A visitor to Planet Homeschool during the open house on May 1, 2015 chats about why she's there. Interviewed by Solomon Midwinter. Video by Aurora J. Pass.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Major General Stanley and Judy O’Neill
by Malachi Johnson
PHS Press staff member
On a more personal note, unlike Major General Stanly, O’Neill has not
incorporated the Pythagorean theorem into her parenting style. Because “I don’t
think of the Pythagorean theorem and parenting as intertwined. The Pythagorean
theorem is really straightforward and clear-cut, where-as parenting has none of
those qualities,” she said.
PHS Press staff member
Math teachers. They help you solve problems that you
would never have without them.
Judy O’Neill was inspired to
teach by watching teachers and learning from them. O’Neill began her teaching career in 2008 at Planet Homeschool.
O’Neill started teaching at Planet Homeschool because one of her two daughters started attending. To
O’Neill, a typical day at Planet Homeschool is very busy with every thing being
set up. Never the less O’Neill very much enjoys teaching algebra and geometry.
Meet Tim Hereid
PHS Press staff member
This is an interview with Tim Hereid,
the physics teacher at PHS, for our teacher spotlight stories. Be sure to look
out for other stories on other teachers at PHS on the site!
When asked how he found out about PHS, he said that he had
just found out about it through internet research, eventually, he got an
interview, and the place just seemed like the perfect fit for him. The reason
he had wanted to teach at a place like PHS, he said, was that he had always
sought an environment where kids were self motivated, interested in learning,
and he just likes to teach. He said his initial interest was just a place that
had the kinds of science and electronics classes he wanted to teach, that his
first idea, the High Altitude balloon class, was a blast to teach, and that he
still sees some of those ex-students in his classes today.
 |
| High Altitude Class |
Q&A With Tim Hereid
Q: How long have you been teaching at PHS?
A: I believe I started in 2012, so about three years.
Q: What is your favorite thing about teaching at PHS?
A: Well, it’s a great community, a very strong community,
another great thing is that with homeschool kids, they’re just as comfortable
with adults as with kids their age, and that’s just great.
Q: So, you teach physics?
A: Yes, I generally teach middle school physics, which is
very project-based, you know, we build catapults and we’re going to build pendulums,
just as hands on as it can possibly get with physics. And then I’m teaching a
sign-language class, I taught an ethics class, the app class, geography,
biology, hoping to teach creative writing,
Q: How would you say PHS differs from other places you’ve
taught at?
A: Other than
what I’ve said already, it’s great because both the kids and the adults get a
chance to explore a workshop-like environment, the big difference I think is
just the love of learning, I mean the kids just really, really like to learn,
and it feels more like a collaborative work environment than it does a
classroom.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
BOOK REVIEW: The Kingdoms of Evil by Daniel Bensen
by Solomon Midwinter
PHS Press staff writer
The Kingdoms of Evil by Daniel Bensen was a joy to read. It was a surprise to learn it was his first book. I would recommend this book highly, but only to people 12 and up, because there are a few moments involving some colorful language, and some moments that may not be suitable for younger children.
I expected the book to be a comedy, and very little else. While certainly funny, the book actually also had some more serious moments, which was a nice surprise.
It is an imaginative series, set in a fictional universe that is in many ways not so different from our own. Freetrick Feend was a student at a college in the Rationalist Union. Then he was spirited off by a strange, anatomically improbable creature called Mr. Skree, and his betrothed, a strange and terrifying woman called Bloodbyrn. He was taken to be the god-king of the kingdoms of evil. This was an incredibly dysfunctional empire, composed of three kingdoms.
It had once been a serious threat and force in the world, but that time was centuries ago, and now it is a nation stuck in the middle ages, in an (albeit magical) world that is in the post industrial era.
Quite beyond that, government policies, or lack thereof, have ensured that unless something is done quickly, the entire empire will implode. That is if they don't starve to death first. And no one realizes how weak the military and decides to invade.
And on top of all of this, the Skrean (Skrea is one of the kingdoms of evil) magic system is entirely dependent on slaughtering massive numbers of monsters and/or people, as its magic system is necromancy.
As the name implies, these kingdoms relatively few human inhabitants are almost exclusively homicidal maniacs and sadists. More to the point, the standard procedure if you are unhappy with the current administration is to arrange the death of the current ruler. And as a sane and logical ruler, Freetrick had some deeply unpopular ideas.
This book is great, although somewhat hard to find. It was never actually traditionally published, but it can be found on Kindle unlimited, or just Kindle. It is also supposed to be the first book in a series, called the Covenant Nonsense. I have been unable to find the second book, but I am still looking. I am, however, thinking that it will come out soon if it does at all, as it was published as an Ebook four years ago. All in all, I would rate this book quite highly, and hope to find a sequel soon.
PHS Press staff writer
The Kingdoms of Evil by Daniel Bensen was a joy to read. It was a surprise to learn it was his first book. I would recommend this book highly, but only to people 12 and up, because there are a few moments involving some colorful language, and some moments that may not be suitable for younger children.
I expected the book to be a comedy, and very little else. While certainly funny, the book actually also had some more serious moments, which was a nice surprise.
It is an imaginative series, set in a fictional universe that is in many ways not so different from our own. Freetrick Feend was a student at a college in the Rationalist Union. Then he was spirited off by a strange, anatomically improbable creature called Mr. Skree, and his betrothed, a strange and terrifying woman called Bloodbyrn. He was taken to be the god-king of the kingdoms of evil. This was an incredibly dysfunctional empire, composed of three kingdoms.
It had once been a serious threat and force in the world, but that time was centuries ago, and now it is a nation stuck in the middle ages, in an (albeit magical) world that is in the post industrial era.
Quite beyond that, government policies, or lack thereof, have ensured that unless something is done quickly, the entire empire will implode. That is if they don't starve to death first. And no one realizes how weak the military and decides to invade.
And on top of all of this, the Skrean (Skrea is one of the kingdoms of evil) magic system is entirely dependent on slaughtering massive numbers of monsters and/or people, as its magic system is necromancy.
As the name implies, these kingdoms relatively few human inhabitants are almost exclusively homicidal maniacs and sadists. More to the point, the standard procedure if you are unhappy with the current administration is to arrange the death of the current ruler. And as a sane and logical ruler, Freetrick had some deeply unpopular ideas.
This book is great, although somewhat hard to find. It was never actually traditionally published, but it can be found on Kindle unlimited, or just Kindle. It is also supposed to be the first book in a series, called the Covenant Nonsense. I have been unable to find the second book, but I am still looking. I am, however, thinking that it will come out soon if it does at all, as it was published as an Ebook four years ago. All in all, I would rate this book quite highly, and hope to find a sequel soon.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Wait, what is a Propane-a-phone?
by Parker Lehman
PHS Press staff member
PHS Press staff member
 |
| Boiled in Lead |
Boiled in Lead is a Minneapolis
based band of an impossible to define genre. They kicked off on Saint Patrick’s
Day 1983 and 15 years later released a compilation titled “Alloy”.
The Band is made up of Marc
Anderson (drums and percussion), Dean Magraw (guitar) Todd
Menton (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bodhran, whistle) Drew Miller (bass
guitar, dulcimer) David Stenshoel (fiddle.)
Alloy kicks off with “Arpad's Guz,”
a fast paced song that mixes a strange cymbal sound with an unidentifiable
string instrument. The next track “House-Husband’s Lament” is rockabilly at its
finest.
They go on combining the surreal,
(“The Microorganism”) the silly, (“Rasputin”) and the serious (“The
Dreadnaught”). Boiled in Lead pulls from a collection of 16 instruments
including Electric guitar, Hurdy-gurdy, Propane-o-phone, and Zurna to craft a
wonderful sound where you never know what will come next. The bass player Drew
defines what exactly a Propane-a-phone is: “The propane-o-phone is some long
metal pipes that, when you heat the column of air inside with a propane torch,
it produces that special sound that only a propane-o-phone can.” They are used
on “The Microorganism.”
After 32 years Boiled in Lead is
still going strong. Check them out at http://www.boiledinlead.com/
or search YouTube for some of their music.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Soren Le’go’ Page
by Parker Lehman
PHS Press staff member
PHS Press staff member
 |
| Soren LePage of Woodbury |
Lego stop motion is a technique has
been around for years and is a favored medium for PHS’s very own Soren LePage,
15 years old from Woodbury MN.
The popularity of this medium
reached an all time high after The Lego Movie grossed $468,000,000 making it
the 13th highest grossing animation of all time. They used a mix of computer
generated and stop motion Lego animation.
In Lego stop motion a scene is set up then the Lego figures
are moved in incredibly small increments taking a picture each time. About 4
years ago as LePage was watching Forrestfire101, a well known Lego animator,
and decided to try his hand at animation. He set up his Legos and prepared to
take thousands of photos. When asked why he enjoyed it he responded, “Because I
play God.”
POLL: The better of the two
Malachi Johnson
PHS Press staff member
The people of Planet Homeschool have taken their votes of
which one is better.
Indiana Jones
or
Star Wars.
Indiana Jones got 6 votes
Star Wars got 17.
Star Wars is the clear victor with a whopping 17 points.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)