Modern Education

I recently stumbled upon this life saver while studying for the Math&Science subtest for the CSET (California Subject Examinations for Teachers). I struggled with math and science while in school so to look back upon material I haven't seen in over ten years (and barely understood back then) was incredibly overwhelming to say the least.  A friend suggested I try to find youtube videos explaining concepts I was struggling with. I stumbled upon the Khan Academy youtube channel. It saved me! It's a wonderful youtube channel with a plethora of videos teaching math and science concepts. It's great because it ranges from super easy math (1+1) to super hard college level I don't even know what. Khan Academy was started by Salman Khan, who holds 3 degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. I trust him. His niece was struggling in math and so he began tutoring her from across the country. To do this, he uploaded videos on youtube for her to watch. Random people began commenting on the videos and requesting more and eventually the popularity was so overwhelming that he quit his job in finance to focus on this endeavor full time. Now, Khan Academy is a legit non-profit doing wonders for modern education by providing hundreds of math and science lessons on everyone's favorite video website. Khan's mission statement is to provide people all over the world with free education.  So far, so good. 

Definitely check out Khan Academy for yourself or maybe for your kids eventually! Sofia should be doing a little addition and subtraction soon right? I'll definitely be using this as a teacher because there are quite a few concepts and modules that I could use a refresher course on. Check it out!

www.khanacademy.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52ZlXsFJULI

Locks of LOVE

I did it. I spent three weeks trying to decide whether or not to do it. I finally got over my vanity and went for it. I have only cut my hair short twice in my life. Once in 7th grade, and once my senior year of high school. Both times I hated it - wish I had some photos to show you. So, after 15 years of long hair I am ready for a change. And being able to donate my golden strands to locks of Love was a good motivation.

I am feeling pretty good about the cut. It is still long enough to pull back and it will grow out nicely. Kind of want to go shorter, but am not willing to pay for haircuts every couple of months for upkeep. What do you think sistas?

Shake it, baby

I haven't put a post up since the Chile earthquake, nearly two weeks ago. I think it was the chaos and confusion and stress of having family in a devastating situation like the earthquake was emotionally exhausting!
Tara hasn't posted yet either - so here is the update: they were in their Santiago apartment when the initial Concepcion earthquake hit and were able to safely leave their apartment immediately. Their apartment sustained permanent damage which makes it unsafe to live in right now. Luckily, Gonzalo's parents have an apartment nearby that is completely earthquake safe.
Tara has been able to get online for short periods of time - but is now in the process of filing paperwork for Gonzalo to move to the U.S., cleaning out and packing up her apartment and in the meantime, living with her in laws and experiencing over 100+ aftershocks, the biggest yesterday which was over 7.2!
I think the worst is over - and certainly they were / are very lucky in terms of not sustaining any physical harm and thank god - were not in Concepcion or the beach towns nearby when this happened.
Just an gentle reminder that despite all we do to create the perfect, happy world in which we live on a day to day basis - we are merely inhabitants of a much larger space! Most of which we have little to no control over!
So - here's to being grateful for where we are and what we have and really keeping it all in perspective!
Love, Katie