HOME-EDUCATION part 2

Home-education in France. The French school system is regulated by the Education Nationale (national education), who sometimes makes it very difficult to home-educate, although it is legal to do so. Most inspectors from the Education Nationale say that the child has to be tested based on what a child of the same age in school would know. That is not what it says in the french law. The child can only be tested based on what her or his level was on the last time he or she was inspected. The only test should be at the age of 16 or 18 when the inspector should give him or her a test to see if the person has the skills required by French law. Personally I was tested twice in five years (we were visited by the inspector three times), both times were before we knew the law. If you home-educate you are supposed to send a letter to the Education Nationale and the town hall every September to state that you are going to home-educate your child. Normally the inspector comes to your house every year (not always the case) and somebody from the town hall is supposed to come every two years to see if the children's environment is propice to learning. If you have a more unschool approach then the town hall's visit is not usually what you have to be worried about, it is the inspectors visit that you should prepare for. But if you have a school at home approach, then you needn't worry about either visit (although the test is still illegal).

2008 U.S.A. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION part 2

Tomorrow the next U.S. president will be decided. Who is going to be elected? Well, if we look at the polls, Obama is going to win. But, according to some people (especially my mother) in the last two elections there was cheating and the republican candidate was falsely elected. Which means that, although the democrat candidate has a higher "score", there is still a chance that McCain wins. But I doubt it since barely anyone in America likes Bush enough to want another Republican in the White House. But I'm still suspicious. There is also the chance that Obama is either working for the people who installed Bush or will be controlled (as Bush probably was seeing his level of intelligence) by them as a puppet ruler. Personally I hope that Obama wins fair and square and that he rules as he sees best (which ever way that may be), and I hope that he sees better than Bush. Don't forget to vote on who you think will win and don't forget to post your comments.

HOME-EDUCATION part 1

Home-education is possible from birth. It is legal to home-educate in a number of countries: United Kingdom, Austria, France, Ireland, Slovenia, Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. For a map of the legality of home-education in the world click here (look further down the page)
There are nearly as many different methods as there are home-educated people, the methods range from complete unschoolers (complete freedom is given to the child), through more moderate methods, all the way to extreme home schooling (or school at home) where the child is taught exactly what children in school are taught, using school textbooks.
There are many examples where home-education is successful: Abraham Lincoln (16th president of the U.S. Taught himself mathematics, writing and reading), Leonardo Da Vinci (scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer), Felix Mendelssohn (composer, pianist and conductor), George S. Patton (U.S. Army officer), Robert E. Lee (U.S. Army officer, engineer and general), Alexander Graham Bell (scientist, inventor and innovator), Che Guevara (left-wing guerilla leader in Cuba, Africa and Bolivia; prison commandant and national bank president in Cuba; he was taught by his mother until age 13), Thomas Edison (inventor and businessman; he spent three months in school; he was taught reading, writing and arithmetic by his mother; the rest of his education he received by reading books), Woodrow Wilson (28th president of the U.S. Was home-educated by his father because of the Civil War; at 19 he entered Princeton University), others included: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, John Tyler, George Washington, Moses, Joan of Arc, John the Baptist, William Cary, Jonathan Edwards, Brigham Young, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Bret Harte, C.S. Lewis, Sean O'Casey, George Bernard Shaw, Mark Twain, Charles Chaplin, Florence Nightingale, Leo Tolstoy, and myself.
A big reason for parents wanting to home-educate their child is because they think that they can provide a better education than the school. Which I think is very possible these days, what with the level of education being lowered in most countries. Another big reason for home-education poor learning environment at school. According to the U.S. DOE's "Homeschooling in the United States: 2003", "the social environments of other forms of schooling" (including safety, drugs, bullying and negative peer-pressure) is cited by 85% of parents as an important reason why they homeschool.

2008 U.S.A. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION part 1

This year's election opposes two very different candidates: for the democrats we have Barack Obama, who is currently in the lead, (born in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. His father was a Kenyan, his mother a Kansan. He went to Harvard Law School and Columbia University. He served as Illinois State Senator (1997 - 2004), and is currently serving as United States Senator (Class 3) from Illinois. He was officially nominated as presidential candidate on August 27, 2008), his running mate is Joe Biden (born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He went to the University of Delaware and Syracuse University College of Law. He is serving as United States Senator (Class 2) from Delaware. He was chosen by Barack Obama to be his running mate on August 27, 2008).
For the republicans we have John McCain (He was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone, Panama. He went to United States Naval Academy. He served as Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st congressional district (1983 - 1987) and is serving as United States senator (Class 3) from Arizona. He was officially nominated as presidential candidate on September 3, 2008), his running mate is Sarah Palin (She was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, U.S.A. She went to Hawaii Pacific College (for one semester), North Idaho community college (two semesters), Idaho University (two semesters), Matanaka Susitna community college (one term) and back to Idaho University (three semesters; she graduated there with a bachelor of science in communications-journalism). She served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska and she is serving as Governor of Alaska. John McCain chose her as his running mate on August 29, 2008).
On one side we have two law school graduates (Biden and Obama) and on the other we have an ex-soldier and a graduate in communications-journalism (McCain and Palin). Who would you think is more capable of running the U.S. government? According to a Pew Research Center poll, Biden had a 60% favorability rating, compared to Palin's rating of 44%. Currently (2/11/08) the projected electoral votes are 333 for Obama and 181 for McCain. (on Yahoo!). And poll averages are 50.4 for Obama and 43.6 for McCain.