University Ready: Special Pricing for Everest Academy!!!!

Calling all Everest Academy High School Students!!!!  This is a great opportunity for all students in or about to enter the 9th grade and up!!!!

University Ready is normally $60 per year, but we have arranged for Everest Academy families to have access to this website for $12 per year.  After payment, you will be sent a special sign-up code and instructions.  Please note that this special pricing is available to Everest Academy families exclusively.  If you would like a year membership, please send payment to:

Everest Academy

1035 Jenkins Rd
Hayden, AL 35079

or 

Paypal:  everestacademy1@gmail.com 

University Ready is a subscription membership website stock-full of resources specifically put together to help you succeed in the process of preparing for, applying to, and financing college.  The information is written by college students, graduates, professors, and experts in the individual fields.  Videos, articles, blogs, a forum, and lists of websites and other resources are all put together in one location,  carefully organized to guide you through the process step by step and to the make the specific answers to your college-related questions easily accessible.

The members-only areas of the website include:

• More than 30 video articles, detailing every step of the college application process, from deciding whether-or-not college is the right choice all the way up to evaluating your different housing options.
• Numerous articles written by college students, graduates, professors, financial planners, and other experts on a wide range of topics to help you succeed in preparing for, applying to, and financing college.
• A members-only resource page, with links to the best websites available on every subject.  We carefully go through the thousands of college-related websites so that you don’t have to!
• A downloadable PDF calendar, detailing what you should be doing each year of high-school to prepare for college.
• Exclusive access to our online forum, where you can read about others’ experiences (or post your own) and get quick answers to your specific college-related questions!

Let us take the headache out of figuring out the process of preparing for college! University Ready provides comfort in helping to ensure that you don’t miss any important steps, and allows you to maximize your efforts by helping you to evaluate which college-prep steps you need to be working towards and which ones you can pass up. And save money at the same time, by learning from the real-life experiences of others. All of this for only $5.00 a month (a whole year for less than the price of a college textbook, and we’ll teach you how to save on those too!) $12 per year!!! (special pricing for Everest Academy families)

History of Homeschooling

Originally found at:  http://sweetphenomena.com

Via: Online College Source

Survey Says

We asked other Alabama Homeschoolers some of our most FAQ, and here is what they said:

Question: What is your favorite Curriculum?  Why?

• Shurley Grammar is one of the few true "Skill Building" grammar curricula. Whatever grade level you choose, it starts at the foundation and builds on it. A seven year old can easily diagram colorful sentences within weeks. A highschool student who has struggled with grammar can fill in the holes and have a strong foundation within a year. The kids love it and if you simply do as the book says, your children will learn grammar, no matter how 'bad' you are at it. Shurley Grammar teaches an internal dialogue that your children will use to deconstruct any sentence. It gives them confidence in their ability and takes the stress out of parts of speech. It also teaches editing skills, which is greatly needed in higher education, as well as vocabulary, literary terms and excellent writing skills.
• The Well-Trained Mind and other material written by them - It's easy to use, focused, and plays to my "less-is- more" philosophy.
• Teaching Textbooks - I'm not real strong in math and as my kids grow in their math skills this is a program that they can do pretty much on their own. It is a book and a CD. If the child needs more instruction than the book offers then they can use the CD which will teach the lesson, and will even work each problem in the book if they need help with working the problems.
• Switched on Schoolhouse - For my older children who can be given direction and allowed to go at their own pace with just followup and review....it allows me more time to spend with my special needs kiddos.  The tutor on the program is very thorough and my kids like it.  It is very portable when we are in Dr's offices and etc. Headphones and you are set.
• The Story of the World:  History for the Classical Child - I can get my son to read it, and I don't mind reading it either. We only have the text "Volume 2: The Middle Ages - From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance," but I've been looking at buying the accompanying activity book and test book. This book covers history that is left out of public schools - and it is interesting and easy to read. I've found that materials that interject humor and adventure to be a much better choice than the much drier, traditional texts. This book begins with:  "What if you owned a magic carpet? You could fly around the world--and back in time..."  Andab then proceeds to "fly" all over Europe and Asia during different times in the middle ages to see what can be seen. It includes literature (e.g. an abridged version of Beowulf), legends, folklore, etc., and, as a result, is very engaging.  I'm going to check into all of Susan Wise Bauer's "classical child" materials.
• Story of the World - Amazing history resource (especially the activity books) using real literature and real books as a basis for teaching. Projects lend to the overall understanding and comprehension of topics. Love using this in connection with The Well-Trained Mind.

• ABeCeDarian by Michael Bend - It teaches beginning writing, reading, and spelling all in one workbook. No extra papers needed. Super simple approach that children who have trouble reading and/or seeing can use with ease. You must go to the ABeCeDarian website to get it. The website has sample pages.

Question:  What is your least favorite curriculum and why?

• Saxon Math - Too much drill and review work.  However, it may work well for someone else whose children need repetition and review.
• Saxon Math - We tried that the first year and my son, who is great with math cried and begged not to do it.  It has LOTS of problems to work which can be overwhelming to one of my kids, but when tmy son, who is really good with math broke down I knew it was just too much.  They use a spiral approach which I know is good for some kids, but for us is was VERY boring, confusing at times, and very overwhelming at others.
• Latin's Not So Tough - It took me some research but, I had it confirmed that there are no context clues. Not only that but there is only ONE right answer listed in the answer key even if there are several possibly right answers.
• All of them - Most of my children are ADD and no matter how much time we spend on workbooks nothing sticks and frustration ensues. For me, avoiding headaches and burnout means avoiding curriculum.
• ABEKA  (hock pooey) - DULL!   Too much busy work and too heavy of a work load for the average student.  This to me would be like "Advanced/Gifted classes"
• Abeka - Abeka uses too many books for one subject.  An example for history there is the student & teacher book, a map book & key, a test book & key.
• Switched on Schoolhouse -It starts great.  The novelty of having your curriculum all in one place, on the computer, to be graded by a little guy inside your PC, is wonderful.  This wonderful feeling lasts about a week and a half.  That's when you realize that your child is stuck on a question in every subject because aforementioned little checker guy doesn't understand that just because there is an extra space in the answer, the answer is still correct.  Or maybe your student accidentally capitalized "Spring" or perhaps they typed a fraction as "two-thirds" instead of 2 / 3 with all the spaces in the correct spot.  Or, even worse, maybe they've found one of the one thousand trick questions that AOP decided to use.  I loathe curriculum that tries to make my child feel ignorant.  What is the upside of a child trying and trying to find the answer, only to walk away feeling dumb?  If that isn't bad enough, the material is painfully boring.   I've tried to read aloud the material in order to spark some interest and I find myself irritated and falling asleep.  Nothing about this fosters a love of learning.  Top all this off with a ridiculous price tag and Switched On Schoolhouse gets a failing grade.
• Switched on Schoolhouse - SOS is easy because it does the planning and most of the grading for you, but the material can be difficult and we found errors.  Sometimes the answer key matched what they typed in but still counted it wrong a few times there would be a wrong answer.

Question: What one website can you just not do without? 

• www.freerice.com - This one got the most votes. 
• http://librivox.org/
• http://www.kbears.com/
• http://www.livemocha.com/
• www.starfall.com - This was one of my faves when Dae was little. 
• http://discoveryeducation.com/
• http://quizlet.com/
• http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooeyhome.html
• http://www.teachervision.fen.com/
• www.enchantedlearning.com

Question:  What one piece of advice would you give to new homeschoolers?

• Don't read everything or buy anything the first month you begin homeschooling.  It's too overwhelming.  Instead, get a feel for what your child needs, arm yourself with the knowledge you need to seek out those resources, and then shop.  
• Homeschooling gives you the freedom to do what works for your children and family, so there is no wrong or right way--do what fits!
• My advice to new homeschoolers?  Relax.  Bundle up with some really good books and a great math curriculum.  Get to know how your children learn and let them get to know you as a teacher.  It's a marathon, not a sprint!
• Enjoy the days!  Smile at your kids even when you don't feel like it, and read to them or with them every chance you get.
• You need support, find a good support group for you and your kids.  It will help you through the tough times that you will have at times.
• Relax, this is a journey but it's not a race. If you are not careful to shed the "school mentality" you'll  "should" yourself and your kids to death. 
• Each child is different....each family is different and what works in your family for 1 child may not work for the other.   Be ready for fruit-basket turnover and you will be able to handle it.
• If you are scared you don't know the material to be covered, study it for yourself. Find a friend to encourage and/or help in your weak areas, and don't be afraid to join together to cover some subjects.
• Don't give up.  It does get better the second year.  
• Don't expect to get a curriculum and not have to do some "fine-tuning".  I haven't found one yet that I didn't have to add something to it to make it work for my kids.

Question:  What do you know now that you wished you had known when you started homeschooling?

• 1. No two days will ever look the same!

2. Your kids are learning even when you feel like you're failing.

3. As long as everyone gets through the day alive and relatively happy, it's a good day.

4. Kids really don't need all the fluff of public school to be well-educated.  Actually, they're better off without it.

• Relax, can't emphasize that enough.  You will not mess your kids up or ruin their lives. Nothing will go as you plan 100%.  Your kids are learning and much more than you could ever imagine.  One day you will be listening to them talk about something and wonder how they learned that, especially since you know nothing about that.  I know that from experience.  Don't let others that don't believe in homeschool discourage you, instead surround yourself with people that support you in your decision.  Your kids will not excel at everything and they may even really struggle at some things, but that is life.  
• The first year is the hardest. Deschooling is very helpful to shedding the "school" mind set.
• There is so much available-Don't get overwhelmed.
• You don't need to push so hard.  They will learn if you provide them with the tools.
• You don't have to use text books.  Find what your child loves and let them discover the wonder of the library.  If older there are basics that have to be covered but use their electives to study what they are interested in.  Also I would have never put mine in public school if I had know how much we would have enjoyed homeschooling.
• It does not have to be bogged down with massive amounts of paperwork with lesson plans for each day, each subject and each child.   It is "FREEDOM" of education.

Question:  What is your favorite book about homeschooling and why?

• "Homeschooling: One Family's Journey" by Greg Millman - This book provides a real-life, practical view of homeschooling from an everyday, average income, unschooling family's perspective.  Even if the reader doesn't share the same preferences or principles as the authors, there is inspiration galore.  The format is engaging., the layout makes sense, but the copy is not dry and clinic like that found in many "how-to" books.  Highly recommend.
• "The Well Trained Mind" -  It presents a way of schooling that is orderly, logical, and rigorous.  I feel like by following it, my children's education will not be haphazard.  It fits our family's personality.  It is also flexible enough to adapt to my children's individual needs.
• "The Well Trained Mind" - The book was extremely useful in helping me gather my thoughts around a philosophy of home-education.  It also lines out what your child should learn, when he should learn it, and where to get the resources.
• "The Well-Trained Mind" - This resource gives you a 12-year plan that allows you to be the teacher and not rely on preset everything.  Will give your child the equivalent of a private school education for a fraction of the cost.
• "POC4U" - This one resource made our homeschooling so much better because it matches, level, best learning styles and more to the suggested curriculum for the student. Plus it costs less than $15.00.

Happy happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  Stay safe.  I feel blessed to be a part of your lives and look forward to seeing you all soon!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine FREE Fall Issue

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is offering the current issue for free! It's a digital copy of the Fall 2011 issue! This is a FULL edition of our most current issue of TOS Magazine (over 170 pages). It costs nothing to read through it , and WE DON'T REQUIRE AN EMAIL ADDRESS OR ANYTHING ELSE in order to claim it. It is FREE and CLEAR to anyone who wants to read it. No strings attached!

In addition, The Old Schoolhouse is honoring military families with a free 2012 subscription. A year of free encouragement!

Jan. 23 - 25, Bham: 3-Day Art Class

Full information

How Great Thou ART Publications Presents 3-Day ART Classes

Barry Stebbing, creator of How Great Thou ART Publications, has been traveling the United States and Canada for many years teaching beginning drawing and painting classes to homeschoolers. It is estimated that he and his wife have personally instructed over 60,000 homeschoolers in this manner. The purpose of this course is to inspire students to do good works, to show them that God has given each and every one of them ability to create, and that drawing and painting are learned disciplines. The course includes teaching many of the basic fundamentals of beginning drawing and painting, an introduction to art appreciation (studying the great masters), and new techniques in the use of colored markers and colored pencils.

Tuition for class is $32+fee per student and includes the entire three days. The cost will go up to $37+fee for late registrations after Jan 15th. Registration at the door will be $40.

Location:  

5521 Cahaba Valley Rd Birmingham, AL 35242

Please contact Kristy at kristy@essentialchurchschool.org for more information.  Event is hosted by Essential Church School.  

Pizza a vegetable? Congress saves dough over kids’ health

Article from Arizona Daily Wildcat

Recently, Congress stated that tomato paste, the basis of any good pizza, qualifies as a serving of your daily vegetables. Apparently, there is no need to eat your broccoli and carrots anymore, pizza will do just fine. Congress is taking the easy way out in finding healthy school meals that satisfy the regulation on the amount of vegetables served at lunch, while also saving the nation a few bucks.

School lunch lines bring to mind trays filled with cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and french fries, so as we quickly approach 2012, isn’t it our job to change the menu for the better? This is the government’s golden opportunity to influence how students eat for the rest of their lives. Giving them options like pizza and french fries gives the false impression that tomato paste and starchy-potatoes are good choices to fulfill that daily vegetable serving. Incidentally, the tomato is classified as a fruit.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued new guidelines and revisions for school lunches in early January. They proposed to increase the availability of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk, among many other things.

The pizza-loving lobbyists were left enraged and, according to The New York Times, spent $5.6 million lobbying against these new regulations. It’s understandable that organic and whole-grain foods cost a pretty-penny but it’s no reason for Congress to turn its back against the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regulations.

It’s embarrassing to see our government scrounging around for extra money instead of bettering our society by feeding children healthy, satisfying meals. Well fed and healthy students will always one-up the ill-fed students, who’s stomach are filled with pizza — er — I mean vegetables.

Who wants to eat celery, green beans and brown cardboard-like bread when one could settle for pizza and french fries that now satisfy the daily dietary requirements? Clearly, Congress is only looking out for our taste buds and the bottom line rather than our weight, sodium intake or health. Is it not clear to them that obesity is a rising epidemic? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that approximately 12.5 million children between the ages of 2-19 are obese. That’s clearly a problem, and giving them the not-so-healthy options at lunch doesn’t help at all.

Yes, foods that lack essential nutrients are cheaper and make it easier to feed so many hungry mouths, but the end result needs to be acknowledged as well. We say it’s okay to feed children chicken nuggets and french fries now, but what happens when the weight gain starts to set in or when diabetes diagnoses run rampant? Congress’s attempt to be frugal in these hard times will result in ballooning childhood obesity that will blow up in their faces.

Huntsville, Dance Your Dreams Program for Special Needs Children

Full Information

Location:  Merrimack Hall, Huntsville

Cost:  FREE

Dance Your Dreams! is a dance program that provides dance education to children who cannot participate in mainstream dance education due to physical, mental or emotional disabilities. 

Click here to watch a video about Dance Your Dreams!

Dance Your Dreams! is a dance class specially designed by Merrimack Hall's dance faculty, in consult with physical therapists, for children with gross motor developmental delays. Classes are offered weekly following the city school's calendar and include numerous performance opportunities for participants. Each student is paired with a trained volunteer who helps the children execute the movements which their challenges prevent them from being able to execute without assistance. Students in this program have multiple diagnosis including Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, cancer, hearing impairment, language delays and learning disabilities. Everything is provided to these students at no cost to them, including dance attire and costuming for performances. 

This unique program was designed to provide performing arts education to children who would otherwise not be able to participate due to their personal physical challenges. We are proud to announce the expansion of Dance Your Dreams! for the 09-10 year. We will now offer four classes, open to up to 8 children each.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

Update on the November 10, 2011 Meeting Concerning Common Core Standards:

The Governor bravely introduced his resolution to rescind Common Core Standards and explained his position as one having to protect the state from federal encroachment. However, Randy McKinney introduced a substitute resolution which affirmed the resolution passed in November 2010 by the State Board of Education. Although it does nothing to extract us from CCS and its implementation will cost the state hundreds of millions to implement, Mr. McKinney's resolution passed six to three.

Governor Bentley stood firm and did not waiver in his position to rescind the CCS resolution. He presented his resolution with heartfelt passion and great resolve. Stephanie Bell and Betty Peters have spent untold hours gathering information on Common Core Standards so their understanding of these standards was crystal clear. They have tirelessly fought this battle with steadfastness and great intensity. To Governor Bentley, Stephanie, and Betty, we offer our sincere gratitude.

Thank you for your phone calls, emails, letters, and personal visits to the Governor and BOE members. Although the resolution to rescind Common Core Standards did not pass, it was quite evident you made a huge impression. It was stated by one of the BOE members that he received so many calls and emails that it was impossible to answer each one. Once again, CHEF's constituents came through and we are most grateful.

We are very thankful that The Home School Legal Defense Association will continue to monitor the effects of CCSSI on all states and will work to protect the freedom to education our children at home.

In this Thanksgiving season, we have much to be grateful for. The privilege of educating our children is one we should never take for granted. Just this past week, we received a prayer request from homeschool leaders in New Jersey stating that "NJ is about to be hit with a Bill that would make NJ the worst state to homeschool in. If this Bill is introduced and passed, we will have gone from the easiest state to the worst. We would ask for your prayers as we deal with this."

We also received a prayer request concerning the country of Bulgaria. A new piece of legislation is being considered that would grant state and social workers the right to intrude on family life and values, and impose state-directed recommendations which parents will be obligated to follow or be punished in the form of fines, loss of their children, and/or imprisonment.

So, as we gather with family this Thanksgiving, let us be especially thankful for our right to homeschool and pray for that right to continue, offering special prayers for these two recent requests.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Rusty Tate

CHEF of Alabama

Initial Posting, October 12, 2011:
Common Core State Standards Initiative

I have received several inquiries about this subject including an invite to a Facebook Page stating the following: 

THE ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION VOTED TO ADOPT COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS ON NOVEMBER 18, 2010, OPENING A DOOR FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ENTER AND DICTATE WHAT YOUR CHILDREN LEARN IN THEIR PUBLIC, RELIGIOUS, AND HOMESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.

WE HAVE ONLY A BRIEF WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO STOP THIS ENCROACHMENT UPON OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO CHART THE COURSE OF OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURES BY KEEPING CONTROL OF THEIR EDUCATION AT STATE AND LOCAL LEVELS. After reading information, scroll to “TAKE ACTION”. 

The threat to our freedom and influence originates in the 2009 Stimulus Package by offering grant money to the states IF they adopt common standards in math and English. But there are a multitude of strings attached, and this is only the beginning…

Read more here.... including ways to take action.

In response, I sent a note to HSLDA inquiring about the potential hazards of the Common Core State Standards Initiative to homeschoolers. Below is the response I received copied and posted with the permission of HSLDA Attorney, Darren Jones. 

Dear Ms. Spradlin,

It is definitely a concern, though not as directly as some people might think.

1. HSLDA has always been firmly opposed to the Common Core State Standards Initiative. See http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/201003310.asp, http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/201006180.asp, and http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/201008050.asp.
2. The CCSSI was adopted in Alabama in November of 2010, so this isn't really a new development, per se.
3. The adoption of the CCSSI in Alabama does not, at this point, change the legal requirements for home education in Alabama, as summarized on our website at http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Alabama.pdf.

Should you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to send me another email or give me a call.

Blessings,
Elliot Ko
Legal Assistant to Dewitt T. Black, III, Esq.
Home School Legal Defense Association
Phone: (540) 338-5600
Fax: (540) 338-1952
Email: legalh@hslda.org

The information contained in this email is or may be attorney privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Due to the nature of email, there is no guarantee that this message has not been edited after receipt.

Class Dismissed

As one of the leading homeschool support groups, we were hoping you might be able to support something very important to the homeschool community: the world's first feature-length documentary aimed at educating the public about homeschooling. 

The movie is called "Class Dismissed" and you can read more about it below. We also have a fundraising campaign ending in less then a month: http://www.indiegogo.com/Class-Dismissed-Fund

We appreciate your help in getting the word out about our film.

Thanks much,

Dustin Woodard

Co-producer of Class Dismissed

ABOUT THE FILM

BACKGROUND:

All across America, parents are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the state of public education, and a growing number are choosing to pull their children out of school and seek alternative ways to educate them.

The current state of our educational system requires us to assess the purpose of schooling, confront long-standing assumptions about education and seek out developments that will better serve the future. We live in a time where education is under siege from every angle; under-staffing, teacher layoffs, overcrowded classrooms, budget cuts, over-testing and failing grades.

Class Dismissed will focus on the topic of education, specifically the validity of homeschooling as an alternative to the industrial school model. Framed within the historical context of traditional schooling, and particularly at a time when education across the nation is in a state of crisis, the film will examine the numerous approaches to home learning, exploring both its history and recent growth. There are many choices when it comes to teaching our children, and Class Dismissed will ask some big questions:

• What is education?
• Is it possible to get a great education without attending school?
• What happens to children who never go to traditional school?
• Can homeschooling really provide a nurturing and educationally rich ground for children to grow and blossom?
• Can schools be reformed and if so what might that look like?

Class Dismissed will challenge its viewers to take a fresh look at what it means to be educated, and offer up a radical new way of thinking about the process of education.

SYNOPSIS:

From home study and kitchen table math, to perpetual recess and park days, Class Dismissed follows the story of an ordinary American family in their quest to educate their children outside the school system.

As they struggle to discover what path is best for them, the social ramifications of their choices come to light, family dynamics are revealed and they come to realize that homeschooling is not just an educational choice, but also a lifestyle choice that affects the very heart of the American family.

Truth and consequence, myth and assumption all come together in this fresh look at what it means to be educated in the 21st century.