Parenting fail number 5,693.... and counting...

We are back at it!
Dancing in our seats, bopping down the road, on the way from Bradenton to Tallahassee FL. We know we’ve been sitting still too long; Alan has to re-acquaint himself with the rules when pulling this beast! Turns out it is NOTHING like riding a bike! We are a little gun-shy after the last major issue with the rig but we also know that is just part of the trip. These rigs aren’t meant to full time and they aren’t made very well so fixing it often is part of the adventure.

     Tonight we are shooting for the camping world in Tallahassee. If you get there early you can snag a spot near their repair bay with electricity- WAHOO! It’s amazing how our priorities have changed, but so very much for the better! We have done a great job making small daily changes to diet, exercise and spirit. Next is to really honor when we eat out so that it is more like when we were kids, not an expectation but a treat. We love trying the cuisine of the region but we can get a LITTLE carried away. (And I am not convinced shamrock shakes are really a necessity in expressing our joy for St. Patrick’s Day, but whatever.)

       On the way to Tallahassee we went over the Suwannee River, which, of course is also a famous song. The first few bars of which are even on the sign indicating it is the same river in the song. Not one to let an educational opportunity pass I whipped out the phone and called up the first YouTube video relating to the song. Bing Crosby, can’t go wrong right? WRONG! I didn’t remember that whole line about “darkies”!  Needless to say the song was abruptly cut short and a long discussion around racism quickly ensued! So THAT’S why we don’t really sing it anymore. PARENTING FAIL!  And speaking of parenting fails….    

 We are super excited to get to the homeschooling conference after New Orleans, I am going to be speaking about how to use Thirty One in conjunction with homeschooling and general Fulltiming. And one of my favorite people, Kimberly Traveglino has invited me to speak on her radio show with MaryBeth Goff. I’ll be talking about using ThirtyOne as a “location independent” business to help support our lifestyle. I have never been on the radio but have been looking into starting some voice over work so this will be a good way to get my feet wet and really hear myself. If I sound like Sylvester, I can pretty much skip the voice over work!

     I have spent the last six months really processing what it means to change my self-identity.  I still tell people I am a teacher but it’s a weird conversation each time as I am not really sure when I will return to a classroom or where that might happen. This is the conversation I find myself in at least twice a week…

“So, you LIVE in your fifthwheel?”

“Yep, we are traveling the country for a year, studying Revolutionary war history and doing other hands on –learning. “

“So the kids are… HOMESCHOOLED” (This statement inevitably comes with a cocked eyebrow at the very least and always with a certain look that indicates a guard has fallen over someone’s countenance, they are scanning for crazy, I know it.)

“Yes, they are, I was a teacher for 13 years prior to this.”

“OH! Okay.” Now the veil is lifted because I have somehow made it ok. As if I now have some kind of skill that makes it acceptable for me to home school.

The truth of this is that in Many, Many, Many, MANY ways, 30 kids were a lot easier than two, for a myriad of reasons. But I think it’s time that I publicly fess up, this has been just short of an academic disaster. The progress that can be measured by state tests would show up as minimal if not worse. So there, I said it. I’m a teacher and I stink at teaching my own kids. So we are re-vamping, trying to enroll in an online school out of Colorado and if that doesn’t work I am purchasing a complete curriculum. Because, while they have had amazing experiences and may understand things on a level totally unattainable from their peers, it won’t test well. And that my friends, is the way of this world. They know the first five presidents, they know the preamble, they understand the amendments and more importantly, they have seen where these things came from. They have walked the same hallowed ground, but the school district won’t measure that. Without the structured school day, they have learned a lot, but not the “right” things. So for that reason, no matter where we go next year, whether another year out, or staying in Colorado next year, I’ll be keeping at least Jacob out of public schools. He isn’t ready to go back and a system that pushes him along further and faster than he’s ready to go, that wasn’t doing him any good.

    I am excited to go to the home school convention and connect with other home school parents to help us figure this out. There are lots of new ways to implement curriculum that I know nothing about. I am excited to learn about lap books and we have started to work on languages orally. Listening to Spanish on CD as a family!  I’ll video the next set of lessons, it’s hysterical!

     We have also reworked our travel schedule to travel more slowly and stay in one place longer, a week is the minimum and often a few weeks  at a time. I hope that will give us more time to work on the basics. We will see. I think being cognoscente of the issues are a good start, and now we are trying to find a way to make this work on more levels now that we know more what to expect. For the time being, “school” is an everyday occurrence at some level. And I am holding them more accountable for their learning by having them create more evidence pieces rather than just talking about it. It’s a work in progress. Now, off to the French quarter to learn about the birthplace of Jazz! (Another piece NOT covered by state standards!)

Boudin anyone?