Just thought I'd share a cool Science site with other homeschoolers, and anyone who is interested!! They have some really great videos and a whole site of stuff!!
I chose this video to share because the hunting season IS upon us. In fact, in our state is has arrived. We are in the middle of bow hunting season as of now. Rick has already bagged a really nice 8 point buck this past Saturday. When I get the pics on the new laptop I will post some. :o)
Winter, it seems, is also upon us!! Temperatures here today are in the mid 30s and we have our first 'little' snow in this area. No accumulation, just flurries here and there. UGH!! I don't like snow so you might here me call snow a dirty word, you know it's sn**. Or s**w. :o) I think I was meant to move south for the winter, maybe I missed my calling and was meant to be a bird, I don't know. All I know is that cold weather and me don't get along! Brrrrr!!
Anyhow, I also added this Science link and some others today in the links over there!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Fayette County Homeschoolers meeting with BOE
In my personal opinion, the meeting between Fayette County homeschoolers and the BOE was unproductive for homeschoolers. This is pretty much how it went, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a ton, but bear with me.
I had never spoken to Judy Lively in person, therefore I didn't know what she looked like. When we got there we took our seats at desks, and a woman came around and handed out folders to everyone. That woman was Judy Lively, unbeknownst to me, and I'm sure a lot of others had no idea who she was. Now, first off, this perturbs me (new word for the week LOL), because IMHO I think she should have extended a hand as she did that and said "I'm Judy Lively, and you are...??" or something to that effect. I just think it would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, though, they passed around 'name tags'.....WHATEVER. *sigh*
Ms. Lively started the meeting by introducing herself, and Dr. Serena Starcher (asst. county super), and Dr. Karen Larry (asst. state super). It stated in the invitation to the meeting that Chris Perkins, county super, would be there but he wasn't. (??) Ms. Lively went on to say that this was a friendly meeting, and that they support homeschoolers 100% and that most homeschoolers are doing a great job and they applaud us for that and all this stuff. Then she went on to explain THEIR position on this issue, which is 'requesting a more detailed 'Outline for a Plan of Instruction' (POI)'. She directed us to our folders, which included examples of 'good' and 'bad' NOI's, and a copy of the law, and another letter of some sort from 1990-something and I can't even remember what that was, cause I threw mine away (sorry, I have no use for that stuff).
The bad examples had things like "same as Meadow Bridge High School" or something similar on them, and one had the wrong year. The GOOD examples (yep, there are a few who comply with their requests) were filled out nicely and had the curriculum's objectives or table of contents attached. These were actual NOI's that had the personal info blacked out. One of the good NOI owners was actually there, and she spoke up and pointed out that one of those was her's, but she was there to support the right to be able to choose how much info is given to the BOE.
Ms. Lively went on to tell stories as to why she needs this info. She said that there are cases where kids are missing, not in any school, and they have no idea where they are, and that these kinds of people fill out the NOI's like the bad examples were and it sends a red flag and all this stuff. Now, I agree that all children need to be accounted for in some way...otherwise abusive and evil people could just beat a child to death and bury them somewhere and no one would miss them. She said that some parents take their kids out of school, put them back in, take them out, and so forth and the kids are left alone with no teaching, and she's just trying to fix that I guess.
And I don't know what DOCTOR Starcher was on....but whatever it was it was apparently in her bubble gum, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. No joke. She sat there and chewed her gum like a cow chewing it's cud, mouth wide open and all, and she'd even blow a little bubble every once in a while. Yeah, it was an informal meeting, so why not?? LOL And before I get sued for defamation of character, just joking about wondering what she was on, I don't have a clue whether she was ON anything. LOL However, she never spoke, meaning she never addressed us like Ms. Lively did, except for later to close the meeting....more on that in a bit though. Dr. Larry hardly spoke either, usually to answer a question from Ms. Lively, and a few times she answered a homeschoolers question or comment.
The attorney who was present from HSLDA (Steve Schwartz) hardly got the chance to say anything, he tried to argue some points of the law and such, but was cut short by Dr. Larry. She said that it wasn't fair to address those points without THEM having an attorney present. He tried to get across that the law says what it says, and that it it vague for a reason and I don't know what all. Also present was John Carey, who is an advocate for homeschoolers in the legislature and all. He had a lot to say and he is great, he gets in there and speaks his mind, although I hardly heard a word he said cause he's soft spoken and this was a big room and I wish that anyone who spoke had stood up. Most didn't. Ms. Lively was the only one standing. Well, until this one homeschool Dad stood up and took the floor. LOL He's great. He's in our local homeschool group here. He was trying to speak and bring his points home, and he got a little irate. So much so that Ms. Lively looked at the other BOE members and said "I think we may need to call someone". Well, there was a guy in the National Guard sitting there, I assume he's a homeschool Dad also, and he was in fatigues. The other guy looks at Ms. Lively and says "what do you need to call someone for?" (as he points out the NG guy) he says "here's somebody who protects our COUNTRY, he can protect you." I thought I'd crack up.
So, finally Ms. Lively wrapped up her speech...and she asked if anyone had questions or comments. No one spoke at first, and she said "hmm, short meeting". Then someone spoke up and and that led to more and more discussion from the homeschoolers, and when they found out that they weren't going to get what they came to try to talk us into, Ms. Lively stated that they were going to take all this back to the state superintendent and the legislature. She said they would just have to go back and have the law clarified once and for all. They think the law is vague for their benefit apparently, so that they can tell us what to report. The homeschoolers, the attorney, and Mr. Carey all let them know that the law was left vague so homeschooling parents could discern and decide what they would teach. When the 'discussion' wasn't going in the direction they wanted it to Dr. Starcher decided to stand up and call the meeting to a close. All she did was chew her bubble gum the whole time and then she just says "I'm calling this meeting to a close, you can walk around and mingle if you want to". It didn't end there though...others kept commenting and bringing up points and it'd lead to more. When the one woman who had the GOOD NOI said what she had to say...Dr. Starcher asked how could we go about seeing how many homeschoolers want to send in more info. DUH. I was thinking "well, I think we've seen about that already, seeing as how those who WANT to comply with your requests already have, and those who don't, haven't."
The woman with the good NOI brought up a great point...she said that when she prepared her NOI she just went to the Internet and printed off the stuff she sent. She said anybody can do that, and what if everyone did and then didn't follow that plan? Ms. Lively made it clear that she just needs to know we have a PLAN. The woman said something like "yeah, but what if somebody just prints something off just to satisfy you, and it's not accurate and the don't plan to follow that plan at all, then what's the use in spending time sending in information that is not accurate? Again, Ms. Lively said "I just need to know you have a plan." So, it does not matter whether you actually plan to teach the plan you send.....interesting. I agree, what's the use in sending one? For one thing, it's dishonest, and that's one thing that most homeschoolers are not.
I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have been heard anyhow. I'm soft spoken myself so I knew better. So that pretty much ended that. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of valid stuff that was said, but I wrote it all here and then lost it earlier. Maybe someone else can tell more of what I left out, just ask questions in the group.
But yes....this is affecting us all in the state. They did say they were going to pursue this in the legislature...again. So keep your eyes open and be ready to head to Charleston...again.
As for what happened to me last week, (the truancy letter?), I never spoke to Ms. Lively. My daughter asked me why, and that she might have apologized to me in person. I told her that she apologized on the phone, and if she wanted to aplogize to me face to face she should have sought me out and done so. She had opportunity to do so. As for me, I didn't want to get chummy with her after being all nicey nice and acting as if she wanted this because she cares about all kids and it's her job and she's just trying to do her job to the best of her ability. Yeah, she's trying to cover her butt is all. I know she has cases that are questionable, but she needs to go after THEM, not us. She says if she requests information from one, she has to request it from all. We all know that she could focus on the 'red flag' NOI's.
At any rate...just be on the alert!! Nothing was resolved at this meeting. And I'm not sure about the number of homeschoolers who turned out...if I had to guess I'd say about 45-50 families were represented.
I had never spoken to Judy Lively in person, therefore I didn't know what she looked like. When we got there we took our seats at desks, and a woman came around and handed out folders to everyone. That woman was Judy Lively, unbeknownst to me, and I'm sure a lot of others had no idea who she was. Now, first off, this perturbs me (new word for the week LOL), because IMHO I think she should have extended a hand as she did that and said "I'm Judy Lively, and you are...??" or something to that effect. I just think it would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, though, they passed around 'name tags'.....WHATEVER. *sigh*
Ms. Lively started the meeting by introducing herself, and Dr. Serena Starcher (asst. county super), and Dr. Karen Larry (asst. state super). It stated in the invitation to the meeting that Chris Perkins, county super, would be there but he wasn't. (??) Ms. Lively went on to say that this was a friendly meeting, and that they support homeschoolers 100% and that most homeschoolers are doing a great job and they applaud us for that and all this stuff. Then she went on to explain THEIR position on this issue, which is 'requesting a more detailed 'Outline for a Plan of Instruction' (POI)'. She directed us to our folders, which included examples of 'good' and 'bad' NOI's, and a copy of the law, and another letter of some sort from 1990-something and I can't even remember what that was, cause I threw mine away (sorry, I have no use for that stuff).
The bad examples had things like "same as Meadow Bridge High School" or something similar on them, and one had the wrong year. The GOOD examples (yep, there are a few who comply with their requests) were filled out nicely and had the curriculum's objectives or table of contents attached. These were actual NOI's that had the personal info blacked out. One of the good NOI owners was actually there, and she spoke up and pointed out that one of those was her's, but she was there to support the right to be able to choose how much info is given to the BOE.
Ms. Lively went on to tell stories as to why she needs this info. She said that there are cases where kids are missing, not in any school, and they have no idea where they are, and that these kinds of people fill out the NOI's like the bad examples were and it sends a red flag and all this stuff. Now, I agree that all children need to be accounted for in some way...otherwise abusive and evil people could just beat a child to death and bury them somewhere and no one would miss them. She said that some parents take their kids out of school, put them back in, take them out, and so forth and the kids are left alone with no teaching, and she's just trying to fix that I guess.
And I don't know what DOCTOR Starcher was on....but whatever it was it was apparently in her bubble gum, she seemed to enjoy it immensely. No joke. She sat there and chewed her gum like a cow chewing it's cud, mouth wide open and all, and she'd even blow a little bubble every once in a while. Yeah, it was an informal meeting, so why not?? LOL And before I get sued for defamation of character, just joking about wondering what she was on, I don't have a clue whether she was ON anything. LOL However, she never spoke, meaning she never addressed us like Ms. Lively did, except for later to close the meeting....more on that in a bit though. Dr. Larry hardly spoke either, usually to answer a question from Ms. Lively, and a few times she answered a homeschoolers question or comment.
The attorney who was present from HSLDA (Steve Schwartz) hardly got the chance to say anything, he tried to argue some points of the law and such, but was cut short by Dr. Larry. She said that it wasn't fair to address those points without THEM having an attorney present. He tried to get across that the law says what it says, and that it it vague for a reason and I don't know what all. Also present was John Carey, who is an advocate for homeschoolers in the legislature and all. He had a lot to say and he is great, he gets in there and speaks his mind, although I hardly heard a word he said cause he's soft spoken and this was a big room and I wish that anyone who spoke had stood up. Most didn't. Ms. Lively was the only one standing. Well, until this one homeschool Dad stood up and took the floor. LOL He's great. He's in our local homeschool group here. He was trying to speak and bring his points home, and he got a little irate. So much so that Ms. Lively looked at the other BOE members and said "I think we may need to call someone". Well, there was a guy in the National Guard sitting there, I assume he's a homeschool Dad also, and he was in fatigues. The other guy looks at Ms. Lively and says "what do you need to call someone for?" (as he points out the NG guy) he says "here's somebody who protects our COUNTRY, he can protect you." I thought I'd crack up.
So, finally Ms. Lively wrapped up her speech...and she asked if anyone had questions or comments. No one spoke at first, and she said "hmm, short meeting". Then someone spoke up and and that led to more and more discussion from the homeschoolers, and when they found out that they weren't going to get what they came to try to talk us into, Ms. Lively stated that they were going to take all this back to the state superintendent and the legislature. She said they would just have to go back and have the law clarified once and for all. They think the law is vague for their benefit apparently, so that they can tell us what to report. The homeschoolers, the attorney, and Mr. Carey all let them know that the law was left vague so homeschooling parents could discern and decide what they would teach. When the 'discussion' wasn't going in the direction they wanted it to Dr. Starcher decided to stand up and call the meeting to a close. All she did was chew her bubble gum the whole time and then she just says "I'm calling this meeting to a close, you can walk around and mingle if you want to". It didn't end there though...others kept commenting and bringing up points and it'd lead to more. When the one woman who had the GOOD NOI said what she had to say...Dr. Starcher asked how could we go about seeing how many homeschoolers want to send in more info. DUH. I was thinking "well, I think we've seen about that already, seeing as how those who WANT to comply with your requests already have, and those who don't, haven't."
The woman with the good NOI brought up a great point...she said that when she prepared her NOI she just went to the Internet and printed off the stuff she sent. She said anybody can do that, and what if everyone did and then didn't follow that plan? Ms. Lively made it clear that she just needs to know we have a PLAN. The woman said something like "yeah, but what if somebody just prints something off just to satisfy you, and it's not accurate and the don't plan to follow that plan at all, then what's the use in spending time sending in information that is not accurate? Again, Ms. Lively said "I just need to know you have a plan." So, it does not matter whether you actually plan to teach the plan you send.....interesting. I agree, what's the use in sending one? For one thing, it's dishonest, and that's one thing that most homeschoolers are not.
I didn't say anything, I wouldn't have been heard anyhow. I'm soft spoken myself so I knew better. So that pretty much ended that. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of valid stuff that was said, but I wrote it all here and then lost it earlier. Maybe someone else can tell more of what I left out, just ask questions in the group.
But yes....this is affecting us all in the state. They did say they were going to pursue this in the legislature...again. So keep your eyes open and be ready to head to Charleston...again.
As for what happened to me last week, (the truancy letter?), I never spoke to Ms. Lively. My daughter asked me why, and that she might have apologized to me in person. I told her that she apologized on the phone, and if she wanted to aplogize to me face to face she should have sought me out and done so. She had opportunity to do so. As for me, I didn't want to get chummy with her after being all nicey nice and acting as if she wanted this because she cares about all kids and it's her job and she's just trying to do her job to the best of her ability. Yeah, she's trying to cover her butt is all. I know she has cases that are questionable, but she needs to go after THEM, not us. She says if she requests information from one, she has to request it from all. We all know that she could focus on the 'red flag' NOI's.
At any rate...just be on the alert!! Nothing was resolved at this meeting. And I'm not sure about the number of homeschoolers who turned out...if I had to guess I'd say about 45-50 families were represented.
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