Movie Review: WALL*E

With all the stress in our lives recently, the kids and I (minus Sam) took a day to go to the movies. Marly really wanted to see WALL*E. I was interested as well since they have had such cute little commercials about it. I have to say that it was a little disappointing. Here is what the kids had to say about it:

• Chris - "I think we should have seen Kung Fu Panda instead."
• Me - "The story line was slow."
• Marly - "I liked it."
• Chris - "On a scale of 1 to 10...I say it's a 4."
• Marly - "On a scale of 1 to 10...I say it's a 7."
• Me - "Cute for DVD, but not for theater prices."

So there you have it...from the Batchelor's at the Movies.

It was nice to get away from the house for several hours (including the drive, wait for the movie, and the movie itself). We probably won't do it again for quite awhile since gas is just way to expensive and I have to travel to Phoenix a couple more times in the near future.

I get a shot where?!?

I went to the doctor today because I am doing much worse. I had to get more x-rays and they decided I needed a steroid shot. (Maybe I'll get buff!) When the nurse came in to give me the shot I was expecting to roll up my sleeve, but OH NO. That's NOT where I got my shot. Christian laughed hilariously when he learned I was getting a shot in my tush (Which has plenty of padding for shots). The kids had to leave the room while I got my shot and I could hear Christian laughing in the hallway. (I guess I won't feel sorry for him the next time he gets a shot) My neck and shoulders feel a bit better now that the shot has kicked in. Maybe I'll get more sleep tonight. It will wear off in a couple days, but I am thankful for the reprieve.

I enjoy having my own personal chauffeur drive me around today to my appointments. Sam loves driving, what 16 year old doesn't, so she is more than happy to chauffeur me around. She leaves tomorrow for EFY and then to stay with her dad for the next few weeks. I am sad to see her go since I will need a chauffeur still. Oh, plus I love her too!

Website Madness...and other stuff.

I am bored out of my mind trying to not use my arms. Yeah, that's what I said...I'm not supposed to move my arms. But, I NEED to work on something or I'll go crazy. I've been staying down and low key for about 2 weeks.

Today's Website Madness

• Trying to combine my Blogspot with my family website at batchelorfamily.org.
• Updating my AZLDSHSA website to be compatible with Groups - either Yahoo or Google groups or program my own (not the easiest solution).

I've been at it for an hour and it is time to quit for the day.

Other Family Stuff

Today we have some cousins and friends at the house. With my injured neck, my children and husband have been absolutely W O N D E R F U L in doing the bulk of the house work and cooking. I had wanted my children to do more cooking over the summer for practical reasons. I wanted them to learn life skills, become better cooks, and learn how much work goes into each and every meal.

P.S. If this works out like I hope, my Blogspot will automatically post to batchelorfamily.org allowing me to keep both my Blogspot friends and my website. I know I lost several Blogpsot friends when I switched over.

5 Pillar Certification

LEVEL I
An introduction to the Five Pillars and the Classics/Mentors model of education.

1. Read the following books and discuss them with a friend.
   
   
   
   • Potok, The Chosen
   
   
   • Bronte, Jane Eyre
   
   
   • L’Amour, Walking Drum
   
   
   • Moody, Little Britches
   
   
   • Stratton-Porter, Laddie
   
   
   • Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew
   
   
   • DeMille, Thomas Jefferson Education
   
   
2. Attend the seminar “Face to Face with Greatness: A Thomas Jefferson Education.”

LEVEL II
A comprehensive study of additional classics.

1. Complete Level I and enroll in Level II.


2. Choose twelve of the following books. Write a one page summary for each and submit via email:


• Austen, Pride and Prejudice


• Bastiat, What is Seen and What is Not Seen*


• Johnson & Johnson, The One Minute Teacher


• Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People


• DeMille, Leadership Education


• Dickens, Great Expectations


• Frank, Alas Babylon


• Gardner, Multiple Intelligences


• Gatto, The 7 Lesson School Teacher*


• Harward, Market-Based Education


• Holt, How Children Learn


• Hugo, Les Miserables


• Kavanaugh, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers


• Lewis, The Abolition of Man


• Noebel, Understanding the Times


• Shakespeare, five plays


• Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin


• Strauss and Howe, The Fourth Turning


• Thoreau, Walden


• Wister, The Virginian




3. Attend the seminar “Face to Face with Greatness: The Power of Mentoring the Classics.”

(* = articles found in the books Bastiat, Essays on Political Economy & Gatto, Dumbing Us Down)

LEVEL III
Practical application of the five pillars in an educational setting.

1. Complete level II and enroll in Level III.


2. Administer or teach in a public, private or home school or class and apply the 5 Pillar™ system for a minimum of six months. Keep a journal of the entire project. Write a project summary when the project is complete. Pass an oral board discussing your findings.


3. Attend either of the following seminars*:


• Face to Face with Greatness: World Views and the Emerging State


• Statesman Retreat: Rethinking Leadership

For seminar dates and locations please visit www.gw.edu/seminars.

Four Phases of Learning

The Four Phases of Learning represent approximate ages or time periods in a person's life that certain types of learning take place. This does not mean that all people will fit into the ages listed, quite the opposite is true! We firmly believe that all people, especially children, learn at a precise pace and order specifically for them and that no amount of pressure will bring about life-long education. The opposite is true, pressure leads to immediate results while the long-term effects of pressured learning disappear with time.

Foundational Phases

• Core Phase - Ages 0-8
• Love of Learning Phase - Ages 8-12

Educational Phases

• Scholar Phase - Ages 12-16
• Depth Phase - Ages 16-22

Applicational Phases

• Mission Phase
• Impact Phase

Check out the following visual representations of the phases - Four Phases and Seven Keys and the TJED Continuum.

Key #7 - You, Not Them

One of the areas that I've had the hardest time getting off the conveyor-belt is in the concept of "You, not Them." I tend to want to focus on what they (the children) need, what they are doing, how much they are learning, etc. In implementing TJED in our home, I struggled with focusing on me and not the kids.

Some helps that I found are the 1 - Education Self-Assesment, 2 - Family Vision worksheets, and 3 - Master Actualization Plan (MAP) by Donna Goff at Moor House Academy. These worksheets helped me to plan what I am going to do for my education, what I envision for our family, what I can do as the mentor of each person, etc. This turned the focus to me and what I can do in our family to bring about the end results that I hope to bring about.

Another area these worksheets helped me was to get down to the basic elements each child needs from me. Things like learning style, temperament, social needs, etc. can be addressed as I take the time to ponder each person's needs and then assess my own education to see if I have what it takes to meet those needs.

This process is an ongoing project. It is not for the faint of heart! I am still working on this and find it rewarding to see my progress and the progress of our family as we all work towards a Love of Learning and Scholarship together.

NOTE: It is important to do them in the following order: 1) Education Self-Assessment, 2) Family Vision, and then 3) MAP.

Key #4 - Time, Not Content

Structuring TIME and not the CONTENT is hard in any education setting. It is difficult to let go of preconceived ideas from my conveyor belt education and let my children truly gain a lasting education by choosing what they want to learn, when they want to learn it, and how they want to learn it. For me, I have to constantly remind myself to let go and allow the children to explore subjects and freely determine for themselves that a subject is needful. Once they truly feel it is needful, nothing can stop them!

Our schedule is loose and easy. I spend the majority of my time trying to inspire my children to education by allowing them to see examples of myself in my Scholar Phase. This is harder to do some days than others.

Recently, Marly has been transitioning into Scholar Phase and I find her reading most of the day. It amazes me that her determination to learn and grow is coming from her...not me. If I resorted to requiring and choosing the content, I would need to stand over her all day (like a teacher at public school) and make sure she is doing everything I wanted her to do. Instead, I am seeing HER take the lead and show me all that she is learning. Amazing, but true! We have a 14 year old girl who loves learning, has a plan, and follows through without much prompting from anyone else.