12 Down, 14 to go!

12 classes down and 14 to go! (plus 12 weeks of student teaching) I do like taking classes one at a time. I am scatterbrained enough, that this really helps me focus a bit. I’m almost at the half way mark. I will be all finished with my classes by Christmas of 2010 and finished with this degree thing around spring of 2011. I wish I were done now, but it is closer than it was.

So why did I choose University of Phoenix? Well the first reason is that I am so rural. The local community college does have a partnership with Northern Arizona University, so I could have done it through them. But for one, they didn’t like my transfer credits. The biggest reason I decided against them is that it is all evening classes. I decided that three years is just too long to be gone in the evenings with such little kids. Now I am glad that I decided against this route. They need a certain amount of students to begin a program. They didn’t have the numbers, so they won’t be starting another group until fall of 2010; I will be almost done by then.

So I started to look at online options. There are a few, but not as many as you would think. Most online Education programs are for Masters Degrees. There are actually very few online options for Elementary Education Bachelor’s Degrees. Of the 5 I found, in only 2 did I not have to deal with two different schools. Grand Canyon University and University of Phoenix looked to be my best options. University of Phoenix was slightly less expensive and provided me more flexibility if I needed to take some time off. They also took all of my Olympic College credits. So that is why I ended up there.

I am a full time student and the classes are 5 weeks long. This way I can check them off of my list relatively quickly. I finally finished my prerequisites and am in the Education part. The classroom is set up like a discussion board. In order to get credit for classroom participation there is a minimum number of postings required each week on assigned discussion topics; usually from the textbook readings. There are individual assignments and team assignments; usually these are either papers or powerpoint presentations. No typical tests. The team assignments have been the most frustrating for me. Now that I am in the Education core classes, I have found a great team. Since most of the education students take the same classes in the same order we should be able to stick together for a while.

I will be glad when I am done. I am putting a lot of my other interests on hold simply because I do not have the time. Mark Twain said, “I never allow school to interfere with my education.” In a lot of ways I feel that I am putting my education on hold so that I can get a degree. I know it will be worth it in the long run; it is just frustrating right now.

The Call To Brilliance

I wanted to share a book I just finished. “The Call To Brilliance” by Resa Steindel Brown. This is a true story about a small water plumbing company that sponsored a small private school for the children of its employees. These children were able to work on their studies in the mornings and spend the afternoons playing in the neighboring 20 acres of fruit orchard, building zip-lines across the ravine, turning a barn into a theater and so much more.

The author’s oldest son did not read fluently until he was 10. He entered college when he was 13. Her youngest son did not read until he was 11 and entered college at the age of 12. This became typical of all the students attending this school, yet none were ever considered exceptional. They simply allowed the children to explore, find their interests, and soar. They trusted that their children would learn. If trust is not involved teachers have to try to create interest, teach to all the levels of ability and learning styles. They then have to test to see if it worked. None of this artificial prodding was needed in this atmosphere. They trusted the children, and the children responded.

This is probably the most inspiring book on education I have read in a LONG Time. I will be adding it to my list of influential educational books. I received so many epiphanies while reading this book: epiphanies on educational theory, practical application, and vision. I am just blown away. Many of you know that for the last 2 decades I have talked about building a school. I was unsure of what it should look like. Now I know!! I started sharing some of it with Steven. He sat there and listened to me read for about an hour. Now he is excited.

My vision is clearer! My own confidence is greater! I do not think I have ever been so sure that this is what I want to do for me, for my children, and anyone else who wants this too. I see so much more potential than I have before! So siblings and any other interested persons please read this book. Would you like to join me? What do you think? I really want to know. I am looking at this as a practical thing not just theoretical; I want the pros and the cons.

Happy Birthday Steven

Steven is 10 years old. My how time flies!!!

Our local Blue Ridge school

The other day I was speaking with a friend who is debating whether or not to homeschool her children. Our local school district is going through some big changes. Arizona is having budget issues so the state has cut funding for schools. Blue Ridge now has “Open Enrollment” to increase the student numbers. At the same time they are letting teachers and aides go. They want more revenue, so they are increasing numbers, and class sizes. Each grade will increase in size about 5-8 students. That makes about 28, kindergartners to a class, and some of the Middle School classes will be at about 40. At the same time student test scores have gone down. Blue Ridge use to be the unchallenged leader as an A+ school in our area. The tests scores have been high for a long time. In the past two years the schools’ scores have dropped about 2 points on a 10 point scale. Now they are equivalent to the rival school Show Low and its other neighbors. I can’t imagine scores regaining their earlier high as the planned changes are implemented. This parent has been attending the planning meetings and is aware of what is happening. I am curious what will happen over the next couple of years; I would imagine that more families will be looking for other options.
This particular parent I was speaking with is not sold on homeschooling per se, but wants something different. She made several suggestions. 1. A coop, where parents get together and each teach a different subject. 2. A group of 5-10 families hiring their own teacher. 3. Starting a private school. I am open to all of these options. I would love to see them all given a try.
Maybe I will be ready, with my teaching degree in hand, just in time for the flood to alternative education.

pictures

pictures

We have Chickens

I have talked of getting chickens for years. Jonny has never given it much attention. I’m not quite sure what changed his mind. First he helped me build this great garden box with 150 square feet. Then, when our friends began brooding chicks, and were going to have extra, he decided to build a coop. For two weeks now, Jonny has been building a mobile chicken coop. He built it out of an old trampoline frame; pretty cleaver, I thought. This way we can have partial free range hens. Every couple of days we can move the coop to another part of the yard. We got our 6 hens yesterday. They are so pretty. The kids love them, and I am so excited. I will have to figure out how to put pictures up here.

Thank You Nancy Johnson

Eight and a half years ago, my high school best friend, Tiffany, was killed in a car accident. I still miss her. I have kept in touch with her parents, especially her mother Nancy. Nancy was so sweet and supportive of me and so tolerant and understanding of my wiggly boys. She seemed to appreciate my keeping in touch with her. She would always ask how I and my siblings were doing. Nancy and Tiffany have been on my mind a lot in the past week or so.
Tonight I received an email from Tiffany’s father, Art, letting me know that Nancy had died on May 24 after a fall. Tonight, he was going through her e-mail to see if there was anyone he hadn’t told yet and found me. I will miss her too. Maybe that is why I have been thinking about her; somehow I sensed that something was different.

The Family

This is our Winter 2008 family picture

What is Liber you ask?

Liber is not a word common to our modern language, but it used to be. To help explain it, I will share with you some excerpts from an article by Oliver DeMille. The full article is here http://newsletter.gw.edu/pre/august2000.pdf and definitely worth the read.

“Liber is the Latin word for tree or tree bark.” Tree bark was used for paper. The word Liber became “associated with those who could read, write, and engage in contract.” “In classical Greece and Rome, there were two classes of people: slaves and Liber.” “The fundamental difference between slaves and Liber was freedom. Liber is the rood word for Liberty, book, libro, and library.”
“Liberty is the state of being Liber. Liberty is not just the absence of bondage, but the fitness of the individual to act as a citizen.”
“Liber is also the root of the phrase ‘liberal arts’, such as in liberal arts colleges. Liberal arts are the knowledge and skills necessary to remain free.” “For the founders those liberal arts were the arts of reading the classics and thinking clearly and independently.” Not just the founding fathers, but the founding generation was Liber. “These regular farmers and housewives read and hotly debated the Federalist Papers in New York in 1789.”
“History has proven that Freedom is not free. It must be earned. And one of the ways the Founding generation earned it was in becoming Liber: getting the kind of education required to remain free. And by education they didn’t mean diplomas or degrees, but knowledge gained from reading the classics of history, law, government, and the arts.

I do not feel that I am yet Liber, but I aspire to be. So this is my journey; my small steps to become Liber. I want to be worthy of the freedom I inherited, and have the wisdom to keep it.

Here I go!!

Well, I have resisted the blogging thing for quite a while now. Besides, who would want to read about me? People might actually realize how crazy I really am (instead of just suspecting so). What is that quote? "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." (I've seen that attributed to both Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln.) Do I really want to spend the time? I am on the computer more than I want to be already! I don’t want to start something new only to neglect or abandon it. The privacy aspect also makes me a bit nervous.
But my dear friend Elizabeth is preparing to move away from me on her own marvelous adventure. And I find myself encouraging her to blog so that those of us she is leaving behind can still have her. Maybe it is time to take the plunge myself. After all, if friends and family do decide I am way too crazy, they don’t have to read it, right?
But I warn you, you will be entering into my sporadic mind. I am interested in just about everything, and I want to know it all right now. So try to keep up, and don’t get dizzy.