Rendering to Caesar...

"If you render your child to Caesar, don't be surprised if he grows up thinking like a Roman."
- Rick Boyer   http://thelearningparent.blogspot.com

How will my child acquire a large vocabulary?

A child begins to learn vocabulary/speech skills from birth.  It is very important that parents and/or guardians speak often to their infants and young children, and that they always speak clearly and use complete sentences as well.  Engage your children in regular conversation.   Ask your child questions and encourage him/her to answer you in complete sentences.   Also, reading to young children everyday, even from infancy, will help them gain advanced verbal and reasoning skills.  Some parents have made the mistake of talking "baby talk" to their infants so much that when these children began speaking, they were unable to to pronounce their words correctly.  Frequently, children who have heard mostly "baby talk" as infants and toddlers, will go on to have speech problems throughout their early grades of school.

After your child has learned to read, encourage him/her to read for pleasure.  Set aside a time each day to be used specifically for "fun" reading.  This is an activity that parents AND their children should engage in together.  Each of you choose a favorite book, magazine, or newspaper and sit in the same room together and read.  If  young children see their parents enjoying reading, then they will probably pick up the habit as well.  Make available to your child a variety of  age-appropriate reading materials that he/she can have easy access to during the child's free time. 

Caution is needed when choosing a Bible curriculum...

Many well known Christian text book publishers produce Bible curriculum along with their academic curriculum.  While this may be a good thing in some instances, it can also sometimes NOT be a good thing.  Sometimes you may come across a doctrine or belief within the curriculum that really has no Biblical basis, and it may conflict with your own personal convictions.   For this reason, I do not advise parents to purchase a Bible curriculum for their children unless they are absolutely sure that their views are the same as those expressed in the Bible curriculum that they are considering for use with their children. 

While homeschooling my own children, I did not use a separate, pre-written Bible curriculum.  Even now, while homeschooling my grandson and while teaching young children in my Sunday School Class, I do not use a pre-written Bible curriculum.  Instead, I create my own.  I  use various Bible crafts and printable pages of Bible characters or events.  Bible crafts can be purchased from Oriental Trading Company  www.orientaltradingcompany.com .  Also, you can purchase books of Bible crafts ideas from Christian Book Distributors www.christianbook.com and Christian Light Publications, Inc. www.clp.org  .  Type into their search engines words such as "Bible crafts", "Christian crafts",  "Art",  "Crafts",  "Bible coloring book", etc.   You could also type into your internet search engine the words "Bible characters printable pages" or "Bible coloring pages"  and see what comes up.  I use the printables and crafts as visual aids to which I add Bible verses or read scriptures to bring out a moral or lesson. 

If your family regularly takes part in church services and has daily Bible study / devotions,  then there really is no need to purchase a separate Bible curriculum for your homeschool.  You can find other ways to include the scriptures into your academic lessons without risk of exposing your young child to a doctrine that you may not agree with.

Having a high (large) vocabulary is important to success...

From the book, What Are They Teaching Our Children? by Mel & Norma Gabler:

"The Human Engineering Laboratory has found from many years of testing that:
     'The one thing successful people have in common...[is] high vocabulary...
      Vocabulary will determine how high they climb...Brilliant aptitudes aren't
       worth much without words to give them wings.'
 They also found that:
     'The...rise in violence correlates with the drop in vocabulary...crime and violence
      predominate among people who score low in vocabulary.' "

Acorn Cookies - A Fun & Simple Treat to Make with Your Young Children...

http://callherblessed-angela.blogspot.com/search/lablel/Recipes

Government's invasion of your parental rights...

Here is a link to a 30 minute video detailing the government's encroachment upon the family and what you can do to try to put a stop to it.

http://www.overruledmovie.com

A nation of non-readers...

"We are becoming a nation that does not read.  Those who do not read, do not think.  Those that do not think will have their thinking done for them."  - Dr. B.E. Masters, Ph.D.

The amount of time it takes to become totally literate is less than you think...

John Taylor Gatto, former public school teacher with 26 years teaching experience and winner of New York State's Teacher of the Year Award for 1991, said this:

"There is abundant evidence that less than a hundred hours is sufficient for a *person to become totally literate and a self-teacher.  Don't be panicked by scare tactics into surrendering your children to experts.
Teaching must, I think, be decertified as quickly as possible.  That certified teaching experts like myself are deemed necessary to make learning happen is a fraud and a scam.  Look around you:  the results of teacher-college licensing are in the schools you see." 

- from his book, DUMBING US DOWN, copyright 1992.


*I assume Mr. Gatto is referring to older students (perhaps middle school age and older - - - not young children) who may be learning to read for the first time. 

Recommended Reading...

THE SOCIALIZATION TRAP - AVOID THE PITFALLS OF AGE SEGREGATION
by:  Rick Boyer

WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING OUR CHILDREN? WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT HUMANISM AND TEXTBOOKS IN TODAY'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
by:  Mel & Norma Gabler
(While the authors may not have written this book to promote homeschooling, it does shed light on what our kids are really learning in the public schools.)

DUMBING US DOWN - THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM OF COMPULSORY SCHOOLING
by:  John Taylor Gatto (former public school teacher with 26 yrs. teaching experience and New York State Teacher of the Year for 1991)

The Results of a Dumbed-Down Education...

Sam Blumenfeld, http://thenewamerican.com/opinion/sam-blumenfeld says this:

"The public schoolers have been dumbed-down to become followers, not leaders...Public schoolers live in an artificially extended childhood which requires no adult responsibility, and extended adolescence devoid of analytical thinking."

This certainly seems true of many who have graduated from public schools in the last 20 years or so.

For more info on how our public schools are dumbing down our children, read the book DUMBING US DOWN (The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling) by John Taylor Gatto - an award-winning  (former) public school teacher with 26 years of public school teaching experience, who was voted as being New York State Teacher of the Year for 1991.

Not sure about whether or not you should homeschool? Maybe this will help you decide...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/recommended-new-york-sex-ed-site-offers-middleschoolers-tips-on-eating-fece

What sane parent would want to expose their child to garbage such as this?

Something worth considering...

If my kids/grandkids become indoctrinated, I want to be the one doing the indoctrination!

A documentary worth watching.  Watch the trailers.  Perhaps obtain the DVD for yourself and share with your friends.

http://www.indoctrinationmovie.com

Won't your child be "missing out" by not attending public school?"

The answer to that question is, "YES, most definitely! That is what we are hoping and praying for."

Homeschooled kids WILL & DO miss out on alot of stuff that goes on at  public school.  I will list a few things that your typical homeschooler will miss out on:

violence; bullying;  peer pressure;  exposure to cigarettes, alcohol, & illegal drugs;  pre-marital sex & sexually transmitted diseases;  disrespect towards parents & adults in general; cursing;  selfishness;  cliques & gangs; evolutionist, socialistic, humanistic, & communistic indoctrination;  and the unhealthy form of competition that is promoted by high school ball games...  The form of competition that the public schools generate makes the kids on the opposing team seem like an enemy to be vanquished.  Brawls and/or verbal attacks frequently break out among students and parents alike. 

Then there are the uncaring and/or incompetent teachers that students at public school will sometimes be forced to endure, and the huge student-teacher ratio (25 or more kids per teacher per class) which leads to a lack of individual attention being paid to each student.  The high number of  public high school graduates having to take remedial courses in college is a testament to these last two points. 

Yes, I know that not all public school teachers are uncaring or incompetent. So, please, don't  be offended.  But, anyone who has attended public school for any length of time can attest to the fact that they have encountered at least one teacher who was more of a hindrance to their learning and/or emotional well-being than a help.  I, myself a product of the public school system, can list several.  I witnessed my third grade teacher in anger spank one of her students because that student could not work a math problem the teacher had put up on the blackboard.  My 6th grade teacher frequently slept (uh...rested his eyes) in class.  My 8th grade history teacher (the 8th graders attended the high school at that time) seemed to show favoritism towards the ball players and cheerleaders in her class.  My Algebra 1 teacher did not understand Algebra and would have trouble working his own problems that he had put on the blackboard.  I remember taking a test that had about 10 problems.  I only got about 3 of them correct, but he gave me a passing grade anyway.  I came out of that class with a passing grade for the year, but I did not know Algebra. Needless to say, I did not take any other math class in high school, but graduated anyway.  Then there was my General Business teacher in high school.  He was carrying on an affair with my best friend's sister, who had been a student of his.  She was under-age and still in high school while this was going on!

Need I say more?

I could go on and list the problems my own children had with some of their teachers during the time they were in public school, but I won't.  I think my meaning is clear enough.  The fact is, parents who send their kids to public school and allow them to be taught by strangers are essentially putting their children at risk of not only a poor education, but also possible emotional and/or physical abuse.

Yesterday, Yearbook Photos Were Taken...

Yesterday, student members of our homeschool group had their pictures taken for inclusion in our group's homeschool yearbook for 2011-2012.  Later that evening, my 35 month old grandson went to visit his great-aunt.  She asked him a question which went something like this:  "How did you look when you had your picture taken?"  She was expecting him to show her how he had smiled for the photo.  Instead, he replied:  "Pretty good!" 

Interesting Conversation with the Sears Repair Man...

Today, the Sears repair man came to my home to fix my washer.  He was a frail-looking, elderly man. To get to my laundry room, he had to first pass through my classroom.  When his work was done, he asked me if I homeschooled someone.  I told him that I had homeschooled my children, who are now all grown, and now I am homeschooling my grandson.  This led to a very interesting conversation.  He commented that he had been in other homes where homeschooling took place and he had noticed how well-behaved the kids were.  He also commented that the kids would even converse with him.  He seemed surprised that the kids would want to talk to him.  He said most kids would not do that, that they are usually caught up in their own little world.  While he was telling me this, I thought to myself, 'If my little grandson were here, he'd be talking your ears off! lol!'  I did basically tell him, though, how that homeschooled kids interact with people of all ages on a regular basis - that is why they are comfortable talking with anyone. 

In a round-about way he mentioned peer pressure among kids at public school and how they feel they must conform to the wishes of their same-age group in that environment.  I told him of how homeschooling promoted independence in kids, to be their own person and make their own decisions without regard to what other kids may think of them.

He also asked me questions about my own kids, now grown - how they turned out.  I was very glad to tell him of what they ended up doing with their lives.

The Wonderful Mind of a Child

Young children (preschoolers,especially) are so amazing to observe.  They see the world differently from anyone else.   The way they associate one thing with another, coupled with their impulsiveness, can be both brilliant and quite comical at the same time.

Yesterday, I drove my daughter and her two children to my 12 mo. old granddaughter's doctor appointment.  My role included keeping my 2 yr. 10 mo. old grandson occupied.  When my grandson got antsy in the waiting room, I took him outside to walk around for a bit.  We also rode the elevator a few times (a fun, new experience for him).  At one point, we sat in the hallway outside the doctor's suite.  No one was around at the time, and there were very soft, comfy benches on which to sit.  We sat and looked up and down the short hallway.  It was a very nicely decorated area.   Potted plants sat on attractive plant stands, a beautifully carved table was under the window on which had been placed ornate vases or Turkish-looking jars, an unusual, yet attractive, mirror hung on the wall.  My grandson commented or asked questions on just about every item he saw in that hallway.  When he ran out of questions, we both sat looking down at the absolutely gorgeous, dark hardwood floor. 

I gazed at that floor, thinking how it reminded me of the floors in older homes.  I love antiques and vintage furniture, especially when they are paired with Victorian architecture.  My grandson, though, was having thoughts along a completely different line as he sat there looking at that floor.  Suddenly, he jumped down from the bench on which we were sitting and exclaimed, "Let's EXERCISE !" Then he got down on that floor, laid on his belly and proceeded to do a push-up!   lol!    He was obviously thinking about the "Gym Day" outing of the previous week with our homeschool group.

Blossoming Socialization Skills: First Evidence

Homeschoolers frequently hear the dreaded  "s" word  question from those who have little or no understanding of what homeschooling really is.  "But, what about socialization? You must send your kids to (public) school to be properly socialized,"  we are told by well-meaning friends, relatives, and so-called 'experts' in the field of education.    What these people don't realize is that proper behavior must be taught long before a child reaches school age.  A child who is being raised in a loving home by attentive parents will frequently begin showing evidence of the understanding of proper social skills by age 2  1/2  to 3 years.  If parents don't make an effort to teach proper social skills to their young children BEFORE they reach school age, then they have done their children a great disservice. 

I was especially proud of my little 2 yr. 10 mo. old grandson today while at the park with members of our homeschool  support group.  We were having a playdate for preschoolers.  The kids ranged in age from 12 months to 5 years old.  I had taken a large, light-weight vinyl ball for the kids to play with.  A little 17 month old boy excitedly tossed the ball to a 13 month old  little girl.  It hit her on the head, which did not injure her, but it did scare her a bit.  My grandson saw the startled look on the little girl's face as she ran to her mother for comfort.  A short while later, my grandson picked up the ball and went close to the little girl, and gently tossed the ball toward her, but closer to ground.  The little girl did not startle this time, but gladly accepted the ball.  My grandson turned to me and said, "I didn't throw...I didn't hit..."  He paused to think about what he was trying to tell me.  Then he continued, "I didn't hit her head, Mommaw!" 

How thrilled I was to see proper social skills beginning to blossom in such a young child.  Not only was he displaying proper behavior, but he was actually thinking ahead of time about the comfort and well-being of another person.  He did not learn these skills in a classroom.  He learned them from living and interacting with his family and  from those whom his family associate with.

Robert Frost on education:

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."

THE LEARNING PARENT says:

"Pity the poor kids in classrooms..."  ( I assume they mean 'traditional public school classrooms' )           "... where everybody is taught the same thing, the same way, at the same time, with the same materials. Geniuses are people who have been encouraged to seek their own path."