Wooly bugger: Lalor fly ties to first place
http://knox.villagesoup.com/sports/story.cfm?storyID=69727
Homeschool student wins top honors at math and science contest
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/NEWS01/603260311/1002
6th grader wins regional spelling bee
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/264469_spellingbee27.html
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Home is where the learning is
Home is where the learning is
By Anne Matthews
TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Tricia Field's weekday mornings begin like many other mothers with young children in Pleasanton. After breakfast, she helps her preschooler and first grader get ready for school with her toddler in tow. Four days a week, she drops her 4-year-old daughter Carly off at morning preschool then heads back home.
It's at home where the real work begins as 6-year-old Tori begins her school day. With her mother's guidance and the blessing of the Pleasanton Unified School District, Tori is learning all that a first grader in a traditional school would learn, plus a little more.
By Anne Matthews
TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Tricia Field's weekday mornings begin like many other mothers with young children in Pleasanton. After breakfast, she helps her preschooler and first grader get ready for school with her toddler in tow. Four days a week, she drops her 4-year-old daughter Carly off at morning preschool then heads back home.
It's at home where the real work begins as 6-year-old Tori begins her school day. With her mother's guidance and the blessing of the Pleasanton Unified School District, Tori is learning all that a first grader in a traditional school would learn, plus a little more.
Homegrown scholars
DailyPrincetonian.com
By Sophia Ahern Dwosh
Princetonian Senior Writer
Photo by Michael Zhang
(Expand Photo)
Homegrown scholars: Brian Brown '07. who was homeschooled as a child, shows a photograph of his family. Brown is one of about eight students at the University who were "Home Educated." Between one million to two million students nationwide are currently educated at home.
Before arriving at the University, Steve Apple '08 had not gone to school for a single day in his entire life.
A friend took Apple to his second grade classroom as part of a show-and-tell demonstration. "He stood me up there and said, 'Hey, this is my friend Steve. He's homeschooled. Talk to them, Steve!'" Apple recalled in an interview.
More than a decade later, though his peers no longer look at him as an outsider, Apple is still part of a small minority of students whose educational background has involved home-based schooling.
By Sophia Ahern Dwosh
Princetonian Senior Writer
Photo by Michael Zhang
(Expand Photo)
Homegrown scholars: Brian Brown '07. who was homeschooled as a child, shows a photograph of his family. Brown is one of about eight students at the University who were "Home Educated." Between one million to two million students nationwide are currently educated at home.
Before arriving at the University, Steve Apple '08 had not gone to school for a single day in his entire life.
A friend took Apple to his second grade classroom as part of a show-and-tell demonstration. "He stood me up there and said, 'Hey, this is my friend Steve. He's homeschooled. Talk to them, Steve!'" Apple recalled in an interview.
More than a decade later, though his peers no longer look at him as an outsider, Apple is still part of a small minority of students whose educational background has involved home-based schooling.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Homeschooling, sweet homeschooling
by Nathanel Blake (townhall.com)
Last week a New York Times article profiled the ordeal of academic applications: essays, interviews, application consultants, tuition of $10,000 a year or more, and the stress of separating families.
The article was about private preschools in New York City. The following is representative of the tribulations chronicled among well-heeled parents. "When Ms. Malloy, a federal prosecutor, applied for her twins, a boy and a girl, she asked her husband to write the application essay. "I was so nervous," she said, "and I'm someone who took the LSAT, who's written for the federal judiciary and in law review."
The family applied to four schools. "There's not a week that goes by that I don't regret that I didn't apply to three or four more," Ms. Malloy said. And so the hamster-wheel rat-race is now beginning at the ripe old age of two.
For me, reading this story increased my determination that if probability wins out and I marry and have children (I'm archaic enough to believe that to be the proper order), they will be homeschooled.
Read entire article by clicking on the title.
Last week a New York Times article profiled the ordeal of academic applications: essays, interviews, application consultants, tuition of $10,000 a year or more, and the stress of separating families.
The article was about private preschools in New York City. The following is representative of the tribulations chronicled among well-heeled parents. "When Ms. Malloy, a federal prosecutor, applied for her twins, a boy and a girl, she asked her husband to write the application essay. "I was so nervous," she said, "and I'm someone who took the LSAT, who's written for the federal judiciary and in law review."
The family applied to four schools. "There's not a week that goes by that I don't regret that I didn't apply to three or four more," Ms. Malloy said. And so the hamster-wheel rat-race is now beginning at the ripe old age of two.
For me, reading this story increased my determination that if probability wins out and I marry and have children (I'm archaic enough to believe that to be the proper order), they will be homeschooled.
Read entire article by clicking on the title.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
A Peculiar People - Crunchy Cons
by Chuck Colson
Townhall.com
March 7, 2006
If you encountered someone who made his own granola, bought his veggies at a food co-op, wore Birkenstock sandals, and wanted to save the environment, if you’re like me, you’d probably think, well, there goes a lefty, or a liberal, or maybe an aging hippie. But the author of a new book says someone like that is just as likely to be a conservative Republican. In his book, Crunchy Cons, journalist Rod Dreher writes about a group of people he calls “crunchy conservatives,” a group that includes, among others, “hip homeschooling mamas,” “Birkenstocked Burkeans,” “gun-loving organic” farmers, and “right-wing nature lovers.”
What Dreher, a Dallas Morning News columnist, means by “crunchy conservative” is someone who rejects the “consumerist and individualistic mainstream of American life.” This rejection distinguishes their worldview from that of mainstream liberalism or conservatism, which, in Dreher’s estimation, are both “essentially materialist ideologies.”
The result of this materialism is “a society dedicated to the multiplication of wants and the intensification of desire, not the improvement of character.” What sets Dreher’s “crunchy cons” apart is the extent to which they have recognized the corrosive effects of a culture that is both materialistic and pornographic, and they are prepared to do something about it.
Townhall.com
March 7, 2006
If you encountered someone who made his own granola, bought his veggies at a food co-op, wore Birkenstock sandals, and wanted to save the environment, if you’re like me, you’d probably think, well, there goes a lefty, or a liberal, or maybe an aging hippie. But the author of a new book says someone like that is just as likely to be a conservative Republican. In his book, Crunchy Cons, journalist Rod Dreher writes about a group of people he calls “crunchy conservatives,” a group that includes, among others, “hip homeschooling mamas,” “Birkenstocked Burkeans,” “gun-loving organic” farmers, and “right-wing nature lovers.”
What Dreher, a Dallas Morning News columnist, means by “crunchy conservative” is someone who rejects the “consumerist and individualistic mainstream of American life.” This rejection distinguishes their worldview from that of mainstream liberalism or conservatism, which, in Dreher’s estimation, are both “essentially materialist ideologies.”
The result of this materialism is “a society dedicated to the multiplication of wants and the intensification of desire, not the improvement of character.” What sets Dreher’s “crunchy cons” apart is the extent to which they have recognized the corrosive effects of a culture that is both materialistic and pornographic, and they are prepared to do something about it.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Debater has winning way with words
(Homeschool grad wins debate competition.)
Debater has winning way with words
By ASHLEY LOPES Features Writer
03/06/2006
BERKLEY - The friendly and outgoing Rebekah Barton was a force to be reckoned with when she stepped on stage, arguing her way to the top and bringing home the Regional Title for Bristol Community College in the brainy world of debate.
A newcomer to debate competitions, the 17-year-old sophomore at Bristol Community College, with a 3.9 grade point average, swept the Northeast Regional Debate Competition.
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She took home six trophies in addition to the several medals that adorned her neck.
"I felt confident with how I did, but I definitely wasn't expecting to win," Barton said. "It was absolutely shocking."
Winning awards in several areas including the debate section and an oral interpretation events, the accomplishment which Barton is most proud of is the regional title, which now sits in a trophy case at her college.
"I was putting in crazy hours of preparation, and this just makes me feel like all my work has paid off," Barton said.
"While all my friends went out, I would stay home on a Saturday night because I had a debate the next day. That's when I realized, 'wow I really am a dork.'"
Fourteen schools participated in this all-day event, and Barton and her partner beat out well-respected colleges such as Bridgewater State, Suffolk and Cornell.
Her mother, Michele Barton, was disappointed about missing the awards ceremony, but was elated to see Barton walk in the door with a box full of her accomplishments.
"I wish I could have seen it," the proud mother said. "She came home with a huge box full of trophies. We are so proud of her because she worked so hard for it."
Barton was awarded second place, won third place for dramatic interpretation, first place for critical analysis and first place for the Pentathelon - a combination of points from all areas of competition.
Barton first became involved with the Forensics and Debate Team through an introduction to speech course she took where she met the team's coach, went to one of their meetings and thought it was interesting.
"Basically, you get a resolution and then you have 15 minutes to put together a case with your partner," Barton said. "It is definitely a challenge. Stressful but fun."
Home-schooled since she was in the fifth grade, Barton entered college at the ripe age of 16.
Debater has winning way with words
By ASHLEY LOPES Features Writer
03/06/2006
BERKLEY - The friendly and outgoing Rebekah Barton was a force to be reckoned with when she stepped on stage, arguing her way to the top and bringing home the Regional Title for Bristol Community College in the brainy world of debate.
A newcomer to debate competitions, the 17-year-old sophomore at Bristol Community College, with a 3.9 grade point average, swept the Northeast Regional Debate Competition.
Advertisement
She took home six trophies in addition to the several medals that adorned her neck.
"I felt confident with how I did, but I definitely wasn't expecting to win," Barton said. "It was absolutely shocking."
Winning awards in several areas including the debate section and an oral interpretation events, the accomplishment which Barton is most proud of is the regional title, which now sits in a trophy case at her college.
"I was putting in crazy hours of preparation, and this just makes me feel like all my work has paid off," Barton said.
"While all my friends went out, I would stay home on a Saturday night because I had a debate the next day. That's when I realized, 'wow I really am a dork.'"
Fourteen schools participated in this all-day event, and Barton and her partner beat out well-respected colleges such as Bridgewater State, Suffolk and Cornell.
Her mother, Michele Barton, was disappointed about missing the awards ceremony, but was elated to see Barton walk in the door with a box full of her accomplishments.
"I wish I could have seen it," the proud mother said. "She came home with a huge box full of trophies. We are so proud of her because she worked so hard for it."
Barton was awarded second place, won third place for dramatic interpretation, first place for critical analysis and first place for the Pentathelon - a combination of points from all areas of competition.
Barton first became involved with the Forensics and Debate Team through an introduction to speech course she took where she met the team's coach, went to one of their meetings and thought it was interesting.
"Basically, you get a resolution and then you have 15 minutes to put together a case with your partner," Barton said. "It is definitely a challenge. Stressful but fun."
Home-schooled since she was in the fifth grade, Barton entered college at the ripe age of 16.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Homeschooling grows quickly in the United States
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 9:51 a.m. EST (14:51 GMT)
COLUMBIA, Maryland (Reuters) -- Elizabeth and Teddy Dean are learning about the Italian scientist Galileo, so they troop into the kitchen, where their mother Lisa starts by reviewing some facts about the Renaissance.
Elizabeth, 11, and Teddy, 8, have never gone to school.
Their teachers are primarily their parents, which puts them into what is believed to be the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. education system -- the homeschool movement.
Read this article at CNN by clicking on the title.
COLUMBIA, Maryland (Reuters) -- Elizabeth and Teddy Dean are learning about the Italian scientist Galileo, so they troop into the kitchen, where their mother Lisa starts by reviewing some facts about the Renaissance.
Elizabeth, 11, and Teddy, 8, have never gone to school.
Their teachers are primarily their parents, which puts them into what is believed to be the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. education system -- the homeschool movement.
Read this article at CNN by clicking on the title.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Through the Eyes of Genius
BY MIKE ANGELL
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 2/28/2006
A demanding boss is a bane to most workers. But for Willard Boyle, that demanding boss was a springboard.
Boyle's boss was Jack Morton, vice president of electronics technology for AT&T's storied research unit, Bell Labs. Boyle headed its work in semiconductors and transistors.
Morton called Boyle one day in October 1969 asking what he was working on. Unsatisfied with Boyle's answer, Morton said another Bell Labs' unit was doing interesting things. Why couldn't Boyle come up with something interesting?
His boss' prodding got to Boyle. Determined not to be left behind in the innovation arena, Boyle and his colleague, George Smith, got to work.
Their drive led them to come up with one of the most important inventions of the century: the charge-coupled device, or CCD. The CCD is the heart behind digital cameras and video recorders, space-based telescopes and satellites, and medical imaging devices.
Boyle says a combination of many factors helped propel him in his many achievements: the ability to think freely, a nurturing of his intellectual curiosity, a collaborative working environment where ideas were shared, and even hurdles sometimes presented by colleagues.
"Having the freedom to pursue ideas was very important to me," Boyle said in a recent IBD interview.
Early Lessons
Boyle spent his childhood in a remote logging town in Quebec where, during the winters, the only way to get around was by dog sled. The cold, bleak winters of that town helped forge Boyle's determination. He had to wake up in the middle of pitch-black, wintry nights to go feed the sled dogs in their kennel. The utter blackness terrified Boyle, but someone had to feed the dogs, so he had to soldier on.
His mother home-schooled Boyle until high school. Even though his lessons were only an hour a day, Boyle's mother made them count. She provided him with most any book he wanted. After reading, his mother held discussion sessions to talk about what he learned and what new things he wanted to explore in subsequent books.
Boyle found inspiration in his reading. He credits scientist and author Lancelot Hogben with first stimulating his interest in science. Hogben's books on math and science were written clearly and applied the fields' abstract ideas to everyday phenomenon.
Read article - click on the title.
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 2/28/2006
A demanding boss is a bane to most workers. But for Willard Boyle, that demanding boss was a springboard.
Boyle's boss was Jack Morton, vice president of electronics technology for AT&T's storied research unit, Bell Labs. Boyle headed its work in semiconductors and transistors.
Morton called Boyle one day in October 1969 asking what he was working on. Unsatisfied with Boyle's answer, Morton said another Bell Labs' unit was doing interesting things. Why couldn't Boyle come up with something interesting?
His boss' prodding got to Boyle. Determined not to be left behind in the innovation arena, Boyle and his colleague, George Smith, got to work.
Their drive led them to come up with one of the most important inventions of the century: the charge-coupled device, or CCD. The CCD is the heart behind digital cameras and video recorders, space-based telescopes and satellites, and medical imaging devices.
Boyle says a combination of many factors helped propel him in his many achievements: the ability to think freely, a nurturing of his intellectual curiosity, a collaborative working environment where ideas were shared, and even hurdles sometimes presented by colleagues.
"Having the freedom to pursue ideas was very important to me," Boyle said in a recent IBD interview.
Early Lessons
Boyle spent his childhood in a remote logging town in Quebec where, during the winters, the only way to get around was by dog sled. The cold, bleak winters of that town helped forge Boyle's determination. He had to wake up in the middle of pitch-black, wintry nights to go feed the sled dogs in their kennel. The utter blackness terrified Boyle, but someone had to feed the dogs, so he had to soldier on.
His mother home-schooled Boyle until high school. Even though his lessons were only an hour a day, Boyle's mother made them count. She provided him with most any book he wanted. After reading, his mother held discussion sessions to talk about what he learned and what new things he wanted to explore in subsequent books.
Boyle found inspiration in his reading. He credits scientist and author Lancelot Hogben with first stimulating his interest in science. Hogben's books on math and science were written clearly and applied the fields' abstract ideas to everyday phenomenon.
Read article - click on the title.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Quiet Ambush by Suzannah Rowntree
Homeschooling is Threatened Down-Under
The Quiet Ambush
by Suzannah Rowntree
In Victoria, Australia, the State Parliament is considering an Education and Training Reform Bill for a new Education Act which will completely rework the existing Act.
Among other changes, homeschoolers will now be more strictly regulated. Up till now, homeschoolers in Victoria have only been required to provide regular and efficient instruction for their children and to be able to prove it if challenged, under Division 8A of the Community Services Act of 1970 School Attendance. No other state in Australia shows such lenience to homeschoolers, and in this environment homeschooling has flourished.
Unfortunately, this is about to change. Under the new Education Reform Bill, a current draft of which can be found here, Victorian homeschoolers will be required to apply for a homeschooling licence and comply with any (as-yet undisclosed) regulations the government thinks fit. Anyone disobeying these unspecified regulations will have their licence revoked. Anyone refusing to apply for a licence to homeschool will be charged with starting an unregistered school and will be fined $1048.10 in Australian dollars. Alternately, they can be fined $104.81 per day per child for truancy. Possibly both fines will apply.
Read Article by clicking on title.
The Quiet Ambush
by Suzannah Rowntree
In Victoria, Australia, the State Parliament is considering an Education and Training Reform Bill for a new Education Act which will completely rework the existing Act.
Among other changes, homeschoolers will now be more strictly regulated. Up till now, homeschoolers in Victoria have only been required to provide regular and efficient instruction for their children and to be able to prove it if challenged, under Division 8A of the Community Services Act of 1970 School Attendance. No other state in Australia shows such lenience to homeschoolers, and in this environment homeschooling has flourished.
Unfortunately, this is about to change. Under the new Education Reform Bill, a current draft of which can be found here, Victorian homeschoolers will be required to apply for a homeschooling licence and comply with any (as-yet undisclosed) regulations the government thinks fit. Anyone disobeying these unspecified regulations will have their licence revoked. Anyone refusing to apply for a licence to homeschool will be charged with starting an unregistered school and will be fined $1048.10 in Australian dollars. Alternately, they can be fined $104.81 per day per child for truancy. Possibly both fines will apply.
Read Article by clicking on title.
When homeschoolers grow up
Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld
Posted: February 4, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Parents interested in homeschooling often want to know what will happen to their children when they grow up and have to work for a living. Will employers recognize their homespun high-school diplomas signed by Mom and Dad and the local homeschool association? Will corporate America welcome them as competent "human resources"? Will the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force accept them? All legitimate questions which deserve to be answered.
Well, the answers were recently given by Dr. Brian Ray, director of the National Home Education Research Institute of Salem, Ore. – the authoritative source the media turn to when they want homeschool data. Dr. Ray, himself a homeschooling dad, studied 5,247 home-educated graduates and found that 49 percent were in college and the remaining 51 percent were earning their way in a wide variety of occupations. Over 10 percent were pursuing such prestigious professional careers as doctors, ministers, accountants, nurses, school and college teachers, and the like.
Read entire article by clicking on the title.
Posted: February 4, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Parents interested in homeschooling often want to know what will happen to their children when they grow up and have to work for a living. Will employers recognize their homespun high-school diplomas signed by Mom and Dad and the local homeschool association? Will corporate America welcome them as competent "human resources"? Will the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force accept them? All legitimate questions which deserve to be answered.
Well, the answers were recently given by Dr. Brian Ray, director of the National Home Education Research Institute of Salem, Ore. – the authoritative source the media turn to when they want homeschool data. Dr. Ray, himself a homeschooling dad, studied 5,247 home-educated graduates and found that 49 percent were in college and the remaining 51 percent were earning their way in a wide variety of occupations. Over 10 percent were pursuing such prestigious professional careers as doctors, ministers, accountants, nurses, school and college teachers, and the like.
Read entire article by clicking on the title.
The lessons of school choice
WND Exclusive Commentary The lessons of school choice
Rebecca Hagelin
Posted: February 21, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Choosing how your children are educated should be as routine in America as the ability to choose your neighborhood, your church and your place of employment.
It stuns me that in 2006, the vast majority of students in failing schools are still trapped there. My husband and I have enjoyed the marvelous blessing of choosing freely between private schools, public schools and home schooling for our children. Yet, the reality for most parents is no real choice at all.
The No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2002 by a large majority of Congress, was aimed at correcting the "soft bigotry of low expectations," in President Bush's memorable phrase. Academic achievement would be boosted by demanding accountability – and educators would be held accountable by testing students regularly and measuring their progress. The parents of students in failing schools were supposed to have at least some choice to move to schools that perform.
Rebecca Hagelin
Posted: February 21, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Choosing how your children are educated should be as routine in America as the ability to choose your neighborhood, your church and your place of employment.
It stuns me that in 2006, the vast majority of students in failing schools are still trapped there. My husband and I have enjoyed the marvelous blessing of choosing freely between private schools, public schools and home schooling for our children. Yet, the reality for most parents is no real choice at all.
The No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2002 by a large majority of Congress, was aimed at correcting the "soft bigotry of low expectations," in President Bush's memorable phrase. Academic achievement would be boosted by demanding accountability – and educators would be held accountable by testing students regularly and measuring their progress. The parents of students in failing schools were supposed to have at least some choice to move to schools that perform.
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