Wordless Wednesday: Being Themselves, Week 3

This is the child we periodically babysit, wearing Bigboy's outrigger hat. I love her hammed up expression.

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Taking a Time Out, the Computer Is Anyway

I have no problem coming back to my irregularly scheduled blog posting.

Just as soon as I have the screen taken care of on the computer. The screen on my laptop cracked today. This would be, out of all irony, the only computer in this house.

I'll be posting once again, once I have this screen issue taken care of.

And I'll tell you all about it.

Have a Great Day!

And The Final Three Top Reasons For Using k12 Begins

And so it would be that the life of this hectic homeschooler got just a little too hectic to keep up with her own blog. But then again, my life doesn't always give me the time to sit and write in front of the computer. Once again, I'm back to my continuation of my top ten reasons for using k12. My number 3 reason would just so happen to be:

k12 writes directions with a purpose.

I've learned in life there are two types of directions.

One type of directions is designed to exercise social control over people. I've found, through experience that this type of direction is designed by people and given by people for the pure purpose of watching the victim person execute the directions. I'm not sure what thrill people get out giving directions for the pure pleasure of making someone else do something. I find this behavior oppressive and revolting. May someone please bring the porcelain goddess? I'd like to throw up from over exertion of social control.

My dad Dick Fife is very good at doing this. I remember being asked to do stuff just so he could look important. He never gained any respect out of anything he asked us to do. then again, we never felt respected in the first place.

School teachers are another good example of directions being given for personal pleasure. Frequently, I hear from parents, complaints about directions teachers give. I hear all about Johnny's teacher tells him to do something just because she wants him to. Or I hear about how Johnny gets bored in school because she spends so much time giving directions that there isn't time left for doing the work he's supposed to do in the first place. I've heard it all. I've witnessed it all.

If there is a teacher reading this post, please tell me in non-union speak what kind of example you think KNOW you are setting. For the desire to see if you can handle practicing what you preach my sake, and my sake only, I can only accept scholastic format essays with your bibliography in AP format. Please send me a "Thought for the Day" comment requesting complete instructions.

Notice my kids aren't in a regular school anymore for a reason.

Bigfoot was subjected to a teacher who did this. Yes, I would happen to be talking about the last teacher he had in a school. She turned him off from school by using social control as a silent excuse for giving the directions that she did.

After all, If a child has a math worksheet sitting on his desk when he comes back from recess. Wouldn't you think the child already knows he's supposed to complete the work? I would think so. So, Bigfoot (before the big feet came) would find a worksheet on his desk, take out his pencil and do the work. typically, he would finish before she would even begin the math lesson. Of course, this means he now has nothing better to do than dance on his desk, talk to third graders, talk to second graders (who were doing the worksheet he had already finished), read a book, fall out of his chair, and just be generally distracting.

Her response? Get ready for this. She would tell him to sit down and follow along.

Hello!!! He is already DONE! Why aren't you following along with him? His answers are correct. What is your problem? He did what you expected him to do. He finished early. Give him more work. Let him work two pages of math to everyone else's one.

Every time she would give directions, as far as I can figure out, she had no other purpose but to keep the kids where she wanted them. If anything moved beyond her box, she lost all understanding of her classroom. Every time I was in that classroom, I got the message that she wanted these kids to follow her pace for no other reason than to keep them where she wanted them.

Will someone please educate me as to how kids are expected to grow mentally if they're repeatedly told to be controlled by another person? This is nothing more than the same social control of Red China. I don't dig it.

On the other hand, there are directions that can be given that will actually help kids become better people. This type of direction is meant to make the world a better place.

I have come to the conclusion that public schools aren't allowed to exercise this type of direction giving. Kids may become high achievers out of their own individual gifts rather than the suppressed work force that now drives Bill Gates into India for employment recruiting. Kids may end up sounding intelligent if given directions made for sheer purpose of generating a greater good.

Which brings me to why I dig using k12 for homeschool material. There are no directions given out of social control. All directions given come with a purpose designed for learning. My kids need to write some of their math answers using complete sentences, not for the sake of passing the waste-of-taxes WASL, but for the development of communication. My kids are put through directions explaining the writing process, not as a waste of time, of clearly to teach the benefit of thinking about what you really want to say before you say it. I've never seen directions given in any k12 material that didn't have learning clearly in mind.

As a result, my kids now have a better understanding of handling their schoolwork. They both understand what needs to be done, and the benefits that come from it. I have better listeners in my kids (for the most part). I have two kids on their way to becoming better citizens.

I can't help but enjoy it.

My Top Ten Reasons to Use k12 Continues

This last spring, I began, through the inspiration of our off-campus enrollment, a ten part series on why I love using the k12 program. Somewhere along the line, I fell off my own bandwagon. I can go into further detail about that later. It feels good to be back on my own track.

My #4 top reason for enjoying the presence of k12 in my life...

On-line lesson planning.

Every morning, I log into k12.com check our daily lesson schedule, and attempt to set two kids into gear for the day.

Lesson planning isn't entirely done for me. I have to participate in the planning process just as much as the program does. I have to pay attention to everything Bigfoot and Beadgirl are doing.

If they need more work to do, I can add to their day. If they need to spend more time on certain material, I can adjust the daily lesson plan to meet their needs.

All of this on-line convenience sure beats writing out lesson material for everything. Before our discovery of k12, I was hand planning everything. That meant going through each textbook, deciding how much of what to cover, assigning it, and hoping nothing distracted the plan.

Like that never happened.

Wordless Wednesday: Being Themselves, Week 2

Wordless Wednesday: Being Themselves, Week 1

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I've resigned to being techologically impaired

By request, I'm bringing this post over from Yahoo. the original post was written October 5, 2007 on my Yahoo 360 page. I realize I am severely technologically challenged in the cell phone world. However, I do need to inform you that I have to date kept my Fire MotoKRZR for a period of one full year. And guess what! It still WORKS!!! I can't be more proud of myself.

In less than seven years, I have figured out I've owned or borrowed a total of ten cell phones. Yes, ten in less than seven years. It might be less than six years, I really don't know. I've had so many phones, I can't remember when I got my first one. I ordered number eleven today from Verizon.

I really didn't want to quit using the old Samsung thing I was borrowing from my father-in-law. I really did try to make it to my free upgrade period in January. Somehow, that just didn't work. The dropping of the phone into the toilet today didn't help. Now the screen doesn't work at all. I didn't try to drop it in the toilet. It just kind of flew into the wonderful porcelain princess.

I've only had one phone for a full twelve months and that was a Motorola V60i. That was six phones ago. I couldn't charge it. Why? I'm not an engineer. Paper clips, duct tape and rubber bands aren't in my language of creative uses. Rubber bands are for holding together groups of things so they can stay together in a junk drawer or school supply box. Duct tape is for temporary patches that are actually permanent. Paper clips are for keeping groups of paper together. Non of these are for charging cell phones unless you are an engineer. I literally would have had to rig it with the engineering tools of life in order to keep it working. I really did try to keep that phone for a full two year period; but couldn't make it past twelve. That phone was the easy insurance claim.

This latest phone was a borrowed Samsung. Borrowed only because my Motorola E815 (which I loved) fried before the warranty period was up form the insurance. The thing keeled over dead and they won't take it back without filing another claim. They sent me a refurbished phone, they should take it back. We decided if we were going to pay $50 for a replacement this time, we'd pay for a new phone instead of risking another piece of junk.

That phone came from the insurance because I decided it would be a good thing to throw my phone into the sofa. The sofa was supposed to prevent it from breaking on the laminate flooring. Did it? NO! It had to rebound off the edge of the sofa and fly into four pieces in four different locations. Unfortunately, the argument I was having was partially my fault.

Now that my new phone and all necessary gadgets are on the way from Verizon, I'll be on phone number eleven. Lets see how long i can keep this one. I will be good to this phone. I will not download ring tones until I have paid off the bill for the phone itself. I will not put on games so my kids think they can snatch it for idle boredom. I will not rack up the monthly bill with anything unnecessary such as sending photos to friends. I can email photos I take from the phone. I will be good. I will keep this phone until the full two year contract is up.