Humor: The internet version of West Side Story

My brother linked to Web Site Story. It is pretty funny.


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Technorati tags: Web, Site, Story

Reminder, and a plead, send in your entries for the next Carnival of Homeschooling

My wife and I will be hosting the next Carnival of Homeschooling at our blog Why Homeschool.

As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Here are the instructions for sending in a submission.





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up

Sherene is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at the Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner. She broke the carnival up into six posts:

Part 1, "The lazy days of summer"
Part 2, "To unschool or not"
Part 3 , "This is the homeschool life"
Part 4, "Books, books and more books"
Part 5, "Crafty Homescholers"
Part 6, "Online Resources"





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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Working our children through summer

Today I started a new summer tradition for our family. Before leaving for work I give each girl a short list of outside chores to be done during the day. (Janine is pretty much in charge of what happens inside the house.)

About two out of three Saturdays I'll take the girls out into our yard and we'll work together. We'll pull weeds, trim trees, mow the lawns, garden, rake and so on.

I am happy to work with my daughters for several reasons: It builds our relationships. They develop a strong work ethic. And I don't have to do all the yard work!


I have a goal to do several family outings this summer. I want to go to the zoo, the beach, and do a little camping. But if we continue spending Saturday mornings working on the yard, we won't have time for family events.

This morning, just before work, I took the girls out into the front yard. I have them each about a fifteen minute assignment. I explained the chores verbally, and wrote them down on paper. This evening when I get home I'll have the girls show me what they did. If the three girls will do a little bit each day, it will add up to big amount by the end of the week.


For me homeschooling is largely about shaping and improving the character of our children. Academics is important as it provides them with knowledge and tools to live their lives. Things like sports and music help round out their education. A strong work ethic can help them to succeed with difficult and challenging tasks.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Another milestone!

Blogger says this is our 3000th post!

We've been blogging for almost four years now. It has been a fun ride, though it is a bit of work.


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Technorati tags: blogging

Long walks and how to start a task

The following two are from Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list:

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
-Noel Coward


As Mary Poppins says, well begun is half done:

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.
-William James, psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910)


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Technorati tags: long, walks, attitude, difficult, task

Interesting thoughts about the importance of writing

I'm working my way through History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon via DailyLit. If you've been meaning to read an old classic, but haven't been able to find time, give DailyLit a chance. I like getting snippets in my email. I will always make time to read another page.

The Wikipedia entry on the book has:

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It stands as a major literary achievement of the 18th century because it was adopted as a model for the methodologies of modern historians. This led to Gibbon being called the first modern historian of Ancient Rome.
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The 117 installment (of 264) had these thoughts about the important of writing:

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The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; ^16 and the use of letters is the principal circumstance that distinguishes a civilized people from a herd of savages incapable of knowledge or reflection. Without that artificial help, the human memory soon dissipates or corrupts the ideas intrusted to her charge; and the nobler faculties of the mind, no longer supplied with models or with materials, gradually forget their powers; the judgment becomes feeble and lethargic, the imagination languid or irregular. Fully to apprehend this important truth, let us attempt, in an improved society, to calculate the immense distance between the man of learning and the illiterate peasant.
The former, by reading and reflection, multiplies his own experience, and lives in distant ages and remote countries; whilst the latter, rooted to a single spot, and confined to a few years of existence, surpasses but very little his fellow-laborer, the ox, in the exercise of his mental faculties. The same, and even a greater, difference will be found between nations than between individuals; and we may safely pronounce, that without some species of writing, no people has ever preserved the faithful annals of their history, ever made any considerable progress in the abstract sciences, or ever possessed, in any tolerable degree of perfection, the useful and agreeable arts of life.
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Most times we take for granted the way life is right now, it is nice to be able to step back and recognize just what a blessing sometime as basic as writing is in our life.


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Technorati tags: writing

Why would US seniors be 'smater' than seniors in England?

US seniors 'smarter' than their English peers: study reports:

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U.S. seniors performed significantly better than their counterparts in England on standard tests of memory and cognitive function, according to a new study.
The study is the first known international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the United States and England. The report is published in the June 25 peer-reviewed journal BMC Geriatrics.
"The better cognitive performance of U.S. adults was surprising since U.S. adults had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, which are generally associated with cognitive decline and poorer mental function," says University of Michigan researcher Kenneth Langa, lead author of the study.
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The sample size was fairly large so it doesn't appear to be a statistical fluke. The study had data on 8,299 Americans and 5,2776 Brits.

The findings were dramatic:

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The U.S. advantage in "brain health" was greatest for the oldest old---those age 85 and older. On a population level, the overall difference in cognitive performance between the two countries was quite large---approaching the magnitude associated with about 10 years of aging.
In other words, the cognitive performance of 75-year-olds in the U.S. was as good, on average, as that of 65-year-olds in England.
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It looks like it is good to be old in America.

Here are some of the factors the study found which seem to help:

1) A higher level of education and net worth in the United States.
2) Lower levels of depression in the US. Only 15% of depressed adults in England received medication to treat depression, compared to 75% of depressed U.S. adults.
3) Lower levels of alchohol consumption. "More than 50 percent of U.S. seniors reported no alcohol use, compared to only 15.5 percent of English seniors."
4) Earlier retirement age in England.
5) American adults are more likely to be "more likely to be taking medications to treat the condition."

Items 2 and 5 make me wonder if the British Health Care system may be bad for old people.


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Technorati tags: America, England, aging, smart, Health, Care

I'm up on Twitter

I got set up on Twitter over the weekend. You can follow me on Twitter.

I am curious, do you mostly follow people on Twitter? Or are there other ways you use Twitter?


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Technorati tags: Twitter

Reminder - send in a post for the next Carnival of Homeschooling

Sherene will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling next week at Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner.

As always, entries to the Carnival of Homeschooling are due Monday evening at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time.

Here are the instructions for sending in a submission.




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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Supreme Court rules a strip search was unconstitutional

Yesterday the Supreme Court announced their decision on the legality of a deplorable situation where thirteen-year-old honors student was strip searched by a school secretary and a school nurse.

By an 8-1 they ruled that the school violated the Constitutional defense against unreasonable searches.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

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Recognizing the need to maintain control on campus, Justice Souter wrote that school officials need only hold a "reasonable suspicion" of wrongdoing before searching students, a lower threshold than "probable cause," which applies in ordinary circumstances. Mr. Wilson's suspicion was reasonable, the court found, and that was grounds enough to search Ms. Redding's backpack and outer garments.
But the strip-search was another matter, Justice Souter wrote, citing social-science research showing that teenagers' "adolescent vulnerability intensifies the patent intrusiveness of the exposure."
Justice Souter observed that the evidence against Ms. Redding was weak, there was no specific reason to believe she had contraband stashed in her underwear, and the medication involved was relatively harmless—400 mg ibuprofen pills, equivalent to two Advil tablets. In combination, "these deficiencies fatal to finding the search reasonable."
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I was surprised that Clarence Thomas was the one dissenting vote:

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Justice Clarence Thomas, in a vehement dissent, said courts should stop interfering with school officials and leave them free, under a centuries-old standard, to act with the same authority as a parent to search or discipline students.
Such a constitutional interpretation is needed "to keep the judiciary from essentially seizing control of public schools," Thomas said. He said parents who object to a school's treatment of their children can ask their school board or legislature to change the rules, "send their children to private schools or home-school them, or they can simply move."
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I was disappointed that the surpreme court protected the school officials who initiated the searched.


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Technorati tags: government schools, children, public school, public education, parenting, education

Being a father

My father says one of the best dividends of having children is the grandchildren. I think about that often.

One of the reasons why Janine and I try so hard to be good parents is we want our children to be good parents and give us wonderful grandchildren.

I thought about this while reading Devoted dad key to reducing risky teen sex:

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When it comes to preventing risky teen sex, there may be no better deterrent than a doting dad.
Teenagers whose fathers are more involved in their lives are less likely to engage in risky sexual activities such as unprotected intercourse, according to a new study.
The more attentive the dad — and the more he knows about his teenage child's friends — the bigger the impact on the teen's sexual behavior, the researchers found. While an involved mother can also help stave off a teen’s sexual activity, dads have twice the influence.
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Now any fathers reading our blog, go back and read the last sentance a second time. You can have a huge influence, but you have to take action. You have to spend time with your children. You have work at building your relationships.

The difference could be as dramatic as having grandchildren being taken away to foster care or on the streets doing drugs, vs. having grandchildren who are doing well in life and dote on you. I know which kind of grandchildren I want.

(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)


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Technorati tags: parenting, children

A crazy school rule from across the pond

The Thinking Mother reports on a Crazy School Rule in the United Kingdom:

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A United Kingdom school has banned parents from taking photos of THEIR OWN children at school sports events.
This is said to protect the photos from going into the hands of 'the wrong' people.
I'm against child porn but kids playing sports and parents taking photos of THEIR OWN kids is, in my opinion, outside of the reach of a school policy. This is a violation of parent's rights, which should carry over onto school property when watching a publically viewable sports game. And the kids are clothed too!
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One nice thing about homeschooling is I can take pictures of my children playing soccer.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Humor - Political T.V. commercials

From Dan Galvin's Thought For The Day mailing list:

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Political T.V. commercials prove one thing: some candidates can tell all their good points and qualifications in just 30 seconds.
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I'm afraid there are some candidates who couldn't even use the full thirty seconds.


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Technorati tags: television, politics, Dan Galvin

Feeling a bit old

After our oldest two daughters headed off for girls camp Saturday, Janine and I took the younger two children out for dinner. The restaurant was promoting their senior discount. For some reason it really hit me that I was less than a decade away from being able to take advantage of the senior discount.

Some times I feel old, like when my joints ache. Other times I don't feel all that much different than when I was seventeen.

A friend sent me a link to Romancing the Road. An 89-year-old lady has put more than 540,000 miles on her car. It is funny, she got life time warrantees for many parts of the car. Some parts have been replaced seven times.

She has a good attitude towards growing old.


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Technorati tags: age, life

It is quiet here

Our older two girls are off at girls camp. We only have our youngest daughter and Baby Bop at home right now.

It sure is quiet.


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Technorati tags: parenting, children

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up - Transitioning to summer

Christine is hosting this week's Carnival of Homeschooling at Our Curious Home.

She starts with:

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Welcome to the Summer Transition Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. Summer may have started two days ago, but my routines have not caught up. I feel pulled in two directions at once!
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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling

Suggestions from an Entrepreneur

Most than most fathers an entrepreneur has a huge draw to be at work. Steve Blank shares some good ideas he and his wife developed about balancing work and family life.

(Hat tip: Hacker News)


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Technorati tags: parenting, children

I would love to see this data broken down for homeschoolers

Christina Hoff Sommers's recent column Baseless Bias and the New Second Sex reports:

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Claims of bias against women in academic science have been greatly exaggerated. Meanwhile, men are becoming the second sex in American higher education.
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She shares this graph below from Mark J. Perry, a professor at the University of Michigan. (Mark gave me permission to include the graph.)



















As the father of three daughters I am all for girls going off to college. We have encouraged our daughters to plan on a college education. It is good to encourage women to go to college. But as Dr. Summers points out this improvement for women should not be at the detriment to men.


I would love to see this data broken down for homeschoolers. It appears a big part of the problem is few men overall are going off to college, so fewer graduate. My guess is for children who are homeschooled the ratio would be really close to 50-50, both for going off to college, and for graduating. (Shall I do another survey?) There might even be slightly more homeschooled boys going off to college than girls.

(Hat tip: Hacker News)


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, government school, public school, public education, education

From the archives - Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

Almost ten years ago I came across a reference to Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. I found an online version of the book and read it during my lunch hour. It was a great read.

Richard was born in Cambridge, MA, in 1815. Due to a problem with his eyes he decided to take a break in the middle of going to Harvard College. He signed on as a common seaman. He spent two years as seaman. Officers bearth behind the mast; regular sailers slept in front of the mast.

Richard traveled to California, worked on tanning hides, and then brought them back. The book is a fascinating account. In great detail he writes about the every day events.

After gold was discovered in California Richard's book become very popular as a reference for what life was like in California.

If you are interested in what it was like to work at sea in the late 1840s, this is the book to read.


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Technorati tags: autobiography, ocean

Interesting - conservatives donate way more to charity

WILLisms has some interesting statistics on Charitable Giving. As a percentage of income, conservatives give between 3.7% to 4.5% of their income, while liberals give from 1.2% to 1.5%.

I followed his source of these statistics to Rich Gov, Poor Gov: Why Obama can't Fix the Economy which had an interesting analysis of our current administration. Scott Martin starts with:

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Last night, as I reread Robert Kiyosaki's 1997 Bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, I realized why Barack Obama will be unable to do what is necessary to fix America's economy. It's not just that he believes in government intervention in business, although that's a big part of it. But what makes it even worse is that President Obama is Poor Dad.
For those who haven't read the book, let me give you the gist so you can follow along. The author uses a fable, loosely-based on his life growing up. The purpose is to compare and contrast the differences between his highly-educated and professional father (who he refers to as Poor Dad) and his best friend's father, an informally educated, business savvy mentor (who he calls Rich Dad). I don't wish to debate the merits of the book, which I believe are plenteous if you can distinguish the good advice from the bad. It's irrelevant here, because I am only going to focus on the advice that is, in fact, generally good and true.
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Janine and I both read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." There were some good points in there, but you have to be careful in trusting everything in the book.

Scott's main points are:

1. Poor Dad accumulates liabilities, while Rich Dad accumulates assets.
2. Poor Dad believes the rich owe the poor.
3. Poor Dad doesn't give charitably, Rich Dad gave liberally (by which I mean "not at all like a liberal.")
4. Poor Dad thinks management (capital) exploits labor.
5. Most importantly... Poor Dad, while highly educated, doesn't understand economics.

Scott concludes with:

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President Obama cannot and will not come up with policies that will improve the economy over the long haul. Sure, our economy should improve eventually, if only because America's greatest asset is its productive citizenry and the fact that things can hardly get worse. But Poor Dad's policies will never restore America to what it could, and should, be.
For that, we need someone who thinks like Rich Dad.
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Technorati tags: charity

Dana has some good thoughts about how homeschoolers should communicate in the public school

I like Dana's thoughts on How should homeschoolers communicate in the public square?


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education

Mark Twain online

Much of Mark Twain's works are available via the Gutenberg project.

I've never read "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." I'll have to get it a try.

(Hat tip: The Informed Parent)


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Technorati tags: Mark Twain, education

This is a great line: An Experience is Worth 1,000 Textbook Pages

I like the Crimson Wife's line: An Experience is Worth 1,000 Textbook Pages.

Homeschooling is all about having better experiences.


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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education