2010 Torrance Legacy Creative Writing Awards

DESCRIPTION: Students are encouraged and invited to submit their finest creative work to help celebrate the great legacy of educator and creativity pioneer Dr. E. Paul Torrance, author of more than 2,000 tests, articles, and books.

ACCEPTED GENRES: Poetry submissions may respond to either The Celebration Of Life or What Do You See In Life And How Do You Respond To It?

Short stories may focus on one of the following creative themes: Building Sand Castles, Crossing Out Mistakes or Listening For Smells. Students are encouraged to freely interpret these themes. Please note that there is a 1,250 word limit for stories. There is no prescribed word limit for poems. Students are free to submit one short story and one poem. But students may not submit multiple poems or stories.

http://www.ststesting.com/cw_2010.html

More from Horrible Ray

For books from these British children's educational series: Horrible Books, Del Sol Books, Galore Park Books, or the new Horrible Science magazines, Horrible Ray (a homeschooling dad who works for a bookseller) does at least quarterly orders.

• now through August 8, 2010 for mid-September delivery
  
• September 26, 2010 for Late-October delivery
• November 14, 2010 for Mid-December delivery
• January 9, 2011 for Early-February delivery
• February 27, 2011 for Late-March delivery
  
  
• and books in stock too - so you might not have to wait!

He'll be accepting orders until midnight those days. You can see all of the gory details at : www.horriblebooks.com

We have not tried any Galore Park books (as far as I know) but Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Murderous Maths books and magazines(!) have been gobbled up with joy in our house.

More Dates (as of 6/10, subject to change):
April 17, 2011 for Mid-May delivery
June 12, 2011 for Mid-July delivery
August 7, 2011 for Early-September delivery
September 25, 2011 for Late-October delivery
November 13, 2011 for Mid-December delivery
January 8, 2012 for Early-February delivery
Dates subject to change Horribly.

My only relationship with Ray is as a happy customer.

FAQ for "Do the Dig"

Let students do "adult stuff in a kid way" with archaeology.

The Archaeology Perspective (T.A.P.) comes to a number of locations in New York, New Jersey and PA. Geof "Big Dog" Purcell has also done digs in Maryland, and probably CT/RI. Upcoming digs closest to me include:

• Aegean June 2011, Califon, NJ (new dig topic)
  
  
• NAI early America - Spring 2011 - Orange County Homeschoolers, NY
  
  
• (Roman) Egypt : Tuesday - Friday starting October 4th, 2010 near Blairstown. If you have any questions or are interested in participating please email Natashia for a headcount.
  
  
• China - Fall 2010 - Orange County Homeschoolers, NY
  
  
• Ancient India - last week of June 2010 (new dig topic!)
  
  " India! A cradle of civilization! What will you find? The remains of 5000 year old
  Harrapan cities? An early Hindu Temple (c.500 BC)? A Buddhist shrine (c.200 AD)? The garbage of a house (1850 AD)? It could be all of the above as we dig into the mysterious culture, geography and history of the sub-continent!"
  
  

Q: What exactly is an archaeology camp/dig?
A fun filled week of being able to dig for and find amazing artifacts and learn something new about different countries, geography, philosophy, ancient cultures, remains, and people. The children will also learn to solve on site archaeological puzzles for the dig they are doing.
The attending campers are encouraged and learn, with the guidance of Big Dog, to develop an interpretation and be able to present archaeological evidence from their dig by excavating the site in such a way as to maximize the preservation of information embedded in the context and embodied in the artifacts.

The participants will have a picture of what professional archaeologists do, how they do it, and perhaps why it matters, by determining:

• What are the artifacts? how were they used?
• How were they made? what resources used,
  
• What is the context of the artifacts? ("in the dirt", "in a bowl"?) how did they get here? (were they lost? hidden? or thrown away?)
• the problem to be solved: how we identify and interpret artifacts and their context, (was this made locally? are the resources local or were they acquired by trade? or war?)
  
• ways to solve them: by staring, digging, processing, questioning, and
  
• displaying the artifacts and explaining what was found creating exhibits.

The students will be led through questions like "How we know what we know about the past?" and learn to make crucial distinctions between different kinds of meaning by digging, thinking, exhibiting, and explaining artifacts.

Q: Who runs the camps?
Geof Purcell, a.k.a. Big Dog, Professor of Archaeology and a world renowned archaeologist decide several years ago that children would immensely benefit from the hands-on experience of what it's like to be an archaeologist. Mr. Purcell then created TAP-The Archaeological Perspective- to bring archaeology and children together.

Q: How long is the homeschool (day) camp?
Tuesday through Friday.

usually 10 am to 4 pm for the full day, children ages 7 and up, and 10 am to 1pm for half day campers, ages 5 to 7. (Note: Some camps run from 9 am to noon/3pm.)

Half day campers go home after lunch. In the afternoon, full day campers participate in playing strategic logical board games, which coincide with what they are learning in camp.

If you don't think your child would be ready for a full day program, or your schedule doesn't allow for it, it's perfectly alright just to participate in the half day program.

Children will "dig" mornings Tuesday through Thursday, with breaks for discussion, and their bag lunch. Afternoons are devoted to discussion, slide shows & games which re-enforce the concepts presented. They might trade resources using a board game, or strategize which expedition to fund in a card game. Friday they will set up a "museum", thinking about what they have seen & found, and the stories they built in their heads. Visitors are encouraged to come, look, and partake in the dig themed potluck.

A certain number of parents must stay at the dig - it is not for Geof & the host to supervise all 24 students! If you leave your child, be sure to leave contact information and, in case of emergency, a medical release with the host. Please inform the host and Big Dog of any allergies or special issues even if you are staying.

Q: What do the children do all day?
The dig site is divided into sections and the children are assigned a square, usually two children per square. They are given papers to map their daily dig and mark down what they find. The digging starts once all the campers have their proper digging tools and Big Dog explains the how, what, why, and where. The artifacts are then discovered, logged and cleaned. The children will also watch a slide show and hear Big Dog tell adventures tales of his travels from all over the world, all of which is tied in with the dig the children are doing.

Q: What is the cost for 2009 homeschool archaeology camp?
$170 for full day campers & $120 for half day campers.
20% discount for siblings.
$50 deposit required per child.
All checks need to be made out to TAP (short for "The Archaeological Perspective")

Q: When do we sign up?
In general, your child's spot will be secured once a deposit is received by the site coordinator. (It might be the host, or another parent volunteer.) You will also need to fill in registration forms. The final payment is usually expected about 3 weeks before the dig.

Did the Dig: (Roman) Egypt

Are you ready for the next Egypt dig? Week of October 4th , Tuesday to Friday.

Stop by the Metropolitan Museum of Art & look at the (Roman) Egypt, read some books -- or not. Your kids will still learn a ton from this archaeology (day) camp.

"Do the Dig" in October 2010 at a location in Blairstown, NJ in Warren County.

For more information on the dig please visit Geof's website http://www.dothedig.net . Or, use the labels on the side to see other descriptions. (The Met museum's website is http://www.metmuseum.org/ .

If you have any questions or are interested in participating please email Natashia < kruse@ptd.net > ASAP so she can have a headcount. (There might be spaces in Ancient India dig in Tweksbury... the last week of June.)

Student Discounts

Any student can subscribe to the Economist at the student rate I know homeschoolers that have done this.

The Wall Street Journal does verify that you are a student of your selected institution, so most people do not qualify for the student rate - anyone up to see how they handle homeschoolers?
You must be in high school or college for The Wall Street Journal student subscription. There are three subscription durations and rates available for the student edition. Pay $19.95 for 10 weeks of both the print and online edition, or $99.95 for a full year (52 weeks) of the Wall Street Journal online and in print. That rate is 75% off the newsstand cover price.