Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
My Educational Philsophy
I've been thinking a lot of my educational philosophy as it relates to my children. As a teacher, I wrote a philosophy, but this is different. This is about my children.
What follows below is more of an thought exercise for me than a well-thought out blog post. But I need to get these thoughts out.
In no particular order:
1. When I look into the future, I want most for my children to be G-d conscious people who want for their fellow human beings what they want for themselves. 'Nuff said.
2. I want my sons to love and respect knowledge. I want them to yearn for information and to never settle with ignorance.
3. I want them to be trilingual at least. I want them to be masters of their native tongue, and to learn Arabic, and at least two other languages.
4. I feel that my role as a parent, as their mother, is to protect their innocent natures and to nourish their minds, bodies, and souls with goodness.
5. I want to create a home environment that is peaceful, loving, prayerful, and humble.
6. I hope to create happy memories that will carry them into adulthood with pride and confidence.
7. I want to teach them to focus on the positive and to always be optimistic.
8. I want to encourage them to "trust in G-d" but to also "tie their camels."
9. I must insure their financial literacy.
10. I want to encourage them to study the world around them.
What follows below is more of an thought exercise for me than a well-thought out blog post. But I need to get these thoughts out.
In no particular order:
1. When I look into the future, I want most for my children to be G-d conscious people who want for their fellow human beings what they want for themselves. 'Nuff said.
2. I want my sons to love and respect knowledge. I want them to yearn for information and to never settle with ignorance.
3. I want them to be trilingual at least. I want them to be masters of their native tongue, and to learn Arabic, and at least two other languages.
4. I feel that my role as a parent, as their mother, is to protect their innocent natures and to nourish their minds, bodies, and souls with goodness.
5. I want to create a home environment that is peaceful, loving, prayerful, and humble.
6. I hope to create happy memories that will carry them into adulthood with pride and confidence.
7. I want to teach them to focus on the positive and to always be optimistic.
8. I want to encourage them to "trust in G-d" but to also "tie their camels."
9. I must insure their financial literacy.
10. I want to encourage them to study the world around them.
Kindergarten Blues (Part I)
It's been quite a while since I have written a meaningful post here on this blog.
The older that I get, the faster time seems to fly by. I've been consumed by the kids, life in general, and a major volunteer project on which I've been working. In the process, I have lost sight of some of my goals, including writing on this blog.
I've been drafting a few posts in my head about my ever evolving educational/parenting philosophy, the long-term educational goals that I have for my children, and general thoughts on the state of education in this country, but I just haven't gotten around to finishing the posts. I've given up on producing perfect posts, so please forgive any and all grammatical errors or logical jumps.
Once the children are up for the day, it sometimes feels like one long race to bedtime. I mean, of course, I enjoy and love them, but boy do they wear me out!
A few months ago, we attended the wedding of a dear friend of mine from college. We left our eldest son with a babysitter, but took the baby with us. One of the workers at the reception asked me what did I find hardest about being a mother. I quickly replied, "the complete lack of personal time." Almost five years of being a mother and I still haven't gotten used to the loss of "me" time.
I didn't set out to write a post about the passing of time or the loss of my personal time, although the topic is related to the angst that I am experiencing right now. I don't think that angst is too strong of a word to describe all the thoughts brewing around in my head.
A little back story: Our eldest son was born "late," or just about a week-and-a-half or so after the Kindergarten entrance cut-off date, meaning he would not be able to start Kindergarten until he would be just about six years old, instead of five years old.
At the time, I had absolutely no idea about human development, child rearing, or anything remotely having to do with young children.
When we moved clear across the country to California, we learned that the cut off date for entrance to California was a full three months later. My baby could go to Kindergarten in 2011!
The more I learned about childhood development, the more I wanted to keep him out of the K-12 school system as long as possible.
I read studies that showed, I read about the academic dumbing up (yes, I wrote up) of Kindergarten programs.
We enrolled him a play-based preschool program, found a great swimming program, and started making plans for the next two years.
And then reality set in. Economic reality that is. We're been surviving on one income since August 2009, but it has been a real sacrifice to do so. It has totally been worth it-- to be able to help care for my mother when she was dying, to stay home with my youngest son during these first years of his life, to be able to take my eldest to the park, or to swim lessons. I don't regret our decision at all, but the reality is that me being a stay-at-home mom without an income is not a feasible long-term plan for our financial goals and necessities. As the economy continues to be weak (okay, debatable, but I think that you get my drift) and the government entity that my husband works for continues to slash its budgets, decision time has arrived for our young family.
Do I continue to be a stay-at-home mother without an income, or do I return to the workforce, putting my young children in the care of others for most of their waking hours?
Our eldest son, ATOM, will be able to attend kindergartennext year this year! We had planned to keep him in preschool another year, but if I need to get a job in the fall, then he'll need to go to school. (His current preschool is only part-time, so we'd have to pay for preschool and a nanny to watch him during the off hours, plus daycare for our younger son. Full-time private preschool is not an option because it would be too expensive.)
The thought of putting him in school this year (August) is driving me crazy. I'm sad, anxious, and scared, all at the same time. I really want him to go to a great school, when he's ready. And I don't think he's ready. He's a great little boy-- bright, inquisitive, loving, and thoughtful, but we think he needs more time before entering the academic rigors of today's kindergarten programs (especially for public programs.) Plus, I really don't want to end the creative, imaginative process of early childhood before this stage of his development naturally evolves into something else. I also want his ethnic and religious identity to be cemented before sending him off away from us for 9 hours a day.*
So, yeah I've got the kindergarten blues. Or, more specifically, the should-I-send-my-African-American-active-"spirited"-strong-willed-would-be-a-"young five"-son-to-school-before-I-think-he's-ready-blues.
To be continued...
*5-6 hours of the school day, plus 3-4 hours of after school time.
The older that I get, the faster time seems to fly by. I've been consumed by the kids, life in general, and a major volunteer project on which I've been working. In the process, I have lost sight of some of my goals, including writing on this blog.
I've been drafting a few posts in my head about my ever evolving educational/parenting philosophy, the long-term educational goals that I have for my children, and general thoughts on the state of education in this country, but I just haven't gotten around to finishing the posts. I've given up on producing perfect posts, so please forgive any and all grammatical errors or logical jumps.
Once the children are up for the day, it sometimes feels like one long race to bedtime. I mean, of course, I enjoy and love them, but boy do they wear me out!
A few months ago, we attended the wedding of a dear friend of mine from college. We left our eldest son with a babysitter, but took the baby with us. One of the workers at the reception asked me what did I find hardest about being a mother. I quickly replied, "the complete lack of personal time." Almost five years of being a mother and I still haven't gotten used to the loss of "me" time.
I didn't set out to write a post about the passing of time or the loss of my personal time, although the topic is related to the angst that I am experiencing right now. I don't think that angst is too strong of a word to describe all the thoughts brewing around in my head.
A little back story: Our eldest son was born "late," or just about a week-and-a-half or so after the Kindergarten entrance cut-off date, meaning he would not be able to start Kindergarten until he would be just about six years old, instead of five years old.
At the time, I had absolutely no idea about human development, child rearing, or anything remotely having to do with young children.
When we moved clear across the country to California, we learned that the cut off date for entrance to California was a full three months later. My baby could go to Kindergarten in 2011!
The more I learned about childhood development, the more I wanted to keep him out of the K-12 school system as long as possible.
I read studies that showed, I read about the academic dumbing up (yes, I wrote up) of Kindergarten programs.
We enrolled him a play-based preschool program, found a great swimming program, and started making plans for the next two years.
And then reality set in. Economic reality that is. We're been surviving on one income since August 2009, but it has been a real sacrifice to do so. It has totally been worth it-- to be able to help care for my mother when she was dying, to stay home with my youngest son during these first years of his life, to be able to take my eldest to the park, or to swim lessons. I don't regret our decision at all, but the reality is that me being a stay-at-home mom without an income is not a feasible long-term plan for our financial goals and necessities. As the economy continues to be weak (okay, debatable, but I think that you get my drift) and the government entity that my husband works for continues to slash its budgets, decision time has arrived for our young family.
Do I continue to be a stay-at-home mother without an income, or do I return to the workforce, putting my young children in the care of others for most of their waking hours?
Our eldest son, ATOM, will be able to attend kindergarten
The thought of putting him in school this year (August) is driving me crazy. I'm sad, anxious, and scared, all at the same time. I really want him to go to a great school, when he's ready. And I don't think he's ready. He's a great little boy-- bright, inquisitive, loving, and thoughtful, but we think he needs more time before entering the academic rigors of today's kindergarten programs (especially for public programs.) Plus, I really don't want to end the creative, imaginative process of early childhood before this stage of his development naturally evolves into something else. I also want his ethnic and religious identity to be cemented before sending him off away from us for 9 hours a day.*
So, yeah I've got the kindergarten blues. Or, more specifically, the should-I-send-my-African-American-active-"spirited"-strong-willed-would-be-a-"young five"-son-to-school-before-I-think-he's-ready-blues.
To be continued...
*5-6 hours of the school day, plus 3-4 hours of after school time.
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