by Mimi Rothschild What are the experiences and opportunities that really count in building Christlike character and at the same time, can serve individual personality? How can the homeschool curriculum and homeschool program provide for such experiences and opportunities? The Christian homeschooling teacher needs not only a clear-cut purpose, but we also must know his own children very well [...]

I spent some time in special education classes as a child for a physical handicap -- a bone disease that, thankfully, that did not progress far enough to cause permanent damage.  Of course, my participation in these classes was more about the additional revenue the school would receive from the state than any benefit I received concerning my handicap.  Now, I will qualify this with the acknowledgment that there are likely many good people caring for these children in most schools.  However, like any public school teacher, these special needs teachers are strangers caring for children that especially need the loving kindness of mom. A hat tip to Fearfully and Wonderfully Made for this article from CNN about children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms.   (UPDATE: Just an update to note that I never saw anything like this article describes.  I didn't really spend much time there.  But, I do remember one incident of a teacher berating and humiliating a quadriplegic student for soiling himself.)  "Seclusion rooms, sometimes called time-out rooms, are used across the nation, generally for special needs children." "A few weeks before 13-year-old Jonathan King killed himself, he told his parents that his teachers had put him in 'time-out.'" "The room where Jonathan King hanged himself is shown after his death. It is no longer used, a school official said." "'We thought that meant go sit in the corner and be quiet for a few minutes,' Tina King said, tears washing her face as she remembered the child she called 'our baby ... a good kid.'" "But time-out in the boy's north Georgia special education school was spent in something akin to a prison cell -- a concrete room latched from the outside, its tiny window obscured by a piece of paper." "Called a seclusion room, it's where in November 2004, Jonathan hanged himself with a cord a teacher gave him to hold up his pants." Now, your state may offer you all kinds of "help" for your special needs children, even if you home school.  But, is that something you really want? In other instances of alleged abuse, from the article: A Tennessee mother alleged in a federal suit against the Learn Center in Clinton that her 51-pound 9-year-old autistic son was bruised when school instructors used their body weight on his legs and torso to hold him down before putting him in a "quiet room" for four hours. Principal Gary Houck of the Learn Center, which serves disabled children, said lawyers have advised him not to discuss the case. Eight-year-old Isabel Loeffler, who has autism, was held down by her teachers and confined in a storage closet where she pulled out her hair and wet her pants at her Dallas County, Iowa, elementary school. Last year, a judge found that the school had violated the girl's rights. "What we're talking about is trauma," said her father, Doug Loeffler. "She spent hours in wet clothes, crying to be let out." Waukee school district attorney Matt Novak told CNN that the school has denied any wrongdoing. A mentally retarded 14-year-old in Killeen, Texas, died from his teachers pressing on his chest in an effort to restrain him in 2001. Texas passed a law to limit both restraint and seclusion in schools because the two methods are often used together.

[Editor: Considering Homeschooling is proud to present this special guest column by Michedolene Hogan of Unique Parenting.] By: Michedolene Hogan When parents send their children to school, they expect for their children to be taught the necessary academic skills appropriate for their age.  Yet, there scope of education is growing at an alarming rate.  Schools have begun to overstep their boundaries and assume the role of the home in many aspects such as the socialization of our children. According to the 2003 Webster's New World dictionary, to socialize means to make fit for living in a group.  This definition is similar to that found in the 1810 Merriam-Webster which states: To make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment.  In order to be properly socialized, children must be able to be sociable, having a disposition to associate and converse with others.  Children must have the ability to join in company or society and to unite in a general interest.  Children must also have the ability to work in conjunction with others in the community and conform to laws.  Children must exhibit respect for authority and an understanding of how the world works.  Observation and practice are the main tools that children employ in order to learn these social skills.  Based on the aforementioned necessary skills one would assume that the best place to learn such skills is in a classroom surrounded with peers and authority figures, right?  Wrong. What kids really learn in traditional public education settings Traditional public schools settings are not as idealistic.  Children may be surrounded by their peers but, these are not the best role models for social behavior.  In schools, children often meet peers who are involved in delinquency, low academic achievement and exhibiting behavior problems.  These are the children who get the most attention from their teachers and as a result, stand out to their peers.  In the end, our children learn an unacceptable concept of social behavior by practicing what they observe.  Despite this reality, the school continues to take the lead in training children for social situations. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, in their research on the validity of Early Childhood Education, determined that enrollment in formal schooling before ages 8-12 was not as effective as projected, but put children’s development at risk.  They presented evidence of a correlation between the following childhood problems and the increasingly earlier enrollment of students: Juvenile delinquency Nearsightedness Increased enrollment of students in special education classes Behavioral problems Early enrollment in schools interrupts bonds and emotional development that children form in the home with parents.  This damage, as found by the Raymond and Dorothy Moore, is not repaired in an institutional setting. Over 8,000 studies were conducted in the 1970’s by the Moores.  In the end, they concluded that, “Where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages 8-10” because, “children are not mature enough for formal school programs until their senses, coordination, neurological development and cognition are ready.” Another theory, developed by teacher John Caldwell Holt, stated that “academic failure of school children was caused by pressure placed on children in schools.”  He declared in 1980, “I want to make it clear that I don't see home schooling as some kind of answer to badness of schools.  I think that the home is the proper base for the exploration of the world which we call learning or education.  Home would be the best base no matter how good the schools were.” The school setting expects children to handle a whole new set of emotions as early as 3 years of age.  At this tender age, children do not even understand their emotions, much less know how to appropriately deal with them.  Children end up imitating their peers, whom as stated earlier may be involved in a number of behavior issues.  The impact of a child’s sociability is an absolutely harmful progression away from positive sociability and self-concept. This progression is best explained in When Education Becomes Abuse: A Different Look at the Mental Health of Children. Here is their explanation of the sequence of emotions experienced by young children in early childhood settings: Uncertainty as the child leaves the family for a less secure environment Puzzlement at the new pressures and restrictions of the classroom Frustration because they are not ready to handle the regimentation of formal lessons (unready learning tools – senses, cognition, brain hemispheres, coordination) Hyperactivity growing out of nerves and jitters from frustration Failure which quite naturally flows from the four experiences above Delinquency which is failure's twin Benefits of Home Schooling Learning in the home is the best option.  Home is the where true learning, exploring the world, takes place.  ‘Learning’ in this case includes not only academic education but also an understanding of the social environment of the world.  Teaching children in the home has countless benefits including: Home provides the proper atmosphere and value system to build upon.  Home sets the example of honoring and respecting authority.  Home teaches children how to be part of their community both physically and spiritually. Children with home as their base of exploration benefit from more time spent with warm, responsive parents, limited time with peers and free exploration under parental guidance.  The parents are in control of the social influences and the child isn't exposed to the whirlwind of emotions that come with early childhood education.  Children build a strong bond with the parents as the center example for proper social behavior and are given more opportunities to be among their community in a guided manner. The National Home Education Research Institute conducted a survey in 2003 of 7,300 adults who had been home schooled.  Their astounding results once again make a case for the home; 71% home schooled adults are active and involved in their community compared to 37% of U.S. Adults from a traditional education background.  76% of home schooled adults between 18-24 voted within the last five years compared to 29%.  The numbers are even greater in larger groups at 95% compared with 53% of traditional schooled adults.  The survey also reported that 58.9% of home schooled adults reported that they are “very happy” with life compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. Population.  73.2% find life “exciting,” compared with 47.3%. Socialization is to make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment.  Children best acquire this skill through the practice and observation in the home, not in the schools.  Raymond and Dorothy Moore recognized this need in their first publication in 1975.  That was just the tip of the iceberg in the research of socialization and teaching children.  Evidence abounds and grows continually to support the home as the best place to socialize our children.  Most recently, the NHERI statistics drive home the essential call to all parents to model their successful and productive adult lives with their children as the best social example to follow. About the Author: Michedolene Hogan lives in a quiet neighborhood of Yucaipa CA with her husband of 15yrs.  Her favorite activities include spending time with her family and crafting fun family activities.  She finds her greatest satisfaction in being a stay at home mom raising healthy children and publishes a bi-weekly newsletter offering advice for building strong families.

I'm really not making this stuff up, read the report about the PTA vice-president and mom seducing the teenage boy here. Your children are NOT safe in public school.  It used to be that you only had to worry about the male teachers, coaches, and volunteers around children.  Blame feminism, blame pornography, blame abortion... it doesn't matter.  All that matters is that your children are not safe in public school.  Even if you have only been considering homeschooling... start your home school now. The educational establishment in America really has pulled the wool over most parents' eyes. Almost every parent teaches their child to speak English or whatever is their primary language. They've done the bulk of the teaching of the basics. But the establishment has put this aura around education and (says) only certified teachers should be teaching. Those teachers are less qualified than you to teach your children. You know them... they don't. "What about socialization?" goes the establishment programmed response. "Do you think Americans are well socialized?" I always ask people who ask me the socialization question. They usually falter, especially after I remind them about the astronomical rate of family breakups, that workplace and school violence is escalating, that one in five high school students graduates with a sexually transmitted disease, etc.  Then I ask the inquirer what social skills he or she considers vital.  They usually cite the ability to get along with others or to communicate well with others. I ask them, "Do you think the typical public school teen can naturally have a meaningful conversation with a senior citizen – or with you?  And why not?  Could it be that being forced with people the exact same age as you all day, most days of the year does not mirror the real world -- where you need to adjust your social graces to all ages -- and actually produces a dysfunctional form of socialization?"  As a Christian homeschooler, I tell them, I can give my children consistent instruction on how to get along with others, and from the ultimate best source – the words of Christ such as "Do unto others..."  By the end of the conversation, the inquirer is often convinced that homeschooling can in fact be a great way to socialize children -- the right way. It's inevitable that you will receive criticism for considering homeschooling.  It's a spiritual battle, and the media has been used to turn hearts against the most Biblical form of education.  People are quick to tell you the negatives of homeschooling they have heard (and most of them are myths) but they don't know about the joys and good fruit.  By coming to our meetings, you can learn about the many blessings of homeschooling, as well as the actual challenges. Every meeting makes you more knowledgeable and confident.

Each week Considering Homeschooling recognizes the faithful service of someone getting the message out about private, biblical homeschooling.  This week we recognize "ladyofvirtue" for her blog "Virtual Schooling".  Visit the original on the Large Family Mothering blog.   Virtual Schooling December 2, 2008 by ladyofvirtue I live in a largely blue-collar town. There are no mansions or super affluent people that make up our community. The families that choose to be "traditional", with the daddy as the breadwinner, struggle. Lots of homeschooling families that I know here have had trouble even affording a computer. In a community like ours, virtual schooling where the government sends a family a computer, pays for internet use, and supplies all sorts of glossy, colorful curricula and even science and craft supplies, is just too much of a temptation. When our state first began to offer such programs, I can remember the glowing reports of all of the "goodies" that were sent--it was like Christmas! Everything needed was provided, including scissors and craft paper, and seeds for growing things. Mothers who before had been wringing their hands wondering how they were going to afford the Saxon Math series were now almost care-free. But there was a catch. Someone has said that nothing in life is truly "free". With all of the goodies and the ease of knowing someone else was in charge came a large price. Instead of worries over buying supplies and curricula, now the mothers had a heavy burden placed on them every day. They had to coerce and nag and bite their fingernails over getting the work done that was required--a whole boat-load of extra fact-cramming and busy-work that made it almost impossible for anyone to have a good life, especially for the mother who had even 3-4 children on different levels. Instead of having their lives simplified, they were complicated beyond comprehension, and their children were being harmed in the process and turned into drones who hated anything to do with "learning". The most unfortunate thing of all was that most mothers were convinced that this sort of government-sponsored slavery was what homeschooling was all about! Many who were already feeling overwhelmed about teaching their own children became convinced, after allowing the state to muck with things, that homeschooling was impossible and horrid. So, they gave up. But learning is not a super-complicated thing that only professionals know how to do! Our children were born to us completely helpless--they could not even hold their own heads up! Somehow, with our encouragement, they learned to walk and talk and feed themselves. Children, even in some of the most impoverished conditions, learn to do these things, unless they are ill or haven't any food to eat. Why do children learn these things? Is it because they are constantly nagged, or they have been through the right "programs"? No. Children learn these things because they want to and they need to. The parents are there to facilitate and encourage. Now here is the secret that those who run teaching colleges and publish curricula and make their living on the supposition of universal idiocy do not want you to know: TEACHING CHILDREN IS NOT DFFICULT--THEY ALREADY WANT TO LEARN! I once checked out a magazine published for teachers from the library, thinking I could glean something of value for my own family. An article was written therein about teaching composition to middle-school students. I could not believe the amount of verbage it took--paragraph upon paragraph of evidence and studies and then the methodology that took pages to explain. What a waste! Writing is just an extension of language, another form of communication. When it is taught in this context, it no longer seems mystical or complex. Good writing is learned by reading the good writing of others--with reading aloud, discussion, and application. The same goes for the other subjects. Math is a sort of communication, it is the communication of the Creator to His creation--that there is order and care. Science is best described as the "thinking of God's thoughts after Him". The wonder of this planet and the universe is the only catalyst needed. Once the appetite has been whetted, a parent need only to watch a child take off like a rocket-ship (and be willing to enjoy the adventure). Of course, you can't enjoy the wonderful adventure of discovery with your child if every day is prescribed and written down. The time and energy you would normally have to explore and discover is all taken up by the reading of droll, dumbed-down texts, numerous questions to be answered by rote understanding, canned experiments and the like. Yes, there are times when a little rote learning can be valuable, but not as an all-encompassing program. The teaching of facts should be likened to handing out tools that a skilled craftsman, the child, can use to create and discover further. Rote learning should never become the end, but the means. We should not be so much concerned with turning out children who can win at Trivial Pursuit as much as we should be concerned with raising children who can take the information in any situation, analyze it, and come up with wise conclusions and solutions. I do not write theory here; I myself have seen the proven examples, and not just among my own children. But the public schooling industry, and it is a great part of our economy, does not want you and I to know just how simple teaching and learning really is. Just think of how many meetings and conferences would have to be canceled. Whole political commmitees would have to be disbanded. We would see a lot of educational phd's flipping burgers, and whole educational supply industries woud go belly-up. Besides all of this, those who desire power over our population would be the saddest of all, because people of America would once again, as in the crazy times of our inception, realize just how many choices they have, and would develop the intestinal fortitude to pursue those choices. I personally believe that it would allow Chrisitanity to return once again as the underlying foundation of our Republic, as parents would be allowed to pass on their Judeo-Christain values in a personal way to the next generation. But you won't read this in the leaflets sent out to entice you. They will act as your friend, and say how they understand that you feel unsure and intimidated. But they are not friendly. They only wish to use your own fears to convince you that you can not do it on your own. But, with God's grace and help, YOU CAN!!!!!!

I have never really identified much with my ancestry -- race and nationality are not things that matter much to me.  I am proud of America, or more so its foundation of faith and history of sacrifice for liberty.  (That's different than being proud to be an American, something which I did not choose, but nevertheless choose to remain.)  However, these Ukrainian history markers catch my attention, perhaps because of my Ukrainian ancestry, but more likely because they are fascinating history.  It is a region rich with history, but largely unknown in the west. Posted by Skanderbeg over on RedState: Today In History – 6 December 1240 With all my travel to and around Ukraine, I have indeed made it to Kyiv (that’s the Ukrainian version of “Kiev”). Kyiv is beyond beautiful. Kyiv is majestic. Kyiv began as a Norse outpost. As Viking traders began to make use of a fairly easy route to Constantinople (up the Narva River, a fairly easy portage across modest terrain, and then an easy journey down the Dniepro River to the Black Sea), around 800 they established a fortified post at about the only terrain feature along the Dniepro – some high bluffs along the western bank. Thus was born the city of Kyiv. The local Slavs realized quickly that these Viking traders, whom they called Varangians or Rus, knew what they were doing. Lacking leadership themselves, they came to the traders and made an offer. They offered the lead guy kingship, and the choice of any one of their many excellent-looking princesses to be his queen. With good leadership and a good position along a major trade route, Kyiv grew rapidly in strength, wealth, and importance. In 988, the Kyivan leader Prince Vladimir accepted Christianity from Byzantine missionaries – while one of those missionaries, Cyril, gave the Slavs a written alphabet for their language. Vladimir ordered all his subjects to convert with him; they were all herded along the main boulevard of Kyiv – called to this day “Christening Boulevard” – and into the shallows of the Dniepro for a mass baptism. Kyiv continued to grow and prosper as an eastern outpost of civilization. By the early 13th century, it was the second largest city in Europe – second only to Paris – with a population of 50,000. But all that came to an abrupt end on 6 December 1240. When dawn broke over Kyiv on 6 December 1240, the population was 50,000. By nightfall, the population had been effectively reduced to zero. After a brief siege, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan’s grandson Batu, broke into the city. The city was quickly pillaged, burned, and demolished. Gone were the 400 churches. Gone were the monasteries. Gone was the legendary “Zoloti Varota,” the famous “Golden Gate” – known musically as “The Great Gate of Kiev.” And gone, mostly, were the 50,000 inhabitants – slaughtered or, for the few survivors, dragged off into slavery. Think you’re having a bad day? Methinks that 6 December 1240 qualifies as the ultimate “bad day.” "OK, I am considering homeschooling... what does this have to do with homeschooling?" you ask.  Well nothing, except... tell me if you learned any of this in public school?!? Oh, the history of the Mongols and Vikings goes much deeper and has far more impact upon what you might consider "relevant" history.  The shape of Christian Europe, your church, and religious practices might be significantly different without these two powerful forces in history.  It's not just Ukraine; try England, France, Germany, and Italy... getting more "relevant"? Dig a little deeper... no dumbed down, politically correct, and State approved textbook is needed. That's the power of homeschooling.

For all the election rhetoric, though, is today's government really so fractured?

As a fitness expert, you know I’ll never promise you a pill is going to be the answer to that “jiggle in your wiggle.” If you want six pack abs you’re going to have to work for them. BUT… There is some very promising research out there in regards to a dietary supplement you’ve probably been hearing a lot about. Yes, I’m talking about Essential Fatty Acids. You probably have heard them called something like Fish Oil pills. How’s this for good news?! *University of Georgia researchers have found something pretty amazing about Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA. Get this: The actually help STOP the conversion of pre-fat cells into fat cells by causing them to die out before they can mature. Once a pre-fat cell becomes a fat cell, well, there’s no turning back. You’ve got that fat cell for life. Imagine, actually decreasing the accumulation of fat by taking an Essential Fatty Acid supplement containing DHA! Now let me do my best infomercial voice for you… But wait, there’s more! Seriously, that’s not the only benefit of Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA. According to studies** done at the University of South Australia people that combined exercise with Essential Fatty Acid supplements containing DHA saw greater fat loss than the test group that only exercised and did not take the supplement. How can you not be excited by these research studies?? Now, personally, I don’t like Fish Oil pills because they cause you to burp like crazy. If you’ve ever taken them you know exactly what I mean. And they aren’t always the highest quality. I prefer EFA Icon from Prograde Nutrition because they use Krill Oil. It’s been found to be a superior source of Essential Fatty Acids containing DHA. Plus, with EFA Icon there are NO fish burps. And I haven’t even mentioned all the amazing health benefits from this dietary supplement. If you’re looking to accelerate your fat loss results than I really recommend you go with Prograde Nutrition’s EFA Icon. You can get it here: http:/inspirationfitness.getprograde.com/icon Remember, EFA Icon is NOT a miracle solution. You will need sound nutrition and exercise. BUT the research is there. It’s definitely a supplement with powerful fat loss properties. http:/inspirationfitness.getprograde.com/icon * Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 136:2965-2969** American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85:1267-1274 Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Part Three of a Series by Kathy Lowers Founder of Considering Homeschooling  If I could take every conservative Christian parent to their neighborhood abortion clinic parking lot for a "field trip," I think I could convince most of them to homeschool. I would only need about an hour. Let me take you there on a Saturday morning… Dachau Concentration Camp Styled Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic in Houston, Texas First, upon arriving at the abortion clinic, you will witness a parade of cars entering the parking lot. No, they are not Christians who got out of bed to come to pray and save babies there (those are a rare sight these days). Instead, fresh faced teens peer out at you from those cars. Having stood outside abortion clinics in several states for 22 years, praying and sidewalk counseling, I can tell you it seems harder than ever for American high school teens to find a parking space at most abortion mills. Many weekends in the suburbs and in the cities, it is double parking and then some. Now try handing out literature on alternatives to abortion and information on abstinence to these teens. Some of the young people will totally ignore you, others will curse you out, a few may threaten to beat you up or worse. Within that hour of standing in front of an abortion clinic, a teen or two is bound to talk with you. Percentage-wise, they will be from a family that professes faith in Christ, and some will even tell you the name of the "saved" church they go to. You will find that Christian teens going for abortions are often the more elusive ones -- likely to tell you they know it is wrong, but they know Jesus will forgive them after they kill their baby. (Isn't Christianity great?!) You will be outraged to see many cases of obvious statutory rape -- older men who drive up in nice cars, dropping off underage girls. You might begin to realize that there are a lot of parents out there who are totally unaware their grandchildren are being torn, crushed, sucked out of the wombs of their daughters or their sons' girlfriends. How did these teens become customers of Planned Parenthood, et al? Whose children are these who are streaming so cavalierly into abortion mills throughout our country every week, as if they are streaming into a McDonald’s? If you let the government schools have your offspring, then most likely they are yours. If your children are yet young, you have more hope -- please don't let them turn out to be future abortion clinic clients. Realize the public schools and abortion clinics are symbiotic ventures -- the first one gives the sales pitch, the latter is there to cinch the deal. Government schools strip God and His values from every subject, seeding the child's heart with cynicism and nihilism -- which makes a child vulnerable to premarital sex and the temptation to abort any resulting children. Peers and teachers of unknown morals surround your children all day in a school setting. Since you only see your child at night and since they have so much homework, you only really get a few minutes with your kids before they are off to sleep. In other words, your daily influence is negligible. Once your child understands how spending time with friends is more important in the school model of teen life than spending time with family, you will rarely see them on weekends either. Where are they really going? What are they really doing? Are they being chaste or being chased? Like those parents of the teens you saw at the abortion clinic, you are out of the loop, clueless. But if you are a loving Christian parent who can provide a safe, wholesome home where a child can thrive, you should homeschool and teach them the clear message that God made people in His image and that they should have the utmost respect for the unborn. You could even bring your child out to the abortion clinic -- to pray and save babies. And you will not be one to worry whether one of your grandchildren is being done in by some abortionist on a Saturday morning. I hope you will see homeschooling as a great way to help protect the next generation from Planned Parenthood. One group that trains teens in a pro-life summer camp is called Survivors.  I participated in pro-life events with Survivors in the past, and these teens are impressive. Most seem to be from homeschooled families, which is what you would expect.

Everyone in my family is fighting off a nasty cold. I imagine we caught it at church last week. It’s hit everyone except Dad. I think he’s hoping he catches it so he can play hooky for a few days. We rarely get sick in our house since we changed our eating habits three years ago. I even had to look up our favorite chicken soup recipe that everyone likes when they’re sick. I hadn’t made it in a very, long time. This is our version of cold medicine. I try not to give my family any over the counter medications unless it is really necessary. With the newest recall on Dimetapp and other phenylephrine products, I’m thankful I don’t. Sometimes we tend to overmedicate our bodies instead of letting it heal itself. Every sniffle and cough does not need to be medicated. If the cough is so bad that it is keeping my kids up all night I will use a cough syrup. I also like to use Vicks Vapor rub on their chests to help clear up some congestion. I use extra pillows and prop them up so they have better drainage while they sleep. It helps my little ones sleep better. So, I thought I would share my chicken soup recipe. It’s nothing magical, but it is the ultimate comfort food when you’re sick. Chicken Soup - Cold Medicine 1 whole chicken 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp black peppercorns 2 bay leaves 1/2 cup whole, baby carrots 1 whole onion, chopped into quarters 1 celery stock, chopped Place all in a crockpot and let it cook overnight on low. Next morning, remove chicken and let it cool. Shred the chicken and set aside half of it for another meal. Strain the chicken stock, discarding all the remaining veggies and place strained stock into a large pot. Add veggies of your choice and the shredded chicken I like to add: whole baby carrots red potatoes snow peas shredded cabbage broccoli cauliflower spinach (added right before serving) cilantro garlic Italian seasoning salt and pepper Bring up a boil, then bring down to a simmer and cook until the veggies are tender. I always add the quick cooking veggies after the potatoes and carrots are tender so they do not get overcooked.  There was an actual study done on chicken soup as a remedy for colds. They concluded that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory benefits. Grandma always knows best. Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Some of you have begun working out. Awesome job! Getting started is the hardest part. Once you get into a routine, it gets easier. I promise! So, I wanted to help you get started right. Here is a workout that utilizes full body, multi-joint (compound) exercises and has your cardio all taken care of.  No need to spend another 60 minutes of the treadmill with this one. Set your timer for 20 minutes. Grab some dumbbells (10+ lbs.). Do as many rounds of this as you can in 20 minutes. Members of FitHomeschoolMoms.ning.com can view videos of each exercise. Burpees x 15 DB Push Press x 15 DB Alternating Rows x 15 ea side Mountain Climbers x 15 ea side Push Ups x 15 Only take a rest after the push ups and no more than 60 seconds before starting back at the top. 5 rounds is really awesome. Hugs~~ Coach Angela Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I am so thankful this week is over. I spent a lot of time in the hospital this week. My husband has a goiter on his thyroid that we had to have scanned on Wed. and Thurs. because thyroid cancer runs in his family. While we were at the hospital for his testing, we visited the director of Camp LRCA, a dear friend, because he went in for excruciating back pain. After all the testing, he found out he had broke a vertebra due to cancer in his blood. We were so shocked! He had surgery on Wednesday, so I stayed with the family most of the day. Thursday we were able to see him. The pain is now tolerable, but he has several more surgeries and radiation treatments ahead of him. I am rather exhausted today and I’m sure it’s emotional. I did get my workout in and am right now enjoying my post workout shake while checking up on you guys. Tropical Pina Colada Post Workout Shake 1/2 cup chilled green tea 1/2 cup coconut milk 1 cup ice 1 scoop vanilla protein powder 1/4 cup frozen pineapple 1/2 medium banana Blend it up and enjoy! I signed us up for the Indiana Homeschool Convention in Indy. Anyone going? It would be really fun to meet some of you there. We decided to put our 11 year old in the childrens conference for the first time. I think she will enjoy it a lot and since it’s with other Christian homeschoolers, I feel pretty good about it. My teenager will be attending the conference with us and boning up on college information. The babies will be staying with my husband’s best friend who lives in Indy. I haven’t been to a homeschool conference in two years and I feel like my cup is empty. I need to be filled back up again. I did attend Cindy Rushton’s Ultimate Homeschool Expo which really helped me this school year, but I think getting away from home and physically being around other homeschoolers will really get me excited and re-energized. My husband is going to a training conference for 3 weeks so life will be rather hectic around here for awhile. I feel no matter how many times he has gone on long trips, I will never get used to it. I don’t feel complete when he’s gone. I hope everyone has an awesome weekend. I plan on savoring every moment with hubby before he flies out for 3 weeks. Keep sending me your questions. I love it! Hugs~~ Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Guest Post By Liz Donnelly of www.FamilyFitnessGuru.com 1. Put on that fitness-minded personality Wether you desire a flat belly or just the time to workout, you have to start it all with your attitude. If you are determined to improve your fitness “no matter what,” the you will most likely be successful. Usually this takes the manifestation of anger with your appearance or lack of energy or poor health. Once you’ve made up your mind to be fit, then it’s time to don that “fit-minded personality.” This is where you tell yourself multiple times daily that you have a tight mid-section, that you deserve a flat belly, if that’s your goal, for instance. Promise yourself that you’ll do something every day to work to that end. Your subconscious will listen to you. It doesn’t decipher between good and bad affirmations, it will simply apply what you always tell it. Are you saying or letting others say that you’re “fat” or “overweight” or “thick-waisted”? Time to change those words into “slender” or “sleek” or “tight”. This is also part of changing yourself from the top down, so to speak. What you think about yourself has great impact on your esteem, performance and outcomes. For example, becoming more aware of your body will get you to focus on changes to make like sitting or standing tall to prevent your belly from popping outward. You can apply fixing yourself from the top down in all aspects of your life not just fitness. (For example, telling yourself to have patience will help you be more inclined to notice those times when you are losing your temper.) The big lesson here, especially if you’re the kind of mom or dad who puts him or herself last on the priority list, is that you do need your self-improvement time and that you do need the increased energy, self confidence, strength, etc. to help you meet your many demands, especially keeping up with your kids, right? So the next step is just as important: 2. Get educated on fitness So many people lose their desire to workout and eat well because they either tune out the important messages that tell them why they must do so, or they possibly are not aware of the reasons. So the more you educate yourself on exercise and nutrition, the better off you’ll be to be inspired to keep yourself and your family health and active. This website is a good place to start. In particular, you can get FREE downloadable booklets on exercises for children and for yourself by subscribing to FamilyFitnessGuru updates. Look at the upper right side of the page above the side margin. There are also a host of books on the topic of fitness and articles in the paper on almost a daily level. Scour what you can and be informed. After all, you know yourself and your family best and you will remain motivated to stay fit the more you keep in touch with good information. 3. Now, it’s time to make time for fitness Getting a better working body does take time. If your particularly out of shape, then you must realize that it probably took some time for you to degenerate to this level. Even if you relatively fit, you still need to build in time for your workouts. Talk it over with your spouse, partner or own brain (if you’re a single parent like me) and literally write down and schedule your workouts. For me, I have to do some of my workouts during the week before I teach my 5:45 a.m. Fitcamp class. At other times, I have to schedule evenings after the kids go to bed. If you are with a partner, then you can alternate times to best suit your schedules, especially if the kids are awake and need supervision. If you’re a single parent and you are the residential parent, meaning the kids are with you the majority of the time, then you will have to do a little creative planning and think outside the box as to how you’ll get child care and get the freedom to work out. Many gyms have daycare-style facilities at which you can leave your kids for the duration of your exercising. Of course, if you don’t belong to a gym, then your next course of action is enlisting babysitting help with neighbors, friends or relatives. The next step is to join a local civic group that has a lot of parents as members (like a Junior Women’s Club (for moms) or Early Childhood PTA or regular PTA (for moms and dads). Some times making inquiries within groups like these will give you leads of fellow parents who are in a babysitting network. There is typically no charge for something like this. Your only payment is being available to watch someone else’s kids. There are options for just about any situation in terms of finding time (really its making the time) for your workouts. If you really want it, then you will make it work for you. (I hope you really want it!) 4. Do it! Nike has it right, if they still use that old tagline, that is. You really just have to start exercising. Your body was made to move. So, if your parts seem the Tin Man’s after a rain storm, then it’s all the more reason to continue to do your workouts consistently and stay “oiled up.” “What’s ample?” you might ask. Building an hour and a half weekly is a good place for beginners (30 minutes 3x/week). From there, you can add an additional 30 minutes. Ideally, you want to put in 5-6 days of movement. And it doesn’t have to be in the form of a formal workout. Schlepping things around in the garden or shoveling snow are excellent ways (depending on how intense) to move and burn calories. “What exercises do I do?” Well, start by signing up for FamilyFitnessGuru updates (look at the upper right area of the side margin) so you can download the “Top 5 Exercises for Moms & Dads.” You’ll get tons of details on how to perform those basic exercises to help you get on the road to fitness. My hope is that you’ll be consistent with your plan and notice results to help you stay motivated. Good luck and keep forging ahead! Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I have agreed to become a guinea pig in Jon Le Tocq’s newest 12 week fitness program. Jon is the founder of www.StormForceFitness.com. Although I cannot divulge the specifics of the program, I will be giving updates on my progress or pain, whichever is most appropriate for the day. As part of a cardio test, today included a 5K which was absolutely awful for me. I am hardly an endurance athlete as most of my training has been sprinting over the last two years. I’m embarrased to say it took me 35:20 minutes to complete the endurance portion of the workout. Ugh! I am looking forward to a program being already written for me, rather than writing one myself. This is a perfect time to start a new 12 week program. Do you realize it’s only 12 weeks until the official revealing, Memorial Day? That is usually the first time the shorts and tank tops come out. Will you be ready? My 12 week nutrition course started today and there are some women on board. They will learn so much during the next 12 weeks. They will never again fall victim to the commercial hype and weight loss scams. If you missed this session, don’t despair, I will host another one soon. My husband has been gone for a week and we still have two more weeks remaining before he returns from his special training for work. It has been rough, but we are pretty busy everyday and it helps the time go quickly. I will be happy when he returns. The day he gets back, we are driving over to South Bend to attend a homeschool convention. This year we are attending two after not attending any for the past 2 years. I really need a pick me up. I am fast approaching the last year of high school for my oldest and college is suddenly looming ahead. I don’t know where the time went, but it sure snuck up on me fast. Any tips and suggestions for preparing for that is appreciated. We are attending a seminar at one of the conventions that details getting a B.A. in less than two years for $5,000. I’m looking forward to that one! Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Most women believe that in order to lose weight the first thing they need to do is eat less and move more. In a way this is true, but there really is more science behind that. What typically happens is women eat maybe 1 or 2 meals a day, drastically reducing their caloric intake and then adding a walk in for exercise. They may see the scale move but what are they really losing? I bet you’ll be surprised. Read on… Your body’s metabolism is the key to losing unwanted body fat. When working with women, I am not concerned about their weight as much as the level of body fat they are carrying around. A healthy bodyfat level to be at is between 19-25%. Most women who have dieted for years will find themselves at 30% or more. Those are dangerous levels that invite disease into their bodies. Although they may have lost 50 lbs. of body weight, they may still be at 30% body fat and at risk for heart disease, Type II diabetes and other ailments. How can they be at risk when they wear a size 8 dress pant? Because they never lost bodyfat while dieting. They lost body water and precious lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is the main manipulator of your metabolism. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you burn at rest. When your metabolism is humming along at a strong rate, it does not need to use bodyfat for energy. It’s alive and functioning at optimum levels. Fat that is stored on your body for energy is not needed and your body lets it go. You continue to build strong, lean muscles and your metabolism gets stronger and faster, you indeed get leaner, stronger, toned and full of energy. This is the picture of health and vitality. Now take the woman who is dieting. She is eating 3 meals a day and not focused on the right type of exercises. She’ll go for a walk around the block. It works for about 1 month. She’s dropped 5 pounds. She’s excited! Month 2 rolls around and the scale has stopped moving, she cuts her 3 meals into smaller portions and adds another block to her walk. The scale finally drops again. She’s excited! Month 3 rolls around and the scale has not moved or has gone up. Yikes! She drops to 2 meals a day, adds another block to her walk and an exercise video. Month 4 comes too quickly. She sees the scale move again so she cuts calories even more and increases her walk for a full 2 hours every day. She’s tired, frustrated and wondering why this is not working? I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The only way for her to keep the scale moving is to continue to decrease calories and increase the amount of time spent on low, steady state exercise. Is she really losing fat? No, she is losing water and precious metabolic boosting muscle that is why she has to continue decreasing calories to see change. If she continues on this path, she will lower her metabolic rate to such a level that her body will go into panic mode and begin conserving every morsel of food that enters as bodyfat so it will have the energy just to function. The result is a cranky, tired, moody, flabby, and frustrated woman. I know, I’ve been there. Ladies, I want you to know the truth. The scale is not your friend. You have been lied to for years. There’s even a tv show dedicated to keeping these lies alive (Biggest Loser Challenge) where your worth is determined by a number on the scale! How have we as a society allowed this to happen? Satan has been at work! God made you in His image. You are a beautiful, strong, and vibrant woman. Don’t allow Satan to get a foothold in your mind. Oh how I wish I could give you all hugs right now! Here is the picture of a woman on the right path: She determines why she wants to accomplish this goal of being healthy and full of energy. She enlists the help of her husband and children. She puts together a plan of action including how to deal with obstacles that will be thrown her way. Her plan does include strength and interval training as the core of the program. She also determines her caloric intake and creates meal plans for the week. She cleans out her cupboard of all manmade, adulterated foods and buys food in their original God created package. She gets connected with other women who are doing the same steps (this site of course!) and stays accountable no matter what happens to try and bump her off course. All her workouts are scheduled in for each week just like math and english class. She sticks to her workouts because she is full of determination. Each week she discovers how much better she feels. Her clothes are getting loser, she is getting more flexible and full of energy. She finds herself hungry more often because her metabolism is on fire. She has more lean mass so she can eat more food, quite the opposite of the dieting woman. She does not suffer from mood swings, turbulent hormone levels or bloating due to eating whole foods. Does she know how much she weighs? Does it really matter if she is feeling this strong and vibrant? This is what I want for you. I will elaborate more on how to stop dieting for life in another post. This one ended up way longer than I intended. Hugs~~ Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Posted by Considering Homeschooling For all our friends in Southern California, Exploring Homeschooling of Orange County is once again hosting an incredibly informative "Homeschool Information Night" on Saturday, March 28, 2009 with special guest speaker Janice Henry. Well, you've decided to homeschool your children and are excited about it - all the prospects of great things both educational and spiritual that will help you grow your children into powerful leaders for Christ.  But do you really have to do this alone?   Surely there are groups that will support you as you raise your children at home, aren't there?  The answer is - YES!  But how do you find them?  And how do you know which one is right for you - and for your children? This month, Exploring Homeschooling will be exploring just that - how to find support groups in your area, what the different types of support groups are, and how to choose one (or more) that will provide the support you need as you build your homeschool.  Our speaker, Janice Henry, a Regional Advisory Board Member of the Christian Home Educators Association of California, will walk us through this important question as she shows us how to circumnavigate the various groups.  Come learn for yourself and bring a friend to community support in the world of private Biblical homeschooling.  You will learn: What is a homeschooling support group or a PSP (Private School Satellite Program) and why would you want to be part of one? How to find homeschooling groups in your area and what things to look for. How to file your own affidavit and run your own homeschool. What types of people that you can include in your support structure. Some of the support groups right in your area - who they are and what they do. Janice Henry is currently a member of the Regional Advisory Board of the statewide organization, Christian Home Educators of California (CHEA). In 1992 the she and her husband, Kirk, entered homeschool leadership, in spite of the fact that they had just begun to homeschool themselves. The initial group of people, who were simply interested in getting information about homeschooling, developed into a CHEA Support Group and Independent Student Program. With members in Los Angeles, Orange, and surrounding counties, Southern California Christian Academy (SCCA) continues to help families homeschool with joy and excellence. Janice's warm yet thought provoking messages encourage parents to build strong children and youth for the Kingdom of God through private Christian education in the home. For more information about Janice, see: www.PrivateChristianEducation.com Get all the details about the "Homeschool Information Night" at: www.ExploringHomeschooling.com  

Posted by Considering Homeschooling For all our friends in Southern California, Exploring Homeschooling of Orange County is once again hosting an incredibly informative "Homeschool Information Night" on Saturday, March 28, 2009 with special guest speaker Janice Henry. Well, you've decided to homeschool your children and are excited about it - all the prospects of great things both educational and spiritual that will help you grow your children into powerful leaders for Christ.  But do you really have to do this alone?   Surely there are groups that will support you as you raise your children at home, aren't there?  The answer is - YES!  But how do you find them?  And how do you know which one is right for you - and for your children? This month, Exploring Homeschooling will be exploring just that - how to find support groups in your area, what the different types of support groups are, and how to choose one (or more) that will provide the support you need as you build your homeschool.  Our speaker, Janice Henry, a Regional Advisory Board Member of the Christian Home Educators Association of California, will walk us through this important question as she shows us how to circumnavigate the various groups.  Come learn for yourself and bring a friend to community support in the world of private Biblical homeschooling.  You will learn: What is a homeschooling support group or a PSP (Private School Satellite Program) and why would you want to be part of one? How to find homeschooling groups in your area and what things to look for. How to file your own affidavit and run your own homeschool. What types of people that you can include in your support structure. Some of the support groups right in your area - who they are and what they do. Janice Henry is currently a member of the Regional Advisory Board of the statewide organization, Christian Home Educators of California (CHEA). In 1992 the she and her husband, Kirk, entered homeschool leadership, in spite of the fact that they had just begun to homeschool themselves. The initial group of people, who were simply interested in getting information about homeschooling, developed into a CHEA Support Group and Independent Student Program. With members in Los Angeles, Orange, and surrounding counties, Southern California Christian Academy (SCCA) continues to help families homeschool with joy and excellence. Janice's warm yet thought provoking messages encourage parents to build strong children and youth for the Kingdom of God through private Christian education in the home. For more information about Janice, see: www.PrivateChristianEducation.com Get all the details about the "Homeschool Information Night" at: www.ExploringHomeschooling.com  

I didn’t manage to get my workout in yesterday. I ran out of disk space on my webhost site and didn’t know how to increase it. I fiddled around with it too long before sending an SOS to support. I ended up doing the Pyramid Pulse II workout today. Everyone else on this challenge is enjoying a week of easier workouts while I am playing catch up. School has been on schedule this week. I spent the last two weeks drilling the days of the week into my little girls’ heads using the Adams Family theme song. So, we took this week off and just let them play. They are still singing the song and moving the hungry caterpillar along the wall where I put large labels for each day. I really enjoyed this unit study. My husband was really surprised at my grocery shopping savings yesterday. It was fun to see the look on his face. So, now I will attempt to do even better next week. I have a lot to learn about coupon stacking and such, but my competitive spirit will get me through the learning curve. Here were the meals today: #1: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, frozen blueberries, 12 almonds and a cup of coffee #2: Post workout shake of 1 scoop protein powder, frozen blueberries, 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1 cup water. #3: Leftover chicken soup from last night’s dinner. #4: apple and almonds #5: Teriyaki pork butt roast, steamed broccoli drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and walnuts #6: Protein pudding Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I can’t wait until Friday! We will be headed to Indianapolis at 6am to attend the IAHE Convention! I need to sit down and plan my curriculum agenda so I can navigate the vendor hall confidently. If I’ve learned anything over the last 12 years about conventions, is to have a plan before you get there. You can so easily become overwhelmed with all the books, videos and curriculum choices. I thought I would share with you our meal plans while we are there so you can see that eating whole foods is still possible even though you are away from home. I am using protein bars from Precision Nutrition’s original cookbook Precision Nutrition and their newest cookbook, Gourmet Nutrition Since we are leaving really early in the morning on Friday (not early for me, but for everyone else), I will be making boiled eggs the night before. After peeling them I will store them in the fridge for the next morning’s breakfast. All the protein bars will be made Wednesday since I have no boot camps that day and can get a lot of cooking done. We also have a cooler that can be plugged into the car adapter or a regular outlet. So we will be taking this with us for some of the things that need to stay cold. Our hotel may or may not have a fridge so I am planning ahead. We also plan on eating out for dinner after we pick up the babies on Friday and Saturday. Here’s the plan for both days: 6 am: Boiled Eggs and Fruit (on the road food) 9 am: Banana Nut Squares (Gourmet Nutrition) for snacks until lunch time. Noon: In Hotel Room - Grilled Chicken Salads/Nuts/Fruit OR All Natural turkey breast deli meat wrapped up in cheese slices/Nuts/Fruit 3 pm: Granola Bars (Gourmet Nutrition) for snacks until dinner 6 pm: Pick up little ones and head out to a restaurant for dinner Our hotel has a workout room, but as usual, it is all cardio equipment (gag me!). So, I will bring along a trusty kettlebell and do a workout in the hotel room. I’ll try and get one of the kids to video tape it so you can see what can be done even though your away from home. That’s the plan. I’m excited! Can you tell? Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

It is a beautiful day in NW Indiana! The girls are all outside enjoying the sunshine while I attempt to get some work done. I just finished running around town looking for some businesses to do some cross promotions with my boot camps. Met a lot of interesting individuals. I was disappointed to find out that I am unable to put little yard signs up anywhere as it is a zone violation. Phooey! I am currently advertising on the local Christian radio station but it hasn’t been very fruitful. I worked out with my 9 am boot camp class. The last day of camp in March we did a Meltdown 300 Challenge and I recorded everyone’s scores on our blog. So, today, being the last day of camp in April, we did the challenge again to see if they could beat their original time. It has been fun watching everyone push themselves and beat their scores. I took the challenge with them and really pushed them hard. We all had great finishing times. Here was the workout: 25 V-ups 50 1 arm swings (25 each arm) 25 Push Ups (manly style - no knees allowed!) 50 swings 50 Burpees 50 Clean and Presses (25 each arm) 50 Mountain Climbers Finish for time My time was 10:31 Can you beat that? I was really excited that this week my grocery bill was only $82.54. I get frustrated that a lot of the coupons and deals that I see posted on different blogs are for processed foods that I would never buy; however, I have found great deals on health and beauty products. I always believed that eating healthier cost more, but in reality, I am able to feed my family healthy meals without all the processed frankenfoods and do it cheaper. I am looking forward to the local Farmer’s Market and food stands that will be opening up soon. Fruit and veggies galore out here in the Midwest. I still need to get into my garden and plant my Spring crops. We’ve had so much rain lately that the soil is soggy. Ugh! I want to plant my sugar snap peas, spinach and lettuce soon. I love getting my hands dirty. LOL Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I had a marvelous time at the IAHE Convention. I didn’t get to meet any of you so that made me a little sad, but perhaps next time. I spent a good portion of the convention listening in on Woody Robertson, of College Plus!, explain how to get your B.A. by the time your 18. My teenager and soon to be junior high daughters are absolutely excited. I’ve never seen them work so diligently before. LOL I also purchased My Father’s World for my two little ones. I am a huge fan of Sonlight, but I have never liked their Kindergarten core. So, I bit the bullet and tried a new one. I will return to Sonlight for the following year. I have been doing really well with the Super Conditioning Challenge. Last Sunday I did 200 burpees in 9:31. I was so excited! I have also been very good at keeping my grocery bill under $150 each week. Today I only spent $86.24! Woot! It really helps when you don’t buy all the processed junk in the store. My purchases are all for meats, veggies, fruits, and dairy products. I hit a really good sale last week on the milk. Wise Way was selling almost expired milk for $1.49 a gallon. I bought 4 and froze them in the deep freezer. I won’t have to buy milk for quite some time. Yay! I also got a case of cheese blocks, all different kinds, for $10. I put those all in the freezer and just take a block out and stick it in the fridge about 2 days before I need it. I would love to hear what you ladies do to save money on the grocery bill. Hugs~~ Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Okay ladies! Here’s a really fun one to burn the fat and build the muscle. I call it “Pharaoh’s Revenge”! Campers LOVE to hate this one. I’m challenging you now. There are 5 rounds of this workout. Do each exercise consecutively without rest until the end of the circuit. Rest 1 minute before starting the next round. Round 1: 30 sec. each exercise Round 2: 45 sec. Round 3: 60 sec Round 4: 45 sec Round 5: 30 sec. The Pyramid Squat and Press Rows Swings Push Ups (no knees allowed) Alternating Reverse Lunges High Pulls Planks Have fun! Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter celebration yesterday. My family enjoyed a wonderful service, church breakfast, Easter dinner and later in the evening, a flashlight egg hunt. In between church and our egg hunt, I was able to get into my garden to clear it out for Spring planting. I had let the garden get overrun with weeds last year after a really bad hail storm (softball sized hail ripped my plants apart). I lost a lot of plants last year and didn’t have the heart to get back in the garden to clean it up. After 4 wheelbarrow trips to the back of the property to deposit debris and dead plants, it is ready to plant. I like square foot gardening because it is so easy to take care of. For me, I don’t have a lot of time to spend on the garden due to running boot camps and homeschooling. Easy is best for me right now. I discovered an awesome garden planning tool to help me get done even quicker this year: http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner/kgp_home,default,pg.html Today it is about 42 degrees and raining so I won’t get any actual planting done but I am ready when the weather gives me a chance. Gardening is an excellent way to feed your family healthy fruits and veggies, save money and enjoy the great outdoors together. Post from: Homeschool Fitness Coach

Kathy Lowers, Founder of Considering Homeschooling This week we are hoping to hear some happy cheeping from the chicken eggs we are incubating.  Homeschooling is ideal for do-it-yourself living creature projects and the butterfly, lady bug, praying mantis, silk worm projects -- to name a few -- that we have done were easy and yet so valuable. How wondrous it is to view the metamorphosis of one of God’s creatures, right in your own home. A public school classroom might have a fish tank with some leaves and a chrysalis or an incubator with some eggs; the students may or may not see the butterfly or chicks emerge during school hours.  Their teacher might teach the life cycle of a butterfly or chicken, but no credit to the Creator could be given. In contrast, Christian parents who teach their children at home find that such a project rises to an infinitely higher dimension.  At home, there is a bonding between parents and children and among siblings as they experience a living miracle -- and there is a resulting acknowledgement and awe of the One who designed it. So, I jumped at the chance when a homeschooling 4-H mom offered her incubator and a clutch of chicken eggs.  Never having incubated eggs before, I assumed it would be a cinch, just like a cocoon.  Just pop the eggs in the incubator and after a while, you would get your chicks, right?   After some web sites, books and experience regarding this subject, the children and I discovered that incubating can be a complicated and risky process. For one, the incubator we have is not the expensive, digital kind that controls its own temperature and humidity.  It is the old-fashioned version where you have to keep checking the temperature, which seems to meander up and down on a whim.  A few times it got below or above the instructed 99.5 degrees, and we panicked, tweaking it back to the proper temperature, but wondering did the fluctuation affect the chicks? Chicks cannot survive extreme temperature deviations.  And then you have to keep the humidity at the ideal level, which varies according to where you are in the 21 day cycle.  You have to add water into special wells in the incubator.  If there is not enough water, the chicks will stick to the shells.  If too much humidity is present, the chicks will drown. Eggs in an incubator must also be turned several times a day.  A hen instinctively turns her eggs to keep the developing embryos from sticking to the sides of the shell. One of more interesting aspects of the incubator project is “candling” the eggs. You shine a light through the eggs to see if you can determine if there is life in them; sometimes you see a beating heart or movement -- very cool.  What you usually find is that some eggs were never fertile while others started growing but “quit” -- either because the environment was not right or just because they were not meant to make it.  You have to remove the non-living ones because they could explode. Out of fourteen eggs we had five infertile ones, two rotten ones, and seven that may or may not make it -- we’ll know in about three days.  I have to admit I have felt pretty incompetent and stressed when I thought the humidity or temperature was off.  But, we tried our very best to give these eggs the cleanest, safest, most conducive environment possible for coming out healthy.  That, along with prayer, gives us some optimism. I could not help realizing there is a strong analogy here between incubating eggs and raising up children.  While at the beginning all the eggs appear the same, all children start out with such potential, such seeming innocence before some are destroyed by the way of the world. But some Christian parents think that they can place the fragile soul of a child in any old environment, like the extreme anti-God environment of government schools, believing that child will come out just fine through going to Sunday school 45 minutes each week. These naïve parents imagine their child being a great evangelist to all the other youngsters there, not realizing their child is being evangelized more smoothly and intensely, by humanist teachers and curriculum. By the time the process is nearing the end, some have really become rotten, both eggs and children.  While sometimes there was no preventing a bad egg, Christian parents putting their children in the perverted incubators of the public schools is by far the biggest contributor to failed children. If you are a loving parent who really knows Jesus and adheres to His Word in all you do, if you can create an uplifting, safe, inspiring Christian environment for children in your home – and I am convinced most real Believers are more than capable of this -- then you should be homeschooling.  Don’t let the world incubate the souls of your children; God gave that job to you!

I guess you can see where I'm going with this... but we really want you to attend this free conference.  Did I mention that it's free?  As in free curriculum for life and living! Plus, I know that when wives see the phrase "be a better husband" they will "persuade" their husbands to go.  (Don't worry guys; tomorrow's resolution will be for the wives.) Michael and Debi Pearl's ministry is not just limited to raising-up children with joy, but also strengthening the marital relationship. If you are in Southern California, this New Year's resolution will be easier to keep come January 16-17, 2009.  Our friends over at Exploring Homeschooling of Orange County, California will be hosting a free conference by Michael and Debi Pearl of No Greater Joy Ministries on January 16-17, 2009.  Friday from 7:00pm - 9:00pm and Saturday from 9:00am - 3:00pm at Knott Avenue Christian Church. Get all the details and register here. "Through books and CDs, Michael and Debi Pearl train parents to break the bad habits passed down from former generations and to recognize and emulate the wisdom of those who have gone before.  The Bible and common sense are the foundations for effective parenting." Considering Homeschooling hosted a one night seminar with Michael and Debi Pearl back in 2004.  It was great fun, full of insight and truth as only Michael and Debi Pearl can deliver. This seminar will be twice the fun and insight. Mark your calendars now for January 16-17, 2009... this is the perfect New Year's resolution:  "Train up a child in the way he should go..."