Author: evasantiago310

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INDEPENDENCE DEFINED

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U.S. Declaration of Independence ratified by t...
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For this Independence Day week end, my daughter Esther did a little research and compiled this beautiful message as her way of honoring our country’s birthday. Home schooling never stops; yes we’re on summer break. But that doesn’t stop my kids from continuing to learn. That is home schooling at its best; when you can impart to your children a hunger for knowledge and a love for learning, then you have done your job as a teacher. Have a great holiday everyone!
 
 
Independence defined:

 

in·de·pend·ence

–noun

1.

Also, independency. the state or quality of being independent.

2.

freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.

3.

Archaic . a competency.

Woah, wait, did it say NOUN?? it’s not an adjective, or even a verb, it’s a noun.  A noun is a person, place, or thing. So INDEPENDENCE isn’t a person, or a place, perhaps it’s a thing. Why would they catergorize INDEPENDENCE as a thing?

For 235 years, America has seen alot of events good and bad:

 

Lewis & Clark expedition (through 1806)

 Louisiana Purchase

Congress declares war on Britain 

 British build naval blockade

Americans burn York (Toronto)

British burn Washington, D.C.

Jackson wins Battle of New Orleans

 Women Strike

Gold Rush

 African American slavery

Texas declares independence from Mexico

U.S. declares war on Mexico

 Atlanta Fire

13th Amendment ratified, outlawing slavery

Roe vs. Wade

Cold War

Watergate break-in occurs

The Declaration of Independence

OUR Constitution

King George’s control on the Americans

The Civil war

 World War 1 and 2

The economy crashing in 1929

The Pearl Harbor Attack

9/11

The Iraq War

The Great Chicago Fire

Hurricane Katrina

Assasinations of Lincoln, and Kennedy

Washington becomes the 1st president of the United States of America

French Revolution begins

Bill of Rights adopted by Congress

Judiciary Act of 1789

 

 

 

 

 

The inventions of :

cars, light bulbs, baseball, telephone, potato chips :D, toilet paper, burglar alarm, electric stove, jelly beans :), machine gun, motorcycle,TV, refrigerator, washing machine, football, phonograph, electric fans, skyscrapers, dishwashers, AC, and the airplane. There are alot more, but these are some of the important ones 😉 haha

“I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America and to The Republic, for Which it Stands, ONE NATION, under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

 

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

 

INDEPENDENCE IS a thing, not only a thing but a feeling. For 235 years we have stood as ONE as a nation. We have had difficulties, but over all, it is the best country in the world because AMERICA will always have the help of GOD on our side, he made that promise to us. 🙂 and God NEVER breaks his promises.

 

We all sing this:

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

 

 It’s our national anthem, but do you recognize this? :

 

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

 These are the “forgotten” verses of our national anthem, who bothers to sing those? We remember the easy part, where we stand up and take off out hats, but we forget the heart of the message. The juicy tidbit. Francis Scott Key wrote these lyrics too. So this 4th of July, let’s salute our country, and sing the WHOLE anthem..

 

 written by a patriot, who loves her country, and will die for it. WE WERE MEANT TO BE FREE! MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

 

 

 

 

 

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

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Good Day!
I wanted to share this piece with you. If you have children remember that they won’t be little forever; childhood is such a fleeting time and  they grow up before long. Do you ever look at your kids and think, ‘ I rememeber the day I brought you home from the hospital.’ I do, especially around birthdays. I have 3 teens in my home and 1 pre-teen and I never let a day go by without telling them or showing them in some way that they are loved and appreciated; they need to hear words  like that more than ever these days. Even if you don’t have any children of your own, find a young person to be good to; remember they ARE our future and we need to invest in them. Have a great day and hug your kid/kids today!!
Children Learn what they live…If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with honesty,
He learns truth.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.

Dorothy Law Nolte

 

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Happy Birthday!!

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It is our nation’s birthday week and and I want to tell you I get sentimental ever 4th of July. I am an immigrant; I came to the U.S.A when I was 6 years old in 1976. I remember getting out of church that sweltering July day; being that we lived in a beach town the humidity was off the charts. As we were driving home for some much needed afternoon swimming in my uncle’s pool all of a sudden people starting honking their car horns.  I noticed all the cars on the road had their lights on even though it was 12 p.m. I asked my uncle what was happening and he said as he kept honking his horn that it  was our country’s 200th birthday. I was amazed because I had just come to live in the U.S. a couple of months before and I had never heard of a country that celebrated its birthday. That night we swam late, we ate lots of water melon and watched fire works light up the summer sky and I have loved celebrating Independence Day ever since. It is one of my favorite holidays…have a great 4th!
 
 
 

Be Advised :)

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CAUTION! Before you decide to home school you should know that not everyone is going to jump on your band wagon and support you. When both sides of our family learned of our decision to home teach we received mixed feed back from different people in our extended families. My sister thought I was just plain stupid to have gone to college and gotten my Bachelors only to sit at home with my 4 kids and in her words,” waste my talents.” My brother in law admonished her by saying,” Are you kidding? How can she be wasting anything when your sister is pouring out the best of herself into her children?” Thank you for that Larry! Has it been tough on us with one of us bringing in one pay check? Well, at times it has been but in the end our needs have always been met. We also have learned that you really don’t need as much stuff to have a happy, comfortable life. We may not have the latest gadgets or go on vacations every summer but we do have each other and that is really what kids want: A stable happy home life where they know they are loved by both of their parents.

Unlock Treasure

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My 3 girls attend dance lessons at an academy. They have teachers they learn a lot from and other teachers they don’t learn much from. Do you want to know what is the difference? I will be more than glad to tell you! The teachers my kids consider good and they can’t wait to see week after week are teachers who impart to them in a noble spirit; they are patient with the students and supportive. When they correct the students they don’t tear them down with harsh destructive criticism; they use constructive criticism to build up the student  thusly, the student grows. The other teachers are the complete opposite and they wear down the kid’s morale. Oh I’ve heard it from other grown ups that at times harsh critical words can aid the student in toughening her up and giving her a back bone. I disagree. ” No one has yet to fully realize the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of true education should be to unlock the treasure.” –Emma Goldman This quote shows me that in order to bring out the best in our children we need to value them and nurture them , it doesn’t work any other way.

Pleasant Words

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Summer is here and school has been out for the past few weeks. The neighborhood kids have nothing better to do so they come over to hang out with my kids. I have a house full of kids several times a week and I smile because when they come here they feel welcome; they feel my home is a place where they can be themselves, where they are accepted. The heart of every home should be one that beats with acceptance; unconditional love. I love you with all of your flaws and faults. Every home should represent a little piece of heaven on earth. I am in no way saying that my family is perfect; we are all far from it. What we do have is a lot of love to go around and that makes my home an environment conducive to learning.

Proverbs16:24 Pleasant words are an overflowing of honey, sweetness to the souls and healing to the bones. It is imperative to use pleasant words when we are called to teach others. I think back when I was in school and the teachers who stand out in my mind are the ones who instructed with kind, encouraging words. They not only made learning more pleasant; it actually helped me to retain  information. I have an old Jewish proverb framed on a wall in my home it reads: Let you words be sweet because you will have to eat them. More to come on this subject.

Part Three

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Who is up for some States/ World Capitals Bingo? This game I came up with to teach my kids U.S. States and World capitals. Using some plain white card stock  I designed a two sided board; on one side are the names of U.S. Capitals and on the other side are various capital cities from around the world. For chips I cut up red card stock paper into small squares.
 
The object of the game is to get a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row of capitals and then you call out Bingo!  I have written then names of all the states and different countries on small cards. Once I call out the state or country the first student to raise their hand can answer and if he is correct, he has to look up the city he said as his answer on our Rand McNally Classroom World Atlas. Then we continue until the first player calls Bingo!
 

Part Two

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LEGOS!
 
 
 
Building with Legos is a serious business
 
around my home. My 13 year old son and
 
his 10 year old sister have been playing
 
with Legos for years. They have built a
 
whole world of Legos and they dubbed it
 
LEGOLAND. My son can go on the Lego
 
web site, look at the schematics for a Lego
 
car model for a few seconds and then a few
 
hours later, he’s built the same car from
 
memory.
 
What’s really going one underneath all
 
that playing? Well for starters, building
 
with Legos teaches problem solving. It
 
allows for creativity which leads to some
 
great inventions! And also I believe there
 
are things going on in the child’s brain
 
that defy labeling. So next time your child
 
is engrossed with Legos, don’t pull her
 
away from them, go buy her another few
 
hundred blocks and encourage this type of
 
creativity.
 
 

 

 

Part One

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Let’s play! That’s one of a child’s favorite things to do; unfortunately as they get older games are left out of their education. Why get rid of such an important tool? I have integrated games as a way of teaching new concepts and reinforcing material I’ve taught in the past. This will be a series of blogs where I will share some of my ideas on how you can create your own games and implement them into your curriculum.
 
Trivia games such as Trivial Pursuit are great for learning and retaining facts about different subjects. I created my own version. I found an old Trivial Pursuit game board and kept all of the game pieces; the only difference is I have come up with my own questions using the various subjects I’ve taught over the years. So my home version of Trivial Pursuit has different categories such as: Bible Knowledge, Art, Sciences, Geography, Famous Quotes, History, The Language Arts and Spanish. We have a great time playing our home version and as new material is learned, I add to my question bank.
 
See, I told you a little imagination is all you need…enjoy your day!
 

Are You Kidding Me??!!

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I have been teaching my kids at home for a while now and I want to touch on a few very silly presuppositions that people make about home schooled kids. My kids get asked a lot by other kids they meet: ” Hey, so like do you get to do what ever you want all day long? Do you get to spend all day in your pajamas? Do you get to watch TV, play video games, or Facebook all day long?” Really?? The answer to all of these pesky questions is a: NO! NO! NO! NO!
 
So now I shall leave you with this video I found on Youtube; I hope it answers some of your questions…Good day!!