Tom and Katie Homeschooling Suri?

Well, sort of.

If you've googled "homeschooling" and "news" lately, then you know that Tom and Katie
Cruse have announced their plans to homeschool Suri. This adds another number to the many lists of famous homeschoolers.

I am realizing however, that the fact that the rich and famous are joining the ranks of homeschoolers does nothing for (nor takes nothing away from) homeschooling. Maybe it's because celebrities are expected to be eccentric, or because no one expects or worries about them falling short in their homeschool duties as it usually involves merely hiring a teacher as mentioned in this Katie Holmes interview: "...And we homeschool Suri -- she has a teacher who is with her every day. We like the one-on-one education. I'm happy that my daughter is strong-willed and determined. You really have to go with what the child is wanting."

A Huffington Post reporter however, mentioned that homeschooling is popular with Scientology anyway....  How dismissive!

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Don't listen to the misinformed

So I received a phone call from a new homeschoolers who was told that if she handn't already filed her homeschooling forms that she could be arrested.

That is the kind if misinformation and alarmist reactions that scare people away from homeschooling. I gave her the correct information she needed, but I made a video to vent.

The moral of the story is, don't let random educators (who are not intimately aware of homeschooling) to give you homeschooling advice. Chances are they will be wrong.

My guess is this person got their information from the fact that a local homeschooling mom was arrested last year for educational neglect. They had been "homeschooling" for years and had not filed any paperwork or done any testing. (If I remember correctly, there were some other illegal things going in the house too).

So please, don't let peopel scare you... check with a homeschooling expert



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Carnival of Homeschooling: Back 2 Home 2010

Welcome to the August 17, 2010 edition of carnival of homeschooling.  Let's start with a little housekeeping. Please, Please, Please, promote the carnival on your blog. If everyone participates, then everyone will benefit even more. Failure to promote the carnival may get you excluded from future carnivals. (I know I wasn't afraid of using the delete button.) It wouldn't hurt to use the graphic either.. it is here: 

Now on to our back 2 Home... school edition... hope you enjoy the personal photos I have enclosed. 

My family just completed our first week of back to home... school for the 2010-2011 school year. Today is actually the kids' first day back to their homeschool program which meets once a week on Tuesdays, giving me time to work on this carnival. When back to school time starts, it is inevitable that a neighbor will corner me on the subject.  Today, my neighbor caught me outside and our conversation immediately went to schooling.  He was very excited about a new charter school in our neighborhood and thought I should send me kids to it.  Read more about it as Andrea (me) presents charter schools versus homeschooling posted at Notes From a Homeschooling Mom 

 Janine at Why Homeschool certainly makes the most of back to school time, even though she can't avoid it altogether.  Janine presents The First day of School at Why Homeschool.

The beginning of the school year also has Wendy at A Divine Calling musing a bit.  Enjoy her post Why we homeschool as she shares reflections on her families homeschooling journey and on the many " reasons why we choose to homeschool our children".

Not all of use are done with summer yet.  Read more about it as Margaret at  Two Kid Schoolhouse presents Why camp counts in my homeschool, saying "Things my kids are learning at camps this summer and why I count them as "school."

My kids and I on a trip to California... homeschool travel is cool!

Jeanne  may never be ready to start the school year as she easily combines the school and summer seasons while participating in Family Travel, Homeschool, Education & Global Students - Soul Travelers 3 posted at soultravelers3, saying, "We love combining travel and homeschooling! We have been traveling the world as a family non-stop since 2006 on just 23 dollars a day per person and are monolinguals raising a very fluent trilingual and triliterate. Here is our view on why homeschool & travel makes for a well prepared global citizen of the 21st century."

For those of use who don't have wanderlust, or just can't make it work, don't forget to take time to contemplate the night sky with your kids like Cristina Payne who presents Getting Close with Space posted at Home Spun Juggling, saying, "Spending one on one time while watching for meteors"

During the day you can contemplate nature like Pamela Jorrick who presents A Frog A Day... posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

It's no wonder Mobius can present Home Schooling Children Have More Joy posted at Home Schooling Resources.

Not only do homeschooling children have more joy, but they get to slow down and observe the world around Them.  You can enjoy Sebastian's observations of Post Rockwell's Realism at Percival Blakeney Academy.

Homeschooling allows so much flexibility in every aspect of learning.  ChristineMM displays this in  Places We Learn (aka Do Homeschooling) Under Our Own Roof posted at The Thinking Mother, saying, "ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother shares photos of places her kids learn in their home since there is no actual "school room"."

My kids enjoying Atlanta Botanical Garden a few years ago

There was a time when such a conversation with my neighbor would really rattle me, but not anymore.  Us homeschoolers are used to criticism, such as the type Alasandra addresses in  The Great Flip-Flop posted at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog Awards.


If you need a bit more reassurance, read this post from ~Kris~ who presents Top Ten Homeschooling Words of Wisdom posted at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Library visit

As you begin a new school year, be sure to go beyond academics like Jennifer Lavender who presents School Motto posted at Princess Momma as she lays a spiritual foundation for her homeschool.

Once that is done, you can explore goals as Lynn presents More Goals posted at Eclectic Education.

Classes may be all taught by mom, or like Carol J. Alexander who presents Homeschool Writing Classes posted at Everything Home...with Carol, co-ops and outside classes may be the order of the day.

Also... Denise presents FREE Homeschool Blogging Correspondence Course posted at Blogging 2 Learn, saying, "If you live too far away to join our homeschool co-op, your student can still take my blogging class..."

For my family, classics are a huge part of the homeschooling curriculum.  Take a tip from The Homeschool Librarian who presents Little House on the Prairie: another look posted at The Homeschool Librarian.


Denise presents Math Clubs, Math Circles, and the Richmond Math Salon posted at Let's Play Math!, saying, "Give your student a positive experience with math by starting a math club. Here are a wealth of tips and sample activities."

Old homeschool Chorus Picture

Let's not forget those subjects that while they are not exactly about homeschooling, they certainly affect it.

Linda Dobson presents Need Money? Become a School Turn-Around Expert: No Experience Necessary  posted at PARENT AT THE HELM.

Barbara Frank presents  They Don't Teach This in College   posted at Barbara Frank Online

Finally, Jason Koeppe - IntelliCorp presents Home Playground Safety Checklist posted at InTouch & Informed Blog, saying, "Nothing soothes a parent more than the sweet sound of children swinging, sliding, giggling, and having fun in the backyard. Use this simple playground safety checklist to help make sure your home playground is a safe place to play. Each year, more than 200,000 children go to U.S. hospital emergency rooms with injuries associated with playground equipment."  So be careful out there.


That concludes this edition. If you notice an errors or unfair exclusions, please email me at ahermitt@gmail.com.  To be included in the next carnival, submit your blog article to carnival of homeschooling using our handy, dandy carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our  blog carnival index page.

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Charter schools versus homeschooling

 I had a conversation with a neighbor today who tried to convince me that I should consider putting my kids in the new math and science charter school that had opened near our neighborhood.

Bless his heart. 

He was clearly well intentioned, but just like all my other neighbors feels that my kids would be better off in a real school and not homeschooling...   As great as that school might be, the facts are that my daughter is not a math and science person, and if she were going to attend a charter school it would need to be an Arts Charter School... and my son... well, he's almost done so the point is moot. 

Its so funny that people are willing to look past the needs of the individual child to do what society determines is acceptable.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

Why I am video blogging again

I had stopped making video blogs because of technical difficulties and also because I got many ugly (and racist) responses for no good reason.

But today is a new day.

I am making video blogs again for 3 reasons:

1. Too many of my kids homeschool friends are returning to traditional schools as they enter the high school years. While that is OK and each parent must do what they feel is best, I would like to encourage those on the fence to consider sticking to homeschooling and finishing strong.

3. I have seen far to many pushouts and drop-outs from public school with no means of completing their education. I feel they can use homeschooling to finish and get into a good college.

3. Just from my personal experience alone, I can see that homescholing is growing exponentially. I would love to be a person that helps influence that growth.

See video below:




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Free Sample Transcript

 I have viewed alot of homeschool transcripts, and a couple of public school transcripts too.  I don't pretend to be an expert on transcripts, but I am a quick study.  I came up with my own one page form that I plan to use.

Update:  This transcript was used to get my son accepted in multiple colleges with scholarship offers.

It is easy to scan, makes room for all the electives homeschoolers participate in.  It also takes into account the possibility of weighted grades due to AP classes and CLEP exams.

I have already customized one for each of my kids even filling in classes that I plan for them to take in the future... it really helped this visual person to see it laid out like that. 

Click here to view the transcript sample with notes:  
Feel free to use it as your own sample.

I've discontinued selling the template for this.  I feel it needs updating.  Thanks for your patronage. 

What qualities do you hope your child will possess?

As you are homeschooling your child, do you have qualities in mind that you hope they possess as an adult? Do you know someone with those qualities so you can fully picture what they look like?

I have known this young lady for about 8 years or longer. She is 5 years older than my daughter, and I have always seen the qualities in her I would like my daughter to possess. They are both talented musically, and this young lady is modest about her talent, and grateful to God for it.

Here is a video she just did as a contest for a local radio contest. I am posting it for two reasons:

1. To demonstrate what I see for my daughter in the future and
2. To support her and help her reach a million views by the end of the month.

Please click away.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources