Surfing and Extreme Homeschooling
Surfing and Extreme Homeschooling
When director Doug Pray first met the family, it was the surfing theme that commanded his attention. But as he began hearing their stories, "I started realizing that this was not a surf movie at all," he said from his home in Los Angeles. "This was an amazing opportunity to tell the story of a family who dared to live differently. A lot of Americans fantasize about doing this, and Doc did it for decades. The title does make you think about surfing, but it's metaphorical. There are times I wish the word 'surf' wasn't in the title." Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports
Why are Homeschoolers so Touchy about Subway's Snub?
Why are Homeschoolers so Touchy about Subway's Snub?
What, me touchy? No, not really. I'm just shocked by their blatant lack of public relations prowess.
Actually this story hardly mentions Subway at all. It's all about the growing Homeschool sports movement.
As a private corporation, Subway is free to include or exclude anyone from their essay contest, and can set up the rules of their contest as they see fit. So why -- beside the blatant misspellings that even the eight-year-olds caught -- are homeschoolers so offended by this?
Homeschooling has grown in the United States to the point where 3 million children are currently being educated at home. Will Smith homeschools his kids, along with Winona Judd, NASCAR drivers, astronauts, lawyers, professors, doctors, nurses, and truck drivers -- all of whom are finding this educational choice works for their families. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports
Homeschool basketball
Homeschool basketball
Most high school athletes compete on teams where they go to school, but what about teams who are home-schooled?Well the Homeschool Christian Youth Association (HCYA) created a basketball team of their own. But one thing is missing. They never play any home games. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports
Wisconsin Homeschooled athletes more common in college
Wisconsin Homeschooled athletes more common in college
In Wisconsin the establishment prevents homeschoolers from joining PS teams. However, this is not true in all states and may vary within some states.
High school provides an opportunity to play and gain notice for athletes who seek to play in college. But for home-schooled athletes, it’s a different story.
Only students who are enrolled in a public school can play on an athletic team, according to Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association rules, which leaves home-schooled students to fend for themselves. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports, Wisconsin
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
Homeschoolers enjoy team sports
Homeschoolers enjoy team sports
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are at least 1.1 million students who are homeschooled in the United States.
Most of them don't have a chance to play competitive team sports as homeschoolers.
Thanks to Homeschool Unified Sports Teams of Lafayette (HUSTL), local youngsters can play volleyball, soccer and basketball against other homeschool teams. There also is an organized cheerleading squad. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports
Homeschooling and the Globe of Death
Of course homeschoolers come form all walks of life. Show biz and sports are common motivations to homeschool.
A nearly endless parade of denim, leather and chrome streamed into Frank Brown Park on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of riders rolled into Panama City Beach for the seventh-annual Thunder Beach Autumn Rally.
Many of the bikers meandered through the nearly dozen tents that offered everything from boots to patches to new motorcycles. But at 1 p.m., most of the bikers turned their attention to the center of the rally, where a rectangular ring featured motorcycles flying through the air and two teenagers riding in the Globe of Death. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports
Homeschooler's shot at football rejected
A northwest suburban school district again denied a home-schooled teen's request to try out for a high school football team.
After being turned down by school officials two seasons in a row, Eric Bender, 16, hoped his request to play for the Hampshire High School Whip-Purs might get more consideration this year because it was put before a school board committee in Carpentersville-based District 300. But after consulting with the district's attorneys, the Policy/Legislative Committee denied the request this week. Read more...
Labels: sports
Homeschooled may soon play on UT school teams
Students who are educated at home, or who attend private or charter schools, would be eligible to play on sports teams and participate in other extracurricular activities at regular public schools in the districts where they reside under a proposal that passed a final Senate vote Monday. Read more...
Labels: homeschool, sports, Utah
Greek Alphabet Code Cracker
When teaching children, it's always nice to incorporate games or some type of fun into your lesson plans. In the Greek Alphabet Code Cracker, kids will have a great time as they play the role of detective, working to solve the case of the stolen Grecian Urn of Achilles. This novel approach certainly makes this sometimes intimidating subject non-threatening. My 9-year-old loves sleuthing and took a liking to this workbook immediately, and he needed only the littlest help from me. Read more...
Charles and Emma : The Darwins' Leap of Faith
Whether or not you agree with his theories or publications, you'll find out through this book that Charles Darwin was a family man who was committed to his 10 children and devoted to his Christian wife Emma. Ironically, his original life plan was to be a preacher, but then as he collected animal specimens and devoured natural history, he wrestled with the belief of creationism. Despite their conflicting religious views, Emma and Charles married. Read more...
Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens
Barbara Frank put a lot of work into this bible study for your teen girls, and the result is a dynamic, engaging, and comprehensive look at 14 wonderful woman of the Old Testament. This is not a book you will just hand to your daughter and correct later, rather it requires your input too in the section called "discussion starters for mothers and daughters. Read more...
Med Head: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain
I sailed through this book, practically reading the entire 200+ pages in one sitting. The story of Cory, a boy who has a severe form of Tourette's syndrome, OCD, and anxiety is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Though written by both Cory's dad and James Patterson, the voice is Cory's and it grabs you from the start and keeps you glued till the final page. Diagnosed at age 5, Cory was compelled to move his body in awkward and often painful ways. Read more...
We hear the Dead
Maggie and Kate Fox were mischievous children, known to play tricks on each other as well as their parents. Then one day their trickster nature goes extreme. Wanting to scare away their disliked niece, the girls pull the ultimate prank. They produce nighttime rapping noises and lead the niece and the rest of the family to believe the house is haunted and "spirits" are the source of the noise. Not only do they scare their family, but their neighbors too. Read more...
Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks
Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks is a quaint collection of stories arranged in a school year format geared toward your younger children. Originally compiled in 1894, Cardamom Publishers has reprinted it with a larger font and inserted numerous old-fashioned illustrations. These gentle stores will capture the attention of eager learners and the "talks" suggest ideas for hands on activities. Read more...
Picture the Dead
Jenny, orphaned and living with her unloving Aunt and Uncle first suffers the loss of her twin brother Tobias, and then her fiancé Will, both fallen soldiers of the civil war. Her relatives have little sympathy for her. As Will was their eldest son, they view their grief deeper and greater. Desperate to "glimpse" his son again, the uncle suggests they meet a man who claims to be one who can conjure images of the dead through photography. Read more...
Goddess Girls: Athena The Brain
12-year-old Athena gets a big surprise – a summons to report to Mount Olympus Academy. She learns she's a goddess and Zeus is her father. Previously she was living a normal pre-teen life at Triton Junior High. She is whisked off to her new school via Hermes Chariot and gets to see first hand what being a goddess is all about. With classes such as hero-ology, spellology and beautyology, she has a lot to learn. Read more...
The Chosen One
I cannot imagine growing up with several mothers, twenty siblings, and a prophet who pronounces who I must marry. Kyra, a chosen one of a polygamist sect, lives this life. At a mere 13-years-old she is ready to be married and start having her own babies. She wouldn't object to being married so young, if it could be Joshua, a boy of similar age whom she has grown fond of. But the prophet decrees Kyra must marry her Uncle, who at sixty is plenty old enough to be her grandfather. Read more...
Sherlock McBiskit Shares His Secrets to Good Character and Respect
Sherlock McBiskit is an adorable West Highland Terrier and in his book he renders some wise advice to children on what it means to have good character and respect. Kids love dogs, and McBiskit radiates adorability as he shares his secrets to getting the most out of life. In rhyming verse, the text is catchy and accompanied by cute pictures of the loveable canine. Here's an excerpt: Here is the first secret that most people don't know. Life gives us lots of tests. I will tell you it's so. Read more...
Little Black Ant on Park Street
It's easy to dismiss the role of a black ant. These small creatures are considered pests by most of us, but if you take an in depth look you'll find these little guys are really fascinating and have their own complex communities. Little Black Ant on Park Street, a Smithsonian Backyard title, is a nicely illustrated picture book that gives young readers a close-up look at the black ant's world. Read more...
Poetry Speaks Who I am
Poetry is an integral part of a well-rounded English experience. Whether it rhyme or not, a meaningful poem is a great thing to commit to memory, and will often stay tucked away in your mind for life. Who doesn't recognize Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth... Read more...
The Adventures of Bella and Finny Series
Bella and Finny are two beautiful poodles that star in a series of educational books for young children. These very photogenic dogs pose in amusing and entertaining ways to capture a little one's attention while teaching them some basic need to know facts. All the books are bright and cheery - the dog's photos are nice and big, and so is the accompanying text. In opposites, the poodles teach the meaning of dark/light, asleep/awake, big/small, hot/cold, sweet/sour, etc. Read more...
The Tighty Whitey Spider : And More Wacky Animal Poems I Totally Made Up
Here is a poetry book devoted to silly poems about animals. Some of the titles include My Dog Plays Invisible Frisbee, Frog Ball, Snake Mistake, When Pigs Fly, and Hippo Sandwich. Yes, they are funny and a little wacky - this book should have you chuckling with smiles. Here's a sample for you: I have an amoeba I keep as a pet. Today is his birthday; I didn't forget. I baked him a cake so incredibly small, A microscope's needed to see it at all….. Read more...