Medieval Living » Ranting and Raving

Regaining Momentum

Scott — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:28:53 +0000

The difficulty of being a small non-profit is that almost everything rests on the shoulders of a very few. And if those very few have any personal events that take them away from “the business”, then “the business” suffers. Such is my case – after spending several weeks dealing with the death of my mother (which affected everyone here at Medieval Living), my daughter scheduled a wedding in Las Vegas for the Fourth of July weekend. Not a problem, other then it interfered with some of my planned activities. (Yes, we did stay at the Excaliber! Where else would a Medievalist stay in Las Vegas?!?!)

Plans for next week include being at the homeschool play day on the East side of Albuquerque. I will be bringing materials for teaching introductory classes on chainmail, weaving, spinning, and Nine Men Morris. As this week progresses, I will be more active here on the blog site, as well as scheduling new events, classes, etc.

On a semi-related note: I will be vending at the Idalia Road Marketplace in Rio Rancho – hoping to earn a few bucks to support myself so that I can continue providing free classes for homeschool students. Most of what I will be selling is related to what I teach – and so that also serves as a “springboard” for preaching the values of homeschooling.

I will also begin private tutoring – for both public school and homeschool students – as well as parent coaching. The biggest issue that I saw in our public schools was not the teachers and administrators, so much as it was the parents who just won’t get involved with their students education. I think our public school teachers would be able to do a much better job if they were supported by parents, rather then assailed. Oh well . . . time will tell. My truck is packed and I’m ready to go to market (just like in Medieval days).

Excitement is Brewing!!!

Scott — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:36:49 +0000

Any athlete will tell you that there is more to a sport than understanding the rules. In order to be considered a baseball player, one has to do more then gather the necessary equipment and other players. One has to actively participate in the game – hitting the ball, throwing the ball, running the bases, scoring runs, and getting hits, strikes, balls and outs.

I feel the same way about history. Now I realize that one can’t actually travel back into time to participate in a moment in history. However, by recreating a particular historical event, it is possible to experience how people lived, worked and played. Pulling together the artifacts of the era, from buildings to tools to children’s toys, one can get a real sense of a historical character’s daily life.

As I continue to work with our traveling museum concept, I am more and more excited about what we can offer to students across the state. And as we gather momentum and begin the process of actually constructing a permanent facility to house the living history museum, I see more and more how we can integrate its construction and development with the education of children and adults alike. Not only will people be able to experience a recreation of the past, but they will actually be able to participate in its construction. Now I realize that some of these activities will be geared more toward adults – but imagine if you will, a group of people who have had some basic training in timber frame construction participating in the raising of several “period” buildings! Not only does this allow them to learn hands-on how to build timber frame structures, but they gain some ownership and a stake in the museum itself.

So as I work on this vision, as I see it becoming reality, there is a great sense of satisfaction and excitement. I look forward to each and every step along the way – it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth every single effort!

Technology Rant & Rave

Scott — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:02:53 +0000

Please don’t misunderstand me . . . modern technology is great! There are some applications of modern devices which save lives and help people be more efficient in their businesses and classrooms. The very fact that I am using a computer, the internet, social networking and so on to share with others about Medieval Living is wonderful . . . I don’t know how we managed before these inventions.

However . . . some of these wonderful devices also suck the life right out of us. In particular, the cell phone, iPod-style devices, and gaming consoles have reduced us to a bunch of unimaginative, lazy zombies. Kids in particular are affected by these marvels of modern technology. Teachers in the public schools are in a constant battle with cell phones and iPods . . . and if the teacher takes the device away from the student, then the parents threaten to sue the teacher and the school. Yet, when the student has their “technology” with them, they tune out the classroom lesson and their grades begin to plummet . . . and again, the school and teacher are threatened by the parent, this time because their little “darling” is failing school.

I love the cellphone commercial on the television where superheroes have been called in to save a family from their daughter’s “texting” problem. The superheros bring in the cell phone representative, who solves the problem by offering a “package” that will keep the family’s phone bill in control. I think alot of us have a different solution to the problem . . . take the kid’s cellphone away! Problem solved!

Again, I’m not anti-technology. It’s like anything else . . . there is a time and a place, and all things in moderation. My son’s friend mentioned once about how much time he spent playing a particular online game. “I could have learned a new language instead of playing this game,” he said.

I think that’s a big part of our purpose here at Medieval Living. Now I don’t expect people to throw away contemporary living for the hard life of a Medieval commoner. But I do think that when people learn to make things by hand (rather then by computerized machines) that they begin to realize how much work and effort goes into making something. Maybe they will never make weaving or pottery their life’s work, but once they learn the basics of a particular skill, they will appreciate fabric and stoneware alot more.

And of course, we always need to look at technology for what it is . . . a way of making life easier or of solving a problem. I’m in the process of building a lesson using the Medieval trebuchet. At some point in history, the trebuchet was a contemporary piece of technology, with innovative ideas and the application of science and math. That’s exactly our purpose for looking at the trebuchet . . . to teach a little history, a little math, a little science . . and to have a little fun. When we get to the timber framing projects, it will be the same idea . . . learning math, science and history, plus the added benefit of learning about a construction method that has regained some interest in modern construction.

Am i against modern technology? No, of course not. But I do think that as a culture, we have lost the ability to make things for ourselves, to be more self-reliant. We buy junk at WalMart and other places – use it for a short while and then throw it away because we don’t know how to repair it. Perhaps if we learned to make some things ourselves, we would have better quality products that we can maintain for ourselves.

So how about it? Want your homeschoolers to learn to become more self-reliant? Then let’s explore some historical arts and crafts. Call me or send me an email, write a snail mail letter (don’t get many of those these days!), or come knock on my door. We’ll leave our cellphones and iPods at home (or at least turned off and tucked away), and put our hands and our brains to good use by making something or doing some activity that freshens our imaginations, encourages a healthy lifestyle, and removes the “zombie” glaze from our eyes!!!

Program Notes

Scott — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:51:02 +0000

I’m going to revisit some of the classes we held in the spring this year. I’ve had several people contact me who have an interest in the inkle loom weaving class and the chainmail class. I also think I will have another go at the pennywhistle class. For me, school begins in a couple of days . . . so although I know it adds alot of work to my schedule, it also means that I will have a better chance at planning activities.

It looks like we will be losing James in a couple of weeks. I appreciate the classes that he taught and the contacts he made for us. Hope things work out for him in the future.

Garage sale this next Saturday, August 21 – 805 Cerro de Ortega, Rio Rancho . . . I don’t know that we will have a large amount of “stuff”, but all of the proceedings will benefit Medieval Living.

It sounds like the Saint James Tearoom will be holding a fundraiser for some undisclosed charity (I know that Medieval Living has been mentioned as a possible recipient!!!) There will be a ginger bread house contest among the employees . . . with a silent auction open to the public, with the proceeds going to some charity. I know that it hasn’t been decided yet, and perhaps I am being a little greedy about the prospects of Medieval Living being the recipient . . . but since so many of the younger workers at the “Tearoom” are homeschool kids, it would surely seem appropriate. Added to the obvious financial benefit, we would also receive a significant amount of publicity, which is very important to our ongoing success. Dunno . . . will have to wait and see.

I had to order “Cathing the Stone” online . . . the book by a local author that I mentioned in my previous post. Once it arrives, I will give it a read and review on here. Looking forward to it!

Well enough for now. I really do hope to have some dates for events scheduled very soon. Please leave a comment or email me – I would love to hear from all of my readers.

Scott
Medieval Living

Updates at Medieval Living

Scott — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:47:36 +0000

Well it’s been a while since I last posted on here . . . between being very busy and having my computer crash, blogging just never entered the mix! A new (used) computer is sitting on the desk and I am dealing with programs, files and so on each day.

We had a tapestry weaving class last week: there were three signed up for it, but only one was able to attend. The nine-men morris classes had similar numbers, so I’m assuming that summer has arrived and people are finding other things to do. We had hoped to have archery up and running by now, but trying to find a suitable location, the appropriate equipment, and the necessary insurance and paperwork has been a barrier – but we will work it all out.

I was very encouraged to see an after school program in California where one of the activities was fencing. The students participating were late elementary school/middle school age. One of the issues with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is that in order to participate in fencing/rapier fighting, an individual must be 16 or older. Now I know darn well that in collegiate-style fencing, students start at a young age and are well on their way to being a notable fighter long before they turn 16. So . . . why the wait? I think that is yet another area that Medieval Living will explore – Medieval-style fencing – based upon the individual student’s aptitude and maturity, rather then age. (Which is the way I handle all of my classes – age should never be the sole determining factor of a student’s appopriateness for an acitivity or class.)

I attended the Albuquerque Folk Festival on the 19th of June – what a fun event!!! I wish more people would participate in this very worthwhile activity! I attended the beginner’s tinwhistle/pennywhistle class led by Andy Moss . . . as usual, his class was excellent and well attended. During the class, he offered a slightly different notation system for the whistle, which I will post on the “Music” page of this blog. Also a the folk festival was a gentleman who was spinning wool. I venture to guess that he was in his late 30s or early 40s (I am horrible at judging ages) – but he had been spinning most of his life, and was very adept at the art. I had the pleasure of visiting with him for 30 minutes or so, discussing the art or spinning. He gave me some ideas for “spinning” classes for Medieval Living, so look for that this fall.

I will continue to schedule some activities in both Albuquerque and Los Lunas this July and early August, but I think we will slow down a little, as it seems that most families are traveling or occupied with other things. Instead, I will spend my time focusing on developing some new classes and “tweeking” old ones, with our sight focused on September.

I don’t remember if I posted this or not . . . Medieval Living, Inc., has finally received it’s 501(c)3 status from the IRS – very glad for this as it allows us to pursue more funding opportunities then we could without it.

And of course, I have to return to the public school classroom this August, so I need to spend some time lesson planning and preparing for the new school year . . . unless someone offers some financial support to allow me to focus solely on Medieval Living – I would prefer the latter, as it would be truly what I feel I should be doing!!!

Enough for now – hope I haven’t lost too many readers during the “down” time – send me an email or post a note on the message board.

Cheers!

Whelmed Again

Scott — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:36:06 +0000

It’s that time of the year – seniors are taking their finals and preparing for their graduation ceremonies, the weather is warming up nicely, which means more outdoor activities, the mother-in-law has added 15 new projects to her list of “my-son-in-law-can-do-these-he-has-lots-of-free-time projects”, and of course allergies and little cold bugs that knock you off your feet for a few days. Yes, I’ve been experiencing all of those this past couple of weeks; therefore, writing a blog article has been something I think about right before drifting off to sleep.
I’m in the midst of designing some wasters (practice swords) as James wants to teach some “pell” skills later this summer. I really don’t like the idea of buying something that I can make myself, especially something as simple as a practice sword. Maybe this weekend I will find the time for that (already told the mum-in-law “NO!!!”).
A reader is intersted in my pattern for the practice inkle looms, so I will put that into a pdf file format – it’s a handy little loom – one of my co-teachers teaches some vocational skills classes and just raves about those little looms.
Hopefully I will be able to stay out of bed this weekend – still feeling a little under the weather, napping every opportunity I can find. Less than three weeks until school is out – I wonder who is more excited – me or the kids. Ha, I know the answer to that one!!!

The Passing of a Modern Day Knight

Scott — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:10:14 +0000

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I don’t usually comment on news events and personal opinion topics (unless related to education). Here is one that came to my attention . . . I think it appropriate that I share it with you:

Courage

-You’re a 19 year old kid.
- You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
- It’s November 11, 1967.
- LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
-Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
-You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.
-Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.
-As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
-Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
-You look up to see a Huey coming in. But … It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
-Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
-He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
-Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He’s coming anyway.
-And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
-Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.
-And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
-He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho . . .
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing, but we’ve sure seen a whole bunch about Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods.

More Rants and Raves – Public Schools, etc.

Scott — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 22:46:56 +0000

So I always hear how concerned people are about the education of the children here in this state. Politicians are constantly using the education theme for campaigning – “We need to fix our schools so that our children can compete with the other states in the nation!” Hmmmm, well Albuquerque Public Schools recently announced that they (the district administration folks) made some errors in calculating the budget . . . to the tune of $43 million – plus or minus. The fallout of this is that an estimated 500 positions will be vacated because of retirements . . . and those 500 positions will not be filled. And then another 700 positions will be terminated . . . layed off . . . released . . . whatever. Ouch! But of course, we don’t need to worry, as this will have little impact on classroom sizes . . . maybe an increase of one or two students per class. Hmmmm – more APS math at work? Let’s look at this . . . suppose there are three U.S. History teachers in one high school – each teaching five sections with around 30 students per section . . . 150 students per teacher, 450 students total. That’s about right – a school with 1800 students, divided by four (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades) would be 450 students. So one of those teachers has the misfortune of being layed off, and his or her classes are then divided between the other two teachers. Hmmm – 150 divided by 2 is 75 – each teacher now has 225 students, divided into five sections of U.S. History . . . equals . . . 45 students per class. Now wait a minute . . . I thought there was only going to be an increase of 1 or 2 students, not 15!!! Now I’m not a math teacher . . . and of course not all of the 1,200 vacated jobs will be teacher positions . . . but it seems to me that there is going to be some serious issues within our schools here. And Los Lunas has just announced similar problems, while Rio Rancho last year was asking teachers to “volunteer” their time in the classroom. Yikes!
So what does this have to do with Medieval Living and homeschooling? Alot!!! We all ready have 7,000 registered homeschool families in the state – a significant change in the quality of public school education will likely cause the number of homeschool families to soar.
Now the biggest comment I hear from public school people about homeschoolers is that the homeschool child doesn’t learn how to socialize, and for that reason alone, homeschooling should be rejected. Now I’ve seen what goes on in the public schools . . . and without going into detail, I’m not so sure that the type of “socializing” I see going on there is what I would want my children to experience. At our recent weaving class, I had the opportunity to observe homeschool children from a variety of situations and ages . . . and I have to say, these children are among the best behaved I have ever seen. And go figure . . . their parents were well behaved also! Hmmmm. Enough said.
Okay . . . not all is gloom and doom – I have seen some extremely good kids come out of the public schools – students who will become major contributors to our community. Teachers are working very diligently to address the issues faced in the public schools. The biggest problem is that our society has developed an anti-education culture, in spite of the constant chatter about improving education. A significant percentage of parents want their children to receive a good education . . . but they will do nothing to help . . .they won’t make their children do their homework – they won’t encourage their children to behave in school – they won’t make their children get enough sleep – they give them “crap” for breakfast, if they get breakfast at all – and they won’t show up for meetings with teachers. Then, when the student is in danger of failing, the parents point at the teachers and say “Why is my little Johnie/Suzie/whoever failing? Why aren’t YOU doing something about it? You must be a terrible teacher!!!” and so on and so on and so on. *Sighs* Again, not all is negative – there are those parents who ARE involved with their children’s education, who insist that homework is done, who insist they get enough sleep, and who are always at meetings with teachers. But the numbers are skewed horribly in the wrong direction – the number of involved parents are a signifcant minority. And many of those parents are the ones who will pull their child out of the public school and place them in either a charter school, a private school (such as Albuquerque Academy or Bosque School), or in a homeschool.
And so this is where Medieval Living is stepping in – to assist those who take the homeschool route. I am very glad to continue offering a growing number of courses – with topics which are intersting and keep the students engaged, which teach both academics and practical/vocational skill development, and which provide students with the opportunity to explore and examine ideas and activities that are rarely found in a public school setting. If you have read all the way to this point . . . thank you! I know that I have gone on ad naseum – but it’s a serious situation and I am concerned for those who face the decision of whether or not to public school or homeschool. And of course, I’m concerned with how Medieval Living can help meet the anticipated rise in homeschool families. We are going to need some help, both in the classroom and in financial support. I’m open to suggestions and ideas to gain both . . . thank you in advance!

scott@medieval-living.com

Rants and Raves

Scott — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:24:56 +0000

Well . . . it didn’t snow yesterday – at least not here in the city. So that meant that my students were stuck with me again for another long day of school . . . I have to admit that all of us were watching the sky to see if there was a glimmer of a shortened day. Instead, the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Darn! So much for getting work done at home!

Still, yesterday was not a bad day. Steven Till stopped by my blog to comment on the Medieval Archaeology documents that I had posted the day before – you’re welcome Steven . . . actually, that’s the main reason I am on here – to find interesting and meaningful web information regarding Medieval life, and then to share it with anyone who is interested. While I don’t get many comments, I do see through the magic of blog statistics the number of people who visit my blog and the types of information they are searching for. It is encouraging and rewarding when I see someone search for a topic and then they find it on my little blog! How cool! Sure, I wish that they would add a comment or two, but honestly, I’m pleased to know that others are benefiting from my efforts.

My arm was twisted at school to teach a course on Financial Literacy this year . . . now I will agree that our kiddos need as much advice about personal money management as they can get . . . especially in light of the current economic situation. And frankly, it was debt that put all of us in this situation, so having the chance to educate people about the pitfalls of going into debt is a good thing. Just not sure why I was given the honor of teaching the class. Hmmmm.

Anyway . . . speaking of money . . . *clears throat* . . . I stumbled upon an add for an organization called “Good Search”. Now it is my understanding that Good Search has been around for a while . . . I just didnt know about it. It is a search engine (tied to Yahoo!) that donates 50% of its advertising revenue to non-profit organizations. Unlike donation style buttons, Good Search simply asks which organization you support, and then when you use the Good Search search box, your chosen non-profit gets a click . . . and in time, some profit. While I would love people to send donations via PayPal, the Good Search approach is quite agreeable.

Since Medieval Living is a fledgling non-profit, and because it has a small but growing web presence, I thought it prudent to sign up. And . . . I did. Now it will be a few days before the registration process is complete, but I have added an ad box in my sidebar, above the PayPal box. I will place here in this article as well, just in case you missed it in the sidebar. *cough cough*.

Oh . . . time to get back to the kitchen . . . no Medieval food today . . . today it’s Vietnamese . . . banh cuon, canh chua ca, and xoi nep! Pork in rice wrappers, hot and sour fish soup, and steamed sticky rice. OMG is that stuff good! And I’m losing weight! Ha! Thanks for the soup recipe Ms. Tran Sau!

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