Taken from http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/homeschooling-blogs
1. 1+1+1=1 – http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net
2. Confessions of a Home Schooler – http://confessionsofahomeschooler.com/
3. Itsy Bitsy Learners – http://www.itsybitsylearners.com
4. Homeschool Creations – http://www.homeschoolcreations.net
5. Rockabye Butterfly – http://rockabyebutterfly.blogspot.com/
Taken from Practical Homeschooling Magazine #111
While the Obama administration is calling for more early formal education, in Britain, a “Too Much, Too Soon” campaign has started, calling for starting formal education later. Here are some quotes from Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, one of the campaign signatories:
“A recent letter signed by around 130 early childhood education experts, including myself, published in the Daily Telegraph (11 Sept 2013) advocated an extension of informal, play-based pre-school provision and a delay to the start of formal “schooling” in England from the current effective start until the age of seven (in line with a number of other European countries who currently have higher levels of academic achievement and child well-being)…
“[A] number of longitudinal studies have demonstrated superior academic, motivational and well-being outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, play-based pre-school programmes….
“Studies have compared groups of children in New Zealand who started formal literacy lessons at ages 5 and 7. Their results show that the early introduction of formal learning approaches to literacy does not improve children’s reading development, and may be damaging. By the age of 11 there was no difference in reading ability level between the two groups, but the children who started at 5 developed less positive attitudes to reading, and showed poorer text comprehension than those children who had started later….”
For more information, check out the “School Starting Age: The Evidence” page on the University of Cambridge site at this shortened URL.
Written by Christine Sutton
Published with Permission
www.TOSMagazine.com
Sam’s mom opened the “get well” card he’d made her and smiled. He had cut out pictures of lots of summery things: blue sea, a big yellow sun, a sandy beach, and some pretty shells, and stuck them around a picture of a glass of iced lemonade, with silvery trickles running down the side.
“Oh, it’s lovely, Sammy,” she said. “I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into that; thank you. I’m sorry we won’t be going to see Auntie Laura and Jack tomorrow after all. You must be so disappointed.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Dad phoned Auntie this morning, and she said we can go at Christmas instead.”
Mom sighed. “It will be cold then, though, won’t it? You won’t be able to go on the beach with Jack—and all because your silly mommy slipped on the stairs and hurt her leg.”
Sam gave her a hug. “It’s okay,” he said. “You just get well soon and come home.”
Mom’s smile was sort of wobbly as she kissed him good-bye.
All the way home, Sam couldn’t help thinking how much he’d been looking forward to going on their summer vacation. (more…)