Carnival of Atheist Parenting: CAP

A few years ago, in 2014, I tried to start a blog carnival for atheist parents and atheist parenting blogs. Although there were many, many freethinking parents who were extremely interested in the idea, the carnival didn't fly because there were not alot of openly-atheist or secular parenting blogs being written.

I have been getting some evidence that there is interest in such a thing again.

I am going to send this out into the internet world and, if I get enough interested people commenting below, I'll do it!

To give you a small idea what I mean by a blog carnival, follow this link. 

This carnival is for all atheist/agnostic/ humanist/secular parents who are THINKING and QUESTIONING and wanting to create a healthy, vibrant, and positive upbringing for their beloveds and who want to share their ideas and encouragement for secular parents in this nonsecular world.

If you are an atheist/secular/freethinking parent or blogger with interest in making connections with like-minded people, please comment below! And PLEASE keep in touch!

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You might also be interested in these:
 CAP: Carnival of Atheist Parenting
Carnival of Atheist Parenting Call to Attention
Sample of a Carnival of Atheist Parenting

Freshman HS Civics: The Campaign Trail

atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist 

The other night was the most recent Democratic presidential candidate debate, Hillary and Bernie. I had been looking forward to this debate for awhile now because I have found myself really disliking Hillary for years; I haven't trusted her for years. Recently, though, I have been wondering if, maybe, my dislike and distrust of her came from the media smear that she is claiming.

So tonight John and I watched the debate.

Yes, John, a member of the teenage contingency of Bernie's fan base. You know how much the teens love Bernie... Our younger generation is interestingly involved and informed in the political process lately. Maybe it skips a generation or two because the generation previous to mine was politically-aware too.

Elizabeth got home from school for an hour or two before tonight's rehearsal so she joined us in the viewing of the debate. John and Elizabeth and I watched, pausing, questioning, researching in the moment, and we all gained a new respect for Hillary Clinton. She is smart, sharp, and a serious contender for the highest office of our country. The kids both gained a new respect for her this afternoon. And so did I.

We were impressed with the debate this time. Unlike the Republican debates, these two candidates can participate in the debate while both maintaining dignity and respect for their opponent. All three of us commented on how much we actually like both of these candidates more after watching their performances in the debate. I would be surprised if we could even tolerate another Republican debate after seeing this one.

Secretary Clinton is tougher, tighter, quick, deeply knowledgeable, more competent looking, while Mr. Sanders is kinder, brave, more thoughtful, and more focused on radical and humanist issues. More downright likable. But Hillary seems more presidential, in our humble opinions.


We're not following every debate any more but we are paying attention to speeches and to the campaign calendar. We feel fortunate that we can follow the candidates during this election year. 

Are you watching the debates with your kids? 

What were your thoughts? 

What were their thoughts?

Also, Happy Anniversary to me.

Six years blogging.

Time4learning

time4learning review

My son and I have been looking at online curriculum lately. He definitely needs more structure and he's very motivated to take on more lessons. In the past we have never even considered doing lessons in this way, so the entire world of online curriculum is new to us, except for courses like those from The Great Courses through The Teaching Company, which have been truly excellent. 

After spending a few hours together looking at various online curriculum, John and I have decided to give Time4learning a try! First, it is affordable. Second, I love that we can select various "levels" of a given subject at any time. Being hardcore homeschoolers we're never really sure what grade he is working in and it has simply never been important to us. So the freedom to move through the levels is essential to figuring out John's starting point and his trajectory through the material.

Third, while looking at animation on other sites John would just cover his eyes and shake his head. How is an educational site going to compete with the animation on games these days?! They can't, of course, but the animation that we demoed on Time4learning didn't attempt ridiculous humor and didn't... try too hard, if you know what I mean. It was entertaining at times, but didn't use stupid humor like others we looked at.

Fourth, the Time4learning lessons seem preferable and more flexible to us than other online programs we looked at, which include Calvert, Oak Meadow, and a few others I can't recall the names of right now. Fifth, John actually looks enthusiastic about starting the work...and I'm happy about that. Sixth, I'm looking forward to not having to purchase hundreds of dollars of materials (as Calvert required) because all materials with Time4learning are all available online.

If you are using time4learning

 please comment below 

and let me know what you think!  

And STAY TUNED for our experiences with this program!

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Posts you may also enjoy:
My Son Doesn't Like to Write 
What if They Never Learn to Read?
Do You Need A Homeschooling Strategy?

Carnival of Homeschooling, 464th Edition

Welcome to this, the 464th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.

I have hosted the Carnival of Homeschooling here on my blog several times and it is always such a pleasure to read blog posts that homeschooling parents are willing to share with the homeschool community.

I hope you enjoy this edition particularly for the theme: Let Them Be Themselves!
Most of these blog posts in this carnival have a basic message about celebrating the children than we have in our homes, just for who they are.

I hope you visit the blog posts in this carnival,

and if you do, Please leave a comment! 
Bloggers appreciate your feedback.

If you like what you read, please promote the goodness on your blog, 

on Facebook, Google, in your homeschool group, 

other social media, and with friends!

• Let's begin by welcoming Laurie to the Carnival ofHomeschooling this week and sharing her contribution from her blog Trivium Pursuit. Laurie and her husband Harvey are authors of some gorgeously-illustrated books written specifically for the Christian Classical Homeschooler. In her post called Please Read This Book, however, she is discussing important points that she discovered in a book entitled Your Family God's Way: Developing and Sustaining Relationships in the Home by Wayne A. Mack. Laurie's blog post explains four ingredients for communication disasters. In addition to this post that Laurie submitted to the carnival, may I also recommend a post entitled One Learns Best When He Pursues His Interests.
  
  Laurie and Harvey also generously offer their ebook entitled Ten things To Do Ages Ten Through Twelve for free for a limited time only. Check it out here.

•  Another warm welcome to Andrea, another long-time homeschool mom, now dealing with her own version of the Empty Next Syndrome. At Andrea's blog entitled Notes from a Homeschooled Mom she writes about the creativity on our children in her post Let Talented Children Be Talented. I appreciate her reminder that we parents need to support the children that we have, rather than the children that we fantasize about. Also, please read her post entitled Famous Homeschoolers Have People Saying...HUH?, a post about Jaden and Will Smith's children being quoted in the media. Andrea, thanks for reminding us that these kids are just...kids, and that we need to give them a little slack.

•  The Carnival of Homeschooling welcomes Denise to the carnival this week. At her blog Let's Play Math! she offers a post that is part of a series on how to meet grade-level goals by playing with math concepts: "Don’t think of the standards as a 'to do' list, but as your guide to an adventure of exploration. The key to learning math is to see it the mathematician’s way, as a game of playing with ideas". Denise's post Roadmap to Mathematics: 2nd Grade is for you mommas with kids working at the second grade level!  

• Kris at the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers generously offers her blog post 50 Reasons Homeschooled Kids Love Being Homeschooled to this carnival. Kris is a classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte Mason homeschooling, Christ-centered mom to three amazing kids and I highly recommend following this blog! May I also suggest this post entitled Advice for New Homeschoolers. Thanks, Kris.

Christine, Happy Elf Mom at Homeschool and Etc  blog offers her thoughts on what question so many people wonder when homeschoolers talk about the homeschool ...thing. In her post called Why They Won't Shut Up About Homeschooling,  Christine attempts to answer that question! May I also suggest her post Why, How and What We Do! I loved reading about the success story of responding to her son's needs and adapting the homeschooling lifestyle.

• Sara at Sara J. Schmidt blog talks about how she and her daughter are similar and how they are different in her blog post entitled In Defense of Ron Weasley. I'm sure that Every. Single. One. Of. Us. can relate in some way.

• Henry at Why Homeschool blog offers his tale of  his daughter's recent experience of accompanying him to work. Check that out at the post entitled The Daughter's Side: Taking my Daughter to Work

• My own submission to the blog carnival from this blog, My Own Mind, is a blog post entitled Parents Need to Deschool Too: Part One. It was apparent to me that many of us needed that reminder to take a step back from schooling at home every so often just to get a new perspective. I also offer Homeschooling and Socialization, Socialization and Homeschool for another thought on the matter. 

WHEW! What a wonderful carnival this week! My thanks to the wonderful parents who submitted blog posts and my thanks to Henry Cate and family for the Carnival of Homeschooling!

If you would like to hostess an upcoming edition of this carnival, please contact Henry Cate at the above link. I recommend hostessing on your blog because it is so much fun to read the wide variety of homeschooling blogs out there!

If you would like to submit your own blog post to an upcoming Carnival of Homeschooling, it's easy! Just send the following information to:  

CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com

Name of your blog:

URL of your blog:

Name of your post:

URL of your post:
Brief summary of your post:

That's all it takes and YOU can be featured in the next carnival.

Other blog carnivals exist if you are interested in a specific area of homeschooling. You can also send your blog posts to these carnivals:

• Secular Homeschooler Carnival is found here.
• Homeschool High School Carnival can be found here.
• Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers can submit here.
• Classical Homeschoolers can find out more here.
• Unschoolers can go here.
• Check out the Homeschooled Kids blog carnival here.

CAll For BLOG POSTS

If you are a homeschooling blogger, please submit your blog post for the upcoming Carnival of Homeschooling to be hosted HERE Nov 25th.


Send your blog post submission to: 
CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com 
by 8:00PM CST, Thursday, November 24th.
Submissions even earlier are appreciated! 
Please send the following information:

Title of Post:
URL of Post:
Name of Blog:
URL of Blog:
Brief summary of the post:
(Please Type "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

I am hostessing the carnival 
here on My Own Mind blog
on November 25th.

Carnival of Homeschooling #450

Are you thinking about homeschooling this fall? This is the time of year when many families begin thinking about whether they want to reenter the local elementary school and get a bit skeptical about all that goes on there.

If you are already homeschooling, this is the time of year when we marvel at the YAY, Kids Are Back in School posts because we are thrilled to not be back in school. We are thrilled to have the parks and attractions to ourselves. We are ready to see the change of season with our children. 

In this, the 450th Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling, let's look at the experience of Starting Fresh. 

 

I hope you visit the blog posts in this carnival,

and if you do, Please leave a comment!  
Bloggers appreciate your feedback.

If you like what you read, please share the goodness on your blog, 

on Facebook, Google, in your homeschool group, 

other social media, and with friends!

• Carol at journey-and-destination blog has a lovely post that reminds me of why I love homeschooling. In a collection of posts about reading and books, especially the post How We Use Books, Carol discusses the points of Charlotte Mason work that have inspired her family with regards to their reading. I enjoyed her post called Ambleside Online Year 3 - Shakespeare, Plutarch, and Poetic Narration. How I love how her daughter Moozle ran with the narration idea! Carol, thank you for sharing; I have enjoyed your blog!

• Becca at her blog Hyperactivity in the Head (formerly A Pocketful of Purple Butterflies blog) offers the consummate guide for not-back-to-school-shopping called A Homeschoolers's Guide for Back-to-School Shopping. I don't think I'm giving too much of her blog post away if I say the words: avoid the consumerism! In a second post called School's IN for the Summer, Becca reminds all homeschool parents that School is ALWAYS IN for homeschoolers! This homeschool mom talks aboaut how this unschooling - homeschooling family has grown and adapted their learning styles to find what works for them! She explains how her children's education is centered around their ability to learn important lessons in the most unexpected ways. Check out the post; you will love it.

• Blair at blairleeblog is fairly new to the carnival. WELCOME, Blair! She offers a post entitled Teaching a Homeschool Science Co-op: General Notes. The blog post focuses on her experiences teaching a middle/high school level biology co-op class for the 2013-14 school year. It is the first in a series of posts about her experiences and is sure to interest you. Some of the posts to follow are specific to her RSO Bio 2 book (R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Biology 2, Publisher: Pandia Press), but the posts will give general advice and insight about what she has learned in teaching this course. I also recommend a piece that Blair shared at her blog, a piece entitled Homeschooling is Hard.

• Rachael, a gorgeous mother of five, from Diamonds in the Rough blog and Frugal Homeschool Family blog, in the spirit of Not Going Back to School offers this first post called Top 10 Tips for Preparing for Back to School!!!  Don't mind the irony. Rachael also sends a blog post to this carnival that is so enriching! Homeschooling Inspiration Round-Up #4 is a fab post with blog links to other helpful blog posts, encouragement for families considering homeschooling, and support for all things homeschool! I appreciate your submissions, Rachael!

• For an adorable homeschooling blog check out Crista at Little Log Cottage School blog. If you are looking for ways to make the first days of homeschool special, check out this blog post from ex-teacher Crista called Making the First Day of School Special. Make it fun for your child by trying out some of Crista's great ideas in this post! While you are there, explore the blog a little and check out the tab called Fall Semester Themes for new ways to make your homeschool special this fall. If you are homeschooling a kindergartener you will want to follow this blog.

• WELCOME to Canadian homeschooler Amber at Adventure Hollow blog. Amber and her family of homeschoolers has discovered the pleasure of geoboxing and submits this blog post called How You Can Learn from Geoboxing. She and her two gorgeous children have swapped geoboxes with other interested  families and have enjoyed the experience tremendously! Give her post a read and see if your family might be able to include geoboxing in your life. If you are interested in exploring this hobby for your family, check out Homeschool Swapping Adventures or Homeschool WORLD Swapping Adventures on Facebook.

• Allow me to introduce you to Betsy at BJ's Homeschool. Betsy enjoys helping newbie homeschoolers get started, a mission with my sincere approval!!! The post she submits to the carnival this week is entitled Top Picks for Preschool/K where she reaches back into the early years of the homeschooling of her daughter and shares her favorite top picks for preschool and kindergarden. She freely shares the fun that her family had in the early years with math, phonics, reading, and handwriting. Betsy, I so appreciate you sharing the experiences of your gorgeous girl in her early years; especially now that she is graduated and moving out into the world!

• Anna-Marie at the aptly-named blog Life's Adventures is another Homeschooling Mother Extraordinaire! She and her family are travelers and enjoy taking their tricks on the road. This time her post is called Scavenger Hunt 250 St. Louis Cakes, referring to the 250th anniversary of the city. The city placed 250 birthday cakes around the region and Anna-Marie and her family is motivated to locate as many of the cakes as they can possibly find. You will enjoy this adventure and ALL of the adventures that Anna-Marie shares on her blog. You are going to need a nice cup of tea for this adventure blog, preferably Earl Grey.

• Welcome Kathie from The Character Corner to our carnival. Kathie's blog post 7 Ingredients for Successful Homeschooling reminds us all that we want to be our best as homeschooling mums. With that in mind as a goal, Kathie started noticing certain characteristics that were common in veteran homeschooling moms. Check out the list she compiled in this way. May I also recommend a post called 4 Reasons We Should Expect the Unexpected in Homeschooling. Lots of great info on this blog!

• Denise at Let's Play Math blog is on a mission to make math fun and applicable to the lives of your children. In the post Fraction Game, My Closest Neighbor she shows a fun game to help your kids practice comparing fractions, equivalent fractions, benchmark numbers, and stragetic thinking. It's brilliant! I know that this is the blog you have been waiting for!

• Kathy and Gary at Homeschool Buzz.com blog submit this blog post entitled Dictionary.com Insults Homeschoolers. I wonder if incidents of this nature impact all of us and I appreciate knowing that some families are on top of the news. This blog is interesting in that it is written by the entire family. Now that's excellent homeschooling.

• Rachael at Parenting and Homeschooling in Faith: Diamonds in the Rough blog epitomizes the theme of this Carnival of Homeschooling with her post entitled Back to School Inspiration. If you feel the need to prepare yourself as we near the time when many families restart their homeschooling in earnest, then this post is for you. This post is also a linky and welcome you to add your own blog post!
  

• My own submissions to this carnival here at My Own Mind blog begins with Strategies for Your Homeschooling. This is a post that I worked on for quite a while as I collated and collected as many original ideas as I could to give basic information to newbies and to all homeschooling parents. (Too cheeky?) In my post Are You a Good Homeschooling Parent? I talked with the kids about what qualities they felt were necessary for a homeschooling parent. This post is the collaboration that we came up with and I felt quite proud of their work on this one. And, finally in Co-op Planning, Homeschooling for Mutual Benefit  I tried to give a basic plan for how our small co-op created the next semester, for those of you who are considering getting a co-op off of the ground floor.

 

WHEW! What a wonderful carnival this week! My thanks to the wonderful parents who submitted blog posts and my thanks to Henry Cate and family for the Carnival of Homeschooling!

If you would like to submit your own blog post to an upcoming Carnival of Homeschooling, it's easy! Just send the following information to:  CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com

Name of your blog

URL of your blog

Name of your post

URL of your post
Brief summary of your post

That's all it takes and YOU can be featured in the next carnival.

Other blog carnivals exist if you are interested in a specific area of homeschooling. You can also send your blog posts to these carnivals:

• Secular Homeschooler Carnival is found here.
• Homeschool High School Carnival can be found here.
• Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers can submit here.
• Classical Homeschoolers can find out more here.
• Unschoolers can go here.
• Check out the Homeschooled Kids blog carnival here.

Have a wonderful school year!

Ta!

Secular Parenting?

I am Still Homeschool Atheist Momma!

I recently had a question from a reader about secular parenting. I think that my blog is full of good stuff to read if you are seeking to raise freethinking children. This blog is a good place to start.

Dear Parents Seeking to Raise Your Children in a Secular Home:
There is no doubt that you are struggling a bit to live your life deliberately and thoughtfully and with integrity.
Welcome to the movement of secular parenting!

Please be WELCOME here!

May I also recommend this blog carnival:
The Carnival of Atheist Parenting

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If you are interested in blog posts on secular parenting, may I suggest:
The Big Question:  Death

Talking to Our Children About Death...

Books For Your Skeptical Children

She Left Beauty Whereever She Went
My Parenting Manifesto

Build a Bridge...

I am an Atheist

My Atheist Parenting Blog

ANNOUNCING! CAP: Carnival of Atheist Parenting

Atheist parenting secular parenting humanist mothers and daughters, difficult teens, writing criticism

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  CAP:  Carnival of Atheist Parenting

Click Here For More Information

Carnival of Atheist Parenting

After much research I have realized that the internet has very little for parents who are seeking to raise wonderful secular children.  Not one to sit on my heels, this new blog carnival is for YOU!

I am a completely open atheist and very willing to represent our growing and vibrant community!

This weekly (bi-weekly?) carnival is for all atheist/agnostic/humanist/secular parents who are THINKING and wanting to create a healthy, vibrant, and positive upbringing for their beloveds and who want to share their ideas and encouragement for secular parents in this nonsecular world.


This is NEW.   It will change, evolve, and GROW.  Please help me to get this venture off of the ground by getting your courage up and sharing your blog post with your secular musings, thoughts, activities, joy, and entertaining writing for the secular parent!  Be on the cutting edge with me.  My goal is to grow this blog carnival for atheist/agnostic/humanist/secular families and to, NOW, a website just for the carnival.

WHAT IS A BLOG CARNIVAL?
There is so much stuff in the internet in general and on the zillions of blogs out there, just finding worthwhile pieces to read can be time-consuming and frustrating.  If you are blogging on secular parenting, this carnival is the place to share your work with like-minded bloggers.  If you are a secular parent, this carnival is to bring good writing to you from others who are DOING IT!

GRAB THIS BUTTON!

You can help the secular parenting community by sharing this carnival on your blog, on facebook groups, in your other social media, by encouraging your known associates and friends to read and contribute, and by grabbing my button and sharing it on your blog and other social media.  But mostly, by reading, writing, and sharing.

Your blog post does not have to be, specifically about atheism or secularism, but should reflect these qualities.  Ideally, posts will focus on secular parenting, it's struggles, joys, questions, advice, daily moments, humor, and the like.  Though I highly prefer openness, I understand the struggles many secular families endure in the name of freethought; you are welcome to use pseudonyms.  New or very recent blog posts preferred.

Submissions are due Sunday evenings at 6pm.
If this carnival does not get off the the ground within a few months, I will end it.  Let's make it work.

Send the following information to Karen.loethen@gmail.com

Type CAP SUBMISSION or Carnival of Atheist Parenting in the email subject line.
TITLE OF BLOG:
URL OF BLOG:
TITLE OF POST:
URL OF POST:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION of writer or blog:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF POST:


All comments and questions should be directed to karen.loethen@gmail.com

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;-)  Look at this!  I'm so happy.  Hemant Mehta blogged about the carnival!!!!!!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/10/02/a-blog-carnival-for-atheist-parenting/

Carnival of Homeschooling October 1, 2013

Welcome to this 405th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! I haven't read the Carnival from the beginning; I started reading round about the 350th one.  LOL  It's my time! It's your time too.  This is the time that I am focused on homeschooling my kids and on reading as much as I can about providing the best experience that I can for them. It's my time!

 

Check them and and PLEASE leave a comment!
Bloggers love your feedback in terms of questions, comments, 

commiserations, confession, acclimation, compliment or salutation!
 

If you like what you read, please share the goodness on your blog, 

on Facebook, in your homeschool group, and with friends!

 

• Jennifer Needham of Time4Learning Community Blog sent this blog post on the use of lapbooks in homeschooling. I am completely unfamiliar with lapbooking, but this link will take you to a blog post on lapbooking a nutrition lesson. Let me know what you think! I don't think the post truly fits this carnival, but others on that site do, so I thought I'd pass it along.  Check out the post called Socialization, Seriously!?

• Tara at Organized SAHM has been taking her homeschooling blog readers through the alphabet in a continuing series called Preschool Homeschool (A-Z) for her preschooler and she is up to one of my favorite letters: J! You will enjoy her Jack-o-lantern themed post. Tara is homeschooling mom to four Little Things, ages 8 month to 8 years. She writes about budgeting, recipes, sewing, and homeschooling. So check her out and subscribe for her regular blog updates!

• Rebecca at Down a Rabbit Trail:  Interest-Led Learning with a Charlotte Mason Flair blog is a second generation unschooling mother of three who writes as a woman in love with life and learning! For a beautiful example of true child-led learning, read any of her posts about surprises of the day and recognizing their value.
  
  Her contribution to today's carnival is a magnificently-crafted post called
  Fabric Scraps, Glitter & Puffy Foam Stickers:  What We Leave Behind. I'll bet that many of us could write a post with this post's message. And maybe we should.  Rebecca, thank you for sharing this one; I would hate to have missed it! Another post I highly recommend giving a read to is called Back to (Un)School, that post we all feel, even if we don't write it, at the beginning of the school year. And, lastly, Rebecca recently hosted a blog carnival called the Hearts for Home Weekly Blog Hop!
  Now doesn't that sound interesting?!

• At the blog Tea Time with Annie Kate, the eponymously named blog by Annie Kate, I was reminded why these carnivals are so awesome! This blog is worth watching!  Annie Kate submitted a post called You, Your Teen's Guidance Counselor. Anyone with homeschooling teens will appreciate this post as she has put down the necessary steps that we, the parents, need to take to get our teens from homeschooling to university-ready!
  
  Here is another post by Annie Kate on strewing called Leave Some Good Books Lying Around. LOVE IT - this is a woman after my own heart. Thank you so much, AK, for participating this week!

• Barbara Frank at the incomparable blog Barbara Frank Online reminds us, with humor, of those elementary school years.  Flashback Friday:  Not Exactly Fond Memories of School will touch you. Can you relate to this encore post?
  
  Barbara is the mother of four adult children, all homeschooled. She is now the author of Thriving in the 21st Century, Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens, The Imperfect Homeschooler’s Guide to Homeschooling, and Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, along with a couple of eBooks (with more to come).

• Shaz at Homeschooled Twins has offered a post entitled Homeschooing Your Gifted Child - Links for My Talk at the 2013 VA Homeschooler's Conference. The post is an EXCELLENT resource for homeschooling parents with a comprehensive list of websites, video, and many supportive and educational sites. This blog has been nominated as a top Education Blog!      
  
  This blog post may be included in this carnival through my own error, but I decided to pass it along for the great resources!

• Julie Bogart on the Most Excellent Brave Writer website offers this piece called When Your Child Writes Hurtful Words. Reading this piece, I am reminded of how complex parenting really is and how important it is for us as parents to be adult and compassionate, even when our children hurt our feelings. Julie recently blogged about single parents who homeschool. I have seen NOTHING on this subject before! Please enjoy this piece called For Single Parent Homeschoolers and Their Friends. Another post worth reading is Boredom is a Red Flag. Please spend some time exploring this blog!

• Jennifer Saska, a software professional offered this piece to homeschooling parents called Do More With Software:  Teaching Reading Fluency with Podcasts. This post seems to be a marketing tool for a book. Generally I would not include this type of a post in this carnival, but I thought someone might appreciate the resource. 

• Henry Cate, owner of Why Homeschool blog and founder of this carnival, offers a post called Introducing Homeschoolers to Toastmasters on Toastmasters, the public speaking hobby group that offers learn-by-doing workshops that develop leadership skills and skills of communicating effectively. Read his post! I can also highly recommend Toastmasters as a group as well as an idea for a co op! We did a Toastmasters co op group one time and the feedback and opportunity for speaking in public were highly informative!

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I have included clip art that I have created especially for this carnival.
You are welcome to use these freely.

Thank you for visiting the carnival this week. 

Your submissions for next week's carnival will be due by Monday, October 7, 2013 unless otherwise noted on that blog. If you wish to submit your blog post with a homeschool focus for the next carnival, follow these instructions:

Submissions are due to: CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. 

It is greatly appreciated when the submissions come in earlier. 

Please send the following information:

Title of Post
URL of Post
Name of Blog
URL of Blog
Brief summary of the post
Brief introduction of yourself
(With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:  
 Disadvantages of Homeschooling 
Are Homeschoolers Weird?
Top Ten Habits of a Happy Homeschool Mom 
What Do You Do All Day? 
You Must Be So Patient!