HomeSchoolBuzz.com

Site Problems

2008-07-08T16:15:00.001-04:00

Site Problems

Blog Buzz and many other things are not working right now on this site. I don't know how long this will take to fix. It was much worse earlier but I implemented a temporary fix. Please bear with us. It's not my fault!

Carnival of Homeschooling: Ice Cream!

2008-07-08T07:52:00.001-04:00

Carnival of Homeschooling: Ice Cream!

Amanda of the Daily Planet has an ice cream theme to the carnival this week. Yummy pictures. I'm sure she had fun photographing and then eating the many flavors. Why did I have to see this when I'm hungry?

Hi there! I want to invite you to come with me as I go to the the Ice Cream Parlor on this hot and muggy day in July in the state of Indiana.
I chose this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling theme because it has been really warm lately and ice cream is a great way to cool down. I went to the store on Sunday and after looking through the enormous amount of ice cream flavors, came home with the ones you will see featured in this week’s carnival.
So grab your favorite ice cream treat and come with me to the Ice Cream Parlor as we read some of homeschooling’s best bloggers. Read more...

Amazing Lego League 2 Board Run!

2008-07-07T09:57:00.001-04:00

Amazing Lego League 2 Board Run!

This is an amazing video to anyone who is familiar with F.I.R.S.T. lego league.
Usually a team will be lucky if they get most of the challenges done in the allotted 5 minutes. This team not only completes their entire board, but the robot flips itself over to the opposing team's board and completes all their challenges in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds. (In the actual competition, the team would only be allowed to do their own board.)
Soon FLL will be starting again. It's a great way to interest pre-teens in science and engineering. Form a homeschool team in your area.

Media finally reports on Subway contest

2008-07-07T09:30:00.001-04:00

Media finally reports on Subway contest

The Baltimore Sun is just getting around to reporting on the old news of Subway's exclusion of homeschoolers from their contest. I don't want to reignite the debate. Just passing this on.

Home-school children don't have the benefits of an athletic department, she said, but rely instead on recreational centers to play soccer or basketball and participate in physical education cooperatives taught by parents.
Rodriguez said these students are often overlooked, and that's why their parents were not happy when a restaurant's essay contest, offering $5,000 in sports equipment as the grand prize, shut out home-school children.
Read more...

Homeschooled for Rodeo

2008-07-07T09:20:00.001-04:00

Homeschooled for Rodeo

Austin Stewart’s done the whole teenage thing. He played baseball, basketball and ran cross country in junior high, and got his driver’s license a few months back.
But nothing, not even the freedom of the open road, can match the thrill of rodeo.
“Driving is just another thing. I’d rather ride a horse than drive a truck,” Stewart, who took part in the calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling events at this weekend’s 4-T Arena Rodeo, said. Read more...

The option of home schooling

2008-07-06T22:45:00.001-04:00

The option of home schooling

Like any typical weekday afternoon Kay Bindrim gathered three of her children around the kitchen table. As the center of the household, the eight-seat table used for family meals and down time also serves as a classroom.
While helping her 5-year-old write the letter "M," Bindrim kept an ear on her daughter using the laptop for a math session on the other side of the table. An hour later, Bindrim was at the table teaching her two oldest daughters grammar lessons while they sat beside her. Read more...

Homeschool Blog Buzz grows to 135

2008-07-06T22:29:00.001-04:00

Homeschool Blog Buzz grows to 135

It's been too long since we added any new blogs to Homeschool Blog Buzz. So tonight I finally got around to adding all these: Bona Vita, Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom, Frugal Homeschooling, Homeschooled twins, homeschoolingcoach.com, Learning to Amble..., Loves School, Song of My Heart, Thinking Out Loud and Tree of Life Musings.
That brings the total blogs roll to 135. Your blog can be part of the fun too if it's mostly about homeschooling and somewhat interesting. (Yes, sometimes it takes months for me to answer and you might have to ask twice.) Visit homeschool blog buzz...

Homeschool: Learn by Doing

2008-07-06T09:17:00.001-04:00

Homeschool: Learn by Doing

It was Marcus Anthony's misdiagnosis as "special ed" in preschool that convinced his mother to homeschool him.
Now, more than a dozen years and nine kids later, any doubts that Louise Anthony of Hopkins Park had about the merits of homeschooling have long since faded.
Her children -- Marcus, 19; Marcel, 18; twins Louvina and Marius, 16; Marcial, 14; Markius, 11; Louisha, 8; twins Loushanti and Mari, 6; and Louiya, 2 -- are all homeschooled. It's been the family's educational choice since Marcus' bad experience. Read more...

Homeschool Pioneers

2008-07-05T23:15:00.001-04:00

Homeschool Pioneers

Michael Smith of HSLDA recalls John Holt and Raymond Moore's role in the homeschooling revolution in a Washington Times Op Ed.

The modern home-school movement traces its roots to the late '70s and early '80s when two main ideas began to revive the method of education our forefathers practiced. First was a belief that the traditional classroom and institutional school, as a whole, was inadequate to meet the individual educational needs of children, and in some cases may actually harm a child's development. Read more...

Surfing and Extreme Homeschooling

2008-07-05T09:46:00.001-04:00

Surfing and Extreme Homeschooling

When director Doug Pray first met the family, it was the surfing theme that commanded his attention. But as he began hearing their stories, "I started realizing that this was not a surf movie at all," he said from his home in Los Angeles. "This was an amazing opportunity to tell the story of a family who dared to live differently. A lot of Americans fantasize about doing this, and Doc did it for decades. The title does make you think about surfing, but it's metaphorical. There are times I wish the word 'surf' wasn't in the title." Read more...

Socialization Snobs

2008-07-05T09:43:00.002-04:00

Socialization Snobs

Don't let the "adult language" scare you away from this one. The language in question is a quote from a teacher's blog, recounting a conversation she heard via 13-year-old kids!

Note: This column includes adult language.
Ask any homeschooling parent why they homeschool, and you're likely to receive as many different replies as there are families. Some of the common reasons include religious freedom, academic improvement, one-on-one tutoring and increased family closeness.
But for us, the single biggest reason we school at home correlates to the single biggest criticism homeschoolers get: socialization. Yes, it's largely due to the "socialization" children get in public schools that convinced us to homeschool.

The scene she describes of homeschooled kids interacting is exactly what I witness at our group events and co-ops.

Everyone associates with everyone. Teens dandle babies. Twelve-year-olds play gentle tag with 5-year-olds. If one child gets snarky with another, there are five or six moms (as well as older kids) around to see the bad behavior and instantly correct it, so it seldom gets out of hand. Manners are expected and reinforced. This is the breeding ground for homeschooling socialization. Read more...

School of One: Single Moms Homeschool

2008-07-05T09:33:00.001-04:00

School of One: Single Moms Homeschool

When her 12-year-old son, Logan, was struggling to understand fractions, Chrissy Swanke ordered an unsliced pizza and demonstrated the meaning of one-eighth and one-fourth by cutting sections from the pie.
Arithmetic became the dinner-time discussion, Swanke recalled from her home.
"That's the downside of home schooling," said the Las Vegas mom. "They never get away from it."
As a single mom, Swanke is half of the usual number of parents who educate their children at home. According to the U.S. Department of Education, home-school children are 80 percent more likely than public school children to have two parents at home. Read more...

Carnival of Homeschooling: Fireworks

2008-07-02T07:36:00.001-04:00

Carnival of Homeschooling: Fireworks

Beverly hosts the carnival over at the about.com homeschooling blog. She has a 4th of July theme this week (independence day in the US).

I've celebrated Independence Day in various places over the years. One of my favorites was at Mina Lake in South Dakota when the kids were young. For a city girl, this was a real treat…from the Aberdeen Liberty Parade, to the lakeside barbecue to the fireworks out over the water of Mina Lake. Since fireworks were legal where I lived until I moved to Anaheim 5 years ago, most celebrations were neighborhood streets filled with "safe and sane" fireworks. But, gone are the days of spending money at the local fireworks stands, now we generally barbecue at home then try to find a convenient place to watch one of the community fireworks shows. Read more...

NC State task force: Homeschools need monitoring

2008-06-29T17:30:00.001-04:00

NC State task force: Homeschools need monitoring

A tragic death. Homeschooling is not the cause.

The N.C. Department of Social Services made the recent recommendations in its report on the death of Sean Paddock, a Smithfield boy killed by his adoptive mother. Lynn Paddock, who was convicted of first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the case, home schooled her seven children.
The report calls for the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education to increase monitoring of home schools and for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to track school status of children who die under suspicious circumstances.
"That was clearly a child abuse case and not a home school (case)," said Kay Bindrim, who serves as president of the Christian Homeschool Association of Rocky Mount and regional director of North Carolinians for Home Education with her husband, Tommy. Read more...

Homeschooled Blues

2008-06-29T09:16:00.001-04:00

Homeschooled Blues

A talented trio of siblings, all homeschooled, all play the blues.

Renaud Perry will always remember the first time he opened the front door of his home and heard a racket blaring from the living room. He turned the corner, expecting to tell his son Ryan to turn down the television. Instead, he saw the 8-year-old with an electric guitar in his lap, playing chords along with a TV commercial. Read more...

Homeschooling: a Constitutional Right.

2008-06-26T10:11:00.003-04:00

Homeschooling: a Constitutional Right.

Damien M. Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation wrote this opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle. He's big on parent's rights to raise their own children, which you would think should not be questioned.
On a related note, Summer Minor has an excellent post on Parent's rights this over at her Mom is Teaching blog.

But perhaps more important than any of the quality-of-education issues raised by this case is whether the state has the power to require parents who wish to instruct their children at home to obtain a teaching credential. The U.S. Supreme Court has long interpreted the Constitution as protecting parents' rights to direct and oversee the education of their children. More than 80 years ago, the Supreme Court noted, in a case challenging an Oregon law requiring all children to attend public schools, that "The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." Read more...

Carnival of Homeschooling for Homesick Campers

2008-06-24T17:00:00.001-04:00

Carnival of Homeschooling for Homesick Campers

Hosted this week at Dewey's Treehouse...

Trees, canoes, and crickets in your sleeping bag. Swimming, counsellors, talent shows, hot dogs, mosquitoes, and lost laundry. Summer camp!
Well, sort of. Mama Squirrel's only experience as a summer camper was at a local budget-version Girl Guide Camp, a relic from the '40's right down to the lats, the songs ("We wear our brothers' shirts, we wear our fathers' ties") and the marching around the flag pole. We didn't have canoes or swimming, since the camp was built in an old schoolyard; they just hosed us off every couple of days or when things got desperate. We brailed our tents, cooked our lunch, washed our own pots over our own campfires and then, hi ho hi ho, walked the half mile into the village to buy pop at the Red and White. Read more...

Facebook welcomes homeschoolers

2008-06-20T14:11:00.004-04:00

Facebook welcomes homeschoolers

Way back in February I posted a story about how Facebook inadvertently discriminates against homeschoolers. Now they finally changed their account creation process to allow minors join without listing a school affiliation.
From the facebook blog:

We've been working on ways to solve this—we want minors to use Facebook safely above all. Today, we're happy to announce that we've recently come up with a way for homeschoolers to join. We've created a new verification system—one that doesn't depend on being in a high school, but still provides the level of security we believe is required. So welcome, everyone, to Facebook. Read more...

Hat tip to Spunky for first posting about this yesterday.

Carnival of Homeschooling: Now a Major Motion Picture

2008-06-17T16:17:00.003-04:00

Carnival of Homeschooling: Now a Major Motion Picture

Apollos Academy hosts this week with a movie-quotes theme for the latest Carnival of Homeschooling. Lots of good links from homeschool blogs I'm anxious to read. The introduction also is packed with lots of useful links about movies.

Our family has yet to find an experience, characteristic, or emotion for which there is not an appropriate movie quote. I have decided that in this Carnival of Homeschooling, I will put this theory to the test. Enjoy the wonderful posts of our fellow educators, then on an upcoming, sweltering summer afternoon, escape into the air conditioning and enjoy a movie. Most libraries carry feature films and documentaries that you can check-out for free. There are also many movie theaters across the US offering free or inexpensive family movies through the summer. Read more...

Our Summer Reading Program

2008-06-16T15:14:00.008-04:00

Our Summer Reading Program

Our family loves to read, but one thing that is lacking in our reading repertoire is a good dose of classic literature. I’m busy reviewing popular YA and children’s fiction and curriculum for our website, and my boys tend to gravitate to book series and fantasies So, to stretch our literary experience, I’ve put together a classy list of books for the boys (and me) to read over the summer. As no reading program is complete without an incentive, I am paying them a penny a page. They can’t collect any money until they have written a brief book report and have passed an informal oral quiz on the book’s content. And, they can collect an extra 75 cents if they list and define ten unfamiliar words from the book. I also set up a cute “book nook” area for them with a basket chock full of some of the books on their list. And, they were given a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble to help them kick things off (which they spent within hours of receiving).

If they tackle a good portion of the reading list, they will have accumulated about $100 each, but most importantly, will have gained a priceless addition to their education.

See below for our 2008 Homeschoolbuzz.com summer reading list.

Book report guidelines

Title read:
Author:
Pages read:
Date completed:

Book report: Include basic plot summary, interesting characters, morals or things learned, and overall impressions of the book. Should be between 25-75 words.

Rate book: 0-5 stars (0=bad, 5=outstanding)

Also, list 10 words you read that were new to you, include the definition (brief) worth an extra 75 cents.

You should write daily in your journal, include progress or notes on your reading (or a word definition, or write about ideas, feelings, special events, etc.

Homeschoolbuzz.com Summer reading list for advanced 6th grade readers and up

*Means advanced level book for grades 9+
Hamlet By Shakespeare*, Shakespeare William (208 pages)
Romeo and Juliet By Shakespeare, William (280 pages)
Count of Monte Cristo* By Dumas, Alexander (608 pages)
Poems By Frost, Robert
Tales of Mystery and Imagination By Poe, Edgar Allen
Across Five Aprils By Hunt, Irene (192 pages)
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman By Gaines, Ernest J. (272 pages)
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights By Pyle, Howard (300 pages)
Treasure Island By Stevenson, Robert Lewis (300 pages)
The Hound of the Baskervilles By Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (190 pages)
A Boy’s War By Michell, David (170 pages)
Calico Captive By Speare, Elizabeth George (288 pages)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl* By Frank, Anne (300 pages)
Number the Stars By Lowry, Lois (137 pages)
Good-Bye, Mr. Chips, By Hilton, James (144 pages)
The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day By Scott O'Dell
How Green Was My Valley* By Llewellyn, Richard (450 pages)
In His Steps By Sheldon, Charles M. (300 pages)
The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) J. R. R. Tolkien (432 pages)
The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2) By J. R. R. Tolkien (450 pages)
The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) By Tolkien (544 pages)
Rascal by North, Sterling (190 pages)
The Miracle Worker by Gibson, William (128 pages)
The Moonstone* by Collins, Wilkie (528 pages)
An American Plague by Jim Murphy (176 pages)
Lincoln: A Photo-biography by Russell Freedman (160 pages)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (331 pages)
Onion John by Joseph Krumgold (256 pages)
The Last of the Mohicans*(or other selections) by Cooper, James Fenimore (437 pages)
Gulliver’s Travels* by Swift, Jonathon (314 pages)
And Then There Were None* by Christie, Agatha (288 pages)
Watership Down* by Adams, Richard (500 pages)
Profiles in Courage* by Kennedy, JFK
Hunchback of Notre-Dame* by Hugo, Victor (480 pages)
Les Misérables* by Hugo, Victor (1,488 pages)
Ivanhoe* by Scott, Sir Walter (544 pages)
The Once and Future King* By White, T.H. (639 pages)
To Kill a Mockingbird* by Lee, Harper (336 pages)
King Solomon's Mines* by Haggard, H. Rider (304 pages)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (The Wolves Chronicles) by Aiken, Joan (168 pages)
Old Yeller by Gipson, Fred (192 pages)
Gentle Ben by Walt Morey (192 pages)

German Homeschooling becoming extinct

2008-06-15T09:02:00.001-04:00

German Homeschooling becoming extinct

The Washington Times has a disturbing report of continued, extreme government persecution of homeschoolers.

Perhaps the most appalling case going through the court system at this
time involves a large family of lifelong home-schoolers. The father is
a craftsman and the family operates a small farm. Many Germans view the
choice to have a large family as evidence of mental illness.
Furthermore, the family's evangelical Christian faith is viewed with
suspicion because it differs from the majority of those in their
community.

Earlier this year, youth welfare officials surrounded the home with
police and took all children younger than 16. A 7-year-old girl was
carried from her home, kicking and screaming. When the father returned
home, he found papers from the government and the children gone. Read more...

Vacation for Homeschoolbuzz

2008-06-14T10:47:00.003-04:00

Vacation for Homeschoolbuzz

The Davis family (owners of this site) have been on vacation this week. We are finally home (but we are still resting). Here are the boys at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, PA. We were also in Hershey and Lancaster County. It was fun even though most of the time we were walking long distances in 90 degree sun.

Carnival of Homeschooling

2008-06-10T19:58:00.002-04:00

Carnival of Homeschooling

Although we are away on vacation this week, I had to take a moment to tell you about the carnival of homeschooling this week hosted by The Common Room. Many entries... enjoy!

Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling, and thank-you all for participating. As you read through the Carnival Entries and visit the blogs, please be sure to leave a note letting the blogger know you enjoyed their entry. It's always encouraging to hear nice things from readers! Read more...

Teacher's Union: Homeschooling = Educational Anarchy

2008-06-05T10:56:00.001-04:00

Teacher's Union: Homeschooling = Educational Anarchy

They actually officially declared this in court.

"The California Teachers Association ... decided to file an amicus brief arguing before the court that parents should have no right over the education of their children, should not have a right to home school, and that these children should be literally forced to be put back into the public schools -- even though parents object," the attorney explains.
Dacus did a double-take when he read one specific charge made by the teachers' union. "In their brief, the teachers' union said that to allow parents to be able to home school without being credentialed teachers could result in 'educational anarchy,'" he shares. Read more...

10-year-old college sophomore

2008-06-05T10:52:00.001-04:00

10-year-old college sophomore

Maybe the homeschooling didn't have much to do with this. But this kid is very philosophical and wise for his age.

Moshe Kai Cavalin likes to tell about the time his father took him to take his college entrance test. The administrators told his dad he couldn’t bring an 8-year-old with him into the test room. His father told them the boy was going in alone — because he was the one taking the test. Read more...