We have a young lady living with us this year that is going to graduate high school this May. I wrote her this poem as part of her graduation gift and wanted to share it with you guys.

The end of one has come, but the beginning of another has arrived.

As you take those last few steps as a high school student and become a blooming adult,

please remember all those that helped you reach this goal.

There was that youth pastor guy that guided you into a new life for God,

and the mother of two who weekly spent time with you,

and all your new found "Christian" friends that helped you along the way.

Your aunt and uncle who opened their home to you,

and the people at your first real job,

and the many teachers who really wanted you to succeed.

Please don’t forget the many faces that pushed you, encouraged you,

forgave you, and loved you through your high school journey.

May they each leave a piece of themselves with you as you step out,

step out into a new world full of new challenges.

A new world with mountains to climb, bridges to cross,

relationships to build, struggles to face, and excitement to be had!

New people to meet and new things to learn.

New adventures to face and a new you to create!

So much new, but don’t forget the real you.

You are exactly who God created you to be.

You are a beautiful daughter of God.

Although ‘you’ may change from time to time,

God still loves the real you deep down inside.

He sees your mistakes and bad decisions,

yet still longs to be the God of your life!

What an awesome God we have, that forgives and forgets.

Yet rejoices with us when we seek Him and live for Him,

rejoices when we please Him and grow to become like Him.

We’ve enjoyed having you with us for the short time you were here,

As difficult as it may have been to adjust to new people and new routines,

we made it through and glad we did.

Now for the next leap into your future, wherever that may be,

we pray and hope that you won’t forget us,

and that you will keep us updated.

We want to hear of your new friendships,

your accomplishments and your mistakes,

your ups, your downs, and your so-so days,

your upsets, your bad days, and your awesome days!

Many days are to come, and who knows what they bring?

But as long as you face each day knowing that God loves you,

knowing that He will protect you,

and knowing that He will guide you,

every day will be a great day for you!

Keep in mind a servant heart, a giving heart,

a sharing heart, and a forgiving heart,

as you continue on your walk through life.

Knowing that we all make mistakes,

but also know that we can learn from those mistakes.

Your attitude in every situation will affect your life and all those around you.

Never knew you had such an impact, did you?

But someone is always watching,

especially when you call yourself a Christian.

I am currently working on a book for homeschooling your deaf child, if you are anyone you know is homeschooling their deaf/HH child, please pass on my note. I need their help!

Check out Isaiah's Place at www.isaiahsplace.org for information on a great resource for the deaf/HH community. Together we are working on a reading curriculum and I am independently working on a handbook for homeschooling your deaf/HH child.

Thanks.

Everyone has a homeschooling story. Why they chose to homeschoool. What finally made them make that decision. How many different curriculums they have tried along the way. And what keeps them going. For me the answer lies in one thing . . . Shelby.

Shelby is my oldest daughter, now age 7. I had several friends homeschooling and I told them they were all crazy! I made it quite clear that I was NOT going to torture myself or my children by homeschooling them. Plus I had a really good reason for not homeschooling - my daughter was deaf. How in the world would I homeschool a deaf child? It was just silly!

How? I said. Well, my husband, also very much against the idea of homeschooling, said we will try public school and go from there. It was horrible! So then we went to homeschooling, but with help from the school district. One day a week a deaf ed teacher was provided and 2 days a week speech therapy was provided. Me, knowing nothing about deaf ed, listened to every word my deaf ed teacher told me. She was quite concerned that Shelby wasn't talking well enough and did not have a very large vocabulary.

So we moved her to a private deaf school in a nearby city. That was better than public school, but still not good enough to reach our family goals. So back to homeschooling we went. At this point my little angel is 5 (they start special needs kids at age 3 in the public school system).

I haven't stopped homeschooling since! I love it and have found the unit study approach to work very well with my deaf daughter as well as my younger two children.

 . . . I'm thinking a book may be in my near future . . . just to tell my story so that others who have the same fears I did will see it can be done . . .

Since we are planning our trip northward (to Alaska) We have been studying the state with our kids. I would like to share what we have learned. (I have young children so it wasn't real in depth.)

Day 1:

Alaska Facts

State Flag, State Bird, State Flower, and State Seal

We found these and more at http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjgeog/a/susak.htm

Day 2:

Alaska Indians

We made totem poles out of egg cartons

Great info on this site: http://www.oregontrail.net/~thesmiths/iditarod/people.html

Day 3:

Iditarod Race

Watched a Sled Video here http://www.trailriverhuskies.com/ .
Read Togo by Blake

More ideas here http://www.oregontrail.net/~thesmiths/iditarod/iditoutl.html

Day 4:

Weather

Make snowflakes www.learnwhatsup.com/prc/holiday/christmas/crafts/borax_crystal_snowflake.html

Northern Lights http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/index.html

Day 5:

Artic Animals

We watched all kinds of wonderful videos that were available at our local library.

I also found this Sea World  site cool http://www.seaworld.org/fun-zone/fun-guides/arctic/arctic-adaptations.htm

That is a basic layout of what we have done. Lots more still to learn!

I love beans! There are so many different varieties and so many different things you can do with them. My love for beans began when budget cuts were demanded and the first thing to get cut was the grocery bill. I researched many ways to use beans and discovered how to can my own beans.

You will need a pressure canner, preferably one with a weighted gauge, pint canning jars with new lids and rings, beans of any kind, a ladle, potholders, tongs, plastic knife, and salt, if desired.

First, in a large mixing bowl, pour one bag of beans and fill with water. Let soak for at least 2 hrs. The bigger the bean the longer it will need to soak.

Second, fill your clean pressure canner, a little over half way, with water and heat to a boil. Warm jars in a 200° oven and lids in the boiling water. I use 8 jars because that is how many my canner holds.

Next, drain and rinse beans. Ladle beans into hot jars only 3/4 full. Then ladle the hot water over the beans. Add 1t salt to each jar if desired. Using plastic knife release air bubbles in the jar. Using tongs remove lids from the boiling water and place on each jar. Using potholder, tightly apply rings.

Lastly, carefully place jars into what is left of the boiling water. Make sure the jars don’t touch. Follow manufacturers directions for using your canner. 10 pounds pressure for 60min.

When jars are cool, you have your own canned beans just as if you bought them from the store! Of course with the exception that you know exactly what is in your beans and it cost much less. If you want Ranch Style Beans just add chili powder when you add salt. Use white navy beans and a little brown sugar and you have baked bean style.

Enjoy your beans!

Growing up I thought that the only reason my parents had me was so I could clean and work for them. Free labor - that’s me! Now as a parent I notice some of the same events happening all over again. My kids hate to clean or pick up anything. All my notions that making cleaning fun would somehow make them magically want to help were so far off the charts. So thus began the I-will-spank-you-until-you-are-finished series. Well that, for obvious reasons, did not work.

I have three children, ages seven, five, and three. I’m not going to try to convince you that I have it all figured out, I doubt I ever will, but thought I would share some things I have learned along the way with little ones.

Teamwork. Siblings are not the always the best "team." Granted this is what I envision: my lovely children help and protect each other and become a dynamite team. But reality soon hits as the first toy of the day is chunked across the room. Teamwork is still my goal and the best way I have learned to teach this is by my chipping in with the "team." I started out thinking that while the kids were doing chores, I could get some of my chores out of the way. With little ones, this rarely happens. If I play as part of the "Clean-Up Crew" such as showing them "secrets" on how to do a better job, being willing to pick up a few items with them, or race them to see who can finish first, they really seem to enjoy their job. The "game mode" really only works with the really young ones. And if I am doing my own chore then stay within eyesight so that they can see me working too.

Consistency. This part is crucial. Have a plan and stick to it. I’ve made all kinds of charts to use with the kids and sometimes they worked, but the thing that worked the best was holding them accountable. As an example I will share with you our morning routine. Breakfast is not a big deal at my house, so as the children wake up they eat a little something. As they finish they are sent to fix beds, then brush teeth and put clothes on. As soon as all three of my little "angels" are finished with these tasks we have quiet Bible time for 15 minutes. After Bible time, they are released to go play outside for a little while. Monday through Saturday this is expected of them. We don’t always get this done in a timely fashion, but it is always done in that order. They know what is expected of them and I hold them accountable to complete their tasks.

A Plan. This way you always have a plan on what they need to be doing. For younger ones, scheduling chores in increments seems to work better. Notice in the morning routine that it ends with outside time. Outside time ends at snack time, which is a very convincing way to encourage them to come back inside. After snack, school is started. My kids love school time and hate to take vacations, so this is also an easy transition. And because they worked so hard at school they are rewarded with another free time while I go fix lunch. (Key here is that it is the same everyday - no surprises). After lunch is afternoon chores.

My kids love to work in the kitchen, so to make this easier on me I assigned them each their day to be "Kitchen Helper". So three days a week I have one child helping me with meals, but this also includes clean-up duties. During afternoon chores, the "Kitchen Helper" does lunch clean-up. The other two also have one assigned chore to do during this time. Once finished . . . yep, you guessed it . . . free time.

Know your kids. We all know our own kids better than anyone else, right? Use this knowledge with chore time and things will go much smoother. Make a list of jobs each child is capable of. My youngest, 3, is in charge of trash duty. This means she has to gather all the small trash cans around the house and dump them into the big trash can. She can handle this job easily so she does it cheerfully. Other things she can do is pick-up her toys, separate dirty laundry, clean off the table with a washcloth, and hold the dustpan for the sweeper.

My middle child is a 5-yr-old boy. He doesn’t have half the fine motor skills of my girls so I have to change my expectations of his chores. He sweeps, cleans the bathroom, fixes his own bed, folds laundry, separates dirty laundry, picks-up toys, yard clean-up, and vacuuming. He is also in charge of any bugs the girls find.

The oldest, 7, is very resourceful. She is a typical older child with a few exceptions. One in particular being that she is deaf and relies on her schedule wholeheartedly. She knows her jobs and sticks to them. And she gets very upset when the other two don’t do their jobs correctly. Her jobs include cleaning her rabbit’s cage, feeding and caring for her rabbit, cleaning the bathroom, fold laundry, fix her bed, pick-up toys, sweep and vacuum, organize movie and book shelves, separate dirty laundry, and match socks.

Those were some ideas of what they can do. Remember that was all on top of their "Kitchen Helper" duties. Even though the two older ones have some of the same jobs, I expect different results from them. My son is still learning fine motor skills and attention to details, so I spend more time with him during chore time than I do with my oldest.

My children are not my "free labor", but I wish to teach them life skills to become well-adjusted adults that are not dependent on anyone else. And most important that we all learn to work together as a family and learn to respect each other.

Felicia Johnson

Wife to Jeremiah Johnson

mother to Shelby, Colby Dean, and Tobie Johnson