The "There will be gaps" thread?

[swimmermom3]

A while back we had a thread that discussed the idea that no matter how well we do our job as teachers, there will be gaps in our student's education. I think it linked JennW in SoCal's wonderful blog entry on that topic. I have had a hard copy of the thread and blog for a couple of years, but seem to have misplaced it. Can anyone link me to it? I have always found it soothing when I am making myself insane.

[Lori D.]

Possibly this??

 

How do you ensure you don't leave gaps in your child's education? And in that thread, Jenn linked this other thread: What HAVEN'T you managed to pull off?

Hang in there, Lisa! :)

[swimmermom3]

Possibly this??

 

 

How do you ensure you don't leave gaps in your child's education? And in that thread, Jenn linked this other thread: What HAVEN'T you managed to pull off?

 

Hang in there, Lisa! :)

 

 

Thanks so much, Lori. It is fun to know that several of those moms that weighed in on those threads have kids who did get into their first choice colleges and that they have or graduated or are close to graduating. This in and of itself it reassuring to me.

[JennW in SoCal]

My poor forgotten blog! I stopped writing and felt a little lost restarting it since I'm all done homeschooling, and it seemed I had no real reason to blog. I had a kick looking at my old posts, though, and finally found the one you are so fond of, Lisa. About Those Dreaded Gaps

 

Want to hear a funny story about those dreaded gaps?! Last Christmas, I believe, I had both boys, now college kids, in the car and something came up about a well known figure in history. I mean really well known. Albert Einstein level of well known. Sure enough they interrupted the conversation, both of them, saying "who?" I was ready to pull out a knife and commit hara kiri right then and there. But all it took was either their dad or I saying, "you know, the guy who did x" and they were back on track with the conversation. But oy!! Who was their teacher anyway? And how the heck did they get admitted to college with those kinds of glaring gaps?!!!

 

I also have to add that I was more often stunned by the things my kids did know, the random factoids that they would offer up from time to time. When I'd ask how on earth they knew something it was inevitably from a book they read or from a rabbit trail they followed on the internet. And my newly minted college graduate still watches documentaries on Netflix for fun -- he is filling the gaps he wants to fill. (I know because we share an account.)

 

Those old threads are bittersweet to read. I wonder what some of those moms are up to, and whether I too should "get a life" to, and move on! (I know, I know, Lisa. I'll wait til your ds graduates!)

[Lori D.]

Want to hear a funny story about those dreaded gaps?! Last Christmas, I believe, I had both boys, now college kids, in the car and something came up about a well known figure in history. I mean really well known. Albert Einstein level of well known. Sure enough they interrupted the conversation, both of them, saying "who?" I was ready to pull out a knife and commit hara kiri right then and there. But all it took was either their dad or I saying, "you know, the guy who did x" and they were back on track with the conversation. But oy!! Who was their teacher anyway? And how the heck did they get admitted to college with those kinds of glaring gaps?!!!

 

 

:smilielol5: LOL! My DSs do that to me all the time, too. GAA!! (Only to then pull out these amazingly well-reasoned thoughts and questions on stuff I never knew they'd been reading about.)

 

 

 

I had a kick looking at my old posts, though, and finally found the one you are so fond of, Lisa. About Those Dreaded Gaps ...

 

Those old threads are bittersweet to read. I wonder what some of those moms are up to, and whether I too should "get a life" to, and move on! (I know, I know, Lisa. I'll wait til your ds graduates!)

 

 

 

I loved reading through those posts, too, Jenn! And that's a GREAT blog entry of yours! :) We should link people to that one regularly. :) hugs, Lori

[Nan in Mass]

Yah - gaps. How about discovering that your child doesn't never learned the alphabet when he is about 11 or that at 18, he still can't recite the months of the year. Ug ug ug.

[lewelma]

I was at college (and around 19yo) before I found out that there were companies. :blink: I knew that there were factories that made the stuff I bought, I just did not know that there were companies that organized the making of said stuff. My father was a doctor and worked for the VA, so the concept of companies just never came up, and I apparently never bothered to ask any of my friends what their parents' did for a living.

 

How is that for a gap!

[swimmermom3]

Jenn, thank you so much for linking your blog. I knew I needed to read it again when dh brought coffee to my desk, patted my shouldered and said, "Frenzying a bit earlier this year, dear?" Then that brave man nearly ran from the room. The funny thing is, is that I found you a half hour later. You'll never guess where you were - stapled to Nan! :D

Yes, your great post and a couple of Nan's "All will be well, just in a fashion that you never would have envisioned in a million years" posts were attached with a bright green sticky note that says "Planning stages - end of year."

 

 

Nan, I laughed so hard when I read your post, but sadly, I too have received calls from a stricken young adult asking how to do something like pay for parking downtown or how to leave a tip when you are paying with a $20.

 

I was taught to write in cursive by nuns and I always use it, but somehow I failed to teach the boys how to write in cursive until recently.

 

 

Oh my, Ruth! I think as parents we are so focused on educating our kids and teaching values and life skills that we sometimes just miss the obvious. I went to an all girls high school and on my drive down to college with my dad, I asked him how to talk to boys. He kept his face towards the road, never cracked a smile, and said, " It's easy. Just tell them 'No!'" :blink: My dad said later that in all the years of raising kids, that was the most disconcerting conversation. He hadn't realized until after he dropped me off that his comment wasn't the right response in the face of my somewhat obvious panic.

[Nan in Mass]

Oh that is so funny about your dad, Lisa! Poor you both! He flubbed that one, didn't he. Or maybe he didn't lol.

 

I've come not to attach too much importance to those parking meter or tip phone calls. I think it is often the most efficient way of getting a bit of information. I think sometimes my children are just siezing a chance to touch mum or dad in a distracted or stressed moment, and I think other times, the call is a way to include us. I do exactly the same thing with my parents, so it is easy to recognize lol. We are honoured to be the set of parents that are called, actually. We got a call the other day from an anxious, excited bunch of kids (some of them parents themselves lol) wanting to know how many oz. to a quart so they could do the math and add the right amount of oil to the gas tank. Believe me, these kids are BEYOND competant and independent lol, but the cell phone was handy and it was the most efficient way of getting the job done and doing it this way provided an opportunity for them to tell us they were going now and for us to wish them safe journey. I also don't think senior moments are confined to the elderly. It is somewhat disconcerting when your 18yo asks you what month they were born, though, even though you know they know their birthday and just want the number.

 

Lewelma, I laughed over your company story. I can totally see how that could happen, though, given your father's job.

: )

Nan

[garddwr]

Whenever I start worrying about fitting it all in or areas where I might fail my children educationally, I remember my own and my siblings' educational experience and figure everything will turn out. My family moved a lot--mostly internationally. I was homeschooled through 2nd grade--really unschooled, except for music--then spent 3rd-12th grades in 8 different schools, 5 different countries, 3 different languages of instruction. I lost whole swabs of time--years--of formal instruction because I was trying to figure out the language and didn't understand what was being taught. Obviously this is a great way to learn foreign languages and gain experience of the world, but it was nowhere close to resembling a coherent, gap-preventing educational path. I can only even think of 4 years of school where I was in the same school for the whole year, without starting late or departing early or switching schools mid year.

 

Gaps? You bet I had gaps! But gaps measured by which system? I could tell you more about French or Bolivian history than most American high school history teachers would know--but really I only know bits and pieces of those subjects. I could write an 8th grade level composition in French, but don't know what would be expected in terms of writing at the college level in French. I never took a class on American History, though I did self-study for and pass the AP US history exam. I can speak Spanish decently but have very little formal grammar knowledge. Actually, the only language I know much formal grammar in is French--and I don't know how to describe that in English; I've never even tried to diagram an English sentence. I have a pretty good grasp of world geography but can't name the capitals of most states. I skipped entire topics in math going from one system to another.

 

What was my real education? Life experiences, travel, exposure to people who spoke and thought differently from me, a family that engaged with the world and with books and ideas, immersion in places, ideas, languages, music, books. In my mind I see those years as a massive jumble of experiences and ideas, a tangled web. Yes, a web--not a neat and tidy spiders web with the strands evenly spaced, more like what happens to a ball of yarn when my kids get there hands on it and it ends up spread and tangled across the floor. A web has gaps--in fact, without the gaps there would be no web at all. If a spider tried to spin not a web but a solid surface I suppose it could be done--but that solid, gap-free structure could cover only a tiny area; perhaps a spider spinning out silk all day long could cover the surface of a postage stamp in a solid sheet. But that same spider, spinning a web, could span an entire doorway--and more importantly would actually be able to use the web once spun. It is the gaps that allow that to happen--gaps let us cover more material, choose where to go deep, and create a web of learning and understanding that is uniquely useful to us. Pity the poor spider that, fearful of gaps, puts all its energy into covering one tiny segment of space entirely!

 

When I look back at my own education, it is not the gaps that I notice; it is the fascinating, complex interweaving of strands, a web that is uniquely mine, one that increases in size and complexity over the years and continues to serve and inspire me. How thankful I am for the gaps between those strands! They make the web in all its breadth and complexity possible, and they leave room for future exploration and web building.

[Brigid in NC]

Jenn's blog is a great reminder. These shared gaps are hilarious. Someone on this forum recently reminded us to tell our young kids what to say if they are asked what grade they are in. It's always fun to ask kids how much a postage stamp costs or a gallon of milk. Just the other day I had to tell one of mine that next time he did not need to buy organic carrots. Regular carrots were just fine . . . for the horses. :001_rolleyes: