Two Parties and Community Service

Yesterday was a busy day for us...

After our school day, first stop was our reading club Christmas Party:

 

We left that party to meet students from our martial arts school to go to an assisted living facility. The academy had collected 642 pairs of socks to donate to two facilities in town. Half of the kids went to one while the other half went to this one. Maddy and Kenna enjoyed going around talking with the residents. The group sang a couple of Christmas songs for the residents, left 321 pairs of socks to be passed out to the residents, and then headed back to the martial arts school for a Nerf War party.

 This lady (seated, in wheelchair) just celebrated her 99th birthday!

 All the residents enjoyed the kids' songs, but this sweet lady was also clapping along.

 This dear man is a friend that I've known for years...

I used to teach a Bible Study class at the facility once a week.

 The martial arts kids singing to the residents.

The Nerf War began! There were around 30 (or more) kids and I have never seen so much foam ammo flying around. They divided into teams and had a line they could not cross. Safety glasses required. Maddy and Kenna had a blast!

Thinking that a birthday party in the backyard, with a supply of Nerf guns and ammo, and the kids would entertain themselves for hours!

It's the Simple Things We Do Together as a Family That Matter The Most!

20 Animals That You May Not Know Existed

We love animal science! Here's a website that will show you 20 animals that you probably didn't know existed. Although, we must admit, we have seen a Okapi at the St. Louis Zoo. The rest are interesting to say the least,.

http://www.viralnova.com/unique-animals/

Mini-Wheats Mini Missions #2 and #3 Submitted

My phone suddenly wouldn't allow me to send pictures from my phone to my computer. Finally, I just took the battery out and let it sit for a few minutes then put it back together. It worked. Never did figure out what I accidently hit that turned off the ability to send pictures! But just in time because we needed to get our Kellogg's Mini-Wheats Mini Missions submitted. Finished!

October Creative Moment #2: 

October Creative Moment #3:

It Was A Beetles and Books Day

As we stepped out the door to go to the reading club, we were engulfed in Japanese Beetles! They were everywhere! The covered the screen door, the porch, were flying all over us and in our hair. We got to the truck and our white Dodge was covered. When we opened the door, those pests fly into truck. So we drove the few minutes it takes us to get the to the library with Maddy, one of her shoes in hand, killing them off her window and Kenna screaming every time one would land on her. Those things bite, you know! I was still pulling beetles out of my hair as we walked up to the library door. This is the first time we've had a problem with them in the fall. They usually fill up our backyard Linden trees in the spring.

At 500 Page Club today we, of course, read books about Halloween. Then had a scavenger hunt in the library. The kids hunted for plastic spiders, bats, skeletons, and centipede. Not only did they collect candy for their efforts, they also received a silly straw and got to pick a book out of Miss. Cheryl's "pumpkin patch".

Start A Reading Club!

Your local library doesn't have a reading club for your child's age/grade level? No problem...start one yourself!

Our small, rural library has one full time and one part-time librarian. They have, from the beginning, offered a Story-Time for preschoolers. The summer reading program always consist of a 1-week (5 day) program - which I never could figure out because I thought the object of a summer reading program was to encourage the kids to read all summer long. But I digress.

After years, we finally got a Friends of the Library group started. From within Friends, a friend (also a kindergarten teacher) and I started a kindergarten reading club. We actually tried to find volunteers willing to establish a group for each grade level, but to no avail.

This year, we began "500 Page Club", a reading group for kindergarten and 1st graders. We talked with our librarians, and again going through our Friends group, are leading the weekly group.

Want to start a reading group at your library, but don't know where to start? Here's a good place to begin: http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/book-clubs-for-kids/.

You can make your reading club as elaborate or as simple as you wish. Use your imagination. Do things the kids will enjoy. Have fun!

New Recipe Completes Challenge and Is Enjoyed At Hayride

The Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Challenge, in cooperation with Scholastic.com, allowed us to create a new recipe to later be enjoyed at a hayride we were invited to.

This month's Challenge is "Creative Moments". As we were going to a hayride tonight, we needed something else to go along with the crackers and cheese we were taking. We found a recipe called Apple Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips. After lunch, the girls and I put this very simple, yet very good fruit salsa together, thus accomplishing two goals (completing October's first mission and fixing a dessert for the hayride). This salsa was a big hit at the party!

 

More Detailed Recipe For

Apple Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Chips:

  Cut flour tortillas into strips (we used kitchen scissors). Place them on a cookie or pizza pan, spray lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (we keep this on hand at all times because the kids love it on toast:  mix enough cinnamon into a cup of sugar to make it a dark, rich brown color). Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes until nicely browned and crisp. Remove from oven, allow to cool, then store in an air-tight container or bag until needed.

Salsa:

  Chop 2 apples (we peeled ours, you don't have to), 1 cup strawberries, and 1 kiwi (peeled). Combine in a large bowl.

  In separate small bowl, zest an orange. Then cut that orange in half and squeeze juice into bowl with zest. Add to fruit.

  Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons apple jelly. Mix well. Cover bowl and put in refrigerator for at least 6 hours (can be made the night before, too). Serve with cinnamon chips.

And we had a fun time at the hayride, enjoying chili, hotdogs, chips, cookies, and our fruit salsa and cinnamon chips.

Making a Difference In Our Community

Today was a treat...Alan was home all day, which is rare on a weekday for my trucker husband. So Kenna opted to stay home with Daddy while Maddy and I did our monthly volunteerism at our local food pantry from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

We live just outside of a town of 950 people. Our food pantry is open each Friday to those in need. Today we served 19 families, which included 46 people. 3 new families came in today.

I think it's important to teach our children to reach out to others in need. You may be thinking, what can a 4 & 7 year old do at a food pantry? Each month Maddy and Kenna make a donation to the pantry...today was a case (30 packages) of hot dogs. They greet all the people coming in. If there are children with a parent or grandparent, the girls always show the kids to the children's table set up with crayons and coloring books. Sometimes the girls draw pictures to give to the people who come in. Even at this young age, the girls help stock the shelves when there are donations to be put away. The girls are good to open to the door to the folks as they leave with their hands full of grocery bags and always tell them "good-bye" and "have a nice day".

Doesn't take a lot of work or effort. But these little girls are learning that things as simple as smiles, friendly conversation, and opening a door for someone really does make a difference.

When Maddy and I got back, Alan and Kenna were outside enjoying playing with the girls' puppies and had moved the rabbits out to the outdoor cage to munch of fresh grass and enjoy the sunshine as well. We ate lunch, did the dishes, and then went back outside to enjoy the day before returning indoors to resume our work.

Don't Bash Homeschooling - Part 2

We have dealt with naysayers regarding our choice to teach our children through our own personal homeschooling experience. Even some family members still, to this day after homeschooling Alayna and Afton for 8 years and now starting again with Maddy and Kenna on our 2nd year of homeschooling "round 2", ask, "Are you ready to put them back in public school yet?"

NO! We are not ready to put them back in public school. We have nothing against teachers in general. We are very good friends with both current teachers and retired teachers. We ask them for advice. Some of the very curriculum that we use - and love - were recommended by teachers (some of it they wish the public schools had stuck with, like Saxon math).

Some of the negativity, though, goes beyond those who know us. So much of it comes from people who have no clue. They may know us from way back when, but know nothing about our children or our lives. Mere acquaintances, yet judge us so harshly.

Now to be fair to many of our critics, there are some families out there claiming to be homeschooling their children when reality they are not making any attempts to educate their children in the subjects deemed necessary even by the State of Illinois, which is one of the less strict states regarding homeschooling. We do use an eclectic approach - we feel this gives us the "best" of all the choices of curriculum out there. We ARE choosey about our children's education. We want our children to have the best education available to them, just like every other parent out there. The biggest difference that I can see is that we are willing to put in the extra time, money, and effort to make our homeschooling experience a success. Not so that we look good as parents, but so that our child will have a solid start as they venture out into the world when they are older. It takes some major sacrifices to homeschool your children. We have just chosen to dedicate ourselves to willingly making those sacrifices to accomplish our goal.

So, this post is to better clarify any misconceptions about how we, at Sisney H.O.U.S.E., are traveling along our homeschooling journey. These may be kind of randomly ordered statements, but I hope it will EDUCATE some of those anti-homeschool people who seem so smug in their opinions of how all of us homeschooling families are "screwing up" our children's lives. Those folks are so far off, at least in our case...

1)  We don't really care if our views on homeschooling (or any other subject) are politically correct. We are registered voters (as a matter of fact, Alan and I are registered as opposing political sides) but we vote for the man best suited, in our opinion, for the position regardless of his political affiliations. Seems like in the U.S. today, politics has gotten so far out of hand, that I wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be better to do away with political parties and just make the candidates stand on their own to vie for office. No lobbyist. No "you owe me" contributors. Just each candidate standing there telling us his views and offering his solutions. What we base our homeschooling views on is Biblically correct. We strive to base our whole lives on God's Standards, not man's.

2) Which leads to a frequently asked question of, "Are you homeschooling for religious reasons?" First of all, I hate the word "religion". Anything can be a person's religion. I take my FAITH and my personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST very seriously. But we are NOT solely homeschooling strictly due to "religious beliefs". Many, many factors played into our decision to homeschool. Those reasons, though, are ours and ours alone. Not everyone chooses to homeschool for the same reasons. And we don't have to please anyone except for the State of Illinois Board of Education - which by the way, we are well within the legal requirements. We go above and beyond the requirements of Illinois homeschool statues. For our children, and for them alone.

3) Going 13 years through public school does not make a child brilliant. It's the time and effort put into teaching a child that defines whether or not they will be a smart, productive citizen. Like in every profession and in every aspect of life, there are the "good" teachers and there are some really "bad" ones. Teachers come in all forms. Holding a piece of paper that states a person holds a degree does not guarantee that person will be a "good, qualified" teacher. Some of the smartest people out there have absolutely no common sense. It is our belief that anyone who learns to read and develops of love of not just reading, but of learning, will succeed at whatever they set their minds to. Yes, some subjects are harder to learn than others, but if the willingness to work at it, the eagerness to learn about it, and the mind is open to it, we believe that anyone can learn about anything. There are so many ways to learn, and the key is to finding how your child learns best. What works for one child may not be the best approach for another...even with the same family.

4) We don't blame the teachers for the many problems we see facing the public schools. A teacher can only do what a school allows him/her to do. A teacher can only teach using the curriculum and techniques available to them through the school. No public teacher should ever have to spend the very paycheck they are earning from a school district to turn around and purchase needed supplies for the classroom. And the problem isn't falling totally on the schools, even though it is the school board who decides what programs are cut. It's the government telling the school districts what they can and cannot teach, that they must "teach to the test", etc. If public teachers could get back to the job of teaching and not have to jump through so many hoops of red-tape, serving as baby-sitters, etc., the public schools would return to their former days of being institutions of higher, quality education.
4) Our children are not ignorant. You see, while your public teachers are being over-worked having to deal with "problem children", dealing with parents to don't care about their children's education, and are having to deal with an over-crowded classroom with a wide range of abilities, we are sitting at home (or sometimes outside or sometimes out on a field trip/outside class) putting our focus on our subjects at hand. It doesn't take us up to 20 minutes to get our class calmed down and ready to begin a lesson. We don't have to spread 1 teacher thinly across a room of 20+ students, some of whom need a lot extra help - from both their teacher AND their parents at home. We are concentrating on one thing: learning.

5) We begin our school year the day after Labor Day, take Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday off, take from Dec. 24th - Jan. 2nd off, take a week off for Easter Break. We still get the required 178 days of school in. Depending on the year, sometimes our school years have ran 187 days. We don't take off for teacher institutes or for the little holidays, or even for snow days. I put in long hours, before and after school preparing our lesson plans. We learn about those holidays instead of spending the day doing nothing. And when the roads are icy? We have the choice as to whether we stay in where it's nice and warm or whether we'll bundle up and explore the beauty an ice storm leaves behind. Our school year always ends, required attendance complete or beyond, by Memorial Day.

6) In response to "if I homeschooled my kids, they'd be experts on...", there is nothing wrong with sharing your interests with your children. If you don't believe you are capable of homeschooling your child, then you never will be. If you are dedicated to the process of learning, ANY parent can homeschool their children and do it successfully. The difference in our homeschooling family and those who choose not to, sometimes is as simple as parents who don't want to spend that much time with their children. Remember when kindergarten was non-existent? It was created to help those children who did not get the educational boost they needed from home. Then kindergarten went to a full day because parents had the dilemma of needing a baby-sitter for the rest of the day. Then Preschool was developed to help those children "at risk", but again parents decided they needed free childcare. Our children already face 12 years of school and then college years. Why anyone would want to stick their young children in Pre-K at age 3 and be content with the fact that they are "out of my hair" until they graduate out of high school amazes me. What happened to bonding with your children? We enjoy spending time with our kids. We enjoy being able to eat 3 meals together at the dining room table. We enjoy teaching them new things...there is nothing better than to see that look of "I did it!" on your child's face when they master something new. Why would a parent ever want to miss out on that?

7) To those who think parents should have a degree to homeschool their children. First of all, since God created man and then made woman from that man's flesh and told them to "be fruitful and multiply", parents have filled the role of "teacher". Who knows your child better (or at least should)? I am not asking to teach a room full of students. I don't want to teach a classroom full of children. I am only concerned with my children, and giving them what my husband and I consider the best education.

A better question might be, "Do you have a big college degree or credentials or a fancy framed license that specifically qualifies you to raise your children?" The only difference between those of us who homeschool and those who do not may be the simple fact that we homeschoolers are more attentive to what we want our children taught, want to be more involved in their school curriculum choices, and care more about whether our children are actually learning or just going through the motions. I am amazed at the number of parents who happily drop their kids off at school, have someone else pick them up, and maybe - if the child is lucky, the parent may glance through all the papers in their backpacks over the weekend. I can hear the heads "boiling" right now, but I am telling you that as a reading club leader and a parent who attentively watches everything my kids do during Tae Kwon Do, that I have had conversations with parents that leave me feeling sorry for the child who is the topic of the conversation and makes me so thankful that we do homeschool. Parents need to be involved in their children's education! Personal involved, not leaving it up to the teachers or the baby-sitters.

8) To the person who stated that an education is more than just the three "Rs" - well, duh! Homeschooling lets us broaden our schooling experience to cover so much more than the just basic public school requirements. How many foreign languages can you speak? My newly-turned-7-year-old is learning Spanish as part of our regular school lessons, American Sign Language through a music group which performs their songs in sign language, and is learning Korean through her Tae Kwon Do lessons? Will she be able to speak proficiently in 4 languages by the time she has graduated from high school (and I mean graduated with as many, probably more credit hours, than the public schools require)? Probably not. But right now, at age 7, she knows more of those additional languages than most adults do.

This same person seemed proud of the fact that school teaches kids to hate an alarm clock going off each morning. What an odd statement to make! Our children get up and do at least one chore before school begins and they still like getting up and facing the day. Teaching children to be good stewards of their time and to have good ethics is something every PARENT should be doing. It's a shame to blame the public schools for making people hate their morning alarms go off.

And this same person gave all the credit for learning to read to the public school. I believe that a parent should be reading to their children from the beginning of their young life. Yes, school - of any form - reinforces the lessons of learning to read. But any parent who has not spent time teaching their preschoolers the alphabet, the sounds a letter makes, started them writing, and recognizing simple words have done a huge injustice to their children. Not because I knew we were going to be homeschooling, but because I am a PARENT, all of my kids knew most, if not all, of everything they would be taught in kindergarten before ever beginning that first school year. As a homeschool educator, our reading curriculum not only has the kids reading long before the 100th day of school, but helps them continue to develop a love of reading, which leads to a love of learning.

9) To the socialization of homeschooled children, I offer these definitions to start the topic off:

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, socialization is defined as" the process by which a human being beginning at infancy acquires the habits, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of society through education and training for adult status."

This same dictionary defines the word "socialize" as "to talk to and do things with other people in a friendly way."

I must tell you that my children have plenty of time to socialize...not only with kids their own age but we also make it a point to offer them lots of opportunities to interact, or socialize, with mixed aged groups, too. Family, friends, Sunday School & church, library reading club, missions groups, Power of Praise (where they are learning to perform songs using American Sign Language), Tae Kwon Do, community service projects, 4-H, attending programs and festivals in the community. We go on at last 12 field trips each year. We host fall hayrides and play dates year round. All these things provide a well-rounded socialization. Once again, it is not the public school's job to socialize your children...kids need time to play and "be a kid" at home and in fun social settings. Just because we pick and choose what type of settings and/or what children we want our children to socialize with, doesn't make us wrong or bad parents. It means we are teaching our children to be particular about whom they call a true friend and not to always "follow the crowd". We ALWAYS know where our children are and whom they are with...can most parents honestly say that? Or are there many out there thinking, "Well, they are SUPPOSED to be..."?

Just because our children are not at a public school each day, does not mean they are "missing out" on socializing with kids their age. And think about it...students are supposed to be sitting at their desks, NOT talking for most of the school day. Their recesses and lunch break time have all been cut back. How much socializing do public school kids really get? Sitting at their desks being quiet is NOT socializing.

Please do not assume that just because we are a homeschooling family, that we are keeping our kids quarantined at home so that world doesn't contaminate them. Do not assume that we are "religious fanatics". Do not assume that during our homeschooling experience that we never touch a book or sit down to learn a subject. Do not assume my children are stupid or that I am not qualified to teach my own children. Do not assume we do not keep school records or do not use a grading system. Do not assume anything about our family. Do not judge our methods until you have come and spent some time with us during our homeschooling experience.

We may not be doing school the way you think it should be done, but our children ARE receiving instruction in the branches of education taught in the public schools and in the English language.  All instruction is in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 105, Section 26-1 of the Illinois School Code, commonly known as the Compulsory Attendance Law.

I wonder sometimes, just how many parents of children in the public schools even bother to check into what the laws regarding Illinois schools really say. I, for one, check them each summer so that we can keep up to date on any changes that may have been passed.

I know these "Bashing Homeschooling" posts have been long. If you have patiently following along from start to finish, I thank you. Thank for for sticking around. Thank you for allowing me to vent a little. I'll leave you with one last thought that maybe would have sufficed all along:

It all comes down to the fact, I guess, that we here at Sisney H.O.U.S.E. aren't too concerned about the methods other homeschooling families are using. We aren't in a contest to out-do someone elses's schooling experience. We shouldn't even care what anyone else thinks about our eclectic approach to homeschooling. See, we don't care if we are doing it "socially" correct or "politically" correct in the eyes of the world. We only care that we are putting forth our best efforts and striving to give our children a homeschooling experience that is done correctly in God's eyes. Which means we don't worry about being a worldly school but a Biblically based school. And not just our schooling experience, but we feel this way about every aspect of our lives. If you think that makes us "religious fanatics" or "Jesus freaks", well, then maybe we are. Because...

  " If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you,

then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...

But as for me and my household,

we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15   (NIV)

What the World Eats: Have A Monthly International Cuisine Day

Here at Sisney H.O.U.S.E., we set aside one day a month as an "International Cuisine Day". It's not always held on the same day each month, but we make sure we get it scheduled in. What better way to teach our children about different cultures? Experience the food first hand! Sometimes we visit an ethnic restaurant...but we have more fun researching and preparing the food here at home. Celebrating at home also lets us play games from that month's chosen country and perhaps dress the part, too.

Your international meal doesn't have to be lunch or dinner, either. Try an ethnic breakfast every once in a while! Or perhaps devote the whole day to a country's meals. And when we are talking about an international meal, we are NOT talking about an America's twist on international cuisine or even what the "best" restaurant in that country is serving, but on the real, authentic, traditional foods families from that country prepare and eat in their homes every day.

With internet capabilities, it's easy to find authentic recipes from countries. Just search for "a typical meal menu in..."

Some of our past/future International Cuisine Day ideas include:

China:
We know a family who moved here from China and up until recently owned a Chinese restaurant. Sin (not sure that is spelled right), the father, taught me how to make Egg Drop Soup and Crab Rangoon. I have helped them in their restaurant and he's also shown me how to make many of the buffet dishes, but we have learned that people in China do not eat the delicious dishes we find on the menu of most Chinese restaurants. Our friends eat a lot of rice noodles, a lot of native rice (not the common white rice or fried rice we love), and very little meat. They love Fish Head Soup and soup made from the tail of a deer (my husband saves the tail of his deer for them during deer season).

Our family loves going to the local Chinese buffet restaurants, but we also make Chinese meals at home. Egg Drop Soup, Lo Mein, Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon, chicken and beef satay, and stir-fried main courses are a fairly common sight around here. My most recent new Chinese recipe that I've made is Kimchi (a cabbage dish).

Mexico:
Another of our favorite ethnic cuisines are those from Mexico. Taco Bell is nice, but I have a friend whose husband owns one of the local Mexican restaurants and their food is "Delicioso!". Making it at home, I must admit is not as "maravilloso" as El Ranchito's, but we have fun in the kitchen and eating it. Everyone knows that tacos, burritos, and fajitas are good...but a true authentically made tamale is fabulous! Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is a great day to celebrate the foods of Mexico.

In 3rd grade I met a friend whose mother was from Mexico. I loved going to her house! Their house always had the best cooking smells wafting from the kitchen! Estella's homemade corn tortillas were the best!

While taking Spanish for two years during my high school years, for some assignments we would have to find and prepare authentic foods. There are some amazing Mexican/Spanish desserts to be found!

Africa:
Africa, like the U.S., has many cultural regions within is boundaries. To decide on an African menu, you need to decide on which region to represent. Most meals are served on a mat on the floor with everything put down at the same time. In the cities individual plates are used and a large spoon (no knives or forks).

I know exactly what you are thinking! Many African countries are in extreme poverty and their meals don't consist of much at all. So true. Do you want you child to truly get a feel for what a child in an African country eats each day? Our International Cuisine Day is not only a taste test, it's a lesson on being thankful for what we have here in America (and yes, we will be including regions of the U.S. in our Cuisine Days, too. What you may consider a harsh punishment to your family ("We only get a little bowl of rice?"), is a reality in many countries. I want to teach my children the truth. I want to teach them about compassion. I want them to help others who are struggling to feed their families (that's why we volunteer at our local food pantry once a month). My family may think they are "starving" if we have a skant day of meals, but trust me, we are far from starving. I want my family to learn that a slight hunger pang because they have missed a snack, is NOT true hunger. So, yes, I challenge you to include all the "very little to eat" menus, too.

I highly suggest that you look through the 28 pictures of "What the World Eats" with your family. It's a collection of pictures of families from different countries posing with a week's worth of their groceries. The weekly grocery bills run anywhere from $1.23 to $731.71 (equivalent of American dollars). The U.S. ranked somewhere in the middle.

Greece:
For breakfast we had a small filled phyllo dough pie filled with ham called zambontyropita and Yaourti me meli (Greek yogurt and honey, served separately so that each person can add their own sweetness).

For lunch we had Choriatiki (salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, olives and feta cheese, oregano, basil, dill and/or thyme - no lettuce - with an olive oil and vinegar dressing), Tyrokafteri (a spicy cheese dip made from the seeds of a local pepper, the kafteri - we used hot peppers we had on hand, a soft cheese such as feta , roasted red pepper, oregano, olive oil and garlic) spread on Pita bread. Or you could cheat and buy a favorite cheese spread at the grocery store.

Italy:
For breakfast, cornetto and cappuccino. The “cornetto” is the Italian term for a croissant, filled with cream, chocolate or jam. Focaccia (Italian bread) is another we have tried. To be honest, the girls love plain old coffee with their Daddy, but I am not a coffee drinker but we did try a flavored cappuccino.

Supper, or dinner as they call it in Italy is 5-component dinner. We served what we would call the appetizer, an antipasto (which literally means "before the meal") tray with sliced pepperoni, olives, mushrooms,cheese, carrot sticks. Next we enjoyed the primo, which in our case was a pasta dish (could be soup, rice, or polenta), and in traditional Italian meals the primo is the appetizer not the main course. The main course is called "il secondo" and is usually simply served in small portions - we had beef but chicken or even fish could have been served. We served the contorno (meaning "contours"), which is a platter of vegetables with the il secondo. Italian dessert is the dolce (or sweet). We served up fresh fruit and biscotti.

Ireland:
St. Patrick's Day seems the logical day to schedule an Irish meal.

For breakfast, we actually enjoy a full Irish meal often. Your family may, too, once you realize what it is:  eggs, bacon, sausages, potatoes and tomatoes. Except here at Sisney H.O.U.S.E., we consider this just a "truck driver's special", especially if throw some gravy and biscuits on the table with it!

My crew loves potato soup so it's a good place to start. Corned beef and cabbage (not cooked together because I am the only one in our family who loves cooked cabbage) is our own traditional St. Paddy's Day meal. Another of our favorites is potato pancakes, called "Boxty" in Ireland

Sahara Desert:
 I admit it took a little while to find what looked to be a reliable internet source on the type of foods the nomadic people of the Sahara Desert eat. And since I didn't find much at all on the subject, I am going to share with you everything I did find.

Wikipedia had this to share about the Tuareg people who live as nomads in the Sahara Desert:

This site, http://danslapeaudunpapou.survivalfrance.org/content/tuareg-people, contained a lot of information on the Tuareg people. Did you know the Tuareg were the first to invent powdered milk?


We celebrated the cuisine of the Sahara desert by serving up this breakfast: flat pita bread with a heavy cream "sauce" we made (basically, gravy). We substituted millet porridge with Cream of Wheat and drank cow's milk. Yogurt was part of our breakfast, too.

For lunch: bread (called "taguella"), cheese, dates, and melon.

For our traditional afternoon tea: We set a kettle full of tea leaves (could not find any "Gunpowder" tea) and mint leaves (which our Amish neighbors have kept us supplied with this summer) on our gas stove and let it reach a full boil. It's traditional to pour from the same pot three times...the first pouring is very strong, then add more water for a weaker second pouring, and finally add more water for a third pouring which is a very weak tea. The Tuareg people have a saying, "The first pot is bitter like life, the second strong like love, and the last soft like death".

For our supper: chorba (thick soup, similar to minestrone, cooked on a fire fueled by camel dung - but sorry, we were all out of camel dung so we just used our gas stove), taguella (bread), cheese, melon.

Iceland:
Iceland has us, again, confessing that we decided that some of their traditional foods are NOT for the squeamish tummy. We did NOT attempt to duplicate their hakarl (seriously decomposed, rotten shark meat (excuse me, the correct term, I guess would be "fermented") that has been buried in the ground then  served in a sealed glass jar to keep the stinky odor contained as long as possible. They seem to like fermented lamb also...not happening in my kitchen! Nor did we even consider sheep's head - yes, the whole head on a plate...no thanks. And I didn't have the heart to tell my children they also eat horse meat.

For breakfast, we could not find skyr, made of pasteurized skimmed milk and a bacteria culture similar to yogurt. It's not actually yogurt though, it's a soft cheese that is rich and thick and very healthy. We will be looking for it during our next trip to the International grocery store in Carbondale. If not, maybe next time we'll just substitute a different soft cheese. The pönnukökur, or Icelandic pancakes are thin, sweet, and usually rolled up with jam, powdered sugar, or cinnamon, similar to crepes.

Lunch was an easy one: The Icelandic pylsur is a hot dog (granted theirs has lamb in it as well as beef and pork parts) and if you order a pylsur "eina með öllu" (one with everything), it's served up with the works: a sweeter brown mustard ("pylsusinnep"), ketchup, raw onions, crunchy deep-fried onions ("Cronions"), and a mildly tangy remoulade (salad or seafood dressing made with hard-boiled egg yolks, oil, and vinegar, and flavored with mustard, capers, and herbs).

Black licorice is a favorite snack in Iceland, but I am the only one in our house who likes it.

Supper was also a breeze:  Iceland, being surrounded by all that water, has an abundance of seafood and lobster always gets Alan, Maddy, and Kenna's attention.

Russia:
за́втрак (breakfast):  kasha (a type of porridge made from different grains), butterbrots (a kind of sandwich made of a single slice of bread (rye or black bread) and one topping such as butter or ham, boiled or fried eggs, tvorog (similar to cottage cheese), coffee, and tea. Blinis are pancakes that stuffed with a range of fillings.
Obed (lunch): soup (пе́рвое блю́до), meat with potatoes, and kompot (a non-alcoholic drink made by boiling fruit in water - the girls added sugar to theirs), and tea.
Uzhin or у́жин (supper):  My family loves piroggi! There is a /Russian saying that "A home is not beautiful without a piroggi at the feast!" Piroggi are made from leaved, fermented dough, and the rituals of rising and proving the yeast are immensely important. Piroggi can be filled with cheese, meat, mashed potatoes, or vegetables, or you can try sweet piroshky, filled with honey or fruit. Rye bread (ржано́й хлеб), also known as "black" bread (чёрный хлеб) is a Russian staple. Did you know that beef stronganoff is a classic Russian dish?

Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats' Mini Missions Challenge

Mini Mission Challenge #3 submitted.

Do you like receiving free books for your children? You should join the Mini Missions Challenge sponsored by Kellogg's Mini-Wheats and Scholastic Books! Very simple. You have to submit 4 activities that your family completes each month (a different theme/topic each month). You can download photos, if you'd like, as part of your submission. Each month that your family completes 4 of the challenges and gets them submitted at http://minimissions.scholastic.com/#,
you will earn 2 free Scholastic books!

So easy to do...just take a few minutes to complete each submission...so many books to be awarded!

In August, we just had to tell about 4 family breakfasts we had.

This month, the challenge is to be "Outdoor Explorers".

Have fun...and earn some free books!

Ever have days when you need to be in too places at once? Saturday, September 21, 2013 was one of those days!

Maddy and I left at 7:30 a.m. to go with her GA (Girls in Action) Missions group to the Carmi Baptist Children's Home for the Home's annual Fall Festival. The GA group had make a baby blanket for the quilt auction, when they delivered to the auction stand after we arrived on the grounds. They then set up and manned from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a Bubble Booth. The booth was a huge hit, even with teenagers and adults as they chose from the basic bubble blowing wands, some bigger multi-bubble wands, these neat "sword" wands that made giant bubbles, and some battery operated mega bubble blowers. We had people telling us that they were running into bubbles all the way across the grounds. There was a good breeze blowing and the millions of bubbles that were blown, drifting up, up, and away!

The group also got to tour one of the Home's cottages. And I'm not sure how many booths were set up, but there was a lot of games to play, a train to ride, horseback riding, and a variety of food, all of which was provided at no charge. Maddy came home with a backpack (that she won) full of other prizes she had won.

While Maddy helped her group man the booth, and taking turns going to check out all the fun with an adult, I helped at the food pavilion (all free). I helped a group of ladies "bun up" over 1,000 hamburgers and over 1,000 hot dogs to feed the crowd attending. As we were leaving at the end of the event, one of the ladies at the registration tent told me that they had registered 2, 071 visitors for the day!

It was a beautiful day for a missions project. Well done, Maddy!
 

 

Kenna, on the other hand, needed to be in a whole other town at 9:45 a.m. for her Tae Kwon Do Lil' Dragons' Graduation. So, Alan was a dear and got McKenna dressed in her official Lil' Dragon full uniform and off they went where Kenna earned her orange Lil' Dragon belt! Wish I could have been there! We'll get our CD of pictures from the photographer soon. Way to go, Kenna!

 

I know this is true of me, and I'm pretty sure that two of my four older daughters, Alisha and Alayna, have this "problem" as well. I'm thinking that the way things are headed with Maddy and Kenna, they too will have an endless reading list. Which is a good thing!

When you teach a child a love for reading, you are doing so much more than just "teaching them to read". When a desire to read is developed, instead of a "have to read for the assignment" attitude, your child learns to see every detail in the world around them. You child will learn to hear the sounds of distant rainforests and the sounds of wolves howling at the moon. They will travel not just to faraway destinations, but back in time and into the future. As they experience new books, they will learn to see with the heart, hear with their mind, and smell the scents and odors with their imagination and memory.

Books can teach a skill (how to cook, how to build a treehouse, how to fix a leaking sink, etc.), entertain, teach about history, show how to do a science experiment, and so much more. Books open the world up and bring it right into your home.

Take your child to the library at least every two weeks (that's usually how long most libraries loan books out for). Challenge your child to check out books beyond his present interests. Looking for a particular book but can't find it at your local library? Ask your librarian to do a search and borrow it from another library.

When your child loves reading, they will absorb so much information. Without "studying hard" and probably without even realizing they are taking in so much knowledge. And that, my friend, will give your child an advantage in this world.

500 Page Club

Having a kindergartener and a 1st grader is actually giving us twice the opportunity to cover concepts in math at one time! Today Kenna explored Counting Bears (sorting by color, counting) and Maddy joined in. Then we switched to Maddy's math lesson, with Kenna joining in, to learn about coins (names, values, sorting, counting nickels). They don't look at it as 2 separate math lessons. And at this time, I am not telling them any different! Both of my girls love math and I truly hope they continue to do so during the years to come!


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Today was the first meeting of the kindergarten / 1st grade 500 Page Reading Club. Meeting once a week at the local library. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library group. Co-led by myself and a local kindergarten teacher, Ms. Cheryl.

Kenna and Maddy love participating in their reading club. Kenna received her first library card today! They each borrow 5 books from the library each week.

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Loving animals ourselves, and living on a farm, we believe children should have - and learn to be responsible for - pets of their own. Today, Maddy and Kenna each added a new puppy to their growing list of pets which includes a Cockatiel and rabbits.

They did their own shopping (with assistance of course) for their collars and leashes, feed and water bowls, dog toys, flea stuff, dog Milk Bones, and Puppy Chow. Letting them choose and be there with the $51.73 bill rang up, lets them realize how expensive pets are and that it's important to take care of not just the pets, but also their pet supplies.

We drove a few towns over to pick up their "free" puppies from a friend. We actually sent them $20 in a thank you card to help cover the expense of the wormer and feed the puppies have consumed at during their 9 weeks of life. My Daddy says there's no such thing as a free pet. He's right! They have been wormed, but we have to make appointments to take them for their puppy shots and, when old enough, to be spayed. Maintaining a pet is pretty expensive. But the rewards of pet ownership, and our animals become part of the family, is priceless.

Lots of subjects covered during the time of preparing for and going to get their pets: economics (buying supplies and feed), animal science (animal breeds, selecting a pet, caring for a pet), geography (Where's Equality?), following directions (to reach our destination), math, a field trip, and some life skills.

We love homeschooling because we have the freedom to not only teach those subjects that the public schools deem necessary, but we also have the choice of being able to pursue areas of interest to our children. Living on a farm, and with our kids loving animals, we spend a lot of time on animal science.

We are free to do so many more field trips than the public schools. With all the state budget cuts, our local schools are down to 1, maybe 2 field trips a year. Last year, we went on more than a dozen educational field trips.

You will only get out of homeschooling what you are willing to put into it. Personally, we know our children's education - which will affect their future - is at stake. We are not an "unschooling" family. While the unschooling approach might work for some families, we think our kids need structure, rules, and books. We are not "religious fanatics" keeping our kids sequestered from the world. We do take our faith very seriously, though, and we do incorporate our beliefs and moral standards into our homeschooling experience. We obviously are not "holding school" like the public schools do, but we are investing more time and possibly more money into our children's educations. So, the next time you want to look down on us for homeschooling, or you give us "you're messing up your kid's life" comments, consider coming and spending a day with us in our homeschooling experience. The fact is, that you have absolutely no idea how our schooling is done. Rest assured that we are working overtime, literally, to provide our children with an education not only as well as the public school can offer, but we are going above and beyond what they can offer. Not because we think we are perfect. Not because we think we are smarter than all those "certified educational professionals". Not because we don't want our children hanging out with your kids (although we must admit there are a lot of habits out there that some parents totally ignore that we do not want our children picking up). But because we love our children and we like spending time with them. From the beginning of time, parents were their children's teachers. We think this is a good thing.

So, as we close our first week of our homeschooling experience with our kindergartener (4 year old) and our 1st grader (6 year old), we want you to know that we are very happy with the way our schooling experience is working out. And we are looking forward to a very productive year.

How many 4 & 6 year olds do you know that are regularly involved in community service projects? Ours are. They also have lots of friends, lots of play dates, lots of inter-generational relationships, and attend/host social events. They are active in their church. They are earning higher ranking belts in Tae Kwon Do and learning about respect and gaining confidence as they do. We do messy experiments. We watch newborn calves being born. We take the classroom outside. We do lots of crafts. We attend many "outside" classes offered in the surrounding area, classes deemed age-appropriate for our little ones. We have Bible study and are teaching our children to develop a personal relationship with God. We have 3 sit-down family meals together each day. We are learning math, science, language arts, social studies, and computer. We also have music and P.E. - something many schools have cut from their programs (sorry, I don't think recess should count as P.E.). We are learning Spanish...we want to begin American Sign Language. We are doing the same type things the public schools are doing, and more. We just choose to do these things together in a family setting rather than in an overcrowded, disruptive classroom.

So please. Before you bad mouth or look down on us as "those crazy people", think again. Because we are convinced that most parents, if they really thought about it, would like to be homeschooling their kids, too. Some of us were just more willing to "jump in" and "take a chance", sacrificing two paychecks to take care and educate the children we chose to have. Haven't you told your children the, "If all the kids were jumping off the bridge, would you?" Homeschooling is like that very question. Just because someone we never met decided that it was better for our kids to go to a public school, does not mean it's true. We are just one of the few who acted on that sentiment.

If you have never homeschooled, you should not knock it. If you ever decide to "grab the golden ring" and try it, we think you'll love it.

Here at Sisney H.O.U.S,E. (Home Oriented Unique Schooling Experience), we love it. We enjoy it. We cherish the time together. We are the Sisney family. We ARE a homeschooling family.

Teddy Bear Care Fair Today

Just because it's the weekend, doesn't mean "learning" is taking a rest. No, we don't "hit the books" on the weekends, but the process of learning goes on. Today, it took on the form of a field trip to the Teddy Bear Care Fair.

Maddy, Kenna, and I had fun at the Teddy Bear Care Fair this morning! Thanks to Harrisburg Medical Center and WADI for sponsoring such a great event! Upon arriving, the girls "registered" their stuffed animals (Maddy took Ellie the Elephant puppet and Kenna took Honey the Bear). We then proceeded to the nurses station for a check of vitals (where we saw our friend Naomi Hall working), to X-ray where our friend Jennifer (Darnell) was working, to the lab where "blood" was "drawn" from the patients, to surgery where corrective procedures were performed, to respiratory therapy for a breathing treatment, to physical therapy where both patients received a leg splint, and on to be discharged. The kids were lavished with stickers, copies of their animal's X-ray (complete with their heart showing), lab reports, coloring sheets, get well cards, a variety of healthy snacks, a bottle of water, a tongue depressor bookmark, a woven bracelet, and this was all in addition to the little goodie bags they were given. What a terrific program! I can happily report, though returning home with lots of stickers, band-aids, med-wrap, their admission bracelets, and a splint on their leg, both Ellie and Honey are feeling much better after their visit to the Teddy Bear Care Fair!