Why homeschool?

Question

I was homeschooled until I was 14. I started college at the age of 16. I graduated early with a 3.5 GPA while working 30 hours per week. Throughout my education, I was 2 grades ahead in math & science. I was actively involved with homeschool groups. I've met hundreds of homeschoolers in my life.
That being said, I would like to pose some questions. These are NOT personal attacks and you don't have to justify anything to me. I'm just curious as to the motivation behind homeschooling.
#1. What is your highest level of completed education?
#2. Why are you homeschooling your children?
#3. What impact do you believe homeschooling has on your child's social development? ("None" is not an acceptable answer)
#4. Should anyone be allowed to educate their own children? Why?
#5. Through what grade level do you plan on teaching your children? Why?

Answer 1

#1. What is your highest level of completed education?

High school diploma & trade school. Some college classes... just for personal enrichment.

My dh had some college. We have owned 2 different successful businesses and financially do better than most of our college degree friends.



#2. Why are you homeschooling your children?

I feel that I have been HSing my dd since birth. She is extemely bright and would be bored in the PS system. I had her tested at age 4.5 and she was testing at month 8 of Kindergarten for reading & spelling and month 6 of 1st grade for math. The tester said that the test was unfair to my dd because the test is for 5 and above. She explained that if I had her retested after 5 she would probably score even higher. My point is that her educational need would not be met in PS.



#3. What impact do you believe homeschooling has on your child's social development?

I believe that her social development would be hindered if she were made to be with children her own age only. She has fantastic social skills...people that have just met her often are amazed at how well she can talk with adults and play with children of all ages.



#4. Should anyone be allowed to educate their own children? Why?

In a perfect world and perfect circumstances I would say yes.

While it is lawful for anyone to educate their own children...I don't feel that everyone should be able to have children let alone educate them. HSing takes a lot of effort and time if it is going to be done right and some children unfortunatly are better off being babysat by the state than being with their own parents.



#5. Through what grade level do you plan on teaching your children? Why?

At this point in time until college...but if her education is suffering we will make adjustments when and if that time comes.

Answer 2

#1. What is your highest level of completed education? I have a AS in Child Development, BS in Education, and one class short of As in Pyschology.



#2. Why are you homeschooling your children? I have one daughter and I homeschool her because I can. I don't work and this is something that both me and my husband feel strongly about. I have worked in the school system both public and private and after seeing the overcrowding and the things they teach I prefer to keep her at home and teach her myself. No reason to send her to school.



#3. What impact do you believe homeschooling has on your child's social development? Homeschooling will allow my child to socialize with more than just children her own age. It opens doors that otherwise wouldn't be open to her during the day.

#4. Should anyone be allowed to educate their own children? Why? Anybody is allowed to educate their children. It is not illegal anywhere in the United States so yes if a person wants to homeschool then why not.



#5. Through what grade level do you plan on teaching your children? Why? I plan on homeschooling thru highschool and then she can go to college or do an online course in college.

Answer 3

1. College graduate

2. For a great Christian education

3. They have many, many friends! Homeschooling has given us the time to develop those friendships and get them involved in things where they could meet people.

4. I think anyone should be allowed to - the children belong to the parents, not the state. This is a free country! (Unless there is some abuse or neglect, of course)

5. I plan to homeschool the kids as long as they want to... They are now in eighth and tenth grades. Daughter wants to be homeschooled 'til graduation, son is thinking about going to school next year...

Answer 4

I'm new to this site and therefore I don't know about the "bashing" and negativity towards you yet but I would like to answer your questions.

1. I have a degree in medical Assisting and in Early childhood education.

2. I am homeschooling my two children so they can have more opportunities and more free time to explore who they will be and who they are without being hindered by expectations of school boards and peers.

3. My children have have martial arts, gymnastics, art class through our city program and many neighborhood kids to socialize with. Unfortunately they know no other homeschool children because we don't have a local group. I believe socially they will do better than public school children

4. I don't think anyone should be allowed to educate their own children. Not everyone wants to take the time to do it in a productive way. and parents with a short temper or attention span will not do well.

5. I plan to teach my son through high school he is in fourth grade now and has been out of public school since first grade. My daughter on the other hand shows some interest in going to public school and since our whole point in homeschooling is to not hinder their decisions in who they are we will take it year by year with her and let her grow on her own.

Answer 5

I went to college to thru my jr year. I absolutely do not believe that any college education is necessary to help facilitate learning. I also taught as a substitute teacher for DoDDs jr high for 2 1/2 years. I don't see that as being particularly helpful in my homeschooling either.

As to why I homeschool, lots of reasons. Physical safety, there are routinely stabbings at schools here, and I think a gun issue will happen in the next couple of years, food issues my kids react to corn products but since it's not a full out life threatening reaction the schools wouldn't do anything to help monitor that, I think one on one education is better than one on thirty. We enjoy being able to follow our interests and explore things we enjoy. I want my kids to learn, not just learn things that are on a test. the schools here seem to have the attitude that if it's not on a national test, it doesn't matter.

As far as social development, I think it's been good for my kids. We can do things in small groups, which is the social situation that my kids thrive in the most. We do a co op that is a class and PE every week. My son has done scouts and sports, my daughter's interests lie elsewhere.

I absolutely think parents should retain their legal right to homeschool their kids. Yes, some people abuse or neglect their kids and call it homeschooling. Just like some people who send their kids to school abuse and neglect their kids and call it parenting. Home education and child abuse are two seperate issues that should be treated as such. If someone is neglecting or abusing their kids, then help should be given to the kids, whatever they need.

I plan on helping my kids to learn at home until it doesn't work anymore. I see no reason to think that won't be when they start college. (hopefully early just like you did.) The plan is to go all the way thru with it. The why of it is easy to answer, it works for us.

Answer 6

1. I have a Bachelor of Education in terms of formal education. I have since studied on my own further topics of education, child development and psychology.



2. Because we believe our home is a better place for our kids to grow up in. (I live in a large city of close to 1 million people, if that helps provide an idea of social climate.) We don't believe our kids would turn out to be horrible people if we sent them to school, we just believe we're giving them an extra advantage by being at home and growing up in a good environment. We also, as teachers, know that the system is set up to tailor to the middle ground and either holds back those who are ahead or causes those lagging behind to suffer. So character and general education are our main concerns.



3. It has given our children a chance to be better educated in terms of socially acceptable behaviours. They receive more attention on how to behave. They are supervised more. They have better behaviour models. They are not adopting bad attitudes that others around them have. They are not focused on their peers and fitting in. They meet a wider range of children and become friends with kids who aren't necessarily their age or in the same grade. They are used to meeting strangers on a regular basis since our homeschooling activities never have the same people all the time.



4. Yes. First of all, we live in a free country. Secondly, most of those who choose to homeschool take it seriously and want the best for their children. It is unfortunate that some parents don't seek out extra help or consider the possibility of public, but that's certainly not something that can't be overcome. While it was a long time ago, it still serves to illustrate a point because some not-so-famous people accomplish the same thing today: Abraham Lincoln didn't learn to read until age 14. He still went on to become a lawyer and President. It is one's character and emotional development, one's willingness to go further and take charge of oneself that makes the greatest difference in later life, not how much science or history or whatever he's learned.



5. We plan on homeschooling at least until the end of grade 9 because of how horrible the social scene is at jr. high schools here. If we stick it out through high school, we will sign up with a school that can help us through it.

Answer 7

1) MS Biochemistry, hubby has a BS Engineering

2) It is a better fit for our family and our child. She is very advanced in some areas and can work at her own pace.

3) She has made a great many friends in our homeschool group as well as in her other activities. She used to be somewhat shy in new situations and in groups, but we have seen that lessen and nearly disappear.

4) Anyone willing to dedicate themselves to educating their children should be allowed to do so. Anyone who can be a good parent can be a good homeschool parent.

5) We take it year by year, but mostly likely until college.

Answer 8

Sorry James, I have a hard time believing your sincerity after reading your snarky and insulting comments to and about home educators. Perhaps you had an ugly relationship with your parents and the choices they made for you or didn't allow you to have but, uh, newsflash...children in school have those problems too.



You say that you were two grades "ahead" of others in math and science but then basically called your parents incompetent and clueless, sounds to me like you have a few anger issues.



To answer your questions....



1. High School.



2. Because we can and it is an excellent option.



3. A great impact because they get to see how things function and interact in the adult world on a daily basis. At the same time they get to enjoy being children and have much freedom.



4. No, we certainly do not want child abusers having their children home all day long. Other than that, it only takes a loving parent who is willing to give their children resources and access to the world in which we live.



5. That depends, perhaps my children would like to go to school someday. If not...the whole way.

Answer 9

1. I'm in the 9th grade now

2. I wanted to be homeschooled in 8th grade because my school was the worst place to leave and i didn't want to fail my classes because some of my teachers didn't like to teach.

3.I'm a competition dancer and i go to church and i have friends so it's not like i'm at home 24-7

4. No. My friend in 6th grade died from child abuse and people like that have no right. But if you do any harm to your child then go right ahead.

5. I am apart of the School of Tomorrow Ace program and even though we are a church school we are still called homeschoolers. Til i graduate at 16

Answer 10

1. I have a Master's, my husband has a BS

2. Because the schools in my area are HORRIBLE. 33% are failing federal standards. And I know for a fact that my home elementary school tolerates violence.

3. They aren't exposed to people walking around with their pants around their knees, they will not be invloved in oral sex parties. They won't be exposed to poorly behaved, bad mannered kids.

4. Yes, who knows the child better than the parent? That said, if the child is not progressing like they should be, then their education should be taken over by someone else.

5. As of now, 8th grade. But if they want to HS for high school, I'll do that as well.

Answer 11

1: I am currently enrolled in college trying to become a home inspector.

2: I will home school my son because the public schools here in America, is no longer about teaching students.

3: I don't think it has any impact on social development. I chose to do home school in high school, and I couldn't have been happier.

4: No. If they aren't the right type of person, they may just screw up their children. If they don't actually teach them "real" things, than it was a waste of their children's minds.

5: AS far up as he will want. If he wants to try public after a while, I will allow it.

Answer 12

Gosh, I can't decide which James S I should answer.

The one that berates homeschooling, saying that homeschool groups are the equivelant of special ed, that homeschool students are social retards and parents are just interested in sheltering their children or making them "religious"

or this seemingly new and improved James that is quite experienced in home education and is nothing more than "curious" as to homeschool parent's motivations.

I would venture, especially after perusing your answers, that the first question is more in keeping with your style,

so,

to answer your question, why homeschool?

why not.

sorry if that doesn't fit your definition of "acceptable", I'm really not in it for the 10 pts.

Answer 13

check out this homeschool curriculum provider's site, they have a lot of information on homeschooling in general that may be helpful to you. They're also having an essay contest where the top 2 essayists each win a NINTENDO Wii gaming system! The essay has to be 500-1000 words, and is due on December 31st, 2006. The question is: how is your family putting 'Christ' into Christmas this year?

So check it out at www.learningbygrace.org

Answer 14

First of all,Congratulations on your achievements.Now I will try to answer to the best of my ability.



1.I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA and completed 6.5 semesters of college.



2.My child has multiple mental and physical disabilities.



3.Home schooling has given my child a wider range of activities and many more friends,So it has been a positive social experience for us.



4.No.You have to have the dedication to do it.You can't be lax in your duties to your child.



5,As stated above, we home school for medical reasons,I will continue his education for his remaining time.Thus means with his medical issues he life expectancy is only 20.He is 12 now.So as long as he can learn,I will teach.



This was an excellent question.I hope I was able to answer in a way that will be satisfactory to you.

Answer 15

#1. What is your highest level of completed education?



I have a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I did take a semester's worth of Special Education as well. I don't think you need a graduate degree or a degree in education though to homeschool. I've learned a lot while homeschooling. Teaching children one-on-one is invaluable, and is something that I think any teacher would agree is going to enhance instruction. I use my children's interests when planning instruction. My son likes learning about Greek mythology and history; my dd likes learning currently about dinosaurs, the human body, and animals. As their interests change, so does our curriculum.





#2. Why are you homeschooling your children?



My son and dd are autism spectrum. My ds is also dyslexic. When he was attending kindergarten, they wanted to retain him even though he was a head taller, and the teacher asked me to tutor him in reading. In 1st grade, his teacher asked me to tutor him with math and handwriting. Then at the end of 1st grade, the IEP committee asked me to preteach his language arts concepts. I would have been tutoring or teaching 4 of his academic subjects at that point, and he had been crying each day and having stomach aches at school throughout that entire year (the teacher didn't tell me until the end of the year though!). My dh and I felt that homeschool was our only choice, and I was basically almost homeschooling him at that point anyway, it was a gradual progression. My son had been asking to homeschool, and it was so much less stressful for both of us. Every time I saw the teacher she had been complaining about his math or his writing skills or whatever, even though I explained he had 2 years delay in his fine-motor skills and visual-motor skills according to his OT, so of course his writing skills would be impaired. She didn't seem to understand...



#3. What impact do you believe homeschooling has on your child's social development? ("None" is not an acceptable answer)



My shy, introverted child is the one that attended preschool and school for 5 years. My outgoing, extroverted child is the child who has been homeschooled all her life. Is it because of homeschooling? I don't think so. I think children are born with their innature personalities whether introverted or extroverted really. But if you want to give credit to homeschooling OK! I think that in school children get an hour or so of socializing, 10 minutes here and there in between class periods, 20 minutes at lunch, 10 minutes before class, etc. Homeschoolers have social activities and classes too. My son and dd do sports (soccer) and piano lessons, and children's church (they do church with elementary school kids for my 6 year old and my 7th grader does church with middle school and high school kids) and friends they just hang out with for fun. They also just go to the park and hang out with random kids. It is different than school, but they seem to be doing fine with it.



#4. Should anyone be allowed to educate their own children? Why?



I don't think overly control-freak type parents should homeschool. My in-laws are very much control freaks with their kids (constant rules and regulations and punishments) and I'm glad they don't homeschool because at least the kids do get a few hours a day of freedom. I am careful to let the kids have some alone time and time to play and be by themselves and to mess around and be kids; free time and we are not too controlling.



#5. Through what grade level do you plan on teaching your children? Why?



We had planned on taking it year by year, but my ds wants to homeschool until college (school was a nightmare for him and he doesn't want to go back). I do want to do dual homeschool and have him attend community college though at 16, which is free in our state for 2 years), for his college math and science courses, since a science lab at college is useful. I'm hoping after he gets his AA he will attend a 4 year university afterwards...

Answer 16

I do not homeschool but have several friends who do. The rationale has changed significantly in the last few years with the single most cited reason I have heard recently (last 5 or so years) is SECURITY. Social (don't want Johnny smoking dope or getting mixed up with the wrong crowd), educational (you are a perfect example, most home schooled children seem to excel beyond their peers) and religious (public schools not being allowed to teach the values that the parents consider to be as important as education) issues have all been cited to some degree but safety continues to be the most important driving force to home schooling (and considering the latest events in school shootings and homicides I would expect this trend to continue).

Answer 17

Why Homeschool

Mission statement: On this blog we explore why homeschooling can be a better option for children and families than a traditional classroom setting. We'll also explore homeschooling issues in general, educational thoughts, family issues, and some other random stuff.



Contributors

Henry Cate

Janine Cate

Grandma Cate

Derek Cate

Intro to Homeschooling









Homeschooling Interviews









Carnival of Homeschooling (CoH)



Submissions for CoH



Current CoH



CoH Archive



CoH Schedule









How to leave comments











Is the election getting to you?

Unschooling Voices #5 is up

Childhood ends earlier, Adolescence extended

You have just twelve hours to submit to the Carnival of Homeschooling

Recent carnivals

Pumpkin Overload

Happy Anniversary to us

Carnival of Homeschooling - Week 44

More of life in the "real world"

These people would never get invited to the Dr. Phil show



October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006









Homeschool Blogs:



Bruggie Tales

Buried Treasure Books

The Common Room

Corn and Oil

Education and Homeschool News

EveryWakingHour

Guilt-Free Homeschooling

HEM News and Commentary

Here in the Bonny Glen

Homeschool Buzz

The Homeschool Cafe

Homeschooling Revolution

Life in a shoe

Mother-Lode

Nerd Family

Palmtree Pundit

Patricia Ann's Pollywog Creek Porch

PHAT Mommy

Principled Discovery

School@Home

Semicolon

SpunkyHomeSchool

Susan Wise Bauer

The Thinking Mother









(More links at the bottom)









Homeschool related:



A to Z Home's Cool

Exodus Manadate

Home Education Magazine

The Homeschool Magazine

Jon's Homeschool Resources

The Homeschool Magazine

National Home Education Legal Defense

NHERI

TTLB Homeschool Community









(More links at the bottom)









Education Blogs:



Chris Correa

edspresso

Education Watch

The Education Wonks

Intercepts

Jenny D.

Joanne Jacobs

Number 2 Pencil

Teach And Learn

Zero Intelligence









(More links at the bottom)









Education related:



BBC Education News

Campus Report Online

District Administration

The Education Gadfly

EducationNews.org

Eduwonk

The Heritage Foundation: Education









(More links at the bottom)









Other Blogs:



Clicked!

Dr. Helen

Dynamist

Instapundit

Jerry Pournelle

The Truth Laid Bear









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Miscellaneous:



Astronomy Picture of the Day

Paul Grapham's Essays

Victor Davis Hanson









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Monday, November 06, 2006

Is the election getting to you?



I've been involved in politics ever since I was a child. My father took me along when he was helping to support various causes and campaigns. As a teenager he paid me a penny a word to write our congressman and our senators. I could pick the topic and say pretty much what I wanted.



In my twenties I ran for a state representative office and lost in the primary by something like a hundred votes. Since then I've continued to be involved in politics by helping on various campaigns. Over the last week I handed out about two hundred flyers for a friend of ours who is running for a city council seat.



There are times before an election when I do start to get tired of all the noise and rhetoric. My wife and I have even gotten tired of TV ads for our candidates.



Given all this I greatly enjoyed today's A Word A Day thought:



"People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt."

-Otto von Bismarck, statesman (1815-1898)





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Technorati tags: election, politics, Bismarck



posted by Henry Cate | 11/06/2006 10:53:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Unschooling Voices #5 is up



Joanne of A Day in Our Lives has posted the monthly Unschooling Voices. There is a nice selection of thouhts about unschooling.



This week's Carnival of Family Life is up at The Pink Diary.



Some how I missed last week's Carnival of Family Life hosted at Everything Under the Moon. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the first post was by Chris Dolley. I really enjoyed his novel Resonance. He had a fun twist on the idea of parallel dimensions.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, Family Life, unschooling, unschool, Family Life, family, Chris Dolley, Resonance



posted by Henry Cate | 11/06/2006 08:33:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Childhood ends earlier, Adolescence extended



Take a look at this interesting news article out of the UK.



Childhood ends earlier as parents pressure children, says survey



A survey from the Cartoon Network reported that children stopped believing in magical creatures like elves and the tooth fairy four years earlier than their parents' generation.



While that doesn't necessarily worry me, these results did:





Increasing numbers of parents are pushing their children to read books aimed at a higher age to fast-track their education to the detriment of their development, it is claimed today.





Quite a few UK papers reported different aspects of this research. For example, in Away with fairies 4yrs sooner it reported this:





And while 88 per cent of parents could recall enjoying games like doctors and nurses, only half the next generation would admit to similar role-play fun.





The end of imaginitive play is a worry. Children are loosing the capacity to amuse themselves without parental direction. I've seen this with some of my friends. They schedule almost every minute of their children's time. Most unscheduled time ends up in front of the television.



Now back the the first article, here's a scary recommendation:







The IPPR report recommends that the school day be longer so pupils can develop skills through after-school arts and sports clubs or scouts, cadets and martial arts. Parents should face fines if they failed to make sure their children attended some of these clubs, it said.







Yeah, right. Let me see if I understand this. School stomps out almost all creativity and put unhealthy pressure on children. It also leaves them with almost no free time. Parents are putting more pressure on children at home to keep up with the expectations at school. This phenomenon is imparring social mobility.



To fix the lack of social development, it is suggested that the school day be extended and parents be punished for not sending their children to after school programs which will leave the children with even less free time and more pressure. A bunch of tired, stress out kids together with little adult interaction are going to teach each other skills that lead to social mobility?



Actually, I do think it will lead to social mobility. It will move the high functioning kids down. That way everyone will feel better, even if more kids are messed up.



Makes me glad I we homeschool and live on this side of the "pond."





And last but not least, the article also points out that while childhood is getting shorter, adolescence has been extended to absurdity.





"Adolescence is also being stretched at both ends, with children becoming 'teenagers' earlier and 'adults' later. For too many young people this transition to adulthood is complex, messy and unsuccessful."







Homeschool families are not immune to teens who don't transition to adulthood. It is easy to fall into the pitfalls of a "school" mentality even when your children are at home. But, that is a whole other post.





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Related Tags: homeschool, home education, public school, after school programs, Cartoon Network, failure to launch, extended adolescence, testing, academic pressure, elves, fairies, tooth fairy



posted by Janine Cate | 11/06/2006 06:35:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



You have just twelve hours to submit to the Carnival of Homeschooling



11 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds

11 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds

11 hours 59 minutes 57 seconds

11 hours 59 minutes 56 seconds

11 hours 59 minutes 55 seconds

11 hours 59 minutes 54 seconds



Spunky is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. You have less than twelve hours to submit your post.



Entries are due tonight by 6:00 PM (PST).



Go here for information on how to submit your entry.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling





posted by Henry Cate | 11/06/2006 06:15:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Friday, November 03, 2006

Recent carnivals



The second Catholic Homeschool Carnival is up at Love2learn Blog. My oldest daughter said she loves the picture of the world they have in this carnival.



Carnival of Kid Comedy #27 is up at Life in a shoe. They say laughter is the best medicine.



The Median Sib is hosting this week's Carnival of Education. Lots of interesting posts.



The Carnival of Children's Literature is across the ocean at the Scholar's Blog.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, catholic, comedy, humor, children, literature



posted by Henry Cate | 11/03/2006 08:21:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Thursday, November 02, 2006

Pumpkin Overload





































I had quite the pumpkin week.



We grew pumpkins in our garden this year. We kept a few for jack-o-lanterns and sold or traded the rest at homeschool park day. On Tuesday, when we carved the pumpkins, I saved and cooked the seeds.



Yesterday, I cut up and cooked one of our jack-o-lanterns. For dinner we had pumpkin soup with rolls that we had received in payment for a pumpkin sold at park day. For desert, I made a pumpkin custard (pie without the crust). I got the recipe from a Moosewood cook book. It used honey and molasses and no processed sugar. It may only be psychological, but I feel better when I use honey instead of white sugar.



This morning, I made pumpkin muffins for breakfast. I have another jack-o-lantern to cut up and cook today. I'm freezing the cooked pumpkin for use at another time.



Here are the pumpkin recipes I used, just in case you have some pumpkin to use up.





Baked Garlic Pumpkin seeds



After removing seeds from pumpkin, rinse and drain. Toss seeds with olive oil and garlic salt. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, turn off oven and leave pumpkin seeds in oven to finish baking.





Pumpkin Curry Soup



Throw ingredients in a pot and simmer.



3 chicken broth (or water with bullion powder)

1 chopped onion sautéed in butter (or 2 tablespoon dried onion)

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups pumpkin

1 tablespoon honey



After simmering for 15 minutes, add 1 cup evaporated milk.







Pumpkin Pie/Custard



3 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cups honey

2 tablespoons molasses

1/4 teaspoons powdered cloves

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 can evaporated milk



Mix and bake in a buttered dish at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or till set.









Pumpkin muffins



1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 to 1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup whole wheat floor

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup water



Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.



Tomorrow, I'm going to try a recipe for pumpkin rolls.





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Related Tags: pumpkin recipes











posted by Janine Cate | 11/02/2006 09:55:00 AM | 4 comments links to this post



Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Happy Anniversary to us



Sunday was our one year blog anniversary! A year ago we put up our first post. I had planned to post a mention on Monday, but got distracted with the carnival.



One of our original goals was to use the blog as a way to help write a book. That goal has been shelved for now. We now focused on exploring why homeschooling is such a great benefit to children and families.



With soccer season blogging has been light. The last games are just 17 days away. Then we'll get our lives back. With all three daughters in soccer we lose much of our Saturdays to games, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings to practices. I figure it averages around ten hours a week. Our daughters enjoy soccer, and it is good for them, but it will be nice to have those ten hours back.



We look forward to another year of blogging.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education



posted by Henry Cate | 11/01/2006 06:57:00 AM | 6 comments links to this post



Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Carnival of Homeschooling - Week 44



Since it is Halloween, here's some holiday fun.



Much of the western world is celebrating Halloween. This is a time of tricks and treats, scary stories, and things that go bump in the night. Children enjoy dressing up. Many houses have scary noises and sights in their front yard. So we’ll run with a Halloween theme for this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling.









By the way, this is a picture of my middle daughter. She was born two weeks before Halloween. You can tell just how much she enjoyed her costume.







Tricks



Children knock on doors and yell the familiar “Trick or treat.” The option is given to the adult to either suffer some trick or pay off the children with a treat. There are many tricks to homeschooling. These are the good kinds of tricks.



Kelly, who has just started homeschooling, shares what she has learned in Starting with a Frazzle from Pass the Torch. She has learned a lot in one week.



The Learning Umbrella reminds us about The importance of goals in explaining how setting an end goal changed what she was doing.



One of the important homeschooling tricks for parents is figuring out what and how to teach their children. Alasandra reminds her readers Why it's Important to Teach Facts NOT Feelings.



From Trust The Children is a good reminder that we need to give children down time. It is tricky to find the right range of work and play. Breathing Out -- Breathing In gives some guidance in finding that balance.



Dana of Principled Discovery reports that Math shouldn't be fun. She found a recent study which suggested confident and happy students don’t do as well in math as those who lack confidence and enjoyment of the subject.





Tricks and insights



Homeschoolers are constantly improving and learning how to be better parents and teachers. They are willing and eager to explain the tricks they have learned.



Grizzly Mama in A Day In The Life Of A Sick Grizzly Mama found that you may not get as much done when you are sick, but even in those imperfect days you will have some very nice teaching moments.



Kate of I Think, Therefore I Blog had a similar epiphany in A Much Needed Break as she found that even when she was sick there was a lot of learning without textbooks and classes.



The Thinking Mother explains there are The Two Roles of a Homeschooling Mother; Planning/Scheduling and Actually Doing It. She has some ideas on how this affects what we do as homeschoolers.





Tricks and little children



Homeschooling with a wide age range of children can be a challenge. Kendra shares some ideas she has picked up in Tools at Preschoolers and Peace. I enjoyed her summary of the post: “I once knew everything about parenting. Then I had six children...”



Contentment Acres has some great ideas on how to keep a toddler busy while you homeschool older children in Homeschooling with a Toddler.





Treats - general



There are dozens of benefits to homeschooling. The “treats” include more time with children, being able to do more fun activities, helping children to realize their full potential, and building character.



From far off Australia, Bruggie Tales recounts a recent lesson in Family Maths. My husband greatly enjoys the way this family shares treats.



From My Domestic Church is a nice discussion about the fruits of homeschooling in Socialization. After 12 years of homeschooling a mother is pleased with how her children socialize.



Deanna of Marcy’s Musings also writes about Homeschoolers and Socialization and reports that she has found her children actually have the advantage over regularly-schooled kids when it comes to socialization.



Again and again many homeschool parents will talk about, write about, and explain how their families are stronger, largely because of all the time the family spends together. Julee Huy from Homeschool Daze Blog writes about a We Love Daddy Party which builds greater family unity.





Treats - learning



An important aspect of homeschooling is having a vision that learning can take place in so many places.



At The Common Room the Headmistress explains how Playing Taboo With a Wide Age Range helps the whole family to learn.



From the Little Blue School is a fun post on What did we learn at Disney World? Homeschoolers recognize that we can learn outside a classroom setting. And often we learn more.



Tami of Tami’s Blog talks about her recent trip to the beach and how she incorporated it into their studies in We took our homeschool on the road.



In a Fabulous Fall Field trip some children get great exposure to how education use to happen. Malissa's Merry Go Round recounts the trip Stony Hill School where Flag Day was started.



Homeschoolers are everywhere. Beverly Hernandez writes about California's First All Homeschool Marching Band from About Homeschooling.



From Why Homeschool is our entry this week on how homeschooling has More of life in the "real world."





Decorations



In the United States we are also gearing up for an election. This afternoon Henry took our older two daughters out so they could pass out brochures on a candidate we support. Our middle daughter was a bit fearful by some of the scary decorations. There were hanging skeletons and heads in glass globes.



At Halloween almost every house has pumpkins. At Crafty Mama’s Homeschool are some ideas on how to integrate pumpkins into the curriculum in Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere.



From Apollos Academy the Tutor shares her daughter’s concern about bad decorations in Our Budding Environmentalist. Her daughter not only did her part, but went the extra mile to try and improve the decorations.





Scary



Halloween is known for scary stories and things that go bump in the night. Some people seem scared to teach their own children. They recognize many of the problems in public schools, but are too frighten to step into the unknown of homeschooling.



In What got us thinking about homeschooling Kat of No fighting, no biting shares what prompted her to seriously consider homeschooling.



And from the Dow Blog is another account of a homeschool mother who explains why her family decided to homeschool in Why We Homeschool.



In Wired for Noise Mama Chaos questions the validity of children having to learn to do School before school. She wonders why children have to learn how to do school at ages three and four.



Parenting is not for the faint of heart. From APMFormulators is a post on Parents who Study Pediatrics Naturally.





Who, Witch, Why, Where, When, and How



Spunky of SpunkyHomeSchool might be able to help me out with the above title since she wrote Teaching Grammar and Writing.



Who – Dani of Bureaucratic Daycare writes about Christian parents who are concerned about a humanistic public school education in A Godless Education.



Why - Scott Somerville submitted Spunky’s post about why she switched to Tapestry of Grace.



Where – Laurie Bluedorn explains where to get school stuff in New Internet Auction Site Launched to Help the Homeschool Community at Trivium Pursuit.



When – The NerdMom has some thoughts about when it is time to switch to homeschooling in 7th Heaven and Schooling from the Nerd family.



How – The Homeschool CPA explains how it tends to be more expensive to homeschool our children as they hit the high school years in The Cost of Homeschooling.





Things that go bump in the night



Seeing as how late it is, we’ll end with a post about sleep. Patti, of All Info About Home Schooling writes about teenagers and sleep in To Sleep, Perchance to Grow







If you have enjoyed this carnival, please spread the word. Please mention the carnival on your blog, and other appropriate places.





Go here for the archives of previous carnivals.Next week the carnival will be held at SpunkyHomeSchool.





If you are interested in submitting a post for a future carnival, click here for information.

For those interested, the Carnival of Education will be coming out on Wednesday.





We'd like to thank everyone who has helped out. Thank you to all the participants in this carnival. And thanks to all those who help promote the Carnival of Homeschooling.

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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling



posted by Janine Cate | 10/31/2006 01:08:00 AM | 11 comments links to this post



Monday, October 30, 2006

More of life in the "real world"



When it comes to the question of socialization, often homeschoolers are criticized for not preparing their children for the "real world."



So, here's a glimpse of the "real world" through the eyes of child at school.





Videos Of Assaults Found On Middle School Student's Phone





This lovely story decribes how groups of middle school children are beating up classmates and taping the assaults on their cell phones.







Police have launched an investigation into a series of attacks being carried out by middle school students after videos of the assaults were found inside a cell phone confiscated from a 13-year-old Portola Middle School girl last week, El Cerrito police Detective Cpl. Donald Horgan said.



From looking at the videos on the phone, Horgan said that it appeared that middle school students had been sneaking up to other students and slamming into them while other students filmed the attacks on their video cell phones, Horgan said.





The article states that none of the attacks had been reported. None of the victims told their parents. I can understand that. When I was in school, I never told my parents about the things that happened to me either.



Many parents see articles like this and say, "Well, that doesn't happen at my school or to my kid."



My response is this. How would you know?







Anger management class ordered for student







Assault charges against a Roseville elementary school girl who beat up a classmate on a school bus for getting "all A's" will be dismissed if she attends anger management courses, a judge has ruled.







Besides attending anger management classes, the 11-year-old from Alumni Memorial Elementary School was ordered to stay out of trouble in the future. If she does, court officials expect the assault charge to be wiped off her record.



"Like most people, before this hearing I didn't even know this was offered. I thought anger management was something for adults," said St. Pierre, the girl's attorney in the juvenile case. "But it's offered through public libraries, and we were told there have been successful cases in treating even 5-year-olds for anger problems."





This article continues with details of another student assualt.





So, when was the last time you were beaten up at work? Or a bunch of mom's at the park decide to assualt another mother so they can record it on their cell phones for later viewing entertainment?



Yet, this is the abuse that some insist that children need to experience as an integral part of childhood. I want strong, capably children, but is leaving them in bad company unprotected the way to achieve that end? I don't think so.



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Related Tags: homeschool, home education, public school, teasing, school violence



posted by Janine Cate | 10/30/2006 10:01:00 AM | 3 comments links to this post



Friday, October 27, 2006

These people would never get invited to the Dr. Phil show



This is a nice article about a succesful homeschool family.



Are homeschoolers prepared for the real world?







OZARK-Clever resident Patti Hobbs' eyes light up and the smile widens across her face as she begins talking about her six children. When Hobbs first ventured into the homeschool world nearly 20 years ago, many probably considered her family an outcast. Homeschoolers were thought to be socially immature and academically inferior. However, the Hobbs children, like so many homeschooled children in today's age, have proven those statements wrong.



Nate and Ben Hobbs have both graduated with honors with bachelor's degrees from the University of Missouri-Rolla. They are both currently enrolled in the doctorate programs at different universities.









(Heavy sigh) To bad we won't ever see homeschoolers like that on tv. The article ends with this conclusion:





There are exceptions to every rule. However, it appears that overall, homeschoolers are getting along just fine in the world. They are blending in with public and private school graduates and entering the same professions. They are involved with civic, community, political and religious affairs. And the number of children being homeschooled is on the rise.





I'm glad to see positive articles about homeschooling in the news.



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Related Tags: Dr. Phil, homeschooling, homeschooled adults, college, school



posted by Janine Cate | 10/27/2006 06:25:00 PM | 3 comments links to this post



Don't forget to send in your submission for the next Carnival of Homeschooling



My wife and I will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week.



Have you written something especially interesting, profound, or funny about homeschooling recently? Please send it in.



Entries are due by 6:00 PM (PST) on Monday evenings. Go here for information on how to submit your entry.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, Unschooling Voices, unschooling



posted by Henry Cate | 10/27/2006 01:13:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Selections from Astronomy Picture of the Day - 27 Oct 06



It has been awhile since I've posted about the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site.



Hidden Galaxy IC 342 is beautiful. I always get lost trying to imagine just how big is the universe. A picture of a galaxy helps a bit.



The Antennae Galaxies in Collision is also breathtaking.



Something like Markarian's Chain of Galaxies takes me up an order of magnitude.



A nebula is much smaller. This picture of An Orion Deep Field is very striking. As is The Prawn Nebula.





A fun place to wander around is the Astronomy Picture of the Day Calender. From here you can select a month and see a the snapshots of a month's worth of pictures.





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Technorati tags: Astronomy, Astronomy Picture of the day



posted by Henry Cate | 10/27/2006 12:13:00 PM | 1 comments links to this post



Parental Involvement Deters Teens Drug Use



One of the things that attracted me to homeschooling was the opportunity to increase parent-child interactions. Good relationships take time. As a society, parents underestimate their influence upon their own children. On the other side, sometimes homeschool parents over estimate their influence upon their children. So, what parental factors most influence teen behavior?



This study about teen drug use caught my eye and answers that question.







Parental Involvement Deters Teens Drug Use



The surveyed teens were asked about identified risk factors for teen drug use including peer and sibling use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, parental monitoring, and how they perceived their parents' tolerance of drug and alcohol use on a 5-point scale.







For every point increase in parental tolerance of alcohol use, the frequency of teen use of alcohol increased by 80 percent.



For every point increase in parental tolerance of marijuana use, there was a 33 percent increase in the frequency of marijuana use.



The frequency of drug use dropped by 14 percent for each degree that teens perceived their parents as monitoring their activities.











Along this line of investigation, I found Parents Make a Difference on the Project Cork web page. Here are some of their conclusions.





The quality of family relationships and the amount of time adolescents spend with family is a more important influence on adolescent's substance use than is the kind of family in which teenagers are living, whether it is with both parents, a parent or step-parent, in a single parent home, or live with non-family members.



Adolescent's perceptions of the parenting style in their home are linked to adolescents' substance use. Teens who view their parents generally as authoritative (know what they are talking about), as not permissive (who have standards and clear expectations), and as less authoritarian ("do it because I say so") do better in school and also are less likely to use substances.



Experimentation and use among elementary age children is associated with parenting styles that encourage risk taking, by parent's substance use.



Adolescent drinking behaviour is found to be largely unrelated to the socio-economiccircumstances of the family. A supportive family environment is associated with lowered rates of alcohol use.









This quote from researcher Stephen Bahr best sums up the results:





"..... influence of peers is strong, but it is mediated by characteristics of parents..."







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Related Tags: teen drug use, parental influence on teen drug use, homeschooling, parenting



posted by Janine Cate | 10/27/2006 08:29:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Thursday, October 26, 2006

One of the lessons we are trying to teach our children



As parents there are a lot of lessons we want our children to learn. Some lessons are more important than other lessons.



This came in from Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day:



Better to do something imperfectly

than to do nothing flawlessly.

-Robert Schuller

From the Masters

16 Oct 2006



I think it is one of the more important lessons.





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Technorati tags: Robert Schuller



posted by Henry Cate | 10/26/2006 04:54:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Wednesday, October 25, 2006

More College Grads Living with Parents



Since we are sort of been on a college theme, here's another article about college. This article support some of the arguments from The US Doesn't Need More College Graduates.





More College Grads Living With Parents





* Half of this year's graduates have moved back home and 44 percent of last year's graduates are still there, while 34 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds get cash from mom and dad — an average of $3,410 a year.





Exactly, when are these so called adults, going to actually take on adult responsibilities?



I haven't lived with my parents full time since high school. When I was in college, I only lived at home during the summer until my third year. I did live with other family members one summer and for about six months after I graduated. Then I shared a small apartment with 2 roommates.



My husband lived at home while he attended college. A few months after college, he moved into his own apartment which he shared with various roommates. After he worked for a few years, his parents suggested that he buy a house. By the time we got married, Henry had rented rooms to 20 or so different roommates.



A few years after we were married, one of Henry's old roommates came to visit with his wife and children. While preparing dinner, the former roommate commented that he used to have an apron just like the one I had one. I replied that, "It came with the house." We had a good laugh. I asked him if he wanted his apron back. He said no. Another funny thing, when we got married there were bits and piece of 10 different sets of plates, cups, and flatware in the kitchen. Henry could set the whole table with out matching one plate, cup or utensil.



I don't buy the argument about the high cost of housing being the reason to move home. It's about expectations. Young adults want right now what their parents took a lifetime to build. Also, as the first article mentions, more unmotivated students are getting diplomas and are working in low paying jobs that don't need a degree. Because they are burdened with college loans, they are finding it difficult to be independent.



As part of our home education curriculum, we are teaching our children that adulthood is not achieved by age, but by self-sufficiency and autonomy, and that money doesn't grow on trees.



I tell my kids that if they want nice things, they will have to earn it.





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Related Tags: Money Doesn't Grow on Trees, College Graduates, Adult children living at home, self-sufficiency, homeschool, home education



posted by Janine Cate | 10/25/2006 09:53:00 PM | 4 comments links to this post



Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Dr. Phil's hatchet job



I came across this post from a blogger who was in Dr. Phil's audience for the the so called "homeschool" episode. The level of manipulation was staggering.



For example, the homeschool guests were told that they couldn't bring anyone younger than 18 years old. Dr. Phil brought in bus loads of students from surrounding schools to be in the audience. Nothing like stacking the deck.



For another episode on breast feeding, Dr. Phil taped eight days at the home of a breast feeding family. They used 30 seconds of the footage on the show, all of it negative.



I guess I shouldn't be surprised.



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Related Tags: Dr. Phil, homeschooling, unschooling, hatchet job, parenting, school, yellow journalism



posted by Janine Cate | 10/24/2006 08:14:00 AM | 8 comments links to this post



The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - week 43, learn about Benjamin Franklin



Beverly Hernandez of About Homeschool is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Beverly ties in the variety of posts into different aspects of Benjamin Franklin's life. Drop in an learn more about homeschooling and Benjamin Franklin.



This week's Carnival of Family Life is at Everything Under the Moon.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, family, Family Life



posted by Henry Cate | 10/24/2006 07:42:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Carnival of Kid Comedy, week 29



Welcome to this week's Carnival of Kid Comedy. It is our pleasure to bring you a number of entertaining posts about the funny things children say and do. Without any further ado, on with the show.





Funny things children say:



Kim has been busy with a film festival, so she submitted one of Melissa Wiley's posts: Sometimes It's Hard to Make a Positive ID at Here in the Bonny Glen. Melissa's daughter saw something. It was brown, but what was it?



Bruggie Tales tells us the result of children watching Star Trek at a young age in Clingon Assault.



From Trinity Prep School is a delightful picture with the perfect caption: Mommy, Look....We Found Kitties!



Parah tells us about her son's first brush with logic and cattle in Logical Cattle.



At Stand Up For Kids In Mississippi is the account of a son and driving in Comic Relief: The Demon Car.



From Contentment Acres a mother admits she had trouble understanding what Caelb meant when he said he didn't like Poe-Key-Toes.



While Holding It Down a mother asks You Bit a What? Active imaginations are often a source of trouble.



Just Call Me Jamin! tells about a 12 year old son explaing the value of candy in The Glorius Night of Candy Giving.



From the High Desert Hi-Jinks is Fuel for Thought. I'm amazed that children can come up with responses like this so quickly.



Karen Edmisten found out why Romona was awake in Why we were up as early as we were.





Funny things children do:



This is one of those times when at the moment it may have been stressful, but later it is easy to look back and laugh. At Questions for the Wise Rebeca tells us of her son who dialed 911 on the microwave in Carried on the Wind.



At Our Seven Qtpies we read that a young girl recognizes a plus of going to the hospital in Never boring in a home with kids!



In Musings from the Mahan School for Little Women is a video of a girl and Spaghetti. This girl will be forever typecasted as a comedian.



From Echoes of Cold Moon Zen Kitty shares More on "The Older Women Are On The Prowl" as she writes about her daughter being courted at five.



David writes about His Youngest at Working it out. It would have been fun to have seen the panda.



From Flock of Sllies, Silly Old Mom writes about her daughter and a book catalog in Kid, Meet Candy Store.



The Thinking Mother writes about Playing In a Cloud. There are times when life has a bit of magic.



At Lil Duck Duck a mother exclains The Things I do for this child. All that work to see Clifford the Big Red Dog, and what does he end up doing?



And finally we humbly submit our post in Here Comes the Bride as Janine tells two of the classic stories from our family.





We hope you have enjoyed this week's Carnival of Kid Comedy. Please tell your friends. If you would like to submit an entry for next week's carnival, go here, or you can send email to: Carnival.KidComedy at gmail dot com.



Update I: The Carnival of Kid Comedy will be held next week at Life in a shoe.





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Technorati tags: Kid Comedy, humor, children, comedy



posted by Henry Cate | 10/24/2006 12:34:00 AM | 1 comments links to this post



Monday, October 23, 2006

Here Comes the Bride



Since we are hosting the Carnival of Kid Comedy, I've been trying to think of some funny things our kids have said or done. So, this goes back a few years.





When my oldest daughter was about three years old and my second daughter was about one, Henry's brother got married. This occasion included a photo session after the nuptials, in which the bride and groomed posed with family and various members of the wedding party. The photographer directed people to stand in a certain way and so forth as he set up for each shot.



The next week my daughter decided to "marry" one of the little boys at preschool. My daughter took George to the play structure and directed him how to stand. After posing him, she took George by the hand, marched over the mothers watching and announced, "He's my husband and I'm his wife."



My daughter then directed George to another play structure. While walking away with George, she explained to the mothers that "We are going to the doctor's office. I'm going to have a baby."



After this little interchange, George's grandmother turns to me and says, "So, what's been going on at your house?"





This reminds me of another conversation between my second daughter and the next door neighbor boy when they were both four years old. As a reference point, my neighbors are from India. This conversation took place around the same time as the "God" conversation that I mentioned in this post.



My daughter: Are you going to marry another Indian?



Neighbor boy: (He shrugs and looks confused.) I don't know. I never think about it?



My daughter: (Very seriously) I think about it all the time!





It is funny how girls are different than boys.



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Related Tags: Carnival of Kid Comedy, Gender differences





posted by Janine Cate | 10/23/2006 08:25:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Rules of Writing



My mother-in-law forwarded this to me with a little note saying that "it might help children remember some writing rules."



So here it is, a fun way to teach grammar and punctuation rules.





"Rules of Writing"





- Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.



- Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.



- And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.



- It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.



- Avoid cliches like the plague.



- Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.



- Be more or less specific.



- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.



- Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.



- No sentence fragments.



- Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.



- Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.



- Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.



- One should NEVER generalize.



- Comparisons are as bad as cliches.



- Don't use no double negatives.



- Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.



- One-word sentences? Eliminate.



- Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.



- Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."



- If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.



- Puns are for children, not groan readers.



- Who needs rhetorical questions?



- Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.



And finally...



- Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.













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Related Tags: Rules of Writing, Teaching grammar, Teaching punctuation, homeschool, home education



posted by Janine Cate | 10/23/2006 03:12:00 PM | 1 comments links to this post



Friday, October 20, 2006

Reminder, send in your submission for the next Carnival of Homeschooling



Beverly of About Homeschool will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week. You have the whole weekend to think of what you what to submit. Entries are due by 6:00 PM (PST) on Monday evenings. Go here for information on how to submit your entry.



Also, were' coming up on the end of the month, so you might also want to start thinking about a submission for the next Unschooling Voices, a carnival for unschoolers. Joanne, of A Day in Our Lives, has put out a request for your posts.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, Unschooling Voices, unschooling



posted by Henry Cate | 10/20/2006 10:15:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Thursday, October 19, 2006

Request for submissions for the next Carnival of Kid Comedy



My wife and I will have the pleasure of hosting the Carnival of Kid Comedy next week. Have your children said or done something funny recently? Have they made an amazing observation? Have other children recently amused you? Please think about writing it up and sendingit in. Entries are due Monday night at 11:59 PM CST.



You can submit a post here. Go here for more information





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Technorati tags: Kid Comedy, humor



posted by Henry Cate | 10/19/2006 07:31:00 AM | 0 comments links to this post



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

How college influenced my career path- Part 3



More answers to the question. See part 1 and part 2.



Soon after starting my first non-temp job, my boss suggested I actually take a computer programming course from the local community college. He assured me that with my experience I would do fine, even if I hadn't taken the prerequisite class. This was the same friend who got me the job. He was also Henry’s friend and former roommate. I had taken an introduction to computers class in college that mentioned basic programming, but that was it.



So, I went to the first class and didn't understand a thing that was said for an hour and thirty minutes. Before starting the class, Henry had volunteered to tutor me. (We knew each other from church.) I had turned him down. I think I'm pretty smart, so I didn't anticipate needing help. After the first class, I called him in a panic. We started "studying" together almost every night after work.



We spent a lot of time talking, but not enough time studying. Pretty quickly we started discussing marriage. After doing poorly on the first few tests, I dropped out of the class, and we decided that since we were going to get married, we should date instead of "studying." We were married exactly one year from our first "study" session.



While we were engaged, I took a few classes at a nearby university with the intent of pursuing a masters degree in marriage and family counseling. I needed a few more courses before entering the masters program. I found the course work nauseatingly politically correct. The department head was a lesbian with an agenda. She was also an awful teacher. The other course I took from another professor was actually pretty good and had useful information. After the course work, I decided that I didn't have the temperament for politically correct psychobabble.



I stayed at the start up company until it went out of business when my first daughter was six months old. After she was born, I worked part time from home. They forwarded the tech calls to my house. I would sit on my couch, nurse my baby and talk to customers.



One day, I had a customer pick up on the fact that I was nursing while talking on the phone. He stops mid sentence and asked with surprise, "Is there a baby there??" He then continued on with some pride in his voice, "I'm a pediatric surgeon!"



Since that time, I've been a full-time mom. I later wrote the installation manual for a software program Henry created when he had a home business, but that’s been about it for technical writing.



At this point I began, my next career. I care for children (nanny), direct manual labor (manager/slave driver), keep the house clean (maid), plan meals and food storage (nutritionist), prepare the meals (cook), decorate and remodel (interior designer), manage the finances (accountant), manage our retirement portfolios (financial planner), file the taxes (tax consultant), instruct our children (teacher), drive them around (taxi driver), file the homeschooling paper work (principal), provide clothing for our family (fashion consultant) and plan our many trips (travel agent). I’m not really quite sure what to call it, but I love this job.



So, how did a college education influence my career progression? In the workforce, a college education made it easier to get in the door and it made it easier to get raises. Companies often have salary guidelines. A degree makes it easier to ask for more money.



However, most of my promotions were NOT related at all to skills I learned in college. I learned computer skills by temping. I got the temp jobs because I could type. I learned to type in junior high school.



Picking up software programs easily was just something I did naturally. My writing skills were the same. Writing and computer skills mixed well for a career in technical writing.



My abilities were my gifts from God. They were magnified by the type of home in which I was raised. I grew up in home where learning and books were celebrated. My mother's idea of a fun time was to visit an archeology dig or a museum. The sight of old books and sharpened pencils makes me happy. Working hard and taking initiative was something I learned from my dad. The people skills grew by working as a checker at Kmart between my 1st and second year of college. (I highly recommend spending at least a few months as a checker for every young person.) These personal interaction skills were later honed by serving as a missionary.



The only tangible thing I took away from college was a piece of paper that got me in the door at work. However, there were still many important intangible things I gained from a college education. The year I studied social psychology helped me make sense of myself and the world. The religion and philosophy courses helped me make sense of the universe. The courses I took in economics and business made me a better consumer. Living in an apartment with room mates taught me about human nature.



I wished I had learned more about cooking and sewing in college. I had to learn those skills the hard way, trial and error. Also, a college degree is a safety net in case I need to re-enter the work force if Henry dies or is disabled. I have no plans to re-enter the job market, otherwise. I like my current job too much.



College also had a down side. I came out of college exposing socialist propaganda and embracing the classic “chip on your shoulder” feminism. As soon as I hit the “real world,” I realized that much of the world view I had been taught in college was utterly false.



So, this is the advice I give my daughters about college:



Choose the college you attend carefully. Don't worry about a college major at the beginning. Take the courses you are interested in. Just keep moving along until you stumble across your gift. Focus on gaining the skills you need to be self sufficient. Prepare yourself to teach your children the truth.



It does makes life easier if you get that piece of paper, but don't make the piece of paper your ultimate goal. Make gaining knowledge and wisdom your ultimate goal.



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Related Tags: college experience, college education, value of college education, career advancement, silicon valley, motherhood, feminism, socialism, marriage, family, education, religion



posted by Janine Cate | 10/18/2006 06:16:00 PM | 2 comments links to this post



How college influenced my career path- Part 2



More answers to the question: How did college help my career? See Part 1.



The summer before my last year of college, I visited my sister in San Jose, California. I was supposed to stay two weeks and then return home to a summer job that I already had lined up in Wyoming. She suggested I try to get a job with a temp agency here in California. I easily got a job. So I stayed for the whole summer.



In Silicon Valley in the late 80s and early 90s, temp jobs were very easy to find and paid well. I worked for two different temp agencies who would send me to work at various tech companies for a few days or weeks at a time. Usually, it was to fill in for an administrative assistant/receptionist who was sick or on vacation. On my second or third job I ended up staying with the same company for the rest of the summer.



This job was for a new R&D department. They were hiring a permanent admin but she couldn't start for a few weeks. The phone rang maybe twice a day and I typed one memo. Since I had nothing to do all day, I played with the computer at my desk. I taught myself how to use Dbase and WordPerfect. I also made friends with the admin to the president/owner of the company. She pointed me to other openings in the company.



When my two week temp job was over, I moved over to fill the position of administrative assistant for the company’s new lawyer. He wanted everything done on computer and the old secretary with technologically phobic, so she left. This job was supposed to last only a few weeks until they hired a full time replacement. This lawyer was very picky. It took him the whole summer to find someone he liked. In the end, they hired the old admin to come back now that all the computer upgrades were done.



While implementing all the new computer upgrades, I worked very closely with the technical support department. I could have gotten a job in the tech department but I made more money as a temp admin to a lawyer.



At the end of the summer, I went back to school and graduated. After graduation, I returned to California and temped some more before taking time off to serve as a missionary. So, I still had not really begun a career.



Two years later when I got back into the job market, I returned to temping. A college degree probably had some benefit on my resume, especially with a two year gap in my employment history. However, I think it was typing speed that got me hired.



I bounced around week after week to different companies learning more and more software. Eventually, I ended up spending a year and a half at Intel as a temp. My last few months, I worked in the international marketing department. The Spanish I learned as a missionary got me that job. I had also taken two years of French in highschool and two years of French in college. I couldn't speak any french, but I could read it. I had to move on because they have laws about how long you can work as a temporary employee before the company has to pay a tax penalty.



My next temp job was at Novell where I worked as an admin in the Education department. There, I ended up writing the manual and then teaching the class for new employees on how to use the company email. The experience I gained from teaching the gospel as a missionary helped me teach email classes. I admit that it felt funny teaching a class without first having an opening prayer.



A few months later, a friend from church got me a job at a startup company that he worked at. With the skills I gained temping, I got my first (and only full time job) with benefits. I started by answering tech support calls for a printer accessory. There I moved in to testing of new products and writing installation manuals, in addition to answering calls. By that time, I was 24 years old and was making good money. I had no debt and was entirely self sufficient.



College gave me some advantage on paper, but that was about it.



For the rest of the story......see part 3.



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Related Tags: college experience, college education, value of college education, career advancement, silicon valley



posted by Janine Cate | 10/18/2006 05:46:00 PM | 2 comments links to this post



How college influenced my career path- Part 1.



In response to my post about college, christinemm asked "I am curious what your post-college work experience was with relation to your college degree. Did you feel that it helped you to have that degree?"



I graduated *** laude with a bachelor of science degree in psychology. I spent my career in technical support and technical writing. I'm sure the logical connection just jumps right out at you. (That's sarcasm if you can't tell without the right voice inflection.)



I will admit it. I went to college to get away from home and to get as far away from the kids I knew in high school as I could get. Going to college was all about escaping from my own life.



At college, I expected things to be better than the harassment I endured in high school. And, it was wonderful. If fact, since high school, I’ve never really been harassed, had my thing vandalized, or received a prank phone call. In many ways, college was the beginning of my adult life. As part of this new beginning, I expected to find a husband and become a full time mom. I had envisioned myself maybe working for a short time before starting a family, but not more than that.



My original major was medical technology. The first course I took towards that end was taught by an awful teacher. I hated it. I also never saw any of that stuff under the microscope that was supposed to be there.



At the same time, my first psychology course was wonderful. I loved the class and the homework seemed so easy. So, I just took the courses I liked and didn't even think about my major. At the end of three years, I met with a guidance counselor to see what kind of credits I still needed to graduate in anything. I found out that I was 1 credit short from a degree in psychology. Since I had a scholarship, I did half of the next year and graduated early.



Of course, that caused another problem. I had planned to meet my husband in college and get married by the time I graduated. When it became evident to me that was not going to happen, that's when I started thinking about a career.





For more see part 2 and part 3.



--------------------------

Related Tags: college experience, college education, value of college education, career advancement



posted by Janine Cate | 10/18/2006 05:38:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Carnival of Homeschooling is up - week 42, the answer to everything



Shannon is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at HomeschoolHacks. As Douglas Adam reveals in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is "forty-two." In this week's carnival Shannon answers many of the questions about homeschooling. Drop in and enjoy.



This week's Carnival of Kid Comedy is at Life in a shoe. (We'll be hosting Kid Comedy next week, so start noticing the funny things your children say and do.)



And we joined the sixth Travel Carnival hosted by Trip Hub. We entered our post about checking out Anchorage for only $32.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling, Kid Comedy, humor, family, Family Life



posted by Henry Cate | 10/17/2006 09:15:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post



Is Geraldo more ethical than Dr. Phil?



It is a funny world. I'm surprised to find that on homeschooling I have more respect for Geraldo than Dr. Phil.



Earlier this month Geraldo At Large had a short piece on unschooling. I thought it was fair and balanced.



Spunky reports that the Dr. Phil episode on homeschooling is a hit piece. Niether fair nor balanced.



What a sad, funny world.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education



posted by Henry Cate | 10/17/2006 09:07:00 PM | 0 comments links to this post















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