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Valedictorian gives schools a swift kick in the pants! You go girl!

July 27, 2010

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Author Note: Over the past four days, this post has received 110K+ hits and over 300+ comments. If you are interested in the unschooling/edupunks movement, please follow us via RSS,Email, or Twitter.

Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.

Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:

Here I stand 

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path." 

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective. 

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible. 

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him.But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared. 

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt. 

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States." 

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth? 

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is. 

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us. 

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still. 

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation. 

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you.Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades. 

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake. 

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth. 

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians. 

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!

Update 8/7/10 - It was only a matter of time until a Youtube video of Erica's speech emerged. I'll warn you now, her delivery isn't as well put together as her speech. 

"Don't anybody move, I've dropped my brain."

I can relate to that line from a movie. I feel like sometimes I have dropped my brain and I cannot figure out where it is. In the laundry? In the pile of dishes in the sink? Did I accidentally make a smoothie with it? Maybe my purse, perhaps one of the kids thought it was a cool ball and left it outside to bake in the sun. Like lost glasses always found on top of your head, I find my brain tucked safely away. Then I begin to think the worst, am I getting Alzheimer? Words come out wrong. Can't think of peoples names. I feared I was becoming feeble in the mind so I downloaded a memory game one day on my phone. I sat down and could not do it. "Ahhhh!", I screamed within. "It is true.", I whispered to myself. Wanting to cry I put the game down and finished my chores and cared for the kids. That night in bed with the house quiet I tried it again, BAM! I got it. The next morning, Bam, I got it! Then it was clear to me. I was and am very distracted during the day. Laundry, dishes, cleaning pee off the bathroom floor, flushing away awful sights, making smoothies, lunches, dinners, driving here and there, telling the kids their chores, making sure they do their chores, reading to them while cooking, doing projects, homeschooling on 3 different levels, and all the while taking time to let the dogs in and out. Somehow I get it all done, not perfectly, not neatly, but complete and it takes a toll on my mind. I am foggy and scrambled most days.

I am a very internal person. Not a quick thinker in debate. I mull over ideas for days and then come back with my opinion. Society wants me to think NOW! I can't. I am busy, very busy. Once those little feet hit the floor their mouths open wanting food shoved in and millions of "I want" comes out. There is no room left to tell you my neighbors name or where my brain is. "It was here this morning." I say and let's leave it at that. Pancakes anyone?

Schools Out (for most kids)

As public schools kids near the end of another school year we are going to continue on our merry way. The joy of homeschooling is to go at your own pace and take your time. Although, our society would like me to speed up and make the children miserable. I say phooey! I refuse to bend to their ideals and substitute   it with my own!

This year we threw out all formal math and I bought an unconventional math book that was actually written in the 70's. I have had to tweak it a bit to work for us, we don't have phone booths or sidewalks. The kids now look forward to doing The I Hate Mathematics Book! They unknowingly, with joy in their hearts, discovered volume, topology, permutations, and other "math." This is what learning about! Zane has completed one whole workbook of letters and Jonah finished on whole workbook of new words and sentences, both from the Explode the Code series. Both have already started new books. James has started guitar and recently piano. James guitar teacher says he is one of his best students! He has learned many chords and is now learning many songs. Many he has taught himself from listening to his records. Jonah has been working hard on digging a hole all winter and spring. Kept pretty fit through the season changes, not to mention unknowingly learning physics! Jonah has started drumming lessons. The kid has a natural beat in his blood. Although he has a resistance of being told how to do something. He gets that stubbornness from me. The kid is my rebel twin. Zane is taking piano lessons and completely idolizes Elton John. He has to watch him or listen to him nightly. He is quite witty and very much a 2 sided Gemini!

We will not push as we do in the fall, but we will continue on with our "education" called life.
We will have fun and enjoy the ride.

You think you want to homeschool......

You either remember your own school days, watched a friends child get sucked into the slush called "school", or you have children that are either in the system and you want them out. Either way you most likely have a child "in need" of education. I say in need because all of us, deep down inside, think we our children "need schooling" in the traditional sense. I am here to say, from experience,  they don't. The children need experiences, someone to talk to, a life to live. Learning comes naturally for the most part. There are times when you need to discuss and work through certain areas, but much of what children learn is from doing. Did you learn your color with a chart. No you heard mom say, "Look at these green peas, they are so yummy." Even if you hated peas you knew that was green. You heard, "My shoes are under the bed. Go get them." You did not need a worksheet to teach you under and over. Yet schools all across the country think this is how you learn under, over, colors, size, etc... What three year old doesn't know the difference between a fat man and a skinny woman? A wise older lady once told me, "They don't go to college wearing diapers, RELAX!" She was right. Does it matter when they learn a skill? Doctors and teachers like to scare you into thinking they do, they have to be on the chart, any where off the chart is BAD. (did you hear the big booming dooming drums?)  At this point you have either agreed enough to go on, or you are thinking I am looney and are laughing through the ride, either way you are wondering when I am getting to my point.....

The first thing you want to do is to join several, and I mean several, homeschool groups online. No matter the age of your child, do this first. You can get a feel for what kind of people are in these groups and what matches your style. There are unschooling Nazi types, Earth Wind Fire types, loving relaxed Christians, Nazi strict Christians, snobby groups, secular, cranky, happy, hippie, yuppie, and everything in between. Some groups are so clique-ish that no matter how nice you are they will not let you in without some discomfort. Others are warm and friendly and welcome all. Take time to visit the playgroups and weed through the groups until you find one you really like and the moms you really love! Check Gmail, Yahoo, and other social groups for homeschool groups in your area.

Next you need to ask every question that pops into your head to the moms in these groups. Ask about EVERYTHING. Someone knows something. Want to know about bugs? Diapers? Chickens? Fruit? Math? Curriculum? Ask. Learn from our mistakes.

After you have found a groups to talk to and you have asked questions, you will now have a list of curriculum and books recommended by the homeschooling moms and dads. Start your research. What style are you? Waldorf/Steiner? Charlotte Mason? Montessori? Traditional (public school model)? Classical? Unschool? Christian? Catholic? Jewish? Secular? Eclectic? Workbooks? Hands-on? Teach with unit learning? Block learning? The reading approach? Sonlight and others offer this approach. Virtual learning? as in K-12, Time4Learning, etc...

You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on worthless material. Take your time. Also, don't be afraid to throw out something if it's not working. Sell it or donate it, but do not use it if it brings on tears!

After you have done all this you will need to think about other things as well. Field Trips, at-home activites, music lessons, dance, co-op classes, social gatherings, etc...

Most homeschoolers do not meet on Saturday and Sunday. These are family times. Monday through Friday are homeschooler times. This does not mean that YOU have to abide by any rules here. If you find some families that want to meet on the weekends, do it. If you want to use the weekend to educate, then do it. The true joy about homeschooling is there is not a check-in and check-out board. Education and learning is always "on-call." I have heard countless stories about mom's looking up elephants on the internet at 10pm. Never ever forget that EVERYTHING is a teachable moment.

The last thing you need to do before you begin is telling the state, family, and school (if you are taking them out., not if they have never started). If you are in Ks, this is easy. Contact the Topeka Board of Education and fill out their form. Print it before submitting if you are pulling your child out of school. Family? I cannot tell you how they will react. Some are OK, and some are not. Some families help, and some will turn you in to the state. If you have the second kind, keep records! And remember, everything is a teachable moment. Washing dishes is "home economics" as with grocery shopping, and cooking.
Document the children on field trips, social gatherings, and reading a book with pictures. This way you have proof for those not so nice family members.

If you are homeschooling in Ks you are considered a private school. You will need to pick a principal! Choose a school name and fill out the rest of the document. It's that easy. No one will call you. No one will check up on you.

As for pulling out of school, I have heard nightmares, mine being one of them, and I have heard of easy withdrawals where the teachers were even considerate. This is another variable issue and best to cover your self with a printed paper showing you have signed with the school board and are legit.

If you are in another state, look into the rules for that state. Some require testing and other bogus paperwork.

I hope this helps. Remember to breathe and reflect on the sage advice from your elders once more, "They don't go to college with diapers on, RELAX!"

To school or not to school; that is the question......

What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.  ~George Bernard Shaw


I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.  ~Mark Twain


Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.  ~Albert Einstein



Education aims to give you a boost up the ladder of knowledge.  Too often, it just gives you a cramp on one of its rungs.  ~Martin H. Fischer


I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.  ~Winston Churchill


These quotes sum up my sentiments exactly. I have no use for boxed life. School, food, or religion.  To school or not to school; that is the question. So much time goes into schooling. I have desperately taught my children the ABC's and the 123's. I have read book after book. We did experiments, studied ancient history, grumbled over math, shed tears over writing. I attempted to raise their awareness to spiritual matters, hand work, and the arts. I slaved over lesson plans, grids, and read up on subjects I had no prior knowledge of. I begged, pleaded, and threatened the pupils to learn. I was the one left in the middle of the road holding the bag of emptiness. I was the one feeling defeated and they were repelled and no longer wanted to learn. Not only that the teaching was done in vain because they did not retain an ounce. Lost. All lost. Where did it go? Why did they not retain it? Simple fact is this; they were not ready to learn it. Simple as that. An old Buddhist saying says, "When the student is ready the teacher appears." If the child/student is not ready and willing and wanting then you are fighting and endless battle. I have decided to stop the war and let peace reign. Nay, shall I conduct school as usual. I will begin anew. I will stop the insanity that so many believe is the way. I have seen the light. The darkness of traditional teaching swept away. I will begin my new adventure; Unschooling! 
Aye, tis the way of an un-conventionalist! 

Beginning Anew!

As public school kids across the country embark on yet another droll existence in "the system" my children will take new steps into a new year filled with new life and excitement. There will be no tests, no grade cards, and best of all no school lunches!

Nope, on cold windy days we can stay home wrapped in soft billowy blankets, drink hot tea and read books to each other and nibble warm buttery toast next to the hearth. Warm sunny days we can head out doors to picnic in the sun and talk about all the little things that pop into our heads.

When academics drags us down, we will take a break and paint, draw, make play dough, do science experiments, play board games, and do puzzles.

When being "at school" gets under our skin, we will escape to various museums, events, and nature reserves to learn more by being there.

As the public school kids begin to sit in their seats and "learn" my children will be up and out of their seats moving, talking, and experiencing life!

I am looking forward to the 2009-2010 school year!

With that said I have a small library of books lined up for this years reading aloud time. Or as we call it D.E.A.R Time (Drop Everything And Read).

We have started the year off by reading an abridged King Author and the Knights of the Roundtable, it was not as exciting as unabridged might be, but this book was already in the library.

Now we are reading The Never Ending Story by Ende (American translation). The kids like this one, but one chapter is all they can sit through thus far. I am sure later when the flying dog appears they will want to sit through longer stints.

Here are the other books I pulled from my library that we have not yet and will do so this school year.

Stanley, Flat Again! by Brown

The BFG by Dahl

Matilda by Dahl

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Dahl

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Birney

The Secret of the Old Clock by Drew

A Christmas Carol and Other Holiday Tales (unabridged) by Dickens

The War of the Worlds by Wells

I also have our science and history to read. Not to mention bedtime stories, and helping Jonah learn to read. James reading to Zane while I work with Jonah, and all the other ends and outs of "school."

Let's get to work!

Teacher Dad

I have started going to see my mentor once a week for "help" and advice about my paintings. This is on Monday because Sam has that day off. This means he is in charge of the teacher duties. We have been learning about different states every week. We average about 2 states a week. With this I find words for the kids to write and make sentences from, I write those words on the chalk board. I also write the state and the capital city in different colors to help them remember. I chose words that are unique to that state, like Mormon in Utah. Today Sam was to read the Utah book. I found the words, wrote them on the board, and explained the words to the kids. told them to listen for those words in the book. We are not talking a HUGE book here. A library book about Utah from the kids section. Not even a hard read. Well, Sam failed! He was so bored he fell asleep and read less than a third of the book. He told me it was "Boring" and the kids were asking to stop too. I then think about all the times I talk to him on the phone during the day and he's telling me what they ought to do. I always feel angry because I am doing quite a bit, I do not like the backseat driver without even a permit telling me how to drive. After today I now realize that is his shadow at work there. He has fears I am failing because he KNOWS he would. He proved that today. How did I handle this news? I asked the kids about how they liked their substitute. Zane likes Sam better because he fell asleep while reading, and never told him to be quite, because he didn't know he was noisy because he was ASLEEP!
Jonah likes Dad because he was "easy" and "less bossy." James likes me because I am "not as mean."

There you go, kids like the teacher that lets them fool around, except James, he likes a teacher that is not as "mean."

I think it's funny that when I read about the different states everybody wants to visit them afterward, but when Sam reads about them they want it to end. Oh, this is all too funny.

The beauty of homeschooling...

It was brought to my attention by a fellow homeschooler today about the beauty of homeschooling, flexibility. We can have school anytime and anywhere. She said this in response to the fact I told her we finally got around to Science and History at 9pm last night. You would think that this would be a "bad" time to do this, but it's not. Children retain bedtime stories, right? You read them a story before bed and the next morning they babble endlessly about it, or draw pictures about it, or act it out with their friends or siblings. some might argue that reading history is a bit heavy, even science. "What ever happened to fairy tales?" was one comment.

Fairy tales are horrid. They are gruesome. They are scary. Want you child to have rip roaring nightmares read a REAL fairytale to them. Learning about how Julius Cesar was kidnapped and held for ransom money is not so bad. Learning about butterflies before you close your eyes are delightful. Do we read fairy tales at all? I tried, the kids were bored. In my opinion fairy tales are like a lot of other traditions; completely over rated and ran into the ground.

I do think it is necessary to read fairy tales, I also think it is necessary to read the bible and learn history. You will being to see a pattern emerge. My children now "see" those patterns. They jump up at the story of Moses and say, "Hey didn't that same thing happen to Sargon? Wasn't Sargon pushed out into water in a basket?"

That is besides the point, my point here was flexibility. We can have math class at 4pm, Science at 8pm, and History at 9pm. We wake up at 7am but we need time to wake up the brain, eat, do chores, and get some energy out first. We get it all done, but not like the schools do. Life is becoming less rigid. Public schools were based on work schedules most Americans had. These days schedules are something people make a week in advanced, not something they adhere to day by day. Our school system does not reflect the changing times. Homeschooling does, which is why you see a lot of people doing it today. You can be flexible and "hang out" with your kids more.

Not to mention they are not nearly as jaded and snotty as the PSK's. There are a lot of benefits here. I highly recommend this to many people, some though I am sure glad PS is there for them and their kids. Sometimes being with strangers is better for the kid than the parents.

Field Trip!

I would normally say that going to a movie is NOT a field trip unless it was to watch a documentary on the big screen. Today was an exception. Due to lower than usual funds, higher food prices, etc. We take few trips. Museums are not free, neither is gas, and then there are tolls to pay. It is too cold for free outdoor adventures, so what does one do for fun? We usually head off to homeschool group or open gym time, but my kids are snotty and coughing. I knew very few people would not be at the movies on Wednesday at 11am. I was correct. There was one older lady, a woman with her small child, and a man with his son. That was it. We sat in the back and watched Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. It's a great movie, I just love Adam Sandler. It is funny, we are close in age and our humor seems to be developing about the same. When I watch younger Sandler movies I roll my eyes, but at one time I thought they were hilarious. Funny how your taste change with time and experiences.

This was not exactly learning experiences, but it was a nice family time, which is usually teacher/student time.

We are progressing nicely with our state studies I started in January. We started late because Sam kept forgetting to pick up the books from the library. The kids now want to visit so many states to see all the wonderful museums and natural wonders. The first on the list is Connecticut.

I am holding the vision that money will pick up around here for us and we can afford to take trips to all these fantastic places together. Sounds fun to me!!

Mrs Piggle Wiggle

I know this will be blasphemy to some, but it has to be done. I HATE MRS PIGGLE WIGGLE!! I hate reading it. I hate listening to it. By God wouldn't you know it Zane LOVES the books. Gag! I would rather suck on a dirty gym sock. My husband remembers laughing so hard when his mother read those stories to him and his sisters. My mother in law told me to buy them. When James was 4 I bought a 4 book set. I brought them in, set James down and began to read the most uninteresting dribble I had ever laid my eyes upon. James, the kid that was currently listening to The Hobbit every night, could not stand them either. They were promptly placed on the bookshelf to hopefully rot in peace. My luck held out with Jonah. He did not like them either. Curiousity struck him when he saw the books. With my inability to toss out books, because they are fine and not peed on by the dog, you should keep them no matter what. Zane comes along and finds them as I am clearing out the library. "What's this?" he picks up two of the books.
"Oh that is Mrs Piggle Wiggle, give them here, they will go nicely here." I gingerly take the books and smile and shove them between two larger books hoping they will be lost from prying eyes.
That night the Piggle Wiggle curse fell upon my head. Zane asked me to read the "piggie book" with the "old lady on it." I knew when he said "piggie book." It's that motherly intuition that only mothers have and fathers are clueless, standing in the middle of the room looking down and the weeping babe on the verge of screaming, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT."
Nope, I knew, Mrs Piggle Wiggle. I crinched, but thought, "it will not take long, he will ask for Olivia or Little Bear, maybe even Gloria and Officer Buckle." NO, he did not. I ended up reading half that book, several "cures" before he lost intrest enough to find a new book. I was ready to read the Fudge books for the third time after that.

What does this have to do with Homeschooling? Not sure, it was reading to my child. That is about it. And thank you, God, for helping him see the light, ughm....I mean a new book ;)

Get off my back!

This is what I feel like saying to people that give me a hard time about James and his education.
I KNOW he's behind. I have talked with people about this. He's has all the traits of a dyslexic kid. I have done a TON of research online and with the state of Ks about available resources. What I found out was the state of Ks will pay for James to have an IEP at a public school. What it amounts too is going slower than the rest of the kids and he's not expected to do the same work. They do not recognize dyslexia as something to treat differently, meaning the style in which they teach, same way but slower. I did more research, I found out that other states AND privately paid tutors that specialize in dyslexia are using the same math program I am ALREADY using. So why sink $500 for 3 months of math when it only costs me $65 each time we move up a level? What am I getting at here? I am getting at the fact I am working with him. Yes, he is behind. No, it is not because he's homeschooled. He got further behind by going to school last year than if he had stayed home with me.

I have found he advances faster with me than when he's being schooled by "professionals." The reason being I see him "drift off" and call him back. He's a chronic daydreamer. He's habitually slow. He's major procrastinator. He's the worst of Sam and I wrapped into one kid. Yet, I swear on my Grandmothers grave, this childis an idiot savant. He's brilliant, but like Einstein, it's hard to see, right now. Just today he took an old broken down, not working in year ancient CB apart and put it back together, it works now. Yet, last night we had the most unusal conversation about numbers. It went like this....

"Can you take 9 from 18?"

"Ummmm"

"OK try this, what is 9+9?"

"18"

"OK, then what is 9 taken away from 18?"

"0"

I then stood there staring at him with complete disbelief and ahhh.

Finally after a couple minutes he saw his error and figured out it was 9 after all and not zero.

This is typical math time issues. Add on that to his piss poor spelling and you have an uphill battle on your hands, academically. Yet the kid remembers EVERYTHING he hears. He knows ALL the years of important dates; Civil War, death of MLK, birth years of grandparents, friends, friends parents. He listens and hangs on to everyword people say and files it away. Later he comes back with "hey this is like the time so-and-so said......" and is able to fix a problem by having those tid-bits filed away in his brain rolodex. He got our tractor fixed and working last Summer when his Dad threw in the towel and said he did not know what to do. We sat at the table one night after dinner and heard it roar to life. He then gave Sam a list of things he needed to buy so we could fix it up; belts, tires, etc...


It's just no one knows how much I am working with him. We work on this stuff everyday. I even had a retired (recently retired) Special Ed teacher tell me that public school was not good for a kid like James in this state. I have noticed, and private is even worse, for him.

Have you heard of the library programs where the dogs sit in the room and listen to kids read? Well I have one better, a little brother that thinks James is super cool and James thinks Zane is super little and needs his protection. James, the kid that WILL NOT READ, now reads everynight to Zane. Tonight is was The Magic Finger! It is a start. It's something meaningful to Zane and warms my heart to see. Plus the bonus of James actually reading a chapter books and other smaller books to Zane.

It's getting better. I do work with him. He even has special on-line help. I am covering my butt/bases here.
I just wish people would back off and let us work and trust we are!
He's special. He's unique. He's brain works in such a way that it looks lost to us, it's only because we are much to dull to think the way he does.

It's not easy being an Einstein mini-me! LOL!!!

Holes

I am growing increasingly aware of holes in James' knowledge. He has had some holes in education, and he also has difficulty retaining some things, so he has more holes than I like to think of.
I discovered yesterday one of his holes. Something I thought he would have naturally picked up on. A subject so common in our life and everybody's life it seemed like he would have grasped it along the way from being around it for 12 years. My newest discovery has taught me something.

1) Never assume they know

2) Free Range Parenting needs to be monitored more closely (as to what they ARE learning vs. what they are not)

3) Unschooling should not be allowed to be used on children unless they are absolutely hungry for knowledge, which my son is not.

This new realization for me is great, but it also means I have a lot of work to do.
I have more holes to fill in than I thought.
This means though Zane and Jonah will benefit from learning at an early age what James missed, again and again.

What I really want to know is how such a bright boy can be so damn forgetful about so many everyday subjects and know things that are not mainstream? He knows about so many things, but not things he needs to know about living in the world.

I will not fret. I have 6 years to whip him in shape and fill in those holes!

Off to school now!

Challenge Air

This past weekend my children were part of the volunteer family at Challenge Air.

What is Challenge Air?

Challenge Air is a place where kids with disabilities, mental or physical, and any other medical condition that is chronic, may come to the airport and literally fly planes. The pilot gets the plane to 2,500 feet in the air and lets the kids take the controls for a bit. It's a blast. My children waited around all day while Sam and I loaded kids into the planes and back out. At the end of the day one of the pilots let my kids go up. My oldest was allowed to fly the plane. He was so happy.
Austen, the pilot, is way cool. He's great with kids. I sure hope he comes back next year. He was much loved. He was one of two pilots that stayed the longest. Tom, from Minnesota, was probably the last pilot to take a Challenge child up.
I went up but have decided that I prefer the Earth and my feet upon her :)
Besides, my when James banked it to the left, my body felt very ill after that! LOL!!
I was ready to come down to the ground then.

I will work this event next year, and take my kids with me.
It is a good education for them!

Break time.............

The kids are busy with lunch and French lesson. Since I do not know French we invested in Muzzy. The kids love Muzzy, but they found out they could watch movies in French and learn a few things or two along with their other French studies. They are watch an early 90's movie about some men that kidnap a rich family's baby for ransom. I remember the movie, but cannot remember the English title.

I thought I would slip away and have my lunch also. It seems Sam left me mostly tofu and he ran off with all the yummy veggies from our stir fry last night.

We are plugging right along with school. James was struggling big time with his spelling so I dropped him down a grade level and now he is getting it quite well. This is a child from his father's father side of the family. Where someone there spells Lettuce (letus). He will get it. I have him also using a program from All About Spelling. It goes through all the different phonic combinations. I think this school year will prove to be his turn around. He's moving along in math. He would rather do French and geometry all day.

Jonah is beginning to remember what he did last year. He's upset with me when we go over it again. I laugh, I remind him that 2 days before he did not remember it. That is why I am teaching it again. We are going through these areas quickly, as not to bog him down and bore him.

Zane is disgusted that I am not teaching him to read yet. With the Waldorf process you wait. The point is they do get disgusted and bored then they WANT to learn it. He's almost ready. We are finishing up our form drawing this week. He's totally ready to move on into learning letters and numbers next week.

Jonah brought home a necklace he made with a knitting mushroom in his enrichment class. While we were there Zane was proud to show me the one he's working on.

James leaves tonight for his friends house to learn how to build a shed. The Hindu Priest that was going to teach him while he's there on Friday's has decided to go on the road for 6 weeks playing drums in a Kirtan band with a monk. James in the meantime will learn building with his friend's dad, an ex-monk. James is very excited.

OK, I must take care of my duties. I need to grind some corn and feed the chickens, AGAIN.
I must figure out how to make the burnt taste leave the beans we have for super.....someone turned the knob to high. I need to switch out my laundry and finish the cleaning I began before lunch.

Tootles.

Poor Connor

This article is from www.theonion.com

This is WHY we homeschool. To keep our children out of the dreaded institution a little longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CARPENTERSVILLE, IL—Local first-grader Connor Bolduc, 6, experienced the first inkling of a coming lifetime of existential dread Monday upon recognizing his cruel destiny to participate in compulsory education for the better part of the next two decades, sources reported.

"I don't want to go to school," Bolduc told his parents, the crushing reality of his situation having yet to fully dawn on his naïve consciousness. "I want to play outside with my friends."

While Bolduc stood waiting for the bus to pick him up on his first day of elementary school, his parents reportedly were able to "see the wheels turning in his little brain" as the child, for the first time in his life, began to understand how dire and hopeless his situation had actually become.

Basic math—which the child has blissfully yet to learn—clearly demonstrates that the number of years before he will be released from the horrifying prison of formal schooling, is more than twice the length of time he has yet existed. According to a conservative estimate of six hours of school five days a week for nine months of the year, Bolduc faces an estimated 14,400 hours trapped in an endless succession of nearly identical, suffocating classrooms.

This nightmarish but undeniably real scenario does not take into account additional time spent on homework, extracurricular responsibilities, or college, sources said.

"I can't wait until school is over," said the 3-foot-tall tragic figure, who would not have been able, if asked, to contemplate the amount of time between now and summer, let alone the years and years of tedium to follow.

The concept of wasting a majority of daylight hours sitting still in a classroom when he could be riding his bicycle, playing in his tree fort, or lying in the grass looking at bugs—especially considering that he had already wasted two years of his life attending preschool and kindergarten—seemed impossibly unfair to Bolduc. Moreover, sources said, he had no idea how much worse the inescapable truth will turn out to be.

Shortly after his mommy, homemaker Ellen Bolduc, 31, assured him that he would be able to resume playtime "when school lets out," Connor's innocent brain only then began to work out the implication of that sentence to its inevitable, soul-crushing conclusion.

When pressed for more detail on the exact timing of that event, Mrs. Bolduc would only reply "soon." At that point, the normally energetic child grew quiet before asking a follow-up question, "After [younger sister] Maddy's birthday?" thereby setting the stage for the first of thousands of rushing realizations he will be forced to come to grips with over the course of his subsequent existence.

Madison Ellen Bolduc was born on Sept. 28.

After learning that the first grade will continue for eight excruciating months beyond that date, it was only a matter of time before Bolduc inquired into what grade comes after first grade, and, when told, would probe further into how many grades he will have to complete before allowed to play with his friends.

The answer to that fatal question—12, a number too large for Bolduc to count on the fingers of both hands—will be enough to nearly shatter the boy's still-forming psyche, said child psychology expert Eli Wasserbaum.

"When you consider that it doesn't include another four years of secondary education, plus five more years of medical school, if he wants to follow his previously stated goal to grow up to be a doctor like his daddy, this will come as an interminably deep chasm of drudgery and imprisonment to [Connor]," said Wasserbaum. "It's difficult to know the effect on his psychological well-being when he grasps the full truth: that his education will be followed by approximately four decades of work, bills, and taxes, during which he will also rear his own children to face the same fate, all of which will, of course, be followed by a brief, almost inconsequential retirement, and his inevitable death."

"Even a 50-year-old adult would have trouble processing such a monstrous notion," Wasserbaum added. "Oh my God, I'm 50 years old."

The first of Bolduc's remaining 2,299 days of school will resume at 8 a.m. tomorrow. On the next 624 Sundays, he will also be forced to attend church.

We weeble and wobble, but we don't fall down!

Life has it's way of making you weeble and wobble. Like today, day 2 in homeschool experiment 6560 (I am making up the number, FYI for the gullible types).

The morning started rough. Not too rough, but a little shaky. I tried to spice up the skip counting and it turned into a disaster. Jonah and Zane began to write on their chalk boards, ok DOODLE, as I spoke. I said stop and Jonah kept on. I finally took it off his desk as he tried desperately put the finishing touches on his artwork. I took a deep breath. Zane threw the wiping off rag and it hit the candle flame and it luckily went out. I lit the candle again and told him not to do that. This was the morning. James took ALL day to complete work that would take 2 hours MAX.
I finally told him we needed to leave at 3pm to go buy chicken feed for our chickens. He spent an hour at least talking to Nimai, polishing his dads bee yard boots (you know the girls really like shiny black boots when they are being smoked and their honey robbed). He took nine days to eat his 1/2 cup of beans with his chips and sour cream. He took another 6 days to destroy the computer room to look for a CD I told him was in the cabinet 4 times. Oh yes, it was fun! Jonah did not want to write anything, wanted to cry. I was not falling for that trick.

Ahhhhhhhh..................deep breath, deep breath.

See I still have all my hair and most of my mind! All is well :)

And we're off...........................

Today we officially started school. It was shaky. It was weird. It was scary. It was surprisingly laid back and calm. James said as we pulled the desks to the middle of the room, "We are being homeschooled again, Boys, strange, it feels like Christmas."

Oh, that warmed my heart and I ran to Sam's side and whispered, "Did you hear what James said?" He smile a gentle grin and nodded a yes.

We began with the lighting of the candle. We said our verse, we recited 2 lines of a poem we are going to learn over the next 8 weeks. We did some skip counting, and I sang On Top of Old Smokey. In time they will learn it word for word and sing along. Once the poem and song are complete then we will move on to a new one.

Sam took James upstairs after this and worked on Geometry. I stayed with Jonah and Zane and we worked on Form Drawing Lesson 1. Good thing I sometimes have flashes of brilliance, because I sure needed it today! When you teach Form Drawing in the Waldorf method you need a story to bring you into the lesson that is about the lesson. Lesson 1 is straight and curved lines. I sat there for about 2 seconds as I was scrambling around in my brain thinking up a story. I started asking Jonah questions right off the bat to stall. Then it came to me in about 1 minute into the stalling routine.

Ivy and Charlie were walking in the forest looking at all that Nature had provided when along came an old woman and asked what they were doing there........this is where you bring in an old lady voice and find a voice for Ivy and Charlie............Ivy told the old woman how they were looking at the shapes in the woods. The woman asked what shapes, she only saw trees, flowers, grass, and beasts. Ivy explained how everywhere you look there are shapes and ALL shapes use either straight or curved lines. Then I pulled the little chalkboard close to me and began to draw a tree, a bird, blades of grass, and flowers. I explained to the old woman that the grass can be curved or straight, the trunk of the tree was straight, but the branches were curved. On and on I went until we ended with writing the names of our story helpers, Ivy and Charlie and talked about how Ivy had all straight lines and Charlie had a mix of both. We went outside and moved our bodies in straight and curved movements. We talked about the things we saw with those lines, and then came inside to draw them on their personal desk chalkboards I made for them this week. James finished his geometry and went outside to work around the yard while I finished up with the other two, then I worked with Jonah and read him his Fable and then read Zane his Fairy Tale. I finally got around to read James his Roman material. Some time later I helped James with Math. He finished the rest on his own; French, journal, spelling, and reading his book. I have a chart on the wall for him to keep track of each day. After it's completed (20 days worth) I make another and tweak it to what we are doing now.

It went smoothly for a day that I was clueless about and one Sam did not prepare himself for at all. He wants to help but falls asleep as I tell him what is on the agenda and procrastinates when it's time to do something. Oh well, he is willing to help with the morning opening and teach the geometry. This helps get James set in the right direction and shows the boys Dad is on board with what Mom is doing!

I am excited. It was even better later because we got home and our lesson books (blank books the kids make into textbooks themselves) had finally shown up. UPS "forgot" to put it on the truck Friday morning when it was suppose to be delivered, instead they brought Harry and David snacks sent by someone Sam works with. The kids enjoyed the junk food at least.

We still had the chicks to tend to, and the rest of life. It was a full day. Now I must prepare for tomorrow. Jonah's fable was about a Stag, I just found another one about a Stag. Tomorrow we learn how to draw a Stag after our review and do more reading. Should be interesting and fun!

Tootles...............until next time.

Getting started

We received our package of curriculum this Friday. I have been looking through it and examining it very carefully. I am in need of more time to examine it. Being that I have never Waldorf homeschooled and it is intensely different than traditional schooling.

We have been busy this week. Sam and I took Jonah and Zane to the lake on Memorial day to look at all the trash left behind from the weekend fishermen. It was not well taken, bugs, trash, and all. We left. We live close by, so it was a quick trip there and back. Tuesday we hung around the house, did much of nothing, made brownies for the following day, took care of the chickens. Wednesday we set out for the Waldorf enrichment class. The kids had a blast. It was more of a get to know each other day, but James had 3 of his old classmates there, so he already knew quite a few. Jonah told the teacher that he was colorblind and so was Zane and she had a concerned conversation with me. I think I will need to keep talking to her. She seems so bent on making sure they only paint with the colors they can "see". UGH! I told they can "see" just fine, they just take it in and process it differently. Some shades of red, blue, green, and such look differently. Like pink looks either white or blue, depending what shade it is. Light pink is white and hot pink is blue. Anyhow, that was that discovery, someone thinking they need to "fix" my colorblind children. The nerve! Ignorance, I have found, can be found in the most unlikely places.

Thursday we hung out at home until time to go to the Cub Scout meeting at the public school. We signed up the younger two and James is in Boy Scouts. Taken care of! Now they are all going to be busy!

Friday we arrived late to Lego group. James and his hair was holding up the show again. I have decided to withhold $1 allowance to the person(s) responsible for us being late to something because they did not manage their time correctly. He was told to wake up in plenty of time and he did not get up, so he was late doing everything.

Saturday we went to a tiny, almost not worth mentioning it, Cajun festival. James ate a huge bowl of crawfish. I cannot eat those things. I have not been able to eat them since I lived in Jacksonville, Fl and went to their HUGE crawfish festival. EW! But he LOVED it! He LOVES Cajun food. I never liked Cajun food at 12, loved the music though. We did some shopping and then left. We stopped by the local church to look at their mini-car show. It was maybe 5 cars. There were some beauties though. The boys yelled for me to stop when they saw the Hudson.
They jumped out, looked around then jumped back in the car, all within 5 minutes. We came home and hung out for a bit before heading to the Hare Krishna program.

We finally got home at 11pm! I was so tired. The kids just flopped right into bed. No one argued.

This morning I woke up with a rip roaring sore throat and achy body. My dad would say it was from being in the rain. I would say it was because I was living with a 6 year old all week with a sore throat! We set the chickens out of the brooder for some sunshine and natural foods to eat.

That was our mundane week. It will get spicier. We will begin school very soon. I have supplies to buy now that I have the list.

Time to read more about what to do.

TTFN

What is going on these days......

I have not written about homeschooling for a long time. In fact yesterday I decided I would, it had been 2 years since I had. I deleted al but my favorite story, the marriage. We decided to send the kids to a local Waldorf school. It was not perfect, and things happened and we left. We are back to homeschooling, but this time around we are going with the Waldorf approach. It worked for my kids. They really enjoyed how they were learning, stress free and with creativity. Since I have been an on again off again homeschooler for 6 years and I am an artist, I thought I could pull this Waldorf gig off. We are not totally Waldorf either, this makes us unlike many of those people doing Waldorf schools/curriculum.

We have not officially started school this school year, granted it is Labor Day and all the schools around us have started, we have not. We are currently waiting for our Live-Education Waldorf curriculum. We ordered just before the holiday. I will get it at the end of this week, I am sure. I also have decided I will read it all over and take a week to digest it for myself first. not jump into as soon as the box arrives.

Unofficially we began a few weeks ago. We received in the mail a huge box of dead animal specimens to dissect with kit. The kids are loving it. We have dissected an earth worm and a crawdad. Next we have grasshoppers, 2 of them in fact and I think one is male and one female. Should prove to be interesting.

We have been listening to lots of books on tape as we travel about. I will begin to jot those down for record on here. I have decided I will keep a running homeschool journal/blog for my record keeping for the state. They never check these things, but if they ever decide to, like a mean relative turns you in for not teaching them properly, they can come check. I figure I will keep it here. I can email the link, Ha!

We also received via snail mail baby chicks. We are raising meat chicks. This Wednesday it will be 1 full week we have had them. They ship them the day they hatch. We have seen many changes and I will leave details about that. The kids are to come out there and help do something everyday. Water, feed, clean brooder, lay down new paper, etc....

They are having Science.

We begin this week a Waldorf enrichment program with another Waldorf school an hour away from us. The one 20 minutes away has no such program for homeschoolers. We are thrilled to be able to have such a class. It will be all day and the kids will learn Spanish, knitting, drama, art (Waldorf method) and many other things. I will have a day off once a week. WOW!

I am looking into French lessons with Jean-Claude and perhaps French Club with Alain for 2 of my boys. We are already involved in First Lego League; robotics, math, and science club all rolled into one.

We have Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. We should be busy enough to not worry about being bored.
In fact I am trying to figure out when I can take a class on quilting with their schedule. Hmmmm....

Anyhow, this will be what the blog is about. What they read, what I read, what I taught, and what they/we have done.

I want to write a little bit each day, but I think that is overly ambitious and not realistic, I am going to reach for every other day, perhaps less or more, but at least once a week to make sure I have it all noted for my records.

Until my next post.................