Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not…..� Thomas Henry Huxley

Not a concept I will support

Filed under: Food for Thought — April 18, 2009 @ 9:23 am

My earliest years homeschooling was in an unfriendly-to-homeschoolers state, in an unfriendly-to-homeschoolers town. How unfriendly? When your kid’s friends parent’s tell you that your kid is no longer welcome to play with their kids cause you are now homeschooling you know you are in an unfriendly place. True story.

Being in this unfriendly place meant too that I constantly had folks question my ability and right to homeschool. Shouldn’t there be someone looking over your shoulder? folks in the grocery store asked. Well, you must be a professional teacher to know what the kids need to learn, others told me. With every question my back grew stiffer and so did my resolve to homeschool and my confidence that a homeschooler did not need to be accountable to anyone. I learned rather quickly that I was quite capable of administering my own child’s education.

Homeschoolers can school their own without being accountable to someone else. That is a common comment I make to my sis when we start discussing the topic of homeschooling comes up. She’s in the camp that all homeschoolers must be accountable to someone because without this homeschoolers fail. Hmm, accountability doesn’t mean that all public school kids graduate summa cum laude or even knowing how to do simple math. Her attitude constantly reminds me that there’s a general public out there, perhaps ones who are quite familiar with successful hs’ers, with a strong belief that hs’ers must be accountable to someone else.

From that unfriendly-hs state we moved into a homeschool friendly area with large umbrella schools. I avoided them knowing that I did not need to be accountable to anyone. I did not need a professional teacher reviewing what my kids did throughout the year. I knew from my early years that I was quite capable of administering my own child’s education. Then we hit the high school years. I have watched one hs’er friend after another join these umbrella schools as their kid entered the high school years. I heard these reasons excuses for joining an umbrella school:

I could never put together that high school transcript. A transcript, really? If you pulled out your high school or college transcript you’d have an example. Visit the local library and read one of the many hs books on putting together a portfolio and transcript. Follow their instructions. And my favorite method, cruise the web and look at the numerous transcripts posted by other BTDT hs moms. Visit the websites of your local state colleges and universities and see what is required from a high school graduate and bingo, you have the minimum of what is needed on that transcript. Course descriptions can be pulled together in a similar manner. Visit your state’s and other states DOE sites for course descriptions and use them as a model for putting together your own child’s courses.

I need someone to look over my shoulder and keep me accountable. Read this blog’s head-quote. The most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. Get educated. Learn what your child needs to do to get into the college or field he desires, and then have him do it.

My kid won’t do what I want him to do, so I can tell him he has to do it since the umbrella school requires it. Go back to parenting 101.

A kid needs an official high school diploma. Many homeschoolers have entered college with a mommy issued diploma. And many have entered the military with a mommy issued diploma. It’s as official as it gets.

But my true reason for avoiding umbrella schools stems from something written recently by LaJuana on TWTM forums:

From a philosophical standpoint, by submitting to an umbrella school, we are, in a sense, contributing to acceptance of the idea that homeschooling parents are not capable of administering their own children’s education, but instead, they require oversight by professionals. That’s not a concept I want to support.

I HATE MATH

Filed under: Logic Age, Math — April 17, 2009 @ 5:22 pm

The school year began and I knew I would hear:“I hate math”

My goal was to somehow, someway turn this kid’s attitude around.  But how?  Let’s get one thing straight right-away, I LOVE math.  I would enjoy doing nothing but math all day long.  For years I had claimed that I could teach anyone math, and to enjoy math.  

But not this DS.  He despised math.  Hated math. He had completed Singapore 6B, his IOWA math scores confirmed what I knew, he knew math.   Just he hated math.

I knew something else about this DS. He was slow to grasp a math concept.  Slow to retain the concept and often I felt like we were taking 1 step forward and 2 steps backward.  Yes, I wrote that correctly, 1 step forward and 2 backwards.  Rarely did we take 3 steps forward without taking 2-8/9 steps backward. 

So we completed 6B at the end of 6th grade and I debated about starting into NEM (New Elementary Math by Singapore Math).  We started into Key to Algebra and soon DS had completed the first 3 books.  When he took their assessment test he floundered and claimed he didn’t know how to do any of the problems or he did them incorrectly. 

I paused and grabbed Dolciani’s Pre-Algebra book off my shelf.  One thing I do not lack is a wide assortment of math texts.  After looking through this text I thought it would be just the thing for my DS to move into.  The material covered was similar to what DS had just worked through and perhaps seeing the material presented in a new way by a different mathematician might just do the trick for DS.

We plowed through the text, TWICE.  Yes, the first time through DS did the work but retained very little, so we did it again.  Even problems this time.  I don’t sweat not having the answers since math is my first love. 

DS finished Dolciani’s Pre-Algebra book and I wondered what to do next.  And then it hit me—DS needed to feel successful with math.  Why didn’t I think of that before?   Enough of me pushing him and pushing him maybe if I just let DS do another easy Algebra book before moving him into NEM he might feel success.  It was worth a try. Forget the schedule of wanting him to get through NEM as a 7th grader.  It was more important for DS to change his attitude toward math IMO.

I turned to Jacobs Algebra and we began.  It wasn’t long before I heard—

‘Mom, this is so easy do I have to do another set?  I know how to do these?’

and today, the most beautiful words that came out of the blue:

“I cannot believe I’m saying this but I’m actually starting to enjoy math. Cannot believe I just said that.”

YES!!!!  (and now I can claim again that I can teach anyone to love math.  No, it’s more important to me that my DS enjoy and love math.)

PC

Filed under: Family Stuff — March 10, 2009 @ 12:38 pm

My present laptop flashes continuously.  Very annoying.  If I jiggle the electrical cord just right I can get it to stop for a few minutes, maybe even for 10 min.  So I replaced the battery and the electrical cord.  It still shorts out and flashes away.

I’m starting my search for a new laptop.  Suggestions?

I’m drooling

Filed under: Family Stuff — March 6, 2009 @ 7:04 pm

Today I followed a rabbit trail from one blog to another.  We probable have all done this.  Sometimes I uncover a find, sometimes not. Today I hit jackpot.

Keep in mind that I am sitting here in my usual spot, at the kitchen table with my laptop jiggling back and forth as it rests on a book on the right side with a few papers on the left, I sit and stare at these photos, drooling.  My table over-flows with books, papers, dog collars, mail, phones, calculators,…. all one big mess.  An often-heard comment from me is that I do not have a desk,…. I’m the ONLY one in the family without a desk, or drawers to call my own, or a bulletin board…… a desk……

I came across this treasure.  I can now dream.  At least I can dream of what it could be like….

One more day

Filed under: Family Stuff — March 6, 2009 @ 2:03 am

Calculator retrieved.  Whew!

Six hours of working on this device and one other, and still they are smiling:

One more day until the competition and they are ready.

UPDATE:   DS came away with 4 medals, a 2nd, a 3rd, a 5th and a 7th.  The one event he didn’t medal in was the one he was favored to take a first.  Oh well.  We know why he came in 15th and as with any competition you either win or it’s a character building event.  He had another character building event that day. 

What’s missing now?

Filed under: Family Stuff — March 5, 2009 @ 12:48 pm

What a day!  What a week!  And it’s just the beginning of the month.

We have Senior High Science Olympiad competition this Saturday.  I agreed to run the event ‘Junkyard Challenge’  I’m busy gathering ’stuff’, getting rules and score sheets together, getting totally familiar with the event.   I should spend the day preparing for the class I teach but I’ll fit that in some other day or more likely some night-into-morning time slot.

Michael is in the competition however he nor any of his teammates are in Junkyard Challenge.   Last evening we were at a public school working on one of his events: Trajectory.  This morning when he went looking for his calculator he realized he left it at the public school.  Opps.  Say goodbye to one TI89.   We went looking for my TI83 (which he borrows whenever he cannot find his) — it is not in the car. It is not in any of my book bags.  It is not on a shelf, or in a cabinet, or anywhere in our house.   Now, where did he leave that one?

This is a constant problem.  We can always tell where Michael has worked with things — his Calculus book is on the floor by the living room sofa, the Chemistry book is on the family room chair, the English book is on the floor by the fireplace.  It isn’t that he purposefully leaves these items out.  Oh no, there is no purpose in it.  Michael will work on something, finish with it and go off to do something else.  The item(s) get left behind as he shifts his focus onto the next task.

For years I have tried to address the disorganization, the items left here and there, even levying fines when books were left out.  Nothing has seemed to work.  And now we are down two calculators.   Maybe the calculator will still be in the room.  We’ll be there today, again, for more preparation work.

pa—TI83 has been found.  Whew!  Now we’re only down one $150 calculator.

Happy 200th Birthday

Filed under: Family Stuff — February 12, 2009 @ 10:37 am

Abraham Lincoln, 12 February 1809 - 15 April 1865

Charles Darwin, 12 February 1809 - 19 April 1882

The latter recognized biological variation as a basic part of life.
The former recognized human variation as a basic part of freedom.

AP Testing Woes

Filed under: Family Stuff — February 4, 2009 @ 7:29 pm

Early in the fall I contacted the private school where DS took his AP Biology test last year.  They have a new AP Coordinator and when I asked if DS could take his AP tests with them again she told me he could.  She also advised me to contact her in early Feb to confirm which tests he wanted to take.  She assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue having him take his tests with them.

If you aren’t familiar with AP Tests, they are offered on only one day per year, at a set time.  The test must be taken at a private or public high school that is approved by the College Board to administer the test.  You or I cannot just go and buy the test and administer it to our homeschooler.  If the official date goes by and you missed the test, oh well.  There is always next year.  The private or public school orders the tests in March and we homeschoolers are advised to make arrangements in February with our local school so they will expect our kid(s).

Yesterday I contacted the AP Coordinator at the private school again, only to learn that she isn’t sure which AP tests they will be offering and will not know until the end of March.  She advised me to contact her just before March 26th, the ordering deadline.  WHAT!!!!

There is no way I will wait until then to learn whether or not DS can take them there.  I didn’t want to find out in late March that they were sorry, they weren’t offering them, or sorry, we don’t have room for him.  I started calling other local private schools.  Thankfully there are many in this area.

The next school was called.  I got the AP Coordinator on the phone right away.  They aren’t sure if they would have room for DS to sit with their kids cause they have soooooo many kids taking AP tests.  And the person wasn’t sure if each Dept head would approve having a hs’er sit in and take the test with their kids!  I didn’t even ask said person to explain that one.  I did immediately volunteer that hs kids have their own school code so my DS’ test score would not be credited to their school.  That seemed to help a little bit. (If they only knew…….)

Finally I reached a very receptive AP Coordinator at another private school.  Wonderful response.  This person’s response was a  “Sure, just send $86 for each AP test you want him to take.  The money will reserve his spot.”  And as an after-thought the coordinator added.  “Our spring dress code will be in effect.  He will need to be wearing dress pants, a shirt & tie, or a fancy golf shirt.”  Yea, DS will just really love wearing THAT outfit to test in.   Guess we have to go clothes shopping for him so he has 5 of those outfits, one for each test day.

Or maybe I’ll just make a few more phone calls.  I know our local public school does not offer all five of the AP tests DS will be taking in May.  And then again they might not let him through their doors………    Oh the joys of homeschooling!

Calculus to Relax the Brain.

Filed under: Math — January 30, 2009 @ 9:30 am

My high school Junior is taking AP English Language & Composition online through PA HS’ers. Writing is a course I cannot teach as I’ve said before. I need an answer key, I can teach courses with answer keys such as math or science. Well, most science courses, just not Biology. That’s why last year DS took AP Biology through PA HS’ers. Great course, wonderful teacher, DS loved the course and I loved not having to wade through it with him.

Getting back to his AP EngLang course. Another course I am very glad he is taking from a knowledgeable person. Yesterday he was rewriting his essay, incorporating the corrections and ideas his teacher and peers had from his first draft, trying to get the essay to expand to 1200 words. He knew he wouldn’t go past the 1500 word limit. This essay has literally consumed his waking hours for the past several weeks as he researched sources, read them, compiled the information, and finally put his thoughts on paper.

Around 10am I told Michael he was to post his revised essay to his classmates by noon, which hopefully would mean that some of his classmates would again read it and spot needed corrections. Noon came and went and Michael was still working on expanding this area and that area.

During the early afternoon Mark and I sat reading volume 3 of The History of US by Joy Hakium. We’re reading about the Stamp Act and Patrick Henry, Sam Adams, John Adams, and Thomas Paine.

Michael walked into the family room and stood before the fire.

“Is your essay posted?”

No!  I need to do something relaxing. I’m going to do some Calculus problems. That will relax my brain.” And that is what he did.  

Ahhh, he is my child!  Me, I’m doing a happy dance!  This is a child who could only add 1 + 3 in 3rd grade by using his fingers.  This is a child who struggled to complete any math sheet in under 2hrs in grade school.  This is a child who hated math throughout grade school and most of Jr High.   But through all that the foundation was laid of solid math skills, and somewhere along the path –somewhere in Algebra I–he discovered that math is interesting and fun.  LOL, and now he finds Calculus relaxing!  Isn’t homeschooling grand!!

Hoops, Sure!

Filed under: Family Stuff — January 29, 2009 @ 10:14 am

When we decided to homeschool ten years ago we were in a state and a town where homeschoolers were few and far between.  The only local support group was associated with a Baptist church and while I was welcome to attend meetings my kids were not.   I’d always been an independent sort of person so we struck out on our own, forged our own path and turned to the net for help and guidance as we began our journey.

When we moved to Delaware we continued on our own independent path declaring ourselves our own non-public school.  It was a path I felt comfortable following.  I later found that few homeschoolers in our new home state also choose this path, or at least of the several hundred I have met here, few choose this path.  Even fewer choose it when their oldest hits high school age.  Over the years I have heard the same reason for choosing the other path, the path where they join the satellite school — the mom wanted someone to look over her shoulder, someone else to check her kids work, and someone she was accountable to other than herself.  I shrugged, to each his own.   I also knew I didn’t need someone to check my kids work, or tell me that I needed to have the kids read 25 books this year, or write 10, 2page-papers, or do Algebra I then Geometry………  I certainly didn’t need someone else to blame the kids workload upon either.  When the boys have asked why they have had to do math or write a report or work through the logic exercise the reason has always been simple — it is my job to see that you are well-educated so you have whatever doors open to you that you wish to be open to you.

My job, no one else’s.   OK, so it is also my DH job.  We work as a team, parenting and educating our boys.

Last year I happily left Delaware for over 2 months, traveling across this great land, showing my boys their country, and just let the learning happen along our trail.  Before I left I heard grumblings from these same moms about how they could not leave on such a trip in early May since their portfolio review needed to be completed.  Portfolio review?  This state does not require a portfolio review, or testing, or…….  One price to pay for having that monkey on your shoulder.

Why am I talking about this today?   We’ve been looking at college entrance requirements and many require SAT Subject tests to validate that a homeschooler knows high school subject material.   Did you know that if I had joined one of the area satellite schools we would not have this hurdle to jump through? Yep.  We could just write on the application that ds graduated from such-and-such satellite school and he would not have the SAT Subject tests to take.  Sad, homeschoolers choosing to join this route just to avoid jumping through that hoop.  Freedom to school as I wish, follow the schedule I wish, use the curriculum I wish without someone looking over my shoulder……. no, that would have been too high a price to pay just to avoid the extra homeschool college-hoops.  I like my choice.

I do not have to ask anyone for permission  to go on a few extra field trips or an extended cross-country field trip.  Nor do I need to explain how we combined American History, Civics, and American Government into one course over three years, or that we covered geography as an integral part of history rather than as a separate course.   And I do not need to track the many books my pre-high school student has read.  He reads, often and happily, and I am the one to make sure of that.

But beware if you are just starting on this homeschool journey.  There are trade-offs to going it alone.  It is often times lonely to be in this state, to be your own school, accountable to just you.  Others will laugh, tell you that you should join their school, let them guide you and let them make sure your kids are doing what they should be doing —(doesn’t that sound allot like public school?)….. But then again, homeschoolers do walk to the beat of a different drummer.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost