Mom Is Teaching

I had planned to mention this last week but it slipped my mind. Beverly of the About Homeschooling Guide is starting the Summer Reading Club up again for 2008. The goal is to have your kids read at least 500 pages this summer. That may seem like a lot, but books can quickly add up to that much and more.

The reading club officially started on May 30th but you have until August 31st to get your list in. All you have to do is track the books your child reads over the summer and the number of pages for each book, then add them all up for your grand total. Send in the list plus $1 to cover postage and your children will receive a certificate, stickers, and a prize in the mail.

Don’t forget to visit the sign up page first to make sure that your kids are all signed up and ready to read. My oldest got pretty wide eyed at the thought of getting stickers for books. Stickers! I’m not sure that we will reach 500 pages since he is still reading very short books, but if we don’t make it I will probably buy him those dinosaur stickers he keeps drooling over at the store. He’s easy to please.

If you haven’t checked it out yet Kate has a list up of other reading programs for the summer that your kids can join in. If anyone knows of any other let me know and I’ll add them to the bottom of this post.

reading, books, reading program, home education

I love Legos. I mean, what’s not to love about them. You can build almost anything with a handful of Legos and your imagination. So I was thrilled to read this short yet funny article in the Geek Dad section over at Wired.com: Legos, Bugs, and Homeschooling Tangents It’s a cute glimpse into one home educating family’s day, and will hopefully put a smile on your face.

I have this beautiful dream where I’m lounging around all day pool side, drinking fruity drinks with little paper umbrellas, only getting up to go to my massage and facial. Sure it’s just a dream, but it’s my dream.

As I was checking my feed reader last night I found out that I’m not the only one with that sweet dream. Dayna Martin of Unschooling America is putting together an Unschoolers Cruise for this October. Five days of high seas adventures and relaxing moments surrounded by some of the funnest home educators you could meet.

Join your host, Dayna Martin, and other Radical Unschooling Moms at the Solarium for two-hours one afternoon, for joyful relaxation, discussion and a couple of cool drinks served to you in the Hot Tub.

Yes please, sign me up. Spending some time in the hot tub, a couple cool drinks, and some great conversations.

There is also the Homeschoolers On the Seas cruises available through Alumni Cruises. There are several cruises available there, such as Bermuda and the Caribbean.

The cruises can be pricey, so start saving your money now. But if you can afford to go imagine what a great experience it would be for everyone.

cruise ships, homeschoolers

Homeschooling is one of the most misunderstood institutions in the world as we know it.

You can say that twice! Tiffany from Nature Moms, a great blog for the eco-moms, spent some time debunking the most common myths about home education. Sadly, these same myths have been debunked over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. No matter how often we scream or how loudly, the people against home education continue to sit around sticking their fingers in their ears and singing “lalalalala” as loudly as they can. Let’s be honest, they don’t want to know any different. if they were really interested they would have went out and searched for the facts by now. Instead they choose to spread misinfomation, lies, and stereotypes so they can feel good about themselves and their own choices.

There’s not much you can do about willful ignorance. You can lead a horse to water, as they say.

You can, however, try to take them down a notch or two. if for nothing else than your own personal therapy. Alasandra did a great job cutting through one closed minded mom’s view on home schoolers. Does anyone else ever notice that the most closed minded often claim home education creates closed minded people? It’s like those Chinese finger lock toys, the harder you pull away the tighter they become.

Stereotypes have been big in my thoughts lately as I’ve been labeled and shoved in the wrong box a lot this week. So I’m begging you all to make me laugh. What’s the weirdest, wackiest, flat out odd stereotypes you’ve encountered? Not even just with home education but with any other aspect of you life. What strange things have people assumed about you from small aspects of you life?

home education, stereotypes, people

My state’s newspaper did an interesting thing recently where they invited a group of teenagers to learn how to create a newspaper. It looks like an amazing experience for these kids to do and learn about. You can read the newspaper they created here at The Writer’s Strike.

I probably would not have even noticed if it wasn’t that one of the audio segments was a public school girl interviewing three home schoolers. It’s an interesting take on homeschooling teenagers. They tackled sports, socialization, going to the prom, and more. For parents worried about what it will be like with teenagers this is a great interview to ease your fears. They are articulate, intelligent, and friendly. Who knew teenagers could be described that way?

Oklahoma, teenagers, home education, journalism

It seems there are very few stereotypes of home education for us to get labeled. If we’re not all abusive, crazy parents hiding our children from the sun then we are over baring parents forcing our kids to memorize how to spell words out of medical text books. It’s either neglect or pressure that the kids have to suffer. The middle ground isn’t often mentioned in the news.That’s why I got such a kick out of Kim’s post about being “over homeschooling”

But may I ask why you feel the need to take the overachiever angle? Don’t you think you might be raising expectations a bit high as you step on our heads to reach the summit? Do you really think people like to hear about how brilliant you are? Don’t you know they snicker about you behind your back? ‘Oh, homeschooling is soooo superior. Homeschooling is in the gifted program. Homeschooling can spell onomatopoeia backwards!’ What about that time you told me it was okay if we didn’t have the times tables sealed up this year? You said everyone can go at their own pace, that was what was so great about you, you said. Reaching your own potential and all that bs.

What would a week without home education in the news look like? Well it would be pretty boring around this blog, we’re not doing anything around here worth writing about. But it might give some people room to breath again without feeling expectations looming over their head. If your 7 year old can’t read classic myths in Latin then you must not be a very good home educating parent, or you’re one of those abusive ones.

Dana has another take on what home education becoming popular means.

Is that all bad? What did a small band of anti-institutionalists bring to American education? Popularity certainly comes with a price, but it brings with it something else that I think is important to not overlook. It brought with it choice. A real choice for many Americans. Not only do we have public schools and private schools, but now we have charter schools and magnet schools. We have virtual charters and other means of attaining an accredited education at home in many states. We have cottage schools and homeschool coops. And we have support groups across the nation. Even Ravenna, Nebraska with its 1300 citizens boasts a homeschool group.

The press, even if it comes in terms we don’t like, is still press for home education. Is that what they say, there’s no such thing as bad press? Parents who might not have thought about it before are being turned on to home education more and more.

And if nothing else, being sold as super-geniuses beats being associated with incest and child abuse. Isn’t that what we usually get, finger pointing and accusations of abuse? There was a time when this “fringe movement” rarely got press, and all of that was hopelessly negative. Now if only we can get more middle of the road acknowledgment.

news, media, home education

If you’ve never visited Education.com you really should. It’s a great site for parents looking for information for more information on their kid’s education. Everything from preschool to high school is covered. Reference articles, informational sources, and advice.

I recently got an email from Jessica Hopkins of Education.com telling me about their homeschooling section which has articles on socialization, curriculum, tutors, unschooling, and much more. There are even articles for parents of gifted kids and those with special needs, two areas that are often glossed over or ignored on general home education sites.

I thought I would toss this site out there as another valuable resource for parents to use. The articles cover more than just educational topics, with topics such as shyness and fitness also covered across the site. It’s one of those sites that is perfect for all parents to check out, not just home educators. So check the site out, spend some time digging through all the information they have to offer, and think about joining in the community section to share with other parents.

parenting, education, home education, websites

As the school year draws to a close for some a new wave of home educating families are stepping up. The ones who either made it through the year of public or private school and are switching to home education, and the ones facing enrolling their children in school for the first time next year and deciding to stay home instead. As the year stretches into the summer there will be more and more parents suddenly doing the “OMG I’m not sending the kids to school, what will I do” freak out dance.

I love Tammy’s response to one parent’s fears on perfect homeschooling. Things don’t have to be perfect, in fact nothing ever really is. But who would want perfection anyway, that’s pretty boring if you ask me. Spontaneous chaos is what gives moms a chance to shine, and where the most important lessens are often learned. Even if you feel like hyperventilating when it’s happening.

It’s totally normal to be hyper when you’re starting out something SO new, an interesting, and BIG, and fun, and scary, and all that. So, enjoy it. Sign up for everything, get really going. Then, when you feel yourself burning out, back out, do less stuff, and relax. Whether you start by relaxing or start by going into overdrive, you’re still doing a great job and learning about your role as a homeschooling parent.

I think even some experienced families get a little freaked out with each new year. The kids are older, they may be requiring something new, younger children might be getting old enough to start some things, regulations and requirements might have changed, or anything else can throw perfectly sane parents into confusion.

I saw a few other blogs linking to this list of benefits of home education. Some were saying that when things started feeling stressed and they were questioning enrolling their children for next year this list made them relax. So I thought I would pass it on as well, something to help you de-stress and breath.

home education, education, school, parenting

In the genre of anti-home education rants there are certain points that must be followed, a formula that should always be used. Jack read his copy of the anti-home education guidebook, probably several times. I think that’s why he did such a spot on job of taking each and every one of the rules and applying them so well.

I thought as a public service I would share the 5 rules you have to follow to write a rant as powerful and defined as Jack’s is. I have seen so many people try to discredit home education but fall short every time of really publishing the kind of rant that has most of us falling out of our chairs in fits of laughter. This is for those who have the desire but are uncertain of just what to say.

• First and foremost stereotypes are your friend. Love them, care for them, and stick by them unconditionally. If the current stereotype is that all home educating families are from Mars and wear green polka dot jumpsuits then you better make sure you make that point in your rant. Often. A quick glimpse online will let you know how you should wrap all home educating families. Currently we’re all anti-diversity, anti-science, bible beaters. Remember, the common stereotypes change often depending on who has a headline to sell so check often.
• Research, forget about it! That’s the kind of crazy, anti-patriotic thing that home educators would do. You don’t need sources, facts, figures, or data of any kind to prove your claims. Name calling and tugging on the emotional responses of others is more than enough. If you can get readers tingling in fear of what those home educators might be doing you’ve already won half the war. Just imagine they’re home, alone, with their children, on purpose. Clearly something foul is going on.
• Find someone who agrees with you and is willing to say so. Be sure that this one person is a teacher, professor, guidance counselor, or works in education in some way. Work for a quote that explains how they meet home educated students every day and they are all dumb as rocks and/or socially inept. Be sure to ignore any data that shows how intelligent and socially normal home educated students are. Also ignore any data, or personal experience, that would show that not every single public schooled child is bright, happy, and well adjusted. Remember research is for the home educators, you don’t want to align yourself with them by fact checking.
• Demand reporting, testing, and some sort of qualifications for all home educating families. All children belong to the state and as such parents are required to keep the children left in their care at the standards that the government dictates. An extra boost comes if you also threaten that students not living up to the standards should be removed from their “families” and returned to their real homes, the public schools. As always, ignore any data that indicates that these same standards and qualifications are not working so well in the schools or the data showing lenient states are fairing no worse than strict states. It’s not really about the education of the children, but showing those pesky parents who is really in charge of their kids.
• Last, but certainly not least, blame the parents. No matter how bad the school is, no matter what did or did not happen, no matter how the system may be failing the fault is always on the parents. Teachers stretched too far? Should have sold more brownies for the PTA. No money for the classrooms? Should have donated your paychecks. Bullies? Why didn’t you quit your job to monitor the hallways? Was your child passed on to the next grade without actually knowing the material? Well you’re the parent, why didn’t you teach Billy to read? Oh, wait…

You see, with this simple 5 step formula anyone can put together a rant on the dangers of home education that would brings tears to the eye. If nothing else tears of laughter after Doc tears it apart piece by piece. With research and facts even. Oh will those diabolical home educating families never stop!

home education, Jack Lessenberry, education, rants, humor

I’ve been digging Homeschool the Revolution lately. I know, I’m a sucker for anyone with “revolution” in their blog name. Over the weekend I had a chance to read a post there on parenting and being an objective teacher. The whole post is really worth reading but here is a snippit that really stood out to me.

Remember the old adage about leading horses to water? Well, a teacher can stand in front of a classroom all day and teach and teach and teach, but if the child is not stimulated to learn, he won’t become educated. True education is stimulating the child’s interest in the subject and facilitating a deepening desire to know more. The best teachers know this and try to do it - often not as well as they would like, because it is nearly impossible to do it for twenty-four students at once.

The post was actually in response to a question about parents not able to be objective teachers and coddling their children.

Parents are going to be more likely to give their children more leeway than professionals. When John and Jane get jobs, unless it’s in the family business, bosses are not going to be mommy or daddy. They’re going to be objective professionals.

For me I think this boils down to the idea from Calvin: learning should not be fun. Neither should work it seems, and for many people it certainly isn’t. I suppose my answer is different because I see my kids’ futures differently, or at least I hope their futures will be. I am sure that I will give my children more leeway, a longer leash so to speak. Because I want them to be free to explore and create and understand. I hope that with this they will learn what truly drives them and work towards that. In other words if one is passionate about art I would hate to see him take a boring desk job and go to it every day because that’s what he thinks he has to do. But if he loves math and crunching numbers I want him to be given more leeway to build himself up so that when he becomes an adult he will have internal motivation to be the best he can. I don’t want my children living by a someone else’s schedule or running from one ringing bell to the next.

home education, parenting

Are you a progressive home educator? The Progressive Homeschoolers of Florida blog has a post on Setting the Homeschool Record Straight. You know, that we’re not all living under rocks, hiding our kids from the “real world” (as if that exists in schools), and teaching our kids to be illiterate.

The post is in response to an article in the American Chronicle titled Homeschoolers Who Don´t Learn Science Shouldn´t Receive a Diploma. The article’s author sets up the typical “All home schoolers are (fill in blank with whatever the author dislikes)” tactic too often used. I too often wonder how someone playing on outdated stereotypes and oversimplified examples can assume they know better about how to educate my children than I do, but I digress.

The fact is that home educators are not in a cult. We are not all fighting to ban evolution, and really kids can still get a biased and misguided education in the school system itself if no one questions the books being force fed to the kids.

(more…)

Hat tip to Alasandra for pointing out this great article in the Washington post “Home Is Where the School Is“. This article by Gregory J. Millman, a home schooling father himself, is just what needs to be said in the mainstream media after the flurry on California and abuse. A serious article in a respected newspaper that says “Hey, we’re not all freaks!”.

OK, so some of us are freaks. But we’re the fun kind, I swear!

I especially loved that he set the record straight about homeschooling being the result of over-religious zealots looking to brainwash their children. Not to mention that he mentions Holt, one of my idols. So I’m already quite pleased.

And contrary to most popular belief, home-schooling isn’t the brainchild of religious fanatics. It actually got started in the counterculture of the 1960s. In his landmark 1964 book, “How Children Fail,” teacher and education reformer John Holt accused schools themselves of causing students to fail; eventually, he came to advocate a sort of “underground railroad” out of compulsory schooling. It wasn’t until the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s that the movement spread through communities that believed public schools were threatening their moral values.

The boundaries between the counterculture and Christian home-school traditions blurred through the 1990s and 2000s, as home-schoolers from various backgrounds came to discover how much they actually have in common. Today, a well-established and widespread infrastructure of home-schooling groups, Web sites and networks has made home-schooling accessible to a broader population, people who wouldn’t consider themselves either particularly countercultural or particularly religious. People like my family.

His description of homeschooling is exactly what most people never imagine, kids joining debate teams and robotic teams and performing Shakespeare. None of which involves sitting at the kitchen table for 8 hours being shielded for the horrors of the real world. Millman even mentions his own son who did not read until he was 8 but whom jumped into books passionately in his own time. In school that would have been unacceptable, and I am sure many people read it and are shocked that the boy wasn’t forced to learn to read even if it meant destroying the love of doing so. But letting him bloom in his own time, late here in the US yet perfectly acceptable in countries such as Finland, worked for him. A one size fits all education would have been too tight and restricting.

Conventional schools are like the nation’s Rust Belt companies, designed in the 19th century but struggling to meet the standards of international competition today. School boards and administrators should be concentrating on ways to make schools more like home-schooling — not on ways to force home-schooled children to go back to schools. People who are free to think for themselves usually get together and find solutions that are better than what bureaucrats can devise.

Millman has a book of his own due out this August titled Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey. Based on this article so far it is a book I am excited to read.

O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 1594

If you haven’t read it yet Dana took apart yet another anti-homeschooler’s irrational claims that homeschooling is what it isn’t. A good tip would be to actually spend time researching a subject before attacking it, it helps avoid those embarrassing moments of misinformation.

It’s actually not this post that I wanted to mention, but the post previous where she first mentions the person’s arguement. A great conversation breaks out in the comments over the word (or words) homeschool and whether this term creates the limited image some people see homeschoolers with. One commenter Julie says

But, I have stumbled upon the word homeschool too. Oh, I use it because then everyone knows what I am talking about and it is the agreed upon word to describe Marissa’s school experience, but it is far too narrow to describe what I see as my role.I know it is silly, but I would even prefer that we all wrote it as two words. You know home school, with “home” an adjective modifying the noun school (like public school instead of publicschool, private school instead of privateschool). How legalistic is that? Frankly, if all I planned to do was to teach reasoning, communication and math in my home, it wouldn’t be worth staying home to do.

If I remember correctly the correct way is home school, but so many of us put them together into one word that it has become an accepted use of the term. I know I’m guilty of it myself. Does the “school” part of the word encourage people to assume children are sitting in little desks all day while mom reads to them from outdated books? Does the “home” part add to the belief that we keep the kids locked up in the house all day? What happens when we put them together?

A similar problem sometimes occurs with unschooling as a learning style. People see the “un” and jump to conclusions about what it means to them. Does that mean those who practice unschooling should use a different, less controversial term, or work to educate others on what unschooling really means. The answer depends on who you ask.

Homeschool, or home school, is such an umbrella term for what we do. That alone can make it difficult to grasp. The family using a stack of workbooks and teacher’s manuals are home schoolers just the same as those letting their kids flitter to the subject and books of their choosing. When the stereotypes only cover one small portion of all the possible styles a great number of families are overlooked. Those who are in the daily grind know how amazingly diverse home schooling can be, but those on the outside seem to be hung up on that one image.

So do you call your child a homeschooler? A home schooler? Are you a home educator, a home schooling parent, just a parent? Does the terms that you use change how others look at you?

homeschool, home school, names, stereotypes

In case you missed it Tammy of Just Enough, and Nothing More got her 15 minutes of fame on CNN. Not that she isn’t already about to become (even more) famous with her book Deschooling Gently due to come out soon. But it was still cool to see a face I “knew” on the news. She looked fabulous and her kids are adorable! Check out the video and see for yourself.

homeschoolers, news, CNN

I have to thank Rebecca for this, she pointed out a fun challenge that I had not yet heard of but would love to join in. The Green Hour Challenge!

The Green Hour Challenge is a weekly challenge to get kids outside and interacting with nature. Every week a new challenge is issued with activities and reading for parents to do to get their kids outside and excited about nature. You can read the official explanation of it here along with the first week’s challenge. Every Friday the new challenge will be up along with a Mr. Linky at the bottom for you to share your posts. The challenge is already at week 5 but you are more than welcome to jump in now and join the fun, or go back to the beginning and take it one week at a time on your own schedule.

The only thing you will really need for this is a copy of Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, which you can find in most libraries or online for fairly cheap. You can also access a PDF version for free. This book is a classic, one that every homeschooling family should have just for the fun of it.

I’ll be joining in and starting from the first challenge, so anyone keeping up will be ahead of me. But the most important part is getting outside and sharing nature with our kids. Every Friday I’ll share what we did here. Is anyone else joining in?

nature, outside, education, children