The next Carnival of Homeschooling will be hosted at The Homeschool Blog Awards.
Please consider sending in a post. You have eleven hours.
As always, entries are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Here are the instructions for sending in a submission.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Monday, February 18, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
In the news
Families choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons. The increased safety of a home based education is definitely a benefit. (Note: this story is from the UK)
Fear of crime means more children are taught at home
Here's the typical complaints against homeschooling.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children
Fear of crime means more children are taught at home
Record numbers of children are being educated at home as fear of knife crime, drugs, and bullying prompts more parents to exercise their right to teach their offspring out of school, an education charity said yesterday. There could be as many as 150,000 children being taught at home as a growing number of parents believe their children will do better away from school.
Education Otherwise, a charity which supports parents wanting to educate their children at home, has reported growing interest, particularly among the parents of younger children who are so concerned that they plan to never send their children to school.
Here's the typical complaints against homeschooling.
However, officials have expressed fears that some home-educated children do little or no work.
Local authorities fear the well-being of "a small number of children" is being put at risk by the "minimal" regulation of standards, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said in a consultation document on whether new laws were needed. But ministers have been reluctant to give authorities extra powers. Instead they hope to raise standards by giving parents access to national curriculum materials, libraries and and free admission to sports centres.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children
Thursday, February 14, 2008
14 ways to increase traffic to your blog
Jo left a comment on Instapundit and us asking "Do you have any tips on increasing one's blog traffic?" I've been pondering this question for the last two weeks. Below are my thoughts on how to increase the traffic to your blog.
To give our credentials, Site Meter reports we are currently averaging about 400 hits a day. We're happy with this level of traffic, but be aware that we are not experts. There are hundreds of bloggers who get tens of thousands of hits a day. A few bloggers even get hundreds of thousands of hits a day.
This post includes an earlier post, references another post, and then includes a few new ideas at the end.
The first set of ideas are from a post about 18 months ago:
------------
I mentioned a couple months back that Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit) said: "The key to good blogging is simple: having something interesting to say, and say it well." After blogging for over nine months I recognize the truth of his statement. It is very important to write well. Readers will not come back if they can't figure out what you are saying, or if it is dry and uninteresting.
And beyond good writing it is important to spend effort promoting your blog. Gilbert and Sullivan say in Ruddigore: "If you wish in the world to advance . . . you must stir it and stump it, and blow your own trumpet, Or trust me, you haven'ta chance!"
The following are some effective ways for attractring a wider audience:
1) Tell friends and family. Don't be pushy, but mention that you are blogging, especially when you post something they might want to read.
2) Add the URL to your sig file - Most mail tools allow you to put text in what is called a signature file. This gets appended to each and every email you send out. This is a polite way to advertise the existence of your blog.
3) Join a blog carnival - Blog carnivals provide a way for new readers to learn of your blog and check it out. A few readers will come back. Many times after participating in a blog carnival we've noticed an increase in traffic. My rule of thumb is for every hundred readers from a carnival we'll get three to five who will come back as regular readers. (I don't have any hard data to support this, it just seems to be about right.) Click on Blog Carnival to check out hundreds of carnivals. There are sure to be a couple right up your alley.
4) Host a blog carnival - After you've been in a few carnivals you might want to consider hosting one. Be warned, it is a lot of work. To give you an idea of just what is involved in hosting a carnival read Be The Host With The Most. This is the best description I've found on putting together a carnival. If you are a real glutton for punishment you can start up a blog carnival.
5) Comment - Read other blogs and comment. You might provide more information, or ask a question. You might even disagree, but as a guest in another person's blog you should be polite. Most blogs have a way for a reader to follow a link back to your blog. Sitemeter shows us that some readers are coming in from comments we left on other blogs.
6) Use tags - Adding tags to the end of your post can help search engines zero in on the key issues you are writing about. I wrote last week about how to quickly add tags.
7) Use News Aggregators - Some of the more popular news aggregators are Slashdot, digg, and reddit. You can registor and then submit a link. Both Slashdot and digg are focused on technology issues. Reddit is more general purpose. Other people vote on how interesting they find the link. The more votes a links gets the longer it will be visible. I have submitted many Carnival of Homeschooling to reddit. Putting a link into reddit seems to provide twenty to forty hits. (You can check out my submissions. As Judy Aron is often saying, I'd appreciate your vote.) Here is a list of News Aggregators. I haven't checked them all out.
16 Feb 08: Renae reminded me that StumbleUpon can also be good. I'll add one additional thought about News Aggregators: don't spam them with every post you write. Only submit your best writing. News Aggregators get so many submissions that if you submit just average posts, people will vote you down quickly.
8) Use del.icio.us - I just started using del.icio.us. Services like reddit are short lived. You post a link and if you are lucky the post might stay up for a couple hours to a couple days. del.icio.us has a different focus. It is like having your favorites online, anywhere you have access to the interrnet. For example I recently entered many of the blogs and web sites I like and try to follow. The way this can help is as other people enter their favorite blogs and web sites, they may be added to popular and recent.
9) Place an ad - I haven't done this yet, but I wondered about services like Blog Ad Swap and Text Link Ads. One of these days I may give them a try.
If you are still looking for additional ideas on how to promote your blog, check out 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity or Audience Building.
------------
10) The TTLB communities - A little ago I wrote about the TTLB communites. Being part of a TTLB community provides greater exposure and will generate more traffic.
Here are the ideas I've had over the last two weeks:
11) Have a tool like Site Meter. If you can't measure your traffic, it is hard to improve it. Site Meter can tell you which of your posts are popular, and who is refering visiters to your blog. I learn a lot by checking Site Meter report for our blog almost every day.
12) Post a lot - Site Meter reports that Google generates about half of our traffic. Over the last year, 1% to 3% of our hits are due to our post Answering one of Peter's questions - attitude towards public schools. We found out that people were looking want Peter Answers. The more posts you have on your blog, the greater chance you'll have of some of your posts being high on Google's ranking system. For example we rank high on opaque gorilla video and Susan Wise Bauer.
13) Provide a service - This one may be a little harder to apply to your blog. As the organizers for the Carnival of Homeschooling hundreds of blogs over the last two years have linked to us. We do a ton of work behind the scenes, organizing the schedule, providing guidence, arranging hosts, and so on. This effort has push our blog a little higher and given us greater exposure. There are hundreds of blog carnivals, so another carnival may not be the answer, but there may be ways you can provide a service on the internet which will led to more traffic.
14) Have something to say and say it well - After all is said an done the best advice I have it to follow Glenn's line - "The key to good blogging is simple: having something interesting to say, and say it well." Ever so often someone will craft a post that spreads like wildfire. Hundreds of other bloggers will link to it. Thousands of people will email it to their friends. For example last year Dawn put some pokemon cards up for sale on eBay, with a hilarious story. Over 200,000 people came to read the story. By writing well people will keep coming back to your blog, to be entertained, to be englightened, and to be uplifted.
If you have any thoughts about increasing traffic, or other tips, I'd love to hear them.
(Update I: 16 Feb 08)
15) Be free in linking to other blogs - Dana of Principled Discovery in a comment reminded me that it helps to link to others. They are more likely to then link to you, and thus send readers your way.
And I added Renae's suggestion for StumbleUpon to suggestion 7.
----------
Technorati tags: effective, blogging, blog carnival, comment, tags, technorati tags, reddit, digg, slashdot, del.icio.us, link, popularity
To give our credentials, Site Meter reports we are currently averaging about 400 hits a day. We're happy with this level of traffic, but be aware that we are not experts. There are hundreds of bloggers who get tens of thousands of hits a day. A few bloggers even get hundreds of thousands of hits a day.
This post includes an earlier post, references another post, and then includes a few new ideas at the end.
The first set of ideas are from a post about 18 months ago:
------------
I mentioned a couple months back that Glenn Reynolds (of Instapundit) said: "The key to good blogging is simple: having something interesting to say, and say it well." After blogging for over nine months I recognize the truth of his statement. It is very important to write well. Readers will not come back if they can't figure out what you are saying, or if it is dry and uninteresting.
And beyond good writing it is important to spend effort promoting your blog. Gilbert and Sullivan say in Ruddigore: "If you wish in the world to advance . . . you must stir it and stump it, and blow your own trumpet, Or trust me, you haven'ta chance!"
The following are some effective ways for attractring a wider audience:
1) Tell friends and family. Don't be pushy, but mention that you are blogging, especially when you post something they might want to read.
2) Add the URL to your sig file - Most mail tools allow you to put text in what is called a signature file. This gets appended to each and every email you send out. This is a polite way to advertise the existence of your blog.
3) Join a blog carnival - Blog carnivals provide a way for new readers to learn of your blog and check it out. A few readers will come back. Many times after participating in a blog carnival we've noticed an increase in traffic. My rule of thumb is for every hundred readers from a carnival we'll get three to five who will come back as regular readers. (I don't have any hard data to support this, it just seems to be about right.) Click on Blog Carnival to check out hundreds of carnivals. There are sure to be a couple right up your alley.
4) Host a blog carnival - After you've been in a few carnivals you might want to consider hosting one. Be warned, it is a lot of work. To give you an idea of just what is involved in hosting a carnival read Be The Host With The Most. This is the best description I've found on putting together a carnival. If you are a real glutton for punishment you can start up a blog carnival.
5) Comment - Read other blogs and comment. You might provide more information, or ask a question. You might even disagree, but as a guest in another person's blog you should be polite. Most blogs have a way for a reader to follow a link back to your blog. Sitemeter shows us that some readers are coming in from comments we left on other blogs.
6) Use tags - Adding tags to the end of your post can help search engines zero in on the key issues you are writing about. I wrote last week about how to quickly add tags.
7) Use News Aggregators - Some of the more popular news aggregators are Slashdot, digg, and reddit. You can registor and then submit a link. Both Slashdot and digg are focused on technology issues. Reddit is more general purpose. Other people vote on how interesting they find the link. The more votes a links gets the longer it will be visible. I have submitted many Carnival of Homeschooling to reddit. Putting a link into reddit seems to provide twenty to forty hits. (You can check out my submissions. As Judy Aron is often saying, I'd appreciate your vote.) Here is a list of News Aggregators. I haven't checked them all out.
16 Feb 08: Renae reminded me that StumbleUpon can also be good. I'll add one additional thought about News Aggregators: don't spam them with every post you write. Only submit your best writing. News Aggregators get so many submissions that if you submit just average posts, people will vote you down quickly.
8) Use del.icio.us - I just started using del.icio.us. Services like reddit are short lived. You post a link and if you are lucky the post might stay up for a couple hours to a couple days. del.icio.us has a different focus. It is like having your favorites online, anywhere you have access to the interrnet. For example I recently entered many of the blogs and web sites I like and try to follow. The way this can help is as other people enter their favorite blogs and web sites, they may be added to popular and recent.
9) Place an ad - I haven't done this yet, but I wondered about services like Blog Ad Swap and Text Link Ads. One of these days I may give them a try.
If you are still looking for additional ideas on how to promote your blog, check out 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity or Audience Building.
------------
10) The TTLB communities - A little ago I wrote about the TTLB communites. Being part of a TTLB community provides greater exposure and will generate more traffic.
Here are the ideas I've had over the last two weeks:
11) Have a tool like Site Meter. If you can't measure your traffic, it is hard to improve it. Site Meter can tell you which of your posts are popular, and who is refering visiters to your blog. I learn a lot by checking Site Meter report for our blog almost every day.
12) Post a lot - Site Meter reports that Google generates about half of our traffic. Over the last year, 1% to 3% of our hits are due to our post Answering one of Peter's questions - attitude towards public schools. We found out that people were looking want Peter Answers. The more posts you have on your blog, the greater chance you'll have of some of your posts being high on Google's ranking system. For example we rank high on opaque gorilla video and Susan Wise Bauer.
13) Provide a service - This one may be a little harder to apply to your blog. As the organizers for the Carnival of Homeschooling hundreds of blogs over the last two years have linked to us. We do a ton of work behind the scenes, organizing the schedule, providing guidence, arranging hosts, and so on. This effort has push our blog a little higher and given us greater exposure. There are hundreds of blog carnivals, so another carnival may not be the answer, but there may be ways you can provide a service on the internet which will led to more traffic.
14) Have something to say and say it well - After all is said an done the best advice I have it to follow Glenn's line - "The key to good blogging is simple: having something interesting to say, and say it well." Ever so often someone will craft a post that spreads like wildfire. Hundreds of other bloggers will link to it. Thousands of people will email it to their friends. For example last year Dawn put some pokemon cards up for sale on eBay, with a hilarious story. Over 200,000 people came to read the story. By writing well people will keep coming back to your blog, to be entertained, to be englightened, and to be uplifted.
If you have any thoughts about increasing traffic, or other tips, I'd love to hear them.
(Update I: 16 Feb 08)
15) Be free in linking to other blogs - Dana of Principled Discovery in a comment reminded me that it helps to link to others. They are more likely to then link to you, and thus send readers your way.
And I added Renae's suggestion for StumbleUpon to suggestion 7.
----------
Technorati tags: effective, blogging, blog carnival, comment, tags, technorati tags, reddit, digg, slashdot, del.icio.us, link, popularity
Do we live in an Age of Unreason?
A New York Times book review asks Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge? Susan Jacoby author of The Age of American Unreason argues that our culture has taken a turn for the worse. From the book review:
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But now, Ms. Jacoby said, something different is happening: anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way.
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It is hard to know what is cause and what is effect. Over the last couple decades the American public school system has declined. Now we have a high percentage of high school graduates who are illiterate.
The book looks interesting. I've reserved it at my local library.
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
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But now, Ms. Jacoby said, something different is happening: anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way.
---------
It is hard to know what is cause and what is effect. Over the last couple decades the American public school system has declined. Now we have a high percentage of high school graduates who are illiterate.
The book looks interesting. I've reserved it at my local library.
---------
Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
Dr. Helen reports on why Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
In a thought provoking post Dr. Helen answers Why are Diamonds a Girl's Best Friend? Women often ask for jewelry which is expensive, but not productive. Dr. Helen writes:
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I never understood the whole concept of a woman wanting jewelry from a man, especially diamonds, until I read the book Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters. In the book, two evolutionary psychologists explain why people do what they do. Why are diamonds a girl's best friend? The authors conclude that women have to discriminate between "dads" and "cads" among male suitors. In order to find the guy that will stay with her and help her with children, she looks for two qualities: "the ability to acquire and accumulate resources, and the willingness to invest them in her and her children."
A good way to screen for men who are both willing and able to invest is to demand an expensive gift--known as a courtship gift or nuptial gift in evolutionary biology. Not just any expensive gift will do. A Mercedes or house does not usually fill the bill--for these might have intrinsic value to the man if he likes European cars or is interested in real estate. A courtship gift, according to the book, must be costly and lack intrinsic value and be useless.
Diamonds and flowers are beautiful and their beauty lies in their inherent uselessness; "this is why Volvos and potatoes are not beautiful." So guys, apparently, gifts that are "costly but worthless"--facilitate courtship, according to a recent study mentioned in the book.
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I'm glad my wife doesn't want a lot of expensive jewelry. She's worth it and I'd buy if she really wanted it, because she is worth it. But I'm glad she is practical and willing to invest our money in more productive endeavors.
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Technorati tags: Valentine Day
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I never understood the whole concept of a woman wanting jewelry from a man, especially diamonds, until I read the book Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters. In the book, two evolutionary psychologists explain why people do what they do. Why are diamonds a girl's best friend? The authors conclude that women have to discriminate between "dads" and "cads" among male suitors. In order to find the guy that will stay with her and help her with children, she looks for two qualities: "the ability to acquire and accumulate resources, and the willingness to invest them in her and her children."
A good way to screen for men who are both willing and able to invest is to demand an expensive gift--known as a courtship gift or nuptial gift in evolutionary biology. Not just any expensive gift will do. A Mercedes or house does not usually fill the bill--for these might have intrinsic value to the man if he likes European cars or is interested in real estate. A courtship gift, according to the book, must be costly and lack intrinsic value and be useless.
Diamonds and flowers are beautiful and their beauty lies in their inherent uselessness; "this is why Volvos and potatoes are not beautiful." So guys, apparently, gifts that are "costly but worthless"--facilitate courtship, according to a recent study mentioned in the book.
-------------
I'm glad my wife doesn't want a lot of expensive jewelry. She's worth it and I'd buy if she really wanted it, because she is worth it. But I'm glad she is practical and willing to invest our money in more productive endeavors.
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Technorati tags: Valentine Day
Will the socialization question ever go away?
I wonder if the socialization question will ever go away. All the research I've every seen clearly indicates that in general children who are homeschooled grow up just fine.
Melissa Wiley writes that Alice Gunther has written a book addressing this question. "Haystack Full of Needles, A Catholic Home Educator's Guide to Socialization" by Alice Gunther will be out soon. Though the targeted audience is Catholic homeschoolers I expect others will find it worth reading.
On her blog Alice Gunther explains why she wrote the book. Judging from all the comments it looks like the sales will be good.
I couldn't find the book on Amazon.com, but it looks like it will be available via Hillside Education.
I doubt this will be the final nail on the coffin over the socialization question, but I expect it will contribute to helping people realize that socialization is not a good reason to send your children to public schools.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
Melissa Wiley writes that Alice Gunther has written a book addressing this question. "Haystack Full of Needles, A Catholic Home Educator's Guide to Socialization" by Alice Gunther will be out soon. Though the targeted audience is Catholic homeschoolers I expect others will find it worth reading.
On her blog Alice Gunther explains why she wrote the book. Judging from all the comments it looks like the sales will be good.
I couldn't find the book on Amazon.com, but it looks like it will be available via Hillside Education.
I doubt this will be the final nail on the coffin over the socialization question, but I expect it will contribute to helping people realize that socialization is not a good reason to send your children to public schools.
---------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
An example of why public schools do so poorly - no one is responsible
Tim Rutten in The clowns at LAUSD writes about a tragedy of epic proportions. The Los Angeles Unified School District plunged ahead with a new payroll system:
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The new payroll system repeatedly failed when it was tested. Those involved knew the system's database was badly flawed. Payroll clerks were inadequately trained; some weren't trained at all.
Still, prodded by its high-priced consultants, the district rolled the new system out at the first of last year. Week after week, month after month of disaster ensued.
As The Times reported, "Over the course of last year, taxpayers overpaid an estimated $53 million to some 36,000 teachers and others, while thousands more went underpaid or not paid at all for months." (Stop and think what one missed paycheck would mean to your household's well-being, let alone three or four in a row. Think further about what kind of people let those working under their supervision go unpaid, then ask whether you want that sort of person in charge of something complicated -- like education.)
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Near the end of his article Timothy asks:
"OK, if you've stuck with this wretched tale this long, you've by now asked yourself the logical questions: Who's responsible for this mess? Who did they fire?"
and then answers his own questions:
"The answer to both questions is: Nobody -- and that's the crux of the issue, and the reason the LAUSD is a civic disgrace. That's not to say it doesn't have thousands of talented, resourceful teachers and principals whose dedication to their pupils is positively heroic. In fact, you have to go back to the Battle of the Somme to find good troops as badly led as these people are."
This is one of the reasons public schools do so poorly. Very often school administrators don't suffer the consequences of poor choices. If this was a public company people would have been fired long ago.
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
-------------
The new payroll system repeatedly failed when it was tested. Those involved knew the system's database was badly flawed. Payroll clerks were inadequately trained; some weren't trained at all.
Still, prodded by its high-priced consultants, the district rolled the new system out at the first of last year. Week after week, month after month of disaster ensued.
As The Times reported, "Over the course of last year, taxpayers overpaid an estimated $53 million to some 36,000 teachers and others, while thousands more went underpaid or not paid at all for months." (Stop and think what one missed paycheck would mean to your household's well-being, let alone three or four in a row. Think further about what kind of people let those working under their supervision go unpaid, then ask whether you want that sort of person in charge of something complicated -- like education.)
--------------
Near the end of his article Timothy asks:
"OK, if you've stuck with this wretched tale this long, you've by now asked yourself the logical questions: Who's responsible for this mess? Who did they fire?"
and then answers his own questions:
"The answer to both questions is: Nobody -- and that's the crux of the issue, and the reason the LAUSD is a civic disgrace. That's not to say it doesn't have thousands of talented, resourceful teachers and principals whose dedication to their pupils is positively heroic. In fact, you have to go back to the Battle of the Somme to find good troops as badly led as these people are."
This is one of the reasons public schools do so poorly. Very often school administrators don't suffer the consequences of poor choices. If this was a public company people would have been fired long ago.
(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
Happy Valentine's Day
This morning my wife and I kicked off Valentine's Day by taking the family to Marie Calendars. I was surprised to learn a couple years ago that Marie Calendars did breakfast. Our plan this morning was for me to head on to work after breakfast, so we went in separate cars. Janine was loading our foster care boy into the car when I drove off with the girls. She took a slightly different route and arrived before us. She was worried for a bit that we had our signals crossed.
I've taken the older two girls to Marie Calendars for breakfast on our daddy daughter dates. My youngest has always picked other restaurants. She was disappointed to learn this morning that Marie Calendars doesn't serve chicken strips for breakfast and she settled for a waffle. I don't think she'll choose Marie Calendars for our daddy daughter dates any time soon.
Yesterday for Toastmasters I ran table topics. Table topics is designed to give people practice speaking extemporaneously. The Toastmaster for the theme had picked love. I generated several questions around Valentine's Day. According to Wikipedia Valentine's Day originally was created to remember early Christian martyrs who were named Valentine. It wasn't until the 1300s when Chaucer wrote a poem linking Valentine's Day and Love that the holiday came to be associated with romance.
I am a lucky man. I have a wonderful wife who loves me and supports me. In some ways every day is Valentine's Day for me.
I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day.
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Technorati tags: Valentine Day
I've taken the older two girls to Marie Calendars for breakfast on our daddy daughter dates. My youngest has always picked other restaurants. She was disappointed to learn this morning that Marie Calendars doesn't serve chicken strips for breakfast and she settled for a waffle. I don't think she'll choose Marie Calendars for our daddy daughter dates any time soon.
Yesterday for Toastmasters I ran table topics. Table topics is designed to give people practice speaking extemporaneously. The Toastmaster for the theme had picked love. I generated several questions around Valentine's Day. According to Wikipedia Valentine's Day originally was created to remember early Christian martyrs who were named Valentine. It wasn't until the 1300s when Chaucer wrote a poem linking Valentine's Day and Love that the holiday came to be associated with romance.
I am a lucky man. I have a wonderful wife who loves me and supports me. In some ways every day is Valentine's Day for me.
I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day.
---------
Technorati tags: Valentine Day
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Misuse of school time
Here's another example of a teacher with her own agenda, however well intentioned.
Milpitas teacher screens anti-abortion clips in 8th-grade class
Regardless of your point of view on the topic of abortion, I think most of us could agree that the purpose of science class is not political indoctrination. This type of thing shows disrespect for the role of the parents. The teacher exploited a captive audience.
Students in the United States have an appalling lack of true scientific mastery for just this reason. Too much propaganda and not enough "science" is happening in the classroom.
However, in many ways it is hypocritical for the school to penalize the teacher when similarly egregious incidents are ignored because they cater to a politically correct viewpoint.
As a parent, you've got to ask yourself if a "free" government education is worth it.
-------------------------------
Technorati Tags : abortion, government schools, homeschooling, propaganda, indoctination of children
Milpitas teacher screens anti-abortion clips in 8th-grade class
A Milpitas science teacher has been placed on leave after showing parts of the graphic anti-abortion film "The Silent Scream" to five eighth-grade classes.
On Jan. 23, after students at Russell Middle School finished a chemistry test on acids and bases, first-year teacher Randy Yang showed clips from the controversial film, which depicts an 11-week-old fetus being dismembered during an abortion.
Some students did not like what they saw. "They're like, 'Ewww, that's gross, why do we have to see that?' " said eighth-grader Xhynah Cabugao. "Everybody was kind of disgusted."
When some students asked why they had to watch, Xhynah said, the teacher told them to avert their eyes if they didn't want to see it.
Regardless of your point of view on the topic of abortion, I think most of us could agree that the purpose of science class is not political indoctrination. This type of thing shows disrespect for the role of the parents. The teacher exploited a captive audience.
Students in the United States have an appalling lack of true scientific mastery for just this reason. Too much propaganda and not enough "science" is happening in the classroom.
However, in many ways it is hypocritical for the school to penalize the teacher when similarly egregious incidents are ignored because they cater to a politically correct viewpoint.
As a parent, you've got to ask yourself if a "free" government education is worth it.
-------------------------------
Technorati Tags : abortion, government schools, homeschooling, propaganda, indoctination of children
My daughters will be happy! New Star Wars movie - annimated Clone Wars
George Lucas is about to release another Star Wars movie: The Clone Wars. Here is a video with selections from the upcoming movie.
(Hat tip: Instapundit).
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Technorati tags: George Lucas, Star Wars, Clone Wars
(Hat tip: Instapundit).
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Technorati tags: George Lucas, Star Wars, Clone Wars
Voting with their feet
WILLisms.com reports that 8 million people moved within the United States last year. In Voting With Their Feet Will explains that "Generally, the flow of Americans went from states with high taxes to states with low taxes."
I wonder: Is there anyone who has an investment real estate strategy based on the expectation that people will continue to move to states with lower taxes?
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Technorati tags: United States, population, migration
I wonder: Is there anyone who has an investment real estate strategy based on the expectation that people will continue to move to states with lower taxes?
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Technorati tags: United States, population, migration
Interesting sites from reddit.com - 13 Feb 08
The BBC provides a summary of the US Economy at a glance. I don't have a crystal ball, but I do worry about the future. Now would be a good time to improve your financial education. I like The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias.
I use Google several times a day. 10 Essential Google Search Tips & Valuable Tricks (for Smarter Surfers) had techniques new to me.
I printed off Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better and plan to refer to it now and then.
(Hat tip: reddit.com)
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Technorati tags: economy, Google, learning
I use Google several times a day. 10 Essential Google Search Tips & Valuable Tricks (for Smarter Surfers) had techniques new to me.
I printed off Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better and plan to refer to it now and then.
(Hat tip: reddit.com)
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Technorati tags: economy, Google, learning
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - the Cabin Fever Edition
Eric is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at The Voice of Experience.
Has all the snow given you cabin fever? Eric organizes dozens of posts to give you something useful to do.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Has all the snow given you cabin fever? Eric organizes dozens of posts to give you something useful to do.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Welfare State
While families choose to homeschool for various reasons, the principle of self-reliance strongly influenced our decision. One of the things I don't like about the government school system is the welfare mentality. This article out of the UK includes some very sobering statistics where such a philosophy will lead.
One in five children growing up on benefits
The numbers are staggering.
"Workless household" is a term I've never heard before that aptly describes the situation.
I would be curious to know what the numbers are in the USA.
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Technorati Tags : Welfare State, child poverty, education, homeschooling, government schools
One in five children growing up on benefits
More than 2.2 million British children - one in five - now live in households dependent on state benefits, the Government has admitted.
In areas of Manchester, Liverpool, London and Glasgow almost half of children are growing up in entirely benefit-funded homes.
Government research reveals that such children are far more likely to become benefit-dependent adults, sparking fears that a generation of unemployable youngsters is being created.
The numbers are staggering.
Britain now has Europe's highest proportion of children in workless households.
"Workless household" is a term I've never heard before that aptly describes the situation.
The figures came just a week after ministers were condemned by a parliamentary committee for creating an army of households where "benefits are a way of life".
I would be curious to know what the numbers are in the USA.
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Technorati Tags : Welfare State, child poverty, education, homeschooling, government schools
Monday, February 11, 2008
Homework a homewrecker
This study out of Canada caught my eye.
I found this conclusion comforting.
This study also concluded:
It looks like there is a revolt brewing in both the government and private school systems. I don't know how families with children in school do it. We almost never do "school" work in the evenings and I don't see how we could squeeze it in.
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Technorati Tags : homework, school, governement school, private school, homeschool, family time
Homework is of little benefit to students from junior kindergarten to Grade 6, say the authors of a just-released Canadian study, who also found it is often the source of stress and burnout in children, as well the cause of conflict – even marital stress – for many families.I must admit that I was surprised that homework benefits were questionable in the later grade school years.
While research shows some benefits to homework in grades 7 and 8 and high school, there's scant evidence that it improves student achievement in the younger years, say professors Linda Cameron and Lee Bartel of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
I found this conclusion comforting.
In fact, studies have shown that reading with, or to, children every day is the only conclusive way to boost their academic success, and Cameron believes that should be the only "homework" for younger children.
This study also concluded:
Not only does homework cut into family time, it becomes a primary source of arguments, power struggles and is disruptive to building a strong family, including putting strain on marriages. Bruni said it even negatively affects family holidays.
It looks like there is a revolt brewing in both the government and private school systems. I don't know how families with children in school do it. We almost never do "school" work in the evenings and I don't see how we could squeeze it in.
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Technorati Tags : homework, school, governement school, private school, homeschool, family time
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books is up
Semicolon hosted her weekly Review of Books.
Remember, it is easy to add a link to her review of books. If you have blogged about books recently consider add to the review.
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Technorati tags: book, review
Remember, it is easy to add a link to her review of books. If you have blogged about books recently consider add to the review.
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Technorati tags: book, review
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Jonathan Swift on how we change
This came from the A Word A Day mailing list for yesterday:
"If a man would register all his opinions upon love, politics, religion, learning, etc., beginning from his youth and so go on to old age, what a bundle of inconsistencies and contradictions would appear at last!"
-Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)
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Technorati tags: life, change
"If a man would register all his opinions upon love, politics, religion, learning, etc., beginning from his youth and so go on to old age, what a bundle of inconsistencies and contradictions would appear at last!"
-Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)
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Technorati tags: life, change
Another case of "Push out" - School says don't color your hair
FatcatPaulanne brought this to my attention: a student was kicked out of school for 'distracting hair.'
"A Louisville mother is making claims of discrimination after she says her daughter's hair color got her kicked out of a school.
Fatimah Osborne got her hair braided and colored over winter break. The hairstyle cost her $300.
However, the principal at Carrithers Middle School said the student had a non-traditional color and that's against their rules.
Administrators from Carrithers middle school told Fatimah to change her hair or she'd have to leave the school, permanently.
The principal says red hair is okay but they say this hair color violates their dress code.
Fatimah's mother says that's crazy. "
I agree with the mother. This is crazy. The daughter picked a normal color, one other girls have naturally.
But the school bureaucracy has rules. The bureaucracy has decided that in addition to trying to give children an education, they are going to decide what color the student's hair can be. I would have thought the parents should be the one in charge.
Teachers wonder why parents don't have more respect for public schools. I wonder how any parent could respect a principal who enforced this dress code. In fairness the principal may have had little choice. I don't know what kind of latitude he had. But I'm sure many parents upon hearing this roll their eyes and lose a little respect for the public schools.
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
"A Louisville mother is making claims of discrimination after she says her daughter's hair color got her kicked out of a school.
Fatimah Osborne got her hair braided and colored over winter break. The hairstyle cost her $300.
However, the principal at Carrithers Middle School said the student had a non-traditional color and that's against their rules.
Administrators from Carrithers middle school told Fatimah to change her hair or she'd have to leave the school, permanently.
The principal says red hair is okay but they say this hair color violates their dress code.
Fatimah's mother says that's crazy. "
I agree with the mother. This is crazy. The daughter picked a normal color, one other girls have naturally.
But the school bureaucracy has rules. The bureaucracy has decided that in addition to trying to give children an education, they are going to decide what color the student's hair can be. I would have thought the parents should be the one in charge.
Teachers wonder why parents don't have more respect for public schools. I wonder how any parent could respect a principal who enforced this dress code. In fairness the principal may have had little choice. I don't know what kind of latitude he had. But I'm sure many parents upon hearing this roll their eyes and lose a little respect for the public schools.
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
Power corrupts - at the school board level
Yesterday Paul Jacobs at Common Sense wrote More Rogue School Board News which starts:
"Power corrupts. Petty power corrupts . . . pettily?
Some time back I told you about Diane Pharr, whose son's school records — his private school records — were publicized by the school board . . . just out of petty vindictiveness for her wanting to learn more about the board's budget.
Now, in Fairfax County, Virginia, public school officials similarly act out. Hunter Mill School Board member Stuart Gibson was forced by the Virginia Board of Education to publicly apologize. That board sided with a local parent defending her son, whose special education history was released by Gibson during — get this — a political campaign. The boy's father happened to be Gibson's opponent."
That amazing!
Putting people in power doesn't make them saints. This is one of the problems with turning so much power over to the government. Politicans claim that all will be well if you let them solve your problems. The truth is often you'll still have the original problem, but now you are paying more for it.
I'll just echo Paul Jacobs' conclusion. You have to watch local government very carefully.
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
"Power corrupts. Petty power corrupts . . . pettily?
Some time back I told you about Diane Pharr, whose son's school records — his private school records — were publicized by the school board . . . just out of petty vindictiveness for her wanting to learn more about the board's budget.
Now, in Fairfax County, Virginia, public school officials similarly act out. Hunter Mill School Board member Stuart Gibson was forced by the Virginia Board of Education to publicly apologize. That board sided with a local parent defending her son, whose special education history was released by Gibson during — get this — a political campaign. The boy's father happened to be Gibson's opponent."
That amazing!
Putting people in power doesn't make them saints. This is one of the problems with turning so much power over to the government. Politicans claim that all will be well if you let them solve your problems. The truth is often you'll still have the original problem, but now you are paying more for it.
I'll just echo Paul Jacobs' conclusion. You have to watch local government very carefully.
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Technorati tags: public school, public education, education
Would you like to join the "Thought for the Day" mailing list?
I've frequently posted selections Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list. If you would like to join you can do so by sending email to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU and putting "sub TFTD-L (Your full name)" in the body of your email.
Dan has been maintaining this mailing list for several decades. There have been many entertaining thoughts, and many thought provoking thoughts.
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Technorati tags: thought, Dan Galvin
Dan has been maintaining this mailing list for several decades. There have been many entertaining thoughts, and many thought provoking thoughts.
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Technorati tags: thought, Dan Galvin
Are you an accidental homeschooler?
Time 4 Learning has a promotional column on The Accidental Homeschoolers. Part of the column is trying to sell you on using their services. I haven't used them before. Part of the column explores the process of how many parents fall into being homeschoolers because of unacceptable problems at public schools.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Book review: A Guideboock to Learning by Mortimer Adler
I have a lot of respect for Mortimer J. Adler. His book How to Read a Book greatly improved how I read. I have always been a faster reader. I read the last Harry Potter in about six hours. How to Read a Book taught me to:
1) Mark books up. Before I treat books like gold. I never wrote in them. But writing in a book improves the process of absorbing the messages.
2) Build my own table of contents. In the front of many of my books I've made notes on the parts of the book that interested me.
3) Skim books. Before I would either ignore a book. Or once started I would always finish the book. Now I skim about half the books I pick up.
Recently I noticed A Guidebook to Learning: For a Lifelong Pursuit of Wisdom by Mortimer Adler at the library. On the strength of "How to Read a Book" I borrowed "A Guidebook to Learning."
"A Guidebook to Learning" is a short book of about 150 pages. It reads quickly, but has some profound thoughts.
Mortimer writes that our day and age is unique in history. Up till the 1800s a person could master most of the knowledge a civilization might have. But now information is exploding and there is no way to keep up. Because not all information is equal people need a structure for evaluating which subjects they should learn.
The book starts by covering how encyclopedias, universities and libraries all organize information alphabetically. The encyclopedias have a large number of articles, sorted alphabetically. Universities provide catalogs of courses, which are sorted alphabetically. Books in libraries are broken into sections, and within these sections the books are sorted alphabetically. Information organized alphabetically does not help the student figure out which information is important, and which information could be ignored or delayed in learning.
Mortimer covers twenty five hundred years of how Western Civilization has organized information. He explains how various people proposed teaching, their motivations, expections, and the approaches.
For example Plato structures his scheme for educating students around a goal of becoming the rulers. In his first phase students master gymnastics and music, then later analysis, reasoning and argument. In the second phase they learn mathematics, geometry, astronomy and more music.
And Francis Bacon broke education into memory, imagination and then reason.
The last part of the book gives suggestions how a modern learner can structure his continued education. Mortimer sees four stages to an education:
1) Information: the basic foundation of data, acquired bit by bit, as we move through life.
2) Knowledge: here information is acquired in a more systematic fashion.
3) Understanding: the learner can see relationships between knowledge and understands cause and effect.
4) Wisdom: here the can make wise use of what he understands.
Mortimer breaks an education into two groups. One is a core group of knowledge which he argues that everyone should master. The second is specialization knowledge. This could be for your job, like computer programming languages. Or it might be for a hobby, like bee keeping.
He challenges the reader to become an autodidact. He encourages us to read books, but to do more than read, to discuss the meaning of the books. For it is only by discussing that we can get additional insight into the meaning of a book.
This is a good book, well worth reading. I will probably buy it and have my daughters read it when they get older. And we'll then discuss the book.
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Technorati tags: read, reading, book, Mortimer J. Adler, Adler
1) Mark books up. Before I treat books like gold. I never wrote in them. But writing in a book improves the process of absorbing the messages.
2) Build my own table of contents. In the front of many of my books I've made notes on the parts of the book that interested me.
3) Skim books. Before I would either ignore a book. Or once started I would always finish the book. Now I skim about half the books I pick up.
Recently I noticed A Guidebook to Learning: For a Lifelong Pursuit of Wisdom by Mortimer Adler at the library. On the strength of "How to Read a Book" I borrowed "A Guidebook to Learning."
"A Guidebook to Learning" is a short book of about 150 pages. It reads quickly, but has some profound thoughts.
Mortimer writes that our day and age is unique in history. Up till the 1800s a person could master most of the knowledge a civilization might have. But now information is exploding and there is no way to keep up. Because not all information is equal people need a structure for evaluating which subjects they should learn.
The book starts by covering how encyclopedias, universities and libraries all organize information alphabetically. The encyclopedias have a large number of articles, sorted alphabetically. Universities provide catalogs of courses, which are sorted alphabetically. Books in libraries are broken into sections, and within these sections the books are sorted alphabetically. Information organized alphabetically does not help the student figure out which information is important, and which information could be ignored or delayed in learning.
Mortimer covers twenty five hundred years of how Western Civilization has organized information. He explains how various people proposed teaching, their motivations, expections, and the approaches.
For example Plato structures his scheme for educating students around a goal of becoming the rulers. In his first phase students master gymnastics and music, then later analysis, reasoning and argument. In the second phase they learn mathematics, geometry, astronomy and more music.
And Francis Bacon broke education into memory, imagination and then reason.
The last part of the book gives suggestions how a modern learner can structure his continued education. Mortimer sees four stages to an education:
1) Information: the basic foundation of data, acquired bit by bit, as we move through life.
2) Knowledge: here information is acquired in a more systematic fashion.
3) Understanding: the learner can see relationships between knowledge and understands cause and effect.
4) Wisdom: here the can make wise use of what he understands.
Mortimer breaks an education into two groups. One is a core group of knowledge which he argues that everyone should master. The second is specialization knowledge. This could be for your job, like computer programming languages. Or it might be for a hobby, like bee keeping.
He challenges the reader to become an autodidact. He encourages us to read books, but to do more than read, to discuss the meaning of the books. For it is only by discussing that we can get additional insight into the meaning of a book.
This is a good book, well worth reading. I will probably buy it and have my daughters read it when they get older. And we'll then discuss the book.
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Technorati tags: read, reading, book, Mortimer J. Adler, Adler
The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up
This week's Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at On Our Journey Westward.
I am impressed by how many entries this carnival has.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Charlotte, Mason, Charlotte Mason
I am impressed by how many entries this carnival has.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Charlotte, Mason, Charlotte Mason
Statetris - a fun way to learn geography
A friend told me about Statetris. It is a take off on Tetris. The falling pieces are states. You have to orient and position them.
I did the hard level in ten minutes. For some reason I kept trying to put Virginia in Kentucky's location. I also spent a minute trying to get Rhode Island positioned correctly. I think I had the orientation wrong the first five times.
I then did the European version. I was able to do the easy version in five minutes.
There are also versions for Africa, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Carolina and UK.
This is a fun game and I think most children would enjoy it. If you miss putting a state in the right location a couple times Statetris will give hints.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
I did the hard level in ten minutes. For some reason I kept trying to put Virginia in Kentucky's location. I also spent a minute trying to get Rhode Island positioned correctly. I think I had the orientation wrong the first five times.
I then did the European version. I was able to do the easy version in five minutes.
There are also versions for Africa, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Carolina and UK.
This is a fun game and I think most children would enjoy it. If you miss putting a state in the right location a couple times Statetris will give hints.
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, public school, public education, education
Humor: I've suffered? Why wasn't I informed so I could complain?
I was just talking with my daughters about the Harry Chapin song "Cat's in the Cradle." My youngest asked where parents learn bad habits like spending too much time at work and ignoring their children. I explained that the father probably learned it from his father.
Then she asked did parents ever change? I acknowledged that some parents learn and become different parents, hopefully better parents. In some families you can see dramatic differences between the older siblings and younger siblings.
Years ago I had a good manager whose father died when he was young. I think my manager and his sister were teenagers at the time. Their mother remarried. The step-father wasn't a good guy. My manager and his sister turned out well. They had stable jobs. Their young siblings were greatly influenced by the step-father and both were living on the street the last I knew.
I told my youngest daughter that I thought Janine and I were better parents. That there were times we had been a bit harsh to our oldest. My oldest joined in joking with: "I've suffered? Why wasn't I informed so I could complain?"
Maybe we aren't doing too badly.
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Technorati tags: life, family
Then she asked did parents ever change? I acknowledged that some parents learn and become different parents, hopefully better parents. In some families you can see dramatic differences between the older siblings and younger siblings.
Years ago I had a good manager whose father died when he was young. I think my manager and his sister were teenagers at the time. Their mother remarried. The step-father wasn't a good guy. My manager and his sister turned out well. They had stable jobs. Their young siblings were greatly influenced by the step-father and both were living on the street the last I knew.
I told my youngest daughter that I thought Janine and I were better parents. That there were times we had been a bit harsh to our oldest. My oldest joined in joking with: "I've suffered? Why wasn't I informed so I could complain?"
Maybe we aren't doing too badly.
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Technorati tags: life, family
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