Kick The Bums Out!

Ya know, I try to keep my blogs on track by making sure that I only write things relevant to homeschoolers, but today I am so unhappy with our government that I must make an exception. Senator Micahel Bennet's office in DC just lied to me and then threatened to call the Capitol Police on me if I continued to call and ask my question. I know what you're thinking - what kind of question warrants that reaction? It must have been a doosey.

Yes, it was. The question was how does Michael Bennet feel about the new spending bill.

Their reply - "What spending bill?"

I asked to speak to someone who knew what I was talking about and she said no. So I ask for her name and she hung up. That's great isn't it? She is sadly mistaken if she thinks I'm giving up that easy so I call back. She threatens to call the Capitol Police on me if I call one more time.

Now, it really isn't her fault that I am always up for a challenge, and obviously she's severely underestimated the American people's resolve, so I call back and she lets it ring for several minutes before doing the age old junior high trick of "pick up - hang up".

Nice one. I give it another try. She answers and says "Don't call here again!"

I'm sorry, what? Don't call MY SENATOR'S office so I can comment? I ask to speak to a supervisor, she replies there isn't one there and hangs up.

Boy, she's getting far fast isn't she?

I call again, the process repeats itself. Yet again, same thing. And one more time and guess who I get? A supervisor.

Oh, I thought there was no supervisor? Mike over at Michael Bennet's office in DC is pretty annoyed that I'm now asking why they condone threats to citizens in addition to why they are spending my money like its not their's?

The problem the people of Colorado have with Michael Bennet is that he was never elected. He was appointed by Governor Ritter to be his pet and act like a good in-the-pocket democrat. He doesn't care about the People because he's never been accountable to them. He never ran for Senator. He never had to LISTEN to us. And boy - that has never been more apparent than it was today.

I hope Michael Bennet and Bill Ritter stay good friends because they'll be seeing each other a lot next year when they are both out of a job. And Ritter can pretend it was for "family reasons" but we all know who Corey Voorhis is and we all know the lies they told about him.

Does Yahoo Answers help kids cheat in school?

I asked this of the Yahoo answers community and my question was deleted by the Yahoo powers that be. If you have not yet been to Yahoo answers it works like this: You post a question and people who have logged in answer it. You can also help the community be answering a question.

If you go to the homework help section of Yahoo answers it takes only a few seconds to see that kids ARE cheating in school by using Yahoo Answers. Many times kids post entire homework assignments - including the multiple choice answers. And surprisingly enough, many times people actually answer them! I have seen entire essays posted at Yahoo Answers. In fact, some kids don't even try to hide the fact that they are cheating - they say "Please tell me the answers, I am failing!!!!!" or "I need Help NOW! Homework Due Tomorrow!"

What kind of service is Yahoo Answers? Was this the original intent of the Yahoo Corporation? To make cheating easier? I mean, it is no secret that the internet holds the answer to almost any question, but typically a kid would have to do that research themselves and along the way they would learn a thing or two. Not so with Yahoo Answers. They just plug in their question and by magic Yahoo spits out the information, while they hurry up and copy it down to their paper.

I have even seen kids who "homeschool" on Yahoo Answers. I put it in quotes because the ones I've seen are all doing those "online public schools" and it seems almost "club-house" like over there at Answers. "Quick! I need answers for Connections Academy Chapter 2 in Physical Science!"

And sure enough, there would be answers for those specific Connections Academy questions right in the Yahoo Answers Homework Help section.

Connections Academy, by the way, advertises itself as a "Free online public school providing a nationally certified K-12 home schooling curriculum." Many homeschoolers are wary of these "public school at home" options, and as you can see - there is reason. They don't change curriculum, or tests, or homework assignments like traditional teachers do. They recycle everything. That's their way of "being green" I guess.

But I get a little off point here - Does Yahoo Answers contribute to kids cheating in school? In fact, I could go one step further and ask - Has Yahoo Answers contributed to the downward spiral of American public education? I don't know but just yesterday this title - ironically enough posted in Yahoo news, caught my eye:

"Colorado barely passes teacher-quality evaluation"

Not only is Colorado barely passing with a D+, it seems that the highest ranking sate (Florida) only gets a C - and most schools gets D's and F's. But how do teachers in traditional public schools fight against the intellectual corruption of children by a Global Corporation such as Yahoo Answers?

It seems a little off base not to ask whether we are promoting an environment that accepts cheating. Now I must give credit to the general Answers community because often they will either be rude to those asking for answers or they will refuse to do their homework. In addition, there are kids there who genuinely seek to understand and not cheat or copy. But it is obvious to me that the reason my question "Does Yahoo Answers Help Kids Cheat in School?" was deleted because it hits a little close to home.

Just another way they are dumbing down America I guess.

Independent Workers - He's On His Own Today!

I have to work at the Farm Show today as part of work, so I am leaving DS (12) to work alone. He's not home alone, mind you - just working alone. We do this a lot when I am working, which is only part time and seasonal. And I'm pretty happy with how he takes responsibility for his work. He gets himself up - later than usual of course - and checks off his work on the board as he does it.

Today he's doing Japanese (2 sections in RS and 1 page in his Hiragana workbook)

Teaching Textbooks Math

Simple Schooling American History

Simple Schooling Interactive Unit Studies (Space - he's done a LOT of space this year - but it is so easy and I just made it - plus it is fun - so he won't mind.)

Reading

Yesterday he wanted me to time him to see how long it would take him to do school if he didn't complain! What a good guy! :)

Free Interactive Unit Studies!

I have heard that mid-year burn-out is high this year, mostly because we've fallen behind or the kids are giving us trouble - so I would really like to help by offering some exciting and fun interactive unit studies to my most loyal readers.

So I have transferred dozens of high interest, time saving, and energizing units into one complete low cost package that includes tons of cool stuff!

I have placed all of these interactive unit studies on a membership website that allows me to sell them for just $7 each. That is such a steal, but I totally understand how tight money is right now so what I want to do is offer every single one of them at a significant discount. Instead of paying $7 a piece for the first 36 units I'm practically giving them away at $57 for ALL OF THEM! That is about a $1.50 each and a total savings of $195.00!

Plus, your membership is good for an entire year and new units are added every week.

In fact, entire courses will be uploaded over the next few weeks and every week thereafter.


But that's not even the end of the deal here, I also have tons of printable Simple Days Unit Studies and Simple Days Free-4-Alls that are just hanging around on my hard drive, so I'm throwing those into the mix as well.

That is a more than a $50 value for FREE! If you subscribe before February 3rd you will receive more than $241 worth of homeschool curriculum for just $57. Plus you'll get more interactive unit studies each week!

I don't think a better deal exists, to be honest.

In addition, I would like to let you try them one more time so I am offering TWO MORE additional unit studies absolutely FREE! I know you already received the Forensic Science Freebie unit this month, and I hope you enjoyed it, but more freebies are never a bad thing! I want you to make absolutely sure that the interactive units are a good fit for your teaching style and your student's learning style. Just click the links toget immediate access to your additional interactive unit study so you can create a fun and engaging homeschool experience for your kids.

OR - if you already know that the interactive unit studies are a good fit and want to get in on the limited time special simply click here to join now.


Have a great time with the two new freebies and I look forward to chatting with you on the membership site forum!


J. Anne Huss

www.The-Simple-Homeschool.com


P.S. I do want to make sure that you understand that the $57 price will not last. We will be adding so much value to the site that this introductory deal will have to be increased, so don't wait!

Homeschool Black Friday Sale!

Get 40% off your entire purchase ($25 minimum before discount) for Thanksgiving weekend! This sale starts immediately and goes through the weekend. All you have to do is add your favorite products to the cart and enter the coupon code GiveThanks at checkout. Note: the code is all one word - no spaces!

Have fun shopping and saving at The Simple Homeschool!

November Freebies!

This month I have 5 freebies for you.

An awesome cursive handwriting practice and project book that teaches history as well. Kids will love this one!

A printable reindeer unit study that covers anatomy, habitat, diet, digestion, and more!

An interactive reindeer unit that does all the above PLUS lets your kids have a little fun as they learn vocabulary and comprehension while playing games!

A Christmas coloring book for those eager little ones - this will keep them delighted and interested as you rush around preparing for holiday guests.

The 12 Days of Christmas Interactive Fun Book! They can listen to the song as they watch the movie, play games, and test their memory with this great little interactivity!

Well, OK then - go get them here!

FREE Thanksgiving Unit Study

This one is a little book about Giving Thanks. For the younger crowd - we will have our big Thanksgiving give-a-way on the 16th when the next issue fo the Simple Zine goes out. Look forward to some early Christmas stuff as well. Gotta get ready, right?

I'm planning on a reindeer unit, The 12 Days of Christmas, Thanksgiving (of course - and this one will be interactive!), and A Christmas Carol. Perhaps, loosely based, not sure yet. Perhaps interactive as well. Perhaps I won't even do Christmas Carol...who the heck knows...I make this stuff up as I go along. A fly by my seat type of person.

OH YEAH! - I am SO excited about my Christmas gift to all my loyal homeschool friends - I can't say too much right now - but look for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT in the November 16th issue of the Newsletter. It is BIG. BIG. BIG!