Home School Detective

Welcome to Home School Detective

“Education makes people easy to lead but difficult to drive, easy to govern but impossible to enslave.”  (Author Unknown)

50 Essential Homeschool Blogs for Every Grade Level | Online College Tips - Online Colleges

50 Essential Homeschool Blogs for Every Grade Level

Homeschooling practices are as diverse as the parents and kids who take part in its tenets. But whether secular or religious, rigidly structured or freeform, motivated by politics or motivated by convenience, the only thing they seem to hold in common is a desire to offer children the best possible education. Because so many students, moms, dads, and experts have taken to blogging, hitting up some of these sites makes it exceptionally painless to set up a little network and soak up some inspiration. And the following provide a hefty start!

via www.onlinecollege.org

Parents Furious Over Apparent Use Of 'Scream Rooms' Inside Middletown, Conn. Elementary School « CBS New York

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) – Parents in a Connecticut suburb are outraged over disturbing disciplinary actions at a local elementary school.

They claim students are being locked in unsupervised “scream rooms,” where some children have harmed themselves, reports CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez.

The Middleton School District is on the hot seat as furious parents are demanding to know what’s going on behind closed doors at Farm Hill Elementary School.

“My daughter is telling me that there’s kids being taken out in ambulances, by stretcher,” parent Sean Archer told CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez on Wednesday.

Disturbing allegations have surfaced of teachers locking students in closet-sized concrete “scream rooms” for punishment.

via newyork.cbslocal.com

And yet, mommy and daddy persistently force their kids onto the bus that delivers their offspring to this house of horrors each and every morning.

Good job, parents!

Here's an idea -- stop playing the victim, act responsibly, and take control of your own child's educational experiences. There are alternatives for parents who care. Why not become one of those caring parents?

Another Disturbing Assault on Home Schooling and Parental Rights

While we're on the subject of ignorant and misguided politicians and bureaucrats:

In response to the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) inability to protect 8-year-old Christiana Glenn who died last May from malnutrition, a bill was introduced to the NJ Senate that establishes a higher level of accountability for homeschoolers then it does for other children.

Unfortunately, rather than address the failure of the government agency, it misdirects attention to the fact that the child did not attend school.
This misguided bill sets the stage for a potentially dangerous precedent for other states across the nation.  In question are two parts of the bill requiring homeschooling families to comply to mandates not asked of schooled children.  

1. Medical exams Homeschooled children would have to provide yearly medical exams.
2. Education portfolios Homeschooled children would have to provide a portfolio of records and materials including, but not limited to, a list of reading materials used, samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials used or developed to assess the reading, writing, and computational skills of the student.

Here is why each part of this bill is a problem for many homeschooling families... [Read the rest at The Innovative Educator]

Homeschool Heroes

Wild Bill for America, telling it like it is...

 

Is It Time to Ditch the Public School Experiment?

"Public schools are a disaster."

"Schools eat up a huge percentage of [our] nation's money and resources. What is the return we receive on this remarkable investment, on that has stretched over 150 years in the United States?"

"...better than one out of every 100 people (including children and the elderly, by the way) are teachers, on the payroll of some school somewhere."

"So much money dished out for such a spectacular rate of failure!"

"In many large cities the dropout rate approaches or tops 50%. Imagine a car company trying to sell cars when half of them won't start! How long would they stay in business?"

Our friend at Homeschool Under Siege offers some strong arguments for ending our nation's failed public school experiment. You can read the two part post here and here.

If we got rid of the government schools, would we be any worse off than we are now?

I think not.

What about you? What do you think?

Amazon's Kindle is on Fire!

Amazon introduced its brand new Kindle family today with the headline, "Four New Kindles, Four Amazing Price Points"!

For those of you who've been waiting for a Kindle with touch screen and color, your wait is over. If you've been holding out for lower prices, your wait is over too.

Click HERE to check out and BUY the Kindle you've been waiting for...

Amazon's press release:

Introducing the All-New Kindle Family: Four New Kindles, Four Amazing Price Points 

- New latest generation Kindle - world's bestselling e-reader now lighter, faster, and more affordable than ever - only $79
- New "Kindle Touch" with easy-to-use touch screen - only $99
- New "Kindle Touch 3G" with free 3G - the top of the line Kindle e-reader - only $149
- New "Kindle Fire" - the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games, and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon's new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser, vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor - all for only $199

SEATTLE, Sep 28, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ: AMZN)--Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world for four years running. Today, Amazon is excited to introduce an all-new Kindle family: three all-new Kindle e-readers that are smaller, lighter, and more affordable than ever before, and Kindle Fire - a new class of Kindle that brings the same ease-of-use and deep integration of content that helped Kindle re-invent reading - to movies, TV shows, music, magazines, apps, books, games, and more.

"We've now reached the magical two-digit price point for Kindle - twice: the new Kindle and Kindle Touch are only $79 and $99. Kindle Touch 3G is the new top of the line e-reader with free 3G - no monthly fees or annual contracts - and is only $149," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we've been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully-integrated service for customers. With Kindle Fire, you have instant access to all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, the convenience of Amazon Whispersync, our revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser, the speed and power of a state-of-the-art dual-core processor, a vibrant touch display with 16 million colors in high resolution, and a light 14.6 ounce design that's easy to hold with one hand - all for only $199. We're offering premium products, and we're doing it at non-premium prices."

New Latest Generation Kindle--Fits In Your Pocket--Only $79

The new latest generation Kindle is for readers who want the lightest, most compact Kindle at an incredible price. The latest generation Kindle features a new design that is 30 percent lighter at just 5.98 ounces, 18 percent smaller, and turns pages 10 percent faster. Kindle is now small and light enough to fit easily in your pocket and carry with you everywhere, yet it still features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

The new latest generation Kindle is only $79. Kindle is available starting today at www.amazon.com/kindle.

New Addition to the Kindle Family--"Kindle Touch"--Only $99

Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes - still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch is also lighter, smaller, eliminates battery anxiety with extra-long battery life and holds thousands of books.

New "X-Ray" Feature

Amazon invented X-Ray, a new feature that lets customers explore the "bones of the book." With a single tap, readers can see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. Amazon built X-Ray using its expertise in language processing and machine learning, access to significant storage and computing resources with Amazon S3 and EC2, and a deep library of book and character information. The vision is to have every important phrase in every book.

The new Kindle Touch is only $99. Kindle Touch is available to customers in the U.S. for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/kindletouch and ships November 21.

New Top of the Line Kindle e-reader--"Kindle Touch 3G" --Only $149

Kindle Touch 3G is a new addition to the Kindle family for readers who want the top of the line e-reader. Kindle Touch 3G offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch - small and light, easy-to-use touch screen, storage for thousands of books, and extra-long battery life - with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle's free 3G connection means you never have to hunt for or pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot - you simply download and read books anytime, anywhere in over 100 countries around the world. Amazon pays for the 3G connection so there's no monthly fee or annual contract.

The new top of the line Kindle Touch 3G is only $149. Kindle Touch 3G is available to customers in the U.S. for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/kindletouch3G and ships November 21.

All Kindles have instant access to the Kindle Store with the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. Millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle devices, and Kindle customers can now borrow Kindle books from their public library. Kindle books are "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" - on Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, PCs, Mac, Android phones and tablets, BlackBerry, Windows phones, and web browsers with Kindle Cloud Reader.

All three new Kindle e-readers also come with special offers and sponsored screensavers that appear when you're not reading. Customers enjoy special money-saving offers delivered wirelessly sponsored by AT&T, the Dove beauty brand and Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card by Chase. Kindle e-reader customers will also receive special offers in their own backyards from AmazonLocal, Amazon's local deals marketplace with discounts on local services, products, and experiences. Customers can also choose to purchase a Kindle without special offers and sponsored screensavers.

New Class of Kindle--"Kindle Fire"--Only $199

All The Content--Over 18 Million Movies, TV Shows, Songs, Apps, Games, Books, and Magazines

Kindle Fire puts Amazon's incredible selection of digital content at your fingertips:

• Over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon Instant Video, including thousands of new releases and popular TV shows, available to stream or download, purchase or rent - all just one tap away. Amazon Prime Members enjoy instant, unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 11,000 movies and TV shows at no additional cost. Kindle Fire comes with one free month of Amazon Prime.
• Over 17,000,000 songs from Amazon MP3, including new and bestselling albums from just $7.99 and individual songs from $0.69.
• Over 1,000,000 Kindle books, including thousands of bestsellers, children's books, comic books and cookbooks in rich color.
• 100 exclusive graphic novels, including Watchmen, the bestselling - and considered by many to be the greatest - graphic novel of all time, which has never before been available in digital format, as well as Batman: Arkham City, Superman: Earth OneGreen Lantern: Secret Origin and 96 others from DC Entertainment.
• Hundreds of magazines and newspapers - including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Wired, Elle, The New Yorker, Cosmopolitan and Martha Stewart Living - with full-color layouts, photographs, illustrations, built-in video, audio and other interactive features are available from the new Kindle Fire "Newsstand." Kindle Fire customers will enjoy an exclusive free three-month trial to 17 Condé Nast magazines, including Vanity Fair, GQ and Glamour.
• All the most popular Android apps and games, such as Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, Cut the Rope and more. All apps are Amazon-tested on Kindle Fire to ensure quality and Amazon offers a new free paid app every day.

Cloud-Accelerated Web Browser - "Amazon Silk"

The Kindle Fire web browser Amazon Silk introduces a radical new paradigm - a "split browser" architecture that accelerates the power of the mobile device hardware by using the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services Cloud. The Silk browser software resides both on Kindle Fire and on the massive server fleet that comprises the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity, and cached content. The result is a faster web browsing experience, and it's available exclusively on Kindle Fire. Additional technical details are available in the Amazon Silk press release, released today at www.amazon.com/pr. To see a video about Amazon Silk go to www.amazon.com/silk.

Simple and Easy-To-Use

Amazon designed the Kindle Fire user interface from the ground up to make it easier than ever to purchase, manage, and enjoy your digital content. Just like with Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire comes automatically pre-registered to your Amazon.com account so you can immediately start enjoying your digital content purchased from Amazon or shop for new content. All of your digital content is instantly available to enjoy and manage with a simple, consistent experience across all content types.

Free Cloud Storage

Just like Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire offers free storage for all your Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. Amazon digital content is automatically backed up for free in the Amazon Cloud's Worry-Free Archive where it's available for re-downloading anytime.

Amazon Whispersync Now for Movies & TV Too

Just like Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire uses Amazon's popular Whispersync technology to automatically synchronize your Kindle library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across the widest range of devices and platforms. With the introduction of Kindle Fire, Amazon is expanding this technology to include video. Start streaming a movie on your Kindle Fire, and when you get home, you can resume streaming right where you left off on your TV - avoid the frustration of needing to find your spot.

Easy to Hold in One Hand

Just like Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire was designed to disappear so you can lose yourself in the content. Weighing in at just 14.6 ounces, Kindle Fire is small and light enough to hold in just one hand and carry everywhere you go. The lightweight, compact design makes Kindle Fire perfect for web browsing, playing games, reading and shopping on-the-go.

Brilliant Color Touchscreen

Content comes alive in rich color on a 7-inch full color LCD touchscreen that delivers 16 million colors in high resolution and 169 pixels per inch. Kindle Fire uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology - similar technology as used on the iPad, for an extra-wide viewing angle - perfect for sharing your screen with others. In addition, the Kindle Fire display is chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, which means it is incredibly durable and will stand up to accidental bumps and scrapes.

Fast, Powerful Dual-Core Processor

Kindle Fire features a state-of-the-art dual-core processor for fast, powerful performance. Stream music while browsing the web or read books while downloading videos.

Free Month of Amazon Prime

Right out of the box, Kindle Fire users will experience the benefits that millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy - unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of over 11,000 movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video and the convenience of Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items from Amazon.com.

Only $199

The all-new Kindle Fire - with all the content, Amazon's revolutionary cloud-accelerated browser, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, 14.6 ounce design that's easy to hold with one hand, brilliant color touchscreen, and a fast and powerful dual core processor - is only $199. Customers in the U.S. can pre-order Kindle Fire starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefire and it ships November 15.

For high resolution images and video of the all-new Kindle family, visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle.

Read the rest of the Press Release here...

Click HERE to check out and BUY the Kindle you've been waiting for...

It just gets better and better, especially for those of us who love Android applications (can you say Angry Birds?)--of which Amazon will offer one FREE PAID APPLICATION per day--movies, streaming television, books and magazines with rich color graphics (Kindle Fire will display 16 million colors!), shopping from home, and more.

Click HERE to check out and BUY the Kindle you've been waiting for...

[This post also appeared at WitStop]

Homeschooled Kids in College -- 15 Key Facts

If you have ever met any homeschooled kids, you already know they are different from their government-schooled peers in many good ways. We know--from common sense intuition, personal experiences, and a growing mountain of data--that homeschooling works.

Quite frankly, not only do homeschooled students excel academically and socially, but they are well-ahead of their institutionalized friends in nearly every statistical measure, with the exceptions of premarital sex, drug abuse, criminal activity, and the like.  

Moving on, if you've ever wondered how homeschooled kids compare to their college classmates or how they perform in their post-secondary experiences, then you will find 15 Key Facts About Homeschooled Kids in College of interest.

I urge you to read this interesting and well-sourced article, posted at Online College, in its entirety, but here are a few appetizers from the piece to stimulate your appetite for more:

• Homeschool students do better on the SAT and ACT
• Homeschooled freshmen have higher GPAs
• Homeschooled kids are more likely to attend college
• Homeschooled students are more likely to graduate
• Homeschooled students are not just able to get into most colleges, but the smarter universities actively recruit them

Now, I've served just 5 of the 15 key facts. Are you hungry for more?

Read the rest at 15 Key Facts About Homeschooled Kids in College, and then go make the right choice for your kids.

Photo Courtesy of Cornell University Library

Do You Care Enough?

From Seth Godin's blog:

"The post-industrial revolution is here. Do you care enough to teach your kids to take advantage of it?"

Source: Seth Godin's Blog -- Back to (the wrong) school

This is a great question for current and prospective home schooling families, and it represents a critical consideration for the well-being of not only our children, but also for the benefit of our nation's economy and social structure.

Once again, Godin gets it right again, noting that our current system of education is designed to, "churn out millions of workers who are trained to do 1925 labor." Public schools were originally designed to train compliant workers who would simply do what they were told, and nothing has changed. Sadly, today's schools function just as they were designed; they build automatons who are incapable of acting independently or thinking critically.

Fortunately, parents have a choice as to how they will develop their children. They can either surrender their kids to government schools for warehousing, indoctrination, and training, or they can choose to teach their children at home to be productive and decent citizens.

The fact is, home schoolers can equip their children to participate in life in ways--both socially and economically--that government schools are ill-equipped to achieve.

As parents, we have the responsibility for equipping our children for the future, and that is not a task we can or should assign to the state.

We've allowed the government to raise our kids for nearly 100 years now. How's that working out?

Textbooks on Sale at AbeBooks

I just received word that AbeBooks is pulling out all the stops with their before school sales. I've purchased textbooks through AbeBooks and they've always had great service and fabulous prices.

Now's your chance, home school and college-bound students!

Inoculated Against Inoculations | Homeschool Under Siege | Homeschool Under Siege

Inoculated Against Inoculations

Monday, August 1st, 2011

I finished homeschooling my son about 3 years ago. We started homeschooling (with his older sister) in 2002, and before that time, my children went strictly to small private schools. Due to this approach, we as a family did not have to deal with some very important and dire sidebars to public education – such as enforced inoculations. A smart mom on our Yahoo! Group (we have quite a few) reminded me a few days ago that this problem persists. I’m going to talk about it now, as we are about to start a new semesters.

This is also going to read like a tribute to family doctors, or at least one family doctor. Our family saw the same doctor from the time my children were born, to the time that fine and wonderful doctor passed away a few years ago. A man interested only in solving problems in as simple and as practical a manner as possible, he looked tirelessly for cures to woes, cures that were outside of the standard cut ‘em and drug’em approach to medicine.

Among other well-researched positions, our family doctor was never in favor of school-mandated vaccinations. He refused to provide them. But he would write letters stating that they had been provided. In this way, he made it possible for children like mine to skip this violent, dangerous, and ultimately useless practice, one promoted heavily by the medical and drug industries and supported by politicians and educators, not to mention certain medical practitioners who have been bought and paid for.

Here are some interesting facts about inoculations, discovered through research done on a rather surface level. If you are planning on having your children vaccinated, you may want to consider some of this first.

via www.homeschoolundersiege.com

This is worth reading if you have young children and are thinking about having your children vaccinated.

Don't allow your educational choices for your kids interfere with the choices you make regarding their physical well-being.