A couple near misses

As Henry mentioned, I took a recent trip to Canada for a family reunion. My brother, sister and I met in Buffalo, New York. From there we rented a car and drove to Ottawa, Canada. The night before the trip, I discovered that my passport expired a few months ago.

After a frantic search on the internet, I found that the law requiring passports to enter Canada had only gone into effect for those entering the country on commercial airlines. However, they do require both a drivers license and another form of government ID, like a social security card or birth certificate.

I've been a stay-at-home-mom for the last 14 years. I haven't a clue where my social security card is. I did have a copy of my birth certificate, but I was concerned that it would not be enough since the name on birth certificate doesn't match my married name on my drivers license. After another frantic search, I found a copy of my marriage license, so I figured that I would be able to get into Canada. I also brought along my expired passport.

We crossed into Canada with no problem. They didn't even comment on my expired passport or ask for any other documentation. I read on the internet that getting back into the USA is harder than getting into Canada, so I was a bit concerned at our re-entry.

After a wonderful visit with our extended family, my brother, sister and I loaded up the car to head back to Buffalo, New York. Since I had sat in the front seat on the way up, I decided to sit in the back on the return trip.

During our drive up from New York, my sister who sat in the back seat complained that she couldn't find cup holders. As I got into the back seat, I noticed an inset arm rest in the middle back seat, and low and behold, cup holders.

I noticed that in the cup holders were two little plastic bags. The first bag held what looked like herbs and the second bag had the residue of the same herbs. I've never seen marijuana before, but I guessed that is what was in the little bags.

We threw out the little bags and headed for the border. During the drive, my brother began to worry about crossing through customs. What if they search the car and find more drugs? What if they have drug sniffing dogs? I shutter to think what could have happened if they had searched our car when we entered Canada.

Luckily for us, we passed back into the USA as easily as we left it. Again, nobody commented on my expired passport.

When we returned the rental car, my brother talked to the manager about being more careful when they clean their rental cars.

It was a wonderful trip. I'm really glad that there wasn't an international incident.

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car rental, passport laws, family reunions, road trips

Tips for teen driving

A friend sent me a link to Teendriving.com.

Our oldest just turned 14 so she won't be driving for another year. This looks like a good site to have her check out now and then over the next year.


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Technorati tags: teen, driving

The Carnival of Education is up

This week's Carnival of Education is up at The Chancellor's New Clothes: A Voice Cries Out.

If you would like to submit to the next Carnival of Education, go here.


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Technorati tags: education, school

Keep a video camera with you at all times

Redit led me to YouTube video exposes cop who attempted to cover up assault on bicyclist.



In general most policemen, like most people, are pretty good guys. I have several friends who are policemen. When a bad one turns up, there is some times a tendency for the police organization to rally around and protect the bad apple.

It may be a good idea to have a cheap video camera with you at all times.


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Technorati tags: police

Trailer for the next Harry Potter movie

I am surprised that my daughter came across the trailer this morning, before I had heard about it.




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Technorati tags: Harry, Potter

Cato Institute on Markets vs. Standards

A couple months ago my brother pointed me to a video from the Cato Institute. The Cato Institute had a panel talk about reform in education. The video is about an hour.

Several people were each given ten minutes to talk. I am a strong believer in vouchers, so I was sad to hear Sol Stern say that so far vouchers have not had marketed improvement in education. Others said the freedom could be main factors in improving school reform.

Even if there was clear evidence that vouchers improved education, there are too many politicians and union leaders who would oppose vouchers. I'm afraid we won't have useful, wide spread vouchers in the next couple decades.

So what is a parent suppose to do? Homeschool seems like the only reasonable answer to me.


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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education

A fun way to learn history

A friend pointed me to HistoryBuff.com. Rick Brown has gathered copies of historical newspapers. Rick Brown has put them up on the internet.

You can read about the Battle of Yorktown from the The Connecticut Gazette.

You can read about the Assassination of Lincoln from the New York Tribune.

You can read the front page of Honolulu Star after the the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

There are many, many more.

Pretty cool.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

I missed this important holiday

A good friend sent me an email a couple weeks ago, but it got lost, drowned, in the flurry of email. He pointed me to the Americans for Tax Reform. They announced that the 16th of July was the day most Americans started working for themselves:

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Every year, Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, and going forward Center for Fiscal Accountability at ATR calculates the day in the calendar year when Americans have paid their share of the federal, state and local tax and regulatory burdens. This year's COGD falls on July 16 an increase of 4 days over the revised date for 2007, when COGD fell on July 12. Since 1977, COGD has fallen later than July 16 in only four of those 32 years.
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As frustrating as it is that we spend about half our time working for the government, like Will Rogers said, "It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for."


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Technorati tags: government

Study finds it is good if children talk to themselves.

A good friend pointed me to a Dean's World post on an article about a study which found Preschool Kids Do Better When They Talk To Themselves:

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Parents should not worry when their pre-schoolers talk to themselves; in fact, they should encourage it, says Adam Winsler, an associate professor of psychology at George Mason University. His recent study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly showed that 5-year-olds do better on motor tasks when they talk to themselves out loud (either spontaneously or when told to do so by an adult) than when they are silent.
"Young children often talk to themselves as they go about their daily activities, and parents and teachers shouldn’t think of this as weird or bad," says Winsler. "On the contrary, they should listen to the private speech of kids. It's a fantastic window into the minds of children."
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My daughters seemed, and still do, to talk all the time. I don't remember if they talked to themselves. As the foster care boy starts to talk, I guess we should encourage him to talk to himself.


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Technorati tags: parenting, children, education

A new search engine

One of the very first web search engines was Alta Vista. It was pretty cool to find information you were looking for from some where on the internet. I used it for awhile, it seems like about a year. Friends were telling me about Google, but I was happy with Alta Vista.

Then one day I decided to give Google a chance. I never turned back.

There are many search engines now.

A new one was just announced - Cuil, pronounced "cool." So far it seems OK. The founders claim they are searching more web pages than Google.

One thing in its favor, the search for "why homeschool" turned up several links to our blog!


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Technorati tags: Alta Vista, Google, Cuil, search engines

Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers is up

The latest Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers is up at Homeschooled twins. To submit to the next Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers use the carnival submission form.



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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Thought on gifted kids

Interesting thought from the A Word A Day mailing list:

All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.
-Michael Carr

I'm not sure all kids are gifted, but I do believe there are many children with gifts which are never recognized or developed.


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Technorati tags: children, gifted

Humor - Medieval helpdesk

Someone at work sent this around:



Pretty funny.


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Technorati tags: humor, Medieval, helpdesk

B.R. Merrick's take on Calvin & Hobbes

I greatly enjoy Calvin & Hobbes. My daughters picked up this pleasure by osmosis. I scattered Bill Watterson's books around the house. They read; they enjoyed.

B.R. Merrick in Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Public School...I Learned in Calvin & Hobbes Comic Books analyzes the comic strip. He pulls back from simply enjoy the adventures of a creative six-year-old and asks what messages does the comic have for us? Why do we enjoy it?

Merrick writes:

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There is not a single Calvin & Hobbes comic strip that has anything positive to say about this institution. Just use the search engine in the link at the beginning of this article and type in “school.” You will be taken from one strip to another where Calvin is bored, anxious, unhappy, disgusted, hopeless, daydreaming, or scared. The only school-related strips where Calvin is in a better mood have to do with recess or grossing out Susie at lunch (an episode that got Calvin & Hobbes cancelled at one local paper). His teacher is named Miss Wormwood, after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. Think about it. That’s not a joke the average reader would get. Just what is Watterson trying to say?
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I had never thought about Calvin & Hobbes in this light. Merrick is right. School is not a good experience for Calvin. The sad thing is there are millions of Calvins in government schools today. More and more parents are recognizing that public schools today destroy the spirit of their children.

I would love to see a homeschooling version of Calvin & Hobbes. He would enjoy learning about dinosaurs.

(Hat tip: Barbara Frank)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

For $200,000 you may be able to fly into space in 2010

I find this pretty exciting: Virgin Galactic shows off mothership aircraft:

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The photo-op was the public unveiling of the White Knight Two mothership before a crowd of engineers, dignitaries and space enthusiasts at the Mojave Air & Space Port in the high desert north of Los Angeles.
The four-engine jet, with its 140-foot single wing, is an engineering marvel. The space between its twin fuselages is where SpaceShipTwo, the passenger rocket being built for Branson's Virgin Galactic, will be mounted.
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The price is still a bit steep, but I'm hoping it will follow Moore's law and drop quickly.


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Technorati tags: Virgin Galactic

Commuting could be more interesting

I had lunch with a couple friends yesterday. They were excited about the New Jetpack. For $100,000 you can get a jetpack, next year, which will stay up for thirty minutes and fly up to 3,000 feet.

Pretty cool. Maybe the Jetsons aren't too far away.

I'd be interested in flying one, at least once.


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Technorati tags: Jetpack

Breaking news - earthquake in Los Angeles

Instapundit just reported that there was an earthquake in LA. It appears to be a 5.4 or a 5.8. I hope there were no deaths.


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Technorati tags: earthquake

Teachers need to fix the teachers unions

The National Education Association (NEA) recently had their annual convention. Phyllis Schlafy reports The NEA Spells Out Its Policies:

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The delegates passed dozens of hard-hitting resolutions that now become the NEA's official policy. The resolutions authorize NEA members and employees to lobby for those goals in the halls of Congress and state capitols.
NEA resolutions cover the waterfront of all sorts of political issues that have nothing to do with improving education for schoolchildren, such as supporting statehood for the District of Columbia, a "single-payer health care plan" (i.e., government-run), gun control, ratification of the International Criminal Court Treaty, and taking steps "to change activities that contribute to global climate change."
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Phyllis covers many other areas the NEA is involved in, very little of which have anything to do with educaton. And keeping in character the NEA opposes school choice and homeschooling. Two things that have shown to improve the education of children.

The teachers unions are currently destructive to education. Teachers need be responsible and clean up the unions.

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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education, NEA

School choice is alive and well in Sweden

I had not known this: Sweden has a nation wide voucher system. School choice was implemented in 1992. The Washington Post reports that "the numbers have shot up. In 1992, 1.7 percent of high schoolers and 1 percent of elementary schoolchildren were privately educated. Now the figures are 17 percent and 9 percent."

That is pretty impressive. Almost a fifth of all students in high school are attending a private school.

Vouchers would make a huge improvement in public education. But there are so many roadblocks. It seems like every time there is a push to have true school choice politicians, unions and others demand rules that handicap and often kill the vouchers. One of the techniques is to only allow vouchers to pay for half as much money as public schools get. In the United States on average schools get over $10,000 per student. Typically vouchers get less than half.

It is nice to see that at least one nation in the world allows parents choice in where their children are educated.

(Hat tip: edspresso.com)


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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education, Sweden

Another beautiful picture from APOD

I check out The Astronomy Picture of the Day every day. This picture of Extra Galaxies reminds me just how vast is the universe:

The picture is by Dietmar Hager, who gave me permission to post it on my blog.


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Technorati tags: Dietmar Hager, Extra Galaxies

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - The Boy Scout Edition

Judy at Consent Of The Governed is hosting the The Carnival Of Homeschooling this week. It is the Boy Scout Edition.

As a teenager I was active in Boy Scouts at church. As I drew closer to turning sixteen my parents told me I could drive the family car if I could demostrate that I was responsible. They suggested that one way to show I was responsible was to earn my Eagle Scout award. I earned it.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Good thought about socialization and homeschooling

Google Alerts are cool. It is nice to have an automatic process which digs up fascinating posts about homeschooling. If you are not using Google Alerts, I encourage you to check them out.

A recent Google Alert pointed me to Home School and Public School According to Me at Representative's Weblog. The post covers the main reasons why so many parents homeschool. It also addresses the frequent criticism that homeschooled children will "suffer" from a lack of proper socialization. The author also writes that there may be a few, very few, homeschoolers who are doing a worse job than public schools; however, we should oppose attempts by the government to make homeschoolers perform some specific tasks.

While reading this post I was reminded of Joseph Stalin's line "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." There are so many children who graduate from government schools with a poor or non-existent education. People who are really worried about education should be focused on public schools and leave homeschoolers alone.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Life is good

Janine is back from her family reunion in Canada.

She is glad she went. I am glad she is back.

Life is good.


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Technorati tags: children, family, parenting

You get a parachute.

Twenty, twenty five years ago I read this story:

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In World war II, an English reporter who had heard so much about the bravery and elan of the Gurkhas visited a camp just in front of the enemy lines (Germans). During the course of his reporting, he had occasion to observe a mission being conducted. The mission was to airdrop a bunch of soldiers behind enemy lines to conduct some relatively light action. He watched the commander of the Gurkhas (a British soldier) pitch the mission and then ask for volunteers. To his surprise, only about half the Gurkhas volunteered and were sent off. Thoroughly disillusioned with the legends of Gurkha bravery, the reporter went back home. After the war, he happened to run into a Gurkha who had been there, and asked him why half the troops had failed to volunteer. It turned out that none of the squad, both those who volunteered and those who did not, were aware that they would get a parachute for the drop. Hence the low turnout.
-----

I happened to remember this story today and dug it out of my files. I thought some about homeschooling. Many parents are scared to try homeschooling. They recognize it is a serious undertaking. Many have been told that only professionals can teach children. People are hesitant to try new things, especially when failing might hurt their children.

When our friends ask us about homeschooling we can acknowledge that it is work and they’ll be facing the unknown, but they will have a parachute. We can tell them that now, more than ever, there are a ton of resources. There are thousands of books. There are hundreds of thousands of blogs. There are millions of web sites. Most communities have homeschooling groups. There are magazines and conferences. The reality is we can have as many parachutes as we want.

As you reassure your friends that homeschooling will be strange and hard at times tell them that it is also a lot of fun. Tell them it may be one of the most important things they ever do in their lives. Helping our children get a quality education will pay dividends for the rest of their lives, and even for generations to come. But also tell them there are plenty of ways to get help, guidance, and support.

Most of us are willing to do hard things, when we realize that we have a parachute.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling

The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted at Consent Of The Governed.

As always, entries are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Here are the instructions for sending in a submission.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Randy Pausch died

Janine and I were very impressed by Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.

I was sad to see the headline US 'last lecture' academic dies in Google New's today.

Randy was an impressive man. He made the world a better place.

If you haven't watched this video before, check it out. You will be glad you did.




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Technorati tags: Randy Pausch, Last Lecture, Childhood Dreams

I'm doing the Mr. Mom thing again

Janine left early this morning for a family reunion in Canada. Her mother's side of the family is getting together. Janine is meeting up with her sister and brother to attend the reunion. She'll be back late Monday evening. Of all the children, the 22-month-old foster boy seems the sadest. Once this morning he just started crying.

With Janine gone I'm doing the Mr. Mom thing again. I don't think it will be so bad this time. The older two girls are very helpful. Janine jokes about them being our house elfs.


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Technorati tags: children, family, parenting

Great column about homeschooling in California

The first sentence or paragraph is suppose to hook the reader. Steven Greenhut in Court Holds California's Homeschoolers in Suspense opens with: "Anyone interested in the nearly criminal mismanagement of the nation's government-run schools need only do research on the acronym LAUSD."

I was hooked.

He makes several good points about the effectiveness of homeschooling, why the government seeks to control homeschooling and how we need to work to protect our rights to homeschool.

It is a great column. Worth reading.

(Hat tip: HomeschoolBuzz.com)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Some carnivals to check out

The Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers is up at Homeschooled twins. (Will there soon be a Carnival of Hot Homeschoolers? Or a Carnival of Nerdy Homeschoolers? :-) ) To submit to the next Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers use the carnival submission form..

The latest Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at Praiseworthy Things. To submit to the next Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival use the carnival submission form

This week's Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival is up.

The latest Carnival of Education is up at The Education Wonks.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Teach your children to pass the marshmallow

Two years ago I wrote:

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I first heard of the test from Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. (I haven't read the 10th Anniversary Edition) The marshmallow test was conducted by Walter Mischel. He would test four year-old children to see if they could not eat a marshamallow that was one the table before them. The results of the test came out ten and twenty years later when they found that the children who had self control and resisted eating the marshmallow were successful in almost every facet of their lives.
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In Instant Gratification Nation: Can We Still Sacrifice for the Future? Charles Wheelan reports the experiment differently:

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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, researchers at Stanford University conducted a now-famous experiment using young children enrolled at Stanford's preschool facility. Experimenters sat the students at a table set with assorted objects that children of that age would find desirable (marshmallows, colored plastic poker chips, stick pretzels, and the like). The students were asked which of the objects they preferred.
Once that was determined, each student was offered an explicit choice that tested his or her ability to defer gratification: Get a reward now or a bigger reward later. The experimenter left the room, leaving a bell on the table in front of the student. If the student rang the bell before the experimenter returned, he or she would get a reward, albeit a less preferred one (a single marshmallow instead of two). However, if the student resisted ringing the bell until the experimenter returned (typically after 15 or 20 minutes), he or she would get something even better -- two marshmallows.
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Later in the column Charles writes "I find myself asking an even bigger question: Is America as a nation losing its ability to wait for the second marshmallow?"

As a nation the sad answer is yes.

One of the lessons we try to teach our children is delayed gratification. They are learning the lesson! We give them an allowance each week. The money goes into four buckets: church, quick cash, short term savings and long term savings. Our oldest recently started putting a significant amount of her quick cash and short term savings into long term savings. She'll turn 14 soon. The long term savings account is for things like helping with college or buying a house. She won't see this money for years. I am very pleased.

One of the most important lessons we can teach our children is to pass the marshmallow test.

(Hat tip: Instapundit)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - The 12 Labors of Hercules

Life on the Road is hosting the carnival this week: The 134th Carnival of Homeschooling - The 12 Labors of Hercules.

Tiffany points out that like Hercules, homeschoolers face a daunting set of tasks.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Did you ever want to create a scratch calendar?

Janine and I heavily use calendars. We have a big calendar in our kitchen. All the family events and appointments go on it. I keep my life semi-organized with a Franklin planner. Our daughters each have their own pocket planners.

Ever once it awhile it would be nice to have an scratch calendar, an extra piece of paper with a month on it. ePrintableCalendars itches that scratch. It has several options for creating monthly or yearly calendars in a variety of formations.


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Technorati tags: Printable, Calendar

You may want to petition your Senators

The Head Mistress has done a great job of staying on top of the fiasco with Texas CPS ripping 420 children from their parents. She reminds today citizens in the US have The Right To Petition. After explaining the historical background she writes:

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On July 24, 2008 the United States Senate is holding a hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the FLDS Church and the polygamist lifestyle. Only the only people invited to help the Senate understand this group are people who are hostile to them. This committee has no intention of hearing both sides. Petition protesting this here.
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Congress should be investigating Texas CPS.

If you would like to contact the Senators on the Judiciary Committee, go here.


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Technorati tags: Child, Protective, Services, abuse

Have you heard of HR 3289 or HR 2343?

Dr. Karen Effrem reports that there is a move in Congres to do mental screening on babies:

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Two bills which recently passed the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee and are headed for floor debate clearly illustrate the insatiable appetite that the radicals in charge of Congress have for control over the hearts and minds of our nation's youngest children. HR 3289, the Providing Resources Early for Kids Act of 2008 (PRE-K Act), puts the federal government in charge of what children will learn in preschool programs. HR 2343, the Education Begins at Home Act, sets up invasive home visiting programs.
These bills put the government in control as both parent and educator for children from birth to age 5. Both focus on poor families who have the least wherewithal to resist this government intrusion, but they also extend to military families. The home visiting bill calls for developmental screening, which includes mental screening, and the Pre-K Act promotes mental screening of all the children and their families in these programs. And of course, parental consent, choice, and control are never mentioned for any aspect of these bills.
The Pre-K Act and its focus on the mental screening of young children is ironic from at least two standpoints. First, despite claims of its proponents, early childhood programs are not effective and several studies have shown evidence of academic and or emotional harm. For instance, illiteracy rates have actually increased in New Jersey where preschool for poor children was court ordered. And, data from several national studies and surveys performed by the federal government have shown very significant increases in defiant, disobedient, and aggressive behavior, as well as impaired social skills in children who are attend preschool and child care compared to children raised at home.
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This is so bonkers. The federal government does not need to go around creating new programs left and right. With the current financial situation it should be tighten the belt and canceling a few programs. If they need suggestions I can make several.

We need to have a bill to have congressmen mentally screened. I wonder how many would pass?


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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education

High school drop-out rate twice as high as first estimated in California

Joanne Jacobs reports the Drop-out data reveal crisis:

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Some 24.2 percent of California students drop out of high school, according to new state data. That’s nearly double the failure rate estimated before the state started tracking individual students. About 68 percent of students earn a high school diploma; another 8 percent complete a GED or other alternative certificate.
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In one of the comments Rob says:

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Slowly but steadily, our national level of education is sinking lower and lower. It’s like Hal in the movie 2001, A Space Odyssey, when he says he can feel his mind going. Whether it’s checkout clerks who can no longer make change or adults who are proud of not being able to add fractions or high school kids who can’t find Iraq on a map, the signs are all around us.
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When I hear someone critize homeschoolers I often wonder if the critic has a clue about how bad are many government schools"


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, government schools, public school, public education, education

Trying to homeschool in Germany

Dana of Principled Discovery announces Homeschooler in Germany to be guest on Home School Talk:

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Rina, an Irish woman homeschooling her children in Germany will join me on Home School Talk Monday, July 21 at 1 PM CST to talk about homeschooling in Germany and her recent experience presenting her petition before the European Parliament Petitions Committee.
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Dana concludes her post with:

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Also, I am looking for a possible co-host to make the show a little more conversational and a little less of a monologue from me. If you think you might be interested, please contact me at homeschooltalkshowATgmailDOTcom and we can talk it over.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Are you a military homeschooler

Valerie Bonham Moon has started up a blog for military homeschoolers: Tossed by the Fates. Valerie writes in about this site:

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Tossed by the Fates is a blog version of a book intended for military parents homeschooling their children. I wrote the book a few years ago, but have dithered as to how to publish it. There are many ways to publish information, and each has its strengths and drawbacks.
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I've been reading posts on other blogs by Valerie for years. She writes well. If you are interested in special considerations military homeschoolers have to worry about, check out Tossed by the Fates.

(Hat tip: The Informed Parent)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

The Carnival of Family Life is up

This week's Carnival of Family Life is up at On the Horizon.

To submit to the next carnival click on this carnival submission form.


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Technorati tags: children, family, parenting

Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling

The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted at Life on the Road.

As always, entries are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Here are the instructions for sending in a submission.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

The Gifted Homeschoolers' Forum

If you are homeschooling a gifted child you might find this site useful: Gifted Homeschoolers Forum.

(Hat tip: Prufrock's Gifted Child Info Blog)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

The wrong solution to a problem

There is a story about a man who has lost his keys. A man comes out of the office building late one night and finds his co-worker looking intently on the ground under a street light. He goes up and asks what is wrong. The co-worker says I lost my keys. They both look for awhile. Finally the first man asks where is the last place you had them. The co-worker says well I dropped them over there in the parking lot. The guy then asks why in the world are you looking here? The co-worker explains the lighting is so much better here.

Too often people try to use the wrong solution to a problem. Often a proposed solution may be flashy, sound good and even may seem like it should work, but it still will be dead wrong.

I thought of the above story while reading about a recent attempt by a L.A. city council member to solve the problem of obesity in South-Central Los Angeles. Her solution is to stop allowing new fast-food restaurants to open. In other parts of LA fast food restaurants are 16 percent while in South-Central LA it is a whopping 45 percent.

Think about that for a minute. In America today we have choices on where we eat. No one dictates or tells us where we have to eat. As consumers we are in the driver's seat. Restaurants which meet our demands are successful and stay in business. In South-Central Los Angeles many of the successful ones serve fast food, not because they want to, but because that is what the customer demands.

Trying to force healthier restaurants into South-Central LA to solve obesity is like looking for the keys under the street light. It won't solve the problem. People will continue to eat where they want to eat.


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Technorati tags: parenting, children

Mini nuclear power is going forward

Late last year I read that Toshiba was developing a micro-nulcear power plant. It looks like there is an increased interest in small nuclear power plants. Popular Mechanies reports that Mini Reactors Show Promise for Clean Nuclear Power's Future:

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Higher fuel prices and increased carbon emissions have been giving nuclear energy a boost. So far this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received licensing requests for 19 new nuclear power plants. That number could increase exponentially, along with the number of suitable sites for a plant, if the NRC approves a brand-new design for portable modular units developed at Oregon State University.
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Growing up many science fiction stories had dazlling ideas about the promise of nuclear power. Nuclear power would make energy cheap and plentiful. Nuclear powered rocket ships would take us to the stars.

Nuclear power got put on hold for a couple decades due to fears. Maybe now we're recognizing that there are trade-offs and nuclear power is a reasonable option.

(Hat tip: Instapundit)


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Technorati tags: nuclear power

Yet another study which finds all day kindegarten is bad

Fairly often there seems to be a push for full-day kindergarten, and then full-day preschool. The idea seems to be that a little kindergarten is a good thing, so more must be better. (This is kind of like saying that we need a little iron in our diet, so everyone should eat a pound a day.)

Several studies have refuted this basic idea. The results of another study was recently published and it found Full-day kindergarteners' reading, math gains fade by 3rd grade. This was fascinating:

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Overall, the study found that the reading and math skills of children in full-day kindergarten grew faster from the fall to the spring of their kindergarten year, compared to the academic skills of children in part-day kindergarten.
However, the study also found that the full-day kindergarteners' gains in reading and math did not last far beyond the kindergarten year. In fact, from the spring of their kindergarten year through fifth grade, the academic skills of children in part-day kindergarten grew faster than those of children in full-day kindergarten, with the advantage of full-day versus part-day programs fading by the spring of third grade. The fade-out can be explained, in part, by the fact that the children in part-day kindergarten were less poor and had more stimulating home environments than those in full-day programs, according to the study.
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Read the last line a second time. Humm, a little time at home in a more stimulating environment is good. Maybe someone will come to the conclusion that all day at home is best!!! Sounds like homeschooling could have some advantages.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

A congressman wants to force schools to get children out in nature

I recently got an email about The Fed's Cure for"Nature Deficit Disorder." Allen Quist starts with:

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Claiming to have the remedy for "nature deficit disorder," Congressional Democrats (along with some Republicans) are in the process of passing a new federal education program for all 50 states. The bill is called "No Child Left Inside" and is a major expansion of the federal education train-wreck, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
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At first I thought this was a joke. I realize April 1st has come and gone, but I didn't believe anyone in Congress would want to force schools to make sure children got enough outdoors time. Don't get me wrong, I think it is important for children to run outside, to play in the mud, to walk in the rain and to be with nature. BUT schools should not be focused on this.

I dug around a bit and found there really is a Congressman who is sponsoring such a bill. US. Repressentative John P. Sarbanes is pushing the bill. Wow.

Many have complained about the No Child Left Behind law. They believe that the focus on testing has ruined the education progress.

Yet here are some people who think that by passing a law children will come to know and love nature. I believe it is more likely that after suffering through school nature programs most kids will end up hating nature and quickly retreat back to their homes.

Sad.


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Technorati tags: government schools, public, school, abuse, power, children, education

The rest of the story - school wrong to strip search girl

Last year a court ruled that it was OK for a school to strip search a 13-year-old girl to see if she was hiding ibuprofen:

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Safford Middle School officials did not violate the civil rights of a 13-year-old Safford girl when they forced her to disrobe and expose her breasts and pubic area four years ago while looking for a drug, according to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.
The justices voted 2-1 in favor of the Safford School District on Sept. 21. The decision upheld a federal district court's summary judgement that Safford Middle School Vice Principal Kerry Wilson, school nurse Peggy Schwallier and administrative assistant Helen Romero did not violate the girl's Fourth Amendment rights on Oct. 8, 2003, when they subjected her to a strip search in an effort to find Ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug sold over the counter and in prescription strengths.
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A divided US appeals court has ruled, 6 to 5, that the school was wrong:

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"Directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen, an infraction that poses an imminent danger to no one, and which could be handled by keeping her in the principal's office until a parent arrived or simply sending her home, was excessively intrusive," Justice Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the majority.
The majority found flaws in the school's logic that a tip from another student justified the action.
"The self-serving statement of a cornered teenager facing significant punishment does not meet the heavy burden necessary to justify a search accurately described by the 7th Circuit as 'demeaning, dehumanizing, undignified, humiliating, terrifying, unpleasant [and] embarrassing'.
"And all this to find prescription-strength ibuprofen pills.
"No legal decision cited to us, or that we could find, permitted a strip search to discover substances regularly available over-the-counter at any convenience store throughout the United States."
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I'm glad the court reversed the ruling. I'm sad that it was so close. It should have been 11 to 0. With such a close ruling it is clear the basic issue has not been resolved.

I would love to know if Safford Middle School Vice Principal Kerry Wilson, school nurse Peggy Schwallier and administrative assistant Helen Romero still have jobs.

(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)


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Technorati tags: government schools, public, school, abuse, power, children, education

People v. machines

I like this quote from Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list"

"You can be totally rational with a machine. But, if you work with people, sometimes logic has to take a back seat to understanding."
-Akio Morita (1921-1999) Co-founder of Sony


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Technorati tags: thought, Dan Galvin, Akio Morita

Improving education: hire good teachers, fire bad teachers, and train teachers to be better

Ray Fisman has a good article in Slate - Hot for the Wrong TeachersWhy are public schools so bad at hiring good instructors? His article starts with:

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PS 49 in Queens used to be an average school in New York City's decidedly below-average school system. That was before Anthony Lombardi moved into the principal's office. When Lombardi took charge in 1997, 37 percent of fourth graders read at grade level, compared with nearly 90 percent today; there have also been double-digit improvements in math scores. By 2002, PS 49 made the state's list of most improved schools. If you ask Lombardi how it happened, he'll launch into a well-practiced monologue on the many changes that he brought to PS 49 (an arts program, a new curriculum from Columbia's Teachers College). But he keeps coming back to one highly controversial element of the school's turnaround: getting rid of incompetent teachers.
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Ray says there are three basic ways to improve education, hire good teachers, fire bad teachers, and train teachers to be better. But research has shown that it is hard to predict who will be a good teacher:

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For instance, in 1997, Los Angeles tripled its hiring of elementary-school teachers following a state-mandated reduction in class size. If L.A. schools had been doing a good job of picking the best teachers among their applicants, then the average quality of new recruits should have gone down when they expanded their ranks—they were hiring from the same pool of applicants, but accepting candidates who would have been rejected in prior years. But as researchers Thomas Kane and Douglas Staiger found, the crop of new teachers didn't perform any worse than the teachers the school had hired in more selective years.
This unexpected result is consistent with the findings from dozens of studies analyzing the predictors of teacher quality. Researches have looked at just about every possible determinant of teaching success, and it seems there's nothing on a prospective teacher's résumé that indicates how he or she will do in the classroom. While some qualifications boost performance a little bit—National Board certification seems to help, though a master's degree in education does not—they just don't improve it very much.
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This leaves government schools with two options, firing bad teachers and training teachers to be better. Teacher unions have pushed for laws and rules that make it very hard to fire bad teachers. Training can only take you so far, and loses its punch if the teachers don't have to pay attention.

The result is children suffer because public schools can't get rid of bad teachers.

(Hat tip Friends of Dave)


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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education

Thoughts about health, food, and parenting

Janine was a child when her body lost the ability to produce insulin. This is called Type 1 Diabetes.

There is another type of diabetes, where the body doesn't produce enough insulin for the food intake. Our bodies are designed for a certain level of food. Our society is rich enough that most have more than enough to eat. When we eat a lot of food, the beta cells in our pancreas have to produce more insulin. And especially when we eat foods rich in sugars and fats, our pancreas has to run at a higher level than it was designed. Like a car engine, running the pancreas too high, too long, will wear it out. This is type 2 diabetes. The body can still produce insulin, but not enough. Historically this was a problem many adults had in their fifties and beyond. After years of being overweight and eating a bit much, some adults would develop type 2 diabetes.

One of the sad trends in the last couple decades is young adults and even children developing type 2 diabetes. ScienceDaily recently warned of a Coming Epidemic Of Type 2 Diabetes In Young Adults:

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In a new article, University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital pediatric endocrinologist Joyce Lee, M.D., M.P.H, warns that the most damaging effects of childhood obesity have yet to surface, and will likely result in an epidemic of type 2 diabetes among young adults, leading to a greater number of diabetes complications, and ultimately, lower life expectancy.
“The full impact of the childhood obesity epidemic has yet to be seen because it can take up to 10 years or longer for obese individuals to develop type 2 diabetes,” says Lee, a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit at Mott. “Children who are obese today are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as young adults.”
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Some things in life are unavoidable. For the most part, these are trials that we just need to endure.

I wonder though if more people suffer from avoidable tragedies. Too often we make poor choices. Too often we don't think about the consequences. Covey has a line about when we pick up one end of a stick we pick up the other end of the stick. We can make choices, but once we've made a choice we are stuck with the consequences.

The huge increase of obese children who will suffer for the rest of their lives is an avoidable tragedy.

What are factors which contribute to this trend? Lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits are the obvious "cause" but it is more than just that.

In the United States, McDonald's is the source of 10 percent of family meals according to expert Harry Balzer of the NPD Group. Contrast this to Janine's experience as a child where her family ate out once a year.

The fast food trend is closely related to the changes in family structure. The increase of single parent homes and working mothers has left us with a generation of children at risk. Children who spend time home alone are more likely to eat to entertain and comfort themselves. (They are also more likely to drink and use drugs, but that's another post.)

Parents of both sexes are spending an average of ten or twelve hours less per week with their children than when they did in 1960 according to Journal of the American Medical Association study published in the New Yorker. Parents can't teach their children healthy eating and an active lifestyle if the don't spend much time with their children.

Children spend more of their leisure time in front of a TV or computer than every before. Not surprisingly, obesity rates increase with TV viewing.

School also plays a part in the modern day tragedy. This study out of New Hampshire notes the detrimental effect of school of physical fitness.

This study measured fitness levels and found that 88% of children can meet the minimum fitness level upon entering school. Only 47% of children in their second year of school achieve the minimum fitness levels for the same fitness tests. At the age of ten, when an aerobic capacity and recovery test is also administered, only 22% of the children in NH can achieve the minimum fitness levels, and as the students age, the percentage of children achieving these minimum levels continues to fall.

Regardless what is going on in society or at school, ultimately the responsibility to raise healthy children lies with the parents. And if the parents don't do their duty, their children will face a shortened life span and lifetime of weight related disabilites.



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Technorati tags: parenting, children