Success!

I'm new to homeschooling.  I was happy to send my two girls off to school as soon as they were old enough.  But my older girl is of a different mind.  She wants her children homeschooled.  Enter Granbean.

Last year I played a small part in teaching 2nd-grade art and language arts to my granbeanie, as I call her.  This year, I've taken a more active role because my daughter had a baby late last year with a challenging disorder and I've wanted to take some of the work off her very tired shoulders. So it was time for me to figure out what we were doing in 3rd grade.

Let's face it, it's been a while for me since 3rd grade!  So I looked up what she was required to learn and I made a plan.

My student is smart but likes to do easy things so I made her first semester hard.  I told her she had to learn to type and to throw a pot on the potters wheel.  Both are challenging tasks for an eight-year-old.  She made it up to 15 words a minute and managed a fairly respectable pot.  The lesson wasn't so much for the actual skills involved as it was for the message I wanted to hammer home: you can do hard things!

In her second semester, she made a variety of crafts, including handbuilt pottery, knitting, and rock tumbling. She wanted to have a crafts booth and I said she could, but she would have to take part in all aspects of it - not just the production of crafts.  She made a paper spreadsheet of all her items, figured out what to charge, projected out the costs and revenues and made a stab at projecting her profit.  She arranged her display.  She helped set up at the venue.  And she greeted potential customers like a pro, dazzling them with the story of how she learned the crafts and why she wanted a booth.

She decided to share the profits with me.  I encouraged her to donate to some cause, but she told me she had worked "THREE months" on the booth and would be keeping the money.  I donated all of mine to FOD, the group that supports research on and families with fatty acid oxidation disorders, which is what afflicts her brother.  I don't take money from kids but in this case I think it helped her understand that the ability to give may be the most satisfying part of success.

She did great.  She sold a lot, but she also learned a lot.  She is anxious to do it again.  I've challenged her to master wheel work for her next outing.  After all, 4th grade is coming right up!

The Myth of Writer’s Block

I often hear the phrase, “writing in my head,” by which a person means that he is having ideas for something to be written later.  I think we all do this.  What separates writers from others with ideas is that we write them down.  Not only do we write them down, but we have the skill – the craft we call writing – to breathe life into those ideas and make them live on the page.  This is where many get stuck and gives rise to the myth of so-called “writer’s block.”

No one who has written in any capacity would deny that there are times when we are stuck.  We wonder what our character should do next, what the precise word should be, if we should insert a flash-back, etc.  However, that is simply part of the work of writing. Fear of the blank page, or of failing, or of offending someone is something else entirely.  That would fall under some psychological heading that would make for a totally separate post.   If one gets stuck when writing, it is a crisis of craft, not of psychology.

No doubt there are times when we need caffeine or food or we need to stretch our legs or clear our minds, but if one is what is commonly referred to as “blocked,” one must consider what the cause is. There is no such thing that exists outside ourselves as writer’s block.  That is, being stuck or blocked is not like catching a cold or getting cancer.  Something is going on, or more likely, not going on in our minds.

Let’s consider what writing actually is: at its heart it is communication, but at its soul it is transport into another time, another life, another place.  Both take skill.  It takes more than just writing down an idea.  Many avid readers get ideas from reading their favorite novels.  They might think, “What if the vampire is really a mermaid gone rogue after coming ashore?”  So they write that idea down.  That is not writing.  That is merely an idea on paper.  If it is never expanded, if the vampire/mermaid never becomes real to the reader by virtue of a personality, a backstory, quirks, even endearing qualities, then it remains an idea.  One idea does not a story make.  Serial ideas do not a story make.  Characterization, plot, and motives all make a story.

So, then, what is – or is not – going on in the mind of a writer who is blocked?  A lot of writers trip on their own story lines.  They write themselves into corners.  They lose the thread of the story in the subplot or they forget the character they left in a well somewhere.  And so they claim a block.  The solution for this is nothing short of writing, or rewriting to be precise.  Toss out the plot twist you loved so much that created an untenable situation or create a logical way out.  Work at it!  Sit in your chair and write your way out!  It really is that simple and that difficult.  When the writing gets hard, writers write.

Granted, sometimes when this happens a break is in order but a break is not a block.  One still must attack the problem itself whether it is too many red herrings, an odd tense change, or voice shift. Sometimes all that is needed is to re-read the work.  As a reader we spot things that as writers, we miss.  Then get to work: write.

If the problem is not what one has already written, but what one has not yet written, one must consider why.  If a writer has no ideas it could be burn out on the project itself.  Many authors have stated they got tired of always writing the same character doing the same things.  In Misery we see a fictional author suffer for killing off a favored character for this reason.  If this is the case we have to bravely scrap the project and just move on and write.

However, the problem may be as simple as not wanting to write.  The internet beckons; it’s basketball season; the kids need something.  There are always distractions and good reasons not to write. Those of us who are writers, write.  We write when we’re ill, when the kids are ill, when our mothers die, when we’re bored to tears.  We write when the sun shines and the pool is inviting.  We write.  Not wanting to write is fine.  It is more than fine.  It is normal.  But if you don’t write you don’t have writer’s block; you might want to consider another line of work or creative outlet. 

Writers write.  Some of us do it because it is our work.  It is how we get paid.  We have deadlines.  Others do it because they are driven to write.  Some hate to write but do it anyway.  But writers write.  It is that simple.  If you feel stuck; don’t cling to writer’s block.  Write.    Unlike a dancer with a broken leg, writers with writer’s block have total control over whatever has them stymied.  All they have to do is write. 

Project Love

The craft project I've been using to teach my granddaughter crafts, math, English, business, and some other more elusive skills such as problem-solving, organization, thinking ahead, and even empathy, is all over but the sale itself.  The car is packed and ready and the granbeanie herself will sleep at my house tomorrow night because we have an early start on Saturday.

I feel pretty good about it.  Her craftsmanship has improved, even if she did not completely master wheel throwing.  That can take time!  She understands how to use all four arithmetic operations in real-life situations. She's written extensively about the project and has mastered paragraph construction, complex sentences, the proper use of clauses, which preposition to choose and how to punctuate.  She understands the concepts of costs, revenues, profits, loss, and philanthropy.  I think that's rather a lot for a 9-year-old!

She's is excited about Saturday and it promises to be a sunny day.  Fingers crossed! This has been a lot of work for me but I keep thinking that long after my granbeanie is grown and I am long gone, she will remember everything I have taught her with all the love I have put into it.

This Brave New World

Like most people these days I belong to a number of groups online.  I have several pottery groups where we exchange information, ask for help, and so forth.  There are a couple of writing groups that do basically the same thing.  And then there's a group or two of virtual friends I've picked up along the way here and there.  I find these groups helpful, amusing, sometimes a little nuts and I always try to add whatever I can to the conversation to be helpful.

That's why I was so surprised to find myself at the center of a personal attack over the weekend when I expressed my opinion, in response to a post, that I believe writer's block exists only in our heads.  It is not a thing of itself and we do ourselves no favors by believing that if one is a writer, then this disorder exists outside of our control and can derail us indefinately.   No need for details here but no matter what I said to this one young girl, who took it very personally, she insisted that I was calling her a bad writer.  I wished her well and ended the conversation but it got me to thinking.

A few days before this, on another site, someone broke in and posted a pornographic image, for the second time in a week.  Thinking I was alerting the admins to it, I posted, "Where are the admins?" There are several and they piled on me saying I could have deleted the post and that are volunteers who don't work 24/7.  I said I had deleted it from my timeline but thought they would want to know. I was being very concilitory, but they seemed to feel very put out and just repeated that they don't work 24/7.

Ah, this brave new world where our every word is black and white and no soft voice or body language helps indicate our meaning.  I have to think, though, that perhaps our virtual reality has given us thin skins.  Are we all so coddled that an opposing opinion provokes such defensiveness? Personally, I choose to engage with people, mostly of like mind, but also with differing opinions. I try to take nothing personally, even when my name is attached it, because I know when one speaks in anger or frustration, it is usually a reflection of something happening in that person's life and has nothing to do with me.

So, I hope everyone has a lovely day without drama and tries to be as helpful as possible to our fellow travelers as we all journey forth.

Self-editing

I'm about halfway through the final edit of my novel.  It's been alternately grueling and engrossing.  It got me thinking about how difficult it is to edit not just one's own work, but also one's self.

Few of us are totally at ease with everything about ourselves.  I think I am more so than most, but I have been stymied in a few areas, one is exercise.  It's not that I hate it or don't want to do it; it's just that the relatively minor things wrong with my body result in more pain and possible damage with exercise.

So how do I edit this?  Walking, running and other exercises that require footwork is out due to a heel spur.  More than a mile or two and I have raging inflammation that I cannot treat with anti-inflammatories due to the lack of a kidney.  Weights are also out due to stenosis in my neck and even something like yoga or some other class is impossible because I am prone to vertigo with changes in position or sudden movements.

Yet as I age, I know I need to solve this riddle.  I have tried just sucking it up and exercising anyway only to find myself unable to walk, or with nerve pain and numbness, or nauseated.  I've asked my doctor, physical therapists, and personal trainers.  I've tried alternating exercises, just doing a little, and doing it just a few times a week.

I know there are some problems without solutions and this may be one of them.  Sometimes I think I am fortunate to have arrived at this age without major health issues but this array of minor issues has created this frustrating problem for me.  And that could result in major issues, such as weight gain, heart issues and high blood pressure.

So I go back to my book and edit what I can.

Doing the hard stuff

When I started teaching my granbeanie she was in the second grade and my lessons were hit and miss.  I was still working a job and didn't have much time.  This year, her third grade, we've done much better.  I thought about this child, how smart she is and how unwilling she is to fail, and as a consequence of that, how unwilling she is to try new and difficult things. So I set about two tasks for her first half of the year: She would type every day and she would learn to actually throw a pot on the potter's wheel.  My goal was not so much for her to become a speedy typist or a practicing potter, but to teach her that with repeated practice and work she can do hard things.

In the second half of the year, I let both these go in order to teach her the more usual things a third-grader must learn: long division, sentence structure, American history, spelling.  I tried to put things in context for her and it struck me that she needed a project that would tie together many of the things she has learned.

She decided on having a crafts booth at our local farmers market.  At first she wanted to knit things for it.  So I showed her how to knit.  I encouraged her to use what we already own, to cut down on the costs of production.  She made some slab pots and painted rocks.  We made some potholders. She made bracelets and charms.  We even have a hamburger paperweight!

What did she learn? How did I teach?

She learned that one has to have capital or existing resources to begin an entrepreneurial project. She learned that the first money earned goes toward paying expenses and that profit begins when expenses are repaid.  She learned that craftsmanship matters. She learned to produce stuff efficiently. She has learned that one must provide a variety of items at different price points.  She has learned to price her work by a) what she has in it (materials, time, skill) and b) by what the market will bear. She also learned how to write out a spreadsheet with costs and projected income.  She knows the break-even point.  The most important thing she has learned is that all of this is within her power to control.  Simply put, that she can do this.

I taught her some craft skills, a little math and how to round numbers and perform calculations in her head, a little about business, a little about marketing, and a bit about English.  I made her write at every stage of this project about what we were doing.  I had a silent laugh when I read her final essay where she said, "Knitting takes too long!"

Now, here's what I learned:  That I could homeschool this child, so precious to me.  I learned I could pass on skills I know she'll need along with the subjects she has to have. I learned that everyone learns better when skills are put into proper context. I guess you could say that we both learned that we could do the hard stuff!

Lessons

My granbeanie is homeschooled, partly by her parents and partly by me.  I take it very seriously.  I want her to grow up smart and prepared for whatever life may hand her.  Sometimes I don't feel up to the job.  After all, how does one crack open a little head and pour in everything they need to know?

The tasks I set for myself are to teach her how to use language well and to understand history in the context of the times in which it occurred.

To do the former, I have made her write, and write, and write some more.  I take each story, each poem, each essay and mark it up for grammar, spelling, use of language and content.  I've taught her how to construct a paragraph, how to write a topic sentence and how to choose the right word.  I've challenged her to write about everything from fiction to book reports.  And it shows.

The granbeanie likes to talk to adults and I like to talk to kids.  So, we talk about history and how so much of it revolves around war, getting resources, religion and how it is always written by the victors.  We watch documentaries and read and again I challenge her with questions:  What would you do?  Which side would you be on?  What would that mean?

What I don't do is drill her on dates or the names of generals or rulers.  I have encouraged her to read biographies of people important but not necessarily the movers and shakers.  She read a biography of Clara Barton and is now reading Louis Pasteur's biography.  I have encouraged her to think about those who have made life better for everyone and I think these two qualify.

Most of all, I try to have fun with her.  Here's one of her trinket plates with a bracelet she made.  Her crafts project has been a lot of work for me but she has enjoyed it and is looking forward to her booth next week.

Someday I'll be gone and my granbeanie will be all grown up.  She'll be able to write and speak and to critically analyze the events around her.  I hope she will grow up smart, empathetic, and will never lose her desire to create. She'll know I had a hand in that.