• Got ADHD?

    theresa


    Theresa Lode or, simply “T”, had her world turned upside down and inside out when her son was diagnosed with ADHD and a few other goodies. Her choice- follow the doctor's orders....or trust her heart and delve into the world of Free Range Education. She chose the latter...

    Curious? Want to know more? Read on ...

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 191 other followers

  • Your email is safe with me. No exceptions!

  • Blog Stats

    • 37,402 hits

  • Meta

Is ADD/ADHD real?

Posted on August 23, 2008 by therealmotherlode

If want a sure and swift way to finish off life on planet earth as we know it, just pit the “ADD/ADHD is a real mental health affliction” crowd against the “ADD/ADHD is a fake diagnosis fabricated by a massive pharmaceutical conspiracy” crowd and watch the fun begin. (From a safe distance that is.)

ADD/ADHD’s reality…or not…is hotly contested by some pretty impressive people, many with initials after their names.  In perusing the website for CHADD (Children and Adults with ADD) I read a blog in which it was stated that Michael Savage was blasting away at the validity of ADD on one of his shows.  (I think he blasts away at whatever he talks about, actually.)

I personally don’t care for Michael Savage’s vitriolic style.  But I can sympathize to a certain extent over what I feel is a LOT of diagnosing.  But I will say this….may that man find himself in a room full of true ADHD’ers and we’ll see who comes out a believer.

So where do I stand?  Yes.  And no.  Yes….it is real.  And no….you can keep your crummy title to yourself, thank you very much.  How’s that for ambiguous?

I’m not trying to be cheeky.  I’m of the opinion that ADD/ADHD, only called that since the early 80′s when it received it’s official “it’s a disorder” certification in the land of medicine, isn’t a disorder as much as a learning style/creative genius gift.  And yes, for some, it does create some very real challenges.  Welcome to life.

And I think it’s “prevalence” is wildly on the increase as our educational models become more machine like.  Programs like the ridiculous “No Child Left Behind” only serve to further alienate and stigmatize those whose creative bent and learning styles don’t fit well in an institution.

I’m also of the opinion that boys in particular have an internal, God-given (delicate readers, look away- I’m about to use a cuss word) Bullshit meters that cause a major resistance to learning twaddle and irrelevant jibber-jabber.  We should be thanking God for this natural grounding but instead Johnny’s scolded because he’s not paying attention in school.

Do you spend your free time pursuing subjects you loathe?  Do you hang out with people that irritate you on the weekends? (Family not included, that is. ;) ) Do enjoy spending hours organizing paper clips?

Hopefully, you’ve answered “no” to those questions.  But yet for thousands of children everyday…this is their life when they trudge off to the school bus at 6:30 in the morning to spend the day studying things they hate, with people they dislike, doing irrelevant busy work.

But it’s school!  I can hear those cries of protest. That’s what children DO!

Yep.  And look where that’s gotten us.  90 some percent of Americans hate their jobs.  Our prison populations are swelling.  And for that matter…so has our girth.  We’re one of the most highly “Schooled” countries in the world…and yet we consistently lag beyond other industrialized countries.  When will the educational “experts” learn the difference between schooling and education?

Something’s wrong with this picture and my contention is—it ain’t that wiggly boy sitting in the desk.

Filed under: homeschooling | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

School’s in session so put that book down!

Posted on August 19, 2008 by therealmotherlode

My college career was stunning.  I’ve attended five schools….and dropped out of four of them.  I pulled off graduating from Practical Nursing school through sheer grit.  Oh, not because I’m weak academically I just remember a defining moment in my education when I had a patient look at me with saucer eyes and exclaim, “You’re going to put WHAT?  WHERE?!”  It dawned on me then that my medical interests are best left read about.

So when I read a huge report in today’s Tennessean about “Saving our Schools” and an article on the Drudge Report about a school in Los Angeles with a whopping 58% drop out rate, it touches a nerve with me.

Education, as we call it….is woefully inadequate.  To quote a favorite among home educators: “Education is not the filling of a bucket but a lighting of the fire” W.B. Yeats.

Children are not generic individuals that you can simply set on the assembly line of “school” and expect them to come out as successful individuals at the end of 12 years.

For me, I consider my own journey.  I was an adequate student but more than once, I hid paperbacks behind the school texts because my passion was reading…not whatever it was the teacher was droning on about.  I recall typing class was spent trying to rewrite familiar poems into a parody.

Looking back, I realize that who I am was reflected….but redirected into getting my bucket filled, as it were.  My passions were systematically shut down and my aimlessness of what I wanted to be in life is certainly indicated by my college track record.

And now, here I sit, 44 years old and just now getting comfortable with the skin I’m wearing.

So I contend that education must first and foremost begin….and be absolutely obsessed with….by allowing a student to first look within themselves and allow their individuality to blossom and grow.

And lemme tell you that as a mom this is not an easy task.  It’s much easier to pull out the curriculum in a box and recreate “school” at my kitchen table.

Instead, I must force myself to ask the question, “Who did God create my child to be?” and focus on that.  What they’ll do will stem from that and dictate the direction their education is to take.

So how does that break down into the practical?

For Daniel—his bent is electricity and plumbing.  At first opportunity, we’ll get him apprenticed out.

Molly is a gifted writer and cartoonist.  She is presently working on her first book that we will self-publish.  She is also mom’s copy editor when I write a new column.

Caleb is an imaginative boy who leans towards sports.  But he’s also a deep thinker and I suspect he could end up in a laboratory somewhere splitting atoms.

It is from here that I consider how their education needs to unfold in addition to the fundamentals of reading, writing and math.

If you’re telling your kid to “put that book down” so they can learn….may I challenge you to reconsider your words?

You will discover a whole new appreciation for that little miracle you call your son or daughter.

Filed under: Individuality | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Michael Phelps- a slow learner?

Posted on August 18, 2008 by therealmotherlode

I clicked on a news story at the Drugereport.com on Michael Phelps that surprised me. According to the editorial article, Michael was a “developmentally challenged” kid who wasn’t expected to amount to much.

The writer opined that instead of focusing on this weaknesses, Michael focused on what he was good at.

Gee..do ya think he’s “good” at swimming?

All to often in our culture and especially in our educational system, we emphasize what kids are not good at. Johnny’s not good at sitting in a desk so he has attentional issues. Susie would rather fuss over the latest fashion instead of apply herself to her geometry. (I wonder how Vera Wang did in school?)

As parents we may fuss over our kids’ quirks. Or personality bents. Or how about we look inward at the many the many things we’re programmed by our culture to do: sit down, shut up, color in the lines, fit in, conform.

What a grievous thing to consider. Within the hearts of every breathing human being lie the seeds for greatness.

I wonder how many Olympians are out there that’ll we’ll never know about. Or brilliant scientists. Or imaginative designers.

Today—I want to look anew at my children. And instead of nitpicking at their flaws (or my own, for that matter,) I’m going to ask God to once again, help me see the beauty and individualism he’s place in them.

Maybe we’ll even swim a little bit too and consider the abilities of a slow learner who wasn’t supposed to amount to much.

“Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God: Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Marianne Williamson

Filed under: Individuality | Tagged: , , | 5 Comments »

Self Construction Vs. Mass Production

Posted on August 13, 2008 by therealmotherlode

My friend Dan Miller recently blogged about a visit they had from Road Trip Nation, a popular PBS program about kids who’ve set off across the country to interview people living their lives with uniqueness and passion.

The 36′ RV that they traverse the nation in has this quote emblazoned on the back of it:

“So, what do you want to do with your life?”
You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a consultant….
Blah, blah, blah.
Everywhere you turn people try to tell you who to be and what to do with your life.  We call that the noise…Block it…Shed it..
Leave it for the conformists..
As a generation, we need to get back to focusing on individuality.
Self-construction rather than mass production.
Define your own road in life instead of traveling down someone else’s.  Listen to yourself.
Your road is the Open Road. Find it.
Find the Open Road.

Wow.  That captures my heart not only as a home-educator…but it also sets my heart singing.

I have a theory that somewhere in about 7th grade, most of learn how to shut down our dreams inside.  The immense pressure and nastiness of middle school teaches us to conform and not risk being individualistic for fear of rejection.  And then we grow old and those dreams and passions wither and die.  The vast majority of Americans trudge off to jobs they despise everyday counting the years until they can retire.  What a tragedy.

I think there’s should be a trend showing support for individuality.  You know sort of like wearing a pink ribbon to show breast cancer support or a red one for heart disease.  Oh wait.  I know the perfect thing to wear….yourself! Find your voice, find your passion and express it.

It will give others the courage to do the same.  And life will be a lot more fun too.

And if you’d like to read Dan’s thoughts on that quote check out his blog at: http://48daysblog.wordpress.com/

Filed under: Individuality, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Page
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 191 other followers