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This past weekend, Joey Logano became the first home scholar to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup series race. Who said that homeschoolers, numbering around two million, only make the news for succeeding at spelling bees and outscoring the competition on standardized tests?
Adding to the historic nature of the victory, Logano, all of 19 years old, became the youngest NASCAR winner ever. He did it at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, and even overcame a crash to do so. Blowing by the competition, which included Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon, Logano made Home Depot (his car’s sponsor) and Joe Gibbs Racing (the outfit he drives for) very proud, as he went to Victory Lane at the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Read more...
Welcome to part 1 of the 181st Carnival of Homeschooling. I've broken this carnival into separate parts, each one dealing with a specific topic. Part one combines musings on summer activities with ideas for activities. Read more...
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 1, "The lazy days of summer"
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 2, "To unschool or not"
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 3 , "This is the homeschool life"
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 4, "Books, books and more books"
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 5, "Crafty Homescholers"
The 183rd Carnival of Homeschooling - Part 6, "Online Resources"
While home-schooling freedom and flexibility continues to improve in the U.S., it appears to be going in the opposite direction in Europe. Germany leads the way as the most oppressive European state, because it routinely fines and threatens to imprison home-schoolers.
While other European countries have not embraced the German methods, there is a move in some countries to crack down on home-schoolers. Read more...
COLUMBIA, Maryland (AFP) – When Elizabeth Dean was four, her mother took her out of kindergarten to teach her at home because she could already read the children's classic "Charlotte's Web" while the other kids were just learning how to write the letter "C".
That was 10 years ago and homeschooling was "still on the fringe of acceptability", Elizabeth's mother Lisa Dean told AFP in between classes in the family home on the history of ancient Rome, the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, online geometry and English for Elizabeth, 14, and 11-year-old Teddy.
"Ten years ago, folks typically would list their reasons for homeschooling as religious reasons or wanting to fly under the government radar," Dean told AFP. Read more...
“It was Lottie’s decision to leave school,” explained mum Melanie.
“She felt the school was killing her creativity especially her creative writing. She was so advanced with her grammar and spelling that her teachers did not believe her words were her own which really upset her. She is also very artistic and highly intelligent for her age.”
“It was her decision to leave, which I of course supported,” added Melanie. Read more...
In addition to dispelling the myth that home-schoolers — who pay taxes for schools that they don't use — are somehow costing schools money, the authors cite studies by other researchers that show the value of home-schooling in other areas: home-schoolers have higher self-esteem, fewer behavior disorders, better academic performance, and more college attendance than their peers in public and private schools. Read more...
Welcome to the Summer Transition Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.
Summer may have started two days ago, but my routines have not caught up. I feel pulled in two directions at once!
Last month at the standardized testing co-op, I asked the Moms (and a few Dads) how they transitioned to Summer. Many told me, "Testing is the end of the year," some adding, "If we've finished the math book!" One family mentioned the lure of the beach, and the freedom to decide on the day's activities based on the weather. Two families school year round. Read more...
We recently got this note from Kate Wolford, Lecturer, Indiana University South Bend.
I run a blog called Diamondsandtoads.com, and am hoping more and more home scholing families will find it. It is geared toward students who are learning to write on the college level. More importantly, it is about the art, study, analysis and research of fairy tales.
The site is geared to students in or preparing for college.
Please don't let the "fairy tale" focus turn you off. The site does delve deeply into the subtexts and meanings of tales, but in a responsible way. I have had many home school graduates in my fairy tale and writing classes -- everyone of them has loved the experience.
Kathy checked it out and found lots of conversations related to aspects of writing fairy tales, it looks very creative. If you have a budding writer of fantasy in the family, be sure to check out diamondsandtoads.com.
If you want great historical fiction for younger children, The Matchlock Gun, which won the 1942 Newbery Medal, by Walter D. Edmonds, who also wrote the classic novel Drums Along the Mohawk, is it. Set in 1757, when New York was still a British colony during the French and Indian War, it tells the true story of ten-year-old Edward Van Alstyne, who lives with his father Teunis, mother Gertrude, and little sister Trudy, outside of Albany in upper New York. Read more...
While on vacation recently, I read all the books that I took with me, so I went out and purchased four children's books that I have been longing to read for a good while, including this one. Two of the presents that Omri received for his birthday were a small plastic Indian from his friend Patrick and an old medicine cupboard that his brother Gillon had found in the alley. Read more...
Nobody Owens is a lucky boy. Though a man known as "Jack" tragically murdered his family, he alone survived the attack. Being just a wee 18 mos old at the time, he wandered off into the night and into the graveyard. There he found a home, and some new guardians. They may be dead ones, but when the fleeting image of his slain mother pleads for his life, the dead couple Mr. and Mrs. Owens vow to take good care of the toddler they named Nobody (Bod for short). Read more...
As the founder of Improve-Education.org, Mr.Deitrick Price has dedicated himself to researching the failures of the public school system in America. In this book he includes 50 short essays that attempt to explain why it is that education in the USA remains ineffective, despite massive spending. The author recently posted an article on ezinearticles.com called "Homeschooling Parents Should Find Comfort in New Book". Read more...
Can mice solve mysteries? Sir Basil of Baker Street is the greatest mouse detective and lives in the cellar of Sherlock Holmes's house. When the twins, Angela and Agatha, go missing, it is up to Basil to find them. But where are they? Why have they disappeared? And can Basil save them in time? Find out in Basil of Baker Street. Note: This series of books is the basis for the Disney movie The Great Mouse Detective; unfortunately, the book is apparently out of print, but used copies are available at Amazon. Read more...