More homeschooled students enrolling in college early

It's nice to have that option. I'm not sure I would want my kids in college at 14 even if they are educationally ready.
Students in Alisha Miiller's Delta College French class did a double take when the 14-year-old told them her age.
'We were going around talking and asking people how old they were, and when we got to her, whoa - people were amazed she was 14,' said Pamela Renna, Miiller's French professor.
Miiller is one of six children of Greg and Lori Miiller of Pinconning. The couple have homeschooled all their children.
As a result, some are as many as four academic years ahead of their peers.
That is consistent with a growing trend at community colleges, where more homeschooled high school graduates are enrolling at younger ages, said Duff Zube, director of admissions and records at Delta College.
'We are seeing more and more of this, and that is because more and more students are being homeschooled,' he said. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/11/2005 07:44:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Homeschoolers dominate robotics competition

First place for the Apprentice level and first and second for the Professional level was taken by homeschools teams.
The fifth annual Wichita State University Legos Mindstorms Robotics Challenge was hosted Feb. 26 by the colleges of education and engineering at WSU.
The event was designed to give students a chance to apply math, science, programming and engineering skills, and to promote teamwork, dedication and sportsmanship.
Students in fourth through eighth grades participated. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/10/2005 07:40:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Homeschoolers adjust to life in college

Despite the innuendo of the reporting here, it's clear these kids are having no trouble adjusting to college life.
Jordan Beck is a senior at the University, but he will have to wait two more years to legally buy his first beer.
The 19-year-old attributes getting an undergraduate degree earlier than most students to being homeschooled before college and was able to study at his own pace.
He said his experience as a homeschooled student better prepared him for the independence involved in college studies.
But adjusting to sharing professors' attention with other students presented a challenge. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/10/2005 07:32:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Mom Starts Florida Homeschoolers Group

Don't have a homeschool support group in your area? Why not start one?
When Teresa Dearinger moved to Lehigh Acres five years ago, she searched for a support group specific to parents who homeschooled their children.
The nearest group was in Fort Myers. She wanted something a little closer to home.
Last August, she started a local group, Family Treasures Homeschoolers. There are 21 members in the group, which has grown an average of two new members a month.
"I started this group because I needed advice, I needed support and I needed information," Dearinger, 45, said. "I learned through trial and error. I figured others were looking for support and encouragement, too." Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/09/2005 07:36:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Home-schooled roundballers win state tourney, eye bigger prizes

The struggles and triumphs of the homeschool basketball team.
DURHAM -- As state champs go, they're a ragtag bunch.
The Durham Flight, a high school and middle school basketball program composed entirely of home-schooled students, didn't even have alternate uniforms three years ago. Players wore their 'away' jerseys for every game their first season.
And away games aren't exactly nearby, either. They've journeyed to Lexington, Winston-Salem and Greensboro in search of other North Carolina home-schooled teams to play. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/08/2005 07:46:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Homeschooling Woman Starts Web Site to Help Others

Looks like a nice site. Great publicicty for her.
HEN MARY ANN Kelley started home schooling five years ago, she didn't know what resources were out there.
She joined an online group and asked around. Other home-school mothers shared some great tips about types of curriculum and where to find free samples of educational products.
But Kelley never found a single Web site that contained all the information she had gathered in a few e-mails.
So, the Stafford County woman started one--and became 'TheHomeSchoolMom' in the virtual world of cyberspace. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/08/2005 07:41:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Family spends a year touring United States

This is becoming more common. For some families, this is the only reason they would homeschool.
STATE COLLEGE -- After years of thinking about it, Kathleen O'Connell and Michael Goldfine finally made a decision.
Though they'd tried to keep the hectic pace of modern parenthood and childhood from overwhelming their lives and those of their two daughters, there were times when it seemed all four of them were on separate paths.
And so they would, for a whole year, take just one road. And they would do it together.
The O'Connell-Goldfine family now is more than halfway through a ramble around North America and the foursome has learned lessons it never expected: What a field of brussels sprouts looks like under the California sunshine. How grizzly bears live in frozen Alaska. How living with your family full time can all at once be the most loving and frustrating experience of your life. Read more...

Posted by gary at 3/08/2005 07:28:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Homeschool student wins Bee

One of many stories of homeschoolers winning county and regional bees across the country. Soon we will see how many homeschoolers make it to the final national bee.
A-g-g-l-u-t-i-n-a-t-e spelled winner Saturday for a 13-year-old home-schooled eighth-grader in the Odessa American�s Regional Spelling Bee.
Rachel C. Barrett, of H.E.A.R.T. Home School, took the top prize Saturday, winning a spot at the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 31 to June 2 in Washington, D.C.
�I�ve been doing this for a long time, and this is the first time I�ve won it,� Rachel said. �It�s unbelievable. I�m very excited.� Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/07/2005 07:37:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Homeschooled girl perennial winner of County Spelling Bee

This is this girl's third time winning the county spelling bee. On to the statewide, then maybe the national bee?
Anna Rose Wright isn't that intrigued with spelling.
The 12-year-old would rather be looking at bee legs under a microscope, reading a science-fiction book or dreaming about her first love, horses.
'Spelling doesn't excite her,' Anna's mother, Cindy Wright, said. 'She's more interested in science.'
But the home-schooled Anna has a knack for spelling.
She won the Gallatin County Spelling Bee last week after 13 rounds, finishing off with 'p-i-e-b-a-l-d.' Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/07/2005 07:34:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Playing to touch lives

Homeschooling has the advantage of allowing your children the time to give of themselves.
DuRhonda Lamb was at home with her three young daughters when she had one of those 'wouldn't-that-be-cute' moments moms often have.
All of the girls were studying the violin, despite the fact that the oldest was only 7 at the time.
'We found a piece of music that had a three-part harmony,' remembers DuRhonda, who couldn't believe the results. 'I called my mother in Montgomery and said, `You have to listen to this.' That's when it hit me. I wondered if they would ever play together.' Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/06/2005 08:43:00 AM | 0 comments

 

Young Brilliant, Blessed Cursed

Most homeschoolers are average kids. A few are gifted. This story details the struggles of gifted children, homeschooled or not.
At nearly 6 feet tall and with the vocabulary of a college professor, Robert Mercer could easily pass for much older than 14, were it not for the self-conscious giggle and the telltale teenage skin. He's equally at home discussing Greek history and shoot-'em-up video games. He likes to golf and ski and sail and swim, and he'd take up fencing if the lessons weren't so expensive. Through his young eyes, life is rich and good and full of possibility.
But this animated young man from Arlington endured a dark period throughout 2001. He didn't feel 'normal' when he played with children his age in his community, and he noticed that some of his friendships were slipping away, a phenomenon he likens to rocks shearing during an earthquake. His mother, Kiki Mercer, knew something was truly wrong when he deliberately flubbed an intelligence test that year. Robert is what is known in educational parlance as profoundly gifted, a category defined, by one measure, as having an IQ greater than 180. Read more...
Posted by gary at 3/06/2005 08:29:00 AM | 0 comments