Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen

This is that difficult time of the year when there are so many distractions, homeschooling can be difficult. While you strive all year to maintain a schedule and some structure in your homeschooling efforts, days get shorter as decorating, visits from friends, Christmas pageants, church events and relatives seem to have no respect for that schedule you have worked so hard to maintain.

This Christmas season, a great project and experience for your homeschoolers may be to turn them into the Christmas Safety Police. First, let’s start with the art project…

Have the kids make badges for themselves using Christmas shapes cut out of construction paper. Using markers, crayon or even glitter (glitter is ALWAYS a sign of authority), each child should design a badge for themselves that in no uncertain terms says they are in charge of a safe Christmas.

Now that that is over, they need to go to school in order to be deputized.

Assist the children in researching Christmas safety tips for the home. I will be posting some below, but you can get online and find myriads of sources on kid-safe websites. Have each child prepare a report on Christmas safety tips and then let’s go back to the art room…

We are going to need some laws if we are going to be the Safety Police; after all, you can’t arrest somebody for breaking a law that does not exist! Each child should make a poster to be hung somewhere in the home with the “Christmas Safety Laws” such as Do not leave the Christmas lights on overnight.

Once the posters are in place and the “laws” are written, the children are in charge. This job is going to involve daily inspections that include making sure that lights are turned off before bedtime, that large icicles have not formed over doorways, that nobody piles gifts over extension cords, that the tree is watered daily, etc.

Have fun with it! Perhaps they should make tickets they can give to violators?

During the season of interruptions, this may be a great way to fill those odd moments during the holidays by sending the kids off on an inspection. Wanna take it a bit further? Perhaps a letter from your new police force to your relatives and friends on Christmas safety should be stuffed in this year’s Christmas card envelopes…

Each year, Christmas tree fires destroy homes across the country. The leading cause of Christmas tree fires and property damage was short circuit or poor wiring such as overloaded extension cords.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), cords and plugs were the leading type of equipment involved in the ignition of Christmas trees.

Safety points to remember:

• Any string of lights with worn, frayed or broken cords or loose bulb connections should not be used.
• Always unplug Christmas tree lights before leaving home or going to sleep.
• Never use lit candles to decorate a tree, and place them well away from tree branches.
• Try to keep live trees as moist as possible by giving them plenty of water daily. Do not purchase a tree that is dry or dropping needles.
• Choose a sturdy tree stand designed not to tip over.
• When purchasing an artificial tree, be sure it is labeled as fire-retardant.
• Make sure the tree is at least three feet (one meter) away from any heat source and try to position it near an outlet so that cords are not running long distances.
• Do not place the tree where it may block exits.
• Safely dispose of the tree when it begins dropping needles. Dried-out trees are highly flammable and should not be left in a house or garage, or placed against the house.

Holiday Fire Safety

The winter holidays are a time for celebration, and that means more cooking, home decorating, entertaining, and an increased risk of fire due to heating equipment.

• Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the U.S. When cooking for holiday visitors, remember to keep an eye on the range.
• Provide plenty of large, deep ashtrays for guests who smoke and check them frequently. Cigarette butts can smolder in the trash and cause a fire, so completely douse cigarette butts with water before discarding.
• After a party, always check on, between and under upholstery and cushions and inside trashcans for cigarette butts that may be smoldering.
• Keep matches and lighters up high, out of sight and reach of children (preferably in a locked cabinet). When smokers visit your home, ask that they keep smoking materials with them.

Candle Fire Safety

December is the peak month for candle fires, with nearly twice the average number of incidents.

44% of reported candle fires in the home started in the bedroom.

Safety points to remember:

• Extinguish all candles when leaving the room or going to sleep.
• Keep candles away from items that can catch fire.
• Use candleholders that are sturdy, won't tip over easily, are made from a material that can't burn and are large enough to collect dripping wax.
• Don't place lit candles in windows, where blinds and curtains can close over them.
• Place candleholders on a sturdy, uncluttered surface and do not use candles in places where they could be knocked over by children or pets.
• Keep candles and all open flames away from flammable liquids.
• Keep candlewicks trimmed to one-quarter inch and extinguish taper and pillar candles when they get to within two inches of the holder or decorative material. Votives and containers should be extinguished before the last half-inch of wax starts to melt.
• Avoid candles with combustible items embedded in them.

For more ideas on Fire Safety or Holiday Safety, search the net or watch for tips on our Chasing4Life FaceBook Page this season! We’ll be posting ‘em!

How we do it

If you are a parent of kids who go to school, you have probably heard many times expressions like "I hate homework", "I hate school" or "I don't want to learn". I have several children myself, and believe me, we’ve been through this a thousand times.
As a program coordinator or even a volunteer for an organization, it is easy to fall into the trap of supplying entertainment for kids simply because your educational events don’t go over well; it is probably because those educational events resemble that “school learning” and the “draw is certainly not going to be as great as that of a magician, a haunted house or a pizza party.
Here’s the truth: learning is harder when you do not understand WHY you should learn, how you learn and what you gain from learning. Unfortunately, most kids do not know what happens to them in the process of learning, so they only see the pain associated with it, instead of the pleasure. There is a reason why Chasing4Life programs are not only popular, but SUCCESSFUL, and by that, I mean that children RETAIN what they are taught at these events, and they actually are motivated to become educators themselves.
The brain
Our brain has 100 billion cells. Each cell carries a single thought, experience or feeling. This single thing, which the brain registers as an experience, moves in the brain the way electricity flows from the power station to your house.
We do not use all the cells we have in the brain. Some people say we use only a small portion of the brain, others say we use a bit more, but everyone agrees there are plenty of brain cells we do not use. Everything you do in life helps you use more of the cells in your brain. When you play, sleep, eat, laugh, cry or learn, you use more cells in your brain. The theory then? DO MORE STUFF.
When the same experience happens again and again, we no longer need to learn it - we do it automatically. Take walking, for example. At first, you need to concentrate on sending the right messages from your brain to your legs and back and you still wobble and fall down. But after some practice, you do it automatically - you no longer think about it. It is easy. The system I created years ago when I founded Chasing4Life is the same teaching system I use to this day and it is embedded in the Cahokia’s Kids Programming: repetition. People will ask if their child can attend only those programs in the series that sound interesting to them, but with this system we are using, each program overlaps the next, repeating lessons learned and intertwining them with the next lessons being taught. Each program begins with a review so the repetition is constant throughout the year.
How successful is this? We have children in Junior High School now that can still, to this day, repeat the severe weather facts they learned in First Grade at Chasing4Life programs!
“We need to be smarter”
We have a lot of phrases that the kids learn throughout the programs. One phrase is, “We need to get smarter”. The brain is like a machine that needs oil. Learning is that oil. The more you oil your brain, the better it runs. If you want to be smart, you need to make sure your brain works all the time. Every new thing you learn and repeat until it is automatic makes your brain machine faster and smarter. When you are talking about disaster planning and preparedness, you need to be able to operate like a machine quickly and there is no time to try to re-engage your brain last minute.
If you want to use your thinking brain more, you have to do more of the things that make you happy. If you need to learn something that is important to you, do it in a way that will make you happy. The Chasing4Life programs are fun, they relate to current events, they cause families to interact, and they are FUN. Remember, when you are happy, you remember everything.
So, if you have not done so yet, visit www.cahokiaskids.com and check out a new and exciting way to learn.

Joplin

The Army Corps of Engineers sent out a press release this morning regarding the work that is continuing in Joplin, Missouri. I noted one phrase they used in the release especially; the release stated that Joplin recovery was "evaporating" from the new coverage. This is true, just like the coverage of Tuscaloosa did. There comes a time after a disaster that the news crews move on. Sure, like the other day, Mike Bettes visited Joplin and did a "30 days later" special, adopted a dog from ASPCA and showed the continuing work, but today, Mike isn't there. And neither is anyone else. The country is moving on.

While I remember the advice of President Bush after 9-11 to "return to normal", there is another side of it as well. We cannot forget.

With heat indexes rising, resources still in short supply, news coverage spotty at best and years of work to be done, I am not content to simply watch Joplin's tragedy slip into the archives on some television station's website. During the intial phases after an event, the help is overwhelming. We watched truckloads of goods dropped in the city. We watched youth groups and church groups show up by the bus-loads. Red Cross trucks dotted the streets, The Salvation Army stopped regularly to check on our team. The military and law enforcement where everywhere, and any church with a roof had become a distribution center.

Now it is changing.

We are hearing from youth groups and churches planning missions trips for a year from now. Caylee Anthony fills the news. The weather, for the most part in the United States has been pleasant, and the July 4th weekend is quickly approaching.

Yesterday, a woman in Bloomington, Indiana was speaking to our team at an event and made this statement: "The tornado in Joplin was tragic!".

We corrected her.

The tornado in Joplin IS tragic. It will be tragic for a long time to come and we need to remember

.

You see, long after the debris falls to the ground, long after the streets dry, long after the tents are folded up, the tornado is still in the town spinning through the streets causing problems with recovery, with infrastructure, with emotions, with families, with health, with economy, with life.

That tornado will be churning through that town for years, and we need to think about what we can do. The initial campaign to volunteer or to give is over, but each hour we receive word that there are very real needs for crews, for specialists, for volunteers.

It is now that we can step up. The initial surge is over. It is time to start making longer-term commitments. If you can't go, GIVE. The Chasing4Life DRT's are ready to go back as are hundreds of others, but the funding to go just doesn't exist. Is this something you can help with?

Joplin is a community of Americans, just like you and me. They are our family and our neighbors.

This July 4th while we fly our flags over pristine porches and emerald green lawns, there are tattered flags flying over piles that were once the homes of the citizens of Joplin.

This 4th of July, don't celebrate freedom. Celebrate A freedom. Celebrate the specific freedom to support teams willing and ready and geared to go to Joplin. Celebrate the freedom to give. Celebrate the freedom to help. You have these freedoms.

This 4th of July, while you sit on a blanket with your family and watch the brightly colored fireworks over your town, remember the bright lights of bursting transformers lighting up the Joplin sky just over one month ago. Remember the families in Southern Missouri that are sitting on a blanket with THEIR families because that blanket is one of the few things they have left.

It may not be the headline news story, but it should still be the heartline story...

The Flooding Of Louisiana - Sophies Choice

From guest-blogger Dr. William H. Hooke, Ph.D.

The 1982 movie by this name may be unfamiliar to younger blog readers, but bears on events unfolding in Louisiana as this year’s Mississippi-River floodwaters continue to rise.

Here is the background.

First – the movie. Sophie’s Choice was a truly extraordinary film on every level. Based on a novel by William Styron, the picture won Meryl Streep an Academy Award for her performance in the title role and cemented her justly deserved reputation as one of the greatest actresses of any time.

The full story is complex and tragic; there is no way to do it justice in a few sentences. Here’s the bit that you and I need to know for today’s purposes. Sophie, living in post-World-War-II New York, is tormented by a decision she had been forced to make, on the fly, in a Nazi concentration camp, a few years earlier, during the war. A Nazi guard made her choose which of her two children would go to a children’s camp, and thereby have at least a chance to live; and which would go directly to the crematorium. The only alternative the Nazi offered? That both children could die, then and there. At the end, this memory helps drive Sophie to suicide.

Second – Louisiana today. News media have been covering this breaking story in recent weeks. Faced with record spring runoff throughout the Mississippi watershed, the US Army Corps of Engineers, other federal agencies and state and local officials, have been assessing the inundation likely under a range of scenarios. Under the first, they open the Morganza Floodway above New Orleans. Under the second, they allow the full volume of water to head south uncontrolled. Under the last, they divert excess water through the Old River Control structure. Officials are essentially making a trade: certain flooding of about 3000 square miles of small towns and countryside in rural Louisiana in order to prevent a potentially worse disaster – levee failures in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and flooding exceeding that of Katrina, wiping out whole neighborhoods as well as countless chemical facilities and oil refineries. Those responsible have made the decision – to open the Floodway. They may be implementing that choice even as I write this. Thousands of people are evacuating the areas of likely flooding, sandbagging in an effort to minimize their local loss, and grieving.

Psychologists and social scientists, most notably Paul Slovic, a psychologist at the University of Oregon, tell us that when we hear about disasters of this magnitude, we experience numbing. We’re incapable of grasping the enormity of such events as the aggregated sum of immense, overwhelming personal tragedies. Instead, we allow them to become empty statistics. So when we learn of starving millions, when we study the Holocaust, or Stalin’s execution of millions as he cemented his power in the former Soviet Union, or the fact that a third of the population between Iceland and India died of the Black Death in the winter of 1347-1348, we quickly consign that to some compartment in our brain where we store other factoids (how many ounces in a pound? How many games in Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak? How many calories in a Big Mac? etc.).

Just this once, let’s try consciously to override this universal tendency. Let’s use this occasion to see if we can make ourselves a bit less calloused about the tragedy that is unfolding.

How to do this?

Here are a few ideas.

First, let’s put ourselves in the place of people packing up, preparing to leave the only homes they’ve ever known. Picture the decisions we’re trying to make. Which paltry few things are we going to take? Where are we going to go? What resources can we draw on, given that we’re losing our jobs as well as our homes? What do we tell the kids, who know something terrible is happening but can’t comprehend it? For that matter, how can we explain to grandma, who’s in advanced stage of Alzheimers, who’s being asked to move out of her room? What do we do about the one child who picked today to be sick? Maybe the car broke down last night. Any chance to get that fixed? How do we get our heads around the idea that this has happened after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and last year’s oil spill, have already drained our resilience and our energies?

Or…put yourself in the shoes of people in New Orleans or Baton Rouge. There’s relief…and right behind it there’s guilt. You’ve been saved from the worst – maybe. And only at the price of immense suffering – distress and misery for thousands of folks no better or worse, no less deserving, than you, all across the surrounding area. Some of them are family. How can you look them in the eye next time you see them? What can you possibly do to make them whole? To show your gratitude for the sacrifice they made? To demonstrate that you all really were in this together?

Don’t move quickly on. Dwell on these realities. Let them sink in. Expand this short list, which doesn’t begin to do justice to the state of things. Come up with your better set of thoughts. Remember…this is how it felt to be Sophie’s kids. “What’s happening to my sister? Why is she going that way?” “Why am I being separated from my brother and mother? Mommy!”

Second, let’s now put ourselves in the shoes of those who are making the decision to open the Morganza Floodway. Is there any joy here? Any self-congratulation? Of course not. None of these men and women, from Army Corps of Engineers generals and Governor Bobby Jindal on down, can find any reason for satisfaction. They didn’t sign on for this…destruction. They’re builders. Rejuvenators! Givers of hope! This is wrong! They’re today’s Sophie. They were forced to choose.

And here’s a key point. Like Sophie, they simply found themselves in this role. Few of these people played any part in creating the conditions that made this choice necessary. For that, we have to look back to their predecessors – the long line of thousands and thousands of state and local officials, and those serving in the Corps of Engineers over the past 150 years. And none of those people deliberately set out to sabotage cities and towns. Each day out of those 60,000 days, they made small decisions and infinitesimal compromises needed to get through the day. On this scale, it was impossible to see how that ratcheted up the risk, bit by bit.

And they weren’t the only ones. Land developers and business leaders made the decision to snuggle up more and more resources right behind the levees all up and down the Mississippi. And all those who are being flooded out get annual notices from the Corps to the effect that flooding would be a distinct possibility.

Third, we don’t have to put ourselves in others’ shoes. Instead, we need to honestly take stock of our own lives. No quarter of the United States is free from risk from natural hazards, industrial accidents, or willful acts of terror. And every action we take throughout our lives – where to set down roots and start a family, what jobs to accept, whether to be active in community affairs or sit on the sidelines – each decision and its sequelae set into motion a local ratcheting up of risk. Each day, we’re thoughtlessly, opportunistically, setting up a problem for either ourselves or our children.

What’s happening in Louisiana is not just happening to someone else, someone faceless. It’s our destiny unless we consciously make decisions to get off this cycle of inevitable disaster and repetitive loss. Across the nation, each of us has played a small part in what’s unfolding today. And we’re playing a bigger part in similar tragedies lining up to happen tomorrow. We can and should do better. The starting point? Building-in community resilience into every aspect of our thinking, rather than just treating it as an afterthought.

It’s not just Sophie’s choice.

TO FOLLOW DR. HOOKE'S BLOG "LIVING ON THE REAL WORLD" CLICK HERE

Disaster Response Team

Over the years, many of our Disaster Response Team members have come from the homeschool circles. Perhaps it is because those circles have SAH family members, perhaps it is because of the way we have incorporated children into our efforts. Either way, we want to encourage you to consider becoming involved in the C4LDRT.

We remember well the assistance we received from young people during the Eldora, Iowa deployment, and we are looking at historic severe weather already this year throughout the United States and could use more of you...

Over the course of the years, Chasing4Life’s Disaster Response Team has grown, shrunk, and then grown again in numbers. We have sought for a DRT Coordinator for some time that would take over the responsibilities of coordination, direction and organization of the C4LDRT for some time and we are excited to announce that we have secured a new C4LDRT Lead Coordinator.

This team is a team of volunteers that possess the skills and passion needed to respond to disaster situations and scenes throughout the country with little to no notice. Because the team is volunteer, we know that not everyone can respond every time, and we also know that skill-sets differ and thus make some more instrumental at one scene while not as much at another.

Because of all this, we are looking to connect with new volunteers and looking to reconnect with those that, over the years, have slipped into another world or have not contacted us in a while.

Everyone has a gift, and it is this truth that we stand on as we re-build the C4LDRT. If you are interested in joining this effort, please visit the link below.

Joining the team will require online classes, trainings, assembling your response gear, and assisting us in recruiting new members as well as supporters. It is our goal to rebuild the team so that it resembles the original with Regional Coordinators and area teams.

Skills and interests we are looking for include, but are not limited to: severe weather tracking, debris removal, counseling, heavy equipment operation, construction, search & rescue, medical, fire, communications, hazmat, education and more.

Again, if you are interested, visit the link below and contact us. You will receive a listing of requirements, a description of operational procedures and protocols, and will be contacted directly by our new coordinator.

If you are interested in simply becoming a supporter or a sponsor of this newly revived team, please use our website to contact us directly.

With all that said, we want to thank those members that have been with us through the years; the lives saved and the lives changed are numerous, and it has been all because of you...

Access the new web page at http://www.chasing4life.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=197

Is YOUR family ready to Shakeout?

With more the 40 million people living and working in the central U.S., a major earthquake could cause unprecedented devastation. What we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like afterwards. With earthquakes an inevitable part of this region’s future, we must act quickly to ensure that disasters do not become catastrophes.

The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut in April 2011 will involve more than one million people through a broad-based outreach program, partnership with media, and public advocacy by hundreds of partners. This event is being organized by the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (http://www.cusec.org) and the states of: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The 2011 Great Central U.S. ShakeOut earthquake drill will be held at 10:15 AM local time on April 28, 2011 (April 19 in Indiana)

A key aspect of the ShakeOut is the integration of comprehensive science-based earthquake research and the lessons learned from decades of social science research about why people get prepared. The result is a “teachable moment” on par with having an actual earthquake (often followed by increased interest in getting ready for earthquakes). ShakeOut creates the sense of urgency that is needed for people, organizations, and communities to get prepared, to practice what to do to be safe, and to learn what plans need to be improved.

Not just any drill will accomplish this; it needs to be big. It must inspire communities to come together. It must involve children at school and parents at work, prompting conversations at home. It must allow every organization, city, etc., to make it their own event.

The 2011 ShakeOut drill will be the largest preparedness event in central U.S. history. To participate, go to www.ShakeOut.org/centralus and pledge your family, school, business, or organization’s participation in the drill. Registered participants will receive information on how to plan their drill and how to create a dialogue with others about earthquake preparedness. All organizers ask is that participants register (so they can be counted and receive communications), and at the minimum practice "drop, cover, and hold on" at the specified time. It is only a five minute commitment for something that can save your life. It all begins with registering, which is free and open to everyone.

For more information, visit www.ShakeOut.org/centralus.

FUNDRAISING

IF YOUR HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION IS LOOKING FOR AN EDUCATIONAL FUNDRAISER WITH NO INVESTMENT AND A GREAT RETURN, CONTACT OUR OFFICE BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO INFO AT CHASING4LIFE.ORG AND PUT "HELP ME RAISE MONEY" IN THE SUBJECT LINE!

Nick Walker

Creating curriculum for homeschool can be just as difficult as you want to make it. Extravagant curriculum that fits somewhere in the course of the day can take hours upon hours to create with very little return. On the other hand, the right website or resource can open up weeks of learning experiences for the homeschooler.
While a lot of homeschooling families that I know have set limits on television-watching, we cannot deny that television is still one of the most powerful influences on our children. It is this fact that we use every day as we tour... we KNOW that the kids watch television, so we use that connection to educate them. They watch storm stories and storm chasers, so we gear programs to that interest! That is just one example...

There is a an on-air personality with The Weather Channel by the name of Nick Walker. Watching his afternoon show, you would place him as a normal meteorologist with salt-n-pepper hair; not really standing out amongst the likes of Greg Forbes, Mike Bettes and surely not the adventurer Jim Cantore. While Mr. Walker seems like a mild-mannered weather guy, let your kids look a little further...

Nick Walker is an amazing educator with a great website. The links he has created has become a library of fodder for homeschool curriculum, and there is no better time of year than right now to start integrating these subjects into your lesson plans!

Check out the weather dude (wxdude actually) at http://www.wxdude.com/ and see what you and your kids come up with! Let them watch Walker on TWC in the afternoon as he reports on current weather conditions, and then go check the facts on his site!

Learn safely!

Happy New Year

And so, as it is with every January... we have reached the beginning of a new year and new tours. The team is set to tour more than ever before and we have big plans for 2011.
Efficiency. The office staff will be handling much more this year, allowing the instructors the time needed to create programming and concentrate on touring itself. Starting in 2011 we will be adding more resource pages to the website so that contracts, itinerary templates and marketing materials will all be downloadable.
Technology. With the addition of STORMPULSE to our featured product list, you will see that we are attempting to venture into more technologies that will allow families and communities to become more prepared. In mid-winter we will release our Chasing4Life Application as well; another exciting addition! ThreatNet will become a HUGE focus this year as we have arranged to feature it at over a dozen large conferences this year.
Marketing. If you are sponsoring any events this year and have sponsored events in the past, you will notice that we have changed our paperwork and have added new guidelines that coincide with the new marketing strategy we created in mid-2010. All of you will notice new marketing materials, new pictures and even new staff this year on the website. We have added a "Girl Scouts Only" page to the site, but a newer addition is our "Boy Scouts Only" page as we will be providing a program series for Boy Scouts this year due to the incredible demand we received.
You'll see that we are investing in larger shows. Watch our FaceBook and website for the conventions, conferences and showcases coming up.
Social Media. More than ever before we are using social media to stay connected to you. If you have not checked us out on FaceBook, simply go to our home page and head there today!
Sponsors. You will see new sponsors this year. Chasing4Life is already signing with companies and organizations that have made a commitment to stay with us all year, maintaining involvement throughout the touring seasons so that we can see greater things happen like scholarships for small groups and schools.
Instructors. In anticipation of the New Year, we added new instructors. While we are not finished, we feel we have an experienced team that can meet the needs of more and more communities and organizations as the year progresses. Go meet them on the site!
Focus. We feel like we have more focus than ever before. You are going to see larger programs, more subjects, more involvement and a fresh new focus on simple disaster preparedness for the family.
It is going to be a good year. Let's create a more resilient America together!