Sowing Seeds

Recently our family attended the Spirit Song Festival at King's Island. In fact, we haven't missed one of the Christian concert events since its inception. If you've ever cruised by the website you know how much Christian music means to us.

It caught us a little off guard when someone showed up on the second day just in time for the last two bands and claimed a seat, ticket-proof in hand, on the aisle. We'd spent almost two full days by ourselves at the end of this row and were feeling a sense of ownership. Of course we scooted over and even struck up a conversation between sets. At the end of the concert we talked again briefly and went our separate ways.

On the final day of the three-day concert our seatmate didn't show up until the last band was about to play again. "I'd be late to my own funeral," she joked as she fished in her backpack. She whipped out a cardboard bookmark that had been torn from a magazine and handed it to me with a grin. "I always come bearing gifts," she said.

When I looked at the bookmark, I had to chuckle. It was titled, "31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your kids." That was really a nice touch. She, a single woman, brought me a gift she knew would be useful. The amazing part is I had read the article before and knew the author. Bob Hostetler is a friend as well as a fellow member of a local writers' group.

The seeds we sow (whether in an article, on a blog, or in our children's lives) can have such an incredible impact. We might not know about it at the time-- or ever. The copyright on the bookmark was 1999. Isn't that cool to think that six years later these words are still touching lives?! They've bounced around to who knows where and landed back to me.

Keep talking to your kids, communicating with friends, penning articles, and writing those blogs. No doubt you're having more of an impact than you'll ever realize.

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda W. Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com

Dear Son/Daughter

There is a new blogger in blogville for you to check out at www.timellsworth.com. Tim's blog is about sports, culture, religion, politics, and parenting — all from a Christian worldview.

Tim has his blog posts organized by topic and if you click on the "Letters to Daniel" (right column under categories) collection you'll find a wonderful assortment of letters Tim has written to his infant son. What a great idea! Just think how fun it's going to be for Daniel to read his father's thoughts when he grows up. Why not visit Tim's blog and read his letters?! Maybe it will prompt you to do the same for your children. (You don't have to show them to the world if you don't want to!)

Recently my sixteen-year-old went on a mission trip to Jamaica. One of the leaders of the group asked family members staying behind to write letters to those going to be opened once in Jamaica. My husband and I wrote separate letters to our son. It was a tremendously meaningful experience for us to recall all those special moments about Sean. We expressed our dreams for his future. Sean has the letters saved in his Bible.

I have written stories about the children for years. I have a journal for each of them. When they do something cute, funny, or special I write a story about it in their journal. The kids love to read these.

A friend, Robin Chaddock, wrote a book a while back entitled "Mom Overboard: 12 Lifesavers for Moms Who'd Rather Swim than Sink." One of the lifesavers she recommends mom's use to keep afloat is the Recording Lifesaver. In fact, I contributed a short piece for the book about the different ways I've used written records to keep our family's memories/events special. I've written a review of the book that you might like to read here.

Robin has also penned a wonderful article entitled "Stress Reduction through Balanced Self-Care. I'm sure I'm not the only homeschooling mom out there who's felt a little stress now and then. Check it out today.

Robin is now offering this great book for the incredibly low price of $5. There are details about how to get this offer at either of the above links.

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda W. Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com.

SAT Part 3

Ta Da. . . . . . Here it is -- the long awaited SAT essay. Like I said yesterday, it's hard to read because of all the missing words. Sean said he tried to use the time plan which meant he would proofread at the end. Unfortunately, he ran out of time and never got to the proofreading step. I asked him, "Don't you proofread as you write?"

He said, "No, I thought that would slow me down and they said to proofread at the end." Be careful to leave time at the end for this step. I had Sean go back and make the corrections. The corrected essay is below the original one. See what a difference proofreading makes!! Our goal now is to practice taking essays under timed test conditions. I'm giving Sean one of those a week until he retakes the test spring/summer 2006. I'll let you know if his score improves.

Essay Prompt

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below:
Many persons believe that to move up the ladder of success and achievement, they must forget the past, repress it, and relinquish it. But others have just the opposite view. They see old memories as a chance to reckon with the past and integrate past and present.
Adapted from Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation

Assignment: Do memories hinder or help people in their effort to learn from the past and succeed in the present? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Sean's essay response

It is important for success to remember your past and where you come. Whether you to be president or an emperor, remembering your background is important because it reminds you why you are doing what you are doing.

Take Julius Caesar for example, he got in to politics because he was sick of the nobles mistreating the peasants. As a result of this background Caesar strove to make all Romans. Unfortunately Caesar began to lose sight background and tried to establish himself as the most important man in Rome and therefore the world. Since Julius tried to place himself above the law he was assasignated.

A altenate example would be President Bush who uses background and upbringing to do what is best for America. Bush’s philosophy of peace through strength reflects the beliefs of a family friend, Ronald Reagen, who helped shape President Bush’s political beliefs growing up. As a result of not suppressing his upbring, Bush has been very sucessful as president.

In conclusion, I think that it been shown to beneficial to not repress past memories but to embrace them and use them to motivate you. This, it seems to me, is a key to sucess. You just have to be careful not to make Caesar’s mistake and forget your m

Sean's Corrected Essay

It is important for success to remember your past and from where you come. Whether you strive to be a president or an emperor, remembering your background is important because it reminds you why you are doing what you are doing.

Take Julius Caesar for example, he got into politics because he was sick of the nobles mistreating the peasants. As a result of this background Caesar strove to make all Romans equal. Unfortunately Caesar began to lose sight of his pure motivation and tried to establish himself as the most important man in Rome and therefore the world. Since Julius tried to place himself above the law he was assassinated.

An alternate example would be President Bush who uses his background and upbringing to do what is best for America. Bush’s philosophy of peace through strength reflects the beliefs of a family friend, Ronald Reagan, who helped shape President Bush’s political beliefs growing up. As a result of not suppressing his upbringing, Bush has been very successful as president.

In conclusion, I think that it has been shown to be beneficial to not repress past memories but to embrace them and use them to motivate you. This, it seems to me, is a key to success. You just have to be careful not to make Caesar’s mistake and forget your memories or reject your upbringing.

If you'd like to see all of the writing prompts that were given to students on the June 2004 SAT check out this College Board page.

Want to see sample essays that scored a 1-6? Go to this College Board page.

Hope this helps you or your sons/daughters to score a 6 on the SAT essay. Good Luck. Now, go practice, practice, practice.

Until we meet in the teachers' Lounge again,

Linda Wakefield Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com

SAT Part 2

Yesterday I detailed my son's SAT scores. Today, I want to discuss the essay portion of the test. Here are some helpful tips we found in our preparation:

1. The directions are always the same. Spend time getting familiar with those before test day so you don't even have to reread them on the test day. You only get 25 minutes total for the essay.
2. Read the prompt and in five minutes quickly decide to agree or disagree and come up with 2-3 examples to backup your opinion. If you can only think of 2 examples discuss them thoroughly. Examples from history or literature are better than personal examples.
3. The essay should be 4-5 paragraphs in length. An introductory thesis paragraph agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. Then your examples to back up your opinion in 2-3 paragraphs. And, finally your conclusion or restatement of your thesis.
4. Spend 15 minutes writing the essay.
5. Take the remaining 5 minutes to proofread your essay for errors.
6. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE under TIMED test conditions. I can't emphasize this enough. 25 minutes might sound like a long time. It's not. Your chances of scoring a 5 or 6 on the essay will increase dramatically if you practice writing essays to prompts while timing yourself.

Sean received a 4 (on a scale 1-6) on his essay. He didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the SAT so prep time was short (as explained in previous posts). Sean didn't really practice the essay under timed conditions and he should have. He simply ran out of time. He had good content (I think he would have scored a 5 on content), but he didn't get to the proofreading step at all. Because he was writing fast (feeling the time crunch), he left out many words. And, he didn't get to write his last phrase at all.

What does a score of 4 mean? According to the College Board site

An essay in this category is competent, demonstrating adequate mastery, although it will have lapses in quality. A typical essay:

develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates competent critical thinking, using adequate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
is generally organized and focused, demonstrating some coherence and progression of ideas
exhibits adequate but inconsistent facility in the use of language, using generally appropriate vocabulary
demonstrates some variety in sentence structure
has some errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

The College Board site also describes qualities a 5 and 6 essay should have. Check it out at the link above.

Okay--I know I promised I'd publish Sean's essay today. But, this is getting long. You're just going to have to come back tomorrow. In the meantime, why not check out my website for SAT and other related information. Go to the SiteSearchpage to locate all the SAT related information on the site.

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda Wakefield Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com

SAT Part 1

I promised I'd let you know how Sean fared on his SAT. Well, the results are in. He received a 1710 which I felt was quite good for a high school sophomore. I researched what the scores meant since the scoring system is new. I found the following information: The average nationwide is about 1450. To get into a competitive state school like a Michigan State would mean scoring about a 1900. To get admitted to an ivy league school is going to demand an SAT score around 2200.

Sean is a reader and it showed. His best score was in critical reading -- a 630 which was 85% higher than college-bound seniors nationwide, and 88% higher than college-bound seniors in our state.

Sean's math score was his lowest -- a 500 which is still 43% higher than college-bound seniors nationwide and 50% higher than college-bound seniors in Ohio. While math is not Sean's best subject he still does quite well. The lower score I believe was reflected by the fact that he hasn't taken Geometry yet. The Abeka curriculum we use recommends Algebra 1 in 9th grade, Algebra 2 in 10th grade, and Geometry in 11th grade. There were many Geometry questions on the test. Sean should do much better when he takes the SAT again next spring/summer after having that course under his belt. Plus, we're switching from Abeka to Mcdougal Littel for Geometry next year which incorporates graphing calculator (see my discussion on this calculator in a previous post) exercises into a very advanced curriculum program. That should improve his math score.

Sean's writing score was a 580 (70% of the score is made up of multiple choice grammar/vocabulary questions and 30% of the score is derived from the essay. Since this was the new portion of the SAT there are no national/state percentile comparisons available yet (the previous year's test scores are used and those won't be available for the writing section until the class of 2006 graduates). Sean is very strong in vocabulary and quite good in grammar as well. The essay -- well, that's going to take some discussion. Tomorrow, I'll post his essay and discuss his score and what Sean can do to improve on the SAT essay. Which should help all of you out there gearing up for this beast.

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda Wakefield Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com

Harry Potter

Where were you on Friday night? Well, quite a few people were attending Harry Potter parties at their local bookstores awaiting the strike of midnight when the latest Harry Potter book could be purchased. In fact, the 7th book in the J. K. Rowling series set a record selling 6.9 million books in the first 24 hours. Well, we were at just such a party.

The interesting part is a local public high school teacher (who also just happens to be a youth pastor at an area Baptist church) brought many of the props he has collected from a class he teaches entitled "Legends in Literature." I know, I know. . . public school, youth pastor, and Harry Potter. . .all in one sentence, let alone classroom, might be a little mind boggling for some. Read on.

This teacher's students and youth group came dressed in costume and manned booths and games. There were Quidditch poles, Weasley's flying car, crookshanks, corn hole, and potions with Snape. This is just their Potter collection. Other fantasy literature is explored in the class including J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series and C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe. The class has also build Mt. Doom and the two towers of Lord of the Rings fame. This teacher says, "Through daily role-playing and life-size reenactments over the past years, I have watched the students bring these books to life in amazing ways." The goal is one day to have a coffee house decorated in the fantasty genre theme for area youth to visit says the pastor/teacher.

Of course the subject of Harry Potter can often be a touchy one for Christians. Our family has had our own evolution of thought on the topic. My oldest is a reader and when he was in the fifth grade we purchased the first book in the series. It was all new then and we didn't know much about the books except that everyone raved about them. My husband began reading the book aloud to my son. About the same time my son's teacher at a Christian school he was attending read the book (on her own--not at school). After only reading two chapters she decided she didn't like how they made her feel She then forbid the students to read the books at school or use them for book reports. Of course, although it seemed a bit hasty not having read the entire book or having researched the topic,we respected her wishes and put the book up prefering to err on the side of caution. The next year we began homeschooling our children.

My son didn't pick up the Harry Potter series again until a year ago (end of 9th grade). Why did I allow my son to read the Harry Potter books? We had read The Hobbit and the entire Lord of the Rings series as well as the Chronicles of Narnia as part of our home school curriculum. My son loves fantasy-related literature. We discussed the potential harmful themes in the book (wizards, magic, etc.). All of these themes are present in the Tolkien and Lewis books as well yet no one questions the Christian elements in these author's books. Still we read through several books on the question of whether Christians should read Harry Potter. I've listed the ones we used here (you just might want to purchase one for yourself):

Looking for God in Harry Potter

Harry Potter, Narnia, and the Lord of the Rings: What You Need to Know about Fantasy Books and Movies"

Faith Journey through Fantasy Lands: A Christian Dialogue with Harry Potter, Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings

Am I saying you should read Harry Potter? No. Not necessarily. I think it's an individual decision that each family must make (and maybe the decision will be different for each child in the family--my other two haven't indicated an interest in these books). My son is sixteen. He's old enough to discern right from wrong. Of course we (his parents) guide him. He has an incredible faith and in fact wants to be a Bible College Professor. For him, the decision to read Harry Potter has been a good one.

Until we meet again in the teachers' lounge,

Linda Wakefield Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com

Independence Day

Independence Day Thoughts:

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again." Ronald Reagan (Found on www.Hannity.com)

"There is a price for freedom, and some people have to step up to the plate and pay the price."
-- Michael Coutu, native of North Hampton, NH, whose 23 year-old son Matthew was killed this week while helping the Iraqi police investigate a car bombing. (Found on www.LauraIngraham.com)


Independence Day Reading:

Shane Comes Home by Rinker Buck is an increbibly touching story of the first American soldier to die in Iraq. Shane Childers was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Marines and a Citadel graduate. His life and the celebration of it are truly inspiring.

Independence Day Music:


Maybe you've heard Martina McBride's version of "Independence Day" on the Sean Hannity radio show. American Idol winner Carrie Underwood's rendition of the tune may have given her the edge over runner-up Bo Bice. Why not get a copy of one (or both) today to play at your holiday BBQ?!



Independence Day Food/Fun/Family:

Seekover.com offers 10 tips to help you celebrate the Fourth with a bang! There are tons of great entertaining ideas for Independence Day atAbout.com Go to the Family Fun Magazine site for July Fourth crafts, parade wear, parties and games, picnic fare, cake and treat recipes.

Independence Day History:

The Betsy Ross site explains the history of the flag.

The history of Independence Day is explained here,including a fun quiz and poll.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Until we meet in the teachers' lounge again,

Linda W. Kelley

www.Christian-Parenting-Source.com