At Home, At School, At Play

‘The Time of Our Lives - an Educational Vacation for Kirsty

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:23:00 +0000

I don’t usually endorse other company’s products or services on my blog, but I felt I just had to give this company http://www.easytobook.com/en/barcelona-hotels a mention, as they had been so helpful, kind and obliging, not just to myself but also to my ‘Planner’ of the holiday, Kirsty. In the past week from Saturday 12 February until yesterday I took my son’s partner’s oldest child, Kirsty, who is 15 years old, on an 8 day ‘educational’ holiday to Barcelona in

Spain

. As she had to plan it all, as a condition of the holiday taking place, virtually identical to the planning that my homeschooled son did for our trip to Australia (see my archived Blog) all within 2 days.

We arrived back yesterday and enjoyed the time of our lives thanks I think in a big part to http://www.easytobook.com/en/barcelona-hotels as part of their ‘one-stop digital destination for travelers worldwide’ experience. Our relaxing holiday in Barcelona was specially formulated to maximize our enjoyment. They were very welcoming and did everything to cater for our every need and wish. Both Kirsty and I browsed their informative and well constructed colourful website, where the hotels and type of rooms, within our budget range, we required on the dates we required, with the comforts of home, were given in a well-illustrated and written way, in what I believe was a warm and welcoming atmosphere, by a team of excellently-trained customer-service-orientated professional staff.

http://www.easytobook.com/en/barcelona-hotels have accommodation details to suit every budget from 1* basic rooms, to 5* luxury, with a best price guarantee. They have a number of competitively-priced deals, specials and discounts for all types of accommodation. Our accommodation was located strategically set close to the traditional Barcelona Centre with multi-lingual staff, as we requested and a location map was also included on the website to show its exact location. The customer service and support we received in person and on the website was excellent, when we enquired about anything including restaurants and their recommendations on educational places to visit within the city.

Their website http://www.easytobook.com/en/barcelona-hotels
also gave an abridged, but comprehensive account of Barcelona’s cultural history, location, geographical features, as well as Restaurants, bars, cafes etc, with a content that makes you feel that you’re already there.

The 72-hour 7-Programs Money-Making Bargain

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:49:00 +0000

I am just in the process of constructing a new website entitled 'The Fool-Proof-Method to....' with my first page which is the 72 hour 7-Programs Money-Making Bargain.

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I am searching, like many people, on how to make extra money to supplement my income to keep out of debt. The 72 hour 7-Programs Money-Making Bargain is 7 separate money-making programs that are currently available on how you can make and save money and the instructions for making/saving money are short and to the point, with links within the programs that current, live and waiting so that you can check them out for yourself, follow their fool-proof instructions and make and save money with more haste and less speed. If you're interested in making money or saving it, then I suggest you give my Visit My Website a click and decide for yourself. As I say, I have checked the programs out myself and the instructions are very comprehensive, that everyone can follow, that's why it's called 'The-Fool-Proof-Method-to'. Each program of this bargain is bundled into one and devoted to a different category on making and saving money for a bargain all-in-one price, a price which is less than it would cost you to purchase just one of these programs.

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This is how serious Iam. So don't wait and let this amazing offer pass you by, as this offer is only open until 11.59pm Monday 12th February 2007 and then will be withdrawn, with the 72-hour 7-Programs Money-Making Bargain and you will have lost out on this fantastic opportunity.

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Student Loan Consolidation

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 02:08:00 +0000

So you've graduated, or about to graduate College or University, you're feeling the pressure and your financial situation is also getting to you. The pressures can be enormous. You didn't have the financial means or had only limited financial means to see you through and now those student loan debts seem like a millstone around your neck, dragging you down. I have found during my own academic career, including being a tutor, that many students have a lack of information and adequate advice to relieve the stress on year-on-year mounting student loan debt. That's where http://www.nextstudent.com/ comes in.

My son was in this situation and another family member is in this situation now. So, I've undertaken some research for them and discovered http://www.nextstudent.com/ which specializes in student loan consolidation. Their website is very comprehensive and is ideal for students with accumulating and accumulated student debts. I've browsed through their website which is very student-friendly and found that nextstudent.com don't charge any fees and could assist you in lowering your payments by up to 60% whilst many similar sites do charge fees for the same service.

Its very important, not just for your own sanity, to keep a tag on your student finances, not just when you're a current student, but also, once you've graduated....you need to find the most economical ways possible of having to repay it and this can be done by "Student Loan Consolidation". Give the following website a look, http://www.nextstudent.com/consolidation_loans/consolidation_loans.asp
It won't cost you anything to look or browse at nextstudent.com and it may just be what you're looking for in reducing that student debt.

I also contribute and have made quite a few homeschooling, education-related and family issue comments and postings on another homeschooling and education-related and family friendly website which is:

http://www.families.com/lec23/
[homeschooling]
Movies
Homeschooling
Home_Schooling
http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Weblogs/Education/Homeschooling
http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Home_Schooling/
Home_Schooling
Movies
Home Schooling
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/jcTR
http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/pingSubmit?bloglink=http%3A%2F%2Flec23.blogspot.com
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Campaign Against the Discrimination of the Homeschooler and Homeschooled

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:40:00 +0000

On 8 January 2007, I read with complete disgust and anger on the ESPN.com website about sporting athletes being discriminated against because they are or have been homeschooled.

In 1995, Jason Taylor, who is a Pro Bowler with the Miami Dolphins, was one such person that this happened to. Jason, although homeschooled, from Grades 10 to 12, had his college scholarship revoked because of questions over his homeschool academic records. What specifically was disputed about his homeschool academic records was, I believe conveniently omitted by ESPN.

You may say, well a lot has happened since then and conditions for homeschoolers and the homeschooled have improved considerably since then; but have they? Ask Jeremy Guyse, he's in a similar situation now as Jason Taylor was in 1995 and prohibited from participating in public or private school-sponsored sporting events because he is homeschooled.

Only 16 states within the United States have laws which force schools to allow home-schooled kids to participate in school-sponsored athletics. The conclusion being that many highly-talented potential athletes, despite having passed the appropriate standardized tests, enduring a full slate of certified education classes and excelling academically are depriving YOU the avid sports watcher, of not just performing at Club level, but also of representing the United States in world athletic events. YOU as a citizen of the United States, have the right to be represented by the very BEST talent available within your country. Period; with TOTAL EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY being given, whichever method of schooling the athlete received.

Homeschooling, in some countries is virtually outlawed, even though there is no written law in those countries outlawing it. Germany and Belgium are 2 of the countries that I refer to, where the authorities (police etc) can interrogate and intimidate a child, legally within the home and forcibly remove your child and forcibly take them to a public school to be educated, without your permission, no matter what your views, reasons, religion, race and your skills and education level is, or the needs of the child are, and you could be prosecuted for objecting in any way. Germany prosecuted a family for homeschooling their child and took them to the European Court of Human Rights saying that the family had breached the human rights of their child by depriving the child of a state education and the German government won! Homeschooling parents are being prosecuted under sections 13, 14 and 15 of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by Belgian Authorities. Parents of these 2 countries, who wish to homeschool, are aggressively being persecuted NOW and many are emigrating to countries that do allow homeschooling. This virtual outlawing of homeschooling could soon be a reality in the United States, as they are a member of the United Nations (though they have not yet ratified this Convention) and will sooner or later be forced to do so and also they take into consideration such precedents as the European Court of Human Rights when making and enforcing laws in the United States.

I am not a citizen of the United States, but I am an ex-homeschooler and have and will always believe in TOTALLY EQUALITY FOR ALL.

If you do believe that you, as a parent have the right to homeschool your child, as you believe it is in their best interests, CAMPAIGN NOW for the rights of all homeschoolers and homeschooled kids, to have EQUAL RIGHTS to be educated at home and to be sporting athletes. Write, email and voice your opinion, to your local officials, members of congress and state and national representatives, the German and Belgian Ambassadors at the German and Belgian Embassies in Washington; the President of the European Union and the Secretary General of the United Nations.

I have reproduced below the article that was on the ESPN.com website on 8 January this year.

You are also quite welcome to check out my blog on the reasons I started homeschooling my child on:

http://lec23.blogspot.com

ESPN.com

FIRST REPORT HOMEFIELD DISADVANTAGE
Despite passing the appropriate standardized tests, enduring a full slate of certified education classes, and excelling academically, Jeremy Guyse isn't allowed to take part in public or private school sports. Not exactly fair -- according to Guyse's family, some members of the school board and other parents -- but that's the reality for some students. Only sixteen states have laws which force schools to allow home-schooled kids to participate in school-sponsored athletics. Some call it discrimination, others see it as a fair way to treat kids and their parents who have chosen not to attend their local school. Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor was one such student. He was home schooled from grades 10-12 and was allowed to play high school sports, but eventually had his college scholarship revoked because of questions over his homeschool academic records. Outside the Lines' Darren Lyn looks at the ethics of home schooled athletes being locked out of the games they love. Bob Ley hosts.

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Public Education Advocate, Private Education Hypocrite

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:38:00 +0000

Advocating Public Education in Public - Doing Completely the Opposite in Private
=====================================================================
Another news item today in the UK as completely outraged me, the case of Ruth Kelly MP and a former Education Secretary in the Labour-run government.

Ruth Kelly MP has consistently advocated in public the merits of the UK public school education system in reference to children with special educational needs and that they should be educated within the public mainstream system.

However, when push comes to shove and to show her support and convictions in the Labour Party's policies and increased spending on Special Educational Needs and in the efficiency of a system that she so glowingly advocated and recommended while she has been an MP and an Education Secretary; she and her husband have decided to send their son who has Special Educational Needs to an Independent fee-paying School for children with Special Educational Needs, on the premise that it was a decision that she and her husband took privately in the best interests of their child and that she would not be accepting in financial assistance from the Local Education Authority in which she resides towards this She has totally by-passed the public educational system and the waiting time that is in place for the statementing, the educational psychologist and social worker's report; which for any other member of the public, who do not have the choice, or who cannot afford to get their child into an independent school for children with SEN, they have to wait for a MINIMUM of 6 months (government's official waiting time), though in actual practice (and from personal experience), this time could be doubled and their would be no guarantee that the child after statementing would be granted a place at one of these prestigious independent schools for SEN.

What I would like answers on is:

1. If Ruth Kelly or any other MP, Congressman etc who publicly advocates, supports and actively pursues, through their position they hold, or have held within a government, that is paid for out of the public purse, do they have the right to pursue a policy that is completely the opposite and contradictory to the public policies and practices that they actively pursue, advocate and support in public because they have the ability to pay, courtesy of the public
purse?

2. Will Ruth Kelly and her husband be taken to the European Court of Human Rights by the British Government and her and her husband be charged with depriving their child of a public school education, as has happened to the German parents that wished to homeschool their child?

3. Is Ruth Kelly MP and Tony Blair (the Prime Minister of Britain, who supports Ruth Kelly's decision and who sent his children to private schools, whilst advocating that public schooling is best) hypocrites in the decisions they have made?

4. Is it a matter that the general public of a nation, have to follow one set of rules, but the government/legislature of those rules can follow another set of opposite rules where their own family is concerned, based upon their abilities to pay, which has been from the public purse? (a philosophy of everyone is entitled to the same resources, but some are more entitled than others)

Let's take a hypothetical scenario and give it a more realistic feel. I am pro-homeschooler and advocate that all parents should have the choice to homeschool their child if they so wish and should be treated with TOTAL EQUALITY. I write strong and persuasive replies to blogs and post content on my own blog, to the same effect but I do not get paid for posting my blogs and replies from the sites that I blog and comment on.

In my pursuit of obtaining additional revenue to supplement my living expenses, I come across a site http://www.blogsvertise.com/ who will pay me to review websites and give my opinion, whether positive or negative on the site and content. I decide to join up, I am approved and I am offered only one site to review from blogsvertise and offered $25 to review a public school website, who's content advocates the advantages of a public education and the advantages that the school in the public education system can provide over homeschooling. I review the website carefully including layout, graphics and content. They back up their claims with detailed educational research. It all looks very professional and very convincing. I decide to write an unbiased and honest view of the website and its content of about and I return my feedback on my account on the http://www.blogsvertise.com/ website.

My submission is accepted, they are delighted with the quality and content of the review I have submitted and more work, of the same type of websites, are offered. Each of them I review in the same unbiased way and give my honest opinions, based upon the same criteria, as I applied to the first review I did for Blogsvertise. After I had submitted 5 reviews that had all been approved, I apply for a pay increase and this was approved and 30 days later as per Blogsvertise's terms and conditions, in total I completed 20 reviews all within 24 hours for each post, all for $25 for each review. The $25 payments are deposited into my Paypal account. A total of $500.

Hypothetically, it has now become public that I have started making positive comments on anti-homeschooling public schools. What would happen? What would you think of me and my pro-homeschooling convictions? I had the chance of refusing to write the reviews, but that I say that it was my personal financial preference. Would you not think me a hypocrite?

You can also read my blog which is devoted to homeschooling andeducation on:

At Home, At School, At Play - http://lec23.blogspot.com/index.html

I also contribute and have made quite a few homeschooling comments and postings on another homeschooling friendly website which is:

http://www.families.com/lec23/

[homeschooling]

Movies

Homeschooling

Home_Schooling

http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Weblogs/Education/Homeschooling

http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Home_Schooling/

Home_Schooling

Movies

Home Schooling

http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/jcTR

http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/pingSubmit?bloglink=http%3A%2F%2Flec23.blogspot.com

remember1
LEC23
On the Box (Good and Bad)
At Home, At School, At Play
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Blogsvertise

Send E-Mail to: remember1@ntlworld.com

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FREEDOM IS HOMESCHOOLING AND HOMESCHOOLING IS FREEDOM

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:51:00 +0000

FREEDOM IS HOMESCHOOLING AND HOMESCHOOLING IS FREEDOM

When I received an email from Henry Cate about contributing an article on Homeschooling to the Carnival of Homeschooling, I was a little taken aback, that a prestigious homeschooling site such as the Carnival of Homeschooling had asked for my contribution on the subject of Homeschooling and I thought to myself �What aspect of Homeschooling can I write about?" My name is Olivia Carter-Hamilton, I'm an ex-secondary school teacher, tutor and trainer, educated and raised in the United Kingdom, that homeschooled my son, up to the age of 16 years old, when he then decided he wanted to attend College and then University, where he graduated with Honours in Information Technology. He is now 28 years old, employed in the computer software and installation industry and studying for his Masters in this field.

I reviewed all the postings and comments that I had made on other homeschoolers postings and the one topic that stood out to me, was on the Rights of Parents to Homeschool their child/ren, a comment that I had made in reply to Andrea Hermitt's post on 'In the Best Interest of the Child', which was made in the families.com website.

In Germany it appears that a dangerous precedence has been made that erode the rights of parents that wish to homeschool their child/ren. The German government took the parents of a child that they wished to homeschool to the European Court of Human Rights with the argument that the parents were depriving their child of a state education and surprise, surprise the German government won.

Why do I say surprise, surprise. I'm sorry, but that was my attempt at sarcasm, having studied the European Parliament and Constitution of the European Union, you will find that Germany holds the majority of seats and power within this centralized European political bureaucracy and I believe it is a blatant attempt by a government power, in trying to influence a precedence for any other government or local education authority, that believe that parents with children of school-age are unable and do not have any of the skills and attributes to effectively educate their own child/ren. Even though there is no German law that states that a child may not be homeschooled. The financial cost of objecting to this decision in the European Court of Justice, (the highest legislative body of European Community members) is prohibitive both financially and in the time it would take for it to be heard and a decision to be made.

In fact, if you think about it, the reason that this action was brought was because, the German government said that the parents were depriving their child of a state education and those are the key words. A state education. An education and curriculum dictated to by the state. Where the state demands the child should attend and the method of delivery left up to teachers, whose responsibilities are not solely centred on the individual child's needs, requirements and pace of learning, or their present skill and ability levels, or teaching in a loving, caring and nuturing, healthy and safe environment, that is state controlled and that is why the German government object to homeschooling and homeschoolers, they want the control over their children and over parental actions and decisions, despite it being of detrement to the child/ren. This is a question all about control.

The parents weren't depriving or trying to deprive their child of an education, they were just attempting to exercise their parental rights and choice to educate their child within a loving, caring and safe home environment, with an extremely low teacher to pupil ratio. As a result of this action and the previous constant persecution, many German parents, with their child/ren have actually emigrated, so that they could effectively educate their children by homeschooling where they will not be persecuted for exercising their choice and right to educate in the best interests of their child.

Some homeschoolers may shrug their shoulders and say what is this to do with us? I believe it is the right of every parent to be given the choice and that is the keyword, the choice, of whether to send their child/ren to be educated in the public school system or whether to homeschool. If homeschooling is right for the child/ren, wherever you live in the world, it should be the right of the parents to have that choice to homeschool.

In conclusion, this ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, sends out an extremely dangerous message to all governments around the world. The message being, that, if you allow children to be homeschooled you are depriving the child of their human rights. Which high profile governing body whether national or local wants to be seen as a human rights violator of children? Beware homeschoolers of America and worldwide, unless we campaign for the rights of all parents who want to have the true democratic choice of what kind of education would be best for their child/ren and who wish to homeschool, then where else will the persecution of homeschoolers start up or intensify next, may be in your town, in your city, in your county, in your state or even your country.

You can also read my blog which is devoted to homeschooling and education on:

At Home, At School, At Play - http://lec23.blogspot.com/index.html

I also contribute and have made quite a few homeschooling comments and postings on another homeschooling friendly website which is:

http://www.families.com/lec23/

May I also recommend 2 other invaluable homeschoolers postings contributors on the families.com website, whom I seem to have contributed the most comments on. These are:

http://www.families.com/ahermitt/

http://www.families.com/twinzplus3/

[homeschooling]

Movies

Homeschooling

Home_Schooling

http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Weblogs/Education/Homeschooling

http://www.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Home_Schooling/

Home_Schooling

Movies

Home Schooling

http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/jcTR

http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/pingSubmit?bloglink=http%3A%2F%2Flec23.blogspot.com

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EXAM REVISION/STUDY TECHNIQUES

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:12:00 +0000

I am a very proud and determined mum of one son who is now a graduate aged 28 years old. Born, raised and a native of Leeds in the UK and an ex-secondary school teacher, tutor, trainer and homeschooler. This blog gives my opinion, tips etc on homeschooling from 3 years old up to the age of 18 years old, in general and not just in the UK - where Iam located. These views will be unbiased and updated at least 5 times per week. If I think that something education-related is rubbish, excellent, angers or is funny or sad, I will say so in no uncertain terms. I will also give opinions not just on homeschooling, but on teacher, school, pupil and backup educational support and performances etc..... This is a blog for everyone that is interested in education a lot of content relates to the USA. So come in .. take a seat, relax and give us a read and give your opinions.

EXAM REVISION/STUDY TECHNIQUE

The time to revise/study

Take the time to make practical arrangements for your revision. Even if you are raring to and feel that such arrangements will take care of itself, take my word for it, it won’t.

Revision requires time and you need to set aside a certain amount of time each for it. This should be time when you are not busy with other things and when you won’t be disturbed. Arrange at the beginning of the week, when this time will be, as it is easy to go through a complete week meaning to revise but never quite getting around to it.

As an ex-schoolteacher, homeschooler, tutor and trainer, I recommend the following times for revision purposes based upon what type of school/university you attend:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - 5 hours per week
MIDDLE SCHOOL - 7 hours per week
SECONDARY SCHOOOL - 10 hours per week
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY - 15 hours per week

This is to tackle the learning materials themselves, that you get as handouts at school and recommended textbooks. However, this does not include include reading other books, talking to a variety of people, or perhaps joining a discussion or study group of your topic – in person or online.

You may be unsure of the amount of time you can spare, but if you make a simple chart, like the one I have included below, you may find this assists you.

MORNING AFTERNOON EVENING TOTAL
SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Total time
=============

Fill in the amount of time in each of these sections and each day, the amount of time that you have available to revise. Then add up the total number of hours that you have available for that week. Don’t forget you have to complete a new chart EVERY WEEK.

You must also consider the following:

1. Is anything in your life going to happen to you in the next academic year, that
would alter the number of hours that you have noted down? Eg holidays etc.
If there is, fill in the chart again, for a week during that time.

2. Do you have the full amount of hours noted down, according to which level of schooling you attend? If not, then you need to consider how you are going to
make the hours up. Eg you could find some ½ hours you have not considered before.

3. Do not note down any periods of longer than ½ hour, if you are in Elementary
School, ¾ hour if you are in Middle School, or 1 hour if you are in Secondary School/University without a break. Longer than this, then you will find it hard
to concentrate and find that you are spending a lot of time revising, getting very
little done and becoming tired, frustrated and fed up.

4. Find out in which sections you have the most time available. You may find that
you can revise better at one time of the day than another. However, you will only
find this out by trial and error, in the beginning. When you do find a preference,
then adjust your revision plans accordingly.

THE PLACE TO REVISE

Set aside a particular place to revise, a separate room would be ideal; but a quiet corner of a room, or even a particular table. Make sure that everyone in your household knows that this is where you will be revising and that when you are there you do not want to be disturbed. It is pointless planning are reserving the hours you need to revise a week, when you are being disturbed for 90% of those hours.

Choose an area that is well lit, warm and well ventilated. You need to be able to see what you are doing, stay awake and be physically comfortable.

Besides an area that is quiet, well lit, warm, well-ventilated, with good lighting; you also have to ensure that the area that you are choosing has sufficient space to use and store all the different items needed for your revision. Books, leaflets, handouts, notes, forms, writing paper, pencils and other books and materials of different kinds. You may also wish to keep a digital dictation machine with your revision materials also.

If you are unable to find a convenient place to revise, you could consider using the local library, community centre or other local facilities, where you are ensured of peace and quiet. You may need to do all of your revision there, perhaps just 1 day a week, or at any time that you know you are likely to be disturbed.

If you don’t have much permenant storage space in the room where you are studying, purchase the largest old suitcase you can from a jumble sale, rummage sale, or charity shop, (preferably with wheels) and use that to store your revision materials in. This has the advantage of being portable.

Use the chart I have included below to compare different places for your revision in your home. For each place give it a rating of 1 to 5. 1 for if it is useless and 5 if it is very good. Then total up the scores at the bottom of the column.

Place 1 Place 2 Place 3
Conditions
Light
Heat
Space to work
Quiet
Convenient
No distractions
Comfortable
Storage Space
TOTALS

The place with overall highest score will be the best place for you to study.

Find your way around a topic area of a subject

The main text of a subject area is made up of a number of topics, which focuses on a single issue, or a related series of issues. It can be between 2 – 8 pages in length and can be revised on its own, or as a separate item.

TITLES. This will give the topic title, followed by a couple of lines explaining in more detail what is going to happen in the topic. The text will be then subdivided into sections, each starting with a heading of a certain size. MAJOR HEADINGS – large in size informing you of what the majority of text comes next. SMALLER HEADINGS – giving more detail of the content of the bigger chunks. Use the headings to glance over topics, what it contains and what weight is given to it. This will give you an immediate feel for what the topic is about.

BOXED TEXT – Not really part of the main subject but is interesting and may be useful to you.

BLOBBED POINTS – A list of ideas, regard it as a list (even though some may be a paragraph long. You can use these instead of numbers by the side of a list where items are not in order of importance.

TABLES AND CHARTS – A simple, concise way of presenting and recording information.

RECORDING – Make a record of your views, feelings and discoveries for each topic area of each subject.

FEEDBACK – Perform feedback on the main content and conclusion, of each topic area of each subject, with the author’s as well as your thoughts.

EXAMPLES – Easier to understand explanations and instructions on what to do. Eg case studies.

MAKING RECORDS

MAKE YOUR MARK – If you have purchased your own textbooks, or have been given handouts for you to keep, then mark the text, underline it, put a comment by the side where you disagree, mark bits to remind you to find out more.

MAKE NOTES – Making notes is a very personal process and each individual has their own distinctive style. I am not suggesting that one overall method is better or more appropriate than another. However, make notes as concise as possible, (concise enough to fit on a postcard-size filing card) but to the point, including all relevant detail. Here is a few methods I have used:

Lists
Preparation notes to phone……
Answering……….
Instructions for/how to do…………….
Letters

These are used to sort out your ideas, starting with very basic notes using dashes, asterisks, shortened words and abbreviations etc and then improving on them at a later date with more elaborate and clearer notes.

Lists – Use these to collect ideas together and compare and/or categorise them, put items that have something in common on one part of the paper and others that are different on the other, thus sub-categorising them and showing how they
relate to each other. Things that do not fall into any category will stand out on their own.

Extend your list into sentences or phrases that say more about the items.
Join bits of the list together with lines to indicate that they go together in some way. Use coloured pens/mark/highlight common items and key words.

TREES, ROOTS AND BRANCHES

Write an initial idea on a page and then draw out from it various
ideas that
occur to you out of that first idea.

USING CARDS

These can be used in several ways:

• To write summaries of what you have learned in each topic. For
each topic, write 3 things you have got out of each topic.

• To write different sorts of comments on the front and back
of cards, in relation to topics, write about:
What you felt happy about on one side
What you felt unhappy about on the other side
Write the results of an activity on one side, how long it
took you and how you felt about it on the other side
and things you feel you would like to follow up now.

Use a Digital Recorder

This is a further way of taking notes and may suit you more than writing.
Can be used for:

Recording talks with other people, followed by listening to
the recording and then summarizing your ideas afterwards.

Daydreaming – let your imagination take over. Shut your
eyes and talk into the digital recorder.

OTHER RECORDS

Making records in the form of drawings – it doesn’t have to be a work of art,
just good enough for you and no one else.

When you get ‘stuck’ on a topic or the results of an activity and no thoughts
are occurring to you, you may find that changing to a different form of
recording results will help.

Consider the ways of expressing yourself that you feel happiest with and try
to use them as you revise.

……AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE...

* Keep your records organized and keep them in such a way which
means that you can get to them quickly and easily.

• Notebooks are excellent for keeping all your notes together,
but once the notes are in the book, you are likely to see
them in that order, therefore stopping you having any fresh
thoughts about those things, or adding any additional
thoughts you have to an already full notebook.

• Loose-leaf files have the advantage of keeping notes,
where you can reorganize them as you choose.

• Cards are a useful way of keeping flexible records that are
written down on postcards or cards, summarizing your ideas.
Grouping them, rearranging them and looking for patterns.

• Mixed filing the slotting of your notes into the course book,
so that your records are with the page that is relevant
to them. Paper clip them to the page.

• Markers having your records marked with when you
record them and what they refer to, using page numbers and/or
topic/activity titles as headings. By not labeling your
records, you may find yourself completely baffled.

• Make distinctions distinguishing between different sorts of
records, enabling you to see at a glance when you flick
through them, what type of records they are – results of
activities, your own extra notes, rough notes etc.
For example:

o Using a notebook to record working notes or jotting
down notes for a minute.
o Using a loose-leaf folder to record the results of
your activities.
* Using a card index or postcards to make summaries
of topics.
o Using different coloured paper to record different
results.
o Using different coloured pens and pencils to record
different types of results.

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS:

• Keep a box for cuttings from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets etc
• Pencil in why you cut it out, saved it and where from
• Sort out your box of cuttings and see what you’re going to do with them – a
general collection, to be used as a trigger if you get stuck or to be fitted
into your other records.
• Stick cuttings onto pages and add them to your loose leaf folder using firm
card.
• Buy envelope files and make up your own resource pack to go with each chapter
or theme. Then when you are revising that chapter you can have all your
resources spread out in front of you.
• Buy a cheap photo album that holds that photographs down with transparent
cling film and put cuttings in them labeled with the topic or chapter they
refer to.
• Keep a scrap book and stick of staple cuttings into it.

FINALLY – REMEMBER....

At the end of your revision session – congratulate yourself. You deserve it.
You have persevered through to the end of a revision session. Allow yourself the pleasure and the satisfaction of saying that you did OK. If you enjoy it and feel you are doing your best on it, then it is good to let yourself feel proud and pleased. Congratulate yourself and give yourself a reward – something you particular
enjoy and reserve this until you have finished your topic or chapter.

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noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:24:00 +0000

PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF HOMESCHOOLING

This is the 7th in my series of articles on homeschooling, my experiences as a secondary school teacher, tutor and trainer in the public school system. Please read my other articles.

So you've made the choice to start homeschooling your child. Now you must make practical arrangements for you to homeschool and for your child/ren to study. Even if you are raring to go and feel that such arrangements will take care of themselves, they will not. Firstly you need to purchase a large box file or a Lever Arch File with file dividers and plastic pockets to go in the binder for correspondence to and from the Local Education Authority and any other agencies regarding the subject of homeschooling.

You must firstly send 2 very important letters that must be worded and spelt correctly and then photocopied, the originals are the one's to be mailed out. It is best if you send these by Recorded Delivery, so that you have a record of the letters sent and don't be surprised if that file is bulging with correspondence before you even start homeschooling.

Homeschooling requires time and you need to set aside a certain amount of time each day and each week for it. This should be a time when you know you will not be disturbed. To start with, at least, arrange a flexible timetable at the beginning of the week for the following week's program of study for your child and what subjects you will cover. Otherwise it will be very easy to go through a complete week meaning to study one particular subject but never quite getting round to it.

It is essential that you perform some preliminary research. If you live in the UK The Department of Education and Skills website details are:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/ExamsTestsAndTheCurriculum/ExamsTestsAndTheCurriculumArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4015959&chk=EboSyO
The National Curriculum for five to 11 year olds : Directgov - Education and learning

Or if you live in any other part of the world, your local school board's website, or indeed there are many websites that will provide you with the information that you require, for the level that you are to teach your child/ren. Find out as much as you can concerning the National Curriculum for your country because the Local Education Authority/Schoolboard (from now on being referred to as the LEA) will have to satisfy themselves that you and your child/ren are able to achieve the educational standards required by law. They would also need to ensure that:

1. That the homeschooled child/ren would follow the same set of
subjects that would be taken in a public school; and obtaining
guarantees from you that no part of the curriculum would be 'left
to chance.
2. You as the teacher, would set attainment targets or benchmarks
that your child/ren had to reach by certain ages. This would be
to ensure that your teaching was and would become more purposeful
and the use of time was made for each subject and subject area.
3. That you would be following a broadly similar curriculum for the
age of your child/ren as was used in your public school and to
show evidence of your intention to provide continuity in your
child's education.

You will have to compose a study programme spreading each subject and study area over a number of weeks. This will normally be as a minimum approximately 2.5 hours per week for each of the core subjects, English, Maths and Science. 2 hours each for Technology, History and Geography and 1.5 hours per week each for Music, Art, P.E, Environmental Studies and Personal and Social Education (PSE). This would last for a period of 36 weeks. However, you may want to homeschool your child/ren for longer periods each week, reading books to and with your child, you and your child/ren attending a discussion/support group of homeschoolers and their children, with your child/ren having the opportunity to interact and socialise with other homeschooled children.

You may immediately be able to think of when you will be able to spend 21 hours homeschooling your child. However, you may be unsure of the amount of time you can devote to structured homeschooling. Below is a way of working this out in some detail and to enable you to think about homeschooling and the subjects and subject areas to cover, fill in for each day the amount of time in each of these sections. Then add up the total number of hours of homeschooling time that you have available in the week.

_____________________________________________________________________
MORNING AFTERNOON EVENING TOTAL
_____________________________________________________________________
Sunday
_____________________________________________________________________
Monday
_____________________________________________________________________
Tuesday
_____________________________________________________________________
Wednesday
_____________________________________________________________________
Thursday
_____________________________________________________________________
Friday
_____________________________________________________________________
Saturday
_____________________________________________________________________
Total Time
_____________________________________________________________________

Look at your chart and think about the following questions.

* Is anything going to happen in the next few weeks in you or your
child/ren's life that would alter the number of hours that you
have noted down? eg are you going on holiday etc... if there is
something like this then fill in the chart again with a different
coloured pen or pencil for a week during that time.

* Do you have a full 21 hours noted down for the week's homeschooling
on your chart? If not then you need to consider how you can make
21 hours up. How many hours are you short from the 21 hours?
Perhaps you could find some half hours you have not considered
before.

* Have you noted down any periods of longer than 1 hour at a time for
your child/ren to study? It is advisable not to spend too long at
any one time working without a break. 1 hour or 1 and 1/2 hours is
long enough. Longer than that and your child/ren may well find it
hard to concentrate. You will then find that you are spending a
lot of time homeschooling, but getting very little done and your
child/ren will soon get fed up too.

* In which sections of the day is the most time available? You may
find when you begin homeschooling that your child/ren are better
able to study at one time of the day than another and you will only
be able to find this out by trial and error; but it is worth
keeping it in mind. If you do find your child/ren preferences for
study time, then you can adjust your homeschooling plans
accordingly.

The Content of each of these subjects is outlined in your state/country's documents. These basically have 2 major elements.

ATTAINMENT TARGETS What your child/ren should know and be able
to do at each stage;

PROGRAMMES OF STUDY What your child/ren should be taught in order
to reach the attainment targets.

The work in each subject should be parcelled up into groups of related attainment targets (ATs).

In the many documents researched, it does not specify how individual subjects should be taught, or how lessons should be organized. Many country's curriculum's do not specify how much teaching time should be given to each subject, although the attainment targets and programmes of study do reflect general assumptions about the amount of time appropriate for effectively teaching the core and foundation subjects. To meet these requirements, this could be met through such subjects as craft, design and technology, home economics and information technology. This is a matter for you to decide.

ASSESSMENT

A great emphasis must be placed on the assessment that charts your child/ren's progress through the various subjects and you as the homeschooler must continually assess your child/ren and give more formal assessments - called Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) at certain stages.

KEY STAGES

Year groups are now classified into key stages and at the end of each key stage you will have to give your child/ren important formal assessments. However, the transition from Key Stage 2 (the end of primary education) to Key Stage 3 (the beginning of secondary education) must move towards more formal homeschooling within individual subjects.

I personally found it beneficial to dedicate a room just for homeschooling that had a large table where he could sit, with plenty of space (and preferably not your best dining table) and 1 chair for each child and 1 spare for yourself. The room should be light and airy, well ventilated and comfortable.

Other essential furniture/equipment to be purchased:

* A large book case - with at least 2 shelves,
with sliding doors at the bottom, the top shelf
being large enough for display a large academic
calendar.

* 5 Lever Arch Files - 1 each for Schemes of Work,
Lesson Plans/Action Plans,
(for each subject)
Continuous Assessment
Reports for each subject,
Formal Correspondence
Daily Homeschoolers Journal

* 2 A4 Ringbinders for each subject, in different
colours for each subject

* 6 Boxes of hole-punched plastic inserts
(100 inserts per box)

* 10 A4 Wallet Folders for each subject
(different colour for each subject) -
this is for inserting project work that cannot
normally be inserted into a ringbinder.

* Stationery for both you and your child/ren.
Pens, Pencils, Rulers, erasers, scientific
calculator and a holder to put them all in,
sellotape, white envelope labels, A4 size
academic diary, student homework log/journal and
large display academic chart, highlighters etc.

* Art and Craft materials

* Text books for each subject

* Laptop/Desktop with at least 1GB of RAM
with speakers, webcam, printer/scanner/fax
combined and associated software both commercial
and educational.

* At least 6 Reams of A4 plain white paper

* At least 6 Colour Sets of printer cartridges

In conclusion, think of how the times and places you have chosen to homeschool will work in practice. If you are unable to find a
convenient place to study in your home, you could consider using the local library, community centre or other local facilities where you and your child/ren can get some peace and quiet. You may not need to do all of your homeschooling there, perhaps just the one day in the week when you are likely to be disturbed.

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Your Choice Whether to Homeschool

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:01:00 +0000

This is the 6th in my series of articles on homeschooling of why I decided to homeschool my son, my experiences as a child and a secondary school teacher, tutor and trainer in the public school system. Please read my other articles in this series of why I decided to homeschool. The articles in order are:

ARTICLE 1 - My Reasons I Started Homeschooling
ARTICLE 2 - My Nursery School Experience
ARTICLE 3 - My Primary School Experience
ARTICLE 4 - My Junior School Experience
ARTICLE 5 - My Grammar School Experience

YOUR CHOICE WHETHER TO HOMESCHOOL

There are advantages of homeschooling your child. It is usually more convenient for your child, as he will receive 1-to-1 individual tuition and attention in a loving and caring environment and will not involve long journeys to school or any other negative aspects of public schooling, he can still see his friends from the local neighbourhood and play with them and also meet other homeschooled children, if you effectively network and establish contacts with other homeschoolers within your area or district.

The LEA or School Board will want you to organize your child's education and teach your child in line with the curriculum subjects offered within mainstream schools and this may involve an Education Visit. What will this visitor be looking for? You may be contacted by your LEA or School Board for a visit to your home to take place. That first phone call will create a vital impression of the homeschool environment. Be prepared to welcome a visit at any time and do not attempt under any circumstances to dissuade them from visiting. When or if a LEA/School Board visitor does come around, ensure that your child is with you when they are to visit and when you are in discussion with them, ensuring that you have set your child to do to keep them occupied within the same room. Give helpful directions to the Visitor as to how to get to your home. Devise subject and individual lesson plans with performance critera for each lesson and the attainment level you are planning your child to reach and achieve in a specified time frame.

So what kind of questions might the LEA/School Board visitor ask you about your plans to homeschool and what are they looking for?

OUTSIDE YOUR HOME

- Is your home well cared for generally
- Do the gardens and surrounding grounds look tidy
- Is there graffiti on or around your home?
- How your child behaves when moving in and out of your home
- If your visitor speaks to local people, what would they say
about the behaviour of your child
- Is there a welcome and friendly atmosphere upon entering your
home?

INSIDE YOUR HOME

- Their first impression? Is the place in which you are going
to teach your child bright and clean with interesting
collections of your child's work on display?
- Are they welcomed in a friendly way and are they
made to feel at home
- Have you introduced yourself by name?
- Not being kept waiting, if it does happen, the temporary host
of the house providing an explanation.

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF YOUR HOMESCHOOLING CHOICE

- You having a clear idea of the educational aims of
Homeschooling
- Being given some explanation by you on the range of
Subjects you will teach your child and how this will alter
as your child progresses
- To feel that the homeschool is part of a wider community
with you providing a wide range of activities for your child
- Been made to feel that you can make a positive
contribution to the education of your child by homeschooling
- A clear but simple set of rules for your child whilst
Homeschooling them.

AROUND THE AREA YOU WILL TEACH YOUR CHILD

- Been given the opportunity to see around the area in your
home that you have allocated for the formal teaching of your
child
- Seeing examples of your childâ€™s work, showing high standards
and whether it is marked or not by you
- The home study area of your child being clean, tidy
and well organized
- What they can tell about the relationship between you and
your child and (if you are already homeschooling) between
your child and their other brother/s and sister/s
- Being shown a whole range of subjects that you will teach
and if there are any obvious omissions
- Your policy on the child doing homework and project work
outside the formal teaching area
- How your child will move around the formal teaching area
and the inside of your home. Whether your home is fit for
the purpose of homeschooling and orderly.

It is important to say something about public examinations because these are the measures and indicates the educational progress and achievements of each child to set public education standards. It is important to enter your child for public educational exams as this will show to potential Colleges, Universities and potential employers your child's educational achievements. Examination results are important and you will want to feel confident that your choice to homeschool is likely to provide your child with a reasonable chance of success.

One of the most important aspects of homeschooling is the atmosphere. This is very difficult to describe, as it is about feeling. Ultimately, you and your child need to make a decision that takes into consideration all the relevant factors. It is a vital decision and it deserves serious time and effort even if you do or don't eventually decide or continue to homeschool.

My blog will continue on issues related to education and home schooling.

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Reasons I started Homeschooling - 5

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 18:30:00 +0000

MY GRAMMAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
============================

I am a very proud and determined mum of one son who is now a graduate aged 28 years old. Born, raised and a native of Leeds in the UK and an ex-secondary school teacher, tutor, trainer and homeschooler. This blog gives my opinion, tips etc on homeschooling from 3 years old up to the age of 18 years old, in general and not just in the UK - where Iam located. These views will be unbiased and updated at least 5 times per week. If I think that something education-related is rubbish, excellent, angers or is funny or sad, I will say so in no uncertain terms. I will also give opinions not just on homeschooling, but on teacher, school, pupil and backup educational support and performances etc..... This is a blog for everyone that is interested in education a lot of content relates to the USA. So come in .. take a seat, relax and give us a read and give your opinions.

This is the 5th in my series of articles of why I decided to homeschool my son, based on my experiences as a child in the public school system. Please read my other articles in this series of why I decided to homeschool. The articles in order are:

ARTICLE 1 - My Reasons I Started Homeschooling
ARTICLE 2 - My Nursery School Experience
ARTICLE 3 - My Primary School Experience
ARTICLE 4 - My Junior School Experience

MY GRAMMAR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

The Junior School that I attended had around 400 pupils. Imagine then the culture shock as I left Junior School and entered this large intimidating Grammar School which had approximately 800 pupils in mixed gender classes. I had exchanged the intimate atmosphere firstly of my Nursery School of 40 pupils to a Primary School of approximate 200, to a Junior School of 400 and now to a Grammar School of 800. In the Junior School at age 11, I was one of the senior pupils, but here in the Grammar School, I was in an unfamiliar environment that I felt was impersonal, hostile and intimidating. In my 4^th year at Junior School, I had been in a class where the class teacher had been the main teacher in most subjects. All of that was about to change.

Dressed in my mandatory school uniform, I left home and arrived at my new school. A very large imposing building consisting of a basement, in which I found out contained a large metalwork classroom and a further classroom and a fully-equipped Woodwork Room. The Ground Floor consisted of 2 Physics Labs, 2 Biology Labs, 2 Chemistry Labs, 2 Classrooms (1 of which was designated for RE), the Headmaster and the Headmistress’s Studies, with an impressive public entrance with a large expensive hand-crafted carpet laid strategically on the floor in front of a gilded-engraved role of honour of ex-pupils that had died in the 2 World Wars. The next floor up consisted of a hall, which was used for Assemblies and classrooms; and the top floor consisted of a Gymnasium, store, classrooms and an Art/Craft Studio. An Annex to the school, a detached 6 bedroom, 4 Reception Roomed Georgian house, and located 100 yards from the perimeter of the school playground wall, was used for Drama and Art and also for the storage of Drama props and scenery.

I proceeded into the large main school building and followed the poster directions that were strategically placed on the walls, giving directions to go up the stone steps, through to the Hall. Where once again I and many other ‘new starters’ were assembled. There was a sea of new, strange faces and I desperately tried to seek out any of my friends from Junior School, or any other recognizable pupil from my Junior School who may be there. I was lucky enough to find 3 – all from the same Junior School, but 2 had been in a different class from me and all 1 had been in the same class. I let out a deep sigh of relief, as I quickly went to join this little sub-group, in which we all let out excited cries of desperate relief, these 3 friends I made, would form a bond which would remain firm and stand the test of time, throughout our stay at Grammar School. I did however, feel very sorry for those wallflowers, I had no one to turn to.

One of the teachers came into the Hall and shouted something – but no one really heard over the mass of voices. The teacher’s shout and loud clapping of her hands showed that she demanded that we all be quiet and pay attention to what she was saying. She asked us all to sit down and everyone complied. She introduced herself and welcomed us all to the School. Her first introductions were to the dreaded ‘Prefects’, who marched out by announcement. These were both male and female, but the majority were male, all 6^th form pupils who acted as ‘Teacher Assistants’ and Trustees of the school. Their job was to ensure that all pupils adhered to all school rules. We looked in awe at them. Some of them sneered, narrowing their eyes, some smiled with little waves, the rest were totally disinterested, with their arms crossed and frequently looked at their watches and rolled back their eyes.

The next introductions made, merited their own introductions – the ‘Head boy’ and the ‘Head girl’, who, were informed were especially chosen by the Head Teachers (on what basis we were never told). This Head boy and Head girl were in authority over all Prefects of their respective gender.

The next introductions made were to the respective subject teachers, the Deputy Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster, the Headmistress and then finally the Headmaster, who made a grand entrance dressed in all his academic robes, where a pathway had been vacated by all those stood at the front and we were all ordered to stand as he entered the Hall as he strutted up to and behind the Lectern. We were informed that we must always stand when any member of staff entered or left anywhere in the school that we were sat.

The Headmaster looked down his nose as he spoke in his posh southern accent, his speech and manner matching his look, was short, abrupt, distant and dispassionate. Not unlike a senior politician, with a self-promoting agenda. He exited as quickly and with the same amount of pomp and circumstance that he had appeared, not once looking any of us in the eye.

As the teacher started reading out our names as to which class we were being allocated to, I quickly realized that this was going to be my second introduction to ‘streaming’. However, I found out and quickly deduced, that this streaming was not based on individual ability, but based on socio-economic and class distinctions. We were divided into 4 streams. Forms 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. I was put into class 1C , on my own and my friends, were put into 1D. I was totally devasted.

This is really where my resentment for the public education system started, as I naively thought that all new starters in the Grammar School system would be treat equally, based on individual merit, ability, effort and the results obtained in the 11+ exam. I had scored 97% in the 11+, teachers always spoke out and reported on my excellent efforts, merits, outstanding attitude and good manners. Why was I then being deprived of this equality of opportunity; how much higher could one get in the 11+, not much higher and realistically, how many of the other pupils in Forms 1A and 1B had obtained an 11+ score above 97%? That taught me my second invaluable lesson. That equality of public education for all, was an ideal in theory, but certainly not in reality; especially if you’re parents were personal friends of the Headmaster, or that they had contributed quite generously to school funds etc….

Our Form Teacher was a very pleasant gentleman in his late 30s. We attended this form gathering, twice a day. Once in the morning upon arrival and immediately after lunch. This I saw as just for taking registrations, to accompany you to twice weekly assemblies and to give out messages passed on concerning other lessons, homework due, school events and extra curricular activities. Theoretically, your Form Teacher also acted in a pastoral role for you, but due to the time constraints, I knew after a few attempts, not to bother asking, enquiring, suggesting, or airing any concerns that I had, as I was always fobbed off with some excuse or another. The most common used was his time constraints (but no alternative time was offered), the next was to tell or ask your parents ‘they will have to sort it out’ and you’ve been here long enough, you’ll have to sort it out yourself…. you’ve got to learn to sort things out for yourself. My resentment was building up and little did I know, these rapid psychological and personal physical changes were due to my adolescent changes of puberty, which even at 11 and the inequalities that I had so far suffered, fuelled my volatility and resentment. I desperately needed pastoral time and attention, but I also needed to be left on my own on occasions, to find my own way, without fear of being penalized.

In our first form class and at the beginning of each new academic year, we were given weekly-fixed timetables of the lessons we would attend, the classroom it would be located in and the name of the teacher who would take the class. Unlike Junior School, we were allocated 1 exercise book per academic subject per academic year. Any additional exercise books you needed, which was usually 3 to 4 per year per subject had to be purchased from the school. School text books for each academic subject, essential equipment, stationery, mathematical tables (Logarithms, Sines, Cosines etc.) and a pencil case large enough to keep them all in, all had to be purchased by your parents.

The curriculum in the first year reinforced and expanded on what we had been taught in the the fourth year of Junior School and I felt a bridge between primary and the introductory phase of a Grammar School education. Music was no longer taught, but had been replaced by Drama, a single 40 minute class per week, in the school’s annex, a Georgian 6 bedroom, 4 reception room detached house.

Art, PE, Games, RE, Maths (no mental Arithmetic), modern foreign languages (an extension of beginners French language, beginners German and Spanish), Latin, History, Geography, Home Economics, Craft, Dancing, English (which had now been separated into English Language and English Literature), General Science (a basic introduction into the segregated subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Biology). After- school fee-paying clubs of Swimming, Chess and Badminton were also available.

Once again, I excelled in Maths (to the great joy and satisfaction of my Maths teacher), but also in Art, Swimming, Maths and Home Economics.

During my education at Grammar School, I found that most subject teachers had unrealistic expectations concerning the impact and implications of the quantity of homework supplied to individual pupils, there seemed to be no consideration for the individual pupil’s workload, each subject teacher only been concerned with their subject area and homework completed for them. I would on occasions, be given homework for 3 to 4 academic subjects to be completed and handed in for the next day, each would take approximately 1 to 1.5 hours for completion), but I desperately wanted to succeed, be creative, independent, inventive and to be able to think for myself, but I also knew I had to be punctual, dependable and hardworking and to accept the authority of each of the teachers who taught within their subject areas; but not in sarcastic, cynical, unfounded and derogatory comments made against myself or my parents.

Once again, except in Maths, I found that I was not sufficiently challenged or encouraged, or to provide me with the opportunities to participate in all aspects of school life. As previously described, there was no provision for the right conditions at school like a study or homework/quiet room for studying, except the school library, where only 6 tables and 6 chairs per table were available, which were nearly always occupied by 5^th and 6^th formers studying for exams, with the Librarian’s always insisting that they have priority over all seating.

Some of the hard-core Grammar School teachers still believed that Grammar Schools were the privilege of the upper and middle class elite and would grade and stream a pupil accordingly; believing that a pupil in a ‘A’ stream form/year was only able to produce grade ‘A’ results, for any subject, even though they may produce a ‘C’ grade performance and vice versa with a pupil in a ‘C’ stream form/year, which happened in my case.

Unfortunately, in addition to social class discrimination, most academic subject teachers whether male or female, practiced sexism in the classroom, in which they favoured male pupils, by asking and directing more questions. Male pupils were given more time, attention, concern and were encouraged to dominate subject class discussions and giving them more help. Whilst female enthusiasm for the subject area was suppressed, most became introverted and sat at the back of the class in silence. I refused to be one of those introverted females and usually obtained better marks than male pupils in my class. However, rather than been an advantage, this worked against me, because as I spoke out in class and refused to accept the silent role, I was accused by those same teachers of ‘attempting to hog the limelight’.

The bullying experienced in the the Junior School intensified and with the introduction of some ‘Prefects’ that abused their power by being not just verbally abusive, but physically and mentally.

The rest of my Grammar School education continued as it started. In the 3^rd year we were offered options on what subjects we would take at ‘O’ level and I was surprised that I had been streamed into 3B. I personally obtained 7 ‘O’levels, stayed on obtained 2 ‘A’ levels at Grade A in Applied Mathematics and Economics and obtained quite a few unconditional offers for Universities.

This article concludes my series of articles on why I chose to home school my son, based on my personal academic experiences within the public education system.

However, my blog will continue on issues related to education and home schooling.

Please revisit for my next and final in this series, on the reasons why I chose to homeschool my son based upon my recollections of my personal school and academic experiences.

Reasons I started Homeschooling - 4

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 04:34:00 +0000

I am a very proud and determined mum of one son who is now a graduate aged 28 years old. Born, raised and a native of Leeds in the UK and an ex-secondary school teacher, tutor, trainer and homeschooler. This blog gives my opinion, tips etc on homeschooling from 3 years old up to the age of 18 years old, in general and not just in the UK - where Iam located. These views will be unbiased and updated at least 5 times per week. If I think that something education-related is rubbish, excellent, angers or is funny or sad, I will say so in no uncertain terms. I will also give opinions not just on homeschooling, but on teacher, school, pupil and backup educational support and performances etc..... This is a blog for everyone that is interested in education a lot of content relates to the USA. So come in .. take a seat, relax and give us a read and give your opinions.

MY JUNIOR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
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This is the 4th in my series of articles of why I decided to homeschool my son, based on my experiences as a child in the public school system. Please read my other articles in this series of why I decided to homeschool. The articles in order are:

ARTICLE 1 - My Reasons I Started Homeschooling
ARTICLE 2 - My Nursery School Experience
ARTICLE 3 - My Primary School Experience

Before I commenced Junior School in the 1960s – a school for 7 to 11 year olds, I remember taking a test, for reading, writing and arithmetic at the end of my last year in Primary School. This was to determine which ability class that I would be put in at Junior School. The higher ability or the lower ability class. I took this test at the age of 7 years old and was placed in the higher ability class.

My Junior School experience was again a bit of a culture shock. I naively thought that it was going to be just like Primary School, I remember we always use to refer to it as ‘the big school' – as it had 2 floors. This was because the Junior School itself was segregated by gender. The 2nd floor was for the boys and the ground floor for the girls, with separate entrances for each gender; instead of the 1 that we had been use to in Primary School that was mixed gender classes. The Junior School was actually located within the same grounds as the Primary School; the only way of knowing was a small dividing wall. At break times Primary school children would play on one side of the wall and juniors at the other side.

The centralized school kitchen that made and transported all the school dinners for schools in the area was located at the bottom of the Primary School playground and attached to that was a house with a ground floor and a first floor, which we always thought was the school Caretaker’s House, but it was actually the Housecraft House – more on that later.

On the first day at Junior School, all newcomers assembled and sat down in the hall, where you were introduced to the class teachers who took the first year pupils. When your name was called, you got up and followed your class teacher to your classroom with pump bag and coat in hand. You hung your coat on the peg that had already been pre-tagged with your name on it. You had to change into your pumps, as no one was allowed to wear outdoor shoes when walking in the school on the annually-maintained highly polished wooden floors throughout the school - that was the privilege of teaching staff who wore their outdoor shoes everywhere they walked in the school. I often asked other pupils and even other teachers why this was so, but never seemed to get a satisfactory reply.

You were issued with a different coloured exercise book for each subject area you would be taught in and 2 pencils (no pens were allowed to be used at that time) and 1 wooden ruler, all exercise books remained with the teacher, but you were allowed to take the pencils and ruler home with you and return with them for the next day. The class size was 40 pupils, but the school day had extended. We started at 9am and finished at 4pm with lunch from 12-15pm to 1.30pm daily.

The curriculum expanded on what you had been taught in the last year of Primary School and still the dulcet tones of ‘one two is two….one two is two….one two is two….’ could be heard. Arithmetic turned into mathematics for written work but still remained for sums and problems that you had to work out mentally without having the benefit of working out on paper – and two ½ hour classes per week were dedicated just to Mental Arithmetic. We had Mathematics everyday, one day it would be a ½ hour lesson and the next it would be a 1 hour double lesson. Mathematics and Mental Arithmetic I seemed to excel at, which led to very little one-to-one attention, that being reserved for pupils who for one reason or another, were not as adept as I was at these subjects and I was often told in my plea for assistance – "an example is on the board – work it out for yourself". Again, I felt neglected, but in another way I felt a sense of achievement. I completed my work all correctly at break-neck speed and constantly asked for further work, to which my reply was from the class teacher "you’ll have to wait until the rest of the class have caught up".
It was a matter of twiddling my thumbs or helping out, any other pupils that were sat around me that maybe having difficulties. Your class teacher remained the focal point, but now, only for the majority of lessons. Other teachers now taught the class some of the subjects.

We were introduced to writing classes, where we were taught how to do joined up writing. Which had to be precise and exact or a big red diagonal line was put through the whole page and you had to rewrite the whole page again.

We were also introduced to the practical and theoretical aspects of Music and were asked if anyone would like to learn to play an instrument on the start of each of the academic year. Some pupils remained with the one instrument and others chose different instruments for each year. I chose a different instrument for each year. This was a double lesson for 1 hour per week – 20 minutes on how to read and write sheet music and the other 40 minutes learning how to play our instruments and we were able to take the instruments home with us and was instructed to practice our instrument from the sheet music for at least 1 hour per day – every day. After Christmas, the music teacher formed an Orchestra of the most able players and we use to perform at assemblies 2 times per week. Another music-related class we took for ½ hour per week was singing – which was taken by the Headmistress.

As we had a very limited amount of PE Equipment, PE turned into Games, with English Rounders (an English equivalent of Baseball played with a smaller version of a baseball bat) and French Rounders (similar to English Rounders, but the ball had to be passed from the ball thrower, to the 1st base, who threw it to the 2nd base and so on, until it reached the 4th base, who’s responsibility it was to ‘tag’ the running batter. This class was also taken by your class teacher.

Art, I believe was much neglected at this period in my school life and we only took one ½ hour lesson per week, again given by your class teacher.

Another new lesson we were given was social etiquette and manners, but only for ½ hour per week and you were expected to have that followed-up and expanded by your parents for the next week’s class. Your mother was also expected to teach you different household management skills – cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing. Which when you were in the 4th year of school, you would spend a full week (with 2 other of your fellow class pupils) residential in the housecraft house, performing a variety of everyday tasks on which you were assessed on a daily basis, with at least one teacher to be invited every day for lunch and for tea, with 1 item of laundry and ironing to be done daily for each teacher. This was strictly for the girls and any boy who remotely expressed an interest in the activities in the housecraft house were bullied relentlessly by the other boys.

This is where the bullying seemed to start and if you were different even in the very slightest way – school life could be made hell for you. If teachers were informed of the bullying, this made it even worse for the victim, as they would additionally be tagged, targeted and bullied as been a ‘tell-tale’. The victim given a cursory punishment and the victim received no counseling whatsoever. When many of the pupils had to walk home after school, much of the bullying and physical violence happened then. Teachers would throw up their hands and say it’s not our fault, they are off school premises. Pupils whose parent/s worked often went round to see the bully’s parent/s, who would often say, that the problem wasn’t there’s as it had been caused by the school environment.

I believe the school environment did cause bullying where competition and individuality academically were nurtered and the pupils that were just left behind because the class teacher did not have sufficient time to explain the subject and topic area in detail to each and every class pupil that required it, some teachers adopted an attitude of ridicule and cynicism what the teacher saw as ‘attention-seeking’. The most-able pupils were been bullied for been ‘the teacher’s pet’, for gaining a lot of verbal praise by the class teacher who often made comparisons to other more-able pupils by saying ‘why can’t you be more like…….. Bullying within school time was very rarely made public to the parents of pupils and swept under the carpet and never was made public through the media.

In my last year at Junior School, we took a formal examination called the ’11-Plus’ with all the pupils taking it in the school hall. This exam at the time was the most important exam you had to take and would shape the whole of your life, as it would determine what type of senior school you would attend. A secondary modern school (where you would not be entered for any formal academic exams) or a Grammar School (where you would be entered for and take formal academic exams and with the possibility of staying onto the 5th and 6th forms to be entered into and take Advanced exams – which were necessary if you wanted to go to University). If you passed the 11-Plus, then you would be allocated a place at one of the two Grammar Schools within our catchment area. If you failed the 11-Plus you would be allocated a place at one of the 2 secondary modern schools within our catchment area. Rumours were rife in our community that the 11-Plus was a sham and that even if you did pass the 11-Plus and resided in our community, you would be failed because you were not considered to be suitable socio-economically to be a pupil at a Grammar School, even though a child may have been one of the most brightest, gifted children in the city.

The day of the 11-Plus exam arrived and unfortunately I contracted Measles (for the second time, even after I had received the combined vaccination against it) 2 days before this important exam. Armed with my GPs letter and medical certificate to state that I was medically unable to sit this exam at the stated time and date, the Headmistress insisted that I took the exam on the stated time and date (or I would be given an automatic fail) and that I would be isolated with a class teacher in an empty classroom to ensure that I had peace and quiet. My mother did take me on that day and time and I was dreadfully ill and feeling quite sick with a high temperature. The exam paper was already awaiting my arrival and the rest of the pupils were made to move to the other end of the hall whilst I entered the classroom.

In this large classroom a teacher sat at one end of the classroom where she wore trousers (which was unprecedented as the Headmistress always insisted that the female staff wear skirts), a coat and gloves and I was placed at the back of the classroom. I started my exam and felt absolutely ill throughout (a steel waste paper basket was placed at the side of my desk in case I wanted to be sick) but remarkably I answered all the questions fully, which were on all academic subject areas that we had been taught.

After finishing I remember my mother taking me home and putting me straight to bed and I slept for around 2 days. 4 weeks later, the dreaded letter arrived from the Local Education Authority (LEA) informing my parents that I had failed the 11-Plus. My father was absolutely furious and demanded to know what the pass score was and what score I had attained. The LEA informed my father that he had no right to know as both the pass score and my score were both confidential. After 5 weeks of communicating with the LEA and getting nowhere, being given excuse after excuse and been told that he didn’t know what he was talking about and that they were the professionals and knew what was best for me; my father gave them the ultimatum, either show him my test paper and score or he would make a public scandal of the whole situation, through the national press (which my much older cousin worked at the time) and through the television (which a friend of my father’s worked at, on the News desk). The LEA finally relented and showed him my actually 11-Plus exam paper and score. I had scored 97%. The actual pass score, to get a place at Grammar School was 65%. My father enquired to why they had failed me and the answer they gave him was that it was an error on their part and the paper had been put in the Fail tray by mistake.

Needless to say, an amended letter arrived a few days later, saying that having after reassessed my results that they have reconsidered their decision and considered that I had obtained an adequate enough mark and had passed the exam (how much more adequate did they need!). What a cheek, there was no apology and nothing to say that it was them who had been in error in the first place. So, I had been awarded a place at the local grammar school. The question then for my parents was how they were going to find the money for the mandatory school uniform, books and equipment that was strictly enforced by the Grammar School.

I was going to the Grammar School, the final hurdle I thought, into entering adult society, what a shock I would get.

Please revisit for my next and final in this series, on the reasons why I chose to homeschool my son based upon my recollections of my personal school and academic experiences.

Reasons I started Homeschooling - 3

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 04:13:00 +0000

MY PRIMARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

In this my 3rd article in this series of why I chose to homeschool my son, I recount my personal experiences of attending Primary School at the age of 4 years until the age of 7 years old.

Primary School was for pupils aged 5 to 7 years old, if they had not attended Nursery School. At the age of 4 my reading, writing and arithmetic skills were assessed by the Headmistress of the school and she placed me in the 2nd year(usually reserved for 6 year olds) where I had to stay for 2 years. This was achieved because even though both of my parents worked full-time, there was a strict regime. Bedtime was at 7.30pm prompt. I had to read at least 2 pages, write 1 page and do 1 page of written sums, as well as answer 10 questions on mental arithmetic, to each parent on a daily basis. If I answered the same question incorrectly three times, then I would have to start the whole exercise all over again. If I got all questions right for each parent, then this would take about 1 hour in total for both parents. As a result, by the time I went to Primary School at the age of 4, I could read competently enough to read a newspaper, I knew all my times tables up to the 12 times table and could write legibly by printing (enjoined writing)in straight lines of the same size.

It was a bit of a culture shock for me to go from a Nursery school of 40 pupils, to one of about 200+. The day started at 9am and finished at 4pm, you had an Assembly every day, and did 1/2 hour each of Art, P.E. (physical education), Music and R.E. (Religious Education) per week. I remember that reading was from the Janet and John series of books and then you went onto the Ladybird series of books. It was estimated that this would take you 2 academic years to complete both series of books. I remember starting Primary school in September and by Christmas of the same year, I had completed all the books in both the Janet and John and the Ladybird series, completing 1-2 books per day. You had to read a minimum of 2 pages per day to your class-teacher (who was still the focal point for the teaching of all subjects) and 2 pages per week to the Headmistress in her study (which also doubled as the School Library). In my first year after the Christmas break, I started reading the Secret Seven and the Famous Five series of books (written by Enid Blyton) and on my weekly visits to the Headmistress she would lay back in her chair, clasp her hands together and close her eyes whilst I read her a quite extensive article in that day’s daily newspaper.

My arithmetic ability was too advanced for the class, as to virtually bar me from the majority of class-based activities as my class teacher said that I led the class and they would just follow and not really learn anything. The teaching method for learning your times tables was by repetition. I can still hear it now a class of 40+ pupils dulcet tones "one two is two....one two is two.....one two is two" and continuing on that until the teacher was satisfied that every pupil knew that one two is two and this continued onto "twelve twelves are one hundred and forty four......twelve twelves are one hundred and forty four......twelve twelves are one hundred and forty four." During this repetition the teacher would pick out a pupil at random and fire a question at them, if they answered incorrectly, they had to go stand in the corner where they had to wear the dreaded black pointed dunces hat with a big white D painted upon it, face the wall and had to keep repeating the times table they had answered incorrectly, until someone else got one wrong and came to the corner to replace them.

In Class Reading again I was barred from that activity as well, as my reading was too advanced and I was by then reading Enid Blyton books, when the rest of the class were on Janet and John or Ladybird books. However, I was given the privilege of reading between ½ and 1 chapter of whichever Secret Seven or Famous Five or other Enid Blyton book that I was reading at the time to the rest of the class. The school day began at 9am and finished at 4pm. Again the follow-up work at home continued, which put me in good stead for when I commenced Junior School at the age of 7.

In my next article (my 4^th in this series of why I chose to homeschool my son), I recount my personal experiences of attending Junior School at the age of 7 years until the age of 11 years old.

Reasons I started Homeschooling - 3

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 04:13:00 +0000

MY PRIMARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

In this my 3rd article in this series of why I chose to homeschool my son, I recount my personal experiences of attending Primary School at the age of 4 years until the age of 7 years old.

In my next article (my 4^th in this series of why I chose to homeschool my son), I recount my personal experiences of attending Junior School at the age of 7 years until the age of 11 years old.

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:55:00 +0000

REASONS I STARTED HOMESCHOOLING - 2

MY NURSERY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

In this second of four articles on my reasons why I chose homeschooling for my son, I initially recount my personal experiences within the UK educational system of the 1960s and the early 1970s and society’s perceptions on education and the teaching profession. Firstly, just to explain the educational system in the UK. The UK, unlike the USA, is at present and always has had a mandatory educational system based on age and not grade or passing a GPA and remaining in and repeating that grade until the GPA had been passed or attained and in exceptional cases a child in the UK may be placed in a class above their actual age because their ability may be of a higher standard – so a child no matter what their ability or grades were like, would move up to the next year - however, a higher ability child would have to remain in that class and repeat the class, until they actually reached that actual age of the class they were in.

Schools do and did exist for gifted-children, however, these were fee-paying schools, with no funding available for scholarships etc. and there was the additional living costs, essential clothing and equipment costs, extra curricular costs etc. So to working-class families on a limited income there was no possibility of a child, even if tested and shown to be gifted, that they would ever get the opportunity to attend a school for the gifted, as the cost to attend would be prohibitive.

We need to look at the past for answers to the future of education, academic and skills for life training. It is the responsibility of Headteachers, teachers, local and national government, parents and pupils to ensure that a national curriculum that is focused, builds academic, business and life skills that have a content that is interesting, balanced and relevant to the individual child. There were a few negative (that if modified could be turned into positive) and many positive experiences, all supported by a regime of discipline, structure but fun in a loving and supportive environment.
My education started in the late 1950s at the age of 3 years old, I went to a Nursery School. Unlike the Nurseries, Day Care Centres, Kindergartens etc. of today where it seems 90% of learning is based on play, and only 10% based on learning the academic basics of the 3Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic). The teaching was in a prefabricated building with 2 classrooms and 2 teachers, no Headteacher and you stayed in the Nursery School for 2 years and the places for Nursery School were open to all children free of charge. The classroom was the basis of all activity, including school-dinners. The learning was centred on the teaching and learning of the 3Rs and social life and behavioural skills for 90% of the time and 10% art and music. You were sat around tables - 4 to a table and 5 tables to a classroom. The school day started at 9am and finished at 3.30pm. At lunchtime you either stopped on the premises for a school lunch or went home under the supervision of a parent or other adult that was responsible for you and returning you to the Nursery School for the afternoon session. No packed lunches to eat either on the premises or off the premises were allowed. All school lunches were prepared in local centralised school kitchens and transported in sealed steel containers with catering cutlery provided. Your class teacher was the focus of all lessons and activities (including an improvised canteen at lunchtimes, where the teachers were actually the servers of your meals) and taught you all subjects.

If your class teacher considered you competent enough, you were allowed to attend the Primary School at the age of 4 and was additionally assessed by the Headteacher of the Primary School as to which grade of class you would be in, the basic ability class or the higher ability class.

Reasons I started Homeschooling - 1

noreply@blogger.com (LEC23) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 01:08:00 +0000

REASONS I STARTED HOMESCHOOLING - 1

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This is my first of a series of articles on Homeschooling and if you are reading this, it indicates that you are considering or have made a conscious decision to homeschool your child or children. However, the reasons you have or have made that decision, may be quite complex. As homeschooling is likely to have some impact on your lifestyle and will affect the child or children you teach and others around you.

It would be worth your while taking some time to clarify your reasons. You will then be better able to justify any changes to those affected, including yourself. Here is my primary reasons in deciding to homeschool my son.

I was watching my son taking his somewhat awkward, unsteady baby steps and I thought to myself, well it won't be long before he starts school. My thinking of education expanded and I started to think of my childhood experiences of education, what I read in the newspaper and heard on the television about high teacher to pupil ratios and how that affected not only my own academic ability and other skills and how I thought that my full potential had not been realized or utilized and that I did not want that happening to my son.

Later on that same day, with the sun shining and warmth outside, I took him out for a walk, securely strapped into his buggy. Going for a stroll in the fresh air, for some reason, always seemed to send him to sleep even though I would be constantly chatting to him and the thoughts again centred around education. I thought again about the high teacher to pupil ratio and that if teachers were locum parentus, then how many children could 1 parent effectively parent at the same time, if all the children were of the same age, so that all of the children received the same amount of attention? 5, 6, 7? So, how can 1 teacher effectively educate 15, 20+ children at the same time?

I reflected on my own teaching experience so far and the guilt that I felt at not being able to devote as much time on one-to-one basis with each individual child to encourage and stimulate their full potential and how more able children did not receive as much attention as those with lower abilities for whatever reason and I was determined that my son was not going to go through that. That walk, that day, with those thoughts, determined my course of action and planning to homeschool my child, but to what level?

Up to age 7, 11 or through to the age of 16 or even 18? I decided to teach him one level at a time, if he enjoyed it, had developed adequately on each area and stage, then I would continue homeschooling to the next level and then reassess.

I wanted my son to gain the knowledge that would help him fulfill his full potential and him to have the practical as well as theoretical knowledge not just in academic subjects but also in life-skills, the arts, music and physical well-being. I wanted to improve his quality of life generally and to prove to him that he could think and work individually, as well as part of a team and personally develop, gain skills and gain confidence and follow-up theoretical knowledge with practical applications in a fairly systematic way rather than through casual learning.

As you can see from above, my motives were not clear-cut and even quite complex. You may well find that you develop different reasons to homeschool your child or children, reasons that never struck you at the outset. However, you will see the benefits if you decide to homeschool for the right reasons.