Public School at Home

I am horrible at following news or current events of any kind, but I have managed to hear about a new "public school at home" program that's being offered in Iowa, and I just got an interesting link about it from a homeschooling friend: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ia/201202220.asp. To me, public school at home sounds like the worst of both worlds...parents are required to use the same textbooks and curriculum as the public schools, so gone is your opportunity to customize anything to suit your children or your educational goals, and in its place you get the public school worldview - which is at best, non-Christian and at worst, anti-Christian. This article paints a pretty negative picture of the results of public school at home too - poor test scores, etc. My advice, for what it's worth, is that if you want to homeschool but can't face the thought of making everything up yourself, don't resort to this option. There are tons of free or inexpensive programs out there that outline everything for you, and you WILL find one that fits your (and your kids') needs. I'm still trying to psych myself up for the Ambleside Online program for the next school year, which is almost totally free. All you buy are the books and resources that aren't available online for free - and since many of the books used are old enough to be in the public domain, many of them are free. A curriculum based on reading great literature and studying God and nature - does it get any better than that? (My kids would argue for a curriculum based on Legos and Star Wars, but I'm not convinced that they're ready to take control of their studies...yet...)

What's Been Happening at School Lately

First, some things I want to take a closer look at (after a lazy morning of surfing the net):
Living Math!
Science Bob's Science Blog
Cyberchase cartoon show
Clever Dragons

Fun (and not-so-fun) stuff we've been doing at school lately:
The book of Matthew - ch. 13 (memory verse Matt. 6:19-21)
The Cricket in Times Square
Plural nouns (s, es, ies, irregulars)
John Wesley
Mary Slessor
Lizards & lizards as pets
Simon - two-digit math carrying the ones
Isaac - real world math; figuring area and perimeter
Germany
Kenya
River ecosystems
Grassland ecosystems
Parables - what is a parable, what parables did Jesus tell, why
No spelling. We needed a break, and I (the best speller in the family) am convinced that good spelling comes by reading, not by spelling drills
Crystal-growing
Laundry - Isaac can do both washer & dryer; Simon can do the dryer
Independent Bible study & prayer (not going so well - I need more kids' bibles)

Girl Scouts "Leadership" Campaign

The Girl Scouts have decided to make it their mission to put as many women in business and political leadership positions as men within the next generation. As part of this mission, they did a study of young women, which found that girls think that "while women can succeed in business, they rarely become corporate executives; and many believe they are more burdened by family than men as they try to succeed in their careers." Later, a woman who is the co-founder of the Girls Leadership Institute says, regarding women balancing family and career, "It's almost impossible to do both well." So...what are they saying? They want girls to grow up wanting careers and not families? That if you have to choose - and apparently they think you do - you have to choose career over family? I don't have time to go into the many ways that this study and this project disgust me, but I'll tell you one thing: I am not buying any more Girl Scout cookies, no matter how much I love those Caramel Delights. And furthermore, or perhaps more importantly, the Girl Scouts support Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion services, and is therefore in my book staunchly anti-women...regardless of what they think they're promoting.