10-year-old college sophomore
10-year-old college sophomore
Maybe the homeschooling didn't have much to do with this. But this kid is very philosophical and wise for his age.
Moshe Kai Cavalin likes to tell about the time his father took him to take his college entrance test. The administrators told his dad he couldn’t bring an 8-year-old with him into the test room. His father told them the boy was going in alone — because he was the one taking the test. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Girl, 17, graduates from college
Girl, 17, graduates from college
This weekend, most 17-year-olds are contemplating plans for a summer job and getting ready for college.
Serennah Harding is getting ready to wrap up her college career.
Harding will be graduating Huntingdon College today with a bachelor's degree in cell biology.
"I don't think it'll hit me until I'm walking across the stage," she said.
Harding entered Huntingdon at 13. She is one of nine children in her family who were home-schooled using the methods published by their parents, Kip and Mona Lisa Harding, in their e-book "College by 12." Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Who better to teach about unschooling?
Who better to teach about unschooling?
An unschooler named Andi wrote this comprehensive how-to on unschooling aka"worldschooling." It's fairly balanced and informative for anyone who's considering homeschooling or unschooling. You can even add to parts of it.
Hi, I'm Andi. I wrote this lens. (In case you don't know, a 'lens' is Squidoo's name for a user-made page about a topic.)
From the time I was six, I was homeschooled. From the time I was twelve, I was worldschooled. Then, this spring, I graduated.
So I've been through the whole thing - all the way until I was accepted into my top choice college and awarded 60% tuition in grants.
And you know what? You can do it too. You can follow your interests during your teens years and have an incredible launch into your adult life.
That's what this lens is about. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool, unschool, web
Homeschooler courted by top universities
Homeschooler courted by top universities
In what has been called the most competitive year ever for college admissions, Chelsea Link defied the odds to get accepted into Yale. Then Harvard.
Then came the fat envelopes from Princeton, Columbia, University of Chicago, Stanford and Northwestern University.
Making that feat still more extraordinary, Link has been home-schooled since age 5. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Homeschooler ahead of his time
Homeschooler ahead of his time
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – By day, Neil Turner tackles academic research papers on topics like the biblical accuracy of carbon dating.
At night, the college freshman sometimes needs to be reminded to brush his teeth.
He’s still 13, after all. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
College Night for homeschoolers
College Night for homeschoolers
BEDFORD -- Seven students sat around Anne Gebhart's dining room table, with maps and folders strewn in front of them.
Gebhart, 40, directed the children, ages 6 to 11, in learning the nation's state capitals. For the younger students, it represented new information. For the older ones, just a review. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Homeschooled student ears full-ride scholarship
Homeschooled student ears full-ride scholarship
CHARLESTON — A book by German philosopher Martin Heidegger sits open on the coffee table in front of the fireplace at Peter Borah’s home.
It’s weighty material for someone like Borah, who’s high school age, but he says spending time poring over such works is a valuable opportunity for him.
“There’s just no time to read a German philosopher in school,” he said, explaining that having the chance to read Heidegger’s book is one thing he likes about being schooled at home. “It’s given me opportunities to explore things that I’m interested in and to work at my own pace.” Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Homeschoolers Rally to Make Pro-Life/Pro-Family Movie
Homeschoolers Rally to Make Pro-Life/Pro-Family Movie
From the press release below, PH College is backing this effort.
With a tiny budget and cast and crew of homeschool students, Advent Film Group (AFG) begins "pickup" filming of its first movie, "Come What May" for a week on location at Purcellville, Virginia in late January 2008. During a special AFG Film Day on January 30th, a contingent of homeschool families from across the country will join the set, some from as far away as Oregon and Texas. Read more...
Labels: business, College, homeschool
Can homeschooled children get into good colleges?
Can homeschooled children get into good colleges?
Advocates of traditional education have many critiques of home schooling. Most of these objections are thoroughly unjustified and stem more from politics than from educational philosophy. Government support of home schooling reduces the resources allocated to public education, and hence many teachers and parents view home schooling as a threat to the quality of public schools. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Homeschooled Tebow deserved Heisman
Homeschooled Tebow deserved Heisman
Once homeschooled, now a Heisman winner. No correlation here, just remarkable. UPDATE: Of course you can also find people who think he didn't deserve it.
The Heisman is sacred. It is not won in a race, and not by a clever political campaign, marketing gimmicks, or in a beauty contest. Tebow deserved it for what he did on the football field, what he did in the classroom, and what he did away from campus.
Remember, just two years ago, he was a home-schooled kid who was able to play high school football in Florida by state law. Now in this, his first full season as a starter for the defending national champion Gators, Tebow had a record 51 touchdowns -- 29 passing and 22 rushing -- becoming college football's first 20-20 man. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool, sports
Tebow's family ties
Tebow's family ties
Another article on the close knit Tebow family. Tim Tebow is a Heisman Trophy contender and was homeschooled.
As a top contender for the Heisman Trophy, Tim Tebow, the sophomore quarterback who has been dubbed Florida's superhero, will have the eyes of the sports world fixed on him.
But while the Gator Nation anxiously waits to hear if he will make history as the first sophomore to receive the coveted award, the tight-knit family who knows him best says instead of focusing on a win, they are focusing on supporting the baby of their family, whom they affectionately call Timmy. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool, sports
Homeschooler Snaps Up Heisman Nomination
Homeschooler Snaps Up Heisman Nomination
Veteran blogger Izzy Lyman is still writing about homeschooling. She gives us a view into this amazing home-grown athlete.
The December 3rd 2007 issue of Sports Illustrated will be of special interest to education reformers.
Next to the cover photo of Chase Daniel, the University of Missouri’s plucky quarterback, is a smaller photo of Tim Tebow.
Tebow is also a QB, but he conducts his business, not on the plains but in “the Swamp,” the football stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville. All of 20 years old, he is a serious contender for this year’s coveted Heisman Trophy, the annual award given to the most outstanding collegiate football player in the nation. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool, sports
Homeschooled Children finding less hurdles in college
Homeschooled Children finding less hurdles in college
Whitney Sorensen has been taking online and on-campus classes and violin lessons at UVSC for about a year, but she's not a traditional college student. First of all, she's 14, and second, she's a home-school student...
Sorensen is one of Utah County's more than 2,000 students who choose to forgo public school and learn at home. Home schooling is gaining popularity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nationwide there were more than a million students being home-schooled in 2003, up from 850,000 in 1999. In addition, students with nontraditional backgrounds are becoming accepted at colleges and universities. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Harvard for Homeschooled Christians
Harvard for the Home-Schooled, Christian Crowd
An NPR story about a book about inside Patrick Henry College.
NPR.org, November 16, 2007 · For home-schooled students, Patrick Henry College in Loudon County, Va., is like Harvard University.
Many high-achieving, home-schooled students have passed through Patrick Henry's campus, which is meant to provide a network of connections for the rest of their lives — like Harvard or Stanford does for others. The conservative Christian college is known for attracting top students and arming them with religious training and an Ivy League-quality education. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool, Politics
Homeschooling, then what?
Homeschooling, then what?
When their home-schooling is over, many students have the chance to go to college. But not all define success the same way.
Success can be measured in inches or accomplishments, in test scores or yards, in pounds or progress.
For home-schooled students and students who complete the majority of their education outside a traditional classroom, success is measured in any of these ways and more. Read more...
Labels: Career, College, homeschool
Homeschoolers adjust easily to campus life
Homeschoolers adjust easily to campus life
From Vanderbilt University's student media site...
As the home-schooling movement edges toward the mainstream, its students are applying in greater numbers to colleges across the nation, with some colleges considering them an attractive niche market.
Vanderbilt does not actively target home-schooled students but views them as a crucial component of its institutional commitment to diversity.
"We want to understand each student, and in the broadest sense, home-schooled students bring a different experience," said Dean of Admissions Doug Christiansen. "That's what diversity is all about, whether it's ethnic, gender, geographic or some other type of diversity." Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Mom, Dad and daughters attending college together
Mom, Dad and daughters attending college together
They mention in the article that they homeschooled. It's not too bad an idea and a natural extension for some homeschooling families.
Some college students might not be so thrilled if their parents told them they would be attending the same university.
Katie and Kristen Halloran see it a different way.
“I always kind of thought it would be a cool thing,” Katie said. Read more...
Labels: College, homeschool
Colleges embrace homeschooled
Colleges embrace homeschooled
Alicia Pyle, 20, has no trouble negotiating the range of emotions – not to mention the notes – of Rachmaninoff’s “Concerto No. 2’s” third movement.
Indeed, she knows it so well, she performed it last year as a guest artist for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
Now majoring in piano performance at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Pyle also has mastered something else – the transition from home schooling to college. Read more...
Labels: College
College almost loses funding over homeschooling
In its admissions materials, the University of the Arts says it "welcomes applications from students who are home-schooled," and the university is listed on a national Web site of "Home School Friendly Colleges."
But one disgruntled home-school family from Western Pennsylvania who complained to their state legislator about the school's admissions requirements briefly wound up costing the school $1.2 million in state money for student financial aid yesterday. Read more...
Labels: College
Three degrees at 16-years
Don't get the idea your kids are behind. This is one unusual kid.
Andrew Hsu has not yet been on a date or taken his driving test.
But he does have three degrees -- in neurobiology, biochemistry and chemistry. This month, just weeks after his 16th birthday, Hsu became the second-youngest person to graduate from the University of Washington, and the youngest with a triple degree. Starting this summer, he plans to begin his doctoral research into brain function at Stanford University’s medical school.
For Andrew, the UW is where he has grown up. Not just the 1-foot height spurt that began after his freshman year, but also where he began separating his own identity and destiny from the expectations of others.
According to dad David Hsu, a computer-software engineer, Andrew’s unusual talents began revealing themselves at age 2, when he started assembling Lego robots and teaching himself to read. Read more...
The Homeschooled Advantage for College
In the pursuit of a homemade high school education, Jay Voris played drums in Guinea, Colin Roof restored a 134-year-old sailboat in Ireland, and Rebecca Goldstein wrote a 600-page fantasy novel and took calculus at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
The independent-minded Maryland students and two dozen others gathered at a Unitarian Universalist Church in Annapolis one afternoon this month for an alternative graduation ceremony that is becoming more common across the country as home schooling expands. Now the movement is gaining ground in a crucial arena: college admissions.
Goldstein, 18, of Ellicott City will be a full-time student at UMBC in the fall. Alan Goldstein said his daughter's idiosyncratic education distinguished her from "cookie cutter" applicants from conventional schools and helped her gain entrance into honors programs and win a full scholarship. Read more...
Labels: College
Oklahoma extends scholarships to homeschoolers
The Oklahoma House voted along partisan lines Monday to expand a popular state-financed college scholarship program to home-schooled children.
The measure by Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, would make home schoolers eligible for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, which grants scholarships to students from families earning less than $50,000 per year who take a rigorous college curriculum, maintain a 2.5 grade point average and stay out of trouble. Read more...
U.S. colleges becoming more homeschool friendly
LOS ANGELES — David Sample wanted to attend the University of California at Riverside but thought it was a lost cause because he had been home schooled.
The University of California system is known for being tough on nontraditionally schooled applicants. For them, the best ticket to UC has been transferring after taking community college classes or posting near-perfect scores on college entrance exams. Read more...
Labels: California, College
On leaving the home-schooling years
This is a subscription site but at least for today, I didn't need to register. Free to register and worth the read.
They were flexible times and enjoyable times; frustrating times and enlightening times; bonding times and arguing times. They were times at a particular locality but with a pertinent universality. They were "the home-schooling years," and I am that creature, the home-schooled student.
How can one describe the transition from a world of three classmates, academic accountability to no one but your own parents, and shelter from the dreaded "real world" to a world of over 60,000 students, several different teachers and classes, and a whole host of social, moral, and practical issues competing for your attention? Many are the days that I reflect and am amazed at how seamless the transition has actually been. Read more...
From home school to college
Thirty years ago, there were fewer than 20,000 students being home-schooled in the United States. The number is probably close to 2 million now. Some families choose homeschooling for religious reasons. Others think the mainstream educational system stifles the love of learning and believe homeschooling nurtures independent thought.
As home-schooling has become more common, admissions officers have become more homeschoolfriendly. Ten years ago, these students were often viewed with skepticism. Admissions officers wondered if they were prepared for rigorous college-level studies. But studies have shown that these students perform as well as or better than institutional-school graduates, and many colleges now welcome home-schooled students. Read more...
Labels: College
Homeschoolers Find Getting Into College Easier
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- David Sample wanted to attend the University of California at Riverside but thought it was a lost cause because he had been homeschooled.
The University of California system is known for being tough on nontraditionally schooled applicants. For them, the best ticket to UC has been transferring after taking community college classes or posting near-perfect scores on college entrance exams.
Read more...
Labels: College
Calamity Jack
Calamity Jack is the hero of this engaging graphic novel. Born to "scheme", Jack sets his sights on what he wants and will go for it no matter what the consequences. Unfortunately it seems bad luck follows him. Good intentions he may have, but the end result is not always "ideal". Just like another Jack we've heard about, Calamity Jack buys some magic beans that lead him straight to some cranky giants. Read more...
Twinkle: Star of the Week
In this children's picture book, we meet Twinkle and her fellow star classmates. Yes, they are literal hot balls of gas and they have Ms. Sun as their teacher. When Ms. Sun announces to the class each of the stars will have a turn to be Star of the week, Twinkle had planned to share her favorite star song with the class. Wouldn't you know Blink had his turn before Twinkle and shared the exact same song! Now she has to go back to the drawing board and come up with something else to share. Read more...
The Periodic Table: Elements with Style
Do you find chemistry boring? Do you think that the Periodic Table is a strange kind of dining-room furniture, or that Molybdenum is a meaningless word that the smart kids use to confuse you? If so, The Periodic Table: Elements with Style is a perfect book for you. The book features brief descriptions of 54 of the chemical elements. Read more...
The School Story
Dream of writing a novel? 12-year-old Natalie does, and she goes beyond dreaming – she actually writes one. And, it's good. But the problem any new writer has is how to get it published? Her BFF Zoe and her English teacher Ms. Clayton team up with Natalie to help. Still, the biggest hill to cross is how to get the publisher to read it and not file it away in the "slush" pile. Natalie's mom works as an editor, so Natalie knows how the system works. Read more...
The Thing About Georgie
The thing about Georgie is it's a neat book that puts you in the shoes of Georgie, 10- year-old who's facing quite a few challenges at once. First, there are his physical challenges: he's a dwarf. Next, there is personal conflict. His best friend Andy is becoming buddies with another kid named Russ, and Georgie thinks he's sure to lose his friendship. There's also Jeanie Meanie, a girl who torments him with her sharp tongue and bully behaviors. And the biggest problem is his family. Read more...
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
It's the 1860's and Homer and his older brother Harold are orphans stuck with their mean guardian Squint, who neglects them by locking them in the barn and denying them proper nourishment. Then the old coot goes and illegally sells an underage Harold into the Union army. It's up to 12-year-old Homer to find Harold and rescue him from the war. On his journey many an adventure, some good, and some bad delay Homer. Read more...
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science
Phineas Gage, a 19th century railroad construction foreman, survived an accident that blew a 13-pound 3 foot 7inch iron rod through his cheek and out the top of his skull. He should have been dead, but rather he was able to walk, talk, and account his accident to others. His recovery was not unremarkable though, after battling infection and suffering from delirious spells, his convalescence would last several months. Yes, he survived a catastrophic injury, but Phineas would never be the same. Read more...
Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys
As a mom to three active boys, I'm always eager to read what others have to say about raising boys to be men. What better people to take advice from than Hal and Melanie Young, parents to 6 boys (and 2 girls). In their book, Raising Real men, they discuss the intricacies of bringing up boys within a biblical worldview. They address numerous issues, such as boys needing heroes to look up to, leadership, competitiveness, stewardship, manners, and much more. Read more...
Blizzard!
Having grown up in Upstate New York and now living in Western New York, I have grown accustomed to snow. Winters last sometimes 6 months here, and you learn to deal with it. But only a handful of times do I remember experiencing a true blizzard, the kind that closes shopping malls, grocery stores, and schools. In his riveting book, Blizzard, Jim Murphy tells of the infamous blizzard of 1888, where not only towns came to a standstill, but also 600+ people lost their lives. Read more...
When You Reach Me
Twelve-year-old Miranda is living in New York City with her mom, who has just learned she will be a contestant on the 20,000 Pyramid game show (book is set in the 70's). Excitement abounds and Miranda helps her mom prepare for the show with timed quizzes. Miranda is a latch key kid, and when she starts receiving some unusual notes from an unknown person she is intrigued, and a little spooked. Read more...
Frankie: The Walk 'n Roll Dog
In this touching story we meet Frankie, an adorable dachshund who suffered rear leg paralysis after a spinal cord injury. You might think her quality of life would be compromised with such a handicap, but shortly after her injury she became fitted with a harness with wheels, and regains her mobility. Her uplifting and true story is told by her human mom Barb, but it is Frankie's voice. Read more...
Pajama School: Stories From the Life of a Homeschool Graduate
As a homeschooling mom to three boys, Pajama School brought me both sighs of relief and smiles. The author's recollection of her homeschooling days gave me much needed encouragement. After all, don't we sometimes wonder if we are doing the right thing, educating our children at home? What about socialization, team sports, band, the "prom" and high school requirements? Are they missing out? Of course my answer to those questions is a big no, but every once in a while I wonder…. Read more...
Camp Club Girls and the Mystery at Discovery Lake
In The Mystery at Discovery lake, summer camp cabin-mates turned friends Elizabeth, Alexis, Sydney, Mackenzie and Kate team up to investigate first some strange howlings, and then some strange diggings at the adjacent golf course. One of the girls brought with her some neat gadgets such as a robot spy-cam, which proves useful to the novice detectives. When they are not sleuthing around, they are doing regular camp activities such as crafts, horseback riding, and learning Bible memory verses. Read more...
The Make Today Matter Makeover
I wish I were thinner. I need to get back to working out. I have a list of books I'd like to read. I want to break a bad habit. I must get more organized. Sound familiar? All of us have things in our life that we'd like to change. But where do we begin? How do we get from here to there? One resource that may help is the Make Today Matter Makeover: The 26 Best Ways to Recapture Daily Magic, Kick-start High-Energy Living, and Get the Most out of Life. Read more...
On the Edge with Coolhead Luke
Do you enjoy poetry? Then you should like this book. Mother and son team, in which author Jennifer White produced the poems and artist Colin White provided the illustrations, came out with Coolhead Luke and Other Stories in 2007. Cynthia Clarke said this about it on Home School Buzz. “In the introduction the author, Jennifer White, explains that her son’s pictures ‘had a story to tell’ so she found the words and the book was born. Read more...