Family Scripture: 2 Nephi 14-18
Weekly Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 13:33
Theology: Several chapters in Gospel Principles.
Discussion Question: What were the causes of the Civil War
Family Read: We read 1/2 of Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse.
PE: Played Wii Fit and Basketball.
Music: Piano lessons and daily piano practice.
FHE: Gratitude and the 10 Lepers.
Club: Had Cub Scout Pack Meeting.
Social: Played with friends three different time.
Goals: Weekly Goal Planning Session Held.
Caleb: Focused on reading and doing chores. We are seeing success with each family member spending time reading to him everyday. Caleb worked on two digit math addition and subtraction.
Luke: Focused on fluency in reading. Reading Ranger's Apprentice. He spent time on multiplication work.
Jared:We also had to rewind and work on some core behavior things again. Reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves. Is reading fluency is really taking off!
Olivia: Continues to focus on Revolutionary War. She is now reading 1776 and The Scarlet Letter. She wrote several papers on American History. She attended two scholar classes. She also read the Princess and the Goblin.
Deanna: Read Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. Read 1/2 of Inteligro Math. Read 1/2 of Approaching Zion. Had meeting with mentor.
Alex: Alex worked a lot and successfully watched a lot of Olympics. I think his brain needed a break!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Scouting
Scouting has become a big part of our family for the last year. Because of Alex's calling in the Bishopric he is the Unit Commissioner over the scouts in our ward. I'm the primary counselor over scouts also. Because I'm a little hyperactive in my callings I'm VERY involved in the cub scouts. I hang out to help the den leaders every week and I attend all their pack planning meetings. I'm pretty much the cub scout committee because we don't have one.
Any way that just means we are thinking scouts all the time. Jared has really enjoyed his leaders this year and has worked hard on scouting requirements. Tonight he earned the Webelos badge. He's only been a Webelo for 3 months. He loves working on the requirements and is working hard on the Arrow of Light now has well. He has to be a Webelo for 6 months before he can get that.
We are really blessed to have some fabulous older men as the boys' den leaders. In Luke and Jared's den their den leader ages are 82, 60, 75 and 55 ish. They are a great example of enduring to the end! They have been great mentors of good character to our boys. We love them!!!!!
The power of great men in the lives of boys today can not be underestimated or ignored. Our boys (and society) need strong men to reinforce in them true principles. We need to honor great men who act like great men.
Any way that just means we are thinking scouts all the time. Jared has really enjoyed his leaders this year and has worked hard on scouting requirements. Tonight he earned the Webelos badge. He's only been a Webelo for 3 months. He loves working on the requirements and is working hard on the Arrow of Light now has well. He has to be a Webelo for 6 months before he can get that.
We are really blessed to have some fabulous older men as the boys' den leaders. In Luke and Jared's den their den leader ages are 82, 60, 75 and 55 ish. They are a great example of enduring to the end! They have been great mentors of good character to our boys. We love them!!!!!
The power of great men in the lives of boys today can not be underestimated or ignored. Our boys (and society) need strong men to reinforce in them true principles. We need to honor great men who act like great men.
Lincoln Days
Over the weekend we celebrated Abraham Lincoln's birthday in our district by attending the annual Lincoln Days. It's a fun event we always look forward to. It's also a big Republican rally. The Governor, Senator, Congressman, Lt. Governor and other state leaders were in attendance again. The kids always enjoy seeing them every year. The state leaders are actually starting to remember the kids because so few kids participate.This year Olivia was asked to sing again. She also sang the National Anthem last minute. See this post. Alex also spoke. He did great for his first "speech." He has gotten a lot of support. The governor pulled him aside afterwords and said if you want to use my name you have my full support. All the campaign managers of the state leaders have been so helpful. They are fun people! They are my favorite. They also remembered our family from last year. I taped Alex's speech. It's long so I only want to upload it once. I'm putting on his facebook page so look there for it soon.
Our family strongly believes in this country and the freedoms we have. We know it is our duty to stand up and fight for them. I'm grateful for great husband that understands this and leads our home in all things. God Bless the USA!
I don't know why I didn't get pictures of the kids with the state leaders this year?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Hands On Science
Today we had an all day long, "Hands on Science Observation Event." About 11 AM our 8 month old puppy went into labor. She was a little early by our completely unscientific calculations. She had surprised us by going into heat over Christmas. (because she was so young) There was not a lot to be done when we found male dogs jumping in our fence either!
After about 4 hours of labor she had EIGHT puppies to show for her hard work. We hadn't thought she would have very many or that any would even live because she is so young. They all look big and strong though. We pretty much watched the whole thing except for about 45 min when we had to have a book club meeting. (It was at our house, Johnny Tremaine if you care, so we didn't have to leave the house).
The kids were fascinated and we all learned a whole lot about the birthing process for dogs! We had lots of good discussions and I think they learned more in that four hours than a semester of science class would do!
Fun day! (But 8 puppies? Holy Cow! or I should say Holy Dog!)
After about 4 hours of labor she had EIGHT puppies to show for her hard work. We hadn't thought she would have very many or that any would even live because she is so young. They all look big and strong though. We pretty much watched the whole thing except for about 45 min when we had to have a book club meeting. (It was at our house, Johnny Tremaine if you care, so we didn't have to leave the house).
The kids were fascinated and we all learned a whole lot about the birthing process for dogs! We had lots of good discussions and I think they learned more in that four hours than a semester of science class would do!
Fun day! (But 8 puppies? Holy Cow! or I should say Holy Dog!)
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Classic
This is just a short ramble.... I could look up the answers in my TJED book but I'm just brainstorming on the computer (and that would mean I'd have to get up and go get my TJED book).
I'm just finishing up a book right now that in it's present form doesn't make the classic list. It's a book I need to give a review to my brother-in-law about because well, he wrote it! It has some great potential, but it needs some direction. All books do I'm sure at the beginning.
So I've been thinking, what makes a classic? Obviously this is personal opinion and each person has their own classics and their own core set of truth. Here's some of my thoughts:
My Top Literature Classics:
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
Les Miserables
The Sacketts
Lonesome Gods
The Iliad
The Odyssey
The Ranger's Apprentice (Total boy classic)
Pride and Prejudice
A Wrinkle in Time
The Hiding Place
There ends my thoughts. I could be watching the Olympics, but I'm randomly timing on the computer. What does that mean? I don't care about Ice Dancing or I'm obsessed with reading/thinking about classics?
I'm just finishing up a book right now that in it's present form doesn't make the classic list. It's a book I need to give a review to my brother-in-law about because well, he wrote it! It has some great potential, but it needs some direction. All books do I'm sure at the beginning.
So I've been thinking, what makes a classic? Obviously this is personal opinion and each person has their own classics and their own core set of truth. Here's some of my thoughts:
- What is right/wrong or good/bad is established. How is it established? In Jane Eyre she was pursuing truth through out the whole book. At the end she made a decision about her absolute truth. In Louis L'Amour books the good is the man who protects his women, respects the land and improves his mind. In Lord of the Rings wrong is the Eye (I don't remember how to spell his name) who want to force all to bend to his will and be under his rule.
- The "good" characters stay true to their roles. For me I want the women in the classics I read to be feminine. I want them to honor their role as nurturer and wife. I want them to consider this their highest calling. I want the men in classics to recognize their role as protector, provider and presider. I don't want to read about macho women who have gender confusion. I don't want them say it's a truth for them to enter into the work force and prove that they are better then men. Again Jane Eyre and Louis L'Amour are the perfect examples. Other examples include Pride and Prejudice, Little Dorritt, The Odyssey, and Little Britches.
- The main characters seek to over come their human nature. In my classics I want the protagonist to seek to over come their human flaws and recognize the divine truth that they can over come obstacles. They don't give up. They pursue truth.
- Those who make wrong choices face natural laws. I'm not going to read a book and consider it a classic where selfish characters break a natural law and no repercussion occurs. It's a natural law that if you leave your family it's going to come to a bad end. I don't want to read in a book that those who break core truths end up having everything turn out all right. That would make the book false. When you do something wrong characters still must face reality. Like I said, that would be false. I read for truth. I don't need a happy ending, I just want to truth up held.
My Top Literature Classics:
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
Les Miserables
The Sacketts
Lonesome Gods
The Iliad
The Odyssey
The Ranger's Apprentice (Total boy classic)
Pride and Prejudice
A Wrinkle in Time
The Hiding Place
There ends my thoughts. I could be watching the Olympics, but I'm randomly timing on the computer. What does that mean? I don't care about Ice Dancing or I'm obsessed with reading/thinking about classics?
Friday, February 19, 2010
It's Greek to Me!
The very first book my mentor asked me to read was The Iliad. Frankly, I wasn't thrilled about it. Since I was ready to be mentored though I agreed and decided to trust the process. What a rewarding experience that has turned out to be!
As I progressed from The Iliad, to the Odyssey, to the Oedipus Trilogy and then any other Greek play or writing I could get my hands on I started realizing how much I love them. I came to feel a great need to share them with our children. The more I read, the more I knew they were important.
But why? When they first started becoming important to me I didn't know why they were and I certainly couldn't articulate the reasons. Over time though I am starting to be able to give voice to those feelings. Here are some thoughts taken from Oliver DeMille in A Thomas Jefferson Education.
1. The Classics Teach us Human Nature. Just as we read Shakespeare to see human nature, the Greek classics play out human nature in all its glory. In the Iliad we can see how Achilles' pride was hurt and how that affected the Trojan War. In the Odyssey we see the power of mind numbing activities can have over our life with The Lotus Eaters. In the Oedipus Trilogy we see an example of parents trying to run from a prophecy about their son only to have it fulfilled despite their desperate attempts to prevent it. The prophet is always right! In the Odyssey we see cleverness can win the day in several examples including Odysseus' escape from the Cyclops. Jason learns in Medea that ending a marriage can lead to an end of everything else in life. Agamemnon teaches us what happens when we stop valuing our children. There are countless stories of greed, revenge, pride, cruelty, and many more played out for us to learn from.
2. The Classics Bring us Face-to-Face with Greatness. We can stand in their shoes at a great moment and we can see what they did with it. You'd be hard pressed to find a greater example of absolute courage than Hecktor in The Iliad. That guy rocks! You weep with Priam's wife as she sees her daughters carried off as war booty in the Trojan Women. You stand at the docks with Cassandra as she faces her doom with her chin held high in Agamemnon. You see the hope and the courage in Penelope as she outwits the suitors in The Odyssey. You feel sick with Oedipus as he learns who he really is and how he deals with an utterly horrible situation in the Oedipus Trilogy. So while you can most certainly learn these examples from so many reads through out history, you can also devour these examples of pure greatness within the pages of the Ancient Greek texts. As we do we can ask our selves, "What will I do when I stand before Greatness?"
3. The Classics Force Us to Think. The Greek Classics force us to look at ourselves and realize what it means to be great. It forces you to think wild dreams and awaken "all that is finest" with in you. To face your mission head on and THINK now what am I going to do? Am I going to hide behind everyone while they fight your war like Paris (The Iliad)? Are you going to stay with Circe or are you going home to your wife (The Odyssey)? Are you going to mock the Gods or worship them? (figuratively of course) This was Hippolytus' problem and Aphrodite sure didn't like that!
4. The Classics Connect Us to Those who Share Our Stories. Our Western Civilization is based on the ideas of the Greek Culture. Through their literature we can learn from them why we do the things we do. The Greek religion was also a corrupt form of the gospel. They learned their worship of the Gods from the Egyptians. And the Egyptians learned their worship of the one true God, the Sun God, Aten, from Abraham. Through time all of these teachings were corrupted. You can see in so many of the writings about their religion where the basic ideas came from. How have we corrupted our teachings? Are we trying to live in this world/Babylon expecting our worship to stay pure? It didn't work for the Egyptians and the Greeks! Who could Persephone represent? Who might Prometheus stand for? Also because Greek literature comes first you can see all the ways they have influenced our culture and all the Western writing after them. References to Greek classics are scattered through out all great literature. Greek ideas are scattered throughout our culture today as well. For example, The Little Mermaid contains multiple references to Poseiden and those things associated with him. (Tridents, sea horses, etc). Jared figured that one out all by himself.
These are just some ideas for now. Greek literature contains powerful examples of our own human nature. It causes us to ask our self what we would do in that situation. I believe that Greek literature should be a core study in families.
Here are some children's books that have taught about the Greeks and their literature that our family as enjoyed:
The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Gods and Goddess of Olympus by Alki
Usborne's Greek Myths
King Midas and The Golden Touch by Demi
Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Anna Claybourne
The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
Book of Greek Myths by D'Aulaire
As I progressed from The Iliad, to the Odyssey, to the Oedipus Trilogy and then any other Greek play or writing I could get my hands on I started realizing how much I love them. I came to feel a great need to share them with our children. The more I read, the more I knew they were important.
But why? When they first started becoming important to me I didn't know why they were and I certainly couldn't articulate the reasons. Over time though I am starting to be able to give voice to those feelings. Here are some thoughts taken from Oliver DeMille in A Thomas Jefferson Education.
1. The Classics Teach us Human Nature. Just as we read Shakespeare to see human nature, the Greek classics play out human nature in all its glory. In the Iliad we can see how Achilles' pride was hurt and how that affected the Trojan War. In the Odyssey we see the power of mind numbing activities can have over our life with The Lotus Eaters. In the Oedipus Trilogy we see an example of parents trying to run from a prophecy about their son only to have it fulfilled despite their desperate attempts to prevent it. The prophet is always right! In the Odyssey we see cleverness can win the day in several examples including Odysseus' escape from the Cyclops. Jason learns in Medea that ending a marriage can lead to an end of everything else in life. Agamemnon teaches us what happens when we stop valuing our children. There are countless stories of greed, revenge, pride, cruelty, and many more played out for us to learn from.
2. The Classics Bring us Face-to-Face with Greatness. We can stand in their shoes at a great moment and we can see what they did with it. You'd be hard pressed to find a greater example of absolute courage than Hecktor in The Iliad. That guy rocks! You weep with Priam's wife as she sees her daughters carried off as war booty in the Trojan Women. You stand at the docks with Cassandra as she faces her doom with her chin held high in Agamemnon. You see the hope and the courage in Penelope as she outwits the suitors in The Odyssey. You feel sick with Oedipus as he learns who he really is and how he deals with an utterly horrible situation in the Oedipus Trilogy. So while you can most certainly learn these examples from so many reads through out history, you can also devour these examples of pure greatness within the pages of the Ancient Greek texts. As we do we can ask our selves, "What will I do when I stand before Greatness?"
3. The Classics Force Us to Think. The Greek Classics force us to look at ourselves and realize what it means to be great. It forces you to think wild dreams and awaken "all that is finest" with in you. To face your mission head on and THINK now what am I going to do? Am I going to hide behind everyone while they fight your war like Paris (The Iliad)? Are you going to stay with Circe or are you going home to your wife (The Odyssey)? Are you going to mock the Gods or worship them? (figuratively of course) This was Hippolytus' problem and Aphrodite sure didn't like that!
4. The Classics Connect Us to Those who Share Our Stories. Our Western Civilization is based on the ideas of the Greek Culture. Through their literature we can learn from them why we do the things we do. The Greek religion was also a corrupt form of the gospel. They learned their worship of the Gods from the Egyptians. And the Egyptians learned their worship of the one true God, the Sun God, Aten, from Abraham. Through time all of these teachings were corrupted. You can see in so many of the writings about their religion where the basic ideas came from. How have we corrupted our teachings? Are we trying to live in this world/Babylon expecting our worship to stay pure? It didn't work for the Egyptians and the Greeks! Who could Persephone represent? Who might Prometheus stand for? Also because Greek literature comes first you can see all the ways they have influenced our culture and all the Western writing after them. References to Greek classics are scattered through out all great literature. Greek ideas are scattered throughout our culture today as well. For example, The Little Mermaid contains multiple references to Poseiden and those things associated with him. (Tridents, sea horses, etc). Jared figured that one out all by himself.
These are just some ideas for now. Greek literature contains powerful examples of our own human nature. It causes us to ask our self what we would do in that situation. I believe that Greek literature should be a core study in families.
Here are some children's books that have taught about the Greeks and their literature that our family as enjoyed:
The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Gods and Goddess of Olympus by Alki
Usborne's Greek Myths
King Midas and The Golden Touch by Demi
Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Anna Claybourne
The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
Book of Greek Myths by D'Aulaire
Week in Review
I've already posted most of this stuff this week, but for the sake of me getting into a 'weekly' habit I'm going to recap.
Family Scripture: 2 Nephi 9-13
Weekly Scripture Memorization: John 14:15
Theology: Several chapters in Gospel Principles.
Discussion Questions: Should we or should we not close off our borders to illegal aliens? Should we attend our club meetings even if we have completed our requirements? Should we allow our emotions to guide all our choices?
Field Trips: Library, Fossil Beds and Natural History Museum.
Family Read: Finished Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
PE: Made a Horatio Hornblower ship with friends, played capture the flag, played Wii Fit, and played basketball several times.
Music: Piano lessons and daily piano practice.
Weekly Goal Planning Session Held.
Caleb: Focused on reading and doing chores. We introduced the "mentor Caleb" goal. Each family member is encouraged to spend time with him everyday, if possible and if willing, and they play games and read books to him.
Luke: Focused on fluency in reading, spelling rules, and not pouting. Reading Ranger's Apprentice.
Jared: Focused on fluency in reading, 3-digit multiplication, and controlling emotions. Reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves.
Olivia: Continues to focus on Revolutionary War. She finished several biographies of the Founding Mothers in America. She is now reading 1776 and The Scarlet Letter. She wrote several papers on American History. She attended two scholar classes.
Deanna: Started Family History Research up again. Reread Anne of Green Gables and A Thomas Jefferson Education. Continuing to pursue multiple Greek classic reads.
Alex: Heavy emphasis on campaign! He wrote a speech that will be delivered tomorrow before the state and district leaders. (no pressure)
Family Scripture: 2 Nephi 9-13
Weekly Scripture Memorization: John 14:15
Theology: Several chapters in Gospel Principles.
Discussion Questions: Should we or should we not close off our borders to illegal aliens? Should we attend our club meetings even if we have completed our requirements? Should we allow our emotions to guide all our choices?
Field Trips: Library, Fossil Beds and Natural History Museum.
Family Read: Finished Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
PE: Made a Horatio Hornblower ship with friends, played capture the flag, played Wii Fit, and played basketball several times.
Music: Piano lessons and daily piano practice.
Weekly Goal Planning Session Held.
Caleb: Focused on reading and doing chores. We introduced the "mentor Caleb" goal. Each family member is encouraged to spend time with him everyday, if possible and if willing, and they play games and read books to him.
Luke: Focused on fluency in reading, spelling rules, and not pouting. Reading Ranger's Apprentice.
Jared: Focused on fluency in reading, 3-digit multiplication, and controlling emotions. Reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves.
Olivia: Continues to focus on Revolutionary War. She finished several biographies of the Founding Mothers in America. She is now reading 1776 and The Scarlet Letter. She wrote several papers on American History. She attended two scholar classes.
Deanna: Started Family History Research up again. Reread Anne of Green Gables and A Thomas Jefferson Education. Continuing to pursue multiple Greek classic reads.
Alex: Heavy emphasis on campaign! He wrote a speech that will be delivered tomorrow before the state and district leaders. (no pressure)
Field Trip Friday
Today we were all over Southern Idaho. We went to the library. We went to the Natural History Museum and saw their new display about pre-Columbian fishing in Idaho. We also went to the Hagerman Fossil Beds and saw the Idaho State Fossil, "The Hagerman Horse."
Posting Change
I've decided that I'm going to stop posting our daily schedule. (I think). You see, I have a psychological need to prove to myself (and to the Universe) at the end of the day that we are actually learning here at the Sutter's. Writing it all down for the last 1 1/2 years as really helped me gain confidence and see, "We really are doing it!" Whew! I think I'm maturing past that now fortunately for every one's sakes. (Like I said, I think). This also qualifies under those conveyor belt/public schooling mentalities somehow I think and so it needs to go!
I have two other reasons beyond being obsessive compulsive. The first is that I'm trying to free up more time for myself and our life. Simplify and the "6 month 'no.'"
The second reason is that as I advance through my scholar phase I need to work on essays. So I'm hoping to devote some more time to my essays, which I will be posting here. So look for a regular essay about who knows what.
Also, I plan to include a weekly post of the general happenings during the week. That will be a work in progress as I'm not sure what that will look like yet. I want to do this because I hope it can generate ideas for others out there.
Thanks for being apart of our journey. We hope we inspire you to greatness as you inspire us with all of your blogs!
I have two other reasons beyond being obsessive compulsive. The first is that I'm trying to free up more time for myself and our life. Simplify and the "6 month 'no.'"
The second reason is that as I advance through my scholar phase I need to work on essays. So I'm hoping to devote some more time to my essays, which I will be posting here. So look for a regular essay about who knows what.
Also, I plan to include a weekly post of the general happenings during the week. That will be a work in progress as I'm not sure what that will look like yet. I want to do this because I hope it can generate ideas for others out there.
Thanks for being apart of our journey. We hope we inspire you to greatness as you inspire us with all of your blogs!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Capture the Flag
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 11
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 14:15
Science Experiment: Planting seeds
Creativity/PE: They played capture the flag outside for several hours.
Fantasy Read: Read 5 chapters and finished Percy Jackson #2.
PE: Played basketball for a couple of hours at the church.
Chores/Animal Care: Lot's of extra chores today.
Caleb: Read his scriptures, math and spelling practice, listened to Mr. Popper's Penguins, and individual reading.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read in Ranger's Apprentice, played Music Ace, and played Wii Sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played a math game with Olivia, and played Wii Sports.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, read for several hours in 1776, mentored Caleb in math and spelling, and played a math game with Jared.
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, went to the temple, walked on the treadmill, read in The Thomas Jefferson Education, read a couple of chapters in Anne of Green Gables, read in the Libation Bearers, and took a much needed nap!
Alex: Scriptures, church handbook reading,, writing a speech, finished he palm card literature, went to work, set up for the Lincoln Days on Saturday, went to mutual, walked on the treadmill, and is listening to Good to Great.
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 14:15
Science Experiment: Planting seeds
Creativity/PE: They played capture the flag outside for several hours.
Fantasy Read: Read 5 chapters and finished Percy Jackson #2.
PE: Played basketball for a couple of hours at the church.
Chores/Animal Care: Lot's of extra chores today.
Caleb: Read his scriptures, math and spelling practice, listened to Mr. Popper's Penguins, and individual reading.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read in Ranger's Apprentice, played Music Ace, and played Wii Sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played a math game with Olivia, and played Wii Sports.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, read for several hours in 1776, mentored Caleb in math and spelling, and played a math game with Jared.
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, went to the temple, walked on the treadmill, read in The Thomas Jefferson Education, read a couple of chapters in Anne of Green Gables, read in the Libation Bearers, and took a much needed nap!
Alex: Scriptures, church handbook reading,, writing a speech, finished he palm card literature, went to work, set up for the Lincoln Days on Saturday, went to mutual, walked on the treadmill, and is listening to Good to Great.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Horatio Hornblower
Another day drawing to a close. Today was another fabulous day. Sometimes I feel guilty that life is so good. Sure there are those moments. I feel like I have this little secret that nobody wants to hear. I'll share it anyway (but most of the people who read this blog already know it), HOMESCHOOLING YOUR KIDS ROCKS AND MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND! Most people just assume that only crazy people do it. I've also heard it's just to hard of a thing to expect a mother to do. Well, I'm sure some mom's get overwhelmed, but the joys and blessings out weigh those days of chaos. Cheers to all you families out there that also home school and share the same joy in your homes!
Now on to our day.
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 10
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 15:14
Theology: "Prophets" from Gospel Principles.
The Discussion: "Should we be expected to continue attending meetings of church clubs when we've earned all of our requirements?" Alex was gone until late so we had to have a tame question that I could handle. I put the questions about our national borders and Spanish being included on all government literature back for another day.
Spelling: We did spelling with the boys on the wipe board.
Social: Today was the home schooling weekly social date. Last weekend we lent some of our Horatio Hornblower movies to our hs buddies. This morning we received a phone
call, "Come dressed as Horatio Hornblower as much as you can. We are going to build a ship." The boys were so exited! They had a 10+ trailer that they ended up rigging into a ship. It was a work of art. Really. They hauled all sorts of materials to this trailer and each time I looked out the window more and work had been down. In the end they had rigged a huge mast with a sail on it. Twine was everywhere. They also had a twine rope later up it. They had rigged 3 cannons, that looked like cannons. They also had a rudder. It was amazing what "backwards home school" children can really create with their imaginations. The worst part is that I didn't bring my camera. They'll remember today for a long time.
Fantasy Read-a-loud: Read several chapter of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
Health: Watched The Biggest Loser (we watch it a week delayed on hulu).
PE: Watched an hour of the Olympics together. We aren't big TV people. 1 1/2 hours of the Biggest Loser (sometimes) is the extent of our TV viewing usually.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, read to his "public school teacher," learned about Komodo Dragons, wrote a blog post about them, played Wii sports, I started a Hank the Cowdog book that I'm reading just to him, and did some free reading.
Luke: Practiced piano, sketching in his book, read a book that was about the Wizard of Oz, read in the Ranger's Apprentice, played chess, and played Wii sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, Read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves (he's been consistent with this-he's really starting to gain some fluency), wrote a blog post, did some wipe board math, played 30 min of Wii sports and played chess.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, finished a biography about Patsy Jefferson, wrote a paper for her scholar class about The Screwtape Letters, played with a friend in the afternoon, practiced her vocal solo several different times, and played Wii sports.
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, walked on the treadmill for 30 min, went visiting teaching, made dinner for some friends, read a chapter in the Thomas Jefferson Education book, read several chapters in Anne of Green Gables, wrote an essay, finished listening to Alex Rider #2: Point Blank, and started The Libation Bearers (Greek classic).
Alex: Scriptures, church handbook, walked on the treadmill, listening to Percy Jackson #1, went to work, and went to the temple.
Now on to our day.
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 10
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 15:14
Theology: "Prophets" from Gospel Principles.
The Discussion: "Should we be expected to continue attending meetings of church clubs when we've earned all of our requirements?" Alex was gone until late so we had to have a tame question that I could handle. I put the questions about our national borders and Spanish being included on all government literature back for another day.
Spelling: We did spelling with the boys on the wipe board.
Social: Today was the home schooling weekly social date. Last weekend we lent some of our Horatio Hornblower movies to our hs buddies. This morning we received a phone
call, "Come dressed as Horatio Hornblower as much as you can. We are going to build a ship." The boys were so exited! They had a 10+ trailer that they ended up rigging into a ship. It was a work of art. Really. They hauled all sorts of materials to this trailer and each time I looked out the window more and work had been down. In the end they had rigged a huge mast with a sail on it. Twine was everywhere. They also had a twine rope later up it. They had rigged 3 cannons, that looked like cannons. They also had a rudder. It was amazing what "backwards home school" children can really create with their imaginations. The worst part is that I didn't bring my camera. They'll remember today for a long time.Fantasy Read-a-loud: Read several chapter of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
Health: Watched The Biggest Loser (we watch it a week delayed on hulu).
PE: Watched an hour of the Olympics together. We aren't big TV people. 1 1/2 hours of the Biggest Loser (sometimes) is the extent of our TV viewing usually.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, read to his "public school teacher," learned about Komodo Dragons, wrote a blog post about them, played Wii sports, I started a Hank the Cowdog book that I'm reading just to him, and did some free reading.
Luke: Practiced piano, sketching in his book, read a book that was about the Wizard of Oz, read in the Ranger's Apprentice, played chess, and played Wii sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, Read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves (he's been consistent with this-he's really starting to gain some fluency), wrote a blog post, did some wipe board math, played 30 min of Wii sports and played chess.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, finished a biography about Patsy Jefferson, wrote a paper for her scholar class about The Screwtape Letters, played with a friend in the afternoon, practiced her vocal solo several different times, and played Wii sports.
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, walked on the treadmill for 30 min, went visiting teaching, made dinner for some friends, read a chapter in the Thomas Jefferson Education book, read several chapters in Anne of Green Gables, wrote an essay, finished listening to Alex Rider #2: Point Blank, and started The Libation Bearers (Greek classic).
Alex: Scriptures, church handbook, walked on the treadmill, listening to Percy Jackson #1, went to work, and went to the temple.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Discussion
Okay, I technically I do not know if this is an "ingredient" with in the Thomas Jefferson Education model. It sounds like a good one though!
In our home we have implemented, "The Discussion." We've always discussed things around the dinner table, but now we're getting more specific. We have a bowel where every dinner meal (assuming there's nothing else going on and nothing else to talk about) we draw a question out of it. There are questions that have to do with core behaviors as well as current events. Whatever mom and dad feel needs to be discussed. Also any family member can add a question. In our home Alex is really good with discussion and helping the kids think about things. So I'm utilizing him on this one and learning how to lead good discussions!
We've based this on Alex's upbringing where every dinner meal his dad would invite discussion and challenge their ideas. It was a great experience for Alex. We hope to base on these good things to our kids. Thank you Ken!
In our home we have implemented, "The Discussion." We've always discussed things around the dinner table, but now we're getting more specific. We have a bowel where every dinner meal (assuming there's nothing else going on and nothing else to talk about) we draw a question out of it. There are questions that have to do with core behaviors as well as current events. Whatever mom and dad feel needs to be discussed. Also any family member can add a question. In our home Alex is really good with discussion and helping the kids think about things. So I'm utilizing him on this one and learning how to lead good discussions!
We've based this on Alex's upbringing where every dinner meal his dad would invite discussion and challenge their ideas. It was a great experience for Alex. We hope to base on these good things to our kids. Thank you Ken!
Why?
Why in the world do I post things like scripture reading, exercising, service, attending the temple....? Because Leadership Education is 24/7. We do not run a school in this house. I don't even like that word! We are creating a culture. Within that culture there are many components. These include core discipline and behaviors. This list includes, but is not limited to; developing a relationship with God, serving mankind, and keeping physically fit. All of these things are the foundational base that makes a leader for future generations.
We weren't home a lot today. Piano lessons themselves take almost 2 1/2 hours and archery was over 2 hours. That's not counting any drive time.Family Scripture Study: Finished 2 Nephi 9
Weekly Scripture Memorization: John 15:14
Science: We did an experiment about water vapor.
Music: Piano lessons
Club/Social/PE: We had 4-H archery practice for over two hours.
The Discussion: Why is important to learn to control our emotions?
Caleb: Scriptures, chores, listening to Mr. Popper's Penguins and played a reading game on the computer.
Luke: Chores, piano practice, reading Ranger's Apprentice, reading about ancient explorers, working with geometry solids, and exercise on the Wii.
Jared: Scriptures, chores, piano practice, reading in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, working with geometry solids, prepared a FHE lesson, using the old Webster's Dictionary, and exercise on the the Wii.
Olivia: Scriptures, journal, piano practice, voice practice, read a biography abou
t Dolly Madison, read a biography about Patsy Jefferson (only 30 pages left), made cherry pie, made a turkey dinner with the fixings with me and did laundry.Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, piano practice, walked for 30 minutes, read in The Thomas Jefferson Education, and read in Talkers, Walkers and Doers.
Alex: Scriptures, church handbook reading, working on campaign, helped someone move, went to work, and listening to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Family Home Evening:
Songs: How Firm a Foundation and The Valiant Song
Testimonies: All
Article of Faith: 13th
Proclamation to the World on the Family: 2nd paragraph
Strength of Youth: Education
Character: 21 Rules of This House Lesson
Lesson: About the Wentworth Letters and the 13th Article of Faith by Jared
Activity: Basketball at the church. We did drills and more drills. We played PIG and played 3 on 3. We had a lot of fun!
Treat: Homemade Cherry Pie by Olivia
Friday
Oh, yeah. Friday.
We all did our scriptures, prayers (family and personal) and practiced the piano.
Then we went into town for our Valentine's Party. The kids had an okay time getting 30 Valentine's from other kids. Kind of lame-o, very public school. Sigh.
Then off to the library. Lots of reading and looking.
Then dinner. The Golden Corral. I always tell the kids, "notice what most people have in common that frequent a place like this." Hmmm. A pattern? We only go there once a year for the kid's sake. We get free kid's tickets for their birthday's every year and save them up. So it was their Valentine treat. I had to remind myself of my love for them while I was there.
Then off to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Fun movie. I think they just took half of the characters and wrote a different story than the one that book had. But it was still fun to see some things acted out.
Oh, and Olivia had scholar class in the morning.
We all did our scriptures, prayers (family and personal) and practiced the piano.
Then we went into town for our Valentine's Party. The kids had an okay time getting 30 Valentine's from other kids. Kind of lame-o, very public school. Sigh.
Then off to the library. Lots of reading and looking.
Then dinner. The Golden Corral. I always tell the kids, "notice what most people have in common that frequent a place like this." Hmmm. A pattern? We only go there once a year for the kid's sake. We get free kid's tickets for their birthday's every year and save them up. So it was their Valentine treat. I had to remind myself of my love for them while I was there.
Then off to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Fun movie. I think they just took half of the characters and wrote a different story than the one that book had. But it was still fun to see some things acted out.
Oh, and Olivia had scholar class in the morning.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
We made Valentine's-I'm not even kidding.
Family Scripture Study: D & C 36Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Theology: "The Holy Ghost" from Gospel Principles.
Fantasy Read a loud: Read multiple chapters from Percy Jackson and the Sea Monsters.
Art: Shocking, but true, we made our valentines "boxes." Aren't I a genius? We put tin foil over our Halloween buckets and glued paper hearts on them. It wasn't even very painful. I didn't like it, but it wasn't painful.
Clubs: Today we had boys scouts and our 4-H meeting.
Caleb: Read his scriptures, did 10 plus pages in Explode the Code and finished the book, read two e-books on line at Raz-kids.com, learned about lizards, wrote a blog post about them,
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read The Ranger's Apprentice to me for 30 minutes, walked on the treadmill, made lunch, read several books to Caleb, played ping pong, and worked on his story.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves for 1 1/2 hours, and listened to Alex Rider #2 on tape for an hour.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, finished The Great Little Madison, read in several American History books trying to find what she wants to read now, made breakfast, and made home made beef stew.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, read in 7 habits of Highly Effective People, had a scout meeting, worked on stuff for 4-H (I'm the Clover Bud leader), walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes and played ping pong.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, listened to a Ronald Reagen speech, had a meeting with his campaign adviser & the Regional chairman, ordered lawn signs, ordered his palm cards, listening to Percy Jackson #1, went to work, and played ping pong.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 9 (1/2 of it)
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Theology: "The Holy Ghost" from Gospel Principles. We had a very long discussion that was one of those ones that you chalk up to potentially life changing experiences for kids.
Book on Tape: 1 hour of Alex Rider #2
Literature: A Winter's Tale by Shakespeare from Usborne's Tales of Shakespeare.
Fantasy Read a Loud: We read multiple chapters of Percy Jackson #2.
PE: Watched the high school girls play for the conference championship. They lost. First time they've lost the title in several years.
Science: Watched several science videos on Brain Pop.
Caleb: Read his scriptures, did several pages in Explode the Code, played Money, Money! with me several times, did addition wrap ups, played Book of Mormon Who with me several times,word search, coloring, learned about pythons and boas, wrote a blog post about them, and played Connect Four.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, spent lots of time sketching, read for quite a while in Ranger's Apprentice, walked on the treadmill, practiced the violin, working on a creative writing story, played with the subtraction and addition Wrap-ups and played Connect Four.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, did a Math Detective lesson, worked on scouting requirements, read for a while in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played Wii Sports (boxing), word search, played with the addition and subtraction Wrap-ups and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, finished Pride and Prejudice, did some laundry and read the entire book Johnny Tremain. Who does that? Go scholar phase.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, practiced the piano, walked on the treadmill, played ping pong and read The Bacchae by Euripides.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, went to work, listened to a Ronal Reagan speech, went to a regional scout meeting, order lawn signs for his campaign, wrote a letter the a legislator debunking their economic plan, played ping pong, and he's listening to Percy Jackson #1.
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Theology: "The Holy Ghost" from Gospel Principles. We had a very long discussion that was one of those ones that you chalk up to potentially life changing experiences for kids.
Book on Tape: 1 hour of Alex Rider #2
Literature: A Winter's Tale by Shakespeare from Usborne's Tales of Shakespeare.
Fantasy Read a Loud: We read multiple chapters of Percy Jackson #2.
PE: Watched the high school girls play for the conference championship. They lost. First time they've lost the title in several years.
Science: Watched several science videos on Brain Pop.
Caleb: Read his scriptures, did several pages in Explode the Code, played Money, Money! with me several times, did addition wrap ups, played Book of Mormon Who with me several times,word search, coloring, learned about pythons and boas, wrote a blog post about them, and played Connect Four.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, spent lots of time sketching, read for quite a while in Ranger's Apprentice, walked on the treadmill, practiced the violin, working on a creative writing story, played with the subtraction and addition Wrap-ups and played Connect Four.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, did a Math Detective lesson, worked on scouting requirements, read for a while in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played Wii Sports (boxing), word search, played with the addition and subtraction Wrap-ups and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, finished Pride and Prejudice, did some laundry and read the entire book Johnny Tremain. Who does that? Go scholar phase.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, practiced the piano, walked on the treadmill, played ping pong and read The Bacchae by Euripides.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, went to work, listened to a Ronal Reagan speech, went to a regional scout meeting, order lawn signs for his campaign, wrote a letter the a legislator debunking their economic plan, played ping pong, and he's listening to Percy Jackson #1.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 7
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Read-a-loud Fantasy: Read Percy Jackson #2 for several hours.
Social: Went to some home school friends house and played for several hours.
Emotional: I was feeling completely depressed today and so when that happens I turn to my drug of choice (after rereading my scriptures and praying) and I watched Lord of the Rings #3 with the kids to get that eternal perspective back. I'm feeling much better! (Most people just eat when they are that upset. Fortunately that's not a habit I have).
Boys: Read their scriptures and practiced the piano. (Among other things).
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, made dinner, went to scholar school and had 3 or 4 hours of Scholar studies.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, visited with a friend, played ping pong, and practiced the piano.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, went to work, listening to Percy Jackson #1, working on lots of campaign things and played ping pong.
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Read-a-loud Fantasy: Read Percy Jackson #2 for several hours.
Social: Went to some home school friends house and played for several hours.
Emotional: I was feeling completely depressed today and so when that happens I turn to my drug of choice (after rereading my scriptures and praying) and I watched Lord of the Rings #3 with the kids to get that eternal perspective back. I'm feeling much better! (Most people just eat when they are that upset. Fortunately that's not a habit I have).
Boys: Read their scriptures and practiced the piano. (Among other things).
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, made dinner, went to scholar school and had 3 or 4 hours of Scholar studies.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, visited with a friend, played ping pong, and practiced the piano.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, went to work, listening to Percy Jackson #1, working on lots of campaign things and played ping pong.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Homemade Ice Cream-Yummy!
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 6
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Theology: The Creation from Gospel Principles
Family Council: Weekly family council to review last week's goals and set new ones for the week.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day: Supplementary
Math: We played Totally Tut together-a math game dealing with add/sub equations.
Read a loud: Read the last half of Alex Rider #1 and finished it.
PE: Went to the land and shot their archery bows.
Animal Care/Chores
Caleb: Read his scriptures, played several rounds of Sum Swamp with me (adding and subtracting), played Book of Mormon Who with me, played Connect Four with Luke numerous times, did a word search puzzle (he's pretty good), learned about turtles, wrote a blog post about turtles, learned how to upload pictures, did a craft project, and played Wii sports.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, played Connect Four with Caleb, read in Ranger's Apprentice, read about Sinbad, did some structure time not content, worked on his fictional story set in ancient Egypt, read almost the entire Friend, played ping pong, and played Wii Sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, played Chess with me, played a multiplication game with him, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, learned how to make bread and bread sticks, learned how to make spaghetti, did a craft project, and did push ups.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, read two abridged Shakespeare plays in Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, starting writing a song with music (I was practiced the piano and a new song just came into my head and I had to stop and write it all down), read in Pride and Prejudice (only 30 pages left), read a 1/3 of The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, prepared a family home evening lesson, made homemade ice cream with Alex, and worked on Adobe Photo Shop Elements.
She had a goal this week to do six hours of scholar study.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, read Hippolytus (an ancient Greek play) by Euripides, played ping pong, and walked on the treadmill.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, walked on the treadmill, went to work, listening to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, had a meeting with his campaign treasurer, played ping pong, made home made ice cream and went to a County Republican Party meeting to meet all of them (he only knew a couple of them) and they said they fully support him in his campaign.
Family Home Evening:
Songs:I Will Be Valiant and We'll Bring the World His Truth
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke, and Caleb
Strength of Youth:Gratitude
Article of Faith: 13th
Proclamation to the World Paragraph: 2nd
Lesson: Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy by Olivia
Activity: Watched Work and the Glory #1.
Refreshments: Homemade ice cream by Alex and Olivia
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: John 3:16
Theology: The Creation from Gospel Principles
Family Council: Weekly family council to review last week's goals and set new ones for the week.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day: Supplementary
Math: We played Totally Tut together-a math game dealing with add/sub equations.
Read a loud: Read the last half of Alex Rider #1 and finished it.
PE: Went to the land and shot their archery bows.
Animal Care/Chores
Caleb: Read his scriptures, played several rounds of Sum Swamp with me (adding and subtracting), played Book of Mormon Who with me, played Connect Four with Luke numerous times, did a word search puzzle (he's pretty good), learned about turtles, wrote a blog post about turtles, learned how to upload pictures, did a craft project, and played Wii sports.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, played Connect Four with Caleb, read in Ranger's Apprentice, read about Sinbad, did some structure time not content, worked on his fictional story set in ancient Egypt, read almost the entire Friend, played ping pong, and played Wii Sports.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, played Chess with me, played a multiplication game with him, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, learned how to make bread and bread sticks, learned how to make spaghetti, did a craft project, and did push ups.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, read two abridged Shakespeare plays in Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, starting writing a song with music (I was practiced the piano and a new song just came into my head and I had to stop and write it all down), read in Pride and Prejudice (only 30 pages left), read a 1/3 of The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, prepared a family home evening lesson, made homemade ice cream with Alex, and worked on Adobe Photo Shop Elements.
She had a goal this week to do six hours of scholar study.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, read Hippolytus (an ancient Greek play) by Euripides, played ping pong, and walked on the treadmill.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbook, walked on the treadmill, went to work, listening to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, had a meeting with his campaign treasurer, played ping pong, made home made ice cream and went to a County Republican Party meeting to meet all of them (he only knew a couple of them) and they said they fully support him in his campaign.
Family Home Evening:
Songs:I Will Be Valiant and We'll Bring the World His Truth
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke, and Caleb
Strength of Youth:Gratitude
Article of Faith: 13th
Proclamation to the World Paragraph: 2nd
Lesson: Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy by Olivia
Activity: Watched Work and the Glory #1.
Refreshments: Homemade ice cream by Alex and Olivia
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thursday and Friday
On Thursday and Friday we played in Boise. We spent time with three of my siblings and their families. On Thursday Alex was at the state capital attending meetings. On Friday he had Lasix surgery for his eyes. It was a fun getaway. We came home Saturday afternoon.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Learning styles
Knowing your child's learning styles is an important part of their learning. You need to utilize those teaching methods to help your child.
I've listed each family member and their preferred method of learning. I've included what works well for them.
Alex - auditory. Alex listens to lots of books of tape because he drives as much as 8 hours in a normal day. He can utilize this time. He also listens to speeches and books while at work.
Deanna- visual. I can not follow along if someone is reading a loud. I do all the reading a lot in the family other wise I wouldn't have a clue. If I can see it I can learn it.
Olivia- auditory. Olivia can actually learn almost any way.
Jared- visual. Jared likes to check off his goals for the day. However, he is probably just as strong audio as anyone. I can read him any level of book and his comprehension his amazing.
Luke- tactile. He has to touch everything. He has to follow along with his finger when he reads. He likes games and hands on learning. One he was little he was know to lick things. He also has to hold something in his hands.
Caleb - visual. He likes looking at pictures to learn. He'll look at an animal while I read to him about it.
I've listed each family member and their preferred method of learning. I've included what works well for them.
Alex - auditory. Alex listens to lots of books of tape because he drives as much as 8 hours in a normal day. He can utilize this time. He also listens to speeches and books while at work.
Deanna- visual. I can not follow along if someone is reading a loud. I do all the reading a lot in the family other wise I wouldn't have a clue. If I can see it I can learn it.
Olivia- auditory. Olivia can actually learn almost any way.
Jared- visual. Jared likes to check off his goals for the day. However, he is probably just as strong audio as anyone. I can read him any level of book and his comprehension his amazing.
Luke- tactile. He has to touch everything. He has to follow along with his finger when he reads. He likes games and hands on learning. One he was little he was know to lick things. He also has to hold something in his hands.
Caleb - visual. He likes looking at pictures to learn. He'll look at an animal while I read to him about it.
Scholar
Olivia is currently a practice scholar. Here's what her day looks like:
She has one stewardship-breakfast. She is in charge of planning it and preparing it. It is suppose to be on the table at 8:30 every morning. She hasn't missed once. We've had all kinds of yummy food. She has no other chores besides her room and personal care. She does however like to do her own laundry and she always likes to help me with dinner.
Immediately after scriptures study and family prayers she goes to her room and studies for 3 hours before lunch. She is way ahead in her two scholar classes at the moment. She is only 11 but is thriving in classes where the kids are much older. She wishes now that she had taken a third class because she likes the structure of class and the assignments. She is pursing a love of American History. She is also working on her writing. Her third strength is piano. She's only taken 4 months of official lessons and she is already playing advanced solo pieces.
I've been told that one of the signs of scholar phase is that the child will ask to be excused from mom/kid school. She did not know that, but at the beginning of the school year she asked to do just that. She opts out of mom school nearly every time we have it. She studies for several hours in the morning and she will study a couple of hours in the afternoon.
She is a very fast reader and so she covers a lot of material. She always says after finishing a book, "that was easier than Walden!"
She's a happy girl that is thriving. She good be the poster child for home schooling and Leadership Education. Good job Olivia!
She has one stewardship-breakfast. She is in charge of planning it and preparing it. It is suppose to be on the table at 8:30 every morning. She hasn't missed once. We've had all kinds of yummy food. She has no other chores besides her room and personal care. She does however like to do her own laundry and she always likes to help me with dinner.
Immediately after scriptures study and family prayers she goes to her room and studies for 3 hours before lunch. She is way ahead in her two scholar classes at the moment. She is only 11 but is thriving in classes where the kids are much older. She wishes now that she had taken a third class because she likes the structure of class and the assignments. She is pursing a love of American History. She is also working on her writing. Her third strength is piano. She's only taken 4 months of official lessons and she is already playing advanced solo pieces.
I've been told that one of the signs of scholar phase is that the child will ask to be excused from mom/kid school. She did not know that, but at the beginning of the school year she asked to do just that. She opts out of mom school nearly every time we have it. She studies for several hours in the morning and she will study a couple of hours in the afternoon.
She is a very fast reader and so she covers a lot of material. She always says after finishing a book, "that was easier than Walden!"
She's a happy girl that is thriving. She good be the poster child for home schooling and Leadership Education. Good job Olivia!
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 6
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Science: Trip to the vets office for all 3 animals. And the 8 month old puppy IS pregnant. Our joy knows no bounds. : )
Read-a-loud: We read 2 chapters of Alex Rider #1.
Health: Watched an episode of Biggest Looser as a family. We watch it on hulu.com and so there are just a few commercials.
History: Listened to Story of the World vol. 2 while we traveled to the vet's office and back.
PE: Watched a high school girls basketball game.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, played on a science website, learned about goblin sharks, wrote a blog post about them, and tormented various family members. For some reason I am at a loss each day to remember just what he did. He does have solid core days however. Lots of creative play.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read various science and history books (one hour of structure time not content), played Wii Fit for 30 min, and passed off some life skills in cooking.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read Peter and the Shadow Thieves for an hour, learned about probability in math, practiced long division and multiplication, did push ups, played Money, Money! with me, and did 30 min of Wii Fit. Jared also had a practiced "love of learning" time and did 15 min of structure time not content and learned about things from Ancient Great Britain.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, practiced the piano, wrote in her journal, read the entire Landing of the Pilgrims book, read in Pride and Prejudice, started His Excellency George Washington, and practiced her vocal solo.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, practiced the piano, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk and played ping pong.
Alex: Read his scriptures, had a republican meeting for his campaign with the region president and his campaign manager, went to work, went to the temple, played ping pong, and he's listening to Alex Rider #2.
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Science: Trip to the vets office for all 3 animals. And the 8 month old puppy IS pregnant. Our joy knows no bounds. : )
Read-a-loud: We read 2 chapters of Alex Rider #1.
Health: Watched an episode of Biggest Looser as a family. We watch it on hulu.com and so there are just a few commercials.
History: Listened to Story of the World vol. 2 while we traveled to the vet's office and back.
PE: Watched a high school girls basketball game.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, played on a science website, learned about goblin sharks, wrote a blog post about them, and tormented various family members. For some reason I am at a loss each day to remember just what he did. He does have solid core days however. Lots of creative play.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read various science and history books (one hour of structure time not content), played Wii Fit for 30 min, and passed off some life skills in cooking.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, read Peter and the Shadow Thieves for an hour, learned about probability in math, practiced long division and multiplication, did push ups, played Money, Money! with me, and did 30 min of Wii Fit. Jared also had a practiced "love of learning" time and did 15 min of structure time not content and learned about things from Ancient Great Britain.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, practiced the piano, wrote in her journal, read the entire Landing of the Pilgrims book, read in Pride and Prejudice, started His Excellency George Washington, and practiced her vocal solo.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, practiced the piano, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk and played ping pong.
Alex: Read his scriptures, had a republican meeting for his campaign with the region president and his campaign manager, went to work, went to the temple, played ping pong, and he's listening to Alex Rider #2.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Another great day
What another wonderful day! I love spending each day with my children and teachin
g them things of eternity and things of this world. Today a highlight was a very in depth discussion of Jesus Christ and his role as our Savior and Redeemer.
The are really eating up our latest read-a-loud, of course they usually do.
We've made a lot of changes to our schedule over the last several months and these changes have all been good ones! Each day I think and ponder about how I can do better, how I can motivate and inspire and how I can instill greatness into their little minds.
Olivia has a goal this week of consciously getting 5 hours of scholar study each day. That has been going well for her. She is particularly drawn to studying the piano and reading American History.
Here's a run down of our time together today... (Sometimes we do a lot together and some days we pursue more individual activities. Today was an all morning couch read).
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 5
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: We read/discussed the third chapter in Gospel Principles-Jesus Christ.
Pledge/Pray/Song
Music: We sang My Savior Loves Me, The Valiant Song, Friends, The Old and New Testament Songs and the Books of the Book of Mormon song. We also practiced our rhythm poem that we love.
Christianity: We read half of the new children's Friend.
Math: We discussed the types of triangles and polygons. They are starting to get their vocabulary down more and more. We have been trying to focus on geometry specifically besides basic math skills at the moment.
Read-a-loud: We read 4 chapters of Alex Rider #1: Stormbreaker.
Social: Spend several hours this after noon playing with a couple other home school families. They played outside and they also played RISK.
Peterson's Vocabulary Word of the Day: -WINSOME -(adjective) Charming. With her pleasant voice and good manners, Serena is a winsome child.
Chores/Animal Care
Here are some things that I can remember. It is late and my brain is fogging over...
Caleb: Read his scriptures (in 1st Nephi), read to his public school teacher on the phone, coloring, and played Connect 4, I know he did more, but I absolutely can not remember much of anything with him right now for some reason.
Luke: Read his scriptures (in Mosiah), practiced the piano, and played ping pong. ditto above note
Jared: Read his scriptures (in 2nd Nephi), practiced the piano, push ups, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played ping pong and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures (reading in the New Testament-Gospels), wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, finished 55 Fathers: The Story of the US Constitution, wrote an article for the 4-H newsletter, wrote her compass, attended a scholar class with her mentor and discussed The Screwtape Letters some more, and read in Pride and Prejudice.
Deanna: Read my scriptures (in Mosiah/all over), wrote in my journal, read a co
nference talk, practiced the piano, reading in Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley, and went to the temple.
Alex: Read his scriptures (all over/BOM), reading in the Church Handbook, reading in Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, listening to The Proper Role of Government by Ezra T. Benson, listening to speeches by Ronald Reagan, listening to Alex Rider #2, attended his professional meeting, played ping pong, walked on the treadmill, and went to work.
g them things of eternity and things of this world. Today a highlight was a very in depth discussion of Jesus Christ and his role as our Savior and Redeemer.The are really eating up our latest read-a-loud, of course they usually do.
We've made a lot of changes to our schedule over the last several months and these changes have all been good ones! Each day I think and ponder about how I can do better, how I can motivate and inspire and how I can instill greatness into their little minds.
Olivia has a goal this week of consciously getting 5 hours of scholar study each day. That has been going well for her. She is particularly drawn to studying the piano and reading American History.
Here's a run down of our time together today... (Sometimes we do a lot together and some days we pursue more individual activities. Today was an all morning couch read).
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 5
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: We read/discussed the third chapter in Gospel Principles-Jesus Christ.
Pledge/Pray/Song
Music: We sang My Savior Loves Me, The Valiant Song, Friends, The Old and New Testament Songs and the Books of the Book of Mormon song. We also practiced our rhythm poem that we love.
Christianity: We read half of the new children's Friend.
Math: We discussed the types of triangles and polygons. They are starting to get their vocabulary down more and more. We have been trying to focus on geometry specifically besides basic math skills at the moment.
Read-a-loud: We read 4 chapters of Alex Rider #1: Stormbreaker.
Social: Spend several hours this after noon playing with a couple other home school families. They played outside and they also played RISK.
Peterson's Vocabulary Word of the Day: -WINSOME -(adjective) Charming. With her pleasant voice and good manners, Serena is a winsome child.
Chores/Animal Care
Here are some things that I can remember. It is late and my brain is fogging over...
Caleb: Read his scriptures (in 1st Nephi), read to his public school teacher on the phone, coloring, and played Connect 4, I know he did more, but I absolutely can not remember much of anything with him right now for some reason.
Luke: Read his scriptures (in Mosiah), practiced the piano, and played ping pong. ditto above note
Jared: Read his scriptures (in 2nd Nephi), practiced the piano, push ups, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, played ping pong and played Music Ace.
Olivia: Read her scriptures (reading in the New Testament-Gospels), wrote in her journal, practiced the piano, practiced her vocal solo, finished 55 Fathers: The Story of the US Constitution, wrote an article for the 4-H newsletter, wrote her compass, attended a scholar class with her mentor and discussed The Screwtape Letters some more, and read in Pride and Prejudice.
Deanna: Read my scriptures (in Mosiah/all over), wrote in my journal, read a co
nference talk, practiced the piano, reading in Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley, and went to the temple.Alex: Read his scriptures (all over/BOM), reading in the Church Handbook, reading in Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, listening to The Proper Role of Government by Ezra T. Benson, listening to speeches by Ronald Reagan, listening to Alex Rider #2, attended his professional meeting, played ping pong, walked on the treadmill, and went to work.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Family Scripture Study: 2 Nephi 4
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: Gospel Principles chapter 2 "Our Heavenly Family."
Goals/Life Skills: We had a family meeting where we reviewed our goals from last week and we set goals for this week.
Music: Olivia, Jared, Luke and I had our weekly piano lesson.
Peterson's Word of the Day: HAUGHTY: (adjective) Scornfully proud. The haughty princes believed their royal blood made them genetically superior to others.
PE: Proper sit ups and push ups drill work. Alex's years in the military came through.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, learned about foxes and dogs, wrote a blog post about them, walked on the tread mill, watched several science videos on Brain Pop, worked on cleaning his room, and played ping pong.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, worked on creative writing, read in The Ranger's Apprentice, did multiplication drill work, read about World War 2, and walked/ran on the treadmill.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, watched a science video, took a Saxon math test, did multiplication and division drill work, did a Math Detective lesson, did a Daily Grams (grammar) lesson, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, walked on the treadmill, and played Lego's.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, read 1/2 of 55 Fathers (about the signing of the Constitution-for her Key of Liberty class), read in Pride and Prejudice, practiced her vocal solo for when she sings to the governor at the end of the month, practiced the piano, and wrote a paper on "good laws." She logged 5 scholar hours today. These hours were specifically directed on scholar level pursuits. Core activities, fun activities, and stewardship's do not count. She has a goal this week to do 5 hours a day.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, read in Approaching Zion, practiced the piano, and played ping pong.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church manual, started Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, went to work, played ping pong, and listening to Alex Rider #2.
Family Home Evening:
Song: We'll Bring the World His Truth
Talent: Jared did a piano solo.
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia and Luke
Strength of Youth: Agency
Article of Faith: 13th Article of Faith
Proclamation to the World on the Family: 2nd paragraph
Character: Uncommon Courtesy-We put others needs before our own.
Lesson: Deanna-Building Zion
Activity: Played In a Pickle.
Treat: Lemon Squares (Caleb)
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 3 Nephi 17:6
Theology: Gospel Principles chapter 2 "Our Heavenly Family."
Goals/Life Skills: We had a family meeting where we reviewed our goals from last week and we set goals for this week.
Music: Olivia, Jared, Luke and I had our weekly piano lesson.
Peterson's Word of the Day: HAUGHTY: (adjective) Scornfully proud. The haughty princes believed their royal blood made them genetically superior to others.
PE: Proper sit ups and push ups drill work. Alex's years in the military came through.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, learned about foxes and dogs, wrote a blog post about them, walked on the tread mill, watched several science videos on Brain Pop, worked on cleaning his room, and played ping pong.
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, worked on creative writing, read in The Ranger's Apprentice, did multiplication drill work, read about World War 2, and walked/ran on the treadmill.
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, watched a science video, took a Saxon math test, did multiplication and division drill work, did a Math Detective lesson, did a Daily Grams (grammar) lesson, read in Peter and the Shadow Thieves, walked on the treadmill, and played Lego's.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, wrote in her journal, read 1/2 of 55 Fathers (about the signing of the Constitution-for her Key of Liberty class), read in Pride and Prejudice, practiced her vocal solo for when she sings to the governor at the end of the month, practiced the piano, and wrote a paper on "good laws." She logged 5 scholar hours today. These hours were specifically directed on scholar level pursuits. Core activities, fun activities, and stewardship's do not count. She has a goal this week to do 5 hours a day.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, read a conference talk, read in Approaching Zion, practiced the piano, and played ping pong.
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church manual, started Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking book, went to work, played ping pong, and listening to Alex Rider #2.
Family Home Evening:
Song: We'll Bring the World His Truth
Talent: Jared did a piano solo.
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia and Luke
Strength of Youth: Agency
Article of Faith: 13th Article of Faith
Proclamation to the World on the Family: 2nd paragraph
Character: Uncommon Courtesy-We put others needs before our own.
Lesson: Deanna-Building Zion
Activity: Played In a Pickle.
Treat: Lemon Squares (Caleb)
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