HEM’s Questions & Answers – January-February 2010
Deadline is Nov. 25th for replies to these questions, which will run in the January-February issue of Home Education Magazine. You can reply to either or both questions in the comments section below:
Teaching Grammar?
I haven’t found any way to teach grammar that keeps the interest of my ten-year-old son. An experiencing friend of ours says half the battle of good grammar is won because our son loves to read, and chances are he’s intuiting grammar rules while he reads. Still I want some course material. What has worked for you? -Wynette
Homeschooling for ADD?
We were told that our little girl, age 8, is suffering from ADD by her teacher and guidance counselor. They told us that a doctor can put her on drugs to help her concentrate. My neighbor is the teacher to her children at home and she tells me that we don’t have to use any drugs if we teach at home too. My wife and mother can take turns doing the teaching so that isn’t a problem but we want to know if it’s true that this way means our little girl won’t have ADD any more. -Charlie
About HEM’s Questions & Answers
Tags: ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder, HEM's Questions and Answers, homeschool grammar, homeschooling and ADD, learning disabilities, teaching grammar
The Nov-Dec issue features an interview with James Marcus Bach, who writes of being “dedicated to a certain lifestyle of mind. I call it intellectual buccaneering. I call myself a buccaneer-scholar. Just as the original buccaneers would not submit to authority in their pursuit of worldly riches, neither do us modern buccaneers yoke ourselves to authority in the pursuit of a rich education. We construct truth and meaning for ourselves.” His book, Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar, describes “…how I found success in a highly technical field without the benefit or burden of a conventional education.”
James Marcus Bach is a radical unschooler. A high school dropout who coined the term ‘buccaneer-scholar,’ James is an internationally recognized expert in the field of computer software testing, and has taught critical thinking and software testing around the world at places such as the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A direct descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the son of author Richard Bach, whose bestselling books include Stranger to the Ground, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, and many others, James dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to pursue his own interests, a move which has obviously served him well…
Continue reading the interview with James from the Nov-Dec issue of Home Education Magazine.
Tags: books about homeschooling, Buccaneer Scholar, Home Education Magazine, homeschool resources, homeschooled teens, homeschooling, homeschooling dads, homeschooling families, homeschooling resources, intellectual buccaneering, James Marcus Bach, reasons to homeschool, Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar, unschooling
In the November-December issue of Home Education Magazine our featured writers address homeschooling children of different ages, helping children become interested in and respectful of the natural world, learning history by producing a short drama, helping older kids and young adults learn about financial management, using writing contests to encourage kids to write, and how the Boys Book Club evolved.
The columns for this issue cover a broad range of topics, including learning independently, what homeschooling costs, coping with a flailing economy, encouraging kids to learn by simply playing, a ‘what-if’ letter from a homeschooled boy, and seven habits of happy homeschoolers.
Read selected content free online, purchase the Nov-Dec/09 issue or subscribe to Home Education Magazine for an entire year’s worth of great homeschool reading!
Tags: Good Stuff, HEM, home education, Home Education Magazine, homeschool, homeschool laws, homeschool resources, homeschool support groups, homeschooling dads, homeschooling families, homeschooling freedoms, homeschooling resources, Larry and Susan Kaseman, Linda Dobson, Mary Nix, reasons to homeschool, Rebecca Rupp, socialization, unschooling
Homeschool support groups and the individuals who build networks between homeschooling families are the glue which holds the homeschooling community together. Through their newsletters, conferences, websites, discussion lists, weblogs and more, homeschool support groups and active individuals keep the lines of communication open, while offering information, resources, news and perspectives on homeschooling.
HEM has long recognized the valuable contributions of homeschool support groups and active individuals, and we offer many resources which will help you locate, join, and volunteer to help your local support group or networking individual.
Access your state listing, find contact information for state and local homeschool support groups, or add your group to our listings at HEM’s Support Groups Pages.
Tags: homeschool laws, homeschool regulations, homeschool support groups, homeschooler's networks, homeschooling community, homeschooling families, homeschooling resources, laws on homeschooling, reasons to homeschool
“When our kids were younger, Ken and I had a long discussion that really boiled down to this question: Where do you want the sandbox?
“It was a serious question. We were already making lots of choices that set us apart, what with home births and extended breast feeding — and now that our babies were toddlers and small children and wanted some social life, we were trying to decide how that social life should play out.
“Where do you want the sandbox? Do you want the sandbox — the place where the kids gather, make friends, play — to be at your house, where you can watch, participate, know what’s happening — and be overwhelmed, and be responsible, and have to keep the snacks coming? Or do you want the sandbox at someone else’s house, so that you’ll have a break, find some time to yourself, save on the snacks and the clean up — and not be overwhelmed by, but also not be on top of, your kid’s every move.”
Continue reading Lisa Hodge Kander’s Where Do You Want the Sandbox? from the September-October 1997 issue of Home Education Magazine.
Tags: Home Education Magazine, homeschooled teens, homeschooling, homeschooling families, kids playing, Lisa Hodge Kander, reasons to homeschool, socialization, socializing, Where Do You Want the Sandbox?
As teenagers, our kids seldom did grammar exercises and never wrote reports and term papers. According to some in the educational establishment, they ought to be poor writers. Not so. Both got “A’s” in their college freshmen English classes. Friends now often ask them for help editing assignments. Both enjoy writing and produce credible pieces for college classes as well as for real life purposes.
When we first began homeschooling Jeffrey and Tamara (ages 12 and 11 respectively), I already knew their strengths and weaknesses as writers. Jeff followed the rules of grammar and produced (what’s a nice word here?) mechanical pieces. Although Tamara’s creative stories entertained us, we struggled to understand them because they were so filled with grammar and usage errors.
In one way, I was probably a pretty typical beginning homeschooling parent. I saw my kids writing strengths, and I had identified the areas where each needed work.
Continue reading Developing a Writers Toolkit, by Cafi Cohen, free online from the November-December, 1997 issue of Home Education Magazine.
Tags: Cafi Cohen, curricula, curriculum, Home Education Magazine, homeschool resources, homeschool writing, homeschooled teens, homeschooling, homeschooling resources, homeschooling teenagers, teens and writing, unschooling
