Posted in Education on Wednesday, 21 May 2008 | 1 Comment »
The Higher Education Bubble
That is, when are enough people going to realize that investing in a college education is, for more and more people, a foolish proposition, because it’s going to get you deep in a ditch of debt that you cannot easily climb out of. This debt will delay your ability to buy a [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts on Tuesday, 1 April 2008 | 1 Comment »
Schools are for Fish
Why is it that the people we need most in our country are the ones who get the least respect? Even doctors have been marginalized thanks to insurance companies.
I’d love to give a kick in the pants to certain IT professionals and remind them that garbage pickup can’t be outsourced to India.
Posted in Education, Family, Homeschooling on Wednesday, 19 March 2008 | 3 Comments »
It’s just one question, so take your time and think about it.
Pre-school children were asked the following question: “In which direction is the bus pictured below traveling?”
Look carefully at the picture. Do you know the answer? (The only possible answers are “left” or “right.” 
Think about it. Still don’t know? Okay, I’ll tell you. [...]
Posted in Education, Family, Homeschooling on Sunday, 2 March 2008 | 6 Comments »
If They Need It, They Will Learn
Way back when, when we started on our homeschooling adventure we sat down and wrote out our goals for our children’s education. We did it again after we had a couple of years under our belt and our philosophies had changed. Whenever I’d have a bad day and start [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling, Sonlight on Tuesday, 29 January 2008 | 3 Comments »
Can’t you tell? This is a picture of Flower Child reading from her Sonlight Science Usborne Guide to Rocks & Fossils. ”Mommy, I want to FEEL like a fossil while I’m reading.”
Posted in Education, Homeschooling on Thursday, 17 January 2008 | 1 Comment »
Local Schools Continue Efforts to End Bullying
I only wonder when lawmakers are going to get to the root of this problem. Students learn that bullying is okay by watching teachers bully students. I saw this happen frequently throughout my elementary and high school education, a few times as the recipient from my 5th and 6th [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling on Wednesday, 3 October 2007 | 3 Comments »
The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin’ young man
I’m paintin’ flowers he said
She said… It’s not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There’s a time [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling on Sunday, 22 July 2007 | No Comments »
As I read more about the Concrete Random learning style and think about my own childhood, I find myself wondering if seventeen years of formal schooling has somehow bent my true style to conform it to the rest of the world.
My mother will attest that Flower Child and I are the most alike. I won’t [...]
Posted in Education, Family, Homeschooling on Sunday, 22 July 2007 | No Comments »
When I first read The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, I was a newbie homeschooling mom of a 9 yo boy, 7 yo girl, and a 3 yo tyrant girl. Almost immediately, I was able to determine the learning style of the older two. Flower Child, at three, although obviously willful and curious was [...]
Posted in Books, Education, Family, Homeschooling on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 | No Comments »
I checked out Cynthia Ulrich Tobias book The Way They Learn from the library yesterday. I read it years ago, but thought I’d like to take a peek again now that Flower Child is old enough to anayze.
In our house we have four different dominant learning styles!
Rooster - The Abstract Random
Princess - The Concrete Sequential [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts on Monday, 2 April 2007 | No Comments »
He who binds to himself a joyDoes the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.
Rooster read this to me earlier today. It touched his soul, as well as mine. And now, Mr. Blake has a new fan in my son. My favorite poem was also written by him: [...]
Posted in Education on Thursday, 29 March 2007 | No Comments »
A while ago I ranted about the inflation of the four-year college degree.
How about something like the John C. Campbell Folk School? I know I’m a little strange, but throughout my adult life (and probably most of my childhood, too) I’ve always wanted to study somewhere like this. Unfortunately, I have children to teach and [...]
Posted in Education, Faith, Family on Friday, 23 March 2007 | No Comments »
A few weeks ago I made the unfortunate mistake of saying out loud, in front of my mother, that my 13 yo daughter will make a great SAHM someday.
What followed was a fifteen minute tirade about how aweful I am and what a disservice I’m doing to my daughter by raising her to be a [...]
Posted in Education, Family on Friday, 16 February 2007 | No Comments »
The anonymous reply to my last post reminds me of one of my other favorite rants. College Debt. Ugh.
My nephew wanted to go to the Illinois Institue of Art to study art. (Yes, the boys in the family are unusually artistically inclined.) If he would have gone, by the time he finished his Bachelor’s Degree [...]
Posted in Education, Homeschooling on Tuesday, 13 February 2007 | No Comments »
Mildly Melancholy
The blog of a third-generation teacher still starting out in the Big Apple.
}And once again I become depressed, convinced that the other teachers are better than I am, that my kids aren’t really learning anything, that I’m not really doing my job, that all my plans and excitement never end up actually happening, that [...]
