PoDunk Town in the News

I shouldn't make fun of the town where we live - we like it - but it is small! I always get a chuckle when I hear the kids here make fun of kids in the neighboring town that doesn't even have a gas station. Evidently we're not too small for ridiculous things like this to happen. I was shocked when some of the neighborhood teenagers told us that this was going on in their schools.

Thinking. a/k/a Alternative Education

I just read this story about a biology teacher who was fired for showing material that contradicted the theory of evolution in his classroom. He said he did so in an effort to teach his students to see both sides of an issue and think critically. Evidently that is not what schools are intended for - they want brainwashed masses that swim altogether in one direction - not independent thinkers that will solve economic problems, cure diseases, invent things, and forge into the new frontier of technology. One thing our culture excels at is mediocrity!

Hysterical Song

I guess because there is so much truth to what is in public education - it's not THAT funny! If you get a chance to go and listen to this song . Let me know what you think!

Real Education

I have the awesome privelege of being the youth leader to the junior high crowd at my church. It is an amazing group of kids, and I feel so blessed to get to know them. However, within in this group their are teens and pre-teens from all different kinds of families- some are homeschoolers, some are public schoolers, some have been adopted within the last couple of years out of Russian orphanages, some are friends that come along for the candy. We really have a wide ranging mix.

One thing that I have become concerned about, is not the level of education the kids are getting, but the amount of "real learning" that I think is missing from their lives, and their stunted ability to seek out information if they are interested in something. For example, every week, I present them with a challenge - to find out how much they were paying attention during the sermon from the previous week. It could be as simple as asking what color the pastor's sweater was, or as complicated as asking them to cite a scripture reference, or finish a quotation. Last week I asked them to fill in one word of a quote Porky gave from Ralph Waldo Emerson. During the class, one of the younger students raised her hand - (which thrilled me - I love it when they ask questions - that means they're listening and interested!) - and asked, "Who is Ralph-whatever?" So I gave them an assignment to find out. I wanted them to come in with one simple statement about him.

For a couple of years, I have been explaining to the kids who just recently graduated up to the senior high group that questions are so important. It is so hard sometimes to put yourself out there for embarrassment or ridicule by raising your hand and asking a question, especially as a teenager. I have encouraged them over and over by saying, it is okay not to know - but it is not okay not to WANT to know. Ask the question, and seek the answer until you find it - and to apply this not only to the entire world around them, but passionately to the word of God.

That little sweetheart will never know how precious her raised hand and her question were to me. In our society where we are used to immediate gratifcation, I think she was a bit disconcerted to find that I did not immediately provide her with the answer to her question. But, how much more will I provide them with if I can only plant in their little hearts that spark that sends them hungry on a quest for an answers, and a lifetime of real learning.

Kudos to Homeschoolers

Yesterday, my husband was helping a friend at the school where I went when I was in junior high school. When I went to pick him up in the afternoon, there were no students there any more and so he waved for me and the kids to come inside. It was so neat to be able to show the kids around where I used to go to school, and remember that there are good reasons why my husband and I chose to keep them home! It was kind of neat to be in those same hallways twenty years later with my girls who are the same age I was when I went there, and to know how innocent they are of much that went on for me during my years in that school. We walked along - in this very old school building - and much of it is the same as it was when I was a student in the early 80s. There is an elevator where a hallway used to be, and there are some new additions - but I was amazed at how very small the auditorium and lunchroom seem to me now. As we were walking along, we ran into a male teacher - and Travis explained pointing at me, that I went there when I was in jr. high school. So he starts asking questions - when did I go there - and I said a long time ago. And Travis said that we wanted to show our kids where their mom went to school because they don't go to that school - and I just sort of held my breath. I knew what question was coming next. "So where do you guys to go to school?" he asks looking at my girls. Kendra hesitates and for a moment in suspended animation I see her lips move slowly and hear it in slightly warped sound, "We're homeschooled." I shouldn't cringe - I really shouldn't - we are legally within our rights to homeschool our children - I believe in what we're doing but I HATE CONFRONTATION! This guy perks right up and says, "Well then, you're probably smarter than most of the students here!!!" We all laugh, and Travis says, "Remember YOU said it!" It was pretty funny. I just wanted to share it with those of you in the trenches of pioneer homeschooling with me! Endorsement from a public school teacher is nothing short of miraculous!