Review - Aletheia Writing Magazine

Aletheia Writing Magazine: Creativity for Christian Teens

Ages: 13 - 19
Cost: $26 (US) $29 (CAN) for one year subscription (4 issues) - includes shipping
Web Site: http://www.aletheiawritingmagazine.com

Aletheia Writing Magazine: Creativity for Christian Teens is an avenue for thirteen to nineteen year olds to express their artistic creativity in a Christian friendly magazine.  Each issue of Aletheia includes writing, poetry, illustration and photography by teenagers.

Personally, I love the concept of a magazine that is dedicated to allowing young writers and artists to expose their talents.  By taking a chance and submitting work, students are able to reach beyond themselves and get recognized for their abilities.  I am very impressed with the quality of work being published. 

In addition to the student submissions, “each issue offers a variety of unique features: a Writer's Challenge, the Featured Contributor, a book review, Glory to God for the Beauty of Nature, Ancient Ink, and an interview or other feature for edification and enjoyment.” 

I’ve known many teens that keep poetry journals, find great joy in photography or are capable of elaborate drawings.  The opportunity to be published gives them the occasion to experience the realities of taking one’s ability to the next step.  For some, this may be just what is needed to give them the confidence to pursue their art as a career.  Additionally, Aletheia offers a little something for everyone.  Maybe creative writing isn’t a strength, but the ability to capture the perfect sunset is.  Perhaps, your child likes to read and would enjoy offering an opinion through a book review?  Does your teen write songs or poetry? 

A subscription to Aletheia allows creative teenagers to see what is possible and to envision their work in a future issue.  As a homeschooling parent, I look for ways to encourage my teenagers to embrace writing.  Sometimes that is a difficult task when their audience is just mom.  However, given the opportunity to write and be published can be just what is needed to really spark their imagination.  If you have a creative teenager, I would encourage you to encourage them to read Aletheia and submit their works for publication.  In fact, you can see a sample issue here.

Finally, Aletheia has a blog for teens called Christian Teens Write.  This blog has posts then encourages teens to respond with their own blog posts that are then added to the site.  This is a very creative way to get teenagers with a passion for writing together and dealing with relevant teen topics.  You can take a look at the blog here. 

To see what other members of the Crew thought of the magazine, click here.

 

*** I received a copy of Aletheia Writing Magazine free of charge as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew in exchange for my honest review.

Blue Pen/Black Pen Phenomena - Teen Truth Circumvention

You may have this phenomenon going on in your house and just not realize it.

It gained its name thanks to my oldest child.   Someone had decided to do some scribble art on our wall.  My husband asked who wrote with a black pen all over the wall.  It was fervently denied by both her and her brother.  Caught in the act later, we asked why she lied?  Her response – I didn’t; it was a blue pen.  Hence the black pen/blue pen phenomenon.

It may be because I teach English that my children are so aware of how to use language to get around things.  This, however, is a bad thing.  Most recently it was about smoking.  Why teenagers choose to try smoking being fully aware of all the dangers and nastiness associated with it is beyond me!  Believe me, we’ve gone out of our way to educate them about why it is wrong.

Anyhow, that discernable smell began appearing on my oldest son’s clothes.  I ask – Are you smoking?  No, mom!  My friends smoke, I don’t.  Then other signs, cigarette pack in the car, the occasional butt on the ground, lighters – are you smoking?  No, Mom, it’s my friends.  Finally, caught in the act by a friend.  Are you smoking?  No, Mom.  How can you say that, you’ve been seen doing it?   Mom – I smoke occasionally.  I’m not smoking.  Smoking implies I do it all the time and am addicted.  I’m not. 

Yes – he knows what he is doing.  Yes, my heart broke a little. 

So what does a parent do that has children who use the blue pen/black pen phenomenon to circumvent the truth:

1.  Stay vigilant
2.  Try lots of different wording when asking questions
3.  Check their text messages
4.  Look for signs (you know in your gut the truth)
5.  Look them dead in the eye
6.  Explain that trust is a valuable commodity they will not quickly get back
7.  Pray (actually this should first and after each on the list)

I hate having to be a detective parent.  It’s worse though to be naive.  Teens will get into situations they knowingly shouldn’t.  We hope and pray we can trust them to do the right thing and to be honest when they don’t.  However, that isn’t always the way it works out – even with the best of parenting.  Trust your gut moms and dads!  It doesn’t lie, and it doesn’t differentiate between black and blue.

Turning off Texting

I’m beginning to see my husband’s perspective on teens and texting. After an episode of he said /she said that apparently went on until 4:00am this morning involving my two oldest teens and various friends, I have to feel that texting just creates social barriers.

When matters of the heart can be dealt with by the clicking of buttons, something has to change. When tone is indiscernible and things can be said that would never be said face to face, things have to change.

I honestly see the advantages of texting. In fact, I enjoy and use it quite a bit myself. Quick texts about a person’s day or their whereabouts are a good thing. This is much easier than entering into a lengthy conversation when a few words can do the trick.

However, I’m just not sure that youth of today understand when it’s time to step away from the message box and actually dial that person’s number. They don't verbally engage one another on a personal level and make sure that what is being communicated is being said understanding there is another human receiving the message.

My hubby has been rallying for the removal of texting from our teens' plans for quite a while. The fact that they’ve exceeded 20,000 texts a month should have convinced me, but the brouhaha that ensued this morning all over a text battle last night has opened my eyes.

Now we have to decide, do we -

1. Go cold turkey and turn texting off completely
2. Set time limits on when texting is an option – like 8am to 10pm
3. Realize we can do nothing because these are young “adults”
4. Confiscate phones at night

It’s time to get serious and make a decision. One that will inevitably lead to another brouhaha as these privileges are in danger of being revoked.

How do you manage texting in your household?

Making Time for Me

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How does one put family first without sacrificing herself in the process? I ponder this from time to time, and I’m not always good at doing it. However, over time, I have found a certain level of balance that allows me to feed my inner self along with taking care of the family.

Field Trips:
While this may not qualify as just "me" time, I love to see new things! While we always travel as a family, I think of going on field trips as a "me" thing as well. Learning about new places, cultures, time periods really excites me. While the boys might be downtrodden over our third lap through the museum, I'm eating it up!

Friendship: I think friendship is a key to keeping my perspective. Friends come and go. I once read about friendship being defined in stages. Some friends are for a moment (like when you talk to someone while your child is practicing a sport), some friends are for a season (those times in our lives when we have toddlers, teens, colleagues from work) and some friends are for a lifetime (those that just transcend life’s moments). I value all of them.

Having like-minded women around to talk to, mull things over with, and commiserate with feeds my soul. Of course, it’s the lifetime friends that mean the most, but a light conversation over tea while the kids are at play is always a great way to pass the time.

Work:
Yes, work! I love to teach. It’s what I was designed for, I think. Not that I’m amazing at it, it’s just that it is what suits me best. Whether it’s teaching online classes to college students or English classes at our local co-op, expressing my passion for education through teaching feels good. I know that’s why homeschooling has grabbed my heart, who better to share my passion with than my own children?

Writing:
This blog or Facebook or wherever I can write is for me. Putting thoughts down on the page is cathartic. I’m an English teacher, so it’s a good thing. I used to spend a lot of time grading and no time writing. That seemed very out of balance. A writing teacher that doesn’t write? Hmmm… I’ll never produce a novel – I’m neither creative nor patient enough for that, but a blog post can relieve stress in a heartbeat.

Reading:
It’s great to get lost in a good book. The mind gets to focus on the topic or story and get away from what’s for dinner, is the laundry done, what do the kids need to learn, where do we have to go to tomorrow? I’m not good at putting a book down, however. A weakness that can result in lost sleep.

Just a few ways to make time for me. Nothing revolutionary, but a way to keep my identity as I get the honor of helping my children develop theirs. I can honestly say I dread the day when the kids are grown and all I have time for is me. I’ll take these little snippets in amongst the joys of family and children any day!

What do you do to take care of yourself while raising a family?

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Teen Texting - How Much is too Much?

How many texts do you send per month? Personally, I like texting; it is an easy way to say something quickly or ask a question without having to have a long, drawn-out phone conversation. However, what I don’t get is when people choose to have that long, drawn-out conversation over text. If it’s going to be a long conversation, make the phone call!

As I walk through the stores or (gasp) drive down the road, I see people texting. My teens are hermetically attached to their cell phones. You want to see panic in its purest form? Steal their phone when they’re not looking. Instant horror… Usually followed by – “Dad!” since he’s the king of stealing the cell phone.

My two oldest teens each texted over 11,000 times last month. One has FB sending texts to the phone, the other does not. Scary! 11,000 instances where their attention was diverted by a little tone emanating from the device. How does one study, bathe, eat, sleep, live and spend that much time staring at that little screen for commentary minutia?

My husband is on a tirade – he wants texting banned from our lives. I’m torn – I like it (see above), but there has to be some semblance of restraint. Can a teen function at 100% of their potential and have access to texting? The jury is out on that one. Preliminary evidence indicates – not really.

How does your teen handle texting? What are your limits or do you have them? If you allow it, how much is too much? When does their independence come into conflict with your God given responsibility as a parent to ensure they take full advantage of opportunity and not miss out because… Beep…

Which reminds me, I need to go charge my cell phone…

Teen Testing

Do you realize how much time we spend getting our teens ready for tests? I was thinking about this today as my thirteen-year-old mentioned I’m always talking about tests.


I don’t mean tests for their subjects. In fact, we don’t take a lot of tests in our subjects. Mastery is demonstrated rather than tested. (At least for now…)

However, I am always telling him that he’s going to need to know this, that and the other for the PSAT or the SAT or the ACT or a CLEP. Test, test, test…

One of the reasons I became very disillusioned with the public school system was testing. Teachers are pressured to prepare their students to take End of Grade, multiple guess tests. Teachers almost have to teach to the tests nowadays as their jobs and their salaries can be contingent on how their students score. I find this sad. It really takes the steam out of the love of teaching. I was tired of my children being taught to take a test rather than to master a subject and think critically.

Nonetheless… I find myself worrying about tests.

My oldest son is graduating in January from the local public high school. He recently took the SAT for the third time and today took a College Placement Test (CPT) so that he can take college classes in the spring prior to heading to the university in the fall. I’m glad he’s got his testing behind him. Now we get to focus on where and when and what classes he will take for the next several years of his life.

As a homeschool parent staring high school in the face, I’m worried. Will my son be evaluated on his transcript? Probably not since he was homeschooled. He’ll be evaluated based on his SAT or ACT or college level course performance exclusively? I know he can do it. In fact, I know he can do it very well. But, it begs the question, is a test a fair evaluation of a person’s academic ability?

Those of you who are homeschooling high school or have homeschooled kids into college – how did/will you handle college admission? Have you simply relied on their test scores to carry them? Did the university even look at their transcript? What’s the secret? What about scholarships? The clock, for me is ticking, and I want to know where to find the keys to the kingdom. Help!