Paula Sjogerman

on 4/5/03 11:11 AM, SandraDodd@... at SandraDodd@... wrote:

> I set a place for Holly too, and when Holly got bored and left, the
> interviewer had big eyes and said Holly was a really (can't remember the
> word) kid. She was surprised at how calm and knowledgeable she was.

A friend of mine and a different friend's teenage daughter were having a
conversation in the locker room of their health club. A woman who overheard
them came out and asked the adult who that kid was, she was SO articulate
and smart. My friend said that the girl was homeschooled. The woman replied,
"I used to be against homeschooling, but after hearing that, I've changed my
mind."

And believe me, it was just an ordinary, everyday conversation they were
having, not rocket science or advanced mathematics.

Changing people's minds even when we don't know it!

Paula

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/5/03 7:45:32 AM, KathrynJB@... writes:

<<. . . so convinced that
homeschooling is horrible and Julian couldn't be learning anything, she
communicates to him that she doesn't value anything that Julian is doing. I
just keep wondering...has she ever TALKED to this kid????
>>

Yesterday I was interviewed by someone doing an article for a women's
supplement of the local paper. Alternative education. It turned into her
feeling guilty about her own kids, and then a counselling session. That's
okay. <g>

But somewhere in there I told her that anymore if people question me about
whether my kids could possibly know anything, or how do *I* know if they know
anything, since I don't have them tested, I just say "Take one of them to
lunch."

Marty didn't come out while she was here, and Kirby was off at driver's ed
(driving with the teacher) and then work, but Holly came and sat with us. I
had set out tea, bread, cookies, little matching knives and saucers. <g> So
I set a place for Holly too, and when Holly got bored and left, the
interviewer had big eyes and said Holly was a really (can't remember the
word) kid. She was surprised at how calm and knowledgeable she was.

I wasn't surprised that she was surprised.

So many people look at age and grade and scores and calendar and their vague
recollections of what they had to know at that age, and never even THINK of
looking at the human being.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/6/03 6:19:58 AM, KathrynJB@... writes:

<< On the other hand...this is a woman who referred to her children when they
were kids as Dumb Fuck 1 and 2.
>>

HOLY shit.

When I read that I took in an audible loud vocalized breath. I'm going to
wake someone up. (Actually they're all up now; I'm the one who slept late
today.)

I'm really sorry to hear that any mother has said or thought that about her
children and I hope they survived well and aren't thinking in the same terms
about her.

I LOVE my kids. I try not to tell them they're smart. I truly avoid that.
I will say "That's very cool," or "That's a smart idea," but I try not to
label them themselves in general as anything. Not even smart. Certainly not
dumb. Yikes yikes yikes...

Sandra

Nancy Wooton

on 4/6/03 11:17 AM, SandraDodd@... at SandraDodd@... wrote:

>
> In a message dated 4/6/03 6:19:58 AM, KathrynJB@... writes:
>
> << On the other hand...this is a woman who referred to her children when they
> were kids as Dumb Fuck 1 and 2.
>>>

<snip>
>
> I'm really sorry to hear that any mother has said or thought that about her
> children and I hope they survived well and aren't thinking in the same terms
> about her.

<snip>
> I try not to
> label them themselves in general as anything. Not even smart. Certainly not
> dumb. Yikes yikes yikes...

When I read it, I thought she was referring to her *own* dumbness in getting
f***ed, once and then again; that she, the father(s) in question, and the
act was dumb. The children, while certainly demeaned by the names, are not
being labeled dumb themselves.

I could be wrong, of course.

Nancy


--
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society."
--Krishnamurthi