The Homeschool Jungle

Whether you’ve been homeschooling for 5 years of 5 months, you know how overwhelming it can be to sort through all the curriculum out there.

A few simple steps can help you cut through the jungle of resources and see the sun again!

1. Determine the core subjects that you will be covering with each child.

2. Talk with friends about what has worked with their kids. Make a list and investigate on your own. This will narrow your curriculum choices considerably.

3. Choose Curriculum with a good return policy. This is a must. If they don’t believe in their product..why should you?

4. When you find something you like stick with it. And stop looking. There will always be “better” programs being developed but it doesn’t mean it will be a good fit for your child.

5. Don’t compare what you are doing with other moms, learn from them.

6. Look for programs that don’t require large amounts of prep time. You want to spend time with your kids, not prepping for lessons.

7. Find curriculum that fits both you and your children. It can be enjoyable for both of you.

8. Find other people to teach subjects that you just don’t want to teach. Many homeschool moms develop a specialty and end up teaching classes to other homeschoolers. Take advantage of the wide range of courses at Community Colleges for your children too.

Heads Up, California Voters!
By Diane Flynn Keith — Your Homeschool Coach and Mentor, on May 24th, 2010
http://journal. homefires. com/2010/ 05/heads- up-california- voters/

A Vote for Leonard Martin is a Vote Against Homeschooling!

On June 8th, California voters will elect a new Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Michelle Huelle, the San Bernardino County Contact for the California Homeschool Network (CHN) sent a query letter to all of the candidates asking for their position on homeschooling. She is posting the candidates’ responses on CHN’s Yahoo List. Michelle provided permission for people to reprint/repost the responses
she has received. (I’ve posted them below.)

One candidate, Leonard Martin, is OPPOSED to homeschooling and stands out as SERIOUSLY IGNORANT about it. His INSULTING RESPONSE was among those she received. Here it is…

Home schooling’s appropriate for children who have special difficulties that make it impossible for them to participate in traditional schooling. But under California law, a parent has the right to home school provided the parent is qualified to offer instruction.

Personally, I believe nearly all kids would benefit more from being in traditional schools. Many parents home school for religious reasons, because they still hold outdated views on race or ethnicity, or for what they consider to be moral reasons.

Since we have provisions for students to attend a school outside of their local community when there are legitimate reasons to do so, home schooling as an alternative to “unsafe” campuses is hardly a legitimate alternative. For the most part – overwhelmingly – the public schools of California are not only safe but are providing a high quality education. Yucca Valley should be no exception. If it is, as Superintendent I would like to hear the complaints.

There has also been a tremendous amount of fraud connected with home schooling. Corporate organizations have sprung up to drain precious taxpayer dollars from the state budget to “supervise” home schooling. That has been to the detriment of those children, who by necessity, must be home schooled.

My advice? Send the kids to a traditional public school.

http://leonardmarti n.us/wordpress/
http://www.ourcampa igns.com/ RaceDetail. html?RaceID= 353608
http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi? f=/c/a/2010/ 05/17/BA1J1DF1CR .DTL

FaceBook Profile:
http://www.facebook .com/

Best Regards,
Leonard J. Martin

Home (661) 297-4815
Cell (661) 400-0059

Another Homeschool mom caught wind of Martin’s response and blogged about it. http://enchantedmus ing.wordpress. com/ She decided to contact him and offered to provide more information about homeschooling.

Here is his response:

I did not expect any home schooler to be satisfied with my response. Nor will I change it to appeal to the thousands of home schoolers who are voters. If this election were in the 1950s I would have received a question from someone representing tens of thousands of parents who opposed the racial integration of our public schools. They would have been looking for a candidate who agreed with them.

My response would have turned them off and they would have urged me to read all the arguments in favor of segregation. I know those arguments, as I know the arguments for home schooling. Now, I’m not equating home schoolers with segregationists, but the situation is the same. As I would not edit my response to the segregationists to win their votes, I will not shape my response to home schoolers to seek their votes either.

I explained before that there are legitimate reasons for home schooling. If you meet those conditions, I fully support home schooling. But that is not why most home schoolers engage in it. And while they have a legal right to do so, I do not support home schooling in those situations.

Best Regards,
Leonard J. Martin

I was astonished by his reply! Since the candidate provided his phone number, my husband decided to call him today, May 24th. Martin answered the phone. My husband identified himself, explained that he is a CA voter, and told the candidate that he’s misinformed on homeschooling and will not be voting for him. Mr Martin was confused and wondered how we had gotten his number. He didn’t seem to understand what a firestorm his comments will ignite among California homeschoolers.

Some of you may not remember California’s position on homeschooling under Delaine Eastin’s watch – but that’s a time I wouldn’t care to revisit. Jack O’Connell was a welcome change. A vote for Leonard Martin is a vote against homeschooling.

This is an important election – I hope everyone gets out there and votes to support homeschooling!

Here are the other candidates positions on homeschooling:

____________ _________ _________ __
Karen Blake “I fully support home schooling.” 5/20/2010

____________ _________ _________ __

“I believe home schooling is the right of a parent. I believe some parents do the job well, while others do not. If you chose to home school your children through the K-12 years or to only do it through a certain
grade level, I hope you do the job well enough to allow your children to continue their education and work well with other members of the community with whom they will be associating.”

Grant McMicken
Candidate for SSPI
(916) 792-5970

____________ _________ _________ __

From Henry Williams Jr.
Hi Michelle,

My wife and I homeschooled in the Bay Area for 12 years. We intimately understand why parents homeschool their children. I will see to it that homeschoolers are protected while in office.

Sending you an attachment so you have a better idea of our campaign. Take time to view the links too.

Thanks for asking–
Henry

____________ _________ _________ __

Dear Ms. Huelle,

I support and encourage families who privately homeschool their children. As long as the parent(s) have sufficient education, they should be left alone by government to teach their own children. If anything, government could and should do more to support homeschooling parents in their efforts, by providing teaching materials and other educational support requested by parents in order to be the best homeschoolers they can be! If elected I will educate myself to learn as much as I can about the homeschooling movement and the laws pertaining to it in California.

Thank you for asking me.

Best wishes,
Dan Nusbaum
www.danielnusbaum. com

http://journal. homefires. com/2010/ 05/heads- up-california- voters/