Ah, yes, the discovery process of what will and won’t work in your home with the schooling process What I learned is “schooling” doesn’t work well in a home unless you want to wear a “teacher’s cap”, which I didn’t. I wanted to be a parent-facilitator, which shifted the focus from “working on” to “working with”, sooo, I had to figure out a “learning process” for our family, not a “schooling process”. Does that make sense?

What that meant for me is to look for those learning moments and be there, and fully use those moments when the children are eager and interested and seeking. This meant that at that moment when I was thinking I was going to get some laundry done, the learning moment took precedence. Needless to say, in our home, housework is sporadic

I’ve mentioned this before somewhere, probably on my blog, that sometimes I get to wondering if I’m just a lazy person when I see how others are doing all these lessons and activities with their children, especially their small children.  I just don’t, but it works really well in our home.  This post of mine reminds me of why we do it this way:  we encourage a learning process instead of a schooling process.  I like that.  I guess that’s probably why I kept the blurb to write about.

First, in the young years, I SO believe in the idea that play is a child’s work.  So, play is a central part of the learning process in our home in the early years.  During the preschool years, I focus on helping my children learn their colors and shapes; counting and saying the alphabet; all done incidentally and through toys/play usually.  During the 5-7 year old range, I mainly pay attention to the potential for reading and early math such as one-to-one correspondence.  Often, my children aren’t ready to formally learn to read, but reading aloud is a center.  Also, playing around with numbers via manipulatives, natural occurrences, and the such are encouraged.  This is also the age that my children seemed to focus in on one type of play type, whether it was Legos, drawing, pretending, or sports.

In the age range of 8-10 years, I also believe in what Jenifer Fox said in her book, Your Child’s Strengths, that you can’t create the gifts inside your child; they are already in there waiting for expression.  I feel it is my job to provide the opportunity for my children to discover their gifts, and that’s what this stage attempts to do.  What I saw in my children is that their focus solidifies during this stage and a more mature representation of that gift emerges as it is integrated into other subject areas as well as other higher level play outlets.  Reading definitely takes a front row seat during this stage as I facilitate in that direction in the manner and timing that works for each child.  Basic math also is highlighted.  My read alouds also tend to shift toward more educational ideals.

I do love that I get to observe my children in their young years (5-10 years old) enjoy getting the most out of these play stages.  So many today are cut off in the preschool years from unimpeded play opportunities and explorations.  There are preschools with centers, scheduled play dates with friends, and screen time filling in the difference.  I don’t regret one moment the old-fashioned childhood I am gifting my children.  I was listening or watching some program recently (I forget which) where a person was reminding everyone how easy it is to get so busy that we don’t make time for our children.  It was mentioned that a child gets only about 2 minutes a day of individual time!  Ouch.  I couldn’t understand how that could be.  But, then I thought about the typical household of children going off to school and parents to work, so no time there or in the morning beforehand as it is so scheduled to get everyone where they need to be on time.  Then, there are after school activities and dinner to prepare, so there is no time there until after dinner, but then there is homework and parents cleaning up, so that leaves just before bedtime, but so many are using the TV as vegging time, so where IS the time?

I love that our lives are so flexible and open-ended.  I love that there is exploration opportunities and boredom to fill with new ideas, activities, and discoveries.  I love that they each have had their fill of play until it has fulfilled its role in their lives.  I love that I have many minutes to hours of individual time with each child each day, as does even my hubby upon returning home from work.  Because they filled their days with what they need to give themselves as children, when Daddy comes home, they want to give fully to all that he offers them.  Sometimes it’s cuddling together with a good movie, sometimes it’s getting out the balls and bat and playing together, sometimes it’s working alongside him with a project, and sometimes it’s taking a trip somewhere.

Not only has our “learning process”  helped each of my children find their passion and purpose thus far, it has helped each of us live with no regrets.  Time is precious, and we have that and take advantage of it in spades:  individually, within relationships, and as a family!

Fast forward to my oldest son turning 14 and thus, being of high school “age”.  I still couldn’t get myself to be that organized.  I chose the unconcerned path that it would all work out in the end.  I think the biggest reason I felt comfortable with this approach is that my hubby is an academia enthusiast.  He LOVES to learn and often contemplates trying to work out his ability to return to his favorite environment:  university.  And he’s good at it.  He knows how to work a resume as much as a university application.  He sells himself well.  During my business college years, I also discovered I had a knack for selling things.  I did an externship at a radio station where I started off as the sales secretary, moved to personally generating donations to the station myself, and finally ended up as the personal assistant to the owner of the station.  In three months!  During my employment stints, I also discovered that I knew how to sell myself both on paper and during the interview process.  So, I guess I went into this arena with some confidence on both ends backing up my laid-back stance.

Admittedly, I’m still probably on the learning curve on how to present the unschooled transcript on paper at its best, but I’m satisfied with the level in which I intend to present it.  There are certain things I’m willing to do to accommodate our different educational choice, and there are certain things I’m not willing to negotiate.  Taking the GED, for instance, is one thing I’m going to discourage my children to do.  Each state has regulations regarding home education and its legal status which includes the administrator having the right to graduate its students, so I refuse to be required to jump through an additional hoop outside the given law.  It’s like they say, “Yes, we give you the right to homeschool, but we will not give you the respect or validity without some connection to our system.”  Tough.  I force the validity to occur by refusing their extra hoops.  That said, because our learning environment is different from the school system, our transcripts will look different as well.   I decided not to replicate the traditional transcript.

So, here’s Abbey’s transcript as submitted to Brigham Young University, both Provo and Idaho:

Drat the formatting on this site!  (If anyone can direct me as to how to turn off the automatic double spacing upon hitting the return, I would be much obliged.)  Ha!  I decided to upload it as a photo and forget the cut and paste . . . tricked the system

Anyway, my new addition to my transcripts is to depict “advanced placement courses”.  These are any subjects studied that there was either a significant amount of time dedicated to it (giving value to process) or a significant amount of physical output (giving value to product).  To give a brief comparison to the world’s measurement standard (the ACT scores) and my daughter’s actual experience with learning, I give the following information:

For her perfect grammar score, Abbey worked through all five Daily Grams books from the age of about 13-16 years old.  No formal work before or after that except that she wrote novels from age 14-19.  Daily Grams is supposed to be a “supplement” to a real grammar program, but I disagree.  Most grammar programs just try to make something that is simple, hard.

Abbey had no formal English (34 score-excellent) or reading comprehension (28 score-above average) programs or exercises.  She read voraciously, although “below her level” by what others would think.  She also re-read books hundreds of times sometimes.  She wrote very simple stories when young, never more than a couple paragraphs.  She started journaling around nine years old.  She started writing novels at 14 years old.

For her average math score (20-average), she worked her way through a conceptual math series (out of print, called Real Math) that took her through pre-algebra.  She worked through some of Saxon algebra and stopped.

For her science (25-above average), she never used a formal textbook or even read many science-related books.  She was huge into nature and loved animals.  She learned a lot from experience.

Many of the classes listed on her transcript were from experience.  How I came up with the classes was to remember what colleges are looking for:  science, history, foreign language, math, etc., and put educationese to what she did in those categories.  The reason I started there was because my children really do a whole lot more than those types of subjects.  However, I don’t want to overkill the point of a transcript.  After putting down the required courses desired from colleges, I then generously sprinkle their gifts and passion throughout the transcript to highlight that.  Last, I add a course or two that shows diversity in experience.

I refuse to “gather proof” throughout the years because it would then take a beautiful emergent life of discovering one’s passion and purpose and water it down to dotting i’s and crossing t’s.  It will turn something that is multi-dimensional into a one-dimensional depiction.  Luckily, my children feel the same way and are willing to forego a college who doesn’t recognize this to find one that will.  Hopefully, if we “sell ourselves” well, which could include an interview if necessary, though I don’t think that will be necessary for her college of choice (BYU-Idaho), her life as it really unfolded will be more than enough.  And, of course, it is

I find Abbey’s path is the most interesting at this time because it seems to depict the natural process as I described it in it’s most “typical” form in my Collaborative Learning Process for the 17-19 year old range:

The Transitional Stage (Ages 17-19). This is the stage that the child moves from a home and dependency based lifestyle to a community and independent based lifestyle. Some will move seamlessly into this stage, while others will be hesitant, and yet others will be outright resistant. This stage can encompass such things as consistent work, volunteer opportunities, college preparatory pursuits, entrepreneurial steps, and/or travel options. It is time for a full adult schedule, whatever and wherever it ends up.

I spent a lot of time in this stage helping each child figure out how to enter an adult lifestyle of their choosing and embrace a full schedule by sharing experience and insights regarding any acquisition process and modeling a mindful lifestyle through peer collaboration.

The biggest transition that occurs during this timeframe is moving into a full adult schedule.  An opportunity arose where Abbey could work a full-time job through an agency servicing the Medicaid Waiver CAP program in our state for disabled children and adults.  Because of our move to a new county that operates on a special waiver (which means they can create their own rules regardless of the state’s rules), she was eligible to work for her own brothers in our home.  This was a HUGE God-send for me as she would be easily trained because of her self-initiated involvement in creating a relationship with her different brothers as well as her knowledge of the family dynamic.  On her end, she could make double the money as most beginning jobs and she would have the ability to have full-time status in a more demanding job, again, both of which are not always easy to find at her age of 18 at the time.  She wasn’t sure about moving to full-time work as she thought it might be too big of a jump for her from working 10 hours a week tutoring her younger brothers to 40 hours a week utilizing more advanced skills.  I assured her that if she felt it was too much after a month or so, she could always just do one of her brothers (she works with each of two brothers at 20 hours a week each).

It took her several weeks to a month to work out balancing a full time position with her continued desire to work on her novels as well as finding her place in contributing within the family.  She works from 9:30-1:30 with Alex and 2:00-6:00 p.m. with Adam every day and would put in 3-4 hours each night on her novels.  One of the things that naturally occurred within our family is that at around 18 and/or as each of these young people were committing to more activities outside of family living, I would disengage my need to use them in fulfilling family responsibilities such as babysitting or any daily chores.  This would simply convert down to the next children as they were each developing their particular attributes for the stage they were in.  It’s not that the young people don’t contribute, it’s just in a different way.  It was like an instinctive thing for me to shift my views and interactions with them during this stage from dependent child to independent young person in order to give them the space and release of dependence to act in the way that is best for their growth extending outside of the home.

So, Abbey started full-time employment in the home at 18.5 years old and has been going strong for nine months now and saving her money.  About two months ago, a sudden shift occurred within Abbey.  In mid-July, she unexpectedly declared that she wanted to attend college . . . in January if she could pull it off.  Though she had been satisfied up until now about what she was concentrating her efforts on, and where, she had reached a natural state where she wanted to leave the home and seek adventure in a way that would allow a different kind of growth, both from her home lifestyle as well as from her own independent studies.  College became the clear answer in her mind.

Because Abbey had not desired college before now, she also had no inspiration to study for and take the ACT or SAT exams before now.  So, the first thing she did was sign up to take the first available ACT test.  She was fortunate that there was one in early September as she discovered the admission’s deadline for the school of her choice was October 1.  It would be pushing it!  Abbey set to a study plan to learn all that she needed to know in 1.5 months.  She knew English and Reading were her strengths, but math and science were never at the top of her list of interests as she unschooled through high school.  It didn’t take long that it wasn’t just about learning the subjects, but was equally about knowing how to take a timed test, both the timing part and the testing part.  Interestingly, she found she didn’t have to actually KNOW everything.  Abbey was able to accomplish all the studying needed to do the best she was capable of.  That last week before the test, she felt she had done all she could do to prepare.

So, here we are, at October 2.  She had accomplished all the requirements of admissions by the deadline and had simply to wait to see if the ACT scores would post quickly and be sent on time.  Last Friday, her ACT scores posted on line.  My hubby called to see if Abbey was available from work to look since  he saw that they were available.  She was currently gone on a community trip and wouldn’t be back for about a half hour.  I told him he should wait and let her look first.  He agreed, but then called back within 5 minutes and said he couldn’t wait and looked.  Naughty dad!  LOL!  Abbey has always been a good sport about this type of thing and he knew it.  Of course, I had to have him tell me . . . LOL!  Abbey laughed when she got home, but then asked how she did :-)  She scored a 27!  Woohoo.  This was the number she needed in order to not be required to jump through additional hoops from the college of her choice because she was a homeschooler.  I’ll admit, I had been annoyed by this extra hoop jumping required.  If she had not scored at least a 27, she was being asked to take the GED, which we were going to refuse.  We’re just glad we didn’t have to cross that bridge.  Plus, the best she had ever done in her practice exams was 26, so she had passed herself in the actual test.  It ended up being science that pulled her up!  She was sure surprised by that, but pleasantly so as she had worked hard.  Her high score was naturally English at 34 (getting a perfect score with usage/mechanics).

So, that hoop is jumped, but we had to wait to see if the sent ACT score would reach her preferred college on time.  Yesterday came and went and it did not post as received.  Bummer.  But, we got her copy today in the mail.  So, we’re still confident that it was received by the school and just not posted yet.  Plus, they said that missing the deadline didn’t necessarily keep them out of consideration for the semester she applied for.  So, time will tell.

Well, this is getting long, so I’ll post tomorrow about my “transcripts” and how I did that and what it looked like.  But, the point I was trying to make with this post was that Abbey discovered in her own time and in her own way when or if college was a right choice for her.  And once that happened, everything falls into place as it should and it no longer is a chore or a fear or a should, but an exciting opportunity that she embraces.

Well, around that same time, I would have periodic insomnia.  Interestingly, it always seemed to coincide with headaches and an edginess with dizziness.  Believe it or not, after all these years (I’m 43 years old now), only in the past couple months did I figure out that it all probably has to do with the caffeine in Excedrin!  What a DUH moment that was . . . LOL!  Obviously, my body is really sensitive to added caffeine and it immediately makes me wide awake as well as “wired”.  Now, the side effect, as I mentioned a while ago here, it can be a great source of inspiration in my writing as well as just plain good brainstorming happening about the needs of my family as I lie there.

On the flip side, I have also noticed that my reaction to chocolate, one of my favorite “needs” over the years, has shifted in the past year.  I’m not sure it has to do with the natural caffeine in it or not, since the reaction is different from the man-added caffeine as mentioned above, or if its the sugar I’m more senstive to.  But, now within the hour of eating a Dove chocolate, I’ll crash and burn if I slow down at all.  The sleep it induces, though, leaves me in quite the stuper throughout, though, so it’s certainly not restful.  So, now I’m looking to decide how important my chocolate need is to my sanity versus the sleep stuper it induces

I’m looking forward to having another burst at my blog again.  Each stretch of time differs, so time will tell with this one.  I hope by writing in this style versus my seasons for being active on my e-mail lists it will encourage my completion of my book about right-brained learners.  I have four chapters done to some level on that one and look forward to reaching my goal of December 31 to have it done.

So many creative learners become fluent readers using the comic book resource, but I found that parents have a negative connotation to these great visual resources because of negative conditioning in our society and other sources. Here is a post that can help you understand exactly why comic books work so well for the creative learner in their process to becoming proficient readers.

While dropping off our oldest son on his mission last year, we were able to visit one of Weston’s brothers out in Utah, Ben, and meet his new wife and children for the first time. They were able to come this past weekend as well. We were able to get together with Weston’s other brother, David, though, after not seeing them since 1996! (They were being expatriates in Malaysia last year when we were there.)  We had been able to meet up with one of their daughter’s, Malaina, during the mission drop-off trip, and meet their youngest daughter, Christina, on a trip she took out here to see her grandparents, but it had been too long for everyone else (including their first daughter, Jordan).

Here are the three (of the five total) Gaddis brothers (Ben/fifth born, David/first born, Weston/second born):

Here are the brothers and we sisters-in-law (two of us are Cindy’s!):

Now, what’s interesting about the next picture is that the Gaddis reproduction gene tends to favor the male species. In total, there are 5 Gaddis brothers and 2 Gaddis sisters. So far, they have produced 11 boy cousins and 6 girl cousins (plus, by adoption/marriage, another 2 boy cousins and 1 girl cousin). In this picture of cousins visiting this past weekend, they are all girls (we were only missing my daughter and a Gaddis girl daughter). Here they are in all their beauty:

It was the first day of the weekend that kicked off incredibly. Amazing days of connection with long-lost family! I hope it won’t be that far apart again. We’re intending to not let that happen

I’m one of those people who don’t like to reread things, and during the season of my two older children and their read aloud focus time, I had fun going crazy through tons of classic children’s literature. Now, I find myself having a harder time getting motivated finding good read alouds. To me, a good read aloud holds the children’s interest, but also MY interest. I just love how these authors wove their story about how “Peter Pan” and all the players, stories, relationships, locations, and personalities came to be. I find myself rushing to read aloud time again. I highly recommend it!

As for the reading I’m doing in order to benefit from it as it pertains to applying to a child circumstance, I’m reading this:

I have several children on the autism spectrum and/or shadow syndrome level in the teen/young adult stage, and learning the social skills necessary to find their place in the world has been at the forefront for several of them. So, I’ve been buying social skill type of books up a storm. And, as we all know, there are more “no goods” than “goods”. I will highly recommend this book! It is not exactly a how-to, but it is real, hands-on, discussion about what life is really like living it and trying to understand it. It is broken down into ten “must know” social “rules”, but more what I would call social attributes.

I’ll try to go through a few of the chapters on my blog in the near future and share how it pertains to some of my children, the conversations we’ve had, and the ideas we’ve come up with in integrating the awareness created. I think “social skills” as it pertains to the “real and important aspects of it” is harder to teach, but is more a discussion point in talking over all the scenarios that have been lived, and may continue to come up, and the perspective the child has on it and/or needs to have with it, and creating enough history with each attribute in order to feel either proficient with it or at least enough awareness and strategies created to make it work for you.

Clear as mud?

As my gift to my grandmother, I decided it would be fun to print my entire blog out for her (including my posts as an author at Life Without School) because I’ve only been able to see my grandmother maybe up to 10 times in my life. I hoped that she still read and I know she would be interested, if so, because she was a writer of sorts herself and had always been pleased to hear of my writing ventures. So, as I was printing one out for her, I did one for myself. So, now I can rest easy that all my thoughts, ideas, and moments will not be lost in cyberspace accidentally.

I also got to thinking about journaling. I’ve always wanted to do that, and in our church, we strongly encourage record keeping of this sort as a means of genealogy and helping in Elijah’s mission of “turning the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to their children.” I’ve always wondered why I’ve struggled in this department. Well, as I realized a while ago that writing is an introverted activity, and I’m an extravert, duh, journaling is an introverted writing activity. Ah, but blogging has allowed me a venue as an extravert journal writing activity!

Here’s a picture of the finished blog compilation (with a cover created by my daughter):

And here was my inspiration, my Grandma Draney, with hubby and I:

She was not feeling well (can’t you tell!) because of chronic pain from many things, including an unoperated hernia, scheduled for tomorrow (postponed until after the party in case she doesn’t make it through due to a pacemaker and age). Well, four of the priesthood holders in attendance (my hubby being one of them) gave her a blessing and within a few hours, she mentioned that she hadn’t felt that well in at least a year (thanks be to a gracious Heavenly Father). So, later on (unfortunately, after all the pictures), she looked a lot better!

Here’s a picture of the Draney boys (Jerry-my dad/2nd born, Dale/3rd born, and Elwyn-Ed/1st born):

Here’s a picture of the Draney girls (Donna/6th born, Lori/7th born, Carol/5th born, and Diane/4th born):

Here are the siblings together with Grandma:

Here is a picture of the siblings and their spouses:

And here is a four generation picture of my Grandma, my dad, myself, and my nephew, Sebastian (that my parents are raising . . . a brother’s son):

It was a fabulous day of connection: laughing, crying, sharing, renewing, learning of each other, loving. So many felt so at ease in the setting and we all agreed it was because the Spirit was so strong there.

I love you, Grandma!

My prayers are out to the family.

Crime had also touched us at the old neighborhood. Our direct neighbor had locked his hunting rifle in his truck late one night after hunting, and that evening, someone smashed the window and stole it. When the police came out that night, they had their tracking dogs, and the dogs picked up a scent that went through our yard, next to our cars, and then to the neighbors, and then out the back field. He was not caught.

However, I stand beside my choice to not raise my children in fear. I equip them with good sense, and then I let them live. This world is not always pretty. I know that going into it. This is actually why we left the old neighborhood. My feelings are if I’m going to be hassled by a neighbor, I’m leaving. So, we did. I didn’t worry about physical harm, but emotional harm. These neighbors up the street had been physically threatened before and there was a restraining order. The father decided to stand his ground. I’m not sure what they’ll decide now.

Bad things do happen whether one decides to choose to live without fear, or to those who choose to live in fear. I accept that, even though it sucks. Life still has much good to offer.

Here is a quote from the site:

Another mom castigated me for my irresponsibility and proudly said that she doesn’t even let her daughter go to the mailbox in her upscale Atlanta neighborhood. There’s just too much “opportunity” for the girl to be snatched and killed. To her, I’m the crazy mom.

I just moved from a neighborhood like the one described here in Atlanta. Here’s a general picture of it with its nicely manicured lawns and matching Bartlett pear trees and white mailboxes. (Funny story: When we first moved in, we were “required” to purchase the matching mailbox signage at the price of $75. I refused for several months because of the overpriced conformity. They didn’t know what to do with me. Good thing I didn’t require the whole mailbox; that would have been $300!)

Anyway, a few months prior to us finding the perfect country home to move to, we were officially complained against by an anonymous neighbor. The charges:

She lets her children go barefoot; sometimes even in the winter. Guilty.

She lets her children climb dangerous things. Guilty.

She lets her children ride their bikes in the road. Guilty.

She lets her children near the pond. Guilty.

She lets her autistic children near the road. Guilty.

It’s crazy it even had to be investigated. My sin? Not being a “helicopter mother”, hovering over her children at all times, like everyone else does in the neighborhood.

The dangerous things referred to were maybe our tall front tree, but probably the idea that we let them climb into any construction equipment that is nearby under our supervision. We feel it is better to let them do these things with us then sneak and do them without us.

Tractor boys:

Sometimes, they get lucky:

Taking the controls:

Going up:

Job Complete:

Woohoo!   Teddy and all

The road they ride their bikes on and that my children with autism (yep, I don’t keep them caged!) are near is a cul-de-sac in front of our house. When I discussed this with one neighbor, she felt that I should always be watching them. I do keep tabs out the window, but it wasn’t good enough from her perspective. Of course, she admitted to not knowing how to parent seven children . . . ah, yeah.

Needless to say, moving to 15 acres in the country has been a freeing experience for all of us! No more neighbors deciding what is right for my children (considering none of the things listed above was illegal), and letting my boys grow up free range. I don’t want fear to dictate their childhoods. Here’s a picture of what our view is out our front door:

To take people back to when I first made a conscientious decision about raising my children free range, as I was raised, I share these quotes from the above site:

Not that facts make any difference. Somehow, a whole lot of parents are just convinced that nothing outside the home is safe. At the same time, they’re also convinced that their children are helpless to fend for themselves. While most of these parents walked to school as kids, or hiked the woods — or even took public transportation — they can’t imagine their own offspring doing the same thing.

I noticed this especially when we moved to the neighborhood I referenced above eight years ago. There was such fear and for a moment, I was going to get sucked into it. I remember when the actual decision came for me to make. My only daughter came to me and let me know that she was going to take her dog and explore in the woods across the neighborhood, and she would be back. She wasn’t asking, but letting me know because it never occurred to her that it wouldn’t be okay. But I hesitated and asked her to hold on a minute. She had justed turned 11 years old.

Fear told me to say no, but as I have been known to do throughout my parenting and unschooling life, I questioned that reaction. And, it was a reaction. I recalled my carefree days as a child. I knew I had equipped my children with intelligent wariness, but not fear. Was there a middle ground with this? So, I decided right then and there that I wanted my children to have fun and adventurous childhoods, without fear, but equipped with awareness. I asked her for two things: One was to always let me know where she would be and about when she would be home. The other was to be aware of any non-resident people (there were a lot of houses being built with many construction vehicles and other personnel all the time) being aware of her comings and goings and simply take another route into the woods if she saw this type of “stranger”.

She did this exploring for several years without incident, without fear, but with awareness. She has EXTREMELY fond memories of that time insomuch that when we were going to leave the area, she documented the area she called “Mye Creek”.

Now, we have 15 acres, 10 in woods, creeks, critters, etc. that beckon my two youngest. Do I limit them, or equip them with awareness and enjoy their adventures related each day? I say the latter. I ask that they stay within calling distance, but if they want to venture further out, to take walkie talkies, leaving one with me. Admittedly, these two are still learning, and they tend to act in the moment and disappear for an hour or two at a time. But, if we can’t enjoy our own chosen “relatively safe” property, then where can we?

I end with this quote:

They have lost confidence in everything: Their neighborhood. Their kids. And their own ability to teach their children how to get by in the world. As a result, they batten down the hatches.

I understand there are always risks, but they are calculated. I won’t raise my children in fear. I chose the educational method I use because I wanted to continue the trust and respect we enjoy as a family, and I raise my children in the same vein; because I DO have confidence in our ability to collaborate in learning what is needed to get by in this world.

Oh, oh, driving cars may have to go on the sin roll . . . LOL!: