I have a bad habit... I am constantly doubting myself. There is a continuous murmuring in my head: Was that the right thing to do? The best thing to do? How could it have been done differently? Would a change here/there have made this/that better? Arguing with that critical voice has been a theme in my life ever since I can remember but now... Now that I have made a choice that makes my decisions important to the lives and well being of others, now that I homeschool, that voice has become even more insistent. Knowing what the right choices are/were is hard since the truth of them won't be seen for years. And to make matters worse, I worry that I may have communicated this voice to my children, that they, like me have developed the voice that questions and challenges their decisions on a regular basis.
Now, to some degree, I suppose, a critical voice is important. To never question what one is doing is the surest road to error but I wish I could train myself and, more importantly, my children, that once a decision IS made, one must move forward. Previous possibilities are now moot and worrying about the 'What ifs' is a waste of time and energy. Human life, after all, is really very short. We none of us knows how long we have here. Surely it is wiser to spend the time ACCOMPLISHING the good than worrying about what might have been. My question is... how is this training to be accomplished?
Now I am a fervent admirer of Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy. From everything I have read, she was a brilliant lady -- and one of the people that I would love to have met. She has, in her educational approach, something called 'Habit Training'. (For those of you interested, there is a wonderful blog called: Charlotte Mason Help which discusses implementing her strategies. There is also a downloadable e-book called "Laying down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook") For my purposes, it is her direction on how to form a habit, through the application of 'whole attention' that interests me here. Charlotte Mason said: We think, as we are accustomed to think; ideas come and go and carry on a ceaseless traffic in the rut––let us call it––you have made for them in the very nerve substance of the brain. You do not deliberately intend to think these thoughts; you may, indeed, object strongly to the line they are taking" She then goes on to discuss the formation of habits, with the most important habit (to her way of thinking -- and it turns out, mine!) being that of attention. Of course, she is discussing the creation of habits in children, with the aim of making life 'easier' as well as better for everyone involved. But it occurs to me that her ideas might well be turned on adults and on the habits of the mind. Foremost of these approaches is taking on 'one habit at a time.' I'll admit, this is truly challenging for me. I want to multi-task. I always feel as if there is MORE I should be doing in the limited time that I have at my disposal. Charlotte Mason was right, however. To change/create a habit, one must FOCUS attention, complete attention, on that habit. If one does anything else, the mind will run away and wander off on rabbit trails -- and it is not just the child's mind that does this. Adults do it too hence the strictures of meditation that tell the individual "At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain focused"
So there it is. If I wish to change my habit of mind -- and in so doing, free my children of that same critical habit -- I need to devote my focused attention on doing so. Hmmm... now, what would Ms. Mason say? I suspect she would require a positive voice, as opposed to simply denying the negative. I therefore, and perhaps with the assistance of my children, need to create a dialogue to implement in place of the critical one. At the moment a decision is made, I should train myself, and my children, to say internally 'The decision is made. We move forward from here, taking as they come the results of that decision and not wasting energy on what might have been.' Sounds good. Now to implement it!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
From my other blog: Shakespeare Amongst the Maples -- New Professions
(The following is taken from my other blogsite: Shakespeare Amongst the Maples . I am feeling a bit under the weather -- i.e. I am feeling blue -- so this is my lazy man's way of doing things!)
What are your children interested in being when they grow up? My two started out predictably: as with most boys, they have a passion for Fossils, one that was fed when we were lucky enough to visit the T-Rex Museum in Tucson. The T-Rex Museum, which sadly is now out of business, was created and run by a retired Paleontologist. It was a small place, crammed to the gills with Fossils and hands on projects. It was, in the words of it's owner 'The sort of place I wish there had been when I was a kid.' Upon leaving it, after our first visit, my youngest said, decisively "When I grown up, I am going to be a Paleontologist." My eldest, ever insightful, responded "Xander, you don't have to grown up to be a Paleontologist. Just DIG!"
This budding passion morphed a bit for my eldest after we made a weekend trip to the Stone Rose Site in Republic Washington. At this site, a dry river bed, amateur paleontolgists can dig for their own fossils. The only caveats are (1)significant finds are kept and catalogued by the museum and (2)one can only take a certain number of fossils home per day. This experience plus a hefty dose of reading (Please note: The link will take you to an Amazon list. You can then find the books/videos at your Library if you don't wish to purchase them) about the Prehistoric seas led my eldest to his new passion: Marine Paleontology. In that vein, he decided that his focus in Boy Scouts would be, when he is old enough, a branch called 'Sea Scouts'. We are lucky in this respect: one of our closest family friends is a Sea Scouts Captain and, better yet, a Geologist by training.
But, of course, while boys like Dinosaurs, and while the passion for Fossils still animates my sons' souls, their ideas about what they 'want to do when I grow up' continue to change. The latest one caught even me by surprise: My youngest has decided that he wants to be a Blacksmith... now, hmm... he has informed me that he is going to (1)have his forge in the Barn (GULP!) (2)that he wants to be apprenticed to a working Blacksmith (Do they take six year olds, Mommy? I want to start NOW!) and (3) that he needs to 'build up' his muscles because Blacksmiths have to be 'strong.' (Grin. He started his 'weight training' program by manfully carrying our HEAVY library book bags to the care for me. He had been hefting them around the library and demonstrating his muscles to the bemused librarians.) And his older brother, the budding Marine Paleontologist? Well, he still wants to do that but now, as a complimentary position to his brother's blacksmithing, he has decided to learn how to be... a KNIGHT! Yep, complete training is required, Mom. And after all, he points out to me, there is no reason whatsoever that he is restricted to ONE ambition...
Sigh. Who knows where we will end up. Meanwhile, I need to start helping them to hunt down information about Knighthood and Blacksmithing. Wish me luck!
What are your children interested in being when they grow up? My two started out predictably: as with most boys, they have a passion for Fossils, one that was fed when we were lucky enough to visit the T-Rex Museum in Tucson. The T-Rex Museum, which sadly is now out of business, was created and run by a retired Paleontologist. It was a small place, crammed to the gills with Fossils and hands on projects. It was, in the words of it's owner 'The sort of place I wish there had been when I was a kid.' Upon leaving it, after our first visit, my youngest said, decisively "When I grown up, I am going to be a Paleontologist." My eldest, ever insightful, responded "Xander, you don't have to grown up to be a Paleontologist. Just DIG!"
This budding passion morphed a bit for my eldest after we made a weekend trip to the Stone Rose Site in Republic Washington. At this site, a dry river bed, amateur paleontolgists can dig for their own fossils. The only caveats are (1)significant finds are kept and catalogued by the museum and (2)one can only take a certain number of fossils home per day. This experience plus a hefty dose of reading (Please note: The link will take you to an Amazon list. You can then find the books/videos at your Library if you don't wish to purchase them) about the Prehistoric seas led my eldest to his new passion: Marine Paleontology. In that vein, he decided that his focus in Boy Scouts would be, when he is old enough, a branch called 'Sea Scouts'. We are lucky in this respect: one of our closest family friends is a Sea Scouts Captain and, better yet, a Geologist by training.
But, of course, while boys like Dinosaurs, and while the passion for Fossils still animates my sons' souls, their ideas about what they 'want to do when I grow up' continue to change. The latest one caught even me by surprise: My youngest has decided that he wants to be a Blacksmith... now, hmm... he has informed me that he is going to (1)have his forge in the Barn (GULP!) (2)that he wants to be apprenticed to a working Blacksmith (Do they take six year olds, Mommy? I want to start NOW!) and (3) that he needs to 'build up' his muscles because Blacksmiths have to be 'strong.' (Grin. He started his 'weight training' program by manfully carrying our HEAVY library book bags to the care for me. He had been hefting them around the library and demonstrating his muscles to the bemused librarians.) And his older brother, the budding Marine Paleontologist? Well, he still wants to do that but now, as a complimentary position to his brother's blacksmithing, he has decided to learn how to be... a KNIGHT! Yep, complete training is required, Mom. And after all, he points out to me, there is no reason whatsoever that he is restricted to ONE ambition...
Sigh. Who knows where we will end up. Meanwhile, I need to start helping them to hunt down information about Knighthood and Blacksmithing. Wish me luck!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Glogster, take 2
I mentioned my new favorite tool in my last post. Here then is a link to a webinar on how to use Glogster and Netrekker:Glogster and Netrekker together Webinar
Meanwhile... with all the horrifying news coming out of Japan (10,000 missing, no tools/supplies to rescue those who are trapped, shortages of everything, not the least, energy, and now the threat of a nuclear disaster) people in our part of the world -- specifically the P.N.W. and Seattle, are looking at disaster preparedness. The scary part: there is a fault line that runs directly under the city, many of the buildings were built prior to the creation of an earthquake building code, much of the city is built on fill and is low lying enough to be innundated by Tsunami waters should a quake cause one... and, of course, a truly large and devastating quake is a distinct possibility. When the reporters were talking with the Mayor of Seattle, he made a cogent point: While individuals cannot do a lot about city preparedness, they can prepare themselves. To that end, the boys and I are going to work together on putting together a 'disaster' kit and we will be making a blog with links to information about Seattle, the risks facing the area and the tools available online for creating a disaster kit for individuals. Seems like a good time to study local geography, first aid skills and... Ham Radio operations. Yep, a new item to be added to our list of skills we want to learn. I will post a link to our Seattle Disaster and what you can do Glog once it is up and running. In the meanwhile... keep safe.
Meanwhile... with all the horrifying news coming out of Japan (10,000 missing, no tools/supplies to rescue those who are trapped, shortages of everything, not the least, energy, and now the threat of a nuclear disaster) people in our part of the world -- specifically the P.N.W. and Seattle, are looking at disaster preparedness. The scary part: there is a fault line that runs directly under the city, many of the buildings were built prior to the creation of an earthquake building code, much of the city is built on fill and is low lying enough to be innundated by Tsunami waters should a quake cause one... and, of course, a truly large and devastating quake is a distinct possibility. When the reporters were talking with the Mayor of Seattle, he made a cogent point: While individuals cannot do a lot about city preparedness, they can prepare themselves. To that end, the boys and I are going to work together on putting together a 'disaster' kit and we will be making a blog with links to information about Seattle, the risks facing the area and the tools available online for creating a disaster kit for individuals. Seems like a good time to study local geography, first aid skills and... Ham Radio operations. Yep, a new item to be added to our list of skills we want to learn. I will post a link to our Seattle Disaster and what you can do Glog once it is up and running. In the meanwhile... keep safe.
A new Educational toy
Have you heard? There is something called a 'glog'. "Glog" is short for graphical blog and boy, oh boy are they fun! I have created six so far -- collections of links for our studies. If you are curious, here is a list:
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: http://kerri2.edu.glogster.com/false/
Shakespeare Amongst the Maples: http://kerri2.edu.glogster.com/shakespeare-amongst-the-maples/
The Greek Myths Classroom: http://kerri2.edu.glogster.com/greek-myths-classroom/
Ancient History Classroom: http://kerri2.edu.glogster.com/ancient-hiatory-classroom/
Betwixt and Twain: http://kerri2.edu.glogster.com/betwixt-and-twain/
Now, I have been the one making these for my sons to use in their studies but a lot of folks with computer savvy kids have been having their KIDS use glogs as a way of presenting the information that they collect on a particular subject. There is even a way to set up a 'classroom' with student accounts so that EVERYONE in the family (or Co-op) can make blogs. Truly, this is a wonderful educational 'toy' and I highly recommend it.
One last note before I run off to 'school' -- there are two levels to this site: One can create 'free' glogs -- and those are great. Or, if you really get hooked, you can pay for a premium membership... but you don't need to do so. So... go ahead. Give the site a test drive -- and if you look at my glogs, please leave feedback. They are still works in progress.
Have a bright, sunny, and disasterless day!
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