HomeSchooled in the Burgh!: The summer is the BEST time to learn new things.

Can't Find a Good School for Your Kids? Buy One!

What does Will Smith do when he can't find a decent school for his kids? He buys them their own.

The actor recently paid $889,000 to lease Indian Hills High School in Calabasas, Calif., after failing to find a decent educational program for his two young children. Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, have been home schooling their brood until now. According to People:

"We started home-schooling our children probably six years ago," he said. "We found about eight or nine other parents that home-school, so we put them together. ... There's just very powerful educational concepts that we believe in, and we feel like 'I want to design the system that revolutionizes public education.' "

In 2005, Jada Pinkett-Smith told Essence that the decision behind home-schooling came from their dissatisfaction with current models of education.

"The school system in this country -- public and private -- is designed for the industrial age," she said. "We're in a technological age. We don't want our kids to memorize. We want them to learn."

Parents just don't understand, huh Will?

While most people will find it difficult to provide their kids with a school of their own, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be involved with your child's education.

source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/newsandviews/2008/05/cant_find_a_good_school_for_yo.html

This will be my last entry unless we proceed homeschooling this coming new school year. And I will leave you with one wizard recipe from a fellow homeschooling site:

FIZZING PHANTOM POTION

What you need...
-glass jar or drinking glass
-bottle of white vinegar
-large platter or tray
-food colouring of your choice
-1 tablespoon baking soda in a bowl or jar
-water

1) Fill the jar or glass half full with the vinegar. (if anyone asks, tell him it's just water). Place the jar on the platter.

2) With a dramatic flourish, add some drops of the food colouring to the glass while you intone, "I command you, phantom, to make my potion bubble!"

3) Pass your hands over the baking soda, pronouncing the same command, while secretly sprinkling the soda into the vinegar. SHAZAAM! A cascade of fizz will erupt.

4) If you want to further mystify your audience, empty the jar when it's finished fizzing, refill it with real water, then invite your friend to try to duplicate your magic.