Helen on December 2nd, 2009

billsIn the September-October issue of Home Education Magazine, Carron Armstrong shared an article which discussed some of the issues facing parents teaching financial responsibility to younger children, such as whether to offer an allowance, and discussed some resources to make that job a bit easier, like money-oriented games. In the current Nov/Dec issue, Carron shares lots of “Money Smarts” resources of interest to parents and their older children and teens.

Check out Carron’s helpful article and listing of resources: “Teaching Money Smarts to Older Children and Teens”, from the current issue of Home Education Magazine.

Tags: Carron Armstrong, children and money, curricula, curriculum, Home Education Magazine, homeschool resources, homeschooled teens, homeschooling, homeschooling families, homeschooling resources, kids and financial responsibility, kids and money, Money Smarts, teens and money, unschooling

Tracy on December 2nd, 2009

hat tip Cheryl M.

In the November/December 2009 issue of Secular Homeschooling, Deborah Markus’s article, “Staying Sane at Holiday Gatherings” has some humorous but helpful tips for dealing with the complicated situations which frequently arise during holiday gatherings.

excerpt:

Here’s something you might like to teach your kids to say, in case you’re not there to cut the nastiness off at the pass. “I’m sorry,” he or she can say when the pop quiz starts. “My parents don’t like me to answer that kind of question. They say that education is about learning, not showing off.”

more

Tags: Deborah Markus, home education, homeschool


Helen on December 1st, 2009

waronkidsThe trailer for a new film titled The War on Kids includes quotes from longtime homeschooling advocates Patrick Farenga and John Taylor Gatto, and it’s been raising reviewers’ eyebrows across the nation, as evidenced by this paragraph in the Nov. 18th New York Times: “Arranged in sections that range from merely interesting to downright horrifying, this provocative documentary suggests a system regulated by fear and motivated by the desire to control. Tracing the evolution and application of zero-tolerance policies on drugs and violence, the director, Cevin Soling, amasses overwhelming evidence of institutional overreaction. When an 8-year-old can be suspended for pointing a chicken finger and saying ‘Pow,’ we know that common sense has officially left the building.”

The War on Kids won Best Educational Documentary at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival with a strong message: “…schools not only fail to educate students, but the drive to teach has become secondary to the need to control children.”

There’s a film trailer at the website for the documentary, and also on YouTube.

Tags: Alfie Kohn, Cevin Soling, homeschool resources, homeschooling, homeschooling and public school, homeschooling families, homeschooling in the news, John Taylor Gatto, Patrick Farenga, public school, public schooling, public schools, reasons to homeschool, socialization, The War on Kids, unschooling, zero tolerance

Helen on November 30th, 2009

Why don’t we get the best out of people? In this TED video presentation Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. It’s a message with deep resonance.

Tags: creativity, curricula, homeschool resources, homeschooling, homeschooling resources, Ken Robinson, reasons to homeschool, TED videos, unschooling

Helen on November 30th, 2009

Christine’s Favorite Websites for Homeschooling Information, Support and/or Encouragement and Information about Teaching Children – a marvelous collection:

Thinking Mother’s Favorite Websites for Homeschooling.

Tags: curricula, homeschool, homeschool resources, homeschooling, homeschooling resources, unschooling

Helen on November 30th, 2009

“This past fall many homeschool advocates noticed an increase in media challenges to homeschooling laws, regulations, and long-accepted practices, not only in many parts of the U.S., but around the world, in countries where homeschooling is also popular.”

“In the Washington Post, education columnist Jay Mathews called homeschooling “the sleeping giant of the American education system.” He reported, “Some public school educators I know are uneasy… They don’t know home-schooling families well. They worry those kids are being ill-served by well-meaning but inexperienced parents. There is potential for more battles over regulating home-schooling.”

Continue reading Homeschooling Under Fire, by Helen Hegener, in the Publisher’s Note for the November-December issue of Home Education Magazine.

Tags: Helen Hegener, HEM, Home Education Magazine, homeschooling, homeschooling in the news, Homeschooling Under Fire

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