The 56th Carnival of Homeschooling...

... is up. And here is the 55th.

A lot more friends have been expressing interest in homeschooling lately. Must be catching on. I guess that only makes sense.

Baby Mode

We're in baby mode around here. He could arrive anytime now (or up to six weeks from now), and there is still so much yet to be done. I'll post pictures of the nursery when it is finished.

On Homeschooling and Socialization

From Matthew Dallman (hat tip to Why Homeschool):

It is the one thing Hannah and I are most asked, when we even mention the possibility we will home educate Twyla (though it is a pretty good probability at this point).

In truth, it is something we thought about, and were concerned about, until we actually looked into the matter. So I understand why people ask, "but what about socialization public school provides?" (Or private, for that matter.) But that doesn't make it any less tiring.

Heh. That sounds awfully familiar (and our son hasn't even been born yet.) After giving this question a great deal of thought, it now strikes me as ridiculous, and I find myself reluctant to address it at all when people bring it up. All that wants to come out of my mouth is "Are you daft? Since when does school provide superior socialization?", and that's not very helpful.

Matthew points to a much better answer with a quote from The Well-Trained Mind.

According to the dictionary, socialization is "the process by which a human being, beginning in infancy, acquires the habits, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of his society." In other words, you're being socialized when you learn habits, acquire beliefs, learn about the society around you, develop character traits, and become competent in ths skills you need to function properly in society.

Who teaches all of this? Agents of socialization include the family (both immediate and extended), the religious community, neighborhoods, tutors and mentors, the media (TV, radio, films, books, magazines all tell the child what's expected of him, for better or worse), clubs (social or academic), the arts (both in observation and participation), travel, jobs, civic participation. And formal schooling is an institution.

Taking the child out of school doesn't mean theat you're going to remove him from the other "agents of socialization" that surround him. Furthermore, think about the type of socialization that takes place in school. The child learns how to function in a specific environment, one where he's surrounded by thirty children his own age. This is a very specific type of socialization, one that may not prove particularly useful. When, during the course of his life, will he find himself in this kind of context? Not in work or in family life or in his hobbies. The classroom places the child in a peer-dominated situation that he'll probably not experience again...

We live in an age in which people think a great deal about their peers, talk about them constantly, and act as if a child's existence will be meaningless if he isn't accepted by his peer group...

The trend in our culture is to devalue — even bypass — the family as a basic unit of socialization. But it's within the family that children learn to love by seeing love demonstrated; learn unselfishness both through teaching and through example (choosing to teach a child at home is unselfishness at work); learn conflict resolution by figuring out how to get along with parents and with each other.

The family unit — the basic agent of socialization — is itself a place to communicate with people of different ages. But socialization doesn't stop there. As a family, you should make a wide range of friends of various ages. Home-school parent and lawyer Christopher Klicka points out that home-educated children are continually socialized through community activities, Little League, Scouts, band, music lessons, art classes, field trips, and the numerous events sponsored by local home-school support groups.

Read the rest of it. Matthew ends by commenting:

Thus what is needed, at the root, is courageous parents. Willing to follow what deep down they feel (I would argue, are programmed by virtue of human nature) is right — namely that they, and no one else, ought be the primary educators of their children. And, naturally, that Family Is Number 1.

Well put. La Shawn Barber has been writing a similar sentiment (bolded).

The New F30 Has Arrived

 

A camel from our nativity set. I don't know that the E900 could have taken this picture in this low of light--no flash, in the living room at 12:15 AM, illuminated by one weak overhead light. I'm pleased.

Great News at Home Today

We'd been waiting on the results of an MRI for the Free Husband. They came in today, and everything is AOK. Hooray!

New Digital Camera on the Way

It's a Fujifilm FinePix F30. I had been using the Fujifilm FinePix E900, but that belongs to the office, and my last day is this Friday. The two cameras aren't far off from each other in price, but based on the reviews I read, I think I'll get better pictures out of the F30. We shall see...

The Digital Camera Carnival posted on Instapundit in November was a big help in searching for a new camera. Check out parts One, Two, and Three.

In Part Two, someone writes of the FinePix F30:

I run a photo lab for a major retailer, and see a lot of prints from a lot of cameras. On the side, I do the occasional wedding for a little extra spending money, using a Canon 20D. Because I'm such a camera freak, I keep a small point and shoot with me everywhere I go. Here's my thoughts on what I've seen in your first camera carnival post, and what I've seen on the market so far. YMMV, etc. ...

The best point and shoot camera on the market for image quality and versatility, bar none, is the Fuji F30. Yes, it tends to blow out highlights a bit in bright sunlight, nothing that can't be corrected with a -2/3 EV, easily accessible through the EV button the manufacturer thoughtfully provides on the camera body. But this beast really shines indoors, with an ISO range from 100-3200. At ISO 800, the F30 has less digital noise than most cameras at ISO 200. That makes all the difference in the world between getting the shot and not. As if that weren't nough, Fuji's iFlash system really does work wonders, rarely causing red eye, and providing far better illumination than any other camera in it's class. Add to that a 580 shot life for the battery (if you use flash half the time, which you really won't need to), a very sharp, distortion free lens, and you've got a winner.

So what if it's only 6MP? I've got news for the camera manufacturers: Pixel stuffing is killing the industry. There's not a compact or point and shoot camera over 8MP I'd dirty my hands with. I wouldn't even own them for a paperweight, they're that bad. Image quality for compacts peaked at 7MP, and went downhill from there. Too many pixels on the sensor means too little light at each pixel site, which means too much noise in the image.

The sample images at the Amazon and Imaging Resource links make for nice endorsements as well.

A piddling xD 16MB card comes with the camera, so I also picked up a 1GB High Speed xD Picture Card.

There's also an underwater housing available for the F30 that's rated to forty meters. Good for a camera equipped with an underwater picture taking mode. I didn't buy one because I don't plan on being underwater anytime soon.

The 54th Carnival of Homeschooling...

... is up. Reload the page once you're there for a surprise.

Grody Parties

Actually they're naked parties.

I can't see how a naked party would be a good idea. It sounds repellent. Think of your average people; average height, average weight, average gym time, average hygiene, average genetics, average body hair, etc. Do you want to see a bunch of them naked? Do you want these naked people sitting on a couch that you then sit on, also naked? Would you want to be standing in a large group of these naked people where you run the risk of accidentally bumping into one of them?

I think not.

The 53rd Carnival of Homeschooling...

... is up. It's the Anniversary edition, and it's particularly good.