Fun things to do on a rainy day

January 3, 2009 in Uncategorized by Rhonda | Permalink

The other day, the children and I sat around watching youtube videos of homeschoolers. It was quite funny but some of them were not so good so be careful before you click play. See how many stars it got first. If you want to be more cautious, Godtube has great videos. Our favorites are "the 12 crazy days of Christmas" and "Dad I am watching you." We also like the homeschool family song based on the Adam’s family song.

Other things to do on a rainy day for our family:Play board games like Candyland or Allowance.
Play cards like Go Fish
Toss around a balloon or ballColor (Find pic of things they like online such as cars for boys and princesses for girls)
Build BlocksBake a pie or cook a new meal in a recipe book
Take a bubble bath
Put on some good music and dance, exercise or jumprope
Play hide and go seek
Count money or rubberbands
READ!!! We are currently reading Little House on the Prairie and Peter Rabbit.

What about Socialization

What about Socialization in Homeschooling?

Posted in Common Homeschooling Questions or Concerns

This is one of the most common questions asked about homeschooling – in fact, it’s often the very first question asked by concerned friends, grandparents, or other family members when they find out you intend to homeschool your children. Their concern is that by taking your children out of an institutionalized school setting, you are depriving them of important social interaction, leaving them unable to cope in the real world.  

There are two answers to this question. The first answer is short and sweet, but does not address the fundamental problem. The second answer is a little longer, but addresses a critical misunderstanding that surrounds the issue of homeschoolers and socialization.

The Easy Answer: The first answer to the socialization question is that there are plenty of opportunities for socializing in a homeschool setting. Nearly all homeschoolers have access to a support network of some kind, most of which have regular meetings, outings, and sometimes even group studies. These and other opportunities abound, to the point that some homeschoolers hardly spend any time at home!

The Best Answer: A better answer is to challenge your questioner’s definition of "socialization." Normally, they’re concerned that your children won’t have adequate time with other children their own age. Frankly, this is not a good definition.

True socialization would involve helping your children learn how to interact with other people of all ages.  After all, after graduation, most people are never again in an environment of "age-equality."

From the perspective of preparing our children for real life, it’s easy to see that the typical classroom environment is artificial socialization at best, and outright anti-social at worst. Contrasted with a school classroom, the lives of the average homeschool family are fabulously socialized. Between church, trips to the store with Mom, family meals, and a plethora of other scenarios, opportunities abound for homeschooled children to learn how to interact, not only with children their own age, but also with adults, children younger or older than themselves, the elderly, peers, relatives, and authority figures.

Homeschoolers should be careful not to accept a flawed definition of "socialization." Some homeschoolers are beginning to answer the socialization question too thoroughly, based on this flawed definition, by taking part in far too many extra activities. While some extra activities are good and healthy, there is a very real tendency to go too far and place our children in some of the same compromising social settings we dislike about public schools.

Remembering what true socialization is will help us keep our perspective clear and our priorities straight! Published in Homeschool Enrichment Magazine

Schools fostering obesity--another reason to homeschool!

Could it be that our schools are actually suspect number one in fostering obesity andchronic illness? Watch the video — Willie and Dr. McDougall explain: http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/media_willie1.htm

A new article published, A Day At Our House

June 3, 2009

Click below to see the article that I had scanned on my old blog...

 Permalink

5 top parenting advice taken from the Duggars

What are your top five best parenting tips? (For parents with families of all sizes.)

Teach our children to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, and memorize God’s word together as a family.

Teach them to have a servant’s heart, leading by your example.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Daily read the Proverb of the Day that corresponds with the day of the month and discuss it as a family.

Diligently keep up with each child’s attitudes and actions and ask what is going on in their heart. Pray with them one on one letting them lead in prayer and then you closing the prayer time together.

Ask God to help you conquer anger because it can destroy your relationship with your children.

Praise them ten times more than you correct them.

I took this from the Duggars website. They just had their 18th child. I just finished their book. Very inspirational!

How to not have a backslidden teenager

This was posted on pennyraine.com’s blog. She gave me permission to repost here:

How NOT to have backslidden teenagers

It is Friday evening and your young people are going to the movies. Do you know what they are watching? Do you care? Do you know who they are going with? Would you go with them? Do you know what it is rated and what is in it? Here is a short excerpt of an email I just received.

This summer, our sons and daughters have a lot of choices when it comes to what movies are playing at the local theater. It almost seems this year several new movies are coming out each week. It’s clear to me that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) does a very poor job in the ratings department, and an even worse job is letting parents know what objectionable content is in a particular movie. For example, a young lady I know recently posted on her Facebook page that she was going back to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for a second time. Her parents had no idea that this PG-13 film contains extensive sexual scenes, violence, drug use, and 37 strong profanities. And, her Christian parents were shocked to learn that the Hollywood blockbuster used God’s name in vain 19 times!

As moms, it’s important that we know what our children and grandchildren are being influenced by. If we are going to trust the MPAA to do it for us, we’re in big trouble. I am sure I know way too many people who have seen that movie already, and let’s just say I am ashamed if you liked it. And even more than shocked that they paid for it. God help us. But that isn’t what I am really sharing about here. I am wanting to share how NOT to have backslidden teenagers.

First of all, around here we don’t call them teenagers. The word teenager is a social term, it doesn’t mean an age group, it means a cultural group. It reminds us of rebellion and peer pressure and no respect for parents, immoral activity, drugs, sex and rock and roll, reckless driving and being “cool” at all costs. Tell me if I am wrong. I didn’t think so. Now if teenagers are what you want with you as a testimoney “here I am , I and the children God has given me” (Isaiah 8:18) then go right ahead. I choose to live for a higher cause. I believe my children will change the world for the better. That is what I have given my life for. That is my contribution to God’s Kingdom. That is my cause worth dying for. I have written tons of articles on this subject that have been published in several places so I won’t repeat everything, but here are my top 30 tips on how NOT to have a rebellious teenager.

Raise them with the truth
set an example
walk in the light
don’t call them teenagers
pay attention to what they do as if their life depends on it
love them like a parent,
like them like a friend
take time for them do things they want to do, not just things you want to do
sacrifice for the cause
pray instead of sleeping
know what they are doing and who they are talking to
audit your cell phone bill OFTEN
be their friend on facebook
pray without ceasing and fast when needed
make their interests YOUR interests
become friends with their friends
ask God for discernment and use it take time for them encourage them in what is right remind them that being right with God is more important than being cool with their friends
remind them sometimes if they need new friends
have household rules not suggestions
don’t waiver on what God says is right
tell them you love them OFTEN and make sure they know it is true
remember the goal is to live for the Kingdom not for the flesh
hold them accountable
teach them responsibility, especially during the summer months, summer does not mean “free for all” remind them we are to change the world not have it change us
remind them of eternity
LOVE them, LOVE them, LOVE them
Remember we are raising young people to become adults who will contribute to God’s Kingdom and the community around them.
added note- as a parent I am not here to be Hitler in my young people’s lives, my goal is not to govern them but rather to be an Aaron, holding their arms up and encouraging them to follow God’s voice. We are all on the same side.

Fun phonics game

http://www.clicknkids.com Both of my children are really enjoying this program and if you use my e-mail address, they will give you a discount: jewess4jesus@ca.rr.com

Happy and Healthy Kids in a Crazy World--Intro

I wrote this on my old blog in 2007 and wanted to reiterate it here:

All my life, I grew up thinking that someday, I would be "somebody." We women are taught from the time that we are in elementary school that we can be anything a man can be and more. Then, we spend thousands of dollars, time and energy in universities studying for a profession. We may even get to work in that profession for a while. But once we have children, everything changes...

Yes, we can continue to work and many women do for various reasons BUT something suffers. Usually BOTH work and homelife are compromised. In addition, women are stressed, tired and their health is at risk. Now the choice that I was blessed to choose (because I know some women do not have a choice) was stay home and be there as much as I can for my children.

A woman is so excited when she has a baby. As soon as she is pregnant, she looks forward to having that child in her arms. What she doesn't realize is how much her life changes after that baby. From waking up in the middle of the night to feed the baby repeatedly, to changing stinking diapers, to running in and out of the shower quickly because the baby is crying for you, to not being able to even go to the bathroom alone--it is an adjustment to say the least. One, most of us are not prepared for.

In addition, most of us don't live near our families anymore. Personally, living on the westcoast is across the continent from my parents in NYC. However, even those that do live near our family have a hard time getting along with them around the children. Why? Because our parents learned things differently then we did and do things differently. My mother didn't breastfeed at all. She was told formula was superior. She can't understand why I breastfeed. She thinks I am "crazy." My grandmother-in-law was taught to let babies cry because it is good for the lungs, even when they are newborn and even when they are hungry! One family member says to make the child finish everything on their plate and the other family member says not to. One grandparent wants to give the child candy to make them their friend and the other is complaining how "chubby" the child's getting.

So how can we produce happy and healthy kids is a world that doesn't even know what that looks like?

Stay tuned as I share more ideas.......

www.juiceplus.com/+rg67124