Homeschool Actors

"The Homeschool Acting Troupe Players, a mod squad of budding thespians, have been rehearsing for a production of “Biloxi Blues.” Sure, HAT’s performance of the Tony Award-winning dram-edy should be funny and moving, as these actors seem to work through their skits with discerning gusto."

Good to hear these homeschoolers are having so much fun. My daughter would love to do that too but we live too far from a support group. That's one of the drawbacks of living in a small town in the mountains.

[Update, Nov. 22] Here's another article about homeschool actors performing The Bronze Bow!

"Bronze Bow," a full-length drama, is presented by the Ithaca Loving Education at Home Homeschool Cooperative. It is written and directed by Elizabeth Susmann, a sophomore at the Alternative Community School.

Great choice! I love Elizabeth George Speare's books.

  ¶ 7:10 PM  

  The Times Argus Online - Partisans scuffle over containing education costs

"Retta Dunlap of Woodbury, who said she has home-schooled all four of her children, urged lawmakers to recognize how much the state saves by not having to finance the education of the 2,000 Vermont students who are home schooled. She said vermont should reduce the number of forms that the Vermont Department of Education requires parents like her to fill out."

That's something few people talk about - but its so true. Taxpayers concerned about the rising cost of public education should be thrilled that some of us are willing to foot the bill ourselves.

  ¶ 3:22 PM  

  A different kind of gym

Here's an alternative to having your children shut out of teen sports, dominated by public school bureaucrats:

"Finding physical activity is a steady challenge for home-schooled children. The U.S. Department of Education estimates there 850,000 home-schooled children in this country.

Steve Sobey, Woodstock's freshman boys soccer coach and a father of five home-schooled children, understood this, so he formed a physical education program for home-schooled children at Regional Sports Center in Crystal Lake."

  ¶ 8:19 PM  

  Pfc. Joey Whitener, killed in action in Iraq, was a homeschooler

In the article:

"Because Whitener finished high school with a home-school diploma, he could not get into the Navy, Fortune said, so he joined the Army."

I didn't know the Navy was discriminating against homeschoolers! There's something else that needs to be taken care of! If he'd been able to get into the branch of the military he preferred, he'd probably be alive right now.

What a loss... only 19 years old.

Via The Homeschooling Revolution...

  ¶ 2:19 PM  

  Back to the rant I was having on the message boards at my writing community. It was answered by several well-meaning people, including school employees/teachers/teachers in training. I finally responded back:

***

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to my rant. I feel compelled to continue.

As a parent of a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and Bipolar Disorder, I get tired of people blaming me for having a distressing and sometimes difficult to control daughter.

To quote:
"The teacher is not there to clean up after the parent's mess."

Do you have any idea how upsetting it is for a parent of a behavior-challenged child to hear something like that? First of all, I don't consider my child a mess. I think she's a beautiful work of divine art... one of God's masterpieces.

Second, if teachers aren't capable of taking care of all kinds of children, these beautiful, special children don't belong in their care. That's one of many, many reasons why I keep her home.

And when our family goes on homeschool field trips, all the kids go, not just the ones that are behaving the best that week, and the reason why is that a good field trip is educational. To take that trip out of the behavior-challenged child's education is discrimination towards the handicapped.

My daughter insisted on attending a public school for eighth grade last year just because she wanted to participate in the eighth grade graduation, a formal event equivalent to a coming-out party in our small mountain community. Because her behavior caused problems at the school, she was confined to a special classroom for just behavior-problem children, something like a prison within a government prison school.

(That's how I think of them... and then people have the nerve to say I isolate my children because we homeschool. Give me a break! I don't have a chainlink fence all around my house to hold the children in like government schools do!)

Anyhow, we were so distressed by the way my child was treated (like a criminal rather than as a child with special needs and diagnoses) I filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Division. After investigation, the school was found at fault and must make changes to assure they will be less likely to discriminate against special needs children in that way again.

My honest opinion is that children are usually best educated at home where they are loved and appreciated despite any perceived unwanted traits.

***  ¶ 1:53 PM  

  Click on the graphic below to get a pdf version that you can print and distribute on bulletin boards, or to whoever you might know who needs one:



  ¶ 5:57 AM  

  Here's a fantastic opinion column by former homeschool mom, Fran Eaton:

Home-Schoolers Must Respond to "Big Media's" Guilt by Association Tactics

"The “guilt-by-association” smear tactic is the easiest and most commonly used method opposing campaigns used to damage a political candidate's public perception. Even raising a question about an association, real or perceived, can be devastating and something from which a candidate can never fully recover.

The “guilt-by-association” smear strategy is now being used on home schooling families. "

  ¶ 6:17 PM  

  The Spiritual Power of a Mother, by Mike Farris

I want to read this book!

  ¶ 1:50 PM  

 

DesMoinesRegister: The McCaughey Septuplets Go To School

"The septuplets, who turn 6 on Wednesday, are going to school with the big kids."

Their parents put them in six different classrooms to help promote their individuality.

In the same article:

"They home-school their eldest daughter, Mikayla, 7, who is in the third grade."

But all is not lost for the septuplets...

"While the couple say they're happy with the education at Carlisle Elementary so far, they still plan to home-school all of their kids next year."

What brave and hard working parents these must be!

  ¶ 3:13 AM  

 

Capitalism Magazine: What Businessmen Should Learn from Homeschoolers: Lessons from the CBS 'News' Assault on the Mind by John Lewis

"The CBS 'news' program 'The Dark Side of Homeschooling' was a dishonest assault against individual freedom and independence. But the homeschoolers refused to remain 'compliant,' a lesson that businessmen should heed."

Great article!

Via School@Home and The Homeschooling Revolution.
  ¶ 2:45 AM  

 

Novel writing

I mentioned in here before, I'm writing a novel about homeschooling this year alongside the NaNoWriMo crowd. This is my third year there and I believe I'm getting better at it all the time.

The novel is going great! I passed the 50K NaNoWriMo goal yesterday and am at 62K tonight. I expect the novel to last a lot longer - probably ending at around 120K.

Its been fun. I bring the homeschooling into it a lot and get to discuss a lot of the issues. Of course, that really fires me up, making it easier to write.

  ¶ 11:44 PM