homeschooling « Help me, Obi-Mom Kenobi! You're my only hope.

The three habits that lead to success are: Patience, Application, and Vision.

Take care: The person who will tell others' faults to you - will tell yours to others.

It is always better to be underestimated.

There are three things that are better than riches: Health, Freedom, and Honor.

Think swiftly, speak softly, act wisely.

"The world is neither Scottish, English, nor Irish, neither French, Dutch, nor Chinese, but human, and each nation is only the partial development of a universal humanity." - James Grant on founding the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, 1862

All from: The Book of Celtic Wisdom

You have paid the price for your lack of vision.

“You have paid the price for your lack of vision.” – The Emperor, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi

And it is called… summer school.

Well, a few lessons this summer anyway in writing and math. (Before you tar and feather me, it was Padawan Learner’s idea.)

For a mechanic, you seem to do an incessant amount of thinking.

“For a mechanic, you seem to do an incessant amount of thinking.” – C-3PO, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

Padawan Learner wants to be an inventor. Maybe I should say PL is an inventor, because he’s been imagining improvements to just about everything that comes his way since he was old enough to declare something “to be when he grows up”. His inventions/improvements are often fantastic (lovely word, that – multiple meanings), frequently push the laws of physics, and sometimes lead to quite interesting discussions – occasionally heated discussions when he feels that Dad Windu and I are just not getting the point.

Once or twice a year, I hear this refrain, “Why am I learning about (insert annoying topic o’the week here)? I’m going to be an inventor.” My answers usually run along these lines:

Who cares if my spelling isn’t right? Only the people reading your grant proposal.
Why do I need to learn calculus? Do you think you’ll ever need to calculate things in motion?
Do I have to learn the metric system? Only if you want people in the scientific community to take you seriously.
Is good grammar really a big deal? It is only if you want patent clerks and investors to fully understand your invention.
What’s the point of learning history? You might find a new solution by exploring an old problem.

One of the best things to help stem this tide has been talking about all the different shapes that ‘inventor’ can take. Is a chemist working on a new cholesterol-lowering drug an inventor? Is a biologist who designs a test for resistance to a new pathogen in trout an inventor? Is a writer an inventor? Where is inventing an important part of success in a person’s job – even if they don’t think of themselves as an ‘inventor’? Did you know that Uncle Owen has invented processes and contraptions to further his research? Does that make him an inventor of sorts? Would a person who creates a new computer language be an inventor, a linguist or ‘merely’ a computer programmer?

You’re not all-powerful, Ani.

Padme: ”You’re not all-powerful, Ani.”
Anakin: ”Well, I should be.”
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

Sometimes I walk through the house with my bathrobe flowing out behind me like a super-hero, pretending that I’m not really a homeschooling mom that just set off the smoke alarm making pancakes and with a pile of dishes waiting for me.

You have failed me for the last time, Admiral. (Or, I need your help!)

[Darth Vader has just learned of Admiral Ozzel's latest blunder]
Admiral Ozzel: “Lord Vader, the fleet has moved out of lightspeed and we’re preparing to…”
[Ozzel stops, suddenly begins to choke, and clutches his throat]
Darth Vader: ”You have failed me for the last time, Admiral. Captain Piett?”
Captain Piett: “Yes, my lord?
Darth Vader: ”Make ready to land our troops beyond their energy field, and deploy the fleet, so that nothing gets off the system.”
[Admiral Ozzel utters one last strangled gasp and falls over dead next to Piett]
Darth Vader: ”You are in command now, Admiral Piett.”
Admiral Piett: “Thank you, Lord Vader.”
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back

I need help picking a name for a new homeschooling website for my area. Since everyone loves a contest, I’m giving a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com to the person who suggests what I think is the best name (even if I don’t end up using it). Contest ends Tuesday, April 7 at 5 p.m.

The website will contain pages for:

local play/networking groups;
regional educational programs (such as for a biology or chemistry lab, a film-making class, a theater class, etc.);
tutors/mentors and people seeking help with a certain topic (e.g., electronics, piano, fiction writing, foreign languages) to find each other;
a calendar with community-wide cultural programs;
a place for people seeking more/new recreational buddies (golf, model trains, tennis, D&D, running, avant-garde foreign films, disc golf, papercrafts, fishing, etc.); and
who knows what else! (Feel free to leave suggestions.)

It will be primarily directed at homeschoolers, unschoolers, life-learners, whatever you want to call us. It will probably have an emphasis on classes that are offered during the day, but really cool stuff will be included regardless of when it is offered. I know that – like all homeschoolers – I have spent too many frustrating days hunting for local resource info, only to fail to find the necessary info when needed. I’ve also heard about really wonderful programs that Padawan Learner couldn’t use, but that someone out there would love to know about. I’ve decided there has to be a better way. This website, hopefully, will allow people in the area to pool useful homeschooling-related info in a single, convenient location.

The rules for this contest are simple. The name must

suggest educational info;
be easy relatively to remember;
allow for a city name (use Great Forks as your model); and
not be crude. (I know. I suck the fun out of everything, don’t I?)

Sadly, I live in a city that does not fully appreciate crude so my initial favorite, Crazy A$$ Homeschoolers, is not an option.

Good luck, have fun and feel free to pass the word. I look forward to seeing everyones’ ideas.

These droids are all over me like a rash.

“All right, engage . . . and hurry. These droids are all over me like a rash.” – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

Maybe not droids, per se, but definitely dust bunnies. Yes, dust bunnies were all over me like a rash today. I pulled everything out of my closet, wiped down baseboards, reached blindly under the dresser, and got back there behind the headboard of my king-size sleigh bed. *waves arm around to clear a path through the dust* It’s spring cleaning time at the Jedi Academy.

I know not all of you do a spring cleaning. Some of you are so on top of the housekeeping ball that you don’t need to. You probably don’t serve leftovers 2-3 nights a week either. Well, la di frickin da, little miss Becky Home Ec-ie. One room a day is getting deep-cleaned this and next week whether it needs it or not; but let’s not fool ourselves. Every single one of them needs it.

In order to avoid having to think too much about the grit, grime and gestation cycle of dust bunnies, I’ve also been taking some much needed time to spring clean my brain. Extended family dramas were evaluated and put into the proper hazardous waste containers for safe disposal. Un-employment fears have been given their due and then removed to the back burner. Educational and learning ideas are still being tossed around and played with.

“Ooo, look how far that one bounces!”
“Oh, too bad. That one has lost a wheel.”
“Hmm, we seem to have out-grown this outfit.”
“I think we’re missing a vital part here. Better start looking around for a replacement piece.”

Shelves cluttered to the brink with personal wishes, dreams, fears, goals, and disappointments are currently being cleared, dusted and then sorted to determine which items may stay, which should be donated to someone who will put it to better use, and which must go out with the trash. My brain feels fresher after only two days.

Doing any spring cleaning yourself these days? (or autumn cleaning for those of you in the S. Hemisphere)

Much to learn, you still have.

Yoda: “Powerful you have become Dooku, the Dark Side I sense in you.”
Count Dooku: ”I have become more powerful than any Jedi. Even you.”
[Dooku shoots Sith lighting at Yoda who effortlessly deflects it away]
Yoda: “Much to learn, you still have.”
Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

I wonder if Count Dooku relied a little too heavily on his Sith Lord’s praises while learning about the Dark Side of the Force, because in the end he got a little cocky. It’s a common enough danger, I suppose, when your entire feedback loop is a single person. You read the book, fill in the worksheets, write the paper, ace the exam. Ta-da! You’ve won a 4.0, an A+, a custom-made light-saber, or a smiley-faced sticker that says, “You’re a star.” If he never wandered off to find out more about the topic on his own, he’d never realize how much there was left to learn on the subject.

Teaching myself leaves me with a perpetual sense of wonder about how much I still have to learn about a topic. It’s one of the reasons that I love educating myself; I get to dive into something with both arms wide open to all the material I can find related to the subject matter (and then some). Books, videos, stories, textbooks, iTunesU audio/video/podcast materials, children’s books, newspapers, periodicals, music, cookbooks and foreign food wrappers. You name it and I’ve probably used it.

You wouldn’t believe my Dutch language bookshelf – it’s absolutely bursting at the seams. I’ve pulled so many things from the library in the Dutch language that my favorite librarian pulled me aside once to ask if I was planning to move to The Netherlands soon. I wish. Now that would really speed my process along!

Currently, I’m digging into adolescent development, American colonial history, astronomy, assorted memoirs, US geography, the ever present Dutch language, and spring cleaning. OK, I’m not exactly ‘learning’ about spring cleaning but I’m certainly digging into it. I’m considering having Padawan Learner teach me a little on the piano. I think he’d like doing that and I’d love to learn.

UPDATE: Doh! Dad Windu also wants to learn to play the piano and has beaten me to the piano and is now pecking out (in an increasingly quicker and more melodious manner) the song that Padawan Learner was just playing earlier. I guess I going to have to wait a bit longer.

The situation has become much more complicated.

“I need to speak to the Jedi Council. The situation has become much more complicated.” – Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

I forget sometimes that I’m not considered OK by the majority of the homeschoolers that I meet around town, that I’m considered to be somehow defective – like a transmission that knocks and needs to be “fixed”. I wish it weren’t so, but I was reminded of it again today at Padawan Learner’s trampoline class. Before I go any further, let me say that I like these people. They are friendly and sociable, obviously love their kids, and are generally all-around, quite decent people.

Alright, back to my not-a-rant. As a couple of the moms sat around chatting, talk among them turned to Facebook. (I was half listening while I finished reading an article on math instruction. Yes, I am that exciting). They talked about who they have as friends, what their privacy settings are, who can see what, about keeping tabs on their kids and their kids’ friends, and getting back in touch with people from high school, college, and such this way. One mom laughingly mentioned that she sometimes worries about what her more conservative friends will think about her when they see pictures (e.g., devil costume on Halloween) or read comments (“Check out my belly piercing!”) from a former roommate of hers. She went on to explain that her friend isn’t a Christian, but is “just the nicest, sweetest, most loving and wonderful woman in the world.” She then explained that God has put it on her heart to make this friend her “little project”. Well, that caught my attention. She continued with a little laugh, “I need to ‘fix her up’ into a right relationship with Jesus.” The other women gave little laughs of understanding.

Since it was time to go anyway, I stood up, put my coat on and gently said, “I don’t know if you realize it, but like your friend I am not a Christian either. And I certainly wouldn’t want to think that someone considered me their ‘little project’.” And then I left. I didn’t rant and I didn’t rave, but I didn’t sit back and just ignore it like I normally would either.

I have friends in town and online that are Christian; I know that this attitude isn’t universal. That said, I do hope none of them consider me their “little project.” It’s very degrading to be called a “project,” even if its only in someone’s mind. So I said something today – came out, if you will – amongst a very evangelical group of Christians. That may cast Padawan Learner and I as undesirables among the homeschooling trampoline crowd, but I’m glad I said it.

I just don’t know what the fall-out will be. The situation there has become much more complicated.

Help me, Obi-Mom Kenobi! You're my only hope.

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