Thursday, September 28, 2006

So This Would Be the 'Socialization' We've Heard So Much About

Pop quiz, boys and girls! Question: How many reasons for homeschooling can you find in this article? Besides the one that's the subject of the article, of course.

Hints:

"The T-shirts ... are posing dress-code dilemmas on Washington area campuses."

"sexually suggestive T-shirts often fall into a gray area that requires officials to evaluate one shirt at a time"

" 'I know she's a sweet girl, and I know that she's very conservative and is not sexually active," Ajanaku [girl's mother] said. "Other people would probably get the wrong message, but I am pretty much like, 'Who cares what they think?'" (A two-fer!)

"And she said: 'I don't know. My dad knows that I have it,'" he recalled. "So I called the dad, and, of course, he had no idea."

"Rosa Pulley tried to order her daughter Keana ... to return a T-shirt that says, "yes, but not with u!" But Keana insisted."

"But if they're not single, it'd kind of [tick] me off, like they're a tease. I wouldn't let my girlfriend wear that." (Another two-fer.)

A few more sprinkled throughout.

Now don't think I'm a controlling monster. I even let Offspring #1 wear her fish pants (in eye-searing combination with pink high-tops) nearly every day (they do get washed...); because I, too, believe in picking my battles.

I'm just not under the impression that a wholescale invasion of the shire by orcs, which I've left myself utterly unable to defend against, constitutes a judicious choice of strategic surrender.
Co-ops and Baby Vomit

I've been planning a nice long post on co-ops, and now that Spunky has one up, this would seem to be the time, especially after a long blogging hiatus. But Offspring #2 has been feverish and throwing up all night for two nights now (why only at night?) and the coffee doesn't seem to be holding back the brainfog anymore. So if you have any thoughts on co-oping, post 'em here and I'll incorporate when I start functioning again.

I'm interested also in non-hs'ers views on co-ops (Yahm? Did I get your attention with the vomit reference?). A co-op, for the non-initiated, is when a hs'ing parent (or parents) teach a certain subject to a group of hs'ing children. One phenomenon that interests me is that non-hs'ers worried about academics think they're a great idea; while hs'ers worried about academics are often quite skeptical of them.

Thoughts, please.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The Jesuitical Curriculum

Amy Welborn provides a link to an interesting article on traditional Jesuit education.

A Jesuit education culminated, ideally, in the higher study of philosophy, science and theology, but students (all boys) had to pass through a series of graded lower classes in literature and rhetoric. Well into the 18th century this lower curriculum prescribed the study of the ancient languages, the reading of the pagan classics and, above all, the active production of elegant and effective Latin verse and prose.
Not dissimilar to our goals for the Offspringen, though with perhaps less emphasis on Latin composition.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Quote of the Month (Runner Up)

"We lied throughout the past one and a half or two years. We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening and also at night."

-Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, experiencing a moment of unusual political candor

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Quote of the Month

"It draws people's attention from the pool. You kind of take a double take, triple take, then you sink to the bottom of the pool."

-Kerry Urbanowicz, Parks Director for the City of Kyle*, explaining why poolside breastfeeding constitutes a safety hazard, necessitating the expulsion of Michelle Hickey, nursing mother and neonatal intensive care nurse.

*For those of you round here who thought it was just the prudish folks up in Round Rock who fainted at the sight of a nursing mother.

Friday, September 15, 2006

German Homeschooler Arrested

The German attitude toward homeschoolers appears to have been hardening over the last few years, and Kreuz.net reports that a homeschooling mom was just arrested for not enrolling her children in the state school. There's been some coverage of this, but no straight translations of the article yet. So here it is, courtesy of a homeschooling mom (thanks, S.) who's a native German speaker.

The lost honor of Katharina P

On Thursday Sept 7 2006 at 11 o’clock, the police picked up Mrs Katharina P. at her front door.

A policewoman in civilian clothes stood at the door as Katharina P. opened it, and called her colleagues.

They and their car had been hidden until then.

She was allowed to change her clothes, but the policewoman came with her to her room despite her protests. The reason given was “Suddenly you will arm yourself and shoot us all.”

Katharina P. had given twelve children life, and is a deeply religious Christian. She could notify her husband by cell phone.

First, one took Katharina P. to Bielefeld.

The next morning, she was taken by prisoner transport to the penal institution in Gelsenkirchen.

Her husband was informed and was also told that his wife would be held for ten days.

On Sept. 9, I heard of the situation and immediately called the Gelsenkirchen Penal Institution --a prisoner- and work-institution under German law -- in order to confirm that Mrs. Katharina P. was being held there.

The officer on duty referred to confidentiality laws that prevented him from giving any information.

Even my reminder that it was simply a pre-publication verification of a situation did not motivate him to say anything or even to give his name.

A subsequent written request for a statement has remained unanswered.

The background of the arrest and detention of Katharina P. is her refusal to enroll her children in the state school. For the same reason, her husband had already been arrested.

Ironic in this context is that Katharina P. as well as her husband and other families in Paderborn are trying to found a school in their hometown, whose license has been held up by the agencies.

Mr. Muller from the Paderborn state government had already previously been inaccessible regarding this situation and has not responded to letters regarding the unsure legality and his questionable legal interpretation. In the magazine Spiegel he had already been represented as a stirrer-upper.

The husband of Mrs. Katharina P. fled yesterday with his children, as was done earlier by the R. family from Hamburg, to Austria. Various organizations as well as private people are working for an early release of Katharina P. A friend is asking for letters of support. Her husband will return to Germany to pick her up. Until then he will care for their children and help in the building of a Christian holiday resort at the Wolfgangsee.


Commentary and background at Spunky Homeschool.