Family Fun Watching the Debate

Ok, Ralphie got me up early (5:30) so I figured I would make my Monday morning run to the grocery store really early and beat the crowds!

(...Or sit here, drink coffee, and make a blog post..) Sigh. Well, life is to be lived, right?

Some families enjoy going to the movies. Others, a rousing game of Monopoly. Us, we watch the republican debates on T.V.

That is the only thing I can yell upstairs to the boys that is coming on TV and they will drop everything and come sit glued to the TV for 2 hours for. (wow, bad grammar, more coffee)

I know most of you are sick of the election and is still a year away. My dh only watched the debate in passing, saying, he is going to vote Republican anyway, so it doesn't matter that much. I begged to differ... these debates seem the best way to get to know these men. The best fast way. And I was very, very happy with how Fox ran the debate last night.

It is a limited format of course. So the goal is to get as much info out of them as you can in an organized fashion and I think Brit Hume and crew did an excellent job.

The best part of the debate, so good that I actually sent an email to Fox telling them!-- was before it even started.

They have a pollster, Frank Luntz, who organized a 'focus group' of 'regular people', about 25 of them. He had them all in a room and asked them questions about what they wanted from this debate, from these hopefuls.

What they said in those few minutes was more articulate, intelligent, honest and to the point than any rhetoric I have heard from the candidates and media pundits to date. In a nutshell:

We want:
leadership
vision
'stand up' for the Republican party and find our mission
honesty
Be like Reagan- have clear vision, clear goals, know where you are going and people (whether they agree with you or not) will know where you stand.

I could have cheered! and he next asked about Sen. Hillary. He had to, it turns out this woman is defining the 2008 elections in both parties. Dems candidate have to beat Mrs. Bill Clinton for the nomination. Reps have to beat her in the election- or so it is looking that way.

When he asked the focus group about her, you could see how much they were disturbed at the prospect of her being elected. One person said she is a socialist. Socialist? How many people here think she is a socialist, Frank asked excitedly.

Most every hand shot up.

There it is... they are honest enough to say this something we know is true but the media is afraid to admit... these people made honest sense and it was refreshing.

(Now if you are reading this and a socialist and are happy with Hillary, that is your right. But we need to think if socialism is really where we want our country to go. Seriously think about it. Read history... see where past countries have gone with socialism. This is real. And those are the roots of Hillary's philosophies.)

Wonderful these people could say what the media won't!

The debate itself, lots of highlights and side topics. We talked about Woodstock and how Senator McCain said he didn't make the concert because he was 'tied up' at the time.... :)--- Mitt Romney's new cool hair style, Rudy's attempt to cozy up to the 'values voters', Ron Paul's Libertarian views and Huckabee's no apologies supporting LIFE in all forms. What a treasure of topics!

The candidates made a good showing (imo) especially compared to past debates and appearances. No, I am not excited about all the rhetoric and campaign stuff. but this is our country. There is an election coming, warts and all. I love our two party system. Everyone has a right to be heard. Debates like these are giving us a chance to find out (in an imperfect fashion) about these imperfect men running.

We need a strong two party system and since the dems have all of the media (except talk radio) on their side the Republicans must get strong, fearless and decide what they believe, get the word out so we actually have a choice.

Last night was a good first step, plus we had lots of family conversation over our Chicken Marsala and pasta.

Fox by far and away does the best job with debates (makes it about the candidates, not the moderators)- and the next debate is in early December if you want to tune in. You can also email in questions for the candidates.. something we meant to do but never got around to.

Our Days...

Well, I wrote a response to a post Leonie made at UC about the Latin Centered Curriculum book she is reading, and decided it could be a blog post. So here it is! It is nice to have in my scrapbook/blog here. As I find I will go back and read this blog and rarely read UC archives. It gives a nice flavor of where we are now... and will be nice to read when things start changing, or to look back and see where we have been.

This got me thinking about my homeschool journey over the years and how I would read things early on and want to jump from one method to another thinking I might be missing something, or that one was best and I was on the wrong ship. (Leonie is not doing this... but I did) Then after dabbling all these years, it does start to come full circle, that I guess I gravitate toward a certain atmosphere or principles... and it ebbs and flows.

I think for us, interest led has become fairly dominate, but I still love the great ideas that are out there. They 'whys' of learning.... bringing in new ideas, but always encouraging the boys in what they find interesting.

It is funny, the boys are in the midst of learning how to do modifications to software code to create their own levels in a video game. B was showing me how and I saw all this geometry, cad cam work, logic, creativity... in fact I could not keep up, and I have always prized my ability for logic, etc. It is funny when your kids begin to pass you. While B was doing that, S was working on a novel he is writing in LOTR style.

The funny part (to me) was as I was checking in with them (as i have been busy with some projects of my own the past few days), I asked S what he was doing and he said, "Oh, I am being productive, I am doing ...... "

I liked that as they see they are being productive and stretching. But then I asked what they are reading, listening to, etc- as I had not seen much on that front...... so now B is starting Lillies of the Field, S listening to Peter Kreeft. So I find gentle reminders work pretty well here to nudge them in new areas. It is like I can sort of sense when they need that nudge? And boy can I sense when they don't.

I once heard Chris Davis from Elijah Co do a talk and they lived in the country. It was time for math. He called his son. No answer. He called again. Still no response.
He went outside and looked and far off in a pasture, his son was laying face up on the back of his horse, dreamily watching the sky.

Chris decided math could wait a bit. :)

Just some rambling. But your LCC sounds like something I would like in that I do love higher ideas. I like the Plato quote I read recently, that the goal of education is to bring us to higher things. St. Augustine took that as his motto. And he knew 'higher things' was God. But St. Terese also told us there is a "little way' to God. I think all of these things (video games and Latin) can bring us to God if we are involved with the dc and talking about it all and the context of how it fits in the world and in our love as a family.

Why We Blog

Blogs go though evolutions, don't you think?

Who is reading...

What we write about...

Why we write...

Why we stop for a while...


Today I had a chance to see some really good reasons to blog. I am going through my journal and putting everyday life and learning into my Word file, by subject... to eventually turn into high school credits.

I went back through my blog, too, as I had detailed somethings out. Oh, it was so fun to take a stroll through the blog. I saw myself rambling about life and learning.... my boys, our family and saw some really nice comments, too.

Do that sometime. Get a glass of wine or a cup of tea and go read your own blog. Bet you will love it. I am really glad I have it now. That is nice for me to hear a reason to blog *more*. Usually I feel the world and my life is telling me to do it less. :)

Just wish I had labeled everything as nicely as others (especially Leonie!) do...

Will try to start remembering....

Driver's Ed (or- SEE-ing Learning -Part I)

Ok, this may seem obvious to many of you.

But part of this blog is to *see* learning. See the growth in my dds. (that's Darling, DARLING sons, not my dentist.. lol). I want to learn to really see it, as a normal part of my day, course of life, integrated with parenting on a daily basis.

I love it when I hear other moms tell of things they see- learning they see in their dc. I hope this sharing helps others see. Please comment, too on times you see the learning. Or I love would you to point me to links, posts, etc along this line of thought.

So I am going to post small moments. Yes, I could post my bad moments, too. But thank goodness they are less and less. If it helps I will. But don't want to put bad stuff about my sweet boys on line, so if you email me privately, I *may*. lol But think I will stick to the good stuff.

Ok. Today.

Picture it.

I have a hesitant thoughtful son. Obviously curriculum never suited him. He is smart, but takes things at his own pace. Sensitive.

Me, I am a bit sensitive but I am a do-er. Type A mostly. Git 'er done could be on my bumper.

So, I have read a lot of great stuff on temperments and personalities this past year +. I have heard, and brought into my heart, to let him be who he is. What I may see as 'flounder' could be his way to process. So I did. This was not easy, but I did.

I have seen blossoming in many areas. Here is just one.

Ds started a driver's ed course. I let him pick it. We tried to do the state course, which was bascially free, but full of dumb paperwork and indecipherable forms and if it was hard for me I knew it was lightyears from his learning style.

So, he researched and chose a CD version of one he liked.

He has rarely done curriclum, especially the past 4 years or so. This is very basic curriculum, getting facts in his head.

He took it on. Slowly, at his pace. He is not chomping to drive, but this Thanksgivine we have 2 dog-sits over 6 days to local unbusy street destinations that has given him a goal. To have his learner's permit by Thanksgiving so he can do the driving.

He is working on his own. Slowly. The first module is the boring stuff. I asked him how he is doing. "Ok. Boring, but I can do this." says he.

He moved onto the next modules and would ask me questions, then pace himself.

I am finding that this works. It is true. If you let a child follow their own learning style, (BE THERE to help when it is needed, give support, buy materials, etc) they end up charting their course and finding their way.

I will drop in, if I see he has a question. We will look over the ton of detailed facts at the beginning and decide what is important, what can be sluffed off. We worked out something he didn't understand (which was not explained well by the program) and after I said "Do you see the main point here?"

Yes, he nodded. So he is learning not only the data, but how to work through an imperfect curriculum. I can just picture him in a college course one day doing the same. Lots 'o learning going on here...

This is not hands off. It is more like 'claws' off... lol... let them find their way, but be there to guide and assist, not push.

So, my son is following a self-choesn curriclum. This question came up on my UC list... And I think yes, curriculum can be very helpful with the conditions are right.

One small moment that took 200 words to type. Oh well.