February Celebrations

The December holidays got me off guard and I didn't find celebrations for January.  Here's a few things I found to celebrate for February.


1---Langston Hughes born in 1902
2---Groundhog Day
3---Carrot Cake Day
4---Rosa Parks born in 1913
7---Laura Ingalls Wilder born in 1867
9---National Bagel and Lox Day
11--Thomas Edison born 1847
12--Abraham Lincoln born 1809
13--Bicycle Safety Day
14--National Cream-filled Chocolates Day  Oh yeah, and Valentine's Day
15--National Gumdrop Day or Galileo born in 1564
16--National Almond Day
17--Random Acts of Kindness Day
20--Presidents' Day and National Cherry Pie Day
21--Mardi Gras
22--George Washington born in 1732
24--Winslow Homer born 1836
25--Pierre Renoir born 1841
27--Polar Bear Day
28--National Chocolate Souffle Day
29--Leap Year Day


What are you going to celebrate and how?  

Ricola and Rayovac battery coupons

Free Harvard and MIT classes

Did you know that there are free, online video classes offered by Harvard and MIT?  Yes, I mean the Harvard and the MIT.  I haven't taken any of them, yet, but I think they'd be great just for parent personal enrichment or possibly to use for your high school student.


To attend Harvard, CLICK HERE.
It looks like they are offering:

• The Heroic and Anti-Heroic in Classical Greek Civilization
• Bits
• Intensive Introduction to Computer Science
• Shakespeare After All: The Later Plays
• China: Transitions and Transformations
• World War and Society in the Twentieth Century: World War II
• Sets, Counting, and Probability
• Abstract Algebra

If you want to attend MIT, CLICK HERE.

They actually offer a lot more classes, but here are the departments with there links:

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Anthropology
• Architecture
• Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation
• Biological Engineering
• Biology
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Comparative Media Studies
• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Engineering Systems Division
• Experimental Study Group
• Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Health Sciences and Technology  
• History
• Linguistics and Philosophy
• Literature
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Media Arts and Sciences
• Music and Theater Arts
• Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Physics
• Political Science
• Science, Technology, and Society
• Sloan School of Management
• Special Programs
• Supplemental Resources
• Urban Studies and Planning
• Women's and Gender Studies
• Writing and Humanistic Studies

Some of the MIT classes even offer lecture notes, assignments, exams, and more.

So, what classes are you going to take?

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Quote--Chinese Proverb

‎"If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people." ~~ Chinese proverb

Friday Funny

Where does education take place?

Over a year ago, I wrote a status on FaceBook about the difference between public education and home education.  I meant it as a semi-joke, but also a commentary on the two systems. 


Boy, I didn't realize the can of worms I was opening!  


One of my old friends from high school took it VERY personally.  I tried to assure her I wasn't speaking specifically about her children or her choice.  I said that every parent has to decide between them and God what is best for their children.  I even asked if we could just "agree to disagree."  


She un-friended me.  :-(


But one of her comments has hung around and just goes to prove how little most know about home education.  She said something to the effect of just because we do our schooling around the kitchen table doesn't mean it's better or make us "holier than thou."


Well, at least she didn't think I had a desk set up.  I know many homeschoolers have a "classroom" with desks and such for doing school.  That's cool if it works for them.  I dare say most of them don't limit themselves to just that one room though.  Personally, we tend to be a little more casual throughout our day.


I thought I'd share some pictures of learning taking place. Some are recent; some are not.  I'd love to see how it compares with your day!

Okay, so some of the day is spent at the kitchen table.  And yes, these happy expression are staged!  It's not always quite this exciting.

Doing some math with her little brother Pancho.  She also climbed under the table to listen to me do some reading.

Doing some language with her brothers.  I'm okay with different locations as long as work gets done and penmanship/neatness doesn't suffer.

Here she's reading Charlotte's Web.  Of course, Pancho and ChiChi are usually nearby.  They love their big sister!  ;-)

She's attending an online club at CurrClick.com.  I'm not sure why she has Mick Jagger lips.

We've used sidewalk chalk to practice spelling words.

Sometimes it just happens.  She discovered this katydid on our porch and we later researched it.

There's nothing like learning by doing!  Her 5-cup salad/ambrosia has become a regular at family gatherings.


Of course, field trips rock!

There's nothing like seeing and touching
tadpoles with friends!

Toy and Miniature Museum in Kansas City.

Well, there a few places where learning has taken place around here.  Nothing wrong with a desk or a kitchen table, but homeschooling offers SO MUCH MORE!!!

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Wednesday HodgePodge

1. The NFL playoffs were held this past weekend and this year'sSuperbowl lineup will feature The New York Giants versus The New England Patriots. How do you define 'patriot'?

I think a patriot is a person who is loyal to a country.

2. What's something in your life right now that feels like a 'giant'?

Me.  I weigh way too much.

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

Wow.  There was so much going on.  I was taking care of my elderly and extremely ill grandparents while doing my senior year.  

4. Coconut-mashed potatoes-vanilla ice cream-mayonnaise...which white food would be the hardest to give up?

Coconut could go.  Mashed potatoes are great but not a necessity.  Mayonnaise, well, I guess I could use ketchup.  SOOOO...DRUMROOLL...The hardest white food for me to give up would be vanilla ice cream.

5. Describe an incident or a day you remember as the coldest you've ever experienced?

I know I have been though colder times than this one, but the one that always comes to mind is my wedding weekend.  IT WAS SO COLD!!!  Of course, it was plenty warm once we got to the hotel...wink, wink!

6. You're hosting a brunch...what's your favorite dish to prepare and serve?

Really?  I'm hosting a brunch?  I'd be much more likely to help or co-host.  I think some of the easiest and yummy brunch kind of things are mini muffins, bagel, fruit salad.  Maybe some kind of baked omelet casserole thing.

7. How do you combat negative thinking?

Oh, you're supposed to combat it?  Maybe it's not negative thinking.  Maybe it's realistic thinking.    No, I really do try to combat it (sometimes!)  Bringing Scripture to mind helps because it's not me saying it but God.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today I learned the difference between a maze and a labyrinth.  A labyrinth has only one way in and then you come back out the same way. Only one path. A maze, on the other hand, has various ways to go and dead ends. 
So, then I have questions about the whole Minotaur and labyrinth myth.  Everyone was supposed to get lost in the labyrinth which is why Theseus used the yarn when he went in.  You wouldn't get lost in a labyrinth.  You'd get lost in a maze.
Yes, I actually think about things like this. 

This is a maze.

This is a labyrinth.

                                          

How to Write a Good Sympathy Card--Biblical Counseling Coalition

The Biblical Counseling Coalition's blog, "Grace and Truth," has a lot of insightful posts.  I just thought this one about writing good sympathy cards was so practical.  Just click below to go to the article.

Writer's Contest from PBS Kids Go

Mija was so excited when she saw the advertisement on our local PBS station.  They are having a writing contest for children kindergarten through third grade. It's being sponsored by the local PBS stations; you can check HERE for your local station to see if they are participating. 


The child writes and illustrates their own stories.  You can read some of winners from last year HERE.   


We are definitely taking part in this.  What an opportunity to practice such skills as story telling, grammar, spelling, etc within an activity that she is initiating herself!  

Proverbial Reading--Pro. 31:31

I mentioned on My Reading List that our adult Sunday School ladies were going through The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspectivewhich, of course, means reading Proverbs 31!  
I read through the passage everyday for a month a couple of years ago.  It was great!  In fact, it's why I started couponing!
I was reading it again, and the very last verse was convicting. (I know.  The whole thing can be convicting, but I'm choosing to focus on one convicting thing at a time!)


Proverbs 31:31 "Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates."

That's something I'm considering today as I teach my daughter, do the laundry, feed my family, dust the living room, etc.  Would the quality of the works I'm doing give me praise?  Praise is a very exciting word in the Hebrew.  It means "to shine, make a show, cause to celebrate, et al.  Would my dishes make me dance?  Would my clean potty cause a party?  Probably not, but I need to work as if it would.


And if I were given the fruit of my hands, would my hands be full or empty?  The Hebrew word hand here means an open hand indicating power, means, direction, etc.  Would the amount of effort, energy and focus I use warrant me having a gain or just getting by?


Well, that's what I was pondering and praying about.  It definitely made a difference as I worked my way through the day!


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Today I'm posted on the Home Educating Family Blog

I wrote an article for the Home Educating Family Blog which was posted today.  It's entitled Educating My One and Only.  It's about home educating an only child.  I would be tickled pink if you would go check it out.


I was asked to become a regular contributor to the Home Educating Family Blog.    (I know.  Me?  A regular contributor?) I think my piece is supposed to every third Monday. But don't forget to check out the blog other times because there's a bunch of good stuff on there.  My friend Jenny is doing an awesome job with it!


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Do you have Puritan pride?

Most remember the importance of the Puritans when it came to the founding of the American colonies.  In fact, Alexis de Tocqueville, the French wrote that Puritanism was the very thing that provided a firm foundation for American democracy.

Puritans also have given us great theology.  They gave us John Bunyan and his work Pilgrim's Progress.  But don't stop there.  Desiring God's blog recently provided a list of Puritans and their works.  Check it out if you'd like to learn more both historically and spiritually!

Here's an example:

Instructing Your Children

“For you that are parents, or to whom the education of children is comitted, I beseech you mind the duty which lies on you. … For to what purpose do we desire them before we have them, rejoice in them when we have them, value them so highly, sympathize with them so tenderly, grieve for their death so excessively, if in the meantime no care be taken what shall become of them to eternity? … If you neglect to instruct them in the way of holiness, will the devil neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No, no, if you will not teach them to pray, he will teach them to curse, swear and lie. If ground be uncultivated, weeds will spring up.”

~ John Flavel

Come Join the Crusades!

We have been learning about the Crusades.  I thought it would be fun for mija to make a poster promoting the Crusades.  Here's what she did.

Join the Crusades.  Only boys allowed.

The knight on the right is from a coloring sheet.  She colored it and then cut it out to use.

She also wrote 5 sentences about the Crusades in no particular order.

1.  Peter the Hermit was in charge of the People's Crusade.

2.  The crusaders killed all the people in Jerusalem.

3.  The pope was a Catholic.

4.  The pope told people to fight the Muslims. 

5.  King Guy saw Saladin coming!

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Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun

This week’s statements:

1. I used to enjoy ______ but now I don’t really anymore except for when I____

2. My first job was ______

3. I am a bit obsessed with ________ at the moment

4. If I don’t have my ___________ at night, I don’t sleep well

1. I used to enjoy playing in the SCA but now I don’t really anymore except for when I daydream!  It's been a loooong time since I wore a chest dress and was called Scholastica.

2. My first job was making cold calls for air conditioner sales.  Yeah, that lasted all of 2 weeks at the most.

3. I am a bit obsessed with re-reading the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series at the moment.  Definitely not written for spiritual exhortation, but awesome historical fiction.  I suppose it relates to my answer to #1.

4. If I don’t have my 2-3 pillows at night, I don’t sleep well.

Dangers of Halal-certified meat.

I really enjoy PraiseMoves by Lorette Willis.  She recently reported on Halal-certified meat.  Let's just say it's far from Kosher.  

Basically, it's meat that it must be slaughtered while the butcher is facing Mecca singing praises to Allah.  

To find out more, CLICK HERE.

File your Federal Tax Return for Free

That's right.  Free.  You know I'm all over that.  


H&R Block is offering to complete your federal tax return using their online product for free. State returns are an additional fee.  I'm not sure how much.
All you need to do it click HERE or click the picture to the right.