Friday, March 10, 2006

Carnival of Homeschooling

 
A reader has asked us to publicize the 10th Carnival of Homeschooling. I was not previously aware of this Carnival, and I’m happy to bring it to everyone’s attention.

As our correspondent said, “Children are not being taught any real history in the public schools. To understand the crossroads our country is at, their best chance is to be homeschooled.”

Amen to that!

This week's carnival is at the Palm Tree Pundit. Drop by and have a look. Of particular interest to an old mathematician are Barbara Frank at The Imperfect Homeschooler, who discusses algebra, and Maria Miller at the Homeschool Math Blog.

You might also want to look in on The Common Room, the blog of the Headmistress and her home-schooled family. It’s a frequently-visited site of intelligent and well-educated news and commentary.

I home-schooled the future Baron until he was twelve, for mostly secular reasons. I’m very glad we decided to make the sacrifice to do it, and I advise everyone with children to consider it. If you want your child to be spared the cant that passes for learning in today’s schools, and become truly educated, home-schooling is the way to go.

5 comments:

Anne said...

Thanks so much for mentioning the carnival!

Dymphna said...

Homeschooling continues to grow. It will be another generation or so before it reaches the tipping point, though.

It can no longer be stopped, though they certainly tried in the beginning.

We have never regretted the sacrifice, but looking back, there are things I would do differently. Guess that's true for everyone.

Sensei Mitch said...

Our son (6) is presently in a Montessori school run by Nuns. We have to commute to the school about 40 minutes one way. We are pleased with his progress but aren't sure if it is the best fit for him. We are looking into home schooling him (and our 22 month old daughter). We are also looking at a more local (20 minute drive) catholic school (yes we are catholic;).

We are committed to our children never attending a public school so that isn't an option but want to do what is best for them. Any comments, suggestions or anyone else in this situation?

Thank you for this story and this blog!

Anonymous said...

Go homeschoolers! We homeschooled two sons for four years. Now they are in a private Christian high school.

We began homeschooling partly over an award-winning book that was recommended (by the public school) to the daughter of an acquaintance. The gist of the book was "Jane has two daddies and one of them is dying of AIDS" - written for children, of course.

The schools stated rationale defending the book was that it "helps children learn how to deal with disease." Right. Many parents took the school administration to task - but basically were told by the school administration that "we (the school) are more qualified to know what is best for your children."

Our decision to follow a new educational course for our children was partly due to the not-so-veiled indoctrination effort to normalize homosexuality. Our decision was equally due to the overt arrogance of the school in their stated philosophy of “knowing better than the parents.” Our children are our most important responsibility, a responsibility that way too many intelligent and otherwise loving parents have abdicated to public education.

An important part of this story is that this did not occur in a blue east-coast state, but in a red western state. It occurred in a conservative, middle-upper-class community, in a new school, in a well-funded school district with significant resources, and in a school that outwardly appeared to embrace conservative, family friendly ideals - until we looked deeper.

About two years after we began homeschooling we learned that the principle of our former elementary school was going through a very bitter divorce. His wife of 20 years was leaving him… for a woman! Go figure. I wonder if he wrote a children’s book about that?

Anonymous said...

for sensei---

There are more homeschool resources available than anyone could catalog in one place. That includes curriculum, coaching, community groups, and even inexpensive legal advice on how to homeschool and comply with education laws in your state.

Check out www.hslda.org for the legal piece and a bunch of other resources. It is a very excellent organization. Also, there are homeschooling groups everywhere that organize group activities for students and are full of parents that are very eager to help others get started.

Our experience was with predominantly protestant organizations and groups - but you will find them very welcoming and even an interesting opportunity to meet other families that share your values and a deep committment to their children.

BTW, what is your martial art form?