What Kind of Homeschooler Are You?

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Barb

Recently, I added an article to my site in which I posed the question you see above. My thought was that there are really just two kinds of homeschoolers, “proactive” and “reactive.”

Ann Zeise had another idea. She wrote:

It strikes a chord, as I was one of the reactive ones. Then I went to an elderly friend’s memorial service Saturday, and they said his favorite saying was:

There are three kinds of people:

Those who make things happen.
Those who watch things happen.
And those who wonder “What happened?”

You forgot that third type: the ones who want to start homeschooling in the spring of their teen’s senior year, because they are then suddenly aware of “What happened!”

Awesome, Ann!

(BTW, Ann is the creator of the homeschooling site, A to Z Home’s Cool, which has an amazing amount of information for homeschooling parents.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Barb

Hope you’re spending today with the ones you love! You’ll find one of our family’s Valentine’s Day traditions (along with my recipe for a Giant Heart Cookie…well, actually two) right here.

BTW, another tradition we started a few years ago is our annual viewing of “Some Like It Hot,” a very funny movie which includes Chicago’s infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in its plot. No, I wouldn’t recommend it for kids, but older teens and adults will find it amusing.

They’re Indenturing Our Children….With A Bill They Haven’t Even Read

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Barb

This is wrong on so many levels. The stimulus bill (or “Porkulus,” as it’s been more appropriately declared) was rushed through the House today because Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in a hurry to leave on a trip. At least that’s the excuse they’re giving. But the bottom line is that they’re handing out pork left and right and claiming it will help the economy. But how can they know this when they haven’t read the bill?

I’m proud to say that our former congressman, Illinois representative Don Manzullo, voted against this bill and the bailout bill that was passed in the fall. Rep. Manzullo was a homeschooling dad, btw (his kids are grown now). Wish we had a lot more like him in the House and Senate.

This bill, btw, hands out money that the U.S. does not have. But we’re printing it as fast as we can. Meanwhile, our founding fathers spin in their graves.

The Key to Learning Easily

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Barb

Early on, I discovered that my older three children learned the things that interested them much more easily than the subjects they didn’t care so much about.

For one, writing came easily while math was a much slower process. For another, vacuuming the living room properly (i.e. in more than 30 seconds) was far too difficult, while learning to design a Web site based on a much-loved hobby was fast and easy. For yet another, reading Shakespeare was a piece of cake while reading history from a textbook was torture.

Then there’s #4. He’s the one with Down syndrome, and homeschooling him has been a much slower process all the way around. He’s had a particularly hard time with reading. We continue to review words that he learned years ago; if we don’t, he forgets them. I got kind of depressed the other day when he blanked out on “is” and “find,” because they’re easy and he’d known them for a long time, up until then.

However, my husband discovered something that same day which reminded me that dsds15 can easily remember the words that mean something to him. He loves video games and movies, and one of his favorite subjects in both categories is “X-Men.” He especially likes to pause the game whenever it displays a character so he can write down the character’s name. He will often print long lists of these characters as he plays.

My husband took one of these lists and asked my son to read the names on it. These are names like Professor Xavier, Mystique, Magneto…..15 or 20 of them on a page. And he could read every name we pointed to! That stinker…..like his older siblings, if something interests him, he has a much easier time with it.

The 1970s: When Simple Living Was The Norm

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Barb

James Garner

The detective shows of the 1970s hold a special place in my heart. There were several that I really enjoyed. Now that so many shows are available on dvd, I can relive those days pretty easily.

One thing I’ve noticed is that people’s homes in these shows were actually pretty basic compared to today’s homes. The typical house shown in “The Rockford Files” (watch for free at this link) or “The Streets of San Francisco,” to name just two series, was modestly decorated in mostly functional furniture with some pictures on the wall and, of course, the requisite large console television.

Even the depictions of wealthy people’s homes weren’t nearly as packed full of expensive furniture and decorations as what you see on television and in movies these days. Back then, we didn’t keep up with designer furniture, if there even was much of it. Now, most everyone has to have the latest of everything.

I think things began to change once “The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” became popular. Until then, I doubt most people cared about what celebrities had in their homes. Not that no one ever cared, but the focus that we’ve seen in recent years on who’s got what wasn’t an issue until around the time that show came on. I guess it created a lot of envy.

I like to watch the 1970s shows because they reflect a simpler time, when people weren’t so hung up on having things. You see people dressed normally but not in anything spectacularly eye-catching. Designer duds had not caught on yet. I like the casual way Jim Rockford threw on his sports jacket if he had to go to police headquarters, or the old clothes he wore to go fishing with his dad Rocky. No flash, that’s for sure. Even his home, an old trailer on the beach, reflected utility rather than impressive design.

When I drive through areas with McMansions built over the past decade, empty all day while their owners work to make the massive house payments that came with the houses, I think about how most people used to consider their homes shelter, not something to impress people. They wore clothes for practical reasons rather than to make a statement about their wealth.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but I think life was a lot simpler then. That might be why I like those 1970s television shows so much.