Carnival Of Homeschooling

Announcing the newest edition of
The Carnival Of Homeschooling: Summer Transition Edition .
There are many wonderful entries that are
sure to encourage and inspire.
Be sure to check it out.

Urgent Action Needed: Parental Rights

"Dear Friend of Parental Rights,

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely-accepted treaty.This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC.In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate.

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. Her office number is 212-415-4000.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

It is very important that we speak up right now.

Please call before you close this email!

Sincerely,
Michael Farris"

(copied and pasted word-for-word from an email sent by Michael Farris)

New Carnivals

It is a wonderful morning for Carnivals !!

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First, the lovely new Charlotte Mason Carnival is posted.

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And the latest edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is posted.

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There are a lot of inspiring contributions.

Be sure to visit.

More Nature Walk Photos

Blackberry Brambles
(Only some of the berries are ripe and black.)

Horse Nettle
Solanum carolinense

Wasps in a puddle of stagnant water.

Dragonfly
Antisoptera

* We have not identified the above plant yet.
Suggestions welcome ! *

Daisy Fleabane
Erigeron philadelphicus

Nodding Thistle
Cardau nutans

Trumpet Creeper
Campsis radicans

Nature Walk Discoveries

The Bumble Bees are really enjoying our BeeBalm.

We found a baby Praying Mantis in a flower bed.
We discovered many egg sacks last winter,
which would explain our high population
of Praying Mantis "children".

When the farm mowers were mowing the hay out front,
Cherub 1 saw this baby rabbit scamper away -
just in the nick of time.
He stooped and picked him up before the tractor
made another pass. And after taking a few photos of
the stunned little creature, we relocated him safely
over the wooded fenceline, out of the Haying Path.

Opening Day

We have been ahead of schedule for some projects this year, and also a bit behind schedule in other things this year. But as of this morning, I think we are "caught up". Time will tell though, won't it ?!?!
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One example of our lateness is that just yesterday we finally managed to get the winter and summer clothing swapped out. So now we have shorts and bathing suits at the ready. And it's not a moment too soon as we are supposed to have daytime temperatures in the high 90's later this week. Yikes !
Another example of our late start this year --- DadToCherubs finally had time enough to get the pool assembled last evening. We filled the pool last night and got the water ready ....
So this morning, bright and early, the Cherubs donned their bathing suits and were clamoring to get into the pool. After feeding and watering the pets, doing a few morning chores, and eating breakfast, we were unable to hold them back any longer.
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Summer + Swimming Pool + Sunshine = FUN FUN FUN

A Fieldtrip

On Monday we went on a Homeschool Field trip with our local homeschool group. We visited the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, Tennessee. We were blessed with a wonderful sunny day for our visit.
We toured several authentic cabins and barns that were recovered and rebuilt on the Heritage Center site.
There was a lovely demonstration of Open Hearth Cooking. And we were even able to eat some delicious corn bread with homemade butter. Yummy !!
We learned and had a lot of fun playing several Pioneer games.
The museum within the Heritage Center is chock full of farming tools, household items, and even portions of an actual residence.
We giggled at this Corn Sheller -- it is awfully small compared to the Corn Choppers here on the farm. But this tool is probably where it all began.
A primitive table, simple dishes that the Pioneer families might have owned, woven chairs, oil lamps, and in the top right corner is a string of dried beans in the pods known as Leather Britches.
While touring the partial cabin in the museum, we listened closely about how important the Front Porch was to Pioneer homesteaders -- it was a social area, an extended work area for weaving or sewing or churning or food preparation. We use front porches as decoration, but many years ago they were vital to the household.

The Smoky Mountain Heritage Center did a wonderful job for our field trip. All of the volunteers were so sweet and helpful, answering countless questions and sharing with enthusiasm their knowledge of Pioneer Days.

We are going to be studying American History this year, so this field trip was a wonderful introduction to life in some of the "early" days.

If you happen to be nearby and want an interesting inexpensive family activity, we highly recommend the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center in Townsend, TN.

The Baby Is Here !

And it's a GIRL !!
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Born today at 2:12pm to Estrella.
Mom & Baby are doing well.

For more info, go to Simply Beck's Bounty .

Now we are trying to figure out
what we will name her.

Our Visit To Fort Loudon

The last place we took Auntie Iddgy and Granddad was Fort Loudon, which is a fort built around the time of the French & Indian War in a vital part of Cherokee country.

We packed a picnic lunch and then toured the fort, where we met an Indian Maiden re-enactor who taught the Cherubs to make corn husk dolls, and where we also met 2 British Soldier re-enactors who spent a lot of time teling us all about the people who lived there and about the weapons the soldiers used, ending with a test-fire. It was all very interesting.

We ended our visit to Fort Loudon with some swimming in the beautiful lake, which everyone enjoyed.

Our Visit To Bald River Falls

A Visit To The Lost Sea

While Granddad and Auntie Idggy were visiting this past weekend, we visited The Lost Sea . We loved the caves and the history -- our tour guide did a fantastic job.

One particularly funny moment happened as the tour guide was explaining that there are a few real ferns and mosses growing deep in the cave despite a lack of their appropriate growing conditions. The cave is moist, so they had adapted to getting moisture and nourishment from the moist air rather than the cave. And they are apparently using the artificial lights used to light the trails for photosynthesis. Someone asked the tour guide just how the seeds came to be so deep in the cave. The tour guide explained that people traveling from outdoors to the interior of the caves often have tiny seeds on their shoes or clothing, and also some pollen, and so the seeds and pollen are spread in this extraordinary manner. Just after the tour guide finished his explanation, Cherub 6 looked up at me with a huge silly grin and said "We're paw-win-nate-ers" (pollinators). He thought that was quite funny (and I did too because we finished out Botany course some monthes ago).

These signatures inside the cave date back to before and during the Civil War -- look at that beautiful penmanship ! HA !

Special Visitors

We are blessed to have some special company this weekend.
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My Dad (aka Grandad) and my sister (aka Auntie Iddgy) came into town Thursday for a visit .... they're a long way from home (in Pennsylvania) and are enjoying their visit to Tennessee.
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Any visit to our area is not complete without a trip to Mayfield's for an delicious icecream cone. Moose Tracks, Blueberry Cream Pie, Birthday Cake, Mint Chocolate Chip, Mooinaires Java .... the names say it all, don't they ?

Auntie Iddgy & Cherub 2 on the swings.
Grandad riding the go-kart.
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The Cherubs (and DadToCherubs and I too !) are really enjoying this special time with Grandad and Auntie Iddgy.

Family Bike Ride

I finally got my pictures to post !! HOORAY !!
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On Monday evenings, one Cherubs gets to choose a family activity.
The activity must be free, and within a 20 minute drive from our home.
But otherwise, the sky is the limit.
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On the first Monday (May 11) of this new adventure, Cherub 6 chose to visit the local Duck Park.
He wanted us to walk the trail and feed the ducks. We spent 2 hours walking, chatting, and feeding the ducks. A wonderful "family" evening.
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And this past Monday (May 18) was Cherub 5's turn to choose -- and she chose to take all of our bikes to the Duck Park and ride on the trail. And of course we fed the ducks too.
We rode the trail several times -- we enjoyed the sunshine, the beauty of the wooded areas, the peace and serenity -- and we enjoyed a nice evening together.
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DadToCherubs and I just started riding our bikes again in the last few weeks -- neither of us has ridden much since childhood. So, on Tuesday morning we were a bit stiff. ha !
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Since our Duck Park ride, the Cherubs have thought of several more places where we can take our bikes and ride together. And in the mean while, DadToCherubs and I are trying to ride a little every day -- so that next time, we are not quite so uncomfortable the next day. HA !

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

Be sure to visit the newest edition

of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival .

All A'Buzz About Farming

Cherub 6 had quite an

eventful Wednesday.

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Check it out.

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Future Farmer

Planning For History 2009-2010

We used Tapestry of Grace last year to study Ancient History. And we enjoyed using it -- and I enjoyed not having so much 'foot work" to do in the planning of it all. However, buying the curriculum provides so much more material than we could ever use -- I wish there was a "basic" package with reading lists and maybe all of the notes -- we just did not use all of the worksheets and such so it was not an economical choice for us. And then the books -- buying all of the titles for each of the level (Lower Grammar, Upper Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric -- we have students in each level as they are in grades 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, and K/1.) is a major expense, even if we buy the resources used, as we are still rebuilding our homeschool library.

I intended to go back to Ambleside / House of Education (nearly "as written") this year for everyone, for nearly every subject area ... well, that was the original plan.

But with the state of current events (and many curious questions from the Cherubs concerning news they hear or read), DadToCherubs and I feel that an intense study of American History is in order, so that perhaps the Cherubs can better understand our past, and so might possibly be better prepared to understand our present and our future.

So, American History (Exploration to Current Times) is the topic ... and the planning has begun.

We have chosen to use A Patriot's History of the United States as our History spine next year. It is anlarge (825 small print pages), intense book that is chock full of information, written by two history professors who profess to have tried to keep their perspective "unbiased" (is that possible ?). The book is well written and accurate, and is not "dumbed down", is not "politically correct" -- and it is a LIVING BOOK because the professor's love of American History shines through every page.

Within the website for this book is a list of Objectives for each chapter, among other resources. These objectives are followed by a list of essay-type (or discussion, perhaps ?) questions for the students. These might prove to be very handy next year ! There is also a Maps resource which has a lot of links for maps that work well with the book, and there is an Exam section available upon request from the author via email, and a large list of Bonus Materials as well.

So - we have our framework. TA DA !!

At this point, I am adding in other things to "flesh out" these studies -- mapwork / geography, biographical titles, speeches, debates, artists, music, government studies, perhaps a bit of economics, and of course historical fiction. The challenge is that I am building this subject for a wide variety of age levels and ability levels. Having 6 Cherubs is a challenge when we are planning "school". I will be assembling lists of resources and schedules by pulling titles and resources from Ambleside Online, Sonlight, My Father's World, Winter's Promise, House of Education (c/o Ambleside Online), and other "lists" and "collections" (and a dear friend is going to help out with this, which will make it a lot simpler).

So, for now, A Patriot's Guide is my bedtime reading and my on-the-go book of choice. I read it a few years ago, but my copy (with tons of penciled in notes , referenced maps from our Atlas, ideas, tidbits, and too many to recall supplementry titles/authors from a myriad of "rabbit trails") was lost in our housefire. So I am going to reread it, making new notes as I go. And in a few weeks, I will post the full plan for every student - grades 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, and K/1.

If anyone has any favorite titles or resources that might fit in well, we would love to hear from you in the comments !! All help would be appreciated.

This is an essay by one of the authors, explaining why the Patriot's History was written:

"What’s in a name? Just 35 years ago, our book would have simply been called, "A History of the United States." Today, virtually all of the so-called "mainstream" texts range from moderately biased to completely and overwhelmingly biased against a free-market, limited-government perspective. Their slant is sometimes blunt, often clever and always varied to make absolutely certain that if one technique doesn’t work on unsuspecting students, another will.

More than a decade ago, professor Michael Allen and I became aware of how widespread and deep this bias was when we, individually, searched in vain for books that would merely present the basics of American history and report facts over interpretations. We found a huge problem of balance, largely brought about by the movement for "political correctness," whereby American heroes like George Washington, Paul Revere, Robert E. Lee and Andrew Carnegie received scant coverage, while gender and minority issues were dealt with at length.

There was also a bias of language or tone, wherein Franklin D. Roosevelt was wise and caring; Vietnam War protestors were visionary; but Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge were treated as crooks or dolts in one thinly-veiled slur after another. Even the pictures of Reagan emphasized his "wealthy contributors," and not a single one gave Reagan credit for winning the Cold War.

Religion was almost entirely ignored, unless it involved the dissident Berrigan Brothers during the Vietnam War or caricatured depictions of "fundamentalists" during the Scopes Trial. No book that we found made any references whatsoever to Billy Graham or Oral Roberts, or analyzed in any positive way the rise of Pentecostal or evangelical churches in America.

Most of the textbooks, if viewed honestly and objectively, suggest that the United States killed all the Indians, destroyed the environment, busted unions, perpetuated slavery, conquered the Philippines, illegally snatched Hawaii, oppressed workers in the 1920s, dropped the atomic bomb only to impress the Soviets, forced the Japanese into concentration camps and obstructed the efforts of a peace-loving USSR. If these books have heroes, none of them is white or male — and certainly never a businessman.

Welcome to American History 101.

In "A Patriot’s History," professor Allen and I tell a story of America as a special nation — a "City on a Hill" — not because the people in America are, or were, better than anyone else, but because from the beginning those settling the New World adopted systems that embraced primarily these three elements: private property rights, religious virtues and competition at all levels, from political parties to structures of government to market activities. All three were intricately wound together. The Massachusetts Bay Colony went so far as to rest political rights (voting) on a person’s status in the Massachusetts Bay Company (economic rights), which in turn required a person to be a member of the church (religious rights). All were connected. Above all, personal character counted for a great deal.

Supposedly "irreligious" leaders like Franklin, Washington and even Jefferson all realized the significance of these connections and of character. Well into the 21st century, studies have shown that competition among Christian sects for members has produced a far more vibrant and active church than is found anywhere in Europe, where state church monopolies have prevailed.
Likewise, despite 40 years’ worth of regulatory attack, the American economic system still remains the most productive in the world, due to a higher degree of private property rights and competition. In our book, we celebrate those who created and cultivated these pillars, while at the same time deconstructing numerous myths of the Left. The result is that any student reading "A Patriot’s History" will have a hard time suppressing pride in being an American.

Our economic processes and private property rights have generated more wealth than has existed at any other time in history; our foreign policies have liberated more people than any empire that ever existed; and our internal self-criticism has resulted in a steady improvement in civil rights and tolerance — often to a fault. The history of the United States is not only inspiring; it is essentially "conservative," in that it reaffirms many of those values that conservatives (and many libertarians) today hold dear. And the best news is that one does not have to distort the evidence to tell the story of a great country.

Ultimately, learning "just the facts" of the American past leads a student to inevitably conclude that the United States is the best place on earth, and that it has acted, for the most part, far better than any other nation at any other time. If that generates a feeling of patriotism — or makes one a patriot — so be it.

Larry Schweikart, University of Dayton"
(Larry Schweikart, an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, is a professor of history at the University of Dayton and co-author with University of Washington professor Michael Patrick Allen of the recently published “A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror.” Schweikart wrote this essay for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.)

New Members Of The Family

When I was a freshman in highschool, I was given a 4week old orange tabby kitten with an "M" on his forehead. I named him MoonBeam. He slept right next to me for many years. He lived to be 18yo. And he has been dearly missed ever since ....

I thought I would get another orange kitten, although I never found another one with an M on it's forehead like Beam's. We adopted Oliver from some friends, but he disappeared shortly after our move here (after our housefire) and has not been seen since.

So, since then, we have not had another orange kitten / cat. We would look from time to time, in the newspaper and at the pound .... there weren't any to be had.

That is, until someone dumped a box containing 6 kittens at the door of the milking barn in the pouring rain (ARGGG - how can someone be so mean ?!?!) on Wednesday. There were two orange tabby kittens in the box ... and both had an "M" on their forehead. (Two other neighbors adopted all of the others.)

So --- of course we adopted them immediately.

After drying off and a good meal of kitten-formula soaked Kitten Chow, it appears they are healthy. One is a boy and one is a girl. And it appears that they are approximately 4 weeks old. We are working on litter training them, so they are limited to a small area of the house right now.

The next question --- what shall we name them ?
We decided on biblical names.

Miriam means "one who is longed for". She is lighter in color, and is very calm. She is also very verbal -- she "talks" whenever her eyes are open.

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And Moses means "taken from the water". He is slight darker orange than his sister.

And he is the most adventurous.

Miriam and Moses are thriving -- they are loved, petted, cuddled, and pampered. It is difficult for the Cherubs to leave them alone when they are asleep -- they sleep A LOT. But in between those naps, well, they are so much fun !

This Week's Fun

Money does not stretch very far these days !

But,on a whim, I splurged lately,

spending $12 total on a

few clearance items that I spotted ... ... and it was money well spent.

That $12 has provided

a full week's fun already.

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And it's not over yet.

We have had many many rainy days

in the last month or more.

And with each approaching system,

the Cherubs would GRUMBLE ....

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They were grumbling A LOT because

of the lack of nice weather.

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But that has changed now ....

because with all of the weather systems

coming and going,

there has also been a lot of wind !!

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Wind means KITE WEATHER !!

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The Cherubs have spent

every free non-rainy moment

outside flying kites this week.

And what a grand time they've had !

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I think next week we might try making

some kites of our own.