It involves games of live mental arithmetic that students around the world play against each other.

Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play up to 500 games during the [...]]]>

World Math Day  — 3rd March

Free to join

World Maths Day was designed to encourage  student participation in a fun and engaging online maths event.

It involves games of live mental arithmetic that students around the world play against each other.

Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play up to 500 games during the official event which has already begun, earning points for each correct question.

Sound fun? Why not head over and take a look?

Registration:  WorldMathDay.com

Also take a look at: http://www.mathletics.co.nz/

I have just received this email below saying that home educators can enter this competition:

The National Schools Challenge is part of the Planet 2010 event and school students can compete in online challenges using a wide range of technologies including computers, online design software, YouTube, digital cameras and phones.

Blessings  Barbara

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for [...]]]>

National Schools Challenge

The Telecommunications Industry Group (TIG) is running the Planet 2010: Visit the Future conference at SkyCity Convention Centre on 12-13 March this year. The National Schools Challenge is part of the Planet 2010 event and school students can compete in online challenges using a wide range of technologies including computers, online design software, YouTube, digital cameras and phones.

Registrations for the National Schools Challenge open on 1 February 2010. Click here to register.

Win Stuff!!!!!

Win awesome prizes, including Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman phones, Casio watches, Digital Cameras, Calculators
Mobile Phones, HP Netbooks and for your school, Telescopes!

Sponsored by:

Please contact us if you have any queries regarding the National Schools Challenge. Email: info@tig.org.nz
For more information on the Planet 2010 event visit the Planet website.

http://www.tig.org.nz/content/a17e9d79-b387-4ce1-8eae-4acca744a6ee.html

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are not like other asylum seekers, people fleeing war or torture [...]]]>

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike are not like other asylum seekers, people fleeing war or torture in places like Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia. They’re music teachers from a village in southern Germany. And yet, in what appears to be the first case of its kind, the couple and their five children were granted asylum in the U.S. last week by an immigration judge who ruled that they had a “well-founded fear of persecution” in their home country for engaging in what has become a popular albeit somewhat controversial American practice — homeschooling their children.

The Romeikes, who are Evangelical Christians, took their three eldest children out of school in the town of Bissingen in 2006 because they were concerned about the impact the government-approved curriculum and the public-school environment would have on their social development. “Over the past 10 to 20 years, the curriculum in public schools in Germany has been more and more against Christian values, and my eldest children were having problems with violence, bullying and peer pressure. It’s important for parents to have the freedom to choose the way their children can be taught,” Uwe Romeike said in a statement provided by the couple’s attorney, Michael Donnelly of the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

But here’s the problem: in Germany it’s compulsory for children to attend school, and the Romeikes soon found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Local authorities slapped the couple with a $10,000 fine, and police even took their children to school when the Romeikes refused to send them. Fearing that they could lose custody of their kids or even be put in jail, the Romeikes fled to the U.S. in 2008, looking for a community where they could educate their kids as they saw fit.

That’s exactly what they found in Morristown, Tenn., a town of about 27,000 deep in the Bible Belt. Donnelly says the Romeikes flourished in the environment, becoming “very disciplined” teachers tackling subjects like math, history and social science with the help of textbooks and other teaching materials, all in accordance with state law. The couple also joined a local group that organizes activities and field trips for homeschooled children in the area. Once they were settled in their new community, they applied for asylum in the U.S., claiming they’d be persecuted if they were sent back to Germany…

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1958059,00.html

To kick the year off, the ‘not back to school picnic’ will be held on Monday 8 February, at Khandallah Park on Woodmancote Road from 10am. This is a native forest reserve with plenty of space, walking tracks, and an [...]]]>

Wellington ‘not back to school picnic’ Monday 8 February

To kick the year off, the ‘not back to school picnic’ will be held on Monday 8 February, at Khandallah Park on Woodmancote Road from 10am. This is a native forest reserve with plenty of space, walking tracks, and an outdoor summer pool. The play area includes a flying fox, new junior play area and a giant rock climbing structure. There is also a cafe next to the pool.

If the weather isn’t nice on the day, the picnic will be postponed.

Here’s hoping many can make it.

Homeschooling Family Granted Political Asylum

Immigration Judge Says Germany Violating Basic Human Rights

http://www.wises.co.nz/l/Hamilton/+131+Ohaupo+Rd/#c/-37.816294/175.283049/16/

Contact: Margaret, Phone: 07 843 5656, THENmail@gmail.com

Programme:

9am Open for Registrations

10am Start and Welcome

10.05am – 10.30am Keynote Address – Craig Smith

10.30- 10.55 Morning tea

11.00am – 12.00pm Session [...]]]>

THEN Conference 2010

The Home Educators Network

THEN – Supporting Homeschoolers in Hamilton and the Greater Waikato

Venue: Hamilton South Baptist Church, 131 Ohaupo Rd, Hamilton

http://www.wises.co.nz/l/Hamilton/+131+Ohaupo+Rd/#c/-37.816294/175.283049/16/

Contact: Margaret, Phone: 07 843 5656, THENmail@gmail.com

Programme:

9am Open for Registrations

10am Start and Welcome

10.05am – 10.30am Keynote Address – Craig Smith

10.30- 10.55 Morning tea

11.00am – 12.00pm Session 1
Getting started in Home education: Craig Smith
Preparing for Tertiary: Wintech, University and Vision College reps
Reading, the Reluctant Reader and Maths Reluctant: Rowena Powell
Coping with/Avoiding Burnout: Barbara Smith

12 pm–12.45pm Lunch BYO. Tea and coffee provided

12.45 pm – 1.25pm Session 2
Is it possible to discipline children in our undisciplined society: Craig Smith
Books, Great books and more books: Barbara Smith
Teaching Writing: Gladys Billings
Lapbooking and Unit Studies: Johanna Whittaker

1.30pm – 2.30pm Session 3
Dads: Craig Smith
Homeschooling on the Smell of an Oily Rag: Margaret Evans
Training our Children’s Minds: Barbara Smith
Homeschooling Large Families:  Katherine Baxendine

2.40pm – 3.15pm Panel of homeschooling parents, and homeschool graduates – chaired by Craig Smith.

Close and thankyous

Afternoon tea and vendors stalls open until 4pm

Costs: $20 THEN member, $35 nonmember, $40 on-day

(To become a member of THEN click here)

Registrations close: Sunday 28 February2010 (you can still turn up on the day and pay the on-day registration)

Conference Exhibitors: Click on the organisation below for website and more information

Home Education Foundation

plus more to come

THEN Website: http://thehomeeducatorsnetwork.wainet.org/

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=144599

“Just wanting to hear from people who have been homeschooled themselves. Did you go right through with homeschooling, or did you go to school at some point? [...]]]>

Trademe has a couple of discussions going on the Message Board on Home Education.

The first one they are looking for those who have finished their home education.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=144599

“Just wanting to hear from people who have been homeschooled themselves. Did you go right through with homeschooling, or did you go to school at some point? Why were you homeschooled (parent’s choice, or necessity)? How did you find it? If you transitioned to school later (eg, high school), how did you find that? Did you go on to tertiary education? Lol, just a few questions Would love to hear people’s experiences.” Click here to add your experience

The other thread is a general home education discussion which has been going for a long time. Do take time to visit:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=195&p=138

Saturday January 23, 2010

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http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20338960,00.html

Seventeen-year-old Johnny Collinson phoned home earlier this week to give his parents a bit of news – he’d just become the youngest mountaineer to climb the highest peak on all seven continents, known as [...]]]>

Proud Dad Talks About His

Home Schooled Teen Son

Who Climbed Seven Summits

By Johnny Dodd

Saturday January 23, 2010

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20338960,00.html

Seventeen-year-old Johnny Collinson phoned home earlier this week to give his parents a bit of news – he’d just become the youngest mountaineer to climb the highest peak on all seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.

“We don’t try to get too excited about things, but there’s definitely a sense of relief that he’s done it,” the teen’s father, Jim, told PEOPLE from the family’s home in Snowbird, Utah.

Collinson managed to make it to the 16,067-foot-high summit of Mt. Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, several hours before speaking with his dad. Despite powerful gusts and subzero temperatures, Collinson unhooked himself from his climbing partner and skied off the top of Mt. Vinson to a campsite several thousand feet below.

Collinson, who was home-schooled by his mother and is a champion freestyle skier, began his quest for the Seven Summits a year ago when he climbed Argentina’s Aconcagua (22,841 feet). Five months later (in May 2009), he stood on top of Mt. Everest (29,028 feet).

“He used to dream about standing on top of Everest ever since he was three,” says his dad, an avalanche safety expert. “He’d picture himself standing up there in his windbreaker and tennis shoes.”

Regarded as one of mountaineering’s most extreme challenges, only about 200 climbers can say they’ve bagged the Seven Summits. “This was difficult for him,” says his father. “But he wanted it bad. It was the culmination of years of work and dreaming.”