Not blogging

I had hoped to keep up with our weekly progress, but sadly that isn't working out as well as I hoped.  I thought about trying to backtrack our progress but I am not that organized so I am just going to start where we are or as I often tell myself while educating the kids....meet them where they are, or in this care, meet you where I am.

Allboy finished his All About Spelling Level 1 book and we are both excited.  24 lessons complete.  We didn't spend a lot of time on it because quite a bit were things he knew, but the review was worth it just to go over all the phonics rules and make sure that he knew why words are spelled certain ways.  I even learned things I never knew before.  I didn't know that there are zero words in english that have enk in them, so that when you hear the enk sound it is always spelled ink.  There are only 5 words in the English language that group eng together to make the ing sound, so it is almost always ing.  Or that C makes the [s] sound when the vowel is i, e, or y, and the [k] sound when followed by any other letter.  See I am smarter already.

Gbaby Supreme has worked his way through 2 books of Get Ready for the Code.  Somehow the switch triggered and he just gets the letter sounds in a way that wasn't there in the beginning.  He now recognizes all of his numbers, 1-20, and is learning greater and less than.   His writing is slow to improve but it is getting better. 

Grinmaster is doing a superior job in school and learning to take responsibility for his own work.  He has an agenda and is learning to pace himself, and keep track of all of his work.  I think he is going to make the honor roll and seems to be making friends.  His teachers are impressed with his attitude and abilities.

In history we have covered the Age of Exploration.  We learned about Erik the Red, Leif the Lucky, and Columbus the clueless.  How did he in reality come to be called "The Great Navigator"?  He never even realized he never reached the Indies.  I can't wait until we get to see some of the ruins in South America.  The fact that the civilizations were so advanced is surprising compared to how we all believed they were savage heathens.   Right now we are covering Roanoke, The lost colony mystery, and the settlement in Jamestown.  We already covered some of Jamestown during the Native American unit, but this will look at it all from a different direction.

Science we are plugging along with an emphasis in the Scientific method.   We just finished the Earth's crust, and types of rock.  We still have more rock studies and hope to classify and collect quite a few specimens.  Mom gave us some fossils and different rocks found in the west and we are measuring the hardness scale. 

I am not doing as much as I would like with Art.  In fact we aren't doing anything.  I need to change that.  So far we have only done crafts as they relate to History.  That isn't enough.  I want to explore different mediums, and styles of art, but my motivation isn't there.  I am thinking of contacting Bay Art's after the first of the year and getting the boys into a few of their classes. 

Discover Intensive Phonics

I have found a reading program that I love as much as I love All About Spelling.  It is Discover Intensive Phonics and uses software to teach the phonics needed to make great readers.  Too often children plateau in 4th grade as readers and research points to the lack of concrete phonic skills.  Until 4th grade kids can get away with sight reading and reading from context.  After that there are skills needed to sound out foreign words.  I believe that Discover Intensive Phonics is the best program out there to accomplish that goal....for us anyway.  http://athome.readinghorizons.com/cmd.asp?af=1253995
I have already worked with Phonic Pathways, and Ordinary Parent's guide to teaching Reading, and both are solid programs.  But Allboy wasn't retaining the phonic rules.  He could read, but would encounter a word out of context that he should know and it was a crap shoot if he would remember how to sound it out.  English is a hard language because our words are such a mish mash of other languages, but it does follow certain rules.  Once those rules are learned the process of reading becomes easier.  I also like that this is one area of his learning where there is another voice giving a set of directions.  Allboy is a perfectionist but like most 7 year old boys, doesn't always listen.  If he doesn't listen to the instructions in each lesson, he can not follow it.  There is immediate feedback when he is off task, and it allows him to police himself.  I also love that I can see any areas that he is having problems with, yet enjoy the best part of reading instruction with him.  ACTUAL READING. 
The program is a bit pricey compared to other paperback reading instruction like those I used before, but this will follow him until he is done needing phonic instructions, comes with readers to practice the skills, and can be used for more than one child.  I am going to use it with Gbaby Supreme when he is ready, and the value increases since it is also a writing and typing program as well as reading instruction.  I think the cost will average out to be less than I would spend on everything if I bought it individually for each year.  I also appreciate the fact that it streamlines Language Arts and instead of needing 4 different spines this takes care of everything but writing and grammar.   But the most important thing is that it is working and Allboy is growing mentally.  I can't help if the fact that he is doing something else independently is just icing on the cake!

Space Weather and Astronauts

We went to the Air and Space museum and were able to experience some hands on weather experiments.  It is great when we can follow up book learning with interesting field trips.  Both Allboy and Gbay Supreme made clouds and labeled each one.  They were also able to create weather inside of the museum and understand how it effects radiation on Earth.   But the best part of the day were the space exploration exhibits.  We went on a simulated Mars exploration and the kids got an idea of just how far away it is and the difference between Earth and Mars, both in climate and landforms.  Allboy remotely controlled a model of the Mars Rover and allowed it to examine rock and look for signs of life.  Gbaby Supreme enjoyed the planets and recognized some of them that we had learned about the week before.  We increased the pressure inside of a container so that they could force a star to explode.   The most interesting things for me were the examinations of our galaxy.  I never realized that we know about hundreds of Planets beside the 8 we all learn.  I wonder why we haven't named them or collected more information.  I also wonder at the chances of life on one of them.  We have recovered pictures from our probes but I really don't know much besides that.  There was also an exhibit where they showed us all the effects of 400 degrees below zero by using Nitrogen to freeze common items and what happens when they are exposed the extreme temperatures.   I didn't know that Oxygen turns to liquid, and never thought about all the material choices that need to be decided before building anything that is sent into space.  We also met an Astronaut who signed pictures of herself and gave a talk about life on the space shuttle.  The kids giggled at the idea that they had to wear diapers and that their favorite foods were pizza.   They also learned about mass and how gravity effects the astronauts bodies long term.  It puts a lot of stress on their bodies.  We talked again about mass and density when looking at models of the planets.  Even though Saturn is much larger than Earth, Earth actually weighs more.  I don't know that either boy understands density yet, but hopefully it built a future peg so that when they are older and more ready to learn about it, they will have some kind of reference for it. 
After the Science exhibits, we watched the Imax movie Legend of the Guardians in 3D.  I am not a fan of 3D, but this movie and that theater were very cool.  We could actually see each individual feather on the owls.  I didn't know that Owls could look both cuddly and scary at the same time.  We also went to dinner at the Crab Shack and Allboy finally got his steamed crabs.  It was a long day but a good one.

Strong Carrying and Borrowing skills

We just had a huge math week.  Learning to carry a ten while adding can be a confusing concept and Allboy is comfortable after doing a couple of page this week.  I am really proud of him.  Grandbaby Supreme is working on number recognition to 20 and is practicing counting.  It is funny how when he counts something he tends to forget where he starts or ends so I have taught him to follow left to right and top to bottom like when reading.  He is also continuing review of his letters.  So far he learned F, B, M, K, T, R, P and S.  We love Get Ready for the Code, and The Letter People.  His writing is getting better, but still is shaky. 

We said goodbye to the Native Americans in our History studies, and started the Explorers and Discovers.  This week we are learning all about the Vikings and Leif Ericksson.  Today we read all about Eric the Red, Leif's father.  Tomorrow we build a Viking ship and recreate the map of the Vikings voyages between Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland (New Foundland). 

Science is all about the Earth's crust this week.  We learned about the Water Cycle, the Air and Atmosphere, and of course the weather.  We are reading Magic School bus inside the Earth and inside a volcano.   Our hands on activity for the week is making an Earth Pizza. 

Our read aloud was My Father's Dragon, a really cute book about a boy being very clever and rescuing a dragon.  There are 3 in the series so I see another trip to the library within the next day or so.  We also have an audio copy of Bunnicula, but the audio's aren't going as well as I thought they would.  We don't spend a ton of time in the car, and the one time we went anywhere long enough the CD player in the car decided to screw up. 

Co-op is going great.  I don't like being out of the house on Monday mornings but the kids are getting a lot out of the classes.  Today G-Baby Supreme learned about Space, the Earth, and the Planets.  They did a space craft, made a revolving earth around the sun, read a book about earth, and played a game of Alien and Astronaut somewhat like Duck Duck Goose.  Allboys class was about maps and they went over the compass rose and worked on map symbols and puzzles. 

Memorization is my largest surprise.  I am amazed at how much kids this age can remember.  Allboy has about 7 poems memorized and a bunch of facts.  G-baby Supreme is memorizing different rhymes. 

The Grinmaster is doing well in traditional school.  I am concerned because I figured out why they needed the 21 glue sticks.  They are not allowed to bring school books out of the class so they are recreating them in notebooks.  They get printouts and glue them into the notebooks for test reviews.   His grades are fine but I am getting a bit concerned that he isn't really doing much in Language Arts.  So far they seem to read 30 minutes a night, but I am not too sure what they are doing in class.  When I ask Grinmaster he says they read, and they finished the time capsule.  Science is his most productive subject and in Math he is working on decimals and fractions.  History is about Western expansion in US History 2. 

Overall everything is going okay.  Allboy is continuing to have whining problems and we are working on character connections.  This week is talking gently to each other.  They like to speak meanly and it is unacceptable.  There is a definite difference when you are home with a child all the time.  Their behavior problems get old fast.  I can see where I fail as a mother and the areas we have to work on.  But I am blessed that our boys are loving, smart human beings.

The kids are sick

Today is our first day home schooling, or rather barely homeschooling with sick kids.  All 3 boys have the virus that is going around.  Yesterday Grinmaster barely moved off the couch, and even though his much better I decided to keep him home from school to keep from spreading the virus through the school.  Last night Allboy and G-baby Supreme came down with it, and Mama Ruff is wiped out.   On top of that it is raining, so it is the perfect day for me to take a nap. 

Yet all three boys are behaving out of boredom.  Running through the house, playing hide and seek and screaming.  Usually a normal day on the Island.  Today I don't have the patience.  I either need to get my butt in gear and get school going, or I need to give them a project that will keep them busy without all the activity.

Either way, a nap is not going to happen.

Jamestown and the Powhatan

We are wrapping up our Native American studies and yesterday we went to Jamestown for Home school week.  Allboy and Grandbaby Supreme had a class about Powhatan tools and the things they used in everyday life.  Where they got them from and how they made them.  It was a fabulous learning adventure except for the snotty receptionist. (but that is another story) 

The leader of the group kept the kids involved, was patient, and the kids were interested and excited about what they were learning.  I couldn't ask for a better experience.  The kids sat on deerskin, beaver, and bear rugs and made needles out of bone, arrows out of rock, and learned about the foods the Powhatan ate.  Lastly they made fire.

After the class presentation we had to make sure the kids looked the part.  (They aren't a true representation of the Powhatan's though because they rarely wore head dress unless it was ceremonial)

The best part of the day for me was when Isaiah turned to me and said, "I can't believe I am actually inside a longhouse."  During our studies we made replicas and crafts, we read interesting books, and the kids enjoyed it, but there is NOTHING like actually experiences it hands on.  The kids loved it!    The boys were able to grind corn into cornmeal.  

                             

They also scraped hair off of a hide which is right out of our history read aloud, "The Birchbark House".  Omayakayis scraped a moose hide, using its brains to soften it, and they were able to see what that would be like, minus the brains, of course.

It was a wonderful learning experience, and even though we saw parts of the fort side we didn't spend much time there and I look forward to going back in a month or two when we study the original settlements.

The Letter People

I am so excited that it is almost silly!  I love thrift shops and I often stop in for a few minutes a couple of times a week.  I look at toys searching for legos, Knex, or games.  Then a quick look at books and within 5-10 minutes I am back in my car if they don't have anything I want.  Well I found THE LETTER PEOPLE today.  If you remember kindergarten you might remember learning about Mr. M....and his munchy mouth.  The entire box of letter people books, and skill books were less than $10 and I am going to use them with Grandbaby Supreme while he is learning his letters and sounds with Get Ready for the Code.  I searched Google and found that all the songs are on You Tube with the Videos from the original PBS series.  Just so you know how excited I am, you have to go watch the Mr. M video to see why.

September 11th.....we will forget

I listened to the memorial plans on my way to Isaiah's football game this morning and prayed at 8:46 am when the Radio played the National Anthem in remembrance.  I was also glad to see flags everywhere and thought about that day 9 years ago when my world changed forever.  About 15 minutes later the boys ran out on to the field, faced the flag for the opening Anthem and then there was a moment of silence on the football field.  It was a good moment, and it wasn't, because I thought about the little guys on the field, and the cheerleaders.  September 11th is a historical date to those kids.  They weren't even alive, and they do not have the experience of watching events unfold live on TV.  They didn't cry when the first tower collapsed, and then sit in shock when the second tower fell as well.  They didn't shake off the first reports of the Pentagon being hit as paranoia and the news people overreacting only to find out half an hour later, that yes, the Pentagon was attacked.  They didn't hear jets overhead racing north and go outside look up at the sky and wonder if there were any more planes out there piloted by madmen, only to find out later that yes there was one more.  I am glad they didn't experience it, and I am sad because I know that it will never seem real.  The same way that the bombing of Pearl Harbor doesn't seem real to those of us that weren't there.  I can only imagine that when reports came in about the Japanese attack, that there were many of the same feelings, and I know from historical reports that there was preparation, and even hysteria on the West Coast of our Nation since they didn't know if the Japanese had more planned.   We read about it in history books, we watch movies about it, but we don't feel it.   September 11th will be the same for these children and the children to come.  They might eventually get the day off from school, it might become a federal holiday, a mark on calendars, but nothing but history.  That is the way it should be, but it feels too soon.  Way to soon.

Summer is over.

I know summer doesn't officially end until the 21st of September, but who are we trying to fool?  Labor day is when summer ends.  The pools close, the nights are cold, and public school is in session.  Because of that I spent most of Monday rather depressed.  We had a wonderful weekend at the campground for Labor day and on Monday as everyone slowly packed up and left for real life, I began the process of cleaning everything and shutting it down for the winter.  Because even if we go back, it won't be for fun but instead projects and work. 
Then at home it was time to make sure that Rashad had everything in his book bag, got together his first day of school outfit, and scrubbed-a-dubbed himself from top to bottom.  Summer is over.  I love summer.  I love sleeping in the mornings, I love feeling the sun bake my toes, I love floating in the water, weightless and nearly asleep.  I like going outside at night and feeling the heavy air while watching the stars.  I also love the clothing of summer.  Laundry at my house almost doubles when summer is over.  Instead of light shirts and shorts, I need to wash jeans and match socks.  I adore sandals and flip flops. 
But most of all I like all of my boys home.  I like Rashad here during the day.  We miss him when he is gone and I find myself thinking about whether I want to wait until he gets home to read a certain book out loud, or if he is having a good day.  I also wonder what he is learning and if he is going to 'get' it or if it will take awhile.  I also HATE homework.  I think it is torture for the kids and the parents.  The kids are at school all day and it just doesn't seem fair for them to need to come home and do more work.  It eats into family and play time.  Rashad doesn't mind doing it, but I mind for him.
But with summer over Fall begins and I love Fall.
I love the smell of burning leaves.  I love snuggling in at night under a big quilt and feeling the crisp air on my face.  I love football.  I love it on TV, I love watching the kids play little league, and I even love wrapping up and sitting in the stands on a cold Autumn night, to watch our high school team lose to everyone they play.
Every season has great aspects to it, and saying goodbye to one season means saying hello to another.

Perfectionism

Allboy is a perfectionist.  It makes him and me crazy.  I think he believes that he should already know everything, and he beats himself up when he makes the smallest mistake.  I am not sure how to handle this because I don't have a perfectionism bone in my body.  In the words of Tim Gunn, I am a "make it work" type of person.  Allboy on the other hand is convinced that he should just know everything because he wants to.  He decided that it would be fun to learn cursive and since his other work was complete I figured it couldn't hurt.  But he didn't want to learn how to form letters, he just wants to write in cursive.  I explained that first you learn the letters and then you can make the words.  But instead he insisted that I give him a phrase and he would write it.  I gave him a phrase, he tried to write it, saw for himself that it wasn't working, and cried because he is a stupid big head.  Then he wouldn't calm down.  Anytime he makes a mistake in his writing or spelling he freaks.  Not when I point out an error because I rarely need to, but when he figures out something is less than perfect he goes into a tizzy.  I am to the point I don't even worry about grades or anything since I am right there with him and I know how he is doing without needing to record a grade or worry about it.  But he wants to know if he got everything right and then writes 100% on his papers.  If I show him something that is wrong he calls himself names.  I have tried to explain that  if he knew everything we were learning there wouldn't be any point in doing this at all, and that practice makes things easier.  He also gets upset with himself when he doesn't play football as well as he think he should.  I asked some other mom's about this and was surprised to find it was common.  Most kids get better at dealing with it, but most never completely get rid of it either.  I want to encourage him to work hard, take chances, and try new things even if he makes mistakes.  I think that is the best way to grow as a person.  But this might require me to rethink some of the strategies I use with him.  One suggestion is to reward hard work instead of excellence and to also tell him that something will take 10 tries before he is able to get it.  That way if he does something quickly he feels good about it but if it takes the 10 tries he doesn't feel bad about himself.  The strange thing is that he is wicked smart and as soon as a concept is explained he gets it and usually does better than expected.  I am shocked at how quickly he grasps new concepts.  I don't know whether it is just the right time, or I found the key to his learning style or a combination of both, but his growth this year is amazing.   He bought something at Gamestop today that cost 21.79 with his own money.  He knew that he was going to get .21 back without us ever having taught him to subtract that way.  He just figured that 1 penny would make 80 and then 20 more made a dollar.  All on his own.  Yet right before that he only wanted to give the man $21 to pay for his purchase and ignored the 79 cents.  So it isn't that he gets the entire concept, but the chunks he has are strong. 
I need to figure out how to encourage him without babying him or lowering expectations.  I also need to learn more patience.  I have discovered that when he begins beating up on himself that it is better for me to walk away until he gets himself under control.  He can't be argued out of it, and nothing can get accomplished when he is that upset.  I definitely have some more learning to do about this perfectionism thing.

Socialization,homeschooling, and fitting in

There is a forum right now on one of my home schooling boards as to whether an older kid should say something to his friends if they say things he is uncomfortable hearing.  There are hundreds of posts about how this young man should respond if he hears his peers say something is gay to mean it is bad.  The young man knows it is wrong, but his mother worries about him fitting in with the other kids.
I am shocked, saddened and a bit ashamed at the responses she is getting.  A lot of mothers are telling her it is no big deal and not something he should care about or say something about.  I can handle the posts that state that it is no big deal because I assume they themselves use it, and don't see anything wrong in doing so.  That is their choice.  But the posts stating that her son shouldn't say anything when he is bothered are the ones that make me crazy.  They think he should give away part of who he is to fit in?  I can't wrap my head around that. 

Part of the reason most people say they home school is to teach values, and so that their children have a strong sense of who they are and what they believe.   They want to raise well educated people.  When Socialization concerns arise they state that they are more concerned with the right type of socialization.  Well what does that mean if that is how they feel?  For me socialization means knowing how to interact with a wide variety of people.  It means being friends with different ages and backgrounds.  It means not bowing to peer pressure, but instead standing up for what you believe in.  It doesn't mean mocking others, or setting yourself up to police others beliefs, but if my child felt strongly about something I want them comfortable enough in their own skin to share it, defend it, and own it.   If they believe that gay people are stupid, or anything, really, they need to be able to defend it.  Even my adult kids who went to traditional schools know that is how it works.  I never told them that they couldn't believe something but I would question the premise of their argument.  I am proud to say that they are their own people and they don't squash who they are to please anyone. 

I am quite disgusted with more than a few home schoolers today, and even throughout our philosophical debates I can easily say that this is the first time they embarrass me to be part of their ranks.  

Caliope the Argiope

We have a new pet.  So far the boys are enjoying helping her catch food, wrap it up and we know later devour it since we wake up to find some missing.   When we looked her up....gotta love Google we found out that she is an Argiope (rhymes with Caliope).  They are common to the area and completely harmless.  She eats grasshoppers, butterflies, and we know for a fact dragonflies.  In real life she is bigger than the picture.

We hold your children's minds in our hands more than you do

I watched "This Week with Christine Amanapour" yesterday and the discussion centered around teachers, achievement by the students, and the gap socioeconomically and by race.  The opening sequence showed teachers responding to the issue of merit pay for the teachers who have students that are growing academically while in their classrooms.  One section really resonated in me.  A teacher was quoted as saying that she had our children's minds in her hands more than we do (as parents). 

I respect teachers. I think that it is a calling in some cases, and that the vast majority teach because they want to help children.  But the test scores while not showing the whole picture are the only concrete measure we have to go by, and there are some teachers who are not performing for the students.  We can not keep doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.  The solution can not be throwing more and more money at the problem.   Teacher pay is not the answer.  Unless we tie performance to pay.  The teachers who are innovative within the confines that tie their hands need to be rewarded.  Others need an incentive to find out what they are doing right, and parents deserve to know what type of teacher 'holds their children's minds in her/his hands more than we do.

We as a nation do need to view this an economics problem, because until we do no one really pays attention.  There is a reason why we are comparable until 4th grade with other nations and then the gap begins to widen.  It isn't that our children are less intelligent.  It isn't TV because may nations that out perform us also have children with all time high viewership.  It can't be just family life or poverty, because other nations have equal social problems.  So what is it?

As a home school parent I need to know that answer.  It is imperative that I find that answer because the responsibility is on my shoulders to make sure that my son is thriving academically, socially, and civilly.  I started researching home education because of first hand experiences in my own education and that of my older children.   My two older boys were extremely smart, and my equally bright daughter had a learning disability, so I was able to see the schools from different ends of the spectrum.  My boys were often bored, and my daughter often felt like she was stupid and would never catch up.  In fact when my daughter was in high school and could not pass algebra after her 3rd try and absolutely could not pass the Standard of Learning test for the subject, she went to her teacher to discuss things that she should do and the teacher took a piece of paper and wrote GED on it.  Then she kept the paper.  Did that teacher think a GED was the only and best option for T?  Did she feel comfortable telling a teen to quit school and pursue her GED?  I don't think so.  I can't help but wonder if she thought it was best for T, or best for the school's score?  My sons took two different tracks.  The innately most intelligent became a problem child.  He didn't see the point of what he was learning, and he certainly didn't respect school.  Until middle school he jumped through all the required hoops and made fantastic grades without even trying.  After Middle School he quit even putting forth an effort.  He did quit school and took his GED test without even studying and had the highest recorded score in the history of our county.  Our second son lucked out in part, I believe because of sports.  He wanted to play so that is where he found the value of school.  He also had a few teachers that thought outside of the box and allowed him to stretch.  Instead of just having him just read Animal Farm he taught his classmates an entire period where they discussed how it related to the Cold War.  Yet even though he seemed to 'get' school, he never appreciated it or respected it either.  He could sit down the night before a semester project was due, grind it out, and get an A.  Both boys have learned more in their time out of school then they ever learned inside their walls, and both excel in their professions.  T on the other hand refuses to read a book, or do anything that resembles school. 
So now I have younger children and I want to and need to be more involved in their education.  Before I didn't know there were options and choices.  I blindly followed the prescribed education track because it was all I knew.  I didn't know enough.  I still know I don't know everything, but I am trying to know enough.  We are deciding year by year, what is the best option for our children.  I am reading everything I can find about theories in education, comparisons of curriculum, and even more important, examining what we thing a well educated child needs to learn.  It is freeing and terrifying all at the same time.  I want to hold my children's minds in my hands more than a teachers, because one thing I know without question is that I care more about my children than they do.

Knex, Legos, Ramp jumping and room cleaning

This week we went light on actual schoolwork.  Summer is wrapping up and we will have plenty of time once the neighborhood kids and Grinmaster are back in school.   Although now that I listed everything I realized that the only thing we didn't cover was our Science.  Oh and I haven't started another literature read aloud yet.  Instead we played.  A lot.  The kids are building towers, roller coasters, cars that walk across the floor with a flipping motor, and garages.  They also built a larger ramp to jump with their bikes.  I guess that learning that the smaller the bike the higher in the air they can jump is learning.  They also learned the value of gravity and that when you fall midair and hit the ground you will say ouch.  Our other project is clearing out all of their broken and useless toys.  And yes I saw Toy Story, and yes it bothered me a little bit.  I figure that was sorting and hands on classifying for G-Baby.  Broken toys in this bag, donations in that box.....yeah that is classifying.  Next up we will cover Art when we paint the playroom and make it a second family room. 
As for book learning, G-Baby began the letter M and is working hard to tell the difference between words that begin with the F, B, or M sound.  He knows what they look like and he knows what sound they make but it is a bit more complicated to then decode words and match the letter sounds up.  As for math skills he knows his numbers, can recognize them when written and is doing some very simple adding.  I am beginning to introduce the number symbols for 10-20 and he is motoring right along. 
Allboy continued with his normal subjects and there wasn't anything exciting or new learned.  I can see his writing improving as his spelling improves.  We don't have a formal writing program because he uses his imagination to create his own stories, and it is working fine so far.  He likes creative writing and is filling his journal so no complaints or concerns there. 
Grinmaster finished his book and needs to decide on a project to complete before public school begins.  Each child in 6th grade has to turn it in the first week of school.  He tackled a book that stretched him, and I am proud he stuck with it. 
Our history lesson took us to the Great Plains, where we met the Sioux last week.  This week they learned about the mighty Buffalo and all of its uses.  They built a book with the different tools, weapons, and clothing that buffalo provided the Sioux.  They also created their own Wampum's using beads and their wishes for the upcoming year.  That was fun and listed everything as serious as wishing there were no more Wars, to as silly as wanting more food to eat.  (Of course Allboy didn't really mean food.  He meant junk food).  All in all a really good week.

Secular does not mean Atheist

I am a secular homeschooler.  I also live in the South and it seems that most of the people I meet in the home schooling community, are home schooling for religious reasons.
That can make a get together interesting.  My first co-op meeting was at Beaverdam and overall the families there were a microcosm of our County, but there was the woman we all picture when we think fundamentalist.  Denim jumper, white bobby socks, long hair, and a slew of little ones all matching depending on gender.  Her little girls looked like mini hers, and the boys wore dress white shirts, and navy blue pants.  I sat on the bench at the playground next to her since I knew her husband through my time working as a legal assistant.  She politely excused herself rather quickly, and now that I have been around for awhile I am sure that my Mommy shorts and biracial son screamed that I wasn't part of her flock. Thank goodness that I didn't have my completely black son with me, or her head might have exploded trying to figure out that relationship.
My next co-op was rather uneventful and welcoming and I still belong to that one, even if on the fringe.  A woman was ejected from the previous co-op because she is 'gasp' Mormon and therefore not the right type of Christian.  Never mind that she is smart, organized, a well known published writer, and a great Mom and teacher. So she started her own Co-op.  I went to a get to know everyone meeting where the Mom's chatted about concerns, problems, and solutions and it felt great.  I happened to mention feelings of isolation based on being secular and it was fine.  Big exhale.  Then came snack time.  The wonderful host came up to me and asked if I was offended by prayer.  Arrrgh....this intelligent, warm, woman wanted me to feel comfortable and that was wonderful.  But no I am not offended by prayer.  I pray often.  I pray privately, I pray at family gatherings, I pray irreverently and I pray reverently. I am secular not atheist. 
Secular homeschooling to me means that I teach Science and history based on facts and then I teach religious belief while at the same time I explain how my beliefs meld the two.  I will admit that homeschooling materials are written mostly for the religious homeschooler and I spend more time than I like examining curriculum looking for religious bias.  See my problem isn't religion or faith, but whose religion and faith becomes the question.  One highly touted American History program expounds on it's first pages that the savage Indians didn't believe in God and that the women did all the work in a way that made the men seem like bums.  It also paints a life for their children in a heavy handed way that would make any child reading it disdain Native American traditions.  I think it is important to teach that there were many different types of Native Americans and they they didn't all live in teepee's and count coup.  They also had a set of fascinating spiritual beliefs.  Because the book was written from a Christian slant, any other culture is seen as not only wrong but inferior. 
Science is even more tricky.  I think some curriculum providers are trying to be neutral and not offend any group.  But instead they leave out huge chunks of facts for the secular homeschooler, and leave the creationist unsatisfied as well since they do not begin with Adam and Eve and everything was created in 6 days. 
But how did math and spelling become 'religionized'?  Seriously.  Isn't math just math?  Apparently not.  Even math curriculum can be used to glorify God.  Okay....but seriously.  Does every single subject have to be God based and sprinkled with scripture to be acceptable?  That screams brainwashing instead of faith to me.  Okay maybe now I am being every bit as critical and judgemental as I feel some fundamentalist home schoolers have become.  I admit it. I will own it.  When people on classical homeschooling boards start discussing segregating little boys and girls while swimming and modesty bathing suits for little girls so as not to tempt their boys, it is easy to be judgemental.  But there are also the snarky, sneaky comments that suggest that if you are teaching your children in any way that differs from their plan which must have been handed down to them directly from God like Moses received the Ten Commandments, then you are somehow harming their little minds.  I try to skip those posts.  But sometimes it is hard.  I also find myself approaching it like a sociologist.  I feel like I have landed in an alternative universe and not only do I not know the rules but they scare the Bejesus out of me. 
At the same time I write this though I recognize that there are other families in our area that fall in between.  Very few mothers are as liberal as I am, and even fewer are where I am on the political spectrum, but luckily they aren't trying to convert me, they are just there supportive and open.  So I do my best not to convert them either.  I am glad that we live in a neighborhood where the children are diverse and numerous so the boys can see how different people live and what other people believe.  I am also glad that there is an online community that I can anchor myself to when this journey seems to hard.  I am also happy that I know some other homeschool mommies that also just want what is best for their kids education, and are happy to share their knowledge and kids with us.

I am NOT going to get sidetracked

Week 2 and we are moving around geographically in our Native American portion of US history.  We are studying the Iroquois and reading The Birch Bark House.  This book has a two week schedule and is a fictional account of an Ojibwa village.  I really like that the main character is 7 years old and has a lot of responsibility to her family and respect for nature.  Both of those themes keep coming up when we talk about what we are reading.  All 3 of the boys are interested in the story.  Math is about sequencing and again Allboy is flying through it.  I have started the supplements but if MUS remains this easy I am going to need to rethink the curriculum.  So far I am pretty sure that after giving him the DVD instruction on Monday I could skip to the test on Thursday and he would ace it.  In Science the kids are measuring wind speeds and graphing rainfall.  They have weather journals and it is fun when they act out as weathermen and tell me how much precipitation we have gotten, the temperature, how fast the wind is moving and in what direction.  Our deck is beginning to look like an outdoor science lab.  Spelling is Allboy's  favorite subject so far, and I give all the credit to All About Spelling.  He feels incredible when he learns a new spelling rule, and I can see him get something new almost every day.  This week he is in love with wandering around breaking the largest words he can think of into syllables. 
Grandbaby Supreme's letter of the week is B....Each letter we learn the sound it makes, and then try to find words that begin with the b sound.  We also review F.  If he can keep retaining the letters and their sounds we can move into reading about half way through the year.  At least simple BoB books.
Grinmaster is concentrating on his Writing this week.  I don't think he has a great grasp on how to write a strong sentence or paragraph, so we are reviewing topic sentences.  I have to say I am amazed that he doesn't mind doing "school" with us since he doesn't start School until next month.  But I know he likes the Science and History and doesn't complain about writing.  I am going to keep working with him on his writing skills even after he begins traditional school.  I find myself wondering which subjects and what curricula I would use if he came home to school, so I am curious to see how this will play out.

Our first week--Thoughts and Rants

So we are actually finished with two weeks of school but I didn't get a chance to write it up until now.

We began our first day with logic.  I call it warming up the brain. Both Grinmaster and Allboy are working on classifying objects, except Grinmaster's are a little more difficult.  Other worksheets we used were Reading Detectives.  I like these because instead of just reading and answering questions, the reader must infer certain ideas from what they read.  Hopefully it will help with both of their critical thinking skills.  This is one of the big areas that I think traditional schooling skips over in favor of multiple choice answers.  The ability to think and reason.  How refreshing.
Next was Phonics.  At least for Alboy. We began with Explode the Code worksheets with review of short vowel sounds, and cvcv words.  He hated every second of it.  I think in part because it is too easy and too repetitive.  I threw away a couple of the sheets once I knew that he understood the phonics rules.  I have now decided to drop Explode the Code since we are using Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.  I actually bought the book to use with Grandbaby Supreme, but once I looked at it I realized that if we skipped the first half we were right where Allboy is in reading ability. He likes it and I think it is helping a lot more than ETC.  He also gets plenty of phonics instruction with our Spelling choice, All About Spelling.  This is a multisensory spelling program that uses the phonics rules to teach spelling.  We use magnetic tiles, a white board, and letter and word cards to learn spelling.  I tried Spelling Workout last year, and bought Sequential Spelling this year thinking that I would use it, but I didn't like either and I feel like I hit the jackpot with AAS.  We are still in review lessons so I can't say that any majot lightbulb moments have occurred but I think this is going to work with the way Allboy learns.
Next we moved on to Math.  We are using Math-U-See Beta.  It comes with a DVD showing the instructor explaining the lesson.  I thought it would be a dry lecture, but he moves quick and has a sense of humor that the kids enjoy.  It uses base 10 blocks for manipulatives, and the first lesson was on place value.  We even built "decimal" street using a units house, a 10 Apartment, and a hundreds castle.  Alboy totally clicked with the program.  But I can tell that the constant use of the blocks are going to get old.  Once he gets it, he doesn't want to use the blocks anymore.  That it okay by me.  We are also going to use Miquon to supplement MUS.  I like the different way that Miquon thinks about math and want Alboy to have another way to do computations.  They call it the Asian way of doing math, and since Asia is kicking our butts in math scores, there might be something to it.
Our favorite subjects are History and Science.  We began our History on Monday and we are studying US history in depth.  We began with the humans that crossed the Berring bridge 40k years ago and settled throughout North America.  Then we began our first Native American Geographical area.....SouthEastern USA.  We read Nightbird, and learned about the Seminoles.   We made history pockets and learned about their type of shelter...Chickees, and food sources, alligator and corn, and clothing, light cottons or not much at all.  The big idea that I wanted them to understand is that all Native American's were different and that where they lived determined what they ate, where they lived, and what they wore.  I remember thinking as a child that all Indians were the same, and lived in Teepees, and dressed in buckskins.  I also want them to explore their spirituality; mainly how important nature was and is to their beliefs.  Science began on Tuesday.  We are using R.E.A.L. Science Oddessy; Earth, Rock and Space.  We read Crash Rumble and Roll and then for their lab all 3 boys got familiar with a weather themometer.  They took readings in the sun, in the shade, from a bowl of room temperature water, and from a bowl of ice water.  On Thursday they created Rain, using condensation, and I knew they got it when we went to get in the car early Monday morning and Grandbaby Supreme told me he was dancing in a cloud (fog), Allboy said they were water molecules, and Grinamaster told me that the warm air pressure forced the cloud to the ground.  I love homeschooling.  Next week they make rain guages and measure rainfall, and wind direction.  We will read Magic School Bus, Inside a Hurricane.  Hopefully we won't get any up close and personal experience with hurricanes this season.

As for Grandbaby Supreme he is working on Get Ready for the Code and learned all about the letter F.  We are also using Starfall to reinforce his letter of the week.  He hangs out with us for Science and History and also is doing some Kumon math and numbers.  We are also using Leapfrog Letter Factory and lots of natural math with him. 
Grinmaster is concentrating on reading and comprehension and is reading Life of a Dog right now.  He is also using Creative writing and reviewing how to write powerful paragraphs and papers.  He enjoys History and Science with us and I think he is worried that he will miss out on some fun when he goes to school.  i am going to keep reading our History literature at night so that he can enjoy the stories. 
We haven't really done anything concrete for Art or Music yet.  I am waiting for us to get a good grasp on the subjects we are doing so far.  We do a lot of crafts for History and I want to start Art Sketch Tuedays soon.  I am not sure we are going to do anything with music, other than Kareoke and listening to music.  I think I will wait until next year to decide about Piano lessons.   As for PE....that is hilarious if you know our boys.  They all swim like fish, each of them has ridden a bike since they were 3, and spend lots of time outdoors.  Grinmaster is on a bowling league, Allboy has football, and G-Baby Supreme is keeping up with the other two. They are all active and can do more pushups, pullups, and situps than other boys their age.  I am quick to have them outside and active instead of playing video games so I believe that we are fine there.
Now the biggie.....at least in most people's minds.  Socialization.  Oh how are these kids going to be norrmal if they are schooled at home?  I think most people who ask that question must think we live in caves.  We are active in the community.  The kids play sports, they have tons of pals they play with in the neighborhood and we attend Vacation Bible School, camps for sports or Art, and of course Scouts.  If anything I need them less socialized.  At least that way every kid in the neighborhood wouldn't always be over here most of the time. (smile).  I am also going to make sure that we stay active in Homeschool activities during the school year.  There are field trips, co-ops and get togethers with other families that also homeshoold during the day, and they will still be active in sports and scouts in the evenings.  I also question people who think that they are missing out by not being in school.  Have they been to school lately?  With budget cuts, teacher turnover, less and less arts, and little playtime I don't feel they are missing much.  Also if I remember correctly I spent most of my school life being told not to socialize.

Our Curriculum

I spent a long time comparing different materials and tried to keep Alboy's learning style in mind while choosing.  Hopefully we came up with his best choices.

Reading----We are using the Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading.  I bought this almost by accident.  One of the Mom's on a home school forum sold it for a very low price and I thought I might use it in the future for Grandbaby Supreme.  Instead I discovered that even though Allboy is reading, the lessons in this book will help him improve even more.  I can't say enough about how much I like this resource.  At first I thought it would be more like 100EZ lessons, or Phonic Pathways but it isn't and it is working out great.

Spelling----I didn't concentrate on spelling last year because I really wanted to get Allboy reading on level.  If I had AAS then I would have went for it because it meshes so well with phonic instructions.  It is phonic instruction, just with spelling and it reinforces all the phonemes.  It can get boring since we are starting with level 1 and most of it Allboy already knows but I would rather review then find out there are gaps down the road.







Grammar and Copywork----We chose to continue with First Language Lessons.  It can get repetitive but when a child finishes the program they should really know elementary grammar.  I also use it for memorization and copywork.  I bought Writing with Ease, but I like the passages in here more, and I think that WWE is just busy work if you use this as it was written. 

I also bought and planned to use Explode the Code.  But I discovered after the first week of school that we don't need it.  At least not yet.  Later in the year if he has problems retaining certain letter combinations and needs the reinforcement I still have it, but as of right now I am taking it out of the schedule.  Allboy already has nice handwriting, and gets lots of practice with the narrations we do.  He gets phonics from AAS and OPGTR and we read morning and night.  So keeping ETC at this point is overkill.

Math----We switched from Saxon Math to MUS Beta.  I liked Saxon and feel it was quite thorough, but I kept modifying it so that it wasn't so repetitive.  The jury is still out on MUS, but so far we like it.  I was surprised that the DVD guy didn't get on my nerves.  He is pleasant to watch and it doesn't feel like a lecture and I like the hands on manipulative's and how easy Isaiah seems to catch on to the process.  I won't know for sure until we get further into the year.

My all time favorite lesson is United States History!!!  But of course I love history so that isn't a surprise.  Last year I followed Story of the World and I like the concept of learning History from the beginning of time on, but in reality it just didn't translate.  Of course we did some cool hands on activities and learned some cool stuff but it didn't feel like History to Allboy.  I think it felt more like a fairy tale because it was too far away and too long ago.  So instead this year I am hoping to light and then feed a fire in him about history around us.  We are into our Native American Unit and will work up to the Civil War.  We are blessed to live here where history can come alive and we can actually experience where it happened.  In September we are going to a PowWow in Hampton and we are learning about the first Americans by geographical location.  I couldn't possibly list all the resources we are using because I go to the library weekly but there are a few I couldn't have put this together without.    http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/history/americanhistoryindex.html    This is a complete curriculum using History as the spine but I took a lot of her recommendations for resources and mapped out how I wanted to present it using the materials I have on hand, could find at the library and the field trips we can take.  Her hard work is a Godsend and I am VERY grateful.   I also am using  these to make notebooks and maps.

For Science I had a harder time.  It is hard to find a great science curriculum that isn't too dry, but also is based on science instead of religion.  I am a Christian and I believe that God created the world, but I don't think he did it in 6, 24 hours days.  To believe that I have to suspend all the credible evidence to the contrary.  I think the creationism debate is a dead horse and I refuse to beat it, but I want my kids to get science in science class.  So we found R.E.A.L. Science , Earth, Rock and Space and after looking over it in depth I couldn't be happier.  My partner in crime is in charge of labs and he and the kids will hopefully enjoy it.  I don't care about rocks and weather, but when they get to astronomy I will get interested again.

So these are our cores.  But I wouldn't say they are all the materials we learn from.  We learn on walks, from movies, as many books as we can delve into, and each other.

Do I need a Drink or an AA meeting?

I stopped drinking alcohol on February 15, 1988.  Well actually I got drunk on the 15th so maybe that should read February 16, 1988.  I don't mention this because I want kudos or atta girls but to reinforce how I feel right now at this very minute.  I want to get shitfaced.  I don't want to feel what I am feeling right now.  I am exhausted feeling what I feel and I know that a couple of shots of tequila and I will feel different.  Not necessarily better, in fact probably worse, but different.  I am sick of crying, I am sick of being angry, I am sick of being afraid.  The worse part is it isn't going to get better.  If one more person tells me it will be okay I might actually punch someone, and I mean that literally since I beat my steering wheel so hard that my wonderful helpless husband actually got between me and it because he thought the air bag might explode.  But these feeling have to go somewhere or I might actually go crazy.  Can a person explode?

My father has T4 advanced liver cancer. 

Until last week I wouldn't have known what that meant.....now I know too much.  I know that the man my father was is disappearing.  I know that I always thought it would be better to know you were dying so you could say the things you want to say and do the things you want to do, now I think 'all the sudden' might be better because people stop seeing you and instead only see the disease.  It is the elephant in the room that we can't talk about but we have to talk about.  I know that my 6 y/o son Isaiah is the only one honest enough to ask in a full room in a clear voice "Is Papa going to die?"  I know that my answer as his mother was half-assed and filled with untruths and qualifiers that were all bullshit.   I know I want to drink myself into oblivion so that I can forget for just a little while. But I also know that I can't.  I have to feel what I feel and that the only way to get through this is straight ahead.  Cliches are cliches for a reason.  Here is another one that I use all the time to get through the challenges that life bring.  "When you don't know what you are doing, do the next right thing"  Well here is the problem.  I don't know what the next right thing is.  I don't know what to do, and as a control freak and 'fixer' I can't fix this. I also know that Dad and I have a lot of things that haven't been said.  If you say them to soon it feels like I am putting him in the grave, and if I wait too long I might not ever get the chance.  So now I have to decide what is important and what isn't. Old scars I didn't even know were there are replaced with new scabs.  Old insecurities about where I fit in his life are awake. Actual hate towards someone else and the decisions and choices he made as a result, shock me and my pettiness shames me. Normal life is put on hold.....oh I still am here, but I am not present.

So I am not going to drink.  Temporary solution to a long term problem and blah, blah, blah.  But what it all boils down to is that I need to take care of me the same way I would take care of a friend who was going through this process, and drinking would not be a caring thing to do.  What I do need to do and can't seem to give myself permission to do, is be patient and more understanding of my needs.  I need to cry when I want to cry, I need to scream when I want to scream, and I need to eat even if I can't taste food, and I need to rest even though I can't sleep.  I also need to figure out a way to find joy without feeling guilty.  This is hopefully going to be a marathon and not a sprint.  Maybe not a long marathon, but not forever either.  Someday it will be all right, and someday I will feel better.  But for today I am just going to sit with who I am and what I feel while holding on to the promise that I am strong enough to survive this even if someone I love doesn't.

Erica Goldson's 2010 Valedictorian Speech

Coxsackie-Athens Valedictorian Speech 2010


Here I Stand

Erica Goldson


There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." 
The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" 
Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not
to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)


To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!