In fourth grade I made a list of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I noted at the top of the page, "There is more than one thing here because I can't make up my mind."

• Scientist
• Writer
• Teacher
• Wife
• Mother
• Storekeeper
• Banker
• Secretary
• Reporter
• Librarian

      My teacher wisely wrote at the bottom of the page, "Perhaps you could do more than one of these things." Now that I think about it, I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to do every one of these things!

      As a homeschool parent, I get to wear all kinds of hats. I am of course a wife and mother. I am the teacher of my children. I am a scientist when conducting experiments in the kitchen or taking the kids on a nature walk.

      I feel like a storekeeper whenever I'm stocking up food in the pantry for my growing boys. Keeping track of our family's finances makes me think like a banker.

      I am the librarian of our homeschool library. I've served as the secretary for our homeschool group, and as editor of a homeschool newsletter I get to be both writer and reporter.

      In this age of increasing specialization, it is good to be a home educator. I am not bound to a monotonous career. I have a chance to be a kind of "Renaissance woman," instructing my children in all of the arts and sciences.

      Hopefully my enthusiasm about a wide variety of subjects will inspire in my children a well-rounded love of learning so they will grow up to be versatile adults, able to explore many different paths and accomplish everything they always wanted to do.

Arizona Homeschool Resources (A summary of the state's homeschool law, a link to A.R.S. 15-802, the history of home education in Arizona, famous Arizona home schoolers, local resources, etc.)

Home School Legal Defense Association (These advocates of family and freedom have been providing legal representation for homeschoolers nationwide since 1983.)

Did you know…?

• Only 15% of university faculty consider themselves conservative
• Nearly 70% of college grads drop out of church after they graduate

Find out what really goes on behind the closed door of the college classroom…

http://www.indoctrinate-u.com/intro/  

P.S. from Teri ~ My oldest son just graduated high school, and we got a taste of what it’s like on our tours of local university and college campuses. From liberal themes everywhere to graffiti stating “Rod Stewart is God,” it made me want to keep homeschooling him thru college!

A friend of mine sent the following e-mail to our homeschool group. I got her permission to post this on my blog. I think we need to get the word out about companies that are willing to go out of their way to help people. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Hi everyone!

     I don't know how many of you are familiar with "The Old Schoolhouse Magazine", but I want to tell you how awesome their staff is in serving the homeschooling community. 

     I sent an email to the Schoolhouse staff on Sunday to tell them that while attending the convention this weekend, I realized I did not receive my latest issue of the magazine and the next issue was coming out in a week.  I asked them if they could check on my subscription renewal and let me know what they find.  I also told them I just moved last week and wanted to give them my new address.  

     About 2 hours later our doorbell rang, and to my surprise, it was Paul and Gina Suarez, all the way from Tennessee.  No, they hadn't just drove in, but they were here to attend our convention, and wanted to personally deliver the latest two issues of the magazine, and tell me they were working on the problem.  They were not even the people I emailed about the problem to begin with, but they did something about it.  I had emailed another person on the staff, who emailed the rest of the staff, and Paul and Gina happened to see the email. They decided to take the time out of their schedule to do something about it.  They actually looked up our new address on their GPS and drove to our house to make the delivery.  I felt so honored that they would take the time out of their schedule, as they are traveling to many conventions this summer including CA and WA, and make sure I was taken care of.  That to me says a lot about a company, when they have such selfless servants who will go the extra mile, no pun intended, to serve people.  I just felt that I should share this story and pass along the good will they shared with our family.

Covenant Home School Resource Center is having HUGE book liquidation sale on August 13th, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Buy a stack of books for only $5.00! We have an abundance of books that we would LOVE to sell to you! For more details, go to www.chsrc.org and click on bright blue box that says "Giant Liquidation Sale"!

     As parents, we all take for granted the rights we have to determine and decide what is best for our children, but did you know that these rights are not protected under the U.S. Constitution? Parentalrights.org is introducing an amendment that would protect families from the growing threat of global and state control of our youth.

     Parental rights are extremely important to us as homeschool parents. It’s one of the issues they were discussing during the keynote address at the AFHE convention. The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children has been recognized and upheld for centuries. But there are ominous clouds on the horizon. Today, parental rights are coming under assault from federal judges who deny or refuse to recognize these rights. Adding further danger to the child-parent relationship, international law is seeking to undermine the parental role. Together, these threats are converging to create a "perfect storm" that looms over the child-parent relationship.

      Not all judges hold a low view of parental rights. Some, like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, believe that parental rights are among the "inalienable rights" of Americans enumerated in the Declaration of Independence but they are finding it increasingly difficult to rule in favor of parental rights when it is not explicitly included in the language of the Constitution. The dwindling support for parental rights found on the federal level has opened the door to a growing, blatant disregard of parental rights within the lower courts of our nation. Parental rights violations are on the increase across the country, as courts exchange parental involvement for government control in the lives of America's children. The right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is hanging by a thread.

     The precarious state of parental rights within our nation is reason enough for serious concern. But another storm is rapidly advancing. International law that seeks to empower the government to intrude upon the child-parent relationship is becoming an increasing threat. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a seemingly harmless treaty with dangerous implications for American families, is approaching possible ratification by the United States. If this treaty is made binding upon our country, the government would have the power to intervene in any child's life to advance its definition of "the best interests of the child." The scenarios that could occur — and are occurring — as a result of this dangerous notion are both manifold and frightening. Under the UNCRC, instead of following due process, government agencies would have the power to override your parental choices at their whim because they determine what is in "the best interest of the child."

     There is only one solution to this situation: a constitutional amendment that places current Supreme Court doctrine protecting parental rights into the explicit language of the U.S. Constitution. This amendment will shelter the child-parent relationship from the coming storm, ensuring that parents have the right to direct the upbringing and education of their children. Every parent should be concerned about the protection and preservation of their rights. No government, regardless of how well-intentioned it might be, can replace the love and nurture of a parent in the life of a child. Parents care, not because their children are "wards" for whom they are responsible. Parents are willing to brave danger and sacrifice, hardship and heartache to ensure the best for their kids. ParentalRights.org brings together everyone who agrees that the vital role of parents in the lives of children should not be undermined by government action or policy.

A friend of mine sent this to me, check it out! 

http://wandascountryhome.com/names/

Blessings :)

Teri

Hi all,

Are you looking forward to the AFHE convention? It’s only a week away!

Here’s a report that I wrote on how to get the most out of it…

How to Get the Most Out of a Homeschool Convention
(Download in printable PDF format, using Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
This 14-page special report includes a handy checklist!

Direct link: http://www.knowledgehouse.info/homeschool_convention.pdf

The tips are especially useful for first-timers, but it’s a good review for veterans too.

See you there!

Teri

FYI: The Nature's Classroom Program is a series of family field experiences provided by Arizona Game & Fish.

Hello,

     I am pleased to inform you that our Nature’s Classroom Program continues to grow and improve. As of this email, we have started a new blog site that will become the main information pathway for all of the Nature’s Classroom programs. It will provide updates of new events planned as well as summaries, pictures, videos, etc. from previous events. Right now it is lacking content but over the next couple weeks I will be adding information.

     To check out the blog, visit http://naturesclassroom.edublogs.org. Spend a little time looking around. Feel free to comment if you like. One thing you should be aware of is the Events tab that will be found in the upper right corner of the page. This will display a calendar will all upcoming events on it. In addition, you will find an electronic registration form for the events. This is new as well, and something we are experimenting with.

     Speaking of events, we also have the next event planned and are taking registrations – starting immediately. You can find more information about the event at the blog site. However, to summarize, it will be a night herping event on July 22nd. We will be traveling the roads on the far outskirts of Maricopa County searching for reptiles and other animals that might cross our path. When we find something, we will get out of the vehicle and try to find it and identify it. It should be lots of fun, although it will likely be a long evening. Currently, we are telling people to plan from about 5pm until 11pm. However, those times are likely to change slightly. Because of the vehicle restrictions and the fact that we will be climbing in and out of vans throughout the night, we are limiting it to participants that do not require a car seat or a booster seat.

     More events are being planned and will likely be added to the site within the next couple of days. So be sure to check out the web site periodically. Or better yet. Use the RSS Entries button at the bottom of the page to subscribe to the feeds. If you are not familiar with this, it will let you know (through a link in your bookmarks) every time a change occurs to the blog. Of course, I will send out emails through this listserv as relevant information comes about, as well.

     I would ask a favor of you, however. As we embark in this new “technological” direction, I ask that you be patient. It is possible we may encounter some problems. If you have them, just let us know. We will fix them as soon as possible.

     Thanks.

Eric Proctor

Environmental Education Coordinator

Arizona Game and Fish Department

Wild about education! Check out our resources at http://www.azgfd.gov/focuswild

http://www.cowappreciationday.com/