Missouri Work Permits

I received this in an email. I am in complete agreement with this new change! I think if the parent is the primary educator, then this should be up to the parent. Many homeschool students also do work "internships", where they learn skills related to a certain trade as part of their education. This would allow students who do that to also receive pay if the business pays. Great examples would be-working in an office to learn or refine computer skills and programing, filing, phone work and also hands on things similar to the public schools votech programs, such as working in a mechanics garage, or farming (similar to some FFA programs).

"In an exciting nationwide first, Missouri now allows parents to issue work certificates for their own children if they follow certain requirements.
Formerly, parents had to work through the public school bureaucracy. This often involved red tape, delays, and inconvenience. And it was illogical. How would the public school system be in a position to know whether the proposed job would conflict with the student’s homeschool program?

But now a parent can be the “issuing officer” for a work certificate if the various requirements are met. HSLDA has posted an article explaining all requirements, and a blank work certificate form, under our “forms and resources” section for the state of Missouri (available to members only). This article explains who needs a certificate, how to issue or obtain one, what hours and days of work are allowed, the difference between a work “certificate” and a work “permit” (they are not the same!) and related information.

There is nothing particularly difficult about the various requirements, but there are quite a few! A parent wanting to issue a work certificate for his own child should take the time to read the HSLDA article, or educate himself carefully some other way.

Missouri child labor laws are primarily found in chapter 294 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. The specific statute that deals with parents issuing work certificates is §294.045.

Public school superintendents continue to have authority to issue work certificates for homeschooled children, and parents may choose this option if they wish.
In a related breakthrough, teens who want to work are no longer bound under state law by one monolithic public school schedule. Revised Statutes of Missouri §294.045.4 says that a child’s work hour limitations shall be based on the calendar of the school the child actually attends. For homeschool families, this generally means their own homeschool calendar. This is important to keep in mind whether you issue the work certificate yourself, or you ask the local superintendent to issue it.

Families for Home Education (FHE) deserves the credit for these important changes. FHE has spearheaded this, and many other changes that are very helpful to homeschoolers."


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My $5 find

Friday, one of the girls and I went into town to pick up a couple of things at our local Pamida store. Down one aisle, they had a selection of upholstery pieces, of various sizes. Regardless of the size, they were all priced at $5 each. I found a piece that was 8 yards long and 90 inches wide, for $5. It was a nice dark green with some tan in it--the exact same color as the love seat in my dining room. So, needless to say I bought it and brought it home. I had exactly enough to reupholster my dining room chairs and also the piano bench for the baby grand, which is in the same room. I still have some left over, which I think I will use to make some pillows for the love seat. Several years ago I took an upholstery class at a community center and I was finally able to put my class knowledge to use. It was really fairly simple, and the only tools required were a screwdriver and the staple gun. All for $5. The only downside is, I wish I had found the fabric sooner, and could have had it done for Thanksgiving, since this year we had people from both sides of the family at our house. But, on the flip side, I did notice a couple new stains on the chairs after the dinner, so but not having it done, I saved the stains from being on the new seats. (The original seats were white, which I don't recommend for dining room chairs). Next time I am out, I will see if I can find some spray scotch guard for the chairs and bench.

Pumpkins

Last week the grocery store had all their pumpkins, regardless of size on sale for $1. So, I bought 10 of them. Last night and today I have been processing them. The method I use, ensures nothing goes to waste.

First, I wash them well, and remove the stem and bottom part of the pumpkin from where the pumpkin blossom formed. Then, I cut them into chunks and scoop out the insides where the seeds and stringy stuff is. The chunks I put into a stock pot to boil until tender. After they are tender, I remove from the pot, drain (saving the water) and let cool. After cooling, scoop out the meat part from the peeling part.

The meat part is now ready for pumpkin pie, bread or any other recipe requiring pumpkin. Remember though, this is just pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix (there is a difference, as the spices and such are not added).

Now, separate the stringy stuff from the seeds. Wash the seeds well, removing any pumpkin stuck to them.

By now the water you boiled them in should be cool, so you can either can it, or freeze it. This water gives a nice kick to soups or even for mashed potatoes--just use it like you would chicken stock.

The remaining peel and stringy stuff (if it has a "technical name" I don't know what it is) goes to the chickens and ducks.

The seeds are then roasted. This is how I have done my first batch of seeds-(per my husbands request.)First, I boiled the seeds in apple juice for 10 minutes. Then I drained them off, and mixed in a bowl some melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and sea salt. Lightly oil a cookie sheet, and put in the oven at 275 degrees and roasted until done--took mine about 20 minutes-you want them roasted and dry, not sticky.

See, nothing went to waste-The birds love what is left if you don't have chickens, we even reuse the water for soup stock-it contains loves of the vitamens that boiled off.

A good way to recycle your halloween pumpkin is to wait until the day of to carve it, or instead of carving it use non toxic paint to decorate it.

The next batch I will use olive oil, garlic and sea salt.

Struggles

You have probably noticed I have not been on here much lately.

Our family has had a lot going on the past month and a half. For starters, a class I had been on a 2 year waiting list to take suddenly opened up and I have been attending class 3 evenings a week, with an hour commute each way, in addition to 12 hour shift clinicals. Also, we have had numerous family members in the hospital for a variety of things. This includes my dad, 2 uncles, an aunt, a cousin and my sister n law.

My sister in law has been diagnosed with lung cancer. She is a non smoker and just turned 41 (yes, I can give her age since I didn't give her name-she can't get me!). This came as a real shock to our family. She was hospitalized in the city for a few weeks, then opted to go to the Cancer Treatment Center of America. Please keep her and our families in prayer. We believe that God will heal her, so pray for a healing and guidance for the doctors taking care of her.

As a result of her illness, I have been doing a lot of reading and research on cancers and diet. Did you know that cancer is mentioned in the Bible? It is not a new disease, but certainly has been increasing over the past few years. Everything we do now involves chemicals it seems--they are added to our food while it is growing, and added to it when it is commercially processed. We are now slowly changing how we eat in our house. We are getting rid of the junk foods, sodas and cutting way back on what we fry. After the holidays, we will be making even more changes with our diet. I will be posting more of those changes as time goes on.