Somewhere between mad and sad

At the Alamo, 11/1999

Most people who know me in real life would say that I am a "strong person".  I hate that phrase.  Probably because it is not true.  I am more of a 'stiff upper lip' type of person, able to hide my emotions, especially when and I am distraught.  I am not strong at all.  I am sensitive, and repressed.

With that said, I am just so mad right now.  I am mad and I am sad. The connecticut school shootings are killing me.  I am over here ugly-crying, brooding, sobbing, and just overall ticked off.  I have so much to say, and can barely phrase my emotions today.

I managed to squeeze out abbreviated versions of how I was feeling at Examiner.com today, but there is soooo much more in me that I need to get out.

Will mental health professionals in the school prevent future school shootings?
Media unfairly pointing to the fact that Adam Lanza was homeschooled

I looked at an old family photo of my family taken when my son was in Kindergarten, and I am sharing it with you.  I can't imagine the little kids in that photo being taken in violence and not allowed to grow up and be as amazing as they are today.   

This is all beyond tragic. 

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Week in Review: Tears and Joy

I am still in shock over the Connecticut school shootings on Friday. When it first popped up on the news, I actually remember trying to ignore, it, but the that didn't last long.  This news was going to grab my heart and infect my physche.  I was about to be drawn in and transported to a place I did not want to go. I was going to witness and internalize horror, and disbelief along with the rest of the country.  I was going to internalize this and find myself tearing up every 15 minutes, unable to speak.  I was going to seek out my almost grown children, hoping to get same hugs they freely gave at 6 or 7 years old.  They tried, but I knew they could not hug out the pain of a mother in mourning for another, and another, and another.

As the details emerge, and the names of the victims are released, I feel like I have reached a point of complete saturation. I can't hear another word. I can't see another picture. My faucet won't turn off. My heart won't stop hurting.  I keep putting myself in the place of the parents who have lost children,

Will homeschooling keep our children safe from mass shootings?

It will keep them safe from any violence they could encounter in the school, but this kind of violence probably happens more outside the school buildings than within.

Read:

Homeschooling as a knee-jerk reaction to the Connecticut school shooting

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Defending Khan Academy

I've noticed some online murmuring about Khan Academy.  The critique is that it is imperfect and maybe not as ground breaking as we all thought.  Meh.

I have loved Khan Academy since the day I found it a few years ago, but as much as I like it, I have had problems with the videos themselves.

First, Salman Khan is a quiet speaker.  I have to strain or use earphone to hear most of the videos.

Second, there's not always enough background  in a particular subject information to move you forward.

Third, as much as homeschoolers would like it to be, for the reason listed directly above, it is not a full homeschool curriculum.  Instead it is a tool best used for review of concepts a student does not understand.

For what it is.  It is AWESOME.

While I don't love the videos themselves, I do love the format and program that allows a student to test through the levels of math, refresh their skills, and even move ahead.

So while it is imperfect.  I do believe it is groundbreaking.... and free.

The next best program, ALEKS.com costs $20.00 ($240 a year) per month, and doesn't use videos, but step-by-step examples.  It does work as a stand a lone curriculum, and my daughter preferred it over Khan Academy.


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ahermitt.com

Over two dozen dead in Connecticut School Shooting?

Someone explain to me how you go into a school and kill children.  Here is my summary of the devastation in Newtown Connecticut. 

As of right how, there are still a lot of rumors abound.  The most disturbing of these rumors is that the gunman was the father of a Kindergartener whose intention was to kill his own child (and many others) in retaliation against the other parent.  I don't know if this is true or not.

The consensus is that there were two gunmen, one who killed himself and was about 24.  The  other person may have escaped.

Hug your kids a little tighter today.  I for one am very glad my very, very big son is home from college today, and my daughter is down the hall from me, safely sprawled across her bed reading.  As for me, my heart is sick and hurting for these innocent souls and their parents.


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ahermitt.com

Spent the whole day compiling my favorite curriculum resources

I have been asked for a homeschool high school guide a million times, so I spent the day compiling it.

You will find it on my curriculum blog or here.  It is a compilation of the last few posts I did subject by subject and free resources all over the net.

Enjoy.


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ahermitt.com

High School Homeschool Curriculum Recap- Foreign Language & the Arts

This is the last of a series of blog posts compiling the resources I used for my kids during the high school years.  This last installment covers foreign language and the Arts.

Foreign Language: Most states and colleges have a foreign language requirement for high school students. I have to say that this was the hardest subject for my family.  The reason is that I don't speak and foreign language, and couldn't even keep up with my kids' learning.  They ended up being on their own. Here is a brief accounting of what we used.

For my son:
Spanish 1a: My son took this in a classroom atmosphere using Bob Jones Curriculum and Rosetta Stone.  He was unhappy with his progress, so he insisted that I only award him a half credit for this class and the next year...
Spanish 1b.  He used Learner.org and Rosetta Stone again.  He did the first half of the learner.org program which is supposed to cover spanish I.  It's a pretty neat program.