Necessary Ingredients for a Successful Homeschool

My oldest child used a computer to learn--more than 10 years ago.

I still remember how I came to the decision to homeschool.  I had a friend who suggested I homeschool.  I had already done my stint at teaching in a public school.  I had decided after I gave birth to my first child, I would not be returning to work.  Since I had some background in teaching, I felt I had an advantage.

Once my oldest was of age to start learning academically, I began buying workbooks and educational software from Walmart and KMart.  Then, when we took in my tween-aged nephew, I had to think of more definitive curriculum.  That's when I turned to the following to help me decide what to use:

  

1. God - If there is anyone who can help with the decision to homeschool, it would be God.  Praying to God to see if that is His will in your life would be a great start.  God will truly bless your venture into homeschooling.  He will also provide the resources and people you will need along the way.

   

2. Spouse - Next, if the idea for homeschooling did not come from your significant other, now is the perfect time to approach him/her.  Having this person's approval and support can help you when needing to make decisions.  After all, this other person might be providing financially to the homeschooling adventure.  It's great to have the other person to bounce off ideas when there are challenges in the homeschooling.

3. Laws of the state - You have to be informed of what is required as far as content of learning material.  Some states are more lenient than others.  For some states, you need an umbrella school.  For some states, you need to keep a portfolio.  For other states, your children might need to take some tests.  For more information you can visit HSLDA, Home School Legal Defense Association.

4. Support - This is one of the most important ingredients to having a successful homeschool.  I have experienced both local and virtual support.  I am very fond of the friends I have gained over the years.  Many of them have helped me in my homeschooling journey by listening to my challenges and providing suggestions on what to do. 

5. Internet - Through the internet, you can meet others who homeschool.  You can research for methods of how to teach and learning styles of your children.  You can compare learning material.  You can also buy material at a cheaper price.

6. Calendar - You need to consider whether you need to teach for a specific number of days during a school calendar.  You might be able to homeschool year round, too.  It all depends on your state.  I like to homeschool year round because it gives me more time to fit in the learning.

7. Guts - Homeschooling is not for the "faint of heart."  You need to have tough skin because there are critics who will question your homeschooling.  Are your kids socializing?  Are they doing as well as public school kids?

8. Money - Yes, you do need enough money to pay for your material.  There are ways, though, in which you can homeschool on the cheap.  I'm telling you that I've cut corners.  You don't always have to buy the most expensive material out there.

9. Curriculum - What do you need to teach?  Math, reading, language arts, history.  You can find the books, workbooks, software, and hands on material online, through friends, book swaps, and even yard sales.  Believe me; that's how I've done it for more than ten years.

10. Learning - You have to be savvy, yes, when it comes to homeschooling.  More than anything, you need to love to learn.  Sometimes, I've learned new concepts about teaching and learning.  Sometimes, I've learned material I didn't know.  Sometimes, I have learned through others who are veterans at homeschooling.

Remember this: If you enlist God in your homeschooling journey, He will provide everything you need.  It's up to you to take action.  Do the research and seek out the people you want to emulate.  Just know that none of us are perfect.  We veteran homeschooling parents are simply trying our best.

Well, thanks for reading this entry.  I hope I've given an idea of the thought process behind my decision to homeschool.  I hope this list helps those of you still holding out on whether to homeschool. 

How about you, my readers?  For those of you who homeschool, how did you arrive at your decision to homeschool?  For those of you considering homeschooling, what is holding you back?  Have you researched the pros and cons of homeschooling?  I ask that those of you who are homeschooling please provide your comments and advice.  You never know how helpful you might be.  

 

I pray that God helps us all, whether we are homeschooling or are thinking of homeschooling.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace, as you teach your children.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  Hope you liked it.

To Try A Lemon Juice Detox

Ingredients I'll use for my lemon detox.

 

Well, I have been doing a great job of staying away from soda so far.  I also wanted to stay away from chips, but I ate some corn chips Saturday during our mini-vacation at the coast.  I failed there, but I won't beat myself up for it.  I will keep staying away from them and the soda.  I have not restricted my husband from his Pepsi, but I cringe when I see how much he consumes.  

 

I'm concerned about my husband's consumption of soda.

 

I love my husband.  I had already showed him how much sugar is in one can of Pepsi.  He's used to drinking Pepsi while driving to keep him awake.  Perhaps I could make tea, and we could drink that in our trips.  That's something to think about.

 

Oh, I did not have a good start for the coast.  Before leaving San Antonio, I asked my hubby to buy us fast food from Sonic.  The popcorn chicken and tater tots were heavily laden with salt.  I drank a strawberry slushie.  That combination made me sick; I won't be eating that again.

 

Here I am thinking "out loud."  After last week's anger, I am thinking about what I can do for the health of my family.  I have the power to change what my family eats.  I can keep the unhealthy, processed food out of our pantry and the fast food out of our mouths.  I can put my foot down and say "No" to sugary cereals, too.

 

One thing that I still want to do is detox.  I found an article that discusses lemon juice to help detox.  Yesterday, I asked my husband to buy me some lemons so that I can try this idea.  You can read the article here:

How to Make Lemon Cayenne Pepper Detox Drink

 

I wonder how I will be affected by it.  Will I feel sick?  Will I have to run to the bathroom?  I have been afraid to try this for fear of theses situations.  I've been wanting to try this when I don't have to leave home.

I'll let you all know next week how I do 

with a lemon drink detox.

 

How about you, my readers?  What drinks are you buying?  What drinks are you buying during a vacation?  Are you trying to buy the right during a vacation?  Looking for the best foods is tough, but it is especially difficult while on a vacation.  I hope you pay attention to your body when it tells you that a certain food is not working for you.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

 

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.

 

 

Easy Cheese Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients for cheese enchilada casserole

Today, I want to show how I made an easy cheese enchilada casserole.  Now, I'm not saying this is a healthy meal, but you can see that some of the ingredients are healthier alternatives.  Corn tortillas and extra virgin olive oil are healthier than the flour tortillas and other oils.  The other ingredients are Borden's mild cheddar cheese, which is pre-shredded, and the Wolf Brand Chile with beans.  The last ingredient also has ground meat in it which satisfies my craving for meat.

Softened corn tortillas

In low heat, I poured the extra virgin olive oil in a flat pan.  I placed each corn tortilla, one at a time, just enough to soften them up.

Cheese added to one tortilla

I waited about 20 minutes for the tortillas to cool down, before attempting to place a decent amount of cheese in each one.  There's no right or wrong way of doing this.  You can make each enchilada as skinny or as fat as you would like.

Rolled-cheese-filled taco

I rolled up each "taco" and squeezed it right at the edge of each other.  Notice how I started at one end.  What side would you start with?  (I'm left-handed, and I started on the left.)

Cheese tacos completed

I made fourteen of these little "tacos" or enchiladas fit in this casserole dish.  Like I said before, there is no right or wrong way of making these enchiladas.  You might have cheese coming out of the corn tortillas.  It's okay.  You don't have to be perfect.  The most important thing to remember is to have clean hands before touching your food.

Wolf brand chili with beans on top of the cheese tacos

Once all the little tacos are made, you can dump and spread the canned chili on top.  Just make sure to coat the tortillas until you hardly see them.  Whatever is exposed will turn a bit crunchy.  That's not bad if you want some of it crunchy.  I want to say here that having coated the corn tortillas with the olive oil will keep the enchiladas from sticking to the casserole dish.  That's just a little tip I'm giving because it helped this time around.

Casserole covered with aluminum foil

I preheated the oven at 325 degrees for about 5 minutes.  After completely covering the top of the casserole dish with aluminum foil,  I baked the enchiladas in the oven for about 20 minutes.  It was enough to melt the cheese and make some of the corn tortillas a little crispy.  It gave a nice contrast of textures.

End product--cheese enchilada meal

 

The end product of all the hard work was delicious, easy cheese enchiladas in a one dish casserole.  I added beans and rice.  The beans had been in the freezer from when I had made them previously.  I simply reheated the beans.  I started the rice, while I let the corn tortillas cool.

 

These enchiladas are great as leftovers!  
Simply reheat in the microwave and enjoy even more crispiness.

 

Someday, I will show how easy it is to make beans in another blog entry.  Beans were the first thing I learned to make when I was fourteen years-old, and I'd like to pass that knowledge to my kids.

 

 

Well, I hope you liked my version of cheese enchiladas.

I hope to show how to make my version of Mexican rice, too.  Stay tuned!

 

Thanks for reading this blog entry.  I hope you enjoyed this picture-filled entry.  I wanted to show how to make an easy cheese enchilada casserole.  As always, you can add more or less ingredients.  Perhaps, I will even show a different version of an enchilada casserole, this time with ground beef.  Yum, yum!

 
How about you, my readers?  Have you made enchiladas lately?  Why or why not?  I encourage you to add your own ingredients; you can add bell peppers, diced tomatoes, and onions.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads.

Fructose & Other Ingredients in Our Food

Bran Flakes Cereal comes with fructose.

Ingredients for bran flakes cereal.

I have been trying to get healthy.  It is a deep struggle, muddling through the information that is out in the world.  There are so many choices of foods in the supermarket.  I have been praying for God to point me to the truth.  Slowly, I have been digesting the information that is out there.

I had posted about using bran cereal, specifically the one shown above.  I had heard that bran cereal is good for you.  That has not changed.  What has changed is that the particular one above has high fructose in it.  I did not catch that when I bought it; I threw it out immediately, after seeing a lengthy video about fructose.

You can see the video in www.youtube.com.  

Just click on 

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

"Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]"

The doctor claims that fructose acts like a fat and an alcohol, which hurt your body in countless ways.  He said that there is an epidemic of 6 month old babies, yes, babies, with obesity.  Why?  He claims, with research, that the cereal and juices given through WIC, the program Woman, Infant, and Children, is giving those babies highly sweetened foods.  Further, he shows the chemical reactions that the fructose does to the body, with diagrams, to show how the liver tries to process this terrible ingredient.

That was a full load to learn in one sitting. I saw that hour and a half video. I'll admit that I got lost on the chemistry of the doctor's explanation. I also had a whole load of emotions.  I recommend that everyone see this video; you will then understand my frustration.

I am trying to get healthy.  I am trying to keep my children healthy.  It angers me that I can't get healthy because of the food and their additives. I think I am also saddened that greedy companies don't care about our health, just their money. What do I do with this anger?

 

12 teaspoons of sugar.

12 teaspoons equals almost 1/4 of cup of sugar

 

Anyone who knows my husband, has seen him with his usual can of Pepsi. I had heard that each can of regular Pepsi uses about 10 teaspoons of sugar. I might be wrong; I might be right. I just found a table online that says Pepsi has about 10 teaspoons of sugar. I use about 1-2 teaspoons of sugar for a cup of tea or coffee, but my husband heaps a lot of sugar; I think he might be addicted to sugar.

 

Here is the table I found, which lists other soft drinks as well:

Amount of Sugar in Various Kinds of Soft Drinks

Goober grape that my youngest son loves to eat.

My husband also likes and introduced Goober, which is peanut butter swirled with grape jelly, to my kids. Guess what Goober has? Yes. High fructose corn syrup is one of the ingredients.  I need to wean my son of off that poison.

Opening my Facebook this morning brought me another piece of information. Supposedly, other "good" ingredients, like added vitamins and minerals are not good for you. In fact, they are considered dangerous. They have been banned in other countries. I'll let you read the article so you can see for yourself:

Breakfast Cereals and Junk Foods - Poison for Our Children

"Andreas Moritz is a writer and practitioner in the field of Integrative Medicine. He is the author of 13 books on various subjects pertaining to holistic health, including The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Flush, Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation and Cancer Is Not a Disease. His most recent book is titled 'Vaccine-Nation: Poisoning the Population, One Shot at a Time'."

What is one to think?  What is one to do?  I am putting this information together to inform.  I'm not here to scare anyone.  I am simply using my anger in a positive manner.  

After seeing all of this information, we can do one of two things.  We can pretend that this information is wrong.  We can act on this information.  We can vote for what we really want--fresh food in the form of fruits and vegetables.  We can vote with our dollars by buying the fresh food and growing it ourselves.

How about you, my readers?  What foods are you buying and/or growing?  Are you trying to buy the right snacks?  I know that the information about foods can be quite frustrating.  I pray that you seek out the best foods for the sake of your health.  The children in your life are also depending on you to choose the best foods for them, too.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.  

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints that I discussed here are just my opinions.  Please consult your physician before altering anything relating to your health.  I am only suggesting here to take charge of your health.  Don't just leave your health in the hands of your doctors; become your own advocate.  You know best how your body is doing.