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| 4 December 2006 |
I have no idea how long this will last, but I'm posting over at this link for now.
| 1 December 2006 |
My daughter's reading Up a Road Slowly again. I've never read it; she assures me that it's good. Amazon.com reviewers seem to agree. My son has just finished one of the Orson Scott Card series.
I'm reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. I spent some quality time with it while waiting for Costco to balance and rotate my tires. I sat in the food court. I felt a little self-conscious while laughing at the funny bits though. I'm surprised that it's as amusing as it is. I mean how can two townspeople fighting over the literary talents of Samuel Johnson and Mr. Boz be amusing? I don't know, but it is.
It's a story about life in a fictional small town in England in the mid-1800s. It's slow; it's not like The DaVinci Code. It's simple and yet complex. You have to pay attention, though, sort of like watching Michael Kitchen's face as Foyle, or you'll miss the humor. Maybe I should spell it humour since it is British humor.
Gaskell also wrote North and South and Wives and Daughters. I've not read those; I've only watched the DVDs. I'm reading Cranford because I picked up a lovely little vintage copy at a booksale, and I grabbed it off the shelf on the way out of the house knowing I'd be stuck waiting on my tires.
| 30 November 2006 |
Homeschooler Joey Burns has been in a coma since October 8. Here's what his mother says:
| "He was just playing football on a Sunday afternoon," Tania said. "Who would have thought that a tackle would have done this kind of damage? I hope this puts awareness out there. Kids are not invincible, they need to be careful." |
| 29 November 2006 |
Okay, machinations is an exaggeration, a bit of unnecessary melodrama. However, Hurley School Board has a strategic plan.
And let's remember that strategic is the adjective form of the noun strategy.
Now, my question is: Why ... just why ... does the Hurley School Board's strategy include:
| By 2008, the district will have open communication with the home-schooled community. |
Will this "open communication" be imposed upon the homeschool community with or without its permission? You'd think that the school district would check with the homeschool community before making such a plan. What if the homeschool community doesn't want open communication with the school district?
This goal is listed under the heading "Community Trust and Support." That tells us little when trying to figure out just what the Hurley School District is up to. Do they actually want the trust and support of the homeschool community? Whatever for? Why would they want or need it?
Any word on what the Ironwood, Michigan, homeschool community thinks of the school district's strategic plan?
Bauer's forthcoming book has footnotes! Yea!
I was so disappointed with her Story of the World Series because it didn't have footnotes. True, it's an excellent narrative history of the world for youngsters, but without footnotes, it's frustrating. Marrin's books
Actually, I should make a distinction. I like "Endnotes." Footnotes are handier, but endnotes make for a cleaner look to the text itself. And when I'm typing up papers, etc., I much prefer using endnotes.
So, anyway that's the good news for today.
Oh, you want a footnote indicating my source? Sorry, nothing doing. But I will provide a link to Susan Wise Bauer's blog where I read about the footnotes. You see, she just got the Publisher's Weekly review of her book and took it on the chin a little. A footnote played a leading role.
New book:
The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
First book in grade school series:
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child
Accompanying activity book
Lastly, the culprit that started it all:
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
my review of TWTM
| 28 November 2006 |
I stumbled on to this video today. (Hat Tip to NYCitymomx3) Ken Robinson (bio) speaks for 20 minutes about how schools have taught us that we aren't creative ... or at least scared us out of trying to be creative. It's worth watching, but I fear that too many homeschoolers are too interested in getting the next workbook page completed to take the time to think about education. But maybe I'm wrong.
Ken Robinson authored Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative a few years ago. A quote from his web site:
| Education systems everywhere are rooted in a narrow definition of academic intelligence that ignores some of our most important creative abilities. They do this on the mistaken assumption that it makes economic sense. After more than ten years at school, and even after university, too many people leave education with no idea of their real abilities and creative powers - and with qualifications that are now increasingly worth less.... The problems of creativity must also be tackled at source - in the education system. Out of Our Minds traces the roots of the current pre-occupation with academic work and qualifications. It reveals why this system is no longer working and why the future must lie in developing, not stifling, our natural creative abilities. |
A couple of comments from the video struck me. Roughly, he said that degrees aren't worth anything because of the problem with academic inflation. He also had some comments about the future--since we can't know what the world will look like in five years, how can we teach our children for that nebulous future?
I've wondered about degrees for some time. I see them being expensive--not just monetarily, but in time. In reality, the student doesn't spend much time learning with the instructor. Go and see for yourself by looking up academic schedules listed online. Class time has been whittled down to a whole 6 months out of the year. I'm not counting registration and finals, just class time. I wonder if it's advantageous to spend 4 years to get 2 years of education. Something is out of whack if you ask me. Ken says that when a university student gets his degree all too often he can't get a job, so he comes home and plays video games.
Where is our current educational system taking us? Sometimes I think it's just extending adolescence.
Related info: All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education, Robinson's '98 report commissioned by the Blair government.
| 27 November 2006 |
Really. I don't have an accent. Even people in England didn't think I had an accent last year. Granted, I didn't speak with too many people, but many thought I was a local. The key? Speak quietly. All the time. And that's not quietly by U.S. standards, that's quietly by British standards. So it's just above a whisper.
So here's the proof:
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Home Education Relevance: Fundamentals of Speech. Yes, both my students took a speech class.
News Flash from the Ill Informed
Yes, Bonnie Erbe needs to do her homework before she dips her nib into the ink. Just because she's never heard of unschooling until now doesn't mean it's the latest.
See a photo of Bonnie over at her pbs web page.
According to a U.S. News & World Report blogger, unschooling is "... the latest form of education...." emphasis mine
I'm teaching my daughter to drive. I think it's going well. Everyone's still alive, no scratches on the car, no scratches on other cars, no tickets (even though plenty of police have driven behind us). In fact, no one's even honked at us. She must be doing well. I must admit, though, that I'd love to have one of those signs that state that there is a student driver behind the wheel. I always give those cars a bit more leeway, and I think we could use that.
My oldest went to driver's education classes at the local school, but it fits our schedule with this student to just teach her ourselves.
In some ways I'd prefer my daughter to be going to the public school for driver's ed. For instance, I don't have a brake pedal in the passenger seat the way that those driver training cars do. I would love to have one of those. But then I remember back when I was doing driver training, and I was so afraid to have the instructor use the passenger-side brake. I thought it would indicate that I was a bad driver and worried about that alternative brake pedal more than I did getting in a wreck.
I'd also like my daughter to see at least three of those scary driver training videos that scare the kids into being good drivers or not drinking and driving. But I don't know where to get a hold of any of those. My son said that driver training class relied too heavily on redundant videos instead of actual instruction from a teacher, which I thought was an interesting observation.
My daughter is reading Drive Right. It's the same textbook that my son used. He got to keep all his photocopied student workbook sheets, so I'm using them with my daughter. I'm glad they match up with this 10th edition of Drive Right. It's a pretty good book. Better than the driver training book I used when I took driver's ed. way back in high school. There's a newer 11th edition of Drive Right out now.
When my son took driver's ed. at the high school, they told him (and the whole class) that he was going to be a better driver than his parents who learned to drive in parking lots. What? I didn't learn to drive in a parking lot, and his father took driver's ed. at school, too. When instructors say crazy stuff like that, it makes students wonder what else they're off base on. Plus his instructor was late for class one day. "Why?" you ask. Well, because the instructor was involved in an automobile accident. No kidding. Of course, it can happen to anyone, but it was an amusing anecdote since there were no injuries.
Anyway, we've been spending a couple of hours a day for the past few days out driving. Lots of supervised experience makes for a better driver. We even went out on Thanksgiving, thinking that at "turkey eating time" (about? 3 p.m. or so) that no one would be on the streets. But we were wrong. There was a lot of traffic. So learning how to perform a left turn out onto the busy boulevard at an unregulated intersection will have to wait. I personally avoid turning left onto that street when I'm out driving around. It's a traffic hazard, imo. It was poorly planned and the town has grown--now they can't really do anything with that street. The business owners along that street need the traffic to survive even though the boulevard is a nightmare and we need a bypass or something to alleviate the congestion.
I wish there was a really good X-BOX program for learning to drive well. I know it wouldn't be a big hit with people like Gears of War is, but it would be easy for MS to come up with a safe-driving game. I'm not so sure about how to market it, but I'd buy it. It would be a great addition to our driver training course. X-BOX games are so realistic, that they could make a spectacular driving simulator that gives points for good driving, etc., avoiding the deer in the road, pulling over for the ambulance, pulling out of a skid on ice. They could even include stuff like driving overseas for us old people who would like to learn to drive in Britain but are too afraid of roundabouts.
I just found this safety issues link while looking for a decent/fun way to practice driving at home. Here's a rule I like: "Nobody ever yielded their way into a collision."
| 24 November 2006 |
Lindsay Lohan is taking a beating for her letter of condolence to Robert Altman's wife.
Homeschool.com states:
| Along with actors Lindsay Lohan, Raven Symone, Elijah Wood and many others, Laurel Springs School also homeschools many athletic stars as well. |
Additionally, Lindsay is indeed listed as a student of Laurel Springs School.
I'm not dismayed by Lindsay Lohan's letter. It's very sweet and heartfelt. So she can't spell or proofread. Big deal. She's a good entertainer, and she's a reasonable success at that. Her publicity folks (or a personal assistant) should have cleaned it up for her.
If we want to get stinky, here's the exact quote from the Huffington Post:
| Actress Lindsay Lohan's publicly released and alarmingly incoherent letter of condolence to director Robert Altman's family ... should be dismaying to both public education supporters and home schoolers: |
Yes, there is at least one mistake in that sentence. Also, why does it end with a colon? Too much stone throwing is going on. I always think it's funny when someone (Huffington Post) complains about another's (Lindsay's) spelling, etc., and their complaint has mistakes in it.
| 23 November 2006 |
All salmon have swimming talent, right? Right.
I keep trying to read a certain article with a straight face. But I keep failing.
Dayton, a homeschooled teen, is a swimmer from London who will be competing in the Paul Bergen Junior International Championships next month in Beaverton, Oregon. Beaverton is right outside of Portland, for those unfamiliar with Oregon, and home of Nike World Headquarters. But I digress.
Dayton, who's good at the breaststroke, said:
| I've been home-schooled since Grade 2 and it works out well for an athlete because you can set your own schedule if you want to. |
I think Dayton may be the only Salmon that can do the breaststroke.
Homeschooling blogger (I'll call her that because that's how I've known her for about 3+ years) stated at Lew Rockwell recently:
| Reject government libraries.... Though it's available to all ... public libraries are really just a middle-class entitlement program. |
She also wrote:
| Before you write me off as a defector to the dark side.... |
Ahhhhhhh! TOO LATE!
Just because Carmon has her very own library with over 12,000 books, doesn't mean she has to be (start Arnold's accent now) "the party poopa" for all the rest of us.
I can hear Andrew Carnegie rolling in his grave. And I can just barely hear the Ptolemies, too. You know, the builders of the famed library at Alexandria.
It boggles the mind. Speechless is what I am.
Addendum: Just how much of Carmon's 12,000-book library is made up of library discards bought at $2 (or less) each?
My mind is still boggled. Carmon's idea is right up their with Mary Pride's view that when a person buys a used book that they should send the author a small donation. ::huge eyeroll::
| 21 November 2006 |
While I know I'm shooting myself in the foot with this info, I just can't contain it. There's this guy in Switzerland, I think (.ch is Switzerland), who writes that we should stop reading anything when we see a mistake (you know, like a spelling mistake). That's so cool! I feel that way all the time, but thought I was just being like totally insane. So read all about John Walker's most excellent plan for dealing with folks who don't know the difference between pique, peek, and peak.
Many thanks to Matt Cutts. And don't miss how it seemingly backfired on him.
Homeschool relevance: Duh! If you can't spell and punctuate properly people won't take you seriously. I have tried to teach this to my students; I hope I've succeeded. But, yeah, I know that I have typos in this page. I'm frankly quite horrible at proofreading my own writing. It's one of my big problems.
Ugh.
Double ugh.
I made an "About Me" page. They all say I'm supposed to have one, but it feels too "Look at me; look at me" for my taste. I used to have one linked from my main page, but no one ever read it anyway. Besides if you read my reviews and RAQ, you can figure out a whole lot about me.
| 20 November 2006 |
From the Washington Post and HSLDA president Michael Smith.
| The home-school movement offers long-term hope for the advancement of American values. It is one of the bright spots where the ideals articulated by the Founding Fathers still are being taught. |
We aren't articulating the ideals of the Founding Fathers in this homeschool. (And why is that capitalized anyway?)
Anyway, just who are the "founding fathers?" Is there a definitive list somewhere? Who should be on it? Who decides who a founding father is?
Okay, it looks like Wikipedia says that the delegates of the Constitutional Convention, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and 9 "others" are the "founding fathers." Okay, I guess I can take Wikipedia's word for it. I didn't check my Encyclopædia Britannica--besides what would it know? It came from Scotland, right?
We rarely ever discuss any of those folks' ideals. I don't even know what Reese Witherspoon's ancestor thought about anything; I only know that he signed the Declaration of Independence.
I know that these people didn't even agree of everything. Look at Patrick Henry and James Madison. Wow, did they ever have a little feud going (short review of The Great Little Madison). And a bunch of the constitutional delegates didn't even sign on. And to top it off, one of their ideals, to name but one, was that women were not to vote. Okay, so how many homeschools are teaching that ideal?
Oh, here's a juicy tidbit. When I went to go get the link to document that the EB came from Scotland, I found that three of the founding fathers (Geo. Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson) had pirated copies of the Encyclopædia Britannica. So. Hmmm. As Colonel Klink would say, "Very interesting."
So, Michael Smith, maybe you'd like to explain what you mean by "ideals."
To be fair, the main thrust of Smith's article is that "... society should be thankful for this [home-school] movement ..." you know, as we near the day that (part of) the U.S. overdoses on turkey and yams and U.S. football.
Homeschoolers will be on this Friday's show. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll miss the show through benign neglect. Or possibly malignant apathy.
Unschooling is a topic on Phil's message boards.
While perusing the SundayHerald (see previous posting), I found this article by Roger Schank that calls for the eradication of schools.
Of course, I don't know who Roger Schank is, but there's plenty on the web about him. Here are a few links:
Death of the Classroom by Randall Fielding
Student's Bill of Rights Don't miss this! And don't miss the Top Ten Mistakes in Education found at the same link. Here's one of the top ten mistakes:
"Schools believe instruction can be independent of motivation for actual use. We really have to get over the idea that some stuff is just worth knowing even if you never do anything with it. Human memories happily erase stuff that has no purpose, so why try to fill up children's heads with such stuff? Concentrate on figuring out why someone would ever want to know something before you teach it, and teach the reason, in a way that can be believed, at the same time."
Sadly, too many homeschool parents have their students learning stuff that will never be used. Too many homeschools use the classroom model when working with their children. I can't say that I'm completely innocent, though I do/did put forth a concerted effort to try to do things differently when possible. We homeschooling parents really need to think about how people best learn. More and more folks are finding that the classroom model has some serious flaws, but some homeschoolers haven't considered it yet.
Anyway, this Schank fellow has a lot of interesting ideas. Do you think he read any of Holt's books? Granted, Schank goes beyond Holt in some ways, but I see a similarity or two. And, no, I didn't read all of Schank's book.
Oh, and if you want to keep the Student's Bill of Rights and the Top Ten Mistakes in Education, then you may want to copy them now. Good stuff has an uncanny way of disappearing off the internet.
When you read the article in the SundayHerald, did you notice this: "'Education is an admirable thing,' said Oscar Wilde, 'but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing worth knowing can be taught.'" (confirmed at Quoteopia)
Although, I think possibly "Not even for ready money" is a more popular quote in this home. Wilde wrote it for Lane. Didn't he make some disparaging comments about education in that play when Lady Bracknell was interviewing Jack? Yes, I went and found it:
"I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square." Wilde is hysterical.
Scotland's award-winning independent paper, SundayHerald, published "The Lazy Parents' Guide to Home-schooling." You'll have to scroll down to "Learning the Hard Way."
As an aside, it appears that this SundayHerald comes out of Glasgow, you know, where Craig Ferguson is from and where Dear Frankie (an excellent film, btw) was filmed.
| 17 November 2006 |
Portland State University Vanguard News Editor, David Holley, claims to have been homeschooled in his "Special Geek Guide." But I'm not so sure.
First off, it's obvious that he stretches the truth a little. Would "Marmalade the Missionary" actually only spend 1.5 hours doing academics? I think not.
However, it's a little funny. It's not similar to our homeschooling experience, but it's pretty good writing.
I'd call it anti-homeschooling propaganda if I had an activist bone in my body.
333. Being able to stand in line from 8 PM Wednesday until 8 AM Friday waiting in line at Best Buy to buy a PlayStation 3.
| David Juarado, 21, who had been waiting at Best Buy since 8 p.m. Wednesday for today's 8 a.m. release of the machine. Andrew Phillips, a homeschooled 13-year-old who was a few spots behind Juarado in line at Best Buy, said he was planning on spending at least $600 for a system and games. 'I've been saving money all year by mowing lawns, cutting trees and bushes,' he said. emphasis mine |
| 16 November 2006 |
The author of that statement, Milton Friedman, died today. We studied him a bit when my son did the Bluestocking Press Economics workbook (more info). If you read some of the Uncle Eric books (Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?), you're reading ideas inspired by Friedman (among others).
From the BBC article:
"If (John Maynard) Keynes dominated economic thinking in the mid-20th century, Friedman dominates economic thinking at the end of the century, and well into this century."
"Known as the high priest of monetarism, his ideas gained popularity in the 1980s when they influenced the policies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan."
Have you seen the PBS special Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy? We watched it as part of the economics course that we threw together (along with that workbook mentioned above).
If you've got a highschooler who's interested in economics, a job, spending money, then this is an interesting study. (Of course, many still like the the viewpoint of Keynes, which can usually be found in many other economics books.) The course was a semester long, and we added a few books like The Mississippi Bubble and a few others that escape me right now. My son read a little bit of The Road to Serfdom but found it a little (a lot) too dry. I think the course my son did is more of a study for a high schooler because they're mature enough for the information to stick with them and have it actually be something they can act on. But I wouldn't wait too long--more like 9th or 10th grade.
Oh, yeah, and Friedman supported homeschooling!
| 15 November 2006 |
Homeschooling gives learners time to focus on their interests and talents. Self-taught pianist Andrew Gilpin is proof positive.
Too Much Tea
I'm not a big fan of tea. I don't hate it. I even think of a cup of herb tea as a cozy thing to drink with a bit of toast and a good historical novel. However, tea is not my beverage of choice. But I've got to get rid of some of this tea. I've got lots of peppermint, some spearmint, a bunch of Stash teas, plenty of green tea, a few different herbal teas. I think it's enough for me to drink three cups a day until spring.
Can expired tea kill you? I've got some that expired in 2003. Yeah, the Darjeeling stuff that has given me a stomach ache.
Okay, I just went to Ask.com. I asked: Will expired tea kill you? But there are no answers to that question. After much ado and keyword shuffling, I found these two pages (1 and 2) which tell us that the tea's flavor, quality, and potency will be affected, but I won't die because old tea is not a safety hazard. So, I guess I'll survive.
I bet it's time for a new teapot. Look at these beauties!!
I've got too much tea. Some of it is like 10 years old. How can that be? So I'm on a tea-drinking binge. And I feel sick. I just had a mug full of Darjeeling tea. I think I'm tea-logged. You know, like water-logged.
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Homeschool relevance: Home Economics or Health and Safety
| 14 November 2006 |
The question of the day is:
Would General Robert E. Lee endorse reality television shows if he were alive today?
Here's something I read about him today:
"[Lee's] children were constantly lectured on their reading habits. Reading novels was bad, since novels painted imaginary pictures of the world. History books and 'works of truth' were good, since they depicted reality."
So. There ya' go. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us stretching his views about reading books to include television shows. After all, I haven't heard anyone squabbling about an orange car being named after him. Right?
The quote above is from Virginia's General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War by Albert Marrin. Marrin's books are ... dare I say it again? ... a cut above. Superb. Crème de la crème. We've got probably ten or more of his books. They're worth owning, and worth reading, too, but that goes without saying.
Anyway, I'm comforted by the knowledge that I've got Lee's stamp of approval when I watch The Amazing Race.
| 13 November 2006 |
Critical Thinking in U.S. History, which is recommended by TWTM (and self-aggrandizing me--ha), is ... well, it looks like the publisher is going to offer it only on CD. As someone who's actually used the product, I think that's a thoroughly inconvenient way to use it. If you have an inkling that you might agree, then you'll probably want to buy the last few copies of the books available. Here's the links:
Book 2: New Republic to Civil War and Teacher's Manual
Book 3: Reconstruction to Progressivism and Teacher's Manual
And here's my review of the series. Yes, I recommend it. Most heartily.
| 4 October 2006 |
Yes, I belong to a few email lists for webmasters, and on one a homeschooling webmaster enjoys sharing marketing tips to other webmasters. One post today I found particularly sickening.
(Note: Affiliate sales are sales made through links--links like the ones to Amazon.com. When you make a purchase through that link, I receive 5% commission on the price of the book.)
This is all paraphrased.
So, this one webmaster asked about how to increase affiliate sales and another homeschooling webmaster wrote, "[paraphrase] Webmasters need to become the only obvious expert in their field, that once you're recognized as the expert, then you'll be able to recommend a book and people will go and buy it based on just what you say. Homeschoolers can become overwhelmed with differing, abundant opinions, but if you're the 'expert,' then your opinion is the one they'll listen to and your affiliate sales through Amazon will increase."
Yeah, I know that not all of us homeschoolers are so naive. But it's obvious that we need to be careful around anyone who might call themselves an expert, the foremost authority, the "answer man," etc., etc. I know most of us already a bit skeptical, but when you're first starting to homeschool or in a hurry, it's easy to fall prey to self-proclaimed experts.
Actually, it can be worse than that because there's a bit of ??... I'm not sure what to call it. Website #1 will claim that website #2 is a "reputable organization," and since website #2 recommends website #1, then that proves that website #1 is a good company. However, it's a paid recommendation that website #1 placed on website #2. Oh, you'd be surprised by all the behind-the-scenes jockeying, and I'm only aware of a few minor cases.
But you ask, "Hey, you've got a website. Aren't you claiming to be an expert?" Ummm. No, I don't claim to be an expert. Does it hurt my affiliate sales? Most assuredly. Do I care? Yes, of course. However, I'm not going to claim to be an expert just so that visitors will buy more stuff through my affiliate links.
Here's one of my disclaimers: I am not a professional anything and don't claim to be. I am as much an expert as the next homeschooler. Beware of homeschoolers who claim to be experts because (among other reasons) what worked for them will likely not work for you. Don't be afraid of making mistakes because chances are that you will make a few. There's no secret formula to homeschooling.
Yes, there are some good websites out there. Yes, there are some webmasters who know a lot about homeschooling. But some of them are out there who will claim to be an expert so that you will buy whatever it is that they are hawking. The homeschooling community is not without its fair share of charlatans. We all need to be careful.
Too Much to Do
Example of planning: Student A needs to complete a World Geography credit. 90 hours. My daughter has already finished X number of hours, but still needs to do more work. I need to suggest some ways to finish the course and then get them written down as a course of action. Examples: Read a few books about people who've taken world trips, read some geographicclly intensive books (fiction or non-fiction) on specific locations. Movies and/or documentaries are also an option if they contain lots of geographic information. Label blank maps that we have of the world with stuff like major cities and geographical features. I guess if we travel to Spain and Italy (you remember my pipe dream, right?), then that will count. Use World Discovery Deluxe (old software) to memorize the capitals of the world's countries. Make a few salt dough maps which are actually topographically accurate (that's no so easy). Complete the travel agent's workbook that I found used but unwritten in. Complete activities from the geography activity book we have. Learn how to navigate by the stars. Learn how to use the GPS. I don't really care which things she chooses to complete as long as they're geographically challenging and at least 90 hours are completed. Well, I do want her to memorize the names of the capitals of all the countries even though I know that not all of them will be remembered forever. When someone says, "Nairobi," I want her to know where that is. If she knows that it's in Eastern Africa, that will be good enough for me.
Oh, here's a story. Okay, it's not so great a story, but a story. I like to think I am adequate when it comes to geography--after all I did take it at university (hear the smugness?). So my son said something inane like "Democratic Republic of the Congo" one day--I don't remember what the context was. I looked at him and asked if he meant The Congo. He told me that there is a Democratic Republic of the Congo and a country named Congo. I disagreed since it was obvious that he was daft. We bet $5 since I knew there wasn't a Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yeah, I lost. He was quite happy, and all I could think was, "Why did they change the name of Zaire to DRC?" Yes, it was all very humbling.
Anyway, I'm not going to be writing here much at all until I get all caught up on the administrative side of homeschooling. That could be a long time.
Okay, here's the deal. I've got a lot of homeschool planning to do and a bunch of recording to do.
| 3 October 2006 |
My daughter started reading The Landmark History of the American People a couple of months ago for school, to fulfill her U.S. History requirement. However, she didn't like it at all. It didn't grab her. It's not surprising. It's not a textbook in the rigid sense of the word, but it's on the textbook side of the fence and, thusly, a tad dry--not as dry as Carson's six-volume series (+ teacher's guide), but still not imaginative and gripping like a good historical novel can be.
So now she's reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History. She started where she left off in The Landmark book--around the Constitution, I believe. She's now up to the War of 1812. Again, not a textbook in the strictest sense of the word, but I'd prefer she read a good overview of some sort for part of the credit. Maybe I should dig our ol' Van Loon's American History book.
Okay, I did, but it gives a very poor overview of history because it only goes up to either 1927 or 1942. It seems like it goes up to 1927 and then he did a quick rewrite and added a few pages so that it could be republished in 1942 during the war. This book has too much of an emphasis on the making of the States. Oh, but here's a funny chapter title:
M. Jean Jacques Rousseau Writes a Book and M. le Marquis de La Fayette Goes to Study the Delightful Children of Nature in the American Wilderness
How many American history textbooks cover that? I'm not sure I've ever seen one. I'd never heard of Rousseau, no, not even at university, until I started studying educational theory while preparing to homeschool.
| 29 September 2006 |
Well I don't. That's why I'm in the middle of assembling a $26 Maylaysian Bird Flu bookcase from Target. It's rubbish, trash, crap. Just junk. It's an astounding 6 feet tall with cherry laminate finish. You know what that means right? That it's just got a phony plastic coating over fiberboard and that it's likely poisoning me with some sort of fumes. I guess I'd better get some air-cleaning houseplants in here right away. It's warm enough to open the sunroom windows (which is what my office opens into) so I can get some fresh air in here that way, too.
Hopefully the bookcase will help keep the boxes and stacks of books off my office floor. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it will help a lot and keep things looking like I'm not a mad, crazy book lady. But I doubt it will survive very long since it's made out of such sub-standard materials. I wonder if having an Ikea in town would help at all?
I never guessed that when we started homeschooling that I'd amass such a load of books. As my kids have gotten older, I've been able to get rid of some of them. So that's good. But some I've kept in case of grandkids. Plus do you ever wonder if they'll stop printing books to save the trees? Or that books will get so expensive because tree cutting will be severely curtailed? I do. Sure, we've got ebooks, but the glare bugs me--even on my palm. And a computer doesn't feel like a book. Or smell like a book.
Oh, well, I'd best get back to assembling our new atrocity of a bookcase.
| 1 May 2006 |
Do you know what I just realized?
I just realized the Barnes and Noble's Teacher Discount has ultimately made me not shop there anymore. Or at least not too often.
Years ago, a friend and I went and spent the evening there paging through homeschooling books and curricula, chatting and having fun in the comfy chairs. An employee walked up and offered us Educator Discount Cards. We didn't need to prove that we were homeschoolers; Barnes & Noble just gave us the cards no questions asked.
The no-questions-asked policy continued for a few years ... I suppose because I just turned in the card and got another each fall.
However, the past few years they've gotten all ... "Prove you're a homeschooler." "Show us the 'Homeschooling Association' card."
Well, some years I join the local homeschooling group and some years I don't. If I don't have the card, that doesn't mean that I'm not a homeschooler. We aren't required to join the association by the state.
So Barnes & Noble told me to bring in my approval form from the school district. However, the school district doesn't send anything out to homeschoolers issuing approval. We don't need their approval to homeschool in this state. We send in notification, but we don't receive anything in return.
So proving to Barnes & Noble that we homeschool just to get the 20% discount card has become difficult.
And for me, it's embarrassing. I tell them that I'm a homeschooler and that we plan to use these books in our homeschooling efforts. They look at me and say [basically] "We don't believe you. Prove it. We here at Barnes & Noble don't trust you to be telling us the truth." Okay, sure, I know people lie. I know that so many people lie that B&N needs proof that customers homeschool or everyone would come in and claim the 20% discount.
However, it's embarrassing to me to basically have to beg for that 20% discount that they initially offered to me years ago without any proof.
Last year they gave me a big ol' run around. I had to speak with the manager, who knows me by looking at me, btw. Yet, I still had to describe the class that the book was going to be used for before they would give me the discount. Frankly, as inarticulate as I am, describing an English literature course to a bookstore manager is more work than I want to do for a 60 cent discount. I get so tongue tied that I come off as a total incompetent.
The year before they told me that I'd have to bring in all my home education books to show that I homeschooled. So I hauled them to the store ... three boxes of them ... until I realized that three boxes of books doesn't prove I'm a homeschooler. I didn't take the books in. It would be embarrassing; who wants to be a part of a public spectacle? Besides, anyone can have three boxes of teacher's editions and curriculum books. That doesn't prove they're homeschoolers. I ended up talking to the manager that year also (because the cashier can't make decisions about replacing old Educator Discount cards).
So when I went last week to buy some Shakespeare books, having them in hand and thinking, "I have to go up there and duke it out with them for the Educator's Discount" ... well, I just turned around and put those books back on the shelves and left. It's so much easier to just buy them from Amazon where I usually get a pretty hefty discount anyway. And with Amazon's free shipping on orders over $25, well ... why not shop at Amazon instead of my local B&N?
I'd love to buy locally and support my local Barnes & Noble (the local economy), but it's not worth the embarrassment and trouble and stress. And it's extremely embarrassing to me, especially with all the other customers looking on.
You might wonder why I don't just buy the books at Barnes & Noble and just not take the 20% discount. Well, it's sort of a matter of principle. If they don't want to give me the benefit of the doubt when I take up Folger's Shakespeare books, then why do I really want to give them my business? I don't really.
I probably should have gone over to Border's. They gave me a 20% Educator's Discount with little trouble a few years back. However, they don't have the comfy chairs that I love, so I rarely shop there.
Anyway, I just realized that I don't shop at Barnes & Noble so much anymore. I used to buy all sorts of homeschooling books there, but slowly, over the years, they've chased me away with their policy. So, I'm a little surprised, a little sad.
| 26 April 2006 |
As promised, I am posting that I've managed to get another RAQ up. It's How important is it to have a separate literature course for high school?
| 25 April 2006 |
I hope we're not the only ones who have read alouds that get out of control.
We have been reading the first volume of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman for way too long!!! (The abundance of exclamation points is warranted in this case.)
We've decided to read it aloud together for no less than one hour a day. It's far from tedious, so it's not a chore. (Whew!) I'd really like to finish it up today, but I'm not sure it can be done. We look up quite a few words in the dictionary as we go, which slows us down.
I can give a reasonable explanation of most of the words that my teen daughter doesn't know yet, but sometimes the dictionary gives a fine tuning to my definitions that are sometimes a little fuzzy.
Like martinet. I gave the meaning: dictator. That works well enough, but it's not quite close enough when compared to the dictionary definition. n. [after Martinet, 17th-c. Fr. general & drillmaster], 1. a very strict military disciplinarian. 2. any very strict disciplinarian or stickler for rigid regulations. See? That's not quite a dictator, is it?
I had planned for us to be reading right now, but she's off taking our mud puppies for a walk. Not real mud puppies (salamanders), but our dogs who have, for some unknown reason, taken to rolling in the mud this spring.
Here's some of the more difficult words that I explained or looked up recently in case you're wondering whether the book would be a good fit for your homeschool or pleasure reading:
morass
conviviality
assiduously
pique -- I have a foolish fit of pique every time someone uses peak or peek instead of the proper spelling of this word.
trepidation
lamentable
sartorial
curmudgeon
acrimony
hauteur
esurient
viands
counterpane
Anyway, we need to get this book finished ASAP because we've got Book 2 checked out of the library and it's due back at the library at the end of next week! (I bought the first book, but I'm not sure I should spare the money to buy Book 2 right now. I'm sure you know how that goes.)
I'm still undecided the best way to expand one's vocabulary. It makes sense that learning it as you go should be the best way -- you know, by reading or listening. However, my students have learned more, it seems to me, through vocabulary study in workbooks or by learning Latin and Greek roots. Anyway, the jury is still out.
| 29 March 2006 |
I'm just saving this for posterity's sake ... actually, my own sake since I know that the web page I found it on is bound to be removed from the internet soon.
Poster #1 wrote something like, "Kids getting old (in teens). Is the ratio effort/results worth it when it comes to Latin or is learning the roots a reasonable alternative?" or something close to that.
Poster #2 wrote this: "Now remember, this is a person trying to sell ROOTS (Buncha Roots), LOL! And in the same sense, if you visit a website selling Latin curricula....you will find the same bias, LOL! So what is the 'truth', LOL! We are going with roots though.....I just didn't see learing the whole languge...too much time involved!" Link to Which to Learn: Complete Language or Just the Roots?
Poster #3 (me) wrote: "Actually, the whole book is online and available to view before use. People pay for using it by using the "honor system." Frankly, I think that's more than fair (and not a little unorthodox). I would hope that the content of my essay would be discredited for other reasons. The essay encourages folks to *examine the options* before making a decision about the Latin language vs. the roots. It gives those that question learning the Latin language a different viewpoint. I wrote the essay because so many people derided those that learned only the roots and constantly tried to argue that learning the roots only was fruitless and foolish. It got a little old. The essay wasn't written to sell books. Truthfully, whatever choice a family makes, it should be supported, imo. Either choice has merit."
Poster #2 replies: "I had no idea, LOL! So this is YOUR website? Well...I never said it was a bad essay, LOL! To tell you the truth...way back...when I was debating whether to do roots or the full language....I did read this website..and decided it WAS ok...to do just that! And I had a hard time finding websites that said that..... Like you said, it goes both ways...I think it will benefit a student to learn just the roots...and it will benefit a student to learn the language. And certainly a student CAN learn 'logic, grammar, etc' withOUT Latin! I do think some of the Latin 'pushers' make it out like you will be an idiot if you skip the latin language!"
Poster #3 (me) replied: "Ha! *Latin pushers* ... cute term. You're right--a few actually do make it sound like you'll be an idiot without the Latin language. I guess they could be correct. But I'll never know. ;-) I just don't think that I wrote the essay in an effort to sell copies of my book. I truly don't believe that was my motivation. Your post seemed to imply that that was my motivation. Logically, though, you must question the author's motivation when evaluating a source and their point of view."
I couldn't write my motivation behind writing the essay on that forum because the owners promulgate learning the Latin language, and it would be rude for me to state that I don't think learning the Latin language is all it's cracked up to be. Besides, I like Susan. However, I can say that here.
I wrote the essay after someone had gone on and on at me online about why I was a total fool to choose learning Latin/Greek roots as opposed to learning the Latin language. She implied that I, of course, hadn't really thought about my choice for our family and that if I would only listen to her, that I would see the light. She was quite insulting.
I really think that homeschoolers need to give each other more credit. We're all fully capable of making good (or superior or at least adequate) choices for our children's education. We need to support each other ... not tear each other apart just because we make curriculum choices that aren't all cookie cutter copies of each other. There is more than one way to skin a cat. (Ew. Where does that saying come from?)
Suffice it to say that she rather ticked me off.
Anyway, I wanted to get my words preserved before that web page was pulled.
The same for this bit written December 11, 2003.
"The assignments include problems from the previous couple of lessons.
(made up assignments from Chapter 7)
Assignment Example 1: (Day 1)
Lesson 7-4, problems 1-30 even
Lesson 7-3, problems 33, 37, 41
Lesson 7-2, problem 52
Assignment Example 2: (Day 2)
Lesson 7-4, problems 20-45 odd
Assignment Example 3: (Day 3)
Lesson 7-5, problems 1-20 even
Lesson 7-4, problems 48, 50, 52
Lesson 7-3, problems 42, 46, 50
There are about 14 chapters in the text. Each chapter has around 6 to 10 Lessons. Lessons are numbered in Chapter 3 like this: 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, etc. A chapter test is included at the end each chapter.
The TE contains the assignments in the margin. The TE contains the student text with wider margins. The margins include teaching tips, chalkboard examples, answers to all problems, and **assignments.** (The assignments basically look like the made-up ones above.)
The student then takes the assignment and uses his/her book to do the assignment. The student will do problems in the current lesson and just a couple from the previous lesson or lessons. The student will have to turn back a few pages to find the review problems.
Oh, here's some info that might shed some light. The assignments rarely have the student doing *all* the problems in a problem set. A lot of the time only the even-numbered problems are assigned. So there are enough review problems (odd-numbereds) to go back and pick a few up as review.
There isn't as much review in Foerster as in A Beka Pre-Alg, if memory serves. Foerster's method of providing review is not an easy way to get review when compared with the ease of A Beka Pre-Alg. But Foerster is written to be taught in the classroom setting. It's likely a good set up for that since it allows for quite a bit of flexibility."
| REPEAT of 26 June 2005 to keep the ISBNs available |
When I was trying to buy Foerster's Algebra I books for my son, I was concerned about incompatibility between the Teacher's Edition and the Student Text and the Solutions Manual. I will give you the ISBNs so that you can at least have all the ISBNs for a set of books that does work together. I have these books and have physically triple checked the ISBNs for accuracy.
We used Foerster's Algebra 1. We had a little bit of a rocky time due to our circumstances and because I had to decide which problems were appropriate for each lesson. Usually the my son did the evens. That way, the odds could be used for review problems with each lesson. Not everyone will need review problems, but it made a difference at test time.
For Algebra 2, though, my son is using Teaching Textbooks. Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 is taking him way back to very simply algebra as a review. It's going to take a while before it gets him up to the place where the Foerster Algebra 1 books leaves off. It is such a relief to have solutions for everything on the Teaching Textbooks CDs. I don't have to work out any of the problems, not even the practice ones, so that I can explain it to him. And that's a relief. Granted, I could remember most of my Algebra 1 from high school, but I did have to read the Algebra 1 lessons and do a couple of problems before it all came back to me. With Teaching Textbooks, it's a lot easier. (TT Books and TT CDs)
|
Algebra I:
Expressions, Equations, and Applications Paul Foerster c1999 |
|
| Student Text | 020132458X |
| Teacher's Edition | 0201324598 |
| Solutions Manual | 0201861003 |
|
Algebra and Trigonometry:
Functions and Applications Paul Foerster |
|
| Student Text | 0201324601 |
| Teacher's Edition | 020132461X |
| Solutions Manual | 0201252864 |
|
Since Amazon doesn't carry the Teacher's Editions or both Solutions Manuals, you might want to check with Follett or a used bookseller through AbeBooks.com |
I'm not necessarily recommending these texts. My son is doing fine with the Foerster Algebra I book, but most homeschoolers use Saxon Algebra, I believe. You can easily buy Saxon Algebra I Home Study Kit (and other Saxon math books) online.
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