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Volume 2- Issue 8~ October, 2003

Welcome to the
On the CHALKBOARD ~ Monthly Newsletter.
We hope we can provide some valuable information
for you and your friends.

Turn Off Your TV!
By Tim Hubbell

It is great that you educate your children at home. You are sparing your children hours of boredom, misinformation and worse. But avoiding public school is only half of the battle in protecting your child from the trap laid for them. As with the public schools, it should be no surprise that TV programming was not designed with your children’s best interests in mind. Parent’s work to instill and encourage godliness, wisdom and maturity in their children; Television programming seems to be designed to thwart these goals. But, you already knew this. The question is what to do about it.

Here’s what has worked for us:

1. We turned off our cable TV and the local stations. We watch purchased, rented or borrowed tapes. Most libraries have a huge, citywide selection of videos that can be delivered to your local branch upon request. We wait to have something worth watching, and then we watch it together at a time that does not interfere with other activities.
   
2. We read to our children instead. Getting out a great classic book, or series of books is a great way to have “family time”. Read the Bible, Missionary Stories With the Millers, or have your children choose. Just today my toddler asked to put a movie in and I told him to bring me a book. He soon forgot about the movie and used his imagination instead.
   
3. Do a house chore together. Everybody agrees that chores are not much fun. But they are a bit more fun when you are all working and thinking together. We some times all go to a room and talk about how to get it clean and what each person can do (including the toddler) and how fast can we do it. Then we reward ourselves with popcorn and a rented video we have agreed upon.
   
4. Unscheduled or “idle” time is not wasted time! One of the worst things about TV viewing is that it crowds out a child’s discretionary time. Kids need time to develop their own interests and imagination.
   
5. Last but not least, pray and ask God’s wisdom for how much you should use the television in your home. We think that if you choose some of these things instead of TV, you will find your family closer, happier and much more willing to help around your home. Your children will be more likely to honor both God and you because they won’t mimic the kids they see on TV.

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This Month's Specials

Apologia Science CD-Roms
ON SALE ~ Only $40
[ SALE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!]

Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry, and General Science

Apologia General Science
On SALE! ~ only $55

The set includes a hard-bound student text and a second soft-bound Solutions and Tests manual. The text contains a complete set of General science labs that require only household items!"

New Item News!
This month we added Christian Kids Explore Biology and the new Physics CD’s from Apologia. We just got our information in the mail about Ralph Moody’s Little Britches series and we plan to be adding those to our store as well. We would like to add another Math curriculum to our store, but we have only used Saxon and Math-U-See. What is your favorite math and why? Send us your thoughts!

Christian Kids Explore Biology

This user-friendly, unabashedly Christian, one-year science curriculum for elementary students includes teaching lessons, gorgeous coloring pages, hands-on time, memorization lists, review sheets, creative writing assignments, and an awesome supplemental book list! Written for 3rd through 6th graders, it can easily be scaled down for younger students, making this an excellent choice for teaching all your elementary-aged kids together. The schedule of 35 weekly lessons calls for teaching twice weekly, allowing a family time for projects, exploration of resource books, field trips, etc. The conversational style gives students the basic information they need, making this an ideal first course in life science; especially useful for those following a classical approach!

I have been using it for several weeks now and I am very impressed with it! The format can be easily tailored to your needs. In addition to being versatile, it is well written and lots of fun! My son looks forward to science every time we open this book.

CRYSTAL’S GREAT FIND FOR THE MONTH

Homeschool Tracker

This month I wanted to highlight a great find: Homeschool Tracker. This is a free software program by TGHomeSoft. I have downloaded the program and used for the last month and I am so impressed, I am telling everyone about it. Melissia, our summer helper, told me about it. This Homeschool Tracker is God’s gift to the organized woman and if you are not organized, it is a great tool to help you get that way.

The set up is pretty easy, just with a click of a button and you have downloaded the program. Learning how to use it has been a hands-on thing. Give yourself some time to work with it. It writes reports and schedules, and you can copy from one student to the next fairly easily. I found this to be a great tool for me, since I like to type everything out on the word processor anyway. This has made it easier to print something for each student in a manner they can understand. TIP: change the subjects to chores, and make a chore list too!! I really like this program. Though it is free, they suggest sending a donation. With something this helpful, I don’t mind helping homeschool families out like that. www.tghomesoft.com Try it!

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Tim’s Easy Science Experiments
Homeschool 101
~By Crystal Hubbell~

We started using Christian Kids Explore Biology and we were so impressed with the experiments and the ease in how they are explained, I thought I would put one in here that we did this week and had a blast.

Make a 3-D Cell Model

Objection: To get an “oversized” view of a cell and it’s many parts.

Materials:

• 1 large package of gelatin, flavored or plain. (We used pineapple flavor and it is light enough to see through it)
• Any small foods that can resemble the parts of a cell: macaroni, jellybeans, squiggly noodles, beans, pickles, candy, and licorice. (My kids wanted to eat theirs, so we put only candy items like skittles, licorice and gummy type candies. . .yum!!)
• 1 deep-dish pie plate or bowl, preferably clear
• Mixing bowl

Instructions:

1. In mixing bowl, prepare gelatin according to package directions.
2. Put about one-third of gelatin into pie plate and place in the refrigerator until soft-set. Leave remainder of gelatin on counter to keep it soft.
3. Add various types of foods to the soft-set gelatin, using the diagram of the animal cell as a model, to create some organelles. Be sure to make a nucleus. Try to find similarly shaped foods. (we used a small candy bar for our nucleaus)
4. Chill until set
5. Layer with more gelatin and repeat the process.
6. Chill until completely set.
7. Don’t forget to take pictures!
8. Enjoy and eat if you can.

This is the 2nd experiment in the book. (paraphrased slightly)

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The Frugal Apple
~Saving Time and Money~

I am trying to put together a list of great frugal kitchen and home ideas. Like making your own dishwasher soap, or uses for vinegar and baking soda in your home. I have even heard that mayonnaise can remove spots from wood tables. Send your tips to me and I will compile an on going list to post with these great kitchen and home tips.

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