Saturday, October 13, 2007
 

Public School program for homeschoolers not catching on


From Washington State - We're from the government and we're here to help...
A new education program in Ellensburg designed to benefit homeschool students is working to attract full-time home school families, who so far seem uninterested.
The Parent Partnership Program offers free tutoring, curriculum and resources for home school students in the Ellensburg School District.
Twenty home school students take classes from teacher Sarah Bicchieri on a weekly basis in one-on-one sessions or in small groups. Most are not full-time home-schoolers, however.
Many full-time home-school families in the Ellensburg School District have not yet embraced the PPP. Read more...

Labels: ,



Wednesday, May 23, 2007
 

Homeschooled Girl Wins Geography Bee Title


Way to go! There are also other stories of homeschooled finalists in Alaska and Wisconsin.
With calm determination, 14-year-old Caitlin Snaring snared a title on Wednesday that only one other girl in geographic history has held: She won the National Geographic Bee.
In Snaring's first-time run at the bee in the nation's capital, the home-schooled eighth grader from Washington state gave a flawless performance -- not missing a single question over two days of national competition -- and took home the title. Read more...

Labels: , ,



Saturday, May 05, 2007
 

The Homeschooled Yo-Yo Kid


SEATTLE - Say the yo-yo had never been invented, or hadn't leapfrogged from the Philippines to America, or Pedro Flores hadn't crafted a "slip string" to make the wooden doughnut spin in its sleep so you could do tricks. Or say the Jazz Age craze never turned into a Depression-era comfort, never caught on with the postwar baby boomers and didn't survive the video-game era into an age of customized technical yo-yos fabricated with ceramic ball-bearings and weighted rims.
Then Sterling Quinn would be a really good skateboarder. Or scooterer. Or maybe even a top-notch Irish dancer. Read more...

Labels:



Mrs. Claus Explains it All

In case you were wondering what happens to all those letters that kids mail every Christmas addressed to Santa: North Pole, Mrs. Claus as second in command sorts and helps Santa answer them. And now she's published, "Mrs. Claus Explains it All", using this bright and lively large hard-cover picture book to answer some of the most common questions they receive every year. Read more...

Humpty Dumpty Jr: Hardboiled Detective (The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flop)

In this egg-citing new series Humpty Dumpty Jr. is a wise cracking trench coat sporting detective. He's the egg to call when you need help cause he always "cracks" the case. His office walls in New Yolk City are framed with notes of thanks and awards for his previously solved cases. We got the three little pigs thanking him for saving their bacon, and a Royal Proclamation from Dorothy granting him Emerald Knight of Oz status. Read more...

Rime to Read (website) http://www.rimetoread.com/

Rime to Read is a virtual reading program for beginner readings. It consists of 20 books that use "rime" (words that rhyme and look alike, such as sit, hit, lit). Only single syllable short vowels are introduced, along with 46 popular sight words. The books can be read on-line, or printed out, or both. It is a very convenient method for those who have young learners that are just starting on their reading pathways. Read more...

The Unexpected When You’re Expecting (A Parody)

When I was making my way through my own pregnancies, I was never far from the essential “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” manual to guide me from stage to stage. So when I was presented with an opportunity to review this parody I thought it might be fun. Read more...

Molly's Pilgrim

Molly, a Jewish girl, and her family have moved to America from Russia. Her mother says that the reason was to escape religious persecution and find freedom. First they lived in a tenement house in New York and Papa worked in a factory. Then they came to Winter Hill where Papa works in Mr. Brodsky's store and they live in the apartment above. However, the children in Molly's third-grade class make fun of her accent and clothes. Molly even thinks about going back to Russia. Read more...