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Teens
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Children With a Wild Streak
by
Amy Cortez, Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph
I
read an article with the title: "Raise Children With a Wild
Streak" by Mark Pruett in the Charlotte Observer recently.
The article was a plea from a college admissions counselor wishing
for an interesting applicant. My reaction to the article was that
clearly not enough homeschoolers had applied to this college! [read
on]
Perfectionism:What A Man Can Do, What A Man Can't Do.
by
Amy Cortez, Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph
If you are homeschooling a gifted student, you see it at least once
a week, and sometimes, daily. I know I do. Your student will be
chugging along, full speed ahead on a task and then stops cold.
Or, perhaps they just don't start the task at all and as the master
procrastinator, give you many very intelligent reasons why they
haven't started it yet, even displaying those signs of ADD sometimes
gifted students are misdiagnosed with, flitting from one task to
another, getting nowhere near the task at hand. When I first started
homeschooling, this phenomenon dumbfounded me. How could a kid this
smart just fall apart on a task like this one? It wasn't until I
started reading in detail about giftedness that I realized this
is what perfectionism looks like on the surface... [read
on]
Dumbing Down American Students:
Really Bad Textbooks
by Amy Cortez,
Editor - The Eclectic Telegraph
In general, we do not use textbooks in our
homeschool and recently I was reminded why. My student is taking
a US Government course through a correspondence high school that
uses a textbook I would have definately NOT chosen.
A
chapter exam asked my student the following question.
Which
of the following is not a goal of government?
- to
provide order to a group of people
- to
tell people who they can marry
-
to protect people against various dangers
- to
promote the public good.
Being
the ever aware citizen that my student is and up on current events,
not only was this multiple choice question singled out as outrageous,
a rather interesting essay accompanied the test question.
This
same text also introduced the first amendment of the Bill of Rights
as "The right to "Freedom of Religion"(it later revealed
the true content of the amendment) and it again referred to it as
"The right to "Freedom of Religion"in a test question.
Made my student nuts. Now many American citizens, including my student,
know this amendment states:
Amendment
I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances. |
This
amendment, a personal favorite for discussion around our house,
clearly translates to Separation of Church and State.
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
co-authored by founding fathers, Jefferson and Madison also comes
up in discussions at our house, so needless to say, yet another
interesting essay accompanied this test question that referred to
this amendment inappropriately.
To
me, it is no wonder American students fall behind in comparison
to students of other countries and that we have such a high number
of high school dropouts. The materials our students are exposed
to everyday in the Public school system is not engaging or even
interesting. Their academic experiences even less interesting.
Dropout
Nation
By NATHAN THORNBURGH / SHELBYVILLE
Posted Sunday, Apr. 9, 2006
The number of high school students
who leave before graduating is higher--much higher--than you
think. Inside one town's struggle to reverse the tide. [read
on] |
The
Silent Epidemic: Perspectives on High School Dropouts
March 2006 , Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Why do students drop out?
-
47 percent of dropouts said classes weren't interesting
- 69
percent were not motivated to work hard; 66 percent would
have worked harder if more had been demanded of them.
-
81 percent called for more "real-world" learning
opportunities
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75 percent wanted smaller classes with more individual instruction
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71 percent favored better communication between parents
and schools and more involvement from parents
Listen to NPR on this topic or [read
on]
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In this edition of our newletter, OldSage
looks at why the textbooks our students are exposed to are so
bad. I was surprised at the findings..... |
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CultureKitchen
www.culturekitchen.com
culturekitchen
is a community blog committed to providing a platform to
political activists and cultural creatives. Our mission
is to explore socially libertarian and politically progressive
solutions to the issues of everyday life in the United States
by focusing on arts, culture, entertainment, life, media,
politics, sex, and technology.
As fervent advocates of free speech, we welcome people from
different political persuasions and countries to participate
in our community.
Sample
the writing:
The
Lesson the Republicans Forgot
Submitted by mole333
8 November 2006
Americans
woke up and realized their government had been lying to
them for 6 years. They saw the depth of Republican lies
and corruption and they voted accordingly.
The Republicans forgot a very important lesson: “You
may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool
some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool
all of the people all the time.”
--Abraham Lincoln, the best Republican President
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PopSciBlog
The Future Now
Sample
the writing:
The
Tao of Poo
One summer a few years ago, I worked as a keeper at the
Miami Metro Zoo. I may remember those halcyon days for the
times that I spent scratching the belly of a tapir, petting
bongo antelopes that made your hands look like you had eaten
a bag of Cheetos, helping name a baby dama, or trying to
quiet down a howler monkey that didn’t like me much.
But the fact is, most of my days were spent dealing with
crap. Shoveling crap. Scooping crap. Raking crap. Spraying
down crap. Wheelbarrowing crap. Lots and lots of—well,
you get the idea.
So it comes as no surprise that crap was fresh in the minds
of the folks at the Miami zoo when they rolled out their
new exhibit, “The Scoop on Poop.”
[read
on]
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Travelin'
With The Kid
blog.brightkidsathom.com
Read
about our adventures in our own back yard and on the road!
From a mom who has been homeschooling and traveling with
a highly gifted student for more than 5 years.
Sample
the writing:
I
Voted Today
...As
we approached the Gothic structure, The Kid reminded me
of The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom co-authored
by founding fathers, Jefferson and Madison, where “No
man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious
worship, place, or ministry whatsoever...”. I often
wonder why he can’t remember his multiplication tables.
I told him it was actually the bingo hall that was our destination,
so it really wasn’t a religious worship place. The
Kid continued, he wanted to know why the rest of us had
to vote on gambling and slot machines but this place was
allowed to have bingo...sigh... the trials of mentoring
this sort of human being.
[read
on] |
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PopSci.Com
The Future Now
A website from the magazine of the same name. Loaded with Science
and Tech news for those who love Science and Technology. A favorite
place for Daphne the Science Guinea
Pig!
|
MadSci
Network
www.madsci.org
The MadSci Networkrepresents a collective cranium of scientists
providing answers to your questions. For good measure we provide
a variety of oddities as well. |
Bright
Kids at Home
www.brightkidsathome.com
A practical website geared towards homeschooling and traveling with
gifted and talented students.
From a mom who has been homeschooling a highly gifted student for
more than 5 years. Here you will find ideas about how you might
homeschool your gifted student. You'll find ideas about how to homeschool
and travel. |
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A
Creative Movement for Democracy
NPR Radio:Fresh Air
October 25, 2006
Unbowed
written by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai
Kenya political activist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel
Peace Prize. Her new memoir is called Unbowed. She is the
founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has planted over
thirty million trees across Kenya. In 2002, she was elected
to Kenya's parliament, and in 2003 was appointed assistant
minister for the environment.
Listen
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College
Class on Environment Redefines the Field Trip
by Taki Telonidis
Day
to Day, November 6, 2006 · Each fall semester, one
college professor in Washington state takes his environmental
studies class on a journey across nearly a dozen Western states.
They visit people with an interest in environmental policy
in the West and conduct a class in each location.
Listen
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High
School Dropouts Aren't All 'F' Students
by
Elaine Korry
NPR Radio Morning Edition
March 2, 2006
A new study from the Gates Foundation finds that high school
dropouts aren't always getting F's on their report cards.
A surprising number are C or better students, and most say
they regret having dropped out.
Listen
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Try
something new! |
“The
Scoop on Poop”
This exhibit runs through January 10 at the Miami Metro Zoo
Fish do it, frogs do it, pythons, eagles and elephants do it, yet
poop is one of those subjects we find difficult to talk about with
a straight face. Kids, however, are positively fascinated by it,
and poop is interesting stuff, really! Animals use poop to build
homes, hide from enemies, attract mates, send messages, and cool
off - some even eat it. |
Want
to Start Volunteering?
There are hundreds of ways to help out. With VolunteerMatch, it's
never been easier to find a rewarding way to give back and make
a difference.
Need
Volunteers?
As the largest online network of participating nonprofits, VolunteerMatch
attracts thousands of volunteers every day.
Referrals: 2,745,257
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|
Volunteer
at Ten Thousand Villages Store
Ten
Thousand Villages is one of the oldest and largest fair trade
organizations in the world. Fair trade organizations connect consumers
in North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to unemployed
and underemployed artisans and farmers in developing countries through
fair trade relationships – benefiting people, rather than
maximizing their own profits. The artisans’ income helps pay
for food, education, health care and housing.
Volunteers
are vital to the day-to-day operation of Ten Thousand Villages stores.
Our store teams welcome volunteer involvement and work with each
volunteer to create meaningful opportunities that fit individual
interests and skills. Store volunteers may work one or more days
on a weekly or monthly basis depending on their interest and availability.
Contact the store manager directly to inquire about volunteer opportunities
at your local store. Volunteer |
Adopt-A-Native-Elder
The Adopt-A-Native-ElderProgram exists to create a bridge of hope
between Native Americans and other cultures. It allows us to reach
out to one another, share our gifts, and mend the broken circle
of our relationship with the Land and the Native Americans who
hold it in sacred trust.
Adoption
is a tradition of the Native American people. Our program is designed
to build a bridge between two cultures and between individuals
based on the Native tradition of the Giveaway Circle. The Giveaway
Circle has a tradition of giving the best that we have. That may
be a gift of time, talents or skills, or actual gifts of food
and clothing.To offer a gift in the Native way is to give something
that is of value to you, and because it is valuable, you want
to share it with someone else. In this way you honor that person
with your gift.
If
you decide to adopt an Elder, you send a request form and a stamped
self-addressed envelope. You get an information sheet on an Elder
who needs assistance, including their address. it is requested
that you contact the Elder directly by mail, introducing yourself.
Boxes of food and other items must be mailed by U.S. Postal Service
because UPS and other forms of delivery are not available in remote
locations of the reservation.
[click
here] if you would like to obtain an adoption sheet for an
Elder
Elder
Adoption FAQ
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