Homeschool Day 3 of 180
Working hard in Livermore. No time to write! Since when did you quit liking Vegemite?
Year: 2006 Page 7 of 15
Homeschool Day 2 of 180
I am now at the airport blogging from the Portland wireless network. It is really pretty amazing. I will be gone until Friday. Meanwhile, the kids are on their second day of homeschool. Again, it looks like it will be light blogging until after Labor day.
I am back from our convention, our Texas friends are on their way the airport, and life is returning to normal. We will start up homeschool again tomorrow and I will start blogging a little more as we move back toward normalcy. We had a wonderful four days with lots of friends, old and new.
I will be out of the loop after today until Monday of next week. Lorena is going to run up to the airport in Portland this afternoon to pick up the Larsons. She will drive them back down to Albany where we will get something to eat, then drive down to Saginaw to stay through the weekend for our church convention. I hope to take some photos to share while we are there. We have been waiting for this week for what seems like a long, long time. I should be back to regular posting sometime next week.
I regularly read the blog of a guy named David Heddle. He is a physics professor who writes about Intelligent Design and Christianity. I enjoy his posts on ID. His posts on Calvinism are, from my perspective, pretty legalistic in a scholarly way and not very convincing, but fun to read. That said, he spoke for me when he wrote this post about Christianity and politics.
Homeschool Day 1 of 180
We have decided to get an early start on our homeschool year so that we can take an extra week off during the normal school year. The plan is to do six days of homeschool between now and the Tuesday after Labor Day. The kids started in on their programs this morning. We will have to recalibrate the work load this year again, as we have every previous year, but we should be pretty well under control by mid-September. Our friends, the Larsons get here tomorrow, so it is a little difficult for everyone to concentrate.
After traveling all day on Saturday, then working half a day after meeting on Sunday, I am almost back to my normal schedule. There will be a week or so more of light posting as we go to convention at the end of this week with the Larsons who are coming from Texas and then start slowly back into homeschool. The plan is to do one day of homeschool this week, three days next week, and then two days the week after that so we can start the Tuesday after Labor Day with a week and a day behind us. If we can do that, we will be in really good shape to take our weekly ski trip at the end of February.
I am looking forward to going home. I will have to stay until Saturday and probably will have to work after meeting on Sunday for several hours. We are all planning to go to convention at the end of the week next week, the Larson’s are coming to visit, and Lorena is going to sign Christian and I up to go to an overnight campout at a baseball game later this month, so there are some great things to which to look forward right now!
I am hoping to go home late tomorrow evening. Everything is going well with my work here in Livermore. The only issue, I think, is that the British have discovered a plot to blow up airplanes using more difficult to discover methods. That means getting through security will be somewhat more challenging. It is an interesting time to be alive.
I love my job. If I did not have to be away from my family to do this, it would be great to be down here working with these people all the time. It is an absolute blessing to get paid for something you love to do.
Uncommon Descent points to an awsome little video that is well worth watching.
I am programming away on my big project. Cousin Trisha is coming up on Friday night and Saturday to stay with us. We are very much looking forward to having her. I surely hope to be there in time to see her for awhile.
I made it down to Livermore this morning to work for a weeks or so. When I got out to the Avis rental car slot at the Oakland Airport, I found I had been given a PT Cruiser. I have always thought that the design on that car was awesome but, after driving it, I am really glad I never bought one. It is a fine automobile, but not for the price. It will be fun driving it around for a week, but it will be even better to get back into my Tundra.
Luis Leonard was born August 5, to Tio Rigo y Tia Minita.
Christian and Kelly get home today! Lorena and I had a great time with some nice quiet dinners, some walks, a little work around the house, and plenty of time to just talk, but it just feels funny when the kids are gone. We are REALLY glad they are coming back in a few hours.
I will be traveling down to California next week and have a lot of stuff on my plate before I go, so there will be very light posting here until I start getting things back under control.
Socialization
Note: This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive look at this subject matter. Rather, it is a description of why we found homeschool to be a compelling alternative for our children when we considered the issue of socialization. The linked resources are a minor, but relevant subset of the available information on measures of socialization in different school settings.
A helpful first step when discussing the subject of socialization for children is to identify some underlying assumptions. Inherent to the question of socialization is the context within which the socialization takes place. That is, which society is the society to which a child should be socialized? The answer to that question is beyond the scope of this discussion. Nevertheless, it is often possible to find common ground about what qualities are important for positive socialization even though the question of which society is the right society for which to prepare a child remains unresolved. Some of these qualities might include things like personal responsibility, civic involvement, kindness, a strong work ethic, or any number of other qualities. The important question then becomes, “What are some valid measures of socialization?”
Research
Researchers have, indeed, identified some such measures and then made an effort to take measurements. The work of measuring socialization levels amonst homeschoolers is just beginning. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) commissioned a survey of adults who were home educated. Of the over 7300 people surveyed, over 5000 had been homeschooled at least seven years. Some of the results of the study can be found here. I highly recommend anyone considering homeschool to take a look at the results of this survey. Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) conducted the survey. There is a good body of additional research available at the NHERI website. The survey compared the sample population of homeschoolers to the general U.S. population on a variety of measures of socialization. The numbers for the homeschool students are taken from the survey while sources are cited for the numbers used for comparison for the general U.S. population. There are comparison data for several items in each of the following categories:
- Educational attainment for those in the survey between age 18 and 24
- Involvement in community
- Civic involvement
- A measure called the “Happiness quotient”
In addition, there is a compilation of the current occupation of the sample population. On every one of the measured items, the homeschool prepared students scored significantly higher than those in the general U.S. population. It should be noted that the survey was commissioned by a homeschool advocacy group.
I found several small studies that probably were not large enough to give a sense for homeschooling in general, but still ring true to what we have experienced in our own homeschool and the homeschools in our community. One such study titled Socialization Skills in Home Schooled Children Versus Conventionally Schooled Children by Koehler, et. al. showed that the homeschool students that were tested scored above average in four out of five categories of socialization while conventionally schooled students that were tested scored average in all the categories. This study included only 23 total students, but includes a good bibliography that can be consulted for further information.
Personal experiences
Bad socialization influences in the public school system where we live was one of the main reasons we decided to start homeschooling. We had a very positive experience in the public school system before we moved to the area of the state where we live now. After a series of experiences at the new school with the administration and teaching staff over a period of a year, we studied the issue and decided to change to homeschooling. I think our experience is not very different from that of others who have decided to homeschool. There are often specific circumstances that lead to the decision to leave the public school system. There is a brilliant article that I found while reading the Wittingshire blog that speaks directly to that subject of how the public school system and culture create such circumstances. No Thank You, We Don’t Believe in Socialization! is authored by Lisa Russell.
Conclusion
There needs to be more research in this area to determine how different homeschool groups and styles fare in terms of socialization when compared against those in conventional public and private school environments. I think a clearer picture will emerge when more data are available. So far though, according to the research I have seen and our own experience, children can benefit greatly not only from the socializing influences that are unique to homeschooling, but also from avoiding those experiences commonly occuring in the public school system.
Next: Academic performance
(Sob) Don’t you MISS us Dad and Mom? We are having such a good time here with Grandma and Grandpa that we just might stay here forever. We went to OMSI today and had a wonderful time visiting the planetarium and looking at their new ROBOTS exhibit. Yesterday we went to the Oregon Zoo and got to see an exciting bird show and the butterfly exhibit which, believe me, was exhilirating; the highlight of the visit from my point of view. The day before that we went to the Columbia River Gorge and had lunch at Timberline Lodge. Kylee had never been to Multnomah Falls I don’t think, so we had a wonderful time there. We also saw the big sturgeon (HUGE!!!) and touched a few slimey trout at the Fish Hatchery. There isn’t much snow on the mountain at this time of year but it was still chillly. Grandpa’s birthday was today so Christian and I made him some cards and we sang Happy Birthday! We will be home in a couple of days, if Mom and Dad want us, but I’m sure that if they don’t then Grandma and Grandpa will so you (Mom and Dad and the cats) better be nice! (-:
Well, the remodel is just about finished. The last parts of the stone bases of the porch will be finished today along with the porch light and some trim on the french doors. We will actually make our last payment today. The only things remaining are the concrete and stone base finishes and a small bit of work on the stove hood in the kitchen. You would think we should have buyers remorse by now, but we really do not. We enjoy the house very much and are looking forward to getting the yard put back into shape, buying some furniture to fill in the empty spots where we now have more room, and doing some indoor painting. Next year, we want Mark to come back because we need the house painted and we need to put up a nice shed to put a lot of the stuff that is now clogging the garage.
We really enjoyed the process enough that I started looking for a degree program for Lorena for doing remodels or building of some kind. I was thinking that the Construction Engineering Management class at Oregon State University might be good, but when I got on the website, I found a program called Housing Studies. It is perfect for Lorena. We are both very excited about her getting a degree in that program. When she gets out, all she has to do is get three years experience and she can take the exam to become a Certified Kitchen Designer and/or a Certified Bathroom Designer. She thinks she would like to buy old houses to fix up and sell. This program is specifically for preparing people for that sort of thing. It might be just perfect for us.
The new porch 1
The new porch 2
The new porch 3
The new patio fence
With Kelly and Christian visiting Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah until Friday, Lorena and I have been having a nice time together. She came and had lunch with me at Subway yesterday. Then, after supper, we walked down to see Jim and JoAnn. We never really have time or energy to do that when we have the kids, but it was a really nice walk. They had their grandkids with them for the evening, so we got to hear Jeremy quote some bible verses he has learned, see Jim’s playhouse project, and watch the boys riding around on their bikes. They are sweet boys.
Christian and Kelly are having a great time. Yesterday they went up the Columbia River Gorge with their cousin Kylee–and Grandpa and Grandma, of course. Today, they are going to pick up a boy they met at meeting who is Christian’s age. He is visiting his aunt for the week. They are all going to the Zoo and the Children’s Museum in Portland. We cannot wait to hear how that goes. It has dawned on us that with the kids getting more confidence in staying with their grandparents, Lorena and I will have more of a chance to do a little traveling together while the kids stay with Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah. All of us will look forward to that even though it feels pretty strange to be away from them so long.
Kelly and Christian are gone to spend the week with their Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah. The plan is that they will go visit the fish ladder, the fish hatchery, and one of the big dams on the Columbia River today, then OMSI, the zoo, later in the week. The days they are not visiting attractions, they are going to build something out of wood with Grandpa Milo. They went to Sunday Morning Meeting yesterday and then, after eating lunch at the Burgerville where Cousin Kylee works, went to visit Aunt Jean and Cousin Kylee. Kylee will go up the Columbia River Gorge with them tomorrow, too.
As for Lorena and I, we hardly know what to do with ourselves. I had to work all weekend, so Lorena stayed home and worked on the garden when we were not at meeting. We ordered pizza in on Saturday night, then went out to dinner yesterday after meeting. It is really nice just spending some quiet time together, but a little bit disconcerting to not have the kids there. This is the first time since they were born that we have not had them with us for more than a day. We mentioned that we past half way to the point where they will be gone off to college, so this is kind of what our life will be like when that happens. Lorena said she really does not want to just go to work and come home to think about something to do in our leisure, but she wants to be a help somehow. I think we might try to find a way to live somewhere in Latin America where we can help in the spread of the Gospel.
I was able to finish my next Wayne the Mexican comic strip in time for the article I am writing on socialization in the homeschool. Now, all I have to do is finish the article. It has taken quite a bit of thought. The issue is not quite as cut and dried as either side thinks.
