The theme for this Carnival revolves around quotes from the popular movie The Princess Bride, one of the most quoted movies of all time and a particular favorite of homeschooling families. Familiar lines such as “When I was your age, television was called books.” “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” and “As you wish.” are incorporated into the Carnival as the storyline is explained for those (few) who may be unfamiliar with it. It’s a brilliant composition, and a delightful foray into the movie’s favorite scenes. A fitting fifth anniversary edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling!

CBS affiliate News Channel 7 in Asheville, SC has a two and a half minute video newsclip about homeschooling and a short summary titled Homeschooling Numbers Up in South Carolina:

In South Carolina the number of parents choosing home school for their kids is growing. Studies show over the last ten years, home schooling has more than doubled across the state. Right now the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools estimates 19,000 children are homeschooled statewide, up 131 percent from 1999.

The Huffington Post picked up the story we reported here on Dec. 4th about the CNN news video titled African-American Homeschooling On The Rise, But Why?

Titling the piece Homeschooling On The Rise In Minority Communities, the Huffington Post chose to lead off with the statement, “Since 1999, homeschooling in the United States has grown a dramatic 74 percent, according to CNN.” The article then reiterates “Homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular among minority communities, who feel that their cultural perspective is lacking from American classrooms.”

The rest of the piece is the video clip with Joyce Burges, founder of the National Black Home Educators.

Susan Ryan shares a heart-warming story at her Corn and Oil blog about a homeschooling family who purchased a local school and are sharing it with their community:

“When they heard about the sale of the school and its contents, Melanie and Gary Doyle thought they may end up purchasing school supplies for their home-schooled kids. Instead, they bought the school itself.”

CNN news video by Fredericka Whitfield titled African-American Homeschooling On The Rise, But Why?

Features Joyce Burges of Indiana, founder of the National Black Home Educators, talking about her family’s experiences, along with James and Vanessa Leak, who homeschool their children in Georgia. According to the video homeschooling in the US has gone up by 74% since 1999.

Susan Ryan blogs about a Thanksgiving Throwdown with Master Chef Bobby Flay and Ree Drummond, also known as The Pioneer Woman:

In the introduction of The Pioneer Woman’s life, Bobby Flay pointed out that she homeschools her four kids.

And:

This particular hour of Throw Down a Thanksgiving Feast was charming and fun and half of it was about a homeschooling mom’s life.

Check it out via Susan’s Corn & Oil blog.

In this brilliant video lecture, The history of alternative schooling and homeschooling, Canadian-American documentary filmmaker and writer Astra Taylor describes her own homeschooling – specifically unschooling as promoted by John Holt in his ground-breaking publication Growing Without Schooling (“delivered to our mailbox in a brown paper bag”). She contextualizes her unschooled experiences and the progressive homeschooling movement by reference to the history of alternate education, especially the public conversation about it in the sixties and seventies:

“Raised by independent-thinking bohemian parents, Taylor was unschooled until age 13. Join the filmmaker as she shares her personal experiences of growing up home-schooled without a curriculum or schedule, and how it has shaped her educational philosophy and development as an artist.”

Mothering magazine’s web site has a good article by Becky Jackson titled No Time for Teaching: Spontaneous Learning at Home:

“In the four years I spent pursuing an education degree, I learned a lot about what to teach and how to teach it. Then I spent four years as a full-time mother. I would have to say that I learned more from the latter. In fact, I’ve discovered that the most effective way for young children to learn is not the Program for Effective Teaching model or the whole-language approach: it’s the natural relationship between a mother and child.”

And too wonderful not to share here: “I am, indeed, well qualified to help my children reach their potential-but not because of my teaching degree. My real qualifications are these: I’m their mother, I love them, and I know them better than anyone.”

Read Becky’s entire article at the link above!

Susan Ryan at the Corn & Oil blog is upbeat about an article on homeschooling titled Grooming the Next Generation of Leaders. Good quotes:

“We have greater opportunities as homeschoolers to dance to the beat of our own drums,” Alyssa said, adding, “The only downside is that we can never just watch a movie without having to dissect the plot afterwards.”

“As a mother, I am always told, ‘You homeschool? I could never do that.’ I consider myself the most fortunate woman in the world to have the privilege to invest my life in three spectacular young ladies,” Austin-Taitt said. “In the process of teaching them through the years, it is I who have learned the greatest lessons from them. I have learned to laugh hilariously, cry passionately – and learn incessantly.”

This week’s Carnival of Homeschooling, at The Homespun Life blog, features some great articles, covering a variety of subjects, including lifestyle, faith, and classical music, and beginning with the founder of the Homeschool Carnival, Henry Cate from ‘Why Homeschool’.