Search Results for: help me out ask andrea about homeschooling

Where are these unsocialized homeschoolers?

I observed the following twitter conversation today (I am paraphrasing as I remember it): Comment 1: (From adult male) I coach a bunch of homeschooled students. They are a very distinctive bunch. Comment 2: (same person) It’s interesting that the girls have the same distinctive speech pattern as the boys. Comment 3: (From teenage girl) I’ve only met one homeschooled person whose personality did not scream HOMESCHOOL but his parents ran a COOP so it was like a school. Needless to say, I was perturbed. To the first person, I wanted to scream “What? Do you mean proper English?!!!” That … Continue reading →

Homeschool Word of the Day: Strewing

Strewing means scattering, or dispersing haphazardly. In homeschooling, to strew is to leave education books, materials, and games lying about in the child’s path. Strewing is a word used by unschoolers. While unschoolers allow their children to follow their own paths, many do manage to direct the kids a bit with strategic placement of learning materials. Sandra Dodd, who coined the term, explains this practice well on her website. She explains, “Some of our most successful items have been toys or objects for playing with (sometimes not purely a toy) like pattern blocks, castle blocks, magnets (or some new magnet … Continue reading →

A Day in the Life of a Relaxed Homeschooler with Teens

Some time back, I am my fellow homeschool bloggers all discussed what a day in the life of homeschooling looked like from our perspective. I wrote A Day in the Life of a Relaxed Homeschooler part 1 Part 2 , and Part 3 Valorie Delp Wrote A Day in the Life of a Highly Regulated Relaxed Homeschooler part 1 and part 2 Karen Edminsten gave a peek into her homeschooling life with More Charlotte Mason: An atmosphere, a discipline, a life. I highly recommend you read these posts. It has been several years since I wrote my “Day In the … Continue reading →

Homeschool Parents in Germany Still Fighting Nazi Laws

“The ‘Schulpflicht’ – the laws that require school attendance – are on the books in the German states, and have been traced back to the ‘Reichsschulpflicht Gesetz’ [federal compulsory attendance laws] which was passed in 1938. Except for the removal of references to the Nazi party, these laws are identical or substantially the same as the laws passed by Hitler’s government, criminalizing parents who keep their children home for school.” This is what the parents Juergen and Rosemarie Dudeck of Archfeld Germany have alleged in court in their fight to homeschool their children. To date they have been wholly unsuccessful … Continue reading →

Has Homeschooling Become too Accessible

Diane Dachyshyn, a twenty year homeschool veteran writes” In the early days of this movement, parents wanted to know why and how to homeschool before they would commit. I can’t remember anyone who casually agreed to do it. No way! She ads, Today, homeschooling is almost commonplace. It seems that everyone knows someone who homeschools, and unfortunately, it also seems as if all of us know someone who has homeschooled poorly. The jist of the article is that homeschooling should probably be more exclusive as too many parents are jumping into it blindly and hoping for the best. It goes … Continue reading →

Homeschool Word of the Day: Flexibility

To be flexible adaptable, bendable, versatile, and yeilding. In homeschooling, flexibility is being able to loosen yourself from the confines of what is traditionally school and doing things to your own lifestyle and schedule. So often, new homeschoolers find themselves confined to doing things in the same way that they would have if they were in a school. In addition, most homeschoolers, old and new alike still hold a schedule that exactly mirrors that of a public school. In doing it they impose a certain rigidity upon their schedule and often suck the fun out of their own lives. It … Continue reading →

Why Drama is Important in Homeschooling

As I mentioned in the last homeschool blog post, Carnival of Educators -Drama Club Edition, I am in the middle of tech week for my kids Drama Club which is an extention of their once a week homeschool program. As a quick refresher, my kids attend Artios Academies which is a once a week homeschool program where kids learn about a different time period each year through the arts. (This post explains the program in more detail. You may notice there was a name change for the “school” my kids attend.) They study visual art, music, drama, dance, etc, of … Continue reading →

Homeschoolers Get Swine Flu Too

This school year began with three girls in my kids’ homeschool program (1 day a week) coming down with swine flu. That was the first week. Since then many of the other kids have come down the the ailments some getting more sick than others. My kids homeschool group visited a college last week for a competition and both of my kids came home sick. I don’t believe they had swine flu because they had no fevers, but the point is, my kids do get around, and they do get sick. With tech week starting it is also common for … Continue reading →

District Puts Breaks on Diplomas for Homeschoolers

In Iowa City homeschool parents have been enrolling their children in public school for the final trimester. of the 12 grade so they could receive a high school diploma. Superintendent Lane Plugge said district officials have seen a recent increase in homeschooled students transferring into the district for only one trimester to earn a diploma. The school board intends to put the breaks on this questionable behavior. A new policy may require students to be enrolled full time for two full years in order to receive a diploma from the district. The district would limit acceptable transfer credits to only … Continue reading →

Newsflash! All Homeschoolers are Not Conservative

Proof that all homeschoolers are not conservative… I watch Hardball with Chris Matthews. While Chris Matthews would not characterize himself as liberal (which I also do not) he is certainly far from conservative. With that said, on his November 23 show, he used homeschooling as a litmus test to decide if someone else was conservative. He was speaking to Chris Chocola, president of The Club for Gowth, which bills itself as a “fiscally conservative organization that supports a low-tax and limited-government agenda.” Here is the conversation that ensued: CHOCOLA: The Club for Growth is focused solely on economic issues. And … Continue reading →