Epistemology

Today Bryan and I studied philosophy and its sub-fields: reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Reality (The state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. A still more broad definition includes everything that has existed, exists, or will exist.) Existence (The nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. It deals with questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences.) Knowledge (The nature and scope of knowledge and is also referred to as "theory of knowledge". It questions what knowledge is and how it can be acquired, and the extent to which any given subject or entity can be known, focusing on analyzing the nature of knowledge and how it relates to connected notions such as truth, belief, and justification.) Values ( Mainly two kinds of values: ethics and aesthetics. Ethics investigates the concepts of "right" and "good" in individual and social conduct. Aesthetics studies the concepts of "beauty" and "harmony.") Reason (Logic) Mind (Mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness, and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as one key issue in philosophy of mind, although there are other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation to the physical body, such as how consciousness is possible and the nature of particular mental states.) Language (Logic) After examining these basic premises as falling into the areas of philosophy, we examined epistemology in greater detail. Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, such as the relationships between truth, belief, and theories of justification. Skepticism is the position which questions the possibility of completely justifying any truth. The regress argument, a fundamental problem in epistemology, occurs when, in order to completely prove any statement, its justification itself needs to be supported by another justification. This chain can do three possible options;one option is infinitism, where this chain of justification can go on forever;another option is foundationalism, where the chain of justifications eventually relies on basic beliefs or axioms that are left unproven; the last option, such as in coherentism, is making the chain circular so that a statement is included in its own chain of justification. It was interesting examining the definition of skepticism. I will definitely take note if anyone ever calls me a skeptic. Poor Bryan always has to listen to his mother dwell on things that are in the of her own interests! 8/30/2013

Best Reader Goes To...

Breeanna is listening to Andrew Lang's The Yellow Fairy Book on Librivox's free audio book. http://librivox.org/the-yellow-fairy-book-by-andrew-lang/ Bryan is listening to Anthony Hope's, The Prisoner of Zenda. The book is so well read. It is captivating and has Bryan engrossed. http://librivox.org/the-prisoner-of-zenda-by-anthony-hope/ On our way to the bus stop this morning, I read The Tale of Desperaux to Breeanna trying my best to be as masterful as I could in its presentation. Afterwards I asked Breeanna if I read better than her dad. She said, "No." A crushing blow, although I think, not entirely honest! My estimation of my reading is masterful, brilliant, and sublime! At least I am trying to convince her of that!

I, Too, Am America

Today for morning homeschooling, our family read Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Red Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle. Poems were Oh Captain! My Captain! and I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman. Also, I, Too by Lanston Hughes. I, too, sing America I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen. When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody will dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. I am proud to be American, a country that can right its wrongs.

Just A Minute

We had a late night last night, 9:30pm. Breeanna urged me to tuck her into bed. I told her to go ahead. I'd be there in a minute. I packed away the groceries, did the dishes. Thirty minutes went by. Breeanna came to the kitchen wrapped in blanket and sat on my lap. She said in a sleepy tone that she had been waiting for me. I encircled her entirely in my arms and said, "Mommy will be right there." as I sent her back to bed once more. With a tender sleepy voice she said, "OK mommy,' and headed back toward the bedroom. I thought to myself, "I could move mountains for that voice.".

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Morning. I was fearful that the children would be under dressed as we walked out the door. You never know what the weather would be from one day to the next in Ohio. We read excerpts from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and then, Maya Angelou's biography, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou described the difficulty near impossibility of getting ahead for a black person of her time. I love her grandmother's morning prayer, "Our Father, thank you for letting me see this new day. Thank you that you didn't allow the bed I lay on last night to be my cooling board. Guide my feet this day along the straight and narrow and help me put a bridle upon my tongue. Bless this house and everyone in it. Thank you. Amen.". Angelou said during her time in Stamps, she met and fell in love with William Shakespeare because he said, "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes..." which was a state she felt herself most familiar. Bryan and Breeanna humored me by attempting to follow along in my reading of the troubled lives of people long ago until I continued to ply them with Kennedy's Inaugural Address, at which point they rebelled with various interruptions. Their punishment was minutes of jumping up and down: 1 minute for interrupting my reading, another for whining about the justification for the interruption and another for talking back, 3 in all. The school bus arrived and saved them from the full execution of their punishment.

Taste Of The Greene

Breeanna, Hat Model

Animal Farm

We explored Animal Farm this morning on our walk to the bus stop. Stories of animals are really stories of people. After coming across that concept I viewed the unfolding of Animal Farm in a different light. I loved how each animal settled themselves in their own way to get ready to listen to a presentation by the pig. I loved the logic of the pig as he denounced humans. Afterwards we got into The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. I read it with almost utter perfection which surprised me. My goal in reading always is to convey meaning. The materials that I present to the children are at times difficult to make sense of so I am proud of myself when I can convey it in a way that is understandable. Bryan listened so carefully as I read the Raven as if he is truly understanding the skill an artistry that went into the writing of it. When I am able to captivate in such a way, it is as if I am presenting something of beauty for him to appreciate...something about the world that he never knew existed before.

Swim Class

Tom Sawyer

This morning the alarm rang at 6am. I turned on the radio next to Breeanna's bed. By 7am Breeanna was dancing and drawing rainbows and hearts with her pastels. I think I've discovered a method of getting kids out of bed in the morning. We read a Native American story about coyote and an excerpt from Tom Sawyer. The children fought over their allotment of real estate on the beach towel that I brought to the bus stop for them to sit on. We finally decided that Breeanna could have the entire towel today and Bryan could have the entire towel tomorrow. The children on the bus are getting used to my cheerful waving at them as the bus pulls away and are actually smiling and waving back at me! It's a beautiful morning.

Oliver Twist

Today we read excerpts from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and six poems before the bus arrived. I was quite theatrical and hope that I didn't waken people asleep in their houses. It was a lovely morning and we heard many chirping away. I told Bryan that a bird sound must be a sort of language. If he was a bird, from sound alone must he visualize what it must be. If he was a bird, he must know from hearing the bird sound alone whether it would be a predator and whether he needs to flee.

First Day Of School

First Day of School: Bryan and Breeanna are riding the bus to Cleaveland school. Pick up at 8:30am but we got there a whole hour before. Why? To a section from What Your Child Needs to know in the Sixth Grade. We read a condensed five page version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet then I read with as much flare as I can muster, Edgar Allen Poe's, The Raven. I told my ex-husband of our morning activity and he thought it rather strange. I am very pleased to be strange.

Dissecting Mark Anthony's Speech

My children were captivated this morning on our walk to the bus stop by our discussion of Mark Anthony's call to action to the Roman people at Julius Caesar's funeral. We analyzed the showmanship and strategy involved as Mark Anthony's speech unfolded. It's great to see Bryan paying such close attention. 8/22/2013

Mango Banana Smoothie

Betty's Original Mango Banana Breakfast Smoothie Ocean Spray Blueberry Punch (1 cup) Water (1 cup) Sunflower Seed Butter (3 tbs) Bananas (2 whole) Mango (1/2 - 1 cup) Kale (2 tbs) Spinach (1tbs) This recipe is soooo delicious because the bananas and mangos provide sweet. The Sunflower Seed butter can substitute with Peanut Butter and provides protein. The Blueberry Punch provides another sweet. The frozen Kale and Frozen Spinach provides a pinch of nutrition without overwhelming the overall taste. Overall, I think my creation is a keeper.

1&2

Total 1&2 Part 1 Betty's Last Lecture I'm not anywhere near death. I am 46 and have probably 54 more years to live. I am the mother of two children and divorced from my husband. I really try not feel sorry for myself, having no reason, as death is not imminent in my life like in Randy Pausch's case. So how to spend my the time yet unfathomable as to its end? I embrace every moment with my children and do everything possible to prepare them for the day that they must forge their lives without me. My mental debate is that in knowing that my life could be swept away from me from disease or accident, how to teach my children the habits of thought and action that would help them live their lives without me. The children are too young now to see how my efforts will help shape their lives in the future. Like any parent I want to teach my children right from wrong, what I feel is important and how to deal with the difficulties life will bring. Parents want children to know stories from their own lives perhaps as a way to teach them how to live theirs and mistakes to avoid. My desire to do that lead me to follow Randy Pausch's format of a last lecture. This writing will never be presented to anyone as a graduation lecture at any academic institution. There truly is no audience other than my children and my friends. If I were an illustrator, I would have drawn a book for them. If I were a carpenter I would build a home for them, but I am a writer so like the story of Joseph and His Overcoat, I"m writing them a story. Betty's Last Lecture #1. An examined life. When I consider my demise and ruminate on what matters most to me, what wisdom would I impart to my children if I knew it was my last chance? What would I want as my legacy? I could share perhaps about my personal and professional journey. I have a great urge to leave some words that would serve as guide posts to my children. This is my insurance policy against unforeseen accidents that may cut short my life. What makes me unique that would define my 46 years of life? I never envisioned a dream for my life so there was no dream to fulfill. My childhood was very constricted. My life with my children is a struggle against that. I wanted for my children an examined life. I wanted for them to form aspirations from their childhood. #2. The Cards I Was Dealt & The Hand I Played Life snuck up on me. I was always unprepared: to the girls who called me names in middle school, to the subject that I wanted to study in college, to the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn't know I was supposed to look for a possible husband in college. After graduation, eligible men thinned out. I finally married at twenty nine. At thirty four I had my first child, Bryan. All my insecurities flooded upon me as I realized that I, now am responsible for another human being, how he would turn out, how he would think about himself, how he would relate to those around him. Not trusting my instincts which seemed not to have served me well in the past, I read book after book on how to raise a child. Day in and day out my nose was between the covers of a book. I read the latest research, rat experiments, nutrition, language acquisition, fine motor skills, gross motor skill, brain development. Five years later, I counted a total of over one hundred books read. My child is going to know what to say when a middle schooler calls him name a name. My child is going to know what he wants to be when he grows up. #3. My Childhood My great grandfather was a very wealthy land owner in North Vietnam. It was said that he owned land so vast that birds had to rest in their flight to cover the entire extent of his land. It was the time when Ho Chi Minh was gathering power. Communist ideology believed in the distribution of wealth amongst the poor. How? By taking. My great grandfather and two of his sons were killed. My grandfather fled to the coast of Vietnam with Communist soldiers in hot pursuit. For three days and three nights my grandfather, his wife and their seven children made their way through the tropical jungle of Vietnam. My uncle told me they were rescued by an American Red Cross ship that took them to South Vietnam where they started a new life.

The Hand I Was Dealt

Part 2 Betty's Last Lecture, Cont. 2. The Cards I Was Dealt & The Hand I Played Life snuck up on me. I was always unprepared: to the girls who called me names in middle school, to the subject that I wanted to study in college, to the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn't know I was supposed to look for a possible husband in college. After graduation, eligible men thinned out. I finally married at twenty nine. At thirty four I had my first child, Bryan. All my insecurities flooded upon me as I realized that I, now am responsible for another human being, how he would turn out, how he would think about himself, how he would relate to those around him. Not trusting my instincts which seemed not to have served me well in the past, I read book after book on how to raise a child. Day in and day out my nose was between the covers of a book. I read the latest research, rat experiments, nutrition, language acquisition, fine motor skills, gross motor skill, brain development. Five years later, I counted a total of over one hundred books read. My child is going to know what to say when a middle schooler calls him name a name. My child is going to know what he wants to be when he grows up. 3. My Childhood My great grandfather was a very wealthy land owner in North Vietnam. It was said that he owned land so vast that birds had to rest in their flight to cover the entire extent of his land. It was the time when Ho Chi Minh was gathering power. Communist ideology believed in the distribution of wealth amongst the poor. How? By taking. My great grandfather and two of his sons were killed. My grandfather fled to the coast of Vietnam with Communist soldiers in hot pursuit. For three days and three nights my grandfather, his wife and their seven children made their way through the tropical jungle of Vietnam. My uncle told me they were rescued by an American Red Cross ship that took them to South Vietnam where they started a new life.

An Examined Life

Betty's Last Lecture I'm not anywhere near death. I am 46 and have probably 54 more years to live. I am the mother of two children and divorced from my husband. I really try not feel sorry for myself, having no reason, as death is not imminent in my life like in Randy Pausch's case. So how to spend my the time yet unfathomable as to its end? I embrace every moment with my children and do everything possible to prepare them for the day that they must forge their lives without me. My mental debate with myself is that in knowing that my life could be swept away from me from disease or accident, how to teach my children the habits of thought and action that would help them live their lives without me. The children are too young now to see how my efforts will help shape their lives in the future. Like any parent I want to teach my children right from wrong, what I feel is important and how to deal with the difficulties life will bring. Parents want children to know stories from their own lives perhaps as a way to teach them how to live theirs. My desire to do that lead me to follow Randy Pausch's format of a last lecture. This will never be presented to anyone as a graduation lecture at any academic university. There truly is no audience other than my children and my friends. If I were an illustrator, I would have drawn a book for them. If I were a poet, I would write a poem for them, but I am only an aspiring writer so I"m writing. Betty's Last Lecture 1. An examined life. When I consider my demise and ruminate on what matters most to me, what wisdom would I impart to my children if I knew it was my last chance? What would I want as my legacy? I could share perhaps about my personal and professional journey. I have a great urge to leave some words that would serve as guide posts to my children. This is my insurance policy against unforeseen accidents that may cut short my life. What makes me unique that would define my 46 years of life? I never envisioned a dream for my life so there was no dream to fulfill. My childhood was very constricted. My life with my children is a struggle against that. I wanted for my children an examined life. I wanted for them to form aspirations from their childhood.

Breeanna Luxuriating In A Candle Lite Bath

Breeanna Loves Taking A Bath