Day 70 - Teachers

I put the following note in the December School of Dad newsletter that went in the mail with the Christmas Card today.
"Ben and I continue our ‘School of Dad’ experiment. I was reading a New Yorker article recently that suggested a kid with a good teacher learns 1.5 years of material in a year and a kid with a bad teacher learns .5 years of material. I would like to think we are doing the former (and I am pretty confident we are not doing the later) but Ben’s learning falls somewhere in the middle. He has a great and interesting brain and I hope we are helping it develop. Some days I struggle just trying to figure out what he is thinking.
One thing is clear – while I have always respected teachers, I hold them in even higher regard now. I hope that every child (including Ben) is fortunate enough to have a great teacher at least once in their schooling. "

Day 69 - Keeping it Simple

The last month has been difficult for a variety of reasons. We have set our sights on getting some basic things accomplished before the end of the week (and beginning of the Christmas break). We are focusing on some simple things: completing the current Math Chapter, finishing a essay on the last book that we read, wrapping up some science topic. Tomorrow we will focus on getting our December Newsletter out.

We will need some renewed focus when January comes. Right now we are just trying to keep things simple.

Day 67 & 68

Ben and I focused on gettings some things accomplished we could feel good about over the last two days. With one more week of school we had some writing and math to wrap up before the break. Our days had a satisfying if not intense flow to them. I expect next week to be another strange week as we prepare for the break and our trip out of town. I feel good about what we have done but not as good about the amount accomplished.

Day 66 - Finally

It took us until Wednesday to get Day 66 in because Ben has been sick. He was less then thrilled about getting back to work today but we got through the day. I kept it simple and by the end of the day we had made some progress and done some things we enjoyed. We have a busy 7 days head until Christmas break begins.

Day 65 - Tough Week

Ben and I finished the week making some Lefse. We enjoyed doing it and were pleased with outcome. It was probably the most satisfying thing we did this week.

As we were walking today I was telling him how I find it interesting that two people that both like patterns and routine have such a difficult time being organized. Are our minds trying to get something they know we don't have? Lack of structure is not good for either of us. He is dependent on my to provide it at this point. I struggle to find it.

Day 64 - Retry

Ben and I went back to the Ohio Historical Society today to see the Norman Rockwell Exhibit. (I checked the website this morning to see if I had missed something regarding the exhibit hours. I had checked yesterday and I was certain it gave hours for every day. Today the 'hours' section shows hours for Thursday through Sunday. I could have swore that it said something different yesterday but I am sure my memory is faulty.)

Ben and I both thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. It included recreations of some of his Saturday Evening Post (SEP) covers, with other related historical information interspersed. The staff included actors portraying characters relevant to different time periods. Other docents offered tips and explanations not provided on the posted materials. The were 6 people working in the exhibit. Ben and I were the only ones there for the first 30 minutes.

I had always seen his work as nostalgia pieces. It was interesting to hear about his work process and see what he was trying to accomplish. His first SEP cover was published in 1916. His 322nd (and last) was published in 1965. He went on to produce work for Look magazine (he had a falling out with SEP). There is a clear technical and content progression in the work. Some of it was due to better technology (photos instead of live models as well as advancements in printing). Other progression was certainly a product of his maturing. I was surprised to learn he was born and worked for many years in New York City.

I was glad that we had made the trip - again.

Day 63 - Nostalgia

I would like Ben to write in a journal every day. The form of the journal is not important to me, I just want him to do it daily. It is part of my 'Writers write' mantra. He will do the it, but most often it is not reflective of the interesting way that he thinks.

Yesterday we were talking about it and we talked about how much fun we have looking back each day on this website. "Wouldn't it be interesting if 20 years from now you could pick up a journal and get a real look back at what you were thinking about at this point in your life?""I don't know. It might make me feel nostalgia."

We talked about what 'nostalgia' was. What I said was that nostalgia is a longing for a time that probably never was because we were only recalling the parts we wanted to remember. What I should have said was that an honest journal would not cause nostalgia because it would recall both the easy and hard times.

In the spirit of nostalgia, I recalled that the Ohio Historical Society recently opened a big exhibit on Norman Rockwell. Ben and I looked at some of Rockwell's paintings and talked about what he was trying to show. We saw his portrayal of family life, patriotism, small towns, etc. It could be argued that his work captured a moment in time that never really existed but those viewing thought/wished it did.

This morning we took a ride over to see the exhibit first hand.

Needless to say: Closed. (Because of state budget cuts the museum is only open Thursday through Sunday - though this information appeared nowhere on the website.)

Day 62 - Normal

It was our first post holiday ‘normal’ school day. It got off to a bit of a rocky start but we recovered with a trip to the aquarium store for a plant we needed for science. Of course they did not have it, but we enjoyed walking around the store. Ben was planning what we should put in out aquarium when we restart it after Christmas.

I hope that we will get out a lot between now and Christmas. We are planning a trip tomorrow to the Ohio Historical museum to check out a Norman Rockwell exhibit.

Day 61 - Wierd Continues

That last few days at the School fo Dad have been wierd. Last week Monday and Tuesday we were getting ready for Visitors and Thanksgiving. The visitors left this afternoon. We are finally ready for a 'normal' day tomorrow..but am I ready?

Days 59 & 60

With only two days of school this week and relatives coming at Tuesday afternoon, it has been a strange week at the SOD. Ben and I are both feeling out of sorts and are hopeful that some normalcy will return next week. It did not help tha the book we finished yesterday came to a very sad conclusion. We started our Day monday reading the last two chapters and we never really recovered.

Looking forward to December.

Day 58 - Sick Day

Ben was not feeling well so we worked on some easy things in the morning and he took it easy in the afternoon.

Day 57 - better word

I had a doctor’s appointment today and the Dr. asked what I did for a living. I told him that I homeschooled my son and he said, “that must be interesting.”

“A better word would be humbling” was my reply.

Day 56 - Flash of Enthusiasm

Ben has been excited about some work he is doing with Adobe Flash for a website he likes to visit. He has struggled to do a couple of things that he wants but has preferred to figure them out for himself rather then get help from me (a good thing since I do not know anything about Flash). It is good to see his enthusiasm. I wish we were doing something that captured the same level of attention.

Day 55 - Strong Memories

In the blog for our reading book I reflected on how the author drew upon what must have been a very powerful (and frightening) childhood memory. I asked if anyone had a similar memory. Ben became quite upset when he read then entry. He certainly did have a memory like that – and he did not want to think about it. I told him that it would be fine if he wrote about how the question made him feel.

I did not probe for the details of the memory that upset him. I did offer that writers frequently use their work – even fiction – to ‘deal with’ issues from their own lives. Others use difference processes. The important thing is not to keep things locked up inside.

Day 54 - No Comment

Busy day. Not commenting tonight.

Day 53 - Retool?

As Ben and I cooked a Lemon Cake Pie (yes – Cake Pie) today, we listened to a discussion on the local NPR station regarding places to visit in OH. I have been thinking eve since that it might form the basis for a major School of Dad retooling.

Details later.

Day 52 - Newsletter

We finished the rough draft out our November newsletter today. We will do a final edit and get it in the mail tomorrow. Originally I had wanted the newsletter to be an independent project for Ben. I quickly realized this required a level of planning, organization, and interest that he was lacking.

We had a hard time picking a theme for this month’s edition. The process consisted of me throwing out ideas and Ben not liking them. Finally I came up with something he thought would work – an issue about his collections. He had to write a main article, a second page article with pictures that showed and described some of his favorite items, a first page list of collecting do’s and don’ts, and a graphic. Most of the writing time was done as homework. I was very pleased with the quality of his work this time. I decided against recommending any major edits so what went out truly reflected his work. I think he felt good about the product. I hope some enthusiasm carries over to the December edition.

Day 51 - Short morning

Noon arrived a little quickly today – with half of what I had hoped to accomplish still undone. We read two chapters of a new book today and then listened to them on tape. By the time we had discussed the work we were well over an hour in. It was worth spending the time but left me wondering what to put off until tomorrow.

I am seeing incremental progress is the work Ben is doing. He seems to respond as well as I am able to be consistent. Ben (and his brother and sister) come by their organizational issues honestly.

Day 50 - Hard & Simple

Ben and I watched a PBS video about the Shakers so we could get some background knowledge for the book we have begun reading: ‘A Day No Pigs Would Die’. The video was made by Ken burns in the late 1980’s. It is interesting how different kids process the same information as adults. The first thing that Ben made note of was the ‘short’ work day. He had misinterpreted a statement that ‘they had done a full day’s work before breakfast’ to mean that they did not have much to do in the afternoon. The first word he used to describe their lives was ‘hard’. I am sure they would have preferred ‘simple’. As much as they do not seem like they go together, I would say both.

Day 49 - Moving

I had a good weekend of preparation and felt good about what Ben and I accomplished today. We began working on a small project related to the Model T (introduced 100 years ago). We also continued to plow ahead in Math and worked on a science project he enjoyed. I am trying to keep us moving – physically and in content. I think I was successful in both today.

Day 48 - Listen / Read

Ben and I listened to the second chapter of our book today. We read along with a highlighter in hand, marking interesting phrases, terms we did not understand, and other important information. After the chapter was over we switched highlighters (different colors) and then went back and compared what we had chosen (and highlighted things the unique things the other person had selected). About 50% of what we highlighted was the same.

We had a good discussion of the chapter. Hearing someone read it certainly enhanced his comprehension. The plan going forward is that we will read the text and then listen to it. I will try to build some awareness of how listening is changing what he gets from the text. Hopefully that will help to develop his reading skills.

I felt good about the work we did not the book today. We will work on some background knowledge Monday and read again Tuesday.

Day 47 - Think About it

Ben and I continued with some planning today. One stumbling block was the plan for the newsletter that I would like to publish by next Friday. One thing that I have learned is that telling Ben to ‘think about ‘ something is a futile suggestion. He did not bring anything to the table regarding the newsletter and did not seem very interested in the themes that I was throwing out. We need to hammer down the theme and outline the articles tomorrow. I am sure that he will do a lot of ‘thinking about it’ tonight.

Day 46 - New Book

Ben and I began a new book today – “No Pigs will Die Today” by Robert Newton Peck. The person that helps me with Ben’s language arts suggested this book. I have some reservations because I do not think it is a book that Ben will like very much but we are going ahead with it. We hope to finish it by November.

I bought the Audio version on iTunes and we listened to the first chapter together. I warned Ben that it would be a little grizzly. In the chapter the main character helps a cow give birth and is hurt badly in the process. Normally Ben is quite squeamish but he did not seem bothered. He was actually able to retell the main events to me so I considered that a good sign.

Day 45 - Boring

Ben and I were doing some planning for November and December today. The topic of Geography came up. I have observed that Ben’s awareness of US geography is poor. I suggested that we will work on some basics – States, Capitals, Major Rivers, Mountains, etc. Ben immediately got quiet.

“What’s wrong?”
“Dad – when will I ever need to know that! I don’t plan on visiting other state capitals!”

I knew that this objection reflected his observation that learning these things would not be fun – even boring. I did not attempt to sell him on the value of knowing these things but rather focused my comment on the simple fact that everything we need to learn is not exciting to cover.

Day 44 - Remake

Ben and I did our usual baking on Friday. We made his choice – a lemon jelly roll. The finished product clearly was not right. The filling was not thick enough. I suggested to Ben that we should make it again to see if we could get it to turn out better. He was satisfied with the original but I was not so I made the second cake by myself (after 'school' was over).

This simple story says a lot – but I am not sure exactly what.

Day 43 - Ear Loans

For the past couple of weeks I have been asking Ben to pick an article from the newspaper or a magazine and write a one paragraph summary. Yesterday I asked him to pick an article from the latest Newsweek for us to look at today. He chose an opinion piece written by the mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska - the once building site of the 'Bridge To Nowhere'. I read his summary without reading the article and laughed at a part where he referred to an 'ear loan'.

What do you know about the proposed bridge? I immediately remembered the multi-hundred million dollar bridge to a island of 50 people. That is correct, but not the reason for the bridge. It seems that 30 years ago they were building an airport for this isolated town and they built it on the other side of the waterway, with the promise that it would be linked sometime. Currently the only access is via ferry. (The town is located at the base of mountains and so there was no nearby flat land to build an airport on the towns side of the water.)

The airport services 250,000 people a year. The surrounding flat land serves as the only developable land in the area. The town would like some room to grow to meet the needs of the many Cruise Ships that stop there during the summer.

It could easily be argued that $395 million dollars (a figure that was interestingly left out of the opinion piece) is still too much to pay to meet this need. Still, framing the issue as a bridge to a island of 50 people is a bit disingenuous as well.

In talking about the article we looked at the location via google maps. (It looks like a stunningly beautiful place.) We also defined and looked for the source for the term Earmark (rooted in the practice of identifying livestock ownership with cuts on the ear).

I was reminded that 'the truth' is rarely as clear or simple as it is often framed.

Day 42 - Strange Week

It has been a strange week at the SOD. Our afternoons have been Halloween focused and the mornings we had worked through the routine stuff. I am in a bit of a holding pattern as we get to the end of October and plan a November that needs to be different from September and October.

(Better entries will be forthcoming here next week.)

Day 41 - Keeping Busy

In addition to our regular work, Ben and I spent some time getting his Halloween costume together. He is going as a character of his own making so that leaves some flexibility in the quality of the final product. The headpiece of carved Styrofoam painted yellow is quite a sight. The faculty is in an unsettled mode as we try to figure out how to proceed. We are keeping busy and focusing on Math and Writing.

Day 40 - Not 41

It should have been Day 41 today but on Friday I had to make a trip to WI for my Sisters 50th birthday. Originally I was going to take Ben but that plan changed for a variety of reasons – mostly because he did not want to sit in the car for 8 hours there and back. His brother was home from school on Friday so I left him home, with a list of work to take care of.

In that he accomplished none of the work, the day could not even be counted as a half day. He was reintroduced to the concept of consequences today. I did not sense he was talking responsibility for his mistake, but he will fully pay the cost nonetheless.

Day 39 - The Talk

Ben and I had a talk today about whether we need to look into him going to ‘regular’ school. The main driver is the recognition that he is not getting the peer contact that he would like. We understood that is a cost of home schooling but we felt the benefit of studying on his own terms would make up for it. I have not been feeling like he has received that benefit, but he is paying the cost.

Many things to think about.

Day 38 - Math Problems

Since the beginning of the year I have given Ben a set of math problems to finish by the end of the week. Some weeks they have been difficult. Other weeks they have been fairly straightforward. My initial intention was for him to present the finished work on Friday. I told him that he could show them to me any day and I would tell him if they were correct but I expected them correct on Friday.

I quickly realized this would not work. He was doing them (poorly) at the last minute with little regard to presentation or whether they were correct.

Next I told him to have a rough draft of them mid week so I could see progress. This proved ineffective as well.

Now I have him present one problem each day. Initially this still produced a rough effort but I have been stressing presentation and ‘telling the story’ of the problem. The last couple of days he has done much better. It is good to see the progress.

Day 37 - His world

I asked Ben for a tour of his Wiki world today. He has been very anxious about it lately because of a fear that kids under 13 were going to be blocked from the site. We were talking about some website development and I asked about how things were done on the Wiki.

Ben gave me a tour but it was clear that it was making him uneasy.

“Is something bothering you Ben?”
“No – it just makes me uncomfortable.”
“Why is that?”
“This is my place and I like having it to myself.”

With that we moved on to something else.

Day 36 - Cars

I continue to struggle with feeling like I am not making a significant connection with Ben. He is fairly transparent and it is easy to tell when he is not excited about something. We will driving to the Library today and I was talking with him about this (not a new conversation). I told him I am open to exploring anything but I cannot figure out what he is currently interested in.

We drove for a while and he said, “Dad, you know what I think would be cool?”“What?” I asked with some anticipation.“I would like to know how a car works!”
I was a bit skeptical since he has never expressed any interest in this topic before. Still I contemplated what we could do as we drove. It would be a very interesting topic.

Once home he never spoke of it again. I will bring it up tomorrow but I am guessing he was just filling a silence.

Day 35 - Interest Gap

Each week I ask Ben to write a letter to someone. He has to pick the recipient by Tuesday, write a draft by Thursday, and put the final copy in the mail on Friday. (In addition to giving him some regular writing experience, I had hoped this would also generate some incoming mail but that has not happened.)

The purpose of the draft is not to give me an opportunity to edit it. Instead I want him to take the assignment seriously and I want him to know that I will be reading it and offering comment. I do not require changes or modify the text.

The letters have not been very interesting writing. I have told him that I (as well as the recipient) would prefer a short interesting letter to a longer one filled with fluff. He is quick to fall into a pattern of asking a lot of question while offering little introspection.

It is easy to gage Ben’s level of interest in a task by seeing the result, and this work has showed a clear lack thereof. This week he was talking about his Halloween costume and I reminded him of the great time he had last year making a paper mache mask at the Art Studio of his 5th grade art teacher. In this week’s letter he chose to write the teacher a note about that memory and told him about his current costume plans. It was an animated and funny letter that was the type of writing I had hoped he would produce previously.

Bridging the ‘interest’ gap remains the primary goal and challenge at the SOD.

Day 34 - Redo

Ben had a Math problem that he needed to prepare on paper and then present on the board today. He had the same task yesterday and his presentation had been OK but the written work was not very good. I told him to redo it for today after modeling what I was looking for.

The written work today was again subpar. He had not redone the problem from yesterday and today’s problem was not presented well on paper. Furthermore the answer – though correct – was not presented the way it was told to be presented (in scientific notation).

Ben was not happy when I told him that he needed to do both problems again, this time in the form that I had asked him to. He was indignant that I would ask him to redo something where the answer was right.

“But the answer was not right.”
“Yes it was."
“No it was not. The problem called for the answer in scientific notation. You did not present it that way.”

I understood that his complaining was mostly excuses masking the central issue – he simply did not want to do them again.

I provided the same thought I always do – “You would save yourself a lot of time if you slowed down a little and did things correctly the first time.”

I did not sense him immediately taking it to heart.

Day 33 - Contrast

Ben worked on two projects today that were an interesting contrast. First he worked on the draft of a prompt related to the book that we just finished reading. This work is being edited by someone else and I have taken myself completely out of the loop. I did not review the first draft, the comments he received, or the second draft he made based on the comments.

In the second project we were gathering and graphing some weather data. We did this together. We spent considerable time on presentation, including graphing. Left to my own devices, it is the type of thing that I could spent a lot of time fine tuning.

My guess is that with the first project he did not take sufficient time processing the comments, and in the second the level of detail was beyond his interest or need.

The ultimate question is will his next writing or data analysis project be most influenced by the work on these tasks. I honestly do not know, but will be sure to find out.

Day 32 - Comics

Ben is a big fan of the Comics. He can spend a remarkable amount of time reading the two pages that are printed in the daily paper. Today we branched out a bit. We looked at the organization of the paper. It has four daily sections and we discussed the content that could normally be found in each. Then we looked through the Main page and came upon an article about the government changing its recommendation for the amount of Vitamin D that should be ingested daily. We discussed what foods have Vitamin D naturally (few), and which are fortified with it. We looked at the cereals in the pantry and found only one that has Vitamin D – “that is the only cereal that we have that I do not like.”

Then we looked at the Wall Street Journal for contrast.

The exercise was another reminder of the simple things that we assume our kids know. (It was also a reminder of what a poor newspaper reader I can be.)

Day 31 - Economics

Like everyone, the global economic situation has made this a difficult week. There is nothing for most of us to do. There is no understanding what is happening. A sign of improvement could probably not be recognized if it were to happen. I told Ben as we walked today that uncertainty and powerlessness are a tough combination. Fear is the greatest byproduct. It has cast a feeling of anxiety that has been ever present. I remember the similar feeling last year at this time as Susan was looking for a job and where we would land was uncertain.

Ben and I got some fresh air this afternoon. It was the best thing the SOD could have done today.

Day 30 - Good Day

As we drove home from Art Class today, Ben said, “It has been a good day!”. Last week he got the idea that he would like to bake some Lace Cookies for his class. We had first made the cookies a few weeks ago during one of our Friday cooking sessions. They are more candy then cookie – just Ben’s style. We baked them yesterday afternoon and he was quite happy with the result. He reported that everyone in the class loved them.

The best part was that it had been his idea. It is hard for a kid to feel much satisfaction in something that they do not take ownership in and the opposite is equally true. I told him that I hoped he would be coming up with more good ideas.

Day 29 - Bridge

With Day 30 at hand, I have yet to find any rhythm. I feel like I am trying to bridge an excitement gap and have yet to do so with much success. I told Ben today, “If we are just doing things that you would do in school then you should be in school.”

Of course the School of Dad is not happening in a vacuum. There are other factors internal and external to our family that add additional stress that makes the focus I would like to have difficult to obtain. (I am no different than anyone else in facing those pressures.)

The bottom line is that I wish I felt like I was doing Ben justice.

Day 28 - No Comment

No deep thoughts today – but many very shallow ones I will not share.

Day 27 - Virus

At the top of things that I did not need was to feel sick today. I acquired the family virus yesterday and it stayed with me through today. Poor weekend homework performance did not make me feel any better. Today was the kind of day you just get through. We did.

Day 26 - Thinking

I was thinking again today about the difficulty of setting reasonable expectations. The difference between being ‘stuck in the mud’ and covering a topic adequately can be a fine one. Having one student makes the 'quality versus quantity' issue very different. Isn’t it more important that he demonstrates understanding of the material then that we move on for the sake of covering more?

I have come to understand that when Ben says, “I am thinking” it really means that he is not thinking and instead is stalling. I told him today that I do not remember the last time that “I am thinking” was followed soon thereafter by an actual thought.

Day 25 - Hill

I told Ben today that I am feeling like we are heading up a hill with me pulling while he is dragging his heels.

Day 24 - Expectations

One problem that I constantly run into is determining what reasonable performance is. With no frame of reference, I look for 'what I would like to see', which I recognize might be unrealistic. When the gap between my expectations and actual production is great, I am left wondering if the gulf is a product of asking to much, not teaching well, a skill deficit, or - the most likely cause - a combination of them all.

I am guessing that one benefit of having a room full of kids is that you do not have the luxury of standing still and waiting until everyone reaches the point you want to be so you must learn to find satisfaction in moving kids forward. With a class of one it is easy to beat a topic to death in the hope that you will recieve the result you wnat.

I remind myself everyday to not get stuck in the mud. Sometimes it works.

Day 23 - Ankles

The SOD staff has a Forest versus Trees problem. It is difficult to bring clarity to the big picture when struggling with the tasks at hand.

Ben and I have made some progress on tying up some loose ends this week. We are jumping back into Dreamweaver – a website design program – and it is a bit intimidating. My inclination is to wait until I know enough to accomplish what I want before jumping in. Unfortunately some of what you need to know can only be learned by getting in the water. Hence you end up standing on the sidelines. I am in up to my ankles anyway.

Day 22 - Retooling

The School of Dad is using the new month as a driver for some retooling. I have continued to battle a ‘interest deficit’ and I am trying to get Ben excited about some aspect of the work we are doing. (He is not unhappy, just not engaged.) This week were are focusing on getting is ‘Big Blow’ website up to date and the School of Dad website online. Getting these items in place will help us moving forward. There are a number of organizational issues to tackle this week, and we need to get a newsletter published. A productive week would be a big moral boost.

Day 21 - The Truth

“Dad, when you hold the thermometer upside down why doesn’t the mercury drain down?”
“First, it is not mercury. Second, before you ask – I do not know what it is, and third, I should know but do not know the answer to your question.

Day 20 - Getting Control

We needed to depart from the schedule – such as it is – today. Ben woke with a variety of concerns – he did not want to go to his art class, he would have to rush back for his flute lesson, he would have too much homework, and then in the evening his brother was attending an event he wanted to go to but would not be able to.

Rather than the usual slate, we spent some time working on a technical skill that he has wanted to acquire. We figured it out and then he was able to use it to produce something for his favorite website. He got some control over his day – and it put him in the right frame of mind for his afternoon. Most of his concerns went unrealized and he ended up having a good day.

Day 19 - PEMDAS

After finishing Math today I told Ben that tomorrow we would be reviewing a topic that was easy for him – Order of Operations. He was able to explain it to me and told me the mnemonic: "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally". He learned this from his 4th grade teacher. I had him send the teacher and Email letting him know that his name had come up.

He understood and appreciated Ben for the smart quirky kid that he is. Ben would have had him again for the 5th grade but the teacher left the school for a better opportunity. Ben’s new teacher was a very good teacher but I never got the impression that he connected with Ben.

Ben was fortunate to also have a teacher for Kindergarten and first grade that valued him for who he was (rather than being annoyed by him - which would be an easy alternative).

I am still struggling to feel like I am making a meaningful connection with his thought process like I believe those teachers did.

Day 18 - Who's excited?

At the School of Dad we sometimes have a hard time figuring out who is learning more. We have been exploring weather under the guidance of my brother, a high school science teacher. The past couple of weeks we have been studying how the earth is unevenly heating. Today in the final step before putting all of the pieces together we examined the orbit of the earth around the sun. We did this at a fortuitous time, with the Autumnal Equinox being yesterday. Using a model and applying things that we know, we were able to draw some conclusions about what the earth’s orbit looks like. Ben followed and understood the process. It was certainly not new to me, but I was the one excited about the investigation. In examining the equinox we found a website that showed sunrise/sunset time as well as the angle of the sun and distance from the sun at solar noon. We compared the data with the spring equinox, summer solstice and winter solstice. We also look at how the data looked different in locations nearer and farther from the equator. I thought it all was very cool. Ben was mostly nonplussed.

I wish I could figure out what we could do that would generate in Ben the interest and excitement that I was feeling.

Day 17 - Car Talk

Ben was half awake this morning as we tried to get going so I moved up a trip to the library to get him moving and hopefully a little more alert.

“Dad, we have to do a lot of talking on our ride.”
“Why is that?”
“I have been yawning a lot – I have a lot of built up air inside and I need to get it out.”

We do some of our best thinking when driving or walking. This morning we talked about the essay I wanted him to write and the components thereof. The discussion included how to organize work before writing and AVI’s five rules of good writing:
· Write
· Re Write
· Write for an audience
· Listen to your writing
· Read.
Of course we also talked about why the nickel is the unluckiest coin (you never need more than one to give change) and a variety of other things flowing through Ben’s brain.

Keeping Ben focused on the task at hand is clearing becoming one of the primary challenges at the School of Dad. This issue is one he comes upon very honestly.

Day 16 - Not Sore

I considered it a good sign that my neck was not stiff by the end of the day today. The week finsihed in an upbeat fashion at the School of Dad. Ben liked the daily sheet that I gave him today that included a schedule for the day. I should have done this long ago.

He was left with some ‘work’ to do over the weekend and I know he certainly would rather use that time for ‘play’. I will remind him that it needs to get done and will be very disappointed if he does not make an effort to do so by Monday.

Day 15 - Regrouping

In speaking with a teacher friend about some poor work that Ben had done early in the year, she said I was dealing with ‘overcoming resistance’. We have yet to overcome.

This morning I was upset about the poor effort he had given the homework that had piled up while school was ‘closed’. The bottom line is that he does not feel compelled to work on things that are not fun.

I had a day planned but felt we needed to chart a new course so we started by going to a large park and taking a dog for a walk.

Under the umbrella of learning perseverance we outlined some basic rules as we walked:

• Work before Play
• Minimize Distractions
• Take Care of your Brain

I am sure that Ben’s brain is a firestorm of thoughts and ideas. Most are fleeting but they keep coming. Maintaining focus on the work at hand, especially if it is not stimulating, is very difficult for him.

Know that his mind likes predictability and structure, I offered to give him a daily plan that outlined the day on a timeline. I offered assistance in maintaining a constructive work environment. I told him that working in his room is a privilege he will earn.

It was a very demoralizing start to the day but I felt good to present him with a prototype of the plan for tomorrow and see that he liked it.

I do not want our days to be regimented and inflexible but I know that structure will help him.

Day 14 - Power returns

A few days ago I wrote about a ‘Low Power’ day - when the faculty was suffering from a power outage. Day 14 of the School of Dad comes five days after Day 13 because of an actual power outage. The remnants of Hurricane Ike moved through the state of Ohio on Sunday, bring near hurricane force winds and leaving much of the state in the dark when it left. Our home was only out of power for 10 hours, but the damage in the area had the schools closed on Monday and Tuesday. While there was nothing technically stopping the School of Dad from being in session, the presence of Ben’s brother and sister made that impractical. Yesterday we sat and reviewed the many things I hoped to accomplish this week. The hope was that he would do a little work yesterday to lessen the load on the rest of the week. He chose not to. I had been prepared to back off on some items but his lack of participation yesterday made me rethink that.

We have a large list of things to accomplish by week’s end. Ben did not exactly seem recharged this morning, but he was back in school mode and we moved ahead.

I was reviewing some school work last night while waiting for Ben ad choir practice.
As we were driving I asked, "Ben, do you know what Absolute Value is?"
"Huh?"
"Have you heard the term Absolute Value?"
"Nope."
"Well, Absolute Value is just the distance of a number from zero," I told him.
I was about to explain it further when he said, "So the Absolute Value of a positive number is the number and for a negative number it is the number without the negative."
"Yes."
"Why would you need to know that?"

Day 13 - Thought Skipping

I will wait until Monday to tell Ben that today was the 13th day of school. (Actually I will probably tell him that Monday is the 14th day and leave it up to him to figure out that he survived the 13th.) Ben see’s significance in numbers. He likes patterns and sees them everywhere. He used to tell me how he walked in groups of 16 steps but has not said anything about that lately – I am a bit afraid to ask.

Wednesday he told me “Dad, my mind is not working the same way recently.”
“What is the problem?”
“It is skipping over thoughts.”

I believe that is his way of saying he is easily distracted these days.

My mind has been skipping over thoughts recently as well. I consider the pain I have been feeling at the back of my neck all week a sign that I am giving my best effort and it will pay off (hopefully soon).

Day 12 - Editing

I struggle with how to work with Ben in editing his work. The quandary is to produce quality without losing his work in the process. I recognize that there is a difference between the type of work I would like to see and the type of work that is reasonable to expect from someone his age.

I try to be clear in outlining components that should be in work and the things I will be looking for when reviewing his work product. His final work often lacks a visual sense and frequently excludes information I suggested he include. He has been documenting some science work lately and I have been trying to get him to write in the spare and direct way that makes a clear point. He is still struggling with that style of writing. Science writing is nice because it is easy to establish a standard and the repeat it for reinforcement. We are working on creating templates and using past work product as an example for future work.

I am always careful that our ‘process’ does not rob him of the satisfaction he gets from creating the work product. I hope I am being successful at that.

Day 11 - School Supplies

Yesterday I attended the curriculum night at my 8th grade son’s school. After a discouraging day with Ben I was prepared to leave this night feeling worse. I have great respect for teachers and I was certain that their skill on display would simply reinforce the way I was feeling earlier in the day – underequipped for the task at hand. It started out that way but by the end of the night I was feeling energized. With the right resources I could do this – and those resources are available. The turning point was in the math class. The teacher was quite excited about the text he was using. I have been feeling the opposite and concerned about the quality of math instruction that Ben has been receiving. Today I pursued a text within that family. A good math text would take a great load off.

I peeked over Ben’s shoulder as he worked on his “School of Ben” marketing brochure. I laughed that his “School Supplies Needed” list included “A Curious Mind”. Yes, you need more then a good text book! I look forward to seeing the draft on Friday.

Day 10 - Drag Along

The School of Dad is continuing to struggle with student interest. We do not have anything on the current work schedule that the student body is excited about. I feel a bit like I am dragging Ben down the road right now, which is no good for either one of us. It was a rather discouraging day. Thank goodness for the renewed promise made possible by ‘tomorrow’.

Day 9 - School of Ben

I was frustrated with Ben this morning. I needed to leave for a few minutes (at the time our day would normally start) so I quickly reviewed the plan for the week then left him with a number of tasks that he could complete in my absence. When I returned I found that he had not worked on any of them. He did not have his homework binder so I asked him to go and get it. He could not find it. The fact that he did not know where it was clearly indicated that he had not done the homework that I had asked him to complete this weekend (and reminded him about yesterday and this morning).

I have planned on starting a writing assignment today that we would tie into the election but instead asked him to write on, “What do you want the School of Dad to be?”

His performance is an indication that he is not feeling much enthusiasm for what we are doing. Clearly school cannot always be fun, but in a situation like ours it must provide a higher level of engagement or it has no purpose.

I gave him an hour to write, not expecting him to finish (or produce a revelatory product). After the hour we spoke for a moment about my concerns and then moved on to some other things.

During out post lunch walk I told Ben that I wanted him to take any ideas in this morning writing and begin again with the first line, “Welcome to the School of Ben.” Later, I morphed the idea further by asking him to produce a brochure for the “School of Ben”. I made a few suggestions for sections: Our School Day, Our Philosophy, How We Are Different. It will be interesting to see what he produces.

Day 8 - Problem Math

Ben had been given some math problems on Tuesday and was told he was to have them finished correctly today. That meant that he could give them to me beforehand and I would be happy to review his work and let him know if would need to make further modifications.

Wednesday I asked him about the problems and he assured me he had them under control.
Today I asked him to go to the white board and show me the work. He had done the first one quite differently then I had. Initially I thought he was doing something wrong but then realized he was correct and his answer (thought more complicated mathematically) presented clearer answer. We also took a different approach on the second problem. Careful reading of the problem indicated that he produced the correct answer and I did not. Before going on to the third program I looked at his paper and found it had little connection to the work he was doing on the board. Huh? The written work was nearly incoherent and wrong.

We went to Excel and clearly outline the steps and verify our computation. Then I asked him to redo the work for Monday in the form that I expected. I explained this was the last time he would be bring such low quality work to the table on Friday.

Day 7 - Reading with a Purpose

Today we read the Third Chapters of The Pictures of Hollis Woods. (The book alternates with a third chapter about a picture she has drawn, then another third chapter about the current action.) Before reading I reminded Ben to read with an eye for important events and details.

After he finished reading I asked him some questions about important things that had happened and details presented. He was not able to answer the questions.

I then had him read a Blog post that asked some questions about the chapters. I asked him if he thought he would have read the chapters differently if he had read the chapters first. He said that he would have. I told him that the Blog post would have engaged his brain and got it looking for answers to the questions posted. I explained that in learning to read were are trying to get him to ‘read with a purpose’. We want the brain to get turned on and searching for information that the author is giving us. The hope is to get the brain to turn itself on each time he picks up a book. The Blog is a resource to help train his brain. In the future we will be reading the Blog Posts before reading.

I sent him off with a printed copy of the Blog post, a highlighter, a pen, and the suggestion that he find a place to read that would be conducive to working rather then a comfortable spot. He returned with the paper unmarked, highlighter still tightly covered and pen unused. The book was pristine. Had picked up a couple of things with the second reading, but still missed an essential point.

On important element of ‘reading with a purpose’ is curiosity. Ben is quite curious about the things that interest him. So far this book is just creeping into that world.

Day 6 - Low Power

There was a power outage at the School of Dad today – the teacher was out of gas. I am not sure what the problem was but I could not get my head in the game all day. Rather than fight it, we did some things that did not require great focus or attention on my part. We made a trip to the library, office supply store, and Lowes. Ben had some projects to work on this afternoon so he was busy. We just did not cover any new ground.

The trip to Lowes today was too look for the supplies for some shelves that we are building for Ben to display a collection. We found a premade type that we liked and then went to look at the supplies to make it ourselves. It could have been my foggy brain, or the potential price tag, but I realized that the marginal learning Ben would get from building them himself was probably not greater than the marginal cost of time and supplies, so we bought the kit. We assembled and hung it (a bit crookedly) this afternoon. He is pleased as could be. We will probably buy a couple of more.

Hopefully the power will be back on tomorrow.

Day 5

“The more you know the less you know you know.” No doubt others have said similar things but I am taking credit for that particular piece of wisdom.

Today I had Ben read an article in the Columbus Dispatch (from the AP) about Hurricane Gustav. After giving him a chance to read it I asked what he thought the main theme was and he correctly stated “the hurricane was not as bad as people expected it would be”.

Then I read the article out loud. As I was reading to him it I realized there must be words and terms he did not understand. What did he do?
“Ben, do you know what a Levee is?”
“I was wondering about that! It sounded like a brand of car!”
“I can see that, but in the context of the article, what did you think in meant?”
“It sounded like some sort of hill.”

Floodwall, storm surge, Category 4, Cajun, Army Corp of Engineers – did he know what they were?

Then I gave him an article about Gustav from the Wall Street Journal. I wanted him to see how two credible sources could write different stories. They were certainly different in focus.

As we were talking and comparing I realize that there were a multitude of paths that these articles could lead us down. We took a short trip to the geography of New Orleans but we did not explore many other interesting (at least to me) topics that the articles touched on.

Recognizing that this exercise needed to be done differently next time (most importantly he needed a more directed purpose in reading in the first place) we moved on, but first I reiterated the two important lessons:
- if you do not understand something, figure it out before moving on.
- Two credible sources can produce different articles.

Day 4

We listen to American Public Radio’s Writers Almanac each morning as we start our day. (It is part of our ‘Dailies’.) Last year we listened rather passively. This year I am trying to integrate at least one item from the podcast into our day. Today I liked a quote from Goethe (included in honor of his birthday) “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being.”

Today is the 45th Anniversary of the Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech. We watched the entire speech and used how it made us feel as an example of point of view and perspective. We recognized that someone that had experienced the racism of that time would hear the speech differently they we could – thought we both found it stirring.

A good day brought the first week of the 2008/09 school year at the School of Dad to a good close. We need to step it up next week, and the four day weekend will help me get prepared for that.

Day 3 - Back to School

It probably says alot about the School of Dad that this first post to the Faculty Blog is being done on the third day of school.

We follow the local public school calender which had the first day of school on Monday, 8/25. Friday 8/29 will be a day off (allowing for a four day Labor Day weekend). I think this is an excellent way to get going. Take four days to reawaken and clear the cobwebs from summer dulled brains, recharge over a long weekend, then begin in earnest the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Ben and I both had plenty of cobwebs to clear.

Ben was having a tough time with some independent assignments this afternoon. When I asked the problem he said, "I was not ready to be back in school."
"Why is that?"
"I was used to just hanging out and being happy and now there is a lot of preassure!"
I assure you the preassure guage could not have been set lower but I appreaciated the point.

These last few days have helped me to formulate a better picture of the year ahead. That picture still is a bit fuzzy and the weekend will be a great opportunity to bring everything into focus.

(Truthfully I feel a bit like I have macular degeneration of the planning process: things are fairly clear around the edges but the path down the middle is quite hazy.)