Leaping From The Box

My husband and I believe voting is something you just do as an American. I do not think we have missed a Presidential election since either of us was able to vote. I know I haven’t. I realized this year is the first Presidential election in which I have not had a Bush or Clinton as a choice on the ballot! Does that tell you how old I am?

Last week we participated in Early Voting in Tallahassee, Florida, which I wrote about over at Musings, Mischief and Mayhem, my personal blog.

What I liked best about early voting was that it enabled my family to spend a glorious October afternoon enjoying the sunny outdoors while we waited in line. I used to take my children with me to vote when they were younger, preteens, but I never thought I would have the privilege of actually voting with them. Here are a few things I learned from my family that afternoon:

1. You can count up to 31 binary on one hand. You have to be careful about the number 4, though, as some people might take offense at the finger being used.
2. David knows binary, but still cannot reliably tell the difference between XIV and XVI.
3. Traffic jams occur even if people are driving all the same speed on a track and there are no accidents. The drivers will at some point come to a complete stop.
4. My husband thinks is something morally wrong with electioneering along the voting line, even if they are outside the legal perimeter.
5. Everyone in our vehicle except me noticed that we went down a level in the parking garage while looking for a space, even though I was the one driving.
6. You can avoid shaking a politician’s hand if you tell him that you are coming down with a cold and are probably contagious!

If you haven’t already early voted or absentee voted, go vote tomorrow. It doesn’t matter for whom, it just matters that you vote!!

Another response to a question I received about unschooling. If you have your own question, click on the “Email Me Today” link on the right sidebar and send me your question.

Background: We have homeschooled our children for many years. Our eldest is now in college. But my dw continually stresses out about curriculum and “being behind,” and this stress is loaded upon the remaining child as she is pressured to complete particular work.

Questions: Is it possible to transition to an unschooled paradigm with only a 15-year-old left in the house? How? What difficulties can one expect? How does one set up transcripts for college?

Thanks,
Unschooling Wannabe Dad

Dear Unschooling Wannabe Dad,

The quick and easy answer is, “Of course it is possible to transition to unschooling!”

Does your youngest child wish to unschool? Does she already unschool in some fashion and just does not realize it? If she has some input into what her studies are and how/when she does them, then she may already be unschooling to some degree.

Unschooling Difficulties

One key to unschooling success is to have everyone in the household at least willing to give it a good try. If your wife is already stressing and worrying, then I suspect she will have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to the notion of unschool. You might need to do some “selling” of unschooling to your wife: meet some local unschooling families, learn about unschooled students who successfully made it into college, joining some unschooling email lists or support groups, and read some good unschooling books.

How is your eldest doing at college? Is your wife worrying because the eldest is having difficulties adjusting to college? Or is she just worrying because that is her natural tendency? If she has specific concerns, such as writing abilities or particular math levels, it may be necessary to compromise and continue with an academic schedule (plan) for those areas and then allow your daughter to unschool in all other areas of her life.

Other than getting your wife on board, the only real difficulty I can think of is if your youngest is uncertain about unschooling or believes that unschooling might not work. Sometimes students are so used to having their academic work laid out for them, without their having any input into what they study, that the idea of unschooling seems scary or even wrong in some way. They worry that they won’t cover the necessary material to get them into college. Or they flounder for a while, not certain what to do nor when, simply because they are so used to following someone else’s schedule.

Deschooling

Your daughter might find it necessary to deschool for a while, just to gain the time and perspective to see what she wants to do for herself. Deschooling is like a vacation from prescribed learning, allowing the student to regain touch with her own desires, her own reasons for learning. Sometimes deschooling is necessary for students who have always followed a strict regimen of learning where they had no input into what they learn (whether school-at-home or in public school). The rule of thumb with deschooling is one month for each year that child has been in public school. Since you have already been homeschooling for a number of years, your daughter might not need that long.

Transcripts for Unschoolers

As for transcripts, there are many ways they can be done, depending upon the homeschool regulations in your particular state. Many homeschools are considered private schools; if that is the case in your state, you create your child’s transcript, translating their activities and interest into “schooly” subjects. In Alabama (the state I have the most familiarity with), homeschoolers join church schools and the church school provides the transcript and/or diploma, based upon the information provided by the homeschooling family.

There are also some “unschooling schools” that provide transcripts and diplomas for unschoolers, which might be a way of reassuring your wife that the necessary material will be covered for college. One such school is West River Academy.

Unschooling High School

Unschoolers can and do graduate from high school and go on to college just fine. We graduated two unschoolers, and while our eldest decided not to attend college, she easily could have, given her grades and SAT scores. Our middle child is currently enrolled at Tallahassee Community College, majoring in computer science, and made the Dean’s List last semester. Both unschooled their high school years, each in their own particular way. I chronicled some of their unschooled high schooling a few years ago, which you can read at Unschooling High School.

Unschooling Wannabe Dad, please let us know what your family decides to do and why!

Readers, do you have any suggestions for this Unschooling Wannabe Dad? Please post your comments!

Could you use a $100 bonus? I know we could!

Our monetary situation and financial goals have been subjects in our household recently. Better employment opportunities for my husband was one of the reasons for our move to Tallahassee, with the goal of seriously augmenting savings and retirement funds. Our eldest child has been trying to sell her house for many months and we all know how painful the housing market is right now. Our middle child is a full-time college student (living at home) who, whenever gas prices go above $3.00 per gallon, has been required by mom and dad to use the city bus system rather than the family van to get to class. (Gas prices here in Tallahassee jumped from $2.89/gal. last Friday to $3.17/gal. yesterday!) And our youngest child is job hunting and discovering just how difficult it is to get that first job.

I am always looking for ways to save money or earn more money. I cut costs where I can and can hold my own amongst the best of penny pinchers. The last three months I have been on a “turn off that electricity consuming device when not in use” campaign and lowered our monthly electric bill by close to $100. So when I saw an opportunity to make an extra $100 while at the same time accomplishing one of our long-term goals, augmenting savings, how could I pass it by?

My Money Blog gives the details of Suze Orman’s SaveYourself promotion. Open a TD Ameritrade account by March 31, 2008 and set up an automatic deposit of at least $50 per month for 12 consecutive months. At the end of that 12 months you will receive a $100 bonus, as long as you have not withdrawn any money from the account in that time.

Since one of our goals is to save more money, I set up a TD Ameritrade account yesterday. I choose the money market fund option rather than a trading fund and have until the end of March to fund it. I can wait until the next payday (which only comes around once a month here) and then set up the automatic deposits. My thought is that I won’t be tempted to dip into a savings account that is not connected with our regular checking account at our regular bank. Out of sight, out of mind, right? And at the end of the first year we will have at least $700 tucked away, $600 of our own and $100 bonus (plus whatever interest accrues between now and then). Cool!