Tag: homeschooling

education, homeschooling3 Comments

Let the Good Times Commence

everfaith

I’m not sure whether to write “Let the Good Times Roll” or “Let the Schooling Commence!”  Perhaps I could combine it into “Let the Good Schooling Times Commence to Roll!”  Well…maybe not. Either way, today I had a ball pulling out all the materials I’ve accumulated over the summer in preparation for my daughter’s first year of junior high. Challenge A with Classical Conversations is the road we are on with some history-based literature thrown in for vocabulary building and more imaginative exploration of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Tomorrow we will break out the planner and prepare for “our” … Continue reading Let the Good Times Commence

anxiety, homeschooling, praise3 Comments

Singing with my mouth…but not with my soul

everfaith

My fingers have been itching to write over the past couple of weeks, but carving out time to do so is just not happening on a regular basis. It’s cold today here, at least by North Texas standards.  My spine hurts, my fingers hurt, my knees hurt, and my hips hurt.  I don’t know if there is a joint in my body that is not aching today.  Maybe the one in my little toe… But I digress.  This cold, dreary weather is an accurate reflection of the inside of me at the moment.  My spiritual temperature is lukewarm.  I feel … Continue reading Singing with my mouth…but not with my soul

education, homeschooling1 Comment

From institutions of learning to daycare

everfaith

Four hundred eighth graders in Dallas returned to school over their summer break this week to retake the math portion of the TAKS test. Apparently the state was concerned because too many of the students received a “commended” score. This is another example of a world where up is down and down is up. Too many students do well on a test, and the administration automatically assumes cheating was somehow involved. Only this time, they didn’t implicate the students in the cheating. Well, who else? Did the teachers stay behind and secretly change answers on the answer sheets? Most of … Continue reading From institutions of learning to daycare

analysis, politics1 Comment

‘Dare to do our duty’

everfaith

My daughter and I are swimming in a world full of stories of political back-biting, Republicans hating their own office-holder, Democrats bashing the President, the press bashing the President, a very unpopular war (what war is popular, by the way?), states rights vs. federal control, the haves and the have-nots.  No, we’re not talking about the current political scene on the trail end of the Bush Presidency, although we could be.  We’re learning about the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln. I have to give homeschooling more snaps because I am learning so much more as an adult than I … Continue reading ‘Dare to do our duty’

education, politics2 Comments

Throw Money At The Dragon?

everfaith

I was interested to read today of Senator Obama’s speech about reforming the fire-breathing dragon educators call the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act. Obama’s solution is to throw one billion big ones at the problem. In his proposal, this extra money would: Double the federal cash given to charter schools Provide $500 million for technology in matching funds Design merit-pay based plans for teachers Create an ‘innovative schools fund’ which would provide aid to school districts to allow them to close low performing schools and raise the number of successful ones Obama praised the intentions of NCLB but criticized … Continue reading Throw Money At The Dragon?