Hello Dear Friends,

I just had a call from Son #2, Josh, who is in the Army - currently stationed at Ft. Hood, TX. I was so excited to hear some of the things he was telling me. He is continuing college classes now that he is finished his AIT training. He had to write a paper for his government class. He said others chose topics like capital punishment and abortion (good choices, but everyone does them), but he chose to write on the cause of inflation. He was really impressed with the economics course we made up for him using the "Whatever Happened To Penny Candy" book and its study guide. (Well, he didn't have the Actual book with him - so had to look up the same information that he remembered from other sources). He doesn't have his grade back yet - but I was so thrilled that he *learned* and *remembered* what we were teaching, and now is passing it on. (Update – he made an “A”)

Then Josh told us about his "Word of the Day". He started it as a joke by writing a dictionary entry and definition on the whiteboard in his shop everyday. He started with some silly words, but has expanded to really choosing interesting words. The other guys rib him about it, but he is having fun - and he is ultimately the one benefiting. Even the sergeant was in on it when he had Josh measuring the floor as a joke for some word that related to distance. That same sergeant recently had two weeks of leave - and chose Josh to run the shop for those two weeks!

I say this - well, first because I'm a proud mommy, but second because one goal I know most home educators have is to teach our children to love learning long after graduation and expand it into all facets of their lives. Taking any child through high school is a challenge, but sons can be mystifying for us moms a lot of the time. Take heart - we do make an impact, and we are raising up *leaders* of the next generation.

Blessings,

Patti, FL
**Note – Josh is currently on deployment in Iraq with the Army’s 4th infantry division.