It’s Been a While…
Wow. It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve written anything. That’s three weeks without a weigh-in, three weeks without my wonderfully witty banter, and three weeks of digital blight upon my domain. Get it? Domain? Like dot com?
Ahem. Right. Rapier wit, indeed.
I haven’t been idle, however! This has just been crunch time at school, and I’ve been studying and writing and taking exams and… it’s all over. At least for this semester. Seventeen and a half credit hours, and it looks like I ended up with an A in every class. I’m pretty stoked about that, especially considering I’ve never been an A student. I don’t even think I’ve even been a B student, except in grade school. Not that I didn’t have the capacity, just that I completely and utterly lacked the desire. Consider the following scenario:
Teacher: Do this problem.
Me: Okay. Done.
Teacher: Correct. Do this problem, which is very similar to the last one.
Me: Ugh. Okay… done.
Teacher: Good job. Now do this problem, which uses the exact same formula as the last one.
Me: *grinds his teeth* Fine. Done.
Teacher: Great. Homework is in the book, problems one through seventy three.
Me: *pulls hair out and bangs head against wall*
Maybe there are people who need that kind of repetition, but I never have. Traditional schooling didn’t work for me; I learn quickly. And yet every child put through the United States public school system has to endure this very same thing. Perfect for the some, but everyone learns a little differently, and for me it was tantamount to torture. Mmhmm… probably could have gotten better grades if they had just waterboarded me for hours on end.
To that end, we’ve decided to homeschool our children, largely because they are exhibiting the same patterns of learning I showed when I was in my early teens. I don’t blame my parents for not making the same choice – the Do-It-Yourself Mom was busy with work and Mr. Fiction was taking care of things at home and trying to repair his own ego after feeling like he’d failed us all – but as I look back at my life, I can see where it would have helped, and how much better off things might have been.
Homeschooling starts this coming semester. During the next few weeks, while I’m on winter break, Ms. Awesomesauce and I will be cooking up a curriculum for the (not so) little ones, something a bit more broad and a whole lot more off the wall than what you’d find in your average middle or high school. So far, we’ve decided the bulk of what we’re doing can be covered with in-depth units on specific times and places. One month we may be studying World War II, and the next feudal Japan. We’ll cover history, literature, culture, and a number of other aspects of each unit before we move on. We’re also putting together a creative writing project where the group of us will be reviewing our Wii titles and posting our reviews at our new family blog, Wii Do Something.
Keep an eye here; I’ve got more free time in the next few weeks than I’ve had in a while, so I’ll be posting more, but weigh-ins are going to go on hold until after the first of the year.
In the meantime, enjoy the season for what it is, and don’t try to make it anything it’s not.
