Don't compare homeschooling to public schools

A friend posted about a pro homeschooling article on Facebook today.  I commented, and another friend got her feathers ruffled.  She was bothered (the best that I could tell) that comparisons were being made between homeschoolers and non homeschoolers.  I understand her point, that it should be about educating kids the best you can, homeschooling or not, I get that.  But I also think it is unfair to ask homeschoolers pipe down, on homeschooling statistics for PC reasons.

I requested that the conversation be discontinued as it was happening on someone else's timeline (I hate that), but it did leave me seething.

Now I realize that there is a general consensus that us homeschooling parents are defensive and often demeaning toward those who have an aught with homeschooling, but there is a reason for it.  If it were not for the publicizing of homeschool successes, the practice would have been shut down decades ago before it could even gain traction.

So, while people may sometimes feel like we take it too, I need to ask them to look the other way for a moment.  Homeschooling is still not widely accepted, and we do need to promote it from time to time.  Don't take it personally.

Top 10 homeschool resources for 2014-15

Unfortunately, one of the sites I have relied on heavily (Hippocampus) to provide my kids with free, high quality education is has lost it's contract with NROC but I have found a couple new sites for you to try.  Keep in mind that most of my picks are for high school students, as that is hardest to find, and that you need to check these out thoroughly. My kids no longer try out these sites as they are in college, so I rely on reviews, poking around, and a couple hours of trial access.

10.  MIT Open Courseware is a great way to challenge advanced students who aren't quite ready for the college classroom environment.  Most specifically, I recommend the Audio Video Lecture based courses as they are easier to follow.

9.  Spanish Hour has helped a couple of young people I know with this very important foreign language. You can start with the basic free membership, and then move to Premium membership for the extra tools later. It helps to prepare for the CLEP exam which means your kid won't have to tangle with Spanish in college.

Need extra math help this summer

This program is usually $39.95 a school year, but this summer it is free.

"At TenMarks, we believe in student achievement. When students work on TenMarks, they have access to hints and video lessons on EVERY problem, so if they can't recall something, or didn't quite get the topic when it was covered in class, they can quickly review the content, and move forward. Immediate support improves motivation and builds confidence, and our data shows that it does wonders for student outcomes."

I suggest you try it.  It seems like a perfect balance between two of my favorites, Khan Academy and ALEKS.com.

Maya's timeline and me

As I showered this morning, I pondered on Maya Angelou's life and what she accomplished. (Yes, I am still stuck on that).   Then I thought on how old I am and what I still want to accomplish and realized that she wasn't much younger than 1 when she wrote her first book.  It dawned on me then to do a timeline of her life to see what age she was at when she made her accomplishments.

These ages are approximate, but you get the picture.

Thankfully, WSOCTV started the project and I supplemented with the timelines at softschools.com and a few other websites, and I mostly had to do the math to figure out her age.

April 4, 1928-  born in St. Louis, Missouri.

Age 9 raped by mothers boyfriend and becomes mute for a number of years

Age 13 Moved to California with mother and brother, when to high school and studied dance and drama at a college program.