Raising Real Men

Raising Real Men is pleased to bring you the February 9, 2010 edition of the

     Carnival of Homeschooling!  

Welcome to Raising Real Men! We’ve done 14 radio interviews in the past week from eastern North Carolina to Los Angeles, so I know there are many people visiting here who don’t know us yet. I’d like to take a moment to explain a few things. The Carnival of Homeschooling is a weekly event that moves around the blogosphere. Bloggers contribute posts and the host blogger gathers all the links together for your reading pleasure. We don’t choose the posts: some we love, some we don’t!  

And a last word before we get started. Homeschooling is not the only way to raise boys, but it offers some serious advantages for parents who want to train their sons for manhood in a way that the common culture  simply doesn’t do any longer.  We devote a chapter in Raising Real Men to the very real differences in the way boys approach education, compared to their sisters.  How we respond, as teachers and parents, will make a difference in how they respond as students.  

We’ve been thinking a lot about what we love lately: A year ago our precious Katie was born the day before Valentine’s Day. How appropriate since we’d spend the next year thinking about her heart. At two weeks, we discovered she was in SVT(dangerously fast heart rhythm) at 278 beats per minute. They had to stop her heart six times that night. We were hoping she’d be one of the 25% who grow out of the condition by a year old, but last week we found out her heart is still in danger.  And now, last month we found out that Hal has stage four Hodgkins lymphoma. We are thinking a lot about what we love – Christ, our family, and so much more!    

So, we dedicate this Carnival, in the week before Valentine’s Day to Things Homeschoolers Love. Homeschoolers are an incredibly diverse bunch, but it is safe to say that homeschoolers:  

Love to Think

legendswife reminds us not only that Home School Families Need Vision: 3 Reasons Why but how we can pass it on to our children at The Way We Home School. Susan Gaissert in writing Why We Need to Ask ?Why?? at The Expanding Life reminds us why inquiring minds really do want to know.

Alasandra thinks Anti-Science Fundamentalist Fruitcakes give homeschoolers a bad rap on Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards. We’ve probably all gotten to the end of our rope at some point.

 Christina Strickland wrote Homeschool Burnout: Now What? at the LessonPathways.com blog to encourage us.

Homeschool graduate Natalie Wickham points out 3 Characteristics of a Person of Influence at Pajama School that should serve as a model for our children – and ourselves.

 Pamela Jorrick interviewed veteran homeschoolers in Following Their Own Path and came away impressed. Posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

Renae presents a great Introduction to Biblical Poetry at Life Nurturing Education. It’ll make you think!

Michelle Miller at TruthQuest History submits an audio entry on the way mothers unwittingly block the role of fathers in homeschooling … making it Mission Impossible.  

Love to See Our Children Taking Their Place in Adult Society

We have always loved to mark special events in our children’s lives. Avivah at OCEANS OF JOY is not only Making Graduation Plans, but explains why.

 25 Essential Open Courseware Classes to Learn About Health Administration by Wendy Blue tells us how open courseware can let our children test drive a field of study at Masters in Health Administration.

Harold Gelien encourages us to check out Do Yale, Harvard Or Other Ivy League Schools Offer Online Courses / Degrees? and mrs laughton presents How To Use Facebook: Facebook 101  at  How To E-D-U.

 Alan Crosby presents 7 Essential Free Web Apps for Career Management posted at Online Career Schools.

Camille Hensley presents What’s a College Degree Actually Worth? 20 Good Answers. posted at College Stats.org.

Love to Learn

Kim Kautzer of WriteShop, talks about  Helping kids find an audience for their writing at In Our Write Minds.

Heather L presents EASY Visual Exercises for home! posted at Special Needs Homeschooling, saying, “Here is a get pre-reading exercise or visual therapy excerise. Fun and easy to right at home!”  

MrsMamaHen shares in pictures just how excited her daughter was to be doing her first biology dissection in “Biology: The Worm.”

 Lara DeHaven develops her own Natural Approach to Biology in high school at Texas Homesteader.

Devildogwife knows we ask ourselves Are We on Track? at Marine Corps Nomads and helps us to know we are.

NerdMom answers a new homeschooler’s question in Starting to Homeschool: Academics posted at Nerd Family.

Wondering what the other moms are doing? ChristineMM presents Homeschool Curriculum List for My Fourth Grader 2009 to 2010 at The Thinking Mother.

Tom DeRosa in Pentago Board Game Spins Me Round (Like a Record) at I Want to Teach Forever tells us about “a great family board game that promotes higher order thinking.”

Dana Wilson at Epi Kardia Home Education teaches us about graphic organizers to make learning more interesting in Make a Lapbook!

 Stop feeling guilty and get outside! Check out the getting started guide by Tonya called  Nature Study: At Home and on the Road at Live the Adventure.

Helping the Dysgraphic Child Succeed by Betty Eisenhour has some great ideas for dealing with what has been one of the most difficult things in our homeschool adventure at Peace Creek on the Prairie.  

Love to Laugh, Because Sometimes It’s All You Can Do

Henry Cate has a hilarious plan in his Looking for idea for a “socialization” video at Why Homeschool. Let’s give him some more ideas!

Have you ever been Threatened While Homeschooling? Barbara Frank keeps her sense of humor while having “just another day homeschooling a teen with Down syndrome.”

Dana shares her angst and finally comes to a point of peace (and laughter) in This is NOT a homeschool room. I don’t WANT a homeschool room. posted at Roscommon Acres.

 hall monitor presents ‘Joke’ letter from principal sent to parents posted at DetentionSlip.org, saying, “I guess public schools have a different sense of humor!”  Watch out for that SEND button, sir.

Brenda Sain sweetly expresses the ubiquitousness of Dirty Little Feet at The Tie That Binds Us.  

Love to Save Money

NerdMom clues us into an Awesome Book Sale from Scholastic on her Making Money, Keeping Money blog.

Mrs. White reflects on How the Old Time Mothers Survived Poverty at The Legacy of Home.  

And, Love Our Families

A chapter of Raising Real Men deals with risk-taking and adventure in boys, so we were glad to see some really interesting posts on that topic: Rachel Lynette recommends Allowing Children to Take Risks at Minds in Bloom and Tiana Krenz points out the very real differences in Over-Protected, Under-Sheltered at God Made, Home Grown.

Teaching our children to stand on their own feet often means giving them the space to do so. Our Kid’s Pursuits Are Their Own posted by Laura Grace Weldon tells us that keeping children’s motivation alive has a lot to do with letting their interests be their own.

Michelle Dennis Evans and her daughters enjoy The Lady Beetle posted at Michelle Dennis Evans.  

Karen DeBeus started her day right in Walking in Truth at Beautiful Feet Bring Good News.  

Kerry Fletcher suggests a fun activity in How to make a candy topiary posted at Examine, but I’d buy a good bit of extra candy if I were you, so you don’t end up with a half-naked tree!

 And sadly, Katherine Collins of No Fighting, No Biting submitted a post, but the Carnival widget ate it here at midnight. Katherine, let me know what it is and I’ll fix it! 

And finally, a contest for everyone: Beverly Hernandez tells us about the Homeschool friendly 2010 Doodle 4 Google Contest on Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog (About.com)  

That concludes this Valentine’s edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homeschooling using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports on a survey that found high school boys tend to have unrealistic career expectations:

University of Alaska Fairbanks psychology professor Judith Kleinfeld’s study, “No Map to Manhood,” showed boys were less likely to have college plans, and often had goals for long-shot careers like video game designers or movie directors. She said many thought they would land a high-paying career out of college and didn’t realize how difficult it was to get a good job.

“They had the craziest ideas about the labor market. … They were just kind of drifting,” she said. …

What an argument for giving our sons serious exposure to the adult world long before they graduate!

Hey guys, we’re on The Norm Jones Show on WTCM in Traverse City, MI at 11am EST today on 580AM. Tune in if you’re in the area!

Tune in to WOOD at 1300AM for Mouth to Mouth with Scott & Michelle in Grand Rapids, MI at 10am this morning to hear Hal & Melanie. See you there (well, hear you!).

Join us this morning on KCRS 550AM with Robert Hallmark and Kurt Verlei on The Morning Drive at 8:35am. Get streaming audio.

This morning, Hal and Melanie are special guests on”WSAU Feedback” With Pat Snyder on 550AM in Wausau, Wisconsin from 10-11 am CST.  Tune in if you can! WSAU

This morning Hal and Melanie are on “KSAL Morning News” with Rich Alexander and Jeff Garretson in Salina, Kansas on 1150AM at 8:10 am (CST). Tune in if you’re in the area or click “on air” and listen online at: KSAL.

Hal and Melanie will be on “The Matter at Hand” on WGRC-FM in central Pennsylvania, today at 11 a.m. Eastern.

You can catch the program online here!

We’ll be on The Tom Roten Show just after 8:00 am EST today! Find us on WVHU AM800 in Huntington, WV.

A few years ago,  I wrote an editorial piece on things homeschoolers didn’t do well.  We’ve all heard about stunning victories by homeschooled students in the National Geography Bee, the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, science fairs, essay contests, and goodness, even the Heisman Trophy.  Isn’t there anything homeschoolers find challenging? some might ask.

Well, there are a few things.  One I’ve heard from college instructors is that homeschoolers, for all their great academics and real-life socialization, don’t have very good handwriting as a rule.  To be fair, I’ve also heard that nobody seems to have good handwriting any more.  We’re so tuned in to our laptops, even for taking notes in class, that we let penmanship slide.  I admit that my own handwriting changed a few years ago when I got a Palm PDA and had to use the Graffiti alphabet for input!

Penmanship can be a particular challenge for boys. We usually teach children to write at a time that boys find it much easier to use big muscle groups than small. The struggle they face in the early years sometimes colors the whole subject for them and they never learn to enjoy writing by hand. Boys love to do things for a reason – a real world reason, not just for an assignment. You can take that trait and make things like handwriting more amenable to them. Some boys learn to have attractive handwriting by learning calligraphy – perhaps you can encourage him to make a scroll proclaiming his knighthood or a dispatch to give the King news of the battle he just won.

Today’s celebration freebie is hosted by Bogart Family Resources!

The Bogart Family have graciously offered to share something that may help us teach our sons handwriting! Their Copying the Hymns series provides handwriting practice that encourages reflection on hymns of the faith. What a great idea! My boys always think the sentences for handwriting in our penmanship books are lame… this is so much better! They are giving us Copying the Hymns: All Things Bright and Beautiful – Traditional ZB Style Cursive, Level 1 as a free gift! But, what about the children who aren’t ready for cursive? If you sign up for their newsletter, you can get the Manuscript book free, too!! This is a lovely giveaway, folks! Grab ‘em up!

Download your free copy of Copying the Hymns: All Things Bright and Beautiful here!

Today’s contest is sponsored by Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness!

Hal and I have always been planners. We like to think things through; to know where we’re going. One of our New Year’s traditions is to spend time as a family reviewing all God’s workings in our lives over the past year and then look forward to the year to come and make plans. Now, don’t get me wrong! Quite often, the Lord completely changes our plans! What is most important is to know why you are planning, to clearly have a mission and goals in mind for your family.

Phyllis Sather of Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness has graciously offered us THREE copies of her Purposeful Planning eBook bundles (that’s the ebook, the handbook ebook and the mp3s!) to giveaway – a $17.95 value! This set sounds like just what you need to start planning together as a family. Here’s what her website says about it:

Do you need a plan to keep your family moving in the direction the Lord is leading you? Perhaps you don’t know where the Lord is leading you. Phyllis takes you step-by-step through the process of planning a time together for your family to help determine the path the Lord is choosing for each area of your life. Her family has followed this format for over 12 years and has found that it provides the compass they’ve needed to plan and stay on course.

A winner will be chosen from those who comment on this post. I’d love to hear how you heard about Raising Real Men and if you have read the book yet or plan to. You’ll get another entry for every time you post about the celebration or Raising Real Men on the web linking back here: on your blog, forum, email loop, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, a review on Amazon, anywhere! Just tell us so we can count them! Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Another winner will be chosen from our newsletter list and the third from our Facebook fans!  Sign up on the right sidebar …