This Is Why You Should Homeschool Your Kids

I have always believed that if a parent has the time, inclination, and proper motivation to homeschool their kids, it becomes a win-win situation for both.  Kids get a lot more attention than they would in regular school, they get a lot less brainwashing than they would in regular school, and parent have more control over what their kids learn (plus, of the many homeschooled kids I know, almost all were much better behaved as the parents actually turn their kids into people they want to be around all day because the alternative would be to have kids you can't stand around you all day, but I digress...).
Over the years, the right to search students at school has come up on quite a few occasions (eventually landing at the Supreme Court), and while I agree with the ruling that was made in this case--namely the fact that schools have to be able to take reasonable precautions to keep a safe and orderly school--and I also agree that a reasonable search of a student can and should be done if warranted (ie: the administrator has reasonable suspicion that a particular kid has something on them/in their purse/in their locker and therefore is deserving of being searched--emptying their pockets, having their purse or locker searched), there should also be a limit to the ability of anyone to search a person under 18 years old (ie: no strip search, no searching an entire classroom of students because one of the students may be guilty, etc.).
And then I read this article a couple of days ago and I was horrified.  This clearly goes beyond any reasonable search and if someone took my kid's DNA without a warrant I would be up in arms.  According to the article, however, the parents of these students were fine with this.  According to me, these parents are idiots.
This warrantless search breaks so many laws I don't know where to begin. First, while a reasonable search by administrators is fine, the minute the police get involved, all rights to a warrantless search vanish (they need to detain the kid at the police station and get a warrant for whatever it is they hope to find).  Second, to DNA test every kid in the school with no actual suspicion that any of then had committed a crime, and skipping over the whole "we need to get a warrant for this" thing is ludicris.  Third, when the administrators bring a kid into the office for a chat that's one thing, but when the police bring a kid in for a chat that is a whole other thing (and requires Miranda Rights as well as a parent or child advocate to be with the).  I am shocked that more people are not outraged over this incident.
So what should you do?  In this incident I would yank my kid out of the school, get a lawyer, and sue everyone involved in this incident (and it takes quite a bit for me to even see a lawsuit as reasonable but this certainly does).  In general?  I think some of the people who commented on the article have the right of it, namely, teaching your kid that in a situation like this they are to only give their name then repeatedly say "I want my parent with me and I want a lawyer" and that is the ONLY thing they are allowed to say, is a good start.  One guy even said that his kid knows that the penalty by the school or police may be bad but the penalty at home for providing any information to the police without the parent there would be worse.  Unfortunately the days when "the police are your friend" has passed.  These days, you respect the police but you also have to protect yourself from them by knowing your rights and, most importantly, not allowing them to step all over these rights and get away with it.

Tornado Clean Up

How was your weekend?  Mine was very quiet but if you were just about anywhere in the mid west, your weekend was probably much more exciting.  More than 100 tornadoes were said to have hit the mid west over the weekend, so as you can imagine, today will be a busy day of clean up and recovery for the many who were impacted by these storms.  Here's some tips:

• After a Tornado
• What to Do Before, During, and After a Tornado
• Ready.gov Tornadoes
• Red Cross
• DisasterAssistance.gov
• FEMA Help After a Disaster Guide
• Call 211 (many communities will provide information and assistance through this national number which will connect you to local service agencies)

Challenge: Stock Your Pantry...With a Year's Worth of Food

I don't know much about the Mormon religion but when I heard that church members are supposed to keep a year's worth of food stocked in their pantry, I thought they were on to something.  Obviously not having to go to the store to procure food for an entire year would be very useful for TEOTWAWKI, but having a lot of food in your pantry will also come in handy during lesser emergencies such a an extended illness, job loss, etc.  Your challenge is to build up a stockpile of food that could conceivably last you for an entire year if needed.  Here's some links to get you started:

• The Non-Survivalist's Guide to Stocking Up for Hard Times
• LDS Food Storage Calculator
• LDS Food Preparedness Manual
• Store or Starve
• Long-Term Food Storage Menu

100 Things to Teach Your Children

Call me old fashioned but it seems like kids these days are learning very few useful skills.  By the time I was a teenager I could fish, hunt, make pickles, grow a garden, backpack for a week without getting lost, rappel off a sheer rock cliff, swim across a lake...actually a very long list of things, compliments, mostly, of the skills my grandparents taught me.  And it wasn't like they went out of their way to teach me these things, it was just part of their lives and all of us kids basically learned from watching (back then there was no such thing as sitting in your room with a computer, there was lots of work to be done to get on with everyday living so it was an "all hands on deck" sort of thing where everyone pitched in to get the work done thus a lot of skills were taught this way).  Here's 100 basic skills that every child should learn:

1. How to swim.
2. How to catch a fish.
3. How to safely use a variety of firearms (and clean them too).
4. How to hunt and dress an animal.
5. How to grow vegetables.
6. How to take care of animals.
7. How to perform CPR.
8. How to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
9. Basic first aid skills.
10. A nice set of good manners (yes ma'am, no sir, thank you, not to gossip, etc).
11. How to fight.
12. How to set a goal and reach it.
13. Way-finding (with GPS and map and compass).
14. Good hygiene.
15. How to take care of their body (everything from exercising and cooking nutritious food to brushing teeth and wearing a bicycle helmet).
16. Backpacking and camping skills (how to start a fire, how to make a shelter, etc).
17. How to read (well and voraciously if possible).
18. How to write effectively, clearly, and correctly (ie: how to write a consumer complaint, how to write a letter to your grandparents, how to write an essay, etc).
19. How to speak to people in a variety of situations (good posture, good grammar, speaking loudly enough, etc).
20. How to think logically.
21. How to play a variety of games (chess, checkers, Monopoly, etc).
22. How to be a good sport and have a good attitude.
23. A variety of physical skills (that build strength, flexibility, balance, and cardio).
24. Good social skills.
25. How to set up their own business and earn money.
26. How to budget, save, and invest money.
27. "Old-time" skills (everything from fencing and archery to woodworking and leathercraft).
28. How to express themselves through art (dancing, music, painting, etc).
29. Safety skills (how to escape from a house fire, how to avoid "stranger danger", how to keep their information private, etc).
30. Electronics (everything from HAM radio to how to build a robot).
31. Teamwork (by joining a team sport or working with a team towards a goal).
32. Food preservation (canning, freezing, smoking, drying, etc).
33. How to mediate disagreements.
34. How to shop effectively (looking for bargains, comparing prices, using coupons, asking for a discount if a product is damaged, etc).
35. Sciences (botany, astrology, biology, chemistry, etc).
36. Math (consumer math skills such as how to figure out discounts, how to figure interest, how to measure for carpet, etc).
37. A foreign language (our country is becoming more multi-cultural by the day).
38. Basic car repair skills.
39. How to report an emergency (how to call 911 and provide useful details).
40. How to drive a variety of vehicles (car, bike, motorcycle, boat, etc).
41. Basic life guard and water safety skills.
42. How to follow directions (ie: follow a recipe, build a model, etc).
43. Building skills (ie: basic construction, welding, plumbing, painting, etc).
44. How to choose, use, and care for tools.
45. How to teach someone else a skill.
46. Emergency prep skills (how to evacuate in an emergency, how to create a communications plan, how to make a BOB, etc).
47. Social media safety skills (ie: no sexting, how to protect your private information online, etc).
48. How to reuse and recycle items.
49. How to cook (everything from soups to desserts).
50. How to sew.
51. How to knit and crochet.
52. How to learn about and prepare for disasters that are most likely to hit your area.
53. How to procure and, if necessary, purify water.
54. How to forage for food in the wilds.
55. How to apply for a job (including how to put together a resume and interview well).
56. How to plan for, and travel alone from, Point A to Point B (via bus, subway, train, plane).
57. How to make your home safe (check fire extinguishers, check the smoke alarm, lock windows, etc).
58. As many sports skills as possible (karate, ice skating, skiing, etc).
59. How to escape, evade, and hide in an emergency.
60. How to resolve school problems (with teachers, administration, and other students).
61. How to do research (online and with primary sources).
62. How to learn (good study skills, how to self-teach, how to edit their work, etc).
63. How to give back to others (volunteering, good deeds, helping others in need, etc).
64. How to clean and organize their room/the house/their things, etc.
65. How to have good relationships (choosing their friends, asking for help, empathy, resolving problems, etc).
66. Homekeeping skills (yard work, laundry, basic handyman skills, etc).
67. How to develop hobbies.
68. How to save up and pay cash for an item that they really want.
69. How to apply for and receive various documents that are useful in our society (driver's license, library card, passport, etc).
70. How to safely use dangerous tools (knives, chainsaw, ax, etc).
71. How to resolve a consumer dispute (asking for a refund, writing to the president of the company, getting publicity for a problem, etc).
72. What to do if they get separated from the family (everywhere from at the mall to if the family is separated by a major disaster).
73. How to plan, prepare for, and carry off a major event (party, family vacation, etc).
74. How to check their credit report and fix any problems with it (obviously small children shouldn't have anything on their report but this prevents fraud).
75. How not to become a victims of consumer fraud (ie: don't fall for scams, don't loan money to people, don't give out your private information, don't co-sign for friends, etc).
76. Good work habits (how to show up on time at school/work, how to be organized, how to take direction, etc).
77. How to type.
78. How to effectively use technology (I'm sure they will teach you a bit about this).
79. How to take responsibility for their actions.
80. How to enjoy simple things in life (looking at clouds, taking a walk, etc).
81. How to build good character skills (being responsible, owning up to mistakes, being kind, being confident but not arrogant, etc).
82. How to call for and request appointments (doctor, dentist, car repair, etc), then how to record that appointment so it won't be missed.
83. How to take care of babies and children (babysitting skills).
84. How to take care of people who are ill.
85. How to take care of people who are elderly.
86. How to shop for food (finding sale items, figuring out the price for produce, how to choose ripe produce, how much meat to buy from the butcher, how to check expiration dates on dairy items, etc).
87. How to open a checking and savings account, write a check, use an ATM card, and keep the accounts balanced.
88. How to be observant (from playing " I Spy" with small children to walking through a crowd with teenagers and seeing how much they can remember).
89. How to plan their future (will it be college, trade school, the military? Start preparing now).
90. How to apply for credit and use it wisely.
91. How to tithe.
92. How to turn off the electricity, water, and gas in an emergency.
93. What their legal rights are and how to interact with the police (ie: provide basic information and car license/insurance if requested, that they have the right to remain silent, that they don't have to open the door unless the police produce a warrant, etc).
94. How to resist peer pressure (or how to get out of difficult situations when they are with their peers such as at a party or when their driver is drunk, etc).
95. Some basis in religion or a higher power.
96. Where to go when they or a friend need help (hint, it may not be you.  They need to know there are resources out there to provide help such as Planned Parenthood, the Suicide Helpline, 211, etc).
97. How to protect themselves in social situations (how not to become a victim of date rape, kidnapping, hazing, etc).
98. How to gamble (play poker, bet on the horses..and of course how not to lose your shirt doing these things).
99. And a random assortment of other life skills: how to pack and move things, how to wear a suit, how to eat in a fancy restaurant, how to tie a tie, etc.
100. And how not to do things (usually taught by your example) such as not smoking, not drinking, not doing drugs, not breaking the law, not lying...and all of those other things that could get them in trouble.

10 Unusual Ways I Save Money (So I Can Spend My Cash on More Important Things)

People tend to have a lot of habits that they waste their money on.  These may not be very expensive habits--you may not be buying a new car every year or gambling away your retirement fund--but a slow drain on your wallet will have the same result, namely all of your money going to things you can't even remember meanwhile, you miss out on the opportunity to spend your hard-earned cash on things that can make a positive impact on your future (or at least help you face TEOTWAYKI with a whole host of cool gear).  Here's ten unusual ways I save money each month:

1. I don't have cable TV.  I bought a $20 digital antenna from Walmart, plugged it into my TV, and I receive about 20 stations free over the air.  That's more than enough TV for me.
2. I don't have a smart phone.  I had one for a while but got tired of always being connected (and got tired of the big monthly fee for a combo call/text/data plan).  Now I pay $30 a month and have a basic cell phone which still allows me to access the internet if necessary (albeit very slowly compared to the warp speed of my old smart phone).
3. I don't have a home phone.  My cell phone works just fine.
4. I don't subscribe to Netflix or other movie services.  I go to the library and check out a dozen movies at a time which, again, is plenty of entertainment (and most of the movies are new too!).
5. I don't have internet at home.  Actually the place we live currently has an iffy community wifi signal but I tend to do most of my work at a coffee shop or at the library, both of which provide free internet.  Since the internet was invented, I have been "connected" 24/7 but after traveling for a year and a half, I realized that I enjoy not being so connected.  I do, however, enjoy reading and doing shop projects which I now have plenty of time for.
6. We have one vehicle, bought new, paid for with cash, and we will drive it until it dies. Literally.  This saves money on interest, the cost of continuous monthly payment, and as the vehicle gets older, registration and insurance costs drop dramatically.
7. Since my wardrobe is no longer business professional but tends more towards hippy traveler, I tend to shop at the Goodwill and Walmart.  I haven't been to a mall in a couple of years and don't miss it at all.
8. We eat at home almost all the time.  Aside from the occasional meal out, we tend to cook from scratch and eat nearly all of our meals at home--a much healthier and cheaper alternative to the daily drive-thru.
9. I don't do subscriptions. No newspaper subscription (read it online), magazine subscription (ditto), gym membership (go outside for a walk)...basically anything that was a recurring payment besides necessities (like electricity) got the ax.
10. We've ratcheted the lifestyle way back.  When we shed our house, cars, and nearly everything we owed more than a year ago so we could travel for a year or two, we shed our entire lifestyle.  No longer do we shop for entertainment, gatherings are potluck instead of me footing an extravagant restaurant bill, gift giving has been scaled back, and we have gone minimalist in almost all areas of our lives (note that if we hadn't spent so much money on consumer crap over the past few decades I would have more than a million dollars in the bank).

Now there are a bunch of things I do like to splurge on--travel, firearms, educational opportunities, etc--but at least now I am in control of my money instead of just spending like "everyone else" so I could "keep up with the Joneses".  Most importantly, I don't miss the things listed above, things that "everyone" considers a basic necessity.  And of course, your expenses may vary depending on a number of factors, but the more control you have over your finances, the more opportunities you can create for yourself.

For Those Who Think Preparing for TEOTWAWKI Is All Important...

This infographic begs to differ.  If you really want to live a long and happy life, your preps should go in the direction of exercising, not smoking, not hang gliding or racing in the Grand Prix, forget about base jumping, and reconsidering each driving trip you take.

12 Reasons Why You Should Own a Gun

As I was signing into the blog today and wondering what I should write about, the first thing that greeted me was a comment from Anonymous (I wish he'd left a name so I could give him credit for what you are about to read).  The comment was in response to this post about why you shouldn't have a firearm in your home.  While I still believe that there are circumstances in which some people really shouldn't be in possession of a firearm, the twelve reasons why you should own a gun as outlined by Anonymous below are spot on...

1. Because You Own a Fire Extinguisher. Bad things happen. You can still call 911, but when seconds count, you need to act quickly to save your life and the life of those you love. 
2. Because Shooting Is An Olympic Sport. Shooting is an Olympic sport and the United States holds more gold medals than any other nation. 
3. Because Most Americans Own Guns. You’ll be in good company as a gun owner; nearly fifty percent of households in the U.S. own a firearm. 
4. Because You Respect The U.S. Constitution. Sometimes you won’t like it when people exercise fundamental freedoms protected by the Constitution, such as freedom of speech. But that simply doesn’t matter: The Supreme Court ruled that every person has a constitutional right to own guns. So respecting the Constitution means respecting the right of others to exercise those constitutional rights. 
5. Because You Are More Likely to Die By Falling. There were 613 fatal firearms accidents in 2007, one-half of one percent of all fatal accidents. You’re more likely to die by driving, poisoning, drowning or falling than by a gun accident. 
6. Because Guns Stop Burglars. Last year, the CDC estimated that Americans used guns about 498,000 times to frighten away intruders attempting to break into homes. 
7. Because Gun Bans Increase Murder Rates. After D.C. banned handguns in 1984, the average murder rate jumped 73 percent while the U.S. murder rate fell 11 percent. 
8. Because Guns Don’t Cause Murder. A New York Times study of 1,662 murders in the city found that 90 percent of the killers had criminal records. Murderers are not ordinary, law abiding adults. Instead, virtually all murderers are extremely aberrant individuals with life histories of violence, psychopathology, and substance abuse. 
9. Because Gun Owners Win Political Battles. Gun rights groups have donated $22 million in political campaigns over the last decade, while gun control groups gave $1.8 million. 
10. Because Ignorance is Dangerous. At current homicide rates, 1 in 240 Americans will be murdered this year. You need to know how to operate a tool that will immediately stop a threat and save your life and the life of those in your household. 
11. Because Guns Don’t Make Countries More Dangerous. Switzerland has one of the world’s highest gun ownership rates and also one of the lowest homicide rates. In contrast, the countries with the world’s worst homicide rates—South Africa, Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan—also prohibit law-abiding citizens from owning guns. Compare the 20 per 100,000 homicide rate in Russia, which bans guns, with the 2 per 100,000 rate in neighboring Poland. Compare gun-free Luxembourg’s 9 per 100,000 murder rate with Germany and France with rates of 0.93 and 1.65. 
12. Because Gun Control Laws Don’t Increase Safety. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences failed to identify even one gun control measure that had a statistically significant reduction in violent crime, suicide, or gun accidents. The Center for Disease Control reached the same conclusion in 2003.