Und einen guten Rutsch!

Each year, Sydney, Australia leads the world in New Year’s celebrations since it is one of the first major cities to ring in the New Year. Their massive fireworks display over Sydney Harbour attracts over one million visitors, not to mention the television viewers watching the fireworks hours before their own celebrations begin. If you want to know when everyone else is celebrating New Year’s compared to your own time zone, try this handy time zone converter.

One of the earliest New Year’s celebrations is believed to have occurred in Mesopatamia around 2000 B.C, around the vernal equinox in mid-March. Other cultures celebrated their New Year at different times, including during the fall equinox and the winter solstice. March 1 was the New Year in the early Roman calendar, back when it only had ten months. January did not become a month until 700 B.C. when Numa Pontilius, the second king of Rome, added January and February.

In 153 B.C., Rome moved the New Year to January 1 in recognition of their civil New Year. This was the day that the two newly elected Roman consuls, the highest officials in the Roman republic, took office for their one year tenure. Many continued to celebrate according to their custom on March 1, however. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar introduced the new, solar calendar that was a vast improvement on Rome’s old lunar calendar, and included on it January 1 as the start of the New Year. At least within the Roman world, the day began to be observed widely as the official New Year.

But the celebrations which accompanied the New Year were widely considered pagan. Medieval Europe, therefore, resisted the change. The Council of Tours actually abolished January 1 as the beginning of the New Year in 567. Instead, it was marked at various times in various places, including December 25, March 1, March 25 and Easter. Interestingly (at least to me) one date that really doesn’t have any pagan attachment to it appears to be January 1, as it was a civil holiday rather than a religious one.

The Gregorian calendar reform of 1582 restored January 1 as the official New Year, and this was adopted almost immediately by the Catholic Church. Protestant Europe was a little slower, so most of the British Empire (including the American Colonies) continued to celebrate the New Year on March 1 until the reformed calendar was adopted in 1752.

Interestingly, one explanation for the origins of April Fool’s Day is based on this discrepancy. Many cultures celebrated the New Year around the vernal equinox (March 20th or 21st), and much of Europe recognized the Feast of Annunciation (March 25th) as the New Year. When the Gregorian calendar was officially recognized by the pope, the Catholic world left this celebration, but the Protestants did not. Supposedly, there was a little chastisement…and anyone who hadn’t gotten the New Year underway by April was surely a fool.

Some New Year’s greetings from the countries I have visited:

en froh nee Johr–Low German (spoken in Northern Germany and more closely related to English)
Gott Nytt År–Swedish (the Å is pronounced like a long “o” in English)
Bonne année–French
Gelukkig niewjaar–Dutch
Godt Nyt År–Danish
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku–Polish
Feliz año nuevo–Spanish
Felice Anno Nuovo (or Buon anno)–Italian
and of course, ein gutes neues Jahr–German, or “einen guten Rutsch,” which technically means, “a good slide.” Don’t ask. I don’t know. The origins of the phrase are debated. Some see it related to Hebrew/yiddish (Rosh Hashana), but there is no yiddish or Hebrew formulation which wishes anyone anything in that manner. That doesn’t necessarily mean that German couldn’t have mutated it. Another explanation is that “Rutsch” is related to “Reise” which means “trip.”
More New Year’s greetings.

The information comes from infoplease.
The photo is from Wikipedia.

Related Tags: New Year, 2006, 2007, holidays

There are two things I did not like as a classroom teacher and determined not to use as a homeschooling mother, should I at all be able to avoid it: textbooks and workbooks. Textbooks provide a general overview of a subject, but do not go beneath the surface to give the child a true understanding and appreciation. Workbooks practice skills, but do not promote understanding. Personally, I think more can be learned by studying fewer subjects in depth than every subject on the surface. History, for example, is both the story of us, and a method of reasoning to learn more about the subject. The former may be adequately shared by a good textbook, although the child is still dependent on the author’s pre-digested view of what happened and why. But to truly learn the principles of the subject and understand how to study history, a child must also gain experience with primary source documents. This can be done at a very young age, with a little creativity and patience.

We are currently studying the birth of America, made all the more interesting since our quadricentennial is fast approaching as Jamestown celebrates 400 years since its founding. I’d love to organize a field trip half way across the country to join in some of the festivities, but somehow I think me alone with four children (one being a newborn) might not be the best idea. The cornerstone of our studies is to be a book I recently acquired that is quite good, Jamestown Narratives. It is its own library of all surviving documents from the first ten years of the Jamestown settlement, with some commentary, pictures and reproductions of old maps.

We also will be learning a little about the education of a young lady at this time, and I would like to embark on a study of the role of women in America’s founding through the Revolutionary War. That may have to wait until we go through these materials again four years from now, because it is a rather large, but interesting topic. For the moment, we are focusing on what young ladies did in their education, and to start with, we learned about the sampler. My daughter is starting her own, which at the moment is a strip of cross stitch cloth where she practiced her cross stitch and backstitch. She will add a few rows of any new stitches I teach her over the years. She also recently finished her first project.

I think the hours we have spent in conversation about what life was like back then and how a young lady was prepared for life in colonial times while working on our projects has been far more meaningful and has left a more lasting impression on her than any number of workbook activities I could have given her to fill out with the help of a text book. And she has learned an important skill that will be with her for the rest of her life. Now that she is finished with the ladybug, she has chosen to begin stitching a bib for her new baby brother or sister when the time comes.

Here is my sampler, I worked on while teaching her.

Related Tags: homeschooling, history, Jamestown, teaching, samplers

They ALMOST get it. But not quite. An article appearing on the Indianapolis Star website discusses those difficult middle school years, when students are facing more and more social problems that used to be reserved for the high school years.

Chances are, if you’re a stay-at-home mother, your kids are younger than 6.

That’s according to a recent study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reveals that 65 percent of stay-at-home mothers have children in that age group.
But there’s growing sentiment that older kids–preteens and young teens–need just as much parental supervision as younger kids, if not more.

It is a good start to recognize the vital role that parents play in the development of their own children, even into the teen years. It isn’t a sentiment I’ve heard much recently. Unfortunately, the article then uses the recognition of these difficult, formative years to advocate for a whole slew of social programs aimed at filling the child’s time. In Indianapolis, sixth grade has been moved back to the elementary school in order to hopefully shelter them one year longer. The availability of after school programs has multiplied. Churches have more focused ministries to shepherd these youngsters.

But where are the parents?

Many are working long hours, happy that their children are in such a safe and well-supervised environment at school or at the Y or at their local church. While perhaps better than wiling away those afternoon hours home alone, when juvenile crime peaks, this still is not an adequate substitute for parenting.

Unfortunately, many of these after-school programs are increasingly viewed as “opportunities” for children, rather than the glorified babysitting service that they really are. The involved parent near the end of the article, Ms. Haskell, does stay home, yet spends her afternoons shuttling her son to “positive” activities, such as his dodgeball league. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against any of these activities on their own. My daughter is enrolled in some. But I am sometimes amazed when I listen to the schedules of public schooled kids and wonder when they have time to spend with family or even just “hang out” with a little unstructured free time.

Related Tags: tweens, parenting, after school, homeschooling

Back in the early 90’s, I remember sitting in a computer science class looking at the sidebar in my textbook. It discussed an interesting computer program that could “read” the human mind. After some initial training of human and programming of machine, the technology enabled the disabled person to “type” a simple letter merely by concentrating on each individual letter. The computer with its electrodes did the rest. I found this both intriguing and a little disconcerting. Years passed, and I heard nothing more of this experimental technology, and I always wondered if it remained experimental, not progressing beyond what existed at the time I read of it, or if it had been taken over by some government agency and advanced to some unimaginable degree.

No breaking news, here, but I’ve been reading about terrorism this evening and that sparked the memory, so I did some web searches. Interesting stuff out there.

This “mind-reading” system, developed by NASA is most interesting. I had actually wondered about this before, because when I think, I “talk.” Given the amount that my tongue and vocal chords twitch when I’m thinking or reading, I’ve always assumed that it wouldn’t be all that difficult to monitor and interpret my thoughts if there were a way to monitor those subtle movements. Apparently there is.

“Biological signals arise when reading or speaking to oneself with or without actual lip or facial movement,” says Chuck Jorgensen, a neuroengineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, California, in charge of the research. Just the slightest movements in the voice box and tongue is all it needs to work, he says.

(And it is nice to know that I’m not completely weird.) Out of curiosity, what is it like for the deaf? Do their hands twitch?

Earlier this year, the ACLU raised concern about two private companies who were planning on offering Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as “lie detection” services to government agencies. This technology provides a “real-time” look into the brain while the subject answers questions. Correlations have been observed between certain brain patterns and highly controlled behaviors produced in laboratory settings. Is this enough to warrant suspicion (and possibly eventually conviction) in a crime?

And since we occasionally delve into issues of education, testing and tracking, a look at what this kind of technology could look like in the future as we navigate a world that could have access to our brain wave patterns as we pass through those little security gates at schools and airports. The examples are all obviously fictitious, but certainly not outside the realm of what might be possible given the rate at which already existing technology can improve. And what is the basic motivation behind early childhhood screening? TeenScreen? And aptitude tests in general? We want to know what the future holds for ourselves or our children. We want to remove the doubt and peer into the human mind to see what problems may lurk there and what talents may lie hidden beneath the surface. Passing our brains through a scanner seems a little disturbing to most, but it is not qualitatively different than filling out all those little bubbles on the plethora of non-academic tests pushed daily before our students against which there is little outcry.

Photo: From University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caption reads: “Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lets scientists “see” local blood flow changes in the brain. This figure illustrates activation detected in the brain area called the amygdala in subjects who were shown pictures evoking strong emotions.”

Related Tags: mind reading, tracking, MRI, fMRI, technology

The German Embassy in Ottawa has issued a statement, apparently in response to the volume of letters the embassy has received regarding the homeschool situation in Germany. Unfortunately, the statement is full of inaccuracies:

In Germany education is subject to provincial (“Laender”) and not federal law. Generally, school attendance is obligatory in all provinces for children of school age. Parents are obliged to send their children to either public or private schools.

Schools must be approved by the competent authorities and may be run by the province, congregations (Christian, Jewish or other) or private institutions. Like in most other European countries, home schooling is not an option.

The German system of obligatory school attendance has a long tradition and it has proven to be successful. It ensures that all children’s intellectual needs are met. Apart from that, it provides children with valuable experiences in regards to social interaction in groups, including contact with peers from different social or religious sections of society.

Furthermore, given recent world events, general school attendance is seen by parts of the German public as a means of protection from religious fundamentalism. Home schooling might allow religious fanatics to indoctrinate children in uncontrollable ways. In Germany children can attend religious education of their religious denomination in public or private schools.

As Germany is – in contrast to Canada – relatively small and densely populated, children are usually able to reach the nearest town and their school without difficulties.

Not sending your children to school is an infringement in Germany, sanctioned by a fine. Continuous and persistent violations constitute a criminal offence and may lead to imprisonment.

Concerning the recent legal cases in Germany, there have been long negotiations between the involved families and the Provincial Ministry of Education, which are still pending. The families in question have so far not been willing to accept testing of the students’ performance or the many constructive proposals made by the province. These proposals included the opening of a private school, that would take into account the childrens’ religious beliefs – more so than at a public school.

A few points:

1. Homeschooling is LEGAL, not illegal, in most of Europe. There are some heavy regulations in some areas, but consider this map. (Pink represents those countries in which homeschooling is openly illegal, blue represents those in which homeschooling is legal, retrieved from Homeschooling in Deutschland. Click on Gesetze to view the map.)
2. Yes, the German education system has a long tradition of excellence that has been copied around the world. But recent international comparisons have shown that Germany no longer has the edge in preparing students academically. In fact, in the PISA 2000, the United States of all countries outscored Germany. Right now, we both seem to be hovering around the average for OECD countries.
3. Socialization. I’d prefer not to go there, but there have been a number of studies about how “socialization” is achieved just fine in the homeschool environment. I do believe there to be a difference between what the average American means when they start talking about socialization and what is meant in this statement.
4. Negotiations? I’d like to see that. Short of the case in which the state of Bavaria granted Twelve Tribes the privilege of starting their own private school on a one year trial, I’m not aware of any other compromises offered by the state. In fact, the homeschoolers have continually asked for compromise…for their children to be tested, for their curriculum to be reviewed by the state, for pilot projects to be assessed by the state. But such requests have been rejected. But don’t just take my word for it. Scatty, a foreigner attempting to homeschool in Germany, makes similar points. And while you are there, read her entry on her experience with the German social workers.

Related Tags: homeschooling, Germany, homeschooling in Germany, German embassy

In honor of a New York tradition that is being revived this Christmas, complete with competition, I shall leave you with this beautiful fire burning until I return home. Should you stop by, please feel free to comment about any traditions your family shares.

My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression. For him, a good Christmas meant a new pair of socks and an orange. So every year, someone in the family receives socks for Christmas, a tradition that has continued and carries a little more meaning now that he is deceased. This year, my whole family got socks. So I guess it was a good Christmas. (My husband had to return home today, the 23rd, for work, so we opened gifts a little early.)

Related Tags: holidays, Christmas, yule duel, traditions, family

The situation of homeschoolers in Germany interests me greatly, because I am a homeschooler and because I spent such a long time living over in Germany. The reason I keep bringing it up (beyond personal interest) is that the goals of the German state in compulsory attendance laws parallel the goals of many of our own groups who are working against homeschooling, namely that “more is learned in school than the ABCs.” Placing too high of a value on “socialization” (which has nothing to do with social skills) will inevitably lead to the same results here, not because we will bend to international court decisions, but because the same arguments are gaining foothold in our own nation and I believe that we need to be congnizant of that fact and its natural consequences. It is too easy to say that Germany is acting in accordance with its Nazi past, and makes it seem like more of an impossibility that it would ever happen here.

I have always been a bit hesitant recommending any specific course of action to help German homeschoolers, because I don’t know what the best course is. Germany is a sovereign nation, and I don’t believe that direct meddling is generally the best course of action, as if I had any power to do that anyway. I know what the German perception of America is, and I don’t care to promote any activity which may likely serve only to strengthen that perception. HSLDA frequently recommends letter campaigns to the German embassy, which have had some limited success in the past, but the embassy is not responsible for the educational affairs of Germany. Nor is the federal government. It is a state issue, just like it is here.

However, a specific request for assistance has come in the form of an email, and a publicly posted comment. Netzwerk BildungsFreiheit is a homeschool advocacy group in Germany which works with politicians across the nation in an effort to bring a greater understanding of homeschooling to Germany’s leaders. This is a German group working from within Germany to change the laws and perceptions of homeschooling for the benefits of all parents who wish to take a greater role in the education of their children.

The request comes in response to a letter from the Ministry of Education, written in response to Netzwerk BildungsFreiheit’s complaint to the ministry regarding the Romeike case and forced police escort of the children to school. I translated the letter and posted it over at Homeschoolblogger, because I thought it would receive broader attention than here on my little blog. In response, Joerg, who works with Netzwerk BildungsFreiheit (and sent me the letter in the first place, asking for assistance in publicizing it), has asked for help in the form of letters directly to the ministry involved.

The responsible minister of education in that case is
Mr. Helmut Rau
Helmut.Rau@km.kv.bwl.de
Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport
Schlossplatz 470173
Tel: + 49711/279-2531
Fax: +49711/279-2839

Many letters and emails from all over the world would possibly help
us. Let the German minister know what homeschooling is all about and that
people from a free country condemn such acts which violate parental
rights. Let him know that a free world looks on Germany.

Joerg

Let me know if you choose to write a letter or send an email.

Related Tags: homeschooling, Germany, homeschooling in Germany

I find the theme of this carnival intriguing. If you feel that there is something amiss in the celebrations of the season, check out the Carnival of Hijacked Holidays, IV, the Christmas Edition. Or if you can approach such things with the intended humor. If not, you might not enjoy it, but if not, you probably don’t read my blog because I would have upset you too much by now.

Due midnight, December 23rd are submissions for the Carnival of Christmas, which, like the holiday, comes but once per year. If you have some Christmas cheer to share, send it in. I’m thinking the carnival will be up here, but I’m not sure. At any rate, if I’m too busy visiting and feasting to update, you can keep track of the carnival here.

Loni over at Finding Joy in the Morning has a great carnival on Christmas traditions and recipes. MMM. I may have to print off a few recipes for later….

I couldn’t find much on any of the other holidays of this time of year, and I’m not particularly keen on posting things which are directly pagan. Yes, I censor. It is my blog. But in general, I find all holiday traditions somewhat educational, and I always enjoy looking at different cultures. This isn’t directly a holiday carnival, but is the thirteenth Kosher Cooking Carnival. Um, no latkes? Or did I miss them? Oh well, if you’ve never sampled this seasonal delicacy, you must. Here is the recipe we use. I knew of them as “Kartoffelpuffer” long before I realized the connection to Hannukah. But of course, Germans don’t really connect Jewish heritage to their favorite food items. Even the good old bagel is sold as “an American baked good.” And actually, the latke is a good demonstration of that bit about the oil not running out in the temple. You wouldn’t believe how many more latkes you can make out of the dregs in the bottom that seem to cry out, “ok, this is the last batch.”

Enjoy!

Related Tags: holidays, recipes, Christmas, carnivals

Earlier, I posted about the universal preschool efforts by Virginia. Governor Kaine has just revealed the next step in achieving his goal: universal tracking of Kindergartners. Information will be collected on the child’s pre-Kindergarten education, including: daycare, private or public preschool and home life. Why am I not surprised? I bet KidTrax would be a huge help to Virginia’s goals.

I wonder why it is again that Ananda Roberts, President and CEO of nFocus (the company that makes KidTrax) is so highly honored by the Bush Administration? And how she got on a commission described as “…an elite group of leading business professionals and political strategists recognized for extraordinary leadership in supporting the President’s initiaties and advocating fora pro-busines agenda in Washington.”

It wouldn’t be because this is only the beginning would it?

And why can’t the research be commissioned to a private research organization? I’m sure some local School of Education would love to the opportunity to carry out a longitudinal study of preschool. But that wouldn’t give the government the information it wants. And there is that pesky little problem that the research has already been done and we already know that preschool is most helpful for those in the low-income bracket (although gains seem to disappear by 3rd grade) and are not helpful for middle and higher income level families.

I love the little quote near the end.

Robert Pianta, a University of Virgina education professor, said preschool can
help children learn letters and develop early math skill. They also learn
how to interact with peers and adults.

“The kind of learning that goes on when you are 3 or 4 is critical to how you manage school later on, both on the social side as well as learning language and vocabulary and the ABCs” he said.

Tracking and socialization. What more could you want for your children? I have a bit more to say on that topic, but it will require a bit more space than I have in this entry…and a bit of research to make sure I have my information straight. I’m not at home at the moment which means that I’m visiting, and don’t have as much time as I do at home. But it also means that I’m on a computer that is really fast. No more making tea between page loads!

Enjoy the “socialization” of the season!

Related Tags: preschool, universal preschool, education, public school, socialization

Welcome to the 51st Carnival of Homeschooling, where we are celebrating being a week short of a year. As a Christian and a homeschooler, I am used to being considered a little short on something, so this Carnival will celebrate all those wonderful euphemisms used for those of us who don’t quite fit in. (EC) stands for Editor’s Choice and basically means that the blogger was an email short of an entry, but I chose to include it anyway.

First comes an array of posts showing that homeschoolers are not an ant short of a picnic. Ants are social insects. They are interesting to watch in the summer as they crawl out of the outlet in my kitchen, under the windowsill, down the wall and to the dish drainer. Always in a straight line, never deviating from their path. Ants are very well socialized.

AcceptanceWithJoy takes a look at socialization. How can you raise good little ants without such important events like the prom?

TexasEd takes a peek at the socialization the schooled ants receive and realizes they actually lead pretty isolated lives in the classroom.

I Can Do All Things recommends a book which tackles some of the myths of socialization. The best socialization of little ants occurs in the home, with the family.

Alasandra looks at the picnic itself and wonders why the ants in the public school aren’t allowed to go.

Andrea confirms that homeschooled ants are pretty much like any other ant. They like variety in their picnics, and any present which can double as educational will be top on the list this Christmas.

I take a look at what has happened in the past when the state has attempted to take control of the ants and mandate its own brand of socialization.

When working with small children and dealing graciously with unsolicited questions regarding the socialization of your children in the check out aisle, the homeschooler must develop a sense of humor. Thus, we are not a clown short of a circus. In fact, when your oldest has suddenly forgotten everything she knew yesterday, the baby has emptied a cabinet and the toddler has turned the bed into a slide just before your neighbor inquires when you are finally going to send those kids to school, you might find that rubber nose very handy.

Why Homeschool clowns around a little with a traditional song and some of the most common questions every homeschooler hears.

Mama says...there are ways to see if that clown everyone thought you were is actually a homeschooler at heart. Even if not all of your child’s education takes place at home.

Homeschoolers also have cards, and we know how to use them. For those “normal” games, and to teach learning objectives such as addition, multiplication and comparing and ordering numbers. Thus, it certainly cannot be said that we are a card short of a full deck. Actually, I do own two partial decks of cards, but that was intentional. It is hard for small children to add face cards.

You have to be playing with a full deck to take part in this challenge from Trivium Pursuit. Equivocation…but wait. There’s a free book involved. I’ll do anything moral and legal for a free book.

Dewey’s Treehouse also plays a hand with a game for carnival goers who like to read. Don’t fold too soon. You can always use the internet to search out some answers.

BFU-Self Directed Learning for Visionaries presents a new way to play our hand, I think. I’m not sure what a Squidoo or a lens is, but I think it is another way for us to communicate and share ideas.

Unbridled Learning has also expanded the capacity of the internet to bring homeschoolers together. The hand she plays is a Homeschool Parent Book Club.

Given the importance homeschoolers place on family and their traditions, we are not an unidentified congealed green thing short of a fruitcake. This oft gifted and much maligned dessert is making its obligatory, yearly appearance around this time, demonstrating that even odd traditions can draw us closer together.

Fernook Farmgirl (EC) takes a closer look at tradition, and shares why some bits of fruit need to go, while others stay.

A Dusty Frame adds a new fruit to her tradition, and begins to occasionally take tea with her son.

Over at Steph’s Place, she has taken that sometimes railed against commercialization of the season and turned it into something meaningful for her family, much like the fruitcake has become for so many Americans.

Bringing School Home brings us a delicious slice of her homemade fruitcake as she shares how she celebrates Advent with some pictures.

Another aspect of education important to homeschoolers is laying the foundation for life. Each brick is laid carefully and homeschoolers are not a brick short of a wall. They select the finest materials for their children to construct their lives upon.

Susan Wise-Bauer shares why it is important to not hold back the materials. When a child is ready, it is time to start specializing the curriculum to fit his or her needs and interests.

The Thinking Mother shares how laying bricks through homeschooling gives the child the opportunity to develop his or her unique talents, and even exceed the knowledge level of his or her own parents.

A Complete Thought shares the experience of laying the first formal bricks of homeschooling, now that she has her building permit.

Chickadee is building some foundations in art and shares some work from her budding Impressionists.

Hot Water Bath started out having “one of those days” when the walls seemed to be caving in. Apparently, that was just the crashing of some weeds. Something of lasting value remained, anyway, or she wouldn’t have been able to share The Nutcracker with her young children.

Mental Multivitamin gets out the mortar and begins preparing the way for Shakespeare.

Sprittibee reminds us that when we are working so closely with our children in building their character, we sometimes see only the imperfections that they are developing. Sometimes it is important to step back and see the whole wall and just how sturdy it is.

Homeschoolers can get pretty busy sometimes, but there is also a certain level of control the parent has of the schedule when a large block is not dictated by another entity. We learn pretty early to be flexible and see the educational opportunities in even the unplanned trips to the tire repair center. We are not a gallon short of a full tank. The following entries can help keep your engine running on all six cylinders.

Dominion Family shares some thoughts regarding a Veritas Press newsletter and how some homeschoolers try to do too much. Don’t forget the other lessons which present themselves all around you every day.

For those days when things aren’t quite going like they should, and the engine seems to be sputtering, Onfire recommends taking a look at the goal. Perhaps we are expecting too much to be gained while driving the wrong way.

The Foil Hat asks, “What’s the rush?” It is easy to push children too hard, too fast. Declaring majors in high school is fine for the child who is ready, but the others?

Naturally, a few homeschoolers who have stood on the receiving end of the public school’s cafeteria-style education system have wondered if perhaps it is the public schools who are a fry short of a Happy Meal.

TOSPublisher shares a little about the students who were forced to relieve themselves in a soda bottle. In class. OK, I’m sorry, but that teacher only got the box. A bit more than just a fry is missing from that order.

No Fighting, No Biting points out that at least homeschooled four year olds get to hug without incriminating marks on their permanent record. That’s worth a fry, any day.

Dealing with the pre-cut package which public education comes in, Phil for Humanity notes that the public schools actually limit the potential of the individual.

If anything proves that the homeschooler is not a fortune cookie short of a Chinese dinner, it is the fact that some are now feeling the need to defend their decisions to NOT homeschool (Part I, Part II) (EC). Boundless responds, also in two parts (Part I, Part II). (EC)

Thank you for visiting the One-Week-Short-of-a-Year Carnival of Homeschooling. If you don’t think I’m a Froot Loop short of a bowl of cereal, please consider linking to this carnival so that your readers, too, can rest assured that homeschoolers are not a cupcake short of a riot (EC).

This carnival is owned by Why Homeschool. The Cates do a fabulous job managing and promoting the carnival. Archives of past editions may be viewed here. Next week’s carnival will be hosted by What Did You Do in School Today? Submission guidelines may
be found here.

Related Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, Carnival of Homeschooling, carnivals