The role of responsibility in single parent homeschools…

Can single parents home school their children?  Most certainly yes.  The adolescent in American society has been marginalized.  Teenagers are able to do much more than society has indoctrinated us to believe.  We have come to believe that during the teenage years kids are just unable to take care of their lives.  Nothing could be further from truth.  The social beliefs held by society regarding teenagers hold that they are basically not responsible, unable to think for themselves and unable to make rational decisions.  Perhaps so, but we have trained them to be that way.

The first thing we have to do is rid ourselves of the notion that young people, after an age where they can care for themselves, are unable. Adolescence is an invented concept, an illness almost.  This condition was created to justify the continued confinement of young people in state institutions where they are forced to follow strict guidelines aiming to help them grow out of this invented malady. 

Young people are not disabled.  They may be inexperienced, untrained, lacking in the social graces but that isn’t their fault.  Rather it is the fault of a society that keeps kids in a perpetual state of childhood long after they are able to do much for themselves.  We create kids who are unable to cope with life by not allowing them to live life.  We seek to control them far beyond the years when they need or want control.  They are shackled to us as people who are actually mentally ill or disabled.  I don’t believe this is the case. 

I have come to believe that most of the problems we have with kids in this era are caused by the way we treat them especially after the age of about 12.  We have never seen an era in American history when we have so  crippled the development of young people.  How do we expect them to grow into young adults capable of taking care of themselves and their business when we keep them in de facto day care until they are close to or at the age of 18. 

We make every decision for them.  We tell them when to change classes.  We tell them that you study math from 9 to 10 in the morning nor can anything else be done during that time.   Institutions tell them when they can go to the bathroom.  They tell them when they can eat, what they can eat and give them about 25 to 30 minutes to eat.  They have little or no control over what they learn or what they want to learn.  They are often told that what they want to learn is unimportant.  They are lied to about the usefulness of many subjects in their future lives.  Complain to me about that last statement if you can still work with Quadratic Equations or have ever used them in your work.  Better yet complain to me about that statement if you didn’t eventually figure them out for yourself. 

Everything we do with kids is designed to support an invented culture.  In that culture invented labels control who you are, how valuable you are thought of and often where you will live, how much money you will make as well as whether you will be regarded as a useful member of society. 

So, in setting up a child to be able to care for herself when a parent is not around first the parent must throw out all that garbage.  Parents have to give up the idea that kids are incapable of caring for themselves.  Yes, they are still responsible to the parent legally and morally but they are able to do the work of men and women much earlier than our culture seems to think.  Can a child prepare lunch? Yes.  Can a child follow a schedule?  Yes.  Can a child stay alone after a certain age for the greater part of the day?  Yes. 

I did.  I had no choice.  At home I was regarded as a young adult able to care for myself, take care of my needs and behave responsibly during the time my single mother was at work.  I was taught that I was able and responsible from the time my father died when I was 12 years old. 

I was thrust into an environment where my mother had to work or we didn’t have bread on the table.  I had to man up.  And I responded to it.  Yes, I still did childish things.  I liked to play.  But I also owned my life.  I soon came to believe that I was man enough to make the basic decisions about my life.  I took on learning projects at a very early age at the encouragement of my mother but also on my own.  If I wanted to know something I learned it.  Soon I came to regard school as superfluous to my life.  I had enormous problems with school after that.  I didn’t get into trouble because I was taught not to disobey, but it rubbed me raw that I had to slow down for the school, do what I perceived to be silly, and surrender my independence to the school at the start of the school bell.  I was a kid who was able to cook, able to plan my own learning, able to take care of the house, able to do all the things I needed to do to live successfully on my own when my mother was not around.  

Yet, while I lived a near adult life at home, I lived the life of a child in school.  I lined up with the rest, went to the bathroom when I was told, drank water when I was told and only then.   I could not take part in the most basic social interactions people are used to in the general society.  My conversation was controlled.  Attempts were made to control my thinking.  Attempts were made to make me think what the school wanted me to think.  Those attempts were unsuccessful.  I watched friends hit with boards because they spoke out of turn, engaged in normal childish behavior, forgot something  or expressed an opinion.  And I watched the culture approve of that. 

So step one has to be when working toward developing a single parent home school to give up the idea that your child is unable.  Your child is able to do far, far more than the culture has indoctrinated us to believe.  Trust your child.  Treat him as a young adult.  Extend freedom until a breakdown occurs then talk about it, pull back a little.  But, by all means sit down with the child to show him what is needed in a given situation, then expect him to fulfil what he needs to do.  The vast majority of the time the child will come through.

Don’t forget that adolescence is an invention designed to support government schooling.  It is a concept designed to keep young men and women in a perpetual state of childhood until they are nearly 20. 

And above all remember that your child was given to you by God.  Your child does not belong to the state.  Your child is a holy gift from God with all the rights all people are born with as stated in our government documents.  We seem to be forgetting that people crave freedom, independence and self-realization.  Give those things to a child and you will see miracles occur.

Single parent homeschooling…

Can single parents homeschool their kids. I believe the answer is yes. I do have to admit though that I am a bit of a free-thinker both where it comes to homeschooling and traditional schooling.

First, parents would have to decide on whether or not to make a committment to what to many seems to be a radical concept. Remember that schools are a 20th century invention originally conceived to produce a strong, compliant workforce. Schools were based on a Prussian system of severe discipline and the belief that students were best educated in a one sized fits all situation. In the past kids were given much, much more responsibility. They responded to it. We have largely forgotten that kids are able to do almost anything an adult can do given training. I have always been amazed to find out what kids can do when they are trusted as well as given responsibility.

The principle is simple. You extend responsibility to the child until the child proves that he or she is unable to accept any further responsibility. Then you back off to a point where the responsiblity could be managed. Then as more self-reliance is developed extend the opportunity to the child again. Am I talking about teenagers or pre-teens? I am talking about both. The positively worst thing one can do to a child is to do anything for them that they are able to do for themselves.

From the time I was in upper elementary school I was in a single family household. My father had passed away. My mother had to work to keep bread on the table. I was alone most of the time. During that time I was responsible to do what I needed to do at home as well as just enjoy myself. I would add that I was a public school student. The times I am referring to are times in the summer.

Let me just think of some things my mother did that kept track of me. First of all she called every hour on the hour. She made a schedule for me with me sitting there with her. The schedule listed everything I was going to be doing that day even if it was free time watching television. I was free to go to friends homes, ride my bike, be outside in the yard or do the other normal things kids do. Now, of course, there will be those who argue that the world is a much more dangerous place than it was then….I am 58 so we are talking about the 60’s. I wonder. I am not so certain that a kid in his or her own home is in much more actual danger. That call kept me on the straight and narrow.

Everyday during the summer I had a number of things I had to do. Those things ranged from practicing my trumpet to various home school assignments that took place even though it was the summer. I learned so much more in the summer anyway on my own. My schedule was laid out hour to hour. And I loved it because I was in on making it.

Today there are so many more technological ways to keep up with kids from gps locators to web cams in the house to text messaging and the traditional phone call. Of course all this is predicated on responsible, good parenting with good training of a responsible child. I will be the first to admit that this is not going to be possible if a parent does not set a good example themselves or hasn’t raised a respectful and responsible child.

But having said that…there is no reason why an older child cannot be left alone for extended periods of time with an arranged schedule while being in constant contact with the parent.

We are going to be looking at many more ways single-parents can home school their children in the future. I welcome your contributions as well.

God bless.

Single Parents and home schooling, is it possible?

Yesterday, I got an excellent note from a reader named Amy. Her note was a response to my post of the 20th. I could just feel her frustration in the note. Education in this day is so difficult. The difficulties arise out of our present culture. Amy has inspired me to investigate the whole problem of how can single parents home school their kids while managing to keep body and soul together as well as staying sane. I thought today I would just make the blog entry my response to Amy’s wonderful note.

Dear Amy,

I completely understand your concerns. I have a foot in both worlds. First, I am a career teacher. Second, I am a stong advocate of home schooling and independent learning. I share your concerns. Home schooling isn’t going to be possible for everyone. There will always be a valuable place for public, private and other kinds of educational venues. Your concerns are completely valid. I have seen several creative single parents make it work while working full time jobs. First, there are so many resources out there now that did not exist years ago. I serve some families as a consultant supervisor to their kids by being in constant electronic contact with the kids and the parents. As I develop the blog, I will outline some of the ways that single parents are making it work. Tragically, about 50% of all parents are now single. Flexible day care situations help. So do family resources. Regarding the more advanced subjects the resources available to kids now are immense. I have not seen a family who wants to make advanced study work have a failure. But, there are others who can’t. In that case there are co-ops and tutorial services available. Please understand, I am not at all opposed to public/private schools in the traditional mode. Rather I am about solutions to improve the traditional school but also to develop solutions for the parent who choses to home school whether single or not. Remember that schools are a recent invention in the history of mankind. Personally I remember almost nothing I learned in school other than things I was really motivated to learn. I learned all the math I know including calculus myself. I also take it that you are a working teacher. As you know so much of the time in schools now is wasted taking care of disciplinary/social issues. Most of what is taught in twelve years can be taught in 5 to 7. I do share your concerns. Please stay with me as we work through these things together. I sense a true concern for kids in your writing. You are the kind of person who needs to be in teaching even though I sense your frustration with several things. Remember I taught for over 30 years. The last 15 I have also been involved with home schooling and independent learning. I invite you to stay with me on this journey. I also invite your comments which are excellent and perceptive. Thanks so much, John

Socialization, lost kids…independent learning and home school

“I just wonder if the kids are being socialized properly”… often the first comment you will hear from someone who criticizes those who choose the independent route to education….But they don’t know…they can’t.  They can’t be there everyday…with kids looking for their way….trying to find a direction to go…. a leader to follow….and without a leader often they follow……..

the gang….

north, south, east, west…..

calling out to the darkness in their lives….

but there is no answer….so they find themselves….others like them….looking….lost….

socialization….what would happen if their environment were different….without the violence, the tidal power of peer influence with the pull of a black hole….unseen….dark power…..pulling them relentlessly in….relentlessly….

so is the socialization…..the lack of love….the lack of leadership….the lack of fathers…. the desperation of single mothers…..working…..ends don’t meet…..babies hungry….crying….who can look after the older ones….

too often the gangs….

so here is art….. obvious talent…..

socialization…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rhythm……

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 graphic awareness….

where will it go….

who will nurture the talent, the eye, the hand…..

the gang…..

sense of design….

 

 

lost kids look for those adults who are not lost…. able to lead them away…. but they are not there….

Socialization….who do they then look to….themselves….the gang….the group….the peers

who accept them….who provide something that looks like love….

love unsupplied…. lives lost….. blood in the streets….. in the gutter…. running into the waste water…..

socialization…..so who in the end do we want kids to look up to…..God….their parents……

their parents……. that is why we…..

Socialize to the family…..

to the parents…..

to love….

that they all need.

Woodwork and Homeschooling and the art of “doing”

I study the lines of a wall cabinet….a piece made to take to Humble Trade days this weekend….proportioned to the Golden Ratio.  I work in the shadow of the greats….minds like Pythagoras, Fibonacci, and Johannes Kepler….all who revered and valued the ratio….the Golden Mean…everything in the cabinet is constructed according to the Mean…

The ratio says that one line is beautiful if related to another by 1.6180339887….numbers without meaning to most.  But holy to others…biologists, artists, architects and so many others have found the mathematics of beauty in the Golden Mean.  It is a ratio that strikes a chord in the human mind and heart…for to our eye it looks like nature…because it is nature.  The Golden Mean is expressed in the relationship of branches to trees.  We are built according to its descriptions….No less a man than Galileo say the Mean in the way we are constructed.  

So, I used geometry, also algebra and a bit of calculus because I don’t construct in right angles…..

And since my cabinet is of the west, I studied western architecture….the ranches, homes of the natives of New Mexico….living history….fitting my work into a cultural lineage that goes back into the dim mists of time. 

History…of New Mexico, Texas, the New World, Spain….what things you must know to build good furniture…not without problems however….then research until the technical problem is solved….How do I build a cabinet that stands partly in the tradition of the west which means Hispanic culture and also in the classical lines of the Golden Mean…. Research…learning….

Reading….I read books on Hispanic and western architecture, technique in working with mesquite, the origins and use of Turquoise, the symbols I use on the cabinet to let it tell of hope and faith and a good future…. Reading….

Tired….having done real work, moving wood, moving machines, cleaning up…actual physical education for  a classical purpose….

I look again at my geometry curious….Golden spirals, along with Logarithmic spirals….how would I have ever learned about those….

And where does red oak grow, and mesquite?   Red Oak…grows leaves with 7 to 11 lobes each… this fabulous tree can grow two feet a year…no wonder the one in the neighbor’s yard seems bigger everyday….I would never have guessed that it tolerates pollution well making it a good city dweller.  But it likes zones 3 through 8 basically the southern United States…a tree of the south…with grain so open you can breath through it.  But a beautiful wood it is too. 

The geography of Mesquite includes the American Southwest….of the American Indians…..a tree that is a bearer of beans, knurled branches, not tall but rugged…a bearer of beans and vicious thorns….thorns that can puncture a modern tire.. the beans can be ground into flour…meat roasted on mesquite is heavenly…

Today across america millions of kids sat in geometry, algebra and math classes wondering what is it for?  I wish we taught them that math is for building houses, boats and calculating doses of medicines given to precious children…that they could learn this by doing or seeing it… no….doctors of common sense have said no, it must be learned in the abstract then tested in the abstract….dead like the body of a dissected cat… and we wonder why they are rebellious….we wonder why they are bored…

Over the last few years school board after school board in their infinite simpleness eliminated practicality for theoretical learning….for they listen to the doctors of common sense who may never have taught a living child instead of listening to their own hearts….they have grown simple by listening to those who have set themselves up as experts.  But, I forget, many of them are products of industrial assembly line education as well…How could they know better…they were raised with the system that corrupted them….and they remain corrupted because they were taught to read problems and do artificial problems rather than life. 

So we send them to school, to walk from square to square, to follow a bell…Pavlov would be proud…so would the Prussians of old who did not value individualism but simple obedience….and they try to learn in the abstract…

Would they were at home living life in the woodshop or the metal shop… or on a commercial fishing boat….practicing a difficult musical instrument…studying real math to accomplish real goals…instead of the false assignments of the schools….

When I decided to do woodwork, I got a book and found a mentor….then I “did”….How many kids can build every stick of furniture in their home when they graduate high school, how many could grow enough food on a suburban lot to feed themselves in times of scarcity….none today unfortunately….but now much of the furniture in my home is home built by my hands,  hands that never took a class on woodworking…..what a message there.  

How badly we are failing our children… by letting them be educated by the government instead of the people who should be educating them….their parents….but the things we worship are important…the nightly mass of the television set…the rituals of Monday night football….the university of life being watched instead of being lived.   

If you want to learn “do”.  If you want to be a sheep….well that’s the easy way…

Truth, Home schooling and love — to Hope McGeough my mom

Warmth…..

I know I felt her warmth as she read to me.   Time stopped during those moments when I listened to my mothers serene voice as she spoke the words that I followed with my finger.  I may have been six.  Croup as it was called then kept me in her lap.   My death was close just hours before.  I knew it.  I felt it.  I had descended deep into it…peaceful…deeply loved….wonderfully floating….But, it didn’t happen that night.  They said it wasn’t time….So I was in her lap hearing the words as she spoke them….small finger following them in the book. 

Warmth…

Soon I would read with my own voice…without the aide of that small finger.  I just…learned…..just learned how as she read to me.   And I learned it at home… everything I learned, I learned at home…

She held me with a love I am not sure men can understand.  Her serene voice…  Her warm breath on my shoulders as I lay on the friendship quilt in her lap.  The softness of her right hand as it stroked my hair….I lay curled up on that sacred quilt….on the words of those who preceded me years before…their mother’s reading to them back in the dimness of time….who had come finally to their time ….. when they felt the love and peace I had just felt but whose time it was…so they went on. 

The quilt rests in my home now with it’s incomprehensible dates sewn by the loving hands of women born two centuries before I was a glint in my mothers’ and fathers’ eyes. 

The words sank into my being.  I wish….I wish I could remember what they were. A Golden Book I imagine.   But, that’s not as important as that I was in her lap learning….without learning….but coming to know.  

The early afternoon air rushes around my body as I try to keep my fingers on her casket, wood as she had asked for and that I picked for her,  as it is lowered into the welcoming earth….at the end of a life well lived full of joy and tragedy as we all experience.

My fingers strain to keep contact, but I can’t follow.  My hand lingers there.  I try to burn the feel of that precious wood in my mind.   I am aware of people who love me looking on…just aware.   I remember momentarily that I had wanted to make her final bed…I had the plans….but I just didn’t have the time.  I think of the ornate angel there with her resting over her heart my cousin Dennis made for her…it was over her bed for years…it gave her strength when she could see it, it brought her solice when she could not longer see but could feel it.  I thought of the tiny cross made from a slat that held up her mother’s bed on its’ iron frame that she holds in her hand…..and that I made for her….for this day….around her neck is a dove descending as the Holy Spirit descended on Christ when he arose from the water on the day he told John to go ahead and baptise him….when John thought he was unworthy.  Larry Fussell, an artisan and great friend – a brother,  gave her that gift that she so treasured….the smoothness and artistry of which she would feel after she could no longer see the world.   She asked to hold it especially in the last days.     

Lower. 

Then, finally, the casket came to rest where her beautiful earthly body will be until Christ returns in glory on the clouds.  A silver ring placed on the casket rests there now, placed there by one of her much beloved “sons”.    

I had no tears then, only relief for her tortured body, her blind eyes,  her legs that would not walk,  only gratefulness to God for her relief.     Only gratefulness to her for the man I had managed to become…even though I had only started to grow into real manhood.   Standing beside me with their arms draped over my shoulders, leaning on me,  were two of the boys and young men who helped carry her that day…all of whom she loved in a special way.   Their gaze followed her casket down until it made contact with the protection of the vault….their eyes filled, their hearts full.  She loved those kids in my youth ministry.  She loved all kids.  I learned that from her.   These boys from the ministry loved her.  I remember thinking that they would remember this day as long as they lived. 

Several leaves blew past on the wind.  Cody said to me “I’ll never forget this.  Thank you for letting me do this”.  I told him “She loved you Cody”. 

A day full of miracles….. miracle upon miracle.   

 The top of the vault is in place.  Still they are there….standing watch with me.   I would not leave her until it was finished….until her earthly body was safe….One of them, I don’t remember which placed his head on my shoulder…an intake of breath, I don’t know which one.  

The hallowed earth is put in place.  Slowly she is safe.  Slowly it ends.  And I breathe a “Thank you God”.   How do you thank God for someone who literally taught you everything about life….who taught me so much of what I would learn. 

And all of it I learned at home….at home in the shafts of afternoon light where I studied…. when I came home from school.  School….a place that was a nightmare for me….where I was placed in the “special classes” for a time because I was so different.  School….a place where I had already learned everything they had to teach me but where I knew I dare not show it.  School….a place that taught everything I already knew but nothing I wanted to know.  School…a place where kids were beaten because…they were kids…because seven and eight and nine year old boys couldn’t sit still in chairs locked into rows.   School….where you learned that to be different was to be done for.   

 

The last bit of earth is in place.  Yet, the people still stand with me…the strongest, most loving,  most beautiful family standing with me….good people…great friends…. My family stands around me along with the boys.  I remember saying to God…”how did I come to have this family filled with nothing but love”. 

Can I possibly feel my grandparents….can I possibly feel my father?  

the workers place the flowers….I take roses….

Kindness upon kindness….people walk by….some speak kind words….some just hug me….others of the boys who carried my mom surround me….their hands rest on my shoulders….the pastor who came to love my mother stands with me….Pat and his wife Connie, their son Charlie, are standing there….friends beyond anything I deserve….yet others still stand….then we turn to leave….

My father had nearly 50 years before gone home to God.  Now they lay together once more.  But, she was the one who taught me,…. not because he didn’t want to….only because his chance to shape me was taken too early.    

So she made a home for me.  I could not know then the depth of sorrow she felt.  I would be able to imagine her grief later…but, that was still in my future.  I remember on the day my father was buried she held me so tight I thought I would not breath again.  But, something in me said “let her hold on if it does kill me”.  Later, too, I would realize why she held onto  me so hard.  I would later release the ashes of precious cargo into the cold North Pacific wind…the ashes of a child conceived there above the green Pacific waters where the Puffins dive.  And those of his mother.  

I then knew why she held me so hard.     

I would come to know that there could not be great sadness without great love preceeding it.  And I was glad in my sadness.

And, she continued to read to me…and she continued to teach me, and she continued to help me understand that it was ok to want to know why the stars burn when you are six, that it was ok to imagine that you are conducting an orchestra when you are eight, that I shouldn’t be frightened that sometimes my vision went away and I saw fantastical bursts of color when I listened to music as still happens, that it was ok when I wrote b when it should be a d, …..  she said the “d will be there whenyou are eighteen”,

and all the while she took care of my father who was dying…..then helped me keep my faith and find myself again in music and science and a galaxy of words in my own special world when I started to go crazy when he actually did die… while she was coming apart herself…

and when I was fourteen she helped me heal from an event in which I was almost killed but about which she never really knew….nor did she ask… a decision I am sure she made consciously even though she must have known that I was changed forever…for which I am eternally grateful… she just stood by me until I had my bearings again… 

when I was too old, as I thought because of the arrogance of youth through which most kids pass, she provided me with books, conducting lessons, trumpet lessons, ….from which I learned everything I ever learned…..and from which she taught me and helped me learn everything I knew…

At home.

Thanks mom.

It’s never too late, independent learning, Grandma Moses

As I said in yesterdays post one of the things I wonder about is time.  I’ve spent my life trying to figure out what learning is and how it happens.  It has been at foundation of my most recent profession.  I am at a place where I feel close to really getting a grip on what motivates kids to learn, what the best techniques are to learn a field, and can you really teach anyone anything.  I’ve come to the conclusion that you can’t teach anyone.  The single thing you can do is make them want to approach the warmth of your life and how you use your intellect.  But I said I wanted to write a few words about time.   It’s 2:00 a.m. in the morning.  I won’t sleep until I get a couple of thoughts in electrons. 

Time is the bane of any scholars life.  Remember when I use the term scholar I refer to anyone who has a serious interest.  I am now 58 years old.  Sometimes I do lose sleep questioning my accomplishments, my ability to accomplish what remains, or to start anything new.  Reasonable thought all.  Thank God I am not a reasonable person. 

Neither was Anna Mary Robertson who was born in Greenwich, New York, on September 7, 1860.  I have loved Anna Mary since I was about 16 years old.  I just didn’t realize her practical significance to my life until the last few days.  She was one of the reasons I found school to be a prison.  Because I would rather have spent time with her than almost anything back then except music.  You see her colors fascinated me.  She spoke to me about the life of my grandparents who I loved so deeply.   When I looked at her work in a book I checked out of the little library in Galena Park I saw my grandparents home for some reason.  I saw my childhood that was fast fading into the background of my existence.  I saw a way of life that I secretly wanted to live.  But it was my secret. My school in particular was not one that took a kindly view of 16 year olds who liked primitive art.  I protected that part of myself.  Until I escaped my prison into symphonic music, art, learning what I wanted to learn, and being around people who were giants to me in symphony orchestras, the worlds of music and art and at university.  The woman whose work I was in love with is better known as Grandma Moses.  She died just before I entered high school in 1961.  

And she had no real formal education.  Thank God she had no real formal education.  She would have probably been ruined.  Yet she is one of the most influential of America’s painters.  To me she is the equivalent of Norman Rockwell whose work I also love.  Her first painting was on a wall in her house.  She was wall papering but she ran out of wallpaper.  What a fortuitous problem.  Because she hung a sheet of white paper on the wall.  She painted a scene on that paper to finish out the decoration in the room.  What a finish it was. 

The scene is called fireboard.  If you want to see it you must go to the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont.  I will go there one day.  When I go I will whisper a thank you to Grandma Moses for helping me realize that it is never too late.  You see it took me nearly 20 years of my 30 year career to begin to think there were other ways to learn except in a classroom.  I came late to home schooling and independent learning.  But I am here now.  And even though I work in a classroom now I also work with many kids who have never seen the inside of a classroom.  And I know something I didn’t know when I was young.  There are other ways to learn save in a classroom. 

But back to my Grandma Moses.  The point is this wonderful American artist painted her first work in her 70’s.  After 70 years of life she started the work that would change the art world.  She found herself at the beautiful sunset of a quiet, worshipful, country life.  Grandma Moses started painting, in fact, because of the common illness of old age – arthritis.  Her husband who she loved dearly had passed away.  She became to old to farm. Grandma took up embroidery to fill her time.  But, soon, age cast its shadow over her again.  Her arthritis would not allow her to work her needles.  So she began to paint at the age of 76.  She once said:

What a strange thing is memory and hope; one looks backward, the other forward; one is of today, the other tomorrow. 

I want each of you to come down on the side of hope.  She also said:

If I didn’t start painting, I would have raised chickens

Thank God she didn’t raise chickens. 

And thank God you, my older readers, aren’t going to raise chickens.  Well, unless that is what your life long project is going to be. 

I am 58 but I am going to reach forward to the outer edges of what can be found out about how kids learn.  I am going to open a lot more doors.  And in that process of opening doors I am going to write as much as I can, speak as often as I can, teach as much as I can, take as many pictures as I can, learn how to use curves in Photoshop to make some of my more lousy pictures look presentable, see as many birds as i can, cut as much wood as I can and annoy as many adults who believe there is only one way to learn as I can. 

I can see the sun has past its zenith.  But I also see there is a while before sunset;  Barring some dump truck with my name on it.  If you are 20 or 40 or 50 or 80 there is still time.  Presidents have been elected in their last decades.  Many, many artists do their best work in their last decades.  So do scientists.  And so many of you, my friends, still have a work to do.  A short time back one of the people I most admired died in his late 90’s not a long time after he had performed his last heart surgery.  Dr. Michael DeBakey passed away near 100 have worked his entire life doing his best work late in life.  I saw him once in the Houston Medical Center bounding up a flight of stairs with a group of breathless, slobbering, gibbering medical students trying to keep up.  All kids.  All kids who couldn’t follow their aged professor and mentor up a flight of stairs; whose hands could not perform the miracles done daily by their demanding mentors’  hands. One of the young doctors said under his breath “what is wrong with that old man there are elevators.”  Being me I yelled out as he disappeared up the stairs “There’s nothing wrong with him.  He’s a force of nature.  He’s alive and living it all!”

For Heaven’s sake don’t give up.  I mean that literally because even if you are 58 or 59, you still have intellectual gifts to give the world.  You still have a path to mark out; a territory to claim.  Claim it!   

Live it all.  Find your project then live it. ………………………Home work will be checked :).

Independent scholarship, independent learning and success

Did Leonardo Di Vinci have a Ph.D.?  No.  Nor did George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin have any advanced degrees.  The fathers or our country lived at a time when if a citizen went to school at all, one only went through elementary school learning to read, write and do basic arithmetic as well as ethics.  At the time Leonardo was alive and working, knowledge was acquired in an individual way.  Before the industrial revolution when assembly line schools came about across the world, education was largely individual or built around the classics and mentors.  Before that time scholarship outside institutional education was the norm.  It has now become the exception but the tide is beginning to turn.  Many more people everyday are opting for the freedom and intellectual independence afforded them by becoming an independent scholar.  

 Early practices of pursuing knowledge were based on individual interest and passion for a field of study.  This is returning today.  The university system arose throughout the nineteenth century.  The pursuit of knowledge was essentially unionized locking out those who were not part of the university system.   But private or freelance scholars have persisted outside the walls of the university because they have a passion for what they do.  They have a love for their subject that transcends the limits of the traditional university.  There are astronomers, futures study specialists, biologists, photographers documenting the entire world and so many other areas of study going on that it is hard to comprehend it all.  The problem of being inside academia versus working outside academia has always been an issue.  However, in the 1970’s independent scholarship began to build its own house.   Now independent scholars are becoming more accepted as they publish their work and make real contributions to a variety of fields.   If you want to pursue this further you might want to read “The Intellectuals and the Powers from 1972, Men of ideas by Lewis Coser from 1965 and Independent scholarship by Gross and Gross which is presently in print. 

 The fact is many books written in the non-fiction market in America were written by someone who could rightly be called an independent scholar.   The Chronicle of Higher Education, Change, Lifelong Learning as well as other journals are paying much more attention to the phenomenon of independent scholarship.   The number of people pursuing serious intellectual work outside of the university is very, very hard to pin down.  There is something like 100,000 people who are in and out of the academe, many Ph.D.’s who will work out of the academe.  Estimates for those numbers go upwards of 10,000.  Membership in independent scholarship organizations has grown and now numbers just under 2000. 

 Among the issues that led to this growth has been a desire to return to the real intellectual exploration that characterized the founding fathers.  250 years ago education looked nothing like it does today.   While there were schools the majority of Americans did not attend them.  Some did attend them but rarely did anyone achieve anything beyond a basic elementary education in school.   The father of our country George Washington had what amounts to an elementary education.  Yet his intellectual growth and intellect made him a giant.  Most education at that time revolved around the classics and mentorship.  One most often learned by doing something worthwhile in the presence of a mentor. 

 Other pressures leading to the growth in independent scholarship has been the downturn in available jobs in higher education.   Many people who achieved advanced degrees could not find work in their field but they still found joy in doing work in their discipline.  There were other professors who became dissatisfied with the political nature of the academe just as many parents have become dissatisfied with the character of the public school today opting for home school.   Many of these people began to think of themselves as truly independent.  And, they began to organize. 

 The National Coalition of Independent Scholars is one such organization.   The goals of the NCIS are as follows:

 The National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) was formed in January 1989 to facilitate the work of independent scholars.

NCIS objectives are to:

•Bring independent scholars together to share scholarly interests and expertise

•Improve access to research libraries for independent scholars

•Offer independent scholars information and advice about grants and fellowships and about publishing.

•Encourage foundations and institutes to open competitions to independent scholars and to include them on review committees

•Hold conferences and workshops of interest to independent scholars and to the public

•Offer grants-in-aid to NCIS members and small grants to affiliates

•Serve as administrator for members applying for grants

•Encourage information exchange through publications and electronic communication

•Aid organizations of independent scholars by collecting and sharing organization experience and by publicizing their work

•Provide information for the creation of local organizations of independent scholars

 

The movement is growing.  There is no reason why any intellectually interested child or adult should not become an independent learner.  Up until this century there was very little organized schooling and some would argue that average citizen was much better educated.

Obama’s School Speech seen through Democratic Eyes

First let me say to my best friend….the word is spelled p-r-i-n-c-i-p-l-e.   And thanks for kindly pointing it out.  I was writing in the wee hours of  the morning, Sheesh.  🙂

The democrats are right!  I can hear the ambulance sirens now coming for the hopefully not dead bodies of several of my blogger friends, and my friends who ordinarily take me on about what I write.  I learn much from them.   They always make me think.  And sometimes, though rarely, they are right. 🙂  So I thought for tonight’s little blog about the upcoming Presidential address to captive school children I would take a look at what democrats have rightfully said about past presidential speeches to school children. 

IN 1991 Then President HW Bush spoke to one school.  There were no lesson plans produced for that speech.  The Department of Education didn’t initially suggest that children write letters the themselves about how they could help the President.  This speech was also clearly in violation of my principle that children in school are always a captive audience.  Also, the President can never separate what he does from his office.  So every speech he makes must of neccessity be part of the party line.  It must be political.  Richard Gephardt (D-MO) said “The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students.”  The Democrat was Right.  (Distinct sound of more of John’s acquaintances hitting the ground).   There were House Committees that wanted a complete explanation from the Department of Education to explain how its funds were used for the speech.   This committee was right.  The democrats were right. 

Rep.  Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo), chairwoman of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Familieshsaid that it was “outrageous for the White House to start using precious dollars for campaigns” at a time when “we are struggling for every silly dime we can get”  to educate American Children.  The Democrat was right!

So, the dems are right on this one.  An American President should not be involved in making speechs to American schools.  In America we hold our schools apart from the church.  I believe we should hold them apart from the state as well.  Lets remember that there has never been a president elected by 100% of the American people.  Let’s hope there never will be one elected that way.  If it every happens we are truly and well cooked.  We have to remember also that in America we hold our children to be protected from the ravages of politics.  Yes, even something so seemingly innocuous as the POTUS saying work hard, study, graduate and the come work for the state.  Just kidding. 

So as we have seen in this post presidents have made speeches before to school kids.  They were rightfully opposed.  I was against Presidential speeches to captive school kids when the Bushes spoke, when Ronald Reagan spoke to school kids and I oppose it as President Obama is about to make the same mistake.

Here is something great for home schoolers or anyone else who decides to take their kids with them next Tuesday.  Get a picnic basket.  Fill the basket with loads of goodies.  Get good ham, good bread, chocolate, iced tea to put in the basket.  Then go somewhere beautiful and have a reading of the United States Consitution.  Then spend the rest of the day enjoying your most precious gifts; your children.

Obama activities, public schools and the Presidential address to American Schools

As we all know by now the President of the United States will address American school children on September 8, 2009.  Many questions have been posed regarding the appropriateness of this address.  Spirited debate has erupted around the internet, on the various media outlets and most certainly on the internet.  Much of the debate now centers on the materials that have been prepared to accompany this speech.  While many school districts have made what I think is the right decision to let parents decide to let their kids view the address I believe it is still important to know what is in these materials.

I think it would be admirable if President Obama wishes to simply encourage students to work hard, study and succeed.  However, I think that any responsible parent would want to know what is contained in the speech that their child will view.  I also think that responsible parents want to know what is contained in the materials prepared for their children.  What are the learning objectives?  Is there a political bent in the materials?  Are the materials Obama centric?  Are the materials intended only to inspire and motivate the kids?   Let’s look at a few excerpts from the prepared materials.  The full body of prepared teaching materials can be found at the United States Department of Education website.  I encourage you to examine the complete set of materials for yourself.    First, let’s look at the high school lesson plans.

The plans start generically.  Then it is suggested that 

•  Teachers may post in large print around the classroom notable quotes excerpted from President Obama’s speeches on education.

This seems to beg the question is this about inspiration or President Obama.  My primary complaint in the last post was the idea that a president cannot be non-political.  By the very nature of the job it is impossible to separate the President from the politics.  Here teachers are being asked to research President Obama’s speeches about education in order to feature the words of President Obama. 

Let’s look at a couple of other things.  A bit further on in the secondary materials we find this:

Create a “concept web.” Teachers may ask students to think of the following:

• Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?
• How will he challenge us?
• What might he say?
• Do you remember any other historic moments when the president spoke to the nation?
•  What was the impact?

The questions trouble me because they seem to be as much about President Obama as they are about inspiring school kids.  The questions do lean toward a positive view of President Obama.  They have to.  The speech is being given by an American President.  What is the educational purpose of the question about “historic moments”?  Why are the questions worded so that they are more about President Obama than his subject?  “How will he inspire us?”   The assumption is that the President will inspire all the kids.  But what does that do for the kids whose parents did not vote for President Obama or who may not be happy with the Presidents’ plan for the country?  What does a teacher do with a child who says the President did not inspire him?  Do these materials leave room for interpretation?  What grade will a teacher give a student who thinks the President is not inspirational?  A wise teacher would grade on grammar, construction, support of ideas or validity of the students argument.  But what do you do with the teacher who is devoted to the cause of President Obama.  What do you expect a teacher who is an Obama ideologue to do with this kids result?  On the other hand what would a teacher do who absolutely disagrees with everything the President is doing?  Can you expect complete objectivity?  No.  While the vast majority of teachers are fair, good people there are those who are so devoted to a cause that they cannot see past the cause itself to be fair to a student who disagrees.  It will happen.  There will be students who will be sacrificed on the altar of someone’s ideology.  In America we do not hold kids hostage to a politician.  A sitting President cannot ethically give a speech to children who are legally obligated to attend.  Further, how can a President then have his Department of Education distribute materials that one must assume will be taken for a grade by many teachers?   This is a travesty. 

One might well ask why I would spend time in a blog designed to focus on independent learning and home schooling instead focused on a Presidential speech to public schools.  I do so because this is the reason that many parents are opting out of the public system.  Many, many parents do not want to subject their children to any form of political machination.  And, many parents will rightly object to their children being held legally liable to attend a Presidential address.  Personally it mystifies me that anyone of any political stripe would stand for this on principal. 

Here are a few other examples of things the Department of Education has included in the study materials.  You be the judge.   But please visit the Department of Education site so that you can look at the materials and make an intelligent decision about what you are going to do with this event.  My bias is known.  I congratulate the school districts who are opting out. 

 

• What resonated with you from President Obama’s speech? What lines or phrases do you remember?
• Is President Obama inspiring you to do anything? Is he challenging you to do anything?
• What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
• How can you be a part of addressing these challenges?

 

From the elementary materials:

 

• Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama.
• What can students do to help in our schools?
• What is the president trying to tell me?
• What is the president asking me to do?
• What new ideas and actions is the president challenging me to think about? What specific job is he asking me to do?
• What do you think the president wants us to do?
• Does the speech make you want to do anything?
• Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?
• What would you like to tell the president?

 

As we should all do when making decisions please go to the site and look at the rest of the materials for yourself.  I have obviously selected the things that bother me most.  There are other parts of the materials that strike me as innocuous.   But, this is a President like any other elected by some of the people, opposed by others who is making the presumption that American parents all want him to address their children while they are legally obligated to be at school. 

 

Your children are a captive audience for the President of the United States.  And there is not one thing your child can do about it.  You can do something about it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does the speech make you want to do anything?

Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?

What would you like to tell the president?