Mike Huckabee Is Giving You a Free History DVD!
Former Arkansas Governor and Co-Founder of "Learn Our History," Mike Huckabee, announced that he's giving Break Time readers a Free 'Learn Our History' DVD as a special thank you when you try his amazing Learn Our History series.

Learn Our History's animated DVDs are a huge hit with homeschoolers. Thousands have already discovered how Learn Our History engages children and makes learning fun by bringing American history to life like no other learning materials can. You can preview a clip from your free DVD here.

Each video follows the tales of the TimeCycle Academy, a group of students who build a neat time machine to go back in time and see American history in the making. Your children enjoy a front-row seat to the action, making it a thrill to learn America's most fascinating stories!

Claim Your Free DVD Now
Now, here's your best chance to try these incredible DVDs for yourself. When you order the introductory DVD, "Columbus and The Great Discovery," Governor Huckabee will send you a second DVD, "The Birth of A Revolution," absolutely FREE*!

Your kids can enjoy "Columbus and The Great Discovery" for 30 days. If they don't love it, just send it back and Learn Our History will refund your entire $9.95 purchase price. Either way, your FREE DVD is yours to keep, no matter what you decide!

And the best news is that you can choose to keep the fun going all year long! That's because each month, you'll have the opportunity to let your child preview a new Learn Our History DVD without risk or obligation! You're never under any obligation to buy anything -- ever!

Governor Huckabee has set aside just a few free DVDs for the earliest Break Time responders. So hurry and take advantage of this exciting FREE DVD offer now! Just click here to get started!

* Plus $3.95 S&H, when you purchase the "Columbus" DVD at the regular introductory price.

Reading The Odyssey!
By Virginia Vagt

Q: You mean Homer's Odyssey?
A: Yes. It's a story with a capital S!

Q: Isn't it difficult?
A: Not at all. Well, it's like getting to know a person. It takes time to get to know The Odyssey. It takes coming back to it, again and again, to hear, visit, and re-visit the story.

Q: What are you talking about? Isn't it a book?
A: The Odyssey is a great epic. Ever since The Odyssey was told (2,700 years ago) all stories about the lure of adventure compared to the steady peace of home, family life, and living in a closely-knit community are based on The Odyssey. 

Q: So?
A: So...getting to know The Odyssey is worth it. It's worth the time to read and hear it.

Q: Hear It?
A: We get to know The Odyssey best by hearing it performed, or hearing it read aloud. The story was first told and later written down. In ancient times each performance took three days. Back then people excelled at story telling and listening.

Q: When can we catch a three-day performance of The Odyssey?
A: Hmmm...don't know. But you don't have to wait! Listen to it on CD through Books on Tape and performed by Alan Lee. Another way to meet The Iliad and The Odyssey is through Rosemary Sutcliff's excellent retellings for children: Black Ships Before Troy, The Story of the Iliad, 1993; and The Wanderings of Odysseus, The Story of the Odyssey, 1995. Both preserve the power of the original stories. Her version of The Odyssey simplifies the chronology, which helps, especially when the story is new to you and your family.

Q: By the way, what is the story about?
A: It's about the great adventures and return of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca. He was the cleverest Greek warrior in the Trojan War. It was Odysseus who dreamed up the idea of the Trojan Horse. After the Greeks won the Trojan War, Odysseus started for home. But he was seriously delayed. Shipwrecks and various captivities (such as the Cyclops' Cave) and challenges (such as sailing safely past the Sirens) kept him away. He was away so long that back at home his wife and son and whole community were falling apart without him.

Q: Did he get back? Did it all turn out all right?
A: He got back. The second half of the book starts after he got home.

Q: Trouble at home?
A: Danger at home! Once Odysseus the King went away, others wanted to take his place. His rivals were waiting for him, as in "lying in wait for him!" It wasn't an easy homecoming.

Q: So the first story, The Iliad, is about war. And, The Odyssey is about peace?
A: Yes, and also about learning that you don't really know who you are when your family and community fall apart and when you're not taking a positive productive role in your community.

Q: No kidding?
A: No kidding.

Q: Sounds good.
A: It's still in print!

Q: So I was right, it is a book.
A: Yes, you're right. But think of The Odyssey as a story -- a story with a capital S!

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Virginia Vagt is a writer, speaker, editor and 13-year veteran homeschooling mom. Click here to read selections from Vagt's Be Encouraged column or, for additional resources, visit HomeFieldAdvantage.org.

Do We Need the Department of Education?
By Dave Nicholson

For years I've been receiving a free monthly newsletter, IMPRIMUS, from Hillsdale College in southern rural Michigan that is simply outstanding. There seems to be little doubt that the ever-expanding power and influence of government is chipping away at our liberties, and the world-class thinkers highlighted each month in this publication explore the issues with extraordinary insight. I would strongly encourage you to visit their website and join their mailing list.

I just finished reading the January issue featuring Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute and a speech he gave entitled, "Do We Need the Department of Education?" As a homeschool dad/principal, I'm pretty receptive to the proposition that government-run schools are inefficient and produce a product that is marginal. But the question posed in the article wasn't whether the federal government's oversight of education was efficient, but whether it is even constitutional.

In the speech, Murray posits that "the framers of America's limited government had a broad allegiance to...the concept of subsidiarity" which means that "local governments should only do those things that individuals cannot do for themselves, state governments should only do those things that local governments cannot do, and the federal government should only do those things that the individual sates cannot do."

While the federal Department of Education did not come into existence until 1980, Murray argues that large scale federal government incursion into local education began much earlier with President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" programs of the 1960s. In 1965 Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education Acts in an attempt to correct disparities between test scores and academic achievements of white and black students. While the objectives of the legislation were admirable, the results four and half decades later are hardly compelling arguments for further federal intervention.

Murray writes that, "The most famous part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was Title I, initially authorizing more than a billion dollars annually (equivalent to more than $7 billion today) to upgrade the schools attended by low-income families. The program has continued to grow ever since, disposing of about $19 billion in 2010." He further states that, "Despite being conducted by people who wished the program well, no evaluation of Title I from the 1970s onward has found credible evidence of a significant positive impact on student achievement."

Is the Department of Education constitutional? I don't know for sure, but I do believe it is at the core of a bloated government-run education system which soaks up huge amounts of tax dollars while failing miserably in its objective of preparing children for a life of productivity. The home is now, and will continue to be, the ideal local, low-cost environment for educating children. I don't know what your particular struggles are as you attempt to properly equip your kids for the future, but I do know that you are the principal of subsidiarity in action and that you are a big part of the solution to what ails us as a nation.

What do you think? Let us know on our Facebook page.

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Dave Nicholson, his wife Deann, and their four children, ages 6 to 16, are living (and loving!) the homeschool life in suburban Chicago.

Have You Tried Our Free Web-Based Planner?
Do you use a spiral notebook to plan your homeschool day? A three-ring binder? CD-ROM? If you're looking for a new solution for staying organized, visit www.Home-School-Inc.com, and use our free web-based planner, PER (Plan/Educate/Record). Use PER with any homeschooling method or curriculum to plan ahead or as a diary to record your child's accomplishments. PER does the clerical work, creating flexible schedules, calendars, summaries and reports, and helps you stay on track. Here's the best part: Because PER is web-based, there's nothing to download and your records are accessible 24/7 from any computer with an internet connection. There's even a built-in private messaging function.

This isn't a free trial...it's a free resource. Find PER, a helpful Quick Guide to getting started and PER FAQs at www.Home-School-Inc.com.