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Spring break for everyone else is still school in a homeschooling household.

Today, Pensacola’s Blue Angels were practicing at the NAS Museum. So we took the kids out to watch the show.

It’s always a treat. The sheer thrill that runs through you as those F-18’s soar over your head is incredible. After watching the show, we hopped over to the old lighthouse and ate lunch by a shade tree there.

I was impressed by the teaching moments we had.  Even though the kids were not reciting Math facts and studying philosophy, they were spending time in the top school called the big wide world.

• We learned the art of navigating crowds. Thousands flock to the base even if it’s only a practice event. Keeping a big family together and safe is no joke. It takes a lot of concentration on the part of the parents, as well as focus from each child. We worked on watching the leader of the group, keeping our eyes focused on our surroundings, and never losing sight of our family.
• We built the mindset of sticking out a situation till the end. We parked half a mile away from the runway. In Florida’s direct sunlight, it’s a challenge for young children to carry a camp chair the whole way to a destination. But we focused on one step at a time, and got to the runway with color in our cheeks and determination in our eyes.
• We honed our observational skills. On the way home, we stopped by the local Advance Auto Parts. It was empty, and the kids amused themselves by hiding in the aisles and finding each other by the use of the convex mirrors on the wall. Child’s game? Maybe. A learning moment? Absolutely.

It got me to thinking. These mindsets are key to life. But we don’t think about them in our overview of school.

Qualities like observational skills are often overlooked in traditional education. Yet we are as lost without them as we would be without the ability to read.

Many times, experiences are the best tools for learning if you only open your eyes. Make every moment a teaching moment!

If losing my dad did anything for me, it taught me empathy.

It’s not like I didn’t understand others before. Tragedy has simply given me the ability to understand another’s pain.

But it goes beyond understanding. Personally, empathy is also the ability to stand beside a hurting person as they heal. True understanding of another requires you to walk through the gates of hell with them. It’s not just pity or even sympathy. It is the willingness to be the rock of healing that brings another soul out of the waters of pain.

This kind of empathy has to be birthed. It’s not like one day you can suddenly understand what others are feeling.

How does empathy grow? It’s through travail. You have to experience pain before you can have the ability to help another human navigate the pain they feel.

If you allow the hurts of your life to teach you to be balanced, you have the beginnings of empathy in you. Walking beside others will help you develop the skill even more.

The challenge: to allow hardships to mold you into a healer. Don’t let your heart be hardened because there is evil and pain in the world. Be an example of empathy in this broken universe.

Why do kids struggle with math facts, but quote movies perfectly?

Take away the factor of the addictiveness of screen time, and you are left with one thing that makes movies much more memorable than random facts: storytelling.

I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot. We connect to other humans through the use of stories. They imprint concepts into our heads, and give us a mental picture for what we are learning.

It’s this concept that can help change the way we teach new ideas. Instead of trying to acquaint another person with abstract ideas, give them something that paints a picture in their mind.

Reach a person’s heart first; their mind will follow.

This is what makes stories so important. They connect to a key part of us: our hearts. And it’s always worth gaining a heart, not?

Tragedy changes a person, no matter how you look at it.

It can harden your heart or tear it to shreds. It makes you seek the comfort of people one moment and loathe their company the next.

Many times people use the tragic situations in their lives as crutches to excuse their behavior. Instead of focusing on the hard part of tragedy, I am reflecting on the lessons I have learned because of facing tragic situations.

1. I have learned that no matter your situation, there is someone in the world that has it harder than you. This realization taught me not to pity myself, and to face life head on even if it’s hard.
2. I have found that I am stronger than whatever comes my way. That’s something you don’t understand to a deep level unless you have faced a heartbreaking situation.
3. I have learned to appreciate the little moments. I don’t take anything or anybody for granted anymore.
4. I have learned that it’s always worth it to give everything you have. You don’t have nearly as many regrets if you make the choice to
5. I know that it’s not worth the energy to wallow in hurt. Getting back up and making your best attempt at life will always heal you faster than feeling sorry for yourself.
6. I empathize with others who have gone through tragedy. I can understand the deepest level of the pain of loss, because I have walked that road. It gives me the ability to understand others and help them grow through the process of their lives.

Whether a tragedy takes you down or grows you is your choice. In the height of pain, it’s hard to feel like it will ever get better. But I can promise there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

I have so many memories of my childhood. The ones that stick out the most in my mind, however, are the memories that are attached to strong emotions.

In fact, my earliest memory is linked to sheer terror. I remember 9/11. Many people recall the exact place they were when they heard the news of the Twin Towers. But not everyone was under two years old when the attack occurred.

That’s right. I was just 21 months old. We were traveling with friends. My dad was in the passenger seat of the 12-passenger van we were traveling in. My mom was beside me, and I was enjoying the ride in my car seat.

Then dad got the call. I have no recollection of anything he said. I remember the look on his face as he told my mom what had happened. And I remember the stab to my heart that makes the moment stand so clear in my mind.

I don’t know if I picked up an emotion from my parents, or if even at that young age I realized that this event was much, much bigger than what anyone imagined.

Regardless, it’s interesting how fear makes memories stand out. Because the emotion puts your whole body on full alert, your senses are extra sharp, ready to make a quick run or to stand guard and fight.

The memories stick out because of all your senses being fully receptive to surroundings.

If I want to remember a moment for years, I take this perspective and act on it. I wear certain scents of perfume or chapstick on days I don’t want to forget. Or I take a moment to observe my surroundings, drinking in my environment.

Try it: open your eyes wide, to take in all you can see. Take long, deep breaths, letting the smell of the moment flow through your lungs. Stay silent and listen for the smallest noise that may spark your memory later Touch your face with your hand, or run your fingers through some sand nearby. Taste raindrops as they fall. Live the moment to the fullest extent possible.

Choose to alert your senses and train your brain to remember the good things in life. Try it: it’s pretty fun!

When explorers set out on a new adventure, they always have tools. Two of the biggest are a compass and a map. Together, they give the explorer a guide to the trail he is conquering.

Even if he walks into uncharted territory, the explorer keeps his map close by, changing details or adding landmarks as he presses forward. He constantly compares the compass and the map with his environment.

Your goals are your compass. Your schedule is your map.

You may not be the type of person who needs a detailed schedule to get things done. Yet even a simple map is a huge advantage in the hand of an explorer. Likewise, setting priorities for the days ahead helps make your ideas reality.

I sent this week’s goals to a mentor as an accountability practice this evening. I am exhausted. I know I need a long night’s rest to prepare me for the week.

But something about taking the couple moments to plan the week gives me energy. I now have a priority for each day.

It’s amazing how even twenty minutes of thinking and can put even the biggest projects into perspective.

My compass for the next while is my podcast. My map is the weekly plan I lay out.

And it’s great to be compared to an explorer. You’re welcome for the simile!

This week, check your compass and your map. Are you moving in the direction you want to?

Press on, adventurer!

I enjoyed dramatic interpretation to the fullest extent during my high school years. My favorite presentation ever was an individual event I did with my homeschool group, Classical Conversations.

The rules for the presentation were simple: take another author’s work and put it into a speech of your own.

I chose Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer. I have always been a fan of Twain’s dry humor. He’s a master storyteller: Tom Sawyer was real and alive to me from the first time I read the book.

The passage I selected was one of pathos, tenderness, pain, and humor all in one. It featured Tom’s first kiss with Becky Thatcher, and their eventual breakup all in one. The challenge was to put myself in both character’s shoes at the same time.

Tom and Becky are completely opposite characters. Tom is a renegade who never does anything right; Becky is the model of an angel. It’s your typical bad guy- good girl combination, but in juvenile form.

The scene starts with Tom flirting with Becky, finally getting her to kiss him. He makes the mistake, however, of mentioning his previous love, Amy Lawrence. Becky cries. Tom consoles and coddles as many men do, but fails utterly. He even offers her his prized andiron knob, but Becky throws it down. Solemnly, Tom leaves, but recovers soon enough. Becky, however, reconsiders and tries to find her young lover. When he is nowhere around, she changes her mind once more and decides to hate him forever.

Young love. It’s so real and understandable in the scene. I had a blast memorizing the story (I spend 2 hours a day for several weeks practicing). And my time paid off: my presentation was flawless, according to my tutor’s grading.

I just had several points docked off because I ran over the maximum time limit per selection.