The Carnival of Homeschooling

I’m a little bit tardy with my homework, teacher…

The 152nd Carnival of Homeschooling has been posted by the Headmistress at The Common Room. If you’re a homeschooling parent, or considering becoming one, this is the place to pick up tips, links, and resources of all kinds.

Whenever I post excerpts from the Carnival, the first entries I look for are the ones from my own fields, Math and Art. Check out Number Bonds: The Key to Teaching Math Facts:

One of the strengths of one particular curriculum we used, Singapore Math, is their method of teaching basic math facts. Instead of teaching fact families by rote, Singapore illustrates fact families using number bonds. Now, I realize it’s just my unprofessional opinion, but as a self-professed, homeschooling-mom, math geek, I truly believe the number bond method is one the best ways to teach children their math facts. It’s simple, it’s visual, and it’s extremely effective.

Go over to Happy to be at Home to see the graphics illustrating the way number bonds work. I wish I had had them back when I was tormenting the future Baron with his basic arithmetic.

Art Resources for Homeschoolers — November 2008 takes a look at the art museum resources that are available online:
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While the Newark Museum does not have the entire collection online for this exhibit (Paths to Impressionism), they still have some good examples and they have a series of short essays on the themes of Impressionism in America, particularly the precursor, The Barbizon School of painting.

Museum of Modern Art offers an online, searchable database of their collection. An excellent resource when you are looking for examples of modern era artworks.

A Ten O’Clock Scholar has more information and links on museum resources.

Here’s an interesting one — The Life Without School Community Blog answers a mother’s question:

Should I Homeschool My 16 Year Old?

“….basically boils down to this one question: How do I help my daughter succeed?”

Actually, this mother also had some confusion about the GED and a diploma — she is confusing homeschooling, which her daughter wants to do, with dropping out of high school, which she did. She fears that her daughter will experience the same closed doors that she did — but homeschooling is not dropping out and her daughter should make that clear. She can write her own diploma and take the ACT or SAT (there’s no need for the GED, and, in fact, my husband, who hires people for his company, strongly discourages it. GED, as unfair as it may seem, communicates ‘failure.’ Telling potential employers you graduated from a small private school or a home-school does not carry the same stigma).

Would-be dropouts be warned: that GED will not carry the same weight as a high school diploma.

Answers to other important questions can also be found. For example, SpunkyHomeschool asks, “Can Christian and secular homeschoolers find common ground in their desire to homeschool? Is it necessary?”

You’ll want to pay a visit to the Carnival for the answer, or just to see the Headmistress’ vintage illustrations, which along with everything else can be found at The Common Room.

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Despite the fact that no domestic pedagogy has taken place here at Schloss Bodissey for more than ten years, the web-based homeschoolers occasionally send us a tip about the Carnival of the Homeschooling. It’s good to be reminded that there are a lot of children out there who are escaping the behavioral sink of the public schools and getting their education at home.

The values being transmitted by homeschooling parents comprise the recessive genes of our culture. These used to be the common currency of polite society, but they are no longer displayed in our public spaces. Instead they are being held in reserve by families all across the United States until they are needed.

Even though Dymphna and I are no longer teaching our own child, we still try to do our part. Older children from homes such as those featured in the sites linked above are sent by their parents to Gates of Vienna to further their education in history, current events, and political economy. That’s why we ask our commenters to behave with civility and decorum: we want to encourage these young people to keep coming here.

So every time you get annoyed with having to restrain yourself, just pretend that an alert and well-informed twelve-year-old is here with you, paying close attention to everything you say.