They just lost...oh well, I'm off to Fry's and Target. Told you I wasn't really vested in this game (hehehe).
Watching Stanford Play Texas - NCAA Semi-Finals
Recorded a quick blog while watching Stanford play Texas in the NCAA Basketball Championships Semi-Finals. My last vacation day before going back to work on Monday, too...bummer.
Cameron and Ryan at the Warriors/Grizzlies Game
Warriors Game 031508 - 01
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Cameron and I saw the Warriors play against the Memphis Grizzlies last night at Oakland Oracle Arena; awesome mainly because we WON! This was taken during half-time...thanks to my friend, Violett, for the tickets. Muchas gracias!
Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies
NOTE from Ryan: Cameron and I are going to see this game tonight...got free tickets from my friend, Violett.
WARRIORS: preview_031508: "Saturday’s contest will be especially important for the Warriors. Two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the conference going into Friday’s action, Golden State will need to avoid losing streaks at all costs. The Warriors have done a solid job of doing such all season, as they have posted consecutive losses just once since starting the season 0-6.
After seeing their three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday with a 123-115 defeat in Phoenix, the Warriors will be anxious to come back home to ORACLE Arena. Golden State is 22-10 on its home floor this season, and has won each of its last four games there."
WARRIORS: preview_031508: "Saturday’s contest will be especially important for the Warriors. Two games ahead of the Denver Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the conference going into Friday’s action, Golden State will need to avoid losing streaks at all costs. The Warriors have done a solid job of doing such all season, as they have posted consecutive losses just once since starting the season 0-6.
After seeing their three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday with a 123-115 defeat in Phoenix, the Warriors will be anxious to come back home to ORACLE Arena. Golden State is 22-10 on its home floor this season, and has won each of its last four games there."
SLIDESHOW: Dinner With My Relatives (February 2008)
Thanks to my Auntie Mary bringing us all together, me and my relatives were able to gather in Oakland and share a belated Chinese New Year dinner ;-) Over the years, we get together less and less, but when we do, it's ALWAYS fun, laughs, and FOOD! Thanks, Auntie Mary!
ANIMATION: Arcade Game Stickmen by Nicholas Yee (6)
Here is an animation created by my son, Nicholas, using Cartoon Network's Clickbook. Good job, Nini!
Law News: No Constitutional Right to Homeschool
This is a very good presentation regarding the recent CA court ruling that parents do not have a constitution right to homeschool their children and parents must have a credential to homeschool their children.
Attorney Timothy Herr, Esq. discusses In re Rachel L., decided by the California Court of Appeal, on February 28, 2008, in a short web video. In summary: Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. - Copyright 2008 www.DailyCaseReort.com
Nicholas at Chichibu Park
Me and the boys at Chichibu Park
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Hangin' out at the park on Saturday...Nicholas' expression is priceless! LOL
The Yee Guys at home
The Yee Guys at home
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Took this with my HELIO and immediately messaged it to Alexandra in LA who's competing at a National Dance Team Championship in Anaheim.
Ryan riding home on a Friday
Ryan riding home on a Friday
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
This is me on the BART train getting out of the airport as fast as I can...I have my headset on with music blasting. Took this with my trusty Helio cellphone ;-)
Anyway, just happy to be heading home for the weekend!
BREAKING NEWS: Court limits home-schooling to credentialed teachers
NOTE from Ryan: As you all know, Maria has homeschooled our children over the last 10 years. Alexandra and Cameron have now transitioned into public middleschool and high school, but we still homeschool the two younger boys. I was VERY surprised by this case and it's true...the homeschooling community did NOT see this coming. I'm not sure how the ruling affects our program, which is funded through the school district and all work is reviewed/supervised by a credentialed teacher assigned to us through the program. All paperwork and requirements are certified and legal...that's what we've always loved about the ENCORE Homeschooling Program. Not sure how this ruling will affect us, but I've seen the obvious benefits of homeschooling and I am absolutely against this ruling. When you send your kids to some private schools, many of those teachers are NOT credentialed and are under no obligation to get credentialed...what's the difference?
Bob Egelko,Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers
Friday, March 7, 2008 (03-06)
14:26 PST LOS ANGELES -- A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.
The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.
"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."
The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children.
Mary Long is their teacher, but holds no teaching credential. The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland Christian School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County), which considers the Long children part of its independent study program and visits the home about four times a year.
The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.
Some homeschoolers are affiliated with private or charter schools, like the Longs, but others fly under the radar completely. Many homeschooling families avoid truancy laws by registering with the state as a private school and then enroll only their own children.
Yet the appeals court said state law has been clear since at least 1953, when another appellate court rejected a challenge by homeschooling parents to California's compulsory education statutes.
Those statutes require children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child's grade level.
"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28.
"Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws." Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.
"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.
Union pleased with ruling
The ruling was applauded by a director for the state's largest teachers union.
"We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. "We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting."
A spokesman for the state Department of Education said the agency is reviewing the decision to determine its impact on current policies and procedures. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued a statement saying he supports "parental choice when it comes to homeschooling."
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which agreed earlier this week to represent Sunland Christian School and legally advise the Long family on a likely appeal to the state Supreme Court, said the appellate court ruling has set a precedent that can now be used to go after homeschoolers.
"With this case law, anyone in California who is homeschooling without a teaching credential is subject to prosecution for truancy violation, which could require community service, heavy fines and possibly removal of their children under allegations of educational neglect," Dacus said.
Parents say they choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons, from religious beliefs to disillusionment with the local public schools.
Homeschooling parent Debbie Schwarzer of Los Altos said she's ready for a fight. Schwarzer runs Oak Hill Academy out of her Santa Clara County home. It is a state-registered private school with two students, she said, noting they are her own children, ages 10 and 12. She does not have a teaching credential, but she does have a law degree.
"I'm kind of hoping some truancy officer shows up on my doorstep," she said. "I'm ready. I have damn good arguments." She opted to teach her children at home to better meet their needs. The ruling, Schwarzer said, "stinks."
Began as child welfare case
The Long family legal battle didn't start out as a test case on the validity of homeschooling. It was a child welfare case. A juvenile court judge looking into one child's complaint of mistreatment by Philip Long found that the children were being poorly educated but refused to order two of the children, ages 7 and 9, to be enrolled in a full-time school.
He said parents in California have a right to educate their children at home. The appeals court told the juvenile court judge to require the parents to comply with the law by enrolling their children in a school, but excluded the Sunland Christian School from enrolling the children because that institution "was willing to participate in the deprivation of the children's right to a legal education."
The decision could also affect other kinds of homeschooled children, including those enrolled in independent study or distance learning through public charter schools - a setup similar to the one the Longs have, Dacus said.
Charter school advocates disagreed, saying Thursday that charter schools are public and are required to employ only credentialed teachers to supervise students - whether in class or through independent study.
Ruling will apply statewide
Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the ruling would effectively ban homeschooling in the state.
"California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach their own children at home," he said in a statement.
But Leslie Heimov, executive director of the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, which represented the Longs' two children in the case, said the ruling did not change the law.
"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private school, or with an accredited tutor," she said. "If they want to send them to a private Christian school, they can, but they have to actually go to the school and be taught by teachers."
Heimov said her organization's chief concern was not the quality of the children's education, but their "being in a place daily where they would be observed by people who had a duty to ensure their ongoing safety."
Online resources
The ruling: To view the ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal, go to links.sfgate.com/ZCQR.
E-mail the writers at begelko@sfchronicle.com and jtucker@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Egelko,Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writers
Friday, March 7, 2008 (03-06)
14:26 PST LOS ANGELES -- A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.
The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.
"At first, there was a sense of, 'No way,' " said homeschool parent Loren Mavromati, a resident of Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) who is active with a homeschool association. "Then there was a little bit of fear. I think it has moved now into indignation."
The ruling arose from a child welfare dispute between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and Philip and Mary Long of Lynwood, who have been homeschooling their eight children.
Mary Long is their teacher, but holds no teaching credential. The parents said they also enrolled their children in Sunland Christian School, a private religious academy in Sylmar (Los Angeles County), which considers the Long children part of its independent study program and visits the home about four times a year.
The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that California law requires parents to send their children to full-time public or private schools or have them taught by credentialed tutors at home.
Some homeschoolers are affiliated with private or charter schools, like the Longs, but others fly under the radar completely. Many homeschooling families avoid truancy laws by registering with the state as a private school and then enroll only their own children.
Yet the appeals court said state law has been clear since at least 1953, when another appellate court rejected a challenge by homeschooling parents to California's compulsory education statutes.
Those statutes require children ages 6 to 18 to attend a full-time day school, either public or private, or to be instructed by a tutor who holds a state credential for the child's grade level.
"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children," Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28.
"Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws." Parents can be criminally prosecuted for failing to comply, Croskey said.
"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.
Union pleased with ruling
The ruling was applauded by a director for the state's largest teachers union.
"We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. "We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting."
A spokesman for the state Department of Education said the agency is reviewing the decision to determine its impact on current policies and procedures. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued a statement saying he supports "parental choice when it comes to homeschooling."
Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which agreed earlier this week to represent Sunland Christian School and legally advise the Long family on a likely appeal to the state Supreme Court, said the appellate court ruling has set a precedent that can now be used to go after homeschoolers.
"With this case law, anyone in California who is homeschooling without a teaching credential is subject to prosecution for truancy violation, which could require community service, heavy fines and possibly removal of their children under allegations of educational neglect," Dacus said.
Parents say they choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons, from religious beliefs to disillusionment with the local public schools.
Homeschooling parent Debbie Schwarzer of Los Altos said she's ready for a fight. Schwarzer runs Oak Hill Academy out of her Santa Clara County home. It is a state-registered private school with two students, she said, noting they are her own children, ages 10 and 12. She does not have a teaching credential, but she does have a law degree.
"I'm kind of hoping some truancy officer shows up on my doorstep," she said. "I'm ready. I have damn good arguments." She opted to teach her children at home to better meet their needs. The ruling, Schwarzer said, "stinks."
Began as child welfare case
The Long family legal battle didn't start out as a test case on the validity of homeschooling. It was a child welfare case. A juvenile court judge looking into one child's complaint of mistreatment by Philip Long found that the children were being poorly educated but refused to order two of the children, ages 7 and 9, to be enrolled in a full-time school.
He said parents in California have a right to educate their children at home. The appeals court told the juvenile court judge to require the parents to comply with the law by enrolling their children in a school, but excluded the Sunland Christian School from enrolling the children because that institution "was willing to participate in the deprivation of the children's right to a legal education."
The decision could also affect other kinds of homeschooled children, including those enrolled in independent study or distance learning through public charter schools - a setup similar to the one the Longs have, Dacus said.
Charter school advocates disagreed, saying Thursday that charter schools are public and are required to employ only credentialed teachers to supervise students - whether in class or through independent study.
Ruling will apply statewide
Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the ruling would effectively ban homeschooling in the state.
"California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach their own children at home," he said in a statement.
But Leslie Heimov, executive director of the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, which represented the Longs' two children in the case, said the ruling did not change the law.
"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private school, or with an accredited tutor," she said. "If they want to send them to a private Christian school, they can, but they have to actually go to the school and be taught by teachers."
Heimov said her organization's chief concern was not the quality of the children's education, but their "being in a place daily where they would be observed by people who had a duty to ensure their ongoing safety."
Online resources
The ruling: To view the ruling by the Second District Court of Appeal, go to links.sfgate.com/ZCQR.
E-mail the writers at begelko@sfchronicle.com and jtucker@sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Brandon goofing around
Brandon's Drawings 008
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Somehow, this little picture of Brandon is getting a LOT of attention on Flickr.com. I'm thinking they may have placed this picture on the main picture page because a lot of people are viewing it and making comments ;-)
Oprah and Eckhart Tolle Teach A New Earth in Live Webcast Classes
Oprah and Eckhart Tolle Teach A New Earth in Live Webcast Classes: "For the first time ever, you can join Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, the best-selling author of The Power of Now, as they teach A New Earth in Oprah's worldwide classroom live Monday nights on Oprah.com."
NOTE: I'll be taking this class starting tomorrow evening. Maria and I are BOTH reading this book. Should be interesting to say the least...this will no doubt be THE biggest online class EVER!
NOTE: I'll be taking this class starting tomorrow evening. Maria and I are BOTH reading this book. Should be interesting to say the least...this will no doubt be THE biggest online class EVER!
Pizza Showdown: The Best Delivery Pizza - Slice America on Yahoo! Food
Papa John's Pizza in Seoul
Originally uploaded by Alisha Hunt.
Pizza Showdown: The Best Delivery Pizza - Slice America on Yahoo! Food: "With all the options available from the nationwide pizza chains—thin crust, deep dish, stuffed crust, etc.—things can get a little confusing. Who better than Slice to coach you through the pizza playbook? Here is a careful analysis of the various crusts, toppings, and specialty pizzas from Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Papa John's."
Maria and me at the NCS Division 1 Basketball Championship
Maria and me at the NCS Division 1 Basketball Championship
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Here we are at the Oakland Arena...we were surrounded by all these De Lasalle fans waiting for the Division 1 Boys Championship Game...that reminds me, I'll have to check the news to see if they beat Newark.
Maria and me at Barney's
Maria and me at Barney's
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Having hamburgers before the BIG GAME at the Oakland Arena...Deer Valley High (our school) vs. Berkeley High for the Division 1 Championship...sad to say, we loss 45 to 62. The Berkeley High girls really turned it on in the final half (and especially the final 5 minutes of so). Still, Deer Valley had a terrific season and were No. 1 going into this final! It was also Alexandra's 15th Birthday, so we picked up a strawberry cake at Merritt Bakery and our celebration will continue today, Sunday! ;-)
