Clara's Clearing

Pi Day

Monday, March 14, 2011

Today is March 14, or 3.14 – or shall we say π? More

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Time, time, time -- or quantitative un-easing

Thursday, December 02, 2010

I’m not finished with my negative/positive resistance topic – and I am going to interject myself into the child raising/educating picture some more. More

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Comments

tina commented on 02-Dec-2010 09:22 PM

Some interesting ideas here...! But you're definitely right about not quantifying our expectations. It's just easier to quantify.

anon2 commented on 02-Dec-2010 10:28 PM

You sure are a thinking mom, Clara! I bet you your kid will turn out an interesting guy. It's really good to read your blogs.

Karen G commented on 02-Dec-2010 11:00 PM

Really --- good point about the 'objectivity' of the clock. Who says that's objective or that objectivity is always good?

---------------- commented on 02-Dec-2010 11:11 PM

I like this one!

Cristalight commented on 04-Dec-2010 10:10 PM

Good blog ... Time is everything ... And mothers and women have the least of it ... So hard to be yourself without it... Good luck !!!

anonny commented on 05-Dec-2010 11:54 AM

ha ha ha... let's hope your quantitative uneasing will yield better results than the quantitative easing going on!

Clara commented on 05-Dec-2010 12:29 PM

@ anonny: ha ha ha is right! I do think I'll be more successful. In fact, perhaps we need some de-quantitative growth in the economy as well, i.e. creating an actual productive economy rather than printing more and more money. Sorry, off topic...!

54Dixie commented on 06-Dec-2010 11:44 AM

You are so right: no time, no self. I really don't know how we manage...!!!

SusieQ commented on 09-Dec-2010 09:07 PM

Very nice blogs Clara. I just found this site and I really like it. Nice job!

homeschool mom commented on 27-Dec-2010 01:47 PM

I'm an old timer in homeschooling and I have the great news for you that children do grow up and require less of your time. Patience!!

Monda commented on 18-Jan-2011 08:38 PM

Clara, this is another great blog. hmm, what do you think about our perception of time vs our kids?!

Have you asked your son how he'd like to divide his time between internet and the material which you feel absolutely necessary for his growth? I wonder if there can be some schedule of let's say, one hour of Skype, for each hour of required reading/writing or physical activity?

Clara commented on 20-Jan-2011 07:22 AM

But Monda, that's the whole problem. I DON'T want to play alarm clock or time police any more!

The role of chance

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

This blog is part of Educating My Boy: Chronicles of a Free-Schooler

What I am going to do in the next series of blogs is to record some of the “lessons” that I prepare for my son. But before I embark on the planned part of our curriculum I want to pay homage to the role chance plays in what Jack studies. In fact the very “curriculum” that I’m going to blog about came to us by chance. More

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The dusting of books...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A while ago I wrote about our decision to move out of San Francisco. Well, the move is upon us. We’re packing, loading, cleaning, painting, etc., hence my laxness in writing blogs.
More

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Comments

hs01 commented on 21-Sep-2010 09:38 PM

why do you apologize so much?!

tina commented on 21-Sep-2010 09:43 PM

"Perhaps a restoration, even a renaissance, is in order." Amen!!!!!!

Windsurfer commented on 21-Sep-2010 10:48 PM

All power to you to share your love with your kid. Why should you apologize for that?

CS89 commented on 22-Sep-2010 09:02 AM

You're one literate mama. Your kid will probably pick up things by osmosis. I'd bet anything he'll read a lot more than you think he will!

Chris commented on 22-Sep-2010 09:23 AM

Who cares about the left or the right. Do your own thing! Why shouldn't smart and educated people want to bring up smart and educated kids?

Lisa commented on 26-Sep-2010 10:54 PM

You do what you can to expose your children to good things but the dance to their own drummer. You love literature and your son will learn that literature is great but maybe he won't be as involved as you with works of literature. That's just the way it goes...!!!

Tri4 commented on 27-Sep-2010 01:31 PM

Sad day that you have to apologize for wanting your kids to read good books. You probably think I'm old, I'm not!!! I'm not a nerd either. Further sign of times that I'm saying these things. Nerds rule anyway!!!

Max commented on 29-Sep-2010 08:47 PM

Kids gotta read. It's our only chance for survival.

TRex commented on 29-Sep-2010 09:32 PM

I'm glad I'm not your kid!!!! LOL... LOL... LOL...!!!

Bryce commented on 04-Oct-2010 10:10 AM

You're damned right to want your kid to read good stuff. You might find this article helpful:

"How to Raise Boys Who Read" in the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405511702112290.html

Clara commented on 04-Oct-2010 10:12 AM

Thank you Bryce. Good article. I'll feature it on the homepage.

Harry commented on 04-Oct-2010 07:39 PM

Thank you for the link Bryce. It makes you appreciate this blog and moms like Clara.

VT89 commented on 08-Oct-2010 11:40 AM

I totally agree about giving kids good things to read. The idea of catering only to the tastes and jusgements of kids really does create morons and barbarians, as the article in the Wall Street Journal says. All power to you Clara and mothers like you.

main mom commented on 10-Oct-2010 01:27 PM

Yes indeed let's start with kids. If we don't bring up alert and capable people to populate the world what kind of a world will this be? I get the irony of apologizing for this!

Tyler commented on 12-Oct-2010 11:19 PM

@TRex: I'm pretty sure she's glad you're not her kid, too.

Clara commented on 15-Oct-2010 01:16 AM

@Tyler: Nah! I would probably bring TRex around. I taught Shakespeare to some of the toughest kids in New York City. Not a surprise that some of the toughest were the most brilliant!

Anonymous commented on 22-Oct-2010 11:25 AM

In the homeschooling circles the ones who opt for a "classical" education are the religious families.

Amazing Opposites

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

My son Jack gave the title to this blog. This is how it came about:
More

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Comments

hs01 commented on 01-Sep-2010 11:16 AM

What a great blog! And I loved the film clips too. You have one smart kid.

anon2 commented on 01-Sep-2010 11:23 AM

Wow, what an amazing kid you got! Whatever you're doing there must be something right in it. Nice blog. Really nice blog.

mom from denver commented on 01-Sep-2010 11:15 PM

What an amazing piece of writing Jack did! So thoughtful. It is just amazing.

anonny commented on 02-Sep-2010 08:57 AM

I am always amazed at the self-righteousness of "radical" people. They seem totally oblivious to their own dogmatism and intolerance. I'm all for alternative and experimental things but to be so cocksure... The fact is that the reader who commented about liking school comes across as much more thoughtful and a much more interesting person. I think it's very generous of Clara and her son to give equal weight to the two viewpoints but I don't agree. I think the kind of "freedom" that Ms. Rebecca promotes breeds ignorance.

Parker commented on 02-Sep-2010 09:14 AM

Amazing footage of the Amazon! the blog is nice too!!!

@#$@#$@#$ commented on 02-Sep-2010 09:38 AM

I hear ya anonny!!!!

Susan B commented on 03-Sep-2010 09:26 AM

Rebecca certainly has a point about authentic learning. Kids only retain what is interesting to them and what they want to learn. On the other hand it is certainly good to expose them to different things so they can pick what they want to learn. How can they on their own come across math and physics and poetry? That's my honest question out of curiosity. Or are math and physics and poetry unnecessary? I just wonder.

Carmen commented on 06-Sep-2010 05:39 PM

Congratulations to Jack for being such a thoughtful boy and so good at expressing himself. You are a very good teacher too Clara! I really like your approach to education which is both free and diciplined. Good luck with everything.

Anonymous commented on 10-Sep-2010 01:19 PM

very smart kid... good for you and him.

Deets2 commented on 13-Sep-2010 10:55 AM

Jack is definitely a smart boy but I think most kids have such very interesting things to say if anybody would listen to them. Children are very creative thinkers and excellent observers. Our educational system will never be "reformed" until the real potential of chidlren is acknowledged and children themselves involved in bringing about "reform."

duuude commented on 15-Sep-2010 12:00 AM

sweet clips

pianoforte commented on 19-Sep-2010 02:10 PM

You must be a very good teacher Clara ... and your kid is smart ... You are doing the right thing teaching him yourself ...

aurore commented on 08-Oct-2010 06:16 PM

Way to go Jack- a strong independent mind- enjoyed reading the metaphor

main mom commented on 10-Oct-2010 01:29 PM

A real thinking boy! Wow...

The Homeschoolers' Conference

Saturday, August 21, 2010

One of the first pieces of advice I received from fellow homeschoolers was: Don’t miss the conference! One far-sighted mom made me make my reservation right on the spot, sitting at the kitchen table of another homeschooling mom, on my i-Phone. I’m sure glad I did. More

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Are homeschoolers entitled to summer vacation?

Thursday, July 22, 2010

This blog is part of Educating My Boy: Chronicles of a Free-Schooler

This is our first summer as homeschoolers. My son left school in February and I did some official “teaching” from March through May. Come June, however, Jack started rebelling against our “lessons.” More

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Comments

Anonymous commented on 23-Jul-2010 11:14 AM

You are so right. Doing everything the kids' way just gives them no cause for rebellion and frustrates them on some level. You are doing the right thing.

Karen commented on 23-Jul-2010 11:55 AM

I think your kid definitely deserves a summer vacation. You may not make him work hours and hours a day but you are a tough teacher! Don't get me wrong. I think challenge is a good thing!

------------------ commented on 23-Jul-2010 01:04 PM

You mean, mean mother!!! How could you deprive your kid of summer vacation? He is totally right: It's not fair!!!!

homeschooling mom commented on 23-Jul-2010 02:32 PM

The beauty of homeschooling is that you invent it as you go along. Welcome to the club. Enjoy it and take as many vacations as you want!

mom from denver commented on 24-Jul-2010 11:41 AM

Yeah, vacations are absolutely necessary even when you don't "deserve" them. It's a stupid idea that we should "earn" every pleasure.

Laura K commented on 25-Jul-2010 04:32 PM

Everybody deserves a summer vacation!! You need one yourself. Your lesson plans are ambitious but I like it. Lots of luck.

Terra Linda commented on 27-Jul-2010 09:37 PM

Very true about kids having misconceptions too. We always blame adults for that but kids a lot of times have erroneous assumptions and it's really hard to convince them that they're wrong.

Martinguerre commented on 28-Jul-2010 01:22 PM

Ah, the question of rebellion...! Never heard it talked about from the perspective of a mother. Interesting. I think rebellion is a divine force. Can't live without it as with any other divine force.

Larry commented on 29-Jul-2010 11:57 AM

Good luck. I hope you succeed but 'bad boys' put up a fight, you know!

Tania commented on 03-Aug-2010 10:29 PM

Are all homeschooled kids as educated as yours? I don't know because I don't know kids being taught at home. I think reading these books is excellent. They probably learn more from these books than from school.

Atl36 commented on 11-Aug-2010 01:57 PM

Summer vacation rules!!!!!! Stop working kids to death!!!!

no name commented on 19-Aug-2010 11:12 PM

Good reading list. Good luck!

Rebecca commented on 20-Aug-2010 12:30 PM

Absolutely. Vacation away.

In fact, throw the journal away. I would.

Because, what you really want is not for your son to fill in a journal. You want him to love reading and find pleasure in it. Okay, maybe you don't. But that's what I'm going for.

I'd much rather my kid read the books he enjoys and wants to read than to "make" him read books I think are "good for him". See, if he loves reading, he'll likely find his way to those books on his own time. If you push him toward those books, making them 'compulsory', then chances are you will have a kid who continues to resist reading (and you).

I don't think he's finding something to rebel against because he doesn't have school anymore. I think he's tasted freedom and he likes it and wants more of it.

But that's just my opinion. :)

Clara commented on 20-Aug-2010 01:37 PM

Dear Rebecca, I didn't mean to give the impression that Jack doesn't like to read good, serious books. My point is that while he was in school those books were "fun" and now that he's homeschooled they are "work." It's just funny how that works.

Clara commented on 28-Aug-2010 10:19 AM

Rebecca: you left a terrific new comment that got deleted by accident. (I've gotten spammed by gibberish comments by the hunderds and things just sort of crashed -- hence the delay in my response to you too!)I do respect your experience very much. I don't take that lightly. However, I do have a thing or two to say about the need to rebel -- or at least, my kid's need to rebel! I also have a thing or two to say about education: I do believe that each generation has the duty (yes, I know it sounds old-fashioned) to pass on the best of the previous generations to the future ones. I think this is the basis of culture. And I can't help wanting to pass on what I think is valuable to my kid. Yes, I know the objection that what is valuable is subjective. I don't agree. I think some things are inherently more valuable than others. This is the basis of art, science and all worthy human endeavors. I think even rebellious kids will know this and admit it in time -- but only if they are exposed to it. Now I have to go back to de-spamming the site! (When I'm not despamming my kid's life I'm despamming this site!)

Rebecca commented on 28-Aug-2010 10:28 AM

Hi Clara: I do realize what you were saying about what was fun is now work... but I don't buy it. I've been involved in alternate ed and home education for, oh my gosh, 17 years now. I've seen kid after kid "deschool"... and seriously, if your kid had ever really enjoyed those books the way you think he did, I'm not sure he'd be so resistant to them now. A kid just doesn't switch off something he "loves", if you know what I mean. And I also think the books are irrelevant, really. He's likely still deschooling and needs time to make any activity he's previously associated with school or learning to lose that association so he can make it his own. So, yeah. Take a loooong vacation so that he can come to that point on his own, authentically. Cheers, Rebecca
(I was able to restore this comment that was deleted by acident. Yay! Clara)

Jack (Clara's son) commented on 31-Aug-2010 09:33 PM

Rebecca: I would like to tell you that I understand what you're saying. I understand that you think I've tasted freedom which I have but I don't think I need more of it. I think I have enough schooling and I do think schools overdo it with 6 hours of school but I do recommend that all kids should have two hours of school each day except for Saturday and sunday and summer vacation and all the holidays. I absolutely think that it's best that a kid does have an education instead of no schooling at all because it will take a lot longer for them to learn things. It is a good thing to let them learn things on their own, like vocabulary for instance. I don't take it at home as part of my schooling. I learn my vocabulary through just listening to people talking and asking how it is spelled. Like I went to France recently and learned a lot of French vocabulary. I didn't ask how it was spelled though. I just asked the pronounciation. And like "pronounciation," that's a word I learned on my own. going back to what I said before I do think kids should have some freedom but two hours of schooling is what they should have. Thanks for commenting on my mother's website.

Uncertainty, Improvisation, Approximation

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

This blog is part of Educating My Boy: Chronicles of a Free-Schooler

While going through emotional breakdowns and making life changes I don’t expect myself to be “teaching” or my son “studying” an awful lot. Math has completely slipped but we do keep on plodding through my version of a liberal arts “curriculum.” As I pick books and read and discuss them with Jack I give education more thought than I probably ever did. I am determined to give my son an excellent education. (Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon… and for the rest of his life.) More

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After the honeymoon, the crash

Sunday, June 06, 2010

This blog is part of Educating My Boy: Chronicles of a Free-Schooler

Well, it was bound to happen, wasn't it?! More

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Comments

anon2 commented on 06-Jun-2010 03:18 PM

Thank you for such an honest blog. It's too easy to pretend everything goes smoothly all the time.

tina commented on 06-Jun-2010 03:30 PM

Well, just think of all the headaches you didn't have to go through being in school! Poor Jack. But don't worry, with your help he will regain his confidence and happiness.

malilka commented on 08-Jun-2010 08:50 AM

It is very sad how deeply children get affected by bad situations at school and with other children. You have done the right thing to take him out of that situation. Good luck to you and I'm sure you will all survive this difficult period.

mom from denver commented on 08-Jun-2010 09:11 AM

I agree with Tina. Just think of all the other problems that you would be having. You may not be having a great time all the time now but at least you know your son is not being hurt and damaged. All power to you and good luck.

JaneT commented on 08-Jun-2010 09:24 AM

I'm so sorry, Clara. I understand your dilemma trying to work and taking care of all your son's needs. I think a lot of mothers know exactly how you feel. Good luck to you and Jack. I'm sure there will be many many better days.

sarah commented on 08-Jun-2010 05:39 PM

Yeah, don't worry so much Clara! whatever you do you're not going to have it easy all the time. I'm curious the changes you mention you're making.

Natalie commented on 09-Jun-2010 09:41 AM

Very interesting blog. I have to go read the rest but I wanted to let you know that I was touched by your honesty. Very thoughtful too. Lots of luck to you and your son.

------ commented on 09-Jun-2010 05:37 PM

this is the story of many of our lives. mothers are everything at all times. if you have to homeschool on top of that it is murder. i don't know how people do it.

Pam commented on 12-Jun-2010 03:31 PM

You survived school, you'll survive this one too!

Lea commented on 13-Jun-2010 11:40 AM

Thank you for your honesty and good luck in everything. This is a great blog.

I see you, child, and you are good (A different kind of city encounter)

Friday, May 28, 2010

After I wrote a previous blog about the creeps one meets on city streets, I started taking mental notes about the different kinds of people one meets day to day. This is certainly part of a kid’s education. Exactly a week after my encounter with the neighbor who tried to intimidate my son and I not to play in the park we had an exactly opposite encounter. More

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Comments

main mom commented on 28-May-2010 10:25 AM

I agree that our culture has a critical view of children, always finding things kids are doing wrong. Maybe that's why children in a lot of other cultures are so much happier.

vicki commented on 28-May-2010 05:29 PM

I know what you mean about missing honesty, generosity, trust, and, like you say, community. So sad that we have to bring up kids without this.

Lourdes commented on 28-May-2010 05:35 PM

It's good to see a little appreciation for other cultures -- especially the ones we live right in the midst!

tina commented on 31-May-2010 11:40 AM

We have become an unfriendly, aggressive, intolerant culture. There's no hope for community when you don't have kindness and trust. No matter how much money you spend on a police force what's going to keep our kids safe is community. No wonder kids are not safe.

anon2 commented on 01-Jun-2010 09:20 AM

How nice to run into people who have a sense of community. As a diehard city person I believe in city folks who have it!

Maddie commented on 02-Jun-2010 04:22 PM

How refreshing to run into people like Hisham. It definitely is true that you see this kind of kindness in immigrants and minorities more than you do in other kinds of Americans.

Cathy commented on 06-Jun-2010 01:38 PM

Thank you for sharing this nice angle on things! City life is definitely unpredictable.

----------------------- commented on 10-Jun-2010 11:03 AM

Thank God for immigrants! Maybe reintroduce a little humanity to our society.

aurore commented on 24-Jun-2010 02:47 AM

It feels so good to hear a positive comment about your child, it's good for the child and the mom and even reading about it makes you feel good and is the kind of support one needs.

JT commented on 30-Jun-2010 02:32 PM

Very nice blog Clara. We all miss the days when neighborhood people like Hisham were part of our children's life. We are definitely very impoverished for losing that community.

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