20
Apr
My government access show, She’s Right, is on Channel 17 this evening at 5:25 PM, for any local readers.
I plan to discuss homeschooling, as an educational alternative, and the homeschooling laws in the state of Vermont.
19
Apr
I am not sure if I will have a chance to write any in-depth posts this week. I am completely restructuring our homeschool approach. It is going to take me hours and hours of planning work (which I am supposed to be starting right now!) and the kids are probably going to need a lot of help getting used to our new approach because it is going to require a lot more from them.
I will definitely post more details about this because I have a feeling that it will be one of the defining moments in our homeschooling/parenting experience. One that I will want to share with others.
I will probably be posting lightly the rest of the week.
I was hoping to start the new blog off with a bang, but life happens.
19
Apr
The Alliance for the Separation of Church and State has a blog up now.
There’s a post called Easy Question #1. It asks:
Do you agree with this statement?
I don’t want my children fed or clothed by the state, but if I had to choose, I would prefer that to their being educated by the state. – Max Victor Belz
Stop over and leave your comments.
18
Apr
I was just surfing around the world wide web and I found an interesting site from here in Vermont called “Right to the Point,” a bi-weekly column in the Williston Observer by Chris Roy.
It has these two quotes on the top of the page, which I wanted to share.
“Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.”Barry Goldwater
“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
Ronald Reagan
17
Apr
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Why Homeschool. The theme is Tax Day, of course.
I already filed my taxes ages ago. I don’t like to have things hanging over my head. That may change when we actually have to write a check to the government.
For those of you still scrambling to get your’s done, don’t forget to claim your long-distance telephone tax credit, if you qualify. For once, the government is returning unfairly collected taxes. It’s about time!
16
Apr
This is my least favorite time of the year, regarding homeschooling.
It is the time when I need to start figuring out how I am going to show the state that my kids have learned enough this past school year.
On the positive side, it gives me a better sense of where we are at and it helps me realize just how much they really do learn, even though we have taken a relaxed approach to homeschooling so far.
It is always very nerve racking though because I know that ultimately, the state can say that they are not learning enough and we can be forced to enroll them in a public or private school.
I know that won’t happen because, well, the kids are getting an education, and even though I am sort of biased, I have to admit they are pretty smart. 
It bothers me that a homeschooling parent must demonstrate that each child is making yearly progress commensurate with age and ability in order to continue to homeschool, but the public schools do not.
Yes, I know they have to show progress and there is an increasing amount of accountability, but they are only required to show that a percentage of students have progressed, and it is a mighty small percentage at that.
In contrast, I am required to show that each child has made progress. If I was held to the same standard as the public schools, I could keep one child from learning anything at all and my percentage would still be acceptable by PS standards if the other 67% of my “school” was passing.
And, if my kids were failing for any reason, I could always chalk it up to the fact that 67% of the students at my “school” are minorities and 100% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
With those damning statistics, it is really a wonder that any of them are required to learn anything.
This post is to claim my blog on Technorati. Just ignore it. It really serves no purpose for you.
16
Apr
I was thinking about how to set up the categories for this blog. I decided to make them pretty general, so that readers who are only interested in a particular topic can just click on the category that interests them. I don’t know if anyone actually does that, but I think it can be a useful feature.
I will probably do the technorati tags if I want to get hits on the specific post topics.
The categories I have decided on so far are:
Blog Carnivals and Links
Blog-keeping
Craftiness
Current Events
Faith
Family Life
Homeschooling
Politics (at large)
Politics (Burlington/Vermont)
Recipe Box
Religion
I might add reviews, too, if I do any.
I finally finished the template for the new blog. Whew. That took forever!
It’s kind of sad to be moving on from She’s Right. That blog has been such a part of my life for so long now. I know that many of my regular readers will not be interested in the new blog’s format and I will lose some readers. I also know that I will gain some new readers. Most of all, I know that it is time for me to move on from that project.
New things are always scary. I am starting a new business soon and I have been reading a book on entrepreneurship to get me excited about it.
The book’s (non-Christian) author stressed how important it is to have some sense of something out side of ourselves that we can lean on and turn to for strength.
That’s what all things hold together is about for me. I know that when my life feels like it is falling apart, in Him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17
And I know that there is really no other way they would.
11
Apr
I can’t believe I forgot to post the link to this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling.
Here it is.
