Top Tips for April

Topics for April 2007 Newsletter:

Top Three Tips

Time Out Corner

Children's Enrichment

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Check out Homeschool Graduation and April Activities (If URL is not a link, please just copy- and-paste the URL into the Web browser.)

Moms' Section

Top Three Random Tips for Busy Homeschooling Moms:

"If your house is really a mess and a stranger comes to the door, greet her with, 'Who could have done this? We have no enemies.'" Phyllis Diller

1) Simple Meals: Green Beans and Bacon
6 servings

--4 slices bacons
--1 9-oz. package of frozen green beans (thawed)
--3 medium carrots, cut into 3-4 in. strips
--1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
--1 clove garlic, minced or garlic powder

1. In skillet cook bacon until crisp.
2. Remove bacon to paper towels.
3. Reserve some drippings in skillet.
4. Add remaining ingredients to skillet.
5. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until vegetables are crisp tender (5 minutes or so).
6. Transfer to serving bowl.
7. Crumble bacon over beans.
(Recipe idea from 500 Five Ingredient Recipes)

"The God of Music dwelleth out of doors." Edith Thomas

2) Nature Appreciation the Fast and Easy Way: Arbor Day, April 27

The National Arbor Day Foundation mails ten free trees--plus planting instructions--to all new members. The cost to join is $10. (www.arborday.org)

3) Quick Cleaning and Repairs: Sharpen Scissors

Cut 7-8 times several layers of aluminum foil with the scissors. I have sharpened kitchen, school and even craft scissors this way.

"Simply Organize Your Home" is a helpful tool to tame your house. For more information Click Here!

Time Out Corner: April Movies

To be our best for our families, it's important that we Moms take time-out.

Go on a date. Find a sitter while you and your husband visit the theater. Homeschool Moms have the best scenario for great babysitters. Who could possibly be more responsible and experienced than an older homeschool girl? Check with members of your support group.

Another way to make a date possible is to trade-off with another couple. Go to an early show while they watch your children, then reverse the following week or month.

Alternative: Buy/Rent a DVD, snuggle with your husband at home and just relax.

(Although most of these films are generally appropriate for all, they are suggested with us parents in mind. So please preview them.)

• Into Great Silence (currently in theaters)
  
• True Lies
  
• The Rookie (Full Screen Edition) (It's baseball season!)
• Sahara (Widescreen Edition)

Children's Section

Enrichment Idea: April Topics for Investigation:

1) Put the dates on your timeline.
2) Find the places on the map and globe.
3) Use the encyclopedia, texts, books and the internet for further research.

• A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War. (April 16, 1178 B.C.)
  
• St. Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop. (April 5, 456)
  
• Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. (April 30, 1492)
  
• The American Revolution (Started with Paul Revere's Ride: April 18-19 April 1775)
  
• The American Civil War (Started April, 1861, ended April 1865, thus "Across Five Aprils")
  
• President Abraham Lincoln's assassination (April 14, 1865)
  
• The 1906 San Francisco earthquake (April 18, 1906)
  
• The sinking of the RMS Titanic (April 14-15 April 1912)
  
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination (April 4, 1968)
  
• Chernobyl nuclear accident (April 26, 1986)
  
• The Bosnian War (Began in the first days of April, 1992)
  

We love and need your ideas and comments. Please send us 1) your suggestions for book/movie reviews, 2) any special tips or shortcuts that you would like to share with fellow homeschoolers, 3) any and all other comments/suggestions.

Let us hear from you! Your input is important.

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