Whenever something happens to kids, we, us homeschoolers want to find a way to say "this wouldn't happen to my kids, because they are home with us." But those days eventually end. My kids are in college now. They are home for the summer, but in about 8 weeks, they will pack their belongings and go back to college campuses where there will be at the mercy of others with mental illnesses and an axe to grind.
Yes, I am talking about Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger, who shot numerous students and got himself killed last Friday night, all because he felt rejected by hot college girls. I am pretty angry with the media for plastering his face on the TV screen. We all knew where to find his YouTube ramblings and manifesto if we so desired, but nope, there it was, right on the TV screen... a rather attractive young college student who spoke in an eerie, measured tone. He was someone who, if I was not aware of who he was and what he had done, I would find him likable... odd, but likable.
But his words just made me mad! He was angry that girls were attracted to other guys, and not to him. But what did HE do to make himself desirable? I feel like he thought he was so special that the girls he liked should automatically fall at his feet, but that is not how the world should work. Was he so caught up in what the world owed him, that he never considered what he owed to the world? You have to be loving and give attention to attract love and attention. But it feels like people aren't raised to give of themselves anymore. They are raised to take, even when things, love, affection, lives, are
I'ts Eliza Doolittle Day!
It is Eliza Doolittle Day over at Carnival of homeschooling!
Check it out: http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2014/05/carnival-of-homeschooling-eliza.html
Check it out: http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2014/05/carnival-of-homeschooling-eliza.html
Listen to them and let them speak
I had a rough childhood for a lot of reasons. The short of it is that being in a combined family Brady-Bunch situation seldom is the thing that children remember fondly. By biggest beef with my childhood is that people just. didn't. listen. To anything. You were a child. You were to be seen when it was convenient. You were not to be heard. You were not to feel. You were not to complain.
Now I dare say that my upbringing was better than that of our parents, who were allowed even less freedom of thought and action. I.e. we were fed and clothed well. We had all the educational opportunities they could provide. So as far as they were concerned, they were doing a bang-up job. But it did not feel good. At all.
My brother, after staying with my family a couple of months proceeded to analyze my parenting style. He said, "I've noticed that you set out to NOT raise your kids the way we were raised... You accomplished that". His comments were mostly complimentary. I know he thinks the girl child is too mouthy and needs to be sternly reprimanded, but there was a lot of admiration in his comment.
He was right. I did set out to not do what I did not like about my upbringing. I was not heard as a child, and barely heard as a young adult... well into my twenties. So even if it meant hearing my kids say things to me that were uncomfortable to hear, I let them speak their minds, always. I gave
Now I dare say that my upbringing was better than that of our parents, who were allowed even less freedom of thought and action. I.e. we were fed and clothed well. We had all the educational opportunities they could provide. So as far as they were concerned, they were doing a bang-up job. But it did not feel good. At all.
My brother, after staying with my family a couple of months proceeded to analyze my parenting style. He said, "I've noticed that you set out to NOT raise your kids the way we were raised... You accomplished that". His comments were mostly complimentary. I know he thinks the girl child is too mouthy and needs to be sternly reprimanded, but there was a lot of admiration in his comment.
He was right. I did set out to not do what I did not like about my upbringing. I was not heard as a child, and barely heard as a young adult... well into my twenties. So even if it meant hearing my kids say things to me that were uncomfortable to hear, I let them speak their minds, always. I gave
Bye-Bye favorite homeschooling website
One of my favorite all-time free homeschooling websites is changing.
Hippocampus.org has been my go-to site for homeschooling high school students for more than 5 years, and as of June 24, 2014 NROC, who supplies the best courses to the site will discontinue their service. So click on a video today, and this is what you will see for about 30 seconds until the video appears.
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
As of June 24, 2014 this content from the University of Californiawill no longer be available through this link.
Click here for more information.
Please visit HippoCampus.org to find additional resourcesthat are freely available for your use.
In addition University of California will be charging consumers to use this service. Instead they will be charging for each course, for example Algebra II is $19.00 and is is moderated by a teacher, (read-no longer able to be moderated by individual homeschool parents).
Don't worry too much. There are still a lot of free online sites you can use for homeschooling. Stay tuned, I will be creating my list of favorite homeschool resources for fall 2014 soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong
We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript. Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...
