For New Homeschoolers Can we really do this? What about testing, socialization, finding resources? What's unschooling? Basic questions answered!	HEM's Q&A Column Reader Home Education Magazine's popular Questions and Answer Column. Edited by Laura Weldon.
Teaching and Learning Wondering what to teach and how to teach it? Should you teach or just "facilitate learning?" Readin', writin', 'rithmetic and more!	Older Homeschoolers Is it harder to homeschool older kids, or does it get easier as they take more responsibility for their own learning? And what about work or college?
Foundations Of Freedom Who's changing homeschooling laws, and why? What about testing, OBE, research, school-to-work, curfews, truancy, and misguided lawsuits?	Special Situations Military and foreign homeschooling. Special needs. ADD, ADHD, LD and other forms of alphabet soup. Resources and information.
Networking and Communications Articles about support groups, national organizations, online networks, conferences and more.	Support Groups and Organizations Where can I find a support group thats right for us? How about a National or International Organization?
Index of Information Files An index of free files available via email: Starting out, homeschooling dads, unschooling, high school years, college admissions and more.

 

Christian families suffer today because they fail to capture the hearts of their children. Too often they fail to communicate vision, convictions, and wisdom to their children. In the battle between pagan culture and the Christian family culture, paganism often wins. The sad response is that too many Christian parents simply give up. Others set their goals so low that their best strategy is simply to see their children “survive” a little bit longer, or to lose the battle for the generations as slowly as possible.

To achieve victory, first you must seek it.

In the battle for the family, this means making God-honoring and strategic choices which cultivate an environment of honor, faithfulness to Christ, and generational- minded strategic choices. (Doug Phillips)

For more:  Victory For Your Family

I have camped IN THE RAIN and MUD many many times here in Oregon. (groan) I grew up here camping in the rain- and making midnight trips to the outhouse, through the mud, in my jammies. Black plastic awnings so you can play cards at the picnic table. We had to dig a ditch around our tent to keep the rain from pooling under it! It may sound like I am exaggerating, but this is all true.

Last year my husband and I decided that, after using someone's camper trailer, a camper was going to make camping more a reality. I have a personal goal every year to camp at least twice and that is hard for me to do around my husband's schedule and with 3 kids and tent stuff. (Give me a break!) Now I am pregnant, just to add another short person to the mix! That makes six of us.

We just bought a camper trailer. (yippee!) Now I can take all my children camping with, or without, my husband. We will be dry! And quite safe, too. This is really free-ing for me. I feel like I just won some big prize!

I am not talking about TVs, satellite, cable, spa tub, loud music. Just something that you can lock at night, have prepacked with all the crud, and dry when it rains.

I have children ages 13 to toddler and one on the way.

In our home, we call chores RESPONSIBILITIES.

We all have a part of this family and we have responsibilities that keep the family home working.

Our "chores", as people call them, DO NOT ROTATE. They are that person's responsibility.

As they get older and can take on more responsibility, they get harder jobs and maybe more of them depending on the tasks. We do not have the arguments associated with switching all the time- nor the complication of charts and figuring this and that out.

We do not pay our children for doing what they are responsible for. Sometimes they have opportunities to earn money by doing a special job, especially if they ask.
Another thing to note. Attitude is key.

We find that this works well for us. Everyone knows what is expected and it flows. Nobody needs to ask who forgot to unload the dishes, change out towels or whatever. We all know.
 

If never before, NOW is the time to cry out for repentance to sweep this nation.

Sad, but unfortunately a reality...

After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said, "Let me see if I've got this right:

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state exams.

You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate  regularly with their parents in English and Spanish by letter, email, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

You want me to do all this and then you tell me that I can't pray?"

The famous story teller Jim Hodges is giving away his audio book by G A Henty "With Lee In Virginia". This is his all time best seller.


     With Lee In Virginia

     ...A Tale of the American Civil War

Setting:    AD 1860’s – American Civil War – Slavery and state’s rights.

Story:    Few wars have been fought by each side with greater intensity of conviction in the rightness of its cause or with more abundant personal heroism than the War Between the States. The story begins with a great responsibility falling on Vincent Wingfield, the teenage son of a widowed Virginia plantation owner. Vincent must decide what course of action he should take when a problem arises on the plantation. Unlike many stories of this American war, Mr. Henty brings to it a European viewpoint that differs drastically from the current views on the nature and reasons for this struggle. Henty’s "With Lee in Virginia" will introduce the reader to many of the famous battles of the 1860's along with learning much about the character of Robert E. Lee and his lieutenants.


GA HENTY - With Lee In Virginia

Free eBook Download

Getting It All Done   by Marilyn Boyer

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the demands of parenting? Life is certainly a challenge for parents, and especially those who accept the added responsibility of home education. But there are ways to make life easier and more productive, and this workshop discusses some of those.

Marilyn Boyer, mother of 14 children and a veteran home educator of 22 years' experience, shares her techniques for accomplishing a mammoth amount of housework while giving her children a superior education at the same time.

Download Free eBook

IMPORTANT: You MUST select "Ebook" when you click your selection. Only the Ebook "Getting It All Done" is free. Then enter code TTH in checkout. It is free, just complete checkout without inputting your credit card.

Ever heard of a homeschool lobotomy? It’s the non-surgical condition most moms experience around September 1 and the commencement of homeschool. Chores and responsibilities pile up. Relationships begin to unravel. Suddenly you can’t complete a sentence without forgetting what you were going to say. You walk into a room and can’t remember why. You forget appointments. You feel snappish. You can’t fall asleep at night as your mind circles around and around the day just past. The morning comes all too soon, and you can’t pull yourself out of bed, overwhelmed with all you face. Homeschool lobotomy.....or stress?

Want the answers? Go HERE.

So often the church forgets the next generation.

They plunk them down in a Sunday school class and hope for the best from some thin watered down "curriculum" the church board bought because it looked fun and just may save the visitor's children. This is not what we are supposed to be doing. We are starving them all.

The children are being entertained. Not trained.

How we miss the mark!

If the next generation- today's children and youth- are tomorrow's leaders... WE ARE FAILING THEM.

Have they learned to serve?

Have they learned how to read and study the Word?

Do they know the Lord they claim to follow?  

Do they keep His commandments?

Have their gifts been indentified and cultivated?

Sadly, "No" is the answer to all of these questions.

What can we do about that? Well, it starts with us and does not- and I repeat NOT- lay in the lap of our church. We, as our children's parents, are responsible for the training up of our children.

•    Get out you Bible. Get out theirs and make sure they know where it is at all times. Teach those children to reverence the scriptures and to dilligently read it every day. No exceptions.

•    Use the model Jesus taught when you instruct your children how to pray. Write it out and analyze the different parts and what they are. For example: say Who you are praying to, praise Him, thank Him, ask forgiveness, pray for others, ask direction, ask for protection, always finish praying in the name of Jesus.

•    There are few materials out there to help train our children in their spirtual gifts that God gave them. It is as if the church does not really believe children have them! What a travesty!

Scripture tells us to teach them dilligently. When we get up, as we go through our day, as we walk along the road. You get it, you know what Bible says. But are you doing it? I mean really doing it. Do you stop at almost every opportunity and show your child God's handiwork? His every day miracles? His answers to prayer? Do you set them back on track and point them in the right direction again according to what the Bible says? Do you show them God's plan for their life? Do you encourage them in it?

It grieves me to tears at the starvation of spirit in the body of Christ today. Let us not neglect the future of the bride! Will she be ready?

I have included some links to some books and information on identifying your children's spiritual gifts here.

• Spiritual Gifts for Kids... Helping Your Child Understand God's Plan
• Spiritual Gifts and Children - Ministry Tools
• Spiritual Gifts Inventories for Children, Youth and Adults

Many years ago, my husband and I were really contending for financial breakthrough. Things were so bad that I often considered not eating for the week so everyone else could eat. I never had to though- God provided as He always says He will. ("I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor begging of bread")
But you know-- I fasted all the time during that time period. It was about a year and a half. I was not fasting to make sure my family could eat- I fasted because I saw increase every time I did. Increase in financial steps, a new job for my husband, unusual favor with God & man, a better car for my husband (his was reallllly bad) and new spiritual revelations and spiritual progress. We also had all kinds of amazing sowing we were doing. Crazy sowing.
I would just have the Lord put fasting on my heart and I would just start right then. I would not know how long I would be fasting for, but I would just jump in. Sometimes just a 24 hour fast but often I went 3 days and sometimes longer.
It is strange to say it-- but I loved fasting.
Have you ever read Mahesh Chavda's book on the Power of Praying & Fasting? It is really good and will get you excited to fast. You will want to start right away... even before you finish the book. The key, he says, is to pray AND fast. Just like Jesus said "this kind goes out only by prayer and fasting". I keep that "key" in front of me all the time while I am fasting because I often would forget to keep praying while I was fasting!!

I love food. Don't get me wrong. And it is extremely tough cooking for your family while you are fasting. But I get so much JOY and know I am getting victory when I fast! It is like your prayers are magnified.

Anyway... maybe that will encourage someone.


More information on fasting: Types of fasts and how to fast   All about fasting

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's fertility regulator said Thursday it would allow scientists to create human-animal hybrid embryos for research.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) approved applications from two universities to create "cytoplasmic" embryos, which merge human cells with eggs from animals such as cattle or rabbits.

However, John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said the decision was a "disastrous setback for human dignity", creating sub-human "slaves" used as raw materials.

"Of those embryos with a smaller proportion of human material, greater uncertainty arises... as to whether such an embryo is a human being with due rights," he said.

The use and destruction of embryos in research is a highly sensitive subject in the United States, for political and religious reasons.

US President George W. Bush has twice vetoed a bill seeking to allow federal funds for stem cell research as it would involve human embryo destruction.

For entire article:  Are you a cow or a rabbit?     

Why use steel cut oats? They get that creamy taste without the mushy & glue-like nastiness typical of regular oatmeals and also keeps the health benefits of the oats that you want! I can get them locally in the bulk food section for only 99 cents a pound, I bet you can too! Cheap!

Steel Cut Oatmeal
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Episode: Oat Cuisine

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup steel cut oats (a.k.a. pinhead oats)
3 cups boiling water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
In a large saucepot, melt the butter and add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.
Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk with the oatmeal. Stir gently to combine and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with remaining buttermilk, brown sugar, and cinnamon.


Overnight Oatmeal (CROCKPOT!)
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Episode: Oat Cuisine

1 cup steel cut oats (a.k.a. pinhead oats)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried figs
4 cups water
1/2 cup half-and-half
In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients and set to low heat. Cover and let cook for 8 to 9 hours.
Stir and remove to serving bowls. This method works best if started before you go to bed. This way your oatmeal will be finished by morning.

Recipes from Good Eats on FoodNetwork. One of my favorite shows! Get all the recipes featured on this episode HERE to print off since I have copying disable on my blog.

Put your printer to work for you!

Your kids will be able to create: entire towns, castles, incredible animals of all kinds, dioramas, groovy toys, old sailing ships, rockin' science stuff and much more.

This is a site you cannot afford to miss.

3D Paper Crafts - all free! 

I think EVERY boy has trouble focusing.

Hands down it is our biggest struggle here in our home. My son is 8 and still has a huge issue with it. All day long, especially during school, I am constantly reminding him to focus. Brushing his teeth is an adventure (where is that boy?) The older he gets, the better, but still a big thing.

Believe me, I have thought a lot about this. I have prayed a lot about it. Cried over it. I have read books and scoured the Internet.
It boils down to this: that is the way they are built. They grow into being focused. Part of it is an immaturity and the other is lack of self control. They kind of are a circular thing when paired together. Frustrating really for everyone involved, even more so, for the boy.

When he grows up as a man, he will have trouble focusing on more than one task at a time. Men become very goal oriented-- hunters of the next task at hand. See destination, pass all cars and skip gas stations. Need groceries, speed through store not checking prices and find absolutely shortest line even if the checker is a "bad" one. Need to mow lawn, in record time. Dinner needs to be made, order pizza or open a can of chili.
 They become so focused that talking on the phone renders them unable to do other things like women do (women are serious multi-taskers). My husband walks back and forth while on the phone or stands and fiddles with something.

As a child, a man is growing into his target driven nature that God has given him. It is a gift that needs training.
It is still immature in a boy. This is hard for him. He can only do one thing at a time and moms like to dole out a string of things in one shot. Ever ask a boy to clean his room? That is asking him to sort, put away, classify, fold, take stuff to laundry, stack, straighten, and you get the picture. It becomes an overwhelming task- a task that is really 500 tasks.

Lists. Lists are good only if they can read. Otherwise you are drawing pictures. One way around this is to make a list for YOU. Have him do the first thing and then report to you. Then give him the next thing and so on. Reporting to you makes him accountable and also allows him to focus on the ONE thing at a time. As he grows a bit he can take maybe two things at a time, but take it slow.

I am sooooo guilty of tacking on other things to do. Even when I KNOW he cannot handle it. I think "Oh he is 8, he can take on getting in the shower without instructions!" or "Surely he can see he has socks here AND Kinex there to put away."
Really no. But I try to fool myself all the time.

In short, they are just wired different. WAYYYYY different. If you have mostly girls, your girls will be messy in creative foofoo ways. Boys are definitely NOT messy that way.

Some day my son will be a man. He will have endured this life living under my roof for quite some time. Hopefully I have pointed him in the right direction and prodded him just enough but not demanded too much than he can do.
The point is to train him up in the way that HE should go. And men "go" in whole 'nother way altogether!
 

Click here to find a good list of books on this subject!

    
Graphic Organizers

What is a Graphic Organizer? 

A graphic organizer (aka a map OR word web) is usually a one-page form with blank areas for the student to fill in with related ideas and information. Some organizers are very specific; others can be used with many topics. For the most part, the information on a graphic organizer could just as easily be filled in on a form or written as a list. The organizer gives the child another way to see the information. Some of the organizers allow for the information to be written or drawn, opening the activity up to younger grades.

Click here for Free Graphic Organizers

Virtual Charter Schools

Issue Description
Charter schools are a new phenomenon rapidly gaining popularity across the country. HSLDA views charter schools as another vehicle for government funded public education. Backing up HSLDA's view are many news articles, education reports, and both state and federal proposed legislation. It is HSLDA's view that the government's involvement in charter schools will eventually lead to restriction on parents who homeschool through a charter school.

Issue Background

Most charter schools are created or "chartered" by public school boards, which establish the mission, educational program, and methods of assessment. Most charter schools are classroom-based, some charter schools are home-based. When parents enroll their child in a full-time, classroom-based charter school, it is obvious that they are signing away much of their parental right to direct their child's education. Home-based charter schools gloss over this surrender by giving parents a wide variety of "free" benefits, all for use at home: computer and Internet access, books, school supplies, support from certified teachers, a diploma, etc. HSLDA does not represent students enrolled in charter schools.

The Problem with Home-based Charter Schools: HSLDA's Position in the Charter School Debate
	Information on why HSLDA opposes home-based charter schools.
Charter Schools: The Price is too High
	An in-depth analysis of home-based charter schools and their impact on the homeschooling community.

 For more info: Other resources