Whenever we try something new it is easy to make mistakes. One way to avoid making costly mistakes is to get advice from someone more experienced. Carolyn of Guilt-free Homeschooling has a list of Common Mistakes Made by New Homeschoolers.
I enjoyed the Headmistress' thoughts about Saving Time.
I saved the following links awhile back and then got distracted and never posted them:
For those of you who like Harry Potter here is a list of Harry Potter Lesson Plans and Using Harry Potter to “teach.”
I enjoyed this map showing where people live in the United States. (Hat tip: Cool List Digest)
Just over a month ago there was some news about a Massive surge in spam hits the Internet. The most recent graph shows some promise that things are getting better.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Friday, December 08, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
My daughter's review of recent Astronomy Pictures of the Day
I have been saving up links to various pictures from the Astronomy Picture of the Day. I had my youngest daughter again review the pictures.
She said the picture of the M33 galaxy is very nice.
She thought the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy was wonderful! I have to agree. Of the picutres in this post, the Andromeda Galaxy is my favorite.
To her the Unusual Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313 looks like a worm.
Instead of A Pelican in the Swan she saw a raindeer leaping up, on the left side of the Nebula.
She thought the Arms of NGC 1097 galaxy looked like they were twisting around.
And her observation of the M77 galaxy was that it had lots of blue stars.
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day
She said the picture of the M33 galaxy is very nice.
She thought the picture of the Andromeda Galaxy was wonderful! I have to agree. Of the picutres in this post, the Andromeda Galaxy is my favorite.
To her the Unusual Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313 looks like a worm.
Instead of A Pelican in the Swan she saw a raindeer leaping up, on the left side of the Nebula.
She thought the Arms of NGC 1097 galaxy looked like they were twisting around.
And her observation of the M77 galaxy was that it had lots of blue stars.
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day
We wish Spunky the best
It was shocking to read that Spunky has decided to move on. My wife and I have been talking a bit about it over the last couple days. Spunky has been a main fixture in the homeschool blogging world. She seemed so permanent, like Mount Rushmore. I thought she would always be there. In internet years she's been blogging a gazillion years.
She has been a force for good. She writes well. She has been insightful. She does her research. She has been a voice of warning. She has shared her wisdom and experience. I've enjoyed following her blog over the last two years.
You can tell that she has touch so many lives by all the comments she is getting on her last post. There are 128 comments so far.
We wish Spunky the best in the next phase of her life.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, spunky, Spunky Homeschool
She has been a force for good. She writes well. She has been insightful. She does her research. She has been a voice of warning. She has shared her wisdom and experience. I've enjoyed following her blog over the last two years.
You can tell that she has touch so many lives by all the comments she is getting on her last post. There are 128 comments so far.
We wish Spunky the best in the next phase of her life.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, spunky, Spunky Homeschool
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
A few recent carnivals
The Carnival of Kid Comedy is up at Life in a shoe.
This months's Carnival of Children's Literature is at A Readable Feast.
The 96th (!!!) Carnival of Education is at History is Elementary.
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Technorati tags: children, comedy, humor, literature, education, teaching, school
This months's Carnival of Children's Literature is at A Readable Feast.
The 96th (!!!) Carnival of Education is at History is Elementary.
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Technorati tags: children, comedy, humor, literature, education, teaching, school
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Another cool thing about Google Alerts
After the post last week about Google Alerts, which was suppose to be titled Google Alerts are better than ever, a thought occurred to me. I use Google Alerts to tell me when someone linked to our blog. I tried this out and it worked!
If you want to try this out, go to the Google Alert site and enter:
Search terms: link:your-blog
Type: Comprehensive
How often: once a day
Your email: your email
It is important that the field for "Search terms:" has the key work "link:" This is what tells Google that you are looking for a site that has recently linked to you. After you click on "Create Alert" you'll get an email asking for confirmation. Give the confirmation, and then every time Google notices that someone has linked to you Google will send you an email.
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Technorati tags: Google, Google alert, alerts
If you want to try this out, go to the Google Alert site and enter:
Search terms: link:your-blog
Type: Comprehensive
How often: once a day
Your email: your email
It is important that the field for "Search terms:" has the key work "link:" This is what tells Google that you are looking for a site that has recently linked to you. After you click on "Create Alert" you'll get an email asking for confirmation. Give the confirmation, and then every time Google notices that someone has linked to you Google will send you an email.
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Technorati tags: Google, Google alert, alerts
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - week 48, with an Abraham Lincoln theme
Susan from Corn and Oil is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. There are a great variety and a large number of posts in the carnival. There are a lot of good ideas and thoughts.
The Carnival of Family Life is again at Be A Good Dad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, gratitude, grateful, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, family life
The Carnival of Family Life is again at Be A Good Dad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, gratitude, grateful, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, family life
Monday, December 04, 2006
News from Judy Aron
Judy Aron does a great job of digging up news around education, preschool, mental health and government involvement in these issues. Here are some of the following items she has dug up:
A Mother Speaks Out Against TeenScreen is an eight minute video of a mother who speaks against mental screening without parents permission. The school did a ten minute screening on a teenager and labeled the girl OCD. The mother read a few of the questions. The questions did not let the students explain the answers. The questions were badly written. But even more importantly, the schools should not have testing the girl, and especially without the permission of the parents. It was a powerful argument against letting schools do any kind of mental examination.
Matt McGann gives some advice for students applying to MIT - Homeschooled applicants. Matt works in the MIT admissions office.
There has been a big push to fingerprint and do iris scans of children, and their parents. There are all kinds of warnings over safety. Iris scanning begins in US schools makes the point that since most kidnappings are done by partners or spouses, and so only letting parents pick up children won't prevent many kidnappings. In Tracking children goes high-tech is an account of Children's Identification and Location Database (CHILD) Project system. Would You Let Them Scan Your Child? has a scary account of parents trying to opt out of having their children fingerprinting and the school going ahead anyways.
Recently the Prime Minister of the UK has said that "All pupils should leave school able to cook, enjoy the theatre, handle home finances and surf the internet." I don't know about the UK but in the US most public schools are still struggling with teaching children how to read, write and do math.
In another effort to push preschool is an announcement: Latin America, Caribbean, Lead in Pre-School Education. The press release says that studies have shown the value of preschool. All the studies I've seen show some improvement for children from broken families. But when tracking children from healthy two parent homes, preschool provides no benefit. Unfortunately this won't stop the push for universal preschool.
Judy Aron has just recently started her own blog. So you can stop on top of all the fascinating things she finds by going to Consent Of The Governed.
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Technorati tags: mental, health, mental health, MIT, fingerprint, iris scan, children, students, education, preschool, Judy Aron
A Mother Speaks Out Against TeenScreen is an eight minute video of a mother who speaks against mental screening without parents permission. The school did a ten minute screening on a teenager and labeled the girl OCD. The mother read a few of the questions. The questions did not let the students explain the answers. The questions were badly written. But even more importantly, the schools should not have testing the girl, and especially without the permission of the parents. It was a powerful argument against letting schools do any kind of mental examination.
Matt McGann gives some advice for students applying to MIT - Homeschooled applicants. Matt works in the MIT admissions office.
There has been a big push to fingerprint and do iris scans of children, and their parents. There are all kinds of warnings over safety. Iris scanning begins in US schools makes the point that since most kidnappings are done by partners or spouses, and so only letting parents pick up children won't prevent many kidnappings. In Tracking children goes high-tech is an account of Children's Identification and Location Database (CHILD) Project system. Would You Let Them Scan Your Child? has a scary account of parents trying to opt out of having their children fingerprinting and the school going ahead anyways.
Recently the Prime Minister of the UK has said that "All pupils should leave school able to cook, enjoy the theatre, handle home finances and surf the internet." I don't know about the UK but in the US most public schools are still struggling with teaching children how to read, write and do math.
In another effort to push preschool is an announcement: Latin America, Caribbean, Lead in Pre-School Education. The press release says that studies have shown the value of preschool. All the studies I've seen show some improvement for children from broken families. But when tracking children from healthy two parent homes, preschool provides no benefit. Unfortunately this won't stop the push for universal preschool.
Judy Aron has just recently started her own blog. So you can stop on top of all the fascinating things she finds by going to Consent Of The Governed.
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Technorati tags: mental, health, mental health, MIT, fingerprint, iris scan, children, students, education, preschool, Judy Aron
Dear Abby
In today's newspaper, Dear Abby answered a question from a homeschooler. Nothing profound, but I thought it was fun. I noticed that the newspaper printed "home-school" instead of "homeschool." I wonder if the author of the letter wrote it that way, or the newspaper editor stuck it in.
This question to Dear Abby reminds me of an incident my husband had at a high school reunion. While visiting with old classmates, my husband was bemused when a former classmate pulled out pictures of his dog, much as one would share pictures of his children. While I don't have anything against pets, it is sad when they take the place of children. (If you read my post recent post on pets, you might argue that I'm really not a pet person.)
I also wonder if this is one of our homeschool blogger friends.
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Related Tags: Dear Abby, homeschooling, pets, sister-in-law, gifts
This question to Dear Abby reminds me of an incident my husband had at a high school reunion. While visiting with old classmates, my husband was bemused when a former classmate pulled out pictures of his dog, much as one would share pictures of his children. While I don't have anything against pets, it is sad when they take the place of children. (If you read my post recent post on pets, you might argue that I'm really not a pet person.)
CHRISTMAS BUDGET TAKES A HIT WHEN PET GIFTS ARE REQUESTED
DEAR ABBY: We are a small family of four living on my husband's income. We have a small farm that I run, and I home-school my children. My husband works full time in another job. We aren't poor, but we do have to count our nickels and dimes and budget for things we want.
This is the first year we have splurged on gifts for the children, and we spent more on my sister-in-law because, for once, we had a little extra to spend. It has brought us joy that we can be a bit more generous.
Now that our Christmas budget is spent, my sister-in-law has asked twice that we purchase gifts for her dog -- wrapped, no less -- because her dog likes opening packages! I ignored her request the first time. After the second one, I told her we don't ask people to purchase gifts for our kids, and we don't purchase gifts for other people's pets. Now she's offended.
Abby, it may not seem like a lot, but for us, it's a big deal when we get to purchase a movie and a pizza every few months. We never ask anything of anyone. We're a happy, tight-knit family regardless of our financial status.
My husband has had enough. He's tired of his sister's self-absorption and wants to tell her to grow up and that the world does not revolve around her and her dog. Instead, I asked her to simply return any gifts she has bought for us and spend the money on her dog. Are we being unreasonable? -- IN THE DOGHOUSE IN ALASKA
DEAR IN THE DOGHOUSE: Not at all. Your sister-in-law is out of line to put the bite on you for gifts for her dog, and you are within your rights to tell her you have a bone to pick with her. After she chews on it awhile, let's hope she comes around.
I also wonder if this is one of our homeschool blogger friends.
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Related Tags: Dear Abby, homeschooling, pets, sister-in-law, gifts
The power of tutoring, another reason for homeschooling
Six months ago Lioness of We Have Always Lived in a Homeschool wrote about the power of tutoring in The Golden Quote. A couple times a month I'll refer friends to her post. She references a study reported in "The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search For Methods of Instruction as Effective as One-on-one Tutoring," by Benjamin S. Bloom.
The power of tutoring is almost unbelievable; Lioness has as the golden quote on the study:
"In study after study, whenever tutoring is matched against some competing pedagogy, including technology, tutoring wins handily. In his own research (Benjamin) Bloom found that tutored students outdistance 98 percent of those taught in conventional groups settings.(7)"
What this means is when students are tutored 98% of them will do better than children taught by other normal methods, like classrooms.
Lioness points out that tutoring in academic circles sounds a lot like homeschooling.
Another important point from the study is that the tutor doesn't have to be an expert.
If you haven't read this post before, or haven't read it for six months, give it a gander. Lioness goes into much greater deepth on the findings of the study. Her post is worth checking out.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, tutor, tutoring, Benjamin, Bloom, Benjamin Bloom
The power of tutoring is almost unbelievable; Lioness has as the golden quote on the study:
"In study after study, whenever tutoring is matched against some competing pedagogy, including technology, tutoring wins handily. In his own research (Benjamin) Bloom found that tutored students outdistance 98 percent of those taught in conventional groups settings.(7)"
What this means is when students are tutored 98% of them will do better than children taught by other normal methods, like classrooms.
Lioness points out that tutoring in academic circles sounds a lot like homeschooling.
Another important point from the study is that the tutor doesn't have to be an expert.
If you haven't read this post before, or haven't read it for six months, give it a gander. Lioness goes into much greater deepth on the findings of the study. Her post is worth checking out.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, tutor, tutoring, Benjamin, Bloom, Benjamin Bloom
Unschooling Voices #6 is up
This month's Unschooling Voices, a carnival about unschooling, is posted at A Day in Our Lives.
And this week's Carnival of Family Life is at Be A Good Dad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, Family Life, unschooling, unschool, Family Life, family
And this week's Carnival of Family Life is at Be A Good Dad.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, Family Life, unschooling, unschool, Family Life, family
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Links to interesting postings - 2 December 2006
Over at Corn and Oil Susan writes about one of those moments that makes believers of homeschooling: It's the passion. You don't schedule these events, but you can create an environment which allows them to happen.
From The Common Room the Headmistress reports on a fascinating study: Multi-Tasking, Not. An uninterrupted group did better by an average of ten points than a second group also taking the test while doing email and being bothered by telephones.
Semicolon is hosting her dynamic weekly book review carnival: Saturday Review of Books: December 2, 2006. If you've reviewed a book recently you can submit it via her blog.
Shannon, at PHAT Mommy, reminds us that It’s the Parenting, Stupid. Also check out the comments.
And on a lighter note I enjoyed Dave Barry's column from 1997 on the SAT test: HOW DO YOU SPELL S-A-T?
Two months I blogged about visiting Alaska by getting the newspaper. The author of one of the articles I referenced has a blog: Alaska The View From Up Here. It is like visiting another world.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Book reviews, SAT test, Alaska
From The Common Room the Headmistress reports on a fascinating study: Multi-Tasking, Not. An uninterrupted group did better by an average of ten points than a second group also taking the test while doing email and being bothered by telephones.
Semicolon is hosting her dynamic weekly book review carnival: Saturday Review of Books: December 2, 2006. If you've reviewed a book recently you can submit it via her blog.
Shannon, at PHAT Mommy, reminds us that It’s the Parenting, Stupid. Also check out the comments.
And on a lighter note I enjoyed Dave Barry's column from 1997 on the SAT test: HOW DO YOU SPELL S-A-T?
Two months I blogged about visiting Alaska by getting the newspaper. The author of one of the articles I referenced has a blog: Alaska The View From Up Here. It is like visiting another world.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Book reviews, SAT test, Alaska
The Catholic Homeschool Carnival is up
The latest Catholic Homeschool Carnival is up at O Night Divine.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Catholic
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Catholic
Mary McCarthy - Dear New Homeschooler and others
At the Home Education Magazine Valerie Bonham Moon in her News & Commentary Home Page has an article by Mary McCarthy: Independent homeschooling. I enjoyed the article, so I clicked on the link to google for article by Mary McCarthy. Google found 61,000 links! I found several other good articles by Mary McCarthy:
Dear New Homeschooler has some great advice for the first time homeschooler. The opening paragraph has: "So you've gone to the library and checked out all the books on homeschooling. That's good. Except after you've sat down and read them all you're more confused than before because no two 'experts' agree on how to homeschool." This article was written in 1994 and this point is still true today, maybe even more so. Mary makes a number of other good points.
She has good advice in picking products for homeschoolers in This Curriculum Will Teach the Kids, Wash the Dishes AND Do the Laundry!
Mary has concerns about theHSLDA and provides some interesting points in Home School Legal Defense Association and Foundation Consumer Information.
I enjoyed her discussion about curfews in Nighttime Curfews or You Wanna Do What to my Kid?
It is long time supporters like Mary McCarthy who help keep homeschooling a strong and viable option.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Mary McCarthy, HSLDA
Dear New Homeschooler has some great advice for the first time homeschooler. The opening paragraph has: "So you've gone to the library and checked out all the books on homeschooling. That's good. Except after you've sat down and read them all you're more confused than before because no two 'experts' agree on how to homeschool." This article was written in 1994 and this point is still true today, maybe even more so. Mary makes a number of other good points.
She has good advice in picking products for homeschoolers in This Curriculum Will Teach the Kids, Wash the Dishes AND Do the Laundry!
Mary has concerns about theHSLDA and provides some interesting points in Home School Legal Defense Association and Foundation Consumer Information.
I enjoyed her discussion about curfews in Nighttime Curfews or You Wanna Do What to my Kid?
It is long time supporters like Mary McCarthy who help keep homeschooling a strong and viable option.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Mary McCarthy, HSLDA
Friday, December 01, 2006
Reminder - send in your submissions for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Susan at Corn and Oil will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week. Think about what you have written recently that might be especially interesting or thought provoking. Or maybe you have been kicking around an idea for a post. Write it now. Then send in your entry.
As always submissions are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM PST. Here are the instructions.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
As always submissions are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM PST. Here are the instructions.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Selections from reddit.com - 30 Nov 2006
It has been two months since I've posted selections from reddit.com. Below are some of the links I enjoyed:
The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting explanation on The Economy Revealed: Why understanding economics is hard. Are there relationships which don't fit in the four types?
In response to Grade inflation Alan Johnson, the UK Education Secretary, is proposing A* grades for brightest A-level students. It seems like the right answer is to only give an A when the student has really done A work. Maybe in a couple more years we'll have A*** or A+++ grades.
Did you know that in space if two pieces of metal touch each other they will stick together?
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Technorati tags: economics, grade inflation, metal
The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting explanation on The Economy Revealed: Why understanding economics is hard. Are there relationships which don't fit in the four types?
In response to Grade inflation Alan Johnson, the UK Education Secretary, is proposing A* grades for brightest A-level students. It seems like the right answer is to only give an A when the student has really done A work. Maybe in a couple more years we'll have A*** or A+++ grades.
Did you know that in space if two pieces of metal touch each other they will stick together?
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Technorati tags: economics, grade inflation, metal
Links to interesting posts - 30 Nov 2006
Barbara Frank, The Imperfect Homeschooler, writes about Rethinking Overscheduling in response something in the Chicago Tribune about a mother who has realized that scheduling every minute of a child's life is a bad idea.
Carolyn, of Guilt-Free Homeschooling, gives a concrete example of Applying Learning Styles with Skip-counting.
HomeSchoolBuzz found an article about a 13-year-old boy who as entered college: Day in the life of a 13-year-old college freshman. Jonathan Link was first accepted to college when he was 8-years-old. Public schools never allow children with great capacity to fully develop. It is like putting a race horse with a plow horse.
Spunky wonders if there is an organized attack on unschooling in her post The Unschooling Conspiracy.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, learning style, Jonathan Link, unschooling
Carolyn, of Guilt-Free Homeschooling, gives a concrete example of Applying Learning Styles with Skip-counting.
HomeSchoolBuzz found an article about a 13-year-old boy who as entered college: Day in the life of a 13-year-old college freshman. Jonathan Link was first accepted to college when he was 8-years-old. Public schools never allow children with great capacity to fully develop. It is like putting a race horse with a plow horse.
Spunky wonders if there is an organized attack on unschooling in her post The Unschooling Conspiracy.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, learning style, Jonathan Link, unschooling
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
A book on drugs available over the internet
It is amazing what technology provides us. The cost of computing power has gotten so low that Blogger hosts millions of blogs for free. Whole books are available on the internet for free.
Jeff Morelock has written about the problems of drugs. He worked as an undercover policeman. His book, The Complete Guide to Drug Free Teens, is available for free over the internet. The book has a chapter on Marijuana, another on Cocaine, and so on. Jeff ties in personal stories of teenagers and their struggles. All of the stories were chilling. He also explains the facts about how different drugs work and the signs to watch out for.
If you have questions about possible drug use this looks like a good resource to check out.
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Technorati tags: drug, drug use, drug abuse, children, teenagers
Jeff Morelock has written about the problems of drugs. He worked as an undercover policeman. His book, The Complete Guide to Drug Free Teens, is available for free over the internet. The book has a chapter on Marijuana, another on Cocaine, and so on. Jeff ties in personal stories of teenagers and their struggles. All of the stories were chilling. He also explains the facts about how different drugs work and the signs to watch out for.
If you have questions about possible drug use this looks like a good resource to check out.
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Technorati tags: drug, drug use, drug abuse, children, teenagers
The Carnival of Education, week 95
This week's Carnival of Education is hosted by A History Teacher.
Submissions for the next Carnival of Education should sent to historyiselementary [at] yahoo [dot] com or the carnival submission form.
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Technorati tags: education, learning, school, students
Submissions for the next Carnival of Education should sent to historyiselementary [at] yahoo [dot] com or the carnival submission form.
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Technorati tags: education, learning, school, students
A great resource for learning history - videos of presidential campagins
The American Museum of the Moving Image has put together resource for learning the political history of America over the last fifty years. They have gathered the TV campaign ads for the presidential campaigns started with 1952. I think the singing ad in 1952 for Adlai Stevenson will stick with me for a long time. There is much irony in watching Nixon in 1952, as the Vice President candidate, talk about corruption. I was surprised to see how many of the early ads were cartoons. The contrast between the ads was sometimes very striking. Comparing the ads both for each side was instructive of a campaign and comparing the ads over the years was very instructive.
For each election year the site provides background on the major issues. It gives the results of the election both the raw numbers, and an image of the Electoral Vote.
It was fascinating to watch the ads. It was hard to stop. It was very educational. It would give children insight into how politics works.
If you have interest in recent American politics go check out the site.
(Hat tip: Cool List Digest)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, history, elections, president, campaign, ads
For each election year the site provides background on the major issues. It gives the results of the election both the raw numbers, and an image of the Electoral Vote.
It was fascinating to watch the ads. It was hard to stop. It was very educational. It would give children insight into how politics works.
If you have interest in recent American politics go check out the site.
(Hat tip: Cool List Digest)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, education, history, elections, president, campaign, ads
A high college drop out rate?
After blogging yesterday about an "epidemic" high school drop out rate, it was interesting to read Joanne Jacobs blog about a high college drop out rate. She references an article in the Christian Science Monitor on States give failing grade to graduation rates. The second paragraph in the article had this statistic: "For every 100 ninth graders, only 18 will enter college and finish within six years."
One of the problems with public education is many people get confused with the real goal of school. The real goal, in my not so humble opinion, should be that the students get an education. Do they know how to read, write, and do math? Have they learned how to learn? It is easy to get confused because there is a loose correlation between education and degrees. And it is easy to measure the number of people with college degrees.
My wife wrote two months ago The US doesn't need more college grads. (Ironically enough her post was also in response to an article in the Christian Science Monitor.) I agree with my wife. We could give a piece of paper to everyone and say they were all college graduates. But unlike the Wizard of Oz, a piece of paper does not grant education and wisdom.
A low college graduation level doesn't concern me near as much as it appears that as a group this generation is much less educated than previous generations. That is a cause for great concern.
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One of the problems with public education is many people get confused with the real goal of school. The real goal, in my not so humble opinion, should be that the students get an education. Do they know how to read, write, and do math? Have they learned how to learn? It is easy to get confused because there is a loose correlation between education and degrees. And it is easy to measure the number of people with college degrees.
My wife wrote two months ago The US doesn't need more college grads. (Ironically enough her post was also in response to an article in the Christian Science Monitor.) I agree with my wife. We could give a piece of paper to everyone and say they were all college graduates. But unlike the Wizard of Oz, a piece of paper does not grant education and wisdom.
A low college graduation level doesn't concern me near as much as it appears that as a group this generation is much less educated than previous generations. That is a cause for great concern.
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Students are dropping out of High School at higher levels
One of my brothers sent me a link to an ABC report titled: Students Dropping Out of High School Reaches Epidemic Levels. The opening line was written for shock value: "In several of the largest school systems across the country -- from Baltimore to Cleveland to Atlanta and Oakland, Calif. -- half of the students are dropping out." (emphasis is mine)
One or two distrinct with high drop out rates are a problem, but not an epidemic. Later in the report it says: "A recent study by the Department of Education found that 31 percent of American students were dropping out or failing to graduate in the nation's largest 100 public school districts." It would have been nice to have a link to the study.
I poked around on the United States Department of Education website and the best I could find was a report published in 2000 on Dropout Rates in the United States. The full report (255K) has an interesting graph on page iv showing that percent of 18 to 24 year olds who completed highschool has climbed slight fromm 84% in 1972 to 86% in 2000. This factors in students who stop going to school but later return and finish. But even a rate of 15% is still high.
The ABC News report is focused on the problems students face without an education. It would be more helpful if there was some analysis of why so many students, 31% or 15%, are not interested in finishing their public school education.
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Technorati tags: education, drop out, high school
One or two distrinct with high drop out rates are a problem, but not an epidemic. Later in the report it says: "A recent study by the Department of Education found that 31 percent of American students were dropping out or failing to graduate in the nation's largest 100 public school districts." It would have been nice to have a link to the study.
I poked around on the United States Department of Education website and the best I could find was a report published in 2000 on Dropout Rates in the United States. The full report (255K) has an interesting graph on page iv showing that percent of 18 to 24 year olds who completed highschool has climbed slight fromm 84% in 1972 to 86% in 2000. This factors in students who stop going to school but later return and finish. But even a rate of 15% is still high.
The ABC News report is focused on the problems students face without an education. It would be more helpful if there was some analysis of why so many students, 31% or 15%, are not interested in finishing their public school education.
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Technorati tags: education, drop out, high school
A thought from Will Rogers on money
I enjoyed the thought last Thursday from A Word A Day:
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."
-Will Rogers, humorist (1879-1935)
One of the main goals we have for our daughters is to teach to effectively manage their money. We'll try to teach them:
1) To have the discipline to spend less than they earned
2) To only buy things they need and when they can afford it, to sometimes buy what they want
3) And never to buy something to impress others, especially people they don't like
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Technorati tags: money, spending, Will Rogers
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."
-Will Rogers, humorist (1879-1935)
One of the main goals we have for our daughters is to teach to effectively manage their money. We'll try to teach them:
1) To have the discipline to spend less than they earned
2) To only buy things they need and when they can afford it, to sometimes buy what they want
3) And never to buy something to impress others, especially people they don't like
----------
Technorati tags: money, spending, Will Rogers
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - week 48
The Headmistress is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at The Common Room. There's a wide selection of posts, well worth checking out.
And Be A Good Dad is hosting this week's Carnival of Family Life.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, gratitude, grateful, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, family life
And Be A Good Dad is hosting this week's Carnival of Family Life.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, gratitude, grateful, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, family life
Monday, November 27, 2006
Dads - Part 5
Next in the series on how Dads (or at least the Dad at our house) participate in the education of their children. (If you missed it, here's Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4)
I originally started this series as "How Dads Participate in Homeschooling". As time went on I shorted it to just "Dads." Many, if not all of the things on my list, could apply to dads regardless of homeschooling.
So, now back to my list.
5) Dad covers Mom's blind spot
This is also a polite way of saying that Dad reigns Mom in so she doesn't turn into the Wicked Witch of the West.
Not to sound sexist, but women can be more emotional and volatile then men. If I over react to something, Henry gives me the "Honey, you're going over the edge" look. He gently reminds me what is really important.
At our house, Henry is the unflappable one. In 14 years of marriage, I think he has raised his voice (slightly) maybe 3 times. I'm not one to yell, but I do get frustrated and show it.
Here's an example: A week ago, we invited some friends over for dinner. The kids were in charge of the food. I had planned a simple menu (a potato bar) and given the girls instructions. They were supposed to wash, stab with a fork, wrap the potatoes in foil and put them in the oven which I had preheated. I set them to the task and went to do something in another room. About 45 minutes before our guests are to arrive, I went into the kitchen to start the girls on the other preparations.
I was stunned to find that the potatoes, nicely wrapped in foil, sitting on top of the stove. The girls had never put them in the oven. This was when I got upset. I called the girls in and began to lecture them along the lines of "How did you think the potatoes were going to get cooked sitting on the kitchen counter?" By this time, a few of the kids were near tears.
This was when Henry gave me the look. I kept going back to "What were you thinking? You need to think things through better." He gave me the look again and I let it go even though I was no where near done venting.
For a historical reference point, in my maternal grandparents home, the worst thing you could do was something that showed lack of thought. Showing how smart you are was everything. So, this kind of mistake really gets to me. Henry gave me a short parenting pep talk and I forced myself to calm down.
Dinner was a little bit late, but everything was fine. And, more importantly, I hadn't damaged the emotional well being of my children.
This brings to mind something our former therapist once said. Part of a good marriage is trusting that your spouse can see something you can't see.
In homeschooling as in any other parenting endeavor, it is easier when both parents actively participate. One person can't see and be everything. Each parent has unique strengths and perspective to add as a result of their different personalities, experiences, talents and genders.
As I was writing this post, I asked Henry if he knew what math program we used. He gave me a blank look, and after a moments pause said "....a..... I don't know, Saxon maybe."
He had an equally blank look when asked about spelling. He trusts that I am taking care of that. As long as the girls learn how to learn, he doesn't really care what they learn.
The only thing Henry has every asked me when he comes home from work is "Did you study the scriptures today?" I know there will be someone who reads that who will think, "Oh, they're one of those religious nuts who are trying to brainwash their children at the expense of their education....."
This is not to say that math and spelling are not important. We do want our children to be successful in academic endeavors. However, in the end, if our children grow up to discover the cure for cancer but they have gone over to the dark side, their lives and our efforts will have been wasted.
Henry puts his efforts into developing their character and intellect. While these things are important to me too, I'm distract by the day to day details of homeschooling to give them my full attention. Henry doesn't worry about the day to day details because I do.
His contributions are harder to define. He introduces the girls to good literature, takes the girls to eat at various ethnic restaurants, and does odd projects like build a maze for our rats.
Recently our twelve year old daughter became very interested in cooking. She would spend hours looking at cook books and trying out new recipes. I was concerned that she wasn't spending enough time on "school work." Henry's advice was to leave her alone as long as she was learning. I'm so glad we did. While cooking skills won't show up on the SAT test, she will need to eat for the rest of her life.
In a way, Dad is the ultimate unschooler. Together, Dad and Mom make a pretty good team.
Next, see Dads Part 6.
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Related Tags: homeschooling, Dads, unschooling, blind spot
I originally started this series as "How Dads Participate in Homeschooling". As time went on I shorted it to just "Dads." Many, if not all of the things on my list, could apply to dads regardless of homeschooling.
So, now back to my list.
5) Dad covers Mom's blind spot
This is also a polite way of saying that Dad reigns Mom in so she doesn't turn into the Wicked Witch of the West.
Not to sound sexist, but women can be more emotional and volatile then men. If I over react to something, Henry gives me the "Honey, you're going over the edge" look. He gently reminds me what is really important.
At our house, Henry is the unflappable one. In 14 years of marriage, I think he has raised his voice (slightly) maybe 3 times. I'm not one to yell, but I do get frustrated and show it.
Here's an example: A week ago, we invited some friends over for dinner. The kids were in charge of the food. I had planned a simple menu (a potato bar) and given the girls instructions. They were supposed to wash, stab with a fork, wrap the potatoes in foil and put them in the oven which I had preheated. I set them to the task and went to do something in another room. About 45 minutes before our guests are to arrive, I went into the kitchen to start the girls on the other preparations.
I was stunned to find that the potatoes, nicely wrapped in foil, sitting on top of the stove. The girls had never put them in the oven. This was when I got upset. I called the girls in and began to lecture them along the lines of "How did you think the potatoes were going to get cooked sitting on the kitchen counter?" By this time, a few of the kids were near tears.
This was when Henry gave me the look. I kept going back to "What were you thinking? You need to think things through better." He gave me the look again and I let it go even though I was no where near done venting.
For a historical reference point, in my maternal grandparents home, the worst thing you could do was something that showed lack of thought. Showing how smart you are was everything. So, this kind of mistake really gets to me. Henry gave me a short parenting pep talk and I forced myself to calm down.
Dinner was a little bit late, but everything was fine. And, more importantly, I hadn't damaged the emotional well being of my children.
This brings to mind something our former therapist once said. Part of a good marriage is trusting that your spouse can see something you can't see.
In homeschooling as in any other parenting endeavor, it is easier when both parents actively participate. One person can't see and be everything. Each parent has unique strengths and perspective to add as a result of their different personalities, experiences, talents and genders.
As I was writing this post, I asked Henry if he knew what math program we used. He gave me a blank look, and after a moments pause said "....a..... I don't know, Saxon maybe."
He had an equally blank look when asked about spelling. He trusts that I am taking care of that. As long as the girls learn how to learn, he doesn't really care what they learn.
The only thing Henry has every asked me when he comes home from work is "Did you study the scriptures today?" I know there will be someone who reads that who will think, "Oh, they're one of those religious nuts who are trying to brainwash their children at the expense of their education....."
This is not to say that math and spelling are not important. We do want our children to be successful in academic endeavors. However, in the end, if our children grow up to discover the cure for cancer but they have gone over to the dark side, their lives and our efforts will have been wasted.
Henry puts his efforts into developing their character and intellect. While these things are important to me too, I'm distract by the day to day details of homeschooling to give them my full attention. Henry doesn't worry about the day to day details because I do.
His contributions are harder to define. He introduces the girls to good literature, takes the girls to eat at various ethnic restaurants, and does odd projects like build a maze for our rats.
Recently our twelve year old daughter became very interested in cooking. She would spend hours looking at cook books and trying out new recipes. I was concerned that she wasn't spending enough time on "school work." Henry's advice was to leave her alone as long as she was learning. I'm so glad we did. While cooking skills won't show up on the SAT test, she will need to eat for the rest of her life.
In a way, Dad is the ultimate unschooler. Together, Dad and Mom make a pretty good team.
Next, see Dads Part 6.
-------------------
Related Tags: homeschooling, Dads, unschooling, blind spot
Google Alerts are better than even
Before soccer practices started I use to mention interesting news I'd find via Google Alerts. For example: July, June and May. And for awhile I use to blog about scary teacher stories: April and March. I stopped doing the scary teacher stories for several reasons. One reason was there were just so many of the scary teacher stories it was depressing. Another reason was I think there is more value in showing the positive benefits of homeschooling, versus attacking the weaknesses of public schools.
I have kept getting the Google Alerts on homeschooling. Here are some of the search patterns I use:
"home-school" OR "homeschools" OR "home-schools" OR "homeschooling" OR "home-schoolers" OR "homeschoolers"
"homeschooled" OR "home-schooled" "home-schooling" OR "home-education" OR "home-educated"
Recently the Google Alerts have been improved. In addition to providing a sampling of news articles which mention homeschooling, the alerts also include links to recent blog posts on homeschooling. This provides another avenue into finding other blogs which mention homeschooling. Here are a few of the blogs Google Alert recently mentioned:
Unschooling by Homeschooling at School Matters introduces the recent article in the New York Times about unschooling with this comment: "Some parents have the wherewithal and resouces to save their children from being sacrificed to the present-day testing crucible. It is, indeed, a sad commentary to suggest that the best way to save our next generation of children may be to remove them from the straightjacketed testing camps that are quickly replacing America's schools."
I'm Jus' A Lil' Dizzy! also commented about the New York Times article in Dizzy News With A View: Homeschooling.
With over 50,000,000 blogs, it helps to have a name that sticks out. I laughed when I read Joyful Chaos, which introduced their children's Cool Home School blog.
homeschoolingforyou.com had a post on So - Why Do You Homeschool? (Homeschooling).
Trust The Children has a nice store about children, homeschooling, and socialization in Socialization - In The Real World...
Adrienne Furness blogs about Homeschooling and Libraries and has advice for librarians on how to reach out to homeschoolers in A Word about Advertising to Homeschoolers .
So if you would like to get some exposure to random posts about homeschooling, or any other topic, go check out Google Alerts.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Google, Google alert, alerts
I have kept getting the Google Alerts on homeschooling. Here are some of the search patterns I use:
"home-school" OR "homeschools" OR "home-schools" OR "homeschooling" OR "home-schoolers" OR "homeschoolers"
"homeschooled" OR "home-schooled" "home-schooling" OR "home-education" OR "home-educated"
Recently the Google Alerts have been improved. In addition to providing a sampling of news articles which mention homeschooling, the alerts also include links to recent blog posts on homeschooling. This provides another avenue into finding other blogs which mention homeschooling. Here are a few of the blogs Google Alert recently mentioned:
Unschooling by Homeschooling at School Matters introduces the recent article in the New York Times about unschooling with this comment: "Some parents have the wherewithal and resouces to save their children from being sacrificed to the present-day testing crucible. It is, indeed, a sad commentary to suggest that the best way to save our next generation of children may be to remove them from the straightjacketed testing camps that are quickly replacing America's schools."
I'm Jus' A Lil' Dizzy! also commented about the New York Times article in Dizzy News With A View: Homeschooling.
With over 50,000,000 blogs, it helps to have a name that sticks out. I laughed when I read Joyful Chaos, which introduced their children's Cool Home School blog.
homeschoolingforyou.com had a post on So - Why Do You Homeschool? (Homeschooling).
Trust The Children has a nice store about children, homeschooling, and socialization in Socialization - In The Real World...
Adrienne Furness blogs about Homeschooling and Libraries and has advice for librarians on how to reach out to homeschoolers in A Word about Advertising to Homeschoolers .
So if you would like to get some exposure to random posts about homeschooling, or any other topic, go check out Google Alerts.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Google, Google alert, alerts
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