Homeschool blogger alert! Someone is stealing content

I have observed that a homeschool "blog" is stealing content and posting it as their own. They are mostly stealing questions and answers from boards.

Please unite and help take steps to stop this junk site from stealing our traffic and hard work.

http://homeschoolninja.com/


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
WalletPop Contributor

Homeschool Funny (video)

Way  funny homeschool skit:



I only homeschool two kids so I am not going to confess to having a day like this one, but sometimes my kids display the habits of the two older girls.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
WalletPop Contributor

Homeschool Curriculum Giveway

I am doing a Homeschool Curriculum Giveaway on Sept 1, 2010

So I am going to make this simple.  I will submit:
1.  1 entry for following me on twitter (ahermitt)
2.  1 entry for tweeting about this contest
3.  3 entries for blogging about this contest and leaving a comment to let me know you did.
* UPDATE:  please drop me a comment to let me know you tweeted or otherwise.

What am I giving away?  My copy of Reading Detective A1

(recommended for grades 5-6)

This book is in very good condition.  One page has been written in (using pencil)

Find our more about the book on Amazon.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This giveaway is being promoted through Giveawayscout.com 


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
WalletPop Contributor

I don't need a study to tell me that 1 million children are misdiagnosed with ADHD

I don't need a study to tell me that 1 million children are misdiagnosed with ADHD.  My daughter could have easily been one of those children.  This post written a year after we started homeschooling tells what she was like at the time. If the Kindergarten and first grade teacher got their way, she would have been put on Ritalin to make their lives easier.

Sure, she was a handful.  She was certainly the youngest in her class, which the study pointed out was the main reason for misdiagnosis.  A child who is a full 11 months younger than the oldest child is going to act a year younger.  They are going to be baby-like in comparison and more physically active.  As we had moved from NY to Atlanta, she had started school at a younger age than most children and her summer birthday allowed her to squeak into a Kindergarten class younger than most kids.

Her immaturity read as hyperactivity and inattention.  But I knew better.  Even if I was wrong, I knew I could handle the issues one-on-one that a teacher could not handle in a full classroom.  By working with her one-on-one, I also learned that  she didn't learn like most kids.  She was truly a Right-Brained Child in a Left-Brained World. Giving her ritalin would have never "corrected" this.  It wasn't meant to be corrected, it is meant to be worked with. 

I am so glad I never accepted the diagnosis and that my beautiful teenage daughter was allowed to mature on her own, without medication.

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

Who is your favorite homeschool blogger?

Help me populate my Homeschooling blogroll

I just went through my blogroll and deleted more than half as the blogs were defunct.

Please send my your favorite homeschool blogs to check out so I can repopulate.

Thanks.

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

Scary Homeschool Stats

Some time ago, Crimson Wife over at Bending the Twigs wrote a post entitled

Are the Doubters Right about Homeschooling for High School? 

In this post, she revealed some test scores showing that homeschoolers in charter schools fared worse academically each year they homeschooled.  In the end, she works it, out pointing out that many homeschoolers move on to community college and higher education options, so these scores showed the lowest of the barrel.  

I noticed another disturbing factor... something veteran homeschoolers have been warning us about for years.  These test scores were from charter schools.  Charter schools that have been used for years to lure insecure homeschools back under the umbrella of the public education system.  That means these kids also among those whose parents are  not actively involved in homeschooling their kids but simply have them at home doing public school work.  

 Do you know what these stats really tell me?... THAT PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM DOES NOT WORK in and of itself. 

 Now I am not going to tell homeschoolers to not use public school at home resources.  I have met some "homeschoolers" who would not be able to function about it. But all homeschooling families must understand that true homeschooling where the parent gets down and dirty into the nitty-gritty of the curriculum and actively helps, assists, and researches is the only kind of homeschooling that will be ultimately successful in the end.  

 Ask any parent of a highly successful public school student how involved they were... you better believe that their journey would mirror that of a homeschooler, even with their kids in school... Why would any homeschooling parent expect to do less?

 Curriculum is meant to be used as a tool... not a substitution for one-on-one tutoring.  No one who understands this fact will have a child whose stats are as low as the ones in Crimson Wife's post:

Are the Doubters Right about Homeschooling for High School?

 Trust me... the doubters are wrong.

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

Resisting the Urge to Sleep In

Because Tuesdays can be as long as 12 hours or more (Fine Arts classes on the other side of the county), the kids and I have the urge to sleep in on Wednesdays.  This year we are resisting that urge.  You can't sleep till noon when you have 5-6 core classes to complete in a 4 days a week schedule!  I know it's a lot, but they would not give up Artios Academies for the world, and I would not want them to.

In fact, they came home so energized and happy, I had thoughts of letting them do their academics at Artios too (as they had in middle school years) which would mean two days  a week, but logic prevailed as my budget and their individual needs put me back in check.

So as  I drug myself out of bed at 7:30 this morning and took a whole hour to wake them up and another 30 minutes to get them to swallow their breakfast smoothie and bacon breakfast (yum!) I kept reminding myself that at their ages, keeping a schedule is important and sets good habits that would carry them into adulthood. Still, all I wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep.

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