Musical homeschoolers

All of my kids are musically talented. My 13 yr old plays clarinet and oboe for her college, my 12 yr old plays trumpet, baritone, and tenor sax. Both play piano/keyboard and are learning organ. Our other 4 kids are under 7, and so, too young to start formal instrumental lessons. Everyone gets the instrument of their choice and instruction on how to play it on their eight birthday. Personally, I play clarinet and saxophone well enough to preform. I still have functional knowledge of flute, cello and bassoon. In the spirit of trying to fit in with this musical family he married into, my husband is teaching himself to play electric guitar- with our help.

Since my 12 yr old came back to homeschooling in January, she's been missing the daily band thing. Sure, she practices her trumpet every day and she pulls out my tenor sax a couple times a week, but there's something special about making music with a group of friends. So, we started searching for a homeschool band. The closest group meets 4X a week for an hour each day -- 2 hours from us.

That's to much driving for me.

So, we've decided to do a couple of things - first off we're forming our own trio. 12 year old on trumpet, 13 yr old on clarinet or oboe - depending on the tune, and me on either tenor sax or clarinet, again depending on the tune. We've got a handful of local coffee shops and town events where we can preform.

Finding music for our little group has been a challenge. So- we decided to write our own. I did a lot of writing in high school and college, I've taught my kids a bit of theory and this is the perfect opportunity to teach them to compose. I'm looking forward to this. I gave up performing when I had kids - couldn't make the time commitment anymore. Since the day my oldest was born, I've dreamed of making music with my babies and getting back in front of an audience to share our love and talent with anybody who wants to listen. And it looks like I'll get my chance. Both girls are excited by the idea of performing with mom.

I'm also thinking about starting a community band for other homeschoolers and parents in our area. We live in a small town, though and I'm not sure how much interest there will be.

More Homeschool Regulation!?

Recently in Nebraska LB1411 was introduced to the state legislature by Senator DiAnna Shimek of District 27 (Lincoln) .

Here is a link to the 12 page bill: http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB1141.pdf

If it passes, this asinine bill will require, among other things, that homeschoolers in Nebraska be forced to take and pass to the state's satisfaction, the same standardized tests as Nebraska's public school kids. Kids who do not pass the state mandated testing can be forced into public school *against the wishes of the parents*.

Hello?!! I thought this was the United States. I was under the impression that we, as parents, have not only the right, but the *responsibility* to decide make decisions for our children based on what is best for them. The Nebraska Constitution ensures liberty for all citizens. When were parents excluded from that?

There are some who argue the law is intended to protect those kids whose parents claim to homeschool, but don't. Okay, I suppose this happens. Although in my 13 years of homeschooling I have never met a family who claimed they homeschooled and then neglected the education of their children.

Some say that all children should be held to the same standards and accountability methods. I think we, as a society, have forgotten that it is the *schools* who are supposed to be accountable to the *parents*, not the other way around. When I made the decision to homeschool my kids, I chose not to give the state authority over the education of my children.

Some claim that parents are not qualified to educate their own children. Raising and educating your children is the definition of parenting. Giving birth, or fathering a child does not make you a parent. *Parenting* makes you a parent. Who are you to tell me that I am not qualified to parent my child?

I, alone am responsible for the growth and education of my children. I spend many hours each week planning and researching our curricula and the materials we use. I know exactly what concepts each of my children understands, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I hand pick our topics, curricula, and materials based on the educational needs and abilities of each child. I don't need to subject my kids to tests in order to assess what they know and don't know. And I will allow no one, including the state to dictate how my children should be raised or what and how they should be taught.

My 6 kids all have their own strengths. My 13 yr old is a full time college student, in a top ranked school. She holds a 4.0 GPA. She was homeschooled. My 12 yr old recently scored in the 95 percentile and higher in every subject tested by the Stanford Achievement Test. And my 5 yr old reads and does math at and end of first grade level. These three kids could take any standardized test and do well. However, my 6 yr old stepson has moderate language and learning delays, most likely caused by things his bio mom did during pregnancy. My stepson struggles for each and everything he achieves. Granted, he is reading and doing math on a solid first grade level. He has demonstrated to me that he can do first, and sometimes even second grade work. But put him in a testing situation and it is very likely he'd have trouble following the directions, let alone completing the test in a way that demonstrates his true ability. Same for my 5 year old step daughter.

Why should my challenged kids be forced into school simply because they do not test well?

Let's look at the state of young people today. In a generation practically raised by state in context of the public school system, drugs, teen pregnancy, crime, and blatant disrespect for others is common.

It's time for the government to stop trying to raise our kids for us and let parents *be parents*

Starting the Countdown

My 12 yr old dd comes back to homeschooling next Tuesday. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous. She's in 6th grade but, like her older sister, operates at a much higher social, emotional and intellectual level.

The first thing I'm going to need to do is evaluate her strengths and weaknesses in reading, spelling, comprehension, math, geography, and sciences. She's a straight "A" student in school and just scored in the 99 percentile in all subjects on the national standardized tests she took at the beginning of this school year. So, it's important that I find her strong and weak points so we can address them.

There are two projects the boys are waiting to start with her.

First, each kid will make their own books about the different continents. The smaller kids will include continent, location, list of countries in that continent, languages spoken, and any other information that interests them. My older daughter will include things like types of governments on the continent, customs common to the continent and a little about the history.

Later, we'll do books and presentations on each country.

We will also be starting our dinosaur/ prehistoric board game. We're planning 2 or 3 levels so that the game gets harder as you play.

I guess I'm most concerned about keeping her in band. My 12 yr old plays trumpet, baritone and saxophone. She's in band at school, but will not be allowed to continue band, because of state law. I'm working with one of our homeschool groups to form a homeschool band. We're also looking into college band next year sometime. I'm not sure how that will go just yet, though.

She's already started taking Chinese through an online program, although she's not had the time to dedicate to the language that she'd like.

One week from tomorrow will be her first day back to homeschooling. She's been in public school for almost 4 years now. I wonder how much she remembers about our old homeschool routine and how much she knows about the routine we have now. Her brothers adore her and will be thrilled to have her home with them.

Although, I worry about my 5 yr old step daughter. She will remain in school, perhaps indefinitely. Her negative behaviors are so much less at school that we've decided maybe a school environment is better for her, at least through high school. I'm concerned about how she will feel being the only child in our family who is not taught at home. She tends to be very jealous of the other kids as it is, especially when it comes to academic things. Things are liable to get more difficult with her as she starts to understand that my 12 yr old is really going to homeschool.

Gluten Free and MSG Free Recipes

Just a note for those who are exploring the gluten free and msg free lifestyle... I have put together a booklet of 10 recipes using gluten free and msg free ingredients.

The featured recipe of this booklet is my GF Chocolate Drizzle Cake. This is the perfect chocolate cake for anytime you need an an elegant and delicious gluten free cake. Also included in this booklet are recipes for GF Tuna Burgers, Enchilada Pie, Yummy Chocolate Mousse, and 6 other kid tested and approved gf and msg free versions of everyday foods.

This booklet Gluten Free and MSG Free for LIFE! booklet 1 is the first in a series of booklets to help families avoid gluten and msg for optimal health.

Booklet cost is $5. payable through PayPal.
If you are a member of MW, TWM, low dose naltrexone or mscured on yahoogroups, please contact me for discount information.

To order, or for more information, send an email to orders@atlanteanproductions.com

Homeschooling meets politics

For those who are interested, (and those who are not) .. I am now blogging on various homeschool topics and how they relate to Presidential Candidate Dr. Ron Paul.
You can find the blog here http://www.ronpaul2008.com/homeschoolers/

I hope to see you visit there. And if you have a specific topic you'd like to see covered, feel free to leave a comment on THIS blog about it. Comments are not enabled on the Homeschoolers for Ron Paul list, and I have no control over that.

In the meantime, what are you doing to use the upcoming primary elections to teach your children about the process? Political ideology aside, our system works best when we all get involved. The future of America depends upon how well we teach our children now.

... and back to homeschooling...

I've discovered that 6 yr old may have a problem retaining what he's learned. During our morning reading I started asking the boys about dinosaurs and planets.. we learned about herbivores and carnivores and theories on why the dinos died out, along with the names of all the planets about 2 months ago. When we finished those units, both boys could define several history words associated with dinosaurs and they could name all the planets in order (including Pluto.. bad mommy....lol)

This morning when I quizzed them 5 yr old spouted off the dino stuff like we'd done it yesterday, and he remembered all the planet names, although not in order.

6 yr old.. not so much.. he was totally lost.. like he'd never heard any of these words before .

I felt so bad for him. I could see on his face that he KNEW he should know this but he just could not remember a thing...

So.. we're going to back track just a bit and do a joint project. My boys love playing board games... so we're going to design and create our very own board game about dinosaurs. After it's made, the boys and I can play it repeatedly until 6yr old starts retaining some of this.

I think we'll do something similar with the planet studies.. maybe a trivia game of some sort.

Math and reading are going well. 6 yr old does really well learning reading from a spelling point of view. He's becoming more fluent every day.

absolutely hilarious

my husband just sent me this link

http://www.lewrockwell.com/fisk/fisk29.html

ldn for Autism

LDN or low dose naltrexone is a medication that helps regulate the immune system. Personally, I take it for my multiple sclerosis and have seen wonderful, life changing results.

There is a theory that some Autism and Autism-like disorders are caused or contributed by an unregulated or over active immune system. That is why dietary changes can help reduce the symptoms of autism in some people. There are several doctors throughout the US who regularly prescribe ldn for their patients with autism.

We've started my 6 yr old stepson on ldn. (he has either Asperger's or Autism with ADHD and impulse control difficulties) And he's doing wonderfully! His speech and general language has improved tremendously, as has his ability to concentrate and pay attention to his school work. Even his reading abilities have seen improvement. He seems to understand more, is able to follow conversations better and has better impulse control. His negative behaviors have decreased dramatically because he can now understand and communicate with us a lot better.

Before ldn, he was hyper, with almost no attention span. He had almost no impulse control and I had to watch him do everything and provide verbal prompts to help keep him on task. Eating breakfast and brushing teeth used to take him over an hour because he would get so side tracked. If he eats gluten or msg it's even worse. Since he started the ldn he gets up, gets dressed and comes down for breakfast. Makes his cereal and eats it. Then simply puts his bowl in the sink and goes off to brush his teeth and hair. Sounds like a simple thing, doesn't it? And for most of us it is, but for my stepson morning routine was difficult and took real concentration to accomplish. Most pre lnd days he could not do this without lots of verbal prompting.

There are a couple doctors specializing in Autism who use ldn to treat it with wonderful results. There have been cases of "cured Autism" with ldn and dietary changes. For more info check out Autism_LDN@yahoogroups.com

Easy, Yummy Gluten free cupcakes

Since our family is gluten free, we look for unique, tasty treats to celebrate birthdays. In the past we've had birthday fruit mountains, gf birthday desert pizzas, birthday ice cream cakes (molded and decorated ice cream), just to name a few. I don't do gf cakes because I haven't found one yet that everybody likes.

I did, however, find this wonderful recipe for gluten free cupcakes. These were so good they didn't even have a chance to cool before they disappeared. I've made few adjustments to the recipe I found on Fitness Freebies to suit my family's taste, but this is just a great recipe.

Ingredients -

1 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (make sure the brand you use is gluten free)
3/4 cup butter
6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

Line 12 muffin cups with baking liners. You may skip this step if using silicone muffin pans.

Cut butter into slices and place in microwave safe bowl, add chocolate. Microwave on full power for 45 seconds, stir. Repeat at 30 second intervals until chocolate and butter are melted and well blended.

Add Vanilla and cinnamon,. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar. Blend well.

Gently stir chocolate mixture into egg yolks. Mix well. Set aside

In large bowl, beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar together until hard peaks form. This should take about 2 minutes with an electric mixer on high.

Gently fold chocolate mixture into egg whites until well blended.

Fill muffin cups with a scant 1/2 cup of batter.

Bake for 30 min.

Cool completely before removing from muffin tins.

Frost as desired.

Makes 12 cup cakes.