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Home Education Magazine
March-April 1998 - Columns
Homeschooling Online- Helen Hegener
* The January/February, 1998 edition of the free online newsletter, Edusource Web Reviews, featured "The Best Educational Web Sites of 1998," and included many very interesting Web site reviews. Editor Rebecca Kochenderfer (editor@edusource.com) wrote, "There were many fine Web sites in each category... however, in order to make the list, these Web sites had to be educational, parent and kid-friendly, good users of Internet technologies and comprehensive. I chose these sites because I thought they would be a good jumping-off spot for you. These sites take a broad view of their subject and provide you with lots of good links so that you can continue to explore on your own." Examples of the Websites selected include:
Best HISTORY site: The History Channel at http://www.historychannel.com
The History Channel has two nice features: the Traveler section (where you get historic information on different cities) and the search engine (that lets you type in a date and travel back in time). This History Channel site was created primarily as on-line support for their TV channel, but there is potential for a great deal more. History appears to be a weak area on the Internet and I would like to see The History Channel fill the void.
Best GOVERNMENT site: The White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov /WH/Welcome.html
This site offers the following: information on the President and Vice President; commonly requested Federal Services; a What's New section (current events); the Interactive Citizen's Handbook; a Virtual Library (government documents, speeches and photos); White House Help Desk (Frequently Asked Questions); a fabulous Tour of White House History; and White House for Kids (The Clinton's cat, Socks, leads a kid-friendly tour.) And if your kids are learning about the Presidents, check out Historic Moments of the Presidency.
Edusource Web Reviews is a free online newsletter with about 100,000 readers, one third of them homeschoolers. For more information about subscribing to this outstanding online resource contact editor Rebecca Kochenderfer at editor@edusource.com.
* Eclectic Homeschoolers of Colorado Loop (EHCL) is a new homeschooling loop is being created so that Colorado homeschoolers can have a forum for finding and sharing homeschooling resources, information and news. It's place of encouragement and support, for both newbies and veterans alike. This is a tolerant and diverse group and all types of homeschoolers are welcome. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send your request to : EHCL@aol.com - If your messages or requests are not getting through for some reason, please send them to Cindy Stanley at: connect@pcisys.net
* The FLExOnline Chat Room www.flexonline.org/flexchat.htm is a new weekly chat room on the Internet. Topics of interest to families as well as hosted open chats on homeschooling. Please read the specific instructions on the FLEx website help page www.flexonline.org/chathelp.htm before entering the room. A schedule will be posted on the FLEx website www.flexonline.org and included in FLExOnline (for information send an email request to FmlyLrngEx@aol.com).
* The Penn Homeschooler is a new email discussion list for homeschoolers in Pennsylvania. To subscribe send an email message to hub@xc.org - the subject line can contain anything, but in the text body type exactly: subscribe pa-hs
* Leslie Moyer, moderator of the HERO of Oklahoma MailingList, shared this with us recently:
"Eureka! I found an answer to the most commonly asked (of me) question... what do kids learn in each grade? Well, in Oklahoma, there is a document that may be ordered from the DOE called the PASS (how 'ya like these acronyms?) --Priority Academic Student Skills. (The address may be found on our web page--listed at the bottom of this note.) It lists curriculum guidelines for Oklahoma schools as set forth by the State Board of Education. Homeschoolers aren't exactly bound by the exact wording of PASS--but some homeschoolers like to use it as a guide. Well, I found a web page that lists all of PASS: www.sde.state.ok.us/lib/pass/passindx.html
"Now we can all easily have access to these guidelines! Subjects are listed individually and when you click on them, they show what all grades' curriculums are for that particular subject. Fair warning...this is pretty wordy and lots of "teacher-eese." Like this for first grade language arts:
"III. The student will use prior knowledge to become actively engaged with the reading material and use a range of comprehension skills (literal, inferential and evaluative)."
"I mean...come on! That doesn't REALLY mean anything--it is code words for teachers to mean that kids can talk about stories!
"Still, some of it is good to know and perhaps you can get ideas from this? -Leslie"
For information about the HERO of Oklahoma Mailing List, contact Leslie Moyer at moyerles@wiltel.net
* Leslie also sent this helpful bit of information:
"I just found this very interesting tidbit in our Oklahoma school laws on this web page: www.sde.state.ok.us/law/ch1art24b.html. This isn't very well publicized, huh?
"Section 506. High School Diplomas - Issued on 30 Hours College Work. Any person who has been admitted to any accredited college or university may be awarded a high school diploma by the State Department of Education within this state, provided that such person has successfully completed at least thirty (30) hours of college work at an accredited college or university. (70-24-116)"
* Watch for the new revised Homeschooling Information Library coming to the Home Education Magazine website April 1st, 1998. www.homeedmag.com/wlcm_hsinf.html
Online Resources is compiled and edited by Helen Hegener. If you have updates or suggestions for this column, please send an emailing to Helen at Editor-in-Chief .
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