The lovely statuette pictured above is Faith’s Christmas gift to Annette. This marks the first time Faith has ever had the idea of giving a gift for Christmas. She said she wanted to give Bugga a present. She picked it out at the store, and she boxed it. On the Day, when it was time to open presents at Bugga’s house, Faith was more excited about Bugga opening her gift than she was about opening her own! It was an Epiphany of sorts.

The work of learning never stops, not even on Christmas. Among Faith and Abby’s presents were a dinosaur picture book, and a big box of a wide variety of toy dinosaurs. They’ll be absorbing paleontology as they play. Or, maybe they’ll just make the Mommy Dinosaur and the Baby Dinosaurs go shopping. It’s up to them, really.

For three months now, Faith and Abaigeal have been taking weekly ballet classes at Everything Goes Dance Studio, 1721 NW 16th Street. Tonight their hard work pays off, as they take the stage for the annual Christmas program. The show will start at 6:00 this evening, in the auditorium of Northeast High School, 3100 N. Kelley. Admission is free, so come on down if you’re not busy.

 

These photos are from the dress rehearsal, earlier today. I apologize for their poor quality, but they are the best I could get with my camera from where I was sitting. Shown above is my own personal favorite routine — aside from my daughters’, I mean — the Christmas belly dancers! There are also tap, flamenco, and hip-hop numbers in the program, performed by students of all ages, mostly women and girls, with a few dudes on stage from time to time.

  

Here is Faith, dancing in her jammies to “The Night Before Christmas.”

The girls are very excited to discover that tree.

  

And Abby dances gracefully to “White Christmas.”

May your days be merry and bright, etc.

As with so many other school-related controversies, homeschooling families may look upon this one from an elevated perch above the fray. A public school teacher in Texas got herself in a spot of trouble for blurting out to a bunch of first-graders that there is no Santa Claus. After getting phone calls from angry parents, the school forced the teacher to recant her allegation of Santa’s nonentity. Not only that, she had to tell the students that she had in fact just heard from Santa, who was alive and well.

It’s one of the earliest decisions every American family makes: how are we going to handle Santa? Here at our household, Mr. Claus is handled like any other fictional character. When we are asked if any fictional character is real, we just answer no. They’re made up.

Sometimes, we further explain that Santa Claus is based on a real man, Saint Nicholas, who really does love all children, and adults besides. But Saint Nicholas lives in Heaven, not the North Pole, and he has no elves or reindeer. And I would no more hand my daughter a dolly and tell her it was from Santa, than I would give her a box of nails from Bob the Builder.

I’ve got nothing against parents who teach their children that Santa is alive and well, and the source of their Christmas gifts. My own parents maintained the Santa myth when I was young, and I don’t feel wronged, or respect them any less for it. But it sure sounds like a lot of work, and I don’t think I would be capable of it. It would require more skill than I possess to maintain such a preposterous lie.

Because Santa is preposterous, even for a four-year-old. The flimsy story is so full of holes that it falls apart under even mild questioning. How can Santa get into dwellings with no fireplace? How can he visit every house on Earth in one night? If he makes the toys, how come they say “Fisher-Price”? How can he know who is good? Why do some kids get more and better gifts than we do? How come every time I see Santa he looks different? I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to answer these questions.

Now, we don’t have a “Santa-free house.” The guy’s not a devil, and he’s not a bad influence. Our children see Santa in books, on television, and depicted on decorations, much as they also see Barbie and Winnie the Pooh. They sing songs about him. In fact, as fictional characters go, a happy man who loves all children and gives away toys to celebrate Jesus’s birthday is one of the better ones.

I don’t even mind if they believe he’s real. Kids believe lots of stuff. But someday, like all children, they will know the truth, and it won’t be a hard truth to learn, because it will be what I’ve been telling them all along.

An article on college students who were homeschooled in the Oklahoma Daily, OU’s campus newspaper.

Of note:

• Experts say homeschoolers are thriving in college because the homeschool environment mimics college, with more emphasis on independent study and time management.
• Many institutions of higher education, including Stanford University, are actively recruiting homeschooled students because they score better on college entrance exams.

Good article! It’s pretty short, go read the whole thing.

Faith: Abby, polar bears don’t lay eggs!
Abby: Yes dey do.
Me: No, they don’t lay eggs. Faith is right.
Abby: Hmph. Well, I’m pretending dey do.