Home school speech and debate state competition is just around the corner. Registration is now available online for the 2006 Texas State Speech and Debate Championship in Houston, Texas, March 2 - 4, 2006. The deadline to register is Feb 24th. Contact information for online registration can be found at the end of the following article. Interested, but don’t know much about it? Mike Larimer, THSC Advisory Board member, wrote the following article about the benefits and how-tos of speech and debate, which appeared in the August 2001 issue of the THSC REVIEW magazine.

Teaching Brain Surgery and Rocket Science "Last year I came across a very good curriculum that helped parents teach the art of rocket science. Recently, I discovered at a home school book fair a complete take-home kit, including text book, work book, and laboratory kit, which the parent could use to teach brain surgery and other details of neuroscience. Well, no, not really."

Join home school golfers from around the country! To date, there are registrations from six different states. Registration is open through March 10th for the National Home School Golf Championship in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday-Tuesday, April 10-11, 2006! This event, sponsored by a group of golf-loving Texas home schoolers, is open to both boys and girls, with no minimum age limit. Girls may have their own bracket, and there will be a bracket with players aged 10 and under. Cost for the tournament is about $100

There will be team and individual competitions played on two courses, a banquet on Monday evening (at which a touring pro will be speaking), special lodging rates, and a souvenir “goodie bag” for each player. Call Richard Driggers toll-free at 888-444-5420 for more information.

HOMESCHOOL GRADUATE SCOTT MACINTYRE TO MEET FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH The following account comes courtesy of Arizona Families for Home Education. Scott MacIntyre, homeschooled through high school, will be flown from London, England, to Washington, DC, to be received at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush on February 22nd. He is one of three recipients selected nation-wide for a scholarship and Scholastic Achievement Award from the RFBD (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) http://www.rfbd.org/NAASAA2005.htm. The organization will fly Scott's parents from Arizona to meet him for this momentous occasion as Mrs. Bush receives and congratulates the winners in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.

Homeschoolers with print or certain learning disabilities, dyslexia or visual impairment may join this organization (RFB&D) with an individual membership for a small fee and then have free lifetime access to over 250,000 text books and novels on CD or tape. Scott MacIntyre is the first home schooled student to win this national award. For more information on the RFBD, click on graphic.

Histrionics - staged or stagy conduct or exhibition of temperament usually intended to produce some particular effect or response in others – Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary In a speech on his “school reform tour,” President Clinton addressed the issue of regulating home education. Some quotes from his speech are included in an article by Isabel Lyman, who holds a doctoral degree in social science and is author of the Cato Policy Analysis, "Homeschooling: Back to the Future?" The following is an excerpt from “Home Schooling and Histrionics”:

“According to conservative estimates, home-schooled students account for only about 1 percent of the school-aged population. Their accomplishments are quite impressive, but some people are nonetheless suspicious and intolerant of this successful private education practice. Home schooling will not, if [President] Clinton gets his way, be spared from the reflexive desire of some to claim the need for government supervision, regardless of whether the object of the endeavor wants, needs, or will be improved by the intrusion.”

In Texas as private school officials, parents decide the requirements for high school graduation. After meeting those requirements, the student may receive a diploma. THSC Association offers a custom diploma on which you can have not only your student's name and graduation date but also your school's name and a life verse, if desired. Mix and match four wording choices with four different fonts and seven paper types.

THSC Association was contacted by a member family after they were told that they had to appear at the school and complete district forms before their child could be withdrawn to homeschool. The letter can be viewed by clicking on the link below.