Something for our children to consider:
"Knowledge is one of the scarcest of all resources in any economy, and the insight distilled from knowledge is scarcer still."
-Thomas Sowell, p. 63, Basic Economics, A Citizen's Guide to the Economy
"Basic Economics" was written in 2000. This was back when Google was still taking off. I wonder if Thomas Sowell would phrase the thought above differently now. With Google knowledge isn't so scare. I do believe that insight and wisdom is still very scarce.
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Technorati tags: knowledge, insight, wisdom, Thomas, Sowell
Monday, June 08, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Another beautiful picture from APOD - The Elusive Jellyfish Nebula
The cloud is about 5,000 light-years from Earth.
Humor - Mallard Fillmore on homeschooling
These are pretty funny: Mallard Fillmore on homeschooling.
(Hat tip: via the HSC mailing list)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
(Hat tip: via the HSC mailing list)
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
Friday, June 05, 2009
Report on survey of how many boys and girls are homeschooled
Last week I was intrigued by a report on The Condition of Education 2009. This was published by the U.S. Department of Education. The report had several statistics about homeschoolers. (Check out pages 15 and 134.)
One statistic really bothered me. Their 2007 survey showed that the ratio of homeschool boys to girls had shifted to 42% boys and 58% girls. Prior surveys in 1999 and 2003 showed a more even distribution. The 1999 study found that the ratio of boys to girls who were home educated was around 49% boys to 51% girls. In 2003, the ratio was 52% boys and 48% girls.
The 2007 survey's ratio of 42% boys to 58% girls is a huge swing in just four years.
I decided to conduct my own survey. I also asked other homeschoolers if they had any theories on why there could have been such a dramatic change. Here are the numbers from my survey, as of June 5th:
The first row is the labels. The middle columns are how many families have no children of a gender, or 1, or 2, and so on. The second row is for boys, and the third row is for girls.
The survey has a total of 1190 homeschooled children, of which 638 boys, or 53.6%, and 552 girls, or 46.4%. This is dramatically different that the official government report. While my survey was not scientific, it had a much greater sample size.
What does this mean?
One option is my survey was biased. Maybe many of the people who filled out my survey are parents who homeschool boys. They wanted to respond showing that there are lots of boys being homeschooled.
Another option is that both surveys could be a bit off, and the truth is in between. When ever surveys are conducted on large populations you always sample a small part of the group, and maybe the government's survey was not accurate. The 2007 survey was called "Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey." It had a sample of 10,681 children from kindergarten through 12th grade, of which only 311 were homeschool students. (Check out the Introduction on page 1.)
My guess is instead of getting around 155 boys and 156 girls, the survey ended up with a few families with lots of girls, which lead them to believe there had been a dramatic shift.
At this point in time I don't believe there has been any huge shift in the ratio of boys and girls being homeschooled. There were many thoughtful comments on my survey on why there might have been a shift, but no one indicated that they had seen such a shift in their circles.
I'm pretty sure that the next time the government does such a survey they'll get a boy to girl ratio closer to 50-50.
I also question some of the other conclusions of the 2007 survey. For example I don't think there has been a huge shift in the distribution middle class and upper class families homeschooling.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
One statistic really bothered me. Their 2007 survey showed that the ratio of homeschool boys to girls had shifted to 42% boys and 58% girls. Prior surveys in 1999 and 2003 showed a more even distribution. The 1999 study found that the ratio of boys to girls who were home educated was around 49% boys to 51% girls. In 2003, the ratio was 52% boys and 48% girls.
The 2007 survey's ratio of 42% boys to 58% girls is a huge swing in just four years.
I decided to conduct my own survey. I also asked other homeschoolers if they had any theories on why there could have been such a dramatic change. Here are the numbers from my survey, as of June 5th:
| Gender | None | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6+ | Total Families | Total children |
| Boys | 99 | 218 | 112 | 39 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 488 | 638 |
| Girls | 131 | 215 | 73 | 45 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 474 | 553 |
The first row is the labels. The middle columns are how many families have no children of a gender, or 1, or 2, and so on. The second row is for boys, and the third row is for girls.
The survey has a total of 1190 homeschooled children, of which 638 boys, or 53.6%, and 552 girls, or 46.4%. This is dramatically different that the official government report. While my survey was not scientific, it had a much greater sample size.
What does this mean?
One option is my survey was biased. Maybe many of the people who filled out my survey are parents who homeschool boys. They wanted to respond showing that there are lots of boys being homeschooled.
Another option is that both surveys could be a bit off, and the truth is in between. When ever surveys are conducted on large populations you always sample a small part of the group, and maybe the government's survey was not accurate. The 2007 survey was called "Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey." It had a sample of 10,681 children from kindergarten through 12th grade, of which only 311 were homeschool students. (Check out the Introduction on page 1.)
My guess is instead of getting around 155 boys and 156 girls, the survey ended up with a few families with lots of girls, which lead them to believe there had been a dramatic shift.
At this point in time I don't believe there has been any huge shift in the ratio of boys and girls being homeschooled. There were many thoughtful comments on my survey on why there might have been a shift, but no one indicated that they had seen such a shift in their circles.
I'm pretty sure that the next time the government does such a survey they'll get a boy to girl ratio closer to 50-50.
I also question some of the other conclusions of the 2007 survey. For example I don't think there has been a huge shift in the distribution middle class and upper class families homeschooling.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Do you have a child about to go off to college?
Forbes reports that even during tough economic times many companies are having trouble finding good engineers, and this will probably continue for the next decade as many engineers retire.
If you have a son or daughter about to head off to college, or still deciding on a major, you might have them check out The 10 Hardest Jobs To Fill In America.
(Hat tip: Digg)
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Technorati tags: college, engineering
If you have a son or daughter about to head off to college, or still deciding on a major, you might have them check out The 10 Hardest Jobs To Fill In America.
(Hat tip: Digg)
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Technorati tags: college, engineering
Humor: With tough times should you downsize your family?
The company I'm working at seems to have layoffs almost every quarter. Of course it is a large company, so not every division is hit every three months. Still with the current economy layoffs seem to have become a way of life for business.
It looks like layoffs may be expanding into families. Michael Rosenberg writes that he and his wife decided they needed to layoff one of their children:
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Recently, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to lay off one of our children. Of course we did not want to do this to a "member of the family," but the fact is that when we decided to have two kids, we were living in a different economy.
Before making this decision, we looked at different business models to keep both kids. What if we reduced them both to part-time? It was a great idea, in theory. We had a plan to keep our daughter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, our son on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and -- I thought this was really generous -- both of them on Sundays.
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(The article goes on with more tough-in-cheek details.)
Now if we could just get the government to start downsizing!
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, family
It looks like layoffs may be expanding into families. Michael Rosenberg writes that he and his wife decided they needed to layoff one of their children:
----------
Recently, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to lay off one of our children. Of course we did not want to do this to a "member of the family," but the fact is that when we decided to have two kids, we were living in a different economy.
Before making this decision, we looked at different business models to keep both kids. What if we reduced them both to part-time? It was a great idea, in theory. We had a plan to keep our daughter on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, our son on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and -- I thought this was really generous -- both of them on Sundays.
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(The article goes on with more tough-in-cheek details.)
Now if we could just get the government to start downsizing!
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: parenting, children, family
Bing - another search engine
I am amazed by how many different search engines there are now. Microsoft has come out with another search engine: Bing.
I've played with it a bit. Google ranks our blog as number one for "why homeschool," but Bing only ranks us at number nine, so clearly they need to work on their algorithm a bit. :-)
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Technorati tags: Bing, Google, search engine
I've played with it a bit. Google ranks our blog as number one for "why homeschool," but Bing only ranks us at number nine, so clearly they need to work on their algorithm a bit. :-)
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Technorati tags: Bing, Google, search engine
Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling
Dana will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week at Principled Discovery.
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling 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
As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling 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
From the archives - Figuring out father may have been right
Too often youth is reluctant to learn from their parents:
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.
-Charles Wadsworth
(I wish I knew if the source was this Charles Wadsworth, or this Charles Wadsworth, or another Charles Wadsworth.)
This reminds me of Mark Twain's line:
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."
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Technorati tags: Charles, Wadsworth, Mark, Twain, Samuel, Clemens
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.
-Charles Wadsworth
(I wish I knew if the source was this Charles Wadsworth, or this Charles Wadsworth, or another Charles Wadsworth.)
This reminds me of Mark Twain's line:
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."
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Technorati tags: Charles, Wadsworth, Mark, Twain, Samuel, Clemens
What I was really doing this morning
Actually, Henry was being discrete.
I was really downstairs going through the girls hair looking for nits and eggs and having my head checked. I think we are almost past this lice thing. But until I go three days without finding anything, I won't relax.
I think my oldest daughter reinfected herself with the headphones she uses on a mp3 player.
Just to be sure, I went through her hair yet again and changed all the bedding for the third time. Every night, I run all the brushes, combs, and hair ties through the sanitize mode in the dishwasher.
My middle daughter, who is quite good at finding eggs and nits, commented that she thought this was good training for when she is a mom.
Don't we have a wonderful homeschool curriculum: Lice 101.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Lice
I was really downstairs going through the girls hair looking for nits and eggs and having my head checked. I think we are almost past this lice thing. But until I go three days without finding anything, I won't relax.
I think my oldest daughter reinfected herself with the headphones she uses on a mp3 player.
Just to be sure, I went through her hair yet again and changed all the bedding for the third time. Every night, I run all the brushes, combs, and hair ties through the sanitize mode in the dishwasher.
My middle daughter, who is quite good at finding eggs and nits, commented that she thought this was good training for when she is a mom.
Don't we have a wonderful homeschool curriculum: Lice 101.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Lice
A typical morning for Baby Bop - Silly Songs from Big Idea
Baby Bop is often one of the first member of the family awake. Normally one of our older two daughters will play with so I can work on the computer and Janine can sleep a bit longer or get ready for the day. This morning our girls were busy so I decided to entertain Baby Bop.
One of his favorite morning activities is to watch the Silly Songs with Larry from BigIdeas. We'll go to YouTube and I let him pick a couple songs. This morning we started with Larry's High Silk Hat:
Then we watched The Water Buffalo Song, The Biscuit of Zazzamarandado, and Endangered Love Silly Song.
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Technorati tags: Silly, Songs, Larry, BigIdea
One of his favorite morning activities is to watch the Silly Songs with Larry from BigIdeas. We'll go to YouTube and I let him pick a couple songs. This morning we started with Larry's High Silk Hat:
Then we watched The Water Buffalo Song, The Biscuit of Zazzamarandado, and Endangered Love Silly Song.
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Technorati tags: Silly, Songs, Larry, BigIdea
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
How Craigslist is killing newspapers
Alan D. Mutter reports on the Worst quarter for newspapers: Sales dive $2.6B:
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In the worst quarter in modern history for American newspapers, advertising sales fell by an unprecedented 28.3% in the first three months of 2009, plunging sales by more than $2.6 billion from the prior year.
Statistics posted without publicity on the website of the Newspaper Association of America show that print ad sales fell by a historic 29.7% to $5.9 billion in the first period of this year and that online sales fell a record 13.4% to $696.3 million.
The worst percentage decline was in the highly profitable classified advertising category. which dived 42.3% to produce slightly less than $1.5 billion in sales.
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Alan explains the trend has been going on for years. In 2005 ad sales reached an all-time high of $49.4 billion. It looks like this year newspapers will be lucky to sell $30 billion.
Check out the graph on his post.
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Technorati tags: newspapers
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In the worst quarter in modern history for American newspapers, advertising sales fell by an unprecedented 28.3% in the first three months of 2009, plunging sales by more than $2.6 billion from the prior year.
Statistics posted without publicity on the website of the Newspaper Association of America show that print ad sales fell by a historic 29.7% to $5.9 billion in the first period of this year and that online sales fell a record 13.4% to $696.3 million.
The worst percentage decline was in the highly profitable classified advertising category. which dived 42.3% to produce slightly less than $1.5 billion in sales.
----------
Alan explains the trend has been going on for years. In 2005 ad sales reached an all-time high of $49.4 billion. It looks like this year newspapers will be lucky to sell $30 billion.
Check out the graph on his post.
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Technorati tags: newspapers
Are you developing a product
Derek Sivers explains how companies succeeds in Are fans telling friends? If not, improve, don’t promote:
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You’ll know when you’re on to something special, because people will love it so much they’ll tell everyone.
If people aren’t telling their friends about it yet, don’t waste time marketing it. Instead, keep improving until they are.
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(Hat tip: Hacker News)
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Technorati tags: marketing, product, development
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You’ll know when you’re on to something special, because people will love it so much they’ll tell everyone.
If people aren’t telling their friends about it yet, don’t waste time marketing it. Instead, keep improving until they are.
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(Hat tip: Hacker News)
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Technorati tags: marketing, product, development
A fun anniversary - Tetris turns 25
I use to play Tetris for hours: How Tetris conquered the world, block by block.
(Hat tip: Slashdot)
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Technorati tags: Tetris
(Hat tip: Slashdot)
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Technorati tags: Tetris
The Carnival of Homeschooling - the Baby Bop edition
Monday was a special day for my family. Janine and I, along with other family members, went to a local court house. Baby Bop was officially made a part of our family. We had a big shindig in the evening.
As I put together this carnival, foster care and adoption are heavily on my mind right now. It seems natural to work this week's carnival around our new son: Baby Bop.
Janine first wrote about him last July. Janine and I have been doing foster care now for two years. We've had eight children come into our house. Seven were able to move back to family extended family. Baby Bop came to our home November 2007. We thought he would be going to live with his father, but it didn't work out. Now he will stay with us forever.
I've joked a bit that with most people it takes nine months to have a child, but we're slow, it has taken us nineteen months. A few have commented that Janine must be very glad not to have carried Baby Bop those nineteen months.
Here are a few aspects of Baby Bop's life:
The beginning
Every child is new and different. In some ways I feel like a first time parent. We are starting back at the beginning.
Alasandra looks back on how she became a homeschooler in Reflections on Homeschooling Part I.
From Delighting in His Richness is some good advice for homeschooling beginners on Where to Begin.
Books
Bed time routines help children know when it is time to settle down. Almost like Pavlov's Dog their bodies can be trained to relax and get ready for sleep. Part of our bed time routine is to read to Baby Bop. He has developed a great love for books.
Kim posts her book review of Henry the Impatient Heron at Wild About Nature.
Making Money Keeping Money has found a great free Preschool e-book!
Alvaro Fernandez is excited to announce his new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness,” on his blog SharpBrain.
Videos
Baby Bop loves to watch videos. We limit him to around an hour a day, four or five times a week.
Home Spun Juggling has a great take off of Princess Bride in Revisiting the Fire Swamp.
Mia writes about Another fun and educational video site at her blog MiaZagora’s Homeschool Minutes.
Summer
Now that summer is almost here, we've been thinking about how the rhythm of our life will change with school wrapping up. For Baby Bop this mostly means he'll continue to play a lot, and his sisters will be more available to play with him.
Sherene encourages parents to consider Running their own ooey, gooey, messy, homeschool, summer art camp. She writes “Summer camps are pricey and when you have more than one child, the cost of camps can be prohibitive. Why not run your own summer camp?” on her blog the Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner.
The billeater has some ideas about Summer entertainment for families on a budget.
Boys and Girls
One of the things that was clear about Baby Bop from day one is he is very much a boy. We started with our three girls. They love dolls and horses. Baby Bop couldn't find a car or truck in the whole house, so on his first day in our house he took a shoe, moved it around on the ground, making truck noises. His love for powered vehicles only blossoms as time has gone on. He loves motocylces, big trucks, red cars, pickup trucks, vans, and trains. Janine and I have learned at a deeper level just how different are boys and girls.
For our entry I’d like to encourage all of you to take our Survey on how many boys and girls do you homeschool? Part of the reason for this survey was an article in USA Today about homeschoolers. A teacher attacked homeschoolers across a number of fronts and referred to the article.
With a bit of humor, Spunky rebuts a public school advocate and teacher's case against homeschooling.
Andrea likewise provided an answer to the case against homeschooling, at her blog Notes From A Homeschooling Mom, and has some thoughts to Homeschooling mothers who may be feeling bullied at the Atlanta Homeschooling Examiner.
Games
Baby Bop loves to play. He'll sit and move toy cars around for hours. Last week he and I went for a walk. There was a Little League game at the local park. We just sat and watched. He was totally captivated. I think games and sports will be a big part of his life.
Homeschool Bytes reviews Timez Attack! The best and FREE multiplication game ever!
Lara, a Texas Homesteader, ponders some of the Life Lessons in Baseball.
Down the road
Baby Bop won't even be three for a couple months, yet Janine and I talk about what we'll do when we formally start homeschooling him, and even farther down the road, what about college.
Renae reveals that Homeschooling can happen When No One is Around on her blog Life Nurturing Education.
Molly writes about the kind of information she includes in a year-end evaluation of my children's school year at her Counter-cultural School.
Dana’s son recently told her that she had failed as a homeschool mom. Pop over to Principled Discovery and see if you agree that his report really counts as a success.
Elena tells us about Explore, Plan, ACT - achievement tests homeschoolers should be aware of on her blog My Domestic Church.
Susan writes about Reinventing Higher Education at her blog The Expanding Life.
Advice
Janine and I have been very lucky. We've gotten lots of help and support from family, friends, the social workers, and many others. Life is so much easier when we can learn from the experience of others.
Here are a few who are willing to share what they've learned:
Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers has a tip to see if your students are writing on grade level.
Kris shares some things she recently learned at a seminar in Notes from Joyce Herzog, on her blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Barbara Frank writes about Great Tool for Financial Literacy and how she’s work with her children.
Meaghan has 10 Tips to Improve Your Math Skills Everyday at TutorFi.com.
At About Homeschool Beverly Hernandez has a good tip on Stretching the Food Budget - Potato Tacos
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 Principled Discovery.
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.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
As I put together this carnival, foster care and adoption are heavily on my mind right now. It seems natural to work this week's carnival around our new son: Baby Bop.
Janine first wrote about him last July. Janine and I have been doing foster care now for two years. We've had eight children come into our house. Seven were able to move back to family extended family. Baby Bop came to our home November 2007. We thought he would be going to live with his father, but it didn't work out. Now he will stay with us forever.
I've joked a bit that with most people it takes nine months to have a child, but we're slow, it has taken us nineteen months. A few have commented that Janine must be very glad not to have carried Baby Bop those nineteen months.
Here are a few aspects of Baby Bop's life:
The beginning
Every child is new and different. In some ways I feel like a first time parent. We are starting back at the beginning.
Alasandra looks back on how she became a homeschooler in Reflections on Homeschooling Part I.
From Delighting in His Richness is some good advice for homeschooling beginners on Where to Begin.
Books
Bed time routines help children know when it is time to settle down. Almost like Pavlov's Dog their bodies can be trained to relax and get ready for sleep. Part of our bed time routine is to read to Baby Bop. He has developed a great love for books.
Kim posts her book review of Henry the Impatient Heron at Wild About Nature.
Making Money Keeping Money has found a great free Preschool e-book!
Alvaro Fernandez is excited to announce his new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness,” on his blog SharpBrain.
Videos
Baby Bop loves to watch videos. We limit him to around an hour a day, four or five times a week.
Home Spun Juggling has a great take off of Princess Bride in Revisiting the Fire Swamp.
Mia writes about Another fun and educational video site at her blog MiaZagora’s Homeschool Minutes.
Summer
Now that summer is almost here, we've been thinking about how the rhythm of our life will change with school wrapping up. For Baby Bop this mostly means he'll continue to play a lot, and his sisters will be more available to play with him.
Sherene encourages parents to consider Running their own ooey, gooey, messy, homeschool, summer art camp. She writes “Summer camps are pricey and when you have more than one child, the cost of camps can be prohibitive. Why not run your own summer camp?” on her blog the Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner.
The billeater has some ideas about Summer entertainment for families on a budget.
Boys and Girls
One of the things that was clear about Baby Bop from day one is he is very much a boy. We started with our three girls. They love dolls and horses. Baby Bop couldn't find a car or truck in the whole house, so on his first day in our house he took a shoe, moved it around on the ground, making truck noises. His love for powered vehicles only blossoms as time has gone on. He loves motocylces, big trucks, red cars, pickup trucks, vans, and trains. Janine and I have learned at a deeper level just how different are boys and girls.
For our entry I’d like to encourage all of you to take our Survey on how many boys and girls do you homeschool? Part of the reason for this survey was an article in USA Today about homeschoolers. A teacher attacked homeschoolers across a number of fronts and referred to the article.
With a bit of humor, Spunky rebuts a public school advocate and teacher's case against homeschooling.
Andrea likewise provided an answer to the case against homeschooling, at her blog Notes From A Homeschooling Mom, and has some thoughts to Homeschooling mothers who may be feeling bullied at the Atlanta Homeschooling Examiner.
Games
Baby Bop loves to play. He'll sit and move toy cars around for hours. Last week he and I went for a walk. There was a Little League game at the local park. We just sat and watched. He was totally captivated. I think games and sports will be a big part of his life.
Homeschool Bytes reviews Timez Attack! The best and FREE multiplication game ever!
Lara, a Texas Homesteader, ponders some of the Life Lessons in Baseball.
Down the road
Baby Bop won't even be three for a couple months, yet Janine and I talk about what we'll do when we formally start homeschooling him, and even farther down the road, what about college.
Renae reveals that Homeschooling can happen When No One is Around on her blog Life Nurturing Education.
Molly writes about the kind of information she includes in a year-end evaluation of my children's school year at her Counter-cultural School.
Dana’s son recently told her that she had failed as a homeschool mom. Pop over to Principled Discovery and see if you agree that his report really counts as a success.
Elena tells us about Explore, Plan, ACT - achievement tests homeschoolers should be aware of on her blog My Domestic Church.
Susan writes about Reinventing Higher Education at her blog The Expanding Life.
Advice
Janine and I have been very lucky. We've gotten lots of help and support from family, friends, the social workers, and many others. Life is so much easier when we can learn from the experience of others.
Here are a few who are willing to share what they've learned:
Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers has a tip to see if your students are writing on grade level.
Kris shares some things she recently learned at a seminar in Notes from Joyce Herzog, on her blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Barbara Frank writes about Great Tool for Financial Literacy and how she’s work with her children.
Meaghan has 10 Tips to Improve Your Math Skills Everyday at TutorFi.com.
At About Homeschool Beverly Hernandez has a good tip on Stretching the Food Budget - Potato Tacos
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 Principled Discovery.
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.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Monday, June 01, 2009
The Rest of the Story
As Henry mentioned, we finalized Baby Bop's adoption today. It was a bit anti-climatic. The court house is a bit creepy and a lot of really scary people hang out in the halls waiting for court. However, the judge was very sweet and it is very nice to be done.
So, here's the rest of the story.
Sunday at church I noticed that my head itched. After we got home, my daughter said, "Mom, I found a bug in my hair."
Ahhhhh! You guessed it. All the girls in the family, including me, had lice. I went into delousing mode. A friend came over and went through my hair while I worked on the girls. It looked like something on Animal Plant or National Geographic, family grooming.
Just to be on the safe side, I gave Henry and Baby Bop a buzz cut. It was so disappointing to cut off his pretty curls the day before the adoption. In the pictures, Baby Bop looks like he just enlisted in the army.
Oh, and did I mention that my brother was in town for a visit for the first time in about 8 years? I hope he doesn't go home with a souvenir.
At 6:30 am this morning, I called my in-laws and asked for help. They came over and took about 12+ load of bedding to the laundry mat for us. After another round of delousing and changing all the bedding yet again, we went to the court house for our adoption hearing.
The judge asked Baby Bop if he wanted to be adopted. Baby Bop kept shaking his head "no." I don't think that he realizes that we are not his natural parents.
Oh, did I mention that we are in the middle of standardized testing? Every year I end our homeschool with some sort of standardized test. This year I'm using the CAT5. I figure it is good practice for college entrance exams and it can help me see what I have missed.
After we got home, I ran to the store to get last minute supplies for a party in the park with 100+ of our closest friends. This party included 6 categories of our friends (church, homeschool, preschool, neighborhood, Henry's work, relatives), so many people did not know each other. Just trying to greet everyone and make introductions was a bit stressful.
Baby Bop had a great time at the party. There were many kids to play with and he didn't want to come home and go to bed.
After the party, I had my middle daughter go through my hair one more time just to be sure while my oldest daughter put Baby Bop to bed, and Henry worked on the Carnival of Homeschool.
Side note: I must say my hair feels and looks great. One of the treatment options we tried is soaking your hair in olive oil. I'm definately going to do that again.
Oh, and did I mention that at 10 am tomorrow, our licensing social worker is coming over for a home inspection to renew our foster care license?
It is a bit ironic. I barely even talked to Baby Bop today.
Update:
We had our foster care inspection. Our foster care license was suspended because our contractor didn't get the proper permits when he did our remodel. The good news is that we have 30 days to take care of it and it shouldn't be too complicated to repair.
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Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
So, here's the rest of the story.
Sunday at church I noticed that my head itched. After we got home, my daughter said, "Mom, I found a bug in my hair."
Ahhhhh! You guessed it. All the girls in the family, including me, had lice. I went into delousing mode. A friend came over and went through my hair while I worked on the girls. It looked like something on Animal Plant or National Geographic, family grooming.
Just to be on the safe side, I gave Henry and Baby Bop a buzz cut. It was so disappointing to cut off his pretty curls the day before the adoption. In the pictures, Baby Bop looks like he just enlisted in the army.
Oh, and did I mention that my brother was in town for a visit for the first time in about 8 years? I hope he doesn't go home with a souvenir.
At 6:30 am this morning, I called my in-laws and asked for help. They came over and took about 12+ load of bedding to the laundry mat for us. After another round of delousing and changing all the bedding yet again, we went to the court house for our adoption hearing.
The judge asked Baby Bop if he wanted to be adopted. Baby Bop kept shaking his head "no." I don't think that he realizes that we are not his natural parents.
Oh, did I mention that we are in the middle of standardized testing? Every year I end our homeschool with some sort of standardized test. This year I'm using the CAT5. I figure it is good practice for college entrance exams and it can help me see what I have missed.
After we got home, I ran to the store to get last minute supplies for a party in the park with 100+ of our closest friends. This party included 6 categories of our friends (church, homeschool, preschool, neighborhood, Henry's work, relatives), so many people did not know each other. Just trying to greet everyone and make introductions was a bit stressful.
Baby Bop had a great time at the party. There were many kids to play with and he didn't want to come home and go to bed.
After the party, I had my middle daughter go through my hair one more time just to be sure while my oldest daughter put Baby Bop to bed, and Henry worked on the Carnival of Homeschool.
Side note: I must say my hair feels and looks great. One of the treatment options we tried is soaking your hair in olive oil. I'm definately going to do that again.
Oh, and did I mention that at 10 am tomorrow, our licensing social worker is coming over for a home inspection to renew our foster care license?
It is a bit ironic. I barely even talked to Baby Bop today.
Update:
We had our foster care inspection. Our foster care license was suspended because our contractor didn't get the proper permits when he did our remodel. The good news is that we have 30 days to take care of it and it shouldn't be too complicated to repair.
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Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
Baby Bop is now ours!
Janine and I, along with other family members, just returned from court. It is offical. Baby Bop is now officially part of the family!
Janine or I will post some more details later. I am putting together Carnival of Homeschool and Janine is organizing the last minute details for a party. We've invited several dozen friends to help us celebrate the adoption. It will be at a park near our house. Hopefully after the party the craziness will return to a more nomral level.
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Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
Janine or I will post some more details later. I am putting together Carnival of Homeschool and Janine is organizing the last minute details for a party. We've invited several dozen friends to help us celebrate the adoption. It will be at a park near our house. Hopefully after the party the craziness will return to a more nomral level.
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Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Another beautiful picture from APOD - IC 4592: A Blue Horsehead
Rogelio Bernal Andreo gave me permission to post his picture of IC 4592: A Blue Horsehead:
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day, Blue Horsehead, IC, 4592
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day, Blue Horsehead, IC, 4592
From the archives - What is important
Friday, May 29, 2009
Survey - how many boys and girls do you homeschool?
I am really fascinated with the Condition of Education 2009 report. Greg Toppo of USA Today brought this to my attention. The report found, among many other things, that there has been a dramatic shift in the demographics of children who are homeschooled.
In both 1999 and 2003 when similar surveys were done, the ratio of boys to girls was close to fifty-fifty. In 1999 the percentages were 49% boys, and 51% girls. Then in 2003 it flipped slightly to 52% boys and 48% girls. Now according to the recent report, in 2007 the ratio was 42% boys and 58% girls. This is almost two boys for every three girls.
I'd like to know if this is true for homeschoolers who read our blog. Could you please fill out the two surveys below? Please fill out both of them, even if you only homeschool children of one gender.
Thank you!
And if you have any insight into why parents might choose to homeschool their daughters, and put their sons in public schools, please leave a comment.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
In both 1999 and 2003 when similar surveys were done, the ratio of boys to girls was close to fifty-fifty. In 1999 the percentages were 49% boys, and 51% girls. Then in 2003 it flipped slightly to 52% boys and 48% girls. Now according to the recent report, in 2007 the ratio was 42% boys and 58% girls. This is almost two boys for every three girls.
I'd like to know if this is true for homeschoolers who read our blog. Could you please fill out the two surveys below? Please fill out both of them, even if you only homeschool children of one gender.
Thank you!
And if you have any insight into why parents might choose to homeschool their daughters, and put their sons in public schools, please leave a comment.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
The rising cost of education
Steve Voeller has a surprising statistics in his article: Not all education spending must be spared. In writing about the Arizona education bureaucracy he reports:
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Over the last five years, student population has increased 11 percent, but administrators and managers combined have increased nearly 46 percent.
According to the Department of Education, total state aid to education increased 40 percent from $3.2 billion in 2004 to $4.5 billion in 2008. Student population plus inflation increased 25 percent during that same time.
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I've heard educations costs have climbed twice as fast as inflation over the last several decades. It looks like inflation for the last five years was about 14%. If you factor out the population growth from the 46% growth, there is a remaining 35% increase. This is a just a bit higher than twice inflation.
Sad.
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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education
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Over the last five years, student population has increased 11 percent, but administrators and managers combined have increased nearly 46 percent.
According to the Department of Education, total state aid to education increased 40 percent from $3.2 billion in 2004 to $4.5 billion in 2008. Student population plus inflation increased 25 percent during that same time.
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I've heard educations costs have climbed twice as fast as inflation over the last several decades. It looks like inflation for the last five years was about 14%. If you factor out the population growth from the 46% growth, there is a remaining 35% increase. This is a just a bit higher than twice inflation.
Sad.
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Technorati tags: government schools, public school, public education, education
From the archives - A good lesson for us to learn, and to teach our children
A good thought:
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
-Margaret Thatcher
When I post the quotes I like to dig around on the internet for links to the person who said the quote. I enjoy learning a little more about the source of the quote. Google lead me to her last speech in the House of Commons, 1990:
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Technorati tags: challenges, battles, Margaret Thatcher
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
-Margaret Thatcher
When I post the quotes I like to dig around on the internet for links to the person who said the quote. I enjoy learning a little more about the source of the quote. Google lead me to her last speech in the House of Commons, 1990:
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Technorati tags: challenges, battles, Margaret Thatcher
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another beautiful picture from APOD - The Andromeda Galaxy
Robert Gendler (robgendlerastropics.com) gave me permission to post his picture of the Andromeda Galaxy:
It is amazing how even the closest large galaxy to our galaxy is inconceivably far, far away.
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day, Robert Gendler, Andromeda, Galaxy
It is amazing how even the closest large galaxy to our galaxy is inconceivably far, far away.
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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day, Robert Gendler, Andromeda, Galaxy
Great advice for married couples
From A.Word.A.Day, this is good advice for any relationship:
"The last word" is the most dangerous of infernal machines; and husband and wife should no more fight to get it than they would struggle for the possession of a lighted bomb-shell.
-Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and humorist (1803-1857)
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Technorati tags: Douglas, William, Jerrold, last, word
"The last word" is the most dangerous of infernal machines; and husband and wife should no more fight to get it than they would struggle for the possession of a lighted bomb-shell.
-Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and humorist (1803-1857)
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Technorati tags: Douglas, William, Jerrold, last, word
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