156th Carnival of Homeschooling- Winter in Paris

Welcome to the December 23, 2008 edition of carnival of homeschooling! As you browse through the posts, I thought you might enjoy some of the scenes from a December trip to one of my favorite cities, Paris, appropriately nicknamed “The City of Lights.”

Paris is a magical city, and it sparkles extra brightly during the holiday season. Squares are flooded and frozen for ice skating, sidewalk vendors offer hand-warming cones of hot chestnuts (yum!), and the whole city feels festive with garlands of lights and greenery.

Prices are low at this time of year, and tourist crowds are light, which makes it an excellent time to visit. Just be sure to pack plenty of warm layers, as it’s a small, walkable city, and you’ll be chilly without hats, scarves, tights, and mittens. Enjoy the Carnival and your virtual tour of Paris!

Education

Do you have boys? Then read Amy Smith’s post on Why Boys Struggle in School: The Trouble With Boys posted at Kids Love Learning. Institutionalization (which is what traditional schooling is) simply doesn’t work for many boys, and Amy discusses many of the reasons why, and provides direction to more reading on the subject. This is important to know, so don’t miss this!

If you hate wasting time as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Kim‘s article, Terrible Science Experiments, posted at Kim’s Play Place, saying, “In some scientific experiment books we need to be aware that not every experiment is worthwhile. I pick a few examples from a Janice Van Cleave book on astronomy.”

NerdMom presents Continuing Ed Anyone? posted at Nerd Family.

Belle presents Handmade Christmas Gifts: Embroidered Tea Towels posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog, saying, “I am a homeschooler. I was taught by my mother, who homeschools me, to embroider. She taught me to make the tea towels in my post.”

You probably don’t need to be convinced about the viability of homeschooling, but just in case, Henry Cate offers “Yet another reason to homeschool” at “Why Homeschool?

Susan Gaissert writes about Teaching Tolerance, a post about a great resource that’s perfectly aligned with the concept of “good will toward men,” posted at The Expanding Life.

Andrea Hermitt presents My daughter’s goals posted at Notes From A Homeschooling Mom.

We can probably all relate to Mother By Nature‘s post, An Embarrassment of Workbooks. She writes, “While sorting through some old materials, I come face to face with my early mistakes homeschooling my son, with too much pressure and emphasis on workbooks, and I reflect on the consequences which we are still dealing with years later.” Her post may help you avoid this type of embarrassment.

Kevin presents Beginning Science Experiments for the Homeschooler posted at Kevin Heath – More4kids Inc..

In Working for New China, at Homeschool and Etc., Mrs. C asks thought-provoking questions such as, “What are your goals in homeschooling your children?  Is racial tolerance your number one music class goal?”

Andrea Hermitt presents Homeschooling is just a matter of time – Homeschool – Families.com posted at Homeschool Blog.

Sarah at SmallWorld presents Gift Idea: Bananagrams posted at SmallWorld, saying, “Need a quick last-minute gift idea or something exciting to kick-off your new year? This is a great multi-age family game which is easily incorporated into homeoschooling!”

Alasandra presents Why do public school Mothers have to trash homeschooling in order to feel good about themselves? posted at Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards.

Family

There are moments that remind us that all the hard work pays off. In Katherine posts on ” No fighting, no biting! “about one of these moments– a trip to the market when her children were “on their best behavior.” This resulted in a much-needed compliment about the children, “so that’s why they are so good, you homeschool!” It’s nice when people recognize one of the big positives about homeschooling!

In Product and Process on  “The Life Without School Community Blog” Cindy writes, “Unschooling 15 years ago was rare. Certainly we did not have the ability to pool together because the Internet was non-existent at that time. Homeschoolers had to gather in real life. There were usually one or two unschoolers to be found, if they chose to reveal themselves. Growing Without Schooling (GWS) and Home Education Magazine (HEM) were our support systems. The writings of John Holt were our inspiration.”

I need to get this carnival posted so I can go and make these cookies! In “Gotta love those Cherry Cookies” Beverly shares a recipe for Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies they learned how to make years ago in a homeschool co-op class at Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog at (About.com).

Amanda Dixon presents The Daily Planet » Blog Archive » Homeschool Memoirs: Chores! posted at The Daily Planet, showing “how my chores are part of learning; learning is life.”

HappyCampers presents Gingerbread Houses posted at Reese’s View Of The World.

How do you keep your children active when you’re stuck in the house at -30 to -40 below C? Jennifer Bogart shares what works for her family in Phys. Ed at 30 Below posted at Quiverfull Family.

I love chocolate and peppermint together, so I’m going to have to try My Chocolate Peppermint Bark Recipe posted at The Thinking Mother. ChristineMM shares a recipe she created for Chocolate Peppermint Bark, commenting that “It’s fast, easy and perfect for making with children and to use up those extra candy canes.”

Given the growing media coverage mentioning the terms “Cognitive Reserve” and “Brain Reserve,” you may be asking yourself, “What exactly is my Cognitive (or Brain) Reserve?” Alvaro Fernandez presents Education builds Cognitive Reserve for Alzheimers Disease Protection posted at SharpBrains.

HappyCampers presents Don’t Buy Caramels Anymore…Make Your Own! posted at The Adventures Of The Williams Family. Lori Pickert presents The Value of Work posted at Camp Creek Blog, saying, “thank you!”

The Reluctant Homeschooler writes on “St. Nicholas Day present,” saying, “Since we celebrate gift-giving on St. Nicholas Day, not Christmas, our gifts are out of the way. But this year, instead of indulging the kids, we did something a bit radical: we followed the original Saint Nick’s example of giving to the needy instead, and we had the kids choose the gifts.”

As much as we love our children, moms don’t always know all we need to know. Karen shares a lesson she learned about her son in The Stone Age Techie: Hidden Depths posted at The Stone Age Techie.

Renae presents Considering Christmas posted at Life Nurturing Education.

It can be a challenge to keep things in perspective during this busy time of year, as Mary Nix shares in Homeschool Lessons and Christmas posted at The Informed Parent.

The current economy reminds us how important it is to train children about money management. Kevin presents Teaching Your Children How to Control Debt posted at CreditShout.

College Degrees presents 2009: Janet Napolitano and the H1B Visa Cap posted at The Degree People, saying, “If confirmed, Janet Napolitano’s nomination as Director of Homeland Security is likely to have a significant impact on the H1B visa process and possibly even be a significant factor in increasing the cap on these employment visas.”

Finally, you may enjoy a brief vignette of our almost-missed train during our visit to Paris at my other blog, “Things That Matter.”

P.S. This carnival was to be hosted by Shez at Homeschooled Twins, but she developed an eye problem that prevented her from hosting. You might want to drop by her blog to offer warm wishes for her recovery.

That concludes this edition (I wish I could have posted more photos, but it would have taken all day;-)). 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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