Parental Rights Are They Being Violated?

I received an interesting email today. It was from a member of one of my Homeschool groups. It was about Parental rights, and a petition to pass an Amendment to include parental rights in the US Constitution. Now I have saved this link, and have read the petition. I am considering signing it, but will probably do a little more research. The group http://www.parentalrights.org is the group promoting the Amendment. You can go here, to read the full article that I read, http://www.parentalrights.org/learn/the-attack-on-parental-rights

I guess I never really thought about it, mainly because I have not encountered problems like were stated. It seems most of them them stem from children upset with parents rules, and regulations, then complain to a school Guidance Counselor who in turn directs the child to CPS. I think no child should be abused or neglected. I believe that whole heartedly, and firmly. However, I do not think that rules, guidelines, and restrictions would fall under that category, unless they were way to the extreme putting the child in some kind of danger. I think these rulings, that were stated on this website are way over the bounds of Government rights. I do not understand why we are allowing the Government to have the ultimate say in what is quote in the best interest of the child. The one I found most shocking, was the one about the babysitters getting custody of a child, when the parent was never found to be unfit. They felt they had some kind of rights, as the childs babysitter. I find this absurd, and outrageous. Now they only gave an exerpt of the case, so there may be things that were not told. These rulings are from extremely Liberal judges, and courts, and are taking away the rights of parents to decide how their child should be raised. I find this to be absolutely beyond the rights of the Government. I must note, that there was a case stated about parents making their child attend church. The child complained, and the parents were forced by the courts to pull back on making the child attend church. Now for me Religion is a very personal choice. I believe in God, and feel I have a very close relationship with God. I do not force religion on my children. I expose them to it, and let them choose how much they wish to explore it. I was forced to attend church, and other religious type activities. I despised it, and it affected my relationship with God. I do not intend to do that to my children. I think they should be able to have some say, as to how their life is going, within the rules of the home. I have to say I agreed with the courts on that decision, to allow the child to pull back from such a rigorous religious regime. That is just me, and I am sure others will disagree with me, and that is of course your right. I will be researching this group more, and studying the Amendment. The general language, is a little vague for me, as I do feel children do deserve some basic rights, and responsibilities. Check it out, and see how you feel about it. I always say, be knowledgeable, know the information, and then make an educated decision.

My Lesson Plans for these next couple of months, are going to be a little different, due to the Holidays, and days off from school.

Lesson Plan for November 3rd:

Reading: Read chapter 2 Pirates Past Noon
Writing: Imagine you are an animal, what would it be and where would you go?
Math: Add, subtract, multiplication, division
Fire Prevention Week:
Language Arts: Phonics review, nouns and verbs
Music: 30 minutes
Spanish: Untensils and food
Themed Unit Study: Feelings

If time permits, we will do an Art class, and a virtual field trip.

Unit Study On Feelings, Homeschool Resources

This week, on http://www.schoolexpress.com/ they are offering a free unit study on Feelings. I have checked it out, and it is a good one. I save these, and add them to my curriculum, usually at the end of the year, or where there is an empty slot. They are free, and they will send it to your email every week, so sign up if you need some new curriculum ideas.

I am a day behind, so there will be two days worth of lesson plans listed, as I posted about the contest yesterday. Dont forget to enter, the prizes are great. Last months contest was a dog cake, and it is being made, and pictures should be up soon. I am a little behind, as my youngest is sick. She is very rarely sick, so this is kind of traumatizing to her.

Here are this weeks Homeschool Resource Freebies, for this week, you must sign up for their newsletter at http://www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com/ to receive these great freebies. Most are PDF files, and they have some great ones this week, check them out:

Monday, Sept 29: Autumn Studies Classic collection of Nature, Literature & Art Lessons for Primary Grades. Lots of simple Q&A studies, poems, examples and more.

Tuesday, Sept 30: How To Make Your Children Obey Great little ebook on how to teach your children to be obedient from Kathy Brodock

Wednesday, Oct 1: Lessons from "The Thinking Toolkit" Two lessons from this excellent book: Learn the differences between a discussion, a disagreement, an argument & a fight. Also, learn when to shut up!

Thursday, Oct 2: Way cool Science Experiments videos! Fun collection of "hands on" science experiments for kids, courtesy of GreatHomeschoolVideos.com

Friday, Oct 3: First Things First How to start your day with simple Family Devotions - great guide by Penny Raine

I particularly like Monday and Fridays resources.

Due to my husbands new work schedule, yes they have changed his hours yet again, our school day will now be from 9AM, until 2:30 PM. Here are our Lesson Plans, for 9/29/08, and 9/30/08

Monday
Writing: Write directions, for how to ride a bike
Math: Multiplication, addition and subtraction
Language Arts: Phonics review, prefix, suffixes, verbs
Spelling Lesson 5: Write each spelling word 2 times each
Vocabulary Lesson 5: Look up the definition, for each vocabulary word
Art- Draw Spongebob Squarepants shown above, and paint a Ocean related painting
Reading: Read chapter 5 of The Knight At Dawn

Tuesday
Writing: Draw and write what your home is like
Math: Multiplication, addition, subtraction, greater than and less than
Language Arts: Phonics Review, synonyms, antonyms
Spelling Lesson 5: Write each spelling word, and circle the vowels
Vocabulary Lesson 5: Use each vocabulary word in a sentence
PE: 30 minutes
Reading: Read chapter 6 of The Knight At Dawn
Science: Sea Creatures- Dolphins

Lesson 5 spelling words: alive, grind, pint, drive, diet, size, rise, died, tried, dial, five, pies, inside, cried, and island

Lesson 5 vocabulary words: alive, grind, pint, drive, diet, size, rise, dial, inside, island