huge white diamond found in South Africa - teaching ideas

A white diamond has been dug up at the historic Cullinan mine in South Africa. The diamond weighs 507.55 (101.5 grams) carats. That's a huge diamond! It's actually one of the world's largest. Clarity, grading, and other details will be released after further examination by experts, but they've already stated that it appears to be an exceptional diamond.

If you want to read one of the articles about this, I'd recommend: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/rest-of-world/Spectacular-50755-carat-white-diamond-mined-in-South-Africa/articleshow/5071500.cms

While Chris and the children were sitting here talking about it, a discussion came up about the word "carat." This is a great word to use to discuss synonyms so we used the opportunity to look up the meaning of "carat" and "karat" (we already knew "carrot"! LOL). Anyway, I thought some of the rest of you might like to go over the differences with your children... :)

- carrot ... Of course this is the yummy, crunchy, orange vegetable we enjoy fresh, steamed, boiled, baked, etc.

- carat ... A carat is a unit of measurement for diamonds and other gemstones. One carat equals 200 milligrams. Although I initially thought a "carat" was based on size, a carat is actually unit of weight, which is a little bit different than just "size," which could also imply measurement.

- karat ... A karat is not a unit of weight, but it's a unit of purity. When referring to gold, 24-karat gold refers to pure gold. Since pure gold tends to be too soft for normal use, you'll frequently find lower karats of gold: 14-karat gold, for example. Since each karat is really 1/24th of the whole, a 14-karat gold necklace really means that it's 14 parts gold and 8 parts something else (14 + 8 equals 24 karats). Usually that "something else" is copper or silver or another metal used to make the jewelry or other material since 24 karat gold is too soft.

Since children are typically very interested in superlative topics ("largest," "rarest," "most expensive," etc.), they might be interested in the news about this latest discovery. This is a good example of how to incorporate math (fractions, etc.), language arts (synonyms, spelling, definitions, etc.) science (how do diamonds form, how do you mine for diamonds), geography (where is South Africa, where is the mine), and other academic subjects into an every day discussion so that education is just a part of your lifestyle. : )

Have fun!
Sonya

another Obama indoctrination video

I'm not sure when this clip was filmed, but it came from a PTA type meeting in Sand Hill, North Carolina. I am under the impression that it was filmed as part of a back-to-school program earlier in September, but I can't verify that. I just wonder how many kids in classes across the United States are learning chants, songs, and rhymes about Obama, change, hope, and our future instead of spelling, math, HISTORY, foreign languages, etc. I'm sure we'll never be aware of how much indoctrination is actually going on out there, but we can try to speak out against it all the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIzVZtbFUA

On a positive note, there are LOTS of people asking about homeschooling right now as a result of the things that are going on in public schools across the nation. This is a wonderful time to be share with others the joys of homeschooling, answer their questions, and help make others aware that there are (at least now) other educational options for our children. I think it's also important to remember and be in prayer for parents who truly don't have the option (for whatever reason) to homeschool their children.

Sonya
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

Requesting prayers for Chris Klicka - homeschool leader who works for HSLDA

Chris Klicka, homeschool dad of seven who works for HSLDA and has battled MS (Multiple Sclerosis) for fifteen years, has taken a turn for the worse and may be going home to heaven soon. His family has asked for prayers as they spend time with him during his last days and hours before he goes to be with our Heavenly Father.

If you'd like to stay updated and also read their most recent prayer requests, you should visit their Caring Bridge journal page. You can access that here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisklicka

Since it is so difficult to update everyone who is concerned about others during times of critical illness, recovery or treatment, the Caring Bridge website is an excellent resource and means of keeping in contact. I would highly recommend that other families consider it when you're experiencing medical crises.

Our prayers go out to the Klicka family,
Sonya

Propaganda

I had mentioned a few weeks ago that in our homeschool right now, we're studying WWII and along with that - propaganda, German (the language), and other related subjects. There is certainly no shortage of examples of propaganda for us to study ...right now, including the story about the teacher training elementary age students to sing praises to Obama. You can see that here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/24/elementary-school-students-reportedly-taught-songs-praising-president-obama/

Now before anyone starts getting all worked up about how we should praise the president and honor him, etc., well I AGREE with the fact that we should RESPECT the office of the president and the actual person, but that does NOT mean we should "praise" him, nor does it mean that children should be trained to blindly accept the person without questioning their policies, morals, character, etc. Back to the topic of propaganda, there was also this really neat article that talked about all sorts of propaganda and how numerous leaders have used specifically targeted children over the years. All of the propaganda isn't necessarily "bad," but it IS very interesting and certainly applicable today to be aware of what propaganda is, how it is used, and what it can accomplish (for good or evil). All the examples they shared are targeted toward children so it's pretty neat. I'm planning to show the kids tomorrow. If you are interested in doing the same, another thing you can discuss is how commercials are a type of "propaganda" and how they don't exactly tell you the whole truth, but they sure do make their products sound terrific! Kids can understand that. : )

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/politics/2009/09/24/propoganda-aimed-children

Sonya : )
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

Tylenol recalls cold products

In preparation for a possibly bad cold / flu season, we went a few weeks ago and purchased a whole bunch of cold supplies. Wouldn't you know it that today Tylenol issued a recall and at least two of the things I bought are listed?!? It doesn't sound like it's very serious and they're not sure there's a problem with the products listed, but better safe than sorry... Sonya

Here's more information from the Tylenol website:

"You may have heard that McNeil Consumer Healthcare (the makers of TYLENOL®) is voluntarily recalling certain lots of Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products that were manufactured between April, 2008 and June, 2008. All products manufactured met internal specifications. However, the company is implementing this recall because during this period, an unused portion of one inactive ingredient did not meet all quality standards. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it was decided to recall all Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products listed below, which were made during this time.

.....Consumers can find the lot numbers on the bottom of the box containing the liquid product and also on the sticker that surrounds the product bottle. The lot numbers of the affected products are listed below.

These actions do not apply to Children's TYLENOL® Meltaways and Junior Strength TYLENOL® Meltaways. The voluntary recall applies only to select lots of Children's and Infants' TYLENOL® liquid products."

From Sonya... To read the list of recalled products, click on the link below. I didn't want to paste the whole list here because it's long.

http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/news/subpchildinfantnews.inc

large hoard of gold found - dates back to Dark Ages

If you're studying England or the Dark Ages right now (or if you kids are interested in gold or metal detecting), you might want to check out this website: http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/

A jobless man was using his metal detector walking around on his farmland and hit the jackpot - well, it was actually a large hoard of gold items dating back to the Dark Ages. If you go to the website above and click on "artefacts," it will take you to a slide show and you can actually look at photos of the artefacts with your children. They are very beautiful pieces. What is really neat is that one of them actually has words on it. It looks like the words are a mixture of Old English and Latin (which would have been used during that period).

I just love integrating stuff like this into the things we learn. It makes it so much more memorable and interesting for the children! : )

Sonya
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

a trillion dollars

If you are interested in discussing the national debt, bailout plan, money, or even just large numbers with your older children, I found a really neat, very short (one minute) video on You Tube that talks about "a trillion dollars" in terms we can easily understand. A trillion dollars is only ONE TENTH of the bailout plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at3MNu8BRwQ&feature=pyv&ad=3832047429&kw=obama&gclid=COidwaLBip0CFQwdswodHWeh0w

The video is non-partisan and appropriate for all age groups. It brings the debt money into "real" terms we can all understand.

Sonya Haskins