Saturday, September 11, 2010

What kind of blog should I start?

I am up at 12:30am. I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but my brain is really charged and won't find sleep soon. I know I haven't blogged in a long time and I have a ton of ideas rolling around in this supercharged brain of mine. But here's the deal.

I am going to start a separate blog about this home schooling journey that we sort of started this week (if you count being extras on a tv show and going to the Motown Museum educational... which, for the record, I do). However, I can't quite decide on the tone of my blog. Let me ask you all.

But first the thought process: I would love for my home school blog to be brutally honest. I want tonsil-revealing laughter, heaving tears, and bad mommy moments. I want to be honest-to-god blatantly truthful about the reasons I'm home schooling, about the days we're having, about how it effects my relationships with my kids and husband and third-cousin-twice- removed. About how it effects my relationship with myself. (Is that my ego? Hellooo? I've been trying to ditch you, can't you get a hint? No-one wants you around, gosh.)

BUT (I always like to stick that big "but" out there), I want a blog that my grandma and grandpa can read. I want to keep my friends, and for the moment, my husband. I don't want judgements being made about me by my closest friends and the other 200 people that stalk me on Facebook- um, I mean, that care enough to read my blog and get something out of it, maybe.

So, do you think I should do an anonymous blog under a pseudonym so I can really reach into my heart and soul. In which case, I won't tell you my fake name or the blog address or it wouldn't really be ANONYMOUS would it? So you probably wound't get to read it until it's published in book format under a pen name. In which case, you still might not read it. So really, this "out there" blog would be just for me and whatever strangers stumble upon it. Anyway, if this was the case, I'd also write a very mild "here's what we did today" sort of blog for the people who are just checking in to make sure I'm not screwing around playing Wii and watching Netflix with the kids all year.

Or, should I do a very restrained version of the "out there" blog for y'all? Which, by default, would be a little less than "out there" and might be considered boring.

OR, should I just throw caution to the wind, trust that you all know me well enough not to make life-altering judgements about me or my kids, and pump-out the shocking truth on a new blog baring my own real smiling mug and traceable, trackable, legal name?

Because you know, when I (and when I say "I," I really mean "we" meaning me and Jay) decided to home school, it wasn't like just choosing a different school. It was like choosing a different lifestyle... and I'm sure there are going to be issues. Fascinating issues.

Please weigh in on this giant "but."

6 comments:

  1. I vote real deal, lay it all out there. throw caution into the wind, but move aside when it blows back on you! :) you can do it. You're strong enough to have made the lifestyle change, blogging to your closest friends and famiy is a piece of cake at this point.

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  2. I want all the raunchy truth. I, myself an not disclipined enough to home school. I like to hear about real families bringing this experience into their home. I'm also interested in the decision making process from a more secular perspective. I so wish I could do this, but I must accept my limitations and try to supplment what is missed in public schooling.

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  3. OUT there...let it out! Heck, your "life" might just end up on the BIG screen. Entertain us with the RAW truth. Censoring your reactions might be too much work and you might not blog as often. Speak from the heart. BUT that's my opinion. --Sally

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  4. I would advise to you to do a personal, "How it went today," kind of dear diary, but use a psuedo-name since you expressed a desire to do so. I think it's ok if your friends know it is you, but let strangers wonder anyway. (be "untracably annonymous") I think what you should do is the dear diary version of: Teacher emotional and concentration:...; Kids emotional and concetration:...; Subjects covered today and approach to subjects and why:...; How well we did as a whole:... . Daily Grades: Teacher, students, subject(s) presentation difficulty, subject(s) uptake by students, overall grade for the day. I think subjects should get two grades per session, possible outcome aimed at, worth as a presentation you gave.

    WHY: First, deep from inside, what was supposed to happen and what did happen, how do you feel about the day. This archives for posterity what you are doing and how you feel about it. The grades you can transfer to a spread sheet, 10 = A+ to 0 = F- and track your progress and the kid's progress day by day and overall. (date, child, subject...) It also makes this graphable by your child's behavior, day by day on a year's scale, for each year. Tiny labor for a day's report, but it let's every one know what you were doing, how you went about it, how it worked out. ( great for accreditation... "RECORDS!")

    So written as a daily diary and categories with number values. If nothing else the entire experience gets well documented and it seems to me it could easily be rewritten into book form.

    well, that's me sticking my "but" in.
    sincerely w/Namaste
    t.e.h.

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  5. Tom, the cool thing about Homeschool is you don't have to grade or have records for "accreditation!" I have read amazing blogs (Sarah) about curriculum and structure of homeschooling. I'm not sure I'm qualified to or interested in doing that. I want to really chronicle the emotional journey, how it effects our family, our life, and the kids' socio-emotional lives. As I said, it's a "way of life" not just a new way of doing school! Thanks so much for your input, though!

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  6. If it were me I would put it all out there, anonymously. Mostly for the fact that our kids are getting really tech savvy and you don't really want your kids being stalked and ridiculed through the internet because of what you write, right? For that reason my personal blog will eventually go anon, whenever I get around to it. But just because it's anon doesn't mean you can't share your URL / name with close friends and family so that they can follow your journey, you just add a layer of protection from those peeps who don't need to know everything about you and your kids.

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