2. Paper hoarding
What is really in the Permanent Record?
Most home school parents have never been teachers in the Official School System. As such, a lot of folks who are new to the process can get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork home schooling can generate. After all, their experience with being elementary school students involved bringing the papers home, taking back the ones that needed to be signed or finished, then bringing some more home the next day.
But what happened to all of those finished math worksheets, grammar exercises, and science papers that came home every day?
I don't know either. And that's the point.
Early on in our home schooling career, we knew we should keep records. Attendance? Of course. Report cards? Sure -- both on the computer and paper back-ups.
Beyond that, we read that we should keep a "representative sample" of our kids' work. Year 1 that meant keeping one out of every 100 pieces of paper our kids generated in their Student Notebook. But even that was too much, so year 2 we decided that we would either keep it forever, or throw it away. And when the "Keep forever" folder got too thick, we pared it down again. This happened about once every six weeks.
Year 3 we got even stricter. One paper or project per subject per nine weeks. If you want to keep this one, you have to throw the other away. No exceptions. What was amazing was that a) we didn't feel any nostalgia at all for a random Wednesday in February's multiplication drills, b) the paper flow is much easier to manage, and c) now that we've gotten into the habit of throwing school papers away, it's much easier to get rid of other stuff we don't need anymore.
Now to be fair, we haven't had any kids apply to college yet, so we haven't seen the full impact of throwing away all of those 3rd Grade Easy Grammar assignments. But I for one am willing to take the chance that it won't come up on a daughter's application to Vanderbilt.
The trash can is your friend. And he's hungry. Feed him well, and everybody's life will be happier.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Things That Ought Not Be -- Part 1
Now that a new school year is starting, it's time to get back into blogging mode. Now this blog is primarily for dads, but moms are occasionally welcome to listen in. Mostly it's me running my mouth, or posting notes for classes I teach. This fall it'll be Creative Writing, Story of the World Part 3, SAT/ACT prep, and Microeconomics.
But before we get to what is and what will be, I feel compelled to mention some things that exist, but shouldn't.
1. Home school scrapbooks. Memo to home school mom -- You have enough to do. Between teaching, planning lessons, grading papers, and -- especially is you have high school kids -- learning the stuff you have to turn around and teach, just the academic stuff is a 20+-hour per week job by itself. And that's not including all the activities kids tend to be involved in that demand Mom's time behind the wheel of a car. Then throw in your local home school group (and yes, you need them and they need you), and pretty soon a schedule gets so full it will explode.
Yet in many home schooling magazines, I see articles about scrap booking.
Seriously.
Stop it. Just stop it. If you're going to survive as a home school parent -- let alone thrive -- the first and most important thing you have to know is your own limits. Know what you can do, do what needs to be done, then start telling things no.
I know you can do this. Good home school moms tell their kids "No" all the time. And you know what to do when they get all sad-faced at you.
Now is the time to take what you've learned and use it on the sad-faced person in the mirror.
Be as organized as you need to be to stay sane. Keep as many records as you need to keep so that those who need to look at them later can see what you've done. If you want to include scrapbook pages as part of your kids' "make your own yearbook" assignment, go for it.
But don't get so caught up in preserving memories that you lose the capacity to make new ones.
Get some rest, Mom. You've earned it.
But before we get to what is and what will be, I feel compelled to mention some things that exist, but shouldn't.
1. Home school scrapbooks. Memo to home school mom -- You have enough to do. Between teaching, planning lessons, grading papers, and -- especially is you have high school kids -- learning the stuff you have to turn around and teach, just the academic stuff is a 20+-hour per week job by itself. And that's not including all the activities kids tend to be involved in that demand Mom's time behind the wheel of a car. Then throw in your local home school group (and yes, you need them and they need you), and pretty soon a schedule gets so full it will explode.
Yet in many home schooling magazines, I see articles about scrap booking.
Seriously.
Stop it. Just stop it. If you're going to survive as a home school parent -- let alone thrive -- the first and most important thing you have to know is your own limits. Know what you can do, do what needs to be done, then start telling things no.
I know you can do this. Good home school moms tell their kids "No" all the time. And you know what to do when they get all sad-faced at you.
Now is the time to take what you've learned and use it on the sad-faced person in the mirror.
Be as organized as you need to be to stay sane. Keep as many records as you need to keep so that those who need to look at them later can see what you've done. If you want to include scrapbook pages as part of your kids' "make your own yearbook" assignment, go for it.
But don't get so caught up in preserving memories that you lose the capacity to make new ones.
Get some rest, Mom. You've earned it.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Commencement Address -- LCHE, 2011
Here is the speech I made at the LCHE Graduation exercises last Friday night. Enjoy . . .
*******
Lewis & Clark University theater professor Stephen Weeks once said, “Life should be lived so as to generate the maximum number of really interesting anecdotes.”
So when Donna Baker asked me to speak tonight, I made a list of possible stories I could tell that would produce useful advice for graduates.
Over the last few weeks, I've written this speech nine times, each draft telling a different story, and offering a different piece of advice.
I wanted to tell you about Mr. Nick, a man who knows something about cultivating highly-successful weirdos having raised one of his own, and the permission he gave me to be my own self, as gloriously strange as that might be.
I wanted to tell you about Erwin Schrodinger, Gordon Hayward, and the intersection of theoretical physics, a basketball championship, and the contentment that only comes from living in the moment.
I wanted to tell you the love story of Troy and Genevive, and how, just when you think you understand all the consequences of your actions, you're wrong.
I wanted to tell you about the life lesson I learned watching Erica watch basketball.
I wanted to tell you about the Eagles, and the greatest victory in my soccer coaching career – a 3-3 tie against a team that didn't win a single game all season.
I wanted to tell you about Fred Merkle, and how the most famous on-field mistake in baseball history led a future teammate to set a record that would stand for over 50 years.
I wanted to tell you about Sven and Pastor Dave, Vijay and Robert, and how much better it is to have a hand in somebody else's dream coming true even than realizing a dream of your own.
I wanted to tell you about my second-favorite character in the Bible: Malkijah son of Recab, the goldsmith from the book of Nehemiah who most beautiful, longest-lasting creation was a sewage dump, and how he was OK with being remembered for that and nothing else.
I wanted to tell you my own story, about addiction and recovery, death and resurrection, bubbles and roller coasters, and trying to do better today than yesterday.
And I'd love to be able to deliver all nine speeches. But I won't, for two reasons. One, Kathleen West told me I should only be up here for ten minutes, and if I go over, all she has to do is press a button and I disappear through the floor.
But the other reason is that somehow, every interesting anecdote in my life and all of my favorite stories in history end up bringing me back to the same place, to my favorite character in the Bible. We never know his name, and he's completely imaginary, yet his story resonates with me in some powerful ways.
The story is found in Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14:
14For (the kingdom of heaven) is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
15"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
16"Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
17"In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
18"But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19"Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
20"The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.'
21"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
22"Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.'
23"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
24"And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
25'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'
26"But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
27'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
28'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
29"For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
30"Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:14-30, NASB)
My favorite character in the whole Bible is the guy in the middle. Oftentimes when we think of success and failure, we pay most of our attention to the extremes. The billionaire business mogul, the once-in-a-generation athlete, the TV host/magazine publisher/human brand name, and we run ourselves ragged trying to live up to that standard of success.
Or, we look at the bottom end of society – the criminal, the self-destroyer, the mind ravaged by drugs and the body ravaged by what it takes to get them – and wonder what we have to do to make sure we, and especially our kids, don't end up like that.
But for all of the attention we pay to the extremes, it is my belief that most of us live somewhere in between mind-boggling success and abject failure. And so for us, the telling example of this parable is not the super-success or the super-failure, but the two-talent man in the middle.
This is my favorite character in the entire Bible. Think about it. He starts with only the slightest head-start over the person who ends up thrown out. By the end of the parable he hasn't yet caught up to where the five-talent servant started. Yet when the Master comes to reward His servants, what matters is not what the two-talent man was able to give back to his Master, but the fact that he did the best he could with what he had.
And as I wrote those nine speeches over the last few weeks, I always ended up back at this central idea: success in life is about making the most of the opportunity. The first step in becoming a failure is to hide from the world. But the great stories are always about people who saw the world as it is and engaged it. Success in life happens when we're willing to risk getting hurt.
And sometimes hurt happens. Gordon Hayward missed the shot that would have given Butler the national championship. Mr. Nick died the night my Jeopardy show aired; I'll never know whether he saw it or not. For every dream I've had a hand in seeing come true, I know of ten that are still waiting.
I miss Amanda, too.
As home school parents, part of our motivation might be to protect our kids from the big bad world. And there's no denying that the world is big, and the evil in it is dangerous.
But to the graduates tonight, I want to say this – Don't let the potential for getting hurt lead you to hide inside a bubble. Don't bury your talent. Even if you don't become the superstar, do the best you can with what you've been given.
I can't wait to hear the stories you'll be able to tell.
*******
Lewis & Clark University theater professor Stephen Weeks once said, “Life should be lived so as to generate the maximum number of really interesting anecdotes.”
So when Donna Baker asked me to speak tonight, I made a list of possible stories I could tell that would produce useful advice for graduates.
Over the last few weeks, I've written this speech nine times, each draft telling a different story, and offering a different piece of advice.
I wanted to tell you about Mr. Nick, a man who knows something about cultivating highly-successful weirdos having raised one of his own, and the permission he gave me to be my own self, as gloriously strange as that might be.
I wanted to tell you about Erwin Schrodinger, Gordon Hayward, and the intersection of theoretical physics, a basketball championship, and the contentment that only comes from living in the moment.
I wanted to tell you the love story of Troy and Genevive, and how, just when you think you understand all the consequences of your actions, you're wrong.
I wanted to tell you about the life lesson I learned watching Erica watch basketball.
I wanted to tell you about the Eagles, and the greatest victory in my soccer coaching career – a 3-3 tie against a team that didn't win a single game all season.
I wanted to tell you about Fred Merkle, and how the most famous on-field mistake in baseball history led a future teammate to set a record that would stand for over 50 years.
I wanted to tell you about Sven and Pastor Dave, Vijay and Robert, and how much better it is to have a hand in somebody else's dream coming true even than realizing a dream of your own.
I wanted to tell you about my second-favorite character in the Bible: Malkijah son of Recab, the goldsmith from the book of Nehemiah who most beautiful, longest-lasting creation was a sewage dump, and how he was OK with being remembered for that and nothing else.
I wanted to tell you my own story, about addiction and recovery, death and resurrection, bubbles and roller coasters, and trying to do better today than yesterday.
And I'd love to be able to deliver all nine speeches. But I won't, for two reasons. One, Kathleen West told me I should only be up here for ten minutes, and if I go over, all she has to do is press a button and I disappear through the floor.
But the other reason is that somehow, every interesting anecdote in my life and all of my favorite stories in history end up bringing me back to the same place, to my favorite character in the Bible. We never know his name, and he's completely imaginary, yet his story resonates with me in some powerful ways.
The story is found in Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14:
14For (the kingdom of heaven) is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
15"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.
16"Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
17"In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
18"But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19"Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
20"The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.'
21"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
22"Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.'
23"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
24"And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
25'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'
26"But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
27'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
28'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
29"For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
30"Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:14-30, NASB)
My favorite character in the whole Bible is the guy in the middle. Oftentimes when we think of success and failure, we pay most of our attention to the extremes. The billionaire business mogul, the once-in-a-generation athlete, the TV host/magazine publisher/human brand name, and we run ourselves ragged trying to live up to that standard of success.
Or, we look at the bottom end of society – the criminal, the self-destroyer, the mind ravaged by drugs and the body ravaged by what it takes to get them – and wonder what we have to do to make sure we, and especially our kids, don't end up like that.
But for all of the attention we pay to the extremes, it is my belief that most of us live somewhere in between mind-boggling success and abject failure. And so for us, the telling example of this parable is not the super-success or the super-failure, but the two-talent man in the middle.
This is my favorite character in the entire Bible. Think about it. He starts with only the slightest head-start over the person who ends up thrown out. By the end of the parable he hasn't yet caught up to where the five-talent servant started. Yet when the Master comes to reward His servants, what matters is not what the two-talent man was able to give back to his Master, but the fact that he did the best he could with what he had.
And as I wrote those nine speeches over the last few weeks, I always ended up back at this central idea: success in life is about making the most of the opportunity. The first step in becoming a failure is to hide from the world. But the great stories are always about people who saw the world as it is and engaged it. Success in life happens when we're willing to risk getting hurt.
And sometimes hurt happens. Gordon Hayward missed the shot that would have given Butler the national championship. Mr. Nick died the night my Jeopardy show aired; I'll never know whether he saw it or not. For every dream I've had a hand in seeing come true, I know of ten that are still waiting.
I miss Amanda, too.
As home school parents, part of our motivation might be to protect our kids from the big bad world. And there's no denying that the world is big, and the evil in it is dangerous.
But to the graduates tonight, I want to say this – Don't let the potential for getting hurt lead you to hide inside a bubble. Don't bury your talent. Even if you don't become the superstar, do the best you can with what you've been given.
I can't wait to hear the stories you'll be able to tell.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Discussion Questions about the Constitution
1. What is something about the Constitution that needs changing? How would you change it so that your change solves a problem, but doesn't another set of problems that are worse than the one you're trying to fix?
2. The first amendment gives Americans the right to ask the government to change something it's doing. What is the best way for a citizen to do that -- through his own representative(s), through the Presidency/Executive branch, or in federal court?
3. How has the "balance of power" between federal government, states, and individual citizens been tested in history? Does one of these power bases usually win?
2. The first amendment gives Americans the right to ask the government to change something it's doing. What is the best way for a citizen to do that -- through his own representative(s), through the Presidency/Executive branch, or in federal court?
3. How has the "balance of power" between federal government, states, and individual citizens been tested in history? Does one of these power bases usually win?
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Constitution -- Amendments
U. S. CONSTITUTION
First Ten Amendments: Bill of Rights
1 – Religious neutrality, free speech, press, assembly, petition
2 – Guns
3 – No forcible housing of soldiers
4 – Search & seizure
5 – Due Process (Miranda rights, eminent domain)
6 – Fair trials in criminal courts
7 – Rules for civil cases
8 – Standardized punishments
9 & 10 – Everything not covered
13-15 – Civil War Amendments
13 – Slavery banned
14 – Citizenship defined, representation guaranteed, consequences for rebels and states
15 – Voting rights guaranteed
RIGHTS
18 – Prohibition
19 – Women's right to vote
21 – Prohibition repealed
24 – No poll taxes
26 – 18-year-olds get to vote
PROCEDURAL AMENDMENTS
11 – Jurisdiction of federal courts
12 – President and VP elected separately
16 – Income tax legalized
17 – Direct election of senators
20 – Presidential terms & succession
22 – Presidential term limits
23 – D.C. Electors
25 – Temporary Presidential Succession
27 – No Congressional pay raises
First Ten Amendments: Bill of Rights
1 – Religious neutrality, free speech, press, assembly, petition
2 – Guns
3 – No forcible housing of soldiers
4 – Search & seizure
5 – Due Process (Miranda rights, eminent domain)
6 – Fair trials in criminal courts
7 – Rules for civil cases
8 – Standardized punishments
9 & 10 – Everything not covered
13-15 – Civil War Amendments
13 – Slavery banned
14 – Citizenship defined, representation guaranteed, consequences for rebels and states
15 – Voting rights guaranteed
RIGHTS
18 – Prohibition
19 – Women's right to vote
21 – Prohibition repealed
24 – No poll taxes
26 – 18-year-olds get to vote
PROCEDURAL AMENDMENTS
11 – Jurisdiction of federal courts
12 – President and VP elected separately
16 – Income tax legalized
17 – Direct election of senators
20 – Presidential terms & succession
22 – Presidential term limits
23 – D.C. Electors
25 – Temporary Presidential Succession
27 – No Congressional pay raises
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Constitution, Part 2
Article 2 – The President
Minumum 35 years old
Natural-born citizen
Replaced by Vice President if needed
Elected by Electoral College
President – Powers & Duties
Command the military
Assign executive duties to secretaries
Give pardons for federal crimes
Execute laws passed by Congress
With Senate consent:
Make treaties (requires 2/3)
Appoint officers and judges
Can be removed from office by Congressional impeachment process
Article 3 – The Court System
Judges & Justices nominated by President, approved by Senate
Lifetime appointments with no salary reductions, provided “good behavior.”
With very few exceptions, hears cases on appeal.
Criminal trials must be by jury
Criminal trials must happen in the same state as the crime. Territorial crimes and federal crimes tried where Congress puts the court.
No punishing kids for parents' crimes.
“Checks & Balances” – Examples:
Congress gets to make laws, but President has to approve and Supreme Court can review.
A federal court can strike down any law it wants, but has no say over who gets to be a judge, or even how many judges there will be.
President makes foreign policy (wars, treaties, etc.), but Congress has to approve.
Article 4 – Relationship Between States
States must recognize other states' arrangements
Federal rights carry over state to state
States can't harbor other states' fugitives
No carving new states out of old states' territory without their permission and that of Congress.
Congress decides what makes a new state, but they must be a republic
Article 5 – Changing the Constitution
2/3 of both houses of Congress propose an amendment
3/4 of states ratify
Article 6 – Supremacy
The Constitution is the final word. If you want to be a state, you live with what it says until you can generate enough support to change it.
Everybody who gets a job under the Constitution must take an oath to work under its jurisdiction.
Nobody can be denied a properly-appointed Constitutional office because of religion.
Article 7 – Ratification
When 9 of 13 states ratify, the Constitution officially replaces the Articles of Confederation.
Minumum 35 years old
Natural-born citizen
Replaced by Vice President if needed
Elected by Electoral College
President – Powers & Duties
Command the military
Assign executive duties to secretaries
Give pardons for federal crimes
Execute laws passed by Congress
With Senate consent:
Make treaties (requires 2/3)
Appoint officers and judges
Can be removed from office by Congressional impeachment process
Article 3 – The Court System
Judges & Justices nominated by President, approved by Senate
Lifetime appointments with no salary reductions, provided “good behavior.”
With very few exceptions, hears cases on appeal.
Criminal trials must be by jury
Criminal trials must happen in the same state as the crime. Territorial crimes and federal crimes tried where Congress puts the court.
No punishing kids for parents' crimes.
“Checks & Balances” – Examples:
Congress gets to make laws, but President has to approve and Supreme Court can review.
A federal court can strike down any law it wants, but has no say over who gets to be a judge, or even how many judges there will be.
President makes foreign policy (wars, treaties, etc.), but Congress has to approve.
Article 4 – Relationship Between States
States must recognize other states' arrangements
Federal rights carry over state to state
States can't harbor other states' fugitives
No carving new states out of old states' territory without their permission and that of Congress.
Congress decides what makes a new state, but they must be a republic
Article 5 – Changing the Constitution
2/3 of both houses of Congress propose an amendment
3/4 of states ratify
Article 6 – Supremacy
The Constitution is the final word. If you want to be a state, you live with what it says until you can generate enough support to change it.
Everybody who gets a job under the Constitution must take an oath to work under its jurisdiction.
Nobody can be denied a properly-appointed Constitutional office because of religion.
Article 7 – Ratification
When 9 of 13 states ratify, the Constitution officially replaces the Articles of Confederation.
Constitution Notes
U. S. CONSTITUTION
Preamble – Tells why the Constitution was written
Articles (7) – Set up the structure of the government
Amendments (27) – Address issues that have come up as people have lived under the Constitution
PREAMBLE
Solve problems with the Articles of Confederation:
“Every state for itself.”
Different “inalienable rights” in different places
Basic foreign policy functions
ARTICLE 1 -- LEGISTLATURE
House of Representatives – One man, one vote
Senate – Equal representation for each state
Job: Write and pass laws.
Generally, majority rules with Presidential approval, 2/3 to override veto.
Powers of Congress:
Tax
Borrow Money
Spend Money
Declare war
Remove criminals from office
Regulate commerce between states (money, post offices, patents, courts, etc.)
Running the capital
Whatever else they decide they need to do.
Congress can't:
Change laws after the fact
Make something illegal only for certain people
Tax exports
Suspend the right to be seen in court
Spend money without accounting for it
Grant titles of nobility
Because there is now a Congress, states can't:
Declare war
Enter into separate treaties with foreign countries
Print their own currency
Tax imports separately
Tax imports from other states
Do anything Congress can't do either
Preamble – Tells why the Constitution was written
Articles (7) – Set up the structure of the government
Amendments (27) – Address issues that have come up as people have lived under the Constitution
PREAMBLE
Solve problems with the Articles of Confederation:
“Every state for itself.”
Different “inalienable rights” in different places
Basic foreign policy functions
ARTICLE 1 -- LEGISTLATURE
House of Representatives – One man, one vote
Senate – Equal representation for each state
Job: Write and pass laws.
Generally, majority rules with Presidential approval, 2/3 to override veto.
Powers of Congress:
Tax
Borrow Money
Spend Money
Declare war
Remove criminals from office
Regulate commerce between states (money, post offices, patents, courts, etc.)
Running the capital
Whatever else they decide they need to do.
Congress can't:
Change laws after the fact
Make something illegal only for certain people
Tax exports
Suspend the right to be seen in court
Spend money without accounting for it
Grant titles of nobility
Because there is now a Congress, states can't:
Declare war
Enter into separate treaties with foreign countries
Print their own currency
Tax imports separately
Tax imports from other states
Do anything Congress can't do either
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