Wynona

Yep, she's really that beautiful.

We had the pleasure of seeing/hearing her in concert last night with the Honolulu Symphony Pops. That woman sings so powerfully and effortlessly. She sang "At Last" and it gave me chicken skin. She even made a Foreigner song sound awesome! Serious pipes on that sistah.

We went with some friends and had a fun night. At dinner, I learned a new word: churchwatching. It's people watching, specifically at church. I like it. I'm keeping it to use as my own now. :-)

Hungry to Learn

This was called to my attention by another homeschooling mom. This is the blogpost of her husband's cousin, a missionary in Africa.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Madam, I have nothing
The boy arrived at mid-morning, just as the rains were ending. Webby had been here just a few days ago seeking sponsorship for grade nine at a village school about 10 miles away. He didn't qualify for the US Sponsorship program since we begin with tenth graders, but he found someone else on the Mission who agreed to provide the funds he would need.Now he was back. He had walked in the rain with no jacket or umbrella, and the envelope he pulled out of his pocket was soaked on the edges. Inside I found the money and the letter I had sent to the village school last week. He dropped his head down and said quietly, "There were no more openings at the school, Madam. Could you see if I can go to Namwianga Basic?"I asked, "Did you walk all the way from your village today?" He nodded. "In the rain?" He nodded again. I decided anyone who would walk that far in the rain to get a chance to go to school deserved a chance. I phoned the sponsor and asked if she was willing to pay a little more since he would have to be in boarding at Namwianga. She agreed to the extra funds. I wrote out a request to the headmaster at Namwianga Basic and sent Webby to walk another mile to deliver the letter and wait for a reply.An hour or so later he was back. Good-hearted Mr. Simoongwe at the Basic was willing to let him in. I told Webby the good news. Then I asked him, "Do you have a uniform? You can't start classes without a uniform.""Madam, I have nothing." He was very matter-of-fact as he spoke. No emotion. No tears. Just the truth. I looked at him in his wet, ragged clothing and fought back my own tears. "Let me see what I can do," I told him. I went inside and scrounged through a box of donated clothing from last year's container shipment. I found some outdated navy polyester pants that were too big and an oversized blue shirt. He had a belt, so he could cinch up the trousers, and he could roll up the sleeves of the shirt. At least he could get started going to class for now, and I would find him something more suitable later. I grabbed some pens and notebooks from another closet and stuck them in a bag. And then I him off to start school--with nothing but some donated castoff clothing and a burning desire to learn. I hope it's enough.

Rachmaninov had big Hands

A great solution to the problem of playing Rachmaninov's pieces. The composer had enormous hands, This allowed him to play with a great reach that is impossible for most pianists to make.

Are You As Smart As A 6th Grader?

They seem pretty smart, to me.

I'm in LOVE!!

With my new printer, that is. Yes, I know, I am a serious geek. But if you used a printer like I do, you would be in love right here with me.

Homeschooling involves virtually commercial use of a printer. Now that I can get some of my teacher's manuals on CD, this makes my printer use even greater. Two words for my new love.....are you ready?.......

DUPLEX COPYING!!!

Oh yeah. Not only can I duplex from the computer, but it asks me (nicely, by the way) if I would like to add another page when I am copying or scanning. It's marvelous.

Don't worry. My excitement is not just a rebound thing after the relationship from you-know-where with my previous computer. This is the real thing, I tell ya.

Go Ask Alice...

Or you could just ask me and my friend who testified at our state legislature yesterday. Either way, you will hear what it is like to go through the looking glass!

Thanks to PalmTreePundit for blogging about this issue while we were driving to the hearing of the Committee on International Affairs.

My friend and I were the only people who testified against the resolutions (text found here and here) before the committee.
Short version is this: The UN created the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and Lyla Berg wanted Hawaii to adopt the UNCRC as well as urge the US Senate to do so. Rights for children. Conjures visions of innocence and playfulness. Sounds nice enough, right? Well, not so fast.

Here are some of the rights given to children in the UNCRC:
"the right to privacy," "the right to freedom of thought and association," and the right to "freedom of expression."
Parents have no rights enumerated, but are given responsibility to further the independent choices of the child.
Take that list of rights, shake it up with a group of teenagers and imagine the fallout.

Further, the UN has clearly shown itself to be an absolute nightmare of ineffectiveness and corruption. (I'm sure it means well somewhere deep inside, but it is does not exactly demonstrate a real understanding of right and wrong.) If the UN were a neighbor, no one would take its advice on family matters of any kind. The thought of it as a legal entity with rights of enforcement of its standards is scary. Picture Tony Soprano telling you how to rear your kids, and you get the idea.

It was a crazy day, to say the least. We'll be attending another committee hearing on these same issues, so please do keep us in your prayers.

(The Ever Glorified) Socialization

More of that oft revered missing link for the kids-a-thon:

"...during school hours in a classroom with an experienced teacher present,
two sixth graders completed the act of intercourse...at least ten students were
witnesses. No disciplinary actions were taken against the teacher... All
teachers were told to keep quiet."

Yep. The full monty, right there in shop class. And even better, the school has been keeping it under wraps. Gosh, those poor kids of mine are really missing out.

Here's the whole thing, and an update.

Lately I have met a few (more than 3) people who have absolutely no sense of humor. I know, I know, hard to imagine that that can occur with someone with a pulse, but it does. I have now actually seen it--repeatedly. I don't understand it, at all.

If you can shed any light whatsoever on this, I'll be much obliged.

Good News For Homeschoolers

This is a day old, but it's important to spread this kind of news:
Entering college is getting easier for homeschoolers.

That's refreshingly good news for us. We do have a few more years before we need to get too involved in this process, but I have a dear friend who is grateful for the trend.

Monday at Our School

The day was too beautiful not to be at the beach.

So, we packed up our lessons and had school there. Now and then I need a reminder as to why we do the things we do (homeschool, live in an expensive place to live)--this was a very good one. The kids ran and played, then we'd gather on the beach blanket for a lesson.

Girl-a-thon made a sand city and Boy-a-thon played Godzilla coming out of the sea to detroy it. We all laughed hard as we screamed "It's Godzirra!! Lun for your Rife!"