Q: My kids aren't particularly looking forward to our first day of home school, and it's discouraging. Any tips?



A: You bet! Here is our family's new "tradition" (we did it once, last year, and now the kids think that's what you have to do before school can start). You'll need typing paper, 7 balloons, fresh ideas, and a little spending money.

1. Cut 7 small strips of typing paper, and write 7 tasks to do before the first day of school. Keeping your budget in mind, here are some messages you might write: Go to Target and get one new back-to-school outfit with shoes; Our family "sticks" together...find something new for your supply box in a hidden location (then play "hot and cold" until they find glue, tape, sticky notes, etc.); Write a back-to-school goal for yourself (be serious!); pray for your teacher and classmates (mom and siblings!); call the friend of your choice to come over for lunch and a whole afternoon of playtime; Get your swimsuit, and let's enjoy the water and sun!; Find a new chapter book that we'll read together by our reading chair, plus a special surprise (a book marker); Let's bake cookies for our first after-school snack!; Plan a special breakfast (picnic lunch or supper out, etc.) for the first day of school; write your Bible theme verse for the school year to discuss....you get the idea....

2. Then, insert a rolled paper strip into each balloon. Blow up the balloons and tack them to your bulletin board. Each morning before school starts, the kids take turns popping one balloon to find out what special thing they get to do that day. It will be a blast!

3. Alternatively, you could simply make a paper chain, and undo one chain per day.

If you want to do certain activities on certain days, be sure to number your balloons or chains in order as you create your display.

Also, be sure your own attitude is fresh for the new year. Buy yourself a new "teacher" outfit and a new book you've been wanting. Get a haircut and a new lip gloss, too, while you're at it. Plan an "in-service" day (swap with a friend) so you get a whole day to plan for school. Add a new poster to your school area; re-do your bulletin board. Make a few new learning games for the kids to play.
Write out your lesson plans like you've always wanted to do.

If your kids' attitudes continue to falter, I'd call in the principal. That is, have a family meeting with Dad (or if you're a single mom, with your pastor, a respected uncle or supervising teacher), and lay out the expectations, rewards and consequences. Then, just keep praying, praying, praying... sometimes bad attitudes die hard. Hang in there. Rome wasn't built in a day. Somehow, I think that applies to raising and teaching kids, too.

Happy Home Schooling!
Mrs. Sherry

Q: Is there such a thing as "too much of a good thing?"

A: Yes, even in home schooling! There can be too many extra curricular activities, too much tv/video game time, too many field trips, too many play dates, too many educational gadgets, too many rewards.... I received this article from a friend today and wanted to pass it along to you. So, here's to flash cards, cardboard boxes, crayons, sidewalk chalk, bubbles and a package of construction paper, and all the simple, inexpensive things that kids love.... I wish you the best as you strive to balance love and limits!

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Excitement Deprives Children of Happiness
By Dennis Prager
Tuesday, August 7, 2007



If you want your children to be happy adults and even happy children -- and what parent does not? -- minimize the excitement in their lives. The more excitement, the less happy they are likely to be.

In both adults and children, one can either pursue excitement or pursue happiness, but one cannot do both. If you pursue excitement, you will not attain happiness. If you pursue happiness, you will still experience some moments of excitement, but you will attain happiness only if happiness, not excitement, is your goal.

When we give our child a present, he experiences excitement, and we are delighted when we see how happy he is. When done occasionally -- a holiday, a birthday -- this is perfectly fine and even beneficial. Children should have those special moments and remember forever that wonderful Christmas, Chanukah or birthday present.

But because we parents so delight in the excitement we see in our children at those moments -- because they seem so happy then -- we can easily fall into the trap of providing more and more exciting things to keep them seemingly happy at just about every moment. And they in turn come to rely on getting excited to keep them happy and to identify excitement with happiness.

But excitement is not happiness. In fact, it is the ultimate drug.

It is excitement that people seek when engaging in any destructive addictive behaviors. Excitement is a major part of what people seek in doing drugs, in having sex with multiple partners, in gambling (from slot machines to risky stock purchases) or in having an extra-marital affair. And even for many criminals, excitement is a major lure of criminal behavior.

It is argued that we are programmed to desire excitement. But we are also programmed to be lazy, to be irresponsible and to eat unhealthy foods. And just as these other natural instincts do not lead us to happiness, neither does excitement.

Today's young people have the ability to experience excitement more than any generation in history. Outside of school, excitement is available almost 24/7. MTV is exciting (MTV has done far more damage to this generation than has the tobacco industry); video games are exciting; the nearly all-pervasive sexual stimuli are exciting; MySpace (largely a human cesspool) is exciting; getting tattooed is exciting; piercings are exciting; many pictures and videos on the Internet are exciting. The list of exciting things many children experience is as long as there are hours in the day.

But all this excitement is actually inhibiting our children's ability to enjoy life and therefore be happy. All this excitement renders young people jaded, not happy. To cite a simple example, many children today would refuse to watch a black and white film -- "It's boring," they say. They would even refuse to watch many of the greatest color films if they lacked the amount of excitement -- usually meaning violence but also frequently meaning foul language and sexual content -- that they are now so used to seeing in films. Plot development is "boring"; blowing up people and buildings is exciting.

That is why the frequent complaint of "I'm bored" is often a sign of a jaded child, i.e., a child addicted to excitement and therefore incapable of enjoying life when not being excited.

All this excitement in their lives bodes poorly for the future happiness of millions of American children. Real life, let alone daily life, will seem so boring to them that they will not be able to enjoy it. And more than a few of them will opt for lives of constant excitement, often in ways destructive to themselves and others.

The solutions are as simple to offer as they may be difficult to enforce. Limit the amount of excitement in your children's lives: the amount of video games, the amount of non-serious television, the amount of music whose only aim is to excite. If they are bored, they will have to remedy that boredom by playing with friends, finding a hobby, talking to a family member, walking the dog, doing chores, reading a book or magazine, learning a musical instrument or foreign language, memorizing state capitals, writing a story or just their thoughts, exercising or playing a sport, or just thinking.

The younger the age from which children are deprived of superficial excitement, the longer they will remain innocent -- i.e., not jaded -- and capable of real happiness. For as long as they live under your roof, and therefore (hopefully) under your control, you can implement excitement detox. If you do, they may hate you now, but they will thank you later, which is far superior to liking you now and hating you later. And in parenting, that is often the choice we must make.


Dennis Prager is a radio show host, contributing columnist for Townhall.com, and author of 4 books including Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual.

Be the first to read Dennis Prager's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.

Dear Home School Solutions Friends,

If you're like me, you like to find fictional stories to read to your kids that fit the season, holiday or theme you're studying.

When it was time for Colby to start kindergarten, I looked without success for a fun "back-to-homeschool" story. There were lots of traditional school stories like Miss Bindergarten's Kindergarten, or back-to-school books featuring every TV cartoon character ever created, but none for home schoolers.... So, I wrote one myself.

I'm excited to tell you that my story has been published by Clubhouse, Jr., Magazine of Focus on the Family in their August 2007 edition. You can purchase it at most any Christian bookstore starting this week if you don't already subscribe.



My story is about a little boy (named Colby ), who is excited for his first day of school. His neighbor, Jordan, is confused when Colby isn't walking to school, riding with his dad to school, and isn't sick...a sweet ending compliments his mom as the teacher.

The magazine featured the story in a rebus version, so it's fun to read aloud along with young readers, and is appropriate for any pre-k or elementary student. The editor did make a few changes from my original piece (title, a transitional sentence, a word here or there), but overall, I'm pleased with the end result.

So, I hope you might find the August edition of the magazine and enjoy the story with your kids. I'd love to just give you all a free copy if I could! By the way, I'll be adding more back-to-school ideas this month, so check back again soon.

The "back-to-homeschool" bug has bitten me, and I'm getting excited for the new year. I hope you are, too!

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry

P.S. Clubhouse, Jr., has a great website with wholesome short stories you can download and lots of printable activities. You can also subscribe via the website: www.clubhousemagazine.com/club_jr

Dear Home School Solutions Friends,

I found this letter posted on another Iowa home schooling blog site, (http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/patchworklife), and wanted to copy and share it with you. I thought that Michael Farris did an excellent job explaining why the Home School Legal Defense Association has decided to endorse Mike Huckabee for President. I hope my fellow Iowans will join me in voting for Huckabee at the Iowa Straw Poll on August 11. It's a fun family event, and you may request free tickets at www.mikehuckabee.com. (There's a link to the right.) If you've been wondering what presidential politics has to do with home schooling, the following letter should help.

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry

---------------------------------------------------------------------

From the Desk of Michael Farris

July 27, 2007

Dear Friends in Iowa,

Iowa voters have a unique opportunity to influence the future of America on August 11th. I write in the hope that you will consider my analysis on two critical issues:

Why you should attend the Iowa Straw Poll on August 11th in Ames.
Why I have decided to support Governor Mike Huckabee for President in 2008.

Let's start with the second issue and then return to the August 11th event in Ames.

In fairness, let me reveal the factors I used for deciding who to support for President. Many of you will recognize scriptural themes in my analysis. Let me emphasize, this is how I made my decision. I believe that every American has the total freedom and right to use their own value system to reach their own conclusions.

Our president should be a man of a consistent philosophy proven over time. In Deuteronomy 17, kings of Israel were to be those who did not deviate from the right way either to the right or the left. I simply do not trust those who have not been consistent over time--especially those who finally "discover" that they are social conservatives at the very time they are running for president.
Our president must be a man of consistent character.
Our president should have that rare combination of leadership, tenacity, and humility that is commended in that same passage. Leaders of Israel were to be strong to be sure, but they were, ". . .not to consider themselves better than their brothers."
Our president should not be a neophyte in serious leadership positions. The New Testaments tells us that church leaders should be "tested" and that we are to avoid "laying hands" suddenly on someone. Although this does not apply directly to political leaders, I believe that there is wisdom in this standard that is broadly applicable.
Our president must be an unwavering supporter of the right to life--period.
Our president must understand the original intent of our Constitution and insist that both his administration and his judicial appointments faithfully follow its provisions.
Our president must believe in American self-government. I will never support someone who believes that it is proper for any branch of government--other than an elected legislature--to make our laws. The UN should not be allowed to make laws for America. The Supreme Court should not be allowed to make law. No agency of government should be allowed to use international law to override the law of this country.
Our president must believe in liberty--religious liberty for all is a first principle--but all principles of the First Amendment--and the Second (and the rest of the Bill of Rights) are essential. But, our president must understand that liberty under law allows for moral standards, not the amorality and decadence that is the byproduct of libertarianism.

After a thorough review of all candidates, I believe that Mike Huckabee fully embraces all of these principles, qualities and possesses all of the relevant experience so that he is fully qualified to be our President.

Importantly, I believe that he has the best ability I have ever witnessed to communicate these values in a winsome and articulate fashion. His ability to communicate with such ease and quickness is not just a speaking gift, but it arises from a heart of deep conviction so that he never has to first stop and ask himself, "What am I supposed to say about this issue?"

On a pragmatic note, Americans elect Governors, not Senators, not members of the House and certainly not mayors. And Americans DO NOT elect moderate Republicans.

In 1976--Ford (a moderate) lost.
In 1980--Reagan ("too conservative for America") won a landslide.
In 1984--Reagan won another landslide.
In 1988--Bush (41) won because America thought he was Reagan, Jr.
In 1992--Bush lost after he violated his pledge on taxes and America knew he was a moderate.
In 1996--Dole (a moderate) lost.
In 2000--Bush (43) ran as a pro-life conservative and won.
In 2004--Bush won again.

The lessons to be learned are that when the GOP nominates a Senator we lose, and when we nominate a moderate we lose. We need a conservative Governor who is pro-life, pro-family and pro-Constitution. That is the pragmatic formula for victory.

Many of you know that my wife and I have homeschooled our children for 25 years. I have nine grandchildren being homeschooled. I am absolutely committed to the protection of the freedom for home education.

I believe that the biggest threat on the horizon to home education specifically and to parental rights in general is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hillary Clinton will make this one of her highest priorities if she is elected president.

We need a president who is absolutely committed to the sovereignty of America and the sanctity of the family and is ready, willing and able to stop the UN from usurping the role of moms and dads who want to raise their children in a decent and honorable fashion.

Hillary makes her "pro-child" message sound so deceptively appealing. If we are going to win the presidency, the GOP candidate must stand for what is right, but also have the communication ability to make every one in America understand what a danger the UN Convention on children's rights poses to the American way of life for all of us.

Mike Huckabee has the convictions, the ability to communicate, and the ability to beat Hillary in debate after debate on this and any other issue she raises. I do not want to trust the future of my family to any person lacking the ability to truly best her in debate.

I have coached legal debate teams to repeated college national championships. I think I can spot a good debater. Mike Huckabee stands head and shoulders above all others in his ability to best any Democrat--Hillary, Obama, or Edwards.

In short,

Mike Huckabee has proven his convictions over time.
Mike Huckabee has the highest level of preparation and experience.
Mike Huckabee has the right character.
Mike Huckabee has the best ability of any candidate in either party to communicate a winsome and articulate message.
Mike Huckabee is probably the only Republican who can win.

Here is the rub:

The media has decided for us who the frontrunners are, and big money Republicans have decided that they will only bet on frontrunners.

August 11th is the first and most critical moment in this campaign. It is the first time that the American public--not the media--gets to select the frontrunner.

I have had hundreds of people say to me, “Yes, Mike Huckabee is probably the best candidate--but how is he going to break out of the pack?”

The answer is, August 11th! If he can gain a very strong showing on August 11th, he will be a frontrunner. And then, the money will flow, and his ability to communicate will be noticed, and I believe he will fly to the top and win the nomination.

I have no doubt that if he wins the nomination, he will win the presidency. I cannot say that about any other Republican because winning requires that special combination of life experience (Governors), conservatism, and communication skill.

I know that this has been a little long. But choosing a president is a big deal. If my analysis seems sound to you, then I ask you to join me on August 11th in Ames. I will be there in person to support Mike Huckabee. If you are able to attend, please do so.

It is no exaggeration to say that the future of our country may well be riding on this event. The Huckabee campaign is happy to furnish you with a ticket if you contact them via the website at http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=IowaHQ
Use this site to indicate the number of tickets you need--and bring everyone you know.

See you in Ames on August 11th. Let's show the media that we know how to pick a frontrunner that truly shares our values and can defend them against all comers with a humble spirit, unshakeable convictions and courageous leadership.

Come support Mike!

Blessings,


Michael Farris