By Mona Koerner

This week in Santa Fe I watched the political machinations of what many called the "most extreme" abortion bill in the nation[1].  I read the bill[2], I read the existing law that the bill is repealing[3], I read the other abortion law that remains on the books[4], and I read the New Mexico Supreme Court ruling that grants a woman a right to a “medically necessary” abortion under the Equal Protection Clause of the New Mexico constitution[5].

I saw the TeenPact participants reaction to this bill and the mobilizing of people to oppose the bill.  I read the rhetoric on both sides (all inaccurate and inflammatory). I spent 20 minutes in the Governor’s office listening to the secretary answer continuous calls opposing the bill. I received urgent messages via group text and Facebook to act to oppose this bill.  I emailed and spoke to my representative.  I discussed the issue with other moms.  I saw the polarization of the people around this issue.  And I prayed.  And I really felt that God was telling me – “don’t waste your energy, this is not the battle I'm calling you to fight”. 

By Angelina Anastasio

by Brenda Conyne

​My youngest daughter started homeschooling in 6th grade. We were totally clueless how to start or what to do. We wound up basing our entire curriculum on a recommendation for a math book.

We heard that the BJU Press math curriculum was wonderful, so we decided to do that. After reading the BJU Press catalog, we liked their philosophy for 2 other classes which made it cheaper just to buy the entire curriculum. We thought we would try that the first year and supplement if we did not like some of the classes.

By Edie Downs

​I am not an early adopter. I did not ever envision myself homeschooling despite several friends having chosen that lifestyle. I belonged to the “I could never do that” club. Yet I longed for more time with my children, the opportunity to influence their character development, and additional control over our schedule. My older two girls were well ensconced in the neighborhood elementary school when the seed of homeschooling began to take root in my mind. We reluctantly made the leap when DD #1 was about to enter middle school.
 
Initially uncertain, I began to feel the Lord moving in my heart as I turned 180 degrees to embrace this adventure. Playing teacher was my favorite game as a child, and I now couldn’t wait to set up my “classroom”, thumb through curriculum, plan, and teach my little darlings. Reality struck quickly as I realized the difficulty in scheduling and executing work for four children aged 3-11.

By Beverly Williams

Want your children to enjoy “school” more?  Want to bond as a family better?  Want to avoid tears when your child hits a concept s/he can’t understand?  Play games!
 
I’m Beverly Williams, the Brainiac Baroness, also known as the Math Games Mom.  As a homeschooling mother of four, birth to the end of high school, with two of them struggling learners, my husband and I have played a lot of games, math and otherwise, with our children. 
 
I developed the Math Games curriculum to give my extremely intuitive (read, “no logic”) daughter* success when she hit an arithmetic wall.  Generally, the game would not address the wall at all, but review fundamentals or reinforce logic flow.  In this way, the game made it clear to her that she was good at math and gave her brain a break, which allowed some time for her brain to develop to understand the new concept.  This is to say, we often played a variety of games for several weeks before getting back to the problem concept. 
 

by Mona Koerner

​Not all homeschool co-ops are large, public groups that meet in a church and charge an annual fee. Many homeschool co-ops are small, private, informal groups of parents who get together to cooperate in teaching their children.  You only need one or two other moms to form a great co-op that will serve your homeschool well.