I wrote what I wrote last night because it was heavy on my heart and had been itching to get out. But a good night's sleep always brings perspective. This does not mean that I am not any less scared, angry, dissappointed, and broken-hearted over the Trayvon Martin case, because I am.
However, I am also encouraged that so many people have stood up for justice of this young child. I am not only seeing black teens and their parents mobilizing over this case, but I am also seeing white, Hispanic, Muslim, and all other nationalities pulling together to call for justice.
So while this issue makes it painfully aware that we still have a long way to come in the matter of race relations, I am also happy to notice that we have already come a long way. The only problem is that half-way is not far enough.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
Man, I hate talking about race (Trayvon Martin)
You would have had to live under a rock this month to not know the Trayvon Martin story. Now I tried to be quiet about this issue until I had all of the facts. I wanted to KNOW that this child was innocent BEFORE shooting off at the mouth and making assumptions about things I knew nothing about. After watching the issue for a full month, I can say this much... I AM SCARED.
Do I have a good reason to be scared? Probably not. But here's the thing. I've got a big strapping dark-skinned, son who's built like a football player. He could just as easily have been picked out as a thug in his favorite Eddie Bauer hoodie as he decided he wanted to run to the local McDonalds for a burger and walked back home through our gated community. Should a neighborhood vigilante see his big hulking self, he wouldn't bother getting out of the car, he'd just probably shoot from there, because at 6"2 and well over 200 lbs, my baby is an imposing figure.
I AM ALSO ANGRY. I am angry that while my son may NEVER have to experience such an issue (considering that his father has never had to) that I had to have a talk to my son about appearance. I had to ask him to always wear college gear when he goes off campus next year as he starts college. I had to ask him to always try to dress professionally, even though his is still a kid. I had to tell him the proper protocol for behavior when being stopped while driving. You know, hands on wheel, and uber polite... no sudden moves.
I AM DISSAPPOINTED. I am disappointed that in 2012, I have to worry about my son's safety because some overzealous person my look at him and not see the mountain of handsome that I see. They don't see a gentle giant. They don't see a homeschooled kid with a laid back demeanor. They don't see a protector. They don't see a multiple scholarship recipient. They don't see a capable Elections Official. They wouldn't know that Fencing is his sport of choice. They wouldn't know he'd been programing and building computers since age 11 and that he is going to college for Graphic Design. They see someone who looks "scary" or like "he does not belong". What gets me the most is that the entire perception would change if they faced him and said "hi". He would force a smile, and say "hi" back, and they would instantly know that his is a good kid.
I AM HEARTBROKEN. I am heartbroken for the parents of Trayvon Martin who instead of people accepting this incident for what it is- a travesty and signal that racial relations have a long way yet to come, they instead try to smear his name and say that race relations are hopeless. I am heartbroken for mothers of black boys everywhere who know that their child will (or has) outgrown their cute phase and so many segments of society would feel more comfortable if this boy were in jail or worse. I am heartbroken for an America that won't take a chance to heal this rift between human beings who happen to have different skin colors.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
Can you homeschool my kid?
I can't tell you how many times I have been asked that question.
Then answer is NO.
I will however, help you to homeschool your kid. Here are my reasons.
1. It's called HOMEschooling for a reason..... your home, not mine. Once you send your child to someone else's home for instruction, it ceases to be homeschooling and becomes a small private school. This is LAW in many states. Now that may be fine for someone seeking to find a qualified homeschooler to work with their child, but if that person is still homeschooling their own children, as I am, it changes the dynamic in the home and can take away (and in some cases add to) the education of my own child. This is the main reason I say NO.
2. Homeschooling is more about family relationship than academics. I spent my first year of homeschooling strictly relationship building with my kids (after taking them out of public school). Once I felt our relationship was re-claimed, I was then able to teach, and mold, and challenge them academically. This is hard to do with someone else's child. I am not exactly easy on my kids, and without the close parental relationship, I don't know that I would get the same results, in fact, they would very likely feel frustrated. No one knows a child like their own parent. No one can push a child in the same way as their own parent, and no one knows when to pull back and give a breather like their own parent. This is why I feel homeschooling should be done strictly by parents.
3. If you can't control your own kid, what makes you think I can? In most of the circumstances where I am asked to homeschool someone else's kid, the parent is at their wits end. They don't know what to do with the kid, and they are hoping that I can create a miracle. I''m just not that good. As the parent, you need to regroup, maybe see a family counselor, and get on proper footing with your child before you can start homeschooling them, or asking for someone else's help.
With all that said, I will now tell you that I WILL assist people in the homeschooling of their child. I will TUTOR them in subject where I am capable. I will refer them to tutors in subjects where I am not strong. I will also act as a parental guide and guidance counselor for the child. In my past experiences of working with homeschooling families, I have been most successful where supported the child 30% and the parent 70% allowing the parent child teacher-relationship to remain in tact.
So while I won't homeschool your kid, if you need help or guidance, I am here to help.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
Then answer is NO.
I will however, help you to homeschool your kid. Here are my reasons.
1. It's called HOMEschooling for a reason..... your home, not mine. Once you send your child to someone else's home for instruction, it ceases to be homeschooling and becomes a small private school. This is LAW in many states. Now that may be fine for someone seeking to find a qualified homeschooler to work with their child, but if that person is still homeschooling their own children, as I am, it changes the dynamic in the home and can take away (and in some cases add to) the education of my own child. This is the main reason I say NO.
2. Homeschooling is more about family relationship than academics. I spent my first year of homeschooling strictly relationship building with my kids (after taking them out of public school). Once I felt our relationship was re-claimed, I was then able to teach, and mold, and challenge them academically. This is hard to do with someone else's child. I am not exactly easy on my kids, and without the close parental relationship, I don't know that I would get the same results, in fact, they would very likely feel frustrated. No one knows a child like their own parent. No one can push a child in the same way as their own parent, and no one knows when to pull back and give a breather like their own parent. This is why I feel homeschooling should be done strictly by parents.
3. If you can't control your own kid, what makes you think I can? In most of the circumstances where I am asked to homeschool someone else's kid, the parent is at their wits end. They don't know what to do with the kid, and they are hoping that I can create a miracle. I''m just not that good. As the parent, you need to regroup, maybe see a family counselor, and get on proper footing with your child before you can start homeschooling them, or asking for someone else's help.
With all that said, I will now tell you that I WILL assist people in the homeschooling of their child. I will TUTOR them in subject where I am capable. I will refer them to tutors in subjects where I am not strong. I will also act as a parental guide and guidance counselor for the child. In my past experiences of working with homeschooling families, I have been most successful where supported the child 30% and the parent 70% allowing the parent child teacher-relationship to remain in tact.
So while I won't homeschool your kid, if you need help or guidance, I am here to help.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
Carnival of Homeschooling, to those who homeschool because of illness
Hi and Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling at Notes from a Homeschooled Mom. I am have homeschooled for nearly a decade now and am near the end of the journey with my children. You may have noticed I have recently changed my blog name. It was a simple change of one word: Homeschooling to Homeschooled. The reason for the change is that I now know that I wasn't just teaching my kids, they were teaching me all along. Homeschooling has made me braver, stronger, more opinionated, and less afraid of expressing those opinions. Homeschooling has also taught me to face life standing up and not to let it mow you down.
This is one of those weeks when I would have refused to get out of bed ten years ago. I have experienced a loss of a precious niece, and will be heading home tomorrow for a few days to be with family. But like I said, homeschooling has taught me to keep standing and keep going, and in that vein, I present this Carnival in the memory of my niece Candace Barnes who was forced to homeschool the last few years of her education because she was unable to go to school a great deal of the time. While I am sorry for her death, I am grateful for her life and the short lives of other family members who had been struck with the same affliction.
I want to thank you all for indulging me.
And now I present you with this week's Carnival of homeschooling.
HOMESCHOOL NEWS:
Beverly Hernandez at the About.com Homeschooling Blog presents Vote Now! The 2012 Homeschooling Readers’ Choice Awards, saying The finalists have been announced and the voting is in full swing. The voting period runs from February 22 through March 21 with winners announced March 30. There are quite a few close races…support your favorites!
HOMSCHOOL MUSINGS AND INSIGHT
Sabrina at 7 Sisters presents Character Studies: Corrie ten Boom saying, In addition to well rounded academics and extra-curriculars, homeschooling for Christian parents also means exposing our children to the kind of information, people and experiences that will equip them to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Character studies are a great tool for bringing many of these goals together in our homeschools.
Lisa a Homeschool Circus presents Preparing for High School! saying, I only wanted to *try* preschool and Kindergarten. I never dreamed homeschooling would become a learning lifestyle!
Chris at Home School vs Public School presents Grandparents and Your Child saying, Empower your children with the knowledge and love of grand parents!
Liz at Homeschooling in Buffalo presents Outsourcing My Teaching Weaknesses in which she discusses the occasions when she gets outside help with homeschooling.
Ranga at Information Blog presents Homeschooling for Children with a disability
Mrs. White presents "The Early Years of Homeschooling" posted at "The Legacy of Home."
Christine presents The Challenge for Homeschool Moms with Teen Boys posted at The Thinking Mother in which she discusses trying to give her teen boy room to grow while living the close lifestyle of homeschooling.
Henry Cate presents Another Benefit of Homeschooling at Why Homeschool. Henry reports that his daughters love to babysit while they study.
HOMESCHOOL TOOLS:
Sarah Small presents Putting Pinterest to Use: Newspaper Blackout Poems posted at SmallWorld.
Dr. G at Mom Fitness presents Post "Lessons on Health and Nutrition" saying, Teaching young children about good health and nutrition can affect them for the rest of their lives... start them out right!!
Victoria McCracken at Teaching Mommy presents Netflix in the Homeschool
Trigger Memory at PJs All Day presents Using Email and Boomerang for School giving tips for using email and Boomerang (delayed email delivery) in conjunction with schooling.
Heather Laurie presents Lapbooking with Special Needs Kids posted at Special Needs Homeschooling. What changes would help lapbooking with a special needs child? This is the first of a whole week long series on special needs lapbooking!
HOMESCHOOL ADVENTURES
Dana Hanley at Roscommon Acres presents In which my children inadvertently track a mountain lion. Maybe. (wow!)
Lisa Nehring at Golden Grasses presents Thinking Summer saying We’re getting camps, events and travel plans for summer on our calendar. I’m putting together a “bucket list” for summer for my younger kids!
HOMESCHOOL EXTRAS
Susan Kilbride, author of "Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers," has just launched "Our America," a new series of chapter books designed to help homeschoolers & other students learn American History. The first book is called "The Pilgrim Adventures"
Nancy Kelly is hosting a A Book Giveaway for Spring! Go check it out.
Annie Kate at Tea Time with Annie Kate presents An Attack on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech--Please Pray
Olivia Marie presents 20 Best Sites for Helpful Dissertation Tipsposted at onlinephdprogram.org stating: For doctorate students, writing your dissertation can be extremely overwhelming and seem endless.To help alleviate some of the stress, this list of sites offers great tools for finding advice and tips on completing your dissertation, including blogs, articles, and other online resources. (There may very well be some homeschoolers who are ready for this).
Thank you for reading. Enjoy my FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
This is one of those weeks when I would have refused to get out of bed ten years ago. I have experienced a loss of a precious niece, and will be heading home tomorrow for a few days to be with family. But like I said, homeschooling has taught me to keep standing and keep going, and in that vein, I present this Carnival in the memory of my niece Candace Barnes who was forced to homeschool the last few years of her education because she was unable to go to school a great deal of the time. While I am sorry for her death, I am grateful for her life and the short lives of other family members who had been struck with the same affliction.
I want to thank you all for indulging me.
And now I present you with this week's Carnival of homeschooling.
HOMESCHOOL NEWS:
Beverly Hernandez at the About.com Homeschooling Blog presents Vote Now! The 2012 Homeschooling Readers’ Choice Awards, saying The finalists have been announced and the voting is in full swing. The voting period runs from February 22 through March 21 with winners announced March 30. There are quite a few close races…support your favorites!
HOMSCHOOL MUSINGS AND INSIGHT
Sabrina at 7 Sisters presents Character Studies: Corrie ten Boom saying, In addition to well rounded academics and extra-curriculars, homeschooling for Christian parents also means exposing our children to the kind of information, people and experiences that will equip them to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Character studies are a great tool for bringing many of these goals together in our homeschools.
Lisa a Homeschool Circus presents Preparing for High School! saying, I only wanted to *try* preschool and Kindergarten. I never dreamed homeschooling would become a learning lifestyle!
Chris at Home School vs Public School presents Grandparents and Your Child saying, Empower your children with the knowledge and love of grand parents!
Liz at Homeschooling in Buffalo presents Outsourcing My Teaching Weaknesses in which she discusses the occasions when she gets outside help with homeschooling.
Ranga at Information Blog presents Homeschooling for Children with a disability
Mrs. White presents "The Early Years of Homeschooling" posted at "The Legacy of Home."
Christine presents The Challenge for Homeschool Moms with Teen Boys posted at The Thinking Mother in which she discusses trying to give her teen boy room to grow while living the close lifestyle of homeschooling.
Henry Cate presents Another Benefit of Homeschooling at Why Homeschool. Henry reports that his daughters love to babysit while they study.
HOMESCHOOL TOOLS:
Sarah Small presents Putting Pinterest to Use: Newspaper Blackout Poems posted at SmallWorld.
Dr. G at Mom Fitness presents Post "Lessons on Health and Nutrition" saying, Teaching young children about good health and nutrition can affect them for the rest of their lives... start them out right!!
Victoria McCracken at Teaching Mommy presents Netflix in the Homeschool
Trigger Memory at PJs All Day presents Using Email and Boomerang for School giving tips for using email and Boomerang (delayed email delivery) in conjunction with schooling.
Heather Laurie presents Lapbooking with Special Needs Kids posted at Special Needs Homeschooling. What changes would help lapbooking with a special needs child? This is the first of a whole week long series on special needs lapbooking!
HOMESCHOOL ADVENTURES
Dana Hanley at Roscommon Acres presents In which my children inadvertently track a mountain lion. Maybe. (wow!)
Lisa Nehring at Golden Grasses presents Thinking Summer saying We’re getting camps, events and travel plans for summer on our calendar. I’m putting together a “bucket list” for summer for my younger kids!
HOMESCHOOL EXTRAS
Susan Kilbride, author of "Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers," has just launched "Our America," a new series of chapter books designed to help homeschoolers & other students learn American History. The first book is called "The Pilgrim Adventures"
Nancy Kelly is hosting a A Book Giveaway for Spring! Go check it out.
Annie Kate at Tea Time with Annie Kate presents An Attack on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech--Please Pray
Olivia Marie presents 20 Best Sites for Helpful Dissertation Tipsposted at onlinephdprogram.org stating: For doctorate students, writing your dissertation can be extremely overwhelming and seem endless.To help alleviate some of the stress, this list of sites offers great tools for finding advice and tips on completing your dissertation, including blogs, articles, and other online resources. (There may very well be some homeschoolers who are ready for this).
Thank you for reading. Enjoy my FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
Tell us your favorite curriculum for the Carnival of Homeschooling
Notes from a homeschooled mom will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling this coming week to be published on Tuesday. To have your HOMESCHOOLING RELATED blog post included, please email it directly to CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.
I loved creating themed carnivals and would much appreciate it if you would submit a post based on your favorite homeschooled curriculum.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
I loved creating themed carnivals and would much appreciate it if you would submit a post based on your favorite homeschooled curriculum.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
So grateful for grammar writing software
Writing makes me feel insecure.
Will my clients like my article?
Am I teaching my homeschooled kids to write well?
With clients, good writing can be subjective. The basics are the basics, of course, but one has to capture the personality of the website or publication the writer is working for.
With so many variables, I have to figure out the last thing I need to worry about is a grammatical error. Since I can not afford a personal editor, it is wonderful to have a grammar checker website for my revision and grammar checking process.
With students, One must pick and choose what to correct and when.
With young kids, I have purposely overlooked miss-spellings and jacked-up punctuation in order to encourage their love for writing. My main goal has been to make sure they understood the assignment and were able to communicate in writing what they were trying to say.
As young writers mature, the teacher or homeschooled parent can zero in more and more on different errors they make until their writing is near perfect.
Currently, I am tackling issues like noun-verb agreement, passive sentences and homonym horrors. Once they pretty much have a handle on these things, it is great to know that I will be able share with them the same tools I have used before presenting my writing to the general public.
Will my clients like my article?
Am I teaching my homeschooled kids to write well?
With clients, good writing can be subjective. The basics are the basics, of course, but one has to capture the personality of the website or publication the writer is working for.
With so many variables, I have to figure out the last thing I need to worry about is a grammatical error. Since I can not afford a personal editor, it is wonderful to have a grammar checker website for my revision and grammar checking process.
With students, One must pick and choose what to correct and when.
With young kids, I have purposely overlooked miss-spellings and jacked-up punctuation in order to encourage their love for writing. My main goal has been to make sure they understood the assignment and were able to communicate in writing what they were trying to say.
As young writers mature, the teacher or homeschooled parent can zero in more and more on different errors they make until their writing is near perfect.
Currently, I am tackling issues like noun-verb agreement, passive sentences and homonym horrors. Once they pretty much have a handle on these things, it is great to know that I will be able share with them the same tools I have used before presenting my writing to the general public.
Elections and homeschool stuff
I've been a bit preoccupied with elections and other stuff lately. Besides running a polling location this coming tuesday, which by the way has been a pain this time and we haven't even gotten to election day yet, I am chairing the costume committee for Much Ado about Nothing, 1960s' version, and am knee high in pre-college stuff. So please excuse my sparseness.
I've got a few things on my mind that I will share with you soon.
By the way.... either vote, or stop complaining.
That's how I feel about politics.
I've got a few things on my mind that I will share with you soon.
By the way.... either vote, or stop complaining.
That's how I feel about politics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong
We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript. Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...
