Curriculum Review of Learning Language Arts Through Literature

Tis the season for buying new curricula, so I hope that this review of Learning Language Arts Through Literature by Debbie Strayer and Susan Simpson might prove helpful to some.  As new homeschoolers, our family was in uncharted water when we attempted to select curricula for the 2011/2012 school year.  I looked at Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum (both the book and the website) and decided to give LLATL (the title of this program is way too long to keep typing) a try for both of my children.  So in particular, this review pertains to the use of the Red Book (2nd grade) and the Purple Book (5th grade).  Gotta say up front, we are not fans.

The program is designed to be an "integrated language approach" so that:

"By reading fine literature and working with good models of writing, children will receive a quality education in language arts.  If you desire to teach using this integrated approach to language, this curriculum is for you... The integrated language approach has the benefits of all teaching methods.  By working with pieces of literature, you focus on grammar, vocabulary, writing, reading , spelling, penmanship, and thinking skills.  Your student has the best advantage for learning skills in this effective and lasting manner."  Learning Language Arts Through Literature The Purple Book, p. iii.

The Table of Contents shows four book studies for the Purple Book:  Farmer Boy, Trumpet of the Swan, Meet Addy and Caddie Woodlawn.  It seemed great.  However, when we went to use LLATL, we found that appearances were deceiving.  The novels for the Book Studies were fine, it was just that they weren't really "studied."  I assumed (yes, I know what happens when you assume...in this case you get stuck with curricula that is not a good fit for your family) that the novels would form the basis of the "integrated language approach."  WRONG!  The use of the novels are not implemented to study the grammar, vocabulary,  writing, reading, spelling, penmanship and thinking skills as laid out in the introduction to the program.  The Book Studies are very brief asides separate from the meat of the curricula.  For example, there are five vocabulary words for Farmer Boy, two sequencing exercises (containing five sentences each) and eleven short answer questions for the book.  That is it.  That is LLATL's version of a complete "Book Study."

Uh, that is not quite what I hoped for... Literary analysis?  Not there either.

So how do the books provide the "integrated language approach" if it is not coming from the required novels for the Book Studies?  The book is a series of excerpts from songs, poems, novels etc. from which the language arts exercises are drawn.  Sure wasn't what I expected.  The real problem was that my 5th grade daughter hated the program.  She found the exercises to be completely unchallenging.  To quote her, "It was boring, busywork on stuff that I already knew.  It was a complete waste of my time."    We completed 23 of the 36 lessons by Christmas.  I exercised the freedom of homeschooling and quit the program after the holidays as it was just not working for us.

The pluses of the program are that the teacher's guide provides the answers to the exercises.  It requires very little parent preparation for daily lessons.  Parents need not read the novels of the Book Studies because there are basic answers provided to the short answer questions regarding the novels and the studies are not in-depth.  (I consider the lack of depth a negative, but if you didn't want to read the books, then you are all set.)  The sources for the language arts exercises changes often, so if you don't like one of the selections, you are not stuck with it for long.  The lessons are very quick.

LLATL The Red Book is a different story.  The readers (All Around the Farm, Forest Fables, In, Out and About Catfish Pond, Up, Down and Around the Rain Tree, Underwater Friends and Famous People) do actually serve as the basis for the language arts activities.  The are numerous activities which are removed from the student book, cut out and then sorted or arranged for the student's completion.  The student book does NOT have serrated pages, so removing these pages is a pain! My son especially liked these-- word lists, phonetic sound sorting, word wheels, alphabetizing etc.  He did not hate the program.  He liked it because it was easy and required very little work of him.  Problem-- it was too easy!  The readers were not challenging.  For us, the readers could only hope to enhance read-aloud fluency.  The vocabulary and writing style would not serve to increase reading level or comprehension.

Second graders do not know a lot of grammar, so the "easy" aspect of LLATL would be helpful.  However, we found that there were too few exercises (average about five) for each grammar or spelling concept or rule being taught.  The exposure was very brief (too brief) and then the topic would not be revisited or reviewed for several lessons.  Thus, the covered topics were not retained effectively.  If however, you have a child who is a naturally gifted speller, then the brevity and the lengthy time span until further review might be an asset.  The length of the required writing assignments was very brief.  It would be an easy matter for a parent to extend the writing assignments to challenge children who loved to write.  

Neither child will be continuing with LLATL.  Caveat emptor for all the Latin fans.  Know what you are getting if you purchase LLATL so that you will not be disappointed.  The program might be an excellent fit for many families, just not ours.

Intoxicated by the Freedom to Choose

We attended a homeschool conference this past week in Greenville, SC.  I still had a feeling of "shock and awe" to see the vast numbers of people who homeschool.  I guess we are still new enough to homeschooling that I feel a bit dumbfounded by seeing so many different people "bucking the system."  But unlike last year, we didn't attend seminar after seminar.  This year, we went to browse, peruse and explore all the different curricula choices from the plethora of vendors.

Like any good homeschool mom, I did a lot of research prior to going to the conference.  I had a four page Google document of different programs that I wanted to examine.  I don't use a set curriculum.  I hand tailor the best I can, to each child, their learning styles and strengths.  I would put them back into school if I wanted the "one size fits all approach."  There is such a thrill from choosing what your child will learn.

Who ever heard a teacher say, "I looked through the book.  It seems boring.  We're not going to use that."?  It is not something that occurs often in a traditional school.  It isn't that teachers don't care or like the dull and unimaginative text books.  (Yes, I know that there are some bad, nightmare teachers that don't care and do like dull.  But I believe that they are in the minority.) Traditional teachers are constrained by a system within which they must work.  I'm not.

It is intoxicating to look at a perfectly functional grammar program that is about as thrilling as watching paint dry and having the power to say, "No way!  Not for my kid!"  I want something that will keep my children (and me) awake and not bore us all to tears.  So like Dory the fish in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming."  Keep looking until you do find something that fits your family.  What a novel thought!  Demand more and keep looking until you find it.

So that is exactly what we did.  We brought home a trunk load of books that we felt fit our kids and covered what we decided they should learn this upcoming year.  It makes me giddy with anticipation.  I am eagerly awaiting the rest of our books to come from Amazon.  (Yes, they will take over the world because they have everything!)

It is intoxicating the control and the freedom.  Just as alcohol could be dangerous and lead to abuse if not handled responsibly, the control and freedom to choose what your child learns needs to be handled responsibly.  It is not a perfect world, I am sure that there are a few crazies out there who want their children to study "The Fascinating World of Navel Lint" or "Competitive Underwater Basket-Weaving for Elementary Students." However, my children won't be joining them.

I have tried to design a rigorous, challenging curriculum that will still be (INSERT "gasp" here) fun.  Hopefully I will have succeeded.  If not, I also have the intoxicating freedom to toss something that is not working for us into the trash and try something brand new.

Becoming Socialized to Socialism

What in the world is happening to our country?  The trend of governmental control creeping into all areas of our lives is more than a bit terrifying.  "Big Brother is watching you." This is more than a line in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, but rather it is becoming our reality.  I am going to stay out of the political hornet's nest of Car Czars, Obamacare etc.  I will leave those areas to the pundits to fight about with each other.  There is more than enough encroachment of Big Brother in just the simplest of things of our everyday lives.  Hasn't anyone else exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?" when surfing the net?  Some of these things are down right pitiful!  I find myself making this exclamation with far too much frequency.

So the trigger to start this diatribe of mine came late last night.  My husband pointed out a CBS article to me about Mayor Bloomberg in New York City,  Food Donations Banned to the Homeless.  "What?" I exclaim.  Surely I couldn't have heard him correctly.  Nope!  I did.  No more donating food to homeless shelters because "they" (Big Brother) can't assess the salt, fat and fiber content of the food.  In the interests of becoming more socialized to socialism, clearly we can see the benefits of this plan.  How much better to starve to death in a healthy manner with a healthy heart and arteries than to stay alive on food which might have a questionable salt or fat content!  I am sure most people would prefer to go hungry rather than consume food which does not contain enough fiber.  If you are a person who would prefer otherwise, that is okay too.  Big Brother will do the thinking for you.  You are not responsible enough to make your own choices.  Let the government do it for you.

Now, now, clearly I am upset over an isolated incident.  Couldn't be a trend! Maybe it is just New York. Things are always different in New York.  What about less cosmopolitan areas of America?

Take Raeford, NC for example.  (Yes, I had to look it up on a map.  Raeford, NC has not been a vacation destination of ours before, nor is it likely to become one.)  Big Brother need not lurk in only the largest cities of America.  Let's search school lunches packed by families for their children.  Why give a parent the right to decide what their own children should eat?  Clearly Uncle Sam is better suited for the job.  Turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, chips and apple juice did not pass inspection as being "healthy enough" for a 4 year old preschooler to eat.  Instead, she ate chicken nuggets from the school cafeteria.  This is not an isolated incident.  A turkey and salami sandwich did not "cut the mustard" either.  At least at the NC schools, Big Brother only inspects the home made lunches.  In some places, they are banned altogether.  No lunches from home are allowed in a Chicago school.

I could have a huge diatribe alone on the questionable health of school lunches.  Especially when you consider the seven million pounds of Pink Slime that winds up in school lunches.  Ewww!  Big Brother says Pink Slime is okay for your child's school lunch.  I am so glad that "THEY" know so much more than the parent of an individual child.  Here I just thought that Beef Trimmings were only fit for a dog, instead of a growing child.  But, I digress.

These things just keep happening and happening all over.  We are supposed to go about our daily lives losing more and more control over how we live our lives and raise our children.  I find this thoroughly frightening.  Our nation as a whole is sliding down the slippery slope of socialism.  I think that maybe our slide down the slippery slope is so vast that we don't even notice it anymore.  At the equator, the Earth spins about 1,669 mph every day, yet we don't feel a thing.  Our slide into socialism is gaining momentum, but we are so "socialized" to the encroachment of governmental control that we no longer notice the effects.

Socialism does not focus on our human nature and the role that incentives play in guiding our behavior.    We want to be rewarded for our efforts.   If our reward is the same irregardless of the amount of energy and work we put into any given task, then the urge to give something our "all" dissipates.  Most parents can intuitively understand why ultimately socialism will not sustain itself. 

Imagine a fall setting and a neighbor's large yard is covered in leaves.  Neighborhood children are playing outside.  Said neighbor offers to pay a group of children for raking and bagging leaves.  Eagerly they accept this offer.  As the work begins, one diligent darling works hard and makes a lot of progress while the other two are horsing around.  The neighbor brings out some lemonade to check on the progress.  "Gee, if you guys finish this by sunset, I'll give you each $10."  Well the lazy loafers think this is great.  They have done nothing and are going to get paid well for it.  Our tired, diligent darling wonders why he should keep working so hard when the others are going to get paid the same as he is for doing nothing.  As he runs over to complain to you, you know what he is going to say.  "Mom, no fair!  They aren't doing their fair share and they are gonna get $10! I'm the one doing all the work!"  Before you give any sage advice, you too know what will happen.  Diligent darling decides this is crazy and goes inside to play Wii.  No way he is going to work his butt off for the other two to get paid the same as him.  It is too big of a job.  Forget it!  Lazy loafers go home too,  the job will now require actual work from them.  Where's the fun in that?  They quit all pretense of working and go play elsewhere.  Meanwhile, the job never gets done.

Socialism is doomed to fail.  Any child can see the inherent problem when there is no reward commensurate with effort.  The cry of "No Fair!" resonates within the system.  However, that is where we are headed.  Big Brother is regulating our lives and socializing us so much that we don't even notice how far down the slope we have fallen. We had better wake-up because a new day is dawning, and it won't be a pretty spring one either.

Foreshadowing of Homeschooling

As I start to put together curricula choices for next year, I am a bit dumbfounded that we are homeschooling.  Me?  I am homeschooling.  I am homeschooling?  (Said in the same incredulous manner of "Bill" in "My Cousin Vinny" when he realizes they are accusing him of shooting the clerk.)  I thought for sure I would have had visits from child services or be in a psych ward if I ever attempted to homeschool.  Yet here I am, planning another academic year.

I am beginning to wonder though that maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.  Maybe we were destined to be a homeschool family but we just didn't realize it.  Perhaps we were so busy just doing what everyone else does in the chaos of daily life, that we forgot to read the signs.  They were there.  They foreshadowed our future.  We just had to stop spinning so fast and take a look around.  The funny thing about signs is that they are easy to miss.  There is a good reason for the old saying that, "Hindsight is 20/20."  Only distance and time allows for us to look back and see.

So, what exactly were some of the signs that foreshadowed our radical departure from the traditional educational system?  Our radical beliefs?  Our radical lifestyle?  Our radical career choices?  No, no and no.  Geez, there is nothing radical about a two lawyer family with two children living in the suburbs driving a minivan and owning a dog and some goldfish.  No visits from Super Nanny or Real Housewives of Atlanta.  We would make for snooze TV, definitely not a ratings grabber.  Perhaps then, what I view as "signs" are subtle.  Merely things that my husband and I should have picked up on over time.

One of our first signs was our extreme dissatisfaction with the local public schools.  We knew many families who were very happy with them, but our discontent was such that we knew it would not be the right choice for our family.  Private schools were our only choice because only nut jobs, weirdos and Little House on the Prairie types homeschooled.

(Now I freely admit to having all sorts of ill-informed, preconceived notions about homeschooling.  That is not, however, the reason for this parenthetical comment.  It is because I feel confident that my mom is just dying to scream into cyberspace that I certainly qualify under the "nut job" and "weirdo"  categories.  Point well taken, mom.  To be fair, she is probably right too.)

 Our eldest started her traditional educational career of kindergarten at a Catholic International Baccalaureate school.  It is a school that we still highly regard, but it is no longer a good fit for our family.  A clear sign, which was missed by us, came on a "sick day" when she was in first grade.  Did we spend our time watching Dora the Explorer reruns?  No.  We researched totem poles and then she created her own totem pole out of an old wrapping paper roll.  Quick email to the teacher and she took it to school and gave the class a presentation on totem poles and the native people who created them.  Neither my daughter nor I can remember now what sparked the interest, but whatever it was, we followed it.   Now that is a definite homeschooling type activity.

The above-described incident wasn't an aberration.  Our research and explore modus operandi spilled over into all areas of our lives; family trips especially.  When our youngest was a first grader at the same private school we took a family trip to the Western North Carolina Nature Center.  Great place to wander and see animals native to the region.  It has always been a family favorite.  However, we gave our son pencil and paper and asked him to sketch the animals he saw.  Mom took pictures and put together a power point presentation on all the animals for his class.

Family trips are spurred on by our interests or topics about which people are learning.  "Night at the Museum 2" was a video my daughter really wanted for Christmas one year.  So our Spring Break trip was naturally a family trip to the Smithsonian.

Another sign was our family's grand finale whenever we head to Orlando for a theme park adventure.  We have taken the kids on two Disney Trips and one Universal/Sea World adventure.  All three trips culminate in a trip to Book Warehouse.  Please don't get me wrong, we do go to Downtown Disney for souvenirs and the Lego store.  But our very last stop, which is eagerly awaited, is always the Book Warehouse.  We spend hours piling up books for each member of the family.  Having just left there two days ago with a mountain of new books (55 in all, photo is just some of the kids' books) is what triggered all these thoughts of "signs" that we were destined for homeschooling.

Significance of the signs?  Not too much other than I should stop being so surprised that we are now homeschooling.  Guess it is time to relax and enjoy the adventures in learning together.

What I am Learning about God from my Dog

I know this must sound like a crazy blog title, but I do think that there is a little messenger from God living in my house, sitting on my lap and waiting to lick my face.  I have never been very devout, and I know you will not be shocked to also learn that I am not much of a theologian.  Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine are names with which I am familiar, but certainly not because I have ever read their writings.   That being said, I do, however, believe that people are put in our paths for a reason.  I personally believe that there is a higher authority with a plan, rather than a mere coincidence or "luck" when person is in front of us at the right time with something to support us or guide us.  Now I am starting to suspect that God uses all of His creation for His messages.

One of His messengers lives in my house.  She is a whopping 15 pound cockapoo that found her way into our home at a time when we emphatically said that we were not getting a dog.  But Maggy needed a home, so now she is a member of our family.

Maggy is an endless ball of energy and love.  She makes us laugh and keeps the whole family aware of her omnipresent need for love and attention.  If you are seated, she is in your lap.  If you are lying down, she is on top of you or cuddled up next to you.  She tucks each child into bed at night.  Curling up on their beds for prayers and goodnight hugs and kisses.  At the first twitch which suggests that you are waking up in the morning, she climbs on your chest waiting to eagerly help you greet the new day.

Yeah, yeah.  Sweet, cute, you get it.  What does that have to do with God?  Well, frankly I had never even considered a connection until one morning we were having a family prayer with tired, grumpy children.  It dawned on me that we should try to be more "puppy-like" in our actions and attitudes.  Let's try and treat each day as a gift.  Be excited that each morning we get to spend another day with each other.  The dog sure thought that it was reason enough for zealous celebration and tail wagging.  Hmm, maybe there is something to this thought.

Try and have a religious philosophical discussion with young children.  Sometimes they don't have enough of a frame of reference to "get" the concept you are trying to convey.  So what does one do, look for an analogy to something that they can "get."  So here comes our dog again.  She was certainly more than eager to volunteer her enthusiastic self for any discussion, so long as there was a lap that needed warming and some serious belly rubbing to be had.

So what could God want us to learn from the devotion of a (to be perfectly honest here) not-so-very-bright dog?

Here it is in a nutshell:
1.  Each day is a gift to be celebrated with joy and enthusiasm.  If you see the ones you love show them just how much you love them.  If your dog loves you this much, just think how much God loves you.
2.  God wants you to remember His love for you all the time and He wants to share that love with you.  Think about how your dog will start vigorously wagging its tail in joy when you even start to look in its direction.  Dogs will nudge you to remind you to continue petting them or to not forget that they are there ever-faithfully by your side.
3.  Quote from above, "ever-faithfully by your side."  Don't think that needs much of an explanation.
4.  Your dog is always happy to see you, whether you have been out of sight for less than a minute to get the mail, away all day or been gone for a week on vacation.  The bliss at your return is pure ecstasy, regardless of how long you were away.  God is filled with joy whenever we turn to Him, wether we be the prodigal son, the Pope or somewhere in between.
5.  Your dog wants to be the first thing you think of and show love to you the moment you wake up.  Your dog wants to be the last thing you think of as you drift off to sleep petting them.  They want you to shower them with love for every waking moment in between.  I think that if God decided to ignore our free will for a moment and kicked us in the butt to get our attention, that is exactly what He would want.  Nudge, nudge, LOVE ME COMPLETELY.  God is much more subtle, however, wanting us to voluntarily come to Him (so that's why He uses the furry reminders).
6.  Your dog doesn't want fancy toys or beds, just the simple pleasure of your company.  God isn't impressed by our putting on airs.  He just wants our devotion and love.
7.  Your dog is willing to forgive your bad moods, temper tantrums and bad days.  Your dog is waiting with love for you to get over yourself.  Your dog is willing to help you do so.  Thank goodness The Big Guy is willing to do the same for us or we would be in deep, deep doggy doo doo.
8.  Your dog knows when you are hurt and grieving and wants to help you.  Dogs will lick your boo boos.  They will lick the tears from your face.  They will lay their heads beside you with deep mournful eyes when you are distraught.  They will comfort you in the best way they know how.  God wants to do the same if we will let Him.  Luckily he is not actually trying to lick our faces though, that would be quite an experience!
9.  This may be particular to my dog rather than all dogs.  Maggy greets everyone who comes to our home with ardent joy and love.  She has never yet met a person that didn't cause her to literally jump for joy.  God welcomes all, sinner and saint alike.  I find that to be a particularly lucky break for me personally, because there is no way I would fall into the "saint" group.
10.  A dog is ever on the alert, ready to jump up at a moment's notice to come be with us.  We need only to call.  God is just waiting for us to ask...  I don't think God would be too partial to a whistle though, I guess that's why we have prayer.

Thank goodness God's love is not like a cat.  We would never have a chance.  If so, God would barely tolerate our existence, ignore us unless it was convenient for Him.  God wouldn't even need us to feed Him.  So if God was like a cat, we would definitely be in deep, deep doo doo.

HHS Creating a Right To Contraception, Sterilization and Abortifacients

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing regulations which are attempting to provide health care for everyone.  To quote my daughter, "That's nice, isn't it?"  As with everything in life, the Devil is in the Details.

On January 20th, HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius announced that as part of the "Preventive Services" rule, all health insurance plans would be required to cover sterilizations and FDA-approved contraceptives without co-pay.  FDA-approved contraceptives includes abortifacients.  The rule goes into effect on August 1st for individuals, employers and insurers.  Catholic institutions were given an extra year to adapt to this regulation.  It will take effect for Catholic institutions on August 1, 2013.

"That's nice, isn't it?"  Catholic institutions get extra time to adapt. Uhh, not so much.

For those not familiar with Catholic teaching on the subject matter, here is a brief synopsis.  In 1968, Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical letter called Humanae Vitae (which translated from Latin means "Human Life").  This was not a new "take" on the Church's position, but rather a reemphasis of the Church's teaching that it is always intrinsically wrong to use contraception to prevent the creation of new life.  This is a position that was historically shared by all Christian religions until the 1930s (investigate the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference to learn about the shift to permit contraception).  The Catholic Church has never swayed in its opposition to contraception, sterilization and abortion based on Scripture, Apostolic Teachings and the Magisterium.

So to say that the Catholic Church is a bit irked would be a serious understatement.

Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory called HHS's decision a "direct attack on our religious freedom and our 1st Amendment rights."

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.  Andas a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so).  The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

Since this is a controversy, you know there are catchy YouTube videos.  So I have included an interesting one for you to watch.

Oh, so then this is just a "Catholic thing."  Uhh, not so much.

What about the United States Constitution? Specifically, that pesky 1st Amendment?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

Free exercise of religion is kind of a central tenet upon which our country was found. Seems to me that everyone should be getting pretty upset about this, not just Catholics.

The National Association of Evangelicals stated:

“Freedom of conscience is a sacred gift from God, not a grant from the state,” said Galen Carey, NAE Vice President for Government Relations. “No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience.  The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent.” 

Orthodox Christians are also opposed:

"We, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, call upon HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration to rescind this unjust ruling and to respect the religious freedom guaranteed all Americans by the First Amendment."

Jewish Orthodox groups are also opposed:

"Most troubling, is the Administration’s underlying rationale for its decision, which appears to be a view that if a religious entity is not insular, but engaged with broader society, it loses its “religious” character and liberties.  Many faiths firmly believe in being open to and engaged with broader society and fellow citizens of other faiths.  The Administration’s ruling makes the price of such an outward approach the violation of an organization’s religious principles.  This is deeply disappointing.  The Orthodox Union will support legislation in Congress to reverse this policy."

I do believe that the Obama administration has really stirred up a hornets nest.  Since this is an election year, I predict a whole lot of back-peddling and doublespeak.  Things should get really interesting.

When I first heard of this decision, a quote kept coming to my mind (which is often attributed to Edmund Burke, even though he may not have actually said it)...

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing."

Hence I am writing this blog.  I have included link after link so that you might read up yourself and reach your own conclusions about what you feel is right.  I have avoided drafting a constitutional free exercise argument because the case law gets quite complicated.  As a lawyer, even I find it a bit tedious and dull.  If your eyes glaze over, you won't be able to even read any longer.  However, I do want to give you a list of key Supreme Court free exercise cases, in case you want to plow through them yourself.

They are:

Reynolds v. Unitted States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879)

United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944)

Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963)

Yoder v. Wisconsin, 406 U.S. 205 (1972)

Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986)

Lyng v. Northwest Cemetery Prot. Ass’n, 485 U.S. 439 (1988)

Employment Div. of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990)

Church of the Lukumbi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993)

City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)

Of particular note, the City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) declared the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) was unconstitutional as it applied to state and local governments.  The RFRA was passed by Congress in direct response to the court's ruling in the Employment Div. of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) case.

Please take the time to get informed on these issues, especially in light of a looming election.  In 1784 Edmund Burke said, "The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."

Let us all have no delusions!  Investigate for yourselves.

Sad, Sad State for Charter Schools

Back in June, I blogged about a Georgia Supreme Court ruling which declared that the statute authorizing Georgia Charter schools was unconstitutional.  I found the logic of the court's ruling very questionable and disturbing.

Interestingly enough, when I spoke to parents who had children in these charter schools which were affected by the ruling, they seemed quite unperturbed. Surely it would not affect them.  All would be well.

Well, here we are six months later.  How are things for these charter schools? Uh, not too good.  Not too good at all!  It truly saddens me.

Ivy Prepatory Academy is an all girls middle school in Gwinnett County that opened as a Charter School.  The plan was for the school to grow one grade a year to encompass high school as well.  As parents of a current 5th grade girl, living in Gwinnett County, our family has been keeping an eye on this school. We have seen some very good things coming out of this school.  After all, if homeschooling didn't work out well this year, she would need to go to school somewhere, right?

Not simply trusting parental word-of-mouth, we were interested in as much factual data that we could acquire.  It certainly helps when trying to see how a school is performing.  So, how does Ivy Prep measure up compared to the typical Gwinnett County Public School (GCPS)?  Take a look at some of the statistics.  I stole the nice table from Peach Pundit.

6th Grade	Reading	Social Studies	Science	English Language/Arts	Math
GCPS	92.7%	78.8%	81.5%	93.5%	82.3%
Ivy Prep	100%	78.0%	87.0%	100%	86.0%
7th Grade	Reading	Social Studies	Science	English Language/Arts	Math
GCPS	93.1%	84.4%	89.9%	94.6%	92.6%
Ivy Prep	100%	93.0%	89.0%	100%	97.0%

So what action has the Gwinnett County Board of Education decided to take regarding Ivy Prep? Why deny an extension of the school's charter, of course.

What in the world is my County doing?  You have a school that is working.  Working better, in fact, than most of your other schools.  Don't support it.  Don't try to learn what they are doing better than the rest of the schools.  Don't try to emulate it.  Actively work to shut it down!  

Friends have wondered why I didn't want to use the public schools.  Why don't I have faith in the public school system?  I don't trust them.  Our values regarding education are clearly not the same.  I don't believe that the Gwinnett County Board of Education places providing the best possible education for the children of Gwinnett County on its priority list in any sort of a leading position.  Perhaps providing an "adequate" education is on their list, but certainly not providing "the best possible" education.

Outside of health and safety, there is nothing more important to me than ensuring that my children receive the best possible education that we can provide.  What a sad state of affairs that exists in Gwinnett County (and throughout the rest of Georgia too)!  I predict that the homeschool movement will continue to grow, particularly in Gwinnett County, while the local governmental approach is so hostile to innovation and effectiveness.