Can I trust anyone else to teach my daughter anything?

Okay, the title of this post is sarcasm at its best.  Let's just admit from the outset that I am a control freak and that should pretty much cover it.  That said, this week we ventured into the world of online classes.

Yes, I enrolled my daughter in her first foray into the outside world of learning at the ripe old age of fourteen.  Now I know some of you are going to just bust a gasket over this but let me explain first.  Kitten is special.  She's not like most kids.  No, she's not autistic or OCD, and she is not handicapped in any obvious way.  But she does have a condition that makes her look at the world her own special way.  I don't need to elaborate on that except to say that she processes information differently than you and I and sometimes communication can be challenging if you are not aware that she isn't hearing what you think you are saying.

So to make a long story short, I have been her teacher for so long because I have learned how to communicate with her.  But life requires that we adapt and I have realized sooner is better than later at this point. 

We discovered Landry Academy thanks to suggestions from some friends.  Since we began Speech and Debate this year, I thought their class entitled Great Orators would be a super place to start.  I registered her for the class and awaited educational enlightenment to descend from the waves of the wifi. 

Enter Murphy, as in that playful fellow who's surname is "Law."  We go to the library to get the book and tahdah, they have two copies!  The librarian hands me one off the shelf and we proudly head to the check out.  To cover our bases, I also order a used copy from Amazon so that if need be I can read with her and we can discuss the speeches together.  It is four days before class and we are almost ready.

Landry Academy has a great IT department to help you get your computer ready for class.  It took me two hours to do this but I was using an older PC and it had some JAVA issues.  Their IT guys cleaned it up though and we were ready for class on Monday!

First day of class.  She logged on and all was well, until she tried to find the page in her book the teacher was reading from.  Page 1100?  Our book ends at 9 hundred something or other.  What?  Huh?  Hiccup number one: the copyright date the syllabus listed for the book was 2004.  Our books were dated 1997.  The syllabus did not state that we needed the third edition, nor did it state that the book was in its third printing in any way so naturally I assumed (don't say it, I know) that this book was in its first edition.  I sincerely hope the teacher corrects this oversight in future to prevent similar circumstances as we were not the only attendees with the problem.  I went back to the library and the other copy? 2004.  My lucky day.  Moving on.

I had this brilliant idea that Kitty could do her class while we were on vacation.  I mean, really, it's only an hour and a half of class, right?  Right.  Well, she did pretty well, considering she had to read four speeches a day plus take a quiz before class each day.  I was proud.

Then we hit quiz four.  I must interject a short explanation here for the reader, did I mention I am a control freak?  I am also a former college professor and a real stickler for accuracy.  The quiz contained two errors: one question did not list the correct answer among the choices and another question was worded ambiguously and was, therefore, misleading.  What to do.  I was really worried that if I emailed the teacher she might get angry and think I was criticizing unnecessarily.  But hey, wrong is wrong and I figured it needed to be corrected so I emailed.

Many times in the past I have been raked over the coals for questioning accuracy similar to this situation.  This teacher was gracious and receptive and contacted ALL the students asking them to retake the quiz and fill in the answers for those two questions so they would receive the points.  Wow.  Just wow.  I was so happy to see this.  And happy to see students seeing a teacher admit mistakes, correct them, and give students their due grade.  Kudos to you, Landry Academy teacher of Great Orators!

So the whole vacation thing was working fine until I got sick.  Bronchitis.  I was down and out.  It would have been fine except that we were planning to do the fifth quiz Monday morning and as it turned out I was in desperate need of a doctor at that moment.  The quiz had to be done before noon, when class started.  And Kitty had a dental appointment at nine.  So I called around and got an appointment for 10am.  I was really thinking I had pneumonia and was going to end up in the hospital but God is so good, it wasn't so.  The appointment took a whole fifteen minutes and we were out of there.  Prescription in hand I hustled home so she could take the quiz before heading out for some much needed antibiotic relief.

I am hoping the second week is less eventful, but did I mention we are traveling to Oklahoma this weekend?  More school in the car thanks to my hotspot.  Actually, I like school in the car.   I mean, where can they go?  No distractions and they are seat-belted in.  Perfect environment for learning how to stay focused for extended periods of time.

The first four days I sat and watched like a hawk.  I have since stepped aside and the wheels are turning on their own.  My daughter is embracing the goals of the class and the necessity of the daily work and schedule.  She is currently earning a high B, almost an A in the class.  There are two weeks to go, but our first goal has been achieved, she is learning from someone other than me and she is liking it. 

It's like watching a baby bird learning to fly, although you realize they catch on pretty quick and soon fly higher and farther than you ever dreamed they'd go.  But that is the goal, and this momma is proud.  Sniff, sniff.

A New School Year...

Well, it's that time again.  A new school year has begun and I'm so NOT READY!  With sixth grade staring me boldly in the face, plus Kindergarten and Second, I'm thinking, "Doomed, I'm totally doomed."

It's like this.  I'm an organizational freak.  Everything must be planned and ready.  Otherwise I kind of wander around wondering where I am and what day is it and do I need to do the dishes or laundry or what?

You're thinking ADD or clinically insane and I get that.  But it's just the kooky person that I am.

So I've spent the Summer moving, coping with loss of family members, coping with how expensive it is to live miles from everything that used to be five minutes away, and other things.  And something terrible has happened.  Amid all of my goings and comings, Summer fled and the school year came and I find myself unorganized and unprepared.

Okay, in all fairness I had planned to be leading a co-op and those plans were going swell until the whole thing fell through due to lack of teacher participation.  So I'm not a total loser - I had made plans.  It's just that now I have to start over and my always-be-prepared, have-your-power-point-ready, make-sure-your-graphics-are-awesome personality is suffering from serious I-don't-even-have-an-excel-spreadsheet done mentality.  Not even one spreadsheet.  Insert scream here.

How the mighty have fallen.  Mighty?  Okay, insert humility here.

So, here I am face-to-face with sixth grade.  It's not just sixth grade though.  It's sixth grade Math.  Can you say Algebra?  Control the urge to scream again, but it's coming.  It's out there waiting for me and I must face it prepared - with spreadsheets and graphics in-hand.  Otherwise it will destroy me!  Really!

Breathe.  I had a boyfriend once whose mantra under stress was "Relax, Breathe, Move gracefully."  I need to channel that right now.

Okay, tangent aside (hee hee, geometry pun!)  I need to get real and get going on this.  Time is flying and algebra is coming!  Pray for me.

In the mean time I must say that the school room is the most organized room in the house; the curtains are hung, the decorations are on the wall, the bookcases are beautiful (sigh), and the place is pretty dog-gone organized.  All that awaits is...teacher with a plan in hand.

So that means I must either embrace the laptop fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method, or get my backside upstairs and organize the office and my treasured Mac with multiple printers and stupendous graphics, etc. so that the plan can materialize.  I'm thinking laptop mode may win out this year.  Have you seen the mess upstairs?  Could the move-in fairy please come and finish unpacking?  And after that the garage-sale fairy could organize and label all the stuff for that, and then the donation-fairy could...but I'm rambling, aren't I?

Here's to another school year, perhaps sans graphics and power point presentations, but filled with lots of love and learning.

Coughing up the night...

Well, it's 4:24 am and here I am, sitting at my computer because I've been coughing all night and finally gave up on sleep.

I decided to check my email and found several more papers to grade from students who I'll see tomorrow in class at co-op.

This was not a banner week for essay writing, apparently.

These are great students and really great people.  I like them a lot and look forward each week to seeing them in class and discussing the material they are learning.

I teach writing.  Grades 5-12.  Whew!

I love it.  I mean...I LOVE it.

That said, I worry a lot.  We use a great program.  It's so great I decided to sell it myself through my business where I also sell curricula that I've written.  You can visit my website here.

So we have this great program we're using, but the older kids really struggle sometimes.  I know essay writing is not all sugar plums and sweet dreams, but it's not all that hard either if the proper foundation has been laid.  Therein lies the rub.

I've been reading lately about the state of education in America because I'm giving a presentation in three weeks and I'm beefing up on my facts.  Well, if you want to get really depressed Google 'the failures of education in America' and read what comes up.  Ugh.

We're currently ranked 23rd in the world in terms of being well educated.  23rd.  How many world powers are there?  Us, China, Russia, Europe...how can you be a world power if you're not well educated?  23rd?  Bear with me...

During WWII the thing that set us apart was that we were smart and we made exceptional decisions that won the war for us in the end.  Using the Cherokee language as code because it couldn't be broken, stealing German technology and scientists out from under the enemy, and other less well known strategies that defeated the enemy due to pure unadulterated intelligence.

I have to say, I hope our military men are better educated than the kids of the same age working at jobs where they can't even count back change with my receipt.  Does anyone else find this frustrating?  Do you notice when your child writes a run on sentence or uses a sentence fragment to express an idea on paper?

I read that many teachers in high schools today are not even trained in the area they are teaching.  Yep, you read that right, a math teacher was teaching high school and he had never taken college level math.  Think about it, a teaching degree is all about psychology and classroom management these days.  It has to be, no discipline allowed.  What a nightmare.

Remember one room schoolhouses?  No, not personally or in your own experience, but the things we read about them in Little Women and Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables.  What about self educated men like Abraham Lincoln and Ben Franklin?  Is that legacy lost forever?  Learning for the sake of learning; the ideal of being well spoken and a critical thinker, of being knowledgeable in all things - a renaissance person.

I have to go to class tomorrow and tell my students that their essays were poorly done this week.  They smack of "I did it last night" or "I only had an hour" or some other feeble excuse.  I know kids are busy these days; that's part of the problem.  Since we cut back on activities my kids' schoolwork has greatly improved.

Don't get me wrong, we still have times when things don't get done for one reason or another.  But they do have the benefit of a lighter schedule these days.

Just do me a favor as a fellow teacher and home school mom; raise the bar a little everyday.  My favorite boss said, "Inch by inch, it's a cinch!"  She was so right.  23rd?  That just won't do.

We may never displace China because their methods are corrupt and appalling, but we should set our sights on Belgium.  Google that and see what you think.

As for laying a better foundation, the problem lies in the curricula.  School is not about memorizing a set of facts to take a test on later.  Fact memory work only involves the short-term memory in the brain and the retention probabilities for that information is sketchy at best.  Can you name all the presidents?  Can you name all the capitals of all 50 states?  Probably some, but not all.  Yet I bet all of you can do your multiplication tables ( I won't ask about long division - is that a lost art too?)

You can do the multiplication tables because you used them repeatedly to do other things.  You didn't just memorize them and leave them alone.  A good foundation teaches skills that are used repeatedly from grade to grade and on into life. 

In English, grammar skills are no longer taught comprehensively.  Students don't learn phonics they learn sight words.  Tangent:  This is why we started homeschooling.  My daughter's Kindergarten teacher gave me a list of 150 words that she needed to memorize the spellings for.  I said, "When will she learn the phonics rules that apply to these spellings?"  They said that I should let them do their job and I should do mine.  I not so nicely replied that I had time time teach the phonics rules if they didn't and we came home to school.

Phonics are key.  They lay the foundation for understanding our language, and it's not an easy language to learn.  English spelling is a combination of Greek, Latin, French, and German words.  What a conglomeration.  Learn the phonics rules; make your life simpler (and theirs). 

Schools wouldn't dream of doing copywork - they'd probably call it plagiarism.  Yet when students actually commit plagiarism, or businessmen or women commit fraud, they get a light slap on the wrist.  What has the world come to?

I realize this is long and that I'm ranting some.  But it's a valid rant and I hope it finds an audience who will embrace it and rant with me.  Let's rant until our politicians rant and demand better schools and teachers and a better test score.  After all, a 23 is an "F" in anyone's book.

Good night, or...well, good morning!

Grammar

This is a favorite topic of mine.  Some folks like to talk History, some Science.  Me?  There's nothing more fun than talking about diagramming sentences and parsing verbs.  Nope, not kidding.  I've been teaching Grammar in homeschool co-ops for three years now and I love picking up that dry erase marker and asking that first question, "Who or what is acting?"

No, I don't lead a boring life and I'm not even remotely weird...well...I don't think so!

I have the typical likes: scrapbooking, photography, theatre/music/dance, food, etc.

But oh...to diagram a really long sentence!  Fun, fun, fun.

Okay, enough about my heart palpitations.  Let's talk turkey.

Grammar is a dying skill.  I teach the best and the brightest.  I'm not kidding - these are smart kids fully capable of learning the hardest grammar I can throw at them.  I'm talking verbals, gerunds, and relative clauses.  I'm talking cases and active versus passive voices.  Diagrams, parsing, copia, imitations, paraphrase, etc.  So why are they not doing it?  Or why is Mom not stressing it?

Schools today hardly teach any of this.  If you get out of junior high knowing the eight parts of speech you're doing good.  Ugh.

Language is the art of communication.  Communication keeps us in good standings with our allies and makes our enemies aware that we are a force to be reckoned with.  Communication is power; the ability to share a valid opinion which may persuade the voter to make a better choice.  The ability to demonstrate compassion and offer assistance in time of need. 

In ancient Greece the spoken word was called rhetoric.  It was an art form.  Today rhetoric is reduced to use mainly by politicians and educators and preachers.  The written word has replaced it and is an art form unto itself.

Yet it has become corrupted.  How many books have you read with grammatical errors in them lately?  Maybe a better question would be have you read any lately without grammatical errors?  Self-publishing has done away with editors for the most part and the new ideal hardly garners merit of the term "ideal."  Below average would better suit. 

Yes it is easy to self-publish.  It is a great opportunity for budding writers of various genres with quality information to share.  Just do me one little wee favor and dust off your old grammar book, or pick up a shiny new one and review a little.  Then, find a friend who, like me, is grammar crazy and ask them to edit your work.  They may not find every mistake, but they will raise the bar in your work, which just may raise the bar for someone else...and so on...and so on.

Then maybe our kids will see the bar and realize that anything worth doing, really is worth doing well.

A Painter's tale...

So I've been painting.

I should explain that what I'm painting over was done by me as well.  I love all things Tuscan and my living room and entry way was painted a golden yellow with a glazed rag rub of mocha brown over it.  Since we have textured walls this created a really nice effect that resulted in my home looking warm and rich, with our deep red curtains and mahogany fireplace mantle.  And now?

Can you say creamy white?  For those of you who love clean lines and sparsity in decorating I am somewhat envious.  I want to be like you but find it impossible to embrace the day to day living of such a pale palette.  I was born to love the color red and deep, rich wood tones.

My house is now a blank slate for someone to fashion into their dream of home.  As I sit and gaze into the backyard I notice the stark contrast between the dark leather of the sofa and, well...everything else.  The red Syrian rug seems too bright suddenly and my skill as a decorator appears questionable at best.  Do realtors really know what they're talking about?  I sure hope so.

I am pleased that the painting process went so quickly, although I've still another large room to do.  But I've really enjoyed it which is a surprise.  I've prayed over every wall and taken care in my work to do an excellent job.  Surely someone will see this and fall in love with it. Please God, please!

In the mean time my mood has improved and my hope is returning.  I'm thinking this may have something to do with my attitude and my desire to focus on the family who will live here soon.  I don't know them, but may God bless them.  And I thank God for helping me find this way to transition peacefully out of a stressful situation. 

Next week the landscaping will be done and then watch for a for sale sign soon to be up at this location!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Digging for Knights (in shining armor?)

Over the Christmas holidays I bought some really cool projects for the kids, one of which was some assorted knights that you excavate like a real archeologist.  They've been asking to do this activity for a while so in the midst of chaos (aka trying to pack up the house to move) I gave in.

We each chose the knight we wanted to dig and donned our safety glasses and masks and headed outside.

After opening the package I thought things looked pretty good.  There was a plastic tool with a hammer on one end and a scraper on the other plus they included a small paintbrush to gently wipe off excess plaster.  Ready and go!  Tap...tap...tap.  Hmmmm, okay this hammer is not very effective.  Tap harder, tap harder!  Hmmmm.  Okay, switching ends we'll saw for a while.  Up and back, up and back, oh look, Brennan has sawed about 1/3 of the way through!  See anything?

Nope.  Oh.

A few more minutes of this and I send my hubby in to fetch a hammer (a real one) and a flat head screwdriver (our chisel).  Okay, now for some serious archeology.  Tap, tap, crack!  Now that's what I'm talking about.  Needless to say, within fifteen minutes our handsome gentlemen had been extracted from their plaster graves.  With the exception of one sword injury (it broke - my fault) all were removed intact.

An archeologist I am not.  Don't have the patience for it and can't imagine all that cataloging and grid-laying.  Just grab the hammer and get on with it.  There's a life lesson here I'm missing - I just know it.  But if slow and steady wins the race in this particular field, I should stay far away from it.

The kids are happy - the knights are out and looking fine.  We discussed their differences and varying time periods during the Middle Ages.  Now they want to paint them in historically accurate colors.  Oh, if only I had gotten the messy craft gene!  (Yes, I do believe there are "neat" crafts and "messy" crafts.)

Anyway, that's for another day.