Monday, December 05, 2005

How to leave comments

Since my wife and I started this blog we have invited several friends and family members to read the blog. Some of them are new to blogging and told us they struggled when they tried to leave a comment. This is a brief summary of comments and how to leave them.

Blogging has many forms. With one form, the blogger writes posts that can only be read. Many of the top bloggers (also can get a list here) use this approach, often to protect the blog from being overwhelmed. Another type of blog allows comments. This way the blogger can post a thought or start a discussion, and the readers can add to the post, or ask questions, or provide some kind of feedback. This second form allows more interaction.

Most blogs which allow comments have hurdles a user must jump before being allowed to post a comment. The main reason for the hurdles are to prevent spam. Most hurdles try to make it relatively easy for a user to jump, but hard for an automated program to get pass.

Our very first comment came within hours of this blog's creation. It was a pleasant comment, complimenting us on the wonderful blog, and asking if we were interested in getting a loan. We quickly deleted the comment and used Blogger to provide some protection from any other spam.

The basic hurdle we use from Blogger asks the person who wants to leave a comment to look at an image and enter the text they see. The automate software that tries to spam comments on blogs currently can't process the images.

A person trying to leave a comment can enter text in the comment box, and then do one of three things on our blog:

1) Post an anonymous posting
From "Choose an identity" the person selects "Anonymous" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.

2) Post with an identify from outside blogger
In the "Choose an identity" options you select "Other" and enters the letters they see in the image in the "word verification" box.

3) Post as from a Blogger account
In the "Choose an identity" select "Blogger" and again type the letters displayed in the image into the "word verification" box. If you don't have a blogger count, you'll need to create one. Click on "Sign up here." One warning, it seems like when you try to create an account Blogger often will say it had trouble creating the account, but the account seems to exist just fine.

After entering your comment, and choosing one of the options above, the final step is to then click on the blue button at the bottom of the window. The text in the window changes depending on which of the above options you have selected.

We'd love to hear from more people. Hopefully this will help.

29 comments:

Andrea R said...

Most of the time, I'm too busy nodding in agreement and can't think of anything to add. You guys are dong well. :)

Spunky said...

I agree! Nodding off in agreement with Andrea.

Anonymous said...

Home-schooling removes children from public school. That alone makes home-schooling worthwhile.

Unlike public-school children, home-schooled kids are not prisoners of a system that can wreck their self-esteem, ability to read, and love of learning.
Home-schooled kids don’t have to read dumb-downed text-books, study subjects they hate, or endure meaningless classes six to eight hours a day.

Home-schooled kids won’t be subject to drugs, bullies, violence, or peer pressure, as they are in public schools. Home-schooled children who are “different” in any way won’t have to endure cruel jokes and taunts from other children in their classes.

Slow-learning or “special-needs” children won’t be humiliated by their peers if they are put in regular classes, or further humiliated if the teacher puts them in so-called special-education classes.

Faster-learning home-schooled kids won’t have to sit through mind-numbing classes that are geared to the slowest-learning students in a class. They won’t have to “learn” in cooperative groups where other kids in the group do nothing and are not cooperative.

Home-schooled children do not have to waste their time memorizing meaningless facts about subjects that bore them, just so they can pass the next dumbed-down test to obey and please school authori-ties.

Home-schooled kids don’t have to endure twelve years of a third-rate, public-school education that leaves many students barely able to read their own diplomas. The notion that tests tell teachers and parents what children have learned turns out to false.

John Holt, teacher and author of "How Children Fail," pointed out that most children soon forget what they memorized for a test as soon as the test is over, so the entire test-taking process is usually worthless. Facts or ideas that are not useful or relevant to children pass through them like a sieve and are soon forgotten.

Home-schooled kids don’t have to study an arbitrary, meaningless curriculum of subjects imposed on them by foolish public-school authorities. They don’t have to be treated like little mindless, spiritless ro-bots that have to learn the same subjects at the same time and in the same sequence as their classmates.

Home-schooled children don’t have to sit quietly in a class of twenty-five other students and pretend they like being in this mini-prison called public school, just to avoid being punished by a teacher for “acting-out” or fidgeting in their seats.

Any adult’s mind would wander if they were forced to sit through a boring lecture for just one hour. Yet public schools expect children to sit still for boring lectures on sub-jects that are meaningless to them, for six to eight hours a day.

Home-schooled children do not have to be fearful of displeasing a teacher because they get the wrong answers on meaningless tests. They therefore do not have to be fearful of learning and have their natural joy in learning crippled as a result of this fear.

Infants and very young children embrace life and learning with a passion, which is why they learn so fast. Yet, as John Holt found out, by the time these same children have progressed to the fifth grade in school, most are listless, bored, apathetic, and often fearful in class.

Home-schooled children won’t be terrorized by test grades and comparisons to their classmates, and associate learning with this terror. They won’t associate learning with always having to get the right answer that schools authorities insist on. They won’t be made to feel that learning means passing an arbitrary test, and that failing a test is a shame or disgrace.

Home-schooling also gives parents control over the values their kids learn. It prevents school authorities from indoctrinating their children with warped values, pagan religions, or politically-correct ideas.

Unlike public-school students, home-schooled children are not forced to sit through explicit or shocking sex-education classes. School authorities can’t pressure home-schooling parents or children to take mind-altering drugs like Ritalin.

So keeping a child out of public school is an enormous benefit in itself. Other positive benefits of home-schooling are:

1. Home-schooling lets parents give children a custom-made curriculum that makes learning a joy. Parents can expose their children to many different subjects and ultimately focus on subjects that their children enjoy and benefit from. Children can also learn about subjects that are not taught in any school, and have time for non-academic subjects like art and music. Parents can choose from a wide range of teaching materials that not only engage and delight their kids, but bring real results.

2. Home-schooled children can learn at their own pace. Slower-learning kids will benefit by their parent’s love and attention. Bright children will progress as fast as they want to. Children will learn to read or learn any other subject when they are ready, not according to a prescribed time-table. Unlike pub-lic schools, home-schooling parents treat each child as a unique individual with his or her own special in-terests, talents, strengths and weaknesses. Parents can also tailor-make the instruction to each child’s per-sonality and learning style.

3. Home-schooling parents can give their kids a one-to-one teacher-student ratio. This insures that children get individualized attention from a loving, attentive parent-teacher.

4. Home-schooled kids get instant feedback. Children don’t have to compete with twenty other chil-dren in a class for their teacher’s attention. A parent-teacher can instantly answer her child’s questions, or research the answer together with her child.

In my book, "Public Schools, Public Menace," I explain a total of 15 unique benefits of homeschooling for children.

by Joel Turtel

Anonymous said...

"Public-School Prisons —- What Crimes Have Our Children Committed?"

by Joel Turtel

Why have we put our children into education prisons called public schools? What crimes have they committed? Why do we condemn almost 45 million innocent children to this punishment? Do I exaggerate by calling these schools “prisons?” Well, let’s compare prisons and public schools.

What are prisons? They are places were people are locked up against their will for crimes they have committed.

What is life like for a prisoner? The warden and prison guards, in effect, take away the prisoner’s life and freedom. They force a prisoner to live in a small cell he doesn’t want to live in, eat food he may hate, work at a job he detests, associate with other prisoners who may be dangerous, and remove him from everyone and everything he loved in the outside world when he was free.

Like prisons, public schools impose their will by force, by compulsion. Local governments force parents to send their children to public schools just as the police drag convicted criminals into prison (even though many parents are not aware of this and voluntarily send their kids to these schools). A parent can be convicted of alleged child abuse and sent to prison if she disobeys the school authority’s order to send her child to the local public school.

Local governments then force parents to pay school taxes for these education prisons. If they don’t pay these taxes, their local government will foreclose on their home and throw them out on the street.

School authorities force children to stay in school until they are 16 years old or graduate high school (these age limits vary by state). In effect, most children get a 10-year education prison sentence if they start school at age six.

School authorities force millions of children to sit in boxes called classrooms with 20 other children-inmates for six to eight hours a day, five days a week, for up to ten years. The children must obey the adult education wardens (teachers and principals), who they may fear or dislike. They must study subjects they may hate or that bore them to death. They must associate only with other children their same age who may be bullies, violent, or emotionally disturbed. They must do homework and study for tests they must pass or be left back in school.

The children are removed from their loving parents and put under the control of teacher-wardens who may not love them, care for them, or simply even have the time to pay attention to them. They are stopped from being a free-spirited child. They are told to keep quiet. They are told to obey the rules. They are told to march from classroom cell to classroom cell every 50 minutes to study different subject that may mean nothing to them.

Parents, if you don’t think this is harsh punishment for your innocent child, ask yourself this. When your spouse pressures you to attend some event you hate, whether a ballet, lecture, or football game, how do you feel? After sitting at that event for only an hour, how do you feel? You are probably angry, irritated, and frustrated. You squirm in your seat or doze off. You can’t wait to get out of there. You can’t wait to get back to your life and doing the things you love to do.

Well, millions of kids, and probably your child, must sit through this agony of boredom or frustration for 6 to 8 hours a day for 10 years in public-school classrooms. Yet, to repeat, what crimes have your children committed to warrant this horrible punishment?

In fact, they have committed no crime whatsoever. They are simply innocent victims of local governments and public-school authorities who think they own your children, who think they have the right to put your children into education prisons for 10 years for “their own good.”

Parents, if a rogue cop came and took your child to prison for no reason whatsoever, except for saying it would be for your child’s “own good,” would you not fight to the death to stop him? So why do you let school authorities take your innocent children and punish them for ten years?

Parents, if you thought you had no choice, you are wrong. Happily, you can homeschool your child or give your child a fun, quality, rewarding, low-cost education with Internet private schools. You have many education options. If your child hates school, listen to him or her. Don’t let school authorities put your child in a public-school prison for ten years. You have a choice, and your child’s life is at stake.

You can find out about all your education options in Joel Turtel’s book, “Public Schools, Public Menace” and on Joel's website, My Kids Deserve Better -- www.mykidsdeservebetter.com Please take advantage of the Resources in this book, for your children’s sake.

Henry Cate said...

Monica, my wife just posted a response to your question. Check out:

http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/01/that-socializaton-question-again.html

Anonymous said...

Mr & Mrs Cates,
I would have emailed you but I couldn't find an address. I am in the process of re-printing books by Charles Watts Whister (1856-1913) who was a contemporary of Henty and wrote a series of highly popular YA novels (Havelok the Dane, A thane of Wessex, etc.) with the original illustrations, but with maps, vocabularly, etc., that would be needed for them to be read today. Would you be interested in receiving a copy of our first book _A Thane of Wessex_ for review. Just send me a snailmail address at bigger@gis.net.
John Costello

That Tampa, Florida lady said...

Don't come to Florida homeschoolers!!!! We have the Florida Comprehansive Assessment Test, ALONG WITH THE other REQ. TESTS.

WE ARE PROPOSING MAKING YOU PASS THE FCAT TO GET A G.E.D.

If you homeschool, you WON'T PASS THAT TEST. GOOD LUCK.

I am very ANTI HOMESCHOOL. IT IS "i WON'T PAY TAXES, I am not going to get my child in a class that is color diverse, I don't want to help the local school districts, I am more holy or more Catholic than the Pope" attitude.

FRANKLY, GET REAL YOU NAIVE PEOPLE.

That Tampa, Florida lady said...

It is also a midwestern phenom.

If you live in Florida, you cannot really really do it due to the cost of it all. Homes are $400,000 here, so women do,will and have to work.

My dear husband and I are in our 40s and have no children. We cannot afford to adopt and well, y'all are soooooooooo off the wall.

I DARE YOU ALL TO TAKE THE fcat.

You would not pass that test. Your lessons are no good. Prove to me what lessons you do.

By the way, I will be home doctoring next week. Brain surgery. I learned it in homeschool. Do you teach that too?

That Tampa, Florida lady said...

"Home-schooled kids won’t be subject to drugs, bullies, violence, or peer pressure, as they are in public schools. Home-schooled children who are “different” in any way won’t have to endure cruel jokes and taunts from other children in their classes."

THIS IS THE REAL WORLD.

I HATE TO SEE ANY MALADJUSTED ADULTS AFTER YOU GET DONE WITH THEM.

TIME TO TEACH CHILDREN HOW TO DEAL WITH REALITY. THIS IS REALITY, AS MY MOTHER USED TO SAY.

Sheltering children is wrong and abuse

Anonymous said...

Wow, JEANNE has some real issues! LOL

I think she's been set straight, though - thanks for all the FACTUAL information you provided in response to her obvious ignorance.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I ran across your site, and as a former homeschooler I love that people are getting some correct information about homeschooling. I am not a spammer ;>, just an individual trying to help homeschool families. I work for an educational company that has decided to make some of their products free online. I have contacted several homeschool organisations, and I'm trying to tell as many people as possible. I would love for you, as homeschooling parents to have a look at our site, and tell me what you think of it.
http://www.free-phonics-worksheets.com

Thanks in advance,
Christie

Anonymous said...

Home schooling other than for reasons of distance to travel is little more than child abuse.

Parents that force their children into home schooling to avoid public and private schools - are all to often whack jobs who should not have had children in the first place.

You people are so whacked out on your ideological hatred of modern civilization I fear that you will create legions on disfunctional children who will be a danger to my own children in future years.

I look forward to the majority of voters eventually shutting you down and forcing your kids to get on the school bus to learn how to become functional members of society.

If you people don't like civilization then go back to the trees and go join the gorillas that you are descended from.

Henry Cate said...

My guess is the last post was just a wandering reader who may never come back. On the off chance that the reader might seriously be interesting in having a discussion I'll make a few points:

1) Sending children to public schools seems more like child abuse to me. Children have to worry about bullying. Children are not being given an education, too many of them graduate from high school barely being able to read or write. Children are treated like criminals in prisons.

2) In trying to make your point why do you have to be insulting? Often in a debate once a person starts calling the other side names it is because they can not present a strong argument for their position. Do you attack and characterize homeschoolers negatively because you realize that public schools are so broken?

Anonymous said...

Great post, I see racial self-segregation all the time, and I want to investigate the issue more thoroughly.
I always find something new and interesting every time I come around here - thanks.

Unknown said...

Let's Google and Yahoo Our Kids' Education


I love Google and Yahoo. With Google and Yahoo I can search the Internet on any subject that interests me, at any time day or night, in the comfort of my home. I was thinking how much fun it is to learn new things with Google or Yahoo, compared to the boredom or learning torture that public schools put millions of kids through every day.

Let’s consider the differences in how a typical child (we’ll call her Jenny) learns when she uses Google or Yahoo, compared to how she learns in her public-school classroom.

First, with Google or Yahoo, Jenny can explore any subject that fascinates her. She literally has the whole world at her fingertips. She can learn about tulips, cooking, dinosaurs, fashion, arithmetic, model airplanes, how to play the piano, or story books by thousands of authors.
When she is older, she can search dozens of Internet libraries, including the Library of Congress, for information on any subject under the sun.

In contrast, in her public-school classroom, Jenny must study only the subjects the teacher or school principal says she must study, even though these subjects might bore her to death.

Second, with Google or Yahoo at home, Jenny can spend as many hours as she wants studying any subject that fascinates her. If she likes flowers, she can spend all day learning about different flowers, how they grow, the best season to plant them, how sunlight helps them, or how much water each flower needs.

In contrast, in public school, Jenny usually spends about 50 minutes on each subject the school forces her to study. She has to go to a different class on a different subject every 50 minutes, even if she was interested in the subject she was studying in her previous class. This can strangle her interest in any one subject. For Jenny, public school turns learning into broken, disconnected bits of knowledge on subjects that often bore her.

Third, with Google and Yahoo, Jenny learns at her own pace. If she doesn’t understand something she reads about, she can ask her Mom or search Google and Yahoo to find the answer. She can spend as much time as she wants with a problem that intrigues her. Because she can learn at her own pace, she feels safe and comfortable learning with Google and Yahoo.

In her public-school class, however, Jenny has to learn all the material the teacher gives her in the specific time the teacher allows. Then (in later grades) the teachers will test her. If Jenny didn’t like to study the subjects the teacher told her to learn and did bad on her test, she can feel hurt and humiliated. She then associates learning with pain and humiliation. This in turn can extinguish Jenny’s joy in learning.
With Google and Yahoo, Jenny finds learning a constant joy. With public schools, more often than not, learning becomes a boring drudge or worse.

Government-controlled public schools will not give your kids the kind of joyous education they deserve, the kind your children can get in a homeschooling environment. At home, your kids can learn from Google, Yahoo, learning software, or hundreds of other low-cost education resources available to you right now.

So how can we Google and Yahoo our children’s education? Parents, you might seriously consider taking your children out of public school, permanently. Let your kids once again discover the joy of learning with education alternatives like Google and Yahoo, homeschooling, or low-cost, quality, Internet private schools. Don't your kids deserve the best, most rewarding education you can give them?

Janine Cate said...

I don't know how people got information before Google. With a click of a button you can find out almost anything.

Through google I found a church record from the early 1800's for a 6th great grandfather. All I did was type in his name (which was a bit unusual) into google. I

Any time one of my kids asks a question, we go to google.

Another example, we were able to find an explanation to the lyrics of the Billy Joel song, "We Didn't Start the Fire."

Google definately makes homeschooling easier. (Wished I had bought some of their stock when it first came out.)

Janine Cate said...

Dionis,
Thanks for the compliment.

Anonymous said...

read jeannes comments and there was some information there for one to take in account, but it is useless to get into the abuse arena because someone may hold a different point of view. being a christian does influence my decision, because having done a study on 'family' learnt it came from the latin meaning 'servant' so we are all servants to other members in our family, in the sense that each has his role in the benefits for the whole, and this first primary teaching of responsibility broadens as we mature to neighbor hood and country and world.The family is the nurturing ground of our young in a setting of 'love'. None are perfect but love covers a 'multiple of sins'Its the parents responsibility to teach their children no body elses. Governments can help parents facillitate this but they should not take over all control as they have done. Every assistance should be given to the parent to help them educate their children properly and it should not disintegrate into them and us.

Bruce Deitrick Price said...

Thanks for your comments on my "Short, Sad History of American Education" and "A Tribute to Rudolph Flesch." I have to insist I was just summing up what John Dewey himself said in his writings: we need less academic content! Dewey could well be described as The Father of Dumbing Down.--Bruce Deitrick Price

Anonymous said...

Dear why homeschool,

I thought you might be interested in a power point presentation on why to take Advanced Placement courses. There has been increasing availablility of on-line course in this area. It is hugely beneficial to home schoolers.

By the way the technology used to present this power point is actually very new. You might be interested in the presentation just to see this new technology.

The presentation is about 24 minutes and self manages.

Scroll down to the URL below.

Make sure you give some time for your flash player to load.

It has an audio element so make sure you have your speakers or headphones on.

Also there is a security feature to keep out hackers so just follow the instructions.

Click on the URL below

http://www.authorSTREAM.com/indexfr.aspx?1727

Best Regards,

Mark Cruthers

M Roberts said...

Hats off to home school parents! We have found that children who receive speech therapy in the public school system remain in therapy for years however this is not the case for children who learn at home. Dedicated parents are working with their children on a daily basis and they are making a difference. Our passion at bstlearning.com is to help children achieve new heights. Thanks to the parents for sent us these comments. You make our job very rewarding. “All of the sections are exactly what he needs to be focusing on.” Y.S., parent, Florida

“My son and I had a great time working on speech today. Thank you for making learning fun for him.” M.L., parent, Colorado

“I am excited because this program enables me to work with my child and I can actually see his progress.” E.B., parent and teacher, Arizona

Anonymous said...

Hi, ffor prehistory/women's studies/horse curricula:

I just wanted to let you know about my new book, Wind Rider, Laura Geringer Books, October 3, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0-06-087236-6 and ISBN-10: 0-06-087236-5. It is a Teen novel about how the first horse might have been domesticated and takes place in Asia (where recent digs are showing that horses were first ridden), 6000 years ago. Wind Rider has received starred reviews from Booklist and Kliatt, is a Book Sense Kids Pick for 2006-7, made the ALA’s 2007 Amelia Bloomer List for literature which advances the equality of women (see below), and is soon to be published in Germany! Because it is already being used in two college literature classes, I have written a study guide to go with it.

I read almost every horse book available when I was a kid, but I never read about who might have tamed the first horse, so I felt it needed to be written! Because we all have roots in prehistory, I think it is a horse story that any kid will relate to. Check out my website: susanwilliamsbooks.com.

Sincerely,
Susan Williams

To Order, contact:
Nicole Mathieu
Assistant Publicist
HarperCollins Publishers
1350 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019-4703
e-mail: nicole.mathieu@harpercollins.com
phone: 212-261-6735

Book description from Harper Collins: Fern dreams of riding on a wild horse's back, as fleet as the wind. She makes pets of small animals and watches the bison herds as they pound over the endless grasses of the steppe. Chafing at the inequality of being female, she longs for the freedom her twin brother enjoys to run free in the wilderness. One day in early spring, Fern secretly rescues a young horse mired in the bog, names her Thunder, and tames her enough to ride, claiming the horse as her own. But the people of Fern's tribe are distrustful of her bond with nature. Is she a witch? Does she weave her spells on animals? Fern's future looks bleak until a silent man in a rival tribe, known only as The Nameless One, teaches her about patience—and love.
Susan Williams's lyrical prose makes this journey to prehistoric western Asia at once inspiring and heart wrenching.
"Compelling and beautiful, Wind Rider is a masterpiece of a girl and a horse in prehistoric times."-Jean Craighead George, author of the Newbery Award-winning Julie of the Wolves
“In an early world of hunter-gatherers, a girl finds a horse trapped in a bog. Her efforts to free the wild creature form the beginning of a relationship that leads to trust and friendship. WIND RIDER by Susan Williams is a moving exploration into the way horses may have been tamed, which young adult readers will enjoy.” –Jean M. Auel, author of CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR.

ALA Booklist
Circulation: 29,125
October 15, 2006
*STARRED REVIEW*
*STAR* Williams, Susan. Wind Rider. Oct. 2006. 320p. HarperCollins/Laura Geringer,
$16.99 (0-06-087236-5); lib. ed., $17.89 (0-06-087237-3). Gr. 6–9.
Set on the steppes of Central Asia 6,000 years ago, Williams’ stirring coming-of-age story begins with a pourquoi tale about how the wild horse became domesticated. After Fern discovers a wild foal trapped in a bog, she keeps her find a secret; horses are prized food among her hunting and gathering tribe. She names the foal Thunder, and in between chores, she steals time with the animal. Dreams lead her to try something unknown: “Who in all the world had ever sat upon a living horse?” Eventually her community discovers her secret, and when Thunder proves her usefulness by carrying loads, Fern is allowed to keep her. Still, she wonders if the rumors whispered by suspicious family and neighbors are true: “Maybe I was some strange animal- talker person! . . .Was I touched with darkness, as my mother said?” Williams’ novel combines the exciting animal story with Fern’s wrenching questions about growing up that will resonate instantly with contemporary teens. Fern aggressively strains against her mother’s expectations and her society’s traditional gender roles, and it is these timeless struggles, narrated in Fern’s poetic voice, that transform Williams’ impressively researched details into a vividly imagined, wholly captivating world. Jean Craighead George and Louise Erdrich fans will particularly love the animal connections, but most teens will admire Fern’s unbending courage and her timeless search for a place in the world and a love to share. —Gillian Engberg

Children’s Books 1350 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10019-4703





News

Kliatt
Circulation: 2,300
November 2006
*STARRED REVIEW*







Book Sense (the national organization of independent booksellers) has selected Wind Rider as one of its Winter 06-07 Children's Picks List!

There are only 72 titles selected from all children’s publishers on the list. Wind Rider will be promoted in the Winter 2006-2007 Children's Picks flyers, which will be distributed to all Book Sense stores directly from the printer before Thanksgiving. The announcement of the full Winter 2006-2007 Children's Picks List will appear in the November 16, 2006 edition of Bookselling This Week.


2007 Amelia Bloomer List
–recommended by the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association.
While America honors the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, has a female Speaker of the House and a former first lady running for President of the United States, publishers, authors, and illustrators are looking to the past, present and future to bring to light girls and women who make a difference and take action to change the world. From celebrating the first female member of Congress and the first female Cabinet member to women who created and advance the fields of photographic realism and biomechanics, the 52 books contained in the 2007 Amelia Bloomer Project list represent the best that this year has to offer for feminist books for young readers….
The Amelia Bloomer Project committee members analyzed over 300 books and discussed over 114 nominations for the 6th annual Amelia Bloomer Project list. The books on this year’s list honor past victories through current personal struggles advancing women’s equality to visualizations of a future ideal society. The list includes books that look to our roots and gaze toward the future, including biographies of women who shattered the limitations placed on women regarding science, politics, sports, activism, civil and woman’s rights, fantasies featuring girls taking charge of their situations despite obstacles, and contemporary and historical fiction focusing on the fight for equality and rights that many take for granted.
Toward that end, we celebrate and applaud the authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers – large and small—who have created remarkable books for young readers showing how far we have come and who present role models for our children to emulate.

Pam said...

Hi. Thank you for your post. I was looking for the original quote and I came across your page. You post gave me some new ideas on 'teaching people to fish'. I hadn't realized it but it does imply that people are waiting to be taught how to get out of poverty when it is often outside forces that keep people in poverty. How would it finish if you said, 'if you give a man a visa...'

Anonymous said...

Wonderful children's music for homeschoolers here for whatever anyone wants to donate:
http://GenieMusic.com

Anonymous said...

I mean
GenieMusic.com

Anonymous said...

I am not putting down home school, I go to a private school myself, but the lack of social needs drives me crazy, I need to talk to someone my own age,but other than that Its great.

Anonymous said...

brigges36@yahoo.com says it also depends on the fact that most people are gettin bored to leave a comment so they either skip or shorten their answers...

Anonymous said...

Wonderful site! I am hoping that you may want to link to my site which is full of free, engaging music theory resources for homeschooling families. It is http://makingmusicfun.net/. Thanks!

Cheryl said...

I have recently done some substitute teaching in public schools. In my opinion, after seeing all that I saw there, parents are FAR better sending their children to home school or a private Catholic or Christian school.