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Greetings!

One of the things our family is hugely thankful for is the freedom to educate our own children in our own home, in any manner we choose, and under our own biblical values and our own specific spiritual instruction. What a tremendous blessing. Although homeschooling is legal in many countries, there are still many that do not allow such freedom. We are indeed blessed.

Just as the Pilgrims carved out a place of freedom for many, pioneers of homeschooling paved the way for educational freedom. And just as the cost to the Pilgrims was heavy, the cost paid by those homeschooling pioneers was sometimes heavy. Some lived in fear of the authorities taking their children away, some spent a lifetime fighting the legal fight, some lived ostracized from society, and some quietly taught their children to love learning and love their enemies. Some were silent, but their fruit spoke loudly to onlookers, as their children beamed in excellence of character. Some were loud enough that people heard and listened: "Home education works!" To all of you who were pioneers and trailblazers, we want to say, "Thank you!" We are so grateful and thankful for the way that has been paved for us and for our future generations.

Historically, our forefathers set precedence in the giving of thanks to the Almighty God, who in His great Providence brought them here and kept them alive and prospering. He is the same God who ordained the biblical principles of family and of parents instructing their own children. Let's continue to pray together that the freedom of home education continues.

Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:26

P.S. This week we celebrate Veterans Day, and we want to thank all of our military friends, family, and homeschoolers for their sacrifices in helping to retain the freedoms we enjoy in this nation. Thank you! Check out the tribute we have prepared for you and your loved ones. Also, if you haven't seen the digital Fall issue of the magazine, you may view it FREE HERE. PLEASE tell us what you think-email me with your comments: dwuehler@thehomeschoolmagazine.com. I am thankful for you!

Before I give my annual Familyman Christmas commercial, let me just say how thankful I am to God for allowing my wife and me the freedom to homeschool our children. He has placed us in a country, and in a state, in which homeschooling is accepted and allowed. I don't have to worry (too much) about going to jail or having someone show up at my door. I AM THANKFUL.

I am so thankful to those who have paved the way, been thrown in jail, had people show up at their doors . . . and have persevered so that we might have the right to teach our children at home. They suffered hardship so that we could enjoy the freedom. I AM THANKFUL and I pray that I never take it for granted.

I'm also thankful for great homeschooling products and Christmas . . . which is a great lead-in to the 2011 Familyman Christmas Products Announcement.

In our house, the Christmas countdown starts the weekend after Thanksgiving, when we harvest our family Christmas tree and begin our family Advent nights (when we read Scriptures, light a candle, read a Christmas book, and make a simple craft).

To help you have your own family nights, we've done the hard work for you and prepackaged four simple crafts ready for your kids to assemble each week from Thanksgiving to Christmas. They're available NOW for just $7.50! Order one kit per child, and we'll get them shipped right out to you.

Hot off the press is our NEWEST Christmas read-aloud, Harold Grubbs and the Christmas Vest, available as a book or instant PDF download. You can get all FIVE enchanting Christmas stories in the Familyman's Christmas Treasury for the price of 4! (Now I'm using my Ronco voice.) But wait, there's more . . .

Don't miss out on perhaps our most popular Christmas product of all, To Bethlehem, the Christmas game for the entire family. It's guaranteed to give you hours of meaningful family fun! And it makes a great gift for others too!

And last, but certainly not least, our best-selling 2012 You "da Dad Page-a-Day Calendar  is now available! Encourage all the dads in your office, men's group, or family with this awesome gift. It's a lot better than a fruitcake and will help them be better husbands and fathers . . . plus they'll love all the quotes, tips, and wacky info that only a dad could appreciate.

Now that should make your Christmas a little bit better!

YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL!

Be real,

Todd

Ruth Beechick, Curriculum Specialist 

and

Debbie Strayer, Homeschool Consultant  

There's nothing like a story to make a point. In our family, my children have often heard about our Uncle Arthur, who died on the sands of Iwo Jima. As a skilled builder, he did not have to enlist because his valuable skills were needed stateside. He also could have joined the Construction Battalion (or Seabees, as they were known) but chose to enlist with the Marines. Though he loved his family, he felt honor-bound to do what he considered his part to preserve our freedom.

Uncle Arthur was my mother's older brother. Though we never met, he has taught my family the value of our freedom. He considered it worth his very life. He gave his service to our country with his usual good nature and boldness, never thinking of himself as heroic. I have read his letters to my mother and seen the photographs of the handsome young man who was a wonderful big brother, always looking out for those less able to take care of themselves. I can't tell his story without tearing up at the thought of our loss as a family, but even more, the tremendous inspiration of his sacrifice.

How can we raise children who answer such a call to service? Whether it is on a battlefield, mission field, factory, or stage, we can share with our children the stories of the great and selfless lives that have gone before us, as well as those who stand before us today. History is filled with those who heard a call to serve and gave it their all, resulting in untold blessings for us as a nation. These are the lives we can hold up for our children to see. Second only to the Bible, there is nothing more important to the continuation of freedom in our nation than to glimpse the inspiration of those who sacrificially serve.

This Veterans Day, read your children a biography of a great soldier or freedom fighter. Find one, like Alvin York or Dwight Eisenhower, Harriet Tubman or Stonewall Jackson, who loved our nation and its principle of freedom more than their own lives. Take the time to bless those around you who have served or are serving now, thanking them for their sacrifice through not only word, but deed.

Every year on Mother's Day, my grandmother received a card from one of my uncle's closest buddies in the Marines. He paid my uncle this honor for more than 50 years, until my grandmother's death. Let our gratitude toward those who serve be not only with easily offered words, but let it be with the persevering action of those who carry on.

~ Debbie