Talk about the fox guarding the hen house…

     DO YOU REALLY WANT PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEVISING THE “SEX EDUCATION” CURRICULUM FOR YOUR SCHOOL?  Well, consider the following:

Planned Parenthood Launches New Sex Ed Program for Kids

      The Planned Parenthood abortion business is continuing its mission to attract more eventual customers but using sexual education to build relationships.
As they have in the past, the abortion giant is seeking to push comprehensive sexual education on young people, and now it is taking the campaign further with a push to reach children. As CNS News reports in a new article:

     Specifically, Planned Parenthood’s Web site announced the group is preparing to launch a nationwide “social change initiative” to end the “stigma and shame about sex” in American culture. The project aims to teach parents and caregivers how to educate children about sex — from birth. And it recommends telling teenagers about masturbation, oral sex and “where to go for help to prepare to be sexually active.”

     The “Real Life. Real Talk” initiative began as a pilot program in communities in Maine, New York, Connecticut, and Arizona between 2004 and 2008, according to a report about the initiative that is for sale on the project’s Web site.

     Now Planned Parenthood is preparing to launch the program nationwide, with funding from donors and private groups, including The Ford Foundation.  Full story at LifeNews.com
http://www.lifenews.com/2010/12/30/planned-parenthood-launches-new-sex-ed-program-for-kids/

     AND, IN A RELATED STORY:

UN Sneers But Teen STAR Abstinence Program Gets Results

     Nothing gets the debate burning hotter at the UN than one over sex education for children. Last Fall conservative UN delegations angrily protested a report claiming for children a new right to “comprehensive sexuality education.”
     At another meeting last year, when the Holy See promoted abstinence-based programs, liberal delegations met the proposal with sneers and laughter.

     While some at the UN sneer, an innovative abstinence-based education program is seeing results. Dr. Hanna Klaus, a medical missionary nun and veteran OB/GYN, developed the Teen STAR program that educates adolescents about their fertility with natural family planning techniques. Full story at LifeNews.com

http://www.lifenews.com/2010/12/30/un-sneers-but-teen-star-abstinence-program-gets-results/

     (AH, JUST MORE REASONS FOR CHRISTIAN PARENTS TO HOMESCHOOL THEIR CHILDREN IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE BROUGHT UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD.)

Little White School Museum, Oswego, IL

The Little White School Museum located at 72 Polk Street in downtown Oswego, IL, holds the rich history of the community and reflects the spirit of its early residents. Built as a church in 1850, then used as a one-room school until the mid 1960’s, the building is now preserved and maintained by a cooperative agreement between School District 308, the Oswegoland Park District, and the Oswegoland Heritage Association. Open to the public, the Little White School Museum is an archive of local Oswegoland history.  Step in and take a step back in time.  The Little White School is available for rental for weddings or events.

more information about the homeschooling Johansson family of Sweden

The latest on Video about the Johansson family in Sweden
Please consider putting this on your blogs:
 
 
 Swedish government’s 18-month-long seizure of 9-year-old boy pushing parents to emotional brink
Parents of homeschooled child becoming desperate as Sweden continues to keep their son in custody with virtually no visitation
Listen to the video about the Johansson family here:

http://hef.org.nz/2010/swedish-governments-18-month-long-seizure-of-9-year-old-boy-pushing-parents-to-emotional-brink/
 
 
Blessings
Barbara
http://www.hef.org.nz

Please also consider putting this on your blogs as well, Thankyou:
 
 
 
 
 IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED for Christer Johansson, Domenic’s father
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Dear friends and supporters of Domenic Johansson,
 
As you might have heard and/or read, Domenic’s father, Christer Johansson, is in prison awaiting trial on the 20th December 2010. He was arrested after bringing Domenic home after a supervised meeting. These extremely rare meetings of 1 hour every 5 weeks and under close watch of authorities have been torture for this family, who have suffered unimaginable psychological stress and pressure. Imagine only being allowed to see your young child for this limited time over the last 18 months. They have not even been allowed to see Domenic on his birthday and holidays.
Christer has also been denied his right to choose his own legal representative twice.

We really want to bring this issue into focus and show our support for Christer in the upcoming trial on the 20th. Because travel ticket prices are high to the island of Gotland due to the impending holiday season, our initial thought of getting a group of supporters to go to Gotland in person and hold a peaceful demonstration outside the court, sadly had to be scrapped.

We have come up with another idea for which we need all the support for we can get.

We would like YOU, wherever you are in the world, to please print or copy the Swedish text FOUND BELOW and post this as a letter or postcard to the judge who will lead the trial on the 20th.

His name and address is:

Lagman Mikael Mellqvist
Gotlands tingsrätt
Box 1143
SE-621 22 Visby
SWEDEN

Or email the text to the courts with as many emails as you and your friends and family members can: gotlands.tingsratt@…

If you can, send both the postcard/letter and email for greater impact.

We are hoping that if we bombard the Gotland courts and judge with letters and emails of support it will show them the strength of feeling regarding this case.

Time is of the essence, so please send this as soon as you possibly can.

Please sign your name and country if possible to lend more credibility to your letters/emails (or if you want to/need to stay anonymous that will be fine too). What’s important is that we get as many people to do this as possible.

SWEDISH TEXT:

Till Lagman Mikael Mellqvist

Jag är mycket oroad över hur svenska myndigheter och domstolar har behandlat Christer Johansson och över LVU- omhändertagandet av hans son Domenic Johansson.

När Christer måndagen den 22 november 2010 tog med sig Domenic gjorde han en överilad handling.

Han är en kärleksfull far som inte längre kunde stå emot sin längtan efter sonen Domenic, som han bara har fått träffa 1 timme var femte vecka och då alltid övervakad av någon myndighetsperson.

Christer är ingen brottsling, men han har levt under oerhörd psykisk press och stress sedan 1,5 år tillbaka när de sociala myndigheterna beslöt att på ytterst tveksamma grunder tvångsomhänderta hans barn.

Jag vädjar till Er att låta Christer Johansson slippa straff och att ni respekterar de mänskliga rättigheterna som stadgas i Europakonventionen.

Vänligen, ________________________________

BELOW IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. Below is the Swedish text translated into English for you to know what you are sending. PLEASE SEND THE MESSAGE USING THE SWEDISH TEXT and NOT the English text below. The below text is simply for your information.

Swedish text translation in English:

To Judge Mikael Mellqvist

I am extremely worried about how the Swedish authorities and courts are treating Christer Johansson and the circumstances of the forceful abduction of his son Domenic by Gotland Social Services.

When Christer decided to bring his son home on Monday 22 November 2010 it was the action of a man who had been driven to desperation.

Christer is a loving father who could no longer bear to be apart from his only son Domenic. A son who he had only been able to see for 1 hour every five weeks and then always under close supervision by authorities.

Christer Johansson is not a criminal but he has had to endure huge psychological stress and pressure for the past one and a half years, ever since the Social Services took away his son on the weakest of pretexts.

I entreat you to please respect Christer Johansson’s Human Rights in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. Please ensure that justice is served and that Christer Johansson is released without further punishment.

Kindly,

________________________________________________

Please read more on:
 
http://friendsofdomenic.blogspot.com/
 
Thank you for your support.
Blessings to all and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

–Friends of Domenic Johansson

 
 
Blessings
Barbara
http://www.hef.org.nz
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/newzealand/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KiwiSmithFamily/
http://www.familyintegrity.org.nz
http://www.issacharian.com/
http://www.photoblog.com/charmagne

Creation versus Evolution material

Creation versus Evolution Material–Fun, Edifying and Convincing

     Have you really taken the time to get informed regarding evidence that supports Judeo-Christian history and biblical writings? Often such reading is technical and boring. Fortunately, material is now available that is easy to understand and a delight to absorb. Dr. Don Patton (member of the church of Christ) has produced a set of videos that are outstanding. They are suitable for personal or class use. I have presented them in class and then followed with review questions and observations that generate lively and productive discussion.

     These videos can be obtained via DVD for a nominal fee, or a lower definition version may be downloaded at no cost. There are 15 DVDs that contain 23 parts or presentations. The theory of evolution is smashed from every angle and exposed as bad science, deceptive and false. Anyone who is honest cannot watch these videos without building or strengthening his faith that God exists and that the Bible was written by inspiration. The material is well documented, well presented and powerful. It even contains several successful attempts at humor. The average person will learn much from each of the presentations, some of which will simply amaze you.

     Some may object to this material being presented in a class or in the assembly—mainly because it is different from traditional Bible study and they do not understand that part of the Christian’s training should be to learn of the evidences for the faith (not just internal evidences) that equip us to exhort, convince and convert evolutionists and other unbelievers. Among the teachings of Dr. Patton you will find convincing evidence of the age of the earth, that dinosaurs coexisted with man, and that Noah’s Ark not only is not a myth but actually exists. You will also see an interchange between Dr. Patton and a professor at McMaster University and much more. To obtain the valuable information described above click on the following link: http://www.bible.ca/tracks/videos-quotes.htm

     (Note:  I received the above e-mail on a Bible study e-mail list.  Don Patton is a good friend of ours and an excellent speaker when it comes to the subject of evolution vs. creation.)

Islamic teaching in public schools

     Our friend Dave Pratte also sent the following item.  He said, “Here is another article from the November, 2010, Phyllis Schlafly Report. This one documents promotion of Islam in public schools.”  It has been declared a violation of the so-called “separation of church and state” to teach about Christianity.  But if you want your child to learn all about the Muslim religion, just send them to our nation’s public schools and they’ll get an earful!  Here’s the quote.

Un-American American History Courses II
 

     The Mexican version of history is not the only foreign propaganda masquerading as American history in public school courses and textbooks.  Five chapters promoting Islam were inserted in a world history textbook that is authorized and recommended for seventh-grade students by the state of California.
 
     This world history textbook, called History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, gives the history and beliefs of Islam lengthy and favorable treatment far above and beyond what is given to every other religion, according to scholar Stephen Schwartz in the Weekly Standard (August 9, 2010).
 
     The textbook uses what he calls a “sanitized vocabulary” to conceal Muslim practices that are criminal in the United States. These include forced marriage, forced divorce, marriage to children, polygamy, and punishments imposed by Sharia law such as public beheadings, amputations, cruel floggings, and stonings.
 
     Muhammad is the only person in this world history textbook who rates an entire chapter. Jesus gets only one sentence, and the contrast between the treatment of Islam and Christianity is shocking. The book gives an entirely positive account of Muhammad’s teachings, saying, for example, “He preached tolerance for Christians and Jews as fellow worshipers of the one true God.” It says nothing about Jesus’s teachings, but does describe examples of Christian persecution of non-Christians.
 
     This textbook tells students that the first year in the Muslim calendar is “the year of Muhammad’s hijrah” (his escape from Mecca to Medina in the year 622). The book doesn’t say from what event our Christian calendar dates. The textbook replaces A.D. with the trendy term “C.E.” (Common Era).
 
     William J. Bennetta, editor of the Textbook Letter, published a detailed analysis of this textbook’s distortions, which he calls “pseudohistory.”  Bennetta documents how it was influenced by a Muslim pressure group, the Council on Islamic Education, which boasts of successfully “collaborating” with “K-12 publishers” to present a benign view of Islam to impressionable American schoolchildren.
 
     A new book called The Trouble with Textbooks — Distorting History and Religion by Gary A. Tobin and Dennis R. Ybarra contains other information about how school textbooks are turned into tools of propaganda for special-interest groups.
 
     The Muslim lobby is particularly adept at influencing textbooks. The founder of the Council on Islamic Education calls this a “bloodless revolution . . . inside American junior high and high school classrooms.” It’s one thing for us to be careful about Muslim sensitivities, but this book presents evidence that school textbooks proselytize for Islam. Islam is repeatedly described in textbooks as historical truth, whereas Christianity and Judaism are described as mere notions of their believers.
 
     Here is how it’s done. Textbooks relate Christian and Jewish religious traditions as mere stories attributed to some human source, whereas Islamic traditions are presented as indisputable historic facts. In one textbook, you can read that Moses claimed to receive the Ten Commandments from God, but that Muhammad simply received” the Koran from God. Another textbook instructs students that Jesus of Nazareth is “believed by Christians to be the Messiah,” but states that Muhammad actually “received revelations from Allah.” Another textbook relates that “Christians believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah,” but on the other hand the Koran “is the collection of God’s revelations to Muhammad.”  [Emphasis mine, WSW.]

 
     The Texas State Board of Education recently adopted a resolution that warns publishers against printing textbooks infused with anti-Christian, pro-Islamic bias. The resolution declares that “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation, and false stereotypes” have been inserted in some social studies textbooks.  Pages of footnotes document the “patterns of pejoratives toward Christians and superlatives toward Muslims.” Some of the textbooks describe Christian Crusaders as “aggressors, ‘violent attackers,’ or ‘invaders’ while euphemizing Muslim conquest of Christian lands as ‘migrations’ by ’empire builders.'”
 
     Other complaints cited in the Texas School Board resolution criticize disproportionate coverage, with some textbooks devoting twice as many lines to Islam as to Christianity and barely even mentioning Judaism.  The resolution also expresses concern about “sanitized definitions of ‘jihad'” that omit the religious intolerance and violence toward non-Muslims that are espoused by Muslim terrorists worldwide.
 
     The American Textbook Council, an independent research organization, verified the findings cited in the Texas School Board resolution by reporting that U.S. textbooks generally present a view of Islam “that misrepresents its foundations and challenges to international security.”
 
     Parents should check out how American history is taught, and not taught, in their local public schools. Are Islamic and Mexican propaganda masquerading as “American history”? Is it too much to ask that American traditions and faith get equal treatment with other faiths and traditions in public school textbooks and classrooms?

     [Ah, just one more reason to homeschool!]

homeschooled student wins bowling masters at Heart of America Junior Classic Tournament

     When we lived in St. Louis, MO, we were part of a large homeschool support group known as SHARE (St. Louis Homeschooling Activities, Resources, and Encouragement).  The Ockrassa family mentioned in this article were also members.  Alec, the subject of the article, was a very good friend and bowling companion of our older son Mark.  His parents, Ed and Nancy, and sister Nicole, were all good friends of ours too. 

Taken from Examiner.com (Kansas City)….

Alec Ockrassa wins masters at Heart of America Junior Classic Tournament

• November 15th, 2010 3:28 pm ET

Youth bowling tournaments are a good opportunity to earn scholarship money.

Photo: Photo by Mohd Shazni

     Alec Ockrassa of St. Louis, Missouri, won the masters division of the Heart of America Junior Classic Tournament on Sunday at Gladstone Bowl, in Gladstone, Missouri. Tristan Musick of Olathe, Kansas, placed first in the classics division, and Eric Rothenberg of St. Louis, Missouri, claimed the top spot in the majors division.

     “The field was even more expansive than usual. Nearly half of the bowlers came from outside the Kansas City area ranging from Topeka, Springfield and St. Louis, among others,” said Drew Knudson, President of the Heart of America.

     The two-day weekend tournament consists of three divisions: majors for averages from 150 to 169; classic for averages from 170 to 189; and the masters division for top bowlers averaging 190 or better. The top eight bowlers from each division moved on to bowl Sunday. The top four Sunday finishers for each division bowled in the stepladder match-play finals.

     Heart of America is a non-profit organization unique to Kansas City that runs local youth bowling tournaments giving youth bowlers an opportunity to earn scholarship money. The Heart of America requires tournament winners to manage prize money through a SMART account (Scholarship Management and Accounting Reports for Tenpins).

     According to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the SMART program oversees 2,700 different bowling organizations’ scholarship funds, belonging to more than 105,000 individuals. SMART participants have earned more than $20 million dollars in scholarships to date.

http://www.examiner.com/bowling-in-kansas-city/alec-ockrassa-wins-masters-at-heart-of-america-junior-classic-tournament

“School Time” by Winslow Homer

The famous oil painting, School Time, was done by Winslow Homer. The original masterpiece oil painting was painted in 1874.  Winslow Homer said regarding his art “The Sun will not rise or set without my notice and thanks.” and “The life that I have chosen gives me my full hours of enjoyment.” He also said, “You will see, in the future I will live by my watercolors.” Once looking at paintings in an art gallery he said “I am going to paint – Something like that, only a ****** sight better. If a man wants to be an artist, he should never look at pictures.”  Homer was an American landscape painter and printmaker, most famous for his marine subjects. Largely self-taught, he is considered one of the most well known artists to come out of the Civil War, and a preeminent figure in American art. His watercolors are so powerful that it is difficult to believe that Homer was himself “a small, reserved gentleman, quiet and unostentatious.” His view of nature was severe and, even in the scenes of tropical waters, brilliant in color, indicative of his belief that man himself is nothing in comparison to the vastness of the ocean. Homer’s lofty point of view found fewer admirers than had his earlier, more easily fathomed works but he was not without recognition even before his death, in 1910, and is today ranked as one of the finest of the world’s watercolorists.  The one room school in the painting looks exactly like the one in another of Homer’s famous paintings, Snap the Whip of 1872.

communist influence in public school text

     Our good friend Dave Pratte shared the following information.  My comment is that as homeschoolers, we have the freedom to choose textbooks and other materials for our children which teach the truth and glorify God.

     Below is an article from the Phyllis Schlafly Report documenting Communist influence in our public schools. But you won’t find the Marxists admitting it.

VOL. 44, NO. 4 P.O. BOX 618, ALTON, ILLINOIS 62002 NOVEMBER 2010

What’s Happened to Public School Curriculum?

     The most widely used history textbook in U.S. public schools is A  People’s History of the United States by the late Howard Zinn. It has  sold a million and a half copies since it was published in 1980. It is  required reading in many high schools and colleges.

     This history textbook by Howard Zinn is a very leftwing version of U.S.  history, full of multicultural, feminist, and class-war propaganda. It  is based on the thesis that America is not a republic but an empire  controlled by a few white men. Its heroes are anti establishment protestors. The book debunks traditional heroes, such as Christopher  Columbus and Andrew Jackson, and doesn’t mention great Americans such as  Thomas Edison.

     Zinn’s textbook deprives young readers of the opportunity to learn that they are part of the great story of American exceptionalism. His book inspires guilt and the belief that success comes only through exploitation. He belittles patriotism, never allowing pride in America.  Zinn told one interviewer that his goal in writing this textbook was to start a “quiet revolution” of people taking power from within the institutions.

     After several decades of use in schools and colleges, new information emerged about the author. In 2010, the FBI released 400 pages of files on Howard Zinn, and it turns out that he was an active member of the Communist Party. He was vice president of a group in Brooklyn, New York run by the Communists and attended Communist Party meetings in Brooklyn five nights a week. He was so important in the Communist Party that he
taught a class to his comrades on “basic Marxism.”

     The FBI interviewed many fellow Communists who confirmed Howard Zinn’s longtime Communist Party membership. Publicly, Howard Zinn lied and denied his Communist Party membership, which was the common practice of Communist Party members in those years.

     Howard Zinn’s textbook is worse than anything he ever did as a member of the Communist Party. His textbook was specifically written to present a Marxist version of U.S. history based on the Communist strategy of the “class war.”

     Barack Obama’s goal of “redistribution of the wealth” (first announced to the public in his remark to Joe the Plumber, and then carried out by his extravagant spending programs) is the modern label for the basic Marxist ideology of the “class war.”

     Parents and citizens should check their local school and find out if the kids are being taught U.S. history from Howard Zinn’s textbook.

Ohio Senate Applauds Homeschooler

     I am a native Ohioan, and my wife and children and I lived in Ohio, where we began our homeschool journey, until 2002 when we moved to Missouri, and from there in 2008 to Illinois.

     The following item came from the Home School Legal Defense Association on November 11, 2010:

     This summer, the Ohio Senate adopted Senate Resolution 252 “Honoring Rachel Brown on winning the 2010 Ohio Right to Life Oratory Contest.”

     In the resolution, the Senate acknowledges that Rachel Brown is a homeschooled student and “a person of intelligence and integrity.” It proclaims that Rachel “represents all those throughout Ohio who have realized their aspirations,” and that “she has distinguished herself among a select group of students whose efforts merit praise…With her vitality, intelligence, and positive outlook, she has set a fine example for her peers.”

     The Senate then applauds her personal success and extends best wishes for her future.

     HSLDA is pleased, but not surprised, to hear of Rachel’s accomplishments. Homeschooled students receive individualized instruction in a loving and nurturing environment with the highest levels of academic engagement. As evidenced and acknowledged here, homeschooling is capable of producing students who are mature, self-motivated and advanced in study skills.