A Christmas Tradition: Eric Felz

Today Eric Felz shares his family’s Christmas tradition with us.

Our Christmas tradition was to go to the candlelight mass on Christmas Eve. Many Catholic churches have a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, but our church had a couple of masses. The candlelight one wasn’t always at midnight, but we made a point to go to the candlelight mass. There was just something about the the warm glow of the candles and the beautiful music that made this tradition special. Oh the music was wonderful. The choir sang, and their voices were angelic. The organ, which I really only heard at church and baseball games, also played. The whole experience was what people envision when they think of Christmas.

The candlelight mass was a truly reverant experience. I treasure the memories of being in church with my family on Christmas Eve.

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Homeschool Lessons: Watching Economic History Unfold

If your children are a little older, watching the current state of the economy unfold could be fodder for a series of lessons about business. This could be achieved by reading the paper, listening to pod casts and learning about what is the sub prime lending market.

For example creating a diagram following the money from home owner to lender, to investment banks, to insurance agencies to the federal government.  By looking at each of these steps on the financial ladder, you and your children will gain some level of respect for how the financial systems have spiraled into a state where a 700 billion dollar loan from the federal government is being proposed.  To put this into perspective, if you consider there are roughly 100 million people who pay taxes (children, elderly and poor make up the rest), this loan amounts to a $7000 loan from every taxpayer in America. That is something you and your children can think about! Have your child write an op-ed article giving an opinion about this financial crisis once you’ve done the research.

I would recommend a few resources for your research
- Wall Street Journal
- New York Times
- NPR (Marketplace)
Just by taking a few minutes a day to learn about these events will bring a lifetime of knowledge about being financially responsible.  Good luck and have fun as we watch history unfold.

Greenspan , “let’s recognize that this is a once-in-a-half-century, probably once-in-a-century type of event.”

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Homeschooling Win in California

Homeschooling Coach is glad to introduce Dad’s Corner, which includes articles written by a homeschooling dad. Dad’s Corner this week features Eric.

I wanted to bring people a quick update on the status of homeschooling in California.  There is a great article in Eureka Reporter called Court reconnects with reality in homeschool reversal.  The case had been centered around a mother of eight who was homeschooling.  The appellate court overturned the original court decision requiring teaching certification to homeschool in California.

It is suggested that this reflects the Legislature’s understanding that numerous home schools file private school affidavits in California. This is not an unreasonable interpretation. While it is possible that some private schools with five or fewer students are, in fact, traditional private schools in which the teacher is unrelated to the students, it is much more likely that the private schools referred to by this law are home schools.

The court was out of sync with the legislature and the department of education

The Legislature is aware that homeschooling parents file affidavits as private schools, and has passed laws based on that awareness. The Department of Education has not challenged the practice, and the LAUSD has not asserted that the children of such parents are truant.

A copy of the decision can be found here.

For now the decision is a win for homeschoolers.

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