HS Comments on the Fly

Jeanette Symons and her homeschooled son died in a plane crash Friday. She was piloting the plane. Her daughter was not on the plane. Jeanette was the CEO of Industrious Kid and founder of Imbee, a free social network for kids.

Elisha Woienski, who’s majoring in history, is currently a sophomore and on the Dean’s List at the prestigious Citadel.

Home-schooled as a teen, Woienski applied to a number of colleges and universities, but chose the Citadel because they offered him a full-ride scholarship, and because he liked the school more than others.

Source. HT Izzy, the famous ex-blogger.

Tim Tebow, recent Heisman Trophy winner, was homeschooled. That is old news, I know. But in an article about his parents’ upcoming appearance at a conference, we find out a little bit about their homeschooling philosophy.

The Tebows decided 26 years ago to homeschool their children….

Teaching their children to “honor God” played a consuming role in Pam and Bob Tebow’s decision to homeschool their five children.

[Bob states,] “You can be well educated in the world’s eyes and still be a sorry person. You can graduate with degrees and have no character. Character defines who you are.”

Pam Tebow often taught her homeschooled children through use of scripture memorization. And she believes that such memorization has kept her youngest son, Tim, the University of Florida quarterback well grounded in a world of athletics and adulation.

“We had to start when he was very young” said Pam Tebow, “emphasizing humility and character as a part of our schooling.”

A positive article from what looks like North Dakota was published yesterday. An excerpt for your reading pleasure:

Kenan, 8, takes a break from the piano to whoosh down the second-floor stairs on a cardboard-and-comforter sled.

Ah … doesn’t that bring back fond memories of stairs sledding in your own home?

Here is the homeschooling portion of a nebulous article about Google:

Bisciglia’s mother, Brenda, says her son seemed marked for an unusual path from the start. He didn’t speak until age 2, and then started with sentences. One of his first came as they were driving near their home in Gig Harbor, Wash. A bug flew in the open window, and a voice came from the car seat in back: “Mommy, there’s something artificial in my mouth.”

At school, the boy’s endless questions and frenetic learning pace exasperated teachers. His parents, seeing him sad and frustrated, pulled him out and home-schooled him for three years. Bisciglia says he missed the company of kids during that time but developed as an entrepreneur. He had a passion for Icelandic horses and as an adolescent went into business raising them. Once, says his father, Jim, they drove far north into Manitoba and bought horses, without much idea about how to transport the animals back home. “The whole trip was like a scene from one of Chevy Chase’s movies,” he says. Christophe learned about computers developing Web pages for his horse sales and his father’s luxury-cruise business. And after concluding that computers promised a brighter future than animal husbandry, he went off to U-Dub [as in UW aka University of Washington State] and signed up for as many math, physics, and computer courses as he could.

I think there’s value in reading the article because of the info on Google’s cloud computing. The homeschooling portion, though, does show that homeschooling can open up avenues of ideas for young people, freeing them up to explore their options — with learning as an often effortless by-product.

To follow up on my post from 13 DEC 07, the Clark brothers won on Friday night on The Next Great American Band, which is produced by the American Idol folks.

Truth be told, they’re adults now, but they were homeschooled as children.

The Lucas family is slated to appear on Extreme Home Makeover sometime in February or March. They are a military family, with the father deployed in Iraq with the Virginia National Guard. They brought him home for the event.

An interesting tidbit is that the local homeschooling co-op nominated the family for the show.

Read more.

J.K. Rowling, a Time magazine runner-up for Person of the Year 2007, reveals that wizards are usually homeschooled before entering Hogwarts.

6. Where do wizard children go to school before Hogwarts?
Most are homeschooled, because they aren’t really able to control their powers so it would be too dangerous to let them out and about.

So, does she think that all homeschoolers keep their children from being “out and about” or only those who are teaching wizard children? Wouldn’t you think that the parents would figure out a way to get their little wizard children out and about rather than keeping them at home all the time? Isn’t it only muggles who keep their charges under the stairs the way Harry Potter was?

Of course, it doesn’t really matter what she thinks in the grand scheme of things. It’s patently obvious that homeschoolers — wizards or not — are “out and about” at various times throughout the week. And homeschooling is a lot less confining than a boarding school.

I have never heard of this show — not surprising with all these new shows on the tube because of the writers’ strike. It is called The Next Great American Band and is on Friday nights on Fox.

One group still in the contest is The Clark Brothers who were homeschooled.

The Clark brothers are no strangers to … recording….

Ashley, 27, said he played fiddle and guitar with [Carrie] Underwood’s band for two years. Austin, 24, played Dobro in bands with both Underwood and SHeDaisy, while Adam, 29, has played mandolin and guitar with SHeDaisy.

Their father Freddy Clark, 64, who plays 20 instruments, said he started teaching all 11 of his children to play instruments when each of them turned 5 years old…. All were home schooled….

Anyway, according to an online article out of Florida, you can vote for this band or one of the other three competing bands just like on American Idol. The winner gets a recording contract.

In case you’re interested, I’ll provide a link to the family web site even though it seems a little anemic.

Wow, I never thought they would let a Sophomore win it.

History first: Heisman Trophy is awarded yearly to the most outstanding college football player. Here are the names of some of the former greats who have won the Heisman: Roger Staubauch, O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen, Doug Flutie, Vinny Testaverde, Herschel Walker.

Winning the Heisman is a big deal in football circles.

Tim Tebow, who I mentioned way back when, was homeschooled, spent summers doing missionary work, and played football for the local highschool team.

From NY Times article:

With his right hand in a cast, Tebow, 20, accepted the 25-pound bronze trophy and gave an emotional acceptance speech in which he thanked everyone from his strength and conditioning coach to his offensive linemen to Jesus. His nervousness was apparent when three times he repeated, “I love being a Gator, and I love Gator Nation.”

If Tebow had been an upperclassman, the victory might have been a landslide. But his status as a sophomore had many of the traditionalists among the voters wondering if the award should take into account a more complete college career.

From Fox News article:

First off, he was home-schooled. On the stigma that goes along with that, Tebow jokes, “I’ve heard it all. Home schoolers aren’t supposed to be athletic. It’s like, ‘Go win a spelling bee or something.’”

Tebow also happens to be the kind of guy you wouldn’t lose sleep over your daughter dating. He’s humble and respectful, and strong in the classroom. He didn’t spend the night before the Heisman ceremony in Manhattan nightclubs and seedy bars until 3 a.m. He went on a double-decker bus tour around New York instead.

He has a good head on his shoulders and possesses an even greater heart. While most know him as the super-human one-man wrecking crew terrorizing SEC defensive lines each weekend, there are thousands of men, women and children in the Philippines that know him as a familiar face and a friend.

Tebow’s spent the majority of his summers in the Philippines — living with his parents and assisting with his father’s ministry — the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association (www.btea.org). Where most other nationally recognized high school athletes spent their teenage summers at camps sponsored by shoe companies and enjoying nights out with the prom queen (and more than likely, her friend, too), Tebow — or “Timmy” as his mother Pam still calls him — was in the Philippines each year for two months tending to the underserved.

On top of the ministry work, Tebow’s also a regular visitor to the BTEA orphanage located in Mindanao in the Philippines that is home to 49 orphans and 13 staff members. He holds these experiences as close to his heart as the ones on the gridiron.

Articles:

• Tim Tebow’s page at Gatorzone
• article about Tebow and Heisman at Gatorzone
• Tebow Makes Heisman History
• Homeschooler Snaps Up Heisman Nomination (by ex-homeschool-blogger Isabel Lyman)
• ESPN article with video
• mentions his homeschooling (old article)
• photo of the whole family

Tim traveled to New York City to hear the announcement that he’d won the Heisman. Here’s a quote from the most amusing article:

In Gainesville, they like to say “Superman Wears Tim Tebow Pajamas.” Now he’s come to Metropolis and taken Superman’s trophy, too.

Timothy Richard Tebow may not be the Man of Steel, but he will forever be the first sophomore in history to bring home the Man in Bronze.

Format: Title - One compelling sentence quoted from article.

The Ron Paul Conundrum - The whole point is that everyone gets to let their own indvidual [sic] freak flag fly no matter what they believe.

Major Talent - “The last time I didn’t pay attention to my wife,” he said, “I got struck by lightning.

To Be or Not to Be in the Classroom? - On her first day of writing, Hannah’s goal was to complete 100 words — not bad for any aspiring novelist, let alone one who’s only 6.

The Legend of Will Smith - “Every problem Jada and I have ever had, we found the answer in a book.”

Bowman Academy Returns Trophy, Teacher Resigns - While SCISA does allow substitutions at matches, Davis’ son is home schooled and not eligible to play, Watt said.

Teen Steps Up to the Plate as Thanksgiving Volunteer - As project coordinator, the home-schooled [13 yo] eighth-grader solicited and collected food donations and organized volunteers during the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

Booklover’s Reading Passion Benefits Festival - The Armstrong children excel in several areas, and Caron Armstrong said that Catie, 11, and Josie, 8, decided that they wanted to do math one evening at 10 p.m.

Children’s Book Outrages Parents - Two couples claimed it violated their civil rights, but a federal judge dismissed the case, saying the couples have the right to send their children to private schools or home-school them, according to The Boston Globe.

Now on You Tube (lower article) - … the Allens will be traveling to Baltimore in January with the Violin Virtuosi for performances at the Peabody Conservatory and downtown Baltimore.

When Melanie Krumrey’s son Cooper developed migraines and stomach aches, she never knew it would lead to her becoming an author of a book for children. But her book was published just two months ago in September 2007.

Cooper endured many tests on the road to diagnosis, including blood tests, an MRI, and an endoscopy. When they finally discovered that he had Celiac disease (sometimes called gluten intolerance), they had to change Cooper’s diet and remove wheat, barely, and rye, which made it impossible for Cooper to eat his favorite food … bagels. Hence, the title of the book, Bagels, Buddy & Me.

From the article:

People with the disease can’t eat anything with wheat, barley and rye. Oats can be off limits, too, since they can processed with wheat. Soy sauce also has wheat in it.

How does a mother feed a family with such dietary restrictions? “You can learn to can adapt almost anything. There is rice flour, potato starch, soy flour … there are lots of options. … I can get pizza, shells, cake mix,” she said.

“We have muffins every Monday morning,” she said, pointing to the plate of gluten-free muffins on the counter. Krumrey said the field “is exploding. There has been quite a difference in three years and in the number of products.”

Melanie even figured out a way to make gluten free bagels for Cooper.

As homeschoolers, they visited the library often. While there, they searched for a children’s book that would easily explain what it’s like to live with Celiac disease. They couldn’t find one. Eventually, after a few years, Melanie Krumrey wrote her own. A book like this is necessary as gluten intolerance becomes more and more prevalent. It seems that 1% of the population is gluten intolerant, but I hear plenty of folks don’t even realize they have it.

Anyway, come to find out, along with Cooper, Melanie and her two other children also have Celiac disease. Sources claim that it’s genetic, but that doesn’t explain why their dog Buddy is also gluten intolerant.

Sometimes it’s spelled Coeliac disease, which I found at at Wikipedia, where I also found out that the Roman Catholic Church used to restrict men with Celiac disease from becoming priests because they couldn’t take the bread portion of the “bread and wine” and substituting a non-wheat wafer wasn’t an option.

Source: Amherst Bulletin and H/T to blog reader Izzy.

More Info: Melanie’s book web site and Celiac Disease Foundation and Celiac.com