MOSI Homeschool Educators Open House will be Aug. 11

TAMPA - The Homeschool Educators Open House will be Aug. 11 at the Museum of Science & Industry. The event for families that home-school their children includes free, self-guided tours of exhibits, science demonstrations and a preview of the museum's Homeschool Education programs for the 2008-09 school year. The open house is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MOSI is at 4801 E. Fowler Ave. For details, call (813) 987-6000 or visit www.mosi.org.

First Amendment Class update - A Look at Freedom of Speech with Special Guests

We’re continuing our look at the First Amendment today, at 3pm at Jimmy Keel Public Library in Tampa, with an examination of the free speech clause:

Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.

To help make the concept of free speech meaningful and relevant, we’ll be joined this afternoon by a couple of folks from the community with some interesting first hand experiences in free speech.

BetteJo Indelicato, of the Florida Peace Action Network, who traveled to Iraq as part of a Peace Team organized by Voices for Creative Non-Violence and now spends a lot of her time exercising her right to free speech throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.

And

Mark Nash, a local community activist and field director for Hillsborough County Commission candidate, Kevin Beckner. Mr. Nash has been a producer on Tampa Bay Community Network (TBCN) on public access television, and has hosted shows like Voice of Pride, an LGBT news, views and events show. He also serves on the boards of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council and Winter Pride Tampa Bay.

In addition, we’ll be viewing portions of a couple of different films, and exploring various ideas about free speech through some situational ethics exercises.

You do not have to have attended previous classes to attend this one, or any future classes. Companion material can be found online at the University of LIFE . The class is most appropriate for ages 12+ .

On Monday, August 4th, we’ll be looking at freedom of the press issues, and on August 18th, we’ll be wrapping up the First Amendment class with an examination of the rights to assemble and petition.

Classes are held at Jimmy Keel Public Library at 2902 W Bearss Ave, in Tampa, from 3pm – 5pm.

Email willinghamster@gmail.com for more information. No RSVP necessary for this afternoon. Just join in!

Thanks!

Terri Willingham
www.learningis4everyone.org

Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center offers new program for Homeschoolers

From Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center

We at BSAC will kick off our new Kaleidoscope Home School Program
with an open house on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 from 9 AM to 12 PM and
from 5 to 7 PM. Home school parents and children will have an
opportunity to tour the facility and meet all of our wonderful
program coaches.

The Kaleidoscope Program will run on Tuesdays, beginning September 2,
2008 from 9 AM to 12 PM. Registered students will experience
swimming, diving, gymnastics, martial arts, self defense, tennis,
track and field, and arts and crafts. Our first session will end
December 9, and all students will receive a certificate of completion
for their home school portfolios.

If you home school, or know someone who does, this is a fabulous
addition to your curriculum! Please call Member Services at (813) 689-
0908 for more information.

Water Atlas Training for Homeschool Educators - Pinellas County

Pinellas County's Department of Environmental Management has a training opportunity for all home-school parent teachers. The Water Atlas is a website that houses regional water quality data, documentsand a great deal of educational material. A set of curricula has been written for use with the Water Atlas. The training is provided free of charge and lunch will be provided.

You can view the Water Atlas from the site below. The curricula are available directly from the website, just go to education and click on `Curriculum for Teachers'. There you will find PDF and MicrosoftWord versions of the Teacher's Guides and Student Handouts.

http://www.pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/

www.wateratlas.org is the regional website where other county information can be accessed.You may contact me by phone or e-mail if you or any other teachers you know would be interested in attending.

We are in the process of scheduling more daytime and evening dates so if you are interested but cannot attend, please let us know.

Thanks, we hope to see you this summer.

Anamarie Rivera
Environmental Specialist
Pinellas County Watershed Management Division
300 S. Garden Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33756Phone: (727) 464-4425
Fax: (727) 464-4403
Email: ARivera@PinellasCounty.org

First Amendment Class agenda & companion online site link

I'm posting the agenda for the 1st Amendment Class we're starting this afternoon at Jimmy Keel Library, along with the link the myicourse online companion material. Even if you can't make theclass, you're welcome to use the online resources:

First Amendment Class

Course Outline

Online companion material at University of LIFE

(http://universityoflife.myicourse.com/)

Class I - Monday June 30 – 3pm – 5pm

Constitution and Bill of Rights Overview

Introduction to the First Amendment

Class II – Monday, July 7, 3pm-5pm

Understanding Religious Liberty

We'll view 1st Freedom First film:

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Separation of Church andState…but Were Afraid to Ask

Class III – Monday, July 21, 3pm-5pm

Understanding Freedom of the Press

Panel discussion, Situational Ethics role play

Class IV – Monday, August 4 – 3pm-5pm

Understanding Freedom of Speech

Short film Case studies, Situation Ethics games

Class V – Monday, August 18, 3-5pm

Bringing it all Home –Understanding the Freedom of Assembly and Petition

And using the First Amendment in Your Life

To use the myicourse site, go to https://universityoflife.myicourse.com/user/register to register free for access to the First Amendment course material. Once your registration goes through (I think it's pretty quick), click on "Course Catalog" in the navigation menu on the left, then "enroll"in the First Amendment Multicourse Module.

Once you do, you'll see four courses -- try the pretest together, for fun, to see what you know already. Then the rest of the course material will become available to you. Don't worry about the "1000 hours" reference you'll see. It's just an arbitrary (large) number to keep the final assessment off line. And we're using "assessment" in the loosest sense of the word, here.

All of this is to be enjoyed at whatever level you'd like to enjoy it and, hopefully, to learn from it.

Terri

First Amendment Class starts June 30 at Jimmy Keel Library

Our First Amendment class will start Monday, June 30th, at Jimmy Keel Library in Tampa and run from 3-5pm , two days a month.

The current class schedule is:
June 30th
July 7 & 21
August 4 & 18th

We can add more classes if needed, but we should be able to cover most of the material within 10 hours.

I'll be posting a suggested materials list soon, and hope to have the University of LIFE companion site up and running by the end of this week.

***Please RSVP with a final headcount of students (adults welcome!) by Friday, June 27.***

This class is best for youth 12 and up, and will cover a variety of information and cases pertaining to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Email me at willinghamster @gmail.com to RSVP or with questions.

The class is free, but a Network for Good donation of your choice to Learning is for Everyone, under whose auspices I'm providing the class, would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Terri Willingham
LIFE of Tampa

Apple's Home to Homeschools

From Apple Computer:

Homeschooling has grown significantly over the past several years, with current estimates of up to 2.2 million homeschooled students. At Apple, we have focused on building technology solutions for education for over 25 years. And now, recognizing the growing demand of homeschoolers, we are making the full range of Apple's educational products and solutions available to homeschools.

Eligibility
You qualify as a homeschool if you:

*Provide a complete school curriculum for the children you homeschool
*Meet the homeschool (teaching) requirements set forth by your appropriate Department of Education

If you have further questions regarding verification, call us at 1-800-MY-APPLE.

* Buy a qualifying Mac and iPod with your Apple education discount from June 3, 2008, through September 15, 2008, while supplies last, and be eligible for a rebate up to $299. Terms and conditions apply.