Math-U-See Rocks!

Today Chris said to me, "I like this math. I finally really understand math." This year we bought Math-U-See. We made it through one entire year of math in two months! We have tried a few other math programs - A Beka, CIMT, Saxon, and Thinkwell. My children and I had difficulties with all of them. I am not very good at math...it only took me two tries to pass College Algebra...but who's counting. ;-)

Some might say this is exactly the reason parents should not home school their children. One argument is that the children will have the same holes and weakness in their education that the parents have. My answer to that is, "Not necessarily!" I have searched to find programs that are strong where I am weak. I often learn more about the subject right along with my children, allowing us to all fully participate in the education process. Our method of Leadership Education focuses on life-long learning, so shouldn't there be room for me to learn and grow as well? Do certified teachers KNOW everything they are teaching? Of course not! I worked with many teachers at our local elementary school that were forced to teach curriculum they did not know, nor where they educated/trained in the course material they taught. They were handed the materials and told, "Go teach it." Why can't parents do the same? They can and they do!

Just know that home school families do not need to be certified to teach their children. Most of a teacher's education is on "classroom management", which parents do not need. There is so much available to home school families in curriculum that are similar and often surpass what is taught in public and private schools. Please vote for freedom (should it ever come to that) and allow home school families to do what they love...teach their children at home without being certified.

I'll get off my soap box now...

Pain, Pain, go away! Don't come back another day!

Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue

Lately I have been so fatigued that my body just hurts all the time. I've noticed that if I do not get the right amount of sleep then my whole body hurts. I have looked into changing my diet, but that has not made significant changes for me, although it does for Marly. Stress also affects my pain level significantly. Pain medications barely make a dent in the pain and so I avoid them for the most part so they don't ruin my stomach.

Fibro & Homeschooling

Since I started working at night my pain has steadily increased, probably because of lack of sleep and the amount of standing and walking I do at work. I am working from 8pm to between 12am and 2am, coming home and struggling to get to sleep because my feet and legs hurt so much, and would then getting up at 8am to start school.

I finally broke down and told my kids they CAN NOT wake me up in the morning...period! I need my 8+ hours of sleep or my body hurts too much. This has affected home schooling and we have had to make some changes. My children are awesome and have taken the changes with only a few minor bumps along the way.

The Changes

• We changed devotional from first thing in the morning to when I get up.
• The children have a list of their core subjects (math, grammar, etc.) to work on before I get up. These are usually workbook pages of topics we have learned about the day before. I'm using Homeschool Tracker (free version) now to help me organize this.
  
• They can also work on their personal projects, but core subjects should not be ignored.
• Core subject assignments that do not get completed are rolled over to the next day - so get it done kids!
• We work on the things we need to do together or that they need my help on in the late morning or afternoon.

This is not ideal for our homeschooling goals. Maybe something else will happen that we can change back, but I do not foresee it in the near future. Mike's job, like anybody in the home building industry, is precarious. We are so very blessed to still have a job at this point in time.

Camping, Callings, and Air Conditioning

Camping
We went to the annual Batchelor Family Campout recently. Only about half the family went so it was a little less fun than usual. We had a great time with those who "braved" the Great Outdoors. It was fun to get to know people better, including Matt's "un-girlfriend" Amanda. (I don't know how you can bring an un-girlfriend camping and continue to say your not dating Matt.)

Callings
I was released from Primary and called as Relief Society secretary. I have had this calling before and was also assistant RS secretary in this ward a few years ago. I forgot how busy this callings is, especially getting a new presidency off to a great start. I am happy to serve with these wonderful women!

Air Conditioning
Our A/C started going out Friday. It would work a little then quit. We'd wait a couple hours and then turn it back on. It struggled on a little and then made some really awful sounds...it was dying a painful death! We finally broke down and left our very hot house for the night. It finally got fixed today...$500 later...and after 5 hours of being on steadily it is now comfortable inside again. Have I said how much I hate Arizona lately? Well, I hate it in Arizona! There...I feel better now.

Our First Egg!

We got our first chicken egg today! Whoo-Hoo! The kids were so happy. They have been checking every day to see if they were laying yet. We only got one today, but with three Americana chickens that is to be expected. They lay an egg about every other day and the color is a cool bluish-green. This breed of chicken is also know as Easter-eggers.

This is the culmination of a long project for the kids. It started with Marly learning about birds and then focused on chickens. We then bought real chicks and built their coop. Marly has been diligently caring for these chicks as they grew into healthy chickens. See more about our Chicken Project on our website.

Constitution Day

September 17th is Constitution Day!

We have several things that we use to learn and study about the most influential event in history...the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America. Take a look at these links:

• Constitution Center
• Constitution Day
• National Center for Constitutional Studies

We are going to watch the movie A More Perfect Union produced by Brigham Young University and I use this free Teachers Guide.

Happy Birthday Constitution!

Memories

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses.

(I'm a little nervous about posting this one.)

Yes For Marriage - Prop 102

I am excited to post about this topic. It is something that I did not understand fully - the difference between a law and an amendment to our state constitution. I now understand that laws can be overturned by judges. We have a law in Arizona that states that marriage is between a man and a woman. This could easily be overturned by a judge. However, if we vote YES for Prop 102 it will make an amendment to our state constitution which cannot be overturned. This states that marriage is between one man and one woman. That's it! Simple, plain, and true!

Vote YES on Proposition 102 - Yes for Marriage Blog

Arizonan's must register by October 6th in order to vote this year. Our country and state has many important issues to vote on this year. The two most important being a new President and Proposition 102.

Get out and vote on November 4th. It is our R I G H T and our D U T Y as citizens of the United States of America, the most free country on this planet. I have been blessed by my Father in Heaven to be born and live in this great country. I feel deeply my duty to uphold the correct moral principles, the same moral principles that our founding fathers created our country to protect. These moral principles are part of God's Law.

If you are LDS or you would like to know where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands on this issue - Check out this news release. Our church has joined with other churches to stand firm on this issue.

Today's Newspaper Article - About Us!

I could not find a webpage of the article about homeschooling that we are in, so I took pictures of the pages.





The article is pretty accurate to the essay I submitted. The reporter edited it a little, but in all it is a fair representation of why we homeschool. We look awfully excited don't we! It was weird to have the photographer just snapping away while we were doing our regular day. Except...we wore day clothes not PJ's!