Arizona HOMESCHOOL HeartBeat
Monthly E-letter
May
2008
Volume 9, Issue 5
Even though Arizona is in our name,
we also cover news items of interest across the nation.
SPECIAL NEEDS
Gifted Education Press
Quarterly Free Offer
BREAKING NEWS: Joni and
Friends Television on a Station You Get
Gifted Students Sought for Johns Hopkins
Talent Search
NEWSWIRE- Free Seizure
Dogs for Children
ADHD Website
Gifted
Education Press Quarterly Free Offer
Dear
Subscribers
--
I recently sent you the latest link for the Spring 2008 issue of
Gifted Education Press Quarterly
on Monday, February 18, 2008 via Constant Contact.
Could you share the following message with your STAFF, TEACHERS OR PARENTS
to help me increase the number of individuals who read my publication?
I am offering them a complimentary copy of Gifted Education Press Quarterly
Online. They would need to email me directly to receive our Twentieth
Anniversary SPRING 2008 Online issue. My email address is:
gifted@giftededpress.com
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Maurice Fisher, Ph.D.
Publisher, Gifted Education Press
For my latest interview in
EducationNews.Org (April 10, 2008) about the gifted education field, click the
following link:
http://ednews.org/articles/24600/1/An-Interview-with-Maurice-Fisher-Publisher-Gifted-Education-Press/Page1.html
_________________________________________________________________
The SPRING 2008 Online Issue
of GEPQ contains the following articles:
1.
Editorial Comments by Maurice Fisher - Oscar Peterson, Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Black History Month
2. The Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM)
Susan Winebrenner San Marcos, California Dina Brulles Paradise Valley
Unified School District Phoenix, Arizona
3. A Never Ending Debate: Cultural Bias in Testing
Gilman W. Whiting Vanderbilt University
4. Aesthetic Percipience, Part 1: The Value of Supporting Gifted Students'
Appreciation of and Affinity for the Fine Arts
Jason A. Helfer Stephen T. Schroth Educational Studies Department Knox College
Galesburg, Illinois
5. Gifted Children and Shakespeare: Using Monologues and Scenes
Douglas King Gannon University Erie, Pennsylvania
6. John Grisham: Literary Entertainments for Gifted Students
Michael E. Walters Center for the Study of the Humanities in the Schools
If you know a colleague or
friend who would like a complimentary copy of the WINTER 2008 issue, tell them
to send their request to:
gifted@giftededpress.com
In addition, please see the
information on our Web Site about our latest books on creative thinking,
humanities, science and mathematics.
Contact me if you have any ideas for new articles or books that GEP can
publish.
Our latest book is by Harry T. Roman: Solar Power, Fuel Cells, Wind Power and
Other Important Environmental Studies for Upper Elementary and Middle School
Gifted Students and Their Teachers: A Technology, Problem-Solving and
Invention Guide. It is perfect for use in Tech Ed, pre-engineering and
environmental courses and study units. Further information can be found at:
http://www.giftededpress.com/HARRYTROMAN.htm.
In August 2006, EducationNews.Org interviewed me about the present state of
Gifted Education. Please see this interview at the following link:
http://www.ednews.org/articles/178/1/An-Interview-with-Maurice-Fisher-Gifted-Education-Press-and-Gifted-Education-Press-Quarterly/Page1.html
P.S. A past issue of Time Magazine (August 27, 2007) contains a lead article
entitled, The Genius Problem. This article includes information from an
essay published in the Spring 1996 issue of
GEPQ - "Anti-Intellectualism in
Secondary Schools: The Problem Continues" by Stephen Schroeder-Davis.
Joni and Friends Television
Last October Joni Eareckson Tada
began to host her own weekly 30-minute TV program. Her intent was to deal with
the very difficult spiritual questions that arise when dealing with issues
surrounding disabilities and suffering. Joni shows real people dealing with
real issues and applies spiritual and Biblical truths to those issues. There
are 27 programs planned for this first series. It has been very successful,
but there was one major problem. You had to have DirecTV to see it. Yes,
people did subscribe to DirecTV just for that reason, but most, including
myself, did not and therefore did not see it on TV. If we wanted to view the
program we had to purchase a DVD.
That problem HAS NOW BEEN
SOLVED.
Joni and Friends Television has launched on TBN, the Trinity
Broadcasting Network. In nearly every city and town in the U.S. TBN is part of
the regular programming fare. You just need an antenna to pick it up. In
Phoenix it is Channel 21. If you have cable or dish it usually on your basic
package. Friends around the world, for you TBN is most likely on your dish
network. I don't know when it will be on overseas (that is, what time you have
to be up to see it), but the time is pretty good in the U.S. I KNOW it will be
on at 4:30 PST, so that probably means it will be at 7:30 pm EST, 6:30 CST,
5:30 MST. As they always say, check your local listings.
To read more about it just
"Google": Joni TBN Those two words will bring up articles and press
releases. If you don't want to "google" you can go to
http://tbn.org/index.php/7.html?nid=238 or
http://jusmeagain.vox.com/library/post/joni-and-friends-television-to-air-on-tbn.html or
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2008/s08020025.htm.
There a lot more sites if you are interested in reading them.
Joni
and Friends is very excited about this, as you can well imagine. There are
many angles from which we could view this, but for me the bottom line is that
this is a way to bring hope to hurting people. I don't know where this fits on
the "scale of importance" of the ministry we have done through Joni and
Friends, but I know that a lot of people responded when the program was shown
on a relatively limited basis. We can only wait to see what will happen now
that Joni and Friends Television is available to not only
nearly every television viewer in the U.S., but to television viewers in
nearly every country in the world.
Finally, praise God with us that this is FREE AIR TIME. Can you imagine? Maybe
you can, but that just blows me away!
Feel
free to pass this message to your friends. I think this is the very first time
I have ever said this: Feel free to hit that ALL button! :)
Blessings,
Gary De
Velder, Church/Community Coordinator
Joni
and Friends Greater Phoenix
Bus:
480-945-8376 Cell: 480-229-8842
gdevelder@joniandfriends.org
http://phoenix.joniandfriends.org
"Equipping churches to empower
people affected by physical, emotional, and mental disabilities to serve
others."
CTY Talent Searches identify, assess, and
recognize students with exceptional mathematical and/or verbal reasoning
abilities. Students may participate in
Grades 2-6
or
Grades 7-8.
Participation in the CTY Talent Search comes with a wealth of benefits.
What are the
benefits of your child joining the Talent Search?
A: There are lots of practical
reasons why parents choose CTY’s Talent Search. Many families apply to the CTY
Talent Search to determine their child’s full capabilities. This can be
accomplished when students take above-grade-level tests designed for other
older students.
You and your child gain a
clearer view of academic strengths. This knowledge makes for a more effective
mapping of a child’s future educational plans and perhaps assists you when
asking for program modifications to your child’s school program.
The recognition your child
receives for his or her academic talent can also be a great
confidence-builder.
Eligible students may take CTY’s
acclaimed summer or online courses that enrich their academic lives.
As a Talent Search participant, your child will,
depending on grade-level, automatically qualify for our
language immersion program
and our
Civic Leadership Institute.
They'll also receive resource materials from CTY, as well as invitations to
join CTY’s Family Academic family conferences, and a chance to enroll in MyCTY
and subscribe to our award-winning
Imagine
magazine.
All of these
benefits—appreciation of one’s academic strengths, the availability of special
courses, and the critical recognition “that there are other bright students
out there just like me”—have been part of the Talent Search experience for
over 1.3 million students and their families since CTY’s founding in 1979.
Read
more detailed information about the
CTY Talent Search benefits.
Please consult the Talent Search
page at right for complete and detailed information about each of the CTY
Talent Searches.
Students in grades 7-8 take the College Board SAT or ACT.
SAT and ACT tests are given at high schools
throughout the country. Find the closest SAT
test center
or ACT
test center to
you.
REGISTRATION
FOR 2008 HAS ALREADY PASSED FOR 7TH-8TH GRADERS, BUT
PLAN NOW TO APPLY IN FALL OF 2008
Students in grades 2-6 take the SCAT test on
computer at Prometric Test Centers nationwide. Find the closest Prometric
test center
to you.
REGISTRATION
DEADLINE IS May 31 for the June 30 test.
NEWSWIRE- Free Seizure Dogs for Children
The Assistance Dog
Foundation is offering a free seizure dog to children in the Phoenix area.
The Foundation uses a unique technique in training their dogs. They breed
the dogs themselves .
Assistance Dog Foundation is
training a representative from Africa to train his own dogs for an orphanage
for 600 children with epilepsy. The Foundation needs local children with
epilepsy to work with in the training process. Each child participating will
keep his own dog. The training process will require a weekly meeting at the
foundation for the next several months.
You can check out the Foundation
at
www.assistancedogfoundation.org.
An application is available on the website and you can contact the manager,
Steve Dilk, at
manager@assistancedogfoundation.org
or 602-793-6062. The Foundation is a 503 ( c ) (3) non profit organization.
The dogs and their training are free.
Ellie Cox
Program Coordinator
Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona
602-406-3581 or 1-888-768-2690 (outside of Maricopa County)
Email:
ecox2@chw.edu
