The Xbox, a USB drive, and homeschooling.

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homeschooling with technology

We got an Xbox for Christmas last year (as in 2010). We got the Kinect version and we used it for PE last winter. Then one day it quit working. We procrastinated on getting it fixed only to discover shortly before Christmas this year that it was only the cord that needed replacing, which The Source happily did for free.

All that to say, we are happy to have the Xbox back to burn off that extra energy from being stuck inside during the colder weather. While we have missed it for doing active games on the Kinect, we have also found a new use for it to.

We have cable (please don't boo me out of town) and with that cable comes a few (okay tons, way too many) all music channels. There were two that played Christmas music. ALL different kinds of Christmas music. One day, while I was listening to this music, my husband had an idea.

He took a USB drive and loaded it with beautiful, worshipful, Christmas music. Then, he plugged that little USB drive into the front of the Xbox. So now we can load up the USB drive with all of our music and play it on the Xbox.

There are some benefits to using the USB drive with the Xbox:

  1. We can put our favorite songs, from several CD's, or different places on there. And in the order that we want.
  2. Our CD's will be protected from getting scratched. If you have kids, you know what I am talking about here. 
  3. We could put all of our audio for the day onto the USB (like scripture readings, worship songs, narrations, audio books, etc) and play through as needed. I am really liking this idea.

And as if we needed them, here are more ways we can use the xbox in our homeschool: 

  1. as a reward for getting all of your school work done.
  2. to listen to CD's. The ones that we don't mind getting scratched.
  3. to watch our science or math dvd's.
  4. to play Kinect games - Kinect Adventures, Joyride, and Kinect Sports.
  5. to watch Netflix (with a subscription), but only with an xbox Live Membership - this is a big fail for us because the Wii and the Playstation Move allow you to watch netflix without a special membership (but still with a netflix subscription). That information was accurate the last time I checked. 
  6. to view YouTube videos (only with an xbox subscription) - including the memory verse animations that my husband and I are creating.
  7. Coming soon will be Skype (with an Xbox subscription) - which will be great to chat with family that lives far away.

Do you have the Xbox, a Wii, or a Playstation Move? How does your family use it?

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If I Always Do What I’ve Always Done

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I Will Always Get What I've Always Got

I was thinking about this phrase this morning as I prepared to move all of my draft posts forward for another month. The truth is that half (or more) of those ideas are no longer relevant to me or where I want to take this blog.

I prepared to move them as usual and then I thought, I am just going through the motions. I am just doing what I have always done.

What I end up with is a waste of time. Instead of dealing with all the drafts (which would mean deciding what to keep and what to delete) I just keep moving them forward.

It is really hard sometimes to stop what we are used to doing - and do almost automatically - and do a new thing. I really don't want to keep doing the same thing over and over again. That is like running on a treadmill - you do lots of work, you get really tired, but you never make it to your destination (unless of course you are trying to lose weight).

There are things in my life that I walk around or just pick up and move out of the way to avoid dealing with. It seems so much easier just to keep doing what I have always done, than to actually do something different. I think I get so used to the scenery of something that it blends into the background and I really have to work hard to realize that it is there. And I have to work even harder to make changes to it.

I think it seems easier to keep doing what I have always done. I get up in the morning, I have my coffee, which blends into breakfast, and the rest of the day is a blur. I have "THE" routine and I rarely deviate from it. What about changing the routine? What about doing something different? What about trying a new thing?

Think carefully about this phrase:

If I always do what I have always done, I will always get what I have always got.

I can think of several things in my life that fall into this category. I have always done this, so let's just keep on doing this, not really considering whether it is working for me or is actually productive.

I am reminded of the story of the lady who used to cut the ends off her roast before she put them in the pan. One day her child asked her why she cut off the ends of her roast. She told her child that she had seen her mother do it. Then the child asked her grandmother why she cut the ends off her roasts. The grandmother told the grandchild that she had seen her mother do it. So, the child asks the great-grandmother why she cut the ends off her roasts. The great-grandmother explained that she cut the ends off her roasts so they would fit in the pan. All those years, and all that wasted roast, because people just did what they've always done.

I want to live this year more purposefully. I want to think about ALL the things that I am doing and make fresh decisions with a new set of eyes and not just do them because I have always done them.

Think carefully about this phrase one last time with me:

If I always do what I have always done, I will always get what I have always got.

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