Zombie Invasion!

(Or how my chilldren entertain themselves on an otherwise boring day.)

:No Children, Zombies nor Quakers were injured during production.

Mainstream Homeschooling Article

Education Next by the Hoover Institution has an interesting article in their Winter 2009 publication. The article discusses Homeschooling going mainstream. Considering the current climate around what broadcasting (The View) allows to be said about homeschooling, I felt it was important to point out a sound article that explores the whys and wherefores of homeschooling.

In this article they discuss the many and varied reasons people choose to home school. Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, homeschool their children. Jada is quoted as saying that they choose homeschooling “so they can stay with us when we travel, and also because the school system in this country—public and private—is designed for the industrial age. We’re in a technological age. We don’t want our kids to memorize. We want them to learn.” This reminded me of an interview with Will Smith a long time ago, so I don't remember with who, but Will Smith pointed out that because he can read, he can learn most anything.

I love the reference to being in a 'technological age'. I look at all the things my son learns and I compare it to how I learned at his age and I must say he has far more knowledge then I had at his age. I was a top student and a bookworm. I did well in school but let's face it, computers took up a whole floor of a college building and remote access was a rare thing so when we learned about computers, it was in drafting an informational flow chart on paper, transfering it to tape or a punch card, to feed into that remote access modem to test it. Just the idea of explaining this process is so ridiculous! Research? When I was young, research required a trip to the library, hoping they had the books you needed, and usually, the information was not up to date unless you happened upon a recent magazine article. My son has more access to information then I ever dreamed was possible.

So why is it important that good articles are written about homeschooling? Well, for starters, because there are so many people out there not being respectful of choices different then their own. Also, because the state of public education in this country is coming under fire at the way it has failed so many. We need to stay attuned to the laws and lawmakers to make sure that in their attempt to 'fix' the educational system in this country, that they don't take away our rights to educate our children our own way. Times have changed and children need a much different type of education.

Green House Gas Going to Far?

OK. Here's a strange one I just heard about through my homesteading off the grid friends. It's a 'What are they thinking?' type of money generator if I ever heard one. Lol, in Wyoming, they want to tax cows and pigs for the gasses they release. Well, actually, the cow and pig owner. See, it seems that since no one can figure out a good way to capture all that cow/pig gas, and it keeps escaping into the atmosphere, the powers that be want to tax the livestock owners under the 'Clean Air Act'.

Now, I realize that many of you may think this is a good idea. But if you think about it, if they can tax livestock for flatulence, how soon will it be before they start taxing the elderly, or the heavy beer drinkers, or the crazy youthful male college student who considers it a skill?

For those who are curious as to the original article click here.

Quotes I don't want to lose

Supposing I said there was a planet without schools or teachers, where study was unknown, and yet the inhabitants—doing nothing but living and walking about—came to know all things, to carry in their minds the whole of learning; would you not think I was romancing? Well, just this, which seems so fanciful as to be nothing but the invention of a fertile imagination, is a reality. It is the child's way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so he passes little by little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love. —Dr. Maria Montessori, MD

Like others I had believed that it was necessary to encourage a child by means of some exterior reward that would flatter his baser sentiments, such as gluttony, vanity, or self-love, in order to foster in him a spirit of work and peace. And I was astonished when I learned that a child who is permitted to educate himself really gives up these lower instincts. I then urged the teachers to cease handing out the ordinary prizes and punishments, which were no longer suited to our children, and to confine themselves to directing them gently in their work.
Dr. Montessori

Introducing Candy, our new puppy

Ktas just turned eleven and all he wanted for his birthday was one video game and a female Golden Retriever puppy. So I took him to see a litter of puppies and he picked out Candy.

I'll try and get more pictures soon. Candy is a wonderful new addition to our home.

Amen Ben!

"God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” –Constitutional Convention of 1787 original manuscript of this speech Benjamin Franklin