HS Comments on the Fly

Okay. The shock has worn off. That was quick, huh?

Yeah, I was not nominated for the 2007 Homeschool Blog Awards. I know you are shocked right along with me.

I will give honorable mention to By Sun and Candlelight for the blog nominated in the most categories. It looks like she’s been nominated in 8 different categories. If you can see that someone else should hold this prestigious position, please correct me. I just did a quick run through of the blogs, and this one stuck out has the most popular.

So how much money can each blog spend on their campaigns? Is that in the rules? You do know that winning means more traffic and more traffic = more $$$ so, of course, campaigning will occur. Besides campaigning, is there something else these nominees can do to help get themselves those coveted awards? Let me know!

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks has a CD out. Review. Oh, yeah, and she was homeschooled so that she could spend more time on her singing.

I heard a while back that the Edwards were going to be homeschooling this year. It was on the news and I got the impression that it was partially because Elizabeth had a lot of doctors appointments, etc., along with the campaigning. But I could be wrong.

So anyway, Christine Escobar interviewed Elizabeth Edwards about homeschooling at the Edwards’ house and it doesn’t sound like homeschooling to me. But maybe I’m splitting hairs.

The Edwards kids are being taught at home by a certified teacher in a special classroom with the public school curriculum materials from their assigned teachers at the public school that the two children are enrolled in. So it is technically schooling that is happening in the home instead of the classroom at the public school. It’s homeschooling because it happens at home, right? But it probably wouldn’t be considered homeschooling if you looked at the homeschooling law. The Edwards’ type of homeschooling is actually public schooling that happens at home. I wish there was a better way to describe it because it seems like any education that happens at home is called homeschooling and it confuses the issue.

Elizabeth says:

Frankly, I think because [the children] are getting a much more intense experience, they’re actually sort of going through the material more quickly than the class itself is.

Are we seasoned homeschooling mothers and fathers surprised by this?

Elizabeth says:

I am going to put my children back into public schools. We’re believers in public schools.

So the Edwards believe in public schools. Yeah, me, too. I believe in public schools. I’ve seen ‘em and touched ‘em, too. Public schools are real. (Okay, so I don’t like it when people use the word believe in that way. Seems like a silly way to say, “We support public schools.”)

When Elizabeth was asked about John Edwards’ plan for access to Universal Preschool at age four, all I could think of was Sparta, which I learned about at public school, strangely enough — at least Sparta let the children stay home with their family until at least six or seven.

Elizabeth Edwards was asked if homeschooling was a good thing for our country. Her answer was:

[Blah, blah, blah….] Some homeschooling experiences being truly spectacular and some that are considerably less so.

I think she pretty much said very little when she answered the question — as in lack of substance. Or maybe she said that homeschooling is good for our country only when it’s truly spectacular. If that’s the case, then we’re in trouble. Maybe your homeschool is truly spectacular, but there is nothing truly spectacular about our homeschool. And frankly, I don’t remember anything that was truly spectacular about the public schools I attended. And if everything in education was truly spectacular, then that would end up making it all just average. (Like the “awesome” discussion on Chuck.)

So, while Dave over at Political Machine thinks that Elizabeth Edwards is an ally of homeschoolers and that the NEA doesn’t like what she’s doing, I don’t get that at all out of this interview. Not at all. The Edwards children are being taught this whole year by a certified teacher, and they’re going back to the classroom next year. I don’t see any support for homeschooling by her. None. And that’s okay by me.

I usually stick all this type of info over on my Baloney page. However, this is just so amazing that I had to post it here for you, my regular lone reader.

The Blog Readability Test lets readers know the level of education required to read this online journal. So I guess a lot of 3rd graders are in luck! Result!

And who would have thunk it? Not me. I also checked and it seems that my online homeschooling journal garners a G rating.I checked on this Critic’s Rant web site that is running this little readability test — you know, just to see if it’s on the up and up — and the good news is that it is! After all, who could doubt the credibility of a web site that likes Chuck?

H/T Notes From A Homeschooling Mom

It was probably at a homeschooling book swap two and a half years ago that I first heard that sound. Its intensity and speed increased. Then it double, then tripled. I was in the middle of a conversation and had to excuse myself because I could no longer concentrate on the discussion we were having. I turned my head and saw some children in a frenzy nearby, pounding colorful plastic cups into the floor.

This was my introduction to what is called sport speed stacking. You’ve probably seen it yourself. Maybe you even participate. I don’t. Too loud. Give me rock ‘n roll instead.

So, come to find out today, they actually have a World Sport Stacking Association. I got the web site URL from an article in a Arizona paper about stacking, but it’s not working right this second. It will probably be back online soon.

The article mentions that there’s going to be an attempt at a world record soon. 154,000+ stackers are going to all stack at the same time. All I can say is, “Pass the earplugs pronto.”

Homeschooling mom Mary Leggewie, who has been running HomeschoolChristian.com since 1998, is very ill. Here is the link to her bio and another link to the most recent update on her condition. I believe the “evacuation” comment is about the recent California fires.

UPDATE: It appears that for now updates on her condition are being posted on the Fellowship Board at her site.

UPDATE from Fellowship Board mentioned above: In the past 18 days Mary has been kept alive by machines and powerful drugs. She has been alert and, once told about the full scope of her situation, was able to make her own decision. She has made the decision to sign her own ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order, and she will be going to be with the Lord in a short time. (from a post by Martha)

I know I have mentioned the Burns family before, but this bears repeating.

The Burns family is about to leave San Diego for their run to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. They hope to circumnavigate the globe, so it will be fun watching. If you are in need of a world geography project for your homeschool, this could be it.

To catch you up, they left Alaska a few months ago on their Catalina 36. It is a 36-foot sailboat with one mast. I have no idea which model or year they own, but here are some photos of a similar boat’s interior. A 36-foot boat can only have so many configurations. Can’t you just imagine homeschooling in there?

Currently the passengers are:

• Dad as Captain
• Mom as 1st Mate
• Son as 2nd Mate
• Daughter as Cabin Girl
• Bob as Crew

Each of the passengers blog every few days, so you get the kids’ viewpoint, too! They have a photo gallery, too.

It sounds like they’re doing a correspondence course for homeschool.

It reminds me a bit of reading the Pardeys’ books except the Pardeys went around the world the other direction, I think. It’s been a while since I read their series, so my memory is a bit sketchy. I think the Pardeys traveled east while the Burns are heading west.

K12 Inc. has “acquired” Power-Glide. Well, that’s interesting. (source)

Do you remember back when Power-Glide first hit the homeschool market. What was it? Around 1995? Maybe it was before that, but I remember it around ‘95. In fact, we bought the French version.

Do you know what I learned with that purchase? Not French, sadly enough.

I learned: Don’t buy anything just because a reviewer in a catalog LOVES the program before she’s even used it.

I bet you can see all the warning signs, huh?

Warning sign #1: Reviewer in a catalog. Who’s the reviewer working for? So the reviewer is actually a salesperson, huh?

Warning sign #2: The product is new. Results so far = none.

Warning sign #3: The reviewer hasn’t used it beyond a couple of lessons. Again, results = none.

Anyway, I tried and tired to get Power-Glide to work for me — yeah, just me — but I never could. I worked on it alone after the kids had gone to bed, but I finally had to give up. I don’t think it included enough practice … at least not enough for me. I’m glad I tried it on me before trying it on the kids.

CBD sells Power-Glide, but I don’t recommend it.

An article in The Missoulian shows a photo of Renna homeschooling her son Christopher in the parking lot before a Widespread Panic concert.

Renna, her husband, Kevin, and son, Christopher, 7, have toured with Widespread Panic for the last four years. They home-school Christopher on the road, following the band while selling their Panic-Stricken Chicken Wraps, out of their makeshift Panic-Stricken Chicken Shack. The chicken wraps contain chicken, cheese, lettuce, salsa, bell peppers and onions.

Don’t those sound good? I think I know what we’ll be having for dinner tonight. Well, homemade ones; we’re not traveling to Ogden, Utah, to get them.

Christopher gets an amazing hands-on US geography education, too. With just this Fall tour, he’ll visit these states: Tennessee, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama.

Here’s the link to an article about a family who uses The Well-Trained Mind in their homeschool.

The article discusses how the Shatsky family homeschools, but then gives some information based on a 23-family survey completed by 27% of the homeschool families in Lake Oswego. The survey is part of the Lake Oswego School District’s new marketing plan.

Canadian think tank, The Fraser Institute, recently released a report on homeschooling and it’s making a little bit of news. (Article 1, Article 2).

A few of the findings (paraphrased by me):

• Homeschooled students do well even when parents’ educational levels are low.
• Homeschooled students are not isolated social misfits.
• Homeschooling costs less than classroom schooling.

Here’s quote from the actual news release :

Hepburn said evidence clearly demonstrates that home education may help reduce the negative effects of some background factors that many educators believe affects a child’s ability to learn, such as low family income, low parental educational attainment, parents not having formal training as teachers, race or ethnicity of the student, gender of the student, not having a computer in the home, and infrequent usage of public libraries.

“The research shows that the level of education of a child’s parents, gender of the child, and income of family has less to do with a child’s academic achievement than it does in public schools.”

I think this is fairly critical. It sounds like homeschooling sort of “levels the playing field” for those whose socio-economic standing isn’t considered ideal.

In public schools, a student’s income level seems to play a role in how well a student performs academically. Yet this study shows that income isn’t a factor in homeschooling. Why might that be? Do you think the public school teacher inadvertently gives the better dressed students higher grades? Or does she teach the better dressed students with more vigor? Maybe she just ignores the students in high-water pants a little bit, but still enough to make a difference in what the student learns.

While public school teachers are surely trying to be impartial, they are human and prone to forms of prejudice just like everyone else. Has there ever been a study done on public school teachers’ prejudices and the effect on student outcomes? One thing’s for sure, a homeschooling parent is not going to be prejudiced by the income level of their own students. That might explain why “… income of [homeschooling] family has less to do with a child’s academic achievement than it does in public schools.”

Maybe there’s some other explanation for this “leveling of the playing field” effect. Any ideas?

In light of Judy Aron’s older entry (and another) from May where she indicates that Connecticut homeschoolers are under fire, would it be wise to answer the request made by a Connecticut newspaper to contact them if you homeschool?

And also, Judy writes, “There is documented proof that the CT Department of Education is encouraging school superintendents to report families [to DCF] who have decided to withdraw their children from government school to homeschool them.”

Here’s the notice in The Weston Forum:

Parents have a variety of reasons for homeschooling, ranging from concerns about public school environment, safety, drugs, or peer pressure, to a desire to provide religious instruction to children, to a belief that homeschooled children often fare better academically.

The Forum would like to explore these and other issues that surround the idea and the practice of educating one’s children at home.

Westonites interested in sharing their stories and experiences may contact [us … because The Weston Forum wants to hear about it].

Are they providing the red paint?

Or maybe it’s a great way to educate folks in CT about the positive aspects of homeschooling?

On another note, Brett Dennan and Tim Tebow, both homeschooled as kids, are still making news.