Not Another Homeschool Blog

I realize my question is a little questionable, but I just have to wonder based on the State of GA Govenor Perdue announced today that schools will be closed on Monday and Tuesday to conserve gasoline. Of course to my family, that is no big deal because we homeschool anyway, but I have a sinking feeling that I will get alot of phone calls this weekend from people who want to go to work, but don't have alternate plans for thier kids. I won't be available though because my kids do have homeschool classes on Monday, infact, it is picture day. But what if natural disasters and Terrorism got so bad that people public school had to be shut down, either permanently or temporarily. With so many people having internet access , schools could easily supply a program like k12 to everyone who doesn't want to come up with thier own curriculum... the state of Florida and some others provide this program plus a laptop. How would families survive? Would nannies become popular so parents ...

If you are in GA, check out the following site: http://www.unitedstreaming.com/logins/login_www.cfm?unique=810DC726-BCDE-F2E8-7F5BEE2B81D248FD it is a website dedicated to educational videos and is pretty much a complete curriculum within itself. Non GA residents may call and check before you pay as well.

FIGURE IT OUR YOURSELF! Well not exactly. I had the opportunity yesterday to advise a woman who was strongly considering homeschooling her son. She lives in one of my old hometowns, and my Sis n law gave her my number as she is one of her clients at the Oxford learning center sis owns. Her complaints about school mirrored the problems my son had. The child is obviously gifted or at least already knows everything they are teaching. However, the school thinks it's ok for him to settle with getting the highest grades in the class and not challenging it any further. Therefore she wants to take his education into her own hands. My exact advise was to wait a little while. Since They are one semester in, I suggested she wait until holiday break while enriching him at home using Reader rabbit at an advanced level and critical thinking books and software. Meanwhile she needs to go into learning mode. Read everything about homeschooling that she can get her hands on. Find out about ...

I just got back the results of Jordan's, age 9, standardized tests. I used the California Achievement test for grade 3 through FLO Educational Assessment & Testing Service. I gave these tests last month before we started 4th grade lessons. Her scores are all over the place.... but as far as I can see, this is a good thing. Her total battery National Percentile ranking is 91% Her total battery grade equivalent is 6 grade month 1 Her highest grading subject is Reading comprehension with a 98% and a 10th grade 9th month level. Math concepts us almost at the same level. Her lowest grading subject is Language Mechanics (nouns, verbs, etc) is 42% which is a 3rd grade 4th month level. I plan to use a workbook I already have on my shelf called The Language Mechanic by Critical thinking co. to bring her up to level. From looking at her overall scores I can see that she can read, and do math very well, however she has some trouble explaining how to do these things. I didn't real...

They say that homeschooling does not allow enough structure for our children. Our children will never be able to follow rules as adults. Our children will never be able to complete anything. If you look at it from another viewpoint, you will see that while it may offer less structure than putting your child in an institutionalized school, ( standing in line, raising hand to potty, no speaking at lunch) it also offers alot of freedom which can actually be more condusive to learning, and learning happily. For example, my son takes academic classes on Thursday at a homeschool "school". One girl showed up yesterday shoeless. She got in the car without shoes on and forgot to even grab them at all. This is pretty typical for homeschool kids, because we are always having to drive a kids somewhere and the other kids, often go for the ride bringing along nothing but a book to read and not wearing shoues if they are not getting out of the car. Had this happened in an institutionali...

We don't have a peice of paper that certifies us as teachers. We haven't taken classes in managing a crowd. We didn't take child psychology, or science 101... not recently anyway. However, we can be quite resourceful when we have to. We have read books about teaching the whole hearted child. We understand our kids giftings and gear thier education toward them. We know when they've had enough for the day. We know when we can push them further. We also have access to the "certifed" community. I just got back from my childrens phys ed activites. Now I probably could teach these things myself... after all it's not brain surgery (just don't tell any bad tempered school coaches that... by the way, have you ever seen one in a good mood?... but I digress). My daughter is taking track, and my son is taking fencing. Here are the qualifications of thier instructors: track coach: Coach Keith Kelly qualified forboth the summer and winter Olympic trails after age fo...