Carnival of Homeschooling: 141 – The Hero Edition

When we host a blog carnival it can take any where from ten to twenty hours of work. It takes time to request submissions, to reply to the entries, to organize the posts, and then announce the carnival and promote it. But one of the hardest steps for me is selecting a good theme. A good theme elevates a long list of links to a more entertaining post.

I was lamenting the challenge of picking a good theme at dinner last week. Our oldest daughter suggested comic book heroes. I pondered a bit and thought it would be fun to explore some heroes, why we have heroes, and how they help with homeschooling.

This edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is The Hero Edition!




Superman













One of the most famous comicbook heroes is Superman. Over the last sixty plus years Superman has been rewritten several times. The early Superman was the ultimate Boy Scout. He lived every aspect of The Scout Law. He was trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, and so on. Many homeschoolers are these traits.

Mothers are loyal. One mother writes about Counting the Cost—Homeschooling, but she doesn’t mind the sacrifice, at My twenty cents keeps moving.

Michelle is helpful. She is a foster care mother. She shares her Insights into homeschooling multiple children at Michelle’s Family.

In Help! My Child Wants to Go Back to Public School! Kris, from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, provides some practical help to parents with children who are yearning to return to government schools.

Carletta writes about Learning Styles at Successful Homeschooling. She has learned to recognize her children’s learning styles and gives some pointers to help us.


Batman













Batman has no special powers. He is a man who through training, hard work and perseverance is able to figure out what happened and capture the bad guys. Of course it helps that he is wealthy and doesn’t have a family to worry about.

Tiffanie writes about Planning and Organizing Homeschool Curriculum at My Kids Blog. Like Batman she gets more done by planning ahead.

Anne encourages us to plan ahead in Begin As You Mean To Go On from The Week In Homeschooling.

Sheri is trying something new this year, she homeschools four weeks, and then takes off a week to plan the next four weeks. Read about this at ..: My week off:.., on The Shades of Pink.

Our humble submission is on Homeschooling and World War II, and what goals do you have for your children?

Frugal Expectations has some good ideas about restarting your homeschool year, over at Ship Full O’ Pirates.


George Washington













George Washington the first president of The United States. As the general who defeated the British at Georgetown he was loved by the nation. One of the things I am most impressed by is that George Washington stepped down after serving two terms. If he had lusted after power he probably could have turned the fledgling republic into a monarchy.

Lizzie, of A Dusty Frame, shows How to Make a Book of Centuries. I'm sure there will be an entry on George Washington.

George Washington loved freedom. Denise reports on a delight story of letting her daughter have her freedom in More Backwards Math from Let’s Play Math!

Home Spun Juggling has one of the great benefits of homeschooling, freedom, in Home Spun comic strip #263.

Jennifer has some good ideas on Getting ahead with Free Time Learning.


Patrick Henry













Over the last couple years I've developed a great appreciate for Patrick Henry. He is well know for saying "Give me Liberty, or give me Death." He loved this country. He was also a very religious man. During much of his adulthood he read the Bible something like an hour every day.

At The Week In Homeschooling Anne, reports on Three Snakes and a Funeral- Part 1: The Funeral where her daughter learned about death.

Sarah Bray from The Curiosity Spot has built a Creation unit study for preschoolers, day one.

Mark from Every Good Path writes about the recent Association of Classical Christian Schools and his Take Home Messages.


James J. Hill













As a teenager I developed an appreciate of James J. Hill, the railroad baron. While many were lobbying the government to give them money and land to build railroads across the continent, James J. Hill was frugal with his money, built his business by helping those along his lines, and I don't think he took any government handouts. His railroad was the one that lasted for decades, while those that were built on taking handouts died.

Learning at Home reminds us that When it sounds too good to be true, save your money.

Barbara Frank writes Don’t Let Inflation Keep You from Homeschooling. She has some great ideas for pinching pennies.

Christine, The Thinking Mother, has some frugal ideas in A Great Book for Picture Study.

Beverly of About Homeschool has a question about the Northern Pacific Railway completion - Who was it?


The Veterans

As soldiers returned from major wars, we're grateful for their willingness to put their lives on the line to protect us. Often there will be big celebrations. Parties may last for days. The streets of New York City will be covered with confetti.

Laura Frantz shows how they celebrated the Not Back To School Party.

Laura shows socialization at its finest in Edmonton’s Annual NOT-Back-To-School Picnic!, on Practical Homeschooling.

From Life Without School Bettina writes about One Family's Experience at Polyface Farm.


Current heroes

Some of us look up to our current leaders. With the upcoming US Presidential election those running will be in the news day after day.

Mary Nix, The Informed Parent, challenges us as homeschoolers to be better informed in Who should homeschoolers vote for?

Save Money Homeschooling says it is good news that McCain wants to Hold Education Accountable to parents.

Susan of Corn and Oil reveals that Todd Palin was homeschooled in Gotta love this…


Homeschooling parents

Many homeschooling parents are rescuing their children from public schools. There are many reasons and benefits to homeschool.

DetentionSlip.org reports that Strikes, Protests Hit Schools Like Wild Fire! One of the nice things about homeschooling is a student has a much harder time going on strike with his parents.

Kim shows off a family trip – Our Trip to the St. Louis Zoo at Works in Progress.

Brenda of The Family Revised explains one of the great benefits of homeschooling in The Expanse of Goals.


Heroes in general

Real and fictional heroes have many common traits. These characteristics help the hero to preserve and succeed when others might turn back.

Heroes stand up for truth. Alasandra calls to task Marc Cooper, another public school apologist.

Heroes are helpful. Gina answers some common QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK ABOUT HOME SCHOOLING at Chats With An "Old Lady." If your friends ask you about homeschooling, direct them to this post.

Heroes share what they know. Delighting in His Richness shares Homeschool Memoirs - Schedules.

Heroes learn how to work with challenging individuals. Janet, from Findings, shares a way to turn young horse lovers into poetry lovers in Pure air and fire: a roundup of horse poems.

Heroes are often lucky. Life often has serendipity, if you know to look for it. From Ms. Julie’s Place is an example of Making the most of teachable moments.


Variety in heroes

While there are some common treats to heroes, there is also great variety. Heroes come in many sizes and shapes. They have different goals and interests. Some rush in to help, while others are more cautious and may be reluctant heroes. We have a great variety of posts in this carnival.

Cathy writes about back to (home) school days at from the field of blue children. She comments about how sad it is that many parents don’t enjoy their children, and what she is doing to get started with the new school year

Miss Monica June, a young homeschooler, shows a fun craft in the Fish Tank Project, at her blog The Chic Boutique.

How To Easily Make a Storage Sack may solve some of your storage needs, from HowToMe.

Dawn writes about her struggles with curriculum in It Almost Had Me..., at Day by Day Discoveries.

Do others not know that homeschoolers are busy? Explaining School Days To Others, from Cyberschool Kids are Cool, explores the problem of getting others to understand they are busy.


Would you like to be a hero?

Several bloggers are looking for help, suggestions, thoughts, or advice.

The Reluctant Homeschooler is looking for help in Fuming! If you have any experience with homeschooling in New York State, drop by and see if you can help her.

Stephanie writes about a recent homeschooling trip and encourages us to Save the Bees at her Adventures in the 100 Acres.

Annette asks for help in how to help her son To see God in All?, from Fish and Cans.

The NerdMom, who will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week, is looking for help in identifying a bug: Homeschooler Powers Activate: Name the Bug.


Hero review

With this review of heroes, we have a number of posts about reviews.

Kim, of In Our Write Minds, has some tips on how to review your favorite, and not favorite, homeschool products.

Nerd Family Things reviews a cool book about young people who contributed to science - Information, Inspiration and Joy: The Best Kids' Book.

Maria from the Homeschool Math Blog provides a Review of Kiss My Math and Math Doesn't Suck by Danica McKellar.


A few more heroes

And we'll end with a few homeschooling heroes with their advice and suggestions on how to be a better homeschooler.

Sandra struggles to find a balance between having a plan and being flexible to respond to her children’s interests in Individualized Home Instruction Plan, Third Grade, at On Living By Learning.

Joy has some ideas with Hands-on ABC Order Activities (no worksheets or dictionaries allowed!), at Happy to be at Home.

From The Daily Planet: Amanda, a homeschool graduate, shares her homeschool college routine for this year.

Kerry provides another installment of Art History for Homeschoolers - September 2008, at her blog A Ten O’Clock Scholar.

Over at My Quivers Full is a cool way to Improve Grammar.





If you have enjoyed this carnival, please spread the word. Please mention the carnival on your blog, and other appropriate places.

Go here for the archives of previous carnivals.

Next week the carnival will be held at Nerd Family.

If you are interested in submitting a post for a future carnival, click here for information.

We thank everyone who has helped out. Thank you to all the participants in this carnival. And thanks to all those who help promote the Carnival of Homeschooling.










Bookmark this on Delicious
Stumble It!


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