Public Schools and Our Kids

May 31, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker 10 Comments

For most of my life, I attended private schools. I grew up taking a bus to a cinder block building 30 minutes away from our 5,000 person town. The bus stopped at a trailer park to pick up students along the way. Not exactly elitism, but still a school where tuition was required. We moved to Connecticut when I was in 6th grade, and I received three years of public education. For high school I lived at a boarding school and then went on to a private university.

My husband followed a similar path–private school in New York City, public school in New Orleans, and then the same boarding school (that’s where we met) and the University of Virginia.

He now teaches at an independent school.

Despite all those years in the private/independent school world, I don’t think we assumed our kids would follow in our footsteps. But we did assume they would have a choice. [Read more...]

Filed Under: family, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , 10 Comments

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

May 31, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker 8 Comments

Is she ready?

Penny is five years old. She is starting to sound out simple words. She can identify all her letters and numbers. She can write her name and a few words. She loves school. And she has Down syndrome.

Is she ready?

I am planning to register her for kindergarten today. I haven’t done anything in particular to prepare. So I wonder if I’m negligent when I read articles like “Fast Tracking to Kindergarten” about toddlers who are drilled on their academic skills every day. Or if I’m asking too much of her when I read Motherlode’s post about “Redshirting” little ones, or as I hear my friends talking about holding their kids back for a year so they won’t “fall behind” later on. These same friends are already talking about college.

I can’t say whether Penny will go to college. I can say with confidence that she will be one of the smallest (if not the very smallest) children in the elementary school (as was her mother, way back when).  I can’t say that she would pass a kindergarten readiness exam with flying colors. I can say that she’s ready to learn.

Penny has been talking about kindergarten all year long. And her teachers say she’s ready to go. And as much as I know it will be a challenge for her to sit still and keep up, I also trust our daughter and I trust her teachers. I don’t know what will happen in the future. I want to make decisions for her not based upon what might be doing years from now. I want to make decisions for her based upon who she is right now.

And who she is right now is a little girl who loves circle time and books and letters and friends. So here we go.

Filed Under: Down Syndrome, family Tagged With: 8 Comments

What I’m Reading: Sex Trafficking in Connecticut, A Child with Down Syndrome, and Running

May 30, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker Leave a Comment

“Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door” is a disturbing article in Vanity Fair about the young (very young) girls who are bought and sold for sex. And this isn’t just happening overseas. The article focuses on two girls in Connecticut who found themselves trapped in a system of abuse and drug use until the police got involved.

“Our Daughter’s Down Syndrome Has Taken Us on a Beautiful Journey,” a sweet essay by a father about his 14-year old daughter who has Down syndrome. He writes:

Clare embodies that mystery of human existence – the mixture of delight and emotional hardship each of us lives daily. Somehow, the crushing suffering that Clare’s birth seemed to foretell for her and her family turned out instead to be substantial joy.

I know just what he means.

Finally, “A Verb for Our Frantic Times” is a NYTimes essay about how the verb “run” has taken over the lexicon.

Happy reading this Memorial Day!

Filed Under: Disability Leave a Comment

What Blogs Are You Reading?

May 27, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker 10 Comments

As you may have noticed, the title of this blog is Thin Places, and the subtitle reads, “Amy Julia Becker on faith, family, and disability.” You could use the Venn diagram to place most of my posts in at least one of those categories– every week I try to make sure that at least one post covers a topic related to the Christian faith, to our family, and to disability, whether personal or in a more broad way.

I read a few other blogs that cover related topics. But I’m trying to expand my list. Not only do I want to expand my own relationships and knowledge of thoughtful content elsewhere on the internet related to these topics, but I’m also looking for bloggers who might be interested in the work I do here and in my upcoming book, A Good and Perfect Gift (which, by the way, you can pre-order on Amazon and receive sometime in August).

I’m looking for bloggers who write regularly (at least once a week) for a wide audience and who offer thoughtful commentary about matters pertaining to faith, family, and disability. Which brings me to my question: what blogs are you reading that you think I might like? (And please feel free to comment with a link to your own blog. Thanks!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 10 Comments

Is There a Difference Between Prayer and Meditation? I Hope So…

May 27, 2011 By Amy Julia Becker 7 Comments

If you had walked into our bedroom this morning, you would have found me sitting in the middle of our bed. My eyes were closed, my legs crossed in what yoga practitioners call “half-lotus” (and what my children call “criss-cross applesauce”). I was using “ujjayi” breathing, something I also learned from yoga. My hands rested on my knees, palms up. It would have been easy to assume I was meditating.

But I wasn’t. I was praying. I’ve written before about the ways yoga has helped me to incorporate my body into my Christian practice of prayer. This morning, sitting in an intentional posture drew my attention to my body. It helped me remember that I was bringing my whole self to God. It gave me a physical reminder of my spiritual state–without constant attention, my back curved and my shoulders slumped until I remembered to straighten up again and sit tall. Placing my hands on my knees with palms up gave me a physical posture of surrender, humility, receptivity. A physical way for me to receive from God and offer myself in return. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: , , , 7 Comments
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