Homeschool Blog Buzz

Saturday, June 04, 2005
 

Home-Schools & The State...Messy...


Add State money to the equation and homeschooling starts to look fishy. This story is not written by a homeschooler but even from his view the state involvement is a problem.
As I picked through this morning's Oregonian, I came across a report on a decision by the Oregon Department of Education (hereafter ODoE) to deny funds to home-schooling programs that don't meet state educational criteria.
Of course, my first response to the report was, 'Um, the state gives money to home-schoolers?' Read more...


Friday, June 03, 2005
 

Homeschooled bagpiper takes the high road


When allowed to follow their interests, children can do great things. (Does this qualify as a great thing?)
Jokes about bagpipers abound, like this one floating around on the Internet: �The Irish gave the Scots the bagpipe, and they still haven�t got the joke.� It is said that one either loves bagpipe music or one hates it.
Elias Alexander loves it. He does admit that if the pipes aren�t played right, they will send people running. Alexander is one who plays the pipes right. His bagpipe teacher and bagpipe maker, Murray Huggins, calls him �a phenomenal bagpipe player.� Read more...


 

A Graduating Class of One


Cool.
In his black cap and gown, Gene Sandberg sat alone in the front row as his baby pictures flashed across an overhead screen and laughter burst from the audience.
'As long as I've known my brother, he's always been a goofball,' Gene's brother Richard Sandberg joked as he introduced the baby snapshots and pictures of Gene surrounded by friends.
Sandberg, a 16-year-old home school student, was the lone graduate during the graduation presented by the Coast Christian Home Educators Association Thursday night at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Read more...


Thursday, June 02, 2005
 

Homeschooled senior took a different path to his diploma


Homeschooling through high school is becoming more common these days as more families homeschool and laws have relaxed.
After interviewing four older individuals in the community about their lives, his senior project is complete. Graduation is nearing, and like any senior he is excited about what the future holds. But unlike other seniors, he has never attended a traditional public school.
Colin King will be one of eight students to graduate from the Anacortes Home Education Partnership program at 7 p.m. Friday, June 3, at Island View Elementary School after being homeschooled his entire life. Read more...


Tuesday, May 31, 2005
 

Home-schooling lets kids realize their potential


Well said.
When Jessica Nelson of Ham Lake arrived at the University of Notre Dame in September, she had lots in common with other freshmen there: stratospheric admissions test scores, academic prizes and an application chock-full of extracurricular activities and volunteer work.
But one thing set Jessica apart: She's a home-schooler. Her parents, Deb and Brad Nelson, supervised her education from kindergarten through high school. Read more...


 

Homeschooled entrepreneur thrives


This is a great way to teach kids about money work and business.
Sydney Ball is on the ball, you could say. She's young, ambitious and business-savvy.
The 13-year-old has been running an enterprise since she was 10, and it all started with a pair of pretty pink flip-flops.
Her marketing skills began three years ago when Sydney and her grandmother made loop sandals and ''people kept buying them off our feet,'' the Jackson teen said. Read more...


 

Homeschooler Wins National Geographic Bee


You can't learn this stuff by staying home all the time.
WASHINGTON -- A 13-year-old home-schooled youth from Minnesota won the 2005 National Geographic Bee on Wednesday.
Nathaniel Cornelius topped young people from across the nation to win a $25,000 college scholarship. Read more...


KinderBach (website)

KinderBach is a bright and fun interactive music theory and keyboard/piano introduction program geared toward preschool children. The online program that I reviewed combines professional video instruction and printable PDF's (there is also a DVD format as well as a classroom music curriculum available). The instructor is a bubbly, smiling lady who has a couple of friendly sidekicks, Do-dee the donkey and Frisco, a young boy who help out in the lessons. Read more...

Dear God, Help!!! Love, Earl

Earl Wilbur is an overweight, asthmatic, middle-school aged kid (fifth grade?) who lives with his mom (his dad, who is English, left the family to return to England). Many of the other kids tease him, but a bullying fellow class-mate, Eddie McFee, has been taunting him and even beating him up until one day Earl pays Eddie a dollar not to hurt him, and now Eddie demands a dollar each week to leave Earl alone. Read more...

The Distant Shore

In this inspirational romance/adventure novel, young Emma Lee is sent from her Miami home in 1904 to live with her Aunt Augusta on the Little Island of Merritt. The Island sounds like a tropical paradise, but Emma has no clue why she is being sent away in the first place. Her aunt is the village schoolteacher and a bit the prickly type. She expects Emma to be very studious and hardworking. Read more...

Secular Homeschooling (magazine)

Secular Homeschooling is a non-religious quarterly magazine dedicated to writing about homeschooling and those who homeschool for diverse reasons, not specifically for religious convictions. This non-glossy, black and white paper publication has some great articles and editorials that any home educator will find informative, and encouraging. It was easy for me to get sucked into just lounging on the couch while I read the issues cover to cover, I thought the material well-written and absorbing. Read more...

Don't Know Where, Don't Know When: The Snipeville Chronicles Book 1

California natives Hannah and her brother Alex move to Snipesville, Georgia, a place they find where life is slower and a bit too dull. A trip to the library should spice things up for them. I always find the library has the power to take away the boredom for us. But, Alex and their new friend Brandon weren't expecting to walk out of the library and transport smack into WWII England. Seems a professor they met in the library had something to do with their catapult to the past. Read more...