Oh yes, that great socialization that anti Home Ed people talk about!

Every secondary school in Leeds is to have a dedicated police officer as part of a drive to cut crime.

Eight of the city’s 38 schools will have a full-time police presence. Another 16 officers will cover the remaining 30 schools.

More than 250 offences were committed in Leeds schools in 2008, figures show.

Although officers will be able to arrest and search pupils, West Yorkshire Police stressed they would focus on education not enforcement.

The 24 officers involved in the project will support lessons on weapons and drugs awareness, citizenship and personal safety as well as tackling issues like bullying, absenteeism and truancy.

Teachers say the police will help them drive home an anti-crime message.

More of the story,
click image

The first "why" that struck me on seeing Why Evolution is True was why do we need yet another book on evolution? There are lots of good ones out there already and nothing less than a mountain of evidence to support the reality of evolution by natural selection.

But we do need another, insists Jerry Coyne, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Chicago, because creationism is spreading.

And he’s right - creationism is all over the place, not just in the US, where it often gains huge amounts of publicity. In December, a UK poll found that 29% of science teachers thought that creationism should be taught in science classes alongside evolution; a state of affairs that Richard Dawkins called "a national disgrace". It is also on the rise in Islamic countries.

Careful persuasion

Creationism, Coyne tells us in this wide-ranging, beautifully written account, is like a roly-poly clown that pops back up when you punch it. But he resists the temptation to punch. He seeks to persuade, by carefully leading the reader through the overwhelming evidence, that evolution is a fact.

The audience is those who are uncertain about explanations of life’s diversity. The book is not aimed at people who hold faith-based positions - Coyne considers them to be lost causes - but you have to wonder how many people who are "uncertain" will be won over.

More of the story,
click image

It is possible now to sign the "Berlin declaration for freedom of education" at
Unterzeichne

Here you can read the erlin declaration (only in German, up to now)
"Berliner Erklärung"A
 

On February 3rd the appellate proceeding of the Neubronner case will
take place in Bremen at this place and time:
Tuseday
"Dienstag, 3.2.09, 9:30 im Justizzentrum Am
Wall, Am Wall 198, 28195 Bremen, Sitzungssal 4,
Erdgeschoss"

"Der Spiegel" is the biggest news magazine in Germany and Today 5th January 2009, it releases a 5 page article about homeschooling

Also:

Researchers are beginning to wonder whether video games, long seen as a top time waster for kids and a roadblock to their educational development, might actually be a solution to what ails today’s schools rather than a problem.

Several educators suggest in the newest issue of Science that schools use video games to simulate the real-world situations in the classroom to help students develop critical-thinking skills and enhance their understanding of science and math and, perhaps, even encourage them to pursue careers in those and related fields such as technology and engineering.

Clearly, video games will only grow more popular with time, as graphics and user interfaces (such as wireless controllers) become more sophisticated. The video game industry is expected to rake in more than $68 billion in sales in 2012 (up from $42 billion in 2007), according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study released in June.

One successful example of a "multi-user virtual environment" in use in the classroom is River City, a game funded by the National Science Foundation and  developed by programmers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Targeted at students in grades six through nine, River City looks a bit like Second Life and portrays how three diseases simultaneously affect health in a fictitious city. As students explore the ailments, they learn how disease is spread and the impact of human interactions far and wide.

More of the story,
click image

If you thought your mom was one of a kind, give a listen to this
The Mom Song

Though publishing new material, daily, on Natural Learning is our desire, there is a need for people out there to submit such information. This is one of the reasons for the volunteer "Correspondent" role. However we are short the number of correspondents needed to fulfill the purpose of this role.

In the mean time we ask everyone to keep an eye out for such information and pass it on to LFN. Even if it is just a link to such information, it would be helpful.

Send News +

We’re taking a holiday break, and will be updating again starting 4 January 2009

Administrators  LFN

The following is a story about a 5 yr. old  girl named Hanna, who only has a few weeks left to live. Her family is asking that people send cards to her.

Western Maryland Homeschool Association will be holding a card making day for Hanna on Dec. 31st, 2008 in Fairplay, MD. 21733.(5 minutes south of Hagerstown, MD) We will make homemade cards and send them to Hanna. Any homeschooling families are encouraged to join us for this. Please email Earlene Sorrells at
westernmarylandhomeschool@hotmail.com for the address to attend this functuion.

This link goes to a news story about her. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/231539

Here is her story as written by her cousin.

This is the true story of my 5-year-old 2nd cousin, Hannah Garman, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and incurable brain tumor. She has been given 12 weeks to live and is currently in her 7th
week. She was going to be the flower girl in our wedding in May, but was diagnosed a week after we asked her to be the flower girl. This is especially sad because her mother died 2 years ago from breast cancer.

Right now she has lost most of her motor skills. She is confined to bed and cannot really do anything or play with the gifts she is getting from people, but she LOVES getting cards - she has gotten so many from people she does not know and just loves to have grandma read about the people who send them and see their pictures and is so proud of all her cards. Her room is just filled with cards.

When asked what she wants for Christmas, she said she wants to see how many Christmas cards she can get. Many people have passed this wish along to their churches, prayer groups, friends and family. There are
school groups where children are making her cards. People are including pictures so she can see who it is that is sending her the card.

If you would like to help with her wish, you can send a card to her at:
Hannah Garman
704 Orchard Rd
Lititz, PA 17543

THANKS! Feel free to pass this along to your own prayer group, church, school, etc. Let’s see if we can have the cards coming in big postal bags for her this Christmas, since it will be her last holiday.

P.S. You can also send my email address to anyone you forward this to, if they have questions. sheripie@…

Read more about Hannah, see pics, and stay updated on her progress at
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahgarman.

Source: LFN correspondent, Earlene Sorrells (Pebs)