Not Another Homeschool Blog

This is very disheartening news , but I am not surprised.  It was apparent to me by my daughters first grade year that her chances at a good education were slim to none in our Atlanta suburb.  While my son was doing well at the time (in 3rd grade) or so it seemed, I would find out later that he too was getting shafted on his education. Some of the things that happened. Someone stole someone else's food and my daughter was pointed out as the thief because the accuser was afraid of the person who actually did it.  My child was a reluctant eater at the time, so that was just crazy.  When the truth came out, my daughter never received an apology. My son was denied even testing into the gifted program because his grades were "inconsistent".  They would not take into account that those very few low scores happened on days he was suffering from migraines (which he has thankfully outgrown).  Interestingly enough, when I unenrolled him from public school the ...

The longer I homeschool, the more I wish I could start over.  Just like the new strollers and baby gadgets on the market that hadn't even been conceived when my kids were babies, there are now so many new and shiny learning programs that I have no use for because my kids are nearing the end of their homeschooling journey.    I have always been partial to technology based learning for certain subjects. I experimented with all kinds of learning software that allowed my kids to "play" their way to acquiring knowledge.  While the games my kids played were cool... very cool, the stuff available now is insane.   In my opinion,  to date, the most natural way to teach homeschoolers is through adaptive learning . Adaptive learning is can now be found in many elementary math education programs in which you will find an individualized approach to teaching, that uses " personalization and also learning systems that dynamically assess and adapt to the student's...

Seven students were arrested for an SAT cheating scam . It seems they were busted sometime back, when rumours of cheating surfaced and the very high SAT scores were compared to their mediocre GPAs.  In the past, the punishment for cheating was to retake the test free of charge . Now, students may find themselves in jail for four years. Some feel that the school should handle such cheating incidents, others feel that arrests and prosecution are well justified.  I am leaning more toward the arrest option.  Considering Atlanta public schools are now a joke because teachers caused cheating to occur on elementary students state tests, a message must be sent.  As usual, this scandal will very likely result in changes that assumes everyone is a liar and a cheat. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice "called on the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit entity that administers the SAT nationwide, to establish procedures to combat cheating, including ph...

 Practically no one who commented on the article linked below felt a shred of sympathy for Kristen Stewart, star of Twilight.  Her story is basically that she ended up homeschooling because teachers refused to go the extra mile to help her make up for her absences due to her acting career. The thing is, anyone who does things differently from the mainstream is made to feel isolated and disapproved of in one way or another. It's sad, but true. It's a shame that her teachers did not show an iota of support to a child, simply because she had ambitions. Kristen Stewart: My Teachers Failed Me. Not One, But All of Them. The ... Not One, But All of Them." The Blemish Not One, but All of Them." A lot of people think celebrities are self-entitled brats who have no concept of the real world anymore because they're surrounded by sycophants. Luckily Kristen Stewart is here to dispel that myth. In Britain's GQ magazine, Kristen says her former teachers "failed...

No matter how you phrase it, in a flipped classroom, teachers record lectures in advance and assign them as homework. In the classroom, they work through the problems together. This is opposite of how math is typically done in the classroom, and teachers usually introduce the subject matter and have them struggle through it at home. The video explains it all. Interestingly enough, this is a lot like how my homeschooled kids have always worked. They watch math, science, and history videos... as many times as it takes to get it. Then they work through the problems requesting help when necessary. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE WalletPop Contributor Brighthub Contributor

Happy Elf Mom turned me on to this Joanne Jacobs blog about a mom justifying doing her kids' homework .   The actual blog post in interesting enough, as all of Joanne Jacobs posts are, but the comment section really blew me away. It all starts with a blog post called Don't hate me because I do my daughter's homework.  As I read the post in entirely, I absentmindedly mumbled some words that I won't repeat.  In short, I felt like mom was full if it and trying to justify what she knew was wrong. The post ends with "But, when it comes to math, I leave that to her. I hate math. I will look at her math homework to see if she’s done it, but that’s all. So maybe, yes, I do her homework for her (or at least really, really chip in) – but I only do the fun homework. And you?"  Give me a break. Anyway, like I said, the comments on regarding this post were far more interesting than anything this mom or Ms Jacobs had to say. There were parents who justified doing...

  OK ... I love my homeschooling peeps, but I think sometimes we go a little overboard.  Here's why: I am an elections official, and precinct manager.  I was assigned to a precinct late and had to find a staff quick. After going through everyone who previously worked the district, I put out a call to homeschoolers.  Seemed like a good idea. I realize it was 'my bad' that I neglected to say what ages I needed election workers to be, but I just kind of assumed that anyone who had ever voted would know that young adults, adults, and elderly would describe the mix of people running the polls. So the return emails I got were like:  " My freshman and sophomore high schoolers want to work ."  or " My 8 and 10 year olds would love to work, are there shifts ?" (Actually, shifts would be an excellent idea, but there are laws with reasons behind them that prevents that.)  But... are you thinking that your 8 year old can walk up to a voter who is using his...