Kieran is bursting with gifts; exuberance, enthusiasm, joy, zeal, intelligence and generosity. Patience, however isn't a native plant to his "soil". 

Enter ice cream. He loves ice cream, but it betrays him. Watching him eat ice cream is to watch a drama unfold. He goes from agony to ecstasy and back again. He’s doesn’t know how to savor a pleasure, just how to devour it, and can’t (or won’t pace) himself to avoid the infamous "brain freeze".

I've enjoyed watching homeschooling families who are further along on the journey. I've listened as friends speak in amazement at how enriched they've been by the pursuits of each child, and I find the phenomenon fascinating--each individual's interests are integrated into the entire family in some way.

My children are still young, but recently we’ve had our first tastes of the exciting adventure. What joy to watch the children pursue things their unique dreams--dreams we as parents are delighted to encourage, but never dreamed ourselves--dreams that are special gifts born of their individual personalities and planted by their Creator who makes no two individuals alike.

It's a bit challenging to keep up! Balancing our desire to nurture each as an individual with doing what is best for the family unit as a whole is rather a juggling act.  It is worth it all though, watching rich patterns beginning to form on the "family loom" as the tapestry takes on textures and colors of the different strands.

I never would have dreamed I'd be lurking around on harp forums, researching names of construction vehicles, or searching YouTube for vidoes of soprano recorder quartets. (Especially since I'm remarkably unmusical.)

What will my Google searches and forum lurkings look like in another five or even ten years?

"It shall be a violation of section 19(a)(1)
of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2068(a)(1))
for any person to which this subsection applies to manufacture,
sell, contract to sell   or resell, lease, sublet, offer, provide for
use, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce."

This is a kinda different post for my blog all around.  I usually avoid controversial posts, as although I love a hearty debate in the right context, I prefer this venue just to share glimpses of our life.   I also usually avoid product endorsements. We don't even wear "character" shoes.  Disney doesn't grace the children's nightwear, underwear or any where.  My endorsing a convenience food place is incongruous as well, because we tend to be more of the whole-foods, home cooking mind set.  

Yet... I'm absolutely stunned at homeschoolers across the internet being quite so outraged at Subway--yes, the sandwich shop.  Apparently Subway is running an essay contest and wants to give 5K in athletic equipment to the winning school. 

Our society seems eager to find discrimination.  Everything is supposed to be "fair".  On the surface this sounds great, and I'm thoroughly opposed to real, mean-spirited, or even just uninformed discrimination.  But it can be taken to communistic levels that try to remove any blessings to flatten the topography and make everything the same.  It would be entirely different if they were refusing service to paying homeschooling patrons, or seating homeschoolers in a separate section, but we've become so petty we get up in arms if even gifts and donations aren't all inclusive. 

This is Subway's contest, and they are giving away a prize.  They host the contest, they make the rules.  This is as it should be.  When I give something away, whether it is charitable donations or birthday presents, I give to the recipients of  my choosing.  If, as a landlord, I want bake bread as a blessing to  one renter, but not for all the tenants, that too is my business.   
 

In Subway's case, it just flat makes sense to me that they'd like the $5,000 of athletic equipment to benefit a larger pool of children than just one family.  But regardless of whether it makes sense, it is their right to have the rules they choose--Senseless or otherwise.

Of course it is the customer's right to boycott, and many homeschoolers are doing just that.  I do wonder though, whether it is wise.  Certainly there is a lot of real discrimination against homeschoolers, and this contest could further the misconception that we are somehow not doing "real" education.  Yet, by protesting we are joining the mentality that says no group should be blessed if my group isn't included.  Like a spoiled socialite we are outraged that anyone could host a party and not invite us. 

I've not read any other homeschool blogs supporting Subway's right to make the rules about how they give away money.  I'm obviously in the minority.  But then, I've always held that how a person gives away money is their own business.  I don't believe people are "owed" fairness in this respect, but rather that the business or individual giving is owed the right to give as they please.  

On Sunday evening we ate Subway.  And after reading around the blogosphere today, I'd be tempted to go get Subway again tonight... but alas we have a delicious roast cooking in the crock pot as I type.    Too bad they can't compete with a slow cooked, organic, grass feed, beef pot roast in a wine sauce with potatoes. 

Here's Keegan showing his support for the rights of businesses:

For Further Reading: 

Here's a link to the contest rules.

And a comment link to tell Subway what you think, pro or con.

Here's an article from American Thinker about why homschoolers are feeling excluded.

And a Worldnet Daily article on the subject of Subway and the homeschool community.

Braving the wind to walk down the gravel road to our mail box, I turned my eyes skyward. A hawk was flying at a standstill, beating his wings against the wind.

Feeling for the poor hawk who was working so hard at going nowhere, I continued gazing upward; there I saw another, much smaller bird.  As he tried to fly against the current, the little bird was continually thrown backward in the wind--appearing to fly in reverse.

Poor little bird.

Ken recently came in from an errand shaking his head. He'd turned on the car radio and heard a well-known Christian speaker "encourage" parents and young people in how to survive the teen years.

Why are we so inclined to merely survive whatever today holds in hopes of greener pastures across the fence of tomorrow?

It isn't just the teen years.  One would think that writing off six years of every person's life as drudgery to be plodded through would be bad enough, but there are books on surviving the toddler years, surviving perimenopause, surviving mid-life, surviving the empty nest... How dreary!  How desolate a prognosis!  To hope that at best we strive to survive each trying stage of life.

Yes, the world is fallen, but God created so much for our pleasure--good, rich , meaningful things for us to enjoy.

My own are still young, but  we've been blessed to witness families who decided the teen years are to be treasured--just like every other stage of life!   What joy to see parents reach beyond survival and delight in their teenagers! 

As to enduring the toddler years, we believe we can do better than mere endurance--we have fun!

I fall into the trap and catch myself starting to say, "Ah.. it will be easier when..." Then Kieran will smile up at me with his cute toothless baby grin, so new and full of wonder!  The wee ones will traipse in with bouquets of wildflowers, and I'll wipe yellow dandelion powder war-paint off the big girls faces...

Whatever stage of life I may be in, I can say with confidence:

"THIS is the day that the lord hath made!  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24

Martha Washington didn't really relish the role of being the 1st first lady, in fact she confided in her niece,  "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from..."

Yet, she made the best of it, writing to a friend, "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."

The 2nd quotation (about happiness and misery depending much on ourselves) was featured on the children's Learning Calendar yesterday. (Click here to see the entry online, and follow links to learn more.)

I'm amazed at what the children are picking up from the Learning Calendar!  Kendra especially can always tell me when various holidays are.  (She knows which day Father's day falls on and reminded me about Memorial Day recently!  Thanks to the Learning Calendar, she's a very useful child to have around when I'm having a brain fog moment in the middle of writing a check!) 

They are learning, and often, I learn too!  Martha Washington's wisdom rings true indeed!  Certainly  much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens, and on our own dispositions.

A few people commented or asked about the girls’ piano lessons. Thanks for the comments!  Getting into why we choose Suzuki touches on our educational philosophy a bit. 

We choose Suzuki because it seems to be best at teaching music to children at a very young age. (I’m not convinced at this point whether it is the absolute best for an older student.) To us, the "preschool" years are THE time to begin. Mental patterns are developing in those early years, and the same windows that allow children to so easily learn their native language are wide open to learning how to learn. Learning to "think musically" also has been shown to cross over into both linguistic and mathematic aptitudes.

Suzuki gives the children opportunity to investigate the exciting world of music while they are most interested. The gentle discipline of short practice times each day from an early age has been fantastic. We view it as introducing things at a stage where we don’t have to pressure, but can simply enjoy the natural and adventurous journey of learning.

Two, three and four year olds learn easily and joyously, making learning is a great game in our home. Some think that it is cruel to teach a three year old to read, but my children would consider it cruel not to LET them read at three. Each family is different, but to us, learning is such a delight that a child not allowed to "play along" would feel left out. At age three piano and learning to read take only a few minutes a day, leaving much time for other play and exploration.

Some advocate waiting for instrument lessons until a child reads well–often first or second grade. I don’t personally see that, but when the children are reading well (2^nd grade level) before age four, it is beside the point.

We are convinced that those who see certain things as not being able to be grasped until age seven or eight entirely miss an early window. It seems (and there is much research to back this) that there are some things that the brain can grasp quite readily if first introduced before age 3 ½ or 4, but not as readily at 5. A window of early opportunity is open, as the child’s brain tests the waters to see what pathways are needed in his or her environment. By age four the brain begins to weed out unnecessary pathways.  The brain is amazing, and these things can be re-wired, but it won't be quite as natural.

Certainly some psychologists  have concluded that 5 and 6 year olds have difficulty differentiating between letter shapes to learn reading.  It is my highly controversial opinion that if these psychologists presented these same letter shapes to 2 and 3 year olds (in a simple manner without too much other distracting information) they would find the younger children differentiate between them quite quickly. We have seen this first hand with Baby Math, with reading, and with music.

Suzuki respects the child's intelligence and encourages joyous discovery.  It also does well at "boiling down" the essentials.  The children feel important and excited as they progress at their own pace. I believe that no matter how young, we are all created to desire a purpose in our days.

In homeschooling there are several different schools of thought, we PrairieFrogs happen to be "Never too Early" types. (Especially if presented correctly, to tickle their appetites and spark a love of learning!) The other camp is "Better Late than Early". BOTH camps have had great success! Really the important thing is to inspire a love of learning, and invest in your children.

Some say we may have a child who doesn't grasp "formal" learning as early. No problem! Each child is unique.  We certainly don’t feel that a child must be taught to read or play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by age three. But, if it is fun for parent and child, takes up only a small (and eagerly anticipated) part of the day, and is rewarding to all involved, why not?

This entry isn’t intended to debate those who choose the later window. The beauty of homeschooling is fitting your approach to your family! I just thought I’d share a little glimpse into why we introduce things earlier here at PrairieFrogs Academy.

Girls at the Piano (Renoir)

One of the joys of art (whether it is in reading a novel, enjoying a painting, or listening to a beautiful musical work) is seeing ourselves. Recognizing our own reflection in art can be far more revealing than a mirror.

As children, my sister and I gazed at Renoir's paintings of two girls and imagined we were the girls in the scenes. We really didn't resemble them closely, but we identified with them immediately.

Renoir's La Lecture (below) hangs in the playroom. It is the same print that hung in my bedroom before I was married. Looking up at the picture yesterday, Kaira said, "Kendra and I like to think that those girls are us." I smiled at my two eldest daughters, one with long chestnut hair, and the other a fair blonde, and wondered how many young girls have seen themselves in that picture.

La Lecture (Renoir)

Arriving at church this Father's Day, we were greeted by the sight of Pastor and Mr. Levi (both near their 80's) up on a small ladder inspecting something under the eaves. A bird was caught in a space between boards--its attempts to free itself doing more harm than good.

Firmly but tenderly, Mr. Levi freed its leg from the crevice, then decended the ladder with the little creature cupped in his hands. One delicate leg was injured; perhaps even broken from the struggle, but the bird appeared strong enough to survive!

The children each took a turn, tentatively caressing the bird's downy body.  Finally Mr. Levi freed it to hop, flutter, and ultimately fly--away.

Much as a father––with firm hand and tender heart––saves his children from life’s predicaments, this little bird was dependant on some uncomfortable interference before he could be freed from the mess in which he’d become entangled.

We've all seen the teen who recently discovered cosmetics. She thinks she's ever so mature. Smugly oblivious to the foundation line under her chin and the lipstick on her front teeth, she casts a snide look to her "childish" friends--mere infants in lip-gloss and low-healed pumps. 

From her swaying perch atop stiletto heals, she can easily look down on those who haven't reached her heights of maturity.

Later on, as she ices her ankle and wipes away mascara smudges, perhaps she will realize that her less glitzy friends aren't missing out on much. In fact, they may be more mature after all.

Sometimes we act like this in the Christian Walk.  I cringe when I hear someone say, "Ah, but we are all at different places in our spiritual journey."  While the fact is true, we ARE all at different places in our walk, too often the implication is that the others just haven't reached their same level of enlightenment.

Several times I've heard people make that statement, then years later they come full circle. First they contend that a Christian really should do things ABC way; Later they decide that more MATURE Christians really should see clearly that XYZ is better; Ultimately they return to ABC, realizing that XYZ just 'overdone makeup' all along.

The teen diva with her gummy mascara thinks she is much more mature than her younger sister who wears only a touch of lip gloss.

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 26:12

Oops... Excuse me, I'll be back in a moment... I think I have lipstick on my teeth...

Piano and errand day got off to a bumpy start yesterday afternoon.  After getting everyone in the van, I headed down the road--in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to go!

I was driving along preoccupied with ... planning out how our homeschool day might look in the highschool years... (I know, that sounds odd, but it is honestly where my mind was!) Suddenly I realized that I'm out in nowhere-land.

I really don't have a good excuse. We've gone to the same piano studio every week for three years, and almost ALL the places we drive are in the same area as piano. I'm not sure WHERE I thought I was going.

It struck me as a reflection of life. When something is new, we map out our plan, check our compass, and know the destination. There are several sayings to reflect this such as, "He who doesn't know where he's going is likely to end up somewhere else" and "If you fail to plan you plan to fail." Such quotes remind us to start off with a purpose, but as we progress down the road a few years, it is easy to forget to check our maps. We get careless, or even arrogant–having great faith in our carefully charted course.

We must not just make a plan, but we need to prevent distractions from crowding it out., lest we slip into autopilot and look around to find that we no longer are on the path we should be.

Finding ourselves in uncharted territory because God leads us differently than the course WE charted is one thing; Wandering aimlessly due to absentminded self-absorption is another. Take a moment to look at the scenery and the street signs. Are you on the road you ought to be?

Technology is not wrong. Our Creator made us in his image. As creatures of the Creator, we create, we invent, and we learn about the world He made.

Certainly we must guard our outlook lest our technology give way to a Babel mentality--strving to be one with God--but technology is a natural outgrowth of our God given desire to learn and grow.  It is the motives and application of technology we must guard against--not technology itself.

Yes, the inventions we come up with can make us lazy, or even be used for evil. If we become too dependant on it, then the fault is within ourselves, not an evil inherent in the technology. We cannot blame our laziness on modern conviences. Neither can we blame our violence, greed, lust, or any other ills on televisions, computers, and automated processes. Technology may make it easier to fall into those traps, but it can also make it easier to do God's work. Technology is a tool.

That said, change can bring stress, and change such as the past century has experienced has a huge effect on society. Even the past decade, has brought astounding changes--such as the internet. 

With that in mind, I find the recent retirement of the AskJeeves.com butler to be, in many ways, symbolic of our changing times.  Mostly I use other search engines (google, etc) for serious queries. Still, for the past decade, I'd occasionally enjoy the novelty of asking Jeeves a few questions. Often he'd have an angle the other engines didn't, and if nothing else, his manners and British humor gave me a chuckle.  Jeeves added a little individuality to web searches.

Recently I noticed Jeeves was wearing Bermuda shorts and lounging on the beach, but I just assumed he was tired of winter and looking forward to the summer holidays. I was surprised last week to find that Jeeves was absent altogether!  AskJeeves.com had become ask.com. I wrote the following email to the staff at ask.com:

I just wanted to weigh in and let you know I was so disappointed to come
to the site and find that JEEVES wasn't here! Jeeves has such charm, and
he was the only reason I use this search engine instead of Google or
others. I liked the fact that askjeeves.com has personality. Now it is
just ask.com, and has lost it's niche, in my opinion.

At any rate, please give Jeeves my regards. I shall miss him as I return
to other search engines that are perhaps more efficient, but far less
interesting.

Regards,

Dell

They responded quite graciously, but it sounds to me like poor Jeeves was really forced into retirement--phased out by changing technology.  It's an outsourced downsized world.

We appreciate your interest in the site and your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate department.

After ten years of dutifully serving a growing population of Internet users, Jeeves decided to step down as the face of AskJeeves.com, and retire in style. Jeeves symbolized a traditional, at-your-service butler which made people feel comfortable and at home with asking any type of question.

As the web became more of a real-time utility for people, Jeeves' job dramatically changed. Users came to Ask Jeeves for more sophisticated searches. Searches that were informational, navigational, and ultimately, transactional. Ask.com users wanted a search engine to help them search, get and do whatever they needed -- at a moment's notice.

This drove us to focus on improving our robust search engine technology and give users the Web's most useful set of tools, and gave Jeeves the opportunity to relax. Today, as Ask.com we are singularly focused on helping users find what they need through the complicated, exciting, ever-changing web. No matter what the search, Ask.com is committed to meeting the search challenge.

Farewell to Jeeves; phased out by changing technology.  He's a pretty savvy butler though--I'm guessing that he'll find a way to stay industrious and prosper alongside new IT developments--that is if he tires of the beach.

Jeeves in retirement

I have a new WORD!  Ok, I know, when I have a new word (especially a shiny pretty one) I'm a bit like a kid with a new toy.  The the dictionary.com word of the day on my sidebar for today is sesquipedalian!  Here's the entry:

Sesquipedalian; ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn,

adjective:

1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.
noun:

3. A long word.

And it is SO much fun to say!  Sesquipedalian!  Sesquipedalian, sesquipedalian, sesquipedalian!