A New Basis for U.S. Asylum Claims: Homeschooling
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are not like other asylum seekers, people fleeing war or torture in places like Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia. They're music teachers from a village in southern Germany. And yet, in what appears to be the first case of its kind, the couple and their five children were granted asylum in the U.S. last week by an immigration judge who ruled that they had a "well-founded fear of persecution" in their home country for engaging in what has become a popular albeit somewhat controversial American practice — homeschooling their children. Read more...
German homeschoolers' political asylum exposes the EU Gulag
The case of the homeschooling couple from Germany who were granted political asylum in the United States, about which Ed West blogged recently, becomes even more interesting if one reads the remarks of the man who granted the Romeikes asylum, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman, of Memphis, Tennessee.
Burman said: “We can’t expect every country to follow our constitution. The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate.” He observed: “Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress. This family has a well-founded fear of persecution… therefore, they are eligible for asylum…”
Those last remarks might have been uttered in 1933. Do we truly realise the significance of what has happened? Read more...
Carnival of Homeschooling – What Matters Most
It’s been a rough time for us lately… Unemployment… New job, but underemployed, and having to move out of our house… Living in the RV with three kids and four cats…
And we just learned that my Father-in-Law has been diagnosed with lung cancer (He’s going through a troubled recovery from throat cancer, beginning two years ago, and his wife has just been through a bout with cancer as well). We’ll be heading for Mississippi tomorrow to spend a week with the family there.
Nothing like struggles to make you re-evaluate your priorities!
With that in mind, I present this, the
Carnival of Homeschooling – “What Matters Most” Edition Read more...
Homeschool Writer of the Year Competition 2010
It's a great idea and I encourage your K-12 homeschoolers to check out the list of writing contests waiting for their entry. They also offer deadline reminders for you.
Who can enter the most writing contests this year? This competition encourages homeschoolers of every age to get out their pens and join in the race!
Our Goal
The goal is to help students see that winning a contest is not the important part-- it's entering the contest itself. That's where this competition comes in; we try to encourage the student to enter writing contests without getting discouraged that they didn't win each contest. We award recognition not for who won the most but for who entered the most. Our hope is that students will find entering contests fun, even if they don't win. Read more...
Bob Books: Sight Words Kindergarten
I've taught three boys to read, with each one learning the skill in a different way. My youngest gravitated to easy readers, memorizing whole words while also learning phonetics. One of his favorite books to read was his set of Bob books. He read them daily, quickly committing to memory the simple sentences, which eventually led him and his brothers to develop their own Bob-Book knock-offs. Read more...
The Art of Argument: an Introduction to the Informal Fallacies
My son will be studying introductory logic this year (Sophomore) using this curriculum. I'm excited for him to learn the basics of logic, and it is my hope that when he completes this course he will understand fallacies, and thus learn how to recognize bad reasoning. I'm sure you'll agree that this is an important foundation we should give our teens as they are impressionable, and still forming their belief systems and worldviews. Read more...
Cabin on Trouble Creek
Brothers Daniel and Will are thrilled to help their pa homestead in a lush Ohio forest. At 11 and 9 the boys find all the chores exciting – chopping logs, building the cabin, making a fireplace, and gathering wood. Then comes the day their dad must leave the boys behind to finish readying the cabin while he brings back their mom and siblings. With enough food to last the six weeks before his return, the boys foresee the time will go by fast as they prepare the cabin walls. Read more...
Greek Alphabet Code Cracker
When teaching children, it's always nice to incorporate games or some type of fun into your lesson plans. In the Greek Alphabet Code Cracker, kids will have a great time as they play the role of detective, working to solve the case of the stolen Grecian Urn of Achilles. This novel approach certainly makes this sometimes intimidating subject non-threatening. My 9-year-old loves sleuthing and took a liking to this workbook immediately, and he needed only the littlest help from me. Read more...
Charles and Emma : The Darwins' Leap of Faith
Whether or not you agree with his theories or publications, you'll find out through this book that Charles Darwin was a family man who was committed to his 10 children and devoted to his Christian wife Emma. Ironically, his original life plan was to be a preacher, but then as he collected animal specimens and devoured natural history, he wrestled with the belief of creationism. Despite their conflicting religious views, Emma and Charles married. Read more...
Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens
Barbara Frank put a lot of work into this bible study for your teen girls, and the result is a dynamic, engaging, and comprehensive look at 14 wonderful woman of the Old Testament. This is not a book you will just hand to your daughter and correct later, rather it requires your input too in the section called "discussion starters for mothers and daughters. Read more...
Med Head: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain
I sailed through this book, practically reading the entire 200+ pages in one sitting. The story of Cory, a boy who has a severe form of Tourette's syndrome, OCD, and anxiety is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Though written by both Cory's dad and James Patterson, the voice is Cory's and it grabs you from the start and keeps you glued till the final page. Diagnosed at age 5, Cory was compelled to move his body in awkward and often painful ways. Read more...
We hear the Dead
Maggie and Kate Fox were mischievous children, known to play tricks on each other as well as their parents. Then one day their trickster nature goes extreme. Wanting to scare away their disliked niece, the girls pull the ultimate prank. They produce nighttime rapping noises and lead the niece and the rest of the family to believe the house is haunted and "spirits" are the source of the noise. Not only do they scare their family, but their neighbors too. Read more...
Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks
Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks is a quaint collection of stories arranged in a school year format geared toward your younger children. Originally compiled in 1894, Cardamom Publishers has reprinted it with a larger font and inserted numerous old-fashioned illustrations. These gentle stores will capture the attention of eager learners and the "talks" suggest ideas for hands on activities. Read more...
Picture the Dead
Jenny, orphaned and living with her unloving Aunt and Uncle first suffers the loss of her twin brother Tobias, and then her fiancé Will, both fallen soldiers of the civil war. Her relatives have little sympathy for her. As Will was their eldest son, they view their grief deeper and greater. Desperate to "glimpse" his son again, the uncle suggests they meet a man who claims to be one who can conjure images of the dead through photography. Read more...
Goddess Girls: Athena The Brain
12-year-old Athena gets a big surprise – a summons to report to Mount Olympus Academy. She learns she's a goddess and Zeus is her father. Previously she was living a normal pre-teen life at Triton Junior High. She is whisked off to her new school via Hermes Chariot and gets to see first hand what being a goddess is all about. With classes such as hero-ology, spellology and beautyology, she has a lot to learn. Read more...
The Chosen One
I cannot imagine growing up with several mothers, twenty siblings, and a prophet who pronounces who I must marry. Kyra, a chosen one of a polygamist sect, lives this life. At a mere 13-years-old she is ready to be married and start having her own babies. She wouldn't object to being married so young, if it could be Joshua, a boy of similar age whom she has grown fond of. But the prophet decrees Kyra must marry her Uncle, who at sixty is plenty old enough to be her grandfather. Read more...
Sherlock McBiskit Shares His Secrets to Good Character and Respect
Sherlock McBiskit is an adorable West Highland Terrier and in his book he renders some wise advice to children on what it means to have good character and respect. Kids love dogs, and McBiskit radiates adorability as he shares his secrets to getting the most out of life. In rhyming verse, the text is catchy and accompanied by cute pictures of the loveable canine. Here's an excerpt: Here is the first secret that most people don't know. Life gives us lots of tests. I will tell you it's so. Read more...
Little Black Ant on Park Street
It's easy to dismiss the role of a black ant. These small creatures are considered pests by most of us, but if you take an in depth look you'll find these little guys are really fascinating and have their own complex communities. Little Black Ant on Park Street, a Smithsonian Backyard title, is a nicely illustrated picture book that gives young readers a close-up look at the black ant's world. Read more...