Updated: We Are Not Alone

Biography, Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun

Published with Permission
Written by Katharine Trauger
http://katharinetrauger.wordpress.com

Turning her back on wealth and marriage, loving the poor, pioneering in statistical graphics…who was this famous home scholar?

As a young wife, you rise early to arrange the daily tasks for your large housekeeping staff.  Your three-story home with over twenty fireplaces needs someone to see about all that fuel and the accompanying ash and dust. Then there is the approaching holiday in Italy—you must plan for all who will attend you during the trip, as well as for those who will stay behind with the estate.

You are Frances Smith Shore, or, you would have been. However, your husband’s great uncle willed him all his wealth if he would but carry on the elderly man’s name and coat of arms. Who could know how prophetic this name change would become in the life of one of your daughters? (more…)

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The Debate Over Daytime Curfews

Informative, Legislation, News

Published with Permission
Written by Antony Barone Kolenc
www.antonykolenc.com
www.TOSMagazine.com

My family lives just a mile away from an excellent county library, which my homeschooled children can visit on a nice day in order to check out books for school research or additional reading. They enjoy the stroll with their older sister and feel empowered to use the library’s resources. But would they take that walk if they knew that a police officer would stop them, question them, and possibly ticket them or drive them home in the back of a police car? I think not.

That is just one example of potential harm that a daytime curfew poses for homeschooling families. These laws—a trend that began to catch on in cities and counties during the 1990s—prohibit minors from being in public places during school hours, often at the risk of a stiff fine or a hearing before a judge. Are these laws necessary, and do they really pose a risk to homeschoolers?   (more…)

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When a Child Doesn’t Remember What He Reads!

Classroom Help, Informative, Preschoolers, Special Needs

Published with Permission
Written by Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP
www.diannecraft. org

One of the most puzzling situations a homeschooling mother finds herself in is when she has a child who can read the words in a book but cannot answer the questions or tell her what has just been read. These moms frequently hear the phrase “I don’t remember” when queried about the reading material.

When working with bright, hardworking fourth- through eighth-graders in my reading class, I often had students who were experiencing this particular reading difficulty. I realized that these students were not proficient at converting the words they were reading into a “movie” in their head, as the rest of us do when we read. They were merely doing “word calling” much of the time. I found that “movie making” was a skill that could be developed in them, using an easy fifteen-minute-a-day exercise. This exercise did not involve paper or pencil but only the use of the brain. (more…)

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