Building Vocabulary

I'll tell you right now that I am not impartial or fair-minded when it comes to VocabSpellingCity.com.  I love and am deeply involved with this online service. For instance, I think their tools for writing practice, Hangman game online (HangMouse), Crossword Puzzle, WordSearch, vocabulary, and compound words are the BEST! With that disclaimer, let me tell you how understated I think this statement about some of their capabilities is:

It's Now Simpler to Write Your Own Sentences and Definitions!

January 2012

While parents and teachers have literally written millions of their own sentences, the fact is that it was hard to do because of the character limit. We've received thousands of requests to extend the limit. You asked for it - you got it! Now your custom sentences and definitions can be up to 127 characters long. Users were thrilled when we launched the ability to customize sentences in 2010 and add their own words in 2011. Many teachers and parents told us that creating custom content really helped engage their students, but they felt the 50-character limit was too restrictive.With more than double the number of characters to work with, it's easier than ever to write your own sentences! Create custom content to: Personalize sentences using students' names. Make activities and tests based on books your students are reading. Make your own word games, like the Analogies games in Teacher Resources.

These materials would be useful for any homeschool curriculum


del.icio.us

Homeschooling and Charter Schools Growth

I haven't read any new statistics in the last year which dealt with how homeschooling is growing. Is it?  I'm aware that the statistics are that charter schools are growing fast and that virtual schools are growing faster.  But I don't have much insight into whether homeschooling is growing.

I did read on a homeschool online blog post called Education in America is Changing   that:

The government says that 1.5 million students were homeschooled in 2007. …The government homeschool statistics shows a 36% relative increase since the last estimate in 2003 when research reported 2.2% or 1.1 million students (1,096,000) homeschooled students.
But the world was simpler and less nuanced than it is today.  I think there are all sorts of hybrids and the statistics are yet harder to track.
The charter school movement is shooting along.  In 2010, there were 1.7M charter school students which meant that in 2007-2010, the number of charter school students grew and exceeded the number of homeschooling students (I’m assuming that homeschooling is growing at a 10% rate these days which is my hypothesis).

What should students learn?

Stephen Downes wrote a striking article about "what you need to learn in order to be successful". He lists and describes in some detail ten educational goals. I'll briefly mention them here. You should definitely read the original with all the discussion of these points.

1. How to predict consequences…
2. How to read to understand...
3. How to distinguish truth from fiction
4. How to empathize
5. How to be creative
6. How to communicate clearly
7. How to Learn
8. How to stay healthy
9. How to value yourself
10. How to live meaningfully

I'd say that there are two flaws in this nice article that jumped out at me. One is that the lead to the article is a little irrelevant, it's a reaction to A Guy Kawasaki article about what people should learn in school Steve correctly (in my opnion) points out that Guy is a corporate toady (and an energeticall self-promoting uncreative one at that) but uses him to introduce a very thoughtful piece which I think demeans that article. He does find common ground with Guy that schools don't teach you what you need to succeed which I find to be sort of pile-on school-bashing.  The other flaw in the article is that it seems to assume that teachers are responsible for students education.  What a nice paternalistic view of things that students just have to go to school to be trained by teachers.

It certainly doesn't work that way in my world. I preach that the center of education is the student and the parents. The parents take responsibility for thinking through the list of what kids should learn. And students too should think about this early-on and often.

BTW, I learned about this article on what kids should learn from the Online Homeschool Blog.

Homeschooling - A thought....

I heard, second hand, of a lady who had trouble getting her kids to go to school. She was pretty lazy. She thought it would be easier to homeschool them than to yell at them every morning and try and get them to go to school.

So she did. She kept at her job. She was a single mom and had to work. She did a little paperwork and bought the kids used textbooks.  She would call from work to make sure that her kids were up and studying. Often they were. Often they weren't. She wasn't that involved and her kids were free to do what they wanted.

Is this an OK situation? Note that one of the kids was 15 and so it was technically legal for the kids to be alone in the house all day.

Homeschooling Books

Homeschoolliterature.com.  I think this site is inspired. Of course, I'm associated with it. 

I'm going to take this in two directions that you who want homeschooling curriculum advice might not expect.

Literature and stories about homeschoolers!

A directory with reviews by homeschoolers, study guides, and ideas for further study

 e read and review any short-story, picture book, or novel that relates to homeschooling. The site gives parents and children the chance to find books that talk about situations they can relate to. HomeschoolLiterature.com is new! We’re working on lesson plans, author interviews, more reviews, and maybe expanding into other closely related topics. If you would like to get involved, here are some possibilities:

• Want to elaborate, agree, or disagree with a review? You can make comments on the bottom of each review.
• Think this site is a great idea? Link to it from your blog, Facebook account, or homeschool group.
• Want to reprint our reviews in your homeschool newsletters or on your website? You may if you include a link back to us.
• Have feedback for us? Good, don’t be shy; this site is for you so tell us what you think.
• Like the review and want to buy the book? Just click on book pic and it will take you to the author’s site or Amazon to buy it!

Books for homeschooling families

I'm talking about the homeschooling Cyber book club for parents who want to know more.

the leading contenders for the next book to discuss:

	StrengthFinder 2.0 Tom Rath (is How Full is your Bucket more relevant?)
	Five Languages of Love Gary Chapman (or another book by him)
	The Homework Myth Alfie Kohn (or another of his books)
	The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens Stephen R. Covey (perhaps The Leader in Me by him which deals most directly with parenting)

Our Cyber Book Club Moderator will be MamaMary. Mary has been homeschooling since the late 90's and is the mother of four sons, all of whom have their own style of learning. After falling in love with their web-based curriculum, she now works closely with Time4Learning. In addition, she is the chairwoman of one of the largest homeschool support groups in the State of Florida and is also the founder of SWSH, an online support group dedicated to helping families learn how to pursue a strengths-based homeschool/lifestyle.

Top Five Online Homeschooling Resources

1. Homeschool.com - It's number one on Google, constantly updated, and the best homeschool shopping on the web. Congrats to Rebecca.
2. Home-School.com - It's number two on Google. An old authority. Great articles. Very traditional in that it's philosophical and religious, it hasn't quite moved past the original need to justify homeschooling onto the more practical issues that people have today. Mary Pride is of course a legend.
3. Homeschoolblogger.com - A huge community of homeschoolers.
4. Ann Zeiss' Yahoo webmaster tools is the best.  Her AZgomilipitas site is also ancient and enormous but a little hard to use as a resource.
5. The homeschoolmom.com is a nice site that has gotten very popular. Half recipes, half homeschooling.
6. The PioneerWoman.com's blog gets more traffic than anybody else. Amazing photography and blending of topics and materials.

OK. That's six, ignore the one that you don't like.

Types of Homeschool Curriculum

There are many so many types of homeschooling curriculum.

"Boxed Curriculum"– There are many programs for purchase that provide homeschool families with a comprehensive scope and sequence, textbooks, assessments, projects, and timelines that are grade leveled. These programs provide day-by-day very specific instructions to the parent and student. Examples would be a Beka, Saxon Math, and Bob Jones.


Charlotte Mason Education – Charlotte Mason was a 19th century educator who believed that education should be based on great literature and the arts. She believed in a leisurely, self-directed style of education based on observation and reflection, often through discussion and journaling. Charlotte Mason education is based on a lifelong quest for knowledge and skills. 


Textbooks – Textbooks are just one part of a package of resource materials that includes: a
scope and sequence, an educators’ manual with teaching strategies, a student book with content
explanations and examples, and a practice workbook. These packages usually offer a re-teach
(remediation) workbook or an enrichment workbook that focuses on higher level critical thinking
skills.


Online Interactive Curriculum such as Time4Learning.com, Alex.com, SmartieTutor, TeachingTextbooks, Time4Writing.com (writing skills only), 


Unit Study – A cross-curricular educational approach in which learning is focused around a
central, common theme. For instance, a unit study on trains would teach the development and
use of early trains (history), train routes (geography), different engine types (science), train-based
literature (language arts), and so on. Unit studies allow children of differen ages to study the same unit together but in different levels of detail.

History of Homeschooling

I just read a great article on the History of Homeschooling.  It identifies two people as the real fathers of modern homeschooling: John Holt and Ivan Illich. I'll quote a little ....

Ivan Illich was one of homeschooling legend John Holt's main inspirations.... Illich repeatedly argued that true education is impossible in an institutionalized environment of conformity and regimentation. ...He declared, "The first article of a bill of rights for a modern, humanist society would correspond to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "'The State shall make no law with respect to the establishment of education.' There shall be no ritual obligatory for all." (Deschooling Society, pg 16)

Homeschooling in California

In California, homeschooling parents four options to deal with with the mandatory school attendence requirements:

1. Establish a home-based private school. Parents must fill out a Private School Affidavit (PSA, formerly known as R-4) and go through other steps for establishing and maintaining a private school. 

2. Enroll in a private school that offers independent or "satellite" programs.  Parents must choose a private school satellite program (PSP), enroll, pay the tuition, and fulfill any school requirements. But the state cannot contact them.

3. Enroll in a Public School ISP or Charter Schools that offers independent study. 

 4. Utilize a credentialed teacher or tutor - or the parent, if so qualified.

Sources:
California Homeschool.net Pamphlet
List of CA charter schools
California Homeschool Info - One example
Online California Support Forum -










del.icio.us

Writing Classes Online - Too Many Choices!

I can't seem to find the one size fits all online writing course for the problem writer in my family. If money were no object I would just send her to a Kumon center or hire a tutor and they could diagnose and fix the writing problems on the spot. But those options aren't financially feasible right now. I had researched and found the Time4Writing writing courses previously and was very impressed by their selection of writing courses for kids of all ages. And at less than $13 per week of instruction, this is within my budget.

The only problem was that I was always overwhelmed at the choices and had no idea which class would be best address her specific writing problems. Today when I visited the site, I found this writing problem diagnostic chart with the problem, solution and best class all presented in a way that even I could get it. What a releif. I pinpointed her problem - she doesn't stay on topic when given a writing assignment. I found her problem easily now I can move forward and enroll her into the Welcome to the Essay class with confidence. And even after 2 weeks of the 8 week class, if we need to change, we still can.

Check out writing class selection chart and find the perfect class for your problem writer.