I am a social media hound. I love the social web and all that it encompasses. And as a web developer I love finding new instances of technology in use around the Internet. In the arena of Internet technology no where has there been as exhaustive an explosion of technological advancement and the inventive use of said technology as in the social media space.
It would go without saying then I have a pretty deep place in my internet <3 for social web sites that kick ass when it comes to the use of modern technology (or older technology with a modern, inventive spin on it). Of those sites, my favorites are Twitter, BrightKite and FriendFeed. I am not really sure if I like Plurk and Kwippy just yet, though I do use them. I also have accounts at Utterz, Pownce and Identi.ca, and I tie them all together with Ping.fm. I am not at all a fan of Flickr or Picasa or YouTube or Facebook or MySpace. There is just something so nasty about all of them that I only visit those sites on occassion and, when I do, it is usually only for short amounts of time.
Enough about my fascination with the social web. Today I was asked by Twitter’s own @missmotormouth herself, Michelle Naranjo, to be Interviewed because some of the recent Tweets I have made regarding fuel prices and the effects of said prices on families, outings and the general economy of the home. I have used the social web for a while as a medium to voice some of my discontent with rising fuel prices. I have used this blog to voice a lot more of the discontented feelings I have regarding lots of stuff. A lot of what I feel makes its way into the social circle, including my thoughts on homeschooling, marriage, finances, work, programming and many other issues that I hold dear to me.
In talking with Michelle about fuel prices we also got on the subject of homeschooling. We talked briefly about her daughter’s challenges in public and private schools and her success with homeschooling before being admitted to a magnet school. We talked about the current state of the California education system. We talked about Christianity (mildly) and we talked about the economy.
We also talked about Toyota and the trail they are blazing through the auto manufacturing sector, the experience I had with NUMMI (a GM and Toyota joint venture plant), some of the knowledge I had gained from knowing the Toyota Production System and some of the other things I have experience with, like car sales, design, time to market and customer experience. In the end it was a great hour or so spent talking business, economy, children and experience. Plus I was asked if, in the future some time, I might consider writing a guest blog for an as yet to be named site (not sure how I would do that seeing as I can barely keep up with mine).
But of all that I could take from this experience the one thing that stood out to me the most is that the social web can be used in today’s business world if used properly. Not all socializing on the net is young men stalking young women hoping to “hook up”. It is very possible to find lots of useful information, and to provide lots of useful information, when you use the internet in an appropriate way. It has given everyone an equal voice and a platform by which to project that voice. And I have used that platform, sometimes thinking that I was the only one on the internet, to broadcast my thoughts, rants, feelings and commentary. And lo and behold, someone was listening.
On February 28, 2008, a travesty occurred in California that will have a long lasting ripple effect on all homeschooling families in California. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association:
On February 28, 2008, the California Court of Appeals (The Second Appellate District in Los Angles County) issued a ruling in a juvenile court proceeding that declared that almost all forms of homeschooling in California are in violation of state law. (Private tutoring by certified teachers remains an option.) Moreover, the court ruled that parents possess no constitutional right to homeschool their children.
The publication in question, document number B192878, asserts:
It is clear to us that enrollment and attendance in a public full-time day school is required by California law for minor
children unless (1) the child is enrolled in a private full-time day school and actually attends that private school, (2) the child is tutored by a person holding a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught, or (3) one of the other few statutory exemptions to compulsory public school attendance (Ed. Code, § 48220 et seq.) applies to the child.
However, the same document also states:
Exemptions to compulsory public school education are made for, among others, children who (1) attend a private full-time day school (§ 48222) or (2) are instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught (§ 48224).
The opinion document also cites the following, from the case of People v. Turner [(1953) 121 Cal.App.2d Supp. 861, 865 et seq.]:
Since Pierce [v. Society of Sisters was decided], a substantial body of case law has confirmed the power of the States to insist that attendance at private schools, if it is to satisfy state compulsory-attendance laws, be at institutions which provide minimum
hours of instruction, employ teachers of specified training, and cover prescribed subjects of instruction. Indeed, the State’s interest in assuring that these standards are being met has been considered a sufficient reason for refusing to accept instruction at home as compliance with compulsory education statutes.
The opinion also provides:
It is clear that the education of the children at their home, whatever the quality of that education, does not qualify for the private full-time day school or credentialed tutor exemptions from compulsory education in a public full-time day school.
In all of this I have to ask one overwhelming question: When did the government receive the authority to decide the quality of a parent’s education for their own children? In all of the words in that opinion it becomes increasingly clear that the opinion asserts that parents are incapable of appropriately educating their children and that somehow the state education system is the best means by which children should receive education.
This is complete hogwash. The fact that a court, a group of judges or any other organization has the right or authority to impose upon me their opinion of what is best for my kids irritates me beyond words. They are my children. It is my responsibility to raise them and train them up in a way that is best for them. The court in this case has not only overstepped its bounds but have, in my opinion, grossly misunderstood the text of the law they are citing gives them the right to make the decision to illegalize home schooling.
It is a fact that any home can be declared a private school by the filing of an R-4 affidavit. Since the conditions cited in the judges opinion are “either/or” type conditions fulfillment of one of these conditions fulfills the entire requirement. An R-4 filing would satisfy this requirement.
There are many factors involved in this case, including the statement that one of the home schooled children actually filed a claim of abuse against his own father. I am not saying that I agree with the parents or with the children in this case. I am, however, stating clearly that I completely and emphatically disagree with the judges opinion in this case.
I would also like to recommend that if you are home schooling your children in the state of California that you become a member of the HSLDA and that you follow this case at the California page of the HSLDA web site.
I had the wonderful opportunity to join my wife and children on a homeschooler’s field trip today. We went to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.
Getting there was rather uneventful (save for us almost running out of gas AND not finding validated parking). However, once we got in the first thing I could think of was “Why had I not been here before?”. The place is amazing. It is family friendly, homeschool friendly, group friendly. It is just a plain friendly place to go.
It is also very rich with technological history. There are references to Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard on the exterior walls of the building. There is mention of IBM, Adobe Systems, Apple and Microsoft everywhere and there are historical relics all over the place.
We stayed there for about two and a half hours and even at that there was almost another two hours that we could have stayed there. It was a great field trip.
On a side note, Sandi and I did notice that there were a lot of other kids there. I believe it was a “free” day where the museum does not charge admission fees. This meant that there were a whole lot of public school kids there along with us. What made them especially noticeable was their complete lack of courtesy and respect for others.
The homeschool kids we run with are remarkably well behaved and courteous. They use their manners, they respect their elders, the consider others first. The other kids… not so much. Which kind of makes me wonder what the benefit of public schooling really is?
Anyway, I have no desire to launch another debate on homeschooling versus public education. I know the details that make my decision very clear.
And besides, we get to go on some outrageous field trips.
Another gem from my uber-smart, ridiculously sexy, incredibly funny wife, Sandi:
Moving on to social studies…..Rebekah groggily walks into the living room and with a scowl on her face, plops onto the couch, and proceeds to mumble every offense each sibling has done to her, leading up to being awoken by them. She will make a great prosecuting attorney someday with that memory. Some are born mediators, some learn how to mediate and moms have mediation thrust upon them. I now have the job of hearing Rebekah’s feelings and having grace with my younger kids without having them all turn on me for not taking their particular side, while managing to keep my two-year-old from being permanently traumatized by the fan incident and my four-year-old from becoming a sadist. I really need to get to my coffee. In the meantime, Alaynah and Adriannah have managed to top their cookies with the remainder of the whipped cream that my son had had with his breakfast, and by remainder I mean the cookie is no longer visible amidst the cream. Apparently Aaron had only gotten a couple of squirts out of a brand new can, much to Adriannah and Alaynah’s delight. Nutrition, or lack thereof, has been taken care of. I send everyone back to their corners, meaning beds, and while I’d love to send my son back to his, his half-nelson grip around me allows me to have my hands free to do other things.
Do you ever task your children with creativity assignments? Not the ones that come from school, but the ones that come from you as a parent and that challenge your children beyond the normal tasks of school?
I do. Frequently. Today was one of those days.
I tasked my two oldest daughters to write two poems. Both of the poems had to convey to the reader, on the most obvious level, that it was raining. On a more sublime level however, the first poem needed to convey to the reader a sense of sadness or depression and, in the second, a sense of joy or rebirth.
Given these tasks this is what my two oldest daughters, Sarah and Rebekah, came up with:
Sarah
(Sarah decided to do this assignment three times over so all three pairs of poems are included here.)
First Group - A
As the raindrops continue to drop
And they make a plippity-plop
I think I’ll lay day
With my face in a frown
And wait for the raining to STOP!
First Group - B
But now, I walk outside,
And everything’s clean and bright.
Rain watered the plants,
It makes me want to dance!
The rain made it Pretty outside.
Second Group - A
Everything’s raining down on me
Nothing seems to be right.
I didn’t eat my breakfast today,
My brothers and sisters continue to fight.
Everything’s coming down on me,
Everything seems so gloomy and drear!
Why can’t people just LISTEN?
Or at least even try to hear!
Everything’s raining down on me,
Oh, my, can’t you see?
There’s something wrong with them today,
Or else something’s wrong with me!
Second Group - B
I am showered with lovely things,
Like toys and dreses and rings.
I even get a cake
That I get to help to bake
All my friends are here.
I speak and everyone turns to hear!
I am showered with lots of fun.
I have permission to shout and run,
About the yard, not in the house!
In there, be quiet as a mouse!
But I can spin and twirl,
Cause I’m the (guess!) BIRTHDAY GIRL!
Third Group - A
Rain, dark gray and damp.
Everything is cold, dreary.
Rain, rain go away.
Third Group - B
Rain is beautiful,
Makes a rainbow in the sky.
How I love the rain.
Rebekah
My Tears
My tears are falling like rain
Like a storm in my heart.
My tears are washing
away the Happiness that
used to be on my face.
I don’t like the tears
because they wipe away
any trace that joy was
Here.
My big family
I have a big family. They
just sort of reproduce
Like a gazzilion rain
drops. Aunts, uncles, Grandmas
Grandpas & everything
in between. I have a very
very very big family.
While sitting on the couch with my wife last night I, as usual and for no known reason, began to start talking in my Spanish drunkard voice. It is really funny, especially when I lisp and pretend to walk all wobbly. But I digress, the funny last night came from my wife.
While sitting there speaking drunken Spanish I couldn’t help but be stumped by the fact that I did not know how to say crocodile in Spanish. Why in the bloody crud would I need to know how to say crocodile in Spanish, you might ask? Well, because. I wanted to say “See you later alligator, after while crocodile” in Spanish. No, I don’t know how to say alligator in Spanish. And I did not know how to say crocodile either.
Until my wife helped me out.
She knew rather quickly that the Spanish word for crocodile is cocodrilo. And how does my wife know this? She is smart, that’s how.
And she watches Dora the Explorer with my four year old daughter Alaynah. Apparently Dora knows a lot of stuff in Spanish. And she teaches my household some of that Spanish daily.
So I have to ask the question… when I was in school, where was Dora for me?
Brought to you by my smart, funny, beautiful, cute, sexy, sultry wife Sandi:
Thinking about the humor of homeschooling……a typical day…….Mom wakes up, and regardless of how early she’s up someone is always up before that. Our two-year-old son Aaron is usually the one, but since he’s the youngest of five he learned a long time ago that he’s on his own for some things, so he’s already been in the fridge and helped himself to a nice breakfast of bologna, jelly, and broccoli, topped with a little whipped cream. Next comes the four-year-old, Purple Princess Alaynah, who needs at least three cups of coffee (or an hour) to feel human, and proceeds to hang on my leg as I’m cleaning up the remainder of Aaron’s breakfast from the wall. While Aaron is licking the whipped cream of his fingers, he notices that his sister has now occupied what he believes to be his leg and forgetting the task he’s been busy with, he begins to scream (MY TURN!!!!) and push his sister off. A bar fight breaks out. This wakes up the seven-year-old Adriannah. As the resident pastry chef and technology buff she asks for a cookie while she listens to the iPod. Mind you, it is now 6 a.m. I, already feeling outnumbered and underarmed, concede to the cookie-and-techie request (hey, at least she’s eating) and attempt to shake the two youngest from my leg as I stumble toward the coffee pot. Just one cup, and then maybe I can open my eyes all the way.
Over the din of “MY TURN!” and “Can I have a cookie too? Annah has one, I want one,” and “MY COOKIE!” I manage to pour myself a cup of coffee. Now that the three awake children have had their morning sugar intake, Aaron has decided to climb up onto the table and is now swinging from the ceiling fan. Seeing the opportunity for academic experimentation, Alaynah seizes it and turns on the fan. Aaron begins to laugh, and then a look of terror creeps into his face as he realizes that the speed is increasing. The law of brothers and sisters says that as one is deathly afraid, the other must be equally and oppositely gleeful in direct response to the other’s fear. That means that Alaynah is laughing with delight in her revenge on her brother for his taking over my leg. She now feels human. Deserting my uncreamed, unsugared coffee, I run to turn the fan off, comfort my terrified son, and discipline Alayah as I am torn between anger and laughter. Physics have now been completed for the day for the younger two and for myself, as it defies physics for anyone to move that fast without caffeine. Annah is blissfully unaware due to her strategic use of the iPod.
This morning on my way to work I ran across a radio station that was asking listeners to call in and salute their kids teachers, or, if there were any teachers listening, for them to call in and be saluted. Noticing this was an excellent opportunity to toot my wife’s horn, I called.
The radio was very receptive to the fact that a homeschool dad was calling in to salute his homeschool teacher wife, so they actually put me on the air where I was able to tell the Bay Area that my wife was a homeschool teacher of seven years that deserved a salute. I also saluted all the homeschool teachers out there who also deserve, in my book, to be saluted.
If you are a teacher, yes, even a homeschool teacher, I salute you. You deserve kudos for everything you do. Keep doing the great job that you are.
For those of you with children, this might seem a little different. My wife and I spent the better part of today planning our children’s school year.
For those that might not know, we homeschool our kids. We have always homeschooled our kids. Yes, we live in quite possibly the most awarded and highly desirable school district in the Bay Area. But we, my wife and I, have evaluated the local public school system for a long time now and every year we decide that teaching our children at home is just the right thing to do.
We have no need for a “No gang related colors allowed to be worn at school” policy. We have no need for an “Alternative lifetstyle education” program at our school. We totally encourage saying the Pledge of Allegiance before school starts and we totally encourage prayer in school.
With that, I have to say that there are things my wife and I have to do in order to make sure our kids get educated throughout the year. This is something that all parents should do, not just homeschooling parents. We plan the school year for our children.
We are doing Science, History, Math, Character, Language, PE, Drama and Electives for each of our school age children this year. Sarah is in sixth grade, Rebekah is in fifth grade, Adriannah is in second grade and Alaynah is in preschool. Today we designed a teaching schedule that includes all of the kids and essentially sets the foundation for our school year.
Do you know what your kids will be learning this year?
We have chosen to take a vested interest in our children’s education. All parents should. A number of parents we talk to that have kids in the public school system have no idea what classes their child is taking, let alone the curriculum in those classes. They have no idea what field trips the child will be taking or who the teacher is or what new policies the school implemented this year. We know all these things about our kids school. We run the school.
So now that our school year is planned out, we have a few more things to prepare. Like the first month’s labs, experiments, activities and co-ops we’ll be doing. And who we might be doing some of this with. The coolest thing though… we get to actually be involved in the education of our children. Without a doubt, that is one of the coolest things a parent can give their child.
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