Family Times Online Newsletter - January 7, 2010

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Masterpiece Cards

Teach art appreciation with Masterpiece Cards. These art history flashcards reproduce and review famous paintings of the world. Summarizes five centuries of art history, with art analysis of every famous painting. See sample Masterpiece Cards, and special, limited pricing for Family Times readers!


Royal Academy

Each Royal Academy program is individually designed around the strengths, interests, and unique qualities of each student and their family.

Parents choose Royal Academy because they desire an educational experience which encourages and stimulates their children to strive for the best in all areas of academic life. Students appreciate this solid yet flexible approach because it gives them the opportunity to explore personal interest areas in-depth.
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Feature Articles

It's Time for a Change by Kathryn Stout

Frequently, homeschooling moms find themselves looking for relief from a case of the winter blues. My guess is that this seasonal ailment is the simple result of living on adrenaline from our grand beginnings in September through all the extra tasks in November and December. If our children have been especially busy preparing for and participating in holiday performances, they may be suffering from the same fatigue and lack of motivation. No matter what the reason, if you or your kids feel as if you're just 'going through the motions,?' here are a few suggestions that may help:
Read More...

Homeschooling High School the Third Time Around
by Barbara Frank

The baby I carried on my hip while I homeschooled my first two children is now 14. It’s time for me to think about how I homeschooled her older siblings when they were teens, and how I want to homeschool her now that she’s reached high school age. Read More...

Money-Saving Tips for Busy Moms
by Sara Jo Poff

Whether you're looking for ways to cut costs or just need some age-old advice, here are some basics on frugal living.
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How To Create an Intellectual Feast
by Renée Fuller, Ph.D.

Ralph Olsen was a very angry parent. The school system had “diagnosed” his adored seven-year old Edna with attention deficit disorder as well as verbal processing disorder. He was red in his face as he sputtered. “Small wonder she hates school. You should see what that place is like. They treat the kids like prisoners. Read More...

Simon Sez by David H. Albert

“The mere habit of obedience is not preparation for life in a democracy.”
— Maria Montessori (1915)

I don’t think I’ve played Simon Sez in more than 35 years. I can’t honestly say that I’ve missed it. I don’t have any especial expectation that I’ll walk into work on a particular Monday morning, and there will be my boss waiting to have a go at us. Or at least I hope not, and I’d have even less desire for it to happen on a daily basis. Read More...

In the News

Homeschooling and socialism
Exclusive: Samuel Blumenfeld urges parents
to resist government efforts to usurp rights

By Samuel Blumenfeld (WorldNetDaily)

Is homeschooling compatible with socialism and vice-versa? Apparently not, for homeschooling means parental control of education, and that is anathema to socialists.

The most important institution in a socialist society is a government-owned and -controlled education system in which children can be indoctrinated to willingly accept state control of their lives. Public-school teachers are not freedom fighters. They are government employees who must obey the mandates of the state.

In a socialist system, the state owns the children. Parents are merely breeders, and since homeschoolers tend to like large families, the population-control socialists will no doubt try to abolish homeschooling.
Read article: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=117239

Homeschooling, a family in a class of its own
January 7, 2010 (Upstate Today, SC)
sibley@dailyjm.com | (864) 882-2375

It wasn’t easy for Michele Patton to make a decision to keep her children out of the public school system.

Friends had warned her that the kids wouldn’t get the crucial social and educational skills they would need to succeed later in life and why a stigma against the practice should be all she needed to remain pro-public.
But after some careful consideration and research, Patton now looks back on five fruitful years as a home schooling parent.
Read More...

http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2010/jan/07/homeschooling-family-class-its-own/

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Home Educator's Family Times
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