44 Presidents

Thanks, Rebecca, for the link.

L.E.A.R.N.

Word is that Kansas City area homeschool support group L.E.A.R.N. is active again and they are planning an UnProm.

Visit their website for more information.

L.E.A.R.N. Mission Statement

L.E.A.R.N. is an organization formed to provide secular support for homeschooling families.

L.E.A.R.N. supports families with a wide variety of ideologies regarding education, parenting, culture, and religion.


Membership in L.E.A.R.N. indicates a respect for other individuals, regardless of age.


Membership in L.E.A.R.N. indicates a willingness to be respectful of other member's beliefs or lifestyles that may not reflect your own.

World eBook Fair

Access to eBooks online... until August 4, you can download free eBooks from the World eBook Fair.

An Unschooler's Holiday

Just in case you didn't know, today is Learn Nothing Day. It's going to be a busy day for us, but I suppose we can try to do our best to keep our minds closed to anything new and sparkly for just one day.

The Size of Things

I mostly wanted to bookmark this to show my children, but then I thought there would be others who would enjoy this illustration.

Homeschooling: Back to the Future

This is an old piece from The Cato Institute that I may have even had in my files once upon a time, but I thought it was one of the more interesting pieces on homeschooling and I really appreciated the historical look beginning with Raymond Moore and John Holt. I am of the Holt persuassion, and I have often encouraged people to look to work by Raymond Moore, especially when anxieties about reading and writing come up in regards to young children.

The constituencies Raymond Moore and Holt individually attracted reflected the backgrounds and lifestyles of the two researchers. Moore, a former Christian missionary, earned a sizable (but hardly an exclusive) following among parents who chose homeschooling primarily to impart traditional religious mores to their children--the Christian right. Holt, a humanist, became a cult figure of sorts to the wing of the homeschooling movement that drew together New Age devotees, ex-hippies, and homesteaders--the countercultural left.

The two men earned national reputations as educational pioneers, working independently of one another, eloquently addressing the angst that a diverse body of Americans felt about the modern-day educational system--a system that seemed to exist to further the careers of educational elites instead of one that served the developmental needs of impressionable children. In the 1970s the countercultural left, who responded more strongly to Holt's cri de coeur, comprised the bulk of homeschooling families. By the mid-1980s, however, the religious right would be the most dominant group to choose homeschooling and would change the nature of homeschooling from a crusade against "the establishment" to a crusade against the secular forces of modern-day society.

Buttressed by their national media appearances, legislative and courtroom testimony, and speeches to sympathetic communities, Holt and Moore worked tirelessly to deliver to an often-skeptical public the message that homeschooling is a good, if not a superior, way to educate American children; that it is, in a sense, a homecoming, a return to a preindustrial era, when American families worked and learned together instead of apart.

Please take the time to read the entire article here:
Policy Anaylysis
Homeschooling: Back to the Future

Thanks, Rebecca, for the link.

Consuming Kids

A friend from a local homeschool group shared the following.



JoAnn's comments:

This morning I just went to a screening of this documentary:

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/events/consumingkids.html

I give this film my highest possible recomendation, and it is my fervent hope that every parent in America would view this film immediately. In fact, I took my 11 year old with me to see it, and she was very glad that she saw it, and felt that it helped her to better understand and look with a more critical eye at a lot of things that are currently targeted to her age group. In addition, this film looked separately at every developmental stage from infancy to post adolescent, and also at differences in marketing for each gender.

It covered the full gamet including the history of government regulation of media, the breadth of marketing (schools, ipods, targeted radio on school busses, cell phones and much more) how market research is done (and this will chill you to see how children are even being recruited to surrepticiously gather data on peers, how brain waves and eye blinks are recorded in response to various types of visual stimuli) and how this all is affecting the health and well being of our entire citizenry.

Leap of Faith

This is a speech by Dagny, an unschooled teen, that I bookmarked ages ago with the intention of sharing it. It was given at the NE Unschooling Conference in May of 2008.

Take a moment to read it when you have some time to sit back and just reflect on the words. There is a lot of wisdom here.

My favorite part is this:

Parenting should be a gift to you, not a curse. Parenting should be a beautiful and scary thing. Not a wrong and stressful thing.

...

We have a trusting family base who are always there and knowledgeable and kind and supportive of us and our needs and wants from this life. Trust comes in many forms and I've found my parents’ trust in unschooling to be the most necessary part of the whole unschooling process.

I also love that she lists "42" as one of the possible meanings of life.

My kids and I recently read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy together. Although I have friends who have loved the book (and series?) over the years, I had never read it myself. I was worried that it would be above my kids' heads, but all three of them loved it, and I'm talking laugh-out-loud, quoting passages loving it. I learned to appreciate something I wouldn't have tried on my own.

Dagny's mother, Rue Kream, is author of Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooled Life.

Union Station ~ Memorial Day Weekend

Lots to do at Union Station this weekend. Click here for details.

The Art of the Brick

This would be a great event to see if you find yourself in Kansas City. The exhibit is open May 23 through September 7 and is free to the public.

The Art of the Brick™ (An Art Adventure with LEGO®
Bricks)

The exhibit consists of approximately 30 artworks created solely from LEGO® blocks, by artist Nathan Sawaya. The amazing designs include Lennon Tribute, Apples, Infinity, Sunflower and Globe, ranging in size from 20 inches to 78
inches.

Admission: FREE

Time: Open during Crown Center Shops regular shopping hours

Location: Crown Center
Shops, Level 1 Atrium

Here's a link to Nathan Sawaya if you are not familiar with his work.

Thanks, Patricia, for the tip.

Teen Driving Site

For those of you who are looking to have teen drivers on your hands soon, Teendriving.com has a lot of good information for parents and young drivers, everything from tips on teaching your kid to drive to information on insurance and safety products.

Sandra Dodd Interviews on YouTube

Read more from Sandra Dodd on Unschooling.

Our Courts

Here's a website that looks promising. It seems to still be under development, but I am especially intrigued by the "games" section which is supposed to be complete by the summer of 2009.

ABOUT OUR COURTS
Our Courts is a free, interactive, web-based program designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. Our Courts is the vision of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is concerned that students are not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation, and that civics teachers need better materials and support. On this site, you will find information and useful teaching resources for an engaging civics curriculum.

I'm curious about how other homeschoolers approach civic participation. One of the things that really impressed me about the very first homeschool family I ever knew of (years ago) was that the children were so aware of and involved in current events. The oldest (I think around age 15 at the time) was actually working on a campaign for a local politician.

Isn't the best way to learn about it to get out there and be involved? Are there any avenues of participation that you have found especially enjoyable? Any ways your kids have gotten involved that you would like to share?

Speech and Debate Tournament

Dear Kansas Homeschool Families,

We would be honored to have you judge speech and/or debate at the upcoming NCFCA Regional Invitational Tournament for high-school students.

This is also a great way for you to find out about adding this opportunity to your homeschool program.

Home-educated public speakers and debaters from five states will be competing in Overland Park from April 27-29.

To find out more information and sign up please go to http://www.jotform.com/form/90902347250 (http://txopenjudges.com/) We need over 400 community judges for this event, so please consider giving just three (3) hours of your time; I think you will find it worthwhile.

Simply visit http://www.jotform.com/form/90902347250 to find out more information and register to judge.I hope that you are able to participate in this opportunity to invest in the lives of these young people.

Gratefully,
Cheryl Reynolds
Host Coordinator and Kansas State Representative for NCFCA
http://www.ncfca.org/regional_contacts/reg_5_tourn

The Chronicles of Narnia at Union Station

The Chronicles of Narnia:

The Exhibition makes its Midwest debut

only at Union Station in Kansas City

May 22-August 23!

Explore the science and wonder of Narnia!

Step through the wardrobe and into the wintry world of Narnia where in the midst of summer, you'll feel the snow on your face and experience the chill of the witch's ice throne first-hand.

Based on the C.S. Lewis classic books and Disney blockbuster movies, the
exhibition includes more than 150 original costumes, set dressings and props from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, as well as newly created educational hands-on activities and videos.

Click on the images to view the flyers.

They have a note up right now that if you purchase tickets prior to May 1st, you receive free tickets to Science City.

Do you know your states?

Here's an online puzzle that will keep you entertained for a bit. You have to put each state in it's place on the map. Can you do it?

State Map

Thanks for the link, Claudia.

Interactive Brain Tour

I enjoyed this quick tour of the human brain from the Alzheimer's Association, and I thought there were probably a number of others who would find it interesting, as well.

Open Culture

Open Culture is a website my husband found. He's just been given his first MP3 player, a hand-me-down from our daughter, and he's become a big fan of the world of podcasts and lectures that he can download and carry it with him to listen to whenever he wants.

There is truly an impressive collection here - everything from free audio book links to foreign language lessons. It has a list of university lectures by subject from across the nation.

Television and music.

Science and law.

I warn you; it's one of those places (much like a great library) that makes you feel there will truly never be enough time in the world to explore every avenue of interest.

My oldest (age 13) has begun browsing the site. I think it would be a great resource for older kids and adults.

Home Schooling Continues to Grow

An article on homeschooling from 4Marks, a Catholic website.

The statistics in this article are mildly interesting.

A 2007 survey of home-schooling parents showed that a majority educated their own offspring for moral or religious reasons. But those who home school because they want a more untraditional approach are growing, now up to a possible 32 percent of all home schoolers.

But the article, for the most part, seems to be written as a response to criticism of homeschooling in general, and criticism from teachers (or at least one specific teacher) in particular. In fact, it is probably more accurate to say that the article was written with the point of embarrassing teachers, in general.

I have to ask if this "us vs. them" mentality is really what we want to be living as an example for our children. On the one hand, I read this article and find myself empathizing with the author. I've probably been party to countless conversations myself, blasting the public school system and those who participate in it.

Yet, some of my best friends are public schoolers (I count more than a few teachers among those I know and love) and it doesn't seem to get in the way of my friendship with them, nor my children's friendships with their children. Sure, there are questions and even occasional misunderstandings that come up. My kids, for instance, don't always fully understand school lingo and they aren't always pleased with some of the divisions the whole grade division seems to create among those they would like to spent time with. I may step up on a soapbox a bit too passionately at times for the comfort of my friends who have chosen different lifestyles for their own families. But similar gaps of understanding exist between my preference to give birth at home and my sister-in-law's comfort with the hospital, for instance. It doesn't --and shouldn't-- stop us from communicating and finding that common ground where we both can be passionate and enjoy each other's company.

Of course, the author and I are probably as far apart philisophically as the author and this teacher she is responding to. I am of that 32% she cites early in her article, and while it's easy for us to be on the "same side" when the statistics are convenient, the "us vs. them" between traditional homeschoolers and radical unschoolers (as only one example) can be easily as viscious and ugly on any given day.

I'll be the first to admit that I get bit of a thrill when I run into a school teacher (past or present) who tells me that they'd be homeschooling themselves in this day and age if they had young children. But I've also bit my tongue through countless insensitive remarks, and there is nothing that annoys me more than when people assume that because my children don't attend school, I am every homeschool stereotype.

I appreciate the author's point, and I share that feeling of anger and injustice when reading comments such as these... sometimes it just feels better to spout back, to throw a rebuttal out there and point out the justification for the path you are taking.

I know also that this teacher is not representative of the entire population of teachers, just as neither the author nor myself are representative of all who homeschool. I guess what I want to remind myself of is that I shouldn't carry a grudge for an entire population of teachers just because a few wish to speak out in ignorance or because they feel threatened by my choices. There's really no need for us to think of each other as enemies.

I think instead, if we just dedicated ourselves to being open-minded and available for dialogue -- to respond as we would want to be responded to -- then maybe the teachers could begin to understand and appreciate our choices more, and that we might learn to understand and appreciate the passions and ideals that led them to be teachers in the first place.



Thanks for the link, Rebecca.

Ritchie House (Topeka) Open House in April

Greetings!

My name is Robin Shrimplin and I am the education consultant for the Shawnee County Historical Society. I wanted to let your group know about the open house we are holding at the historic Ritchie House (built 1856) every Saturday in April from 10 am to 2 pm. The house is located in downtown Topeka (3 blocks east of the water tower) at 1116 SE Madison. The event is free and open to the public.

The Ritchie family were abolitionists and were part of the Underground Railroad network in Kansas. We are celebrating that history this April with
corresponding activities as follows:

April 4th - 10:30 am Performance: "The Underground Railroad In Kansas" by historian and educator Anne Hawkins as Mary Jane Ritchie.

April 4th - 1:00 pm Especially for Elementary Age Students: Special reading of the book, "Almost To Freedom" and a talk about the Underground Railroad in Kansas.

April 11th - 1:00 pm Especially for Secondary Teachers: A presentation about our new traveling trunk "Territorial/ Civil War Kansas."

April 18th - 10:30 am Performance: "The Underground Railroad in Kansas" by historian and educator Anne Hawkins as Mary Jane Ritchie. A

April 18th - 1:00 pm Especially for Secondary Teachers: Presentation on our new lesson plan: "The Killing of Leonard Arms: The Trial of John Ritchie Upon the Shooting and Death of Deputy U.S. Marshal Leonard Arms."

April 25th - Morning Discussion "Forts In Kansas" led by Tanner Carlson (our student intern from Washburn University)

April 25th - 1:00 pm Especially for Elementary Age Students: Special reading of the book, "Almost To Freedom" and a talk about the Underground Railroad in Kansas.

Please feel free to contact me for more information. My phone number
is 785-232-5622. Also feel free to visit our website.

For more information about our performer, Anne Hawkins, visit HistoricPerformance.com.

We hope to see your group at the open house!
Robin Shrimplin