Saturday, March 05, 2005
Homeschooling: The kids are all right
A well writen editorial supporting homeschooling.
In her Feb. 8 commentary on homeschooling Margaret Boyce urges people to contact their representatives and 'see if better protection for children can be passed.' Ms. Boyce further asserts that 'most states do monitor these families and also supervise the curriculum and test students periodically.'
An honest review of the facts, however, leads to the conclusion that government regulation of homeschool educators would be a waste of taxpayer money.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/05/2005 08:20:00 AM | 0 comments
Friday, March 04, 2005
Animals attract
A homeschooling family runs this animal petting farm.
HAYDEN -- Shelby Sharitt traces the start of her menagerie back to the Christmas when she was 5 years old.
That's when she got her first donkey. She named it Christmas.
The gray donkey, now 38 years old, is still around as the oldest four-legged resident of Shar-itt Petting Farm, an operation the single mother began five years ago to roll her love for her four children and her animals into a vocation atop Jessica's Mountain in Blount County.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/04/2005 07:39:00 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Teen heads to high school after homeschooling since age 5
The Montana Standard continues with serveral new stories on homeschooling.
Teal Prigge looks like your typical Butte High School sophomore.
She jokes with classmates and chats easily with friends in the hallway between classes.
But for Teal, 16, everything from the crowded hallways to her class schedule is a new experience. Until this fall she had been homeschooled since kindergarten.
She liked learning at home with her mom and younger brother, Teal said, but as she grew older she wanted to try something different. So she left her mother's kitchen table classroom behind for six classes a day taught in different rooms with different teachers."
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/03/2005 07:40:00 AM | 0 comments
Home-schooling: It's all homework
The Montana standard continues the series on homeschooling.
They all have different schedules and approaches to learning, but homeschool students share one thing in common: they're convinced no one else really understands what it's like to be taught at home.
"I think they think we get up and do a little school and then go back to bed," said 14-year-old Sage Prigge of peers in the public school system. "They think we go to school in our pajamas. They just don't really know what it's like." "Some people think we're backwards socially, I think, or think of me as a high school dropout because I came home," said Allyson Cox, 17, who started home-schooling after years in public schools. "But I can speak Latin � how many dropouts can do that?"
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/03/2005 07:37:00 AM | 0 comments
Homeschoolers finding niche in athletics
More from the Montana Standard. They continue a series on homeschooling.
Students pound up and down the court, looking for that perfect shot or an open teammate.
Parents and other supporters root loudly and often from the sidelines of the Blaine Community Center, while younger children run to and fro finding their own entertainment. Spectators erupt in cheers when a basket is scored and groan in commiseration when their team misses.
In many ways it's just like any other Butte sporting event, except these students are homeschooled.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/03/2005 07:33:00 AM | 0 comments
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
No glory for the Home Schoolers
Homeschoolers have very diverse reasons for playing sports.
The first thing you notice is the uniforms.
Everyone wears the same blue jersey emblazoned with the organization name and a white basketball on the chest. Nothing fancy. Nothing flashy.
But look a little closer. When any five players are on the court, you might see four different pairs of shorts.
Light blue. Dark blue. Black with a red stripe down the side.
That combination really seems to capture the essence of the North Jersey Homeschool Association boys basketball team.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/02/2005 07:23:00 AM | 0 comments
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Logistics of home-schooling
Another story form the Montana Standard
The common denominator among home-school classrooms is that there is no common denominator.
Because Montana does not require a set or approved curriculum, home-school parents are able to develop the program they feel best serves their child.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/01/2005 07:44:00 AM | 0 comments
Two Families: Home-schooling builds Cox family ties
One of a trio of stories on homeschooling in the Montana Standard
Tricia Cox knows all about public schools: three of her four children used to attend them.
But two years ago Cox began bringing her children, ages 6 to 17, home. Now home-schooling all four, she wouldn't have it any other way.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/01/2005 07:42:00 AM | 0 comments
Two families, two approaches
One of a trio of stories on homeschooling today from The Montana Standard.
Sarah McKiernan is a curriculum junkie. Each spring, as she prepares for another season of home schooling, McKiernan eagerly pores through catalogs looking for new books and programs. She limits herself to "just seven" catalogs and usually has everything purchased by May � for classes that don't start until August.
Her parents encouraged McKiernan to be a teacher in college, but she chose social work instead. It was 10 years later, and after the birth of her third child, that McKiernan turned to home schooling. She wanted to stay home with her kids and couldn't afford to do that and also continue paying the private school tuition for oldest daughter Erica, now 11.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/01/2005 07:40:00 AM | 0 comments
Utah Bill pretends to shield home schooling
The story makes the proposed bill sound good in light of other proposals. However, the requirement that homeschool students spend the same amount of time as public schoollers is misunderstading the nature of homeschooling. Perhaps this reveals the prison mentality of the public schools.
Utah lawmakers want to leave home schooling as unregulated as possible.
Legislators have approved a bill that blocks school boards from requiring that home-schooling parents meet minimum credential requirements and keep records of what they teach and of student attendance.
Also under the legislation, school boards could not require standardized testing of home-schooled students.
Instead, Senate Bill 59 simply requires parents to sign an affidavit pledging that their children will go to school the same length of time as public school students.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/01/2005 07:30:00 AM | 0 comments
Arizona Home-schooled students exempt from AIMS test
Homeschoolers are already under increased scrutiny in Arizona after a recent abuse case. This story may sow the seeds of resentment in some non-homeschoolers.
MESA (AP) - Thousands of home-schooled students are exempt from the requirement to pass the AIMS test to receive diplomas, a requirement that public school students will face.
Home-schooled students can take the AIMS test, but few do. Only three took the exam, required for diplomas starting next year, through the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Office last week.
Only about 90 students have asked about taking the elementary and middle school versions of Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards in April, said Debbie Bonilla, the county home school specialist.
Read more...Posted by gary at 3/01/2005 07:24:00 AM | 0 comments
Monday, February 28, 2005
Over-regulation threatens freedom
Another Washington Times editorial by Michael Smith of HSLDA.
Most people are concerned about the nation's education system. How is America going to compete in the 21st century if it doesn't have a highly educated work force? Will a new generation have an accurate picture of the Christian influence on the founding of the nation?
Even if someone does not endorse home-schooling, most people recognize that the average home-schooler succeeds academically. In addition, as more people meet and work with home-school graduates, the greater the understanding of the benefits of home-school socialization.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/28/2005 07:15:00 AM | 0 comments
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Best friends and classmates--Fairfield teens homeschool together
These homeschoolers are defintely socializing.
FAIRFIELD - Katy Fiori and Katie DeRose, both 15, will tell you their friendship is definitely a case of opposites attract.
DeRose prefers subtle hues like gray, black and white. Fiori's favorite is pink.
DeRose hates to shop. Fiori loves it.
DeRose loves action movies. Fiori prefers films with the likes of Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan.
Yet, almost every weekday, these two are inseparable as they gather at each other's homes to homeschool together.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/27/2005 09:42:00 AM | 0 comments
Sonlight Awards Homeschoolers 2005 Scholarships
It's nice to know there are a few scholarships out there specifically for homeschoolers. This one requires the winners to use Sonlight core curriculum at least 3 times during their education.
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd., a leading homeschool curriculum provider, has just awarded eight students $60,000 in college scholarships. The winners will each receive a four-year college scholarship, ranging from $4,000 to $20,000 total, to fund their attendance at the colleges of their choice.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/27/2005 09:33:00 AM | 0 comments
