14 Days of Homeschooling

Here’s a song some of you may relate to. Hope you get a kick out of the
additional 2 days added on. I think I was that person once upon a time.

14 Days of Homeschooling

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool
legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them
tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do
you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE,
what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you
homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are
they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what
they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what
about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this,
look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO
STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can
you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the
prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are
they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about
graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're
missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E.,
do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do
that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look
at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE,
what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you
homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to
college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the
prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are
they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can go to
college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the
prom, we do it `cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool
forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, we give them P.E., and we give them tests,
they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get
started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next
conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE?, I think we can do this, if you
will help us, we will join a sports team and we'll homeschool legally."

World Vision: Aids Orphans and Vulnerable Children Kits

My family and I are taking this challenge Very seriously. Anyone wishing to help us make our goal can download the flyer at the end and mail it in to the Journey office.

Blessings!
The Byrne Family




The Journey and World Vision are partnering to equip and encourage orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) living in impoverished communities in sub-Saharan Africa. We will be the first church in the nation to participate in a brand new program that prepares special kits for orphans and vulnerable children!

World Vision - Testimony: AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa

Journey AIDS Experience: December 7, 2008

We will be putting together the OVC Kits on Sunday, December 7th. Invite your friends, co-workers, and family members to come make a difference:

Goal: Produce 1,500 Kits - each containing necessary supplies that will benefit these children at great risk. Total cost of this effort $28,500.

Download the attached form below to see all the details.
Email Jason Jones with questions - Jjones@rbf.com

Here is our challenge directly from World Vision:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx2TCQFdfR8

This is what Democracy and the freedom of speech have come down to in the UNITED STATES

Its only FREE as long as you agree with the opposition. We are NOT a third world country run by dictatorship. We are all protected by the 1st amendment. This is why we have democracy! What gives you the RIGHT??? To vandalize someone's home who disagrees with you???? Is this how you show love? You have painted Love 4 all and equal Rights? Aren't you showing the opposite?? We were peaceful, going about democracy and not putting fear into people to change their vote. MY BALLOT WAS CAST LAST WEEK! I was sympathizing, now I just have anger and I am GLAD I voted the way I did! You did NOTHING but CONFIRM MY VOTE!!!

GROW UP PEOPLE!

Kid funny's today

Ok I dont know what it is, but my daughter is on a role today. I thought I would blog what she said.


We are working on who community workers are (yup still working on community) Anyway she was coloring all the workers. I asked her if she had figured out who all the workers were. She started to name them off:

Caitlin: " police officer, teacher, postal worker, doctor, fireman, oh yeah and this lady, shes a programmer"
Kelly: "do you mean librarian?"
Caitlin: "No shes a programmer, see she has a computer"
Kelly: "how does a programmer help the community?"
Caitlin: "I dunno, but they are important"
Kelly: "do they help the community?"
Caitlin: "no not really..."

We live in a house with a programmer, Daddy will be thrilled to know he is an important community worker.....and without him life would cease :-D

Kelly: "Caitlin I asked you repeatedly to stop bothering your brother"
Caitlin : SILENCE
Kelly: "do you hear me? I said leave him alone!"
Caitlin: SILENCE
Kelly: " Caitlin do you hear me?"
Caitlin: "Yea I hear everything...."

Writing it out doesn't give it as much justice as hearing in RL. But it made me crack up.

Unwrapping the Gifted

I'm re-posting this on my blog from a site I visit frequently called Unwrapping the Gifted. I read this posting and my heart sank. I've had many conversations with Tom and his mom about what it was like for him growing up. I want to be better prepared for what I'm up against with my daughter(and possibly our son). She's a carbon copy of my husband who is also gifted. School for him was a nightmare and we as a family want to change that for our kids. We want learning to be a joyous experience and a great time of exploration. But my biggest fear raising a Gifted child is that she will suffer from depression. Caitlin is a social butterfly and wants to be friends with everyone. She has a tremendous heart after God and just loves on people. Her compassion far outweighs anything I've ever seen before. But she struggles with making friends and keeping them. After a time they find her "weird". I hate that. It breaks my heart and crushes me to my core. Kids can be so cruel, I just wish that other parents taught their children to tolerate as Tom and I teach our own. We explain differences to our kids so that they can be compassionate to others and learn to live with others differences. Anyway, she has come to me many occasions at the park crying. She was trying so hard to find someone to play with and no one would acknowledge her. No one would include her in their play. She would then ask me, whats wrong with me, why dont they like me, I have no friends here. And this is my fear, that she will feel so left out that she will become depressed and withdrawn.

A few months ago, we started to attend OT once a week with other girls similar to Caitlin (she's the youngest but gets along better with children that are older than she) with similar social issues. Some are more extreme then Caitlin and some are the same. Anyway, before we put her in this group I could see us slipping down a path where my 6.5 year old was becoming depressed. I didn't know it at the time that she was depressed because it was manifesting in other ways behaviorally. I didn't *GET* her, other kids didn't *GET* her or understand why she did the things she did or why normal girly things didn't interest her. Eventually, I know this sounds crazy but, I had to mourn the child I thought I had, and rejoice in the one I was getting to know. I learned to not care that playing barbies wasn't her favorite play time activity but that looking through a microscope was. She's succeeding and I see from the sparkle in her eye that I have my little girl back. I never want to slip back in that place where its her against the world. I thank God everyday for The Lighthouse Project. Its bringing my angel back to a place where she enjoys herself and is getting to know some really great kids she can have some lasting friendships with. We are lukcy, most families dont know something is going on with their children till much later. I've had numerous moms tell me, "at least your finding out now (her peers in her group are 2 years older). But because we are so involved and we homeschool (which helps a TON, we dont have to fight school district red tape), we know our kids very well and what their needs are so that we can get them resources early or give them encouragement in the areas where they struggle. So for now my hope is that we can steer clear of depression and direct her to a life that is full of challenges and wonderful experiences and to help make her life fulfilling. So that she may one day leave her imprint on the world.

Unwrapping the Gifted
written by Tamara Fisher
Good-bye, M.B.
Posted: 10 Sep 2008 08:55 AM CDT

Good-bye, M.B… School has started once again, yet you are not here with us. We’ve re-convened after a summer of travel and relaxation, learning and camps, celebrations, … and mourning your death. The other kids come in with their backpacks over their shoulders and I think of you, the one who didn’t make it back…

Your easy grin, your brilliant curiosity, your penchant for deep questions and conversation, your friends who have carried on so admirably without you… I have found thoughts of each of these wandering in from the back of my mind at odd moments during this first week of school. Back when you were a little 3rd grader, talking as fast as you could think but faster than I could listen, I never imagined this moment.

I look at my little 3rd graders today and can’t bear to imagine it with any of them.

This is the painful part of teaching, when the ‘real world’ yanks our classroom doors open and sweeps in without warning to snatch away the future, when all our positive efforts seem to have been for naught, when learning comes from Life’s hard lessons.

Back in my undergraduate days, I remember my EdPsych professor posing a terrible question in class one day: “What will you do when one of your students dies?” She said if we taught for enough years, it would probably happen at some point. Of course, in our youthful eager idealism, it never seemed possible back then. We were going to be teachers to change the world, to make a difference, not to struggle with these agonizing questions.

But here are her questions again, battling in my mind. How do we support our students when something like this happens? How do we balance giving ourselves time and space to mourn yet still be strong and supportive for our students? What is a teacher’s role in the aftermath of tragedy?

Nowadays, particularly after 9-11, schools have plans in place for dealing with the variety of tragic (or even just challenging) situations that can befall us. And those plans do help – a lot.

But the pain is still there, and teachers are human, too.

And perhaps that’s part of what we can give our students at a time like this – letting them see a glimpse of our humanity, a peek into our “real-person-ness.” Maybe it’s like those moments when we see a student at the grocery store and he is blown away by the fact that we have lives outside of the school building. “You buy groceries, too?” Of course! And we also cry, too…

Life goes on, and learning goes on, and we must go on, too.

***** ***** *****

I actually wrote the above portion of today’s post a year ago – and have struggled ever since with whether or not to post it, whether or not to broach the broader not-yet-mentioned topic, and how to deftly, accurately, and sensitively talk about it…

September is Suicide Prevention month, and today, September 10th, is Suicide Prevention Day.

Some people tend to assume that suicide occurs less frequently among this group of bright kids who seem to have everything going for them. Other people tend to assume that it occurs more often among the gifted because the existential nature of a gifted person (including existential depression) can lend itself to some dark thinking.

But what does the research say about suicide and the gifted? It’s a mixed bag – and at this point in time the bag isn’t very full yet, so that’s a complicated and difficult question to answer (1, 2). There is some research (1, 2, 3) with – among other things – a conclusion that gifted students may be at more risk for suicide (the third link cites other studies that appear to have reached that conclusion). Yet one study (1) deduces there just isn’t enough accurate data available on this topic yet to draw precise conclusions. Some studies show that it occurs at about the same rate (not a significantly more or less frequent rate) as it does in average, same-aged peers (1, 2, 3). Finally, chapter 7 of "The Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Kids" by Tracy Cross does a great job of covering the overall topic and its inconclusive research base.

Perhaps the most oft-cited authority on suicide and the gifted, though, is a research summary in "The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know?" by Maureen Neihart, Sally M. Reis, Nancy M. Robinson, Sidney M. Moon. These two quotations come from that text:

"Although it is a popular notion that gifted children are at risk for higher rates of depression and suicide than their average, no empirical data supports this belief, except for students who are creatively gifted in the visual arts and writing (see Neihart & Olenchak, this volume). Nor, however, is there good evidence that rates of depression and suicide are significantly lower among populations of gifted children."

“It is not at all clear whether suicide is more or less common in gifted adolescents than other adolescents – the statistics simply are not available – although it is easy to develop rationales why the rates should be higher or lower.”

But even if the statistics don’t indicate it being any more or less of a problem for the gifted, it’s still a tragedy in each individual case - and in all cases of all ages and types of people. I wish that I remembered my students M.B. and R.V. for bigger reasons than how they died.

In part because of M.B.’s death last summer, a service-oriented student organization at our high school conducted a week-long series of suicide awareness events this past spring. One of my students, a friend of M.B.’s, was among the handful of kids who put in countless hours over many weeks to organize and run the awareness week. His dedication to the task as well as his assistance for his fellow students was impressively thorough. But having so much on his plate during that time, something had to give, and that something was his until-that-point 4.0 GPA. At first disappointed in himself for “failing” to maintain his perfect grades, he soon reached the most important conclusion: “Yeah, I got a B in Math… But I saved two lives.” I couldn’t have been more proud :o)

So… today’s post is in part my way of finally having the guts to put those above thoughts out there – and also about linking you up with what the somewhat-limited research says about suicide among the gifted. Most importantly, though, I want to leave you with some valuable resources to access should you want or need to learn the signs of someone considering suicide, should you be concerned that someone in your life is contemplating suicide, or should you – heaven forbid – need some tips for how to handle the aftermath.

Suicide Among Gifted Adolescents: How to Prevent It

An Overview: Understanding and Assessing Suicide in the Gifted

National Suicide Hotline 1-800-SUICIDE

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK
or NSPL at MySpace

Suicide Prevention Resource Center

National Association for Mental Illness

Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Feel free to add your own resource ideas as well :o)

A scripture

" 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

I corinthians 13:2-3

This really resonated with me today. Really touched my heart and how I'm feeling lately.

Please consider donating to The Dream Project. My sister is there in Mozambique helping Julie and Michael. Its an amazing place and our family feels we should help in some way and the next best way to being there is to fundraise for them. My kids usually want to do a fundraiser like a lemonade stand to earn the money. Its a fun way that our little ones can make their impact on the world.

http://www.thedream-project.org/

Giftedness

Common Myths About Gifted Students


Gifted students are a homogeneous group, all high achievers.
Gifted students do not need help. If they are really gifted, they can manage on their own.
Gifted students have fewer problems than others because their intelligence and abilities somehow exempt them from the hassles of daily life.
The future of a gifted student is assured: a world of opportunities lies before the student.
Gifted students are self-directed; they know where they are heading.
The social and emotional development of the gifted student is at the same level as his or her intellectual development.
Gifted students are nerds and social isolates.
The primary value of the gifted student lies in his or her brain power.
The gifted student's family always prizes his or her abilities.
Gifted students need to serve as examples to others and they should always assume extra responsibility.
Gifted students make everyone else smarter.
Gifted students can accomplish anything they put their minds to. All they have to do is apply themselves.
Gifted students are naturally creative and do not need encouragement.
Gifted children are easy to raise and a welcome addition to any classroom.

Truths About Gifted Students

Gifted students are often perfectionistic and idealistic. They may equate achievement and grades with self-esteem and self-worth, which sometimes leads to fear of failure and interferes with achievement.
Gifted students may experience heightened sensitivity to their own expectations and those of others, resulting in guilt over achievements or grades perceived to be low.
Gifted students are asynchronous. Their chronological age, social, physical, emotional, and intellectual development may all be at different levels. For example, a 5-year-old may be able to read and comprehend a third-grade book but may not be able to write legibly.
Some gifted children are "mappers" (sequential learners), while others are "leapers" (spatial learners). Leapers may not know how they got a "right answer." Mappers may get lost in the steps leading to the right answer.
Gifted students may be so far ahead of their chronological age mates that they know more than half the curriculum before the school year begins! Their boredom can result in low achievement and grades.
Gifted children are problem solvers. They benefit from working on open-ended, interdisciplinary problems; for example, how to solve a shortage of community resources. Gifted students often refuse to work for grades alone.
Gifted students often think abstractly and with such complexity that they may need help with concrete study- and test-taking skills. They may not be able to select one answer in a multiple choice question because they see how all the answers might be correct.
Gifted students who do well in school may define success as getting an "A" and failure as any grade less than an "A." By early adolescence they may be unwilling to try anything where they are not certain of guaranteed success.
Adapted from College Planning for Gifted Students, 2nd edition, by Sandra Berger.

A funny story

So my husband and I last night were discussing what we were all going to dress up like for Halloween. After a few suggestions here and there I said," why dont we go as I'm a mac, I'm a PC? " He thinks thats a great idea. After thinking for a few minutes I look up at him and say, "But I'm NOT PC." He gets cranky and says, "Well Neither am I!" So I guess that idea is out....

The Story

An amazing inspirational story

Unwrapping the Gifted

I found this very interesting especially knowing Tom's schooling history. I think his school years would have been so much easier had teachers had this viewpoint.


Varsity Academics
Posted: 20 Aug 2008 09:20 PM CDT
Hello from the Ice Cream Capital of the World!

On the morning of July 7, I had my TV on in the other room while I was getting ready for the day. I overheard an interview on the Today Show that Matt Lauer did with swimmer Dara Torres. The day before, she had managed to qualify for her fifth Olympics at the age of 41, even breaking an American record (for the ninth time in that event!) in the qualifying process.

Near the end of the interview, Matt asked Dara how she did it, noting his age and noting hers. (They know each other off-camera, it might be important to mention.) “When I turned 40,” he said, “I had trouble going up stairs. I was winded more easily.”

After describing her workout regimen and then outlining how she was proactively being regularly blood-tested to prove that she was doing all this cleanly, she said to Matt, good-naturedly and with a twinkle in her eye,

“And besides, you know, maybe I’m a little more athletically gifted than you are.”

It was funny! She pulled it off really well and I know she got a chuckle out of both Matt and I. And besides – it was true. She’s clearly far more athletically gifted than nearly all of us.

But then I got to thinking…

It’s never funny when someone – even good naturedly and with a twinkle in their eye – says,

“And besides, you know, maybe I’m a little more intellectually gifted than you are.”

Nope. That’s pretty much a party stopper. We feel offended. We can’t believe someone would have the gall to say something so arrogant. We lose respect for someone with such an “inflated ego.”

Not that I would advocate anyone go around actually saying that! I was just struck by how okay it felt to hear Dara say that – and how not okay it would feel to hear it the other way.

But we have different standards, dare I say a double standard, when it comes to athletics.

Before I go any further, I want to be clear that I’m not knocking athletics. They’re important, valuable, worthwhile, and a model means of developing talent. My own sister was a high school varsity athlete, and there was nothing like the thrill of watching her team win back-to-back state championships (my vantage point was from the Pep Band section ;o)

It’s just that I’m baffled by our double standard when it comes to varsity academics.

When it comes to sports, we don’t have any trouble supporting an individual’s pursuit of greater levels of achievement. We cheer them on, we donate to the Booster Club, we raise a fuss if the football team goes on the school district’s chopping block. (It never does, but you know what I mean.) And we should do all of that. Those students have talent that most of the rest of us don’t. It’s okay to celebrate the development of their athletic talent! And it should remain so.

And yet our students who excel intellectually are – sometimes, often times? – made fun of in school, teased for being bookworms and “walking encyclopedias,” not allowed to move ahead in the curriculum because they might begin to “think too highly of themselves” (or because it’s inconvenient for the teacher), and believed to be “okay as they are” – no need to push them any further in their talent areas.

So it’s okay to develop athletic talent, but try starting a gifted program in your school to develop intellectual talent and there’s bound to be someone (or many someones) who will be opposed on grounds that it’s “elitist” or “unnecessary” (they’re “already where they need to be,” after all). How can we justify putting money into kids who are already “succeeding” when we have so many other kids who – I agree – deserve our every effort to help them learn?

*sigh* Shouldn’t EVERY child be able to LEARN to their capacity in school of all places‽‽‽ Aren’t schools for learning?

Maybe we can use the vocabulary of talent development to help ourselves explain why it’s necessary to put effort into kids who have already met (or more typically far surpassed) grade-level expectations. The Olympics don’t inspire us because the bar is set at an average level. They inspire us because the bar is set quite high and each individual is stretched to his or her capacity, often amazing us and themselves in the process! Olympic athletes don’t achieve all that they do because they stayed with the crowd and learned how to swim in the same way average a-few-times-a-summer swimmers learned. They break records and accomplish what hadn’t been accomplished before (breaking a record nine times, for example), because they and their coaches focused effort on developing the talent that was already there. Good enough isn’t anywhere near good enough for them.

There are some of us out here who recognize that gifted children tend to have natural talent in one or more areas and we want to let them develop those talents to their fullest potential. We want them to be able to GROW. Do we expect gifted athletes like Dara to learn their skills in a heterogeneous group taught at an average pace? Of course not. At some point, in order to pursue what she was capable of, she had to break away from that and follow a far more challenging course.

We send all children to Physical Education classes because we want all children to learn about and develop their physical fitness. It’s important for all on some level. However, some children have greater levels of athletic talent, and they are selected for our athletic teams so that they can further develop their talent to its fullest potential. We don’t expect them to magically develop that talent further on their own or solely through P.E. classes. We recognize that they need advanced training to polish what they begin with and to stretch them to where they are capable of going. It is (or should be) the same for our intellectually gifted children who have greater levels of thinking ability and academic talent. We can’t expect them to magically develop those talents further solely through regular education classes. We must recognize that they need advanced training to polish what they begin with and to stretch them to their fullest potential.

It’s the same philosophy! Development of talent – any kind of talent – doesn’t happen magically or on its own!

Developing the talents of our advanced learners means releasing the constraints on our teachers, too. They’re up against some tough walls! Some of them are only allowed to teach a certain page on a certain day saying only the script from the book (whether the kids are ready for it, or not, or far past that point), making differentiation near impossible – or even, in essence, “against the rules.” Most teachers have a huge range of student abilities to accommodate within their classrooms. And nearly all of them have received little or no training on the needs of gifted students. When it comes to understanding and reaching gifted learners, the deck is stacked against our teachers.

“Confine plant forms to a container and you will know exactly the dimensions they shall reach. Confine your teachers to your restricting curricula and your paperwork and you will know exactly the dimensions they shall reach. And each budding branch and each extending child shall not extend far beyond the perimeters of their confinement. Space determines the shape of all living things.” ~ Bob Stanish ~

My challenge for you this school year: find a crack in the container and start chipping away! Otherwise we will know the only dimensions that we and our varsity learners shall ever reach.

GO BUCKS!

I'm totally excited for this years OSU (ohio state) Football season!

Anna's Missionary Video

I cried....thats all I can really say.

Flat Stanley's Travels

So last year we went to see an AMAZING play called Flat stanley. Below you can read the premise of his story.

This book/play is about a young boy named Stanley who is accidentally squished "as flat as a pancake" when a bulletin board falls on him. Stanley is very, very flat but otherwise fine. The story goes on to tell how Stanley discovers some real advantages to being flat. He can slide under doors, go down into sidewalk grates, and even fold himself up small enough to fit into an envelope and be mailed to California (from a city far away in the USA) for an exciting vacation.

Which gave way to the Flat Stanley Project. Which we use as a way to teach our kids about different communities and Geography.

Our pictures of Flat Stanley and his first travels. His first stop was Guam. HIs next stop is Victoria Island BC. Then we are hoping we can get my cousin to host him in Oman.

Below are the pics from Guam. They went hiking along the coast where some of the WWII Japanese hideouts and wreckage were. There is also an American Naval Base on the Island. If you didn't know. Guam is a territory of the US.

Just a Walmart Rant!

Ok so today I am getting prepped for school to start in a week. Lots to do some rushing around, craziness. Last night I went to Walmart. Now I really dislike Walmart, but I needed to put together some backpacks for the kids for the VBS camp this week. They are doing donations for kids school supplies through City Team Ministries. Now I needed to go somewhere where I could get enough supplies for 4 kids inexpensively. Why 4? I have no idea, I just felt led to do 4 kids and lately when God talks I've been obeying. So 4 it was. Anyway, I pull into the driveway and realize why I NEVER go to Walmart. I HATE IT! Its like your driving right into the Ghetto. No seriously. Anyway so I go in, and there are so many people in there, its crowed, and its 9 at night. Its ALWAYS that way here. We have like 4 Walmarts for Vicinity between South San Jose/East San Jose/Mountain View and North Milpitas. This includes all the little cities in between. So not a lot to go around, so they are ALWAYS jammed packed. So I get what I go in there to get and with no shortage of shoving and toes being run over by shopping carts and trying to manuever between everything everyone has thrown on the floor. (people dig through everything and instead of putting it back on the shelf they throw it on the floor. Like it belongs there) Ok so I get the heck out of there and I'm thinking I HATE Walmart so much!!!

So, I'm sitting on the toilet today (yeah great visual isn't it??) And I'm in total school mode, sharpening pencils, colored pencils, getting the kids pencils boxes ready, making sure I have all the supplies we need and trying to plan our lessons. I happened to look up and I see this:



Does anyone else see a problem here??? The reasons why I hate Walmart even more, or advertisers in general.

Kids aren't suppose to be Rock Stars at school.

How about we advertise: Get your school supplies here so you can go to school and learn, so you wont be stupid and the only job you can get is at Walmart!

Stinkfoot...a REAL band :-D

This is a picture of stinkfoot. My husbands kinda sorta fake band. It started out as a joke and all of a sudden they started getting gigs, then the gigs just kinda kept coming their way. They are always asked they never offer. Its hysterical. I dont mind, I get to to be the hot groupie! :-D

You can check them out on facebook at http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5818786611

Awesome Quote

"I'm not on this earth to live up to your expectations."

The public School System

These individuals with their comments are products of the public school system: All I really want to say to them is SHUT UP, YOUR STUPID. Except I'm not really a mean person......but I can be...I sorta have a temper :-D

13. No kid should be home schooled. They end up socially retarded relationally clueless. Which is far worse than not knowing the material in the books.
Submitted by: merryjoe
1:49 PM PDT, August 8, 2008

YOU ARE SOCIALLY RETARDED AND CLUELESS. The reason? If you had an educated bone in your body, you would know that parents who home-school attend MANY functions outside of the home. Home-schooled kids are more active in the community than Public Schooled kids. Why? Because they have MORE time to do it. They aren't taught to the lowest common denominator in school, but they can work at their own pace. So they have time for this stuff. They don't spend an hour in travel time to get to school. If you dont believe me, look at my flicker account and see how often we are out doing public service and leave our house. www.flickr.com/photos/kellyschaos

15. No, the education of a child is too important to let some moron just do on their own. Not that homeschooling doesn't work, but certification is necessary for some regulation. The real issue should be what it takes to become certified, not whether or not you need to be. http://tinyurl.com/6jb7l6 - has more on the appeals
Submitted by: Ricardo
1:46 PM PDT, August 8, 2008

You just called me a MORON. You dont even know me, so how can you honestly say that I, because I homeschool, am a Moron. You are obviously a Jerk. That was an educated answer. I read your comments and came to the conclusion because you call people you know nothing about Morons.

25. Although every parent should have the right to make decisions in their child's education, we - as a society - have to live with these children. The thought of a suburbran housewife, with no college education, downloading worksheets off the internet to teach their high schooler physics or Algebra 2, well. . . that's just scary.
Submitted by: C.

You assume that homeschool Parents = Wife only. Dads are just as involved. And just because I am a suburban housewife, with some college doesn't mean I'm ignorant. You imply that in your snide comment. You are obviously uneducated about how we homeschool. We do NOT download worksheets but attend a THREE day seminar and pick curriculum like a REAL school would. We have REAL curriculum with REAL text books. WOW what a concept! We are motivated to teach our kids, not by a paycheck, but because we WANT them to learn. WOW! Now isn't that a concept too!!!



**** SIDE NOTE! I have nothing against the public school system really. Its just annoying when individuals profess that theres only one way a child can learn and that HAS to be in a school room environment. People should really do their research and see that learning is done best when its in exploration and un-structured. Some kids thrive in structured environments, mine are bored in them. They dont do lectures. They are hands on, so for us, this is where they belong. =D

HSLDA Article

HOMESCHOOLERS WIN LANDMARK CASE


Purcellville, VA—In a 3-0 decision the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District reversed its earlier ruling which would have required homeschoolers to be certified teachers in order to homeschool in California. “This is a great victory for homeschool freedom,” said Michael Farris, one of the team of attorneys who argued the case before the court and Chairman of HSLDA.

"I have never seen such an impressive array of people and organizations coming to the defense of homeschooling. The team effort was remarkable," he added.

Mr. L of In re Rachel L was represented by Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation and the Alliance Defense Fund.

The court agreed to re-hear In re Rachel L in March after a public outcry of its previous February, 2008 ruling. Many new arguments were presented to the court in June. HSLDA filed an amicus brief on behalf of our 15,000 California members. The Governor and Attorney General of California also supported a parent’s right to homeschool before the court.

“Tens of thousands of California parents teaching over 166,000 homeschooled children are now breathing easier this afternoon,” said Farris.
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a 25-year-old, 85,000 member non-profit organization and the preeminent national association advocating the legal right of parents to homeschool their children.

Homeschooling in California

Court of Appeal Vindicates Homeschooling
JOINT NEWSFLASH -- August 8, 2008
From: Christian Home Educators Association of California and Roy Hanson's Private and Home Educators of California

We praise God for the great victory He has given us today!

Homeschooling Remains Legal!

The California Court of Appeal, in their unanimous opinion today, said, "California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education."

This ruling specifically overruled the Turner (1953) and Shinn (1961) cases, which gave private homeschooling families problems in the past.

Our prior concern about "independent study programs" (ISP) was confirmed when the court also stated, "It is apparent, however, that independent study is permissible only when offered by the public school system and supervised by a certificated teacher." [emphasis in original] Therefore, we continue to strongly recommend that each private school program, where one Private School Affidavit is filed for multiple homeschooling families, refer to their program as a "private school satellite program" (PSP). Please read our notice about this Important Information about ISPs or www.pheofca.org/SB777071017.html

We are thankful for the relationship among the five homeschool groups, Christian Home Educators Association of California, Private and Home Educators of California (part of FPM), California Homeschool Network, HomeSchool Association of California, and Home School Legal Defense Association, that have been working on a statewide basis to support private homeschooling. We are also very grateful for the all of the attorneys involved in this case who have work so hard to protect private homeschooling in California.

Our communion wedding song

Its almost our 8 year anniversary. I've been thinking back on our wedding and looking at our pics. Its amazing to see where w are now. I would say we are a pretty darn good married couple....


A page is turned by the wind to a boy in curly grin
With a world to conquer at the age of ten
But as history unfolds and the storybook is told
He finds salvation but not at the hands of man

And the God of second chance
Picked him up and He let him dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, preparing him, the one
To hold him up when he comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And now a man, here you stand
Your day has come

A page is turned in this world to reveal a little girl
With a heart that's bigger, as it is unfurled
By the language in her soul, that's teaching her to grow
With a careful cover of love that will not fail

And the God of second chance
Picked her up and He let her dance
Through a world that isn't kind
And all this time, preparing her the one
To hold her up when she comes undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And grown up tall, here you are
Your day has come

Beneath the air of autumn, she took him by his hand
And warm within the ardor, she took his heart instead
And high upon the mountain, he asked her for her hand
Just for her hand

A page is turned in this life, he's making her his wife
And there is no secret to the source of this much life
When the grace that falls like rain is washing them again
Just a chance to somehow rise above this land

Where the God of second chance
Will pick them up and he'll let them dance
Through a world that is not kind
And all this time, they're sharing with the one
That holds them up when they come undone
Beneath the storm, beneath the sun
And once again, here you stand
And once again, here you stand
Your day has come

A page has turned - Bebo Norman

My sweet husband....

I love you more today than on that spectacular day 8 years ago....and Tomorrow will be more of the same!

Day is fading, but baby, I don’t mind
‘Cause sunlight is dancing in your eyes
And time is frozen but somehow flying by
Here with your hand holding mine

It just feels right kissing on a Sunday
I’ll hold you tight as if it were the last day
With all my might, I will keep the world away
It just feels right kissing you on a Sunday

Time is racing to the sound of my heart beating
Can the dreaming escape this life
Unfair, maybe, but know that I’m not leaving
Right now, baby, life is kind

Make this moment last for a lifetime
Don’t let it slip away
Play it over and over like your favorite song
And we’ll fit forever in a day

Sunday by Bebo Norman

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

Our new Family Motto

Be good, Be kind, Be truthful, and be free.