Homeschooling and the Reality of the World Around Us
Real World Learning
* Already homeschooling? This page will give you resources for making your family's experience richer.* Considering homeschooling? I hope the resources here will help you make the decision.
* Know someone who is planning to homeschool? You might want to check out What About Socialization? and other links that will help you get a feel for what your grandchild, nephew, or friend is in for.
Are you (or do you have) a homeschooling teen? You'll want to scroll down to the Homeschoolers and College section. A musical family? There are sections on muscial instruments you can make, and some inexpensive ones you can buy to help build a creative environment in the home. Look for foreign language links, and personally selected books on different homeschoolers' needs.
Thanks for coming by! If you have specific questions, please contact me and I'll try to help. And if you like this lens, please don't forget to rate it!
Reasons for Homeschooling
- To provide a religious environment.
- To provide an exceptional education.
- To teach good values.
- To give children freedom.
- To instill discipline.
- To avoid negative socialization.
Today in History
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGeneral information about Homeschooling
(not specific to unschooling)
- A to Z Home's School
- An incredibly thorough homeschooling site that's been around forever.
- Homeschool Mom
- Lots of free homeschool resources, like lesson plans, organization and online spanish lessons.
- HSLDA
- The Home School Legal Defense Association promotes the rights of homeschooling families.
- Homeschool World
- This Practical Homeschooling Magazine offers lots of (yes, practical!) information. Check it out!
- Homeschoolers for Ron Paul
- Congressman Ron Paul is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation's capital. This is the official website of the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Warning: This child has not been socialized.
Show your homeschooling attitude!
WARNING Sticker (Rectangular)
Get your warning labels here, before the government mandate takes effect, and the price goes up!
WARNING: THIS CHILD HAS NOT BEEN SOCIALIZED
Price: 4.49
What about Socialization?
Will it make kids weird?
The news -- and wife-swap shows on TV -- are full of tales of "weird" homeschoolers. But in the real world, real homeschoolers have the reputation of being polite, friendly, level-headed, respectful, and largely just unaware of the tradition of teenage rebellion. They are happy and well-adjusted.When my son was getting close to "school-age," I saw his friends go off to kindergarten, and within days, or maybe weeks, come home yelling at their parents, or cursing. And it only gets worse.
When children are kept in same-age groups all day long, they orient to their peers (and away from their families). For thousands of years, human children stayed in mixed-age, family or village groups, and fared just fine. Why then, do we suddenly feel the need to segregate them from adult society and into age-groups?
Sibling rivalry is encouraged by this age-grouping. Siblings spend long hours apart every day, and they discuss with their peers what shows to watch, what clothes to wear, what music to listen to. After years of this, siblings begin to seem like part of the larger world of non-peers, and closeness is lost. But it doesn't have to be that way!
No bullying, no teasing, no cliques, no angry-kids-with-guns, and no drug-abuse. What about socialization?
Sculpey Art Projects
Sculpey clay is fun and colorful. Form it into shapes, then bake it in the oven at 275 F, according to the directions. Ornaments, picture frames, models, beaded necklaces... once, I even made a replacement for an on-off knob the kids had lost, and it worked! One of the most fun projects we did, back in the day, was creating little pokemon models. You can mix colors, or even more fun, make swirly, stripey patterns without blending.
Instructions for making this cute lizard to sit on your computer monitor or live on your refrigerator are at this Sculpey projects page.
You wouldn't know it by looking, but this cute little angel is made from Sculpey! Her link will take you to instructions for making an adorable little doll, or visit the Sculpey site for more Sculpey projects, ideas and instructions.
Sculpey clay can be purchased in individual color-packs, or in inexpensive starter packs of either 10 or 30 colors, to let adults and kids enjoy creative play.
Unschooling-style Homeschooling
Child-led learning
- unschooling.com's yahoo group
- An email list for people interested in unschooling.
- unschooling.com
- Check out Home-Education Magazine's Unschooling FAQ.
- Not Back to School Camp
- Kids come from all over to attend this camp for homeschooling/unschooling teens.
- Sandra Dodd's Unschooling Page
- Loads of information is available on Sandra Dodd's page.
Foreign Language Resources
If you select the wrong picture, the software goes back and teaches you again, and it feels very natural. Homeschoolers everywhere recommend this software.
Visit their website and try it out, then come back here for discount prices.
![Spanish (Latin America) Level 1 & 2 [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BA13Y06DL._SL75_.jpg)
Spanish (Latin America) Level 1 & 2 [OLD VERSION]
Amazon Price: (as of 10/11/2008)
![French Level 1 & 2 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5185FEP8JQL._SL75_.jpg)
French Level 1 & 2 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]
Amazon Price: (as of 10/11/2008)
![Japanese Level 1 & 2 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PYJH3P52L._SL75_.jpg)
Japanese Level 1 & 2 Win/Mac Personal Edition [Old Version]
Amazon Price: (as of 10/11/2008)
Resources for Learning
Interesting things to learn are everywhere.
- Google Earth
- If you haven't played with Google Earth, you gotta! It's a fascinating way to learn about our planet, and our neighborhoods.
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia, the online collaborative encyclopedia, is great for looking up almost anything. Want to know what "X-Men" are? What about what a rainforest is? Something about a U.S. President? Wikipedia is up-to-date, because it's constantly updated, and it's reliable. Bad information is quickly corrected by other users, and many articles are written by one, or often more, professionals in the field.
- WebMath
- WebMath offers help with math problems, and plenty of resources. It's worth an explore
- Writers' Resources
- Want to know what "passive voice" is? How to write with style? Try my Writers' Resources and copyediting site.
- Project Gutenberg
- Project Gutenberg is today's Library of Alexandria. A vast collection of literature available for free to anyone with an internet connection. If it's old (copyright expired) you're likely to find it there.
Homeschoolers and College
- Sample Four-Year College Requirements
- Four-Year Universities are no longer stumped when it comes to homeschoolers. Many have specific criteria that you can easily look up on the internet. This link to the University of West Georgia is an excellent example.
- Find a Community College
- The easiest path to college for many homeschoolers is to start out at the local community college. At around $2000/year, it's more affordable, and community colleges are prepared to take students of all experience levels. No diploma, GED, or college entrance exams are required, and classes are offered at all academic levels, from very basic to advanced. For a student who hasn't put much time into English or Math, community college can be an excellent transition.
- Homeschool for College Too!
- It's even possible to continue your education at home. Check out this site, but scroll down past the ads. :)
- Bear's Guide Website
- Bear's Guide was the first book to really explain how you could get a college degree through distance learning (i.e., at home). His website is full of valuable information about getting a real college degree without going to a traditional college.
- Full Sail School of Media
- Full Sail seems to be developing quite a reputation. They offer degrees in (Video) Game Development, Film, Digital Arts and Design, Recording Arts, Entertainment Business, Computer Animation, Show Production and Touring. Highlights include a 21 month Bachelor's program, and year-round start dates.
- A Full Sail story
- Here's a story about what it's like at Full Sail. Just for some balance. :)
- Digipen
- Digipen Institute of Technology shares a building with Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington. It was the first video game design college I heard of, and still has an excellent reputation.
Want More Information?
Here's a new resource for you!
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Home Schooling Video Showcase
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The condition of public schools, that are SO EXPENSIVE to the taxpayer, is ALARMING! Worse yet, even kids who graduate from public schools don't qualify to go to the best universities in our own country! Parents have been quietly taking things into th...
Problems with Public Schools
- 1 in 10 schools are 'dropout factories'
- dropout factories- incredible
- Gender Switch Day in School?
- Parents objected to a required 'gender switch' day in a California Middle School.
- ABC News: Schools Say Immunize Kids or Go to Jail
- Schools Say Immunize Kids or Go to Jail
- WorldNetDaily: Homosexodus! Students flee forced gay agenda
- Enough is enough.
- Withdrawing 600,000 children from California schools.
- Why an Exodus From California Public Schools Now?
Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a package of public school legislation that represents a complete reversal of 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching on human sexuality, family, and marriage. This is to be accomplished by using the California public school system to indoctrinate children to accept homosexual and other sexually deviant lifestyles as normal and morally acceptable, beginning as early as pre-kindergarten and continuing as long they are in California's public schools. - Revealed: 'Gay' plans to target 2-year-olds
- Children as young as two years of age are in the bull's-eye of coming changes in California's school curriculum, which "gay rights" advocates now admit will alter the very foundation of information presented to public school classrooms.
- Homosexuals brainwashing our children in elementary schools
- Extremely slick propaganda directed at the youngest of children! The videos below are from It's Elementary, a 78-minute feature film produced
Timeless Education Right When We Need It!
Saturday Morning Liberty: Schoolhouse Ron
Unschooling and homeschooling Lenses
Squidooers, please feel free to add your homeschooling lenses to this list. You may also grab this plexo to add it to your lens. By adding it to your lens both our lenses will be updated each time someone adds a lens to the plexo.
http://www.holtgws.com/
3 points
http://www.fun-books.com/gws.htm
2 points
http://www.freechild.org/ReadingList/john_holt.htm
This page is offered to honor the unschooling/ hom more...2 points
http://www.naturalchild.org/common_objections/
People, especially educators, who hear me talk abo more...2 points
http://www.afamunschool.com/id10.html
Unschooling As Philosophy of Life <br />< more...2 points
An Unschooling Life
An Unschooling Life2 points
Alternative Learning Systems & Experimental Education
Public schools perform much worse at edifying stud more...2 points
Real World Learning
Real World Learning* Already homeschooling? This p more...1 point
Unschooling ROCKS!
1 point
Revolutionary Homeschool T-shirts and Gear
Say it loud, say it proud: we homeschool and you s more...1 point
Tell me about you!
If you like this lens, please scroll up and rate it, by clicking a star!
Are you a homeschooler? Unschooler? Do you have suggestions about the lens or questions about education? I'd love to hear from you!
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AshleyAnnRyan
Hi, Posted September 07, 2008 |
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GypsyMiracle
Loved your lens on "Unschooling". Very informative and interesting. Learned things that I did not know before. Please stop by at my lens DHT Blockers Posted August 29, 2008 |
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tandemonimom
Excellent lens! Thanks for all the good info in one place. 5 stars! Posted August 08, 2008 |
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rose08
Great lens, congratulations for your efforts which have produced such a wonderful lens. The way you have presented your thoughts on the subject indicates how interested and well versed you are in this field. Homeschooling is a sweet option. Thanks for sharing all of the well organized information with great resources. I would like to share with you an interesting and informative site about online studies, including accounting course online, electrical engineering online, online computer classes and many other courses. Posted July 26, 2008 |
