Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Magazine

Keys to designing an AP-preparation high school English Program

12 Mar 2010 20:54:39 EST

Maya Inspektor, 3/12/2010

Maya Inspektor has taught online AP English Literature and AP English Language for three years through PA Homeschoolers AP Online. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh in 2004, majoring in English nonfiction writing and Psychology. She obtained a Masters of Education in Secondary English from Carlow University, studying homeschooling English programs for her masters thesis. She has also taught at a private school in Pittsburgh, led creative writing classes at the School of Advanced Jewish Studies, and served as an SAT tutor for a major test preparation company. She currently lives in Israel with her husband and two cats.

*a drawing done in high school at home by Maya Richman Inspektor, of her mom, Susan Richman (editor PA Homeschoolers) reading aloud during meal times*

Each year, I get a few applications to my AP English courses from students who seem young and unprepared. Often, I get the feeling that parents know their child isn't quite ready for an AP English course, but they're stumped about how to plan a high school English program without the structure of an outside program.

Surprise! The best preparation for an AP English course is usually an extension of....

One Pennsylvania Homeschooling Family's Special Connection to Haiti

10 Mar 2010 18:12:15 EST

Carline Crevecoeur, 3/10/2010

Editor's Note from Susan Richman: I first met Carline Crevecoeur, MD, when she brought her children to participate in our annual PA Homeschoolers National Geographic Bee-- scheduled this year on January 10th, just two days before the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. We were all intrigued that Carline's family was originally from Haiti-- and I know that we all felt an especially sorrowful connection when we heard so soon about the devastation of the island. I'm so very grateful to Carline for sharing her extended family's story of their Haitian connections-- and to hear of the family's work in creating effective re-building projects, especially near their family's old hometown near to Port-au-Prince. Carline Crevecoeur MD is the treasurer of the C-CHANGE for Haiti Organization. She is also an obstetrician/gynecologist who volunteers at the Centre Volunteers In Medicine (CVIM). She lives in State College, PA, with her husband, where they homeschool their five children. Dr. Carline Crevecoeur will be travelling to Haiti in April. Visit www.c-changeforhaiti.org to make donations or to find out about C-CHANGE’s most recent efforts in the struggle to rebuild Haiti. And, just for the record, all of Carline's children were exceptionally bright and capable in the Geo Bee-- and her young 4th grade son Joey won our local Bee. We just found out last week that he has also qualified for the PA State Bee to be held at the Penn State Campus in State College on April 9th-- a remarkable accomplishment for such a young student. All of the children are clearly carrying on the family's strong legacy of learning and achievement-- and giving back to their larger community.

The 1960s were the years of the great “Brain Drain” from Haiti. The brutal dictatorship of Francois Duvalier, with its ‘tonton macoutes’, came to power on September 22^nd, 1955, and indiscriminately terrorized the Haitian people by committing unspeakable atrocities. A few years later, anyone who could flee from Haiti did.

Like most Haitian intellectuals at that time, my father, a mathematician and a lawyer, was looking for a better and safer life for his family....

Writing by Retelling

08 Mar 2010 21:21:23 EST

Kathryn Walker , 3/8/2010

Kathryn Walker is a PHAA graduate and holds a B.A in English from Hillsdale College, a Masters in Education from Eastern University, and PA Teaching Certification for English 7-12. After teaching AP Language and Composition for several years at Valley Forge Military Academy, she now lives in Lancaster and works as a consultant, evaluator, and online tutor in order to stay home with her baby daughter. Kathryn's husband Chris is a homeschool grad from Ohio-- who was also a star student in several of our AP Online classes during his high school years. Kathryn has published work in First Things, Touchstone Magazine, and Independent Teacher Magazine. This coming school year she will be teaching a section of online AP Language and Composition for homeschoolers.

*A painting by Molly (Maya) Richman Inspektor, age 12*

I was surprised during my sophomore year of college to realize that Chaucer’s tales were not original. That is not to say that he didn’t artfully craft each of them, but the basic storylines were nothing new. Pulling from sources like folklore, Greek myth, and medieval mystery plays, Chaucer used constructions his public was already familiar with, and made them fresh and poignant by tweaking the characters, events, and themes, often in startling ways. “The Clerk’s Tale,” for instance, was originated by Boccacio and then translated and commented on first by Petrarch and later by de Mezieres. Somehow thinking of the Canterbury Tales in that light made Chaucer seem a little more human to me.

In some sense, though, all of literature is a retelling: an adaptation of human events, conflicts, personalities, and themes as we perceive them....