Why Do I Homeschool?

Because of people like Carolyn Hileman, "You Had Better Get Your Shovel The Master Will Be Coming Back Soon". My family left the public school system so we wouldn't have to deal with people like her.

Great Letter to the Editor

Evolutionary theory does not address ‘life’s origins’ Regarding Mississippi House Bill 25, on placing a message that “evolution is a theory” in school textbooks: We have been through this before (Georgia), and such a measure will eventually be struck down. Please, let us put a stop to this now, and not waste additional taxpayer dollars on a fruitless, and entirely religious-based cause. Indeed, there is a theory that attempts to explain the facts regarding species evolution. However, evolutionary theory in no way attempts to explain origins of life, as is mentioned in HB 25. That mention is a clear mistake, or misrepresentation. In other words, it is wrong. Evolutionary theory does not address “life’s origins.” Evolutionary theory informs us as to how species change over time, and how new species emerge through that change. The ultimate origin of life is not a part of evolutionary theory. Did you know … gravity is also a theory, yet we don’t see groups “warning” people about that one (however, for an example of how silly this kind of thinking can be, see “Intelligent Falling”). Also, education makes use of a theory (Instructional Theory). Probability is also a theory. Etcetera. So, to be fair, students must also be “cautioned” about all of these theories that are associated with teaching and with what is being taught. To single out evolution is a clear attempt to insert religious thinking and biases into classrooms, and such an attempt will and should fail. Religion is a private matter, and is not in any way a part of scientific learning. Please, let us not waste any more of my and your tax dollars on this issue. Please, let us not make Mississippi look more foolish than it already does. Clay LaHatte Vicksburg

From Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog

This post was inadvertently left out of the Carnival. Having two sons I know all about brothers competing. Drop by Beverly's Homeschooling Blog to read To compete or not to compete.

Anti~Science HB 25 or Stupid in Mississippi

I do wish the nut jobs would figure out that a scientific theory isn't just some idea Joe Blow came up with. You know gravity is a theory but I don't see the nut jobs challenging it (pity).

Nut Job: Evoulution is JUST A THEORY!

Scientist: Gravity is just a theory too, why don't you jump off this 10 foot building to see if it is based on a careful and rational examination of the facts.

Nut Job: (jumps off building and goes splat)

Anyway back to HB25

The State Board of Education shall require every textbook that includes the teaching of evolution in its contents to include the following language on the inside front cover of the textbook: "The word 'theory' has many meanings, including: systematically organized knowledge; abstract reasoning; a speculative idea or plan; or a systematic statement of principles. Scientific theories are based on both observations of the natural world and assumptions about the natural world. They are always subject to change in view of new and confirmed observations. This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things. No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered a theory. Evolution refers to the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced living things. There are many topics with unanswered questions about the origin of life which are not mentioned in your textbook, including: the sudden appearance of the major groups of animals in the fossil record (known as the Cambrian Explosion); the lack of new major groups of other living things appearing in the fossil record; the lack of transitional forms of major groups of plants and animals in the fossil record; and the complete and complex set of instructions for building a living body possessed by all living things. Study hard and keep an open mind."

Carnival of Homeschooling ~ The Teal Edition

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, and TEAL is the color that represents Cervical and Ovarian Cancer. You can get your Think TEAL shirt here and help support research and raise awareness for Cervical and Ovarian Cancer. As with homeschooling EDUCATION is the key, you can educate yourself about Cervical Cancer here. I challenge you to go TEAL for January (If you want to turn your blog TEAL the Html code is #008080).

or you can display a TEAL ribbon to show your support for cervical and ovarian cancer research.

Henry muses about how learning can take place outside of the classroom in the post Stealth education found at Why Homeschool.

Four Squares explains how she manipulated her home environment to foster a love of learning in her children, in the post Accessibility

NerdMom presents Making Money, Keeping Money: Bargain Books for Teachers and Homeschoolers! posted at Making Money, Keeping Money.

Kim over at Countdown to College announces a college prep/graduation prep workshop in Denver and offers a contest, the Pre-Launch Challenge for workshop discounts and a free college prep personal consultation.

In other news, Mother-Lode hits paydirt on New Year's eve with a more grown-up celebration of old and new with her mostly grown-up children in a night-time geo-caching treasure hunt.

In an online vote, TEAL was voted the most popular shade of blue just ahead of cornflower blue. Today homeschooling is a popular educational choice for many parents.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. Tammy at the totally revamped Just Enough, and Nothing More takes an honest look at their mistakes and what they did right.

And we have all probably bought a popular curriculum and then for some reason not used it. Sandy presents her solution in Use It Up posted at Falling Like Rain.

Unit studies are a popular with some homeschoolers. Missouri Homeschool Daily Log explains the basics of unit studies in the post What is a unit study?

Laura presents tips for Practical Homeschooling posted at Practical Homeschooling.

Cristina's comics are popular with our family check out her latest Home Spun comic strip #307 posted at Home Spun Juggling.

TEAL gets its name from the fact that it surrounds the eyes of the Common Teal (Anas crecca ), a member of the duck family.

Other ducks with TEAL in their name:
The Ringed Teal, Callonetta leucophrys
The Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis
The Black Teal, Aythya novaeseelandiae
The Brown Teal, Anas aucklandica
The Silver Teal, Anas versicolor
The Cape Teal, Anas capensis
The Marbled Teal, Marmaronetta angustirostris
The Campbell Island Teal Anas nesiotis

A small duck of shallow ponds, the Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors ) breeds across much of the central and northern United States and Canada. Rather dull in plumage overall, it reveals its powder-blue wing patch in flight.

Some people still consider homeschoolers odd-ducks.

We often enjoy trying new and different things, including recipes. HowToMe presents How To Bake Rusks posted at HowToMe.

Dana presents Homeschooling family values posted at Principled Discovery.

Dana presents Into the Snow posted at Simple Pleasures.

Christinemoers presents Brainiacs - Pom-Pom's posted at Welcome to my Brain.

Many homeschoolers enjoy reading, for those of you searching for a book to read, TEAL is also the name of a character in the novels of Leslie Charteris. The character's name is Claud Eustace Teal (Mr. Teal).

Everyone in my family loves to read, but I know some of my friends struggle with getting their kids to read, especially if they have sons. Guys Lit Wire will help guys find the reading material they want. Check out their review of Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card.

The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds is reviewed at MGTutoring.Com in the post A Wright Brothers Anecdote.

Summer presents The 4 year Old Is Reading posted at Wired For Noise.

Kathy presents Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes: Homeschool Review posted at HomeSchoolBuzz.com.

Susan Gaissert presents The Wizard of Mumbai posted at The Expanding Life.

Often homeschoolers are history buffs. Here is an interesting historical tidbit, the Thurston Teal amphibious aircraft, also known as the Schweizer Teal was designed by David Thurston in the United States and first flown in 1968.[1] A total of 38 Teals were manufactured.[2]<>

We love History here and I am always pleased to learn new and interesting tidbits. Thanks to History is Elementary I now know about The Great State of Franklin.

ChristineMM presents Mini Lesson in Neuroscience for My Kids posted at The Thinking Mother.

Amy Smith presents Celebrating Chinese New Year posted at Kids Love Learning.

Sally Johnson presents Free Online Science Classes posted at Diamonds in the Rough.

The Whited Sepulchre presents The Whited Sepulchre: Where Will Malia And Sasha Obama Go To School? posted at The Whited Sepulchre.

Shauna presents Inauguration Resources posted at Treasure Seekers.

The Life Without School Community Blog offers Some Practical Advice on College Entrance, by Bettina

Miscellaneous post
Simon Cowell presents A Basic Introduction to Adverbs posted at Learn English Online.

Thomas J. West presents Technique Targeting: Becoming Your Own Music Teacher posted at Thomas J. West Music.

Nancy Miller presents OEDb's Online College Rankings 2009 posted at OEDb: Online Education Database.

Cary Anderson presents Campground Safety posted at Campground Safety.

Becca presents The Best Activity for Pre-schoolers Ever! posted at Inspiration for Mothers . Com.

Spanish Learner presents Using Connecting Words In Spanish posted at Learn Spanish Blog.

English Speaker presents Learn English - English Speaking Tutorial » Blog Archives » Introducing Your Children to English Speaking Schools posted at English Tutorial.

Smart Camper presents Racing An Airstream posted at Go Camping - Life's An Adventure.

Concerning Kids presents Some Thoughts On Affordable Child Health Insurance posted at Concerning Kids.

Coffee Addict presents Top 10 Coffee Alternatives: Avoid the Negative Effects of Caffeine My Caffeine Addiction posted at Caffeine Addiction.

College Degrees presents Can EB Visas, Foreign Degree Evaluations Fix the Housing Crisis? posted at TheDegreePeople Blog.

Concerning Kids presents Help For Single Parents Raising Children posted at Concerning Kids.

Karen presents We Must Do Something posted at The Stone Age Techie.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Top 10 Brain Fitness and Cognitive Health Books posted at SharpBrains.

One Language presents Learn English Articles » Blog Archive » Simple English Sentence Construction posted at Free English Lessons.

PicktheBrain presents Advancing From Paralegal to Attorney posted at Paralegal Training.

John Tedder presents » Can Kindergarten Scar You For Life? - Tedder’s Random Notes posted at Tedder's Random Notes.

Denise presents MathCounts ? Ready or Not, Here It Comes posted at Let's Play Math!.

Concerning Kids presents The Top Child Vitamins Available Today - A Helpful List posted at Concerning Kids.

Thank you for reading The TEAL Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. Next weeks Carnival will be hosted by About Homeschooling to submit a post click here. And an extra thank you to everyone who submitted their post early. I got to go visit Hubby for a romantic weekend in San Diego and it made getting the Carnival up so much easier to be able to do most of the work Thursday, before I left. My apologies for any mistakes. ~Alasandra

Homeschool Showcase

Drop by Homeschool Showcase (Formerly The Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers) #15 for some great post while I put the finishing touches on this weeks Carnival of Homeschooling.