Tests, Texting, and Testiness

Random thoughts of a cluttered mind....

- When did my most frustrating moments become my inability to text a person as fast as I could say the same thing by calling? and...

- Why do I insist on texting them anyway?

- When I tested my kids on information they learned last year, Naomi's comment was "Dad, my brain is getting too full."

- Am I getting frustrated because it's been a long year of school, or because I realize the kids are a year closer to leaving me and I've wasted countless chances to bond with them?

- (For teens only) How can you send 1000 texts in one month? Do you have some kind of training program? Is their a textathon somewhere my teenage son is preparing for?

- At what point did my favorite phrase become, "It's not like I'm so much older than you, but..."

- The highlight of any man's day is finding two matching socks on the first dig into the mismatch sock basket. (Admit it, you've got one too.)

- Proof that I should make the kids pay for stuff...

Marcus - "Name something in life that isn't free."

Naomi - "well, everything in my life is free b'cause my parents pay for everything."

- The simpler a concept is, the more you have to explain it.

- The only time I miss childhood is when I'm witnessing someone wasting theirs.

- At this pace of life, I have to get to know myself everyday for fear I'll forget who I am.

- What could God do with our lives if we weren't in the way?

Looking unto the hills,
acp

The future is on a 3.5 inch screen.

Since I have been unable to consistently blog with my laptop, maybe my
new iPod touch will motivate me to write more often. It seems all our
technology is designed to make our eyes unable to focus on anything
bigger than our hand.

We are completing our science fair abstracts, after successfully
spilling enough soda to start a bottling company. The kids chose to
replay the diet coke and mentor soda geyser experiment made famous by
Mythbusters and youtube videos. Maybe not the most practical of
topics, but certainly not a boring one. It also gave us opportunity to
work on the scientific method, which I was worried about not covering
enough.

As for family life, Miki and I continue to weigh our options. We both
see the need for more time for ourselves, but it's always a struggle
to break away long enough to really recharge. Jesus made a habit of
taking time for prayer away from the crowds, so we have to be able to
leave the kids in good hands once in a while and regroup as a couple
for both faith and fun. I mean, He was all God and man, so I know we
mere mortals need rest too. Now to schedule that is another story.

Looking unto the hills...

Acp

Continued solutions....

First off, thank you Mylinda for encouraging me to pick up the pace... (smile)

We've had some interesting educational quandaries lately. One involves the kids and and their tutors at our ministry. (I pray they're not reading). Apparently one of the teen tutors is having a little difficulty in division, a subject Marcus mastered with Math U See. I came in one day to deliver a book to Naomi and found her at the board working on a division problem. The teenager told me Marcus had been interrupting her as she was trying to explain problems, so I asked if I could stay and watch his classroom behavior. Naomi worked out the problem, leaving a remainder larger than the original divisor (i.e. 20 / 3 = 5 with a remainder of 5). In typical ADD fashion I myself pointed out the error without raising my hand first. (Talk about the apple not falling far from the tree. ) The teen vainly tried to explain to me that "this is the way they tell them to do it at school", and pointed out some new anagram of the steps. The saddest part is that the tutor and all the kids thought she was right!

This easily could become a post about the failures of public schooling writ large, but I was more influenced by Marcus' comments. He stated that he might want to wait to start (public) middle school because he was noticing the issues of some of the older students.

You see, the most important thing about that statement is that he is taking responsibility for his own educational choices. Not whether it was in homeschool or public, but that HE was making the choice based on his needs and not social, emotional or family pressures. It reinforces my belief that the greatest gift of this family learning journey is the identification of identity, the response to the understanding of responsibility over your own life. There can be no greater aim than the true meaning of ecucere, the Latin root of our word 'educate'. It means 'to lead out'. OUT. What are we leading out of our children? You can only lead out what is already in, not what is put in. To put into our children what is not naturally there can only lead to a rejection or a stagnation of the information. Knowledge must connect to wisdom, which must connect to real life application of God's natural order in our lives and in our greater existence. Without that connection, our education throughout our lives is simply an appendage to our real selves, a tool outside the box only picked up out of curiosity and not necessity. As Agrippa falsely accused Paul, "Much learning has made you mad." Or if not mad, at least bloated and unfulfilled, as I think many of our children are today with the information overload they are experiencing. I really hope someway we can encourage educators of every stripe to sense the great need for the removal of victimization in education to be replaced by the desire for individual responsibility, and with it the freedom to be one's self as God intended.

Perhaps it is fitting then that we are reading a chapter of Proverbs each day in our church - one for each day in January. Wisdom is still calling in the streets in 2008. I think many in all walks of life should answer her call with the understanding that she holds us individually accountable for how we handle her teachings. And with that I will bid adieu until next time I'm inspired (or goaded :-) into writing more often.

Unto the hills,
acp

Solution.

I made no resolutions this year. Of course, you hear many making the same statement at the beginning of a new year - they're used to quiting, or not following through with their commitments, or perhaps they are rebelling against the prevailing wisdom that the passage of the earth around the sun one more time signifies the time to try to change things about ourselves. However, that isn't why I eschewed the resolution binge. It's because of the word itself.

The original Latin root of resolve means to loosen. The idea seems to be that idea of removing the obstacle to a certain end or goal by great force. But in common English, "re" refers to a repeated action, and obviously "solve" involves the idea of a complete answer to a problem. How can one repeatedly solve the same problem? No, I prefer one complete solution, one that does not mean remaking myself, but finding what my purpose was from the beginning. It is not a resolve, it is a return. A return to the purpose that already resides in me, an affirmation that God is the real solution, not the resolution. Even in the original meaning, resolving means more than grabbing onto something, it is releasing all that is not important or central to the high prize of the calling for which I strive. The idea of letting go, of the total lack of my internal ability to change without eternal assistance, is my mandate for 2008.

In homeschooling news, we are back into our normal schedule. Marcus is working on presidential trading cards and reading "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" , and Naomi is head over heels in love with "Bridge to Teribithia". The kids seem to feel comfortable with the prospect of continuing homeschooling even as Marcus approaches middle school age. We will look into enrolling him in Florida Virtual School to allow him a taste of higher end classes.

Happy New Year to all and may God help you to maximize your mission this year!

Unto the hills,
acp

Cash, Cheerleading, and Curriculum

Another busy two weeks - actually super busy. I try not to make negative statements about being in church every night, as people may think that being in church is a bad thing. But certainly it's tiring when you're getting home at 10 and 10:30 each evening. But it's been a good run of leadership training and learning at these services too. (We had a leadership service week.) We had time to rest today and I have a bit of time to write.

First of all, blessings to all the veterans, including in my family. Many have passed on but we still cherish their memory and their courage. I wish we could have done more to commemorate the day, but I was heartened by my children's prayers this evening - each one thanked God for the sacrifices of soldiers. Maybe some of these lessons are sinking in.

We've had varying success using the Weaver curriculum. It's very thorough in explanation but a little skimpy on activities that don't involve a lot of hands on stuff. In other words, the lessons aren't very independent learning friendly. They seem more teacher directed, and that's not great for our style. However, the bible lessons fit well into the units and I also appreciate the number of activities available - I just wish they allowed for more "stretching". When I have to stretch the activities, it seems like I'm back to square one in my planning crunch. It's only been a few weeks so we'll keep at it to make sure it's not the improper application of the material that's causing the problem (for me, at least.)

As for cash, it's time to budget for classes and sports for next year. I'm very concerned that we'll either spend too much or not enough. Perhaps that's every parent's worry - does my daughter really need that violin class and the new violin? If I don't buy in, have I deprived her? And how much is too much? Cheerleading, dance, piano, you name it, she's in it. Even as a piano teacher myself, I wouldn't want kids that are stretched too thin in my class. They usually are irritable, don't take personal interest in the lesson, and seem to just go through the motions in order to appease whatever parent forced them to learn the instrument. And that's the last thing I want for my kids to feel. On the other hand, of course, they are talented enough to excel, and I also want them to have a high level of accomplishment in something. By week's end we'll have to decide whether to leave them in their current classes, or move them into something less expensive. Miki and I are praying for a blessing that will allow us to balance their creative needs with their physical ones - so that they won't lack on either case. A fair and noble request, if I do say so myself.

Later I'll detail some of the unit lessons that have been less than interesting in the Weaver and perhaps someone will help me spice it up or find alternatives. Until then, I'll be looking unto the hills...