Nothing specific here just a musing on my part. It is amazing to me the amount of debate some articles can induce. Sometimes what seems to be a rather benign article is the one that incites the most commenting. I wonder why that is? Maybe the article seems a bit benign to me because it is about an every day common thing which would have the most reach-ability to the largest number of people.
Something about kids would resonate with a lot more people than something political as there are more parents than people with an in depth knowledge of most politics. I'm not saying people aren't interested in politics just not intimately familiar with them as they are with parenting.
I get a kick out of reading a lot of comments on articles just because people fascinate me. The way they respond on the Internet with some resemblance of anonymity has to differ for most folks from their every day one-to-one response. At least I hope so for some folks. Some end up being not very nice when they can hide behind their computer. I find it rather sad that people feel the need to do that. I'd be willing to bet they aren't very happy.
So anyway, that is just my random mind wandering during our family quiet time. It has been snowy and cold here which makes it perfect for working on knitting projects inside. Along with a big ol' inside cleaning day. It has been a while since we did a big clean and with Christmas coming everyone needs to sort and purge as we tend to accumulate stuff. It doesn't seem to matter how hard we try not to, it accumulates. So tomorrow will be a Goodwill trip.
Christmas gathering and Thanksgiving gathering is a perfect motivator to do the cleaning I avoid most of the time. I love a clean house. I just really dislike getting it there.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Thankful for Nebraska
Have I mentioned how much I love that we moved to Nebraska? No? My bad. I know when we first moved here I complained about our rental a lot. It was a horrible place to live. But, it does not change the fact that we have truly felt accepted by this community. It strangely feels like we've come home. Odd since neither of us has family here or any other tie prior to moving here.
So what are some things I like about here? People are so stinking nice. Instead of, "Why did you move here?" we get, "Welcome to our community." We have easily found babysitters for the kids. And yes, that was correct. Sitters, plural. How cool is that? We have found people to occasionally watch the animals too. The kids have friends and play dates on a somewhat regular basis. I feel very much a part of the farmer's market community and Tom is very much a part of the college community.
Although we enjoyed living in Missoula, we just never did feel quite settled there. We do here. We don't have to hurry, we don't have to be pushed, we can just be. It is nice and quiet once you are out of town too. The changing landscape of the farms tickle me to no end. I love the ebb and flow of watching the land go from Winter brown, to black as they till, and then move into the green and lastly the gold of Fall harvest.
Sure there are things we don't particularly care for around here. Crop dusting, the dust, and roads that turn to gumbo when they get wet and sometimes make it impossible to leave the house. We don't like that we live far from family either. These are really all small prices to pay to truly enjoy where you live though. So all-in-all I am very thankful we moved to our little corner of Nebraska. Who would have thought it? Not I.
So what are some things I like about here? People are so stinking nice. Instead of, "Why did you move here?" we get, "Welcome to our community." We have easily found babysitters for the kids. And yes, that was correct. Sitters, plural. How cool is that? We have found people to occasionally watch the animals too. The kids have friends and play dates on a somewhat regular basis. I feel very much a part of the farmer's market community and Tom is very much a part of the college community.
Although we enjoyed living in Missoula, we just never did feel quite settled there. We do here. We don't have to hurry, we don't have to be pushed, we can just be. It is nice and quiet once you are out of town too. The changing landscape of the farms tickle me to no end. I love the ebb and flow of watching the land go from Winter brown, to black as they till, and then move into the green and lastly the gold of Fall harvest.
Sure there are things we don't particularly care for around here. Crop dusting, the dust, and roads that turn to gumbo when they get wet and sometimes make it impossible to leave the house. We don't like that we live far from family either. These are really all small prices to pay to truly enjoy where you live though. So all-in-all I am very thankful we moved to our little corner of Nebraska. Who would have thought it? Not I.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Morning
Fridays are my market prep days. They can get a little crazy. You would think by now I would have it streamlined. I do to an extent but I am forever amazed at how different each market is. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting test. Tom is out of town for work so the kids will be joining me at market. Market is also during nap time. Hmmm. How big of a glutton for punishment am I? I figure this will be a good test of doing summer market with Bear. He has been talking about wanting to sell vegetables. This is as good of a time as any I suppose. I'll just have to make sure I have the entertainment goodies for little sister. New crayons and new coloring book should do the trick. I plan on keeping Bear busy helping me out at our stall.
So back to prepping. Because of having the kids I need to be extra prepared. No running back to the truck for a second. At least with Bear there and since we're in the greenhouse, which means no vehicle traffic, I can send him across the greenhouse to buy us lunch. One couple there makes the best pulled pork sandwiches. Such wonderful smoky goodness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I love that Bear is getting old enough to help out with stuff like this. He is turning into such a nice young man.
Which reminds me. He gets to be part of the "lunch bunch" today at school. This means he gets to have lunch with his teacher and aide because he had what they call a "groovy day" at school. Basically he was really good and they reward that. He is pretty excited to be part of the lunch bunch. The best was that it was Monday and he told me on the way to school that he was going to get a groovy day. I said, "Uh-huh," and then didn't think anything about it until he got home full of the news that he had gotten his groovy day. On the flip side though then he had a rough day yesterday. When I picked him up first thing he did was to apologize for not having a good day. He had apparently gotten in trouble a couple of times. He was super tired since he had gotten up at 5 a.m. for some reason. When he gets that tired he cannot behave. Tom and I say his brain has fallen out because he acts like there is nothing between those cute little ears of his. We know better, but when he is so tired nothing connects.
Well, I suppose I should actually do some of my prep work for market instead of procrastinating. I have several new yarns to set and a ton of photos I need to upload to the computer and take a look at. It has been ages since I did. Long enough it will almost be like getting back that envelope of photos from the developer because I don't remember what pictures I took.
So back to prepping. Because of having the kids I need to be extra prepared. No running back to the truck for a second. At least with Bear there and since we're in the greenhouse, which means no vehicle traffic, I can send him across the greenhouse to buy us lunch. One couple there makes the best pulled pork sandwiches. Such wonderful smoky goodness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I love that Bear is getting old enough to help out with stuff like this. He is turning into such a nice young man.
Which reminds me. He gets to be part of the "lunch bunch" today at school. This means he gets to have lunch with his teacher and aide because he had what they call a "groovy day" at school. Basically he was really good and they reward that. He is pretty excited to be part of the lunch bunch. The best was that it was Monday and he told me on the way to school that he was going to get a groovy day. I said, "Uh-huh," and then didn't think anything about it until he got home full of the news that he had gotten his groovy day. On the flip side though then he had a rough day yesterday. When I picked him up first thing he did was to apologize for not having a good day. He had apparently gotten in trouble a couple of times. He was super tired since he had gotten up at 5 a.m. for some reason. When he gets that tired he cannot behave. Tom and I say his brain has fallen out because he acts like there is nothing between those cute little ears of his. We know better, but when he is so tired nothing connects.
Well, I suppose I should actually do some of my prep work for market instead of procrastinating. I have several new yarns to set and a ton of photos I need to upload to the computer and take a look at. It has been ages since I did. Long enough it will almost be like getting back that envelope of photos from the developer because I don't remember what pictures I took.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Public School and Home School
As Bear gets further along in school and I meet more and more people who home school it is something that I'm more and more interested in finding more information on. I'm finding too that I quite enjoy Bear being in school. It gives Mia and I some time by ourselves that we have never had before. That being said, I can see the plus and minus side of things to both situations.
As I do not have any major issues with public school I don't see any reason to go crazy and pull Bear out. Now, I do see the value in having some educational things happen here at home. Especially during the summer. In this way I think we can get the benefits of both without having so much work for Mom.
The benefits of public school as I see them: It teaches you to work with a large group of people every single day. It teaches you to work for a boss/teacher. Even if you don't care for that person. You learn the finer points of navigating many personalities at all social levels. It teaches you how to deal with things you don't necessarily want to do. It expands your social network to people you may never come into contact with otherwise. I think this is one of the biggest benefits in my mind. You can teach all the other stuff with home school as well but I think coming into contact with people your parents would never introduce you to is a good life lesson. We as parents hope to teach our children how to maintain their own integrity and deal with all people with grace and dignity. The true test of this, in my mind, is to deal with people that have different back grounds, social status, races, religions, creeds, ability levels, etc.
The draw backs to public school: As a parent you lose a lot of control over what your child consumes. Both physically at lunch, socially in interacting with kids and teachers, and visually with all the paraphernalia that goes with being in school. Not to mention you may not always agree with a teaching style or content. There are also the social drawbacks and pressures that go along with being in school.
The benefits to home school: You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education. Both social and book. You don't have to deal with "that" teacher/administrator. You don't have to worry about how to get your kid to school. Your kid can set the pace of learning. You can mold the curriculum to your kid and their learning style.
The draw backs to home school: You never get a break. You do the work of the teacher on top of your job as a parent. Your child is sheltered from the world socially. I know this is up for debate but on the whole that I have seen this holds true whatever the reasoning behind it. You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education. Yes, both a benefit and a draw back. What benefits a parent doesn't always benefit the child.
There are lots more detailed things I could get into both on public and home school. I see the appeal of both. If we were further from the school I would probably seriously consider home school. As it is I think we'll do a mix. My kids will stick with traditional public school. I will supplement that schooling with home education in the form of raising animals, a garden, reading voraciously, and helping them to explore whatever interests them at the time.
Right now Bear seems very interested in having some sort of business venture with me doing the farmer's market. We'll test the waters with this a little this weekend. I'm going to have him join me and assist at market. He is talking about wanting to grow some vegetables for a market stand. We have an understanding. He'll do the work of helping me plant, water, and weed while I front him the seed, the garden space, and a market table. The sale of his vegetables will go to help pay for seeds and market but he will get to keep the majority of the profit. I think I will require that he save a small portion of it but the rest he may take to purchase what he likes.
We shall see how this goes. You never know. I figure we're better off testing it with the vegetables. He's also talked about wanting to do something with dairy goats too. I think we'll start him small and see how his attention holds. It will be fun to see how this develops.
Disclaimer: I do not mean to step on any one's toes regarding their chosen method of education. I feel like the method doesn't matter as much as actually getting an education. I still love the quote (and I'm not sure who said it, although I think it has been attributed to Mark Twain) "Don't let your schoolin' get in the way of your education," or something to that effect. My goal with my kids is to keep that desire to learn throughout their life.
As I do not have any major issues with public school I don't see any reason to go crazy and pull Bear out. Now, I do see the value in having some educational things happen here at home. Especially during the summer. In this way I think we can get the benefits of both without having so much work for Mom.
The benefits of public school as I see them: It teaches you to work with a large group of people every single day. It teaches you to work for a boss/teacher. Even if you don't care for that person. You learn the finer points of navigating many personalities at all social levels. It teaches you how to deal with things you don't necessarily want to do. It expands your social network to people you may never come into contact with otherwise. I think this is one of the biggest benefits in my mind. You can teach all the other stuff with home school as well but I think coming into contact with people your parents would never introduce you to is a good life lesson. We as parents hope to teach our children how to maintain their own integrity and deal with all people with grace and dignity. The true test of this, in my mind, is to deal with people that have different back grounds, social status, races, religions, creeds, ability levels, etc.
The draw backs to public school: As a parent you lose a lot of control over what your child consumes. Both physically at lunch, socially in interacting with kids and teachers, and visually with all the paraphernalia that goes with being in school. Not to mention you may not always agree with a teaching style or content. There are also the social drawbacks and pressures that go along with being in school.
The benefits to home school: You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education. Both social and book. You don't have to deal with "that" teacher/administrator. You don't have to worry about how to get your kid to school. Your kid can set the pace of learning. You can mold the curriculum to your kid and their learning style.
The draw backs to home school: You never get a break. You do the work of the teacher on top of your job as a parent. Your child is sheltered from the world socially. I know this is up for debate but on the whole that I have seen this holds true whatever the reasoning behind it. You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education. Yes, both a benefit and a draw back. What benefits a parent doesn't always benefit the child.
There are lots more detailed things I could get into both on public and home school. I see the appeal of both. If we were further from the school I would probably seriously consider home school. As it is I think we'll do a mix. My kids will stick with traditional public school. I will supplement that schooling with home education in the form of raising animals, a garden, reading voraciously, and helping them to explore whatever interests them at the time.
Right now Bear seems very interested in having some sort of business venture with me doing the farmer's market. We'll test the waters with this a little this weekend. I'm going to have him join me and assist at market. He is talking about wanting to grow some vegetables for a market stand. We have an understanding. He'll do the work of helping me plant, water, and weed while I front him the seed, the garden space, and a market table. The sale of his vegetables will go to help pay for seeds and market but he will get to keep the majority of the profit. I think I will require that he save a small portion of it but the rest he may take to purchase what he likes.
We shall see how this goes. You never know. I figure we're better off testing it with the vegetables. He's also talked about wanting to do something with dairy goats too. I think we'll start him small and see how his attention holds. It will be fun to see how this develops.
Disclaimer: I do not mean to step on any one's toes regarding their chosen method of education. I feel like the method doesn't matter as much as actually getting an education. I still love the quote (and I'm not sure who said it, although I think it has been attributed to Mark Twain) "Don't let your schoolin' get in the way of your education," or something to that effect. My goal with my kids is to keep that desire to learn throughout their life.
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