It's Valentine's Day, and we usually try to do something as a family rather than spend money on cards and candy and flowers that die in a day. This year dear hubby and I took two of our kids into the city to see Mary Poppins on Broadway.
As this was our son's first trip into the city for anything significant, so we wanted to make it memorable. I found this great restaurant that looked wonderful online. It's called Mars 2112 and it's at 51st and Broadway. You start your adventure with a greeting from your space captain, who ushers you into a spacecraft for your trip to Mars. 5 bumpy, slightly nauseating minutes later you arrive on Mars and are greeted by a space host. Mars is red, and quite rocky, so be sure to watch your step! The Martians are quite friendly and their cuisine is similar to ours, just a bit pricier. They also have lots of fun games, and kids 10 and under can play one for free, then you have to pay but they take Earth money.
We returned to earth and walked the 9 blocks down to 42nd street. Middle child was awed by all the lights and tall buildings, and it was wonderful to witness his first Manhattan encounter. I wish we had time to have allowed a ride on the Ferris Wheel in Toys R Us, that nearly caused a meltdown, but he recovered quickly.
Mary Poppins was a fantastic show, great effects, amazing songs, the script was true to the book....all in all it was a really amazing night.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Wish List Item #7
7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
I have said before, and I will say it again, I am certain there are some wonderful public schools in the country. Clearly there are people who have completed 12 years of public school education and gone on to succeed in whatever it is they chose to pursue. That being said, the former President's of Princeton, Stanford and Columbia were all homeschooled. The man who invented the Stanford-Binet IQ Test homeschooled his son, and he himself was a principal! What does that say?
Some currently well known homeschoolers and homeschooling parents include: Dakota Fanning, Sandra Day O'Conner, Will Smith, Kelly Preston & John Travolta, Venus & Serena Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Love Hewitt... and the list of famous names from history is not only long, but impressive. Many of the most well known inventors were homeschooled.
Homeschooling allows individuals to pursue a subject until they are done. There is no reason to stop learning if there is still interest. I was listening to a talk radio "news" blurb a few weeks back. Something about millions of balls being dumped out onto the steps of some significant building somewhere in Italy in protest of something. After the short "story" my 6 year old asked me what that was about, and I had no answer. Are our attention spans so short that we can't even listen to an actual news story? That same night Larry King spent 15 minutes talking about the poor Marine found in a hole in her rapist's back yard and 45 minutes talking about Britney Spears being taken to a hospital. C'mon people, in what twisted realm is Britney Spears news? And why is Larry King reducing himself to spending the majority of his NEWS hour discussing her?
My children are learning. They are avid readers, they are creative, they are social, they are civic minded and they are thriving. They can hold a conversation, they can listen to me for more than 5 minutes and they can (nearly) sit through a whole sermon at church. They know who is running for President and why, they know how our Town government is run and how our Town differs from surrounding villages and/or boroughs. They know Bible stories, fables, fairy tales and key pieces of literature. They color, paint, sculpt and fashion art from scrap. They recycle, care for pets, grow vegetables and flowers, identify trees, birds and various bugs. They can count, add, subtract, multiply and divide (as is age appropriate of course). They can halve or double a recipe, they can set a proper place setting and they know how to fold cloth napkins. They can sew, crochet, swim, play various sports, recognize multiple ballets and pieces of music.
Lest you think me immodest, I cannot take the credit for a good half of what my children know. They are curious, and I direct them to the source most likely to satisfy their curiosity. Learning is not a 9-3 endeavor, teaching moments are all around you if you are quiet enough to see them.
I have said before, and I will say it again, I am certain there are some wonderful public schools in the country. Clearly there are people who have completed 12 years of public school education and gone on to succeed in whatever it is they chose to pursue. That being said, the former President's of Princeton, Stanford and Columbia were all homeschooled. The man who invented the Stanford-Binet IQ Test homeschooled his son, and he himself was a principal! What does that say?
Some currently well known homeschoolers and homeschooling parents include: Dakota Fanning, Sandra Day O'Conner, Will Smith, Kelly Preston & John Travolta, Venus & Serena Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Love Hewitt... and the list of famous names from history is not only long, but impressive. Many of the most well known inventors were homeschooled.
Homeschooling allows individuals to pursue a subject until they are done. There is no reason to stop learning if there is still interest. I was listening to a talk radio "news" blurb a few weeks back. Something about millions of balls being dumped out onto the steps of some significant building somewhere in Italy in protest of something. After the short "story" my 6 year old asked me what that was about, and I had no answer. Are our attention spans so short that we can't even listen to an actual news story? That same night Larry King spent 15 minutes talking about the poor Marine found in a hole in her rapist's back yard and 45 minutes talking about Britney Spears being taken to a hospital. C'mon people, in what twisted realm is Britney Spears news? And why is Larry King reducing himself to spending the majority of his NEWS hour discussing her?
My children are learning. They are avid readers, they are creative, they are social, they are civic minded and they are thriving. They can hold a conversation, they can listen to me for more than 5 minutes and they can (nearly) sit through a whole sermon at church. They know who is running for President and why, they know how our Town government is run and how our Town differs from surrounding villages and/or boroughs. They know Bible stories, fables, fairy tales and key pieces of literature. They color, paint, sculpt and fashion art from scrap. They recycle, care for pets, grow vegetables and flowers, identify trees, birds and various bugs. They can count, add, subtract, multiply and divide (as is age appropriate of course). They can halve or double a recipe, they can set a proper place setting and they know how to fold cloth napkins. They can sew, crochet, swim, play various sports, recognize multiple ballets and pieces of music.
Lest you think me immodest, I cannot take the credit for a good half of what my children know. They are curious, and I direct them to the source most likely to satisfy their curiosity. Learning is not a 9-3 endeavor, teaching moments are all around you if you are quiet enough to see them.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Wish List Item #6
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
I had an epiphany a few years back; I realized that my mother is a wonderful Grandma. She wasn't the best mother to me, but she is definitely outdoing herself as a Grandma. You see, I wa that annoying child that never stopped asking "Why?" and my mother had no idea what to do with that. She thought I was questioning her authority, when really I was just plain questioning. I have one of those children now, and I pray everyday that I answer his questions with patience, lest he stop questioning.
I have come to relalize, as I think most moms do, that my mother the best job she could with what she had. I am a relatively normal, well adjusted adult, and I am raising my children with the morals, values and experiences that she and my father helped instill. Someday, God willing, my children will be normal, well adjusted adults. They will look back on their childhood and say "I'm never doing that to my child!" Hopefully they will also say "I can't wait to pass this tradition on to my child."
None of us knows how the choices we make for our children today will affect their lives tomorrow. Homeschooling is a personal choice, one that I am passionate about and one I firmly believe is my God-given responsibility (but that's a whole other post!). DH and I do the best we can with what is in front of us today, and pray for the strength and wisdon to do better tomorrow..... don't you?
I had an epiphany a few years back; I realized that my mother is a wonderful Grandma. She wasn't the best mother to me, but she is definitely outdoing herself as a Grandma. You see, I wa that annoying child that never stopped asking "Why?" and my mother had no idea what to do with that. She thought I was questioning her authority, when really I was just plain questioning. I have one of those children now, and I pray everyday that I answer his questions with patience, lest he stop questioning.
I have come to relalize, as I think most moms do, that my mother the best job she could with what she had. I am a relatively normal, well adjusted adult, and I am raising my children with the morals, values and experiences that she and my father helped instill. Someday, God willing, my children will be normal, well adjusted adults. They will look back on their childhood and say "I'm never doing that to my child!" Hopefully they will also say "I can't wait to pass this tradition on to my child."
None of us knows how the choices we make for our children today will affect their lives tomorrow. Homeschooling is a personal choice, one that I am passionate about and one I firmly believe is my God-given responsibility (but that's a whole other post!). DH and I do the best we can with what is in front of us today, and pray for the strength and wisdon to do better tomorrow..... don't you?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Back to Reality
I am such a derelict blogger, finding the time is a huge challenge. In any case, we have returned from a wonderful vacation and are settling back into a routine.
As I mentioned, our vacation was part of an international gathering of unschoolers. Now, it is hard to define unschooling, as that is kind of an oxy moron, but the general thrust is that all learning is child-led. There is no set lesson plan for the day, no work that MUST get done. I don't really subscribe to this way of thinking, especially as my children get older. That being said, it does make a lot of sense to me in the abstract. Children are naturally curious, and they want to learn. There are days when we spend hours learning about the spider in the cobwebs I haven't cleaned. Other days we get so caught up in baking or nature walks or drawing, that not much else gets done. Those days, we are unintentionally unschooling. However, the next day I emphasise the traditional book learning that I feel needs to be addressed.
All that being said, I am also curious. I want to know how families have completely unschooled successful, productive children into their adulthood. I know it happens, as I have seen these (now) adults with my own eyes! They have attained college degrees and are now leading happy lives in their chosen field. I fail to grasp how it is possible to unschool algebra or geometry. I can't even get my son to want to tie his shoes, how in the world do you get a math resistant child excited about algebra?
I am off to ponder these complexities, perhaps the 8 loads of laundry I have waiting for me will inspire radical thinking :)
As I mentioned, our vacation was part of an international gathering of unschoolers. Now, it is hard to define unschooling, as that is kind of an oxy moron, but the general thrust is that all learning is child-led. There is no set lesson plan for the day, no work that MUST get done. I don't really subscribe to this way of thinking, especially as my children get older. That being said, it does make a lot of sense to me in the abstract. Children are naturally curious, and they want to learn. There are days when we spend hours learning about the spider in the cobwebs I haven't cleaned. Other days we get so caught up in baking or nature walks or drawing, that not much else gets done. Those days, we are unintentionally unschooling. However, the next day I emphasise the traditional book learning that I feel needs to be addressed.
All that being said, I am also curious. I want to know how families have completely unschooled successful, productive children into their adulthood. I know it happens, as I have seen these (now) adults with my own eyes! They have attained college degrees and are now leading happy lives in their chosen field. I fail to grasp how it is possible to unschool algebra or geometry. I can't even get my son to want to tie his shoes, how in the world do you get a math resistant child excited about algebra?
I am off to ponder these complexities, perhaps the 8 loads of laundry I have waiting for me will inspire radical thinking :)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Vacation
I have scheduled our entire family for a long overdue vacation. While watching the Travel Channel last year we learned about America's 10 Best Water Parks. My son was fascinated by a place called Noah's Ark and decided that was where we HAD to take our next vacation. Through the miracle of Google I began my education into the Wisconsin Dells and a plan was formed. During the heat and sunshine of a Long Island July, I started looking into a January water park adventure. Yes, you read that correctly, a water park, in Wisconsin in January. At that time, the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin was the World's Largest Indoor Water park. Southwest has $39 flights to Chicago Midway and the Dells are only a 90 minute drive from there, we were set!
Then October rolls around and I find the Unschooler Winter Water park Getaway to, guess where? The Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio; at that time the World's Second Largest Indoor Waterpark. But, don't ya know, Sandusky is undergoing extensive renovations in December, and by the time they reopen they will be the largest. And, since such a large block of rooms is being booked in January, the price was too amazing to pass up.
So, at 4:30 Monday morning the thrice blest family will be heading to Islip to hop a plane to Cleveland for a short drive to Sandusky. By lunchtime my derriere will be circling the lazy river while my children play happily nearby. For 5 warm, water filled days we will relax and play with fellow homeschoolers from all across the nation and a few from Canada and beyond. No one will care that my 6 year old can't read the signs, or marvel that my 4 year old can. Our mostly organic diet will pale in comparison to raw vegans. Other kids will be reading books instead of playing video games and we will have a whole week without hearing "no school today?" And did I mention the Lazy River?!
We are SO ready for this getaway, now if I could just find those goggles....
Then October rolls around and I find the Unschooler Winter Water park Getaway to, guess where? The Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio; at that time the World's Second Largest Indoor Waterpark. But, don't ya know, Sandusky is undergoing extensive renovations in December, and by the time they reopen they will be the largest. And, since such a large block of rooms is being booked in January, the price was too amazing to pass up.
So, at 4:30 Monday morning the thrice blest family will be heading to Islip to hop a plane to Cleveland for a short drive to Sandusky. By lunchtime my derriere will be circling the lazy river while my children play happily nearby. For 5 warm, water filled days we will relax and play with fellow homeschoolers from all across the nation and a few from Canada and beyond. No one will care that my 6 year old can't read the signs, or marvel that my 4 year old can. Our mostly organic diet will pale in comparison to raw vegans. Other kids will be reading books instead of playing video games and we will have a whole week without hearing "no school today?" And did I mention the Lazy River?!
We are SO ready for this getaway, now if I could just find those goggles....
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