Thursday, January 15, 2009

Greensburg, KS Lookin' Good!

I'd been meaning to make it out to Greensburg for a while, and finally we were able to take a day and go last week. We watched the "Greensburg" documentary on Planet Green last year, so we wanted to see the progress that had been made since the last episode that we saw. I'd never been to Greensburg before, so I couldn't really compare before and after. But I can tell you that I saw a lot of hustle and bustle as construction workers "did their thing." We saw lots of new houses, and of course, the 5-4-7 Arts Center. While the town still has a long way to go, it seems like they continue to move into the future in a positive way, while making sure current residents are able to live, go to church, go to school, work, etc. I was very impressed. Here are some pictures that we took. We got their late in the afternoon, so we didn't get to take as many as I wanted since we were fighting the sunset. It was a beautiful day!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11193&id=1545241314&l=7eb9b

Monday, January 12, 2009

Tim Tebow was Homeschooled

If you watched the BCS Championship game last week between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners, you've probably heard this story before. But I felt it important to mention here, because I'm hoping that the Tim Tebow story is a wake up call to all those school districts who have the authority to allow or disallow homeschooled kids to participate in extra-curricular activities in their schools. Lucky for Tim, (and the Gators) the state of Florida passed a law allowing homeschooled kids to participate in school sports. To my knowledge, in my state it is up to each district. I'm hoping that Tim's story, and many others sure to pop up between now and when my children are in high school, will influence the leaders in my district should my children want to participate in a group sport one day.
You can read more about Tim here.
I'm really not sure why a school district would want to hold back a child who wants to participate in school sports. The fact is that everyone pays taxes to the schools, and just because our children don't attend does not mean that the school is missing out on anything. Yes, I understand that each school gets so much money per student per year. And if my children are not counted toward that number they get no money for them. And? What does that have to do with school sports? Absolutely nothing. Telling homeschooled students "no" is basically a way of trying to force them to attend school, even though standardized tests tell us over and over again that it's not the best thing for the student. It will be interesting to see what happens as time goes on. To all those states and districts that allow and encourage homeschooled students to participate in school sports, bravo to you! The funny thing about homeschooled students is that they have HOURS to perfect their sport because they don't have to sit in school all day. And that is reason #1 for homeschooled students to get a chance to play sports with their peers.


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2009! Christmas went by like a blur, and before we know it, we will be looking at 2010 and wondering how in the world time can just keep going by faster and faster. I hope you had a great Christmas. I am personally in a bit of a slump, and trying to get out quickly because I don't like it! Christmas was a little strange at our house, because it was the first time that my children left for part of the day to spend the afternoon with their father. While it was a nice break, it really made Christmas day seem like just a few hours long. I guess every Christmas will be weird from now on. Isn't divorce the pits?
This year we had to explain "Santa Claus" to the kids, who are 7.5 and 6. I could have waited another year on my six year-old, but when she asked, "how come Thomas got what he asked Santa for and I didn't?" I couldn't let it go on another year. So we had the talk, and she is still a little unsure about the whole thing.
I will never forget my sister, just 10.5 months older than me, spoiling "Santa" for me when I was 6, as we lay in our beds one night. I didn't believe her. I tried to rationalize the whole thing in my head, when I said, "the next thing you're going to tell me is there's no such thing as the Easter Bunny!" I could feel her eyes roll.
Incidentally, a few weeks after Christmas, my 6 year old lost a tooth. The Tooth Fairy came and went with no incident, and no questions. When will I break THAT to them?!