Owl Prowl

Last night the girls and I spent the night at "Owl Prowl". Owl Prowl is a Girl Scout event that is held once a year. It is a non sleeping event, from around 6pm to 6am. All night the girls get to go from booth to booth and play games, eat, swim, do crafts and more. The twins participated while Emily was a helper. This year the theme was a western one, so crafts and games involved around the west. In one of the photos the twins are riding stick horses through an obstical course. It was fun, but we were sure tired today!

The last of the questions....

This should finish out the last of the questions we were sent, unless someone sends in more.

What is your statement of faith?
What are your reasons for homeschooling?
Does your family support you?
How do you encourage your kids to study when they do not want to?
What kind of discipline do you use?

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Our statement of faith is simple. We believe that Jesus is the son of God, and he died on the cross for our sins. On the 3rd day he arose. We believe in baptism by immersion, once one is old enough to accept Christ.
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We have several reasons for homeschooling. First, prior to quitting my well paying job, marrying and moving here, my girls were enrolled in a private Christian School (Johnson County Christian Academy) in Centerview MO. They grew up with certain ideals, language and behaviors that were present in the Christian School that I just was not seeing in the public school district (I have subbed in many different school districts over the years, and there is a difference). Our first year here, they attended another Christian School, but for me to continue to be a stay at home mom, they either had to attend public school or be homeschooled, due to the tuition costs.

I wanted my children to be able to pray in school, study the Bible (eternal life is forever, this one is just for a short 75-100 years), and have a smaller classroom size. I wanted them to be able to say the pledges every morning (there are districts I have subbed in where we are NOT allowed to say the pledge of allegiance to the flag). I wanted them to learn creation from Genesis, not Darwin.

I did not want them to be exposed to the dirty language in the halls, improper dress, peers offering them cigarettes and alcohol at school. I have witnessed school fights involving knives over a difference in race and religion. I have seen a girl knocked down because she had on the wrong color shirt and tennis shoes from Walmart instead of name brand. This is not the environment I want my chidren in from 7:40 to 8:15 five days a week.
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Yes, my family supports me. My husband does work full time, but he works with the girls, teaching them mechanics, driving lessons, working with them and their horses, and some of the math, and of course, being on the fire department and being an EMT, some health and fire safety, and from his working in a chemical plant, he also works with them some on their sciences.

My parents also support us as well. As mentioned earlier, my father is a retired teacher (and preacher) and is well versed in math, electronics, electricity and the sciences, having taught them for several years in both the public school and college setting. He sometimes helps them with the science or math, and is always giving us books or items for the classroom. I also have some cousins who homeschool or have homeschooled that provide ideas and moral support.
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How do I encourage my children to study when they don't want to??....

Sometimes we just take a break and come back to it.
Sometimes we take a different angle of approach or back down to make it simpler, if they have lost interest because it is too hard.
Sometimes we just skip it, and come back to it later.
Once in awhile we have to get the principal (my husband!!) involved!!
The thing about homeschooling is that we have the freedom to work these issues out.
I have one daughter who learns best by watching the concept--she is bored if she hears it or reads it, but fascinated if she watches it on video. So, when possible I hit the library for certain subjects.
They all like to watch their grades. Homeschooling gives us the advantage that if they get a bad grade they can do extra work to make up for it. That often motivates them to be able to watch their grade creep back up to where they want it. We also sometimes "bribe" them with small treats--"if we get this done by 3 we will fix ice cream".
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As for discipline, we use grounding, taking away items such as TV or movies, doing extra school work or extra chores. We have been known to use a paddle once in awhile too....
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Tonight the girls are off for an all night non sleeping Girl Scout event, "Owl Prowl". They will be swimming, working on badges, movies, eating, doing crafts and more until morning.

Owl Prowl and a coyote in my trash barrel

Saturday night was "Owl Prowl" for all the north KC and surrounding area Girl Scouts. The name serves it well, as you basically stay up all night and prowl like an owl.

This was our first time attending the annual event, and we absolutely loved it. It was held at a city middle school, which is connected to the community center by a hallway. That gave the girls access to 2 gyms and an indoor pool. Girls rotated from station to station learning about other countries, making crafts, playing games, making friends, eating food...They made friendship bracelets, origami, did face painting, several bead activities and more. Just a few more things to do and they will have earned another badge. They learned about several countries and continents. It was a very well attended and well organized event. I would highly recommend it to any Girl Scout in the area.

On the way home, it began to snow. The further north we got the heavier it came down and as soon as we crossed the county line it turned into sleet. We took a 3 hour nap (well, I tried to nap-I had so much mountain dew in me by that time I couldn't sleep) then got up and headed back for Sunday School and church. More sleet had gathered and we were slow going for the first 17 miles or so, then it gradually turned back into snow and then nothing. By the time we got to church there was almost nothing on the ground. There always seems to be an line that we are always just north of. Usually we get it a little harder.

Yesterday morning, I looked out the upstairs office window to see a coyote (aka devil dog) in the trash barrel. Usually they don't cross the back pasture fence, but this one didn't seem to care. I didn't let my birds out of the coop and pen yesterday as a result, as I didn't want him to be thinking he could be visiting to be served chicken. I complained to JD about him and he reminded me that I knew where the guns were at....So, next time I will shoot, providing no horses, cows, kids...are near. Lately my birds have been venturing further into the back pasture to scratch (one even tries to lay in the horses hay bale), into coyote territory so I am afraid when it gets warmer we may loose a few. The next pasture over has lamas and no coyotes, so maybe we need to put a lama in this pasture. A lama will kick and fight a coyote and kill it, so usually coyotes just avoid areas with lamas.

I'm ready for Spring

I am tired of the cold weather and mother natures tricks. Once again we had weather in the 60's, followed by a day like today--cold and very windy. All day today I have had trouble feeling warm, even though I have several layers on. I just hope I am not coming down with something, I don't have time to get sick!

Today the girls and I slept in. Tonight we will stay up most of the night watching videos so we can sleep tomorrow. Saturday night we have an all night Girl Scout Owl Prowl. Owl Prowl is a non sleeping event, so we are gearing up so we can stay awake and enjoy it. The hardest part will be staying awake for church after Owl Prowl, and driving back home! I have children's church on Sunday, so I am sure the kids will keep me awake. But, I do plan on sneaking a mountain dew in...

Yesterday the I took the girls to the library in Liberty for a homeschooling class. It was an art class about Paul Klee. Emily has been helping with the class as Miss Susie's assistant.

This afternoon we worked on math, and health. Tonight we have some science and history videos to watch, and we will probably also watch a movie or two, and maybe cut more squares for the girls quilts.

Yesterday JD went and bought 20 foot of iron pipe to mount the windsock on for our weather station. We had planned on working on that this afternoon, but the weather was just to cold and windy. He says if I can have a windsock, he should be able to have a helicopter....... Maybe I can find him a toy one somewhere. Several years ago there was an auction on eBay of a John Deere helicopter. It sold for around $90,000. It was right before we got married, and he was convinced that I should get that for his wedding present. Needless to say, I was not convinced, so he didn't get it. He has never let me forget that. Anyway, JD has been studying up on windsocks. You can tell the speed as well as the direction of the wind by the angle the windsock is at. I knew it told the direction, but I was not aware there are charts on the wind speeds as well.

This semester I am teaching a class on American Presidents. I worked on my lesson plans today. There are a lot of interesting little facts that most people don't know about the presidents. Also a lot of untruths and myths. For example, George Washingtons false teeth were not wood, they were ivory and had real teeth wired into them--teeth from donkies, humans and horses. He did not chop down his fathers cherry tree--his father had no cherry trees. Did you know he was a redhead in his younger days? He helped design the White House, but never lived in it. He was the first president to be elected unanimously and was inaugurated in both Philadephia and New York. Do you know why some records say he was born on Feb 11 and others say Feb 22? And, both dates are technically correct??