Homeschool convention offers resources to parents in Arkansas

Homeschool conventions can be a great experience and a time to get recharged and encouraged.
SEARCY � When his parents began educating him at home about 20 years ago, Jimmy Morris said, teaching resources were hard to find. So his family developed its own lending library to share with other homeschoolers in communities near their Joplin, Mo., home.
In 1998, Morris helped turn that lending library into Light of Faith Resources, a small familyowned business that distributes evangelical Christian-themed educational supplements, such as biographies of Christian leaders and books on creationism. 'I grew up an avid reader, and I wanted to encourage other young people to read,' said Morris, 26. 'But what you read can greatly affect you, so I want to offer only books that promote a biblical world view and positive family relationships.' Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/28/2005 08:32:00 AM | 0 comments

 

11-year-old homeschooler makes third try at National Spelling Bee

Is it spelling bee time again?
COLLEYVILLE, Texas - (KRT) - Samir Patel rocks back and forth, his legs tucked underneath him.
His mother sits at a computer desk, firing off words from a list. Osteodystrophy. Opprobrium. Antemortem.
Samir fires back, quickly spelling each word. He does not miss one. Maybe, he thinks, he will be so lucky next week.
Spelling used to be fun, Samir says during a break, but now it is hard work. He and his mom, Jyoti, spend at least a couple of hours practicing each day, hoping it will pay off. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/27/2005 08:49:00 AM | 0 comments

 

School Board member home-schooled son without notice

This apparently made the news because the homeschooling Mom is a school board member. I was unaware of how restrictive the Virginia Laws are.
Richmond School Board member Carol A.O. Wolf has home-schooled her son for the past four months without proper notification.
Wolf said she had 'no idea' that state law requires her to notify the district superintendent until the board's attorney brought it to her attention this month. She has since notified the superintendent of her intent and said she's 'sorry for that oversight.' Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/26/2005 07:48:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Caught between home and public school

The rules here are obviously meant to exclude homeschoolers.
ROMNEY - Hope Landis is a senior at Hampshire High School, but she won't be graduating with her classmates this year.
Landis, who is a homeschool student turned public school student, entered Hampshire High at the beginning of the second semester of her sophomore year.
For Landis, entering public school at that point has proven to be too little too late. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/26/2005 07:43:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Snyder homeschoolers place 4th in PA Envirothon

Kudos to these kids.
A group of homeschooled teenagers from Snyder County took fourth place at the 22nd annual Pennsylvania State Envirothon on Tuesday.
The five students, who called their team Future Hope Homelearners, scored 408 out of a possible 500 points during competition at PPL�s Montour Preserve.
Approximately 320 high school students, representing more than 50 counties, participated in the competition.
'I was totally caught off-guard,' said 17-year-old Laura Reitenbach, a Future Hope team member who was attending her first Envirothon. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/25/2005 07:29:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Oregon House votes to drop regular testing of home students

Tests would still be required of those in sports or other government school activities.
Home-schooled students would not have to take periodic achievement tests unless they participate in sports or other interscholastic activities under a bill passed Tuesday by the House.
The measure, sent to the Senate on a 37-22 vote, would do away with a requirement that students taught at home by or under the direction of their parents take state-approved exams in third, fifth, eighth and 10th grades.
Public school students in the same grades are given achievement tests in basic subjects such as reading and math. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/25/2005 07:23:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Are you the Hippy Type or the Religious Type?

This story contains a lot of talk about why people homeschool. There is no one answer.
FAIRFIELD - It's not what other kids think it is.
When other kids find out Teri Speel's two children are homeschooled, they're entranced.
'They think we watch TV all day,' the Fairfield resident said.
It's not what other adults think it is.
'There's a whole mythology that kids need to go to school to learn how to deal with bullies and those things,' Fairfield resident Betty Raines Azwell said. 'Kids go to school to be educated, not to learn socialization. And a lot of socialization is negative. If people acted in the workplace like they do in the school yard, it wouldn't be OK. That's not empowering kids, that's turning them into victims and tyrants.' Read more...

Posted by gary at 5/23/2005 07:31:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Home-schoolers share graduation

Here's something to set your sights on. It must be a day of great pride for both the students and the parents.
MONTGOMERY - Six students, wearing black caps and gowns, marched into their graduation ceremony Sunday to the traditional 'Pomp and Circumstance.' The pomp may have been the same, but the circumstances were far different.
Instead of getting their high school diplomas from strangers, the sheepskins and handshakes and tears came from moms and dads as they proudly talked about the accomplishments of their children - who also happen to be their students. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/23/2005 07:24:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Home schoolers' graduation day

Graduation ceremonies are more common these days but an important occasion to celebrate.
The families of 22 home-schooled students opted for an unconventional education for their children, but they still were able to mark the end of their high school educations with traditional pomp and circumstance Saturday at the Glendale Christian Church. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/22/2005 08:54:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Home schooling gives new pastor time with family

Just a not so subtle dig here. What's wrong with instilling religious values?
Molly Perling, the 7-year-old daughter of the Rev. John Perling, the new pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Byram, picks a telling phrase when asked to show off the Greek she has learned from her parents' home schooling.
'Blepo patron' she said. 'It means 'I see a father.' '
Although faith plays a big part in the Perlings' life, they are not part of the growing national movement of parents choosing to educate their children at home primarily as a way of instilling religious values. Rather, they made the choice as a way of ensuring that, despite Perling's busy schedule, both parents get to spend some quality time with their children every day. Read more...
Posted by gary at 5/22/2005 08:51:00 AM | 0 comments