The Eclectic Telegraph

But My Kid Wants to Build Robots

2009-03-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Abbreviated selections from my soon to be published book!

If you have a student interested in designing and building robots you are most likely going to want to gear the studies towards Mechanical Engineering, which includes math topics like Algebra, Geometry, Trig, Calculus and Physics. With this background one can then move into other specialized fields like Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering, Nano-Engineering, Marine Engineering and Aerospace. All of these fields are well suited for the visual spatial types where abstract thinking is a way of life.

Life After FIRST Lego League, Upstairs Roomba®

Nothing is better than having robots working for you in your home. We purchased 2 “home robots” from the iRobot® Corporation. These robots are fondly named iRobot® Roomba® Vacuum Cleaning Robots, or as we call them Upstairs Roomba® and Downstairs Roomba®. I thought that my student had outgrown taking telephones and vacuum cleaners apart, and he has, but alas, now it is only poor unsuspecting Roomba that has to worry some days.

The cool part about the iRobot® Corporation is that they have a most excellent handle on nerds that like robots. They have a whole line of gear and software for those of us who have a need to build robots at home. They offer home robots, tactical robots and here’s the best part: robots for developers. If you have a kid interested in building robots, this section of “Educators & Developers” tab is worth a look.

www.irobot.com

The other robot system we have learned from is the Vex® Robotics Design System. This set is a bit more complicated and might not be good for small hands, but medium hands with big minds will have a great experience with this. As with Lego®, this company supports competitions all over the United States.

www.vexrobotics.com

What is Mechanical Engineering?

If it is mechanical and moves then most likely a mechanical engineer designed it. It would be hard to find an area or object in every day life that has not in some way had a mechanical engineer involved. Also, mechanical engineers design robots. Robotics, any kind of automation, environmentally responsible power generation, medical devices and any form of transportation are just some of the fields that require mechanical engineers.

If your kid is interested in the way things work, you may have a budding mechanical engineer.

Because Math and Science is so weak in American schools these days, more and more foreign students are filling the needs of these careers, taking innovation and technology out of our hands to other countries. It is a tough field to get into and mostly the top Universities take these kinds of students. If you have a student that seems to fit this description, he may have a brilliant future as a mechanical engineer. Generally, Mechanical Engineering is a five-year University program with the 4th and 5th years concentrating on a specific field of Engineering, like Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering, robotics, nano-engineering or Aerospace.

Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering

As a young adult I spent many years in the Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering (MCAE) field and one of the tickets to robotic design and engineering is an understanding of how computers work in conjunction with mechanical objects. The main thrust of this area is mechanical engineering with a concentration on geometric modeling – or 3-D geometry. This is used in simple and complex product design in items such as brake shoes and other parts for BMWs to plastic and metal parts for NASA devices, to entire flight systems for Boeing, to military applications.

The field of geometric modeling involves surface modeling or 3-D imaging on computer screens and exploring this technology can be fun.

Nano-Engineering

Nano-Engineering is all about engineering that gets down to the granular details of molecules and atoms.

A subdivision of this kind of study is known s Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems or (MEMS). MEMS is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through micro-fabrication technology. MEMS are also referred to as micro-machines or semi conductors.

Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace engineering is often called rocket science. If you saw the movie October Sky, then you might have some idea about how a rocket scientist thinks. Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft.

This field is generally divided into two major paths: Aeronautical engineering and Astronautical engineering. Aeronautical engineering specializes in vehicles that stay within Earth's atmosphere. Astronautical engineering deals with craft that operate outside of Earth's atmosphere.

The unabbreviated selections in this soon to be published book also include Internet and text resources for nurturing a budding robot nerd!
Copyright 2009 by Amy Cortez

Teens & That Parental Chant: "It's Almost Over"

2008-11-30T09:42:00.001-08:00

Before you leave for work I want to know what your plans are for the week. Make it a list of goals for the week. Get that list on my desk by 10:30.

I'm going to do the research paper that's due in my English class this week, I am going to write my TaeKwonDo paper.

Those are your plans for the week?

Yes.

You know in the working world they'd expect about 40 hours and if you were in a public high school you would be expected to participate in school activities at least for 30 hours -at least I think that's an accurate number.

So?

So those two papers are going to take 30 to 40 hours to do?

Please sit down and consider what your plans are for the week and write them down in a list. You have not been meeting some of the goals you set earlier this year and you need to get back on track. We're going to do that with a to-do list, one that we can put check marks on. Get that list on my desk by 10:30.

10:45

Where's that list?

I'm not going to write down a list.

Why?

I have decided my work for school is stupid, I don't like it and I am not going to do it.

(This from my 16 year old).

This is the work you and I determined together that you need to do to complete your high school work so you can apply to the college you want to go to. Why is it now stupid?

OK. It's not stupid it's boring.

Boring compared to what?

Everything else.

Like what?

Like my pod casts, my news forums, you know life.

Sigh.

OK. Here's a thought for you. Life becomes boring if your education falls behind your experiences. Education makes life more interesting because you can delve into your pod casts and news forums further with a better understanding of the nuances.

And here's another thought for you, if you're not happy about things, then it's your job to change things. There's a little thing Mahatma Gandhi used to say and that is “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

I don't like your little zingers.

What zinger?

The Gandhi thing.

Comes with education. Do the list.

I'm not writing down a to-do list.

OK. Fine. Adults make plans, children get things taken away. If you do not have a plan for the week committed to paper before you go to work, you are going to need to walk to work or ride your bike, you are not taking the car - and in case you haven't noticed it's about to snow.

It actually wasn't a bad list, especially after we added approximate hours for each task.

The power struggles you have with a gifted kid as a kid were always complex, but when you're dealing with a gifted teen, they are complex and have become downright tiring. I think in dealing with any teen there are many words that run through a parent's mind, sometimes the words are of the four letter variety type and other times they have some more syllables.

Sometimes I let the word narcissist run through my head. When we think of the word "narcissism" we tie that word to other words like "selfish", "self centered", "arrogant", "me-me-me".

According to the Urban Dictionary "Narcissistic people are not self centered there is a difference."

I don't know how accurate the Urban Dictionary is, but it is fun to read the stuff, however in the book: Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, Depression, And Other Disorders by James T. Webb, (and others), they go into narcissism and many other "disorders" a parent may worry about, or at least let their mind wander to with a gifted kid. They can be so damn frustrating some days these brilliant ones. But as the title of the book suggests that the gifted are often misdiagnosed with a a whole slew of issues - even by their parents! I have read most of this book as I have had my concerns with the giftedness and... thing in the past but probably the best line of advice one can take away from the read of this book is a beautiful sentence in chapter 9, Relationships Issues for Gifted Children and Adults in the section entitled Parent/Child manipulation:

Though all children manipulate, gifted children are far more skilled at it than others. They are able to make their rationale for a forbidden behavior sound completely reasonable.

Yep. Especially as teens.

In getting back to the Gandhi thing, as a parent of an extremely "smart" kid, it is hard not to see the immense potential and the possibilities, especially as a parent close to the age of 50. With that vision, it is very frustrating and sometimes heart breaking when these kinds of kids intentionally go astray from the goals they say they want to achieve. We live in a me-culture that can be very distracting to any kid and imagine what the gifted kid sees. As a parent, it is important to remember that though these kids are very intelligent and it might seem they can be "left alone", they are still young adults who need parents to reel them in with things like organized to-do lists. I used to believe that teens were made in this way so that we're happy to have them go off to college and in my mind I keep telling myself it will be over soon (when my student goes to college), but a friend recently reminded me with the question - Do you really think that your role will be reduced when he goes off to college - in this world?

Pearls offered by the College Board:

Motivating the Unmotivated Student

Managing Procrastination

The Art of Judging Words - Voting on Homeschool Issues

2008-10-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor Eclectic Telegraph

I am on a number of homeschool email lists and with a presidential election coming up you'd think they'd be buzzing with discussion of issues. They're not - not really. At least the ones I am on.

One of the lists run by one I consider to be the "Yoda" of homeschooling remarked:

In fact, with only a few short weeks until the Presidential election, I think the political discussion here is probably even slower than it should be, and I'm wondering where on earth homeschoolers ARE talking about the many issues and concerns...

I have been meaning to reply, but haven't been able to craft the right words.

On another list, and "all inclusive" statewide list, a spirited discussion regarding the legitimacy (and that's a big word if you research it) of the endorsements for the candidates running for the the State Board of Education (SBE) posted at a Christian Homeschooling PAC website. The endorsements came from a set of questions interviewers asked SBE Candidates. As list members we were invited to review the endorsements and we were also invited to use these "developed set of questions" were we to interview SBE Candidates.

Some of us on this particular list are not Christian as it is a statewide list, and sometimes in our responses we are perceived as attacking a whole group of people when we frame our responses from our point of reference.

I posted what I thought was a pretty mild commentary as a response to what I thought of the information posted at the PAC website. Generally when I go to one of these kinds of sites, I am totally bewildered at the assumptions that gets made about what a homeschooler looks like and it is really hard to use words that are not angry and "judging" in a response. But this site was like many others was dynamite in invoking those kinds of sentiments in me. To me, it wasn't the endorsements per se, it was the instrument used to get the endorsements that elicited my emotion. The 10 questions were designed to extract opinions and not knowledge of facts, and they certainly weren't directly related to homeschooling, though one could in a long reach twist them that way. These questions were also positioned as being designed to "sway the candidate to support home education".

If the candidate has no questionnaire results, or is not where you want them on the position of home education, you may use our developed set of questions and interview the candidate yourself; the goal would be to move the candidate to support home education.

They were not questions I would ask for sure, especially in my district regarding homeschool issues, especially in light of the fact that our State regulations are up for review by this board. In fact they were pretty benign questions as it came to homeschooling issues. Some were questions designed to extract answers one could use to make a morality judgment if they were so inclined. I commented on question numbers 8 & 9:

8. About Sex education in the public schools: How explicit should any curriculum content get?

A: Drill down: Should students be instructed on application of a condom?

9. How do you feel about Darwinian Evolution/Intelligent Design/Creationism?

Sway the candidate to support home education? What?

How were these questions, in particular, going to sway the candidates towards home education? Of all the words I could have written as a response, I chose the following:

I think, in reading the interviewers "developed set of questions", 8 & 9 are the most revealing in the "agenda" behind why the information is being collected. If we were voting in my district, I'd have a different set of questions to ask, and it wouldn't involve condoms on bananas.

And then I followed up with some mildly "judging" words of my own:

I recognize that a lot of work went into the XXX PAC site, I've developed many websites over the years, including a non-denominational statewide website for the state of Utah. I also try and keep political and religious affiliations in mind when I review information that's intended "for all". It's hard not to see the bias in the information at the XXX PAC site. It still astounds me that many assume because you're homeschooling your stand is "Right". Many of us who homeschool these days are well read, don't depend on "organizations" to keep us "informed" and are not religious or "Right".

It was actually that last sentence that I received many off list emails and one on list email all with the theme of thanking me for "succinctly summarizing thoughts" of homeschoolers "proudly educating our children for reasons other than religious".

But as the original request was for review of the endorsements, I went on to offer my opinion of endorsements. More judging words, from me:

As much as I don't want to say it. I think it's time that conservatives are out of public offices - all of them. They may protect our homeschooling freedoms to a point, but at some point, like now, there are bigger issues to grapple with. I don't think it matters what questions you ask, political animals all have their own agendas and I don't really think they will reveal it unless the interviewer matters in a bigger way than "just a vote" - these days.

To answer the question "Did I really mean that?" in a word. Yes. I think the conservative side of politics spends far too much energy on generating enemies and dictating their version of morality and I think it is chipping away at what democracy is in this country.

I must have really pushed some buttons with my response - or hit the nail on the head directly with my post. But I received a dilly of a response, one that illustrates just what this blog is intended to be about. Though there were several ideas present in my remarks that one could respond to I received the following remark as the first in a list of remarks:

Amy said: I think, in reading the interviewers "developed set of questions", 8 & 9 are the most revealing in the "agenda" behind why the information is being collected. If we were voting in my district, I'd have a different set of questions to ask, and it wouldn't involve condoms on bananas

List Response: While some of the interviewers asked these questions, others did not. There is quite a variety. Some people are interested in this topic - people on both sides of the issue and it does give some insight into the ideological persuasion of the individual. Let's face it, you revealed a lot about yourself in the snip above, Amy. I'm not judging you, I'm just saying it tells a lot about what's important to you and tells about how you might vote on certain issues. However, I don't see how it colors or slants the information in the interview about homeschooling or other forms of school choice.

Still trying to determine what I revealed by saying I wouldn't have asked about condom application - Perhaps that I must be one of those people who only votes for candidates who think demonstrating correct condom application is key to National economic prosperity and National security?

It was the "I'm not judging you" portion of the remark and the idea that this poster did not see how questions 8&9 "colors or slants the information in the interview about homeschooling issues" that spawned this Blog. The second item, I think is self explanatory - to a degree, but I'll ask it anyway - What does condom application have to do with homeschooling?

The remainder of the response directed at me was a barrage of what I thought were some pretty judging sentiments, most likely unbeknownst to the author as the words chosen basically made a morality judgment of me all under the pretense of not judging me.

To point out the idea that you think you are being judged to an individual pronouncing that they are not judging you is generally an unfruitful activity as a response, so instead, I turned to Google and the search phrase "judging words" and netted the perfect response to include in this blog instead:

Judging words show na'veté
9/29/08. Marina Yakhnis
The Times Delphic - Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa)

Our words and our intentions often exhibit a strange disconnect. Any given word frames what we mean even as we struggle to mold those words into an accurate representation of our thoughts. On Friday, both McCain and Obama revealed an entrenched "na'veté" about the nature of the world (to use McCain's words). It wasn't the substance of their arguments. It was the words they employed.

SNIP

To lead America in this day and age and have meaningful relations with nations whose political systems differ from ours, America's next president has to understand that sometimes people are not their government. Obama's and McCain's failure to do so underscores a complete lack of understanding about how the world works. That's a bold statement for a 21-year-old Kansas bumpkin to be making. At the same time, neither Obama nor McCain have had the benefit of meeting my grandparents.

Awesome writing for a person embarking on her journey out into the world.

I did respond to the person who publicly labeled me as an inflexible "liberal" who thinks that only other liberals "who agree with YOU should have a voice" in government. I told this person that comment they reacted to, #8 was:

an irrelevant issue and a dumb question to ask a candidate.

Here's why. It has nothing to do with homeschooling regulations in our state. It is a judging question designed to illicit an answer where morality can be openly assessed. In my opinion, that is what has become so wrong with the way we vote. We judge our candidates by what we perceive their morality to be. Morality comes in a lot of flavors and as with religion, groups tend to label their version as the "correct" version for everyone.

Since I began voting in 1978, I have seen the political scene be reduced to a spectacle of pure emotion, morality judgments, glitz, glamor and did I mention corruption? I've seen the definition of patriotism changed to mean that a person must be wrapped in the flag AND religion to be a patriot. What happened to choosing those in public office based on ability, knowledge base and willingness to serve? Why are so many in in a place where they "have to choose between the lesser of two evils"? What happened to using some sort of straightforward logic to choose the best candidate? If you have ever read any Aristotle you recognize that the study of logic in ancient times was about learning to distinguish good from bad arguments, and in doing so become more effective in argument and oratory, with the hope of becoming a better person.

Another person on this same list posed this question:

If a homeschooler interviewed a professed homosexual candidate and they said they supported homeschoolers and would never support any further regulations, but supported sex education, how would you list them?

An awesome attempt to demonstrate that though there are several emotional issues here, as a homeschooler who supposedly would only be voting for a candidate who supports homeschooling, what would logic dictate?

So in getting back to Yoda, people aren't discussing issues on homeschool lists because I think we as a community have become too polarized. Those of us who homeschool for reasons other than religion are tired of being labled as "flaming" liberals or are tired of being of clumped into the category of religious zealots. Many of us are not either and find that though homeschooling has become mainstream, there are members of our community who continue to fail to recognize that just like mainstream America, homeschoolers come in many flavors with many very different frames of referenece.

As for this list I am on. Generally, I don't submit to political discussion unless I feel it is something is so extreme to my frame of reference as a homeschooler. And I have other places where there are "like minded" people: Secular Homeschoolers.

© 2005-2008. Amy Cortez. All Rights Reserved.

Not Back to School: A Dancer With Many Hats in a Thankless and Undervalued Job

2008-08-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor Eclectic Telegraph

As a parent, sometimes we feel that in raising teens we have a thankless job. Often your teen is too busy to recognize all the things you do, all the support that is there for them. Just for them. They don't ever really look at all the hats you have to wear to all the groovy dances you attend on their behalf.

As a homeschooling parent, not only do you need to be a parent to a teen, and God knows there are the endless days you spend parenting a young adult, but you are also signed up to be the teacher and mentor to your young adult.

In the days before high school, homeschooling is an endless educational stream of books and Science experiments and trips to the museum and library. You have as many as three hats, parent, teacher, chauffeur. The dance is a well timed and methodical glide across the floor.

Once your student becomes a teen, studying to become a University student, the educational stream becomes a little more complex, the dance gets to look more like a tango. As you have encouraged, and as your student has learned to be independent as a student, he is now more than ever dependant on you, the adult, to be his guidance counselor. Another hat for the rack.

As a guidance counselor, it is your huge responsibility to learn how to play the college game so you student can reach his ultimate goal. The college game as it seems is a very complicated dance, one that has all the timing of ballroom dancing and Tango - combined.

"Freshman" year, you learn as a guidance counselor that transcripts are very important, and you develop a format. You begin to understand what the differences are between an "Honors" class, an AP Class, what International Baccalaureate is. You begin to look at what your student has done educationally thus far and you try to determine what it is they need to do to reach their goals, that is if they have settled on goals at all. If you're lucky, your student will be right there in the trenches next to you determining all of these things as well...

By "Sophomore" year the two of you determine that PSAT is important and that your student might do OK, so you schedule that milestone. This is the year that you get to wear the parenting, chauffeuring, counseling hats a bunch (the teaching hat gets a rest, because at this age, teens know it all anyway). But also, just as you are getting used to wearing these hats - sometimes all at once, your new job kicks in as the Driver's Ed teacher. This hat looks sort of like your chauffeur hat, but it might be a different color and now you have yet a whole new set of dance steps to add to your already complicated dance ticket.

In some states the driving laws are quite complicated, like in our state of Ohio. Not only do you have to teach about vehicle operation, safe driving and traffic rules, you get to drive in the car with your student for 50 hours. This is a tall order for 2 parents to manage, a huge order, for a single parent. It's hard to switch hats wearing a straight jacket and it's really un-parent-like to wear any of the hats backwards, like your student does.

But even once you've got the driving under control, you then begin to realize that you won't have to be the chauffeur much longer and begin to think about retiring that hat. But as soon as that hat goes in the cedar chest, you schedule those first classes at the Community College and find out that they have their own dance steps as well, because often they require that your student "test" into their classes and you juggle between being the even tempered guidance counselor, and the parent encouraging the student to knock 'em dead. Both hats can't be on in this case. That's the rule.

So then Summer comes between the Sophomore and Junior year and your teen fills his schedule with volunteering and working, traveling to and from each gig in your car. Meanwhile, wearing at least four of your hats, you begin to realize that Junior year is the year of the tests. PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject tests, ACT. All important, each with it's own set of dance steps, so you begin to figure out how to blend ballroom, tango and flamenco steps into the grand dance of Junior year. You hope the year goes well and only imagine what new hats may come and which of your dance steps you'll need to fine tune Senior year.

But the funny thing about your grand dance ticket and all the hats you wear, not one person outside your house realizes the lunatic you have become and that Flashdancing is now your specialty. But the thing is, you really don't care, because with all your hats and dance steps and endless lists of tasks, when the ones who really love you say "you're awesome", you forget that at one point you thought you were a dancer with many hats in a thankless and undervalued job.

Summer Pursuits: Year Round Homeschooling

2008-07-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor Eclectic Telegraph

Summer. When I was a kid Summer meant watermelons and fireflies, lazy days with best friends. Summer now means a lot of research to find resources and materials for our next year homeschooling.

Summer also now means that I get a two week vacation while my student goes to study something totally brain-melting at Purdue University.

Year round homeschooling as a single mom with a high energy gifted kid can be rewarding and draining. Over the last several years, we have declared two weeks of summer our separate vacation time.

My student feeds his brain, I paint my toenails.

The Gifted Education Resource Institute (GERI) at Purdue University offers some Awesome opportunities for the gifted and talented student so motivated to continue schooling over the Summer months. For the teen, GERI offers residential programs where for the last three or four years my student has gone and has made friends from Argentina, Greece, Korea, Las Vegas, Michigan, Colorado. These friendships really seem to last and my student attributes that to the idea that these guys and gals are "like him". They also seem to enjoy classes that definitely don't send the brain on vacation.

The folks that are involved in this program really seem to know how to engage these kinds of students and each year has been a totally positive experience for my student. My student's goal this year was to rule out fields he doesn't want to go into - an admirable intention I thought:

Bioengineering
Explore the rapidly-evolving science of genetics. Topics in this course will include genetic therapy, the debate over genetically-modified foods, ethics and issues in research, and career options in bioengineering and genetic science. Applications for healthcare, agriculture, and technology will be discussed and utilized for a final project.

Physical Chemistry
Come explore the world of physical chemistry including the kinetic theory of gases, statistical thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular structure, ionic phases, and more. Plan on conducting many hands-on experiments to solve real world problems!

The student is paired with another as a roommate and they live for two weeks in the dorms at Purdue. Each year my student has had the opportunity to share a dorm room with a student from Korea. There are organized dances, expeditions to Chicago to the Science Museums, or to a water park. There are pick up soccer games every night from what I could tell.

Each student is responsible for getting to class on time and there are morning and afternoon classes. The day starts at 7AM and according to my student didn't end until well after "lights-out" at 11PM. The work was interesting and engaging and so was the conversation and companionship.

If you are interested in the summer residential program at Purdue:

Summer Residential Program
GERI Main Office 765-494-7243
Fax 765-496-2706
geri@purdue.edu
Beering hall, Room 5108A

The Gifted Kid and His Unfinished Projects

2008-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor Eclectic Telegraph

It's Springtime. The weather is breaking. Summer is around the corner. Lazy days ahead - right?

If you're homeschooling a gifted kid, perhaps the lazy days have been around all winter.

The gifted student can be the most wonderful individual and the most frustrating individual all within the span of minutes. Why can't he just finish the dang project? Is it ADHD? Teen hormones? Dissect that unfinished project and you recognize that you're dealing with perfectionism. Again.

It seems I have surrounded myself with perfectionistic people, or am I the only one that can see projects through from start to finish?

Periodically I have to refresh my memory on what perfectionism looks like because it can turn the smoothest running homeschool into a horrific train wreck.

Back in November of 2006 I wrote about perfectionism. I researched and found some good stuff on how to deal with the evil beast called perfectionism, but here it is again in a big way, back in May 2008, morphed into a newer version of the evil beast stopping progress towards the end of our "school year". So I am off again on the trail of new tricks for the trade for mentoring a gifted student at home. To rework some ideas I have already made part of my bucket of tricks, I remember that with the perfectionist:

There is a preoccupation with real or imagined judgments and expectations from people who matter to them, making the perfectionist his own worst critic.
His self-worth is defined by a precisely defined sense of grand achievement. A larger than life picture of what ought to be.

My new and refined list of clues to why a project is not being completed:

The perfectionist ultimately will:

Procrastinate and leave work unfinished because he fears the result won't be good enough, forgetting the idea that it's what a man can do along the way that matters; He will focus on mistakes, rather than on what he did well.
Avoid trying new things for the fear of his definition of a a botched outcome.
Set unrealistic and grandiose goals and then condemn himself when he doesn't achieve the goals and an end product pictured in the grand movie in his head.
Not tolerate criticism and will find it very hard to laugh at himself, under certain circumstances.
Approach projects with such an inflexibility that indicates he believes that there is only one way to do accomplish it and that he is the only one who can do the job the best. This causes him to ultimately underachieve because of his inability to complete projects that are turning out less than his definition of "perfect." Projects that are less than perfect do not deserve his time or talents.

We want our children to live up to their potential. But what is potential? In Physics we look at the concept of "potential" energy, and this idea can be applied here as well. Many will define "potential" as striving for the goal of excellence which often gets translated into a quest for perfection with the gifted student. Potential shouldn't be a quest for perfection. We need to encourage the definition of potential to be the the idea that one needs to explore and develop the fullness of their own talents & interests.

There's a big difference between wanting children to develop their potential and expecting them to be the best in everything they attempt. As a mentor to a gifted student we need to remember to encourage the expansion of imagination, to foster risk taking, and to maintain a joy in discovery in tasks. Once we're sure that this inner achievement is taking place, you'll find find that this becomes s far more important than being "perfect" and that unfinished project may even get done.

Snowbound Snowbirds?

2008-03-07T07:31:00.001-08:00

I received an email on an email list the other day that I thought would be fun to share:

Driven to Educate - A Field Trip Across America - Have you lost your mind?

Those of us stuck in the snowstorms in the Midwest today might get some sunny relief from these families who are homeschooling on the road.

Families Hittin' the Road

Homeschoolers, Vote for McHilarBamaBee

2008-03-04T08:18:00.000-08:00

Guest Writer: OldSage

I voted in the Ohio Primary the other day. I have to admit, all of the choices scare the hell out of me. But there is a little bit of each that would make one really good candidate.

Someone once said that getting homeschoolers to come together is like herding cats. They're right, but in this election, just to show our presence, I think we need to come together to vote for the candidate McHilarBamaBee.

Mc is for all the homeschoolers who need to vote for old white guys for president. As we know, old white guys like to go to war and they like to piss off the rest of the world by making the average American look like essence they portray. To understand how this might feel, imagine that you are homeschooling for purely academic reasons and people always assume you're a religious fanatic.

Hilar is for all the homeschoolers who prefer that the thinking be done for them. This one has it all worked out for so you won't have to do a thing because the village is there to help. Hand yourselves over to the village and they'll handle things.

Bama is for all the homeschoolers who embrace hope. Hope that the village won't take all of your money to level the playing field. Hope that maybe the village would quit thinking for us. Hope that the village will just leave us alone. Hope that we'll finally support the troops and bring them home. Hope that the world will see that we don't always need an old white guy at the helm. Hope that the world will see us as progressive because we voted for a black man instead of a white woman or an old white man.

Bee is for all the thrifty homeschoolers who like to keep their money. A 23% flat tax is about the best idea any of them have. When you get right down to it's a real deal. If you add up what gets taken as tax from you on your income (15%-35%), what gets taken from you in sales taxes, as high as 7% some places, what gets taken from you in property taxes , as high as 20% in some areas, 15% tax that gets taken from you on anything you might make in interest on savings, 15%-35% tax that gets taken from you on any capital gains you might manage to wangle, you're getting quite a deal with a 23% flat tax. Not to mention, the original income tax imposed on us was unconstitutional to begin with. But nothing short of another tea pary will remedy that.

The candidate McHilarBamaBee is the one for homeschoolers I am sure of it.

See you next time.
OldSage

Another Good Resource for Homeschooling Families

2008-01-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

When my student was in Elementary school and even into middle school we enjoyed using Joy Hakim's A History of US: (10-Volume set (A History of Us)) as a springboard to many adventures into our United States History studies. Today the Washington Post reports that another book is available in The "Story of Science" series by Joy Hakim:

Author Reinvents Science Textbooks as Lively Fun Narratives
by Valarie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday January 28, 2008

The "Story of Science" series by Joy Hakim tells the history of science with wit, narrative depth and research, all vetted by specialists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first book is "Aristotle Leads the Way," the second is "Newton at the Center" and the third is "Einstein Adds a New Dimension." The series, which has drawn acclaim, chronicles not only great discoveries but also the scientists who made them.

We can't wait to have a look at the newest one!

Second Semester in Your High School?

2007-12-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

December is always hectic. It's the time when we start to think about any warm weather travel plans we have, but it also the time when we look at what worked the first part of the year and what we are planning to do the second part of the year.

Having an acclerated student is always a challenge.

Some awesome online acclerated courses I am considering come from places we all have heard about, Yale, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, even iTunes at Apple has some stuff worth looking at:

Happy New Year from the Eclectic Telegraph!

What's Wrong With This World? Wife Swap?

2007-12-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

This, in not one but two different emails to our homeschool website:

-------------------------------
Contact Us
Email: ABC TV Inquiry
-------------------------------
Text they wrote: Hello,

My name is Danielle Gervais. I'm a Casting Producer for ABC's Primetime show, "Wife Swap." I hope you don't mind me contacting you, but we're gearing up for a fourth season at the moment and we're currently looking for one-of-a-kind families with plenty of personality! Specifically, we're looking for parents who strongly believe in alternative forms of education for their children. Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone you think would be interested in taking part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In case you are unfamiliar with the show, the premise of Wife Swap is to take two different families and have the moms switch places to experience how another family lives. Half of the week, mom lives the life of the family she is staying with. Then she introduces a "rule change" where she implements rules and activities that her family has. It's a positive experience for people to not only learn but teach about other families and other ways of life. Wife Swap airs on Disney owned ABC television on Mondays at 8 pm- the family hour!

Requirements: Each family must consist of two parents and at least one child between 7 and 17 and should reside in the continental U.S. (There may be other children living in the home who are older or younger than the required age…as long as one child is in the required age range.)

Participating in the show is a very unique experience that can be life changing for everyone. In addition, each family that tapes an episode of Wife Swap receives $20,000 as compensation for their time. Anyone who refers a family that appears on our program receives $1000 as a 'thank you’ from us.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this email and I hope to hear from you soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me! If you're interested in learning more, please don’t forget to include your contact information.

Thank you for your time,

Danielle Gervais

My Reply went like this:

Dear Danielle,

I appreciate your two similar yet different emails. As flattered as I am with the idea that you consider my family a one-of-a-kind, I am not interested in participating in Wife Swap.

As an educated person, I find that sort of TV program insulting to anyone's intelligence, especially women. As for the requirements, I recently divorced a husband and I would not consider for a moment taking on someone else's husband, especially for other peoples' entertainment. In fact, I don't consider this sort of TV programming entertainment at all.

Webmaster

And people wonder why some of us homeschool. We live in a world that really no longer makes sense to me.

Who watches this stuff - and more interesting to me - why?

OldSage

The Mystery of Lonely "F"

2007-11-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Up to high school, we really didn't have an official "grading" system in our homeschool. One of the things I quickly realized as we arrived at the high school level, not only am I the mentor, the chauffeur and the parent, I also get to be a guidance counselor. As a new "guidance counselor" I have to say, I still am opposed to grading students. I am afraid it will become the measure in how my student views himself as a whole person, it will tempt me to use this system to measure if I have provided "the student with a comprehensive education experience" - how ever one can really do that. But for us to proceed past GO, collect the two hundred dollars and play the game of college, we need a transcript, so god-help-me, I am keeping "grades". I am keeping "grades" with the understanding that this is an understood way to show a college we measured certain aspects of what my student "learned" in high school. But hey, when else in life does one get a "report card"? May as well do it just this once- right?

How do you measure one's knowledge? We can look at effort applied, we can look at and measure assimilation of an "accepted" base of "facts" about a subject. But what if you have a student that absorbs the obtuse items along with all the "accepted" facts and he prefers to remember and assimilate the obtuse? Does that student get a "failing" grade when we try to measure -- say with a standardized test? Often that is what happens to the gifted student in a school system. But then there are also other issues that can effect how a student gets "graded" that often isn't considered in a "grading" system.

We all process information at different paces, with different interest levels and in different ways. Some of us understand things in "pictures", in words, in lists, in cartoons. We all learn different ways and most of us, whether we want to admit it or not, learn on a need to know basis, in spite of the best efforts of our school systems.

We all process sensations in different ways too. We don't like the way corduroy feels, we don't like the sound of scratching on a blackboard, we hide our eyes from bright lights, we don't like to feel wet or the tickling of grass on our feet, we sense what other people are feeling, or we might not be able to sense that at all. When we recognize that this isn't the way everyone deals with life, we find ways to hide these personal "quirks" because in a school system we need to be a salmon or a wheel rolling smoothly on a running train.

What would you say about a kid's "report card" where they had been granted 5 "A's", 1 "B" and an F in Gym class? I found it fascinating actually, especially as a new "guidance counselor" who only has one student to worry about. It was an interesting mystery to solve, the mystery of the lonely "F".

So if you were to solve the mystery of the lonely "F", what kind of clues would you need to make an educated "guess"?

What if the kid were in Elementary would that matter to our mystery? How about if the kid were in Middle School? What if this report card was describing the efforts of a high school age student? Because it is and that's what make it so interesting to me. Especially since this student is required to pass gym in order to graduate and receive a diploma from the public school system.

One could conclude that this kid was being stubborn or lazy about having to "perform" in a group with other peers. One could also conclude that this particular teen is making a statement, which is also typical in the teen years because if you look at the idea that in all the other "difficult", more "meaningful" subjects, this student performed beautifully, like the trained seal the school system hopes to graduate. But there are still more clues we could consider.

What if this student also has had issues with penmanship? What if this same student also has issues with the way food tastes or feels? What if this student has sensitivity to the way clothing feels and has sensitivity to feeling wet and cold? What if this student clung to certain routines and needed a certain predictability to life a lot of the time. This student has these sensitivities.

Are these worthwhile clues to solving the mystery of the lonely "F"? They are.

The public school system makes me crazy. We have granted so much power to this system over our families. We allow this system to dictate the need for medical treatments for our kids like Ritalin and immunizations. We allow this system to determine how our kids learn about drugs, intimate relationships and social diseases. We allow this system to measure the "knowledge" our children have acquired with them because we have come to believe that this is what is best for our children. We have let the school system convince us that we as parents are not able to impart the knowledge and wisdom our children need to be successful in a global community.

We have let the school system convince us to value the letter grades they assign to our children's efforts so much that our children begin to believe that these letters measure who they are. We reward our children for the "good" letters and chastise them for the "bad" ones. We take the "grading" game the public school system has set up for our children and try to make our children fit their game without ever really considering that maybe they don't really "fit" or maybe they shouldn't be made to "fit".

There is one quote from Patrick Farenga that has stayed with me for years:
“The concept of universal compulsory schooling is a very recent idea, one that is not even two hundred years old, yet we act as if it is an ancient, sure-fire way to make sure our children "learn something.””

A fact known by the homeschooling community is that the established teaching profession is very intimidated by the successes of homeschoolers and this group indoctrinates any new members entering the profession to the idea that homeschooling is bad for our society.

Read an item from National Education Association (NEA), the most prominent teacher's union in the United States, a list of resolutions (2007-2008 NEA Resolutions. The section on Homeschooling:

"B-75. Home Schooling
The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, student enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to insure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.

The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in extracurricular activities in the public schools.

The Association further believes that local public school systems should have the authority to determine grade placement and/or credits earned toward graduation for students entering or re-entering the public school setting from a home school setting (1988, 2006)."

If you would enjoy an amazing study of the whole antiquated public education system, you can read the whole report at their website. If you do get through one of these resolution lists, you may conclude that this organization does not envision a parent as being able to impart worthwhile knowledge or life skills to their children. And boy you ought to read what they have to say about educating the gifted kid. But sorry, I digress, it's not just the public school system that makes me crazy. It's is also the willingness of people to ignore all the clues to the mystery of the lonely "F", or even worse, see some of the clues as a defect, or a character flaw. So far we have a lot of clues we can use in solving the mystery of the lonely "F". But let's add some more ideas.

What if we found out that this student was identified as being "above average" in the school system, not identified as gifted, but "above average". Do we go back to the idea that this student is being lazy or stubborn with Gym? Do we go back to the idea that maybe this kid doesn't see Gym as worthy of his talents? Maybe this student recognizes that the requirement to pass Gym for graduation is ridiculous and they are just making a "radical" teen statement. But we are forgetting about the less obvious clues we have. The clues that this kind of student has become expert in disguising in the school system; The ones that involve how this student may be processing sensory information, like that this student has issues with the way clothing feels and has sensitivity to feeling wet and cold. That this student clings to certain routines and needs a certain predictability.

When Sensory Integration Disorder Interferes with Your Child's Social Skills

"Social activities other children find enjoyable can be extremely uncomfortable for kids with sensory integration issues. As a 'tween or teen, a child with sensory integration issues may have difficulty tolerating the clothes that all the kids are wearing, and feel ostracized because he constantly wears ratty old tennis shoes and sweatpants. Eating with other kids can cause social anxiety, as a child's inability to tolerate different food textures, or notice if he's got crumbs on his face, can make him feel embarrassed."
(from an interview with Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske authors of: Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues)

Teens who have had these challenges in the school system become experts at hiding what they perceive as the things that make them "different". They become experts at ignoring who they are and they can become depressed or aggressive. I know this because even teens who are homeschooling hide their "quirks" too and they sometimes become depressed or aggressive. These teens ignore the very things that make them have such a unique perception of the world; what makes them a true individual. They allow these traits to become something negative. Relatives don't want to see a "flaw", because it's more effort for them to look at the world another way than through the glasses they already use. Even the professionals label Sensory Integration issues as a "disorder". Kind of cruel I think.

What can parents do?

The most crucial thing a parent can do is to acquire sensory smarts. Recognize that life is a sensory event, and there will often be times when the sensory input most of us take for granted and don't even notice will greatly affect their child. Respect your child's sensory integration needs and teach him how he can meet his needs in a socially acceptable, safe manner.
(more from an interview with Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske authors of: Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues)

At our house, as I have written before, we use humor to bail ourselves out of really uncomfortable and nasty times. One of my students favorite tee shirts has a saying on it that goes like this "You may think I am different, I think you are all the same". It may take a while for me to recognize that a severe case of "mean-teen" is generally due to me misreading how my student might be perceiving something. But eventually I get there and I remind my student to appreciate his individuality and that I appreciate his individuality.

I don't think we'll ever solve the mystery of the lonely "F", but it is a classic reminder to those of us who have these brilliant kids to remember to tune into how your student might experience the world. But not to just tune in, recognize that maybe their perception might just be a bit more interesting than yours.

by Amy Cortez -Editor The Eclectic Telegraph - who homeschools a gifted student and notes what she learns at www.brightkidsathome. Reference twice exeptional. Reference identify.

A New Journal

2007-11-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

To those who read along each month in 2006/2007 with the original format of The Eclectic Telegraph, thank you. All of those issues are still where you found them originally. I have decided to to keep a journal here rather than to continue to maintain a huge endeavor in a full blown newsletter. I really have to finish that book! So look for the same kinds of items you found in our newsletter here instead.

The World is Your Oyster: Cow Prodding Teens to Success

2007-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Amy Cortez, Editor -- The Eclectic Telelgraph

How many times have you had this discussion with your teen?

You: "You pay entirely too much attention to [your favorite worthless pursuit goes here], it will never get you anywhere."

Your Teen "So, I am only [his age], this is what I want to do right now. There is plenty of time to get serious." [or some version of this response].

When we were in St Barths in February we saw the ugliest sailboat in the world. It was ugly. So ugly I didn't photograph it or give it much thought until recently when I saw an article in Newsweek about that very sailboat. To use a quote from that article, "If Darth Vadar had an intergalactic yacht, this is what it would look like." I bring this sailboat into this discussion because as it turns out it belongs to Tom Perkins. You may be wondering who Tom Perkins is. From the article in Newsweek:

In the risky business of funding fledgling entrepreneurs, Perkins performed the alchemy of turning millions into billions. He transformed the art of venture capital—from the passive hobby of dilettante bluebloods into a cutthroat profession that produced a generation of Siliconillionaires. Perkins became the man to see in the Valley. In the process, he'd become fabulously wealthy himself and amassed great power. Along the way, in his larger-than-life life, he'd managed to be father figure to Apple's Steve Jobs, sailing mentor to media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the occasional muse to romance novelist Danielle Steel, to whom he was briefly married. Perkins even managed to get himself convicted of manslaughter in France after a collision during a yacht race. Late in the summer of 2006, he engineered the takedown of the chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard over a boardroom spying scandal in which he was the white knight or dark lord, depending on who was telling the tale.

Now, at 74, Perkins was setting out to transform the art of sailing and create a vessel through which his boundless ego could be expressed. His $130 million yacht, anchored in front of the palace, was the Maltese Falcon, a 21st-century clipper ship that was bigger, faster, riskier, higher-tech and more expensive than any private sailing craft on the planet.

Tom Perkins has been a character I've followed over the years, mainly because I came from the corporate America he funded - high tech. Tom Perkins, in his own way is successful. I wonder what his mother used to say to him about his worthless pursuits.

It occurred to me recently that even though our kids may be involved in what we perceive as worthless pursuits, they are involved in these for a reason. It is our job as parents, in my opinion, to get to the reason behind the pursuit. Is it a pursuit that will contribute to the success of this person? As the adult in the situation, it's up to you to weigh your experience and knowledge against the observation. It if is indeed a worthless pursuit, one that is brain melting, then intervene, otherwise, let them explore it - within reason.

But how do you know what a worthless pursuit is these days with all the changes since many of us born in the sixties were teens? Well, keep informed. Some of these pursuits may be addictions and just not the ones we are familiar with. There are many new things our teens get addicted to and spend their time on. The key to not letting this happen, or redirecting the energy is active parenting. Sometimes it's tough to tell your teen "no", or "you not going to do that any more" especially when you observe it is something they are really interested in. But one thing to remember, telling them "no" now, may mean the difference between a healthy future and one that will cause heartache.It really is up to you, the parent to develop courage, responsibility and character in your children. How you do that may just involve unpleasant moments with your young adult and that takes courage.

Developing courage gets back to our friend Mr. Perkins. It takes courage to be successful, (it takes courage to build a sailboat like he did) though I may not agree with how Mr. Perkins reached his level of success. Anyone you might name as a true hero has done something that requires courage. If they do not have a courageous act in their background, then they are not a hero.

Responsibility is what distinguishes children from adults. Show me an adult that has no responsibilities and I'll bet they are an unbearable person to be around. People who successfully manage responsibilities are interesting people because it takes intelligence and courage to be responsible. It also takes character to manage the many responsibilities of the adult world. Character is the most difficult, yet in my opinion, the absolute most important set of skills to impart on our teens.

You might wonder why one would teach character, well, because character is the core of a person, it is the sum of habits, attitudes and qualities. It is the job of the parent to teach character in my opinion. The Josephson Institute of Ethics lists Six Pillars of Character as:

Trustworthiness
Respect
Responsibility
Fairness
Caring
Citizenship

But it's not just the idea to teach these things to your teen, because how you live your life says a lot more than the words you choose. Live your life courageously, responsibly and with character and your teen will follow suit.

Video Game Addiction: A Medical Disorder?
American Medical Association Seeks To Have Obsessive Game Playing Declared A Psychiatric Disorder
CBS News, June 22, 2007

The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while their grades plummet and belligerence soars.

This weekend, the AMA will debate the report, which warns in particular about online games involving role-playing and never-ending quests — games like World of Warcraft, Everquest, or Final Fantasy, Sieberg reports.

Up to 90 percent of American youngsters play video games and as many as 15 percent of them — more than 5 million kids — may be addicted, according to data cited in the AMA council's report.

View a CBS News Video: Separating Fantasy and Reality
(you have to wait for some pretty annoying commercials while the clip loads, but the clip is worthwhile.)

Paintball Passions
Recruiters seek soldiers on a hot sport's battlefields.
By Andrew Romano
Newsweek, March 19, 2007

"Where else can you find young men who have a better-than-average idea of how to conduct themselves in a firefight?"

Though paintball won't replace bonuses or benefits as a top recruiting tool anytime soon, the fast-growing sport has emerged in recent months as a promising source of fresh fighters at a time when the armed forces are stretched thin. Keenly aware that paintball's 10.4 million participants make it more popular among Americans than baseball, surfing or snowboarding, Elder, a player himself, began trolling Long Island events for prospects late last year. After five "low-key" trips, his unit has signed up two new troops and identified another 50 who "seem interested." Recruiters in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Chicago and North Dakota have also scoped out paintball events.

YouTube Video: 5 Ways to tell you're addicted to paintball

Hooking up is the rage, but is it healthy?
By Barbara F. Meltz,
Boston Globe, February 13, 2007

Hooking up has come to define sexual relationships for most of today's teens and young women. It can mean anything from kissing and touching to oral sex or intercourse. Vagueness is its hallmark. "A girl can say, 'I hooked up with so-and-so,' and no one knows what she did. It protects you and makes you a player at the same time," says Aparicio, who admits to her share of high school hook ups.
[snip]
The most benign fallout from being unhooked is that young women delay dating and marriage. "The problem with that is they pick up a lot of bad habits that makes it hard to sustain a long-term commitment, like not being able to trust or share or know how to disagree and make up," Stepp says. More seriously, being unhooked can lead to depression, alcohol abuse, anorexia, and emotional disturbance.

What young women don't count on is oxytocin , a chemical produced in the brain to promote feelings of connection and love. Oxytocin is most commonly associated with breast - feeding; it's what helps a mother bond with her infant. But it's also produced to lesser degrees during sex. The more intense the sex, the more oxytocin. Males also get a dose of it from sex, but they get a bigger dose of testosterone, which suppresses the oxytocin. [read on]

Review: "Only yesterday boys and girls spoke of embracing and kissing (necking) as getting to first base. Second base was deep kissing, plus groping and fondling this and that. Third base was oral sex. Home plate was going all the way. That was yesterday. Here in the year 2000 we can forget about necking. Today's girls and boys have never heard of anything that dainty. Today first base is deep kissing, now known as tonsil hockey, plus groping and fondling this and that. Second base is oral sex. Third base is going all the way. Home plate is being introduced by name.

For Texting Teens, an OMG Moment When the Phone Bill Arrives
By Margaret Webb Pressler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 20, 2007

Sofia Rubenstein, 17, got in trouble the way a lot of teens do these days. Her incessant text-messaging racked up a huge phone bill on the family's wireless plan.

"It's whatever pops into my head. There's no stopping it," she said. "Sometimes I'll be on the phone with someone and I get texted, and then I'm having two conversations at once."

Last month the Washington high school junior used 6,807 text messages, which, at a rate of 15 cents apiece for most of them, pushed the family's Verizon Wireless bill to more than $1,100 for the month.

A Big Boatload of Ego
Silicon Valley's Tom Perkins builds the largest, riskiest, highest-tech, most self-indulgent sailboat ever made.
by David A. Kaplan
Newsweek

The July edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is out. Here's what we wrote about:

Trashing Teens: Some Food for Thought
(Teens should be learning from the people they are about to become)
The World is Your Oyster: Cow Prodding Teens to Success
(How do you know what a worthless pursuit is these days)
Happy [Not] Back to School Days to You
(You see the thing is that the schools want total control over not just our children's minds, but their bladders as well.)
How Do I Know We're Using the Right Curriculum?
Amy Cortez, Editor -- The Eclectic Telegraph

Give Your Kid a Sport They Can Love Forever

2007-06-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor The Eclectic Telegraph

One of the saddest things I have seen lately was on a soccer field. A kid about 12, had a throw in that was OK by my standards, but not OK by the coach's. He yelled from all the way across the field "What was that? What's the matter with you? And you are my granddaughter!"

Needless to say, I was horrified.

As I looked around the field, there were hundreds, if not a thousand people on these several plots of grass, all painted up for soccer. It didn't take much for me to realize that the people on these fields were not the least bit affected by this coaches outburst, and I am sure many heard it.

When did we become so harsh with our children?

My son used to play soccer. That was 6 years ago however. I remember that he would get panic attacks in the car on the way to practice and especially for games. His last coach was similar in demeanor as the one I had witnessed this day and he wasn't the first coach like this, but it was the last one for him. This sort of abusive behavior is why he won't play the game on a team anymore. I fully supported his decision, because I agreed that the behavior from the coach was unacceptable.

The last time my son played soccer was in a pickup game on the island of Mayreau in a school yard there. There it was fun, not to mention, real soccer, not this sanitized version of American-kid soccer.

You don't have to be a soccer mom.

Sports are important to the development of our children especially these days when it has become the norm to plop in front of a computer or TV screen for hours at a time. But you don't have to be a soccer mom. Soccer mom is a really bad stereotype in my opinion these days. It seems, soccer moms condone the sort of behavior I witnessed by this coach. By not saying anything about this sort of behavior, they give permission to this sort of person to verbally abuse their kids. An besides, it's not even real soccer what I see kids playing here in America.

I love the water and kayaking is a new love for me. I have introduced kayaking to my son and I believe he loves it too. Every time we see a scull boat or another kayak on top of a vehicle, he gets excited to see it. At 15 he still goes on my goofy outings with me.

My dad taught me golf and I love it. It is a sport I still play. My dad has an immense level of patience, more than me, for teaching golf to my son and at this very minute playing for the first time on a regulation course [up until now it had been the executive courses]. He will also volley tennis balls [a sport he's learning] withmy son until one of them gets tired.

For years my son has been working towards a blackbelt in Taekwondo, not because he's been told to, but because he really loves the sport. He is one belt away from being a blackbelt. He has a wonderful coach at an Olympic training center, it has been the love this coach shows for the sport that keeps my son so interested and motivated.

When we lived in Utah, I took my son to Sundance Mountain resort for a beginners ski lesson. By the time we moved away from Utah, he had become a member of the Alta Youth Race team because he loves the sport. Everything that happened in between these events were driven by my son's love for the sport and his witnessing coaches who loved the sport.

Kids don't deserve to be verbally abused on a soccer field - or anywhere else for that matter. Kids don't need to be bullied into playing a sport well, they'll do it because they love it. Alot of what I saw on that soccer field that day was verbal abuse and bullying and that is just so sad.

In my opinion, as parents, and especially as homeschool parents, it is our responsibility to introduce things our kids will love - hopefully forever. The best way to do this is to introduce things you love, show a passion for it and they'll "get it". I promise.

The June Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is out & here is what else we wrote about:

The Eclectic Telegraph: May Edition

2007-05-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Overscheduled Child
by Amy Cortez, Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph

A friend recently commented to me about another parent "they drive them to a bunch of activities and schedule so many things for them to do that when they don't have anything planned for them, they don't know what to do."

I asked "so do you think that makes them a good parent?"

They replied, "this parent thinks they are super parent, when really I have observed is all that they have with those kids is a superficial relationship because they don't really spend any time together, rather they let all these non-family members coach, instruct and mentor their kids."

Now one could take that conversation as gossip, but it made me realize the very special relationship homeschooling parents end up having with their kids because of the time we spend coaching, instructing and mentoring our kids. Personally, I think many activities outside the home are used more for babysitting than anything else. Organized soccer for 5 year olds? Are you kidding me? Show me a kid that is “too busy” and I will show you parents that just want to have someone else be responsible for their kids for a while.

I wanted to research this observation my friend made nd found that this is a real problem in today's world, it's called hyper-parenting, we just missed it at our house. "Hyper-parenting" occurs when parents over-manage and over-schedule their child’s life. There's also the term "helicopter parents". Helicopter parents hover. and they are always on the lookout for threats to their children's success and happiness. It seems that parenting has become a competitive sport.

I imagine most homeschooling families won't experience this phenomenon, but maybe not. I imagine that many parents of gifted kids might see this happening in their family because often with a gifted child we feel we must give our children all the opportunities we can. It has been my experience so far that if you let kids be kids, they turn out to be pretty healthy, well adjusted and personable people complete with their own opinions, set of values and responsibilities. Some ideas I have implemented at our house:

Family is a Priority.
Relationships matter, more than anything else. Our children are with us for a short time before they head out into their own lives. We ought to enjoy them, we ought to spend quality time with them.

Character Counts.
How you live your life in front of your child matters more than how you tell him he ought to be living his. Character lasts a lifetime. Live the values that are important to you, because your children will emulate you when they grow up and go out into the world.

Childhood is a Preparation.
No one ought to be on stage all the time. Kids should not be judged on every aspect of their life. Children are children should not be expected to perform to adult standards. Resist the pressure from external forces that tell you how to push your child to excel early.

Fun Has A Place in Parents' Lives.
Our brief time on earth is meant to be enjoyed. Our closest relationships should be a source of pleasure, not constant pressure and tension.

Fun Has A Place In Kids' Lives.
Childhood shouldn't be an endless flow of productivity and self-improvement activities. Kids deserve to have fun, down time, and empty spaces in their lives to fill any way they choose to. A lot of supposedly "fun" scheduled activities are anything but fun; they are pressured times when a child is expected to perform, especially the perfectionistic gifted child.

Trust Yourself.
Don't believe the experts who tell you they know how you ought to raise your child. When it comes to your family, you are the expert.

Description from Amazon: In this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage. This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities. The brothers Conn and Hal have put together a wonderful collection of all things that make being young or young at heart fun—building go-carts and electromagnets, identifying insects and spiders, and flying the world's best paper airplanes.

How to be a good parent

The May Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is Out. Here's what we wrote about:

GO TO The Eclectic Telegraph.

So, How Do We Fix the Public School System in Ohio?

2007-04-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Do homeschoolers here really care?

This one does.

Because if they [governement officials] are looking to reign in other choices [vouchers] for reasons like:

"It's undemocratic," he said, and it signals an abandonment of the public school system. Vouchers "represent the use of public tax dollars without any public oversight, without the public having the ability, through their elected representatives, to have any influence over (school) hiring, firing, curriculum, or discipline procedures. It's an attempt to help a few students shine, when I think our goal should be to improve our public schools so that every student would have a high-quality education. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland from:Parents fight to keep vouchers BY DENISE SMITH AMOS, Cincinnati Enquireer, Friday, April 13, 2007."

The potential for a scrutiny of the homeschool laws that are already established is there. Though this particular state official seems more focused on the bottem line and in getting more dollars to the schools. This homeschooler hopes that Gov. Strickland recognizes that homeschoolers, as do families who send their kids to private schools, contribute to the tax base for the schools, but many of us don't even use any part of the public school system and for good reason. On any one day, you can find stories like these portraying our schools as failing or dangerous:

Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage
POSTED: 4:14 p.m. EDT, CNN.com, April 16, 2007

A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21 people and perhaps more Monday during shootings in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech -- the deadliest school attack in U.S. history.

At least 31 people were killed Monday in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, according to two Virginia congressmen -- making it the deadliest school shooting incident in U.S. history. "Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said.

Study gives teachers barely passing grade in classroom
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY, March 29, 2007

The typical child in the USA stands only a one-in-14 chance of having a consistently rich, supportive elementary school experience, say researchers who looked at what happens daily in thousands of classrooms.

The findings, published today in the weekly magazine Science, take teachers to task for spending too much time on basic reading and math skills and not enough on problem-solving, reasoning, science and social studies. They also suggest that U.S. education focuses too much on teacher qualifications and not enough on teachers being engaging and supportive.

Just one test can hurt
BY DENISE SMITH AMOS , March 13, 2007

Even so, about a third of the 10th-graders who took the test last March failed one or more parts. State figures show 58,548 out of 147,605 students had to retake the tests.

Students get six chances to take the test to graduate on time.

Cincinnati Public Schools, which had a 52 percent passage rate last March, has high schools offering practice sessions and tutoring before and after school and on Saturdays.

You can also find success stories, but these in general aren't about things that really matter to someone who has already made the decision to homeschool.

So why offer a solution to fix the public school system?

To keep officials busy with trying to fix a dyke already riddled with holes, so they'll leave homeschooolers alone? Once they have a public school system that is attractive, or at least interesting to those of us who homeschool, maybe then they can find good ways to reel us in. Maybe we'll want to be reeled in. But I think the day of the little red school house is gone. Our culture has forgotten what it means to educate offspring, this much is very clear to this homeschooler.

If Parents Controlled the Schools
Ned Vare May 1996

IF PARENTS CONTROLLED the schools, would we...

Insist children learn the same things at the same time?
Create a bleak artificial environment and lock our kids in it for years, knowing that most of what they learn is irrelevant or wrong?
Allow them to have no standards, no goals, and to dumb down the kids?
Allow our property to be confiscated if we didn't pay their bigger bill each year?
Hire unionized teachers with binding arbitration who could vote for their raises?
Let them give our kids mind-altering drugs (Ritalin) to control behavior as insane asylums do?
Suspend the band and sports for a year to coerce ourselves to vote for a tax increase?
Believe that 10 to 15 percent of our kids are "learning disabled" when figures show only a 1 percent likelihood?
Allow our children's and our lives to be so dominated by school's synthetic experience that there's no time left for real experiences?
Use standardized tests that have no education value and can damage kids?
Use only "certified" staff when private schools have no such restriction and avoid hiring them?
Assign 60 percent of every day to non-academic indoctrination like "social values?"
Allow the state to dictate who can run our schools?
Let teachers use our children as shills for their pay raises?
Pay twice what private schools charge and get half the learning?

The answers are either no or hell no.

Parents are encouraged to relinquish our natural roles as educators. Feeling guilty about that, we are easy prey for schools that demand more taxes to raise our children badly. Educationists have learned to hustle us, shake us down in a shell game for control of money and our children's lives.

What's wrong here in my city is what is wrong everywhere — school is a state monopoly that can neither educate effectively nor inform the public honestly. To become responsive and accountable, education needs to be separated from government. Otherwise, it will continue to serve only itself and we will remain its slaves.

I think the regular guy would shocked as to the laws that are on the books regarding the education of junior.

When did we decide the state was better suited to educate our children than we are as parents?

Why do we hand our kids over to the state and allow them to determine what they ultimately learn?

What education is?

Are we really that stupid? We used to afraid of Communism.

The one thing that always gets me is how silly things are with spending for education in our state. The public education system is a starving beast that never seems to have enough, no matter how much we throw at it. At every turn in the road, the beast wants more:

Opinion: Cut fat at top; get involved at bottom
Sunday, March 18, 2007

MANY REASONS NOT TO SUPPORT NEW LEVY
Every time I read about the idea of a new levy on the ballot for the Cincinnati Public Schools I just cringe. You asked for my thoughts, and here they are. Don't put a new school levy on the ballot, and do something smart with the money you already receive from the taxpayers, like hiring experienced business professionals to manage the books.

Here's the list of reasons I feel justify my attitude:

Cincinnati Public Schools are giving up $40 million during the next four years to get $54 million a generation from now - partly to help out Hamilton County and its attempt to stave off a stadium deficit.

The "gift" mentioned above is supposed to return meager interest over 10 years, though if the schools have that money to "invest," why not invest it in a more reliable, higher-yielding investment ... maybe coins? Why not invest it in teaching kids how to learn and in how to enjoy learning? It's a pity only 70 percent of our seniors can pass the Ohio Graduation Test.

A day after Cincinnati Public Schools lopped 13 schools from its $1 billion construction plan, some school supporters say the district should do immediate damage control to avoid losing more families who are unhappy with the changes.

Every day I drive by Kilgour Elementary School and see it is under construction and wonder why this is so when it seems all the students from Hyde Park and Kilgour seem to be doing just fine in one building at the corner of Edwards and Observatory.

I also wonder why if we have so many commercial buildings sitting empty, why we don't use these as schools instead and spend the billion in construction money on educating kids?

In a 1997 landmark case called DeRolph vs. State of Ohio, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the state's school funding system unconstitutional and ordered the General Assembly to find a solution within a year and amend the process. It's still unconstitutional in 2007. Why is that?

I pay what amounts to a private school's tuition for a year in property taxes in the city of Cincinnati. I home-school my student. Where does the money for what would be earmarked for my student and many others who home school in the CPS district go?

Call me crazy, but these items just don't make sense to me as a taxpayer that doesn't even use what they are paying for. [read on ]

What if we all got together in the state of Ohio and wrote laws for public education simialr to what they wrote in Utah regarding homeschools:

The Best Homeschool Laws in the USA are the ones in Utah.
Senate Bill 59: Homeschool Freedom Bill, passed both houses of the Utah legislature unanimously early in 2005. and the governor signed it into law on March 18, 2005.

The bill provides that a school-age minor shall be excused from attendance upon the filing of an affidavit by the parent stating that the child will be homeschooled. This bill makes it clear that a parent is in charge of the child's education. It states that

The parent is solely responsible for the selection of instructional materials and textbooks, though the required subjects must be taught.
The parent is solely responsible for the time, place, and method of instruction, though a child must be taught "for the same length of time as minors are required to receive instruction in public schools."
A school board may not require a parent to keep records of instruction or attendance.
A school board may not require credentials for individuals homeschooling their children.
A school board may not inspect homeschool facilities.
A school board may not require standardized or other testing of homeschool students.

Why is it the responsibilty of the state to educate it's citizens anyway?

Why did we give our power as parents away?

The solution to education in Ohio might take on these ideas:

Encourage parents NOT to relinquish their natural roles as educators.
Put parents in charge of a child's education. Hold them accountable for their kids successes and failures in the schools. Reward them with tax breaks when they remain in control of their kid's education.
Fund schools in parternship with parents and require a tuition structure based on number of kids per family actually using the public schools and impose a property tax, on not just the house, but all the toys, on those same familes. Accountabilty in the schools would improve immensely, I am sure of it.

The March Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is out. Here's what we wrote about:

March Edition: Ace a Test Win a Prize

2007-03-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

The March Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is Out

Here's what we wrote about:

There's Nothing like a Real Life Lesson in Geography
My top 10 University choices/my alternatives
Alternative Education Opportunities
Don't Weigh the Elephant -- Feed the Elephant
Happy Pi Day

GO TO: The Eclectic Telegraph

Also in the March Edition: Ace a Test, Win a Prize
What kind of lessons are we teaching when we reward students for good grades and good standardized test scores? What lessons are we teaching when measure "average" is good?

In this age of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) high stakes accountability tests have become prevalent in the public school system. I can't help but wonder, as we get further away from encouraging actual learning for the pure joy of it, what kind of person is going to be the common US citizen in about 20 years from now? My observation from reading in the recent news and other places, is that schools, more and more are teaching to the test and rewarding kids for performing well. How will they be as citizens?

Students, teachers offered $250 as test bonus
By Jay Mathews
The Washington Post, Saturday, March 10, 2007

WASHINGTON — The Advanced Placement program has long offered college credit to high-school students who show mastery of a subject. Now, a group of educators and business executives is dangling another incentive in front of AP students and teachers in selected schools across the country: $250 for each passing score on science, English and math tests.

The offer, announced Friday by a group with $125 million in funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation, is stoking debate over the wisdom of cash bonuses for achievement..[read on].

Educators debating FCAT incentives
By ANNA SCOTT Herald-Tribune Southwest Florida's Information Leader
Article published Feb 26, 2007

The principal at Port Charlotte Middle School could have used a $2,000 donation from Wal-Mart for school supplies, sports equipment, library books -- any number of things. He opted for hundreds of $5 gift cards to reward students who score well on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the state's tool for measuring student -- and school -- success.

"They need something more than a pat on the back," said Principal Demetrius Revelas. When students take the annual FCAT this month, chances are some will have more in mind than a job well done.

Whether it's a sign of healthy competition, or naked desperation, more schools are offering elaborate prizes for students who ace the FCAT or improve their scores.

In my opinion, the schools are treating these kids sort of like Pavlov's dog (where some of us recognize that the phrase "Pavlov's dog" is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than uses critical thinking).

Now, we even have studies that say if we reward schools, the students will do even better on tests. What's that all about?

REWARDS, NOT SANCTIONS, HELP SCHOOLS SUCCEED UNDER ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAMS, STUDY FINDS
Ohio State University research, sponsored by the Spencer Foundation: “We can’t say yet whether rewards or sanctions are directly connected to student learning, but these results suggest rewards are more likely to lead to positive results than are sanctions.”

The even sadder story is the one where even though American students can pass all these great tests we've laid out for them, many are still "just average" and the schools and it seems, many parents think that's just fine, because they let them move on to Universitites where remedial classes are more and more common.

Billing School Districts Charging for Remedial Education
By Daniel Muniz, March 12th 2007

Colleges and employers already know first hand that merely having a high school diploma is really an unknown variable, especially since many schools are far more interested in the quantity of graduating seniors instead of the quality of their education. But here is an effective way to finally hold our school system directly accountable.

Financially penalize school districts when one of their students has to take a remedial class in college.

Right now, high schools are not academically aligned to the expectations of universities and workplaces. As a result, too many college students have to take at least one or more remedial classes in college. That means that the basics that should have already been mastered in high school have to be repeated.

Side Effects of Standardized Testing
by Ann Lahrson Fisher

Few people consider standardized tests to be the powerful teaching instruments they are, nor do parents consider the possible impact of tests on their children. Most homeschoolers who have their children tested find the tests to be merely a source of academic feedback or a simple way to notify the state that the children are being educated according to their standards.

Some Side Effect Lessons

Someone else knows what you should know better than you do.
Learning is an absolute that can be measured.
Your interests are not important.
The subject areas being evaluated on the test are the only things that are important to know.
Thinking is not valued; getting the 'right' answer is the only goal.
The answer (to any question) is readily available, indisputable, and it's one of these four or five answers here; there's no need to look deeper or dwell on the question.
Your worth can be summarized by a single mark on a paper.

Average is not OK, unless we as a Nation are done being the "New Romans" and are willing to step down from being a nation of innovators and achievers. If you read any of the foreign press, there are many people outside the United States that see our citizens as iPod toting folks, who are fascinated by Paris, Brittany and American Idol, who are into immediate gratification and not much else. In general, I don't tend to agree with Latin American dictators, but recently there was an article in the New York TImes that portrayed a pretty ugly picture of how a subset of Latin America sees the U.S.

Bush and Chávez Spar at Distance Over Latin Visit
By JIM RUTENBERG and LARRY ROHTER
Published: March 10, 2007

....But while President Bush pressed that point, President Chávez led an “anti-imperialist” rally at which he railed against what he called American hypocrisy and greed, and called Mr. Bush a “political cadaver.”...[read on]

Though some may see Chavez as a nut, there are other places in the world where American integrity is also seriously damaged. What is the generation of kids who are currently in our public school systems, who are being subjected to Pavlovian style education going to do to American integrity abroad in the future?

The most chilling news item I have read lately was one where Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates, went before The US Congress and told them he couldn't fill 3,000 technical jobs in the United States because of a shortage of skilled workers.

Gates: Education lapses put U.S. at risk
BY NANCY ZUCKERBROD | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told Congress on Wednesday that overhauls of the nation's schools and immigration laws are urgently needed to keep jobs from going overseas.

"The U.S. cannot maintain its economic leadership unless our work force consists of people who have the knowledge and skills needed to drive innovation," Gates told the Senate committee that oversees labor and education issues.

There are educators who care, and then there are ones who in my book are nuts.

I found an interesting blog where some educators were discussing the benefits of "incentives" for good test results:

Should schools offer students incentives for academic performance?
By Sara Bernard
A school district in central Ohio is trying a new kind of incentive pay — for students. In return for doing well on annual exams, each student can earn up to $100. And in schools near Miami, students can win pizza parties, tickets to the prom, and even iPods in exchange for passing scores on their new state science exam. Proponents of these kinds of incentives maintain that this is one way among many to encourage academic achievement, particularly when many schools’ livelihoods depend on test scores. Others argue that these are bribes, and don’t encourage meaningful learning. What do you think?

What's the answer?

Who knows.

I think it is homeschooling and eliminating most testing, but that's me. Harvard seems to think so too:

In a class of their own
Harvard Crimson Magazine, Wednesday, February 28, 2007
By LOGAN R. URY

Once considered an educational taboo found only in the homes of the religious and political pariahs, homeschooling has developed into a popular alternative to traditional education, perhaps because of its educational benefits—recent NHERI studies show that the average homeschooled student outperforms his public school peers by 30 to 37 percentage points across all subjects....[read on]

See you next Month -- OldSage

Grassroots Campaign: Write Your Legislators…..

2007-01-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

If you are homeschooling, you have already made a political statement. You are coloring outside the lines by most American standards. How far you color outside the lines really has to do with where you see yourself philosophically on this planet. Right or left, religious, secular, gay, straight, single, married, white, black, Latino, Asian, Native American -- all words that describe American homeschoolers.

There is a group here in the United States that has consistently promoted themselves at the Federal Level as the group that represents all homeschoolers. They can get away with that, because they do, because we let them.

Homeschooling is a way of life that cannot and should not be represented by any one group, and it certainly is not something that should be regulated at the Federal level.

On great example of this is what OldSage brought to you last month and that is a bit about a certain subgroup of homeschoolers that want to amend our U.S. Constitution with ideas about the rights of parents. Basically this would get down to describing and regulating what parents are and what a family looks like. (There is a wonderful history of this story written by Mary McCarthy called "Parental Rights Legislation" at the Washington Natural Learning Association website.) This movement by this one group illustrates how one group can and does usurp your right as an individual and as a homeschooler. This group may tell you they are protecting your rights and freedoms, but ultimately they are not, especially if you do not agree with their agenda.

So who are the "good guys" and "bad guys" with regards to homeschooling?

[read on]

The January Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph is out!

Here's what we arote about:

See the current January Edition of The Eclectic Telegraph Today!

The Awesome, Ever Amazing, Disappearing Brianiac.

2006-12-31T08:07:00.000-08:00

by Amy Cortez, Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph

Picture the Looney Tunes character Taz, the Tasmanian devil.

If you're parenting a gifted, highly gifted or even profoundly gifted student I am sure you can make the connection. Go ahead and allow yourself that small indulgence of a chuckle at your situation. Then give yourself a high five because that job, parenting a gifted child, is a tiring job. If you are parenting and homeschooling a gifted student, give yourself a box of expensive chocolates and a huge high five because your job is an exhausting one. Trust me. I know.

As your student whirls through his homeschool day at full speed ahead, marvel at this because if he were in the school system he might be a really different person. He might be the awesome, ever amazing, disappearing brainiac.

The school systems really aren't set up to deal with this sort of student though they would have you believe they are. Professional educrats. You either love them or not, or you are somewhere in between. One thing I have learned is that there are not many "professionals" that are "trained" adequately to handle the needs of all, or even most gifted students because each of these kinds of students are as different as seashells on the beach. Few to many regular classroom teachers in the school system see our gifted kids as interferences to their classrooms, or worse, threats to their intelligence.

The whole reason we homeschool is that I came to the realization that the private school my student was in at second grade was not set up to deal appropriately with the kind of student he was then he that has become [our story]. For several years after my decision to homeschool my gifted student I wondered if it was just our situation, my imagination or are the educationists really not prepared to deal with kids like mine? My biggest fear was that if my student stayed in the school system, who he was would just disappear. It seems there is plenty written on this topic and that my fears are justified. [read on]

The December verion of The Eclectic Telegraph is out!

Here's what we wrote about:

The Java House... radical opinions about whatever, from OldSage

From The Thinking Has Been Done For You File
A Perfectly Ludicrous Idea From Our Pals at HSLDA
We Don’t Need Representation.

Teens

See the Current edition of The Eclectic Telegraph HERE

Dumbing Down American Students

2006-11-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

Dumbing Down American Students: Really Bad Textbooks
by Amy Cortez, Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph
In general, we do not use textbooks in our homeschool and recently I was reminded why. My student is taking a US Government course through a correspondence high school that uses a textbook I would have definately NOT chosen.

A chapter exam asked my student the following question.

Which of the following is not a goal of government?

to provide order to a group of people
to tell people who they can marry
to protect people against various dangers
to promote the public good.

Being the ever aware citizen that my student is and up on current events, not only was this multiple choice question singled out as outrageous, a rather interesting essay accompanied the test question.

This same text also introduced the first amendment of the Bill of Rights as "The right to "Freedom of Religion"(it later revealed the true content of the amendment) and it again referred to it as "The right to "Freedom of Religion"in a test question. Made my student nuts. Now many American citizens, including my student, know this amendment states:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

This amendment, a personal favorite for discussion around our house, clearly translates to Separation of Church and State. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom co-authored by founding fathers, Jefferson and Madison also comes up in discussions at our house, so needless to say, yet another interesting essay accompanied this test question that referred to this amendment inappropriately.

To me, it is no wonder American students fall behind in comparison to students of other countries and that we have such a high number of high school dropouts. The materials our students are exposed to everyday in the Public school system is not engaging or even interesting. Their academic experiences even less interesting.

Dropout Nation
By NATHAN THORNBURGH / SHELBYVILLE
Posted Sunday, Apr. 9, 2006
The number of high school students who leave before graduating is higher--much higher--than you think. Inside one town's struggle to reverse the tide. [read on]

The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives on High School Dropouts
March 2006 , Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Why do students drop out?

47 percent of dropouts said classes weren't interesting
69 percent were not motivated to work hard; 66 percent would have worked harder if more had been demanded of them.
81 percent called for more "real-world" learning opportunities
75 percent wanted smaller classes with more individual instruction
71 percent favored better communication between parents and schools and more involvement from parents

Listen to NPR on this topic or [read on]

In this edition of our newletter, OldSage looks at why the textbooks our students are exposed to are so bad. I was surprised at the findings.....

=====================================

Welcome to the Eclectic Telegraph, ideas about homeschooling your kids....

No need to subscribe. Use the RSS feed to keep current.
Free and always here for you to read and share.
Published on or around the 15th of the month.

This month:

Children With a Wild Streak
Perfectionism:What A Man Can Do, What A Man Can't Do.
Dumbing Down American Students: Really Bad Textbooks
The Java House... radical opinions about whatever, from OldSage
OldSage on: Really Bad Textbooks
The Privilege of Education...
Teens
What is The College-Level Examination Program
Dumbing Us Down: The Dead Students Society

Check out the Eclectic Telegraph: HERE

New Ideas at the Eclectic Telegraph

2006-10-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

Public School Violence: Since When is Violence Entertainment?
Amy Cortez - Editor Eclectic Telegraph

You aren’t compelled to loan your car to anyone who wants it, but you are compelled to surrender your school-age child to strangers who process children for a livelihood, even though one in every nine schoolchildren is terrified of physical harm happening to them in school, terrified with good cause; about thirty-three are murdered there every year. From 1992 through 1999, 262 children were murdered in school in the United States. Your great-great-grandmother didn’t have to surrender her children. What happened?

from The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

Bush Plans Conference on School Violence
POSTED: 9:33 a.m. EDT, October 3, 2006 at Cnn.com
..."Three schools have been hit by deadly attacks in the past week. A gunman killed himself and five girls Monday at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania; on Friday a 15-year-old Wisconsin student shot and killed his principal; and last Wednesday a man took six girls hostage in Colorado, sexually assaulting them before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself...

The interesting thing to me about all of the recent press about ending school violence, is that there is no mention of the ease in which a teen can get a gun, or other item of violence, nor did anyone utter anything about the idea of how teens are inundated with violence in our society.

Since when is violence entertainment?

I am not opposed to guns. Some are beautiful items and in the hands of a responsible person an item that is OK to possess. Part of our history. It is when we permit violent images such as what is found today on TV, in movies, in video games, in music, in our headlines, in our magazines, online, into our lives, as a society we are condoning the resulting violence in the community. Then we scratch our heads and wonder how to end the violence in our schools. This idea is about as silly as No Child Left Behind dictating how our children ought to be evaluated.

Many homeschool families have pulled their children out of school because of the violence in the schools. Though I can't relate to that reason to homeschool, I can understand it. [read on]

What I Learned About Taekwondo & the Gifted Student
Amy Cortez - Editor Eclectic Telegraph

When people hear the phrase “martial arts”, often they assume it is the militaristic way of the Asian past. "Tae kwon do" means “The way of striking with hand and foot”. Taekwondo, has a fierce history, but presently it enjoys the status of being an Olympic sport that is mastered by world class athletes. It is a sport that disciplines your spirit, mind and body. It is comprised of “forms, “breaking” and “sparring”. Forms are memorizing a series of typically 10 up to 20 movements using your arms, legs and full body - similar to a dance. Breaking is the ability to use your strength and mental training to break a board using a punching or kicking motion. Sparring is learned through a series of “one-steps” or body movements designed for self defense. Sparring at the adult level can be vigorous, but with the kids, it is light contact with the purpose being to learn the movements of self defense. All three, in addition to attiude and philosophy, comprise the sport of Taekwondo.

What I learned about Taekwondo was....[read on]

Other ideas at the Eclectic Telegraph:

Add Travel To Your Curriculum!
Want to Resell You Homeschool Materials?
When Should Your Teen Take the PSAT/NMSQT® ?
Rights of Young People
Public School Violence: Since When is Violence Entertainment?
Opportunities & Events
- Pasta Tales
- Yale to post courses on Web for free
- Otto Armleder Memorial Park Now Open In Cincinnati Ohio
- COSI Columbus Ohio: Ride Around the World
- COSI Columbus Ohio: Girls Explore Engineering
- COSI Columbus Ohio: How to Grow Your Own Engineer!
- Museum of Science and Industry: Chicago- Robots Like Us
Our BlogSphere
- HE&OS
- Life Without School
- Travelin' With The Kid
A Listing of Awesome Websites
- RoboLogo: Teaching Children how to program Interactive Robots
- Allen Brain Atlas
- Bright Kids at Home
A Listing of Good Podcasts and Other Audio Samplings
- Geek TV: SciFi.com EUReKA
- This Week in Science: The kickass Science Podcast
- Escape Pod Classic
Did You Know?
- Universities are looking for homeschoolers!
- Children have been and are still the most oppressed, exploited and victimized group
- Dysfunction in Sensory Integration (DSI) is a problem in processing sensations?
- 730 four-year colleges do not use the SAT I or ACT
- The Brazilian-made Obvio can go from zero to 60 in 4.2 Seconds?

Check out all these ideas
in the current edition of
The Eclectic Telegraph

The Eclectic Telegraph

2006-09-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Eclectic Telegraph, ideas about homeschooling your kids....

Why this Newsletter?
Amy Cortez - Editor Eclectic Telegraph
As a homeschool mom, who once had a career that involved management and travel, I recognize that even though my current job is a daunting one, there is still more I can fit into a day.

Every day I learn something new about homeschooling a bright kid and I thought it was time to share some of those pearls beyond our website. Sure, yeah, yeah, I am writing that book and it is coming along nicely, it’s just more fun to go to the museum or the Omnimax or the river to kayak than it is to pay attention to the flow of a book. So why not a newsletter? I have edited a few over the years. They’re fun.

People have asked so many questions because of the information I make public at our website, www.brightkidsathome.com and always make the comment I ought to write a newsletter. So here it is. Our first online newsletter. You will find that my style is very conservative some days and very liberal on others. Depends on the issue I suppose. I figure, that eventually, I'll either please or offend - everyone.

I chose the name "The Eclectic Telegraph" because it reminds me of the "Coconut Telegraph", a song by Jimmy Buffett, but also the name of several Newspapers actually found in the Caribbean. Though I don't intend this newsletter to model either items, it is still fun to think about those items (and places) as write this newsletter. I chose "Eclectic" because that is really what our homeschool is and my journey has become. Life as a homeschooler and in constant daily contact with a highly gifted student brings an energy I can't explain, yet drains me; makes me think about things in a new way, yet causes me to stick with tried and true methods; makes me strive for accomplishing all the tasks I need to, yet causes me to think forward to the time my student will go to bed and I can have a cup of tea and listen to Jimmy Buffet in peace and quiet. Eclectic. That's the description of the path I am enjoying on my journey right now. Eclectic is also our homeschool "style". We do what works. We dig in the dirt or the beach sand, we kayak on rivers, we read, we travel.

I also gave thought to the timing of this newsletter. I receive the newsletter from my local support group on or around the first of the month and most of my other magazines come then too, so I thought that must be true for everyone, so by mid month people might be looking for a fresh read, maybe something Eclectic.

This Month:

Articles About Educating Bright Kids at Home
Are Your School Records Private?
The Java House -- radical opinions about whatever, from OldSage
Who is OldSage?
“Are you Kidding Me”
Glad We're Not Going Back to School
Why Our Teens Don't Have an Interest in Our Government
Demanding Your Privacy: An Ongoing Saga of Passing the Buck
Homeschooling Teens
What is the difference between Regular Honors classes, AP classes and the International Baccalaureate (IB)?
Are You a Helicopter Parent?
How Does One Decide Which Colleges to Apply to?
Not Homeschooling Teens
Does This School Have Windows?
Microsoft-Designed School Opens
Academy for Profoundly Opens in Las Vegas
September Opportunities & Events
Our BlogSphere
A Listing of Awesome Websites
A Listing of Good Podcasts and Other Audio Samplings
Our Favorite - Odd Trivia

Check out the current edition [HERE]