It is the last day of 2007, and we are finally back home. I hadn’t actually intended on taking a break from blogging over the holiday, but traveling, visiting and illness kept me from doing much more than answering a few emails.

For a sneak peek at another project I have unfortunately fallen behind on, take a look here. It is a new, Christian Women Online (CWO) inspired online magazine specifically focused on homeschooling. With daily posts and monthly columns, The Heart of the Matter seeks to support and encourage homeschooling families. Right now, the site is still being set up, but my first deadline is the fourth with my column being available for all to read on the eighth.

The Cates of Why Homeschool are hosting a contest to choose some graphics for the Carnival of Homeschooling. If you missed last week’s carnival, take a moment to peruse the offerings.

And now I must take a moment to see if I have anything for tomorrow’s carnival, to be hosted by Why Homeschool.

Oh, and what is Sylvester, you ask? Why it is German for the special holiday that is today. New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay. Celebrated with great fanfare in Germany. While the fireworkds disply in my little village in northwestern Germany was completely private, the resulting smoke was so thick, you could hardly see the fireworks, much less breathe.

Are any of you making any resolutions for this year?

Christmas of 1862 saw a nation wearied by war. The year before had been merry as young men trotted off to war expecting adventure, honor and the preservation of something noble. They went off as to a frolic, expecting quick victory. Over the course of that first year, however, their enthusiasm had been quenched as North and South stood at a seemingly unbreakable stalemate and few lives were left untouched by the horrors of modern warfare. Families were separated, rations were short and homes were destroyed. The cover of Harper’s Weekly reflected well the mood of the nation in Thomas Nast’s depiction of Christmas, 1862.

A woman prays near her children’s bedside as the same moon shines over a soldier on the battlefield holding a portrait of family. The third prominent element is the graveyard which would take in at least 620,000 Americans through the course of this war.

By this second Christmas of war, men felt alienated from the causes they had so valiantly left home to defend. Northerners felt this was Lincoln’s war. Southerners felt it was a rich man’s war fought on the poor man’s back. Mistakes had been made on both sides and both sides were settling in for a long battle, no longer sure of victory.

Out of this time, however, would also come a ray of hope. Not of quick victory nor even of better times, but a foreshadowing of healing. America would be one nation again. Forever changed, but one.

December 30, 1862 lines were being drawn for a significant battle near Murfreesboro, TN after months of waiting. The tension was high and both sides waited in “anxious suspense” as James Barnes of the 86th Indiana recorded. Just before tattoo, the Union bands struck up “Yankee Doodle” to lift the spirits of the men. As the last chord died, a southern band answered with “Dixie.” The cordial volley continued until the bands struck a common chord.

The night before the battle an incident took place such as history seldom records,” wrote Samuel Seay of the 1st Tennessee. “The opposing lines were so near to each other as to be within easy bugle-call. Just before ‘tattoo,’ the military bands on each side began their evening music. The still winter night carried their strains to a great distance. At every pause on our side, far away could be heard the military bands of the other.

“Finally one of them struck up ‘Home! Sweet Home!’ As if by common consent, all the other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies, far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain.”

Men of the North and South lifted their voices in unison, extolling the virtues of home. The following day would see three thousand dead and fifteen thousand wounded as the Stones River ran red. While each man longed to be home, each was also fighting for an idea of home and of family they wished to see preserved.

Home! Sweet Home!
John Howard Payne
1791-1852

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home!
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home
There’s no place like Home!
There’s no place like Home!

I gaze on the moon as I tread the drear wild
And feel that my mother now thinks of her child
As she looks on the moon from our own cottage door
Through the woodbine whose fragrance shall cheer me no more.

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home…

An exile from home splendor dazzles in vain
Oh, give me my low, thatched cottage again,
The birds singing gaily that come at my call,
Give me them with that peace of mind, dearer than all,

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home…

How sweet ’tis to sit neath a fond father’s smile,
And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile.
Let others delight ‘mid new pleasures to roam,
But give me, oh give me the pleasures of home.

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home…

To thee I’ll return overburdened with care,
The hearts dearest solace will smile on me there
No more from that cottage again will I roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home…

Merry Christmas, from our home to yours.

______

Sources: God Rest Ye Merry Soldiers, A true Civil War Christmas Story by James McIvor (2005) (Samuel Seay’s quote appears on page 102)

Ought it not be a Merry Christmas?

Homeschooling mother Kristin Maguire was voted chairwoman-elect to South Carolina’s State Board of Education Wednesday, bringing attention to the relationship between homeschoolers and public education. State Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler draws an interesting analogy.

“Having Kristin Maguire chair the State Board of Education is akin to Dick Cheney teaching a gun safety course. What does a woman who home schools her four children know about South Carolina public schools?” aikenstandard.com

What qualifies one to have a voice in education? Having a child in a public school? Or in a private school, as so many politicians do? She has served on the board since 2000, enough time to learn a little about the position, but more importantly, enough time for those voting to see whether or not they would have her lead them.

There does seem to be a strange notion that since we have chosen to homeschool, we have opted out of the national discussion on education. And that we do not care about public education. According to Molly Spearman, executive director of the state Association of School Administrators,

It is a great concern to educators in this state and people who support public education when the governor, the leader in our state, sends his kids to private schools, and now the leader of the board is a home-school mom. You question the commitment of folks to lead us forward in public education. Ibid.

I cannot help but ask one simple question.

What does it mean to support public education?

Satisfaction with the status quo?

Limiting opportunities for students?

Enforcing a one-size-fits-all system?

And if you wish for something better for your children, does it mean that you can’t work for something better for other people’s children?

The Thinking Mother shares some more links related to this story, including one posing an interesting question of its own:

…Why, exactly, is it that we have a State Board of Education? …

To the extent that the board serves a purpose, it’s to diffuse the accountability of the elected education superintendent – who in turn diffuses the accountability of the elected governor. And those are bad things. Even if we never let the governor appoint the superintendent (and we should), we at least should eliminate the board, and make education policy a bit more accountable to the public. The Gaffney Ledger

Why, indeed, is there so much “padding” between the parent and the education of the child? Maybe that is why some look with so much distrust upon the fact that Maguire homeschools. She has circumnavigated the bureacracy.

[tags]homeschooling, homeschool, Maguire, Kristin Maguire[/tags]

Welcome to Saturday School, my weekly look into the practical side of homeschooling. Feel free to leave a link in the comment section if you have shared any practical ideas recently! This week, our Saturday School project fell apart. But rather than give a lesson on following directions, I am going to postpone it until we are not substituting materials that were apparently more important than we at first thought. This is not a lesson per se, but an idea. When my daughter lost her first tooth, she was so excited. All day she talked about it, and that evening she mentioned something about a tooth fairy. We had never talked about the tooth fairy, and had never really planned on doing the tooth fairy. By her own conversation, it was obvious she knew it was all a game.

But she expected there to be some cash under her pillow.

And I had none. Not so much as a penny. So I had to think fast. And wrote the following letter:

Little Mouse,

You are growing so fast. It was not so long ago you were running about, scaling cabinets and getting into mischief like Baby Bear. It was not so long ago you depended on us for everything like Baby Bug. I still remember when you got your first tooth.

Now you can do all kinds of things for yourself. You can cook and clean and even sew. Sometimes you get into trouble, but mostly you are a big help. You are beginning to put childish things aside, like it says in 1Corinthians 13:11. Including your first baby tooth.

So for your first tooth, I thought we could have a tea party. We can have fun planning it out together. Does that sound like fun?

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

We made scones and had a tea party together, using the tea set I had brought back with me from Germany. We have a regular tea time in our daily schedule. Every afternoon (according to my schedule, anyway), we sit down to tea and have a sort of book talk. Generally, this follows the traditions I learned as an exchange student in East Frisia, a part of northwestern Germany. It is what I know. But, for educational purposes, we have also had formal English teas, looked a little at the Japanese tea ceremony and had our own Middle Eastern tea.

It is amazing how much there is to learn about a culture just through talking about our reading while practicing a local custom.

Of course, now that we have tea time regularly (if not every day), my daughter is asking for something else for the next tooth she loses. So I’m going to have to start thinking some more. At least she doesn’t have any loose right now!

_____

I am thinking that the imminent threat of a major holiday has kept most of the blogs I follow from posting much practical insight.  That or I just missed them all while scrolling.  Either way, I didn’t find much in the way of practical posts to share.

I did, however, find this resource.  I am starting to incorporate more current events into our homeschool and think the New York Times Learning Network looks like it could be an interesting resource.  If nothing else, I am sure I can get some ideas from their ideas!

[tags]homeschooling, family[/tags]

In a recent chat about our goals for homeschooling, someone mentioned they were hoping to “grow up to be like Dana.” It took me off guard, and I had an immediate desire to spill forth all my faults and shortcomings as a homeschooler. As a parent. As a wife. As a Christian. At first, my thoughts on the conversation revolved around the medium of the internet. I don’t really post my shortcomings, struggles, fears, inadequacies and conflicts on my blog or in the forums I frequent. I am more interested in the discussion than hashing out my personal life with an audience of strangers. I asked myself whether I presented an image of myself that wasn’t entirely accurate.

But then I came across a guest post by Cynthia Clack: The Godly Homeschool Family: Myth, Reality or Idol? The conversation came back to me, but in a new light. I am a Christian and my faith is very important to me. When I started homeschooling, I thought education was about sitting at a desk and listening to a teacher disseminate information. Relaxing was a long journey for me. But what do I believe homeschooling to be now, three and a half years later?

I have written a rather lengthy philosophy of education which guides my thoughts on education. But these are my thoughts on education. I don’t measure myself against this philosophy. How do I know? Because I don’t feel guilty at the end of the day for not “fostering accountability and responsibility.” I feel guilty for not living up to this standard:

Rising before the sun.

Hot, homemade breakfast on the set table (please note I do not even own a table to set).

Chores done.

School started by 7:30.

Lessons planned to perfection. And yet somehow spontaneous as well.

Materials always ready.

Time not wasted.

Long walks.

Sewing, baking, cleaning, canning, gardening.

Talking about everything and nothing…never arguing. Never losing my temper. Always having the right words to smooth over conflict.

Patient, gentle, kind, meek, guiding.

Schoolwork finished, understood and not forgotten the next day.

And never done begrudgingly.

I do have an image of a perfect homeschooler in my mind. I catch glimpses of her at the library as she sits with her row of children, on a blog where she is talking about canning her tomatoes, in a forum where she posts her schedule. Somehow, she seems to exist because of these captured moments in other people’s lives. And she has become an idol, drawing me away from focusing on the heart of homeschooling rather than some external expectation I have created.

[tags]homeschool, homeschooling[/tags]

And now for a comedic interlude:

More education-related cartoons at Weapons of Math Destruction.

Via matthewktabor.com

There is a new blog among homeschoolers posing an interesting question and an interesting challenge: Unity-N-Diversity. Unity in diversity is an interesting concept, one which I have sought long to uphold, but also one whose implementability I have come to question in recent months. Contrary to multiculturalism, which tends to fragment society by its overemphasis on external factors of race and ethnicity, the unity in diversity concept holds that we can have a sense of oneness despite other barriers. It is central to Christian teaching, as we unite as one body despite the obvious differences among us.

I touched on this concept before in my entry “America is an idea” as I reflected over the list of people who gave their lives at the Alamo. People of different faiths, different nations of origins, different races and different languages fought and died together other the banner of a single idea: liberty.

And yet the homeschooling community, as much as we value liberty and independence, does not seem to be able to find anything to unite on. There is such a sharp fracture between secular and Christian homeschoolers that I hesitate to really refer to us as a “community,” for what do we have in common?

To find unity, we must be able to define elements of commonality. A “higher good” that draws us together despite other differences. An ability to respect those differences, no matter how passionately we may disagree with them. Is that possible among homeschoolers?

Unity-N-Diversity tries to look at some of the causes of the schism. Unity starts with a sort of mission statement in the header of the blog:

The Home Education community has suffered division and polarization over the past 20 years. It is time to examine why this has happened and what to do about this unfortunate state of affairs. Hopefully this site will educate, inspire, and facilitate healing.

It is a noble goal. The main focus thus far has been on HSLDA and how this organization has served to marginalize the secular homeschooling movement, but there are other “issues” between secular and religious (particularly Christian) homeschoolers. And it begins with the most prominent graphic on the blog. I do understand the movement behind this button. It is part of why I eventually left Homeschoolblogger, although I was never and never will be a part of any formal boycott. I refuse to dismiss an entire blog network of people who have become dear to me based on the fact that their host accepts advertising from an organization I find objectionable.

I was on the Blogs Againt Hitting Kids list until I discussed why I thought the first boycott of the Carnival of Homeschooling was a gross overreaction to an entry that was completely benign. And the continual boycotting and refusing to participate in “community” events has grown tiresome. Even where I agree with the basic philosophy behind it.

The rhetoric is sharp and heated. And it isn’t just about corporal punishment. It is a deep philosophical difference.

I am not saying in this post that Christian homeschoolers do not have their own issues, nor that the lack of unity rests on the shoulders of secular homeschoolers. Unity-N-Diversity does a nice job presenting that side of the problem. But if we cannot even get together to have a Carnival of Homeschooling without controversy and comments about “fundie nonsense,” I have little hope in being able to find unity in our diversity.

I am not wholly convinced that we all even want it.

Update: This is the entry I referred to as “completely benign.” Doc takes issue with that assessment below which illustrates the rift perfectly. There are those who felt that they could not morally have their link on the same page as a link pointing to this entry without passively condoning it (via the carnival). These are the issues that I am talking about that go deeper than anything HSLDA does.

____

Please feel free to share your opinions, regardless of what they are. This post turned out more pessimistic than I originally intended. I really am enjoying this new blog and there are a number of subjects I want to research further. Ultimately, it is about what is best for homeschooling which is one of my favorite topics to discuss.

[tags]homeschooling, homeschool, homeschoolers[/tags]

I would like to thank everyone who chose to participate in the Homeschool Blog Awards this year and the committed volunteers who put it together.

It still amazes me sometimes that people log on here everyday to read and comment and I really am honored that 78.52 people chose to vote for my endeavors here at Principled Discovery.   And most of you aren’t even related to me.

I would also like to thank my mother who gets way more into these kinds of things than I do.  She encouraged me to just have fun with it and I did.  So a well-deserved hat tip to my campaign manager mom (who actually called me to let me know where I stood at one point!).

And to my spokesperson L. E. Fant whose pictures would have swayed a few voters if they hadn’t already voted.

Now we can sit back and put our feet up.

 Congratulations to all the nominees this year.  And to this year’s winners:

Best Homeschool Mom Blog: Preschoolers and Peace

Best Homeschool Dad Blog: The Mango Times

Best Blog Design:  Training Hearts

Best Artistic Content Blog: A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles

Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog: By Sun and Candlelight

Best Family or Group Blog: The Common Room

Best Encourager Blog: Everyday Me

Best “Live What You Believe” Homeschool Blog: Holy Experience

Best Unschooling or Eclectic Homeschooling Blog: Eclectic Education

Best Geographical Blog: One Child Policy Homeschool

Best Current Events, Opinions, or Politics Blog: Principled Discovery  (Hey, that’s me!)

Best Homemaking or Recipes Blog:  Welcome to Keeping the Home

Best Teen Guy Blog: The Voice of Experience

Best Teen Gal Blog: 01 Charger

Best Teen Group Blog: The Rebelution

Funniest Homeschool Blog: It Coulda’ Been Worse

Best Cyber-Buddy Blog: Dewey’s Treehouse

Best Curriculum or Business Blog: Home Where They Belong

Best Thrifty Homeschooler Blog: Biblical Womanhood

Best Super-Homeschooler: Heart of Wisdom Blog

Best Nitty-Gritty Homeschool Blog: It Coulda’ Been Worse

Best Variety Blog: The Common Room

Best NEW Homeschool Blog: Mama Archer’s Blog

Well, the biggest news in the homeschooling blogosphere is perhaps Spunky’s return, albeit temporary.  Want to know more about Huckabee?  Check out entries one and two.

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up over at the Common Room.

Via O’Donnel Web comes one of the best articles about fundamentalists and atheists I have read in a long time.

The Carnival of Education is posted. (And the carnivals of Political Punditry, Women Blogging, Doing it Differently, Family Life and Libertarians.  Just in case you really do not have enough to do on this fine Wednesday.)

WorldNetDaily is reporting that a woman in Utah stands on the brink of losing her children as a result of a paperwork mix up that may have been the district’s fault.

A homeschooling mom in Utah has been ordered by a judge to enroll her children in a public school district within 24 hours, and have them in class tomorrow, all because of a paperwork glitch that very well could be the fault of the district. WND

Very well could be. But we do not know. Either way, the response seems disproportional. Somehow we got from missing paperwork in a state fairly lenient to homeschooling to potential loss of custody, no chance for appeal and jail time. It sounds draconian. It also fits a common homeschooling fear: that somehow some technicality is going to bring in the state who is just waiting to snatch away our children. But the report leaves me with more questions than answers.

Rereading the article, I at first attributed the majority of my questions to poor reporting. There is contradictory information presented, I am not always completely sure what the reporter is talking about and the irrelevant references to Germany and Nazis serve only as a distraction. There is, however, a piece of information in this article which I believe to be more relevant than WND makes it out to be. The story changes if we take this paragraph and read it in isolation.

It seems that an affidavit she faxed to the local school district for the 2006-2007 school year, documenting her homeschooling plans, was lost by the district. So when she went to court with her juvenile son to have the charges dismissed (under a case held in abeyance procedure) stemming from a clash among children, she suddenly was presented with four counts against her for failing to comply with the state’s compulsory education requirement.

This case isn’t about homeschooling, nor educational neglect. Mafi’s son is entangled with the legal system for some unknown reason. “Clash among children” could mean anything, but she is in court on his account (apparently, here it means assault, but more on that at the end). Something happened to raise the attention of the state, and it wasn’t homeschooling. Contrary to the reporting, this wasn’t a complete surprise.

She thought she was meeting the court’s demands earlier when she enrolled her two youngest children in classes, and put her two older children in an online curriculum connected to the public school.

There is a thread here that seemed significant, although I’m not sure why. She faxed in her paperwork, received confirmation but lost it. She thought she was adhering to the court’s instructions but apparently wasn’t. I really would like to know the long story and not just what it boils down to.

A little searching revealed some more information, although most of it doesn’t really answer any questions. It does make you think about online privacy, but I found out Denise Mafi registered for a blog at Homeschoolblogger on August 29, 2007 under the ID “crazymomto4.” She never posted anything, nor any comments.

Crazymomto4 also began a blog on freewebs.com. This one has some information, but not much.

We are the Mafi family. We are a homeschooling family of 5 (mom and 4 children) living in a small town (pop. 250) in east-central Utah. We live in a high mountain desert. We are LDS, which is to say we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as “the Mormons.” On this site we hope to share a little about our life, our church, our home and of course homeschooling.

There is a smattering of postings in some online forums, but nothing too revealing about the family or what struggles lead to this conflict with the law. She also opened an account with Aidpage, an internet site set up to help people in need connect with people who can help.

Hi!

I am a single mom of four children ages 9-14. I have MS and we are living on SSI. I need money to keep from losing my car. It is our only form of transportation. We live in a small town and most of the stores and services in our area are in a town about 35 miles form here.

Thanks,

Denise

Single mom, four children, limited income, serious illness. That is a scary situation to be in. But it makes a little more sense of the story, at least to me.

Then there is the forum connected to Five in a Row mentioned in the article. (Seriously I think this whole thing makes you think about privacy). I found the original quote referenced by WND and the advice to contact WND because maybe some media attention would help. She also posted a lengthier explanation of what is going on that makes more sense to me. Without independent corroboration from court documents, I cannot help but be a little suspicious of any information, but her explanation makes a little more sense than just an out of control judge who hates homeschooling. An excerpt:

Some people wonder if there is more to this case than I have posted. There really isn’t except what got us originally in court was my then 9yos hit a girl in the neighborhood and was charged with assault. My son has Aspergers’ Syndrome. This was the 1st and only time any of my children had been charged with a crime. He was give a plea in abeyance with the following stipulations-40 hours of community service, complete anger management, to do okay in school, and not to get in any more trouble for one year. He completed everything and the charges were dismissed. They took exception with the school part because I homeschool and the school district says it never received my affadavit last year.

The court is reacting to a lot more than missing paperwork. This paperwork is the proof she needs to demonstrate that her son followed the court’s orders to do well in school as part of the original stipulations.

I am glad it looks like UHEA is going to help in this situation. No matter what her specific situation is or what lead her to this point, she has a right to good counsel and that probably is the best place for her to receive it at this point and with her finances. I wish WND were a little better at reporting. And I would like to see the actual court documents. But I think she has taken a reasonable stance from this point forward: do whatever they say and seek wiser counsel.

Hat tip: Consent of the Governed, who also raises some questions.

Update:  Conservativebelle has found a little on Judge Johansen.  And in case you don’t already know, WND is reporting that Mafi has fled with her children to an “undisclosed location.”

Also:  At the time of posting, I had found the information from the forums cited through an internet search.  Five In A Row’s forums are publicly viewable, even without registration.  The thread cited above, however, has been removed.  Hence the link now asks for registration.

[tags]homeschooling, homeschool, Mafi, Utah[/tags]