Apples of Gold Home School News

Guest poster Kristina Seleshanko offers these doable tips for avoiding library late fees. Her blog Proverbs 31 Woman offers tips and advice pertaining to homemaking, child-rearing, gardening and a host of other helpful topics. Visit her at http://proverbsthirtyonewoman.blogspot.com/

Getting Library Books In On Time by Kristina Seleshanko

     I've seen a rash of posts on other blogs about the woes of overdue book fees. Personally, this has never been a problem for me - unless I check out DVDs, which I can never seem to get back in the 3 days they are due. In such cases, I've always considered my late fee a mini-donation to the library.

     However, there's something to be said for teaching children responsibility with library books, and surely part of this is getting books back on time.

Here are some ideas:

     * Designate one day a week as "library day." If you have young children, make this the same day as library story time.

     * Limit the number of books each person may check out. A little trial and error will tell you how many books your kids can go through in a week's time. If they have to ask for book renewals, then cut back on how many books they're checking out.

     * If possible, let you children have their own library card. At my library, we can just give our phone number and name and the librarian does the rest. My 5 year old is at the age when she needs to know our phone number, anyway, so soon she'll be able to check out her own books.

     * As soon as you bring library books home, put them in their special place. For us, this is a basket in the living room, beside the couch where we usually read. In your home, it could be a special shelf. The idea is simply to have a location where the library books always go when they aren't being read. That way, you'll never have to turn the house upside down looking for a lost library book.

     * If there's any reason you might miss a regularly scheduled library visit (a vacation, a hectic week, etc.), write the books' due date on the calendar to help you remember to drop them off.

     * If you like technical gadgets, try Elf, a service that sends email alerts before your books are due. The service is free for up to 6 notifications.

     * Allow even small children to return their own library books, and teach them to tell the librarian if a book needs repair.

     * If a book ends up overdue, anyway, the child who checked it out is responsible. That child may either pay the overdue fee from her piggy bank or work off the fee by doing special chores. Next time the child is far more likely to make sure her book gets back to the library on time.

Guest article by

By Jon Rappoport

Author of the LOGIC AND ANALYSIS course for home schools

qjrconsulting@gmail.com

   Most schools don’t teach logic because they don’t know what it is. They may have some vague idea about it, but basically they’re in the dark.

   Logic was first written about, in the West, 2400 years ago. Plato and Aristotle were its fathers. It’s a magnificent legacy of Western Civilization.

Today, as the public school system is crumbling, we are in the age of information. In other words, when we need logic the most—because information is an unending flood that attempts to persuade and sway us—we’re missing vital tools.

   Logic is a compass. It’s a system for navigating. We can use it to separate good information from bad.

   Articles in the press, books, public-relations pronouncements, network news, political speech, scientific claims, internet journalism—it’s a huge stream that keeps on going. And at the root, it’s an attempt to argue for certain ideas and positions.

   Information is a “battle” waged for our minds, and the minds of our children.

Do we want to outfit the young so they can have a way to judge and evaluate information, or do we want to abandon them and let them drift on the open sea?

In my 30 years as a free-lance journalist, I’ve seen “the permissive society” take the latter course.

   It’s one thing to gift children with the heritage of freedom; it’s quite another thing to fail to give them the tools to be strong, rational, capable people.

As an investigative reporter, I’ve had to dig into intentional efforts to deceive the American people—in science, in politics, and in education. I’ve been able to do it because, many years ago, I studied logic with a wonderful college professor. He taught his classes how to separate the wheat from the chaff. He drilled us on the basic rules of logic.

   Every high school student should be able to read an article and find the logical flaws in it.

   Every student should be able to describe those flaws in detail.

   Every student should be able to articulate the overall point the article is trying to make—and analyze whether the point is justified or not.

   This is strength. This is power. This is independence.

The Founders of this country didn’t risk their lives to establish a nation based on freedom of the individual, only to see it go down the drain because children are denied the tools to gain true independence.

   As I say, logic is a magnificent legacy of Western civilization. Our schools are casting that legacy aside without a second thought.

   If you were to read some of the vital American political debates that occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries—for example, the Lincoln-Douglas debates—you would see that these politicians were expecting their audiences to follow a logical train of thought.

   Logic used to be taught in American schools. It was an important part of the curriculum. Not so, anymore. Now, we rely on slogans and social engineering and “group-think.”

   We need to reverse this trend. The place to do it is in home schools.

   I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the response to my series of articles on home-schooling and logic. Parents keep contacting me to say they’ve been waiting for a real course on logic and analysis. They’ve been hoping for material that would engage their children in a real way, so these children would be able to face up to the flood of non-stop information coming in their direction.

   Why all this interest? It’s because many home schoolers want to escape the herd mentality that has become more and more prevalent in our society.

Here is a quote from a note a parent sent me:

   “I want my son and daughter to be able to think for themselves, instead of going along with the group. However, I don’t want them to become mindless rebels. They should be able to stand strong and take a rational approach to the PR and propaganda that is being doled out 24/7 in the media and on the internet. Simple rote learning in the classroom is important, but it’s not enough.”

   I have looked at passages of text that are used in public schools, to educate students in so-called “critical thinking.” What I’ve found is very sad. These passages are sanitized. They are carefully tailored to be politically correct, for fear of offending some group or special interest. In no way do they resemble information that’s found in the real world.

   Way back when, in high school, I had a history teacher who presented us with passages written by various socialists. He said, “The only way you’re going to understand socialism is by reading its ideas. I’m going to give you that opportunity, and then I’m going to demand that you analyze those ideas to within an inch of your life. I’m going to make you think. I’m not going to shield you from that philosophy or protect you from it. If I did that, I’d be shortchanging you and your parents, who are paying for your education.”

   And we read passages written by socialists, and by the time the teacher was through with us, we understood a great deal about that philosophy. We understood the hidden ideas in it. We could write about the kind of perverse society that would take over if socialists won the war of ideas.

   It was a very bracing experience, and it was my introduction to logic. That teacher knew logic. He showed us a list of traditional logical fallacies, and he made us compare that list to what socialists were enunciating. We saw how socialists were manipulating and twisting logic to secure their goals.

   It was my first glimpse of the power inherent in real logical analysis, and when I went on to college and studied logic on a deeper level, I gained even more ability to take information apart and put it back together again.

   This year, when I wrote my own logic course for home schools, I decided to include passages of text that approximated the material a young student would find on the internet, on television news, in newspaper articles and political press releases.

   I rejected the idea of presenting a fantasy world to the student.

   Logic and the founding of America have a great deal in common. They both prepare a young person for adulthood in a free and open society. Today that society is sinking further into passive collectivism and group-think. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that we give children tools they can use to dismantle and dissect false information—with strength, insight, and sharp minds.

     Jon Rappoport has been working as an investigative reporter for 30 years. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize early in his career, he has published articles in LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, CBS Healthwatch, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. He is the author of Logic and Analysis, a new course for home schools. His work can be found at www.nomorefakenews.com Jon can be reached at qjrconsulting@gmail.com

     Every now and then I like to share a resource that I have found inspirational for child rearing, particularly for the teen years when nurturing takes on different, sometimes overwhelming dimensions. I discovered You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be to be one of those resources. It’s a little book by Max Lucado that can be read straight through in about an hour, or, as it’s divided into about a half dozen sections, and further into about 29 tiny chapters, it also makes a good book for reading in tidbits each day.

     I’m recommending the book on three levels: first, as worthwhile reading for parents guiding growing teens into discovering what God has designed them to do best; second, as a devotional for teens and young adults to help them become confident in who God made them to be, and to discover how He really wants them to use their gifts and talents; and third, as a gift book for a graduate or someone who might be uncertain about where the future is leading them.

     The point of the book is that we can discover what it is God really wants us to do with our lives. It explains that we’re to see “desires as gifts to heed, rather than longings to suppress…” Through Bible stories and life-illustrations Lucado explains the freedom we are given to explore our skills and passions. It answers the question that some feel guilty for asking, “God wouldn’t let me do what I like to do—would He?”

     God set each of us apart for a special type of work, endowing us with groupings of individual skills and talents that are totally unique in their combinations, making us who we are, and giving us each a special purpose designed by Him since before we were formed in our mother’s wombs. Whether we become missionaries, executives, or hot dog salesmen, this unique human architecture provides us with opportunity to make a big deal out of Him. Wherever we discover our “sweet spot”—that place that where our daily lives, our strengths, and God’s glory all intersect—is the place that we not only find our calling, but where we will also be the most fulfilled.

     I love this quote: “God never prefabs or mass-produces people. No slap-dash shaping.”

     While this may not be news to many who’ve realized their calling, even if it’s taken years to do so, this little book can give an oxygen-starved breath to

• a young man feeling guilty for wanting to go straight to work rather than to college

• a young lady who’d rather become a home-maker than a career woman

• a boy whose heart is on literary studies more than on taking over the family business

• the individual who feels more compelled to stand up for the downtrodden in a courtroom than on the mission field, or vice versa.

     God designed each of us so differently, yet sometimes human nature is such that we’d rather judge each other for what we think the other should be doing with their lives than for what God created them to do. A young person needs permission at times to find that sweet spot, and we as parents need to be comfortable enough to let them do it—or better yet—to help them do it. As Lucado points out in this encouraging little book, “He designed you. And His design defines your destiny.”

     The greatest things about summer are mud, sun, forests, and freedom to take them all in. Summer school for homeschoolers means self-discovery, adventure, exploring, creative play. It means painting legs in clay (if you live in our region), splashing in a cool northern lake, sticking resistant worms on hooks (but first finding the worms in the squishy mud under warm rocks or yanking them out of the ground by flashlight after a rain). It means playing with baby dolls under the shade trees and collecting rocks. It means finding snakes in the garden and frogs in the pond and discovering the new hatch of baby ducks in the rushes. Summer home school means children being children. Laughter, flowers, long bike rides and sticky messes.

     Homeschoolers often close the “school” doors early, mid May or so. They seldom resume formal studies until after Labor Day and sometimes not until later in September (if they school traditionally at all). But with that, they sometimes harbor guilt. Are we doing “enough”? Should we be reviewing lessons over the summer months? Oh, yuck!

     Rest assured, that the well-roundedness of education would be lacking without the important freedoms which summertime offers. Self-education and adventurous play offer some of the best life education our children ever receive. Let’s wallow in it and have a great summer.

     You might be more-than-anxious to put the school year behind you. But now is the best time to reflect on it’s highlights and capture the memories that you’re likely to forget down the road.

     Try to begin a homeschool journal of some sort, or to create a yearbook. This doesn’t have to be extravagant or time consuming; just a few pages that highlight special moments or capture themes you studied, places you went, or friendships created and nurtured.

Add photos or brochures. Write up a sentence or two regarding different visits or subjects you focused upon.

     Allow a page for your student to add the signatures or comments of friends and family regarding this year in their lives.

     An hour or two putting together this simple piece of memorabilia can be used to glean important portfolio information later, or it can simply serve as a great way to look back on the exciting and ambitious things you did as homeschoolers once your family is all grown up!

     Saturday was the official kick off of “Graduation Season” meaning that we attended the first graduation party of the year. Each year, more and more of our homeschooling friends are graduating. I remember when we rarely heard of someone graduating from their home education program. Homeschooling was a fledgling non-institution for many years, but as more people catch the vision for educating at home, more young adults join the ranks of the post home schooled.

     It took courage and vision and a great deal of resolve to for those parents to educate their children straight through high school. Such tenacity is a mark of fortitude and strong conviction. Those parents are heroes. Despite facing the unique challenges of directing their child’s academic growth, the unsolicited opinions of nay-sayers, the complications of government compliance, and the ignorance of the general population in regard to what homeschooling is all about, these parents have clung to their persuasion to see their efforts through to this grand day. As a result, they’ve discovered that the reward is not the child’s alone, but the whole family’s.

     Congratulations, graduates of 2010. And for those of you who are graduating from your home school, a special, hearty “well-done”. Mom and dad and siblings – that includes you, too!

     The world is full of great recipes, I know. But there are those that are dear to our hearts, handed down from special people or in memory of special occasions. That’s the way of it with this recipe. I’m making them now. The house smells so good, it may attract bears – it is springtime, after all. Try these next winter, too, with your children gathered around, sipping a cup of home-made cocoa while you read them a good book.

     Grandma Marie Ruby Schoechert’s Scrumptious Peanut Butter Bars

½ c. brown sugar

½ c. white sugar

1 egg

½ c. peanut butter

½ c. butter or margarine/softened

     Blend well, then add:

1 c. oatmeal

1 c. flour

½ tsp. baking soda

     Mix it all well. Place in 9x13 pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until just ever-so-lightly brown.

     Chocolate/Peanut Butter Frosting:

     In the meantime: mix about 2 cups of powdered sugar with ¼ cup of peanut butter and enough milk to make a very smooth, easily spreadable frosting. You may have to add more milk just before frosting because the peanut butter stiffens it up.

     Remove from oven and sprinkle top with ½ to ¾ bag of chocolate chips. Return to oven for about a minute, just long enough for chips to soften to a spreadable stage.

     When chocolate chips are melted, remove from oven, add frosting while bars are piping hot, and carefully swirl it in with the chocolate chips, making a nice, chocolatey/peanut-buttery topping.

     Eat some while they’re warm. Mmmmm!

     What encourages you? I'm encouraged when I see my daughter learning something that isn't necessarily "school related" in the academic sense, but I know will help her develop character and life-skills.

     I mention this because, no matter how long we've homeschooled, or what our successes, the tendency is to focus on where we lack, or at least where we think we lack.

     I decided to write a book. A memoir, in essence, of where we've been and what we would or would not change if we could do it all again. But as I began delving into the topics I'd discuss, I started to wonder what I was doing wrong now, today. I only have one child left to graduate. I'm happy with the outcome achieved in homeschooling the previous four. Still...what could I be doing better, or differently? It's a good question to ask, yet one which can lead to sullen reflection. Why is it so hard to focus on the high points?

     In the process I pulled out a stack of books from the shelves; treasures I read long ago. Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto, Home School Burnout by Raymond and Dorothy Moore, How Children Learn by John Holt, Marva Collins' Way by Marva Collins and Civia Tamarkin, The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. These are classics!

     I say that with enthusiasm, because as I perused the pages, reviewing the notes I'd written in the margins, re-reading the sections I'd highlighted, I began to visually review where I'd wanted to go back then, and I began to clearly see where those desires had taken me. I was encouraged! My goals had not strayed. My course had remained. The things we are doing now may look different than the way we once did them, but the goal was the same and so was the outcome.

     What encourages you? For me, it was re-examining those old books and reviewing our path. I realized that we had achieved success and that we were continuing to achieve success. I hope you have a method to reflect like that.

Managing schedules becomes even more cumbersome if you have to work a job and homeschool, or if your student works a part-time job while homeschooling. Juggling studies within the time constraints of job schedules is something more and more of us face, either because economically we have to take in extra income to meet family needs, or because our children are reaching ages when they, too, are entering the workforce and testing their skills and interests.

Five years ago I was compelled to pick up extra income by taking on an outside job, and at about the same time some of my children were beginning to take on part-time jobs as well. Juggling both our schedules made for hectic days and some pretty frantic homeschooling experiences. But eventually we figured out what worked for us, and you can too, if you find yourself at this place in life. Here are some tips to help you muddle through what is doable, but not easy.

*Realize that the order of of your day will change, and accept that.

If you've been used to starting school at 8 am, but now your 16 year old is needed to stack your elderly neighbor's firewood at that time, then be willing to adjust your schedules accordingly. There are no rules about when you must do school. School after lunch can be just as productive as morning school, if that's what it needs to be. Reading literature before bed or in bed can be more enjoyable than seated around the table at 10 a.m while trying to rush through to get done before an afternoon activity.

*Decide what is most important, because sometimes you can't do it all.

Some days will slide by with little done in the way of "school work". Maybe you'll have to do math 3 days a week, and double up on biology on Fridays. Then decide if you can let the creative writing slide for a few days or weeks, or if you absolutely must do that science experiment, or instead watch a good youtube video of the same thing in place of it. Some things just have to go or be moved around if you or your child is holding a job. Try to find the educational value in the job if it makes you feel better.

*Don't beat yourself up.

If you as the parent is the one that has to leave home to work, the hardest thing to deal with can be the guilt. I'm not doing all I should. I'm not there for them. I'm torn in too many directions. Hopefully you've addressed these issues before you made the plunge to work, but there are some things you can never foresee. You CAN homeschool while you work. There WILL be sacrifices. You CAN raise a successful, well-educated child despite them. It takes dedication, committment, and no limit of energy. But with focus and determination, you can see it through. You can only do so much. You are one person, or a single small family team of people. Make of it what you can, and leave the outcome in God's hands. He's more than capable of filling in your gaps.

*Do what works for YOUR FAMILY, not someone else's.

The Bible tells us that comparing ourselves among ourselves is not wise. Yet it's sometimes difficult not to look at what someone else is doing and feel that we are woefully lacking. Don't do that! Especially if your circumstances are different. God put your child in your family because he wanted you to make the decisions for that child. You have to follow your instincts sometimes, and sometimes you just have to do what you can, especially if you're juggling jobs and school.

Take your days as they come, one at a time. What's that saying? Write your plans in pencil and let God have the eraser. Trust and prayer and patience are the key to homeschooling while job-juggling. Handled that way, it can all be accomplished.

     Homeschoolers are often asked a myriad of questions by non-homeschoolers. Some are asked merely out of curiosity. Some because they are considering homeschooling themselves. Whatever the reason, here are some of those questions as they were recently posed to me. Following are the answers I gave.

     1) When a parent homeschools their child, do they need a teaching degree or have to take any classes?

     2) When a homeschooled child graduates, do they need a diploma? How do they get it?

     3) Is there a cost for homeschooling? Do they have to buy books from companies?

     4) Do parents get paid for homeschooling their children? If so, do you think there will be an increase in the number of parents homeschooling their children because of the economy?

     5) Do you think there is a difference between homeschooled children and children who attend public schools regarding social issues and behaviors?

     6) When a homeschooled child applies for college, do they need to send in an ACT score or transcipt? How do these get sent to the colleges?

     #1. Each state has their own homeschooling laws, so what is true for one state is not necessarily true for all. In Wisconsin, parents are not required to hold any special degree or have particular qualifications to teach their children. Grass roots homeschooling and parenting organizations such as the Wisconsin Parents Organization have worked very hard to see to it that Wisconsin's laws are not intrusive on families. They, and most homeschoolers, believe that parents are innately qualified to teach their own children and know what's best for them.

     #2. Again, as my answers only apply to homeschoolers in Wisconsin, a diploma is not issued by a public school system to a homeschooler unless they are enrolled at home under a public school umbrella system like the virtual schools that are cropping up. However, most homeschoolers don't consider that to be true homeschooling, but rather public school at home.

Therefore, whether or not a student recieves a physical diploma depends entirely on the family. I have had 4 of my 5 kids graduate at home (one more coming in 2012!), and my husband and I have issued each of them a diploma except for the oldest who recieved her HSED through the local technical school. We actually think that a homeschool diploma is more valid than the HSED and GED -- just our personal opinion.

     We purchased our diplomas through a company that designs diplomas, caps & gowns, announcements, tassels, etc. strictly for homeschoolers. They are very elegant. However, I've had friends create their own diplomas on their computers, or simply have a graduation day without the formality of issuing one. I recieved my high school diploma from a large central Wisconsin public high school in 1980. It's been in a trunk ever since. No one has ever asked to see it.

Each of my children has picked different "school colors" for their tassels. Blue/silver, camoflage, pink/black, green/black. During their graduation party, we issue their diplomas so they have an audience.

     #3. Homeschooling can be costly or inexpensive, depending on what you think you need or want. Some homeschoolers purchase full lines of curriculum from curriculum vendors for many hundreds of dollars per child. Some families put together their own curriculum from many sources, new and used and free. Some families depend largely on libraries and field trips and hands-on learning experiences through internships, jobs, projects and so on. The beauty of homeschooling is in being able to plan your own course, pursue your own dreams, and direct your own learning according to your learning style and your family budget.

     #4. Homeschooling is a labor of love. No one is ever paid for it. In Wisconsin we do not recieve vouchers or tax benefits or anything else to help us offset the costs. We do it because we think it's best for our children. Homeschooling usually takes one parent out of the work force entirely or at least in part. Therefore, economics is not a factor in deciding to homeschool. It's more often a factor in deciding not to homeschool. Folks who choose homeschooling are usually frugal types who are willing to tighten the belt even more to make it work. However, homeschooling is much less expensive than private schooling. Small, private schools have taken a bit of a hit as people turn to homeschooling. Also, for every child pulled out of public school to homeschool, the school district loses state and federal dollars, so they try to woo them back.

     #5. Social behaviors . . . the one-hundred-million-dollar-question. Whether you grow up in a homeschool, public school, or private school environment, you are who you are based on your values -- what you learn and believe largely at home. You have good and bad behavior everywhere.

     However; one of the foremost popular reasons families often choose to homeschool is to regulate the types of socialization their children are frequently exposed to. They are looking for POSITIVE social experiences, in order to promote positive behaviors rather than negative ones. Yet, homeschoolers are not sheltered. They understand what the "real world" is like. Most often, though, the school environment is not a picture of the real world. So to use school as the model of what it's like to live and work in the "real world" is not an accurate model. To get to know the real world, homeschoolers participate in it. They go to town meetings, attend church, work part time jobs, hang out with old people as well as young people, and so on.

     Homeschoolers are, for the most part, very socialized. It's a MYTH that they lack social opportunities. Most homeschoolers are involved in sports; in clubs like 4-H; in music lessons; in group activities with other homeschoolers like gym days, field trips, play productions; church activities, community projects, and so on. Most homeschoolers have just as many social opportunities as your average public schooler.      

     What they don't do is sit on a school bus for 1-2 hours a day, hang out wasting time in the school cafeteria or in "study" halls, stand in lines in the hall while they wait for someone to get disciplined, get involved in cliques and gossip circles, and all that. And they still hang out with friends, go to the mall, mosh at concerts, attend parties, and all that fun stuff.

     Here are some examples of social things my kids were involved in as homeschoolers:

     • 4-H, which included trips to Washington D.C, the state capital, winter camp, the fair, and they also used it as a resource to perform plays, give speeches, promote their art and music, and so on

     • Church camp and youth group

     • Prom

     • Played on volleyball teams

     • Played on basketball teams

     • Played on Ultimate teams

     • Played in a band and produced a CD

     • Homeschool ski days

     • Homeschool bowling days

     • Homeschool gym days

     • Homeschool rollerskating days

     • History fairs, art fairs, science fairs, spelling bees

     • Campouts, hunting trips, swimming, canoe trips, and so on with friends

     • Visited nursing homes

     • and yes, they even dated (yikes!)

     One of the things my family loved about homeschooling, is that, having the freedom to choose our schedule, we could get together for adventures with our homeschooling friends or other folk whenever we wished. We even had a friend who never did school during September, October, and November, because that's when he hunted and trapped with his dad and brother and had outdoor adventures with his friends. He wasn't a huge summer fan, so he did his school then. Did it hurt him? Well, he's a geologist now, and has tons of friends, so I think he's doing pretty well.

     #6. Every college is different on what they require to get in. If a homeschooler is going to a traditional college in the UW system, he or she will likely need to take the ACTs or SATs. Homeschoolers often do that too. However, I've seen them take alternative routes as well. Here are some examples: One young man I know went to a two-year community college. All he had to do was take placement tests and round up a rough transcript of his homeschooling experience. After he graduated, he was able to continue his education at Michigan Tech for four more years to recieve a degree in surveying.

     My son went to an avionics school in Denver. He was admitted without tests or transcripts, though we did submit a transcript later once he actually started school, just for their records. He was admitted purely on a telephone interview.

     Some homeschoolers go the route of internships, some prefer private colleges which have been extremely accepting of homeschoolers because of their tendency to be self-guided, self-motivated, and well rounded. In fact, more private universities court homeschoolers because of these factors. They will often require either a transcript of home studies, a portfolio, or some other testing for admission instead of the ACTs or SATs.

     Some students decide not to go to college right away. When they do decide to go, they are sometimes admitted without having taken the ACTs, because they are older. This happened with my daughter who was out of high school for 4 years. She took placement tests in various areas and was admitted. She's now going on for her master's degree.

     Some homeschoolers take CLEP tests to get ahead. Some take college correspondence courses while in high school, like one of my son's who studied his passion -- birds -- through Cornell University's Ornithology correspondence course.

     Some homeschoolers continue homeschooling even when they get to college, preferring to do their college course work online or by correspondence. My nephew will graduate with honors this spring with such a degree from a well-known eastern university. He's planning to travel there to walk the aisle.

     Some homeschoolers, just like other kids, decide to go straight into the work force or marry and start a family. It's all good. One benefit that these homeschoolers have is that they probably had more opportunity to work part time jobs while in school and those experiences help their resumes to stand out. Because of their flexible schedules, they could usually work at odd times when other-schoolers couldn't. My youngest son began working for a landscaping company learning some terrific skills when he was 14. He'll probably continue working for them as he goes through tech school and fits in time to promote his band. (3 of those guys were homeschooled, too.)

     My 2007 graduate will be going to trade school next fall. He's only 20, but he's worked as a logger, a ship yard security patroller, a carpenter (roofing), and a flooring laborer (he layed floor in a home featured on Extreme Makeover Home Edition). He's had some great work experiences for a young guy. Some of these things couldn't have happened if he had first been getting home from school at 4:00 every day.

     Homeschoolers are just average kids. Even those that go on to do amazing things aren't usually overly brainy, just fortunate to be able to put their goals into motion.