Not Another Homeschool Blog

My son is about the tech the last run of his last high school play.  Next week he takes his last standardized test.  Before I know it we will take his last drive on his learners permit. (my mind is literally going blank... I am freaking out) sigh, this boy is growing up too fast. Off to watch my kids homeschool Drama Club do their last performance of Much Ado About Nothing.  

I wrote what I wrote last night because it was heavy on my heart and had been itching to get out.  But a good night's sleep always brings perspective.  This does not mean that I am not any less scared, angry, dissappointed, and broken-hearted over the Trayvon Martin case,  because I am. However, I am also encouraged that so many people have stood up for justice of this young child.  I am not only seeing black teens and their parents mobilizing over this case, but I am also seeing white, Hispanic, Muslim, and all other nationalities pulling together to call for justice. So while this issue makes it painfully aware that we still have a long way to come in the matter of race relations, I am also happy to notice that we have already come a long way.  The only problem is that half-way is not far enough. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

I hate talking about race but sometimes the conversation just can't be avoided. You would have had to live under a rock this month to not know the Trayvon Martin story.  Now I tried to be quiet about this issue until I had all of the facts.  I wanted to KNOW that this child was innocent BEFORE shooting off at the mouth and making assumptions about things I knew nothing about.  After watching the issue for a full month, I can say this much... I AM SCARED. Do I have a good reason to be scared?  Probably not.  But here's the thing.  I've got a big strapping dark-skinned, son who's built like a football player.  He could just as easily have been picked out as a thug in his favorite Eddie Bauer hoodie as he decided he wanted to run to the local McDonalds for a burger and walked back home through our gated community.  Should a neighborhood vigilante see his big hulking self, he wouldn't bother getting out of the car, he'd just probably shoot from...

 I can't tell you how many times I have been asked that question. Then answer is NO. I will however, help you to homeschool your kid.  Here are my reasons. 1.  It's called HOMEschooling for a reason.....  your home, not mine. Once you send your child to someone else's home for instruction, it ceases to be homeschooling and becomes a small private school.  This is LAW in many states.  Now that may be fine for someone seeking to find a qualified homeschooler to work with their child, but if that person is still homeschooling their own children, as I am, it changes the dynamic in the home and can take away (and in some cases add to) the education of my own child. This is the main reason I say NO. 2.  Homeschooling is more about family relationship than academics.  I spent my first year of homeschooling strictly relationship building with my kids (after taking them out of public school).  Once I felt our relationship was re-claimed, I was...

Hi and Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling at Notes from a Homeschooled Mom.  I am have homeschooled for nearly a decade now and am near the end of the journey with my children.  You may have noticed I have recently changed my blog name.  It was a simple change of one word:  Homeschooling to Homeschooled.  The reason for the change is that I now know that I wasn't just teaching my kids, they were teaching me all along.  Homeschooling has made me braver, stronger, more opinionated, and less afraid of expressing those opinions.  Homeschooling has also taught me to face life standing up and not to let it mow you down. This is one of those weeks when I would have refused to get out of  bed ten years ago.  I have experienced a loss of a precious niece, and will be heading home tomorrow for a few days to be with family.  But like I said, homeschooling has taught me to keep standing and keep going, and in that vein,  I present t...

Notes from a homeschooled mom will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling this coming week to be published on Tuesday.   To have your HOMESCHOOLING RELATED blog post included, please email it directly to CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail. com .  It is not guaranteed to be included if mailed through the Blog Carnival website.  I loved creating themed carnivals and would much appreciate it if you would submit a post based on your favorite homeschooled curriculum. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

 Writing makes me feel insecure. Will my clients like my article? Am I teaching my homeschooled kids to write well? With clients, good writing can be subjective.  The basics are the basics, of course, but one has to capture the personality of the website or publication the writer is working for. With so many variables, I have to figure out the last thing I need to worry about is a grammatical error.  Since I can not afford a personal editor, it is wonderful to have a grammar checker   website for my revision and grammar checking process. With students, One must pick and choose what to correct and when. With young kids, I have purposely overlooked miss-spellings and jacked-up punctuation in order to encourage their love for writing.  My main goal has been to make sure they understood the assignment and were able to communicate in writing what they were trying to say. As young writers mature, the teacher or homeschooled parent can zero in more and mo...

I've been a bit preoccupied with elections and other stuff lately.   Besides running a polling location this coming tuesday, which by the way has been a pain this time and we haven't even gotten to election day yet, I am chairing the costume committee for Much Ado about Nothing, 1960s' version, and am knee high in pre-college stuff.  So please excuse my sparseness. I've got a few things on my mind that I will share with you soon.  By the way.... either vote, or stop complaining. That's how I feel about politics.