Archive for the ‘chat’ Category

28 January

International Homeschool Chat

Every Friday, LeapingFromTheBox.com hosts an International Homeschool Chat. We have been hosting this chat for close to a decade now! Many of the chatters have become good friends, even making trips to visit one another. We chat about our children, the weather, our plans, house repairs, job hunts, getting our children through high school and into college, how to encourage beginning readers, what to do about math phobias, and everything else under the sun. There are no set topics; the chat freewheels to whatever topic is of importance that day. While many of us are old friends now, we welcome the chance to meet new friends and support fellow homeschoolers. For information on how to join our chat, please check out the Homeschool Chat page on the LeapingFromTheBox.com website!

26 February

Unschooling Stereotype

Our homeschool chat group is usually an eclectic mix of homeschoolers: many long-time homeschoolers (those tend to be the weekly members) and a sprinkling of visitors, often at the very beginning of their homeschooling journey. Often those new to homeschooling have questions about schedules and curriculum and how to cover it all. We “old-timers” try to reassure them that all will be well, that there is no way you can cover it all, especially not the very first year, and to just take things slowly. Everything will fall into place, given a bit of time and experience. Of course, that is not always easy to hear when you are just starting out, but they really are words of wisdom garnered over years of experience.

Many methods of homeschooling are represented at chat. Some of the regular members began their homeschooling journey very laid back and have continued to be so. Others began highly structured and gradually (or not so gradually) turned to a more relaxed homeschooling situation. At least one member has become more structured and spends more time planning her children’s learning day as she discovered this suited her children needs. Another member has used Sonlight as the underpinning of their learning for years, discovering that her daughter thrives with such a structure. Most of the regular chat members would consider themselves relaxed homeschoolers, although certainly not all. A few, myself being one of those, would quickly identify themselves as unschoolers.

I do not always use the term unschool when describing our homeschooling situation; it depends upon the group that I am with. If I am with non-homeschoolers, then I always say we homeschool, not we unschool. Homeschooling is a broad term that they will understand; unschooling is a specific method of homeschooling that they likely will not understand. At chat, though, I always identify myself as an unschooler. I figure there, at a homeschooling chat, it will help others understand where my advice or suggestions are coming from, give them a point of reference.

This past Friday we had one new member who seemed to object to my usage of the term “unschooler.” He (and yes, we have homeschool dads at chat, along with grown sons and daughters and those who do not yet have children but plan to homeschool them when/if they do have children), anyway, he kept bringing up the idea that the word unschooling denoted political inferences. In his words, “my observation is that folks that choose to USE the term unschool are generally from the left.” That led to an interesting discussion. We do not usually delve into politics at chat, or religion, for that matter. And actually this was not really a political discussion, but rather a discussion about stereotypes and people’s observation of them.

Perhaps it is because I have known so many unschoolers over the past twelve years that I did not necessarily agree with this particular visitor’s observations. I know from personal experience that unschoolers run the gamut from the left wing liberal to the right wing Conservative Christian (and where did those “left” and “right” terms come from anyway?). What I have observed is that unschoolers tend to be open to new ideas and willing to examine and test their own preconceived notions about a subject. But I had definitely not thought that those who call themselves unschoolers could automatically be identified as on the left end of the political spectrum.

I would love to hear what you think about this. Does the fact that I consider myself an “unschooler” automatically mean that I should vote for Hillary or Obama? Do you consider that to be the “norm” for unschoolers? And are we really a large enough population to have a stereotype? If we are, cool beans!

21 January

Civics Unit Study

This is a great year to be studying American Civics! The Republican Presidential race is wide open. The Democratic Presidential contenders are making history. However you look at it, this is one of the most interesting presidential races we have ever seen. And if your teen is like my teen, he/she is interested in the campaign and full of questions. We are seeing a ratcheting up of campaigning here in Florida as our primary is coming up next week, Tuesday, January 29.

One Homeschool Chat parent last Friday asked for some websites that she could incorporated in their studies this year. Already she and her daughter have joined one of the local presidential campaigns, which is a great way to get a first-hand look at politics in action.

Here are some sites that would be useful for a Civics Unit Study.

NationsStates was a favorite of ours several years ago and I was glad to see that it was still up and running. NationStates is a simulation game where you build a nation and run that nation according to your own political beliefs. Do you want to be a benevolent dictator? Or maybe create a totally democatratic nation. The choice is yours! The novel Jennifer Government by Max Barry inspired this game. I wanted to read this book when we played the game previously and now I have added it to my wish list on PaperbackSwap. Check out NationStates. I will bet you have as much fun as we did creating your own nation!

Congress for Kids
Interactive experience designed to help you learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you.

Post from Jurisdynamics blog. Constitutional curiosities: a 21-question scavenger hunt. This is definitely for older students. If you or your teen likes scavenger hunts and/or research, this looks fun.

Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
If maps are your thing, or your child is very visually-oriented, this is a cool site!

The BBHQ Great American Civics Quiz
Even though the site is “Baby Boomers Headquarters” the quiz is great for anyone.

PBS The Democracy Project
Be President for a Day, Step inside the Voting Booth.

HistoryCentral.com’s United States Presidential Elections. Learn about every Presidential Election. They are currently the 2008 election and the site is updated daily. So a great way to keep track of whom is winning where.

Project Vote Smart
Find your local representative, learn his voting record. Be an informed voter.

If you would like links to the official parties and other government websites, visit my article Using Computers as You Homeschool. While this was written a few years ago, detailing how my children used computers and the Internet in their homeschooling (unschooling), the links are all still great links and you might even like the article!

Happy Voting!