Facing The Unknown - Weekly Writers Workshop

 

This weeks prompts for Weekly Writers Workshop hosted by the inimitable (I should know, I try to imitit him all the time, and I am not able) John Holton on his blog, The Sound of One Hand Typing, are:  write a post on the word medications,  write a post in exactly 12 sentences, write about what would induce you to give up life as you know it and face the unknown, tell us the story of your personal experience with rejection, write about a bad habit you'd like to eliminate from your life, and write about a time you had to let go of someone you cared for.  I'm sure you have deciphered by the enormity of the first sentence, and the title of this post which prompts I have chosen.  

There have been at least 5 times in my adult life that I have given up life as I knew it and faced the unknown: moving across the state at the age of 22 to attend university,  moving across the world to serve 2 years as a Southern Baptist missionary in Far East Russia in 1992 a few months after the country had  opened it's doors to Western missionaries, moving across the U.S. to attend seminary, moving across the country again back to my native Illinois to court the woman who would become my wife, and finally moving against the grain by staying at home for 6 years and homeschooling my children. In each of these cases I gave up life as I knew it and faced the unknown; in the first 4 I also had to let people go that I cared for (the 6th prompt).  

What motivated me those 5 times varied by degree but they all had to do with a path I have tried to follow since becoming a follower of Jesus more than 40 years ago and that path has been putting the needs of others before my own.  I am not perfect, so I haven't  been perfectly motivated and I sure haven't perfectly followed this path but the path has certainly led many times to leaving life as I then knew it. 

My first three travels were all based on what I thought would be the life of a missionary.  When I left South Carolina where I had attended seminary for a year to pursue marriage with Amy, I had already become uncertain of a career as a missionary, but one of the myriad reasons I had fallen in love with her was because I had seen in our 7 years of friendship that she was also on the path to putting others needs before her own.  So I envisioned that we would attempt to meet those needs together, which we have for 26 years and continue to do so however imperfectly. 

The needs of my wife and children motivated me as a home educator, they also prepared me for my current job as a substitute teacher. With all our children out of high school, there may come a day when Amy and I, as a couple give up life as we know it and face the unknown. I am certain  that the same motivations that directed in the past would lead us into any new unknown. 

I know would like to lead you back to the known, which is a variety pack of other submissions that can be found in the comments section of  this weeks edition of the Weekly Writer's Workshop. 

Timber-Lee closing and Trinity College and grad school going virtual only.

 Two places near and dear to me are ending their work as we know it in the coming months.  These places are Camp Timber-Lee in East Troy,  Wisconsin, and Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois.  Both of these establishments have long histories, both recently celebrating a milestone.  In 2022 Trinity College celebrated its 125th anniversary and Timber-Lee celebrated its 75th.  If this were the Electric Company short, Letter Man, The villainous Spellbinder would take out his magic wand and change the first E to a  second L making milestone, millstone.  I'm not sure what to call the millstone. Perhaps it was  Covid, perhaps a change in the culture of education, perhaps a change in the paradigm of Christian camping; likely a combination of all 3.  But the millstone around Trinity International University whose umbrella is around both Camp Timberlee and Trinity has caused business as usual in the college's case and possibly business altogether to come crashing to a halt in the very near future.  

 I was never a student at Trinity, but I have visited their campus on multiple occasions over the past 40 years.  I have slept in their dorms, eaten in their cafeterias, and played frisbee in their courtyards.  I have attended classes, visited students, and borrowed materials from their library.  I even at one time had a Trinity library card. 

In 2016, Camp Timberlee was gifted by the Evangelical Free Church Association (EFCA)  to Trinity International University (TIU).  I have a long history with Camp Timber-Lee. I was baptized in their lake in 1986 at a church picnic. I did a polar plunge in the same lake in January 2020. My wife Amy and our children once attended a home school camp there and our family slept in one if their famous cabooses. I have visited friends who worked there on multiple occasions. I even flipped over a snapping turtle  who had was trapped on his back bicycling near their grounds while visiting a staff member. I was bicycling near the camp, I'm assuming the snapping turtle was a pedestrian. 

Over the past 15 years, I have chaperoned a half dozen or so arctic blast and winter X-treme trips with our church kids groups and youth groups which has included at least one of my children on each occasion. 3 of my favorite things to do at those winter retreats are

1. A trip to their nature center where there is always an obligatory snake pic taken of one of my children.

2. To spend hours playing gaga ball with students.

3. To spend hours playing nine-square with students.

There is a multitude of other things to do at Timber-Lee: Ropes course, rec room, x-country skiing, zip line, sledding, tubing, tobogganing, horseback riding, broomball, and karaoke, just to name a few.  Of course, camps are a lot of fun and make lasting memories.  But Timber-Lee was all about sharing the gospel and promoting Christian growth.  This spiritual aspect of their ministry is the main reason why so many people are shocked and saddened about its demise.    

When camps like these go under there is often talk of getting new funding and continuing the ministry.  Sometimes something comes out of it like the recent change of ownership of what used to be called Cedar Campus in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  Timber-Lee has a plethora of staff, campers, and alumni who would love to see the ministry continue to grow.

As for Trinity College the class of 2023 seems to be the last class as a residential college as they make the transition to distance learning only.  TIU sees this as a new beginning that fits with its global strategy.  I, for one, hope that is true, but need time to reflect on the past and what will surely be missed.  

Love,

Dave

  

12 from 2020

One of the reason why I continue blogging is to read and respond to the great content other bloggers provide.  I have decided to highlight 12 posts from other blogs from 2020 that really moved me.  

Blogs these day are somewhat of an endangered species.  I feature 9 different blogs in this article.  2 of them only posted one time in 2020.I feature posts from two other blogs that have been dark for at least 4 months now.  So, unless those 4 blogs begin to produce content again none of their fine writing will be here on display if I choose to make this an annual thing.  

As you might imagine, the majority of these posts are about Covid, race, and the election. Each bloggers puts their own unique take on these and other subjects,  Some of these bloggers are fairly well know people like Rhett McLaughlin of Rhett and Link fame and Pastor and Author John Piper.  Others are regular everyday people like my Sister-in-law.  . In any case, I think they all deserve more mention than my mostly unread blog can provide.  However, we all should do what we can, and I can cut and paste links.

Blog: Out Walking

The Kinship of Things March 4, 2020

It may be difficult to imagine a hopeful piece about house arrest. Steve West talks about his life in an early covid lockdown and by using his and other's memories talks about doing far more with far less.  

Favorite line: I keep my neighbors at a distance, and yet hold them close.

Blog: Home Spun Juggling

Sudden Homeschooling: A Beginners Guide

Cristina Ramos Payne brought her blog out of mothballs :) to bring encouragement to Covid induced new homeschooling parents.  She must have saved the moth balls because unfortunately for the blogosphere she has not posted since. :(

Favorite line: The idea of having the kids home 24-7 can be overwhelming, but it is also an opportunity to deepen your relationship.

Blog: Peace Love, and Yoga Pants

How are the Kids Feeling? April 3, 2020

 

My Sister in Law captured Covid anxiety as seen  through the eyes of her children in a palpable and powerful way. 

Favorite line: I finally said to him, "I don't know what it's like to be you!"

 

Blog:  Out Walking

Allies  April 29, 2020

One of the many things I like about Steve West's fine blog is that to misquote When Harry met Sally is I want to have he's having over the more than a decade I've been following his blog his descriptions of film, literature and music have informed what I have consumed. I need to read his posts with my library card next to me so I can look for the materials he's mentioning right away.

Allies continues the house arrest theme he started in The Kinship of Things but focusses as our homes  being the hero of the story. A concept he is quick to point out comes from author D.J. Waldie.

It's hard to make 1 line my favorite out of such a profound and poetic piece.  One line that sums up the piece well is ...

My ally stands. “Here’s a place—a fragile, earthen vessel, admittedly, yet one that will hold you, for now,” it says

And yes, I just did order Diane Keaton's book House which D.J. Waldie wrote the text for from my home librray. 

Blog: Stories by Rhett Mclaughlin

Letter to a White Man May 31,2020

Rhett McLaughlin gives advice to himself and all other white men about how to process  the racial discord  of the Spring of 2020. I found it a helpful reminder.

Favorite passage: Before you begin building your case as to why you’re not contributing to the problem — or why there really isn’t a problem in the first place — just be quiet.  Black Americans are speaking loudly and clearly. If you take a moment to stop defending yourself or finding fault with those fighting for justice, you might be able to listen.

Blog: Lindy Scott

Idolatry and Politics August 5, 2020

In 1982 I started attending Des Plaines Evangelical Free Church. Shortly after that their former youth minister took the job as their pastor.  He influenced much of my early Christian thinking and thanks to his blog continues to do so almost 40 years later.  

In Idolatry and Politics he makes a convincing argument that poliitcal extremism on any side of the political spectrum is just another name for idolatry.  Lindy's posts make up 1/4 of this years review, so expect to see a couple more of his writings later on in the list.  

Favorite Line: If people are totally "pro-Trump" or "anti-Ttump" they have abandoned their use of logic and reason. 

Blog: Lindy Scott

What kind of Republicans (and Democrats) does our Country Need? October 17, 2020

Author's Note: Erstwhile (former) and penultimate (2nd to last) are 2 of my favorite words and I use them as often as I can.

My erstwhile pastor appears on this list for his penultimate time with a profile of Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse.  At the time of this post's mid October publication, Sasse was one of the few  GOP lawmakers who would stand up against President Trump.

My favorite passage was a quote from Sasse:

 “If young people become permanent Democrats because they’ve just been repulsed by the obsessive nature of our politics, or if women who were willing to still vote with the Republican Party in 2016 decide that they need to turn away from this party permanently in the future, the debate is not going to be, you know, ‘Ben Sasse, why were you so mean to Donald Trump?’ It’s going to be ‘What the heck were any of us thinking that selling a TV-obsessed narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea?’ It is not a good idea.”

Blog: Thirst

The Good Place October 21, 2020

Full disclosure: I discovered this blog earlier this year while researching my previous post about Comedian a song by Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil. While I did not originally read this post in 2020,   it does meet the 2 the criteria I set for this list: 1) it is a post from 2020 and 2) The blog it comes from is on my blogroll.  

Keith Shields post which waxes philosophical about the NBC comedy The Good Place is one of the few post from this list that is not about covid, politics or race relations.  It is an old school blog post that takes a culturally relevant topic to explore the human condition. 

I liked how Shields did enough explaining about the show so someone not familiar with the show could still relate to the point he was making but did not over explain it in a way that would take meaning away from the point he made.

Favorite Line: It becomes obvious that we must give up on seeking to be good or we will turn ourselves into neurotic do-gooders who question every move. 

Blog: Desiring God 

Policies, Persons and Paths to Ruin: Pondering the Implications of the 2020 Election October 22, 2020

Author and Pastor John Piper  is not the only contributor to the blog on the Desiring God but his posts are generally the ones I most appreciate.  This post I found especially gratifying as I had decided on the same course of action for the election as he did.  Well approximately the same, he chose a write in candidadte, I just moved on to the next race. Piper makes a very good defense of not voting for Trump or Biden without mentioning either by name.

Favorite Line: In fact, I think it is a drastic mistake to think that the deadly influences of a leader come only through his policies and not also through his person.

Blog: Lindy Scott

"Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" and the Election October 25, 2020

In the aftermath of the horriffic events of January 6th, 2021 many people wrote that they were not surprised by the events.  Lindy Scott was one of them but I think that's because he said this 2 weeks prior to the election: (Italics mine*) 

Something similar is happening now in the presidential election. Trump has predicted that he will win when the votes are counted OR if the tally shows him losing, it will be because of vote fraud. He has also affirmed  that he would take the election to the Supreme Court if he loses. This is dangerous for our country. If there is a fair election AND Trump actually loses, many of his more devoted followers might protest the counting of mail in votes and declare fraud. Some of these followers might turn to violence.

I am certain this is not something Lindy wanted to be right about. At least we can't say He didn't warn us.  

* I've always wanted to say italics mine.  As long as we are doling out punctuation marks, I'll take the ampersand.

Blog: The Aaugh Blog 

Colorblind Eye Patch Dec 9, 2020

The Aaugh Blog is an independent Peanuts website that I quite enjoy.  I really liked this post that talks about some of my favorite strips from when I was a kid when Sally had lazy eye.  No favorite line just favorite memories.

Blog: Thinking Person's Guide To Autism

Losing Hard Won Freedoms: The Pandemics Toll on People with I/DD  December 10, 2020

I hate to end on a sour note but Covid has been especially hard on people with disabilites. as I'm typing this on My daughter who has high functioning autism is playing monopoly with her Mom and sister.  (More on this epic game here and here.  That reminds me  that she has been unable to attend her monthly game night for young adults with HFA for almost a year.  As Ivanova Smith  states it ican be much more difficult for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities than just missing a game night.  

Favorite Line:  (Smith describing the effects of the isolation that pandemic restrictions has caused her). I feel like I am stuck in a car that keeps going backwards and backwards and I can’t make it stop.

.

Keeping up with the Changes.

In the Fall of 2007  my wife started taking our 3 children to a home school cooperative (co-op).    It was a traditional co-op, where each family taught some classes and volunteered in others. The first semester it turned out amazing for the kids.  Charlie, who just graduated from high school, still has his notebook from a very cool International Space Station class he took that year.  It was amazing for the kids, but very difficult for my wife.  Each parent got at least one class period off to fellowship with the other parents. Alas, Lucy was about 1 at the time and as you know when you take a 1-year-old anywhere you never get time off.  Amy wisely decided on taking a semester off and going back when Lucy was a little older.  

Amy planned to return in the Fall of 2008.  However, Amy and I did the Old Switcheroo in the fall of 2008. (She went back to working full time, and I became Home School Dad and took over the teaching at home.) In the Spring semester of 2009, I brought the kids back to co-op and did the teaching, assisting, and running after Lucy. Soon The co-op became amazing for everyone in our family.  

For several years this is how it remained.  Then as our circumstances changed, we would quit the co-op and later, come back to it only to leave again and come back again.  Finally, (or we thought it was finally) in 2015, we stopped homeschooling altogether.  I quit co-op for "the final" time and we moved on with our life.   Our home school adventure had many twists and turns in the road and yet looking back we could see God leading us through each and every one.  

This contiued when all 3 children were in public sct hool at the same time for the first time in their lives. Charlie excelled in his last year of middle school and his first year of high school.  Emma had major adjustments and changes to navigate, going from a 3 person school with a 40 person co-op once a week to a school of 3,000 students and being diagnosed with High Functioning Autism(HFA).  (Her diagnosis was partially due to one of the many extra curricular events we went to because of our co-op. One of the former students in our co-op who has HFA was featured in a documentary that premiered at the Imago Film Festival. The documentary opened our eyes to the possibility that Emma might be on the spectrum, which helped hasten her diagnosis.)   Because of her many  home school credits from her first two years of high school she was able to finish her high school experience a semester early by taking an on-line poetry class at home. The wonder that is Lucy, continued to shine in her last 2 years of eleementary school.  She won speech contests that highlightred her flair for the dramatic, won awards for her artistic achievement, and was honored with the highest award in her 5th grade commencement. As the 2017 school year ended, more changes were in store for the Roller clan as each of our 3 students again changed schools, as we after 16 years in Carpentesville changed suburbs.

Emma was off to the local jr. college.  Charlie started his sophomore year at a new high school and Lucy started being home schooled again.  We had always wanted to home school each of our children through at least  middle school.  We did that with Emma and even got an extra two high school years with her at home.  Charlie was in 8th grad when we stopped home schooling him.  We were delighted when we had the opportunity to bring Lucy back home for her 3 middle school years.  Of course this meant going back to our old homeschool co-op and saying we needed to return if only for us to learn the actual meaning  of the word final.

  Our on-again off again relationship with our co-op taught us many things more than one post will allow, but here are a couple. My years at the co-op prepared me for my now on-again off again job  (Thanks Covid) as a substitute teacher. At the co-op, Lucy was still a force to be reckoned with;  No longer the one man wrecking ball of her toddlerdom,  she continued to blossom as an amazing orator, comedian, actress, and especially a gracious loving daughter, student and friend.   

Earlier this Lucy was accepted into a special  theater arts academy  part of the public high school Charlie just graduated from. She was  so looking forward to finishing her home school and co-op experience and then leaving home and going   to school every day in the Fall.  Then Covid came on the scene.  The co-ops did not end the way we expected and now we found out that her high school will not  start as we expected.  She will start high school as her brother and sister finished it, virtually.  

Educating our children has not always gone the way we have planned it.  However, we have seen God orchestrate all the steps and use them in mighty ways.  As with everyone else on the planet, Covid 19 life has been very challenging for our family but we are still confident that God will continue directing our paths.  In a way much more than the band at the fish in the sea dance at the end of Back to the Future could , God is more than able to keep up with the changes.  

My Son the Graduate

My Son Charlie graduates from high school today.  Charlie was home schooled from birth to fifth grade. He was the 2nd born in our family.  When he was born my wife was already "playing" school with our 2 year old  and Big Dude (one of a multitude of nick names we saddled the poor kid with over the years)  was incorporated into their home school routine right along.  He went to public school in 6th grade, we were fortunate to home school him again for 7th grade and did his last 5 years of school in public school.

 

Cubist 

Charlie excelled in high school and we are very proud of his accomplishments.  But this is my blog not his, so let's talk about me.

I have had many roles in Charlie's life.  I was the principal of our home school.  I stayed at home when he was in first to fifth grade and was his main teacher.  I helped him learn to read.  I taught him how to ride a bike.  I've been his coach, his youth group leader for 6 years.  We have gone on two mission trips together and he has even been my co-worker at a local movie theatre.  

 

Athlete

Historian

Cannon Fodder

Our relationship has changed quite a bit over the years.  I've gone from his hero to the embarrassing guy with the bad puns.  This year has been a transition year as he prepares for whatever the next chapter of his life is going to be and I get use to the notion that he will be penning these chapters almost entirely on his own.  I've been trying to step back from a leadership role in his life to an advisory one.  Something I've been getting a little better at lately, mainly because I was doing it so very badly to begin with. 

Roller 

Before I end this post with some uncaptioned glimpses from over the  years, I will share  a hopeful anecdote. Over the past few years Charlie has taken up walking, running and cycling: 3 activities I've really enjoyed in my life.  Last Sunday, he went cycling with a friend from the youth group and they dropped by the house on a way to a local park to toss a frisbee around.  Frisbee is another thing I really enjoy, I walked out to the front yard to say hi and bye when Charlie invited me to come and play frisbee with them.  I'm crying even now as I recall how overwhelmed I was by the invitation.  I went and I had a great time and I think they did as well.  I hope this is just one of many activities that Charlie and I will enjoy together in the years to come.  Not only as father and son but as adults, and as friends.  

 

Homeschool Argument

Yesterday morning I spent about an hour exploring other blogs from this years a to z blogging challenge.  One of the blogs I was looking at had a link to a blog hop called 6 sentence stories at a blog called Girlie on the Edge.  I had heard of all sorts of differnet story lengths but the concept still intrigued me.  So for fun, I jotted down a 6 sentence story and shared it with my family to mixed reviews.  The way the blog hop works is that each week a few days before the blog hop they give a prompt word.  You need to use the word somehow in the story (either as a word or as a subject or theme ). The word this week is right.  I wrote a quick story and will share it here now and link it to the blog hop on Thursday.

Homeschool Argument

"You may be right..."

"I am right."

"You may be right..."

"No, I am definitely right!"

'Stop interrupting me.  You may be writing out your math assignment tomorrow; Our computer isn't working."

To see more six sentence stories click here. 

Home School Dad Revisited.

Hello and good morning.  My name is Dave and I used to go by the moniker Home School Dad.  11 years ago I began this blog, as I was a stay at home dad and the home school teacher of the family.  I started home schooling the kids in 2008 and did that full time until the fall of 2013 when I went back to working full time.

I still blog but now do most of it  at Random Acts of Roller. I have started many blogs over the years but my favorite has always been HSD (Home School Dad).  I have been thinking a lot lately of restarting Home School Dad. With that in mind, I decided to post one of my earliest blog entries.  You can click here to see how it appeared on 1/8/9.

If clicking here is not your thing, it's okay cause copying and pasting is mine...

When I first heard about Homeschooling.

First appeared in Home School Dad

January 8, 2009

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard about home schooling? I was at a wedding. At the reception, I was placed at what I call the odd duck table , the table where you sit friends, family and coworkers not likely to know anyone else, I have a name for it because I have been placed at that table many times.

So at the odd duck table there was a lady from out of state, Colorado, I believe, who home schooled her children. This was the mid to late 80's and I had no idea what homeschooling was or why anyone would want to do it. I just sat there as she regaled other wedding guests with stories of her home schooling journey.

I think it's appropriate that I first heard of home schooling at the odd duck table. Home Schooling itself has been an odd duck for many years. People aren't quite sure what to make of it. It can be frustrating as  a Home School parent, when you see the  same reaction from each person who learns you are home educating your children. This is why I asked you to recall your first experience with the concept. Perhaps, your initial reaction, was not unlike those you encounter today. We often expect people to understand things the way we do and forget our understanding is part of an ongoing process often evolving over many years.

Homeschooling over the years has quietly been inching away from the odd duck table. Everybody seems to know someone these days who is home schooling. It is not uncommon now for park districts and libraries to have special activities for home school families.

2020 Perspective:

First of all,   if you did  look back on the original, you may have noticed I did a little editing of my piece.  It bothered me  that I had let regaled be spelled incorrectly for 11 years.  I also had a tendency back then to just end my posts and go on to the next thing. I began this post some hours ago, got this far, and was really tempted to end this post abruptly as I had just finished an overnight shift and was much more interested in sleeping than culminating. Instead, I went the save button route and came back to conclude.

So much has changed since 2009 when I wrote this that it's hard to provide appropriate context.  Obviously most parents with school age children have now found themselves more knowledgeable about what schooling at home looks like.  The Covid 19 shelter in place orders have seen to that.  schooling at home is in some ways different than homeschooling.  I currently have an 8th grader who is home-schooled , a 12th grader who is public schooled and a daughter taking some college classes. Now that everybody is staying at home, my responsibilities towards their school work have not changed at all.  I help my 8th grader with math and I do nothing with the older ones.  When I wrote  the original post they were were 3, 7, and 9 respectively and I was involved with every aspect of their education.

In the coming weeks I will begin to post more here.  I plan to revisit earlier posts as I did today, but mainly I hope to move beyond that.  In June, our homeschooling journey will end as our youngest moves on to public high school.  As the pandemic continues to take its course, our world will adjust to a new normal.  In the same way, our family has been adjusting to a new normal over the past 5 years as our homeschooling has lessened and lessened.  Amid these changes, I have been tempted to change the name of this blog.  I have decided not to yield to this temptation.  The content may be different or perhaps non-existent, but on these pages and in some parts of myself, I shall always be a home school dad.

GoodArticle on the Culture of Dating

Kudos to the matriarch of a local home schooling family who alerted me about an article by Bryana Johnson in The College Conservative via Facebook.

Bunny Girl Graduates from 8th Grade

Bunny Girl graduated from 8th grade two weeks ago.  4 middle school and 4 high school children from our co-op had a joint ceremony.  After the ceremony, the graduates all sent up balloons in to the air.  Post cards with the a graduation announcement and a favorite bible verse of the graduate were tied to the balloons.  

Bunny Girl's post card was returned to us a few days later.  

Bunny Girl's completion of 8th grade and her beginning her high school studies in the Fall are just two of many endings and beginnings to our family.  In the blog business, this is what we call a tease.  I will be telling you about some more of those changes in posts to come. 

Congratulations Bunny on your accomplishments and God's blessings in your adventures yet to come.

Should Homeschoolers keep a Low Profile - A Response

At the end of September, Happy Elf Mom of Home School and Etc. had a guest post entitled Should Homeschoolers Keep a Low Profile?  I have been wanting to respond to it for some time now but have had so much on my plate, have not gotten around to it

Well I am enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon/evening and Lo and behold I got one.

I will be responding to parts of the original post which I have italicized.

The author starts out . . .

We're really proud of the local school. It's part of living in this town: we root for the Falcons.

So far so good.  Nothing too objectionable.  I understand how a school can be part of living in a town.  Especially when that school has successes to enjoy.  I've seen Remember the Titans and October Sky enough to understand that.

The author continues . . .


  If you homeschool, it's like saying you don't want to be part of the social fabric of the town. Your children are not participating in something that is important to all of us. 

So much for so far so good!  Or as Marlin says in  Finding Nemo, "Good feelings gone!".

I have many problems with these small sentences.  First of all just because I homeschool does not mean I do not want to be part of the social fabric of the community.  My children have been  active in athletics, library, park district and scouting  programs and even volunteered at the local public school.   In what way does that say we don't want to be involved?

Also, I wonder if the author would say that parents who sent their kids to private schools or parents who sent their kids to other public schools that better met their childrens'  need rather than her public school, did not want to be part of the community.  Or is it just us homeschoolers?


  She continues to continue . . .

You're also unintentionally hurting the feelings of some very nice, dedicated people who work hard to keep our local school one of the best in the region. And you're basically saying that my school isn't good enough for your kid . I know you don't mean it that way, exactly, but that's how it comes across to a lot of people."

I don't have a lot to say about this part.  Except to say as I am working on this post,  my wife is e-mailing a local radio host applauding the staff of a local  public school for the exemplary work they do in our community.  No doubt, because she feels so guilty about hurting their feelings.

Speaking of guilt, the author continues her thoughts . . .

There's also the fact that not everyone can homeschool like you. People feel guilty or obligated when they hear about the good things that you are doing with your child. You don't have to say one word about them homeschooling for them to feel judged. I know you don't want to hear that, but that's just human nature.

By that logic, parents of honors students would not be aollowed to have those bumper stickers cause other parents would feel guilty or obligated about the good things others kids were doing.  I know they don't want to hear that, but that's just human nature.

After one last closing salvo regarding some home school parents saying it is God's will that they homeschool.  She concludes by saying . . .


I know you really enjoy homeschooling, but I think you should just tone it down a little.

 But that doesn't seem to be at all what she's saying.  If people can feel guilty  even if we say nothing, how does toning it down a little help?  I really think she's giving reasons (not good ones) why people shouldn't home school.

Now we know people who proudly send their kids to private schools, some just as proud about their local public schools.  We don't feel guilty when they brag on those institutions.  We know they are really just bragging on their kids.  We see no problem going on about our home educated children in the same way.

As one of the comments on the original post said.

Why would I keep a low profile on it?

It's legal and we are awesome at it! :P

I wouldn't say I am  exactly awesome at homeschooling, yet.  But I would say it is awesome to live in a country where parents can choose what's best for their children.  Now we just need to learn to be more tolerant of other people's choices.

If you have entered here by way of the Carnival of Homeschooling, consider this link your breadcrumbs back to the gratitude fest.

Tired of School

Good thing the semester ends today

Election Year Coverage

2012 is an election year ,so I thought this might be a good time to teach about the presidents of United States.   I am doing it a little differently instead of going in chronological order I decided to study the presidents as their birthdays come matter fact you know that today January 9 is Richard Nixon's birthday?

Saturday, January 7 was Millard Fillmore's birthday.  Today, we studied Millard Fillmore's presidency as part of school, and tomorrow we will study Richard Nixon.

In addition to Nixon and Fillmore, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and William McKinley were also born in the month of January.   January isn't the month with the most presidents.   That distinction belongs to  October, which has six.   At least one President has been born in each month.  June and  September only have one. 


Here's a little bit more about the details of this teaching plan.

 Preparation

Each Month

Get books out from library for the Presidents with birthdays in the next month.

I also start blog posts about each President scheduled to post in our Izola Becker Home School Blog on their birthday.  Here is the post for Millard Fillmore. 

Prior to Weeks with Birthdays

I will review the materials about the President and decide if I want to do some special project.  This week,  we started one of the 2 time lines we will be constructing.   More on those in a bit. 

Presentation


Each day on the President's birthday or school day closest to the birthday, I will give a short lesson about the President.  I will have the students prepare a fact sheet.  Later in the week, We will update the blog posts with more information. I will also have each of my kids who blog write a post each month with some facts about the Presidents born that month. 

Today I cut 10 feet from a roll of paper and had Bunny Girl  divide it into 10 inch sections.  For those playing at home, that ends up in 12 sections, 1 for each month of the year.  Tomorrow or the next day we will take the fact sheets for Nixon and Fillmore and assemble them on the January section of the roll.  After the election, we will construct a more traditional timeline with the Presidents in chronological order. 

Note: I did not realize until Today, that Nixon's birthday was today.  For some reason when I looked at it yesterday, I thought I read the 19th.  Otherwise, we would have studied Fillmore last Friday and Nixon on his birthday.

This is just a supplement to our curriculum. We are not studying American History at present.  We just began Part II of Mystery of History today as well.  I will try to post about that a little later this week.

Before I am history.  Let me tell you of our HSBA featured blog.  The category is Best Teen Blog.  The Blog formerly known as Umbrella Girl won this year.  This is a very enjoyable, fun to look at blog.  The photos are excellent, as is this sample post about taking excellent photos.

100 Books





Reading opens many doors.

I can't believe I read the whole thing.





My son is not only an action hero, but he is also a super genius.  Granted a super genius who doesn't yet read at grade level.  He has the mind of an inventor and a magnificent memory.  Yet he is having difficulty inputting knowledge in his mind through reading.  This has been a concern of ours as parents for a number of years.  We had tried many things tutoring, summer school, Lamaze (which did not help with his reading but you should see the kid breathe!); we tried it all.

When Amy and I attended the local home school convention this past June I went to a seminar about helping your under performing readers.  It was really encouraging and had many good take-a-ways.  One thing I decided to try was a 100 book chart.  You have the child read 100 picture books and write them on a chart in their room.  When the chart is full you give a GREAT reward. 

From June to October 31st we only put 23 books on the chart. Spider Droid probably read more than that but I didn't always get to writing them down.  In short my inconsistency didn't help him take ownership of the project.

In the meantime Spider Droid was taking vision therapy that was beginning to show some signs of progress with his reading ability.  On November 1st, his birthday.  I took him to the chart and added something to the top.  It showed how many books were left and how many days were left in the year.  He had 77 books remaining and 61 days before the end of the year.  We set two goals: 1) To get to a point where there were  more days reaming  in the years than books remaining to be read.  2) to finish the chart before the end of 2011.

He read 3 books that day and 17 by the 7th.  23 from June to October and 17 in a week!   He reached his first goal on 11/16.  40 books remained with 45 days left to read them in.  That's when SD upped his game and decided he wanted to finish the 100 by the end of November.  At about that time life began to get very busy with our home school co-op, robotics, Thanksgiving and the like.  Yet he was driven and diligent.  We went to the local library on Saturday and he checked out as many books as he had left to read.  Tuesday morning he had 10 left.  This morning he had 5 left.  In between lessons he finished the last 5 before lunch time. 

Here are 2 pictures worth 100 books. 

My Son the Reader



Our Story So Far



Here is some live footage .  . .

 Not only has SD's reading quantity increased, the quality piece has improved substantially.  In a few months time he has gone up one full grade in his reading level.

We still have a way to go but we are very pleased with his progress.  Too bad he isn't a little more excited about his achievement, as the picture below attests.





A Good Thing Going

Carnival of Homeschooling is having a back to school edition at Faithful Homeschool. I have decided to participate this week and will return to my Joplin rememberings soon. Here is what's on my mind . . .

Amy had her first full day back at school today. Mondays are often a work day for us and since we are not starting school for at least another week, I decided to maintain that on our schedule. Amy made a list of what needed doing and we started on it.

The first thing on the list was to get a plumber to call in to get our bathtub working properly again (it hadn't been working in weeks.) After we dispatched one, we got working on the rest of the list. I would like to say that everything got done without any yelling, screaming or other mayhem. The truth is I blew my stack pretty quick into the list, and had to apologize to both the bigs for my words.

Soon better attitudes emerged and we were 1/2 way through the list when the plumber came. We continued to work as the plumber diagnosed the problem was a drum trap that they don't even use anymore. He did a thorough and professional job at what I hope was a fair price. After a while I had Bunny watch the other kids at the park around the corner from our house. When they came back I started making mac and cheese with Puppy's help. I had Pandora in the background playing a nice mix of Christian and 70/80's rock/pop while lunch was being made. 

The plumber finished his work at about the same time lunch was ready to serve. As I was walking him out of the house, he told me "You've got a good thing going." I thanked him and ate lunch with the kids.

The truth is the plumber was right on a myriad of levels. 

Yes, for the few hours the plumber was in the house my children were well behaved and got along with each other. Yes,  for the same few hours I was kind and understanding and productive. These things aren't always true. Even so, I do have a few good things going.

I am able to spend the majority of my waking hours with my children.

In July of 2008 Amy and I made the big switcheroo. She began to work full time and I began home educating the children. This is not always something I always do well, willingly, or happily. But the result is that I have spent much more time with my children than many parents Dads or Moms, get the opportunity to. And after 3 years, I can tell you that I would not trade that time for anything. At some point, I would love to return to the work force to give Amy the blessing of homeschooling her children again. Until God opens that door, I know I need to cherish every moment.

I get my family and they get me.

Not a lot of people I know get me. Some don't even take the time to. My wife and kids get me. They know who I am and they like me any way. I think home education helps you to get your kids and help them get you because you spend so much time together doing a wide variety of things.

All good things come from above.

I agree with my plumber that I have a good thing going. I just want to say that I have very little to do with that. God has given me my life, my health, my family. I have absolutely nothing without him and when people recognize the good things in my life, I have no choice but to point upward and say thanks.

I have chosen to share these thoughts in this week's carnival of home schooling. The plumber's comments probably had nothing to do with home education. But home education permeates through our life. Home education is a good thing going.

For more COH click here.

Next Time: Joplin Day 4

Joplin Trip Day 2

When we last left our intrepid Joplineers, they were horsing around on the Illinois/Missouri border.

To recap, car troubles kept us from making Joplin on Day 1. A good friend of mine whose family runs a ministry at a place called Cornerstone Farms, put us up for the night. In the morning of Day 2 some helped with the chores before breakfast.

After breakfast and a short devotional, we prayer walked around the property asking God to continue to use this place and people for His kingdom.

After that, we hit the road once again hoping to reach Joplin by day's end. The thing is, this time we actually did.

Just a little sidebar about delays: Delays are what we call them, I am not sure that God calls them that. When we left Faith Ares on Monday, few of us had heard about Cornerstone Farms, and none of us planned to stay there. We planned to travel 1 day, work 4, and return on Saturday. I think God wanted us to experience being helped when we were in need just prior to helping others in need.

Perhaps you feel like you should be doing something different in your life and God is somehow got you on a holding pattern. As many of you know, I would rather not be the one home schooling my kids. Amy is more suited to it, but I have been unable to find a job that would allow her to stay at home and do the job she loves. So often I feel like our family is in a holding pattern.

After we took off from Cornerstone Farms we came to the Missouri/Illinois border. This of course brings two things to mind: the gateway arch and marshmallows. Well maybe not marshmallows. We have a family tradition of shouting marshmallow as we cross state lines. We made the other vehicles aware of this "fun" little eccentricity and marshmallow was yelled by many.

The rest of the trip there was relatively uneventful except that we were driving in 110 degree heat and the bus AC decided to break down. Windows, it turns out, are more than just a computer platform. You can open windows up in a vehicle, and a cool breeze will circulate in said vehicle. I guess they do have an app for that.

We arrived at our destination late on Tuesday afternoon. Lighthouse First Christian Church in Carthage, MO. Carthage is a neighboring town of Joplin. FCC housed us and fed us breakfast and dinner on the trip.

After using amenities like showers and ping pong tables, we had dinner. Then the pastor's wife took many of us to see the tornado affected areas of Joplin.

Team members who were there in June attested to how much had changed since they had last been there. The devastation was still palpable. We drove by the Joplin High School that had been hit hard by the tornado. You may have already heard this story but it is still worth repeating. The sign on the high school was ripped apart and the O and the P were all that remained in Joplin. After the storm someone duct taped an H before the O and an E after the P, so the sign now read HOPE HIGH SCHOOL.

I did not get a clear picture of that sign but did get one of this.

One of many signs encouraging faith in the midst of disaster.

We stopped our car and saw a team just finishing work for the day.

Then we visited a church that had major damage done in the tornado. Here is a video of me explaining the damage . . .

While we were there we discovered 1 banner and several hymnals including the pianist's hymnal that were just sitting there outside in what was once the inside of the church. While we were there, a family who attends the church came over. They told our team a little more of what happened that night. There were people in the church that night but no one was killed or I believe injured. We gave the hymnal to that family, who said they would give it to the pianist.

As we drove back to our home for the week, I had a feeling of being both overwhelmed and inspired by what I saw. I debriefed with Spider Droid on the way back to see how he was feeling by what he saw. The church we saw had made an impact on him as had many of the other sights. He tried to describe it to his sister on the telephone but the words didn't do justice to what he had seen. Tomorrow,I thought, we could start putting some of those words into actions.

Next Time: Perception and Reality

500th Post Proclamation

It's finally here. My 500th post here at HSD over the past few weeks I have been making some tweaks to the blog but have not really announced them.

First of all, I have joined the 2nd decade pf the twentieth century and am now on twitter. Going forward I will be tweeting a link to all my new posts. I will also be tweeting my Next Time announcement that appeared and have now reappeared at the bottom of my posts.

Secondly I have added two new pages to the blog. Earlier this month I hosted the Carnival of Homeschooling with a post about my Top 10 Films of all time. I have made that a page as well as a 500th post page.

There are a few other changes, but you can check those out yourself.

I promised something very special for 500 posts. To commemorate the occasion, I have written a song. Within the lyrics, there are links to some of the posts that have appeared in HSD over the last 2+ years. So without further explanation and WITH my apologies to the Proclaimers, I present . . .

I Just Blogged (500 Times)

When I wake up, yeah, you know I'm gonna blog
I'm gonna blog about playin' puppy on the floor.
When I go out, well you know I'm gonna blog
I'm gonna blog about a field trip to the store.

If it's Christmas, yes you know I'm gonna blog
I'm gonna blog about how much we like to bowl.
And if it's Easter, yes you know I'm gonna blog.
That it's not a little rabbit that makes us whole.

I just blogged 500 times
And I might blog 500 more
To blog and ask what you guys do
With children screaming on your floor.

When I'm teaching, yes you know I'm gonna blog
About something good that Bunny or Spider did.
And when puppysims come
I'm gonna post 'em here. She's really quite a kid.

When we travel. yeah, you know I'm gonna blog
Whether close to home or Washington D.C.
And when we get back you know I'm gonna blog
With words and pics and videos for all to see.

I just blogged 500 times
And I might post 500 more
Just to be the guy whose 1000 posts
Will make you laugh but never snore.

When I'm fed up, yeah you know I'm gonna blog
I'm gonna blog 'bout how my family drives me mad
But when I think straight yeah you know I'm gonna blog
I'm gonna blog about the super times that we have had.

I just blogged 500 times
And I might tweet 500 more
Just to be the guy whose posts and tweets
reveal the passion at his core.

So that's it for post #500. Unless I get a lucrative contract in the music biz. I will be back very soon inching my way to 1000.

Next Time: Paragraphy for a Monday Morning.