Plugged-In Parenting Review

Plugged-In Parenting: How to Raise Media-Savvy Kids with Love, Not War

Author: Bob Waliszewski

I really enjoyed Plugged-In Parenting.  We have struggled in our home to maintain a sense of appropriateness in the face of the media culture.  This is especially true for our older teenagers who sleep with the TV on, own IPods and spend a great deal of time on social media. 

There have always been rules in the house.  Movies, games or songs with inappropriate content are strongly discouraged.  However, parents can’t watch their kids 24/7 especially when they get older and more independent.

Bob Waliszewski addresses both the impact that negative media can have on an individual and the fact that parents will fight push-back when attempting to keep their kids from being exposed to those films and lyrics that “everyone” listens to these days. 

While Bob offers examples of extreme cases where violence has been the result of media influence, he also address the smaller nuances that can result from allowing our minds to be affected by what we watch, play or listen to.  Kids or teens especially can be influenced to believe that smoking, drinking or promiscuity are socially acceptable for everyone. 

I appreciated that Bob not only pointed out the problem, but offered some solutions.  ClearPlay is a product that allows families to download filters for popular movies or programs removing objectionable content seamlessly while keeping the story intact.  Further, Bob suggests creating a family constitution that defines the family stance on what is appropriate in media and what will not be engaged in by family members. 

I admit I felt overwhelmed by what I read.  Negative messages comes at a family from all angles, even when watching appropriate programming, a commercial can throw a monkey wrench through suggestive selling.  While we do monitor our children’s media, how does one reign back in teenagers who are “doing their own thing”?   

Focusing on what God would find appropriate helps.  Bob focuses on this aspect throughout the book.  We can get busy in life and forget to run things through our God filter.  I think that’s what it all boils down to.  This book helped remind me about how important it is to be in the world, but not of it.  We are going to make a pact as a family to renew our God filter and monitor more carefully the media we let in. 

If you are interested in Plugged-In Parenting, you can read a chapter here.

*** I received a copy of this book free of charge from Tyndale for my honest review.

Slim Down Sunday Meme - Week 1

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds or 100 pounds – it always helps to have support from those around you.

This meme is an opportunity for you to share your successes and setbacks with others hoping to slim down as well. We kicked off last week, but this week is the first real link up! Come and join me! 

Same pic as last week - I cut my hair! Hate it! So, give me a week or two and I'll update with more hair and, hopefully, a slimmer self.

Goal – lose 20 pounds

 
Pounds Lost (Week 1) – Honestly, I stayed off the scale this week. It’s my least favorite week of the month, if you know what I mean, so I always gain weight this week. I didn’t want to start with disappointment. :-)

How it’s Going This Week:

Wow! I couldn’t have picked a better time to decide to lose weight. I am at a two week workshop and we just finished week one. The instruction has been excellent, and they are really taking care of the participants food wise. Breakfast and lunch are provided.

Breakfasts have consisted of fruits along with different items each day like quiche, donuts, bacon and cheese grits… Lunches have been sandwiches, pasta, chicken pot pie… Yikes! Add to that the two bins of snacks they provide each day including chips, candy bars, fruit cups, etc. and it would be easy to put on a TON of weight.

Fortunately, I’m Type A, and a diet is a diet! So, only fruits, veggies and low calorie meat choices for me. It hasn’t been too hard – I’m glad for that! The fruit and salad choices have made it easy to ignore the other sweet temptations. I hope that proves true in week two as well!

As for exercise, well… I have done more walking than normal commuting back and forth to the campus. I did wander down to the exercise room one night to walk on the treadmill. However, no taekwondo, so I’m thinking it’s probably a wash. Something to work on more next week. If the temps are cooler, walking the campus is a distinct possibility.

Plan for Next Week:

I’m going to keep on keeping on with the eating healthy. I do plan to walk the campus or be more active next week. We’ll see. I want to break out my Hungry Girl Cookbook when I get back home as there are many yummy low-cal, low-fat recipes I need to add to my repertoire.

If you haven't checked out Hungry Girl before, I suggest you do. She does a great job of encouraging us dieters while offering great suggestions for eating to lose weight. I LOVE her recipes! 

Where do you get the healthy recipes that help you lose weight? What’s your plan this week? How is your diet going? 

Link up here and then be sure to visit the other links and leave them comments of encouragement as well.

When the Cat's Away...

Hubby and the two younger boys headed to the beach to hang out with his family while I came to my workshop.  It was actually a relief for me because I knew they were having fun while I was away.  I think they had a pretty good time!

My Handsome Boys

Fighting Some Waves

Hanging with Nana

My guys wanted me to know that even though they were having lots of fun, they were thinking of me.  Awww...  I love it!

Casa de la April

Why Would You Want to Teach? America has lost It's Perspective!

Being here at Duke has been a real eye opener and a confirmation of the value of education!

It’s been an eye opener because I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with middle and high public school teachers this week.  I am shocked and dismayed with the pressures and lack of support these teachers receive while trying to educate America’s youth.

One wonderful lady I have met is expected to teach several computing courses with very little resources.  They are providing no textbooks, no training and yet she is expected to walk into the high school this year and teach concepts like programming using Flash and design in Photoshop. 

Another was telling me about the thirty-five students she will have in her classroom.  Thirty-five!  If a teacher is absent, classes are combined and students sit on the floor. 

I am especially appalled by the amount of negative parental influence allowed.  Parents of lackadaisical students complain to administration and teachers have been told not to fail them or to change their grades.  In some cases, teachers have seen changes to their grade books.  Accountability and consequences are out the window.

Finally, the budget cuts are really hurting the teachers personally.  One lost his job days before the workshop started.  Others say they are dealing with furlough days and major budgetary cuts for supplies and resources.  Some districts have implemented health plans now that require teachers to demonstrate health through weight and activity or pay high premiums. 

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to homeschool my boys, and, yet, I am frightened by the trends in America’s education.  Our schools are filled with kids needing a strong education, and teachers are being crippled by the administration and the government.

Why would people choose teaching these days when they have no support, low incomes, and ridiculous expectations set for them?  America is at a crossroads, and if we don’t invest in teachers and our youth – the America we know and love will be a thing of the past as we watch the rest of the world pass us right by.  

Alice Days Two and Three - More Complexity

It's day three of ten at the Alice Workshop.

Homework last night was challenging.  Learning to make characters do certain motions and trying to remember the commands were a stretch.  Here’s the video result.

Today, we’re into more fun stuff:

• Making objects move like the dragon flapping his wings
• Adding small animations and sounds like the fire he breathes
• Including backgrounds to make the view more rich

I’m really loving this because of the levels of creativity, critical thinking, and logic that are required.  Can’t wait until we can make a game!

At the Alice Conference

This two weeks is very exciting for me!  I love technology and believe we need more of it in the homeschool community.  Sure, there are lots of online classes, but what I am referring to is computer science, not simply using the computer as a tool.

A friend of mine works in technology for the local school district and often sends me links to new tools the district gets access to.  I’m so happy she thinks of me and does that!  About six months ago, she sent me a link to a program called Alice.

Alice was developed by Carnegie Melon as a free tool to teach students 3D programming in a visual platform.  What is exciting about this is that Alice creates an environment where students can move code and see the results quickly and easily.  Much more inviting than the old text-based programming.

So, long story long, I got on an email list to learn more about Alice.  Instructors from around the world post to this list.  It so happens Duke University has a prof that not only teaches Alice to college students, but holds summer conferences for teachers at the middle and high school level.  She encouraged me to apply, and I was picked to go.  Thus, here I am!  So, what did we learn Day 1? 

Here’s the video of the outcome of our first program:

Here’s what the code looks like:

Very exciting!  Yes – you can teach your kids to do this too!

My plan is to bring this information back and teach homeschooled students Alice at our local co-op.  In addition, I’m going to post the lessons I develop to this blog so that all homeschooled parents have the opportunity to include Alice in their homeschool.

Interested?  Stay tuned!  I’ve got nine more days of classes and am excited to see and share the results!

Slim Down Sunday Meme

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds or 100 pounds – it always helps to have support from those around you.  This meme is an opportunity for you to share your successes and setbacks with others hoping to slim down as well.   I wanted to start each week reviewing my goals and fixing any setbacks, thus “Slim Down Sunday”. 

I’ll post each Sunday.  Come on by to link up any time during the week, grab the button on the lefthand sidebar, and then visit and encourage the other ladies who link up.  Also, feel free to follow and post comments rather than linking up if you want the encouragement but prefer not to share your weight loss journey.

Goal – lose 20 pounds

Pounds lost – none to date, I just started

Approach to losing weight:

I have found that the best way for me to lose weight is to watch my fat and calories.  My goal is to drastically cut back on fats while also trying to watch my calories.

I’m fortunate to be at a workshop for the next two weeks.  That means I can eat healthy all I want without having to have my kids on board.  No – “Mom!  Yuck!  Vegetables…”  J

I know that physical fitness needs to play a role as well.  However, I hate to run!  So jogging is NOT in my future.  I’m thinking walking more.  There will be a lot of walking at this workshop.  Once it’s over, our neighborhood is a 1/2 mile circle, so one extra mile a day for starters in addition to TKD I already do twice a week will be the goal.

Successes:

This is really day one, but I would say there have been a couple of successes already. 

1.  The hubby is on board and supportive.

2.  My BFF has agreed to be the angel on my shoulder guiding me towards success

3.  This blog.  Several of you wanted to join in.  A community makes a big difference in weight loss.

Drawbacks:

Obviously, none so far.  My sweet tooth will be a challenge.  I love me some sweets! 

I’m SO excited to have you all joining me.  It’s easy to give up when you’re the only one who knows the plan.  Much harder to do when others are keeping an eye on you and encouraging. 

I created a button located on the left sidebar if you want to add it to your blog.

Link up and then visit each other so we can all encourage and slim down.