A Light Hearted Reminder

As we ring in the New Year let us remember to praise the one who has given all to us!

Happy New Year!

How to Start Homeschooling in California

Now that we are through the first half of the school year it appears to be a great time to make a change. What kind of change, you ask? It is a great time to pull your kids out of public school and start homeschooling them.

Aren't you tired of your kids coming home with outrageous ideas? Tired of having to do everything according to the public school's schedule? Well, you have options.

Why am I writing this "how to" post? Well, I have a friend who is pulling her kid out of school and I know she isn't the only one. So if you need a little guidance read on.

First, this is a how to for someone who is going to do it alone in the State of California. Meaning no "homeschooling" group, you are responsible for everything. This is not legal advice but a gleaning of all the information I have. You can read further here.

So you need to get a file folder and put the following information in it.

• An attendance record that has your child's absences only.
• Have a resume for yourself and/or your spouse that includes any schooling or training you have. (There is not an educational requirement, you just need to have some background proof of some) You also could put in a copy of your transcripts or diploma of your highest level of education.
• You also need to have 2 state forms completed regarding health and immunization issues. They can be found here and here. You can also exempt out of the immunizations (on the first form) and fill out an exemption for the exam.

Then you will need to file a PSA (Private School Affidavit), which some of us still refer to by the outdated R4 name. You can go over to A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling to walk you through the form, if you have any questions. Everything is done and submitted on the computer. You need to print off a copy and keep your confirmation code (just in case).

So what else is expected of you? You will also have to instruct in English (unless your student is currently learning English, in which case it needs to be at least 50%). You will also have to make sure you teach at least the "accepted" subjects. You can go to the Content Standards on the Education Department's site to get grade level goals (though not required). You also need to keep a basic course list. Mine is basically a book list that can be found here.

The subjects for 1st to 6th (there aren't rules for kindergarten):

• English
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• Fine Arts
• Health
• PE

That is it! Remember, we have all seen the current school system so it can't be that hard! Good Luck!

Meal Plan Monday

Ok, so here is my Christmas week meal plan (posted early so I can shop).
Monday: Cube Steak, Broccoli, Beer Bread
Tuesday: Ham, The Best Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Corn Muffins, Roasted Cauliflower, Broccoli
Wednesday: Eggs, Sausage, Pancakes
Thursday: Pasta Alfredo Bake with Ham
Friday: Pork Loin Chops, Broccoli Mac and Cheese

Have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas: Pagan or Holy? Part 2

(This is response to Adam's comment on my previous post on the subject. Those comment boxes seem so tiny;).
If you want to get into the specifics of the Asherah pole ok. But, I think we are discussing details not heart but ok. For starters, apparently Asherah idols were found in Jewish homes until the 6th century BC, so the idea that they were trying to take the Judaism out of it might be a bit misdirected. Secondly, if you are looking for the most direct pagan celebration look to the birth of Mithras on December 25th. His festival was called the Nativity of the Sun and he was born from a rock. But that all in itself proves a bit of my point. This is all supposition because one of the other theories could also be true.

Such as, Joseph of Arimathea used a walking stick coming to Britain and so the tree. One of my favorite is that Christ was later crucified on a tree so it was used. One that seems to carry some symbolic weight is that an evergreen tree is formed in a triangle that represented the Trinity. What makes this one seem a little more legit is that in Saxony they would also substitute wooden pyramid and decorate that. Why did I go into all of these legends? Just to prove that there isn't conclusive proof on any of these and their origins. We have no definitive that it is based on a sin to begin with, so to say that this is what was specifically banned in the Scriptures may be going a little far.

So short of that why can't we take something and make it our own? This isn't the same thing as taking a behavior that is a sin and condoning it. Adam said himself in the comments:

There's nothing inherently evil, for example, about a pine or fir tree (even though I am allergic to them). Rather, it is what WE DO WITH THEM that is inherently good or inherently evil!

I personally use the Christmas traditions to worship my Lord and Savior. This point is what the scripture in Colossians 2:16-18 was talking about. Taking something that isn't spelled out specifically in Scripture, like Jesus's birthday party, and to read into someone else's morality about it and casting that on anyone else is wrong. Now if you saw me elevating Santa above Christ, please say something because that is a sin. But going into a grey area where one's motive are truly evidenced only by the out pouring of the heart in relation to Christmas is something you can't paint with the broad pagan brush.

Adam pointed out that it was much more likely that Christ was born during Sukkot. First, as with all things, where does it say that in Scripture? Second, does it matter. A birthday isn't to truly celebrate a day but a person so does it matter when we do it? Is there something to being unified in Christ and sucking it up? I think there might since, relatively, it isn't that important. I can say as a girl who was raised with guilt issues, this subject doesn't really serve to further God's kingdom but to inflict a fear and guilt. Time is relative with Christ and we are not bound by it because we will be with Him in eternity where time is irrelevant so why be so hung up on it.

As a side note. Adam did make some comparison by simply the title of his post, Which Would Jesus Celebrate? Why choose?

Hilary, Huckabee and PJ

I have heard all the hubbub about Mike Huckabee's subliminal ad, which I thought was hogwash. But I hadn't heard about Hilary's ad where she give us many "great gifts" (including universal healthcare, universal pre-k, etc) until I was reading Jonah Goldberg's piece at National Review. He pointed out the obvious point to me.... Gifts are given freely and cost the receiver nothing and that isn't the case with these things. As a matter of fact I think they could bankrupt us. Jonah went on to quote one of my favorites (both the book and the author) in comparing the candidates, P. J. O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores.

“I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat,” wrote the indispensable O’Rourke.

“God” he explained, is “a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well being of the disadvantaged. ... God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God’s heavenly country club.”

P. J. continues: “Santa Claus is another matter. ... He’s nonthreatening. He’s always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without the thought of a quid pro quo.”

“Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one,” O’Rourke concluded. “There is no such thing as Santa Claus.”

I have included both commercials so you can get the feel.

Friday Freebie

I have found a great one day only deal at Walgreens. Go check it out at my other blog. It would make a great gift!

Christmas: Pagan or Holy?

(Have mercy on me, it has been a long time since I have written a long, grown up post so don't pick on the form but the substance;)

A friend of mine Adam Bernay, who is a messianic rabbi, recently did a post on why we shouldn't celebrate Christmas (warning, it is on MySpace). I must say that I don't agree with his main premise (that we shouldn't celebrate Christmas) at all. He has issue with Christmas in 2 ways and I will address them both. First, Christmas is founded in paganism and not Christianity. The second is that we should celebrate Hanukkah instead.

In dealing with Adam's first point, I agree that many of our Christmas traditions are derived from pagan celebrations but it doesn't matter. Now I am very blessed to attend a church with a very wise senior pastor (with his own blog). When I stumbled upon this blog entry I dashed off an email for some references from a sermon Pastor Jan had given on this very subject last Christmas(I think). He pointed me in the direction of Saint Augustine and his concept of Egyptian Gold. Here is a basic summary based on a translation I found, God commanded the Jews to take gold and silver from Egypt when they left. The Jews then turned around and used these materials in the Tabernacle to worship the one true God. All things were God's to begin with and we can claim them as such.

I feel that as long as our hearts are pure in the worship of Christ that we can claim these traditions (tree, December 25th, etc) as our own. Let us take some of this principle a little farther. The prophesy Jesus' birth in Bethlehem was fulfilled by the commands for the Roman (heathen government) census. How about the crucification of Christ? It was only through others outward sin (that physically put Christ on the cross) that Christ died for my sin. Does the pagan involvement nullify the good? You could say that since pagans and their beliefs were involved it negates all of the Christianity or Godly effects of these things. But that would mean that we are thinking that there are 2 separate worlds, one for the Christian and one for all others.

Pastor Jan pointed out that this fortress mentality limits God by employing a pagan duality theory. This is the theory that things were created to be inherently evil. The contradicts scripture(Genesis 1:31) blatantly so to believe that you can't celebrate Christmas without it partaking in the paganism is actually a return to the ancient pagan worldview.

The second issue dealt with celebrating Hanukkah instead. I simply ask why can I only celebrate one of them? Hanukkah is a great holiday that shows God's love, control and strength. I love it, my husband loves it, my kids love it. But it isn't a celebration of Christ's birth. Considering that the birth of Christ is mentioned so many times in scripture, if they were a joint holiday I think we would have noticed in the text.

I leave you with the scripture that brought me peace about these things when I was refusing to call Easter, Easter(and it was one Pastor Jan mentioned too).

Colossians 2:16-18 (New International Version)


16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

Wordless Wednesday: Holiday Joy

Aren't these the cutest? My friend who was babysitting my kids did these with them. The reindeer face is made from a tracing of their feet and the antlers from their hands. This is the sweetest!

Super Hero Movie of the Year

I am in the process of introducing my wife to all aspects of nerd culture that she was deprived of as a child. It began when we were dating (X-Files, The Simpsons) and has progressed through some of the later Star Trek series (though her Shatner-tolerance is still woefully lacking). But I still haven't gotten her to what was the core of my nerdy youth: comic books. (I figure that at least half of the money that went through my fingers from ages 9-15 was spent on comic books.) That is why I dedicate the post to NerdMom, in hopes that someday she will come to understand that the following youtube clip is the greatest thing that the Internet has ever put before my eyes.




More about this here, HT House of Eratosthenes

Meal Plan Monday

Here it is!

Monday: Corned Beef Hash, Scrambled Eggs, Broccoli
Tuesday: Pasta Carbonara Florentine
Wednesday: Left-over Pasta Alfredo Bake
Thursday: Cube Steak, Broccoli, Beer Bread
Friday: Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs

Amazon Shopping

Just remember that you only have 3 days to order from Amazon, use free shipping and get it by Christmas!

Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals!

I got this from my friend Heather. Normally, I don't encourage such thing but I really liked this one.

OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building
his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and
plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

---------------------------------------------------------------------


MODERN VERSION:

The ant works ha rd in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances
and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and
demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well-fed while
others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the
shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable
home with a table filled with food. Americans are stunned by the sharp
contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor
grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and
everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."

Jesse Jackson stages a demon stration in front of the ant's house
where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.'
Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's
sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry explain in an interview with Larry King
that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and
both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair
share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper
Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs
and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is
confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation
suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges
that Bill Clint on appointed from a list of
single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last
bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which
just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because
he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the
house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who
terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote

Hanukah Faux Paux

Now I openly admit that I don't keep kosher, as a matter of fact we had pork sausage, eggs w/cheese and latkes last night for dinner. But I guess back east they take their Hanukah very seriously. NancyKay Shapiro (who also eats pork;) noticed this advertisement at a grocery store and snapped a couple of pictures. She then posted it on her blog so we could all get a kick out of it. The next day the signs were gone and there are at least 2 news stories (one and two). Everyone knows the really sin is that people are paying between $8.99 and $6.29 a pound for ham!

(HT: Silicon Valley Moms)

Music Choice and Devo 2.0

So a new thing on TIVO is Music Choice. You can choose specific videos and download them onto the Tivo. I have been surprised of the amount of Christian videos and very happy about it. But NerdDad and I also saw Whip it! by Devo 2.0 and had to give it a go. While it isn't THAT bad, it is pretty corny. NerDad said that they must be rolling over in their graves. When I said I didn't think they were dead yet, he said they were probably dieing of embarrassment;). View it for yourself and tell me what you think!

Great Holiday Video

And it is from a bunch of Math Nerds (more on that later).

Meal Plan Monday

I didn't make a menu plan last week and it all went to pot. So I am back with this week's menu.

Monday: Marinated Pork Loin, Beer Bread, Broccoli
Tuesday: Cube Steak, Sweet Corn Muffin, Broccoli
Wednesday: Crockpot Roast and Potatoes, Broccoli
Thursday: Chicken, Broccoli and Rice
Friday: Pasta Carbonara Florentine

Wordless Wednesday

God is good all the time! For more Wordless Wednesday go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Nerds, High School, and Socialization

Apparently when you search "facts about nerds" on Google we come up 2nd. The first site returned is fascinating article by Paul Graham on "Why Nerds are Unpopular". It brought up many great points that spoke to my own popularity issues in high school and also to many reasons as to why I homeschool. While I am quoting many pieces, I recommend you read the article in its entirety.

One of his great points is that nerds don't want to be popular enough to be popular.

But in fact I didn't, not enough. There was something else I wanted more: to be smart. Not simply to do well in school, though that counted for something, but to design beautiful rockets, or to write well, or to understand how to program computers. In general, to make great things.

At the time I never tried to separate my wants and weigh them against one another. If I had, I would have seen that being smart was more important. If someone had offered me the chance to be the most popular kid in school, but only at the price of being of average intelligence (humor me here), I wouldn't have taken it.
...
The main reason nerds are unpopular is that they have other things to think about. Their attention is drawn to books or the natural world, not fashions and parties. They're like someone trying to play soccer while balancing a glass of water on his head. Other players who can focus their whole attention on the game beat them effortlessly, and wonder why they seem so incapable.

He also speaks as to how real life compares to high school.

Why is the real world more hospitable to nerds? It might seem that the answer is simply that it's populated by adults, who are too mature to pick on one another. But I don't think this is true. Adults in prison certainly pick on one another. And so, apparently, do society wives; in some parts of Manhattan, life for women sounds like a continuation of high school, with all the same petty intrigues.

I think the important thing about the real world is not that it's populated by adults, but that it's very large, and the things you do have real effects. That's what school, prison, and ladies-who-lunch all lack. The inhabitants of all those worlds are trapped in little bubbles where nothing they do can have more than a local effect. Naturally these societies degenerate into savagery. They have no function for their form to follow.

When the things you do have real effects, it's no longer enough just to be pleasing. It starts to be important to get the right answers, and that's where nerds show to advantage. Bill Gates will of course come to mind. Though notoriously lacking in social skills, he gets the right answers, at least as measured in revenue.

So once again all this just points out the obvious, if high school isn't real life why is it so important to make your kids learn how to fit in? I feel it harms the kids more than anything, so I homeschool to combat it all and raise functioning adults.

Blog Rating

(HT: Just An Average Girl)