#70 Easy Homeschooling Eletter April 2006

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See MANY Tips and Lists in Easy Homeschooling Techniques and Easy Homeschooling Companion

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Lorraine Curry's
Easy Homeschooling Eletter
Issue #72 April 2006

We do not necessariliy endorse, or agree with, authors, websites or popups represented in this or any of our newsletters.
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Habits of Thought

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Heb. 11:3 says: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. God's creative power is within you right now. Right now, your thoughts are creating your and your children's future, so make sure your thoughts are faith-filled and optimistic. This is faith. Replace bad thinking with good thinking . Make sure that the thoughts you have are working good for you and others. Make your thoughts line up with the word, with your standards. Thoughts and resulting habits separate great men and women of God from the not-so-great.

Because God lives within us, we have all these things and more!

When you change your way of thinking you change your life. Everything about your life is a reflection of the way you think most of the time, or the way you have thought in the past. Change your habits of thought and change your future. Remember, you have a powerhouse within you!

Col. 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory...

Steps to Change

1) Decide

We must decide to change to change. We must always be open to change. You are always free to choose. No one ever forces you to think, feel or behave the way you do.

2) Be Accountable

Being accountable to others protects us from our weaknesses and allows us to minister to others. Resolve to be what and where God wants you to be.

3) If You Fail, Start Again

It takes six weeks to form a habit.

See more about habits and tips for forming in Easy Homeschooling Techniques and Easy Homeschooling Companion

Easy Homeschooling Companion 1st edition

 

 


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Expectations = Results

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Expect the best from your children and always let them know that you do. In case after case, when teachers were told their students were extremely bright, and when the teachers believed and expected it, the students performed vastly better than the control groups. (Pygmalion in the Classroom by Dr. Robert Rosenthal)

See more about faith and expectations in Easy Homeschooling Techniques and Easy Homeschooling Companion

Easy Homeschooling Techniques 3rd edition

 

 

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Household Behavior Modification

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By Monica Resinger

Ever hear of behavior modification? Usually it's associated with weight loss meaning you make changes to your eating behavior to produce weight loss. If applied, it usually produces pleasing results with just a little effort. I'd like to introduce another behavior modification idea and that is household behavior modification.

With this idea, you make changes in certain behaviors that you do at home to make improvements in areas that are bothering you. The question is, where do you start?

To figure out where to start, you need to notice what's really bothering you about your home. It could be your cluttered desk, too much clutter everywhere, not being able to see clearly through the windows, or embarrassment when people come to visit among many other things. When you notice that you are irritated about something in your home, write it down in a notebook so you can look back at it later and come up with household behavior modifications to help solve the problem.

Once you are in the mood for coming up with some solutions to your household problems, bring out your notebook and a pen. For each household problem that you listed, come up with a few solutions and write them down on a new page.This can include behavior modifications and other notes such as purchasing items that will help solve the problem. It's best to focus on one problem at a time.

I have done this many times in my own home and I'll give you some examples of what I did to solve the problems. I'm in no way finished, but at least things are always getting better.

Here are some of my examples:

~ Note in notebook: Irritated by all the paper everywhere (junk mail, newspaper, etc.). Behavior modifications: Sort through mail right after it is retrieved, throwing away what needs to be thrown away, putting bills in bill box and coupons in coupon binder. Put daily newspaper in recycling bin to be picked up weekly by garbage service. Reminder: Make call to get recycling service for the newspaper.

~ Note in notebook: Embarrassed when visitors come over and the house is a mess. Behavior modifications: Since the living room is the first room visitors see, I'll be sure to tidy it first when cleaning house. Enforce the rule that everyone picks up after themselves. Get in the habit to check the living room constantly to see if it needs tidying and if it does, tidy it.

~ Note in notebook: The front porch is ugly. Behavior modifications: Straighten, organize and sweep front porch on a weekly basis. Note: Find some cute decorations for it at a thrift store or yard sale. Cover the ugly plywood floor with outdoor rug.

To come up with solutions, you have to get to the root of the problem. Ask yourself where is the problem coming from? My ugly front porch problem was coming from too much clutter, no decorations and lack of organization. My paper everywhere problem was coming from saying, "I'll get to it later," and not having a place for what I did keep. Once you get to the root of the problem, it will be easier to see what needs to be changed.

Writing these down has the benefits of being able to look back later and see if your behavior modifications have worked. If they haven't, then you can think up new behavior modifications or reinforce the old ones, whatever needs to be done.

I suggest that you add your modifications to your chore schedule. This will help ensure that you stick to it. If you don't have a chore schedule, check out the one here: http://homemakersjournal.com/chore schedules.htm

Remember, small changes add up to be big improvements!

Get Monica's FREE e-zine for homemakers 3 times per week; just send a blank e-mail to:

HomemakersJournal-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Get FREE home and garden e-books at Monica's website, 'Homemaker's Journal E-publications'; Click here:

http://homemakersjournal.com

Also see "Organizing Your Home" in Easy Homeschooling Techniques

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Oil Painting Color Mixing

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By Ralph Serpe

When I first began painting some 10 years ago, I recall how
intimidating it all seemed. With all of the various colors, mediums,
brushes and other tools available, it was enough to make my head
spin.

While learning about the various brushes and mediums was a bit
confusing, the biggest challenge for me was how to accurately depict
nature and other real life objects on canvas using color.

How do I make a color lighter or darker? What about making realistic
shadows or highlights? This article will shed some colorful light on
the situation, and with practice, working with color in your oil
paintings will become easier and more enjoyable.

Thank God for the beautiful sun, for without it, we would not see
color. Everything would appear dark and colorless.

Thankfully, the light from the sun also travels in a straight line.
If it didn't, we wouldn't have the wonderful variety of light and
shadow that makes everything so enjoyable to paint.

If you take an apple for instance, and put it outside in the grass in
the sunlight, you will notice several different values that the light
creates when shining on the apple.

You have the main overall tone of the apple, the shadow on the apple,
the cast shadow, reflection from nearby objects like the green grass
and the sky, and highlights. Our job as painters is to accurately
depict these values on canvas using color.

There are so many different oil colors on the market today. All of
these different colors come from the six colors that make up the
spectrum - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet.

Colors have four main properties - value, intensity, temperature and
hue. The value of a color refers to how light or dark a color is. The
intensity of a color refers to how bright or dull it is - also known
as a colors saturation or purity. If you used yellow straight from
the tube, it would have a higher intensity then if you mixed it with
white. The temperature refers to how warm or cool a color is. Colors
range in temperature from warm yellows and oranges to cool blues and
violets. Finally, the hue is just another word for color. An apple
and a cherry are both hues of red.

Color mixing is not an exact science. Artists have different formulas
and methods for mixing and applying paint, so the following tips are
general guidelines and not necessarily rules that must be followed.

When mixing colors don't over mix. Over mixing a color will take the
life out of it.

To create highlights in your paintings, use white with a touch of the
objects complimentary color. There are some exceptions however. When
painting highlights on certain objects like brass for instance, which
can be depicted on canvas using yellow, making a lighter yellow
tinted with white can create a convincing highlight.

Cast shadows of objects are complimentary to the color that the
shadow is cast upon. For instance, the cast shadow of a red apple on
a blue tablecloth would be orange.

To get any desired color, try to mix as few colors as possible.

Try to keep the theme of your painting either all warm or all cool in
temperature.

Again, color mixing is not an exact science. If you survey 10 artists
and ask them various questions about mixing oil paint, you will
likely get many different answers. My advice is to keep painting and
practicing until you develop your own formulas and techniques that
you are comfortable with. Happy Painting and God Bless!

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Ralph Serpe is Webmaster and Cofounder of Creative Spotlite
http://www.creativespotlite.com, a free educational art and craft community. Visit Creative Spotlite today for more free art lessons. This article may be reprinted on your website or newsletter as long as nothing is changed and this resource box remains.

Also see "Learning to Draw" in Easy Homeschooling Techniques


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