We were not home much today for them to do much.

Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 14
Weekly Family Scripture Memorization: 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Science: Watched two science videos
Health: Had an extensive First Aide lesson. (CPR/choking/bites/bleeding/burns,etc)
Club: Had a 4-H Meeting and an Archery Meeting
Social/Logic/Math: Attended their first boys social home school group that I organized with a friend with other home school boys. They played multiple games of chess and just "played." We will meet weekly.
Chores and Animal Care

Caleb: Played Raz-kids, watched an additional science video, worked on his 4-H record book (handwriting), did a dot-to-dot even numbers past 100 (math), and listened to a Magic Tree House book on tape.

Luke: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, and read in The Ranger's Apprentice for two hours, worked on his 4-H record book (handwriting), worked on his secretaries book for his club (more handwriting and some math), and listened to a A Magic Tree House book on tape.

Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, worked on his scouting requirements, worked on his 4-H record book (handwriting), studied/prepared his demonstration for archery about the different types of arrowheads, gave an oral presentation on arrowheads for his archery class, filled out some paperwork with me for a doctor's appointment, listened to me read the last 100 pages in Tom Trueheart and the Land of Dark Stories by Ian Beck, and went on a walk.

Olivia: Read her scriptures, practiced the piano, read in The Red Scarf Girl for two hours, went to her scholar class and discussed Whitman's poetry, researched/prepared a demonstration for archery about the history of archery in the Olympic games, gave an oral presentation about archery in the Olympic games for archery class, worked on her 4-H record book (handwriting) and went on a walk.

Deanna: Read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, Peterson's Word of the Day, had a meeting with my mentor, went on several visiting teaching appointments, practiced the piano, spent a couple of hours with a home school friend (see Leadership Education Ingredient #47 -The Friend) while the kids played chess and socialized.

Alex: Read his scriptures, read in the church handbooks, Peterson's Word of the Day, was gone extra early today with meetings on the edge of the state, went to work and came home late, and listened to Stormbreaker.

Family Counsel

Since we are off the "conveyor belt" I can post on a nontraditional school day right? Tonight we had an extended family counsel.

• We reviewed with the kids what they learned and how they felt about the week. This included Alex and I reporting on our phase and what we did for our learning for the week. They hadn't realized I had done some Algebra, so that was a good time to talk about that.
• We reviewed the curriculum for core phase. (true/false, good/bad, and right and wrong).
  
• We let Olivia know that she will now be responsible to give Alex an oral report at the end of every day about what she did for her studies. When she's older and more entrenched in scholar phase we'll make this written.
• We each set a couple of goals of things specifically we wanted to accomplish for the week. Here's our goals:

Caleb: Advance another level on Raz-kids.
Luke: Read 50 pages in the The Ranger's Apprentice. Memorize his 3's and 4's times tables.
Jared: Read 30 pages in Peter and the Shadow Thieves. Get quicker on his times tables, especially the 12's.
Olivia: Read The Freedom Factor for her Key of Liberty class. Finish her compass. Write her bill for the homeschooling "Day on the Hill."
Deanna: Read 100 pages in "The Histories" by Herodotus, find and online placement test for math so I can find out which book I should be in, and read Othello by Shakespeare.
Alex: Read 30 pages in the Church Handbook (the Bishopric has a goal to reread all the handbooks over the course of the next month), order a CLU class (a professional class for his industry, long story) and write his compass.

• We also had a very long, emotional discussion about 4-H. We narrowed it down to just Archery for the three older kids. Horse for the two older kids. And Caleb will do a Clover bud Bunny. That's it. Two of them are officers in their clubs. That's plenty. We've scratched a couple of extra classes. I'm teaching the Clover bud program this year also.
• After the kids were asleep and I'm sitting her catching up on my blogging Olivia and Alex are here having an hour long discussion about conservatism, being involved in the political process and our local, state and national leaders. I'm glad Alex is so involved. He's a good example to the kids. Right now he's the VP for the District Republican party as well as an officer in our county. Very busy guy he is!
  

The Compass and the Binder

One of the Ingredients to a Leadership (TJED) Education is the compass. (see Leadership Education Ingredient #16) This is simply a list of goals and things you would like to learn in the next six months. Since we just rang in the new year now is a perfect time to get everyone in your family their own compass. Ideally you place these goals in a sheet protector in their own binder.

Also included in the binder could be a "skills list." This idea is generated from Diann Jeppson. For example in cooking your child can list ten things he wants to learn to make in the next six months. For my boys we've started out very basic. (canned soup, macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs, etc) Other skills classes could be: sewing, car repair, food storage, shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. You shouldn't take for granted that your children know these things!

This binder would also include artwork, papers, lists of books read, etc.

So far only 3 out of the 6 of us have our compasses done. I am one of them in an effort to "inspire, not require" the little dears. Some of my goals are to continue reading the 100 Great books. My next books to tackle are Herodotus and Thucydides. I'm taking piano lessons again! I'm going to crack open that old math textbook. A life skill goal that I have is to perfect making wheat bread.

Now is a good time to think about organization.

The Club

One of the ingredients for a successful leadership education is "The Club." For the past three years Olivia has done a horse project for 4-H, but know one else participated in our family.  This year we are actively taking part in the 4-H program. All the kids have picked out a couple of projects to work on.  We are excited about the leaders and the fun we have had already.  We've been meeting since October for archery.  Here are some pictures from today's archery meeting.

Annual Project

One of the ingredients in a Leadership Education is an "Annual Family Project." Our family project is that we put on a community blood drive.  Alex (dad) does most of it right now. Alex has done it for 7 or 8 years now.  Each year, as the kids get older, they are able to help out more and more.  This year Olivia was able to participate (help at the refreshment table) for several hours.  As the kids get older they will be able to help with scheduling, advertising, securing the building, refreshments, set up/take down and other items.  It will be a good project to be able to participate in.  I'm grateful to a great hubby that works hard to provide opportunities for our family and others in our community.

Thomas Jefferson Education recap

I have to say this full blown Thomas Jefferson Education is hard work. Jumping off the coveyor belt is challenging. It has taken me over 5 years to even get this far! But we came through with our heads held high last week. We had numerous parent executive sessions discussing things. We've made some HUGE changes and have already seen some very positive results.

We have given out stewardship assignments in addition to daily chores. We have made goals and had some interviews with all of them on specific things with their education. (Alex usually meets with them monthly). We have more succinctly identified Core Phase, Love of Learning and Scholar phase for them.

I've been trying to apply some of the ingredients a little more effectively. It's been good for me to reread mornings, 6 month inventory, compass, binder, evenings and winters from Leadership Education by the DeMilles.

This post here is a true Thomas Jefferson day. This is what they choose....

For those who know nothing about the Thomas Jefferson Education try these websites: TJEd blog, TJEd Consortium , and DeMille's website.

I guess we did more than I thought

Mom School
Pray/Pledge/Motto
Song: We sang 4 primary songs.
Weekly Scripture Memorization: Isaiah 9:6
Family Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 5
Literature: Read two chapters from Usborne's Treasure Island.
Music: We had our piano recital! Olivia, Jared, Luke and I participated. (Jared is pictured).
Chores/Animal Care

Olivia
Religion:Read a chapter in the Bible.
Music: Practiced the piano. Practiced the violin and practiced vocally for 30 minutes. Watched 30 minutes of a tape about some sing off in America? She really likes it, her grandma taped if for her.
Creating/Life Skills: She is working on some headbands for winter on a loom. She has one finished.
PE:Went on a walk with Jared.
Computers/Art: We finished making our yearbook pages for my parents binder. (painful, but printed and done)
Reading: I'm certain she read. She always reads, but I don't know what today.
Writing: Did some book reviews on Goodreads.

Jared
Music: Practiced the piano. Practiced the saxophone.
Art: He's been doing many things for several days with paints, clay and fabric. He's recreating the characters from Peter and the Starcatchers.
PE: Went on a walk with Olivia. Did the Fun Physical Fitness CD with the other two boys.
Lesson Preparation: He prepared a fantastic lesson on the Nativity story. Complete with scriptures, props, pictures, songs and visual aids. All with no help. He had some wild costumes.
Oral Presentation: Gave a great FHE lesson.
Book on Tape: He listened to a Peter and the Starcatchers for 30 minutes.
Logic: Hours of Lego's.
Creative Play: Lot's of sword fights with his brothers.

Luke
Religion: Read his scriptures.
Music: Practiced the piano.
Creative Writing: He still spending an hour or two at least a day on his current story.
History: He spent over and hour reading about the Egyptians from Usborne's book of World History. He had to tell me everything he read every 5 minutes. He was so excited!
Creative Play: Lot's of sword fights with his brothers.
Logic: Hours of Lego's
PE:Did the Fun Physical Fitness CD with the other two boys.
Art: Lots of drawing and coloring.
Life Skills: We made a new skills lists for cooking.
Goal Planning: We made a list of things he wants to learn and do for the next 6 months. This is called a "Compass." (a Thomas Jefferson Education ingredient)

Caleb
Music: Played around on his aunt's fancy piano after the piano recital.
Creative Play: Lot's of sword fights with his brothers.
Logic: Hours of Lego's
PE:Did the Fun Physical Fitness CD with the other two boys.
Art: Lots of drawing and coloring.Biography:
Science: Read and studied pictures of spiders for a long time.
Life Skills: We made a new skills lists for cooking. Helped with dinner.
Goal Planning: We made a list of things he wants to learn and do for the next 6 months. This is called a "Compass." (a Thomas Jefferson Education ingredient)

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talk, word of the day, practiced the piano, read several chapters in Leadership Education by the DeMille's, researched the Great Book's book lists, wrapped and worked on Christmas presents, and did the 6 month inventory (an ingredient in the TJED regarding goals for each child for the next 6 months).
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to see a sick friend in the hospital, went to work, ran a lot of errands for me in town (he's such a good hubby, he even bought be mushrooms-he HATES mushrooms), and he is listening to The Last Dickens.

Family Home Evening:
Songs: Away in a Manger, Silent Night and Jingle Bells
Talent: Caleb doing hand stand walking and backward somersaults.
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke and Caleb
Strength of Youth: Physical Bodies
Uncommon Courtesy: How to apply the rules. We finished it AGAIN. We have read this through 10 times?? Time to go back the Rules of This House.
Proclamation to the World on the Family: Finished the large paragraph.
Weekly Scripture Memorization: Isaiah 9:6
Article of Faith: 11th
Lesson: Given my Jared on the Nativity Story. (Caleb is pictured as a Shepard. The brooms were used as staffs. Jared just had towels draped all over everybody).
Activity: He grandpa/ma haul out their carpet. Played Celestial Pursuit. Treat: Pumpkin bars and cinnamon rolls from a friend. Yummy!

Getting Ready for School

This is always a fun time of year. Organizing yourself to get back in the learning/school gear. Here's what I've done:

1. Gone through and organized all our home school materials.
2. Made a learning plan for each child.
3. Talked with each child and reviewed our plan for the school year. We decided what we wanted to accomplish in mom school this year. We've discussed their individual goals and what they are going to accomplish.
4. I've ordered all their new books for home school this year and they've all arrived.
5. Now we're all ready! We aren't actually going to start until after Labor Day this year though.

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!

12/29/08: #6 The Sixth Month Purge

Today we put up our Christmas decorations. Ahhh! I love having my house put together. When things are not in their regular place it drives me nuts! Alex is home again all this week and so he obliged me with the decorations.

We also did "The Sixth Month Purge" which just means we went through things and took out of the house the things we didn't need anymore. Ahhhh again! The kids ended up switching their rooms around again so that necessitated a through gutting.

Olivia worked on her Adobe Photo Shop Elements or whatever it's called. She also had a mentor lesson about it from my sister. She was very happy.

We had a family council this morning and went over some general family things. (like switching rooms) We also voted to implement the "Bean Counter Game." We'll see how that goes. I'll do a separate post on that in a couple of days.

We went "to town" today to play at the McDonald's playground for our cousins birthday. Tonight half the kids are at their cousins house spending the night and the other half are here with some cousins. We have cake and ice cream in a bit also for the birthday cousin.

We accomplished a lot today. They worked hard and played hard. I'm smiling because my house is put back together.

The Six Month Inventory

I have just finished reading Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille. Nice Christmas present. It was good to review the "ingredients" again that led to a successful leadership education.

One that caught my eye this time around was #8 The Six Month Inventory. I thought this was appropriate to do with the New Year coming on and it being "that time" to set some goals. The Six Month Inventory is when you take some time and think about each of your children. You think about their strengths, weaknesses, fears, hopes, dreams, etc. Then you decide what it is YOU can do specifically for them to help them accomplish certain things you feel are important over the next six months.

What I thought was great about this is that I set a goal that I work on to help them. They can set goals with me also of course and with Alex, but these are specific to me as their mother.

So today I took the time to ponder on each of our children and set goals for myself that will benefit them. I'm excited! I realized several things I hadn't previously thought about regarding the further impact I can have with them.