Message Board

We provide this message board as a service to the homeschooling community. If you see any inappropriate posts on this message board, please call us immediately so that we can delete them. Our phone number is 724-783-6512. Any opinions expressed are those of the poster and not the official opinions or positions of Pennsylvania Homeschoolers®.

Messages from PA Homescschoolers:

New Posts Start Here

PA Youth Harmony adjudication event - John Cosgrove 11/4/2011 (0)

10/22/11 - "Fangs! A Spooky Creature Feature" at the Wagner Free Institute of Science - Abby Sullivan 10/19/2011 (0)

Bucks County Community Wellness Day Sat Oct 15th - Community Wellness Day 10/13/2011 (0)

Lackawanna County Learning Clinic - Dr. Kristin Bewick 10/11/2011 (0)

innovative teaching tool: Cook Your Way Through The S.A.T. - jennie 10/10/2011 (0)

FREE Master Class with Taylor 2 Dance! - The Palace Theatre 10/10/2011 (0)

New historical fiction novel that might appeal to homeschoolers - Douglas 9/24/2011 (1)

• Re: New historical fiction novel that might appeal to homeschoolers - Douglas 9/24/2011 (0)

Non-profit theater class information in Wallingford, PA - Susan Wood 9/19/2011 (0)

York Area Drama Camp AUDITIONS less than a week away!! - Michelle Robinson 9/14/2011 (0)

FREE Practice SAT Test Saturday 9/24 (Kaplan) - Tim Tobitsch 9/13/2011 (0)

Don't Miss York Area Homeschool Drama Camp!! Registration Deadline Extended - Michelle Robinson 9/11/2011 (0)

K-12 Tutoring Support from Certified Teacher - Amy 9/4/2011 (0)

Correction: York Area Homeschool Drama Camp Multiple Child Discount - Michelle Robinson 8/29/2011 (0)

$$$ DISCOUNT OFFERED for Multiple Children Enrolled In York Area Homeschool Drama Camp - Michelle Robinson 8/29/2011 (0)

York Area Homeschool Auditions Less than 1 Month Away - Michelle Robinson 8/21/2011 (0)

2011 York Area Homeschool Drama Camp - Michelle Robinson 8/18/2011 (0)

Pollinator Power! A program of the second annual Philadelphia Honey Festival - Abby Sullivan 8/18/2011 (0)

The Artist Within Art Studio Field Trips - Jennifer Urbanek 8/2/2011 (0)

FREE Practice SAT Test this Saturday (Kaplan) - Tim Tobitsch 7/7/2011 (1)

• Re: FREE Practice SAT Test this Saturday (Kaplan) - Tim Tobitsch 7/7/2011 (0)

Theatre Camps and Family Shows - Family Stages 6/20/2011 (0)

Adult Mentor Needed for Summer Field School (June) - Michele Kittell 6/3/2011 (0)

Art Class - Lola Schantz 6/1/2011 (0)

Summer Tutoring/SAT Preparation - Matthew Kamibayashi 5/23/2011 (0)

Magazine

Welcome to our new online PA Homeschoolers magazine!
Susan Richman, 1/27/2010

Welcome to the opening of our newly expanded online PA Homeschoolers magazine! This is a new adventure for us, growing out of our over 25 years of publishing our quarterly print magazine Pennsylvania Homeschoolers. We’re grateful to have you as a reader—and hope you’ll come back daily to read more. And we hope you’ll email your friends to check us out here, too!

Why are we transitioning to a fully online magazine? Many reasons—first, we can offer this service for free, as we will no longer have the always escalating printing and mailing and time costs involved with a 32-page print magazine. We all know that most of us are now much more likely to browse about on a website or favorite blog than subscribe to a print magazine—it’s the special learning opportunity available at this point in time. We’ll now be a place for that type of browsing, with new pieces published each week day. And maybe we’ll now help you in the important on-going task of de-cluttering our active homeschooling homes – one less bit of paper to have floating about!

Next, we’ll be able to reach a much wider audience, especially the families of high school  homeschool students who are curious about the work with we do with teens in our AP Online classes and in our Pennsylvania-based diploma program. This audience is located all over the nation—and even abroad—going far beyond our Pennsylvania print subscription base. It was time to reach out to this group more effectively. And you’ll be hearing from these parents—and students!—also, as they regularly share how taking part in our AP courses, or being part of our diploma program, has impacted their homeschooling lives.

We also wanted a more transparent way to ‘link’ to the fine online blogs and websites created by many in the homeschooling world—and especially to those parents in Pennsylvania who are really reaching out in creative ways to provide support, sharing, new educational ideas, and much more. Many of these parents will also be regular writers here.

Finally, you’ll be able to feel part of a larger discussion of homeschooling issues as you respond to articles and postings, sharing your perspective and insights and experiences. Who knows, you might soon be writing for us regularly!

So, what can you expect when you come here to browse? Well, each day will be different—we’re planning a rotating schedule of articles covering a wide range of topics. Maybe you can think of our magazine as a sort of patchwork quilt-- with intersecting ideas, emerging patterns, bits and pieces adding up to a significant whole step by step. There will be vibrant variety, along with an overall theme tying it all together in a meaningful way.

There will be at least one article posted each week day, rotating among the following general topics-- and you'll be able to find articles of special interest readily through our growing archive:

• High School at Home
• Online learning—regular features from our AP online teachers and from happy parents and students who’ve been involved in our AP classes, as well as ideas for other ways to use the Internet effectively to broaden your learning reach.
• Homeschoolers and college and scholarships – how to, when to, why to, and more.
• Sports and fitness ideas—homeschool team sports, public and private school sports, individual options, helpful health and safety websites, and more. A healthy homeschooler is ready to learn!
• Ideas for community service—stories featuring homeschoolers moving out to help others and make a difference in the larger world.
• Ideas on getting organized, finding helpful resources, learning to use our broader communities for active learning.
• Helps for those ‘little realities’ of taking important tests, getting ready for homeschool end-of-year evaluations, pulling together effective and meaningful portfolios, and communicating with others about how our kids are doing.
• Reviews of new books on homeschooling or educational resources – especially if written or developed by homeschoolers from PA.
• Regular ideas to use in homeschool Writing Clubs, including ideas I’ve developed over many years as well as ideas YOU send on that have worked with your groups.
• Ideas on organizing co-op classes—either in large groups meeting at public facilities, or small groups meeting at a private home. See the possibilities by hearing what others have done.
• Info on contests that are motivating and enriching for students—in all subject areas… math, writing, history, foreign languages, fitness, service, the arts – with direct links to website info for each contest, and stories of others who’ve found the experience valuable.  
• Helpful thoughts for new homeschoolers… and on-going encouragement for those who’ve been at it for a good while!

We look forward to your responses about our new online magazine format—and know that we’ll be continuing to ‘tweak’ things to make sure everything runs smoothly,  to create a visually exciting presentation, and to make it easier to receive notice on all new postings and more. Your suggestions are always welcome—and do let me know if you might like to write an article or review!

And while you’re here, spend some time exploring all the many options on our site—check out the active message board (and respond to someone’s question with your experience and insight!), read selected articles from back issues of our print newsletter, see if there’s a support group or co-op near to you, read the PA homeschool law, check out our homeschool links section, visit our online store, read about who we are (and see some family photos), and more. And see you again tomorrow!

Susan Richman, Editor Pennsylvania Homeschoolers

TOMORROW—Writing Club Ideas… for all ages! 

Comment by Brenda, 1/28/2010:

This is great!  I love the idea of something new everyday, and it's free!

Comment by Heather in WI, 2/3/2010:

I'm glad you're letting people from other states in on this, too.  Pennsylvania is certainly blessed by all of you!

Comment by Barbara Wagner, 2/3/2010:

Are you set up for me to subscribe to the magazine via RSS Feed?

Response to this comment by Howard Richman, 2/3/2010:
Barb, You can subscribe to our rss feed by clicking on that orange button near the top of the right sidebar, next to the word "Magazine." Howard

Comment by Cynthia, 2/4/2010:

Hi.  This is refreshing to see - great idea!  Do you plan to allow homeschooled students to submit articles?

Response to this comment by Susan Richman, 2/4/2010:
YES!!! We would *definitely* welcome submissions from homeschool students :-). Just email possible pieces to me, at richmans@pahomeschoolers.com   Be sure to include your student's age/ grade level (or graduation year, if the student has graduated...).  Thanks!  Susan Richman, Editor PA Homeschoolers

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