Diary of a Mad Editor lays out how the lack of blogging ethics can personally affect someone - namely her. The issue is the use of her Bitter Homeschoolers Wishlist on numerous blogs without proper credit.
This is basic stuff. If you reprint someone else's work (and no, not in entirety unless you have permission), you link to and credit them. Apparently it's hard for some to understand as you'll see when you read her post. She's asking for people to spread the word about her blog post. So if you've got a blog you know what to do...
I'll just say that the chap (revealed in the posts) who did her wrong may have done himself quite a bit of harm in the long run.
H/T to HE&OS
Monday, February 4, 2008
New Name!
All hail to the wonderful and magnificent Lynn at Bore Me To Tears who came up with the wonderful idea of simply tweaking my blog's name a bit to better reflect the content. I really, really like it as it seems to open up many blogging possibilities.
I'm now Day by Day Discoveries.
I'm now Day by Day Discoveries.
Must Save for Posterity
Harry this morning:
"I am 6 now but when I'm a big man I will be number 1!"
*pause*
"Mom, do big mans have numbers? In their bodies?"
I think the neatest thing about kids are their attempts to express things when they don't yet have the experience or language for it. It's so darn cute!
"I am 6 now but when I'm a big man I will be number 1!"
*pause*
"Mom, do big mans have numbers? In their bodies?"
I think the neatest thing about kids are their attempts to express things when they don't yet have the experience or language for it. It's so darn cute!
Mucho Morsels Monday
Since Catherine's homeschool blog has been such a successful organizing tool I thought I'd use my blog for organizing myself a bit. I'm going to post my menu plan for the week, complete with links to the recipes. Now there's apparently a neat blogging linking thingee out there connected with this blog that has formed a net of Menu Plan Mommies and I might join up next week but I'm too late right now. I'll just go it alone in the mean time.
Monday - Orange Roughy Parmesan, homemade home fries and tossed salad. Oh crap. Now I remember why I needed those seasoned bread crumbs. Frig. I could crumble a stale "everything" bagel or maybe crumble some toasted bread crumbs mixed with italian seasoning?
Tuesday - Pancakes, sausages. It's Shrove Tuesday. Must eat pancakes.
Wednesday - Glazed Meatloaf, rice and veggies from the freezer (where all good veggies live).
Thursday - Roast Turkey, potatoes, veggies. Because my husband thought that since the bloody thing was on sale he should buy it. Nevermind that we now have to buy a roaster that the bloody thing will fit in.
Friday - Turkey Soup (no recipe, just toss all leftovers in pot and boil).
Saturday - Stew (no recipe either), dough boys (That's Nova Scotian for dumpling. We're a little sadistic in our naming of food).
Sunday - Mondi's Super Simple Chicken, Chicken fried rice, tossed salad.
Phew! That's it.
Monday - Orange Roughy Parmesan, homemade home fries and tossed salad. Oh crap. Now I remember why I needed those seasoned bread crumbs. Frig. I could crumble a stale "everything" bagel or maybe crumble some toasted bread crumbs mixed with italian seasoning?
Tuesday - Pancakes, sausages. It's Shrove Tuesday. Must eat pancakes.
Wednesday - Glazed Meatloaf, rice and veggies from the freezer (where all good veggies live).
Thursday - Roast Turkey, potatoes, veggies. Because my husband thought that since the bloody thing was on sale he should buy it. Nevermind that we now have to buy a roaster that the bloody thing will fit in.
Friday - Turkey Soup (no recipe, just toss all leftovers in pot and boil).
Saturday - Stew (no recipe either), dough boys (That's Nova Scotian for dumpling. We're a little sadistic in our naming of food).
Sunday - Mondi's Super Simple Chicken, Chicken fried rice, tossed salad.
Phew! That's it.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A Regret
It's my blog's name.
Day by Day Homeschooling just sucks the big one. Once, it reflected what I wanted to do with the blog but since I've decided to abandon that particular focus (posting a day by day account of our family's homeschooling) it's not such a good fit.
No, that doesn't mean I'm going to change the name. I'm quite aware that my blog's name is likely part of how people who read it think of me. And besides, it's like that ugly sweater that gets pulled out on cold nights. Ugly yes, but comforting and familiar.
So I'll keep it. I just wish I'd had the foresight to call it something a little more clever.
Day by Day Homeschooling just sucks the big one. Once, it reflected what I wanted to do with the blog but since I've decided to abandon that particular focus (posting a day by day account of our family's homeschooling) it's not such a good fit.
No, that doesn't mean I'm going to change the name. I'm quite aware that my blog's name is likely part of how people who read it think of me. And besides, it's like that ugly sweater that gets pulled out on cold nights. Ugly yes, but comforting and familiar.
So I'll keep it. I just wish I'd had the foresight to call it something a little more clever.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
i-Science - Secular Science Curriculum
Remember how I decided we wouldn't use a science curriculum? Remember how I finally bought one because the husband and daughter wanted to try on? Well, we have had i-Science from Singapore Math for about a month now and it's going really well.
When I bought it I went for the grade 5 curriculum as the grade 4 book seemed to cover stuff we were already very familiar with. When it arrived I went through the teacher's guide (which includes the textbook so I didn't buy a seperate text) and had visions of planning out lessons but the actual use of the text has been something like this: Read the textbook to Catherine, ask the questions in the text (she loves to be "interviewed"), leave the text and go to Brainpop or other resources. For me, the teacher's guide is rather useless and I should have saved some money and simply bought the textbook. I'm very glad for the basic structure the text can provide and it's real value to me is as a general guide from which Catherine and I can explore. Lesson learned for next year.
The workbooks are excellent. They aren't fill-in-the-blanks and wordsearch-galore type workbooks. They have labs and experiments with clear procedures and great questions. And it's not even $10 for the two workbooks you need for the year! Honestly, I think they're a great buy even if you're using a different curriculum or not using one at all.
For the whole shebang I spent $34.40 ($25 for the teacher's guide and $8.40 for both workbooks) before taxes and shipping. Cost was part of the reason I went with i-Science rather than Singapore Math's other offering, MPH Science. For a test run I didn't want to put out too much money. If I go with it again next year I'll simply buy the text and workbooks which would make it less then $20. Can't beat that!
I-Science is very good, cheap and flexible. 'Nuff said.
When I bought it I went for the grade 5 curriculum as the grade 4 book seemed to cover stuff we were already very familiar with. When it arrived I went through the teacher's guide (which includes the textbook so I didn't buy a seperate text) and had visions of planning out lessons but the actual use of the text has been something like this: Read the textbook to Catherine, ask the questions in the text (she loves to be "interviewed"), leave the text and go to Brainpop or other resources. For me, the teacher's guide is rather useless and I should have saved some money and simply bought the textbook. I'm very glad for the basic structure the text can provide and it's real value to me is as a general guide from which Catherine and I can explore. Lesson learned for next year.
The workbooks are excellent. They aren't fill-in-the-blanks and wordsearch-galore type workbooks. They have labs and experiments with clear procedures and great questions. And it's not even $10 for the two workbooks you need for the year! Honestly, I think they're a great buy even if you're using a different curriculum or not using one at all.
For the whole shebang I spent $34.40 ($25 for the teacher's guide and $8.40 for both workbooks) before taxes and shipping. Cost was part of the reason I went with i-Science rather than Singapore Math's other offering, MPH Science. For a test run I didn't want to put out too much money. If I go with it again next year I'll simply buy the text and workbooks which would make it less then $20. Can't beat that!
I-Science is very good, cheap and flexible. 'Nuff said.
We've Got it Good
There's been a lot of comment on the Colorado Independent's current issue which has a few stories on homeschooling. They aren't very interesting stories. It's basically the same old article that been written a hundred times that spolights a Christian homeschooling family, quotes HSLDA statistics and injects comments from a couple of homeschooling critics. Apparently the Colorado Independent isn't much for breaking new ground preffering instead to tread well worn paths.
But don't think we've got it bad.
Instead look at this blog post at D-Ed Reckoning where a news story about one public school is dissected.
It's really worth the read. A reporter writes a glowing article about one school's success and an intelligent blogger follows with a breakdown of what's actually going on at the school. Of course the unfortunate part is that so many people will see the reporter's story and never see D-Ed Reckoning's work. What most people will see is yet another piece of glowing goodness that soothes their worries and prevent any honest look at the failures of one city's public schools.
We've just got people who encourage a few stereotypes writing about us. The people in education in Philidelphia have a whole legion of people in the media who are all too willing to make fairy tales out of public schools and distract the public from looking too closely.
But don't think we've got it bad.
Instead look at this blog post at D-Ed Reckoning where a news story about one public school is dissected.
Snyder was probably thinking that this one writes itself. All she had to do was visit the school, make a few expert observation, and interview a few expert teachers, and declare a solution to Philadelphia's education woes.
What she wound up with was what all the doe-eyed journalists wind up with when they write about education -- an article full of cliches.
It's really worth the read. A reporter writes a glowing article about one school's success and an intelligent blogger follows with a breakdown of what's actually going on at the school. Of course the unfortunate part is that so many people will see the reporter's story and never see D-Ed Reckoning's work. What most people will see is yet another piece of glowing goodness that soothes their worries and prevent any honest look at the failures of one city's public schools.
We've just got people who encourage a few stereotypes writing about us. The people in education in Philidelphia have a whole legion of people in the media who are all too willing to make fairy tales out of public schools and distract the public from looking too closely.
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