Back then, there was no Internet, but today, thank God, there are tutors online who can help! We have tried a number of them and I am always impressed with the tutoring skills and knowledge of the teachers. TutorHub is such a site. The tutoring at TutorHub is very, very flexible. Does your child have a quick question? Ask (for free) in the community! Does your kid need just a half an hour to understand a certain concept? Pay for only that half hour tutoring! Need a longer term session? Take advantage of the online tuition program! I love this!

It’s a perfect place for homeschoolers and publicly educated kids. Definitely check it out. Hey, you may even learn a few new things yourself!

Anyway, my one son is very interested in learning Chinese. He can read a little of it. I think it’s important to start a child early. Apparently, some other folks do, too. Have you heard about the “Mandy and Pandy” book series? It’s six hardcover, colorful books (with audio CDs) that teach children Mandarin Chinese. The books are suited for children ages 4 to 8, which is the perfect time to get them started on a language. Check out the Chinese for Kids with Mandy and Pandy if you are interested! The books are very colorful and there will soon be some activity books released. These are terrific for home schooled kids and for library “time out” reads.

My kids are too old for these books, unfortunately. But they’d make great gifts for little ones! Definitely give them a try– teaching other languages is a marvelous gift to a child.

This is an extremely interesting organization: Kidzmet. You all know how I rail and rant about “cookie cutter” public schools. I attended several of these kinds of schools, and was never happy in them. Typical schools and tutoring programs tend to be geared toward mass production. But children are not factory parts to be assembled from blueprints. Well, Kidzmet takes that whole idea of cookie-cutter education/tutoring and turns it on its head. This actually looks pretty neat!

Kidzmet compares itself to food– different people like different foods, and even if you loved one particular food, you’d want variety, right? Right! Kidzmet realizes that children need tutors and teachers who will draw out the child’s strengths and help the child overcome his particular weaknesses. As I read the information, it reminded me of what education USED to be in this country, a society built on apprenticeship. Kidzmet acts as the middle man to connect children with specifically-matched tutors and teachers who will help the child develop to his full potential. The idea behind Kidzmet comes from a marketing professional and mom, Jen Lilienstein. You can read about Jen and her vision on the Kidzmet About Us page.

If you’ve been looking for such an opportunity for your child or grandchild, give Kidzmet a look. There’s a free trial, and a nice summer enrichment scholarship drawing for $400, too.

Our dishwasher is our favorite kitchen appliance. I have never owned one before I made room for it in our kitchen renovation in 2010. We LOVE our dishwasher! Before the dishwasher, we (either me or my daughter) were washing dishes two or more times per day; when I used to babysit and cooked and cleaned for 10 people, I was washing mounds of dishes THREE times a day. All I did was cook and wash dishes, ugh!). So I thank Mrs. Cochrane for her invention, from the bottom of my little heart.

Josephine Cochrane was a Chicago socialite, married to a merchant and politician, William Cochran. Josephine was independent-minded. She didn’t share her husband’s political views, she didn’t particularly like being an empty-headed socialite, and she even added an “e” to the end of her married name to give it a little inventive style. From the beginning, she thought “out of the box.” I’ll betcha the neighbor kids and gossiping biddies called her “scandalous” and “crazy.”

Well, the whole story starts out rather tamely. Josephine was distressed to find chips on her chinaware. The china had been in her family since the 17th century, and by golly, she was going to make it last ANOTHER 200 years. She discovered that the servants were terribly careless with the dishes while washing them, so she took over the job. She soon realized how horribly laborious washing dishes really was (especially in an era where they used a billion dishes for their four-course meals). Josephine pondered the idea of an automatic washing device– streams of hot water blasting dishes that were secured in racks. She developed a proto-type design, but her husband became ill and died, leaving her with large debts. Josephine was even more motivated to work now.

Working in her shed behind the house, Josephine measured the cups and dishes, and created racks to securely hold the china. The racks filled a copper boiler. Streams of water shot out from a wheel that was powered by a motor. The first “Cochrane Dishwasher” was invented.

Sales were slow at first. This was the era before water heater tanks and hot running water. She made the machines for her friends, advertised in local newspapers, and called her new business the Cochrane’s Crescent Washing Machine Company. Josephine’s invention got a big break when she featured her machine in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and won an award. Restaurants and hotels purchased her dishwashers, but few individual families could afford to run them. Josephine doggedly marketed her machine until 1913 when she died at the age of 74.

In the 1950′s, a new era of prosperity dawned for American families. Josephine’s invention got a second wind. Cochrane’s Crescent Washing Machine Company became Kitchen Aid (later to become part of Whirlpool, the world’s largest home appliance company). Improved dishwashing detergents were invented, and soon the dishwasher became as American as apple pie and Chevrolet.

Which leads me to… well, me. I am a proud owner of a dishwasher, now. I love that little thing. I may not have scads of precious china to preserve, but my time is very precious to me. I’d guess that my dishwasher saves me about 2 hours per day, and maybe saves us 6 gallons of water each load. Thank you, Josephine.

Sources:
MIT; Inventor of the Week; Dishwashing Machine
University of Houston’s College of Engineering; Inventing the Dishwasher; John H. Lienhard

P.S. I wonder if any of her descendants still have any of that old china that Josephine worked so hard to preserve?

I caught an uncorrected mistake in this bright young man’s schpeel, though. Can you figure it out?

Long version: I have traditional ideas when it comes to education. That, and I haven’t seen a whole lot of educating going on since schools ditched the Classical Method in the 40′s and began experimenting with kooky social engineering methods. The Classical Method is broken down into two sections: the trivium and quadrivium. (Susan Wise Bauer has an exceptional article about the Classical Method, and the late Dorothy Sayer’s article The Lost Tools of Learning is outstanding– that was written in 1947!). The trivium covers grammar, logic, and rhetoric for the primary grades, and the quadrivium taught arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Schools today stuff children full of facts, some trivial, some meaningful, but by and large schools do not teach children to think logically and to communicate logically and coherently. Sometime after the 1950′s, schools largely adopted John Dewey’s philosophy of “student-based” education; that is, that a student must be allowed free expression, and his school experience molded to allow for that freedom of expression. He is taught enough to get by– that is, he knows enough mathematics to get by on his job and enough grammar to fill out a job application. But to reason and deduce and communicate reason and deduction? If you are reading the headlines, you see that isn’t happening very much.

Allow me to quote from Sayer’s article. It is BRILLIANT and so aptly illustrates what the point of this post is:

When we think about the remarkably early age at which the young men went up to university in, let us say, Tudor times, and thereafter were held fit to assume responsibility for the conduct of their own affairs, are we altogether comfortable about that artificial prolongation of intellectual childhood and adolescence into the years of physical maturity which is so marked in our own day? To postpone the acceptance of responsibility to a late date brings with it a number of psychological complications which, while they may interest the psychiatrist, are scarcely beneficial either to the individual or to society. The stock argument in favor of postponing the school-leaving age and prolonging the period of education generally is there there is now so much more to learn than there was in the Middle Ages. This is partly true, but not wholly. The modern boy and girl are certainly taught more subjects–but does that always mean that they actually know more?

Has it ever struck you as odd, or unfortunate, that today, when the proportion of literacy throughout Western Europe is higher than it has ever been, people should have become susceptible to the influence of advertisement and mass propaganda to an extent hitherto unheard of and unimagined? Do you put this down to the mere mechanical fact that the press and the radio and so on have made propaganda much easier to distribute over a wide area? Or do you sometimes have an uneasy suspicion that the product of modern educational methods is less good than he or she might be at disentangling fact from opinion and the proven from the plausible?

Have you ever, in listening to a debate among adult and presumably responsible people, been fretted by the extraordinary inability of the average debater to speak to the question, or to meet and refute the arguments of speakers on the other side? Or have you ever pondered upon the extremely high incidence of irrelevant matter which crops up at committee meetings, and upon the very great rarity of persons capable of acting as chairmen of committees? And when you think of this, and think that most of our public affairs are settled by debates and committees, have you ever felt a certain sinking of the heart?

Yes, I have felt that sinking of the heart. I attended several schools (government-run) and graduated knowing very little that prepared me for a life of logical thinking and reasoning. Oh sure, I could work at McDonald’s, or even work a professional job and earn money. That’s what social engineering is all about– getting the kid to function just enough to earn something to pay the IRS, but educating them so little that they cannot reason and recognize the injustice of the system that needs their labor. In return, we are rewarded with cars and TV. Big whoop.

One day, I was homeschooling my daughter in algebra. We were both struggling with the problems, as well as the concept of it all. Why do we have to do this? What purpose will it serve for life? This is useless! But then it struck me– work like this teaches logic. It forces the brain to think in patterns, as if the logic and critical thinking carves a pathway through the brain. So while we may not overtly do algebra at the grocery store (yet, we do if we do such tasks as compare prices by units and such), the learning of algebra has opened up a pattern of thinking that will endure forever, unless of course it dies from neglect and misuse.

So what does this all have to do with college?

One hundred years ago, a student learned all he needed to know by high school graduation. See this very interesting graduation test from 1895 in Salina, Kansas; a student was required to pass this test to graduate. While some of the questions pertain uniquely to a long-lost agricultural society (loads of wheat, and so forth), it’s obvious that students were able to think — and expected to think — logically at an early age.

Today, we have the perpetual student, where an individual is really not a full-fledged, educated adult until he is 25– 13 years of high school with 4 years of college thrown in. That’s outrageous! And judging by today’s standards, the “educated” description is highly suspect. The educational system of the schools are defective. It may not be evident in elementary school, where the child’s natural curiosities lead him on, but studies show that by 8th grade, the student’s education is so defunct that it would have been better that the child graduated in 5th grade. Standards are continually being revised and watered down to artificially inflate tests results. See Samuel Blumefeld’s great article The Great American Education Fraud and Education vs. Training.

College is, by and large, a vast waste of time. By the time the child graduates, he (or his parents) are thousands of dollars in debt. Degrees, especially the popular Liberal Arts degrees, mean very little to nothing. Of course, professional degrees mean something, but FOUR YEARS for most degrees?! I wonder if colleges are encouraging high schools to tailor high school education to admission into college, since the colleges have a vested financial interest in so doing….

Certainly I am taking advantage of stereotypes for some of my examples, but truly– if high schools were doing their jobs properly, there would be no need of higher education save for highly skilled professions such as in the medical field or aeronautics. High schools should not tailor their curriculum to appease colleges. High schools should tailor their curriculum to educate students. Unfortunately, looking at the statistics, many high schools are doing neither.

What use is it to pile task on task and prolong the days of labor, if at the close the chief object is left unattained? It is not the fault of the teachers–they work only too hard already. The combined folly of a civilization that has forgotten its own roots is forcing them to shore up the tottering weight of an educational structure that is built upon sand. They are doing for their pupils the work which the pupils themselves ought to do. For the sole true end of education [ought to be] simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain. -Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning

When you’re a young mom, you kinda get sucked into motherhood, BIG time. I know I did. It becomes your life; you’re entire identity becomes wrapped up in being “MOM.” It was fun for, like, six or seven years. But after that, I wanted to be an adult again, lol.

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE having teenagers. I have four of them. I can’t believe what all the cultural hype is about, raising teens. I am having the TIME of my life! I wish I’d had more kids and had endured the chaotic toddlerhood just so that I could have more teens! Think about it– teens can clean up after themselves! And when you’re not feeling well, they can clean up after you, too! Is that euphoric or what? I can be witty and joke with my kids, and they ACTUALLY understand the jokes, and then they laugh, too! I love having older children. I wish I could freeze these years, so that they won’t grow up beyond this. Selfish, I know. I just love my kids, they are so delightful.

I can also learn with them. We are a homeschooling-based family, so learning has become a lifestyle for us. And now that the kids are older, I can pursue my own education. Getting an Online degree is easier than ever, too. AND it’s more affordable, especially if you choose the accredited Ashworth College. Their tuition is said to be 50% less expensive than the average accredited online school. Moreover, Ashworth has a whole roster of nationally accredited career diplomas: Web Design, Marketing, Early Childhood Education, Interior Decorating, Medical Billing, and more. Ashworth offers Associate Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s Degrees, and Certificate programs for those courses, and more.

Ashworth prides themselves on affordable education, too. They offer an zero-interest financing plan with a low-monthly payment plan. Plus, you can transfer up to 75% of your credits you’ve earned at other schools. It’s a really good opportunity. Education is more affordable than ever, and you can do it at HOME. So you don’t have to wait until they are practically all grown up to be more than just “mom.” ;)

That, my dear reader, is a green egg. My son read about an experiment with vinegar and a raw egg, and wanted to try it. The experiment was about OSMOSIS. Can you say OSMOSIS, boys and girls? Anyway, the raw egg sits in a jar of vinegar for a few days. The shell totally disappears. It’s gross. The vinegar dissolves it into this foamy stuff at the top, and then dissipates into, uh, my kitchen air. :-p

After a few days, he drained the vinegar and add water. The experiment said to add corn syrup to the jar, but I didn’t have any. Se we used food coloring. My son chose green. A nice, slimy color very fitting for this experiment, I think.
So after a few more days, he drained the green water. And we got the egg. We thought it was like a boiled egg, solid all the way through. My son placed the egg on the kitchen counter (see photo above) and attempted to stab it with a knife.

“Wait!” I said.

I placed the egg in a small dish. JUST. IN. CASE.

Hohboy, am I glad I did that! We poked the egg, and >POP<.

That’s even grosser. YUK!

So it wasn’t solid inside. But the jelly stuff inside is green. I guess that’s OSMOSIS. The food coloring passed through the egg’s thin membrane, and affected the liquid around the yolk. Science is so disgusting.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Lunchables. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you seen this video? If you have not seen it, you should. It’s adorable! It’s going viral right now… these kids are just too cute!

The video is part of the KRAFT Lunchable Team’s campaign, “Project Potential” in their “Field Trips For All” project. Stuff like this is near and dear to my heart– with Project Potential, you nominate an under-privileged or deserving class of children to experience a hands-on field trip. As we all know, school budgets are being slashed, and the things to fall by the wayside are usually stuff that’s important to the kids. And if you look back to when you were a kid, field trips were REALLY REALLY important. My whole concept of having a history blog about New York Travel came from a field trip, did you know that?

The Nicholas Herkimer Home

When I was a girl, my parents didn’t make a lot of money. There were a lot of kids in my family, and my mom and step-dad had health problems as well as business problems. So I always missed out on the school activities, like music lessons and class field trips because I couldn’t pay my way. But when I was in 7th grade, somebody funded a field trip for the entire class. We got to go to the Nicholas Herkimer House in Little Falls, NY! I don’t think I had ever been so far away from home before then (and the bus ride took HOURS).

That field trip was so important to me, I still remember so much about it. The Herkimer Home is a living museum, and I got to learn and experience colonial life in New York State as it was in the 1770s. It sparked my interest in Upstate New York and its rich history. As an adult, I decided my kids should experience these things, too, so we went out on trips across the state. Then, I decided to journalize our travels, so I started a blog. One thing led to another, and here I am in the pro-blogging and freelance writing career! Just because of a field trip!!

So when KRAFT Lunchables say they want to help kids go on field trips, I am 100% behind them. And guess what–the Lunchables Team is giving us a way to participate! We can nominate a class to win a field trip! Fifty classrooms from the country will be selected to go on the field trip of their life! That, my dear moms and dads, is very, very cool. Please check out the Field Trips For All website– make your nomination and make a bunch of little kids very, very happy. I nominated the elementary school that I went to. I hope they win! That field trip may bless their lives! :D

P.S. Please Stumble this post– it’s for a great cause! Thanks!

This is really neat! I just posted a review of the book The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel, and I found it at Buy.com! Actually, what I found was The Case For Christ audio book, something I’ve been wanting for quite a while now. Buy.com has it on sale for about $21! Yay!

The Case For Christ, as I’ve said before, is a GREAT book. I’ve read the book (don’t own it yet; but I will buy it, now). We have the DVD The Case For Christ; we just watched it again this week. I like it, it’s very good, but the book is much more thorough, and that’s what I really want. I’d read it to the kids a few years ago, and they loved it, too. You can read my review of it..

Did you know Buy.com sells books? Yes indeed! And they sell audio books, as I just discovered today. The Case For Christ paperback is on sale for about $12 right now. Buy.com also has best sellers, older books, and they also have the “Dummies” books– those are my favorite kinds of books, LOL! They have a regular sale on best sellers– 50% off everyday. Plus, they have textbooks! You can go to the site and do a search for the ISBN code number for the textbook you need. This is a great resource, since I am always scarfing up history books for the kids. There’s SparkNotes (I love those, too), dictionaries, tax books, college and graduate books, and loads and loads more. You can buy books new, or used.

So anyway– if you have not yet read The Case for Christ, GET IT. It is one of the the best books I have EVER read. The DVD is OK, it’s good, and it’s a great introduction to the book… but the book is outstanding. And for $12 or $16, it’s a DEAL. There’s also a student edition (I got that a few years ago, for my son) and of course the audio book on CD which I can’t wait for!! Yay for Buy.com!