Summer Jobs

Thankfully most kids aren't doing yard work with this type of mower anymore, but once upon a time we did. We *really* earned our money in those days! (Now I'm beginning to sound like my dad)

Summer jobs are another great resource for beating boredom. They are as wide and varied as your imagination. Cleaning brush, mowing lawns, weeding gardens, flipping burgers at the local hamburger joint, and the list goes on.

Summer jobs accomplish a whole list of things:

• the value of scheduling (have to be to work on time)
• the value of responsibility (most bosses won't step in and clean up your messes)
• the value of saving money
• the value of spending your money wisely
• the joy of cashing your first (and subsequent) paychecks
• the self-confidence related to a "good job" from your boss
• the experience demonstrated on a resume

Now tell me ... what curriculum is going to accomplish all this for the price of transportation? Even if there aren't any local summer jobs to be had, find projects around home that you're willing to pay to have done. Help your kids become resourceful ... perhaps they'll want to try their hand at a home business.

You never know what opportunities will open up as the result of a summer job!

Happy hunting!
~Judy

Special Offer from Sonlight . . .

Here's an opportunity to add a great worldview piece to your school year. Check out this fascinating new book that looks at the spiritual and moral themes found in Pixar movies. The Wisdom of Pixar is written by Robert Velarde, one of Sonlight's curriculum developers, a dad and a great writer. You can view his recent conversation with Sarita Holzmann as they discuss the virtues of movies like Toy Story and Cars.

Order yours by September 15, 2010 to get a copy signed by the author. Who knew that A Bug's Life portrays the virtue of justice!

I'm bored mom!!

Summer is quickly approaching. I know this because my snow shovel is no longer residing by my front step and the sound of many lawn mowers is in the land. Another sound may also be heard as you finish up your school year. That is the sound of children bemoaning their lack of activity. "Moooom, there's nothing to do around here!"

I have the perfect solution! It's biblical, it looks great on a high school transcript or job resume, and it teaches character and servant hood. A very wise friend (who has been somewhat of a mentor on my homeschool journey) once recommended the age-old concept of volunteering. She shared how a volunteer position was/is a requirement for her junior high and high school children. Happy to take her up on that suggestion, we have also made volunteering a requirement for our students.

It was amazing to me the volunteer opportunities out there if you just begin looking. Our oldest child (now in college) spent some summers volunteering for an organization that runs an adaptive riding program for disabled children and adults at a local horse farm. Another child enrolled in a teen volunteer program at the nearby medical center and has had some awesome opportunities to work in the nursing home with aging adults. Our youngest began volunteering at a local Rescue Mission store not too long ago.

The cost is minimal ... transportation back and forth, schedule juggling, but the rewards are too numerous to count. So the next time you hear that familiar whine of boredom, tell your children about the perfect plan you have for their summer!

Blessings ...
~Judy

Self-Cleaning Ovens

I was cleaning the oven the other day, thinking how glad I am to own a self-cleaning oven. I remember when we were first married ... spraying noxious cleaners and scrubbing cooked on food made oven cleaning a less than pleasant task. My kids laugh when I tell them how much work it was to clean up the remnants of a Thanksgiving turkey or a bubbled-over cherry pie.

Much as "oven technology" has changed through the years ... as well as computer technology, cellphone technology, entertainment technology, etc... life is advancing and moving on in our home as well. The grandparents living our home often shake their heads at all the "newfangled" technology. Our kids embrace it. Instead of sitting around after a holiday meal cross-stitching or crocheting, everyone is texting and watching the ball game in HD.

Change is never easy ... but neither does it mean that character and our core values disappear with the "old-world" technology. The constants remain constant, and there is value in engaging in our children's world. Besides ... all the cool "old people" are on Facebook.

Blessings ...
~Judy