My Oldest Applied for His First Real Job Today

This is a huge milestone for him, and if he gets it, it will go along way in getting scholarships.  He has done here and there jobs to earn money for camp, and that went very well.  But, this is a real job, with taxes and paychecks and such.  I think he was real nervous, but my husband went with him, and he filled out the papers and was fine.  He had to ask my husband if he had ever been convicted of a felony.  LOL, apparently we need to cover some Criminal Justice topics.  I am so proud of the young man he is becoming.  Oh, and hallelujah he finished the first half of Chemistry, on FLVS with a B, yay!!  Chemistry, according to people we have talked to, is one if not the hardest course FLVS offers.  He worked his butt off to get that B.  He will take the second half in the Fall, and take a break from it over the Summer.  He will be finishing Geometry over the Summer, but now that Chemistry is over, he can do 2 lessons a day, unless it is something really demanding for Geometry.

My daughter is doing very well on Easy Peasy Homeschool Middle School  Math.  She was just not progressing with the textbooks, or work books and I had to make a change.  She picked Easy Peasy, not me, and it seems to be working.  We also switched to PBS media learning for Science, and History and that has replaced the workbooks.  She is at least happy now, and learning.  She still has Language Arts and Bible workbooks, with at least two writing assignments a week.  I need to find a more structured, but fun Writing curriculum for her next year.

We have started our 4th quarter, and the end is in sight for this school year.

Why I Homeschool

Welcome to Why I Homeschool Wednesday. This is a weekly meme sponsored by Miss Moe. Since we have been doing this since the end of last year, I might actually run out of reasons, but as of right now I still have lots of reasons to love homeschooling.

One of the reasons I love to homeschool, is because I get to appreciate this beautiful Florida weather whenever I want, on my own schedule, not someone elses. Yesterday we went to one of the local parks for a playdate with friends. I had mentioned before that our small homeschool group was beginning to fizzle out due to families placing their kids in public school. Yesterday we met up with one of our old homeschool friends, and met some new homeschool friends. Another playdate is set for two weeks at another park. The weather is glorious this time of year, and I love it. Since DJ takes most of the pictures now that we share, he hardly ever gets to get in any. I do have a tripod but I have to find it, so his happy face can appear too. Be sure to hop over to Miss Moe's blog to see why she homeschools her children. As promised here is part two of The Middle Ages. I have actually watched this on the History Channel, and I find the period fascinating. We did full lesson plans today, and had a great day.

Let The Harrassment Begin

I have been watching and reading a lot of education shenanigans lately. Schools are losing funding, and they are starting to panic. First let me say I have never been bothered by my local school board. However, I have been reading articles from IL and FL about parents being harassed by the local school district. One particular district in South Florida is telling parents all kinds of things that are not true. Like they have to show grades, and they need to keep their portfolio to go over with other teachers to see if anything needs to be added. If you live in FL, and homeschool, these are not requirements by the education laws. In FL you must meet 3 requirements: keep a log of daily activities, document a reading list, and have samples of work. You must also be evaluated each year by a certified teacher, or other means allowed under the statute, and keep your portfolio for two years. This is your burden under the homeschool laws. School districts do not have the power to add requirements to this. They can not tell you that you have to grade papers, teach this, or not teach that. They can request in writing, with 15 days notice, to see your log of activities, reading list, and samples of work done. They can not keep it to so called go over with other teachers, and they can not tell you that you did not teach something you were supposed to. If they have your evaluation I see no reason for them to even request this, other than to try and intimidate and harass you. You do not ever have to let them enter your home, and you can show the info to them in a public place, if you so desired. Even then if they find you are missing one of the three requirements you have one year to remediate and fix the issue. I would recommend someone accompanying you, and keeping good records should this ever happen to you.

Florida is a state with high unemployment and with seasonal and migrating workers, school districts gain and lose students each year. Right here where I live, unemployment is 10.2%, and our new governor wants to cut school spending by 10%. The education system in FL, is already not one of the greatest, so losing funding is not a great thing. Our very small school district reported that admissions were down like 6%, that is a lot for a very small school. Schools are going to start feeling the pinch, but they need to come up with better ways to meet their budgets than harassing homeschoolers into putting their kids back into the public school system. If you are having issues in your school district you can contact HSLDA, even if you are not a member you can report issues to them. You can also become a member, it is not expensive and they will help you with legal issues that arise. You can also contact The Home Education Foundation which will get you to Brenda Dickinson, a homeschool lobbyist in Florida who helped write our state's homeschool laws.
HEF
PO BOX 12563
Tallahassee
Florida
32317-2563
850-877-3494