Best of Just Enough – 2008

Hop over to the NEW Just Enough blog to wax nostalgic with the best posts of 2008!

Homeschooling On the Rise, and the Media Doesn’t Care

According to Tom Campbell of Illinois, homeschooling is becoming much more popular, and in 2008, there wasn’t enough information about this in the newspapers.

Read more at the new JustEnoughBlog.

Just Enough Has Been Moved (and Updated and Improved!)

The Just Enough blog has been moved to a new URL. Please update your links, and re-subscribe to the new feed.

The new URL is:

http://www.justenoughblog.com

The new feed is:

http://www.justenoughblog.com/?feed=rss2

If you have links to this blog, they will still work. But if you can, please send people to the new blog. If you have links to articles, and you need the new URL for those articles, send me an email, or leave a comment here (or at the blog post you want the new URL for).

The new blog has a lot of fun features, and I’m still adding more. So, come on by and check it out!

Homeschooling Law Books a Bust

The Law of Homeschooling, a new book by the Education Law Association, touts to be the definitive guide for all homeschooling laws across 50 states.

Don’t be fooled. So far, nobody has been able to correctly amass the detailed nuances of each state’s laws in one place. It’s been tried before, both online and offline, with little accuracy.

Get your information from your own state resources. And ask the people who are involved in your state homeschoolng activism what they do to comply. That’s where you’ll find the real answers.

Homeschooling As a Quiet Protest Against Public School

Some homeschoolers have very strong feelings against the public school system. Sometimes, I am one of them. But most of the time, I just think homeschooling rocks, whereas public school… well… doesn’t.

But am I protesting public school by my choice? Are you? Are we making a statement against something by not using it?

Is homeschooling simply a choice, or is it a refusal to participate in something that we’re “supposed” to do? This seems trite perhaps, but I wonder, is homeschooling any different than choosing Coke over Pepsi? Is drinking Coke a protest against Pepsi?

What if the government gave out free Pepsi? Would drinking Coke then be a protest against the government?

Homeschooling is only a protest against school if we’re expected to do it, if public school is the socially “right” choice, and if it’s the way people are “supposed” to learn. Is that what it is in our country? I thought that we lived in a country where choice, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness reigned? Is this not true?

So, if you think that I’m supposed to roll over and do whatever everyone else does because that’s what I’m “supposed” to do, then yes, I am protesting against public school. But I’m not making a big deal about it, because to me, public school is like Pepsi. And it should be like Pepsi. A choice. Just as I prefer Coke, other people prefer Pepsi. And that’s fine with me.

And that’s why to this guy, I’m protesting. While to me, I’m just making a choice.

Newest Carnival of Homeschooling

Check out this week’s edition of CoH. Happy reading!

Politicians Can Teach Us How To Be Better Homeschoolers

Are you a politician? Maybe you might be one and don’t even know it. You could be a politician within your family, because if you’re successful, you’re probably doing what every successful politician does – manage relationships, situations, and knowledge.

It wasn’t until very recently that I considered “politics” and “politician” to be dirty words. Well, now I understand that everything is politics. It’s part of life. These words are only dirty if I decide not to get involved in anything. As soon as I do, it’s politics. Homeschool groups, church groups, neighborhoods, family…it’s all politics. The only way to avoid it is to not participate.

To be successful with other people is to understand that everything is politics.

I was scared of politics. But you know what, it’s what we all do. When we homeschool, we’re involved in our own private politics. What makes us successful homeschoolers is similar, if not identical, to what makes politicians successful.

And that’s why paying attention to what makes a politician successful can help us. Think of a politician who you think is successful – both in the professional and personal realms. What did they do right?

Here are 10 things that politicians can teach us as homeschoolers:

1. Have a clear vision – Although it doesn’t have to be “finish XYZ workbook this year”, it’s important that we all have a clear vision in our educational plan. What do we specifically want to achieve? Where do we see ourselves in 1, 5, 10 years? What are our underlying principles? Having a vision is a universal truth of all successful ventures. If we can put them down on paper, somehow, even better. (For me, I put my vision down on paper every time I write about homeschooling.)

2. Know your motivation – Why are you homeschooling? Living the life of a homeschooler is not an easy choice, nor is living the life of a politician. Both choices stem from some kind of deep motivation. Maybe we want to change the world, or maybe we have a strong belief in a certain kind of truth. Whatever it is, there’s a reason. People don’t choose homeschooling or politics without a fire in their belly. What’s your fire?

3. Have a plan – Successful politicians have a plan. They know which bills they are going to support, they know which districts they need to appease, and they know where their support comes from. This isn’t by chance. Successful homeschoolers can benefit from this sage process. Knowing where you are going, is the distant shore. Knowing what steps you’ll take to get there, is the bridge. And keep in mind that most of the time, the most successful politicians don’t have just the everyday, normal stuff in their plan. They do what others aren’t willing to do, they do things according to their own motivation, and they do things that surprise us. Having a plan doesn’t mean we have to do what everyone else has done.

4. Enlist the help of others – The nature of politics requires mutual back-scratching. It sounds so horrible at first. But think about two homeschooling parents who trade babysitting, or who take turns offering classes, or who bring cookies/hummus/store bought crackers to park day for everyone to share? This is back-scratching, too! Successful politicians aren’t asking help from others simply to get ahead. They do it because they know it is good for everyone. I help you, you help me, we both win. Homeschooling is no different. Enlist the help of others, and it will come around. Successful homeschooling cannot be done alone. Get help. Be helpful. It works in politics and it works in homeschooling.

5. Don’t get bogged down – How much time do successful politicians spend on their failures? Just enough, then move on. Be like them, and use your failures as an opportunity for growth, then move on. Also, do let silly, unimportant things get you hooked – such as snide remarks from family, the laundry list of undone projects, or the piles of undone workbooks. Do the important things. And no, not everything is equally important. We give politicians a lot of flack for not doing everything, yet they succeed because they know that they can’t do everything. Do what’s important, and what falls under 1) and 3).

6. Enjoy the journey – You think successful politicians hate their job? Ha! Ha ha! Successful politicians LOVE their job. They love politics and everything that goes with it. To be successful homeschoolers, we have to LOVE it. The journey is all we have, so we might as well get the best of it that we can. Make the choice to smile, find ways to laugh, and to enjoy the small miracles that are everywhere. That’s what makes a homeschoolers successful, just like successful politicians manage to smile and enjoy what they do even when they are in the thick of difficult and frustrating politics.

7. Feel the fear and do it anyway – That’s what politics and homeschooling is all about, really. It’s normal to have fear, and doubts. Successful people feel these things. They just don’t let them rule their lives. Feel the fear, give it only the attention it needs to warn us of something, consider it, then move forward. 90% of the time, fear stems from the stories we build in our head, not reality. Be a success and push past the fear, and do it anyway.

8. Be humble enough to learn – This is a big one. Because the politician who doesn’t do this might find some temporary success, and it might even feel really, really good to be right and be powerful. But when their reign is over, they fall hard. A politician who can’t learn, is doomed to failure eventually. Same with homeschooling. We might do great at first, and boy does being right feel good. But if we aren’t willing to learn and change, it’ll come back and bite us hard. We all have room to learn, no matter how much we’ve read, experienced, or thought about things. The world changes and people change. If we aren’t willing to change too, we’ll be left behind.

9. Take the high ground – It’s really hard not to get caught up in petty fights, isn’t it? Politicians do it all the time. But have you noticed that the really successful politicians don’t have time, or even interest, in all of that? They find the good in people, even when they disagree. They see how trouble can lead to positive outcomes. They have the opinion that anything is eventually solvable if we look hard enough for the solution. If we look at our homeschooling this way, we don’t get lost in the little squabbles and all the “bad” things that we see in politics. It’s interesting to put on the nightly news, but it’s not what makes good politics or good homeschooling. Find the good in life – it’s always there – and you’ll find success will follow you.

10. Never give up – This doesn’t mean be bull-headed. It means don’t be deterred from your goals. Listen, watch, and participate, but don’t let the people who want to hurt you keep you from doing your thing. And, if you watch politicians, you’ll see that the more successful a politcian is, the harder people try to push her down. It might happen to you. Don’t let it. Especially if you choose a homeschooling option that people don’t “get”. The more you get involved, and “out there”, the more people will try to show how what you did was wrong. Listen, and pay attention, but don’t be discouraged. Learn from the successful politicians who “never give up, never surrender” (10 points to anyone who can spot that movie reference).

We’re all politicians in our own life, and we have a lot to learn from national politics.

(The inspiration for this post came from a post about Obama, his overly-used “Yes We Can” slogan, and where his success came from.)

Everything In Our Society Relates to Education

“Parent choice” proceeds from the belief that the purpose of education is to provide individual students with an education. In fact, educating the individual is but a means to the true end of education, which is to create a viable social order to which individuals contribute and by which they are sustained. “Family choice” is, therefore, basically selfish and anti-social in that it focuses on the “wants” of a single family rather than the “needs” of society. – Association of California School Administrators

All who have meditated in the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of the youth. – Aristotle

My husband has noted to me on several occasions that I have the ability to connect unrelated things to each other and find where they are parallel.

Perhaps he’s right. One thing he’s absolutely right about is that I see the connection to education in practically everything I read.

This is a sampling of the news today, and how I connect these stories to education:

New Classification of Spinal Deformity Defines Range of Normalcy: The article is mainly about how the science of spinal medicine has developed and resulted in a thorough catalog of the various ways the spine can be messed up. This is how our society works. We define normal by what is abnormal. The more we are able to pinpoint and identify abnormal states, the smaller and smaller the window of normal becomes. This is exactly what has happened in education and psychology (which often crossover, as any parent of a child with ADD or Autism can tell you). We laud, as a society, our ability to find more and more specific ways that we are messed up as individuals, and identify how to cure those problems. As a result, we are less and less tolerant of differences.

What the President Should be Reading: President-elect Obama has been caught many times with book in hand. In fact, the publishing industry is wondering if he’ll become the new Oprah when it comes to book sales. Well, at least in the political book market, since all of Obama’s books are either biographies of political leaders like Roosevelt or Lincoln, or books on national politics like, “The Post-American World.” The reason why this is so interesting to me is that people care what he’s reading. I cannot remember, ever, when our country cared what a president, let alone any other political icon, was reading.

I’m encouraged by this. Our president is reading to learn. He is the ultimate role model in life-long learning. I hope that many children see the attention this is getting, and see how even when a person has reached the pinnacle of success, there is still much to learn. Books are not the enemy, as we learn in school. Self-directed learning is what successful people do. I hope Obama gets caught with many more books in hand.

‘Brave New World’ Just Around the Corner: One of my all time favorite books is the Brave New World. I read it two years ago for the first time. I’m so glad I didn’t read it until I was an adult. I would not have “got” it as a kid. As an adult, involved in the education of my own children, and involved in national politics (on a personal level), I am in a place to truly appreciate what Aldus Huxley had to say. Although I don’t agree that we’re all that close to Brave New World Utopia status, that’s where we seem to WANT to go, as a society. Peace means predictability in our culture. We’re so afraid of change and challenge. Our children are being trained to be risk-less, satisfied with mediocrity, and afraid to do anything on their own. Thank God we have 1% of our population choosing homeschooling, and 2% of our population choosing private school to keep things stirred up a bit.

Pope Cautions Against Blurring Lines of Religious Differences: How can religion have anything to do with education, you ask? I’ll tell you. One of the main problems with public school, and most group schools in general, is the blurring of the line of individuals. Now, I’m somewhat moderate when it comes to individualism. I believe that every person is an individual, with individual needs and abilities. While I also believe that we are all connected, and what we do as an individual affects everyone in our world. School pushes too far to the extreme, which is – blur the lines on what you believe.

I used to think that it was important to keep kids as a blank slate until they get old enough to have their own mind. And I used to get annoyed by how misled I was a child about the “Truth” of our world. But now that I’ve had some experience talking to teens who are amorphous in their beliefs, I’ve come to see that most kids don’t want to come up with their own belief systems. They want to hang on to what they are taught.

Now, I wonder, is this something we’re fostering in our schools? Is it the way our educational system works that keeps kids wanting to follow whatever is told of them, or is it part of the maturation cycle? Do kids who blindly believe what their parents or teachers believe do it by choice, and by personal preference? Or is this a coping mechanism of the developing mind – it’s easier to go with what is being taught to me than to struggle with the big questions.

I don’t have teens, but this intrigues me. Does it really matter if kids are led to believe what they are taught is “true”, if the doubting and self-discovery phase doesn’t really happen until the late teens or early twenties anyway? Or does this phase happen at this age simply because we’ve nurtured that delay of development in our children by holding off real inquiry until they are “adults”? Those with teens, what do you think?

4th Body Found When F-18 Hit San Diego Residential Area: My immediate thought was – what if this hit a school? Perhaps it’s better to keep the kids scattered. Ok, so that’s a little over the top, and quite disrespectful. But hey, anything and everything can be linked to education, and that’s what happened to me when I became a homeschooler – my brain turned into an education radar.

Introverts and Being Shy

The concepts of introvert and extrovert had me confused for a long time. I have been told many times in my life that I’m “shy”. And that always struck me as odd, because I have rarely felt shy in my life. And those of you who know me would probably wonder why people would call me shy.

I love people, I love public speaking, yet I’m an introvert. I was convinced over the years that being “shy” and an “introvert” meant that I don’t give off the vibe that I like to be around people, or that I don’t like to talk to people, or that I’m afraid of socializing.

That’s the farthest from the truth! Being an introvert doesn’t mean any of these things! It just means that I need time to be alone, to think and recuperate. I am also “in my head” a lot. It took me a long time to come to terms with being a social introvert, and beat the label of shyness that was mistakenly given to me.

Now, when people say that I’m “shy”, I chuckle inside. If they only know how not-shy I am, and have never been. And when they call my kids “shy” for not stepping up and talking right away, I definitely chuckle at that. My introvert middle child is like me. She is not shy at all. She needs time to figure out where she fits, and she needs to know that she’ll be able to retreat to her own space when it’s time. She’s loves people, just like me. She also likes her space and introspective time.

Worldschooling, Not Unschooling

As many of you know, I struggle with the unschooling label. Generally, I don’t consider myself an “unschooler’. Or rather, I wear the label very loosely. I prefer the term “zenschooling,” since it is more in line with how I process the concept of education, and how we practice it as a family.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover another term that resonates with us – “worldschooling.”

Read more at the new Just Enough blog.