Avant Garland

I am so glad that Felicia day is taking her awesomesauce to a whole new level. What’s awesomesauce? Here is an example of Google Plus Hangout awesomesauce.

Felicia held a live G+hangout subscribathon yesterday. While I was watching part of it, this happened and I had to commemorate it with a photo. I will cherish this moment for…oooh shiny!

Anyways…this awesomesauce goes by the name of Geek & Sundry.

Subscribe to Geek & Sundry. Do eeet. I especially look forward to more episodes of The Flog. First episode came out today! More awesomesauce.

Let me know if you watch Geek & Sundry shows so we can geek out together with all the new episodes yet to come!

As a homeschooled kid from the 90’s, I had to share this great infographic. It is very encouraging to see that community growing and thriving!

“Over 2.04 Million Students learning from home, a 75% increase since 1999.”

Does this have any correlation with the fact that public school dropouts are increasingly out of control due to ineffective education systems trapping students in violent and scary places? Interestingly enough, that is also the year I graduated from high school.

According to the graphic, public education growth has been stagnant since the 70’s. Why have we done little to nothing about drop out rates, quality of education and the safety of children in these schools? It only seems that we’re worried about testing and salaries and budgets these days…no wonder the kids have disengaged.

I’ve been super busy lately, but this graphic caught my attention and made me have a few fond memories of homeschool conventions where the smartest kids you will ever meet descended on a little hotel in Winston-Salem, NC and had a little bit of social time as a large group each year.

As a grownup homeschooler I have had people say to me (in the workplace!) “You don’t get how things work, you were homeschooled.” When really what they were doing is saying that they should be allowed to bully me and I should know how to accept it. Bullying is a serious problem in today’s public education and it’s creeping into the workplace as generations of kids grow up and become managers, business owners and bosses. They really don’t like it when I call them out and ask them to stop! Let’s make it so kids no longer have to deal with this while they’re supposed to be growing and laughing and learning. Obviously there will be incidents, but this is an epidemic. One that taking education into our own hands will solve.

There are group homeschooling options, there are individuals who will help with various subjects (my mom did not teach me my trigonometry or latin, I attended weekly classes with other homeschoolers), and there are support groups that will help you find the resources you need to help find a better source of education for your child. If you have any questions about my personal experience or how to get started, I would gladly tell you anything I know. I don’t have children, nor do I plan to, and my homeschool history is over a decade old…but I can do some digging and probably point you in a few good directions if you need some help.

Please consider homeschooling your children or finding alternatives to public education. I have had the gifts of knowing how to learn and keeping yourself driven to finish given to me by my experience as a homeschooler. Those are my most valuable resources when faced with any situation - work, learning, relationships or otherwise.

“An education that produces smart, mature students? No wonder homeschooling is expected to continue expanding….”

Original Article