What is Going ON???!!!

Joplin, MO, about 40 minutes from me had a school shooting! A 13 year old took an [edit it's an AK-47-like wepon with an altered 30 round clip that may have caused it to missfire saving the principal's life] into school and fired one shot in the ceiling. In a Middle School! A 13 year old! Thank God no one was injured. Thank God the school had a competent and brave principal.

Riverton, KS, High school, about 15 minutes from me, had 5 boys arrested for planning a "Columbine-type" shooting. On the news last night some mother of a Joplin Middle Schooler was crying and she said, "That's it. I'm homeschooling."

Is an inner-city school now safer than a small-town school? When I was 14 (about 1979) a friend brought a switchblade to school. But he kept it hidden from teachers and most other students. It was to show off to friends, not to threaten anyone. Most of us carried pocket-knives to school, but we never thought about hurting someone with them.

I even had friends that had guns in their car at high school, but no one thought about using one unless one's life was endangered. No one wanted to lose the gun to the authorities I suppose.

What has happened that so many students feel so disconnected that they are willing to go to such extremes to get attention or revenge? How are these kids not getting the message that there is an entire life to be lived? And that taking that life from someone else is serious business? I know that the teen years are self-focused, but, empathy can still be there.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, School Shootings, Joplin, MO, Riverton, KS

Goals for Parents

Here is something my wife wrote:

Good, Better, Best
Most people seem to think if a parent clothes and feeds his/her children well, gets them to school on time, and makes them do their homework then the job is over. My parenting philosophy has evolved a lot from that over the past few years, both from things the Lord has been teaching me and from things I have been learning from other godly parents I’ve met who are striving to protect, teach, and enjoy their children.
I believe that a parent seeking the BEST level:
—protects children from harm and evil influences at all times as far as humanly possible, no matter the criticism from others and prays for God’s protection to cover what the parent cannot.
—trains children in all life skills necessary to function in a capable and excellent manner in their adult lives.
—teaches children to love God wholeheartedly and to serve Him first and fully.
—ensures children learn everything academically necessary to succeed and excel in the purpose God has for each one. Another person might do the actual teaching of the skills, but the parent is responsible to see the children are educated.
—loves children in all the above mentioned ways, as well as being deeply affectionate and spending great quantities of time lavishing attention on the children in the forms of working, playing, reading, learning, and laughing together.

Any thoughts?

Tags:
Parents, Parenting, Home School, Homeschooling,

Kids say

The other day we made pizza. There were two pieces still on the table when we were finishing up. Erik (9 years old) called the plain cheese piece for lunch the next day. Joshua (10 years old) started to call the sasuage and pepper slice, but I said I might still eat it tonight. Joshua looked at me and said, "You wouldn't deprive me of my lunch, would you?" What could I do? He got it.

Carnival Of Homeschooling is Ready

Patricia at Pollywog Creek Porch has the new Carnival of Homeschooling using the Everglades as the theme. Check it, it's informative as always.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

Alternative School Year Plan

Many people have asked us, "Have you started school yet?" or "When do you start back up?" We do things a bit different here. We work on a schedule of 3 weeks on, 1 week off, with 3 weeks off for summer and 2 weeks off at Christmas. So we pretty much school most of the time, but with lots of "breaks" to allow my wife (who does most of the teaching) a chance to recover and plan for another short burst. This is what works for us. You may have to do something different. If you are an unschooler, this is probably irrelevant to you.

Tags:
Home School, Homeschooling,

Big Famililies are OK and More

Here are a few links I would like to let everyone know about. The first two are from Christianity Today.

The Case for Kids and A Counter Trend—Sort Of.

In other news on college: Walter Williams and Don't Think Outside the College Box By Debra J. Saunders

And Chuck Colson on Kansas and Evolution, Michael Medved on gay marrigage
Tags:
Large Families, Parents, Parenting, College liberals

Here's a Book for You...

Contemporary Critics of Education. edited by Howard Ozman. Danville, Ill., Interstate Printers & Publishers [1970] Contents:
How to read a book, by M. J. Adler.--The house of intellect, by J. Barzun.--Educational wastelands, by A. E. Bestor.--The process of education, by J. S. Bruner.--I and thou, by M. Buber.--The citadel of learning, by J. B. Conant.--Compulsory mis-education, by P. Goodman.--The conflict in education, by R. M. Hutchins.--Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, by A. Huxley.--The miseducation of American teachers, by J. D. Koerner.--Education at the crossroads, by J. Maritain.--Education and human relations, by A. Montagu.--The secret of childhood, by M. Montessori.--Summerhill, by A. S. Neill.--What are they doing to your children? By M. Rafferty.--Education and freedom, by H. G. Rickover.--Education and the good life, by B. Russell.--The science of learning and the art of teaching, by B. F. Skinner.--The aims of education, by A. N. Whitehead.

Kinda old, but the criticisms stand. Not all the critics agree with each other either. It's amazing to me just how many of our current problems were being written about 50 years ago. The more things change, the more they stay the same. See if you can find the book, perhaps through Inter-Library Loan. At least 329 libraries own it.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Books, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

A nine year old on abortion

Nat Hentoff tells about a 9-year old boy who sees clearly.

A longtime friend of mine is married to a doctor who also performs abortions. At the dinner table one recent evening, their 9-year-old son — having heard a word whose meaning he didn't know — asked, "What is an abortion?" His mother, choosing her words carefully, described the procedure in simple terms.

"But," said her son, "that means killing the baby." The mother then explained that there are certain months during which an abortion cannot be performed, with very few exceptions. The 9-year-old shook his head. "But," he said, "it doesn't matter what month. It still means killing the babies."

Tags:
Abortion, Pro-Life

Rebecca Hagelin warns us about what we let the kids read. I prefer the classics myself.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

On Prop 82 and Universal State-Funded PreSchool

Jennifer Roback Morse on Prop 82.

These same kinds of studies are used to browbeat stay at home mothers into placing their kids in preschools or daycare centers. "Am I harming my child by depriving him of the enriching preschool experience?" mothers ask me all the time. No, I always reply.

After all, we wouldn’t want to give credit to parents. Everyone knows parents are the problem. The sooner we get kids away from their parents and into government run schools, the better off everyone will be.

Proposition 82 requires preschool teachers to have approximately five years of college. Proposition 82 funds would pay a half billion dollars to colleges and universities to develop new courses. There is no proven benefit to this increased credentialism.

Also Nathanael Blake is one of the best young writers out there, even if I don't always agree with him.

Conservatives generally hold to the traditional perspective of homosexuality being something one does (i.e. sexual acts with others of the same sex), for liberals, homosexuality is something one is. The whole point of morality is the suppressing of wrong or inappropriate urges, and the encouragement of good ones.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

Texas Vacation Highlights

We went to Texas last week to see my dad. He has an antique store in Taylor called Wooden Heart Antiques, and he and his wife were on HGTV a while back.

Anyway, while we were there we went to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum and the Dr. Pepper Museum, both in Waco. As a former Soda Pop Bottle collector (I have about 400 bottles), I really liked the Dr. Pepper Museum, but they didn't give free samples. Two years ago we went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. They gave free samples. The Texas Ranger museum had lots and lots of guns. Pretty neat, especially for 4 boys.

In Austin, there is a cool Austin Science & Nature Center that is free. In addition to fossils, lots of trails and some wild animals, they also have a sand pit where kids can dig for cement fossils. We then went to the overpriced Austin Children's Museum. It's not so much a museum as it is a big play house with some science thrown in. It was $33.50 for two adults and 4 kids. I don't think we will go back to the Children's Museum. The kids seemed to have as much fun at the park, but, the park isn't air conditioned.

Of course, all the museums count toward homeschool hours.

We also ate some really good food. Mexican, barbecue, and real hamburgers that will spoil you from the fast-food junk forever. The city of Taylor has a very nice park that is very shaded. A good thing to have in Texas. The temps were in the mid-to-high 90s all week.

Tags:
Texas, Dr. Pepper, Museums, Austin, Texas, Waco, Texas, Antiques, Homeschooling,

The Supreme Court of the United States has Already Said Marriage is Between One Woman and One Man

U.S. Supreme Court MURPHY v. RAMSEY, 114 U.S. 15 (1885) This case deals with a law in Utah not allowing bigamists or polyamists to vote. This is toward the end of the decision, 4th paragraph from the bottom. And we know that once the Court decides, by golly, that is binding LAW.

For, certainly, no legislation can be supposed more wholesome and necessary in the founding of a free, self-governing commonwealth, fit to take rank as one of the co-ordinate states of the Union, than that which seeks to establish it on the basis of the idea of the family, as consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all beneficent progress in social and political improvement. And to this end no means are more directly and immediately suitable than those provided by this act, which endeavors to withdraw all political influence from those who are practically hostile to its attainment.

Tags:
Marriage Amendment, Marriage, Murphy v Ramsey

Links on Education

Don't give us government childcare for Mother's Day by Carrie Lukas. It's amazing to me how many people find ways to get what they want without the government's involvement. People who make due with less, or women who find ways to earn money at home. Why should my taxes be used to pay for your kid to be picked on and ignored? If that's what you want then pay for it yourself.

"[F]eminist author Kate Millet argues, children are better served by “professional” caregivers: “The care of the young is infinitely better left to trained professionals rather than to harried amateurs with little time nor taste for the education of young minds.” American parents disagree. Harried amateurs that we are, we tend to think that young kids are better off at home—and even many career mothers wish for more time with their children. "

Star Parker writes about the NAACP's fight against private school vouchers. In Florida,

"During the past school year, 740 students participated in the Opportunity Scholarship Program, of which 64 percent were black and 30 percent Hispanic. The students are practically all from low-income families."

Let's see, 64+30=94. So 94% of kids using vouchers were minorities and low income. The NAACP can't let that happen. Such a thing might weaken the bonds between them and the NEA. Why there is a bond there I don't know. Any union or group that kept my race from advancing for the last 50 years wouldn't have my support.



Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling, Vouchers, Universal Daycare,

Debra J. Saunders on Raising Education Standards

Debra J. Saunders talks about the crazy world of California. Specifically, the education and judicial systems. Seems a judge has put a halt to the test all people must pass to graduate.

"It's sad but true: All California schools are not equal. The question is: What do you do about the inequity? Do you sanction the inequity by allowing students to graduate ignorant? Is that fair? Or do you require that all graduates be able to read a news story and know what it means when a sale sign says "25 percent off"?"

I hope to actually write some soon, but in addition to my full time job, I've been hired to do some writing for one person and web site designing for another, so I have other priorities at this time.


Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Teachers

Links for Families and Luddites

To begin, Jerry Large wants to push "pause" on all the new stuff. Specifically all the new stuff that has too much stuff. Meaning, a dishwasher with more than 3 buttons. Call me a Luddite, but it's overkill. Why is it that you can't buy a high-quality, well-built item that doesn't also do 20 things you don't need it to do? I want a well-built, comfortable car, but I don't need each seat to have it's own thermostat. I want a VCR with a fantastic picture and sound, but I don't need 800 programming options. Can I get the one with out the other?

Second link, An Education that May Pay for College. Straight forward investing, without all the bureaucracy.

Third link, and a good one, Rebecca Hagelin reviews Christian Ethics in Plain Language.

It may seem like the height of sophistication to think that we can (or should) load our children with facts and figures and then leave it up to them to decide what'’s right and wrong. In fact, it'’s a moral abdication of our duties as parents.

And of course the Homeschool Carnival, week 19. Some good thoughts on raising boys this time around.

And lastly, but never leastly, The Carnival of Kid Comedy.


Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling,

Links that make you say "Oh My!"

Good grief! Jeff Jacoby talks about "public schools vs. parents' values." Man, can you believe the arrogance of the school teachers?

"We couldn't run a public school system if every parent who feels some topic is objectionable to them for moral or religious reasons decides their child should be removed," LexingtonÂ’s superintendent of schools, Paul Ash, told the Globe. "Lexington is committed to teaching children about the world they live in, and in Massachusetts same-sex marriage is legal."

I like the first line. They can't run the schools now! Jacoby responds with

"But homosexuality and gay marriage are not like arithmetic or geography; they cannot be separated from questions of morality, justice, and decency."

Much as I love Car Talk and This Old House, I would never live in Massachusetts.


And there's the war between Creationists and ID proponents. See here and here.

And the Carnival of Homeschooling. Some really, really good posts, and I'm only 1/3 of the way through it.



Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools, Parents, Parenting, Teachers, Home School, Homeschooling, Creationism Intelligent Design

"Sexy Poker" to Tweens?

I see over at The Travelin Librarian that something wrong has happened. A game called Sexy Poker is marketed to tweens (kids from 8-12) via cell phone. There is something very, very wrong here.

Tags:
Parents, Parenting, Tweens, Cell Phones

Links for 4-25-06

I've been very busy lately and will try to get some posts up this next week. I am planning a series on parenting styles. Until then, try these links.


Rebecca Hagelin on some Bible story books.


Suzanne Fields on manners.

Jennifer Roback Morse on the differences between men and women.

Links for 4-19-06

I thought I had four links, but can't find two of them.

First, Rebecca Hagelin talks about the librarian being investigated for sexual harassment for recommending a few conservative books. As a conservative academic librarian this story is intrinsically interesting to me. More on this story here.

Second, Maggie Gallagher brings up the question, "Who is Caitlin Flanagan and what planet is she from?" Ms. Flanagan writes about stay-at-home-moms, but the ones that "she knows and writes about are educated, liberal, at-home mothers who too often proudly announce: "I'm home taking care of my kids, but I'm sure as hell not home to care for my husband."" And for Spunky who often writes concerning educating for the corporate world,

"For Caitlin, the point of having a mother at home is not so that your children will get into Harvard, or score that big executive job. A home is not a factory for producing children for corporations. The home is not a mere means; it is one of the great things in life you can have, create or give to someone you love. The real point of having a mother at home with children is that children get to be home with a mother who loves them."

And my favorite quote,

"You need to understand something about men," Caitlin tells me. "Men really want to help women. Yes, there are bad men in the world. Avoid them. Most of them show their stripes very early." (And if women weren't busily being sexual with men they hardly know, adds Flanagan, they might find it easier to spot the cads before they moved in with them. But that's another story.)

I read Flanagan's article in The Atlantic and thought it was quite insightful.

Tags:
Librarians, Academic Freedom, Parents, Parenting, Stay at Home Moms

The Teacher's Union Won't Let John Stossel Teach

Well, John Stossel took up the teacher's union's challenge to teach, but they pulled the carpet from under him. The network should sue for lost time. There was a lot of beauracracy to wade through, then, they cancelled. I bet Mr. Stossel would be a great teacher.

Tags:
Public Education, Public Schools,