Final Reflection

  The reason I chose this image is because of all the thought that is put into blogging.

      When I look back at all the work I did in this class, step by step with the teacher I learned a lot! I have been in situations not in class with writing and I would remember the correct way to do things being I just went over this with my teacher! Blogging is fun for the most part, but I don’t know if I would continue to do it. I can let my emotions get in the way of my opinions and sometimes that might offend people. I did love seeing my blog outcome and how it laid out like a book. Nice and neat! I can see where blogging can be addictive you can let your feelings out! Almost like therapy but at the same time you have to be careful. This is the World Wide Web.

     I chose to home school because this is what I love to do. This is one my passions to teach our children, so why not write about it! I did learn about classmates too. Just by reading their blogs it was really interesting. I think blogging over the traditional was a lot more fun to do. I love adding images too, and with blogging it just makes what you are writing about come alive. Like a book!

     The Rhetoric writing was a whole new thing to me. I had no idea about mythos, pathos, logos, and ethos. That explained a lot to me about images and why people choose to post certain images to web pages and what they mean. This was good to learn when you look at the field I am going into which is web design.

    Out of all the classes I have I would have to say learning by exchanging drafts with the professor was so helpful. Thanks for all your help, I have learned a lot!

What do you think about homeschooling?

I feel this image above explains how I feel when I come in contact with people who disagree with
homeschooling.     
   
       What do you think about homeschooling? Have any of my blogs maybe made you think twice about homeschooling if you disagreed with it. Or have you always thought homeschooling was a good thing? I hope before anyone jumps on the bandwagon to automatically think homeschoolers are unsocialized weird kids, that you would just do the research for yourself. Even try and talk to an actual homeschooling family. You might be amazed to find out how much homeschooled children are like public school educated children. I love the image above it’s so true in so many ways! It makes me laugh every time I see it.

      So if you were thinking about homeschooling, what is stopping you? Homeschooling costs way less than sending your kids to a public or private school. Did you know homeschoolers can receive discounts on computers from Apple and Dell (Rotherham, 2012)? Also did you know that there is a discounted home-school rate on certain events, fairs, amusement parks, museums, and etc (Rotherham, 2012)? In some states you can have a tutor for your child and file for a tax credit (Rotherham, 2012). That’s why I feel homeschoolers should have the same advantages when it comes to sports in the school system. Even if we choose to home-school we don’t want special treatment and the obvious fairness when it comes to sports, but we should have the same option being we are taxpayers just like you (Rotherham, 2012). We pay to support these local public schools. So why is it we are not allowed to send our kids off to public schools for just sports? If it’s because parents are mad because their kids have to keep up with certain grades, do these parents actually think we as homeschooling parents would let our children play sports with bad grades in homeschooling. We do grade our children and we do hold our children back if we think they need to be held back. If our children want to be a part of sports we want them to be able to qualify for college scholarships too (Rotherham, 2012). It’s all about fairness!

       It’s silly to me that some parents think we have all these free do what you want days in homeschooling. We are in the books just as much as kids in public school. We just have a time of day 2-3 hours of straight school work and no wasting time switching classes and getting to school. We even eat lunch while doing school a lot of days. If we have to run errands or dr. appointments my girls take their backpacks and do road schooling throughout the day. We take our schooling just as serious as you do when you send your children off to someone else to teach them. Did you know there is even a graduation at the Convention Center in Richmond for homeschooled graduates? Or did you even know that there is a prom their too as well? There are lots of options, just some quirks that need to be approved. Think about musician families or actors and actresses. A lot of famous people have to home-school because they are on the road as a family. What about those families that are constantly moving from one state to another. Homeschooling lets you customize academics to fit your family’s needs as a whole (Rotherham, 2012).

     That’s one of the things I love about homeschooling is I can customize my children’s curriculums. I know already that I need to change our science curriculum for next year because it is not that interesting. I want my kids engaged and loving it. They feel it’s ok, but I know my girls and I feel bored myself. So this is a good thing, all I have to do is change it. I can even do it now instead of waiting for the following year. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. I get to choose what I know my girls will love, while learning. We don’t want for our girls to dread doing school. We want them to love to learn not hate it. I was public school educated just like my husband and we both have G.E.D’s .We both loathed the school system as kids. I would have to say the bullying was my biggest thing I hated about getting up in the morning to go to school. I still believe I have low self esteem resulting from my public school education and bullying. My parents would never say anything about me like other kids did in school to me.

      That’s not socialization and real world as people put it. When your child is either being threatened or picked on that’s just abuse. That’s one of the many reasons why my husband and I chose to home-school to build our girls up without bullying. So their focus is on learning and not what they are wearing or worried about what others think. I know not every child gets bullied but I do not know many grownups who were never bullied. We don’t want to take that chance with our children. Children are out of hand nowadays even if they are homeschooled. But at least when your child is being homeschooled it allows you to monitor your child’s behavior better. Teaching discipline is a lot easier when done by the parent. Children need discipline! I love what we have chosen to do with our children and that’s all that matters. I just hope one day we will see home-schooling as the norm. I think it has come a long way for sure. Can’t wait to see what the future holds!



Annotated Webliography:Where does the day go in our homeschooling home?

Rotherham (2012), the home team. Time, Retrieved April 2, 2012, from Master File Premier database.

This article talked about homeschooling and the benefits and struggles when it came to sports. Did you know that homeschooling parents actually grade their children’s and actually hold them back or move them forward depending on how they score on their testing each year. The same as public schools do.

Do you think a child should learn how to read at their own pace?

   The image above is our oldest Bailey reading and Sadie, who decided she wanted to join in the fun.

         Do you think it’s a better idea for a child to learn how to read at their own pace or should they know how to read at a certain level at a certain age? I personally think a child will learn when they are ready, as long as they are getting their daily language arts and reading lessons. I have seen it happen in our household. My oldest at age eight had a hard time reading, but as soon as she hit nine years old she was flying through books. I was in shock, because I am her teacher and I was thinking we needed to change her curriculum for the following year, when all of a sudden she could read everything. I was so excited to see how well she was reading too. So I do truly believe they learn at their own pace and do very well when it does click. Now when I look at my middle child who is in second grade, she is doing the same thing as her older sister.

       Except this time I believe she will need a lot more extra reading, and activities with reading added to her daily lessons, because I think she has a little more of a struggle paying attention on top of the reading difficulties. Again this is the beauty in homeschooling I fit my curriculums to my children’s learning styles. I totally believe there is not a “one size fits all” kind of thinking when it comes to what I teach. I know my middle child needs extra attention compared to her oldest sister. Her oldest sister just gets everything when my middle child sometimes seems like she is on another planet when I am asking her a question. I feel blessed to have the older sister who is reading at a high level where she helps her out and reads to both her sisters throughout the day when school is not in session. I mean as you can see in the picture above it’s my baby trying to mimic her big sister and that to me is a great example of good influence and helpful with showing our littlest one about reading. As our littlest one Sadie grows and follows behind her big sister I hope one day she will know how important reading is.



        Some parents don’t agree with idea that a child will read when they are ready to read approach. When a lot of homeschooling families do believe in this way of teaching like myself. This type of approach “they will read when they are ready” focuses on the love of reading rather than early reading (Keys & Crain, 2009). The school system tries to use the one size fits all way of thinking. When you compare my children they have two very different types of learning styles. So reading has to be formed to fit their individual learning styles. Children learn at their own pace with reading when homeschooled in most cases and this helps nurture a child’s inner wisdom and then allows a child to follow their own bliss (Keys & Crain, 2009). So it would not be such a demand to have to know how to read before a certain age as the one size fits all motto in the public school system. Parents just want their kids to love reading to where this is a lifetime love (Keys & Crain, 2009). Again some people think children should know how to read before they are the age of six while others will learn on their own anyways in most case before they are eight years of age. (Keys & Crain, 2009).



       Some parents that choose to home school still give a certain amount of instruction as I think I do. Overall we don’t want to be pressuring to our kids to read because we have seen our oldest just flow right into a high level of reading as stated on her test scores at the end of the school year. So why force something that will come in time. They love to read anyways, so it’s exciting. I myself was never a big reader so I really hope my children will just naturally love to read for life as they do now without having to do it at such an early age. Parents try and do a lot of read aloud to help bring their children in and let them decide for themselves if they are ready to figure it all out and read on their own (Keys & Crain, 2009). Parents try to be sensitive and let their children figure it out for themselves when it comes to reading (Keys & Crain, 2009).



          Like I have said before parents will choose what’s right for their children and I would never judge a families decision to send their kids to a public school system but I do hope to change the opinions about homeschooling. So it’s just as acceptable as a public school system in societies eyes .Each child has their own way of learning and we as parents are just trying to do what’s best when it’s comes to our children’s education. Each year of homeschooling I get so excited because my children score above average at the end of year testing in everything. They continue to amaze me. It just shows we have made the right decision as a family to continue their education at home. I have three very smart amazing beautiful girls. My life is so busy but I would never change a thing about it. One day they will be off doing their own thing and I hope one day to look back and say we did everything possible to make sure our children had the best influence and schooling we could offer as parents. This is our journey as a family and we moving right along year by year.



     Take it from me it’s not easy but it’s an easy choice when it comes to education. Our children are only small once, and we hope to be a part of every moment as much as possible. Not smothering kind of way either, just the love of being around them from the time they wake up till the time they hit the sack. Time moves fast and that is one thing I never really paid attention to when I was younger. Then I hit my 30’s and had my own kids and I see how valuable life is, how valuable your time is here, how valuable your children are and how fast they do grow. What seems like a routine everyday turns out to be nothing like that when you look back it’s just a year passed with all kinds of different things that went on and the biggest thing is your children turn a year older. Before you know it they are getting married and having their own children. So this is why we choose to spend as much time with our children and educate them with our values and beliefs and they score above average every year. Plus I love my time with our girls, even though it’s tuff it’s so rewarding in the end.

                                                                                        

Annotated Webliography: Where does the day go in our homeschooling home?

Keys & Crain, (2009) , Parental patience and children's reading , pilot study of homeschooled children, Encounter, Retrieved Winter 2009, from Academic Search Complete.

This article talks about homeschooling parents choosing to let their children learn to read at their own pace. So they gain a love for reading. Not being pressured to learn how to read at such an early age. Most kids being homeschooled still learn how to read by the time they were 8 years old“they will read when they are ready approach”.

Visual Rhetoric 2

                                    (Johnson, 2010)

This cartoon is geared to the homeschooling audience or to those parents who are unsure of how they want to educate their kids: home schooling versus public schooling?

           The image above shows the stereotypes of homeschooling, both the myths and the reality. The image also shows public schooling: what parent’s desire and the result when parents send their children to public schools.

          Myth: Homeschooled child: The cartoon shows a lonely fish being homeschooled; he is an un- socialized, sad fish.

         Reality: The homeschooled fish is free to interact with other fish of different ages and types.

        Myth: Public schooled kids: On the other hand, parents of the school of fish want their kids following the same path as kids their age, just like a school of fish, only to find that the outcomes have not matched their desire.

       Reality: Public school: The children are packed in public school classrooms like sardines. The school of fish (children) is screaming for help because there is no room to move and be themselves.

       Reality: Public school: There is not enough one to one teaching and learning.

       When I first read this comic I loved it. It makes me happy to see positive things being said about homeschooling (pathos). I think public school audiences would not like this image as much and would upset a family who send their kids to public school because the reality is public school systems are over packed with no room to breathe, creating frustration (pathos).

         For families that are unsure about the choice to educate their children, this cartoon might help this audience think about homeschooling. In other words, the argument of homeschooling versus public schooling addresses parents' logic and reasoning (logos). This cartoon can be trusted (ethos). As a home-school teacher, this cartoon confirms my knowledge and experience (logos & ethos).

 Source Cited:

Johnson, C. (2010).  Homeschooling vs. public schools. No Homeschool Agenda. Retrieved November 17, 2012, from http://www.noagendahomeschool.com/blogs/news/5388642-homeschooling-vs-public-school. 

Visual Rhetoric 1

        

     The image above shows how the media and the way society criticizes homeschooling. It shows a man of the media trying to convince society that homeschoolers are hiding evidence that it does not work. When in fact there is no bad evidence. On one table there are cobwebs showing nothing has been on that table in a while, meaning there has not been any bad evidence on homeschooling because the webs have not been disturbed. When right across from that table is another table showing all the good evidence on home schooling, and it’s actually overflowing into another box with no cobwebs. When they both are compared, homeschooling turns out to be good instead of bad even though society is trying to make it look bad with no evidence. I think the objective in this image is to convince society that home-schooled children are not hiding anything and that the proof of good evidence outweighs the bad. Even though society still tries to point out the bad even though there is no evidence to prove it!


     The man pointing and trying to convince society that homeschoolers are hiding something is meant to provoke our feelings of outrage (pathos). Pathos is used to engage TV audiences on the news channels, which presents the news with the dramatic feel (pathos). This picture also shows how good homeschooling is when compared to the bad. This makes me feel happy when seeing this. Although the character almost seems frustrated because there is no evidence that proves homeschooling is bad. Because I am a home-school teacher, the cartoon shows the truth and how society tries to make homeschooling look bad, but never seems to find the evidence to prove that. Thus, the cartoon is arguing its case to an audience of reason and intellect (logos), because this cartoon about homeschooling only shows good evidence when compared to the bad evidence (logos). The counter message in this cartoon is that society wants a way to prove the good evidence wrong, and the medial supports the negative image that homeschooling must be hiding something. The counter message is saying, “Don’t trust homeschooling” (ethos).Finally, the message of logic and reason to support homeschooling is geared towards the community of homeschooling families and those who are undecided (mythos)!

    I would say this is a great comic and made me smile because it is very true in many ways because a many in the society don’t even do the research but yet listen to the negative claims; many do not look at the evidence that discusses why homeschooling is good. Research is a good thing and, believe it or not, this comic has a lot of truth about it. I do like the added sarcasm to make the message to have a feel-good feeling for a homeschooling family when we are presented to the public eye.





Source Cited:


Brittany (2012). Adult homeschoolers speak out: college? Prepared or not? BAM. Retrieved from the web on November 17, 2012 at
http://mengalings.blogspot.com/2012/06/adult-homeschoolers-speak-out-college.html