Carnival of Homeschool : Vote! Edition

Welcome to the VOTE! Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! If you are new to ‘blog carnivals’, please read the link at the bottom of this post to find out more. This post has many links that take you off-site to other homeschool blogs where you can read their ‘showcased’ article submission. If you would like to submit an article for a future carnival or host the carnival on your site, please see the bottom section to find out how. Each carnival writer has the option to put their compilation to a ‘theme’ if they so choose. Being voting day, I figured it would be good to reflect on the process and the politics of making our voices heard.

QUICK HISTORY OF VOTING IN AMERICA:

In 1787, the passage of the U.S. Constitution gave white male property owners the right to vote if they were 21 years or older. In 1807-1843, a series of acts changed the rules so that any white man could vote. In 1870, all men who were 21 years of age or older – no matter what race – could vote. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18.

As homeschoolers we normally are very active participants in politics because over the years, there have been many struggles to protect or gain freedom to educate our children without government interference. There are many grassroots political organizations that monitor bills that come across the state and federal levels in respect to parental and educational rights. One of these organizations is HSLDA (national) and another here in Texas, my home state, is THSC.

Now for the rest of the Carnival…

Below you will find a varied array of interesting tid-bits from all the frontiers on the homeschool blogosphere… kind of like Voting and Homeschooling – a melting pot of ideas and peoples who hope to pass on their vision to their children!

In-between the submissions from other homeschool bloggers, you’ll find some voting history and facts. If you have a post on your own blog that fits the theme, feel free to link up in our comment section to share it. Hopefully you’ll get some traffic from other homeschool parents looking for resources to teach their children about the importance of participating in the nation’s future.

Please also leave a comment to let these fine folks know you appreciate their contribution to the homeschooling community online with their blogs. Isn’t it great to have a community of people to share with and glean from online? I love my homeschool friends and mentors that I have met through blogging.

Election Prayers by Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool

To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool by NerdWallet

How Toastmasters has helped me with our homeschool co-op by Why Homeschool

WHY VOTE?

Voting affects people’s lives because the people we put in office have the ability to change existing and create new laws. They govern in our courts and influence societal norms. They make decisions on whether our country will send soldiers in to battle. They decide the fate of our country’s finances – passing that burden on to the taxpayer, or sometimes, the taxpayers’ children. The right we have as American citizens to vote is something men and women have suffered and even died for in our history as a nation. It should be passed on to our children as an honored privilege.

Government & Election Resources by Spell Out Loud

A Homeschooler Thinks About The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg by Tea Time with Annie Kate

Benefits of Homeschooling For Society by Homeschool vs Publicschool

Voting is about taking responsibility. It is about being alert and diligent – caring about the direction the nation is going and our fellow man. Voting is about passing on our ideals to the next generation and protecting liberties that we hold sacred. It doesn’t matter who you are – those truths are nonpartisan.

Election Day {Printables and Learning} by Milehimama

Are You Willing to Stand in the Breach by Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness

Am I doing enough? by Trivium Pursuit

He who is threatened by another’s faith, is not secure in his own.
— Sheila Matechuk —

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.
— James Madison —

Photo above is Jenn from Daze of Adventure – who took her children to EVERY political rally in Florida, no matter WHO was speaking – to teach them about the process of campaigning and elections.

I believe it is the mark of a true educator to teach all the positions being presented so that all ideas are on the table… before explaining what your own beliefs or opinions are regarding those positions. Even then, giving a child time to digest and think about those ideas – and even to debate on them – is a step further. Both of my older children have attended debate camp and Teen Court in our local area and have learned from others who are in different walks of life : public school, private school, homeschool – Christian and secular. They have not only had to learn both sides of arguments and criminal cases, but they have had to defend and debate them. I admire parents who are out there teaching their kids to be freethinkers and to value freedom.

Just Vote Christian?
My Thoughts on Effective Citizen-Leaders by Fresh Perspective

Getting them to learn independently by Notes From a Homeschooled Mom

Baby Needs A New Pair of Shoes! by Homeschool Online

Photo by Daze of Adventure

If you don’t think your vote counts, check out these statistics:

In 1645: One vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.

In 1776: One vote gave America the English language instead of German.

In 1868: One vote saved President Andrew Jackson from impeachment (you know, back when that was really a serious thing).

In 1875: One vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.

In 1876: One vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency of the USA.

In 1923: One vote gave Adolf Hitler control of the Nazi Party.

Election Day Thoughts by Women Living Well Ministries

Teachers Pay Teachers by New Kid in Class

The Increasing Danger in Public Schools by Barbara Frank Online

This was taken election night 2004. We were doing a presidents, elections and government unit and my kids were so tiny. They are 15 and 13 now. We hadn’t added the 3 and 1 year old to our little family back then. Makes me sad to see these sweet faces and hear their small voices, knowing that our homeschool journey is nearing an end with them, and time has gone by so fast.

We won’t be having liberty torch cupcakes or electoral map jello tonight. We won’t be dressing up like Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty. We won’t be having guests over and doing book reports on all that we studied. But we will be watching the news and praying – and probably staying up WAY too late. We have deep conversations about politics and the world now. We have built the foundations. We are so blessed to have such amazing and bright children. What better reason to want to be plugged in to the world – to help SHAPE it for their future.

Good Citizenship: Taking the Mystery Out of Political Activism by Sprittibee

Worm Farming Adventures by Homeschooling in Buffalo

Approaches to Homeschool: The Summary Post by Letters from Nebby

Did you know that 80% of people in America (according to ABC News) get their news online. They have talked a lot about Twitter tonight (yeah, I know this post is really late). Twitter has 70 million American users. Of those, 60% are women. Are you on Twitter? Are you watching the election live-tweets? I really enjoyed the tweets during the debates.

I try to avoid being too political in my tweets, but during the elections, it’s hard to watch things happen and not feel somewhat responsible for sharing the truth with others who may not know it. I feel it’s my duty to speak out for truth. I don’t really want to make a political platform out of blogging, and you will hardly ever find that kind of stuff on my blog, but I do have a lot less “gaurd up” on twitter.

Tracking the Electoral Votes Activity by Daze of Adventure

How to make a keepsake / family heirloom tablecloth by Homeschool Circus

Nurturing indedpendence in High School by Every Bed of Roses

Who are your candidates? Did you know that there aren’t just TWO parties or people on the ballot this election? There’s much talk about how our two-party system is a failed system. If you listened to the Third Party Debates, there was a lot of great information discussed that would have never made it in the mainstream media debates between Romney and Obama. Show your kids the complete list of political candidates and parties that are on the ballot (at least in some states) in 2012 and watch their minds be blown away. There’s a lot of discussion points there… and unit studies to be created from scratch!

My Summer Fling—Blame it on the Weather by Learning at Home

Sick House by Five in Training for HIM

Lessons Learned: Don’t Mess with Mom by Godfrey Family Farms

 

How many of you have been phoned from people doing polls about the elections this year? We have!

It seems it has never been such a hard-core political year as it was this campaign for 2012. Everyone has their own predictions on how the final tally will go tonight, but I found this map interesting. It would be a great activity to fill out a map as you see the final votes come in on TV with your kids. We learned about the electoral process during the 2004 elections in our homeschool journey. My kids were little tots back then. I’m going to compare the final outcome with this map and see how close Mr. Karl Rove was to guessing the real numbers. Click the map if you want to go to his website.

Sucks that you can only vote once during the general elections, right? But hey — you can vote EVERY DAY on EVERY DEVICE YOU OWN for your favorite homeschool blogs. Yep, the Homeschool Blog Awards are going on right now at the Homeschool Post. Head over and vote for all 20 categories of homeschool bloggin’ awesomeness. Every day until November 16th!

 

Want to learn more about The Carnival of Homeschooling? Click the links below:

– What is it all about?
– Where can I find it in the future?
– Where do I submit an article for the Carnival of Homeschooling?

If you participate in the carnival, we encourage you to use the carnival button and link back to the Cate’s blog. We honor their diligence at making the Carnival of Homeschooling a great success, and appreciate all of their support to the homeschool community at large.

Happy homeschooling!