My husband and I have served in leadership positions for nearly all of our married life within the church. One recurring problem that has constantly been present no matter what state we live or what age we are working with is that the vast majority of people do not immerse themselves in their scriptures (core book) on a daily basis. They also don't pray.
How can we ever expect to get through life with out immersing our selves in the Spirit? Scriptural neglect might have been okay twenty or thirty years ago, but today it is not! Not only do we need to read our Scriptures but we need to study them. There are messages in there so profound and so timely that will provide key knowledge for our progression as well as protection.
I know one complaint that I've heard is that 'I've read it all already, there's nothing more to learn from he Tree of Life story.' (or Alma 32 or Moroni 10, ................) I've spent one to two hours in the scriptures every morning for years and I'm here to tell you there are truths yet to be discovered. I love the scriptures!! I can't get enough of them. They have chased away all my fears, all my frustrations and all my inadequacies.
So this post wasn't meant to be so much about getting the mama's and the papa's reading as it was to encourage you to create a plan to ensure that your children are reading every day in their scriptures. (I don't think it counts if they read scriptures with family scripture study, your kids still need to read on their own, sorry).
Proverbs teaches us, "To train up a child in the way that they should go." Now we've all heard that. May I suggest that we train our little ones before they get too big? That way they have the habits down pat when they are little.
Here's what I've done. I offer this only has an idea to spring board your own thoughts and personal revelation! With each of my kids I've read them the scripture readers until they are 5. Then I ask them if they want to read out of the big scriptures. They always say yes. Then we start with verse one. "I Nephi......" I showed them the word THE. Then I would read the verse to them and they would supply the necessary THE at the appropriate spots. The next day we worked on AND. We kept going in the manner. I'd read every day with them. Sometimes I would continue to read out of the reader with them.
After a time they would ask to read two verses with me. Currently my youngest is still not independent and he still reads with me every morning. We read a column together. Followed by the reader which we take turns reading. (This is actually how I taught all four of my kids to read. I only supplemented the scriptures with the McGuffy Primer).
I always have them read before breakfast. Why? Because I want the habit ingrained in them as part of their life. So that no matter what happens during that day (they are a dad and they have to go to work) they will have already read their scriptures for the day. I try to check with the boys every morning to ask them what they've read. We usually have a good discussion about what they learned. They feel free to ask questions. This way I also know that they have read.
For all you late risers, or fuzzy brained morningers (Olivia) I just want to point out that Olivia reads her scriptures faithfully at night and as done so for years. I just think that you need to help your kids create a time that is habitual either in the morning or the night, avoid the daytime (in my personal opinion).
So the point of this post, let's get our children trained in their scripture reading while they are young so that "when they are old they will not depart from it."
Showing posts with label Core Phase. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Core Phase. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Core Phase Thoughts
A true principle that I believe in is the concept of core phase. Call it whatever you would like. I believe we each start at a place where we must build a foundation. I believe that core phase is built on Jesus Christ. Right and wrong are learned. True and false are evaluated. The reality of good and bad are discovered. In this phase we learn values and principles that will be a rock upon which we can built the rest of our lives.
In our home we specifically focus on the truths found in The Family: A Proclamation to the World: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Once this core foundation is firmly established we can move on and learn more about life. I do not believe that we will ever be successful unless we have a base to stand firm on. We would be blown about with every wind of doctrine and we would fall.
One thought that I've been contemplating lately is how are we as adults doing with core phase? We may believe it's important for our children, but have we obtained a solid base to built everything on for ourselves?
It is my opinion that a great many moms and even more dads are still in core phase. This is in no way a judgment on the individual, but a reflection on our society. Most things in our society are aimed at keeping us in perpetual core phase. Just a thought. Something to ponder.
Keri Tibbetts gave an excellent description on how to know if your child (apply to yourself) is still in core phase. She said if they are in core phase they will use their free time to play. Remember core phase as been described as 50% work and 50% play. I know husbands all go to work and moms wash, clean, cook, and sew but what do they do when they are done?
Perhaps a wife who uses her fee time to shop, play Internet games, connect with every soul she's ever known on facebook, surf the Internet, read brain candy books, go out to lunch with her friends regularly is still in core phase. Perhaps a husband who comes home from work and plays the Wii, watches TV, knows the stats on every major league team, watches high action movies, rides dirt bikes regularly, shoots random animals, or plays computer games may be in core. These are just the some thoughts. (These things in and of themselves may not be bad, but it is the overindulgence that I'm speaking of).
"What" you may ask. "We work so hard. Can't we play a little to relax and unwind? We need to refill our bucket!" It is my personal belief that women will never fill their bucket if they are seeking outside sources like shopping or lunch dates to regain their "emotional strength." You will always be empty. Those activities will never satiate your soul.
Then what will? Immersing your self in core values. Reading your scriptures, praying to the one true God (who is not the Internet or the television). We must apply the principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities to find personal strength, to find a soul that is healthy, a life that is solid.
When you find yourself at peace and not reaching for quick-fix entertainment you will know you are building a solid core or sure foundation. Your free time will began to be "wholesome." You will do things as a family. You will choose to read a book. You will choose to serve your neighbor. You will choose to go on a walk and observe nature. You will choose to learn a new skill. You will choose to write something. You will choose to become something other than a robot that is that is addicted to computers, games, shopping or sports. We will be whole.
Perhaps our homes would thrive more if we has parents had some self-discipline and knew who we were and what our purpose was. Just some thoughts....
In our home we specifically focus on the truths found in The Family: A Proclamation to the World: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Once this core foundation is firmly established we can move on and learn more about life. I do not believe that we will ever be successful unless we have a base to stand firm on. We would be blown about with every wind of doctrine and we would fall.
One thought that I've been contemplating lately is how are we as adults doing with core phase? We may believe it's important for our children, but have we obtained a solid base to built everything on for ourselves?
It is my opinion that a great many moms and even more dads are still in core phase. This is in no way a judgment on the individual, but a reflection on our society. Most things in our society are aimed at keeping us in perpetual core phase. Just a thought. Something to ponder.
Keri Tibbetts gave an excellent description on how to know if your child (apply to yourself) is still in core phase. She said if they are in core phase they will use their free time to play. Remember core phase as been described as 50% work and 50% play. I know husbands all go to work and moms wash, clean, cook, and sew but what do they do when they are done?
Perhaps a wife who uses her fee time to shop, play Internet games, connect with every soul she's ever known on facebook, surf the Internet, read brain candy books, go out to lunch with her friends regularly is still in core phase. Perhaps a husband who comes home from work and plays the Wii, watches TV, knows the stats on every major league team, watches high action movies, rides dirt bikes regularly, shoots random animals, or plays computer games may be in core. These are just the some thoughts. (These things in and of themselves may not be bad, but it is the overindulgence that I'm speaking of).
"What" you may ask. "We work so hard. Can't we play a little to relax and unwind? We need to refill our bucket!" It is my personal belief that women will never fill their bucket if they are seeking outside sources like shopping or lunch dates to regain their "emotional strength." You will always be empty. Those activities will never satiate your soul.
Then what will? Immersing your self in core values. Reading your scriptures, praying to the one true God (who is not the Internet or the television). We must apply the principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities to find personal strength, to find a soul that is healthy, a life that is solid.
When you find yourself at peace and not reaching for quick-fix entertainment you will know you are building a solid core or sure foundation. Your free time will began to be "wholesome." You will do things as a family. You will choose to read a book. You will choose to serve your neighbor. You will choose to go on a walk and observe nature. You will choose to learn a new skill. You will choose to write something. You will choose to become something other than a robot that is that is addicted to computers, games, shopping or sports. We will be whole.
Perhaps our homes would thrive more if we has parents had some self-discipline and knew who we were and what our purpose was. Just some thoughts....
Monday, March 8, 2010
Our Days Now
So I thought I'd break down what our days look like now that we have been off the conveyor belt for two and half months. Who-rah!
Our "day" actually starts on Sunday night when we have a family meeting. We each review the goals we made last week and we each set a couple of goals for the coming week. All goals are completely up to the family member. No pressure or expectation to do anything. If they may be struggling with a goal we help them set a simpler goal if it was something important to them.
Week day: Alex and I drag ourselves out of bed at 7 AM. Yes, I know that's late, but we are working on it. But we are always up by then. We both read our scriptures, journal, read some conference talks (aka devotionals) and ponder until about 8 or 8:15.
Olivia get up at 7 also and her stewardship is breakfast. She's only been doing it for two months. She'll get another one in a couple of months. We've always had hot breakfast at our house. So she makes hot breakfast. She can make ANYTHING. She is totally cooking self-sufficient. Today she made homemade buttermilk pancakes with a special homemade butter syrup. Yummy!
In the mean time Jared's up and in the shower. He's read his scriptures and practiced his piano by 8:30.
Luke drags him self up by 8. He gets ready for the day and reads his scriptures. Sometimes he practices the piano and sometimes he doesn't do that until the afternoon.
Caleb wakes up at a different time everyday. He usually shows up to breakfast in shorts. He's in core phase. And being around him for 5 minutes you know it! He's obliviously happy with his life.
At 8:30 everyone has to report to breakfast deslobbed for the day and ready to go. After breakfast (during too) we have scripture study and usually a very lengthy discussion about something we read. Then we practice our scripture memorization for the week. We review our goals for the week. After family prayers Alex leaves for the day.
The boys finish their chores and brush their teeth. Then I usually spend a couple of hours with the boys reading books, playing games, or whatever they want. I usually try to spend some time with each one individually learning whatever they want. Usually the older boys will sit in front of our "love of learning" bookshelf and pull off random books and read about anything they want. (We call this "structure time, not content." Regulary one of the boys makes a goal to "do 30 minutes-or however long-of structure time, not content"). They'll spread all over the room and have books everywhere and hop from book to book. They usually can't wait to tell me what they learned. Sometimes we'll put an event or a person on our huge time line that takes up our entire library room. I've changed our family reading to the library room instead of the living room. This has been good because there are lots of things to do and we can really quickly look up something on the computer if we don't understand what we read or we want to see more pictures or whatever. Today we looked up to see when the Hebrew month Nisan was. Very cool you know.
In the meantime Olivia disappears for the day and reads and reads and reads and then writes essays in between. She only shows up at meal time or to walk to our land and check the horses.
Luke is in charge of lunch and so he prepares it for everyone. I still have to help him with it depending on what it is.
After lunch on two days we have to rush off to a scholar school/play date and piano lessons. We are gone for several hours on those days. When we come back from them the kids usually play outside until dinner. (I'm in charge of dinner, but Olivia usually shows up and cooks half of it because she just loves to cook). During lunch we have a big ole' discussion out of the Gospel Principles book about some theology topic. The kids enjoy our discussions and they don't let me forget to do this!
On the other days the kids just keep reading. Jared spends time with Caleb. Jared's stewardship is to mentor Caleb and so he'll usually do it then. We'll play more games or read more books. It just depends on their mood. There is more individual time in the afternoon then in the morning. Who ever didn't practice the piano by breakfast usually does it in the afternoon. Luke sometimes needs reminded to practice, but he does it willingly. They all practice and take piano willingly. I take lessons and practice right along side of them so I think playing the piano is like reading your scriptures-you just do it and don't think about whether you want to do it or not. Family culture?
There is no "school's out time." There is no magical, "Oh, now we get to watch a movie." We just keep on reading and keep on playing. The kids can play 30 min of the Wii in the afternoon-sometimes. They have to stand up and they have to cardio things like boxing.
During dinner we pull out a discussion question and have a big discussion about current events, theology or past history situations. This time is when Alex really gets to talk with the kids about what they think. After dinner if Alex is home we play ping pong while the kids do the dishes. If Alex was home for dinner he usually has to leave for somewhere else so he doesn't stay long. After dinner they play. Sometimes they read (okay a lot of the time). Sometimes we play more games. Sometimes I read more to them. Sometimes we go somewhere.
Caleb pretty much plays hard all day long. He can sort of last through parts of our family reading time. He does like reading to me and so he always sits down to do that. If Caleb has a whole day of playing games and/or playing dress up (dress up as a knight, or Native American or a Roman) he considers the day a success. Today he was in the bath tub for almost 2 hours. He also played play dough for an hour. He's just silly and happy.
We usually put the kids to bed around 9:30. Olivia stays up late reading. She doesn't have a bedtime because she's a scholar. (You wouldn't think an 11 year could study for 8+ hours a day, but she does. And she reads hard things). Luke lies in bed for 1 1/2 hours before he falls asleep. The kids all listen to books on tape or music as the go to sleep. Alex and I usually don't get to sleep until 11.
We stay busy enough with outside things though. It seems like we are gone somewhere for the afternoon or the evening. The kids have piano lessons, 4-H, Cub scouts, scholar school/social play date, and I have things regularly too.
Anyway. There you go. My kids always tell me, "I love my love mom! Thanks for home schooling me." When we drive by the school they say, "I'm so glad I'm home mom. " They've also told me many times that they feel sorry for those kids that have to go to school. "Maybe some day their mommies will let them come home."
Oh, today their piano teacher said, "You kids are always reading such big books!"
We love learning at home and we're happy. : )
Our "day" actually starts on Sunday night when we have a family meeting. We each review the goals we made last week and we each set a couple of goals for the coming week. All goals are completely up to the family member. No pressure or expectation to do anything. If they may be struggling with a goal we help them set a simpler goal if it was something important to them.
Week day: Alex and I drag ourselves out of bed at 7 AM. Yes, I know that's late, but we are working on it. But we are always up by then. We both read our scriptures, journal, read some conference talks (aka devotionals) and ponder until about 8 or 8:15.
Olivia get up at 7 also and her stewardship is breakfast. She's only been doing it for two months. She'll get another one in a couple of months. We've always had hot breakfast at our house. So she makes hot breakfast. She can make ANYTHING. She is totally cooking self-sufficient. Today she made homemade buttermilk pancakes with a special homemade butter syrup. Yummy!
In the mean time Jared's up and in the shower. He's read his scriptures and practiced his piano by 8:30.
Luke drags him self up by 8. He gets ready for the day and reads his scriptures. Sometimes he practices the piano and sometimes he doesn't do that until the afternoon.
Caleb wakes up at a different time everyday. He usually shows up to breakfast in shorts. He's in core phase. And being around him for 5 minutes you know it! He's obliviously happy with his life.
At 8:30 everyone has to report to breakfast deslobbed for the day and ready to go. After breakfast (during too) we have scripture study and usually a very lengthy discussion about something we read. Then we practice our scripture memorization for the week. We review our goals for the week. After family prayers Alex leaves for the day.
The boys finish their chores and brush their teeth. Then I usually spend a couple of hours with the boys reading books, playing games, or whatever they want. I usually try to spend some time with each one individually learning whatever they want. Usually the older boys will sit in front of our "love of learning" bookshelf and pull off random books and read about anything they want. (We call this "structure time, not content." Regulary one of the boys makes a goal to "do 30 minutes-or however long-of structure time, not content"). They'll spread all over the room and have books everywhere and hop from book to book. They usually can't wait to tell me what they learned. Sometimes we'll put an event or a person on our huge time line that takes up our entire library room. I've changed our family reading to the library room instead of the living room. This has been good because there are lots of things to do and we can really quickly look up something on the computer if we don't understand what we read or we want to see more pictures or whatever. Today we looked up to see when the Hebrew month Nisan was. Very cool you know.
In the meantime Olivia disappears for the day and reads and reads and reads and then writes essays in between. She only shows up at meal time or to walk to our land and check the horses.
Luke is in charge of lunch and so he prepares it for everyone. I still have to help him with it depending on what it is.
After lunch on two days we have to rush off to a scholar school/play date and piano lessons. We are gone for several hours on those days. When we come back from them the kids usually play outside until dinner. (I'm in charge of dinner, but Olivia usually shows up and cooks half of it because she just loves to cook). During lunch we have a big ole' discussion out of the Gospel Principles book about some theology topic. The kids enjoy our discussions and they don't let me forget to do this!
On the other days the kids just keep reading. Jared spends time with Caleb. Jared's stewardship is to mentor Caleb and so he'll usually do it then. We'll play more games or read more books. It just depends on their mood. There is more individual time in the afternoon then in the morning. Who ever didn't practice the piano by breakfast usually does it in the afternoon. Luke sometimes needs reminded to practice, but he does it willingly. They all practice and take piano willingly. I take lessons and practice right along side of them so I think playing the piano is like reading your scriptures-you just do it and don't think about whether you want to do it or not. Family culture?
There is no "school's out time." There is no magical, "Oh, now we get to watch a movie." We just keep on reading and keep on playing. The kids can play 30 min of the Wii in the afternoon-sometimes. They have to stand up and they have to cardio things like boxing.
During dinner we pull out a discussion question and have a big discussion about current events, theology or past history situations. This time is when Alex really gets to talk with the kids about what they think. After dinner if Alex is home we play ping pong while the kids do the dishes. If Alex was home for dinner he usually has to leave for somewhere else so he doesn't stay long. After dinner they play. Sometimes they read (okay a lot of the time). Sometimes we play more games. Sometimes I read more to them. Sometimes we go somewhere.
Caleb pretty much plays hard all day long. He can sort of last through parts of our family reading time. He does like reading to me and so he always sits down to do that. If Caleb has a whole day of playing games and/or playing dress up (dress up as a knight, or Native American or a Roman) he considers the day a success. Today he was in the bath tub for almost 2 hours. He also played play dough for an hour. He's just silly and happy.
We usually put the kids to bed around 9:30. Olivia stays up late reading. She doesn't have a bedtime because she's a scholar. (You wouldn't think an 11 year could study for 8+ hours a day, but she does. And she reads hard things). Luke lies in bed for 1 1/2 hours before he falls asleep. The kids all listen to books on tape or music as the go to sleep. Alex and I usually don't get to sleep until 11.
We stay busy enough with outside things though. It seems like we are gone somewhere for the afternoon or the evening. The kids have piano lessons, 4-H, Cub scouts, scholar school/social play date, and I have things regularly too.
Anyway. There you go. My kids always tell me, "I love my love mom! Thanks for home schooling me." When we drive by the school they say, "I'm so glad I'm home mom. " They've also told me many times that they feel sorry for those kids that have to go to school. "Maybe some day their mommies will let them come home."
Oh, today their piano teacher said, "You kids are always reading such big books!"
We love learning at home and we're happy. : )
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, January 22, 2010
What's the most important? My brain on paper.
The beautiful thing about home schooling is that we are able to study and learn about anything we want! We can also focus on anything we want.
I've read so many wonderful blog posts and articles about some of the things that others have done. They have inspired me to great ideas within my own family. I love it! I have read about nature study, composer study, history of all shapes and sizes, science of all shapes and sizes, science experiments, music theory, art study, biography study, art techniques, creative writing, grammar including diagramming sentences, spelling, time lines, life skills, violin study, piano, a multitude of other instruments, literature (this list is huge!), money management, geometry, algebra, astronomy, Shakespeare, Greek, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, French, Geometry, PE, logic, rhetoric, and the list keeps going and going and going......
I've been thinking what are the most important things for my family. I feel that I only have a short time with my kids before they are gone and I'm no longer their teacher. I need to narrow this list down! I've simplified it to the most essential and then identified within that what is the most important. I don't know what to label these?
Level 1: Core Phase Behavior
Level 1B: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic in it's basic sense
Level 2:
I've read so many wonderful blog posts and articles about some of the things that others have done. They have inspired me to great ideas within my own family. I love it! I have read about nature study, composer study, history of all shapes and sizes, science of all shapes and sizes, science experiments, music theory, art study, biography study, art techniques, creative writing, grammar including diagramming sentences, spelling, time lines, life skills, violin study, piano, a multitude of other instruments, literature (this list is huge!), money management, geometry, algebra, astronomy, Shakespeare, Greek, Latin, Sign Language, Spanish, French, Geometry, PE, logic, rhetoric, and the list keeps going and going and going......
I've been thinking what are the most important things for my family. I feel that I only have a short time with my kids before they are gone and I'm no longer their teacher. I need to narrow this list down! I've simplified it to the most essential and then identified within that what is the most important. I don't know what to label these?
Level 1: Core Phase Behavior
Level 1B: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic in it's basic sense
Level 2:
- Life Skills: House hold management
- Theology: Specifically narrowed down to the Gospel Principles Manual
- Literature: Greek classics, Shakespeare and Dickens
- Math: Money Management and Geometry (if our roof is X size, how many shingles do we need?, etc)
- Music: Piano and specifically Music Theory
Level 3:
- History: Specifically American History
- Science: Physical Science?
Level 4:
- Art
- Astronomy
- Foreign Language
The farther down the list you go the less I've actually thought about it. I have put a lot of thought in the first two levels though. A lot! What is the most important? If I didn't teach them anything else what is absolutely essential for our family.
My husband and I absolutely love history and so do our children. We don't even have to teach that subject in our home, they just know it. It just is. That is why that's not more of a focus. Science? I just didn't think it was the most important for our family to focus on. I'm certain that some families will have that focus instead of music like we have.
I'm not saying that we won't do science or art, I'm simply identifying my focus. Everything after that is a bonus. I just need to get my bases covered. I'm still thinking. Like I said, "My brain on a paper."
So have any of you narrowed down your focus and really thought about what is the most important for your family to know and understand?
Monday, January 18, 2010
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Today Alex stayed home so we enjoyed playing with him.
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 4:12
Family Counsel: New changes (see below) and we reviewed our goals from last week and set individual goals for this week. The kids each pick their own. We are teaching them to adjust based on how well they did accomplishing them last week. Most only have 2 or 3 goals. For example: learn to skip count by 6, read 50 pages in my book, write a paper, read Othello, read 45 pages in the church handbook, etc.)
PE: While I was gone Alex and the kids watched ping pong videos on You Tube. They can up with all new strategies.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, watched two science videos, and played numerous games. Caleb decided that he was going to deep clean his room for some reason. I don't know what got into him, but he worked on his room for several hours. He made everything look great, rearranged dressers and he even hung up pictures. He also vacuumed and used attachments. All I said was make sure your pj's are picked up!
Today I wrote down instructions that I had for Caleb to do. I think he has a hard time orally hearing things or processing them I should say. (I'm terrible with my auditory. Our hearing is fine, just to clarify). He can't seem to remember or stay focused in any activity requiring more than one or two instructions. I wrote down his extra chores on a piece paper and used a clipboard. He was focused on got everything done with out needing to be reminded. I just need to work on speed. If he were a creature he would be a turtle or a snail. I do everything very quickly. I need to chill and not rush him.
Luke: Read his scriptures, played lots of random games with Caleb, practiced skip counting by 4's, drawing in his sketch book, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games (logic practice), practiced the piano, and had piano lessons.
We implemented Structure Time, Not Content for him. He set the timer for one hour and read in any of the books we have that he wanted. The Usborne books were coming in handy. He was really excited about this. He read numerous books about history. He was going to tell me about the things he learned and then something happened and we didn't get to it. Tomorrow!
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games, had a math lesson on decimals and percentages, he created his own blog, he wrote a blog post, drew and colored several animal pictures from an art book, played two games of Stratego, read Peter in the Starcatchers and the Shadow Thieves to me, played ping pong and listed to Brisingr. He also learned a new vocabulary word from his book: marooned.
Today we started some new things for Jared as well. I had a meeting with him in the morning and he choose from a list of many things what he wanted to do that day. Then he decided when he would do them (before piano lessons or after, before lunch, etc). He also decided for how long he would do them. He set his own goals. I encouraged him to choose things from several different areas to help him be balanced. He also got to choose a reward for himself if he accomplished his own goals. He picked 30 min of a book on tape. He had a much better day. He carried around a clip board and checked off everything. He felt more empowered and ownership. He needs structure, but I don't want to tell he always what to do. I can't do that when he's an adult. So I'm helping guide him to make good choice, have balance and manage his time. This is all about personal responsibility.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, worked on her scarf with her loom for a long time(3 feet long so far), played ping pong, practiced her vocal solo, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, started the Screwtape letters, played Rush Hour, Jr, played Stratego, and made breakfast. She wasn't real motivated to do a whole lot today.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, journal, read a lesson in Gospel Principles, practiced the piano, had piano less sons, spent a lot of time with Jared, played ping pong, started a book that I decided not to read, went to a song practice for a Relief Society meeting, and VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY!!! (I keep forgetting to type that we learn our word of the day and my dad keeps asking me why I didn't do it. We did, I just need to type it! So now I'm repentant dad).
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbooks, word of the day, did some work at home, helped a friend with his business finances, helped another friend get some wood, helped a HS basketball player who was injured (the HS coach will occasionally send injured players over for some physical therapy-Alex is a jack of all trades), played lots of ping pong, and played Stratego. We wish he would be home all the time!
Family Home Evening:
Songs: I Will Be Valiant (twice)
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Luke and Olivia
Strength of Youth: Go forward with faith.
Proclamation: Last paragraph
Character: 21 Rules of this House-We will pray for each other.
Article of Faith: 11th
Lesson: Caleb-About the Second Coming from the new Gospel Principles manual. Great lesson which led to an hour long discussion.
Activity: Played Dinosaur Days. This game Luke made last year in scouts.
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 4:12
Family Counsel: New changes (see below) and we reviewed our goals from last week and set individual goals for this week. The kids each pick their own. We are teaching them to adjust based on how well they did accomplishing them last week. Most only have 2 or 3 goals. For example: learn to skip count by 6, read 50 pages in my book, write a paper, read Othello, read 45 pages in the church handbook, etc.)
PE: While I was gone Alex and the kids watched ping pong videos on You Tube. They can up with all new strategies.
Chores/Animal Care
Caleb: Read his scriptures, watched two science videos, and played numerous games. Caleb decided that he was going to deep clean his room for some reason. I don't know what got into him, but he worked on his room for several hours. He made everything look great, rearranged dressers and he even hung up pictures. He also vacuumed and used attachments. All I said was make sure your pj's are picked up!
Today I wrote down instructions that I had for Caleb to do. I think he has a hard time orally hearing things or processing them I should say. (I'm terrible with my auditory. Our hearing is fine, just to clarify). He can't seem to remember or stay focused in any activity requiring more than one or two instructions. I wrote down his extra chores on a piece paper and used a clipboard. He was focused on got everything done with out needing to be reminded. I just need to work on speed. If he were a creature he would be a turtle or a snail. I do everything very quickly. I need to chill and not rush him.
Luke: Read his scriptures, played lots of random games with Caleb, practiced skip counting by 4's, drawing in his sketch book, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games (logic practice), practiced the piano, and had piano lessons.
We implemented Structure Time, Not Content for him. He set the timer for one hour and read in any of the books we have that he wanted. The Usborne books were coming in handy. He was really excited about this. He read numerous books about history. He was going to tell me about the things he learned and then something happened and we didn't get to it. Tomorrow!
Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, played several Rush Hour, Jr. games, had a math lesson on decimals and percentages, he created his own blog, he wrote a blog post, drew and colored several animal pictures from an art book, played two games of Stratego, read Peter in the Starcatchers and the Shadow Thieves to me, played ping pong and listed to Brisingr. He also learned a new vocabulary word from his book: marooned.
Today we started some new things for Jared as well. I had a meeting with him in the morning and he choose from a list of many things what he wanted to do that day. Then he decided when he would do them (before piano lessons or after, before lunch, etc). He also decided for how long he would do them. He set his own goals. I encouraged him to choose things from several different areas to help him be balanced. He also got to choose a reward for himself if he accomplished his own goals. He picked 30 min of a book on tape. He had a much better day. He carried around a clip board and checked off everything. He felt more empowered and ownership. He needs structure, but I don't want to tell he always what to do. I can't do that when he's an adult. So I'm helping guide him to make good choice, have balance and manage his time. This is all about personal responsibility.
Olivia: Read her scriptures, worked on her scarf with her loom for a long time(3 feet long so far), played ping pong, practiced her vocal solo, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, started the Screwtape letters, played Rush Hour, Jr, played Stratego, and made breakfast. She wasn't real motivated to do a whole lot today.
Deanna: Read my scriptures, journal, read a lesson in Gospel Principles, practiced the piano, had piano less sons, spent a lot of time with Jared, played ping pong, started a book that I decided not to read, went to a song practice for a Relief Society meeting, and VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY!!! (I keep forgetting to type that we learn our word of the day and my dad keeps asking me why I didn't do it. We did, I just need to type it! So now I'm repentant dad).
Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbooks, word of the day, did some work at home, helped a friend with his business finances, helped another friend get some wood, helped a HS basketball player who was injured (the HS coach will occasionally send injured players over for some physical therapy-Alex is a jack of all trades), played lots of ping pong, and played Stratego. We wish he would be home all the time!
Family Home Evening:
Songs: I Will Be Valiant (twice)
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Luke and Olivia
Strength of Youth: Go forward with faith.
Proclamation: Last paragraph
Character: 21 Rules of this House-We will pray for each other.
Article of Faith: 11th
Lesson: Caleb-About the Second Coming from the new Gospel Principles manual. Great lesson which led to an hour long discussion.
Activity: Played Dinosaur Days. This game Luke made last year in scouts.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
What does Core Phase Look Like in Our Home?
Core Phase. Hmmm. Yes, I'm going to discuss core phase. I think that core phase has been the phase I have least understood in Leadership Education. Here's some ways we have applied it in our home. These are only ideas. Voltaire said, "No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for." Please don't burn me!
First, let's review. There are four major phases of learning in a Leadership Education. There are more phases, but only four that will likely happen in the walls of your home with your children.
Core Phase- Roughly 0-8 years old
Love of Learning- Roughly 8-12 years old
Scholar- Roughly 12-16 years old
Depth-Roughly 16 and up
In the phases each one has a specific curriculum. Also in Leadership Education grades are thrown out the door. With grades we tend to hold them back and say they can't start that until next year. Or we push them when they are struggling to accomplish more than they are able to. I have had both early bloomers and late bloomers in my home.
In Core Phase the curriculum is clearly established and basic. It is:
Good/Bad
True/False
Right/Wrong
That doesn't mean that you don't teach them how to read or write. Far from it. But the most important thing that they learn first is that there is good and bad and that there are right choices they can make and wrong choices. In each family you establish what these things are. I think that most of us will have almost the same idea about what these are. Here are some of our core phase absolutes:
There is God and there is Satan.
God loves you.
Jesus Christ is our Savior, Healer, and Advocate.
We speak to God through prayer every day.
We read our scriptures every day to learn of Christ.
There is a living prophet and we will follow him.
Our family is our most important focus.
Each family member is valued and loved.
We each have responsibilities with in our family.
We are expected to carry out our responsibilities.
Dad's job is to provide for our physical needs and to spiritually lead our family.
Mom's job is to nurture each family member.
The children are to learn.
Learning includes life time skills. ( household management, cooking, cleaning, car care, etc...)
We don't hit people. (pinch, bite, etc.)
We are polite to others, especially the elderly.
We respect and honor women.
We learn to control our emotions.
We do not eat more than our body needs.
We go to bed early and we wake up early.
We bathe and groom our bodies.
We wear appropriate clothing.
Those are just some general ideas. No child is going to have those mastered by the time they turn eight obviously! These things can take a life time to master. But what they learn in these young ages is what is right. It is wrong to not hold the door open for the elderly at church or anywhere. It is right to do our chores with out complaining. It is right to pray daily. It is right to brush my teeth everyday. Practice, practice, practice! And it's our job to teach them how.
Another fundamental part of core phase is "The Redo." Oh, how we love redo's in our home. If a child back talks me, I say, "Please redo that and say it the correct way." If a child doesn't wipe off the table to his/her ability we say, "please redo the table." If a child gets angry and hits his brother we say, "That's not appropriate. Please redo the situation and deal with it appropriately. Would you like some suggestions on how you can redo it appropriately?"
Besides chores and redo's core phase is a time for games. Use games to reinforce love, teach basic principles, and spend time with them.
Core phase is foundational for our whole lives. Everything else is built upon it. If they know they are loved, that God is available to them through prayer and that they need to get up in the morning and greet the day, they are going to be okay! I've seen adults on the other hand that do not know how to manage their house (and there house controls them), I've seen adults so selfish they won't to anything for anyone in their family (if they have a family), I've seen men who have expected their wives to provide for the family, and I've seen emotionally unstable adults who feel that they are not loved or valued. These are examples. Know one has had the perfect upbringing. But we can make sure that our children know core truths that will be the rock upon which they can build the rest of their lives.
In our home only two requirements are expected from our children to graduate from core phase. The first is that they want to move to the love of learning phase. The other is that they agree to submit to these guidelines. For example, if they refuse to pray we need to keep going over some things!
There's a lot more to core phase. Maybe I'll get on my soap box later and post more! We need to remember to not neglect core phase and run straight for the academics. In the "olden days" kids didn't start school until they were eight anyway. They were a more literate society than ours is at present. Your kids will learn all they need to, especially if you taught them to discipline themselves first!
First, let's review. There are four major phases of learning in a Leadership Education. There are more phases, but only four that will likely happen in the walls of your home with your children.
Core Phase- Roughly 0-8 years old
Love of Learning- Roughly 8-12 years old
Scholar- Roughly 12-16 years old
Depth-Roughly 16 and up
In the phases each one has a specific curriculum. Also in Leadership Education grades are thrown out the door. With grades we tend to hold them back and say they can't start that until next year. Or we push them when they are struggling to accomplish more than they are able to. I have had both early bloomers and late bloomers in my home.
In Core Phase the curriculum is clearly established and basic. It is:
Good/Bad
True/False
Right/Wrong
That doesn't mean that you don't teach them how to read or write. Far from it. But the most important thing that they learn first is that there is good and bad and that there are right choices they can make and wrong choices. In each family you establish what these things are. I think that most of us will have almost the same idea about what these are. Here are some of our core phase absolutes:
There is God and there is Satan.
God loves you.
Jesus Christ is our Savior, Healer, and Advocate.
We speak to God through prayer every day.
We read our scriptures every day to learn of Christ.
There is a living prophet and we will follow him.
Our family is our most important focus.
Each family member is valued and loved.
We each have responsibilities with in our family.
We are expected to carry out our responsibilities.
Dad's job is to provide for our physical needs and to spiritually lead our family.
Mom's job is to nurture each family member.
The children are to learn.
Learning includes life time skills. ( household management, cooking, cleaning, car care, etc...)
We don't hit people. (pinch, bite, etc.)
We are polite to others, especially the elderly.
We respect and honor women.
We learn to control our emotions.
We do not eat more than our body needs.
We go to bed early and we wake up early.
We bathe and groom our bodies.
We wear appropriate clothing.
Those are just some general ideas. No child is going to have those mastered by the time they turn eight obviously! These things can take a life time to master. But what they learn in these young ages is what is right. It is wrong to not hold the door open for the elderly at church or anywhere. It is right to do our chores with out complaining. It is right to pray daily. It is right to brush my teeth everyday. Practice, practice, practice! And it's our job to teach them how.
Another fundamental part of core phase is "The Redo." Oh, how we love redo's in our home. If a child back talks me, I say, "Please redo that and say it the correct way." If a child doesn't wipe off the table to his/her ability we say, "please redo the table." If a child gets angry and hits his brother we say, "That's not appropriate. Please redo the situation and deal with it appropriately. Would you like some suggestions on how you can redo it appropriately?"
Besides chores and redo's core phase is a time for games. Use games to reinforce love, teach basic principles, and spend time with them.
Core phase is foundational for our whole lives. Everything else is built upon it. If they know they are loved, that God is available to them through prayer and that they need to get up in the morning and greet the day, they are going to be okay! I've seen adults on the other hand that do not know how to manage their house (and there house controls them), I've seen adults so selfish they won't to anything for anyone in their family (if they have a family), I've seen men who have expected their wives to provide for the family, and I've seen emotionally unstable adults who feel that they are not loved or valued. These are examples. Know one has had the perfect upbringing. But we can make sure that our children know core truths that will be the rock upon which they can build the rest of their lives.
In our home only two requirements are expected from our children to graduate from core phase. The first is that they want to move to the love of learning phase. The other is that they agree to submit to these guidelines. For example, if they refuse to pray we need to keep going over some things!
There's a lot more to core phase. Maybe I'll get on my soap box later and post more! We need to remember to not neglect core phase and run straight for the academics. In the "olden days" kids didn't start school until they were eight anyway. They were a more literate society than ours is at present. Your kids will learn all they need to, especially if you taught them to discipline themselves first!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Ramping up on the piano
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 12
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 2: 1-2
Today I had to go into "town" with Jared for a doctor's appointment. We were gone for the morning but Alex was home with the kids. So here are some of the things that I know that we learned today, I don't know everything since I was gone for the morning.
Things are going VERY, well for us with our Leadership Education. We could not be more happy. We'll ,if they would learn to keep their hands to themselves that would really make the world go round. haha
Caleb: Played Raz-kids. His reading fluency is really improving. This would not be my first choice (computer game), but Caleb has had a hard time connecting with other learning methods and he is really doing well with this one. He worked on several core things today!
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, worked on his 3's times tables, worked on his story, and read for almost two hours in The Hardy Boys #1. (He's so funny because he can't say jalopy, which is in the story, he keeps asking me and he keeps getting it wrong). Played ping-pong and Wii sports. He prepared the Family Home Evening lesson. Luke has the stewardship of lunch. He's doing well it, but still needs a lot of help.
Jared: Helped me with grocery shopping, went to the library with me, practiced the piano, went to piano lessons, did a math assignment, did a multiplication drill sheet, did 5 pages of Explode the Code, read for well over an hour in Peter and the Starcatchers #2 (he read most of that out loud to me), and played Wii sports. We also reviewed several vocabulary words. His core behavior was very good today. He had some redo's in some things (we made him retake his shower when it was discovered he had not used soap, for example).
Olivia: Read over 2/3 of the Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund for her scholar class, read her scriptures, wrote her bill for her "Day on the Hill", wrote half of her compass, read a poem by Walt Witman, practiced the piano, and had piano lessons. She also worked on her investments on Lending Club. She gave an oral report to Alex over dinner. Her stewardship is breakfast. She has done very well with this over the past several weeks. Tonight she prepared the sourdough starter for pancakes tomorrow. When it comes to cooking Olivia needs no help and learns things on her own. Yesterday she made a homemade carrot cake, which she's made multiple times before. Later she discovered that we were out of powdered sugar. I told her that she could make powdered sugar, but I didn't know how, so she googled making powdered sugar with floor and found a recipe. She made it and it turned out great. Today she made homemade pudding, with out a recipe, that she made up. It turned out great. Sometimes I wonder were she came from.
Deanna: Wrote in my journal, read scriptures, finished The Ranger's Apprentice, practiced the piano, played ping pong, and went to my piano lessons (she's working me!).
Alex: Read scriptures, reading a lot in the church handbooks, went to work, had lots of business meetings, played ping pong, and worked on our investments (I guess he does this everyday though).
Family Home Evening:
Songs: The Valiant Song and I Know the Savior Lives
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke and Caleb today all bore their's
Strength of Youth: Serving Others
The Proclamation to the World: 8th paragraph and discussion on the degeneration of the family
Article of Faith: 12th
Weekly Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Character Rule: We restarted 21 Rules of this House, Rule #1-Obey the Lord
Lesson: (Luke) He based his lesson on this page off of the church website. We had a great lesson on self-reliance and what it was. We also discussed several scripture stories (Lehi & his family, Noah & the Ark, Joseph in Egypt, Lachoneus & the Gadianton Robbers) of those who were or were not self-reliant.
Activity: We played a new math game I bought this weekend. I think it was called Real World Math: Unexpected Events. They had to keep a ledger though out the game of the money they made and spent. This required reading cards, writing in the ledger and doing math to keep your statement current. You can't beat a game that covers so many subjects! The kids really liked it and did well. I was surprised at how much they all caught. Especially at Caleb's ability to figure things out.
Treats: Homemade pudding and carrot cake, thank you Olivia.
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 2: 1-2
Today I had to go into "town" with Jared for a doctor's appointment. We were gone for the morning but Alex was home with the kids. So here are some of the things that I know that we learned today, I don't know everything since I was gone for the morning.
Things are going VERY, well for us with our Leadership Education. We could not be more happy. We'll ,if they would learn to keep their hands to themselves that would really make the world go round. haha
Caleb: Played Raz-kids. His reading fluency is really improving. This would not be my first choice (computer game), but Caleb has had a hard time connecting with other learning methods and he is really doing well with this one. He worked on several core things today!
Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, had piano lessons, worked on his 3's times tables, worked on his story, and read for almost two hours in The Hardy Boys #1. (He's so funny because he can't say jalopy, which is in the story, he keeps asking me and he keeps getting it wrong). Played ping-pong and Wii sports. He prepared the Family Home Evening lesson. Luke has the stewardship of lunch. He's doing well it, but still needs a lot of help.
Jared: Helped me with grocery shopping, went to the library with me, practiced the piano, went to piano lessons, did a math assignment, did a multiplication drill sheet, did 5 pages of Explode the Code, read for well over an hour in Peter and the Starcatchers #2 (he read most of that out loud to me), and played Wii sports. We also reviewed several vocabulary words. His core behavior was very good today. He had some redo's in some things (we made him retake his shower when it was discovered he had not used soap, for example).
Olivia: Read over 2/3 of the Freedom Factor by Gerald Lund for her scholar class, read her scriptures, wrote her bill for her "Day on the Hill", wrote half of her compass, read a poem by Walt Witman, practiced the piano, and had piano lessons. She also worked on her investments on Lending Club. She gave an oral report to Alex over dinner. Her stewardship is breakfast. She has done very well with this over the past several weeks. Tonight she prepared the sourdough starter for pancakes tomorrow. When it comes to cooking Olivia needs no help and learns things on her own. Yesterday she made a homemade carrot cake, which she's made multiple times before. Later she discovered that we were out of powdered sugar. I told her that she could make powdered sugar, but I didn't know how, so she googled making powdered sugar with floor and found a recipe. She made it and it turned out great. Today she made homemade pudding, with out a recipe, that she made up. It turned out great. Sometimes I wonder were she came from.
Deanna: Wrote in my journal, read scriptures, finished The Ranger's Apprentice, practiced the piano, played ping pong, and went to my piano lessons (she's working me!).
Alex: Read scriptures, reading a lot in the church handbooks, went to work, had lots of business meetings, played ping pong, and worked on our investments (I guess he does this everyday though).
Family Home Evening:
Songs: The Valiant Song and I Know the Savior Lives
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke and Caleb today all bore their's
Strength of Youth: Serving Others
The Proclamation to the World: 8th paragraph and discussion on the degeneration of the family
Article of Faith: 12th
Weekly Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Character Rule: We restarted 21 Rules of this House, Rule #1-Obey the Lord
Lesson: (Luke) He based his lesson on this page off of the church website. We had a great lesson on self-reliance and what it was. We also discussed several scripture stories (Lehi & his family, Noah & the Ark, Joseph in Egypt, Lachoneus & the Gadianton Robbers) of those who were or were not self-reliant.
Activity: We played a new math game I bought this weekend. I think it was called Real World Math: Unexpected Events. They had to keep a ledger though out the game of the money they made and spent. This required reading cards, writing in the ledger and doing math to keep your statement current. You can't beat a game that covers so many subjects! The kids really liked it and did well. I was surprised at how much they all caught. Especially at Caleb's ability to figure things out.
Treats: Homemade pudding and carrot cake, thank you Olivia.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
June 16, 2009 (Tuesday): Work, Work Work
This morning we did LOTS of chores. We worked until lunchtime. Jared had piano lessons this morning though. We decided we'd had enough of working and went playing. We packed a picnic and went out to the river in the desert. We had a great hike. We pretended we
were Indians and "tracked" some deer through the desert. When the tracks changed to looking more like a bobcat they decided they were done tracking. (In the pointing picture they are pointing to the tracks). By the time we were back the suburban Jared had decided it was a cougar with young cubs who were just learning how to hunt. Where do they come up with these things?
After being home an hour we ended up going out to the swimming hole to swim with their cousins. The swimming hole has swelled to twice it's size from the rain, thanks to all the rain. The river was too fast and deep to do much swimming, but there was still some mud. They played "mud monsters" and COVERED themselves in the mud. My friend/cousin took pictures. If I get them I'll post them later. We came home just in time to shower and scrub off the caked-on mud. Then we went to Caleb's t-ball game. The older kids weren't playing (so I wasn't coaching) so we were all able to watch Caleb. Luke even got to play because they were short players. (Luke can technically play on either team).
We finished A Wrinkle In Time in the car. Jared is working on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh again. Another family favorite.
Olivia finished Common Sense by Thomas Paine. She answered the questions for her scholar class tomorrow.
The kids have fought over the new puppy all day long. We are having to set the timer. So fun.
I'm working on The Law by Bastiat. I also did a lot on my lesson for Stake Activity Day's this weekend. I've been doing some indexing again. I was called as stake extraction worker several years back. When I was the Young Women's President they said not to worry about doing anything with it. Now I'm not though so I'm back in the Family History game again. Olivia has been doing some with me too.
Alex was in Boise all day again. He left at 6:30 AM and got home at 10:30 PM. He's gone a lot of nights, but when he's home, he's HOME. He acts like a dad and a husband and gives us tons of quality time. He's the best!
We read scriptures individually and as a family tonight too.
were Indians and "tracked" some deer through the desert. When the tracks changed to looking more like a bobcat they decided they were done tracking. (In the pointing picture they are pointing to the tracks). By the time we were back the suburban Jared had decided it was a cougar with young cubs who were just learning how to hunt. Where do they come up with these things?After being home an hour we ended up going out to the swimming hole to swim with their cousins. The swimming hole has swelled to twice it's size from the rain, thanks to all the rain. The river was too fast and deep to do much swimming, but there was still some mud. They played "mud monsters" and COVERED themselves in the mud. My friend/cousin took pictures. If I get them I'll post them later. We came home just in time to shower and scrub off the caked-on mud. Then we went to Caleb's t-ball game. The older kids weren't playing (so I wasn't coaching) so we were all able to watch Caleb. Luke even got to play because they were short players. (Luke can technically play on either team).
We finished A Wrinkle In Time in the car. Jared is working on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh again. Another family favorite.
Olivia finished Common Sense by Thomas Paine. She answered the questions for her scholar class tomorrow.
The kids have fought over the new puppy all day long. We are having to set the timer. So fun.
I'm working on The Law by Bastiat. I also did a lot on my lesson for Stake Activity Day's this weekend. I've been doing some indexing again. I was called as stake extraction worker several years back. When I was the Young Women's President they said not to worry about doing anything with it. Now I'm not though so I'm back in the Family History game again. Olivia has been doing some with me too.
Alex was in Boise all day again. He left at 6:30 AM and got home at 10:30 PM. He's gone a lot of nights, but when he's home, he's HOME. He acts like a dad and a husband and gives us tons of quality time. He's the best!
We read scriptures individually and as a family tonight too.
Friday, June 5, 2009
June 5, 2009 (Friday)
Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: Baptism
Church History: The Church is organized.
Friend Article
Science: "Skin" from Usborne's Book of Knowledge
Science Literature: Read 1/2 chapter of A Wind in the Door.
Memorization/Music: The Books of the Old and New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon.
Science Experiment: Catapults
Chores
Olivia: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, practiced her singing for over 45 minutes, finished Leven Thumps #1, card making, word of the day, blogging, read in a Saxon Algebra book, and
Jared: Practiced the piano, lots of Lego's, and lots of summer playing.
Luke: Reading, Lego's and playing hard.
Caleb: Reading, Lego's, playing with catapults, and playing hard.
Deanna: Scriptures, preparing sharing time, made invitations for teacher in-service, practiced my recital piece, finished another chapter in my BYU American History class, practiced pronouncing Greek, worked on the enrichment lesson I'm giving next week, other primary business, several long hours of reading The History of the Peloponnesian War, and went on a date!
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, Greek pronunciation, finished Ender's Shadow, went to work, and went on a date!
Pray/Pledge
Song: Baptism
Church History: The Church is organized.
Friend Article
Science: "Skin" from Usborne's Book of Knowledge
Science Literature: Read 1/2 chapter of A Wind in the Door.
Memorization/Music: The Books of the Old and New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon.
Science Experiment: Catapults
Chores
Olivia: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, practiced her singing for over 45 minutes, finished Leven Thumps #1, card making, word of the day, blogging, read in a Saxon Algebra book, and
Jared: Practiced the piano, lots of Lego's, and lots of summer playing.
Luke: Reading, Lego's and playing hard.
Caleb: Reading, Lego's, playing with catapults, and playing hard.
Deanna: Scriptures, preparing sharing time, made invitations for teacher in-service, practiced my recital piece, finished another chapter in my BYU American History class, practiced pronouncing Greek, worked on the enrichment lesson I'm giving next week, other primary business, several long hours of reading The History of the Peloponnesian War, and went on a date!
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, Greek pronunciation, finished Ender's Shadow, went to work, and went on a date!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
April 7, 2009 (Tuesday): It's 75 degrees!
Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 34: Developing Your Talents from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Kohrior the Anti-Christ
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1/2 chapter in Sacajawea: American Pathfinder by Flora Warren Seymour from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Character: Had an intense discussion about choices and attitudes.
Fairy Tales: Read Sleeping Beauty and The Emperor and the Nightingale by Usborne Fairy Tales.
Memorization: 12 apostles and the latter-day prophets of the LDS church and Books of the New Testament.
Music: Rhythm Poem, lots of clapping. I'm not sure we're making progress with the boys yet.
Family History (WWII History): Read a couple of pages from Memories of a Flying Tiger by Leonard Hancock (my grandfather)-about his experiences in China as a gunner during WWII.
Geography: Brazil, Ascension, Ivory Coast and Nigeria (from grandpa's flight to China). Read several pages from Children's Picture Atlas by Usborne.
World History: Read a chapter from Usborne's Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War.
Health: Sugar/Sugary Drinks from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lillian Cheung
Science: Elements and Compounds from Capella's Technology Book
PE: Rode horses and played outside with our cousins on the farm for several hours. Lots and lots of horses, dirt, 4-Wheelers, dogs and lots of fun!! It was 75 degrees and some of us have sunburns.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores
Olivia
Religion: Read 1 chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced the piano and voice.
Math: Did lesson 122 in Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Debauched
Vocabulary/Language Arts: She spent time reviewing vocabulary words from science, language arts and social studies for her ISAT test in a couple of weeks.
Literature: Finished Walden and brainstormed for her final paper on it.
Geography/Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Knows the first 22.
Game: Yahtzee
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the New Testament Reader.
Math: Did a lesson from Singapore 3B.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Art: Spent a lot of time drawing and coloring again! Thank you Usborne art books!
Computers: Played several learning games on the computer. (math/language arts...)
Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader
Math: Saxon Math 2 - two lessons
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: He can't find his book. The story of his life.
Testing: Took a practice test for the state testing requirements. (My kids really do choose to do these things).
Creative Writing: Worked on his story some more. Yesterday there was a disaster and his 4 page single-spaced paper was deleted some how. Talk about a sad little boy. So he started it over.
Art: Drew and colored pictures.
Geography: 1 workbook lesson/Hawaii
Creative Play: Lots more hammering and sawing again outside.
Caleb
Caleb takes twice as long to do half the things that the other kids do. I'm not sure why he's so slow. It takes him an hour to do his phonics everyday. He just sits there and does one page after another. I keep telling him he can stop, but he has in his mind that he's going to do X-many pages on a certain day. Any of the other kids have their phonics done in minutes. Usually the other three kids eat lunch around noon. Caleb rarely gets to lunch until 1 P.M. He's always very happy. Says he's not done and that he doesn't want to break for lunch. He eats really slow too. ???? I guess he's just methodical. Why rush? He's the opposite of me. How many things can I get done in a minute? How many things can I be doing at the same time?
Math: Right Start Math game.
Phonics/Handwriting: 11 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: Read a phonics reader to me
Game: Yahtzee
Family (in the evening):
Alex worked late.I had a Stake Young Women's Camp meeting. So the kids were able to have their favorite babysitter over.
Later we all watched American Idol.
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, conference talks, journal, working on a lesson for church on Sunday, spell drill, word of the day, studied for my Geography final, Greek alphabet, went to a meeting for my church job, wrote a blog post for TJED Trenches and hung out with my best friend for several hours.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, worked in the temple, attended his professional organization meeting (how do you say that?), went to work, fixed my laptop (it's so slow) and listened to Brisingr.
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 34: Developing Your Talents from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Kohrior the Anti-Christ
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1/2 chapter in Sacajawea: American Pathfinder by Flora Warren Seymour from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Character: Had an intense discussion about choices and attitudes.
Fairy Tales: Read Sleeping Beauty and The Emperor and the Nightingale by Usborne Fairy Tales.
Memorization: 12 apostles and the latter-day prophets of the LDS church and Books of the New Testament.
Music: Rhythm Poem, lots of clapping. I'm not sure we're making progress with the boys yet.
Family History (WWII History): Read a couple of pages from Memories of a Flying Tiger by Leonard Hancock (my grandfather)-about his experiences in China as a gunner during WWII.
Geography: Brazil, Ascension, Ivory Coast and Nigeria (from grandpa's flight to China). Read several pages from Children's Picture Atlas by Usborne.
World History: Read a chapter from Usborne's Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War.
Health: Sugar/Sugary Drinks from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lillian Cheung
Science: Elements and Compounds from Capella's Technology Book
PE: Rode horses and played outside with our cousins on the farm for several hours. Lots and lots of horses, dirt, 4-Wheelers, dogs and lots of fun!! It was 75 degrees and some of us have sunburns.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores
Olivia
Religion: Read 1 chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced the piano and voice.
Math: Did lesson 122 in Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Debauched
Vocabulary/Language Arts: She spent time reviewing vocabulary words from science, language arts and social studies for her ISAT test in a couple of weeks.
Literature: Finished Walden and brainstormed for her final paper on it.
Geography/Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Knows the first 22.
Game: Yahtzee
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the New Testament Reader.
Math: Did a lesson from Singapore 3B.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Art: Spent a lot of time drawing and coloring again! Thank you Usborne art books!
Computers: Played several learning games on the computer. (math/language arts...)
Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader
Math: Saxon Math 2 - two lessons
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: He can't find his book. The story of his life.
Testing: Took a practice test for the state testing requirements. (My kids really do choose to do these things).
Creative Writing: Worked on his story some more. Yesterday there was a disaster and his 4 page single-spaced paper was deleted some how. Talk about a sad little boy. So he started it over.
Art: Drew and colored pictures.
Geography: 1 workbook lesson/Hawaii
Creative Play: Lots more hammering and sawing again outside.
Caleb
Caleb takes twice as long to do half the things that the other kids do. I'm not sure why he's so slow. It takes him an hour to do his phonics everyday. He just sits there and does one page after another. I keep telling him he can stop, but he has in his mind that he's going to do X-many pages on a certain day. Any of the other kids have their phonics done in minutes. Usually the other three kids eat lunch around noon. Caleb rarely gets to lunch until 1 P.M. He's always very happy. Says he's not done and that he doesn't want to break for lunch. He eats really slow too. ???? I guess he's just methodical. Why rush? He's the opposite of me. How many things can I get done in a minute? How many things can I be doing at the same time?
Math: Right Start Math game.
Phonics/Handwriting: 11 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: Read a phonics reader to me
Game: Yahtzee
Family (in the evening):
Alex worked late.I had a Stake Young Women's Camp meeting. So the kids were able to have their favorite babysitter over.
Later we all watched American Idol.
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, conference talks, journal, working on a lesson for church on Sunday, spell drill, word of the day, studied for my Geography final, Greek alphabet, went to a meeting for my church job, wrote a blog post for TJED Trenches and hung out with my best friend for several hours.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, worked in the temple, attended his professional organization meeting (how do you say that?), went to work, fixed my laptop (it's so slow) and listened to Brisingr.
Friday, April 3, 2009
April 3, 2009 (Friday): Showtime!
Play practice started at 9 AM! We practiced lots, preformed two live shows and collapsed in bed at 8 PM. It was a very long time, but we had a blast! The kids did so well! The play was "The Little Mermaid" in case I didn't mention that in a previous post. It's not like the Disney version at all. Luke and Caleb were dancing "cowboy" seahorses, Jared was a seasider and Olivia was a scout (they did all kinds of funny things). We're so proud of them, they did great!
At the beginning of the week the kids weren't to sure if they wanted to participate, but they agreed. They remembered that they had had a lot of fun last year doing it. Today they were very happy they did it. I'm so glad I played the piano for it. They had asked me to last year, but I was in charge of the Scholastic Book Fair at the School all that week and so I couldn't. Soooo, this year I wanted to make up for it. I'm always telling the kids to "do hard things." And my number one motto in parenting is, "I won't ask the kids to do anything I'm not willing to do myself." Needless to say I'm involved a lot. But, I believe that's powerful parenting. That's why I do everything I do. I also always tell them with 1. passion and 2. practice you can accomplish anything. So I try to live my parenting tips....
We had a two hour break this afternoon between shows and came home and ate homemade dinner made just for me by my dear sister who new we had been running all week. Sisters are great! We also read four more chapters of Fablehaven.
We finished the night off with some taped American Idol. What a great week!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
April 2, 2009 (Thur): Practice makes perfect!
Today we spent the day having a wonderful core phase day. The kids read their scriptures. In the morning the kids read lots of books. The boys worked on science projects and had great fun. Caleb worked on some Explode the Code.
Luke continued to write a way on his story. I wonder how many 8 year old boys wake up early because they are so excited to get to the computer to work on their latest story? I have to kick him off at the end of the day too. He's learning to use a dictionary and knows the word processor program down solid.
In the midst of some very happy kids I practiced the piano the entire day (for the play). We had another killer round of 4 1/2 hours of play practice. At the end of the day we read scriptures and read four more chapters of Fablehaven. So good! We need to find some more high action, fun books the kids like. This 525 page book is going to end to soon!
Luke continued to write a way on his story. I wonder how many 8 year old boys wake up early because they are so excited to get to the computer to work on their latest story? I have to kick him off at the end of the day too. He's learning to use a dictionary and knows the word processor program down solid.
In the midst of some very happy kids I practiced the piano the entire day (for the play). We had another killer round of 4 1/2 hours of play practice. At the end of the day we read scriptures and read four more chapters of Fablehaven. So good! We need to find some more high action, fun books the kids like. This 525 page book is going to end to soon!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
03/12/09 (Thur): Derby Days
Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 23: The Sacrament from Gospel Principles
Scriptures: Luke 19
Book of Mormon Stories: The Liahona
Friend Article
Biography/American History: 1 chapter from Andrew Jackson: Young Patriot by George Edward Stanley from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Literature: Read "Hamlet" from Stories from Shakespeare by Usborne.
Read-a-loud: 1 chapter from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Memorization: Books of the Old and New Testament and the Book of Mormon and the 50 states of the USA.
Family History: The biography of Heber C Kimball. We also read a prophecy of Heber C Kimball. He is our gggrandfather.
Geography: Denmark and Norway (from Hamlet)
Health: Healthy Snacks from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lilian Cheung
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Social: Their cousins came over in the late afternoon for a couple of hours to play.
Olivia
Religion: 1 chapter from The Book of Mormon
Geography: Reading Robinson Projection Maps from Evan-Moor
Science: Animal/Plant Reproduction
Math: Lesson 113 from Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs
Latin: Looked up the Latin Alphabet and transcribed everybody's names (including all our pets) into Latin.
Research: Looked up more information on Thoureu on Wikipedia.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Obviate
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Classical Root Words test
Literature/Scholar Reading: Read Walden for two hours.
Art/Computers: Made several digital scrap booking pages on Adobe Photoshop Elements.
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from The New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Singapore 3B lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read Star Wars for 1 1/2 hours.
PE: 30 min Wii Sports
Luke
Religion: Read several chapters from his Book of Mormon Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Geography: More map reading from Evan-Moor Geography.
Math: Saxon Math 2 lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Writing: Worked on his story some more on the computer.
Science Reading: Finished The Great Shark Escape-a Magic School Bus chapter book.
Typing/Writing: Typed a Good Reads post about the book he finished.
Literature Reading: Read an abridged Peter Pan for over two hours.
PE: 30 min of Wii Sports.
Caleb
Core Value: Stealing (don't ask)
Music: Did several lessons on Music Ace on the Computer.
Science: Looked at an animal book.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Did 15 pages of Explode the Code.
Phonics/Computer: Played Explode the Code online.
Family (in the evening):
Pinewood Derby-They also ran an Activity Girls tournament so we ran 3 cars tonight.
Scriptures: Luke 20
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, word of the day, did a BYU geography lesson and took a quiz, wrote a blog post for another blog that I'm a contributor for, and read Surprised by Joy for 1 hour by CS Lewis.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to work and listened to The Odyssey by Homer.
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 23: The Sacrament from Gospel Principles
Scriptures: Luke 19
Book of Mormon Stories: The Liahona
Friend Article
Biography/American History: 1 chapter from Andrew Jackson: Young Patriot by George Edward Stanley from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Literature: Read "Hamlet" from Stories from Shakespeare by Usborne.
Read-a-loud: 1 chapter from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Memorization: Books of the Old and New Testament and the Book of Mormon and the 50 states of the USA.
Family History: The biography of Heber C Kimball. We also read a prophecy of Heber C Kimball. He is our gggrandfather.
Geography: Denmark and Norway (from Hamlet)
Health: Healthy Snacks from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lilian Cheung
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Social: Their cousins came over in the late afternoon for a couple of hours to play.
Olivia
Religion: 1 chapter from The Book of Mormon
Geography: Reading Robinson Projection Maps from Evan-Moor
Science: Animal/Plant Reproduction
Math: Lesson 113 from Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs
Latin: Looked up the Latin Alphabet and transcribed everybody's names (including all our pets) into Latin.
Research: Looked up more information on Thoureu on Wikipedia.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Obviate
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Classical Root Words test
Literature/Scholar Reading: Read Walden for two hours.
Art/Computers: Made several digital scrap booking pages on Adobe Photoshop Elements.
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from The New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Singapore 3B lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read Star Wars for 1 1/2 hours.
PE: 30 min Wii Sports
Luke
Religion: Read several chapters from his Book of Mormon Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Geography: More map reading from Evan-Moor Geography.
Math: Saxon Math 2 lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Writing: Worked on his story some more on the computer.
Science Reading: Finished The Great Shark Escape-a Magic School Bus chapter book.
Typing/Writing: Typed a Good Reads post about the book he finished.
Literature Reading: Read an abridged Peter Pan for over two hours.
PE: 30 min of Wii Sports.
Caleb
Core Value: Stealing (don't ask)
Music: Did several lessons on Music Ace on the Computer.
Science: Looked at an animal book.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Did 15 pages of Explode the Code.
Phonics/Computer: Played Explode the Code online.
Family (in the evening):
Pinewood Derby-They also ran an Activity Girls tournament so we ran 3 cars tonight.
Scriptures: Luke 20
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, word of the day, did a BYU geography lesson and took a quiz, wrote a blog post for another blog that I'm a contributor for, and read Surprised by Joy for 1 hour by CS Lewis.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to work and listened to The Odyssey by Homer.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
01/13/09: Sewing and Star Wars
Today Olivia decided sewing was a good activity and spent the afternoon creating. The boys decided that Star Wars was the game of choice for the WHOLE afternoon. Lots of lightsabers, lego ship building, etc. Caleb didn't feel that good and spend half of the day on my lap.
Mom School
Pray, Pledge and Song
Theology: Plan of Salvation from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith
Bible History: Jesus blesses the children
Friend Article
Biography/American History: 4 chapters from The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern
Literature: 5 poems from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fairy Tales: Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar
Myths: Monster Myths of Ancient Greece by William Wise
Memorization: Books of the Old Testament and New Testament, First 7 States of the Union alphabetically, all the presidents of the USA. Jared can fly through them!
Math: One chapter on The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. This chapter was on the "number" zero.
Math/Science/Geography/World History/Biography: The Man Who Made Time Travel by Kathryn Lasky
Science: The Sun (again-another book though)
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon
Music: We cancelled her voice lesson because she doesn't feel that great.
Sewing/Art: Worked on the top of her quilt. She only has one more short session and then she's done with the top. She also made a doll pillow by hand and embroidered on it. She also did some other little things. She was at this from about 1 to 5.
Math: Lesson 83
Language Arts: Prepositional phrases
Free Reading: 15 min of Jane Eyre
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the Old Testament Reader
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Lesson 73
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive Y's
Music/Computers: Did 4 lessons on Music Ace
Free Reading: Read 3 chapters of Eragon
Lots of Lego's/Star Wars and Creative Play!
Luke
Religion: Read one chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read 15 min in Fellowship of the Rings
Caleb
Music: Played the saxophone for 10 min and drove Luke NUTS! He also played the violin for about 20 minutes.
Handwriting: Did some mazes.
Literature Reading: I read him over 100 pages and finished in Kidnapped an abridged version by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Music/Computers: Did a lesson on Music Ace.
Family (in the evening):
Watched Star Wars: A New Hope. (of course)
Luke 9
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, piano, over an hour on the violin (my back is sore!), spell drill, took deep breaths and chilled out while I supervised 4 hours of Olivia's sewing (Can you feel my pain people? The things we do for our children!!!), read Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury, and read A Tale of Two Cities for one hour.
Alex: Scriptures, 101 Maxwell Leadership book, How to Win a Local Election, went to Boise (LONG day), finished Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and started The Illiad both via CD.
Mom School
Pray, Pledge and Song
Theology: Plan of Salvation from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith
Bible History: Jesus blesses the children
Friend Article
Biography/American History: 4 chapters from The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern
Literature: 5 poems from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fairy Tales: Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar
Myths: Monster Myths of Ancient Greece by William Wise
Memorization: Books of the Old Testament and New Testament, First 7 States of the Union alphabetically, all the presidents of the USA. Jared can fly through them!
Math: One chapter on The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. This chapter was on the "number" zero.
Math/Science/Geography/World History/Biography: The Man Who Made Time Travel by Kathryn Lasky
Science: The Sun (again-another book though)
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon
Music: We cancelled her voice lesson because she doesn't feel that great.
Sewing/Art: Worked on the top of her quilt. She only has one more short session and then she's done with the top. She also made a doll pillow by hand and embroidered on it. She also did some other little things. She was at this from about 1 to 5.
Math: Lesson 83
Language Arts: Prepositional phrases
Free Reading: 15 min of Jane Eyre
Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the Old Testament Reader
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Lesson 73
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive Y's
Music/Computers: Did 4 lessons on Music Ace
Free Reading: Read 3 chapters of Eragon
Lots of Lego's/Star Wars and Creative Play!
Luke
Religion: Read one chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read 15 min in Fellowship of the Rings
Caleb
Music: Played the saxophone for 10 min and drove Luke NUTS! He also played the violin for about 20 minutes.
Handwriting: Did some mazes.
Literature Reading: I read him over 100 pages and finished in Kidnapped an abridged version by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Music/Computers: Did a lesson on Music Ace.
Family (in the evening):
Watched Star Wars: A New Hope. (of course)
Luke 9
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, piano, over an hour on the violin (my back is sore!), spell drill, took deep breaths and chilled out while I supervised 4 hours of Olivia's sewing (Can you feel my pain people? The things we do for our children!!!), read Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury, and read A Tale of Two Cities for one hour.
Alex: Scriptures, 101 Maxwell Leadership book, How to Win a Local Election, went to Boise (LONG day), finished Plague Ship by Clive Cussler and started The Illiad both via CD.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
1/6/09:John Hancock and Little House on the Prarie
Mom School
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6: Charity and Love
Bible History: Jesus heals the blind
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 4 chapters and finished John Hancock: President of the Continental Congress by Ann Graham Gaines
Literature: 5 poems from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Memorization: First 7 States of the USA
Family History: Catherine Norman Ward's parents biography
Music: Performed in the Community Music Class Grand Finale Performance. It had been postponed because of the weather before Christmas.
Science: Finished the Sunlit Waters sections from Kingfisher Voyages: Oceans by Steven Savage and learned about atmosphere from The Kinfisher Science Encyclopedia
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Music: Voice lesson rescheduled at the last minute
Math: Lesson 78
Government/Writing: Worked some more on her bill for the "Day on the Hill" event in a couple of weeks in Boise
Language Arts: Prepositions
Typing/Life Skills: Typed out her goals for 2009
Religion Reading: Read the Book of Mormon
Free Reading: Read 1 chapter of Jane Eyre
Character: She watched several episodes of Little House of the Prairie. We don't have TV beyond a couple of fuzzy stations accessible with rabbit ears. So for Christmas we bought season 1 of Little House on the Prairie, my favorite show ever! All little girls need to be thoroughly versed in all the Little House series for a proper education right? Besides there are some great character lessons.
Jared
Music: Practiced his piano lesson
Math: Lesson 69
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive T's
Government/Writing: Worked some more on his bill for "The Day on the Hill" in a couple of weeks.
Creative Play: Played with Lego's for over two hours.
Worked on some Scouting Requirements.
Reading: Read in the Old Testament Reader
Social: Went to a friends house for an hour and a half.
Core Phase Behavior: We spent a lot of time working and talking about his behavior. What is good/bad behavior. He did much better today.
Life Skills/Handwriting: Wrote out his goals for 2009 and talked them over with Alex.
Luke
Music: Practiced his piano lesson
World History Reading: Read a couple of pages in the book 100 things you should know about Ancient Rome by Fiona Macdonald
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages from Explode the Code
Government/Writing: Worked some more on his bill for "The Day on the Hill" in a couple of weeks.
Life Skills: Scrambled egg sandwich
Starting working on his Bobcat for scouts.
Creative Play: Played with Lego's for over an hour.
Some Little House on the Prairie
Caleb
Math: 1 math page
Fine Motor Skills: 5+ pages of cutting and pasting
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Creative Play: Played with the Moon Sand for an hour
Handwriting: Mazes
Handwriting/Phonics: 3 pages from Explode the Code
Some Little House on the Prairie
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, Journal, Good Reads reviews, played the piano for the community music concert, practiced the piano, spell drill, read for 3 hours and finished His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis, and read my textbook for my Georgraphy-BYU class for two hours.
Alex: Scriptures, Read for 30 min from a John Maxwell book, attended his professional organization meeting where he serves on the board as the past president, went to work, attending a county Republican Party meeting where he serves as District Vice-Chair and listened to Plague Ship by Clive Cussler in the car during his travels, changed the spark plugs in the suburban, went to the library again for me-his Tuesday job-to collect the 38 books I had on hold. The temple is closed this week and next.
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6: Charity and Love
Bible History: Jesus heals the blind
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 4 chapters and finished John Hancock: President of the Continental Congress by Ann Graham Gaines
Literature: 5 poems from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Memorization: First 7 States of the USA
Family History: Catherine Norman Ward's parents biography
Music: Performed in the Community Music Class Grand Finale Performance. It had been postponed because of the weather before Christmas.
Science: Finished the Sunlit Waters sections from Kingfisher Voyages: Oceans by Steven Savage and learned about atmosphere from The Kinfisher Science Encyclopedia
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Music: Voice lesson rescheduled at the last minute
Math: Lesson 78
Government/Writing: Worked some more on her bill for the "Day on the Hill" event in a couple of weeks in Boise
Language Arts: Prepositions
Typing/Life Skills: Typed out her goals for 2009
Religion Reading: Read the Book of Mormon
Free Reading: Read 1 chapter of Jane Eyre
Character: She watched several episodes of Little House of the Prairie. We don't have TV beyond a couple of fuzzy stations accessible with rabbit ears. So for Christmas we bought season 1 of Little House on the Prairie, my favorite show ever! All little girls need to be thoroughly versed in all the Little House series for a proper education right? Besides there are some great character lessons.
Jared
Music: Practiced his piano lesson
Math: Lesson 69
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive T's
Government/Writing: Worked some more on his bill for "The Day on the Hill" in a couple of weeks.
Creative Play: Played with Lego's for over two hours.
Worked on some Scouting Requirements.
Reading: Read in the Old Testament Reader
Social: Went to a friends house for an hour and a half.
Core Phase Behavior: We spent a lot of time working and talking about his behavior. What is good/bad behavior. He did much better today.
Life Skills/Handwriting: Wrote out his goals for 2009 and talked them over with Alex.
Luke
Music: Practiced his piano lesson
World History Reading: Read a couple of pages in the book 100 things you should know about Ancient Rome by Fiona Macdonald
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages from Explode the Code
Government/Writing: Worked some more on his bill for "The Day on the Hill" in a couple of weeks.
Life Skills: Scrambled egg sandwich
Starting working on his Bobcat for scouts.
Creative Play: Played with Lego's for over an hour.
Some Little House on the Prairie
Caleb
Math: 1 math page
Fine Motor Skills: 5+ pages of cutting and pasting
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Creative Play: Played with the Moon Sand for an hour
Handwriting: Mazes
Handwriting/Phonics: 3 pages from Explode the Code
Some Little House on the Prairie
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, Journal, Good Reads reviews, played the piano for the community music concert, practiced the piano, spell drill, read for 3 hours and finished His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis, and read my textbook for my Georgraphy-BYU class for two hours.
Alex: Scriptures, Read for 30 min from a John Maxwell book, attended his professional organization meeting where he serves on the board as the past president, went to work, attending a county Republican Party meeting where he serves as District Vice-Chair and listened to Plague Ship by Clive Cussler in the car during his travels, changed the spark plugs in the suburban, went to the library again for me-his Tuesday job-to collect the 38 books I had on hold. The temple is closed this week and next.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
12/23/08
Mom School
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6, section 1
Bible History: Jesus heals people and call his apostles
Biography/American History: 8 chapters from Guns for General Washington
Fairy Tales/Fables: Thumbelina by Susan Jeffers. We also read the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Memorization: Books of the Old and New Testament, Book of The Book of Mormon, The Presidents of the USA and The Planets of our Solar System.
Family History: Biography of Samuel Ward my gggrandfater
Music: Singing some of the memorization songs.
World History: Chapter 13 from Story of the World vol. 2
Geography: France
Science: 1 chapter from Kingfisher Voyages Oceans. We also learned about astronomy, the moon, Apollo missions, Telescopes, Galileo and Copernicus.
PE: Hours of outside snow fort building
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Math: Lesson 76
Handwriting/Writing: Wrote in her journal
Creative Writing: Wrote a Christmas poem
Life Skills: Pumpkin Pie
Computers/Typing/Writing: Wrote a blog post.
Reading: Scriptures and The Work and the Glory #3, finished.
Jared
Reading: Read in The Old Testament Stories Reader
Luke
Creative Writing/Computers/Typing/Spelling: Worked on his story for at least an hour.
Writing/Drawing: Drew some pictures and wrote in a notebook.
Free Reading: Read in various books
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Cooked food for Christmas Eve Dinner, Read for 3+ hours
Alex:Worked as a Temple Ordinance Worker, Went to work, and listened to a memoir about Ronald Reagan.
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6, section 1
Bible History: Jesus heals people and call his apostles
Biography/American History: 8 chapters from Guns for General Washington
Fairy Tales/Fables: Thumbelina by Susan Jeffers. We also read the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Memorization: Books of the Old and New Testament, Book of The Book of Mormon, The Presidents of the USA and The Planets of our Solar System.
Family History: Biography of Samuel Ward my gggrandfater
Music: Singing some of the memorization songs.
World History: Chapter 13 from Story of the World vol. 2
Geography: France
Science: 1 chapter from Kingfisher Voyages Oceans. We also learned about astronomy, the moon, Apollo missions, Telescopes, Galileo and Copernicus.
PE: Hours of outside snow fort building
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Math: Lesson 76
Handwriting/Writing: Wrote in her journal
Creative Writing: Wrote a Christmas poem
Life Skills: Pumpkin Pie
Computers/Typing/Writing: Wrote a blog post.
Reading: Scriptures and The Work and the Glory #3, finished.
Jared
Reading: Read in The Old Testament Stories Reader
Luke
Creative Writing/Computers/Typing/Spelling: Worked on his story for at least an hour.
Writing/Drawing: Drew some pictures and wrote in a notebook.
Free Reading: Read in various books
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Cooked food for Christmas Eve Dinner, Read for 3+ hours
Alex:Worked as a Temple Ordinance Worker, Went to work, and listened to a memoir about Ronald Reagan.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
12/17/08: An Explode the Code Day
Luke and Caleb were so excited to get their next couple of Explode the Code books in the mail that they had to finish the ones they were in so they could start their new ones.
Mom School
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 5: Another section from the Book of Mormon
Bible History: Jesus is tempted
Friend Article
Biography/American History: First half of Betsy Ross: American Patriot by Susan M. Miller
Read-a-loud: 3 chapters from Fablehaven #3 by Brandon Mull
Family History: Another Life sketch of Eunice Lym Hancock by her former Bishop
Science: Neptune, Pluto and the Milky Way, 2 Magic School Bus videos
Life Skills: We dipped candies and made Christmas cookies
PE: Played in the snow and shoveled snow.
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Music: Practiced the piano
Math: Lesson 69 and 70
Math Drill: Mentored Caleb with some math facts
Language Arts: Took 1/2 pretest in her new grammar book.
Writing: Wrote in her journal
Free Reading: Over an hour of Work and the Glory #3 by Gerald Lund
Had Activity Days!
Jared
Math: Lesson 66
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive S's
Logic: Played with Lego's for several hours
Free Reading: Read for over 30 min in The Book of Mormon Reader
Luke
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 20 pages of Explode the Code
Caleb
Reading: Read for over 30 min of Fox in Socks by Dr Seuss to me
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 2o pages as well of Explode the Code
Math Facts: Olivia drilled him on some math facts
Family (in the evening):
Luke 7
Alex and the boys spared with their karate gear.
Olivia and I delivered all our Christmas treats that took us all afternoon to make.
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Went to a book club, finished recording some music for the school's Christmas program and made Christmas cookies and treats with the kids.
Alex: Went to work and finished a Louis L'Amour and started another one. Read for about an hour this evening in a variety of books.
Mom School
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 5: Another section from the Book of Mormon
Bible History: Jesus is tempted
Friend Article
Biography/American History: First half of Betsy Ross: American Patriot by Susan M. Miller
Read-a-loud: 3 chapters from Fablehaven #3 by Brandon Mull
Family History: Another Life sketch of Eunice Lym Hancock by her former Bishop
Science: Neptune, Pluto and the Milky Way, 2 Magic School Bus videos
Life Skills: We dipped candies and made Christmas cookies
PE: Played in the snow and shoveled snow.
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Music: Practiced the piano
Math: Lesson 69 and 70
Math Drill: Mentored Caleb with some math facts
Language Arts: Took 1/2 pretest in her new grammar book.
Writing: Wrote in her journal
Free Reading: Over an hour of Work and the Glory #3 by Gerald Lund
Had Activity Days!
Jared
Math: Lesson 66
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Handwriting: Cursive S's
Logic: Played with Lego's for several hours
Free Reading: Read for over 30 min in The Book of Mormon Reader
Luke
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 20 pages of Explode the Code
Caleb
Reading: Read for over 30 min of Fox in Socks by Dr Seuss to me
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 2o pages as well of Explode the Code
Math Facts: Olivia drilled him on some math facts
Family (in the evening):
Luke 7
Alex and the boys spared with their karate gear.
Olivia and I delivered all our Christmas treats that took us all afternoon to make.
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Went to a book club, finished recording some music for the school's Christmas program and made Christmas cookies and treats with the kids.
Alex: Went to work and finished a Louis L'Amour and started another one. Read for about an hour this evening in a variety of books.
Monday, December 15, 2008
12/15/08
Mom School
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 5-read a section (I can't remember which one!)
Bible History: Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus flee to Egypt
Literature: 2 chapters from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Read-a-loud: 2 chapters from Fablehaven #3 by Brandon Mull (so good!)
Memorization: Presidents of the USA (Olivia did them all right today. Jared and I can say them faster and faster. Luke is up to 15. And Caleb just says "Thomas Jefferson."), Books of the Old and New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon
Family History: Life Sketch of Fredrick Clair Kimball by my great aunt Lenore Kimball Nitch
Music: Practiced the songs of the books of scripture to the piano. Listened to lots of Christmas music.
Geography: Middle East and the routes of the Jaredites and the Nephites according to the church approved scripture readers.
Science: Uranus
PE: Fun Physical Fitness CD (lasts around 25 min-very good exercise) and played in the snow for at least an hour all together, they also shoveled the walks.
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Marked all the Book of Mormon scripture mastery scriptures in her Book of Mormon
Music: Practiced some of her voice lesson. She's doing another vocal solo, this one is for the ward Christmas party.
Math: Lesson 67
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Mad Libs parts of speech
Science: She watched a Magic School Bus video
Free Reading: Over 2 hours from Work and the Glory #3
Life Skills: Saxaphash (main dish-think lasagna and spaghetti put together, family favorite) and dusting.
Jared
Music: Practiced his piano lesson and had his piano lesson
Science: Science experiment and two Magic School Bus videos. (Our library is well stocked).
Math: Lesson 64
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Over 30 min of The Book of Mormon Reader
Life Skills: Learned/saw how to blow out some water lines in the camper trailer with Alex.
Luke
World History: Listened to over an hour of Story of the World vol. 1. I think he has the entire book memorized. I'm not even kidding. As Caleb would say, "for reals."
Science: Science Experiment and two Magic School Bus Videos.
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 5 pages of Explode the Code
Music: Practiced the piano and had a piano lesson
Creative Writing/Spelling/Computers/Typing: He's worked on his story for several hours today. He was up at 6:30 AM typing away. Every once in a while he'll call out a word he want us to help him spell. He asked me the other day this question, "Mom, I'm a monotheist. So is it appropriate to write a polytheist book?" He's 7.
Reading: Read him 5 picture books.
Caleb
Math: Over 7 dot to dots. He counted to 100 for me.
Reading: Read part of Fox in Socks to me. Also I read him 5 picture books.
Science: Science Experiment and two Magic School Bus Videos.
Life Skills: Cleaning toilets
Caleb enjoyed a happy day of solid core! Lots of imaginative play.
Family (in the evening):
Family Home Evening: Signs of Jesus' birth in America
Played Phase 10
Luke 6
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Did housework, read for 30 min, practiced the piano, wrote a blog article, did a curriculum review...
Alex:Went to work.
Pray and Pledge
Theology: Preach My Gospel, Chapter 5-read a section (I can't remember which one!)
Bible History: Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus flee to Egypt
Literature: 2 chapters from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Read-a-loud: 2 chapters from Fablehaven #3 by Brandon Mull (so good!)
Memorization: Presidents of the USA (Olivia did them all right today. Jared and I can say them faster and faster. Luke is up to 15. And Caleb just says "Thomas Jefferson."), Books of the Old and New Testament and Books of the Book of Mormon
Family History: Life Sketch of Fredrick Clair Kimball by my great aunt Lenore Kimball Nitch
Music: Practiced the songs of the books of scripture to the piano. Listened to lots of Christmas music.
Geography: Middle East and the routes of the Jaredites and the Nephites according to the church approved scripture readers.
Science: Uranus
PE: Fun Physical Fitness CD (lasts around 25 min-very good exercise) and played in the snow for at least an hour all together, they also shoveled the walks.
Reading: We take turns reading all of the above material everyday.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Olivia
Religion: Marked all the Book of Mormon scripture mastery scriptures in her Book of Mormon
Music: Practiced some of her voice lesson. She's doing another vocal solo, this one is for the ward Christmas party.
Math: Lesson 67
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Mad Libs parts of speech
Science: She watched a Magic School Bus video
Free Reading: Over 2 hours from Work and the Glory #3
Life Skills: Saxaphash (main dish-think lasagna and spaghetti put together, family favorite) and dusting.
Jared
Music: Practiced his piano lesson and had his piano lesson
Science: Science experiment and two Magic School Bus videos. (Our library is well stocked).
Math: Lesson 64
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Over 30 min of The Book of Mormon Reader
Life Skills: Learned/saw how to blow out some water lines in the camper trailer with Alex.
Luke
World History: Listened to over an hour of Story of the World vol. 1. I think he has the entire book memorized. I'm not even kidding. As Caleb would say, "for reals."
Science: Science Experiment and two Magic School Bus Videos.
Math: 1 Saxon Math 2 lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Over 5 pages of Explode the Code
Music: Practiced the piano and had a piano lesson
Creative Writing/Spelling/Computers/Typing: He's worked on his story for several hours today. He was up at 6:30 AM typing away. Every once in a while he'll call out a word he want us to help him spell. He asked me the other day this question, "Mom, I'm a monotheist. So is it appropriate to write a polytheist book?" He's 7.
Reading: Read him 5 picture books.
Caleb
Math: Over 7 dot to dots. He counted to 100 for me.
Reading: Read part of Fox in Socks to me. Also I read him 5 picture books.
Science: Science Experiment and two Magic School Bus Videos.
Life Skills: Cleaning toilets
Caleb enjoyed a happy day of solid core! Lots of imaginative play.
Family (in the evening):
Family Home Evening: Signs of Jesus' birth in America
Played Phase 10
Luke 6
To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Did housework, read for 30 min, practiced the piano, wrote a blog article, did a curriculum review...
Alex:Went to work.
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