An Eagle's Nest Homeschool and Travel Resources

Homeschool mom/book author shares frugal resources for family,educational, travel,unit studies,special needs, teens,high school, distance education,college, health,freebies(preschool - young adult),debt-free living,writer’s,bio-ethics,science,creationism, intelligent design,evolution,Biblical worldview curriculum sources,book reviews, "Educational Travel on a Shoestring," "Homeschooling on a Shoestring," Practical Homeschooling magazine columnist.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Sister's Keeper--Tear Jerker Article in Reader's Digest

Do you love someone who struggles with health or learning challenges? Read this Reader's Digest article:

"Jeff and Molly Daly were separated as children when she was sent to an institution. Now, they're making up for lost time," at
http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.docontentId=21766&wtGroup=HWREDIRECT&wtID=molly .

I must warn you; prepare to cry.

Monday, February 27, 2006

4H, Science and Nature Study

This week we're checking into 4H for one of our teens, who has always been interested in biology. You can find inexpensive science education resources through your local 4H program. You can join an already existing 4H group, or set up one just for your own family. Check out the national website, at http://www.4-h.org/, to find your local 4H group.

Here's another resource for science and nature study. "Celebrating Wildflowers" is an annual event sponsored by Federal Resource agencies (the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service) and their corporate, civic, and private partners to share the fascinating heritage of America's wildflowers with the public, to increase awareness of this unusual resource, and to promote its conservation. Print and accurately color more than 300 line drawings of wildflowers on this site, along with drawings or coloring guide for each plant.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/urban/flowers.htm .

Think Spring!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Happy President's Day: Holiday Unit Study Freebies

How can you use America's holidays to inexpensively teach history to your children? Your only essential expenses will be a yearly calendar and a libray card. You can also find free resources on the internet. Check out the link, or search http://www.yahoo.com , or your favorite search engine. Try keywords such as "Christian holiday homeschool President's Day."

Here's a brief summary for home learning on a shoestring through holidays, listing samples of historical figures and dates for further research:

September: Labor Day honors the value of hard work, rewarded by rest and play. Peter J. McGuire, the founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, first suggested a national holiday to honor working people. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day an official national holiday. As a sideline, you and your children may wih to study the history of labor, unions, and what the Bible has to say about work and industry.

October: Every school child knows "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." To really understand America, we must understand Columbus and his times. His own diary, in his own words, is one of the most revealing ways to research him.

November is replete with learning opportunities. Election Day is usually meaningless to children. But this need not be so. The most obvious way to study Election Day is not to read about it, but to bring children with you when you vote. You may wish to show your youngsters articles in the paper before and after the election, and discuss your views at the dinner table. Books on the political parties, the Constitution, and the branches of government may help answer their questions.

Veteran's Day: How many children really relate this holiday to their personal experience? In fact, how many even know what it means to be a veteran? On Veteran's Day, we honor the sacrifices made for freedom, and if we want to remain free, we must pass these ideals to our children. We are entering the second "me" generation, which appears to worship moral relatviity. It is becomeig difficult to explain why a person would be willing to die for abstract concepts like freedom and country. Thankfully, veterans still abound, and many will gladly talk about their experiences and patriotism, if approached respectfully. You may wish your child to film, record, or write a report on the volunteer.

Is Thanksgiving a holiday honoring turkeys? We may appreciate our turkey, but what use is a thankful heart, when we can't say "thank you," to someone? Certainly the turkey can't appreciate it, or say, "You're welcome." When the Pilgrims and Native Americans clebrated the first American Thanksgiving in 1621, no one wondered who deserved the praise. George Washington, in 1789, issued a general proclamation for a day of thanks. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the famous "Godey's Lady's Book," vigorously promoted a national Thanksgiving holiday. Finally, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a national "Day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficient Father."

December: Most churches distribute Advent studies, available inexpensively or for free. With a story and a moral for each day, they may be read to the family before supper or bedtime, by a parent or an older child. Christmas, Advent, and Hanukkah traditions abound, and are too numerous to mention here. Ceremonies may prove powerful teaching tools, illustrating abstract concepts through concrete items such as candles and figures. The trick is to carefuly explain the true meaning to each succeeding generation. Otherwise, tradition becomes rote, eventurally losing all meaning.

January: New Year's Day-a day of new beginnings, and resolutions. Perhaps a time to review family and national history, and set new goals for study and work.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, although a relatively recent holiday, celebrates more than the life of one man. Martin Luther King's "dream" can become reality in our own children, as we emphasize the value of each individual human life, created in the image of God.

February: A nation with a holiday like Valentine's Day must revere true love, right? No, not the kind we see most often in modern media entertainment. St. Valentine, an early Christian martyr, gave his life for the love of his Savior and Creator. Even young children enjoy sounds and language, and will enjoy studying the various ancient Greek words for love. True "agape" love (in Greek) is a sacrificial love. "Greater love has no one than this..."(John 15:13)

President's Day commemorates more than Lincoln and Washington, and we can study, and honor all of our founders and leaders, past and present.

March: You may wish to research the exciting life of St. Patrick; there's more to March 17 than leprechauns, and shamrocks contain a deeper truth. Also, palm branches are still used by many churches for praise and worship on Palm Sunday. This is a great opportunity for a study on other cultural traditions.

April: We can read all about Passover, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, in the Old and New Testaments. Again, it is easy to get so steeped in our tradions of egg hunts and family dinners, that we assume our children understand the meaning of holidays.

May: Is Memorial Day just an excuse to open the swimming pools and start vacation season? One may think so. Still, we can carry on a tradition of honoring and remembering our ancestors. We can even use this holiday to visit graves and pull out the photo albums, geneology records, and videos. History starts with your family, and as a wise person once said, "If you go back far enough, everyone is related to everyone else." Another "M" holiday, is for moms. She deserves a break any day you want to celebrate.

June: Bring back the "F" holidays: Flag Day and Father's Day. We can bring honor for both, not just one day out of the year. Kids need fathers, every day! Fathers need and deserve respect, even more than they need ties. How about just for one day, dad gets to do what he wants to do?

July: Do our kids know what those fireworks on July 4th symbolize? It's a great time to read the Declaration of Independence, and the original writings of its signers.

August: In August our country is too busy traveling about the country to celebrate holidays. But you can make up your own, by recording and writing about your vacations, past and present. Celebrate growth, learning and life!

Please don't feel slighted if I left out your favorite holiday. Many calendars record our country's reverance for prayer (National Day of Prayer), humor (April Fools Day) the Bible (Bible Sunday), Children's Day (but every day is Children's Day!) , and even bosses and secretaries. Yes, and our society also glorifies Halloween--but miss the day after, All Saints Day. Originally Halloween was called All Hallows Eve. The traditinal holiday honors saints and martyrs from history. And of course there are hundreds of other holidays, many of which your family may wish to investigate. Federal, state and local governments constantly declare this day or that day.

Pick your favorite holiday. Students of all ages can work simultaneously on holiday projects, at their own level. Write a report, draw a picture, do a historical time line, compose or sing a song, give a play. You may even be able to use math: Is there something about the holiday to measure or count? How old is the holiday?

Often it is a bit difficult to get past modern hype and commercialism. The best place to find the real, uncensored meaning of any holiday is in the actual documents, sometimes difficult to find at any price. If you are researching a historical figure, and you can't find his original writings (search on the internet), have you tried asking your librarian to check their inter-libary loan system? Also, used bookstores will often perform a search for a particular book. Be sure to inquire about any search fees upfront.

Don't give up on holidays! You and your children can discover a world of true-life heroes, excitement, bravery, and achievement. The Santa Claus down at the mall may wear a fake beard and pillow under his jolly red suit, but St. Nicholas (Sinter Klaas in Dutch)really lived in the middle ages, and fought to pass laws protecting the sanctity of human life. St. Patrick actually used a shamrock to teach the Itish about the trinity. Holidays are about real people, and we can use thier lives as examples of vaues which we revere.

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." (Ecclesiasiases 3:1)

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

What's a Mother to Do--Valentine's Day

What's a Mother to Do?

During Christmas vacation I happened to watch a little daytime television one day (gasp!), which is something new for me. I'm not even sure why I did it. I started watching this program that had a doctor as host, and the guests were an unhappy married couple. The mom had several small children at home, and the dad constantly criticized her housekeeping.

After watching this sad drivel for awhile, and wondering why in the world anyone would want their own personal business paraded on national t.v., I turned it off out of embarrassment. But it started me thinking. What's a mother to do?

Later, my husband borrowed a movie, the Incredibles (see http://www.theincredibles.com ), from the library. The movie itself wasn't relevant to this topic, but on the bonus disk, we got to see the discarded vignette of the movie heroine defending motherhood as a much harder and more important job than saving the world.

Cool stuff, and nice that they included it in the bonus disk, even if it wasn't kept in the flick. (If you haven't checked out the bonus stuff on the Incredibles DVD, you might also enjoy a cute cartoon extra called "Boundin," that features a wise jackolope and a pitiful lamb.)

So, what does it really mean to be a homemaker and mother? Certainly the world's idea of striving for the most perfectly clean home with gourmet dinners every night is a hollow goal. What's really important?

What is a mother to do?

Anyone who looks at marriage and parenthood from the world's standards will have a hard time "getting" God's plan. The Bible depicts a wife and mother as "a help-meet," a companion, a keeper at home, an equal heir to the promises of God, a teacher of her children, and in Proverbs 31, a talented craftsperson and savvy businesswoman. These may look like contradictions, on the surface, but they are not. Yes, a mother takes care of the needs of her family, but oh, so much more than "just" a housewife!

God has created women and men with obvious differences, yet they are complementary in nature. No woman can be the perfect Proverbs 31 wife, as the Bible says "An excellent wife, who can find?" Each man and woman has their own individual talents and gifts; no one will be equally talented in every area. I have close friends who are talented in cooking and sewing, while I have little talent or interests in those areas. Through the help of the Lord, and my family, I've been able to use God-given gifts in language arts. We don't eat fancy, but my family doesn't starve.

What's a mother to do?

I read what is clear in God's Word:
"Seek first the kingdom of God," and whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord...with His help I am:

Writing books and blogs
Wiping up spilled messes
Grading tests
Dealing with sibling squabbles
Disguising leftovers
Allowing natural consequences
Asking "Why did you do this?"
Doing the laundry
Dealing with insurance companies
Helping my little one make Valentines
Getting ready to go out on a date with my husband--my teens are babysitting!


Wheeee....What are you doing today?

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Crusaders in Current Events

If you and your family keep up with current events, you've probably noticed that Islamic terorists frequently refer to American soldiers and their allies as "Crusaders." Yes, the Crusades, part of current events! What are American schools teaching kids about the historical controversy regarding the crusades? Consider the essay "Crusade Propaganda," written by Thomas F. Madden, a professor of history at Saint Louis University (in St. Louis, Missouri), and coauthor of The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople (1997 by the University of Pennsylvania Press) and the author of A Concise History of the Crusades.
Madden writes, "Now put this down in your notebook, because it will be on the test: The crusades were in every way a defensive war. They were the West's belated response to the Muslim conquest of fully two-thirds of the Christian world. While the Arabs were busy in the seventh through the tenth centuries winning an opulent and sophisticated empire, Europe was defending itself against outside invaders and then digging out from the mess they left behind. Only in the eleventh century were Europeans able to take much notice of the East. The event that led to the crusades was the Turkish conquest of most of Christian Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The Christian emperor in Constantinople, faced with the loss of half of his empire, appealed for help to the rude but energetic Europeans. He got it. More than he wanted, in fact."
If you and your family are studying the history of the middle ages, it makes sense to include a unit study on the crusades. Like it or not, our enemies are still fighting against Christianity--not just against America. Learn more about how our nation's textbooks are distoring the truth about the crusades, at http://www.textbookleague.org/121hakm.htm.
Once again...and that's why we homeschool.
 

The Eagle's Nest: " As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings..."--De 32:11

 

 

Homeschool, Free and Frugal

Feedburner: Subscribe to this Blog for Free

Unit studies, Homeschooling Special Needs, Teens, Homeschooling High School, Distance Education and Homeschool College Information

View About Me and E-Bay

BEE a Healthy Homeschool and Travel and Homeschooling Tips

Copyright © 1997-2007 All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or redistribution without prior written consent prohibited. Contact us for information about "Educational Travel on a Shoestring Resource Guide," a clickable, electronic resource guide in pdf format. Address reprint requests and other inquiries to:

  • An Eagle's Nest Homeschool
  • , Post Office Box 132373, Columbus, OH 43213-9373; 740-964-5575; school@NOMORESPAMeaglesnesthome.com (To contact us, remove "NOMORESPAM" from the e-mail address above. Thanks for helping us reduce internet spam.)

    Christian Book Distributors offers a huge selection of bargain-priced homeschool and educational resources and books, including "Educational Travel on a Shoestring," by Judith Waite Allee and Melissa L. Morgan. Portions of your purchases help support this web site. Thank you!

    View Our Guidelines