Mind on my Mommy and My Mommy on my Mind

Dang! this one had me dying. Of course it is esoteric humor but it's still funny even if you don't get the reference. This kid owns his neighborhood. Thanks for posting this one Meagan (sunshineandsippycups.com) it took me back. Anyway, keep your heads up mommies. Your kids are thinking about you.

63 The Homeschooling Buzz - Buying a cell phone for your teen

In this episode we say farewell to Lesha Myers, talk about the reasons why we have not broadcasted over the past few weeks and share with you our journey into purchasing cell phones for our teens.

Show Notes:

Episode 63: Buying a cell phone for your Teen

 

Topics Discussed:

Saying farewell to Lesha Myers

What have we been doing over the past few weeks.

What I did after my computer crashed

Join us at the Homeschool Convention

How to buy a cell phone for your teen

Here is the one we purchased: At&t Go Phone (Affiliate)

Related Links:

Farewell to Lesha Myers

5 Ways To Homeschool For Free

  

Sponsors and Affiliates: 

Christian Home Educators Association of California (Resources for Homeschool)

Total Transcript Solution (Get your kids into college)

Audio:  

Play in new window | Download (Right Click to Download)

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Lesha Myers has Made the Grade and Bids us Farewell

On June 29, 2012 we bid a farewell to Lesha Myers who was called home to be with her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as reported by Amber, Lesha's daughter, on Facebook today. Lesha Myers on Facebook . From many of Lesha's talks and prayer requests we knew that she was battling cancer. According to one of Lesha's Prayer request letters, included below, the cancer that Lesha battled had spread through much of her body eventually reaching the brain and attacking the cerebellum; which controls motor functions, language and attention. Lesha said, "I’ve been spacier than normal... and many people have told me that my Minnesota accent is back..." Throughout the battle Lesha maintained her relationship with her Lord and saviour Jesus Christ and her sense of humor as outlined in her prayer request document below.

I believe that the poise she showed through the battle not only prolonged her life a little more, but showed others that observed her through this crisis what true faith really meant. Reading her prayer request letter below certainly did so for me.

According to many bio's of Lesha Myers found online, her Christian faith has been with her for more than 30 years and she has been a teacher for 25 years. Miss Myers served at Cameron Academy, a private school satellite program, for over 15 years as the schools administrator. In 2004 after she graduated her last child from her homeschool high school, she moved into her next phase of life which was teaching high school english at a local Christian school. As an accomplished author Miss Myers has written two history books, His California Story and Continuing the Journey, along with other helpful resources which include The Elegant Essay, Windows to the World: An Introduction to Literary Analysis and Making the Grade.

We know that Lesha Myers has contributed much to the Homeschool community through her time and talents and as a result we are sure that she has "Made the Grade" in heaven, receiving the accolade from the Lord "Well done, good and faithful servant..."

Farewell Lesha, We will miss you...

                                                ----------------------------

Read one of Lesha's prayer request letters below to hear her voice one last time.

One of Lesha's Prayer Request Letters:

Dear Prayer Partners,

 

I have a decorated box near my chair in my living room in which I keep inspirational notes and letters that I sometimes receive from students and friends. It’s bulging with new additions because of the outpouring of love you’ve sent my way. (One friend sent lots of “positive light.” That’s a new one for me because I didn’t realize light could be negative.) Add to this my equally bulging Facebook and email accounts. And the flowers! I think flowers are one of God’s richest decorations on the planet, and it’s wonderful to experience the spring flood both in my classroom and at home.

 

Needless to say, I am humbled and overwhelmed with your encouragement. Thank you so, so much for your thoughtfulness.

 

I want to give you a quick update because three things have happened since the last time I talked to you.

 

First, I discovered that the cancer has attacked my brain. It’s in my cerebellum, which mostly controls motor functions, but also affects attention and language. I’ve been spacier than normal, having a little issue with equilibrium for a while, and many people have told me that my Minnesota accent is back, so maybe that’s a result of the new brain lesions. I’m on a steroid to prevent brain swelling, and it’s not without its side effects (of course).

 

Second, I’ve entered the hospice program at my HMO. I know that sounds terrible, but it really isn’t. Before this, the focus was on the disease. Hospice transfers the focus to the person, and in the two weeks since I’ve started, I feel so much better. I’m really glad I made this decision.

 

Third, I have my retirement date from school. It’s Friday, May 18. If any of you former students want to visit, you will either need to come before then or drive out to Concord. Don’t come 5/16 or 5/17, I’m not staying those days, and 5/9 is iffy because block days are not only in the middle of the week, they are long and hard. But like I said, I’m doing better, so we’ll see.

 

After I retire, some of you who have offered to help can if you like. One of my friends is going to set up or help me set up a Web site with “stuff” (technical term) on it. Probably meals and errands (I’m no longer driving.) and maybe other ideas. I’ll let you know when it’s up, and you can take a look if you like. For those of you who are close to Concord, come visit! I crave your company. Two weeks ago, a group of friends brought over tea—yes the whole Victorian tea. It was lovely to tea and talk. Yesterday some friends came over for dinner. Yes it was takeout, but so what. We took it out of the plastic containers and put it on nice plates and it tasted just fine. We could “do lunch” as long as we “did” it here (getting out is harder), but a visit with no food would be just as good. In fact, if you sign up to bring dinner later, please plan on staying for at least a half hour. As much as I think I’m going to enjoy being home, and maybe catching up on some of my writing, I still covet your visits.

 

Prayer Requests

 

In the meantime, if the Lord brings me to mind, would you please pray for the following for me?

 

1. Stamina and energy to get through each day to complete what the Lord has for me that day.

 

2. Comfort for my family. They are bearing up well, but it’s still hard.

 

3. That I would live each day in the center of the Lord’s will and in the strength He provides.

 

4. That my AP Language students would do well on their exam (May 16th).

 

5. Sleep. This steroid doesn’t like me to sleep.

 

6. Pain equalization. So far, so good.

 

 

Please feel free to share this message with anyone who might be interested.

 

Thank you, thank you for all you do to encourage me.

 

Blessings,

Lesha

 

Farewell Lesha, We will miss you...

How Stress Affects Reading

How Stress Affects Reading

 

There are several possible causes of reading difficulty. You can get an overview of them from our website at www.easyreadsystem.com. The essential key to getting a child reading confidently is to be able to identify any underlying cause of difficulty and fix it.

 

One cause of difficulty that can stand alone or be combined with any of the others is stress. Some children develop a downward spiral of stress when reading that leads to a virtually complete breakdown in ability.

 

To understand how stress can achieve that, we need to look into the neurology involved.

 

Reading is very much a higher brain function, based in the cerebral cortex of our brains. It co-opts the visual cortex, auditory cortex, linguistic cortex, prefrontal cortex and motor control cortex into action. Every lobe of the cerebrum is involved.

 

To look now at stress, the origins of our stress response mechanisms have an evolutionary explanation. In evolutionary terms, when confronted with a dangerous situation – and danger would be represented by encounters with large aggressive animals or groups of other humans – the best form of response was “fight, flight or immobility”.

 

You will know that different people respond to danger in different ways, but in almost all cases the cerebrum tends to close down and the brain stem (or “lizard brain”) takes over to analyse which of these three options to take. It is only with training and practice that someone can get good at “thinking through” a highly stressful situation.

 

So stress is a very uncomfortable bedfellow of reading. The two are virtually incompatible. And yet learning to read can be one of the most stressful activities of a child’s life. It is very demanding and often involves a lot of “public” failure.

 

And by public I am not only referring to being at the front of peers or being on stage. A failure can feel public when a child is sitting on the sofa with a parent and getting stuck on the word was yet again. Children hate to fail at things just as much as adults do and early reading practice in English can be seen as a series of failures.

 

The symptoms of a stress pattern like this are fairly obvious: strong negative emotions to reading, coupled with an apparent ability to read satisfactorily at moments which can downgrade into a spiral of stress when making reading mistakes.

 

The solution to this is to provide a structured environment where the child is not faced with impossible tasks that lead to failure. Frequent encouragement is an absolute must, along with creating achievable goals which you as a parent are confident will be met.

 

Author bio: David Morgan is creator of the Easyread System, an online synthetics phonics course which teaches struggling readers through short daily lessons. Find out more at www.easyreadsystem.com or www.facebook.com/easyreadsystem

 

Related Links:

Interview with creator of the Easy Read System

62 The Homeschooling Buzz - Interview with Homeschool Media Angel - Felice Gerwitz

In this episode we talk with Felice Gerwitz an education major turned homeschool mom. She and her husband, Jeffrey, have home educated their children since 1986. She has graduated two children and is schooling the remaining three.

Felice has been involved in the world of publishing since the inception of her first book in 1994. She is an internationally recognized author, whose articles have appeared in magazines, including Practical Homeschooling Magazine, Homeschooling Today, The FPEA Almanac, Crosswalk.com, and Eternal Encouragement. Eight of Felice’s books were chosen for inclusion in Cathy Duffy’s 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum and her new book, the updated 101 Top Picks. Another of her titles, An Insider’s Guide to Successful Science Fair Projects, was selected by God’s World Publishing as the Book of the Month. She is the host of the webinar series on the Ultimate Homeschool Expo including niche expos such as the Special Needs Expo, Fall/Christmas Expo, Creation Expo, Back to School and the Homeschool Expo. Felice is a popular conference speaker on a variety of educational topics, and serves as a private consultant to aspiring authors desiring publication. You can find Felice on her main hub at www.mediaangels.com

Show Notes:

Episode 62: Interview with Homeschool Media Angel - Felice Gerwitz

 

Topics Discussed:

Starting the homeschooling Journey on the Road to Damascus

Early challenges and how Felice overcame

Praise God for the Successes in Homeschooling

Keeping it real as a homeschool mom

Keeping on Keeping on

I don't know the future, but here is a tip

Related Links:

Colleges Want Homeschool Students

5 Ways To Homeschool For Free

  

Sponsors and Affiliates: 

Christian Home Educators Association of California (Resources for Homeschool)

Total Transcript Solution (Get your kids into college)

Audio:  

Play in new window | Download (Right Click to Download)

Thanks for subscribing to The Homeschooling Buzz.

Ace the SAT and get FREE college

Ace the SAT and get FREE college

Test-prep Guru, Jean Burk, will share her secrets of SAT success that have helped hundreds of students raise their scores as much as 600 points! Learn how to find shortcuts in test patterns and save time on all types of questions. Math, Writing, and Verbal sections are all covered in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you have kids in middle and high school, you can’t miss this seminar about preparing them for the SAT!

  

 

 

Related Links:

Colleges Want Homeschool Students

60 The Homeschooling Buzz - College The Smart Way: Higher Education in the Information Age

In this episode we listen to CollegePlus share the current state of higher education in the information age and provide us with tangible strategies on how to achieve success. The Christian Home Educators of California hosted this free webinar which was inspired from their 2012 Bay Area homeschool convention in Santa Clara where many parents were seeking options for their highschoolers after graduation. The traditional road to college did not appeal to many of these parents. Many parents wanted their children to earn a degree and gain life experience at the same time. However, the question is "what exactly does that look like today?" and "How can we achieve this in a down turned economy?" Well... collegeplus shares some interesting and eye opening insights on the current state of higher education and provides strategies for making this a reality.

Show Notes:

Episode 60: College The Smart Way: Higher Education in the Information Age

 

Topics Discussed:

How to get you time and money back from higher education

Help your students discover their life puropse.

Help students build a college education around their passion.

First 2 years of college are a glorified review of high school.

How to earn your college degree debt free in less than 4 years.

How to increase the percentage of finding a job after graduation

Mentorship program to keep students on track.

Study, Practice, Test, Earn

CLEP Testing

Related Links:

Interview with a CollegePlus Coach

College the smart way with Ryan Yamane

Colleges Want Homeschool Students

5 Ways To Homeschool For Free

  

Sponsors and Affiliates: 

Christian Home Educators Association of California (Resources for Homeschool)

Total Transcript Solution (Get your kids into college)

Audio:  

Play in new window | Download (Right Click to Download)

Thanks for subscribing to The Homeschooling Buzz.