Saturday, February 26, 2005
Sacrificing her locks, and loving it
Sacrificial love is something they don't teach in government schools.
Life's lessons are just as important as the ones 11-year-old Cassie Fulk learns in home school, Basement Elementary as it's affectionately known to her friends in Olathe schools.
Her mother and teacher, Fawn Fulk, used to teach at Brougham Elementary, but she added service ventures into the community to the curriculum for her children. Cassie and her little brother Connor, a second-grader, visit the elderly in the hospital, write letters to someone each day and sing in the community.
When Cassie's hairdresser, her sister-in-law Marietta Fulk, recommended the Locks of Love program to donate hair for financially disadvantaged kids suffering from long-term medical hair loss, Cassie knew it was the right thing to do.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/26/2005 07:46:00 AM | 0 comments
Friday, February 25, 2005
Charges against homeschoolers dropped, cop fired
Great news!
In a dramatic turnaround, charges against a South Carolina teenage boy and a homeschooling mother stemming from a confrontation with a plainclothes police officer been dropped, and the officer involved has been fired.
The two were arrested � the boy for carrying a concealed weapon and the mother for assaulting a police officer � after the cop confronted the boy in a picnic shelter where a homeschool support group had gathered for socializing and play.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/25/2005 07:45:00 AM | 0 comments
School Doors May Open for Homeschoolers in Virginia
I think homeschool families would get more than they bargained for by letting government schools in to the mix.
Homeschooling has allowed Grant Albers, a 14-year-old McLean resident, to learn at his own pace in an environment where he receives the one-on-one attention frequently lacking in public or private schools.
But homeschooling has made it tough for Albers to experience classes teaching about music, art or physical education.
'It would be my dream situation if he could keep being homeschooled, but let him join his peers at Langley High School for certain classes,' said his mother, Adrienne Albers.
Her dream now appears poised to become a reality.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/25/2005 07:38:00 AM | 0 comments
Homeschool student buzzes through contest
Homeschoolers like Tori are moving one step closer to the the national competition. Can you spell 'second chance?'
Home-schooled seventh-grader Tori Hanssen of Latimer correctly spelled 'pyrometallurgical' Thursday night to win the annual Jackson County Spelling Bee for the second year in a row.
Tori came in second in the 2004 state competition. Her win on the county level means she'll compete for the state title again March 24.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/25/2005 07:27:00 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Virtual Public Schooling masquerades as Homeschool
The news story refers to this as virtual homeschool. However, it is really public school at home. Parents should direct their child's education, not the state.
Eight-year-old Maddie Hintz needs only to step out of her bedroom, head down the hall and grab a seat at the kitchen table to start the school day.
Maddie, a second-grader working on third-grade material, does her learning at home in Franksville.
On a recent morning, instructor Ginny Hintz - Maddie's mother - started the day with a lesson on contractions.
'What does isn't stand for?' Hintz asked.
'Is not,' Maddie replied quickly and confidently.
At first glance, this appears to be a typical home-school setting.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/24/2005 07:31:00 AM | 0 comments
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Funds raised for arrested homeschoolers
This case should have already been dropped and the police should have issued an apology.
A homeschool group in South Carolina is beginning to raise funds to help defend two of its members � a teenage boy and a mother � who were arrested after a confrontation with a plainclothes police officer at a park.
The incident occurred at Simpsonville Park in Simpsonville, S.C. last Wednesday. A group of mothers and children from Upstate Homeschoolers Unlimited were socializing and playing in the park � a common activity for homeschool support groups.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/23/2005 07:23:00 AM | 0 comments
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Home-schooled students need extra planning
This news article affirms the effectiveness of homeschooling as preparation for college and life.
When some of Caitlyn Chione's fellow college students learned she had been schooled at home, they asked her what it was like and whether she had friends and stuff.
The answer was yes, but not tons of them because she is naturally shy, she said.
Caitlyn, 18, attends MiraCosta College and is also taking a course at Grossmont College. Her first semester has been sort of a revelation to her. Until now, her education was conducted at home ---- and her mother was her teacher.
What was that like?
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/22/2005 07:34:00 AM | 0 comments
Don't overdo home-school regulation
Legislators need to maintain a servants attitude.
We hope everyone took advantage of a recent legislative tiff in Helena to get educated about home schooling.
Sen. Don Ryan, D-Great Falls, introduced a bill that would have forced home-school teachers and students to meet certain standards. Most importantly, each child would have been required to take standardized tests administered by the local school district and each home teacher would need either an educator license or a college degree. Lacking those, the home teacher (usually a parent) would have been monitored by the local school district for two years.
That might have sounded harmless enough to the average parent with children in public schools, but it obviously wasn't considered harmless by the more than 1,000 people who turned out at a Senate hearing last week to vent their displeasure over proposed regulation of their home schools.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/22/2005 07:24:00 AM | 0 comments
Monday, February 21, 2005
Yet another victory for bee's home-school representative
I'm sure this is only one of the many homeschoolers who will be moving a step closer to the national bee.
'Enthusiasm' was the word of the day Saturday at the Riley County Spelling bee.
No, that doesn't describe the contestants' mood; 'n-e-r-v-o-u-s' would be a more apt characterization. It's the word Aubrey Cole, an eight-grade homeschooled student, correctly spelled to take the county crown. She'll represent Riley at the state spelling bee in Topeka next month.
Read more...Posted by gary at 2/21/2005 07:23:00 AM | 0 comments
