I haven't really had a lot of time to write, which is starting to wear on me mentally, so get ready, as some point the floodgates will be opened. I feel really sad that I let all of Hearing and Deaf Awareness Month pass and I didn't write a single thing about living with a Hearing Impaired spouse and comparing it to my own vision struggles, because it's seriously different and it's obvious when you are dealing with the situation, that no one realizes how very different it is, and part of that is because the deaf prefer to live in a subculture of society rather than integrate with society. Also, we've been battling a wonderful spring cold/virus/cough/nasal nastiness, and quite frankly I'm almost as overdo for a date with my pillow as I am with my husband!
Oh and our game is in live beta over on facebook, and I definitely need to write something up about that! But it is sucking my life away, because if I'm not playing it, we are talking about it.
However, I thought I would take a moment to share some of the stuff I've been reading and thinking about while it's relevant. So after the jump get ready for some links and videos!
First the amazing people over at Parent Hacks were sharing their ongoing decision process with deciding the right school solutions for their children. I too have greatly struggled with how and where to educate my children and for the present am rather happy with what we have. It's not perfect, but very few things are and the more I learn about my daughter's experience vs her peers whose parents took different options I know we have made the right choice for her, for now. This great little video is by a group that has a bunch of informative well structured videos, and I really like the style and it's ability to make you think about what you thought you knew. In fact I enjoy it so much, you will be getting two of their videos today.
First up, education - a history and a future? (- my title not theirs)
Ok, so I at least thought it was something to think about. Remember, the reason we have public schools in America is so that each citizen can do enough arithmetic to figure their own taxes (hmm, nope most people can't do this), read and write well enough to read and sign a contract (hmmm), and to be able to think critically about politics and reason well enough to follow campaigns and vote wisely in elections (not even going to begin to touch this, but I'm sure we all know someone who doesn't have a clue of the name of the person they voted for, just the little letter next to their name, that's all I'm sayin'!)
So on to the next topic. Another video by the same group this time linked to me by an autistic girl in her blog Reports from a Resident Alien. First off I really really enjoy her perspective on society and individuals. I do feel she doesn't give us neuro typicals enough credit for our individual struggles, but maybe there is more of a spectrum there than we like to admit to ourselves. Still, she writes about very little that in some way doesn't relate to me personally and I do thoroughly enjoy her thoughts. This particular post involves the motivation and learning of success followed by reward. Again the same RSA group has a video linked and I think it is great to think about what really motivates people at an intellectual level. If the results surprise you, maybe you should look at your own motivating factors.
Why we go beyond the routine minimum, how to motivate! (- again my own title because it's kinda fun!)
Wow, right!?! I mean I knew that the whole dangling money thing was a bit too much, and that only the really dumb were obsessed with that, but to see that it makes that big of a measurable difference! Long ago, both my husband I agreed that if we could have a comfortable (not have to worry about money constantly) life then we would seek the kinds of jobs that allowed us to maximize our external interests. To that end I've pursued part-time and temporary employment that has allowed me to maximize my ability to be a wife, mother, blogger, and individual. Sometimes the jobs have been just a necessity, sometimes they've been so I can provide a little something extra for my kids, and sometimes they are just for fun! I'm back to needing something more as a medical necessity, but that's for another time! Still if only more businesses realized that what employees really want is to maximize their life both at work and away, that we don't need a bigger carrot, but more opportunities away from the harness and with the life we choose! For me personally, that would be the opportunities to volunteer at my child's school, to be involved in their fundraisers and activities. To be home when my daughter gets done for the day. These are the things that really matter most!
Well my time is up, so I'll have to grab more tabs another time. A couple more busy weeks ahead. I hope it won't last long, but that taking 5 that I'm trying to learn to do, isn't so easy to learn.....
It's interesting... the RSAnimate cartoon on education paradigms is making the rounds in the homeschool circles as well. It's really hard to know how best to educate our kids where there is really too much in the world to ever learn! How do you choose what to give them, how to you filter the amazing amount of information out there. If you employ the assistance of a school, which do you choose and what method do you support? It's crazy! Public schools are relatively recent, and the idea of a common education for all. But we keep raising the bar and saying that everyone needs a college education too. Is that really true? (Just random brain-dump here!) Anyway, good stuff to think about. We may take divergent paths in educating our kids, but we feel very similarly about it, I think. And I think we'll have equally outstanding results, because we both care so deeply about it.
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