Center of the Universe

Does anyone want to guess what the universe—or at least America—revolves around these days: Money? Power? Social status? Pleasure? Yes, I think many of us wouldn’t argue with those, and could possibly add a few more to the list. How about people, though…what group of people does America seem to revolve around today: Children?

It’s not something I’ve really given much thought to before, but the evidence is certainly there. After reading a piece written by Dr. Gene Edward Veith, academic dean of Patrick Henry College and director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, in March’s issue of Tabletalk (a monthly publication from Ligonier Misistries and R.C. Sproul), I began thinking about just how much our culture revolves around kids. Now, I know the little world Brewmaster and I live in revolves heavily around our children, and often we have the same struggles many parents have with balancing our efforts to raise Godly children without making our family an idol. But in his piece, Family vs. Culture, Dr. Veith tells how we learn about a culture’s values by studying their artifacts. After letting that sink in a little, does your heart feel a bit heavy like mine did as you look off into space thinking about all the artifacts today’s culture is leaving behind for future generations to study? Here are just a few I immediately thought of: Rap music, WWF, Grand Theft Auto, South Park…

Here’s what he had to say about today’s cultural artifacts:

And, in the oddest anthropological phenomenon of all, our cultural artifacts are shaped not by adults but by children. Teenagers set our cultural fashions. In every other culture, elders determine the fashions, make the music, and tell the stories. With us, adolescent children make the culture.

Of course, children cannot afford recording studios or Hollywood sound stages. Adults still manufacture and sell the artifacts. But they gear television and movies to the taste of adolescents, with little effort to form them into adults. And our popular music is entirely the province of teenagers, who are the performers and trend-setters. The result is that our adult culture is infantilized. Adults try to be like children, instead of vice versa, as is the case in normal cultures. All of this is, of course, pathetic, ridiculous, and embarrassing to actual children.

Ideally, the elders in families and communities teach the youth about their culture, using artifacts to reinforce the values they want to pass down. As Christians, can we use today’s “artifacts” to reinforce the values we want to impart on our children? Or, rather, will we allow today’s “artifacts” determine the values we pass down to our kids?

Coming back to my point of children being the center of the universe…I know there are many explanations and theories for how society has shifted from that of being elder-led to child-led. Even in families like ours that try so hard to be Christ-centered and elder-led, the temptation to let the children be the parents’ peers can be hard to resist. But can anyone argue that we have gone overboard on the authority we have delegated to children—way beyond “spoiling our kids” or “child-centered parenting”—by letting them dictate today’s culture, all the in the name of “children’s rights”? Or do you think that “we’ve come a long way” in doing so, and that as a society we’ve progressed for the better because of it?

Scripture Memory System

Brewmaster and I have just started a new way to memorize scripture with the kids, thanks to the ladies at Simply Charlotte Mason. It sounds a little over-the-top at first, but I think it's a really smart way to not only memorize a verse for the day, but review the ones you've just learned every other day, then once a week, then once a month, etc. Of course, having a four-year-old with a photographic memory makes this pretty easy...for him, anyway!

Hanging with the Papas

Danny with Brewmaster's dad, who visited the other weekend and celebrated his birthday with us.

Tommy and Sammy with my dad, who visited that same weekend. (By the way, sis...that's your son's book. Sammy tried telling me he left a book here, but it wasn't until I posted this picture that I now know which one he's talking about! We'll get it to you one of these days, I guess!)

Curriculum Update

I posted a while back that we are leaning toward a Charlotte Mason approach to our homeschooling. Since then, I've found two very helpful websites: one is Ambleside Online, a free online curriculum guide; the other is Simply Charlotte Mason, a site with lots of great tools to help direct and organize your CM curriculum.

I have to admit that early on in my CM research, I thought this method sounded a bit too artsy-fartsy for my boys, and that Brewmaster would never go for this kind of learning style. I couldn't have been more wrong! He is very excited about this philosophy, and we both are anxious to get started. One thing that appeals to us so much about CM is that we will be forced to finally read "the classics"--something we've always talked about doing, often wondering why it wasn't pushed on us when we were in school. While a CM education might not focus as much on learning facts-facts-facts and pounding them into your brain in hopes that they stick, it will foster good habits and a desire for learning things on your own. More importantly, with the use of narration and journals, you will learn methods to aid in your learning with better retention. Therefore, less time wasted on information that will surely be lost soon after "the test", but better skills to employ as you get older and really want and need to learn all you can.

I've also been focusing on finalizing a math curriculum this past week. With a CM approach, I plan to use whatever books are available from the library, which means I won't be spending much money on curriculum--just notebooks, paper, etc. That leaves more money to spend on math and science. I had narrorwed my math choices down to Saxon and Singapore. The Lutheran school here in town (our "back-up" in case we can't homeschool) uses Saxon Math, staying a grade ahead of the public schools. Initially I was leaning toward Saxon so I could make sure the boys were keeping up with them--just in case. Although, we then realized that we don't need to keep up with them; if the boys attended that school, they would place them wherever they fit in, whether ahead or behind the rest. I've had a couple friends recommend Singapore Math to us, and it sounds like a good curriculum. Best of all, it's very reasonably priced! But as I was reading through the Simply Charlotte Mason website, I read about their recommendation for the early years: RightStart Mathematics. (I should note they recommend Math U See for the later years.) This one really has all the bells and whistles! My first thought was that it was almost too much (as in dollar amount and being over-the-top), but after reading more about it, looking over their sample (pdf) and taking inventory of my own teaching strengths and weaknesses, I think this is the one. The starter kit is very pricey, so I'm going to let this all sink in for a while, do some more reading, and see what things I can leave out in hopes of not spending so much money. But, I will always remind myself of the money I'm saving by not buying other curriculum. Math will be one of my weaker subjects to teach (but only until Brewmaster takes over in the upper grades), so I don't think it will be a waste spending more on something like this.

TeenPact

Just a quickie post here...

While skimming my most-read blogs, Jeannie Fulbright's latest post detailed her daughter's recent experience with TeenPact. Here's yet another reason why I can't wait until the boys are older--more cool stuff for me to learn and experience with them! I briefly read the site, but it doesn't appear to be just a "homeschooler thing". Check it out.

Teacher Salary Wrap-Up

After some more thought on this issue, and a few conversations and emails, I’ve been put in my place to know better than to question teachers’ work. This confuses me a bit, because we’re often told how teachers desire to have more parental involvement. I’m sure like many things, though, only in moderation. It’s still important to give the teachers room to do their job since they are the ones with all the experience and expertise. But I’m wondering if many times parents err on the side of watching from too far a distance as to not step on an educator’s toes. I fear this many lead to less accountability unto which teachers should be held.

As far as the salary bit goes, I’ve learned from Brewmaster that the $34/hour number was taken from metro areas (St. Louis, K.C., and S'field here in MO) and that Missouri teachers are way down at the 43rd state for pay. That troubles me, but at the same time I don’t know enough about economics and cost-of-living issues to know how all those things factor in together. I do know my first reaction to the $34/hour number was, wow! they get paid that much? I’ve been told several times now that increasing teachers’ salaries is important so we are not losing so many teachers to jobs outside of education. I can definitely see that point. However, I personally know more teachers who have left the system because of the political and administrative bull-crap they have to put up than the low salaries. As I said before, I have no problems increasing teachers’ salaries as long as it comes from the local officials and there is a real need in order to keep teachers in the schools.

Brewmaster hit on something in his comment here about what he thinks are bigger problems in public schools: administrators and dead-beat parents. There are so many factors that play into the troubles our education system is facing these days; it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few. But this one thing I know: thank God we still have the freedom to educate our children at home if we so choose. It’s not like that everywhere. We are learning more and more each day about homeschooling and the joys and successes it can bring to families. We are also learning more and more about the threats that are out there to take away that freedom. This is not just kook-talk: we all need to be aware of the State’s desire to own our children, taking away the parent’s right to be in charge of their child’s education….and I’m not just talking about taking away homeschooling parents’ rights to keep their kids at home.

One more question: would a teacher rather deal with an over-zealous parent like me than a parent who doesn’t give a rip? No doubt the teachers out there will be having the last laugh on me when I get into the thick of homeschooling and discover the joys of lesson-planning!

First Step: Admitting You Have a Problem

Hi. My name is Headmistress. [“Hi, Headmistress.”] And, um….uh….[sigh]…I’m a long-commenter. I don’t really know how it all started. I mean, I don’t think I’ve always been one. I don’t know; maybe I have always been one. Well, I know before I got my own blog, I’d go hang out at Architecture & Morality and comment with Relievedebtor, but I seemed to handle commenting in moderation. I mean, there might’ve been a few times I went over my limit, but I didn’t think I had a real problem. But ever since I got my own blog, I’ve noticed that sometimes I’ve really gone overboard…way overboard.

I’m beginning to get the impression that my problem is keeping others away from commenting with me. Sometimes I try to limit my commenting, and occasionally with great success. I usually don’t have a problem commenting in moderation over at Tony’s blog. But here at my own blog, now and then, I just can’t seem to stop. I’ll tell myself, “Okay—that’s enough. Stop here.” And then I’ll think of something else, and before you know it…well, you know what I mean.

But, at least I’m admitting that I have a problem, and I guess that’s an important first step. I want to change; I really do. But I know it won’t happen overnight. [Hang head; big sigh.] Thank you.

$34/hour?

Are teachers really underpaid? Surely I must be one of those cruel, conservative public school bashers who has always felt that teachers are adequately compensated, and some possibly over-compensated when taking into account poor academic results in some public schools (note I said "some"). So being the one-sided, uncompromising bigot that I am, I enthusiastically share this op-ed from the WSJ with all who are willing to read.

By the way--lighten up, all you whose veins are popping out of your head in anger at me right now...I called myself all those names up there so you don't have to. I'm finding these days that too few people can hold a differing opinion on this subject without being called ignorant, unenlightened, unappreciative or just plain mean when questioning teachers' salaries and whose view is not in line with the NEA. And note I said "questioning"; I haven't completely made up my mind on this yet. I know many teachers who are doing the Lord's work in the classroom. But, for as long as I can remember, I've believed that teachers earn a fair wage when taking into consideration the hours spent in the classroom. ("But the work we take home and countless hours getting ready in the summer never get counted!")

So now is the chance for anyone to convince me that the $34.06 hourly salary for teachers is not enough. That seems high, I know. But according to their report, two Manhattan Institute researchers gathered their data straight from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and apparently that is the number the BLS comes up with from the information given to them from employers (public schools) and the actual hours worked by teachers (36.5/week, according to the BLS). Taking those numbers and multiplying them by 40 (I'm subtracting an estimated 12-week summer vacation from the 52 weeks in a year, although, according to the report's nine-month contractual arrangement most teachers face, it would be closer to 38 weeks), you get over $49,000 a year (or $47,000 for 38 weeks). Do public teachers really make this much annually? (And I should note that the report found in some areas, public school teachers make over twice that of private school teachers; however, in other areas, private school teachers made more.)

Check out the article and report...I'm curious to know other people's reaction to this and how the numbers compare to where you live.