Atlanta Parents, need to look at their child's education

This is so sad.  

"The morning of Sept. 30, 2009, half a dozen such students — Chantel Cox among them — showed up in Milton Mack’s classroom at Carver. None was assigned to Mack’s special education classes. All, Mack would later tell investigators assigned to an internal inquiry by the school district, said they had been pulled out of their 11th-grade homerooms while their peers took the high school writing test.

“The students were upset and trying to walk out,” Mack told investigators. “They said they were told they weren’t juniors [but] they were told by somebody that they were juniors until that morning.”

Shortly, according to Mack’s account, principal Rodney Ray arrived to try to calm the students. Ray didn’t say so, but Mack told investigators he assumed the principal had pulled out the students so they wouldn’t hurt the school’s overall test score."

This article really makes me think about some thing that I have seen in my suburb of Atlanta.  I have seen students who were previously moderately successful, suddenly feel unwanted in the classroom.  I have seen special ed students suddenly mainstreamed at Grade 9 and promptly flunked. the goal, I can only guess was to encourage dropping out.  I know of several people homeschooling right now, not because they wanted to, but because they felt they had no other choice... the schools were not interested in helping them.

Read more here http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-atlanta/atlanta-parents-may-want-to-consider-homeschooling


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

Teaching ADHD... not disciplining it

Any books you find on teaching ADHD involve recognizing, drugging, and disciplining. How about teaching them?

Please listen to this talk about teaching ADHD children in a way that enriches them, not punishes them. 

This speaker suggests finding what they are interested in and teaching them through these interests.

Why aren't you in school?

My nephew just told me the following true story.

He was in the supermarket with his grandparents during school hours.  A middle aged, abled body looking man approached him said (so that everyone around them could hear) "Son, why aren't you in school".  My nephew (homeschooled age 17, but looks 14) replied, "Why aren't you at work."  The man replied "I don't have a job."  My nephew replied "I don't have school."  The man said nothing and walked away.

Granted, my nephew was a bit mean, but I blame it on public schools ;)... he has only been homeschooling 2 years.  I am sure the man felt badly about not working, but just as he didn't want to be called out because he didn't work, homeschoolers are tired of being called out because they aren't where other non-related people think they should be.

On the other hand, too bad the guy didn't reply that he was self employed, because my nephew could have them said that he was self educated.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

In the Market for New Computers

I think our biggest expense as homeschoolers is for computers.

Each kid takes online classes and does a lot of research and learning online, so each of them needs a computer.  My son has a Macbook, and my daughter's Gateway laptop has been pronounced dead.  She is using the computer my husband built as our home entertainment system to do her school work.  My husband also uses a desktop that he also built (when he is not using his work-issued laptop), and I am currently using a Toshiba laptop  with a monitor, as my laptop screen got broken by the notorious laptop killer that lives here.

No needless to say, we are looking at desktop computers for the laptop killer.  She needs something that will last her until she starts college in about a year and a half, which is about how long it takes her to murder a computer. I was contemplating a desktop for myself as I plan on getting an iPad as well, but I am finding that I can't sit at my desk for a long time as my legs get very restless so I like to move around from chair to sofa, to a laying position as I do my work as a content writer and blogger.  I don't know how much work I can get done on an iPad, so I will need to find out.  (We are contemplating rigging my broken laptop with a mounted monitor to the exercise machine in the basement to encourage more exercise.)

To top it off, son starts college in the fall, so we anticipate buying yet another computer, which will probably be a powerful and expensive Mac because he is going into media design.  Sure the school has computers, but he'd rather work in his room.

Normally our computer purchasing schedule is staggered, with us purchasing a computer every 9 months to a year, but due to the Great Laptop Massacre of Summer 2011, It seems like we may need to replace all of our computers at once.  Sigh. I am glad they are almost grown.... maybe when they are buying their own computers, they will miraculously last longer.

No Family Time Allowed?

I just read and email from the Seattle Public Schools (it got passed around) regarding absences due to family trips.  It took me 5 minutes to find a word that did was family friendly enough to write on my blog.  The letter is in my opinion, WHACKTACULAR.

Here is an excerpt:

Just going to another city, country or out of state, if to visit family or friends and nothing else, would not be excused. Families sometimes arrange their vacations after school starts because airfare is usually cheaper. However, this does not meet criteria for an excused absence.

Interestingly, enough, it is the wealthier and more families that take trips such as these. I doubt the kids are going to fall behind.  Why can't the the kids get a package of work to do while away?

 and

If the trip is to be considered educational, there has to be a plan in place for what the student will learn, what educational activities are to be accomplished, and how the student will report on his/her learning when he comes back. The plan could include language immersion (although this wouldn't be excused by itself), visits to historic or cultural sites, taking photographs and creating a report based on all of this that the student makes to the class or turns in to the teacher, or some other planned educational activity that the teacher and principal approve.

Are you kidding me?  The school want's to hijack a family's vacation time?  I'd rather never go anywhere.

Plus

At least five days of a trip for a funeral can be excused, but any part that would be added beyond this simply for a desire to visit family for a longer period of time may not be excused.

What if the child is still inconsolable?  What if mom needs more time to get her mother's affairs in order?  What if Dad needs to handle his parents estate?  Crazy.

Things like this make homeschooling so attractive.

Here's the school system website, so you can view their overall truancy rules.  I wouldn't want to go to schools like this either.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE WalletPop Contributor Brighthub Contributor

Detention for too many potty breaks? | ajc.com

Hold your water. At one Illinois high school, too many bathroom breaks can equal detention after school. Detention for too many potty breaks? | ajc.com

This was one of the reasons homeschooling looked so good to us. Son was born with a stomach condition. He needs to go when he needs to go, but he couldn't. He was getting sicker and sicker in school. We suspect that this problem is why he had so many migraines too.

Once he was home a year or so, his problems became virtually non existent.

I seem to have picked up another homeschooler

I agreed to have my nephew at my house 2 days a week to help him finish his homeschooling and graduate.  He has only been homeschooling for a couple of years after being an official statistic in public school.  I hope we can get him ready for community college by the end of the year, but more than likely, it will be next December when he graduates, hopefully, starting college 2nd semester next year.

This is not going to be easy, and I will be focusing on language arts and math test prep while his mom is continuing with his basic curriculum.

This means I have two seniors on my hands and one Jr.

Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.


Read: Can Homeschooling Help Me Graduate on Time?

9/25/2011

Many people who were failing in public school have used public school to get back on track and finish their high school years strong. It does however that an great deal of determination and hard work.

Can Homeschooling Help Me Graduate Early?

9/25/2011

Homeschooling can be used by smart and advanced students to help them get into college faster, but depending on where you live, it might be easier to take another approach.

 Creating a Homeschool Portfolio when No Records Have Been Kept

9/19/2011

Sometimes we get so lost in homeschooling that we fail to keep records. If this has happened to you, this article will help to recover lost work to create the homeschool portfolio.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE