Tag Archives: children

March 8, 2013 · 10:56 pm

What a Difference a Year Makes . . .

Today, my husband Mike posted the following on his Facebook status:

“One year ago today, my life (and the lives of my family) drastically changed. It’s the day we found out the office in which I worked would be closing.

We had good options and more than 90 days notice. We could take a severance package based on seniority, interview for a different position within the company, or “move your desk” and keep the same job in a different location.

The first thing I did after the “all hands” meeting where we received the announcement was to call my wife…I did NOT want her to find out first by watching the TV news.

Once I got home, I got on the computer and researched the web site we were given to investigate our options. Lori got on her computer and looked for home school friendly states. We compared notes, prayed, researched and prayed some more…and we decided on Albuquerque.

That was a year ago. We’ve had trials and challenges, victories and defeats. We miss our old friends and old church…but we’re making new friends and love our new church! The center I work in now has a much better morale and is more relaxed then my old one. At this point, I’d have to call this whole adventure a blessing!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He’s right, too! For me, it’s been a scary journey, but one well worth all the researching, planning, packing, having the moving sale, etc . . . it was scary when Mike left for Albuquerque at the end of June, knowing the kids and I wouldn’t be leaving for another month. It was really hard to be on my own for that month, without him to help me get us ready and moved. It was scary knowing I had to trust him to choose a place for us to live, too! (but he did pretty well!) 🙂 And it was REALLY scary when the kids and I set out on our cross-country drive, knowing we were about to begin a brand new life, 1700 miles away, at the end of the longest distance I have ever driven without help! But you know, we did it! I had awesome friends back home in Pt. Huron, MI, who helped me get a moving sale set up (thank you, Phyllis Blount and Kim Milton!), and my awesome friend Phyllis who came and stayed with me from early morning all day each day of the moving sale, who kept my kids for me when I needed to do things without them, who took them each day to VBS at our wonderful church back home (this was the first year I couldn’t do it).

There were wonderful ladies at our church (Sparlingville Baptist Church who brought meals for my children and me during the last four days we were there.

There was a very sweet lady at church who asked if I would sing “one more special” before we left, so I sang the special during our final service, Sunday night, July 30, 2012. At the end of the service, I was just floored when Pastor Milton called the boys and me up to the platform and gave us this beautiful plaque:

028

Which is proudly displayed in our new home . . .

Yes, it has been a whole new journey for me, for us. It is hard to be so far away from everything and everyone we’ve known and loved. But, we are living someplace where I’ve been wearing sandals all winter! God has placed us in exactly the right church for us (Mesa Baptist Church). We are making friends, and we have an awesome church family here, too! Just as when I had surgery back in Michigan, and our church family helped so much, with meals and such, when Mike had his back surgery this past December, our new church family rallied ’round, and we had meals, and someone to stay with our kids for the day (thank you, Charles & Charlie Wright!). Then, when less than six weeks later, he wound up back in the hospital for surgery on his back AGAIN, with less than 24 hours notice our church family was here for us again. We had two ladies here the next day with practically no notice (thank you, Ann Wright & Rose Yates!), to stay with our kids so I could be at the hospital with Mike. They took them to church that night (it was a Wednesday) and I met them there for service and took the boys home. And, again, ladies from church provided meals for us. As did three different people from our Thursday Home school Park Day group.

We enjoy Albuquerque, New Mexico, more than I thought we would. I’m even getting used to the big-ness of it, in comparison to Port Huron, Michigan. I’m getting used to the traffic, and getting used to spending much more time in the car, as everything is further apart than it was in the Port Huron area (hey, Pt. Huron is about seven square miles in area, and Albuquerque is 187 square mile in area! It’s quite a change to get used to, lol!)

Tonight, we went somewhere for supper that we’ve never been before, Chik-Fil-A, where for the first time in over two years, I was in a restaurant where they had something other than water for me to drink! I don’t do carbonated anything anymore, and no sugar drinks. This place has an awesome fresh squeezed diet lemonade. GOOD, GOOD, GOOD!

Since moving here, I even have worked up the courage to do something I’ve wanted to do for some time, I applied for, and was accepted as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Schoolhouse Review Crew. I’ve wanted to get back into writing, and it is helping me to be more disciplined about getting on here more regularly and writing these posts! I have hopes of writing professionally one day . . .

I have made some good friends at our new church, and have been able to be a help via email to the mom of one of them, who back in October had weight loss surgery herself.

I hope my family is as much of a blessing to our new church family as they have been, and continue to be, to us.

I hope we live here in the Albuquerque area for a long, long time . . . I’ve grown to love it here, it feels like home now, and our church feels like home, too. 🙂

1 Comment

Filed under Christian faith, family, Travel

Tagged as , , , , , ,

March 7, 2013 · 12:34 pm

Lone Star Learning . . . My Review of Their Target Vocabulary Pictures

logo lonestar

My children and I have recently had the opportunity to play and learn with a product from Lone Star Learning. We actually are reviewing TWO of their products, because there was a little mix up in shipping, and the company allowed us to keep the set they originally shipped to us, AND the correct set, which they shipped out as soon as they realized the problem. 🙂

Target-Vocabulary-Pictures

The set I was assigned to review was Target Vocabulary Pictures, MATH Set 1. I received the small cards, which measure 5.5″ x 4.25″, and cost $29.99. They also come in a larger size, which I think would be great in a classroom setting, measuring 11″ x 8.5″, and are available for $34.99. There are 50 – 56 cards in each set of Target Vocabulary Pictures, and they are intended for grades 3 – 8. Set 1, which is what I received, contains the following word list:

acute angle
area
circumference
complementary angles
cone
congruent
cube
cylinder
decimal
decreasing
diagonal
diameter
dividend
divisor
edge
equilateral triangle
even
exponent
exterior
face
greater than
hexagon
horizontal
increasing
interior
intersecting lines
isosceles triangle
less than
line segment
mean
median
mode
numerator/denominator
obtuse angle
octagon
odd
ordered pair
parallel
pattern
pentagon
perimeter
perpendicular
polygon
radius
range
ray
reflection
right angle
rotation
similar
sphere
supplementary angles
symmetry
translation
vertical
X axis
Y axis

These cards are very colorful! each one has the vocabulary word incorporated into a clever picture, designed to help the student remember the meaning of the word.

At first, I wasn’t sure how, exactly, we would best make use of these cards, but I realized pretty quickly that they work for several grade levels or age/ability ranges at the same time. The first thing I did with them was give them to “The Artist” . . .

028

027

. . . who spent part of each day looking at them and copying down the definitions to keep in a notebook.

To be honest, the first time I really looked at the cards, I thought they might be too advanced for my children, but “The Artist” already knew several of them, and was able to memorize many of the ones he had not yet learned. He is still working on about half of them, but that’s OK, as I pointed out before, these really do work for multiple ages.

The set I was originally sent by mistake is the Target Vocabulary Pictures, SCIENCE Set 1, which has 40 cards and measure 5.5″ x 8.5″. They are available for $29.99 as well, and contain the following word/pictures:

blizzard
carnivore
Celsius
condensation
conductor
conglomerate
conifer
deciduous
evaporation
fall
fern
fibrous root
flood
friction
load – fulcrum
gear
gravity
herbivore
igneous
inclined plane
inherited
lever
magnetic
mammal
metamorphic
moss
permeable
precipitation
pulley
reptile
sedimentary
spring
stretch
summer
symmetry
taproot
turn
wedge
wheel
winter

Science-Vocabulary-Pictures

In addition to having “The Artist” write out the definitions of the Target Vocabulary Pictures, MATH set 1, I wanted to include my other three children in using them, so we made up a game. After gathering all the boys together in one room, I had “The Artist” show and read each card, one at a time, to “The Batman”, “Mr. Loquacious”, and “The Puzzler”. THIS was when they began really having a good time!

020

Whenever one of the other boys could give a reasonably accurate definition of the card, he got the card to put in his pile. If nobody could get it, then “The Artist” kept it in HIS pile.

016

All four of the boys ended up having a really great time (as you can see in the picture below), and discovered that one, they already knew a lot more than they had realized, and two, that they were learning even more, just by playing a little game with the card sets.

025

What I like: The cards I received are the perfect size for a home school setting. They are very bright and colorful, which my children liked as well. The words are incorporated into very clever pictures, making it easier for the children to often figure out the meaning, even if they don’t already know it. The cards are sturdy, and I think they will last a long time.

What I wish was different about them: I wish they came in a case for storage. We have ours on the bookshelf, each set has a rubber band around it. I also wish that the paper with all of the definitions on it was made like the cards, instead of being just a piece of paper. I plan to take both definition sheets to an office supply store and get them laminated so that they will last as long as the picture cards.

Bottom line? At first I thought these cards were too pricey, but now, realizing that they can be used with multiple ages, grades and ability levels, I think they are at a good price. I was able to use them with all four of my children, who range from age 11 – 20, and have various special needs which include developmental delays, among other things. Because this product is a supplement, as opposed to a curriculum, there are so very many ways that one could come up with to use them in a child’s education. You could make up games with them, as I did, or have a child write the definitions into a notebook. You could hang them on a wall, you could choose out the specific cards that go with whatever topic the child is currently studying, and add them as reinforcement. I think that if you are able to fit them into your educational budget, they are worth the cost.

Lone Star Learning has the math vocabulary picture cards available in primary, set 1, set 2 & set 3, and the science vocabulary word picture cards available in early grades, K – 2, along with sets 1 – 4.

Crew members reviewed these and other products from Lone Star Learning . . . please go and check out what they had to say!

“Photobucket”

disclaimer

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 26, 2013 · 12:42 pm

My Review of A+Tutorsoft Interactive MATH

We recently had the opportunity to test drive the A+ Interactive MATH from A+ Tutorsoft.

tutorsoft banner

We decided to use our son “The Artist” as our Guinea Pig test subject. In addition to being the highest functioning of our 4 special needs kids, he was recently assessed and found to be lacking in math skills. We wanted to see if we could help him catch up, so we chose to review grade 3. Given the options of a CD or online curriculum, we decided on the CD due to various internet challenges we’ve had recently. The Premium Edition that we are using is available at A+ Interactive MATH, and the price is $124.99.

Photobucket

The CD was easy to install and setup in Windows. The CD is not Mac-compatible, but the company reports good results using Parallels to let your Mac run in a Windows environment. The company’s FAQ’s does mention this use is not supported. You do need an internet connection to activate the software, and we recommend you set up a Parent Profile . . . while you can use the program without this profile, you’ll lose some neat security and student tracking features we’ll go over later.

The program comes with a recommended lesson plan, which you can fill in on the computer and print a copy. I found it easier for me to do both . . . use a blank copy of the lesson plan for the day to day, then enter it into the computer later.

The Lesson Plan recommends taking 2 weeks to go through most chapters. We started out at the recommended pace, but our son wasn’t really being challenged at this point. We decided to step up the pace a little. Starting with Chapter 2, we upped the pace to one chapter per week. We just started Chapter 4 (Multiplication) this week, and he seems to be showing signs of reaching his level . . . we’ll be slowing things down to the recommended two-weeks-per-chapter pace fairly soon.

Please be assured, you do not have to do this fine tuning for your child/children. There is a free placement test available at the web site, so you can evaluate your kids and determine where to start. A+ Interactive MATH is available in Grades 1-6, Pre-Algebra and Algebra.

Each Chapter is separated into sub units. Each sub unit has a Curriculum, an Interactive Lesson and Q&A (which lets you print a Certificate of Achievement) and a Worksheet, and there is a Chapter Exam once your student completes each Chapter. Coming soon in the 3rd and 4th Grade curriculum (and already available in the 1st and 2nd Grade CD’s) are Cumulative Reviews which not only include the most recently worked chapter, but one or two of the previous chapters.

The process we’ve worked out is starting the day with a quick review of the Curriculum. Depending on your child, you may just let them read it on-screen and see if they have any questions before starting on the Q&A. Once he’s printed the Q&A Certificate, he starts the Worksheet, a 10-question reinforcement of the lesson. We then grade the Worksheet before moving to the next sub unit.

A+ pic

The Premium Version we’re using also allows you to track these results by entering the Q&A, Worksheet and Exam results in a Student Tracking area (if you’ve set up a Parent Profile). This not only helps you determine what your child needs, but I imagine would be incredibly useful if you home school in a state that has mandatory reporting.

For this type of math, and taking into account the student involved, we set a pass/fail level of 80%. On the one Worksheet he scored 60%, we pumped the brakes to see what happened. We reviewed the worksheet with “The Artist”, and determined the problem was not the lack of understanding of the subject matter. It was back in Chapter 1, and he was basically blowing through the problems and not checking his work because he wasn’t feeling challenged.

We did allow him to re-do the worksheet, just to make sure he understood the subject matter (he got 100% on the 2nd try). But, in order to help him in his future focus challenges, he was told the original 60% is what was entered into the Student Tracking. This might seem harsh to some, but he hasn’t failed a single Worksheet since we instituted this policy! This is also what made us decide to quicken the pace of the Lesson Plan.

More on the Parent Profile . . . when you’re signed in as the parent, you have access to the Solutions Guides for the Worksheets and Chapter Exams. Plus, you have the option of setting up some security so the student does not have access to these Solution Guides and Tracking. We do not allow our son access to the Solutions Guides or Tracking. However, if your child works better with minimal assistance and can be trusted not to peek, you do have the option to give them access so they can self-manage their progress.

A+ TutorSoft Interactive MATH is available in either CD or online curriculum. While A+ TutorSoft does provide ability for parents to very easily check and track student work, the CD version does not automatically track the student assignment grades. However, the online edition DOES track all assignments completed online in addition to providing option for the parents to print the assignments and have them grade/track using the tools we provide.

The CD version is designed that way so that parents can be more involved in their student’s homeschool MATH journey and can check/track their work using the tools, which include the parent’s solutions manuals and electronic grade book among others. Parents are NOT expected to have the mastery of MATH in order to grade student’s work. A+ TutorSoft provides all of the tools that make it really easy for any parent to check the student’s work and enter them into our program to track and view various reports.

Overall, this program gives “The Artist” the structure he needs for learning math, and allows the Parent/Teacher to set the pace of the course. We intend to continue on with A+ Interactive MATH in the future.

A+ Tutorsoft is currently offering an AWESOME special promotion to you, my wonderful readers . . . through the end of March, you will receive 50% off your order with the coupon code SPOFFER50!

disclaimer

Sail on over and read what other crew members thought of this and other grades, as well as the online version of the curriculum!

Photobucket

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

February 22, 2013 · 10:01 pm

Celebrating a Birthday . . .

So my stepson “The Artist” will be turning 16 this coming Monday. Because his dad will be returning to work that day after about two and a half months off recovering from TWO seperate back surgeries that were done within five weeks of each other, and will very likely be exhausted when he gets home that day, we chose to celebrate this evening.

“The Artist” asked to go a restaurant where he could have tacos, and my husband and I wanted a sit down, order and have the food brought to your table restaurant, so we settled on Chili’s, since none of us have ever been to one before moving here to Albuquerque.

We had a pretty good time, and the food was excellent! “The Artist” got his tacos, the younger boys got pizza from the childrens menu, “The Batman” (the artist’s older brother) and their dad both ordered these HUGE bacon cheeseburgers with huge fries, and I got chili pepper queso steak, which was awesome, though as usual, I finished about half and had the rest boxed up. And then, of course, I left the box sitting on the table when we left, lol!

Ian's 16th Birthday dinner at Chili's 006

At the end of the meal, they brought “The Artist” a hot fudge brownie sundae and sang a birthday song, totally embarrassing him, which was, of course, the whole idea. He was very full from dinner, so pretty much all of us had a few bites of the one dessert, which was more than enough for all.

Ian's 16th Birthday dinner at Chili's 007

Ian's 16th Birthday dinner at Chili's 010

Ian's 16th Birthday dinner at Chili's 011

“The Artist” said he really liked it, and I’m very glad we were able to manage it for him. He really missed being able to have a birthday party with our best friends back in Michigan, so it was good to be able to give him something special. 🙂

Now we’re back home, and all the boys are getting into their pj’s, and having their settle down for family TV time before they go to bed. Their dad and I have just tonight and tomorrow night to stay up late watching the shows WE like, and regularly DVR, because we have church on Sunday and he goes back to work Monday, so no more being up very late!

6 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

February 22, 2013 · 6:42 pm

Handwriting Without Tears!

HWT

Many, many years ago, we tried using the curriculum Handwriting Without Tears with our oldest son (The Batman!). Can I just say that it was an absolute disaster at that time? In fact, we had Handwriting with FLOODS of tears, from both our son and myself, lol! This was NOT in any way a problem with the curriculum, in my opinion. He was simply not ready yet, he didn’t (and still does not) have the fine motor control needed for printing, plus, one of the problems he has as a result of his special needs is very bad shakiness in his hands when attempting to print.

When given the opportunity to review both the 3rd grade student workbook

HWT student

And the 3rd grade Teacher’s Guide,
hwt teacher

I jumped all over it!

The Handwriting Without Tears 3rd Grade Teacher’s Guide can be purchased for $9.25, and the Handwriting Without Tears 3rd Grade Workbook can be purchased for $8.25, and I believe these are very fair prices for what you are getting.

004
Let me say right here that it is working so much better for him now. As you can see in the picture above, his printing is still (and very likely always will be) just terrible. “The Batman” loves to write notes and stories based on books he’s reading, or about his Nintendo DS games, and you can see what they look like in the picture above . . .

005

However, THIS is what he is doing in the workbook! This is page 16. We are going quite slowly through the curriculum, because he does need to go at a slow pace.

While the student workbook is not overwhelming at all (maybe 15 or 20 minutes per day), I did find the Teacher’s Guide to be a little bit overwhelming at first, until I realized that a lot of it really is geared to a much younger child, and was not necessary for “The Batman”

There are a good 45 pages of material for the teacher to read before you even get to the actual lesson plans for the student workbook, most of which will be very helpful to the parent of a young child, but were upsetting to my 20 year old developmentally delayed child.

For example, there are activities like the one on page 29, “Stomp Your Feet”, in which you show the child how to stomp his/her feet and wave his/her arms, shout “Na, na, naaaah, na, na, naaah” with you while waving and stomping. You would then have them push and pull their hands, and hug themselves. At the end of the exercise, the child raises the shoulders up, pulls the shoulders back, and lets them down. At this point, the child should be sitting in a more upright position, ready to write.

Throughout the Teacher’s Guide, you’ll find a smiley face icon to visit “A Click Away”, which is a password protected site that is a wonderful resource exclusively for teacher’s guide users. On this site, you’ll see plenty of downloads which are great supplements to handwriting instruction and practice.

On page 23 of the teacher’s guide is a chart giving the scope and sequence of cursive which covers 2nd grade through 5th grade. There are a number of pages giving information from Pre-Instuctional Stages to Instructional Stages, to Posture, Paper & Pencil Grip, the afore-mentioned Stomp Your Feet, to my favorite, The importance of Cursive, which talks about why we should teach cursive in the age of technology.

My son is a lefty, which has always been an issue in writing for him. From page 7 of the Teacher’s Guide, “Our workbooks are lefty friendly. Teaching pages provide models on the left and right so that left-handed children can easily see the model they are copying. Lefties never have to lift their hands or place them in an awkward position to see a model. Children always make their best letter directly beside a model. This design encourages excellent letter practice for both left- and right-handed children.”

My son did, however, copy the models on both provided lines, out of habit, and I can see that his copy on the left is usually better because he can see the example given, whereas when he copies it on the blanks at the far right, he cannot see the model.

I do like the way the curriculum builds in letter groups, giving cursive warm ups for each different concept, such as under and over, up and straight down, up and loop down, and descending loop. These are all movements needed for specific letter groups. The workbook pages goes in the following lower case teaching order:
c, a, d, g
h, t, p
e, l, f,
u, y, i, j
k, r, s
o, w, b, v
m, n
x, z, q

Within each of these groups the letters phase easily from one to the next, allowing the child to see how easily they can form each letter by beginning with the previous one. There are little phrases to help them remember the formation of each letter and/or connection, such as “zip the tent” to remember the bottom of the lower case t should be closed, not spread apart. These things are really helpful to my son.

I especially like that the letters are all very similar to printed letters, but adjusted to cursive.

The student workbook is simple, black and white, and uncluttered, another helpful thing when you have (as I do) a highly distractable child. The lessons are fairly short, meaning “The Batman” is willing to do them, and he can see immediately the difference in how his writing can look.

My son and I really like this curriculum, because it is finally something that he can work within. We will continue to go through the 3rd grade book, and he has expressed a willingness to continue on through the subsequent grades as well, which we believe will help him make a major improvement in his handwriting, and if he can remember to go SLOWLY whenever he is writing something, will help him to have legible writing. He is looking forward to writing letters to close friends we haven’t seen since moving here to New Mexico from Michigan this past summer.

I recommend this curriculum for anyone with a child who needs an easier way to learn cursive, whether they be the normal 3rd grade age, or an adult developmentally delayed child like mine.

disclaimer

I reviewed the third grade Teacher’s Guide and the third grade workbook. Check out other crew reviews on K – 3 teacher’s guides and workbooks, along with both Apple apps and Android apps.

Photobucket

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

February 18, 2013 · 6:36 pm

Let’s Learn Some Spanish!

logo_CAP

My boys and I are learning some basic Spanish with a nice little curriculum from Classical Academic Press.

This curriculum is called Song School Spanish, and teaches through the use of (you guessed it!) lots of cute songs and chants, which are included on a CD that is bound into the student book.

Photobucket

The student book can be purchased at the cost of $24.95.

Photobucket

The Teacher’s Edition has the complete student workbook with the answers, along with forty pages of extra activities, keyed to each chapter, and can be purchased for $24.95.

Also available is a very nice set of cards called Spanish Amigo Match available for $26.95

All three products can also be purchased in one bundle for $66.95, which I think is a pretty good deal!

This curriculum is written for the kindergarten through third grade level, making it perfect for us, as we are getting our first real exposure to hearing people speak Spanish on a regular basis. Having only this past summer moved across the country to New Mexico, we are now hearing Spanish just about everywhere we go, and had really wanted to incorporate it into out homeschooling, so it was definitely a blessing to receive this opportunity from the Schoolhouse Review Crew!

While this is a very basic introduction to Spanish, I am getting plenty from it as an adult, and I can see my children enjoying the songs, and learning the new words and phrases.

The various chapters are themed, some examples being Greeting Words, Making Friends, Family, Manners, Animals, Numbers, Food, and so on. I like the use of themes tying the words together in each individual chapter.

With four special needs children, I often need to find creative ways to help them learn. This curriculum easily lends itself to doing a lot of the lessons orally, and then helping where needed during the worksheet portions. Another plus when I have highly distractable children, is that the student pages are all printed in black and white. I like that they are not cluttered with a lot of colorful images, making it a bit easier for my boys to focus on what they are actually supposed to be reading. The pictures can be colored by the child at the end of a lesson, if they like. So far, mine have not asked to color, but they are coloring the free Song School Spanish coloring pages that are available in the free Resources section of the Classical Academic Press website. There are coloring pages to go with the many vocabulary words and phrases learned in Song School Spanish, 127 pages worth! There is also a game for practice called Headventureland available on the website.

We very much enjoy the songs, and I have had fun making my children laugh by pretending to “chair dance” to the music. I’m finding that it is absolutely true that music and repetition aids in memorizing new things. When we sing the songs that go along with each different vocabulary word or phrase, we are definitely remembering them. When we go back a few days later and review, we all have an easier time remembering what we’ve learned than if we had just read it on the page. This curriculum gives us multiple opportunities for cementing the new words and phrases into our memories . . .listening to the songs, singing the songs, writing the words, and coloring the free pages from http:www.ClassicalAcademicPress.com.

I have been thinking about adding the CD from the student book to our rotation in the minivan. I think it will help us to memorize the songs even better, hearing them that way, without having the book in front of us to refer too.

All in all, my boys and I have found this to be a fun addition to our education, and I would recommend it to anyone with young children, developmentally delayed older children, or even adults who need to begin at the very beginning . . .like ME!

Disclaimer

Photobucket

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

February 12, 2013 · 3:41 pm

Justice Needed For a Loving Family . . .

When someone has already been cleared of child abuse charges by their state’s child protection agency (here in NM, that would be CYFD, or Children, Youth & Family Department), and all of the criminal charges dropped, I believe it is an abuse of power to do what the Prosecuting attorney in a specific case here is doing.

A journalist for the ABQ Journal has now written and published two columns about this family and this case . . . the links to both columns are below.

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/01/07/opinion/difficult-questions-over-child-discipline.html

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/01/21/upfront/rio-rancho-family-run-through-wringer-again.html

Here is the Kuckartz family . . .

Do these children look unhappy or abused?

It is my opinion that when given the facts that CYFD has closed the case, returned the children, and from what I understand, some of the CYFD workers involved in the case have even apologized to the family for what they have put them through, the judge ruled the children should return to the family, and both the judge and CYFD have ruled that the child’s injury was accidental, that this should be over and done with. Further, as Ms. Krueger points out in her second column, all criminal charges were dropped.

I believe that it is absolutely prosecutorial vindictiveness for District Attorney Lemuel Martinez to take the cases before a Sandoval County grand jury within the next month to seek indictments on these parents — again, as Ms. Krueger has stated in her second column.

These parents have done every single thing required of them by CYFD. Their children have been returned to them, quite some time ago.

I believe, as has been stated on the following website:

http://www.seekingjusticenow.org/

that what this prosecutor is doing is not seeking justice for children. No, I believe what he is doing is trying to make a name for himself on the backs of this family.

It’s time to stop. It’s time to stop holding this family hostage. It’s time to stop terrorizing these children with the threat of taking their parents away and destroying their family. They have been financially and emotionally devastated by all of this, and now are being stalked and threatened by complete strangers to the point that it is difficult to even go out grocery shopping with the children, as they then are recognized, followed and threatened. It’s time to stop.

Whatever your beliefs are regarding corporal punishment, or (as in the case of some people I know) any form of punishment at all, the facts are that these parents have been legally cleared of child abuse. It is wrong for the prosecutor to do what he is doing. It is time to stop, and leave this family alone. I would even go so far as to say it is time for the prosecutor to apologize to this entire family, especially the children, for what has been done to them even after they’ve fully complied with everything required of them by CYFD, and after the children have been returned and all the criminal charges have been dropped. It is time for this to end.

I ask you to pray for all who are involved in this case, this family, in which the children are so loved and cared for, the grand jury, that they will see this for what it is, and the prosecutor, to just stop, and leave them alone. This is a good, loving family.
It’s time for this to stop.
Now.

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

November 8, 2012 · 10:29 pm

Homeschool park days, in November! :-)

Yet another very cool thing about having moved from MI to NM, Here in Albuquerque, we are still doing homeschool park days, in November, in summer clothes! Today was our weekly park day with the ABQ homeschoolers group,the kids were having a great time, and so was I! I was very included in the conversations with the other moms, and so caught up in the enjoyment, it was 4:00 before I even realized it! We usually leave park days by around 3:00 – 3:30, and do at least one errand on the way home, leaving time for me to get supper going so we can eat shortly after my husband gets home. Fortunately, today I made use of my slow cooker, because even without an on the way home errand, we got home about 15 minutes before my husband did. It was a fun afternoon! Now, if I can just find the time to get to the MVD and get my driver’s license changed to a NM license, then we’ll be able to get library cards, and it will help if any of the museums have lower prices for local residents.

One cool thong we’ve done since moving here is to go to the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. Tons of fun, and educational, too! There was a Nasa tent, where we watched a good demonstration of why one would have to have a space suit in space. The demonstration was done using peeps, which was kind of fun. 🙂 There was a hot air balloon simulator that all four kids got to go in and “fly” the balloon, seeing on a big screen everything that was happening. We got to meet some of the balloon pilots, and watch all the balloons being inflated and set up for the balloon glow. After that, there was an awesome fireworks show, better than any we’d ever seen, anywhere. Next year, we plan to try to go to both a morning session, when they do the mass ascension of all the balloons, and an evening session, to see the glows and fireworks again. It was an awesome evening, and I highly recommend that if you ever get to Albuquerque during the fiesta, you should make it a point to go. My kids liked it so much, we purchased from amazon.com two books about the first hot air balloon flight and plan to do a lapbook about it.

They’ve also asked to do a unit study about Route 66, because it runs right through our city(Albuquerque), and because the original Cars movie was based on Route 66, so now that we’re getting settled in here, I will find the unit study I had saved on the computer, and they can do it. I’m saving some of thos stuff, though, so that if I can find someone to sit with the kids next month when my husband has surgery (I will need to be at the hospital all day with him), they’ll have something to do. I don’t know any unschoolers who might be willing to keep them that day, so if I find anyone, it will likely be regular homeschoolers, who will have their own kids doing school, so mine will need something schooly to do, too, even though we generally are relaxed/homeschoolers. Lst resort will be having to bring them to the hospital for the day with me, which would NOT be my first, or the best choice.

Another educational thing they want to do is learn about New Mexico, along with each state we drove through on our way here to NM, so we’ll do that before continuing on with our study of all 50 states. My two youngest, for about the past year off and on, on their own, have been making notebooks in which they draw and color each state flag, then label it with the name of the state, the number (1st, 2nd, etc…) of state, and the year it became a state. They are enjoying that, probably because it was their own idea. My stepson has for some time been writing stories for the Fossil Fighters DS game, and drawing pictures to go with them. He’s keeping them in a notebook. Our oldest is most interested in playing baseball on DS, sorting his sports cards, and reading.

I have been considering getting the Write an Adventure Novel in a year curriculum and doing it myself! I had made a goal to learn to knit this year, but then we found out my husband was being transferred to NM, so my time became cosumed with packing and getting us moved. Now it’s November, so if I’m going to meet my goal I will need to find the DVD set I purchased from a homeschool catalog and get going on it, hadn’t I? But first, I need to complete a baby gift I’ve been working on for a new grand niece.

We have my cousin and her teo boys from Ohio coming the first part of next week for a short visit on their trip out west, so the kids and I will be getting the house in order as best as we can (we aren’t completely unpacked as yet) tomorrow and Monday, and while I run errands tomorrow, they’ll be doing their Saturday chores under their dad’s supervision. I think I will call my cousin tomorrow and ask her if she will teach me how to make omelets while she’s here. That way I can buy what I need for them on Saturday while grocery shopping.

Next on my list is getting desks for the computer room, so I can have back the tables I need for cardmaking/stamping/scrapbooking workshops. I’m a consultant for Close to My Heart http://lorimoffit.ctmh.com and am really trying to get my business off the ground now that we are finally here. If any of my readers enjoy scrapbooking, stamping and/or card making, please consider me for your papercrafting needs, and go to my website. I have a current party going, so if you go to the site and scroll down, you’ll see a link for hurricane sandy aid gathering. Click on that to begin shopping. In November, everyone who gets the stamp of the month set can also choose another stamp set for 50% off, plus, with every stamp of the month set, Close to My Heart will donate $1.00 to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief. Get a great deal, and help others at the same time! You can also order when there is o current party, but I do try to have one up each month. If you are interested in having your own party, you can email me at lorimoffit@gmail.com and I’ll set you up with an EZ invite so that you can have your own online gathering, earning free and half price product for yourself. I will also be happy to mail you catalogs to show to your local friends, and your non-local friends can order from your personalized link on my website. Their online order will be sent directly to them, and you still get the credit! 🙂

Well, I think that’s all for today!

64 Comments

Filed under card making, Close to My Heart, education, family, Kids, scrapbooking, stamping, Travel, unschooling

Tagged as , , , , ,

September 18, 2012 · 3:25 pm

Celebrating Womanhood, & what being a woman has meant to me…

When my friend Amanda let me know about this blog hop, at first I just thought it would be something I’d want to read, but I’ve come to realize that perhaps I might have something to contribute to the conversation as well… 

When I was young, I decided I was going to be a famous author. I used to write stories all the time, and I majored in journalism when I went to college. I lost my idealism for journalism though, when I realized that professional journalists are not objective at all, the way we were being taught that they were supposed to be.   I still occasionally wrote stories, but never really went any further than that with creative writing.

I worked for General Motors for several years, first at Buick, in Flint, MI, then a transfer to Pontiac Motors, in Pontiac, MI, until I became ill and began having black outs with no warning, that not one doctor over several years was ever able to diagnose. By the time it was dignosed as a serious thyroid problem, necessitating major surgery, the assembly plant I worked in had been closed during a time of severe downsizing, and I no longer had a job at General Motors.

In the meantime, I had gotten married, at age 32. So, now I was no longer having blackouts, was healthier, etc., and I knew that what I wanted most of all was to be a full time wife, homemaker, and mother. The problem was that we just could not conceive a child. We did realize eventually that the most important thing for us was that we become parents, not necessarily that we conceive, and I give birth, and so our adoption journey began… we quickly discovered that private, newborn infant adoption was not going to be for us. It’s quite costly, at least it was then, and it just didn’t feel right, either, to us. We found out we could adopt a waiting child in foster care, but I knew I couldn’t be a foster parent. I couldn’t handle having to give the kids back over and over while waiting for a child to be available for adoption. Later, though, we found out that we didn’t have to be foster parents in order to adopt, and our first son came to us when he was just under the age of two. He has special needs, fetal alcohol syndrome, mild mental retardation, and is on the autism spectrum. And he is a joy to our lives (most of the time!) 🙂 After his kindergarten year in public school, my life took another turn, and I became a homeschooling mom, something I never thought I would do, ever. I began with straight Abeka, a curriculum for homeschool in a box, with teacher manuals to tell me day by day what to do, which worked well for the first couple of years. After that, we drifted into more relaxed homeschooling, with me putting it together from many different sources, rather than a curriculum in a box. We still use things from many different sources, but we are very relaxed about it, halfway between relaxed homeschooling and unschooling, and my kids are learning so much more now than they did before! 

When my stepson finished kindergarten, he came to stay with us for the summer, and he’s still here at age 15! He loves the way he is able to be educated, learning according to his own passions, not according to what a specific curriculum says he must learn at a specific age. So do his brothers. His older brother, our first child, is now age 19, and still learning, so much more than he would have if he’d been left in a school. His younger brothers, our 11 year old twins who were adopted at age 8, have also learned so much more than they were learning in school while they were still in foster care. Homeschooling has turned out to be one of my best life choices.

My life, like everyone’s life, has been a series of journeys, and choices. I made the choice, with my husband, that I’d be a full time homemaker, then later added being a full time at home mom, then a full time homeschooling mom. I’ve had times when it was not an easy road by any means, for a number of reasons, but honestly, I wouldn’t be anything else. it’s the best feeling in the world to know that I am the person who taught my kids how to read, how to write, how to do so many things. 🙂 

And maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll try writing again, and maybe I WILL be a famous author! Or, maybe I’ll just write, no matter what comes of it, no matter if nobody ever reads it except for me…

3 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,