new blog addresses

Hello friends. Just making sure that you have our new blog addresses.

For family information as well as homeschooling chit chat view:

beingafamilywhoknows.blogspot.com

OR if you want to read some essays with emphasis on womanhood please check me out at:

beingamotherwhoknows.blogspot.com

A Face Lift

I have had a blog face lift. I am so excited about it!!!! My dear friend Misty asked me if she could give me one and I said, "Yes, please!" We have both worked hard for the last week or so on this new project! So here's the new link:



The gold on the blog represents virtue.

I don't plan on posting much here any more. I have already written 11 essays on the new blog. There are a couple that are old essays that I copied over.

Mothers Should Know About Nature

"Mothers and Teachers should know about Nature. --The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tit-bits to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observation. And not only the mother, but any woman, who is likely ever to spend an hour or two in the society of children should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent for life to some young mind destined to do great things for the world." Charlotte Mason, Book One: Home Education, page 64-65.

Here are some things the children are to know:

Field-crops

Meadow and pasture, clover, turnip, corn

Ploughing of the land to the getting of of the crops

Field Flowers

Life-History of Plants such as the milkwort, eyebright, res-harrow, lady's-bedstraw, willow-herb

Every wild flower that grows in their neighbourhood

Describe the leaf-its shape and size, growing from root or from stem

The manner of flowering-a head of flowers, a single flower, a spike, etc.

Never forget or mistake wildflowers or recognize them instantly

Pick out half of dozen trees in "their winter nakedness"

Stopping there....they are more requirements...

It looks like I am to be a quaint naturalist now.

First step done. Went to Barnes and Nobles and found the simplest books possible to begin the "Quaint Mother Naturalist course."

Umbrella: A tool or a toy?

Every year the kids ask why we don't have umbrellas. Every year I tell them the same thing. It doesn't rain here. It's like the towns in the south buying snow plows. It's not worth the investment.

Things were different this year. It has rained. A lot. And this year we have umbrellas. Alex gets things in the mail all the time for work. He gets pens, paper, candy, stationary, bags, wallets, etc. He's even received manicure sets. This year he received two nice umbrellas, sporting an insurance company on them of course.

Caleb likes to play in the rain. He likes to walk in the rain with a big umbrella. I tell him of course he can, but he must remember that the umbrella is a tool to keep the rain off, it's not a toy. Every time he tells me he understands.

Everyday I thought he understood. Until this happened.

What is it with boys? They can be these angelic angels and then all of a sudden they get over come. For Caleb he discovered a bucket in the ground (for the ditch water) in the empty lot next to ours. There's a small hole for the someday future owners to put a pump in. Caleb saw this hole and was suddenly overcome with an urge to stick the umbrella in it and open it. It's broken. It won't come out.

We only have one umbrella now.

So are umbrellas a tool or a toy? It depends on who you are asking.

Quaint

Quaint. I've never really like that word. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I am concerned with all the better and best stuff that I might end up becoming quaint. I don't want to be quaint. Should I want to be quaint? I'm thinking that I should. For some reason I'm rebelling at the idea. Get thee hence oh Babylon!


When I think about quaint I think about the authors Louisa Mae Alcott and Jean Stratton Porter. They wrote quaint stories right? I've never liked their books because they were quaint. What is it about quaint with me? I've read Laddie three times in an effort to like quaint books. I've read multiple Porter books and multiple Alcott books. I've read the books were they go through the Indiana marshes (or whatever they were) and found moths. I read an entire book on moth collecting!! I read Little Men and all the boys were so perfect and never didn't anything wrong. The little ones cooked "cakes and pies" in their little oven in the toy room. Is that what it means to be quaint? I've tried to like them, but they are just so......well, quaint!


The online dictionary says: 
Quaint–adjective, -er, -est.
1. having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque: a quaint old house.
2. strange, peculiar, or unusual in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way: a quaint sense of humor.
3. skillfully or cleverly made.
4. obsolete . wise; skilled.

I like old-fashioned things, but I'm not big on quaint old-fashioned things. Perhaps I see quaint as having things a little to perfect and everyone just a little to happy. That's not good though. We want perfect and happy. What is my problem?

My problem is that I really don't like Porter and Alcott's books and I'm worried that I'm going to have to all of a sudden like them. I like Austen, Glaskell, and Montgomery though.

Quaint.

What am I going to do?

The Best

I first need to say that getting rid of our home computer and moving just to my laptop as done wonders for me getting off the computer. Not that I was on it a lot, but I found it too easy to get on before. Now I almost loath it! My laptop is slow and often crashes and it takes me a much longer time to check my emails. Making a comment on someone's blog takes up to 5 minutes. So that little experiment is working well. Maybe too well?

Back to the point. I've been reading Charlotte Mason's Original works. (Lazy can be really pushy that way sometimes). I've wanted to buy them for years, but have never gotten around to it. Remember they are on one of the recommended reading lists in the back of the TJEd book.

I have had "aha" after "aha" with these books. I wish I had read them BEFORE I had children. This was the owner's manual I was always wishing I had. I will make sure Olivia does a through study of them before she becomes a mom though. Lots of gems in those books. I could write for years on some of my thoughts from them and I've only read two of them.

Last night I was finishing up book two. I sure wish every adult would read book two. They sum up one of my husband's campaign points, "The Family is the First Sovereign Unit of Society." That's one of the "truth's that we hold self-evident" or at least we should, but everyone seems to be forgetting. All of a sudden parents aren't capable of making choices for their family.....I digress again....

A couple of months ago there was a heated topic in "The Great Debate/Conversation" about why we all wanted "the best" for our children. Wouldn't it be more realistic to be happy with good and better things and not be so fixated on the best? I maintain that having the best in our family should be our ideal. Sometimes that means letting go of some really good things. Sometimes that makes us look weird. Sometimes that even challenges our thought process. Sometimes we have to do hard things. We've all read Elder Oaks extensively in that discussion. He says our ideal should be the best.

Moving on to Charlotte though. I discovered some quotes from Charlotte Mason about the very same topic. Here are her two bits:

"Children must be Nurtured on the Best. ...They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in heir lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told...and we shall train a race of readers who will demand literature-that is, the fit and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life." Book 2, "Parents and Children" pg.263.

"Children must have the Best Books. One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books; the best are not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough; and if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child's intellectual life." Book 2, "Parents and Children" pg. 279.

Thank you Charlotte. You bring up some excellent points.

Charlotte Mason loved daises. I've always loved daises myself. Now I know why crazy4boys has daises everywhere. I want a daisy background. I'm going to buy some daisy seeds while I'm in town. Maybe I'll name my next girl Daisy.

Character Tool

A couple of years ago, when I was called to serve as our ward Young Women President, I was reintroduced to the For the Strength of Youth booklet. I quickly found out what a worth while tool it is for our youth and us as adults.

In speaking of For the Strength of Youth booklet Elder Tingey said, "In the For the Strength of Youth booklet, the following standards, among others, are like a North Star to you: choose friends with high standards, do not disfigure your body with tattoos or body piercings, avoid pornography, do not listen to music that contains offensive language, do not use profanity, date only those who have high standards, remain sexually pure, repent as necessary, be honest, keep the Sabbath day holy, pay tithing, keep the Word of Wisdom."

While serving as Young Women's President I made an effort to read applicable passages with each lesson. I would also read the dancing section each time there was a school dance to them in opening exercises and encourage them to keep their covenants and remain pure.

In many ways I find it sad that we have to be so explicit about things. I found reading it straight out of the book to be a lot easier though, followed by a discussion.

When I was called we also began to include it in Family Home Evenings. Each week we read a section together and discuss it with them. We started this when our children were young. There has never been a question about our standards. It is from my continued reading of this that I have such high personal standards in movies, books, computer viewing, dancing and music. There were several parts we did omit that were not age appropriate in the beginning, but we are now reading to them.

After reading it we will have a discussion about that standard. We make sure they understand. We also discuss ways that our family can do a better job keeping that standard. We have made changes based on some of our discussions. Sometimes we also look up the scriptures.

As each member of our family turns 8 they are given their own copy to keep with their scriptures. They do study it on their own. Alex and I also have our own copies and ours are marked up. (I'm on my second booklet). We use them for our talks and teaching lessons. Alex has also used the booklets in the children's weekly interviews from time to time. We also have the small copies stored in our purses and wallets.

I am grateful for this tool that we have that can reinfornce the standards we are trying to teach.