It's been really nice here lately so we've been staying outside as much as we can! Sunday we went to Itasca State Park and rented bikes. Kylie brought and rode her own bide so she was pretty excited. Emeric and Kaydence rode in the bike trailer and ate snacks the whole time! Then we took the kids over the rocks at the headwaters. Monday and Tuesday we went to the beach. The kids are willing to get into the water a lot more this year so it's a bit more fun. Today it looks like it might rain but I've got a lot of stuff to finish pricing for our garage sale so it's probably a good idea to stay in anyway.

Emeric has an appt. with the neurologist tomorrow and I'm guessing she'll increase his meds because he's still having seizures everyday. She's also mentioned a skin biopsy so I'll see where she's at with that.

Don't worry, this won't turn into a homeschooling blog. I'm just researching a lot to try to prepare for the fall and I came across this article. No opinions from me, just thought I'd post it and you can draw your own conclusions! :)


SONNY SCOTT:Home-schoolers threaten our cultural comfort

6/8/2008 9:39:01 AM
Daily Journal


You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.

It's a big family by today’s standards - "just like stair steps," as the old
folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair and girls with braids,
in clean but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her
no-frills shopping list.

There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom. The
older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task.

You are looking at some of the estimated 2 million children being home schooled
in the U.S. , and the number is growing. Their reputation for academic
achievement has caused colleges to begin aggressively recruiting them. Savings
to the taxpayers in instructional costs are conservatively estimated at $4
billion, and some place the figure as high as $9 billion. When you consider that
these families pay taxes to support public schools, but demand nothing from
them, it seems quite a deal for the public.

Home schooling parents are usually better educated than the norm, and are more
likely to attend worship services. Their motives are many and varied. Some fear
contagion from the anti-clericalism, coarse speech, suggestive behavior and
hedonistic values that characterize secular schools. Others are concerned for
their children’s safety. Some want their children to be challenged beyond the
minimal competencies of the public schools. Concern for a theistic world view
largely permeates the movement.

Indications are that home schooling is working well for the kids, and the
parents are pleased with their choice, but the practice is coming under
increasing suspicion, and even official attack, as in California .

Why do we hate (or at least distrust) these people so much?

Methinks American middle-class people are uncomfortable around the home schooled
for the same reason the alcoholic is uneasy around the teetotaler.

Their very existence represents a rejection of our values, and an indictment of
our lifestyles. Those families are willing to render unto Caesar the things that
Caesar’s be, but they draw the line at their children. Those of us who have put
our trust in the secular state (and effectively surrendered our children to it)
recognize this act of defiance as a rejection of our values, and we reject them
in return.

Just as the jealous Chaldeans schemed to bring the wrath of the king upon the
Hebrew eunuchs, we are happy to sic the state’s bureaucrats on these “trouble
makers.” Their implicit rejection of America ’s most venerated idol,
Materialism, (a.k.a. “Individualism”) spurs us to heat the furnace and feed the
lions.

Young families must make the decision: Will junior go to day care and day
school, or will mom stay home and raise him? The rationalizations begin. "A
family just can't make it on one income." (Our parents did.) "It just costs so
much to raise a child nowadays." (Yeah, if you buy brand-name clothing,
pre-prepared food, join every club and activity, and spend half the cost of a
house on the daughter’s wedding, it does.) And so, the decision is made. We give
up the bulk of our waking hours with our children, as well as the formation of
their minds, philosophies, and attitudes, to strangers. We compensate by getting
a boat to take them to the river, a van to carry them to Little League, a
2,800-square-foot house, an ATV, a zero-turn Cub Cadet, and a fund to finance a
brand-name college education. And most significantly, we claim “our right” to
pursue a career for our own
"self-fulfillment."

Deep down, however, we know that our generation has eaten its seed corn. We lack
the discipline and the vision to deny ourselves in the hope of something
enduring and worthy for our posterity. We are tired from working extra jobs, and
the looming depression threatens our 401k’s. Credit cards are nearly maxed, and
it costs a $100 to fuel the Suburban. Now the kid is raising hell again,
demanding the latest Play Station as his price for doing his school work … and
there goes that modest young woman in the home-made dress with her four
bright-eyed, well-behaved home-schooled children in tow. Wouldn’t you just love
to wipe that serene look right off her smug face?

Is it any wonder we hate her so?

Sonny Scott a community columnist, lives on Sparta Road in Chickasaw County

Homeschooling Food for Thought

I was reading through the syllabus from the homeschooling curriculum I purchased and they had a lot of good things to think about in there so I thought I'd share! :)

"Parents who are eager for their children to display their mental talents should remember that a child is more than just an intellect. A brilliant intellect is useless without a focused will and is dangerous without a loving heart."

That is the basic premise behind this curriculum. Also they encourage you to present the material in a natural, informal manner so the child doesn't make a distinction between "school" and "life". They believe the child should gradually develop the attitude that expanding their knowledge and capabilities is just a part of the process of life and what IS life.

I REALLY agree with this.

They also strongly encourage creative play and suggest having very basic toys like blocks, simple dolls, etc. because with toys like these the possibilities for stretching their imaginations are endless! Their example is that if you have a rectangular wodden block it can become a table, a car, a boat, a house, or many other things that the child creates with their imagination but if you give them a Galactic Star Cruiser complete with booster rockets, missile launchers and landing gear it can never become a car, a boat or a house because the form is too obviously a Galactic Star Cruiser and only that.

Doesn't that make so much sense? It's true that among all the toys my kids have their always find the simplest things to play with and stretch their imaginations so far! Recently they were using tubes of chapstick that were "people" and that a complete dialogue going on with these simple tubes!

I haven't picked up the teachers guides yet but I'm sure they'll be just as informative and eye opening. I am very nervous but excited because I feel like we have this awesome opportunity that she wouldn't have going to public school. I love knowing that she can learn at her own pace and that the desire to learn will always remain when kids are left with that inner desire. She learned to talk, to walk and to write her name. I didn't really teach her any of these things I just guided her along so I don't see why it will be any different next year!

Happy 5th Birthday Kylie!!

This weather is so depressing. It has been overcast for two weeks! The kids are itching to get outside and I'm itching to kick them out! We did get out for a couple hours tonight and went for a walk and I was able to get my garden weeded. Everything is coming in and Kylie got a hoe for her birthday so she helped yesterday. Kaydence helped by repeatedly stepping on the corn. :)

Kylie had her birthday party on Sunday and had fun. It was nice for a change and Jake's parents have a blow up waterslide that we set up and the kids had a lot of fun on that! We got Kylie a new, bigger bike. I told her she now has to learn to ride without training wheels! I was 8 before I learned. Ha ha.

Jake also made a trip to the Emergency Room with Kaydence on Sunday morning. She woke up saying her head hurt and I looked and there was a deer tick embedded in the skin. We tried to pull it out and only a small piece came off. It was red and a bit swollen and so we called the doctor who said to bring her in and they'd numb it and remove it. They said if we left it that the skin would grow over it and it would get infected. So... Jake drags her in and they tell him "The studies show that it's more harmful to try to remove it than to just leave it. " WHAT? Were these studies released in the 20 minutes it took from the time I talked to the doctor until he got to the ER and they gave him completely opposite advice? UGH.

So, they left the stupid tick in there. It still hasn't come out but thankfully doesn't look infected either. I don't know why we waste the time and money to go to the ER. I should just buy some lidocaine and do it myself! :D

QUESTIONS

Mommy, why does it rain?

Why do kittens have whiskers?

Why does it snow?

Why do you get buried in the ground when you die?

Why do we stay in Heaven forever?

Why do plants and trees grow?

And all those questions were within only a 30 minute period on the car ride to town.

It has been a long day! And I've really got to start educating myself more so when my nearly FIVE year old asks me why kittens have whiskers I'll have a better answer than, "Hmmm, I don't really know. Maybe so they can smell?"

Ha ha. Yeah, I'm dumb. So tell me, why DO cats have whiskers? :D

STOP RAINING

It has been raining ALL WEEK and I think my poor garden is flooded. :( My corn was coming up so great and now I suppose it will drown.

I decided to take the kids to Fargo today and get out of the house. We went to the mall and I walked into a kids' clothing store and Kylie dropped her shoulders, sighed and said, "Mom, why do you like this store so much?" Ha ha. We do go there everytime we're in the mall. Then she said, "Is it because you want to see if they have any new clothes?" Yep, she's smart!

We went to the food court for lunch and I decided to eat at this great sandwich place and thought the kids could just eat there too. Kylie was fine and said she'd eat a PB&J minus the P and Emeric would eat a grilled cheese but Kaydence thinks anything semi-healthy is a terrible option and opted for chicken nuggets instead. If I take them shopping and I let them each pick out a treat Kaydence will pick out frozen pizza and Kylie will pick a head of broccoli. That is NO LIE!

Emeric had a few seizures today and I think his meds need to be increased. He's also walking a lot more now! He's so cute!

My Sister in Law came yesterday and helped me clean for a while. I had some money left over that Jake had given me for Mother's Day and I figured it was a great idea to hire Kerry to help me clean! She loves to clean and she's good at it. It feels so good to have the entire house clean at once. That doesn't happen often. Usually I get one room done and the kids have trashed the other room right away.

Tomorrow I am going garage saling BY MYSELF!! I'll be home pretty early beacuse Jake has to go to work but I am excited!

Videos

I finally got a video of Emeric walking!!

Also, last night when we were grilling I told him the grill was hot and I could've sworn he said, "hot" or at least "ha" so I tried to get him to say it again. He wouldn't but he sure decided to show off for the camera! Sorry that you have to crank your neck to the side to watch them. :)

Emeric Walking

Emeric showing off

This morning I woke up with a bad headache again so I called the chiropractor to see if I could get in. He could get me in and so I told Kaydence to get dressed because we had to go to the chiropractor. Kylie was in the kitchen so I went out and told her to eat quickly because we had to leave right away. She asked why and Kaydence said, "Mom has to go to the telecrapter." LOL I think I'll write that one down.