Educators try to ease parents into the mix

We hs’ers know this;

Research shows family engagement in a child’s education can lead to greater student success. …. Rather than assuming the professional must know best, families are seen as the experts in their own lives. Parent Bruce Orr agreed, telling forum attendees they can’t judge parents if they want to work together. “You could go a long way if you checked your bias at the door. Oftentimes, you don’t view them as partners,” he said.

And further-on in the article:

Family involvement can make a big difference for students, according to a 2001 U.S. Department of Education-commissioned study of children in low-income elementary schools. Students had a 40 percent to 50 percent faster rate of improvement in reading and math if teachers met each family face to face, stayed in regular contact and sent materials home that parents could use to work with their children.

Yep, send that material home for parents to use with their children. Sounds like hs’ing. Parents engaged in their child’s education, being the experts in their child’s lives and education, and using material at home to teach their own. Homeschooling. Now for those parents to take the next step and to join other hs’ers.

Taco Bell is running a promotion during the World Series; if a player steals a base then we can go in and get a free taco. Tonight a base was stolen so, on October 30th visit Taco Bell between 2 - 5pm for a free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco.

We classically school. Everyday. It is how we approach our school day. The framework and structure of a classical approach gives us that warm-fuzzy feeling that we are doing what we should be doing. Learning occurs all the time of course, and the kids are excited by learning so this approach works great for us. We also take advantage of all that is around us by going on lots of field trips, exploring also those things that really peak the kids interest, and reading lots of books. Even ones unrelated to what we are studying in our ’school day’.

So when the boys asked to go somewhere Sunday I agreed. There had to be someplace where we could go for a hike….someplace we hadn’t explored before…… Off we went to Elk Neck State Park with our dog in toe. Elk Neck is a peninsula jutting into the Chesapeake Bay with high cliffs about 100′ above the bay.

None of us realized that there were such high, steep cliffs around this bay. We took a short walk through the woods and finally arrived at the point with Turkey Point Light House.

The staircase is an engineering marvel.

The final steps to the top were on this skinny ladder. I think I made a really good choice staying on the ground with Brutus.

From the top the boys could look toward Delaware.

The guide told the boys that 15 miles to the west one could see Baltimore. It might look closer but that is a mighty far distant shore.

And think about how bright this light is lit. When I saw this view I was really, really glad I volunteered to stay with Brutus on the ground! YIKES! It would have been really hard to take that first step down for me.

I must say though that there is nothing more beautiful to me than this; a boy and his dog. Particularly when I share that this boy did not care for dogs, wanted nothing to do with dogs, did not want us to get a puppy, but has now found how wonderful dogs are. A beautiful site for me and who would have known that he would have ever learned this or changed in this way in just 9 short months.

ScienceKid and I went to his first college fair at U of De last evening. Crowds! Folks pushing to get around tables to talk with the recruiters. And the questions — what’s the minimum GPA you accept at your college question was the one I heard most frequently. Ours was what is the SAT score range for your incoming freshmen? Normally the recruiters did not know the answer to that.

We won’t go back to one again, not because of that but I think we can gain so much more infomation by doing google searches. SK is soooo concerned about paying for college, so concerned. I’ve told him that we will help out as much as possible, that he is to try for scholarships, that he should not make his college visitation decisions based upon college costs but upon where he might like to go and which ones have his majors…. UGH!!

We stopped to talk to the folks at the WVU booth. I know SK would love the location so I steered him over there. The man was very talkative and chatty, and very much in love with WVU. All alumni should have such feelings toward their school. Finally he asked SK where he went to school and SK proudly said, ‘I am homeschooled’ The man replied — “OH…. well, you had better make sure that that homeschool is accredited by the local public school or you will not be able to get into college.” BS!!! Guess he isn’t familiar with his own school’s policy or admissions guidelines. SK’s face went white and I stepped in and corrected him, nicely but enough so that he understood that that is not an issue for hs’ers anymore. He shared that he is a retired school principal from PA, where, according to him, that is still the case. The latest reports on homeschoolers and colleges must have missed his desk too. It is a great report to read and share with those doubting family members since it details how colleges are reaching out to these highly desirable students, homeschoolers. Obviously I realize that there are misinformed people in this world particularly related to homeschoolers, and homeschooling and last evening hopefully one more person is a little more informed about hs’ing.

In the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room is a nice kitchen pantry. Except it always looks like this:

The door is ALWAYS open, the shelves are always full, and there’s all this wasted space. The closet is 24″ deep but the shelves are 12″ deep. What a waste of space!

Oh, and the other reason the doors are rarely shut is because there’s stuff on the closet floor and usually there is something in the way. Plus the doors do not slide easily and they fall off their slides. All the time. We talked about just putting deeper shelves into this closet and replacing the door slides but it still would have been a pit. An organizational nightmare trying to retrieve something 2′ back and in a dark, unlit closet.

We had a better solution in mind. First everything had to come out of this closet.

It went onto the school room floor.

My do I have lots of food stored away! The closet is totally emptied, the header is removed, and see that extra foot of space I just gained! Well it was there before but I couldn’t put things there that I wanted to retrieve anytime in this decade.

The hallway lamp is removed.

Over the previous weeks DH built the cabinet unit, and earlier in the morning we had moved the unit off the sawhorses and onto these dollies. Sorry, no pictures since we were all busy working. But the unit was easily wheeled to our front door:

The plan was to just lift the unit and move it into the house but it was way too heavy. The drawer units were removed and our neighbor Mike stopped in to help. Even without us asking him to. We have great neighbors!

With the drawers removed the unit was rather light (HAHA, I don’t think these guys would have said that.)

SK and Mike worked together to slide it into the hallway and lean it this way and that.

They pushed some more.

and finally it could be slid into place. DH spent the next several hours getting everything level, installing some other stuff that just will give him something to nail trim boards to sometime in the future. Isn’t it just beautiful! Later on cherry doors will be put on too. That will really make it beautiful.

The open area above the pantry will also have a door. My plan is to store paper towels, TP, wrapping paper there. It will be up and out of the way but also quite easy to get to.

There are three individual sections that roll out and each can hold up to 500# of goods on those rollers. DH knows how to build! The shelves are totally adjustable and removable.

Finally the shelves were in place and I went to work filling them.

The engineer in me must share that my closet space went from 30 sq ft of shelf space to 58 sq ft! Guess it is time to move all those kitchen gadgets stored in the basement to the kitchen. And probable do a run to the warehouse club to buy some more good items.

I also didn’t know that I had so many cans of tuna, or 3 open bottles of oil, or so many cartons of crackers…..  I LOVE the new pantry.

Our kitchen remodeling has begun!! Finally. It is about time. I should rephrase that first sentence; the execution has begun since the demolition began 5 years ago. That’s right. Five, long, years ago. We had moved into our new-to-us-7yo-home, DH had completed remodeling the laundry room—installed his new cabinets, new closet, new baseboard,… very nice, and when asked what the next room was on his list, he replied; “The Kitchen”

“Really?” I asked. “How soon.”

“Right away.” he replied.

“So, I should start taking off the trim boards and wainscoating, and the wallpaper!”

“Yes, go for it.”

I’m demolition queen. It is always my job to get out the crowbar and destroy the old. I enjoy it too. Very rewarding and by that evening 5 long years ago all traces of the old, ugly stuff was gone. Well, except for what was hiding behind the computer desk.

Well, some other projects came on the docket, and when we started discussing the kitchen again we soon found ourselves in the midst of a ‘camel with his nose in the tent’ story. I disliked the counter-tops and wanted them changed. Mauve is just NOT my color. Here’s the counter-top as it stands today.

DH disliked the cabinet quality and wasn’t interested in putting new counter-tops on such awful cabinets. I decided that if we were going to install new cabinets that we should change the layout just a bit. DH agreed and added that we should also change around the lighting for the room. And if we change the layout then the floor needs to be changed. When Hillary came to visit and we shared our tentative kitchen remodeling plans he added; ‘the problem with the room is still the window. ‘It has too much white and not enough glass.’ Of course! He was quite right and DH soon had installed a new window in its place. When we started discussing our window we also realized that the kitchen’s French door left much to be desired too. The engineer didn’t think through this door design one bit since when the wind blew, which is quite frequently here and with sustained speeds of 30mph, the door was pushed away from the weather stripping. Some days you could fly a kite next to this old door (HA, 7yr old door!) it was so drafty. It also had quite allot of white space and not so much glass.

DH replaced the window with this huge unit, and patio door. Here’s a present photo of our narrow kitchen from a day I was doing lots of cooking in the kitchen. DH also installed the window above the patio doors. It has tons of light which I like but it is awkward to work in for more than two folks. There actually is not enough space to walk around the island if someone is standing by the sink. 30″ of space is not enough.

Oh, and the smoky kitchen is what happens most every time anyone cooks something in the oven. It is going too, and an exhaust fan will be installed into the new kitchen. To light the stove a match is always needed.

But for 3 or 4 years now I have waited for the project to move forward. DH decided that his workshop had insufficient space for building kitchen cabinets so the new garage / workshop had to be built. That was last summers project.

And today is the day. DH is in the kitchen cutting out the old pantry’s frame and soon my new pantry, the first cabinet system DH has built for our new kitchen will be installed.

But there are a few things that need to happen before we can move this new, custom built unit into place. Geez, it was quite an engineering feat to just move this unit off the sawhorses and onto these roller dollies. I can’t wait to see how it comes into the house from the workshop.

Almost two years ago Dad seemed to be calling DH every other day with PC problems. He was getting this error or that error message; he wasn’t able to retrieve this document or that one,….. DH suggested to my Dad that he get a new PC, upgrade. His old PC was a cast-off DH had arranged for him to have, and after-all, Dad liked to go surfing on the net to check up on his stocks and stuff. The phone calls continued regarding all the PC problems.

Then one evening DH told me that he was headed up to Dad’s early on Saturday morning to deliver a brand-new PC to him.

“WHAT!! We cannot afford to do that! Dad can afford to get himself a new PC”

I was upset since financially we were in a really tight bind but that didn’t matter to DH. What did matter was that his FIL not have an added stress in his life. Dad was dealing with colon cancer that had metastasized to his liver and in DH eyes, that was more stress than anyone needed to deal with. Providing a new PC that would work without errors was the little thing DH felt he could do for his FIL to reduce his stress. DH did not consider whether we could afford it or not since in his eyes, if was the right thing to do, and it was needed. Even if Dad wouldn’t do that for himself.

On that Saturday morning we all left home at 4AM, arrived by 8AM to Dad’s, installed the new PC, had lunch and started for home by 3PM. Dad never knew what a financial strain that PC put on us, but I do know that he enjoyed having a PC that worked.

Last week I pulled that PC out of my Dad’s home and brought it back home not knowing really where we were going to put it. DH knew though. He ordered in some flat screen monitors, moved the kitchen PC and Dad’s PC into our school room, and set each boy up with their own PC. Oh my. Now, ScienceKid, who rarely uses his desk, does use a PC all the time for school; writing essay’s, researching topics, and doing his on-line AP Biology class.

MilitaryKid on the other hand likes to play games. We’ll have to watch his usage allot.

But hon, we really cannot afford those flat screen monitors. And the kids really do not need a pc on their desks for school. I know, it is the right thing to do though.

“Mom, you have got to try this!” ScienceKid said as he put another one in his mouth. “Really, they are so good.”

And so I placed a green olive onto my potato chip and popped it into my mouth.

OMG is that good. 1600 chips and olives later I just had to share with you all! No, I am not pregnant and neither is SK.

Earlier in the summer I was chatting with my sister when she mentioned that she was headed off to a workshop with her staff and needed some really strange food item that she had never been willing to taste before.  She is a Director at a day care center and realized that her staff were always telling these little kids — ‘this tastes really great, try it, I’m sure you will like it.’   She had realized too that for many of her staff it had literally been decades since they had tried some new and strange food just because someone had told them it was good.  As part of their workshop each person was required to bring some food they had never eaten before and did not look appealing to them, so they could literally understand what they were asking their charges to do everyday.

Really how many of us try some new food that is strange looking or smelling, or different than our normal routine foods?  I know I rarely do anymore, except for today when I mixed potato chips and olives in one bite.  Ummmm, and it was a good mix.    It is fun to try something different and mix things up a bit.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don’t love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you live your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Yep, I’m Bert. Of all the Sesame Street Characters I have always felt a special feeling toward Bert, and now I know why. Extremely serious and a little eccentric, logical - ABSOLUTELY. And if you don’t think I’m being logical then it must be you and not me. And I do not let my emotions rule. Nope, never, ever. Smart, and a total neat freak — well, don’t look in my closet or my kitchen. Oh, speaking of my kitchen I must share!! DH almost has my new kitchen pantry finished. MK has been helping him build it and is learning all about cabinet construction. Photos when it is installed. It is going to look so COOL, and permit me to keep everything organized in a logical manner, and neat, and clean.

Oh and my life? Yes, live it with passion; why just check out what we do for fun around here! We go hiking and take 8800 mile camping trips.

Choices. How is one to ever know the effect a choice they make will have? I’ve been thinking about this issue quite a bit lately. We all make countless choices and decisions everyday. Some matter very little; should I have a glass of water or a milk? Should we start our school day reading poems or get right into doing math? These choices probable have little lasting affect but what about some big choice. Should Military Kid save to earn the IPod Nano he so wants, or should we give it to him for Christmas? Should the boys dig the ditches for the drainage system with or without payment? Choices. whew, which is the right way? How will this choice effect the child? Oh if I only knew the answers ot these questions.

And then there are those choices that are made with some thought but with little knowledge of the long-term effect. One of those choices I have been thinking about quite a bit lately. In the spring of ‘05 Lee called and asked if ScienceKid would join her Science Olympiad team as an alternate, and travel with them to University of Illinois for the National Science Olympiad competition. With just a little thought we decided that ScienceKid should do this. After all he was ScienceKid; a kid who devours science. Earlier in the year, and actually the year before too, when Lee had asked SK to join the team we had been too busy with soccer, and swim team, and guitar lessons. Whew, what a full-plate. We have wised-up and limit the boys to just one activity which allows us to have good ol’ family time together. It is a choice that works for us but again I wonder if it is always a wise choice. Who really knows?

But this time we made the choice to send SK off on this adventure with the Science Olympiad team. So off he went, and since I went with him, I too caught the SO bug. The following year he was on the team and chose three events, one of them being Ecology. He enjoyed Ecology and started devouring all the biology books on our shelves. So last year while we did biology for our science he didn’t complain too much when he was given Food Science and Heredity as two of his five Science Olympiad events. Both events are areas of biology. Again he devoured our home library biology books and soon expressed a keen interest in majoring in biology or bio-chem in college. This fall when our school year began he was enrolled in an online AP Biology course which he is devouring and doing quite well in. So far he has a solid A in the course but more than that he is loving the topic.

There is no doubt that SK’s interest in science was there prior to going to the National Science Olympiad Competition, and it has always been as strong as it is right now, but I wonder. Would he be taking AP Biology as a sophomore and doing quite well in it if he had not joined SO? Would he have become so interested in biology last year if he was not studying for an SO competition and doing those two biology events? Where would we really be in science today if I had made the other choice when Lee asked SK to join the SO team? Where would we be?

Which makes me wonder too; what choices am I making now that will have profound effects upon my children? Are my choices for them helping them? Of course as a mom, and a homeschooling parent I worry too that I my choices might do them harm. It is such a hard spot to be in. What should they be doing that I am not aware they should be doing? How will what I am having them do effect their lives? Choices, they are just too critical at times.

I remember back in ‘74 when I insisted to my guidance counselor that girls too could go be an engineer-for-a-day, just like the guys. My choice to do so was not because I wanted to BE an engineer, but because I wanted to be out of school for the day. Little did I know that that choice would affect me by changing my career choice. Affect my life in every aspect for years upon years. I thought of this last week when we insisted that SK join the YESS program. How might this choice of taking him through this program affect his future career choices. Who knows. I just hope and pray that we are making wise choices.