Once in a blue moon

"My husband changes diapers once in a blue moon".

You have all heard the expression. It is really our way of saying it NEVER happens; kind of like "When pigs fly".

Well, if you believe that a blue moon never happens, you are wrong. In fact, this New Years Eve, we'll have a blue moon.

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

Now, before you are HORRIBLY disappointed on New Years Eve, the blue moon...IS NOT BLUE.

The New Year's Eve non-blue blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2 this year. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky&Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky&Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on.

For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

Any way you look at, it won't be blue, but it WILL be interesting and could be a great way to begin some research into lunar cycles.

Now, if you would like to begin a HISTORY lesson, show your kids how old you are and try singing the rest of this...

"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, Without a dream in my heart, Without a love of my own..."

CURIOUS EVENTS IN NEBRASKA LAST WEEK

FROM DECEMBER 17. WWW.SPACEWEATHER.COM

"Last night, Dec. 16th at 9 p.m. CST, a very bright meteor lit up the completely overcast sky like lightning in southeast Nebraska," reports Trooper Jerry Chab of the Nebraska State Patrol. "It flashed for approximately 2 seconds and was followed by sonic booms and ground shaking, which prompted many calls by the public to law enforcement in a three county wide area." Meanwhile, the USGS says there was a magnitude 3.5 earthquake near Auburn, Nebraska, at 8:53 pm, about the same time and place as the fireball.

"If the earthquake is confirmed, as it appears to be, I think we have the most cosmic of coincidences: A large fireball around the same time of an earthquake," says Chab. "I am simply amazed!"

One possible interpretation of these events is that a small asteroid hit Earth's atmosphere and caused the ground to shake when it exploded in mid-air. However, the timing might not be right. The quake seems to have preceded the fireball. Several readers have pointed out studies that associate lightning-like phenomena with earthquakes: #1, #2, #3. So, the earthquake might be responsible for both the shaking and the light show. Or it might be a big coincidence just as Chab suggests.

More reports could help sort out the possibilities. Readers in Nebraska with photos or eyewitness accounts have been encouraged to submit their observations.

Some eyewitness accounts include:

Eyewitness Accounts:

Location: 5 miles NW of Pawnee City, Nebraska
Comments: Nebraska State Trooper Jerry Chab: "At 2100 CST tonight a very bright meteor lit up the entire completely overcast sky like lightning in southeast Nebraska. It flashed for approximately 1.5-2 seconds and was followed by sonic booms and ground shaking which prompted many calls by the public to law enforcement in a three County wide area."

"I was approximately 5 miles NW of Pawnee City, Ne. when I observed the flashes," Chab continues. "It was a very bright one, the sky dimmed a bit and it was followed by another bright flash. Between the two bright flashes the sky never completely dimmed. Again, this all occurred within 1.5-2 seconds. I talked to a truck driver who was approx. 8 miles straight East of me who saw the same thing. A local Deputy was about 16 miles ENE of me and also saw it. The first 911 call came at 2201. The calls were about explosions AND earthquakes. One individual call mentioned 'two' explosions. I attributed the calls to sonic booms."

"If the Earthquake is confirmed, as it appears to be, I think we have the most cosmic of coincidences: A large fireball around the same time of an Earthquake. I am simply amazed!!"

For more accounts or to submit yours, CLICK HERE

This week, research earthquake lightning, meteors and Nebraska Earthquakes.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Holidays

With 2009's final blast hitting the country, the Chasing4Life team will be busy navigating roads and reporting conditions throughout the holiday. We want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and the very happiest of holidays. If you are in the path of all this weather, please do not let our efforts this year go to waste...stay prepared at home!

We want to thank all of you that supported us this year and we are looking forward to what looks to be an AMAZING new year.

As you spend some time with your families this next week, stay tuned to our Twitter and keep us in your prayers.

Happy Holidays!

Tragic Loss in Henderson, TN

As we tour, we make friends and those friends quickly become family. This Monday was to be the day that we touched base with our new friends and family in Tennessee to arrange for a return tour. It is tonight that we are truly saddened to find that one of the towns we grew to love has suffered a horrible, tragic loss.
Captain Dennis Cagle, a police officer in Henderson, Tennessee (Chester County) was shot on Thursday and passed away this morning. Alannah and I were shocked to hear of the loss and are truly saddened. Our prayers and thoughts are with the folks in Chester County as they deal with this horrible loss during what should be such a joyous season.

Energy...

One thing I know for sure is that trudging through 4 foot snow drifts for days on end has me running out of energy. I spent HOURS shoveling and ran out of energy again! Last night, I was too tired to eat.
Energy is in the news all the time, we say that we want to save energy and so we turn off a light, we even say we have run out of energy physically, but do we really know what energy is? It is a hard concept to teach, especially to the younger ones. My sons understand a little about energy, but no matter how much we talk of recycling and saving energy, do they really get the science of it?
I found a great site to help you talk and teach about energy. The great thing is, YOU will save energy by using this site because it is interactive and you really let the kids just "go at it"!
To find the site, simply CLICK HERE

The flu close up and personal

I wanted to share a GREAT site with you today. Take a look at the flu close up by CLICKING HERE.

This site is a blog created to be a unique health information source. The graphics are great and a fantastic resource for teaching your kids about the SCIENCE of this flu!

Breathe!

We have been talking a lot about H1N1 around our house, taking precautions, limiting interaction with families where we know someone is sick, and of course, we have scrubbed our own fingerprints off washing our hands. So what can we learn as we talk about swine flu? Well, the subjects are actually endless. The last few days we have discussed forensics, actually figuring out ways that the flu can be spread from person to person, thinking about how many people we come in contact with each and every day, but the REALLY interesting subjects can come from talking about WHAT the flu does.

Trying to explain to my kids that the flu is a respiratory illness was pretty pointless until I could explain to them what RESPIRATORY was.

Have your kids ever asked how do you breathe? What are lungs? What do they look like and how do they work? Have you ever wondered this yourself? Here is a super simple, super easy project to explain this.

SUPPLIES:

One 1-liter or 1-quart clear plastic bottle ( a good way to recycle those water bottles!)
One large balloon
One small balloon
Two rubber bands
One straw
Modeling clay

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut off the bottom of the bottle. You can use a serrated knife, a utility knife, or scissors … what ever sharp instrument you use, please use standard safety rules.
2. Cut the neck off of the large balloon.
3. Stretch this balloon over the bottom of the bottle. Put a rubber band around it to hold it in place.
4. Insert the straw into the neck of the balloon.
5. Tie the balloon to the straw using the other rubber band.
6. Put the balloon end of the straw into the bottle so that the balloon is all the way into the bottle but does not touch the balloon over the bottom of the bottle.
7. Secure the straw in the bottle by using the modeling clay. Make sure the clay completely covers the mouth of the bottle, but does not crimp the straw.
8. Push on the rubber at the bottom of the bottle. What happens? Is this like breathing in or out?
9. Pull the rubber down. Which way would you be breathing now?

What happens? The stretched balloon across the bottom of the bottle acts like a diaphragm. This is the flat muscle at the bottom of the chest cavity. This muscle forces air in and out of your lungs. Your lungs do not inflate or deflate by themselves … a muscle, your diaphragm, is pulling or pushing so that you can breathe.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Home School Expo

We have added the RSS feed from the Chicago Home School Expo to the blog site! You can see the latest updates regarding the expo to your right under the Flu.gov box. For more information about the Expo, CLICK HERE.

Thanksgiving Weather

I love history. Really, ANY history. The problem with history is that I have a hard time teaching it to my kids sometimes. I fear that in a microwave society where everything is about the next minute, what happened 300 years ago sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

There are a ton of blogs out there on homeschool sites right now talking about activities surrounding the “Being thankful” theme, so I wanted to do something different. As always, I can teach almost subject as long as I can relate it to severe weather, so let’s take a look at Thanksgiving weather and see if we can find a way to teach history to the kiddies during the holiday week ahead…

We can pull almost any book off the shelf in our homes and quickly show the children that the Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock, but can we tell them why?

The Pilgrims actually made the decision to land on the shores of Massachusetts because of the weather! At the time that the ship was was passing the southeastern tip of Cape Cod, the wind and waves pushed the crews to make landfall to save the ship from the turbulent seas! You see, the folks on the Mayflower originally intended on going all the way to New York Harbor. The Mayflower only weighed about 180 tons, which seems large, but if you compare it to ships of today was actually not large at all! On November 19, 1620, the ship found itself in the dangerous shoals east of Monomoy Point.

MONOMOY POINT

With a south wind, the Pilgrims were able to backtrack northward and using the wind for two more days finally made it to Provincetown Harbor after 65 days at sea! According to historical reports, the Pilgrims knew they were in trouble, for the weather had forced them to land in a place they were very unfamiliar with no place for them to take shelter. The reputation of the North American winters had been widely spread back home…

While the winter was mild that year, the beginning of December was not. This made it very difficult for the Pilgrims to explore the strange land they had “found” by way of foul weather. By December 7th, the ground was covered with snow and frozen solid. Some reports say the snow was at least 6 inches deep. As if things could not get worse, the wind became so bad on the 17th of December that old journals say the Pilgrims were coated with ice from the ocean spray.

Imagine wind, snow and ice in New England in mid-December! Remember, there was no place to live!

Exploration parties were formed and they went out in search of shelter and on the 18th, it began to snow and rain. YUCK! The search for a sheltered location continued through December 18 and 19 when the decision was made to actually land the boat at Plymouth Rock, thus ending the trip on December 21 from a small rowboat and not from the larger Mayflower.

For the record, the Pilgrims stepped foot on a sandy beach despite the location’s name!

Why the rowboat? With wicked weather and an unknown land ahead, the women and children were left on the Mayflower and only ten men rowed to shore. Hostile natives were definitely a concern…

Once satisfied that Plymouth Rock was the best place to weather the new world’s weather, the small crew went back to the Mayflower and everyone came to Plymouth on the Mayflower on December 26 where a decision was made to start the colony right there.

PLYMOUTH

The winter of 1620-'21 was "a calm winter, such as was never seen here since," wrote Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Edward Winslow, one of the original Pilgrims, also wrote about the "remarkable mildness" of that first winter in “Good Newes From New England” published in 1624. There was testimony by others to a mild end of December, a moderate January, a brief cold spell with sleet and some snow in early February, followed by definitely mild conditions and an early spring.

Despite the generally warmer than normal conditions, almost half of the original passengers and crew of the Mayflower succumbed to disease during the first winter on the shores of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bay.

Could it have been because of their journey through bad weather as well? Records show that most of the Pilgrims came ashore with HORRIBLE coughs at Plymouth!

Many lived on board the Mayflower anchored a mile-and-a-half offshore and went to the land each day, weather permitting, to build adequate shelters. It was wet and windy most of that winter, but thankfully little snow came after the Pilgrims landed.

There are not many more records of the weather from the Pilgrim’s early days here, and it is thought that this was a marketing issue; you see, if they wrote home about harsh winters, nobody else would come!

WEATHER IN NEW ENGLAND

Are you watching the weather this week in New England?

MASSACHUSETTS MAP

Look at the map of Massachusetts and journal this week’s weather! Could you have made the last of the journey? Would the Pilgrims have gotten a wind from the south this year? What would the weather have been this year for the Pilgrims? What’s the long term forecast for the next 30 days? How many obstacles did the Pilgrims face and how many of them were worsened because of weather?

What might have changed if the Pilgrims had landed at New York where there was businesses, shelter and trade already?

How many historical moments in history have been governed by weather?

Watch your mouth!

Touring the country I get to hear a lot of cool things out of kid's mouths. As a parent, I know that sometimes not everything that comes out of a child's mouth is funny, especially when they are repeating something they heard you say that you shouldn't have...

I have gotten several hundred letters from kids in the last several months, most of them are from school children I met on tour. I love the things they remembered and laugh at how they focused on the LEAST important thing out of a 90 minute assembly.

One letter I got recently from a girl that attended a 90 minute presentation for her 5th grade class was this:

"Thanks for coming. I liked your boots!"

Here's another:

I learned alot about bad weather like when you said you still get scared!"

It is what makes children fun isn't it? It reminds me that they ARE listening. ALL the time...just not to what we THINK they are listening to...be careful what you say!

I remember the show "Kids say the darndest things" and was a big fan so I was excited to find a list of things kids have said about science that they THOUGHT they had learned at school.

Enjoy!

• "One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second."

• "You can listen to thunder after lightning and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind."

• "Talc is found on rocks and on babies."

• "Isn't inertia when something is moving, then it stops moving and keeps moving?"

• "The law of gravity says no fair jumping up without coming back down."

• "When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions."

• "When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting."

• "Rainbows are just to look at, not to really understand."

• "While the earth seems to be knowingly keeping its distance from the sun, it is really only centrificating."

• "Someday we may discover how to make magnets that can point in any direction."

• "South America has cold summers and hot winters, but somehow they still manage."

• "Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. There are 180 degrees between freezing and boiling because there are 180 degrees between north and south."

• "A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go."

• "There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Finding them all means living forever."

• "There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because of so much population stomping around up there these days."

• "Lime is a green-tasting rock."

• "Many dead animals in the past changed to fossils, while others preferred to be oil."

• "Genetics explain why you look like your father, and if you don't why you should."

• "Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there."

• "Some oxygen molecules help fires burn, while others help make water, so sometimes it's brother against brother."

• "Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers."

• "We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on."

• "To most people, solutions mean finding the answers. But to chemists, solutions are things that are still all mixed up."

• "In looking at a drop of water under a microscope, we find there are twice as many H's as O's."

• "Clouds are high flying fogs."

• "I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing."

• "Clouds just keep circling the earth around and around. And around. There is not much else to do."

• "Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it is big enough to be called a drop, it does."

• "Humidity is the experience of looking for air and finding water."

• "We keep track of the humidity in the air so we won't drown when we breathe."

• "Rain is often known as soft water, oppositely known as hail."

• "Rain is saved up in cloud banks."

• "In some rocks you can find the fossil footprints of fishes."

• "Cyanide is so poisonous that one drop of it on a dog's tongue will kill the strongest man."

• "The wind is like the air, only pushier."

• "A blizzard is when it snows sideways."

• "A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size."

• "A monsoon is a French gentleman."

• "Thunder is a rich source of loudness."

• "Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound."

• "It is so hot in some places that the people there have to live in other places."

• "Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime."

We are pretty excited about what has been happening around the office. New sponsors are calling, and more importantly, more schools, more libraries, more agencies. It looks like 2010 could be the best year we have ever had here at Chasing4Life and we know it is because of the many friends that we have made and met over the last two years. Your recommendations, your word-of-mouth advertising on our behalf is spreading the word like a wildfire in high winds.
Our blog numbers are up, our homeschool numbers are up, our web hits are up.
If you have not yet called or emailed to see when we are in your area, NOW IS THE TIME to do it! Our tours are filling up and the new programs for 2010 look better than any we have ever had. So far, we have dates lining up in at least 20 states (see map)! We have NEVER had interest this widespread this early in the season before!
Looking forward to a great year with more opportunities than ever before...creating a more resilient America one community at a time!

Homeschooling the sick

I wanted to share this as soon as I heard about. I felt that it validated some of the reasons for homeschooling, but even more so, supported programs we have been trying to create here at Chasing4Life. I found this to VERY exciting that National Geographic was stepping up like this!

Here's the news release:

Washington, D.C. - As the nation heeds the significance of President Obama’s declaration of a national emergency to deal with the H1N1 flu, educators are bracing for the possibility of widespread impact on student learning as a result of the virus. National Geographic Channel (NGC) and National Geographic School Publishing (NGSP) are responding to the urgent call of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to provide continuity of learning to keep students, sick or well, engaged in meaningful education activities if they are kept home during flu season. To help address the needs of students who will be impacted, NGC and NGSP today announced the launch of a special programming block and free education resources that will be made available during what is expected to be peak flu season.

Beginning November 16, NGC will air two-hour programming blocks from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, weekdays, over a six-week period, as well as provide select programs available anytime online at www.natgeotv.com/education. All programs in this educational block will be complemented with free Web-based activity guides and resources provided by NGSP via a special "continuity of learning" portal, National Geographic Home Zone (www.NGSP.com/homezone). The G-rated programming will be culled from the network’s award-winning specials and ongoing series, including Explorer, Naked Science and Wild Spaces, while the educational materials will be suitable for elementary, middle school and high school students, applicable to science, social studies and other disciplines. The intent is to provide students who are absent from school with opportunities to engage in a relevant learning experience.

Commenting on this announcement, John Fahey, president and CEO of National Geographic, said, "This effort underscores the commitment of National Geographic to partner with educators and parents, and is totally consistent with our mission of inspiring people to care about the planet. The National Geographic Channel and our school publishing unit are in a unique position to bring relevant learning resources into homes during the flu season. We hope students of all ages will both enjoy and benefit from the wonderfully engaging programs and related materials being offered"

Sci Tech Unveiling

We are now getting pictures from the SciTech unveiling of Dorothy in her new home. We have posted a brief story up on the website if you would like to see it. Just CLICK HERE.
We would like to thank John Gudenas, David James, Mayor Tom Weisner and the other folks from Aurora that helped make this possible.
Special thanks this week goes to Dan Bocklund who has worked very hard the last week at the museum and will be completing construction of the display alongside of the museum.

They Did Their Share

On Veteran’s Day we honor
Soldiers who protect our nation.
For their service as our warriors,
They deserve our admiration.

Some of them were drafted;
Some were volunteers;
For some it was just yesterday;
For some it’s been many years;

In the jungle or the desert,
On land or on the sea,
They did whatever was assigned
To produce a victory.

Some came back; some didn’t.
They defended us everywhere.
Some saw combat; some rode a desk;
All of them did their share.

No matter what the duty,
For low pay and little glory,
These soldiers gave up normal lives,
For duties mundane and gory.

Let every veteran be honored;
Don’t let politics get in the way.
Without them, freedom would have died;
What they did, we can’t repay.

We owe so much to them,
Who kept us safe from terror,
So when we see a uniform,
Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.

By Joanna Fuchs

HOMESCHOOL EXPOS

Make sure you check out the new page on the website this week! Chasing4Life will be at the Southeast Homeschool Expo and the Chicago Homeschool Expo!
CLICK HERE!

Why be different?

Being on the road the last few days and dealing with the business end of things, I have found little time to write for this blog (or any of my other blogs for that matter). I did find time to browse through some recommended articles and happened upon a GREAT article I think is well worth reading, so as you patiently wait for my next tidbit of wisdom or creative idea, please make sure you read this article by Wendy McMillian:

The Nile River - located in the Sudan and Egypt in Africa - is an interesting river. What makes this river so interesting and unusual as compared to other rivers? Unlike the majority of the world's waterways, the Nile flows from south to north.

The Nile is the life of the desert. Many boats and ships travel its waters to make trade in cities found along its banks. Many natives farm along the bank of the Nile because of the rich soil and available water. At 4,160 miles long, the Nile is one of the longest rivers in the world, beginning its journey at Lake Victoria, and ending at the Mediterranean Sea.

Although the river seems to defy gravity by flowing from south to north, it actually is flowing downhill. It is not the mystery it appears to be. Lake Victoria, where the river begins, is located high in the mountains of East Central Africa. Its course is downhill from there.

Home schooling is not the mystery it appears to be either. It has actually been around for many centuries, in many forms. All through history, children have been taught skills and trades by older family members. Family history and heritage have been handed down through generations of teachings. Home schooling could be traced back as early as Adam and Eve when they taught their children.

But why home school your children today? Why not just send them away and let someone else do the teaching? In short, why be different? The answer is actually quite simple: Because lessons are just waiting to be learned in the life that surrounds us...

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE

We lost a friend

A good friend of Chasing4Life passed away this weekend and we are truly mourning his passing. John Bernardi (Nov 21, 1950-Oct 31, 2009) was the Branch Manager of the Washington Branch Library in Omaha. He was also the editor of NLAQ, board member of The Literacy Center of Omaha, member of the American Library Association and also the Public Library Association. John believed in Chasing4Life and did his best to promote our events and the message of disaster preparedness. He was fun to work with, scattered in many directions at all times, and made learning fun for everyone he came in contact with. John was one of those librarians that REALLY believed in the power of a book and that passion is what we will miss the most.
Rest In Peace, John.

Time Change

How many clocks did you have to set back in your house? Alot?

Your cellular phones probably did it themselves, but the worst is sometimes the one in the car! For a while, none of the clocks in my house matched! Did you ever wonder when this started? Here's today's lesson:

The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin. During a trip to Paris in 1784, Franklin wrote an essay called "An Economical Project". Some of Franklin's friends, inventors of a new kind of oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America.
The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight" (1907), that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and setting them back by the same amount on four Sundays in September.

As he was taking an early morning ride through Petts Wood, near Croydon, the builder was struck by the fact that the blinds of nearby houses were closed, even though the sun was fully up!

Willet wrote: "Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used."

Willet spent most of the rest of his life trying to convince the government that Daylight Savings made sense. He died still being made fun of...

Wanna know the rest?

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE STORY

Have a TWISTED Holiday

Website Troubles

Aplus, the company that hosts our website, has been at this for 30 hours. Our website is still not working properly and we want to apologize to everyone that is trying to reach us via the site. Use info@chasing4life.org as an address and please be patient. We are not getting solid answers from the company and we know that many of you are attempting to access the web site pages. So are we.

Safety First

While we all want Halloween to be just as scary as possible, there is no point in making it dangerous and there is no reason to make the danger REAL.

This blog is supposed to be about safety and preparedness, so with the Halloween holiday upon us, let’s get down to business.

Growing up, Halloween was one of those holidays that we did not always participate in. The family bounced back and forth between the history of Halloween and our religious beliefs so it was a pretty confusing time for me as a kid. By the time I became an adult, I had decided that I was going to celebrate Halloween like nobody had ever done before. I went to every haunted house, every maze, and went to several Halloween parties. As for my kids? I sent them out trick-or-treating with the biggest plastic pumpkins I could buy!

We cleaned up! We had candy for two years! A year later, while sitting around eating stale Bit-O-Honeys, I began to think about how irresponsible I had been all in the name of “celebrating”.

Parents of trick-or-treating kids can get so caught up in the fun themselves that they might forget some simple safety ideas that could save everyone some trouble. Here are some things to remember…

Know where your kids are at all times. Have you been watching the news? What a great night for child abductors, huh? Unattended kids distracted by mobs of other kids and adults, decorations and candy… they are quite a target. There has been some sad stories in the news lately, so know the route your kids are taking, accompany them if at all possible, or make sure they are in a group.

Make sure the costume is safe. Can your child safely look both ways before crossing the street with their mask on? Can they run in their costume? Defend themselves?

Know what activities your kids may be taking part in. I have some older kids that will not be trick-or-treating and I want to know WHERE they are going and WHO they are going with! As the father of several teenagers, I have figured out that the older the kid, the dumber decision.

Do not assume that the mall functions are safe. GO WITH YOUR KID.

Set a curfew. Make it very clear that you expect your child home at a set time. Any tardiness will indicate a problem so you can act quickly. Take a picture of your child in their costume before they leave the house so you have one should anything happen.

Explain to your children the difference between tricks and vandalism. Spooking people can be fun, but vandalism is not acceptable.

Think about the weather. Make sure that you do not sacrifice health for a cool costume. The forecast for 32 degrees has TOTALLY ruined my plans to go as a belly dancer.

Lastly, make sure your child has a flashlight with them.

Be safe, enjoy the holiday. Give out cool candy. Peeps left over from Easter are NOT acceptable.

They found Elizabeth today

The body of missing 9-year-old Elizabeth was found in a wooded area near Missouri's capital city today, two days after she was last seen walking from a neighbor's home. According to the latest news, the suspect is a juvenile.

The sheriff did not give any details on how Elizabeth died or about the juvenile in custody except to say that the person lived in the area west of Jefferson City and was older than the girl. Police said Elizabeth's body was found just before 3 p.m.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Olten family. Friends, please watch your kids. The world is becoming a very tough place to grow up.

For those of you with snow...

As adults we see snow as one of those things we dread. Sure it is pretty and can make for a very romantic Christmas Eve, but the bottom line is this: we have to shovel, get out the snowblower, scrape our car windows, drive through it to get to the store, and the worst part is that we have to find boots that go with our “adult clothes” that don’t make us look like the kid in the Malt-O-Meal commercial!

As a child, things are different. Not only can snow transform the landscape into a wonderland, but it can provide a lot of material for learning.

While most of the country does not have any snow yet, back in Nebraska we have plenty already! The snowflakes today are the size of baseballs!
While October is not the best time to discuss snow in most situations, it seems pretty appropriate for our little homeschool here today.

Today we may work on finding out where snow comes from. We will talk about how snow crystals are born in the clouds when water vapor freezes on a particle of dust, a floating bit of bacteria, or another solid material. Today’s snow is just more of yesterday’s rain that has gotten too cold!

We will talk about when cloud temperatures are at the freezing point or below, and there is an ample supply of moisture in the air, ice crystals form around a core particle. As water vapor condenses and freezes, the complex pattern of a snowflake is born, one molecule at a time. A snowflake's hexagonal shape is born at the atomic level. It is here that water molecules bond together into stable crystal structures.

With flakes this big, we will classify snow into six basic patterns called: Needles, columns, plates, columns capped with plates, dendrites, and stars. Each type is the result of different atmospheric and temperature conditions within the cloud. You can find out what each of these are by clicking on http://school.familyeducation.com/science/teaching-methods/37626.html?detoured=1

There are several ways you can “investigate” snow flakes.

What you'll need:
Viewing platform: black velvet, dark cloth, or black construction paper
Magnifying glass

Snowflakes are delicate creatures and their fine crystalline shape can vanish at the touch of warmth. You'll need to freeze your viewing surface (keep it in the fridge or outside in a cold dry area). If the snow is falling, just hold your platform aloft to catch a few flakes and view with your magnifying glass. You may need to wear a scarf over the mouth and nose to avoid melting the flakes with a warm breath.

Try photography. Years ago it was expensive to hand your kids a camera and have them blow through a $4 roll of film that cost $5 to develop, but now, with digital cameras, teaching and journaling can be fun! See how close you can get to take a picture! Can you capture the whole snow fall and then a single flake?

Keeping journals is a great way to interest any child in observation. My son amazed the filmmaker from Canada that was visiting a few weeks ago by explaining to him that he had journaled all of our regional weather for the last six months!
In your snow journal, keep 1. Date, time and amount of the snowfall 2. Temperature of the air and how it effects “snowball making” 3. The kinds of crystals you observe and if your are ambitious, 4. The weight unit of the snow. Use a small container such as a measuring cup and gather enough snow to fill the container without packing it. Use a ruler or knife to level the snow with the top of the container and weigh it on a postage scale. The idea is, after several “readings” to find that the higher the weight, the higher the water content, so make sure you keep the amounts of snow approximately the same each time. Taking measurements every few hours will allow your child to see how “heavy” the snowfall is. You may want to look back over your midday readings and evening readings to see if colder air effects snow weight!

Now, when all this has been done and your child has become a snow expert ready for the rest of winter, find their coat, gloves, hat, scarf and boots and go make snow angels!

Are you ready to RUMBLE???

If you have been to one of my presentations, you probably know I am into earthquakes. You can connect earth science with real life y simply going to https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/ and signing up for the USGS Earthquake notification service!
Each day you will get an email telling you where earthquakes occurred. You can set boundaries within the system so you only get US earthquakes. I just got one for a 1.8 in Missouri!
This is a great discussion starter, and fun to journal as you learn about earthquakes, The New Madrid Zone, the San Andreas Fault and how much of our terrain came to be the way it is!
The site has a lot more to offer than just this. It is a GREAT resource for teaching! Check out http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/ for all kinds of lesson ideas and activity ideas.

It's a fact!

I found a GREAT site filled with factoids and weather science stuff for today's homeschooling lesson! CLICK HERE to check it out!

Did you know one inch of rain over one square mile equals to 17.4 million gallons (66 million liters) of water?
Did you know that the weight of one inch of water over one square mile equals over 145 million pounds (66 million kg)?
Did you know 145 million pounds of water is almost 73,000 tons or the weight of 241 locomotives?
This is a lot of water held up by wind.

Clouds are made of trillions of tiny droplets of water (or when cold enough, ice crystals)!
There is so much water in the air that if it all fell as rain at the same time, it could fill enough buckets to reach from the earth to the sun 57 million times!

Here is something you can try...You can tell the temperature by counting the clicks a cricket makes in 15 seconds and adding 37!

Lilapsowhat?

Winter tornadoes are not as rare as you may think. Anyone with Lilapsophobia (the fear of tornadoes) certainly had something to be afraid of on February 5th and 6th, 2008. A series of massive tornadoes struck at least 5 Southern states (Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama) causing at least 52 deaths and 150 injuries. Do not forget the children of Oconto, Nebraska who had their Halloween trick-or-treating horribly interrupted by a tornado that swept through the center of town.
No time of year is entirely free from tornado risk. Like spring, fall is a transitional period when masses of warm and cool air are more likely to collide and create the thunderstorms that can trigger twisters. During summer, tornadoes can also form within hurricanes, which can turn a relatively benign outer arm of a hurricane into a locally devastating event.
Winter tornadoes can be particularly deadly, not because they're stronger, but because they tend to move faster.

Hot holidays

A week or so ago we talked a little about fire safety. With October being the month that we focus on fire safety, it is important that we remember to add this into our curriculums while we are thinking about it. Ever wonder why Fire Safety Month is in October?
In the next several weeks our homes will be cluttered with tons of flammable materials. From large Thanksgiving centerpieces full of dried flowers to Christmas lights and garland, the potential for a fire increases drastically in November and December! Add in wrapping paper and a live tree and POOF!

Homeschool Fire Safety Lesson Ideas

Fire safety lessons should include several layers of instruction, including helping children understand fires, how to prevent fires and how to react safely in case of a fire.

About Fire

It glows, dances, flickers and fascinates children, and teaching them about how fire works can help snare their interest in fire safety lessons. Ideas for learning about fire include:

• Studying the mechanics of combustion, including its chemical and thermal properties by testing materials before and after burning, as well as measuring the temperatures generated by fires
• Testing the combustibility of different household materials in a fireplace or barbecue grill, such as burning newspapers, cloth, Styrofoam and other items and comparing the smoke, smell, combustion speed and fire color
• Visiting a local fire house and learning what equipment firefighters use and what training they have to deal with fires
• Learning the composition of smoke and why it cannot be breathed
• Studying historical fires, both on a local and national scale, and learning how devastating a fire can be to real people
• Studying how fire can burn skin and what other bodily damage it can do

For more ideas on how to teach about fire and fire safety in the home, just CLICK HERE.

Weather Science Camp

The subject of holding a weather science camp has been brought up again this year. If this is something you would be interested in, we could use your help. Our thoughts are that we could create a one-day camp experience for elementary school age children with a focus on homeschooled children. While we have done camps before, this would be a large effort for us and in order to begin work on this project, we need your input.
In order to hold the camp, we would need a venue in your area and an idea of what your budget might be to enroll a child in such a camp.
Obviously shared costs will keep costs lower, and so we would love to see churches or home school associations or organizations take on booking a camp in their area.
We want your thoughts and input.
Please use the Chasing4Life contact page at www.Chasing4Life.org to send us your thoughts. Let us know about homeschool groups in your area, possible venues and how many homeschool families you are connected to. If you would like to volunteer at one of these camps, let us know that too!
We look forward to hearing from you!

Shaken, not stirred

With all the earthquakes in the news, what better time to teach your kids about earthquakes? I recently visited my old school and spoke about The New Madrid Zone and was amazed at how interested they were! Try visiting the USGS site for kids by clicking HERE and check out the games, activities and more!

There are TONS of links for teaching (watch the left hand menu) and make sure you incorporate a little TV time so you can make that connection between today's news and all these new resources!

Are you energetic?

It is a little more than halfway through October and I am tired. I have been in many states in the last 30 days and I am exhausted! I AM OUT OF ENERGY!

That reminds me.

October is Energy Month!


What is energy? Where do we get our energy? Have we always done this the same way? How much energy is OUR house using each month?


CLICK HERE for a great site where you can find out all tthe answers to these questions and you will also find activities for the whole family! Moms and Dads can find an energy calculator too!

Partly Cloudy

So here is today's weather lesson.
What do you know about clouds?
Can you recognize them?

Just click here.


When you are done, here's a simple song you can learn!

Clouds are Floating
(to the tune of Frere Jacques)
Clouds are floating, clouds are floating,
Up so high, up so high,
Floating up above us, floating up above us,
In the sky, in the sky.

Activate your kid's mind!

Greetings to all of our new friends in Mundelein!
As I promised to so many of you over the last week of this tour, here is the link and some information to the Edheads website.

Edheads will create unique, educational Web experiences designed to make hard-to-teach concepts understandable using the power and interactivity of the Internet. They have set a new standard for excellence by delivering in-depth content in a fresh, exciting style allowing your child to learn intuitively in an online environment.


I encourage you to spend some serious time on the site so that you can see all of the things it has to offer your homeschooled student.


I will be revisiting this site for you in this blog over the next few weeks to recommend specific activities as promised.


To discover Edheads for yourself CLICK HERE

Sorry, not interested.

I took a call today from a young mom doing her best to home school her kid. While some subjects seem to come easy, there are others that just seem too difficult to teach because she feels she is making "no connection" with her son.

Here's the most powerful way I have found to get that interest peaked and that attention span stretched beyond two minutes...

Let your child find a hobby.

Our daughter had the hardest time reading, in fact, reading was not a priority at all to her and of course, a lack of reading caused many problems in every subject. As she grew older, she bagen to show an interest in horses. The problem was solved. From field trips to 4H, from library books on horses, we finally had a means of incorporating her interest into what she needed to learn! It was exciting to watch her read books on horses, and of course, she eventually got her own horse. From there she learned math as she budgeted for tack, learned fractions as she figured out feed amounts, and even learned practical skills as we built a stable!

Now I realize that not everyone will go this extreme with a hobby, but it worked!

Take my son for example. He is a bright boy, but has little attention span for things that he deems "unneccesary". With a father that makes a living as a professional weather monitor and researcher, he wanted to grow up to be like dad. That was where we focused.

It is thrilling to watch as (at 7 years old) he can calculate the arrival of a storm based on wind speed and direction versus distance. calculating wind shear is not an easy task for a seasoned weather monitor, but Jon goes after it with a vengeance at only 7! Rainfall totals, average rainfalls, water temperatures all come from buoy readings he takes himself and I love watching him analyze weather systems.

Having trouble making that connection in certain subjects? Step away from the books for a moment and find what peaks their interest. Rockets. Dinosaurs. Dolls. Weather. Cars. It all holds a means to get them to read, learn math, explore science and more!

One book

Are you taking advantage of your local library and its programs?
For years now I have spoken at thousands of schools, but never have I seen the fruit that I have seen come from the local library systems. In the last few years our library tours have increased dramatically and I could not be happier. I know, it sounds “corny” to talk about the power of a book, but I really believe in it.
A few years ago I met a very unique and odd little man. He told me a crazy story of a book he had taken from his local library as a boy…
It turns out that the book was about lightning and Benjamin Franklin. After a few weeks, the librarian wanted her book back, but the book had become the most valuable possession the little 5th grader had ever held and so he held onto the book, taking odd jobs to pay the overdue fines.
The book grew. It grew inside the boy and became a part of his life; it became a source of inspiration and gnawed at his curiosity. As an adult in his 40’s the man became an inventor and created a one-of-a-kind lightning detection system that is in use worldwide. The system is used to protect critical infrastructural equipment and facilities, railroads, telecommunications towers, hospitals, fire departments, dispatch centers and schools.
One boy.
One library.
One book.
In this country we are always looking for the latest thing, but have we taken time to look for the oldest? It is hidden in your local library.
I imagine a world for my children that is much different than the one we live in now. I imagine a world with better tornado warning systems, with cleaner air and cleaner fuels… it could very well be that YOUR child is the one that will discover it in a book somewhere. An unfinished experiment ages old could be lurking on a shelf very close to your home.
Dig deep.

Success Stories

As I tour the nation, it is encouraging to receive letters of thanks and recommendation. It is that kind of encouragement that sometimes makes the difference between quitting and continuing when things are not so easy. It is for that reason that every once in a while, when we run across a family excelling in the homeschool world, that we will feature them here on this blog.
Jason and Andrea Soldini were married in 1994 and had their first child in 1996. They began homeschooling in 2001 with their oldest daughter. In 1999 they had another daughter and in 2008 they adopted a son.
Their site, http://www.homeschoolingbythebook.com/ is truly an amazing testament to what they have accomplished. Check out their online “store” run by their 10 and 12 year old children and make sure you browse through their incredible field trips under “adventures”!
Jason and Andrea have a new book available too!
The family is inspiring and their approach to homeschooling is absolutely exceptional.

Code Red Rover

With the theme this month focusing on Fire Safety, take a moment to check out CODE RED ROVER where you will find online games, information and some teaching materials for your kids this month!

CLICK HERE FOR CODE RED ROVER

There's a great activity booklet you can download right on the site and tips for parents and teachers!

This is a great site for finding tips on EVERYTHING you need to know about home safety and how to teach it to your little ones!

FIRE SAFETY WEBSITE

CLICK HERE for a great website with helpful fire safety tips and videos for your home!

FIRE!

Are you practicing fire safety at home? Trust me... a word from personal experience...you need to be doing this!

You know, October is Fire Prevention Month and at schools across the country, students are going through fire drills and having visits from local firefighters that teach them the basics about fire safety. Are you homeschooling? If so, this means that NOW is the time to make arrangements to stop by your local fire department with your kids. Have a firefighter walk them through the building and give them a field trip. Make sure that when you get home, you practice fire drills in the house.

Now, a few tips for you that I have found are effective in the home:

1. Sneak down the hall while the kids are doing their work and use a broom handle to set off your smoke alarm. Keep an eye on the clock and see how long it takes for them to get safely out of the house.

2. Now, wait until nightfall and simulate bedtime. Turn off the lights in the house (all of them) and hit that smoke alarm again. It is important that the kids understand that this is something they will have to do in the DARK.

3. Make sure they all go to the same place. Is it out by the mailbox? The neighbors porch? Across the street?

4. Give your kids a project. Have them make their own fire safety brochure or poster promoting what they have learned. Make sure they make at least two of these. Now, have your kids visit your nearest neighbors for a visit. Have the kids explain to the neighbors what they learned and have them give their new "promotional literature" to the neighbors. While you are there, make sure the neighbors know where you have chosen to meet outside YOUR house if fire ever strikes your family. This way, when the firefighters arrive, the neighbors can tell them where you SHOULD be so there are no firefighters needlessly searching your home for you!

Welcome

According to statistics, homeschooling in the United States has increased 74% in the last eight years. Why? I do not believe that it is because of a lack of faith in our public school systems as much as it is a growing desire to see MORE education and more focus on real issues that will eventually effect the home.
I have toured this country for many years teaching and presenting in thousands of schools and have addressed not only hundreds of thousands of school students but their very concerned parents.
Disaster preparedness is always an issue that raises more questions than it provides answers. How do I teach it to my children without frightening them? How do I deal with the tough issues after a disaster? Do I allow my kids to see the news of current disasters? How do I involve them in our planning?
I have found that the world of disaster preparedness is a wide world of educational opportunity filled with science, history, social science, mathmatics and literature.
It is through this new blog that we intend to provide those tips, stories and insights that we have shared as we toured. Stay tuned here for programs, guides and curriculum additions as well.