An acrostic poem uses the letters in a topic word to begin each line. The lines of the poem describe or relate to the topic word. I've written the following acrostic poem choosing words to meet my needs for the carnival posts I received.

Home and family centered
Open to homeschooling?
Mentoring others
Environment for learning

Experience the world
Daily Life
Unique education
Creativity
Academics
Thinking
Inquisitive
Opportunities
Nurturing

Home and family centered

Summer shares Picture this! Busy week capturing her week with pictures posted at Wired For Noise. I love the visual 911 call.

Tea Party Girl asks How Often Do You Set the Table? posted at Tea Party Girl. It's nice to be able to set a pretty table, but how often do we take the time?

Open to homeschooling?

Kelsey ponders Is Homeschooling in Your Future? posted at Vanilla Joy - Family Fun and Education. Kelsey's son isn't school age yet, but she's done lots of research on her educational choices for her son.

Holly presents Homeschool or not posted at Education Choices. As a certified teacher and mother of a child having trouble keeping up in school, Holly wonders if she would do better at home.

Mentoring others

Elena LaVictoire presents There's no place like home? posted at My Domestic Church, saying, "How my location in the inner city kept us from fully participating in my homeschool youth group, but opened my eyes to the friends and potential in my own neighborhood."

In Homeschooling in Quebec: Starting Out, Ruby of Freehold2 takes a look at the early steps in making a decision to homeschool in the province of Quebec. The basics of the law are laid out, and links provided for groups that can provide support.

Environment for learning

ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother talks about how Hunting for Lost Curriculum Prompts Loading More Books Into Library Thing.

Andrea Hermitt presents Speaking of Libraries posted at Notes From A Homeschooling Mom, saying, "I thought this was a silly question, but I did ask for questions."

NerdMom invites you to celebrate Pancake Day today with Frugal Homeschooler: Pancake Studies posted at Nerd Family Things. I love a yummy lesson!

In 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education by Charles Sykes, Henry of WhyHomeschool reviews a book on rules students won't learn in public schools, but they will probably learn if they are homeschooled. This is one I'm going to have to read.

Over at The Sojourner, Dolphin Lady Sshares some of the joys of using unit studies and incorporating the renaissance faire and hands-on science experiments into their curriculum.

In There are elves in the fire at The Upside Down World, Rebecca shares about taking a kid who thinks poetry is boring and meaningless and show them the magic which is present in those short, truncated lines with the fancy words.

Experience the world

HappyCampers presents Oh, my poor homeschooled child...how will he EVER learn? posted at Reese's View Of The World. If only our kids could learn to sit where they need to!

Sunniemom presents Home Education Philosophy- Thanks Captain Kirk! posted at A Woman On Purpose, saying, "And you thought "Star Trek" was just science fiction...."

Daily Life

Activities Coordinator says books makes everything better in The Cure posted at Life On The Planet. There's nothing better than enjoying a book with a child.

In Leaving A Legacy - Do you know how to homeschool? Or, the funny thing that happened yesterday posted at Leaving a Legacy, Misty Krasawski shares a mini-view of a day they had recently that was somewhat unexpected!"

Unique education

Dana presents Just how different is a homeschool education? posted at Principled Discovery. So, how different is a home education?

In Thoughts on the Independents Article on Homeschooling posted at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog Awards, Alasandra explains how being able to tailor your teaching method to the learning style of your child makes it impossible to gather the data Rob Reich and Michael Apple want. She also takes the media to task for blaming tragedies on homeschooling when public schools are not blamed for the tragedies that occur amongst their students.

Creativity

SupUrbanMom talks about their discovery of lapbooks in Lapbooking- Us? posted at ROCity Family Adventures.

Laurie Bluedorn presents Christian Filmmakers 24-hour Film Contest posted at Laurie Bluedorn.

In The Point: Knitting Benefits a Gifted Teen posted at The "More" Child SwitchedOnMom talks about how knitting is such a great outlet for a highly gifted child or teen whose "motor" naturally runs fast.

Academics

In My kid is smarter than I am over at No fighting, no biting!, Katherine muses that 9 year old understands more about physics than his college educated mother. What does this portend for our homeschooling future?

Need to entertain a child who's under the weather? Need math manipulatives and can't afford them? Here's an easy, no-cost solution that will also help clean out your junk drawer! Carolyn shares about The Activity Jar at Guilt-Free Homeschooling. Need activity ideas for a rainy day?

"Proof of Progress." It's required by the state, and Marjorie has found her peace with it in Learning from Testing at The Life Without School Blog.

Dawn Adams presents i-Science - Secular Science Curriculum posted at Day by Day Homeschooling. She found a science curriculum that was a good value and perfect for her needs.

April presents The Best of Both Worlds: A review of the new living science curriculum, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding posted at Lunablog.net. April writes a thorough review of the curriculum.

In You CAN Teach Your Children to Write, Barbara Franks shares that she's amazed by the number of homeschool moms that are intimidated by the thought of teaching their children to write. She offers a free copy of "Teaching Your Children to Write."

Thinking

Having goals for your year is important, but you should also have a plan to make sure those goals get done. Amanda Dixon shares How I'm To Accomplish My 2008 Goals posted at The Daily Planet.

Even when people are jerks, we can learn from them. We can appreciate the good things people have to say and let the rest go. The same holds true in homeschooling - we can cherry pick the best.

Suzanne presents homeschooling endorsement posted at adventures in daily living. This short post refers to Mary Prides first endorsement ever.

In WWWDD? at Just Enough and Nothing More, Tammy decides that even when people are jerks, we can learn from them. We can appreciate the good things people have to say and let the rest go. The same holds true in homeschooling - we can cherry pick the best.

Elisheva Levin presents Just Thinking about Inclusion and Ideology posted at Ragamuffin Studies, saying, "As homeschoolers, it is tempting to ignore the trends and politics in public education as irrelevant to us. However, the ideologies of the educational establishment are political and can affect us. Ideologies such as the inclusion movement may be the reason that some of us homeschool, and they are also the reason that the majority of public educators in this country oppose homeschooling. Ultimately, they believe that education is about more than academics."

Inquisitive

Stretch Mark Mama presents On Fire! posted at Stretch Mark Mama. There's nothing like being a mom and taking part in the growth of your child when the fire is lit!

Kathy shares a sample of someStunning pictures of our universe posted at Maureen O'Brien.

Christine presents And today, we'll be discussing hemp and all of its possibilities! posted at welcome to my brain, saying, "Add a little hemp study to your schoolwork this week. You'll learn a lot, and possibly help America become more sustainable, all at the same time!"

Opportunities

Stephanie presents Girl Power? posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood. Stephanie wants her girls to be all that they want to be rather that be a brain surgeon or a wife and mom.

Tim Power presents Humbled By the Power of Our Girl's Memory posted at Sometimes I'm Actually Coherent, saying, "The more we do this homeschooling thing, the more we have to chuck our pre-conceived notions out the window and play it by ear"

In Kids and Computers posted at Follow Your Gnose, Ivy Rutledge is trying to figure out how their household can join the online revolution gracefully and on their own terms.

Nurturing

Cristina Payne reminises about the life lessons her family learned taking care of orphan kittens in Home Spun comic strip #192 and article posted at Home Spun Juggling.

Kerry Jones shares a funny blog about homeschooling and technology in The South Paw Shuffle posted at Topsy-Techie.

Misc. Posts

Kingsley Tagbo presents How to Overcome Procrastination in 8 Easy Steps posted at How to Learn Computer Programming Fast or Get a Job Easily.

TherapyDoc presents What Faking it Til You Make It Really Means posted at Everyone Needs Therapy, saying, "To learn is one thing. To apply it another thing altogether. They still have to get beyond the sheer terror."

Alvaro Fernandez presents Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools for Stress and Anxiety Management posted at SharpBrains, saying, "Several recent news pieces have reported on an emerging trend: schools using techniques such as yoga and meditation to help students manage anxiety and stress. To better understand what is going on, we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine."

Sagar presents Top 25 Strangest College Courses - College Degree.com posted at college degree. Crazy.

Raymond presents My Super Sweet 16 - Messing Up and Spoiling Kids For The Next Generation posted at Money Blue Book, saying, "Teach kids the wisdom of frugality and avoiding materialism."

Greg Laden presents Greg Laden's Blog : K-12 Online Learning posted at Greg Laden's Blog.

DotLobby presents Breaking Bad Habits - 4 Tips to Drop ‘Em All! posted at DotNLP, saying, "Luckily, there isn’t any addiction on Earth that hasn’t been beaten by someone, somewhere. You might just need a little help, so here are 4 tips to stop bad habits, and start some great ones!"

Well, that concludes this issue of the Carnival of Homeschooling. I hope you enjoy it.

~ Beverly

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