Hillcrest Mennonite Church

About Homeschooling

adonn — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:32:07 +0000

You’ve been teaching your child since birth. Think of all the books you’ve devoured, the crafts you’ve made and the hours you’ve spent on potty training. Maybe you’re considering whether homeschooling is the best option for you and your family.
“What educational environment is best for your children?” asks Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. “The real question for parents is, why do you send them anywhere?” Institute figures show that in 2010, more than 2 million American kids from kindergarten through 12th grade were homeschooled. Ray says many of these children’s parents were drawn to homeschooling because of its potential for an education customized for each child, and it’s a model that embraces moving on to a new lesson only after a child has mastered the last one.

The Scenic Victoria Falls

adonn — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:14:21 +0000

Take the Zambezi, one of Southern Africa’s largest rivers. Let it loose across the floodplains of Angola and Zambia, tributaries swelling it until the river is as large as a racing track. Once the waterway is flowing with full force over the basalt plateau of southern Zambia, cut a 1700-meter wide gash in the valley and watch the entire width of the river come pouring down an 180-meter face of rock into a narrow gorge. That is Victoria Falls, one of the most monumental waterfalls in the world.

The falls’ indigenous name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, means “the smoke that thunders”. And indeed, it roars, it throws up spray, it crashes and it swirls – Victoria Falls is an overwhelming sight, twice the height of Niagara Falls. So spectacular, in fact, that it already was a popular tourist attraction in 1905, when the railway from then-Rhodesia to Cape Town was completed under British colonial rule. Now a World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, some content to simply take in the natural wonder, others, like me, daring (or brainless) enough to bungee jump over the gorges, too.
While in Zambia on a work assignment, I took the first opportunity to escape from the dreary capital, Lusaka, and visit Victoria Falls, which are a six-hour bus ride away through flat, dry savannah. In fact, African public transportation schedules being what they are (“when it is full o’clock” is as close as it gets to a departure time), it took me and my friend Leila most of our Saturday to reach the characterless town of Livingstone, then the park.

Early Literacy for Children

adonn — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:33:05 +0000

The schools say they are teaching children to read. It is often closer to the truth to say they’re teaching children not to read. In one of the most famous books of the 20th century, “Why Johnny Can’t read,” Rudolf Flesch explained that English, a phonetic language, had to be taught phonetically. Conversely, if you teach it with sight- words, you will create nonreaders.

That was 55 years ago. Our Education Establishment went right on doing what Flesch said doesn’t work. Despite changes in jargon and emphasis, reading instruction in many schools starts off much as it has for the past 70 years. Children are shown lists of Dolch words, sight-words, high-frequency words, whatever you want to call them, and told to memorize them as graphic shapes. This is the end of the road for many kids.
So, for the past few years, I’ve puzzled over this question: how do we work around the policies of our Education Establishment? The best answer I have is that parents should start early, when the kids are two, three or four. Teach the letters, and then the sounds, and then the blends. At that point, even if a child is shown a sight-word, the child will read it as a phonetic word. Presto! The kids have been inoculated.

Travelling by a Bus

adonn — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:37:56 +0000

Bus nowadays has become a popular means of transport. Commuters choose bus as they find many advantages of this transportation; however some people never step on a bus when they hear about the disadvantages and dangers from the bus. As a regular bus commuter, I well know these two aspects of buses, which I am going to mention below. Some good points from the bus- the public transportation.
People especially students choose bus as a good means of transport because it is an economic way of traveling. For instance, a bus ticket to move around Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is only 3,000 and for each person no matter how long or short their distance is.
The second advantage the bus brings to us is that the bus-traveler can avoid adverse weather effects and pollution. The high temperature in summer or extreme cold in winter seems to make the motorbike drivers and bikers uncomfortable in moving on roads. Instead, sitting on a bus with the average temperature can help the customers avoid bad impacts of severe climate.

Breast cancer Risk Through Estrogen

adonn — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:33:06 +0000

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with almost 48,000 women and about 300 men diagnosed every year. About one in eight women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some stage during their life, but thanks to better awareness, treatments and screening, more women than ever are surviving breast cancer in the UK.

A study in this week’s Journal of the National Cancer Institute, reveals that scientists have discovered the first direct association between genetically determined levels of estrogen in younger women and the risk of breast cancer. Researchers discovered an alteration in a gene, which affects the breakdown of estrogen and is also related to a modest reduction in breast cancer risk in pre-menopausal women.
It is widely known that sex hormones like estrogen play an important role in breast cancer development. According to previous studies, post-menopausal women with higher levels of particular hormones are more likely to develop breast cancer, although evidence that is directly linked to pre-menopausal women has so far proven to be inconsistent.

Causes of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome

adonn — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:48:04 +0000

A USC research team has pinpointed the source of a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening birth defects, which may allow doctors to quickly diagnose and better treat the disease.
Babies born with the disorder, known as Loeys-Dietz syndrome or Marfan syndrometype II, have cleft palates and other facial characteristics similar to babies born with other diseases – but also happen to suffer potentially fatal heart defects, making it critical for them to receive an accurate diagnosis right away.
Researchers from USC found an abnormally high amount of a protein known as Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-ß) outside of cells – which may be revealed by a blood or tissue test – in patients with characteristic facial defects is a key indicator of Loeys-Dietz.

The Diamond Crypto Smartphone

adonn — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:32:01 +0000

Here is something that will bring you out of the illusion of owning the priciest of mobile phones. We are talking about the Diamond Crypto Smartphone, designed by luxury accessories maker Peter Aloisson. This unique object de art is priced at a crisp $1.3 million and is tagged as the costliest in the world. This one features a cover adorned with 50 diamonds, 10 of which are the rare blue ones. Apart from this, it also features a few sections made in rose gold as well.
Apart from the enticing looks, this phone manufactured by Moscow-based JSC Ancort Company uses powerful encryption technology to provide special security. This technology is used with an aim to secure the user’s identity together with keeping intact the info about kidnapping, technological blackmail, financial racketeers and corrupt state officials. Together with this, the phone is built on the lines of Windows CE operating system, and features a high-resolution color TFT display and stores up to 4000 numbers in its memory.

The Great Needleless Injections

adonn — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:46:42 +0000

This future invention is a device for delivering medication and vaccinations through the skin. As an alternative to injecting a needle, micro-poration is a painless method of transferring medication (intraepidermal) into the body using laser technology.
A handheld laser creates micro pores in the epidermis of the skin for the transfer of molecules.
It has a familiar comparison to the “needleless” device used by Dr. “Bones” McCoy on Star Trek. The popular sci-fi series has inspired more than a few new inventions including the “laser” and the cell phone.
This new micro-poration technology is painless to use and requires no supervision to administer. The interfaced controls regulate the dosage.

All About Sole Proprietorship

adonn — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:29:04 +0000

“Sole proprietorship” refers to a business that is owned by a single owner and should not be confused with a corporation. There are no corporate taxes involved and the sole proprietor pays income tax on the profits generated. The person who organized the business pays personal income taxes on the profits made. This makes the accounting procedure relatively simple for the sole proprietor, who also enjoys complete autonomy in terms of making business decisions.

Setting up a sole proprietorship is easy. One of the main steps is to obtain a local business license (a sales tax permit may also be required). For certain businesses, such as restaurants or legal practices, you may need additional local or state licenses. Legal regulations and licenses aside, there are other major factors to consider when setting up a sole proprietorship. You will have to create a business plan, develop marketing and advertising campaigns, set up a budget, and find ways to fund your business.

Watch “A Dangerous Method” Movie

adonn — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:18:44 +0000

Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient in A Dangerous Method. Jung’s weapon is the method of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina’s spell.
And while the film has the usual emotional distance that is a Cronenberg hallmark, he’s still able to push boundaries and make this a thoroughly thought-provoking parable of modern sexuality, modern life and our still-evolving understanding of the mind.
It’s about the sex-obsessed Freud (Viggo Mortensen) feuding with the ethically challenged Jung (Michael Fassbender) over that one repressed, masochistic patient (Keira Knightley). In this history, her case proves both the utility of psychoanalysis and the pitfalls of therapists taking on patients with sexual hang-ups.