Overwhelmed, but enjoying it!

Holy abundance of homeschooling resources, batman! For the past few days I have been tangled in a web of blogs, websites, catalogs, and e-mail groups, all related to homeschooling. What have I learned?

Nothing.

Yet.

Well, maybe this... it's possible to lose an entire day in the World Wide Web. This addiction must be broken. But not yet...

I have laughed at the humor shared on the blogs of so many homeschooling families. I have cried over the loss of little "Dozer." I have been awestruck by some of the many photographic glimpses into lives that have been shared - families, projects, even early-morning sunrises.

I have a long list of links saved into a special folder in my 'Favorites' list to come back to later. I have excitedly skimmed through webpages that seemed to offer everything I was looking for (and more)! I've ordered more catalogs, joined mailing lists and downloaded homeschooling freebies and help guides.

I can't really say that I've 'learned' a lot just yet, but I've stumbled into some wonderful people, some helpful tools and tips, and I've just fallen that much more in love with the idea of homeschooling the boys (exclusively) next year. Penny, too!

I'm not sure if I should expect the 'fun' to wear off and for this to become 'work,' but with teaching being something I've always wanted to do, I think I will be able to find great enjoyment and fulfillment in this even when the 'work' outweighs the 'fun.' And c'mon, they won't be kids forever - I have to enjoy these years while I still can!

Hope? Nope!

OK, so I (almost) promise not to (maybe) turn this into a (kinda) political blog. Perhaps.

That said (and dismissed), tomorrow is the last day in many states to register to vote via absentee ballot, or register to vote at all. This is a historic election in our Nation - no matter the outcome, it will make history. It's very important, possibly more important than ever before, to register - and VOTE!

The two candidates running for office (speaking specifically of the democratic and republican nominees) are as different as night and day, and you can bet our country will be run as such after one of them is voted into office on November 4.

Our family is a Christian family, and we fall on the (conservative) Republican side of the fence. And while I don't typically consider myself a very 'political' person, I DO sit up and take notice when I see or hear things that are just [absolutely] wrong.

That brings me to Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. The democratic hopeful. He stands for 'change' (although what SPECIFICALLY he plans to 'change,' no one knows). He claims to be taking a stand against racism (though many would say he, himself, is racist). He is an accomplished senator (but whether those 'accomplishments' are negative or positive depends on your perspective and interpretation - read on). Good luck with that.

I'm a firm believer that the media, primarily liberal, is extremely biased. I also believe the media is doing a fantastic job of convincing people that Obama is a saint (anti-Christ, anyone?). Everyone has something great to say about him, from political analysts to celebrities to YouTubers with home video cameras spilling their heart out for the whole world to see. Even the tabloids, commonly focused on the impending return of Christ in the year 20xx and celebrity "oops" and "aahs," have stooped to the (shocking!) level of...yep...deceiving the public. *sigh*

But before you run to the polls on Nov 4th, please take a minute (or two....heck, even three??) to read/watch on. Use caution when making your selection at the polls.... we'll be stuck with whoever we choose for at least 4 years. No take-backs or do-overs or "psyche!" moments allowed.


If Obama becomes President...


If Obama becomes President 2...


Obama's Family Ties to Radical Islam...


Interesting thoughts... Anti-Christ & Radical Terrorist ties...


Obama Throws Flower at 9/11 Memorial...


Obama's views on Sex-Ed...


Who Is Causing the Division?...


Dr. James Dobson's (from Focus on the Family) views on Obama...


Obama's views on God-fearing Christians & the Bible...


Obama's stance on gang murders...



Out of his own mouth...


From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, we cannot turn ourselves over to this type of character in a President.

Some Obama-Facts for you to ponder (why not grab some popcorn and we'll just make a night of it!)...

• Obama's proposed budget is 60% larger than any one year federal spending increase, ever.


• Obama opposes offshore drilling to reduce gas prices.


• Obama kept infanticide legal in Chicago by opposing the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.


• While in the Illinois Senate, Obama simply voted "present" more than 100 times.


• Obama had only been sworn in as a U.S. Senator for 143 days before he launched his Presidential Exploratory Committee.


• If elected, Obama has stated that he will, without precondition, meet with Nations that sponsor terrorism.


• Obama has told reporters that he would not wear the American flag pin.


• Obama has been supported by, been friends with and served on the Woods Fund beside Bill Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist who helped bomb government buildings in the 1970's and made inflammatory anti-American statements in the wake of 9/11.


• Obama has been praised by Fidel Castro.


• FARC Terrorist Communiques revealed that they all hoped Obama would win the Presidential Race.


• Obama has been officially endorsed by North Korea's Kim Jong Il.


• Obama has been officially endorsed by the terrorist organization Hamas.


• Obama states in his book The Audacity Of Hope that he attended a muslim school in Indonesia.


• Obama's mother was a Caucasian Agnostic.


• Obama's father was a Kenyan Muslim.


• Obama's stepfather was an Indonesian Muslim.


• Obama's half-brother Obongo is a Muslim.


• Obama traveled to Kenya to support relative Raila Odinga's bid for the Presidency. When Odinga lost, his supporters murdered hundreds and burned down a church full of women and children.


• Obama claims to be a Christian.


• During the Democratic primaries, Obama publicly referred to faith as a crutch for "bitter" people.


• Obama sat under the teaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright for over 20 years. Wright also married Obama and his wife and baptized his children.


• Rev. Wright published articles written by Hamas militants in the church bulletin, implied that America brought on 9/11, claimed that the government created HIV as a weapon to be used against the black community and shouted "God Damn America!" from the pulpit.


• Obama's key slogan is "Change You Can Believe In."


• As a Senator, Obama wrote letters to officials, supporting his patron Tony Rezko's bid to get $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments.


• Tony Rezko raised $250,000 for Obama's campaign before he was convicted on 16 counts of bribery and fraud.


• Obama has repeatedly made false statements about his family history.


• Referring to Obama's candidacy, Obama's wife Michelle stated, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."

As quoted on http://www.nohussein.org/:

November 8, 2004. Barack Obama had just been sworn in as a U.S. Senator for Illinois, and in an interview with CNN, he was asked why he had ruled out running for President in 2008. The newly elected Senator explained, "I am a believer in knowing what you're doing when you apply for a job."

Shortly Thereafter, Barack Hussein Obama changed his mind and felt like he knew what he was doing after all. He began building his presidential campaign. Like any job, applicants must present a resume to prove their experience, especially when the job in question affects the lives of everyone on the planet.

Obama launched his Presidential Exploratory Committee after 143 days in office as a U.S. Senator. John McCain launched his Committee after 26 years of service in the Senate, not to mention 22 years of military service. As the CEO's
of America, which candidate seems more qualified to you?

"Change? Oh, let me tell you about Obama's 'change.' It's also known as 'I don't know what I'm doing and that's a plus!' Perhaps Obama was trying to bring 'change' to Washington when he voted 'present' more than 100 times in the U.S. Senate. Apparently, voting 'yes' or 'no' on a bill is part of 'the old politics of Washington.' He also missed 259 of 1,231 votes since January 0f 2005. That's 21% of the votes, people! Apparently, attendance is also a 'failed policy of the past,' which just might be Obama's all-time favorite catch-phrase. But what would happen if any of us missed 21% of our shifts at work? We'd get fired, right? Not Obama! Nope. This guy thinks the company should make him CEO!" - quote from Molotov Mitchell

Now this one I find personal. As a mother of 3, I can't even begin to fathom how ANYONE would find this acceptable. I'm speaking about Obama's pet project, the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. I could go on and on about this one for days, but I'll let some of the following links and info do the bulk of the talking for me.


The following comes from Pro-Life Pulse - Jill Stanek's website:

-- Barack Obama opposed legislation as IL state senator to protect abortion survivors from being shelved to die:

• Links to Obama's votes on IL's Born Alive Infant Protection Act
• Obama's 10 reasons for supporting infanticide
• Why Jesus would not vote for Obama
• Audio of Obama arguing against giving medical care to abortion survivors

-- Barack Obama thinks partial birth abortion is a "legitimate medical procedure":

• Michelle Obama's partial birth abortion fundraising letter

-- Barack Obama opposes parental notification of minor girls before they abort:

• Media Matters corroboration

-- Barack Obama has satted "the first thing I'd do as president" would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn every local, state, and federal abortion law passed in the last 35 years:

• Video of Obama promising FOCA to Planned Parenthood

You can view Jill Stanek's discussion with Bill O'Reilly (she rendered him SPEECHLESS!) below:


Jill Stanek talks about her experience with live birth abortion - you don't want to miss this one.


Thanks to Christian Worldview Network for this article, outlining the "Muslim Fingerprints in Obama's History". Remember Obama claiming he was Christian? Read here where he has unintentionally spoken to the contrary, even claiming that 'blasphemy' is one of "the prettiest sounds on earth at sunset." Nice. Flip-flop, anyone? Do you know who really supports this man, praying (to Allah, mind you) that he will become the next President of the United States?

I heard about this little video from my mom (*waves*) - Newt Gingrich was asked by a (presumably liberal) reporter to comment on Sarah Palin's resume. It took him about 45 seconds to make the reporter eat his words and transfer the video back to the newsroom. Heh....gotta love those smooth thinkers! ;)


Another little tidbit from NoHussein.org:
Despite his public statement that religion is a crutch for "bitter" people, Barack Hussein Obama claims to be a Christian. Is this a ruse to win Evangelicals or is he sincere?


Obama consistently associates with slumlords, terrorists, racists, and other people of ill repute.

In closing, I have one last video, courtesy of Lorne Baxter:


Please tell me, why...WHY...would we want this man to be in charge of our nation!? To make decisions on our behalf!? Barack Hussein Obama does not have the best interests of our nation at heart. Obama denies knowledge of illegal or offensive involvement from those he has chosen to associate with. So he's either lying, or he's blissfully ignorant about the people he deals with. Neither speak well of a Presidential hopeful.

So no thanks. He can keep the 'change.' Our family is voting for McCain/Palin this year.

A step up and a phone call

Today, Nick was moved to a more advanced reading level in his class. He's now a part of the 'red group' - the most advanced reading group they offer for the first graders. He's currently reading out of the Tiptoes book from the A Beka program. While this is still below his reading level, it is definitely more challenging than the previous book he was studying (also a part of the A Beka program). I was pleased to see this new change to his studies, as I was getting very frustrated with the too-simple 'work' they were assigning.

I will say, though, that I'm also disappointed with the 'spelling words' they are assigning him (I believe these are from the A Beka program as well). Last week's spelling list included the following words: man, ran, sun, bus, hot, net, sit, cub, a, the. A? Really? Can you even spell that wrong? If you can say it, you've just spelled it! This week's spelling list included the following words: coat, goat, boat, bean, read, made, game, ride, to, the. Better, I guess, given that we've now included 4-letter words. My grumpiness over the spelling words assignments is based less on difficulty of the words themselves and more on the actual assignment. The paper has the words written in cursive, with a space to the right for the student to print the word. Perhaps their assumption is that the students cannot read the cursive writing, and will therefore have to rely on a parent to say the word aloud, with the student following up by writing the word. Whatever the reasoning behind this assignment, this is no challenge for my son, who reads the words on the left side of the paper and merely copies them again on the right side, letter for letter. And then he's finished with his homework. Voila! Nothing learned, lol.

OK, stepping off of my soapbox for a few, I would like to praise Nick's teacher before I close this out. She called tonight at about 5:30, from the school, WELL after I would assume she had gone home for the day. I was nervous at first, when I realized it was her on the phone, thinking perhaps something had happened at school today that Nick hadn't told me. But she was just calling to let me know that she had bumped Nick up to the higher reading level today, and that both his reading and his comprehension in the new group were excellent. She added that he is excellent in math, and gets very excited when she begins that subject in class. She said he is very bright academically, and is also a good friend to his classmates, and that she really enjoyed having him in her class *beams* - hearing all of this, of course, made me very proud. I thanked her for taking the time to call me, and congratulated Nick on his achievements thus far.

I have begun researching different curriculum programs to try with the boys next year. I haven't made any decisions yet, although I'm leaning heavily towards using the A Beka program for reading and spelling (although I may bump them up to the next grade level depending on how they're doing at the end of this year). I've heard excellent things about the Saxon math program as well, and would like to look into that a bit more. I still have lots of research to do and questions to ask, but we have time to figure all of that out still.

Just the beginning...

I have been blessed with three wonderful little munchkins.

• Nicholas, age 6 1/2
• Benjamin, age 5
• Penelope, a week shy of 4 months

They are my world, my pride & joy, my everything!



Nick and Ben are currently attending a local private school. We have concerns about the public school system not teaching things that are consistent with our moral and religious values, and made the decision that Christian school would be a better option for them. Furthermore, they attended school in Texas last year, a more advanced school system (overall) than the one here in Washington, which is just not able to keep up with what they have already learned.

I have spoken with Nick's teacher on multiple occasions this year, with concerns that the classwork being sent home, as well as the homework (or should I say, lack thereof?), is FAR below his capabilities at this point. He is bored in class and not being challenged in the least. In fact, his teacher was unable to think of any single area in which he needed improvement. He is a sponge and soaks up information, rising to any challenge asked of him. Her only advice to me has been to continue working with him at home, to reinforce what he has already learned and advance his skills at a pace more suitable for him.

Nick is a fantastic reader (more on this in another post). He is also excellent at math. I spoke with his teacher about classwork and homework I've seen in those two areas, because they are both far below his ability level. She has agreed to bump him up to the next reading level (...eventually...), but there's really nothing she can do about the math issue. I can teach him at home, no problem, but for what we've paid for tuition, I don't feel like I should have to. I promised myself I'd wait until the end of next week, and if I still haven't seen an improvement in the difficulty level, I will have to have a sit-down with the principal. I don't know what options we have, but it's certainly something that needs to be discussed at this point. Benjamin is also bored in school (and doesn't like it, but he's a homebody and very timid around others so school is well outside of his 'comfort zone')... he comes home begging me to let him work in his Kindergarten workbook (that I purchased at a local bookstore) because he never has homework. Ever. None. At all.

The decision to homeschool the boys next year (and supplement their education this year) was an easy one. It's very clear that they are just not being challenged (quite the opposite, in fact). The public school system is even worse, so that is not an option either. I have spoken with my family regarding this, including the boys, and we all seem to be on the same page and are looking forward to this new adventure. I'm not saying it will be easy. Far from it. I have my own health concerns to deal with, but I do also think that HS'ing is within the realm of possibility for me at this time and in the (near, anyway) future. It's their best shot, so why not?

I've spent a lot of time in the local libraries (yes, plural, lol) looking for and checking out books related to homeschooling. Many of them are very basic - introductions to homeschooling, how-to's, etc. I have plenty of time to get all the in-depth information I'm looking for. But I want to make sure all my bases are covered, that I know exactly what I'm getting into, and I want to have as many reliable resources for support and information as possible. The more prepared I am, the more successful this will all be.

So far, I've checked out the following books from the local libraries:

• Christian Home Educators' Curriculum Manual (Elementary Grades) by Cathy Duffy
• The Homeschooler's Guide To... by Vicki Caruana
• Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath - You Can Do This by Terrie Lynn Bittner
• The Homeschooler's Book of Lists by Sonya Haskins
• The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child by Linda Dobson
• Homeschooling Step-By-Step by LauraMaery Gold & Joan M. Zielinski
• Homeschool Your Child For Free by LauraMaery Gold & Joan M. Zielinski
• 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
• The Homeschool Manual by Theodore E. Wade, Jr.
• Absolute Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling by Brad Miser

I think that's a good start, at least, lol. I have joined several groups and forums on MSN, Yahoo and other internet sites, such as The Homeschool Lounge. I've got a nice, long list of websites saved to a special folder in my Favorites list. I'm meeting and talking with others that do HS'ing. I've researched the laws in our state and have begun the process of meeting the requirements to homeschool exclusively next year. I've looked into various curriculum options and resources available in the subject areas required by our state (plus a few extras that I may include anyway).

And the countdown begins...