It's The...FLU!!! AHAHAHA

Ok, seriously? I think this whole swine flu is a bit insane. Yes I worry about any type of bronchial thing going around every year, since my oldest has a compromised respiratory system - with severe asthma. But really people with perfectly healthy family members are the first in line to get these immunizations. I just don't understand the freakout. We have the flu go around every year - and every year it's a crap-shoot as to whether or not hte vax will be the 'right' one for the strain of flu that does the rounds. The medicines used for the swine flu were last used over 30 years ago...hmm...no thanks.

Here's some truth's I've dug up. I have no say in whether anyone decides to get the vax (although now they're almost impossible to find - and what's up with that? 'They' Said it would be a pandemic then don't make enough shots for everyone? Did they forget how many citizens we had? Ugh)

According to Dr. Sherry Tenpenny of Global Research here are the ingrediants of the Swine Flu vax:
1. Egg Proteins (which are in just about every flu shot every year, another reason my kids can't take them as they're allergic) this vax also includes avian cantaminant viruses
2. Gelatin- also known to cause allergic reactions especially in those with egg allergies
3. Polysorbate 80 (Tween80) can also cause extreme allergic reactions including anaphylaxis
4. Formaldehyde - known carcenogen
5. Triton X100 - a strong detergent
6. Sucrose - table sugar
7. Resin - also known to cause allergic reactions
8. Gentamycin - an antibiotic
9. Thimersol - 49.6% ethyl mercury (still found in multi-dose vials)

Who doesn't the Flu Shot work for?
1. Babies - a review in 2006 of more then 55 different studies spanning ver 200K children found there was no real decline in babies between birth and 24 month contracting the flu after vax.
2. Kids with Asthma - at the 105th American Thoracic Conference it was presented that children who had received teh vax were more likely to be hospitalzed with the flu than those who were not.
3. Adults (it only works in 6%)
4. Not in the Elderly another review of over 64 studies spanning 94 flu seasons determined there was no appreciable difference between hospitalizations/doc visits for the elderly who had taken the vax.

Even Scarier?

Our own pharmacutical companies might be trying to poison us. Seriously. I'm not a conspiracy theorist normally, but I came across a blog from The Alternative Doctor Blog Network told a story of the avian flu outbreak last December. It seems that Baxter International (a leading US pharmaceudical company) attempted do distribute a Flu vaccine to over 18 countries. Luckily During shipment the Czech Republic tested some of the vax on ferrets. The ferrets ALL died. Oppsie. It seems the vax was accidentally contaminated by H5N1, which is a form of the avian flu virus classed as a bioterrorism agent - oh and it has a kill agent of over 60%.

So it's a little scary to me that the story has been brushed under the carpet. And now Baxter is one of the leading producers in this H1N1 vax. You couldn't pay me to put that poison in my kids.

Anatomy & Physiology Visuals

So, not everything can be learned in a lap or Combo book. *gasp* Yup I said it...er...wrote it...lol... To help my boys get a better understanding of our subject matter (since we don't use traditional school books) I like to find little video clips or animations on the internet. Since I'm waaaay frugal I prefer them to be free. :-D

Here are some cool anatomy & physiology animations/clips:
http://www.visiblebody.com this is a really cool animation site that allows the student to travel within the body to check out how systems actually work!

You Tube Vids:
Your Circulatory System
Respiration
The Digestive System
The Muscular System
The Nervous System1 / Nervous System 2
The Glucose Song (Nutrition)
The Food Groups Song (fun nutrition)
Cookie Monster's Healthy Food Rap (fun nutrition)
Timon & Pumba Healthy Food Adver (very short but fun)
The New Food Pyramid
Bill Nye The Food Web Song
Skeleton Macarena (great for learning the actual names of the bones)
Bill Nye - Just Wash Your Hands (germs)
Bill Nye on Germs
Bill Nye on Skin
Bill Nye "It's Called Genetics" Song
Bill Nye on Genetics (I just love this show!)

More Human Body Resources

http://www.squidoo.com/humanbodylapbook#module7860626

http://www.dole.com/SuperKids/Educators/LessonsPlans/tabid/745/Default.aspx

http://www.lung.ca/children/pdfs/buddies_book_bw.pdf (a 22 page coloring book on the respiratory system!)

http://www.captain5aday.org/index.html

Dance Mania!

The Wellness center in our neighboring town had a free dance day today. So I took the kids. X-man was a little tired so didn't join in until it was almost over, but (of course) DJ was all over that!!

Mad Hatter Day

Tuesday this past week was Mad Hatter Day, like in Alice in Wonderland. So the kids and I celebrated with a tea party outside wearing hats!

Qua es nos? - Where are we?

Since we're learning Latin this year, I thought it only fair that the kids learn a little about where the language origionated and was used the most. So we're going to be learning about Rome and Greece. We're also learning about their Myths and Deities. Here's some of the plans I have for learning about these fascinating places...

Travel For Kids: Rome
Travel For Kids: Greece
National Geographic Kids: Italy

Books:
Around The World in 80 Tales
If I Were a Kid in Ancient Rome
The Best Book of Ancient Rome

Lapbooking like:
Homeschool Share
Jimmies Ancient Greece
Digging up Ancient Civilizations
Sugar Plumbs Lapbooks

And We'll Listen to Ancient Roman Music like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzy5DYhkUAI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV0oA3YUiw8

And we'll watch the BBC's :
Ancient Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire
As well as the student documentary - Rome: A Look at an Ancient Society

Awww, Good Bye Summer

I was just cleaning up my Facebook pages and was reminded that my boys learned to do much on their own this past summer. They no longer use training wheels on their bikes. They learned to ride scooters and skateboards, and They Learned To Swim!!! Awww they grow so fast!

Death Warmed Over!

Ug. I've been sick with this flu for going on 2 weeks now. Each week is a little different- last week it was upper respiratory (sniffles) this week it's all about the cough apparently. Because I've been so sick, it's difficult to keep on top of the kids' education.....that's why they made workbooks IMO. We don't normally use many workbooks, but I found a few at the dollar store last week, on math and language arts and we've been all about them! So the kids have done reading, spelling and math. We've fallen behind on Science and History. Latin the kids do on their own, so no worries there.

Another friend found this reading website as well: Literactive it's a bit like time4learning, but it's FREE (my favorite word!)

This week:

DJ:

• Geography - hemispheres
• US History/Geography: Connecticut lapbook. Colonization of America
• Economics: Save, Spend, Donate
• Art: Making Halloween costumes
• Music: Piano lessons
• LA Arts: Paragraph writing
• Speling: next list as usual
• Math: Multiplication (5 & 9)
• Notable Person in History: Pasteur
• Science: Anatomy & Physiology

X-man:

• Geography - hemispheres
• US History/Geography: Connecticut lapbook. Colonization of America
• Economics: Save, Spend, Donate
• Art: Making Halloween costumes
• Music: Piano lessons
• LA Arts: Word Families
• Speling: next list as usual
• Math: Addition (sum to 50)
• Notable Person in History: Pasteur
• Science: Anatomy