Reading Homeschooling Mom’s Blogs

I read a comment today on metafilter that if anyone wants to get a good glimpse of the real lives of American women, he should read homeschooling mom’s blogs.

If you think about it, there are indeed a lot of homeschooling mom blogs out there. Are there a lot of working mom blogs? Stay at home school mom blogs? I’m not sure, since I don’t read that circle of blogs all that much. Do homeschooling moms own a huge chunk of the momblogosphere?

I’d also guess, that out of all the blogging dads out there, homeschool dads have high percentage of virtual real estate as well.

Carnival of Homeschooling Graphics Contest

The Carnival of Homeschooling is looking for new graphics for their site. So they are having a contest.

They are also celebrating their two year anniversary, and are looking for submissions.

New Feed Options on JE

I just added two new features to the menu on the right: RSS feed and Email updates.

Let me know if you have any problems with it.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Holiday Slow Down

I can tell it’s the holidays in the blogosphere - I only have five or six updated blogs in my RSS feeder this morning, instead of 15-20.

My dad arrived yesterday, with his family. Typically, when he’s here, we don’t sit around the house. So I won’t have a lot of time to get near my computer.

If you happen to be surfing the blogosphere this week, and you happen to arrive here, I wish you a week of fun and laughter, life and love.

Do You Have a Homeschooling Question?

I’ve added a link in the side bar. If you ask a question, I’ll answer on the blog. Once there are enough questions, I’ll make a separate page for them all.

BTW, the why do you homeschool poll has 500 responses! How exciting! Thank you everyone who participated.

Not All Homeschoolers Support Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee

Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee have been in the news quite a bit, pandering appealing to homeschoolers. Now, I am not uniformly against either candidate. They do have some interesting perspectives. However, one thing I know for sure, they are not “the homeschoolers’ candidate”. There is no such thing. Period.

Homeschoolers are not a unified front politically. We don’t even agree even on fundamental educational ideas.

Doc is for Hillary. She made a button. She encourages everyone to make their own button. Show the world that homeschoolers aren’t all the same.

That’s an important lesson for anyone new to homeschooling - even if it our local groups indicate otherwise, we are not homogeneous. We are an incredibly diverse group of people. I was surprised in the beginning. And sometimes I’m still surprised by the variety in opinions, perspectives and practices of our nation’s and world’s homeschoolers.

So, it’s not at all surprising to me that not every homeschooler is in support of Paul and Huckabee. In fact, I would be disappointed if we all agreed on one candidate, simply because he allegedly is taking the homeschoolers’ side. There’s a lot to think about. A lot more than whether or not the presidential candidate wants to give me and 1% of other Americans a tax cut, or even recognition. There’s a lot more to what a president does. Homeschoolers, with such a diverse range of perspectives on money, government, social security, the war, oil, the budget, health insurance, and many other political topics, shouldn’t be agreeing with one another. It means we aren’t thinking if we all agree.

And that’s one thing I can say for sure - we’re thinkers. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t have made the decision to go against the grain and homeschool in the first place.

Update: Here’s a list of other blogs on the same topic.

The Joy of Getting Side-tracked

Because I apparently don’t have anything to do, I decided to try and learn how to set up my professional website. It’s taking a lot of brain power to do this. And because I am doing this, I can so relate to my kids when they get sucked into a project or research, and just can’t be pulled away.

I’ve been looking up themes, learning how to write in .php (WordPress language), reviewing how to use Unix, trying to figure out what I can even do…and getting sucked in. I almost forgot to make dinner and my husband had to read the kids their bedtime stories.

After a couple of hours, I’m not done with my research, but I got a good chunk of it done. Enough to be able to sleep tonight. Enough to let it go for a while so I can do the other things I’m supposed to be doing.

It’s funny how things like that just sweep me up when I least expect it, and I just HAVE to know more. I can’t go on without figuring it out. I can’t concentrate on anything else until I at least get a rudimentary handle on it.

I can relate to when my kids are engrossed in something for hours on end. Full of passion to figure things out and make things happen. I can relate to how that drive is so innate in all of us. And how important it is to let it happen, even when it’s not “supposed to”. (Like I’m supposed to be working on a certain book right now, not relearning HTML.) I may not have been working on what I was “supposed” to, but I feel SO alive right now. And ready to move on to the other things I’m supposed to do with renewed vigor.

When was the last time you experienced that pull to just keep learning, doing, experiencing? That feeling that nobody can stop you until you figure out the answer or to make something work? How did it make you feel? Do you see it in your kids?

Free Language Podcasts

I found a great list of resources (at metafilter!) on how to learn a foreign language through free podcasts. I have them listed at one of my other blogs. Check it out!

More Metafilter Homeschooling Goodness

Hubby sent me a few more links from Metafilter. I kept waiting for the something to explode. Instead, I was met with insightful answers, supportive commentary and critical questions.

These are from last year. A question about an ex-wife situation (which so could have easily become nasty) and one about how to choose a non-religious curriculum (could have become an anti-religious homeschooler rant).

What is different when people ask questions about homeschooling at Metafilter? Why is the discussion here more civil than on most public forums?

I’ve shied away from places where random people ask random question to the universe, because the answers range from the helpful to the insane, and everything in between. This is so different.

Do you read Metafilter? Are these homeschooling answers indicative of the general feel of the community?

Update:  My curiosityoverwhelmed me, so I took a peek at Metafilter. When I went to sign up and this is what it said:

“Trust

One of the guiding principles here is trust in each other. The index page of metafilter.com can be added to by almost everybody that has signed up, as there is very little editing or deleting going on. Anyone can post a comment in a thread, and say whatever they feel.

I give you the ability to do this because I trust you. I trust that you’ll act in a civilized manner, that you’ll treat others with opposing viewpoints with absolute respect, that you’ll contribute in a positive way to the intelligent discussions that take place here everyday.

I give you the benefit of the doubt, because I trust you, so all that I ask is for you to honor that trust and promise to become a good contributor.”

There’s more great stuff there. If you sign up, it takes you to the page with all the details on what’s expected.

It also requires a $5 sign up fee to be able to post.

Homeschooling on Metafilter Garners Positive Response

My husband reads Metafilter like my dad used to read the paper. Today, my husband forwarded this link to me.

I am unmeasurably impressed by the discourse that followed after the initial question: Should my friend, who was homeschooled in a fundamentally Christian home, mention his GED on his college application? And how can he get a job?

This conversation could have gone in so many directions. The fine folks at Metafilter, chose to post clear, helpful and supportive responses.

Kudos to the responders at Metafilter!