School Starts...Evaluate now!

This week it is official. We are no longer the sole education providers for our kids. The decision to have the kids stay at home (they were a part of it) was one we struggled with a little. No one in the school system could see the need or understand our concerns. So we faced a bit of resistence, but we did what we needed to for our children's safety, sanity and well-being.

At the same time, I'm glad that the weight of their education isn't focused on myself and my partner. With us involved, the brunt seemed to keep coming back on us. The internet charter school we found is fairly new, but wonderful. They are solely responsible for their work with their classes. They have mentors to help them stay on track, they have laptops they are loaned by the school for their work, and printers and scanners as well.

It's brilliant! The kids are excited to be learning, they're bringing up conversations about all manners of things and they are doing what they need to. There is a sense of independence here that I am thrilled with.

My point is not to do as I did, but to be aware. I know it feels like one more weight added to the pile, but schools today aren't doing what they did 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago. The programs instituted by the government may, eventually, prove to be positive, but for us they weren't. For our kids, who are amazing to me, the system wasn't what they needed.

We paid attention, we noticed teachers and vice principals wielding inappropriate uses of power over our kids, actually interfering with their learning. Teachers were teaching classes they had no knowledge in, and when we tried to find tutoring help, there was no one in the school who could help him except maybe some of the other students if they were willing to help.

What do you want your children to learn? I'm hoping our kids learn that there are many ways to get where you're going, and there are many many places to go. We strive to teach them ways to be their own boss, yet help them with skills they need to work in the world they live in. And they are learning to pay attention, as well. This school over the internet is teaching about networking and support in ways we couldn't. We're grateful we lucked into this program. But if we hadn't, we would have just kept looking for what we needed.

I encourage everyone to pay attention. To ask yourself what you want your kids to learn, and then ask the school how they are teaching your children. Communication is vital in knowing what it takes to teach our children. With the world moving so fast, it's comforting to know that we're preparing them for the future.

Better Organization Here!

I'm re-organizing, so it will be easier to know which page to look at for the information you need.

Well Families will host family/parenting information. Your Well-Life Partners will host wellness articles that center on health and non-family related wellness articles.

Faith and Family Go Hand in Hand

I'm a person of faith. During the early times of my life, faith meant going on trust, no evidence, just a 'hunch' of sorts. It took a lot to bring me to where I am today. A lifetime, in fact.

Today my world of faith comes from knowing. There have been so many things that have led me to the path I walk, so much that showed me what to believe, verified what was correct, honorable, right. And yet, the moments I most need to lean on my faith, it is there. If I doubt, which happens now and again (a reminder that I'm human), I look to my family, my life, my experiences, and hold tight. My family is one place my faith resides. I see the work of the Creator in our lives, and in each member of my family.

And my family has a strange sort of faith mixed in our every day lives, and I thought I'd share it. First, there are 5 of us in this house. My husband and I attend ceremonies (we've been together just shy of six years), our 18 year old (mine by birth, his by love) doesn't know the details of what he does believe, but in his words, "I've seen too much to think there isn't anything out there. I've seen too many people healed through these ceremonies to not believe in them...but they aren't right for me right now." Our 17 year old (my husband's great neice by birth, ours by love) doesn't speak of faith often, but she attends ceremonies. When she was little she went to lodges, but now she isn't really called to. She attends family ceremonies and such, and sometimes will come for women's lodges. Our 4 year old is being raised ina sort of mixed tradition. He's being raised as a part of the dominant culture, he's being raised around ceremonies, being told the stories of both Oneida and Lakota tradition, and taught how to live in relation to the earth.

We talk about our place in creation, that we are the youngest of all creation, and the responsibility that we have to honor all creation. We talk about our responsibility to not judge others, because it isn't our place; our job is to live the best life we can and take care of our duties. And when I read this it sounds so stodgy, not fun...practically bible-thumping. But it isn't. Our duty isn't difficult. We respect the world we live in and it's inhabitants. We do the best we can, and there is no shame in mistakes. There is no shame anywhere, actually.

I think we learn forgiveness by teaching it; learn responsibility by showing it; learn gratitude by living it. These things that are thought 'negative' are teachers for us. It's knowing where you are and who you are before you can know how to behave when the unthinkable happens. And even then, we're still human, and might still have a thing or two to learn.

Change is good!

This space is under construction while I gather our posts and links. This will be their new home. :)

Stop back soon!

Kim