Friday, December 05, 2008

Things I should be doing:

  • Working on my final for class--it is due by midnight on Sunday, so I'll probably wait until Sunday evening to start on it. I have to write three one-page responses to novels we read this semester...it won't take me long. I know, I could get it out of the way, but I work best under pressure, so I'll wait.
  • Laundry--I forgot to get the basket out of the room before I laid Abbi down for nap...oh well.
  • Sleeping--between hubby snoring and Kayleigh coughing, I didn't get much rest last night.
What I am going to do instead:

  • Surf the net
  • Play on Facebook
  • Crochet
  • Spend some time in quiet solitude

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Girly, Girly, Girly!!!!



My latest finished project! The pattern is found in the July/August issue of Crochet Today. I am so pleased with how it turned out and hopefully the new mama in line to receive it will love it too!



Here's a close up of the stitches!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Let's talk about gender identification.....

One hazard I run into taking courses at Texas Women's University, is pervading opinion that gender is socially constructed. That boys act like boys because society trains them to and the same with girls. Ya know, the whole idea that girls play with dolls because that is what we as parents buy them. While I think this could be partially true, I have troubling believing social construction to be the only source of gender identification for one reason: God is both masculine and feminine in nature and He made humankind in His likeness. He made them male and female, splitting His nature between the sexes, so to me it would also seem He created two distinct genders, one mainly masculine and the other mainly feminine.

Recently, I finished reading a fascinating book on the subject, Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax. His main premise is that the gender-neutral educational/social environment of the past 30 years is doing more harm than good. He makes a point to say ignoring gender differences can actually instigate gender stereotyping. For example, according to Sax, boys and girls learn math differently; boys tend to like math for math's sake, while girls need to have some connection to real life. Now if educators ignore this fact and teach math for math's sake, the boys will do better than the girls, not because they are more gifted in math, but because it was taught in the way they learn best. The girls, bored with just the facts, will accept the gender stereotype of "boys are good at math and girls are not". Boys are at a disadvantage in the early elementary years, since, according the Sax, most are not ready for the typical classroom environment at the young age of 5 or 6. Sax suggests creating single-sex classrooms and schools for the benefit of both girls and boys, and I see his point.

I have more, but the kids are waking up....to be continued....