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A Case of Mistaken Identity How to Use the Library Simplifying Your Life It's OK to Trick'em God's Children Problem Behavior?Problem Foods Thanksgiving Gratitude Boundaries Things a Mom Has Learned Adolescence Child Abuse Survey Internet Dangers Hazards of Heavy Metal Music God's Children Is Your Child Being Terrorized by the Bogeyman? Drawings
from Preschool: A Case of Mistaken Identity When my son Kevin first started preschool, he was three years old, going on six or seven. As a former elementary teacher, I delighted in teaching him words beyond his age. It came as a surprise at parent-teacher conferences when his teacher broke the news to me that some children are ready for Art at age three, and some just take a little longer. Kevin, she said, was not ready yet for drawing actual images. He was still at the scribbling stage; but not to worry. He would soon catch up with the other children. It was just a matter of time. What Kevin’s teacher was saying just didn’t make sense. At home, I had dozens of pictures I’d saved from the time Kevin was first able to hold a crayon. Not only did he draw pictures of people, animals, houses, and other subjects typical of a preschool age child, but he drew them in intricate detail. When Kevin drew a picture of a man, that man had ten fingers, ten toes, and pupils in his eyes! When I told his teacher about the pictures he loved to draw at home, she brought out a manila folder of what he typically drew in class. The pictures in the folder were virtually identical. Every single one consisted of a circular shape with scribbled polka dots. “I’d like to see some of his drawings from home,” Mrs. Marvelli said. “We need to get to the bottom of this and find out what’s going on. I want you to take one of these scribble drawings home with you and ask Kevin tonight why he scribbles at preschool, when he does such detailed drawings at home.” That night when Kevin had finished his bath and I was tucking him into bed, I asked him about the pictures. “Mrs. Marvelli’s not telling the truth,” he said, fixing his wide-eyed gaze on mine. “I don’t scribble at preschool.” At a loss as to why Kevin would deny what could easily be proven, I left the room and returned a moment later with the “scribble” picture Mrs. Marvelli had sent home. “Did you draw this at pre- school today?” “Yes,” Kevin said. “But that’s not scribble.” “If it’s not a scribble, then what is it?” I asked. Fixing me with a withering glance, Kevin heaved a loud sigh. “It’s a picture of a chocolate chip cookie” A wave of relief swept over me as I tried not to smile. “But Sweetheart, Mrs. Marvelli has dozens of these. Why do you draw chocolate chip cookies everday? Why don’t you ever draw anything else?” His answer was so candid I couldn’t resist scooping him up and giving him a kiss on the top of his head: “Art comes before recess," he said with a shrug. "We can’t go outside till our picture is done. I draw chocolate chip cookies so I can get done fast and get first dibs on the swings."
How to Use the
Library
According to various experts, and proven by our own experiences, reading aloud is the very best educational activity. The library is the place to get the books for doing this. When reading aloud you will be able to skip over really objectionable parts of books; or discuss world views. An example of this was the book that we used when studying slavery and the Civil War. From our library, we got a book of the slaves own words. Rather than pass over such interesting and accurate history, I passed over the few passages about nudity. Scope and Sequence: A good place to start is with a plan, --or scope and sequence, as it is often called. The scope and sequence gives details on what you will be teaching (scope) and in what order (sequence). The scope and sequence is usually written for one year at a time. There are guides available that are quite helpful for writing the scope and sequence. One is World Book's Typical Course of Study. I thought it overwhelming and simplified it for the Course of Study in my book, EasyHomeschooling Techniques. Even a text's table of contents can be used as a guide for a subject. As well as helping you know which books to choose from the library, a scope and sequence will make it easier to plan your daily schedule. And you will be able to see at any point during the year what you have covered and what needs to be learned or covered next. Begin: Begin a rough draft. As main points (I, II, III, IV, etc.), list the major subject areas you will cover, such as Bible, Math, Language Arts, Health, Science, and History. Leave plenty of room between your points, so that you can list subordinate topics beneath the main points. You may add Music and Art as well. (Study the art and music of the time period you are covering in history, for instance.) Now, pick and list the topics (from the guide) that you would like to cover. Get your children's input . You may end up with more than necessary. Remember, this is a rough draft! Look at grades around your child's grade, so you can have a continuity from year to year in subjects such as history. (See sidebar for a history plan.) Put some order into the jumble of science topics in Typical Course of Study when writing the scope and sequence. Choose one field of science (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.) to focus on each year, or spend the year studying scientists and discoveries from the same historical period you are studying. If you have children in several different grades, perhaps you can combine the topics or pick one that all can learn at the same time. I do this frequently with History, Science, and Health. Teach your children who are close in age the same Math and Language Arts. Look through several of the grades and plan ahead to achieve a continuity from year to year. Choosing Books From The Library: Once your scope and sequence is completed, you have the easy job of picking out armfuls of books on a regular basis to fulfill the learning goals of your plan. With so many libraries having computerized card catalogs, this is quick work. Type in the era or topic, such as "civil war." With this
method one thing leads to another and soon you will read in one book
about a person
whose biography you can then borrow. Many homeschoolers favor the old Landmark, Signature
other We Were There
biographies, which your library may still have. More eloquent
writing was done by authors like G.A. Henty, Oliver Optic or Horatio
Alger who wrote about various historical periods. Other Ideas: For foreign
language, check out videos or cassette tapes. Do an intensive study
for them time you have the tapes. Then in a week or so check them
out again and do another study. Keep doing this Most libraries have computers public use, sometimes with good quality learning software. Have you child work on one of these while you are looking for books. Keep track of progress made each visit. Use the library's newspapers for current events classes.
Lorraine
Curry is the author of 5 Star,
The Hazards of Heavy Metal Music What kind of music do your teens listen to? Rap? Hip Hop? Heavy Metal? If your answer to this question was Heavy Metal, you and your teen have a problem. As you may know, I used to have a personal ministry working with victims of demonic harassment. I had a list of sixty-two items I would go through with harassment victims to help them make a sublist of items that pertained to them. The sixty-two items on this list were things that I know open the door to demonic spirits and the harassment that comes with them. I know this from personal experience and from the experiences of harassment victims I’ve worked with. Heavy Metal music was on the list. When doing spirit cast aways on behalf of harassment victims I’ve worked with, demonic spirits have manifested (made their presence known as they left) for every heavy metal group I knew of at that time. Given that more heavy metal groups are now on the scene, I have no doubt their music brings demonic spirits as well. (The same is true of certain kinds of Rap, Ouija Boards, and demonic movies/video games.) What does that mean in your teen's life? Teens I’ve worked with who were victims of demonic harassment have reported a wide variety of types of harassment: Some experience spirits talking to them telepathically, telling them to kill their friends; urging them to hurt their parents; and/or telling them to mutilate their bodies. Others experience pain from unseen entities who hurt them, promising to stop if they’ll cut themselves. Spirits of rage often attempt to ruin the teen’s relationships with family and friends. Spirits of depression drag teens to the depths of hopelessness then attempt to convince them the only way out is suicide. Spirits of Low Self Esteem criticize teens telepathically and/or give them feelings of worthlessness. Spirits of thievery give teens the urge to shoplift. Other types of harassment teens often experience are nightmares, fleeting shadows seen from the corner of the eye, things disappearing then showing up later in strange places, the sound of a familiar voice calling their name, an inability to concentrate, psychic visions, a feeling of being watched, or a feeling that everyone’s talking about them, Note: When I refer to demonic spirits by names such as "spirits of low self-esteem," this is simply a name I apply to spirits who appear to specialize in this type of harassment. The spirits I'm referring to are not spirits of the dead. They're the demonic spirits spoken of in the Bible. If none of this sounds familiar to you, the spirits that came with the music your kids are listening to may not have started harassing them yet. But they will. It’s only a matter of time. I'm not writing this article to scare you. I'm writing it to inform parents of the dangers inherent in listening to heavy metal music at any age. I worked with a man we'll call Frank who'd been into heavy metal since he was a teen. Frank didn't experience the types of harassment I've described here. Instead, he experienced having demonic spirits talk to him, claiming to be God. I say "spirits," plural, because it has been my experience that spirits work in groups of three or multiples of three, often taking turns playing the same role -- in this case, the role of God. Frank was also harassed by having demonic spirits contribute to his manic depression. The evening Frank and I worked together by phone doing cast aways of the spirits in his life, his fiancée took digital pictures as the spirits were cast away (through God in Jesus' name). Demonic spirits showed up in each of the digital pictures as heavy metal demons were addressed and cast away. In most of the pictures, spirits appeared in the form of orbs. In the photo of cast aways of the demons from Ozzie Osborne's music, one appeared standing behind Frank. His fiancée saw this spirit and later drew a sketch of it, but it didn't appear in the photos. She sent the sketch to me as an e-mail attachment. It looked like the Joker from Bat Man. The spirits who'd been masquerading as God chose not to show themselves in photos. Instead, as they were leaving, they gave Frank pains in various parts of his body. If you’d like to know more about things that invite demonic spirits, types of ways demonic spirits harass humans, and what can be done about it, I have an e-book on each of these topics, plus an e-book that combines all three. If your teen is into heavy metal, it would serve you well to learn what he’s dealing with. I recommend that you read my e-book Demonic Spirits and You: Things That Traditional Deliverance Ministries Don’t Tell You, or the Trilogy which is a collection of my three individual e-books on this topic: Things That Invite Demonic Spirits, Spirit Harassment from A to Z, and Demonic Spirits and You; What Traditional Deliverance Ministries Don’t Tell You. To read my qualifications for writing on this topic, please visit my page "About Stacie."
SIMPLIFYING YOUR LIFE The simple life is a life lived with only one main focus. The more a person is responsible for, the more complicated life becomes. For generations the focus for women was their families. Many times, I have thought how wonderful if we could turn back the clock and had even secretly hoped that Y2K would happen. (But was very thankful that it didn't, realizing the disaster it might have been.) But here we are, in a 21st century world and now most of us have at least two major responsibilities in our lives: 1) homes-families and 2) running a school. Some of us have added the responsibility of a home business. Others are involved in a ministry or a church that takes a good portion of their time. You may even be attending a college, working at a job or doing something else that divides your focus. If you feel overwhelmed by these responsibilities, here is an unusual schedule that you might like to try. Since more can be accomplished when you concentrate on one thing at a time, do just that. Each week will have a different focus. That week most of your activities will be related to that major area, although there will be some things that will need doing every day, whether or not they are in that week's major area. These daily activities will be few and will include meals, dishes, Bible and devotions. You will first need to decide and make a list, if you choose, of your major responsibilities, such as Cleaning, Homeschooling, Business, etc. Week 1 Homeschooling Week. This week, morning to night you will focus on your children's education. You will read home- schooling books privately, plan homeschooling, set goals, monitor progress, give tests, read loud, hear narrations, do projects and research, and give your children assignments and tasks for the week(s) you will not be homeschooling. Having a Homeschooling Week every other week for a year would give you plenty of hours of homeschooling but if your children can work independently, you could have this week less often. Week 2: Cleaning Week. Yes you can clean for a week!
I spent one whole month on our house once! This is when you Week 3: Cooking and Baking Week Make Once a Month or Mega
Meals (see below) to have on hand for your other weeks. We have Week 4: Business Week (or
other major focus area) This is the week you focus on your business Week 5: Repeat the cycle or go into another of your focus areas. You may choose to alternate your weeks like this. Week 1: Homeschooling Many are already dividing their days into: Morning: Homeschooling Or you could divide your week: Monday: Homeschool No matter what the focus of
the week, responding to your children and their needs is a most With many responsibilities,
it is even more important that we includes more prayer, Bible
reading
Lorraine
Curry is the author of 5 Star,
Teaching:
Do your little ones balk if you attempt to help them with, or drill them on, some of their weak skills?Sure they do. Why? Because they’re kids, and that’s what kids do. Well, go ahead and trick them. Make them think they are playing, when actually – they are learning. I used all of the “games” that follow throughout my forty-two years of teaching first grade. I also played these games with my own two sons - while folding laundry, preparing dinner, or traveling in the car. They are a big hit with kids, and they allow you to play teacher and get your work done at the same time. It doesn’t get much better than that. Pre-reading and Early Reading Skills: If your child can rhyme and knows his beginning consonant sounds, he is on his way to becoming an independent reader. When he learns to read the word “cat”, he automatically will recognize bat, fat, and hat. RHYMING: Identifying words that rhyme (by sound – not sight), and thinking of a word that rhymes with another word, are two very important pre-reading skills. Games can be played to develop these skills as early as age three. (Kids are never too old to profit from these games if the format is enjoyable and the atmosphere is free of stress.) Recite a few of your favorite nursery rhymes that you enjoyed as a child. When one appears to “click” with your youngster, repeat it. Invite your little one to join in. If you still have his interest, invite him to play, You Fill In The Missing Word. “Jack and Jill went up the ____, to fetch a pail of _____.” Next, play Every Other Line. You say the first line and your child says the next. Reverse the order. And finally, invite your child to say the rhyme ‘all by himself.’ Remember to praise all attempts. I’m Thinking Of A Word. “I’m thinking of a word that is in the sky and rhymes with car.” Which Two Words Rhyme? “Bus, toy, fuss.”
BEGINNING AND ENDING CONSONANT SOUNDS:Games designed for practicing beginning and ending consonant sounds are most effective when they are introduced after the concept of rhyming is mastered. (It is important to use the terms rhyme and beginning sound as often as possible. Children need to learn that these two terms are not synonymous.)Can You Find...? “Can you find something in the kitchen that starts with the letter m?” Go to the family room and look for something that ends with n.” (It is best to work with ending sounds after the child has fully mastered the beginning sound concept.) Can You Think Of A Word? “Can you think of an animal’s name that starts with s?” “Can you think of a vegetable that starts with the letter c? For variation, let your child supply the question and you give the answer. I’ll Say The Word, You Tell Me The Letter (that the word begins or ends with). “MOTHER”___ “HAT”_____. Remember to let your little one have some turns at being “teacher.” How Many Words? “How many words can you think of that start with t? You say the words and I’ll count.” Later you can suggest he does the counting as you give your list of words. (That might be called, “Killing Two Birds With One Stone.”) Nah, I’m just kidding. Number Skills: COUNTING OBJECTS: When your child is learning to count, it is extremely important that he touch each item as he counts. This process is called one-to-one correspondence, and is much more beneficial than the simple memory task of saying the numbers from one to ten. (The child does not need to learn the “one-to-one correspondence” terminology – only the concept.) Can You Help Me? “Can you please tell me how many items are in the green clothesbasket so I will know if this load will fit in the washer?” Or, “Please count out five spoons, forks, and knives and put them on the table for me.” NUMERAL RECOGNITION: Time is well spent when you provide opportunities for your child to practice recognizing numbers on an informal basis. When you get in the “watch for numbers” mindset, you’ll be amazed at how many you have in your home. The calendar, TV, microwave, VCR, scales, clock, and stove are a few that come to mind. There are many more. What Number Is It? “What numbers are showing on the digital clock right now?” “Please punch in number 7 on the remote control.” “What number is showing on the microwave?” “Point to the number on the calendar that tells us the day we’re going to Grandma’s house.” “What channel is the TV turned to?” Riding in the car provides dozens of variations for this game. COINS: Coin activities allow for a variety of math experiences that provide a vast array of benefits. Some of the important skills gained through playing with coins include seeing likenesses and differences, categorizing, counting with one-to-one correspondence, and coin recognition. The more advanced skills of learning coin values and determining totals are learned much easier and more quickly if the child has had ample opportunity to manipulate and handle real coins. (Avoid using cardboard or plastic look-alike coins. They are not nearly as effective as the real thing.) Funny Money. “While I fold the clothes, I’d like you to empty the change from my purse and dump it on the floor. Sort all the coins that look alike into different piles. Count the nickels. Make the pennies form a circle. Arrange the dimes in a square.” Caution. Kids cannot accomplish ALL of this on a first, second, or even third try. Start with the simplest tasks and look for mastery before moving on to the more difficult areas. Advanced skills might involve questions such as, “How much money do I have in dimes? What is the total amount of money in my pocket today?” (“Not enough”, might be your answer. Your child needs to be more exact.) MATH FACTS: These games can be played with addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. In the early stages, I like to start with, You Be The Teacher. “You give me the problem, I’ll give you the answer.” Your child says, “Four plus two,” and you supply the answer.
SPELLING: Oral spelling practice is much more fun for kids than written practice is. It is equally as beneficial.
Hopefully, these ideas will inspire you to take the ill out of drill in order to increase your child’s skill. I urge you to try it because I think you’ll like it. I know your child will. Best of all, your youngster will be learning while he thinks he is playing.
Jacquie McTaggart is a 42-year career Iowa teacher
living in Independence.
Problem Behavior
. . . or Problem Food? Ever
wonder why kids act the way they do? Often it is their temperament,
sometimes it's our parenting style, and occasionally it's the food
they eat. ©2001, rev. 2004, Brenda Nixon. Brenda Nixon (www.brendanixon.com) helps parents increase their knowledge and skills in childrearing. She is a popular speaker and the author of, Parenting Power in the Early Years, a resource for early childhood parents and teachers. Note: Some of the material for this article is based on the book Foods for Healthy Kids by Lendon Smith, M.D.
God's Children To those of us who have children in our lives, whether they are our own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students, here's something to make you chuckle: Whenever your
children are out of control, you can take comfort in the fact that
even God's
omnipotence did not extend to His own children. After
creating heaven and earth, God created
Adam and Eve. And the first
thing He said was "Don't!" But there is reassurance in this story. If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom, and they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you? Here's another one from e-mail that's likely to create a few endorphins. Maybe I should post these on the Health page of this site (smile). Things a mom has learned from raising little boys: 1.)A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq.ft. house 4 inches deep. 2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite. 3.) A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. 4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft . room. 5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way. 6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan. 7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uhoh", it's already too late. 8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it. 9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though his father says they can only do it in the movies. 10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy. 11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence. 12.) Super glue is forever. 13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water. 14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O. 15.) VCR's do not eject "PB &J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do. 16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes. 17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving. 18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is. 19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens. 20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time. 21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy. 22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy. 23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy. 24.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid. 25.) Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
Adolescence -- Clues and Advice
 
Boundaries and Setting Limits Why Are They Needed? What are some signs of healthy boundaries?
· Having trust Simply put, boundaries simplify life.
Is Your Child Being Terrorized by the "Bogeyman?" Marge says her five-year-old son is afraid to go to bed at night. He claims there’s a scary man under his bed that reaches out at night to tickle his feet or pull the covers off his bed. Joan says her daughter insists there’s a monster in her closet that comes out at night and stands by her bed. She can’t see what it looks like. She only knows it’s big and has sharp teeth. Its breath smells like a wet dog. Twins Rob and Bob are terrified of the hooded entity that comes into their room at night and stands at the foot of their bed. It wears a brown robe, and has no face. My son was visited by this hooded entity as a child (or one of the entities who choose to appear in this guise). The night he tried to call to me for help, the entity took his voice. When he tried to run past it, it flung an energy net over him that stung him like a jelly fish, leaving him paralyzed most of the night. Often this entity would give my son the illusion of going out of body, and force his out of body self to sit on a high shelf in the closet, looking down at his body in bed. And then there’s the little Jenny. Jenny has an imaginary playmate. Her playmate’s name is Elton, and he’s the color of clay. Sometimes Elton gets Jenny in trouble by talking her into doing things her parents don't approve of. Sometimes Elton hurts Jenny . He says he’s the bogeyman. Are these children mentally disturbed? Are they lying? Have they watched too many scary movies, and now they’re imagining things? Or is it possible they’re telling the truth? Could it be that demonic spirits posing as the bogeyman are hanging out in children’s bedrooms at night for the sole purpose of terrorizing kids who are too young to do anything about it? If your child fits into any of these scenarios, why is it that you haven’t seen this “bogeyman?” Why haven’t you smelled it or sensed its presence? Chances are you’ve looked in the closet and under the bed to prove to your child that there’s nothing there. And yet your child insists… For years I had a personal ministry counseling victims of demonic harassment. Many of the people I worked with were children like the ones described above. These kids were being tormented by demonic spirits who had come into their lives as a result of things their parents or grandparents had done. Perhaps the mom had gone for psychic readings. Perhaps the dad was into porn. Maybe the grandpa belonged to the Free Masons. What do psychic readings, porn, and Free Masonry have to do with the bogeyman? Everything, because these are the types of things that open the door. The scary creatures we call the bogeyman are nothing more than demonic sprits who appear in various forms to terrorize the children of parents who have “opened doors.” It was not uncommon for kids I worked with through my former ministry to actually see the spirits leave when they were cast away. My e-book “Things That Invite Demonic Spirits,” available through this website, explains the types of things parents do without realizing it that invite demonic spirits into their children’s lives. My e-book “Spirit Harassment from A to Z” tells how demonic spirits affect the lives of adults and children alike. "Demonic Spirits and You: What Traditional Deliverance Ministries Don’t Tell You" covers the things discussed in the two e-books just mentioned, and goes on to tell what needs to be done to oust the spirits and put a stop to harassment. “The Trilogy” is three e-books in one, and includes all the e-books just discussed.
Just because the doors to demonic spirits
have been opened doesn't mean they can't be closed. If your child is
being terrorized by “the bogeyman,” don’t you think you owe it to
him to become informed and do what it takes to get the bogeyman out
of his life? If
you would like to contact me for any reason, please fill out the
form below. Be sure to include your correct return e-mail address.
If I don't answer your e-mail, either I didn't receive it or else a
mistake was made in the typing of the return address.
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