Victory Homeschool - Homeschool Blogger

A Long But Incredibly Important Read...

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:16:00 -0500

I was given permission by Candy (the author) to copy this to my blog. Please take the time to read this.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - BAD NEWS

Apparently, it's no longer enough for Uncle Sam to try to force us into taking care of our children Old Sam's way. Now the U.N. is stepping in, on an international scale, and what they are planning to force on families is insane, and MUST BE STOPPED.

If you have never been politically active, then YOU are part of the problem! Stand up, and look around you! We are no longer fighting for our rights, and they are being taken away. I am NOT exaggerating, and YES I'm mad. You should be too.

Take a look at this seemingly "innocent" commercial for children, about the The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

'All children will go to "nice" schools.' Do you know what the UN Convention defines a "nice school" as? It's not private schools, and it's not homeschool. It's public school, but with MORE secularism than ever. If Americans allow themselves to be enslaved under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, then homeschool will be ILLEGAL in all 50 states, regardless of state laws - they will be overrode with federal and international laws. Christian private schools will no longer be allowed to teach Christianity, without equally teaching all other religions - this means there would be no more CHRISTIAN schools. Perhaps there will be in name, but not in content, subject matter or sanctification.

Did you do something to upset your child lately? Maybe when your child wanted to eat a box of chocolates right before bedtime, and you said "no." Look out! Under The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child could decide to take you to court and claim that you are not feeding them enough. One child took his parents to court (and won!) because he thought it was cruel of his parents to take him to church three times a week - Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday nights.
We need an amendment that stands up for PARENTAL RIGHTS. Take a look at this:

The above video states "if we all stand together and raise our voices, Congress will respond." That's right! Let's stand together for parental rights. The U.N. should not have a say in which school our children go to, or if we homeschool them. Nor is it any of the UN's business if our child does something wrong, and is therefore grounded for it.

If The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is ratified, then each child will have a list of rights, of which they will be taught to know by heart in the public schools that they will be attending by the choice of the UN and our government. Here are a few of those "rights:"

The right to privacy - Yep. If you suspect your teenager has pot stashed in his room, you would not be allowed to go in there and find out. Your child could end up dying from a drug problem, but you couldn't interfere, or it would have violated their "right to privacy."

Freedom of expression - If your toddler throws a temper tantrum, you are not allowed to do anything. If your teen starts yelling the 'f' word out the widow of the car while you are driving to the grocery store, you are not allowed to do anything. The parent would have no right to interfere with the child's "freedom of expression."

If your child decides to take home another child and go to their room and close the door and have sex, you cannot stop them, else you'd be violating their "freedom of expression" and "freedom of privacy." Do you think I'm exaggerating? I'm not...

Here are a few excerpts from HSLDA:

"Under Article 13, any attempts to prevent their children from interacting with material parents deem unacceptable is forbidden. Children are vested with a "freedom of expression" right, which is virtually absolute. No allowance is made for parental guidance. Section 1 declares a child's right to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice."

In Article 14, children are guaranteed "freedom of thought, conscience and religion." Children have a legal right to object to all religious training. Alternatively, children may assert their right against parental objection to participate in the occult.

Article 15 declares "the right of the child to freedom of association." Parents could be prevented from forbidding their child to associate with people deemed to be objectionable companions. Under Article 15, children could claim a "fundamental" right to join gangs, cults, and racist organizations over parental objection.

Under Article 16, the "right to privacy" is granted to children. This UN sanctioned "privacy" would seemingly establish as the child's right to obtain an abortion without parental notice, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, and the right to pornography in the home.

Article 19 mandates the creation of an intensive bureaucracy for the purpose of "identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment, and follow-up" of parents who, in violation of the child's rights, treat their children negligently.

To insure State and U.N. control over their development, Article 7 requires all children must be immediately registered at birth."

The above excerpts are taken from the HSLDA.org website. Please read the article in its entirety - Oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Next, please read this .pdf file called "THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - The Most Dangerous Attack on Parental Rights in the History of the United States." The information contained in this .pdf document is something that everyone needs to know.

As Americans, we need to take steps to make sure America does NOT ratify this treaty. 192 nations have already ratified this treaty. The "Holy See" Roman Catholic Vatican was one of the first ones to ratify it. I make specific mention of this, because I know a lot of Catholics who will NOT support CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child). Therefore, devout Catholics must be made aware, that if they stand with Bible believing Christians in rising up against the CRC, then they are going against the Vatican's wishes. BENEDICT XVI supports the CRC. Roman Catholics, I pray you DO stand with us on this issue. America must not ratify the CRC! Regardless of what religion you are, please stand with me to preserve parental rights.

To date, the only nations who have not ratified CRC, are Somalia and the United States. U.S. citizens, we must NOT allow this treaty to be ratified!

Please take the time to read The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for yourself. You can read it here.

Here is a list of "Children's Rights," being taught from a UK website.

From what I've read, it looks like Canada and the UK have signed onto this treaty, but have not agreed to every stipulation yet. I know homeschool is still being allowed in Canada and the UK, but I don't know how regulated it is, etc. Obama is pushing for the full ratification of the entire Convention for the U.S, which could make homeschool in the U.S. instantly outlawed. "Primary Education" in article 28 could be defined as government (public) school education only.

Please listen to this video, in which the woman explains this stuff so much better than my feeble attempt:

NOTE: The below video contains some gutter language, so don't watch it within earshot of children.

Steps to Take Action - Time to make a stand!

STEP ONE: Sign the parental rights petition at the parentalrights.org website.

STEP TWO: Contact your state Representatives and Senators. If this is something you have little to no experience in, then consider joining the 10 in 2 program with ParentalRights.org . Here is a quote from their site, summing up the program:

"We need 10-and 2 volunteers who can enlist 10 people to do the following: sign the petition for the Amendment, sign 3 postcards to their Representative and Senators, and donate $1.
Then, we need those volunteers to recruit 2 more people to do the same thing."

I'm volunteering. Are you? Please join me; it'll only take a few minutes of your time, and it could make a BIG difference.

STEP THREE: If you have a website or blog, then please put up an article about the CRC and its atrocities hidden within. The media is not going to get the word out, so it's up to us. If you want to, you can just copy this article I've written and put it on your site - just get the word out! Email and call people as well. Let's do this.

Planning on Testing Your Children?

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:57:00 -0500

If you have your children tested at the end of the schoolyear, as opposed to teacher assessments (depending on what your state requires), you might get as frustrated as I do. Either no one is offering the testing (except for the school district and that is not an option), or, as in our situation, hubby became certified to administer the test, but we would have to order six weeks in advance of the date he plans to administer the test and both children cannot be tested at the same time. So, with a very heavy travel schedule for hubby, that's not the easiest thing to plan. Then we wait two months to get the results. But, that's the way it is. It would be easier if I could do it, but I don't have a degree. In fact, I can't even be around when they're tested because I'm not qualified. Yeah. I know. Moving along...

Well, recently I was made aware of a marvelous company at www.FamilyLearning.org (FLO). They have the California Acheivement Test available, which is acceptable with our school district (I made sure! :). Now, get this, this is the marvelous part. I spoke with a woman at FLO because I noticed that we just had to prove that we homeschool to purchase the test. I was concerned about going through the certification again. I asked if I we had to show proof of a degree and do you know what she said to me??? "No. You know, we believe here that if you're qualified to teach your children you should be capable of administering the test to them." Hallelujah! How refreshing!!! And I need to allow only two weeks between ordering and when I plan to administer the test, which both children can take at the same time. And the turn around for the results is 1-3 weeks! Not to mention, it's cheaper. Can I just tell you how thrilled I am??? I am thrilled!

So, if you're looking to test your children in the privacy of your own home, just as you do with schooling them, please check out FLO's website and give them some more business!

Did I mention I'm thrilled??

Jennifer :)

Fresh Thoughts Challenge!

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:38:00 -0600

I've decided to participate in Jennifer's Fresh Thoughts Challenge! Please hop over to her site and sign up if you're interested. The idea is to try to stick with something, ANYTHING, for 30 days. It can be organizing, reading your Bible, not going out to eat, exercising, etc. You get the idea. Why don't you sign up and be accountable!

I am going to do my Power 90 workouts, as mentioned in my previous post, at least 5 days a week for 30 days. The idea is to do it for 90 days, hence the name, but I'm all for baby steps. The workout is designed for 6 days per week, but sometimes schedules get crazy, so I'll shoot for 5.

I am not someone who is big into weighing myself or measuring inches. I go for how my clothes fit and how I feel. So, we'll see how it goes after 30 days. I imagine I will definitely feel stronger and notice some difference in my clothes. Especially since I'm being deliberate about eating more living foods and cutting out some of my unhealthy snacking. I'm officially starting today -- January 12, 2009.

So what's your challenge? Go sign up and blog about it!

Jennifer :)

A New Year...

Thu, 8 Jan 2009 20:48:00 -0600

...therefore, I hope to blog more than once per quarter. I don't know how some people have time to blog and upload a gazillion pictures and still manage to school their children and keep up with everything. Well, no one ever said they were keeping up with everything did they? I guess I'm making assumptions.

I made no resolutions this year, as I have had many things that have been on my heart lately to change and I just need to do them and not relate them to New Years. Though there's nothing wrong with making that "fresh start". I have been wanting to get back to exercising and it just so happened that I started that after all the holiday busy-ness (and the cookies!) settled down. I started doing Beachbody's Power 90 and let's just say that I haven't been walking with much grace this week. Any kind of movement is followed by grunts and groans. Belle keeps saying, "Mom, why are you doing this to yourself!? Just stop already." :)

This year, and from now on, I'm definitely going to learn more of God's Word and teach it to my children. It's so important and God has been putting it on my heart for a long time. I have such a poor ability to retain anything that I've been making excuses, but He's not buying it. So I'm starting out in baby steps and I'm just going to keep doing my verses until I truly know them and not just remember them for a week. I've been reading my verse during my quite time in the morning and really meditating on it. Then when I go to take care of the animals and take the dog for a walk I use that time to pray and then practice repeating the verse over and over. Thankfully we have some land so the neighbors don't see me and think I'm just talking to myself. Then again, they know I'm a homeschool mom of four, so they'd probably expect it. :)

Well, I really just wanted to say Hi. It's been so long.

Jennifer :)

Papertowels

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:23:00 -0500

A few weeks ago I was at a friend's house and her children are always sick. It amazes me because they eat well, avoid extra sugar and are active, but I guess with four children 12 and under, things go around. Anyhow while there I asked her how everyone has been feeling and she said, "You know, I started using papertowels in the bathroom for everyone to dry their hands and they stopped getting sick. I switched back to towels and they all got sick again. So, I'm back to papertowels and nobody's sick." It makes sense, especially with little children, because they may not wash their hands really well and then those germs transfer to the towel for the next person.

Well, this past weekend Indy wasn't feeling well and was up Monday night throwing up. Poor guy. Then Tues. night Belle gets a fever and coldlike symptoms. Thankfully everyone is doing well now and Belle's cold isn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. But guess what? We've switched to paper towels in the bathrooms. Perhaps it's not as "green" as with towels, but think of all the tissues it will save in the long run. :) I did buy the Bounty "select-a-size", so we are only using half of a paper towel.

On another note, Lightning needed to get into the bathroom today while I was in the shower. He was all panicked because he needed to go #2 -- pronto. I said, "Don't worry, just go use the bathroom in Mommy and Daddy's room". When I finished in the shower I came out to find him in the livingroom and I said, "Hey Buddy, did you remember to wash your hands?" and he said, "Yes," and I said, "Did you remember to flush?" and he said, "No, I was afraid to because I used so many paper towels." OH MY GOSH!!! Isn't that a riot!? I took care of the situation...(ahem)...but told him that the paper towels are only for washing our hands or cleaning the mirrors and sink. I would love to have seen the look on my face when he said that!

Jennifer :)

He Cracks Me Up...

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:21:00 -0500

Our 11 year-old son, Indy, cracks me up. He has such a dry sense of humor and a very quick wit. This thrills me because hubby and I are both like that and are forever cracking each other up. Everyone else thinks we're wacko, but nonetheless, God knew what he was doing when he put us together.

Anyhow, yesterday Belle (9) realizes that she's lost the small cross that goes to her necklace. It sits inside a circle and dangles there. Well, she's devastated and unfortunately Indy did not share in her pain. Though I enjoy his humor, his lack of compassion is something we are working on. Anyhow, we are trying to think of when she last remembers it there and feel it's probably at home. We drop Indy off at guitar lessons and head off to Target. While in there Belle stops because her shoe is hurting her. Low and behold, there is the cross in her shoe! She's so, so happy because Grandma and Grandpa gave it to her and it was special.

We go back and pick up Indy. Immediately Belle is saying, "Guess what? We were in Target and my shoe hurt me and it was because my cross was inside my shoe!!" Indy's response was, "Yeah?...Well, Jesus is everywhere." Had I been drinking something it surely would have shot out my nose.

I needed to share this to keep a memory of it for myself.

Jennifer :)

Revival Time

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:41:00 -0500

A friend of mine invited us to a revival their church was having. I was really surprised that this revival began on Sunday and continues through next Wednesday! That's pretty long. Anyhoo, hubby is out of town, but the children wanted to go. Well, all except Indy (11) who was really nervous about going somewhere new. Guess who was all over me at the end saying, "Mom, Mom, can we please come back again?! This was awesome." That was thrilling to hear. Thank You, Jesus!

I really, really enjoyed it and we are going to try to attend as many of the remaining sessions that we can. The children were all begging. The great thing was that the friend who invited me has children the same ages, so wherever our children went, there was someone they knew.

This was held in a 130 year-old church. It was very sweet and I can only imagine what it was like back then. Not much different on the inside I'm sure. The pews were original and I'd have to say that was one thing that made me think I could never go to that church. Isn't that terrible? I'm pretty petite and I could not get comfortable! Every muscle in my back was killing me and my tailbone was actually starting to bruise! HOWEVER, it was worth it to hear the great messages.

The first message was focused on the family and really raising our children to know the Word of God through family worship time at home. It was great to hear and there were a gazillion ideas going through my head. Ironically, when I talked to hubby later he had told me he had been walking through the airport this afternoon and felt a strong sense that God wants him to be a preacher...at home. I know that sounds strange, but not if you knew some of the things we've been sensing from the Lord lately. I love seeing God at work!

The worship band was great too. Let me tell you, there is nothing like being in a small room with about 130 people singing, "It is Well With My Soul". If hubby had been there he'd have been weeping for sure. That's his favorite. I'm so glad my friend invited me.

Hubby gets back in town Saturday night and he said we can go together to the meetings. We better get some Biofreeze for our backs beforehand! Ha!

This wasn't a big charismatic movement or anything, but they definitely preached things people need to hear about -- tithing, the family unit, men stepping up to their roles as husbands and fathers, forgiveness. Great stuff! I can't wait to hear the rest.

Ever been to a revival? You should check around and see if there's one at a church near you. I think you'll be blessed!

Jennifer :)

Certificate??

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:57:00 -0500

The other day our two older children and I were talking about when they were going to have the Right Hand of Fellowship at church to welcome them as new members.

Ds5 says, "Mama, what does Right Hand of Fellowship mean?" and I said, "Well, since J and E have completed all the requirements to become members of the church, the church recognizes that by having the congregation come up after service and welcome them by shaking their hand. Then the pastor will present J and E with a certificate."

Ds5's eyes got huge and he said, "A certificate!!!??? To where, Hobby Lobby!?" Ha! Ha! He was all set to become a member himself!

No, My Computer is Just Fine...

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:58:00 -0500

...it's me with the problem. I don't know why I can't seem to blog more than once every 3-4 months, but I can't. Then sometimes I blog every few days and then I stop. Usually if hubby is out of town I blog, otherwise, I don't. However, I'm going to try to blog more often.

I'm thinking of switching over to blogger. Nothing at all against HSB, I just like some of the features of blogger. I might do that and just start fresh. Don't know yet.

Well, for those of you who still might possibly have me on your feeds and haven't given up on me, here's a rundown of what's been going on since my last post:

* We got a puppy! He's soooo cute (show me one that isn't!). He's an English Shepherd named Silas. He's a farm dog and sleeps in the barn with the goats and cats at night. Eventually, with training, he *should* help us get the goats in at night and chickens (when we get them). I'll have to make a separate post and show pictures.

* Garden was semi-successful this year. The corn was amazing, the tomatoes were/are delicious, beans were great, but we waited all season for them, peas and carrots - not so good. The cucumbers were great, but I planted a ton of pickling cucumbers. They finally started to produce before we left for vacation and were too huge to do anything with by the time we got back. Squash beetles took over pumpkins and killed them all. Other than that, not too bad.

* School is underway and I'm already behind. Welcome to the life of someone who is lousy at time management. Thankfully the Lord is really working on me and with me. I am not going to let myself get the best of me! Strange sentence, but it makes sense to me.

* Hubby and I feeling totally committed lately to paying off any debt and seeing where we can cut expenses. It feels so good!

* Really getting into trying to be healthy and eating more raw foods. I watched a DVD recently that changed my thinking a bit (a lot) and I'll probably post more on that too.

* The weather has been incredible. Despite Ike's winds roaring through Ohio, the weather has been in the mid to upper 70's and sunny and then cool in the evenings for great sleeping. Since the beginning of August we've only had to have the a/c on twice.

* Little Joe is 2 1/2 and we absolutely cannot keep up with him. He knows no fear and if it seems to give mama a heart attack, he's all for it. Yesterday hubby was cleaning gutters and raced to get him off the top of a 12' unstable ladder. And if he can't be dangerous, he just likes to be destructive. Thankfully the Lord made him very cute!

* Life without television is grand. We do still get movies from the library occasionally, and lately I've been buying some quality Christian DVDs from Franklin Springs Media (I'm thinking of asking for a gift certificate for there as a Christmas present!). Otherwise, I don't miss it one iota.

* Hubby's home office is nearly complete. Staining/painting begins this week. It's beautiful. His brother did all the work, so it cost us much less than it could have otherwise. I'll have to post about that separately too -- wait to you see the unique bookcases!

*Painting the kitchen comes after the office. I am really looking forward to that! I have had paint swatches up for...a really long time already. We picked the paint and are now looking for "that perfect fabric" for curtians. Originally wanted deep red gingham or red with yellow, but now I'm thinking of pulling some bright blues and greens as well. We'll see. We really love cottage style and I want every room to be cheery.

So, those are just some of the highlights. There are the "lowlights" too, so don't think things are just perfect here. Lately, we struggle daily with feeling like our family is under a spiritual attack, but are continuing to stand upon God's promises and keep using the Word and prayer as our power tools.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jennifer :)

Dial-Up!

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:47:00 -0500

In regards to my previous post about our mulched television antenna -- -- I'd like to say thank you for the comments about being able to catch some of the shows online! However, if you see the title of this post, you can see why it was merely pouring salt into a wound. Yep, we country folk are stuck with dial-up and I think the only time we will get high-speed is if more houses start being built around here. NOT a fair trade-off! We tried a wireless modem and it worked great if I put one foot on the credenza, one hand on the lamp and held a piece of foil to the wireless antenna (with a fork in my mouth). LOL! Hubby is now working from home and he has been sequestered to a tv tray in the corner of ds5's room because that's the only place he can get a connection. If his company only knew! Ha!

A young man in our homeschool group who happens to be my son's guitar teacher recently one a short-film award and we tried to watch it with dial-up. It took over two hours to buffer and then stopped working at 2 1/2 minutes. Oh well, from what I saw, half of the film was very good. If you're interested, you can go to www.GodTube.com and do a search for "A Fragile Hope" (It's only 5 minutes long). I'd like to tell you that the soldier running and looking back is him, but he's one of 13 children and they all look identical.

Jennifer :)