homeschool carnival

Here is the latest blog carnival (I would tell you which edition if only I knew it). But first we have some business.

Or rather, we don't. Because the first order of business is that I left out a couple entries that were clearly nothing more than advertisements. I let a couple others slide because they at least seemed to have more homeschool related content, but I would hate to see the carnival high –jacked as a marketing tool. That would be counter productive as well, as I am sure I am not alone in saying a ‘homeschooling carnival’ consisting primarily of attempts to sell me something holds zero interest for me. There are a couple of businesses that have posted to the hsing carnival for some time, but they give value. That is, while they mention they have a product to sell, the post they submit to the carnival is useful, helpful, and interesting as it stands. The post is meaty enough- it’s not a weakly disguised commercial.

Second order of business – a blessing on the heads of all those who take an extra moment and use the blog carnival submission form at blogcarnival.com. It cuts the carnival hosts time down to a second per entry and does not require tedious cutting, copying, pasting, and rearranging. May your days go as smoothly as you made mine.

Third order of business: my ‘theme.’ Well, I had one. It wasn’t working. At the last moment I had to scrap it. I was hunting about for something else to try when Henry sent me the wrap up message. At the close of the carnival he stops the forwarding of blog entries to the host’s address (and this is why, dear procrastinators, some of you feel slighted when your post doesn’t go in the carnival. It gets forwarded to the host after the deadline, and the new host never even sees it- oops- updated to add- if Henry sees them, he does forward them to the next blog host so that it will be considered then). He also sends a handy little tool consisting of an alphabetized list of posts so you can check to make sure you have them all. The alphabetizing is odd, because it’s based on the name of the submitter, but I saw that and said aha and here we are- the abecedarian version of the carnival:

2 Savvy Homeschoolers presents Introducing Foreign Languages at an Early Age posted at Homeschooler Savvy.

As little by little the oak trees grow,
So little by little I'll try to know;
One of these days perhaps we'll see
The world will be the better for me
~Unknown

Activities Coordinator presents When in doubt, don't throw it out! posted at Life On The Planet (a post about keeping and saving records)

Adso of Melk points out, "No, Jayden, You're Not the Center of the Univerise" in a worthy rant about history and how she is taught.

Alasandra shares How I meet the founder of PEAK, in person for the first time, and how PEAK won the Mississippi Championship Tournament.
Alasandra also is running a homeschooling contest, and you still have several days to vote. See her sidebar for more information and be sure to vote (if your conscience permits).

Amy Grant asks In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 finds out what happens when lesson plans get in the way and a child actually shows some interest in a subject. Go to Toys R Us!


Andrea presents a heartfelt personal poem about why she started homeschooling her daughter in NFAHM: The Lost Files posted at Notes From A Homeschooling Mom.


April presents Need a last minute Christmas gift? Homeschoolers will love Gametap posted at Lunablog.net. She shares information on how, for just 59.00 a year, you can get access to over a 1000 computer games, many of them educational.

Be kind and be gentle to those who are old,
For dearer is kindness
And better than gold.
~Unknown

Barbara Frank presents An Easy and Worthwhile Writing Assignment
She says Xerox makes it very easy for you to turn a writing assignment for your children into a patriotic activity.

Cherish what is good and drive Evil thoughts and feelings far, For as sure as you're alive You will show for what you are. ~Phoebe Cary

Cate family at Why Homeschool post about how one of their daughters wants the 'school' experience in Kids do the strangest things
A couple of our girls wanted what they thought was the school experience back in the very early 90's. I gave it to them.=)


Celeste at The Life Without School Blog presents
Remembering the Butterflies. She says, "Looking back, this was the first in a long series of lessons about letting go and going with the flow. It was also the first hard lesson about keeping my own dreams and goals separate from those of my children."


ChristineMM presents Dealing With Naysayers About Your Decision To Homeschool posted at The Thinking Mother.

Christine Moers presents Proof that homeschooling stunts you socially posted at welcome to my brain.

Do not look for wrong and evil, - You will find them if you do; As you measure for your neighbor, He will measure back to you. - Alice Carey

Dana presents Huckabee and monolithic homeschoolers posted at Principled Discovery- a very interesting post. I linked to it already and am glad to link again.

Denise presents Christmas math puzzles and activities posted at Let's play math!.

Dolfin presents Building a Library posted at Lionden Landing.

Every gentle word you say
One dark spirit drives away;
Every gentle deed you do
One bright spirit brings to you.
~Virginia Harrison

Elisheva Levin presents Unschooling Marches On posted at Ragamuffin Studies.


e-Mom presents Does Christmas Have Any Teeth? posted at C h r y s a l i s.

Goodness shows in blushes bright,
Or in eyelids dropping down,
Like a violet from the light;
Badness, in a sneer or frown.

Phoebe Cary

Gary presents New Homeschool flavored search engine posted at HomeSchoolBuzz.com.
Henry Cate Our entry for the carnival - Here is our entry: Kids do the strangest things http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/12/kids-do .

Hearts like doors will ope with ease To very, very little keys, And don't forget that two are these; "I thank you" and "if you please." ~Unknown



HowToMe presents How to Make Lacing Cards, for Free posted at HowToMe.

Just for today! Let me no wrong or idle word Unthinking say, Put thou thy seal upon my lips Just for today! ~Canon Farrar

Jacque Dixon at Seeking Rest In The Ancient Paths reviews the HBoL
so does JOcelyn Dixon at A Pondering Heart

Judy Aron presents Standardized Testing Squelches School Fieldtrips - Yet Another Reason To Homeschool posted at Consent Of The Governed. More and more schools are cutting back on or eliminating field trips because they conflict with the testing demands currently in place. I’m sorry to see educational field trips go, but some schools obviously need some incentive to tighten their budgets. A few years ago we were unable to get into the matinee showing of the then new Disney movie Beauty and the Beast because our local school district booked the movie theatre for ‘school field trips’ every day that week.

Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the flowers,
Kind deeds are the fruits."
Take care of your garden
And keep out the weeds,
Fill it with sunshine
Kind words and kind deeds

Katherine at No fighting, no biting! (the title of one our favorite early reader books), asks How homeschool friendly is Mike Huckabee?She says, "I am leery of this candidate for President for several reasons and one is that his words don't match his actions, homeschooling issues included."

Little children, you should seek
Rather to be good than wise,
For the thoughts you do not speak
Shine out in your cheeks and eyes.

~Unknown

Leticia Velasquez presents THE JESSE TREE posted at cause of our joy.

Lynn presents Winter Solstice posted at Homeschool 2.0.

Lynn (another Lynn) presents Free Christmas Notebooking Pages posted at Eclectic Education.

Make a little sunshine dear,
'Tis surely worth your while;
Make a little sunshine here,
Twill only cost a smile.
~R. K. B.

Mama Squirrel presents Taking stock in December posted at Dewey's Treehouse. (psst, unschoolers! It's not really a report card- more like Mama Squirrel's progress report of what is and is not working for her family)

Matthew presents SAT Preparation: What to do on Test Day posted at SAT Exam Prep.- which I think is basically spam and the test prep is common sense.

Melissa at Melissa's Idea Garden says "This is a great site that offers Homeschoolers discounts on Microsoft products!": Homeschoolers, Educators and Students, Listen Up! Microsoft Discounts Are Available for You!

Miss Amanda Dixon at The Daily Planet gives an overview of homeschooling methods.: it's a very useful overview, but being the Charlotte Mason type I am, I am compelled to add this link to a CM tutorial I wrote a while back, and to say that Miss Mason did use textbooks. Here's a review I wrote of the various CM books I have read, and, of course, we have some, um, blush, 150 posts here at The Common Room with the CM label. There's also a CM carnival that I highly recommend.

Remember the old proverb says
That "pretty is which pretty does;"
That true worth neither goes nor stays
For poverty or splendor.

~Phoebe Cary

Rebecca presents Recycled Holiday Greeting Cards posted at Little Homeschool on the Prairie.

Renae presents Another Christmas Card to Send posted at Life Nurturing Education.

Robin at Heart of Wisdom says God Has a Plan for Your Homeschool
, saying, "We can homeschool with confidence because God is reliable. God promised to strengthen and equip us in every situation. Scheduling by faith parable."


Rose presents Dreaming of a Homemade Christmas posted at Learning at Home.

Speak the truth! 'Tis beautiful and brave;
Strong to bless and strong to save;
Falsehood is a coward knave;
Speak the truth.
~Unknown

Sol Lederman presents Flexagon fun for the whole family posted at Wild About Math!

Stephanie presents A Christmas Craft for Preschoolers posted at Stop the Ride!.

Summer presents Taking A Little Me Time posted at Mom Is Teaching.


Summer presents Homeschooling and Crafts posted at Mom Is Teaching.

True worth is in being, not seeming;
In doing each day that goes by,
Some little good; not in the dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
~Alice Cary

Tea Party Girlhas a hard-to-classify and very good to read post in Why I Said ‘No’ So I Could Say ‘Yes’ posted at Tea Party Girl.

Unless you do the best you can
And do it every day,
No need to wish and hope and plan,
Your time is thrown away.
~ R.K.B.

An unschooling mom and a few friends answer the age, old homeschooling question, “What do my kids really need to know?" in General Knowledge posted at Life Without School

"Mark your Calendars -- and then post them on your blog! To get our new year started right, the January 8th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling will feature practical examples of how homeschoolers organize their days, weeks, months, or years. The Red Sea School is hosting --see more ideas there."

Updated to fix some links, update some information, and add that the little poems starting with each letter of the alphabet I used come from the first year selections in Childs Calendar Beautiful, a book of poetry selected for recitation in public schools published in the 1900s. You can find more of these on our blog if you look for the Childs Calendar Beautiful tag.
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Updated again to note that there is another homeschooling carnival this month:
Sylvia at Pomoyemu will be hosting the next carnival, #104--it will not come out on Tuesday, Christmas Day, but on Wednesday the 26th.

She will accept homeschooling related posts on any homeschool related topics, but she would especially love to have stories or examples which show how homeschooling brings your family closer--nuclear and/or extended. What does homeschooling (not being tied to a school schedule, etc) make possible for your family that you'd miss out on otherwise? Maybe look back on your last 12 months of homeschooling, or even if you're a new homeschooler and started in September, and start thinking about what you'd like to tell us. She says she'd love posts with pictures, too.

Please use the Blogcarnival form to send in submissions, or use this email address: CarnivalOfHomeschooling at gmail.com. (the blog carnival form is much easier on the host, in my opinion). Please spread the word.