I really need a room...

with nothing in it except for a wall to wall bed. Then, we could get rid of all the other beds in the house, since they aren't ever used anyway. We'll call it the "Bedroom".

Our children co-sleep. Well, except for the ten year old (thankfully). This means that at some point over the course of the evening, the little people will leave whatever beds they happen to be in and migrate, asleep, like some zombie wildebeest, into our bed. I'm sure you can imagine how inconvenient this is.

We stayed the night at my parents house this past Saturday. My grandparents and aunt & uncle drove in too. This meant that we finally had the chance to complete Christmas, over a fortnight later that we had planned. Since my whole family was sick with SARS or Ebola or something, we figured it best to stay away from my grandparents. I'm glad we did, because they looked fabulous.

Yes, before you ask, the little children ended up in bed with us at my folks house too. In a double bed. An antique, incredibly noisy, double bed.

Digression: as I type this, it snows here in big D. I think I just heard someone go by in a dog sled. True story.

My Spring semester at the wonderful UTD begins today. Just Calculus II on Mondays. I figure that this will be my study heavy day. Today's tasks include making it to campus without the train going off the track and finding where all my classes will be. Tomorrow I have my technical writing c;ass and Physics II. I'm really looking forward to it.

That's about it. I'm a bit short on time, so I'll wrap it up here. Tomorrow, I think I'll have something on the projects that I'm working on or wish to do. Until then, enjoy the snow.

Cheers,

-- Zach

Science and Technology Schooling

Education is a topic that is close to my heart. My wife and I have three kids already, and the fourth is due in June. Our oldest is in public school. We feel that it's sufficient for now, but she'll probably end up going to a magnet or private school sometime in the future. The (currently) middle child is already beginning to display a knack for language and logic. If we had the money to put her in a Montessori, we would. The (current) baby is the quiet reserved one, best known for taking her time in figuring things out. School is going to need to move at her pace, I'm afraid.

When I was in school, I remember how often the games we played were math or science inspired. Whether tasked with counting and manipulating, or given a question and asked to observe to find an answer, science and math was woven into everything we did. Yearly science fairs accelerated the gifted and were a source of wonder and awe for the younger kids.

Then, we moved to south Dallas.

I remember wondering why it was that some of the sixth grade kids could drive their own cars to school. The concept of being held back was utterly foreign to me. I didn't realize that other kids might not want to succeed, and this new understanding troubled me deeply. Why weren't the teachers interested in the kids, and why did the kids seem to hate the teachers? The whole scene made no sense to me.

Over time, I began to understand the dynamics of poor neighborhoods, why kids with so much potential acted so fatalistic toward their education and their lives. Not everyone was the stereotypical ghetto kid, of course. My first-ever crush went to Space Camp and dreamed of being an astronaut. On the whole, however, education was far less of a focus than was survival. Math, science, humanities, art, all cast by the wayside on the journey to big chains and bigger rims.

My schools were typical of those found all over the country. The decline in test scores from US kids is a direct result of something or other. There are too many problems with the schools to point a finger at any one thing (save perhaps parent involvement - the one key indicator to a child's success in school). The decline of the American student is not going unnoticed or unchallenged. A middle school in Minneapolis is offering a complete curricula in STEM learning.

The Richard Allen Math & Science Academy (RAMSA) has only been open for a  year and a half, but it's already showing dramatic results. The curriculum includes math and science foci, as you might expect. Students go on field trips twice a month to reinforce their learning. Daily engineering classes help answer the age-old question, "When will I ever use this in the real world?" And finally. they've built a trebuchet. Who could ask for anything more?

I'm not sure what kind of schools my children will attend. I hope that they are as cool as RAMSA.

Cheers,

-- Zach