November 2010
Announcements
Guided Tour of Embassy Row, Washington, DC: Wednesday, November 10, 11:00 AM - Join Tour Guide Mark for a walking tour of Embassy Row in Washington, DC. He'll take you and your young scholars for a walk through time as we look at the former homes of the rich and famous that are now the embassies from all around the world. "We'll talk about the different countries, what an embassy and ambassador does, and will also get to go inside one or two embassies for a brief look inside. I have a scavenger hunt sort of game for the kids to figure out which cars are from which countries, and I have plenty of pictures of who used to live in these mansions and how they lived. About me: I've been a tour guide for over eight years and I can honestly say that I love my job. I now have my own tour company that specializes in school tours of Washington, DC, New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. This is a career that I've chosen for myself because I love to be around kids and I love this country. I do my tours from a patriotic American point of view."
The tour with stops will be about two hours. Minimum Number: 25 (including all children and adults. If we get over thirty, I'll secure a second date and time, possibly the next Wednesday, November 17, also at 11:00 AM. We'll meet at the Dupont Circle Metro station, the SOUTH exit, by the Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme is at 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW. the south side of Dupont Circle. People can take the Metro to Dupont Circle. There would be on-street parking, or in a paid parking lot.
Payment - $10 per person, paid by Paypal, account name "Best Tours - DC." Payment must be received by Monday, November 8. My cell phone number is 703-597-6283. If using PayPal, type in Mark's email address: outnawayz@aim.com when you click on "Send Payment." The confirmation will read "Best Tours - DC."
Or you can send a check to: Mark Foxenberg, 7527 Fisher Drive, Falls Church, VA 22043-1211. Contact: outnawayz@aim.com
Tour the Federal Reserve in Baltimore: For your homeschool economic studies – here’s a great place to tour – the Federal Reserve in Baltimore http://www.richmondfed.org/about_us/visit_us/locations/baltimore/
"We offer group tours of 30 or fewer attendees by appointment. Developed for high school and college students and teachers, our tours seek to reinforce classroom instruction and promote economic education and financial literacy. What you will see - Our tours focus on bank operations and monetary policy and may include a video presentation on the functions of the Federal Reserve System upon request. Generally, tours of the Baltimore Branch take 90 minutes to complete, but can be customized based on the special interests of the group. Please note, cell phones and cameras are not permitted inside the building. - For more information or to schedule a tour, please call Diana Wilkes in the Public Affairs Department at 410-576-3387."
Physics is PHUN: 2010-2011 Public Demonstration Program Series from the University of MD Department of Physics http://www.physics.umd.edu/PhysPhun/
Welcome to the 29th year of PHYSICS IS PHUN, hosted by Dr. Matthew Bobrowsky and the staff of the Physics Lecture-Demonstration Facility, assisted by numerous invaluable volunteers. These free public programs, which present physics at the high school level through the use of demonstrations, aim to educate, inform, and entertain. Interactive experiments will be available with volunteer supervision 30 minutes before each program. Each program is presented three times, on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
2011 January 6, 7, 8 (Snow dates Jan. 13, 14, 15): Making Waves
2011 March 10, 11, 12: The Sounds of Science
2011 May 5, 6, 7: Seeing the Light
Doors open 7:00 PM for hands-on activities. Program runs 7:30-8:30 PM; Physics Department Lecture Halls, Physics Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. For directions and further information call (301) 405-6045 or visit our web site. www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem. To volunteer call 301-405-5982 or 301-405-5949.
Great Wolf Lodge Trip December 2010: Hello All, I have arranged a homeschool group discount rate at Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg VA for December 13-16, 2010. Details for reservations can be found here. Reservations may be made now, see below for discount code. Hope some of you can join us, Dee Dee Klipp
New Homeschool Cub Scout Pack! Meets Mondays, 1:30-3pm, in Gaithersburg for fun, hands-on learning activities. For more information, please contact Mimi at dayisnear@yahoo.com.
Geography Bee: "To fly directly from Brazil to Angola, you would travel in which general direction?" "Which state is not bordered by a major river -- Arkansas, Utah, or West Virginia?" Yes, it's time to sign up for the 2010-2011 National Geographic Society geography bee! Home schoolers in grades 4-8 are encouraged to come on out and give it a try. The bee itself will be held in Bethesda in December or early January (date TBD). If you would like to reserve a spot in the 2010-11 bee -- or if you have questions -- please contact Christine Keen.
Destination Imagination: The new coordinator of Montgomery County's Destination Imagination would really love to see new teams this year. Destination Imagination is a sort of creativity competition for kids kindergarten and up (all the way to college). There are various challenges that can involve performing arts, engineering, health, literature, music... anything. Kids must work as a team to make decisions and fulfill the challenges. The regional tournament for Montgomery County will be at the end of February. For anyone who might be interested, here's the Maryland State website: http://www.imaginthis.org. and here's the national website: http://www.idodi.org/
Homeschoolers in the News
(NEW) Class Dismissed: 3DStoryFilms Working on Documentary About Homeschooling
Link: Learning Freely Network, October 10, 2010
Who Homeschools in DC-And Why?
Link: NBC4 Blog, PJ Orvetti, September 28, 2010
At School At Home, Homeschooling in DC
Link: NBC4 Blog, PJ Orvetti, September 25, 2010
As Homeschooling Moves to Mainstream, Stigma Fades
Link: MSNBC, September 28, 2010
Achieving Techno-Literacy
Link: NY Times, Kevin Kelly, September 16, 2010
Charles County Rattles Saber, Promptly Retreats
Link: www.hsdla.org, September 10, 2010
Homeschooling for Trendy Brooklynites, Or People Like Me (Editor's note: interesting post by adult who was unschooled)
Link: Huffington Post , Kate Fridkis, August 26, 2010
School's In
Link: NY Times, August 18, 2010
School at Home
Link: Frederick News Post, Editorial, August 23, 2010
Students Go To Head of Class with Homeschooling
Link: Frederick News Post, Marge Neal, August 22, 2010
Deciding to Homeschool
Link: NY Times, Motherlode - Adventures in Parenting Blog, Lisa Belkin, August 17, 2010
Set Your Kids Free with Some Free Range Learning (Book Review)
Link: www.wired.com, Geek Dad blog, August 15, 2010
New Study Shows Homeschoolers Succeeding in College
Link: www.hsdla.org, August 3, 2010
Valedictorian's Speech: "When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost?"
Link: Washington Times, Helping to Homeschool Blog, Amie Beal, July 25, 2010
Cab Schooled Students Earned Ticket to Harvard
Link: National Public Radio (NPR) transcript, July 20, 2010
Can Homeschoolers Do Well in College?
Link: www.moneywatch.bnet.com, Lynn O'Shaunessey, The College Solution, July 20, 2010
Homeschool Ban in Sweden Forces Families to Mull Leaving
Link: Washington Times, July 18, 2010
Homeschool Options - Curriculum or Not
Link: ABC News, Carole Feldman, Associated Press, July 13, 2010
Homeschool Leaders Go to Washington
Link: www.hsdla.org, May 11, 2010
Homeschool Guilt: When a Child Returns to Public School
Link: Psychologytoday.com, April 10, 2010
Book Review: Love in a Time of Homeschooling
Link: Washington Post, April 6, 2010
Homeschooling on the Rise in Fairfax County
Link: Washington Post, April 1, 2010
Why Our Kids Don't Go to Kindergarten
Link: Salon Magazine, March 15, 2010
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Homeschool
Link: Time Magazine, March 10, 2010
Children Teach Themselves to Read: Unschoolers' accounts of how their children taught themselves to read.
Link: Psychology Today, blog of Peter Gray, February 24, 2010
Beat the Burnout
Link: Washington Times, February 24, 2010
Muslims turning to home schooling in increasing numbers
Link: Washington Post, February 21, 2010
High Schools to Offer Plan to Graduate 2 Years Early
Link: New York Times, February 17, 2010
Homeschoolers Fight For Access to Public School Teams
Link: Sports Illustrated, January 14, 2010
Homeschooling Grows Up
Link: Washington Times, December 13, 2009
Homeschoolers Thrive at Bees
Link: The Washington Times, November 22, 2009
Home is Where the School Is
Link: The Capital-Hometown Annapolis, November 15, 2009
If School Is Cool, We Win
Link: BaltimoreMagazine.net, November 13, 2009
Homeschooling, How We Do It (Part 2 of 2)
Link: Salon Magazine, October 19, 2009
Confessions of a Homeschooler (Part I of 2)
Link: Salon Magazine, September 28, 2009
From Homeschooling to Unschooling
Parents believe in letting children set the pace
Link: The Baltimore Sun, September 3, 2009
A Child's Greeting to the President
Link: Frederick News Post, April 5, 2009
Editor's note: Links may or may not be available depending on the news organization's archiving policies. We apologize for any inconvenience; copyright laws apply, therefore we cannot print these articles directly on Homeschool Montgomery!