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backoh's comments:
on Fall of the Berlin Wall
Our only son was born the year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I reamember feeling so happy that my son was being born into a world that held more potential for peace than any world I had lived in during my life. I also remember my disappointment when the US invaded Kuwait a year later.
We have many lessons to learn from the fall of the Berlin Wall on the way non-violence can solve problems and bring freedom. I feel for the people who lived under Communism for so many years. But they did gain their freedom without a war. We need to remember and celebrate that.
posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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on Rurban Living
In my experience in upstate NY (no UGB) creeping suburbia forces out farms. We lived on 5 acres carved out of a farm originally deeded to a revolutionary war soldier. Personally, I loved living in a combined rural/suburban area. However, I worried about land, air and water contaminated with agricultural pollutants. I had to drive long distances for services I used regularly (library, grocery store, etc.)
Now I live in Salem. I enjoy being able to walk/bike/take public transport to fill needs. I use the land we have to grow some vegetables and fruit. I'd like to make life in Salem more sustainable by being able to raise a few chickens in the city.
I'm watching these trends with great interest. Thanks for doing shows on these subjects.
posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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on The Health of Our Bees
Thank you for doing this show. I need bees for my garden and my fruits and berries and have been thinking about raising my own. One question: I know that I've heard that almond pollen is somewhat toxic for honeybees. I've heard that's one of the stressors. Your guest just said that they're very healthy after feeding on almond trees. Can he explain this discrepancy in information? Thanks.
posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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on Layoff or Day Off?
My husband is a state manager, so he has lost the raise he was expecting this year and will lose money from the mandated furlough days. Obviously, we're not thrilled at adding these losses to the loss of our savings in the stock market drop. However, we are still in much better shape than people who lose all their income through a job or business loss. It makes sense to try to spread the hurt around.
Much of our current problems stem from greed and people maximizing their individual well being at the expense of the community. If we learn how to cooperate better, some good will come out of our current economic crisis.
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on Unschool
1) I was disappointed that the show spent so much time talking to an educator from an alternate but more traditional school. He was interesting, but he wasn't really relevant to the topic at hand. I would have preferred that you spend the time talking to more actual homeschoolers, like Dave Albert, who unschooled two children *very* successfully. They are now grown and are very successful in their fields. He's written three books on homeschooling and lectures on the subject. There are other regional people with similar backgrounds Who would have been more appropriate as well.
2) I appreciated the comments by the unschooled gentleman who said that his one regret about unschooling was that he wasn't forced to learn math more rigorously as a child. He may be correct. Or, on the other hand, he may have become totally uninterested in math, or may have developed "math anxiety" as a result of being forced to do math, perhaps unsuccessfully, for 12 years. One can't tell where alternate paths would actually lead.
I was traditionally schooled, 12 years of parochial education. While very successful in the verbal arts, I entered high school behind in math and never caught up. I took pre-calculus twice on the college level, because I was interested in a science career, and was never able to master the subject enough to go into a science field. Would it have been different if I was homeschooled, if my parents investigated different math curricula until something "clicked", if I was allowed to progress at my own pace, rather than always being behind and never able to catch up? I don't know. One doesn't know where alternate paths would have led.
I have homeschooled my son since the end of 3rd grade- actually, with encouragement from his teacher, because she thought having to go at the pace of the class was holding him back. I have made him do math regularly over the years, though we consider ourselves "eclectic" homeschoolers. We have switched curricula, trying to find something that would give him a love of math. So far, nothing has worked. He has aced high school algebra courses taken at the local community college (he's still high school aged), and he is presently teaching himself trigonometry. He is showing no interest in a career that will involve much math. If that changes, he may suddenly develop a strong interest in math, like the gentleman who spoke during the show.
3) Which brings up another point that I don't think was addressed during the show. One fundamental belief of most homeschoolers is that learning is life-long. For example, I indicated above that I am very math-phobic. I'll never be good at it. But when I started my own business, I taught myself how to keep the books sufficiently to do the day-to-day bookkeeping. I then hired an accountant to do the "heavy" stuff- this was actually required by my lease and my franchise agreement. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd had a PhD in math. Knowledge is best aquired when the interest or need exists first. I intend to keep learning until I die. And I certainly expect my son to keep learning throughout his life, as my husband and I have.
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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