Santa Claus, Physics, and More

So I did it this year, I came clean to Asa that there is no Santa Claus. You might think that at age 11, this would be a no-brainer, and of course she already knew. But I've always felt it's important to keep the magical thinking alive as long as the kid wants to. And as somebody who still anthropomorphizes my favorite plaid stuffed hippo, Horace, I'm a sucker for magical thinking. Of course, this means that Mackenzie has to give up his spot as Santa. He's stayed up the last few Christmases, stuffing stockings and having fun being the big brother. I don't know how this Christmas Eve will play out, it's an ever-evolving thing as the kids get older.


For those of you who still have younger kids, or kids interested in physics, or just like this kind of thing, here's a great physics-based proof that Santa Claus really exists.

In other physics news, our FIRST FTC robotics team went up to an event last weekend at Portland State University. In addition to working on their robotics stuff, the kids got to tour a whole bunch of the engineering labs there. We were very impressed! They got to help move a laser (over 800 pounds!), talked with a chemistry grad student about his work detecting nanoparticles in soil and water using an atomic mass spectrometer, saw a wind tunnel where they are testing wind turbine and wind energy farm designs, and best of all they got to spend a lot of time with someone from the robotics department discussing a robot called "Shrödinger's Cat" . Those of you that are physics buffs will understand why that's so funny. The cat lives in a box and is mobile, he runs around the building using two cameras, touch sensors, and other methods for object avoidance. He has a mental map of where he is, and can even go in the elevators and ask people to press the buttons to take him to another floor. He can interact with other robots in the lab, including a talking head of Nils Bohr.

I loved hearing all of the questions our kids came up with for the roboticist. Mackenzie was especially interested in the vision processing algorithms and how he could distinguish between objects and blank space (like a doorway). One of the things this tour really showed me was how much science being involved with FIRST has brought into his life. He already knew about Nanotechnology because back when he was on a FIRST FLL team, they did a research project on Nanoparticles and one of the things they discovered was all about the potential dangers of these particles when they end up in our water and soil. Another year, they did a project on alternative energy and it was his part of the project to research wind generators. So all of the things he was seeing in these science and engineering labs, he had already had a taste of through FIRST.

What My Young Man's Been Up To

I guess I have to stop calling Mackenzie my boy or my kid, once they start growing a mustache and they're taller than you, you have to stop right? In any case, Asa informs me that he is a TEEN not a kid, and that she will soon be a TWEEN not a kid, so there you go.

This time of year, I post a lot about Asa, since we are well into the endless rounds of dance recitals, play productions, singing gigs, etc. At last night's Homesource recital, she danced, sang with a rock band, did mime, and karate. She's my goer and doer and it's always easy to see what she's up to because it's usually on a stage!

Mackenzie's got a lot of stuff going on, but it's not usually the kind of thing one presents in front of an audience. Nevertheless, he's been really focusing in some exciting directions and I wanted to share here what he's been up to. This year started out with him taking his first computer programming class, in Visual Basic, through Homesource. The teacher there is beyond excellent and he's come back enthused and excited by the programming principles he's been learning. Then about halfway through the year, he began talking with one of our friends and workout buddies who has his own web design business. Mackenzie started doing a little bit of interning with him, learning both the front end stuff (HTML) and the back end (server) side of things. He was most excited about really doing actual work on live websites and real running servers. Heady stuff for a 13 year old. Then he got to talking with another one of our friends who is an IT guy and hardware specialist. Now for the last few weeks he's been going over to his house to learn about the hardware end of things.

Just this last week, he had a "test": basically he had to build a computer from a pile of components and a casing. He did it, too! And then got all of the operating system, drivers, and software installed to boot. He was enormously (and deservedly) proud of this accomplishment, and has been tinkering with even more machines (mostly old ones from around here that we've never gotten rid of). I can honestly say, he now knows far more about hardware than I do, and is rapidly eclipsing my software knowledge. At thirteen!

One thing that impresses me about all of this is the sheer numbers of people that are willing to share their knowledge, their time, and their skills with a kid. Often when people visualize homeschooling, they see it as something that will limit their children: limit their exposure to different topics, different people, to expertise in different areas. But I think this is just one example of how that really isn't the case. Whenever my kids have wanted to learn a skill, from Celtic violin to propogating plants to building a computer, they have found teachers and mentors willing to work with them, people who often give freely of their own time and energy to share their knowledge. It's not just about me homeschooling them, it's about them going out in the world and seeking out new knowledge and experiences, often far beyond what I would be able to show them.

The other thing that impresses me is really just how mature and capable Mackenzie is as a person. He's able to engage with adults in meaningful conversation about topics that he's interested in. He's able to work with them or for them or learn from them in respectful and attentive ways. He's able to see adults as people who have skills and knowledge to offer him, and to seek out the mentors in his life who will be able to help him to grow. And really, he's done all of this without my assistance, insistence, or prodding.

To me, it's just one more gift that unschooling has given to these kids, one more way that they grow and learn in a completely different manner than I did at their age. I am profoundly grateful for the fact that they have this opportunity, that we have the time and ability to give them this gift, and that so many wonderful people in their lives are involved in their learning.

What Does Unschooling Look Like Today?

After breakfast, Asa and I play Scrabble in our pajamas. Mackenzie is at the dining room table making a claymation movie. In a few minutes, Asa and I will head to the Performing Arts Center where she'll be appearing in a teaser of Annie - a selection of songs and scenes - performed for about 200 - 300 people. After that, she'll go to her Mime class.

Mackenzie will head out just before noon to go to an internship he's doing with a man who has his own web design business. This has been a terrific opportunity for him to not only learn skills like HTML programming, but to see what it really takes for someone to run their own business.

After a late lunch, I'll take the kids to the homeschool resource center where they're both taking a 5-week short course. Mackenzie's is in web design from his favorite computer science teacher, Asa's is a craft class where they'll make and embroider a purse. Then Asa will go to her dance class and rehearsal for Annie. She more or less lives at the combination dance studio/theatre these days (lucky for us they are in the same building!).

Mackenzie will go to a gaming night tonight, it's a group of adults who play a wide variety of board and card games, from strategy to storytelling to whatever. He really looks forward to Thursdays because of this! I'll pick up Asa at 8:30 and Mackenzie closer to 10:00.

Not all of our days are this busy, in fact Thursdays are the busiest on our schedule right now. But the theme that runs through our days is interest-driven learning, interaction with a wide variety of people and places, and best of all an amazing array of people who have chosen to share their time, energy, talent, and teaching with these kids. From the director of the play to the computer science teacher to the guy who invited Mackenzie to the gaming night to the man who is mentoring him in web design to Asa's encouraging Mime and Dance teachers, their lives are filled with so many wonderful adults. I feel that we're very blessed. Some people see homeschooling as a mom at a kitchen table with her kids and their workbooks. In our case, it is an interaction with the world at large and all of its exciting possibilities.