(As always, please get permission to view if you are not an adult)

In case the video and article disappear, here is an excerpt from the news article, which you will find here: Girl Suspended for Taping Chaos in Classroom

“”People smoking marijuana in the classroom. They smoke cigarettes.” Arielle said. “There was one kid who peed in a bottle and threw it across the room.”"

Other accusations about the teacher/classroom unruliness made by her and other students are:

flipping lights to make a strobe light effect,
paper ball fights,
dancing,
and more, all with the teacher sitting in the back of the classroom watching.

Oh, and the clincher is that the girl who taped it on her cell phone was also suspended for video-taping without permission. She did it because it had already been reported, and she wanted to learn math.

Un-huh… no accountability there…

Reminds me of the time Amanda was home schooling “high school” and told me she never wanted to go to public school after looking through a friend’s Yearbook.

blessings and happy home schooling!

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HT: Israel Wayne and Kris@Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, via Twitter.

Her Pre View chats have been going on since June, but the big weekend is coming up! I am currently reviewing some In the Hands of A Child Project Packs for The Old Schoolhouse, and I am very interested in what Katie Kubesh has to say, so that will be fun.

There are two ways to attend: She wants everyone to be able to participate in this seminar. If you want to try out the seminars, this is the perfect opportunity. You can join live with a complimentary ticket to join the live audience OR you can order a ticket to access the event AND their complete Membership Site.

SO! You can sign up for FREE–you can join the live audience and receive many free doorprizes throughout the weekend. OR:

You can sign up and get MORE:

• Free gifts!
• Free bonus audios to help you get started on the right track!
• Doorprizes and Gifts ALL WEEKEND!
• Membership to our Membership Site–With lots of FREE articles, FREE Mp3 download audios (some are ready right now!), free printable planning pages, and wonderful savings from the speakers!

After the seminar, the audios from the weekend will be edited and loaded into an exclusive Membership Page that includes everything you need to get your school year off to a great start!

So, you can either join them for free and participate in the seminars or you can sign-up for the seminar and have access to many additional bonuses.  I am happy that I will be able to download all of the seminars by Mp3 after the event.

Here is a partial schedule of her seminar. If you would like to see a full schedule and all the freebies and extras you will receive for your $29.95, you can see it at her Back To School Blast page.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

8PM CST–
How to Plan and Implement Lapbooks!
Katie Kubesh from http://www.HandsofaChild.com

Friday, August 8, 2008

9AM CST–
M2S: Making the Connection Between Our
Sunday Faith and Our Everyday Life!
Kathy Butryn from Http://www.KathyButryn.com

11AM CST–
Relax!
Molly Randolph from http://www.HomeschoolwithIndexCards.com

3PM CST–
Overwhelmed? How to Simplify Home Education
Maridel Willer from Http://www.MaridelWiller.com

Saturday, August 9, 2008

9AM CST–
What Your Children Will Really NEED
Matthew Rushton from http://www.MatthewRushton.com

1PM CST–
Using Great Books to Teach and Inspire
Maridel Willer from Http://www.MaridelWiller.com

3PM CST–
Tearing Down the Walls in Your Homeschool
Cindy Rushton from Http://www.CindyRushton.com

I am also excited that she has an Affiliate Program. Another DUH to me. I am still using Amanda’s laptop, so I haven’t been able to do the extra’s, like sign up for her program, but I plan to very soon!

On another note, I am so very pleased to join Dawn and Heather this afternoon for their Stress-Buster chat at the HOTM Conference. And, I get to hear Robin Sampson tonight too!! I think I could really get into this whole online seminar thing. Won’t you join me at the Back To School Blast??

blessings!

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First of all, MOMYS is an acronym for Mothers Of Many Young Siblings. From the site: “If you have, have had, or hope to have, four or more children under eight years old, this is the place for you. The purpose of MOMYS is to provide support and encouragement for women who have many small children, to the glory of God, and membership is restricted to those who fit this description.“

I have received a warm welcome by the ladies there, and even though I really don’t have a lot of time to peruse and participate in message boards, I did come across a great topic for homeschoolers. It was a set of questions for moms to answer. If you decide these are great questions and post yours on your blog, leave me a link!

How do you teach school with toddlers?
We include them. They listen to the stories most of the time, sitting in a lap. If they want to, I will let them play with their legos or color.
If they are especially antsy, I will just take a break and cook something with them or go outside or go for a walk… something to change the scenery.

How do you get 4 or more out the door on time?
I don’t know that we get them out the door on time… I have learned that if we need to be somewhere at a certain time, that I have to plan to leave 30m before then, and then we might leave on time to get there. Being organized and having everything where you don’t have to search for it always helps to leave without problems.

What are your favorite curriculums?
We start out with A Beka for arithmetic and language for the 7-9yo. Then, for math we use Saxon. For grammar and literature, we use Simply Grammar and reading whole books and watching movies and documentaries. Our children love to read. They read a lot!
Right now, our method for teaching writing is Blogging to Learn. My oldest children have blogs, write for an online magazine, and manage various websites. They are assigned topics to write about, and they also write journal posts about life, as well as oratory on researched and Biblical topics. I correct grammar with my children and teach them as we correct it.
I like the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, as it uses different homeschool methods and can be made to fit into how you personally teach. It is a Bible-first method, using the Word of God and implementing the way Jesus taught into the learning/thinking process. The Bible is by far the firt and foremost important curriculum manual in a homeschool. By it, all answers are given and all lessons can truly touch the heart.
History in this house is live. We read, write, watch and live history. Science is something that is hit and miss. We study creation science and use various books to learn the different aspects. Keeping a Nature Journal and allowing the children to sketch rather than a hard-line drawing is something I have learned is very important. For the older children (biology and such), we have used Apologia and BJUP

Which work best with a large family?
We use what I call Living Learning Moments. Life works best with a large family. We live on a small hobby farm with goats and chickens. We did have horses, but recently sold them. When our daughter asked if she could get a couple of goats (we had no animals then), we thought it was a strange request, but we let her. It was the best decision we could have made. We have learned so many things it is unbelievable. We even had goat kids and dealt with complications of the kidding. Our children have responsibilities now that they live with and learn through daily.
We read the Bible and put it into our days. Anything that comes up, whether it is a material lesson or a spiritual or thought issue, it is a lesson, and we take time for it.

What to do with several preschoolers?
We have older children, so it is different for us now. It has been 13 years since I had 3 preschoolers and no older children and 8 years since I had 5 ten and under.
I would say have fun. Teach them responsibility that is fit for their age. They can fold laundry and put away dishes and toys as Littles. They love to pour chocolate chips into the cookie dough mix, stir it, and test them when they come out. “Preschool time”. What is that exactly?? If they are children and breathing, they need to learn life and responsibility. The cool thing is that at this time, life and responsibility are FUN!

What is MOTH, anyways?
I have read about MOTH and researched it online. I have always hesitated to spend the money, because, I always have to pick and choose what to use in a planning system, so I have my own system I make up combining any useful information I have found or learned.

What works best for you, workbooks or unit studies?
We use a mix of both. It really depends on the learning style of the child. Unit Studies works well with any age and any child, but sometimes certain ones are fitted well to work out of workbooks. We use both and other methods as well.

You can read more about our homeschool and how we do it in the upcoming Summer Issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I can’t wait!

blessings!

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]]> http://jacquedixon.com/?feed=rss2&p=265 2 http://jacquedixon.com/?p=172 http://jacquedixon.com/?p=172#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 18:00:10 +0000 Jacque http://dixonhomestead.com/Jacque/?p=172 While you are lifting up Prayers For Me, please remember to pray for children who are emotionally bullied or abused by the very people put in authority over them to care for them for upwards of eight hours a day: Their teachers. And in some cases, I use that word loosely. I do not want to debate the issue of parents Keeping Them Home Where They Belong. I am talking about the sweet little children. Or the sometimes monstrous little children, but children all the same!

Like this case:

(some of these links may contain other offensive links I wouldn’t normally link to, so beware.)

St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class

PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son’s kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class. By a 14 to 2 margin, the class voted him out of the class.

Wendy Portillo, a teacher in Port St. Lucie, FL, decided to let her kindergarten class “vote out” a fellow student. Alex, age 5, is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Alex was forced to stand in front of his class while each classmate said what they disliked about him (including “disgusting” and “annoying”). After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn’t like about Barton’s 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

He lost by a vote of 14 to 2 and left the classroom.

The state attorney’s office has concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no charges will be filed. The matter is now in the hands of the Port St. Lucie school district and the Florida Department of Children and Families.

And she kicked him out. He is a five year old. A five year old. And the other children were made to believe it is ok to treat someone so cruelly. Great lesson teach! In addition to that, Alex has Asperger’s. He has had some behaviour/discipline issues because of this. The teacher knew this, but I personally don’t think Asperger’s should be a consideration. You do not treat a child that way, whether they have Asperger’s or not, whether you are the parent, the teacher, or whatever. It is using your authority in a way to shame a child and lord over him. It is immature, self-serving and hateful. Period.

For all of the clamoring by government teachers and parents about homeschoolers who blog about the horrible things that happen to children in the system, do you think the system will do the right thing and fire her and bring charges against her?

How about make her sit in a kindergarten class for the entire year until she grows up and starts acting her age and maturity?

I am really tired of hearing that the courts conclude this and that, turning a blind eye to crimes committed against children. It is despicable. And, if I were a parent of one of the 13 or 14 other students who voted him out, I would be very upset too. You need to re-teach your child in this area.

And, KUDOS to the 2 children who were on the right side of the voting(and their parents)!

St. Lucie scoop: interview with Alex’s mom

Watch the interview of Alex and his mother on the CBS Early Show.

Posted by Tanna Cota

PLEASE look into this…its from www.mommylife.net
Alex is special! – card campaign for kicked-out kindergartner

Alex Barton’s mom says that since the day his kindergarten teacher encouraged his classmates to say everything they didn’t like about Alex and then had them vote to kick him out of their class she has heard him repeating over and over “I’m not special.”
Two of my readers have suggested that we mount a campaign to have our children make cards for Alex to tell him he is indeed a special person.

Let’s show Alex we care.
To protect Melissa Barton’s privacy, and since my address is public – please send all cards to

Alex is Special
c/o Barbara Curtis
15648 Britenbush Ct.
Waterford, VA 20197
I will gather them, notify the media, then put them all in a box and send them to his mom.
Does anyone want to make a button?
Love,
Barbara

Of course, you know that I think Alex needs Mommy and Daddy. At home. My friend, Christina homeschools her 5 children, 2 of whom have Asperger’s or a form of it. It is not only possible, it is preferable for your babies!

blessings!

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During Teacher Appreciation Week at Learning A-Z.com

Get Books, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, and Other Activities
We all owe much of our success in life to teachers everywhere. We at Learning A–Z want to thank educators the best way we know how—by opening up access to our websites. Last year during Teacher Appreciation Week, we held an Open House that provided FREE access to ALL of our educational websites. Response was so overwhelming that we are going to do it again, and for even longer!

Explore Six Websites Bursting with Materials
Each day during this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5–9, plus May 12, Learning A–Z will open one of its six password-protected websites. This will allow teachers to leisurely explore all of Learning A–Z’s resources, including our newest website for differentiated instruction, Science A–Z.

We invite teachers everywhere to sample the Internet-delivered books, lessons, activities, and worksheets—for FREE.

Enjoy Six Days of FREE Access
The websites will be open on the days indicated below, from midnight to midnight Central time.

Scroll down to the Teacher Appreciation information to sign up for the websites.

May 5
		Thousands of printable books, including leveled readers and supporting materials
May 6
		Interactive leveled reading library and online progress management system
May 7
		The most complete collection of elementary writing resources anywhere
May 8
		Custom vocabulary lessons and activities to match thousands of topics
May 9
		Skill-specific materials for students needing extra reading help
May 12
		Science units with multi-level books, lessons, experiments, and labs

blessings~

HT: Denise