This is a copy of 1 of 3 Reports turned in by my children. I thought this one was the best, but I always have a problem with the grade. How would you grade this report?

            In the beginning exploration brought many Europeans sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to the new world called the Americas. This meant sharing their beliefs with the natives of the area and plenty of adventure for those who dared. In order to accomplish this, travelers would have to establish a foothold on the land by putting down roots in colonizing areas. They would have to lay claims to territories and govern them as they would in their own countries.

          Most famous of colonial towns, Jamestown established in 1607 and named after King James I. Jamestown had their share of near tragedies due Indian raids, near mutinies, and barely surviving through what is known as “The Starving Time.” Jamestown did survive and became the first permanent Virginia colony. Twelve more colonies were soon to join in up and down the eastern coast of the country. The northern colonies were called Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The middle colonies were comprised of Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The southern colonies were Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.

          There were many Europeans who could not afford to travel to the Americas so several became indentured servants, having their passage paid by wealthier settlers. The indentured servant would work their debt off over a period of 4 to 7 years. Enslaved Africans were also brought to America with few rights they were considered property and bought and sold. Many of the colonists could not afford to bring much more with them than the clothing on their backs. They all came with big dreams of a free and prosperous life, and wonderful family traditions, native to their own homelands.

          Once the settlers arrived in America the need for shelter was of immediate concern. Land needed to be cleared and temporary tent like houses called shanties were assembled until a better location and permanent housing could be built. When it was time to build a more permanent home safety was an issue to consider. There were several types of homes such as the saltbox, built of wood with logs, evened into squares, formed into frames and sided with clapboard planks or shingles. New England houses were noted for steep roofs and large chimneys. Dutch houses were as tall as three stories with deeply sloped roofs made of brick or stone. Southern homes are like cottages, little attention was paid to heating because of the warm weather, and fireplaces were built on the outside of the wall to keep from overheating the house. Many of these homes are still standing today as museums of that era as a tribute to the people who lived in them. The rooms of the homes were simple, the bedrooms of the parents and the youngest children were usually on the first floor, these rooms were also called borning rooms were the mothers were generally more comfortable while giving birth to their children. The other downstairs rooms of the house would include kitchen, dining room, and parlor. The parlor was the grandest room of the house and was used for most of the entertaining. The best rods, draperies and furniture are used to decorate the parlor because that is where they would get most noticed. The necessary, which is very practical room, was usually outside and it’s what we would call a bathroom.

          Boys and girls both learned how to sew, as there was a need for mending to be done, the colonists did not have the closet full of clothes that people have today. Many of the colonists only had two sets of clothes their everyday work close in their Sunday clothes. The work clothes also doubled as bed clothes. Their Sunday clothes also doubled as party clothes or special occasion clothing. Much of their clothing was made from wool that they would shear from the sheep themselves. Also Linen was a very popular item for making clothing; this too they would make themselves from flax plants. Cotton, as we know it today, was not as popular back then because it was very flammable and the women with their long skirts working in the hot kitchens by the fire didn’t like it too much.

          Colonial food was a major event of the day and a major part of the daily agenda. Much of the day was spent preparing as everything was made from scratch. They could not just go to the cupboard and open a can of corn and whip up a batch of Bisquick to make some biscuits. The settlers had to milk the cows, churn the milk to make butter, grow and pick their own vegetables, and hunt and kill their own food. When it was harvest time, it was also a social time, as neighbors and friends would help each other with the harvesting; they would call these bees. There were corn-husking bees, Apple bees, taffy pulls, and threshing bees, to name a few food related ones. A lot of time was devoted to the kitchen, because it was the center of activity in the colonial household. At the dinner table manners were enforced and children practiced their penmanship by writing the rules of etiquette into their copybooks.

          Family life was hard work and little play. From sun up to sun down  men would work in the fields, or the barn, always preparing for the cold winter ahead. The women were preparing the meals for the day, fetching the water, milking the cows etc. With all the hard work throughout the day there was still time for a little relaxation before bed. With a little music or little Scripture, the settlers always had family time.

          Most of the adults in the early days could not read nor could they write their name except for using the letter X. By 1647 the “Old Deluder Satan Act” went into effect, where towns consisting of 50 or more families needed to employ a teacher to teach the children. Towns of 100 or more families had to set up a grammar school to instruct and prepare the children for university. Schools were closed during planting and harvesting seasons. Schools usually consisted of one room where all school-age children were taught. The teachers taught all kinds of subjects but the focus was on the 3R’s, reading, writing, and arithmetic. They had few books and had to care for them carefully, if the schoolbook was lost, it would most likely never be replaced. Young children would use a hornbook to learn their alphabet and numbers, and the Bible was the number one choice for use as a reader. Towns usually hired men as Teachers, as they felt women would not be able to discipline unruly boys. Discipline came in many forms like wearing a dunce cap, or a sign telling the tale of their misbehavior. Other punishments included balancing on a wooden block. Getting a beating was the regular punishment, by either being whipped on the buttocks with a leather strap, or rapped on the hands with a rod. Boys were expected to bow and girls to courtesy with respect; this was the practice to be used with every adult.

          Faith in the colonies was the main reason for many of the Europeans traveling to the Americas. They wanted to believe and worship in their own way. There were Protestants, Roman Catholic, Puritans, and Quakers to name a few. A famous Puritan, John cotton, wrote that liberty and government should be based on biblical truth. This caused the Puritans to question the power of the King and eventually cause them to break from the English Church holding secret worship services, when caught they were jailed. George Fox was the founder of the Quakers and they referred to themselves as the Society of Friends. This group caused plenty of trouble with the English Church and the Puritans as well. They would sit in silence waiting for the Spirit of God to come down upon them. Occasionally one would rise and speak out, it was said they would sometimes quiver and quake with motion during service or ministry giving them the name “Quakers.” The slaves taken from Africa brought their mystical customs that led to witchcraft eagerly practiced in colonies. This was addressed practically by the Puritans in the town of Salem. We all know of the Salem witch trials, but that’s a whole other story.

          The colonists took joy in the simple pleasures of the home, the settlers found ways to enjoy themselves with their families. They loved to play games, which were simple and low cost to produce, such as Naught and Crosses, Jack Straw’s, and Draughts. We know these games as tic-tac-toe, pickup sticks, and checkers. They also enjoyed stories and Bible reading next to the fireplace in the parlor, and listening to the fiddle, singing hymns, or playing a game of musical chairs. Word games such as riddles, rhymes, and puzzles were a popular way to pass the time. Children spent a lot of time playing outdoors, playing such games as skipping rope, sack races, hopscotch, tag etc. The women enjoyed bees such as quilting bees. When there were no bees to attend they would have country dances called sprees, offered jigs, reels, and square dancing, accompanied by fiddlers and a caller.

          As the colonies began to settle and grow, villages became a central focus and a place to count on for staying in touch with news of local and European events. Villages provided more and more services that help to bring comfort and security to the colonial families. Most people of farm life would travel into the village for necessities. The general store was the heart of the community and the central gathering place. It was the place to do business, debate politics, and view the newest European imports. When they walked into the general store many sights and smells awaited them, the rich aroma from sacks of coffee and fine soaps to name a couple. Farmers would bring in their extra produce and eggs to sell or trade for goods. Bigger cities were a center of commerce, culture, and the most concentrated population. Cities had their share of problems too. Often garbage was piled in poor locations causing horrible smells and decay. Sewage was not always directed well and would pool near where people lived and worked. Poverty and disease were of common place in the city. Some of the most prominent cities were Boston, New Amsterdam, Williamsburg, Charleston and the most popular of all Philadelphia.

          There weren’t many doctors during the time of the early colonies. Many of the doctors they did have were not taught at a university. Many started off as an apprentice, gaining the title of Dr. after serving a given amount of time with a real doctor. Many times doctors would treat a patient’s symptoms incorrectly and as a result women would often die during childbirth and young children frequently died from childhood illnesses. Some common illnesses were sore throat, whooping cough, diphtheria, measles, chickenpox, dysentery, spotted fever, rheumatic fever, scarlet fever, asthma, mumps, scurvy, pneumonia, colds, influenza, cholera and rickets. Tuberculosis and polio often left children handicapped. Today childhood deaths rarely happened as our knowledge of illnesses and precautions to take against them is great. A common practice of many ill people was bloodletting. This was letting the bad blood out of your body. It was done in a few different ways. One was to scratch the skin with the Lancet and a glass cup would be heated and placed over the scratch. The cooling process caused a vacuum which allow the blood to flow freely from the wound, this was called cupping. A disgusting approach was leeching. This was not common during this time but became more so to towards the 19^th century. There were apothecary shops where you could buy plants and roots or anything you needed for medicinal herbs. You would use a pharmacopeia, which is a recipe book for making medicines. All very primitive compared to today’s society.

          During colonial times you were either an artesian or a farmer. Artesians consisted of Carpenters, Blacksmiths, White Smiths, Gunsmiths, Glassblowers, and Printers to name a few. If you did not know a trade or work on a farm you would spend time being an apprentice under a master craftsman. Parents would often choose the trade their child would go into, some would learn the family trade and would move to other towns where their skill was needed. Artesians were a much-needed part of the colonial community. The printer was important for colonial society as they help in spreading news and written books for all to read.

          Thanksgiving was a holiday that first started with the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth. This originally was a three day event, and not just the third Thursday of November as we know it today. Other holidays celebrated were; Easter introduced by the Dutch settlers, Valentine’s Day, and the Irish brought Halloween or All Hollows Eve. Christmas was a time celebrated by many nationalities and it was not just for children. Decorating with evergreens bows and berries was a simple and low-cost way to celebrate the holiday. If there were any gifts they were simple and homemade, nothing like the expectations of children today.

          If you committed a crime you need to be prepared to take the punishment. Crimes were addressed according to the level of the offense. The Puritans judge sin strongly and were very quick to punish immoralities. For serious crimes, the punishments were severe, whether Puritan or not. For lesser crimes public humiliation was a common punishment. There were a few ways to do this, the pillory, stocks, or the whipping post. Another punishment was bearing a sign or a letter. Letters were given to represent the crime that had been committed. For example you would wear a “D” if you are arrested for drunkenness or a “B” for blasphemy, “R” was for rogue or fraud, “T” was for a thief, if he didn’t have his hands cut off instead. Other punishments included branding, having ears lopped off, or a tongue cut out for lying. (Imagine how many people with missing tongues there would be today). Those who committed murder were executed. One could escape the gallows by pleading for the benefit of the clergy. This was done by reading from the Bible, the accused was given mercy and his hand was branded instead. A common verse was the 51^st Psalm, “have mercy upon me, oh God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

          Plantations and slavery in the colonies went hand-in-hand. In 1619 the Dutch had brought the first African to Jamestown, they were immediately used for labor. In 1661 Virginia passed a slave law that any African-American would remain a slave for life. In 1662 the law was expanded to include the children born of the slaves as well. Almost all of 18^th-century colonists thought that owning slaves was natural; it had been common practice around the world for centuries. There was a tremendous need for labor on the plantations, as tobacco was a commodity that needed much space to grow and plantations grew to 10,000 acres or larger. Tobacco was a crop that robbed the soil of rich nutrients and would render the field useless for a long time. As time went on other crops such as sugarcane, indigo used for dyes, and cotton became largely desired. All of these crops needed many hands in the field; cotton was the most painful to plant and harvest, often producing bleeding fingers. The owners of the plantation lived in a manor house not always a mansion but separate from the slave’s quarters. Field slaves lived in slave rows or small communities of simple houses. Some slaves suffered punishment and hardship under cruel masters and others were adopted as family being educated and taught trades and crafts and becoming artesian. Some slave-owners such as Thomas Jefferson equipped the artesians with schools and workshops and offered them a percentage of what they produced. Many slaves also became Christians, passionately living out their zeal for their faith, by attending churches and prayer meetings, often praying for their masters.

This was posted on our PPEA weblog and I just had to share it with everyone. I can't take the credit but I wanted to share a fun read with you.

I Will Survive (the first year of homeschooling) *Or* any year homeschooling Originally written and produced by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris Originally performed by Gloria Gaynor Mercilessly altered with apologies by Natalie Criss.

 First I was afraid I was petrified.

Kept thinking I could never teach ´Cause I´m not certified.

 But we spent so many nights Reteaching homework that was wrong.

 I grew strong, So now I teach my kids at home!

We study math And outer space.

 I just kept on despite the fear With a big smile across my face.

 I bought a set of Base Ten blocks.

 I bought books with answer keys.

My parents think we´re nuts, But they don´t even bother me Come on, let´s go walk out the door.

 We´re on the road now, 'cause we´re not home much anymore My friends would laugh and say we´d be unsocialized.

 I heard one mumble That I´d give up by July.

 Oh no, not I! I will survive!

 As long as I know how to read I know we´ll be alright.

 I've got all my life to learn.

 I've got energy to burn.

 And I'll survive. I will survive.

It took all the strength I had Not to fall apart.

 Decided to attend A play date at the local park, And I met oh so many moms Who offered eagerly t o help.

 They used to cry.

 Now they hold their heads up high, And so do we!

My kids are cool!

 They´re not those chained up little people Stuck inside at school.

 So if you feel like dropping by And just expect us to be free You´d better call ahead first ´cause we´re probably busy!

I have been working for the same company for 25 years.

Here in Florida we have been having an issue with a storm called Fay. Things have been a little stressful. What should we do? What shouldn't we do? Today our Market Manager calls me and wants to know what am I going to do to cut payroll over the next few days because sales are slow. Corporate people have no heart, my employees still have bills to pay! I asked her whats the weather like tomorrow and she mumbled something about the storm. I made a comment that this storm needs to go away before Friday because my 13 year old son is flying back from his visit to NY, She is so mean she told me to "Put him on a Greyhound." I wanted to respond with telling her to put her happy you know what on a Greyhound and go back to where she came from.  I know I should not have said anything about my personal situation but I did. So shame on me but she did not have to say that.

 Sorry for the venting!!

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A special thank you to all the Homeschoolbloggers

This is the first blog site that has made me feel welcome and this is my way of saying THANK YOU!!!

My son is visiting a friend in long Island, NY. The phone is not ringing off the hook. TV not blaring, Its AWESOME.

I'm sure his is having a wonderful time and I can't wait until he comes back. But until then I'm enjoying the quiet time!!!

As he would say "Peace Out"

I keep asking myself this questions. Then I ask,"How can you afford not to?" I have 3 children all 10 years apart. My first went completely through public school. She has a strong personality and a good head on her shoulders. The biggest problem I had with her was BOYS. My second is my son a follower and always in trouble I had to pull him out of public school. I took him to work with me every day to watch over while doing his work. Not the best of situations. My third a wonderful little girl (so far) almost 4 years old. She will with any luck never see public school.

Now ask yourself how do I do this. I need work so we can pay the bills. My kids need me. How can I do this and stay at home with them. 

Well this is what I am doing. I work full time and I am arranging my schedule this year to work a few afternoon shifts and have a weekday off so I can be at home 3 of the 5 school days. I started selling costume jewelry on ebay last year. http://stores.ebay.com/YesterYears-And-Today I am now a powerseller. But just the first level, still not enough to quit the day job. I opened my own website off ebay not doing to great a sale here and there. http://www.mod2vint.com Still not enough. By the time my littlest one is ready for school I want to be at home full time.

The dream: Sell the house move to Tenn. and pay cash for a new home. I would not have to work. My kids would be away from the influences here. And a dream would be realized.

The roadblock: We live in Florida, The housing market is awful. Taxes to high and insurance out of sight.

On the bright side I am excited about the new school year and I have what, I think, my son will really enjoy. He's in for a lot of work but most should be fun. History I can't wait for. I found www.homeschoolinthewoods.com here on the homeschoolblogger, ordered their product and I love it. I would recommend it to everyone. We found a great math program, where I don't have to be Einstein to help him. Put together our own reading, spelling, and writing program. Created a load of American History Notebooking pages (by the way I am offering them on ebay at a low price of 5.99 with free shipping) we (I) can't wait for him to get started. American History Pages 

I would love to hear from everyone on how they do. Also any other suggestions on how to afford (money) to still pay the bills and stay home.

 I have been spending a lot of time looking for a math program for next year. We used Saxon this year. But my son needs more practice at the current lesson not so much mixed review. Saxon is nice but only has a few problems of the current lesson in its assignments.

Does anyone have any suggestions. What I want is, If the days lesson is to turn a mixed fraction to an improper fraction then I want all the work for that assignment to be just that. A weekly mixed review is fine.

Any suggestions, links, comments etc. will be most helpful. Thanks

       Today was the big day! I droped my son off at the doctors office and picked him up two hours later. The doctor said things went well. My son also said things went well. I asked my son what the test was like, and he said part of it was hard. He is not one to go into much detail, but he said the test had to do with letters, colors, and patterns. I'm not sure what this will tell the Doc. but he is the expert. Now I have to wait a week until next Thursday to find out the results.  I have to admit I was quite surprised when I droped him off, the Dr. qave me another form asking questions about bipolar. I can tell you my son is not bipolar. I have worked with a few bipolar folks and my son in no way meets the description of a person having bipolar.

    Now that being said, the past week has gone much better on the school front. He has even been working on his court ordered essay. I'm kinda in shock.

                My first five months of home schooling has not been a total pleasure. While most home school families start their home school experience from the beginning of the child’s educational years, we started ours with 7^th grade. My son has been exposed to public school from the age of 4 years, starting with pre-k.  He has encountered many problems from grades to social issues ending with being arrested at school for possession of marijuana on school grounds. The dilemma I faced as a mother and a citizen was, what am I to do with this child? I want him to succeed in life and be a responsible caring adult.  So the battle begins.

                My son, who shall remain nameless, was a very active and aggressive toddler. I sought help from the doctor, for ways to deal with this child. The Dr. referred me to a group called fiddlers for special testing. We waited several months to be seen, we tested, and so started the pre-k experience. This structured atmosphere made a huge difference in his behavior. I was tickled pink! Life was getting better, I was getting sleep. My son did very well. As time went on and we progressed through elementary school things digressed, grades were poor, and we received several complaints from teachers and after school caregiver. As much as I or any parent did not want to admit, the problem was with my son. We survived elementary school with minimal success.

                So starts Middle school, 6^th grade, my son had very poor grades, did not turn in assignments. He refused to cooperate in class. He chose to connect with the wrong type of kids. He started imitating gang kids, with the look, talk, and attitude.  I was desperate; I called our local police department, gang unit, and had an officer come to my home to talk with my child. This officer interviewed my son and determined he was not a gang member. The officer gave me a pamphlet, to help me with identifying the signs of being in a gang. My son was told he could not hang around a certain boy. I was so determined that he would not hang with this child, that he became a car rider and lost the free time before and after school to hang with this other boy. Well, this did not work, because I cannot control what happens during the school day. I went to the school and asked for their help, of course they were full of promises that they did not comply with. The midyear report card comes home and my son is failing. The school calls and said my son has been caught skipping class with the very boy he has been forbidden to hang out with.  So public school ends for the 6^th grade. We bartered services with my sister in-law who home schools her children. She helped my son pass the 6^th grade. In fact he did so well we decided he could return to public school for a 2^nd chance.

                7^th grade begins at a new school. A magnet school, we were lucky to get a spot. My son went back to public school knowing that one grade on his report card below a “C” would cause him to be pulled and return to home schooling. Not only were his grades very poor, and several missing assignments, he was arrested at school. He had several bus referrals and in trouble several times before the arrest. My son was very good at not bringing home the referrals for me to sign. I thought I knew what was going on; after all he was doing his homework. School started in August and by October, I’m getting the call, your son has been arrested for possession of marijuana on school grounds. I thought “He is only 12 years old, where have I gone wrong.” The officer on the phone told me I would get a call as to when and where I could pick him up. I’m in tears, how am I going to save my son from this path he has chosen? I called the sister in-law that helped out in the 6^th grade for advice. She helped me pick the curriculum for my son to finish out the 7^th grade in home school. This time with me not her.

                 We are very different from the traditional home school family. I work a full time job and my son must go with me to work. We get up very early in the morning and he is allowed to go back to sleep for a short time in the van. I wake him up again around 8:30 AM and require him to have breakfast and be prepared to start his school day by 9:00 AM. This worked well at first, now it’s a battle to get him going. I just keep telling myself it’s a battle of wills. I will win this battle. He very much wants to return to public school to be with his friends. I think he has proven he cannot succeed in the public school system. My son argues and refuses to do his work. I am very stressed and upset most of the time. He is acting this way to try and push me into allowing him back to public school. I am here to tell you, that’s not happening. So, the punishment begins. He lost everything, TV, phone, video games, friends, bike, and the list goes on. He had to earn them back one at a time. He was pushing me so hard; I was ready to have him spend a five day vacation in juvie. You are probably thinking “what could this child be doing to be so upsetting to his mother.” My son yells, balls his fists, refuses to work, gets up from his seat and roams around. He makes strange noises for no reason. There was one instance with a book he was reading, I asked a question about the chapter he just finished, and he could not answer the question so I asked him to reread the chapter. He refused, he was sent to his room to reread, and told when he was finished and could answer the question he could come out to eat dinner. Do you know that child denied himself food, to not have to reread the chapter? Again I ask myself “What am I to do?”

                Now its a few weeks later and things are a little better. I spent one whole day on the phone calling every child specialist on ADD and ADHD in my home town. This was a most frustrating experience; every call was answered by voice mail. All I wanted to do is speak to a live person and ask a few questions. Finally at 4:30 PM one call was returned. I now have my connection to a specialist that can test him. That is a few weeks away, and very expensive. If my son does have this problem of ADD or ADHD we will now be on the right track to improve things.  So the saga of my homeschooling experience continues. I know that no one is perfect and it is a learning experience for us all. But I never imagined all the road blocks that I would encounter. Being a Mother, Teacher and a good citizen is much harder than anyone could ever imagine. After reading all my horror there are some good points about this first five months. I believe when we learn together it will make both of us better people. I have rediscovered things long forgotten or never learned. If nothing else I will come out of this a better person.