New Parenting Techniques: Pow-Wows and Electrocution
About a year ago, Lisa and I came to the sobering conclusion that we can no longer exclude our children from the tedious task of planning our monthly calendar and expenses.
Rebecca and Justus’ activities like gymnastics, theatre, dance, singing lessons, carpool schedules, sleep-overs and birthday parties make our Google calendar festively busy. So, last Sunday we had our monthly family “pow-wow.” Pow-wows are like business meetings to keep our family on-the-rails. Lisa and I put together an agenda of sorts to discuss upcoming calendar of events, financial obligations (i.e., buying tickets, books, birthday gifts) and timely topics of discussion. Our kids get exposed to making tough decisions between “good” and “good,” prioritizing, thinking and working constructively in a group, and observing financial ramifications.
This month, the topics of discussion included chores, attitude, responsibilities and commitments, and… wait for it… school. Every eye was half-mass and aglaze until we said the word “school.” Suddenly, it was like everyone was electrocuted.< This year marks the beginning of Rebecca's high school studies. Homeschooling gets a lot more serious at the high school level. Highschool-aged homeschoolers have a marked increase of responsibility to track hours, academic requirements, formal gradebooks and transcripts, all to document adherence to college admission standards. Rebecca is taking English 1 (grammer/writing/literature), Spanish 1, Biology, Pre-algebra, and World History (Bridge Rhetoric: Post-Rome to US Constitution). Justus is entering the 6th grade taking English (grammer/writing/literature), Spanish 1, Science, Pre-algebra, World History (Dialectic: Post-Rome to US Constitution). Lisa and I are excited for what this school year will bring for our kids, and I'm sure Lisa and I will learn a thing or two along the way as well. PS - We forgot to mention to them an earlier reveille of 6:30am - earlier than last year, but certainly later than most public schoolers... One must keep it all in perspective.
I’m very impressed. We were never that organized when our kids were growing up. We kind of let them learn by OJT(On the Job Training) with some guidance from Betty and I. Mostly Betty, because I was gone alot.——–Lowell
Hello Lowell. Unfortunately, we’ve made life way more complicated. When I was growing up, Johnny and I rode our bicycles all over the neighborhood, played outside all summer (even in the heat of the day), and played with sticks. 😉 Occasionally, Mom or Dad would take us to the public pool or sign us up for baseball. Those were our summers. Ah, the good ole’ days…