My husband just bought me 2 EARLYmother’s day presents:

and the matching oven:

Needless to say: I love that man of mine.

~~Toni

I am sore. I am tired. I am worn out. I hurt, ache, and pang all over. I want sleep.

But, it was the best damn prom ever!

Too many pictures to view. Way too many. Went horseback riding today, early in the morning, right after coming home just 7 hours earlier from prom. UGH..

Anyway, here is the link to my public profile for the photos. No comments except to say not only did my daughter play hide-n-seek with a baby goat, but my youngest attending her first prom –as a helper, but she was still there dancing, with a “friend”. Boy in photos with my oldest is her boyfriend, Jeremy.

FLICKR ACCOUNT FOR PROM 2009

Enjoy.

~~Toni

Hat-Tip to Doc for this.

Idiot Homeschooler who thinks Unschoolers are bigger, lazier, stupider, idiots than she is

If you are an unschooler, or even just one at heart, did you know that you:

- When asked about what grade level their child’s studies are, they cannot give a simple answer.
- The parent neither buys any worksheets, nor makes up their own or prints them off the internet for free.
- Both parent and child are painfully compromised in the areas of spelling, grammar, punctuation, composition, etc.
- The child only has basic reading skills.
- The child has very limited knowledge of basic historical and scientific facts, and what they do know is self-taught.
- They are out and about most of the day, rather than staying home.
- When they are home, the child is mostly left to him/herself to play, watch TV, surf the web, etc.
- Unschooling parents often also fail in other areas of their responsibilites, such as keeping up with the housework.

Yes, that is correct.  You are a lazy, no-good, waste-of-space, and un-educated to boot.  Oh and be careful reading the rest of her blog. She also loathes people who use IVF, thinks that your subsequent miscarriages are a result of you “murdering” your “babies” through IVF, places blame on those who lose babies due to IVF, squarely on the fact that you used IVF; thinks that anyone who vaccinates their children is setting them up for death early on, thinks doctors who do abortions are “more dangerous than guns”, etc…

Lastly, she’s also collecting “donations” for a Pastor Anderson, who just happens to be her husband. Why? Because her dumbass husband was the idiot who got tazed by Border Patrol Agents for refusing to cooperate with them.  He refused to answer questions, he refused a search (as a result of not answering those questions) and he refused to get out of his car for more than one hour before he was arrested!

He cited his 4th and 5th amendment rights and guess what? The fuckers who claim the Constitution is being abused don’t even fucking know it–that was shot down in the courts in the 70’s! The Highest Court in the Land shot down the claim that warranted (that is, give them a suspicision, especially at the freakin’ border) search and seizure such as this was against our Constitutional Rights, and since it is NOT against your right, the courts struck it down. Therefore, this guy broke the law.

I’ve no sympathy for his sheltered, easily scared, children and his extremely psychotic wife. He should have just listened to them and instead he gave them a reason to believe he was hiding something. A Border Patrol Dog alerted the Agents to his car even.  Had he just proven to them they were wrong, he’d have a legitimate case.

Sadly, because fools like these and the ones who believe Texas can actually secede from the Country, he’ll win.

Shame too.

Have at her ladies. I know we’ve got some unschoolers on here.

Toni

Soon enough. Here is my challenge to you. I want you to give me your opinion on this, below. If it isn’t something you would use, don’t bogger down my comments section with “I wouldn’t use this” comments. I want to hear from those that are truly tired of trying to find a truly secular science program.

I will say up front, that yes, one could use public school publishers (textbooks) and I frequently do (as do others) because there is no completely secular science based (or history or literature) homeschool curriculum. But textbooks of that kind are usually geared towards group activities and are frequently troublesome to pare down to smaller levels (eg: one or two students). I will also say there are a few secular companies (Oak Meadow and Calvert are the only two I can think of right now) that cater to my crowd, but pricing often leaves them out of the running for many homeschool families (as well as resale restrictions–Calvert does not allow the resale of any of their texts).

And I need some honest, scientifically minded, opinions on this idea. In homeschooling circles (and some private schools), there is such a thing called the Trivium, stages of learning–logic, grammar, rhetoric–and in these stages things are taught based on each of these stages and what they feel can be learned within those stages.

My plan is similar to the Trivium rotation, but instead of teaching the science on a 4 year rotation, I’d like to start out with the easiest of the sciences and work my way up to the high school level, where I would then have a core strictly covering high school level. So basically, from K-8th grade, all these disciplines will be taught with appropriate reading material, lessons, AND lab work in each. ***Once they reach high school, all of the material will be exponentially harder.

So you have 3 main disciplines: Life Science(Biology, Anatomy/Physiology, Zoology, Marine Science, Botany, Ecology); Earth Science (Oceanography, Geology, Meteorology, Astronomy); and the Physical Sciences (Physical Science, Physics, Chemistry, Astrophysics)

Obviously, there can be overlap and some can be combined. But all, rest assured, even at the younger levels, will have reading, writing, and lab based activities.

***I may even just combine the whole thing.

Obviously the goal is a completely secular science program within budget of many homeschoolers. My questions are (I told you I had a point):

1–Evolution WILL be taught. Do I teach it as one study within the Biology realm or do I recognize that Evolution plays a part in all of these disciplines and include the relevant information at the relevant point within the relevant areas of disciplines? And, just how far into it would you go at the Lower? Higher? levels.

2– Unit Studies, books, thematic units, workbooks? What do you think would best cover all of this material? Would a CD of all the worksheets needed (all worksheets fully editable as well) be desirable (it would also save on paper space within the books, thus making them slightly cheaper)?

3– Do I have all the relevant disciplines covered? What ones would YOU most like to see covered that you think is lacking in any curriculum (not just homeschool or public school, any)?

4–Print on demand (such as LuLu) or publisher? Would I lose the main point of writing this if I go with a publisher (that is a totally secular science program that does not espouse any theological belief whatsoever)? Is this possible?

5– Do I do this as a spine (eg: reference with printables, etc) or do I do it like Calvert–individual books?

(for reference, one can check out Calvert’s 8th grade page to see what is included. You’ll notice the 4 science books–Science Explorers, that just touch on basic science information for a small section of each discipline. I want to do something similar, only on a larger scale that can be reused for all 12 years).

(also for reference is something else similar–Robinson Curriculum only this is all on CD, printable, and geared more towards boys and is not secular in nature at all, and, lastly, is very basic and outdated at some points).

It would not be that type of unit study. This would be nothing but Science. No literature, english, math, etc.. integrated. JUST science. Now of course there is math there–they will learn only the math that is relevant to what they are studying–which means usually at the high school level. And it’s mainly formulas and nothing more.

And no I’m not talking about mixing the disciplines within each grade. This would have a no grade level approach (or an all grade level approach), where you will get book recs (that are relevant to the topic only), you will have some writing to do (that is relevant only to topic), and labs to do (again, relevant only to topic). On the extreme lower grade levels, it’ll go beyond “cute, furry animals” but still on their grade level or their understanding level. Basically, it’s either going to be a guideline or a full on curriculum type book (similar to the Calvert I linked to). E-booking is definitely an option.

If I go the book route (whether workbook, e-book, textbook), each of these would be in “units”- that is one unit for the Life Sciences but several sections (so it would be advertised as “Life Science Unit, Section 1, Biology” and it would cover all aspects of biology in that section. Then another section would be “Life Science Unit, Section 2, Anatomy” and so on. You can take as little or as long as you wish on each section. I’m probably going to mix the books up so that they can either be spines (where one can use the print-outs if they wish) or they can use the books as stand alones, subsisting on only the handouts and labs. Obviously some sections are going to take longer than others–it’s just a given. Biology is a big section, but I can cut it out because I can put the zoology part of it in its own section (animalia). The same with plants–that can go under Botany.

As for Evolution, I may just do a separate study on it alone. Yes it has more relevancy to Biology etc… than say Astronomy, but it might warrant it’s own book (so to speak). Now of course, it will get mentions in the appropriate sections. But its own book would be a more in depth study of it–macro/micro, Darwin, Natural Selection, etc…. there is enough to make it its own. This is, however, still up in the air.

I intend to make a list of grade level based fiction and non-fiction. I might say “read A Space Child’s Mother Goose AND Our Solar System.” One fiction, one not. Of course, at the high school level, books like Apollo 13 are just as relevant reading material as a “comprehensive astronomy” book. It would have to include worksheets. Some people, like myself, really like them. I’m sick of googling for them, kwim? Labs would require observation, a nature walk would be considered a lab. A trip to Sea World would be considered a lab. Get it?

Lastly, thanks for reading this far. I would ask on homeschooling boards, but I would NOT get honest answers and it would turn into a “how can you teach this without that” argument (eg: evolution vs creation vs ID) and I don’t want that. I’m not asking for that. I ask here because I know we have scientifically minded, logically minded, and educated people who will tell me in no uncertain terms what they think would work. The homeschooling boards would have selfish intentions (not that that is a bad thing, just not my purpose) and wouldn’t give me straight enough answers. I’d get “well, I like the idea of botany, but I don’t want to teach my kid plant “sex”" etc… and well, you all know how absurd that is.

I will answer your questions. Ask them and tell me what you would like to see.
~Toni

That we are not all like you. You need to hear this and know this. In my travels across the internet, today, I have discovered many discussions that are revolving around two things:

“How can one celebrate Easter and not be a Christian” and “How can one be a homeschooler and not be a Christian”.

The news flash is:  Those things are not mutually exclusive, despite what you believe and you would do well to remember that.  Easter IS a Pagan originated holiday and homeschooling, while religiously originated, is no longer such.  A simple google search will tell you this. Nearly all of our holidays are Pagan originated. I don’t care what your Pastor taught you. And I don’t homeschool for religious reasons, I don’t care that you believe I shouldn’t be allowed to unless I do.  I homeschool for educational reasons. It’s that simple.  To me, asking those two questions speaks volumes about one’s belief system–that you cannot think out of the box that you were taught to believe in. So in reference to homeschooling, when someone asks me why I homeschool if not for religious reasons, it makes me wonder if they’ve ever considered that there are people in this world who do not need a religious reason for doing things. We are just as moral, just as strong in our morality as you are, we just don’t have religious reasons for being so. While there are a great many who homeschool for religious reasons, the truth is, the numbers are closing in for those who do not. And I find it very disheartening that my homeschooling practices are coming in to question simple because I choose not to do so within the confines of a faith or belief system.

It’s getting old, this us versus them attitude. It’s getting even older than that, to hear “you can’t be”, “you shouldn’t be”, “how are you allowed to”, and have “not Christian” added to the end of the statement.

Here are some other news flashes for you:

World Net Daily is NOT the bastion of news reporting so many put stock in.

The Earth IS round.

It does not revolve around you.

Homeschooling is no longer a corner Christian Market. Other people do exist in this world.

My children are just as moral, upstanding, educated, intelligent, happy, satisfied, challenging, well-behaved (and sometimes not), well-read, and disciplined as yours are. And we do it all without a religion, book, pastor, or church telling us how to.  It can be done, and quite successfully!

There is no such thing as “Christian Nation”.  It makes you look foolish to believe such things. Our Fore-Fathers were men of faith, not necessarily the Christian faith. If they understood separation of church and state, why can’t you?

Issues such as abortion, politics, etc… are not mutually exclusive homeschooling issues! Claiming they are is just as foolish as believing this country to be Christian.  You may, of course, use those issues in your homeschooling day, but they are not part and parcel to homeschooling.  And no, I do not care, for the umpteenth thousandth time, that WND thinks sending millions of red letters to Obama   telling him how horrible abortion is, is the right thing to do. It’s actually a waste of time for the people who have to work overtime to process your disgusting, empty enveloped, “campaign to champion the rights of the unborn”.  You are only a Christian who happens to homeschool who happens to be pro-life, not a “Christian Pro-life Homeschooler”.  Those things are not mutually exclusive, again.

And saying you’ll pray for me? It’s offensive and I hope your Jesus sees how pathetic his followers have become, how they’ve abused his name, and turns you all away at the door for it.  Don’t pray for me. I don’t want your empty, shallow, bigoted, hate-spewing, prayers. If *I* need them, *I* will go directly to the source. Middle men are bloated glorified wastes of time and space.  Your prayers will not be heard above mine and they certainly won’t “help” me be heard any louder.

Thanks but no thanks.

Obama’s mother wasn’t single dumbasses. Just because she didn’t stay married to his father, doesn’t mean a hill of beans. And she didn’t consider aborting him.

If you have to start a post with “I’m no prude but” then yes, you are a prude. A really big, ugly, nasty, prude.

If you have to start a post with “I really do try to tolerate others but” then you are not tolerant, in fact, you are quite the intolerant buffoon your post shows you to be.

If you have to start a post with “How can you be… and not be Christian” then you are more of a buffoon than previously thought. Step outside your box once or twice a day and think of someone else beside yourself. Your question will be immediately answered.

If you feel that someone is misguided, uninformed, or under-educated simply because they do not believe in faith the way you do, I am afraid that you will find out your Jesus is not as tolerant as you like to believe.  A simple reading of that bible you so strongly believe in would tell you this. Or were you absent that day they discussed exactly what Jesus would do?

Tolerance, love, kindness, caring, respect, decency, acceptance–these are all things lost to the world of Christianity. My momma raised me better than that, so it makes perfect sense to me that I not be part of any group who claims these things but does not practice them. When you sit in your church pew Easter sunday, listening to your preacher tell you “He is Risen”, I want you to think on whether or not he is standing right behind you watching your every move and wonder to yourself “Would my Jesus really be accepting of what I am about to do or say?”

If you think answering “yes” is the correct answer–I’ve some river front property to sell you. It’s a little “on fire” and “hot” right at the moment, but it’s a front row seat. Can’t beat that.

~~Toni

Sadly, this one doesn’t get to live in our home (fooled you didn’t I?)

No, this is one of the Princess Brat’s babies.. technically not hers, but you know, *hers*.

Momma horse Miss Kinda Candoo (daddy George is a Paint Stallion and Mommy is an Aqha Sorrel Mare):

Had her baby last night, Miss April (we think that will be her name):

And of course, her Paint Gelding, Daniel aka Dozer (as in “bull” dozer, he just runs you over):

Ignore the bandaged hand. Britt got to see the birth and one of the males in Candoo’s cage tried to kick the baby and Britt intervened and got a nice thorny vine wrapped around her hand for it.

~~Toni