You Know What’s Best
Since the day your child was born, you have been helping him learn.
- You naturally knew when to challenge him a bit and when to let nature take its course.
- You’ve been answering his questions since he was old enough to ask them.
- You’ve helped him explore with a constant eye on building his self-confidence.
Why, then, when our children reach the age of five, do we automatically assume we are no longer qualified to help them learn?
Top 10 Signs You’re Doing a Good Job as a Homeschool Parent
Time is not a factor in homeschooling. Finishing lessons quickly or working on lessons all day long is not an indicator of quality in education. Here, however, are some more important signs that can show that you are doing a great job as a homeschooling parent.
10–Your children think “writing” involves more than a text message on a cell phone.
9–Your children know that the first line of the National Anthem is not “Take me out to the ballgame.”
8–Your children read without being bribed. Or threatened.
7–Your children hear about an interesting science experiment and insist on trying it for themselves, even though they already know the outcome.
6–Your dictionary never collects dust.
5–The TV news mentions a remote country and your children already know where it is located.
4–The TV news mentions a remote country that your children don’t know, and they race each other to the world atlas.
3–People notice that your children get along well with each other.
2–People ask you questions about homeschooling, and your children answer for you.
1–Your children giggle and elbow each other when people ask, “What do you do about socialization?”
Via GFHS
It is Easy!
Our society has done a very good job convincing parents that the experts must take over after their child is of school age. This long-held belief goes back to a time in our history when most parents had little education and could not even help their children learn basic skills, such as reading and writing. This is no longer the case. With the vast amounts of educational products available for home use, parents can provide an education for their child that far exceeds what is available in any public school.
Birdseed for the Elders
I was a new missionary, having arrived just over four weeks earlier. With several unanticipated expenses that first month, no one could blame me for completely running out of money three days before the month ended.
However, Elder Osguthorpe, my senior companion and trainer, had been out 18 months and should have known better than to run out of money. Whether it was principally his fault or mine, here we were: three days to go before funds were expected and no food left in the apartment.
Friday we finished the crumbs, including the dust in the bottom of the Cheerios box. Then, after all the condiments had been eaten, I expressed an idea that I knew would be unpopular but could save us. “Maybe I could call up some members,” I suggested. “If we got one appointment for lunch Saturday, one dinner appointment Saturday evening, then one lunch appointment Sunday, and maybe even a dinner appointment Sunday, the checks will be here Monday and we will be okay.”
As I was afraid he was going to, Elder Osguthorpe quoted President Bankhead, “Elders are not to spend time with the church membership. They are called to teach the gospel, not to fellowship the members.”
My companion offered a counterproposal, “Let’s look everywhere for change: in our footlockers, all pockets of every coat and pants, under the couch cushions…everywhere.” Disappointed that he did not have a more inspiring plan, I began to search. Actually, we did find some coins; maybe this was not such a bad idea after all. Together we came up with one dollar and sixty-seven cents.
“Now what?” I asked. “A dollar sixty-seven won’t buy enough food to get us to Monday – will it?”
“Oh, have a little faith, Elder. The Lord will provide,” announced Elder Osguthorpe confidently as we started out to tract that Saturday morning on empty stomachs. “We should tract that subdivision over near the A&P. Then at noon we can stop at the A&P and buy a dollar-and-sixty-seven-cents-worth of whatever is the best bargain.”
I could think of nothing that $1.67 would possibly purchase that could feed us for two days and wondered whether we were about to live a modern version of the loaves and fishes.
Just after noon we entered the A&P and headed to the produce department to see how many potatoes we could purchase for $1.67. “People can live on potatoes for months,” said Elder Osguthorpe, who had a positive outlook that I was trying hard to share. After weighing out $1.67 worth of spuds, we wondered whether rice might actually be a superior choice and more in keeping with our plan to get the best bargain.
Indeed, we found that A&P sold bulk rice from a bin. Figuring in a hydration factor, it seemed that we would indeed have more food with rice than with spuds, so we weighed out the correct amount of rice and took the potatoes back to the produce section.
Looking back on it, we should have taken the rice directly to the checkout counter, paid for it, and headed home for lunch. However, inexplicably we swerved one aisle over from produce, and there to our right was a display of the A&P annual sale on birdseed. I looked at Elder Osguthorpe and he looked at me. After a few seconds of silence he said, “Elder, don’t even think about it!” However, by then I had picked up a package and was reading the list of ingredients.
“This is just millet, milo, wheat, and some sunflower seeds.” (I didn’t read aloud the part that said “also contains the seed of various weeds.”) “I’ve eaten most of this stuff before,” I said. “And one ingredient is actually mentioned by name in the 89th section. But how are we supposed to eat it? Put it on a plate and peck at it?”
“No, we boil it, just like my mom does with wheat, and we eat it like mush. In fact, we can buy a whole two-pound package of this birdseed for only 65 cents. It’s on sale, and we will have enough money left over for a little sample bottle of honey and a pint of milk.”
We found the honey and milk, and I was correct. We would have two cents left in change. So we took the rice back to the bin, dumped it in, and once again headed to the check-out counter with our groceries.
The lady at the counter gave us the strangest look, but said nothing as she bagged the birdseed, honey and milk. We walked home content, knowing we could survive until Monday.
Birdseed mush is really quite different than wheat mush. By boiling wheat a long time it gets soft and has a nice and fairly even consistency. Since birdseed is made from several types of seeds, the same is not true. When boiled, some birdseed pops into mush right away. Others stay like BBs forever. In fact, if anyone ever asks me, I say that birdseed mush is like oatmeal mush mixed with BBs. With that explanation, I am surely making it sound better than it really is. Stated plainly, birdseed mush is not good. But we ate it – for lunch and again for dinner.
Sunday morning, as usual, we woke up at 6:00 AM for study class and then prepared to go to church. We had some mush left over that we could have eaten for breakfast, but Elder Osguthorpe said he couldn’t even look at it. He suggested that we pretend this was fast Sunday. “What was it you were saying yesterday about calling some members?” he finally asked, and then he added, “I think if I just had one good meal, I could die happy.”
Brother Maycock was a great Sunday school teacher in the Elmira Branch. Before his class began he always asked whether any visitors were present, so they could be introduced and heartily welcomed. He also asked whether there were any announcements that should be made prior to beginning the lesson. That Sunday when he did so, I thought, “This is my chance to save myself and my companion,” and I raised my hand.
“Just…very quickly, Brother Maycock,” I said, a bit more timidly than usual, “Elder Osguthorpe and I will be getting our checks tomorrow, but we ran out of money Friday, except for a dollar and sixty seven cents which we spent for birdseed because it was the best deal at A&P. We made mush out of it, which is what we ate yesterday, and we still have some left but we can’t even look at it – it’s not very good – so if anyone could possibly invite us to dinner today we would be most grateful. Thank you. That’s all.”
It was silent for a while. Then Brother Maycock started to laugh. So did Brother and Sister Gilday, followed quickly by everyone else. Looking back on it, I think that perhaps that brief announcement in Sunday school class changed the relationship between the Elmira Branch and the missionaries. From that day until I was transferred to Palmyra in the spring, we had plenty of dinner invitations, although we were careful not to accept more than one such per week, as President Bankhead said that was the proper limit.
During just about every one of those dinners with a family in the Elmira Branch, the topic of birdseed mush would come up, although we never initiated the conversation. Sometimes the members would put, as appetizers, little blocks of canary seed on our plates, and then they would laugh and laugh.
~ by Robert D. Christensen
The Facts
The facts speak for themselves: Homeschoolers score highest on the SAT college entrance exam – higher than public and private school students. The average homeschooler scored in the 75th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills — the 50th percentile marked the national average.
A Public School Sattire
If you want your child socialized, you will have to send him to school. While he is getting ready, you’ll have to pack his lunch.
When he gets to school, the children will probably stare at him because he isn’t wearing the same brand of jeans.Math will probably be review for him, so he’ll know all the answers. The children will call him “calculator” and the teacher will give him extra worksheets. He’ll probably learn that it is better to stay quiet and pretend not to know the answer.
Halfway through the morning, he’ll start to get bored. He will probably begin to kick his legs, tip his chair and tap his pencil. The teacher will have to move him to the seat next to her desk. He’ll ask when it will be time for break and she’ll remind him to raise his hand. He’ll raise his hand and she’ll tell him it’s time for silent reading. The children will probably giggle and he will just stare at his book.
Finally, it will be time for lunch. The teacher will remind them to keep their hands at their sides, to stay in line and not to talk. They probably won’t be allowed to talk at lunch, either.
Your son will probably sit next to a girl he recognizes from church. She will smile and another boy will whisper to them. Your son may learn a rhyme or two and possibly some new words. She may blush and he will forget not to talk. He probably will shout. The lunch aide will take him to the office.
While he is in the office, you will probably get a phone call. You will find out your son does not know how to interact with his peers, is a disruptive influence and has difficulty concentrating. They will probably ask you if he has ADHD and recommend you take him to a doctor.
When it is time to pick him up, you will probably find him standing alone. He will tell you school was fine, but will refuse to answer any questions. He’ll probably complain of a stomach ache. He’ll probably have too much homework to have time to play with his friends.
And chances are, if you want him to learn social skills, you’ll have to pull him out of school.
Inspired by that great children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (in case you didn’t notice).
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