Principled Discovery - Homeschool Blogger

Principled Discovery - Homeschool Blogger "Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."--Alexis de Toqueville http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:06:00 -0500 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:06:00 -0500 Homeschool Talk Show launching in July I will be launching a homeschool talk show Monday July 7 at 1PM (Central Standard Time).  This will be a live, call-in show broadcast over the internet.  It will be all about homeschooling, with a particular focus on homeschool advocacy.  A live chat will also be available to further discuss the show or anything else you would like to chat with other homeschoolers about while listening. The radio show's home page is here:  Home School Talk, where you will be able to find updates about the show, when it airs and the number to call.  You can also set a reminder to have show information emailed to you.  The show will also be recorded and available for download after it is broadcast. You can even listen from your own blog if you wish to embed the player in your sidebar! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  And I have written up much more information on my main blog. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/545433/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/545433/ Home Education Week is here Well, almost....and actually on at my new site.  Last week, I shared our governor's ground breaking proclamation, giving Nebraska homeschoolers their own holiday perhaps slightly less well-known than Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.  Not to be outdone, Florida's governor followed suit.  Now, as I attempt to figure out what I can do in the real world to bring the deserved appreciation to homeschooling, I would like to give all of you the opportunity to participate in Home Education Week. Now for my graphic, which you are free to use to help promote Home Education Week: Please consider the following as writing prompts, not assignments.  The ideas I list aren't meant to restrict the topic in any way, but only to offer a starting point.  Feel free to participate in as many or as few of the prompts as you like!  I'll have a Mr. Linky thing set up with each of the posts to make it easier for everyone who chooses to participate to share their posts.  Also, since I can easily write most of these posts ahead of time, I will likely set them to publish the night before around 9PM central time.   <ol>Looking Back  Sunday, March 30</ol> <ol> Share your personal history...before you were a home educator.  What was life like?  Think about things you miss and things you and your family have gained.</ol> <ol>Profiling Home Educators Monday, March 31 </ol> <ol>Describe yourself, your family or one of your children.  What is it like to be home educated in your family?  What is "normal" for you?</ol> <ol>April Fool's! Tuesday, April 1</ol> <ol>And we have likely all felt the fool in one way or another.  Share your greatest challenge.  Or one of those terrible, horrible no good, very bad days where the only thing there is to do seems to involve moving to Australia.</ol> <ol>Recipe for Success Wednesday, April 2</ol> <ol>It is also National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day! So share a recipe...figuratively, as in two parts love, one part creativity, or literally, as in a super quick, nutritious meal your kids scarf up.  Think about what you do in the day, what helps keep it organized and you sane (or how you got past that need for organization and saneness!), and curriculum materials you find effective.</ol> <ol>Show and Tell Thursday, April 3</ol> <ol>Show off those talents.  Share a story, a special moment, a piece of artwork.   Any accomplishment, great or small, is fair game.</ol> <ol>In Their Own Words Friday, April 4</ol> <ol>Share your children's home education experience in their own words.  What have they said about their education?  What are their likes and dislikes?  Share some stories, some quotes, or turn your blog over to your children for the day.</ol> <ol>Looking Forward Saturday, April 5</ol> <ol>What are your goals for home education?  What do you hope to instill in your children?  Are you planning any changes to how you educate your children?</ol> I hope to see you next week, and look forward to some interesting reading! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/507093/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:38:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/507093/ HOTM, free homeschooling e-zine is up! Take a look at all the fantastic articles in this month's edition of The Heart of the Matter, a free homeschool e-zine!  Just click on the cover: And don't forget to check out my article on page 21:  Freedom Is Not a Gift, Fighting For Educational Liberty. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/477438/ Fri, 8 Feb 2008 23:20:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/477438/ Christmas cards for German homeschoolers Homeschooling is currently illegal in Germany and families who choose to pursue this method of education face court, fines, potential imprisonment and possible loss of custody of their children. Many flee to neighboring countries, but some have also chosen to stay in a fight to allow educational choice for Germany. The Neubronners is one such family.  To assist them in their fight, a postcard action is being organized in the hopes of helping their case gain more publicity and foster positive discussion of homeschooling in Germany, as well as hopefully encourage officials in the case to reconsider their stance. If you are interested, they are requesting post cards or Christmas cards to be sent to the German Education Senator, Frau Jürgens-Pieper. The tone should be friendly and personal. One suggestion: Dear Mrs. Jürgens-Pieper, Merry Christmas in the hopes that there will be educational freedom in Bremen by next Christmas! (Sincerely, your family’s name) English is generally ok, especially for something so brief, but here is the German for those interested: Liebe Frau Jürgens-Pieper, Frohe Weihnachten, In der Hoffnung, dass es bis nächste Weihnachten in Bremen Bildungsfreiheit gibt. Mit schönen Grüssen von ………… … The address is: Senatorin für Bildung und Wissenschaft Rembertiring 8-12 28195 Bremen Germany If you would like to help spread this information, feel free to download the image above and use it on your site!  thank you! Crossposted from Principled Discovery http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/436971/ Sat, 1 Dec 2007 12:08:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/436971/ Seeking submissions Hopefully somebody stumbles across this, but I will be hosting the next Carnival of Homeschooling at my new blog on my new domain: http://principleddiscovery.com You can find a little more information here or submit directly through the blogcarnival submission form here. It is a nice way to share homeschooling with some new bloggers! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/420390/ Sat, 3 Nov 2007 14:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/420390/ Our precious little Peanut! Some of you may be wondering what happened to me if you did not notice my new blog.  Probably you just gave up on me ever posting again.  But I wanted to share pictures of my new baby.  Little Peanut is so sweet!  See for yourself! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/328204/ Mon, 14 May 2007 03:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/328204/ Principled Geology We've begun studying geology in our little homeschool, which has been an interesting subject to use the Principled Approach with.  Here is our rough foundation. Geology comes from two Greek words:  geo, meaning earth and logos meaning discourse.  In its basic sense, geology is the discourse, or study, of the earth.  Further, from Webster's 1828: The doctrine or science of the structure of the earth or terraqueous globe, and of the substances which compose it, or the science of compound minerals or aggregate substances which compose the earth, the relations which the several constituent masses bear to each other, their formation, structure, position and direction:  it extends also to the various alterations and decompositions to which minerals are subject. Scripture:  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 We actually looked at all of Genesis chapter one to learn more about earth's early history, but this verse was the focus.  All the features we seen in the earth were created by God and forces under His control. Application:  God created earth as a unique place capable of sustaining life.  Here, we have all we need to live.  There are several unique biomes, each displaying incredible biological diversity and interdependence of species.  There is even interdependence between biomes.  We have mountains, deserts, oceans, wetlands, plains and tundra to name a few important features.  Learning about geology tells more about where we live and the home God prepared for us. Lesson:  Mountains Definition:  A large mass of earth and rock, rising above the common level of the earth or adjacent land, but of no definite altitude. We apply mountain to the largest eminences on the globe; but sometimes the word is used for a large hill. Scripture:  Gen 8:4, Gen 19:17, Ex 3:12, Ex 19:3, etc. Mountains are perhaps the most impressive geologic features on earth, towering above their surroundings and affecting the weather patterns of entire continents.  In scripture, they are frequently a place of refuge.  There are different kinds of mountains, each with its own unique history.  We know from scripture that the earth has experienced numerous catastrophic events, including its formation when God gathered the land together, the great flood and earth quakes.  Each of these would have resulted in the shifting of great land masses.  This project looks at a particular kind of mountain which is formed when continental plates are forced against each other.  The rock, under pressure, begins to fold and rise up.  In geologic terms, this is known as an anticline.  To model this, we took three rectangular pieces of playdough and laid them on top of one another.  Mouse laid this on the floor and put pressure on both sides of the playdough.  The sides push toward the center, forcing the center to rise up.  She recorded what this looked like from the top and the side in her notebook.  Then, we modeled heavy erosion which can occur due to the slow processes of weather and time, more quickly through glacial movements or very quickly through other catastrophic events.  She sliced the top of the anticline off with a butter knife and recorded what that looked like from the top and the side.  This gives a good idea of what an anticline might look like "in nature." Synclines are essentially the opposite of an anticline.  When the earth is pushed together, the rocks fold downward, forming a valley between two higher points.  We also eroded this with our butter knife acting as an imaginary river carving through the depression.  She drew what the syncline and eroded synclines looked like in her notebook. Finally, an overfold shows uneven pressure.  The rock can be pushed up and over itself, creating a sort of "s" shape.  She also modeled and recorded this, together with its eroded forms. I also checked out a field guide to geology and she went through the pictures, looking for examples of each feature and correctly identified each one.  Unfortunately, these kinds of forces were not at work in Nebraska, and I believe there is only one place where this kind of feature is visible and that is in a privately owned rock quarry.  Otherwise, we'd make a field trip to go see one. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/278201/ Wed, 31 Jan 2007 21:35:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/278201/ Holocaust Day <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_g74IYOBka1o/RbwtwqEmSbI/AAAAAAAAAEs/CTFPMgttBww/s1600-h/AuschwitzLiberation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_g74IYOBka1o/RbwtwqEmSbI/AAAAAAAAAEs/CTFPMgttBww/s200/AuschwitzLiberation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5024941598189177266" border="0" /></a>"Die Ermittlung" (The Investigation) by Peter Weiss is one of the most dramatic plays I have ever read.  There is no "dramatic license" and no manipulation of facts to tell the story.  There is no real climax.  And no real conclusion.  It is difficult to read.  The terror moves forward, pulling, dragging and compelling through each page. At times, it left me sick to my stomach.  He weaves together the testimonies of 9 witnesses and 18 defendants to tell the story of Auschwitz from being loaded into cattle cars to be shipped to the camp, through the selection process and the atrocious living conditions and on toward the gas chambers.  Death awaited at every point in the journey. Perhaps what left me most disturbed and most unsettled were the testimonies of the defendants.  They stood at the gates of the camps, reeling at the stench of the cargo they were to unload.  (Human beings who could barely walk after hours and days of being stacked in a cattle car with no food, no water and no lavatory facilities.  The dead were piled to the side, and the living were in shock.)  They pointed their guns, and sorted the first round of survivors.  They prodded to keep prisoners working.  They sorted the sick and the dying.  They shot prisoners.  They sent them to the gas chamber. And yet, I couldn't hate them as I so desperately wanted to.  Reading the cold testimonies, I felt a sort of pity.  For the first time, I felt a sort of understanding for the Nazi "machine" and an understanding for the perpetrators that defies reason.  Defendant 12 summarizes the situation well in Part III of Canto 6 (my translation, punctuation and spacing the same as the original): <blockquote>Mr. Chairman I would like to explain something Every third word in our school time dealt with those who were guilty of all and that must be eradicated It was hammered into us that this was the best for our own people In the Fuehrer-schools we learned above all to accept everything silently When someone asked something else then it was said What was done was done according to the law It helps nothing that the laws are different today They said to us Your job is to learn You need schooling more than bread Mr. Chairman Thinking was taken from us That was done for us by others (The accused laugh in agreement) </blockquote>What happened in Nazi Germany was possible because Hitler had absolute control of the education system.  This development was not something which occurred overnight, but instead was the culmination of centuries of centralization.  I cannot overemphasize this point.  Many speak of Hitler's education law in reference to the current homeschooling situation in Germany, but that makes it seem as if the minor changes he made to existing law were the result of a totalitarian dictatorship.  It also makes it seem distant and unrelated to us.  What this annoying headline does not consider is that it was the centralized education system which made the totalitarian dictatorship possible.  Yes, he outlawed homeschooling and private schools.  But essentially all he did was add the weight of enforcement to a previously existing law and outlaw private schools.  The change was not dramatic. January 27 has marked a day of remembrance in Germany since 1996.  It has been an international memorial since 2005, the 60th anniversary of the liberation and the 60th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.  <a href="http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/album_auschwitz/lili.html">Lilly Jacob</a> was also liberated, after having suffered in Auschwitz and losing her family.  In the abandoned barracks of an SS officer (in another concentration camp 100 miles from Auschwitz), she found a photo album which contained pictures of her family and friends.  No one knows exactly why it was kept or what it was for.  No one is really sure exactly who took the pictures.  But it survives as the only photographic evidence of Jews arriving at Auschwitz and documents the entire selection process except the execution itself. As you look through the <a href="http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/album_auschwitz/home_auschwitz_album.html">56 pages and 193 photos</a> documenting this horror, think about what it takes for a nation to commit such an atrocity.  This is not the vision of a single, evil man, but the culmination of a thousand tiny steps.  Many of which were taken "for the good of the nation." http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/276141/ Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:32:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/276141/ Homeschooling in Germany For anyone interested, I have begun writing occasional updates on the homeschooling situation in Germany for the Company Porch.  These consist largely of translations of German reports with some commentary.  You can view the category here: Updates From Germany For some reason, one entry didn't make it into the category:  War on Homeschooling I also have some information on my main blog, although this comprises everything I have written about Germany, not just about homeschooling. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/274878/ Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/274878/ Difficulties and successes in our homeschool Hopefully now that HSB seems to be working AND we have DSL (I can't quite get over that), I will again post here now and again.  Not promising anything regular.  I don't know how people with multiple blogs do it.  I have enough with my one blog that I try to maintain regularly, and the two I contribute to.  But that is another story altogether. Things are going all right in our little homeschool.  I think I need to get over my personal aversion to "drill and kill" or anything that tastes of it.  My daughter has a good understanding of mathematics.  She really understands the principles and can figure out complex problems.  She even figured out multiplication all on her own. But she is hindered in the amount of time it takes her to figure out simple problems.  We need to work on some automaticity, I think. Other than that, we are engaged in a wonderful unit on Jamestown that I'm thoroughly enjoying.  Here's a bit more on that, for anyone interested.  Our study in Proverbs is going pretty well, but I need to work out the next section.  So far, we have derived and worked on two principles from Proverbs 31:  diligence and scheduling.  She has a binder just for this study.  I may share some of it later, but the plan is for her to continue working on this throughout her education.  For diligence, for example, we read Proverbs 31:10-31 and talked about the character traits of this ideal woman.  My daughter decided she was "hard working."  She selected a verse that she thought exemplified this virtue, and copied a portion of it: She...worketh willingly with her hands.  Proverbs 31:13 Then we defined diligence (I love the Latin meaning): DILIGENCE, n. [L., to love earnestly; to choose.] 1. Steady application in business of any kind; constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; exertion of body or mind without unnecessary delay or sloth; due attention; industry; assiduity. I then reread the verses and she raised her hand at all the activities which described diligence.  I then began teaching her to cross stitch, and we had numerous conversations about this character trait while doing other household chores.  I wish I were a bit more diligent and served as a better model in this, but I suppose it isn't the end of the world when mother and daughter work on something together.  She started a sampler...the old fashioned kind which just displays the stitches she has learned.  She will be keeping that in her notebook, along with samples of other things she learns to do over the years.  Later, we may include some basic sewing, knit and crochet patterns, such as for blankets, baby items, etc., that might come in handy when she is on her own.  (This didn't happen all in a day...more like over the course of two weeks). My goal is that when she is finished with her education at home, this notebook will serve as a reminder of the years of work she has done and serve as a basic primer in "housewifery."  A simple guide that she will write herself on all the basic skills I didn't really have when I moved out, such as cooking, cleaning, scheduling and general household management.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/274055/ Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:28:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/gottsegnet/274055/