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Do You Have a Clam in Critical Condition?

By Heather Idoni

Added Monday, November 05, 2007

==========================================================
The Homeschooler's Notebook
Encouragement and Advice for Homeschool Families
==========================================================
Vol. 8 No 86 November 5, 2007
ISSN: 1536-2035
==========================================================
Copyright (c) 2007 - Heather Idoni, FamilyClassroom.net
==========================================================

Welcome to the Homeschooler's Notebook!
If you like this newsletter, please recommend it to a friend!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=================
IN THIS ISSUE:
=================

Notes from Heather
-- A Clam in Critical Condition
Helpful Tips
-- Modeling the Brain
Resource Review
-- Young Patriots Series
Additional Notes
-- Searchable Archive
-- Our Email Group
-- Sponsorship Information
-- Reprint Information
-- Subscriber Information

=======================
Notes from Heather
=======================

One Reader's "Don't Kill the Clam" Story

[Thanks Michelle, for being willing to share! Reading this
could help another mom recognize and avoid the same mistake.
(((Hugs))) to you! - Heather]

---

"Oh, my! I was KILLING THE CLAM for a few months with my youngest
-- then 4 years old. She is an auditory learner, but I am visual.
So I did not know what that looked -- actually sounded -- like.

I regularly read to my children out loud. The curriculum I use
is advanced (Sonlight) as far as the topics covered and words
used in our read-alouds. My youngest loved to be a part of all
this though. So I would read a paragraph and several minutes
later my youngest would ask a question about something, that at
this point I had read almost 7 to 10 minutes ago. I found this
to be so irritating! We had already read it, and probably dis-
cussed it to some degree. Why was she asking me more questions
or repeating what we said?!

My friend explained that auditory learners do this -- repeat
details, read to themselves out loud, ask lots of questions,
laugh, and repeat things they found funny many, many times.

I stopped getting mad at her as soon as I realized my HUGE mis-
take, but I fear some of the damage is done. She will often
start to talk to me, regardless of what I am doing. If I miss
part of it, and ask her to repeat it she will say 'Never mind'.
No amount of pleading will encourage or convince her to share
it with me again. It breaks my heart." -- Michelle L. in Oregon

---

Do you have a CLAM experience? Please share! If you don't know
what this is, last issue had a news article that might give some
insight! You can read it here:

http://www.familyclassroom.net/Articles20074/20071102.html

---

Send your emails to: heather@familyclassroom.net


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

================
Helpful Tip
================

Modeling the Brain and Nervous System

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmodel.html

"This is a wonderful website! The projects are fun, relatively
easy, but still impart the important principles of the anatomy
lesson. The projects on this site are:

Make a Neuron
Beady Neuron (like a 'Bead Buddy' project)
Pipe Cleaner Neuron
String Neuron
Rope Neuron
Neuron Costume
Neuron in a Bag: An Edible Project
Simple Neuron Project
Model a Brain
Jello Brain: An Edible Project
Make the Bones of the Spinal Column
Color a Brain (Coloring Page)
and many, many, more.

There are several craft-type projects that illustrate the
complexity of the brain and how it operates. I give this
website a five star rating for fun and educational value!

-- Kathy Martinez - http://www.EasyFunSchool.com (2002 Review)

---

Do you have an idea, experience, or tip to share? Please write!
Send to: HN-ideas@familyclassroom.net


==================
Resource Review
==================

Young Patriots Series
Publisher: Patria Press
For more information or to order: www.patriapress.com

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling has been revisiting
all of the wonderful stories from history as my children and I
snuggle on the couch to read aloud. I am always on the lookout
for living books, which allow us to immerse ourselves in a time
period rather than just memorizing facts and dates then moving
on. The 'Young Patriots Series' are biographies that provide a
unique perspective into the lives of famous Americans - their
lives as children.

Driven by her own love of books, publisher Florrie Binford Kichler
has 'dusted off' the original Childhood of Famous Americans series
published nearly 50 years ago and given a whole new generation of
children a chance to read these timeless stories. Of course, any
time a classic text is brought back into print these days, it
seems to only become a watered-down version of the original. I
was relieved to find that the books in the Young Patriots Series
have all retained their original language. The publisher has given
the original 'orange biographies' beautiful, new covers and delight-
ful illustrations - all while staying historically accurate. To
further enhance the enjoyment and the educational value of this
series, the publisher has provided free 'Teacher's Guides and Web-
quests' for each title on their website.

Available in both hardcover and paperback editions, the Young
Patriots Series features both well-known as well as lesser-known
figures in history. In addition to the captivating story lines,
the publisher has added new features for each title including
timelines of events in the subject's life and 'What Happened Next',
which provides a brief summary of their accomplishments as adults.
In order to appreciate someone's contributions it helps to know
how their lives were shaped through their unique family relation-
ships, time in history, and circumstances. From reading these
wonderful stories, our children can learn that even their heroes
started out as normal kids who got into mischief, squabbled with
siblings, and had to do schoolwork!

There are currently 9 titles in the Young Patriot Series with
more being added. Currently children can read about the childhood
adventures of Amelia Earhart, William Henry Harrison, Lew Wallace,
Juliette Low, James Whitcomb Riley, Eddie Rickenbacker, Mahalia
Jackson, George Rogers Clark and John Adams. I had the chance to
review several of these titles and recently finished reading
'George Rogers Clark, Boy of the Northwest Frontier'. To be
honest, I didn't even know that the famous Clark of the Lewis
and Clark expedition had an older brother who was a key figure
in the shaping of our nation! The classic text is rich and color-
ful while remaining easy for children ages 8-12 to understand
and enjoy.

If you want your kids to be truly inspired while reading quality
literature, then you'll want to give the 'Young Patriots Series'
a try!

-- Cindy Prechtel - http://www.HomeschoolingFromTheHeart.com

===============================
Last Issue's Reader Question
===============================

Since we didn't have a reader question last issue, I'm including
some new answers that came in late for Trish's question that was
answered in the 10/29 issue of the newsletter. She had written
asking for advice in making the decision to homeschool her son.
If you want to re-read the question you can find it here:

http://www.familyclassroom.net/Articles20074/20071029.html


=========================
Our Readers' Responses
=========================

"I have home schooled my 2 ADHD daughters, ages 13 and 11, for 7
years. We school during the day while their medication is still
in effect, which results in minimized struggles. We do not
usually require work late in the day because they do their best
work earlier in the day.

In the beginning I was a very reluctant home school mom -- until
I realized how hard it was for my daughter when she was in the
first grade. After I brought her home, she began to flourish.
She is extremely gifted with creativity, which is down-played in
a school setting. Schools are more concerned with children fit-
ting into a mold that makes it easy for them to teach a large
group of children. The Lord has made each of us the way he wants
us. Some of us just don't fit into the typical school model.
For instance, Albert Einstein didn't fit. Neither did Thomas
Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Cyrus McCormick, Winston Churchill,
Benjamin Franklin, Irving Berlin, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain,
Agatha Christie, Pearl S. Buck, Florence Nightengale, Albert
Schweitzer, Clara Barton, and Martha Washington. As you can see,
it didn't hamper these individuals' creativity. It most likely
enhanced it!

Our girls are turning out very well. They both take piano and
one is passionate about becoming a fashion designer. The other
is very interested in becoming a chef. If they had been in a
typical school with their learning differences, neither of them
would have had time to discover their passions. There is just
too much time spent in school and doing homework when they come
home. They would have very little free time to discover their
interests, much less invest time in them. It's a blessing to
home school my children and I am grateful for every minute!

One question to reflect on: Who would make sure your son has
what he needs most -- a teacher who has a class of 20 students
that she barely knows -- or his mom or dad who knows him so well
and loves him so much? Blessings to you!" -- Virginia in Texas

---

"Trish -- Go for it! Sounds like the system is not working for
your wonderful son! I really don't buy into the labeling or
drug pushing to calm our children down. Frankly, they are look-
ing for a means to control so our children are obedient to follow
instead of leading or rather marching to their own drum. Finding
the interests your child enjoys is where your learning or 'calm'
will come from. Not all of us are made to learn traditionally or
'classroom style'. That's where home educating is of utmost
importance. You can discover what makes your son go. Is his
interest in cars or planes? There is history, science, math and
reading to discover in this one subject. Find what he enjoys and
take him to the library and find anything and everything you can
on the subject. Then open up the materials and read TOGETHER!
This is where you must make a commitment to your child. When you
engage interest in your son, he will see that he is important
and want to succeed. In my own experience, I have found that our
child enjoyed our company and enjoyed learning together rather
than given something to complete. We have succeeded beyond years.
My son didn't have a voice until almost six and he was this jump-
ing bean all over the place. Everyone wanted to put him on
Ritalin, place him in 'special' classes, and kick me out from his
view. That's when I realized they were going to ruin his charac-
ter and his loving soul that just needed individual direction.
So I decided that we were going to learn together. My son (now 13)
is non-stop talker -- he knows everything! HA! That's a teenager.
Every chance he gets, he's reading in books or searching his
interests on the computer. My son loves to learn! We have tradi-
tional learning -- math, history, science, and lots of reading.
We concentrate on spelling and grammar and I always encourage
writing -- but oral views are just as beautifully done. Building
character is the most important goal for our educating. The point
is to be a part of your child's journey to be a leader in life,
march to his own drum, build character that is strong in self and
God. Be there for your child. Parenting isn't for wimps! On
those 'days', which I know you will have, be smarter than I and
call it a day. Go to the park and run like the wind! There will
be moments of learning there -- with tree and animal life, etc.
Pack a few sandwiches and a blanket and take a magnifying glass
to look beyond what your eyes see. If you don't have a computer,
go to the library. Look into the community for resources. And
don't let anyone tell you that you can't be the best educator for
your son. You know him for all his strengths and weaknesses.
Pick the battles that are really necessary -- and most of all --
enjoy every moment you have together because they do count.
Cherish your gift from God and lead him towards character. The
rest will fall into place. God bless you on your incredible
journey!" -- Jennifer in CA


=========================
Answer our NEW Question
=========================

"I am researching high school electives right now and by that I
mean besides extra math, science and other core classes. Can
anyone recommend good, affordable home economics courses and
beginning machine sewing? What are you doing for your daughters'
high school classes? Thanks for the help." -- Kim

---

Do you have suggestions for Kim?

Please send your answer to: HN-answers@familyclassroom.net


=====================
Ask YOUR Question
=====================

Do you have a question you would like our readers to answer?

Send it to HN-questions@familyclassroom.net and we'll see
if we can help you out in a future issue!


=======================
Need Immediate Help?
=======================

Visit our Homeschool Encouragement Center! This is a live 24/7
'chat' area where you can talk live to our homeschool counselors
by typing in a box. When you get there, just introduce yourself
and let them know that Heather sent you!

This ultra-safe chat is supervised by experienced moms who are
there to serve and share their wisdom... or just offer a listening
ear.

Check out our schedule of daily chats and jump right in! :-)

http://www.HomeschoolChat.us

[Note: This ministry is geared toward Christian parents, but all
are welcome. You may need to download a Java program to utilize
this service. Email Luanne@educationforthesoul.com if you have
any technical difficulties.]


=====================================
Our Searchable Newsletter Archive
=====================================

Access the Homeschool Notebook issues you have missed...
at our archives!

http://www.FamilyClassroom.net

...or you can search on a specific word or phrase in issues all
the way back to January 2001! Just go to this link:

http://hub.thedollarstretcher.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?visit=hs-notebook


==========================
Interactive Email Group
==========================

In an effort to help our readers become more of an interactive
community, we have set up an email loop at YahooGroups called
"Homeschool-Notebook".

Here is the link to sign-up!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homeschool-notebook/


===========================
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
===========================

There are opportunities for you to be a sponsor of this
newsletter. If you are interested, drop an e-mail to
marketing@stretcher.com with "Homeschoolers-Notebook"
as the subject. We'll send you some information on how to
become a part of this ministry!


=====================
ADDITIONAL NOTES
=====================

All contributed articles are printed with the author's prior
consent. It is assumed that any questions, tips or replies to
questions may be reprinted. All letters become the property of
the "Homeschooler's Notebook". [Occasionally your contribution
may have to be edited for space.]

Again, I welcome you to the group! Feel free to send any
contributions to HN-articles@familyclassroom.net or
HN-ideas@familyclassroom.net.

Our main website is:
http://www.familyclassroom.net

We also sponsor an incredible site with over 1,500 pages of helps!
http://www.easyfunschool.com


===========================
REPRINT INFORMATION
===========================

No part of this newsletter (except subscription information
below) may be copied and/or displayed in digital format online
(for instance, on a website or blog) without EXPRESS permission
from the editor. Individuals may, however, forward the newsletter
IN ITS ENTIRETY to *individual* friends (not email groups). For
reprints in paper publications (homeschool support group newsletters,
etc.) please direct your request to: Heather@FamilyClassroom.net

===========================
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