Have the winter doldrums taken hold over your household? Are the kids whining that there's nothing to do? Could be they just need a purpose -- a job, of sorts. Here's something that will help them feel like they're contributing to something bigger than themselves:

The Great Backyard Bird Count!  

This annual four-day event "engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent."

From the website:

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 15–18, 2008. Count birds at as many places and on as many days as you like—just keep a separate list of counts for each day and/or location.

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time, and write it down. (You can get regional bird checklists here.)

3. Enter your results through our web page.

Speaking of birds, I just heard some Canada geese flying over our house (yes, heard -- the noisy things). To me, they're one of the harbingers of spring, as I never see (or hear) them around here in the winter (which we're still smack in the middle of, though the temps have been pretty mild). We live just a couple of blocks up from a small lake, which these geese call home for the spring and summer months. Since they're back so soon, maybe they know something we don't . . . an early spring, perhaps? That would be nice.

Have fun with the bird count! If you participate, let me know what birds you see at your house (and what part of the country you're in, if you're comfortable with sharing that).

You know, homeschooled kids are just sharper than the average bear. In my previous post, I'd asked you all to find the mistake in the paragraph I'd copied from that Christmas website. I'll let you know what the mistake was in just a second.

First, kudos go to Caity, who brought up the subject of when Christmas was first celebrated on December 25th. Was it 336 AD or 440 AD? What I just found out in my research is that both dates are correct. Christmas was first celebrated in Rome on 336 AD and then by the church in Jerusalem in 440 AD. Before today, I never knew there were two different dates. Even us homeschooling moms can learn a thing or two. But, shhh...don't tell my kids -- I almost have them duped into believing I know everything. Okay, so maybe that isn't true, but when they were small, they did believe I had eyes in the back of my head.

Also, Caity mentioned that the "X" in Xmas is equivalent to the first letter of the name of Christ in the Greek language. That definitely makes me feel better about that abbreviation. Sounds like another good topic to Google, huh?

Now back to my previous challenge. I'll paste here again the portion of the paragraph that contained the false info about Christmas. See if you can catch it this time:

"However, it is uncertain exactly why December 25 became associated with the birth of Jesus since the Old Testament doesn’t mention a specific date of the event."

Did you find it? The birth of Jesus was recorded in the New Testament, not the Old Testament.

Here's something I will be taking advantage of this week. Christmas will be here sooner than we know it, so there's no time like the present to start stocking up on those gifts.  I buy Scholastic for my kids every year. Sometimes they'll get a whole box full of books under the tree (we're talking incredible prices here), and sometimes the books, software, spy kits, what-have-you, etc., will just go in their stockings.

Scholastic also has wonderful educational materials for students and teachers. They have books and other items to supplement your history, science, math and language arts curriculum, plus some things that are just for fun. Do you like Usborne books? The Magic Schoolbus? The Little House on the Prairie books or the Chronicles of Narnia? They've got those and much more.

Scholastic's current promotion is only good from Wednesday, October 3 (that's tomorrow!) through Friday, October 12. Not only does Scholastic have great prices, but we can all get 15% off and free shipping (be sure to type in the code: FIS07).

Unless you're one of those ultra-unorthodox homeschoolers who prefers to teach her children at night (and perhaps your last name would then be, what? Adams?), this isn't true daytime homeschooling fodder. (Though it could be if you live in Europe or somewhere on the African continent.)

I'm talking, of course, about National Geographic's live video feed of Pete's Pond on the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, Africa. Here in Seattle, things don't start getting exciting at the Reserve until around 9 p.m. our time, when the critters start waking up and going for their morning constitutional to the pond. Around this time of night for us (about 11 p.m.), it's pretty lively over yonder.

The animal you'll see the most of at the pond is actually a strange bird that looks like a cross between a quail and a turkey -- there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of them milling around the area. The second most common are the gazelles (or ibis, perhaps). This evening, we had front-row seats to two young males "fighting" with their antlers. It took only a couple of minutes before we realized they weren't serious (in other words, it wasn't a duel to the death).

Over the past couple of days, my kiddos and I have also seen a mama warthog with two babies, and a baboon or two. Check it out! It's fun to leave it up on the computer screen so you don't miss whatever might show up next. (I've heard at least one report of someone seeing an elephant.)

If you and your youngins would like to learn more about the animals you'll see at Pete's Pond, consider this fun resource:

Since I am spending a good part of the day ordering this year's homeschool books, I thought it would be quite amiss of me to not pass on to you all some really sweet deals.

  First up is Alpha Omega Publications. We love Alpha Omega's LIFEPAC materials. Instead of the kids having to work from a large notebook (some may find that overwhelming), it's broken down into 10 smaller workbooks. Each workbook contains one test and 4 or 5 self tests. Lifepacs are available in almost every subject you need and some electives. You'll receive one box per subject, which contains the 10 workbooks and a very helpful teacher's guide.

Alpha Omega is also well-known for their Horizon, Switched-On Schoolhouse, Weaver curriculum, and Power-Glide foreign language programs.

Much of my own success as a teacher is due to AOP's LIFEPACs. The link below will take you directly to AOP's website.

Sweet deals:

Get 12% Off Alpha Omega's Home Education Products For Grades K-12! Use Code "SAVEBIG during checkout!  

30% OFF Any Power-Glide Foreign Language Programs! Use Coupon Code SPEAKTODAY during checkout!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rosetta Stone is currently offering FREE 2-day shipping within the U.S.  If you're ordering late like me, this is the way to go! Get it fast, with free shipping, which is always good!

I've heard nothing but good about Rosetta Stone's 30+ language programs. I'll be looking into it this year for my kids, and me. I've always had a love for the Spanish language (hablo Espanol solo un poco, if that was even correct...LOL), and want to be able to speak it fluently. I recently sold something on eBay to a customer in Spain, and she was trying to communicate with me in English.

Eventually she just gave up and wrote to me only in Spanish, which left me running for my Spanish/English dictionary! Now, if I'd been a little more proficient in Spanish, as I've wanted to be for so long, that little dictionary could've stayed on the shelf where it belongs.

VegSource.com is a great place to buy and sell used (and sometimes unused) homeschool curricula. I've used this resource for quite some time. When you get to the site, scroll way down and look under "Message Boards." There are two message board menus, so you'll need to look at the bottom menu (both are on the left side of the page). Click on "Homeschooling," and you'll be taken to the Homeschooling message board area. There are many different topics, including "Items for Sale," "Want to Buy," etc. Be sure to read their terms of service before listing your items.

Since eBay handed down their "no teacher's guides" edict last year (prohibiting the use of said manuals -- as if kids are going to buy them to cheat from), sites like VegSource have proven valuable to homeschoolers needing to let go of no longer needed materials. Many wonder if eBay is simply anti-homeschooling...but that's a different topic that's already been discussed at length on many other blogs.

Check out VegSource -- I'll see you there!

(Disclaimer: VegSource is a site that leans more to the radical side of veganism, and often offers a somewhat liberal political slant in some of their articles. I am neither vegan nor liberal, and am only recommending this site as a way to help other homeschoolers make money and find the materials they need.)

I've been meaning to give honorable mention for some time now to the social studies curriculum I'm using with my 9th grade son. It's a Bible-based worldview curriculum that will be a ton of fun to flesh out with good books, biographies, movies, internet searches and current events articles.

Thinking Like a Christian: Understanding and Living a Biblical Worldview, is masterfully written. David Noebel, the author (with Chuck Edwards), recommends that parents read the first and last chapters in their entirety, and at least the summaries of each chapter in between. Once I began reading it, I enjoyed it so much that I read most of the book. There may have been just one chapter that I read only the summary on, and that was for the sake of time.

Many authors over time have tried to "slice the worldview pie" differently. Some think your worldview is whatever position you hold about God (theism, atheism, pantheism, etc.). Others, like Charles Colson, sum it up more succinctly:

Using biblical terminology in his book, How Now Shall We Live?, Chuck Colson describes how every worldview answers three major questions: Where did we come from? (the question of creation), What's wrong with the world? (or what Christians call "the fall"), and What's the solution to man's basic problem? (the biblical term is "redemption").

~ from the Thinking Like a Christian Teaching Textbook, Ch. 1, pp. 3-4

This course, recommended by Colson and with a preface by Josh McDowell, covers 10 key disciplines (and a corresponding question for each) of a biblical worldview. They are as follows:

     Theology: Is there a God, and what is God like?

     Philosophy: What is real, and what is true?

     Biology: What is the origin of life?

     Psychology: What is the basic nature of mankind?

     Ethics: What is right?

     Sociology: How should society be structured?

     Law: What is the basis for law?

     Politics: What is the purpose of government?

     Economics: What produces a sound economy?

     History: How should we inspire Christian events?

     ~ from Thinking Like a Christian Teaching Textbook, Ch. 1, p. 4

Included with this course are the Teaching Textbook (for use by the teacher and student), the Student Journal (it's a workbook), a video with a corresponding 5-minute session for each chapter, and a CD-rom.

Our kids (especially our teens) need to have a biblical worldview. We, as their parents, also need to have a biblical worldview. It can be summed up into knowing what we believe, and why we believe it. It's being able to "have an answer for the hope that is in us," whether it's our own child asking the question, or the neighbor down the street.

To be perfectly transparent with you, I need this course as much as my son. To be a teacher of a worldview course, I need to have a rock-solid worldview myself. I need to be able to answer his questions. And if I can't answer them, then I need to be able to know where to find those answers. Preferably, I would rather be able to answer him out of the knowledge I'd attained from God's word and from Christian theologians and such, than to have to tell him, "I don't know" again and again. Is this ringing true with anyone else?

I highly recommend this course to anyone looking for a social studies/current events/worldview-type curriculum.

Some fun information for fall. Share it with your kids!

Tree and plant leaves contain three pigments that give them their color:

* Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color.

* Carotenoids provide the yellow, orange, and brown colors

* Anthocyanins give the red and purple colors. In contrast to the other two pigments, anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars in the leaf cells.

During the growing season, most tree leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll. Plants use chlorophyll to capture sunlight for photosynthesis, the process that enables them to manufacture their own food.

The amount of chlorophyll is so high during the summer that the green color masks all other pigments present in the leaf.

As the days grow shorter in the fall, chlorophyll production slows down and eventually stops. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf then become visible.

Source: United States Department of Agriculture

and the Get Organized Now newsletter by Maria Gracia (www.getorganizednow.com)

There's a Scholastic warehouse sale happening somewhere near you! You'll need to bring proof that you're a homeschooler (example: in our state of WA, our proof is a copy of our Declaration of Intent to Homeschool form that we have to send in every year), or print out the "Fast Cart Pass" from the site.

Nothing is over $5. Click on the link below.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/fairs/warehouse/