Not Another Homeschool Blog

I cam upon a homeschool debate at Babycenter.com.  It has the usual arguments.  Socialization, bad parents, no PE... you know... the same old thing.  One argument against homeschooling however stuck out as being especially flawed. Every student that I have had that has transferred from being homeschooled has been behind the learning curve. This comment was from a public school teacher.  Let's stop and consider this though... She is probably only seeing students behind the curb transfering into public school because the ones ahead of the curb have no need to.  We considered public school the summer before my son started his highschool curriculum, and my son decided against it because he felt it would slow down his progress.  Looking back, I have to agree because he has already progressed far more than I ever imagined he would.  This would not have been possible in public school... So instead of successful homeschoolers transfering into public s...

Learning Japanese via Youtube Like many teenage girls her age, my daughter has a thing for Japanese music.  I don't get it... and neither does anyone else in our family... except her cousin, but she loves it. As she spends all of her free time watching Japanese pop groups, and was beginning to pick up Japanese words, I told her to start a japanese notebook, and translate a new song each week.  Ha!.  Japanese 1... check. I will follow up with an online Japanese 1 program that has an assessment test. She is 3/4 through Spanish 1 right now, but instead of doing Spanish 2 next year, I will let her continue with Japanese.     ~ Please feel free to submit any activities that homeschoolers might enjoy. To do so, you can email Ahermitt@gmail.com with headline Homeschool Gwinnett. ~ For most recently added activities, go here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom Visit Me at the ...

I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed. Yesterday I mapped out the last 3 months of the school year on a calendar and realized that for my daughter who is in a play, has a year end performance coming up, and an arts competition, we are close to overbooked for the month of March.  The more this fact sank in, the more frantic I became. Today at a play rehearsal it hit my.  We are homeschoolers.  I can back off during the month of March and everything would come out fine. When I say back off, I mean take time off from the classes she does at home.  As of next week when she takes the History 1 CLEP exam, all that will be left for the year is math, science, and a little Spanish. Well, I already planned for math to go through the whole summer.  Spanish is no bother for her she enjoys it,  but why not back off of math and science until he schedule lightens up. Yes... that's what we'll do.  What a wonderful idea. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Help!  I need help to keep this carnival running. I started it because there was an absence of carnivals at the time.  I keep it going becuase... well I like it. If you would like to become more involved and perhaps get a boost to your blog traffic , please consider emailing ahermitt@gmail.com and volunteering to host a carnival or too. Beyond that, and for obvious reasons, this carnival is being posted a bit bare bones.  All the entries are fascinating, as I have deleted all the the spammy stuff, so enjoy! Welcome to the February 16, 2010 edition of carnival of educators. Madeleine Begun Kane presents Limerick Ode To Ted Alexandro posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog , saying, "post and limerick about a former music teacher turned standup comic."   Harrison Emerson presents 7 Free Web Sources for Nursing Care Plans posted at RN To BSN Degrees . Alvaro Fernandez presents The Evolution of Empathy posted at SharpBrains , saying, "Empathy’s not a uniquely ...

You may remember that we are planning to take a CLEP approach to homeschool high school.   Originally, I started working with my 15 year old son, who passed the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Exam, and before long my 13 year old wanted in on the fun.  We are now getting ready to take the History 1 Exam because my kids have a great grasp on history thanks to their Fine Arts and History program at Artios Academies.  I had them use Hippocampus.com to watch the history videos and take the quizzes.  My daughter finished ahead of schedule so I had her take the short (65) question exam from the large blue College Board CLEP book.  She did exceedingly well, answering 2/3 of the questions right when you need to answer 50% right to pass the test. Her unofficial score was equivalent to a B in a college level class!  She hasn't even started using the recommended REA test prep book yet.  My kids will take the test in about 2 weeks, giving them time for ...

Welcome to the February 2, 2010 edition of carnival of educators. This is the 14th edition and we are still growing.  If you would like give a go at hosting, please contact ahermitt@gmail.com.  Meanwhile, we prefer to keep the carnival short and powerful as opposed to long and laden down with lists and spam.  This edition is king of no frills... long story, but I am not in my own space with week and so have not been able to focus.  Still, with all of the great entries, I Know you will like it.  Enjoy! Andrea presents The Inconvenient Truth about Education posted at Examiner.com Education Headlines Blog Rachel Lynette presents The Three Wrong Choices in Multiple Choice Tests posted at Minds in Bloom . Chanman presents The core of the problem posted at Buckhorn Road , saying, "My post discusses the decline in discipline expectations in our educational system. What used to get you expelled now might not even get you suspended." Mathew Need...