Smrt Lernins

Homeschoolers vary pretty widely on opinions over the topic of whether or not homeschoolers should receive a tax exemption (since their children don’t go to public schools) or tax deduction (for materials costs). Some fear a tax exemption could lead to tighter regulation of what constitutes legal and acceptable homeschooling. Some feel it’s necessary to offset the additional incurred costs of homeschooling. I can see the concerns on both sides of the aisle.

What if, instead of homeschooling affording you an exemption or deduction, you could set up a flexible education spending account at the beginning of each year, just like you can currently do with medical expenses? The money you put in would be pre-tax, anyone with a school-aged child could set one up (homeschooling or not), and certain items would be considered “educational,” just like they currently are for Georgia’s tax-exempt weekends. You’d either make your purchases through pre-approved vendors/publishers of educational materials (those vendors or publishers could apply to be on your FESA’s approved vendors list just like pharmacies/med. supply vendors do now) or you would send in your receipts afterwards.

Books/curricula, educational software, and basic school supplies could be included. It could be a good way to help offset the cost without creating a lot of additional regulation for homeschoolers.

Thoughts?

Captain Science has started working on Michael Clay Thompson’s Building Poems. Today, he read and then wrote poems with end rhymes, internal rhymes, and eye rhymes. I asked that he write a minimum of four lines for each poem.

The Roman Slave (end rhyme)

In the darkening sky,
In ancient Rome,
Chased by his master,
The slave ran home.

The Old Man’s Night (internal rhyme)

One long rainy night, in an old man’s sight,
He saw something at his open door.
He said “Go away, or I’ll get you, I may!”
And the thing flew out into the moor.
“Well, it’s in the plains…oh my! My leg pains!”
The old man said in disgust,
And because of the rain his short metal cane
Was also stating to rust.

The Rain (eye rhyme)

One day a little boy
Was soaked by a sudden rain.
The next day when he went out to play
It started to rain again.

We had another fantastic week at the McLernins Academy of Advanced Lernins (no, I don’t actually put that on my DOI or attendance reports, but I’m considering it for next year)!

Monday was only a half-day, because Captain Science and I had a special day planned. I wasn’t going to have him do any work at all, but the little darling woke up early, knocked out his run, math, and grammar before I ever got up! We closed shop early to go see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which Captain Science declared one of the best movies ever, even if it wasn’t very much like the book. We rounded out our awesome afternoon with corned beef and roasted potatoes, which is his favorite meal (other than chicken fingers and french fries), for a full day of Captain Science/Smrt Mama fun. It was the best President’s Day ever.

Tuesday is co-op day at the McLernins house. We were down two students (Ari and Eclectic Girl, both on family vacations), but the board game class was still boisterous and productive. The children voted on their game idea, which, somewhat ironically, is a food fight game set in a public school cafeteria! We only had one student who didn’t like that idea, but hopefully he’s having enough fun that he won’t mind working on his less-than-first choice.

My writing students are making great progress, too. Since EG wasn’t there and I didn’t want her to get too far behind, my three students (Cpt. Science included) read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper.” We then discussed things like protagonists and antagonists, pacing, climax and resolution, and reliable vs unreliable narrators. Their assignment for next week was to rewrite their climactic scene from a different POV. Captain Science finished his rewrite last night.

Jumping into our subject by subject review:

It was what we’d call a FABULOUS week for math. Captain Science knocked out chapter 25 in Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents, then completed the bridge to chapter 26 in the first try! He also completed chapters 26-28 without making any mistakes. Woohoo!

Language arts was also good this week. We reviewed clauses and phrases one more time in Grammar Town, because I was still a little concerned about Captain Science being able to identify a gerund. He did several pages from Practice Town, a lesson from Caesar’s English I plus review of prior materials, and did a lesson on rhymes in Building Poems. He’s currently writing a neat final draft of his end rhymed, internal rhymed, and eye rhymed poems, which I’ll post later. Once he’s done, he’ll read the first section of Paragraph Town, wrapping up our LA work for the week.

With Patchfire on vacation (how dare she, right?), we were left to our own devices for science. She left me the materials for the brain class for co-op, so I took the students through that (messing up my own materials by coloring incorrectly, which made them laugh at me). Captain Science also did workshops I, II, and III and experiments I and II from his Thames and Kosmos physics lab, getting all caught up for the week we missed due to not having the kit yet.

Piano! I always forget to add piano. Captain Science is making huge strides. He’s an excellent sight reader, but also has a good ear for music. He’s advancing quickly into chords, playing duets with his teacher, and is slowly integrating scales. I’m so impressed by how naturally he’s taken to it, considering I was not that much of a natural on the piano. I’m so happy that he’s musically minded!

The Tank’s week was fairly uneventful: no class on Monday, happy and sunny days on Wednesday and Thursday. Have I mentioned that I can’t wait to start homeschooling him? I’m lining up my resources for next year!

Babypie has a cold. I have a cold. Officer Daddyman has a cold. That’s our big accomplishments for the week.