Expert Advice: Encouraging or Discouraging?

This is an excerpt from my newest book, Homeschooling for the Rest of Us (Bethany House, 2010). This topic was on my mind today and I thought perhaps it would bring encouragement to some of you. Sonya :)

Homeschoolers tell me about the pressure they sometimes feel from the homeschooling experts. Instead of feeling encouraged through various books, conferences, seminars, or other programs, many homeschoolers feel intimidated. A number of these experts travel from conference to conference with their polite children (who have perfected their math skills by helping sell products from the family business). It’s difficult not to envy these families. Trust me, I know because I have!

On the other hand, I’ve been on the other side of all of this. At times moms comment to me, “I would never be able to take care of the household, teach my children, cook, do all the other things I need to do, and write books like you do!” The fact is I can’t do all these things either. When I’m finishing a big project like a book, other things have to wait—including a clean house and fresh-cooked meals.

God has given us all individual gifts. Some people are good at things like organization, public speaking, or writing, and have used these gifts to help other homeschooling families. But God has given homeschooling moms and dads many gifts to minister to others in needed ways: hospitality, cooking skills, musical talent, sports abilities; the list goes on and on.

So, rather than being intimidated by the experts, look in the mirror and recognize the many wonderful talents God has bestowed on that person looking back at you. Use your gifts to bless others.

If you’re still feeling pressure because experts or others tell you to “do it this way” or “if you’d only follow my plan, your life will be perfect, your children will obey, and they will love learning” or any other “just do it my way” kinds of statements, my advice is simple: Find different experts!

Fantastic resources regarding National Parks

Some of you know about our trip out west a few years ago. It was the BEST time of my entire life. I think the children concur (about their own lives of course!). It was such an amazing, special time. We would like to do this again before Sarah graduates.

Anyway, we're trying to plan ahead and prepare for some wonderful activities as we would want to make the most of our trip if we get to go again. I think Sarah is particularly excited now that she is old enough to do most of the planning. I think it will be a great skill for her to help with the itinerary, navigation, activities, etc. Last time we also took an activity book with us that we made just for the trip. It highlighted locations we would visit, had information about historic sites along our route, etc. This time we're planning to do more advance planning - with Sarah's help. Last time we wanted to do that, but everyone was just too young and I was overwhelmed with planning it all, much less trying to do everything before the trip. This time, since the children will be helping a lot more, we will be able to do more advance work - studying about the places we plan to go, etc. I can't wait!

This past week, Sarah has been looking through the National Park Service website and other related websites. We already knew that the National Park Service had great activities for children, but we didn't realize how neat their internet activities were. The in-park activities are called "The Junior Ranger Program." On the internet, they basically have it set up so that you can do TONS of activities online to prepare for visits to national parks, learn more about what rangers do, learn about park and animal safety, etc. It's really neat.

I would encourage anyone to consider integrating this really neat website into your child's educational time. We always try to make "computer time" at least somewhat educational and this definitely meets the requirements! There are over 50 games ranging from easy to difficult and all of them are educational in some manner.

Here's the link: http://www.webrangers.us/index.cfm

I hope you find it as fun as we have!

If you haven't read about our trip out west, you can read about it on my website. There are a lots of interesting stories, tons of photos, etc. It's fun to read for anyone, but if you're planning to travel out west, we have lots of great tips on what we really enjoyed and what didn't work so well - for our family at least. :) Here's the link: http://www.sonyahaskins.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95:our-trip-out-west-part-1&catid=60:traveling-with-children&Itemid=50

Enjoy!
Sonya :)

New Microsoft ad features homeschool family

This isn't something you see very often... a multi-million dollar company using a homeschool family to promote their products. This is a great ad. I hope you'll share it with your friends as well. And a huge thank you to Microsoft for allowing a homeschool family to feature this new product! Sonya :)

http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/1d4036b3-8c89-4a06-846b-5e3ec01a9c7a

TIPS: How to reuse old keys

All of us have some of them lying around somewhere. I'm talking about old keys - car keys, house keys, box keys, locket keys, etc. There are keys for just about anything and while they are necessary, there comes a time when we no longer need a particular key. Over time, they seem to build up and you have a pile of keys that you don't know what to do with. Here are some suggestions:

- My older children enjoy playing with keys. They play pretend. If I give them my old keys (especially on a keychain - they love that!), they will use it to play pretend when they play house or restaurant or driving or whatever. Those keys can be used just like we use ours. (I wouldn't recommend this for toddlers or babies, but they should be fine for children over four). They'll have fun with this!
- Some people use old keys to create artwork or decorative items. They might glue them to lamp shades or make a sculpture from keys. Some artists melt them down and use them for metal work. You just have to ask around and see if anyone would like your old keys for this purpose.
- Keys for Kindness collects old keys, turns them in to the recycling place and then uses the money they earn to support research for Multiple Sclerosis. You just mail them your old keys. Here is there web address: http://www.keysforkindness.com/
- Find someone who makes homemade jewelry and ask if they want them. Keys are popular as jewelry items. If a particular key is special to you, have it turned into a charm for a necklace or bracelet. It's simply a matter of adding some spray paint or other decoration or you could use it as is.
- Let the children decorate them (with paint, glitter, etc.), put a hook on the little hole most keys have and use them as Christmas tree ornaments. (There are LOTS of ways to save on Christmas tree ornaments. You do NOT need to spend money on expensive, fancy ornaments.)
- Make some wind chimes and give these as gifts. This is especially nice if the keys meant something to the recipient. (Or keep the chimes for yourself.)
- For homeschoolers, trace each key on a paper with a bunch of other traced keys. Then, give the paper and the keys to your child and have them match each key to the one on the paper. :)

- Finally, my best suggestion, I think. I came up with this one when thinking about how our family could reuse the keys.

If you need to do a drawing for something and only have a small number of people (probably less than 50) or you do family drawings sometimes to see who goes first, who gets to pick the movie for family movie night, etc., use keys instead of tickets.

First, use a Sharpie to mark two sets of keys with a unique number (1 to 50, for example). So you'll have two keys marked "1," two keys marked "2," two keys marked "3," and so on. For each person who participates in the drawing, give them those two keys with the same number. They drop one key into the drawing bucket and keep the other key.

Then, when you do the drawing, the person who has the key that matches the number you drew, they win.

This is a fun way to save trees because they won't have to make paper tickets AND you'll be recycling the keys! You can even have participants dump all their keys back into the bucket at the end of the event, sort them for your next drawing and then do the same thing all over again.

As always, feel free to share your ideas, too!
Sonya :)

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TIPS: How to save water (and thus save on your water bill!)

Here are my tips for ways to save / reuse / recycle water.

- When we give the younger children baths, we start with the dirtiest and then use the same water for every subsequent child.

- If I'm not too tired after giving the children baths, we use that same water to then bathe our cats (you could bathe your dogs, etc.).

- I do not pour out fresh water. We use even small leftover cups of water. You can pour this in the cat water bowl. We put it in our chickens' water containers. Or, now that I keep water on the wood stove for humidity, I can even put leftover water in that pot and I don't have to run water out of our faucet.

- Keep the faucet turned OFF when brushing teeth. Only turn it on when rinsing.

- Collect rain water and use it for whatever you need.

- For particularly soiled clothes that need to be soaked, rather than soaking them in a tub of water or in the washer, put them in your bathtub and let the water run over them while you shower. If the clothes are that soiled, they're probably work or play clothes anyway so it's not like you're going to hurt them even if you stand on them while you shower.

- Rather than wasting the water from my pasta or other things that only use water to cook (like steaming veggies), I pour this into a container and reuse it to water plants and, depending on what the water was, I might also cook with it. I use water off steamed veggies, for example, in soups. It's VERY healthy water with lots of vitamins and minerals.

- If you're cleaning and the water gets so dirty that you need fresh cleaning water, sometimes you can pour the top water into another bucket and then dispose of the water at the bottom of the container. Then, just use the water you saved as your "fresh" water. Most of the sediment goes to the bottom so even though the water might be cloudy, it's unlikely to have as much muck in it.

- This might sound disgusting to some, but we are SERIOUS about saving water. At bedtime, when we know everyone is going to the bathroom anyway, rather than have everyone go and flush it seven times, we let everyone go to the bathroom and THEN flush it one time. (Well, with the exception of Sarah, who IS a 14 year old girl. She would rather die than do this so she is exempted. The three boys - of course - and Hannah, who is only 7, don't care. And I could care less. If you're all taking turns and USING the same toilet anyway, why not flush it all at once.)

- When our washer and dryer broke this spring, we bought an energy efficient set. It's supposed to save us water, but honestly I didn't see even a smidgen of a drop in our bill. That was very disappointing. I'm not sure what's up with that. I'm even washing less laundry now because I'm not having to wash each load twice to get it clean. You think that would really be saving us money, but there has been no difference from this change.

- Our dishwasher broke about six weeks ago and we have been washing all dishes by hand since then. My water bill for the past month came the other day and it was $23 LESS than every other month!! Our normal bill has been $75 / month for water ever since we moved into this house. This past month it was $52. That's an amazing difference and the only change was that we did not use the dishwasher at all. Amazing.

- Put a solid object (brick, bottle of water, etc.) in the back of your toilet so that it reduces the amount of water used in each flush. I have heard this one a lot, but I wonder how safe it is for your toilet. I may try it and see.

- Collect the "warm-up" water. This is a GREAT idea! I'm definitely going to try this. When people shower, they typically don't jump right into the cold water; they wait for it to warm up. I know we do this in our house, especially in the upstairs shower because it literally takes about ten minutes before the water is warm enough to even step into. That shower is about as far away as you can get from our water heater and there are lots of pipes in between. Anyway, the idea is that you put a plastic tub (or something) in the shower while you're waiting for the water to get warm and since that's clean water right out of the faucet, you can use it for anything you want!

Here is another idea for how to use the warm-up water. We recently installed a wood stove (so we could afford to have heat!) and we just LOVE IT!!! We are so very grateful to have it, but I would recommend that everyone save money and try to install a wood stove. It is such a great resource. We have actually been collecting the warm-up water in a large stew pot, then I let it heat up on the wood stove, then I pour that in the sink and that's the water I use for dishes! (We took out our dishwasher about a month ago). This way, I'm not paying extra for the water OR to heat the water to wash dishes. I also save some of the water on the rinse side and rinse the dishes in nice, clean, HOT water. :)

I am so excited about this!

I'm trying to find more uses for leftover cooking water other than the two I mentioned - watering plants and cooking. I would like to be able to cook with MORE of it. And I've wondered if I could use it to water my pets, especially our chickens because they use a lot of water. I'm not sure if it would be healthy for them, though, since some of the cooking water contains natural sodium and other minerals that might harm the chickens.

And of course, if there are any other tips in other areas on saving water, I'd love to hear those as well. I'm sure some of you have some great ideas and I'd like to try them!

Meanwhile, I hope some of you have enjoyed my tips and try some of them. I bet you'll save water and reduce your water bill. :)

Sonya

TIPS: What to do w/ those plastic cereal bags (inside boxes)

If you buy cereal in boxes, you know that most of the time the cereal is actually in an interior plastic bag. The neat thing about these plastic bags is that they are a type of strong plastic that is much more sturdy than the plastic baggies you can buy for sandwiches and such. Here are some uses for these plastic cereal bags:

- Cut them so that they lay flat and use the bags instead of wax paper. They are essentially the same material.
- Use them to store vegetable seeds. Just cut the bag down to the size you want it and tie it closed at the top with a bread twist.
- You can store small loaves of bread in these bags. They're perfect for this because they're actually more sturdy than regular storage bags and they are meant to keep breaded-type products (cereal) fresh.
- Use them to freeze things like hamburger meat or a little bag of homemade dough. When you take out the meat or dough, it comes right out of the plastic.
- Collect all the little crumbs of cereal in one of these bags and keep it stored in the refrigerator. When it's about 1/3 to 1/2 full, use a rolling pin to roll over all the cereal you have in the bag and you create bread crumbs. These are especially tasty because they're a little sweeter than regular bread crumbs. You can use them on your salads, in soup (in place of crackers), or on casseroles. This is also a good solution for what to do with that tiny bit of leftover cereal that isn't enough for a bowl.

Any other ideas????? Please share with the rest of us!

Sonya :)

My thoughts on where our country is headed...

Regarding socialism: “What is common to many is least taken care of, for all men have greater regard for what is THEIR OWN than what they possess in common with others.” Aristotle

Regarding our current society, where we've been told that it takes a village to raise a child and we're all responsible for our neighbor (via taxes through the government): "Whether it’s property, a job task, taking care of a child, etc., as a responsibility becomes further removed from an individual, the less accountability that person feels, which makes it much easier to deny responsibility, take care of the property, complete the task, train the child, etc." - That one’s from me so if you use it, please quote it! :)

Sonya Haskins

Bad Luck

I told you guys I have bad luck. Yesterday I went to Kingsport (using a lot of gasoline!) and DOUBLE checked the time on the business door.... Hours - 7:30 to 4:30 Mon - Thurs. I drove home, realized my product needed slight tweaking, and quickly drove back.

I arrived at 4:03 and the doors were locked, with a different sign that said, "New Hours - 7:30 to 4:00"

@?!M#KLI#**@!!!!! Anyone want to trade places?!?

Singapore math - first grade workbook

There are several things I really like about the Singapore Approach to math and this workbook in particular.

1. It's all in black and white on the inside pages, which allows the student to focus on the MATH concepts / problems rather than being distracted by lots of flashy color and activities.

2. There is a terrific variety of problem types. Students do basic addition and subtraction in different formats, learn to use picture and bar graphs, figure out how to "translate" items into units, compare numbers, learn to regroup, telling time, counting money, solve basic word problems and much more. Normally I would think this was a bit much for a first grade book, but the concepts are added in a sensible order so that students progress at a reasonable rate.

3. There is plenty of review. Students are not bombarded with the same problems over and over, but the author does include enough review exercises so that the student will not forget the material in previous lessons.

4. The ONLY thing I didn't like about the book were short sections where the student had to write the particular mathematics "rule" for a function. Although I thought this was a bit too much to write for first graders, we got around this problem by simply letting our first grader TELL us the answer out loud (rather than write it down) so the book still gets five stars!

I wish all public schools would use this book. It makes learning math so much easier. As for homeschoolers - you have a choice! Don't hesitate. This is a wonderful product and if you have more than one child close to first grade level, you could let them all work through it together. You don't HAVE to use it just for first grade.

The Ocean by Frank Sherwin (from the Wonders of Creation series by Master Books)

I was thrilled when a friend gave me this book as I had been wanting it for quite some time. We homeschool and I'm always looking for great materials to use as part of our educational curriculum.

The book pretty much covers all the material an elementary or even junior high age student would need to know about the ocean and the author used a cross-topical approach to the material. In other words, he integrated information, statistics, and supplemental material from other subjects as well. As students learn about oceanic ridges, hydrothermal vents, tides, the oceanic food chain, etc., they're also learning vocabulary, science, geology, geography, math, nutrition, and more. There are maps, diagrams, photographs, and drawings.

All the diversity makes the book appealing to learners of all ages and learning styles.

As other reviewers have mentioned, there is a chapter called "The Genesis Flood." In my opinion, a book about the ocean wouldn't be complete without a mention of this event. What I like about it is the fact that this is not simply another book that mentions the flood and expects you to accept it as fact. The author has actually taken the time to evaluate various arguments for a worldwide flood and examine them from a scientific point of view.

Finally, I really appreciated the conversion charts at the back of the book. This was quite helpful when discussing nautical terms like "fathoms" with my students - my children.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone, but especially for educators wanting to provide their students with some excellent educational material that will hold their interest. This book is ideal for any unit study or homeschool curricula regarding the ocean. You could use it independently or find some fantastic supplemental material in the teacher's guide.

Sonya Haskins

legalizing marijuana

I was reading a news article (link below) about legalizing marijuana and Micah asked what "Mary - J - You - Anna" is. I told him it was a drug and explained this a little bit. There was a photo of a marijuana leaf there and also a video. Micah asked to watch the video so I clicked play. They started talking about how more many are pushing to legalize the drug and now many civil rights organizations are behind the movement. Why? Because African Americans are more likely to be arrested for possession or intent to sell marijuana, civil rights groups like NAACP are basically saying that it's a racial issue and police are using the opportunity to put black people in jail.

Micah sat there quietly and then he said, "That's all just so silly. Maybe the black people just eat more marijuana than white people!"

I LOVE homeschooling - and innocent children - and a preteen who has enough sense to know that not EVERYTHING is linked to racism. Sometimes people make bad choices and a crime shouldn't be legalized simply because most people committing the crime are of a certain race. Give me a BREAK!

http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/09/16/legalizing-marijuana-a-civil-right/?test=latestnews

Sonya

Outward versus Inward Obedience - follow up post

Following the article I posted about Outward versus Inward Obedience, someone posed the question about how to handle a teen / preteen who was lying. I thought perhaps my comments to them might be helpful to someone else as well. Below is the response.

I wouldn't hesitate to spank a preteen for lying. Generally I think spanking should be reserved for younger children and direct disobedience, but there are circumstances where I do think it's appropriate to spank a preteen for lyi...ng. (I probably would not spank a teenager. At that point, I think there are other things you can do and besides, I believe they are accountable for themselves at that age and you have to appeal to them in a different way. Biblically I think teenagers are adults and not only should be treated as such, but should have appropriate consequences, which do NOT include spanking, but might include a breech of trust, for example. If you can't trust him/her and the child asks to do something that involves trust (like going somewhere with a friend), well, the answer would be NO until that child can regain your trust.

I would also keep the following in mind...

First, WHY is the child lying? Is he afraid he is going to get in TROUBLE? We've always made it VERY clear to our kids that they'll get in a whole heck of a lot more trouble if they lie. Make it to their advantage to tell you the truth. : ) If parents haven't done this in the past, I don't think it's ever too late to start. Just have a chat w/ your children, lay the new ground rules and go from there.

Second, WHEN is the child lying? Does he/she lie more to mom or dad or when siblings / friends are present, etc.? Try to make note of this and avoid that situation.

Many parents put their children on the spot and for some kids, they just speak before they think. Give your kids an opportunity to THINK about what they want to say and then answer your question. For example, if you think your child did something and you go to them and say, "Did you do this?!?" A lot of children will lie automatically. If you go to them and say, "You know... I want to talk with you about something, but I do NOT want you to answer right now. Since you've had some difficulty with being honest lately (be honest with them about this!!), I think it would be best if you let me ask you this question and then you sit here and think about it for a few minutes. I will come back in about five minutes, unless you would like to come to me first, and ask you again. What I'm wondering about is whether you hit your brother. If you tell me the truth, you will NOT be punished, but you will still have to apologize and make restitution (always - an apology and restitution are NOT negotiable). If you lie about it and I find out that you've lied, you will not only receive a spanking (younger kids), but you will also lose your computer and tv time for a week."

Finally, I think some parents forget to approach children with a kind tone in a non-aggressive manner. Be gentle. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Even if you KNOW they did it (as parents often do), give them the opportunity to be HONEST with you, confess their sins, and ask forgiveness. This will create a better relationship than if the parent automatically accuses the child, which many parents do when they already know if the child did it. Even children respond defensively when parents do this... like most adults would.

Those are mostly more tips on avoiding the lying in the first place. I just think prevention is much better than punishment after the fact. And truly, I believe that if you do most of these things, the lying will be reduced. I'm not saying that no kid will lie, but certainly we've found even with other children who stay with us who lie a lot, they tend not to lie when we present them with these options. They LIKE to be in control of their own destiny. If you let THEM choose whether to be punished or not punished, most will choose not to lie about something.

Now, with all that said ... let's say you KNOW your child did something because you have the evidence. Let's say you told them not to get on the computer, but you go to the history and find out that they were on the computer and to top it off, they were on a bad website! You ask them about it, give them time to think about their answer, and then they STILL lie to you. If they were younger, I'd spank them. Regardless of age, I would show them the evidence - pull up the history. Show them that you KNOW they were on it. (And be sure no one else had access to the computer in your home. Make sure your dh or no one else accessed that computer.) Then see what they say. Regardless of what they say, if you know they did it, punishment is necessary. For something like that, I would not allow them to be on the computer for at least a week. If they were on a "bad" website, I wouldn't let them on for a MONTH! I'm not kidding. And even then, I would make sure the parent did their part, too - putting safety controls on computer, etc. And then monitor computer time. You don't want your child developing an addition to something like pornography just because the parent didn't want to take the time to address the issue. (And of course I'm not talking about YOU. I know you would address it.)

Basically just as you would for any transgression, try to make the punishment fit the "crime" as much as possible. If they've lied about getting on the computer, then don't allow them access t...o the computer. If they lie about completing chores, give them extra chores - an unpleasant one! If they lie about where they are going, then they have to have a parent or other trustworthy escort in the future until you trust them again. If their lies are about basic stuff - who drank the last milk and put the container back in the fridge or who took someone's candy, etc. ... generally on these types of issues, I think the child lies because the parent has overreacted in the past. Let him/her KNOW that you are NOT going to do that!!!

Yesterday I opened the fridge and there was a gallon of milk in there. I pulled it out to mash potatoes and there was not even a DROP of milk in the container. I yelled out to the children and said, "Guys, who just drank all the milk and put the empty container back in the fridge?!?" Christopher came in the kitchen and said he had done that. He was HONEST. He told the TRUTH. Rather than go into a tirade about how irresponsible that was, how he shouldn't do that, etc., I just gently reminded him that it's best if he takes it out to the trash can and then... well, I had him TAKE IT OUT to the trash can! In other words, he had to do what he was trying to avoid in the first place, but no amount of yelling or no punishment would have made a difference as much as simply letting him do what he should have done to begin with. I think parents just get worked up over ridiculous things sometimes and if they'd just remember what it's like to be a kid and encourage their children rather than tearing them down, we'd all be a lot happier.

So my answer to your question... in addition to all the things I said above (LOL!!)... is to try and find the reason they are lying. Praise them when they tell the truth. Ensure them that you will punish them either way, but the punishment will be much worse if they lie about it. And then make sure you follow through with what you've said. Do not punish them as severely if they do tell the truth. Sometimes it takes kids a while to develop that trust again. Much of this depends on why they are lying so I would definitely consider all the issues I said in the last post - situation, previous punishments, person they're talking to, etc. WHY are they lying to you???

If this is something you'd rather discuss more privately, feel free to e-mail me. Otherwise, I hope these more detailed answers have helped you a little more.

Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

Outward versus Inward Obedience

This is a bit long, but I think it's important if you can take the time to read it. Sonya

In my newest book, Homeschooling for the Rest of Us (Bethany House, 2010), I talk about outward versus inward obedience. When parents write to ask me questions, one of the most common questions I receive is exactly HOW to train your child to have inward obedience with a cheerful heart versus the outward appearance of obedience when there really is no compliance there.

This is probably the most difficult thing to understand and to enforce as a parent, I think, because we cannot SEE our children's hearts. I will tell you, though, that I do believe this is one of the best reasons to homeschool - you know your children better. I positively KNOW when my children are trying to be deceptive. We haven't ever had an issue with blatant lying, but from time to time they will not tell the whole story (which, yes, we still consider a lie, but they know this and are appropriately punished.) They don't do this very often either, but that's because we've emphasized time and again how bad lying is. I think it's the foundation of sin actually... Satan lied to Adam and Eve. They lied to themselves about the consequences, etc. It's just always best to be truthful.

For younger children, you just have to start NOW in training the child to have inward obedience. As a mom, for the most part, it's very easy to tell when younger children are lying. They might say they didn't take the cookie, but they have chocolate all over their faces. LOL If that happens, you not only have to punish the child, but you also have to discuss with him / her the dangers of lying. What sort of punishment am I talking about? For lying, I think with little children you have to make sure they know what lie is. Certainly by the age of three I think they do. At that point, I would spank a child if he/she lied to me. We do NOT spank for a lot of transgressions, but blatant disobedience or lying will always get you a spanking. And at the same time, I think it's important to encourage them NOT to lie. If our children do something and they tell the TRUTH, they receive an alternate punishment, NOT a spanking - ever. We never want to punish truthfulness. They still have to be punished for the thing they did wrong. Let's say they took that cookie on the counter that you told them not to touch. Well, their punishment might be that they don't get any dessert at dinner when everyone else IS having dessert. Kids even as young as two WILL accept this punishment and they WILL associate it with their own "crime," so to speak. If they told the truth, I think that's sufficient punishment. If they lied, however, and they understand what a lie is, then I think a spanking is in order and still they lose their dessert.

One thing to remember is that good behavior CAN be modeled. Be honest with your children. Of course when they're as young as your children, you can't tell them everything, but as they get older, expose your OWN heart to them. If you yell at them one day for no reason other than you felt bad, take the time to apologize for that. This is something a lot of Christian "leaders" will tell you not to do - don't EVER expose yourself to your child. Don't EVER let them think you're anything but perfect. While I do respect their viewpoint and certainly they have the right to think this, I totally disagree. Only one person who walked this earth was ever perfect and it certainly wasn't me. Children will eventually figure this out anyway and if you have LIED to them by making them think you are perfect, well... this actually creates the exact situation you wanted to avoid, which is that they then think it's ok to deceive people. Once deception starts, it's easier to convince yourself that everything is ok - from your right to HAVE an item (stealing) to your right to listen to bad music, do drugs, have sex, etc.

Practical answers???

- Be truthful WITH your children.

- Expect truth FROM your children.

- Punish your children if they lie.

- Punish your child's sin if they tell the truth, but I recommend not using spanking. Take away privileges for the fact that they did something wrong, but reserve spanking only for lies. If they tell the truth, be willing to give a little.

- Read stories of people who do bad things and suffer bad consequences, who make good choices in various situations, who model GOOD behavior (character building stories). - Point out examples of bad behavior when you can. If you see a child at the supermarket screaming and kicking because he WANTS THAT TOY!!!!, point the behavior out to your children. Ask them what's wrong with the picture. Let THEM learn to see these things for themselves rather than YOU telling them - don't yell and kick at the supermarket (or anywhere else). They might say something like, "That boy is being loud and rude." Then you can say, "That's right. Why shouldn't he do that?" ... It's disturbing other customers. He is disrespecting his mom / dad. He is yelling for a toy, but it will probably break in a week anyway and it certainly is NOT worth getting that upset over. : ) You get the idea. Let THEM come up with ideas and then add in some that they might miss. - PRAISE your children for good choices.

- Model good behavior. You probably don't smoke, but some parents do. Their children are very likely to smoke. The "do as I say and not as I do" doesn't work well with kids. Do as you would like for them to do.

- Serve others and allow your children time to serve others as well. Allow older siblings to help with younger ones, but certainly do NOT expect them to be your little babysitters. (I say this because I've seen parents do this and it seems to create animosity. I am NOT talking about the buddy system. That's a great way to encourage relationships and also to have older children and teens develop the ability to help with younger children so that they will be better prepared for their own families. I'm talking about when parents just constantly expect the older sibling to occupy the younger one so that mom/dad can be on the computer, cell phone, etc. THAT creates animosity toward the younger sibling and the parent.)

- Encourage your children to play together and play WITH them. This gives you an opportunity to point out behaviors as they happen, not later, through second-hand tattling. Of course you can't always be right there, but definitely I think parents should be with young children as much as possible. If you can instill the values while they are little, then your life will be MUCH easier when they are bigger. - Read GOOD books to your children. Watch GOOD quality movies w/ your children. Make sure your children have access to friends, but friends with parents who have similar values to yours. If they let their child run around and hit other kids in the head during the whole play date, it's likely that your child will go home and bonk a younger sibling in the head.

While most of these practical tips may sound like discipline issues rather than "heart" issues, it all ties very closely together. If you focus on discipline and obedience when your children are younger, then it's much easier to KNOW your child and also to redirect him/her as the child grows older. This in itself will help you and your child have the kind of relationship where you can redirect his/her heart. If your child knows he can trust you, for example, to be fair, then he is more likely to tell the truth. If your child does not trust you, he is a lot more likely to try to hide the truth, get away with sneaky behavior, allow his friends (or the tv or computer or whatever) to become his main source of advice, etc. All of those things can cause huge problems and certainly they're focused on outward behavior. So the single best thing you can do to encourage inward obedience with a cheerful attitude is to KNOW your child. Encourage him when he makes good choices and punish him appropriately (not unfairly or overly so) when he makes bad choices (knowingly). I would never punish a child simply for childish behavior or "mistakes," such as spilling a glass of milk on the floor. Now if he threw it across the room, that would be different, but I think too many parents yell at their children when they have accidents and this only serves to tear down the relationship so that the child no longer trusts that adult.

You must also focus on LOVE. When I talk about developing a relationship with your child, I'm not only talking about spending time with that child, but you are showing the child that you can be trusted, that you LOVE him, that you are there for him. Too many parents are just ... well, just not "present" today. They're too busy with their own activities, their own concerns, their worries, their games, their chat rooms, etc. I believe everyone sees time as love to an extent, but certainly children do. If you do not take the TIME to show them you LOVE them, then you will lose this in your relationship. The best way to develop trust and thus have the authority to direct their hearts when they're having a difficult time and making tough choices is by establishing a firm foundation in the relationship.

As for resources, the best resource I know that actually addresses this particular issue is Educating the WholeHearted Child, by Clay and Sally Clarkson. I found it early in my homeschooling journey and I'm so thankful for that.

So to summarize how to encourage inward obedience, spend the first few years of your child's life focusing on discipline and obedience - "slow obedience is NOT obedience." Praise your child for good choices and talk with him or her in areas where the child is struggling. Be honest with your child. LOVE your child. Spend time with your child. Expose your child to positive FRIENDSHIPS and others whom you trust to also help your child develop the values you want to instill in your child.

Sonya

Me and My Flying Machine by Marianna Mayer - children's book review

This is a very imaginative story about a young boy who builds a flying machine and then, in a dream, imagines all the fantastic things he can create and do with his flying machine, from delivering mail to Eskimos to letting birds rest on his wings. It's a very precious story by Marianna Mayer that makes use of Mercer Mayer's delightful illustrations.

The only thing I didn't like about the story is the ending. Please do not SPAM my review based on this simple comment. It's an ADORABLE story that has value for kids of all ages and for generations in the past and in the future. My comment isn't negative so much as the fact that I wanted the story to continue. Since he ended with a destroyed flying machine and made plans instead to build a rowboat, I would like to have seen a follow up volume with the rowboat! :)

Sonya Haskins
author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us: How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work (Bethany House, 2010)

author: Marianna Mayer
publisher: Parents' Magazine Press
publication date: 1971

P.B. Bear: The Snowy Ride - children's book review

There are many things I love about this adorable children's book, including:

- the story is engaging
- the pictures are absolutely precious, creative, and almost tell the story themselves through the poses of the characters (the bear and his dog) and the scenery
- the way they use the layout of the text to "illustrate" what is going on in the story. This is difficult to explain if you haven't seen the book, but the words are occasionally bent to go up and down, etc. when the characters are jumping off a hill or falling off their sled, etc.

This is a hardcover book with thicker than average pages that will stand up to being turned by little fingers that haven't developed dexterity. Finally, as the cover says, "Read Aloud," "Read Along," "Read Alone" - it's great for all!

I would highly recommend this book as an addition to any children's book collection.

Sonya Haskins
author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us: How Your One-of-a-Kind Family Can Make Homeschooling and Real Life Work (Bethany House, 2010)

author: Lee Davis
publisher: Dorling Kindersley
publication date: 1997

Ridgewood Grammar: The Language Connection

Sometimes I think it's tempting to purchase more "flashy" curricula with lots of colors, pictures, and long, drawn out explanations of simple concepts, but often this ends up being a distraction to students. Besides that, it's just unnecessary. Ridgewood Grammar: The Language Connection covers all the basics of grammar, including:
- nouns
- verbs
- pronouns
- adverbs
- conjunctions
- prepositions
- adjectives and more.

The book is basically designed as a workbook and it covers every grammatical topic necessary for elementary grammar. You could also use this workbook as review for the older student who needs supplemental grammar exercises. The explanations are short and easy to understand. The examples are clear and concise. Each concept is followed with a variety of exercises (fill in the blank, answer short questions, choose the correct answer, etc.).

While you could use this with one student in a specific grade, it could also be used in a multi-grade homeschool setting as well. I'm using it this year with my three sons, who are being homeschooled in grades 4, 5 and 7.

Sonya Haskins
author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us (Bethany House, 2010)

Some thoughts about sharing other people's posts

Last week I posted something on one of my sites and I saw basically my exact thoughts on someone else's page later that day. I was thinking about how (a) perhaps it was coincidence, (b) they were trying to reword my thoughts into their own or (c) they blatantly stole what I was saying and just shared it on their own site.

I know one day a friend of mine mentioned that I had posted something from her Facebook page on my own and I had NO idea what she was talking about because I didn't get it off her page; it came from my aunt's page. It was one of those things that's just spread around over and over... most likely no one will ever know the original source and it's more of just a fun thing rather than anything important and it certainly has completely lost any connection with the original author. (But I also thought that if people had left the original attribution there from whoever wrote it in the first place, we WOULD know who said it originally.) One thing I did learn from that, however... no matter how innocent the post, I will ALWAYS say where I got it from if they aren't my own original thoughts. This was the only time I recall forwarding something without saying where it came from and I regretted that afterward.

So anyway, based on that conversation w/ my friend, I do know that sometimes it can seem like something came off your own page when it really didn't. We all have access to a LOT of information - "dangerous diversions," I suppose Obama would say - and so obviously some of us are going to share the same things.

If it were the second option, that my friend was simply trying to take my thoughts and reword them into their own thoughts, that's something else people frequently do. There's nothing really "wrong" with this, but generally I think it's polite to at least mention that you got the idea from "so and so" (whoever so and so is...). After all, it wasn't really YOUR original thought - it was someone else's. The least you could do is give them credit.

If their intention was truly just to "steal" what I wrote and post it on their own page, well, all of us could probably (maybe???) agree that this is wrong. In today's world, I wouldn't be shocked if there were those out there who still said this was OK. I had students in my college English class who told me quite frankly that their high school English teachers didn't care when they bought papers off the Internet or copied them from another student, so why should I?!? Well, let me give you alllll the reasons... Just kidding. I'll save that for another day. : )

Anyway, when I write things, you may have noticed that I frequently share LINKS with my comments - often to the original news source. I always try to use the original news source when possible. One reason for this is that typically when you go to the original source, you're more likely to have a more accurate version of the story. Second, I think the person or news outlet who went through the trouble of sharing the story initially should get the credit for covering it. They DO keep track of hits and they monitor these things to see which stories receive ratings. I would like for them to see higher ratings on things that interest me so they would continue to cover those topics.

If another social networking friend or homeschooler or whoever sends me a link, I ALWAYS say that the link was sent to me from someone else and post the person's name out of courtesy. I love it when people share links with me or send me information that I might not have seen. While I do try to stay on top of political issues - especially as they relate to homeschooling, general education issues and other "ridiculous" news of our day - sometimes I miss things. If you send me news of this nature, I'll share it! If you don't want me to mention that the link came from you, however, then just let me know and I'll leave off your name. I do realize that sometimes people don't want to be associated with something, but they still would like to let others know about it.

Finally, if you really enjoy the things I post and you share them with others, please just do a "share," post a link to my original blog post, or let others know where your material came from. I had someone write me earlier this week and say that they couldn't believe I wrote something myself!! Well, you know... there are days when that's about all I CAN do. And one thing I can do is write. Even if you don't believe it, yep, sometimes I can actually write pretty well and say something intelligent. : ) Tonight I have a horrible headache (at the base of my skull - it feels like another of what I call "blood thinner" headaches and they're AWFUL!!) and my legs are feeling like they need to be chopped off again. It's after midnight and despite two hours in bed, I couldn't sleep because I feel too bad! So... yep, here I am - writing. It seems that the Lord has given me the ability to write even when I'm accomplishing much of nothing else. Perhaps it's good that He has given me this ability. It serves as a diversion from the pain and sometimes I can't tell you how badly I need that!!!

Also, writing is how I make my living. It would be nice to sell books. I am not physically able to get out there as much as I would like and promote the books all across the US. I would love to speak at conferences, but it's very difficult to find an opening. I'd very much enjoy traveling and speaking while promoting the books at the same time as I've done in the past, but right now finances don't make this possible. So basically my means of communication with the outside world is through blogs and other things I post.

Of course I don't make much money writing and I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. When people have wanted to share my articles and such in the past in publications, I've always allowed them to do this, for free. The Lord frequently places something on my heart that I feel needs to be shared and if that's the case, then who am I to say how it should be used. If I saved it in a file and never shared it with anyone else, I wouldn't be obeying the Lord very well to share what he has given me! On the other hand, it is a general courtesy of others to at least mention where they obtained the material, especially since I do not ask for compensation. : ) I think credit should be given simply because it's GOOD MANNERS.

I realize that there are going to be many times when there are hundreds of people talking about the same thing at the same time, but I just think if someone is going to use someone else's post (whether it's one line or several paragraphs), people should have the decency to provide credit to their source. We do live in an age where this "politeness" has largely been overlooked due to the rapid advancement of technology and people honestly don't think twice about plagiarism these days, but that doesn't mean it's right. And it boils down to this... plagiarism isn't just a direct quoting of someone without citation. Plagiarism also includes changing someone else's words slightly or copying someone's thoughts or ideas and pass them as your own.

Chris and I were talking about this tonight as he told me about a report (that I haven't read yet) about how we are wasting billions of tax dollars each year educating students AGAIN in remedial classes in college after we've already put them through twelve years of government school before college. While lack of high academic standards is a problem, when you take character or morals out of the picture (as we largely have in most government schools), the outlook will REMAIN bleak and most likely GET WORSE. If a student knows he can cheat (copy, lie, etc.) without it being a problem, then why should he bother to "waste" his time studying. For some students, it's more of a challenge to spend their time finding ways to beat the system.

If you're a parent, be an example for your children on social networking sites and blogs: DON'T copy someone else's work!

If you're a student, be original. I'd much rather hear what YOU have to say than a regurgitation of someone else's thoughts. : )

Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

back in contest, please vote again

Since there were people cheating in the Pigeon Forge contest, we weren't sure we were going to continue participating. They postponed voting for a few days and fixed the issue so that people can only vote once. Now we really need MORE people to vote once each day. Could you please bookmark the page and just go on each day, sort by votes, and click on our family (listed as "Sonya H - Jonesborough, TN, 4/14/2010"). It's easiest to find us if you sort by vote. Hopefully we'll stay on the first page!

We MUST be in the top ten to win for the month of May. Could you please vote and ask your friends and family to vote for us as well? We'd really appreciate it.

Here is the link: http://www.mypigeonforge.com/savingvacations/Story/Page1

Thanks so much!!

Sonya :)

P.S. If you'd like to find more about our family, please visit my website - www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

more children slaughtered in China

Do you all remember my post a couple of weeks ago about all the attacks against children in China? I wrote that post on April 29. The next day, a farmer in Shandong attacked children w/ a hammer - injuring five children.

And earlier today, Wednesday, May 12, a man in Hanzhong killed seven kindergartners and injured 20 others.

Again, I ask... how can this possibly be a coincidence??? And if it isn't - they're claiming "copycat" killers are doing this due to "social inequality" - do they really have that many people who would be willing to MURDER children as young as four years old for no apparent reason whatsoever ... or because they aren't receiving "social justice"?!? After all, that's what they're claiming - that people are so upset about social inequality that they're murdering kindergartners. And if we had social justice, as we're trying to achieve in the United States (gag there), all these poor little children wouldn't be dying. Doesn't this sound like a HUGE conspiracy to anyone other than myself ???? As I asked before, "What is going on in China?!?" Even if one incident was linked to "social inequality," I find it difficult to believe that this many unrelated men in unrelated situations and locations would just suddenly decide to hack some little children to death because they think life's not fair! Especially in a country where children are held so dear.

The link I'm posting below has a Beijing Associated Press article about the latest attack.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/7-children-killed-in-latest-attack-at-chinese-kindergarten/article1565685/?cmpid=rss1

Here was my original blog post from April 29 about all the attacks:
http://thehomeschoollady.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-in-world-is-going-on-in-china.html

How incredibly sad...
Sonya

Sinkhole swallows part of village, including home and family

I've heard of stories of sinkholes and landslides before, but people usually know when to anticipate them and leave the location for safety. Yesterday a huge sinkhole opened up in Canada, swallowed up part of a village, including one huge house and the family within. All have been found and are confirmed dead. It's sad how many more of these stories we're seeing and how much damage is being done. Here is the link from the original news source, where you can see an aerial photo. It's not the best, but it gives you an idea of the devastation.

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100511/100511_landslide/20100511/?hub=CP24Home

Sonya

No longer a Christian nation??

Just thought everyone should know that I had a very long chat w/ my uncle last night. Actually, that's not what you need to know. :) He is a missionary in the Czech Republic and he has been here on furlough for six months. He is returning on Friday and we spent some time chatting before he has to leave. He has served the people of the Czech Republic for about 8 years now. It's very difficult work because a majority of the population there is atheist. They just have no concept of "God." They just do not believe a God exists AT ALL.

While I was wishing him the best and telling him that I will continue to pray for his family and the work they're doing there to bring people to Christ, he said that he appreciates it, but after this six month furlough, he is much more concerned about our country - the United States of America. He said it has changed so much from when he was growing up and even from 8 years ago, when he first went overseas. He said it seems more like an Islamic nation now rather than a Christian nation. What he said is true and it just broke my heart.

He is in Europe trying to minister to and preach to a people who don't even believe God exists, but meanwhile, the country where he was born is rapidly transforming into a nation that no longer worships the Living God. He said he may be called back one day, but for now he believes the Lord wants his family in the Czech Republic.

My uncle discussed the fact that Europe is rapidly being taken over by Muslims. Here is one map where you can see the extent of the Muslim religion: http://btw.imb.org/news_map.asp

The Bible tells us that there will be the spread of FALSE PROPHETS and I believe this is what we're seeing, but it is sad to witness our nation - a CHRISTIAN nation - turns its back on God. But then... you can't really have a "Christian nation," can you? Being a Christian means someone is in an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A nation can't do that. We probably came closer than any other, since our founders established this nation on principles of personal accountability, just as we're personally accountable in our relationship with the Lord.

But we have been complacent. We have not shared the Gospel with friends and family. We have been "nice" and "fair" and allowed others to come in and take over our schools and our government. They come in the name of "freedom of religion," but they are still spreading their religion! These people have given "meat" to hungry souls, but the problem is that the meat they've shared is spoiled. And now - as a nation - our people are rotting from the food of the false prophets. Our unborn are being murdered. Our children are being led astray. Our young adults are given drugs and alcohol and unprecedented freedom that has led to sin and then we bail them out with more drugs, counseling, welfare checks. Adults are tired, sick, frustrated, lonely, divorced, immoral ... Everyone is SEEKING PEACE, yet they are seeking in the wrong places.

The Lord said that if we seek, we will find; if we knock, the door will be opened. This is the message we need to be sharing.

Sonya

Mosque at Ground Zero??

I had been watching the news on this, but didn't realize a vote had taken place last week. I'll just paste the Eagle Forum writer's comments below. He says pretty much everything that needs to be said. It's sickening. And as always, if you don't receive these reports, I'd recommend you click on the link at the bottom of the e-mail and sign up.

Sonya

Exclusive: Spitting in the Face of Everyone Murdered on 9/11

Gadi Adelman

Well, it’s official, we have all lost our minds.

I read about this last December, plans for a mosque at Ground Zero, but like a fool, I assumed that New Yorkers would never let this come to pass. A mosque just 600 feet from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. I thought to myself; no way will New York or anyone with a heart or soul, not to mention just plain common sense, ever allow a mosque to be built anywhere near Ground Zero. But, as I said, I am a fool.

The project of a community center /mosque is being proposed by two organizations, the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) and their sister organization, the Cordoba Initiative. This past Wednesday night they made their presentation to the Community Board of lower Manhattan (CB1). Twelve people sit on the board and would you like to guess what the final vote was? Get ready to grab a barf bag … the 12 members voted unanimously to support the project. Yes, it’s not a typo, it was unanimous, all were in favor and, to give you an idea of how excited the board members were, they applauded during the presentation.

In an article in the New York Daily News on Thursday, retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches said,

"I realize it's not all of them, but I don't want to have to go down to a memorial where my son died on 9/11 and look at a mosque. If you ask me, it's a religion of hate." Deputy Chief Riches lost his son Jim, a firefighter, on 9/11.

Also quoted in the article was Rosemary Cain of Massapequa, L.I., whose son, firefighter George Cain, 35, was killed in the 2001 attacks, she called the project,

"a slap in the face. I think it's despicable. That's sacred ground," said Cain, "How could anybody give them permission to build a mosque there? It tarnishes the area."

The mosque would be located in a former Burlington Coat Factory outlet which is just 2 blocks or 600 feet from where the World Trade Towers once stood. I find it ironic that the building has been mostly abandoned since 9/11 because the landing gear of one of the hijacked airplanes crashed through its roof.

The leader and co-founder of the project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, paid $4.85 million dollars for the building in December last year.

In a Fox NY channel 5 interview on Thursday, a 9/11 firefighter Tim Brown described the mosque project as,

"a Trojan horse being rolled into our most sacred ground". He asked the mosque's imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, where did Rauf get the reported $4.85 million in cash to purchase the building?

Needless to say, that question was never answered in full; Rauf would say only that the cash came from “members of the community.”

Tim Brown is a former NY firefighter and one of the few 9/11 survivors to survive the collapse of both WTC towers. He was also a first responder to the 1993 WTC bombing, also executed by a group of Islamic terrorists. He is the founder of the website thebravest.com.

I spoke with Matt Dunning, the Associate Editor of the Tribeca Trib newspaper on the telephone on Sunday. The Tribeca Trib is a monthly newspaper that covers lower Manhattan. Unlike most publications today, they actually report the news. Mr. Dunning explained to me that they “do not even do editorials for that reason”, they report on facts. He was at the CB1 board meeting Wednesday night. We spoke about his article on the meeting and I must say I was shocked when Dunning told me that “not one person from the community came to the meeting was in opposition. If someone had been, we would have reported it.”

This was a public board meeting, and no one who lives or works in this area even showed up to voice his or her opinion that they opposed the mosque? Have we actually arrived at the point in this country where forgiveness or ignorance overrides sense and responsibility?

Back on December 16^th, 2009, in an article written shortly after the purchase of the building, Youssef M. Ibrahim wrote the following in Hudson NY

,

“As a former New York Times and Wall Street Journal correspondent, and as a New York Sun columnist who covered Islamic fundamentalism extensively overseas and in the USA, I find the facts oddly lacking. The story as reported fails to answer, and avoids asking, so many pertinent questions.

The source of money matters as a significant part of the hundreds of mosques being built and already erected in this country double up as cultural Islamic centers for distributing literature-- Islamist propaganda in fact—from Bay Ridge Brooklyn to Detroit, and for schools growing Muslim minorities. They house Imams of unknown origin and education, many of whom do not speak a word of English but preach in Arabic and Urdu -- radical messages, it often turns out.

As a reporter familiar with the Arab communities of the USA, I doubt the faithful fork out all that money for mega mosques, and if they did, the mayor’s office should prove it, not merely accept someone’s say so. It is an established fact that a significant percentage of the mosques built in the USA in the past two decades are receiving a disproportionate amount of their funds not only from the Saudis, but also the UAE, Qatar and Iran -- all problematic Islamists activist nations. The government just discontinued work on a major Iranian-funded mosque and center in New York City, which had operated under the radar since the days of the good old Shah of Iran under the auspices of the Pahlavi Foundation, and has been owned since 1979 by the Mullahs of Iran.

The context here is that 15 of the 19 perpetrators of the attacks -- on the very site where this new mosque shall rise -- came from Saudi Arabia.”

He ended his article with “One would hope for a follow-up story or stories, and that New York City and its citizens at least ask harder questions, rather than submit to being misled in the interest of political correctness.”

The estimated cost for the 13 story building is $100 million dollars. According to page 8 of the ASMA website financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 they have “temporarily restricted net assets” as follows:

UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) $ 53,664

MDG3 Fund (Millennium Development Goals) $481,942

Hunt Alternatives Fund $15,000

Carnegie Corporation of N.Y. $ 144,752

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund $50,000

Qatar government fund $576,312

Interestingly, I had no trouble locating all of the groups as linked above, except for the Qatar government fund, which donated over half a million dollars to ASMA in 2009.

The fact that the UN has a hand in this really comes as no surprise given that just last week they embraced the Islamic Republic of Iran by allowing them to become a member of The Commission on the Status of Women, as I wrote about in my article “Even if it were a joke, it wouldn’t be funny”.

Also, according to the same financial statement, on page 10 of the report they list their “Expenditure report for the period October 13, 2008 to June 30, 2009” leaving ASMA with a balance of $988,586.00 when converted from Euros to Dollars using the conversion noted on the same page.

So, assuming this “independent” audit is correct they ended their fiscal year on 6-30-09 with a balance of almost 1 million dollars. I wonder then, where is the money for a 100 million dollar mosque coming from?

As Youssef M. Ibrahim wrote in his article “It is an established fact that a significant percentage of the mosques built in the USA in the past two decades are receiving a disproportionate amount of their funds not only from the Saudis, but also the UAE, Qatar and Iran -- all problematic Islamists activist nations.”

Does anyone have the sense to connect the dots and follow the money trail? Is it not enough that the terrorists who were responsible for 9/11 are from the same country that is funding mosques all over our country, that we have to allow them to fund the building of a mosque in the very location where they committed the most heinous act in American history?

Using this analogy, had the bomb last week in Times Square actually exploded, we would be planning a mosque in Times Square right now. Have we lost our minds so much that we have moved to erecting monuments to perpetrators and not victims?

Currently, in the U.S. there are over 1200 mosques, with at least one in each state. I don’t see the need to build a new mosque at the same location where nearly 3000 people were murdered by terrorists who followed an Islamic ideology that will be preached inside this new one.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He is currently writing his first book, "Terrorism; Understanding the Threat". He can be reached through his website http://gadiadelman.com

Source: http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6177/pub_detail.asp


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Obama talks about technology

Obama was fine with technology until everyone started recognizing - and talking about - his deception and manipulation. And even with the topic of technology, he can't avoid pulling the "race card," with words like "empowerment" and "emancipation." Regardless of one's race, those words sound great to a largely uneducated audience (thanks to the government school system), who are looking for someone to bail them out of all their woes. In other words, they cling to words like "empowerment" and "emancipation" and I believe they would throw their electronic devices off a cliff, and possibly jump themselves, if Obama said to do so. After all, he is the "savior."

Our Founding Fathers decided that their leader would be called a "president" and did not allow him to rise to the title of "king" or "dictator" for a reason - to preserve the integrity of our system of checks and balances and to ensure an individual's right to life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness. They never guaranteed that we would have these things, but if we work hard and keep our leaders in check, then our country provides more opportunity than any other for the tired, the poor, the wretched, the huddled masses YEARNING to breathe free.

It breaks my heart to see the things going on in this country. I believe Obama will use this new push against technology to suspend the flow of information as we know it, which is a direct violation of the First Amendment. If this happens, we will no longer have a chance against a tyrannical government. After all, the First Amendment protects ALL speech for a reason. Obama can claim that others are spreading lies, but without freedom of speech, we wouldn't be able to deny that or point out all his discrepancies of speech. It also seems ironic to me that suddenly Oprah has started an anti-cell phone campaign and Obama seemingly has started an anti-technology campaign.

Obama's real complaint can be found in his comments to the graduating class, when he stated that the students were "coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always rank that high on the truth meter." In reality, I think Obama is worried that those of us who are diligent will continue to find errors in his statements and expose his lies, his deception, and his blatant intent to transform our country from the republic it once was to a pure socialist state where justice, money, property, and everything else is "distributed" under the control of a strong central government, thus removing the rights of the individual altogether!

Sonya Haskins, author of Homeschooling for the Rest of Us