How to Integrate Martial Arts and Homeschooling

One of the glorious benefits of homeschooling is being able to focus a curriculum around your child's passions. Instead of waiting around for a topic to randomly pop up that interests him, out of a collection of topics that may appear in a traditional curriculum, the homeschooled child can fully immerse in that favorite pastime or area of study, until the lines between play and work are magically blurred. This is the moment when learning is fun: the holy grail of homeschooling.

I know many of us have gone out of our way to make curriculum work for a horse-obsessed child or a Civil-War-obsessed child, etc. You make writing assignment, study vocabulary and spelling generated around the topic, create word problems with relevant elements. However, it's even better when you can find a book or curriculum that will do it for you, and I have! My karate-obsessed child is now a brown belt. How I wish I had this book when he was just starting out in karate. It's a wonderful workbook full of puzzles, writing prompts, short essays, and more. I know that my daughter Sadie, a white belt, will get a lot out of it, and I look forward to seeing how she develops in karate as she fills in the pages of the book.

Published by Turtle Press and written by Art Brisacher, the Martial Arts Training Diary for Kids is a diary, a game, a keepsake, and a homeschool helper!

Here's an excerpt:

"Welcome to one of the best adventures you will ever have in your entire life! It is an exciting journey--it's your martial arts journey. Your friend and your companion on this journey will be a different and a very special martial arts book. This book is better than a book about famous movie stars or television actors. This book is even better than a book about your favorite sports hero. This book is like no other book you have ever seen or read. This book is about YOU and it will be written by YOU and lots of people will want to read it. The best part will come one day in the future when your son or daughter will want to read the book that you wrote when you were just a kid! When your child wants to hear about your true martial arts's adventure, you will be able to share it with them."

If your child is just starting out in karate and is over the moon about the idea, this is more than a writing assignment; it's a way to link learning to what your child loves.

How to Teach a Child to Write a Novel

This spring, I formed the Junior Secret Noveling Club, a small group of kids who wanted to learn to write novels. The kids were between ages 7 and 9, and all homeschooled, all brisk little chirpy creative spirits who were game for my games.

I developed a curriculum to teach them the nuts and bolts of writing a novel, from developing a subplot to placing significant objects in the setting, even giving their hero a tragic flaw. I introduced a lot of concepts and techniques which children wouldn't typically be exposed to, with the idea that learning the hows and whys of novel construction would make them better readers. Even if they weren't necessarily going to sit down and pen The Grapes of Wrath, they would approach their reading material with a new level of awareness.

The "club" was set up kind of like a mini-scouts, with badges to earn (conflict, villain, chapter list, etc.), a secret handshake, and an oath to begin the meetings. The students kept a notebook and filled it with their activities in class, the worksheets they did to earn badges, and their homework assignments.

We did eight weeks of progressive lessons, including a little bit of grammar and a lot of silliness and games. At the end of the session, they walked away with a detailed plan and chapter list, well prepared to launch their novel-writing. They also walked away with a new attention to the "behind the scenes" aspect of books they were reading, newly conscious of the decisions authors make and the reasons they make them. At the end of the course, they "graduated" and I authorized them all (in the silliest way possible) to go and be novelists.

This course has been updated and the new link to download is here. 

NOTE: If you do not have random picture tiles, you may download and use these PDF

grids, thoughtfully provided by reader Deanna Butler, to print on cardstock: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Do you have questions about these lessons? Email me at lydianetzer at gmail dot com. 

Follow me on Twitter: @lostcheerio

HSLDA Pits Homeschoolers Against HR 3200 and Health Care Reform

Let me first say that I support Obama, I support HR 3200, and I strongly support Health Insurance Reform.

As a liberal homeschooler, I have complex feelings about HSLDA (the Homeschool Legal Defense Association). I believe that a lot of what they do is good, watching legislation and helping families with legal issues. I wish they would do it from a less political, less religious position, but that's who they are.

They've released a memo to members, calling for homeschoolers to call our representatives and senators, asking them to oppose the bill. Here's the memo.

HSDLA gives five reasons why this bill should be opposed. I'd like to respond to those five points, one by one:

• Spend billions of dollars to allow the federal government to fund home visitation programs, where government officials would enter homes and monitor children and instruct parents in how to raise their children;

This already exists. It's called Head Start, and it's over 40 years old. Trained workers go into the homes of low income or immigrant families, and teach them about nutrition, reading to their kids, playing with their kids, taking them to the doctor, dental hygiene, etc. The program was started in the 60s, yet somehow homeschooling has managed to explode in popularity.

• Encourage states to pressure families to enroll their children in these home visitation programs;

Here's some murky language. "Encourage states to pressure..." What does that mean? What kind of pressure are they implying? Physical pressure? Financial pressure? When a "state" applies pressure, there are only a few things that can mean: either they're going to hurt you physically or they're going to hurt you financially. So exactly what does HSLDA expect the state to do here, and how is this expectation rationally merited based on 40 years of the Head Start program's history?

• Put the federal government in the healthcare business, resulting in loss of competition, loss of patient choice, and loss of patient freedom;

The federal government has been in the health insurance business for decades. Medicare was also launched in the 60s, and somehow Medicare and liberty have coexisted for decades. There will be no loss of competition, no loss of patient choice, and no loss of patient freedom. HR 3200 means there will be more competition for the insurance companies, more choices for patients, and more freedom for patients. Anyone who likes their current situation can keep it. Anyone who wants another choice can have it. Anyone who currently has no choice because they're unemployed or have a pre-existing condition or have maxed out their life-time cap or have been determined by insurance companies to be not worth the risk: they now have a choice.

• Require all health insurance plans, whether offered by a private company or the government, to include controversial “essential benefits,” which courts or the Secretary of Health and Human Services may determine to include medical procedures which businesses and taxpayers may oppose on philosophical and religious grounds; and

Note the use of the word "may" -- as in... "may determine" and "may oppose." Now we're getting hysterical and writing our Congressmen over hypotheticals. Of course, we know what HSDLA is referencing here without saying it: If we pass this bill, your tax dollars will pay for abortions! Well, guess what? Abortions are already covered by tax dollars, have been since 1973. Adopting health care reform won't bring this about, any more than electing three republican presidents put an end to it. Abortions are covered by Medicaid, right now, .

• Increase the size and power of the federal government.

Well, now we're just fear-mongering, and over-generalizing. Bigger government bad, smaller government good! Really? No exceptions? No grey area? Welfare makes government bigger. Medicare and Medicaid make it bigger. Social Security makes it bigger. Are we ready to get rid of all of these things? A lot of people like to shake their fists and yell about smaller government, but I don't believe this is a rule we can apply universally. By using this bit of as a final bullet point, HSLDA is trying to join in the popular chorus sung by tea partiers, libertarians, and erstwhile Republicans who have only recently decided that big government is bad, after the guy they most recently elected swelled the government more than anyone since Roosevelt. Increasing the size and power of the federal government has only just become a bullet point for opposing a bill. When considering the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, or the Transportation Security Administration, or No Child Left Behind, this would have been a bullet point on the pro side of the argument.

I'll leave you with Obama's opening statement from his health care town hall today. I hope if you've spent any time reading the email forwards and blog posts frothing about what might happen, what could result, how much homeschoolers have to fear from health insurance reform, that you'll take a few minutes to read Obama's message straight from the horse's mouth:

Let me set record straight:

. If you like your doctor, you can keep them.
. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.
. You won't be waiting in lines.
. Health care choices should be between you and doctor.
. Government bureaucrats shouldn't meddle, but neither should insurance company bureaucrats.
. In the past 3 years, 12 million have been discriminated by insurance companies due to pre-existing conditions.

Under our reform, insurance companies will be prevented from denying or dropping your coverage due to pre-existing condition or when you get sick. They won't be able to water down your coverage. Insurance companies won't be able to put a cap on how much coverage you get in year or lifetime, and we'll put a cap on how much you have to pay out of pocket. We'll do this without adding to deficit by cutting out things that don't help.

The Weird Homeschooler: Myth or Fact?

Oh my gosh, are homeschooled children weird? Whether it's in the context of a mother's agonies in deciding whether or not to homeschool, or in the context of someone's actual polemic against homeschooling, the old "Well I know some homeschoolers and they're pretty weird" argument seems to keep resurfacing.

"Yes, they're weird. They're different. They're odd. So what?!"

"No, they're not weird; they're just fine, and public school kids are the weird ones!"

"Wait, no! All kids are weird! Just look at the way they run around yelling and picking their noses -- weird!"

The truth is that the reason this argument is so compelling for people is -- it's true! There are homeschoolers out there who are COMPLETELY NUTS. I'm not going to point fingers (lest any be pointed at me) but I'm sure you can all think of someone in your little world who fits the description. So, yes, homeschoolers are weird.

And you know what? You're weird. You're socially awkward, shy, reserved, or you're outspoken, a brazen nonconformist, or you're unaware that you smell bad, you're pierced, or afraid to get pierced, you're too quiet, too loud, don't like to follow rules, or too dependent on regulations, or you don't have your hair in a braid, or you do, or maybe you don't even know how to put your hair in a braid, and the reason you're so tragically broken as a person, the source of all your personal failings, as listed above, is because your mother refused to put you into school. So sad for you. If only you had been allowed to go to traditional school, you would be perfect.

OH. WAIT. Most of us *were* in traditional school. And yet we managed to be weird in all kinds of ways, both inspiring and depressing, all without the evils of homeschool, all on our own.

"Well, I've met some homeschooled kids. And to be honest, not to hurt anyone's feelings, or anything, but they were kind of weird."

Thanks, and we know. We know it so much we've co-opted the concept, and when there's a blog co-opting the concept, with its own domain name even, you can pretty much assume that we know. Kind of like Stitch N Bitch. Trust me, those of us within the homeschooling community know way more weird homeschoolers than you do. There's always that one family, or that whole co-op full of, well, you know. So yeah, you're right. Congratulations. You found a couple of nutjobs. But here are some things you're *not* allowed to say:

Myth #1: Homeschoolers don't face peer pressure. Yes, they do. They do dance, martial arts, choir, violin, swimming, scouts, church, and all kinds of stuff with schooled children (famous for their experience with exerting peer pressure), and they also create their own little peer groups within the homeschooling community itself. So, peer pressure and peer criticism and diversity within their acquaintances -- all that is covered.

Myth #2: Homeschoolers are *all* weird. Nope. Some are completely indistinguishable from public school children. The reason you don't know this is because you probably didn't notice those children, indistinguishable as they are. You probably notice the weird freaky ones, just like we notice the thugs, drug dealers, and sluts in public school.

Myth #3: No public school children are weird. Well, that's kind of silly. And yet, it's what is implied by the conclusion that homeschooling is bad, or that you're afraid to homeschool, based on the fact that you met a weird one once. You're afraid your child will be weird if he isn't put in public school. That's short-selling your child, and yourself.

Look. It's not wrong for people to say "Homeschoolers are weird." We know it's not incorrect. But to actually let yourself be talked into putting your child in an institutional school because you've met someone who was "weird"? That's really just an excuse. Look at your child. Is he weird? Did you make him weird by teaching him stuff for the first four years of his life? Will you really make him weird teaching him stuff for the next four, eight, ten years? Come on. This is your kid we're talking about, not some kid down the street you met once or remember from your childhood. Be brave. You can do this.

Find the homeschooler!

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Question and Answer Time: What is a School of Education?

Question from Ryan:

Can someone please let me know what this means from Obama...

Prepare Teachers: Obama and Biden will require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively.

This is from Obama's website, as a homeschooling parent I'm concerned about "all schools of education be accredited" and "every new educator is trained"

I'm sorry but that sounds like it would be very difficult to educate my children in my home.

My Answer:

Ryan,

Unless you are trying to educate them to be teachers, and unless you expect to be able to give them certificates that will qualify them to teach in schools, you shouldn't worry. If you are running a "school of education," that is a place where education classes are taught and teachers are trained, you will have to be accredited, or else you will not be able to graduate certified teachers. If you are teaching children to read and write, do math, remember the Pharaohs in order, and stuff like that, then this doesn't apply to you. :)

For examples of schools of education, click here.

Book Arts Bash: Last Weekend to Write

The Book Arts Bash is a literary contest for homeschoolers and their parents, where new writers can catch the eye of amazing judges -- from NYT best-selling authors to New York agents and editors, top bloggers, working directors, published homeschool moms and even one former US Poet Laureate. The deadline for this contest is fast approaching. All entries must be postmarked by October 1. We told you in July, and we told you in August. We even told you in September. Now we're telling you again: This is it! The final countdown! Tick tock! Get those entries in!

We have twenty categories with five age groups in each. Three finalists from each age group in each category will move on to our judges -- that means that 300 homeschoolers (or homeschooling parents) will get a chance to be read, seen, and analyzed by someone they've only seen on the bookstore shelves, read about on the internet or in Publisher's Weekly.

I can tell you that at this point some categories are quite underrepresented -- the multimedia categories for example: blogs, storytelling audio files, drama, and comic book. Here's one young author working on her comic book:



Another comic artist with his little sister, showing off a few of his titles:

Don't miss out on this chance to expand your creative horizons. Short stories, poems, picture books, novels... all forms of literary expression are welcome. We aren't having another one of these until Spring of 2010.

For a list of our judges, a full description of all the categories, an entry form to print and instructions for sending in your work, please visit the Book Arts Bash. We can't wait to see what you've got for us to read.

Three Homeschool Classes to Consider in Norfolk

Mad Science classes are fantastic, and they are very interested in working out a time that would work for homeschoolers to have a fun, engaging science class with no mess at home and no prep for mom.

These teachers are very gifted, their classes are interesting and effective. My four-year-old daughter is still teaching me the lessons she learned about air currents from Jen and Heath at the science fair last year. She uses the newspaper wrapper to demonstrate. It really made a big impact! If you're interested in Mad Science class for your child, let the powers that be know what days work for you, what times are good, and what you'd like to see happen. Of course they can't accommodate everyone's schedule, but they need to get a sense of what most people want. They want feedback! Email jen@madscienceofhamptonroads.com with your suggestions and to register your interest.



Young Chef's Academy is a fantastic and fun way for children to get empowered in the kitchen. Again -- no prep and no mess for you, and the kids get to toss around flour and break eggs. Sarah Horne is planning a homeschool class. She has asked me to give some input on what days and times would be good for the homeschool community. I told her what I thought but I can only speak for myself and give info on the schedules and classes that I know about. Again of course she can't accommodate everyone but she's interested in providing a service to our community and access to classes during school time instead of the usual after school offerings. If you have input, email her: ghentva@youngchefsacademy.com.



Norfolk Karate Academy is planning a daytime class for homeschooled children. Again, Bill Odom needs your input on times and days. If he plans the class for Tuesday morning, when everyone is in co-op or at the YMCA or whatever, the class fails and we as a community miss out on a chance to get in our martial arts class in a smaller class size, before the after school rush, when our kids can get more individual attention. This is a wonderful karate school. My child has been involved for four years now and we've been impressed and amazed with the excellence in training and the character and commitment of the owners and instructors. If you'd like to be part of a homeschool karate class in Norfolk, here is your chance to give your input: info@norfolkkarate.com.

If you do email them, please let them know where you heard about the classes, and thank them for their sponsorship of the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair 2008.

How to Make a Duct Tape Hat

Want to learn to make an awesome, waterproof, colorful, duct tape hat, using two rolls of duct tape and nothing else!? Welcome! This project is part of the Vote for Me! Elections Unit Study hosted here at Little Blue School. All the lucky people who are attending the political conventions are going to be wearing those crazy, ridiculous, fashionable hats, so I decided to get us in the mood with duct tape hats. My dear friend Lori, adored playmate of my childhood, brought her kids over today to play. They are also homeschoolers! Naturally, I roped them into some hatmaking, particularly Eden, who is 11 and handy with the duct tape.

Here's our result:



So, how did we get there?

Materials:
Duct tape in many colors. We used Duck brand which comes in purple, orange, blue, red, chrome, pink, aqua, yellow, and other silly choices. I used approximately two rolls per hat. Some rolls have more on them than others. I had no problem getting a whole hat out of two small rolls, with leftovers.
Scissors you don't care too much about. They will get sticky.

I can think of a million variations to this hat, but here are directions for my hat, my method:

1. Build the Brim Square. First, you build a square from which to cut the brim.



Lay down a piece of tape, about 18 inches long, sticky side up.
Next tear off another piece of the same length. Lay it on the first piece, sticky side down, staggered halfway up.
Now you have two pieces of tape stuck together, with half the sticky side exposed on each side.
Turn the piece over to expose the sticky part of the tape you just added.
Stick another piece on, same length, sticky side down, over that one.
Continue until you have a square.

By laying each piece of tape exactly over the other, arranging these two-sided strips next to each other, and then laying another layer of tape perpendicular to the first layer, to join them, you can create a stronger piece. Like I said, there are other ways, but this was my way.

2. Cut the Head Hole. When you have built a square, cut a circle out from the middle of it.



You'll need a circle that will allow your head to go into it, but be careful of making it too loose. Duct tape is actually pretty stretchy. To get a circle, fold your square in half and then cut a quarter circle away from the center point, then unfold. If you start with a 3.25 inch quarter circle, you will probably be in the right neighborhood. Big math points to older students for figuring all this out exactly. Fit it onto your head to make sure it will go:



3. Create the Crown Rectangle. Now it's time to make the crown. Figure out how high you want your hat to be. I did about 12 inch strips. Your vertical strips will be joined together in exactly the same manner that you joined strips to build the brim. If you want stripes, alternate colors -- two blue (one in the front, turn, one in the back) then two red (one in the front, turn, one in the back)

Here's me making the striped crown of Sadie's pink-and-chrome hat:



4. Join the Crown Tube. When the crown has been built up to a length that will wrap around your head and fit approximately into the hole you made in your brim, finish it by joining the two ends together.

Here I am with the "stovepipe" part of the hat, measuring it against the hole in the brim, while Dan explains something about trading to me:



Here's Eden measuring her crown against her brim, checking to see if she needs to add more strips:



5. Cut the Tabs. Now cut slits in the bottom of the crown, about two inches long, all around the bottom of it. These will become tabs that attach to the brim. This is best illustrated in a picture I took of Eden making her hat:



6. Connect Brim to Crown. When you have your tabs cut, tear as many 3 inch strips of tape as you have tabs, and stick them to something closeby, like a table edge or your leg, so they'll be handy. Start by taping down one tab, then do the tab opposite, then the tabs between, and work your way around. So, do the north tab first, then the south tab, then east and west, etc. This will keep your project even. It's a good idea to try on during this process so you can gather it in or stretch it out a bit, as needed. Tape all your tabs down firmly. If at any point the hat becomes too big, create a gather and tape it down. If it is too small, cut the crown apart, add more tape, tape it back together, and you will *never know* there was a problem. Duct tape is awesome!



7. Attach the Top. The only thing left is to make the very top of the hat. If you still have the piece you cut out of the brim, you can use that to finish the top, or you can create a new piece using the same strip-on-strip method, and cut it into a circle. It's not necessary to make it perfect at first cut, you can trim it to fit later, after you tape it in. Attach it with tape strips inside the crown where it won't show:



8. Embellish. Now you can trim the brim into whatever shape you like. Zig-zag, circle, scallops, or whatever. You can cut out embellishments and tape them on, add a hat band, flowers, whatever you like. We added stars on this hat to turn it from this:



To this:



Eden rolled her brim to create a cowboy-hat-like effect:



That's it! There are more pictures in my Flickr Set but I can't resist posting a few more here. Any questions, please email me. If you do this project, I would love to see the results! Stay tuned for more Vote for Me materials, and happy campaigning!

Benny's hat:



Jordan's hat:



Cameron's hat:



Happy Homeschoolers:



Is this your first time at Little Blue School? Welcome to the blog! I hope you'll stick around and visit some of my other posts for more homeschooling ideas, projects, songs, and crafts. If you found this page helpful, would you bookmark it on your favorite social bookmarking site? Thanks!

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Book Arts Bash: An Unlikely Explosion

You have heard of the Book Arts Bash, right? It's a new writing program and contest for homeschooled writers, with twenty categories across the full spectrum of literary arts from novels to poetry to storytelling, dramatic skits, and book cover art. With five age groups in each category (including homeschooling moms and dads!) the Bash has something for everyone. Shez and I have been working hard to promote and organize the project, in this our "beta" year, and we've run into some major shocks.

First, the judges. Now peel your eyes open. I know you had a late night watching the Olympics. Take a deep breath. Shoulders back. Just have a look at a few of the people we have on our roster of judges for the Book Arts Bash.

Bestselling authors: Sara Gruen, Karen Abbott, Joshilyn Jackson, Dan Elish, Michael D'Orso, Robert Sabuda & Matthew Reinhart.

Industry Pros: Caryn Karmatz-Rudy and Emily Griffin (Editors, Grand Central Press), Kirby Kim and Daniel Lazar (literary agents in NYC), Caitlin Roper (Managing Editor, The Paris Review), Cressida Leyshon (Fiction Editor, The New Yorker), David Lynn (Editor, Kenyon Review).

Then we have homeschooling moms who are also published authors: Julia Devillers, Jennifer Roy, Melissa Wiley. Storytellers Bobby Norfolk, Odds Bodkins, Joel Ben Izzy. Internet Favorites: Ann Zeise (A to Z Home's Cool), Mir Kamin (Woulda Coulda Shoulda), Michelle Mitchell (Scribbit).

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.

Are you kidding me? Does it not bring a tear of joy to your happy eye to see such glorious support for homeschooled writers from all over the literary world? I cannot tell you how shocked and amazed I am at the response from everyone we've contacted. Many more have said they can't help this year, but asked to be kept in mind for future years. These are busy, busy people who are juggling speaking engagements, new projects, book promotions, and regular jobs, as well as parenting and grand-parenting and the rest of life. They have agreed to help us with our project, to get more kids to try different types of writing and art, and to encourage homeschool teachers to use writing and art across different areas of the curriculum. A big booming thank you to all our judges, the ones I listed here and the other twenty exciting names I have not yet announced.

The judges will be reading the world of all 300 finalists in each of 20 categories, 5 age groups each. All of the adult groups will be judged by industry pros. All of the winners will receive critiques and comments from the judges, glory and recognition on the web site. The younger kids will get prizes too. One early critic of the Bash sourly and openly speculated back in June that the prizes would probably be pencils, and the judge would probably be the lady down the street who edits the local homeschooling newsletter. I can assure you (and her) that this is not the case.

Here's another shocker: This was originally intended to be a rather localized program, reaching out from our home base in Norfolk, maybe across Virginia and down into North Carolina, possibly up to DC. The idea started as a book fair to complement our science fair, to showcase literary efforts of local homeschoolers. However, when we started getting "yes" replies from big names like judges Robert Pinsky and Sara Gruen, we also started getting urgent interest from elsewhere in the country and even in the world, as far away as South Africa and Australia. We had never meant to exclude anyone, but we didn't think people from other areas would really be interested. But they were. So, would we open the contest to people outside Virginia? We decided yes.

Such a swell of interest from such widespread locations led us to really examine the original idea, which was to have an event in Norfolk, at the Chrysler Museum, where we'd invite in one or two visiting authors, showcase the finalists in a reading and a display in the museum lobby, and party down to celebrate homeschoolers' creativity. We can't celebrate finalists from Oregon if the party is in Norfolk. Then there's the question of the visiting author: We've been in conversation with Christopher Paolini's publicist, but will we be able to actually swing a visit from that homeschooled superstar?

How many people will ultimately enter? Is it fair to have an actual Book Arts Bash event in Norfolk when our finalists will be from all over the country and mostly unable to attend? Will we get a great big name for the event? Will Walt Whitman sign on as a judge? What will the prizes be for the younger age groups? Trips to the moon? These questions are all still in the air. As we put together this experience for homeschooled writers, illustrators, and teachers, we are watching it unfold in front of us. As we were shocked with the level of judges we were able to get, shocked with the amount of interest from around the world, we hope to be shocked by more developments as we move into fall.

The entries have started to come in. Will you be among them? Do you have any advice for us? Can you help us promote the project? Are you a close personal friend of Mary Pope Osborne, and can you convince her to speak at the Book Arts Bash in November? We welcome all your comments and suggestions. And of course your best work!

Bad School is Good for You?

On what planet is this true? The planet where we also drop heavy objects on our children's heads, kill their pets, and burn up their toys, just to acquaint them with the realities that they may someday face in their adult lives? Oh right, that planet doesn't exist. Or if it does, no one wants to go there, because it sucks.

A dear friend of mine was recently ambushed with a bunch of anti-homeschool criticism, which took this familiar form: You have to send your kids to school so they can get used to the horrors and hazards of real life. In real life, you have to march in step even if you don't like the tune! You have to put up with people you can't stand, you have to persevere in a negative environment, you have to grind through tasks that you don't enjoy, and it's not all fun and roses when you grow up, so kids have to get used to it! That's what school is FOR.

Are you kidding me? School is for preparing children for how awful life will be? Yes, that is the idea. School is boot camp for life. Survive this, and you're ready for that. Get used to it, because it's never going to get any better. An unbelievable position to take. Inconceivable.

First, this assumes that life will always be terrible. That my children will have to groaningly turn off an alarm clock, scrape a comb through their hair, trudge off to a job they hate, push themselves through tasks that are meaningless to them, and repeat this process for years and years. I would *never* assume that. I would never want my children to expect this kind of life! I don't do that, my husband doesn't do that, and we never ever *would* want to do that. If I found myself in that situation, my first and most earnest goal would be to pull myself out by my ears. I speak from experience.

My friend was asked, "If they don't have to cope with an unfriendly, uninspiring teacher for a year of school, then what are they going to do when they have to deal with a boss they don't like? If they don't learn to cope with boring school material, how will they cope with a boring job?" My answer is that they SHOULD NOT have to cope, long term, with either of those things. If they find themselves in a boring job with an awful boss, I hope they stand up immediately and march away fast, shaking the dust off their shoes behind them. I would never, ever want them to respond by putting their heads down and saying, "I guess I better get used to it." Never, never, never.

Second, this assumes that *if* an awful adulthood is inevitable, then an awful childhood is the appropriate preparation. That doesn't make any sense to me either. If my children are really, truly doomed to an adulthood of weary drudgery and persevering through awfulness, then that should be all the MORE reason to allow them to experience all the joys and freedoms that childhood could bring! Bring on the field trips, beach days, light sabre battles, and art classes! Is the logic of this lousy argument that a happy childhood will lead to unreasonable expectations of a happy adulthood? I expect to be happy. Why should my children not expect this?

My final beef with this is the basic premise that we expose our children to bad things because bad things are going to happen in the future. Inevitably, an event will be rained out, a relative will get sick, a friend will leave. So, do I need to pull my kid out of the bike race for a random reason, refuse to love him at regular intervals, and kill one of his aunts, just so he gets used to the way life is going to be? Of course not, that would be RIDICULOUS. We don't parent like that in any other area of life -- we try and protect them from all evils, all discomforts, all pains, until they are old enough where we can't protect them anymore. So, why can't we do this with school?

I refuse to put my child in school just so he can gets used to boredom, stifling routine, and negative social situations. The very idea boggles the mind. What do you think? Have you heard this argument before?

Obama's Position on Homeschooling

This week, Spunky Homeschool contributed a little hand-wringing and consternation to the discussion of how an Obama presidency would affect homeschoolers. Apparently, Obama hasn't said enough in support of homeschooling. He did say that he would honor parents' decision to do it. This has the conservative homeschoolers in a paroxysm of "Oh dear!" and "What if?"

What if what?

It's not like McCain has come out leading a homeschool parade. He said he would support it, along with private schools, public charter schools, and other choices parents might make. Sounds like he will honor my decision too. Fine.

What more can we ask of these people? It's kind of ridiculous to expect a presidential candidate to come out in strong support of homeschooling. Like it or not, the public schools are within the purview of the federal government, and a president encouraging homeschooling would be like a Ford or General Motors exectutive saying, "Yeah, you know what? You really should ride bicycles instead."

Let a president encourage people to homeschool, and you'll hear the already criticized, maligned, underpaid teachers of the country heave a collective groan of despair. The president has to exude confidence and hope for the public school system, as long as there is one. As long as the car companies tell me they're not going to get bicycle-riding made illegal, I'm not expecting them to stand there and applaud and cheer as I fail to buy a car. I expect the government to have faith in its public schools, and work to fix them. Saying, "Yeah, go ahead and homeschool -- it's the best choice!" is tantamount to giving up.

Okay! Obama hasn't proclaimed his support for homeschoolers. Well, McCain hasn't proclaimed his support for people who use cutesy Christmas dishes out of season. If I'm clutching my curriculum in a hot panic, I should also worry about my rights to eat off these stripey plates in the middle of August. Cringing and worrying over the true meaning of what it means to "honor" our choice -- what does he mean he'll honor it? Will he really honor it? What does "honor" really mean anyway??? -- just seems like an excuse to not vote for the guy. An excuse that assumes we are all judging the candidates solely on their homeschooling platform, and not on the rest of their agendas.

Even if Obama had cackled fiendishly and declared he was going to put an end to homeschooling as we know it, I would still consider voting for him. If I have to do more paperwork, fill out more forms, take more tests, endure more certification, that's a small price for me to pay against the cost of another war. What's more important to me? Fewer homeschooling hoops to jump through, or tens of thousands of people dying in Iran, tens of billions of dollars being spent on killing them? The truth is that neither president could reverse such a strong cultural trend as homeschooling by regulating it, even if they wanted to. The only way to end homeschooling (or send it back to the religious fringe) would be to make the schools so awesome that we all were clamoring to get our kids involved. If that happened, I would be the first one celebrating.

There are lots of reasons for conservatives to hate on Obama. Worrying over some imaginary position on homeschooling is a real stretch. I posit that any homeschooler voting against the guy because his support only extends to a promise to honor our choices, was already going to vote against him because of some other issue. Let's be honest. As much as it may pain us diehards to admit it, there are more important things that homeschooling. Fluffing and clucking over imagined threats distracts us from the real issues of the campaign.

Moore Expressions: Virginia Homeschoolers' Favorite Store

Moore Expressions is a homeschooling bookstore in Virginia Beach, VA. They carry new and used books, curriculum, literature, homeschooling workbooks, test prep materials, unit studies -- pretty much anything you could ever imagine that would help you homeschool and is manufactured by a publisher is in that store. The store is huge: 4000 square feet. It is state-of-the-art, meaning you can view their store inventory online in real time and make purchases from your computer. Take a look at their "about" page and see for yourself what this store, owned and operated for and by homeschoolers, is all about. Within their store is also a rental resource where you can check out games and science equipment, and these amazing people also publish the Bayith Educator, our regional homeschooling magazine. Moore Expressions is a wonderful, wonderful resource. Anyone who lives within driving distance and hasn't visited must be out of their homeschooling minds.

I'm lucky enough to live close and I have visited the store on many occasions. What's it like to go shopping at Moore Expressions? Fun. Productive. Enlightening. From floor to ceiling there are curriculum materials of all shapes and sizes, all types of methods and philosophies, from Rosetta Stone to Bob Jones to math manipulatives, literature texts, story of the world, used homeschool books, Evan Moor workbooks, YOU NAME IT. The store is quiet, the aisles secluded, so you can really think and make decisions and explore the materials. I love this store! Let me put it this way: I have never walked out of Moore Expressions empty-handed. Never.

As if that wasn't enough to make it worth the drive over, there are bins of free books outside the door. You can bring your unwanted books -- if Moore doesn't buy them from you, you can leave them outside in these bins for whoever wants them. And the books you will find in these bins! WOWZER. Once I found about three years worth of Kids Discover magazines. What a find -- I almost screamed with joy. I've found (and donated) all kinds of stuff to those bins -- they are almost my favorite part of the store. It's like an ongoing swap meet for homeschoolers, right on the doorstep of the best bookstore in town.

Moore Expressions sponsored our Homeschool Science Fair this year, and made it possible for us to hire professional judges, which we and the children really really appreciate. The value of this enterprise to homeschooling community in Virginia, between the bookstore, the magazine, the support group, and everything else they do, is monumental. Thanks for the sponsorship, Moore Expressions, and thanks for providing such an amazing resource to families homeschooling in Virginia.

Homeschooling Books at Homeschoolingbooks.com

Standing in the middle of a curriculum fair, looking around at all the vendors, picking up this colorful workbook here and that heavy textbook there, deliberating, comparing... it can be a little overwhelming. Add the vast chaotic marketplace of the internet, and you might find yourself starting to cry and suck your thumb. Maybe you're new to homeschooling and want some help navigating the choppy waters of curriculum selection, or maybe you have multiple children and don't feel like teaching cafeteria style for each individual. For complete curriculum packages for homeschooling, check out Homeschooling Books.

One big box delivered to your door contains everything you need for a whole year of teaching. There are three different levels of these curriculum packages: comprehensive, basic, and a third level for non-university-bound students. Homeschooling Books also offers Switched-On Schoolhouse, LIFEPAC, and custom curriculum packages to suit your child's needs.

Homeschooling Books is a sponsor of the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair and we're thankful for their support of our efforts.

Sadie and Benny Protest the War

Move On hosted almost 900 "New Priorities" anti-war demonstrations around the country today. One of them was right down the street from my house. As we were driving home from our science fair prep class and International Homeschool Fun Bee at Ben and Shira's house, we noticed this protest going on, with people holding up signs that proclaimed, "Honk if you love peace" and other more extreme sentiments.

Well of course I was joyfully honking away, and went around the block unnecessarily so the kids could get a good look. I was rattling off a bunch of stuff about how in this country we can disagree with the government, and we can express our thoughts publicly, and it is a good thing when you see people protesting peacefully. As I was driving away trying to fit in all my lessonating, I realized I could just park, unload the groceries and walk back. Let them get a good look at it and have their first experiences holding up signs.

So that's what we did.

Here's Benny with his sign:

And Sadie with hers:

Just warms the little red cockles of my heart. Heh heh. Here's a video I took with my phone. It's a bit blurry but you can see that Sadie is using her protest sign to demonstrate that M is W upside down. See, it was educational!



There were actually a lot of children participating, and we ran into some friends of course. Here's Benny with Nicholas:

With people shouting from all four corners of the intersection and lots of honks from cars going by, it was intense for the kids, and for the dog. :) We left after probably 30 minutes, and I was glad we had a good experience. It's not the safest thing to do, protesting the war in this military town. I have to admit it was a little nerve-wracking. A very different feeling from when I was in college, that's for sure. However, I think it was a good experience for the children, and as long as it was within walking distance from my house, how could I pass it up?

Other pictures on the mobile blog and one other video on the YouTube channel, if you just haven't had enough political action for one day.

The Destruction of Sennacherib by George Gordon, Lord Byron

The children have memorized their Assyrian poem. Now we're on to Ozymandias. They're such good sports:

Colonial Williamsburg and Home Educator Week

You can't pass up Williamburg at $5 per ticket. We went last fall, and we will be going every time they offer this fantastic program. This time, the children were both dressed in colonial attire, provided by Ahno and her mad sewing skillz.



Here they are hanging out at the well like a bunch of colonial gossipers:



I have a bazillion more pictures, including a group that Sadie took herself, in my Flickr gallery, in the Colonial Williamsburg set.

For other colonial good times, check out Benny's Colonial Williamsburg Pictorial Tour Guide on his blog. Here's a sample:



Yes, he did move on from discussing the horse poop. But, it was a significant influence on his narrative.

Egg Drop Contest at the Virginia Air and Space Center 2008

Great day. Good times. Lots of homeschoolers rocking the museum with awesome engineering. Here are some pictures and videos:

Benny and Sadie after their drops. Benny won second place in the two-egg parachute category at 114 grams with both eggs surviving the fall. He also won the prize for the most creative entry in that category:

Here's Sadie with her contraption, which failed to protect its egg. Video of her drop is below:

You can here somebody speculating that she's 18 months old. She was dressed up as a fairy and her egg was pink and sparkly and frilly, but darnit she's in PRESCHOOL! :)

My entry was "Egg Drop Soup" and it did not protect its egg and did not win anything.

I didn't get any pictures or video of Benny, partly because I pushed the wrong button during his drop and ended up filming my collarbone for like 5 minutes. So ironically the one in the family who built a successful contraption and won prizes did not get documented!

However, I do have video of our friends Zoe and Ben. Zoe won in her category for the lightest successful contraption! Very cool.

Here's Zoe's drop:



And Ben's drop:



So I did get *some* good video! Just not of my own children! :) :) I was proud of all the kids in our little group: Josh, Austin, Zoe, Phillip, Ben, Shira, Benny, and Sadie. We were all very good sports, supporting each other, cheering and hollering, and celebrating physics. It's such an awesome event, because little brainy smart kids get to receive hoots, cheers, and yodels just like the football players. I deeply enjoy myself every year at the Egg Drop contest. It is a great experience for the children and the adults alike.