Summer Get-Together Edition: Carnival Of Homeschooling

Before we begin, here is some information you may enjoy about August 3rd - August 3 is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 150 days remaining until the end of the year. This carnival is "Numbah 240"!

Well, Summer always includes get-togethers with friends... Let's see where our friends are gathering and what they are talking about today.



At the Beach:

Renae is talking to us about Perfect Timing over at Life Nurturing Education.

Two Kid Schoolhouse is sharing, "What I would do differently if I could re-do kindergarten with my kids", with this post entitled Kindergarten do-over

Barbara Frank Online thinks that Homeschooling parents can learn to be flexible when it comes to deciding how to teach their children. She is telling us all about it with this article: Changing My Game Plan.

Lizzie clues us in on how they study artists in her Charlotte Mason homeschool with a few links anyone can enjoy! Check out Artist Study posted at A Dusty Frame.




At the Lake:

Mary Arnold has some Tips and Encouragement For Homeschooling A Child Working Below Grade Level! which is posted over at Parent Community and Forum.

Pamela presents Summer Days posted at Blah, Blah, Blog. Bring along some lip gloss - but don't leave it in the sun... Okay?

Cristina shares some tips on getting organized for the upcoming school year with Home Spun comic strip #509 . It can be seen with other fine posts over at Home Spun Juggling.





At the Library:

Lori (majellamom) gives us the run down on Eva's School Books - or Stop ME Before I Buy Any More Curricula for this Child! posted at Waiting for Charlie.... (Hey - she's got some real good picks there!)

NerdMom presents an amazing line-up of Books and Stuff over at Nerd Family. (Government school can't touch that! This is why we just LOVE homeschooling!)

e-Mom gives us some Book NEWS: "Bringing Up Girls" & "Girls Gone Wise" and she says it's useful advice for Christian Parents in a World Gone Wild (actually it's good advice for all parents) which can be found at C h r y s a l i s ღ.

Mrs. White presents the most charming post entitled Memories of Writing Novels with Children over at The Legacy of Home. What a gift she has given to her children... and to herself.

"NAK" gives us a sampling of The Magic Meadow shared at Sage Parnassus.




At the Local Coffee Shop:

Autumn Beck spends this coffee klatch sharing her Top 10 list from the Baby Conference which can be found at Homeschooling In Kerrville. Who’d want to miss that?! This was her first conference of any kind outside of chiropractic. Despite her nerves over how her children would behave, she reports that she had an extremely blessed time.

Sarah shares her thoughts about the decline in creativity in today's kids and what to do about it in interesting article entitled The Creativity Crisis over at Ensmartening. As a bonus, she also shares 7 Steps to a Smarter and More Satisfied You.

Sharing some "techie stuff" is Denise with us a lesson from experience, for her homeschool co-op blogging students and you too!). It's about How to Avoid Accidents posted at Blogging 2 Learn.

Sheryl Owen shows us how the back to school crowd should be preparing with 10 Tips for Kids Going to a New School which can be seen at Change of Address.





At the Political Rally:

Linda Dobson tells us about D.C's education problems with this piece entitled, Amid Teacher Layoffs, D.C. Assesses Hundreds More Out the Door from PARENT AT THE HELM. Looks like DC is trying to clean house and dump some inadequate instructors.

Corn and Oil's Susan Ryan gives us Different Strokes for Different (Homeschooling) Folks and reminds us that Choices abound for parents who teach kids themselves!

DeputyHeadmistress shares with us an economics lesson and some Austrian economics with this post about Stimulus Spending and the Broken Window Fallacy. That is found at The Common Room along with some very fine links for those seeking help with the study of economics.


Great posts all!
So much to learn - so much to share.

And just so you know - here's what my homeschool "graduates" are doing.

My oldest graduated from Boston University 5 years ago and is still gainfully employed and paying off student loans, living on his own, and working for Wilbur Smith Associates as a Transportation Analyst/Assistant Project Leader.

My middle one just got a job as Information Security officer at MIT Lincoln Labs. He graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology last August. His specialty is database security and networks. He is also living on his own and paying off school loans (smile).

"The Girl", just finished off her freshman year at University of New Haven and made the Dean's List. She is majoring in Music Industry (the bu$ine$$ side of music) and aspires to be a Tour Manager for a major rock band (We just don't know which one yet...) She already owns her own production company.

Homeschooling helped them get to where they are. They learned in freedom. Their successes come from their ability to try things - and learning to believe in themselves - and knowing how to find the things that they needed to accomplish what they wanted to do.

I will leave you with this link ... it's especially important as we head into November elections.

Please support candidates who believe in homeschool freedom, parental rights and education choice. We need to have choices in education that allow parents to choose how to raise and educate their own children; choices which are free from government interference and regulation. It is not the job of the Federal government to dictate standards to us - to fund us or, to give us anything. Keep homeschooling sovereign. Our children do not belong to the State - and neither do we.

"It is the duty of parents to maintain their children decently, and according to their circumstances; to protect them according to the dictates of prudence; and to educate them according to the suggestions of a judicious and zealous regard for their usefulness, their respectability and happiness." - James Wilson, Lectures on Law, 1791

"Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men's natural abilities as to restrain them." -- Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677)

Thanks and have a wonderful rest of your Summer!
Homeschooled kids and their families ROCK!