Building with Cuissenaire Rods and Lincoln Logs

Our 7-year old has been learning the finer arts of architecture. You see, cuissenaire rods are not to be used strictly for math concepts. They can become a home for one-inch Wendy and we can study the concept of load and balance.

And of course, Lincoln Logs are a home for her Liddle Kiddles.

Recharged

Each of us has ways of recharging our batteries... ways that relax us and give us inspiration and hope and enlarge our perspective beyond our own navels.

For me, it's a visit to the Colorado mountains. Having grown up in this area you'd think I'd tire of visiting them, however, they never fail to take my breath away with their majestic beauty.

We headed up Hwy 24 past Woodland Park and had lunch at the summit of Wilkerson Pass, elevation 9,507 feet above sea level. Here's a couple pictures from there.

We encountered small, skinny antelope along Hwy 24 in the South Park basin.

Traveling in our 1987 Camry provides for close quarters for the five of us plus our stuff (hubby is an Eagle Scout who now is a Boy Scout Executive and so we go prepared when we go anywhere! ::grin::)

Then we traveled on through Buena Vista, the whitewater capitol of Colorado, onto Leadville, which is two miles above sea level and is the highest incorporated city in the USA, where we stopped for ice cream at Wild Bill's like we usually do, then on to Turquoise Lake which is just a little north and west of Leadville. (Here's a bonus picture I found on the web, taken it looks like in late fall early winter.)

Sigh... what peacefulness! The lake was as full as I've seen it in many years. The shore area was really small compared to the last six or seven years. Still, I could have stayed on that shore indefinitely and listened to the lapping of the lake.

We only encountered less than half a dozen cars as we visited Turquoise Lake, besides a couple who were biking around the lake with their huge dog running beside them.

As we rounded the northern portion of the lake, the girls were being silly and S, who had been eating croissants, laughed so hard part of a croissant came out of her nose. At that point we all began laughing.

As we headed down the west side of the lake, we came to a waterfall and had to take pictures. The waterfall had icicles on it in the shade!

We have a tradition of taking pictures of our girls in various areas around Turquoise Lake in the fall. Here's the one from this year.

Thanks be to God for the gift of being their mother!

Heading south, we could see Mount Elbert and Mount Massive from the north with the sun to the west, and the bottom of these stately mountains were blanketed in thick, furry, green pine trees. Such grandeur!

Leadville is truly a rugged mountain town and is dotted with tin trailers, delapidated old wooden framed homes and buildings, along with rejuvenated areas, as well as new buildings and homes. You can encounter each of these within just a few blocks of each other, and yet, it seems homey and nice. The variety is refreshing and sure beats the cookie cutter layout of most suburbs and towns. I am tempted to get philosophical about it, but I shan't right now.

We were headed to some ghost towns that we've visited often, usually in the fall because if you are lucky enough to catch it just right, you'll have one of the most amazing drives in the quaking aspens as they turn gold and orange. Of course, we knew we were too late to catch that as the first freeze up there was a few weeks ago. Still we headed for Vicksburg and Winfield.

We were greeted with a big surprise as we traveled on County 390 in that Clear Creek Reservoir was drained. We didn't learn until we got home why.

We were not disappointed in rediscovering Belford Falls as we were not distracted by the changing aspens. To me, the falls looked like an icicle hanging onto the side of the mountain.

We talked about Colorado's mining history, laughed, ate in the splendor of the fresh mountain air -- and man, did it smell good, I just don't think you could possibly beat that lovely smell of pine!

We came back through Salida (I've gotta remember about the Western Mining Museum there and take a trip for the benefit of our state history studies) and then following the Arkansas River through the Bighorn Sheep Canyon.

R regaled us with a story through the canyon and one of the highlights was this line, "Do you take this woman to be your waffle wedded wife?" To which hubby responded, "Yes, with butter and syrup on top!"

To read more funny lines from our trip, visit S's blog, the October 9 entry.

Feeling more relaxed now than I have been in months!

The whole day reminded me of Psalm 121, which the minister read at my mom's burial. I am thankful that I can lift up mine eyes to such gorgeous mountains as we had the pleasure of visiting yesterday!

Mom's schoolwork?

The other day, R was being a bit resistant to returning to her studies after a Barbie break. She had been playing that Barbie was just graduated, like her oldest sister, S. R wonders what S is going to do now. She sees S at the computer, her usually occupied space of the last several years. She doesn't know that S is in front of the computer doing paid work for the PAC she helps run.

Anyway, I got a bit frustrated at R's lack of obedience in ceasing to play with Barbie as well as put away the multitude of tiny accessories that accompany Barbie. I said, "You're not gonna graduate from first grade if you don't start doing your momma's schoolwork!"

This resulted in peels of laughter from all three children as they wonder why I haven't completed my first grade work and want R to do it!

Oversight?

I had a conversation with a brand new homeschooling mom last night. Although she’s been researching homeschooling for three years, her child wasn’t old enough to “officially” be in school. Through her research though, there were two points that came out in this conversation. One, she still tightly holds to the public school model. I guess that just goes to show that researching isn’t doing, and for some, old habits die hard. She still is filled with fear that she isn’t going to meet expectations and that her daughter won’t perform up to standards. I tried to reassure her that she’s already been teaching her daughter all along and that kindergarten is hard to flunk. Read lots and lots aloud to her, let her explore outside, go on field trips, visit the nursing home, sing songs, play with paint, playdoh and manipulatives, color and cook together. It’s as hard or as simple as you choose to make it.

Secondly, she was adamant that HSLDA can’t be trusted because they have no oversight. If they answer to no one, then they can do whatever they want with impunity. I think there are two things wrong with that. First, she kept trying to compare HSLDA to a church who generally has oversight so that if a Pastor is doing something wrong, then he’s called to account for it. Well, we know that isn’t true, just look at the various denominations out there who embrace the semi-Pelagian heresies, or have women pastors, or homosexuals in positions of leadership. They do this with the blessing of their “overseers” and aren’t called to account for it. But, HSLDA is NOT a church and we cannot expect a business to be run like a church, even if Christians are involved in the business. I tried to make a different comparison for her and told her that supermarkets don’t have overseers either, but they run their business according to customer needs. Customers vote, i.e. provide oversight, with their pocketbook by either spending their money at that supermarket or not. And it’s the same for HSLDA. People approve or not by being members or not. I also likened HSLDA, which is essentially a type of prepaid legal service, to insurance. You pay for insurance, whether you’re sick or not. The money you pay is used to help those who are, as well as provide for the company expenses and a profit for the investors. You don’t have to buy the insurance, but you MAY.

That’s capitalism/free enterprise and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I thought it was quite an American concept. Secondly, while I don’t think HSLDA is the only means to an end, I believe they have helped thousands of families homeschool in freedom and HSLDA’s main focus (notice I didn’t say ONLY focus because I know they do other kinds of advocacy too) is helping people preserve homeschool freedoms and parental rights.

I’ve been involved with the political processes here in Colorado for ten years now, and have seen first hand the blessing that HSLDA has been to preserving homeschool freedoms and parental rights. Their involvement has been cooperative and helpful and never over-reaching or without the consent and blessing of the legislative liaisons for homeschooling here.

HSLDA has also provided support and encouragement to me as I have worked to help homeschool groups who struggle with various issues in my capacity as a homeschool support group leader and as a state-level liaison for support group leaders.

I don't believe that HSLDA is perfect, but I think there's enough good going on there that I'll support it by being a member. In fact, we just re-upped for two more years.

What's Constitutional?

Ok -- so in honor of the 220th signing of the Constititution of the United States earlier this week, we are having our 7-year-old learn the one sentence Preamble to the Constitution.

We were practicing it again this morning, when this child, who is allergic to mornings, said, "Don't force a child to do this."

To which I responded, "That's not in the Constitution."

Older sister, who is 18-years-old, piped in, "You could link it to justice."

Ok, let's keep the debate theory out of it!

Also overheard this morning, "I strangled myself up the stairs." This meant she struggled up the stairs as she pulled a muscle in her calf and it hurts to walk.

The Proof is in the Pudding

With one of our children now graduated from our homeschool high school and working at a job she absolutely LOVES, it seems safe to assume, as my mom would have said, "The proof is in the pudding." You'd think with all the success stories out there that those who were doubtful that this form of education works might take pause and consider that they were wrong. Well, so much for thinking. Some attitudes are so deeply ingrained that it's going to take a change of heart and that I'll leave to the Holy Spirit to work on.

What prompted this thinking was that my dad called yesterday and spoke with S. He hasn't spoken to her in over 2 years, by his choice. [Vulnerable people are susceptible to being manipulated by others even with untruths.] When he called, he thought it was me (she and I are often confused by people on the phone including my husband, her daddy!). He quickly learned that it was his granddaughter. He began to cry. He was sorry for being such a bad grandpa and not being involved with her life. He was proud of what she was doing and that she was enjoying her work.

It reminded me of an article by Kim d'Escoto in which she encourages you to share the BIG reasons why you homeschool.

We started homeschooling in 1995 in Arizona because we knew we could provide a better education than what the local public school was offering, at least that's what we told everyone. The small community we lived in had a school district that wasn't hostile to Christianity, but mostly it showed an attitude of looking the other way. While we still had a "Christmas program" it was completely devoid of Christ and full of secular humanistic themes instead.

We weren't ready to declare that we were homeschooling for "religious" reasons because then we'd be like all those religious nuts that our family and friends believed made up the majority of homeschoolers.

We moved back to Colorado in 1997 and I set up a meeting with the principal at the public school our children would have attended if we had sent them to public school. This was something we did to pacify my parents. Afterall, both my husband and I were products of that very school system. We turned out ok. Somehow they saw our decision to continue homeschooling as an indictment against what they had done with us. Nothing could have been further from the truth. We simply were exercising our parental rights and responsibilities in regard to what was best for our children. In fact, I've always been grateful to my parents for raising me to be an independent thinker who considers both sides of an issue, in particular with regards to politics.

At that meeting with the school principal I requested to see the scope and sequence of what was going to be taught to my children. The man refused to let me see it. I asked him what curriculum they would be using. Again, refusal to see what materials my children would be exposed to in their school. I explained that this information would help me make a decision about whether or not my children would be enrolled. Again, complete refusal. Since this was a public school, I was completely incensed that all this information was off-limits to the public.

The experience made me realize the beaucreacy I was dealing with did not respect or encourage parental involvement they merely wanted us to donate our children to them for several hours a day to be indoctrinated by them.

That was the beginning of our advocacy of parental choice in education, and in particular home education. As we learned more, the Lord provided us with opportunities and we began serving in leadership capacities.

Through the years we've learned a lot about leadership and advocacy and politics. It hasn't always been pretty or nice. Educating our children at home is done from the viewpoint that all of our lives are centered on the fact that we have been redeemed by Christ's blood as propitiation for our sins by grace alone. (Romans 3: 23-26; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10) I'm not trying to be pietistic here, just trying to daily remember my baptism.

Although there are around 2 million homeschoolers in the U.S., I don't believe that the option to do so is really acceptable because there continues to be threats against it and parental rights.

I'm excited that our daughter is doing what she can to preserve homeschool freedoms, parental rights and help eliminate government intrusion into our lives by working as the Executive Director of the Hearth Fund. As the policial season is beginning to ramp up now, I ask for your prayers for her. While she's been well-seasoned in the ups and downs of policial life (she's interned at the Colorado State Capitol for 4 years), she's still young and somewhat idealistic and I don't want her to be crushed by the cruel world of politics.

Planning and Life

We've been getting ready for the new school year. It seems odd, I'm only preparing for two.


It's been fun planning for my 7-year-old because I've discovered lapbooking. We did a few lapbooks last year, the 6 days of creation, the human body, and early American explorers. I have big plans for more lapbooks this year. Plus I've been researching different ways to do them so we won't get bored or in a rut with the same old thing.


Meanwhile we're having parent generation health care situations. My father fell in his home and now will be going to a rehab facility for a while. His degenerative disc disease is giving him quite a bit of problems and near constant pain. His renal function (he only has one functioning kidney) is close to dipping below 30% and he's facing the possiblity of regular dialysis, something in the past he said he would not do. I don't know where his mind is about that matter right now.


My mother-in-law has endured a staph infection (mersa and others) since the beginning of August last year, three surgeries beginning in December of last year where her big toe was removed and then increments of her foot. Now her foot needs to be amputated and up into her leg somewhere between the ankle and her knee. She has lupus among a myriad of other ailments. She's been on prednisone since 1979, which in turn caused her to become diabetic. Her non-compliance with dietary needs as well as recovery suggetions (stay off your feet as much as possible and elevate the foot that had surgery) has quickly made the sitation worse and possibly life-threatening.


Heavy sigh. Heavy issues to deal with. Yuck!


I'm also the president of a homeschool support group and we're starting our meetings and activities back up soon. I've enjoyed the small reprieve of the summer, I wish it had been longer.


Good and happy news is that my niece and her husband are expecting their third child early next spring! I pray the Lord will grant her a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child!

Technological Educational Food for Thought

A homeschooling mom shared this YouTube with me.

We can bring forth images of 1984 and now the reality of the technology that is available to us today and how it impacts our freedom of speech or freedom of thought/expression as well as privacy issues, but we should also be focusing on the preparation of our children to deal with and live in a world that we can't even imagine today.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Food for Thought -- Today in History

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the 2nd atomic bomb on Hiroshima. I've always been extradordinarily interested in the atomic bomb detonations in Japan because I was born in Japan.

It is also intriguing to me how Japan moved away from its aggressive nation-building stance that was so destructive and replaced it with a pacifist liberal democracy. I wonder what it took to change the people's outlook on life, behavior, and goals? (Obviously it can be done, and I wonder if this is the goal in the Middle East?) Yea, yea, I know the war... but I think it had to eminate from the top down. The leaders must have really wanted their nation to change.

Since WWII, Japan has created the second largest economy in the world. So while not a military might any longer (and in fact was/is a protectorate * of the US) Japan's economic status makes it a force to be reckoned with.

This day also marks the 33rd anniversary of the resignation of Richard Nixon as the President of the United States. American Minute had an interesting quote from our 36th President,

"Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office...To continue to fight...for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress...Therefore, I shall resign...If some of my judgments were wrong...they were made in what I believed...to be the best interest of the Nation." Nixon continued: "In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy...now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that...the cradle of civilization will not become its grave."


* Protectorates were established as a result of the adoption of the Monroe Doctrine .)

Things that occupied my mind today, although not from my children, these ideas and thoughts and how they will play out in the world will affect my children, and yours.

Promotion Day!

Yesterday was our homeschool support groups' annual Promotion Day.

It was such a fun day! The zip line seemed to be the biggest attraction this year.

S and K took turns at it and enjoyed it. Now for K, this was no big deal, as any opportunity she gets she scrambles up rock walls and loves to rappel down. S, however, has had a fear of heights, so climbing up the vertical and then going down the zip line were major accomplishments for her!

Anyway, I thought I'd share the Promotion Day certificate wording with you and some pictures taken yesterday. Our group gives the certificates made by a volunteer (thanks Jane!) with 100 words or less sent in by the parents and issued by age.

R's, at age 7: Highlights of this past year include the brave way you let go of the only home you’d known and clung instead to the loving hands of God that reached out to you from friends and family. You learned about Columbus, early explorers of America, the creation story, the books of the Bible, the 10 Commandments, and the Apostles Creed. And you learned to read! Imaginative play and singing songs are ways you entertain yourself. Your wit and joy and perfectly formed arguments show us that debate is in your future. We love you and are proud of you!

K's, at age 15: The instability of life gives us opportunities to trust God in different ways than when things are going well. You learned about that kind of mature trust in the Lord and that He works through various means to care for us. Despite that, you persevered in teaching others and being an excellent friend. Your quiet service to your family is appreciated. Your huge heart and capacity to love and forgive will enable you to serve others throughout your life. Follow your dreams of using your voice to help others. We love you and are proud of you!

S's, at age 18, and graduating: How we go about handling the adversities of life teaches us a lot about ourselves and in your case provided many with inspiration about grace and trust in the Lord. Your service to others is commendable and a valuable asset as you set out to pursue your dream of being involved in the political world. You danced through good times with friends this year, showing another side to grace and confidence. Your giving, teaching spirit will bless others as you now encounter them as a graduate of homeschool. We love you and are proud of you!

Hubby was part of the MC team, and here's one of him giving S her certificate.

Sorry the quality isn't better, I'm just learning how to use the camera on my cell phone.

Pluto

So, R informs us this evening that Pluto is her favorite planet.

S tells her that Pluto isn't a planet anymore and that it shoots Persephone's chance of being a planet.

To which, R replies, "Who shot Pluto?"

Logical Musings of a 6-year old

So, last weekend was a debate tournament that S was competing in.

Hubby brought daughters K and R to the last round to see S debate. While waiting for the debate to start, the younger brother of S's debate partner was talking with R. She wanted to go home and he teasingly told her that no one was going home that there was going to be a big sleep-over at the church where the tournament was being held. He told her that the boys were going to sleep in the sanctuary and the girls would sleep on the roof of the church.

She put her little hand on her jutted out hip and said, "Nuh-uh! If the girls sleep on the roof (it has snowed that day and was bitterly cold and windy) they'll die from the cold. Then the boys will have no one to talk to. If the boys have no one to talk to, there will be no one to marry. If they can't get married, there will be no children and the world will end."

He wanted to know when she was going to start debating. Clearly she had a well-thought out and articulated argument against his plan. Guess she's picking up debate theory from listening to her older sisters! :-)