Immense Praise for Joy Hakim’s A History of US

I have previously reviewed Joy Hakim's Story of Science series and since I was so enamored by her writing, I bit the bullet and bought the 11 volume set A History of US for KM to use for her U.S. History studies. AM I EVER GLAD I DID!!! I had planned on glossing over the content so that I could figure out when I would need to order additional reading material and movies from our local library to supplement and ended up not being able to put the book down! I am no history buff, but this book captured my attention and I literally couldn't put it down.

I love that she points out what our family calls "duh" moments, things that when you are reading you think why doesn't every textbook take this approach. "When Leaders say something is all right, most people agree, without thinking for themselves." p.113

Hakim has a way of writing that just captivates and inspires you to want to keep reading. The story unfolds as if you are in a time machine looking down on what is going on. Her writing flows in an engaging and thought provoking way, as she constantly asks you to analyze and question what is being said in a conversational manner. She manages to cover even some of the more gruesome facts without getting graphic, which makes this a perfect multi-age resource.

Hakim challenges the reader to question history and emphasizes that "No one knows what happened in the past - at least we don't know the whole story"..."You gather pieces of information and try to discover how they fit." p. 9 

When I was in school I was never taught about anything before the Jamestown Settlement. Sure we were taught about Christopher Columbus sailing across the ocean blue in 1492, but they never mentioned all that went on from one point to the next, it was basically as if they left out the 16th century all together! In Hakim's text she is truly telling the story of US, beyond the United States, in direct relation to how the Americas were formed. Begining back with Beringia she has the audacity to discuss how there are actually no "NATIVE" Americans as we all came from somewhere else. She delves into the formation of settlements in the Central American islands, the Spanish conquests of Mexico and also defends the Indians, repeatedly making note of the "arrogant European" behaviors.

My favorite quote has to be - Looking back, today, it seems as if people and nations were acting just like silly little kids. Each one saying "My religion is better than yours." p. 139

I have only read the first volume, but I have already absorbed more information from this book than I did in my entire college semester of U.S. History. I highly recommend this series as a first rate, informative, intelligent text that will surely make a history lover out of the most resistant person.

I will be getting Volume 2 off the shelf as soon as I finish typing this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE --- We are nearly done with Book 5 at this point. KM and I are still totally engaged in this series. I love how every angle and point of view is touched on, so that you can get a feel for what life was really like for not just the rich, but the poor and the inbetweeners as well!!!

Readers or Test Takers ~ What really is the intent of this book? - Review of Motivating Teen and Preteen Readers by Jeffrey Pflaum

Repost---- Originally posted Nov. 1, 2011

I would like to preface this review with the information that I love reading, my daughter loves reading, my stepson loves reading, however, in my previous life – prior to unplugging – I worked and volunteered in schools, mostly with kids who were wrongly diagnosed, grossly neglected by and often tortured through the system and more often than not HATED reading. I feel reading is the most important skill for a successful life. Reading opens minds to worlds without limits, breaks through any restrictions, and allows true freedom from everything, so when I was contacted to review Motivating Teen and Preteen Readersby Jeffrey Pflaum, I was really excited to delve into something that might help those who have no interest in reading.

The outline of the program that Pflaum puts forth is this -

• 4 books of questions on reading and reading life
  • students answer questions on a schedule spread out over a course of a year and then discuss answers
• brief teacher/parent raps and mini-discussions examine the experience of reading
• class or 1:1 discussions bring out reading-world encounters and ideas
• evaluations follow up each set

The list of goals that Pflaum lays out on pages 6-8 are somewhat inspiring and include -

• Motivate, reading by heightening understanding of its processes.
• Reveal the power of the written, spoken and imagined word.
• Define reading as a process of self-communication.
• Deepen students' understanding of reading's affective side.
• Create confident, intrinsically motivated, effective, independent, lifelong readers.

Throughout the first few sections of the book, I felt there were a number of contradictions that I had a difficult time getting past. The author seems to illustrate that these books of questioning techniques will boost adolescents' motivation to read, but he states that motivation for reading must be intrinsic.  My question to the author is, "How are these extrinsic questions going to bring about a self-motivating drive?" A quote from page 1 "Reading in the 2000s is functional: to get grades on standardized tests." may seem to be taken out of context, but shortly there after Pflaum states "They [the questions] motivate students to make sense of reading and realize that testing is only a small part." p. 8. This leads me to wonder the actual intent of the book - is it to increase test scores or to create an interest for teens to read?  I am uncertain as to whether it is about essay writing and expression of experiences than actual useful tips to help teens WANT to read.

The four books of questions - which by the way are actually all included in this compilation - are comprised of questions which are suppose to make the reader enjoy reading more by teaching them "fundamental prerequisite skills or tools needed to enjoy reading and learning".   After looking over the questions I could picture was a class full of high schoolers rolling their eyes at these touchy feely questions -

• How cool and calm are you when you are reading? Explain your answer.
• Do you enjoy the solitude and silence of reading and your reading life? Explain your answer.
• When is reading sweet peace for you?

Again I am no expert in this area, but my 14 year old daughter said it rather eloquently when she stated - "You just need to find a book genre that you like and read." To me this is the quintessential solution - let kids read what they want to read when they want to read it. Many kids hate to read because they are forced to regurgitate the information to pass a test. They are made to feel inferior if they cannot read at the same time or earlier than kids their own age. They don't connect with the book because they see it as "work". They have no time to read for "fun" because they have homework and sports and dance and even over the summer they have stacks of books that MUST be read by the fall. While I don't want to say that ALL home educated kids like to read, I have never met one who doesn't.

When kids aren't rushed, prodded and ordered to read restricting possibilities, content and given strict timelines, they tend to have that intrinsic motivation that Pflaum mentions naturally. This is just another approach to the same end, get the kids to write so they can pass the test. I don't mind offering the advice of my young sage!

I'm interesting in learning from the author during his upcoming interviewwith Unplugged Mom, whether the intent of the book is to "teach the test" or to motivate a true love of reading and appreciation of literature.   I look forward to the opportunity to hear from him. ---- 

Updated– Nov. 15, 2011

After listening to Pflaum's interview on UMRadio, I feel like he has the best intentions, but the ideas expressed in his interview did not translate into his writing. It is my opinion that this is a teacher trying to make better students, rather than make better readers and I don't know if he truly understands the difference! This may sound harsh, but I feel as though it is my duty to call out a wolf when I see one! 

Homeschool Atheist Momma: Nine Disadvantages of Homeschooling

Take a peek at this great post at Homeschool Atheist Momma: Nine Disadvantages of Homeschooling:

My comment on the post ~
The biggest disadvantage that I could come up with is teaching writing! Nearly every single FRUSTRATION that we run into here revolves around writing and KM's PTSD-like response, but really this is the fault of the school teachers that she had, if only I had saved her earlier!

FREE - CollegePlus - Live Webinar Series - Week Two

CollegePlus - Live Webinar Series 

It's Not the Degree ~ It's What You Know

Andrew Pudewa - Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing; Renowned Speaker and Education Reformer

Webinar date: 6/19/12

Start time: 8pm EDT • 7pm CDT • 5pm PDT

Webinar details Register now

Know Why You Go: Life is Too Short to Just Earn a Degree!

Dewey Novotny - Founder of LifePurposePlanning.org; Writer and Speaker

Webinar date: 6/21/12

Start time: 8pm EDT • 7pm CDT • 5pm PDT

Webinar details Register now

 

FREE CollegePlus - Live Webinar Series - Starts TONIGHT

CollegePlus - Live Webinar Series | CollegePlus:

 

Innovations in Higher Education
		Education Innovators. 6 Exclusive Webinars. One Mission: Disrupting Higher Education. A radical disruption is in progress. One that is challenging our most fundamental assumptions about education in general and higher education in particular. As the landscape changes, will your student be prepared to: Avoid the escalating costs of higher education? Bridge the gap between college outcomes and marketplace demands? Discover, pursue and fulfill their unique life purpose? What about the emergence of dual credit options, credit for service learning and internships, and increased transfer opportunities? How will you decide which one is right for your student? In this ‘Innovations in Higher Education’ webinar series, leaders like Andrew Pudewa (Institute for Excellence in Writing), Rick Green (Wallbuilders and Patriot Academy), Rick O’Donnell (Former Director of Higher Education for the State of Colorado and Texas), and others on the front lines of disrupting higher education will cast a vision for developing students into life-long learners who are fully prepared for success in today’s highly competitive job market. Click here to learn more about this webinar series Four years of traditional college is no longer a ticket to a successful career. In each webinar, you'll hear world-class speakers sharing practical action steps that will equip you to navigate through the chaos and help your student achieve the extraordinary. The first webinar, in this series of six, is on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. When you register now, you will get free access to all six webinars in the series. Space is extremely limited and will fill up fast. Click here to register now.
	The Key to Becoming Employable: College + Real Life Experience Tech Innovator Panel RoleModel Software, Groupon, & CollegePlus
	3 Keys to Navigating the Massive Change Coming to Higher Education Rick O'Donnell Former Director of Higher Education for the States of Colorado and Texas
	It's Not the Degree, It's What You Know Andrew Pudewa Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing
See the other presenters >>
This webinar series is sponsored and hosted by CollegePlus Additional Sponsors:

'via Blog this'

GED Prep Resources

As I have mentioned before, KM and DN are both planning to take the GED for differing reasons, so I wanted to share the resources we will be utilizing over the next few years in order to prepare for the test.

• GED For Free - a large amount of free resources and information available online for free
• FREE GED Practice Tests - Great to find what areas should be focused on! 
• Complete GED Preparation
• GED Mathematics (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series) 
• Steck-Vaughn Ged: Language Arts, Writing (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series) 
• Ged Essay (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series) 
• GED: Language Arts, Reading (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series)
• Ged Science (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series) 
• Social Studies: Ged (Steck-Vaughn Ged Series)

I really like the format of the Steck-Vaughn series and appreciate that they have additional booklets of exercises in each area. I feel this is the most thorough GED prep out there.

2012 - 2013 Ed Plan revisited

In light of recent decisions and adjustments in regards to DN's direction over the next "school year" I have decided to repost a corrected outline for our ed plan which only lists KM's resources. I will also post what we decide to have DN use once that has been finalized, but for now here is what she will be doing -

Subject	Summer '12	Fall '12	Winter '13	Spring '13
ELA - Literature & Writing	Historical Fiction Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing	Movies as Literature Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing	Movies as Literature Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing	Movies as Literature Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing
Math	Hands on Banking for Teens	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)
Science		Chemistry (Science) Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work	Chemistry (Science) Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work	Chemistry (Science) Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work
Health & P.E.	Bowling ExerBeat	Bowling ExerBeat	Bowling ExerBeat	Bowling ExerBeat
Social Sciences – U.S. History & Geography	A History of US Books 5-9 Story of the US DVD U.S. History – Basic Not Boring	A History of US Books 5-9 Story of the US DVD U.S. History – Basic Not Boring People and Events: 1865-Present CNN Student News Election Study	A History of US Books 5-9 Story of the US DVD U.S. History – Basic Not Boring People and Events: 1865-Present CNN Student News	A History of US Books 5-9 Story of the US DVD U.S. History – Basic Not Boring People and Events: 1865-Present CNN Student News
Elective	Milady's Standard Cosmetology Theory Workbook Practical Workbook Japanese from Zero!	Milady's Standard Cosmetology Theory Workbook Practical Workbook Japanese from Zero!	Milady's Standard Cosmetology Theory Workbook Practical Workbook Japanese from Zero!	Milady's Standard Cosmetology Theory Workbook Practical Workbook Japanese from Zero!

This will be her summer schedule -

 and for the fall -