The Lies of Our Times

I think one of the biggest lies that our culture has perpetrated on it's youth is the idea that:
 "You can do anything if you just want it bad enough!"
How many times, in our youth and school years, did we hear "It's only a matter of making up your mind. If you want to, you can be an astronaut, an engineer, or even the president!" OK well, considering the caliber of recent administrations, anyone probably can be president.
The question is, why are we telling children that they can do anything, and at the same time diagnosing them with every kind of learning problem, mental health issue and personality disorder we can think of? You got your label? Great! Now, tell us what you want to do with your life and we will find some way to accommodate your limitations and get you the help you need so that we can shove your square little hiney into that round hole. Why not just go find a square hole?


There are people that can run a marathon in record time. There are people that can run a marathon in a day. There are people that can run. I am not one of them. I can tell myself that I can all day long, but I can't. I have bad hips and knees.
I can't do higher math. That's OK. I get to a certain point and it starts to sound like Swahili. I think I could learn Swahili, but there is something in my brain that inhibits my ability to learn math. I don't think God is disappointed, after all, He made me this way. He obviously had a plan and higher Math wasn't a part of it.

Tim would have loved to have been a pilot. He has the aptitude and tons of desire, but he also has terrible eyesight and vertigo. Fact.
The things that we can't do don't define us, they direct us toward the things that we actually have been given, our gifts.
Telling students that they can "do anything" really doesn't mean "do anything". It leaves them feeling like they are expected to shoot for Wall street or the White House and then if that doesn't work out they can teach or become a landscaper. What if they already know that they would LOVE teaching or landscaping? Are their gifts less worthy because they didn't attempt the highest peak and shoot for the top first? What's wrong with just shooting for the best version of yourself from the beginning?

What happens in a classroom when a person with intellectual or physical limitations hears the teacher telling the class, "If you want it, you can do it!", whatever "it" is? What if you just can't? It's OK not to be that high academic achiever or athlete. What's not OK is to drive yourself for the dreams of someone else or because "it" has to be attempted before you can settle down and find where you fit. If you want it, try it. If you can't get there, try something else. Life is too short to buy into other people's ideas of what your life should look like. Follow your dreams, within the bounds of your capabilities, but don't beat yourself up because you have to modify the dream. Try, yes. Try as hard as you can, and when you feel that you have tried yourself out, try something else. And don't bring up Rudy Ruteger because he tried as hard as he could, and he did play one awesome football game, but then went out and did what he's really good at, motivating people.

We do live in a land of opportunity, but one of the most beautiful things about our country is what the old-timers called "Yankee Ingenuity". Genius is not defined by IQ, but by the ability to find, develop and use the gifts that we have been given to their true purpose. You might be a math genius and win a Nobel prize for Science. Awesome. You might be a literary genius, and write a Nobel prize-winning novel. Fantastic. What if you are a people genius? You might not win a Nobel prize, but your contribution is no less brilliant. You have to ability to motivate and move others in ways that a math genius could never figure out. We need you!

Don't get caught up in the lie that you can do anything if you just want it bad enough, because while you are trying to figure out how to achieve the impossible dream, you might miss the thing that makes you truly happy. It's not enough to want it, it has to be meant for you, and the One who made you is the One who has the perfect plan for you. Ask Him, He'll tell you!

Interesting Article

Profound shift in kind of families who are home schooling their children

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

As of spring 2007, an estimated 1.5 million, or 2.9% of all school-age children in the USA, were home-schooled, up from 1.7% in 1999.

The new figures come from the U.S. Department of Education, which found that 36% of parents said their most important reason for home schooling was to provide "religious or moral instruction"; 21% cited concerns about school environment. Only 17% cited "dissatisfaction with academic instruction."

Perhaps most significant: The ratio of home-schooled boys to girls has shifted significantly. In 1999, it was 49% boys, 51% girls. Now boys account for only 42%; 58% are girls.

That may well be a result of parents who are fed up with mean-girl behavior in schools, says Henry Cate, who along with his wife home-schools their three daughters in Santa Clara, Calif. "It's just pushing some parents over the edge," says Cate, who writes the blog Why Homeschool.

Home schooling has grown most sharply for higher-income families. In 1999, 63.6% of home-schooling families earned less than $50,000. Now 60.0% earn more than $50,000.

Cate says many highly educated, high-income parents are "probably people who are a little bit more comfortable in taking risks" in choosing a college or line of work. "The attributes that facilitate that might also facilitate them being more comfortable with home-schooling."

Among the other findings:

•3.9% of white families home-school, up from 2% in 1999.

•6.8% of college-educated parents home-school, up from 4.9% in 1999.

Michelle Blimes home-schools her three daughters in Orem, Utah. Initially it was for academics, and now she sees social benefits. "They should be able to enjoy playing and being kids before being thrown into the teen culture," Blimes says.

One Day at a Time

Today, as I entered our attendance in our school tracking program, I saw that it had reached 91 days. We are well beyond halfway through our school year.
I am starting to see worn covers on books. The used, wrinkled pages in the workbooks are a sign to me of all the great information that the boys are soaking up.

My file box is getting heavier.
February is a difficult month as far as enthusiasm, but March becomes the month of the swing into Spring and the final stretch to the end of the year.
I am very encouraged by the boys progress.

John is going to have to go into a higher level in his writing program, and I am excited by the way his writing is developing.
Paul has learned almost all 50 states and capitals. That is his geography this year.

Brendan is doing a Geography notebook and is doing a nice job. He will have every state mapped and colored by the end of the year.
He is also doing well in Math and he gets a "day off" from it after most of his tests, as he usually gets an A and that is his reward.

John is out of his reading books now and is doing an independent reading program.
He is going to be reading and writing reports for the rest of the year. He reads so well and he is going to be getting into heavier and more philosophical reading. He loves to discuss the things he reads and he has such good insights.
His Math is going great! He had a couple of tough weeks, but he has gotten back into the groove and is getting good grades on his tests again.

Science with the co-op was a learning experience for both of us. I realized that we are going to have to find some really good Science classes for him as he moves into the higher grades. Teamwork is just too important in that subject.
Our Earth Science book is a year long project,but I do have to say, it is sure a good way to teach varying ages and learning styles.
Both Brendan and Paul are able to follow the book and they are learning so much! Over all, this has been a great year so far, but I am sure that the students, and the teacher will be more than ready when it's over!