Deaf Superheroes

I know, I'm doing a completely terrible job keeping up with the blog lately. You probably wouldn't want to imagine some of the factors that have contributed to that. Mostly it all just means I'm supremely busy.  I've been writing a lot for my comp class as well as writing every few weeks for ASL. I have so much reading to do as well. I just don't want to type up a blog as often as I used to.
So, I'm going to share one of the essays I wrote for my ASL class, because I thought it was particularly interesting. 

Deaf Superheroes

I originally thought I was going to write this report about deaf comedians, but when I started doing research on deaf entertainment, I found out that Marvel (one of the two major comic publishers in the US) is running a story arch in which Hawkeye is deaf and must communicate using ASL. Everywhere I looked, “deaf entertainment” searches were filled with Hawkeye.

Marvel is the origin of Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a summer blockbuster. They also created Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X Men. In 1999, Marvel also created a Native American, female superhero called Echo (later known as Ronin, when she joins the Avengers) who is deaf.

Her story is interesting. It begins with tragedy: when she is still young, her father is killed and the man responsible for his death raises her. She grows up never knowing the truth. She is sent to expensive schools for people with learning disabilities, but when she recreates a piano piece, she sent to a school for prodigies.

Her super power is “photographic reflexes” or the ability to copy the movements of others. Through this, she becomes an incredible pianist, martial artist, acrobat, ballerina, and jet pilot. While her attention to visual detail gives her great advantages, it also has realistic drawbacks. She is helpless in the dark, and does not respond to vocal commands from people she can’t lip-read. That can be particularly frustrating in the superhero world of full-coverage facemasks. Wikipedia says, “When she initially meets the Avengers, Captain America has to repeat all of Iron Mans’ questions for her.”

It must be tough to commit to such a storyline, but I’m glad they are. I may have to see about getting my hands on some of these comics.

It seems like last week’s essays seemed to focus a lot on the negative aspects of being part of a minority culture. Actually, a lot of articles I came across in my search for topic ideas were similarly aligned. A woman sues because she is forcibly reassigned to a different jury when the court finds out she’s deaf, because they don’t want to pay for an interpreter. A deaf man is murdered in Indiana and the local police face setbacks in solving the case because everyone this man associated with is also deaf and interpreters are a limited resource.

It’s nice to see a spot of sunshine amid the storm clouds. It’s such an incredible thing, as a kid, to have a superhero you can relate to. Four Deaf people created Signs and Voices, a British comic book starring four Deaf superheroes. They say, “This project will help our readers relate to and learn about social integration, and raise the aspirations of deaf young people.” I completely agree.

A common theme in superhero comics is a difficult fight against adversity. Iron Man is a billionaire with inoperable shrapnel in his chest. Superman is an alien, trying to fit in with humans by pretending to be Clark Kent. Batman’s parents were the only family he had until they were killed.  I think we could use a few more superhero histories that more people can relate to and be inspired by.

Hawkeye has been temporarily, moderately hearing impaired before. The new arch seems to involve severe to profound hearing loss. I wonder how long it will last?

Thoughts on Grades

I'm taking a sociology class this semester. This is really not my game. Rarely do I come across an article or book that isn't far too scholarly or heavy for me to enjoy. It kills me how these people write. For example:

I would like to suggest to you that the competition for grades, which you have already experienced for 12 years and will experience for at least four more, is a very dehumanizing and damaging system that has its roots deep in the injustices of our society. - Bell, Inge, Bernard McGrane, John Gunderson. This Book is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students. Pine Forge Press, 2004. Print

When first I read that, I nearly laughed out loud. I thought, "That seems awfully dramatic. It's just a letter. These people really take this too seriously!" But... do they?

They go on to explain their point of view:

Throughout our school years, society teaches us to believe that grades display our intelligence. Because of this our motivation, learning, and personal growth are placed second to attaining the ultimate goal - the grade. Society first teachs us about societal norms and codes, yet it is in the school system where we are ultimately taught to imitate. We are programmed to imitate what the teacher wants. If we don't, we get a bad grade. This idea of imitation is so strong because it is reinforced through schooling for a minimum of 12 years. Imitation is the main cause for our stifled and structured society. Imitation, competition, and fear of grades hinder our discovery. - Bell, Inge, Bernard McGrane, John Gunderson. This Book is Not Required: An Emotional Survival Manual for Students. Pine Forge Press, 2004. Print

Okay. If grades are one leg of the tripod that is stifling our discovery and our entire society, maybe they aren't taking it too seriously. Still, I wasn't sure I could make the connection between letter grades and ruining society. Can you?

Do you remember getting gold stars for little achievements? I gave my kids skittles for using the potty. When I was in 3rd grade, we had a sticker chart that showed who had mastered their multiplication tables. As a little kid, letter grades don't really make any sense to you, but your authority figures want to reward you for doing the correct thing in hopes that it will motivate you to continue in that direction.

When you're a little older, the letters start to make their way into your life. You strive for an A in your math class (or maybe you just struggle to get a letter good enough to pass) instead of setting a goal to understand each new mathematical rule before moving on to the next. In this way, letter grades might be motivating kids to cheat, but more commonly letter grades are encouraging students to just get by.

Some students will turn school into a competition to have the most stars or the best grades. That's how we get valedictorians. Some students will find a tutor to help them get their grade just high enough to stay on the football team. Some students will still fall in love with learning, because you can't stop them.

Those who do will still try to build a solid foundation by understanding each new bit of information before stacking something else on top of it. They will study and try to comprehend instead of just memorizing, because they want to really know this stuff and not just be able to regurgitate it for the test. But we aren't inspiring these kids with letter grades and we aren't inspiring other kids to become like this.

We might be losing our critical thinkers, our scientists and mathematicians. We're not investing in bringing out the best in future adults but in getting the correct, immediate response out of children and teenagers. And you may ask, "Then, how are we supposed to provide incentive for our kids?" But I think the real question is, "What should we provide incentive for?"

Encourage your kids to learn, not to be right. Just be excited about teaching and learning. Instead of labeling your child with a letter or percentage score thus comparing them to their peers, be patient with them when they struggle and be excited for them when, suddenly, the light bulb blinks on. Enjoy those moments, because they are beautiful. Struggling is a part of learning. Everyone struggles with something. Help each other instead of flaunting one child's success over another's difficulties.

That's what I think.

These Homeschool Days

This year I'm a student, too

It's 7:40. I wake up and take a shower (on a good day), or turn off my alarm and lay in bed until 8.

It's 8:00. I leave my room and wake M, the four-year-old who is still required to stay in bed until 8. The required elements for breakfast (which always centers around cold cereal, because we're not so good at mornings) are already available on the table. The twins (S and C) are already up and have eaten their breakfast. They have only recently gained the freedom to run their own mornings and usually get up on their own sometime between 7 and 8.

It's 10:30. I have to make lunch. Most of our lunches take about half an hour to make. We have chicken nuggets, taquitos, grilled sandwiches, oatmeal, PB&Js and other things. With our lunch, we always have a serving or two of fruit. 

It's 11:00. The kids eat lunch. M hates fish sticks and will sit and not eat them for hours if you let her. We decided we should try to replace fish sticks on our menu because no amount of, "eat it anyway" seems to help. 

It's 1:00. M and the Cub need a nap. M is four and will probably start outgrowing her nap soon. But for now, if she doesn't get a good nap, she's an emotional wreck by dinner time. The twins don't nap. The Cub is almost always happy to get back in his crib for a bit, but usually wakes up a bit early.

It's 3:00. I wake M and Cub is probably already up. Lately, he's been waking up from nap on his own at about 2:45. 

It's 4:00. The kids are allowed to watch TV and/or play video games until dinner is ready. This allows us two hours to engage in food preparation without worrying too much about them. 

It's 4:30. Papa should be home by now. He works as a mobile tech for the school district. His arrival time at home is varied based on what he has scheduled that day. 

It's 5:30. I make dinner if I haven't already made something in the crock pot. We try to keep our non-crock-pot dinners down to about 30 minutes, like lunch. I don't like to spend a lot of time busy in the kitchen. In fact, when I bake, I prefer to do it at the dining table, surrounded by children (believe it or not).

It's 6:00. More often than not, we're at the table having a family dinner. Sometimes we're early. Sometimes we're late. Whatever time it happens to be, we value this time. We get a lot of strange learning in during the 45ish minutes we spend eating together. I'm often surprised at the questions that come up when we're all tethered to the table without our technology.

It's 8:00. The kids get ready for bed. They won't go to bed for another hour, but there are three big kids trying to use the same bathroom and we don't want them to be in a hurry. If there is time left over after they're ready and before "lights out", we get lots of reading done.

It's 9:00. It's bed time for all of the kids. C and S have reading lights clipped to their beds and are allowed to lay quietly in bed and read for as long as they want. M just goes to sleep. The Cub often talks for 5 or 10 minutes before sleeping through the night. 

I go to bed at around 11:00.

In between all of those things, we learn. I don't have a schedule by which we do lessons. The twins have restricted access to a lap top every day, for one hour each. They've been using that time to practice math on Khan Academy. They play outside a lot. We bake together. We garden. What we do depends heavily on what they want to learn and how bored they are. As you can imagine, we do a lot more structured learning in the winter months, when they're complaining about the weather and, "there's nothing to do!"

On Mondays and Wednesdays I leave at about 2:30 and drive for about half an hour for my biology class. Mondays I get to come home when it's over at 4:45. Wednesdays, however, I also have my biology lab, which keeps me on campus until 8:50. 

Tuesdays I have a sign language class from 6:00 to 8:50. So, Tuesday and Wednesday I sometimes miss bedtime. I hate that, but I love that I'm finally working toward my own personal goals and becoming more of a role model for my kids. I'm also really enjoying my classes. 

I have two online classes that also add to my work load. I'm just finishing out my first week of classes, so I'm still trying to work out how it's all going to fit together now. So far, 13 credit hours doesn't seem so bad. I enjoy everything I'm learning and biology looks like it will be pretty easy for me. However, I am aware that week 1 alone isn't the best sample group.

So here's to the women who work or go to school and still make time to show love for their children. You are heroes.

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

Back to (Home) School 2014

Oh my goodness, what a throw-back. I didn't write a post like this last August, though I really should have. So, my last "back to (home) school" picture is from two years ago. I plan to make this an annual event, now.

Before I give you this year's picture, have a look at the past:

Back to (home) School 2012

In the 2012 "back to (home) school" entry, I wrote about the twins (S on the left and C in the middle) keeping each other entertained, but also distracting each other and relying on each other for answers. Those things are all still true. They're starting to diverge and have their own opinions, ideas and answers. They've also both managed to learn, grown and succeed despite using each other as a crutch at times.

C and S are seven this year. They're into gymnastics, reading, writing, and playing on their new play set. C is more of a leader while S is a great listener who takes direction well, but  both girls still sometimes let their emotions get the best of them when something goes wrong. M, who is now four, is a bit of a loose cannon, just like her sisters were when they were four. It's much harder to get her to sit still and learn, so she will be my challenge this year. She is starting more structured lessons. She'll be starting to learn phonics and reading specifically.

Another thing that echoes from 2012 to now: My kids asked if they were ever going to go to "real" school. Today, I was trimming their hair and talking about taking this year's picture and C said, "I want to go to a real school."

I said, "That's probably not going to happen."

She asked, "Why?"

I said, "A lot of reasons."

She demanded I tell her at least one and I thought, "haven't we gone over this before?"

"We're better equipped to teach you." I responded.

"Why?" She continued.

"Because we know you better than any teacher ever could, and we have only our kids to look after and teach. Most public schools have 20 or so kids with one teacher. It's hard for them to know each kid and teach each kid at their own pace."

"And you only have us." She realized.

"Yes. But you are technically part of the local school district. You could take classes there if you ever need to learn something we can't teach you, like if you need access to a lab to learn chemistry or something." I added.

"YAY!"

back to (home) school 2014

Back to (home) School 2014

For Fun: Me on my first day back to college. (8/18/14)

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

Where Do We Learn?

I want to tell you a little bit about our classroom. 

I remember the four walls of elementary classes. Teachers try their best to make them exciting with bulletin boards and posters, but it doesn't compare to being outside. Being in my house doesn't compare to being outside, either.

Because we don't have a super structured curriculum, we tend to do our learning where and when we want. However, there are drawbacks to that, too. Sometimes it's hard to tell when they're learning. We can't quantify it because it isn't a set number of hours of the day. It's all day, at random. We also don't stop in the summer. I dial it back on the obvious lessons (we occasionally do worksheets and flash cards  and such during the traditional school year), but we still immerse them in life experiences and hands-on learning and offer answers to their many questions whenever we can.

This summer, we learned:

On the Play Set

While Building the Play Set

At the Renaissance Faire

To Shoot a Bow 

At the Lake

On a Boat

At Grandma Julie's Studio

To Fish

A Bit About Frogs

At Grandma Julie's House

On a Plane

In the Play Room

On a Bus

At Yellowstone Park

A Bit About Horses

On a Trampoline

On a Hike

On the Road

When Mom Got a Shot 

At the Zoo 

At Pride Fest

On the Computer

On the XBox

In the Garden 

On a Trail

On the Couch

While Playing Games

While We Were Sick

At the Table 

On a Walk

While Taking Stuff Apart

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

Curriculum 2014

While I was on vacation in Minnesota, I received my letter from the school district confirming our homeschool status for this year. This is our second official year of homeschool, though I've been homeschooling them their whole lives if you ask me. This year, the twins (7) and M (4) are all considered by the state to be homeschooling.

Our homeschool method would probably be considered "unschool" primarily. There are some subjects I put more deliberate emphasis on, though. For example, when the twins were four, I put concentrated effort into teaching them to read. Learning to read helps open the door for self-education. Now, they read chapter books that are, in some cases, intended for kids three or more years older.

This year, I will be teaching M to read. We've worked on letter recognition and a bit of phonics leading up to this. She has a hard time sitting still and paying attention, which was never a problem for her older sisters.

The twins are reading chapter books a few years beyond their age range. They're also learning to use knives in the kitchen, and tools (including power tools) outside. This year, we'll work more on telling time, mental arithmetic, and multiplication and division. They have inherited their grandma's old macbook with which they will be using Khan Academy and other educational sites.

All three girls are in gymnastics. The twins just tried out for pre-team lessons but didn't make it. Still, their coach says their skill level is such that they should move on to the next level.  They'll try out for pre-team again when they're ready.

I will be going back to school starting the 18th, to work on a biology degree. For my language requirement, I'll be taking ASL, which I'm very excited about. My kids already know a bit of sign language and I intend to share my lessons with them.

I believe that ASL, art, and science lessons will crop up pretty organically around our house, so the table below lists only the topics I feel need more special focus. Of course, because we have a rather unstructured homeschool, we may cover much more than I have planned here.

M	Math: Counting Shapes Seasons Months Beginning adding and subtracting	Gym: Junior Girls	Language: Reading Phonics Letter drawing	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood	Life Skills: Scissors Glue Making Bed Tying Shoes Cleaning Up
S&C	Math: Mental Math Multiplication Division Telling Time Number Lines Measuring Money	Gym: Girls	Language: Reading Writing Story Telling Punctuation	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood Our State Our Country Our Continent Other Continents	Life Skills: Using Knives Doing Laundry Washing Dishes Sweeping Mopping Gardening

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network