at 06/21/12 11:34AM
The story of Baby Sean and his family is
here.
This little guy is fighting for his life, born at only 28 weeks. Please say a prayer for this family!!
at 01/08/12 8:14PM
I'm taking a leaf from
Sarah's book. :D
I'm doing some *early* spring cleaning and clearing out my friend's list. I just don't know who is active and who isn't. So.....if you want to stay, respond below with a favorite quote from a book, movie or song. :D
I'll probably leave this up for several days....then it is back to "semi" regular blogging. ;)
at 12/29/11 1:29PM
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A friend of mine gave birth to a sweet, beautiful baby boy on December 26th. Spencer was born with Down Syndrome and is in the NICU. They expected a NICU stay but they did not expect to be kicked out of the hospital so early.
Jorje and her husband live too close to the hospital to be allowed to stay at the Ronald McDonald House, but they live far enough away that traveling to and from the hospital is VERY hard on them financially. Jorje's husband works two part-time jobs to make ends meet and things are tight as it is.
Within an hour of this post going live, over $100 was raised for Jorje's travel expenses! My friend Joella is covering all Paypal fees so every dollar counts.
Anyway, I just wanted to share in case anyone wants to donate.
Please keep this family in your prayers. The doctors discovered a heart murmur this morning and Spencer will likely be in the NICU a good bit longer.
Thanks! :D
Virtual Benefit for Momma Jorje
*UPDATE*
So far a little over $700 has been raised for Jorje and baby Spencer!! If any of my friends have donated, thank you so so much! :D
at 03/18/10 1:53AM
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The title of this blog has nothing to do with the actual blog itself. My friend Tammi made that comment in reference to the drama that went down DUE to this blog.
I wrote the following blog on another blogring I'm a part of. The comments got SO HEATED that the blog had to be removed.
But...here is my controversial post. (I highly doubt many of you will find it all THAT controversial.)
***
The idea of homeschooling is nowhere near as controversial as it use to be. When my mom started homeschooling me in 1989, it was a BIG deal and my parents received a lot of negative remarks about it and were met with a lot of skeptism. As more and more research came out and more parents began to educate their children at home, homeschooling gained more respect.
Unfortunately a lot of lawmakers and politicians do not see it this way and in many countries, it is illegal to homeschool. The Home School Legal Defense Association does a LOT of work on behalf of families but as it sits right now, the choice to educate your children at home is still legal in the United States, although aspects of the current healthcare reform bill have the ability to endanger that right. As long as it is legal (and depending on circumstances if it is illegal), my husband and I plan on homeschooling our children.
Everytime I read a post on Xanga about the education system, something that happened to a child while they were at school, teacher-parent clashes...my first thought is "That is one reason why I'm choosing to homeschool my kids!!"
Ultimately, it boils down to one main reasons for our family (then a bunch of other reasons).
Main Reason: I do not feel comfortable with someone else having control over my child for eight-ten hours a day. This is by far our biggest concern. I don't even leave Andrew with a sitter (other than grandparents) for short periods of time. It is my responsibility as a parent to raise my child and that does not belong to someone else.
I should say I do not think teachers are bad people or can't do their job. I have a lot of respect for teachers! My degree is in education and I understand that it is a very challenging profession. But it is not a teacher's job to raise their students, and a lot of times, that's what it turns into.
Other reasons (these aren't listed in any particular order):
-I dislike the idea of "Zero Tolerance" policies. I understand why they were put in place but, it takes the common sense out of the situation the majority of the time. I've read too many stories of children being expelled from school for bringing a tiny little lego gun to school or defending themselves. I will never encourage my child to fight, but I do expect him to learn how to stand up for himself...and sometimes that means fighting back.
-I'm uncomfortable with someone else talking about sex to my child. It's my job and his father's job to educate him in this area. That job does not belong to a school.
-Children learn in different ways and at different speeds. A classroom of 20-21 children with one teacher and maybe one aide is not the best situation for this.
-Outside influences. There will come a point in my child's life where he will make his own decisions about friends, who he hangs around, what he does....etc. But at a young age, I CAN protect him and it's my JOB as a parent to protect him from things he is not ready to handle.
-I don't want to get up at 6am Haha....this is true though. Schools here start at 7:45am. To beat traffic, you need to leave by seven at the latest. Or...I can keep my kids at home and we can enjoy leisurely mornings and not rush around to beat traffic or get somewhere! (That was one of my favorite parts of being homeschooled when I was younger.)
-I look forward to the flexibilty that homeschooling offers. My brother and I always had short school days, there was no set length of time that we had to do each subject. Some days my mom would give us a break and we'd go to the park or hiking. On days we did school, we were always done early and had plenty of time to spend with friends, or working a job, or relaxing. We never had a set amount of days for school so if we wanted to travel one week, we always were able to. If we were out at night, there was never a hurry to get home and get to bed because the next day was a school day, we could take it easy the next morning if needed.
I don't think it's possible to write a post about homeschooling without addressing the socialization aspect. Anyone who is familiar with homeschooling knows that the idea that homeschooled kids are social rejects is a huge myth. In my entire life of being homeschooled, I have never had issues socializing, neither has my brother. I have only ever met TWO families who's children had socialization issues. I am really inclinded to believe that socialization is more of a personality trait. If you think about kids in public and private schools...there are those with social issues in both places. It's not limited to homeschool students nor is it more common. Studies done on this have been numerous and there are too many to link here.
It's also important to point out that homeschooling does not hinder college applications. I was accepted into every school I applied to. The fact that I had been homeschooled was never even questioned.
Homeschooling does not work for every family....and even families that choose to homeschool do it in different ways. Some are more scheduled than others, some use a set curriculum, some use online programs...etc. There are so many options.
I am looking forward to being a homeschool mom. :) I'm looking forward to teaching my child(ren) and helping them learn in an environment they are comfortable in and in a style that suits them best.
***
If you are wondering what was so offensive...someone took issue with the fact that I said I didn't want to get up at six am. They called me lazy and selfish and attacked my parenting style. Then they proceeded to call all homeschoolers mindless and accused me of wanting to create little mindless clones exactly like myself. This entire comment was made by someone who could not spell and then later admitted to "lurking" and "internet stalking" so...yeah, didn't do much to help their arguement. Oh the blogging world.....
-Albus Dumbledore-