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The Old Schoolhouse
Magazine
Home Where They
Belong
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October 17, 2007
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A few weeks ago, we tackled the
socialization myth and this week's topic is going to
tackle yet another myth - community involvement. Many people
accuse homeschoolers of isolating themselves and their
children from their communities, but research actually proves
that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Here are a
few statistics from Dr. Brian Ray's Winter 2006
article in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
- Seventy-one percent of the homeschooled "participate in
any ongoing community service activity" compared to 37% of
the general population.
- For those age 18 to 24, 76% of the homeschooled voted in
the past five years while 29% of the same-age general
population in the US voted.
- Of those ages 18 to 24, 14% of the home educated
participated in a protest or boycott during the past 12
months while 7% of the general population did
so.
And I don't have any research to prove it,
but I think that homeschoolers are more involved in their
communities because frankly, they're out living in them!
They're out running errands with their parents, they're out
serving others with their families, and they're out
experiencing much more in their communities than they would be
if they were sitting in a school building all day.
Never underestimate what your child is picking up on
as you're just living life together. They're listening in as
you discuss important issues. They're learning about serving
others as you make time for neighbors, friends, and others in
your community.
I know that in my support group we
have sometimes struggled to find community service projects
where we could all participate together with our families, but
even if you have little ones, you can just start small. Try
going over to rake the neighbor's leaves or donating goods to
a local charity and then take the time to explain *why* you're
doing it.
Your child will get the message. Research
shows it!
Oh, speaking of research, don't forget to
take our 2007 Homeschool Survey
and get your two free e-books! You can be a part of our
current research.
THM Editor
PS - Our Five for Five Sale
ends tonight at midnight. This is your chance to get a
one-year subscription to TOS, our usual free gifts and five bonus download gifts. Click
here for
details!
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 Mercy Every Minute
Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor
Over my own
homeschooling time span, we have done different things to be
involved with our community.
- Visited
convalescent homes
- Served at
crisis pregnancy centers
- Fed the
homeless
- Participated in many pro-life chains
- Visited
the sick in hospitals
- Cleaned
the homes of those in need
- Made meals
for new moms
- Gone to
the state capitol for rallies
- Served in
church outreach events
- Supported
those in prison
- Donated
money for various causes
Two main commands the
Lord gives us in scripture are "Come" and "Go." He calls us to
come to Him and then to go out in His Name. We come to Him and
bring our children with us. We go in His Name and bring our
children with us. This is one of the beauties in homeschooling
our children: we are allowed the freedom to live biblically in
our own homes and communities.
Micah 6:8 tells us
that we are to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly
with our God.
We are to do
justly: Stand up for righteousness and truth in our
communities
We are to love
mercy: Help the widows and fatherless which is pure
religion and undefiled before God.
We are to walk
humbly with our God: Where did Jesus walk when He was
on the earth? Within the church and in the community, in the
meeting places of sinners, and with the sick and dying. We can
walk humbly with Him out into our own communities as
well.
Jesus certainly didn't
just hang out at home with his disciples all the time. He took
them out with Him into the community. We should do the same
with the little disciples He's given to us.
Coming and Going with
you, ~Deborah
October's
Contest: We have a wonderful book of historical fiction on
the French Revolution called Marie's Home 199 page soft bound
novel By Caroline Austin, Salem Ridge Press, www.salemridgepress.com. Read our TOS
product review here.
To enter, just send
your name and mailing address to senioreditor@thehomeschoolmagazine.com and
put "Marie's Home" in the subject line. See website for
contest rules.
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Schoolhouse Spotlight
Dena Wood, Schoolhouse Store Manager
The Holidays are right around the
corner and that is the perfect time to reach out to your
nearby community and neighbors. We have several items in
the store that will help you bless the people around
you!
The E-Book: Grande Cooking!
is designed to help you get together with friends & family
to laugh, fellowship, and make a freezer full of
dinners! How about if you used those meals to bless the
people in your community? These meals would be great to
give to an elderly neighbor, pastor or the new family down the
street at this busy time of year.
Homeschool co-ops are
a great way to get kids together to do community service
projects. The Homeschool Co-op
Planner E-Book contains instructions on how to plan and
manage a homeschool co-op. This resource includes printable
forms, idea lists, and many recommendations and suggestions to
help you along the way.
If you are going to spend the
Holidays serving others you are going to need to be
organized! The 12 Week Holiday Planner
for the Christian Family will help you keep your focus on
Jesus this holiday season. The 12 week Holiday Planner
includes everything you need to plan out the Holidays.
This E-Book gives you all the instructions and forms you need
to set up your own holiday planner.
So before the
calendar gets loaded down with things to do over the next few
months, I encourage you to schedule in a little time to plan
out some ways to bless those around you. What better way is
there to serve the
community?
~Dena
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 It's Just Common Sense
Ruth Beechick, Curriculum
Specialist
In this election season, let's turn
our community involvement in that direction. You don't need
experience. Just call a candidate's local office and see when
your children can help stuff envelopes. Or walk an area to
pass out brochures at each house.
Of course you need to
study the candidates first to decide whom you will support.
You and the children can read both print and online material.
You may be able to attend a speech or debate near you. Older
children who get educated this way may try writing a good
letter to the editor on an issue.
Remember, there are
more elections than those for president and congress. Other
important elections are all the way down to city councilmen or
county officials. Since relatively few people pay attention to
these offices and the issues, often the wrong people get in
there and are re-elected term after term. A good way to start
on a local level is to locate an activist who has fought some
issues for a long time and is familiar with them. Learn from
that person who needs to be put out of office and why. Learn
whom to support.
This year can be just the beginning of
training for your children. And you. Another election comes up
in just two years. Think of the influence in America if
millions of homeschoolers, especially christian homeschoolers,
help out the good
candidates!
~Ruth
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The Familyman
Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries
I
prefer to think of community involvement as community
involvement of the FUTURE. The fact is we already have too
much on our plate to be very involved in our community. In our
family, it sometimes feels as though our own little community
of Wilsons takes all our time.
Rather than fuel the
guilt-fires of "we should be doing more," I like to remember
that we're impacting our community by pouring our lives and
efforts into future citizens who will be prepared to impact
their world for Christ by godly living.
If you think
about it, that's community involvement. I think we have
sometimes been fed a line that says, "To be truly effective,
you have to be busy 'rubbing shoulders' with them (the
community)."
To some extent, we all rub shoulders with
our community. We go to the store, the library, and the gas
station. We interact with the UPS man who comes to our house,
the nurse and doctor who examine our children, and the
neighbor who lives next door.
We usually have plenty of
opportunities and don't need to go looking for more. We just
need to make the most of the ones we have.
But with all
that said, I still believe the greatest way you can impact
your community is by pouring your life and beliefs into your
children right now. After all, they're like arrows in the hand
of a warrior penetrating the world.
Be
Real,
Todd
|
 Homeschool Freebies
Jamin!, Freebie
Finder
Here is a fun FREE project you can do within
the homeschool community!
Flat Stanley is a book
written by Jeff Brown. In the book the main character Stanley
Lambchop wakes up one morning flattened by a bulletin
board! The next logical step is to go on some amazing
adventures- including being mailed! LOL
Through the years we have been involved in several
Flat Stanley projects where we have mailed a paper Flat
Stanley all over the Country. This is a great geography
projects for kids!
Now Flat Stanley has found the
internet! First off you will need to get the book (free
at the library of course!), read it to your kids, then
download and print out the free virtual Stanley from the
website. Then the fun begins!
Take Flat
Stanley on an adventure! Take pictures and post about it
on your blog. (If you do not have a blog you can still
participate. There are directions on how to submit a your
adventure in a Word document.) At the end of the project
all the adventures will go in to an e-book and each
participant will receive a copy. There are currently 42
families signed up for this project, so head on over and add
your family to the list! We are already signed up, so we
will see you there!
HERE is a link where
you can sign up to participate in a Flat Stanley online
project.
~Jamin
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One Last
Thing
Did you know that we have over 350 e-books for sale in
The Schoolhouse Store? We have a great selection and just got
them all categorized so now it's even easier than ever for you
to find what you're looking for. Take a look!
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Meet Some of Our Friends
Imagine that your day starts as
any other day with your normal homeschooling routine, but by
the end of the day you are paralyzed from the waist down!
That's exactly what happened to Pamela Bethume, homeschool
mother of four and creator of Homeschoolopoly.
Now many
of their friends have banded together to offer you an
opportunity to bless the Berthume Family and to receive some
wonderul products for your own family! Click here for
details.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I brought home the Sugar Creek
Gang CDs and began a love affair! The kids both listened
raptly, went through the whole set in a couple of days, and
immediately started them over again. I feel that listening to
the stories has made Jesus a very real presence in their
lives." www.BelovedBooks.com
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Readers of "The
Homeschool Minute" are sure to enjoy "The Homeschooler's
Notebook"! Heather Idoni, homeschooling mom of 5 boys, is the
editor of this great ezine packed with reader question/answer
sessions, practical tips, reviews, and insightful articles.
Sign-up to receive the newsletter FREE via email or RSS feed!
www.FamilyClassroom.net
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Do
you want to eat healthier, but don't know where to begin? Are
you afraid that your husband and kids won't want to eat
anything "healthy"? Have no fear....Supermom is
here!
Join Supermom's Simple Steps to Healthier Eating
Interactive Online Class, starting January 2008!
www.supermomshealthandwellness.com
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