Imagine this scene. Your child is chatting away about different topics when they declare that they want to be blind. Now, as a parent you know that there are people who are blind that are very capable and successful. Think Stevie Wonder, for example. Yet, you know they had to overcome challenges and learn in different ways. So, do you try to impart your wisdom to your child verbally? Are you the type of person who will have a discussion and check out books about Braille or Helen Keller? Will you go to a presentation about seeing eye dogs?

This exact situation happened one day. Our daughter declared that she wanted to be blind. One would have to wonder what would cause this declaration and once I figured out that she was simply curious, I decided to seize the opportunity. While the previous mentioned methods of teaching about blindness work fine, I figured we had a great learning opportunity. As I recalled my many fun sociology experiments in college and our flexible homeschool schedule, I quickly made an administrative decision and replied, “I can arrange for you to be blind for the day.”

After our daughter got over being stunned she got excited about the prospect of this experiment. I think she figured she would not have to do anything all day! But what type of parent would I be if I didn’t give her a realistic taste of being blind especially since blind people function in society daily. So, I got two eye patches, from when I had corneal scratches, and a eye mask for sleeping and promptly arranged them over her eyes. Then I gave her a stick and let her go.

She was very fascinated with this experiment as she banged around the house trying to orient herself as to where everything was situated. Of course, the dogs were running for their lives. We talked about how blind people use their other senses more to assist them. So, for example, their hearing is more attuned. They often will feel things around them. They will ask for help or use a tool such as a stick for guidance or a guide dog and so on.

She continued this for about 2 hours and then lunch came. I fixed lunch, gave her a plate and let her go. When she realized I was going to watch a little television she decided to join me. As she arranged herself on the couch, she decided that she would only be partially blind and wanted to remove the coverings on one eye. When I pointed out that blind people don’t have the luxury of deciding to all of a sudden see, I could tell she was starting to wonder what she had gotten herself into.

I explained that being blind is not something someone can turn on and off. So, I told her she would need to use her imagination and hearing skills to “watch” this show. She was bothered at this prospect but I stuck to it. I told her that after watching the show while being blind then she could decide if she wanted to continue with this experiment but not until she had watched the whole show.

So, she ate her food and listened. She shared how hard it was to listen to a show and how she felt like she was missing parts of the show. We talked about how blind people deal with these challenges and how they overcome them.

Once the show was over she promptly removed her patches and coverings and declared that she did not want to be blind. The experiment had clearly been a success. She learned about a different group of people and the struggles they face. She learned about compassion and how little she uses her other four senses. The lessons will stay with her for life because she did not just read about them or listen to a lecture, she actually lived them.

Oh no, I can’t speak in front of a group of people! What will they think of me? Will they laugh at me? Will they like what I say? What do you think of when you hear “public speaking”?

Most people become nervous or frightened. In high school, I joined the Debate Team. It was an excellent opportunity for me to hone my debate skills, become comfortable in front of people, both unfriendly and friendly, and just in general learn that most folks don’t bite. I have used my skills at various times in my life, everything from making announcements at a party to speaking before legislators at a public hearing and everything in between.

As I mentioned in Don’t You Want to be a HAM?, we are amateur radio operators. Our daughter is also a Brownie in the Girl Scouts. So, what would any self-respecting Mom do when she realized there was a HAM radio patch for Girl Scouts? You guessed it. I volunteered for US, yes that would be myself, my husband and our daughter, to teach the Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors about Ham Radio so they could all earn this patch. Since our daughter got her HAM license she met all the requirements and had already received her patch.

The requirements we were teaching are listed at Ham Radio Patch. We decided to divide up the requirements so that each of us would have an opportunity to present. Of course, half of a presentation is being prepared and the other half is staying calm. So, my husband and I helped our daughter prepare her presentation. Her speech was double spaced, listed what she would say, what was on the handout for the girls, and even included a quiz item.

As the day approached, she practiced giving her presentation to each of us. Each time we would offer her compliments on things she did well and suggestions to make it even better. Since she was going to be teaching 25 girls, we had a discussion about how she needed to speak clearly, look up at the girls, pause when she asked a question, decide how many girls to call on for an answer and so on.

Each time she practiced she improved. On the day of the presentation, we went to lunch and over lunch my husband and I each shared some final ideas. My husband pointed out that it was critical that she speak loudly otherwise the girls would not pay attention if they could not hear her. I encouraged her to smile and have fun.

At age 9, our daughter did her first real public speaking gig. She did great! All the girls learned about ham radio, they earned their patch and our daughter got to experience not only teaching others and helping them learn but she experienced speaking in front of a group of people. Because there was no grade tied to the presentation she just focused on doing the best she could rather then worrying about a single person making an arbitrary grade. She read the audience appropriately, engaged them, encouraged them, and had fun. I’m looking forward to her giving more speeches in the future.

Over the Easter weekend, we decided to have calm family time and play some games. One of my old, old games is Bargain Hunter. The game came out in the 1980s just as credit cards were becoming increasingly popular. Does anyone remember the old bulky metal credit card imprint sliding machines? You know the ones where they would take your credit card place it in the machine put the carbon copy receipt on top and swish, swish and then the credit card number would be imprinted on the receipt for the charge.

Well, this game has a plastic version of that machine. The idea with Bargain Hunter was the first person who bought all 17 or so items on a shopping list with no debt won. Of course there are typical expenses that sap your cash such as visits to the auto mechanic and doctor. As we played the game, our daughter was faced with a challenge of either waiting to buy an item or charging the item and paying 10% interest.

Her immediate reaction was that she was going to charge the item but when we pointed out that for that $300 item she would have to pay $30 interest every time she passed payday, she reanalyzed her options.

She said she thought interest could only be given for savings accounts. We had a homeschool teaching moment as we proceeded to explain how many people end up in serious debt because of the very high interest rates and that if you don’t have the money to buy something then you probably shouldn’t.

My husband explained how there are only a couple times when borrowing money makes sense. One case when borrowing is justified is if you are buying a tangible appreciable asset such as a house or when you need cash flow to build a business. Of course, these examples also included lessons on borrowing only what you can afford and not just what someone says is ok for you to borrow. We talked about the folks who are in a bind now because they chose variable interest rate loans, what variable interest rates are and how to address this problem.

Once she realized that interest could be charged for borrowed money and how it worked, a very bright bulb went off in (and over) her head. In the end, she won with all the items purchased, no debt and an economics lesson taught one-on-one.

No, I’m not talking about dressing up like a cooked pig. And I’m not talking about being the life of a party, as in hamming it up. I’m talking about Amateur Radio, of course!

HAM is another name for Amateur Radio operators and my husband has been a HAM since he was 11. Yup, you read that right. He has been encouraging me for years, even while we dated, to become a HAM too.

Amateur Radio is a form of communication that has been around for over 100 years. In order to use the radio bands dedicated to Amateur Radio you must take a test, pass it, and get a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Amateur Radio is a hobby that can be used to help people in times of crisis and emergency, such as Hurricane Katrina. In fact, a local HAM where we live helped save some stranded people from Hurricane Katrina. She did this while in her home in the north AND while being blind. During Sept. 11 when all the cellphones became inoperable, HAMS were able to provide communications. Amateur Radio can also be used to pass messages, teach about the science of electronics, help in the community, prepare for emergencies, and for plain old talking.

Off and on for 10 years, I struggled with some of the aspects of electronics and, while I thought Amateur Radio was interesting, I figured in case of an emergency I had my husband to bail us out. BUT…when my husband decided to teach a HAM radio class, I realized this whole HAM thing was going to come to a head!

We decided that our daughter, at age 8, might be a little too young for his class and that he would teach her one-on-one. Soon, we heard of a fellow homeschooler in our group who got his Amateur Radio license when he was just 6! Yes, you read THAT correctly. I thought my husband was brilliant at age 11 but now I was staring at a 6 year-old each week that had his license. There is nothing like a 4’ reality check to make you realize that if a 6 year-old could get his license then either this whole licensing by the FCC could not possibly be that hard or I really was seriously electronically challenged.

And so my daughter and I became HAM radio students together. What an experience! My husband would teach something and I would harken back to my school days and insist that I needed to know and understand every single part of what he was explaining immediately, even if the explanation was in the coming paragraphs. Meanwhile, my daughter would patiently watch as I tried to get the concepts. After awhile my excessive questions become irritating to her because she wanted to move forward and not keep repeating the same things for my benefit.

Our local HAM radio club teaches a Technician class (a type of FCC Amateur Radio license which was our goal) and we decided it might be best for us to take this three-week class. So, we went and in between classes we studied. We made flash cards and my daughter and I would quiz each other.

For three weeks, I learned more about amps, ohms, currents, voltage, antennae, etc. than I ever cared to know in my life. I made my husband swear that if we got our license we would HAVE to use it and not just for emergencies. I figured if we used it for different HAM events, contests or public service activities then we wouldn’t lose what we learned.

Soon, the test day arrived. We came with our pencils and other required documents and took our test. Needless to say, we both passed our test and got our license. I’m KB1NQN and our daughter is KB1NQO, simply because of the order they graded our tests.

Within a couple days of our daughter getting her license she marched in the Memorial Day Parade with her Brownie troop. She took her HAM radio and checked in with us several times along the parade route. She enjoyed her independence and I enjoyed being able to check in on her all while relaxing along the parade route.

While this was a great opportunity to learn about electronics, it was a good learning experience for all of us. We worked together as a family to learn about a hobby that we could all participate in while becoming prepared should an emergency occur.

Since we got our licenses we have participated in many different activities. I would encourage you to get your HAM license. To learn more about Amateur Radio and clubs near you visit the American Amateur Radio Relay League at http:www.arrl.org/. Who knows when you might be in the middle of an emergency and you could be the one that makes a lifesaving contact?

Part of the requirements to adopt from Ukraine is the judge wants to see proof that you have a residency. So, if you rent you need to show proof of a lease and if you own your home they want to see a notarized copy of the deed to your home.

Enter another homeschool lesson. My daughter and I set out to our town clerk to obtain several copies of the deed to our home because we are hoping to adopt a sibling pair and need the copies for the dossiers. (And an extra copy should anyone lose a copy of the deed.)

I expected that we would walk in to the town clerk’s office, request the information, they would pull the book, copy it, notarize it and then we would pay and be done. What a surprise when the clerk told us to go to the vault and look it up ourselves. Huh?

The look of dumbfoundedness on my face must have been pretty clear because the clerk then proceeded to explain the steps. I took a deep breath and realized I was going to experience this homeschool lesson first hand, side-by-side with my daughter.

So, walked into the vault and found a locked area that contained all of our town’s vital statistics, such as the births, deaths and marriages. As we looked in awe at books dated back to the 1800s, I could tell this was going to turn out to be a pretty cool experience.

As most parents know, I could have completed the task in a record 10 minutes but realized that this would be a great hands-on learning opportunity for our daughter and quickly determined she needed to perform the task. (Did I mention I had no clue how to do this search?)

We located a large book that listed all the home owners in town. Our daughter looked up our last name, first name and street and identified the book that our deed was located in. We then walked around the vault a couple times as we tried to orient ourselves with how the books were arranged. Once we figured out the order, our daughter quickly located the book volume that contained our deed and then found the pages of our deed. Wow!

In a short period of time she had found the deed to our home and a new interest was seriously sparked. We proceeded to copy the deed, have it notarized and pay for the copies. Throughout this part of the process, she kept asking if we could go back in the vault. Through several questions she realized that we could go back and search our home’s previous owners, see how much they had paid for it and so on.

As our daughter asked questions, the clerks could overhear our conversation. Soon one of them offered some information on how to do title searches in the vault and I realized there was a serious field trip opportunity here. I learned that Town Clerk does field trips for the local kids to the vault and explains the clerk’s job, the records and other interesting facts. So, what would any self-respecting mom, specifically a homeschool mom, do but realize that we need another field trip to the town clerk’s office with some friends.

Don’t underestimate your local town resources. Children can learn about the history of their town and home. They can learn about economics and inflation as they identify home prices over the years, legal documents as they see how deeds are written and notarized, how to do research and of course, communication by asking for help from the clerks. This unplanned errand turned into a great educational experience.

Alright, I have to make another admission. When I was in school I enjoyed checking out all the gadgets and cool notebooks, pens, and other school supplies for back-to-school season. Actually, when I was in college I left my husband-to-be dumbfounded because I would take notes on blue, yellow, pale green, pink and purple legal pads.

Cool supplies kept things interesting for me. Even now, I always have plenty of pens on hand. In fact, I just cleaned out my purse from vacation and I found 15 pens, pencils and highlighters. You’d think I strapped one to every finger. When it comes to pens, I might be considered a pen connoisseur. I enjoy writing with the furry pens, the ones that light up, and the ones that write in gel. Our daughter has also begun training to be a pen connoisseur. She has received very unique pens, including one that was anti-gravity and one that could record messages. This summer when we cleaned out our homeschool room/library I found so many markers, crayons, pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers, and so on I now know that if our school district ever runs low we might be able to help them out. Just kidding!

Anyway, what is my point? Homeschooled kids enjoy these types of supplies too! Granted they may not use them nearly as fast as is the case with our daughter’s backpack which will probably last five years. Nonetheless, a backpack can be useful when traveling, visiting with friends or bringing something to do, as with our daughter, when she visits her Dad at work. They can be used for field trips or visits to the library.

Our daughter always has a journal or notebook in hand. Either she is composing poetry, writing a story, or taking notes. For a period of time she counted cars while at another time license plates intrigued her. She liked writing license plate numbers down. Sometimes, when she is in spy mode, she will take notes of people she is watching. There are many, many uses for notebooks besides just taking notes. It is amazing what a child can come up with when given blank paper and a pen.

Since most homeschoolers often fall into the eclectic style, which incorporates different educational styles, office supplies can be very useful. And office supply stores recognize homeschool parents as teachers. So, if you go to Staples, Office Depot, Office Max or any other office supply store be sure to ask about their teacher discount cards. We regularly use Staples which pays a teacher reward in the form of cash back, which we promptly spend at Staples on, surprise, office supplies.

Depending on where you live and what your homeschool laws are for your state you may be asked to provide a certificate or simply a support group card as proof that you homeschool. Often during back-to-school shopping they may also have special teacher shopping days with gift bags. And let’s face it, discounts are great but free is even better!

So, the next time you see a neat notebook, colored gel pens or some cool paper check them out. See if your child might find them helpful and then consider making a purchase. After all, you are the teacher and you get to make your own supply list!

Office Depot Star Teacher: http://www.odstarteacher.com/

Staples Teacher Rewards Program: https://www.staplesrewardcenter.com/SORC/UserManagment/Login/Login.asp/