Video of the Week

Okay, here's how this is going to work. It's not necessary, but before watching the actual Video of the Week, you need to first watch at least a little bit of each of the preceeding videos. Okay, you don't have to watch.......that is, if you are already a Nickel Creek fan!!!! :D






Okay, now for the feature film... ;)

"Jack of All Trades" - A Complimentary Term for ADD

I feel like I need to rethink everything. You know, I've probably said a thousand times before that I thought I would have everything figured out by the time I turned eighteen. My life would all be in place, I will have decided what to do, I would be doing it, I would be successful doing that something that I was supposed to be doing….etc, etc, etc. And it's very annoying how I am not like that at all. Basically, if you think about it (not too hard, of course), I am a loser. I am unaccomplished because I…well, haven't accomplished much. I know I can. I know it's possible and I have the potential. But there's something…well, a lot of things that I perceive as holding me back. The thing is, I don't think I realize it. I'm still a little kid. It feels funny to say, but I really admire my friend because in a lot of ways he's older than me. Sure, he's almost a year and a half younger than me, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Maturity-wise, most of the things about him are just older. And it's not fair. I look at him and say, "wow, he'd be much better at being eighteen than I am, and I'd be better at being 16." Did I mention it's not fair? I should be being confused about life at 16, and then in a year and a half I will have been sufficiently confused for a long enough time to conclude what I want to do and do it. INSTEAD, I was confused when I was 16 but apparently had not been confused long enough, because before then I didn't even realize that eventually I would have to grow up and pick something to do, and that it just didn't come by existing in my little world.

Don't get me wrong. I have a variety of interests and talents. I used to wonder, and now I've remembered that I wondered it and thus wonder it all over again, whether it was better to be extremely great at one or two things, or moderately good at many, many different things. And that doesn't even mean that I'm good at everything I do. What stumps me is that I expect to be able to do everything and then I run across something I cannot do (which happens a lot), as much as I want to, and then I feel like a failure at everything and have an urge to crawl into a little hole despite the possibility of feeling extremely claustrophobic.

So my friend says I'm a "Jane of all trades, particularly artistic ones." Well, after that compliment, I didn't know what to say. But before that I had told him about how I admire how he sticks to stuff. He has two main interests: Law and music, mainly piano. He swims and plays water polo some, and works so he can have money to pursue his interests. But he's very concentrated (no, not like orange juice, in case you were wondering). I am very jealous. I guess if I ever went to public school I would have been labeled ADD…I'm glad I never was in school, and I'm glad I never got a label like that. But I just have a terrible time sticking to anything. Thus, the whole "loser" label I keep giving myself. It's awful, I know. I don't really have such a low self-esteem. I guess this is actually just between me and myself, and how I just feel back being around myself. But now it's like I feel it's leaking out into public because now all my friends are concentrated and working on their life goals and stuff, and I still don't know what I want.

So I'm going to take that time to do some examination of me. I know, that's sounds so narcissistic, but I really need to do this. I hate thinking under pressure, but here we go anyways.
What do I really feel like I want in life? I want to be a wife and a mother. "That's the first time I've heard someone say that," Ken laughed on Tuesday at Wake Tech. I guess he was just surprised, not mocking me. But still, it was the first time I kind of felt funny for saying that. Still, what are the chances I will actually get married? I hate to think about that. Let's not. On to what I was doing.

What else do I want? Well, let's first think about what I don't want. I don't want to go to college. I don't particularly want to get a job. I don't want to go through life with no money and no life. I don't want to be labeled a "loser" by society and not just myself. I want to make a good name for homeschoolers. Now for what I want. I want to seem important to myself. I want to be amazing. This all sounds funny right now, but I need to be honest. I want to be happy. I want everyone around me to be happy. I don't want anyone to feel insignificant because of me…which there doesn't seem to be that risk right now…anyways. I want success in whatever I do.

Okay, now for what I really WANT to do. Not what I want, but what I want to DO.

I want to work with animals. I want to write books. I want to travel around the world, either by myself or with people I love. I want to play piano amazingly well. I want to write beautiful music. I want to play as many instruments as possible. I want to go sailing, like, real sailing in the ocean. I want to be in love and get married. I want to have children. Lots of them. I want money so I can do all the things I want to do. I want to keep swimming and playing water polo. I don't really want to accomplish anything with them, but they are a fun hobby and they also keep me in shape. I don't want to get fat, or even just go back to being skinny. I like the body I have and want to keep it. I don't want my kids to be fat or skinny. I want them to be healthy and athletic. I don't ever want to lose my creative inspiration. I want to be with my friends and family forever, and I don't ever want to lose any of them in any way. I don't want to go over into the "dark side" again. I want to be a good kid, even if I am an adult now. I want to be a good and creative cook. I want to have an enthusiasm for cleaning and doing other mundane household chores. I want to study history…real history. I want to read classic literature and learn from the best. I want to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and study his word. I want insight from my elders so I don't go screwing up my life again. I would like to do acting. I want to start a band.

So what do I concentrate on? Let's say I need four main things - Money, fitness, and two main profitable interests. Working for daddy covers the money thing right now, which includes studying the Product Launch Sequence. Fitness means swimming in the mornings and water polo in the afternoons. Now I have to pick two main interests and stick with them. *thinking….thinking…thinking…* I think…well, I thought…and now I believe…music and creative writing should be my main concentrations once this semester is over. Once I get out of these darned time-wasting classes. They're interesting, but not worth my time. That's the problem. There are too many things in life like that, and what's worse is that our society is so given over to those sorts of things that nobody really knows to do anything better.

One thing I noticed was that I said nothing about improv goals. Do I not have any? Have I lost my passion and fire for it? I think it's diminishing. That makes me cry. I don't want to leave, and it is only once a week, and then the shows one weekend a month. But I seriously need to reconsider what I want. I have been intensely interested in writing and music since I was little. They are things I KNOW I can stick to, and not just fleeting fancies that seem glamorous. I love to do them. Sure, sometimes I get in a rut, but that's only for a bit.

Okay, here is the verdict. If I take any classes next semester, they will be Creative Writing 1 and Elements of Music. I may also get a piano teacher. I'll read lots of books about writing, and also read literature. I will not deceive myself in my motivation. This is what I'm doing. I will also help around the house because I know it will benefit mom and myself because one day I will be a mother, I'm almost sure of it. I will work for daddy and help him with his product stuff. I will swim and play polo. I may eventually marry.

That's another thing. I feel ready for marriage, but I'm really not. I'm nowhere near it. I want it so bad right now. I've concluded that since none of the guys my age are ready, I should just hope for an older guy.......but then, that's kind of not really a good idea. I'm just as ready as the guys my age. I can see it coming in the next five years or so, and if I look I can basically see what I need to be doing to get there. To be ready. I know my girl friends can relate....I just ache to get married right now. I don't know if guys can relate to this at all.....but it's a very hard struggle right now. Granted, all struggles are hard. Duh. But this one is just the worst. It's so hard to do normal, everyday things now, because it comes to mind so much:

Driving through a neighborhood: "Oh, wouldn't this be a great neighborhood to bring kids up in...so peaceful and out of the city...so many trees...the houses are a nice size, and I could buy sofas!!!"

Walking through Target: "Aren't those decorations so cool! Imagine my dining room with that clock and my bedroom with that lamp!"

Still walking through Target: "Awww...cribs! Nighties! Diapers! Booties! Little bouncers! Pacifiers!"

Anywhere: "Look at that family, aren't they so cute? *gasp* A baby...oh, I want one!"

Anytime I see a couple I feel jealous because I'm walking through the parking lot alone. I certainly do NOT get to go shopping for ANYTHING with my husband, and that is very aggravating somehow. There's a girl on the Masters team who is getting married in December or something. I just overheard her telling another girl...but the way she was talking about it was just really casual and for some reason that got me down. Marriage, to me, isn't just a casual matter. I suppose that when you already live together anyways, there's no reason to really be excited. I meant the "I suppose" sarcastically. I just think that at that point marriage is almost pointless. You're already sharing your lives and sharing your bodies. Well, I'm going off in the other direction of what I was trying to say, which I can't really remember anyways because it's a bit late...AND I am trying to have a caffiene crash so I can go to bed, because I have to get up in the morning and go listen to the girls in the locker room at Masters talk some more before I go see the Dead Sea scrolls with...um...a lot of people. I'm excited :D I've been wanting to see them a while, and I don't want them to just go away like that anatomy exhibit did. That was sad :(

That same girl (I think) said that when she was little she once saw some guy swim the English channel all butterfly. That's really extremely cool. However, as much as I adore butterfly, I don't think I should set my sights on doing the same...heh heh.....

Unconscious Whispers

Whispers become explosives
In the depths of my mind
My spirit cries out to know
What is really inside
If you asked me now what I didn’t long for
I couldn’t tell you, I’m really not sure
Echoes of silence fill me with apathy
The joy of the shadow of a fallen tree
A silver lining turned white
The moonlight has faded to black
When the deepest desires attack
They cry out
I cry out to what’s not there
They find out
I find out that I am nowhere…

~JCB

I Feel Rejuvenated!!

So yesterday I went to Wake Tech for my British Literature class. Most of you should know that I have a lot of fun in that class, so you can imagine my great and terrible disappointment when we (Elizabeth B. and me, that is) walked around the corner and there was nobody waiting in front of the classroom. A couple friends walking from the door of the classroom informed Elizabeth and me that the class was cancelled, but to sign the role on the door before leaving. With a great reluctance that only Elizabeth seemed to understand, I drearily signed my name and then stared off into the distance, wondering what to do for the next hour and a half. I was still in quite a slump that I had gotten into Monday morning (the same one that caused me to slackishly skip the morning and then the evening Masters swim practices), so by this time I had officially concluded it was not a Monday thing, but just a "thing" brought upon by some unknown source which cause un-productivity and feelings of meaningless and slight depression...as well as a lack of motivation. I can hear you all going, "Oh...that kind of slump...is 'slump' even the right word?"


Yes, that kind...and I don't know. That's why I'm hearing you all asking whether slump is the right word.


Suddenly it occurred to me as I looked out into the Tobacco-haze that there was a McDonald's up the street and that they had coffee. Good coffee. I suggested this to Elizabeth and she said that perhaps we should go to this other place instead...which has a name that I cannot remember, but it's very like Starbucks. And, preferring the coffee-shop environment to the very plastic-feeling environment at McDonald's, I agreed.


While we were there we got to talking (okay, we were already talking, but once we sat down we started talking about something else) about slumps. Apparently she had been in one, too. So we talked, and decided that the best way to get out of it was to actually do something (a little altering of advice from a couple of Bible studies, the book of Revelations, and Dr. Laura played a little part). So we got our school stuff and made a decision to work on it. So we started discussing Beowulf, and then a friend from Elizabeth's sculpture class came in and we talked a while with her...and then we had to go. But when we got up, everything was different. All that talking about slumps and making official decisions to DO something and not be in them anymore.........made all the difference. We felt great!!!

That morning I had driven with a straight face, staring straight ahead, with the windows cracked and the music on, but not very high. I was bored, and wanted nothing better than to be rid of my brain so I could just stop thinking altogether. After the coffee shop, I rolled the windows all the way down, blasted my music (Nickel Creek, for the record), and completely rocked out. I had to set cruise control so I wouldn't go too fast.....

The rest of my day was spent relatively well. Instead of being in a fog I was Claritin Clear, in a great big bubble of happiness, bouncing around, smiling and singing and feeling so amazingly joyful that I couldn't imagine going back to being in such a funk. Lesse...I wrote a blog for the Quotes Only blog, looked up squash recipes, decided to make up my own recipe instead, went squash-shopping, picked up Marck, Hannah, and Noah from swim (in the mean time speaking for a brief moment to the rest of my homies), came home, experimented with the squash, ate said experiments, decided they were good, but to not put so much sugar on them next time, made a video with Marck, worked on my Beowulf composition (it's sounding better since I'm out of that darned mood and can actually think straight), sat around outside with no point whatsoever but didn't mind, and cleaned up the kitchen. I feel absolutely fantastic.

And there's water polo tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I do believe there's such a thing as over-use of exclaimation points. What are you trying to say?

Video of the Week

This video is called "Hope on Homeschooled Guys." I'm guessing she was public schooled......well, now everyone will know how we find them so irresistible!

The Table of Contents

1. Commencement of the Great American Novel
2. Novel Begins to Fall Out of Sorts
3. Novel Makes a Will for Itself
4. Novel Dies
5. Requiem for the Dead Novel
6. Post-Requiem
7. Counter-Requiem
8. Authoress of Dead Novel Fires Over-the-Top-and-Full-of-it Composer
9. Composer Plans to Get Revenge on Authoress
10. There is a Great Federal Dispute
11. That Had Nothing to Do with Composers and Authoresses
12. The Composer Says He was Going to Resign Anyways
13. The Authoress says “Yeah, right!”
14. The Composer Takes His Piano and Promptly Walks Out With His Nose in the Air
15. The Authoress Doesn’t Know What to Do Now
16. The Composer Becomes Really Famous
17. The Authoress Regrets Hastiness
18. The Authoress Contacts the Composer and Repents
19. The Composer, Sensing the Authoress Really Means it and is not Saying Sorry Just Because The Composer Made it Big Without the Assistance of the Authoress, Says “Let’s Meet at the Park to Talk.”
20. They Meet in the Park
21. The Composer Asks the Authoress to Marry Him

Epilogue:

The Composer and the Authoress live happily ever after with many songwriter children running about their humble abode.

Examination

Love fills in what is not there
Where photographs and people stare
At me from afar and say
“Where did your sunshine go today?”
I have found it in a looking glass
On the bottom of an hour glass
I sit and ponder, let my mind wander
Stop looking at me like that
What is love, what is freedom?
Is the perfect product on this isle?
Was I so cold to a familiar face
Yet so kind to a stranger?
Mumbling, curt and cold
To someone just doing his job
I find, perhaps, I wish I never
Knew myself, my selfish self

If there was anyone else around
Who could be me, surely
I would ask them to replace my soul
Let my other self go away
Maybe you all love me, maybe not
And what’s undesirable is only a small bit
Of what everyone sees-who I am
But does SHE see? I fear so
Tell me what it’s like to be with
Her, with him, with them
In your house, so strange in all my dreams
Where life finds itself with no seams
I sit, paralyzed as nightmares play
Longing for the break of day yet I
See the sunshine and the glare of
The days which may never come

Internal beauty, fine connection
Makes so perfect imperfection
Life wants to take me along, to go
Find my true potential, even through
The noise. My heart may go off on a
Tangent of how it should not run wild
And rampant, but has what is precious still
In my mind, imagining to have my will
Breathing in and breathing out a rainbow
As the sun rises, the fields glazed with
Rain and the haze settled on top
There, perhaps, my heart will forever
Chance, my eyelids won’t droop, and I
Will not feel the stabbing pain of leaving
Ideals behind. My face begs the light wind
To again blow the beads from my brow...

~JCB

Testing Using Toxic...

Don't worry...it's just Nickel Creek. AGAIN!!! But I'm going to put a video on here if it's the last thing I do! And Chris Thile is just too funny in this video...

Cute...I like them...

Now, I've never posted a video before. If this doesn't work in the next ten minutes, I'll just post a link to it. Be prepared for a lot of banging around as I attempt to figure this all out:

Okay, you can officially forget it. I hate computers. Um...if somebody who already knows how to put youtube videos on a blog post could ever-so-nicely explain it to me, I'd be much obliged and forever in your debt. In the mean time, watch these two girls in this funny little film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apaxo6WJm-g

Oh, and while I'm at it...here's a couple Rhett and Link videos of the two songs they played at Bible study that aren't on their albums...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCu5ojNlpi0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqmJ4pZkXlQ

And there's no need to forget my obsession with Nickel Creek...EVER!!! Here's another video, this time with their song "Young":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM5NF5UAhag

Have fun, and don't forget my video-from-the-internet posting lesson! :D

The Ocean-Side Holiday, Part Two

Deja vu...

As we walked up the deck, back towards our condo, we stopped and looked at the
condo next door to ours on the left. It was quiet, but that shouldn’t have been
deceiving. The night before at about two o’clock, we were rudely awakened by the
booming of music, fireworks and various screams and throwing-against-the-wallses.
It was a house full of night owl party animals, right next door to us.
We weren’t even sure why they were staying there. It was our third full day on the beach and we hadn’t really seen them out on the beach at all. We had only seen them on their porch, and every morning they would come out on the deck overlooking the beach while we played football.
Otherwise, hardly a word came from their station, except at night (much to
everyone’s dismay).
Mike and I had gotten rather tired of the partying, and concluded that, if it were to persist tonight, we would wake up early and do our best to be equally as noisy during the day, which was when our neighbors apparently were sleeping.
We walked on and had just reached the safety of our own deck, when two guys came out of our adjoining condo. Neither of them looked much older than Mike. They were scrawny and hairy and both took to walking on the rail of the deck that stretched out from all the condos and overlooked the beach.
A preppy blonde stuck her head out of the house. “Omigod, get down you guys!”
She shrieked, giggling.
“We’re fine!” Responded the hairier one.
“Yeah! Look!” The other one took off his shirt (Mike and I cringed at the abundance of hair and lack of muscles which he proceeded to try to flex) and he threw it at
the girl.
“If you fall I’m SO going to kill you!” The girl chortled, catching the shirt and going back in the house.
The guys ignored us as they jumped off the railing, walked over to some boogie boards leaning against their condo, grabbed them, and ran down to the beach.

That was from that story I'm writing...you see, I've been writing it for about two years now. I started it just before our beach trip two years ago, so this is my third beach trip working on it. It doesn't have a title, so I'll just call it "That Story." Anyways...that was based off of what we were plagued with 2 years ago when we stayed in this same condo. Last year we were fine, and thankful for it. Then...guess what? A big bunch of college students arrived late Friday afternoon in the condo next to ours. I was having serious deja vu, especially when they turned on the music very loud (I recognized almost all the songs mostly by their resounding, sub woofer-afied bass lines), drank, smoked, and partied like there was nobody else around trying to sleep at midnight, or at least concentrate on reading a book.

We were coming back from eating at Jordan's Seafood when some of the people arrived. There were two guys and a girl. One of the guys, once he got in, immediately came out on the beach. It was dusk, and Marck and I were out appreciating our beautiful surroundings. He kind of ruined everything as he whipped out his cellphone, plunked himself down in the sand, and said to his friend, "Hey, man! Guess what I'm doing...having a beer on the beach!"

There was an absence for most of yesterday of nice, clear, salty air as we went from our deck to the beach...all I could smell was tobacco smoke. It was awful.

Last night we concluded they went clubbing or something, because it was actually quiet at their home, till they all came in about 12 or 1 AM, making a bit of a racket. We haven't heard them this morning. Yesterday afternoon they were all down at the beach, set up probably 30 yards from us. Marck and I kept accidentally drifting down to where they were set up. All the girls were in bikinis, and sometimes they would get in the water a little bit, and scream at every wave that came by. It was very funny...Marck and I just had to make fun of them...I think they were too self-absorbed to notice. After all, when Grammy asked them Friday night at 11:45 to please "keep it down to a roar", they barely turned down the music, and certainly didn't turn themselves down. Yeah...pretty self-absorbed. Another reason I'm glad I was homeschooled...I was around my parents enough to learn to be conscientious.

Anyways, despite all there is to complain about, I'm having a great time. I'm about two thirds of the way through Twilight...I'm still liking it! I am a little curious as to what she's going to add to the plot(s) to put in the other three books. I'm just hoping it's not something that wasn't meant to be a series, like Pirates of the Caribbean, that she just adds-on to later, resulting in poorer plots....you see what I mean? I just don't see how this could get to be something that extends beyond the first book, but perhaps it does...

Anyways, I'm off to go play out in the sunshine...

The Ocean-Side Holiday, Part One

Yes, yes, yes...I am attempting to come up with a more creative title than Lizzie again. I'll just admit that right off so I don't get any accusations.

So we're here on Emerald Isle at the beach until Monday. Yesterday, we got on the road late as usual (so perhaps we could just call it "right on time" by now, since we've been doing this annually for the past six years). Our first stop was a thrift shop called "Second Fling", where we always end up stopping on the way here. Our grandparents and aunt were there as well (they come with us to the beach). It's a big store, and they always have the biggest selection of used purses I've ever seen. As we all know, money likes to just slip through my fingers, but at least I make quick decisions. I bought two purses, one for a dollar and one for four dollars. The one for four dollars is the cream-colored twin of my brown purse I've had for a couple years now...I was very excited to find it, but my dad declared in a very prissy fashion that I couldn't carry it till after Easter. :P The other one is casual, has no compartments, and barely fits everything. But I like it anyways. It's just one of those ADD things...I need to change purses often.

Next we stopped at McCall's and got the buffet lunch. I ate a lot, of course. We had a few memories of March 2007 when we took a special trip to the Atlantis, a hotel on this same island that allows dogs, and we brought Nancy. We went to McCall's but we couldn't go in and eat because of the dog, so my dad let Nancy out to do her business in the grass next to the building, and my mom walked through the drive through.......um, anyways, after McCall's we drove the rest of the way to the beach, listening to "Bridge to Terabithia" on CD (I'm actually liking it). We got to the beach, celebrated, unloaded, got very hot, adjusted the air conditioner and turned on all the fans, and put on some shorts. Eventful, huh?

I watched Marck and Robert tumble about in the ocean for a while, before we all came in, and I started reading "Twilight." For a while I refused to read them...but after going into Harry Potter deprivation this summer, I thought it might be good for my soul to find a replacement series. Anne of Green Gables is a good series, but it's not close genre-wise to Harry Potter. And after a lot of "You should SO TOTALLY read the Twilight books...they're friggen AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!", I decided to investigate, asking some real people what they thought. Okay, everybody is a real person, but seriously...I asked people who gave me real advice, if you understand what I mean. Most either gave me a description, but one just told me flat-out what I wanted to know, and that was about the core elements. I'm on chapter six and I'm liking it so far, but I think it's definitely a girl book. But I think I'm liking it a lot better than what I was originally planning to read at the beach, "The Truth About Forever" by Sarah Dessen.

So I woke up this morning, and I thought we were having pancakes, but then we weren't. So we "just ate cereal and stared out the window......." that's a rephrasing from "Jefferson Aeroplane" by Relient K, if you didn't know. I like that song, it makes me happy. After breakfast I made a to-do list. Do you know how awful it is to have to make a to-do list for the beach? It's terrible. And you know why it is? I have to incorporate writing my rough draft for Brit Lit...on Beowulf. Whoopie. Can't you just see the enthusiasm on my face and hear the elated-ness in my voice? If you can't...you're not deaf or blind...I wouldn't mind doing it half as much if I didn't have to do it instead of doing beach things.

After making my mild depression-and-anxiety-inducing list, we got on our suits and sunscreen and headed for the water, where we again tumbled about for a couple hours. Of course, we got hungry again, so we came in and ate...I searched Beowulf for descriptions of Grendel...and then we started watching "Charlie and Lola." We have...an odd fascination with the show. We're not sure if it's healthy. Last year we spent all our time watching "Shaun the Sheep." Ah...good times, good times.

I went to Best Buy Wednesday night (running into Elayna in the process...um, not literally), and got the other two Nickel Creek CDs, "This Side" and "Why Should the Fire Die?" I can't decide which one I like better, but my favorite from "This Side" is a song called, "Green and Gray." Immediately after that song is the album-title song that I really like too.

Well, that's what's been happening these days. I love the beach. But now I've got to go out to the pool and teach Robert breastroke so he can make swim team next week...wish me luck!

Until I hail again from the beach,
Jessica

Wonderful People!

Here are some more comments from that forum thread about homeschooling vs. private and public. These people just see it...the way I see it. Please, do not feel any pressure to be convinced. I only want to try and get my point across, and you know I am simply terrible at debating (I would never make a good politician...and I'm too honest for that profession, anyways):

-1-

I am homeschooled and have been homeschooled for seven years now. The majority of my friends are not homeschooled, but I have a large variety of friends who are. The reason most of my friends are not homeschooled are because I am not in an enviroment where I a subjected to other peers my age seven days a week.Therefore I have learned to be much more open minded to EVERYBODY. Adults, Children, the Elderly... hey are ALL m friends, and I visit them ALL often. Age is jsut a number, and I feel as though I would not have been able to gain that frame of mind if I had stayed in public school.This is my senior year of highschool, and mst of my friends are graduation homeschool style with me. I ahve never had social issues being homeschooled BUT I do feel the need to state that it all depends on the family.If you are going to homeschool your child and not allow them to be in co-ops, have tutors, go to football games, yoga classes, ect. Then you cannot expect them to be social butterflys and cope well in large groups. But if you socialize your child often, then they will probably end up better than average. I feel as though I am very open minded, th vas ajority of my friends are my age, but I love everybody not mattr how old or what race or religion, because I ahve learned that you really don't pick your friends like you are taught in public school, they choose you, and you jsut just have to love them to be happy, no matter who they are or what they do.I like public schools, but I do feel as homeschooling helps students to hold on to their indivuality more and to help them not to form to society and helps them cope with being different in life.The #1 problem I ahve had while being homeschooled was public schooled children. Because they do not know how to react to somebody different then they are, so they automatically jump to conclusions such as homeschooled kids are socially inept, too smart or not smart enough, and that they cannot face reality. They we are ALL "sheltered' and bake cornbread and wear matching jumpsuits and have 15 kids in evry family.Now there ARE some people like that.... but not all..... and homeschooling is NOT for everybody, but can be a wonderful wonderful thing if used correctly.


-2-

I went to a religious private school and hated it. I'm not sure I would have liked public school. I like the idea of homeschooling or unschooling and plan on trying that with my own (future) kids, but it probably would not have worked for me because I do not get along with my mother at all and being at home with her all day would have been torture. The best thing for me would have been to have either gone away for school or to have quit school altogether and gone straight to college or living abroad. I got my real education when I was in college, which I loved. High school was a huge waste of my time. For example, I spent twelve years in school studying a language and never learnt it. As an adult, I spent two years living abroad and learnt two languages. I always thought I was bad at languages, turns out, I'm good at languages, they were just bad at teaching it. The worst part for me is that now I have to watch my neice go to the same grade school that I went to and I have to watch them force knowledge and authority on her and her growing to hate it and there's nothing I can do (yeah, I guess I'm still angry).


-3-

Institutionalised learning, whether public or private, is almost invariably inefficient, grossly so. As a means of making sure people learn the basics, like literacy, when otherwise they wouldn't have - say with illiterate parents - it was fine, but as a means of learning as much as possible, as easily and quickly as possible, of the things that are most necessary, it's tantamount to a disaster. Teaching yourself is by FAR the more efficient method, with some mentor - whether a parent or teacher - helping out when you're stuck, giving practical opportunities to use the knowledge where it's useful, but that rarely happens until you get closer to college.
You can learn from a book in ten minutes the information that is put across in the average lesson by a teacher addressing the whole class. In addition, there is too much redundancy in what is taught, and assessed, and the pace rarely suits everyone. Any confusion a child may experience is rarely identified at the moment it occurs, thus causing more confusion further down the line. You could cover the same ground in a fraction of the time with much more independent study, and added up over the years...
As for the supposed benefits of socialisation, the people who are in most need are the ones most ill-served by such institutions. The people who socialise easily with those others tend to be on pretty much the same page; others who struggle do so because they're on a very different page, and exposure to the others doesn't automatically lead them to understand where others are coming from. You have to be in the ballpark to understand what would otherwise seem like irrational behaviours. If you're not in the ballpark, a confused misery is liable to result, rather than enlightenment.


-4-

If we call public school what it really is ... government school, then realizing the benefits of homeschooling might be a little more apparent.
"Government schools will teach children that government is wonderful." ~ Neal Boortz


-5-

Quote:Originally Posted by nextGENERATIONhippie Personally i think public school is better, children need to be taught social skills, and well as academics
Please explain to me which social skills, apparently learned only in an institution, you would like my children to be learning?
Let's see....
My kids socialize with each other, with me and my husband, with our landlady, neighbors, friends, and extended family.
My kids socialize at the many social gatherings we attend through homeschooling support groups.
My kids socialize at the supermarket, the post office, the vet's office, at cooperative learning sites, and the many other places we go.
My kids aren't limited to socializing with 20 other kids their own age. They have friends who are four and friends who are forty.
My kids aren't EVER told, "You're not here to socialize." I heard that a lot when I was in school.
My kids aren't ever made to eat their lunches in silence or be completely quiet while traveling places. The same can't be said for their publicly schooled friends. My 15yo's best friend is not allowed to talk on the school bus.
My kids aren't forced to get naked and shower with strangers. If they encounter a bully of any sort, they have the option of not interacting with that person anymore.
Yeah....I could go on and on. Basically, my kids are treated the way I'd like to be treated. They're treated as people.
I've seen the sort of "socializing" which goes on in public schools. I attended public schools, myself. I think it's sad that that is what's considered normal. I think we'll continue to live our abnormal, outside-the-box lifestyle. Funny how people always tell me how mature and pleasant my kids are.


-6-

Oh how it pains me to see the ignorance on this thread :/I am seventeen years old and I've adored home-schooling. I've attempted all sorts of schooling, a private academy, curriculum led home-schooling and public school. I think it depends mostly upon the child and their motivation-but I am a strong advocate for alternative schooling. I've always been incredibly self-motivated and public school left me stuck and frustrated. Everything moved too slowly for my liking and I hated the busy work. I agree that you must "learn how to play the game" by doing this busy work and being with less than enjoyable people, but it doesn't take long to learn. Public school is not the real world-I find that is the most common misconception among people who are against home-schooling. You are confined inside a building 7-8 hours a day doing busy work that may or may not help you learn anything at all. You do NOT learn social skills by being around a bunch of jello-eating sheep that are only your own age.I've had the opportunity to meet and befriend people of all ages and from all over the world-I'm certainly not anti-social or otherwise "weird".My education has been mostly self-led, my parents interfere only when I ask them to. I learn what I want, when I want, how I want-and that has worked well for me. I've studied the basics a bit, but the beauty of my schooling is that it allowed me to go in depth with things I really wanted to, such as my field of study now, Anthropology.I have a beautiful education and so many wonderful experiences I'm sure lots of kids in public school don't have time to experience while sitting in stuffy classrooms reading textbooks and copying definitions. That works well for some people, but I wouldn't trade my schooling for the world! There is also a high demand for home-schoolers in swell paying jobs because they have much more flexible schedules.I am also not hurting for college acceptances-I've been accepted to every school I've applied to and been offered many a scholarship.


-7-

I'm homeschooling my 8 yr old now. We pulled her out of public school last October when we found out her teacher was getting violent in class (knocking over a desk in front of a kid, yelling at the kids, intimidating them, not letting them go to the bathroom, etc.). The principal tried to minimize it and justify it and basically cover for the teacher, who we discovered has had a temper problem for years and had been allowed to remain in the school anyway.So I quit my job and began homeschooling her. Then in April we moved to a new area and thought we'd try the school here, which by the way was rated pretty high on the scale of best schools in the U.S. (yeah right). However after a few weeks it became apparent that in the 6 months or so that my daughter had been homeschooled she surpassed her grade level to the point that she HATED being there because it was so boring. In fact, she was way ahead in every subject. I tried talking to her teacher about it and asked if she could give her more challenging work but was met with cold disregard and some lame excuse that she can't alter her curriculum. Also we found out the school won't let her skip grades either. So basically our choice was to conform to a completely inadequate system or homeschool. We chose the latter. At this point, I doubt we'll ever try public school again. But... I do like to look at every situation as being unique, so if we ever move to an area that has a truly good public school, I'd consider it.As far as private schools, I guess that depends on the school too. Also, they tend to be pretty expensive.


-8-

I pretty much said f*** public school at 9th grade. Since then I've read nearly everybook under the sun. Public schools focus too much on repetition and memorization instead of actually grasping and understanding what is being taught at the time.
One famous auto-didact, Albert Einstein , had his own thoughts about public schools:
" Education is what's left after you forget what you learned in school "
" Any fool can know. The point is to understand "
and Frank Zappa offers up this gem :
" I never let school interfere with my education "

Homeschool Myths Make Me Mad

Really, they do. To understate, I get a bit defensive when I hear some phrasing of the age-old hereby dubbed "Extremely Annoying" question: "But what about socialization?"

The thing is, and this is not meant to be taken offensively, I prefer homeschooler-homeschooler interactions. To some degree, then, perhaps homeschoolers aren't "socially able" to interact super-well with public schoolers. And so I suppose the reverse would also be true. Some people claim that homeschooling doesn't prepare children for social interactions that will happen once they enter college. Besides the possibility of doing something a little more innovative than going to college, I think that this is unimportant. The primary purpose of college, to me, is to learn. That seems totally obvious to me. Sure, people more often than not meet their spouses during college. It is good to have friends during college. Not necessarily at the college, though. If I went to college, I believe my main friends would still be the ones I have now. To tell the truth...I'm wary about new people coming into my life. They sort of have to pass a little test that I subconsciously put them through that either allows them to enter further into my life or stay on the surface. I don't know if anyone kind of picked up that vibe from the last entry, because I don't know if I said anything that would lead you to think I did that, or if vibes are even give-off-able in blog entries...ahem.

Another thing about this supposedly super-duper-ish-ly vital ability to socialize properly in college is that homeschoolers, as...well...homeschoolers, experience a much broader range of social interactions than your average public/private schooler. (And on that note, you may call me out at any time for making assumptions about public and private schooling just as much as people make assumptions about homeschooling.) In any given day, there are interactions with same-age peers, young children, adults, and seniors. We actually learn to get along with our siblings, and they are some of our best friends. Rather than being lectured while glued to a desk in a stuffy room for six hours, we will have discussions with our parents and other adults/older/younger/same age people about politics, religion, music, books, whatever. It's a process of language development as well. While you can learn language by listening and reading, eventually it is better to actually use it yourself. Implementation is just a factor of learning. You don't learn to drive by someone talking to you and telling you to read a book. You don't learn to drive by taking a test. You take the test to show that you somewhat comprehended the material presented to you. I don't know about y'all, but I learned to drive by driving the minivan.

Interacting with a variety of different age groups, as I was trying to say before getting off on another tangent, prepares children for college, I think. This goes back to the whole "How to Win Friends and Influence People" idea. Back from where? I don't know, I just said back. It's late, I should be sleeping, but three Vaults aren't likely to let me just do that. ANYHOONESS, it gives children experience in dealing with many different types of people. Thus, if they go on to college, they should be...adaptable isn't really the right word. But they should have a general built-in-batteries-included-free-shipping knowledge of how to interact with anybody they may encounter. They also should be able to talk to their professors on a more professional level (or as they say at WTCC, "college level", a mindset that the in-charge people seem to be constantly emphasizing, as if people in college don't understand [and they really don't, a lot of the times, which is sad]).

I've been reading some stuff on a forum that I'm not sure is around anymore, but it's an interesting discussion. Some people make me mad, and some people say things to those anger-inducing-others that make me feel very happy, and some people just say things that are disappoining because they just don't understand and I think that makes them afraid of approving of homeschooling. Here's the link...it's very long, but worthwhile over time, or just for skimming: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=109240.

Here's an example of a typical post that would get me riled up:

public school is what id vote for...coz it jus brings u far more closer to
the harsh reality of the world around. Helps u meet ppl frm all walks of
life..and makes u bold enough to make yur own decisions[even if that means u
were a wannabe teenagers..coz hell u chose to be one!]. Its not just the book
education but also the social education u gain in a public school. Even if they
cause an absolute trauma in ur teenage days..as someone mentioned before... they
make u strongewr..and far more superior in ur dealings with such ppl who fukedur
life in school... later on in life!

Thankfully, a few posts on, somebody said, "If this is how public schools are teaching kids to write, I'm voting for homeschool!!!" That at least consoled my raging a bit. But now I'm going to sign off for now because I need to try and force some sleep. I'll leave you with this other response made me appreciate this person very much:

I utterly hated school, just kept my head down and survived it. Seem to have
repressed most of it. Those better not have been the best days of my life or
I'll just end it all now. I point blank refuse to believe that being angry,
alienated, having self esteem and independance ripped to shreds was some how
beneficial (well my theraphist made a tidy profit) or some 'rite of passage'.
Don't think I leant anything of use that couldn't have been figured out with a
good acedemic plan and being out there actually living. Though have always
thought I'd be good in homeschooling, what with my serious motivational problem.
Then realise I wasn't motivated because the stuff was so boring and pointless.
(fact; the average person doesn't use any of the mathematical skills taught
after year 9/tenth grade). The things I liked will serve me well in future, the
rest falls at the wayside. Such is life, but it'd be kinder to spare the
agony. Always makes me laugh when people say school prepares you for real life.
Homeschooling is real life, it's how you learn as a preschooler and how you
learn after graduating. Why pray tell is there an eleven year period when this
doesn't work? School is the furthest thing from real life. Those who are truly
inspiration and make a diffrence do so by thinking outside the box. Which
doesn't happen when you're (as Pink Floyd put it so well) just 'another brick in
the wall'. Of course I'm still in the system. Feel a bit of a hypocrite for that,
but I want a degree damn it. Bit late to back out now anyway. My future children
will be homeschooled, or at the very least an independant schooling. (like
Steiner or Montessori) Obviously I appreciate this isn't the experience of
everyone, heck some people even enjoy it.

People

JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS - You may continue on the Bubba story. I just wanted to post a new post...

It seems so simple to say – people walk in and out of your life all the time. So why is it so strange sometimes? Why does it feel like there’s forever an empty space there now?

I begin to wonder if it has something to do with taking people for granted. I don’t think anyone just goes around all day saying “Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how great it is that I have these friends around me, my mom here, and my grandpa…life is sooooo good!” Not to say we don’t appreciate these people. But think about if, one day, you just said goodbye and the two of you – best friend, mom, grandpa, whoever – just go your separate ways and never speak to each other again. The parting is not curt, and not the result of a disagreement. Yet it is also not sentimental or thought about as being unwelcome. It’s a simple goodbye, have fun doing such-and-such, maybe we’ll run into each other sometime down the road of life and have lunch.

That just can’t HAPPEN, can it? Why would it? Yet it happens every day to everyone, just usually not with friends who are as close. It’s happened to me before over the years, but especially in this past year. It’s been very hard, because it’s not something I’m used to. It happens more with guys, too, than girls…and it’s not like I can just walk up to them and say, “wow, I’ve had a great time this semester sitting next to you in class. I’m going to miss you. Maybe we can still keep in contact, here’s my number!” I could say that to a girl and nobody would think of it at all, but I just cannot say that to a guy. I wouldn’t mean it as initiating and being forward, but it would come off as that.

Last summer there was a lifeguard at the pool. He was from New York and I was kind of afraid to talk to him (not because he was from New York). I’d talk to the other lifeguards, simply because I’ve known them all my life, but he was the new guy, and (of course) I was afraid that he would think I was initiating something. YES, maybe I assume too much about what other people assume, but don’t you think it’s better to stay on the safe side? One day near the end of the season I walked by his table where he was sitting and sort of guarding (we have very laid back lifeguards), and he was reading “The Pickwick Papers” by Charles Dickens. It turned out he loved Dickens…and I loved that he loved Dickens. Curiosity finally got the better of me on the third-to-last day of the pool, and somehow we talked a lot those last three days. I was fascinated with him. His personality was so…perfect. Everything I imagined, for the most part. But he was so different also. You know what I mean, I guess…he didn’t go about in the “lifestyle” most of us homeschoolers live. Just a typical worldly person in most respects, or something. Nonetheless, I still appreciated him very much. Then, on the last day, we just said goodbye, and I left.

It’s been a while, of course, but something is oddly empty. And it’s happened again. Sort of. Charlie’s gone off to college in Tennessee. He was another lifeguard. He was just always…there at the pool. He wasn’t like the lifeguard from last year, but just that person you partake in small talk with and always think of being there. Then his last day before leaving for school came, we said, “see ya later,” and it was all over. Nothing else.

I’ve concluded that it’s not going to happen to me again, if I can help it. Leaving swim team is really sad. I don’t think I will ever be able to completely let go. I love swimming, and swimming with these particular people. They’re the only people I’ve ever swam with. How could I ever get in the lane with anybody else? I couldn’t possibly do split-lanes and have strange conversations with anybody but Matt, Sean, Kara, Lizzie, Nathan, Noah, and Joel. Joking around with everyone at the meets and when we’re standing around waiting for coach to stop talking to random people around the deck are some of the highlights of my day, week, month, year, and life. The whole team is “my people” to me, if that makes any sense. It just breaks my heart not to be going back. I saw the sign-ups for swim team last week some time and said to myself, “Platinum team…two whole hours…” and imagined it all happening and me not being there. It will still go on. I will, too. Things will just be drastically different. I knew the moment would come eventually. I think, though, I was really in denial of it ever actually coming.

So here it is.

“So what happens now? Where am I going to?”
“Don’t ask anymore…”
~Evita

BUBBA -- The Italian Mob Trucker

By Jessica, Lizzie, Nathan, Sarah, and Marck

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Bubba, who was born in Italy, moved to New York for a few years, and then down to Alabama for the rest of his teens. This story begins with the beginning of Bubba’s…um…life change. He was walking along the Mississippi one day and a tree unceremoniously fell upon his head. Ever since, Bubba has done some strange and occasionally amusing things.

After getting hit in the head, Bubba had a sudden subconscious urge to turn his footsteps towards the nearest diner. While walking to the diner, a big trucker came by, offering Bubba a ride. Bubba, being foot sore, readily agreed. It was during that ride to the diner that Bubba learned his life’s calling.

He dropped out of Kindergarten, got himself a totally-awesome camo hat, and started driving! As he drove, he would stop at every store he saw, and try on all the sunglasses on display. Because of this, he never got a lot of work done, but Bubba really didn’t seem to mind. His first assignment was from Alabama to New Jersey. It was never officially finished, because somehow he ended up at a campsite at Jordan lake in North Carolina, where some members of TCC Seahawks were camping out for a few days.

At first, when the swimmers saw him, the swimmers just stopped their Mafia game and stared at Bubba, mouths hanging open in a very uncivilized fashion (after all, they WERE homeschoolers). Bubba grinned and struck a pose. “Yo!” he coolly exclaimed in salutations.

Nathan blinked, a beat went by, Sarah snapped a picture of the posing Bubba, and the click knocked Nathan somewhat back into his senses. “What…is…that?!?!?” He asked no one in particular.

Bubba said proudly in his unique Italian/Yankee/Southern accent, “It’s a trucker who loves sunglasses!”

Then Bubba invited himself to play Mafia. Before the 15-18s had a chance to confer (since otherwise they never had a say in anything those days…especially in coffee matters), Chandler started the game again. “Everyone go to sleep,” he declared.

The participants all closed their eyes and lay down their heads, only to all jerk a moment later when a large snore came from the chair where Bubba had situated himself. Chandler proceeded narrating the game over Bubba’s snoring.

Alec was the Mafia, and when he awoke, he pointed to the snoring Bubba without even being asked who he wanted to kill…

And that’s as far as it got before we all left!