Bill Nye the Science Guy came to speak at UF and we were lucky enough to grab tickets out of the ticket chick’s hand (literally) and find seats in the nosebleed section (literally) of the Phillips Center. Who knew you couldn’t arrive 45 minutes early and would have to fight for tickets (literally)? Who knew Bill Nye the Science Guy was so popular with college students? TW knew. Then again, TW is a huge fan of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Michelle and I – not so much.
We went to see Bill Nye because Michelle had an assignment for her Public Speaking class to attend two public speaking events and then critique them, or something. Now that I’m blogging about it, I’m not really sure what the project was supposed to be and I’m tempted to call her to find out what the project was but she’s at work so I’ll just guess – she was supposed to write some paper comparing and contrasting the two speakers.
So, back to Bill – we went, we enjoyed ourselves, and spent a lot of time talking about global warming after the event. Bill Nye the Science Guy is all about stopping global warming and CHANGING THE WORLD.
Bill spent most of the evening telling us great stories about his life, about people he’s met and things he has done and encouraging us to CHANGE THE WORLD!
So we’re going to do that. We’re going to CHANGE THE WORLD. How about you?
Learning about religions and cultures different from our own can be some of the most fun lessons we can share with our kids. So today, why not do a little Diwali lesson plan?
Start at Wikipedia for an overview of how Diwali is celebrated by various cultures. Next, visit my friends Mata and Snigdha at BlogHer to learn more. Try a Diwali dessert and make your own Diwali lanterns. Don’t forget to check out the Flickr photos tagged Diwali.
Homeschooled high school senior + college applications = create transcripts.
Michelle is lucky. Her freshman and sophomore year of high school were 1/3 to 1/2 Florida Virtual School classes, so she has those “official” transcripts. For her junior and senior years, she has her dual enrollment SFCC “official” transcripts. Thank goodness. The idea of building transcripts seems daunting, not because it’s difficult but because it is time consuming. Time is the one thing we are in very short supply of around here.
I’m very interested in “Boy’s” transcripts. I think they’re a great model for a homeschooler creating transcripts. What do you think? How are you handling transcripts?
Well darn, none of the ClubMom blogs are in the finals for the Best Educational Blog (or the best any other blog). That’s ok, there are still good blogs to vote for. The problem is, I’m not sure who to vote for. Which is a problem since you can vote once a day. I’m somewhat partial to the James Logan Courier, cause it’s kids. And I like Jose Vilson. And who doesn’t like Miss Rumphius? Hard choice!
I don’t have any toddlers, but if I did I would totally make this Flintstone’s car – or put my big kids to work making one. Maybe we should do it anyway, just for fun. Or for the neighborhood toddlers and pre-schoolers who roam our sidewalks. They already love to visit us for the cats and flamingos.
TW received a copy of Logan Levkoff’s book “Third Base Ain’t What it Used to Be” from a Ypulse giveaway. This is good since I forgot to take Logan up on her offer of a review copy. TW hasn’t read it yet but I finished it last night. And it was good.
In a nutshell
- our teens are being slammed with more sexual imagery and messaging than we were at their age.
- abstinence education doesn’t work, in part, because we don’t take the time to properly define abstinence – teens often think it means something other than what we think it means.
- educating kids about sex, orientation, STDs and reproduction doesn’t imply that parents think it is ok for teens to be having sex – and kids don’t think education gives them license to have sex either.
- honest and open communication with kids is what they want and need from adults when talking about sex – but kids don’t expect to get that. They expect lectures, half-truths and evasiveness.
I don’t think I had a single argument about anything Levkoff suggests in her book about kids and sexuality or sexual education. She does a very good job of not telling parents exactly what to say to kids, because what you say should be based in part on your own experience, values and beliefs. Instead, she offers ideas about how to open up the discussion in the first place or how to handle discussions that your children may initiate.
Read the book. Personally, I’d leave it on a shelf where your kids can read it too – but then again, I’m a pretty open parent when it comes to sex. There’s nothing in there that was shocking or inappropriate for a child to read. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a question I picked up from the book. (She didn’t suggest it as a discussion point, it was just from something she said – that caused me to stop and think, caused me to ask TW what her opinion was, and then to ask Michelle for her opinion…)
Is it worse to lose your virginity while drunk at a frat party or at the prom?
You hear that a lot around our house. Someone (usually me, but often the children) is always growling about patriarchy and all its evils. Sometimes I’m being facetious but usually, I’m not. Patriarchy, well, it sucks.
But is matriarchy any better? I sometimes wonder if my kids realize I’d probably be griping about the matriarchy if we ever found ourselves living in a matriarchal society. Let’s imagine a matriarchy… ok maybe not this writer’s idea of matriarchy. Surely we can do better than this.
While the greater availability of salad greens may not seem like a revolution, it connotes a culture that cares deeply about the well-lived life, and the individual experiences of those who live it.
Can’t we? Ask your teens. What do they think a matriarchal society of the future might look like? How would it compare to today’s patriarchy?
I have a 101 things to do in 1001 days list on my personal blog. Michelle has been trying to create a 101 things list of her own. I’m not sure how many things she’s managed to list – last time I heard about it, she was at 50 or so things. But she’s also started checking things off of her list, which I think is sort of cheating. But, it’s her list and she can make her own rules without me bugging her about that. I’m really just interested in the fact that she wants to try this – and that she’s had such a hard time making the basic list. It’s taken her months.
The 100 things challenge seems even more interesting than the 101 things in 100 days list. Can you cut your personal possessions down to 100 things? Can your teens?
Our kids are such consumers. They take so much pride in owning the latest and the greatest. Would they even consider trying this 100 things challenge? Would they understand why it might be a good thing to own 100 things… or less? Would they grasp the fact that there are teens who don’t own anywhere near 100 items?
Care to try it with your teens? I’ll talk to Michelle about it today and let you know what she thinks.
Text books are expensive with a capital EXPENSIVE. Homeschoolers have the luxury of being able to select their own text books so this list blog listing free text books should be a big help. Free is better than cheap or used or full priced, any day. There’s not a lot there, but hopefully the registry will grow.
Bill Nye the Science Guy came to speak at UF and we were lucky enough to grab tickets out of the ticket chick’s hand (literally) and find seats in the nosebleed section (literally) of the Phillips Center. Who knew you couldn’t arrive 45 minutes early and would have to fight for tickets (literally)? Who knew Bill Nye the Science Guy was so popular with college students? TW knew. Then again, TW is a huge fan of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Michelle and I – not so much.