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HOPE CHEST HOME SCHOOL NEWS
Extras & Announcements
March 6, 2003
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Hello Hope Chest friends,
Here are just a few things I thought might be interesting to you today.
- Next Hope Chest Issue on Creativity
- Baby Ben's Picture on My Web Site!
- My Books Are Now Spiral Bound!
- A Few Thoughts on Infant Hearing Screening and Blood Tests
- American Missionary Teen Killed in Israeli Bus Bombing
- Gods and Generals Movie
- HSLDA E-Lert on Confirmation of Judge Miguel Estrada
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Next Hope Chest Issue on Creativity
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The March/April Hope Chest issue, on the theme of creativity, will be sent out sometime in the next two weeks. The May/June issue will be on the theme of Motherhood. If you have any tidbits you would like to send in on these topics or any others of interest to home schooling families, I'd be delighted to see them!
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Baby Ben's Picture on My Web Site!
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Baby Ben is three weeks old today, and he's a real cutie pie! I have just put his picture (when he was a few days old) at the bottom of the welcome page of my web site. Here is the link:
www.hopechest.homestead.com/welcome.html
I plan to put pictures of the rest of the family on the site by the time I send out the next Hope Chest issue.
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My Books Are Now Spiral Bound!
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A few weeks ago, I found out the the local Sir Speedy franchise, which has printed my books for the past three years, was going out of business. I had to scramble to find a new printer. A kind Hope Chest reader referred me to a local home based printing company operated by someone in his church. As I expected, even though their prices were the lowest ones quoted by anyone, my printing costs have risen substantially. I will be able to keep the retail prices the same, but have had to make adjustments to my wholesale rates. However, the good news is that Reliance Media can spiral bind them for the same price as comb-binding! This makes the books much more durable!
If you want to find out more about my books, The Real Life Home School Mom and Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade, check out my resource web page at:
If you need a good printer in the Orlando area, contact Pat McGuffin at Reliance Media. The phone number is 407-884-7500. They pick up and deliver, too!
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A Few Thoughts on Infant Hearing Screening and Blood Tests
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I've always said that I learn something new with every baby!
In the state of Florida, all newborns have an hearing screen, usually in the hospital. Ben's first two tries at the test didn't quite work out, so he had to go to see an audiologist for another try. We went yesterday for the standard OAE test, which tells if sound waves are registered up through the middle ear. As a standard question, the assistant happened to ask if Ben had a skin tab near his ear at birth. He did, and it was removed when he was a day old. Apparently, there is a correlation between this slight cosmetic birth defect and more serious ones in the auditory nerve of the brain. Did you know that both of these develop at just six weeks gestation? Amazing! Anyway, Ben went back today for the ABR test (Auditory Brainstem Response). This measures whether sounds make it to the brain from the ears. After being wired up at the ears and forehead, Ben passed with flying colors. Thanks be to God, Ben slept through the whole thing!
The audiologists stressed how important it is to discern and treat hearing problems as soon as possible. After all, babies need to hear us talk in order to develop their own oral language skills! The obvious application for all of us is that we need to be talking to our little ones from birth! Oh, the power of a warm and loing conversation! Are you pointing to things and telling your wee one what they are? Are you saying, "I LOVE YOU!" often enough? Just a thought!
Also, a word about blood tests. As most of you know, Ben had jaundice, which required several blood samples to be taken from his heel. The home health nurses who came out when he was doing bili light treatment showed me the best way to get a good sample. First, it is important to NOT squeeze the heel. This breaks down the blood cells, and artificially raises the bili level several points. But this means you have do find other ways to encourage the blood to flow on its own. At the hospital, they use these little plastic warming pads, which are not very effective at all. The home health nurses saturated a disposable diaper with very warm water and wrapped his foot in it for several minutes. This works wonders! They also had me hold him in my arms with his feet down, to let gravity help out. When I went back to the hospital lab for his final sample, an inexperienced lab tech took 20 minutes (squeezing his heal!) to get a substandard sample that had to be thrown out. When they sent in a new lab tech to do it over, I tried the warm diaper and gravity tricks, and we got a new sample in record time.
What's an application of this for all of us us? We are learning all the time, all life long! Do you have the confidence to apply your new knowledge in REAL LIFE, even when others (the experts) might be doing things differently?
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American Missionary Teen Killed in Israeli Bus Bombing
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I learned from another home school list that one of the people killed in the bus bombing in Israel was a 13 or 14 year old girl named Abigail, who was the daughter of American missionaries. I think she had been raised in Israel. Please pray for the family to be comforted during this time.
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Gods and Generals Movie
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I've gotten several different e-mails about this movie, encouraging Christian families to go see it!
Here is part of one from Ted Baehr of the Christian Film & Television Commission:
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Ron Maxwell, the director of GODS AND GENERALS, is asking why Christians are not supporting this historically accurate, entertaining, and faith-filled movie? This great movie, which contains many appeals to God and shows the sacred Christian roots of our American heritage, will be pulled from many theaters soon, even this week. Many movies last only a week or two in theaters and must capture momentum as soon as possible.
How can we get the word out on GODS AND GENERALS? PLEASE email Christian teachers, homeschoolers, believers, pastors, historians, history buffs, etc., about GODS AND GENERALS. Tell them that time is running out if they want to make a difference in Hollywood.
Or, if you cannot do so, give me their email addresses, and I will tell them.
Please make GODS AND GENERALS a cause. Get Christians to see this movie TODAY. Tell them not to wait until tomorrow. The politically correct elites are trying to stop this movie. Dont let them win! You will love this movie!
If you dont, send me your ticket stub and I will take $5 off the price of the book for the movie, FAITH IN GOD AND GENERALS.
ACT NOW! Hollywood is watching. They wont make many more movies like GODS AND GENERALS if you wont support them at the box office. Your children and grandchildren are counting on you! Please pass this on to others.
Thank you,
Ted Baehr
Christian Film & Television Commission(tm)
2510-G Las Posas Rd.
Camarillo, CA 93010
805-383-2000 tel.
805-383-4089 fax
www.movieguide.org
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Here is another one from Bob and Tina Farewell of Lifetime Books and Gifts:
Dear Friends,
Many of you know how much we enjoy participating as re-enactors
of the War Between the Sates. Today we took our older children to
the new movie GODS AND GENERALS and we are more excited than ever
about this historic period.
Sometimes we get so frustrated because there are few great
movies that are historically accurate, seek to tell the Truth, and
have a Biblical worldview. Well, GODS AND GENERALS is all of these
and was released in theatres today! [Virginia's note: this was sent out last week...]
GODS AND GENERALS is the prequel to GETTYSBURG, which was
released in 1993, based on the book KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara.
GODS AND GENERALS is accurately based on son Jeff Shaara's best-
selling book by the same title.
Ron Maxwell, the writer, director, and producer of both films,
wanted to make sure they were both done with great historical
accuracy, as he knows the potential impact they can have on our
culture and the generations yet unborn.
In fact, Maxwell writes in the companion book to this movie,
FAITH IN GOD AND GENERALS, "The last thing the world needs is a
mindless, glossy entertainment about the Civil War
.I am
passionate about representing history accurately, and pay attention
to detail, to portray individuals as they were. We are all very
susceptible to the power of the media...particularly films...movies
have the ability to tell stories with such authority that the
stories can pass as truth, whether or not they are truth. I have a
moral obligation to exercise responsibility in my telling of
history. The telling of history is the life and death of a people.
An inaccurate portrayal can be the death of a culture over the
years."
Ron Maxwell shows the humanity of the leaders of the Civil War.
He says, "I want people to get to know the full person of Stonewall
Jackson, a very important historical figure that, when not left
completely out of history lessons taught in most schools, is simply
glossed over. My goal is to show him as the full, complex man that
he was
. Faith in God was a huge part of their lives [the leaders
of both the North and the South]. Yet, it is the element most
frequently discarded by historians and educators when teaching about
the war."
So, make this a family affair! Visit your local theatre! Buy a
big box of popcorn and a large soft drink and celebrate what God has
done through the life of Ron Maxwell and others! It is a blessing to
support such a movie as this!
And then tomorrow night rent or purchase GETTYSBURG so
you'll know what happened next! You'll be glad you did!!
For more information about the movie, which is rated PG-13 for
sustained battle sequences, see
FAITH IN GOD AND GENERALS
Susan Wales, Theodore Baehr (Hardback) $24.99
GODS AND GENERALS
Jeff Shaara (Paperback) $7.99 ($6.79 for this sale)
KILLER ANGELS
Michael Shaara (Paperback) $7.99 ($6.79 for this sale)
LAST FULL MEASURE
Jeff Shaara (Paperback) $7.99 ($6.79 for this sale)
God bless you! Enjoy your time at the movies!!
Joyously in Christ,
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HSLDA E-Lert on Confirmation of Judge Miguel Estrada
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From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
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March 5, 2003
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
A majority of United States Senators have said that they will vote in
favor of President Bush's nominee to the District of Columbia Court
of Appeals, Miguel Estrada. A minority of Senators are blocking this
nomination by refusing to allow a vote because they do not like
Estrada's conservative views. If the nomination of Estrada is
rejected through this process, it will be an affront to our
Constitution. It will also make it much more difficult for
conservative Justices to be appointed to the Supreme Court in the
event of vacancies during President Bush's term.
We need your help to ensure that the Senate confirms this judge who
supports the original meaning of the Constitution.
ACTION REQUESTED
1. Click on the link below to find out if one or both of your United
State Senators oppose the Estrada nomination:
www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=727
2. If your Senator(s) oppose the nomination call TODAY OR TOMORROW
and ask them to allow an "up or down" vote on the Miguel Estrada
nomination. Your message may be as simple as, "Our Constitution
demands that President Bush be given an "up or down" vote on the
Estrada nomination. Please end the filibuster."
3. If your Senator(s) are in favor of the Estrada nomination, please
write or email them a note of thanks. You can go to our website at
www.hslda.org/toolbox and enter your zip code to find the contact
information for your Senators.
4. Pass this email on to your friends. Ask others to join in the
fight for constitutional integrity.
BACKGROUND
On January 7, 2002, President Bush nominated Miguel Estrada to fill a
vacancy on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate Judiciary
Committee approved the Estrada nomination on January 31, 2003.
Though 55 Senators have pledged to support Estrada, a handful of
liberal Democratic Senators have resorted to the filibuster, in order
to stop a vote on President Bush's nominee. Though only a simple
majority is necessary for confirmation, Senate Majority Leader Frist
lacks the 60 votes needed to end debate in the Senate and bring the
nomination to a vote. More importantly, President Bush deserves to
have his appointment given an up or down vote.
Miguel Estrada immigrated to the United States from Honduras at the
age of 17 and worked hard to succeed in a country that values
opportunity and rewards perseverance. Estrada graduated Phi Beta
Kappa from Columbia College and went on to earn his law degree magna
cum laude from Harvard Law School. After graduating, he clerked for
a Circuit Court Judge and then a Supreme Court Justice, earning what
is seen as one of the most prestigious legal positions in America.
He has substantial legal experience.
The appointment of federal judges has a direct effect on the rights
and principles that are crucial to the protection of home school
freedoms. President Bush has said that his appointees must agree
with a strict construction of the Constitution. Estrada is believed
to fit this description.
Opponents view the nomination of Miguel Estrada as a referendum on
conservative judges and justices. We need your support in upholding
principles of limited government and a proper interpretation of our
Constitution.
Thank you for standing with us for freedom.
Very truly yours,
Michael P. Farris
HSLDA General Counsel
