Maybe my child is a Genius?

Maybe not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's close. Home schooling him was definitely the right choice. Yeah, I need to brag a little...

First, as for his progress in Kindergarten, he has nearly completed both Phonics and Social Studies, has over 50% of his math course completed and has made solid progress in every other area.

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Of course, as he's doing all of the above, he also took an assessment designed to compare Kindergarten students in the K12 organization to determine where each is at, developmentally, relative to one another. This test focused on counting, quantities, and numbers in general. Dalton measured “Well Above Average” in each category, the chart making it appear that he may, in fact, by the highest-scored student in two of the four (although I cannot prove that exactly, I feels good to say it anyway).

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Also, as a result of his being enrolled as “full day” Kindergarten, he has Social Studies and History classes that would otherwise not be presented to him at his age. The Social Studies class was intended, as far as I can tell, to be a once-weekly class, but Dalton has done at least two classes weekly, sometimes three. The lessons have focused on things such as the Pledge of Allegiance, the symbols of the United States (such as flags), National Holidays, and basic cultural diversity. These have all been areas of familiarity for Dalton, and each lesson has taken about 20 minutes as opposed to the 45 minutes the school expected them to take.

The History class has so-far focused on defining certain constructs such as the Cardinal Directions, the difference between continents and countries, and is taking him on an imaginary journey to each continent and through various countries on each. In this class, he has studied Australia and Europe, and is starting the Asia unit this week.

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In Europe, he “visited” eight different countries, learning about certain landmarks such as the Eifel Tower and Big Ben, and has completed various little art projects and read stories relevant to the culture of each.

So anyway, I simply wanted to display my son's achievements a little. I don't know for sure, but I doubt there are all that many 5 year old's running around talking about Italy or The Star Spangled Banner, and his test scores are clearly above what a regular public school would expect of him. I'm not sure how much of this is the result of decent parenting or just because he's simply freaking smart as hell... but we're going to keep doing what we're doing because it seems to work.

September 17, 1787

On this fateful day 223 years ago, James Madison helped to pen what I dare to consider to be the most important document ever written by man*, the Constitution of the United States. I suspect that most people forget about this day, or worse, believe that the Constitution was written and/or signed on our Independence Day, July 4, 1776.

Of course, this happens because we tend to forget that the United States had a constitution prior to that which we have now, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Of course, this document (effective from 1777 to 1787) established a much weaker, ineffectual government that was soon seen as needing replacement for fear that foreign powers and internal trade disputes would tear the country apart.

That is where our current Constitution comes in. This document set up a government with a well defined sphere of influence and a clear separation of powers between its different branches and even itself and the States. While this concept has been forgotten, perverted, and downright ignored at numerous times since, I continue to have faith in the principles laid out therein. Further, I maintain hope that people will become interested, and dare I say concerned, about the state of affairs in relation to the Constitution. Finally, I hold dear to the love I have for our great nation.

May The Creator bless America and all those who cherish it.

* Some may argue that the Bible should hold title as the “most important document ever written by man,” forgetting that the Bible is seen by most theologians as being inspired by God, thus not entirely a work of man.

Never Forgetting...

Above: A beautiful sight from this day in 2005, the aurora australis as photographed by NASA's IMAGE satellite. This was happening whilst we in the United States remembered the tragedy that befell us 4 years prior in 2001 when a number of Islamic extremists decided that jumbo-jets made great guided missiles. It is important to remember these terrible occasions, but it is equally important that we realize how infinitely small we are in comparison to the rest of the solar system, and the universe as a whole.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=6226

As random as it may seem, I think today I am most thankful for the fact that the Earth has a reasonably strong magnetic field, for without it, on occasions such as September 11, 2005 when the Earth was struck by the awesome power of our own sun, we might not have been permitted the luxury of being so self-absorbed as to believe that the day was only significant because of terrorism.

Rambling About Moving

We're moving into a new apartment, starting September 17 and hopefully being completely moved by the 20th. It is my hope that we'll be starting to settle in by that point, but it is hard for me to really be terribly concerned with that yet since we really haven't hardly started packing yet. Pictures are still hanging on the walls and most non-essentials are still sitting out in the open just waiting to be parked in boxes, but very little as of yet has actually made it into one.

I did start packing up some of the stuff on my desk, but with one box full I find that the rest of the things might be needed between now and the move, you might imagine I'm hesitant to put it all away if I'm just going to have to cut it back out of a box in a day or two...

But, I'm ready for this otherwise. I want it done and over with so that we can get on with planning Christmas and, hopefully, enjoying the Winter months. Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos that LIKES the winter, but anyway...

Of course, I couldn't tell you to save my life what most of our... uh... stuff... is. I know a lot of it is mine, and I remember acquiring some of it, but what it is or why it is hanging around is unknown to me right now. This goes for a lot of stuff that sits inside one of a multitude of boxes, totes, and other containers that have only been opened a couple times this year, but also applies to the vast majority of the items that reside in our living room, a large portion of which I suspect pretty much belong to my better half (sorry, love).

So, while I'm totally ready for this move, the rest of Hickersonia isn't quite there yet. I really hope we can get it together in the next ten days... It is kinda funny how much stuff we accumulate over time, even if we can't see any real reason to have it. Of course, if we weren't moving, it wouldn't matter, so I guess we'll just have to try to stop moving so frequently... Ahh, wouldn't THAT be a novel idea?

So Very Tired of Hurting

September 11, 2008 I sustained a back injury at work that has never quite left me in peace since. Today is feeling like one of my “bad” days, which is incredibly unfortunate considering we have plans with friends this evening. While the pain is pretty much continual, it varies in severity from day to day – today being at the point at which I hesitate to pick up anything that might be on the floor or even tie my shoes. Going from standing to sitting is uncomfortable too, and on days like these I find that leaning over the table to eat will cause me more grief than it is worth.

My only solace is in the fact that I have finally gotten over my pride and made an appointment with my doctor to see if there is anything we can do about this continued failure in pain management and healing. Those of you who know me well may be familiar with my extreme disinterest in dealing with physicians, the one caste of human being that seems to always act with arrogance, probably due to their seemingly god-like powers over life and death. As such, I have waiting far too long in having my troubles investigated further – a decision that I hope will not turn into a huge regret.

Hablante el Español en Los Estados Unidos Actualmente

Or, for the español-challenged: “Speaking the Spanish in the United States nowadays.”

Over the last ten years I have noted the ever-increasing number of products that are labeled in Spanish, and sometimes even advertised in Spanish. I try to not let these things bother me, but occasionally I find examples of the phenomenon I can't ignore.

For instance, I recall when I last went out to purchase a new DVD player. I had looked up reviews online and decided on one particular model that was both equipped with the features we wanted and priced low enough for us to be able to afford it. At the store, I spent a considerable amount of time looking for the item before I realized that the store had placed a large, incomprehensible inventory label on top of the entire English-language section of the box – I only recognized it because I had written the model number down.

I remember my surprise as I grabbed one of these boxes to find only two places where the unit's specifications were written; the English-language section completely covered by the aforementioned label. Why? I can't really say, but I have to admit my frustration with it. In this case, I chose to not complain because I figured it would have been a worthless gesture, but I seriously considered it anyway...

When did the United States become a bilingual country? Sure, I understand that English has never been the official language of the country, but most applicants for citizenship have to have a functional knowledge of the language. Why is it that about 1/3 of the people I work with are seemingly so ignorant when I attempt to communicate something to them? Why does my employer have to provide Spanish versions of our equipment checkout logs even though none of the bosses are fluent in Spanish? Further, why do my bosses tolerate it when these Spanish-speaking employees fail to follow reasonable orders as a result of the language barrier? I guess I should be thankful I'm not one of the bosses... I wouldn't tolerate it.

Ten years ago I had recently graduated from high school. I took three years of Spanish courses and one year of French, but never really picked up on any more than was absolutely necessary to pass the courses. I remember thinking that I would never need to understand Spanish because, quite frankly, I had never seen a practical application of the language anywhere in my life. Never had I seen an advertisement in Spanish, nor had I ever seen other tongues printed on product packages. I can't remember ever meeting anyone that spoke Spanish as their first language until four years ago, and it does kinda seem like in the last four years in particular I have seen an explosion of Spanish-focused marketing.

It seems to me that some immigrants are simply not even making an effort anymore to assimilate, choosing instead to force the creation of a double-culture that will do nothing but make lives harder and communication more difficult. This opinion was further enforced when my wife told me about an Hispanic child in her preschool class that speaks no English whatsoever. My wife doesn't know Spanish! Yet she has chosen to take on the task of learning at least a series of select Spanish words for the benefit of this particular child. I respect her motives (she is a better person than I) but I don't think it is reasonable for her to have to bother with it.

I don't really have any answers to any of the questions or problems I raise here... I do, however, wish for someone to come up with answers that satisfy my intent to be “me,” while still affording immigrants the opportunity to come here to work and live. Suffice to say, I don't think I should have to read Spanish (period) and I have no intent to really learn any more of the language than I have to to survive. So far, my opinions are shelved because, well, I figure I am a sort of “mental” minority, and I figure I shall continue forever to be so.

Business Gone Dumb

This should be a short one, but I just need to vent a little. I received a call this morning from the jokers at Cincinnati Bell, this time about our home service as opposed to our cellular service (the fiasco with which my Facebook friends should be familiar). Apparently they somehow confused the date for our move request and decided that they would go there TODAY instead of on September 20, the date we requested.

Of course, this presents a major problem because, not only do we not have possession of the apartment in question yet (and won't until September 17), but the outgoing tenant still lives there!

Fortunately, the technician called prior to arriving, but he sure sounded upset about it when I told him we weren't there, couldn't get in even if we were, and we weren't scheduled for today in the first place. Not really my fault, duh... and just to be sure, I called Cincinnati Bell and they do indeed have the correct date for the service change, so what happened is anyone's guess. This company really needs to get it's act together!