What we have been up to….
Well my dad came in from San Antonio and he and I attended the AFHE (Arizona Families for Home Education) conference in downtown Phoenix. It was totally overwhelming but good info none the less. We took the lightrail down on Friday and that was cool and so easy. The ride home Friday night was a bit crowded and we had to stand but it was still super easy and better than driving and parking downtown.
Saturday Jason and the girls ventured downtown with us and we found (well Jason found) an all day breakfast place for us to eat at. The girls really got a kick out of the train. Jason and Landis went in to the convention hall with me to check things out and then they headed back up to the lightrail. They had to stand most of the way back and that is a loooong ride/stand for 4 year olds but they did well. Landis seems to be still recovering from her loss of sleep on that day, or she is coming down with a cold.
Saturday I had had about enough of the convention and wanted just to get home and relax. So we left in the afternoon but not before hearing a really good speaker who talked about how we learn. It was very interesting. The one thing that she said that stuck with me the most was that the very thing that drives you crazy about your kid (figeting, not listening, constantly singing, being really organized) is the very essence of who they are and what they will become. So instead of saying be quiet, stop moving, why can’t you just relax we should realize it is the way they are wired and in the end it is the thing that will make them successful. She said many other things that resonated with me but that was kind of an ah ha moment.
I am still on the fence about what to do about education. I am less than impressed with the public school system and how our teacher are asked to manage their classrooms rather than teach them and in most cases private schools are not much better. We are still in the research phase and thankfully we do have lots of options.