Citizen Schools Follow Up

I was so struck by the Citizen Schools program that I had to contact them. They were quick to respond. I have already had my email passed through to the state director here in Texas. We'll see what happens from here. My brother commented that he was in the fortunate position of knowing quite a few professionals in a variety of fields and hoped that his children could benefit from working with all of these people. I am currently reading The Key to Your Child's Heart by Gary Smalley. He talks frequently about the impact of having others speak into the lives of your children. He also has a lot to share about helping set up discipline in your home and goals with your children. It is overall a good book. I am not sure if I would totally follow his structure for discipline but I like the general idea.

One thing I truly appreciate about my parents is that they tried to find trustworthy adults for us to be around, learn from and go to when we were teenagers. They found great coaches for my brother to encourage his athletic interests and they found good teachers and friends to encourage my writing and faith interests. Instead of feeling that they must be solely responsible for our upbrining, they shared us with others who were able to encourage our passions and help us to grow. This is the type of parent I hope to be, one that develops a community of support that can help my children develop into who God has created them to be.

In some ways, Citizen Schools attempts to do this for a population that may not have access to good role models or certain types of skills or information. They help create a network for teens that opens up the possibilities of life to them and calls them to be apprentices in a variety of fields. This type of encouragement can make the difference in the life direction of a teen. It did for me.

Homeschool Resources

As I look through the web I sometimes happen upon items that I might eventually use if we decide to homeschool. Today I found a VERY cool resource for teaching handwriting. Basically you can type out what you want your child to practice writing, print the page and then they trace what you have written. How cool is that! It's free too. So here is the link.

The other cool thing that they have are tons of different "write on" shapes (shamrocks, hearts, bears, etc.) that have lines on them so that you can write whatever you want to on them. You can make a book, a sign, a note, whatever. It just seems like another fun way to celebrate a holiday or decorate and encourage your child to write.

I am also a big fan of graphic organizers. These are basically pictures, graphs, mind maps, etc. that help you organize thoughts in ways that aren't just text. There are lots of websites that have graphic organizers, but this one is one of the best that I've seen. Again, they are free and a great way to help kids think through ideas, characters, stories, etc.

So these are some resources that I might use in the future. We'll see. Maybe some of you can use them now.

PS - Sometimes with the graphic organizers it will get to a point where it asks you to join. You can open quite a few before you get to that point though. Sorry I didn't realize this when I orignally posted. It also seems that some sheets have this request to join linked to them and others don't. Thanks for pointing this out Ski!

The good in education!

Well after spending this week reading about how we shortchange our brightest students because of the dumbing down process in schools I was encouraged to find a little ray of hope. I am now on many random newsletter lists and one of them is for the Foundation Center job postings (to learn more about jobs I will never have). One of these postings was for a Talent Developer for Citizen Schools. (If you want to know how to run an after school program right watch their slide show at the bottom of their volunteer page). I had never heard of this program but it sounded intriguing. WOW! Have they got their act together. This is an incredible program for middle school students that engages college students, adult professionals and the community in providing structured and meaningful opportunities for youth. They really know their stuff. Unfortunately they are only in Houston and Austin right now - but maybe they will expand to San Antonio. We need them.
Recently I have been going to the local library in the late afternoon. This particular library is right next to a middle school and serves as the afternoon hang out spot. Almost every time I've been there at least 20 to 30 kids are hanging out. The non profit I volunteer with actually offers an afterschool program for kids from this middle school but it can only accept so many students. So, each time I go I am struck by what a great opportunity there is to build something for and with these kids. However, I am not really in a position to do that right now.
So if you have a Citizen School in your area I encourage you to get involved, share your skills and time and make a difference in the life of a middle school student. They need adults that give them a future orientation and the skills to get there. Citizen Schools is very strategic in their development and have chosen to start with states that impact educational decisions the most - Texas, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina. I have not seen them in action, but their theory and business model is on target so I imagine they produce a good product. I will stop gushing - it's just exciting when you see something that actually can make a difference.

In praise of cloth diapers

We have been using cloth diapers for a few weeks now. My mom and aunt made them and they are a hybrid version. The diaper "inner" is made of flannel and then it has a pocket where you stick in whatever you want to absorb all the stuff. I typically use microfiber covered with flannel. This diaper then goes in either a wool cover (knitted by my aunt) or a polarfleece cover. At night I typically use the polarfleece diaper.

This morning as I went to get my son (after he had been awake for close the 2 1/2 hours over the course of the night) I was greeted by a big smile and the smell of poo. I was shocked when I opened the diaper and NOTHING had leaked out. It was by far one of the messiest diapers he has had so far. I know that the disposable diapers would never have stood up to this flood. I find it's much easier to wash the diapers which are supposed to be messy instead of the clothes, the sheets, etc. Yeah for cloth diapers!

I did put him back in bed soon after eating this morning (he looked tired and I was tired). He whined - but no real crying. I remembered what the Healthy Sleep Habits book said and I decided not to go in there for an hour. There was a story in there about a lady who waited 59 minutes and right at that time her son fell asleep. Well that was us this morning. Had I gone in one minute early he wouldn't have been asleep yet. He is persistent. So I imagine his trouble last night was his tummy - we kind of knew he had been "saving up". Hopefully he will sleep well today now that some of his digestive troubles have passed. I actually need to rest while I can too.