Lexical Light

Education Defined by A Quotable Friend

"Education should be a comprehensive system for training a whole person. If we only address academic pursuits, we end up with an arrogant, know-it-all. Addressing vocational matters exclusively, will produce an ignorant person who is unable to appreciate things outside the realm which he is trained for. And addressing only spiritual issues will cause self-righteousness and arrogance of spirit. The entire person, body, soul and spirit must be taught in a state of congruence." -CB @Liberty blog

Wow. That's really what I said when I read that. Well put, my friend. (She's also a U2 fan. Cool and smart with good taste in music.)

Road Trip

A few weeks ago we celebrated the opening of a short stretch of road. The kids & I went to the grand opening. We thought it would be fun to make a "Thank You" sign. Alexa held it up in the heat, throughout the ceremony. About half way through I had to offer her a $2 incentive, but it was money well spent.  I don't want to take our city leaders and workers for granted. I also want to teach the kids a bit about how our society is run.

The said road is not long, but it's quite important. It's a north/south connecting road that will take off about 10 minutes of several local trips we make. Woo-hoo. It's also makes ours grocery store about 8 minutes closer.Whee!

Dr. Wannabe, Paging Dr. Wannabe

Dr. Lexie. Yep. Part of me wants to get a doctorate in something so I can be Dr. Lexie. It would take a long time since only have a bachelor's degree. I don't even know what kind of advanced degree I would want. I have no long term career goal that requires a doctorate. Finally, there's no way I'm going back to school now. I'm trying to school my children. So, what gives?

I've tried to check my heart & make sure it's not a pride thing. I don't think it is. It must have something to do with how much I enjoy being on a college campus.  Since I worked full-time through college I didn't have the stereo-typical "college experience," so I don't think it's a longing for the good ol' days thing. I just like being on campus and learning stuff.

Aha! Maybe it's not prideful, but perhaps I do want something "official" for my learning. According to the quick MotherStyles quiz I took about personality, two of the ways I'm energized, as an INTP person, are by taking a class (iNtuitive me) and objective validation (Thinking me) of my competence. Now the Dr. wannabe thoughts make sense.

Thankfully, I have a paradigm and a plan to scratch the Doctoral itch. You can read about it tomorrow soon.

More than an Elf

"Expand means to get bigger. So, we expand." -- Kara, 5 years old

Science concept. Check. Vocabulary. Check. Auditory comprehension. Check.

Sounds like our homeschooling is progressing. What curriculum was that? Ummm...how 'bout the The Jim McNeil News Hour on PBS - at 10:30 p.m.?

I was working on a blog post inspired by the shifthappens presentation about the exponential growth in technology and information we are experiencing, which is an inkling of what our kids will face. Jack had just watched the presentation and was watching the News Hour when a story about Intel's new computer chip came on. (Audio here.) I stopped blogging and to watch the perfectly apropos story. Not being able to sleep, Kara was downstairs on the love seat. I figured it would be a 2-for-1 deal to watch the story and snuggle with her. At the end of the piece, she piped up with the above quote. Somewhere in the news story she had picked up the word expand and was compelled to explain it to me. (Of course, some of us expand more than others, but we didn't go there.) She's one smart elf.

Big Books and Powerpoint

"... big fonts, big graphics, and a “storytelling” orientation. These are three crucial qualities of a good presentation."
-- Guy Kawasaki on the winners of The World's Best Presentation Contest

Hey! It sounds like Guy is talking about a Big Book. It seems some principles of  communication apply throughout life, from preschool to the boardroom. Another reminder of what I should teach my kids. It's also a reminder of the usefulness of storytelling.

What Should Kids Learn?

"Today's learner will have 10-14 jobs...by the age of 38."*

*Per the U.S. Department of Labor via this shifthappens slide presentation.

That's just one of the mind boggling group of facts, statistics and projections in the presentation. Besides making me feel really, really small, (as opposed to really, really good-looking) it made me think of how to prepare my kids for the future.

What should I teach them?

First and foremost, the Word of God and the importance of following Jesus. From those things they will learn wisdom and how to treat others.

After that, teach them to be learners - able to discern, process and communicate information.

Basic facts and skills are essential, but more important than memorizing specific dates, etc. is a general understanding of history and a relationship with the Author of HIStory.

HT: Guy Kawasaki.