Computers are becoming more and more pervasive in our lives.  Kids learn to use them at a very young age these days and for some their interest goes beyond playing Angry Birds or using Facebook.

If you have a kid interested in learning to write programs, where do you start?  What resources are there available for the homeschooling parent?  Fortunately, the same tools available to public schools are available to home educators.

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Hello world! My database crashed. I’m in the process of trying to recover the posts and everything that was here. Some links on the site may not work for a few weeks until I work out all of the kinks.  Listen as I explain a little more.

Update: If you’re looking for an old podcast and you can’t find it, try this: http://wp.me/p1aciG-c

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Tim Tebow Law – Is it really good for homeschoolers?

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about the “Time Tebow” laws that are in various state legislatures around the U.S. I have some mixed feelings about such laws. I live a highly-regulated state and I really don’t want to give the state another reason to scrutinize my homeschooling. On the other hand, I understand the viewpoint that we still pay school taxes and so our children should be allowed to participate in the same extra-curricular activities as public school students.

Geek Dads have something to hide?

I posted an infographic earlier this week pertaining to “geek dads” and the greatness of being a dad who’s technically savvy. However, there are some downsides to being a “geek dad” like the ability to hide our activities.

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Apple announced the reinvention of the textbook last week when they launched iBooks 2.
Fast facts:

• 20,000 education apps built for iPad
• 100,000s of books in iBook store
• 1.5 million iPads are currently in use in educational institutions and schools
• iTunes U has seen over 700 million downloads
• Video, interactive features, search, common iPad “gestures” like pinch to zoom, swipe, and tap
• Portrait mode is optimized for reading
• Highlighting and note-taking
• Study cards from notes and glossary terms
• Textbooks not available on iPhone or iPod
• iBook Author only available for Mac

More information about iBooks is available at Apple’s website.

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This time on The Wired Homeschool I discuss the news aboutMinnesota’s new homeschooling legislation, the decision ofRebecca Black’s parents to homeschool, and review the iOS appOregon Trail.

Make sure you check out the press releases I’m now placing on the website.

Sources for finding homeschooling news:

• HSLDA news page
• Facebook groups and pages
• Yahoo! Groups
• Google Alerts

How to setup a Google alert:

Note: in the episode I stated that you would need a Google account to setup a Google alert.  That is only partially correct.  If you want to send the alerts to an RSS feed you will need an account, however, just to send alerts to an email address that’s not necessary.

1. Go to http://google.com/alerts
2. Type your search string into the search box
3. Choose what type of information you want in the alert (Everything, News, Blogs, Video Discussions)
4. Choose how often you want the alert to update (As-it-happens, Once a day, Once a week)
5. Choose the quality of content (Only the best results, All results)
6. Choose the email address you want the alert sent to.  If you’re registered you’ll have the option of creating an RSS feed.

If you’d like to leave feedback about this or any other episode you can call and leave a voice mail by calling 518-290-0228, send email to feedback [at] thewiredhomeschool [dot] com, or leave a comment on the blog. Follow me on Twitter: @jwilkers.  Also follow the podcast on Twitter: @wiredhs.  Join the Facebook page over at http://facebook.com/wiredhs

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