Three weeks ago the kids and I attended Homeschool Day at the Capitol (Denver.)  We had a wonderful day of learning, meeting our senators and legislators, touring the capitol building and met with more than 1500 other homeschoolers on the west steps of the capitol building.  With all of the political changes in the atmosphere we felt very strongly that it was important for our family to attend!  We need to protect our constitutional rights and freedoms!

Speaking of constitutional rights and freedoms, we also attended the April 15th Tea Party here in Denver.  There were easily more than 5000 people there.  It was wonderful and inspiring to hear 5000+ people shouting "Under God!" in one very unified voice.  I was greatly saddend to read the actual report issued by DHS that labeled us as right wing extremeists and potential terrorists!  That's right!  If you believe in God, any biblical prophesy, support the right to life, believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman etc...(the list does go on!) then you just may have the gonverment breathing down your neck in the very near future.  Nevermind the fact that this nation was founded on the basis of religious freedom with a healthy respect for God!  Nevermind the fact that our constitution protects and encourages people to take a stand when they feel the government is getting out of hand!  The current administration has made history by declaring God-fearing citizens as potential threats that must be watched closely and reported.

Here is a link to the actual report: 

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/041609_extremism.pdf

We must protect our rights to homeschool.  More than that, we must all protect the right to raise our children as we see fit...however that may be!  I'll write more on that later!  We must now fight to keep our right to speak up, to worship God, to preserve life, to preserve families, and to not be taken advantage of financially.  Oh-BTW - at Homeschool Day at the Capitol we learned that at the height of the Roman Empire roman citizens were charged about a 4% tax.  In 1773, the time of the Boston Tea Party, the tax was about 10% - and the colonists had enough of that!  Now, we are taxed over 50%!  It's true!  nearly 35-40% comes right out of your families pay check before you even get it home.  Then you are taxed again on absolutely everything you buy!  In some cities the sales tax is 10%!  This is most definately double taxation and I encourage you to take a look at what you spend and add up all the taxes.  I think that you will be shocked!  The government can't continue to spend more, which will have to be repaid in the future (via higher taxes!)  Our children and grandchildren will be paying a lot more in taxes than we are now.  I don't want that to happen -and that is why we attended the rallies!

Okay, I'll get off the soap box for now...but stay tuned for more political happenings, here in CO and elsewhere.

Many people have asked what kind of materials we use in our homeschool.  Over the years the materials that we have used have changed as the needs of our family changes.  But I will post what we are using now.  We've been following this program for some time now.

History/Geopgraphy/Literature/Art:

We currently use both Sonlight and Story of the World.  I know that sounds strange, but they complement each other very much.  Infact, STOW is required reading for Sonlight 6-7.  We listen to STOW and do many of the activities found in the Activity Guide.  We also follow the reading lists in Sonlight.  So, at the moment, we are not using the Sonlight IG's.  However, we did up until this year, and we will go back to that in about a year and a half, when my daughter will be ready for Core 100 and my son will do Core 3/4.  This is simply my way of combining world history for my 9 and 11 year old.  We believe that reading is very important and it is at the core of what we do.  I also read out loud everyday to the kids - and probably will not ever stop! (It's too much fun!)

Science

We absolutely LOVE Apologia science.  My son does the elementary books by Jeannie Fullbright.  My daughter is working in the Exploring Creation with General Science.  Both of them love science.  They love engaging people in the Creation vs Evolution debate - because they know the truth!  I highly recommend these books.

Math

Up until this year, my daughter has used Singapore math.  This is an excellent program.  My son still uses it and will for another few years.  It prepares the children very well.  This year, as I looked into higher math (not at all my personal strongpoint) I decided to try Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra for my daughter.  Because Singapore sis such a good job, there is some overlap here at the beginning.  But for the long haul, I felt it important for my daughter to have a math program where she will need very little help from me (because I think that's all the help that I would be - VERY LITTLE!)  The Teaching Textbooks will take her all the way through high school.

Language

We were studying Spanish with dear friends of mine before we moved to Colorado.  We were also studying Latin on our own, which we continue to do here.  We use Prima Latina and look forward to the other books in that series.  I know that the DVDs are optional, but I HIGHLY reccommend them.  I'm pretty sure I would have been teaching Latin the wrong way without them.  And with the DVDs we really all learn together.  It has made ALL the difference in our language studies.

Grammar

Here we do a combination of Daily Grams and Wordly Wise 3000.  I use the vocab lists as spelling lists for my daughter.  My son does spelling and handwriting with Spelling to Write and Read.  This program can be quite confusing and is very teacher intensive, but has been working for my son where other programs failed.  It is worth it if you have a student who is struggling with output issues in regards to actually putting their thoughts on paper in a ledgible way.

Logic

We've just begun using Perplexors.  My kids LOVE these and actually ask to do them everyday.  If I forget, I am in BIG trouble!  They are great for preparing for tests if you live in a state that requires testing (which we now do.)

P.E.

Moving to Colorado has taught us that we do not need any formal type of P.E.  We hike and bike among the many beautiful trails out here.  We swim at our local pool.   We have a trampoline (with safety net, of course) in the back yard.  And our local homeschool group has a once a month games day where we rent out a local gym and the kids play team games.  There are so many things to do that we get quite a bit of P.E. without really trying.  The kids just think we are playing (which, of course, we are!) 

Public Speaking

Our local homeschool group has a once a month Presentation Day where the kids all have an opportunity to get up and give presentations in front of their peers.  These presentations can be speeches, memorizations, skits, science experiments, etc...  It's a bunch of fun. 

Misc...

We just purchased You Decide! from the Critical Thinking Co.  This is a unique study that we plan to do once and a while over the next few years.  Basically, the book gives you a real Supreme Court case that has been decided - except the kids don't yet know what the decision was.  After studying the part pf the Constitution involved, the kids figure out how they would decide the case.  Then they learn what the real decision was and why.  There is a workbook and a teacher's manual.

We are also reading Real Citzenship by Tim Echols in preparation for our first Teen Pact event.  We, obviously, are going to the pre-teen event for kids ages 8-12 and are very much looking forward to it. 

Now, before you panic, you need to know that we don't always do every subject everyday.  But we do spend about four hours, on average, "doing school."  In addition, the kids are learning how to cook and keep things clean around the house - which I don't necessarily include in my school log (although sometimes I do - depending on the project) but which I do feel is a very important part of their education.  Our goal as parents is to equip the children to be loving and responsible adults who know how to function and take care of themselves and those around them in the future.  Also, we have plenty of time in the day where the kids just enjoy being kids.  They get to play and be silly and enjoy each other as well as their friends.  Because our school work is finished early, they have lots of time to do this!!!

Speaking of school logs, I highly recommend Homeschool Tracker.  This program has been a huge blessing to me as I live in a state where I must track my attendance, hours and more.  It makes it easy for me to give and track assignments.  I love the Reports Function and looking at the kid's reading logs as they grow throughout the year.  This is the first year that I have used it and I wish that I had always been using it.  The program is fantastic and serves my needs and then some! 

We are learning that there are many varieties of festivals in Colorado!  We can not possibly attend them all.  So we are going through the schedule that has been posted thus far and have come up with a few that we would like to attend.  They are: The International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge (Jan.), The American Indian Market and Concert in Centennial (April), The Palisade Peach Festival (Aug.), and the Colorado Balloon Classic on Labor Day weekend.  There are many other local festivals that we would like to attend as well in addition to our local farmer's markets, etc...  (We LOVE the farmer;s markets out here!)

Tiffany is already feeling a lot better - so that's good news!  We are deciding whether or not we should stay home and get some work done, or go up to the cabin as it is an unbelievably nice weekend (60 degrees in January!)  Hmmmm, duty or pleasure?  One part of me knows there is plenty to do here.  The other part knows that it isn't every day the weather is so nice and that the work isn't going anywhere.  The temptation to play hookie from chores is becoming quite tempting.  We'll see what transpires.  I'll let you know!

My daughter is still fighting the virus that decided to run rampid through our house.  She was the last of us to get the dreaded illness.  It has been almost a year since we have been sick - which is amazing when you consider the stress that we've been through this year.  It just goes to show you that eating well really does help.  We used to get sick a lot more often before we began grinding our own wheat and eating a lot better all the way around.  We are hoping that she feels better soon. 

While most of the country is in a cold snap, it is 57 degrees here in the Denver area today.  We're even warmer than Texas!  It is supoosed to warm up and be in the 60's for the next few days.  We are hoping to get out and enjoy it!  I know that we will get our fair share of snow and cold, but when it is mixed with beautiful, sunny and warm days it is just so much easier to deal with.  No wonder it is said that people are happy out here!  While I miss everyone back in the mid-west, I don't miss the fact that it is 40 below (again!)

Today I am trying my hand at growing plants.  I purchased a few houseplants from Home Depot.  They have a one year guarantee!  I also purchased some heirloom seeds (from a natural source on the internet) for herbs that I plan to start and then transplant outside late spring.  I also want to have some growing inside all year long as I use them both for cooking as well as teas and various medicinal needs.  Further more (I have Spring Fever - can you tell?) I am beginning to plan our garden.  This will all be new as we are now in a dry climate and at a much higher altitude.  This will be the first year (of many - I'm sure) of experimenting.  For the outdoor garden we plan to do Square-Foot Gardening.  There are also flower beds around the new house with many flowers that I will need to research (assuming that they are perinnials and will start to grow again - otherwise that will be a spring/summer project!)  I'm off to get my thumbs dirty!  Umm..I mean green!

It's funny that I titled yesterday's blog as "Another Day in Sunny Colorado"  because today it is quite cloudy and snowy outside!  Live and learn.  It is definately sunny more often than not.

We have had a great home business idea that we had planned on implementing after the holidays were over.  We've been planning for months.  We wanted to do something that would be a help for homeschool families while supplying a little income for us as well.  But now, with the new lead law going into effect February 9th, I do not think that it is feasable to do it.  I am incredibly disappointed.  It would be completely cost prohibitive to test each and every product that we create and ship from our home.  While I do not wish lead to be in any products, it simply is not feasable to require a home business to be under the same laws as a mega retailer.  Also, I am willing to bet (if I were a betting kind of gal) that the prices on everything from kids clothing, to books, to toys, even curriculum, is going to sky-rocket after February.  They may go up even more in August when the acceptable levels of lead decrease even further - which will remove even more products from being sold.  Again, please do not get me wrong.  I do not wish for lead to be in any child's product.  I just feel that this law is going to close a lot of mom and pop type businesses from honest households and small stores and will increase prices on childrens products in an already very tough economy.  I'm sure I will be writing more on this in the near future.

I am still feeling very congested and will be signing off for now.  May God bless your day! 

Well, Glenn and I are sick, but the kids are fine.  While we are forced to stay home today, we love that it is so sunny outside.  Chicago winters were long, cold, damp and dismal.  But here, while we do get cold, it is sunny, dry with the occasional snow, and frequently much warmer than we are used to.  It was 65 a few days ago and the kids and I went for a walk without coats - in the middle of January!  What a joy that was.  We could get used to that!  Today it is more "normal" with temps in the 40s. 

I am eating raw garlic, drinking like crazy and trying to take good care of myself so that I will be better soon.  I am also trying to take off some excess weight.  I weighed in at 186 last week (after putting on a few pounds while visiting friends and family in IL) and have been eating in a healthy way all week.  Tomorrow is "Weigh Day."  I am trying to eat a lot of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  I tried making whole grain tortillas today on my new tortilla press (a Christmas present from Glenn.)  I couldn't get them very flat.  They were a little thicker than tortillas, but not as puffy as a flat bread and the consistancy was a little (okay - a lot) off.  I will keep experimenting with that.  I love to eat tortillas and look forward to saving money as we make them ourselves with our grain.