August 1st is Switzerland's National Day. It is Switzerland's 4th of July. It is celebrated in much the same way as in America with flags, fireworks and cookouts. The whole country gets involved. Baker's make pastries with Swiss crosses on them. Shops sell souvenirs that represent Switzerland.
This year is Switzerland's 719 birthday. August 1st was chosen because in 1291 three men all from different cantons swore and oath of confederation. This have become known as the foundation of Switzerland. These men swore an oath of brotherhood and agreed to come together to defend their freedom from the invading barbarians of Austria. Before this day Switzerland was made up of tribes located through out the land. These tribes came together to fight for their freedom.
Bonfires were set out on mountain tops to keep watch for the invading Austrians. Bonfires for centuries had been lighted each summer on the mountain tops to celebrate this freedom.
In 1891 the Swiss government declared the day as Switzerland's national day but it wasn't until 1993 that the day became an official holiday.
Today the Swiss celebrate with parades, public speeches, and bonfires. There are cookout where sausages are roasted over the fire. Barbecue on farms and in gardens are set up and fireworks light up the night.

Home schooling

Home schooling is a challenge for any parent but also it beings great rewards. Many parents find new and interesting things that they had not seen before in their children. School becomes a new experience for the parent and the child. One in which both benefit.

Home schooling gives the child who wants to learn the opportunity to learn the lessons and then expand that learning. School is not boring to them because they learn at their own pace and can finish early. They may work on projects of their own choice and explore their interests.

For children who are struggling, it gives the parent and the child a way to catch up. Because this learning is one-on-one, much can be accomplished within a short time. The parents are able to observe where extra help and encouragement is needed.

Field trips can be arranged with other home schoolers in the community.

Many home school parents sign their children up for different activities such as soccer, baseball, basketball, and other sports that the community offers. In addition, private music or art lessons may be found within the home schooling families. Mothers and fathers who have a skill may teach a lesson once a week to a group of home schoolers.

Home schooling provides a unique opportunity for both parents and their children. Anyone interested in home schooling his or her child can find a wealth of information and help within the home schooling communities, which can be found on the Internet

After listening to Fox News defame Jesse Ventura for saying that our government was involved in the 9/11 attacks, I am even more concerned for our country.
To quote Fox News: Perhaps what Ventura is missing is that there is probably more incontrovertible evidence and more witnesses who have already established what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 than most major historical events. To dispute the conventional historical account is intellectually dishonest and nonsensical. – FOX News
I believe the US Government is corrupt. Not to say that every person serving in the government is corrupt but that the system has been so twisted and perverted that I do not see anyway to fix it, unless the Tea Parties and the Ron Paul's of this nation rise up and take it back. I wonder just exactly how we would go about doing that. We have tried marching on Washington with about a hundred thousand people to stop the health bill only to have Fox News refuse to tell the correct number of people who were there. If Fox News will not tell the truth .... With Fox News denying the facts about 9/11, I am discouraged and frightened for my country. Not to say I believe Fox News to be the answer to America's problems but right now it is a source for much truth. It is a concern to see it not only failing to tell the truth but denying that truth.
I don't think America the home of the brave and the land of the free exist anymore or perhaps I should say its days are numbered. I hope I am wrong. God is still in control and could change the way things are going in our nation. This would involve the Church waking up, repenting, and start preaching about the need for true repentance and the belief in a God that will judge a nation and its people. Pray for our nation.

Freedom is the right of a people to choose how they will be governed. The U.S. Constitution was written to give a free people the means to govern themselves. It was never meant to be rules and regulations that one must follow.
American freedom depends on its people. Its people must govern themselves and obeying the moral obligations of law. The moral climate in America has fallen into decay. People feel that they are owned things rather than working hard for them. It has resulted in a belief that the government should provide for us.
Americans have allowed their government to "come to their aid" in the name of helping people get what they should have. This started with the New Deal, where the government set up programs to help people get jobs. It all sounded good but it was the beginning of the end for American freedoms.
Helping people obtain jobs and have the basic needs belongs in the hands of individual Americans, in our churches, in our charitable organizations that are run by individuals and groups of Americans not be government. When a people fail to keep government from making laws that infringe on human rights then freedom begins to crumble.
We have come down this socialist road so far that there does not seem to be a way to stop it. President Obama campaigned for change. His meaning of change seems to be to destroy American freedoms. If the American people do not wake up soon we will never be able to stop this path of destruction of our American freedoms.

My country is in decline and my government is no longer following the Constitution. So much of what is happening with the Supreme Court is totally wrong. The founding fathers set up the three branches of our government as a check and balance. This is not happening nor has it been happening for some time.

Americans have been asleep and although some are waking up, I fear it is too late. It is appalling the way Congress and Obama have pushed this health bill through without listening to the majority of the American people.

But what is most disturbing is that there hasn't been an outcry against this move to socialism. There needs to be a Revolution, an uprise against what is happening.

I don't know how this would happen. I only know that we need to get rid of much of our "government" that never should have been set up in the first place. Again I am afraid it is too late.

Now we are seeing accusations of violence that causes me to wonder who is actually doing these acts. I believe that this is just a ploy to get the focus off of what Congress is doing. I believe that the November elections will put in more conservative Senators and Representatives into office but I don't think we can wait that long.

I think too much will be in play for anyone to change it. I hope I am wrong. I wish we would impeach Obama and put Ron Paul in as the President of the United States. What is happening with Israel is a crime. Our Muslim president does not like Israel. God is going to judge. One nation under God is just not true anymore. God has been removed and we are seeing the results.

Today I have been doing all the little chore things that you put off until you must get them done. I am not sure that is a good trait but it works for me.
Still working on my novel which still is lacking in plot. It is a narrative right now. But the truth is I really enjoy writing and I like my character so I plot on. Lol, what can I say. ...Nothing.
Have I told you I like snow. I do and it is really cold but it refuses to snow. What is the matter with this weather?
Praying for snow! Moving to Switzerland! No, not really but it sounds like a good idea.

I have been thinking about the plot of my novel. I am thinking about some of the books that I liked as a child, what the plots were and how the characters interacted. I remember having a very hard time learning to read. I was in the 7th grade when I picked up The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. I stumbled through it not knowing many of the words but I read it. Then I read it again. Since I love horses there was no way I wasn't going to read more about this horse. I read The Island Stallion and a few others by Mr.Farley. I was teaching myself to read and by the time I was in the 9th grade I was reading at a much higher reading level without any trouble.
I now read at least two books a month. I am usually reading two or three books at the same time. I have begun reading differently. I am looking at the plot and how the characters interact. I am thinking about the structure of the story. I am looking at the simplicity of good sentence structure and how a well written sentence keeps the story moving.
I look at my novel and realize that it has good and bad qualities. I have move on to fixing the bad and improving the good.

It has been a while since I posted anything. I have not thought of any educational topics I want to write about so perhaps I will just write about what is happening on a daily basis. Not to say I will write everyday but I will write on a much broader scope.
I have begun to write a novel for middle school age kids. It is about moving to Africa. I am finding that I am very wordy so I am in the process of rewriting and getting simplistic rather than boring.
I am working on my writing skills as I see a great need in that area. How to develop a plot, characters and that sort of thing. The best advise I have received, which has come from writers, is to just write, write, write. It is with that incentive in mind that I have restarted this blog. Where it will go from here is a mystery to be discovered. Will I become a famous author? Will I overcome my fear of writing poorly? I can only try.

Horses: A Passion of Mine

I thought I would write something different that I really enjoy. So here it is.

Horses, I love them. I love to watch them play in the fields, especially the babies. They chase each other around the field and when they jump all four feet come off the ground. They have mock fights and rear up like stallions. They play and play until they drop and then they sleep. Their mothers stand watch over them.

I love to watch horses eat. They are so content. It makes me feel relaxed and at peace. Taking their time they chew and work to get every last piece of grain. They lick the buckets clean and nibble along the edges. Then they look around for more on the ground. I love the way they wiggle their noses and work to get the grain and leave the dirt. They can empty half a bucket of water in three or four swallows. Then they are content to just stand with a back hoof cocked. They stand near each other some with their heads on each others back. Their ears are twitching back and forth listening to the sounds at twilight.

I love to come up and stand by them or lean against one, while watching the sun go down. It is such a quiet time of the day. When it becomes too dark to see the beautiful colors of sunset, I leave the horses but will return in the morning.

Improving Education

Teacher unions are great if you want to teach without the threat from an unreasonable principal but that is the only good thing I can really say about unions. For the most part I am against Teacher Unions because they support a liberal agenda and use the teacher dues to lobby for their liberal agenda. It is for this reason I will not join the NEA or the United Federation of Teachers. I believe the unions protect incompetent teachers. Read the article in The New Yorker entitled: “The Rubber Room”. This article is about incompetent teachers and it is such a travesty to our school system. The article relates the reason it is so hard to improve failing schools. It is well known that it is very difficult to hire good teachers in failing schools because there is so much extra paper work and headaches with discipline and unreasonable parents who blame the teachers for not being able to control their children. Principals in these schools are under so much pressure. This pressure filters down to the teachers and to the students. This creates an unhealthy atmosphere for learning. I believe teacher unions make it difficult to change our schools. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill

Most big cities have their poor under privileged schools. Most are found in the intercity and most are failing. However there are some real success stories out there. The unions have very little if anything to do with successful schools. I believe that parents and teachers coming together to make a difference in creating a successful school make the difference. One example of an successful school is found in Tampa, Florida. The Muller Elementary School has created an environment where the students have exceeded the state test scores. The principal, Bonnye Taylor, overcame the odds of 74 % of the student population at poverty level by creating an enjoyable learning environment that inspired student to learn. She commented, “Our school-wide, theme-based curriculum is designed to motivate attendance,” Taylor said. “We get all the students involved and we make the units fun to learn, which translates into kids wanting to be here.” http://advancement.sdsu.edu/marcomm/features/2006/urbanschools.html

There has to be an answer to these school dilemmas. I believe it is the responsibility of parents, teachers, and administration of each individual school to communicate and come together for the children. I believe that each school needs to create its own learning community that make learning fun. This endeavor is difficult especially when there is a lack of money. However, there are many grants out there for teachers and schools. Schools need to explore all avenues and opportunities to improve student achievement.

(Let me put in my views: I would not support any government intervention even though that seems to be President Obama’s new agenda. This disturbs me for many reasons but the most pressing one for me is that I believe he is trying to take the focus off the health issue which is failing.) Enough said, this is another issue I want to deal with in this blog.

I would welcome anyone to comment on their successful schools or a difference of opinion about unions.

What has Happened to Education?

Oh, how I wish I could wave a wand like Harry Potter and take our educational system back at least 50 years. It was a time when teachers taught and students learned. It was a time when the Bible and prayer were not only accepted but also wanted. The Bible was a part of the educational system even if it was not read its principles were a part of daily life: honesty, integrity, and doing your best were expected and taught.

As opposed to today we did not have failing schools and literacy was not an issue as it is today. We did not have the discipline issues, because parents took the responsibility for how their child behaved in school and backed up the teacher. We did not have teachers who had so much paperwork that teaching time was needed to complete it. We did not have the government pressure to teach so many standards in one year. We did not have the pressure of jobs being threatened if the teacher, principal, or school, did not measure up to the end of the year test. It is this end of year test that is the criteria for measuring up each year.

Oh, how I wish the government would get out of the education business.

In the World of Special Education

How do you define special education? For most people it raises the idea of children with special needs. Some of these needs are: autism, downs syndrome, mental or physical impairment, learning disabilities, blindness, deafness, or other health impaired. Each child has his or her individual needs and thus in the world of special education there is what is called an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Special education teachers specialize in one or more of these specialties and are equipped to recognize a child's individual needs. An IEP is written for a given time period and must be followed because it is federal law. An IEP follows government standards and must adhere to these standards in each section of the plan.

Some of the IEP sections are: the people who attend, invitation letters, end of year testing. This test may be given in the classroom or individually or in small groups. Other sections are the goals and objectives, the ways the goals will be measured to show learning, and what classroom modifications or accommodations are to be given. At the beginning of the meeting, the results of the evaluation tests are gone over with parents and other attendees to show the need for the special education. This information is discussed and agreed to. The IEP is then written and signed by all in attendance. There is a checklist for the special education teacher that makes sure that all the sections of the process have been followed. Most special education teachers would tell you the process is consuming before writing, during writing, and implementing in the classroom.

You might ask, what does this have to do with educational freedom? For starters, the IEP hinders a teacher’s ability to teach by burdening that teacher with government required paperwork, taking time away from real teaching, and imposing standards that don’t make sense for many special education students.