Core Lessons

We had most of a normal school week last week except for two things.  We had our first snowfall, so we had our first half snow day.  I love this homeschool perk.  :)  Core lesson for the day: play.

The second thing is that we closed on our house on Friday.  That pretty much took our whole day, so we didn't have school.  Core lesson for that day: taking care of family needs.  Which leads into what our next few weeks are going to look like.  Our new house needs some work before we can move into it, plus we obviously need to pack and move.  So I've given myself permission to focus on core lessons only for the next month.  We'll have lots of family work during this month, and it'll be important that I keep things simple to decrease stress.  The kids need a nice mom this month much more than they need math and science.  I'm not so sure they can have both.  Core lessons to focus on: work and family relationships.  We'll be moved by Thanksgiving!

Children's Pavilion Field Trip

On Thursday we had a fun field trip.  Our local art museum has a children's museum and it was dollar admission day.  So we invited some friends that we hadn't seen in a while to come with us.  We were there four hours before our friends had to leave, and then stayed another hour because we discovered an area we hadn't seen before.  The kids had a blast and I enjoyed some good mommy visiting.

They had a 'farm' complete with tractor and a cow that you could 'milk' (she squirted water).

Annie was so happy to spend the day with one of her best friends.

Alex was super involved with everything.

Abby was awesome yet again.  

Upstairs they had a great theatre area with costumes.

The best thing was this house, though.  It is a big metal frame with roof, and the plastic sheets have magnets on them.

The kids could have built and destroyed this thing all day!

These girls were inseparable.

We took a lunch break in the middle, and the kids found somewhere to climb.

The girls made necklaces while the boys played elsewhere.

I heard some hilarious conversation between these two while they crafted.

Her youngest was wiped out by the end.  (He is asleep in this picture.)

We had yet another awesome day!  Thanks to our friends for joining us!

Coloring and a Waterwheel

 School has been going well lately, but we've been really busy too.  This is a quick update.

Alex loves his 'math' time with me.  We don't actually do any math, but he calls it that because it's while Annie and Logan do their daily math review.  He and I usually just color in a workbook.  We don't worry about the directions right now.  I took a picture of his coloring one day to show Jim how much progress he's made.  He was scribbling just a few weeks ago, and now he's attempting to stay in the lines.  Good job buddy!

Something else that has been going on is Annie's 'math tears'.  It's sad, but sort of funny.  She's been crying during her math review almost every day lately, but it's not because the math is hard for her.  She cries because she doesn't like the way she writes her numbers!  So she'll write a number, cry, erase it, cry, write it again, cry, erase it again, cry, etc.  It goes on and on.  She is a little perfectionist, and I'm having a hard time convincing her that her numbers don't have to be written perfectly!

I turned a mid-day bath into science time one day recently.  We made a waterwheel and tried it out in the tub.  The kids thought it was cool that the water could turn the wheel, and that real waterwheels can run machinery.

Government Shutdown and Obamacare

This morning I had a discussion with some friends about the welfare of our nation.  Our discussion was short and without details, not a bad discourse, but not really an enlightening one either.  I offered some conclusions that I’ve formed over the course of much reading and other discussions and left feeling like I had merely presented some new ideas without much clarity.  One of those friends asked for some further explanation and so it’s been on my mind all day.  The problem is that I’ve only been researching these things for myself and so haven’t been tracking my sources.  When you read a little here and a little there over a length of time, it’s impossible to figure out just where all of the information came from that led you to your conclusions.  I want to attempt to piece it together and at least to pull some sources, though, so here goes.

Government Shut Down

The topic that started our discussion was the current government shut down.  First of all, the government isn’t actually shut down.  The vast majority of government programs and functions are in full swing.  For more on that see this article:

Government Shutdown

Side note: For some interesting thoughts on other repurcussions of the shutdown see this:

Shutdown Could Shutdown Waste

Basically, the reason behind the ‘shutdown’ is an attempt to de-fund (the goal being to get rid of) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which is also known as Obamacare.  This is important.  It’s VERY important. 

ObamaCare Basics

What is Obamacare and why is it such a big deal?  To put it very simply, it is government enforced healthcare.  It means insurance premiums will go way up.  It means you will be taxed (AKA fined) if you do not have approved healthcare.  It means you will also be taxed to pay for healthcare for those who can’t afford it, including illegal immigrants.  It also allows the government to force healthcare providers to do certain things, gives them access to our personal information, and opens the door for the government to tell us what type of care we can and cannot have.

If this sounds new to you, here is a very simple analogy to get you started.  If it’s not new, this analogy is still loads of fun. 

It's Free So It Must Be a Good Thing

If you’re ready for another level, check this one out.  Did you know that our government officials are exempt from their own law? 

Its Obvious Why People Don't Trust Obamacare

Now here is detailed explanation of the whole thing. 

Bad Medicine

And finally, this is the Act itself if you have way more time than I have.  (I’ve only read parts of this.)

PPACA

ObamaCare Inspections/ Implications

The part about this that fascinates, or to be more accurate, terrifies me is picturing what this could mean for the future of our nation.  Crazy high insurance premiums and taxes is pretty awful by itself, but there’s more.  If the government has access to my personal health information and by law is authorized to direct my doctors, they can cause me all sorts of problems.  What if I was once diagnosed with depression?  Can that put me on a watch list for being mentally ill?  Can that restrict me in the future?  You bet it can.  What happens when the government decides that treatment for my long term illness is unnecessary?  What happens when they decide that I don’t need my medications or treatment or surgery, etc.?  With this amount of control, the government can do any of that.

Another implication of Obamacare that has been talked about recently is forced home inspections.  This has been a debate. 

I found this describing who would be targeted for said inspections:

The Forced Home Inspections In Obamacare Law

And to add credibility this is direct from the government backing it up:

Affordable Care Act, Home Visiting Program

One more that says pretty much the same thing:

Obamacare Provision Forced Home Inspections

My conclusions are half drawn on this one.  I will say this, though, the government doesn’t really need anything additional to enter our homes.  A call to social services already allows for that.  Control of our health records will simply give more reasons to make that call.

Obamacare isn’t really about healthcare; it’s about control.  THAT is important.  And scary.  Very scary.

IPAB Death Panel

When governments gain this much control there is little they can’t do.  In post WW1 Germany, Hitler promised a war devastated country relief through government funded programs much like ours.  It sounded wonderful to the masses of citizens who were struggling to make ends meet.  Through this, he accomplished one of the biggest tragedies known to man.  It allowed the government to choose who were ‘valuable’ citizens and to dispose of those who weren’t.  Amazingly, many of the citizens had no idea what was actually happening at the time.  Our country isn’t recovering from the destruction of war, but the parallels to the German government then (at the beginning of Hitler’s regime) and the American government now are remarkable.  While I sit here in my comfortable home with a full stomach it’s hard to imagine not having these comforts; I’ve always had them.  However, as I’ve studied the histories of many countries, I can see just how my world can become a nightmare.  I believe Obamacare is a step in that direction.

As I thought on these things today, I began to wonder (as I often have in the past) just how bad things could get within our healthcare system.  So I researched and found something new.  Granted, I didn’t have a lot of time or sources, but I’ll share what I found.  There is something called the Independent Payment Advisory Board, IPAB, that went into effect this year.  It is separate from Obamacare, but will work side by side with it because it determines the funding of Medicare.  It could mean the denial of lifesaving procedures/ services to individuals with disabilities or who are elderly. 

This explains it and here is a quote of particular interest from the same article:

“Opponents of the IPAB see this group as an unelected body of powerful bureaucrats with political agendas, professionally insulated from their peers, who will have little choice but to make cost reduction decisions to meet IPAB’s fiscal goals or face removal from the Board. Ultimately these “forced decisions” will reduce access to care and medical innovation.  This situation will create the prospect for current and future lifesaving procedures, medications, and services to not be available to Medicare patients.  Thus, the “death panel” label.”

Questions About the Implementation of the IPAB

Here is the direct source:

IPAB Action Center

Karl Marx‘s 10 Planks to Communism

If you’re still with me I’m impressed.  If you’ve read all of my links I’m even more impressed.  This is where you can label me a conspiracy theorist if you want.  It won’t bother me.  I promise.

I may seem to be a little off topic here, but this is where my mind naturally goes next.  Have you ever heard of Karl Marx?  Yes?  No?  Just in case you haven’t, he was one of the most famous communist leaders ever.  He wrote something called the Communist Manifesto in which he describes his theories on communism.  This morning I  shared a little of this, but had the order mixed up.  Marx shared 10 planks, or steps, necessary to “seize power and destroy freedom”.  There weren’t healthcare systems then, but Obamacare seems to fit right in with these.  Of particular interest to me (but not the topic of this post) is #10: Free education for all children in public schools.

Here are two explanations of his ten planks and how they parallel our current situation:

10 Marx Planks

  

Communist Manifesto Planks

I firmly believe that many government officials in our nation today are seeking to ‘seize power and destroy freedom’.  There is evidence of this all around us.  I believe Obamacare is just another way for them to do that.  So I’m not going to complain about the government shut down.  (Quite frankly, we could use a whole lot less government.)

What To Do

Last, I’ll ask a question that was posed to me this morning.  Is there anything we can do?  I know a few things I can do.  I can make sure my children understand these things so they can stand for freedom when they’re grown.  I can attempt to share with others what I’m learning.  I can prepare my family as best I can based on the history of other nations.  I can continue to study.  Knowledge is power and changes nations.  I’m honestly not sure how I, a stay at home, homeschooling mom can truly become involved right now, but I’m sure there is a way.  I can strive and hope and watch for opportunities.

County Park Field Trip

We had a field trip on Friday.  It was the perfect thing because I was so tired (from being up with a booger baby in the night) that I couldn't have functioned well at home.  We visited a county park nearby that had wildlife that you could see.

 

There were some birds.  These ones are turkeys.

This was a golden pheasant.  It's colors were so pretty. 

I didn't take pictures of the other birds.

Next we saw the bison. 

These bison were happy to eat the carrots an lettuce we brought for them.

 Somewhere out there are elk.  I hear that they usually like to eat what people bring them, but they wouldn't even look our way.

After seeing the animals, we had a picnic, played on a playground, and threw rocks in the water.  It felt good to get outside that day.

Jello Experiment

We had another fun experiment a few days ago.  The kids had read that there is an enzyme in pineapple that will break apart the gelatin in jello, but that apples wouldn't have the same effect.  So we decided to test it out with several types of fruit.  We knew what would happen with the pineapple and apple already, so they made guesses about the others.  They guessed that everything would set up except the pineapple and oranges.

They guessed wrong!  Everything set up except the pineapple and we had a fun treat with dinner.  :)

Patience Is Not A Homeschool Virtue

I have had dozens of people say this to me:

"I don't know how you do it.  I'm just not patient enough."
"I thought about homeschooling, but I don't have the patience."
"I could never homeschool because I'm so impatient."

I can sympathize.  It takes a LOT of patience to be a parent.  My kids drive me bonkers sometimes.  They whine and fight and have selective hearing when it comes to instructions.  They are incredibly noisy and need things from me all the time.  My brain gets so overloaded at times that I don't know which way is up.  If I had no experience with homeschool, I would probably say the same thing.  Our non-school days are often nuts!  However, homeschooling isn't like that, or at least doesn't need to be. 

So, today I'd like to share a little secret.  Patience is NOT a homeschool virtue.  What I mean is that it doesn't require any more patience to homeschool than it does to have your child go to public school.  It might even require less.  Being an extra patient person is not what enables me to homeschool.  Anybody who knows me well (Mom?? Dad?? Jim??) would tell you that I am WAY below average on the patience scale.  It's easily my biggest fault and gets me into all sorts of trouble.  I'm constantly working on it.  (That's why I had kids, right?) 

I'm pretty sure my impatient nature would give me more problems if my kids were going to public school.  I would have to fight them to get ready on time every morning and force them to do their homework (that they probably aren't interested in) at the end of the day when they are already tired.  I can just see the battle that would be.  In the end I'd spend just as much time and energy helping my kids with school concerns without any of the enjoyment we have now.  That sounds so frustrating!  We don't clash during school time.  We have fun and we learn together at their pace.  We have a simple routine that keeps things calm.  It's pretty easy to be patient when my kids are happily cuddled up next to me while we work math problems or read together.  I don't want to lock anyone in their rooms when they are excited to write letters or make a science project.  They want to do our school activities and so they cooperate.  It's my easiest time of day.

It doesn't require an extra dose of patience to homeschool (thankfully!).  The things it does require are bravery, a firm commitment, and extra brainwork (to figure out HOW to make it work).  Most parents could do it if they so desired.