Category Archives: cubing

Nov 4 2025

Homeschool Milestone: My Son Turns 18 – Navigating the Leap to Adulthood

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This November, my son turns 18. Whoa! When did that happen? To be cute, it happened over 18 years. In a sense, I have homeschooled him for 18 years. Officially, for 13. My husband and I are incredibly grateful for the young man our son has become. He scored in the 99th percentile for the SAT and received admission with generous scholarships at all universities he applied to. He is healthy and physically fit. This church elder asked him to preach a sermon next year. Mentally, physically, and spiritually, our son has become a leader.

Preston Zoder at 18

My son, in whom I am well pleased

In 9th grade, our son became a state champion in two Science Olympiad events: Circuits and Solar System. He got into the Top 1,000 cubers in the nation. If you think that’s not that impressive, try solving Rubik’s cube in less than 9 seconds. My best time? 1 min 35 seconds. My son taught himself how to go under 1 minute and then under 30 seconds and then under 10 seconds. It’s wild. Continue reading »

Sep 5 2023

Week 3 – Done

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“Have you gotten into a rhythm yet with the new school year?” a dear friend asked me. “Yes and no,” I replied. Every week, we have had some kind of project or reason to not go full blast every single day. However, I feel like we are definitely into a school rhythm.

F-250 pulls trailer

Leaving our home to go camping; the roof top tent opens atop the trailer

Week 3 – no exception. We had to prepare for a camping trip, so Friday’s lessons got cut short. Also this week, my daughter and I got to spend some time with the middle schoolers from our co-op, in the National Park, while enjoying a back-to-school picnic and multiple games. Continue reading »

May 29 2023

Second Cubing Competition

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Our son participated in his second cubing competition, which happened to be named Westminster Squaners. Why? Because the main event was Square-1 and the location was on the campus of Westminster School of Atlanta. Get it?

Westminster School campus

One of the many impressive buildings on the Westminster School campus

It was a tougher field than in his first cubing competition, so it gave him motivation to get better. He did not make the final in any of the events, but he improved his personal record in 2x2x2 and 3x3x3. Also, he qualified for Nationals for the pyraminx (based on time) and got official competition scores for the 4x4x4 and 5x5x5 – an important stepping stone in becoming a well-rounded cuber. Continue reading »

Apr 23 2023

First Cubing Competition

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We went to Huntington, WV for our son’s first cubing competition and it was called – what else? – Country Roads. Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River… You know how the song goes.

Judging at cubing competition

Our son (red hat) serving as a judge for the blindfold event

Our son had a lot of fun competing and so did we, watching. The cubing community is very friendly and supportive of each other. The father of one of the participants heard our son’s time on the 2x2x2 and congratulated us, informing us that our son just qualified for Nationals. One of the participants even gave my son a set of hand warmers, which I thought was a nice gesture. Continue reading »