Unschooling and Unjournalism

There has been so much happening so quickly since Christine Yablonski and Phil Biegler and their two children appeared on Good Morning America on Monday! And there have been so many responses to the recent media attention concerning radical unschooling it's been hard to keep track of it all.

Here's an article I enjoyed reading: Unschooling and Unjournalism. (Posted using ShareThis).

And this blog post at Blog of the Zombie Princess has a collection of links to tv appearances, as well as responses: Unschoolers Respond. Lots to read over there.

I don't think there was a link to the interview on the Joy Behar show, which was much more positive than the first GMA piece.

This Facebook page, Living the Unschooling Life, was started by Christine and Phil to share what's been going on since their interviews, to announce any future radio or tv interviews, and to talk about unschooling, of course!

serendipity: 23 Facts about Unschooling

Great list! Especially in light of the misinformation out there and misunderstanding by the general public after the GMA shows.

serendipity: 23 Facts about Unschooling

The Unschooling world has been turned on its head since the airing of a (poorly edited and disgustingly biased) segment on Good Morning America. Visit here for more responses.

**********************************************************************************
Here are 23 facts about Unschooling that I fear might be misunderstood.

How would schools act if they were voracious corporations bent on unfettered monopolistic growth?

This is a fun one to read . . .


Unschooling Rules: How would schools act if they were voracious corporations bent on unfettered monopolistic growth?

Here's a fun game to play. We all know that schools, unlike Wall Street banks, are organizations that are inherently benign, with loving teachers and caring administrators dedicated to selflessly making the world a better place by taking on the under-paid task of nurturing our children.

But what if, in some crazy parallel universe, the school sytems were instead voracious corporations bent on unfettered monopolistic growth? How would they behave?

Read the whole article at the link above!

Your children are not obligated to repay you.

I'm linking to this great article I read today:

Your children are not obligated to repay you.

Recently, I had a discussion with my friend Liz. Her brother Marc and his wife Tammy had adopted Tammy’s nephew after his mother died and his father wound up in prison. Tammy’s nephew, Paul, had been living with them for three years now, and had “come a long way”. Seems he’d been something of a bad seed in the beginning, but had straightened out and was pretty good now.

That was all fine and well, but then Liz complained about how awful Paul’s room always looked. Dirty and messy. She said, “He needs to be more grateful. Without my brother’s help, who knows where he would’ve wound up."

I blew up.

Posted using ShareThis

Virginia Homeschool Track & Field Championships

Be in the first Virginia Track & Field Homeschool Championships!

Nothing like being in the 1st ever Virginia Homeschooling Track & Field Championships - you cannot repeat a 1st!

When: May 15
Who: Ages 5-18

Address:
Highland Springs High School
15 South Oak Avenue
Highland Springs, VA


Fees

On Time Registration---$25 due on 5/2/09 $30 with tshirt due on 5/02/09
LATE Reg.---$35-5/08
For tshirt-$40 is due 5/04

Brief Description

Virginia State Homeschooling Track & Field Championship for ages 5-18. BRING COPY OF BIRTH PAPER AND COPY OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO EDUCATE or RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION INTENT. If any questions or other verifications needed, please contact VHR. Athletes will need to have proof of age and education to compete. All athletes will compete per Birthdate. Which means, whatever age they turn that year is the age group they will be competing in.

Fees:

Decrease every registration fee down by $5 for more children. If you have more than 2 athletes in family 1st 2 athletes the registration price each, then afterwards decrease by $5. Pre registration $15-no shirt, Pre registration -shirt $20 due by 4/3/2010. You register by this date and you can get the Historic Souvenir shirt with your name listed on back.

Register early by 4/3/10 for the 1st ever...

Get your name on the sourvenir Tshirt...of this historic event...!

Additional Information

REGISTRATION FEE IS FOR MAXIMUM 3 EVENTS- NOT PER EVENT. EXAMPLE IF YOU PAY $15, YOU PAY FOR 3 EVENTS MAXIMUM-----NOT $45. IF registering more than 2 children. Registration is decreased by $5 per athlete. Please email or call if registration website is unable to give the discount for the amount of athletes you are registering. Please contact FIAMAR or See www.aauathletics.org, www.usatf.org, if you would like ways to train for this event. Local Private/Public School Coaches may help also. TSHIRTS will athlete all participants name on back. Track Meet will be running order That means no time order MEANING---- It would be best to be at the track meet from 8-9 for package pick up and stay the day till your athlete's event is over or till you get event awards. PLEASE PARENTS COME TO MEET TO ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE MAKING SURE YOUR CHILD IS THERE IN ENOUGH TIME TO GET PACKAGE and PARTICIPATE IN MEET. ALL MEET PACKAGES/TSHIRTS WILL BE GIVEN BEFORE MEET STARTS.

All Track & Field events except the Pole Vault and Steeple, Hept/Dec., Discus, Hammer. for ages 5-7( NO Track Spikes permitted for 5-7age)-------
Events for Age 5-7** 100, 200, 400, 800, Long Jump, Shot Put****
Events for ages 8-10 ** 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put** **
Events for ages 11-12 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, 80 Meter hurdles**
Events for ages 13-14 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3000, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, 100g & 110m, 400 M Hurdles**
Events for ages 15-18---VARSITY 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3000, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, 100girl & 110boys, 400 M Hurdles**

CHECK IN FOR EACH EVENTS IS IMPERATIVE for each family to be responsible for warming up and checking in your own athletes. No calling ahead and holding up meet for tardiness. EACH EVENT WILL BE CALLED 3 TIMES, it is suggested that you warm up just before the 1st call and check in for your event with you spikes/sneakers/event items at least by the 2nd no later than 3rd call. ONCE THE EVENT IS LINING/SETTING UP about TO START IT IS TOO LATE!

WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR AWARDS THAT ARE LEFT @ Track Meet! We will not be sending/via mail any awards.

Looking for a Good, Interesting Earth Science Book

Springtime just gets me all revved up for fun outdoor experiments!

I've got several of Janice VanCleave's science experiment books, and one I'm reading right now is called, "Earth Science for Every Kid." Her experiments are simple and some look really fun. But, I find that there is very little in the books to put things into context. This book in particular is aimed at the younger elementary-school ages (IMO), and I think that while the short prep time and experiment times are good for some, it almost makes it not worth the effort to do when it's over in 5 minutes. I guess it depends on everyone's interest level.

Another book I have been looking at is, "Ace Your Ecology and Environmental Science Project," and while we're not planning to enter any projects, I thought I could get some cool ideas from it. This book includes more explanations for why you would want to do the experiement, and a longer discussion of what it's all about. It seems to be aimed at the upper elementary-school ages and maybe middle school as well.

So, I'm looking for suggestions of books that deal with earth science and other topics covered in these types of books. I'd like to understand better why we would be doing the project so I can explain it to the kids. I know they wouldn't be interested in having me just read the book to them, so I need to understand as much as possible to make it all fun and relevant. Thanks in advance for your recommendations!


Oh, and I just remembered--I was hoping to hear some reviews from people who have used the Brock Magiscope. Is it worth the money? If you haven't used it or think it wasn't so great, what do you suggest? Strong magnifying glasss or expensive microscope?

The Maple Syrup Trip

I neglected to post pictures from our trip to Highland County, Virginia! Here is a slideshow of my pictures. When I get a chance to download my mother's pictures, I'll post them, too.