I’ve moved.. you can now find me at my new blog fanTABZulous! it’s here!
Shreesh Prasad is the only Nevada state student to score a perfect on his test.
A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted a “silent” lunch policy after three recent choking incidents. Silent means the kids can whisper – but other than that they have to be silent.
The school says it’s because the lunch room could become very noisy and the teachers were unable to hear the child choking.
I’m sorry, but this is plain ridiculous. Kids are quiet all day in school and in class. Lunch seems to be a natural time to engage in reasonable conversation. They are kids after all.
Are there really not enough adults watching the kids that they can’t see choking happen? Makes me appreciate being homeschooled more.
Are Boys the Weaker Sex?
Based on article by the same title in Reader’s Digest, February 2002
“We are experiencing a crisis of the boy next door,” according to Willima Pollack, a clinical psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of Real Boys (112). According to article there is a strange paradox between the aggressive tendencies in boys and their emotional sensitivity. The ‘crisis’ comes from the lack on behalf of care-takers and parents to nurture their emotional lives.
The article did cite there are differences in the way that girls and boys think, but sees this ‘crisis’ effecting boys in their academic performance. According to the article boys are less likely to go on to college. “By 2007, universities are projected to enroll 6.9 million men compared with 9.2 million women.” This is not only true of boy’s college experience but, according to the article 2/3 of the students classified as having learning disabilities are male.
After watching the video in class about the differences between boys and girls I was fascinated. I resonated a lot with what the video was talking about because I’ve worked with children for a good majority of my life. Currently I’m the director of Sparks, a youth club on Wednesday nights at Moody Memorial Church. I work with 5-8 year olds and could see the differences between the females in the class and the males.
Many of boys in my class are naturally more aggressive and competitive. Not one week goes by where one of my male leaders have to figuratively “sit on” one of the boys. The girls, on the other hand, can be a handful, but they are more collective handfuls. When one decides to act up the rest will follow. Yet, as I’ve learned with working with inner city kids, the worst behaved kid is the one who has the most emotional need.
Rick, one of my leader’s, told me the other day that when dealing with one of the boys (I’ll call him John) Rick started talking to him outside of the group. After awhile John shared things that were going on at home and school. Rick prayed with John and told him that he’d be praying for him during the week. When John came back the next week he gave Rick a big hug. All John needed was love and to know that it was okay to feel sad or happy.
I would agree with this article that most boys need to have a good emotional base to work with. If they are constantly told to not be “sensitive” they’ll hold things in and become bitter. With many of the inner city high school students I work with at church on Sunday mornings I can tell that a lot of the boys are hurting, but they don’t know what to do with their emotions. The boys think they need to hold things in and be ‘a man’. And, as a result, they act tough, but inwardly are breaking.
I also agree with both the article and the video that boys and girls are different emotionally. Yet, we are all the same in some senses. God has created us with our emotional makeup. Boys shouldn’t ‘get in touch with their feminine side’ and girls don’t need to ‘find their inner strength’. Both need to be nurtured to understand that feelings are normal and true strength comes from figuring out how to use those feelings to help others.
I was homeschooled from K-12th grade. I’m very proud of the fact, but it’s not something that comes up with every person I know. Somehow, though, the topic of highschool memories comes up and I usually make some quip like, “my highschool football team won every game it ever played.”
When I get the bizaare stares I grin and say, “I was homeschooled.”
This usually meets with confused and bizaare stares. These turn to uncomfortable stares and people usually don’t know what to say. I might has well have said I grew up in a cult or I’m a direct descendant of Jesus. It’s amusing to me, but sad too. As time goes on, more and more people seem to embrace the idea of homeschooling as a part of culture. And yet, there’s still that element of “freak” associated with being homeschooled.
It’s not something I mind horribly. In addition to being a homeschooler, I’m a bit of a geek, so “freak” is something I’m used to being labeled as. I’m not sure why though. Is it simply because I was taught by my parents rather than in a classroom of my peers? Do we judge people based on their abnormality to ourselves?
It’s strange, but I think it’s more uncomfortableness than judgment that people have. When they find out they’re not sure what to say. There’s no common ground for conversation. The only real option they have is to ask questions or change the subject.
I don’t mind their uncomfortableness, I’m happy to be a real example of what a product of homeschooling looks like – rather than the sterotype. It does bother me sometimes, but in the end I’m proud of my past.
Tabz