In fact, my homeschoolers have more of a social life than I do - OK, that’s not saying much, but you see my point!

Once upon a time, when I first took my then-youngest child out of school, a teacher came to me and said “I can see why, academically, you’d take him out of school, but what about the social aspect?”
Um…excuse me? Did you just say what I thought you said? Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the original intention of school to educate children? To concentrate on the academic stuff? Oh, right, I forgot, the original intention of school was actually to help create good little factory workers and give a place to keep kids until they were “old enough” to work…but more on that another time.

I hardly think that the social aspect is a valid reason to send children to school. And what about the social aspect of school? Do I want to send them there so they can learn to behave badly? So they can want more and more stuff that their “friends” have? So that I can be subject to the torment of the Queen Bee moms in the PTA? I think we all have better ways to spend our time.

My children are nicer when they don’t go to school! They are nicer to each other and nicer to other people all around. They are led by the example we intend for them to live.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

I believe this to be wholeheartedly true! I know what can happen when children are left to follow the example set by their friends. Even in our very small town, where gang activity might not be rampant - there is certainly a premium set on stuff - and the defiant, apathy is even more prevalent here.

My daughter, who is the only one of my children who goes to high school (she was allowed to make this choice before I was as steadfast as I am now), was drilled throughout her middle school years on bullying and “being nice to others” and she was trained in all sorts of “group” activities designed to make her and her classmates have more self-esteem. I don’t know how many of my tax dollars went to these activities, but I will tell you this: She didn’t know who Paul Revere was! I mentioned him at the dinner table because the boys and I had been reading about the Revolutionary War. Lydia couldn’t tell us anything about Paul Revere. Even after I yelled “The British are coming! The British are coming?” She informed me that she had never studied the Revolutionary War. She will be a 10th grader this year! And she never heard the name Paul Revere? She’s been at this school since the 5th grade - you would have thought it would have come up! I gave her a couple of books to read….

I believe that my homeschoolers get wonderful opportunities to be social. They participate in the plays of local towns, they play sports, they sell things at the Farmer’s Market. My 10-year-old volunteers at the public library and works with his Dad at his office. My 12-year-old maintains a huge network of friends from summer camp and from town. He volunteers at a local nursing home as well. They take classes, like pottery, with a local homeschool group. All in all, they are the most social people I know.

I believe that kids should be friends with people of all ages. Limiting their friend network to those who are their own age is short-sighted. Who among us adults only hangs out with people who are our age? Probably very few. In fact, most of us probably hang out with people we share a common interest with - either through our jobs or through our hobbies. This is a practice that the public school seems to discourage. But of course I want to hang out with other crunchy, homeschooling, ap mamas who like to read and write. I even have friends who aren’t very crunchy and friends who are downright Republican. But none of them, none of them are the exact same age I am - none of them would have been in my high school class.

Something even stranger? I live in the town in which I went to high school. I see people all the time who were in my high school class. I don’t like or hang out with any of them! How odd is that? Not very, as it turns out. Shouldn’t they have been my best friends if the school system had their way? Guess age isn’t a great way to choose friends after all!

I think it is very valuable for a child to learn how to “get up in the morning and go to work,” as it were. My children are not free to do as they wish at every moment of the day! We have chores. They have studying to do. And work to do. And commitments with which to keep up. We have busy schedules. But we also have time. Time to study things in depth - or skim over and get to something else.

I always said that I never enjoy just exercising. I do a lot of exercise in my day. I hike up to the blueberries and I hike through the woods. I garden and mow and play basketball with kids. I even do a little yoga because it makes my back feel stronger. But I hate the idea of exercising just for the sake of exercising. I like that my exercise has a purpose. I don’t lift weights, but 9 months out of the year I bring 5 or 6 loads of wood into the house. I also carry bags of grain for the chickens. And I shovel manure out of the barn. Let’s not also forget that my walk to the mailbox is quite a hike as well.

I feel the same about school. My kids know when they are learning something they won’t ever use…or have no interest in. Homeschooling for me is about making life have meaning. There’s a reason we learn these things - if only to be able to beat Dad at Trivial Pursuit one day!

I’ve tried to reduce our use of paper by going electronic. I publish my newsletter electronically now. I read my favorite magazines in PDF format. I pay my bills online. I have my kids write their papers and submit them to me by email. But if the energy I use negates my efforts to save trees, then how can I justify it?

Thankfully, my husband John (geek-extraordinaire) is just as worried about the environment as I am. So he helped me find ways to make our digital life just as green as our analog one.

1. Turn it all the way off. All of it. The easiest way to do this is to put everything electronic - TV, DVD, GameCube, Computer, Printer onto a power strip and turn off the power strip at the end of the day. Are you worried that it takes too long for your computer to power up in the morning? No worries, just get in the habit of turning the power strip back on before you make your morning cup of coffee.

2. Recharge. I am shocked at the amount of batteries we go through. Get a rechargeable system and start recharging your electronics instead of constantly plugging new double A’s into them. It’s great that stuff like Gameboys and iPods all have their own rechargers, but there is still a lot of stuff that doesn’t. Although, I did get so sick of putting new batteries in the flashlight that I know have one that cranks!

3. Go solar. There are lots of companies out there now that sell solar rechargers for cell phones, iPods and the like. I even saw one that was integrated into a backpack!

4. Out with the old - OK not all the way out. Did you get a new cell phone? Donate the old one. Get a new computer? Call your local computer shop and find out how to recycle it. Or put it up on Freecycle.org. One man’s junk….don’t ya know!

5. Print smarter! Use the draft setting on your printer. Don’t print everything! That’s the beauty of the Internet and computers. Think, “do I really have to print this out?” Could I email it or put it on a shared server instead? Does my printer have duplex printing? Could I print on both sides of the paper (or save the paper for later and feed it in the other way)?

6. Get rid of the wireless. Wired mice and keyboards use less power - and there are no batteries! How far do you need to be from your computer anyway?

7. Get an LCD monitor. They use 85 percent less energy than those big honking, heavy things.

8. Get a laptop. They automatically use less energy than a desktop computer.

9. Kill unnecessary processes. You would be shocked (not literally!) by how much power is being used by programs that you have lurking in your background. Open up your task manager and kill everything that you aren’t using.

10. Go for a walk. Just shut it all down and go outside. No power at all being used there!

Oh - and one more. WhirlWhind Technology is now building the Echo PC available for just $750. You can order it online here!

I’m trying to get him to combine his geek skills with his carpentry skills and build a sexy wooden (green) case for it. What do you think?

The appellate court concluded that “…California impliedly allows parents to home school as a private
school, but has provided no enforcement mechanism. As long as the local school
district verifies that a private school affidavit has been filed, there is no provision for
further oversight of a home school. It appears that the propriety of any parent’s home
schooling will arise only in dependency (or family law) proceedings, as in this case, or
in a prosecution for failing to comply with the compulsory education law.”

The whole decision is here.

If you have a half hour, take the time to read the whole thing - it’s very interesting.

I picked about five pounds of blueberries Sunday (between rain storms) and have several pounds already frozen. I did give away a few pounds to my best buddy…but I don’t think we’ll be lacking! I love blueberries because you can do a lot with them - even if my family very rarely eats them raw. We still love to have blueberry muffins and pancakes in the morning (instead of cold cereal) and I like having the blueberries around for all sorts of desserts. I also put them in oatmeal and homemade granola bars.

I’m going to  dry the next batch. I got this information on drying blueberries from the University of Alaska Extension Service:

“Cleaning and Storage:
Spread a clean, dry terrycloth towel over a slanted surface, such as a cutting board with one end propped up a few inches above the other. Gently roll the berries down the towel; most of the debris and leaves will cling to the towel while the berries roll off.

Drying
Sun – Select firm, dry blueberries. Cover a flat tray with cheesecloth or light muslin. Spread the berries on the cloth; place tray in the sun. Dry in sun for 2 days turning once or twice. Then set tray in a warm, dry place and let blueberries stand until leathery to the touch.
Oven – Use a very low heat (140 F). The oven door must be left ajar so moisture can escape. Estimated drying time is 48–72 hours.
Dehydrator – Spread dry clean berries on open screen, following instructions that come with the dehydrator. Dry at 140 F. Estimated drying time is 24 to 36 hours. Store dried, cooled berries in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Use as you would raisins. Dried blueberries can be soaked in water for use in baking.”

I don’t have a dehydrator - and with all of the rain, I don’t think sun drying is going to work! I wish I had a wood cookstove to dry them in…

The ground is now so saturated that people are flooding in a lot of low-lying areas. Fortunately, this does not affect us too much. We sit high on a hill, but my garden is feeling the effects. It is so weedy! I just don’t want to spend hours out there in the pouring rain. I try to be very adventurous about it, but as soon as I hear thunder, I run inside! I’m terrified of thunder of lightning - always have been. We are actually very fortunate for the rain, also, because we have 30 foot dug well that supplies our family’s drinking and washing water.

There have been a few years where the well has gotten dangerously low and I would pray for a good rain. Not this year! We may not be able to swim at the lake - but Mama gets a shower everyday!

It’s strange though, because my husband reminded of “An Inconvenient Truth,” where Gore says that global

warming might not be felt as a massive heatwave for everyone - for some of us, we might be getting a new rain forest! I feel like I moved to Seattle.

Oh well, even if it’s a little water-logged, the broccoli is growing and the peas are still coming and the pumpkins are taking over!

What a great site. And as I read this post about cruelty to horses - I was compelled to share.

Over the last week, the our Hughesnet satellite has been down. Nine days without Internet - it was almost painful, although I got a lot of gardening done and a lot of writing done in my new book. I am happy to see there are a lot of new visitors! I hope you’ll keep coming back! New articles will be posted starting tomorrow, August 1.

All best,

Michelle Kennedy Hogan

Thank you so much to all of you who entered the Comment to Win contest this month. I have randomly selected a winner - her name is Christene and she commented on a couple of posts, including a recent post about 10 Uses for Olive Oil.

I have contacted her by email and will be sending her a package which includes the OI Tote Bag, several of my books, and a variety of green cleaning products.

I am considering making the comment contest a monthly thing…so keep a look out!

Thanks to all who entered, I’ve appreciated your comments and good wishes!

Best,

Misha

I’m not going to go into how bad this lack of interest in one’s children is - there are plenty of people who have done that already. Let me just say that I don’t understand why people who don’t want to hang out with their children even bother to have them. I’m sorry that waking up in the middle of the night to nurse or comfort your wee one is too much of a strain for you. I know your life and sleep are so much more important. Wake up people - they are only this tiny once in their life! Enjoy that time to snuggle - and catch up on your David Letterman watching. And if you don’t want to do the job of parenting…don’t become a parent. It’s not difficult. And it’s not a job that needs to be outsourced.

Melanie Bowden is a mother of two, writer, teacher, and writing coach. Download a free chapter of her book Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? True Stories of New Motherhood or subscribe to her free writing newsletter at melaniebowden.com. She loves to get email from her readers. Drop her a line at: melaniebowden@earthlink.net