Thursday, August 31, 2006

The mission statement is: The purpose of the da Vinci Institute is to prepare students to be well-educated, self-directed young adults who are Reasonable, Respectful and Responsible members of a global society.

We only had 3 rules: be Reasonable, be Responsible, and be Respectful. It is amazing how much of daily life fits under that umbrella. When a student was making poor choices, we would just look at him/her and say: "was that Reasonable?" (or Responsible, or Respectful) and the discussion would continue from there.

I should start including those into my home life. They were extremely effective.

Our dean was a master at putting the responsibility of the behavior back on the kids, and of letting them have space to figure out what they did. He'd call a kid down to the office, say hello, and have them sit in his office for awhile while he went out, made a phone call or two, talked to a teacher, and then, eventually, he'd make his way back. By the time they had been in his office for an hour, most kids were in tears, apologizing through hiccups. The students felt bad about disappointing him. It was amazing.

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We had the best spaghetti tonight. Organic tomato sauce, red peppers, basil and fresh green beans from the MSU Student Organic Farm. (www.msuorganicfarm.com), fresh French bread from the bakery in DeWitt. My tummy is happy.

The kids planted these Three Sister's Mounds at the Farm back in June. You make a mound of dirt and plant corn, beans, and squash seed in the mound. The beans climb up the corn and the squash plants keep the whole thing weeded. They were wildly successful. I think there are at least 10 spaghetti squashes on my 3 kids' plots. We harvested 2 squashes today, and 2 beans from M's bean plant. I'm still working on my camera/computer combo. Soon I'll figure out how to post photos.


L started school this week. I asked him what he did on the first day and he said "I already told dad, and I'm only telling one person a day. You'll have to ask him." He is NOT allowed to be a teenager yet. He is only 8 1/2.

M & A were screaming banshees today. We almost got kicked out of the hardware store. I even had to stop the car on the side of the road and refuse to go any further if they didn't be quiet. The problem with parenting books is that they always tell you what you shouldn't say and those are the only phrases I remember! I like to blame days like today on the moon. I should go see - I think it should be a full moon soon.

We were at the hardware picking up paint and wallpaper removal gunk. Our master bath toilet is broken right now (and not attached) so it is a perfect time to remove the wallpaper in there and paint. Of course, I hadn't decided on a color, and I don't really have time to do it without Little Miss M's help (she's only 2 1/2) or A's help (he's 5 1/2), but I went anyway. I am now the proud owner of a container of Dif, a sprayer, and a gallon of Benjamin Moore's Pottery Barn Buxton Blue . I really like the Phillipsburg Blue, but it is too dark in that closet. (there is a reason they were called Water Closets.)

Well, enough already! I'm off to cruise my favorite sites and then perhaps to watch TV. Maybe if I get control of the remote, I won't have to watch UFC Fight Night again.




1 comment:

normanack said...

Oh, man. That hardware store has got to put in a kids' play area. Although, as I remember it now, my kids ignored the play area and preferred rearranging the paintbrushes on the shop shelves.
Lucky for the store the paint chip strips were too high for kids to reach, or there would have been a real disaster.
I need a trip to a chiropractor to get your energy!