As winter bites the toes of many in our nation, there are still many of us who are enjoying an unusually warm month. I have continued my long walks each day wondering whether I would be able to take this pleasure in the week ahead. But, then one great week has followed another. I am enjoying every minute of these warmer days, knowing that we will be hit with a winter blast when we least expect it.

One of the joys of my walks has been the delight in watching the homes in my neighborhood light up at this time of year. There seems to be many more homes that are decked out in festive finery this year than in the past. Many are showing their patriotism with flags and lights in red, white and blue. This show of holiday spirit seems to lift the spirit, pointing to a better future for us all.

With colder days and less time to be outside, it is an ideal time to focus on reading for ourselves and our children. Make a special place in your home to place books that focus on the season of the year. This provides topics for conversation for the family as well as visitors to your home.

During the holiday season, my thoughts turn gratefully to those individuals who have supported and encouraged us in ways great and small. It is through the efforts of you, our friends and colleagues that makes one's endeavors more satisfying and rewarding than they would otherwise be.

It is my sincere desire that all of your dreams and aspirations be realized. May health, prosperity and happiness be with you and your loved ones throughout the New Year!

LessonPro is providing help for homeschooling parents who want to create their own lessons for their children. We are pleased to see parents using multiple approaches to teaching their children. You may want to try it also. Strategic Studies developed the free site as a way for the Internet to be integrated into the daily teaching learning process.

Holiday Lessons at e-Tutor

The Festival of Lights
Christmas Around the World
Kwanzaa
Christmas Around the World - France
Christmas Around the World - Italy
Christmas Around the World - United States
Christmas Around the World - England
Christmas Around the World - Germany

Watch for new lessons each month at e-Tutor

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We look at our children around us,

Each one in turn we embrace.

Each was a gift from our Maker,

He has such wonderful taste.

Author Unknown

Questions, Questions, Questions....

A father and his small daughter were out walking one afternoon when the youngster asked how the electricity went through the wires stretched between the telephone poles.

"Don't know," said the father. "Never knew much about electricity."

A few blocks farther on the girl asked what caused lightning and thunder.

"To tell the truth," said the father, " I never exactly understood that myself."

The girl continued to ask questions throughout the walk, none of which the father could explain. Finally, as they were nearing home, the girl asked, "Pop, I hope you don't mind my asking so many questions...."

"Of course not," replied the father. "How else are you going to learn?"

Sooner or later, of course, the girl will stop asking her father questions, and that will be unfortunate. Curiosity and the desire to learn should be encouraged and nurtured.

Parents who want their children to do well in their studies but who don't respect learning are deluding themselves. Not many children will be motivated to do it on their own. Those who have stopped learning and growing, will find it difficult to inspire their children to do so, no matter how much they may pretend to encourage it.

How much we enjoy what we have is more important than how much we have. Life is full of people who have more than they know what to do with, but cannot be content. It is the capacity to enjoy life that brings contentment.

My Gift To You.....

Sometimes I find myself regarding you as a miniature adult; not tall enough to be awarded respect, not subtle enough to be offered consideration.

I give you love as I might offer you a piece of cake, enough, perhaps, to entice your taste and encourage your appetite, but not sufficient to nourish your needs.

The miracle is not that you grow with my love. The miracle is that you seem to survive my mistakes....

I teach you words, that you might express new and adventurous thoughts of your own.

I teach you to read to enlighten your mind, knowing that knowledge will lead you to unexplored corridors over which I have no control....

I must also prepare you for realities. I must offer you both...the way the world should be and the way it is...

Take my hand, my child, and we will explore the land. I will tell you all that I know, and you will show me the secrets of your heart. It may not be a fair exchange, but it is all I have to give.

I shall lead you only for this short while...how can I find appropriate words that can say only the right things? How can I find proper answers to answer the question you ask? How can I teach you when I, myself, am in need of guidance? How can I be a teacher when much of me is still a child?

Excerpts from "I'll Show You the Morning Sun" by David Melton

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Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

TV, Reading and Writing

Used wisely, TV can be effective in helping children learn some of the critical language skills. Here are some of the things you might consider doing to help your children relate TV to their learning activities in reading and writing:

Help them understand that all television is dependent on good reading and writing skills, and not on acting alone. Scripts must be written before any studio work can begin, and they must be read many times by people at all levels of production before a program reaches the living room screen.
Encourage them to realize that many of the programs they like began as books or short stories, and that they may learn much more about a drama by borrowing the book from the library and reading it in its original form. Similarly, they may enjoy books that are written from a popular TV series or drama.
Help them discover the differences between a classic novel and a TV dramatization of the novel, and to understand why the dramatization may have left out, simplified, or otherwise changed some scenes, characters, or actions.
Stimulate reading in science, social studies, and environmental studies by guiding family program selection toward wildlife series, and programs of historical and social interest.
Steer viewing away from violent action programs or those you consider in dubious taste. If your children occasionally watch such programs, however, help them to draw valid conclusions about the doubtful content.
Discuss program content with your children and help them understand why they like or dislike what they see and how closely it resembles daily experience. This is one way in which you can assist them in determining the degree of realism of certain types of programming.

Adapted from National Education Association

A Prayer For Christmas

Give us the faith of innocent children, that we may look forward with hope in our hearts to the dawn of a happy tomorrow.

Reawaken the thought that our most cherished desires will be realized, the things closest to our hearts....that we may come to an appreciation of the limitless joys and bountiful rewards of Patience, Charity, and Sacrifice.

And, at Christmas, when the hearts of the world swell in joyous celebration, let us cast aside the pretense of sturdy men and live, if only for a day, in the hope and joy we knew as children.

Author Unknown

What Makes Christmas

Little wishes on white wings,

Little gifts....such tiny things....

Just one little heart that sings,

Make a Merry Christmas.

Dorothy Howe

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Do....Your Task

Action is key to success. Procrastination, will tempt, fun and games will call, and people will interrupt, but the secret of achievement is focus. Isolate what you want to do. Get started. Do it well.

The Importance of Language in Reading

Reading is first and foremost a form of communication. When learning to talk, children develop the concept that words communicate thoughts, emotions, and needs. When learning to read, they develop the concept that words can be communicated visually as well as orally. In order that the printed words will have meaning for them, children must have a solid foundation in language. Mastering spoken language is a key step toward mastering written language. The more experiences children have, the more they are talked to and listened to, the more stimulation they receive....the more they will be ready to read. Parents can help their children develop the needed foundation in language by talking with them and listening to them.

Talk with your child while doing things together: folding laundry, driving the car, cooking.
Ask your child to sequence the events of the day at dinner or at bedtime.
Discuss what you've seen on TV or read together. Ask questions: Who was your favorite character? Why? What would you have done? What do you think will happen next?
Repeat favorite nursery rhymes and stories. If your child has memorized them, listen while the child tells them to you.
Encourage questions and try to answer them.

What have you done to help others this week?

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The Glad New Year

Hear the bells ringing,

Ringing of the glad New Year.

Hear the children singing,

Singing of the glad New Year.

Bells ringing. Children singing.

Ringing, ringing. Singing, singing.

The glad New Year is here.

Unknown

End of the Year Links!

Photo Tunes: This is high season for greeting cards. Computers and the Internet are rapidly changing the way we send cards. An unusual e-card Web site is Photo Tunes. Users can choose pictures and music to accompany a personal message. http://www.phototunes.com

Strange Sites: Check out this Strange But True Web site. The author has a long list of quirky facts. If you need conversation starters, or stoppers, this is a good place to start. http://www.strangefacts.com

Pearl Harbor Remembered: This site is a fine resource for anyone studying or teaching the events at the Hawaiian naval base on December 7, 1941.
http://www.execpc.com/~dschaaf/mainmenu.html

Internet Public Library: The Library's collections include Reference,
Exhibits, Especially For Librarians, Magazines and Serials, Newspapers, Online Texts, Web Searching, Teen, and Youth. This is a site that you will want to bookmark, a site to turn to time and time again and where it pays to really get to know its little nooks and crannies.
http://www.ipl.org/

Multimedia Messages to the Troops: This project, outlined on the Give Thanks America site, offers members of the general public, as well as families, a chance to record and post onsite messages of appreciation to rescue personnel and service people.
http://www.givethanksamerica.com/

Ribbit's Math Ventures: Ribbit contains three applied mathematics problems. Read the text on the Parent and Teacher Pages, then work with students on the problem appropriate for their grade level. Hop to it!
http://www.mohonasen.org/staffdev/mathven/Ribbit/rdefault.htm

The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator: Each monthly "Communicator" provides information about any changes to the other four sites in The Center's Web suite. This month's featured lesson is Congress's Accomplishments: What Has Congress Done for You?
http://webcommunicator.congresslink.org/

Not Just for Kids: Kids' Domain offers goodies, games, contests, and freebies for children as well as their parents and teachers. The Kids Can Program section is devoted to teaching children to program and use multimedia tools.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/kids.html

Warm wishes for a beautiful holiday season.....and a new year filled with happiness!

From the Staff at Strategic Studies Corporation