Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. He would have been 108 years old today. We've been talking about Dr. Seuss, silly words, creative fun and humor all this week. This week, I'd like to share a new movie coming out--today as a matter of fact: The Lorax. Has anyone seen a preview of this movie? It looks cute, colorful and fun, but I don't happen to remember the story. My kids are a bit old for Dr. Seuss. Would love you to share your thoughts. Sometimes the movies made from Dr. Seuss stories have a little twist to them I wasn't expecting. There was some controversy about Horton Hears a Who, which had a kangaroo who was "Pouch Schooled" which seemed to suggest the...
Last week I shared part one of Should Your Child Be on Facebook? I shared the benefits of allowing your older child to have a Facebook account. I'll bet there were some things that surprised you, weren't there? Well, this week, I might surprise you again when I share the drawbacks and even the dangers of having your child on Facebook. One big Facebook No No is if your child is under age. Don’t start too young. Facebook rules say you have to be 13 to create an account. The only way around this is if you lie. I've met some parents--even Christian parents--who tell me they allow their 11 year old children to misrepresent their age to Facebook in...
So far in my article series, "A Question of Homeschooling," I've shared four of the most common questions homeschoolers are asked: Why do you homeschool?, Is homeschooling legal?, What about socialization? and Do you KNOW anything?. This week I want to share something that happened to me recently. My son has been taking a gymnastics class once a week this year. Since they had no classes during the middle of the day, they were willing to allow homeschoolers a significant discount. My son loves it. His favorite thing is the trampoline. They had two full classes during the school year. Unfortunately, most of the kids were taking the summer off so they reluctantly combined the two classes which ended up...
Continuing my series of articles, “A Question of Homeschooling.” Last week I answered the question, “Is homeschooling legal?” This week I will answer the most common question homeschoolers are asked, What about socialization? There are really two reasons people ask this question. One is because they are truly seeking to understand how homeschoolers get along not seeing the same group of children each day. The other is because they are under the false impression that homeschoolers lock their children in a closet until they graduate and by then, they are so weird, lonely and devoid of social skills, they are incapable of getting along in the "real world." First, I want to share some of the truths of socialization and...
If you are a long time reader of Communication FUNdamentals, you will recall that about a year ago our family had agreed to be filmed for a documentary that a USC grad student was doing on homeschooling for a local cable TV and internet show. I have to admit being a bit nervous about whether or not a positive image of my family and homeschooling in general would survive the cutting room floor. Since we are members of HSLDA, I called and spoke with Michael Smith to ask his advice. He shared a story with me about how his words had been twisted in an interview by the editing process but that, in his opinion, any publicity for homeschooling is...
