Not Another Homeschool Blog

What I believe is happening is that so little time is spent actually learning in schools is that all of the real work is sent home for parents to handle with the kids. They might as well be homeschooling. View the video and please comment Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom

Looks like George got "left behind".

The person who posted this video wrote the headline: HOME SCHOOLING MEANS THERE WILL BE THOUSANDS OF THESE IDIOTS I thought what the kids was saying was pretty intelligent... a whole lot more intelligent than a certain public schooled beauty queen anyway. (not dissing her... just comparing) Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom

Here is the John Stossel special called Stupid in America... It's very interesting

In response to NEA Article http://www.nea.org/espcolumns/dv040220.html

A recent NEA article ridicules homeschooling and calls us wannabees and well meaning amateurs. Here is an excerpt: Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs Schools With Good Teachers Are Best-Suited to Shape Young Minds By Dave Arnold There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education. There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all. Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don’t own the proper tools. Heck, some people have their hands full just knowing how to drive. you can read the rest here is you feel so inclined. All I really want to say in response to this ridiculous...

Read this post from a young lady: When I tell people, mostly teens my age, that I've been homeschooled they usually say "I'm sorry". Why? Because they believe that I've been sheltered, protected, and treated with kid gloves my entire life, that my parents never let me make mistakes and that my education and socialization has to be sub par to what they had in public schools. Then I spend the next 20 minutes explaining how great homeschooling is, at least for me. read the entire story here: Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom

Today in church the teens had the opportunity to voice their problems and concerns. The consensus is that they feel that they have no one to talk to about their problems outside of friends who don't have the same values. It was heartbreaking. On the way home, my husband asked our kids age 11 and 13 questions trying to understand if they felt that way. They insisted they didn't, so we asked and asked in every way possible making sure we weren't missing phrasing that would cause them to open up. They finally said, "if we have a problem, we tell you." They also said they don't have a lot of the problems in their homeschool Co-op that other kids have in school, because most of the kids have the same values. The ones that don't stand out, but eventually they calm down (and behave accordingly) or leave. I am not going to get full of myself here, but I do believe that my children are outspoken and forthright because they homeschool. Of course it doesn...

what do you think? Should teachers be free to participate in prayer if it is their desire?

Hopefully. This is on the College Cost Reduction Act If your child is choosing a service carreer, this is something you need to remember.

What is wrong with these teachers who can't draw a line between a student under their care and an adult who they can have sex with? Reports like this make me glad I homeschool.

http://homeschooling.about.com /b/a/216467.htm Read the thoughts and adventures of homeschoolers from all over the world.

"Several speakers at a public hearing before the state Board of Education said the exclusion of foreign languages or fine arts as core requirements in the proposal will have dire, unintended consequences. "We anticipate a reduction of access to language education in Georgia," said Carol Semonsky, an associate professor of foreign language education at Georgia State University. Speakers told the board that new math and science requirements would freeze out other subjects like foreign languages and arts. The proposed changes in all would require public high school students to pass four years of math and science, up from three years, and earn at least 23 credits instead of 22." (Atlanta Journal Constitution) I sure am glad we homeschool.

What bothers me the most about this story is that there is allot of ambiguity about who is responsible for the egregious action. They are making it sound like some innocent mistake. I am not saying the teacher purposely showed porn to the kids, but I am saying that "someone's" actions resulted in the kids seeing the porn. It seems the school is being very slow to say what is very plain. This is yet another reason to homeschool.

I wish kids would have enough confidence to tell as soon as these things happen.

I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but I will update this post after I do with my favorite pics. But you will learn so much about homeschooling by reading this carnival. There are oodles and oodles of posts, so enjoy. http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/09/carnival-of-homeschool-week-89-soccer.html

"At the core of the Chugach model is this rule: To move to the next level, you must master the one that precedes it. There is no sitting in the back row and skating by. Every child must learn every subject at every level, passing with proficiency equivalent to at least 80 percent -- essentially, a B minus. And when they're done, they're done, whether that means they finish when they're sixteen or twenty-one. " Looks like this school has picked up on the best aspect of homeschooling! remainder of article here:

"We don't really do back to school because we never really stopped learning"... here's a fun read for ya!

So let me see if I understand this. Americans can't pray in school. Americans can't use the word God in the Pledge of Allegiance. No Christianity can be displayed in school. But our tax dollars are supporting this? Here is some background information: Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom

In addition to this video I posted on rumors that homeschooling was too expensive, I also wrote this article. Share it with your friends

In this news report, they say that education is better than it was 20 years ago... I take issue with that. They also admit, however that Amercian Schools don't measure up to countries like Japan, Russia, etc. Another reason to homeschool.

(I realize this topic has nothing to do with the topic of my website but...) I wanted to mentioned the Cincinnati mom whose toddler tied as she was left in a car for 8 hour while mom worked. The excuse is that she lost track of what she was doing when she stopped for donuts for her employees. I am angry the child is dead, but don't feel suspicious toward the mom. I mentioned it to my husband last night, including the fact... yes fact that is was an error. My husband immediately felt a ton of sympathy toward her and empathized with her plight. Our conversation moved onto the torture that she must be putting herself through and how there is no punishment the law can dish out on her that would be worse than what she is going through right now. Personally, I cannot imagine having left my kids in the car, they were too verbal. Also I was not as busy as this woman as I did not have a full time job until my kids big e...

So something is really troubling me as of late. (I realize I may alienate some homeschoolers with this post, but it is hard to keep quiet) I am painfully aware of some homeschooled kids who are miserable and failing. These kids are generally older and high school level. These kids are usually homeschooling against their own will. Some of these kids are homeschooling as a result of doing bad in school... i.e. they are homeschooling as punishment. Many of these kids are not even getting the academic support they need... They are given assignments and are left alone to complete them. Now I know that sometimes a parent has to take drastic actions to get a child in line... and it is better done late then never... I even realize that there are kids who did not want to homeschool, only to realize later that they are very glad they did. Once case in point is the author of Morning By Morning , How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League. The boys did not want to be home...

I did a video on youtube sometimes back. I was in part having some fun in mocking those who think they have a right to question me about homeschooling my kids. I was also encouraging other homeschoolers to not try to defend themselves from people who really have no business questioning them. The video is here. I woke up this morning to a comment that said something to the fact that I was ignorant because I did not even try to explain why I was homeschooling. My knee-jerk reaction was to delete the comment. In retrospect, I should have kept the comment as it completely illustrated my point. There are people out there with absolutely no authority over our lives who think they we have to explain something to them. I don't. MY only responsibility, as I see it is to educate my kids well, and give information to people who wish to do the same. I don't owe any explanation to anyone else.

I first heard this "excuse" to not homeschool a couple months ago. Now this newfound reason to not homeschool is becoming common place. Annoying.

Whether you are a parent teacher, or paid teacher you have certain responsibilities to your students. You need to teach the values of a civilized society. You teach in a way that students will learn what they need to survive and even excell. You need to model all of these things so as not to confuse children. Just as you cannot have a teacher with bad grammar teach students grammar, you cannot have someone with questionable morals form the values of students. But more and more, the people teaching most of America's students are giving mouth service only. The problem is, children learn faster from what you do than they do from what you say. Look at the actions of this public school teacher. What do you think this taught the students? I think it taught them that it is OK to to get a "hookup" i.e. possess stolen property. I say it is theft. What do you think?

I have been noticing a trailer from a new movie called The Brothers Solomon. Apparently the movie writers thought it would be fun to make a whole movie mocking homeschoolers by perpetuating the socialization myth. Personally, I would love to make a movie abouto people who make fools of themselves making assumptions about others. here is a synopsis from the movie: THE BROTHERS SOLOMON tells the hilarious story of Dean and John Solomon (Forte and Arnett), two good-hearted but romantically-challenged brothers. When they find out their dying father’s last wish is for a grandchild, the brothers set out to find someone to have a baby with. But after spending their formative years being home-schooled by their father in a remote arctic location, their social skills prove to be somewhat lacking and their attempts at fatherhood go hysterically and disastrously wrong.