Homeschool Rights of Passage - Homeschool Blogger

case and point

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 03:29:00 -0500

the last entry looks grotesque...why? Because this blogamajigger won't let me edit the text color and highlight to the choices I have selected and it won't let me 'deselect' what's been done in edit mode.

Argh!

Gotta Laugh

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 03:00:00 -0500

My last entry I had high hopes of periodically 'doing school' thru the summer. I s'pose if you call riding bikes, swimming, camping, building a fort and birthday parties 'school' they heck yah we 'did school'.

We'll start soon. Right now it's crunch time with publications for the MOMS group and gearing up for registration for our homeschool co-op (and more publications for me to update). So in an effort to not start they year by getting frustrated at the kids because I'm trying to focus on something and they want me to tell them what subject they should do next (I taught you how to read...there's the list...follow it -SHEESH!)

Now I'm up in the air about staying with this blog. As I've lamented before...it's not the most user friendly system. It's not easy to post cute pics of the kids; forget re-doing the template to somthing say..grunge with a flourish...it's outta the question. That is unless I want to write my own html for it, who has the time to write code, teach, volunteer at church, play soccer, clean the house, walk the dog and play an instrument? Not I, said the fly! Not to mention I've resolved to ride my bike to all my meetings at church...which is an approximate 7 mile ride - one way, uphill both ways...in the snow...with no shoes. (That was humor for those of you unaccostomed to my bent toward the irrelivant/bizzarre yet some how it's correlated in my mind type of humor.)

NO funny stuff today...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:08:00 -0500

Ya know I find it really hard to blog out here now. I may be searching for an easier site to blog on. It's a big pain to up load photos here and making your typeset funky to fit your mood could be easier as well. That's why the only stuff I've been posting is the goofy things I find elsewhere. So now for some real updates.

Today we are 'doing school'. We've had about a week off which is more than I planned to pause for. The kids had their yearly assessment tests at the beginning of May. They both did so well! They worked hard this year and it showed!

I plan to have them do studies all summer long, not every day just enough so they don't get too rusty!

Last week Renee and I had a garage sale on Friday then went to garage sales on Saturday. I picked up two scooters with little bicycle tires for two dollars each. The kids are loving them and it give us extra toys for their friends to play on when they're over here. Sunday we had Nicole's 10th birthday party. The weather was so beautiful, we stayed out on the back porch the whole time.

Scott picked up a fort from Craigslist a couple weeks ago and he's been re-assembling it every weekend since (between rounds of golf that is). He added a rock climbing wall, and we'll hopefully be getting the tire swing attached this weekend? I don't know if that's his plan or if he wants to get the siding on first. It's gonna be super cute!

I've been restoring a desk I picked up at a garage sale for $5. It had a broken roll top on it, my lap top wouln't have fit with that on there so I just took it off and puttied in the holes, I've painted it white and distressed it, added all new hardware and now I just need to finish off the back as it had a flimsy piece of board on there since it was meant to face a wall. My desk faces out so I need that part finished. Once I've cut and painted that piece then it'll be done. (the $5 desk has increased it's price several hundred percent!)

I'll try and post pics of the fort and the desk soon.

Fun stuff

Thu, 22 May 2008 15:53:00 -0500

For fun...

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:18:00 -0600

To the snow!

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:11:00 -0600

My daughter LOVES snow. So for the last several years we've made it up to the higher elevations just so she can get out and play in her favorite substance! This year it took us a few more weeks than usual to get up there due to ilnesses but we made it. Here's out photo journal.

Imagine the snow is super fluffy and drifts about 7 feet deep....we sank....a lot. It also started pouring down rain....we were soaked, still it was a great adventure!

Lexophiles - lovers of words - will enjoy these.

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:47:00 -0600

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
7. If you don't pay your exorcist you may be repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.
13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
16. A calendar's days are numbered.
17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.
22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
23. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

THE MIRACLE OF THE "HIGHLY QUALIFIED" TEACHERS

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:04:00 -0600

(Or, "Standards? We Don't Need No Steenkin' Standards")
An interesting bit of information - makes you feel better about your choice to homeschool, yes?

When the Kennedy/Bush "No Dollar Left Behind" education "reform" was passed virtually all teachers were supposed to be "highly qualified" according to standards to be developed by the states. California led the way by adopting a set of standards that effectively declared that if you were part of the system and could breathe, you were a "highly qualified" education professional.

Now the press has belatedly discovered that states are claiming teachers are "highly qualified" on the basis of criteria that have little if anything to do with quality. Well, did you really think that the education special interests were going to run the risk of losing some federal money or suffer embarrassment over something as trivial (to them) as the qualifications of their teachers?

Although education officials dreaded the Bush Administration’s allegedly two-fisted approach to public schools in its No Child Left Behind program, a new study shows that they seem to have found ways to work around it. “For one thing, the law included a number of loopholes that allowed states to claim that veteran teachers were highly qualified using a wide variety of criteria that might not be associated with quality,” the Aspen Institute found.

“For example, in Minnesota, all elementary teachers licensed before 2001 were deemed highly qualified, regardless of whether they demonstrated subject-matter competency (McClure, Piché and Taylor 2006).”

“Similarly, Wisconsin considered teachers highly qualified if they had completed an approved program at any college or university in the United States (Education Trust 2003).” It should be noted that the Aspen Institute is hardly a free-market think tank. Nonetheless, despite its bias towards government programs, the AI researchers found official measurements of teachers’ competence wanting, to say the least. “For example, a study examining the impact of certification on student performance of 150,000 Los Angeles 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers from 2000 to 2003 found little difference between the achievement of students taught by certified teachers and that of students taught by uncertified teachers,” AI reports. “Many non-certified teachers—those deemed not highly qualified under NCLB—taught students who exhibited substantial gains in achievement, while many certified teachers, who earned highly qualified status, taught students who showed small learning gains (Gordon, Kane and Staiger 2006).” “A study of teachers in New York City produced parallel findings.” So did another in North Carolina.

“Although teachers who passed licensure tests—those who met the criteria for ‘highly qualified’ status—produced, on average, larger learning gains than teachers who did not pass, the study found, the difference between the two groups was small,” AI reveals. “In addition, some teachers who passed the test were not effective, while some teachers who did not pass were effective in the classroom.” Thus, teachers whose students may actually learn something do not fare as well under NCLB as their union counterparts with seniority but not necessarily skill.

Nevertheless, for what its worth, both get to participate in taxpayer-funded professional development days. “Under Title II of NCLB, the U.S. DOE provides $2.9 billion annually in grants to states and districts to improve teacher quality,” AI reports. “ However, in a study of how eleven districts used their Title II funds, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that many districts did not target their resources on any group of teachers, such as those who were not highly qualified (GAO 2005).”

Homeschool Rights Alert

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:55:00 -0600

Homeschoolers against NEA philosophy [petition] http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/homeschoolers-against-nea-philosophy The National Educational Association in their 2007-2008 Resolutions has taken a stand against homeschooling. It reads "The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used. The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools. The Association further believes that local public school systems should have the authority to determine grade placement and/or credits earned toward graduation for students entering or re-entering the public school setting from a home school setting." Statistics have shown that homeschooled students do exceptionally well. They excel (and win) spelling bees, score high on tests like the SAT, and go on to be accepted into many colleges. One Source: http://www.chec.org/Legislative/News/HomeschoolingStatistics/Index.html Homeschoolers also find benefits in co-op classes contrary to the NEA belief that students should only be instructed by their immediate families. Take a moment to tell the NEA that homeschooling is a real option that does produce wonderfully rounded and educated members of society. Please tell your friends about this petition and have them sign too! On October 22nd, we have used the NEA contact form to make sure they were aware of this petition.

Mt. St. Helens

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:06:00 -0500

We took a family field trip to the Coldwater Creek Observatory after Friday School last week. This observatory will be closing on November 5th so if you're in the area I highly reccomend the drive up. It's about 2 1/2 hours from Vancouver. The admission is $8 for adults and kids 15 and under are free.
The ranger talk is very educational, so stick around and listen in. Also take the drive down to Castle Lake, it's a short, pretty hike too! The fall weather's been great, so get out there!

www.flickr.com

More of sweetcelebrations' photos tagged with sthelens

Ugh...the photo's aren't showing up and I want to go to bed...just click on the words "more sweetcelebrations photo's tagged with sthelens " and that will take you to my flikr pics.