Why speech/debate?

(Below you will find my semi-annual self-talk about why we do speech and debate.  It is here for you to read, but its main intention is to convince ME for another year.  I always get tired, but a little internal lecture quickly puts me on the right path again.)

It is that marvelous time of year when speech and debate tournaments are over, we are finally home, and the cost benefit analysis of this crazy activity is kicking in with a vengeance.  Our pockets are empty of cash, our bodies feel the effects of too many meals on the road, and I am left to analyze our lesson plans and figure out how many weeks into the summer we are going to have to do school.  With all of that, I think it is legitimate to ask:  why in the world do we do this?

I will know the answer more clearly in five or ten years, but I am confident enough to keep on jumping into the insanity.  Why?  Well, to begin with:  skill sets for students, social opportunities for parents and children, and a challenging competitive environment.  Add to it that it motivates the study of issues not normally of interest, forces students to work together toward a common goal and gives the chance to learn how to win and lose with grace, and I suddenly feel more willing to pinch pennies and do lesson plans.

I see very specfic skills in my older children that were birthed or strengthened within the speech and debate arena.  The experience of public speaking is a given, but it impacted my children in different ways.  For my introverted daughter, it was challenging, but it provided a chance to relate to groups of peers, to speak in front of judges, to write and to perfect memorization.  The teaching of impromptu speaking was a direct help in her SAT writing exam, even though she did not compete in that event.

But what about my more extroverted sons?  It was never a problem for them to talk to peers or to fill a five, eight or ten minute speech, but speech and debate has given them something to talk about.    They do not feel intimidated talking in front of people, and they can stand up, organize their thoughts, and give a speech with very little notice.  They are using these skills in service at church as a greeter and in youth leadership, in their sales jobs and in their conversation skills with friends, strangers, and family members.

Without the relationships made within the speech and debate community, though, we would probably not stick around.  We have a club of friends, the kids get input from other adults who care about them, and there is the chance to meet families from all around the state, and sometimes from around the country.  Homeschooling can be isolating, but we have found an antidote in speech and debate.  As a parent, I have made close friends, thanks to time at tournaments, and I know my children have as well. 

These friends become their worthy adversaries in competition.  There are very talented kids in this league, and it keeps everyone working hard and improving.  It isn't fun to lose, it can be hard to work with a partner to achieve success, but these are the sanctifying parts of tournaments.  Learning to be gracious, whether winning or losing, is hard work, and not just for students.  It has done good work in our souls.

And so we start cleaning up from this year.  They're already throwing away old ballots, dry cleaning the suit borrowed from a friend, thinking about speeches for next year, and wondering what case to run for next year's resolution.  We all need a break from the running around, but not for too long. We'll be ready to jump back in the race before you know it. 

If you are a homeschool family, interested in joining speech and debate, I highly recommend STOA (our speech and debate league) to you.  If you want to talk more about what it involves, feel free to email me (acircleofquietATyahoo.com) and I would be happy to talk to you.  If you ever hear of a tournament in your town, I encourage you to volunteer as a judge for speech and/or debate.  We always need judges, and I hear from volunteers how glad they were to have the experience.  Interesting kids and relevant topics can make it quite fun.

For the seventeenth time...we begin again

Surrounded by Sonlight binders, listening to piano practice, I take a moment to think of where we have been and where we are going.

Three of my students are done homeschooling.  Two are in college, one is taking a gap year and working full-time.  They are hard working adults now.  When did they become adults?  It seems like we started homeschooling just yesterday, but in fact it was seventeen years ago.  I was thirty-five.  I am now 52.  It was NOT yesterday.

There are three more years of teaching Claire, six more of teaching Brennan.  I must remember:  Finish strong. Each day, each year.  I want to stay inspired, stay energetic (or become energetic again.)  I want to enjoy the hard work ahead. Claire is by far my most creative student, Brennan is the most self-motivated. Creativity can have the time and freedom to blossom here at home; self-motivation gets a whole lot done.  I am really looking forward to this year.

We are using Sonlight Core H and Core 300 this year .  We're tweaking things (I love tweaking) but I am happy to have a lesson plan to start with.  I am excited to learn more about the 20th century, about physical science, about geography and poetry. 

We're back to speech (for Claire and Brennan) and debate (for Brennan.)  Claire is taking ballet for the first time.  For fun Brennan's been learning to juggle, thanks to an Usborne juggling set I found at one of the conferences I worked this summer.  We have plenty of familiar things, a few new ones thrown in, and we are off and running for a new school year.

We have stocked up on our own brand of essentials:  Cocoa...I should probably send Nestle a thank you note when we are done homeschooling.  It is miraculous what solace can be found in a cup of cocoa.  Cool new (to us) maps that we found in Natalie's things.  Brennan and I get lost in maps (in a good way, of course).  And today we head to the library where there is a stack of books on hold for us.  And for the teacher?  Bags of French roast beans ready to grind, and Hugh Laurie playing the blues on the ipod.  

This is going to be a great year.

Waiting a little longer

I am never ready for school to begin in August.  My husband, however, has been teaching since August 10th.  Yes, you read that right.  August 10th.  Who thought up that calendar?  He is happy to be back in the saddle, though, and I am happy to, um, not be back in the saddle quite yet, so it is a win-win for the Wheeler family.

Phase One of our homeschool year (Great Books Two) starts next Tuesday, and Phase Two (Everything Else) begins the following Tuesday.  I happen to love the tradition of starting on the day after Labor Day.

I have to admit, though, it is time to be finishing up my school planning.  Earlier this week, in the reckless spirit of procrastination, I read blogs about homeschooling instead of working on my own plans. There are other areas where I use this technique: reading cookbooks in lieu of cooking, buying beading magazines rather than making earrings, hording yarn long before knitting anything, to name a few.  Though maturing means I do this less and less, this stalling methodology does reap benefits.  I get inspired, feel camaraderie, and learn.

Recent treasures include:

The humorous, wise and ever-reasonable Ordo Amoris:

There is always a sickening feeling that first school morning...You suspect that you have either planned too much and this will cause you to lose all credibility with your children or you have planned too little which will leave your children free to pursue their own interests such as Facebook or staring into space or eating, none of which give you any confidence in the idea of unschooling. But you wake up to find someone making coffee and someone reading their Bible and someone at the computer watching a math video and you feel a small stirring of hope.  Yes, we can. We can join together as a family in a symbiotic relationship of living, loving and learning.

I will think later on why "making coffee" caught my attention more fully than the "reading their Bible" part.  I am sure it had to do with how little sleep I got the night before.  I encourage you to read It Begins in its entirety.

Ann at A Holy Experience writes vulnerable words:

"Education is an atmosphere.” I once wrote Charlotte Mason’s words on a chalkboard, just so I’d remember.


I wanted to live in the air of that thought.


Education is the atmosphere we breathe, the envelope of wonder that surrounds us, held by the gravity of our daily habits.


I am scared to homeschool this year.


Sometimes an atmosphere can grow dangerously thin and lungs can gasp...When the books and the plans start to teeter, when I start to hyperventilate, I’ll need to remember the one Who I am supposed to live and breathe and have my being in.

I know well the hyperventilating, the need to remember what is true.  My days are often punctuated with humility.

And this is where my  procrastination strategy comes in.  It helps to hear the voices of others, to drink from the well where they find courage.  Being a teacher is serious business, and even with "only" two homeschooling students, I feel a healthy burden of responsibility.  Classroom teachers feel it, homeschooling parents feel it.  It's a big job.  Not impossible, but big.  And when the pressures of life start moving in, there has to be a way to block the door, turn off the phone, say no, ignore, or wait, in order to keep the atmosphere clear for learning.  That is my challenge this year.

So it's back to putting the finishing touches on the plans, back to summoning the courage and determination necessary for a great year.  More importantly, it is back to teaching two of my favorite people in the world!

Back to school.

But not quite yet.

Holding tight to summer

The weather says summer, the flowers and vegetables growing in the yard are smelling and tasting and looking like summer, but the autumn rumbling has begun. My husband has been back in the classroom for over a week, and the junior college is sending emails every few hours with reminders for class requirements, books to purchase, and handy hints for success; those classes begin on Monday.

The three homeschoolers are showing classic signs of being ready for action: a fascination with notebooks and planners, an interest in the reading lists, and plenty of questions about what is on the horizon. I am glad they are getting excited.

We still have another week-and-a-half, though. I have cupboards yet to clean, cantaloupe sorbet to savor, plans to complete, cherry tomatoes to eat straight off the vine (or with balls of mozzarella drizzled with oil and vinegar), meals to freeze, and naps to take. Books to finish! Lists to check off!!

Alas, I am not ready to finish summer yet.

But finish it will, and the rhythms of autumn will be welcome. Just not quite yet, please.

Photo credit goes to my dear daughter Claire.

This and that

ESSAY CONTEST: George Washington's leadership and legacy remain an important part of American identity. ISI is committed to keeping the vital lessons of the American Founding alive for the rising generation through this prestigious essay contest on "George Washington and the Future of the American Presidency."

Deadline to register is November 28, 2008. Essay deadline is January 23, 2009.
For more information, go to the ISI website.

CiRCE Institute's Annual Conference CD Set:

A Contemplation of Humour

I've only listened to Anthony Esolen's session on humour. He uses three examples: The Honeymooners, St. Francis of Assisi and Nick Bottom from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream. Quite a combination, isn't it? But that CD alone is worth the cost of the set (FYI: this is wrongly listed as What is Classical Education? The individual CD code is CD200803.)

For the last fifteen years I've been grateful to Mars Hill Audio Journal for keeping my mind expanding while my responsibilities were here at home; now I get to add the CIRCE conference CDs to that thank-you list. Between time in the car and time in the kitchen, these will get good use.