My friends seem to think that I’m capable of anything.  Recently, I posted a photo from an Appalachian Trail Hike on Facebook, and labeled it “New Goals.”  Immediately, I received a slew of supportive comments cheering us on.

Apparently, they thought my kids and I were going to drop out of society to spend several months hiking from Georgia to Maine. It’s an understandable mistake,  I suppose. Last year, I did spend the summer driving around America.  Also, I have a history of taking on ambitious, and often foolhardy, projects.

I’ve got a few of these on my To Do List right now, but no, I’m not planning on tackling the Appalachian Trail this year.  We’ll hike bits and pieces of the AT, but not the whole thing, and not consecutively.

No, I’m just going to ramble along this year, hiking at will, and plugging away at all the items on my agenda:

• Homeschooling – We’re at the point of the year where burnout sets in.  It’s hard to motivate to work at the same pace as the beginning of the year, but we still have to get through assessments and pending items on the IHIP.  Our solution for now is to alternate between hard-working days, and outdoor days. 
• Writing – I just finished a freelance writing class.  It was fabulous, just the kick in the butt that I needed to jumpstart getting my work published.  The downside is that now I have to follow though.
• Scouts – My Girl Scouts are amazing.  They’re now nearing the homestretch of completing their very important, very worthwhile Silver Award projects.  All I have to do is coach them over the finish line.  Gasp!  Meanwhile, the Drug Abuse Awareness project has landed a whole new responsibility on my lap as I find myself digging in to help with the community task force.  Also, I’ve committed to launching a couple of websites, but I’m counting on my teen geek friend to help me set these up.  Long term, I’m looking forward to scaling back on Girl Scout responsibilities as I’ve declined a service unit position next year.
• Albany Kid – My other blog seems to have been consuming more and more of my time and energy.  I’m trying to simplify and automate the site, but it’s still a big time pit. I love what I can do with the site, but I hate that it sucks up energy that could go into other writing.  As for this blog, I think I’m heading toward keeping On Living By Learning as my personal blog, where I think aloud through ongoing projects.  And, it’s still the place where I’m sharing our homeschool experience, and those travel articles that I still haven’t finished posting from last summer!

Now what was I stressing about?  Listed this way, the To Do pile doesn’t seem bad at all.

I’ve gone and done it, taking another bold leap toward publication, by signing up for Writer Mama Christina Katz’ online class:

Writing and Publishing the Short Stuff (Especially for moms!)

Finally, a writing workshop that fits into the busy lives of moms! This class focuses on getting you into print sooner, rather than later, and without pulling all-nighters or paying a fortune in babysitter fees. You will learn how to create short, easy-to-write articles—a skill that will make it easier to work your way up to longer, more time-consuming articles (like features and profiles) when you’re ready. You will try your pen at tips, fillers, short interviews, list articles, how-tos, and the short personal essays—all within six weeks. And you will learn to submit your work with a basic cover letter. Opportunities for self-assessment and self-reflection are woven into the class, and you’ll benefit from reading your classmates’ submissions.

By starting short, you will learn to identify multiple possibilities for your material that will strengthen your freelancer’s eye in the long run. You will receive two detailed reviews of your drafts-in-progress at weeks three and six (you choose one of your pieces for an instructor critique each time). The instructor offers personal attention throughout the class in the form of questions answered for the entire class, just like a traditional “live” class. Because of the high volume of student productivity in this class, the instructor does not critique each and every student submission, but she does share all of your work with the entire class.(Busy dads are also welcome to sign up, but they should expect a course designed to address and overcome the challenges busy moms face. Stay-at-home dads are sure to feel right at home!)

This week’s assignment is to write tips.  What are tips, you ask?  Well, “a tip is a solution to a problem addressed to an audience that will appreciate it.”  Right about now, I could use a few tips on how to write engaging tips!

Anyway, if you’re wondering what I’m up to this week, I’ll be looking for problems.

Last month, flush with the excitement that a new year brings, I vowed to diversify my writing as the next step in my plan to get published in 2010.  Idiot!

What was I thinking?  Of course, one month later, I’m in full overload trying to write daily for a new blog, not too infrequently for this blog, and failing to write short stories for bi-weekly submission to a fiction group.  Fail!

Meanwhile, I still have to fulfill all kinds of responsibilities in the rest of my world.  Not happening!

You’d think that I would learn from previous mistakes.

Every year, in February, I go through a winter slump where all the new year enthusiasm disappears, and all I want to do is escape from thinking.  This is when I usually end up in a mindless marathon of trashy romance novels or all-engrossing TV on DVD.  One year, I watched all the permutations of Stargate.  Last year, I managed to view the entire Buffy/Angel saga.  I even rationalized that I was learning from these TV retreats, but the real value was that it gave me a chance to still the endless To Do List in my head, and to emerge refreshed and ready to recommit to my endeavors.

I didn’t get as much of a brain-dead junket this year, but after a weekend of romance novels, and a week of recuperation from a pestilence dubbed the vomit comet, I’m ready to get back to business.

First, I’m scrapping some of the diversification plans.  I’m really enjoying writing for Albany Kid, and I don’t want to give up my plans for On Living By Learning.  However, I can’t do the fiction writing as well.  I’m tabling that until next year. 

Second, I’m limiting my time on social media.  While it’s beneficial to my writing career to maintain an online presence, I rather have more time for writing.  Right now, it doesn’t feel like I’m communicating on Twitter, as much as I’m just wielding a megaphone.  But, with other a thousand Twitter friends, I haven’t succeeded in stifling the sheer noise factor.  I’m not abandoning Twitter, but I’m going to have to think about how to use my time wisely in that forum.

I’m also staying on Facebook, but I’ve already scaled back how much time I spend there.  It’s great for keeping up with my scattered real world friends and family, but I have to avoid it during writing time or it becomes a time suck that enables my natural tendency to procrastinate. 

On the other hand, the Facebook pages that I’ve created for my blogs are worth some effort as I envision these as being where I can share material that I don’t yet have time to develop into articles.  Ideally, these will become communities but we’ll see if that’s possible.  Optimistic or unrealistic?  We’ll see.

Finally, the biggest change I’m making right now is to put a time limit on blog posts.  Some days, I spend inordinate gobs of time perfecting an article.  I don’t know why, or how, but I just lose all sense of time.  I don’t think the posts benefit from the time investment, and they may suffer from it.  So, for now, I’m looking at the clock, and letting these babies go.

Ciao!

Got my motor running, my brain is on fire thinking about everything I want to accomplish this year.  Number one on the list is letting you know what you can expect from On Living By Learning this year.

As I mentioned before, I’m planning to retool On Living By Learning to focus on Enrichment, but from the feedback I received, it’s clear that there is a demand for other topics that interest me, as well as personal reflections.

The 2010 On Living By Learning Plan

Plans are inevitably the kiss of death for me.  There is something about a plan that makes me want to rebel, but I know that I need to set some limits.  Otherwise, I end up scatterbrained, jumping from deadline to deadline, unable to focus long enough to finish a project.  Living in crisis management mode ain’t pretty.

Instead, I’m setting realistic blog objectives, that are reasonably attainable.  If I end up with time to spare, who knows, I can always “head out on the highway looking for adventure.”

1. Blog Aesthetics – Although I like the highly customizable Thesis theme for this blog, I’m not crazy about the current look, and I still haven’t found the logo of my dreams.  As I work on the blog’s appearance, I also want to focus on function: revamping pages, editing categories, organizing posts. Overall, I want to ensure that the blog’s form follows the function of enabling readers to easily find subject content.  I’ll post occasional updates on the blog remodel for aspiring and/or experienced blogging friends.

2. Blog Content – There may come a day when I am moved to write a poem or share a recipe.  It’s highly unlikely seeing as how I don’t cook, and I’m no poet.  Nevertheless, I reserve the right to write about whatever moves me, even odes to my Chocolate Lab, Yoohoo.  For the most part, however, I’m going to stick to writing about the following subjects:

Publishing Quest:

I said it before, and I’ll say it again.  I will get published in 2010.  To fulfill this quest, I will be following advice to do all kinds of weird and wacky things like: writing, mapping goals, writing, organizing contacts, writing, developing a social media platform, writing, oh yeah, and writing some more.  Periodically, I’ll share resources that I uncover, and I’ll post updates on my progress.

Enrichment:

• School Enrichment – I’m going to write a series of articles based on my past experience volunteering at a suburban elementary public school.  Over the years, I helped develop programs that are well worth replicating; however, this information rarely gets passed on from one academic year to the next, much less between schools.  I intend to create a sustainable resource for parent volunteers and/or Enrichment Coordinators.
• Family Enrichment – I’ve written a few articles about enrichment activities that we do as a family, most notably through digital learning, service learning, and travel learning.  I plan to organize these posts into an archive that can be accessed in the On Living By Learning’s pages, while adding posts on current and past adventures.  Believe it not, I’ve barely begun to share our Reading Across America Road Trip!
• Girl Scouts – Expect to see articles about Girl Scouts.  As a Girl Scout leader, I advise a troop of Teen Cadettes who are working on earning their Silver Awards (the highest award at the middle school level given for an outstanding service project.)  I’m also creating an online presence for my Girl Scout Service Unit, as well as a better way to communicate the leadership development model.  Again, I’ll share our experience so that other adult volunteers can learn from my experience (and maybe those who’ve been there can comment with their tips as well!)
• Cub Scouts – My son’s Webelo Den of fourth graders is becoming more independent, and capable of taking on more ambitious projects.  It’s exciting to see what they are doing, and where they are going.  Of course, I’m going to share this with you.
• First Lego League – Our young team has cleared the rookie year hurdle, and is looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish now that they know what to expect.  Personally, I’m eager to report on next year’s challenge, “Body Forward,”  in which:

children will be asked to explore the cutting-edge world of biomedical engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the body’s potential, with the intended purpose of leading happier and healthier lives.

• Enrichment Links – There is a veritable cornucopia of enrichment opportunities, too many to try personally.  I plan to post a weekly roundup of the most promising options that you can use, or discard, at will.  I hope to benefit my readers while creating a searchable database so that I can find these programs when they may be of interest in the future.

Digital Learning Conflict:

Personally, and as a parent of teens and tweens, I’ve been struggling with the pros and cons of digital learning for years.  While I tend to embrace technology, I strive to do so mindfully.

This year, I will review a couple of books that are worth comparing, discussing, and debating.  I hope you’ll join me in reading: iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind by Gary Small, M.D. and Gigi Vorgan; and Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser.

In an upcoming post, I’ll set up a topic schedule derived from these books covering hotly debated subjects like technology addiction, privacy, and overload.  I’ll also invite comments from experts, parents and educators, and we’ll see what we can learn together.  Stay tuned for more!

Homeschool NY:

Well, yes, I am homeschooling my son the rest of this fourth grade year, and most likely through fifth grade as well.  I will continue to post our homeschool records on this blog, as well as reflective articles.  Day to day, however, I’m not chronicling our homeschooling.  If you would like to follow more of our homeschool adventures, please visit my son’s blog at Leperdy.com.

High School Transition and the Global Student:

In June, Teen Daughter will be graduating from the small, private school that she currently attends, and transitioning to a public high school that is bursting at the seams with over 1,000 students.  Already, I’ve had to attend a parent orientation in which I discovered that she will have to take a battery of qualifying tests for entry into Honors classes.

Truly, the American high school experience is an obstacle course whose goal is college entrance.  Unfortunately, successfully traversing this gauntlet does not ensure that the high school graduate is college ready.

Fortunately, there are alternatives beyond what Maya Frost, author of The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition, and Get a Truly International Education, labels the “four by four plan” (4 years high school, 4 years college.)  I will investigate and report on our options and choices, and you can see what Teen Daughter has to say on Elferkid.com.

Post Frequency:

I’d like to commit to daily blog posts, but that’s unrealistic.  I tried it once, during NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month in November, 2008,) but once was enough.  Many of my days are spent running around, chauffeuring kids or running meetings, with no time to write until late at night.  Although I’m a night bird, and actually enjoy staying up late to write, I can’t keep up the late nights when I have to rise early to tend my flock.  Some nights I have to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Bottom line, don’t expect daily posts from On Living By Learning, but do expect to see new articles 3-4 times per week.

In the immortal words of Steppenwolf, “Yeah, darling, Gonna make it happen…”*  2010, it’s a new decade, a time for bold feats of daring and perseverance.  Are you with me?

*Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf

Get your motor running
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
In whatever comes our way
Yeah, darling
Gonna make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once and
Explode into space
I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racing in the wind
And the feeling that I’m under
Yeah, darling
Gonna make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once and
Explode into space
Like a true nature child
We were born
Born to be wild
We have climbed so high
Never want to die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild

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I bow to you, NaNoWriMo, namaste, old friend.  You’ve pushed me to new feats of strength and endurance, forcing me to produce a towering pile of words that may, with mighty blows and judicious edits, someday transform into a publishable work of art, or something like that.

Now, What?

Yes, my friends and family, NaNoWriMo is over, but as my compatriot Glen Robinson asks, “Now what? 

Not that either one of us is at a loss for things to do.  Glen seems like he’s a busy guy, being a university professor, published writer, and the family handyman.

I know I’ve got a pile of neglected chores, and a husband who reminds me that he’s been neglected too.  (He didn’t seem too thrilled to hear that I was looking forward to spending quality time with him cleaning out the garage, currently reeking of dead rodent.  Go figure.)

Yes, I have chores aplenty, but I’m not even going to think about them until tomorrow.

Celebrate Good Times

Today, I rejoice in my accomplishment.  This year I’ve written something that I think may actually be worth publishing.  That’s a major step forward.

The first year, I thought I’d heed good counsel, and write about something I know.  Well, I’ve read almost every Romance novel ever written, and I have first hand knowledge about homeschooling.  And, I grew up in the Caribbean.  So I put it all together to write a Homeschooler Romance set in the Caribbean.  It sucked.  It hurt to write such crap, but I waded right in Xena-style, finished the word count, and set it aside forever.

The second year, I realized that writing what you know means, well, writing what you know.  I plumbed my memory and interviewed family members to gather all the sordid details in our family tree for a not-fictional-enough memoir modeled on Isabel Allende’s stories.  It was ugly: nervous breakdowns, schizophrenia, pedophilia, etc.  We have so many skeletons in our closet that the usual dysfunctional family stuff – poor parenting, neglect – just seems inconsequential by comparison.  When I was done with that NaNoWriMo project, it was good and important, but it hurt too much to look at it anymore.  Again, I set aside this novel, but maybe not forever.

You can see then why, when I say that this year’s NaNoWriMo writing project is worth publishing, that’s a major step forward.  For the first time, I like what I’ve written.  It’s still just a skeleton that needs fleshing out, and I’m not sure about the format, or even the voice.  But, I like the story lurking under the mess of words.

Today, I celebrate the accomplishment, but also the end of a grueling month filled with family crisis, multiple deadlines, and way too much work.  I went to the Yoga class that I’ve been meaning to attend for at least a year, and I signed up for a Mom Blog Makeover. 

I’m taking a deep, cleansing breath.  Looking inward and outward, smiling, and looking forward to the next project.  Namaste, Dear Friends.

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It’s the first day of November, when once again, I’m dropping everything to write one novel in one month during NaNoWriMo.

Well, that’s not exactly true, ’cause I’m a NaNoWriMo rebel.

I’m not dropping everything; actually, I’m not dropping anything.  I’m still advising a Girl Scout troop, coaching a Lego League team, and organizing a Cub Scout badge. 

Okay, I am neglecting household chores, but that’s nothing new.  Dust bunnies, piles of wrinkled laundry, and stacks of dirty dishes are essential elements of my home decor.

No, I’m living dangerously, writing on the wild side, spewing out the long-contemplated Reading Across America story.  But, it’s not a novel.  I don’t know what it is (or will be.) 

Yeah, this year, I’m doing NaNoWriMo on my terms.  I’m doing it for me. In the past, I took on the writing challenge to set a good example for my kids.  This year, it’s looking like one, or both, kids are going to take a pass.

And that’s OK.  They’ve both won the contest two years in a row, and they’ve gained a lot from the experience.  This year, they’re busy with other projects, and they don’t want to focus on this one.

Of course, I’m hoping that they notice how much fun I’m having writing this month. 

Hey, it’s no accident that my daughter tagged along to the local NaNoWriMo Kickoff at a nearby Panera Bread Bakery Cafe.

Our NaNoWriMo Experience:

• Look for me on NaNoWriMo under LivingByLearning.
• NaNoWriMo – One Novel, On Month
• Crossing The NaNoWriMo Finish Line – Leaping, Limping, and Cheating
• NaNoWriMo, NaBloPoMo, or NaMoSleMo
• NaNoWriMo: Inspiring Young (and Old) Authors

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I had this romantic notion, or perhaps just a naive idea, that I could tour the country with my kids, sharing our book-inspired adventures on our blogs as they happened.

It hasn’t exactly worked out that way.  Most days, my brain is saturated, and I’m too tired after a day of exploring and sibling bickering, to find the willpower to  write.

Right now, I’m perched in a luxurious room in a high-rise hotel building, overlooking the bright neon lights of Las Vegas, trying to stay awake long enough to recount our climb to the summit of Pike’s Peak in Colorado – already a month past.  I’m bursting with adventure stories, battling sensory overload, and falling fast asleep.

I’d also thought that I would organize my posts so that I’d have all the activities inspired by one book in one post.  This idea seemed to work when I wrote about a book whose setting was mostly in one place; however, we explored some books over several days in various places.  Trying to share this in one post is just not practical.

So, I’m regrouping.  I’m scaling back to write more frequently, if not as comprehensively.  I’m not promising anything as I’m never sure whether I’ll find the time, energy, or Internet access, to actually post an article.

I’ll tell you all about our Pike’s Peak Adventure, braving the Chipmunk Plague, Sibling Snowballs, Altitude Sickness, and so much more, tomorrow.  Good night!

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If you’re nothing like me, you may be able to generate a Home School Quarterly Report in seconds.

Perhaps you already have all the data input into your Homeschool Tracker program.  Or, maybe you just need to pull out your daily lesson plan book where you’ve recorded grades, and daily assignments.

If you’re anything like me; however, your home school record keeping looks like piles of paper spread in colorful disarray through one or more rooms in your home. 

Those of you who have been following this blog from the beginning may wonder how this is possible.  In a blog post last year, I boasted about my amazing home school organization.  However, that was just two months into home schooling.  Reality hadn’t set in yet.

Our reality is that although we live in a state that requires reports on a set schedule, our learning projects don’t necessarily conform to that schedule.  We get distracted by new interests, and sometimes we’re too busy to keep track of everything that we’re doing.

Fortunately, I’ve come up with a system for producing a quarterly report out of this chaos.  Here are my 10 Easy Steps to a Home School Quarterly Report:

1. Upload the last quarterly report, and save it as the current document.  I label my files with a name that easy to find later; for example, “quarterly_ 03312009.”  If this is your first time, you’re welcome to copy our quarterly report and modify it for your use. (See Homeschool Quarterly Report for details on what must be included in the report to meet New York requirements.)

2. Math – This is usually the easiest section to tackle as my son is working through material in the order that it is presented in the Singapore Math Home Instructor’s Guide.  I just check where we left off in the last quarter, then I look in the table of contents chart to note what I’ve crossed off.

3. Language Arts – In the past, I listed all the books that my son read during the quarter.  Now, I’m making this easier on myself by just referring to my son’s blog and Librarything account where he reviews most of the books he reads.  I also check the table of contents in his Language Arts workbooks to note what was completed.  Frankly, I don’t try to list every single Language Arts activity that Alex completes. That would involve more detail than required, and way too much effort on my part.

4. Social Studies – It’s easy to remember what we’re doing in Social Studies since this drives much of what we do in our home school program.  Usually, I refer to the sections that we covered in Story of the World.  However, this quarter we ended up spending a lot of time on China, which was just one small chapter, but which we expanded with material that I had on hand.  Ancient Rome is covered in much greater depth, but we also expanded this section with resources that I had at home.

5. Science – I was struggling to remember what we covered in Science this quarter.  Fortunately, I was able to look at our blogs, as well as the kitchen counter, for a reminder.  It helped that much of the science work was driven by our social studies units.

6.  The Arts – Again, the social studies units determined the arts curriculum, and I looked to our blogs to remember the projects.

7.  Health and Physical Education – I lump these together, but I don’t stress over describing these as they mostly get covered through our daily routines.  As I looked over the IHIP and my son’s blog, I noticed that he had been discovering Advocacy, one of the Health topics, so I included this.  I also check the Cub Scout Handbook as this is where we cover many of the Health subjects.

8. Foreign Language -  Technically, I don’t need to include this as it isn’t a requirement in the Elementary grades.  I do anyway because this is a reference for us, as well as the school district. 

9. Technology – This is another subject that I don’t need to list, but choose to do so anyway.  I just tapped my memory to fill out this section.

10. Evaluations – I don’t give Alex too many tests, so I can’t provide grades.  However, I know day to day how he is faring in his subjects since he doesn’t move forward without mastering current material.  If something isn’t working, I change my approach or the materials right then and there.  At the end of the quarter, it’s pretty easy to generate an evaluative written narrative based on what I already know from working with him one-on-one.

Home School Quarterly Report, Grade 3 III

Home Instruction Quarterly Report

March 31, 2009

Name: Alex

Blog Website: http://alexhomegate.blogspot.com

Grade: 3rd

Hours of instruction this quarter: 247.5+

Math:

Having completed Singapore Math 3A, Alex is now well into Math 3B where he completed the section on mental calculations in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. He also just finished the section on Length and is starting the one on Weights. Alex handles this material easily, and is on target to complete the Third Grade Math Curriculum on or before the end of the academic year.

Language Arts:

Alex is zooming through books, and has reviewed many of these on his LibraryThing account and on his blog. He also discussed Babe, The Gallant Pig and the importance of setting with a book club modeled on Deconstructing Penguins that encourages literary analysis. Additionally, he completed several nonfiction reading assignments as part of the Science and Social Studies units.

Generally, Alex’s reading skills are well above grade level. A recent SCAT test, taken as part of the Johns Hopkins Academic Talent Search, which asked him to complete analogy questions leveled two grades above his current grade level, qualified Alex to participate in the Center for Talented Youth classes.

Alex practiced basic Language Arts skills through work book exercises in Grammar on: homophones, pronouns, conjunctions, and capitalization. He has also just completed the workbook exercises in Read and Understand: Myths and Legends (Evan –Moor) which covered: reading comprehension, vocabulary, structural analysis, figures of speech, and story elements.

This quarter, I decided to change what we were doing with Spelling as I wasn’t seeing much progress previously. We are now using Houghton Mifflin’s Spelling and Vocabulary workbook that is leveled for 4^th Grade. This phonics based program has sufficiently challenging exercises in phonics-based spelling, vocabulary, and grammar to engage Alex. I am now seeing some progress in his ability to spell, but it is still a weak area for him.

Additionally, Alex has been developing writing skills through blog posts, entries in his Writer’s Notebook, a neighborhood news project, and developing work in 5-paragraph expository essays. His writing skills are still a source of frustration as he is unable to handwrite at the level that he can read and verbalize, but he is making significant progress.

Social Studies:

Alex completed a unit on China, and is finishing up a unit on Ancient Rome. In both units, we focused on the five standards: social, political, geographic, economic, and historic. Alex especially enjoyed the hands-on learning assignments, and retains much of the information that he absorbs in his reading.

Science:

This quarter, our science curriculum has been closely tied to the units covered in social studies. Since we were studying China, and the Chinese language, we read about the science of language as covered in an issue of Odyssey Magazine. This interest also inspired a visit to the Communications exhibit at the Liberty Science Center.

Similarly, our coverage of Ancient Rome led Alex to learning about Roman building innovations such as aqueducts and cement roads.

Just for fun, Alex sat in on a lesson given by his older sister, on the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Currently, Alex is in the middle of a series of Crime Lab Chemistry experiments as part of a unit on forensic science.

The Arts:

As part of our units on Rome and China, Alex visited the relevant sections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he took a guided sketching tour of Chinese Arts.

Alex also tried a variety of Chinese arts such as: landscape paintings, panel paintings, Chinese ink lettering, and paper cutting.

Music- Alex listened to a sampling of traditional Chinese music.

Health and Physical Education:

Health – Alex is starting to learn about advocacy, and has recently used his blog to post articles on issues that concern him.

Physical Education – Alex gets daily exercise through weekly fencing lessons, daily dog walks, outside play, and seasonal activities such as: snowshoeing, ice skating, skiing, and biking.

Foreign Language:

As part of the China Unit, Alex was introduced to Mandarin.

Technology:

Alex is becoming more confident in his keyboarding and use of digital technology, and is beginning to occasionally post blog articles on his own. He also continues lessons with a young mentor who is teaching Alex how to create video games on Roblox and on other programs.

Related Articles:

Individualized Home Instruction Plan, Third Grade

Home School Quarterly Report, 3rd Grade I

Home School Quarterly Report, 3rd Grade II

Keeping The Paper Trail In Homeschool Record Keeping

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A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. – Thomas Mann

Alright, I know that some writers think that writer’s angst is just a load of manure, but I’m living proof that writing isn’t easy.  Sure, I can spew out words no problem, my email recipients know that well, but writing the kind of material that I like to read or that has some kernel of meaning, well, that can drive me nuts.

Even writing this blog post, I’m cringing, looking for any excuse to put this post down.  One hand shields my eyes from the screen – no, I didn’t say that!  I keep checking the title.  Do I go with the ungrammatical, but heartfelt title; do I correct the grammar; or do I change it altogether?  At this rate, even a short blog post consumes hours of blood, sweat & tears.

I know I’m overthinking the writing, but that’s how I do things.  In January, I resolved to fan the flame of my writing efforts by working through the portable MFA in creative writing: improve your craft with the core essentials taught to MFA students. 

Two months later, I’ve written diddlysquat.  I’ve skimmed the book, thought about tackling assignments in disparate genres, and considered where it’s best to start.  I’ve put a lot of energy into writing nada.

Overthinking is killing my writing mojo.

It’s time for a new plan.  I’m going back to the portable MFA and starting at the beginning, with the first assignment.  Obvious, I know, hey, I never claimed to be  a brilliant thinker.  But, I can do this.

First assignment: Make a list of five turning points in your life and note the years in which those turning points occurred.  Tim Tomlinson, author of this first Fiction assignment, tells us that “many stories are built upon life turning points” and that “autobiography and its connection to history can lead to resonant fiction.”

Ok, I buy that, the only problem I have is choosing just five turning points in my life.  Every little thing could’ve been a turning point: the night my mom threatened to fly off the roof during one of her nervous breakdowns, the trip where I was strip searched on my way to Bogota, Colombia with the payroll for the leather factory during an unscheduled break from 10th Grade, the week that our parents left an 11 and 10-year-old to mind the store and two babies in Old San Juan, or the day I yelled at my parents for being hypocrites in attending my National Honor Society induction ceremony?

Every day could be written as a turning point in my life, some are just more colorful than others.  And yes, they can speak to the historical events of the time, but maybe not.  Maybe they just speak to the incredible weirdness of my own upbringing, or the randomness of impetus.

Was it just serendipity that as I tackled this assignment, I came across Amy Tan’s TED Talks Video, Where Does Creativity Hide? 

Amy Talks talks about how writers strive to discover a cosmology of their own universe.  We’re trying to create something out of nothing, while looking for some particle of truth that explains why things are the way they are.  And, as we “imagine fully,”

imagination is the closest thing to feeling compassion 

So, here I go overthinking again, but maybe if I can write about these turning points, observing them within their historical context, maybe then I’ll understand why my childhood was so far from the Beaver Cleaver ideal.

Now, I don’t know if this struggle makes me a writer, or if this makes writing a more difficult process for me than it does for others.  All I’m saying is that I’m with Thomas Mann on this one, writing is difficult.

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My creativity comes to me in the shower.

Do you know how frustrating it is to get a fabulous idea for a story in the shower? I can’t write in the shower.  My notebook gets soggy, the laptop short circuits.  I just can’t do it. 

And I wonder, am I doomed to never produce a masterpiece because I can’t write in the shower?

Even if I could write in the shower, what can I really finish?  I can’t live in the shower.  I don’t have time to write a novel, in the shower or elsewhere.  I’ve got things to do – children to raise, projects to complete, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes to watch, etc., etc.

Plus, what do I know about writing? about description, dialogue, plotting? 

I’m not just afraid — I’m terrified.

But, I’m not alone.  Perhaps the biggest block to creative output is the fear of creativity — the stomach-churning certainty that you can’t create anything worth the effort.

In A New Way to Think About Creativity (a TED Talks Video,) Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, and Love: One Woman’s Love of Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, argues that instead of succumbing to this fear, you should just plug away.  Whether you create something great, or not, you can’t accomplish anything unless you show up to work.

Or, in the celebrated words of Nike, Just Do It.

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