island school

A great idea from An Ordinary Mom :

One tradition our family started last year was to have a Thanks Tree and a Giving Tree** posted in our home (graphics available at the end of this entry). Every evening, each person in the family takes two leaves. On one leaf they write down something they are grateful for and put it on the Thanks Tree. On the other leaf they write down a service they performed that day and they put that leaf on the Giving Tree. The act of service can be something as simple as sharing a smile, helping when asked with a cheerful attitude or saying, “I love you.”…

Here ’s a great idea I found at Catholic Homeschooling.

Around The World Night….

…Presentations will be on a tri-fold decorated anyway you’d like.
The presentations will share a circular table with another country backed up to it. All of the table space in front of the presentation will be yours to put artifacts, small projects, reports, tasty foods to share, etc etc as you see fit. Some dress in their countries attire!!

As the evening goes on, some choose to stand at their project and answer questions; others roam and sample foods from far away places!

However you’d like, it is suppose to be a fun night to invite friends, dads, and anyone else to see what we have done. I started doing this many years ago b/c most homeschooled kids do not get to “show off” their talents as often as they should be able to!! In my humble opinion!! And, I LOVE to see the wonderful people and cultures of God’s great world!!! Hope you’ll mark your calendar either way; to join us in presenting your favorite country or to support those who are committed to sharing what they learn!!

We don’t really have a coherent ‘homeschooling community’ here, but as I have 7 students, I guess we could hold one ourselves! We have tons of travel books and table books with glorious pictures from Uncle Desmond’s library, as well as mementos from his numerous trips. We could also include our many countries with family history…Sweden, Canada, Jamaica, Cayman, France, Ireland!

If you have a student who spends a lot of their ‘non-school’ time training for a particular sport, it may be encouraging to know that some very successful athletes have been homeschooled!

My eighteen year old is struggling to concentrate on the rest of his highschool while training rigorously for the National under 20 rugby team, which will be going to Kenya in April for the World Trophy. He wants to be finished NOW!, and is looking forward to making contacts while in Kenya, and possibly receiving ‘offers’ for college. Its not that easy for him to keep his studies upfront and centre!

Here is a list of accomplished homeschooled athletes who managed to excel in both sports and education:

Carly Patterson
Olympic Gymnast – Gold 2004 Olympics

Shayna Syken
Figure Skater – 2002 Gold Medal Winner, Junior Olympics.

David Boudia
US National Diving Team – Gold Medal Winner in 2007 Pan American Games, Bronze Medal Winner in 2008 FINA Diving World Cup, Bronze Medal Winner in 2007 World Championships, and a received the first spot on the 2008 Olympic USA Diving Team

Ariel Rittenhouse
2008 USA Olympic Women’s Diving Team

Katie Hoff
A 2004 Olympian and part of the 2008 USA Women’s Diving Team

Mike Beasley
A Basketball player and rising junior from Upper Marlboro, Md., is projected by some analysts to become the first player to go directly from home school to the NBA. He has verbally committed to play for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte after he graduates in 2007.

Sam Warren
A Basketball player who was home-schooled until his senior year, has signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Virginia, an academically rigorous school in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia athletics department officials believe he will be the first home-schooler to enter on an athletic scholarship.

Mackenzie Winslow
Junior Dressage Champion

Tanith Belbin
2006 Olympic Silver Medalist, three time Four Continents Champion (2004-2006), and five-time US National Champion Olympic Ice Dancer.

Not Bad!