Deciding to be happy

Deciding to be happy was my undeclared New Years resolution. Undeclared because really I just decided to do it. Clean up the crap and emotional and mental clutter in the house of my brain, body and spirit. I decided to really live the saying "if mama happy everybody happy" - now I realize that is a simplistic statement because some are very comfortable with mama being a train wreck and are not fond of change but they can learn to deal with the new ways.

I have been working out everyday for a week and a half and it has been wonderful. I get it now when folks have the NEED to work out. I think it was just not my time to be like that until recently. We have our homeschooling schedule that we try to keep to in a scheduled unschooly way (yes I acknowledge the conflict in that statement) We are still working out the kinks. But on the whole it is all good in the hood. Everyday we do our journal, reading, math from 9-12 and have something going on at 1pm regularly. Sometimes things get high jacked for example we have two very large boxes in out house right now so some things may fall to the side for a bit as we take on making a sarcophagus for the monkey pharaoh.

We are truckin' through Story of the world learning about the fertile crescent and Osiris and Isis and mummy's and pyramids and .....it is so exciting. We are also working through the Children's Illustrated Bible that I got at church this past weekend. I was raised in a great church but I never knew much about the bible. My husband knows it well as do my in-laws. It has left me with a great desire to learn the stories and teachings. It is an amazing piece of literature that I would like my children to know. I am very excited to learn more myself.

To compliment our path with the Children's bible I am independently reading Living Christ, Living Buddha by Thich Nhat Hahn. I love most all of his works including this one.

Amazon.com Review
If you have always assumed that Christianity and Buddhism are as far apart philosophically as their respective founders were geographically, you may be in for a bit of a surprise. In this national bestseller, Zen monk and social activist Thich Nhat Hanh draws parallels between these two traditions that have them walking, hand in hand, down the same path to salvation. In Christianity, he finds mindfulness in the Holy Spirit as an agent of healing. In Buddhism, he finds unqualified love in the form of compassion for all living things. And in both he finds an emphasis on living practice and community spirit. The thread that binds the book is the same theme that draws many Christians toward Buddhism: mindfulness. Through anecdotes, scripture references, and teachings from both traditions, Nhat Hanh points out that mindfulness is an integral part of all religious practice and teaches us how to cultivate it in our own lives. Nhat Hanh has no desire to downplay the venerable theological and ritual teachings that distinguish Buddhism and Christianity, but he does cause one to consider that beyond the letter of doctrine lies a unity of truth.

The monkey has very interested in working through his spiritual side for the past year and a half. It has been wonderful to walk with him on this road also looking at my beliefs. One great book that has helped me open my mind to this kind of philosophical wandering was Little Big Minds by Marietta McCarty

Amazon.com Product Description
A guide for parents and educators to sharing the enduring ideas of the biggest minds throughout the centuries-from Plato to bell hooks-with the "littlest" minds.

Children are no strangers to cruelty and courage, to love and to loss, and in this unique book teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty reveals that they are, in fact, natural philosophers. Drawing on a program she has honed in schools around the country over the last fifteen years, Little Big Minds guides parents and educators in introducing philosophy to K-8 children in order to develop their critical thinking, deepen their appreciation for others, and brace them for the philosophical quandaries that lurk in all of our lives, young or old.

Arranged according to themes-including prejudice, compassion, and death-and featuring the work of philosophers from Plato and Socrates to the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr., this step-by-step guide to teaching kids how to think philosophically is full of excellent discussion questions, teaching tips, and group exercises.

With MLK day coming up there is much to talk about. Not to mention the inaguration. what a great time to be.


In absolutley amazing news - the monkey went to his first theater audition last night for a Midsummer's Night Dream throught the Ypsilanti Youth Theater and He did great! The best part is that he loved it and had a really great time. We will find out this weekend what part he will get. Being that it is his first go at theater he is hoping for a nonspeaking part although once i explained to hime that in the play if you have lines you have to memorize then and not read them off of paper he was more open to a speaking part. (he is reading but just not super confident yet and Shakespeare is not exactaly Dr. Seusse) I am a giddy proud mama. I have waited a long time to get the monkey into theater he has it in him if he chooses to pursue it.

Yesterday I got two books out of the library that I am very excited to dive into. Both books I have heard much about and come highly recommended. Hold on to your Kids I think is a must read for any parent. The Teenage Liberation Handbook is for those adults and kids open to the idea of homeschooling and the concept of learning over schooling.

The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn

Amazon.com Review
You won't find this book on a school library shelf--it's pure teenage anarchy. While many homeschooling authors hem and haw that learning at home isn't for everyone, this manifesto practically tells kids they're losers if they do otherwise. With the exception of a forwarding note to parents, this book is written entirely for teenagers, and the first 75 pages explain why school is a waste of time. Grace Llewellyn insists that people learn better when they are self-motivated and not confined by school walls. Instead of homeschooling, which connotes setting up a school at home, Llewellyn prefers "unschooling," a learning method with no structure or formal curriculum. There are tips here you won't hear from a school guidance counselor. Llewellyn urges kids to take a vacation--at least for a week--after quitting school to purge its influence. "Throw darts at a picture of your school" or "Make a bonfire of old worksheets," she advises. She spends an entire chapter on the gentle art of persuading parents that this is a good idea. Then she gets serious. Llewellyn urges teens to turn off the TV, get outside, and turn to their local libraries, museums, the Internet, and other resources for information. She devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, math, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that, contrary to what they've been told in school, they won't be flipping burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out. Llewellyn is a former middle-school English teacher, and she knows her audience well. Her formula for making the transition from traditional school to unschooling is accompanied by quotes on freedom and free thought from radical thinkers such as Steve Biko and Ralph Waldo Emerson. And Llewellyn is not above using slang. She capitalizes words to add emphasis, as in the "Mainstream American Suburbia-Think" she blames most schools for perpetuating. Some of her attempts to appeal to young minds ring a bit corny. She weaves through several chapters an allegory about a baby whose enthusiasm is squashed by a sterile, unnatural environment, and tells readers to "learn to be a human bean and not a mashed potato." But her underlying theme--think for yourself--should appeal to many teenagers. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

and Hold on to your Kids by Gordon Neufeld PhD, Gabor Mate MD

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Like countless other parents, Canadian doctors Neufeld and Maté woke up one day to find that their children had become secretive and unreachable. Pining for time with friends, they recoiled or grew hostile around adults. Why? The problem, Neufeld and co-writer Maté suggest, lies in a long-established, though questionable, belief that the earliest possible mastery of the rules of social acceptance leads to success. In a society that values its economy over culture, the book states, the building of strong adult/child attachments gets lost in the shuffle. Multiple play dates, day care, preschool and after school activities groom children to transfer their attachment needs from adults to their peers. They become what the authors call "peer oriented." The result is that they squelch their individuality, curiosity and intelligence to become part of a group whose members attend school less to learn than to socialize. And these same children are bullying, shunning and murdering each other, as well as committing suicide, at increasing rates. The authors' meticulous exploration of the problem can be profoundly troubling. However, their candidness and exposition lead to numerous solutions for reestablishing a caring adult hierarchy. Beautifully written, this terrific, poignant book is already a bestseller in Canada.
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It is time for me to clean up and get ready for my day with the monkey and the bean. Soon I will post a bit more on the idea of homeschooling high schoolers. It seems to be something on peoples mind lately. Homeschool kids can go to college and do very well in the world in general. Also I would like to eventually cover the idea of parental rights and civil liberties in homeschooling.

BTW did anyone notice the artice in this past weeks Ann Arbor News Sunday paper about the Michigan Virtual High Shool.