Yes, but would your kid last in a classroom?

Homeschoolers fall into the trap of comparing their teaching style and their child’s level to teachers and children in a traditional school. It isn’t all their fault. Well meaning family and friends often voice concerns about the ability of a homeschooled child to hack in a real classroom. The traditional school isn’t called traditional for nothing. It is our default idea of education and thus we tend compare our homeschools to it. Permission is granted to stop doing that today. No, don’t look back, just keep on going. It is human nature to desire a measure of success. In and … Continue reading →

Preparing the Homeschooling Portfolio

In my state I have to fulfill the homeschooling law by having my children either take the standardized test or submit a narrative or portfolio for the year. The portfolio must be seen by a certified teacher and then the teacher signs a form stating it was looked over. I normally have my children take the standardized test but this year I decided to get a teacher evaluation of a portfolio of the year. I made this decision because I have one child going into high school and another who is dyslexic and taking the test would prove next to … Continue reading →

Interview with Danyelle Ferguson – A Mother’s Advocacy

Today we conclude our three-part interview series with Danyelle Ferguson, author of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel, a fantastic resource book for parents and teachers of children with a variety of cognitive disabilities. Danyelle, we’ve spoken about your son’s initial diagnosis of autism, and we’ve also talked about resources that helped you understand the condition and learn how to find the most joy in your mothering. What would you like to tell mothers who have recently learned that their child had autism or another form of cognitive disability? Every mother needs to know that she is her child’s best advocate. Attend … Continue reading →

Interview with Danyelle Ferguson – Resources for Learning about Autism

Today, we’re continuing our conversation with Danyelle Ferguson, author of (dis)Abilities and the Gospel, a great resource book for parents and teachers of children with cognitive disabilities. As we learned last time, Danyelle’s son was diagnosed with autism when he was two. Danyelle, as you were learning about autism, what were some of the resources that were the most helpful to you – books, support groups, studies, etc? During the first four to six months after our son was diagnosed, I couldn’t handle reading anything about autism. I was so overwhelmed, wondering what kind of future my son would have. … Continue reading →

Interview with Danyelle Ferguson – Diagnosing Autism

Today I’m joined by Danyelle Ferguson, author of the new resource book, (dis)Abilities and the Gospel, for parents and teachers who have students with a variety of cognitive disorders. I asked Danyelle to share some information with us today. The things she shares will be incredibly useful for both homeschool and public school parents. Danyelle, when did you first realize your son should be tested for autism – how old was he, what were the tell-tale signs, etc.? Actually, we thought our son just had speech delay. Looking back now, we had a rather typical experience. From birth, our son … Continue reading →

Learning in the Age of Distraction

Your children are learning in the Age of Distraction. Around them are all sorts of media avenues, things like e-readers and Iphones and email and text messages. There are also more arcane and ancient technologies like computer games and the television. Not only do these technologies lead to a lot of screen time, but they can be profoundly distracting. The phone goes beep, the email pops up, and all of a sudden the kids are off. Now, I think that these technologies are amazing. Kids can learn a lot from the world of the web, and they can be participants … Continue reading →

Creating Tests Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom discovered that 95% of students used the lowest form of cognitive ability to answer test questions. Recall of knowledge requires simple memorization making no room for creative or critical thought. In 1956, Bloom with other educational psychologists, developed Bloom’s Taxonomy to encourage students to use critical thought when answering test questions. Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six levels in the cognitive domain, beginning with the lowest level of simple recall to the highest level of evaluation. Following this as a guide you will develop a test that measures simple recall to creative and critical thought which is the heart … Continue reading →

Homeschoolers, Don’t Forget to Take the PSAT

My family almost completely overlooked the PSAT. I figured they are taking CLEP exams, and the SAT, what reason could they possibly have to take the PSAT, a practice test for the SAT. The problem is that the PSAT is so much more than a practice test for the SAT. It is a test that when taken in the Junior year of high school, can qaulify a student for the National Merit Scholarship. Students who score high on the PSAT are then eligible to compete for scholarships from the National Merit Scholarchip Corportation. Of course, every homeschooler will not qualify … Continue reading →

Is Testing Homeschoolers Really a Bad Idea?

A recent Washington Post article promotes homeschool testing as a way to tame this huge “sleeping giant”. To ease the fears of public school students and to protect students from “well-meaning but inexperienced parents” It seems the general public wants to put more restrictions on homeschoolers regardless of how successful we are. The article profiles author, associated professor at Indiana University, and former high school teacher Robert Kunzman and his book “Write These laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling”. The author was allowed into the homes of six homeschoolers across the country so he could … Continue reading →

More on CLEP Exams

The last time I wrote about CLEP exams, I was just discovering how they could help in our homeschooling journey. In my usual autodidact way, I have since immersed myself into everything CLEP, and integrated that knowledge into what I already know about homeschooling. It is time to share that information with you. There are 34 CLEP exams available that students can take and they cover math, language arts, literature, history, science, and philosophy. These tests were created to allow college students to test out of taking classes where they already held the knowledge that would be taught, but they … Continue reading →