--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBF00003Date: 07/10/96 From: GLEN TODD Time: 08:33pm \/To: KEN WOODARD (Read 2 times) Subj: Monthly Rules Repost -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- *** Answering a msg posted in area Glen's personal mail [PERSONAL_MAIL]. Bright the day, Ken! Tuesday July 02 1996 22:47, Ken Woodard wrote to Glen Todd: GT>> Also, PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) clearsigning is permitted in this echo, GT>> for any who care to use it. I will always use it for 'Moderator' GT>> announcements, to permit their authentication by anyone who is GT>> interested/concerned about the validity of a message. My public key is GT>> always available by f'req from 1:128/203, or is reposted monthly in the GT>> backbone echo PKEY_DROP. Encryption, as per Fido policy, is not GT>> permitted in echomail. Save it for netmail. KW> Three things here: KW> 1. What is clearsigning???? Clearsigning is the process of adding a digital 'signature' to a message so that anyone in posession of the signer's public key (and the PGP software, of course) can verify that a> the message actually originated with the person holding the private portion of the key, and b> that the message was not altered in any way since the signature was applied. I will clearsign this message as an example. The theory behind this is too complex to be gone into here, but if you're interested I'd be glad to point you to some sources. KW> 2. What does it mean when you say the "pkey_drop?" PKEY_DROP is the 'echotag' of a Fido echo devoted to distributiong PGP public keys. (See the PGP documentation for an explanation of what a public key is.) A good many PGP users, including myself, have their public keys automatically reposted in this echo on a monthly basis. You can ask the sysop of your local BBS to request this echo and it's companion, PUBLIC_KEYS, if you're interested in finding out more. KW> 3. What are the numbers for? 1:128/203? Is there some significance to Yes, 1:128/203 is a unique Fidonet 'address' for my BBS. Using this, you could send netmail directly to myself or to a user on my board, presuming that you have access to netmail on your board. So far as users are concerned, these 'addresses' are relevant only to netmail, not to echomail. KW> these numbers? Can we use them to "deal directly with someone?" I've KW> noticed people giving them out before. However, even though I know that KW> these aren't specific homeschool issues, they are vital to the use of KW> the fidonet, and I haven't seen any of these three things discussed KW> anywhere on the fidonet, hence, I haven't been able to "absorb" their KW> meanings anywhere? Agreed. It _is_ kind of off topic here, but ask your sysop if he/she has a copy of a file called BIGDUMMY.TXT, The Big Dummy's Guide to Fidonet, floating around. It's fairly common, and is about the best guide extant to the basics of Fidonet operation. KW> P.S. What is encryption on the fidonet? The same as encryption anywhere else. KW> (I thought encryption was putting something into code and why would KW> anyone want to do that here?) It is, and I don't know why either, but it's specifically not permitted in echomail. Wind to thy wings, Glen ... I blush to confess that I am always getting confused. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Just say _NO_ to GAK! iQEVAwUBMeRrhEsDfAvy+TXBAQFcdAf/V231hNQ4prgqRrM5ogIL/sgirTesSvhk CfQiJWebFJmYagPhsGU7M0sOCYeU+QmU41qDwicf5iICRocnu2hCTGesWaV+Wp4I kgi1JyXXRj7SiEPa9D2EfNowadz12jEKO78nXO97xx/gFHsJh6Gc3pRrexC1qINV kRT+ac41/IugFhxNURnoTyUAt85TU+Kl1Y+7euLacg+pUN7zxmR1Dz74YIBZf6zi xX8VEfES0azzlwadybWepS4slgDP/02vZJPal0d0sPxaxztUk3IDcMrubPab91BQ TjDKhAiUaUam1X02PQZPQ9FwUiX6rj/6alRHEA0P/DRYnRERzdC5sg== =693B -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --- GoldED/386 2.50+ * Origin: American Thuggee -- Knot a Problem (1:128/203) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBG00000Date: 07/10/96 From: APRIL DAWN Time: 11:00am \/To: ALL (Read 2 times) Subj: Lost Messages Hey everyone, I just wanted to say that there were some people writing to me but I lost some messages and was not able to reply to you.So write again and I'll write back! To anyone else who would like to write, I am fifteen and love writng to people! Hope ta hear from ya!! --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Tulare Co Office of Educ, Visalia, CA (1:214/33.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBG00001Date: 07/11/96 From: DONNA RANSDELL Time: 06:45am \/To: ALINDA HARRISON (Read 2 times) Subj: everyone on vacation? > Ah, you have a tent trailer. :) That's cool. I've > considered a basic trailer > for just sleeping and cooking in - nothing that needs > hookups. There are still a few that are just that basic. We opted for one with the ability to get electricity and water into it...my husband and I drank enough instant coffee in 12 years of tent camping and we were ready for real coffee! :) > My parents, on the other hand, go "camping" in a RV > that's more luxurious than A lot of folks call that camping. I call it "RV'ing" or, at the very least, a portable motel room. > is which note. They're not quite up to reading music > yet, but it's a start. When they are ready, give me a holler. I will give you some recommendations of books to start with that will help all of you learn at the same time. Learning the keys on the piano is definitely a help right now. > singing along. We sing > everywhere - even the grocery store ;) My two year old I know the feeling - though I do try not to sing at the grocery store. :) > and, would you believe, `Greensleeves' and `Loch > Lomand'? It's so cute :) She I'll believe it, because mine did something similar. > So, how are things going with getting enough students > for your studio? Tis not really the season, here, tho I have picked up a few new ones over the past month. Those mostly replaced the end of school year quitters, tho. The season for new students is usually at the beginning of the school year: August, September, and October. -donna --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: The Education Station, Poway, CA - Mail Only (1:202/211) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBG00002Date: 07/11/96 From: ADRIANNE WEIR Time: 10:00pm \/To: C. LEE DUCKERT (Read 2 times) Subj: Unschooling & Grammar Hello Cindy, I'm a new user here. Your discussion of grammar and unschooling intrigued me. I had the opportunity to be "unschooled" for awhile when I attended public elementary school. Briefly, the teacher ran out of curriculum for me and set me loose to pursue my own interests with another student. We never did do a "grammar" unit, because the teacher felt that our writing skills were such that it would be best if we just read, researched, discussed and wrote together. Although I don't believe that I am a gifted writer, I have been told that I am reasonabley articulate on paper (or CRT). Scores that I have received on standardized tests have consistantly been high in grammar. Through emmersion/experience with well-written literature and conversation with a variety of persons, it would appear that I have mastered "grammar". My brother, who is truly a gifted writer and makes his living crafting with words, didn't attend much school ever prior to dropping out altogether. He always just loved to write and when the time came for him to find a way to support himself, he sought the knowledge and credentials to put himself in a position to do so and make a living at it. My husband , who spent most of his childhood working picking cotton and coffee in Central America, developed a love of poetry very early on and has read and written volumes and volumes of poetry... much of it quite beautiful as well as grammatically correct. I've heard it proposed that if we attempted to teach children children to speak the way that we "teach" them to read, we would witness a rash of "speaking disorders" that had previously been nonexistant. My husband and I have found that our best learning has been that which was self-motivated and trust and bear witness to the same within our children. We unschool in our family and routinely offer the option up to friends and family when we hear the frustration they undoubtedly offer concerning their children's or their own education. In support and enthusiasm, Adrianne Weir in Texas --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: The Round Table, BBS of Gulf Coast Mensa * 922-1393 (1:106/1393) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBG00003Date: 07/11/96 From: ALINDA HARRISON Time: 09:17am \/To: CLINT ASBELL (Read 2 times) Subj: HELLO!!&???'s RE: HELLO!!&???'s BY: Clint Asbell to All on Tue Jul 09 1996 14:53:00 > Any one else out there starting to teach preschoolers? Are you juggling > more than one child? What methods do you use to teach? I am > planning on trying "Teaching Your Child to Read In 100 Easy Lessons" by > Siegfried Engelmann. It has mixed reviews in my local homeschool > group, but I figured I would give it a try since my son is so eager to > begin reading. Any thoughts on that? I seem to be a minority here Two of my five kids are still in the preschool ages. At that age they do most of heir learning through play, so my lessons for them aren't as structured. I do make sure that the resources are there for them to play with - for xample: computer ABC games, coloring books, puzzles...and we spend a lot of time reading and singing. Music is a great teaching game! Try not to spend too uch money...most expensive toys and lessons don't keep their attention for very long. Another thing about the play approach is that it makes working with more than one so much easier. The little one learns by playing along with the older e. > What room do you spend most of your time educating? We educate through > out the day wherever the opportunity arises. The room we use the most > seems to be the kitchen right now. Eventually we will connect an > existing cottage to our house and use that for a > library/computer/craft/homeschool storage/etc. room. I have a > feeling that we will end up in that room the most. I'm envious. Most of our work is done in the dining/library/schoolwork/sewing/general gathering room. You get the idea. Just like you working in the kitchen. Sometimes my older children will etreat to their beds (loft style) for privacy to work. I have no problem with it as long as they do get their work done. I'd love to have a space for easy expansion. We have a garage, but it's clear at the back of our lot. However, if we clean it out we might...hmmm, your cottage idea is giving me a few of my own... > I am making up my K4 curriculum focusing on the basics. I have > considered using ABEKA for K5. Do you think buying a K5 curriculum is > necessary? Is ABEKA's Advanced K5 much different from the regular K5? From what I've seen, even people who buy one of these premade curriculums end up adapting it to meet their needs. You might be just as well off to go to a local teacher/school supply store and make your own catered to the needs of your child. ...peace... Alinda Sue... ___SyncEdit v2.20 [NR] --- Skyhawk's Nightmare * Origin: (1:138/293) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBH00000Date: 07/11/96 From: LINDA MOORE Time: 11:46pm \/To: COLLEEN ALLEN (Read 2 times) Subj: welcome > Are you new in this echo? Thank you for all you're pioneering work. Hello Colleen, I guess you might say I'm somewhat new here. Although I don't have children at home to home school anymore, I wanted to make myself available to those who are doing so. It always helps to have a little extra added support. Of course, I have been slow about answering mail this week. Our first grandchild was born on Monday and there has just been an uproar of excitement around here . >In Edmonton Alberta Canada where I live it is now only getting somewhat >an acceptable thing to do. Here the gov't even allows for $500./child >funding with purchase orders or handing in of receipts. The one thing we don't do where I live is accept anything from the gov't for private schools. It just prevents gov't intervention later on. Perhaps as home schools become more and more the norm parents won't be so timid where the gov't is concerned. >I also homeschool and will be starting my >6th year. Tell us some of you're ups and downs academically or >otherwise. I'll be sharing as time permits. I just wanted to answer your post today and send it off. Pretty soon I'm off to do some errands and, of course, see that new grandson . CA>LM>So, again, if I can be of assistance to any of you presently home >LM>schooling or just offer a word of encouragement from time to time I'm >LM>here for that. CA>Did you have any reluctant writers or slowness in the area of writing >with you're children? If you did perhaps you have some insight or ideas >on how to encourage boys in this area. ( Specifically ages 8, 10 and 12) I had only one son who just happened to love to write. Perhaps that's a trait he acquired from me. So, I can't say I have any real insight in that area. I do feel children need to see writing as a form of expression as natural as talking. One exercise I use with my first graders where I teach is having them spend an hour writing down everything they want to say. They can't speak to anyone for an hour....just write everything. This can be a real fun exercise as well as learning experience. Glad to hear from you Colleen. Stay in touch and I'll try to be more helpful next time....after I settle in from all the excitement over my first grandchild. He's simply adorable!!!!!!!!! Blessings, Linda --- QMPro 1.53 Immanuel = God with us * Origin: LindenRoom BBS (1:123/215) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBH00001Date: 07/12/96 From: DONNA RANSDELL Time: 07:26am \/To: GLEN TODD (Read 2 times) Subj: Monthly Rules Repost > your sysop if he/she has a > copy of a file called BIGDUMMY.TXT, The Big Dummy's I can offer something slightly better, if you like. I have a FIDOFAQ that I've been running and updating for years. It comes out to about 6 posts. If you'd like, the next time I run it in PARENTS, C_R and S&Q, I would be more than happy to run it in this echo. FIDOFAQ.ZIP is about 6K zipped and is also available by freq from 1:202/701. -donna --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: The Education Station, Poway, CA - Mail Only (1:202/211) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBH00002Date: 07/12/96 From: DONNA RANSDELL Time: 07:40am \/To: CLINT ASBELL (Read 2 times) Subj: HELLO!!&???'s > HI!! I am new to the conference. I am not > "officially" a homeschool > mother because my oldest just turned 4 in May. I have I'm not either, but there are a few of us interested in this echo either because we're considering homeschooling or because we just are interested in what it's all about. I fall under the former category - I am hoping to be able to homeschool my 2 girls (ages 10 and 9; 5th and 4th grades respectively) this fall. > turned 3!! Can you > see me beaming with pride?:-}! He has a strong desire Yes. Just don't be surprised if your second child is different from the first one. Jennifer read before she entered school; Kristin did not, but picked it up quickly. > When would you recommend sex education? I am talking Most kids will start asking questions when they are ready to know. With mine, I tend not to tell them more than I think they are ready for, and let them ask when they seem to be ready for more. I had to answer "the big one" with my 10 year old, just a few days ago. > considered using ABEKA for K5. Do you think buying a > K5 curriculum is necessary? Is ABEKA's Advanced K5 much different from > the regular K5? I am familiar with A Beka, as I have taught in an A Beka school and subbed in another one. The K4 and K5 curricula aren't necessary if you are familiar with what you are doing. The curriculum guide is a godsend if you aren't sure of how to approach it. It will tell you even what to say, if you follow it "religiously". > homeschooling. Vicki has the following ?'s. If you > finish one grade level before the next level is "suppose" to start-what > do you do? Do you notify the school system in say, January that you > are exceeding their requirements and advancing to the next grade > level? Do you test them for the grade level they are working on, or > according to their age level? Are teacher's manuals necessary for the lower > grades? If you finish one grade level there is no reason why you can't go on to the next one; that's what is nice about homeschooling!!! Do you HAVE to keep your school system informed about what you are doing? In CA we don't, as long as we are operating as a private school. If we are operating as an ISP out of the public schools, THEN we have to inform the school about what we're doing. As far as teacher's manuals are concerned, as a former primary level teacher (Christian and public schools) I have mixed emotions on them. Many of the guides ARE well written and they have all kinds of supplemental information and ideas written in the margins. The best ones, IMO, are the guides that have the children's book page printed on them and using the same numbering system as the children's book, and that have the ideas in the margin. Bear in mind that these were written with a classroom in mind, not a homeschooler, so some of the ideas are better with 20 or 30 kids. You can modify them for use with just one or two. A Beka doesn't really use teacher's manuals in the lower grades. That's what the curriculum guide is for. With A Beka, you will "buy" the curriculum guide but eventually you will have to return it...or at least, that's the way it used to be. A Beka's plus (IMHO) is their phonics program, and their readers are pretty decent if you want to use them, as well. Both of my girls learned to read through an A Beka program...I started my oldest at home and she finished out in an A Beka school, and my younger one learned completely from the A Beka phonics program (tho admittedly I read aloud). Funny story about A Beka: My youngest child's K teacher came to me one afternoon. "Mrs. Ransdell, Kristin won't go to Reading Group all week. I haven't pushed her, thinking she might be going thru a rough time, but after a week, I figured I better come to you." I was concerned and talked to Kristin at home. "Oh, Mommy, those books are so BORING. Why can't we read something like we read at home?" I went back to her school the next day and said, "Mrs. Verner, I am so sorry, but the little books of A Beka are really having a difficult time competing with _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing_, which we are reading aloud at home. Kristin thinks her reading group books should be that interesting, too." We had a good laugh over it. But in the meantime, both she and I explained to Kristin that you have to learn to read one step at a time, and that a lot of the words in Tales were probably too tough for her to read on her own yet, but if she practiced with her reading group, she would be reading Tales by herself in a year or two. Guess what? She was! -donna --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: The Education Station, Poway, CA - Mail Only (1:202/211) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBH00003Date: 07/12/96 From: ALINDA HARRISON Time: 10:19am \/To: DONNA RANSDELL (Read 2 times) Subj: everyone on vacation? RE: everyone on vacation? BY: Donna Ransdell to Alinda Harrison on Thu Jul 11 1996 06:45:01 > There are still a few that are just that basic. We opted for one with the > ability to get electricity and water into it...my husband and I drank enough > instant coffee in 12 years of tent camping and we were ready for real coffee > :) We don't drink coffee, but it would be nice to have real milk and meat rather than instant milk and spam :) Maybe in a few years we will. There's not nough room to pack a cooler unit with everything else in the car, especially since our station wagon went belly up during vacation last week. We're toying with the idea of replacing it with a van rather than replacing the engine. If we do, then maybe...but it all has to wait until we have money. > I know the feeling - though I do try not to sing at the grocery store. :) Why not? It keeps the kids somewhat focussed and out of trouble if I can get them involved with a song. We get a few strange looks, but most people think it's cute, especially with the little ones. I learned to read music when I took band in 5th grade. (I played cornet through junior high.) I think the easiest way to teach them would be while learning an instrument. As soon as I have the money (this is a VERY tight summer) I plan to buy the older kids each a penny whistle or recorder. I play penny whistle. The whistle is easier for small hands to finger; the recorder is easier for finding sharp and flat notes outside the key of D. They both come in sets ith little songbooks that show fingering charts along with the notes. As they learn the fingering for the notes, they learn the notes...then maybe I can afford a good full range keyboard (more than two and a half octives) or used piano (I can always dream) and teach them about base cleff, chords, ect. Hey, summer's half over already. Back to school sales have started. Your studio should be filling up pretty soon :) ...peace... Alinda Sue... ___SyncEdit v2.20 [NR] --- Skyhawk's Nightmare * Origin: (1:138/293) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 158 HOME SCHOOLING Ref: DBJ00000Date: 07/14/96 From: GLEN TODD Time: 11:04am \/To: DONNA RANSDELL (Read 2 times) Subj: Monthly Rules Repost Bright the day, Donna! Friday July 12 1996 07:26, Donna Ransdell wrote to Glen Todd: >> copy of a file called BIGDUMMY.TXT, The Big Dummy's DR> I can offer something slightly better, if you like. I have a FIDOFAQ DR> that I've been running and updating for years. It comes out to about 6 DR> posts. If you'd like, the next time I run it in PARENTS, C_R and S&Q, DR> I would be more than happy to run it in this echo. That would be appreciated, Donna. I tend to forget sometimes that not everybody is as acquainted with the internals of Fido as us sysop types are. DR> FIDOFAQ.ZIP is about 6K zipped and is also available by freq from DR> 1:202/701. I'll snag a copy. Wind to thy wings, Glen ... Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)unish Slave --- GoldED/386 2.50+ * Origin: One Book to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them (1:128/203)