Here's What Russia is Doing for One American Family Who Moved and Became Citizens!

A short time ago, I began following an American dad, Joseph Gleason, who moved his large family to Russia six years ago and became a Russian citizen. Today he sent an article with a talk written by his 19-year-old daughter whose goal in life is to be a wife and mother of many children. The wisdom and maturity of this young women are inspiring. You can watch the video with the translation or read the English transcript. Don't believe all the negative things you hear about Russia. It's unlikely Russian police will be raiding this family's home with assault rifles or trying to remove their children from their parents for daring to home school them.

I Reject College/Career, Just Want to be Christian Wife & Mother - US Teen Stuns Russian Conference With Amazing Speech in Russian!

Feminism Isn't About Choice, It's About Equality -- and Other Lies Liberals Tell

Some moms find home schooling the best choice of all!

"It's my body!"

"I should earn the same as men!"

"I can use whatever bathroom I want!" 

"The government can't tell me who to marry!"

Do these cries sound familiar? They're the anthem of modern day radical feminists. You know the ones who organized the women's march against Trump and national call-in-sick-to-work day. But, wouldn't you know, one Australian woman is turning the feminist agenda on its head. In an article for the Daily Telegraph, editor in chief, Sarrah Le Marquand asserts that no women with school age children should legally be allowed to stay home. That's right - NO CHOICE! She wants to force women to work. It's funny because in the next breath she's lauding the idea of giving women six months paid maternity leave (because that's equal- please tell me any situation in which men get 6 months paid leave).

Joan of Arc on Steroids and the Great Public School Walkout Strike

You may hate Ann Barnhardt' "tone", but she makes eminent sense when she describes how to respond to Obama's latest act of tyranny. Trying to force public schools to allow boys to shower and dress with girls in an abomination and Ann, who makes me think of Joan of Arc on steroids, doesn't shrink from saying it:

Listen up.....THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COERCION. The Obama regime can not FORCE you to do ANYTHING. You either freely choose to capitulate or not. This “forced”, “coercion” bullshit is 100% candyass agitprop. 

You know what the solution to this is? Every parent who LOVES THEIR CHILDREN WITHDRAWS THEIR CHILDREN FROM PUBLIC SCHOOL MONDAY MORNING.

Do You Know What Your Kids are Learning in Public School?

If you love your kids, you'd better be on top of this!

Why You Should Avoid Sending Kids to Public Schools

Maybe all public schools aren't this bad, but I know that back in the 70s Fairfax County's sex ed program was anti-parent, explicit, and gave kids permission to have sex as young as middle school. "Just don't change sexual partners too frequently." I can only imagine what they teach now 40 years later. 

Everybody can't home school, let's face it. And how many families, especially large Catholic families can afford Catholic schools these days? Maybe it's time for a return to the "dame schools." And aren't there some retired folks out there who can offer to help tutor kids in math, science, foreign languages, and other skills that home schooling parents may lack?

There's always an alternative when innocents' souls are at stake!

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life....

Have babies! Got this off Fr. Z's blog and I absolutely love it! Baby is happy and so is Mom. And this, friends, is early home schooling!

Well we all know school officials know best!

More reasons to home school. 

I always tell my kids never to spank in public. Not that I was ever much of a spanker because I didn't find it very effective. Denying privileges gets a response much faster. Nevertheless, sometimes a good well-aimed swat on the tush can be motivational. As for the interfering school administrator, she should have minded her own business. Clearly, the grandmother was not abusing the child who was apparently having hysterics. All the administrator did was precipitate a nasty altercation between a teenager and the police. One more reason to home-school: avoid the busybodies who think they know best.

Justice Dept. Says Home Schooling is NOT a Fundamental Right

The Obama administration is fighting to deport a German family who sought asylum after the German government threatened to take their five children if they continue to home school. The case goes back several years and I wrote about it previously here and here.

The Obama administration is now arguing that home schooling is not a fundamental right. Think about that. The Catholic Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children. And, in fact, a major purpose of marriage is the procreation and upbringing (i.e., education) of children. So if parents do NOT have a fundamental right to choose and oversee the education of their children, who does?

Silly question...Big Brother of course! The gospel according to liberals teaches the commandment to honor the village that raises the children. And that village is run by HHS and the Department of Education.

If the government wins on this, the rights of parents over their children here in the U.S. will be seriously threatened.

Read more here. And for more information on homeschooling rights and defense see the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

Why Home School? The answer is becoming more obvious every day.

American Thinker has an article that every parent with children in public schools should read.

Swallow Your Pride, Save Your Child

If you know the background of compulsory public education, you are aware of what this author points out. If you are unfamiliar with the educational philosophy undergirding public education, you need to understand it and he explains it well:

Fr. Stravinskas vs. Home Schooling: With all due respect, you're all wet!

I get a little testy about priests who go after parents for daring to home school their children. Fr. Peter Stravinskas gives home schooling two thumbs down and makes a lot of statement that are just downright wrong, at least from this former home schooler's perspective. My comments in read. Here's what Father told Our Sunday Visitor (See complete article here....):

There are several reasons to prefer Catholic schools, Father Stravinskas told Our Sunday Visitor, including that the Church Fathers made clear that catechesis is the job of the whole Church, with the main responsibility resting on the shoulders of the pastor, not the parents. (The Church teaches that PARENTS, not the pastor are the primary educators of their children. This includes religious training. The pastor and the Church certainly have a part to play, but to say the main responsibility is the pastor's flies in the face of reality, especially when pastors change every few years. In view of the fact that the faith is not being taught in many parishes and dioceses, parents who went along with this view would be guilty of abandoning their children to ignorance in the faith.)

And Catholic parents who choose to home-school when there is a Catholic school available at least implicitly send the message that they do not trust the Church to educate their children properly, and the children get that message. (There is a wide disparity among Catholic schools with regard to both academic training and religious training. The two high schools my three oldest went to were scandalous. When I visited my daughter's school senior year to speak to the girls about marriage and NFP I ended up arguing in the faculty lounge with teachers who had no problem with Sr. Mansour being head of human services in, I believe, Chicago and paying for abortions. I left the school shaking my head over what these teachers were saying to my daughter in the classroom. Not to mention that it was costing us a fortune to have her faith undermined. It was even worse at our two sons' school where many teachers were liberal democrats and had no problem with politicians coming to the school who were pro-abortion. Fr. Stravinskas can make an argument when Catholic schools are truly Catholic. Until then, those of us who love the faith and love our children will choose what's best which is often home schooling!)

“On the same property where they go to church on Sunday is a school where the parents don’t wish to send them,” he said. (Maybe they can't afford it. We spent tens of thousands of dollars sending children to Catholic schools that betrayed us. My only regret is that I didn't home school sooner! We could have invested that money for college instead of refinancing our house to pay for "Catholic" education.)

That leads to a subtle anti-clericalism, he said, because the children learn that priests cannot be counted on to hand on the faith. It shows in what he sees as a dearth of vocations from home-school families. “Why would you want to join the club if its members can’t be trusted to their jobs?” he said. (Is Fr. Stravinskas kidding? Many priests CAN'T be trusted! I started telling our children after numerous scandalous experiences with teachers and principals at Catholic schools that, "Just because someone is wearing a roman collar doesn't mean he's telling you the truth!" My kids are all adults with children now and they are all practiciing the faith despite being scandalized at Catholic schools. I almost lost my own faith at a Catholic college. I think my husband and I fighting with bad priests and bad laity in the schools helped make our children firmer in their faith. Perhaps, Father, you should look to your brother priests and bishops who preach a different gospel than that of Jesus Christ for the dearth of vocations and stop pointing the finger at home schoolers.) 

He also believes it is psychologically unhealthy for mothers to spend 24 hours a day with their children as they get older, and it’s academically nearly impossible for one person to teach all that is included in a modern high school curriculum. (Oh please! Home schooling moms don't spend 24 hours a day with their kids. Most children participate in multiple activities outside the home. Some attend home school academies one or two days a week. Some volunteer or intern; others attend junior colleges for high school subjects like biology and foreign language, and most engage in extra curriculars. How many home schoolers does Fr. Stravinskas actually know? I have a home schooling friend whose daughter is discerning religious life. Father's anti- home school bias gets in the way of facts.)

What’s more, he said, some home-school families say they have no issues with the faculty or teaching at their local Catholic schools, but they don’t want their children exposed to others whose families might not have the same values as theirs. (One of the reasons I began home schooling my two youngest of five children was the breakdown of the family. I taught in a parochial school my children attended for a year and was shocked at how things had changed since I was in school. I had youngsters in my class whose parents weren't married or came from seriously disfunctional homes. I loved the kids, but the disruption in the classroom from chaotic home situations was appalling. That's a major reason I decided to home school and I continued for five years and then put my youngest in a faithful Catholic high school her older sister, who only home schooled one year, was attending. Home schooling was one of the best decisions I ever made. I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner for more of my children.)

Most Catholic schools from elementary through college do not teach the authentic faith. When pastors try, like the one in Massachusetts who refused enrollment of the child living with lesbian partners, they get a quick slapdown. Fr. Stravinskas does not appear to live in the real world. If Catholic schools were Catholic he might have a point. They are not. We committed to Catholic education for about 18 years. I volunteered in every school my children attended. Frankly, I feel like we should have sued our three oldest children's high schools for fraud. Our elementary school was better, but many are not, like another in the diocese that did their passion play in mime makeup and had a girl playing the role of Jesus. And then there was the one with the sex ed class where kids "built" sex organs out of nuts and straws and other things. This is Catholic?

Two thumbs up for home schoolers who are brave and committed and want their children to be "raised up in the way they should go" -- the authentic Catholic faith.

What's the fastest growing form of education?

HOME SCHOOLING! See here...

And how do home schoolers measure up against their more traditionally educated peers? Check out the results here.....

Home schooling isn't for everyone, but it is certainly a great option for those who choose it. I homeschooled my youngest two, one for a year and the other for five. I had so much fun with the kids. We did things they could never have done in regular school including taking our books to the beach when school started. Tara went back to regular school after a year and I continued with Jamie. Our routine included running the monthly preschool program (Nature Detectives) at a local nature center. We always planned the program together. One particularly successful one was on bird migration. Jamie was a migrating snow goose. The kids spread corn on the floor to attract a migrating bird and in came the snow goose for "an interview." Jamie designed her own costume (art) and wrote the dialogue for the interview (language arts). She also led the craft with the kids. All this at age 8 or 9. A grandmother came over after we finished to tell me, "It was the cutest thing she ever saw." Other programs included one on Native Americans where she played "Little Firefly" with a doll papoose on her back. Another time we talked about the harvest when she was "Farmer Jamie."

We also did cooking day every 4-6 weeks and made 15 to 20 meals for the freezer while we listened to a book on tape. I think I liked home schooling more than both the girls. I remember it fondly!

Thought for the Day: Keep Your Kids Close

Keep your kids close -- home school!

Home school isn't about withdrawing your children from the world. It's about preparing your children in a safe environment to take on the world. You don't put a tender plant in the garden in February, you start it in a cold frame and let it get strong enough to withstand the weather. That's what home schooling is all about.

So keep 'em close in the early years and teach them to be critical thinkers and to flee from evil. Help them grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. And when they're ready, send out little soldiers in the Church Militant to lead a fallen world back to Christ.

Home Schooling Dad Jailed in Sweden for Home Schooling

Psych studies ordered for jailed homeschooling dad
Just wanted to spend time with state-napped son

Watch the video below that mentions this dad and others around the world persecuted for nothing more than exercising their right to be the primary educators of their children. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child is being used by governments to kidnap their children and place them in state custody. When you fight for the rights of home schoolers you fight for your own right to exercise authority in your family. Pray for home schoolers everywhere.

Celebrate Strong Women

Women of Yesteryear by Jim Thunder

I liked this article very much. There's something profoundly respectful about celebrating the lives of your ancestors. And I'm jealous of Jim for knowing so much about his past. I know very little about my family beyond my grandparents' generation. My mom was adopted and had a great devotion to her adoptive parents, but she knew nothing about her birth family except that her parents were married and she was adopted at age three.

I wish I'd asked my dad more about his family. My grandfather on his side was raised in Wisconsin. Daddy said when Grandpa was a boy he earned a nickle a cup for pulling potato bugs off the crops. My grandmother was the youngest of thirteen and an amazingly versatile woman. She could do every kind of needlework and produced some absolutely beautiful things. I still have a few. But she also learned to develop her own film and to paint and make ceramics. She taught retarded children and my mom said people whose children she schooled came up to her at Grandma's funeral and said they don't know what they would have done without her. I wish I'd known her better. My grandparents visited infrequently and we moved frequently because of Daddy's job in the Navy. She was stern and I was afraid of her as a little girl. Now as an adult I'm sorry I never got to know her.

Praise God for your own ancestors today, especially the "founding mothers" of your family. I often offer daily Mass for my ancestors, especially those who passed on the faith. And that means I'm praying especially for the first teachers, the moms, who taught their little ones to pray and to think about the things of God.

Jim includes a list of books for those interested in reading about pioneer women. What a great addition for girls after they finish The Little House books. Sounds like a treasure trove for home schoolers.

Joanna L. Stratton, Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier
Harriet Fish Backus, Tomboy Bride
Margaret A. Frink, Covered Wagon Women: Diaries & Letters from the Western Trails
Conrad Richter's trilogy, The Trees, The Fields and The Town
Jane Jacobs, editor, A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece
Virginia Cornell, Doc Susie: The True Story of a Country Physician in the Colorado Rockies
Carol Crawford McManus, Ida: Her Labor of Love
Agnes Morley Cleaveland, No Life for a Lady (Women of the West).

Why do they hate home schooling so much?

The answer is easy. They can't control it. Robin West recently did a hatchet job on "The Harms of Home Schooling." West is a law professor at Georgetown University. (Why am I not surprised when the attack comes from a teacher at a so-called Catholic university which should be a defender of the primary rights of parents over the education of their children?) West bemoans the fact that many Protestant fundamentalist parents are home schooling and doing it "with little or no oversight from public school officials, who in some states need not even be notified of the parents’ intent to homeschool."

Wow! what a horrifying situation! Public school authorities who often expose children to the glories of sodomy and abortion are being taken out of the loop by concerned parents. But West is appalled that home schooling has become a "widespread and thoroughly privatized educational practice that devolves full responsibility for a child’s education to whatever parent wants to claim it, which is not only legal, but virtually unregulated as well."

For lawyer West's information this was the same situation that existed in this country for two centuries when parents, not the state, taught their children to read and write and apprenticed them to learn a trade. She is also horrified that some of these parents might use the Bible as their primary curriculum. (Another widespread practice in Colonial and post Colonial America.)

West goes on to make a number of outrageous claims about "unregulated" home schooling, from the allegation that home schooled kids are likely to be physically abused (parents of the Columbine students might have an interesting take on this statement) to the claim that parents aren't qualified, curricula is probably deficient, kids miss out on being socialized, and that "poor" fundamentalist parents are probably economically depriving their children as well.

In view of massive research on the success of home schooling and the fact that children at home outperform their institutionalized peers by wide margins, West's article, which provides NO documentation to back up her outrageous allegations, is irresponsible. She wants state regulation by educational bureaucrats who in many places have failed miserably and are producing functional illiterates.

But I suspect West's real agenda isn't so much with what parents are teaching their children, but what they aren't. She espouses her agenda by quoting an opponent of homeschooling. "Robert Reich has persuasively argued, curricular review would give the state a way to ensure that the academic content is such as to protect the children’s interest in both acquiring the necessary skills for active, autonomous, and responsible citizenship in adulthood, and in being exposed to diverse and more liberal ways.

Ah! There you have it. Children schooled at home partly to protect them from "diverse and more liberal ways" that include teaching them to put condoms on bananas, reading about Heather's two mommies, safe touch and sex ed programs that sexualize them from Kindergarten, how to pray like a Muslim, etc. must be liberalized. As always, the foxes want authority over the chicken coop for the benefit of the chicks.

If you're interested in homeschooling you can read West's article here and a response by PhD Brian Ray here.

Home Schooling on the Road: What an Adventure!

My husband and I recently stayed at a North Carolina KOA where we met a couple who are fulltime RVers with their three children. They work at KOAs in different parts of the country where they get free camping and a stipend in exchange for working. They've been at it for over a year now and have visited many places out west with their children. I asked their oldest, a girl of about nine, what spot she liked the best. Yellowstone was her choice. We heard a lot about the beauties of Wyoming and the Rockies, but they just moved east and haven't visited Virginia yet. I know they'll love it when they do and I described some of the wonderful treats in store for them in my home state.

I was reflecting later on what a fun education their children are getting. Imagine learning about America and its geography by visiting the different states. Each is so unique. Think of learning about rocks and minerals while studying the deposits in the Grand Canyon and discussing the many ways that mountains and gorges develop. Travelling through midwest farmland is a great opportunity to study about crops and farming methods, how the dustbowl happened in the thirties and the importance of being good stewards of the earth by practicing effective land management.

In North Carolina the cotton is ready to harvest and workers are picking sweet potatoes that have been dug up. No doubt the children have observed it. Maybe they passed through a town that calls itself the strawberry capitol of the south like we did. (I think it was in Louisianna.) Out west I'm sure they saw longhorn cattle grazing on ranches.

When I was homeschooling I loved travelling to significant places in American history. We travelled to where the "miracle in Philadelphia" took place. We could almost hear Ben Franklin telling a woman who asked what form of government the Consitutional Convention had approved, "a republic, Madam, if you can keep it." Walking the battlefield at Gettysburg was an almost mystical experience as we listened to a costumed docent share her experiences as a nurse on the battlefield bringing aid and comfort to that living hell.

We studied pond life at a marsh where we picked up Fiddler crabs and watched coots dive for food. We climbed lighthouses and imagined men in storms at sea encouraged by their beacons. I still look back on that time with delight.

One thing we never studied (and I trust the young mom I spoke to would say the same) was how to put a condom on a banana. But that's just one more benefit of home schooling.

Good Advice from My Favorite Home Schooling Mom's Blog!

Back to the Family

I read lots of child psychologists when my kids were young and most didn't help much. Now I know why: the writers weren't home schooling fathers of ten. Ray Guarendi is a man with a wealth of experience -- real first-hand experience as in, "Honey, the boys put crickets in the girls' beds and a garter snake in their underwear drawer. Will you talk to them."

Check out the blog entry with its good practical advice and then you might consider picking up one of his books. I'm checking out the library first, but I'm in my second generation of kids and still have a lot to learn.

I love his focusing right in on an important point. Don't ask if your kids' behavior is "normal;" ask if it's "right."

Recess is Over; Back to School

If your children aren't back in school this week, they will be after Labor Day -- except for home schoolers who learn year round no matter where they are and what they are doing. When you live, eat, and vacation with the teacher, learning is a full time affair, which may be one of the reasons that home schoolers excell on standardized tests and outperform their public school counterparts by every measure.

A recent report discussed in the Washington Times showed home schoolers, 1.5 million estimated by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), excelling in all areas:

The study included almost 12,000 homeschool students from all 50 states who took three well-known standardized achievements tests—the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Stanford Achievement Test—for the 2007–08 academic year. The students were drawn from 15 independent testing services, making it the most comprehensive homeschool academic study to date.

The results reinforced previous homeschool studies conducted over a period of 25 years.

Five areas of academic pursuit were measured. In reading, the average homeschooler scored at the 89th percentile; language, 84th percentile; math, 84th percentile; science, 86th percentile; and social studies, 84th percentile. In the core studies (reading, language and math), the average homeschooler scored at the 88th percentile.

The average public school student taking these standardized tests scored at the 50th percentile in each subject area.

Home schooling is growing by 7% a year according to DOE and it's no surprise to me. As a former home schooling mom I can testify to its effectiveness. When you know exactly what your children are studying, you can relate everything to it. "Remember when we talked about camouflage in nature? See how this bug looks like a stick. He blends in with his environment."

The five years I homeschooled offered dozens of opportunities for fun learning from directing our homeschool drama club in The Tempest at the Folger Shakespeare Library's middle school festival, to walking the Gettysburg battlefield listening to a costumed docent describe her experiences as a nurse, to leading a pre-school "nature detectives" program with my daughter dressed as a snow goose or an indian or a farmer at harvest time telling the little ones about her experiences. There was plenty of work involved, but also a lot of fun. Jamie went from being a so-so reader in second grade to an excellent reader with study skills that made her sought out by her chums when she returned to the classroom later.

Consider home schooling especially for your little ones. Protect their innocence, help them develop critical thinking skills that will serve them for a lifetime, and keep your family together. My only regret is I didn't homeschool all my children at least for a time. Homeschooling fosters a close-knit family especially when the experience is grounded in prayer.

May all our children, no matter where they are, have a blessed and productive school year.

Bad Precedent for Home Schoolers

New Hampshire Court orders Christian homeschooled girl to attend public school

Home Schoolers Achievers

New Study Shows Homeschoolers Excel Academically
Homeschoolers, on average, scored 37% above public school students on standardized achievement tests

No surprise. They don't spend their academic day on sex ed, drug ed, safe touch programs, new age nonsense, politically correct claptrap, etc. Kudos to the parent teachers who do their job so well!

Thinking about Homeschooling?

We're about six weeks away from the start of school and now is a perfect time to reflect on whether you want to put your children back into a system where they will be indoctrinated with demonic values. (I was going to write "pagan values" but decided that would insult the many ethical pre-Christians who believed in honesty, integrity, and respect for others. Think of Hippocrates, Socrates, and Aristotle for starters.) Most school systems are neck deep in sex ed that approves of homosexuality, fornication, "outercourse" to prevent pregnancy, and every other sort of depraved activity. Does your local kindergarten send home a "diversity bookbag" with children's books normalizing same sex relationships? Mainstreaming immorality throughout the curriculum makes it almost impossible today to protect your kids from perverted ideas. The indoctrination begins in pre-school touching programs that desensitize your children to sexual terms and often use pictures of adults molesting children to describe "bad touches." Teachers seem oblivious to the fact that such actions are, in themselves, abusive."

A friend of mine described a situation that occurred in her young son's pre-school class. "Tommy" came home and told his mom that "Sally" wanted to marry "Janie" when she grew up. My friend laughed and said, "Girls can't marry girls." Her son responded, "Yes she can. My teacher said girls can marry girls." Think about it. My friend only found out because her son brought up the conversation. But what does this do the formation of a little one's values to hear this from a respected, and perhaps loved, authority figure?

The earlier these these ideas are imposed on your children the more damage they do to their innocence. It consitutes mental and spiritual abuse and interferes with the latency period.

Even if you don't think you'll homeschool check out the laws in your state and how to get started. You never know when the information will come in handy.