Common Core

I've been seeing numerous posts about Common Core recently, mostly negative, showing math problems that students are required to solve using methods other than the standard algorithms. After reading up on what Common Core actually is and at the risk of inciting a riot, I have to say that I don't think these math frustrations have much to do with it. For the last seven years, I've been homeschooling my kids using a curriculum that met state education standards for all 50 states. This year, we switched to public school and the schools my kids are attending are already using Common Core math textbooks. The math they are learning and the methods they are being taught this year are pretty much exactly the same as what they were learning here at home in many respects. Now, I know that many people reading this put their fingers in their ears and started "La la la-ing" as soon as you heard the word homeschool. But please here me out...there is more than one way to conceptualize and solve any of the four standard math operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.) Learning multiple methods makes a lot of sense, considering we all learn differently. If I had known, as a child, that I could conceptualize long division a couple of different ways, I think I would have embraced math and not felt so tortured by it. The standard algorithms work for most people, that's why they're standard. But gaining a deeper understanding of why 56 divided by 8 is 7 may require more than memorizing that particular math fact. I advocate memorizing math facts, but I also advocate understanding the process and if there is any connection to Common Core, it's that particular nugget..

Glitter Soap

Rather than lots of little posts on Facebook, I decided to do a single post here.

The other day I was taking a shower and as I was washing some sensitive parts, I felt the soap was particularly, oh, scratchy. Soap isn’t supposed to be scratchy. I looked at the soap and realized one side was red. White soap isn't supposed to be red. So, I put that soap aside and used another bar to finish the deed. After towelling off, I looked more closely at the soap and noticed glitter in the red coloring. Since I wake up so much earlier than anyone else in my family, I just set it aside and decided to address it later. Later happened to be the next day, when I learned that Tracy already spoke to the kids about it. It appears that not one of the kids painted one side of the soap with nail polish. Must have been me, as there isn't anyone else owning up to it. So, this wrapped up another episode of strange happenings in parenting. Because I'm a parent, I washed my genitals with glitter soap.

I watched an episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation the other day and the old Scotty, James Doohan, starred. In it, Jordie and he were discussing their first starships and how much they loved them.

Scotty: Ah, it's like the first time you fall in love. You don't ever love a woman quite like that again.

I thought long and hard about that line. I think there's a lot of truth in it. The problem is, in my case, I wasn't all that good at it. I would hope that engineers in a starship are a bit better at their job than the first time they fell in love.

I sent Tracy a link to a blog post recently. Shame in LDS Culture. I only had a few thoughts beyond that expressed in the article. I remembered back to last Summer when we visited Utah. I was concerned with the current modesty culture that is underway in Utah and how it might affect my daughter. She likes wearing tank tops and I didn't want there to be any issues with any interaction she might receive there. Nothing happened that I recall. My only other thought on this is that regardless of what might be taught culturally, males will like females. In the article, it was cleavage that was what was discussed, but that is a narrow way of looking at how men view women. The curve of a breast, shape of a thigh, turn of an calf, profile of the face, depth of color of the eyes, all of these can cause a man to look at a woman. It is hardwired into the genders. We will attract each other, regardless. Men like women. Women like men. Yes, theoretically, a woman should be able to wander naked and not be leered at or looked at with an objective gaze. But, to be realistic, we should wear what is comfortable and realize that no matter what we do, we can't control what others do with it or think about it. Stop shaming our daughters into not liking their bodies, and stop shaming our sons for being attracted to girls.