Jobs

I think that jobs are good for you. By doing jobs, you learn lessons. It teaches you how to be independent, and it is a good way to repay your parents.
Chores teach you how to do important things. These things include, cooking and cleaning. You need to know how to cook. Also, you need to learn how to clean because you don't want to live in a pig sty. It is also important to learn how to fix things. Say, your car broke down and you are stranded in a forest. You need to know how to fix your car, and how to cook until your car is fixed. Chores teach life lessons.
By doing different jobs and chores around the home, you can help repay your parents. Your parents give you everything, such as, shelter, food, clothing. I bet they like it a ton when you vacuum the floor without being asked. Repay your parents for everything they have done and are doing for you. Do some chores.
Being independent is how you will survive adulthood. If you rely on your mom for help all the time, what good is that? Jobs and chores help you become independent. When you are an adult, and you have a guest come over for dinner, you probably wouldn't want your mom to be there doing all the cooking. Doing chores teaches you valuable things.
P.S. My mom made me write this blog in essay style, that is why it doesn't sound like my writing.

It Is Okay to Ask

Sometimes in homeschooling you need help. It is okay to ask. If you are having trouble with something, ask for help. I admit, that sometimes I am stubborn, and I figure that I can do it myself. But a lot of times I can't. If there is no one home when you need help, I look what I need up in the internet. Aren't computers great? If you don't have computers, there are always books. Or you could always wait until someone comes home. There are people smarter then you. Take the time to ask.
P.S. I do realize this is a short blog. This is because this is a short topic.

When mom is mad and you are in trouble!

My mom is really mad right now, so I think this good topic for my post. The other day, I went to the Life Science Center at University of Rochester ( U of R) and apparently, I was being an idiot and disrupting the class (I don't think this is true) and they don't want me to come back. Consequently, now my mom is really mad at me. When your mom is mad, then you should try to avoid her as much as possible. "But my mom is my teacher," you say. "It is really hard to avoid your teacher." Well, yes and no. Say, for instance, that you have trouble with a math problem; ask her to help, then when she does show you, try going outside to do your work. Then you get your work done AND get to be outside, away from mom. If it bad weather outside, try going to your room or do your work with your dog/cat if you have one. I find that if I act as if I am not worried when I'm in trouble, then my mom calms down too. The best tip of all, is, try not to get mom mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being Social

In homeschooling, you have an advantage. Your mom is your teacher and she knows exactly what is good for you and what you need. This is also a disadvantage. By experience, I know my mom can get fed up with me, being around me all day and teaching me all day. It is good that you have someone who loves you enough to teach you, and yet, well, let me put it this way, it can be bad too. You also need to have someone else teach you. That is why it is good to go to activities and be social. If you are anti-social you will never be able to talk to an audience and get a well-paying job. It also isn't fun being with a mad mom all day. Sometimes you need to spread out and be with someone besides your parents. I go to a chess class with a group of homeschoolers my age, Tae Kwon Do classes three times a week, guitar lessons, and horseback riding lessons. You should find activities with other kids too.

Authentic vs. useless learning

The title of this blog relates to what I learn in homeschooling, versus what the school teaches kids similar to me. You see, I learn useful things from homeschooling; that is the "Authentic" part of my title. The school often teaches useless things; that is the part of the title "Useless Learning. I am learning how to write in HTML, and that can get help me get a really good and high paying job. I am learning Chinese not because a language is required, but because we are adopting two boys from China and I want to be able to talk to them. When I was in public school, each year we went to the local playground on a field trip and that took up most of the day. What good is that? The playground is located right in the village, and most of us have been there a million times! Also, in school, they made me write essays about practically nothing. For instance, the teacher made us write stories about a peacock. Isn't that stupid? In homeschooling, I am writing a useful book, that I hope will be published for the whole world to read. Now, that is authentic learning! One big difference is that when homeschooling you can pick what it is that you want to do. If you pick a useless curriculum, then you might as well go to public school. My advice is to find useful things to study, and try to have all your learning be authentic. It really isn't that hard.