No More Oranges … PLEASE!
By Crystal Hubbell

As I sat here thinking, I began to realize it was late and I had not yet done my grocery shopping. I got out a list and began to write down what we needed. Milk, bread, cheese, eggs, oranges, lunch meat….hey wait. I just bought oranges. There is no way we need oranges. I went to the kitchen and sure enough, the bag of 20 oranges was gone. That might not sound like too much of a feat for a crew of 7, but we just bought them 2 days ago. I asked the children where the oranges were. The oldest said he didn’t have any and to ask Ben. He thought maybe had eaten them all! I laughed as it sounded like a ploy to blame another child. I asked my daughter. She said she did not have any oranges and thought Ben had eaten them all. I started to think there must be a mistake, so I asked my son Joe. He said he had eaten some. I said, “Great, how many?” “One!” was his reply. “Oh, I don’t understand, where did the rest go?” Again, I was directed to Ben. I finally found my son Ben. I asked him if he had eaten the oranges and he replied, “Yes mom, they were very good.” I said, “I am glad you liked them, but how many did you eat?” “Hmm”, he said, “I think I ate 10 or 20.” “Uh….10 or 20….well, that is a lot of oranges, did you think that anyone else would like some?” “Hmm, I don’t know, you always say to eat healthy foods!” “ Wow, gosh, yes, that is what we say. But too much of anything can be bad for you!” Then he asked. “What would happen if you ate too many oranges?” I had no answer for him. I had to reply that the reason was cost. We couldn’t afford to feed him 10 oranges a day till he was 18. He would have to get a job to support his habit. He agreed he could work hard for his oranges. We laughed and decided that he could still eat oranges but only 3 a day. He decided he would add some apples to his diet.

I thought about this over and over, wondering why I thought it was so bad. Trying to see if from his perspective of eating healthy foods, which we preach about endlessly. I am not sure he realized the amazing amount of oranges that he was consuming.

I was nudged in my spirit just a bit, and realized God was speaking to me. I felt like God was trying to show me something. I began to pray and realized God was showing me I had a bad habit. He was showing me that many times, God has asked me to give something up, but I keep hanging on to it. In fact, I not only hang on to it, I get more than my share. I felt specifically he was talking to me about my extra curricular activities. I tend to be bad at saying “no” to volunteer “opportunities”. So I would sit and think about my activities and not come up with a single thing that I could give up. I would then think that perhaps I was just mistaken and go about my days, doing exactly what I want, getting myself in deeper and deeper. Taking on more jobs and more activities.

After a short break from our routine, and a little time for me to re-evaluate, I felt God nudge me again. Please save some for others! What, save what for others? I felt like God was telling me to save some of myself for my family, and for Tim. I was using it all on activities for church and our homeschool group, and had nothing left to give to my family. I felt like I had been hit in the head with a bat. It really hurt that I was so busy. I began to find ways to get rid of some activities. I put out ads for particular jobs and people are starting to volunteer. I am hoping by the end of the month I will have gotten rid of a lot of things to help me be more in line with what God wants. No more Oranges….PLEASE!

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All Apologia on Sale this Month (Again, we just wanted to be nice)

Last week for Rosetta Stone price discounts, prices go up April 1st!
We received a certified letter from Rosetta Stone telling us that soon we will no longer be allowed to discount so much. We will have to offer the same price as everyone else at $199. This will go into affect on April 1st. our price now is $174.95 for levels 1 or 2

DIVE CDs for Saxon’s New 7/6 & 8/7 Kits Are Here!
Update: The new DIVE CD’s for 7/6 and 8/7 are ready now! Please call us or check our web site for availability. DIVE has told us they will have the DIVE CDs for the other new editions (5/4 and 6/5) by June 1st.

We are now out of the old 7/6 Kits but will continue to sell other the old hardback editions till we run out (Saxon has stopped selling them).

Home Education Quote of the Month:

"1. Confusion 2. Class Position 3. Indifference 4. Emotional Dependency 5. Intellectual Dependency 6. Provisional Self-Esteem 7. One Can't Hide. It is the great triumph of compulsory, government monopoly mass-schooling that among even the best of my fellow teachers, and among even the best of my students' parents, only a small number can imagine a different way to do things."
-- John Taylor Gatto

New Item News!

We have added two excellent titles that will help your children get the most out of their homeschool experience:

The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Six Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn
233 pages .......... $22.00

Using lots of humorous examples and cartoons, The Fallacy Detective Is a great introduction to the study of logic.

Instead of being dry or “academic” this book practical, useful and fun! Meant for ages 13 to adult, we are proud to add this one to our store!

Teaching the Trivium
Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style
by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn
640 pages ..........$ 27.00

The Bluedorns literally “wrote the Book” on Christian Classical Education. If you are at all interested in the Classical approach, “Teaching the Trivium” is a must read. This book has been reviewed and roundly praised by such notables

We now have the award-winning Quarter Mile Math products available in our web store!! These programs teach math facts, such as multiplication tables, in a fun and effective way. Topics: Grades K-9, Users: Grades K-12 We won’t have it on our website for a couple more days, but here is a link to the publishers site. http://www.quartermilemath.com

We are not allowed to discount, but we do give free shipping, so that will save you a little money.

CRYSTAL’S GREAT FIND FOR THE MONTH

Here is really great music site. It is actually from a radio station here in town. We have a lot of fun on this site.

http://www.classicsforkids.com/index.asp

ENJOY!

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Tim’s Easy Science Experiments

The Basics of pH

Many commercial products such as shampoos boast that they are “pH balanced”; those who take care of swimming pools and fish-tanks must monitor and adjust pH. So, what is pH and how can we help budding, young scientists understand it better? Technically, the pH of a liquid is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in solution. It can range from near zero (super acidic) to fourteen (highly basic and caustic); seven, the pH of pure water, is neutral. While this is nice to know, the following home-laboratory exercise will help students get a hands-on feel for pH and how to adjust it.

All of the chemicals in the first part of the exercise are safe for students the handle; they should be encouraged to “mess around with them” to get a feel for what they are doing. Adult supervision and safety precautions are necessary in next month’s “Part Two” of the experiment where the lye and hydrochloric acid are used.

Part One: Making and using a pH indicator from Red Cabbage:
Because we can’t see the pH of a solution with our eyes, to measure pH we must use either a pH meter (expensive and fragile) or a pH indicator. A pH indicator is a chemical that turns different colors at different pHs. A really good, wide range pH indicator can be easily made from red cabbage!

Materials for Part One:

Red Cabbage: 3-4 large outside leaves (about 10 cents worth at Krogers)
Normal Saucepan
2-3 cups water
Coffee filter and Strainer
White Vinegar (Dilute acetic acid)
Baking Soda (Calcium Bicarbonate)
Clear glasses or pint Mason Jars
Eyedropper or drinking straw
Measuring cup and spoons

Procedure for Part I:

1. Chop or shred the red cabbage into small pieces. Place them with the 2 cups of water in the saucepan.
2. Heat over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 min, stirring occasionally. The water will look quite pink by now. Let the pan cool to a safe temperature on the stove.
3. Place a coffee filter in the strainer and set them inside another pan; filter out the chopped leaves by pouring the cooled mixture through the filter. You can discard (or eat) the boiled leaves now. Congratulations! You have just performed what natural-product chemists call a water extraction. (This is also how coffee and tea are made). In addition to the anthocyanin (plant pigment), which is our indicator, you also extracted sugars, vitamins and other compounds in the mix. Pour your finished indicator solution into a Mason jar. It can be used immediately, or it will keep for quite a while in the refrigerator.
4. Now, for the fun part. Take a small amount of your indicator (about ¼ cup or less) and place it in your clear glass or Mason jar. Get out the white vinegar and the baking soda.
5. Turn your student loose with the chemicals (they are safe). They might try using the eyedropper (or straw) to add a little vinegar. Now add a little baking soda. Let the little scientists “mess around” with this as long as they want. Replace the indicator solution as necessary.
6. When you tire of baking soda and vinegar, try some other things on hand. We suggest lemon juice, cola, glass cleaner, dishwasher detergent, etc. Although it is very basic, you will probably want to avoid testing chlorine bleach because it is corrosive and forms toxic gases when mixed with ammonia!
7. Save the rest of your indicator in the fridge or freezer, because next month we will show you how versatile your homemade indicator really is!

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The Frugal Apple
~Saving Time and Money~

Please keep sending your great Frugal Apple Tips and recipes. I would love to post them.

Frugal Apple Recipe:

MONKEY BREAD

4 cans buttermilk biscuits
¾ cups of sugar + 1tsp cinnamon mixed
¾ cups of butter + 1tsp cinnamon + 1 cup sugar

1. Cut or tear biscuits into fourths and toss in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place in greased bundt pan.
2. Sprinkle raisins between layers if desired.
3. Melt butter/cinnamon/sugar mixture and pour over biscuits.
4. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes
5. Cool just a bit and enjoy!!

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Getting To The Truth
by Timothy Hubbell

"He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; and he that dares not reason is a slave.."-William Drummond , Celtic Poet circa 1600

“Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic. “-William E Gladstone

In our modern world we are always being bombarded with half- truths and lies. From sales-pitches to worse temptations, we are asked to succumb to falsehood on a daily basis. I believe that God has given three ways for us to really find the truth in daily life. The first is the written word of God (the Bible), the second is the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and third is our human logic. The truth in a situation may be elusive unless we use each of these resources. Please, study your Bible and strive to maintain a close walk with God. These are of primary importance, but don’t forget to develop your ability to reason clearly through the use of logic.

Although men can find a “reason” for any horrible thing they want to do (ask anyone who drops bombs from airplanes, they have a good “reason”), such “reasoning” is far different than discovering the truth through logic. Using Reason to get to the truth is, in fact, commended by God, 1 Samuel 12:6-8, Isaiah 1:17-19, Acts 18:3-5.

Instruction in Logic has long been recognized as a key component of a good education. Classical educators place it with Grammar and Rhetoric as part of the Trivium ( learn more ) of education. In spite of its obvious importance, instruction in Logic is almost totally absent from the Public Schools’ curriculum, but home educators are naturally drawn to it. Because Logic is so fundamental to real wisdom and learning, we have decided to add a full line of Logic curricula to or catalog and online store. The first of these additions are the excellent materials published by Trivium Pursuit (learn more). Their “Fallacy Detective” is a great place for your teen to start the study of Logic (children younger than 12 are probably not ready for formal logic). Please see the “New Item” section for more details of each new item as we add them.

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