Not Another Homeschool Blog

A friend posted about a pro homeschooling article on Facebook today.  I commented, and another friend got her feathers ruffled.  She was bothered (the best that I could tell) that comparisons were being made between homeschoolers and non homeschoolers.  I understand her point, that it should be about educating kids the best you can, homeschooling or not, I get that.  But I also think it is unfair to ask homeschoolers pipe down, on homeschooling statistics for PC reasons. I requested that the conversation be discontinued as it was happening on someone else's timeline (I hate that), but it did leave me seething. Now I realize that there is a general consensus that us homeschooling parents are defensive and often demeaning toward those who have an aught with homeschooling, but there is a reason for it.  If it were not for the publicizing of homeschool successes, the practice would have been shut down decades ago before it could even gain traction. So, while ...

Unfortunately, one of the sites I have relied on heavily (Hippocampus) to provide my kids with free, high quality education is has lost it's contract with NROC  but I have found a couple new sites for you to try.  Keep in mind that most of my picks are for high school students, as that is hardest to find, and that you need to check these out thoroughly. My kids no longer try out these sites as they are in college, so I rely on reviews, poking around, and a couple hours of trial access. 10.   MIT Open Courseware  is a great way to challenge advanced students who aren't quite ready for the college classroom environment.  Most specifically, I recommend the Audio  Video Lecture based courses  as they are easier to follow. 9.   Spanish Hour has helped a couple of young people I know with this very important foreign language. You can start with the basic free membership, and then move to Premium membership for the extra tools later. It helps to prep...

This program is usually $39.95 a school year, but this summer it is free. " At TenMarks, we believe in student achievement. When students work on TenMarks, they have access to hints and video lessons on EVERY problem, so if they can't recall something, or didn't quite get the topic when it was covered in class, they can quickly review the content, and move forward. Immediate support improves motivation and builds confidence, and our data shows that it does wonders for student outcomes." I suggest you try it.  It seems like a perfect balance between two of my favorites, Khan Academy and ALEKS.com.

As I showered this morning, I pondered on Maya Angelou's life and what she accomplished. (Yes, I am still stuck on that).   Then I thought on how old I am and what I still want to accomplish and realized that she wasn't much younger than 1 when she wrote her first book.  It dawned on me then to do a timeline of her life to see what age she was at when she made her accomplishments. These ages are approximate, but you get the picture. Thankfully, WSOCTV started the project and I supplemented with the timelines at softschools.com  and a few other websites, and I mostly had to do the math to figure out her age. April 4, 1928 -  born in St. Louis, Missouri. Age 9 raped by mothers boyfriend and becomes mute for a number of years Age 13 Moved to California with mother and brother, when to high school and studied dance and drama at a college program.

As a homeschooler you might think I would say that that the brightest family of kids I know were homeschooled.  I'd love to say that, but it is not true.  Now I know some really bright kids, and I know some families full of bright kids that were homeschooled, but the family with the brightest kids on my radar went to public school. But here's the thing... The parents were completely in charge of their children's education.  The knew what the kids were studying at all times. They sat down with their kids every night and knew what their kids knew and what their kids did not know. And when the kids were done with the school issued work, they assigned them more.  The kids did public school by day, and they "homeschooled" by night. I was privileged to hear one of the children speak in a church graduation celebration. He was already in college and addressed those who were graduating that year. As he told it, he and his siblings least favorite day was the last day of...

I am still very raw from the news of the death of Maya Angelou. I feel and deep and profound loss because for me, she was the one, the elder, at shows feet I proverbially sat. I never got to meet her, but once, many years ago, my husband bumped into her in an airport. I was home, pregnant with our first child. He saw her and he knew about my deep love her for and he stopped, gathered his courage and approached her. She was so regal, stood so tall, as he told it, and was very glamorous in her fur coat. He said, "excuse me, I just have to tell you that my wife loves you". She replied, "I love her too". Oh my word! These are the things heroes are made of. He brought her love home to me.  In processing my sadness for the loss of a woman I find to be so iconic, I began to read her work, her quotes, and wanted to see her image. Hello... Facebook, twitter, and youtube. But youtube can be a nasty place, can't it. I stumbled across a video called The truth about ...

I am annoyed by reports of a Utah School  doctoring yearbook photos to show less skin. My reasons: 1. The school district admittedly applied the rule unevenly. 2. The original pictures were fine, for the most part. 3. I dare say not one boy's photo was doctored. 4. Cleavage is one thing, but shoulders?  That is taking it too far. I realize my stance my be unpopular, but it often is, and I am ok with that. But I feel like we cross the line in asking our girls to be modest... and push the barriers into shaming girls for just being girls.  While I practiced modesty with my daughter from her pre-teen years through now, adulthood (18th birthday coming up), I don't believe in telling girls that some guy seeing a glimpse of an ankle or a (gasp) arm, is going to cause some guy to stumble in his faith. Meanwhile guys get to run around completely shirtless, and girls are expected to have no reaction?  I am sick of the double standard.  In encouraging (not dema...