Reading Aloud and Something to Memorize

There are some skills one might not think about when beginnging the journey of educating children- whether at home or in cooperation with a school.

Kids don't just need to know how to read. They need to know how to read out loud. You want them to be able to read in a way that is clear, expressive and engaging. You want people to be able to understand what they say and to actually want to listen to them.

This is a skill.

Most skills must be cultivated.


So, I started researching how to teach a child to read aloud. And there exist these amazing things called McGuffey's Eclectic Readers.

I'll be honest. I broke down and added them to this year's curriculum because of four reasons 1)They are too cute for words, and
2) It's what Susan Wise Bauer says is good for out loud reading training. And she's usually right on target, and
3)I couldn't find any other suggestions anywhere, and, really, let's be honest, this is the kicker,
4) I couldn't turn down using a schooling curriculum that was first used in the late 1800's.

So I clicked "add to cart on Amazon." I just went ahead and bought the whole set (Primer through level six). If you have kids or ever plan to, you may just want to go ahead and buy them now.

And each day Ada Brooks spends about five minutes reading a selection from this. Not for content, but for form. She reads it out loud.


I then reread it out loud to her, pointing out a couple of areas she could do better. And then she reads it again, trying to do better. Then we put it down and walk away. It's about zero difficulty, zero hardness, and zero stress. And occasionally, it's kind of fun.

The reason this reader is good for this purpose is that it contains all different types of writing. Prose and Poetry, Fiction and Nonfiction, even some short plays. And it varies its print among standard Times New Roman (or rather something older, but very similar), a font made to look like manuscript handwriting, and in a font made to look like basic cursive handwriting. So, she's learning to read aloud anything with which she could come into contact.

And even though we bought it for form, I've really been loving the content. Good, old, interesting wholesomeness.

Well, this morning she came to a poem called Lend A Hand. An author was not given. I googled the first couple of lines and the best I could find was that it was printed in a book now on Google Books called A Child's Book of Religion. - which was published in 1876 and Compiled by O.B. Frothingham. I don't know Mr. Frothingham, but I wish I did.

I wish I knew Mr. Frothingham because I started scrolling through the rest of the book and found a bunch of amazing jewels. Amazing ones. Really.

The only info given in the Google Book about Lend A Hand, Bee's reading selection for the morning, was that the poem was in A. J. Davis's Manual. A cursory google search has not turned up what this manual could be. The only two A.J. Davises are a football player and a 19th century architect.
Maybe the architect also liked simple verse. I know not.

Whew. Anyway.

The poem is great. It puts in rhyme the idea that There, but for the Grace of God, go I. (Originally attributed to John Bradford, a very brave English reformer and martyr).

This is a principle we're trying to teach the kids. They could have been anyone, in any circumstance, except by God's grace. And not just could have been, but could one day be. It is the best way I've found to guard against a wrongly judgmental spirit in my own life, so I'm trying it in theirs as well.

But this poems does it better than I've been able to explain it, so now that Ada Brooks has read it for out-loud work, she's added it to her list of things to memorize.

Here is the text:

1.
Lend a hand to one another
In the daily toil of life;
When we meet a weaker brother,
Let us help him in the strife.
There is none so rich but may,
In his turn, be forced to borrow;
And the poor man's lot to-day
May become our own to-morrow.

2.
Lend a hand to one another:
When malicious tongues have thrown
Dark suspicion on your brother,
Be not prompt to cast a stone.
There is none so good but may
Run adrift in shame and sorrow-
And the good man of today
May become the bad to-morrow.

3.
Lend a hand to one another:
In the race for Honor's crown;
Should it fall upon your brother,
Let not envy tear it down.
Lend a hand to all, we pray,
In their sunshine or their sorrow;
And the prize they've won to-day
May become our own to-morrow.

I wish someone would put it to music in a child-friendly, and yet not annoying or hokey type of way....
But more on children's music another day. =)

discipline: no place for ice.

The discipline needs of your children change as they get older.

Collins needs to learn not to stand in his highchair and not to throw his food if he's not interested in it. Also, no matter how cute it is, after said food has been thrown, saying uh-oh or byebye to the food is inappropriate.

Eason needs to learn to control his emotions when he doesn't get his way, to act respectfully, and to obey the first time.

Ada Brooks, well, most of our discipline needs arise from the same things they've always arisen - a clash of wills - but it's not over food throwing or saying yes mam, but over what she thinks is the best choice. She's gotten to the point that she's calmly making choices - she's just not got all the wisdom with which to make them yet. And sometimes she chooses to go her own way rather than the right way. Which cannot be ignored.

(She believes that tilting her paper a certain way will make her writing better; all experts everywhere disagree. She believes that television is good for her; all experts everywhere disagree. She believes that Encyclopedia Brown counts as real literature; I believe it should be reserved for free reading time. Etc. Etc. Etc.)

Yesterday morning I had just uttered the following:

"Ada Brooks - I know you'd prefer to hold your pencil that way; I heard you the first three times; don't say it again. Holding your pencil correctly will result in more attractive penmanship. Which is the goal of 'handwriting class'.... If you don't try to hold your pencil correctly and if you continue talking back, I'm going to have to punish you. I really don't want to do that, but it's really important that you do hold it correctly. I'm not telling you to do this because I care how you hold your pencil per se - it's because I care that you have an easy time at handwriting, and everything I know says that the way you hold your pencil is actually important."

[try is the operative word there. I'd never discipline a child for failing to hold a pencil correctly - it's the fact that she actively refuses that creates the problem]

And then the phone rang. My only daughter's only godfather was calling to report and laugh with me about a caller on Mississippi Public Broadcasting's show, Relatively Speaking. The day's topic was called Smart Discipline. Yesterday afternoon, during the boys' naptime, I went back to listen to the podcast of the show, which you can do here.

So, Jim from Rolling Fork called in, and as Dan pointed out, got past the call screener. Jim said that he had solution about how to deal with fit pitching. His daddy had used it on him, and he had used it on his sons, who are now young adults.

What was his solution?

Well, the first fit they pitched, "I'd just walk over and dump that glass of asswater on their heads." It took me a minute to understand Dan when he reported it to me, and when I realized what he said, I laughed for a good long while, but later I got this miserable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Ice Water?
For Fit Pitching?

This is a big reason why people are against corporal punishment of any kind.

Because of these (idiotic) abusers out there throwing 'asswater' in their children's faces for pitching a fit.

Granted, it might work. I bet if I did this, Eason would think twice about throwing a fit. But you know what else he would think? Who is this crazy lady?

And do you know what he wouldn't understand? Boundaries, obedience, respect, nurture, love, kindness, calmness.

So, my parenting opinion of the day boils down to this:

Don't throw ice water on your kids. Since, apparently, it needs to be said. Ice water throwing can never be done with a calm, kind, explanatory attitude. I mean...maybe it's like eating just one Pringle... it can be done, but I bet it won't, so let's not risk it.

I mean...maybe I should just throw ice water on my six year old for willful incorrect pencil grippage, but, if I were a bettin' woman, I'd lay money it wouldn't end well.

But, I don't know... it's something to consider... =)

Food

Friday: Beef and Shrimp kebobs, grilled veggies, mashed taters, grilled garlic bread. 'Cause it's fall and that is the time for grilling.

Saturday: I think we're having cream of carrot soup and paninis, but maybe i'll just sit here and we'll end up getting taco bell...

Sunday: Lasagna for lunch. A friend is bringing us chili for supper - i'm doing an arugula, fennel, and apple salad that I've been wanting to try. Paul says fruit doesn't belong in a salad, but sometimes I don't exactly mind him. And I'm also doing some guacamole.

Monday: Burgers on the Grill, Baked Beans, Mac and Cheese. 'Cause it's fall, and that is the time for grilling.

Tuesday: Bean Burritos - yes mam! Collins is pumped. No, really.

Wednesday: Dominos Pizza at Church

Thursday: Red Beans and Rice! 'Cause it's fall time! And they're cheap!

Lessons from some Eggs and Cream

At my high school we had a Who's Who just like most other high schools -ours wasn't called that, because we were too snobby to call it what most call it... But anyway... Wittiest, Most Beautiful, etc. The senior class voted and nominated three or four girls and guys for each award - and then we voted again to pick from those three or four. You know how it works, right?

I was nominated for four things - Most Intellectual, Most Likely to Succeed, Most Versatile and Favorite. Well, as it probably is in most high schools, the other folks nominated for these things were mostly also great friends of mine. It was nice, because we got to laugh all the way through it - no pressure or hurt feelings or anything.

One of my very, very best friends (now the godmother to my only daughter) was nominated for Most Intellectual with me. And she's smarter than I am, and at least as intellectually curious, so I voted for her and rooted for her (and apparently the rest of the school did too, because she won...).

Another dear childhood friend of mine was nominated for Most Likely to Succeed. And I bet the other three of us nominated got five votes combined because, well, we all KNEW she was more likely to succeed than the rest of us. (Although, I'd challenge the definition of success we were all assuming...). But using the traditional version of success, well, she needed to win, and we were right - she's now in her anesthesia residency and married to a fellow anesthesiologist and just, well, the picture of 'success'.

But... well, I wanted to win Most Versatile. What a fun thing to be, right? Versatile? I wanted it. I can admit it now. I think I admitted it to a few then, but now I can loudly proclaim that's what I wanted (it has been a while...). But I lost. To a friend who was probably more versatile than I - she was an athlete after all. And an athlete I am not.

I got named a Favorite - which is great! And I'm in a Favorites picture with some of my favorites - including bee's other godparent and eason's godmother.

But...I always wish I had been Most Versatile. I was reminded of this adolescent disappointment last night while making supper.

Quiche.

The Most Versatile of dishes.

I should have taken lessons from some eggs and cream. Or joined the cross country team my senior year.

Quiche is an unsung hero in the culinary world. Clearly it is versatile in the time of day it can be served. What other food can be breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, hors doeuvre, weeknight supper and midnight snack and never, ever be out of place? But, it is also versatile in what can be in it. Anything. You can make an anything quiche. Well, maybe not chocolate. But pretty much any veggie, meat or cheese, and the combinations are endless.

There are as many combinations of quiche fillings as there are ways to make shrimp according to Bubba. (Now I know I've referenced that recently.... =) ).

So, I'm here to encourage you to become a quiche maker.

Need a real lunch?
Inviting friends for brunch and mimosas on Saturday ('cause you should...)?
Have people coming in from out of town to spend the night and need a late night snack or an easy breakfast?
Want to feed your family a nutritious meal on a weeknight and clean out your fridge a little?
Morning baby shower?

You get the point - Quiche - it's the way to go.

So, here is the Quiche recipe I use.
Realistically, it's about 30 -35 minutes of active preparation and then 40 more minutes in the oven, but you can do so much in that 40 minutes, I don't really count it.
You could also get your toppings ready to go and all your ingredients out earlier in the day and feel like Martha Stewart putting all together. If you want to eat at 6:30, get out your food processor at 5:15.

For a 9x13. Can be halved for an 8x8 or a 9-inch pie plate, but it makes great leftovers.

Preheat oven to 375. Get out your food processor. Buy one if you don't have one. You know who you are...

(You can use any pastry - store bought pie crust or your favorite savory pastry recipe, but this is my favorite)

In the bowl of your food processor, put 1 1/2 cups of flour and a generous pinch of good salt. Whiz it around once. Take the top back off and take a stick of butter out of the fridge. Cut pieces off until you've cut the whole thing into the processor. Top back on. Whiz again, about a minute until it looks like oatmeal or small peas or some other sort of visual representation of butter-bound flour globs. Leaving top on, leaving it whizzing, spoon 3 T heavy cream into the spout thing. You'll all of a sudden have a ball of buttery dough. You'll want to eat it. Resist.

This is called Pat-in-the-pan dough - a recipe from Joy of Cooking, that I don't remember if I've changed at all. Anyway, pat it in the pan.... =) Take your fingers and just pat it into your 9x13. If you want to refrigerate it first for about 15 minutes, it'll be easier to pat. But I'm usually in a hurry and just fight with it.

Pop in oven for 13 minutes.

While pastry is cooking, do the following:

Wash bowl of food processor. Crack 4 eggs into it as well as a bonus egg yolk, reserving his white in a hand dandy ramekin off to the side. Whiz them about a bit. Add generous salt and pepper - probably 1 1/2 tsps salt and 3/4 tsps pepper, but again, just please grind it yourself.

Now, you have two options. You can be really bad or just sort of bad. You need 3 cups of milk/cream stuff. When I'm being really bad (so making for guests or a baby shower or something), I do 1 1/2 cups half and half and 1 1/2 cup cream. But, when I'm doing it for supper, like last night, I do 1 cup cream, 1 cup half and half, and 1 cup milk. You can tell a difference, but it's still great and not quite so bad for you.

Add your three cups of liquid goodness to the bowl of the food processor. Now, pulse it. If you turn it on and let it run, it will over flow the sides and that will be disappointing for you. Trust me. So, just pulse a few times. And leave it there.

When the crust gets done, remove from oven, brush it with the reserved egg white and set aside.

Now, for the filling. There isn't really a recipe, per say, but I will give you a list of options I use most often.

Sauteed onions
Chopped, fresh tomatoes
Cooked Broccoli
Cooked Spinach
Left over Roasted Chicken
Deli ham or turkey, chopped
Shredded swiss, cheddar, mozzarella
Fresh goat cheese, blue cheese, mozzarella
Rosemary, Basil from the garden

Last night, I did 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half, an onion sauteed, basil and 1 cup shredded mozzarella. You want about 3-4 cups of toppings. Honestly - unless I have meat I need to use up, I don't add meat. You are getting plenty of protein (and fat) from the eggs, cream, cheese.

Sprinkle fillings over the crust.

Pulse the food processor mixture one more time.

Pour over fillings/crust.

Put back in the oven for 40-42 minutes. =) At 30 minutes, check on it and see it if it needs a foil tent. It may be too brown on top, but not done in the middle. So.... tent it.

Serve with a giant green salad that you sweetly request your spouse make.

Mama's Chicken 'Ladas

Some of the ingredients involved... =) in 'Ladas. That's what we call them around here.

The cookbook that was THE COOKBOOK when my mother was a young, married Jacksonian was called Southern Sideboards. A lot of the recipes in there are a bit outdated now, but many of them are classics, in the best sense of the word.

There is a recipe in there called Swiss Enchiladas.

I have racked my brain about why in the world it would be called that. I have come up with no answer. There is no Swiss cheese, and I don't think the Swiss traditionally eat dishes like this one.

But, Mama tinkered with it, made it better, and I may have tinkered a bit more.

It is not particularly healthy. But if you are going to make Chicken Enchiladas, why try to be healthy? =) It does forgo pasteurized cheese product (Velveeta) and any condensed cream soup, making me feel better about life.

Here we go:

Dice up a

Large Onion (smaller if you aren't an onion girl, but I am...)

In a pan, heat a glug of olive oil on medium until it's fragrant. (I've always wanted to say that..) Add onion. While onion begins to cook, mince (or just chop finely)

2 - 4 cloves garlic

Add to pan, saute until onion is soft. Add

2 4oz cans of chopped green chiles
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp Tobasco
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper (go to sams, buy a disposable, filled pepper grinder)
1 tsp good salt
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken. (You can use left over roasted chicken, or poach your chicken, grill it, saute it, bake it. If starting with raw chicken, get about a pound.)

Let simmer the above while you do the following:

In a pyrex measure (some other non-plastic microwaveable container), pour

3 cups of half and half. I warned you...

Stick it in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Pull it out. Swirl it around a bit.
Stick it back in for 2 more minutes. Meanwhile, employ your three year old to peel

6 cubes of chicken bullion.

Break them up into the warm half and half. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve them. (Use that same wooden spoon you've been stirring your chicken tomato goodness with).

Now, grab

8 burrito sized tortillas or 10 soft taco size ones.

Fill each one with 1/8 or 1/10 of the chicken mixture. Roll them up. Place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish. If you are not good at estimating how much of the mixture to put in each tortilla (like me), pour any extra chicken goodness over the top and spread around.

Now, back to the half and half. Stick it back in the microwave one more time for a minute this time. Give it another stir to make sure all the bullion is dissolved. Pour it, slowly, over the wrapped up tortillas, making sure it gets down in all the cracks.

Our saturated fat content is clearly not high enough at this point, so now take

2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack

and sprinkle over the top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.

Serve with big green salad, (Sister Schubert) rolls, and a bottle of red wine.

Some Things Never Change

Today, it is cool outside. Thank the Lord.

I actually exercised. I hate exercise.
Some Things Never Change.


I came home to kids swinging in the front yard, one in his underwear, Daddy passively watching, unaffected by immodest three year olds.
Some Things Never Change.


The children said, "It's freezing out here." This reminded me of them, in April, saying, "I'm burning up." I think these statements were said at the exact same temperatures.
Some Things Never Change.

I said, "Go get dressed, please."

Eason returned like this:

Date: September 27, 2010.

I thought to myself, "you are a funny child, but wait...not the first to have this 'mildly cooler than yesterday/dead of winter' confusion"


A strong feeling of deja vu washed over me.

Wait... Iphoto Library... Help Me.

I searched. I knew when I thought it probably occurred...

Around three years ago...

Good thing I 'organized' my photos into seasons...

[This is a good example of proper use of quotations to set something off as ironic - Next in On Grammar: Quotes are not coherently used to emphasize things... They are used to either quote people or set something off as ironic.... see I didn't really organize the photos...I just grouped them into three month spans and am relying on my memory to do the rest. Which is actually, shockingly, kind of working.]

Anyway.

I thought to myself, "Fall....when was the last Fall I had a three year old? Oh, Fall 2007.... Let's go there..."


And, for once this week, I'm validated as slightly competent and not crazy. =)

This is what I found:

And....
Date: September 29, 2007.


God is Good.
Children are Funny.

Some Things Never Change.

Part 2 C: Home, School or Both, Oh My!

I've been writing about school - non-intentionality is NOT okay and some thoughts on pre-education -

All of this has been leading up to formal school (1st grade and up):

Private? Public? Parochial? Home?

Ada currently goes to school two days a week for 6 hours each day.

The other three days she's at home with me, doing school. We work for an average of 4 -5 hours each day here.

This is a lot of work for me. A whole lot. I'm exhausted. But... We think it's the best thing for us, for her, for now.

Why home?

• I want to be at home, at least a large chunk of most every day, with my little people when they're little. I have lots of reasons for this, but this little ditty I'm writing is not about stay-at-home vs working mothering. I'm going to be home with Eason and Collins, so homeschooling Ada Brooks is not taking me from something I'd otherwise be doing.

• I like teaching. I like teaching pretty much anything to any age (save science, which works out, since I'm marred to a science teacher), and
  

• I think I'm decent at it. I like to sing This Old Man, can diagram sentences (and relish it a bit much...), do math up through Cal 2 (although would like to skip geometry...), can read about any history gaps I may have (my history education was, in a word, abysmal, but that's why God made Wikipedia...and Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World), and I love to read all types of literature and philosophy - from Amelia Bedelia to Vittgenstein. Wait, I hated that guy, but you get the point. My point is, a lot of people shouldn't homeschool either because they don't have the personalities/temperaments for it, or because, very sadly, the gaps in their own educations are big enough that a little outside help every now and then won't make up the difference: Illiterate people should not home-educate their kids.
  

• Ada is easy to teach, and she and I get along for the most part. Some kids are particularly difficult to teach - by anyone. And some just are not motivated or have some other personality clash to be educated by their parents. If it is ruining your relationship or your child isn't learning jack, home education is not for you.
  

• The schools in our area, public and private, have some pretty large problems. I know parents who successfully navigate those problems, but I also know ones who really don't. You might get a good teacher, but you might also get an awful one. They public schools are laden with not enough resources, terrifying teacher/student ratios, uninvolved parents, and a bureaucracy from hell. The private schools in our area have many of the same problems the public schools do - and while are 'better' in a lot of areas, they have the added problem of being prohibitively expensive. The school to which we would most likely want to send our kids starts at 10,000 dollars a year for kindergarten and goes up from there. Also, none of the elementary schools in a 15 mile radius from our house uses the classical method, which we really, really like.
  

• In addition both types of schools, tend to be unable/unwilling to work with children who fall out of the 'typical' expectations - who need to advance in some areas and to have extra help in certain areas. The fact is that it is rare for children to progress at the same level in all subjects - and to expect 26 of them to progress at the same time, at the same level, in all subjects is the epitome of naivete and a prime example of the assembly line gone awry.
  

Example: Ada Brooks's handwriting is significantly behind her other subjects. This is normal, not that big of a deal, but if she's in public school, basically, she's 1 of 26 in a classroom and that means that her teacher is not going to say "oh - Ada - you are first grade age, and to stay remotely interested, you need to do third grade math, but write like a kindergartener on a good day, let's figure out how to mesh those." It ain't a gonna happen. But her mama can. I can say "Hey child of mine- Since you were bored out of your mind with the math we did last year, I'm going to get this math curriculum that is for a little bit older kids, but that means it's going to require writing of you that will frustrate you, so I'll make you a deal - if you'll have a happy attitude and you write the answers to the first half of the worksheet, you can dictate the answers to the second half and I'll write them for you."

• Also, schools have to give pat answers to questions from children. Early childhood is full of questions. Lots of them. All schools have indoctrination. Whoever is teaching your child at a young age will be indoctrinating him or her. It's very comforting not to have to constantly guard ourselves on all sides against things we don't believe coming from outside sources- things too liberal, things too conservative, things too anti-intellectual, things too...well...everything.
  

Example: When Ada Brooks asks "Mama - why does this book say the world was created 6000 years ago and this one says these bones they found were from 100 million years ago?" I can actually explain what's going on there. Whereas her school teacher may be prohibited from answering (and AB may not remember to ask me later) or give an answer that is, in the best light, inadequate. As she gets older, this won't be nearly the issue that it is now, but now, it is an issue.


If home is so great, why even do the two days a week thing?

Because educating at home has some pitfalls (I see homeschooling parents successfully navigate these pitfalls, much like I see parents who send their kids to school successfully navigate those pitfalls, but I also see parents, well, not so successfully navigate):

• Isolationism - Man is not made to be alone. Or only with our families... Kids need interactions. And they need to be with folks with whom they don't share DNA. This is not the traditional 'kids need socialization' argument against homeschooling. I don't worry that Ada Brooks isn't going to become awkward and not be able to talk to people, but what I do believe is that she's not always going to only interact with people who love her and understand her. She will, in life, have to abide by people's standards outside of her own mother's, and the sooner she gets used to that, the better.
  

• Crazy parents - Homeschool parents sometimes go into crazy land because all they do is talk to little people. And parents who are brave enough, and outside the mainstream enough, to decide to homeschool in the first place are probably a little bit closer to crazy land already. (I can say this outloud since I'm a homeschooling parent...) Adults need adult interaction. And not just with one's spouse. And we need to feel un-alone in the educating of our children. Because we are not alone. In many ways, Hillary was right. It takes a village. (Or more accurately a church...=) ) This is not just denim jumper crazy land (although that's one brand)- I'm talking about a simple loss of identity. I am not only Ada Brooks's teacher, and having her go to school a couple of days a week helps me to remember that I am a wife, a friend, a hostess, a communing member of a church, a plain-ol' mama, a cook, and one day, just maybe, may be something where someone actually pays me... =)
  

• Lack of accountability - you need someone, seriously, to say "Gosh - all of little Susie's peers know their multiplication tables, and little Susie doesn't - we need to do something about that..." If your child is never around other children or other educators, and thus never evaluated independently of you, you may not know if you are falling behind. Now, there are other ways than a 2 day a week school - a homeschooling mentor who will, by darn, tell you if your child is just not doing as well as she should - is a good example - or - if you are in Korea or West Texas and you cannot figure out a way to weave external accountability into your homeschool, get A Well Trained Mind - If you are keeping up with what they recommend trust me, you'll be fine. There are also these cool books called "What your (Kindergartener, First Grader, etc.) should know..." Buy them and be honest with yourself and your spouse about where your child is. Now, schools, again, tend to go too far the other way and de-personalize this. They often try to push ahead or hold back kids because they are ticking off a list of things a child should or should not know. And that's short sighted. But so is not having any standards at all. Balance. Moderation. Wisdom.

• Eaten up with worry (the other side of the lack-of-accountability coin)- you could be like me and need encouraging people who have experience in these areas to tell you to quit worrying that Ada Brooks's handwriting is not progressing - that it's normal. How do they know it's normal? Because they see other kids being educated.... If you go at it completely alone, well, how do you know what's normal?

Now, I was so, so, so super-serious when I said for us, for her, for now. If I could, I'd add some more superlatives in there. This is not the only way to go. I have dear, dear, dear friends - in Jackson and the surrounding area - and some far away- friends who I love and, more importantly in this discussion, respect, who are currently choosing different education paths for their children. And they are doing an awesome job at it.

Believe it. My way, nor any other way, is the only better way to educate. Really.

Some are devotedly taking those little people to school every day, packing lunches every day (which may keep me from ever enrolling my kids full time in school), dutifully asking questions and genuinely being interested in their days, working on homework, holding the school accountable, figuring out ways to challenge/offer extra help in areas that their kids are either ahead or behind, and on and on and on. And some are at home full time with theirs - seeking out accountability and reassurance from wise, seasoned parents in their community as well as the plethora of great literature on education, avoiding crazy-land, and finding ways for their kids to get some of that good time with non-family members.



Education is a means to an end. When it becomes an end in and of itself, children suffer. There are better and worse ways to educate kids - but if they are successfully being educated to be good, knowledgeable folks, then you shouldn't care how, really. You should find the best way to do that, and go for it - wholeheartedly and with much prayer and laughter.

We are doing what we think is best. We could be wrong.

In no other area, save perhaps religious beliefs, is charity more important. We all must work hard to quell the insecurity in our hearts and the pride in our speech.