Shark Dissections

A group of our High School students decided they wanted to do a Marine Biology Course this year. All of these students have finished a traditional Biology course, and two of them are taking Chemistry concurrently with this class. We have had a lot of fun, this is a fascinating topic. Here is one of our dissections...we also did star fish and clams. Enjoy the pics.

Getting through the tough skin is more of a challenge than you would think...after breaking some dissection tools we resorted to steak knives.


Here is Joseph abandoning tweezers and tools in favor of fingers...can't be to squeamish.




















Hands on learning isn't just for the little kids.... And yes that is a tie around Brad's head. We don't try to explain Brad's fashion quirks, we just enjoy them.

Homeschooling Might Be For You.

There are times when every homeschool parent is beset with doubts. It's a serious responsibility, taking on the education of your children...they are depending on you to give them what they need to go out into the world and make a life. (And when they are looking at you with this much trust who could let them down. For those of you wondering...this is Caleb.) With the recent decision of a California court deciding against homeschooling there has been increased scrutiny of the homeschool community. Many parents I talk to have been confronted more aggressively in the past weeks about the wisdom of keeping their children at home. The court decided that only teachers with a credential are qualified to teach. I, along with many of my homeschool cohorts, would respectfully disagree. There is no reason that a motivated, disciplined parent can't provide an outstanding education for their child. Let me list just a few advantages.

First, a parent has the advantage of working with their child one-on-one. The benefits to this kind of teaching cannot be overemphasised. The child can work at their own pace in each subject. There is no need to labor over concepts that have already been grasped or to move on to new material before a child is ready. The parent/teacher can adapt easily to the individual needs of the student.

Second, a parent has intimate knowledge of each child's strengths and weaknesses and no one is more motivated to see their child succeed than a parent.

Third, quality curriculums abound. The homeschooling movement has been around long enough and represents enough paying customers that curriculum developers have addressed the issues unique to the homeschool family. No matter what the subject or what the learning style of your child is, there is a curriculum out there. Curriculums are written with the knowledge that parents are not teachers or experts and addresses those challenges. Many provide on-line assistance or phone support.

Fourth, and my personal favorite...I can adapt whatever curriculums I use to suit my children. There are advantages and disadvantages to every system, and the advantages differ from child to child. I can use what is good from each to create a well balanced approach.

I don't think homeschooling is for everyone, but for those who choose it and pursue it with diligence it is a rewarding and effective alternative to a traditional education.

Court of Appeals Rehearing Case

Good News! The California Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear the case decided last month that banned homeschooling in cases where parents did not have a teaching credential. This is great news and HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense) will be filling an amicus brief with the court. For more details on this, and on other legal matters pertaining to homeschooling go to the HSLDA website. Have a great day.

History Day

This is my first post and I couldn't quite decide what to start with. Since last weekend we competed in the National History Day Competition at the County level, I decided I might as well start there. My sons have competed in this competition for 8 years. It's the oldest humanities competition in the U.S., although with budget cuts who knows how long it will continue. Students in public and private schools compete at District, County, State and National levels. We have been to the National competition at the University of Maryland 3 times . What a great experience each trip was. Especially last year when all 6 of us were able to make the trip and watch my two youngest sons do a performance on Honour Crimes in Pakistan. This picture was taken last summer as we explored Washington D.C. during breaks in the competition. (The lovely girls in the pic are the Miles sisters who we have teamed up with each year as we developed our projects.)

This year's theme is Conflict and Compromise. My son Caleb wrote a historical paper on the conflict in Northern Ireland. A new experience for Caleb, as he has always competed in the Performance category. We didn't know how he would do since we haven't seen many of the papers submitted for competition so this is a learning experience in many ways.

Joseph competed with 4 of his friends in the group performance category. They studied up on the conflicts and compromises on the New York Stock Exchange due to SEC regulations. I have to say Joseph had to spend alot of time explaining things to me as this was an area I knew little about.

Our school, Grace Prep, had a third entry, a group of Jr. High students did a project on Conscientious Objectors. They did a fabulous job.

Turns out all three Grace Prep entries won First place at the Riverside County competition and will be moving on to the State competition in Sacramento over Mother's Day weekend. In the meantime the kids will continue to fine tune their projects and add to their research. They have more interviews they would like to do before the State competition.

This is truly a great way to get kids involved in history, research, writing, and communicating. I hope more homeschoolers take advantage of the opportunity.