Wednesday, May 14, 2014

John Green's Crash Course!


I am still Homeschool Atheist Momma!
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I have decided that we are going to go easy on lessons for awhile. Since we are already going easy on lessons.  lol

We have been spending so much time reconnecting with people, following new life goals, and arranging our lives that sitting at the table and doing work is, like, last on our list.

Recently the kids turned me on to John Green's Youtube videos on American History. Since we are doing an American History unit, we have watched a good number of these videos and I can recommend them!

The series is called Crash Course!.
On Crash Course! former Mental Floss writers John and Hank Green have put together hundreds of excellent educational videos that your kid will LOVE. And so will you.

Besides being humorous and irreverent, the series is brilliantly done! But watch each video at least twice because he moves so quickly and tangentially that my fifty-year-old brain can't follow. But the kids love it and are learning so much!

Don't expect boring textbook lectures or mainstream mythology about history. John Green is going to tell it like it is. It's refreshing as heck.
Plus, the kids actually look forward to it and get enthusiastic about it.
SO...WIN.

We've been watching history videos but you can find videos on Literature, Chemistry, Biology, World History, Ecology, Current Events, and probably more.

 
SO check them out and let me know what you think!
Let me know what your kids think!


 
Did you pin this on Pinterest?  I did.
 
 
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100 Years From Now it Won't Matter


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Yeah, so maybe I've mentioned it, but I come from a pretty unhealthy and unhappy place. I know, many of us do. I don't really think of those days much because, well, life is great!  

Back in the day, I had such weird issues with so many things. The messages in my head came from some damaged and wounded people, so I have found my way to forgive them and to move forward and still love them. I can't say that I see these people much...because I have found that sometimes it is healthier to remove yourself from people and places that are...you know...the T word. *

Me in the Not-So -Good Old Days, 1980
After some other plans changed on me today, I found myself with an afternoon of no plans. I was in a different part of the city, enjoying some shopping, and I was sans kids. I decided to visit one of my dad's oldest and bestest friends. I am going to call him Razor and I'm going to call his awesome wife Rabbit (for odd and lovely reasons).

I dropped in on Razor and Rabbit this afternoon. It was a cold rain we were having and I decided to make a detour to visit them; I hadn't seen them in at least two years. They welcomed me in with HUGE hugs and tears of happy. 
And a welcome cuppa.

My brother, sister,
and that's me on the right, 1967
After telling my Brisbane stories, we spent alot of time talking about the past (as you do). The funny thing about my past, I have moved so far beyond it that I seldom spend any time thinking about it, letting it hurt me, remembering painful words, deeds, issues. Razor and Rabbit were very loving and kind.
But today, I was in tears.

I found myself explaining things to Razor and Rabbit, learning things from them I didn't know, and generally reliving the sad, sad years from way back. 

I had quite an emotional afternoon.
The first one of its kind that I have had in years.

Peace, Love, and Goodness
A few hours later, now back home with my family, I was making dinner, watching John out the back window playing with his best friend, and listening to Elizabeth telling me an extremely important and happy story. And when my husband walked into the kitchen and started talking, I felt wrapped in peace, love, and goodness.

And I'm reminding myself and you this evening:  all of those things in the past:  keep them there. Don't let them ruin one more hour of your life. Don't let the toxicity move from you to your children. Stop that crap in THIS generation. Do whatever it takes to get past them. For me it was years of really good therapy, years of journaling, and a firm determination to be authentic and honest. 

And it worked!  I'm here and I'm happy.
And, best of all, I know that I am not passing that stuff on to my own children, 
or their children... 

*  Toxic. 


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