Did You Know?

We are Taking a Brief Pause!

The EverBright Team is going to take a brief pause in publishing our weekly newsletter. We will return soon with more insightful content to drive your homeschool toward success. 

Please remember, this Monday, September 3rd, marks the annual holiday of Labor Day. For many families, it is a special time to enjoy each other’s company as the summer ends and the school year starts up once again. As we celebrate this holiday with picnics, barbeques, and campfires, let us never forget how blessed we are to live in the United States of America. Labor Day is the perfect time to reflect upon those who labored to bring us the freedoms we enjoy daily. Let us never take them for granted!

Many blessings to you and your family,

The EverBright Team

Start Your School Year Off Right

Here we are once again – another summer just about to end, and the school year is beginning. For most families, unhappy groans and miserable grunts can be heard throughout the house at the mention of the word ‘school.’ As a parent, your job never stops. Whether your children realize it or not, they look to you as their role model – in and out of the classroom. Even if your children attend a day school, your role as a parent in their lives is of utmost importance. School is a time in a child’s life in which they are being taught and prepared to enter the real world on their own. As a role model, you provide your children with the guidance and discipline they need in order to become godly men and women. Of course, you cannot do this all by yourself. The only One who can truly shape your children into the mold desired for them would be the Creator. You could have the smartest tutors and the most talented musicians mentor your children for 12 hours each day, but they would not learn what is most important.

Even if you spend thousands of dollars on an amazing curriculum that promises to turn your children into successful businessmen and businesswomen, their most important lesson would still need to be taught. As a parent, the most crucial subject for you to impart to your children is that of character. Throughout the school year, there is no better way to ingrain godly character into your pupils than to study the book written by the only perfect Man who ever walked the earth – God Himself. Here are multiple ways to incorporate the study of God’s Word into your school day, while praying that God will slowly mold your children into the people He desires them to be:

  • Family Devotions. This is a great way to get grounded in the Word of God even if you do not homeschool your children. Before, during, or after breakfast, gather your family around the table and read a chapter of the Bible together and then discuss it. This gets the whole family involved and allows you to hear what your kids gather from the Scriptures.
  • Literature. You can assign Scripture readings in your literature class. Pick a chapter of the Bible, perhaps in the poetry portion, and ask questions that involve the theme, the plot, or the mood.
  • History. The Bible is also a great history book. If your curriculum discusses the Egyptian era, talk about the Israelites escape from Egypt and their 400-year captivity. Genesis 1 is the beginning of all history!
  • Bible. If you do not already have a Bible curriculum, start this year! Ones that encourage verse memory are often some of the best.
  • Personal Devotions. One of the most important ways for your children to grow into citizens of godly character is for them to study the Bible on their own. It is in the confines of their own room, with nobody except them and God, when the most important decisions will be made.

This school year will be successful – not because it is founded on man’s wisdom, but because it is grounded on the Word of God.

Gardening in August

If you never got around to planting a garden, don’t give up now. During the hot summer months, it is often a struggle to get yourself out of the comfort of your air-conditioning and into the blazing sun – just to get a sunburn after a few minutes. Instead, you can wait until the hottest portion of the season is over, and then get digging! Gardening can be one of the most productive projects of your summer. It is one of the only activities in which you can eat the results! Not only can you have a great time with your kids, but you can also learn valuable lessons about how the food on your table gets there!

Here are some common vegetables that grow best in late August to get you started on your garden:

  • Arugula. This leafy green vegetable thrives in the late summer and is used especially in salads.
  • Beets. Packed with health benefits, beets are another great veggie to plant after the heat begins to dissipate.
  • Carrots. Known for being beneficial for the human eye, carrots will do well in your new garden.
  • Lettuce. With another ingredient for salad, you should be all set when company arrives!
  • Mustard greens. If you enjoy the taste, try planting these seeds in late summer.
  • Peas. These are another healthy vegetable that also taste delicious, whether by themselves or in a hearty meal, such as chicken pot pie.
  • Radishes. Another root vegetable, radishes can also be another great salad addition.
  • Spinach. Bursting with iron, spinach does well when planted in the late summer as well.
  • Turnips. These can be prepared a variety of ways, and are a great way to get in your daily veggie intake.

After a couple months, you should be able to reap the benefits of your efforts on your dinner table! Not only will you spend quality time with your kids as you plant, but you might also save a few bucks from the grocery store!

“Herbs and Veggies to Plant in August.” The Spruce, TheSpruce, www.thespruce.com/planting-vegetables-and-herbs-in-august-2539999.

Teach Your Children Hospitality

During the summer, as the heat blazes and the thunderstorms roll, it is often difficult to find things for your children to do to keep them occupied. Most of the time, the TV gets turned on or the video games are plugged in. However, it is in these situations that you can take the opportunity to teach your children valuable life lessons while doing something kind for those in need. Instead of turning on the electronic devices, turn on the oven and start cooking a meal for someone. Or, perhaps, instead of squeezing gooey Play-doh, you can shape cookie dough into balls and bake them for a neighbor or two. Below is a list of friendly, hospitable, actions that you can do with your kids to help them make the most of their time during the rest of the summer:

  • Make a meal for a nearby family or a close neighbor. This simple action will maybe only take an hour of your time, but it will certainly make a lasting impact in the lives of the person you choose to bless.
  • Bring over a cold jug of lemonade. On a hot day, this is a nice way for you and your children to get to know the family that just moved in. This simple gesture will open many doors for you to build relationships with your neighbors or families within your church.
  • If you have an older son in your family, encourage him to offer his lawnmowing services to the elderly ladies nearby at a low cost.
  • For the young girls, ask them to help out in the garden with the neighbor lady next door.
  • In the heat of the summer, your boys can get to work washing a car, and in the winter they can take a shovel and move some snow for an elderly man.
  • If you have a teenaged girl, ask around to find a young mother who needs a break from her children to go shopping. This can teach your young women character traits that they will need for motherhood.
  • In order to do something neighborly as a family, bake a couple trays of cookies and put them in the freezer for when a family needs some cheering up or a good dose of hospitality.

As we finish up the summer, let’s be looking for ways to bless our neighbors and teach our children to do the same.

Thunderstorms

Boom! A large thunderhead claps nearby, seeming to be right above your house. Moments earlier, a bright flash of light lit up the night outside. Rain drops heavily on the roof as the weather becomes more severe. When large storms such as this one occur, it is amazing to see what actually causes these weather phenomena. During mid-summer and early fall, storms become more common as the temperature varies between two extremes. As a result, thunderstorms are formed. Here is a basic breakdown of how storms work for the next time thunder and lightning strike:

  • It all starts as the hot summer sun heats up the earth’s surface through its rays.
  • As a result of conduction, the air directly above the surface heats up also.
  • When this occurs, the warm air rises, and consequently, the cold air sinks.
  • Since warm air is naturally less dense than cold air, this transfers heat from the ground to the upper levels of the sky.
  • These two factors of thunderstorms, unstable air and moisture, create the three basic types of storms: orographic thunderstorms, air mass thunderstorms, and frontal thunderstorms.
    • Orographic thunderstorms are formed when a mountain or hilltop forces air to rise, which begins the process of storms.
    • Air mass thunderstorms result from heat transferring to other levels of the atmosphere in a single unstable atmosphere.
    • Frontal thunderstorms happen outside of the lines of cold and warm fronts that begin to mingle together.
  • When strong upward drafts of air are balanced out by strong downward drafts of air, a supercell thunderstorm occurs. In these types of storms, the up-drafts can have speeds of up to 90 miles an hour!
  • As air in the atmosphere cools, water vapor begins to condense, and forms cumulus clouds.
  • These clouds drop down their condensation in the form of precipitation.
  • This process continues until the condensed vapor has all fallen to the ground.

Next time a thunderstorm hits, make it a science lesson!

“How Do Thunderstorms Form?” The Carbon Cycle, Kid’s Crossing, eo.ucar.edu/kids/dangerwx/tstorm4.htm.

Ways to Eat a Watermelon

One of the most popular fruits to accompany a mid-summer cookout is watermelon. After finishing a juicy hamburger and scarfing down a loaded hot dog, this refreshing fruit is the perfect dessert. Even though watermelon is such a delight, everyone can agree that eating it is usually a messy experience. One large bite can cause pink stains all over a new white shirt!

However, there are unique sides that can be created with this sweet fruit. In order to make this summer easier on you and your family, here are a few interesting and uncommon ways to serve watermelon. Choose the one which works best for you, or try them all!

Watermelon Pizza: Even though it may sound odd, this is a very great appetizer or dessert. To create, slice your watermelon vertically into round wedges. Then, top each “pizza dough” with some feta cheese and basil. Slice just like a pizza, and serve.

Watermelon Ice Cubes: These come in handy to add some more variety to your drink table. Slice the melon in half and scoop out the flesh with a melon baller. Then, chill in the freezer until solid. You can put them in water dispensers, lemonade pitchers, or just in a bowl for your guests or family to add to their own choice of drink. 

Watermelon Slushy: Being another simple treat, this is also a great dessert without any added sugar. To make, cut the watermelon in half and scoop it out into a blender. Add some ice, and a dash of lemon juice, and blend thoroughly. Enjoy on a hot day with your favorite straw. 

Tedesco, Laura. “5 Ridiculously Awesome Ways to Use Watermelon.” Women’s Health, Women’s Health, 25 May 2018, www.womenshealthmag.com/food/a19910895/watermelon-recipes/.

How to Run a Lemonade Stand

Summer is ripe for learning. Even though the textbooks and pencils are put away for the year, you can still teach your children hands-on life lessons. By encouraging your kids to run a lemonade stand, you can pass on these valuable skills: cooking, working as a team, and handling money. Entrepreneurship is a rare gem… Read More

Stay Cool

The weather is hot, but we don’t want to be! As summer gradually comes upon us, the average temperatures will begin to rise – especially during the daytime when the sun is at its brightest. If the temperature is above 90 degrees, it is often unpleasant to go out of doors. However, nobody likes to… Read More

The History of Our Nation’s Independence

This country, the greatest on earth, enables its citizens to live freely under certain guidelines of law. However, those of us who live in the twenty-first century often forget the lives that those American soldiers gave up in order to pass on that freedom to our generation. As we approach the anniversary of our nation’s… Read More

How Do Fireworks Work?

Everyone enjoys a nice show of fireworks with their sparkling colors and shimmering lights. In just a short week, Independence Day will be here, and so will the explosions of these interesting chemical reactions. Interestingly, the Chinese are credited with creating fireworks many centuries ago somewhere between 960 and 1279 A.D. At special events and… Read More