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HUUmans at Home June/July 2001
HUUmans at Home
June/July 2001
Issue 21
A UUA Related Organization
Member, National Home Education Network
Member, Rose Rock Inclusive Homeschoolers
Special "Who We Are" and "Where We Want to Be" Newsletter Issue
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Editor's Note by Teresa Willingham: UU Homeschoolers Looks Ahead ! I can't believe how much progress we've made in the last month! We're up to more than 50 members ranging from Canada to states across the nation. We're now a recognized "Related Organization" with the UUA, and thanks to your generosity and commitment to our goals and mission and the sharing of our resources, we covered the $50 cost of membership with minimal expense to any one person.. We have a phenomenal website, thanks to the skills and talents of Gwyneth Butera (see her intro inside). HUUmans on the Web (www.butera.org/HUUKS) has already received praise from the UUA, other organizations with whom I've updated our links, and from Rose Rock, the national all-inclusive homeschool group that wants to partner up with us. We're still exploring that possibility, but it's a nice opportunity for even more recognition. As mentioned, we've updated our links and memberships across the web, wherever possible, including all our listings with the UUA, various homeschooling links, and notable organizations like NHEN (National Home Educators Network), Home Education Magazine, Jon's Homeschooling Page and others. We've just sent out our first UU Homeschoolers survey and the results we've gotten back so far are exciting and inspiring. I'm reprinting the survey here in the event you haven't gotten the email version, and to share with our liberal home and alternative learners who might have good ideas and comments to share. Also, look for the initial results of our survey in this issue, including a general "What Does a UU Homeschooler look like?", "What Does a UU Homeschooler Do?" and "What Do UU Homeschoolers Want?" We'll be fleshing out our findings as the rest of the survey results come in. But the initial results give us a great opportunity to examine ourselves and evaluate our future. I also think we're really fulfilling our mission with our online support network. Discussions lately have ranged from how to find solitude in a house with children to reading recommendations. We've comforted each other, learned from each other and enjoyed getting to know each other. And I don't think it too great a stretch to say we've created a sort of mini-ministry here - a safe place to nurture and grow, spiritually and academically. I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one, am glad UU Homeschoolers is here! Happy Homeschooling! Terri Willingham Many, many thanks to our wonderful contributors, Jackie Boone, Amy Windmill, Camille Sobun, our copy editor, and Gwyneth Butera, our Web Coordinator! |
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UUA News: UUA's Socially Responsible Investment Commitment Brings Change in Home Depot Practices (Boston, MA - May 18, 2001) http://www.uua.org/news/052101.html In response to a shareholder resolution filed by the Unitarian Universalist Association that called on Home Depot to "amend its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and to substantially implement this policy," Home Depot moved on May 11, 2001, to amend its equal employment opportunity policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The policy applies to all of the company's approximately 226,000 employees globally. UUA Counters Attempted Identity Theft (Boston, MA - April 18, 2001) http://www.uua.org/news/uuaidentity/uuaidentity.html In a statement released today, the Rev. John A. Buehrens, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, addressed the creation of an organization that is using the name "American Unitarian Association." The internet has unwittingly facilitated a form of mischief known as 'identity theft.' Individuals have been subjected to it and recently the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has been experiencing this in the form of a website appropriating the name 'American Unitarian Association.' Therefore the UUA has filed suit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where the group has incorporated. Unitarian Universalists Join Landmark Suit Seeking Civil Marriage Rights in Massachusetts (Boston, MA April 13, 2001) http://www.uua.org/news/010411.html In a landmark case that has implications throughout the US and Canada, seven Unitarian Universalists have filed suit as part of a group of seven gay and lesbian couples who seek the right to marry in Massachusetts. The suit, filed in Suffolk (MA) Superior Court, asserts that the couples had all been denied marriage licenses at their municipal town halls, and seeks, through this action, to gain the legal recognition "that same-sex couples -- whose relationships are as loving and as committed as those of heterosexual couples -- have an equal right to civil marriage," according to Mary Bonauto, Civil Rights Director for GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) and co-counsel in the landmark Vermont marriage case of last year. Don’t Forget GA & Upcoming elections! http://www.uua.org/elections/ The 40th General Assembly will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on June 21-25th. The GA is the yearly meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. The myriad programs, business events, and exhibits provide a rich experience to the more than 4,000 UU's who attend each year. Slate 2001 nominees for President and Moderator this year are as follows. (See the entire slate in the World or at uua.org) President: 1 to be elected; 4-year term Rev. Diane Miller, Belmont, Massachusetts Rev. William Sinkford, Cambridge, MA Moderator: 1 to be elected; 4-year term Patsy Sherrill Madden, St. Louis, Missouri Diane Olson, Scottsdale, Arizona |
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Homeschool News from around the Nation: Did you know there is actually a *national* homeschooling newspaper? It's called The Link, and appears to be a well-written, fairly balanced publication, with a recognizable staff of writers and an admirable collection of articles, including pieces by John Taylor Gatto, and Cafi Cohen. You can subscribe to the free newspaper by writing to: The Link 587 N. Ventu Park Road, Ste. F-911 Newbury Park, CA 91320 Or view it free online at http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/. It's apparently in its fifth year. Who knew? The site also mentions that The Link "is available in retail outlets, libraries and bookstores throughout the United States free." Anyway, here's a bit of what's going on in the homeschool world: From the AP, May 2001 Jason Ferguson, a 13-year-old homeschooler from Texas, won third place and a $10,000 scholarship in the 2001 National Geographic Bee. This was mentioned in a small syndicated AP column announcing the first place winner, Kyle Haddad-Fonda, a private school student from Washington and mentioning the second place winner, Nick Jachowski, a public school student from Hawaii. The article closed with the mild observation that three of the Bee finalists were homeschoolers. That's three, folks. Of the 5 million students from around the country who participated at local levels, from which 55 state winners emerged to be narrowed down to ten finalists, three were homeschoolers, and one of them placed in the top three. Given that each of the three winners hailed from a different learning methodology, I think - whether anyone else notices or not - the playing field is being more than leveled and homeschoolers are more than holding their own! HOMESCHOOLERS WIN NASA CONTEST. A group of Ohio homeschoolers took first place in a nationwide competition sponsored by NASA. The group of four boys entered the Design A Mission To Mars section of the NASA Student Involvement Program, which involved three months of research and design work. The team beat out more than 1,000 entries submitted by some 4,000 students to earn a place at NASA Space Camp. From NASA press release: "Nearly 3,000 students developed and submitted entries in five competition areas: My Planet Earth, Design a Mission to Mars, Watching Earth Change, Aeronautics & Space Science Journalism and Space Flight Opportunities. Center winners in grades 9-12 and their teacher-mentors attended the NSIP Winners Week during the Spring of 2001. NSIP Winners Week recognizes the students' academic achievement and enables students to share their research with their peers. "The all-expenses-paid trip to NSIP Winners Week includes formal presentations of the students' projects at the National Symposium, an informal poster session, and an award dinner. A comprehensive list of Winners Week participants is available. Middle and elementary school first place Center winners are awarded a special NASA program at their school. Among the first place middle school entries, a National winner was selected from the seven Center first-place winning teams for each competition category. These National winners will attend Space Camp in the summer of 2001. "All second and third place winners receive medals. Entries are selected for flight in two Space Flight Opportunities categories. The lead teacher and some team members for each flight-selected experiment receive an all expense-paid trip to Student Flight Week at NASA Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island Virginia in June. Working with NASA scientists and engineers, winners in the Space Experiment Module (SEM) category finalize their experiments for launch on the NASA Space Shuttle. Winners in the Sub-Orbital Space Experiment Module (Sub- SEM) category work with NASA scientists and engineers to finalize their experiments, observe their launch on a NASA Sounding Rocket, and begin their data analysis following recovery of their experiments. These Winners will attend Student Flight Week. Thanks to all who participated and congratulations to the winners!" Also: Virginia M. Lane of Arlington, a home-schooled senior, was awarded a Lockheed Martin Merit Scholarship, for children of Lockheed Martin employees. Virginia has served as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of a home-school group's student council. She played softball and sang in the Reflections Home School Choir. She has participated in Civil War reenactments and has been extensively involved in politics. She has studied dance for 9 years and piano for 10 years. A member of the yearbook committee and writer for the newsletter, she is interested in a career in journalism. |
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HUUmans on the Web: From Gwyneth Butera We are pleased to announce the creation of the HUUmans at Home website, called HUUmans on the Web. With this site, we hope to provide our members with loads of resources and attract new members to our growing membership. Some of the resources on the website include an interfaith calendar that lists links for each of the holidays and celebrations, an ever-growing listof useful links (to support groups, curricula, and web resources), a recommended reading list and a place for the kids to share projects that they have been working on. Please, we gladly accept any contributions that you can add to our site. The URL is http://www.butera.org/HUUKS/. [Web Coordinator's note: As of 6 June 2001, this has moved to http://www.uuhomeschool.org/.] |
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HUUmans in the Library: UU Homeschoolers were enthusiastically swept up in a recent online discussion about books. Here's a very tiny portion of the list that we came up with. Happy Reading! About Homeschooling By Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer: The Well-Trained Mind By John Holt: Teach Your Own Kid's Non-Fiction By Huston Smith: Religions of Man Ann Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Kids' Fiction Ages 9-12 By Joan Aiken: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Adventure as two girls overcome difficulties, including a wicked governess trying to rob them. A thrilling must-read! Midnight is a Place (Out-of-print) Brave, resourceful children struggle to survive during the industrial revolution By Louisa May Alcott: Little Women Moving story of four sisters growing up during the American Civil War Little Men Continues Little Women, grown up and running a school Eight Cousins Orphan goes to live with her uncles, aunts and cousins. Jack and Jill Lively children cope with recovery after a sledding accident. By Lynne Reid Banks: The Indian in the Cupboard series From Terry Stafford: "These really took over our reading life for as long as it took to read them all. They really hold attention and interest." The Fairy Rebel A fun story of human-fairy friendship and a dangerous, angry fairy queen. By Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden Spring brings to a garden and children a new life A Little Princess After the loss of her father, a girl bravely keeps her pride |
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Online Resources: Okay, most of us gripe about standardized testing and its myriad shortcomings. We rightfully point out that the benefits of home education exceed anything that can be evaluated on paper. But secretly, and sometimes not so secretly, we're all tickled when our kids do well on assessments and evaluations. And in all honesty, some testing is truly helpful to point out to us and to our children where strengths and weaknesses lie. If you believe that, as purely evaluative tools, tests serve their purposes, then you might enjoy this online resource called The Mental Edge, at http://www.learningshortcuts.com/. The site, offered free as a public service and supported by advertisements, contains a comprehensive set of more than 1900 reviews for all subjects in grades 3 through 12. They are coordinated with all major textbooks, which is fine from a public school perspective. But from a home learning perspective, it's a great practice and review site in and of itself. The site provides correct test responses with explanations, is simple and effective to use, and is fun in a trivia game sort of way. Go test it out and see what you think! |
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UU Homeschoolers Survey: Please feel free to share this with other interested folks, and discuss it with friends at church and in your homeschool groups! We should be deliberate in the choices we make, and specific in expressing both the reasons for our choices (which should thus help us understand them better) and specific in expressing our needs and desires, so they can be met, or at least assisted in being met, by those who want to help. Without further ado - the Survey! Your name and address (optional), or the region (very helpful!) you live in: Name of the church you attend, if any: Are you a UU? If so, how long have you been a UU? And if not, what, if any, faith tradition would you classify yourself or your family as? Do you have a core of UU or liberal homeschoolers in your area that you can share time with regularly: Would you classify the area you live in as religiously/educationally conservative, liberal or a good mix? Why? How long have you been homeschooling, and how many children are you homeschooling? Do you feel your homeschooling is accepted in your family, community and/or church? Why have you chosen to homeschool? How do your children enjoy learning at home? What do you like best about homeschooling? Do you and your children participate in any alternative learning programs, such as dual enrollment, public school classes or sports programs, or community sports (like Little League or soccer), outside classes such as piano or art, apprenticeship programs, or scouting or 4H type activities? Please list them. How did you find out about UU homeschoolers? Why did you join? Have you found UU Homeschoolers helpful? If so, in what way? If not, where have we failed? What would you like to see in UU Homeschoolers, in our website, in our relationship to each other, to the home-schooling community and/or to the UU community? Or, put another way, how do you think we can we be a better support group for UU and alternative educators? What skills, talents or resources can you share or suggest for UU Homeschoolers? How do you think we can make ourselves more accessible to other homeschoolers and liberal learners? What do you think of starting UU Homeschoolers’ chapters in member churches? Would you be interested in participating in such a group yourself? What sort of services or resources do you think UU Homeschoolers should be able to provide regional chapters? Anything else you'd like to add? |
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UU Homeschooler Survey and some initial results Meet UU Homeschoolers... Survey Results Thus Far (about 1/2 are in) What does a UU Homeschooler look like? We look like everyone else and like no one else! We're, as one member puts it, vanilla and cream, caramel and butterscotch. We're traditional families, multicultural, gay and lesbian, and single parent families. Many of us are former something-or-others: In no particular order, we've been Southern Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Church of Christ, and Christian Science, and now we call ourselves Seekers or UUs-All-Our-Lives-Who-Didn't-Know-It. Many of us are Pagan, Wiccan, Secular and Religious Humanist, Agnostic, or Atheist. Many of us have churches we call home; many of us are un-churched. Where do UU Homeschoolers Live? We live all over the place, in Canada, New Jersey, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Tennessee. Why are we homeschooling? Overwhelmingly, because we love our children! The number one reason cited for homeschooling is the joy of being with our children, followed by the natural freedoms of homeschooling, adaptability to our children's needs and learning styles, dislike of public school structure (or lack of it), public school violence and negative peer pressure. What everyone seems to love best about homeschooling is the way learning is integrated with life and the focus on family. And several respondents commented on the joy of "being there" when a child "gets it!" Most of us live in rather conservative regions: Bible Belts, Evangelical homelands for folks the likes of the Bakers, and bastions of Catholicism. Some of us live in quite liberal areas. Most of us have found our lifestyle - and we seem in agreement that homeschooling *is* a lifestyle - accepted by family and friends. A few of us have not and persevere anyway. How do UU Homeschoolers teach their children? Let us count the ways!! Most of us consider ourselves "unschoolers." We freestyle, bushwhack and hands-on grasp life, shake it up, turn it upside down and inside out and live fully and enjoyably with our children. Some of us use prepackaged curricula to some extent: Five- in- a- Row, a literature based learning program; unit studies; Singapore Math; Math-U-See. Some of us guide ourselves and our children with foundational programs like E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge series, or similar sequential knowledge guides. And some of us don't. None of us are isolated at home. Our children are involved in music and art classes, sports, ice skating, dance, gymnastics, swimming classes, scouts, 4-H, language classes, choirs, Camp Fire Girls and Boys, Girls Club, volunteer projects and ISP classes, and activities at church. What Do UU Homeschoolers Like About UU Homeschoolers? We mostly enjoy having a liberal home...a place to share our thoughts, questions, resources, sorrows, confusions, confessions, triumphs and joys. What Do UU Homeschoolers Want? All of us want more visibility and viability. From our online discussion list, many of us would like more practical discussions on teaching and learning, and some of us would like more philosophical discussions about the moral and religious reasons for homeschooling. The creation of a UU E-Pals exchange for our children was suggested. But, quite understandably, we don't want our online support group to be our main resource and lifeline. All of us are very interested in the creation of local UU Homeschoolers chapters, based at our churches and open to the community, where all liberal learners would be welcome. We want Sunday Services kits, sermon samples, mailings of brochures and educational materials to UU churches and DREs nationwide, PSAs to the World and our local newspapers. What Does UU Homeschoolers Plan Do About All This? We plan to make it happen! Already underway are efforts to create a Sunday Services kit and educational brochures and materials that will be available to all members. Many members indicated their willingness to head up local UU Homeschoolers chapters in their churches. To that end, we'll provide you with sample program proposals that you can adapt to your individual group’s needs and present to your churches as a community outreach opportunity. We hope to have all these resources available for everyone by the fall. Almost all our members mentioned that they "stumbled onto" UU Homeschoolers. Like any good ministry, we should not be stumbled upon, but should be a clearly evident, available and inviting resource. With everyone's continued support and enthusiasm, we will be! Terri |
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BUSHISMS for Language Arts Doing His Part to Leave No Child Behind by Terri Willingham Okay, we all make fun of President Bush and his penchant for malapropisms, which many of us assume occur because his mouth is in motion before his brain is in gear. But to be fair -- and we simply must be fair -- English is a tough language, and especially difficult to keep in line when you're on the spot, as all public figures tend to find themselves. Some of them, like Gore, trade pedantic speech for more colloquial speech. Others, like Bush, just go for it and hope for the best. I sympathize with Bush (even though I'm not a Bush sympathizer!) because I see my 8-year-old son in him every time he opens his mouth. My son tends to blurt things out in whatever order they rest in his mind, whether or not verbs match nouns in number or gender. We're working with him and hope to have the problem corrected before he runs for president. But in the meantime, President Bush can be a great help to all of us. We just need to stop making fun of him and make him into a grammar lesson instead. Here are a few Bushisms and their "solutions" to get you started: "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" - Rarely is that question asked because the sentence lacks verb agreement. "Are our children learning?" works much better. "Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."-CNBC, April 15, 2000 Verb agreement seems to be a recurring theme for the President. "...how bright our children are..." is the proper form. "I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together." -Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000 Your children should be able to find the correct way to express this sentiment. That is, indeed, a different vision, and a different version of the word "leader." "We ought to make the pie higher."-South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000 Sometimes, Bush's problems amount to muddled metaphors, although I suppose if he's talking about a wedding cake (wedding pie?), one could, indeed, make it higher. But it's best to complete metaphors properly. In this case, the President probably means a "larger" pie. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."-Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001 Okay, I know we shouldn't be making fun, here, but I couldn't resist this one! See if your children can find the error here. Then there's the problem of vocabulary: "I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well."-Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001 Good trick. Have the kids look up "predecessor." "I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure."-Interview with the Associated Press, Jan. 18, 2001 It's hard to argue with this...somehow. "They misunderestimated me."-Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000 This is a case of making compound words out of words that were never intended to be this close. Actually, this is a common problem that we've all experienced --combining two words we were undecided about uttering and forming a completely new (and meaningless!) one. In this case, it seems Bush waffled between "misunderstood" and "underestimated" and created the mongrel word "misunderestimated." And here are a few more. See what you and your children can make of these during a rainy afternoon. There are a few science, social studies and history discussions here, too: "But I also made it clear to (Vladimir Putin) that it's important to think beyond the old days of when we had the concept that if we blew each other up, the world would be safe." -May 1, 2001 "I appreciate that question because I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between church and state." -George W. Bush, speaking to reporters, Jan. 29, 2001 "The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants." -George W. Bush, Jan. 2001 "Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods." -George W. Bush, Dec. 20, 2000 (I'd enjoy hearing interpretations of what this actually means!) And my personal favorite: "I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them." Dec. 20, 2000 |
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Homeschooling Contacts: Davies Memorial UU Church 7400 Temple Hill Rd Camp Springs, MD 20748 301-449-4308/(h)283-4545 contact: DRE, Dawn Borchelt Edmonds UU Church 8109 224th St., Edmonds, WA (h) 360-756-7980 contact: DRE, Mary Marsh e-mail: huuman.athome@gte.net First Universalist Parish PO Box 454, Derby Line, VT 05830 802-873-3563 contact: Rev. Jane Dwinell e-mail: fup@together.net UU Fellowship of Wayne Co. 344 N. Columbus Ave, Wooster, OH 44691 330-264-9194 contact: DRE, Georgia Jaeb e-mail: zjaeb@valkyrie.net Franklin Unitarian Universalist Congregation 206 Central Street Franklin, N 03235 603-286-8374 contact: DRE, Becky Colpitts e-mail: colpitts@nh.ultranet.com North Parish of N. Andover Unitarian Universalist 190 Academy Road North Andover, Massachusetts 01845 (978)682-9999 contact: Shirley Toomey (member of RE committee) e-mail: shirley@toomey.net Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro 5306 Hilltop Rd. , Greensboro, NC 336-886-8230 contact: Liz Grimes e-mail: JGrimes@infoave.net UU Church of Brevard 735 Pineda Ave. Palm Bay, FL 32907 321-951-7243 contact: Ann Fuller 2185 Meadowland Avenue West Melbourne, FL 32904-4953 321-725-6125 Spirit of Life 18412 Burrell Road Odessa, FL 33556 Ph. (813) 792-1622 contact: Terri Willingham e-mail: spirituu@aol.com Note: You don’t have to list your church if you want to be included on this list. This is a list of UU’s who are supportive of homeschooling. Please help us grow the list of homeschooling UU’s all over N. America. |
HUUmans at Home
HUUmans at Home HUUmans at Home is a quarterly publication of UU Homeschoolers Contents reflect the views of the authors and are not necessarily those of any particular group of people. The editor welcomes submissions of articles, letters, media reviews and other items of interest to our readers. Inquiries and submissions can be sent to:
Email: Terri sparrow@tampabay.rr.com
Rights to all submissions to this newsletter remain with the authors. Permission is hereby granted for homeschoolers to quote from this newsletter in whole or in part with the requirements that this newsletter is properly credited as the source and that a copy of the quote is sent to the editor at the above address.
