FL Homeschoolers

Yesterday I was chatting with a friend about a situation in a local school. A student had passed away and grief counselors were present to 'help' students who were dealing with the loss.

I am shocked. I know that many times we hear of these grief counselors stepping into roles in the schools to help in these situations. I  know I always believed they were trained professionals who were able to help a student deal with the initial shock and emotional issues stemming from a death in the schools.

A 13 year old student I know approached one of the grief counselors yesterday after hearing news that a friend had passed away. The counselor asked if she knew the other student just in school or outside of school as well. She replied with the fact she was friends with this student both in and outside of school. The "counselor" then told her thank you and called the next student in.

There was no comfort given, no reasurrance. A 13 year old who was wise enough to seek counseling for the loss of a friend was not helped at all.  What is the point of having 'grief counselors' if they are not doing anything to help the students grieve?

Thankfully this student went to her guidance counselor with other friends who were also suffering. The students themselves were overseen by the guidance counselor in an impromptu peer-counseling session. 

People wonder what is going on with today's teens.  Why do they have so many issues. Yet here in a time where a teen is turning for help they are being ushered through without even an opportunity or dialogue to assist.

Shame on you "Grief Counselor" for turning away the students and not doing your job.

Life has offered me so many changes in the past year.  In order to still support the homeschooling community we have decided to make a few changes on a trial basis.

The forum is still up and will remain so. It is an archive of wonderful information and links.  The calendar on there will remain the main group calendar. I've found it to be so user friendly and wonderful. 

The chat room at current is inactive. We are looking for volunteers and experts to run it on a schedule. If you are interested in hosting a themed chat or an open chat please contact me.

New feature - due to the sheer popularity and ease we have added a yahoo group. This is great for those who wish to chat.  It reduces the need to log in to the forum to see if someone has responded to your particular post.

Membership is still completely free. If you have any questions - please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for your understanding!

I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know that there are updates to the site. You can now find some of the information on the upcoming events for the next few months.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those members, group owners and moderators in other cities who have stepped up to the plate to bring FL Homeschooler events to their area. I hope as we advance into the 2008-09 school year that we will find more volunteers willing to share the FL Homeschooler's mission.

I'd also like to take a moment to remind readers that you can subscribe to this blog. I use Google as my home page and it allows me to have RSS subscriptions. I am sure there are others out there as well. It is a wonderful way to keep up-to-date even if you are not an active member on the forum.

Thank you!

This one has me livid. . .

Kindergarten is supposed to be a special time in a child's life. The bright fresh faces, the 'big' kid clothes, learning the foundation for your education and the years ahead.

But for 5 year old Alex Barton, he learned about the cruelty of others. You see, he is special needs. He is being evaluated for Asperger's Syndrome.

The teacher decided to have him voted out of the class, survivor style.

Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillio was way out of line on this one. Disciplinary action won't change what has been done.

For more information please visit CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/27/earlyshow/main4130288.shtml

Please allow me a moment to step up on my soap box.

Homeschoolers are a very active part of our communities. We pay the same educational taxes, and we follow our state's requirements to be homeschoolers. Generally when there is any type of educational contest it is either stated homeschoolers may participate - or you need only contact to get the okay.

Not for Subway. You see they have this contest going and if you are a homeschooler - your child cannot participate.

The prize involves sports equipment to be donated to the child's school. Now I can completely relate to the fact that Subway doesn't want to donate $5,000 in sports equipment to a family. However - it could state that it must be donated to a local co-op, park, athletic program or something. Why just flat out exclude homeschoolers? I mean my child cannot even go enter with their receipt and get a free book?

Subway has me fuming over this one. I personally refuse to spend another penny at Subway. Why would I want my homeschooler to eat their sandwhich if my homeschooler isn't good enough to enter their contest? 

So - if you are upset like I am - let them know that it is unfair to exclude us. Let your voice be heard! http://www.subway.com/Applications/CustService/frmCustomerService.aspx

Now because I don't believe in offering my opinion without proof - here is their contest: http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx

Other sources: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65217

I was recently contacted by a company called Grown Up Girl. Like many companies they were looking for an opportunity to reach the homeschool community. They had a truly unique product - so I just had to find out more. . .

First - let me say that all my emails with the representative were wonderful. She was nice, polite, and it was a great experience. Too many companies forget customer service. She is not an example of this.

Grown Up Girl targets parents of pre-menstrual girls. They offer products to help educate girls about their period. One of their products is called the Period Pak. Having a nine-year old daughter at home, I had to check this out.

So I get this box in the mail and open it up. The first thing I notice is how the product is packaged. It looked like a bakery or boutique box to me.

So being the mother that I am - I am going to completely inspect it before my daughter even gets to see it. . .

I found the following contents:

Pink Tissue Paper (nice touch)
Booklet: Grown Up Girl a girl's guide to becoming a woman (20 or so pages with some illustrations and calendars you can photocopy)
8 pads & 2 panty liners
Congratulatory Card
Discreet Pad or Tampon holder

The booklet was very well written. It was in language I thought was quite appropriate for the 8-12 age range. It didn't talk DOWN to the reader, nor did it rely on complete medical terminology to explain things. It includes things like a story of a girl needing a pad in an emergency and how to track your period. The calendars in the back have no months or days - so could easily be photocopied, cut and stapled together to make a 12 month track. I would have hoped for the index card style where you could list a whole year on one.

The pads - there was an assortment of pads. I am going to assume that this is to help girls find the style they prefer. You can order one where they include tampons. I have to admit - there was one minor disappointment here. . . there is no way to identify which is which. An accompanying card that says something like "Pink wrapped pads are brand X style Y" would be nice. But hey - that's just my opinion.

Congratulatory card is a nice touch. Personally I'd give the kit to my daughter without the card until the time came.

The denim pouch is a VERY nice touch. You can shove some pads or tampons or both in it. It is one of those styles that you just cannot go wrong on. It would fit nicely in a purse or backpack. It looks like it can even be washed if needed.

Overall - I think it was nicely presented, informative, and a neat gift. However the price tag and the packaging make me think that this is more of an upper middle class gift rather than one all moms could afford. I'd like to see them possibly sell the booklet and pouch away from the kit.

On a four star level (4 being superior, 3 excellent, 2 good,  and 1 satisfactory):

Customer service - 4 stars
Product uniqueness - 4 stars
Packaging - 3 1/2 stars
Product - 3 stars
Price - 2 stars
Would I recommend this product - yes.

Thank you to Grown Up Girl and Sonia for the opportunity to review your wonderful product.

Well we've just uploaded our first ever free worksheet - Homophones! It is a single page sheet that shows all about homophones! To download it just visit our Printables pages!

I also wanted to recomend parents check out  www.homophone.com  to go along with this worksheet. They have such a huge list of  many homophones.  

Enjoy!

I have been going nuts trying to find what I felt would be an appropriate book to cover the topic of puberty with my daughter.

I didn't want anything that went all into sex but more things on the normal hormonal changes. Our local (and wonderful) librarian recommended a book to me by American Girls.

It is called The Care & Keeping of You. It covers everything from proper hygenie to deodorant, shaving, periods, and breasts. It does discuss the importance of nutrition. I think this is a great book for all those girls who are either at that ackward age - or close to it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCare-Keeping-You-American-Library%2Fdp%2F1562476661%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1206471535%26sr%3D8-1&tag=flhome-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

First - Currclick is offering a free Victorian Tea Time Recipe book. This would be a supplement to a Victorian unit. They do have several Victorian units of course.

<a href="http://www.currclick.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=164&affiliate_id=24265 "><img src="http://www.currclick.com/themes/currclick/images/affiliatebanner1.gif" /></a>

Dover also has freebies. http://www.doverpublications.com/sampler/0321  and http://www.doverpublications.com/teachersampler/0318/ 

The Homeschool Association of CA has asked for our help. Homeschoolers everywhere are asked to take part in a letter writing campaign.

Please read the request here: http://www.hsc.org/appellatedecision. Also be sure to let other homeschoolers know!