The US CyberPatriot program runs online competition events for middle school and high school students that focus on operating and defending individual computer operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu Linux, as well as Cisco network appliances. Cyber security is a strong focus area. HSSN has fielded multiple teams per year since 2014 in the US Cyber Patriot program with students from around the lowcountry of South Carolina ranging in age from those in 6th through 12th grade.

The Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition is a three day event hosted by Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) Atlantic in collaboration with the South Carolina Lowcountry Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). The first day of PCDC is when High school teams are invited to compete based on their performance in the US Cyber Patriot Program’s state round. These PCDC events are very competitive and result in head-to-head between some of the best trained high school teams from around the state of SC. The format of these events are red-on-blue live competition and require teams to operate and defend a complex set of networked computers while defending against live attackers. The event attackers are professionally trained penetration testers and red team members primarily from within the Department of Defense (DoD).

The Home School Support Network Online Academy provides students with basic system administration knowledge and skills training at HomeSchoolSTEM.com. Local Charleston area students have an opportunity to join a HSSN Cyber Team that meets regularly to receive more advanced training and preparation for events like those hosted by US CyberPatriot and PCDC. Our HSSN Cyber Teams regularly finish in the top five teams in SC in the US Cyber patriot events.

Leave a comment below or join or Cyber Team Info Mailing Lists to learn more about how to get home school students in these competitions.

Affiliate links for resources used in the video:

Stetro Pencil Grips – Assorted Colors

Doodle Pro Travel – Green*

* The lines were drawing on our Doodle toy by the parent using a permanent marker and ruler.

If you are a first time user of either program, you will notice the markedly different approach of teaching the sounds through the use of writing. Saying the phonogram sounds while writing is a major tool for memory! They need to SEE it, HEAR it, SAY it, and WRITE it! Sanseri states in Spell to Write and Read that, “Saying and writing the phonograms help build neuro-connectors that tie together four distinctly different areas of the brain and more strongly imprint the sound-symbol link for later recall. Such multi sensory instruction teaches to every child’s strength and remediates every child’s weaknesses.” (SWR p33)

One reason I made this video is to better clarify how to introduce new phonograms, especially the verbalizing part. You will notice as I go along that some of the dictation (verbalizing) words are dropped. This is because I want to get my child away from saying the strokes to saying only the phonogram sounds as soon as possible! The foundational groundwork that has already been laid, is the spatial awareness of the paper lines (top line, mid line and baseline), the terms right and left, teaching of the handwriting Circle Slide visual from STEPS (SWR uses a clock face visual), and the names of the cursive strokes (SWR uses different titles for the strokes than you will hear).

Please keep in mind that the process you will see in the video is repeated for EACH NEW PHONOGRAM–DAILY! After 2-3 days of this process, I am able to drop the dictation (verbalizing) words altogether from the daily practice. Those dictation words then become used only when my child is stuck and “can’t remember” how to form a phonogram.

One caution- while many children resist pencil and paper writing in favor of the more fun tactile experience, the latter cannot be abandoned! Please don’t buy into the lie that all learning has to be fun! It simply won’t be…and the same is true for real life responsibilities! The tactile is helpful because we retain information better when we use more methods of input. This is one reason we write our phonograms while they say the sounds the phonogram makes. Likewise, using a salt box, sidewalk chalk, or shaving cream on a table to ‘write’ the phonograms while saying the sounds makes the learning pathway stronger. However, only practicing with the fun tactile methods will not be sufficient practice! As the week progresses, if your child is struggling with any phonograms you should increase the number of times your child is writing them on paper. The video example shows writing the phonogram F six times before moving onto the next phonogram. After a couple of days, I will increase this practice to 10-15 times each for the ones my son still struggles with. This is why I assign a weekly “home quiz” with any missed ones to be written EXTRA on the back of the quiz paper. I begin the process that the video shows on Thursday and continue with more of the same on Friday and Monday. Tuesday morning I give a quiz (without any warm up practice) to see the phonograms he struggles with most and THAT is where I focus (and increase) the practice, only reviewing the others to keep them fresh! The Magna Doodle is an excellent tool to keep things fresh and to take advantage of those unused moments in the car!

Related:

http://www.homeschoolsupport.net/teaching-cursive-first/

This class is intended for middle and high school students interested in enhancing their knowledge, skills, and abilities in Information Technology or Cyber Security. All students can benefit from this course regardless of their future education or career plans. Students will learn how computer systems work. They will learn how to troubleshoot computer systems using system administration skills on Microsoft, Apple, and Linux operating systems. The class will be delivered via recorded instructional videos with additional assignments and quizzes. Students and parents will have access to grades using the Home School Support Network (HSSN) Online Academy Learning Management Software (LMS).

What are parents of previous students saying about this course?

“My son has been involved in this since last summer and has learned so much and has built friendships along the way. Hank Osborne is a godly man who has been a wonderful encouragement to my son and he has inspired to him learn more.” Laura F. (Charleston, SC)

UPDATE: The class has been published as of June 30, 2015. Visit the Online Academy page for more information about this course.

Check HERE to register now!

Here are the basic facts:

What: Paid Internships with the US Navy

Who: High School Students (age requirements…see notes below under SEAP) and College Students

When: Summer 2015 (Application deadline 12/19/2014)

Where: SPAWAR Atlantic, Charleston, SC *

*Additional locations in the following states:  AZ, CO, CA, CT, DC, FL, HI, IN, MD, MS, NJ, PA, RI, TX, VA

It is my understanding that the programs try to announce the internship recipients by mid-February each year. The application is fairly comprehensive so I recommend your child get started ASAP if they are interested. Some of the information that will be required during the application process:

High School Students

This program offers over 350 students internships for an 8 week period during the summer at one of 25 locations around the country. High school students who have completed at least Grade 9. A graduating senior is eligible to apply. Students must be 16 years of age for most laboratories. Some laboratories may take students as young as 15. The SEAP Participating Labs page for SPAWAW says that SPAWAR requires students to be at least 17 years of age, but I am told that this can be waived for some positions. I would recommend that interested students who will 16 by the Summer go ahead and apply. Please visit the SEAP web site to get details and apply for the program. The deadline to apply for Summer 2015 internships is December 19th, 2014.

College Students

NREIP provides competitive research internships to approximately 275 college students (200 undergraduate students and 75 graduate students) each year. Participating students  spend ten weeks during the summer conducting research at approximately 29 DoN laboratories. Please visit the NREIP web site to get details and apply for the program. The deadline to apply for Summer 2015 internships is December 19th, 2014.

One clearly made point to me was about time-outs, grounding, and taking away privileges. The Links say that these parenting practices are often not effective because the child is just serving their time much like a prison sentence. I can clearly see my children just wait for the time to be up and it’s not long before they are returning to the same behaviors! This book provides answers to such a dilemma.

There are so many examples and practical applications that this book provides. It is a must read and a great addition to your Christmas list!!

The authors and their adult children are very dear friends. The fruit of their labor as parents is beautiful. I am not alone with my opinion of this book. As of today there are 43 reviews of this book on Amazon and ALL of the reviews are five stars and I haven’t even added my review yet! I encourage you to check out the Link’s website titled Parenting Made Practical.

I was recently asked this question during a parent conference. Now here’s the context…

I have been teaching the STEPS program (similar to the SWR program) in my homeschool co-op since September 2012. We meet only once a week for 50 minutes. I have had to modify many things to fit this abbreviated schedule so no I have not followed either program as it was “designed.” Yet the results are still there!

It was during a conference that a parent stated (something to the effect of) for this program to really work, it is obvious there needs to be more work done at home than what I assign. I was then asked if I could make a checklist of the work we do in a week.  I am posting the checklist here to help others also. Some of the items may need to be crossed off if you haven’t gotten to that point (like spelling words) while other items can be added.

Download a printable copy of the above chart from Google Docs

Memorizing Vs. Analyzing Spelling Words

The main difference between STEPS/SWR and other curriculum is that the child is trained to use the knowledge of the sounds and letters (called phonograms) to spell words. He learns to spell a word based on the phonograms he hears PLUS applying the spelling rules. He has to make decisions on which phonograms to use and then analyze why a word is spelled the way it is (with highlights). Most reading programs use a memorization method often with no rhyme or reason on why a word is spelled or read a certain way (and the child “brain dumps” the information after the spelling quiz!)

One of the best methods to learn spelling words is to practice “sounding them for spelling” and to blend the sounds together to “read it”. We talk about the red highlights and how they make the word sound.  We discuss the spelling rules that apply to the words. I have made a short video of my 5 year old son practicing his spelling words because a picture truly is worth a thousand words!

A video of Josiah sounding for spelling and reading:

Notice that the focus is on the sounds the letters make rather than the letter names. When you are trying to read and spell a word, knowing the sounds to automatic is a must because most letters (consonants) do not say their name. For example, the letter B never says “b” in a word! So rather than focusing on spelling “bed” by saying the letter names b-e-d, the child should focus instead on the sounds /b/-/e/-/d/. When a child can spell “bed” rest assured he can read it also!

Things mentioned in this episode:

How to Teach a Child to Read Part 1

Interview with Elizabeth (Liz) FitzGerald where we talk about her book Cursive First.

STEPS (Sequential Teaching of Explicit Phonics and Spelling) Curriculum

SWR (Spell to Write and Read) Curriculum

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“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

You need to print that verse out and repeat it to yourself every morning as you begin the journey of teaching your child to read. The goal is obtainable and the rewards are indescribable. It is possible to have your kindergarten child reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of the K5 year. You can invest 60-90 minutes per day and your child does not need to be a genius to accomplish this.

Things mentioned in this episode:

Samples of our son Riley’s progress with learning to read, spell, and write and cursive in kindergarten.

Interview with Elizabeth (Liz) FitzGerald where we talk about her book Cursive First.

STEPS (Sequential Teaching of Explicit Phonics and Spelling) Curriculum

SWR (Spell to Write and Read) Curriculum

Abeka Homeschool and Christian School Curriculum

The Wise Guide for Spelling {Amazon Affiliate Link}

Podcast Awards: Please consider nominating this podcast for the podcast awards in the Education category.

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We were introduced to the concept of training our children to put their hands on the car while in busy parking lots by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo in the “Toddlerhood Transitions” video series. Putting a magnet on the car gives the children a direct place to put their hands making the instruction very concrete rather than an abstract instructions to “stand still” or “don’t move.” Really, what do those words mean to a toddler anyway?!

I had envisioned finding cute magnets such as cars or trains to use but had a very hard time finding magnets that were bigger than 3 inches then I stumbled on Parking Pals! All the younger boys received one in their Easter basket that year.

Let the training begin…

A tool is only as good as the training in using it (and the parental resolve)! We practiced loading and unloading the van in our driveway and communicating expectations. They all learned what “hands on car” means. Obedience was not an option. Mom’s resolve was strong and it was strong because of their safety.

Even the littlest one got the hang of it! Though I still have to watch him like a hawk, the Parking Pal magnets have been a great stress relief!

The reading program that I incorporated the Cursive First into is called STEPS (Sequential Teaching of Explicit Phonics and Spelling). Handwriting is included in STEPS but it was easy for me to take out that part of the program to use the Cursive First. I did switch to STEPS handwriting paper that does not have “skip lines” as soon as we were done with writing the numerals. Some children have a hard time transitioning to regular lined paper so I went ahead and taught that early on.

Cursive First fits more neatly with the SWR (Spell to Write and Read) curriculum. The author of Cursive First, Elizabeth FitzGerald, is a trainer for the SWR program. This program is easily obtainable, in fact I got my copy off Amazon. I do like that SWR has a Biblical base whereas STEPS was created for public school use. Perhaps I will do a more thorough curriculum review of both in the future….

I give you a brief description of these two reading methods to acknowledge that the writing samples of my son’s will look a little different than both these methods because I blended the two together. Beyond the writing, I find both the SWR & STEPS to be very similar in their method, phonograms, and spelling rules. STEPS just happened to be the curriculum I already had from my previous teaching days.

*Disclaimer: My son is not “gifted” in reading and writing. In fact, he really dislikes writing to this day & would much prefer to do math! He does love to read, and has consistently read above grade level, but I attribute that more to an effective reading method rather than “giftedness.”*

I started with teaching the appropriate “tripod” pencil grip, sitting posture, and writing position. I taught the clock face reference tool (or the handwriting circle reference tool used by STEPS). Then I used a variety of tactile and kinesthetic activities such using a salt box as shown below.