It’s been a busy summer, and Worthy Reads is long overdue.  I’m sure I’ve missed a few worthy reads too, so if you have any interesting articles about homeschooling, education, parenting, storytelling, or something else you know I should read, please leave them in the comments!  Below are my Worthy Reads. (Keep in mind that I don’t always agree with the commentary in these articles, but I consider them worthy to consider or be aware of.) I also have a little bit of Blog Business to share with you.

Homeschooling

The Benefits of Unschooling: Report I from a Large Survey – Psychology Today

What Leads Families to “Unschool” Their Children? Report II – Psychology Today

The Challenges of Unschooling: Report III from a Large Survey – Psychology Today

Some Fascinating Facts About Homeschool vs. Public School – Homeschool World

How Homeschooling Helped a Young Engineer/Entrepreneur – StateImpact.npr.org

With technology, face of homeschooling changes – SFGate

My View: Homeschooling: Marching to the beat of a different drummer – CNN Schools of Thought

Why More Black Families Are Leaving Public Schools – NewsOne

Home schooling: Why more black US families are trying it – BBC News

The questions, the answers – Avant Parenting

Homeschooled Students Well-Prepared for College, Study Finds – Huffington Post

Home-school Happenings: Making it work for all families – Citizen-Times.com

Some negative media on homeschooling:

Barely Literate? How Christian Fundamentalist Homeschooling Hurts Kids – AlterNet

Homeschooling needs either tighter regulation or to be banned – Denialism BLOG

Anecdotes About Horrible, Sexist “Quiverfull” Families Probably Proof That Homeschooling Needs More Government Oversight – reason.com

Homeschooling Ideas

Nature Journaling with Kids – Simple Homemade

how do kids REALLY learn to write, 2.0 – Wonder Farm

Education

My View: Let preschoolers, kindergarteners play to learn – CNN Schools of Thought

Are introverted children hurt by classroom focus on participation and group activities – AJC Blogs

Bright students ‘cannot write essays’ say Cambridge dons – The Telegraph

Freedom Within Limits: Montessori education thriving at Newnan’s Carolyn Barron School – Times-Herald.com

Highly educated, deeply in dept – Philly.com

Living near good schools will cost an extra $200K – CNN Schools of Thought

Report: Test cheating may be widespread – CNN Schools of Thought

The high stakes of standardized tests – CNN Schools of Thought

Parenting

Mom’s love good for child’s brain – PsyPost

Miscellaneous

Jonah Lehrer on How to Be Creative – WSJ.com

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter – The New York Times Sunday Review

Blog Business

• Earlier in the summer I tweaked the header on this blog as well as the menu and right-hand menu options.  I hope you find this blog easy to read and find information.  I welcome any suggestions that may help you.
• I added a “No Disclaimer Needed” page because I want my readers to know that I am not given any compensation to promote any products or services.  If I recommend a product or service it’s because I happened to buy it, or it was given to me as a gift. Read this page for more information.
• I have added pages to make it easier for you to find my posts related to project-based homeschooling, storytelling, resources for Georgia homeschoolers, and, of course, I continue to update my general Table of Contents with my posts that are specifically about homeschooling.
• I have also added a Contact page (don’t know why I didn’t sooner!) because I want everyone to know that I’m available to offer homeschooling support and encouragement to anyone who might need it.  I am also open to ideas on what to write about!
• Speaking of what to write about, I do have plenty of ideas, and some of them I’ve had for much too long.  I hope to cover these topics in the future, and I hope you’ll stick with me and offer your comments!
  • Thinking Outside the Box: On Socialization
  • Back to Homeschool: First Day of “official homeschool”
  • Complying with Georgia’s Homeschool Laws: We are official!
  • Goals for this coming year: 2012-2013
  • Homeschooling with a Three-Year-Old Tag-Along
  • Kindergarten Lesson: The Solar System
  • A Child-Led Lesson: The Human Body
  • Continuing with the Reading Lessons
  • Continuing with the Math Lessons
  • More on Project-based Homeschooling
  • More on Using Storytelling in Your Homeschooling
  • Homeschooling with an iPad
  • Learning Styles
  • My Attempts at Character Building
  • Beginning Preschool with a Kinesthetic Learner
  • And more!