TX Homeschoolers in the News June 29, 2007

Check out some of the interesting things homeschoolers are doing.
Articles featuring homeschoolers from Austin and from the Woodlands
(Houston) – 2 brothers/2 different articles in the same issue.

http://www.austin36 0.com/food_ drink/content/ food_drink/ stories/dining_ at_home/06/ 0620kitchen. html

“Meet the baker, 15
Zach Pringle supplies local Whole Foods stores with brownies, scones and
more from his commercial kitchen trailer

Zach is the baker/general manager for The Monkey’s Lunch Box, a small
wholesale company that supplies brownies, banana bread, scones, pumpkin
bread and cinnamon rolls to both Whole Foods Markets in Austin.

He cooks in an unassuming mobile home converted to a commercial kitchen
about 10 miles from Bastrop and Smithville. He patiently makes scones of
various flavors, measuring out flour, sugar, cream, chocolate chips and
dried cherries with a veteran’s rhythm.

The Pringles are part of a home-school community that included Martin
Ruiz, founder of The Monkey’s Lunch Box, who used to sell at the Austin
Farmers Market. Zach hung around Ruiz often. “He was a natural,” Ruiz
says. “I knew he was interested in baking and that I would need some
help at some point. I brought him in and showed him the recipes. I was
making maybe 25 different things. He picked it up pretty quickly.”

Eighth grader recognized in C-SPAN video contest
http://www.hcnonlin e.com/site/ news.cfm? newsid=18499691& BRD=1574& PAG=461&dept_ id=532542& rfi=6

An eighth grader from The Woodlands recently added a notch to his
filmmaking belt.

Ryan Wham, who is home schooled, was recently recognized by C-SPAN for
his documentary on the Florida Everglades. His film, “Saving the
Everglades?” , received honorable mention recognition.
The award, which was accompanied by a $250 prize, was part of C-SPAN’s
StudentCam competition. StudentCam is a yearly film competition for
middle and high school students, in which they’re asked to pick an issue
and create a documentary about it, covering all sides of the issue.

Wham spent about a week in Florida filming footage for his documentary.
When he returned, he spent about two more weeks editing the footage. He
used his laptop and Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the digital footage and
narrated the film himself.
“I’ve always enjoyed making films,” Wham said. “I’ve done a couple of
others.”
His work, some of which he entered in film festivals, includes a joint
project with his brother on Costa Rica and a film about Hawaii.

To view Wham’s film and the other winning documentaries, go to
www.studentcam. org.

Students win big at International Science Fair
http://www.hcnonlin e.com/site/ news.cfm? newsid=18470126& BRD=1574& PAG=461&dept_ id=532542& rfi=6

Kimberly Potter, a student at Oak Ridge High School, and Michael Wham, a
resident of The Woodlands who is home schooled, won thousands of dollars
in scholarships. Both students are juniors.

Wham won an $8,000 scholarship from the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval
Research for his project on the red-cockaded woodpecker, a threatened
species whose habitat includes the W.G. Jones State Forest. He also won
four separate $1,000 scholarships at ISEF.

Wham’s project dealt with the calls of the red-cockaded woodpeckers. He
made numerous trips into Jones Forest, located off FM 1488, and
videotaped the woodpeckers at an active nesting tree. He also recorded
the sounds the birds made.
“Basically the purpose of the project was to correlate their behavior
with the vocalizations they make,” Wham said.
After recording the birds for several months, he shot 52 hours of video
and started analyzing the birds’ calls using spectrograms. With each
graphical representation of the sound, he measured their size and
frequency, as well as how many notes each call included. He entered that
information into a spreadsheet and, after doing a statistical analysis,
created a computer program that could recognize what type of call the
bird made.

Enjoying the Ride June 27, 2007

“The boy and his horse had once set out for the sun and quickly learned what others had tried to put into words- that becoming is probably better than being, that there is only one thing in between and that is the ride. The ride is everything- not the arrival at some distant or imagined spot of light from which you would probably just see another spot of light and then another until you didn’t know where you were or maybe you would even fall from the sky like Icarus for flying too near the sun or end up floating facedown in your swimming pool like Gatsby, who had worshiped too closely to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. No, there was no question about it: Forget about the light. Just keep your head down and stay on the ride.” - Liberating Paris by Linda Bloodworth Thomas

After the Rain June 27, 2007

Heavy and regular thunderstorms are lingering much later in the season than usual for Texas causing flash flooding, casualties, and general inconvenience for many. While our major concern is that our pool doesn’t overflow some, including these people (actually a very impressive home and landscape) are having to do some serious clean-up. Bear creek overflowed its banks and did some serious damage to the surrounding areas. Rushing waters took down wrought iron and brick fencing, moved logs and other debris, and generally created havoc.

We went over to check it out and get a ride in. It was a beautiful day with interesting and sometimes tragic scenery.

Summer Fun with Friends June 27, 2007

Sadie gets a tube ride from “the big boys,” Lucas and Jacob.

Elijah tries to get the ball over the falls past goalie Lucas while Eli paddles and Jacob stands guard for ball retrieval.

Elijah, Eli, Jacob (I think , and Sadie create with Play-Dough during a pseudo sleepover while adults hang out until odd (for old people) hours.

The lure of the tube… I’m not sure anyone knew what they were watching but it was animated and a good break at the end of the day. (Left to right) Sadie, Lucas, Eli, Jacob, and Elijah.

Builders June 27, 2007

The absolute best thing these days is making forts. Here Elijah and Sadie re-work a fort of couch pillows. The two agonize over which way to lay the pillows for the best support, which blankets to use to insulate the fort against winter cold and snow, and how to partition their rooms such that they each have their own space but can visit at will.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Fred Rogers

Movie Buffs June 27, 2007

Monkeying around outside the movie theater. We go to the theater every week with our unschooling buddies for a summer session of children’s movies. Curious George- Fabulous! Charlotte’s Web- too long for kids who don’t understand that the pig has to die to give the ham. Over the Hedge- VERY good. Ice Age 2- unwatchable (says Mom).

The best part of the day is always visiting Daddy for lunch. We had a special guest for lunch this week- a scavenging lizard on the patio by the lake!

Fishy June 19, 2007

Did we ever think this would happen? We didn’t! At least not for a long time. Our little boy has become a fish- I may have to check for gills soon. He’s nonstop in the pool and becoming a braver and better waterfarer each time. He is single-minded in his determination to swim, swim, swim. He jumps in off of the side now (without anyone there to catch him), turns around and swims to the side. All this in a matter of days. He went from the toddler area to the twirly waterslides at the waterpark today. The speed at which this transformation is taking place is absolutely amazing.

The Running of the Bulls June 19, 2007

Or- the ambling of the longhorns… The only cattle drive in the world running twice a day! Apparently that’s exciting. It wasn’t as fabulous as we were hoping but it’s a must-do so we did. The Stockyard area was fun to check out.

Of course, where there’s cows there’s… chocolate? There seem to be chocolatiers everywhere we go which is just fine by the kids…

We went through the stockyard maze and had quite a time. The kids got a kick out of the dead ends and the overhead misters.

Everyday Antics June 19, 2007

We are in the pool almost everyday these days. Both kids are making great strides in their comfort levels in the water and loving every minute of it.

Elijah is the worm savior. Worms brought out of the grass by evening/morning sprinkler systems meet a mid-morning demise frying on the sidewalk. Elijah stops his bike to pick them up and place each back in the grass. Those that are beyond saving he notes by saying, “that one’s already cooked!”
Both kids are into heights these days. They climb at the playground, on ladders, furniture, at the waterpark- pretty much everywhere.

Babies! June 19, 2007

An old nest on our drain pipe became home to a mourning dove pair and their eggs just as we were moving in. We peeked in periodically to find Mama sitting on her eggs in a nest much too small for her… Then lo and behold- there were hatchlings! Shortly after their appearance, only one baby would fit in the nest at a time and the other would perch on our fence. Here they are walking around in the front garden with Mama getting ready to learn how to fly.