not about anything current
[email protected]
A nine year old letter and progress report (from then).
Not important. Some snapshot moments.
8116 Princess Jeanne NE
Albuquerque NM 87110
March 23, 1994
[to some friend of mine long ago <g>]
I’m about to become the editor of a small, established homeschoolers’
newsletter. It was started by people who were on Prodigy having a great time
wrestling ideas, insulting each other, and making up. Prodigy raised their rates
a huge amount (mine would’ve gone from $18 to $250 a month, for instance) by
charging hourly for what had been an open bulletin board, so we all bailed at
once. The woman who took the newsletter isn’t enjoying it, and basically
producing a sad little dud, so I’ve been called in to jazz it up and save it. One
problem is its name. It’s called:
Home Educators’ Computer Companion (HECC)
The Prodigious Backyard Fence.
I’m going to switch it around and emphasize “Backyard Fence” and eventually
dump all but that. People can’t cheer for a team they can’t pronounce, and
the “computer” bit discourages non-geeks from subscribing. There are several
Christian fundamentalists involved, but they’ll either develop some tolerance
and humor or they’ll wander off and the heathen intellectuals will have won
one small piece of the homeschooling battle. I’m going to try to get them to
think and interract without running them off. It will be an exercise in
diplomacy and integrity, which is about the only kind of exercise I’ve been getting
lately.
On my third attempt (third occasional attempt, over a nine-month period) I
finally got the New Mexico state department of education to send me something
one of their hot-shots bragged we could get for nothing. I was supposed to ask
for “Essential Competencies.” What I have received is “New Mexico Competency
Frameworks.” It’s the state’s plan (derived after much expense--committee
meetings all around the state, advice of experts, etc.) to take another route
from the essential competencies, which I don’t mind. They claim frameworks are
better than competencies! I guess I believe it! Competencies produce 70%
mastery, while frameworks are 100% successful! Competencies produce losers and
winners, while frameworks produce only winners! Competencies produce
successful programs, while frameworks produce successful students! If I could find my
diploma I would kiss the “English” part and laud myself for not having
majored in Education. They took 18 pages (I subtracted title pages and credits) to
say things like “thinking is necessary for communication, and communication
improves your thinking.” (I clarified that from a half page of “Reading,
writing, speaking and listening are social, interactive processes intertwined with
thinking. Reading writing, speaking and listening are the fundamental skills
of communication…” and so forth. But it’s not all text! They have charts!
They have graphs! They have Visual Representations of Performance-Based
Assessment Models! What a waste of paper and energy and postage.
I meant to ask if you were planning more children, but I figure if you have
another baby I’ll get an announcement like I did the last…
HEY!
I have three kids who are potty trained and who all talk. No more infants,
ever, I hope. (At least not out of me.) The hair report is like this:
Holly’s is a cross between Peggy Fleming and Joan of Arc. Marty has a barber cut
which he made shorter with scissors for practice. Kirby has a ratty Beatle
front and the whole back end is nearly to his waist. I still have the
straight-to-the-waist, occasionally braided hippy-do. Keith just lately went from hair
past his shoulders to a style cut (cousin of Bill Clinton’s) at my nagging
request, because I don’t want Honeywell to fire him for a pony tail. (Oh! I
forgot! They can’t fire people for pony tails…) We are a very unmatched set.
-------------
END OF HISTORICAL STROLL...
--------------
I'm so glad people don't have to wait for paper homeschooling newsletters
anymore!
(some do, but most don't have to)
I enjoyed the mini-rant on the competencies framework. I had forgotten all
about that.
Sandra
Not important. Some snapshot moments.
8116 Princess Jeanne NE
Albuquerque NM 87110
March 23, 1994
[to some friend of mine long ago <g>]
I’m about to become the editor of a small, established homeschoolers’
newsletter. It was started by people who were on Prodigy having a great time
wrestling ideas, insulting each other, and making up. Prodigy raised their rates
a huge amount (mine would’ve gone from $18 to $250 a month, for instance) by
charging hourly for what had been an open bulletin board, so we all bailed at
once. The woman who took the newsletter isn’t enjoying it, and basically
producing a sad little dud, so I’ve been called in to jazz it up and save it. One
problem is its name. It’s called:
Home Educators’ Computer Companion (HECC)
The Prodigious Backyard Fence.
I’m going to switch it around and emphasize “Backyard Fence” and eventually
dump all but that. People can’t cheer for a team they can’t pronounce, and
the “computer” bit discourages non-geeks from subscribing. There are several
Christian fundamentalists involved, but they’ll either develop some tolerance
and humor or they’ll wander off and the heathen intellectuals will have won
one small piece of the homeschooling battle. I’m going to try to get them to
think and interract without running them off. It will be an exercise in
diplomacy and integrity, which is about the only kind of exercise I’ve been getting
lately.
On my third attempt (third occasional attempt, over a nine-month period) I
finally got the New Mexico state department of education to send me something
one of their hot-shots bragged we could get for nothing. I was supposed to ask
for “Essential Competencies.” What I have received is “New Mexico Competency
Frameworks.” It’s the state’s plan (derived after much expense--committee
meetings all around the state, advice of experts, etc.) to take another route
from the essential competencies, which I don’t mind. They claim frameworks are
better than competencies! I guess I believe it! Competencies produce 70%
mastery, while frameworks are 100% successful! Competencies produce losers and
winners, while frameworks produce only winners! Competencies produce
successful programs, while frameworks produce successful students! If I could find my
diploma I would kiss the “English” part and laud myself for not having
majored in Education. They took 18 pages (I subtracted title pages and credits) to
say things like “thinking is necessary for communication, and communication
improves your thinking.” (I clarified that from a half page of “Reading,
writing, speaking and listening are social, interactive processes intertwined with
thinking. Reading writing, speaking and listening are the fundamental skills
of communication…” and so forth. But it’s not all text! They have charts!
They have graphs! They have Visual Representations of Performance-Based
Assessment Models! What a waste of paper and energy and postage.
I meant to ask if you were planning more children, but I figure if you have
another baby I’ll get an announcement like I did the last…
HEY!
I have three kids who are potty trained and who all talk. No more infants,
ever, I hope. (At least not out of me.) The hair report is like this:
Holly’s is a cross between Peggy Fleming and Joan of Arc. Marty has a barber cut
which he made shorter with scissors for practice. Kirby has a ratty Beatle
front and the whole back end is nearly to his waist. I still have the
straight-to-the-waist, occasionally braided hippy-do. Keith just lately went from hair
past his shoulders to a style cut (cousin of Bill Clinton’s) at my nagging
request, because I don’t want Honeywell to fire him for a pony tail. (Oh! I
forgot! They can’t fire people for pony tails…) We are a very unmatched set.
-------------
END OF HISTORICAL STROLL...
--------------
I'm so glad people don't have to wait for paper homeschooling newsletters
anymore!
(some do, but most don't have to)
I enjoyed the mini-rant on the competencies framework. I had forgotten all
about that.
Sandra