World's First Online Classical Christian Academy

TechnoKids Computer Curriculum is a set of theme-based technology projects that integrate the use of the computer into learning. Designed for K-12 students, each technology project includes a teacher guide, student workbook, and customizable resource file

The Starfish Country Home School aspires to be the best school in northern Thailand. The school will accept needy children without regard to their religious affiliation and national or ethnic origin and will provide them a quality education that emphasizes communication skills in Thai and English, technology, mathematics, visual and performing arts, international cultures and developing respect and compassion for others. The Starfish Country Home School Foundation will provide a safe and secure modern residence and personal guidance for all of its students as they mature. Those children that can achieve the required academic excellence will remain at the school until they are ready to attend university and will be further supported at university. The education will always be free, diversified and directed to meet the needs, interests and abilities of the individual student.

This weekend, I was at in a quandary at the library -- I had reached the 100 book limit on my card again, and this did not reflect the other books we had out on another card. The librarian, with a knowing smile exclaimed, "you must be a homeschooler!" We then got into a conversation about why homeschoolers are noted for reading a lot more than their schooled counterparts (as an aside – I do screen the books I get from the library for inappropriate content. There are still wholesome fiction books and accurate non-fiction to be found in libraries, if you know what you are looking for, and if your library has not been totally taken over by liberals). Why is it that home educated children are known for reading a great deal more than typical children? Looking at our own home, I can see several reasons. First, homeschooled children do not come in after a hard day of traveling to and from school and have to tackle a load of take home assignments. They do their reinforcement work as they learn their subjects and so their nights are not plagued with the burden of homework. And, since a homeschooler’s day is usually shorter in duration than a brick and mortar school day, homeschoolers naturally have more free time to read.  In our home we are building what we call a "generational library" -- stocking our shelves with classic and quality Christian books found at garage sales, on-line, etc. that cannot be found in the secular libraries. The library we have in our home is brimming with all kinds of edifying gems our children love to read again and again. In addition, our church has an expanding family resource room that is brimming with God-centered reading materials. And, we go to the library, on average, twice a week. Most homeschool families I know have unplugged the TV and are not engaged in the entertainment gamer craze. It is no wonder, then, that no one has to force anyone to read in our home -- whenever they get a free moment, our children grab a good book and that they are several grade levels ahead in reading. We are not anti-technology -- far from it -- my husband is a computer programmer, and our children will hopefully reach his level of expertise one day. But, technology can replace book reading in the lives of modern day children. I am convinced there are a multitude of skills such as vocabulary accumulation which are gained by old fashioned book reading that just cannot be obtained elsewhere. Here is an article in this regard that caught my eye today. Note that is states that among the children surveyed "almost a third take a games console to bed rather than a book, while a quarter never read in their own time". I guess we homeschoolers should be happy when we catch that child with the flashlight, trying to read under the covers!

This weekend, I was at in a quandary at the library -- I had reached the 100 book limit on my card again, and this did not reflect the other books we had out on another card. The librarian, with a knowing smile exclaimed, "you must be a homeschooler!" We then got into a conversation about why homeschoolers are noted for reading a lot more than their schooled counterparts (as an aside – I do screen the books I get from the library for inappropriate content. There are still wholesome fiction books and accurate non-fiction to be found in libraries, if you know what you are looking for, and if your library has not been totally taken over by liberals). Why is it that home educated children are known for reading a great deal more than typical children? Looking at our own home, I can see several reasons. First, homeschooled children do not come in after a hard day of traveling to and from school and have to tackle a load of take home assignments. They do their reinforcement work as they learn their subjects and so their nights are not plagued with the burden of homework. And, since a homeschooler’s day is usually shorter in duration than a brick and mortar school day, homeschoolers naturally have more free time to read.  In our home we are building what we call a "generational library" -- stocking our shelves with classic and quality Christian books found at garage sales, on-line, etc. that cannot be found in the secular libraries. The library we have in our home is brimming with all kinds of edifying gems our children love to read again and again. In addition, our church has an expanding family resource room that is brimming with God-centered reading materials. And, we go to the library, on average, twice a week. Most homeschool families I know have unplugged the TV and are not engaged in the entertainment gamer craze. It is no wonder, then, that no one has to force anyone to read in our home -- whenever they get a free moment, our children grab a good book and that they are several grade levels ahead in reading. We are not anti-technology -- far from it -- my husband is a computer programmer, and our children will hopefully reach his level of expertise one day. But, technology can replace book reading in the lives of modern day children. I am convinced there are a multitude of skills such as vocabulary accumulation which are gained by old fashioned book reading that just cannot be obtained elsewhere. Here is an article in this regard that caught my eye today. Note that is states that among the children surveyed "almost a third take a games console to bed rather than a book, while a quarter never read in their own time". I guess we homeschoolers should be happy when we catch that child with the flashlight, trying to read under the covers!

Monster Exchange is designed to encourage the development of reading and writing skills while integrating Internet technology into the classroom curriculum. Classrooms from a variety of schools worldwide are paired together; the students in each classroom are split into groups, each of which designs an original picture of a monster. The students must then write a description of the monster. The partnered classes then exchange their descriptions via e-mail and the Internet. These students are then challenged to use reading comprehension skills to read the descriptions and translate them into a monster picture. The true challenge involves creating a redrawn picture as close to the original picture as possible without looking at the original and using only the written description of the monster.