The 134th Carnival of Homeschooling - The 12 Labors of Hercules
Welcome to the 134th Carnival of Homeschooling! I am honored to be hosting the carnival a second time, and I want to extend my hearfelt thanks to the dozens of bloggers who submitted these incredibly interesting, challenging, and diverse posts for your reading pleasure. So without further ado, let’s get on with the show!
Most people (and especially most homeschooling families) have at least a passing knowledge of the 12 labors that Hercules had to complete for Eurystheus. I would propose that, as homeschoolers, we face a no less daunting set of tasks.
Hercules’ First Task: Slay the Nemean lion, which no weapon can harm.
Wow, surely, that’s impossible! Not to Hercules, who simply used the strengths he knew he possessed. Often, being the best teacher requires us to do some hard work on ourselves first, to gain that perspective.
christinemoers suggests that homeschooling - indeed, parenting in general - requires this kind of tough introspection. Be sure to read What are you afraid of? posted at welcome to my brain . net.
Karen M Gibson suggests that we need to look at our deepest beliefs and motivations for our choices in Your Child Wants to Attend School – Now What? at Leaping From the Box.
Rachel Davis advises that we think about what “schooling” itself really mean - or should mean! - with Why Homeschooling isn’t Lacking in Education! posted at Holy Hillbilly Creations Blog-Where Fashion meets Modesty!.
Evie Maddox takes a look at our scheduling choices in Why Homeschool in Summer? posted at Stay At Home Child.
Dianne M. Buxton discusses How To Find Emotional Intelligence and Positive Thinking In the Ballet World [Ed. note: or anywhere!] at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes.
Cristina encourages us to learn to let go, in Pushing Buttons posted at Home Spun Juggling.
ChristineMM challenges us to take a hard look at our standards, in Controversial Article About Homeschooler’s Abilities On My Mind posted at The Thinking Mother.
Hercules’ Second Task: Slay the hydra.
The trouble with a hydra? You cut off a head, and it just grows right back! It’s more than one person can do! Even Hercules called upon his nephew to help out with this task, cauterizing after each of his chops. Sometimes we do need to reach out, and make use of other resources available to us, and other people’s strengths.
Carol Topp, CPA suggests that we band together to find stength as a coop, in The Homeschool Socialization Problem Solved posted at HomeschoolCPA - Homeschool Blogger.
Alasandra wants to help recognize and validate fellow homeschoolers! Check out The Graphics Winner posted at Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards.
Need a pat on the back for your thrifty schooling choice? Check out Back to School Shopping: The Homeschool Way from Penelope at The Cafe at the END of the Universe.
Kim Hutmacher talk about using the author to add a dimension to literature, in Making the Author Connection posted at Works in Progress.
David Cassell warns about the current problem with a GED Scam, at selectcoursesblog.com.
A couple of little math boosters from denise at Let’s Play Math!: Free Multiplication Bingo Game and the Crazy 4 Math Contest.
Need a unit study, Matey? Well then ye best hurry along to Little Blue School so’z Lydia can give ye a Treasure Island Homeschool Seminar: Literary Lesson Plans and Nautical Worksheets.
Want to know more about the brain? WAY more? Alvaro Fernandez presents Learning & the Brain: Resources for Educators posted at Sharp Brains.
Hercules’ Third Task: Capture alive the stag with the horns of gold, sacred to Artemis.
As homeschoolers we learn that the most precious gifts are worth whatever time and effort they cost. Hercules could have killed the deer easily, and soon - instead he had to follow it around for an entire year waiting for the moment to make the capture.
Thomas J. West advises musicians to “BE PATIENT!” in Music Practice Tips #2: Don’t Exceed Your Brain’s Speed Limit posted at Thomas J. West Music.
Silvia describes her 8 year old learning patience in Flying Success! posted at Po Moyemu–In My Opinion.
Hercules’ Fourth Task: Capture an enormous boar.
Hey, this is number four in this vein already. Hercules is an old hand, and the task is no big deal, right? It’s the same with homeschooling, really. At some point we’re all new at each thing we attempt - from homeschooling at all, to different curriculums, to teaching a new subject or age group. But after a while you earn your stripes, and being to feel like you know what you’re doing. (At least sometimes!) And the veterans can share their wisdom with those who come after…
Lessa Scherrer aka Princess Mom presents Advice for Newbie Gifted Homeschoolers posted at Help! My Kids Are Smarter than Me!.
Lori shares her experiences with newbies in What I Wish I Had Known at The Simple Life at Home.
14 year veteran Jena offers us Advice for First Year Homeschoolers, from Yarns of the Heart.
Katherine gives her review of a great resource for the preschool set: Kumon Workbooks, at No fighting, no biting!
Susan Gaissert advises letting young readers graze! Check out No Syllabus, No Problem posted at The Expanding Life.
Two terrific posts about kids learning to read from The Life Without School Blog: Laureen describes writing Upside Down and Backwards, and Jena offers her advice in Teaching a Child How to Read.
Hercules’ Fifth Task: Clean the Augean stables.
What can I say, everyone knows that there’s always lots of, um, manure to deal with.
Military homeschoolers? Think layers and layers of it! Why Homeschool points to a great resource on the topic in Are you a military homeschooler.
Not so military? How about Government’s latest? Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog (About.com) wonders if the latest goings on there will have California Homeschool ISPs changing names?.
And a little dose of politics from Susan Ryan with Continuation of The Nerve and Isn’t there a law?? posted at Corn and Oil.
Indiana Jane’s Notebook and SpunkyHomeschool both discuss some of the religious controversies that are boiling within the homeschooling community in Ruminating on homeschooling, and Conventional Wisdom, respectively.
Hercules’ Sixth Task: Drive away the multitude of Stymphalian birds.
One bird is nice, three birds can be lovely and musical. A swarm of anything, though, is a problem. And sometimes it really is the little things that make or break a situation.
NerdMom beautifully address an issue near and dear to my heart in The First Key to Homeschooling and Not Losing It over at Nerd Family.
Hercules’ Seventh Task: Capture the “beautiful and savage” bull that Poseidon gave to Minos, King of Crete.
The tale concludes that Hercules “mastered” the bull, and took it back in a boat. One of the things homeschoolers often celebrate is our freedom to master things “beautiful and savage” which are spurned by the public school system.
Teresa Wymore talks about the value of great literature (and don’t miss her insightful expose on public school teaching!) in harry potter and homeschool posted at Flesh & Spirit.
Erica Burgan presents Field Trip to the San Diego Zoo! [Ed. note: Need I say more, here?] posted at The Sojourner.
And speaking of the public school system, enjoy Kathy’s review of the book Schooled posted at Homeschoolbuzz.com Reviews.
Hercules’ Eighth Task: Get the man-eating mares from from Diomedes, King of Thrace.
Let’s take a lesson from the idea that good ol’ Herc might have done this one differently. Maybe sometimes you can do the most good by working with the system…
Barbara Frank tells us There is Hope with the story of an amazing High School student.
Hercules’ Ninth Task: Get the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
Hercules teaches us an important lesson here. Sometimes, all it takes to get what you want is to ask for it. (Yes, I know his task doesn’t end that simply)
Hercules’ Tenth Task: Get the cattle of Geryoh, a monster with three bodies.
Sometimes even the most arduous tasks have wonderful and unlooked-for benefits. During this task, Hercules set the Pillars of Hercules in place.
Miss Amanda has some fabulous gifts posted in The Perfect Gifts for the Graduated SuperAngel at The Daily Planet.
Studying Ancient History? Bored? Not likely if you listen to Mrs. C on Trojan Horse Craft posted at Homeschool and Etc..
Hercules’ Eleveth Task: Bring back the golden apples of Hesperides.
How you feel about this task depends somewhat on a moral judgement - Hercules succeeded by tricking Atlas. Ethics, morality, values… It’s a big part of why many of us keep our kids home!
Living By Learning shares some insight about A Game Ethics Lesson from The Karate Kid at On Living By Learning.
Hercules’ Twelfth Task: Capture Cerebrus alive. And take him back!
When Hercules successfully brought Cerebrus back, Eurystheus wisely decided that he didn’t want it and ordered Hercules to take it back. Clearly, the moral of this story is, “Be careful what you ask for - you just might get it.”
Such was my request to allow me to host the carnival this week. Arrangements were made six months ago, when I hosted the Leaving a Legacy edition back in January. Who could know that this week I would be layed low by medical problems, and even spend a day in the ER? But in true heroic fashion… er, with the baby in one arm and the three-year-old climbing up my back… We’re done! 
Thank you for reading… Of course, please let me know if you find any errors or broken links!
Please take a moment to post a link to the carnival on your blog, as well as adding it to any social bookmarking sites you use (the “Share This” link, below, will make it easy for most of them!) — help spread the word about homeschooling, and the carnival, and send some traffic to all these terrific bloggers who took the time to share their lives with us.
Don’t forget to send in your post for next week’s carnival, as well, hosted at Consent Of The Governed! Just click on over to the easy submision form at Blog Carnival anytime before Monday at 6pm Pacific.
), and although I would highly recommend it, after four months it didn’t really have a lot to say on the subject that was news to me.
A full-time RV family shares their adventures - homeschooling two kids, running a home business on the road, life in an RV, interesting travel and dining experiences, you name it...
(MUST have the Extended Edition and Widescreen!)
(fried hot dogs! Mmmm)
