Join the Atlas Shrugged Summer Reading Program

The Ayn Rand Institute is offering a fantastic summer reading program and if you order soon, you can get a free copy of Atlas Shrugged to use during the program. There are also a number of other free resources to do in depth studies of her work.
Enjoy!!! 

Welcome to the Atlas Shrugged Summer Reading Program The Ayn Rand Institute would like to invite you and your students to participate in a new Atlas Shrugged Summer Reading campaign. While Atlas Shrugged is widely recognized as Ayn Rand's must-read masterpiece, it's often overlooked in the classroom, in part because not all teachers have the time to teach it. To help encourage its reading, we are offering a 10-week guided reading beginning on June 12. Each week, we will assign the next reading schedule, provide some study questions to focus thinking, recap the previous week's reading, and present a featured resource to highlight some relevant aspect of Atlas Shrugged. It is our hope that this reading program will help further cultivate an interest among your students in Ayn Rand's novels that you have already begun developing. With your students in mind, some featured resources will be designed to help assist them in preparation for the 2013 Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest. The reading will conclude in August, which will give students one month to write an essay by September 17, the deadline for the contest. Finally, we hope that you will consider participating in this, too! We are offering a free copy of Atlas Shrugged to all educators with an interest in participating. To participate, please sign up at aynrandeducation.org. We hope you will share this opportunity to read Atlas Shrugged with your students. Should some of them be interested, please have them sign up at aynrandnovels.org. Sincerely, Matthew Morgen Teacher Outreach

Professor Noggin's Card Games - Official Review ~~~~ Recycled Post

I have decided to recycle some of my reviews in order to help out those that are looking for resources and information for the upcoming "academic year".

Our family has been using these games for years and they are a fun, entertaining and exciting way to learn a number of subjects in numerous categories from Science to History to Art to Geography. These fun games can take your family to the far corners of Outer Space and deep into the Ocean. You can find a complete list of titles - HERE

Each game comes with 30 cards and 1 three numbered dice - meaning a six sided die that has 1, 2, & 3 on two sides each. Each card has 6 questions - 3 easy and 3 hard - which makes it fantastic to play with the whole family regardless of the amount of knowledge individuals may have in each area. Questions come in the form of true or false, multiple choice or trivia. I truly can not say enough about these fantastic product!

Here are the titles we have on our bookshelf -

  

Six Effective Video Game Tips for Mothers

Six Effective Video Game Tips for Mothers - GREAT POST I thought would be useful to many of my readers!

Where There is a Will There is a Way - Home Education is NOT Just for the Rich!

One of the most common questions that I get about home education - second only to the "S" question - is "How can you afford to home educate?" Of course people don't usually come out with it that clearly, they generally start out by asking what CJ does for a living, what kinds of curriculum we use, if I work and then finally their inquisition becomes clear. This misconception that families with minimal incomes can't home educate couldn't be farther from the truth. In this day and age with a world of knowledge LITERALLY at your fingertips, there is very little reason to think that any family on nearly any income would be unable to home educated their children.

It may take a bit of creativity, some leg work and ingenuity, but it can be done! You might have to cut some corners, make some sacrifices and really figure out what is important to your family. Connect with other home educators in your area, work together, make a community that can help each other make the most of the resources in your area. Many museums have free days throughout the year and give group discounts - sometimes for as small as groups of 10! Community centers and libraries offer free and low cost classes, lectures, reading groups, chess clubs and so much more. If you can't find something that you think your kids would like build it and they will come! You have to be willing to put yourself out there and connect! 

I have yet to google a topic with the word FREE and been let down by the number of results that appear - in fact I am often overwhelmed with the number of choices! I have compiled an incredible list of completely free resources on nearly every topic you can think of - HERE - but to get you started here are my TOP go to sites for 100% FREE resources! 

• YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY!!! NEVER EVER BUY CURRICULUM without having checked to see if you can get it through your library - or interlibrary loan or national library network first! Even if you can't find it in the system's database ask your librarian to try to track it down. I have not been able to stump mine yet! 
• Khan Academy - This ever growing collection of tutorials and lectures is at the top of our list for almost all educational categories. They cover everything from computer science to math to finance and capital markets to art history and loads of things in between! 
• YouTube - here you have to be a bit careful, but with some good digging you can find out how to do just about anything and there are plenty of people who are willing to show you just how to do it! Within YouTube there are also a lot of education specific areas like - 
• Crash Course - Six awesome courses in one awesome channel: John Green teaches you US History and Hank Green teaches you Chemistry. Check out the playlists for past courses in World History, Biology, Literature, and Ecology.
• YouTube EDU - YouTube EDU brings learners and educators together in a global video classroom. On YouTube EDU, you have access to a broad set of educational videos that range from academic lectures to inspirational speeches and everything in between.
• MinutePhysics - Simply put: cool physics and other sweet science. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."~Rutherford via Einstein? (wikiquote) Created by Henry Reich 
• WatchKnowLearn - The Vision behind WatchKnowLearn is simple: To provide a world-class, online domain on which educators can store, categorize, and rate the best, K – 12 educational videos on the Internet today. And to make this service FREE so teachers, parents and students everywhere may have access to those videos.  ~~~ We love this site because you can filter for content & age groups to get the most appropriate videos!
• TED Talks - Ideas worth spreading - if you haven't heard of this one it should be your first stop
• Freely Educate - At FreelyEducate.com the blogger focuses on 100% free educational finds. She specifically focuses on removing the financial obstacle for those who think they they can't afford a good education for their families.
• Clickschooling - Get 1 FREE, Web-Based Curriculum Idea Every Day — Monday Through Saturday! ClickSchooling brings you daily recommendations by email for entertaining websites that help your kids learn. 
• National Gallery of Art - Borrow free-loan teaching packets and DVDs or access online lessons, activities, and interactives to bring art to your classroom, home, or other learning setting. All materials are free.
• OpenCourseWare Consortium - The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a worldwide community of hundreds of higher education institutions and associated organizations committed to advancing OpenCourseWare and its impact on global education.  Learn more here. 
• Currclick - Although this site is not 100% free, I am adding it because they offer a lot of freebies, including weekly freebies, trial classes and a number of free online clubs. It is also the best collection of affordable curricula and classes on the web!

With these resources and the many more you can find within them, any family can get a superior education for little to NO cost! If in your heart you know that home education is the right choose for your family, there is a way! You may have to think really far outside of the box, you may have to reach out to find a community of people who are willing to help, you may have to cut back on extras, but where there is a will, there is ALWAYS a way!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additionally I wanted to mention two sites that have a lot of FREE information and links to help you understand the legalities of home educating in your own state. 

• HomeschoolingLegal.com Links to Homeschooling Legal Informational Sites for United States and Canada
• Homeschooling is Legal - The purpose of this website is to inform and educate homeschoolers about their legal rights and risks.

Help your students pass the 2002 Series GED Math Test

Free resources to help your students pass the 2002 Series GED® Math Test Math may be the only thing standing between your adult learner and a diploma. GED Testing Service has partnered with Pearson Learning Solutions to create a series of instructional videos that help adult learners understand key concepts on the GED® Math Test. You can use these videos during math classes, or give the link to your students so they can self-study and strengthen their knowledge of basic concepts and make them more effective in your class. More than 20 math concepts videos are available online for free. Visit GEDmathstrategies.com to begin. In addition, KET and Kentucky Adult Education have launched a free adult education resource for instructors preparing students for the GED® Math test. The collection of lessons plans are aligned to specific targets on the Math test and include video segments and practice worksheets. To access this Targeted Math Instruction resource, visit PBS Learning Media. Sincerely, GED Testing Service GED® and GED Testing Service® are registered trademarks of the American Council on Education (ACE). They may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of ACE or GED Testing Service. The GED® and GED Testing Service® brands are administered by GED Testing Service LLC under license from the American Council on Education.

An Afternoon in the City - WE LOVE BOSTON!

We are so fortunate to be able to attend the BLO dress rehearsals, as part of their educational outreach program, and when we do we always like to head in a bit early to hang out in the city. It was such a gorgeous day, after a number of drizzly cold ones, so we decided to take a stroll through the public gardens.

The gardens were abuzz with people and animals, beautiful foliage and pleasant melodies wafting through the air. We have always loved Boston, but this visit was a bit different and we were so glad that the city seemed utterly unchanged!

Immense Praise for Joy Hakim’s A History of US ~~~ Recycled Post

I have decided to recycle some of my reviews in order to help out those that are looking for resources and information for the upcoming "academic year".

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!!!

Intellego Unit Studies - Product Review ~~~ Recycled Post

I have decided to recycle some of my reviews in order to help out those that are looking for resources and information for the upcoming "academic year".

Unit studies and downloadable curriculum are all over the place these days, but Intellego Unit Studies are not designed like any other product I have seen around the webisphere! Created by a home educator for home educators these PDF formatted units contain interactive internet links for ease of access. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel this publisher has used what is readily available on-line to create customizable, easily adaptable, engaging guides that have something for every type of learner. Other unit guides that I have seen simply have text that is read to or by the child with some worksheets here and there, but these guides include a plethora of internet links that lead the learner to text, video, games, projects and worksheets. The links that are kept up to date using Intellego's database to ensure that the links are current and working.


Each unit has a standard layout which includes clearly outlined objectives, KWL charts, material lists, content specific info and extension activities. Before you begin you are presented with a clearly outlined list of what your child will be learning about during this unit. This can be a great tool to take to the library with you if you would like supplement with living books or plan field trips. The KWL charts are great tools to help organize and focus learning, before starting each unit the child lists the things they already KNOW about a topic, then move on to what they WANT to know and at the end of the unit they recap the things that they have LEARNED. The units include materials lists in two areas, a master list at the beginning of the unit and then a specific list for each chapter and lesson, which is a great way to ensure you haven't missed anything - nothing is worse than getting an experiment underway only to find out that you don't have everything you need!!! The content specific information in each area is broken down into bite-size sections to clearly cover all areas of a topic with an array of multi-media resources.  The key to any great unit study program is the ability to create continuity in cross-curricular skills and Intellego has done so by including extension activities that help solidify the information the learner has gained by showing how it can be used in the real world.


Of course no product is going to be a perfect fit for every family and there were a few drawbacks to this one, which included some dialogue being presented to the teacher and the inconsistency in the resources. For me having the units written to the teacher rather than to the student is a bit of an issue as I have a child who is a very independent learner. Of the three that I reviewed both of the ones that were for grades 6-8 were written this way KM found it a bit difficult, but not impossible, to follow along and this was more of an issue when she got to an external website that was directed to a teacher rather a student. The Health Unit was written directly to the student, but some of the resources were still written directly to the teacher and expected to be used by a class of students rather than a single learner The variance in resources was also a problem when some of the links had higher expectations of prior knowledge in both the middle grades and high school levels.

Overall I am very impressed with the format of these units. As someone who NEVER used a curriculum the way that is was meant to be used, Intellego has cut down my search time and gather a myriad of sources for me all in one clearly laid out unit. I look forward to using more in the future.




~~~Disclaimer: I was given these materials to review, but was not compensated in any other way for this review. I clearly stated to the publisher prior to downloading items that complimentary receipt did not guarantee a favorable review. 

Lemmings Law Revisited

During a recent email conversation I was reminded of this post that I originally wrote 3/20/11 in response to some difficult interactions with public school parents. I have added an addendum to the end of it to make it clear as to why it is such a relevant post for my feelings this week. 

Original post 3/20/11 - Lemmings Law

I am finding it harder and harder to appease people. While I think that people should respect each other's choices, I know that is never going to happen 100% of the time. People assume that you are attacking their decisions - or really their conformity - if you make a choice other than the one that is in line with theirs. If you are making a choice that is better for YOUR family, why wouldn't you automatically assume that the decision would be better for EVERY family? It is the lemmings law - follow, follow, follow, don't get out of line - if someone else gets out of line ATTACK!!!

Those of us who tend to make choices that are off the trodden path are often far more understanding, open minded and accepting of choices. We see the great joy that options can bring. We realize the importance of individual preferences. We accept that customization is KEY! We need to stop coddling these parents. I don't think the public schools are okay for anyone, they aren't! They can't be FIXED! Charter schools and privates are just as bad in most cases. We ALL need to learn to respectfully stand our ground and disregard the falsified counterattacks that are based on the insecurities of those shouting the loudest!

As I have seen these debates getting more and more ferocious with the ease of social networking sites in cyberspace, the anonymity of yahoo groups and the ability to hit send before you reread things or without thinking about the consequences. This is just another reason I DON'T have a facebook account!

 I reread this several times and STAND behind every word!

Addendum --- I reread this again over two years later and I STILL stand 100% behind every word.
My energy this time though is directed to many of those within the home ed community. Those who feel like there way is the only way. Those who think they should be followed and asked for advice about children they have never met. And ESPECIALLY to those that blindly follow someone else's dogma, quickly jumping to plug in to another set of regulations. There is no one RIGHT answer to any parenting question. There is no one size fits all routine, scenario, or prescription that can simply solve an issue that arises in a family. Go with your gut. Do what you feel is right.
I am not saying that you shouldn't ask for people's opinions or consult those around you who may have had situations akin to yours, but advice should be taken with a grain of salt, realizing that the child in the other situation is not your child. No matter HOW similar they may seem - they are not one in the same. When someone gives you advice that doesn't feel right listen, reject it and move on to the next. I don't think that these omnipresent guides are intending to be hurtful or condescending, but they are and until people realize that jumping from one box to another is not going to solve the problem they will continue to do so.
No boxes, no crazy criteria, no coercion. Just follow the path that works for your family. 

And for the record - I STILL don't have a facebook! 

How to Talk WIth Children About Boston Marathon Bombing

Police clear the area at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon
as medical workers help injured following the explosions.

It’s getting to the hateful point that it feels like a fill-in-the-blank: How to talk with children about 9/11. About Newtown. And now, about the Boston Marathon bombs. But still, it never hurts to be reminded of what’s normal and what helps most. Dr. Gene Beresin, a child psychiatrist and director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media, offers the following helpful guide - How to Talk With Children About Boston Marathon Bombing

Unschooler WifeSwap: Response and Concerns

It needed to be said and she did it very well!!!
Unschooler WifeSwap: Response and Concerns

Movies as Literature - Not quite what I had hoped! - Official Review ~~~ Recycled Post

I have decided to recycle some of my reviews in order to help out those that are looking for resources and information for the upcoming "academic year".

Once again, I have found myself having to rework our literature program for the year. I had Movies as Literature and was already to use it this year, but after a long discussion with KM, we decided to pass on it. 

Here are the main reasons it just didn't feel like a good fit for us: 

• It is not secular, we could have easily gotten passed that, but it could be of concern to some. 
• It has a good deal of older films - which we both generally like, but KM was not really interested in this particular selection. 
• It does feel as if it would be better suited to a group dynamic - like a movie group along the lines of a book group. 
• The outline was a bit intensive - read the first page of lesson before you watch, watch the movie start to finish no stopping or talking, review the questions, watch the movie again to answer questions, discuss answers and review movie again to find supporting details - just seemed like a bit of an overkill to me.  

As I love the idea of this program and will definitely be putting something together myself along these lines, this one was just not what we needed. There are some great websites that have free and inexpensive educator guides for movies - http://moviesheets.com/; http://www.teachwithmovies.org/ http://www.filmeducation.org/resources/ and many more - I have found the best way to find them is "free movie teacher guides" or "free teacher guide" & name of whatever patricular movie you are looking for. 

Write Guide - Official Review ~~~ RECYCLED POST

I have decided to recycle some of my reviews in order to help out those that are looking for resources and information for the upcoming "academic year".
This review was originally posted on 9/18/10.

I was contacted at the beginning of the summer by Write Guide.com's founder to do a review of their site and was given a one month trial account for my daughter to try it out. As writing is the most stressful subject in our household and the program sounded intriguing, I thought we would give it a whirl ~ I also managed to get KM to agree to try it.
Here is some company info -

WriteGuide.com, also known as Ludwig Education Services, LLC, is a small, family-owned business that serves homeschool families and adult learners, providing them with their own private writing teachers. We also work with many independent-study charter schools in California and Alaska. Founded in 1998, we remain devoted to providing homeschoolers with daily, 100% individualized writing instruction. To learn more about our teaching approach and methodologies, please review our Homepage, and our company's philosophy and mission statement. All schools, businesses, and individuals are welcome to contact our main office via the information on our Contact Us page.

What to Expect During the Course

Every time a student or parent writes to his or her writing consultant, the writing consultant will always respond within 24 hours (unless it's a weekend or holiday), providing whatever lessons or feedback are necessary to help the student move forward with the project. Enough instruction will be provided to give the student about half an hour to 45 minutes of work per day, so that the student can then write back to his or her writing consultant to receive more instruction. Ideally, students should write to their writing consultants every day, Monday through Friday, so that they'll receive five sets of individualized lessons, feedback, and instruction per week. Students can take as much time as they need before responding to their writing consultant, but please be aware that the consultant won't write back until the student has responded to his or her last message! Upon hearing back from his writing consultant, a student should complete the assigned work, and should respond with a message and a draft of his paper. Parents can also send one message per day to their child's writing consultant, in addition to the message or paper that the student sends. We like to view our course as a partnership between two teachers (the parent and the writing consultant), and so frequent parent input is both anticipated and appreciated.

I started out by describing KM and the issues that she has had with various writing programs as well as the situations that had occurred in PS. Then they assign a teacher based on this information. When we first were contacted by the teacher I was unaware that they hadn't passed the information on, but expected me to reiterate it. This made no sense to me because I had put a lot of time and thought into the description of my daughter because I thought the teacher would be seeing it and using it to set up a plan of action for her. Instead once the teacher was chosen she contacts both the child and parent through the mywriteguide portal not knowing anything about the child(ren).

There are a lot of really great options available - see four approaches, about midway down the page - and I choose for the teacher to decide what she thought would be a good place for KM to start, given her reluctance to write and it was decided that she should work on a simple report. The teacher did a great job of getting KM to pick a topic, ready to research and explained how to collect bibliography information thoroughly. She then gave her an extremely well thought out outline to use to organize her information. KM decided to research Neptune and then, after researching and with the help of the teacher, decided to focus specifically on the Voyager 2's missions and info collected on Neptune.

We lost a day of the program because KM and I were unaware that she had to respond to the teacher after her first initial "Hi there" email in order for the teacher to email her back. While I understand the want and need to ensure the anonymity and security of our children on the Internet, as well as keeping a record for the program and teachers' safety, but this portal thing is a bit of overkill in my opinion. The teachers "can't" send a message to the student unless the student replies to the previous message. I really think it would be beneficial if the system emailed you when you had new messages, there were 3 days that she had to keep checking back in throughout the day in order to see if she had gotten a message yet and didn't get responses until very late in the day.

The parents have to log into there own portal in order to see what is going on as well, which while easy enough to do, is just another thing to check on. The other drawback to this is that they can only respond back and forth once in a 24 hour period. KM is very much a seize the moment type of learner and when she has a question she wants the answer fairly quickly. This lapse in time caused a lot of momentum to be lost. I felt like I had to hold back from stepping in in order to see what was going to happen and I have to say it was agonizing for me as she was putting a lot of effort in, but then had to wait for so long to get the responses or feedback that she needed to move on to the next step.

Things get hectic in the summer and in case you haven't been to my blog lately, they were totally kooky here for a bit. So there was a Monday to Thursday stretch that KM didn't log into her account and I was surprised when I logged into mine that the teacher hadn't sent me a note asking anything about whether she was okay or if she was having trouble and afraid to ask or anything. The program runs on a month to month payment basis and if your child is missing a good junk of days, I would kinda expect some sort of acknowledgement to the lack of participation.

KM worked very hard on this report and she really seemed to be understanding what the teacher was saying. I helped her stay on task as I was hopeful that she would complete the entire paper before the month was up. Even with some of the previous hurdles, she did manage to keep progressing. On the day that the program was to expire, the teacher sent a message asking her to send her final draft and any last questions in her final email. KM was excited to have it completed, get final feedback and wanted to know how to complete the bibliography, however the program email interface did not allow us to do so. If I had know that this was how the program worked I would have had her email the full draft the day before with her question about the bibliography, instead of just the tweaks she had made to her conclusion paragraph. I emailed the office in regards to this and they gave a very timely response of "Thanks for writing! Your course was scheduled to end today, but we're going to extend it by a day so that Mrs. xxx can review the final draft. " which I was happy with. I do not however know if this is something that would have been done for everyone or just something that was done for me because they knew I was reviewing the site ~ I try to not be cynical, but the person that responded was the person that initially contacted me to do the review.

The teacher was very encouraging and really gave some great feedback, formats and suggestions in a very positive way. I think that in theory this program is a good idea and although it was a great learning experience for KM, she picked up some good tips, and the final paper that she produced was far better than she or I expected, it just isn't for us. I am super picky about where I spend my money and with my homeschooling dollars even more so. It might be a good fit for more advanced and/or independent writers, but from the stand point of the parent of a reluctant writer it just doesn't seem to be what we need. It must have some sort of staying power that I am missing as they have been around since 1998. I think that the biggest issue is that I feel if I am going to be paying $75 a month for a writing tutor I don't want to have to teach writing at all. With this method and the lack of instant information, guidance and direction I think I would have to step in far more than I would be willing to.

Thanks to Write Guide for allowing us the opportunity to review your product!

Liebster Award

Thanks so much to Krysten and the ladies over at Out The Box Homeschoolers for thinking of me for this Liebster Award!  -  (Liebster= sweetheart, beloved, darling). 

The rules for the award:

1. The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

2. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

3. Each blogger should answer the 11 questions given to you.

4. Choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award on to and link them in your post.

5. Create 11 new questions for the chosen bloggers.

6. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

7. No tag backs.

11 Random Facts - most of these are pretty commonly known and can be found on my blog, but when you it simply says "random" so here goes ---

1. I ALWAYS knew KM should be home educated.
2. I am a director of MHLA.
3. I detest the texture of rice pudding.
4. I was only 18 when I had KM.
5. I have no idea what color KM's hair will be on any given day.
6. I did NOT graduate from high school.
7. I contribute to a number of blogs and have been published on many sites.
8. I can definetly never spell defintely correctly.
9. I eat a fried egg on toast nearly EVERY morning for breakfast.
10. If I don't have an egg for breakfast I am sure to have one at some point later in the day.
11. My camera is my FAVORITE gift EVER!

Questions for me to answer from Outside of The Box Homeschoolers

1. What is your favorite table top game or video game?

I would to say Just Dance for the Wii. We have all 4 of them and it is a super cardio workout! 

2. What is your favorite quote?

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. - Albert Einstein

3. Dogs or cats?
Currently I would be forced to report that we are a cat only household, but this is the first time EVER and hope that won't be the case for much longer because although are cats are great we really are dog people.

4. Who is your favorite artist or art style?
This is another tricky one - I love Monet's painting style, but I think my favorite artist and art style would have to be Matisse's paper cut methods.

5. What is your favorite family outing or memory?
Our first trip to Disney World.

6. What is your favorite Olympic sport, and why?
I was a gymnast for quite a long time and this is honestly the only sport that I ever watch so....

7. Are you a “planner” or are you more “spontaneous?”
I am DEFINITELY a PLANNER!!! Did I emphasize that enough! 

8. If you had just one wish, what would it be?
That my daughter will grow up to be exactly the person she wishes to be! 

9. What is at the top of your “bucket list”?
I don't have a bucket list as I try to live my life to the fullest every day because you never know which will be your last - also it would be very difficult for me to make a list and NOT complete it in an efficient manner! Did you see how much of a planner I am...I am even more of a completer.

10. Name something you have always wanted to learn?
Italian

11. What is your favorite “guilty pleasure”?

Grey's Anatomy and a bowl of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream - can't have one without the other! 

My nominations are ---- 

1. Homeschool Atheist Momma
2. The Hmmm...schooling Mom
3. What Happy Is
4. Outside the Box
5. Adventures of a Homeschooling Mom
6. Learning Adventures
7. You're Not Lost, You're Here
8. Living and Learning At Home
9. Only Passionate Curiosity
10. Living Life at Home
11. Our Educational Journey

My questions are ----

1. What is your favorite season?
2. Who is your favorite author?
3. Which method of home education do you identify MOST with?
4. If you could only eat one thing for an entire week what would it be?
5. What is your favorite musical genre?
6. What is the last movie you watched?
7. Are you a scheduled poster or do you schedule your posts?
8. Have you ever won something in a blog giveaway - if so what was it?
9. What would your ideal vacation be?
10. Have you ever ridden a motorcyle?
11. Do you think milk chocolate should be considered a dairy product

Thanks again to Outside the Box Homeschoolers for bestowing this super fun award upon my blog! 

April is Poetry Month - Here are some FREE Resources from Poetry.org

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets throughout the United States band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.

Below is a great list of resources from poets.org and THIS is a direct link to their educator's page where you will find a wealth of ideas, lessons, units and so much more! 

What is National Poetry Month?: Frequently asked questions about NPM. 30 Ways to Celebrate: A month's worth of poetry activities that any community can take part in.
	THIS YEAR'S PROGRAMS
	Dear Poet Project: The Academy of American Poets invites students to engage with poetry by handwriting letters to poets serving on our Board of Chancellors. Poetry & the Creative Mind: Each April, the Academy of American Poets presents a star-studded celebration of American poetry. Poem in Your Pocket Day: Thousands of individuals across the U.S. will carry a poem in their pockets on April 18, 2013. Poem-A-Day: Great poems from new books emailed each day of National Poetry Month. Sign up for your daily dose of new poems from new spring poetry titles.

The History of April Fools Day

Some Points of Contention--- Response to a recent article on Children's MD

I am writing this in response to an article written by Kathleen Berchelmann titled 18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children. Now you might think, "How could she possibly have a problem with a list that is promoting homeschooling?", but the thing is as I was reading this list many of the responses simply rubbed me the wrong way. I have to hope that the point was to try to connect with the "mainstream", but I really just couldn't let it go. I felt a need to address each of the 18 points. I am gong to try to not dwell on the fact that she is using the word "homeschooling" because she does seem to be speaking of "schooling at home", which I don't advocate for, but will try to just move past that to get to the gist of her points. Each of the points is listed below in bold face and my responses follow. It really would be most helpful to read the original post first to really get what I am saying.

1. We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving.  ~~~ This can be true, but can also NOT be! When KM was in school we walked to school most days as the elementary school is less than half a mile from our house and her friends were right around the corner. Now KM has friends all over, some live well over 45 minutes away. We also are out to go to classes, library activities, hangouts, bowling, ice skating, chess club --- and the list goes on and on. I have put FAR more annual mileage on my vehicle since we have been home educating than I did when she was in PS. I only have one child at home and therefore can only assume that this would be multiplied by however many additional children a family has. 

2. We can't afford private education. --- I agree with this, but also feel that in most cases private education is not any better than public. 

3. Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers. --- I also agree with this one. No need to pull it apart, simple and clear. 

4. Homeschooling is not hard, and it's fun! --- OK this is one of the top 3 that really irked me a bit. It was very matter of fact with little substance. So many families feel like they have to live up to this "Perfect Homeschool Image" where everything is sunshine and roses. That is not the reality in the home ed families I see, speak with, tweet with, and read about daily - home learning can be hard, it can be REALLY HARD!!! There are going to be days when you want to throw in the towel or you think "wouldn't it just be easier to send them off on the bus!" and you would be right. But easier doesn't mean that it is better or right. The "boxed curriculum" fallacy is another point of contention - it is not going to work 100% of the time for any child and often is a huge cause of the frustrations for families. They are also super expensive and not at all worth it when you get nearly all resources you could possibly need online, for FREE! Home learning is FUN! School at home --- not so much. 

5. Use whatever public school services you like. ~~~ This is not true in quite a number of states. Some do allow home educators to pick and choose, most do not and some staunchly deny home ed families access. Not only that but it contradicts a few of her other points - like #11, #12, #16 & #18

6. I like parenting more, by far. ~~~ This is one of those that makes me think she is trying to reach the "mainstream mommies" and convince them that they could do it. You know the ones that ask you "HOW can you spend ALL day with your kids?" I do understand her point, I felt more like a warden than a mother when KM was in PS, constantly trying to meet their requirements and conform to their schedule. But the tone is just a bit....not quite as bad as #8 though.

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. ~~~ And the worst and everything in between. I again see her point, but this is another one that makes you think all the hours are going to be rosy, the kids are going to get along and every day will be blissful! Don't even get me started on the fact that she said "At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!"

8. We yell at our kids less. ~~~ All I can say is did she seriously ADMIT that she spanked her kids???? Did I just get transported into the twilight zone....
 Apparently I need to clarify this better although I thought I was pretty clear in that I am shocked that someone would actually spank their children in hopes of coercing them to do something or the fact that I am even more shocked that a doctor would openly admit to spanking their children? Spanking should NEVER be an option and it is shocking to me that someone who is intelligent enough to become a pediatrician would actually think that that would be a means to a positive end.
Is that clearer?

9. Our kids have time for creative play and unique interests. ~~~ No issues with this one at all. It is extremely important and I am very glad that she is allowing them time to follow their interests, once they have completed her assigned tasks for the day.

10. We are able to work on the kids' behavior and work ethic throughout the day. ~~~ I agree with her main point here, but not her explanation. "we’ve been able to push him to his full potential" - really because the parent has the all powerful insight to know what the full potential of their child well before they have reached adulthood. At 34 I don't even know what my "full potential" could be. 

11. Get rid of bad habits, fast. ~~~ Ok I see this in a similar light to the previous one, I  agree with the main statement, but not her tactics in implementing. Didn't she say in a previous post that "loving authority" and "loving obedience" needed to be established and she seemed to want to emphasize free play, but I guess that can't work if you aren't "dressed properly." 

12. Be the master of your own schedule. ~~~ Couldn't agree more with statement, as long as you are also taking into consideration your family as a whole when you are mastering your schedule. 

13. Younger children learn from older siblings. ~~~ This is a tremendous benefit of home learning and I have no complaints here. 

14. Save money. ~~~ I don't really know where to start on this one.  You can save money if you are currently sending your kids to private school, but you could be spending more money if you send your kids to PS. This could really go either way especially for those of us who live in states where you can't pick and choose what you want your kids to participate in at the local PS - note #5.  I know many families who are home educating on incomes of less than $40K. It can be done at any income level, but you may not be saving.

15. Teach your kids practical life skills. ~~~ This is necessary in all kids and seriously lacking in many families.  So many parents are doing a disservice to their kids by coddling and pampering them. If your kid is 12 years old and doesn't know how to use the washing machine I consider that neglect. If your 16 year old thinks that toilet fairies clean the bathroom I consider that neglect. If your 18 year old is getting sent off to college without knowing how to eat nutritiously I consider that neglect.  You are a negligent parent if you are not teaching your children how to be responsible for meeting their own basic needs.  

16. Better socialization, less unhealthy peer pressure and bullying. ~~~ This one she has hit right on the mark with the one exception that although they can be far and few between there are bullies in the home ed world - there are bullies in every world, that is just part of reality. It does feel as though it can be easier to deal with the home ed community as it is usually addressed immediately and the higher level of parental involvement can help to make it a less scaring scenario.  

17. Sleep! ~~~ I have written several posts on this one, check the archives if you like! 

18. Teach kids your own values. ~~~ This is a good point and works into the freedom and managing your own schedule ideas. I was a bit surprised that she had no issue with the "values taught in either our public or private schools" but to each their own. 

All in all I think this article was a fairly decent way to connect with "mainstream parents". I don't however think that it was an excellent representation of the vast and widespread demographic that encompasses the home ed world as a whole, but really how could it. The amount of attention that it is getting is good, but the propagation of stereotypes is a bit disheartening. I think the tone and title of the article was more than a bit condescending - as if we needed approval from the white collar world to validate home education.

I would love to hear what others think so please leave comment and let me know which one you 

Why didn't anyone tell me there were more Crash Courses????

I haven't had much time to poke around You Tube lately, so I missed the fact that Crash Course added MORE COURSES!!! YIPPEEEE!!!

They now have U.S. History, Chemistry, World History, Biology, Literature, and Ecology. So whether you are looking for a full course or a supplement to what you are using, be sure to check out Crash Course!!