HomeSchool Curriculum

Building Vocabulary

2012-01-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

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

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Homeschooling and Charter Schools Growth

2011-09-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-11-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-11-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Homeschool.com - It's number one on Google, constantly updated, and the best homeschool shopping on the web. Congrats to Rebecca.
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.
Homeschoolblogger.com - A huge community of homeschoolers.
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.
The homeschoolmom.com is a nice site that has gotten very popular. Half recipes, half homeschooling.
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

2010-05-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

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

2010-01-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

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 -

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Writing Classes Online - Too Many Choices!

2010-01-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

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.

You will be happy that you are nothing like me....Christian Homeschooling

2010-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

I found this article about Christian Homeschooling. I laughed out loud....I highly recommend it....

You will be extremely happy to know that you have nothing in common with me. You glide along through life like a leaf down a crystal stream. You tend to steer in the direction everyone else is steering, and the road ahead of you is well lit and mapped out. Your children have been welcomed with open arms by everyone they’ve met, and your home is a bastion of peace, harmony, and good will. Best of all, your homeschooling experience has been the most rewarding and inspiring era of your life, and you’ve never doubted your calling for even a moment. See? I told you that you have nothing in common with me.

Me . . . well, my life has been slightly different. My leaf tends to get stuck against every wet rock of the stream, my steering has been out of alignment for as long as I can remember, and the road I am on has been steep, winding, and many times even closed for construction. My children, both with special needs, have been stared at, frowned upon, and pitied in their turn, and my home can feel much more like an open battlefield than a fortress at times. And frankly, I’ve been tempted to quit homeschooling more times than I’ve been tempted to cheat on my diet, and that is saying a lot. However, while my life in no way resembles yours, you needn’t feel sorry for me one bit. I like my life . . . actually, I love it - - every little bit of it - - because God made me especially for it. Read More about Christian Homeschooling....

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Practice Makes Perfect Fits Writing to a Tee

2009-12-31T11:13:00.000-08:00

Does your child struggle with capitalization, write in sentence fragments or are they a run on sentence kind of kid? Or maybe verbs and nouns just don't line up, they can't punctuate to save their sentences, or they have a big test coming up with an essay requirement. Not to worry, there is help and it is only a mouse click away. Time4Writing just released a handy writing assessment chart that helps you pinpoint exactly where your writing student is having problems and then matches that problem with the class to remedy the writing issue or prepare them for their upcoming writing challenge.

Here's an excerpt but you can find the entire interactive writing assessment chart here:

I only wish the solution to my writing problems could be as easy as using this chart!

www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games.html
Johns Joker Collection

Lapbooking and Writing

2009-11-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

One thing I have always wondered about is how to incorporate more writing into homeschool lapbook projects. Time4Writing offers online writing tutors for students in 2nd through 12th grades. They just recently published this free lapbook pocket download that homeschoolers can use to store their writing assignments in their current lapbook.

If you aren't using lapbooks in your homeschool curriculum, this is what Time4Writing has to say about the features and benefits of incorporating lapbooks into your homeschool routine:

"One of the greatest aspects of lapbooking is that the child can bring out their completed project anytime to present to family and friends. Each time they share their material they master it over and over again. Lapbooks help children master and retain what they’ve learned while having FUN! The completed lapbook makes a wonderful homeschool portfolio to bring along for your year end testing or annual evaluation."

I just like saying the word lapbooking, lapbooking, lapbooking. And children get a kick out of showing off what they have created by bringing out their trophies for family and friends. Here's a fun video of 2 finished lapbooks. One on a complicated subject and the other just in time for Thanksgiving.
Enjoy and thank Kelly for sharing these great examples. To read more about how Kelly uses lapbooks in her homeschool routine, you can visit her lapbook post about what is a lapbook and why would I want one? on Home-School-Online.com.

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Unschooling - Does that mean I unlearn everthing I learned in school?

2009-11-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Unschooling seems like a strange term to use when describing an educational curriculum used by homeschoolers. It sounds like you are undoing something done by school instead of a proactive teaching approach. Reading about unschooling as a homeschool approach at Time4Learning:

"Contrary to how it sounds, Unschooling is an active learning process, and not the passive, unstructured method that it sounds like. Unschoolers are homeschoolers who are focused more on the experimental process of learning and becoming educated, than with 'doing school.' The focus of unschooling is on the choices made by the individual child, dictated by interests, learning style, and personality type."

My suggestion is that the unschoolers of the world get a new public relations agent and rename the curriculum to something that is more descriptive and less negative, like say maybe experiential homeschooling.

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Eclectic Homeschooling - Another Word for I Can't Decide?

2009-11-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

When I first heard the term Eclectic homeschooling I thought it was a fancy way of saying I can't decide what curriculum to adopt but after more research it appears to be the best of all worlds. According to Time4Learning, they define eclectic homeschooling this way:

"Eclectic homeschooling is often an end result of trying a variety of other homeschooling styles. “Eclectic” does not mean “erratic” or “unorganized.” Families who take an eclectic approach have specific educational goals for their children, and they make deliberate choices about the resources that they use.

Eclectic homeschooling is an efficient way to teach a number of children who have different interests, abilities, ages, and learning styles. If you have more than one child, it is possible that their varying needs may not be met with a single curriculum."

This means that eclectic is really a collection of methods or approaches that are carefully selected and assembled to address the unique learning style of each child. That seems to me to be a lot of work, but the best way to choose a homeschool curriculum. I've even heard the term "relaxed homeschooling" applied to eclectic homeschoolers but that seems the furthest from the reality. I think I would be more relaxed if I picked one approach and used that one for all of my kids. Oh, isn't that what we do in the school systems? Is that relaxed or just lazy? You be the judge.

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A preschooler's education - is it homeschooling?

2009-11-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

I was watching some kids doing some great online preschool activities and their parents, all of whom are regular schooling families, talked about the homeschool education that they were giving to their kids. I thought it was weird.

But I loved the preschool website that they were using. I quote from it's description:

The Time4Learning preschool program combines technology, animated characters, original stories and fun music to inspire a love of learning in the littlest e-learners. Ed Mouse and his friends guide children through more than forty topics such as numbers, letters, rhymes, self, time, music and colors.

Time4Learning provides a solid standards-based foundation for Kindergarten readiness. Time4Learning's preschool program is divided into two distinct educational levels and recurring practice is provided in concepts that include ordering, classifying, syllables, patterns, rhymes, colors, and number and letter recognition.

Are You Homeschooled?

2009-11-11T08:31:00.001-08:00

One subject that never seems to come up in conversation, where did you go to school? Or should I say, one response that never comes up - I was homeschooled, how about you? I know that homeschoolers only make up abut 1.5% of the population, but I never seem to run into them. Or maybe homeschoolers are just not forthcoming about being homeschooled.

I mean homeschooling isn't mainstream for sure and that's one thing that kids want to be is mainstream so they fit into their peer group. So this might explain why mum is the word on homeschooling discussions at cocktail parties. But why be so quiet about an education platform that appears to be outperforming all others - by a margin of 20-30 points on standardized tests?

I think it might be time for homeschoolers everywhere to come out of the closet and toot their horn a bit. Even if all parents can't make the commitment to full time educational responsibility, maybe they can step up to the plate and provide more supplemental help for their kids. Technology and the internet have made easier than ever to fill in the gaps of where public schools are letting down our kids who may have special needs. The company I work for has a wonderful option for afterschool or summer school help, not to mention a great adoption rate by homeschoolers everywhere.

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Free Writing Resources for Homeschoolers

2009-11-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

There can never been enough help when it comes to teaching and homeschooling especially the subject of writing. So I was delighted to come across this site that is just loaded with reference articles about writing skills and tips for teachers.

Writing Resources available on Time4Writing:

Distance Learning: Why Online Courses Work
Elementary School Online Writing Instruction
Essay Writing for Standardized Tests: Tips for Writing a Five Paragraph Essay
Four Types of Sentences and the Effect of Punctuation
High School Writing Overview
How Graphic Organizers Help Students Master Writing
How Writing Rubrics Improve Writing
Middle School Writing Overview
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing an Essay
Paragraph Writing Secrets
The Writing Process: The Steps to Writing Success
Descriptive Essays: Tips for Writers
Narrative Essays: Tips for Writers
Persuasive Essays: Tips for Writers
Expository Essays: Tips for Writers
Types of Essays: End the Confusion
Understanding Writing Prompts
Writing Can Be Fun: Tips to Enhance Your Child’s Desire to Write
Writing Prompts That Inspire
Writing a Better Book Report

Be sure to check back frequently as new articles are being added every week.

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SpellingCity - Even more useful

2009-08-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge SpellingCity user. We put all of our word lists onto spelling city including math, history, geography, literature, and vocabulary. My kids take tests, play games, create printables, get handwriting practice, have vocabulary practice, and it’s all free. There are ten games that the lists automatically get imported into ranging from vocabulary exercises to alphabetical order. The site is great.

I've just learned from the homeschool online blog that they’ve now added the ability to track student records for test taking.

StudentRecord-Keeping

One homeschooling family builds vocabulary and spelling lists from their math, history, science, and language arts studies. SpellingCity.com not only provides a method to collect, practice, review, and test on these lists, the student records are easily printed for the student portfolios and annual review. (they could be talking about me!)

How do I get started? First, you must be a registered user of SpellingCity.com. To register as a parent or teacher is free. Once registered, when the user logs in to SpellingCity.com, the user should select a menu item on the Teacher Toolbox labelled Student Records which will guide them into activating student records.

How much to track student records? For homeschool families, it’s $29.99 for a year. It’s more if you want to pay by check or handle a group larger than five. There is the opportunity to build homeschool groups with up to 30 for $49.99 which I think they would allow.

Student Gradebook

Here’s some more reasons that I’m excited about SpellingCity.com. They are building lists of great interest for each state. The one about Alabama is the first one, I can’t wait until they get Florida done (they announced they’ll all be up by mid September). Also, their lists of resources are fantastic:

High Frequency Words - This collection of Dolch or Sight words is perennially useful. There is both background information and lists ready-to-use.
Compound Words – Kids love studying compound words. Teachers love teaching them. Does your school have a Compound Word Day? It should!
Sound Alike Words or Homophones – All students and many adults benefit from practice distinguishing the right spelling and usage of its and it’s; they’re, there, and their; and to, too, and two.
Word Confusion – This article reviews homophones, homonyms, homographs, and synonyms. Need a quick reminder? Here it is

Contractions – You can build lists using words like: I’ll, we’ll, shouldn’t, and they’re. There are lists of what contractions SpellingCity.com supports.
Abbreviations - You can build lists using abbreviations such as titles (Mr. Dr, Mrs.), measurements (oz., pt, qt.), and geographic terms (Blvd., Pkwy., and Rd.)
Possessives - SpellingCity has added some sample possessive forms of nouns, both plural and singular, for spelling and grammar practice. For example: aunt, aunts, aunt’s, aunts’, boy, boys, boy’s, boys’, lady, ladies, lady’s, ladies’, doctor, doctors, doctor’s, doctors’. As background, SpellingCity has always included both the singular and plural forms of nouns and the the forms of verbs (ex play, playing, played).

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Great Meme about favorite homeschool online resources

2009-08-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

From the online homeschooler blog, I found this meme:

What are your favorite online resources for homeschooling category?

Favorite parents discussions/forums/newgroups/communities?
Favorite homeschool resource directories?
Favorite paid sites with homeschooling curriculum materials?
Favorite free homeschooling resources sites?
Favorite homeschool blogs?

Here’s my favorites:

Parents forum: Parents Homeschool Forum
Homeschool directory: Homeschool.com
This year: My two contributions: The Preschool program from T4L and the writing program from T4W.
Favorite homeschool blogs: Topsy Techie and Web Home School and the Online Homeschooler

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Think Local, Act Local

2009-06-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling is a very private endeavor - a decision by a family to take a path less traveled, one chosen by about 1.5 million in the US to be exact. This choice is selected for a myriad of reasons that according to research includes concern about quality of education, school environment or the desire to include moral and religious training as part of a child's curriculum. However, it is also one that takes a village to figure out the maze of rules, requirements and resources applicable to each of our great 50 states. So where does one begin?

There are some great homeschool resource guides available online such as this one, Welcome to Homeschooling Guide (download it now). This guide has a good overview but the bottomline is that you need to start local. Because every state has different requirements and guidelines you should start your search locally. Yahoo Groups is a great place to start with over 6,700 homeschool groups and most of them containing several thousand members each. Search under homeschool and your state or city.

Other places you can look for local homeschool networking groups include Facebook (over 1,000 groups but mostly very small - search home school and homeschool plus your city/state). Conducting a people search on Twitter reveals about 30 Tweeps with Homeschool in their name - but few have more than a thousand followers. However a Twitter Search for Homeschool plus your city or state is a great way to find out the absolute lastest Tweets and topics on the subject. Once you find a great resource you can normally sign up for an RSS feed to have the latest posts sent to your RSS reader or inbox. Other online resources include numerous Blogs and both free and paid resource directories that can easily be accessed using Google. Here's a site that comes up when you input local homeschool laws: Home School Legal Defense Association.

Another new resource that has just been added to the Homeschool map can be found at Time4Learning.com. Just added to the site is a new Homeschool State Representative resource directory designed to put you in touch with the local network and local information specific to your state. In addition there are forums and links that should be enough for anyone to get off on the right foot as you traverse new ground right in your back yard.

If you think you would like to become a Homeschool State Representative for Time4Learning and help others who come after you, you can find a form to get started online. We can all use a little help along the way and once we have arrived it is always good to reach back and repay the favor.

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Raising good writers starts at home

2009-06-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 4 out of 5 students are not proficient writers, and only about half meet “basic” grade level requirements. So, where do your kids fit in? Writing was always a part of the 3 R's--Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic — but unless your kids are having trouble with it, you probably haven’t given it as much attention as, perhaps, their math grades.

But, the truth is that writing is one of the most important skills your children will learn. Writing gives them a new way to express themselves. It can help them perform better when faced with standardized testing and high stakes college entrance exams. In the job world, a well written cover letter and resume might be the key to setting your kids apart from other applicants.

Writing is something that they will use for their entire life.

But, how can you encourage your children to write (and like it)? If you can, start them while they’re young. When kids begin learning about something during their elementary years, it can become second nature to them provided that the skills are reinforced well. Writing is no exception. So, as a starting point, get their creative juices going by encouraging your children to express themselves verbally, artistically, and in writing. This can help make writing feel less like a chore and more like fun.

If your kids are a little older, starting them with a journal often works well. With school being out, kids have vacations planned, trips to take and camp to attend, so they will probably have a lot to write about. This also presents a unique opportunity for parents to help struggling young writers ease into it without pressure.

If you are looking for some professional writing help for your children, Time4Writing.com might be a good option to consider. They offer one-on-one courses for 2nd - 12th grade that are taught online by a certified teacher. The courses are only eight weeks and cost MUCH less than a tutor. Plus, they have a money back guarantee which is always nice.

If you're interested, check out the courses.

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Home schooling continues to grow according to US Dept. of Education

2009-06-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

According to the latest numbers published by the US Department of Education, in 2007 2.9% of all US families home schooled their children. This percentage represents 1.5 million students whose education is exclusively home schooling. And home schooled students overall is up 36% from 2003 when the number was 1.1 million.

Even more enlightening is the fact that according to this latest study, another 1.5 million children are using home school curricula for a portion of their education, either after school studies or summer school.

When polled why parents had selected home schooling, 36% said religious or moral instruction as the reason, 21% expressed concerns about the public school environment, 17% were dissatisfied with the quality and 14% stated other reasons, the largest being more family time.

One disturbing trend is the fact that boys as a percentage of home schooled children declined from 49% in 2003 to only 42% in 2007. When asked to explain the reduction, participation in team sports and more difficulty at higher levels for moms to manage was the reason given for shifting from home schooling to public schools. More involvement from dad might help continue home schooling for boys into the higher grades.

To read the article that I used to summarize these results you can go to:
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/section1/indicator06.asp

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an online alternative to cancelled summer school classes

2009-06-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

The budget woes have led to the apparent catastrophe of cancelling summer school in California. Looking on the bright side, lets see how resourcesful the people can be in becoming "summer homeschoolers". There are amazing resources available to people at very reasonable rates. For instance:

June 5, 2009 - Time4Learning.com, a Homeschool.com top-rated online education software company, offers California parents an online alternative to cancelled summer school classes caused by the State budget deficit. Time4Learning.com provides award-winning, online Pre School to 12th grade education curriculum.

According to John Edelson, Founder and President of Time4Learning, “The summer is a critical time for many students to catch up or advance their skills. The cancellation of summer classes by the State of California has created a large gap in the ability to do this affordably for many families and the Internet is a great alternative.”

Time4Learning offers two programs to address the summer school children’s needs; Time4Writing.com and Time4Learning.com. Time4Writing.com provides teacher-supervised online writing courses in eight-week courses for elementary, middle and high school students. This program builds writing skills through one-on-one interaction with a certified teacher. Parents have real-time access to view and monitor their child’s progress at anytime. At less than $12.50/week or $99/course, the program is extremely cost-effective compared to most teacher-supervised tutoring programs. Parents can view course material online at Time4Writing.com

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Homeschool Info & Groups

2009-05-16T18:25:00.001-07:00

I was just reading a lot of very useful information about homeschooling for different states. I read about homeschooling in Alabama which it turns out, is not officially sanctioned unless the parents have a teaching degree. Homeschoolers need to join "cover" schools, essentially private schools set up to provide a framework for homeschoolers. In contrast, in Maryland, homeschoolers can declare that they are homeschooling and the state actually helps them by sending out a counselor to help them twice annually.

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Homeschooling in Maryland

2009-05-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

I'm from Maryland so it is with great interest that I've been reading the info on homeschooling in Maryland. The T4L state rep says that this is how she follows the rules for homeschooling in Maryland:

We follow what MD requires of us, no more and no less. In the state of Maryland we are required to meet with the board of education twice during the school year for a review. We provide documentation on what our children are being taught outside of the public school system. They like to see that we have samples of what our son is learning, mostly in the areas of English, health, math, science, and social studies. Art, music, physical education, and other activities that we do are extras and at our discretion. We keep all that the state needs in a binder and take that to the review. However, there are several umbrella homeschool groups that one can join to avoid meeting with the school board. We prefer to meet with the school board.

She's available to answer any Maryland homeschool questions.

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Defending digital media for science study!

2009-05-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

I read a little of Dan Meyer's blog about the nlos cannon challenge. He's an educator who writes a good blog. He had one post defending digital media as worthwhile and saying how inefficient it would be if the kids actually had to tinker.

Heresy, but I agree. I commented:

I'm working on a science curriculum K-8 which is ....digital. While I'll have lots of experiments that could be performed in the real world and there will be lots of explanations that will evoke real world prior knowledge, the program will not be a blend.
The program will be built so that the students "discover" knowledge and the scientific process through software, simulation, data, and video. No textbook, only supplementary experiments. More heretical than that, the curriculum will allow for teacher-led teaching. It will allow for online group discussion. But, at it's core, it'll be student-paced all digital learning.
Of course, much of the scientific establishment explains to me that this is a bad idea. It is suboptimal. It's WRONG.
I'm not much for explaining why but I think that I can make a curriculum that will do a great deal of good in teaching science and building enthusiasm for it, but since I come out of a decade of developing video games (I've gone platinum as a producer), I think I have a few insights into engaging kids in an interactive process of discovery.
So I enjoyed your post.
John
founder of SpellingCity.com, Time4Learning.com, Time4Writing.com(PS - don't get too excited. this is a self-funded activity. It'll take years!)

Did I mention that I'd probably launch it first as a homeschool curriculum?

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Learning the states games

2009-02-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is a really fun game:
States MatchIt Game

Geography Education Is Very Important
It forms the basis for understanding our political and physical realities. Want to understand the challenge of global warming, start with understanding the basics of our world...of geography. A great of geography education can be effectively taught through geography games and map games. These geography learning games help form the basis for understanding our country, our states, our world. Play on!

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Great Vocabulary Games

2009-02-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

Vocabulary Learning Fun. They recently added five educational word games that are worth bookmarking for regular use with your students:

Slang - a game that teaches common idiomatic English expressionsSAT Words - a vocabulary word game teaching a 1000 words commonly found on the SATs

Eight Letters in Search of A Word - This is fun and educational to play in groups or alone.

MatchIt - This implementation allows you work your way systematically through the entire dictionary. It helps build grammar skills since there are various forms of the same word. For example, on the first level, you must use grammar and logic skills to correctly match abandon and abandons with the right sentence.

Letter Blocks - A great implementation of the word game where you form words from adjacent letters under time pressure to advance through levels.

And their most popular game remains the online crossword puzzle.

Homeschooling Curriculum and the Inaugurations

2009-01-17T23:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's post got away from me. The idea was to ask the questions:

"What are you doing to turn the inauguration into a learning opportunity?"

"How are you tying the inauguration into your curriculum?"

" Are you treating Inauguration Day as a holiday? Why or why not?

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HomeSchool Curriculum: Homeschooling and the Inauguration

2009-01-17T00:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.homeschoolonline.org

HomeSchool Curriculum: Homeschooling and the Inauguration

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Homeschooling and the Inauguration

2009-01-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

I remember the Kennedy asassination. Specifically, I have four memories:

- the next door lady crying on her front steps

- my parents watching the TV, Mom crying, and me watching

- attending the funeral (we were on the White House lawn)

- asking many questions about how Johnson actually became president. "How did he know that he was to be president? Who was in charge of making him president?"

Even then, I was curious and awed by the transfer of power. I remain fascinated by it to this day. Johnson to Nixon was a simple election. Nixon to Ford was not simple and more than a few people feared that Tricky Dick might interrupt our centuries of nearly seemless rule of law effectively managing the transfer.

Ford to Carter, Carter to Reagan, Reagan to Bush, Bush to Clinton, Clinton to Bush, and then oops, one of the bigger problems in our history...a disputed Presidential election. The Bush-Kerry election of 2004 with a recount that, if continued, could have swung the election the other way. Massive intervention on the political, legal, and almost from the streets with the crowds. In any case, the moment passed and a decision was reached. It could have been disputed but calmer heads prevailed and the democracy continued under the rule of law.

I will remember that forever as a moment when the rule of law and the transfer of power was not a given in our country.

And now it's happening again. Whatever your politics or perspective, it is truly an awesome thing when the presidential power is transferred from person to person. The American president controls so much power, its just spine tinkling to me to watch the baton get passed with a sense that for all the flaws in our democracy, this fundamental operation works.

Homeschooling - another secret revealed....

2009-01-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

I noticed a friend of mine with an interesting stack of books yesterday.

Howard Gardner - Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Mel Levine -
Two others....

After several evasive answers as to why this high powered but not working attorney was reading these books, she admitted that she was worried about her children's education. While they're in a fine private school, she thinks her kids are gifted and not getting what they need.

Too much structure, not enough education.

She admitted that she's planning to homeschool next year. Perhaps unschool. I think that's so cool.

Homeschooling Information by State

2009-01-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

Time4Learning and State Information

Alabama Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Alaska Homeschooling & Time4Learning
California Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Connecticut Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Florida Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Georgia Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Illinois Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Iowa Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Indiana Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Kentucky Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Maine Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Maryland Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Massachusetts Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Michigan Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Minnesota Homeschooling & Time4Learning
New Hampshire Homeschooling & Time4Learning
New Jersey Homeschooling & Time4Learning
New York Homeschooling & Time4Learning
North Carolina Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Ohio Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Rhode Island Homeschooling & Time4Learning
South Carolina Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Tennessee Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Texas Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Virginia Homeschooling & Time4Learning
Vermont Homeschooling & Time4Learning
West Virginia Homeschooling & Time4Learning

top homeschooling websites

2008-11-22T06:59:00.000-08:00

The best homeschool websites are:

Homeschool.com - Rebecca keeps the site fresh, relevant, and full of all the best advertisers.

Time4Learning is the prototype of the future mixed system of homeschooling.

Midnight Beach is the longest standing leading homeschool website, albeit not kept up anymore.

Online Homeschool Websites

2008-11-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

I'd recommend the following online curriculum websites:

Homeschooling info, an amazing blog about homeschooling online. homeschoolcity

A homeschooling website put together by a collection of homeschooling parents. web-home-school

Isn't a time for a secular homeschool website for us?

What about a homeschool curriculum website? This is the T4L one.

And of course, there is the online homeschool website? Isn't this something that you would want people to know about.

Homeschool – Preschool

2008-11-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

The information on homeschooling often tends to overlook the earliest years, the preschool years. Let me quote from the Time4Learning website....

Homeschool Preschool is one part of home education that approaches faster than most of us are prepared for. Suddenly, our preschoolers are ready for more…more enrichment…more independence…more learning. Whether parents decide to make a long- term, homeschool commitment or are only interested in early elementary homeschooling, many families are looking for a successful preschool program to implement within the home in addition to or in replacement of public preschool or private preschool.

There are many homeschooling parents in need of preschool ideas and creative curriculum for preschoolers. As we try to find the best preschool homeschool curriculum for our children, consistency and flexibility are important, along with finding a resource that engages young learners, carrying them through their formative years.

Another good source of information about preschool homeschool is from the homeschool website.

The leading source of info on preschools is a website called Preschool education which unfortunately is a spam filled site with lots of nasty popups for sneaky downloads. Don't go there.

Help for Technical Parenting

2008-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Top Five Sites for Parents trying to keep-up. There is so much technology. Ipods and computers, Wiis and tracking software. Cell phones and other gadgets.

1. Parental Technology
2. Common Sense Media
3. Net Family News
4. Parents Chat Discussions
5. Educational Games
5. Parenting in a digital age
6. Todays Learners

Best Social Studies websites

2008-10-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is a mixed bag, some known, some new.

A real time earth quake tracking website. It's cool. It's weird.

here's a similar one that provides weather info pulled from airports.

National Geographic's Map Machine

Google earth

i would love to build an online course using the coolest and newest online GIS tools. Anyone want to help? I got the budget and audience if you've got the social studies expertise and talent.

Five places for math

2008-08-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Today, here are my five favorite places to get info on math.....

Learning math games
Building Vocabulary with Word Games
Math Learning
PBS Kids
Lesson Math Games Demos

For instance, here's a piece on classification skills.

Classification skills, or sorting skills, is another one of those cross-training skills that, when developed, help children in math, reading, and general logical thought process development.

It is one of the most important skills for creating a real thinker. When children begin to classify objects (matchbox cars), sounds ( loud/soft, man-made/machine), flavors (salty, bitter, sweet) , or concepts ( real/make-believe) into categories according to traits they have in common, they begin to develop the ability to make connections. This is the precursor to logical thinking, and the ability to make predictions about the world around them.

Do your kids not like math? Find out if they've developed a bit of math anxiety.

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Five favorite learning websites language arts

2008-08-22T06:09:00.001-07:00

Here in 2008,
we have it really great,
Here for you are some learning websites
that really should turning up those lights.

(my ditty is not so pretty) still.

Learning with Word Games for kids
Building Vocabulary with Word Games
Spelling Test Games
PBS Kids
Lesson Games Demos
Blog Writing for parents

I started this meme in response to a post on learning fun for kids.

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Homeschooling has gotten much easier...

2008-07-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

I saw this post on homeschool online and it articulated something that I've been thinking. Homeschooling has gone from extremely hard to.....just hard.

It's about how the Intenet Changes Everything and I quote:

In the bad old days, say a decade ago or more ago, homeschooling was hard and lonely and it was difficult to do a great job. I’m not saying that a lot of families didn’t have the gumption or resourcefulness to make it work great. I am saying that for the average joe, homeschooling was a tough row to hoe.
Everybody thought you were weird
Most publishers wouldn’t sell you, at any price, the basic textbooks that they sell to schools
There was not much homeschool community (depending on where you were)
Other homeschoolers were hard to find.
etc etc etc
......

And most importantly, the Internet changes everything. It’s easy to find other homeschoolers of your own ilk and products and services galore. Want to find other Christian homeschoolers using online curriculum, no problem. Want to find other homeschoolers within a few blocks of your home? Want to find other families with a children with both aspergers and dyslexia? It’s all doable on the net. And in terms of products and services. Above and beyond finding used textbooks and thousands of other traditional products, there are pure internet products such as: a free spelling program or an online homeschool curriculum or a way to build vocabulary skills or build phonics skills or with the amazing videos of United Streaming. or the great advice of other homeschool discussions.

I now feel sorry for those students and teachers stuck in a traditional school with limited room to innovate or to access the net.

Me too!!!

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Homeschooling is Hot - Here comes the suits!

2008-06-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

A friend suggested to me that I go to Edgar and type in homeschooling and look at the filings that pop-up. Basically, when companies seek to raise money (like stock or IPOs), they need to register and the registrations are publicly available at edgar. When the internet was hot and new, there was loads of new filings. There seem to be several filings that show up when you search on homeschool.

Learning Priority Inc (formerly Edulink) - My quick overview of this is that they have raised and spent $16M trying to build some software. Now they are out of money and can't raise any more. Some quotes below.

AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION - ?

Home School Inc -

Overview--------Learning Priority, Inc. is a development stage company engaged in the design anddevelopment of a seamless integrated Internet educational service, called theSmart Schoolhouse system, for schools and homes, that is intended to be marketedto and utilized by students, parents, teachers and school administrators. Theplanned service will be delivered over the Internet to personal computer users.The Company originally estimated that it needed a total of approximately $8.5million to produce, alpha test, beta test and launch the system for the 7th and8th grades only. The Company subsequently (in August 2001) determined that tosuccessfully launch the system, it was necessary to include curricula for allgrades from 3rd through 12th as well as the homeschool market, and the Companytherefore also needed to license and make third party content available throughits system. The Company estimated that it needed an additional $5 millionthrough June 2002 to complete the modifications required for the system'sapplication for the entire 3rd through 12th grades and to the homeschool market,to license and integrate third party content, to complete production ofadditional enabling tools, to create proprietary curriculum for two additionalgrade levels, to launch the system and conduct marketing activities up to theend of the customary school year (i.e., June 2002), and to provide theinfrastructure to market and exploit the Company's technologies outside of thegrade 3-12 education market. Therefore, having taken into account the revisedcapital requirements, the Company estimated that it needed to raise a total of 6$13.5 million, of which it had raised a total of $8,062,578, net of expenses, asof September 30, 2001, primarily through the private placement of its CommonStock. As of December 31, 2001, the Company had raised only $200,000 of theadditional $5.5 million in capital it needed, and had not completed theproduction of additional enabling tools, had not licensed additional third partycurriculum content, had not upgraded the technology and had not the completedthe infrastructure to exploit its technologies outside of the grade 3-12education market. And as of December 31, 2002, the Company had raised only anadditional $150,000. The Company now estimates that it needs to raise a total of$5 million in capital to upgrade its technology, license and integrate thirdparty content for the 3rd through 12th grades, produce additional enablingtools, conduct marketing activities and launch the system in September 2010 forthe education market. The Company intends to raise the additional $5 million incapital it needs to complete those modifications and enabling tools, tointegrate third party content and to beta test the system while working withvarious school districts, school district alliances and/or State Departments ofEducation. Concurrently, the Company intends to obtain additional content fromeducational publishers, universities and other content providers and to launchthe system upon the start of the next customary school year (i.e.,August-September 2009), as well as to create the infrastructure to market andexploit its technology in other markets. The Company raised $10,417,381, net ofexpenses, as of December 31, 2007, toward the goal of a total of $13.5 million,primarily through the private placement of its common stock. The Company nowexpects that expenses (including software development costs and general andadministrative costs) will be approximately $5 million per year from April 1,2008 to March 31, 2009, to license additional third party curriculum content, toproduce additional software tools, to alpha test and beta test the content solicensed and the tools so produced, to upgrade technologies, to continueoperations, to provide necessary support and maintenance services to licensees,to increase marketing activities for the Smart Schoolhouse system and tocontinue and increase development, marketing and support activities relating tothe Company's technologies for application in markets outside of the 3rd through12th grade U.S. education market.As of January 25, 2008, NASDAQ approved the Company to amend our Articles ofIncorporation to: (i) change the Company's name to "Learning Priority, Inc." andsymbol to "LRNP"; (ii) effectuate a 1-for-1,500 reverse stock split of ourauthorized and issued and outstanding shares of common stock; (iii) increase thenumber of authorized shares of Common Stock to two billion, sixteen million,sixty one thousand, six hundred and thirty six (2,016,061,636) shares of commonstock, par value $0.001 per share

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trains and curriculum

2008-06-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

I just rode the old narrow gauge railroad here next to Yosemite Park. I was thrilled. It made me think about how much I think my kids should know that they don't.

They don't know how a steam engine works. How wood, coal, or oil is used to heat the boiler and the steam is used to drive pistons. The pistons then turn the drive shaft which drives the wheels. In this case, since it's for an engine that goes up and down hills, it drives all 12 wheels on the locomotive. My daughter (14) didn't even know the words gauge, turbine, or pistons.

I remember a story I heard from long ago that the North and South of the US had train tracks built around different gauge railroad tracks. After the Civil War, as a commitment to rebuilding the Union, the North organized the rebuilding of one side's tracks so that trains could easily cover the nation from north to south. I only heard this story once and wonder if it's true.

Should kids know something about how engines work? I think it's more important than chemical valences in terms of understanding and appreciating the world around us. Yet valences are part of the educational standards: understanding a steam locomotive is not.

Who makes up these rules?

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Homeschool Curriculum

2008-05-18T07:04:00.001-07:00

We had an interesting discussion and talk this week about homeschool curriculum. Our goal was to build familiarity with our support team about the different approaches to homeschooling. Here's how our discussion roughly went.

Curriculum in a box - A highly defined day-by-day lesson by lesson workbook approach. The parent reads / teaches lessons directly from the teacher guide. The kids do the assigned worksheets and assignments. While very formulastic, if you follow it, the quality of the education can be high. Saxon math is often cited as a very thorough education. Primarily A Beka, Saxon, and Bob Jones. Usually a very religious approach. Maybe 15% of the homeschoolers.

School at home - A textbook, discussion, and lecture approach which imitates the classroom. Maybe 5%.

Classical - This is the hardest to summarize. It is a Classical approach in the sense of the Greeks of the Great Age of Greece , think 50BCE. They have three stages of education...the trivium -- grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. Very roughly, these correspond to elementary, middle, and high school. Since they view the children as being ripe of a certain type of education at each stage, you could perhaps summarize this as the Stuffing stage (make them memorize a lot of great stuff), the Arguing stage (make those middle schoolers take and defend a position. They have lots of logic and passion at this stage, put it to work), and Judgement stage (OK, by high school the kids should be able to evaluate complexity and make an intellectual decision based on a variety of subtle factors, let them think). Excuse me for this rough summary. Other defining aspects on a scorn for textbooks and enthusiasm for original literature and texts. There are great stories and books, read them. Did I mention their enthusiasm for reading, Latin & Greek, reading in Latin & Greek, and then memorizing it all? In the right family, this education is incredible. There are also classical schools. Perhaps 10% of the homeschoolers do this.

Unschool - Perhaps 10%

Eclectic including unit studies - Dominant. Maybe 50%.

This is rough. I'll redo this essay next week

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Homeschool Curriculum

2008-05-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

For homeschoolers, the concept of curriculum is understood. For non-homeschoolers, this word merits a little explanation.

A curriculum is basically what you are going to study. Unless you are an Unschooler (meaning you base the work on your child's interests as they evolve), you will need to pick a curriculum.

Many people start with the most popular sites such as homeschool.com or AZGomilipitas or homeschool online to get ideas.

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Educating children on the autism spectrum

2008-05-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

If you are the parent of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), you have probably already had your fair share of educational struggles. Most parents feel overwhelmed at one time or another.....Autism and school often do not mix well. Children with autism have different academics strengths and needs as well as different learning methods. In addition to subject matter, adapting to a classroom and the array of interactions and stimulations in an institutional structure is often a challenge.

One mother said, “My emotions ran from guilt to defeat to exhaustion. I couldn’t stand answering his same questions over and over, or watching him ignore his room full of toys, preferring to peel the paint off of his dresser or the wall. I couldn’t stand to watch him get rejected by other children over and over. There were times when I wished I could just send him away to an autism boarding school. I hated autism, but felt guilty for even thinking it.”

The article goes on to describe one mothers experience with a child with autism's education.

The public school principal promised us the moon and stars and all the autism support we would need. We never got it. He was physically harmed, constantly teased, and his schedule was switched so often that it was confusing for him. Within the first quarter of the school year, my son was miserable. One night, as I was tucking him in, he looked up at me and said, “Mommy I hate school. I want to die.” That was it. I pulled him the next day and began homeschooling.

Although I had been reading about homeschooling for a number of years, and knew many of the methods, I had no idea what to do with my son. We needed help with our education plan. I considered unschooling, but knew that would be a disaster for a child who needed a set schedule just to get him through the day. The eventual abstract nature of classical learning would have been difficult for my concrete little boy. There were a number of good boxed programs out there, but at that point, just looking at a workbook or worksheet made my son shut down.

She then describes how she ended up using an ecletectic mix of materials including an online education program that has proved popular for special needs homeschooling.

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Writing courses

2008-04-28T16:48:00.000-07:00

Time4Learning has been my main focus for awhile. It's this nifty automated educational system. After repeated requests, we have created another service, some online writing courses for kids. We've called it Time4Writing.

But, while there are less software issues, there are more other types of issues. What type of style guide do we rely on for the more technical questions of writing rules (such as a comma before the "and in a list)? Also, how do we manage the teachers? Do they get to spend as much time as they want per student.

The courses have been fun to pull together but this has created issues. For instance:

For a review middle school course, we help the students write different kinds of sentences: declarative, interrogatory, exclamatory, and imperative. One of our teachers says that some imperative sentences could be said with force and punctuated with an exclamation point.

The other teacher was shocked. She quickly pointed out the need for consistency and that in fact, by definition, once there is an exclamation point, the sentence becomes by definition exclamatory. And they disagreed. Other teachers have long experience, quoted some experts, and was entrenched in their position.

Initially, I was not that involved. I thought: Who cares? (Is that an interrogatory sentence even if it's said as an exclamation?). The point is that we are teaching kids to be educated. They should understand something, not memorize rules. If the rules are unclear or vague, explain that. Tell them that experts disagree. That way they understand the principles and are prepared to deal with whatever future teachers want to insist on.

But that is a little counter to how the educational system works. We have both principles and rules. One teacher wrote me:

According to NCTE and all other "experts" that I have consulted over the last 48 hours, an exclamatory sentence is the ONLY type of sentence that ends with an exclamation point. That said, there are a very few sentences that can be both interpreted as exclamatory or imperative. BUT! an imperative sentence will only end with a period and never an exclamation point. If it has an exclamation point, it is an exclamatory sentence. A short sentence such as Duck! or Watch out! would be considered exclamatory because it implies impending danger. By the way, I spoke with a former English Department Chair and a college professor as well because I wanted to triple-check.

We can mention these certain exceptions to the middle school students, but it should be mentioned as a "by the way." Those students taking this course are remedial and you want to do as little as possible to confuse them, though the English language is confusing at best and ridiculous at worst! (That is an exclamation.) :-)

I am also speaking from experience with all of this as I taught this particular thing for many years over and over as it was a skill that students had to master in order to pass the Florida 8th Grade Assessment Test all through the 80's and into the 90's before the dreaded FCAT.

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Teaching Writing

2008-04-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Many homeschool parents find that teaching writing is difficult. Their kids, with a bit too much ego involvement in their writing, don't tend to feedback in this area easily. Kids are proud of what they've written and giving feedback is tricky. At the end of the day, evaluating writing is subjective and requires strong writing skills.

So many homeschool parents look for help to teach writing. Time4Writing provides that help. It's a set of online eight week courses which gives weekly writing assignments followed by indepth personalized feedback on the writing. If a child is not ready to move on, the teacher can decide to repeat that week's unit for that student the next week. Because it's so personalized, classes start almost every Monday.

The course is $99 for the first course for a family. Additional courses, for additional children or for the same students for that family, are only $79.

In middle and high school, a methodology called Four Trait Writing is used.

Four-Trait Writing provides students a framework both to write successfully for today's high stakes test and to discover writing beyond the formal essay. Students have the chance to find their voice when writing for the internet, editorials, and even dialogue.

So, what are the Four Traits of successful writing? They are:

1. Content - Story and Logic

2. Style (Sentence Variety and Structure)

3. Mechanics (Spelling, Punctuation, Capitalization Rules)

4. Media & Voice (Persuasion; Objective Journalism; Internet Writing; Dialogue: Plays and Scripts)

Content - Story and Logic covers the flow of a narrative and the organization of an expository essay.
Style discusses sentence structure, variety, and fluency and the usage of colorful, descriptive words.
Mechanics are the writing basics of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Learning to use all of these properly and becoming adept at proofreading for errors in these areas, are an essential skill for the middle school writer.
The Media and Voice in the modern world are different from that of the past. Today's writer needs to have a separate voice for the different media available to them. In the same day, a single writer might have to shift between writing a blog article with paragraphs with bolded key works, to a formal structured essay for a school assignment, or to a chatty commentary article for a printed magazine with a headline.

Voice for Media (Persuasion) – Students are introduced to and practice writing to persuade to buy, to vote, to think in a similar fashion.
Voice for Objective Journalism – Students discover the five W's and the H (who, what, when, where, why, and how) of objective article writing for an online or hard copy publication.
Voice for Internet Writing – In today's world, students can create web pages and blog on the internet. This is quite different from any other writing they may have learned in the past as much of it is created in a more conversational tone with subheads and bullet points.
Voice for Plays and Scripts – Many students enjoy using their imaginations and creative voice. Here, they have that chance as they write dialogue and stage directions.

The first first course on Four Traiting Writing is available from Time4Writing, which provides online writing courses.

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A child is not a vessel to be filled . . .

2008-04-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

"A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a lamp to be lit".

Hebrew Proverb

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Abbott and Costello - Who's on First - Computers

2008-02-24T09:12:00.000-08:00

This is great.
They've redone Abbott and Costello with Humor: Who's on First - the computer version
The Cate's are great.

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History Today - Kosova's War of Independence or Serbia's Civil War?

2008-02-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

I would love to be teaching history or social studies. Particularly with a little freedom from standards and lesson plans. Today for instance, I'd start with this news story:

Kosovo Breaks Away: Province declares itself sovereign; Serbia says it's illegal

Kosovo's regional parliament declared independence Sunday, a much anticipated break with Serbia that swiftly triggered an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

The vote during a special session of parliament — boycotted by 11 Serb members but approved unanimously by the 109 other members — set Kosovo on a road to be recognized as the world's youngest nation.

By dusk, this icy-cold city turned into a giant street party, its skies twinkling with fireworks and its main streets filled with families strolling in wonder and youth dancing with joy."Now we have our flag and our state," said Minire Deliu, whose 12- and 7-year-old sons twirled to the beat of folk music in the open air. "During war, my children cried. Now they are dancing."Serbia promptly called the declaration by its southernmost province illegal. Thanks to the Sun Sentinel for this article excerpt.

I would start the discussion by asking how people might feel if they were part of such an effort. Why would they do it? What would they expect to happen? How will Serbia react? Eventually, we'd compare all these questions with what happened when the US declared it's independence. I'd have the kids research whether Kosova had their own declaration of independence. I'd compare it with others. Will there be a war of indepence afterwards? Or should we call it a civil war? What would decide whether it will be a civil war or war of independence?

Like I said, textbooks only get in the way. History needs to be alive and vivid to be worth studying. I have no idea how comparable this declaration of independence is to the American declaration of independence or the Succession by the South from the Union. But, give me a classroom of kids and I'm surely we could learn more from asking, researching, and debating the questions than we could from any of the textbooks.

I wonder if this would work online? That's one of my projects for this year. Want to help?

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Textbooks & Education

2008-02-18T01:30:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons that I'm interested in developing curriculum is that I'm convinced that we need to end our reliance on textbooks to teach history. Here's the reason.

1. History is gripping riveting stories of empires in balance, public trust betrayed, unlikely heros, tragic downfalls, economic realities, and the march of ideas and progress. It's gritty real-world stuff which told properly, is amazing.

2. Textbooks are committee-created sanitized versions of what some conservative committee felt that history should have been. Almost everything that is interesting seems to disappear in the process. All the drama is replaced with dry factual analysis.

Why does this happen? I'm not sure.
How do I know it happens? Read any decent novel or watch any historical film. Compare it with a so-called educational textbook. Which one has a chance of holding anyone's interest?

So, I'd like to develop some history curriculum in which the "curriculum textbook" connects the dots between popular novels and films which tell the story. And while a school system would surely seek to avoid such an approach, I think the homeschoolers would adopt it in droves.

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Why did we adopt the constitution? Part 2

2008-02-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

The paper (see Why did we adopt the constitution? Part I) that I wrote was on Shays' Rebellion. Rather than quote my old paper, I'll summarize from the web.

Shays' Rebellion "had a great influence on public opinion," as Samuel Eliot Morison notes; it was the fiercest outbreak of discontent in the early republic, and public feeling ran high on both sides. After the rebellion was defeated, the trial of the insurgents in 1787 was closely watched and hotly debated...The rebellion arose in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to other states, and culminated in an abortive attack on a federal arsenal. It wound down in 1787 with the election of a more popular governor, an economic upswing, and the creation of the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia. Calliope Film Resources. "Shays' Rebellion." Copyright 2000 CFR. http://www.calliope.org/shays/shays2.html Feb 2008

Shays' Rebellion had a generally unifying effect upon the supporters of a stronger national government. It provided the motivation that led to the success of the Federal Convention during the summer of 1787 and the recreation of the US under a Federally oriented constitution and the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation under which the US had originally formed.

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Why did we adopt the constitution?

2008-02-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

I found a paper that I wrote in college the other day. It was around 10 pages, beautifully written, received an A-, and on a topic that I know nothing about. In fact, if it didn't have my name on it, I would not have known that I wrote it.

It turns out that I used to know alot. And once I started reading it, the subject matter came back to me (in part). Right now, the name escapes me.

The question behind the paper was this. We became an independent country following the success of the Revolutationary War. Then we elected George Washington president, adopted the articles of confederation, and started out as a new country. However, a number of years later (I think 10, the United States decided to change our form of government. We convened a very painful Constitutional Convention and over a long painful summer, wrote the constitutional basis for a new government which is the basis of our country and government today.

What moved the young country to start again after that first decade? I think this is an overlooked point in American history which we can learn from....

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Homeschooling and the internet

2007-12-15T11:46:00.001-08:00

I believe that much of the growth in homeschooling is due to the internet. No longer is the home isolated. No longer do schools have privileges of access to libraries of information, to text books, to educational standards etc.

Parents can now be part of a community from home. They can shop from home. Virtually anything can be learned from home.

The entire educational process is now opened up to an incredible degree. Nobody fully understands how dramatically the technology is changing the process of education, the goal of education, or the kids who are being educated. A few points about education:

No longer is memorization of so much info an important goal. Now that info retrieval is so simple and fast, we need to carry less in our heads.

The research process is dramatically different.

The work place is dramatically different.

And the kids, shaped by the net and online games and all the digital communications and fast TV, are different.

So sitting in classrooms that move at the pace of molasses using technology and teaching methods unchanged in a century... makes less sense than ever....

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Computers, Schooling, One laptop per child,

2007-11-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

I have read for awhile about how cheap computers can help third world students jump into the modern world. The idea is that $100 networked computers can be provided to poor children in the 3rd world giving them an opportunity to educate themselves.

I am very concerned about the huge percentage of children who grow up in poverty with poor education (remember, I started my career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa).

I think technology is the salvation of education.

So, this morning, I participated in the: "One learning child. One connected child. One laptop at a time. Give one, Get One" program.

And I quote from the webiste about the XO Laptop:
One learning child. One connected child. One laptop at a time.
The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege. Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During this time, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.

I spent $438 to contribute one and to get one. I'm interested to test it to see what it feels like and how it runs sites such as Time4Learning.com, Learning Games for Kids, SpellingCity.com and Vocabulary.co.il.

A neglected blog

2007-11-04T04:37:00.001-08:00

I just posted a comment onto someone's blog and it added an automatic link to my johne profile at blogger. I checked the link and discovered this blog. Which I seem to have forgotten.

It's a shame since I really needed one more blog to try and keep up on. (that was a tired sarcastic comment that slipped out). Let me do a quick review of my blogs....

Communicating with homeschoolers - This one is about our efforts to use forums, chats, newsletters, telephone support, CRMS, and blogs to both improve and streamline our communication with our current and potential members. It's over at homeschoolblogger under the name of EdMouse.

Online marketing - This about the nuts and bolts of online marketing and tracking my progress. It's at blogger and gets the most posts, I guess reflecting the fact that my last two years have been spent thinking more about marketing than educational development. Happily, I think that phase is now done.

Fun learning online - I created this blog as a way to work my ideas from the initial concept into an article. Kindof a series of rough drafts. It's also at blogger.

Web Home School - This is a group blog authored by a number of parents (all moms) about their experiences with Time4Learning. It was intended as a way to learn alot about the details of howTime4Learning fits into a homeschool day. So far, it's an amazing read although not what I initially envisaged. Plus, for some reason, it pulls no traffic or search engine rank.

Karate blog - Since I had alot of spare time and needed to spend more of it in front of a computer, I started blogging about my new sports activity. Both my sports activity and my blogging about it are taking on a life of their own. (woops, more sarcasm...)

Eclectic Homeschooling

2007-01-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

I really believe in only one type of homeschooling curriculum - ecletic.

Each child is different, each season is different, each child responds differently to each subject. Parents should definitely use the right approach for the right child and for each subject. And they should switch them around to keep it interesting.

For instance, I would definitely be:

Classical for much of history and literature studies. There are great books that provide the most stimulating interesting first hand knowledge of so much.

Unschool for much of the arts, literature, science, and social studies. So much stimulation, so much room to follow your interests...Even math when possible.

Curriculum-based for much of the language arts and math. Children need to learn the times tables and other math basics. A homeschool program needs to teach the spelling and punctuation rules (eats, shoots, and leaves) for grammar and ooldes of vocabulary needs to be learned....

Online Homeschool Promotion

2006-12-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

This is a link / advertisement for one site:

Here' another:

Time4Learning is an online learning service for homeschool or math, language arts, science, and social studies program. Time4Learning is helpings thousands of children in preschool, elementary, and middle school, why not try this new homeschool resource?

Here's another...

Homeschool.com, The #1 Homeschooling Site

Here's another

Homeschool Online and A to Z Homeschooling

Here's another:

Best Homeschool Sites & Magazines?

2006-09-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

Which are the leading homeschool websites and magazines?

Classical Homeschooling Magazine
Eclectic Homeschool Online - homeschool magazine online.
Everything Homeschooling - monthly online homeschool magazine.
Family Times From Home Educators. Some articles available online.
Homeschool Digest A quarterly journal for homeschoolers with a few articles.
Homeschooling Horizons Magazine - A Canadian magazine published 10x year.
Homeschooling Information and Resource Guide Free publication.
Homeschool - Rebecca's
Homeschool Magazine - Mary Pride’s -
Homeschooling Online - Web journal
Homeschooling Today - A publication and an online source of curriculum.
Jewish Home Educator’s Network - a quarterly newsletter.
Old SchoolHouse Magazine - Christian - large online and printed
Home Education Magazine - Most established & respected homeschool magazine
Kid’s Town - The magazine for homeschool kids by homeschool kids.
Learners Online Magazine - Helps teachers and home educators make the Net accessible.
Life Learning - Bimonthly about unschooling.
The Link - An Online newspaper by the Colfaxes and others.
Practical Homeschooling - Published six times a year.
The Teaching Home - Bimonthly Christian perspective of home education.
Todays Learners - a website .

Top Homeschool Curriculum

2006-09-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

I believe the top curriculum would have to go to "eclectic" since in our experience, virtually all families build their own home educational broken using a collection of text books, websites, programs, and creativity. Here are some of the most popular building blocks.....

A Beka - traditional workbook Christian.
Alpha Omega LIFEPAC
Bob Jones University - BJU
Calvert - Highly respected homeschool curriculum from a homeschool school.
Math U See - Only for younger grades and math. New & well marketeed
Robinson - Independent religious curriculum.
Rosetta Stone
Saxon - Most known for their math - Part of Harcourt.
Singapore - New entrant. Just math. More for the gifted than average.
Sonlight
Story of the World
Time4Learning - Online learning system, PreK-8th.
Weaver

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Home schooling continues to grow according to US Dept. of Education

an online alternative to cancelled summer school classes

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Homeschooling - another secret revealed....

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trains and curriculum

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Homeschool Curriculum

Educating children on the autism spectrum

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A child is not a vessel to be filled . . .

Abbott and Costello - Who's on First - Computers

History Today - Kosova's War of Independence or Serbia's Civil War?

Textbooks & Education

Why did we adopt the constitution? Part 2

Why did we adopt the constitution?

Homeschooling and the internet

Computers, Schooling, One laptop per child,

A neglected blog

Eclectic Homeschooling

Online Homeschool Promotion

Best Homeschool Sites & Magazines?

Top Homeschool Curriculum