Dear Home School Solutions Friends,

The next several posts on this blog will highlight some of the things I'm doing in my own home school this year with our children.

Below is an adaptation of the "UP" rules our church uses. I have these rules posted on our bulletin board, and each day, the kids and I review our "UP" rules, complete with an action for each one, as a reminder of my expectations for their "school" behavior.

As a note, no, I don't make my kids raise their hands to ask a question, but a raised hand is my signal to them to wait their turn. It's also a good reminder to them that they DO need to raise their hands and wait to be called upon if they're working in a group at church or with a co-op.

If the kids forget the "UP" rules, I give a gentle reminder the first time with the action that accompanies the rule. The second time they forget, we refer to our If/Then chart from Door Posts.

If you'd like to share how you manage your kids' behavior, I always love to get new ideas! Just leave your comments below.

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry


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The “UP” Rules

Zip UP!
Be quiet.

Sit UP!
Get ready to work.

Listen UP!
Follow directions.

Chin UP!
Have a cheerful attitude.

Hands UP!
Ask questions respectfully.

Look UP!
Share the love of Jesus
with others.

Dear Home School Solutions Friends,

If you haven't already, be sure to check this website: www.parentalrights.org.

There's currently a big threat to our rights as parents, home schoolers or otherwise, looming on the horizon. The UN International Rights of the Child Treaty threatens to usurp the Constitution and Supreme Court as the final legal authorities in our country when it comes to raising our children. While the treaty sounds good on the surface (providing for the education and well-being of children around the world), its legal scope could affect not only how you discipline or educate your child, but also how you pass on your religious heritage among other things.

Parental rights are already under attack in our country, as evidenced in the article pasted below. Thankfully, under current law, though our rights may be violated, we maintain the right to appeal or file suit within our own judicial system. Imagine how much more frightening it would be to raise our children if instead, when our rights are violated, we must submit to the decisions of an international court. Those decisions are enforceable by international peace keepers.

If that all sounds a little too Orwellian to you, consider how insane the idea of legalizing same sex marriage would have seemed to our great-grandparents. Experts on the International Rights of the Child Treaty say we have ten years or fewer to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing our parental rights under the sovereign rule of our own Constitution.

Think the experts are wrong? What if they're right? Visit www.parentalrights.org and get informed. What you don't know CAN hurt you... or your children or grandchildren.

I hope our kids, when they're raising their own children, don't ask us why we didn't do something to stop the UN's invasion on our rights as American parents.

Oh, and remember to find out which presidential candidates are for or against the treaty. How you vote in 2008 will make a difference.

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry

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Parents should have say
Our position: Ocoee schools shouldn't have refused to release 2,000 kids during a storm.
August 31, 2007
Orlando Sentinel Newspaper
E-mail Share

It's obvious that schools are responsible for the safety of children, but that responsibility ends where the responsibilities and rights of parents begin.

Administrators at two Orange County schools forgot that last Friday when they refused to release children to their parents during a long, nasty lightning storm. Parents at Ocoee Elementary and Ocoee Middle schools waited as long as 41/2 hours before school officials deemed it was safe to release their children.

Parents are justifiably outraged. Even with the severe lightning hazard, administrators should have figured out a way to release the 2,000 kids to their parents. The principals should have had a clearer policy to follow.

The district is reviewing its procedure and for now will require schools to release kids to their parents unless a public-safety agency orders otherwise. For example, if the police order a school locked down because an escaped killer is in the neighborhood, parents should understand they're not going to get their kids.

We understand the dangers last Friday and the decision principals faced. Central Florida is the lightning capital of the nation, and Friday's storms spawned more than 1,000 lightning strikes between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Schools follow national safety standards that say no one should go outside until 30 minutes after the last lightning flash or thunderclap. It's good that principals were concerned and took steps to protect children.

But Orange County needs to make it clear to principals that parents should have the final say.

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
-Proverbs 25:11

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It's that time of year for a trip to the apple orchards! Here are a few of my favorite apple recipes. Enjoy making them with your kids!

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Easy Homemade Apple Sauce

1. Peel and core 4 apples. Chop and place in saucepan.
2. Add 1/4 cup water and 2 TBSP. butter or margarine. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until soft (about 30 minutes). Let cool.
3. Mash with potato masher or mixer until smooth. Add cinnamon, salt or sugar to taste as you like. Store in airtight container in fridge for up to 10 days.

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Apple Berry Salsa

2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored, and coarsely chopped
1 pint diced strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups, diced)
2 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 small orange
2 TBSP packed brown sugar
2 TBSP apple jelly

Mix apples, strawberries and kiwi. Add 1 Tsp. orange zest and 2 TBSP. orange juice. Add brown sugar and jelly. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with cinnamon chips.

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Cinnamon Chips

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 8 7-inch tortillas into 8 wedges each, and place on foil-covered cookie sheet. Combine 2 TBSP. sugar with 1 Tsp. sugar. Lightly spray tortillas with water. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over wedges. Bake 8-10 minutes on a cookie sheet.

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Grandma Lora's Apple Bread

Beat together:
2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil, 3 eggs
Mix in:
3 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. soda
Add:
2 tsp. vanilla, 3 cups chopped apples (about 2 medium apples), 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until done in the middle. Makes 2 large loaves.

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Easy as Apple Pie

1 frozen deep dish pie crust
1 can apple pie filling (or make your own from scratch)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup pecans
3 TBSP. margarine or butter

Pour pie filling into crust. In bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Pour over filling and bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Serve with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
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If you want a copy of a free apple lap book and apple activity collection I've downloaded, you may leave a private comment with your email address, and I'll be glad to email it to you.

By the way, did you know that Johnny Appleseed was as well known for sharing seeds of the gospel as he was for sharing apple seeds?

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry
Copyright 2007

Hello, Home School Solutions Friends!

I became aware, just today, about an event that you may want to attend if you have a student in 8th-12 grade, and also wanted to share info that's for all of you.

1. FREE "Paying for College Workshops" sponsored by the Sallie Mae Fund, DSM Public Schools and others, (Learn about college admissions, grants, scholarships, financial aid process, state financial aid, and get FREE resources),
2-$500 SCHOLARSHIPS WILL BE GIVEN AWAY THAT NIGHT TO STUDENTS (OR PARENTS OF) IN 8TH-12TH GRADE!!!!!
This Monday, September 10, 6-8:30 PM, East High School, 815 E 13th St., Des Moines
Free light dinner served from 6-7pm, RSVP requested, but not required: 1-800-292-0688, or go to www.salliemaefund.org

Interestingly, I picked up this info today at the Latino Heritage Festival, and I also picked up a free copy of the Sallie Mae guidebook which has great tips for high school planning, college admissions and financial aid, so be sure to pick up your copy at the workshop if you attend. I didn't want you to miss out on this opportunity if you hadn't yet heard about it! Please pass this info on to other home schoolers and loops.

2. Our family attended the Latino Heritage Festival this afternoon, and I just wanted to let you know that it was a great event, and is also open on Sunday afternoon; details can be found on the KCCI Channel 8 website on the community calendar section. It's $5 for adults, kids 12 and under are free, and the price includes zoo admission, inflatables, games, and lots of interesting booths. Colby's favorite booth was the DMU Medical Booth where he got to use a surgical stapler and remove staples, wrap a cast, hold models of in-utero babies, and TOUCH (this grossed me out, but he loved it!) a real human heart, lungs, stomach, intestines and brain. There was also a pharmacology area where they could use a pill counter to count out Skittles. Kids of all ages (even high school) would especially enjoy the medical tent, I think. There was a booth representing each Latin American Country (plus Spain/Portugal); it would be fun to photocopy a map of Latin America, stick it on a clipboard, and have students color in each country as they visit the booths and/or write a fact about each country (there's a map and flag of each country at each booth). Kylie loved making a tissue paper wrist corsage at the Wells Fargo booth, and she enjoyed all the other craft booths, too. Here are some quick tips: My kids are big Dora/Diego fans, but to see Dora, you'll probably have to stand in line for over an hour. We skipped it! Also, the traditionally-dressed dancers were great, but the salsa dancers were, as my five year old son pointed out, not dressed properly. Finally, wear comfortable tennis shoes and sunscreen (I didn't, and am regretting it).

3. Last year I got some great used curriculum and NEW and used books super cheap at the Iowa Right to Life Book Sale. This year's sale is next week: Sept 12-18. For details, visit www.irlc.org and click on events.

Happy Home Schooling!
Sherry

Hey there, Friends!

If there's one lesson I'm learning as an adult, it is that this roller coaster called life doesn't stop, and isn't for the faint of heart.

Last week, my dad and my father-in-law, and my step-niece, all ended up in the hospital with rather serious issues. Both my dad and father-in-law are continuing to recover at home, and my niece is still in the hospital. Yeah, I know it's a sin to worry, and I'm guilty as charged.

In the midst of that, although I thought I'd already learned not to do this, I discovered that I have over-committed my time. I'm supervising 16 other home schooling families, helping to re-organize our church's Sunday morning pre-k class (with teaching responsibilities in September)and am in charge of organizing an early childhood home school co-op and an elementary P.E. co-op. I signed my son up for fall soccer, plus kids' choir at church. Both kids have AWANAs starting next week, and dance lessons starting next month. And, I have a nasty cold, to boot!

All that tempts me to be kind of grumpy. Pitiful, isn't it?

Our first day of school was okay. I had made lots of plans, but didn't plan enough breaks for the kids. They, in turn, were a little grumpy, and I could barely get a happy face out of my son for our traditional "first day of school" pics. And that was the first item on the agenda! I considered, briefly, sending them to public school so I could have a break.

All that said, my husband recommended that I post my expectations for the kids' "school" behavior in our school room. I did that, relaxed a little, and today was a great day! Plus, I've decided to say no to everything else that comes up until I feel like my calendar is my friend again.

Somehow, despite how high the roller coaster goes before it drops from the sky and my heart ends up in my throat, I still have to home school my kids and be a responsible adult. Ah, adulthood. Being the grown-up in-charge isn't nearly as much fun as I once imagined it to be.... But, I have to admit, it isn't all bad. I can have chocolate for breakfast if I want!

So, here's to home schooling while life goes on. Have you been there? I'll bet you have, and I'll bet I'll be there again before the year's done. Let's agree together to hang in there and hang on. And, from time to time, if we need to just raise our hands and scream because life scares us to death, I won't think you're crazy if you don't think I'm crazy.

How's that for a bunch of rambled musings? All in a day's thoughts...

Happy Home Schooling,
Mrs. Sherry