Not Another Homeschool Blog

AHHHHHHHH! I just sat down with my son to talk about his classes for the next two years.... his last 2 years homeschooling. I feel faint.  Anyway, we have decided that he would spend the next two years tackling physics and calculus. And of course there would be more grammar, literature, history, and Spanish. Tentatively, the next two years will look like this. * This summer:  ~"Trigonometry in 20 minutes a Day" as a prerequisite for Calculus.  (Trig is the only thing from a pre-calc book that he did not understand) ~Computer Science CLEP Exam Next year, Grade ll: ~*Calculus 1part and part 2 (Hippocampus) ~Non majors biology (hippocampus) ~US History 2 (Hippocampus) (He will attempt the US History 2 CLEP next summer for college credit) ~Spanish 2 ( Rosetta Stone ) (he will attempt the Spanish CLEP next summer) ~English/Grammar:  I am designing a literature/wiritng course... he hasn't read as much as I would have liked the last 2 years, so I have pi...

I have noticed that in my family and in the families of homeschooling friends, that sometimes these kids put too much on their plate. They do Youth Group activities and take on church responsibilities. They may have jobs. They need to do household chores. They have their academic studies They have their arts (visual and performance art)activities and classes They do sports.  They may have scouts or other social group outlets ...and in the end, they drop the ball somewhere, or in a lot of places. I don't know about your kids, but I know that my kids cannot balance all of the above and do any area any justice.  While it is good to expose them to all of these areas so they can find their niche, at some point, they are going to have to choose which activities they are most passionate about and limit the other activities. In my house Academics and Arts are equally a first priority.  Next comes chores and church activities. This goes on the schedule first and all ...

I'm a dreamer did an excellent job on the Carnival of Educators this week.  There are lots of great posts you won't want to miss! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

I noticed an ad in the margin of facebook today.  It said  something to the effect of, "Homeschooling your children? Take online classes to improve your effectiveness". It kind of made me mad.  This $99 course  entitled homeschool with success, struck me as something to take advantage of parents who might be insecure about homeschooling.  I doubt that it teaches any more than can be read in a free book found at the library. ~Do you think this could be a helpful course for homeschoolers? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

Yesterday's post stuck with me all  day, so I wanted to clarify a few things. 1.  I really do admire unschooling... to a certain degree. 2.  I was mostly referring to the type of unschooling/ unparenting described on Good Morning America 3.  I think I had a bigger problem with the unparenting that the unschooling. With that said, I still feel that for my family, unschooling and many others, it is not a good idea.  I think that it takes a special kind of faith to unschool completely. I need to make sure my kids understand alot of the basic things in life so that I am not putting ignorant, naive,  and/or  unprepared people out in the world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

If you don't know what unschooling is, check out this Good Morning America story from this morning.   Imagine... no expensive textbooks, no prodding and pleading to get chores done, no constant harassing for that essay you asked them to write over a week ago.  Oh, the dreams of a homeschooling mother.  But at what cost? The Biegler children have the freedom of unschooling, and allow their children to do as they please without putting rules on restrictions on their lives... this includes not learning if they don't wish to learn.  Believe it or not, I do see some value in it. For example, my son is quite knowledgeable about internet design.  My husband is an IT exec, and so this may have spurred his interest in computers in general.  I have had to write in CSS Style pages and HTML for a few writing assignments, and he asked me to teach it to him.  That is the only formal instruction he has had in web design. He learned Javascript and the othe...

Is this a joke? I don't know if the Andrew Sullivan blog is a parody blog or not, but I stumbled upon this post about a homeschool mom pot smoker this morning .  I mean what sane person would out themselves like that... but if they smoke pot regularly then maybe their sanity should be in question.  It got me wondering if I had any vices that helped me gain my sanity at the end of the day.  The only think I could think of was blogging... and maybe the occasional mega sized bag of chocolate when I am a little stressed.  When they are really rowdy... I go to sleep early.  No medicinal drugs needed here... though high school math could make you consider it.  Do you have any special vices that make homeschooling easier for you?  I would love to know. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources