Economic Lessons

With everything going on in our economy right now and everything you are hearing on the news and in political debates, maybe you are lost. I would be, too, if I hadn't just read a very interesting book that helped me understand a little better. Coincidentally, I read this book before things got really bad, since my son was learning "Economics" on a second grade level last year. If you want to understand our economy better, or want a good way to explain it to your kids, get this book:

Back to School

Of course, we've been back to school for a little while, but it occurred to me that I haven't shared much school stuff lately. Over the summer, we learned about rainforests. I had a teacher's activity book on rainforests, and with my knowledge of lapbooking, we made our own version of a lapbook, which I think turned out pretty good. Here is one of them:

Now, if you wanted to do a lapbook without doing your own planning, you can purchase a kit from Hands of a Child. I recently became a "Super Member" and also saw that the Unit Extenders are available for their rainforest lapbook for free when you become a Super Member. There are lots of other free items and resources, and for what you pay to become a Super Member, it is TOTALLY worth it! Super Members get a free lapbook to download each month, as well as a 15% discount for the life of the membership. (And of course the freebies that you also have access to during the life of your membership).

I mentioned before that we chose Jeannie Fulbright's "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" for science this year, and it is working really well. Each day I read from the book, and the kids notebook about what they have just learned. The kids really like this book!

History is also very much enjoyed by all of us. We are using "The Story of the World 1" and have learned about nomads and living on the Nile River. We are currently learning about Egyptians. We learned how to make a "berry picking pouch" which was perfect timing because our neighbor needed someone to pick acorns out of our tree for a craft project! The kids learned a little about sewing during this activity. We did not use a machine! Here is one of our pouches:
We already had the fabric on hand, and we used shoestrings purchased for around $1.50 a pair. The shoestrings were nice because the ends made it easier to work with. My kids are 7 (boy) and almost 6 (girl) and they both enjoyed this. My son even made a cape last night out of the same fabric!

What will your child be for Halloween?

As of right now, I will have a Darth Vader and Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween this year. If I get the nerve up, I will be the wolf in grandma's clothing as my daughter's "accessory." Of course, we'll take pics and share! If you are hurtin' for ideas, click on either link below to browse!
(When you buy through these links, you help save our theatre! Thanks for looking!)

Personalized Felt Dolls Sale During September

I can't believe I haven't mentioned these here yet! I absolutely LOVE the personalized "photo" felt dolls from Story Time Felts. What you do is select your child's best photo, send it in after you order your doll, and a few weeks later, your daughter has a felt "paper" doll that looks just like her to play with. Appropriately named "Just Like Me" dolls are the hit of every birthday party and a favorite gift under the tree at Christmas. This year they are on sale in September to allow people to get them in plenty of time for Christmas. There are a variety of clothing options you will choose from, or you can get them all and give the additional sets later on.

Felt toys are wonderful, quiet educational toys that keep children occupied in the car, in church, in the doctor's office, etc. The learning possibilities are endless! With a doll that looks just like her (or him!) your child will always have a little buddy to tag along for the outing. And if you plan ahead, I'd get one for you, too!

I Got a Bike!!

Okay, I got it a few weeks ago, but I held off mentioning it because I wanted to take a picture of it. I really wanted one of my kids to take a picture of me on it to prove I can still RIDE a bike, but we've been busy. :o) It was "one of those things." I'd been wanting a bike, and told myself that I would get one for Christmas. I was driving along when I saw a yard sale up ahead. They had a LOT of stuff. Most importantly, they had a practically new bike for $50! It had been ridden 4 times and sat for the rest of the year. I hopped on it and tried it out. Except for the squeaky brake, it rode perfectly! (Oh, and I figured out later that I will need a new seat. Whoever designed the current one must have never tried it out. Ouch!)

So life has been very different "post bike." We have ridden all over town. We run errands on the bikes. We go shopping on the bikes. It has been so much fun! I can't tell you how much gas we have saved! I'm so happy! My kids are 7 and 5.5 and love riding with me. They hate wearing their helmets, but they will get over it. I am teaching them to "ride with traffic" and I wonder what the motorists are thinking when they come upon us. Either, "get outta the way, crazy people!" or "I should be riding a bike, too!" The speed limit on main street is 20 mph so it's not like we're keeping them from getting anywhere. We live in the perfect town for biking, except for the elderly people who can't see where they're going, and the 14 year olds with permits. But that's why they make helmets, isn't it?!

Helping Children Excel

Last night I saw Shawn Johnson win a gold medal in the balance beam finals at the Olympic Games. We had been watching the gymnasts ever since the Games had started, so we got to see their emotional roller coasters and could imagine what it felt like to be there- and how one wrong move could end their dreams. How nerve-wracking just watching it!

But last night, Shawn Johnson just BEAMED. She isn't even my child and I teared up just thinking about the work that went into that one event. The YEARS and HOURS of practice and training are something that most kids could not even imagine. Then I saw her parents, holding each other and bawling. What a great story! I can't even put into words how happy Shawn was when she knew she had the gold. She couldn't stop smiling. She waved to the camera, and you could tell she was finally able to relax. After all, she had not been able to get a gold medal until this event final. She had a silver for team competition, silver for all-around, and silver on bars until this final event. Her teammate and competitor, Nastia Luikin had already earned a gold on all-around, so it was just icing when she silvered next to Shawn Johnson's gold on beam.

Switching sports really quick, then there is Michael Phelps. Need I say more? LOL I actually grew up swimming, so that is a sport I definitely watch. Obviously he is a little more expressive and manly with his joy. If you watched any swimming at all, you know what I'm talking about. But watching these athletes and others compete- and excel- is not only pure joy, but a reminder of all the positive things that come out of helping children excel.

None of these athletes could be where they are without their parents. But what many parents don't realize is that we don't have to raise olympic athletes in order for our kids to gain the same pride and joy that we see at the olympics. It happens every day at little league games, summer swim programs, singing competitions, boy and girls scouts, academic competitions, and other competitive events. I still remember the amazing catches, and the look of amazement on swim coaches when I actually swam as fast as I told them I would- even though they didn't believe me. Not only did it feel wonderful at the moment, but I still remember them, even 25 years later. There is just something about working toward something, and it paying off.

Now you may be asking, what about when your child doesn't win? What if silver is the best they can do? The one thing I don't like about the Olympics is that you walk away with a feeling that gold is first and silver is last. That probably helps athletes do their best in training, but to see them disappointed when they get second is a little sad. With our own children, that is part of life. Sometimes you will win. Sometimes you won't. (Unless you are Michael Phelps and you take all the gold medals yourself!) Some kids will work harder for the next time. Others will quit completely. My feeling on it is that if your child was meant to do a certain sport or activity, they will love it so much that they look past the second place finishes, and even the last place finishes. Their passion for it drives them more than the recognition, and when they finally do win or place better, it's just the icing on the cake.

Helping children excel is important, but it's even more important that we do it in a loving, nurturing, and positive way. We have all seen the parents that push too hard. We are probably even that parent from time to time. My rule is that you should try what you want to, and finish out the season and give it your best. But you can't quit half way through, and you can't give up before the season is over. I actually play ball with my kids: soccer during soccer season, and baseball/softball during that season. This is how I can help them, by teaching them the skills they need and giving them a chance to practice.

In academic areas, it's really easy to excel when you homeschool. It just sort of happens. I think this is because they see their parent excited about the subject, and also because they still have a love for learning.

If I had to give three steps for helping children excel, they would be:
1. Be involved
2. Be active
3. Be loving
Yep, even when your child strikes out AGAIN, there will be something positive he did in the game that you will be able to point out. Focus on those things and keep on practicing!

US Pollution Sent to China

As the 2008 Summer Olympics approach, the news stories remind me of something I've been thinking about for quite a while. I've seen lots of great reports over the last 5-10 years about how much the US has improved the air quality and environment in most big cities. If you just read the articles, you might think, "wow, finally our country is doing something good!" (Not so fast...)

In the very same newspaper or the very same news program, you might also learn about the number of businesses that have moved overseas. You might hear the grumbles and gripes about losing manufacturing plants to places like China, that can produce the same products for far less.

Are you putting two and two together yet?

Has anyone but me noticed what's happened? We didn't so much improve air pollution: we shipped it to China! I guess that's a benefit to sending our business to China. And now they will have our money to help fight the cancer increases they have suffered due to their increased manufacturing with the lowest environmental standards (if any).

I'm writing about this here because most of the American public has been duped. And I hope that I am raising children who will not be so easily duped by news articles into believing every word that is spoken or printed. I've already given my children the "little kids in China made that piece of junk toy so that you could play with it for five minutes and then throw it in the trash" speech. As they grow, I try to teach them critical thinking and problem solving. I don't want them growing up to believe that politicians are on their side, the news is real, or that they have to go to college to learn how to work for someone else. We live outside the box, think outside the box, and grow outside the box.

If you haven't seen the The Story of Stuff , go there NOW! Watch it daily. As I become a horrible consumer in the eyes of my country (shopping at garage sales, Goodwill, consignment sales, etc.) I wonder what would happen if our whole country became horrible consumers like me. Of course, it will never happen as long as there is money to spend. Some people will just never care. But I look at my kids and how their spending habits have developed. My seven year-old (who just sat down to watch The Story of Stuff with me) has decided that all he really wants is Legos. He has already learned that all those toys that look so fun on the shelf turn out to be- not so much fun. Like most kids, they are playing a lot of computer games or online learning games. Outside of the disc and packaging material, the main resource that goes into these products is intelligence. One day, I believe, we will not buy STUFF so much as we will buy the ability to DO STUFF.
For instance, I purchased Jump Start World at the store. It has an online component to it, where you can pay for your child to continue on with the game. A sneaky way of sucking kids (and parents!) in, but once I saw what my child was learning, it was worth the $75 I paid for the rest of the program! So now we have an educational game that my child has spent HOURS on, and not a big plastic toy that MIGHT get played with once and a while. I truly believe that this is the wave of the future. And I also believe that the children at the forefront of producing more advanced games or providing highly technical expertise will be homeschooled children like mine.

There are so many reasons why teaching kids to think critically should be at the top of our parenting list. Not only to decipher the news, but to make change, and become technologically advanced if that is your child's calling. Because mark my words, eventually China will wake up and want to send their pollution right back over and we will either welcome it back or decide we can go without McDonald toys and tell them, "no thanks!"

If you want to learn about the pollution problem in China, here is a great article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html

I just got this link in a Yahoo group I am in and thought it was appropriate:
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/big_box_mart

Answers in Genesis

If you are a Christian parent or homeschooler, I cannot stress enough the importance of looking into Answers in Genesis. Recommended to me by a fellow homeschooler, Answers in Genesis is an organization that will provide you everything you can possibly need to teach your children (or learn yourself) why the THEORY of Evolution does not pan out. I attended a public school all my life, and for some reason, the church did not "cover" this, so I was totally ignorant about the many holes in the Theory of Evolution. It occurred to me as my children were ready to learn these important truths, that I did not know them! I know that I had the faith to believe that God created us all, but there are TONS of questions that come up, especially when you have "inquiring minds" of young children!

Answers in Genesis provides information for every age, including yourself! If you are like me and never got that education, it is never too late to learn it. So many of us stand up for "Creation" at our public schools, and most of us don't even know why! If you think about it, learning about Intelligent Design is one of the most important responsibilities that a Christian has. We have too often let evolutionists walk all over us, when the sad thing is, THEY don't even know what THEY believe! They simply think that more scientists support evolution, so they must be right. Wrong!

For our science curriculum this year, I have selected a book from Apologia Educational Ministries, Exploring Creation with Astronomy , by Jeannie Fulbright. We will follow each year with the next volume, and we are SO excited to start this book! I have been reading it myself and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! They work well with the books from Answers in Genesis, by providing a God-based science curriculum that answers questions and provides information before some are even asked.

Answers in Genesis has a magazine, to which we subscribed on the recommendation of Dr. Jay Wile. We haven't gotten our first issue yet, but it should arrive in a few weeks. I'll report back on that after we get it. They also have tons of books, not to mention a VBS packet that I wish our church had gotten. Answers in Genesis also provides guides that you can take to the aquarium, zoo, or museum to provide you with the biblical perspective that these places often neglect. No matter what age your child(ren), you will find something useful to help them learn about Intelligent Design. And if you have't found a great science curriculum yet, be sure to visit http://www.apologia.com/ and check it out.

I am so grateful for all of these resources and hope to be highly educated about Intelligent Design very soon. So when someone comes across my path, I can tell him or her why I KNOW that God exists and that He created and designed everything. I'm so excited!!

Structure

Today I yelled at the kids. Not that I never yell, but it was almost as if I had PMS and I knew it wasn't THAT time. What was going on?!

Then it occurred to me how little structure I had been providing. Things were out of control. The kids were talking back. They woke up arguing with each other. They were not cleaning up after themselves. And I griped at them, but didn't follow up. I had become a lazy parent.

At lunch time, I apologized for the yelling, and told them that it was my fault that things had gotten so out of control. I told them that we would have more structure from now on, to help keep everyone on track with where we need to be, including myself. We did school, and there was no complaining! Gasp!

Later this evening, when my daughter yelled, "I HATE YOU!!" after I told her that her neighbor friend could not come inside at 10:15 at night and that she would have to come in for her bath at 10:30, I followed her outside and made her promptly turn around and come inside for her bath immediately. The night was over. When she knew I meant business, she said, "I don't love you anymore!" Well, it's good to see that things are back on track. :o)

Words from a Stay at Home Mom

I love this post on Dr. Laura's blog because I could have written it myself. For a short time, I thought I wasted my teaching degree, but before long I realized how handy it was for teaching my children at home. Moms who put their children in day care will never understand the vast difference in care that their children would receive if they stayed home with them. I did not really understand it until I discovered the day to day nurturing, teaching, and disciplining that happens on a daily basis in our home. Most of us know that nobody will love our children the same way we do. In most cases, it is not even close! It's sort of like comparing breast milk to formula. Most moms are told that formula is second best. But there is "cream of the crop" and there is "bottom of the barrel," and if nothing falls in between, isn't "bottom of the barrel" second best? Formula is a horrible alternative, as is child care for our children.

I hardly ever bring this up, although I secretly feel sorry for the kids I know who have babysitters and day care. I also feel sorry for the kids who must attend school all day, under the control of someone who may or may not give a rip about them. Especially when they get about 1/30th of that person's attention. On what planet does that even come close to making sense?!

Usborne Books At Home - Now is the time to join!

In early June, I signed up with Usborne Books, mostly due to my book addiction and my desire to save some money! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their books. If you are also a book addict, NOW is the time to act if you would like to get 33 popular Usborne books for just $99.50 + $20 s/h + tax. You have until 10 a.m. CT, July 31st, 2008, to get your consultant agreement to the Usborne home office. Learn more at my Usborne sign up page.

Besides the great books you will get at a huge discount, you will have the opportunity to run a great business by hosting parties, attending fairs, or simply selling on the internet. No stock is required, and this is a great business to do with your kids, who will naturally share the books with others. Don't miss this great deal and the opportunity to work from home with your children!

Why can't we all just speak English?

I just finished reading an article from "Human Events," a national conservative publication on the idea of making English our official language in the US. Some might not care one way or the other, until of course, they learn that their tax dollars fund all the different language government forms and translators for various purposes. Yes, we PAY for that!

Contrary to popular misconception, it's not just Hispanic immigrants who find an issue with the language barrier. People from all over the world now feel it's their right to receive documents in their native tongue. Why is that? Because we have not required immigrants - legal or not - to assimilate to OUR way of doing business. We want to be everything to everyone- or, THEY (government whimps) want to- not US.

When Barack Obama implied recently that it's embarressing that travelers can come to our country and speak English, while we cannot speak the language in France, Germany, Spain, etc. I threw up a little in my mouth. Is he serious? Does that mean that the government is now going to fund all children learning in government schools every language that they might possibly need one day in case they travel to a country speaking a foreign language? Heaven forbid I should take Spanish in high school and have the audacity to travel to France, where I might embarress Senator Obama because I can't speak the language!

Instead of embarressment, Obama should be proud that other countries want to speak OUR language! Why should we want to be like them? Why can't we be leaders instead of followers? Sorry, I missspoke. English is not OUR language- officially anyway. Once we make it our official language, we will not have to fund all those special forms for foreigners who don't want to assimilate.

When my American father brought over his German wife and her German son, as well as myself and my German-born sister, we did not come here expecting to find German forms, German signs, and German neighbors. We were in America! My mother learned English by playing Scrabble. She barely has an accent (I don't hear it, but others do). My brother repeated 1st grade and learned English in school. My sister and I were babies, so we don't remember much German. The point is, if we wanted to speak German, why not stay in Germany? (Where, by the way, they learn English in school, probably better than we do!)

The ironic part of this whole thing is that we have children graduating from school who can barely speak correct English, much less write it, and Obama wants us to learn all these languages?! Yeah, WRITE! ;o)

Why Homeschool in Summer?

I've been asking myself that question since Memorial Day...WHAT was I thinking?!

Okay, maybe I'm overreacting. After all, ball games and swim meets don't take up the entire day. There's also the swimming for fun, playing with friends, riding bikes, computer games, and anything else we can come up with that we'd rather do than "school!" There are definitely benefits to homeschooling year 'round. I just don't like to think about those when I'd rather do school "tomorrow."

Tomorrow will get here eventually. Really, it will. I know it will. Won't it?!

We've been doing "school light" this summer, which is better than nothing, I guess. But for the past couple of weeks we've just plain been lazy. Admittedly, we have had swim meets to contend with, and when you are at a swim meet all day, the last thing you want to do the next day is crack open the books. So we have used creative play, educational videos, and computer games to help keep brain waves moving at appropriate speed.

While we are finishing up our final work before starting on our new books for fall, I have had a blast checking out the new curricula I've selected for science, history, and Bible. I'm so excited, and can't wait to get going with it. I will share more about the curricula we use when fall approaches. For now, I'm just trying to stay motivated, keep the kids turned on to learning, and enjoying the sunshine while we have the chance. Before long, we will be under a foot of snow for a month, and we'll have plenty of time to learn everything we need to then- I'm sure of it!

Anthony Swim Team Dominates the League!

For some reason in our small town of 2,000+, what happened 10, 20, 30+ years ago still makes the paper, but today's news does not! So I am posting here in my blog what SHOULD be getting published in our paper. We live in Anthony, KS, about an hour southwest of Wichita. No one really knows how many people live in Anthony, but the last census showed about 2400. Given that, I think you will be mighty impressed that our swim team boasts around 40 swimmers!

Our first meet got rained out. Just after the warm-up lap, the thunder started. Thankfully, they called it before the bottom fell out, and that "bottom" lasted ALL day. When we finally got to swim in our first meet last Friday, our strength was apparent to our parents, the other teams, and OURSELVES! I think some of the swimmers were really surprised at how well they did. The most impressive swim of the day was Heather Moore's butterfly. She did the entire length of the pool without breathing, which helped clinch her first place finish. As a 14 year-old, this is Heather's first year swimming (or is she hiding something? :o) and I'm amazed that she not only has beautiful strokes, but the speed as well.

I must also praise the following swimmers who have this season discovered the proper breaststroke technique: Brandon Clarke, Bailey Clements, Leslie Struble, Zach Duwe, Hope Clarke, Heather Moore, Elizabeth Francis, Veronica Morris, Estin, and there are a few more on the bubble who just need a bit of tweaking. Most improved definitely goes to Kayleigh Clements, who is improving every day in breaststroke and will definitely be a top breaststroker before long.

Our second swim meet was yesterday, which was the "relay meet" in Kiowa, KS. Basically, the entire meet is done in relays. They swim a backstroke relay, butterfly relay, breaststroke relay, etc. and medley relay. Each swimmer can swim six relays, so some of our 8-and-unders and 9/10 year-olds get moved up to swim with older swimmers. The meet is pretty fun, but also hectic for coaches. Somehow, our entire group of 9/10 girls missed their free relays and they were allowed to swim with the boys. That was interesting, as we had four lanes of Anthony swimmers swimming at the same time!

We have two more meets this week, and then semi-finals and finals next week. So far, we have won team overall both meets. I am announcing to the swimmers this morning some rather shocking news that might change our dominating power. Our swim league has no stroke judging. So you practically have to swim the wrong stroke the whole way or pull on the lane rope to get disqualified. Since the beginning, I have taught the proper legal stroke techniques, but some have not "gotten" it. In the rest of our meets, I will be personally disqualifying any swimmer 9 or above who does not do a legal stroke. This will make our points go down, but it will raise our standard to where it needs to be. There is nothing worse than seeing a really good race, where the winning swimmer is doing an illegal stroke! Not in MY swimming pool!

Story Time Felts

As if I didn't have enough to do already, I signed up as a consultant for Story Time Felts. I really love the products, and definitely see the benefits of them for children of every skill level and developmental stage. I had ordered the Castle Tales set for my daughter for Christmas, and six months later finally "joined the family" as a consultant.

If you are interested in getting felts as Christmas gifts, we are currently having a "Christmas in July" special that you will want to take part in. All of our Christmas sets and scripture sets are on sale during July!

If you have any questions after visiting my site, please don't hesitate to ask!