Homeschooling
gregladen | May 13, 2012There was a time when I blogged regularly about homeschooling, though I have not done so in a long time. A while back I started to blog about gun ownership. I engaged in each of these topics for similar reasons. I have a political and professional interest in homeschooling (as a science educator) and a complex culinario-political interested in guns (as a political progressive who likes to eat wild animal but does not like people shooting each other). But the reason I blogged about these issues was more narrowly defined. I wanted to see if it was possible to achieve détente among people…
denialism | March 15, 2012At Alternet there is a great article by Kristin Rawls on homeschooling and educational neglect. I think it makes an excellent argument that homeschooling needs either tighter regulation and oversight, or needs to be outright outlawed:
In recent weeks, homeschooling has received nationwide attention because of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum's homeschooling family. Though Santorum paints a rosy picture of homeschooling in the United States, and calls attention to the "responsibility" all parents have to take their children's education into their own hands, he fails to…
gregladen | December 3, 2011The The Manga Guide to Relativity might come in especially handy these days, what with faster than light neutrinos, Republican candidates and other science-defying entities zooming around. And, it is one of those Japanese anime things, which makes it cool. This is a story set in Tagai Academy summer's school session, where the "plucky" Miss Uraga teaches the kids relativity.
When you have finished reading this book you will be able to calculate the effects of time dilation, explain the Twin Paradox, understand Einsteinium famous E=mc2 and get a job at CERN.
Hideo Nitta, is in the…
gregladen | November 30, 2011New York Academy of Sciences Children's Science Book Award Winner Vicki Cobb has a new volume called "See for Yourself: More Than 100 Amazing Experiments for Science Fairs and Projects (Second Edition)"
Actually, it isn't entirely new. It's a second edition, but updated.
This is for 10 year olds and up, and it does in fact have 100 ways to make glue, fake old documents, extract DNA, do interesting anatomical experiments like finding your blind spot, produce your own ink, hypnotize your friends, make crystal flowers, etc. etc. all with common household ingredients.
It is paperback, richly…
sastyk | April 15, 2010I'm the lone female in a house of men - when new housemate Phil moves in next month that will make six guys in my home and well, me. There are assorted female creatures on my farm - to be precise, one dog, two cats, two rabbits, 7 dairy goats, 12 ewes (seasonal) and about 40 female birds of various types, but they do not count.
Because I'm the only female in the household, I cannot but be aware that some of the messages they get about male and female roles will be built in a fairly narrow body of evidence - ie, the woman they see most is me, so how we do things may look like…
gregladen | March 7, 2010As expected, the home schoolers are by and large doing it wrong. No wonder they are always trying to hide the statistics behind manufactured libertarian values.
Christian-based materials dominate a growing home-school education market that encompasses more than 1.5 million students in the U.S. And for most home-school parents, a Bible-based version of the Earth's creation is exactly what they want. Federal statistics from 2007 show 83 percent of home-schooling parents want to give their children "religious or moral instruction."
source
Hat tip: Ana
gregladen | February 14, 2010... when it comes to Creationist Home Schooling.
Two dozen or so atheists, skeptics, scientists, and secularists visited the 2010 Home School Science Fair at Har Mar Mall, Roseville Minnesota. We witnessed (if I may borrow that term) twenty six home school project posters. The presentations varied considerably in their sophistication, overall quality, and complexity of the work represented, and most of this variation is easily understood as the outcome of the wide age range of the children who produced them. Some were impressive, some were cute, some were more scientific, some were less,…
gregladen | February 10, 2010Har Mar is a funny little shopping mall in Roseville Minnesota. It is the home of the annual Twin Cities Creation Science Science Fair. Sometimes we visit the science fair, but it is not to laugh at the students....
... that would be rude and uncivil, and despite the fact that politeness and civility are EVILE, when it comes to children we should not be all in their faces.
Rather, we go to the funny little mall to enjoy each other's company, those of us who wish we got together more often than we do, to browse through the Creation Science Fair displays, and to size up the local…
gregladen | February 7, 2010A federal appellate court has ruled against a Christian school in Murrieta which had sued the University of California over its refusal to accept high school courses that rely on the Bible as the unerring source of truth.
Details here.
Next step: Homeschoolers!
(Hat tip: August Berkshire)
gregladen | February 1, 2010Is scheduled!
It will be held Feb 13 and 14 at Har Mar Mall, at the corner of County B and Snelling in Roseville MN.
Here's some info from the web site:
Have you been to the Home School Science Fairs? They are great! Some of the best and brightest kids in Minnesota were there. You could have learned how stable the Ark was in strong winds, how to, and how not to make yogurt, how weight effects the speed of a sled, and how to get energy from chicken droppings. Over 60 projects were up for display with many passersby stopping to check them out. It was a wonderful opportunity to place a…
gregladen | December 14, 2009Imagine the following scenario. Two guys are walking down the street, in different cities. Guy A has two PhDs, one in quantum physics with a focus on dimensionality dynamics, the other in astrophysics with a focus on relativistic aspects of gravity and black holes. She has published dozens of peer reviewed papers on both topics and is a brilliant mathematician. Guy B never took a physics class but yesterday he finished reading large parts of The Elegant Universe. Suddenly, at the same moment, they each have an idea (they do not have the same idea ... they have different ideas) about how…
gregladen | October 27, 2009I just received a mass emailing from Julia's high school, in the name of the principal. Routine business. At the end of the missive was this quote:
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
What does this quote mean to you? If you don't know its context, you may be in for a surprise.
You see this quote all the time on K-12 educational material as a header, footer, slogan, logo, inspirational message, and so on. It obviously means something good about teachers. Maybe something good about education. The quote is by Henry Adams and comes from his book "…
gregladen | October 15, 2009Roughly half of the people in the United States reject one or more fundamental tenets of science (most commonly evolution), while a larger percent, perhaps more than 80 percent depending on how we measure, would fail a basic science test. A strong majority of those American citizens who would claim to have strong feelings about one or more science policy issues such as climate change, stem cell research, or nuclear power either know very little about the relevant science or are so badly informed regarding the science that their knowledge is not merely insufficient, but is actually opposite…
gregladen | September 3, 2009Dear Dr. Thein,
I am a parent of a child in the Roseville, MN School District. I am very concerned about news reports I've been hearing from elsewhere in Minnesota indicating that there are parents upset about The President of the United States addressing the students in some classrooms next week.
I am primarily concerned with the responses by the school districts to the parents. The responses I've heard have been rather appeasing to these parents. I do not think this is appropriate.
The parents in question are insane.
They are suggesting, perhaps not to school districts directly but…
gregladen | August 26, 2009If you are a teacher or a parent you may find some of these books especially useful to: a) prepare yourself; b) give to your child's teacher or a colleague; or c) give to a school administrator. Seriously.
Each link is to a review of the book to help you decide if you are interested.
The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism
Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design
Evolution vs. Creationism by Eugenie Scott, Second Edition
Don't forget to have a look at this post as well.
gregladen | August 26, 2009The following may serve well in a home study environment, or for the parent to keep up with what the school kid is doing or for the overachieving youngster to get ahead of the teacher!
Natural history for the kiddies:
Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machine
Two dinosaur books
Math and science for middle schoolers on up:
Fins into Limbs (Evolution, Development)
The Young Birder's Guide: A Bird Book for the Middle Schooler
Idiot's guide to Pre-Algebra
Black Bodies and Quantum Cats (physics)
Unmasking Europa
Head First Physics
Home Chemistry (by a regular commenter on this blog!)
gregladen | July 6, 2009Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments: All Lab, No Lecture (DIY Science) is a new book by Robert Thompson. The premise is simple. The coolest thing in the world is a home chemistry set like this one from Gilbert, which combined both chemistry and microscopy:
Chemistry Set Combine the sciences of Chemistry and Microscopy in one big laboratory set! Microscope has a magnification of 60 power, plus unique Polaroid device that shows the brilliant colors of specimens under the lens. Set includes "Fun With Gilbert Chemistry", "Gilbert Microscope", "Glass Blowing" manuals and dissecting…
gregladen | May 27, 2009Regarding home schooling mom Vanessa Mills, of Wake County, NC, USA:
...Mills ... grew alienated from her husband and parents after joining a religious group that some former members call a cult, the judge in the case said Tuesday...
...Judge Ned Mangum ruled March 6 that it would be in the best interests of Venessa Mills' three children to go to public school this fall.
That ruling, in an ongoing divorce case between Venessa and husband Thomas Mills, sparked national attention from conservatives who maintain that Mangum overstepped his bounds.
"Based on all of the evidence, the court finds…
gregladen | May 20, 2009I really have nothing against homeschooling, but it must be admitted that among the homeschoolers, there is a disproportionate share of crazy people that should not be allowed near children. And, the way homeschooling operates politically, the children of homeschooling families are less likely to be rescued from their abusing parents (when there are abusing parents) than other kids. That is a simple fact, and all the homeschoolers who are not abusing their own children but who maintain that society must simply turn away are part of the problem, not the solution.
In this context it is not…
gregladen | May 6, 2009According to Texas Education Expert!
She knows because she looked at some web sites!!!!!!!!! Holy Crap!!!!