Another Aesop Fable & Moral

When I read this Aesop Fable to my kids, I was reminded of a scene in an Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I doubt anyone else will see the parallel, but I thought I would share anyway.

The Goose With The Golden Eggs

A Farmer went to the nest of his goose to see whether she had laid an egg. To his surprise he found, instead of an ordinary goose egg, an egg of solid gold. Seizing the golden egg, he rushed to the house in great excitement to show it to his wife.

Every day thereafter the goose laid an egg of pure gold. But, as the farmer grew rich, he grew greedy. And thinking that if he killed the goose he could have all her treasure at once, he cut her open only to find – nothing at all.

Moral: “The Greedy Who Want More Loose All.“

Atlas Shrugged (a small portion of Chapter X)

“Looking down, they could see the last convulsions: the lights of the cars were darting through the streets, like animals trapped in a maze, frantically seeking an exit, the bridges were jammed with cars, the approaches to the bridges were veins of massed headlights, glittering bottlenecks stopping all motion, and the desperate screaming of sirens reached faintly to the night of the plane. The news of the continent’s severed artery had now engulfed the city, men were deserting their posts, trying, in panic, to abandon New York, seeking escape where all roads were cut off and escape was no longer possible.

“The plane was above the peaks of the skyscrapers when suddenly, with the abruptness of a shudder, as if the ground had parted to engulf it, the city disappeared from the face of the earth. It took them a moment to realize that the panic had reached the power stations – and that the lights of New York had gone out.”

If you aren’t familiar with Ayn Rand, this one is a hefty tome to start with. However, it has some really profound ideas and possibly prophetic stories. She was more optimistic than I in many ways. In an excerpt from a 1964 interview with Playboy magazine, Rand states “What we have today is not a capitalist society, but a mixed economy – that is, a mixture of freedom and controls, which, by the presently dominant trend, is moving toward dictatorship. The action in Atlas Shrugged takes place at a time when society has reached the stage of dictatorship. When and if this happens, that will be the time to go on strike, but not until then.” [See Wikipedia's Atlas Shrugged Article under "Setting" for this citation.]

But, anyway, this was the scene that came to mind when I read this Aesop Fable. I don’t know if anyone else would make that tie.

The House Dog & The Wolf

I was reading Aesop’s Fables with my kids the past couple weeks. Many of them are really profound when you stop to think about them and their morals. For instance, we read the one I’m copying below. It reminded me of what we have been facing as a nation since 9/11/2001 and what we still face economically.

The House Dog & The Wolf

The moon was shining very bright one night when  lean, half-starved wolf, whose ribs were almost sticking through his skin, chanced to meet a plump, well-fed house dog. After the first compliments had been passed between them, the wolf inquired:

“How is it, cousin dog, that you look so sleek and contented? Try as I may, I can barely find enough food to keep me from starvation.”

“Alas, cousin wolf,” said the house dog, “you lead too irregular a life. Why do you not work steadily as I do?”

“I would gladly work steadily if I could only get a place,” said the wolf.

“That’s easy,” replied the dog. “Come with me to my master’s house and help me keep the thieves away at night.”

“Gladly,” said the wolf, “for as I am living in the woods I have having a sorry time of it. There is nothing like having a roof over one’s head and a bellyful of victuals always at hand.”

“Follow me,” said the dog.

While they were trotting along together the wolf spied a mark on the dog’s neck. Out of curiosity he could not forbear asking what had caused it.

“Oh, that’s nothing much,” replied the dog. “Perhaps my collar was a little tight, the collar to which my chain is fastened – “

“Chain!” cried the wolf in surprise. “You don’t mean to tell me that you are not free to rove where you please?”

“Why, not exactly,” said the dog, somewhat shamefacedly. “You see, my master thinks I am a bit fierce, and ties me up in the daytime. But he lets me run free at night. It really is very convenient for everybody. I get plenty of sleep during the day so that I can watch better at night. I really am a great favorite in the house. The master feeds me off his own plate, and the servants are continually offering me handouts from the kitchen. But wait, where are you going?”

As the wolf started back toward the forest he said: “Good night to you, my poor friend, you are welcome to your dainties – and your chains. As for me, I prefer my freedom to your fat.”

The moral of the story is “Lean freedom is better than fat slavery.“

Inauguration

We covered what an “inauguration” is and what today means for the United States in terms of power change in a peaceful fashion. My oldest wanted to see what the new President looks like and I thought it would be a good experience for the kids to see the swearing in of the new President. Since we don’t have television access at our house, we called a neighbor ahead of time and arranged to watch a few minutes of the coverage on their big screen T.V.

They especially liked to see how Yo-Yo Ma seemed to be having such a good time playing the cello. They were amazed to see all the people there. They didn’t have much else to say, although Child #2 was worried about some of the things she thought President Obama said in his speech. Near the beginning, for example, she thought he said something about sacrificing babies.

Some people might be shocked to find out that my kids didn’t know what President Obama looked like. But, they didn’t know what President Bush looked like. They didn’t know what any of the candidates for President looked like. We had discussed many of them and their differing political positions over the last couple of years, however.

It was a good school day, a great learning experience, and hopefully something the older two will remember to some extent when they are older.

May God watch over this country and help us with the challenge that lies ahead of us.

Visiting the Pediatrician

When I go to the pediatrician for my children’s well-baby check ups, they always ask a series of questions. I usually make up numbers about how many “voids” the babies/toddlers have per day by doing some mental math. For example, if I change them four times during the day and once in the morning, how many pees on average is in each diaper? Two? Three? What about that really sopping one in the morning? Five? What’s that total come to? Between 13 and 17?

They ask how much milk the kids drink. Sometimes I tell the truth and add that they really do eat a lot of cheese and yogurt. Other times, I lie and multiply their ounces drank per day on average by two. Is this the same type of lie as not listing your real weight on your driver’s license or is it more serious?

Then, the tough questions are over and they start in with the easier-to-answer developmental stuff. Can they stack 2-3 blocks? Can they stand on one foot for a few seconds? Hop on both feet? Sit still to be read to for a short picture book? Track and object with both eyes across the mid-line? Follow two-part directions? (Obviously, these questions span the different age levels of my kids.) We usually breeze right through these.

Until they come to the verbal section. You know, the part where they ask if your child says some number of words? With three of my four children, this section causes more verification amongst the nurses taking down the information than any other. For instance, my oldest had a spoken vocabulary of less than 10 words (including Mom & Dad) until she was over 2 1/2 yrs old. I still have the “flash cards” I made using pictures cut out from magazines that I used to try to get her to say more words (“soap,” “potty,” “boots,” “baby,” “cooling tower,” “bear,” etc.). I was more relaxed with Child #2. It was a good thing, too, since she was determined not to say a word until she could do it correctly. She had some speech “issues” (“s” + consonant blends were impossible until this fall so “squirrel” was “kwerl” and “school” was “cool”) that were completely developmentally appropriate – but not something she was going to transmit to the whole world. Once she could say a word correctly in her mind, she said it. Not until then.

Child #3 surprised us all by talking early and often. That’s the only one I could ever answer “yes” to the vocabulary questions.

Child #4 is in the same mold as #1 and #2. At eighteen months of age, he has two grunts. One means “yes” and the other means something other than “yes.” He also has a very annoying and high pitched squeal that he picked up from one (or two) of his older siblings.

So, when the nurse asks if he can say 10-15 words, I answer honestly. “No way.” She then asks for clarification, “Mom, Dad, cat?” I smile and restate my answer, “Nope.” Again, she looks for some insight, “Is it possible he is trying to say some words and you just don’t understand them yet?” I laugh at this point and say that my first two children were late talkers, that the doctor and I are not worried, and that he understands everything we say perfectly.

If you tell him it is time to change his diaper, he will run in the other direction and hide somewhere.  There is nothing wrong with his hearing or oral comprehension!

The other day, he was very agitated by a toy that wasn’t working the way he wanted it to. I told him I would fix it if he brought it over to me. He stopped messing with it and brought it to me immediately. I then realized he had a red crayon stub in his hand. So, I fixed the toy and told him I would trade him the toy for the crayon. He willingly accepted the trade and went off happily with the fixed now-noisy toy.

I won’t go into the looks I get from the nurses when they think one of my kids should be potty trained already. It is easy to judge others when it isn’t your own kid.

We have been fortunate to have very healthy children. I actually look forward to our visits there. I love our pediatrician, even if Child #4 screams at the sight of her. She has six kids of her own.

Chemistry Curriculum Decided!

As I wrote about previously, I was wondering what to do about science for next year. I ultimately decided I could not spend such a huge amount of my homeschool budget on science at this level (1st & 3rd grade), so I crossed NOEO off my list, reluctantly. Pandia Press will have their Chemistry curriculum out this spring. They have some of the new book available via Adobe Acrobat pdf to preview. I checked it out and . . .

I’m going with God’s Design For . . . series. I got the two book set on close out at R&D Education’s site. I believe Answers in Genesis is coming out with a newly revised set of books starting in 2009 and that is one of the reasons (another being that R&D Education is going out of business) I was able to get it so cheap.

I thought the R.E.A.L. science Chemistry program looked fine, but I’m good with my decision. I hope the kids will like the different format with so many experiments (something they really enjoy). I plan to ‘beef up’ the curriculum with other books from the library on the topic we are studying each week. The authors actually recommend that.

Of course, we’ll see what life has in store for us this fall! God laughs when He hears me planning things. For now, we’ll finish up Apologia Astronomy and start into my eclectic earth science curriculum made completely of books and experiments of my own choosing! Crazy stuff.

Back to School

This summer, while waiting with my kids for swimming lessons to start, I was chatting with some of the other moms. One of them, whom I have known since middle school, was waxing eloquent and loudly about how great it was that her younger child was starting Kindergarten that fall because now she would finally have a day to herself. (She works part-time.) The part about it that was so sad, to me, was how she was loudly proclaiming in front of her son how happy she will be to get him out of her house.

Fast forward to this Christmas break. I was talking to a former co-worker of mine about a trip we plan on taking back to where we used to live. She still lives and works there, so I was getting us penciled in on her calendar. She said several times how glad she was to be going back to work soon. She elaborated that she’d been home with her two children (Kindergarten and pre-school ages) for almost two weeks and it was driving her insane. She made a point to tell one of her children, while I was on the phone with her, how Mommy can’t wait until they would be back in school and day care the very next day.

You know, I’ve already admitted to having a small case of send-the-children-off-to-school envy sometimes. But I can’t imagine being so unaware of a child’s feelings at such a young age as to tell them gleefully how much you are looking forward to not being around them soon. I will be the first to admit that in colder climates, it is hard in the winter to be cooped up in the house together all the time. Not everyone has the personality to be able to stay home with their children. By no means should most people homeschool their children, in my opinion.

But please parents, keep your feelings of joy to yourself in front of your little 5- and 6-year old. Their sorrowful little faces when they hear their moms say how great it will be to be ‘free’ of them while they are already unsure of the changes that are in store for them are just too sad.

Cinnamon Coffee Bars

My spouse came home the other night with a request. One of the guys at work is leaving to go to another company and his co-workers were planning a going away meal. His request was for me to make a dessert of some sort to go with chili dogs.

Well, what goes with chili dogs? Probably something you can hold in your hand, I thought. A bar or a brownie? But somehow a chocolate brownie didn’t quite seem the thing. With just a regular hot dog, brownies are great. But with a chili dog? I turned to my hand-dandy Quick Cooking Annual Recipe books and soon had a small list of possibilities. After checking my cabinets, I decided on the Cinnamon Coffee Bars.

Cinnamon Coffee Bars

1/2 c butter, softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 c hot strong  brewed coffee
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg; beat well. Beat in coffee. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Spread into a well-greased 8-in square baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes to until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

GLAZE:
3/4 c confectioners’ sugar
1/4 t vanilla extract
3-4 t milk
In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve a glaze consistency. Drizzle over warm bars. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Yield: 1 dozen.

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As always, I made a couple small adjustments. I knew one dozen wouldn’t be enough for a dozen guys, so I doubled the recipe and put it into a 9″x13″x2″ pan. I skipped the walnuts (always looking out for those with peanut allergies or who just don’t like nuts in their food) and only put in about one and a quarter cups of chocolate chips (7-8 oz) in vs. two cups (12 oz). I also lengthened the cooking time a bit at a time to adjust for the pan size vs. doubled recipe. It ended up taking about 40 minutes.

I wasn’t sure how the sweet glaze would go over with the guys, so I skipped it as well. If I were to do it over, I’d probably go ahead and glaze it because I thought the bars were a bit dry. The guys seemed to like them, according to my husband, but he came home with five bars left. Normally, things I send come home empty. If there is something left, it isn’t up to my usual level of baking. They were also, in my opinion, not as flavorful as I would have liked. I wonder if a flavored coffee would have improved the taste vs. normal brewed stuff?

So, overall, pretty good. Not the greatest. Definitely feel free to experiment on them if you try them.

Thinking About Standardized Testing?

This article is not meant to endorse or oppose standardized testing of home educated students. It is the opinion of the author that no agency, government, bureaucracy, or individual should ever mandate testing of homeschoolers. This decision should reside fully with each family.

In some states, you don’t have much of an option, your homeschooled child has to undergo some sort of standardized testing periodically. By God’s grace, in my state, we still have the freedom of choice in this matter. For the purposes of this article, “standardized testing” is meant as the IOWAS, ITBS, CTBS, CAT-E, ACT, SAT, etc.

Should you have your child tested?

This topic brings up some strong opinions among homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers. This article is meant as an avenue of exploration into the reasons you might want or not want to test. It does not seek to convince you, merely to explore.

Let us first look at why you might not want to have your child take standardized tests.  

Against Standardized Testing

• Testing is completely opposite your educational philosophy. You don’t believe in testing using rigid questions in the format of standardized tests.
• You are using a system or program that does not conform with state norms or generally accepted testing standards.
• Your program of instruction is set up to teach in a different chronological order than what the test creators check for.
• You don’t want to put your child under the pressure of a formal testing environment to where ‘test anxiety’ could develop.
• Your child’s personality is such that such a test could do him or her harm in the short or long term.
• You wish to avoid yet another opportunity for a label to be applied to your child (‘learning disabled,’ ‘gifted,’ ‘challenged’).

 Devil’s Advocate View
Sometimes you are faced with circumstances you had never imagined would occur. Perhaps you do not plan to ever enroll your child in a public or private school, but an emergency arises and you have no other option. Many schools want to see standardized test results as a first preference for grade placement. There are some schools who may choose to place your child in a lower grade level than you think appropriate. Others may wish to test your child themselves. Obviously, you cannot plan for every contingency and you may consider the negatives associated with standardized testing to be too large.

What could be reasons you might want to test your child?

For Standardized Testing (Non-Mandatory)

• You want an independent look at your child’s progress versus others his or her age.
• You would like your child to get practice in test-taking skills for college entrance exams.
• You plan to put your child into a public or private school at a later date and want to ensure he or she is at grade level.
• Your spouse insists on seeing an ‘independent’ viewpoint given by the standardized test results.
• You feel your child (and/or yourself) is given a sense of accomplishment for their (and/or your) hard work when they see concrete numbers.

Devil’s Advocate View 
Keep in mind that standardized tests rarely produce big surprises for parents who home educate their children. Some parents assert that the test creators have their own worldview and agenda that they do not wish to expose their children to in a testing environment. And, since many public schools “teach to the test,” your own child’s test results could theoretically be lower than your child’s true ability level.

If you do decide to test, here are some options to think about.

Suggestions If You Do Test

• Don’t test your child before he or she reaches third or fourth grade level. Children’s skills vary so widely when they are younger that in some cases, results may unfairly cause ‘labeling’ or an overreaction. Should skill-gaps or knowledge holes that you didn’t know exist be highlighted at the third/fourth grade level, many find that it doesn’t take too long to re-mediate. (This assumes a smaller, unknown gap that you wish to fill.)
• Test every other year or even every third year in an effort to keep in practice taking standardized tests while still keeping the child’s skills in check.

 Whatever your reasons for testing or not testing, we can be thankful that God has given us the right to be our children’s “first teachers.”