Comments on: Learning Through Living

By: Carol Brown

Carol Brown — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:48:39 +0000

My children were already launched in public school and I in a teaching career when homeschooling appeared on the horizon, but my sister (14 years younger) has homeschooled her two. This fall Mark, her son, wanted to enroll in a Criminal Justice class offered at one of Grand Rapids, MI’s many schools, etc. as part of his homeschool graduation requirements. His interview as part of the application process lasted twice as long as the others. We learned later that the officers who interviewed were very keen to learn about Mark and wanted to be kept abreast of his grades during this his senior year. Both the local police and the state police want to hire homeschool graduates because they are very responsible, they problem solve well, and they interact with all levels of society with relative ease. The officers made it clear that a homeschool diploma was an advantage, not a impediment to a job on the force! So, go for it homeschoolers!

By: Retha Barton

Retha Barton — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:28:21 +0000

I love this! And not just because Thomas Jefferson is my favorite! I think I would have to save a few more than $500 to go from Colorado though… I think that it is a scary trend that middle aged people, and children are loosing so much interest in things like these. Mount Rushmore was mostly the elderly and homeschoolers (but we did go in September).
Retha Barton´s last blog ..Secrets about Pumpkins

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:53:39 +0000

Hi Erin, and thanks for your comment. I’m sorry that you felt I was being self-righteous. It has been my experience that homeschool parents ARE more active in seeking out unique educational opportunities because they have to be. They don’t have a school system to set these types of things up for them. Perhaps I could have worded my statement differently. I think homeschooling IS the best option for children, although I realize that not everyone is able or interested in doing it. I think parents that get so defensive about the statements of other parents might not be that secure in their parenting in the first place.
Shannon´s last blog ..SITS Down and Get Comfy

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:53:22 +0000

I think this line sums up my problem with homeschooling parents:
“I think homeschooling parents are much more active than other parents in seeking out these unique activities.”
As someone who has done neurocognitive research with children in public schools, private schools, and homeschools – I can report (not judge) that parents within all three groups vary greatly. There are active parents and inactive parents in all groups – # of other children, money, other priorities, and many different definitions of what constitutes a “unique activity” are just some of the variables in play.

I love that you not only judge homeschooling parents as MORE active in seeking out activities – but MUCH MORE active. I prefaced this comment by saying that this is what bugs me about homeschooling parents – I should take my own advice and not overly generalize based on my opinion instead of fact. Thus I am judging you (not all homeschooling parents) as not just MORE self-righteous, but MUCH MORE self-righteous than other parents I know.

You couldn’t just write a post about a cool experience you had with your children? That wasn’t enough? You had to add a paragraph in about how this is an example of why you are better? Because there weren’t other families there when you or your friend went (2 nights out of how many nights this restaurant has been open) you decide that public school families are not interested in going? To use your tagline – so the type of parent you want your child to become – one that judges? Or is self-righteous?

I’m so sick of parenting blogs that put down other parents – the subtle digs are all over the place. Parenting, marriage, life can all be challenging – we should be supporting each other, not judging, especially on topics we know very little about (and certainly not spewing incorrect facts).
Erin´s last blog ..Working Without Deadlines

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:51:35 +0000

Kudos to you! Homeschooling offers such rich opportunities for your children. I know it’s a *lot* of work, but there are so many of us who are proud of you!

By: Kids Fun Activities

Kids Fun Activities — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:28:20 +0000

Hi Shannon, I like this kids activities. I think that even If you don’t have that special restaurant, searching for a restaurant that locate near historical place (Like we have here in Jerusalem) can teach the kids a lot.
Kids Fun Activities´s last post: Activities for kids – Idea No. 4: Kids Halloween Activities

By: cheryl from thatgirlisfunny

cheryl from thatgirlisfunny — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:24:28 +0000

Hi Shannon,
It’s always the right time to learn something new! The experience you’re sharing with your family is usually reserved for purposeful sight-seeing vacation trips. I love how you spliced it into family dinner time. You found something mutually entertaining, educational and informative that your whole family enjoyed. Pus, it was live! Your kids could ask a question and have it answered on the spot. Really good stuff.

Learning opportunities are everywhere we look and everywhere we don’t look. Stopping to smell the roses is such simple advice. That’s what makes it so effective.
Thanks for sharing this experience with us – SITStah!
Cheryl
cheryl from thatgirlisfunny´s last post: Why Cheryl, the Ninja Warrior Girl, Doesn’t Have a Boyfriend…

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:25:46 +0000

How cool is this!!

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By: dawn

dawn — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:32:10 +0000

We spent an evening with The Rushmore Presidents last fall here in Baltimore.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln were all in attendance. They answered questions as themselves, then as their “real” selves.
They all only portray that one president as a full time job. The evening was amazing and their knowledge and insight into those powerful men was wonderful for not only me, but my teen sons.
And they really looked and sounded just like the president’s do in all historical pics and documentation.
dawn´s last post: SPECIAL Blizzard February 2010 Edition … aka The Day The Earth Stood Still

By: CoconutPalmDesigns

CoconutPalmDesigns — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:41:42 +0000

This is a great post! I wish there were things like that here in Belize for me to take my son to, once he’s old enough of course.

Visiting from SITS.

Cheers :-)
-CoconutPalmDesigns
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