V's Version

So I have been in the studio (fi-nal-ly!!) after a long home schooling day. I just never know how things are going to go. I have a rough outline of what I plan to teach (and an awareness of what a fifth grader is "supposed to know" according to the "No Child Left Standing" hoops) but it often morphs.

...OK so today I was asking Pk what he wanted to learn and what he was, in fact, learning when he wasn't doing academics (because we are always learning, aren't we?) He told me about skateboarding videos that he watched on You Tube. As always, he would rather show me than explain in words. He brought the skateboard out and showed me an "ollie" (when the skateboard gets flicked with all four wheels off the ground) and then he showed me the same move except that when it landed, it was slightly forward. He called it an "ollie north". Well -

It was time for a history and civics lesson (including Mr. Iran/Contra himself) with a little bit of "how technology changed politics in the 80s" peppered in as I explained cable television and C-Span live coverage of Congressional hearings. Then we brought it back to You Tube and how, in a VERY similar way, You Tube videos are are changing the sport of skateboarding (and politics for that matter but I didn't mention it.) Kids can watch slow motion videos so that they can practice at home before hitting the I-gotta-be-cool skate parks. He was able to compare the two technological changes and how they might affect (for better or for worse) each generation.

We moved from history to the skill of "compare and contrast" in which he took his knowledge of an 11 year old on the phone in 1978 and put it up to an 11 year old communicating today - 30 years later. Interesting insights while gaining valuable skills.

Finding relevance is a tall order these days.

Math using the sports car + sales tax divided by 60 month loan with % interest was a hit last week. We'll see how his "Biography of 50 Cent" goes. I think we will all learn something on that one.


Umm. Holding pattern. Must call doctor's office AGAIN to reschedule the CT. Maybe I am not being clear or maybe there is a reason that I keep getting sent to the place I used to get the CTs done. I do not know.

I can still hear my breathing. Well - I could today anyway. And I could not keep up with my friends while walking yesterday. Blah. Other than that - I feel great.

Except for the blown head ga$ket. But that is another story. Maybe I should start skateboarding.







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Labels: home school family life lesson civics skateboard ollie north technology compare contrast unschooling one brave chick upbeat stories of survival