Teaching kids who can't sit still

When my daughter was in school, before we pulled her out to homeschool, we were constantly told she was very likely ADHD and needed to be medicated. We ignored them. Sure, she was extremely energetic at school, but at home, she wasn't really a bother. I have always loved her level of energy... except for when she was sick, because she would not lay down and allow herself to recover.

Anyway, we never did medicate her. That was actually the final straw the caused us to homeschool.  I was convinced that the hyperactivity (she is not attention deficit) was an asset and not a negative. She proved me right.  Her first year at home, we used Time4learning, 2nd grade curriculum. After flipping over her chair a couple of times, I just took it, and raised the desk so she could stand. She stood there and did her work while bouncing around. I remember her doing a math problem, plugging in the numbers, getting it right, and jumping up and down and screaming, Yoooo Hooo!  Then she did a second.  When she got that one right, she took off running... Out of the home office, through the great room, through get kitchen, into the dining room, into the foyer, and back into the home office to the computer. She then continued to do her work. She was burning off the excess energy, and very likely processing the problems she had just done.

We went along this way for six months.. till Christmas.  After Christmas, I had to call he office that administered the program and asked them to move her up to 3rd grade because she had finished a years work by Christmas. She finished 3rd grade by summer, and then we reviewed everything.  She started reading after that and spent her years reading novels and going through curriculum at a normal speed, but graduated from a homeschool high school program at age 16.  We checked her into her dorm room 1 month after her 17th birthday.  She's 18 now, and just finished her 3rd semester of college with a 3.78 overall.

I tell you this story not to brag but to present an idea.

I am of the opinion that keeping kids moving while learning is something parents will want to consider. This is especially true for hyperactive, ADHD, and other distractible kids. I don't have an answer yet, but the wheels are turning in my head. Energetic kids should be taught in a way that allows them to use that energy and not suppress it.  This is something I want to continue discussing and working towards as I begin to develop both my art and my contribution to homeschooling.

This weeks art: Wreathmaking

I have formulated an art concept that is going to take  up numerous panels, I think, and take ages to complete. I will try to get a panel done a week.

In the meantime, I created this wreath this week.  It started out as the small white wreath make with that deco mesh, and I decided it was too small.  So I went and made a bigger wreath out of Burlap, and I liked it, but not it was a little plain.

Finally I got some wire and attached the two wreaths.  I am happy with the outcome.


Enjoy.

Shakespeare not for black people? Think again.

My favorite Shakespeare versions

It was reported today that a "top Shakespearean actress says black people are not interested in theatre (Shakespeare most specifically) as it is part of white culture".  It is not in their (our) DNA she said.

Well, Shakespeare may  not be in my DNA, as in I may not be a descendant, but I have always been interested in and intrigued by Shakespeare, especially since it can be interpreted in many ways and transposed into many cultures.  Yet, Janet Suzman, says black people are just not interested.  She's seriously misinformed. Now I don't think this woman is racist at all. She's just reporting what she sees, where she has worked, that there haven't been many blacks in the audience. I propose a different issue. Perhaps the ticket prices are out of line... cost prohibitive for many, especially the black working class.  Perhaps, and most likely, she is only seeing the upper-upper class in theatre audiences, and only a very few of those people are black... But, she is letting her eyes override her good sense.

She needs to get out more.

These people and others would disagree with her:

http://www.african-americanshakes.org/education/
http://shakespeareinamericanlife.org/identity/africanamerican/perspectives.cfm
http://www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org/transcripts/hall2.cfm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7WRR2_70s

art and unrest

When I am quiet, it is because I have been thinking.

As a mother of a young black man, it is hard to ignore the feeling that young black men are literally being hunted. It use to just be that they were incarcerated at an alarming rate, or that they did not get into college, often both. But now they could be just going about their own business, meet up with the wrong person who perceives them as a threat, and game-over.

From Travon to Micheal Brown, to Eric Garner, the unrest in the streets matches the unrest in my heart, but is there any way to talk about it without seeming racist? I don't know.  How about we talk about the 14 teenagers killed by cops since Micheal Brown, some black, some white, many carrying nothing more than a BB Gun. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/25/the-14-teens-killed-by-cops-since-michael-brown.html  Too many cops act first, and then ask questions.   Yes, Body cameras on police are a good idea.  Will they fix the problem?  Probably not.

My art this week started out as a series of circles.  I then just scribbled out my pain on paper.  That's what if felt like.  The outcome is kind of dark.  Scary eyes and tentacles from an unknown sources controlling and/or torturing the faceless people.

So here is my piece. Here is how I feel right now.