Uncharted Learning

When I was young, we were not allowed to say of food that we didn't like it. That sentiment was to be expressed "I haven't learned to like that yet." Out of habit, I still say this of some foods like mushrooms and olives. But the saying likely opened me up to learning to like some things, like peanut butter and watermelon.

I like the idea of learning to like everything, even beyond food. So when I saw the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, I picked it up to try again, though I remembered not getting it and not liking it at all when I last cracked it. (Probably some time in my early teens.)

Wow! I'm baffled that it once didn't speak to me! It's so the song of my soul now!

And of course when I read it now, I find all sorts of messages related to homeschooling. All roads in my mind lead there, apparently. So here is one I'm following with the little prince....

He has left his own small planet to escape a flower he loves, but that torments him. He comes to another small planet whose soul inhabitant is a geographer. The little prince is intrigued by this "scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts." He admires the planet and asks the geographer about all of these things and discovers the man knows nothing of them.

"But you are a geographer!" the prince insists.

The geographer explains he is NOT the explorer. "It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk." Having never met an explorer, the geographer's knowledge is dormant.

This geographer gets excited when he realizes the little prince has been elsewhere and thinks he will begin the process of recording what the little prince knows. (It's a very formal process, involving confirming the character of the explorer and having proofs furnished, etc.) The little prince is then shocked that the geographer has no interest in recording the thing on his planet that to him is the most noteworthy, that brings him the greatest joy: the flower.

So true to life! Therefore, and inescapably, so true to homeschooling! Which is the more difficult profession? Explorer or geographer? Are our schools filled with children too busy learning important things to leave their desks? And how often does school learning teach children to disregard that knowledge which will bring them the greatest joy?

Though we tend to feel some uncertainty about the process, it's wonderful to be a homeschooler. Embrace the uncertainty with the adventurous spirit of an explorer. Though our learning journey may be a bit uncharted, we will certainly come to know what is worth knowing!

And if you have your own deep thoughts about The Little Prince and homeschooling, share them in the comments!

Common Core Debate

I missed it! Yesterday was a hard day that left me almost in tears. Almost. I explained to my 4 year old I wanted to cry and she said, "Moms don't cry." I don't know where SHE has been! I cry at every good book we own! Anyway, the frustration was about happy stuff, but it was real frustration and I chickened out last night, fearing I wouldn't be able to handle any more frustration at the debate.

So I went looking for a recording of the debate, and found these questions for it. Posted by those who oppose Common Core's adoption, obviously. But I loved them because they got at so many of MY beefs with Common Core. Check them out.

And, in case you are using this blog as YOUR Common Core source, here is a link to the debate too. :) Please, please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Questions for the Common Core Debate

Utah Common Core Standards Debate

6:00 - 8:00

MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014

MT LOGAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

875 NORTH 200 EAST

LOGAN, UTAH

The schools.utah.gov website states "The [Common Core] standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American Students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy."

How does something that is simultaneously promoted as "just standards" do so much? Isn't this sort of rhetoric, if Common Core really is "just standards" a little over the top?

The claim that the Common Core standards will somehow create students "ready to compete in the emerging global market" (from utahpublicschools.org) is an idea found throughout the school board's defense of Common Core. ("Locally driven, globally competitive" from schools.utah.gov)

Just what sorts of global jobs do you think a nationally standardized high school graduate will be ready to compete for?

Follow-up question: Clearly, to be competitive in a global marketplace, specialized training and education beyond high school would be required. How does focusing so much energy on making sure our students learn the same info at the same pace for Math and English as the rest of the nation's high school students lead to "global competitiveness?"

Follow-up question: Clearly, the school board is trying to answer concerns about students readiness for college level math, and overall preparation for the global job market. How has Common Core and it's focus on math and English standards demonstrated it will meet these needs better than other alternatives like charter schools and specialized programs within the schools? Would not our efforts and resources be better spent increasing student access to THESE alternatives? Are we really to believe new math standards will result in MORE students enrolled in college level math? Isn't that faulty cause and effect logic?

The Common Core standards were not released until June 2010 (see utahnsforpublicschools.org). How is it possible to get "14 months of public input" between their release and their adoption on August 8, 2010?

follow-up question: How many parents did the school board interact with at that time whose primary concern in education was that our students were NOT learning the same information at the same pace as the students in Wisconsin?

Question for Tami Pyfer: You stated on a radio interview that, as Common Core IS just standards; there was no additional prescription to help kids who were falling behind or struggling. If we aren't helping more kids, or making learning better, isn't it more accurate to describe the standards as a change to education instead of an improvement?

The Gates Foundation spent 3 million to develop Common Core standards (edutooia.org/common-core-state-standards-resources). Bill Gates invested heavily with the benefit in mind he described as "a large uniform base of customers looking at using products that can help every kid learn and every teacher get better." (youtube.com/watch?v=xTK_6VKpf4) If the Common Core succeeds by Mr. Gates measurement, what interest does the state school board have in a "large uniform base of customers"? And why should parents be excited about this intended outcome? (Gates full quote is: "Identifying common stands is just the starting point. We'll only know if this effort has succeeded when the curriculum and tests are aligned to these standards. Secretary Arnie Duncan recently announced $350 million of the stimulus package will be used to create just these kinds of tests.... When the tests are aligned to the common standards, the curriculum will line up as well... For the first time there will be a large uniform base of customers looking at using products that can help every kid learn and every teacher get better.")

What is the direct benefit to students and families of the State School Board's mandatory adoption of Common Core in all public schools throughout the state? Why could we not allow districts to vet the standards according to the local desires of parents?

In answer to the outcry over the Common Core standards, the State School Board has reminded us we have always had state standards. Why was adopting the Common Core preferable to simply upping our own standards, perhaps even beyond standards set by the core?

follow-up question: If our standards were so woefully below the rest of the nation, and are now targeted to be on par, by what mechanism, measurement, or target date will we determine that we would like to exceed the standards to allow our students "to compete in the global market place"? Or is the plan to remain in-step with the rest of the states going forward? And if that is the plan, how will this increase our competitiveness?

Question for Tami Pyfer: You have said that despite public resistance, you are unwilling to stop short of full implementation of Common Core and to do so would be irresponsible. (KVNU FTP Broadcast in July 2013) When WILL you assess the success or failure of the adoption of the standards? How will you decipher a failure of the standards from a failure of the teachers, schools, or students?

The current cost of a public k12 education in Utah is around $85,000 per student. How will Utah's adoption of national standards affect that figure?
follow-up question: Doesn't that seem a little pricey for an education only promising to meet "minimum standards?"

The state's p20W data system encompasses pre-kindergarten through higher education and workforce training. From schools.utah.gov/data, it reads "Utah has a robust state student logitudinal data system collecting on a wide range of student data." What is included in the "wide range of data"? Where can a parent find an exhaustive list of what is included? The state has had issues in the past with data security. What assurances are provided to parents that their data will not be stolen, inappropriately shared or misused?

Reason #232: Embracing the Season

When we studied Vikings, I learned something quite obvious. They took a winter break. It was too cold for raids. Being up north it was pretty dark too. They brought their animals into their homes and just hunkered down for a few months. And celebrated Yule.

I find myself thinking of the Vikings now at Christmas time. Oh, our town is SO COLD recently!!! I don't know that it's been above freezing for more than a week. And it's dark outside. We haven't let the chickens into our home, but we have noted we haven't seen them come out of theirs. We are hunkering down, and I love it!

I LOVE the winter! It is my favorite season. When you are a kid it's an easy season to love. I remember pretending for hours out in the snow. My dad built us ice-skating rinks in our back yard. Winter meant power-outages at our house, and snow days when my mom would wake me by putting another blanket on my bed and whispering to sleep on because school was cancelled. What could be better!?!

I think for many adults winter loses it's magic, but I was blessed to NOT have a driver's licence 'til I was 20 and didn't own a car 'til I was married. So I was still walking in the snow to and from work. I didn't have to scrape a car, or freeze as I waited for one to heat up. I trudged out, bundled up, into the wonderland of my youth and had streets to myself for quiet reflection and a dash of whatever I was imagining. Inside, I might have the lights off, snow gazing into the blizzard outside illuminated by the street light. (I wrote a poem about this. I'll have to post it if I can dig it up.)

Anyway, the magic lives on for me because I have kids. Kids are the best carriers of the torch of magic. But chatting with my husband today, I realized he isn't so lucky. Not only does he drive to work in a cold car he's had to clear the snow from, but he IS working. He is still out conquering the day. And his day doesn't get any shorter when the sun sets early.

It's not just my husband in this predicament, but MOST adults and even children. No one gets a season off anymore. We have light and centralized heat and so why shouldn't we continue being productive, right? We are in conquer-mode ALL YEAR LONG. Winter is just one more thing to overcome.

But I don't know that we, as a race, are wired that way. In fact, when you look at nature, to be in one setting ALL the time is down-right unnatural. Almost all living things have cycles and seasons. I wonder if the seasonal slump so many feel is really just wearing out from going all the time.

THAT is the beauty of homeschooling. We homeschoolers have the freedom to embrace what IS. (Of course, everyone - working adults and kids in school - has this freedom too. It's just harder to find time to exercise.) Anyway, it is cold. It is Christmas. It might be snowing outside. We might want to snuggle by the fire and read for hours. And instead of fighting all of that, we can embrace it! The Vikings didn't cease to be Vikings because they were hunkering down. And we won't cease to be families on a great quest to discover all life has to teach if we take a moment to relax and enjoy the season. Blessedly, THAT is one of life's lessons. Take a while to learn it well!

A Homeschooling Mother's Gift

On Wednesday we were at our local public library enjoying Biography Club - a time for kids to share in any way they chose about people they have been studying. In the course of our club's meeting, many families stopped by to see if we were what they were looking for. At the time, I didn't know that was creating the extra traffic. I learned later they were on their way to storytime with Santa Claus.

No, we were not what they were looking for.

There was no guy in a red suit passing out candy and reading from a book.

Instead, we were hearing stories told by kids, recounted or acted out, about about great men and women in history. We've covered kings, business innovators, artists, composers, pioneers and pilgrims, benevolent and terrible leaders, and people who have overcome great odds. WHO we have learned about in this club (which meets monthly) has felt almost as instructive as what we learn about them.

What struck me this week was the potential impact all these stories may have on those who tell them, and those who are privileged to hear.

Certainly, my thoughts were bent this way because of Cornelia Africana, my daughter's biographical subject. Cornelia Africana was a mother in ancient Rome. I've blogged about her here. The story I shared in my blog post has inspired me since I heard it years ago, but looking further into her life, I found there was more she had to teach me.

Cornelia hoped for great things for her children. Having such high hopes, she chose to oversee their educations herself. She accomplished this, in part, by associating with great scientists, orators, and thinkers of her day. She welcomed foreigners. And she told her children stories of the greatness of her family, creating the traditions of bravery and service she wanted for her sons. Her sons grew to be some of the most important men in Rome in their time.

What I learned from her life is this: I have a great gift to give my children. If I chose to, I can give them the best the world has to offer. These simple accounts - "just stories" by some reckoning - are of great accomplishment, or great wisdom, or great triumph, or great tragedy. Their impact is powerful because the stories are real. Because in them we see who we are or who we would like to be. In the safety of parental love and care, my kids are hearing stories best suited to THEIR talents and futures. Not because these stories will be on a test. Not because these stories are required by the state. But shared because of MY love for them - BOTH the stories and my kids. That is a powerful education - one that inspires and uplifts. One that empowers children to be all they can be, as all great people before them have done.

No, our Biography Club was not Santa and candy, but I tend to think that Cornelia Africana would have joined us, as might some of the other moms who passed, if they knew what we were passing out.

Meet the Experts

I wrote this for fun. I don't know if it belongs on my blog, but if you think I should remove it, feel free to speak up in the comments. Perhaps these are the experts who would answer the question I posed on an old post about Common Core. Hope it makes you smile. (And if you are inspired to make it into a video, share it here!)

Meet the Experts

Media: In news reports on cable TV, the internet, and network television, reporters, such as myself often refer to a group of faceless, nameless commentators as “the experts.” Just who are these experts? And why do we place so much trust in them? We decided to go in depth and find out.

In this segment we’re calling “Meet the Experts,” we’re going to come face to face with this honored group and find out why they have become so invaluable to society, AND our news broadcasts.

(to expert) Good afternoon.

Expert: Actually, it’s 11:58 so I’m going to respond, good morning.

Media: (sincerely) Thank you, thank you. An invaluable correction. Good morning...

Expert: (interrupting) For another 1.3 minutes.

Media: We’re here today to meet that group we most commonly refer to as “The Experts.” We aren’t accustomed to seeing faces or knowing names. I’m shocked, actually, it’s such a small group. But pleased to know you better all the same. And how shall I address you?

Expert: Expert works fine for me.

Media: Expert?

Expert: Well, we aren’t especially comfortable having our faces seen, OR our names known. But it was decided that in the face of a rising distrust in The Experts, it was a good PR move.

Media: It doesn’t appear there is much diversity among you, Expert. You are a small group of bearded white men.

Expert: I know it APPEARS that way, but Sherman, back there, is Hispanic. And Albert is actually a woman.

Media: Oh, I stand corrected. You are quite diverse, then!

Expert: We are. Our diversity is something we uniformly pride ourselves in.

Media: There is certainly great diversity on the subjects which the media quotes the experts on. How do you cover so many topics with such... expertise?

Expert: As a group, we have a broad range of specialties. For example Albert knows how to make THE best pb and j. While Larry can name 27 species of chipmunk.

Media: Impressive! And which one is Albert?

Expert: As I mentioned, we aren’t comfortable being identified as individuals. The Experts asked that I act as the spokesperson for the group.

Media: My apologies, Expert. Continuing on, I’d like to ask a question many Americans have asked from time to time, though ironically, perhaps this is the first time the Media has dared ask it aloud. That is: How many times can an expert be wrong before he’s not considered an expert anymore?

Expert: Actually, it doesn’t work that way. We meet bi-semi-annually at a conference of experts, ExCon, and at that time, vote someone out of the herd. (Glancing back) Lou! What are you doing here? We voted you out last year!

(Lou walks off, dejected)

Media: Why was Lou voted out?

Expert: His beard was not nearly thick enough.

Media: And so now he is out of the “herd”?

Expert: It’s a term of affection we use to describe ourselves because we like to move as a group, like a well-oiled drill team. In fact, we have some formations we’d like to share, may we?

Media: Sure.

(Expert Spokesman blows a complicated series of puffs on a whistle. Experts shuffle around and form a straight line. He blows a different series of sounds, the experts shuffle and form another straight line. And again, during the last, Lou shuffles in from off screen finding a place.)

Expert: (Proud expression) What do you think? (glances back) LOU! Get out of here!

Media: (a bit puzzled) They were 3 straight lines.

Expert: Ah yes. Figure 1 was The Experts lined up according to height. Figure 2 was The Experts lined up according to age. And Figure 3 was The Experts lined up according to birthdays in the fiscal year. Except Lou ruined it, because his birthday is in January.

Media: I noticed Lou’s beard was a bit thicker than the expert... you know it’s really difficult to describe an individual amongst a group that looks so similar.... That expert there has nearly no beard at all.

Expert: Yes, but he is our mascot.

Media: Mascot?

Expert: Well, he’s not in his mascot suit now, but would you like to see it?

Media: May we?

Expert: (calling mascot forward) We call him Muscles. (Muscles takes off sport coat and flexes.)

Media: It’s difficult to see Muscles' muscles beneath his shirt.

Expert: It’s not really about seeing as much as believing. At our last ExCon we did a series of complicated calculations and Muscles had the largest muscles of us all. I won’t go into how we arrived at that, but we all agree Muscles here is the most qualified to be Muscles.

Media: (in lighter, joking tone) They must cover how to dress at ExCon too.

Expert: We all attend a workshop there: Experts Dress for Success.

Media: You mentioned moving as a group, and certainly when the media quotes the experts it’s not like citing a supreme court ruling, 3-1 or 2-6. How do you find consensus considering your great diversity?

Expert: Oh, we don’t. Like this interview, we let one be the spokesperson with whom we all agree.

Media: And how is that spokesperson chosen?

Expert: It’s whomever covers that particular field of expertise. Since we kicked Lou out, we need to do some reshuffling.

Media: Reshuffling?

Expert: We draw our fields out of a hat. Sherman covers Celebrity Match-ups and Israel. Albert is Internet Laws and (pause) Domestic Tranquility, I believe. Larry is on Consumer Goods and the Constitution. Lou had been Animal Rights and International Relations, but those will have to be reassigned, obviously.

Media: And how about you, Expert?

(Another Expert comes up, taps Expert on the back, and he leaves and is replaced by the new expert.)

Media: (confused) Uh...

Larry: I tapped him out. Were you asking a question?

Media: Yes.

Larry: Oh. Then, officially I believe it’s 44.

Media: Thank you, uh...

Larry: Larry.

Media: (surprised to get a name) Larry. But I’m not sure you heard the question.

Larry: I stand by my figures, and I think in time, you’ll see that I’m right.

Media: Well, we’re about to wrap up, here. Expert and I were just discussing his field of expertise.

Larry: Albert? He covers the Economy.

Media: I believe he said Albert covers Internet Laws and Domestic Tranquility.

Larry: Oh, Albert the woman does. Albert the man is on Economy.

Media: And there was one expert whose field we hadn’t yet named.

Larry: Beg your pardon?

Media: Well, we have Sherman, Albert the woman, Albert the man, and Larry. Lou was voted out of the herd. That leaves one extra expert back there.

Larry: Muscles. He’s just the mascot. Just a body, really. No brain to speak of.

Media: Yet he is included in this exclusive group, “The Experts?”

Larry: Well, we believe in being incredibly inclusive, and diverse.

Media: Larry, thank you so much for speaking with us today! Please thank your colleague whom you tapped out.

Larry: Albert the man.

Media: Yes, Albert the man. The Experts seem to be a model for us all of inclusivity, diversity, consensus building, and polite decorum. You truly inspire the trust of the American People!

Larry: Thank YOU.

Homeschooling for the Holidays

I love homeschooling, if that isn't already apparent. And at no time does it get better than during the holidays. To have your children around while you cuddle, watching the falling snow. Staying OUT of the hustle and bustle by shopping (yes, with kids in tow) when everyone else is in school. Being the first to break in the sledding hill because everyone else is in class. Being present for every magical moment, and even creating a few on purpose. Snuggling on dark, cold mornings. Sleeping under the Christmas tree on a "school night."

I love the stories told around the holidays. Historical. Personal. Cultural. After researching for my post on the benefits of stories, I can't wait to fill this season with more than ever.

Happy Holidays to you and yours! May the season delight you and your family as you create treasured memories together. Do share in the comments what you love about homeschooling for the holidays, favorite stories and traditions, or ways that you make this time meaningful for yourself or your kids, or both!

Much love, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more reasons to homeschool!
Steffanie