Monday, January 24, 2011

Marthon


I ran and finshed my Marathon in Oct.
It was fun!
26.2 miles in 5.55, it was a mere 98 degrees at the finish line when I crossed.

New Year, New experiences at the SC

So the blog has been very badly neglected. No surprise there; as this blog does not require food, water or bathing, like all the other beings I manage in my life.

The SasserCollinses have had lots of changes this past 8 months. For one, Jeremy finished school, and has taken a job with a consulting firm. He works remotely most of the time. We feel very blessed that he was able to get a job in the current times, when so many are out of work.

I finished training for my marathon, and ran it on Oct. 2 in St. George, Utah. In 5 hours 55 minutes (and 22 seconds), in 95 degree heat, and I still look forward to running another. :)

Our other major transition is more recent. So often we have questioned: How do we inspire our kids to greatness? How do we instill our value system and love of learning? How do we raise leaders who question, and think critically about the issues of the day? Especially now when they are so impressionable? But being in public school, their day-to-day major influences (classmates, teachers, etc) are from outside of the home. We've seen our daughter come home frustrated about school, learning and not wanting to talk about her experiences.

I really want our children to love learning, for the sake of learning--not struggle with it and just "get by." I want my child to help direct their own education rather than fit some one else' standards (especially someone in Washington!). I really want our children to remember each and everyday, because they wrote about the fun things they did rather than come home and hope we don't ask them about it. So...We have chosen to opt-out of the public education system and become a home-schooling family. This has been a long time coming, and an idea that we have revisited over and over in our lives as parents.

So here we are, armed with great books, number games, a "happy phonics" program that gets the kids hoping, slithering, and climbing to learn and we are blessed by a huge home-schooling group here locally. We are exploring the world and learning together, I think the way our children would want it; and it has already shown it's rewards in a stronger relationship, and excitement about what we will learn next!

This is the conference we are looking to attend with a couple families in the area. And here's a video about TJED...