Scholastic vs. Homeschoolers

I was flipping through the most recent Scholastic book orders when I came across a most interesting book. It’s described by Scholastic like this:

Schooled : Homeschooled Cap has never watched TV, eaten pizza -- or even had a
friend! How will he fit in at the regular middle school?

I haven’t read the book but I have read the reviews on Amazon. As it turns out, home schooled Cap ends up being the hero of the book but he’s portrayed as a social misfit. The book reinforces all those home school stereotypes that make people give us funny looks when we’re at the grocery store in the middle of the day.

Scholastic has even featured the author, Gordon Korman, as Author of the Month and, here’s the good part, sponsored a contest to be judged by the author. The contest is based on Korman’s new book. From Scholastic:

In Gordon Korman’s new book Schooled, Cap goes to school for the first time.
Tell us about your first day of school this year (one page or less)! One winner
will receive an in-person Classroom Writing Workshop from Gordon Korman!

Here’s our chance to tell Mr. Korman exactly what a home schooled child is like! Let’s flood his contest with entries from our home schooled kids! Give this guy a lesson in how prevalent and normal homeschooling is!

Fine Print:
Deadline: November 20, 2008. Sent to: First Day of School ‘08, Box 714, NYC, NY 10013-0714
Include: Name, Teacher Name, Age/Grade, School Name, Address, and Phone Number. No Purchase Necessary. Only students in grades 4-6 are eligible. For complete rules: www.scholastic.com/clubcontests (though I don’t actually see any info about this particular contest on their site).