Famous Homeschooler of the Week

I mentioned on my sidebar that one of the things I hope this blog will do will be to educate people who may not know about, or who are not in favor of homeschooling without knowing much about it. I have had many people ask me a lot of questions about homeschooling. Most of the people who have asked have been genuinely curious or interested. However, I have also encountered some people who strongly disagree with homeschooling, and I have noticed that most of the ones who speak against it so strongly don't really know anything about it. I have also noticed, (in my experiences), that these same people who speak so strongly against it are not born again believers in Christ who try to live their lives according to God's word the Bible, as all of the homeschoolers, that I personally know, are.

Therefore, I have decided to provide some information on past famous people who were homeschooled or on a recent homeschooler whom I have found information on due to the accomplishment(s) he or she has made once each week. I found this information on the website of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. They have a radio program called "Homeschool Heartbeat" and the transcriptions are posted on their website. They are usually hosted by Mike Farris.

The first Famous Homeschooler I would like to share is:

ANSEL ADAMS

Many parents choose to homeschool because public or private schools have failed to meet the needs of their children. Today on Home School Heartbeat, host Mike Farris tells the story of one family who decided to homeschool their now-famous son because traditional schools could not provide the education he needed to develop his talents.

Ansel Adams, born in 1902, was an extremely active, creative child. When he was placed in traditional school, that active nature led to trouble almost from the beginning. He simply could not sit still in the classroom when there was an outdoors to explore.

After Ansel's expulsion from various schools, both public and private, his father decided to teach his son himself. One year, his school consisted of a year's pass to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, where he took in art, architecture, music, and other achievements of civilization.

The world remembers Ansel Adams for giving us the most dramatic landscape photographs of the century. In his autobiography, Adams says:

I often wonder at the strength and courage my father had in taking me out of the traditional school situation and providing me with these extraordinary learning experiences. I am certain he established the positive direction of my life that otherwise, given my native hyperactivity, could have been confused and catastrophic. I trace who I am and the direction of my development to those years of growing up in our house on the dunes, propelled especially by an internal spark tenderly kept alive and glowing by my father.

Parents know their children better than any teacher ever could.

Field Trip

Today we went on a field trip. We visited Dove Song Dairy. It's an organic goat farm. They sell raw goat's milk, goat cheese, soap, and a couple of other products. Below is a photo of a Mama goat. She just had twins last week.
Below are her twins.

We saw a whole barnful of goats from very young kids, to

slightly older kids, to almost grown kids to adult goats.

This little kid liked to suck on Anthony's finger.

While all the other kids were trying to climb all over us

and eat our clothes, this little one stood alone and just

watched it all.

This kid had a mouthful of my shirt.

This kid was curious about my camera.

One of the kids on the left had a good hold of Nick's jeans.

We each got to hold a little kid, if we wanted to, and of course,

I took photos.

I even got my picture taking holding this cute little kid.

Homeschool Research

So many people seem to be against homeschooling but don't really know much about it. I have encountered people asking things like: What about your child's socialization? How can you teach your child through all his schooling years, especially if you've never gone to college? And, now that my oldest has reached the high school years: Aren't you ever going to put him in school?

I will explain our reasons for homeschooling in another post, but I would like to begin by providing a link to the National Home Education Research Institute. Just click on the title of the Institute in this post and it will take you to the website where you can view more information on the research findings.

*Dr. Brian Ray, a leading researcher of home education, has taught students in both public and private schools, and universities (from elementary through graduate levels), and is himself a homeschooling father of eight children. He holds his Ph.D. in science education from Oregon State University, and is the author of several books, including Worldwide Guide to Homeschooing, and Home Educated and Now Adults. The latter is based on an extensive survey of over 7,000 homeschool graduates who responded to this enlightening study.

*I took this information from a pamphlet that highlights some of the facts from his book, Home Educated and Now Adults.