Dealing with Detroit Illiteracy problem, and links to free literacy sites

So, I made this video about the state of education in Detroit in an effort to urge parents to take their kids out of school and homeschool them.




As a result, people are engaging me in conversation over the topic, and it seems that certain celebrities and leaders are looking into forming alternative schools... and I asked, why not do something different?  Why not try a homeschool model... traditional schooling hasn't worked, why do more of the same thing?

I got an answer I wasn't expecting. 

Parent's are struggling with illiteracy issues.  How can they teach their children?  I am floored.

My answer... online, with technology.  This conversation continues, seriously.  I am considering traveling to Detroit.  Let me find the right people to meet up with.  I am there.

Meanwhile, I am listing some free literacy online programs.  Parents and kids can sit side by side and learn to read if necessary.

Can't read to your kids?  Let actors do it. https://www.storylineonline.net/
More storytime by performers: https://blog.reallygoodstuff.com/11-free-reading-websites-for-kids/3/
Free phonics and vocabulary http://www.readingbear.org/
Teach your monster to read: https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
ABC Fast Phonics http://www.abcfastphonics.com/

These are just a few I found via google. 

If you are in Detroit (or anywhere) and are worried about your kids' literacy, and have internet access, spend the summer having your kids use these sites just to play around.  You'll be surprised how much they learn.

College prep homeschooling: 8th grade foreign language

As it is an expected requirement that students have taken two years of the same foreign language in high school, 8th grade is a good opportunity to try out a few languages to see what might be a good fit.

Dealing with shady questions from strangers regarding homeschoolers

I have come to realize that those rude, hurtful, shady comments from homeschoolers are just a projection of questions they have about homeschooling.  Deciphering those questions and answering them gently has been a key to better understanding.

Today I am 50 years old, and I understand some things

I understand:

That I have outlived most of my family that I grew up with (as there was a lot of illness in our family). Therefore, I understand the gift that my life is.

That I know more than I did when I was a 30-year-old idiot, but in 20 years I might be shaking my head at my 50-year-old self.

That as individuals, most people have redeeming qualities, but the mob mentality is strong, so you gotta watch out for that shit.

That it is OK to swear.

That I am loved, and not just by my immediate family, but by people who I hardly know. It surprises me when I run into someone who has "met" me through social media, and they praise me.  That's mind-blowing.

That after years of finding a new purpose (after graduating my kids from homeschooling), that it turns out that nothing is more important to me than education.

That I am open to spending the rest of my life teaching and learning.

That it is OK to cry. (whether happy or sad).

That happiness is a choice.  Surely sadness comes and goes, but how long we decide to live in it determines our growth or lack of...

That you have to call an idiot an idiot, and a spade a spade, and wicked, wicked.