Those Crazy Homeschoolers

Prague. A daughter who is schooling in Germany has planned a visit to nearby Prague. "Why Prague?" I wondered, as she interjected that "ever since arriving in Germany" she has searched for a way travel to that city. So I looked it up online, only to discover that it is home to the largest ancient castle existing today. The classical facade of that edifice has remained intact since Maria Theresa's dominion. Interesting. It just so happens that a younger daughter is doing a report on that very woman! So now she is being connected with Prague.

Dixie Chicks. That is a music group I've heard plenty about over the past several years, and even more in the past few days, having recently been awarded 5 grammies. NPR gloated unashamedly over their comeback after being blasted by country music fans in 2003 for making inflammatory comments at a London concert regarding their disapproval of President Bush. Last night my oldest son was composing a paper on issues of free speech, using info and rhetoric from a documentary produced on behalf of the Dixie Chicks. Some of the footage I witnessed was disturbing, to say the least. Mouthy women have never been pleasant (check out Proverbs) and it is no different today. Feminists who brazenly degrade men are like poison. All the same, I am a proponent of free speech. The issue my son was addressing had to do with the Dixie Chicks' notion that people's responses ought not ridicule or attempt to manipulate them - after all, they are free to say whatever they want. Hmmm. Typical feminine logic: all emotion and no logic at all. I apologize for being so hard on feminists, but in all honesty, I've listened to them all my life and find them wanting for reason and rationality. I'll take Jesus' plan for liberation, thank you.

The North Star. As I quizzed him about his science reading I was reminded once again that my seven year old knows more about stars, constellations, and planets then I do. "You don't know much about this stuff, Mom. You ought to read that book that Daddy bought me. It tells what time each constellation is showing in the sky - not just the season, but the time of night. You really ought to learn that stuff." Hmmm. I'm trying to pick it up. Maybe someday I'll even read those charts. Just doesn't seem up my alley, if you know what I mean.

One daughter composes music in the front room (not much progress yet today in that chemistry she is wrestling with...that's not her alley, either.) One is solving for x even as I write (I doubt that she will discover any new truths in the mathematical world today - or ever, for that matter - wrong alley again...) The last one is happily making belated Valentine's cards for dear friends (a right alley!)

One thing is understood by all of them: learning goes on forever. God is infinite. Discovering Him and His creation will take much more than a lifetime, but now is as good a time to start as any.