Issue No. 11
December 2008

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Please join CHN today!

Summoned

Family Expo 2009:
Last Chance for
2008 Early Registration Savings!

Time for the 2009 Election!

I'm not Wikipedia!

Winter Holiday Fun

Summary of November 2008 Online Member Chat

IEAH Thanksgiving Park Day

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Snowman Soup

Assemble in a gift bag, gift mug or small zipper food storage bag:

* 1 individual packet hot chocolate mix
* 2-3 chocolate kiss candies
* 10-15 mini-marshmallows
* small candy cane

Attach this poem to your gift:

"Was told you've been real good this year.
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You'll need to warm the spirit.
So here's a little Snowman Soup complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It's sure to do the trick!"

Snowman Soup and many other great ideas from organizedchristmas.com

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These silly gifts are always a hit with the kids. Use them for stocking stuffers, gift toppers, or just for fun.

Reindeer Poop

It's so simple, even a five-year-old can do it! (And that's about the age that really enjoys it!)
When you need a quick, fun and very easy craft, Reindeer Poop is the perfect solution! Yes, it sounds disgusting, and no adult in their self-respecting mind would stoop to something so childish, but, hey, it's about the kids, right? So here we go:

1 Package of malted milk balls, Milk Duds, or other chocolate candy
1 plastic or cellophane bag
1 reindeer poop poem (see below)

Take the package of candy and pour into the bag. Seal the bag. Print the poem and attach it to the bag. (See? Didn't I tell you this would be easy?)

I woke with such a fright when I heard Santa call...
"Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!"
I ran to the lawn and in the snowy white drifts,
those silly reindeer had left "little gifts."

I got an old shovel and started to scoop
neat little piles of reindeer poop!
But to throw them away seemed such a waste,
so I saved them, thinking-you might like a taste!

As I finished my task, which took quite awhile,
Old Santa passed by and he sheepishly smiled.
And I heard him exclaim as he sped off in the sky...
"Well they're not potty trained, but at least they can fly!"

No reindeers were harmed in the making of this product.

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Snowman Poop

Place some marshmallows, any size, in a plastic or cellophane bag, tie the top with a ribbon and add this cute poem:

"In the cold of winter when snow arrives, all the snowman dance and feel alive.
If you follow their tracks in the snow, soon some little droppings will show.
Round and white so sweet and light
Eat one eat two and have sweet dreams tonight!"

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Snapshots from a Homeschool Family


Toastmasters


Reading Time


Oktoberfest


Knotts Berry Farm

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Winter Holiday Fun

Winter is fast approaching, and with it comes the holiday season for many religions and cultures. Add to that the increased desire to stay inside out of the cold weather, and you have the perfect setting for a fun and relaxing time, learning about all the different holidays, customs and traditions. We've gathered a few links to get you started with ideas for unit studies, printable activities, and holiday crafts.


DLTK's Holiday Calendar - links for activities for all December and January holidays

Four different holiday crafts

Twenty Lessons on the various symbols of Christmas

Fifty different coloring pages to print

Free Christmas Notebooking Pages (pdf)

Christmas Unit Study Resources

Celebrating Hanukkah

Christmas Around the World Unit Study
(not a free product, but you can get it free with a three-day free trial subscription)

HGTV Christmas Crafts

Winter Unit Study

Animals in the Winter - Montessori Unit Study

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Contact CHN

 CHNzine
from
California Homeschool Network

Summoned
By Melissa Zawrotny

You open the mailbox and there it is. Your heart races, your palms start to sweat, and you are thinking up an excuse as you race to the phone to protest…

Being required to serve on a jury is intrusive, disruptive, next to impossible, and in general, a pain in the worst place to get pains. But for homeschoolers, those reasons are just the tip of the iceberg.

For most homeschoolers, a jury summons represents more intrusion from the outside into a world that is already tough to balance. Most homeschooling families are one income, don’t use the public school system at all, and often cannot afford to pay for child care nor have many resources available for child care. Being faced with having to accommodate the court system to serve on jury duty is understandably daunting.

However, serving on a jury is an essential part of the judicial process. Many cases have been settled at the last possible minute by the presence of citizens readily available to serve on a jury. As a free society, it is essential to take as good care of the justice system as possible, no matter how messy it appears. That takes everyone doing their part. Sometimes one or more parties can be persuaded to settle, or a case may be dropped if it is known that there is a jury waiting outside the courtroom doors just itching to try that case. Being on a jury is part of the dance, whether you have two left feet or not. Most of the time, the steps are complicated, but nonetheless, the dance is there.

But let’s consider this: a jury is und­erstood to be made up of “our peers.” As a fellow homeschooler, it would be important to be part of the true “peer group” in a case that involved a homeschooling family or one that was discussing educational freedoms in California.

If you hold a California driver’s license, pay property taxes, or register to vote, one day a jury summons may eventually find you. Below are some suggestions on ways to handle a jury duty summons.

1. Consider attempting to serve. No, you didn’t read it wrong. The average jury duty service is one day. The odds for longer service are rare for most.

I was recently summoned for jury duty. It was great timing since I had just arranged with another homeschooling friend down the street to exchange care duty in response to her summons several weeks prior. (She never had to actually go to the court, but said it was a relief to her to have me as the back-up plan.) When I sent back my summons affirming that I would be serving, I was then required to call in to the court for a week for daily updates on which group number was called for service the following day. By Tuesday of that week, my group’s service requirement had been completed for the year. This was Ventura County, so please check with your local contacts for assistance with jury duty information in your area.

Had I been required to report in person, I would have wanted to speak directly to the judge about not being able to serve any more days or on an extended basis. A court clerk is not usually willing, nor will have to the time, to listen to any (or all) particular situation(s) for being excused. And if one happens to mention the words, “homeschooling” to a court clerk, the conversation can quickly take an unattractive downward turn. (See #2).

I know a homeschooler who recently took a book with her to the court and was able to read for the ENTIRE day! She said it was a refreshing change from the usual homeschooling pace. So it IS possible to look for (and find) reasons “pro” for serving the average one day per year on jury duty.

2. Request an exemption due to “being the primary caregiver for dependent children.” Breastfeeding an infant is also an excuse that is generally accepted but, with a limited timeframe. Certain counties provide space on their summons to request an excuse. Others may have only certain excuses to choose from. Again, your Local Contact can be assistance to your specific area.

3. Consider “scheduling” your jury service. Jury summonses arrive unexpectedly. Without much notice, it is understandable to panic when the idea of rearranging an already harried schedule. However, if you cannot serve at that time, you can often schedule your service for later that year. This is a great way to work WITH the system rather than against it.

4. It is important to refrain from writing “because I home school” if there is space to write an excuse on your summons. Such a thing will usually lead to an automatic rejection of the excuse and when one calls to protest, possibly a heated discussion with an overworked court clerk who will not have brushed up on the latest private school rules or the four legal options homeschoolers use to do so. There is a risk of your name being “flagged” in the system (or for that period if you have not yet returned your summons) and in general, it is not worth the hassle to argue with the clerk. That discussion is best had with the trial judge, should you get to that point.

5. Consider utilizing other homeschooling families to share the load of “civic duty.” This would fall squarely under the definition of “support” in the phrase “support group.” Homeschoolers seek out other homeschooling families for “social” gatherings such as park days, classes, play dates, sleep-over’s, date nights and carpooling for field trips. Why not for jury duty, too? Children who are a bit older can be brought into the process by discussing the judicial system and the roles of private citizens.

Dealing with jury duty is one of those times where taking care about information being offered to strangers is essential, even to parties who “appear” to be in authority. In your dealings with a court clerk or judge with regard to jury duty, you are under no obligation to provide your teaching qualifications, justify your curriculum or debate your reasons for choosing that particular educational option at that time. The main focus of your relationship with a court clerk will be in relation to serving on a jury and for no other purpose at that time. Court clerks ultimately have the job of staffing juries for all the trials that require them. Los Angeles County is notorious for having trouble with jury reporting so the courts are required to summon grossly out of proportionate numbers of potential jurors knowing that a vast majority of them will not be able to serve (for one reason or another). So, you will imagine that a court clerk’s patience will be limited when it comes to exemptions from jury duty.

Jury Duty is an important civil service. No profession is exempt. Doctors, teachers, stay at home mothers, fast food workers, garbage haulers and yes, even lawyers are called to Jury Duty. There is no such thing as a permanent excuse.

There are about twenty-five states currently exempting homeschoolers (specifically) from jury duty. California is not yet one of them. Being cooperative with regard to serving on a jury can be a great opportunity to show what great leaders homeschoolers have the potential to be.

Time for the 2009 Election!

It's election time again! Fiscal Year 2009 - 2010 begins on July 1st, and there are three trustee seats up for election. Each trustee is elected to a two-year term, and presently, the Board of Trustees is made up as follows:

Term ends June 30, 2009:

Seat 1: Karen Taylor
Seat 2: Dinah Williams
Seat 3: Karin Miller

Term ends June 30, 2010:

Seat 4: Becky Maxwell
Seat 5: Ruth Pell
Seat 6: Loren Mavromati

Four eligible candidates submitted their candidate statements by the December deadline. Their candidate statements are available online HERE.

Please read these statements to familiarize yourselves with the candidates, and feel free to email them if you have any questions or concerns. There are no bylaw amendments proposed.

The balloting will take place from March 1 to April 1, 2009. Members wishing to vote are required to be registered CHN members, with family membership, by January 1st in order to be eligible to vote. Ballots will be emailed to all eligible members with active email addresses on file; remaining members will receive a ballot by mail. If you would like to receive your ballot by email but do not currently receive emails from CHN, please send an email to the Elections Committee at:

chn_elections@californiahomeschool.net

If you have not received your ballot by March 10, 2009, please call our hotline at 800-327-5339 or email the Elections Committee to request a ballot.

Election results will be announced in the May issue of CHNzine, and in the Summer issue of CHNews. Trustees-elect will begin their terms on July 1, 2009. The full text of the CHN bylaws relating to the electoral process is found here: Bylaws

The specific text governing the general election process is in Article VI, Section 2.

I'm not Wikipedia!
By Ruth Pell

"What does Phi Beta Kappa mean?" "Was gum invented when you were a kid?" "Who was president during World War 1?"

No kidding - these are just a few of the questions that my kids have asked me recently. My answers have varied from a quick, "I don't know, I'm not Wikipedia," to a more detailed lesson on researching the topic, consulting multiple sources, and (most importantly) not limiting their knowledge to what I already know. Sure, it's great that my kids think I'm such a fountain of knowledge, but really, my hope for them is that they'll strive to be smarter than I am. It's hard sometimes, because they're just looking for a quick answer and I'm usually just as interested in making short work of the inquiry. But I know that they need to practice finding their own answers, especially since I also know that I don't have all the answers.

Before we had the Internet, we've always had encyclopedia sets. One of the earliest tips I learned as a homeschooler is to pay attention to when the library is upgrading their encyclopedia sets, because they'll cycle their oldest set through the Friends of the Library's book sale. I've never paid more than $20.00 for a complete World Book set, and we've usually been able to keep two sets - the newest one for research, the oldest for cutting pictures out for notebooks. My kids have, from their earliest days, known they can have free access to these books. When he was about seven, my son was obsessed with maps, so the M volume became his constant companion. I guess I never realized just how many states and countries (each of which has a map as part of its encyclopedia entry) start with the letter M, not to mention the word "map" itself. That one volume fascinated him for months!

Now that they're older, my children are more interested in getting their answers through the Internet. Not only is it faster to find the answers, but it's easier to follow up with multiple sources and related topics. We have found Wikipedia to be a fairly informative starting point, though we realize it's not always reliable. The main advantage to Wikipedia is the interlinking of its articles. From the Wikipedia page on chewing gum, for instance, we can click on pages for Ancient Greece, American Indians, maple syrup, or anything else that looks interesting in the article. Each page has a list of source links at the bottom, so it's easy to follow through and check the sources when something looks questionable. Because it can be so quickly updated, Wikipedia is also the favorite spot for my girls to keep current on the "Dancing with the Stars" results. Since the show airs on the East Coast three hours earlier than it airs here, they can get the weekly results online long before watching the show at home. It's important to remember, though, that Wikipedia is just a "surface" approach - a mile wide but barely an inch deep.

Google searches are often more in-depth and informative, as long as we have the safe-search settings on Google. This is how we found the "Ben's Guide to U.S. Government" site, the "How Stuff Works" site, as well as many other valuable, topic-specific information sites. My younger kids still have problems determining which of the search results are really going to answer their questions, and which are just trying to sell something, so it's also an opportunity to discuss advertising techniques, financial support for websites, commercial vs. non-profit companies, and more.

The Internet has truly come of age in the past ten years. Every country, plant, animal, or person that might possible have an encyclopedia entry certainly has an Internet site somewhere. Sure, there's a lot of wading through useless junk, but the wading is worth it when there's so much treasure to be found.

Summary of November 2008 Member Chat

Below is a summary of the topics of discussion at the November 17th, 2008 CHN Member Chat. Be sure to join us on December 17 for another great chat!

1. Utilizing the Chat room for meetings, subject chats and open forums. Everyone is welcome to submit ideas and suggestions for upcoming chats, and if you would like to host/lead/moderate a chat, volunteers are always appreciated.

2. Getting the Media to cover homeschooling from a positive angle. We discussed the fact that negative homeschool stories spread like wildfire and positive ones don't seem to get around as easily. One great suggestion was to encourage our members to send in photos and articles to their own local papers. Small local papers prefer to publish stuff from and about their local residents.

CHN's next monthly members' chat
is scheduled for
Wednesday, December 17, at 7:00 pm. This month's hostess is Ruth Pell, CHN's 800# hostess and trustee. This will be an informal chat, so bring your questions, ideas, and favorite topics to discuss!

Our chat room is located here

The password will be posted by 12/15 on the Grapevine email list.

CHNzine archives

November 2008

October 2008

August 2008

July 2008

May 2008

April 2008

February 2008

January 2008

November 2007

October 2007

California Homeschool Network

California Homeschool Network is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the fundamental right of parents to educate their children.

Plumas County Homeschoolers

Start of Sierra Valley Hike


Sierra Valley Rocks


Sierra Valley Quarry

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CHNews Winter Edition

Our Winter Issue will be in your mailboxes soon! Here are the articles that you can look forward to reading!

*Start the New Year Independently
*Homeschooling in the Media
*Annual Check Up
*Volunteer of the Year
*CHN Salutes our Dedicated Volunteers!
*Time for the 2009 Election!
*Trustee Candidate Statements
*A Cabinet by Any Other Name
*Public Perceptions of Homeschooling
*Are You Missing Something?
*Our Non-directed Support Organization
*How to Submit Your Contributions to CHNews
*Scouting for School
*Green Park Day Potluck
*American Heritage Day ~ Sacramento
*"On the Road Again . . ."
*Ranger Bruce Answers Your Bird Questions
*A Green Idea
*Teaching Your Brain to Think
*Groundhog's Day Fun
*Deschooling Through Wine Country

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Shannon's Gingerbread House


Pre-Homeschoolers at the Playground


Praying Mantis Hike


Kids in front of Dog Rock Indian Valley


Climbing Rocks Sierra Valley


Butterfly Valley Hike


Break Time on the Rocks


Let's go this way -
Sierra Valley Hike

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Make this a greener holiday season

Here are some fun ideas for food gifts this year. You can change the poem to fit your situation.

Santa Kisses

Get a pretty plastic bag or basket and fill with
Hershey Kisses and
tie it up with pretty bows and attach this poem:

"Santa's been busy
granting our wishes
So he dropped off this bag
of Santa Kisses"

Loaf of Bread
"For being there when you were "Kneaded," for
"Rising" to the occasion, large or small. For never "Loafing" on the
job, for helping others to "Heel" with TLC. No matter how you "Slice
it," you do a terrific job loving others. Merry Christmas!!"

Fruit basket: "If we could choose our family, and we searched the
whole world through, we'd go 'bananas' trying to find a better 'bunch'
than you! Merry Christmas!"

Caramel Popcorn with a bottle of 7-up: "Pop, pop, fizz, fizz, oh what
a good friend you is."

Drink mix with cup: "To our special friends so dear, wishing you a cup
of cheer"

Cookies: "Wishing you Happy Holidays from your "crummy"
friend, neighbor or whatever.

Jam: "Hoping your Christmas is 'jam' packed with cheer"

Seasoning mix: "Seasoned with love - Happy Holidays"

Candy: "Wishing you a season full of sweetness"

Angel Kisses
(*you can use the Hugs Hershey Kisses*)

"There are so many kinds of kisses,
Some for love, and some for good wishes.
But here is the one that can't be beat
Angel Kisses--so wonderful and sweet!"

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Submit articles, photos, ideas and comments to the CHNzine team

We love stories about homeschooling, anything written by kids, pictures of homeschooling adventures and other inspirational homeschooling ideas!

CHNzine credits:

Karin Miller - editor
Ruth Pell

Photos:
Patti Connolly
Tammy Takahashi
Katharine Pell
Ruth Pell

Please send us your pictures of homeschool activities, and you may be featured in a CHN publication!

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CHN Board of Trustees

Loren Mavromati—President

Karin Miller—Vice President

Becky Maxwell—Treasurer

Karen Taylor

Ruth Pell

Dinah Williams

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Feedback please!

Let us know what you think of the CHNzine!

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Contact the Editor

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