I’ve tried a couple different blogging services and now have a better idea of what I like and what I don’t, so I’m getting ready to move the Freehold to a hosted domain. The thing is, I haven’t yet found a blogging software or CMS that seems to be a perfect fit. I like WordPress in general, and I’d really like to stick with it because it’s familiar and would (I hope) allow me to move the Freehold pretty seamlessly. I also saw a really pretty template that I’d love to use (can’t use it here, because it’s for a self-hosted blog…)

But there are a couple sniggly little details about WordPress that bug me - like the fact that it tends to rewrite my HTML behind my back, and sometimes I have to fiddle with something for quite some time to get it to display correctly. And WordPress eats Javascript. It just swallows it up into the void, and you can’t find it again. It’s for safety reasons, and on their server it’s understandable. But does it do that when you have your own server?

I’m interested in hearing from readers who have experience with other blog software or CMS like Drupal, Geeklog, Siteframe. Does the software respect your code? Can you add Javascript to your pages? Will I need to become an IT specialist before I can use the interface?

I look forward to hearing from you!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

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I just came upon this review about a homeschool curriculum that offers free core courses from K-12. The program is Christian, and makes use of a variety of different materials including textbooks and workbooks, audio, video, offline activities and access to a teacher. Elective courses do involve a fee, and the free courses are financed by asking parents to take part in surveys and product reviews.

It’s an interesting option, especially if you are a person who likes to do surveys and reviews! More information can be had at Notes from a Homeschooling Mom. Check it out!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

I meant to get this posted last night, but life got in the way!

Profiling Home Educators Monday, March 31

Describe yourself, your family or one of your children. What is it like to be home educated in your family? What is “normal” for you?

I think I’d like to tell you today about my oldest daughter. She began public school as a model student, generally at the head of her class and very well loved by her teachers. We had always encouraged her to be polite, to express herself, to use her creative energies. She was also very affectionate in comparison with her peers, and spontaneous.

By the end of four years in public school she was struggling in math. In language arts she was backsliding. She was learning nothing from her French lessons, and dreaded the thought of having to speak French to someone in the street. Probably worst of all was that although she loved literature and enjoyed reading books, she still hadn’t really progressed beyond the stage of reading picture books at the end of third grade.

After almost a year of homeschooling she’s learned history & geography that mean something to her. She connects the events of the past with her ancestors and she’s learning about places they lived, places nearby, finding her own place in the world. She reads all the time, 400-page novels as well as the occasional Robert Munsch offering. Her spelling has improved some; she’s even participated in the CanWest Spelling Bee.

We don’t so much sit down and “do” school. We’ve taught our girls that they are always learning. So yes, we do sit at the table to do math or penmanship. But we also learn when we’re cleaning the house or doing the groceries or playing in the park. This week she’s beginning an online course that will teach her to use Paint Shop Pro. In the process she’ll also learn a little bit about making a web page. She’s also doing some of her language studies using an interactive course online. We’ve asked her to work on French, but she’s decided she wants to do Spanish, Japanese and Chinese as well. I was a little concerned that she was taking on too much, but last week at the grocery store she asked to use the bathroom in French. She was very proud of herself too!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks! Would you like to read about other homeschooling families? Visit Principled Discovery - and feel free to share your experiences too!

The April Fool’s Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Why Homeschool. Henry Cate offers a roundup of information on - what else could be more appropriate today - the history of April Fool’s Day. If you enjoy pranks you can read a few of those too. And of course, as usual there are dozens of wonderful posts from folks who write about homeschooling. One that caught my eye was a post to help parents cope with subtraction of mixed numbers.

Also please remember if you haven’t voted for the carnival logo you can do so here and here (you can vote at both places, as there are two image sizes with different choices.)

Next week we’ll be at A Pondering Heart. See you there!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!

We are heading towards the end of our first year of homeschooling, and I’ve learned a lot. About my priorities, about the teaching style and schedule that works best for our family, about where to find the materials we need.

I know some of my readers are fairly new homeschoolers as well, although a few of you are veterans with a bit of experience under their belts. We live in different places, and in all likelihood we have quite different interests and needs when it comes to home-based education. So what I’d like to hear from you is this: as we get closer to the end of the school year what is foremost in your thoughts?

Are you just glad to be finishing up another year, and ready to take a bit of a summer break?

Are you preparing for next year already?

Are you scrambling to finish up your planned curriculum because you took too many rabbit trails this year? Or trying to tidy up official paperwork you need to submit in order to meet government requirements?

With these things in mind is there anything that you feel you need right now that you haven’t been able to access? Any worries or regrets? Or maybe you’re very pleased with the progress your family has made this year.

No matter what’s on your mind I’d love to hear from you!

This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.

Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!