Findings

I’ve been tagged by A Wrung Sponge to do the Five Things meme. Here’s how it goes:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

1. I was a stay-at-home mom to a 2-year-old,
2. a committed public-schooler,
3. a committed over-exerciser,
4. just barely pregnant with my second child, and
5. completely unaware of blogging!

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

This is so great! I almost never have a list, but today I made one and get to boast about it! It includes mundane activities like:

1. Water the newly-planted veggie garden;
2. Ride shotgun over my daughters as they clean under their beds;
3. Finish reading two books to my older daughter;
4. Vacuum;
5. Finish a book I’m reading about doubt, God in the Dark.

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Barbecue potato chips
3. Mixed nuts
4. All-bran multigrain crackers (honest!)
5. More chocolate chip cookies

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Can I ask my husband? He’s the boomer, I’m the nester. Hmm…

1. Create an education/scholarship fund for homeschoolers
2. Buy some property in the country to keep horses, and a big rototiller for a big garden
3. Invest/save a chunk to live off and to educate/provide for my kids
4. Find a family in need and invest in them
5. Use the extra time to volunteer overseas as a family

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Spending too much time online
2. Baking too much
3. Weighing the options till the moment of choice has closed up shop and gone home
4. Speak first, think later
5. Still being in my jammies when Sesame Street comes on at 10:00

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Endicott, NY
2. Wilmore, KY
3. Lexington, KY
4. Oneonta, NY
5. Can’t wait to see!

What are five jobs you’ve had?

1. Pumpkin picker/cider presser
2. Grocery store cashier
3. Transcript secretary
4. Graduate editorial assistant and teacher
5. Professor of English

What five people do you want to tag?

1. There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town
2. Stray Thoughts
3. Dog Ear Diary
4. Deb on the Run
5. Barchester at Penthorpe

A good friend sent me a gift: Seasons of a Mother’s Heart by Sally Clarkson, a book subtitled, “Heart-to-heart encouragement, inspiration and insight for homeschooling mothers.” In the third chapter, “Beside Still Waters,” the author recalls some advice given her as a young woman when she served as a missionary: look to your personality and determine what you need to keep going. I want to give the question some thought.

1. I need moments of quietness. By that, I mean literal quietness: no audiobooks playing in the background, no radio on, no one talking to me, no interactions between children happening loudly in the next room. Silence. I can’t thrive without it.
2. Moments of solitude. I get up quite early to achieve this (and #1). Sometimes it’s in the house; often it’s on a walk in the neigborhood. (The dog comes with me, but she doesn’t count.) I think my sanity would benefit if I plan some time once a week or so in the evening too… even a half hour to sit at Barnes & Noble by myself as part of a grocery shopping trip.
3. Time in prayer and Bible study. I’ve had the habit of doing this first thing in the morning for 15 years or so, but it seems that prayer gets harder rather than easier. Not sure why that is.
4. Right brain stimulation: music, heard or played myself at the piano; reading; writing.
5. Friends. Between churches, my circle of friends has shrunken, but I have some dear ones far away that I like to check in with.

These are the things that fill my tank so that I have something to give during the other 9/10ths of life, when it’s needed by my family. I wouldn’t say I’m deprived in any of these basic areas. Yet often I feel a stinginess, like I don’t have the things others need from me. *Note to self: feelings can be deceptive. You have what you need. Give it away, like the widow of Zarephath (I Kings 17).

…in no particular order:

1. Emily Dickinson, “Much Madness“
2. Wendell Berry, “The Peace of Wild Things“
3. Denise Levertov, “St. Peter and the Angel“
4. Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Days“
5. e. e. cummings, “i thank You God for most this amazing day“
6. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Earth’s crammed with heaven“
7. Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses“
8. Jane Hirschfield, “The Decision“
9. G.K. Chesteron, “Evening“
10. John Updike, “Seven Stanzas at Easter“

And one for good measure: Walt Whitman, “Song of the Open Road“

I discovered at the Thinklings website that you can visit The Mechanical Contrivium to learn the top ten trivia tips about yourself. Here’s what they had to say about me:

1. A rhinoceros horn is made from compacted writer2b.
2. The writer2b-fighting market in the Philippines is huge - several thousand writer2b-fights take place there every day.
3. Antarctica is the only continent without writer2b.
4. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be writer2b.
5. If you break writer2b, you will get seven years of bad luck!
6. It’s bad luck for a flag to touch writer2b.
7. Writer2b can give birth ten days after being born, and is born pregnant!
8. A writer2bometer is used to measure writer2b!
9. Writer2b can only be destroyed by intense heat, and is impermeable even to acid.
10. On stone temples in southern India, there are more than 30 million carved images of writer2b.

Who knows what you’ll discover about you?

Here are my activities since going to bed last night:

1. 12:14 AM: I bolt from bed and rush in when my 4-year-old has a coughing fit. She stares at me briefly and uncomprehendingly, then goes back to sleep.
2. 3:00 AM: I wake suddenly while standing aimlessly beside my bed, then realize - my 6-year-old’s light is on. I tell her what time it is. I get her a drink of water. We both agree she needs a clock.
3. 3:40 AM: My eyes pop open as the dog, who’s slipped the surly bonds of downstairs once again, collapses heavily on the fragrant heap of yesterday’s clothes beside me on the floor. 
4. 4:17 AM: I get up and take ibuprofen for the shower rod someone has inserted between my shoulder blades.
5. 6:08 AM: I rise from 20,000 leagues under sleep to the urgent stage whisper of my 6-year-old: “Mommy! Here’s something horses like to drink: oat water! Put oats in a glass with some water, stir it, then take the oats out.” My husband, awake at last beside me, comes to the rescue: “That sounds good,” he tells her.

Till tonight, dearest bed… 

“This isn’t some story in a newspaper. This is real.”

Once you get past the irony of one smoothly crafted mirage (Hollywood) commenting on the unreality of the other (newspapers), Jason Bourne’s terse cautionary word to a reporter about to be murdered in The Bourne Ultimatum is a pretty accurate description of journalism today. I want to get some of what bugs me lately into words, so here are just a few general impressions about the news industry:

1. Information pathology. It’s possible to get updates on any developing situation that interests you 24 hours a day. Information and images are vomited in a continuous stream.  The network news has broadcasted the faces and words of killers, and even actual killings, in the interest of keeping us “informed.” But understanding, which to me is part of being informed, only comes with time and reflection. Information inundation - perspective = blunt trauma.
2. Factual inaccuracy. Because my husband has served in a public position locally, over the past 10 years his name has come up in the paper a few times. Never once have the facts been accurate. My personal favorite was the time I read that we made half a million dollars a year. “Honey, is there something you’re not telling me?” I asked at the breakfast table. “If we make half a million, why am I driving a Tercel?” How many other “facts” do they get wrong that I know nothing about?
3. Faulty reasoning. How about when journalists fail to know how to think through what they present? Recently our newspaper reported on an upcoming legal case I know something about. One side’s contention was presented as fact; the other side’s was not presented at all. “It’s in the court documents,” the reporter insisted. Well, sure; so is the other side’s claim. The failure to even discern a fact from an opinion is journalistic ineptitude. Yet this is the brilliant analysis we’re asked to trust as our lens for current events.
4. News vs. stories. I have great respect for journalism, which involves digging up facts and presenting them to an interested public. This is essential for democracy. It takes time and effort. I have no respect at all for the creation of tantalizing and ephemeral stories - a process better accomplished without all the facts, and that results in deception of the populace, rather than informing us.
5. Infiltration of the blogosphere. The online version of our local paper includes a “story chat” after each news story. 24 hours a day, you can vent your issues and opinions anonymously in a public forum. It’s research free. It’s consequence free. It’s 15 minutes of fame at its best. But it’s not journalism, and it doesn’t belong in journalistic space. It does, however, determine what stories we’ll see resurrected in future issues. The more story chat comments, the more sequels are guaranteed.

Are these things the results of the mutation of journalism into “the news industry” and its accompanying shift in production values? As I write this, I’m realizing that I believe true journalism is subversive. It’s supposed to keep us informed, and keep history honest. It can’t do that when it becomes part of the prevailing industrial landscape. What scares me is that the news industry is at once infatuated with its own creative power, and utterly irresponsible with it. It loses none of its power when it loses its integrity.

*Note: I’ve written this post (more or less) twice, and deleted it because it seems like ranting. But I’m leaving it this time - not because I’m convinced it’s any better, but because I don’t want to find myself writing it yet again… Besides, I only rant where no one will challenge me. Which is to say, comments are welcome.

Here’s Emily Dickinson’s take on the news, called “The Only News I Know”:

The only news I know
Is bulletins all day
From immortality: 

Rest is here.

I’ve wanted to write a midyear evaluation of my first homeschool attempt for my first grader. But two weeks into the new year, I admit it’s a difficult task. (So, for procrastination, I get an A.) Here goes, using a scale of 1 - 10…

1. Courage: 10. I never considered homeschooling in my life before last Easter Sunday. As a child of public school teachers, I always thought it was for paranoid militia control freak types and produced maladapted citizens. (Okay, slight exaggeration…) But circumstances brought me into contact with some pretty impressive homeschoolers, and the week after Easter I bought The Well-Trained Mind, read it, and felt strongly that it was the right thing to do. So, for uncharacteristic carpe diem, I give myself a generous grade.
2. Relationship: 10. Part of the reason I did this was academic and spiritual, but mostly it was because I felt I was using public school to run away from my own fears of being inadequate as a mother. I don’t always know how to relate to my kids, but I’m definitely in the game, and there are rewards. When we were doing verbs a few weeks ago, I asked my daughter for actions everyone in the family performed. When it was my turn, I feared it would be, “Mommy cooks. Mommy cleans. Mommy disciplines.” Instead it was, “Mommy helps. Mommy hugs. Mommy loves.” (I was shocked… but in a good way!)
3. Developing love of learning: 7. This, more than the curriculum of a classical education, is my educational goal. My 6 yo doesn’t like to interrupt playtime for lessons. She doesn’t roll out of bed eager to break open the Saxon math. On the other hand, she’s constantly making connections between lessons and life, enjoying more free time to play creatively instead of being herded from one activity to the next or being plopped in front of a Disney movie as happened on a daily basis in kindergarten, and listening to many more stories. She picks up books and reads them, or tries to read them, now. When we don’t do school, she initiates: “Now I’m going to read to you.” Or, “I think we should do some history now.” So there’s love of learning, but not the greatest ability to submit to structure.
4.  Academic progress: 10.  We’re ahead in every subject.
5. Curriculum: 9. I switched from Singapore to Saxon math, and I like it better because I have a clearer sense of how to guide. But it can be tedious. Story of the World is working well for history, Spelling Workout, First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, and Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading are working well, and my Kingfisher encyclopedias for animals and astronomy have been very user-friendly in designing a science curriculum. She actually takes the animal encyclopedia to bed with her occasionally.
6. Literacy development: 10. I’ve restricted television pretty severely, and read all sorts of books instead. Some are below her reading level, and she’s beginning to read these for herself, and sometimes to her younger sister. Some are just fun stories; some are at a more challenging reading level. It’s true, what they say about children liking to hear stories even if the language and concepts are a bit beyond them. Some mysterious language thing happens even if they don’t comprehend 100%. My 6 yo listens to audiobooks too, the virtues of which are laid out well in this article. However, it fails to include repetition as one of the advantages of audiobooks; she listens over and over to Little House in the Big Woods, The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Suess Favorites, Tales of the Old Testament, and Cherished Bible Stories. These we own; through the library we’ve also enjoyed the other Little House books, the Narnia books, E.B. White reading Charlotte’s Web, Runaway Ralph, and a few others. My 4 yo likes the Frog and Toad stories, the Frances stories, Mouse Soup, and Mother Goose Remembers. We all like The Velveteen Rabbit read by Meryl Streep, but not too often. (I don’t want them to get numb to it.)
7. Worldview: 10 (I guess). In history, we’re able to see Bible stories in their historical context, which reinforces their real-worldness. We’re able to see the distinctives of Christianity against the belief systems of other ancient cultures. But the big plus in the worldview arena is simply the more relaxed way we can deal with “thinking Christianly.” I found last year that circumstances forced certain discussions because there was, whether consciously or unconsciously I can’t say, a kind of pop-culture indoctrination agenda being developed. I’m more comfortable this year because I’m not finding myself in the awkward position of having to take a defensive stance against another authority figure who’s peddling a godless worldview without even the awareness that it constitutes a subjective belief system.  
8. Socialization: 7. I’m not totally satisfied. There’s a co-op that meets on Fridays, and maybe it’s time to check it out. It hasn’t appealed to me because it’s a time commitment that boxes us in, as well as a commitment to teach other kids when I’m trying to find my way with my own. But I’m ready to investigate it. She’s been in Brownies, taken horseback riding lessons, and is now doing Upward basketball. The quality of socialization has been good, and she’s more idea-driven than people-driven. But I’m curious whether we need a little more quantity. On the upside, my 6 yo and my 4 yo describe themselves as “best friends.” That counts for a lot.
9. Logistics/discipline/execution: 6. I thought I’d be a real gestapo-type about structure, but each week after about 2 days of structure I have to take more of an unschooling approach for a day, then press on again on Thursday and Friday. We get everything done, but I myself hate the structure and have a hard time getting going bright and early, when we’re fresh. I’m also not great at dividing my attention between the two kids, and feel like the 4 yo gets short-shrift. On the upside, I keep great records.

Average: 87%. So there it is - a mixed bag, not the golden-veiled wonder I imagined before we got started, but certainly a respectable attempt so far. I need now to start thinking about next year, and whether I want to follow the path of classical education or not.

Now, to reward myself for finally getting this thought out, I’m going to go watch Persuasion - the first of many weeks of Jane Austen on Masterpiece Theatre.

And speaking of classics, here are two Woods for this Week: first, the Pauline Baynes illustration from The Magician’s Nephew:

Next, the cover illustration from the 70’s vintage version of the book I read as a child. It’s a reminder that evil can enter the wood:

The concept of the Decades ‘08 Challenge, explained here, intrigues me: read 8 books in 8 consecutive decades in ‘08. I’m in with the following list:

1. 1890’s: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
2. 1900’s: A Room With a View, E. M. Forster
3. 1910’s: Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
4. 1920’s: Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
5. 1930’s: The Sword in the Stone, T.H. White
6. 1940’s: The Ill-Made Knight, T.H. White
7. 1950’s: The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
8. 1960’s: Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, C.S. Lewis

That’s it as it stands now. I’m looking forward to this!

Becky of Becky’s Book Reviews is hosting a reading challenge that “is designed to ‘celebrate’ author birthdays. Choose one author for each month of the year. Read at least one book a month. 12 authors. 12 birthdays.” I can’t resist this one! Anyone can join the fun up through the third week (or so) of January 2008, but I have my list ready now (a mere five minutes after discovering Becky’s challenge):

• January: Lloyd Alexander 
• February: Russell Hoban
• March: Dr. Suess
• April: Anne McCaffrey 
• May: Arnold Lobel
• June: Chris Van Allsburg
• July: Beatrix Potter
• August: Tasha Tudor
• September: Jack Prelutsky
• October: Gene Zion
• November: Madeleine L’Engle or C.S. Lewis
• December: Noel Streatfield or James Thurber

9/07 - 12/07 (children’s books excluded):