I know I said something about creating a list of literature for the kids, and that will come, but tonight I want to give a brief recommendation for the textbook "Reading and Thinking: A Process Approach" by James Twining. It's an excellent resource for teaching late middle-school to high school students how to think about what they're reading.
Unfortunately, thinking critically is a lost skill in our society. It's extremely difficult to find quality employees who can think, and our culture is creating a whole new batch of workers with the inability to think. This book, while it isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, is very good for its intended purpose - to teach this lost skill.
My only problems with the text is that it seems to wander into some bad philosophy in the essays it presents as reading material. As long as you're monitoring what is being read so you can refute the less-than-objective essays, you should be fine.
And if you can't find a copy of this book, please find another way to teach your children how to think critically about what they are reading, as well as what they are hearing and seeing on TV. You'll be doing them a huge favor later in life.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Home Economics: Crochet
I don't know what the laws are in other states, but here in CO, we have to average four hours a day and 174 days a year. As I've said before, the four hours is easily taken by the core subjects, and we could easily settle for those classes and do nothing else. However, I believe there's so much more to do outside of those subjects, you should find a way to make time for electives. One way I try to insert some other education into my daughter's schedule is to teach Home Economics. After all, once she grows up these are skills she's going to need as much as she needs Math or English or Science. (And it's not just because she's female either. Guys need to know these things as well.)
From time to time, we do cooking projects. I am a big time cook--creating my own recipes and baking my brains out--so this particular aspect of Home Ec is the easiest for me. But to leave it just at cooking would be doing my student a disservice, so I try to expand into some of the other areas that would fall under Home Ec. For instance, I've been playing with the idea of teaching my daughter how to knit or crochet. We went with crochet. So, yesterday I checked a book on crocheting out of the library, bought a few skeins of yarn and a couple crochet hooks, and we began.
Which meant, of course, I had to teach myself first. The first thing I did was grab an old skein of yarn I had lying around the house (which I purchased years ago to make cat toys) and we set to work learning the basics together. It took her a while to catch on, but after some time yesterday and today, she's got the hang of the very basic crochet chains, and she managed to crochet something about half the size of a standard hotpad. So far, so good.
And the best part is: that little piece gave her enough confidence that she has embarked on making herself a crocheted bracelet, and once that's finished, I'm going to start her on making her own scarf.
And me? I'm in the first stages of what will either end up as a blanket or a sweater (I hope). If nothing else, I'll have a nice scarf. In the end though, it doesn't matter. The important task has already been accomplised. My daughter has acquired a new skill. =oD
If you're interested in learning to crochet, or in teaching your student(s) how, the best place I found online was How to Crochet over at MarthaStewart.com. Enjoy.
From time to time, we do cooking projects. I am a big time cook--creating my own recipes and baking my brains out--so this particular aspect of Home Ec is the easiest for me. But to leave it just at cooking would be doing my student a disservice, so I try to expand into some of the other areas that would fall under Home Ec. For instance, I've been playing with the idea of teaching my daughter how to knit or crochet. We went with crochet. So, yesterday I checked a book on crocheting out of the library, bought a few skeins of yarn and a couple crochet hooks, and we began.
Which meant, of course, I had to teach myself first. The first thing I did was grab an old skein of yarn I had lying around the house (which I purchased years ago to make cat toys) and we set to work learning the basics together. It took her a while to catch on, but after some time yesterday and today, she's got the hang of the very basic crochet chains, and she managed to crochet something about half the size of a standard hotpad. So far, so good.
And the best part is: that little piece gave her enough confidence that she has embarked on making herself a crocheted bracelet, and once that's finished, I'm going to start her on making her own scarf.
And me? I'm in the first stages of what will either end up as a blanket or a sweater (I hope). If nothing else, I'll have a nice scarf. In the end though, it doesn't matter. The important task has already been accomplised. My daughter has acquired a new skill. =oD
If you're interested in learning to crochet, or in teaching your student(s) how, the best place I found online was How to Crochet over at MarthaStewart.com. Enjoy.
Update
Just a quick note on the Bee. She took the test and got 19 out of 24 correct. The school now has the test and we're waiting to hear whether her score was good enough to advance to the oral round.
With the kids around here, I'm pretty sure she's in, but they could surprise me. Stranger things have happened.
With the kids around here, I'm pretty sure she's in, but they could surprise me. Stranger things have happened.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
More Spelling Wonders
Well, I took the initiative and got a copy of the spelling words from which we can study for tomorrow's written test. It's nine pages of words, and we're slogging through them as best we can. A few of the ones she misspelled (as she misspelled them): bureaucrasy, harpsicord, boisenberry, semmalina, metaphore. A few of the ones she spelled correctly: ostentatious, egalitarian, mercurial, beleaguer, alliteration. She's getting about 75% of them correct, which should be more than enough to make it to the oral bee. (Last year she only got 68% correct and was one of the top 7th graders in the school system here.)
Still, the first one you miss in the oral bee is the last one, so we've got some work to do before February 9th. Of course, last year's oral bee was a travesty. Some of the other kids went out on really easy words. It was sad. I'm afraid it was no great feat for my girl to finish in the top 10 kids last year, and there's not much hope of competition this year either. One thing that amazes me is, with all the homeschooled kids around here, she was the only homeschooler to even try out for the bee. What a missed opportunity for those other kids. Heck, we could send a whole team of homeschoolers if everyone else would try out.
Look for the opportunities available in your community. You never know what great things your kids could be missing out on.
I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow.
Still, the first one you miss in the oral bee is the last one, so we've got some work to do before February 9th. Of course, last year's oral bee was a travesty. Some of the other kids went out on really easy words. It was sad. I'm afraid it was no great feat for my girl to finish in the top 10 kids last year, and there's not much hope of competition this year either. One thing that amazes me is, with all the homeschooled kids around here, she was the only homeschooler to even try out for the bee. What a missed opportunity for those other kids. Heck, we could send a whole team of homeschoolers if everyone else would try out.
Look for the opportunities available in your community. You never know what great things your kids could be missing out on.
I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Monitoring What They Read
I don't read everything my daughter reads. I can't keep up with her. Especially not when she's whipping through a book a day, and three on Saturdays. Heck, I don't even have the time to carefully read all of her textbooks and reading materials for school. I'd spend my whole life doing nothing but reading and not get anything else accomplished. However, this doesn't mean I don't monitor what she's putting into her brain.
How could I possibly monitor her when I'm not reading? Well, I do the best I can. I watch the authors she's checking out of the library, and I do a little research on them. I ask the librarians about the books. I ask my mother - because they seem to have the same taste in authors. And I hope I've given my girl the best tools I can so that she can monitor herself.
Another thing we do, is we keep the lines of communication open. She knows if she has any questions about the things she's reading, she can talk to me about it. Even if it's a book she knows I don't really appreciate. She knows I'll tell her my honest opinion, and she's self-assured enough not to take it personally. For instance, right now she's into books about vampires. (Not Anne Rice, which she's tried and doesn't like, but books along those lines.) I don't have an appreciation for that stuff anymore, and I tell her so, but when she runs across something she doesn't understand, she asks me.
You can't monitor everything your child is reading. (Unless you aren't doing anything else - like reading your own books, maintaining a household, keeping a job, writing, relaxing, etc.) Do the best you can, and keep the lines of communication open. You'd be surprised at how much you can keep an eye on.
(In the coming posts, I hope to create a list of suggested fiction works I think are important, good, or just fun - without presenting negative ideas/philosophies. If you have anything you'd like to suggest, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail.)
How could I possibly monitor her when I'm not reading? Well, I do the best I can. I watch the authors she's checking out of the library, and I do a little research on them. I ask the librarians about the books. I ask my mother - because they seem to have the same taste in authors. And I hope I've given my girl the best tools I can so that she can monitor herself.
Another thing we do, is we keep the lines of communication open. She knows if she has any questions about the things she's reading, she can talk to me about it. Even if it's a book she knows I don't really appreciate. She knows I'll tell her my honest opinion, and she's self-assured enough not to take it personally. For instance, right now she's into books about vampires. (Not Anne Rice, which she's tried and doesn't like, but books along those lines.) I don't have an appreciation for that stuff anymore, and I tell her so, but when she runs across something she doesn't understand, she asks me.
You can't monitor everything your child is reading. (Unless you aren't doing anything else - like reading your own books, maintaining a household, keeping a job, writing, relaxing, etc.) Do the best you can, and keep the lines of communication open. You'd be surprised at how much you can keep an eye on.
(In the coming posts, I hope to create a list of suggested fiction works I think are important, good, or just fun - without presenting negative ideas/philosophies. If you have anything you'd like to suggest, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail.)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Don't Wait for Perfection
I originally wrote on this subject earlier today in my sewing blog (janimessewingadventures.blogspot.com). I realized that I've been thinking on this topic with regards to homeschooling as well, so I present here in the homeschooling context.
Under the heading of lessons learned, add...
Don't wait for perfection
As a homeschooling parent, I want to present material to my children in a well thought out, rational, logical and integrated way. With some subjects, mathematics for instance, this is a relatively straightforward process and a parent has many, many resources to do this well.
With other subjects, such as science, it is very difficult. There are very few science texts that present science from "the ground up".
It has been mentioned on this blog previously that texts in general have become very busy, with sidebars and other "extras" all over the place. This seems to be particularly so with science texts. Mix that with the fact that the material is not generally presented in a logical order, but jumps from unconnected topic to unconnected topic, and you have yourself one heck of a mess to wade through.
What's a parent to do? Check the above lesson. Don't wait for your material to be "perfect" before wading into it with your children. Do your best to prepare, but don't wait until you have all the answers, or your kids will be in grad school before you figure it out.
My DH and I were very much in danger of doing just that with science. We were hoping to figure out the "perfect" plan for presenting certain kinds of material and in the meantime, we weren't getting much science done.
After we took a step back, we realized that hey, the material wasn't presented to us in the best fashion either and we not only both managed to figure science out, we both also enjoy it. So it is possible for children to learn, even when the material isn't "perfect". It might be a bit more of a challenge, but it is doable.
That's not to say that we don't hope to do a better job than our own teachers. We do hope we can make it better for our children. What we have realized though is that with homeschooling, as with so many other things, it's better to proceed with a basic plan, knowing that it will need tweaking and fixing along the way, than to never get moving at all.
Under the heading of lessons learned, add...
Don't wait for perfection
As a homeschooling parent, I want to present material to my children in a well thought out, rational, logical and integrated way. With some subjects, mathematics for instance, this is a relatively straightforward process and a parent has many, many resources to do this well.
With other subjects, such as science, it is very difficult. There are very few science texts that present science from "the ground up".
It has been mentioned on this blog previously that texts in general have become very busy, with sidebars and other "extras" all over the place. This seems to be particularly so with science texts. Mix that with the fact that the material is not generally presented in a logical order, but jumps from unconnected topic to unconnected topic, and you have yourself one heck of a mess to wade through.
What's a parent to do? Check the above lesson. Don't wait for your material to be "perfect" before wading into it with your children. Do your best to prepare, but don't wait until you have all the answers, or your kids will be in grad school before you figure it out.
My DH and I were very much in danger of doing just that with science. We were hoping to figure out the "perfect" plan for presenting certain kinds of material and in the meantime, we weren't getting much science done.
After we took a step back, we realized that hey, the material wasn't presented to us in the best fashion either and we not only both managed to figure science out, we both also enjoy it. So it is possible for children to learn, even when the material isn't "perfect". It might be a bit more of a challenge, but it is doable.
That's not to say that we don't hope to do a better job than our own teachers. We do hope we can make it better for our children. What we have realized though is that with homeschooling, as with so many other things, it's better to proceed with a basic plan, knowing that it will need tweaking and fixing along the way, than to never get moving at all.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Spelling Bee Update
One thing about homeschooling that can be somewhat annoying...
Trying to coordinate anything with the local school district. They love it when it's something they'll get financial credit for, but if it's not, it can be like pulling teeth. Take the Spelling Bee, for instance. I took the initiative, and called them. I left a message and waited. And waited. And waited.
I received a callback today. The first round is Monday. They'll get me the list of words to study from on Thursday. Maybe. Last year, I didn't get a word list at all, so we winged it. She missed most of the words on the test and still made the 2nd round - the oral bee. (Kind of telling when you think about it.) This is her last eligible year, so she's really busting her butt to make it.
She made it to regionals in 6th grade. She made it to regionals in 7th grade. This year she wants to make it to state. She's not fooling herself enough to hope for nationals, but if she works at it, there's a chance. I'm not even going to hope for that myself.
I'll let you know how it goes next week. In the meantime, does anyone know how to pronounce "leggieramente"? ;o)
(Bonus if you know what it means.)
Trying to coordinate anything with the local school district. They love it when it's something they'll get financial credit for, but if it's not, it can be like pulling teeth. Take the Spelling Bee, for instance. I took the initiative, and called them. I left a message and waited. And waited. And waited.
I received a callback today. The first round is Monday. They'll get me the list of words to study from on Thursday. Maybe. Last year, I didn't get a word list at all, so we winged it. She missed most of the words on the test and still made the 2nd round - the oral bee. (Kind of telling when you think about it.) This is her last eligible year, so she's really busting her butt to make it.
She made it to regionals in 6th grade. She made it to regionals in 7th grade. This year she wants to make it to state. She's not fooling herself enough to hope for nationals, but if she works at it, there's a chance. I'm not even going to hope for that myself.
I'll let you know how it goes next week. In the meantime, does anyone know how to pronounce "leggieramente"? ;o)
(Bonus if you know what it means.)
Monday, January 22, 2007
My Kid is Smarter Than Me.
I admit it. My kid is smarter than me.
I know there are parents out there who would rather do anything than admit that. What grown adult likes to discover their just-barely teenager has exceeded anything they know? Actually, I've discovered I am that kind of adult.
We're doing chemistry right now. I haven't ever in my entire education done the chemistry that she's currently doing. I mean density equal mass divided by volume? I don't remember that from my 8th grade chemistry class, and I never took another chem class beyond that.
And she's grasping it. Of course, when she asks me questions I have to tell her I'm dumber than a stump, but she's okay with that. And we work through the problems together.
It's not a value judgement when your kid finds out you're not as smart. Unless you make it one. Or unless you decide it doesn't matter enough to try and get smarter yourself. If you let your knowledge stagnate, you're a goner.
Now, if she keeps learning and I stop... that could be a problem. ;o)
I know there are parents out there who would rather do anything than admit that. What grown adult likes to discover their just-barely teenager has exceeded anything they know? Actually, I've discovered I am that kind of adult.
We're doing chemistry right now. I haven't ever in my entire education done the chemistry that she's currently doing. I mean density equal mass divided by volume? I don't remember that from my 8th grade chemistry class, and I never took another chem class beyond that.
And she's grasping it. Of course, when she asks me questions I have to tell her I'm dumber than a stump, but she's okay with that. And we work through the problems together.
It's not a value judgement when your kid finds out you're not as smart. Unless you make it one. Or unless you decide it doesn't matter enough to try and get smarter yourself. If you let your knowledge stagnate, you're a goner.
Now, if she keeps learning and I stop... that could be a problem. ;o)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Age Appropriate or Brain Appropriate?
Okay, I admit it. I have no background in education beyond working for a private school corporation (as a secretary, not a teacher). I'm feeling my way through this business of educating my child.
One of the main obstacles to homeschooling on your own is determining the appropriate course material for your child. I suppose if you're working from preschool onward, it would be easier. And if you're planning on buying a curriculum from one of the many places that offer those, it would help. But if you're like me, and trying to do this on your own after pulling your child out of public school, it can be a daunting task.
With my daughter, I try and find materials just beyond her current mastery. This sometimes means she struggles a bit, but it seems to be working for us. If I run her into too much trouble, we scrap the material and find something a bit easier. For instance, right now she's working with a high school chemistry textbook, and it's companion workbook. The text book seems to hit her right where I want it to--just above her current level so she stretches a bit--but the workbook is so far past that, I can see she's quickly drowning. So we're scrapping that book until later years.
I work at making her lessons brain-appropriate. If I tried to make them age-appropriate, she'd be whipping through the lessons, and not really learning much of anything. However, that's one individual child. Each child learns at a different pace. So, age-appropriate may work for you.
In the end, you need to evaluate your child's needs and abilities. Check out some of the materials available. Pick up a book and have your child try to do some of the exercises. If they breeze through, up the ante and give them something harder. If they struggle, fall back a step and try again. Don't get discouraged if your child is a little behind--especially if they were previously in public school. I had to start my 6th grader out in 5th grade Math lessons just to get her caught up. And don't let your child get discouraged if you've given them something harder than they're ready for. It's not a value judgement on your child's ability. It's just an evaluation so you can better teach them.
And when they finally manage to get ahead of the curve (and trust me, if they've been public schooled, they will get ahead of the curve), you can celebrate their achievement. There's nothing quite like seeing your child reading out of a college level textbook and understanding the material.
Except for the look on her face when she realizes she's reading college-level material and understanding it.
One of the main obstacles to homeschooling on your own is determining the appropriate course material for your child. I suppose if you're working from preschool onward, it would be easier. And if you're planning on buying a curriculum from one of the many places that offer those, it would help. But if you're like me, and trying to do this on your own after pulling your child out of public school, it can be a daunting task.
With my daughter, I try and find materials just beyond her current mastery. This sometimes means she struggles a bit, but it seems to be working for us. If I run her into too much trouble, we scrap the material and find something a bit easier. For instance, right now she's working with a high school chemistry textbook, and it's companion workbook. The text book seems to hit her right where I want it to--just above her current level so she stretches a bit--but the workbook is so far past that, I can see she's quickly drowning. So we're scrapping that book until later years.
I work at making her lessons brain-appropriate. If I tried to make them age-appropriate, she'd be whipping through the lessons, and not really learning much of anything. However, that's one individual child. Each child learns at a different pace. So, age-appropriate may work for you.
In the end, you need to evaluate your child's needs and abilities. Check out some of the materials available. Pick up a book and have your child try to do some of the exercises. If they breeze through, up the ante and give them something harder. If they struggle, fall back a step and try again. Don't get discouraged if your child is a little behind--especially if they were previously in public school. I had to start my 6th grader out in 5th grade Math lessons just to get her caught up. And don't let your child get discouraged if you've given them something harder than they're ready for. It's not a value judgement on your child's ability. It's just an evaluation so you can better teach them.
And when they finally manage to get ahead of the curve (and trust me, if they've been public schooled, they will get ahead of the curve), you can celebrate their achievement. There's nothing quite like seeing your child reading out of a college level textbook and understanding the material.
Except for the look on her face when she realizes she's reading college-level material and understanding it.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Short Attention Span Theatre
Over at Musings about Life I wrote a post regarding what I like to call "Short Attention Span Theatre" (SAST) and how it relates to writing.
"Sounds like a joke? Well, it was. I'm not the person who coined this phrase. I gleaned it from some comedian back in the '80s. However, as much of a joke as it was, it has become a way of life today. Everything is thrown at us in rapid fire--from commercials to tv shows to writing. Nothing should be too long because for some reason, the idea is that humans have a very short attention span and if you don't keep it short, your audience's mind will wander. (And they wonder why ADHD is a problem?...)"
I'm writing this post specifically to address the problem of ADHD as it relates to SAST.
If I had a dollar for every teacher who intimated my child had ADHD, I could buy myself a nice meal. Almost every teacher she had hinted around that she needed to be tested for this malady. Every year but one from kindergarten to sixth - when I finally took her out of public school. (And the one year where no one mentioned ADHD was a year when her teacher was so close to retirement, she couldn't have cared less about her students.) One teacher didn't bother to hint, but point blank told me my daughter had ADHD. I ignored them all. It was plain to me she didn't have ADHD, but when everything comes at a child rapid fire--from the television which most people blame, to the textbooks themselves--it's little wonder kids can't keep themselves on task.
Oh, I admit I fell down on the job when my daughter was young. I used the TV as a babysitter, and I wasn't picky about what I let her watch. She would spend hours in a PBS-coma, glued to Barney like he was a watch swinging in front of her face. Then she would leave home and go to preschool where everything is bam bam bam - do this for ten seconds, move on and do that for ten seconds. Then it was regular school, where the walls are splashed with a million different posters, and colors, and the textbooks are just as bad. So, fault those first few years runs 50/50.
Finally, I woke up and paid attention to my child's mental growth. I shut the TV off, ditched the videos, and tried to make my life a bit less SAST. It calmed her down a lot. (A LOT) But still she was hammered at school. I couldn't look at her textbooks and keep any level of concentration myself; I can't imagine what those things do to a kid's brain. Every page is splattered with tidbits of info along the sides, and blurbs dotted here and there - sometimes with important information and sometimes with unnecessary trivia.
I don't know which came first - ADHD or SAST - but it seems to me they feed each other.
Is it any wonder our kids can't pay attention?
"Sounds like a joke? Well, it was. I'm not the person who coined this phrase. I gleaned it from some comedian back in the '80s. However, as much of a joke as it was, it has become a way of life today. Everything is thrown at us in rapid fire--from commercials to tv shows to writing. Nothing should be too long because for some reason, the idea is that humans have a very short attention span and if you don't keep it short, your audience's mind will wander. (And they wonder why ADHD is a problem?...)"
I'm writing this post specifically to address the problem of ADHD as it relates to SAST.
If I had a dollar for every teacher who intimated my child had ADHD, I could buy myself a nice meal. Almost every teacher she had hinted around that she needed to be tested for this malady. Every year but one from kindergarten to sixth - when I finally took her out of public school. (And the one year where no one mentioned ADHD was a year when her teacher was so close to retirement, she couldn't have cared less about her students.) One teacher didn't bother to hint, but point blank told me my daughter had ADHD. I ignored them all. It was plain to me she didn't have ADHD, but when everything comes at a child rapid fire--from the television which most people blame, to the textbooks themselves--it's little wonder kids can't keep themselves on task.
Oh, I admit I fell down on the job when my daughter was young. I used the TV as a babysitter, and I wasn't picky about what I let her watch. She would spend hours in a PBS-coma, glued to Barney like he was a watch swinging in front of her face. Then she would leave home and go to preschool where everything is bam bam bam - do this for ten seconds, move on and do that for ten seconds. Then it was regular school, where the walls are splashed with a million different posters, and colors, and the textbooks are just as bad. So, fault those first few years runs 50/50.
Finally, I woke up and paid attention to my child's mental growth. I shut the TV off, ditched the videos, and tried to make my life a bit less SAST. It calmed her down a lot. (A LOT) But still she was hammered at school. I couldn't look at her textbooks and keep any level of concentration myself; I can't imagine what those things do to a kid's brain. Every page is splattered with tidbits of info along the sides, and blurbs dotted here and there - sometimes with important information and sometimes with unnecessary trivia.
I don't know which came first - ADHD or SAST - but it seems to me they feed each other.
Is it any wonder our kids can't pay attention?
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Electives
Here in Colorado, the law states we have to homeschool for an average of 4 hours a day, which pretty well covers the core curriculum of my education program - Math, English (Reading and Writing) and Science. At least that's the core here. I'm sure others have a different idea of the core classes, but for the purposes of Colorado, these are the only subjects they test in, so I'm using it as my core.
Not that we only do the core curriculum. Each term, I give my daughter a course or two above the core - like PE, History, Geography, Government, etc. plus the options for what I call electives. (Like I said, I'm trying to mirror college here.) Last term we did Speech and Theatre for elective courses, and I also gave her credit in Home Ec because I am teaching her how to cook. The term before, she chose Psychology. Before that, Mythology.
Now, according to state law, I don't really have to spend any specific amount of time in any subject, as long as we have school for at least 4 hours a day, and she passes a grade-equivalent test every other year. If I was concerned with keeping the status quo, however, I wouldn't be homeschooling, so we go above and beyond.
This term, I haven't really settled on an elective for her. We have the core plus PE and Government. Additionally, we have spelling bee practice, so I'm not certain how much more she needs to do. Still, I'd like to see her spending a little time learning something different. I'm thinking about teaching her a skill like knitting or crocheting.
What kinds of electives do you do?
Not that we only do the core curriculum. Each term, I give my daughter a course or two above the core - like PE, History, Geography, Government, etc. plus the options for what I call electives. (Like I said, I'm trying to mirror college here.) Last term we did Speech and Theatre for elective courses, and I also gave her credit in Home Ec because I am teaching her how to cook. The term before, she chose Psychology. Before that, Mythology.
Now, according to state law, I don't really have to spend any specific amount of time in any subject, as long as we have school for at least 4 hours a day, and she passes a grade-equivalent test every other year. If I was concerned with keeping the status quo, however, I wouldn't be homeschooling, so we go above and beyond.
This term, I haven't really settled on an elective for her. We have the core plus PE and Government. Additionally, we have spelling bee practice, so I'm not certain how much more she needs to do. Still, I'd like to see her spending a little time learning something different. I'm thinking about teaching her a skill like knitting or crocheting.
What kinds of electives do you do?
Monday, January 15, 2007
That Naughty Word... Achievement?
When did achievement become a naughty word? Across our nation, the achievements of some are seen as somehow detracting from the self-worth of others. Horrors stories abound of schools where valedictorian status is being ignored, where grades are becoming pointless, and where awards are given to everyone, regardless of merit.
Sadly, this seeping ooze isn't just confined to the educational industry. Just yesterday, after the AFC Divisional Championships (football to the uninitiated) were played and won by the New England Patriots. And guess what those aweful Patriots did. They celebrated their victory. In front of the losing team. Which prompted Charger LaDanian Tomlinson to cry foul. Somehow the Patriots pride of achievement was 'disrepecting' the Chargers. Now I'm not a Patriots fan by any stretch of the imagination, but they played a good game, they busted their butts and they came out victorious. In my world, that's cause for celebration. I don't know what it's like in Mr. Tomlinson's world. (And I don't want to.)
Back to the realm of education, though, I was disheartened to learn in my brother's school district, his sons are no longer able to receive As. It appears that when some children get As, other children feel bad. So, rather than encouraging the children to achieve, they leveled the playing field. If everyone is mediocre, no one feels bad... Oh, unless you count the kids who did work hard to achieve those As and now aren't getting them. But we don't worry about the achievers in this world, so long as the udnerachievers aren't feeling bad.
I was also disheartened to see my daughter's last public school report card--which no longer has a standard grade scale, but some bastardized happy-crappy system of other letters where As now stand for 'Adequate' and the highest score a child can get is a P. ("Hey Mom! I got all Ps!" "Peas? I thought you hated peas.")
On a positive note, a silly little sit-com named 'Yes, Dear' had entire show dedicated to poking fun at the 'everyone gets an award' mentality. (The show's not the best, but every once in a while it says something intelligent... Okay, maybe less than that, but still.)
There's something wrong in a world that no longer celebrates achievement, and unfortunately, it won't be going away any time soon. After all, look what we're teaching our children.
(Oh, and Mr. Tomlinson? You should be ashamed of yourself.)
Sadly, this seeping ooze isn't just confined to the educational industry. Just yesterday, after the AFC Divisional Championships (football to the uninitiated) were played and won by the New England Patriots. And guess what those aweful Patriots did. They celebrated their victory. In front of the losing team.
Back to the realm of education, though, I was disheartened to learn in my brother's school district, his sons are no longer able to receive As. It appears that when some children get As, other children feel bad. So, rather than encouraging the children to achieve, they leveled the playing field. If everyone is mediocre, no one feels bad... Oh, unless you count the kids who did work hard to achieve those As and now aren't getting them. But we don't worry about the achievers in this world, so long as the udnerachievers aren't feeling bad.
I was also disheartened to see my daughter's last public school report card--which no longer has a standard grade scale, but some bastardized happy-crappy system of other letters where As now stand for 'Adequate' and the highest score a child can get is a P. ("Hey Mom! I got all Ps!" "Peas? I thought you hated peas.")
On a positive note, a silly little sit-com named 'Yes, Dear' had entire show dedicated to poking fun at the 'everyone gets an award' mentality. (The show's not the best, but every once in a while it says something intelligent... Okay, maybe less than that, but still.)
There's something wrong in a world that no longer celebrates achievement, and unfortunately, it won't be going away any time soon. After all, look what we're teaching our children.
(Oh, and Mr. Tomlinson? You should be ashamed of yourself.)
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Hope for the Future
Before I can get to the point of this post, let me give you some backstory. One of my nieces has been a source of concern for me for many years. She's willful (which is good) but she lacked direction and she lacked any kind of self-assurance to be able to direct herself. She's smart as a whip, but believed she was stupid. She is pretty, and for some reason believed this was the only good quality she had. She is a good person who basically believed she was bad. The combination of these things is a recipe for disaster, and sure enough, it hit her early. She ended up dropping out of school at the age of 16, and spent a few years being a complete waste.
What turned her around was motherhood. She had a child of her own, and the little light bulb went off over her head. She went back to school. Rather than get a GED (which is fine, IMO - plenty of good men have gone far with a GED), she decided to sign up to complete high school via a correspondence course. She takes classes, turns in her assignments, and gets her grades all via the mail. And from what I hear, she's doing very well.
The other night, she called me looking for assistance with her literature homework. After we spent time going over iambic pentameter and trying to discern the meaning of a line from John Donne's poem "Death be not Proud" (yuck), we actually got a chance to talk. She's become a solid, mature adult in the five years since I've seen her, and I told her how proud I was of her. Then she gave me a bit of hope for the future.
She is hoping to start college in the spring, and she is hoping that by the time her son is old enough to start kindergarten, she will be in a position to homeschool.
You can bet, I'll be over here providing whatever assistance I can to that endeavor. Hurray for her, and hurray for the future generation.
What turned her around was motherhood. She had a child of her own, and the little light bulb went off over her head. She went back to school. Rather than get a GED (which is fine, IMO - plenty of good men have gone far with a GED), she decided to sign up to complete high school via a correspondence course. She takes classes, turns in her assignments, and gets her grades all via the mail. And from what I hear, she's doing very well.
The other night, she called me looking for assistance with her literature homework. After we spent time going over iambic pentameter and trying to discern the meaning of a line from John Donne's poem "Death be not Proud" (yuck), we actually got a chance to talk. She's become a solid, mature adult in the five years since I've seen her, and I told her how proud I was of her. Then she gave me a bit of hope for the future.
She is hoping to start college in the spring, and she is hoping that by the time her son is old enough to start kindergarten, she will be in a position to homeschool.
You can bet, I'll be over here providing whatever assistance I can to that endeavor. Hurray for her, and hurray for the future generation.
Friday, January 12, 2007
The Socialization Argument
Back in the late '80s my oldest brother and his wife made the decision to homeschool their children. Everyone was completely aghast, including myself.
The major fear was, of course, the effect homeschooling would have on their children's social development. It wasn't long before our fears were proven correct. Their oldest daughter was an odd child, made more odd by the complete lack of interaction between her and other children. She seemed socially backward, and at family gatherings seemed incapable of interacting with even her own cousins.
So, when I made the decision to homeschool, my family was in complete shock. And all the same old fears bubbled to the surface. They feared my daughter would become the same awkward child as her cousins. This fear was quickly proven incorrect.
Thinking about this carefully, I think I have finally figured out what the difference was--beyond the obvious fact that each child develops as an individual, and no kids are exactly alike, that is. I believe the true difference in this case lies in the parents. No offense to my brother or his ex-wife, but neither of them are the most socially capable individuals themselves. Both of them are bright, but we always knew my brother was more book-smarts than common sense anyways. And there is nothing wrong with that.
My daughter is not socially active, and most likely she won't be--not in the typical way. She's outspoken, intelligent and friendly, but only once she gets to know you. She has no problem carrying on a conversation with most people--from the elderly to the toddlers--with the exception of the kids she previously went to school with; kids her own age. Her main obstacle to socialization comes from not understanding the workings of the typical teenage mind. She doesn't go in for cliques, she's not much into sports, and she's not allowed to watch much prime time TV. In short, she's odd. For her, socialization at school proved the biggest obstacle to learning.
I guess what I'm trying to get across in this post, is that the major argument against homeschooling is socialization, and it's a non-issue. If you're worried about the social growth of your child, sign him up for classes at the local public school - many public schools are willing to allow homeschool students to take elective courses. (It helps them with financing. Here in CO, they get at least some financial credit for ANY student taking any courses--homeschool included.) Take your children to the public pool. Have them read books to the residents at the local nursing home. Participate in programs at the local library. But don't let the old socialization argument stop you, or make you feel guilty for making the choice.
In the end, the knowledge they'll gain from homeschooling far outweighs any perceived lack of social interaction.
The major fear was, of course, the effect homeschooling would have on their children's social development. It wasn't long before our fears were proven correct. Their oldest daughter was an odd child, made more odd by the complete lack of interaction between her and other children. She seemed socially backward, and at family gatherings seemed incapable of interacting with even her own cousins.
So, when I made the decision to homeschool, my family was in complete shock. And all the same old fears bubbled to the surface. They feared my daughter would become the same awkward child as her cousins. This fear was quickly proven incorrect.
Thinking about this carefully, I think I have finally figured out what the difference was--beyond the obvious fact that each child develops as an individual, and no kids are exactly alike, that is. I believe the true difference in this case lies in the parents. No offense to my brother or his ex-wife, but neither of them are the most socially capable individuals themselves. Both of them are bright, but we always knew my brother was more book-smarts than common sense anyways. And there is nothing wrong with that.
My daughter is not socially active, and most likely she won't be--not in the typical way. She's outspoken, intelligent and friendly, but only once she gets to know you. She has no problem carrying on a conversation with most people--from the elderly to the toddlers--with the exception of the kids she previously went to school with; kids her own age. Her main obstacle to socialization comes from not understanding the workings of the typical teenage mind. She doesn't go in for cliques, she's not much into sports, and she's not allowed to watch much prime time TV. In short, she's odd. For her, socialization at school proved the biggest obstacle to learning.
I guess what I'm trying to get across in this post, is that the major argument against homeschooling is socialization, and it's a non-issue. If you're worried about the social growth of your child, sign him up for classes at the local public school - many public schools are willing to allow homeschool students to take elective courses. (It helps them with financing. Here in CO, they get at least some financial credit for ANY student taking any courses--homeschool included.) Take your children to the public pool. Have them read books to the residents at the local nursing home. Participate in programs at the local library. But don't let the old socialization argument stop you, or make you feel guilty for making the choice.
In the end, the knowledge they'll gain from homeschooling far outweighs any perceived lack of social interaction.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Writing Education
This particular subject is probably the closest to my heart, and to my area of expertise. For those of you who don't know it, I am a writer. So, when it comes to writing education, I'm in my element--more so for fiction writing than for non-fiction, but I'm flexible.
Since it is my belief that the teaching of writing should always focus on reality before it ever touches on make-believe, we've been concentrating rather heavily on non-fiction education for the past couple of years. Not that she hasn't had instruction in fiction. Public school would rather give children an outlet for creativity than worry about the fundamentals of writing, so she had plenty of that before I took the bull by the horns.
Don't gasp in horror. Children certainly need an outlet for their creativity. But if you've spent any time with any child, you can plainly see they find their own outlets through their games. Every time they play pretend, they are giving their creativity an outlet. As it should be. I just don't believe kids need to outlet their creavity at school. At least not until they've mastered the basics of grammar, spelling and composition. If they can't string an intelligible sentence together, it won't matter a damn whether they can be creative. They might be able to write the Great American Novel, but if no one can understand it, it doesn't do anyone much good.
So, for the past couple of years we have focused on non-fiction, much to my daughter's displeasure. Still, whether she wanted to spend her time writing essays or not, it has done her a world of good. Her essays are cogent and thoughtful, and I'd stack them up against any child her own age (and most public high school seniors). Finally, though, we have reached the point where she has non-fiction firmly within her grasp; now begins the foray into writing fiction. She's so excited about it, she finished her book on writing fiction in the first 4 days of the semester.
I can't wait to read the first story.
Since it is my belief that the teaching of writing should always focus on reality before it ever touches on make-believe, we've been concentrating rather heavily on non-fiction education for the past couple of years. Not that she hasn't had instruction in fiction. Public school would rather give children an outlet for creativity than worry about the fundamentals of writing, so she had plenty of that before I took the bull by the horns.
Don't gasp in horror. Children certainly need an outlet for their creativity. But if you've spent any time with any child, you can plainly see they find their own outlets through their games. Every time they play pretend, they are giving their creativity an outlet. As it should be. I just don't believe kids need to outlet their creavity at school. At least not until they've mastered the basics of grammar, spelling and composition. If they can't string an intelligible sentence together, it won't matter a damn whether they can be creative. They might be able to write the Great American Novel, but if no one can understand it, it doesn't do anyone much good.
So, for the past couple of years we have focused on non-fiction, much to my daughter's displeasure. Still, whether she wanted to spend her time writing essays or not, it has done her a world of good. Her essays are cogent and thoughtful, and I'd stack them up against any child her own age (and most public high school seniors). Finally, though, we have reached the point where she has non-fiction firmly within her grasp; now begins the foray into writing fiction. She's so excited about it, she finished her book on writing fiction in the first 4 days of the semester.
I can't wait to read the first story.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Creating a self-motivating child (Pt 2)
My mother always told her children that if we reached the age of 18 and could fend for ourselves she'd done her job. Not that my mother isn't still there for all of us, but she realized that once we had reached adulthood, she couldn't really tell us what to do or how to live our lives. She did her best to make us each self-reliant. Unfortunately, she didn't really know how to teach us how to be self-motivating. She did her best, but in the end, we each had to figure that out for ourselves.
So, I reached college age not ever knowing how to light a fire under my own butt. Suddenly, I was 400 miles from home and had to make the choice to either sink or swim. I sunk.
I don't want to see my own child flounder once she is out on her own. Like my mother, I will let her go at the age of 18, and I will always be here for her, but I can't be her flotation device any more than my mother was mine.
We raise our children to the best of our abilities, and with homeschooling, we go above and beyond what the average parent does by providing all of the parental aspects, as well as playing the role of teacher, principal, superintendent, etc. When they reach adulthood, the best we can hope for is that we've provided them with sufficient skills so they're able to swim away under their own power.
In the end, isn't that what parenting is all about?
So, I reached college age not ever knowing how to light a fire under my own butt. Suddenly, I was 400 miles from home and had to make the choice to either sink or swim. I sunk.
I don't want to see my own child flounder once she is out on her own. Like my mother, I will let her go at the age of 18, and I will always be here for her, but I can't be her flotation device any more than my mother was mine.
We raise our children to the best of our abilities, and with homeschooling, we go above and beyond what the average parent does by providing all of the parental aspects, as well as playing the role of teacher, principal, superintendent, etc. When they reach adulthood, the best we can hope for is that we've provided them with sufficient skills so they're able to swim away under their own power.
In the end, isn't that what parenting is all about?
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Conversations with a 5 yr old, 1
Him: Daddy, what's zero-point energy?
Me:
Him:
Me:
Him: ...
Me: (Googles.) "In physics, the zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may possess; it is the energy of the ground state of the system. All quantum mechanical systems have a zero point energy. The term arises commonly in reference to the ground state of the quantum harmonic oscillator and its null oscillations. In quantum field theory, it is a synonym for the vacuum energy, an amount of energy associated with the vacuum of empty space. In cosmology, the vacuum energy is taken to be the origin of the cosmological constant. Experimentally, the zero-point energy of the vacuum leads directly to the Casimir effect, and is directly observable in nanoscale devices."
Him:
Me:
Him: What's zero-point energy?
Me: It's the least amount of energy in a system.
Him: Okay.
Me: Whew.
Me:
Him:
Me:
Him: ...
Me: (Googles.) "In physics, the zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may possess; it is the energy of the ground state of the system. All quantum mechanical systems have a zero point energy. The term arises commonly in reference to the ground state of the quantum harmonic oscillator and its null oscillations. In quantum field theory, it is a synonym for the vacuum energy, an amount of energy associated with the vacuum of empty space. In cosmology, the vacuum energy is taken to be the origin of the cosmological constant. Experimentally, the zero-point energy of the vacuum leads directly to the Casimir effect, and is directly observable in nanoscale devices."
Him:
Me:
Him: What's zero-point energy?
Me: It's the least amount of energy in a system.
Him: Okay.
Me: Whew.
Creating a self-motivating child (Pt 1)
One of my concerns upon entering into this whole homeschooling venture was encouraging self-reliance in my child. After years of being told what to do and when to do it, she wasn't self-motivating. She would do only what she was told, when she was told to do it. My fears were that homeschooling wasn't going to be any better in this arena. After all, I'm always here to make sure things get done.
But I won't be behind her with a big stick forever. Looking ahead, she'll never be successful in college, or anywhere else, if she can't motivate herself. With this in mind, I've been trying to use homeschool to prepare her for the day when she will have to light a fire under her own butt. I'm trying to make homeschool mirror college--at least in some ways.
I create a syllabus for the term, and define clear goals for what she'll need to have completed during that term. She has the assignments and the dates they're due. It is up to her to get those assignments done and turned in on time. I provide the lectures and the guidance. I answer questions. And slowly, I have backed away from reminding her to complete her work. It's a slow process--weaning her off depending on someone else for motivation--but the rewards are beginning to show.
(to be continued)
But I won't be behind her with a big stick forever. Looking ahead, she'll never be successful in college, or anywhere else, if she can't motivate herself. With this in mind, I've been trying to use homeschool to prepare her for the day when she will have to light a fire under her own butt. I'm trying to make homeschool mirror college--at least in some ways.
I create a syllabus for the term, and define clear goals for what she'll need to have completed during that term. She has the assignments and the dates they're due. It is up to her to get those assignments done and turned in on time. I provide the lectures and the guidance. I answer questions. And slowly, I have backed away from reminding her to complete her work. It's a slow process--weaning her off depending on someone else for motivation--but the rewards are beginning to show.
(to be continued)
Monday, January 8, 2007
Never too Early to Plan Ahead
This weekend my DH (darling husband) and I were talking about the years ahead when we will have to pay for my DD (darling daughter) to go to college. Sure, she's only 13, but it's never too early to plan for that huge expense. Things are on track so she doesn't have to face college the way either of us did--working outside jobs to pay for college while attended classes fulltime. But I'm the kind of person who wants her to contribute something, even if she isn't working while attending.
So I spent some time this weekend with the DD looking online at various scholarship opportunities. I googled the words 'scholarship' and 'contest', which provided 1.3 million hits. We surfed through the hits on the first three pages just to get an idea of what's out there. Most of the hits are for essay contests, which is good. (We'll get into Why later.) Some are for odd little things, like making a prom dress out of duct tape. Many are national, and some are local or regional. Most provide financial assistance of some kind, and a few provide some other goodie (like a trip to Space Camp, which would look awesome on a college app and be a 'too cool' experience for any kid).
Also, some scholarship contests are specifically designed for high school seniors, while others allow children of various ages to compete for prize money. (If you can start these things early, think of how well prepared your child will be, and how much greater their chances of success will be.)
The point is: There are so many ways of providing the financial means for college, none of us should have to worry too much. Especially since we are providing a superior education and putting our kids ahead of the public school pack.
I'll be trying to place contest and scholarship info over there on the right as I find it and as it's pertinent. They all have different deadlines, so they may not all be available at any given time. Check back or bookmark the ones you're interested in.
It's never too early to begin preparing.
So I spent some time this weekend with the DD looking online at various scholarship opportunities. I googled the words 'scholarship' and 'contest', which provided 1.3 million hits. We surfed through the hits on the first three pages just to get an idea of what's out there. Most of the hits are for essay contests, which is good. (We'll get into Why later.) Some are for odd little things, like making a prom dress out of duct tape. Many are national, and some are local or regional. Most provide financial assistance of some kind, and a few provide some other goodie (like a trip to Space Camp, which would look awesome on a college app and be a 'too cool' experience for any kid).
Also, some scholarship contests are specifically designed for high school seniors, while others allow children of various ages to compete for prize money. (If you can start these things early, think of how well prepared your child will be, and how much greater their chances of success will be.)
The point is: There are so many ways of providing the financial means for college, none of us should have to worry too much. Especially since we are providing a superior education and putting our kids ahead of the public school pack.
I'll be trying to place contest and scholarship info over there on the right as I find it and as it's pertinent. They all have different deadlines, so they may not all be available at any given time. Check back or bookmark the ones you're interested in.
It's never too early to begin preparing.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Scripps National Spelling Bee
As a homeschooling parent, you may not realize how many things are still available to your children. For instance, your middle-school aged children are certainly able to enter the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Whether your child is an awesome speller or not, the experience certainly is worth it.
The first year my daughter participated she was still enrolled in public school, and although her spelling was horrible at the time, she made it through the local bee to reach regionals. The next year, she wanted to participate again, so I contacted the principal of our school for information. They were happy to have her participate. I administered the pre-test here at home, and took the paper over to the school for grading. Sure enough, she made it to the verbal bee again, and once more made it to regionals. (Whereupon she freaked out and missed an easy word, but that's all part of the experience.) This is the last year she is eligible to participate, and we'll be starting the study process shortly.
The above link has all the rules, as well as links to pdf files of the word lists to study from.
If you're interested in having your child participate, please contact your local school district for more information.
Whether your child is an awesome speller or not, the experience certainly is worth it.
The first year my daughter participated she was still enrolled in public school, and although her spelling was horrible at the time, she made it through the local bee to reach regionals. The next year, she wanted to participate again, so I contacted the principal of our school for information. They were happy to have her participate. I administered the pre-test here at home, and took the paper over to the school for grading. Sure enough, she made it to the verbal bee again, and once more made it to regionals. (Whereupon she freaked out and missed an easy word, but that's all part of the experience.) This is the last year she is eligible to participate, and we'll be starting the study process shortly.
The above link has all the rules, as well as links to pdf files of the word lists to study from.
If you're interested in having your child participate, please contact your local school district for more information.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
The Look-Say Method (or Word Guessing)
No greater damage has been done to the education of normal healthy children than the look-say method of reading. (Also known as the whole word method, or word guessing.) This method was originally created around the year 1810 to help deaf-mute children learn to read. I would assume it is actually pretty good for its intended purpose. After all, deaf children cannot hear the phonetics of a word, so their only option is to memorize the way a word looks, and then from there, guess at new words.
Since this isn't the case for the majority of our children, I haven't the faintest clue why anyone would think this method was applicable, but someone somewhere got the bright idea to push it into our schools. And even though it has failed miserably, they continue to push it.
Part of the reasoning, or so I've heard, is that adults read without sounding words out. Think about the way you are reading this post. You see the word 'think' and you know what it is. You've seen it a million times. Right? After all the years you've been reading, it's in your memory banks as a whole word. Children don't have that luxury. Now, let's say you're teaching your child science and you get to a word you've never seen before--endothermic, for example. You can read the word--if you've had a good basis in phonics--because you know the rules. If you haven't had a good basis in phonics, you can guess at a word like that all day and never come up with the right answer. You'll have a better chance of guessing if you have a good vocabulary, but you're an adult. Think about what it's like for a child.
Another excuse some people use is that the English language isn't entirely phonetic. Let's assume for a moment that statement is correct. Let's assume only 75% of the words are phonetic. (I would guess it's higher, but I'm using that number for argument's sake.) Using look-say to teach reading, in that case, is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Or to use an analogy, it would be like the medical community throwing out aspirin because it doesn't work 25% of the time. Silly, yes. But that is exactly what proponents of look-say would have us do.
And one more excuse (I'm sure there are more, but I won't hit them all today): Learning phonics is hard. I won't argue too much there. Learning phonics can be hard. It doesn't have to be, but when a child is being taught by someone who themselves have been taught wrong (or worse someone whose been indoctrinated to hate phonics), it's going to be nothing but plain drudgery. Still, as hard as phonics can be, it STILL is easier than trying to memorize all the words in the English language and it STILL is easier than trying to guess at the majority of words in a 100,000 word novel/textbook/newspaper.
(More later...)
Since this isn't the case for the majority of our children, I haven't the faintest clue why anyone would think this method was applicable, but someone somewhere got the bright idea to push it into our schools. And even though it has failed miserably, they continue to push it.
Part of the reasoning, or so I've heard, is that adults read without sounding words out. Think about the way you are reading this post. You see the word 'think' and you know what it is. You've seen it a million times. Right? After all the years you've been reading, it's in your memory banks as a whole word. Children don't have that luxury. Now, let's say you're teaching your child science and you get to a word you've never seen before--endothermic, for example. You can read the word--if you've had a good basis in phonics--because you know the rules. If you haven't had a good basis in phonics, you can guess at a word like that all day and never come up with the right answer. You'll have a better chance of guessing if you have a good vocabulary, but you're an adult. Think about what it's like for a child.
Another excuse some people use is that the English language isn't entirely phonetic. Let's assume for a moment that statement is correct. Let's assume only 75% of the words are phonetic. (I would guess it's higher, but I'm using that number for argument's sake.) Using look-say to teach reading, in that case, is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Or to use an analogy, it would be like the medical community throwing out aspirin because it doesn't work 25% of the time. Silly, yes. But that is exactly what proponents of look-say would have us do.
And one more excuse (I'm sure there are more, but I won't hit them all today): Learning phonics is hard. I won't argue too much there. Learning phonics can be hard. It doesn't have to be, but when a child is being taught by someone who themselves have been taught wrong (or worse someone whose been indoctrinated to hate phonics), it's going to be nothing but plain drudgery. Still, as hard as phonics can be, it STILL is easier than trying to memorize all the words in the English language and it STILL is easier than trying to guess at the majority of words in a 100,000 word novel/textbook/newspaper.
(More later...)
Friday, January 5, 2007
"Stupid in America"
For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to see "Stupid in America" - a 20/20 report by John Stossel, here is a little link for you: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1491217.
It's a very interesting and enlightening look at the public school monopoly in America. If I hadn't taken my child out of public school before I saw this, I would have pulled her out soon after.
It's a very interesting and enlightening look at the public school monopoly in America. If I hadn't taken my child out of public school before I saw this, I would have pulled her out soon after.
Contributors
When I first thought of this blog, I didn't think beyond getting it running. Yet while I was letting my friends know about it, I had an epiphany. Why not invite them to guest blog? So, you will see information and posts from a variety of people on this blog--some who have chosen to contribute directly and others who have sent me articles or other information to contribute.
It is my hope this blog will grow and become one big haven for rational home educators. If nothing else, it will become a place for three homeschooling families and three educational professionals to brainstorm ways to better educate children. =oD
Enjoy.
It is my hope this blog will grow and become one big haven for rational home educators. If nothing else, it will become a place for three homeschooling families and three educational professionals to brainstorm ways to better educate children. =oD
Enjoy.
Guess What I Learned in School Today, Mommy?
Reprinted with permission:
Guess What I Learned in School Today, Mommy?
By Steven Brockerman
Copyright 1999 All rights reserved
It wasn’t guns that made murderers out of those two kids in Colorado. It wasn't their families' affluence. It wasn't violence on TV, sex in the movies, bombs in Kosovo, competitive sports or Nazis on the Internet. What made them cold-blooded killers, with peach fuzz still on their chins, was much more powerful an influence than all of the above combined. What made them killers were bad ideas.
Ideas move men to action. What kind of action is determined by the ideas men choose to accept. Today, most people derive their ideas from what they learn in school. A logical question to ask in this case, then -- especially since all of the shootings have taken place in school -- would be: What are the ideas being taught to our children in our schools? As an educator I think I can answer that question.
In language study, which is one of my fields, future teachers are told to liberate their students by teaching emotional self-expression, not oppress them by imparting knowledge. Teaching emotional self-expression teaches creativity, they are told. Teaching a student reason and knowledge does not. If student teachers remain unconvinced, they are then told that correctness and incorrectness, precision and inexactness, truth and falsehood are just matters of opinion anyway. Since no one can truly know the truth, teaching students knowledge amounts to forcing your opinions on them.
If precision in language translates into precision in thinking and if our children's teachers are being taught to treat language as guesswork, as an expression, not of reason, but of arbitrary feelings, how precise can the thinking of our children's teachers be? I wonder what those two kids' teachers think about the way those killers expressed their feelings at that Colorado high school. Was what they did creative or destructive? And is it, in fact, just a matter of opinion?
In literature, another of my fields, future teachers are exposed, primarily, to novels in which the heroes, if you care to call them that, are men driven by forces said to be beyond their control. Student teachers are encouraged to believe that man can't help thinking what he thinks, being what he is and doing what he does; that a man's character, his intellectual and productive achievements or failures and his feelings are, ultimately, products of some group - racial, sexual, cultural or social - rather than his own individual choices.
I wonder whether those two teenagers excused their rage, their hatred, their homicidal desires by shrugging and saying, "Well, I'm not responsible. I couldn’t help it. It's all those other kids that made me do it." Certainly, many have since voiced the same rationalizations to try and explain the killings. Such is the power - and the false ideas -- of modern education.
Finally, in pedagogical certification classes - their literary lessons reinforced - future teachers learn that the crowd does indeed create the individual. The crowd makes the individual's personality; makes his character, his prejudices and his vices; makes his virtues and directs his thinking. The crowd, student teachers are told, even creates reality -- makes things right or wrong; true or false.
Would you want your children taught by teachers who believe that one should act on their emotions? That truth is unknowable? That an individual is not responsible for his actions? That the group can, through will or wish, alter existence?
What would happen, do you think, to a child who was taught to rely on his emotions instead of his reason? Who was taught that nothing is certain and that there's no way to discover any truth? Who was taught that he can't be in control of his life but that the crowd can; that the crowd makes the truth; that the crowd is reality; that not he, but the crowd is responsible?
If you answered Jonesboro or Littleton, go to the head of the class.
Guess What I Learned in School Today, Mommy?
By Steven Brockerman
Copyright 1999 All rights reserved
It wasn’t guns that made murderers out of those two kids in Colorado. It wasn't their families' affluence. It wasn't violence on TV, sex in the movies, bombs in Kosovo, competitive sports or Nazis on the Internet. What made them cold-blooded killers, with peach fuzz still on their chins, was much more powerful an influence than all of the above combined. What made them killers were bad ideas.
Ideas move men to action. What kind of action is determined by the ideas men choose to accept. Today, most people derive their ideas from what they learn in school. A logical question to ask in this case, then -- especially since all of the shootings have taken place in school -- would be: What are the ideas being taught to our children in our schools? As an educator I think I can answer that question.
In language study, which is one of my fields, future teachers are told to liberate their students by teaching emotional self-expression, not oppress them by imparting knowledge. Teaching emotional self-expression teaches creativity, they are told. Teaching a student reason and knowledge does not. If student teachers remain unconvinced, they are then told that correctness and incorrectness, precision and inexactness, truth and falsehood are just matters of opinion anyway. Since no one can truly know the truth, teaching students knowledge amounts to forcing your opinions on them.
If precision in language translates into precision in thinking and if our children's teachers are being taught to treat language as guesswork, as an expression, not of reason, but of arbitrary feelings, how precise can the thinking of our children's teachers be? I wonder what those two kids' teachers think about the way those killers expressed their feelings at that Colorado high school. Was what they did creative or destructive? And is it, in fact, just a matter of opinion?
In literature, another of my fields, future teachers are exposed, primarily, to novels in which the heroes, if you care to call them that, are men driven by forces said to be beyond their control. Student teachers are encouraged to believe that man can't help thinking what he thinks, being what he is and doing what he does; that a man's character, his intellectual and productive achievements or failures and his feelings are, ultimately, products of some group - racial, sexual, cultural or social - rather than his own individual choices.
I wonder whether those two teenagers excused their rage, their hatred, their homicidal desires by shrugging and saying, "Well, I'm not responsible. I couldn’t help it. It's all those other kids that made me do it." Certainly, many have since voiced the same rationalizations to try and explain the killings. Such is the power - and the false ideas -- of modern education.
Finally, in pedagogical certification classes - their literary lessons reinforced - future teachers learn that the crowd does indeed create the individual. The crowd makes the individual's personality; makes his character, his prejudices and his vices; makes his virtues and directs his thinking. The crowd, student teachers are told, even creates reality -- makes things right or wrong; true or false.
Would you want your children taught by teachers who believe that one should act on their emotions? That truth is unknowable? That an individual is not responsible for his actions? That the group can, through will or wish, alter existence?
What would happen, do you think, to a child who was taught to rely on his emotions instead of his reason? Who was taught that nothing is certain and that there's no way to discover any truth? Who was taught that he can't be in control of his life but that the crowd can; that the crowd makes the truth; that the crowd is reality; that not he, but the crowd is responsible?
If you answered Jonesboro or Littleton, go to the head of the class.
Homeschooling on the Cheap
Before we get too far, I'd like to address what I mean by the phrase 'homeschooling on the cheap'.
Homeschooling can be a very big drain on a parent's finances. You have to buy the books, the paper, the pens, etc. Sometimes you have to pay for classes outside the home, or for fees at local organizations (like a gym for phys. ed. or the local swimming pool, etc.). You can even buy curriculum materials and pay for testing. However, none of this has to break the bank, so to speak.
Throughout this blog experience, we'll be working on ways to help combat those costs. Whether it's buying used textbooks (online or at your local used bookstore), or finding inexpensive ways to expose your children to the world (finding free classes and free places to take your children on fieldtrips), or when the time comes, places you can apply for college scholarships.
It's not that your children aren't worth the expense. They certainly are worth it. But as with anything in life, why pay more than you have to?
If you have a tip or suggestion about this or anything related to education, please feel free to contact us. Either via the comment chains or by emailing homeedmusings@gmail.com.
Thank you.
Homeschooling can be a very big drain on a parent's finances. You have to buy the books, the paper, the pens, etc. Sometimes you have to pay for classes outside the home, or for fees at local organizations (like a gym for phys. ed. or the local swimming pool, etc.). You can even buy curriculum materials and pay for testing. However, none of this has to break the bank, so to speak.
Throughout this blog experience, we'll be working on ways to help combat those costs. Whether it's buying used textbooks (online or at your local used bookstore), or finding inexpensive ways to expose your children to the world (finding free classes and free places to take your children on fieldtrips), or when the time comes, places you can apply for college scholarships.
It's not that your children aren't worth the expense. They certainly are worth it. But as with anything in life, why pay more than you have to?
If you have a tip or suggestion about this or anything related to education, please feel free to contact us. Either via the comment chains or by emailing homeedmusings@gmail.com.
Thank you.
Why I started this...
I started this blog as a way to reach out to other parents who, like me, got fed up with the educational establishment in America, and decided to do it themselves. I got tired of watching my intelligent child drown in public school. I got sick of watching teachers give lip service to educating while devoting too much of their time trying to socialize children. And I got fed up with running down to the school on a near-daily basis to address some problem they had created-either through their own ineptitude or through their inability to control the behavior of hundreds of children.
Before anyone gets too excited though, please understand I don't think my child is a perfect little angel. She's always been a pretty good, but pretty normal, kid. If given the opportunity, she'll get into some amount of trouble, and public school was giving her way too many opportunities.
Between the trips to school and the hours every night I was spending helping with homework, correcting misinformation, and keeping her brain fed, it really seemed better if I did it all myself and cut out the middle man. It isn't easy, but then again nothing worthwhile ever is. I have been teaching at home for almost two years, and I don't regret a single minute of it.
This blog is going to be devoted in part to helping other frustated parents deal with the issues of providing a superior education to their children. It is also going to deal with addressing pertinent issues in education, as well as tips and suggestions for 'homeschooling on the cheap'.
I hope you enjoy it and that you can benefit from the experience. I know I will.
Before anyone gets too excited though, please understand I don't think my child is a perfect little angel. She's always been a pretty good, but pretty normal, kid. If given the opportunity, she'll get into some amount of trouble, and public school was giving her way too many opportunities.
Between the trips to school and the hours every night I was spending helping with homework, correcting misinformation, and keeping her brain fed, it really seemed better if I did it all myself and cut out the middle man. It isn't easy, but then again nothing worthwhile ever is. I have been teaching at home for almost two years, and I don't regret a single minute of it.
This blog is going to be devoted in part to helping other frustated parents deal with the issues of providing a superior education to their children. It is also going to deal with addressing pertinent issues in education, as well as tips and suggestions for 'homeschooling on the cheap'.
I hope you enjoy it and that you can benefit from the experience. I know I will.
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