kids to grow up saying things like, "Gosh, I don't know this because I had the misfortune of being homeschooled."
Turns out that instead of teaching first and second graders how to count money using the tried and true methods of handling actual money, memorizing the values of various coins based on the ways the coins look, i.e. the copper-colored Lincoln guy is always worth one cent, the students are being asked to draw lines or "hairs" out from pictures of coins to help them count by fives.
In other words, a nickel is worth one hair. A quarter would have five lines emanating from its edges.
A former teacher clued me in as to the asinine reasoning behind this practice.
If you guessed the Almighty Standardized Test At Whose Throne All Texas Students Must Bow you're right.
The ASTAWTATSMB drives the boat when it comes to public education such that not much real education takes place. Instead, it's all about test-taking strategies.
The hairy math is a visual crutch, my teacher friend tells me. It's used so that students who aren't developmentally ready to tackle abstractions like assigning values to coins can still manage to score high on the damned standardized tests.
Never mind that these kids aren't developmentally ready.
The windowpanes are a whole other joke.
These are used to help students organize information in word problems, I'm told. But instead of helping kids actually work the problems, this artsy element wastes their time. Kids who can get the right answer without plugging numbers into empty squares get points off for NOT using the windowpane. A friend of mine whose son had to use this method in elementary school said she and her husband had to attend a special parents' event just so they could be taught what to do to help their children with homework!
She left the school that night dazed and confused, wondering why they didn't just teach kids to look for key phrases that would tell them whether a word problem was calling for addition or subtraction.
I wonder the same thing.
Homeschoolers are often warned to watch out for gimmicky programs that promise to teach our kids geometry in 10 minutes a day or conversational German in just 48 hours.
Looks like parents of kids in public school might benefit from a similar warning.
Gimmicks, smoke and mirrors. No wonder American students STILL lag behind other countries in math and science.
When you're spending all your time splitting hairs and drawing windows, you don't have much left over in which to do actual work.
Ever heard of "hairy" math?
Yeah, this was new to me, too, until someone in a neighborhood chat group mentioned it and I had to know more.
I am always interested in what my children's publicly schooled peers are doing because I don't want my kids to grow up saying things like, "Gosh, I don't know this because I had the misfortune of being homeschooled."
Turns out that instead of teaching first and second graders how to count money using the tried and true methods of handling actual money, memorizing the values of various coins based on the ways the coins look, i.e. the copper-colored Lincoln guy is always worth one cent, the students are being asked to draw lines or "hairs" out from pictures of coins to help them count by fives.
In other words, a nickel is worth one hair. A quarter would have five lines emanating from its edges.
A former teacher clued me in as to the asinine reasoning behind this practice.
If you guessed the Almighty Standardized Test At Whose Throne All Texas Students Must Bow you're right.
The ASTAWTATSMB drives the boat when it comes to public education such that not much real education takes place. Instead, it's all about test-taking strategies.
The hairy math is a visual crutch, my teacher friend tells me. It's used so that students who aren't developmentally ready to tackle abstractions like assigning values to coins can still manage to score high on the damned standardized tests.
Never mind that these kids aren't developmentally ready.
The windowpanes are a whole other joke.
These are used to help students organize information in word problems, I'm told. But instead of helping kids actually work the problems, this artsy element wastes their time. Kids who can get the right answer without plugging numbers into empty squares get points off for NOT using the windowpane. A friend of mine whose son had to use this method in elementary school said she and her husband had to attend a special parents' event just so they could be taught what to do to help their children with homework!
She left the school that night dazed and confused, wondering why they didn't just teach kids to look for key phrases that would tell them whether a word problem was calling for addition or subtraction.
I wonder the same thing.
Homeschoolers are often warned to watch out for gimmicky programs that promise to teach our kids geometry in 10 minutes a day or conversational German in just 48 hours.
Looks like parents of kids in public school might benefit from a similar warning.
Gimmicks, smoke and mirrors. No wonder American students STILL lag behind other countries in math and science.
When you're spending all your time splitting hairs and drawing windows, you don't have much left over in which to do actual work.
North Carolina judge demonstrates educational ignorance
By now, most of you who are homeschoolers are familiar with the North Carolina divorce case of Venessa Bell in which her admittedly adulterous husband has acknowledged the successes of the couple's three homeschooled children yet wants them put in public school.
The judge in this case is no less an idiot and has ordered Mrs. Bell to finish out this year with her children at home and then to enroll them in public school in the fall so that they can, in his opinion, receive proper socialization and a well-rounded education.
If the stakes weren't so high, this last part would be funny.
Turns out that Mrs. Bell is a member of a church that is not recognized among mainstream Christian denominations. The judge thinks her young children should be "challenged" in their faith so as not to grow up with horns sticking out of their heads or fangs protruding from their mouths.
Divorce cases are messy and best left to jurists to sort them out.
Children who are thriving in a homeschooling environment in a state where home education is LEGAL ought to be left alone.
The judge in this case is no less an idiot and has ordered Mrs. Bell to finish out this year with her children at home and then to enroll them in public school in the fall so that they can, in his opinion, receive proper socialization and a well-rounded education.
If the stakes weren't so high, this last part would be funny.
Turns out that Mrs. Bell is a member of a church that is not recognized among mainstream Christian denominations. The judge thinks her young children should be "challenged" in their faith so as not to grow up with horns sticking out of their heads or fangs protruding from their mouths.
Divorce cases are messy and best left to jurists to sort them out.
Children who are thriving in a homeschooling environment in a state where home education is LEGAL ought to be left alone.
It happened in 'O3 and I never even knew it
Here's one for my Cultural Erosion file -- the subtle yet powerful revision of one of the most common words in the English language.
"Marriage".
Did you know that in 2003 some popular dictionaries in the U.S. began including same-sex relationships under the definition of this word?
My advice to any parent who isn't ready to confront the issue of homosexuality with their young and curious learners is to make sure your dictionary was published before '03.
Otherwise, you may be getting the "how can two guys be married to each other" question long before you're ready to answer it.
"Marriage".
Did you know that in 2003 some popular dictionaries in the U.S. began including same-sex relationships under the definition of this word?
My advice to any parent who isn't ready to confront the issue of homosexuality with their young and curious learners is to make sure your dictionary was published before '03.
Otherwise, you may be getting the "how can two guys be married to each other" question long before you're ready to answer it.
March 15, 2009
Teach Your Children NOT to bully
Children with varying degrees of autism -- known as being on the "autistic spectrum" -- are being diagnosed in record numbers. Unfortunately, most of them either attend public school or will someday. Professional educators who actually know what to do with these children are far and few between, from what I've been reading, and this means too many of these kids are falling through the cracks. Special ed. or mainstream? A little autism or a lot? Is it autism at all or just quirky and eccentric behaviors?
Regardless, even with the most accurate diagnosis and the best interventions these children often face a rough road as they struggle with, among other things, learning to read the social cues given by other people. It's called mind blindness, the inability to read faces or body language, and to tell the difference between sarcasm and sincerity. It can also manifest as an inability to control one's own behaviors, tone of voice, and facial expressions.
Failing to do any or all of these things puts children on The Spectrum at an even greater risk of being taken advantage of than their unaffected peers.
Many children with mild autism are extremely bright, some with IQ's far above average. They are not mentally retarded nor are they purposely weird.
Our society goes to such excruciating lengths to teach its children tolerance for those who are of different races, different sexual preferences, and different religions, how about hammering home the message that children with autism are to be tolerated, too.
What does this mean? First, it means explaining to unaffected kids what autism is and that it doesn't manifest the same way in any two people.
Then it means teaching unaffected kids why they ought to not be afraid of their affected peers.
Take that one step further and explain that bullying autistic children is as bad as teasing someone about the color of their skin or the fact that they wear a hijab or have two mommies.
Make the penalties for harassing autistic children -- or any children with disabilities -- as strong as the ones for offending kids who are gay or black or Jewish.
Autism is not something children or their parents ever wish for, it is not a reason for celebration, it is not easy to live with or to accommodate.
But for the families of these amazingly brilliant, beautiful, quirky thinkers the failure of other parents to teach their children well is perhaps the most hurtful of all.
Be grateful if your child does not have autism. Teach your child to be a blessing to one who does.
Many children with autism want to have friends, they just don't quite know how to make them.
Regardless, even with the most accurate diagnosis and the best interventions these children often face a rough road as they struggle with, among other things, learning to read the social cues given by other people. It's called mind blindness, the inability to read faces or body language, and to tell the difference between sarcasm and sincerity. It can also manifest as an inability to control one's own behaviors, tone of voice, and facial expressions.
Failing to do any or all of these things puts children on The Spectrum at an even greater risk of being taken advantage of than their unaffected peers.
Many children with mild autism are extremely bright, some with IQ's far above average. They are not mentally retarded nor are they purposely weird.
Our society goes to such excruciating lengths to teach its children tolerance for those who are of different races, different sexual preferences, and different religions, how about hammering home the message that children with autism are to be tolerated, too.
What does this mean? First, it means explaining to unaffected kids what autism is and that it doesn't manifest the same way in any two people.
Then it means teaching unaffected kids why they ought to not be afraid of their affected peers.
Take that one step further and explain that bullying autistic children is as bad as teasing someone about the color of their skin or the fact that they wear a hijab or have two mommies.
Make the penalties for harassing autistic children -- or any children with disabilities -- as strong as the ones for offending kids who are gay or black or Jewish.
Autism is not something children or their parents ever wish for, it is not a reason for celebration, it is not easy to live with or to accommodate.
But for the families of these amazingly brilliant, beautiful, quirky thinkers the failure of other parents to teach their children well is perhaps the most hurtful of all.
Be grateful if your child does not have autism. Teach your child to be a blessing to one who does.
Many children with autism want to have friends, they just don't quite know how to make them.
File this under Cultural Erosion
The headline about an Indiana couple trusted to babysit young children says it all.
Baby sitters accused of taping sex with children
Their youngest victim? Their own 2-month-old daughter.
These folks are NDG (see previous 'blog entries for this definintion) and deserve penalties far greater than anything I fear our justice system can mete out.
The good news is that reader comments accompanying the original news story linked on the Drudge Report include many creative and, in my opinion, wholly appropriate alternatives to the usual ho-hum trial-by-jury route that even the most vile criminals in our society are entitled to receive.
Baby sitters accused of taping sex with children
Their youngest victim? Their own 2-month-old daughter.
These folks are NDG (see previous 'blog entries for this definintion) and deserve penalties far greater than anything I fear our justice system can mete out.
The good news is that reader comments accompanying the original news story linked on the Drudge Report include many creative and, in my opinion, wholly appropriate alternatives to the usual ho-hum trial-by-jury route that even the most vile criminals in our society are entitled to receive.
Because I'm The Principal, That's Why!
Phhhttththtthpht!
The petulant blowing of a raspberry is the ONLY thing missing from a remark by an Oregon elementary school principal when asked by a reporter from The Oregonian newspaper why he decided to prohibit a 5th grade student from wearing a Barack Obama mask for a school talent show skit.
Obama is Dru Lechert-Kelly's hero. Dru, 11, is white. The mask was obtained from a costume shop and resembles one wore on a popular YouTube video and is similar to one President Obama himself wore in an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
The principal did not attend auditions for the talent show, but parents who screened the acts said Lechert-Kelly's mask was potentially offensive and inappropriate but that he could be in the show minus the mask. Lechert-Kelly opted to go roller skating instead, insisting the skit would not have the same appeal without Obama's likeness.
The Oregonian reports:
"He practiced for weeks," said Scott Lechert, 50, an instructional designer, who along with his partner, Paul Kelly, 55, a physical therapist, adopted Dru from a Romanian orphanage in 1999 at age 1 1/2. Both dads helped Dru design his stage props -- a desk with a large presidential seal stuck to the front with duct tape. And both coached their son to "have lots of bop" and "use your shoulders" during his routine.
After Thursday's performance, the "crowd went wild," Dru said. But so did some of the adults in the audience.
"I talked to the parents who are coordinating the talent show, and they feel it's inappropriate and potentially offensive," Llewellyn Principal Steve Powell said.
When asked what was offensive about Dru's skit, Powell refused to discuss it.
"I won't say why it's inappropriate," he said. "I'm not saying anything to The Oregonian. Why? Because I don't want to."
Powell said he hadn't seen Dru's performance but has watched the parody on YouTube.
Seems like little Dru has more maturity than the guy running his school. Maybe instead of pretending to be Obama, he should take over Principal Powell's job. And maybe Principal Powell should go back to the playground to be taught Manners 101.
Nyah, nyah, nyah. Ppphhhtpthpthtpth!
The petulant blowing of a raspberry is the ONLY thing missing from a remark by an Oregon elementary school principal when asked by a reporter from The Oregonian newspaper why he decided to prohibit a 5th grade student from wearing a Barack Obama mask for a school talent show skit.
Obama is Dru Lechert-Kelly's hero. Dru, 11, is white. The mask was obtained from a costume shop and resembles one wore on a popular YouTube video and is similar to one President Obama himself wore in an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
The principal did not attend auditions for the talent show, but parents who screened the acts said Lechert-Kelly's mask was potentially offensive and inappropriate but that he could be in the show minus the mask. Lechert-Kelly opted to go roller skating instead, insisting the skit would not have the same appeal without Obama's likeness.
The Oregonian reports:
"He practiced for weeks," said Scott Lechert, 50, an instructional designer, who along with his partner, Paul Kelly, 55, a physical therapist, adopted Dru from a Romanian orphanage in 1999 at age 1 1/2. Both dads helped Dru design his stage props -- a desk with a large presidential seal stuck to the front with duct tape. And both coached their son to "have lots of bop" and "use your shoulders" during his routine.
After Thursday's performance, the "crowd went wild," Dru said. But so did some of the adults in the audience.
"I talked to the parents who are coordinating the talent show, and they feel it's inappropriate and potentially offensive," Llewellyn Principal Steve Powell said.
When asked what was offensive about Dru's skit, Powell refused to discuss it.
"I won't say why it's inappropriate," he said. "I'm not saying anything to The Oregonian. Why? Because I don't want to."
Powell said he hadn't seen Dru's performance but has watched the parody on YouTube.
Seems like little Dru has more maturity than the guy running his school. Maybe instead of pretending to be Obama, he should take over Principal Powell's job. And maybe Principal Powell should go back to the playground to be taught Manners 101.
Nyah, nyah, nyah. Ppphhhtpthpthtpth!
March 14, 2009
Attention Career Politicians and Atheists
While researching some things about our first president -- you know, the stuff they never dared or bothered to share with me in public school -- I ran across a copy of George Washington's farewell address delivered on Sept. 17, 1796 upon fulfillment of his time as president.
I've never read this speech, and much like my chagrin at realizing I'd lived 43 years without reading anything by Dylan Thomas who was born in the same town as my Welsh ancestors, I am embarrassed that I know so little about what Washington said as he stepped into the twilight of an extraordinary career. NOW I understand why he's our greatest president bar none. It has nothing to do with having been first and everything to do with integrity and eerily accurate foresight.
What a pity the buffoons in our nation's capital, most of whom were no doubt schooled as inadequately as I was, don't take Washington's warnings to heart. Much would be different if they did.
As for the atheists among us, the ones who are so shrill, so strident, so condemning of anyone who deigns to believe religion was, in fact, a cornerstone of the building of our country, read on. You'll see how poorly educated YOU are and how indeed spiritual belief was not only common and accepted but, in President Washington's opinion, essential to the survival of the United States. Below, please find the exact text of his remarks:
Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
And then there's this, sound counsel for our current administration. Can someone figure out how to tattoo it backwards onto the foreheads of all in Congress so that every time they look in a mirror or gaze admiringly at themselves in a reflecting pond or store window they will be reminded of exactly what it is they're supposed to be doing for the citizenry?
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions, which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.
All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
Good ol' George. He saw, more than two centuries ago, just how destructive "combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities" could be. I maintain that we are now being governed by a "small but artful and enterprising minority of the community," and in time our country and its government will mirror "the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of fashion," inasmuch as it doesn't already.
I've never read this speech, and much like my chagrin at realizing I'd lived 43 years without reading anything by Dylan Thomas who was born in the same town as my Welsh ancestors, I am embarrassed that I know so little about what Washington said as he stepped into the twilight of an extraordinary career. NOW I understand why he's our greatest president bar none. It has nothing to do with having been first and everything to do with integrity and eerily accurate foresight.
What a pity the buffoons in our nation's capital, most of whom were no doubt schooled as inadequately as I was, don't take Washington's warnings to heart. Much would be different if they did.
As for the atheists among us, the ones who are so shrill, so strident, so condemning of anyone who deigns to believe religion was, in fact, a cornerstone of the building of our country, read on. You'll see how poorly educated YOU are and how indeed spiritual belief was not only common and accepted but, in President Washington's opinion, essential to the survival of the United States. Below, please find the exact text of his remarks:
Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
And then there's this, sound counsel for our current administration. Can someone figure out how to tattoo it backwards onto the foreheads of all in Congress so that every time they look in a mirror or gaze admiringly at themselves in a reflecting pond or store window they will be reminded of exactly what it is they're supposed to be doing for the citizenry?
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions, which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.
All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
Good ol' George. He saw, more than two centuries ago, just how destructive "combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities" could be. I maintain that we are now being governed by a "small but artful and enterprising minority of the community," and in time our country and its government will mirror "the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of fashion," inasmuch as it doesn't already.
March 12, 2009
All the laws in the world. . .
I hate to say it, but the recent school shooting in Germany that left 17 people dead didn't even give me pause when I heard about it for the first time.
I'm so over the drama of it all, having lived through so many mass tragedies in the years since the Columbine highschoolers in Colorado made school shootings fashionable as a means of protesting the crappy hand you'd been dealt.
Every time -- Columbine, Paducah, Pearl, Jonesboro and on and on -- parents, educators and politicians stood around wringing their hands while vowing to tighten gun laws and beef up on-campus security measures.
And every time these ideas sounded like good ones until the bodies were buried, the media had moved on to other news, and the families of the slain were left to live forever in their own private hells.
Then nothing changed. Nothing. Violent video games, the much-beloved entertainment choice of so many mass killers, are still marketed to the very kids who ought not to have them -- adolescent and teen boys more full of testosterone and pent-up aggression than common sense and self-control.
A violent shoot-em-up game figures into the German kid's story as it did in those of the Columbine shooters.
Bullying is still a huge issue in schools. I can't count how many online videos have been posted and yanked in the past couple of years in which preteens or teens are seen beating the crap out of each other as their friends stand around and cheer. Just this week, Texas newspapers are leading with a story out of Corpus Christi in which mentally disabled men at a state school there were cajoled into fighting one another for the entertainment of school employees. Needless to say, those men, many of whom are severely mentally retarded, had no clue their inhumane acts towards one another were just that.
Bullying and the inability to "fit in" figure in the German shooter's story, too. Of course that was cited as the major contributing factor in the Columbine killings - two misfits who got tired of being treated like nobodies.
Finally, parental involvement -- or lack thereof -- is a societal ill that just doesn't seem to get any better with time. If it did, the first two things I listed would be all but non-existent since strong parenting usually knocks out tendencies towards bad behavior and dictates the choices of minors as far as what they watch or listen to.
The articles on the German shooter don't say much yet about his family other than that his father is a successful businessman who runs a small company. But in the days and weeks ahead I'll be curious to know how much time his family spent together, how well his parents knew his habits and interests.
Homeschooling is illegal in Germany -- all children must go to government schools and those parents who attempt homeschooling are heavily penalized.
I bring this up because of something an editorial in the German daily paper Bild points out:
""The best laws in the world are useless, if parents do not know what is going on in their children's heads, what they are thinking and dreaming and what are their fears."
I hope the irony is clear.
Government education separates us from our children and it leaves them wide open to influences of which we are often unaware given the secretive tendencies of some kids.
Those of us who homeschool may not be the best parents, the most well-off or the most in touch with the outside world, but two things we do know well are the minds and hearts of our children. We are with them all day every day, talking, exploring, discussing, arguing, observing, loving, and correcting. Parents of government-schooled kids can approximate this way of life, to be sure, but I think they have to make a greater effort. It's hard to get a child to tell you about everything that goes on in that 7.5 hour period they're away from you.
Bild is right -- all the hand wringing and legislation in the world can't stop the horrors of school shootings. That responsibility rests solely with parents, but the parents have to be awake and alert and willing to shoulder it at all times. In short, parenting their children to adulthood must always be Job #1.
Sadly, this doesn't hold true for far too many families and society as a whole gets to pay the price.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding be poured out upon the people of Germany.
I'm so over the drama of it all, having lived through so many mass tragedies in the years since the Columbine highschoolers in Colorado made school shootings fashionable as a means of protesting the crappy hand you'd been dealt.
Every time -- Columbine, Paducah, Pearl, Jonesboro and on and on -- parents, educators and politicians stood around wringing their hands while vowing to tighten gun laws and beef up on-campus security measures.
And every time these ideas sounded like good ones until the bodies were buried, the media had moved on to other news, and the families of the slain were left to live forever in their own private hells.
Then nothing changed. Nothing. Violent video games, the much-beloved entertainment choice of so many mass killers, are still marketed to the very kids who ought not to have them -- adolescent and teen boys more full of testosterone and pent-up aggression than common sense and self-control.
A violent shoot-em-up game figures into the German kid's story as it did in those of the Columbine shooters.
Bullying is still a huge issue in schools. I can't count how many online videos have been posted and yanked in the past couple of years in which preteens or teens are seen beating the crap out of each other as their friends stand around and cheer. Just this week, Texas newspapers are leading with a story out of Corpus Christi in which mentally disabled men at a state school there were cajoled into fighting one another for the entertainment of school employees. Needless to say, those men, many of whom are severely mentally retarded, had no clue their inhumane acts towards one another were just that.
Bullying and the inability to "fit in" figure in the German shooter's story, too. Of course that was cited as the major contributing factor in the Columbine killings - two misfits who got tired of being treated like nobodies.
Finally, parental involvement -- or lack thereof -- is a societal ill that just doesn't seem to get any better with time. If it did, the first two things I listed would be all but non-existent since strong parenting usually knocks out tendencies towards bad behavior and dictates the choices of minors as far as what they watch or listen to.
The articles on the German shooter don't say much yet about his family other than that his father is a successful businessman who runs a small company. But in the days and weeks ahead I'll be curious to know how much time his family spent together, how well his parents knew his habits and interests.
Homeschooling is illegal in Germany -- all children must go to government schools and those parents who attempt homeschooling are heavily penalized.
I bring this up because of something an editorial in the German daily paper Bild points out:
""The best laws in the world are useless, if parents do not know what is going on in their children's heads, what they are thinking and dreaming and what are their fears."
I hope the irony is clear.
Government education separates us from our children and it leaves them wide open to influences of which we are often unaware given the secretive tendencies of some kids.
Those of us who homeschool may not be the best parents, the most well-off or the most in touch with the outside world, but two things we do know well are the minds and hearts of our children. We are with them all day every day, talking, exploring, discussing, arguing, observing, loving, and correcting. Parents of government-schooled kids can approximate this way of life, to be sure, but I think they have to make a greater effort. It's hard to get a child to tell you about everything that goes on in that 7.5 hour period they're away from you.
Bild is right -- all the hand wringing and legislation in the world can't stop the horrors of school shootings. That responsibility rests solely with parents, but the parents have to be awake and alert and willing to shoulder it at all times. In short, parenting their children to adulthood must always be Job #1.
Sadly, this doesn't hold true for far too many families and society as a whole gets to pay the price.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding be poured out upon the people of Germany.
March 11, 2009
How about rustlin' up some decent education, pardner?
Wow.
The March 10 online edition of the Houston Chronicle includes a front-page article that has me shakin' my head and shufflin' my boots. (It's rodeo season for any out of town readers, so humor me as I try to make my way through the waist-deep bulls**t that is about to be presented to you.)
Apparently, the Houston Independent School District is now under investigation for allegedly using discretionary funds from school vending machines to purchase $100,000 worth of rodeo tickets for principals and other district personnel going back to 2003.
That's right, money that was supposed to be used for educational purposes according to the district's own guidelines was instead spent to show school employees a yee-hah good time.
Remember, that HISD's outgoing superintendent even admits the district's dropout rate is still way too high, and that other problems plaguing the district have yet to be resolved.
Oh but let's not worry about those pesky little things now, right? It's time to RO-DAY-O, people!
Here is an excerpt from reporter Bill Murphy's fine piece:
The principals bought the tickets with profits from school vending machines that go into funds controlled by the school leaders, said George Garver, manager of campus audits in the Houston school district’s inspector general’s office. Tickets for the annual Black Heritage Western Gala were then given to teachers and administrators.
The discretionary funds are to be used to “promote the general welfare and the educational development and morale of students,” the HISD’s financial procedures manual says. “Any expenditures directly from this account must benefit the entire student body.”
School Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said principals and administrators had appropriately used the funds because purchasing tickets works to cement a fruitful partnership between HISD and the rodeo. The rodeo, he said, awards more than $1 million in college scholarships to HISD students annually.
“I have been reassured by the (HISD) inspector general that there is nothing illegal or unethical about this practice,” he said. “It’s a relatively small investment when you consider that the return on that is very substantial.”
TEA initially conducted an investigation into the ticket purchases last year, but ended it because HISD’s inspector general concluded that no wrongful spending had occurred.
TEA re-opened the investigation this year. “Some more information was provided to us, and we are looking a little deeper into this,” Rita Chase, TEA director of financial audits, said Tuesday.
Del Murphy, husband of a retired HISD assistant principal, filed complaints with HISD’s inspector general and TEA. Money from the discretionary funds, he said, should go to buy school library books or make other school improvements.
“They use this money to go wining and dining. Taking this money and using it in this way is immoral,” he said. “You are taking money away from kids and elementary schools that are at minimal resources.”
In 2008, HISD spent about $16,000 on tickets to the gala. Tickets cost $40, and as many as 400 teachers and administrators received tickets for event.
Most of the money came out of the principals’ discretionary funds and principals’ general revenue discretionary fund, but a small portion of the money came from other school activity funds, Garver said.
HISD was unsure whether some of the nearly $6,000 spent on tickets in 2008 for elementary teachers may have come from parent-teacher organizations or corporations, said Bob Moore, HISD inspector general.
The March 10 online edition of the Houston Chronicle includes a front-page article that has me shakin' my head and shufflin' my boots. (It's rodeo season for any out of town readers, so humor me as I try to make my way through the waist-deep bulls**t that is about to be presented to you.)
Apparently, the Houston Independent School District is now under investigation for allegedly using discretionary funds from school vending machines to purchase $100,000 worth of rodeo tickets for principals and other district personnel going back to 2003.
That's right, money that was supposed to be used for educational purposes according to the district's own guidelines was instead spent to show school employees a yee-hah good time.
Remember, that HISD's outgoing superintendent even admits the district's dropout rate is still way too high, and that other problems plaguing the district have yet to be resolved.
Oh but let's not worry about those pesky little things now, right? It's time to RO-DAY-O, people!
Here is an excerpt from reporter Bill Murphy's fine piece:
The principals bought the tickets with profits from school vending machines that go into funds controlled by the school leaders, said George Garver, manager of campus audits in the Houston school district’s inspector general’s office. Tickets for the annual Black Heritage Western Gala were then given to teachers and administrators.
The discretionary funds are to be used to “promote the general welfare and the educational development and morale of students,” the HISD’s financial procedures manual says. “Any expenditures directly from this account must benefit the entire student body.”
School Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said principals and administrators had appropriately used the funds because purchasing tickets works to cement a fruitful partnership between HISD and the rodeo. The rodeo, he said, awards more than $1 million in college scholarships to HISD students annually.
“I have been reassured by the (HISD) inspector general that there is nothing illegal or unethical about this practice,” he said. “It’s a relatively small investment when you consider that the return on that is very substantial.”
TEA initially conducted an investigation into the ticket purchases last year, but ended it because HISD’s inspector general concluded that no wrongful spending had occurred.
TEA re-opened the investigation this year. “Some more information was provided to us, and we are looking a little deeper into this,” Rita Chase, TEA director of financial audits, said Tuesday.
Del Murphy, husband of a retired HISD assistant principal, filed complaints with HISD’s inspector general and TEA. Money from the discretionary funds, he said, should go to buy school library books or make other school improvements.
“They use this money to go wining and dining. Taking this money and using it in this way is immoral,” he said. “You are taking money away from kids and elementary schools that are at minimal resources.”
In 2008, HISD spent about $16,000 on tickets to the gala. Tickets cost $40, and as many as 400 teachers and administrators received tickets for event.
Most of the money came out of the principals’ discretionary funds and principals’ general revenue discretionary fund, but a small portion of the money came from other school activity funds, Garver said.
HISD was unsure whether some of the nearly $6,000 spent on tickets in 2008 for elementary teachers may have come from parent-teacher organizations or corporations, said Bob Moore, HISD inspector general.
What was Danica McKellar thinking?
Who? If you're of a certain age you may remember a pretty good series on TV called "The Wonder Years" that featured kids growing up in the 1960s and early '70s and narrated by the lead character Kevin Arnold, played by actor Fred Savage.
One of Kevin's best buddies and his sometimes love interest was a cute girl named Winnie Cooper played by then-child actress Danica McKellar.
After the series ended, McKellar took a break from acting and went off to college where she majored in math and graduated summa cum laude. She has since authored two bestselling books aimed at teen girls to encourage them in the study of math and has given numerous talks and presentations across the country on the importance of encouraging our daughters in math-related careers.
It all sounded pretty impressive to me, too, when I came across McKellar's information on Barnes and Noble.com
So I made the mistake of googling her name to find out more about how she decided to study math and to become well-known academically instead of superficially, i.e. Hollywood.
It was a mistake because what I found really shattered my impression of a beautiful, brilliant young woman out to encourage girls to better themselves.
Yep, at some point in her life McKellar opted to pose for racy lingerie photos in a men's magazine I've never heard of. Not nude, but not much left to the imagination. In the accompanying interview, according to Wikipedia, she did it in part to try to attract "grittier" acting roles. Btw, the magazine in question ceased publication in 2007, but McKellar's photos are on the internet for all time.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Why in the world did such a smart and attractive person decide this was the right thing to do? I have to wonder what her mother thought, and I have to wonder if McKellar, now 34, ever regrets selling out. Lastly, judging from the list of acting jobs she's had since Wonder Years ended, it doesn't appear that any of them were worth the compromise.
Maybe the pre-teen and teen girls targeted by McKellar's books won't think to look her up on the Web. I hope so, because I'd hate for them to come away with the tired worn-out notion that what you know STILL doesn't matter as much as what you look like.
Can Miss McKellar still be a role model for young girls? Maybe, but not mine.
One of Kevin's best buddies and his sometimes love interest was a cute girl named Winnie Cooper played by then-child actress Danica McKellar.
After the series ended, McKellar took a break from acting and went off to college where she majored in math and graduated summa cum laude. She has since authored two bestselling books aimed at teen girls to encourage them in the study of math and has given numerous talks and presentations across the country on the importance of encouraging our daughters in math-related careers.
It all sounded pretty impressive to me, too, when I came across McKellar's information on Barnes and Noble.com
So I made the mistake of googling her name to find out more about how she decided to study math and to become well-known academically instead of superficially, i.e. Hollywood.
It was a mistake because what I found really shattered my impression of a beautiful, brilliant young woman out to encourage girls to better themselves.
Yep, at some point in her life McKellar opted to pose for racy lingerie photos in a men's magazine I've never heard of. Not nude, but not much left to the imagination. In the accompanying interview, according to Wikipedia, she did it in part to try to attract "grittier" acting roles. Btw, the magazine in question ceased publication in 2007, but McKellar's photos are on the internet for all time.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Why in the world did such a smart and attractive person decide this was the right thing to do? I have to wonder what her mother thought, and I have to wonder if McKellar, now 34, ever regrets selling out. Lastly, judging from the list of acting jobs she's had since Wonder Years ended, it doesn't appear that any of them were worth the compromise.
Maybe the pre-teen and teen girls targeted by McKellar's books won't think to look her up on the Web. I hope so, because I'd hate for them to come away with the tired worn-out notion that what you know STILL doesn't matter as much as what you look like.
Can Miss McKellar still be a role model for young girls? Maybe, but not mine.
New 'blog category: Cultural Erosion
I figure since Al Gore and his band of merry men are closely following global warming and its impact on Earth, I'm going to start my own long-term observation and I'm going to name it "Cultural Erosion."
Things that may fall into this category will include:
1. Attempts by those who don't ascribe to a particular religious faith to piss off those of us who do.
2. Abuses of power and privilege that result in harm to children.
3. Cultural practices that bring down marriages, relationships between parents and children, and degrade the female gender in the guise of entertainment.
4. Public, er, government-run education
5. Books, movies, music and video games the socially redeeming value of which could pretty easily be discerned by anyone with a functioning brain
6. Things that encourage the purposeful inhumane treatment of animals both foreign and domestic
Judging from the current news, this category could very well take over my humble 'blog about life as a homeschooling mother of many.
But if the culture is the problem, shouldn't we be aware of this so as to better equip our kids to be part of the solution?
Maybe I'm not going so far off topic after all.
What do YOU think?
Things that may fall into this category will include:
1. Attempts by those who don't ascribe to a particular religious faith to piss off those of us who do.
2. Abuses of power and privilege that result in harm to children.
3. Cultural practices that bring down marriages, relationships between parents and children, and degrade the female gender in the guise of entertainment.
4. Public, er, government-run education
5. Books, movies, music and video games the socially redeeming value of which could pretty easily be discerned by anyone with a functioning brain
6. Things that encourage the purposeful inhumane treatment of animals both foreign and domestic
Judging from the current news, this category could very well take over my humble 'blog about life as a homeschooling mother of many.
But if the culture is the problem, shouldn't we be aware of this so as to better equip our kids to be part of the solution?
Maybe I'm not going so far off topic after all.
What do YOU think?
March 10, 2009
Maybe I've lost my sense of humor
The Fox News website offers up this questionably humorous piece by a Christian pastor somewhere in Va.
Is it just me or, aside from the insightful remark about the IRS, is this whole thing really unfunny?
Releasing this on the same day as the results from a study showing fewer Americans embrace religion is at best excruciatingly poor timing.
At worst, it reflects exactly the sort of perspective that leaves too many of our friends and relatives reluctant to set foot in a house of worship.
Flippant, casual, contrived -- all these and more describe the good pastor's effort to be funny. See what you think and let me know if I need to issue an APB for my sense of humor:
Top 10 Reasons to Go to Church
1. It’s a way to get a healthy glow without makeup.
2. Elvis started out in a church choir … so can you.
3. Goodness and mercy will follow you all the rest of your life–which are better than the IRS or FBI.
4. In this economy, it might be good to be hooked up with Someone who can turn water into wine.
5. You can walk down an aisle and approach an altar without having to gain a mother-in-law.
6. The Biblical admonition to “greet one another with a holy kiss” boosts your social life.
7. Hard Times? Kids getting on your nerves? Free coffee and child care at church!
8. The sound of money dropping is the offering, not your stocks.
9. Robes, candles, music…and it’s less expensive than a spa.
10. With April 15 coming, remember, Man does not live by Turbotax alone.
Bill Shuler is the pastor of the Capital Life Church in Arlington, Virginia.
Is it just me or, aside from the insightful remark about the IRS, is this whole thing really unfunny?
Releasing this on the same day as the results from a study showing fewer Americans embrace religion is at best excruciatingly poor timing.
At worst, it reflects exactly the sort of perspective that leaves too many of our friends and relatives reluctant to set foot in a house of worship.
Flippant, casual, contrived -- all these and more describe the good pastor's effort to be funny. See what you think and let me know if I need to issue an APB for my sense of humor:
Top 10 Reasons to Go to Church
1. It’s a way to get a healthy glow without makeup.
2. Elvis started out in a church choir … so can you.
3. Goodness and mercy will follow you all the rest of your life–which are better than the IRS or FBI.
4. In this economy, it might be good to be hooked up with Someone who can turn water into wine.
5. You can walk down an aisle and approach an altar without having to gain a mother-in-law.
6. The Biblical admonition to “greet one another with a holy kiss” boosts your social life.
7. Hard Times? Kids getting on your nerves? Free coffee and child care at church!
8. The sound of money dropping is the offering, not your stocks.
9. Robes, candles, music…and it’s less expensive than a spa.
10. With April 15 coming, remember, Man does not live by Turbotax alone.
Bill Shuler is the pastor of the Capital Life Church in Arlington, Virginia.
March 9, 2009
Crying babies and other people's 'blogs
Maybe, I've decided, I shouldn't read other people's 'blogs. Or at least I should be very selective when it comes to the ones I do read.
Case in point. Our major metro newspaper has part of its website set aside for bloggers to write about pretty much anything they want to. Among the several parenting/life with small children type 'blogs is one written by a new mother of a baby who, I think, may still be under the age of one.
I like reading about other people's babies and children, so I visited this particular 'blog.
It was a heartbreaker for me.
Those who know me really well know that I have an intense dislike for the method of getting babies to sleep euphemistically known as "Cry It Out."
Basically what this entails is showing your tiny, vulnerable, trusting, innocent newborn that you are the Big Boss and that he or she better not try to take advantage of you. It's assertion of power and authority over someone who understands neither.
Consequently, when it comes to getting said baby to sleep, the parent follows this weird barbaric practice of letting the baby cry and cry and cry and cry.
The author of the 'blog I read said her little girl cried for THREE HOURS before finally falling asleep one night.
Mmm. I'd fall asleep too, out of sheer exhaustion and total defeat if I cried for three hours straight.
But by golly I'd know who was boss, right?
What crap.
Several mothers wrote in to the 'blog mom to remind her that babies cry for a reason and whatever the reason is, it's always a good one.
They are hungry, they are wet, they are poopy, they are cold, they are hot, they are swaddled too tightly, swaddled not tightly enough, they are lonely, they are scared, they are INSTINCTIVELY PROGRAMMED BY GOD TO WANT TO BE CLOSE TO THEIR MOTHER.
Whatever the reason, it's valid enough to throw the CIO method out the nearest window.
I find it ironic that as parents we jump through a lot of hoops to keep our children from crying, certainly when they are babies. So then we turn around and LET them cry when they should be settling down to sleep? This is illogical on every level.
I'm gonna brag here and not because I like to brag but because I want to make a point well-grounded in personal experience.
My mother and dad never let me cry. Never. If I started boo-hooing as a baby they figured out what was wrong and fixed it. If all else failed they put me in the car and drove me around until the motion of the vehicle lulled me to sleep. Consequently as I entered toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, older adulthood (where I am now), I always knew my folks were there for me if I needed them.
I did not suffer sleep disorders, I was not spoiled, I did not end up a diva with a rap sheet.
Of my four children, none of whom have ever been allowed to CIO, all are good sleepers with no bedtime battles, good eaters, reasonably well-adjusted (if you ignore the I-am-four antics of my older son), loving, and independent.
My mother always said you cannot hold a baby too much, you cannot love them too much, you cannot spoil a baby.
A toddler or a young child, maybe, because by then they are old enough to be redirected to soothe themselves.
But babies up to age one or so, no way. They need to know if they cry you will come. They need to be able to trust you.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Babies do not have to be trained to sleep any more than they need to be trained to eat, poop, or smile. Letting babies cry and cry while you withhold comfort is just plain mean, and there's no argument in favor of it that I've read yet that will change my mind.
That mom's 'blog was so upsetting to me I thought I was gonna have to cry it out, so I stopped reading it.
The world is already so full of human suffering, sadness and abject misery, why do we purposely allow these things into the earliest experiences of its most innocent citizens thinking it will somehow be good for them?
Case in point. Our major metro newspaper has part of its website set aside for bloggers to write about pretty much anything they want to. Among the several parenting/life with small children type 'blogs is one written by a new mother of a baby who, I think, may still be under the age of one.
I like reading about other people's babies and children, so I visited this particular 'blog.
It was a heartbreaker for me.
Those who know me really well know that I have an intense dislike for the method of getting babies to sleep euphemistically known as "Cry It Out."
Basically what this entails is showing your tiny, vulnerable, trusting, innocent newborn that you are the Big Boss and that he or she better not try to take advantage of you. It's assertion of power and authority over someone who understands neither.
Consequently, when it comes to getting said baby to sleep, the parent follows this weird barbaric practice of letting the baby cry and cry and cry and cry.
The author of the 'blog I read said her little girl cried for THREE HOURS before finally falling asleep one night.
Mmm. I'd fall asleep too, out of sheer exhaustion and total defeat if I cried for three hours straight.
But by golly I'd know who was boss, right?
What crap.
Several mothers wrote in to the 'blog mom to remind her that babies cry for a reason and whatever the reason is, it's always a good one.
They are hungry, they are wet, they are poopy, they are cold, they are hot, they are swaddled too tightly, swaddled not tightly enough, they are lonely, they are scared, they are INSTINCTIVELY PROGRAMMED BY GOD TO WANT TO BE CLOSE TO THEIR MOTHER.
Whatever the reason, it's valid enough to throw the CIO method out the nearest window.
I find it ironic that as parents we jump through a lot of hoops to keep our children from crying, certainly when they are babies. So then we turn around and LET them cry when they should be settling down to sleep? This is illogical on every level.
I'm gonna brag here and not because I like to brag but because I want to make a point well-grounded in personal experience.
My mother and dad never let me cry. Never. If I started boo-hooing as a baby they figured out what was wrong and fixed it. If all else failed they put me in the car and drove me around until the motion of the vehicle lulled me to sleep. Consequently as I entered toddlerhood, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, older adulthood (where I am now), I always knew my folks were there for me if I needed them.
I did not suffer sleep disorders, I was not spoiled, I did not end up a diva with a rap sheet.
Of my four children, none of whom have ever been allowed to CIO, all are good sleepers with no bedtime battles, good eaters, reasonably well-adjusted (if you ignore the I-am-four antics of my older son), loving, and independent.
My mother always said you cannot hold a baby too much, you cannot love them too much, you cannot spoil a baby.
A toddler or a young child, maybe, because by then they are old enough to be redirected to soothe themselves.
But babies up to age one or so, no way. They need to know if they cry you will come. They need to be able to trust you.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Babies do not have to be trained to sleep any more than they need to be trained to eat, poop, or smile. Letting babies cry and cry while you withhold comfort is just plain mean, and there's no argument in favor of it that I've read yet that will change my mind.
That mom's 'blog was so upsetting to me I thought I was gonna have to cry it out, so I stopped reading it.
The world is already so full of human suffering, sadness and abject misery, why do we purposely allow these things into the earliest experiences of its most innocent citizens thinking it will somehow be good for them?
Was it the lyrics or the volume?
Either way, I went into a full-tilt hissy fit Sunday afternoon as I left to go meet a friend about a space for one of our homeschool clubs. My oldest child was outside on our patio as incredibly loud metal music blared across the fence we share with our neighbors.
The volume was bad enough.
But the lyrics sent me over the edge.
"Crazy b**ch, she's a crazy b**ch. Crazy b**ch, crazy b**ch," and on and on and ON it went.
Repetitive, incessantly foul.
Fortunately it was just distorted enough that my nine-year-old didn't pick up any new vocabulary.
As I headed towards the car, I hollered at her to go back inside. Just as she turned to go in, her younger two siblings came tumbling out the back door. Then I really hollered, in part to be heard over the din of profanity pouring out of my neighbor's yard and partly because now I was on the other side of a gate I'd just locked and I was in a huge hurry. "Go inside! Go inside, now!" My six-year-old looked confused. "Just go!" I said, as the blue language swirled around me. "Crazy b**ch," over and over and over.
About that time my husband also came out and looked puzzled as I repeatedly yelled at him to "take the kids back inside! NOW! Take them inside NOW! I don't want them to hear that trash!"
He did, and it wasn't until I got home that I was able to explain my command.
Interestingly enough, he said, it wasn't but about 10 minutes after I pulled out of the driveway that the music stopped altogether. Maybe my neighbor's teenage son heard my remarks about his taste in music. My voice does carry far and away.
Or maybe his mother decided she didn't want his little five-year-old sister to hear the lyrics, either.
As an aside, I heard on the news today that fewer Americans ascribe to a religion, down so many tenths of a percent from several years ago.
When I think about the music next door, the millions of dollars the media says our society spends on pornography, the flirtation with socialism that seems to be growing into a full-fledged love affair, the ease with which the Madoffs and Stanfords and Lays of the world cheat their fellow men, I guess I'm not surprised that religion -- moral and ethical accountability to a higher power -- is falling by the wayside.
St. Paul said it, folks. To be carnally minded is death. When we love the things of the world more than we love God and our families and neighbors, it's a short slide downhill all the way to the bottom.
And that's not crazy.
The volume was bad enough.
But the lyrics sent me over the edge.
"Crazy b**ch, she's a crazy b**ch. Crazy b**ch, crazy b**ch," and on and on and ON it went.
Repetitive, incessantly foul.
Fortunately it was just distorted enough that my nine-year-old didn't pick up any new vocabulary.
As I headed towards the car, I hollered at her to go back inside. Just as she turned to go in, her younger two siblings came tumbling out the back door. Then I really hollered, in part to be heard over the din of profanity pouring out of my neighbor's yard and partly because now I was on the other side of a gate I'd just locked and I was in a huge hurry. "Go inside! Go inside, now!" My six-year-old looked confused. "Just go!" I said, as the blue language swirled around me. "Crazy b**ch," over and over and over.
About that time my husband also came out and looked puzzled as I repeatedly yelled at him to "take the kids back inside! NOW! Take them inside NOW! I don't want them to hear that trash!"
He did, and it wasn't until I got home that I was able to explain my command.
Interestingly enough, he said, it wasn't but about 10 minutes after I pulled out of the driveway that the music stopped altogether. Maybe my neighbor's teenage son heard my remarks about his taste in music. My voice does carry far and away.
Or maybe his mother decided she didn't want his little five-year-old sister to hear the lyrics, either.
As an aside, I heard on the news today that fewer Americans ascribe to a religion, down so many tenths of a percent from several years ago.
When I think about the music next door, the millions of dollars the media says our society spends on pornography, the flirtation with socialism that seems to be growing into a full-fledged love affair, the ease with which the Madoffs and Stanfords and Lays of the world cheat their fellow men, I guess I'm not surprised that religion -- moral and ethical accountability to a higher power -- is falling by the wayside.
St. Paul said it, folks. To be carnally minded is death. When we love the things of the world more than we love God and our families and neighbors, it's a short slide downhill all the way to the bottom.
And that's not crazy.
March 7, 2009
Why my girls don't watch TV
Dora The Explorer. My girls don't know her. They don't watch TV because, as I've told them, TV turns your brain to oatmeal and besides I wanted them to learn to read first.
Now that they are both good readers, they are so involved in reading and writing and creative play based on the things they read and write they never ask if now is the time for them to start watching TV.
And I'm glad.
Read the following excerpt from a New York Daily News article that has parents up in arms about the proposed makeover of a freakin' cartoon character -- as if she was real, as if she mattered. . .
Creators of Dora the Explorer, a favorite character among preschoolers that teaches kids English and Spanish, say they are just making her move with the times.
The tweenage Dora will live in the big city, attend middle school and have a new wardrobe and accessories.
"For nearly ten years, Dora the Explorer has had such a strong following among preschoolers, catapulting it into the number one preschool show on commercial television," said Gina Sirard, Mattel's vice president of marketing.
"Girls really identify with Dora and we knew that girls would love to have their friend Dora grow up with them, and experience the new things that they were going through themselves.
"The brand captures girls' existing love of Dora and marries it with the fashion doll play and online experiences older girls enjoy."
Critics say they would prefer Dora to grow up true to the character she is as a child.
Friends, the day any of my children "identify" more closely with a cartoon character than with their parents, grandparents, or heroes or heroines from good literature (and, no, Dora-themed books do NOT count)I'll be looking for a tall bridge off which to throw myself. Because I will have failed as a parent.
My kids don't have to go 'round quoting Shakespeare or William Blake, but I'd rather see them pretending to be -- wanting to be -- like Laura Ingalls Wilder or the girls from Little Women or Caddie Woodlawn or Anne of Green Gables. Real people or characters based on real people placed in stories with substance and intricate or engaging or enlightening plots.
There are a million ways to learn Spanish, so no one flame me and say "But Dora is so educational for biligual learning."
Bull.
Dora, like so many cartoony things is purely for entertainment and profit. Dress her up in the flimsiest "educational" guise and suddenly she has credibility?
No way.
TURN OFF YOUR TVs, those of you who let your kids watch them ad nauseum. Let them craft their pretend play around characters they make up on their own! Let them imitate the greater characters from classic children's literature!
But for pete's sake -- and that of our culture at large -- don't encourage them to "identify" with Dora or anyone of her ilk. These are cartoons, people, and they are not fit for unregulated human consumption.
Now that they are both good readers, they are so involved in reading and writing and creative play based on the things they read and write they never ask if now is the time for them to start watching TV.
And I'm glad.
Read the following excerpt from a New York Daily News article that has parents up in arms about the proposed makeover of a freakin' cartoon character -- as if she was real, as if she mattered. . .
Creators of Dora the Explorer, a favorite character among preschoolers that teaches kids English and Spanish, say they are just making her move with the times.
The tweenage Dora will live in the big city, attend middle school and have a new wardrobe and accessories.
"For nearly ten years, Dora the Explorer has had such a strong following among preschoolers, catapulting it into the number one preschool show on commercial television," said Gina Sirard, Mattel's vice president of marketing.
"Girls really identify with Dora and we knew that girls would love to have their friend Dora grow up with them, and experience the new things that they were going through themselves.
"The brand captures girls' existing love of Dora and marries it with the fashion doll play and online experiences older girls enjoy."
Critics say they would prefer Dora to grow up true to the character she is as a child.
Friends, the day any of my children "identify" more closely with a cartoon character than with their parents, grandparents, or heroes or heroines from good literature (and, no, Dora-themed books do NOT count)I'll be looking for a tall bridge off which to throw myself. Because I will have failed as a parent.
My kids don't have to go 'round quoting Shakespeare or William Blake, but I'd rather see them pretending to be -- wanting to be -- like Laura Ingalls Wilder or the girls from Little Women or Caddie Woodlawn or Anne of Green Gables. Real people or characters based on real people placed in stories with substance and intricate or engaging or enlightening plots.
There are a million ways to learn Spanish, so no one flame me and say "But Dora is so educational for biligual learning."
Bull.
Dora, like so many cartoony things is purely for entertainment and profit. Dress her up in the flimsiest "educational" guise and suddenly she has credibility?
No way.
TURN OFF YOUR TVs, those of you who let your kids watch them ad nauseum. Let them craft their pretend play around characters they make up on their own! Let them imitate the greater characters from classic children's literature!
But for pete's sake -- and that of our culture at large -- don't encourage them to "identify" with Dora or anyone of her ilk. These are cartoons, people, and they are not fit for unregulated human consumption.
When English parents object . . .
The following article needs no additional commentary.
From the Telegraph newspaper in London:
Parents face prosecution over school gay week protest
Parents who took their children out of school in protest at them being taught about gay, bisexual and transgender history could be prosecuted.
Last Updated: 4:06PM GMT 06 Mar 2009
Council bosses said the protest resulted in around 30 primary pupils missing school and had "taken action" against parents who pulled took their children out of George Tomlinson School in Leytonstone, east London, but refused to state what sanctions are being taken.
Pervez Latif, a 41-year-old accountant whose children Saleh, 10, and Abdurrahin, nine, attend the school, said his wife Shaheen, 38, was worried they could be taken to court.
He said: "My wife is very concerned she might be prosecuted.
"As yet we haven't heard anything from the council about whether they are taking action."
He said he knew of about 30 children who had been taken out of classes during the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Week after parents objected to their youngsters being encouraged to "celebrates the lives and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in the community".
Under current laws parents can be prosecuted for failing to ensure their children attend school.
Mr Latif, from Leytonstone, said: "We were worried because weren't sure how they were going to teach our children these issues.
"We don't think it is necessary to teach it for a whole week and the children are so young. It is more appropriate for secondary school.
"Most children that age don't understand these things. When we took our children out of school we had to explain why - they didn't know what two parents the same sex meant."
A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council refused to reveal how many children missed lessons or what action would be taken against pupils but the council's website said parents of truant youngsters can be asked to sign a contract, given an on the spot fine or hauled into court.
The spokesman added: "As part of the borough's policy of promoting tolerance in our schools, children are taught that everyone in our society is of equal value.
"At George Tomlinson, parents were invited to meet with teachers and governors several weeks ago to discuss what work would be taking place throughout the national LGBT History Month, and how this work would be delivered.
"Regrettably, some parents chose to remove their children from school.
"The council does not condone any unauthorised absence from school and action has been taken."
From the Telegraph newspaper in London:
Parents face prosecution over school gay week protest
Parents who took their children out of school in protest at them being taught about gay, bisexual and transgender history could be prosecuted.
Last Updated: 4:06PM GMT 06 Mar 2009
Council bosses said the protest resulted in around 30 primary pupils missing school and had "taken action" against parents who pulled took their children out of George Tomlinson School in Leytonstone, east London, but refused to state what sanctions are being taken.
Pervez Latif, a 41-year-old accountant whose children Saleh, 10, and Abdurrahin, nine, attend the school, said his wife Shaheen, 38, was worried they could be taken to court.
He said: "My wife is very concerned she might be prosecuted.
"As yet we haven't heard anything from the council about whether they are taking action."
He said he knew of about 30 children who had been taken out of classes during the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Week after parents objected to their youngsters being encouraged to "celebrates the lives and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in the community".
Under current laws parents can be prosecuted for failing to ensure their children attend school.
Mr Latif, from Leytonstone, said: "We were worried because weren't sure how they were going to teach our children these issues.
"We don't think it is necessary to teach it for a whole week and the children are so young. It is more appropriate for secondary school.
"Most children that age don't understand these things. When we took our children out of school we had to explain why - they didn't know what two parents the same sex meant."
A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council refused to reveal how many children missed lessons or what action would be taken against pupils but the council's website said parents of truant youngsters can be asked to sign a contract, given an on the spot fine or hauled into court.
The spokesman added: "As part of the borough's policy of promoting tolerance in our schools, children are taught that everyone in our society is of equal value.
"At George Tomlinson, parents were invited to meet with teachers and governors several weeks ago to discuss what work would be taking place throughout the national LGBT History Month, and how this work would be delivered.
"Regrettably, some parents chose to remove their children from school.
"The council does not condone any unauthorised absence from school and action has been taken."
Homeschoolers I Know
Well, for starters, they all pretty much rock.
Some of them live on one income to teach their kids at home. Some of them live on virtually no income now that the economy is one big tar pit.
Some of them graduated highschool but didn't make it to college.
Some of them have degrees in everything from the culinary arts and biology to theatre arts and math.
Some of them are single parents, some are not.
Most of the homeschool teachers I know are women and they juggle all the other responsibilities of hearth and home in addition to giving their children an education.
All the homeschoolers I know have chosen homeschooling because the government schools betrayed them in one way or another.
Some homeschool for religious reasons only. Some for academics. Some for both.
Some are white, some are black, some are Asian with heritages in India, Japan and China. Some are Catholic, some are Protestant, some are none of the above.
The majority of the parents settle for older clothes, older houses, fewer vacations, patched up cars and dinners at Denneys rather than Red Lobster. See, they've come to the conclusion independent of one another that their children's minds and lives are worth so much more than any of that.
Contrary to what some ignorant critics snidely suggest, those of us who homeschool for religious reasons aren't trying to craft a new generation of mindless religious extremists. We are, instead, trying to buy time for our children to understand and embrace a spiritual life before they are thrown to a world that continues to devalue morals, integrity and hope born of accountability to a higher power.
We are to be faulted for this?
All the homeschoolers I know are unfailingly willing to help each other, to share knowledge, resources, friendship, childcare and, in times of crises, even money.
They have resurrected the sense of community that used to be so prevalent in earlier times, when opening one's home or one's church was unremarkable and routine.
Homeschooling as I've observed it these past three years really has less to do with books, tests, science projects, or paperwork and much more to do with building relationships that inherently teach us about ourselves, others and the world.
Homeschoolers are doing what everyone ought to be doing -- not teaching their kids the Three R's per se -- but taking the time to teach their children true life skills so their kids can survive and thrive in spite of someone else's expectations or mandates, civics so that they understand their nation's history and its laws, critical thinking so that their kids can defend themselves against intellectual idiocy when it comes calling, and what it means to live in community with other people from all backgrounds, faiths, and races.
It's socialization far superior to anything the government schools can provide, because it's coming from those with the greatest vested interest in the lifelong success of their children.
Some of them live on one income to teach their kids at home. Some of them live on virtually no income now that the economy is one big tar pit.
Some of them graduated highschool but didn't make it to college.
Some of them have degrees in everything from the culinary arts and biology to theatre arts and math.
Some of them are single parents, some are not.
Most of the homeschool teachers I know are women and they juggle all the other responsibilities of hearth and home in addition to giving their children an education.
All the homeschoolers I know have chosen homeschooling because the government schools betrayed them in one way or another.
Some homeschool for religious reasons only. Some for academics. Some for both.
Some are white, some are black, some are Asian with heritages in India, Japan and China. Some are Catholic, some are Protestant, some are none of the above.
The majority of the parents settle for older clothes, older houses, fewer vacations, patched up cars and dinners at Denneys rather than Red Lobster. See, they've come to the conclusion independent of one another that their children's minds and lives are worth so much more than any of that.
Contrary to what some ignorant critics snidely suggest, those of us who homeschool for religious reasons aren't trying to craft a new generation of mindless religious extremists. We are, instead, trying to buy time for our children to understand and embrace a spiritual life before they are thrown to a world that continues to devalue morals, integrity and hope born of accountability to a higher power.
We are to be faulted for this?
All the homeschoolers I know are unfailingly willing to help each other, to share knowledge, resources, friendship, childcare and, in times of crises, even money.
They have resurrected the sense of community that used to be so prevalent in earlier times, when opening one's home or one's church was unremarkable and routine.
Homeschooling as I've observed it these past three years really has less to do with books, tests, science projects, or paperwork and much more to do with building relationships that inherently teach us about ourselves, others and the world.
Homeschoolers are doing what everyone ought to be doing -- not teaching their kids the Three R's per se -- but taking the time to teach their children true life skills so their kids can survive and thrive in spite of someone else's expectations or mandates, civics so that they understand their nation's history and its laws, critical thinking so that their kids can defend themselves against intellectual idiocy when it comes calling, and what it means to live in community with other people from all backgrounds, faiths, and races.
It's socialization far superior to anything the government schools can provide, because it's coming from those with the greatest vested interest in the lifelong success of their children.
The Ignorant Want Your Children
It's true. Some of the most ignorant people in the country really expect that you'll give over your children to them to -- don't laugh -- educate.
If this expectation wasn't so widespread, I'd almost think it funny in a morbid, ironic, bemused sort of way.
The irony is, of course, that so many in the government education system -- my euphemism for public schools -- actually think parents who homeschool their kids pose the bigger danger. They like to spout off nonsense about how we are not credentialed, don't have that piece of paper from a so-called teacher's college or college of education, aren't wise enough to impart the information our children need to succeed.
Like they do?
I'll start locally and work my way out, so bear with me.
The Texas Homeschool Coalition, a state homeschool advocacy and watchdog group, regularly publishes in its news magazine and on its website case after case in which a school district official has failed to learn the law regarding homeschoolers' rights. What? They can't read? Or don't want to? Either way, ignorance prevails and these districts go off half-cocked requiring things from homeschooling families the law does not require the families to produce.
I think if I was about to go and cite and then try to enforce a law of any sort, I'd make very sure I actually knew what the law said. But far too many public school officials don't seem to mind eating crow once the THSC writes to let them know they've stepped out of bounds.
They want us to let them teach our children and they can't even bother to know the state education code? Sweet.
Okay, enough about fools in the Lone Star State. Let's move on to Illinois, a state that in spite of producing two presidents (Lincoln and Obama) has yet to figure out what to do about its schools. Education officials in Illinois seem about as capable of understanding their state's laws -- nevermind the Constitution -- as their Texas counterparts.
A March 7 article on WorldNet Daily's website reports that the Illinois High School Association is actually trying to ban PRIVATE Christian schools from broadcasting pre-game prayers over their loudspeakers on their own property.
Purportedly, the IHSA is worried that allowing such prayers on PRIVATE school property somehow violates our poor misunderstood First Amendment's establishment clause -- the one that says government will not endorse a particular religion but will be neutral towards all.
The IHSA is a bunch of idiots, seeing as how time and again the courts have reaffirmed the right of religious institutions to express their respective religious beliefs and purpose.
This is nothing but ignorance on the part of those who are supposedly in charge of education.
Embarrassing and potentially costly to the school association if it ends up being sued.
And by the way, a dear lifelong friend of mine who has taught in public schools for going on 15 years now told me just the other night that she wishes more parents knew just how bad things are. If they did, and they were able to, they would homeschool, she said.
Out of the mouth of one who's there. Thanks Jennifer, for affirming what so many of us have suspected for so long.
If this expectation wasn't so widespread, I'd almost think it funny in a morbid, ironic, bemused sort of way.
The irony is, of course, that so many in the government education system -- my euphemism for public schools -- actually think parents who homeschool their kids pose the bigger danger. They like to spout off nonsense about how we are not credentialed, don't have that piece of paper from a so-called teacher's college or college of education, aren't wise enough to impart the information our children need to succeed.
Like they do?
I'll start locally and work my way out, so bear with me.
The Texas Homeschool Coalition, a state homeschool advocacy and watchdog group, regularly publishes in its news magazine and on its website case after case in which a school district official has failed to learn the law regarding homeschoolers' rights. What? They can't read? Or don't want to? Either way, ignorance prevails and these districts go off half-cocked requiring things from homeschooling families the law does not require the families to produce.
I think if I was about to go and cite and then try to enforce a law of any sort, I'd make very sure I actually knew what the law said. But far too many public school officials don't seem to mind eating crow once the THSC writes to let them know they've stepped out of bounds.
They want us to let them teach our children and they can't even bother to know the state education code? Sweet.
Okay, enough about fools in the Lone Star State. Let's move on to Illinois, a state that in spite of producing two presidents (Lincoln and Obama) has yet to figure out what to do about its schools. Education officials in Illinois seem about as capable of understanding their state's laws -- nevermind the Constitution -- as their Texas counterparts.
A March 7 article on WorldNet Daily's website reports that the Illinois High School Association is actually trying to ban PRIVATE Christian schools from broadcasting pre-game prayers over their loudspeakers on their own property.
Purportedly, the IHSA is worried that allowing such prayers on PRIVATE school property somehow violates our poor misunderstood First Amendment's establishment clause -- the one that says government will not endorse a particular religion but will be neutral towards all.
The IHSA is a bunch of idiots, seeing as how time and again the courts have reaffirmed the right of religious institutions to express their respective religious beliefs and purpose.
This is nothing but ignorance on the part of those who are supposedly in charge of education.
Embarrassing and potentially costly to the school association if it ends up being sued.
And by the way, a dear lifelong friend of mine who has taught in public schools for going on 15 years now told me just the other night that she wishes more parents knew just how bad things are. If they did, and they were able to, they would homeschool, she said.
Out of the mouth of one who's there. Thanks Jennifer, for affirming what so many of us have suspected for so long.
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