Coincidence or Conspiracy ?

Many homeschoolers were upset when e-bay stopped carrying teachers manuals. HSLDA's solution, they launched a new site, HSLDA’s Curriculum Market. Anyone can sell their home instruction material on their site, the hitch only HSLDA MEMBERS (you can join for a measly $115. a year) can buy. Supposedly one of the reasons is so HSLDA can ensure that teacher materials are being sold only to teachers. It smacks of exploitation, to this homeschool Mom.

Related Tags: HSLDA, exploitation, E-bay

Predator

by Patricia Cornwell

Who is HOG (Hand of God), and why is HOG killing people? What happened to Helen Quincy and her Mother? These mysteries and more will be solved in Cornwell's latest Scarpetta novel.

Another Public School Shooting!

And they wonder why so many of us choose to homeschool? My heart goes out to the families affected by this.

The high school in this tiny mountain town (Bailey Colorado) was closed Thursday, a day after a mysterious gunman took six girls hostage in a classroom for hours before fatally wounding one and then killing himself as authorities stormed in.

Fall

We have been having lovely weather here in Mississippi. Yesterday I got some outdoor time. I enjoyed watching two red tailed hawks soaring over my back yard, a hummingbird zipping by and tons of butterflies flitting through my yard.

Not Content With Destroying K-12 Education, Spellings Goes After Colleges & Universities

Unlike K-12 public schools which need all the help they can get, our colleges and universities are doing a wonderful job. So why does Spellings want to mess that up?

Looking to extend its education policies into America's colleges and universities, the Bush administration outlined new proposals Tuesday that some higher-education officials fear will lead to standardized testing at the collegiate level and trample on students' privacy

The government should stay out of the higher education business until they figure out what they are doing WRONG with K-12.

¿Cómo le hacen día homeschool en español?

Lord Epa and I are learning Spanish this year. There are several reasons we are learning a foreign language.

1. Most colleges and universities require a foreign language.
2. I enjoy traveling, I hope my children will too and one day I hope to visit a foreign country where knowing at least some of the language would be nice.
3. Learning a foreign language is a wonderful way to teach empathy for those who come to the United States from non-English speaking countries and who are struggling to learn our language.

We choose Spanish because after Katrina a lot of Hispanics have moved to the area. It would be nice to be able to communicate with them and read the labels on cans at our local Wal-mart. When studying a foreign language I also like to study the culture and the different counties that primarily speak the language. This post will share some of the information we have studied so far - later post will update our discoveries.

First we choose Spanish names Sean is Juan Thomas and I am Sandra Inez (yes, Sandra happens to be a Spanish name - or so a Spanish speaking friend informed me). Spanish speakers usually have two last names, the first surname of both the Mother and the Father so Sean would be Juan Thomas Alawine Jackson

We definitely like the Spanish tradition of siesta, as hot as it is in Mississippi we think this is one tradition Mississippians should adopt.

One of Spain's traditional Dishes is Paella, which we enjoyed eating tonight.

Our first Spanish Holiday to celebrate will be Dia de los Muertos. We will celebrate el 2 de noviembre de 2006, with PEAK. Our plans include making sugar skulls and paper flowers, thanks to Rachael who has volunteered to head up those two crafts. I am hoping to cajole someone into heading up making paper mache mask for the kids to paint. We will also have lots of Spanish food to eat. If I am feeling really brave I may try to make Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead).

You can find a teacher's packet on Dia De los Muertos here.

I'll post how our celebration turned out in November along with new things we have learned and upcoming activities, so stay tuned.

Adiós for now.

Aloha!

This weeks COH is hosted by Anne at Palm Tree Pundit. Anne happens to live in Hawaii. I wish I could figure out a way to send myself through the internet to visit. Hawaii is one of my favorite vacation spots. I took a picture of this blow hole the last time I was there.

The Ambler Warning
by Robert Ludlum

If you enjoyed The Bourne Identity you'll love this book. Has a very shocking and heartbreaking ending. I didn't see it coming. Full of thrills and chills.

At Stand Up For Kids in Mississippi read how a federal law will allow teachers to preform strip searches on students.