We haven't had haircuts in quite a while. I haven't had mine cut since before we went out west and I trimmed the boys' hair earlier in the fall, but they haven't been to a salon in a while. Yesterday we decided to take everyone and have haircuts.
I took the children over early and had all the boys' hair cut and my own cut, then Chris met us there after he got off work to have his cut. I left to spend some time with Sarah, even though that didn't go so well because I was incredibly sick by that time and I ended up having to go home and go straight to bed. Anyway, while Chris was having his hair cut, Hannah stood there watching.
While the beautician was cutting his hair, Hannah looked up at her and said matter of factly, "Daddy has lice."
Of course you can imagine the reaction to that.
When I asked Hannah why she said that to the beautician, she said, "I just thought it was funny and wanted to see what would happen."
Today I had about an hour when I felt well enough to clean a little. I was trying to do all the dishes and I asked Hannah to wipe down the cabinets for me. She was standing there washing the cabinets and asked, "Is slavery still legal?"
Hmmmm.... I'm going to have to keep an eye on this verbose little thinker.
Sonya
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Water Lily Picture
I took this photo last summer fall when we were in Chattanooga visiting my family. I absolutely love it! Actually, we all liked it so much that the children made it the background on my computer. My friend said I should start entering photo contests. I LOVE to take photos and I particularly like nature pictures.
I have some more pretty flower pictures I hope to post in the next few days... especially since they were taken about four months ago!
Sonya : )
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Will Obama Require Homeschools to be Accredited?
I followed Obama's comments, speeches, and policy postings closely while he was running for president and he said very little in regards to home education although he made it very clear that he fully supported the NEA (National Education Association).
On the government website, under Obama's Education policy, it states that:
"Obama and Biden will require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively."
I have sent a note to the White House requesting clarification of this statement. It says they will require ALL schools of education to be accredited. Does this apply to homeschoolers?
I don't really expect an answer since there were similar statements in his campaign literature so I asked the same question then and received no reply.
Someone was reading my blog recently and forwarded me the following Q/A from Suburban Journals.
Q. Do you support home schooling?
A. Barack Obama respects the decisions reached by some parents to home school their children, provided those parents are conforming to the laws and regulations set forward by their states governing home-based instruction.
Again, this sounds good, but if you look closely at the wording, he still has not said he SUPPORTS HOMESCHOOLING!!! He says he supports the "decisions" of "some parents" to home school. Let's stop there for a minute. It's a "decision," not a "right." Second, he says "some parents," not "parents."
Also, he says "provided those parents are conforming to the laws and regulations..." All states don't have laws about homeschooling. It's legal in all states, but it sounds to me like the new President Obama wants to ensure that all educators (including homeschoolers) have had the government's stamp of approval - through assessment or accreditation. No, this hasn't been spelled out, but sometimes you can read between the lines even if you don't have a teaching certificate.
Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
On the government website, under Obama's Education policy, it states that:
"Obama and Biden will require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively."
I have sent a note to the White House requesting clarification of this statement. It says they will require ALL schools of education to be accredited. Does this apply to homeschoolers?
I don't really expect an answer since there were similar statements in his campaign literature so I asked the same question then and received no reply.
Someone was reading my blog recently and forwarded me the following Q/A from Suburban Journals.
Q. Do you support home schooling?
A. Barack Obama respects the decisions reached by some parents to home school their children, provided those parents are conforming to the laws and regulations set forward by their states governing home-based instruction.
Again, this sounds good, but if you look closely at the wording, he still has not said he SUPPORTS HOMESCHOOLING!!! He says he supports the "decisions" of "some parents" to home school. Let's stop there for a minute. It's a "decision," not a "right." Second, he says "some parents," not "parents."
Also, he says "provided those parents are conforming to the laws and regulations..." All states don't have laws about homeschooling. It's legal in all states, but it sounds to me like the new President Obama wants to ensure that all educators (including homeschoolers) have had the government's stamp of approval - through assessment or accreditation. No, this hasn't been spelled out, but sometimes you can read between the lines even if you don't have a teaching certificate.
Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thoughts about the Inauguration
Today as the nation celebrated the inauguration of President Obama, I saw people shouting praises, bowing to him, and raising their hands in celebration.
I've read many things on the Internet today - some people made statements dictating how we should support Obama now that he is president, whether or not we agree with him or voted for him. Others declare that we should pray for his failure.
There were many things I've thought about the whole situation and I've written about much of it on my blog. I've almost tired of writing about it all.
This morning as we prepared to watch the inauguration, I read a post describing how Obama had patterned his inaugural activities after that of President Abraham Lincoln. Despite claims to the contrary, I'm pretty sure the similarities ended with the swearing in on the same Bible. Certainly Lincoln and Obama had very different motives in seeking the presidency and certainly Lincoln would have been horrified at the amount of money spent on these events when our country's economy flounders.
So while Obama talked about change, my children and I huddled in the one "warm room" in our house - the only room with a fireplace - to watch the inauguration on a computer that kept freezing up because there were so many people trying to watch the webcasts. We don't have television so the computer was our only option. We finally turned off the computer and sat there reading books by the fireplace, trying to keep warm. Later, we ate scalloped potatoes (made from two $1.00 boxes) for lunch while Obama et al. dined on Maine lobsters, roasted duck, sumptuous desserts, and expensive wines. Change. If the expenditures this week are any indication, we will still be living frugally throughout the next four years while the politicians in Washington continue to spend extravagant amounts of taxpayer money to benefit the elite.
So am I upset by all this? Do I agree with the people who say we should support them or those who say it is Biblical to pray for his failure. Actually, today I've been thinking all day about a couple of verses from the Psalms. They pretty much say it all.
"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom" Psalm 145:3
"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord." Psalm 117
The Lord IS great and WORTHY of praise - from all nations and all peoples. God's kingdom will prevail as his faithfulness endures FOREVER. And his love toward us is great.
How fortunate we are to be blessed with such an awesome God!
How awesome IS our God!
Leaders have come and gone, but the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever!
Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
I've read many things on the Internet today - some people made statements dictating how we should support Obama now that he is president, whether or not we agree with him or voted for him. Others declare that we should pray for his failure.
There were many things I've thought about the whole situation and I've written about much of it on my blog. I've almost tired of writing about it all.
This morning as we prepared to watch the inauguration, I read a post describing how Obama had patterned his inaugural activities after that of President Abraham Lincoln. Despite claims to the contrary, I'm pretty sure the similarities ended with the swearing in on the same Bible. Certainly Lincoln and Obama had very different motives in seeking the presidency and certainly Lincoln would have been horrified at the amount of money spent on these events when our country's economy flounders.
So while Obama talked about change, my children and I huddled in the one "warm room" in our house - the only room with a fireplace - to watch the inauguration on a computer that kept freezing up because there were so many people trying to watch the webcasts. We don't have television so the computer was our only option. We finally turned off the computer and sat there reading books by the fireplace, trying to keep warm. Later, we ate scalloped potatoes (made from two $1.00 boxes) for lunch while Obama et al. dined on Maine lobsters, roasted duck, sumptuous desserts, and expensive wines. Change. If the expenditures this week are any indication, we will still be living frugally throughout the next four years while the politicians in Washington continue to spend extravagant amounts of taxpayer money to benefit the elite.
So am I upset by all this? Do I agree with the people who say we should support them or those who say it is Biblical to pray for his failure. Actually, today I've been thinking all day about a couple of verses from the Psalms. They pretty much say it all.
"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom" Psalm 145:3
"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord." Psalm 117
The Lord IS great and WORTHY of praise - from all nations and all peoples. God's kingdom will prevail as his faithfulness endures FOREVER. And his love toward us is great.
How fortunate we are to be blessed with such an awesome God!
How awesome IS our God!
Leaders have come and gone, but the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever!
Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Continuing to deal with chronic pain
As we feared would happen once I started taking the blood thinners again, I started having some headaches a couple of weeks ago and since last Wednesday, I've had a headache that won't go away. It doesn't seem to matter how much headache medicine I take. These headaches are a reaction to the blood thinners so nothing works to make them stop except to stop taking the blood thinners, which I can't really do without a high risk of dying. We were hopeful that this wouldn't happen this time, but it has. I have to go back to the doctor this week to see if we can find something - perhaps a Beta Blocker - that I might be able to take every day to actually prevent the headaches rather than taking something to try to get rid of them once they've already started, since that obviously doesn't work. Please pray that we'll find another option. On top of that, all week I've been having more severe abdominal and leg pain. I'm starting to feel like a walking time bomb, but I know that the Bible says:
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91:14-16
I generally can't stand complaining (by me or anyone else) so I really try to act like everything is ok, but it is not. I am going to go crazy if I can't get rid of these headaches. I will NOT let this stop me from living, though, so I'm still writing and working a few hours per week and doing as much as I can with the children. I am happy to answer questions and do the regular work I've been doing with homeschooling. If anything, it helps me focus on something else besides the pain for a while so I'm glad to have distraction. Otherwise, I still just have to sleep a lot and that's good, too, except for the fact that I don't get much done. : )
If you are dealing with the same sorts of issues, please know that I do understand what you are going through. I talk with homeschool moms all the time who have been inspired by the posts I've made on chronic pain and they are encouraged. I think it is helpful to others simply to know that they ARE NOT ALONE in their suffering. Sometimes, especially with pain - whether physical or emotional - it's easy to feel like you're completely isolated from the rest of the world and everyone else goes around acting completely normal while you are suffering so badly. I used to tell Chris, my husband, when I was in severe pain, that I honestly couldn't understand how people could just be walking around acting like things were normal and life was good. Even though I lived without pain before I got sick and I fully understand that you can't FEEL someone else's pain, I got to the point where it was so bad that I just didn't understand how they couldn't feel my pain. It's almost like the pain was so severe that I expected it to flow out of me and others would feel it as well. I know that sounds silly, but when you have pain that is debilitating, it is so all-consuming that it's all you can think about. I understand this.
If you need a sympathetic ear, e-mail me. It is NOT easy to homeschool when you live with chronic illness, but it CAN be done!
Yours truly,
Sonya
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Psalm 91:14-16
I generally can't stand complaining (by me or anyone else) so I really try to act like everything is ok, but it is not. I am going to go crazy if I can't get rid of these headaches. I will NOT let this stop me from living, though, so I'm still writing and working a few hours per week and doing as much as I can with the children. I am happy to answer questions and do the regular work I've been doing with homeschooling. If anything, it helps me focus on something else besides the pain for a while so I'm glad to have distraction. Otherwise, I still just have to sleep a lot and that's good, too, except for the fact that I don't get much done. : )
If you are dealing with the same sorts of issues, please know that I do understand what you are going through. I talk with homeschool moms all the time who have been inspired by the posts I've made on chronic pain and they are encouraged. I think it is helpful to others simply to know that they ARE NOT ALONE in their suffering. Sometimes, especially with pain - whether physical or emotional - it's easy to feel like you're completely isolated from the rest of the world and everyone else goes around acting completely normal while you are suffering so badly. I used to tell Chris, my husband, when I was in severe pain, that I honestly couldn't understand how people could just be walking around acting like things were normal and life was good. Even though I lived without pain before I got sick and I fully understand that you can't FEEL someone else's pain, I got to the point where it was so bad that I just didn't understand how they couldn't feel my pain. It's almost like the pain was so severe that I expected it to flow out of me and others would feel it as well. I know that sounds silly, but when you have pain that is debilitating, it is so all-consuming that it's all you can think about. I understand this.
If you need a sympathetic ear, e-mail me. It is NOT easy to homeschool when you live with chronic illness, but it CAN be done!
Yours truly,
Sonya
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com
Thursday, January 15, 2009
An attitude of gratitude
I heard something today that really made me think.
A man was talking about his life and growing up in the Great Depression. During that time, when he was 12 years old, his father died, leaving his mother with 7 young children, no money, and no income.
This man said that he remembered his mom, like a mother hen, huddling all the children around the casket at his father's funeral. She looked down at his father, with the children there in front of her and said, "Look at what you've left me with..."
And I fully expected her to say something like, "all these children, no money, and what am I supposed to do?"
But instead, she said, "Look at what you've left me with" and she looked at the children, "something that is worth more than all the gold in the world. THANK YOU."
Wow.
I am so thankful for this wonderful example of gratitude, faith, and devotion. I hope it encourages you today as it has me.
Sonya Haskins
mom, author, homeschool advocate
www.sonyahaskins.com
A man was talking about his life and growing up in the Great Depression. During that time, when he was 12 years old, his father died, leaving his mother with 7 young children, no money, and no income.
This man said that he remembered his mom, like a mother hen, huddling all the children around the casket at his father's funeral. She looked down at his father, with the children there in front of her and said, "Look at what you've left me with..."
And I fully expected her to say something like, "all these children, no money, and what am I supposed to do?"
But instead, she said, "Look at what you've left me with" and she looked at the children, "something that is worth more than all the gold in the world. THANK YOU."
Wow.
I am so thankful for this wonderful example of gratitude, faith, and devotion. I hope it encourages you today as it has me.
Sonya Haskins
mom, author, homeschool advocate
www.sonyahaskins.com
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Looking for homeschoolers to complete an interview for my new book
I am so excited about the new book I’m writing! The focus of the book is stress-proof homeschooling. Sometimes I think it’s very ironic that the Lord has called me to write a book about reducing stress when I'm struggling through it daily! However, unlike many other products on the market, I have no intention of telling you “the right way” to homeschool. Instead, I'll be compiling the best insight, advice, suggestions, and interviews from dozens of homeschool families. That way, readers can pick and choose what will work in their own unique family environment. I learned long ago that one of the tricks of good parenting is to glean the best advice from many different sources and to evaluate my parenting on a regular basis so that I can make improvements as necessary.
I am currently looking for families who are willing to share a bit of their story, answer a few questions, offer some advice, or simply share an anecdote or two related to homeschooling. You do NOT have to be a perfect family to provide feedback for the book. Actually, if your homeschooling is more like The Three Stooges than Leave it to Beaver, then you’re just the person I’m looking for!! Actually, I’ll share stories from many different kinds of families, but I do encourage everyone to respond.
If you're willing to complete an interview, please e-mail me at sonya@sonyahaskins.com. I believe this book will be a real blessing to other families, particularly new homeschoolers. If you could please forward this request to all your homeschool friends, e-mail loops, digests, websites, blogs, etc., I would GREATLY appreciate it! I don’t usually ask for people to forward things, but most people do not take the time to reply and I’m going to need to reach literally hundreds of people (moms, dads, students, even previous homeschoolers) in order to get the responses that I’ll include in the book. I certainly don’t have all the answers. In this book, the best information from many different homeschoolers will be in one terrific resource!
Thank you for taking the time to read, post, forward, and answer this e-mail! The interviews are ready so as soon as I receive a request, I will forward that to you. If you’d like to read more about me or my family before you reply, visit www.thehomeschooladvocate.com or www.sonyahaskins.com. I will be accepting interviews until the end of February so please request one as soon as possible and forward this to your friends today.
I look forward to hearing from you and reading your stories!
Sincerely,
Sonya Haskins, author The Homeschooler’s Book of Lists
P.S. If you are a blogger, you are welcome to post this on your blog. I should have started these interviews over a month ago, but I deal with chronic health problems and I've been very sick again lately. I was in the hospital in December for a week and since then I've simply been trying to recover. The Lord has blessed me greatly by allowing me to write and it never ceases to amaze me that he allows me to do what I love, but it's funny to me that he has most recently called me to write this book about relieving stress in your homeschool household. I know I'll get it done because he has called me to do it, but I'm going to need some help finding families to interview. Thank you for posting this to your own blogs as well!
I am currently looking for families who are willing to share a bit of their story, answer a few questions, offer some advice, or simply share an anecdote or two related to homeschooling. You do NOT have to be a perfect family to provide feedback for the book. Actually, if your homeschooling is more like The Three Stooges than Leave it to Beaver, then you’re just the person I’m looking for!! Actually, I’ll share stories from many different kinds of families, but I do encourage everyone to respond.
If you're willing to complete an interview, please e-mail me at sonya@sonyahaskins.com. I believe this book will be a real blessing to other families, particularly new homeschoolers. If you could please forward this request to all your homeschool friends, e-mail loops, digests, websites, blogs, etc., I would GREATLY appreciate it! I don’t usually ask for people to forward things, but most people do not take the time to reply and I’m going to need to reach literally hundreds of people (moms, dads, students, even previous homeschoolers) in order to get the responses that I’ll include in the book. I certainly don’t have all the answers. In this book, the best information from many different homeschoolers will be in one terrific resource!
Thank you for taking the time to read, post, forward, and answer this e-mail! The interviews are ready so as soon as I receive a request, I will forward that to you. If you’d like to read more about me or my family before you reply, visit www.thehomeschooladvocate.com or www.sonyahaskins.com. I will be accepting interviews until the end of February so please request one as soon as possible and forward this to your friends today.
I look forward to hearing from you and reading your stories!
Sincerely,
Sonya Haskins, author The Homeschooler’s Book of Lists
P.S. If you are a blogger, you are welcome to post this on your blog. I should have started these interviews over a month ago, but I deal with chronic health problems and I've been very sick again lately. I was in the hospital in December for a week and since then I've simply been trying to recover. The Lord has blessed me greatly by allowing me to write and it never ceases to amaze me that he allows me to do what I love, but it's funny to me that he has most recently called me to write this book about relieving stress in your homeschool household. I know I'll get it done because he has called me to do it, but I'm going to need some help finding families to interview. Thank you for posting this to your own blogs as well!
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