Carnival of Homeschooling, getting down to business

Carnival of Homeschooling So it was my turn to host the Carnival of Homeschooling, I was so very excited, as I am officially a veteran homeschooling having recently graduated my second and last child from homeschooling.  She attended a homeschool-hybrid program for the Arts and some literature, and did the rest of her academics at home.  So anyway, I was soooo giddy from the sheer glut of all the submissions coming into my email box, but didn't open too many of them right away, because I was still planning the graduation party, so my attention was directed elsewhere.

Well, I can tell you that looks are deceiving,  because when I did start digging into the submissions, I found a big-ole-mess of spam.  Now correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think us homeschoolers need to read a dozen posts from nanny services on how to keep in-laws from babysitting, or summer activity suggestion.  (If I'm wrong, let me know and I will add them in.)  I also don't think our main focus here is creating a professional looking garden, from a gardening website.  Perhaps these guys need to find the appropriate carnivals to participate in.

(note about ads... the ads/images are here more for your visual enjoyment than to sell you items... only click on them if you are interested in the item!)



What I believe we'd like is to get down to business... to read about the ins and outs of homeschooling as is demonstrated at Why Homeschool where Henry & Janine's daughter write about how their homeschool co-op has changed over the years.


 We want to be inspired by posts like this one by Courageous Jane who presents Fearlessly and Without Regret posted at Courageous Jane Homeschools.


Also of particular interest to me is How To Master Quadratic Equations  by Denise, posted at Let's Play Math!.   A couple of weeks ago, James Tanton launched a wonderful resource: a free online course devoted to quadratic equations. My daughter and I have been working through the lessons, and she loves it!  (Off all the homeschool crisis we experienced over the years, Quadratic Equations, was certainly a biggie!)


If your homeschooler has a particular interest with words and vocabulary,  you won't want to skip  The Vocabuverse: The Cleverly Devised Poetical Dictionary of Mostly English Words by Kerin Gedge posted at The Vocabuverse. Here's a clever and fun way to build your vocabulary!  It really is!

If penmanship is something you are trying to get under control, you will want to read. Help Your Child Develop the Correct Pencil Grip found at  Reading-Writing-Learning.   In this post, the importance of an easy, efficient pencil grip is discussed. There are drawings to show how pencil grip develops and what an efficient pencil grip looks like.

You will also be interested reading, Sales of Home Education Tools on the Radio at Barbara Frank Online  that demonstrates Big-city radio ads for home education tools showing what some public school kids' parents are doing.




Since the 4th of July is just around the corner, Mindy Hoffman's DenSchool - Independence Day CLIP (Creative Learning in a Pinch)  will help you find activities, snacks and fun to help celebrate the Nation's birthday - July 4th!

You may also want to take a peek at a post I wrote as I approached the end of our final school year, Three major things I wish I had done differently in our homeschooling journey found here at Notes from a Homeschooled mom.  I almost ALMOST wish I had another kid to homeschool so I could "perfect" my homeschool regimen!



Let's not forget discussion of homeschool issues that keep us on our toes.

Elena LaVictoire of My Domestic Church presents 5 Things to consider before putting your homeschooled student into regular high school.  A lively debate has begun in her comments section that you may want to consider also reading.  You may even want to weigh in.

You don't want to miss reading on The Romeikes Should be Deported at Alasandras Homeschool.  This post may not be the post popular in the homeschool community, but it is one of the most informed posts on the subject to date.

Last, but certainly not least, we want to touch the heart of the homeschooler.


Dawn Perkins  presents Grace, Kids, and Outward Appearances at The Momma Knows Blog in which she discusses: Our kids need to seek the Lord’s best for their lives. They need to know what it is to live a life in Christ, and to not be so separated from the real world that they are shocked to inaction when they encounter it. We don’t do our kids any favors by keeping them inside bubbles. We need to extend the same grace to our kids that we extend to others in any other situation.



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Another milestone passed- Graduation party

Yesterday was the graduation party.  Daughter and good friend had a joint party at our house.  I love having parties at our house because I can get people (kids and hubby) to help me clean in the week preceding the party.  I even got son to do a little painting! After post-party straightening, the house is usually pristine for a week or two.  That means I can spend some time decluttering bedrooms as main parts of house look great.

The party was fun, but I am glad it is over.  We all passed out afterwards, and are pretty sick from hot dogs and s'mores.  (The other family supplied fancy hors devours and cake).  We provided a fire-pit and the aforementioned junk foods.

On the down side... a very nice football and video game controller are missing.  Both belonged to party guests.  I am hoping these turn up soon and that the football is not down by the creek.  Lord-have-mercy... there are snakes down there.

(cute picture from her Sr. photos taken by her friend, a budding photographer)


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Just because it's news doesn't make it true

A local TV news reporter did a hard-hitting expose on a program a lot of homeschoolers use to help them homeschool their kids.  The program gives accredited  diplomas and it also does dual enrollment for public school students.  It is the dual enrollment part that has gotten them in hot water.

I wrote about the story here:


WSBTV news reporter vilifies alternative education program

I personally used this program to review my daughter's work and provide her with a diploma.  While I didn't NEED to use the program, I did to give my kid a boost with the state's HOPE program, and to certify her grades to make her more competitive for scholarships.

I dare ask, instead of questioning how rigorous credit recovery programs are, perhaps they should be asking why so many students need credit recovery?

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Be on time people!

Spelman parents are upset that the college closed the doors 30 minutes prior to graduation start time.  They missed their child's graduation.  They blame distance- living as far away as California or Canada (from Georgia).  They blame the fact that President Obama's motorcade slowed things down as he was speaking next door at Morehouse.  They are fighting mad that they were late, and not allowed in.

But here's the thing.

They knew all year when graduation was.
They knew all year that the college closed the doors 30 minutes before commencement started.
They knew, at least for a couple of weeks that President Obama was in town.

They should have planned ahead.

Maybe I am a bit unfeeling, but my daughter also graduated this weekend from her high school homeschool program.  It was a really big deal as she was starting off the festivities with a 20 minute show she designed herself.  I said repeatedly "be on time, she starts at 1pm sharp".  I went as far as to provide breakfast foods at my house so people could come over together-on time... and guess what.  I have enough breakfast foods left at my house to last 2 weeks, and people showed up late and were upset that they missed her perform.  They wanted to know what I was going to do about it as if I could turn back time, or make the school have her perform it again.  They wanted to know where the recording of the performance was.  MAN.  That kind of steams me up.  Only 2 people/families deserve a recording because they didn't have all the information.  The rest will get a little something put on a disc if I get the chance.

But I digress.

If I were a Spelman parent, I certainly would not have flown in the morning of my daughter's graduation.  Haven't these people ever heard of plane delays?  They are to be expected.  This is Atlanta people... we have one of the busiest airports in the nation!

So, fly in a day or two early, and pay for a hotel... don't be cheap and lazy.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and the school does not owe it to you to break the rules and accommodate for your lack of planning.

Personally, I would have rather arrived at the butt-crack of dawn and spent the morning sitting around on my behind waiting than to miss my kid walk the college graduation line.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong

We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript.    Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...