In many ways I can hardly believe that I am saying this ...
I am officially no longer a homeschooling mom.
Due to some changes in our family situation my only child is enrolled in a public school for the first time in her life. As my amazing daughter begins this new journey in her life I, too, am starting a journey. I am going to be a full-time college student.
I will never regret the years I spent at home teaching my child not only the basic academic skills but also to love literature, to love and serve the Lord and to be a strong, independent thinker. I look back upon those years with fondness and gratitude. They were what we needed at the time. But God, in His infinite wisdom, has closed one door and opened another for us.
With warmest wishes to you all and many thanks for the wonderful home educators I've known throughout this crazy, wonderful journey, I bid you all a fond adieu.
May you all have many happy years.
Carole
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Gov't Drops Swine Flu Name Over Pork Protests
Want to get an idea just how powerful the meat industry is in the U.S.? Pig farmers protest the name "swine flu" and Pres. Obama starts calling it the "H1N1 Virus" so as not to tick off the pork lobby. Remember, swine flu is called swine flu for the same reason that HIV is called Human Immunodeficiency Virus and FIV is called Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. Because it originated in swine. It is most commonly found infecting swine. Yet the government is going to change how it refers to this virus because pig farmers are upset by the association with swine?
It isn't about what is best or safest for we, the people - it is about what is most cost effective and profit-protecting for these mega industries. Our craving to eat way more than the typical and healthy portion of meat at every meal and the desire to make as much money as possible from that craving has led to factory farming practices that invite and encourage diseases like this. Then we're shocked when it happens. And even worse our government is willing to cover up the source of the problem to protect the lobbies that give the politicians the money to run for their offices.
Do you think if this was "soy flu" that anyone would be running out to rename it so as not to offend vegetarian lobbying groups? Heck no. But the meat industries and the dairy industry are super powerful. And they aren't going to let anything stand in the way of their profits. We, the people, need to support local agriculture, sustainable farming practices, and the idea of a smaller government that is accountable to the people and not lobbies and special interest groups. Why are "we, the people" not considered a special interest group?
Get a clue, America. Your government, including the FDA and USDA (the groups that are supposed to protect you) are run by the people who they're supposed to be regulating. Conflict of interest anyone??
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With digital cameras and cell phones with cameras and Facebook, MySpace and blogs abounding the candid self-photo is now ubiquitous. Everyone takes them. Everyone displays them.
I'm not opposed to them - my daughter takes tons of them. She's a shutterbug who loves to take pictures of everything (pets, food, people). Unfortunately, I am not a fan of having my photo taken so when she needs a photographic outlet she is often her own best subject. This is not, in my estimation, a problem.
What is problematic to me is the abundance of poses and candid shots on these sites (including here at the homeschooling ning.com community) where young girls are trying to be "sexy."
First and foremost my problem with this is that even adult women don't need to advertise themselves as though their sexuality is a cheaply valued commodity. There are enough people out there ready to do their best to try to degrade your worth as a human being - why make it easier for them. But pre-teen and teen aged girls really should avoid this. The rush to "grow up" (and in this context one can only assume to "grow up" is a euphemism for become a more sexual being) is so much more harmful than they have the maturity to realize.
Second I have to wonder about the poses that these girls seem to think equate to sexy. They are either a sexualized version of a child-like pose (which is disturbing enough for a wholly different blog) or the pursed "pouty" lips and a peace sign (still can't figure out what about that is sexy - they look like deranged fish).
These candid photos are supposed to (I assume) showcase one's individuality and show us all who the subject "really is." Yet, all of the photos look the same no matter who is in them. The poses are so similar that the faces blur. No one stands out as an individual person because they're all so busy trying to be Miley Cyrus or Vanessa Hudgens or whoever the current tartlet of the week happens to be.
They all accomplish the same thing though - they scream, "LOOK AT ME!" with the underlying and unspoken message being, "I don't think that there's anything about me that is worth your attention except my sexuality."
Note to tween and teen girls -
1 - Boys will notice that you are a girl even if you don't take the candid photo of yourself with the pouty lips and the peace sign.
2 - Any boy who doesn't notice you or isn't interested in you unless you are putting forth 'sexy' images of yourself via the net or texting isn't worth your time.
The world at large will do all it can to devalue you. You don't need to help it along. Have some self-respect and don't allow yourself to be valued as anything less than the unique and wonderful individual that you are.
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I saw this "checklist" to see if you're a "real homeschooler" and thought, "I just have to ask Sk8rGirl these questions." In doing so I have come to realize that we are simply odd. We're obviously not the average school type as I am radically anti-government schooling. But we are clearly not the average homeschooler if this list is truly representative.
Answers and commentary on the answers follows.
You know you're a home schooler if...
Growing up/now
[] Own/have owned a denim jumper.
[] You were at least 13 when you got your first "trendy" haircut. More like 10.
[X] Everything in your closet at some time was referred to as modest.
[] You do/have tucked things in that shouldn't be tucked in.
[] You have been a member of at least 3 co-ops. Nope. Only one.
[] You were a true 16 and never been kissed.
[] Your mom drives a van of some sort.
[] You have at least one childhood picture where you, your mom, and all your siblings matched. No siblings and mom/daughter have never matched.
[] You are/were/will be a PSEO Student. I don't even know what this means.
[X] At some point in your life you were more comfortable with adults than kids your own age. Yes. But she is also an only child - so is it the homeschooling or the only child status?
[X] Have studied ways to defend your beliefs, debate, and/or create laws.
[] Used uber conservative aBecka curriculum. As Catholic homeschoolers we're unlikely to use aBecka.
[X] You use big words that most adults could not use in conversation.
[X] You can use the words sublime, epiphany, and cognizant correctly.
[X] You have a favorite word. Yes, several. Troubadour, summon, inertia, aesthetic and several others.
[X] You have an understanding of Latin root words and how to use them.
[X] People from the outside world are referred to as "public schoolers."
[] You or one of your siblings knits. Oh heck no!
[] You laugh at the decline in literacy in
[X] You score constantly higher than "public schoolers" on standardized tests.
[] You have no concept of cafeteria food. Sadly we do.
[X] Family vacations are/ can be referred to as "Field Trips."
[X] Traveling on said vacations have included stopping at historical site markers along the way.
[X] You have never been in a public elementary school, middle school, or high school during regular school hours.
[] You have gone to or been involved in a homeschool convention.
[X] You read books on a regular basis.
[] You have taken part in a political protest.
[X] You were a Pride and Prejudice fan before the movie.
[] You were a Lord of the Rings fan prior to the movie.
[] You were a Chronicles of Narnia fan before the movie.
[] You speak a language other than English.
[X] You dream of dating characters from books instead of celebrities. Her biggest literary "crush" is Mr. Darcy.
It has been ASSUMED that you...
[] Have won many spelling bees.
[X] Have no social life.
[X] Have no friends of the opposite gender.
[X] Are extremely inept.
[X] Only listen to classical music. People are surprised that she's a heavy metal/hard rock fan.
[] Play piano or the violin.
[] Do not own a pair of trendy jeans. All they have to do is look at her.
[] Have no knowledge of drugs or alcohol
[] Don't date, only court.
[] Have never been to a "party."
[] Know no other beliefs other than what your family believes.
You have been asked more than 10 times in your life:
[X] If you wear pajamas to school.
[X] If you get perfect grades because your mom grades you.
[X] If your mom teaches you or if somebody else's mom does.
[X] How do you meet people.
[X] Why you aren't in school.
[X] If you get days off whenever you want.
[X] If you're going to be homeschooled through college. Only once though.
[X] If you have a big family.
[X] What your parents are protecting you from. Not exactly like this - but yes.
[] To quote something famous.
[X] For the answer, because supposedly homeschoolers always have all the answers.
You have "rebelled" by:
[X] Listening to "worldly music"
[X] Wearing black fingernail polish
[X] Wearing tight clothes or letting your midriff show or showing off what color of boxers you are wearing
[X] Watching a PG-13 movie
[] Breaking dress code
[X] Listening to music with a beat
[X] Dancing. Especially dances that involve contact for longer than 2 seconds. With somebody of the opposite gender.
In this last section I have to say that she has done all of these things but none of them are rebellion. They are things that we, her parents, allow and in some cases encourage. We don't even have a dress code, per se. Though we do acknowledge that different types of clothing are more appropriate than others for certain venues and activities. For instance she would never wear Tripp jeans and a My Chemical Romance t-shirt to Mass, just as she would never wear a long skirt, blouse and mantilla to a My Chemical Romance concert. Heck, Sk8rGirl even has blond and pink hair and a nostril piercing.
Clearly we are not average homeschoolers. It makes me wonder if there are other weird homeschoolers out there or if we are all alone in our weirdness.
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I confess that I am one of those people who is greatly annoyed by bad punctuation, lack of capitalization and poor spelling. I am not taking about the occasional error (everyone makes those) nor the obvious typographical errors (again everyone does that from time to time). I am not even talking about the legitimate mistakes that we all make.
I am referring more specifically to the intentionally and willfully ignorant postings that you find on message boards and blogs everywhere. The type were text speak (brb, g2g and WTF) are used in place of full words and phrases, where creative spelling shortcuts are used in place of full words and where the exclamation point is so over used as to have lost all semblance of meaning. They are always annoying and they make my fingers itch for a red pen.
They are at their most annoying however, when they are written by students who identify themselves as homeschooled. Take for instance the following few sentences taken at random from a blog post on a homeschooling community where I am a member:
then on momorial day i am going with the whole family!!!!!to my dads parents house!!!it is going to be of the chain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!it is going to be tha bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!h ya bby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
I did not post the entire blog entry because it was simply more of the same. These few sentences (can they rightfully be called sentences) are representative of the entire entry. I did make one change to the entry, I deleted approximately 50 (perhaps more) exclamation points from the last line because the sheer number of them made my blog formatting go haywire.
While my daughter is free to use text speak while texting and the ubiquitous instant messaging shortcuts while sending instant messages we have a rule in our house. If you wish to be allowed to post your thoughts and opinions on the World Wide Web you will do so in a coherent manner that shows people that you are not one of the illiterate masses. This holds true most particularly when she is identifying herself as a homeschool student.
It is either ignorance or laziness that prompts young people to write in such a sloppy and incoherent way. It doesn't really matter which it is. There is simply no excuse, in this day of spell check programs (some even built into browsers like Firefox) for this kind of over the top abuse of the English language.
I fully realize that kids in public and private schools are no more or less likely to write such rubbish. Yet when I consider the number of people who look askance at me when I say that we are home educators and ask, "What about academics?" I cannot help but think of these self-identifying homeschool students and the manner in which they represent not only themselves but all homeschooled students. I wonder though, do they think about their own writings when having to defend being home educated?
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I have no idea what form this blog will take or how it will all shape up. But I can promise one thing. It will be random. It might even, at times, be weird. Why? Because I am random and weird - so is my wonderfully amazing daughter, Bree, and my wonderful husband Tom.
I am a homeschooling mom. Some would say I am an "experienced" homeschooling mom since we've been homeschooling since kindergarten in 2001. That's nearly 8 years ago (for those who are counting). I would not dare to say I'm experienced or an expert or even an "old hand" as there are times now when I feel just as confused and uncertain as I did the day I rashly decided (during the kindergarten registration tour of the local public school) that public schools were out and homeschooling was our future.
Since that day we've tried school-at-home with a set curriculum, unschooling, relaxed schooling and toyed with the ideas of using the classical and Charlotte Mason methods. What I have learned in that time is that my daughter learns in spite of me. (I'm only 1/2 joking there.)
I've had a lot of people ask me about my experiences with homeschooling and I nearly always say the same thing. Which is that what I do, how I do it and how it has worked for us is probably not of a lot of use to the average homeschooling family. Why would that be? Because I homeschool an only child and that is a completely different situation.
I am an only child, married to an only child raising and homeschooling an only child. None of us has ever had siblings. That means that we probably do things a little differently. It also means that we stand out a bit amongst other home educators, most of whom have families with more than one child.
Homeschooling one child isn't harder than homeschooling more than one - but it isn't necessarily easier either. It is just different. There are challenges that face all homeschooling families, there are challenges that face larger homeschooling families and there are challenges that face small homeschooling families like ours. None is necessarily tougher than the others - they're just different. Though I readily admit that I am certainly not the person to give advice on what to do when you have 4 kids in 4 different grades and you have to try to keep track of all of their school work and their chores.
As we head toward the 8th anniversary of our decision to homeschool Bree just turned 13 (today) and she's half way through the 8th grade. I'm gearing up for a whole new season of home education - High School. I'm scared out of my mind and at the same time excited about the possibilities. A set of circumstances which should make this blog even more random.
Happy Homeschooling!
God Bless,
Carole