Besides providing your home with more living space, building a family room addition can be a terrific investment. However, before embarking on building a family room addition the homeowner should first consider several important items. These items include: home market values in the neighborhood, financing, home building costs, family room design plans (size and scale of project), architecture, timetable for completion, personal disruption/inconvenience threshold and the sweat equity commitment level.

Designing a Family Room Addition and Assessing Market Value
Prior to actually breaking ground on a family room addition, it is best to first have a plan. You need to determine what you are looking for in terms of additional living space. For example: How many square feet? What types of rooms? Once this is understood, it is then important to find out the market value of homes in the local area with similar size and features to the new and improved home. With this information the homeowner can then calculate the difference between their current home market value and the new and improved home market value. This difference should represent the maximum cost budget for the new addition if a positive investment is desired. For example, a homeowner would not want to spend $40,000 on a new family room addition that provides only $20,000 in increased market value to the improved home.

Financing the Family Room Addition
The next important question involves how to fund the cost of the family room addition. Unless the project is being funded via cash/savings then financing will be required. If current mortgage rates are higher than the existing mortgage, then a home equity loan will probably make the most sense. If current mortgage rates are lower than the existing mortgage, then refinancing the entire home, including the cost of the family room addition project, may make the most sense.

Family Room Addition Design Considerations
Once the financial items have been addressed it is then time to focus on the size and scale of the project, as well as the architectural and aesthetics of the new family room addition. The family room addition should be of size and scale such that it aesthetically melds into the original house. It should not be too small or too big. Frequently, homeowners get carried away and add large amounts of new living space without sufficient thought on the outside appearance. From a market value, there is more to a home than just pure living space. A home needs to maintain its exterior aesthetics as well. It is important to consider such items as siding, doors, windows, rooflines, and elevations. All should meld into the existing home exterior seamlessly and aesthetically.

If an architect is not planned for the project, then the homeowner should at least make some sketches of the home exterior with the new addition. The building inspector will probably require them anyways during the permit process. Also, there are many Home Design software packages on the market today that can help create such drawings.

Schedule and Sweat Equity Commitment
The next two items that should be considered include the timetable for completing the project and the homeowner sweaty equity commitment level. Many homeowners assume they can do a lot more than they are either skilled to do or have the time to do. From personal experience, I would suggest contracting out the site/ground work, rough framing, roofing, siding, heating/cooling, and the drywall. All of these tasks require skill, time and brawn. If local laws permit, electric and plumbing may be tackled by the homeowner. However, both require skill and can be life threatening if not performed properly. Other tasks that a homeowner could tackle include installing interior doors, finish trim, painting, cabinet installation, tiling and hardwood flooring. Prior to a homeowner signing up to any specific task however, they should first honestly assess their skill and available time, and compare them to their project schedule. If they don’t match, hire the contractor.

Threshold of Inconvenience and Disruption
Finally, a homeowner should consider their threshold for inconvenience and disruption. A family room addition, particularly if it involves the kitchen, is very disruptive to today’s busy lifestyles. It is also a dusty, dirty and noisy endeavor. In addition, dealing with subcontractors can be challenging at best. For a typical family room addition anticipate several months of effort and inconvenience.

If after assessing all these issues you are still willing to move forward with the project, contact your subcontractors, pull your permits and get ready for an exciting time. For most homeowners building a family room addition is a positive experience that provides both new living space and a great investment.

For more help on building a family room addition, see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Room Addition Bid sheet. The Room Addition Bid Sheet will help ensure that your room addition project goes smoothly and is completed on time and budget.

More and more parents are choosing to home school their children. They do so for a variety of reasons. Some feel they can give their children a better education at home, that the uniform teaching methods required for classes of 30 or 40 students do not sufficiently account for each student’s different learning styles and aptitudes.

Others home school for religious reasons, preferring to include religious information in the curriculum, which is not found in public schools. Still others prefer to inform their children about various education topics from their own point of view, rather than what they would receive in public schools. Some parents may be choosing home schooling because they fear for their children’s safety. We do hear many reports of violence in our schools.

Obviously, home schooling is not new. Public schools are really the new kid on the block. According to Patrick Farenga, in his article “A Brief History of Homeschooling,” compulsory education, as we know it, is less than 200 years old. He points out that education used to be handled by parents, the church and the occasional tutor for special subjects. He also mentions that education was intentionally left up to parents by our founding fathers. There is no mention of it in the Declaration, Bill of Rights or the Constitution of the United States.

Farenga dates the current trend toward home schooling from the 1970’s, particularly from a book called “Deschooling Society,” written by Ivan Illich that year. You can find his article at www.hsc.org, which features many, such articles and resources for home schooling. There is also a page of home schooling jokes. Some of them are hilarious.

If you are considering home schooling your own children, you can find many more resources on the web. There are articles, curriculums, stories from other parents, textbook recommendations, school projects, and more. Home schooling families usually interact with other home schooling families so that children do get social time with other children. They may get together to put on a play, practice music or learn a sport.

It seems like there is a good chance that home schooling is a trend that will only increase over the coming years. Check hslda.org for information on home schooling laws in your home st

I have to admit it was a bit embarrassing when we had to call out the professionals to deal with an infestation of cockroaches in our kitchen area. They really were a last resort, but we did try every product on the market before getting in the pest control experts. I tell you, these rats of the insect world are nothing short of indestructible. I’ve even heard that a cockroach can live for about a month without its head! If you stamp on the blessed things, your foot just bounces of their amour and off they go on their merry way.

What was embarrassing about calling out the guys from pest control was that they said cockroaches only turn up where there is food. Now this indicated we had a dirty kitchen with bits of food lying around in cupboards and under the refrigerator etc. They said that if all the food is kept covered up, and the floors kept free of crumbs and half eaten snacks, then we would have little trouble with vermin.

Okay, point taken, but that didn’t help the current situation where whole armies of these little bleeders came marching out after dark. We had such a serious infestation that the pest control used to destroy them was strong and toxic. We were well advised to not touch it with our hands, and if we did come into contact with it, we were advised to wash it off immediately. Most importantly, keep the kids well away from the stuff.

I’m pleased to report that we became cockroach free in no time at all, and it’s all thanks to the boys from pest control.

But pest control is not just about insects, mice and rats though. Other pests that often require specialized attention include; Garden ants, bed bugs, bees, carpet beetles, fleas, flies, hornets & wasps, blood feeders, cockroaches (of course!), fabric & paper pests, flies, mosquitoes, mice, slugs & snails, spiders, squirrels termites, vertebrate pests, wood attacking fungi, wood infesting insects and on and on. It depends a lot too, as to where you live, and to what extent the pests are making a nuisance of themselves.

It’s usually only when folks experience problems, or potential problems, with health or property that they need to call in the pest control experts. Some methods of eradicating pests may seem cruel to some people, but unfortunately it’s quite often a necessary evil in dealing with vermin and nuisance. It’s either them or us!

Don’t do what we did and leave it until the last minute. Our postponement gave our resident cockroaches plenty of breeding time. If something is threatening your wellbeing and you are unable to deal with it using conventional methods, then call out the Pest control experts without delay.

No one wants to hurt a child. Yet each year since 1928 our nation’s leaders have felt it’s important to stress how we can unwittingly allow our children to be harmed in and around our own homes.

Children are vulnerable. Pound for pound, they breathe more air, drink more water and eat more food than adults. They play close to the ground and put their hands in their mouths, increasing their exposure to toxins in the environment.

Their small bodies are still developing, often making a child less able than adults to metabolize, detoxify and excrete toxins they consume from air pollution, drinking water, food, secondhand smoke, or peeling paint.

National Child Health Day, October 3

In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge established May 1 as Child Health Day. In 1959, Congress changed National Child Health Day to the first Monday in October, where it remains. The American Academy of Pediatrics established October as Child Health Month in 1992.

Sixteen federal agencies observe October as Children’s Health Month.

In 1928, President Coolidge declared, “The protection and development of the health of the children of today are fundamental necessities to the future progress and welfare of the nation.”

Focusing on children’s health today is as important as ever, maybe more. Asthma is a growing threat to children. With new chemicals introduced into the environment each year, children face a widening array of environmental hazards that can have a significant impact on their health and well-being.

A Great Month to Learn

The Children’s Health Month ( http://www.childrenshealth.gov/index.html ) website provides great ideas to help parents and teachers learn more about a variety of child health topics: childhood illness prevention, education and child care, limiting environmental hazards, reducing risky behaviors, and safety.

For October, you’ll find a daily calendar of ideas to protect children, ranging from preventing mercury exposure at school to protecting children from secondhand smoke and mold. Other days will focus on the safe use of pesticides, how to prevent lead, radon and carbon monoxide poisoning, and how to help children breathe easier and reduce asthma attacks.

Walk and Bike to School Week

Children Health Month also includes International Walk and Bike to School Week October 3 - 7 ( http://www.walktoschool-usa.org/ ). Children walking and biking to school offers real benefits for both the children and the environment. The week enhances children’s health, cuts down on auto carbon monoxide around schools, and with parents involved, helps to create safer routes for walking and cycling.

Everyone Can Help

Children’s Health Month is a tool to impress on everyone - health care professionals, teachers and parents - the importance of protecting children’s health. Maybe we can absorb enough helpful ideas to last year round.

Because, let’s face it, children need our protection every day, every month.

Why not click on the Children’s Health Month Calendar ( http://www.childrenshealth.gov/calendar.html ) and learn how to protect a child today? Or better yet, print out the calendar and check it all month long. Maybe give copies to friends.

After all, children are 100 percent of our future.

Did you know that the percentage of parents who believe spanking is necessary has dropped from 94% in 1968 to 55% in 1999? Yet, the incidence of parents who generally spank their toddlers remains at about 94%?

In Proverbs 13:24 of the Old Testament, we read, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” This scripture has often been used by parents to defend their position of thinking spanking is necessary to discipline children. When you look up the original interpretation of the Hebrew word for ‘rod’, it not only means to strike or hit; it also means correction. The interpretation for the word ‘discipline’ means instruction. In other words, discipline is supposed to instruct or teach our children how to make better choices so they can become successful as they grow older. I’m going to share with you some research findings concerning a myth about spanking and then follow up with some questions to ask yourself about spanking the next time you think a child may need it.

A popular myth concerning spanking American children today is that it works when other methods fail. To examine the effectiveness of spanking, you need to look at a child’s behavior changes over three time periods: (1) The Immediate situation, (2)The short run ( next few hours or days), and (3) The long run (months or years).

In looking at immediate-situation effectiveness, a study was done with parents of school age children. The researchers wanted to know if spanking was effective for when children did not stay in their time-out place. They compared spanking with another method called the escape barrier method. The findings showed on an average, it took 8.3 spankings to get the children to stay in their time-out place. The other method worked as well, which shows that repetition and consistency cause changes in behavior; not necessarily the spanking.

A study done in 1988 showed spanking does not teach a lesson with toddlers. 1,002 mothers were asked what was the last misbehavior for which they spanked their child. They were then asked if they had previously spanked for that misbehavior. 73% said yes; indicating spanking did not have a high success rate.

If you look to see what behavior changes occur from spanking over the short run, which is anywhere from a few hours to a few days, there is evidence which shows that spanking will, on the average, stop misbehavior; at least for the moment.

When you spank a child, you create something else that interferes with the effectiveness of spanking being used for correction and control.
Spanking gets in the way with a child’s ability to think. Being slapped or spanked is a frightening and threatening event that arouses strong emotions such as humiliation, sadness or anger. When a child (or adult for that matter) is upset, angry or scared, the limbic part of the brain is engaged. This part, which I call the lizard part of the brain, has no thinking abilities; it merely reacts. A child’s reaction to being spanked is fear. When this happens, the child moves to the lizard part of the brain and is unable to think or process things with the parent. Therefore, the child cannot learn from the experience from a mental point of view. Because spanking does not provide an explanation of the problem, the child doesn’t necessarily learn what he or she did to create the punishment.

Research evidence also indicates spanking is less effective in the long run as well. Why? (1) It teaches a child to avoid misbehavior if a parent is watching. If the child is only good when the parent is around, the child hasn’t developed moral values. (2) This does not promote a child’s internal controls. (3) It weakens the parent-child bond because it instills fear within the child, and (4) It doesn’t help the child develop cognitive and social skills; child doesn’t develop conflict resolution skills.
What’s the alternative?

According to Dr. Phil, there are three questions to ask yourself before spanking a child:
1. Does spanking calm the child down? Does it put your child into the thinking part of the brain or does it keep him or her in the lizard part?
2. What does your child learn by being hit? It tells your child violence is acceptable and that it’s ok to react when you get mad.
3. Is it working for the long-term? Spanking doesn’t help your child learn from his or her bad choices; it doesn’t get the child to figure out what she or he did wrong or how to keep from doing it again
Research findings also support the idea that the more effective form of discipline, which is to teach the child, is some form of reason/explanation used with non-corporal punishment. This could be the use of natural consequences which place the units of concern on the child instead of the parent. In reality, spanking does not necessarily work when other methods fail. Children will learn best when they are given explanations and natural consequences.