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Hope Chest #47 part 4: Educating for Excellence
#1 · January 18, 2002, 10:15 am
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE HOPE CHEST: Ideas and Inspiration for Home Education
Issue #47 part 4
January/February 2002
Educating for Excellence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHATS NEW AT THE KNOWLES HOUSE?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: If you read our Thanksgiving Indian story in the
last regular issue, you know that we had seven international students
(from India and China) join us for our feast on November 22. Four of the
Indian students, plus another Indian friend, came back for our Christmas
party on December 22. This time we ate a bunch of yummy desserts and
played Yahtzee. This was a great game to play since it is strictly about
numbers and statistics (great for engineering and computer science guys!)
and doesnt require any knowledge of American language or culture like a
trivia or word game might. I happened to have a blank border map of India
left over from our study of Asia last year, and we had them each mark
their home cities on it.
GERBILS: It started out so innocently. Lydia found a toad on the back
porch, and we decided to keep it in her empty fish tank. (Our mollies had
gone "belly up" and "bit the bubble.") I didn't want to be responsible
for catching flies, so we went to Petsmart. After we found frog food, I
suggested that we walk by where they keep the furry pets, just to look,
NOT TO BUY! The hamsters and gerbils were SO cute! The girls begged to
get some, and they could see that my defenses were crumbling rapidly. I
saw a stack of attractive, easy to clean, affordable cages, and my
excuses about the hassles of having small furry pets vaporized. We
brought two gerbils home in a little cardboard box and named them Friar
Tuck and Little John (from Robin Hood). Im afraid we didnt give them a
moments peace for a few days. Friar Tuck survived 12 days in our house,
dying of "wet tail" (aka "the runs") which we found out later we could
have treated with some special supplements in his water bottle. We
replaced him with Will Scarlet, but alas, he too died about 11 days
later. Still, all told, I am glad we embarked on our gerbil adventure.
The girls all enjoy our lone survivor Little John, and have taken great
care of him with only minimal help from me. The cage is adjacent to where
my husband (the usually serious one of the family!) sits at the dining
room table to do paperwork at night, and I often catch him playing with
our little furry guy.
HEALTH AND FITNESS: As I mentioned in the Christmas "extra" Ive been
trying to catch up on some health issues. Fortunately, my internist told
me that my extra weight doesnt seem to have affected my health much --
yet! All of my blood tests came back "wonderful", as did my chest X-ray
and EKG. Rather than focusing on dieting, she told me to concentrate on
physical fitness. Ive had joint problems from injuries as a teenager,
probably complicated by the slight scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
which I just found out that I have. Anyway, walking is just about the
only safe option for me. Dr. Schwartz recommends brisk walking 2-3 miles
about 5 times per week. So Thad and I often lace up our sneakers and hit
the sidewalks at night. One fantastic benefit of walking together is that
Thad and I have a chance to talk without interrruptions! This is no small
feat in a family of 10. I hope we can keep it up over the long haul.
TODAY, Friday the 18th, I am having surgery to repair an umbilical
hernia. Yes, Im nervous, not only about the general anesthesia, but also
about how recovery time will go in such a busy household. I am blessed to
have so many friends in our church and home school support group who are
bringing meals, driving my children to their classes, and offering other
practical help. Thanks be to God!
Blessings,
Virginia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHATS UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The March/April issue theme is Thinking Skills. I would love to hear your
thoughts on this or any other thing of interest to home educating
families!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESOURCE ORDERING INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I dont have the space here to describe all of these resources, so if you
want to know more about any of them, e-mail me and Ill send you
descriptions! Right here I am just going to list titles, authors, prices
and order information. Shipping (all orders) and tax (Florida residents)
must be added to the prices listed. I have limited quantities in stock so
please e-mail me before you send payment.
BOOKS BY VIRGINIA KNOWLES
The Real Life Home School Mom -- $14 (list price $16)
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 1(Issues 1-10) -- $10
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 2 (Issues 11-20) -- $10
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 3 (Issues 21-30) -- $10
The Learners Journal Lesson Planner & Resource Log -- $10
Nurturing Naomi: How to Help Yourself or Someone Else
Overcome Discouragement (audio tape) --
$3 or free with other order
BOOKS AND TAPES BY CINDY RUSHTON
Inspiring Our Children to Greatness Using Great Literature -- $12
Homeschooling... Digging in to ALL of the Options -- $10
A Charlotte Mason Primer -- $12
Ministering to the Heart of Your Child -- $12
Language Arts... The Easy Way -- $20
Nature Study... The Easy Way -- $25
The 3R'S for Moms...Well, Maybe Four! (tape set) -- $16
QUANTITY DISCOUNTS! If you order any three items or more, take $1 off the
price of each item.
TO ORDER ANY OF THE RESOURCES: Send me a list of which books you want and
how many, and compute the subtotal. Shipping to USA addresses is $2.50
minimum and 10% after that. Florida residents pay 7% sales tax AFTER
computing shipping. (Contact me for foreign shipping rates, rush shipping
rates, or quantity pricing.) Mail your check, order and e-mail address
to:
Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
If you prefer to order with a credit or debit card on the web, go to the
PayPal web site at http://www.paypal.com and send the payment to
[email protected]. Be sure to get the e-mail address correct! Also be
sure to include your name, address and other order information. This is
the ONLY way I can accept credit/debit card payment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REPRINT PERMISSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may freely copy material from this newsletter in other non-profit
publications (unless otherwise marked in the article), but you MUST
include the authors name (not necessarily mine) and this entire notice:
Reprinted with permission of Virginia Knowles from the Hope Chest Home
School News. For a free subscription, send an e-mail message to
[email protected] or visit
http://www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html
Please send me a copy of the publication which includes the material.
Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE HOPE CHEST: Ideas and Inspiration for Home Education
Issue #47 part 4
January/February 2002
Educating for Excellence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHATS NEW AT THE KNOWLES HOUSE?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: If you read our Thanksgiving Indian story in the
last regular issue, you know that we had seven international students
(from India and China) join us for our feast on November 22. Four of the
Indian students, plus another Indian friend, came back for our Christmas
party on December 22. This time we ate a bunch of yummy desserts and
played Yahtzee. This was a great game to play since it is strictly about
numbers and statistics (great for engineering and computer science guys!)
and doesnt require any knowledge of American language or culture like a
trivia or word game might. I happened to have a blank border map of India
left over from our study of Asia last year, and we had them each mark
their home cities on it.
GERBILS: It started out so innocently. Lydia found a toad on the back
porch, and we decided to keep it in her empty fish tank. (Our mollies had
gone "belly up" and "bit the bubble.") I didn't want to be responsible
for catching flies, so we went to Petsmart. After we found frog food, I
suggested that we walk by where they keep the furry pets, just to look,
NOT TO BUY! The hamsters and gerbils were SO cute! The girls begged to
get some, and they could see that my defenses were crumbling rapidly. I
saw a stack of attractive, easy to clean, affordable cages, and my
excuses about the hassles of having small furry pets vaporized. We
brought two gerbils home in a little cardboard box and named them Friar
Tuck and Little John (from Robin Hood). Im afraid we didnt give them a
moments peace for a few days. Friar Tuck survived 12 days in our house,
dying of "wet tail" (aka "the runs") which we found out later we could
have treated with some special supplements in his water bottle. We
replaced him with Will Scarlet, but alas, he too died about 11 days
later. Still, all told, I am glad we embarked on our gerbil adventure.
The girls all enjoy our lone survivor Little John, and have taken great
care of him with only minimal help from me. The cage is adjacent to where
my husband (the usually serious one of the family!) sits at the dining
room table to do paperwork at night, and I often catch him playing with
our little furry guy.
HEALTH AND FITNESS: As I mentioned in the Christmas "extra" Ive been
trying to catch up on some health issues. Fortunately, my internist told
me that my extra weight doesnt seem to have affected my health much --
yet! All of my blood tests came back "wonderful", as did my chest X-ray
and EKG. Rather than focusing on dieting, she told me to concentrate on
physical fitness. Ive had joint problems from injuries as a teenager,
probably complicated by the slight scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
which I just found out that I have. Anyway, walking is just about the
only safe option for me. Dr. Schwartz recommends brisk walking 2-3 miles
about 5 times per week. So Thad and I often lace up our sneakers and hit
the sidewalks at night. One fantastic benefit of walking together is that
Thad and I have a chance to talk without interrruptions! This is no small
feat in a family of 10. I hope we can keep it up over the long haul.
TODAY, Friday the 18th, I am having surgery to repair an umbilical
hernia. Yes, Im nervous, not only about the general anesthesia, but also
about how recovery time will go in such a busy household. I am blessed to
have so many friends in our church and home school support group who are
bringing meals, driving my children to their classes, and offering other
practical help. Thanks be to God!
Blessings,
Virginia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHATS UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The March/April issue theme is Thinking Skills. I would love to hear your
thoughts on this or any other thing of interest to home educating
families!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESOURCE ORDERING INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I dont have the space here to describe all of these resources, so if you
want to know more about any of them, e-mail me and Ill send you
descriptions! Right here I am just going to list titles, authors, prices
and order information. Shipping (all orders) and tax (Florida residents)
must be added to the prices listed. I have limited quantities in stock so
please e-mail me before you send payment.
BOOKS BY VIRGINIA KNOWLES
The Real Life Home School Mom -- $14 (list price $16)
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 1(Issues 1-10) -- $10
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 2 (Issues 11-20) -- $10
The Best of the Hope Chest Vol. 3 (Issues 21-30) -- $10
The Learners Journal Lesson Planner & Resource Log -- $10
Nurturing Naomi: How to Help Yourself or Someone Else
Overcome Discouragement (audio tape) --
$3 or free with other order
BOOKS AND TAPES BY CINDY RUSHTON
Inspiring Our Children to Greatness Using Great Literature -- $12
Homeschooling... Digging in to ALL of the Options -- $10
A Charlotte Mason Primer -- $12
Ministering to the Heart of Your Child -- $12
Language Arts... The Easy Way -- $20
Nature Study... The Easy Way -- $25
The 3R'S for Moms...Well, Maybe Four! (tape set) -- $16
QUANTITY DISCOUNTS! If you order any three items or more, take $1 off the
price of each item.
TO ORDER ANY OF THE RESOURCES: Send me a list of which books you want and
how many, and compute the subtotal. Shipping to USA addresses is $2.50
minimum and 10% after that. Florida residents pay 7% sales tax AFTER
computing shipping. (Contact me for foreign shipping rates, rush shipping
rates, or quantity pricing.) Mail your check, order and e-mail address
to:
Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
If you prefer to order with a credit or debit card on the web, go to the
PayPal web site at http://www.paypal.com and send the payment to
[email protected]. Be sure to get the e-mail address correct! Also be
sure to include your name, address and other order information. This is
the ONLY way I can accept credit/debit card payment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REPRINT PERMISSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may freely copy material from this newsletter in other non-profit
publications (unless otherwise marked in the article), but you MUST
include the authors name (not necessarily mine) and this entire notice:
Reprinted with permission of Virginia Knowles from the Hope Chest Home
School News. For a free subscription, send an e-mail message to
[email protected] or visit
http://www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html
Please send me a copy of the publication which includes the material.
Virginia Knowles / 1925 Blossom Lane / Maitland, FL 32751
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~