Draped to the Ankles

Published

It would be nice if editors of a certain online homeschool magazine would let their authors know when her article has been published. I only found out because I was Googling my name just to see what is out there. I found some very interesting ones, including someone who has usurped my old Lascaux URL at Blogger - why my name is still connected with it, I don't know.

Anyway, it's a very good article about 19th century readers, so take a look. Unfortunately, they published it after I had to close my eBay store for lack of business. It was just bleeding me dry, sad to say. But I do still have the materials if anyone is interested.

How Art Made the World

I was finally able to catch an episode of How Art Made the World on my PBS station. They have buried it on Sunday afternoons at 2:30, and I keep forgetting it's on, or I'm out doing things, or falling asleep (that's prime naptime on a Sunday). The episode I saw was "More Human than Human."

This really is a fascinating series. Dr.Nigel Spivey takes the viewer into new areas of art and early man. In this episode, Dr. Spivey talked about the "Herring Gull Instinct." It has been found that Herring Gull chicks will peck at a yellow stick with a red stripe because it resembles a beak. However, they will more readily peck at a stick with three red stripes over the one, even though is resembles mom's beak less. The idea is that animals are hard-wired to prefer an exaggerated form over a realistic one, especially if the right elements are exaggerated. This helps to explain the Venus of Willendorf, the pre-historic female figure with its massive breasts and buttocks and no face.

What I don't understand is what Dr. Spivey did next. He discussed ancient Egyptian art with it's iconic human form. This standardized depiction of the human body lasted 3,000 years unchanged, and Dr. Spivey did a wonderful job of describing how the Egyptians came up with it and how to look at it. But he also said that their image of the human body was NOT exaggerated, completely undercutting his argument. But the Egyptian figures ARE exaggerated. The human eye, which is the most important element of the human body for so many cultures ("the window to the soul") is seen in full view within a profile face. The shoulders, the body's "workhorse," are broad and seen full on. And the men are painted in a dark terracotta color while the women are painted as a fair-skinned yellow ochre. How can this not be considered an exaggeration?

Dr.Spivey then goes on to Greece, with an illuminating discussion of how they, too, exaggerated the human form. Those classical Greek sculptures are "perfect" because they are very subtly exaggerated: a roll of muscle on the abdomen that isn't really there; a missing coccyx bone that enhances the curve of the buttocks. In effect, the Greeks exaggerated perfection.

I imagine that the rest of the series is just as thought provoking, and if I were still buying curriculum, I would buy the DVD. I may do it anyway. That may be the only way I can actually catch the whole series. It's a great way to look at the rise of man and how art came to be.

Curriculum Withdrawal

Since Brian will not be homeschooled this year, I have found myself suffering from a malady peculiar to former homeschooling moms: curriculum withdrawal. Every trip to a bookstore was once an opportunity to see what we'll teach this year. Every time we log onto eBay we wonder what curriculum finds will be waiting fo us. And every time I go to the post office, I pass Eraser Dust, the teaching supplies store that I could spend hours in. But no more. Instead, I feel a pang of disappointment that I have no reason to enter that store. I can't troll eBay for school books. And I have to pass by the homeschool section in my favorite used book store.

I liked putting a curriculum together! It gave my life meaning and purpose. Now all I have is library school, and it just isn't that motivating. I mean really, the most exciting book I've bought for any of my classes was on Indexing and Abstracting.

Oh, and I'll be closing the eBay store soon. Ebay is raising their rates, and I have been losing money like crazy. I just can't afford to wait for other people like me to discover my curriculum. So I won't even have that (sigh). What I really need is a job!

We're Off and Running!

The store is finally up. I've only been working on it since September. I've heard that the more work you have to put into something, the more successful it's likely to be. I sure hope so.

To see why I'm doing this, you can read all about it here, here, here, and an amusing tidbit here.

Carnival of Homeschooling

My first carnival! Whee! Carnival Of Homeschooling, Week 8 is up over at Home Education and Other Stuff, my favorite source for homeschooling news. Go over there and check it out.

His Side of the Story

My son felt it necessary to respond to the charges levelled against him. This time, he sat down and produced something a little more mature and thoughtful, as follows:

Okay, this situation has gotten so out of hand. I feel the need to tell my side of the story, and end all of this here and now. I feel that these anti- home school comments are personal attacks on me because they are saying that I am stupid, uneducated, socially inept, and that I have no sense of humor. All of these statements are untrue, and unfounded. I have previously said something on my mother's blog, but obviously, that was not enough.

First off, I don't mean to brag, but I am proud of my intelligence, and my education is far better than what it would've been if I had gone to public school. As you can see here, at least I can write. My mom was exaggerating when she said I could get into college, but I DID get a 900 on the SAT when I was eleven. And yes, I DO have a sense of humor. I am even more proud of that than I am of my education. Wherever I am, I can make friends and family laugh out loud. I inherited my sense of humor from my father, and I thank him for it. And as for social life? Once again, I don't mean to brag, but just today, I successfully asked out a girl from my church. Wow, I am SO socially inept.

If you must chew out somebody for home schooling their children, chew out the psycho who killed her kids because god told her to. My mother, on the other hand, is not like that. She does not deserve to be lectured about her methods, let alone be punished for them. -AC's DS

Trolling for Attention

Well, it seems I have attracted someone of the cowardly class to my blog. Odd, since I don't have that many readers to begin with. However, I have decided to post Anonymous' comment, with appropriate responses.

What you are doing to your child is reprehensible.

Have you ever met my child? Do you even know from whence you speak? Have you ever been to my house? Do you have some insight into some sort of child abuse issues that you wish to bring to CPS? I have no idea, since you didn't have the courage to sign your post (but I doubt it.)

We are far safer than we were when you were a child, considering cell phones, pepper-spray, The Scarlet Letter, and a hundred other legal and techonological innovations.

So, I take it that your children have cell phones and pepper-spray and whatever-the-hell The Scarlet Letter is (a big old letter "A" on their chest which stands for adultery? Not MY son). And really, why do we need all these things if the world isn't more dangerous.

The only element which has become more dangerous is parents.

Goodness, but you've got me there. More parents are dangerous, especially the ones who neglect their children, beat them, starve them, and kill them in various hideous ways. But you know something? A lot of them send their kids to school, where they are so well cared for that nobody notices the kids are being mistreated.

Note that while we've added Air Marshalls to US plane trips, you still consider them too dangerous for a 13 year old. When you flew as a six-year-old, were there any policemen on your plane with a gun? Remember, the PLO was right in the middle of making hijacking an international sport when you were six. Yet YOUR PARENTS put you right on the plane.

Quite right, my anonymous friend. But I'm not worried about sky-jackings or the PLO. I'm worried about that average-looking businessman who strikes up a conversation with the child travelling next to him all friendly-like who turns out to be a sexual predator who really likes young boys. And BTW, I was travelling by planes before the PLO started high-jacking them. Are you too young to remember pre-terrorist air travel?

Your child-ruining, child-stifling decision has nothing to do with the state of the world. It has to do with the cowardice of modern US adults. It's as if Lizzie Borden could not have existed, as if no crimes were committed before 1995, as if child molesting was invented by weird uncle Joe.

My child is not ruined, nor is he stifled. Perhaps you are transferring here? Were you stifled as a child? Perhaps that's your problem. I think you are also out of touch, sweetheart, because although many crimes were commited before 1995 (why '95? That's practically yesterday!) many more children go missing today than ever before. The predators are out there, and they are on the prowl, especially in Vermont from what I hear. Are you from Vermont? Are you one of those judges that O'Reilly hates so much? Hey, let me know when I get close.

Crime rates have been going down for thirty years, yet you can't even let your child make friends and get a decent education. And no, I don't believe you' re providing your child with an opportunity to play in a school band, work in a chemistry lab, play team sports, learn trigonometry or calculus, or one of several foriegn languages. I don't believe you're giving him any practical experience in the hiding of an erection from thirteen year old females.

First, my child is getting a better education than you ever had, which is obvious or you never would have left this ridiculous comment on my blog. He could get into college tomorrow if I let him try. But, I'm stifling him because I think he's far too young for college. And frankly, I don't care what you believe. My son played basketball last fall, goes to Spanish class twice a week, and has girls crawling all over him even though I'm ruining him because I think he's too young to date. And "practical experience in hiding an erection?!?!?" I wouldn't give him that experience on a bet! Not even if he begged me! Is that something you would teach your son if you had one? Good god, are you a pervert?

I've worked with and around home-schooled children for many years, and they all have the same faults. I do not say "most", I say "all". They all believe they are far more capable and talented than they actually are.

YOU'RE A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER!!!! Knew I'd figure it out. The only other offensive rant I've gotten in my comments was from an admitted school teacher. That one had no children, either. Are you the same one?

"Mommy told me I'm the best!" but Mommy has no idea because Mommy won't let you measure yourself against your peers. They are all incredibly inept in a social setting. They don't know what's funny, they don't know what's cool, they just don't know how to talk to their peers. They treat adults as equals when adults are their superiors, both physically and mentally.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I'm guessing my son is your mental superior by a long shot.

So go ahead, wreck your son out of irrational fear and a cloying, stifling love. It's your right.

Thank you for your permission. I don't think I could carry on without it.

My son read this comment, and here are his words:

"My mother has informed me of this horribly offensive comment, and here's what I have to say about it. I have many friends, and some of them are homeschooled as well. They are more socially adept, nicer, friendlier, etc. than any public schooled child I have EVER met (and I've met many).

"My education is very advanced, in reading especially. (I just got through reading Catcher in the Rye and Frankenstein)

"To sum it up:
1. I have plenty of friends.
2. I have a good education that I am proud of.
3. You're a b****."

LOL!

P.S. Anonymous - if you post anything else, I will just delete it (or worse, let my DH respond to it.) Thanks!

UPDATE: I have been informed by someone I respect that my son's last comment undermines my argument. Perhaps it does, but he's a normal 13-year-old boy, and those were his words. He was really outraged. Besides, I thought it was hilarious. - AC

UPDATE #2: I have changed a word that my son used (perhaps inappropriately) not because I am caving to certain anti-homeschooling factions, but because I have submitted the Socialization post to the Carnival of Homeschooling and have no desire to offend any Christian readers. (Must.... not... make any.... comments about rioting in the streets over it.....) -AC

The Socialization Issue

My father recently got on my case about not sending my DS to a public High School. His argument was, of course, socialization. He thinks it's time he was thrown into the system, to learn about how life really works. I have heard this argument from many people, and the gist of it is this: life is hard, school is hard, people can be cruel, and every child needs to learn to deal with them. There's a kind of "sink or swim" attitude here, a throwing our children to the sharks and hoping for the best. "Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Granted, there is some validity to this, along with the idea that "we got through it ok, so can our kids."

But I've been giving this a lot of thought. I think we can all agree that there are problems with our society today, and it seems like it just gets worse as the years go by. How many of you DON'T think society was safer when we were kids than it is now? I don't kow of anyone personally. I travelled by plane by myself when I was 6 years old, no problem. My son is 13, and I still won't let him travel by himself. My DH used to bicycle to other towns when he was DS's age. We won't even let him bicycle to the mall.

So what has caused this deterioration in society? There are many, many theories about it, from divorce to sexual permissiveness. But I think at least some of it stems from the attitude of our public schools. We throw our kids into it knowing it won't be pleasant, hoping it won't be too bad, but thinking we are doing what's right. But what happens when kids learn to "deal with" things like bullies, drugs, overbearing teachers, arbitrary rules, and shifting priorities? They deal with it the way the KIDS AROUND THEM deal. And kids are not being taught or guided by adults in this. They have to fend for themselves. If you've read Lord of the Flies you should know where this is going. Kids are savages. They need to be taught things like manners, compassion, respect for society's rules. It's no wonder our culture is angry, aggressive and violent. It's what our kids are learning in schools when they're learning to "deal with" people in general.

So the next time someone asks, "What about socialization?" my answer will be that MY son, at least, will not be one the people fueling our angry, aggressive and violent society. Perhaps he will be a leader, as will some of the other homeschooled kids, and they can perhaps, throw some water on those flames.

Launching the 19th Century Textbooks

As some of you may already know, I have been working on a project for some months now that has to do with 19th century textbooks. To date, I now have 5 books scanned and on CDs and the worksheets for 2 of them complete or almost complete. I am going to go live with some of them on eBay in the next few days.

So, why 19th century textbooks, of all things? Well, I posted a few things from one book HERE and HERE, so you can get an idea of what prompted this. However, I think what is really motivating me is the fact that today's textbooks have had all of the vitality, morality and intellectual rigor sucked right out of them. They are pure pablum, not fit for any thinking person. When my son was in 5th grade, he had a version of The Wizard of Oz in which many of the vocabulary words had been changed to "easier" ones. Please! The Wizard of Oz is not a difficult book to read. I could see doing it with Ulysses or even Jane Eyre, but not The Wizard of Oz. But this is just one of the many atrocities that are committed on literature nowadays in the name of education. If you want to read more, read The Language Police by Diane Ravitch. That was a real eye-opener for me.

After reading The Language Police, I found myself looking at old textbooks. The ones I remember as a kid do, indeed, have more interesting content, but even then textbooks were being bled dry. They still had some soul, but not as much as they started with. Going back further, to the 1870's, I found the first real textbooks, readers produced for schools which were just beginning to spring up around our growing nation. These are the books that shaped our great-great grandparents view of America, and from them, our own views. These books are often very religious, mentioning God and admonishing children to thank Him for all His works. These books are also very moralistic, teaching lessons about right and wrong in a very straightforward manner. And, of course, they have stories about the founding of the United States, with moralistic lessons about its founding fathers. Many people will find the above subjects objectionable in one way or another. 19th century readers are not for them. However, I have weeded out a selection of secular stories and poems that some people may be interested in: teaching morals is important, and should not be limited to those teaching Christian values.

I also have a selection of short stories by Saki that I had my son reading, along with the worksheets I created for him. Saki (aka H.H.Munro) is hilarious, and really likes to zing the Edwardian values of his time. Well worth reading, even if you don't want any worksheets (Saki is free at Project Gutenberg.)

So, if this sounds at all interesting to you, take a look at what I have on eBay by using the button on my sidebar. And I welcome comments and suggestions.

Stoop!

From Monroe's Fourth Reader (see previous post):

Benjamin Franklin, when a young man, visited Dr.Cotton Mather. When the interview was ended, the doctor showed him out of the house by a back way. As they proceeded along a narrow passage, the doctor said to the lad, "Stoop! Stoop!"

Not at once understanding the meaning of the advice, Franklin took another step, and brought his head pretty sharply against a beam that projected over the passage.

"My lad," said the divine, "you are young, and the world is before you; learn to stoop as you go through it, and you will save yourself many a hard thump."

Yet it is not an easy lesson to learn, --the art of stooping gracefully, and at the right time.

When a young man stands before you in a passion, fuming and foaming, although you know he is both unreasonable and wrong, it is folly to stand as straight, and stamp as hard, and talk as loud, as he does. This places two temporary madmen face to face. Stoop, as you would if a tornado were passing.

It is no disgrace to stoop before a heavy wind. It is just as sensible to echo back the bellowings of a mad bull, as to answer in the same tone the ravings of a madman. Stoop gracefully, and, amid the pauses of the wind, throw in the "soft words that turn away wrath."

When reproved for an error you have committed, for a wrong you have done, for a neglect chargeable against you, stoop! Do not try to justify or excuse a palpable fault. This only increases the wrong. This only excites greater wrath. Stoop!

If you say mildly, "I know I was wrong; forgive me," you have stolen away all your complainant's thunder. I have seen this tried with the happiest effect.

A friend came to me once with a face black with frowns, and with fury bottled up ready for an explosion because I had failed to fulfill a promise. I foresaw the storm, and took both his hands in mine as he approached, simply saying, "I am very sorry; I forgot. Pardon me this time." What could the man say? He kept the cork in the bottle and I escaped a terrible blast.

How much more easily and pleasantly we should get through life, if we knew how and when to stoop!

But when tempted to do a mean thing or a wrong thing, --when solicited to evil by companions or circumstances, --then don't stoop! You may give up your own personal rights if you will, you may give "coat and cloak" to an unjust demand, --sometimes even this is necessary, --to stoop in silence to an injustice. It may be done without disgrace or guilt. But never stoop to a meanness, to a base deed. Never stoop to pick up a forbidden object, the possession of which righteously exposes you to scorn or censure.

Monroe's Fourth Reader

I have recently become enamoured of old school textbooks. When I say old, I mean old - anything from the 20's or earlier. I am continually amazed at how much children were taught back then as opposed to what they are taught now. My most recent acquisition is from 1872 - Monroe's Fourth Reader published by Cowperthwait & Co., Philadelphia. This Fourth Reader is a 4th year textbook, though how old the students would be could vary. But consider what our 4th graders learn and then read this (from the preface "To Teachers.")

The natural mode of acquiring languag is through the ear. If a child should hear nothing but correct pronunciation, he would pronounce correctly, even though he did not attend school or have special instruction in language for a day. But unfortunately he imitates the defects quite as much as the merits of those to whom he listens. In the course of a few years the habits of the organs of speech become fixed, the ear is less impressible, and the individual retains faults early acquired.

I just can't imagine seeing anything like this in a book printed today, although one written for speech therapists - specialists, mind you - might repeat some of these ideas. Later, I think I'll post a story or two from the reader. See if you know any 4th graders who could comprehend them.

What kind of homeschooler are you?

Umm...well.. yes. This is embarrassingly accurate.

Mr. Potato Head You have your ideal of how things
should look, but youre flexible enough to allow
for change. You are not bothered by changing
methods, mid-course if necessary. You use an
eclectic combination of curriculum sources.


What Type of Homeschooler Are You?
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