Memorization

We are just finishing up our annual break and I have all sorts of home education thoughts going on in my mind.  I am so pleased to be able to finally think about other things (my favorite things) again!

Memorization.  To some immediate abhorrence occurs.  Others love it.  Perhaps our loving or loathing boils down to which curriculum we might ardently follow.  I don't really follow a curriculum, I guess you could say I follow sets of principles I find truth in.

Where do I stand?  Love it.  Yes, yes I know this puts me at odds with many.  Perhaps one of the reasons we do it though is that I love to memorize and I like to be quizzed. I am a facts girl you might say. I have several children, Determination (age 10) especially, who also love to memorize and be quizzed. I like The Well Trained Mind philosophy on it. The TWTM philosophy says that by memorizing children are able to more easily connect things together and later on they can learn the why behind it all.  With this process they learn the why much quicker because the facts are instantly stored and available for retrevial.  For example we memorize multiplication tables (I teach my children some why's before with these) and if we have them memorized mathmatics is much easier and quicker later on.  Another example is last year some of my children and I memorized the Presidents of the United States. Since that time whenever we learn something in American History Determination immediately connects who was president then. He slowly adds knowledge to that "hook," as the Kimber philosophy would say, and he is easily putting American History together because he has these hooks to place things in order for him. 

Maybe it is good for those of us out there who are logical learners that like things in lists and order?  At any rate it is fun for us, to other families it may be torture. We all have our quirks right?


 Another reason I like memorization is that it fills our minds will worthy thoughts and knowledge.  Five years or so ago I memorized the The Proclamation to the World on the Family, The Living Christ and The Relief Society Declaration.  It has been wonderful always having those words ring through my ears as I parent and serve others.  Not only are the words worthy that float through my mind, but as I memorized the documents I also gained a more vivid and clear understanding of what those documents meant. 

I see that with out guidance children will memorize things anyway.  It amazes me how many youth and children are expert in all pop music lyrics, they also have lines memorized from books, TV and movies.  Their heads are filled with things, but what?  I have tried to place worthy thoughts in my children's minds that their thoughts can stay focused on the good, the positive and most importantly the holy.

How do we do memorization if we don't have "school time?" It's just built into our day and various activities. We just do it has a family.


As part of our daily routine we memorize a scripture every week, we rememorize/practice an Article of Faith every week in Family Home Evening, and we also work on a paragraph or a couple of sentences from the Proclamation to the World on the Family every week in Family Home Evening also.  For years and years we have just gone over it and over it.  So we have some things built into our routine.

I should also point out that no one is required to memorize anything, and sometimes they don't.  Or some children will memorize one thing while others will memorize another.  Last year Determination memorized the Presidents as mentioned while Liberty (12) only partially memorized them, but instead she memorized the Declaration of Independence.  Usually I will say, "Do you want to memorize __________? This is why I think it would be good information to know____________.  I am going to memorize it, so if you want to do it with me you are welcome too."  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.  It's never a forced thing.  When we are walking, driving or working we will practice memorizing whatever we are interested in.  More often than not it really is in the form of oral quizzing (which is a TJEd concept).  So while some children might not consciously choose to memorize something, they are often learning it right along side of us anyway and they will pick up much of it.  Right now we are memorizing our piano pieces for our recital. 

Here are a few things some of us have memorized and why it was helpful:

• The books of all the scriptures-find scriptures faster
• Latter-day prophets-connect church history events easier
• 12 modern day apostles-easily recognize them when they speak and recognize patterns in their talks
• Christ's original 12 apostles-understand stories, personalities of 12 in the NT better
• President's of the United States-associate American History events easier with other things
• Articles of Faith-understand basic doctrines of the church
• Proclamation-Understand how important our family is
• Scriptures in general-they recognize scriptures quoted from the pulpit more easily as ones they have already learned, they know the background and can more easily understand the message the speaker is delivering (they love to catch how many Scriptures they know during Sacrament Meeting or in a Church video, there are usually two or three every time)
• Patriarchal line of the Book of Mormon (Alma, Alma, Heleman, Helaman, Nephi....)-understand exactly who is speaking/teaching when reading the Book of Mormon
• 12 Tribes of Israel-Increased understanding of most Old Testaments events
• Counties of our state-associate where things are in the state easier
• Geography locations of all types-connect historical and current events together more easily
• All the wars the United States have fought in with their dates-more association with other world events
• All major and several minor events, places and dates associated with the restoration, from the birth of Joseph Smith to the arrival of the Saints into Utah (all those things in between)-we have been able to travel to most of these places and they understand exactly what took place and why it was important. (For instance when we visited the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration site in Pennsylvania last summer they knew exactly what had happened.  When they stuck their hands in the Susquehanna River they knew who had been there and what sacred event had happened and exactly how long ago it had). They also can easily connect church events together when they learn stories.  They know if something happened for instance right after the Saints were expelled from Missouri what the Saints were probably thinking and feeling at the time.

Those are some of the things I can remember of the top of my head.  Here are some things we want to memorize next:

• The Declaration of Independence (only Liberty did it)-Liberty is continually quoting to us why something is wrong or right in government now my telling us what the Declaration says
• Address to My Children by Heber C Kimball
• Animal Kingdom
• Major Plant Species and key components of each
• Periodic Table
• Poetry
• Kings and Queens of England (we know several though)
• Constellations
• Key dates and events the occurred chronologically during each American War (We already have much of the Revolutionary War dates memorized.  Extremely beneficial!)
• Prophets and kings of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah
• Major musical movements of history
• Refined vocabulary words (thank you Misfit Cygnet)

That's a good start.  We will do many of those this year.  At least I will and some of the kids will learn some and some will learn others.  I have faith in each of them that they will be inspired to know what they need to memorize to bless their lives individually. 

If you would like to memorize things but seem overwhelmed by the ideas just start small.  The first things we memorized were what I considered core phase things.  For example the Latter-day prophets, Books of Scripture, Articles of Faith, etc.  All of these things are already put to Primary music so it'll be easy.  Time lines for Seminary provide easy access to dates, places and key events.  The seminary scripture mastery's are also easy places to start for knowing which scriptures to memorize.  I think on You Tube (I've not looked though) there would most likely be rhymes/songs for learning geography, presidents, states, etc.  It seems like they have everything on there!  Any science or history book would have dates and key events for you to study if you didn't know something.  Of course googling for a list of something is even easier.

To stop a very long post, memorizing can be a great tool that is easily incorporated into a routine.  It takes no more effort than googling a list for me.  It helps make traveling in the car easier when I distract them.  We are excited to work on new things. It has been helpful to evaluate how my children learn. I have learned that I have some that respond to lists, drills and memorization,  However, I have a very "right brained" child (Imagination age 9) has never really been interested in memorizing and has a hard time memorizing some things that my older two children have known since they were two.  Just thoughts. What are yours?

Geography Mania

If you haven't noticed this house of mine loves history and anything to do with history.  This of course includes multiple subjects which we are happy to pursue because it somehow involves history.  One of those subjects is geography.

First let me say in my house we don't have "school time."  (We have personal preparation time, work time, free time, meal time, and family time and that's about it). We learn mostly by living.  Of course that means that I have had to be creative at times in order to expose my children to things I find important. 

Now back to geography.  Geography just comes along for the ride as we learn about other topics.  We may be reading a book about World War II and as we talk about all the countries involved in the conflict we will simply look at a map/globw and familiarize ourself with the area.  Then we will go back to the story.  Pretty simple.

Another way we learn geography in our family is that we have a world map on the kitchen table with vinyl on top of it.  We have had this up since the spring and we have continued to love it.  Since there is a heavy duty vinyl covering over the top it is easy to clean up after meal times.  (The vinyl can be found in any major fabric store).  My map was free and the vinyl was less than $15 if I remember correctly.

We have many meal time discussions when Mr. Patriot is home and these mostly involve world affairs, government and history.  (Can you see why he is running for a political office?)  Having a map right at our finger tips is very helpful during these meal time conversations.  We use it a lot.

Our children also regularly ask to have "map quizzes."  They think this is the most fun game every made.  (It's easy of course to think that when you have very few toys to distract you. Thank you Headgates).  We usually play this game during lunch time, but it is also common to have them schedule a quiz during free time.  How to play? Very simple.  I ask them questions about everything and anything that can be found on a map or that has to do with a map.  I usually give a question to a child and then move on to the next one while they look or decide on their answer.  When someone answers their question I will then give them another question.  All questions are for the level of each child.

Easier questions include: Point out the 7 continents. Where is the compass rose? Find Canada, Russia, China (big countries).

Medium questions include: Where is Iraq, Chili, Italy....?, Where is the Middle East, Mediterranean Sea, Lake Superior....?

Harder questions might be: Where is the Straight of Gibraltar? What is the capital of Turkey? What mountains separate Spain and France? Where is the head of the Nile River? What is the approximate population of the capital city of Brazil? (Use the legend).

Advanced questions that have been asked include: Where did WWI start? Point out the communist countries of the world. What islands are included when you say, "Micronesia?" Explain and show the migration patterns of your ancestors on dad's side?

Our kids have loved learning geography and have begged to do this over and over.  I rarely bring up playing "map quiz," it is something they choose.  It requires no preparation on my part.  I don't have to pay lots of money for all sorts of board games to try to make it "fun" for them to learn geography (which I find painful).  Absolutely no painful workbooks required.  I think it's safe to say since they can answer those kinds of questions than they are doing just fine in geography.

If you have a husband who would rather not be inundated with "school" things 24 hours a day I would suggest placing a table cloth over your table at dinner or when company comes.  We've never done this however.  Our company is intrigued by it all and usually ends up playing and discussing right a long with us.

The Oral Story Telling Tradition

This summer I have increased my story telling to the children.  Children love to hear stories.  Today I really realized the power of the Oral Tradition of telling stories.

I shared with them the story of 9/11.  My boys were little when it happened and so they don't remember "that fateful day."  Unfortunately I have assumed that if an event happened in their their lifetime they will remember it and understand it.  Today was the day I realized they didn't know about 9/11.  So the story telling began.  I told them about my experiences that day as well as my feelings as I watched the Twin Towers crash to the ground.  I told them (as I cried) about the plane in Pennsylvania and in the Pentagon.  I then shared with them what terrorism is and how it is impacting us today.  This naturally led into a discussion about the Gadianton Robbers.  They do know what the Gadianton Robbers are and so they could make the connection.  We then went on You Tube and watched some coverage from 9/11.  It was a holy experience.

Perhaps sometimes we think that we can't tell stories because we think we need a book.  Perhaps we choose not to share stories because we are unsure that we know enough about the subject  Perhaps we simply don't think some stories matter to our children.  Perhaps we even think that story telling is what the elderly and our grandparents are suppose to do, not us.

Story Telling as been around since time began.  Tales of courage, faith, hope and love abound in every culture.  The Australian Aborigines, the Native American cultures, and Ancient Greece shared tales of the heroic with their people.  It is a way we connect with each other, a way we feel human.  We link our selves with the past as we realize that we are all really a part of a large family and those who went before us are like us.  We can began to see into the future and how our tales ought to shape those after us.

Even though the oral story telling is a wonderful link to past and present it is a declining tradition in America.  I suppose it is because we don't talk to our children as much as past generations.  (TV, radios, game boxes, sporting events, various other entertainment options compete and win our time) I think the reasons are different with in each family.  My reasons are because I'm busy, I would rather read them a great piece of literature (it is possible to do both), I don't remember too, and sadly I'm more selfish and I'd rather do something I want to do.

Oliver DeMille identifies the importance of the oral story telling tradition in Ingredient #13-Winters.    He said,

"{Winters are} the time to tell the old stories, sing the old songs, and for the younger generation to learn the wisdom of the elder."

I don't think that we need to be limited to winters in our story telling time.  I have found traveling in the car, eating meals together, snuggling in bed together, and times around the campfire to be excellent times to weave a story.  Here is a post about a tale I told one day.

Some of the things you can tell a story about include:

• American Revolutionary War tales (Paul Reverie, Patrick Henry, Valley Forge, Henry Knox, etc)
• Any other war in American History (Fort McHenry and the Star Spangled Banner, Andrew Jackson, Joshua Chamberlain, etc)
• Family History Stories (immigration patterns and reasons, pioneer stories, conversion stories, etc)
• Bible/Scripture Stories
• Church History Stories
• Stories from your childhood
• Literature stories (you condense and share the stories of Heroism)
• Fairy Tales
• History of the founding of your town and area, also include your state
• Biographical retelling of famous people
• Faith building experiences from your life

There are limitless events that we can pull from.  Retelling these stories in your own words makes them personal to you and your children.  All of these things have shaped you, your family, your community, your country and your religious beliefs and our children deserve to hear these tales.

I believe our children will need to take all these great tales of courage, faith, hope and love in order to spiritually and emotionally arm them for their battles they were sent to Earth for.  I have made a commitment to myself to tell more stories and give of myself more.

Plugged In

One of the things that I am passionate about is music.  Those of you that read my previous blog  know that I have strong feelings about music, the radio, MP3 Players, etc.  My time at girls camp has reinforced in me the need for vigilance. 

When I was twelve or thirteen I was able to attend a Regional Fireside.  What I remember about that fireside was that they talked about the destructive influence of music in our lives.  They challenged us to go home and throw away our bad music.  I went home and I did that.  I only had three cassette tapes but they weren't good.  I had gotten them from my cousins who said they were soooo good.  My cousins were very "into" music and a large collection of music.  They were constantly listening to music.  They were from California so they were "cool."

I had listened to those tapes a lot since I had gotten them.  I had memorized the songs.  That was what I was suppose to do, that is what my cousins did.  So when I came home that night and threw them all in the trash can I said a young girl prayer, "Heavenly Father I want to obey in all things.  I really don't understand why this music is bad, but I'll throw it away anyway."

After that point I simply refused to buy tapes and listen to popular music.  Growing up I certainly missed out on a great many peer conversations about the latest bands and new releases.  I simply had know idea what they were talking about.  I was clueless and I have remained clueless about popular music.

I have noticed that I have had a great many blessings in my life because I have not listened to the radio or purchased numerous tapes/CD's.  I feel that I have the constant life line of the Spirit in my life and his words are the words that run through my mind.  I can concentrate and think about divine things.  I feel peace and calm in a hectic world.

I have a friend who told me that as soon as he gets in the car and heads to work/comes home which is up to an hour the first thing he does is turn on the radio and listen.  He says that it is his way of not having to deal with things and he can just tune out of his life for a while.  This man is a great father and husband, of strong moral character and a leader in the church.  I thought it was fascinating that he recognized what he was doing.

I am certainly aware there is good pop music out there. I am certainly aware that there may even be good stations. For me it simply comes down to several things. 

• I want best not good in as much as I can in my life
• I want to be able to have the Spirit always with me
• I don't want to always be concentrating on whether this or that is an appropriate song
• I have other things I want to spend my money on
• I want to be able to ponder
• I want to fill my mind and daily thoughts with things from the scriptures and things of God versus the popular lyrics of a song that stay in my head and for some reason do not leave

What is most disconcerting to me is that so many of the popular songs we listen to have inappropriate lyrics or at least lyrics that I believe we don't want our youth listening to.  I recently listened to stake leaders sing popular songs in the evening with the youth during "camp songs" time.  I lasted through 1/2 of a song and left.  Several of my youth followed me back to our camp fire.  We then talked about the power of music.  I discussed the song we were singing.  Apparently everyone, leaders and youth, in our stake know this popular song but me.  Every one was singing enthusiastically because they loved it. 

I testified to them of greater increase of the Spirit it they would take the time to read and ponder on the lyrics of the popular songs and decide if they were appropriate.  They sang some songs to me that they all liked.  I pointed things out to them in the songs that maybe they should think about.

Here is some of the lyrics to the popular song that I walked out on:

Our song is a slamming screen door
Sneakin out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow
Cause it's late and your mama don't know
Our song is the way he laughs, on the first date
Man, I didn't kiss him, and I should have
When I got home, before I said amen
Asking God if He can play it again
Play it again, oh yeah, oh, oh, yeah
(Taylor Swift, Our Song)

I can only ask why are these songs okay?  Some songs are much tamer than this and others are worse.  However as I looked through the lyrics online to many of these popular songs what I saw was that they were all about being in love.   We live in the last days.  We are in a war, a spiritual war.  Our youth do not need to be thinking about love, dating and kissing all the time.  They do not need lyrics like that going over and over in their minds.  They need to learn about what it means to nurture, preside, provide and protect.  They need to think about their role as part of the rising generation.  They need to be aware that Satan wants to destroy them.  However if they can simply be complacent, moon-eyed, and plugged in he has won.  They will be too busy thinking about their love-struck emotions to worry about waging war.

I have seen that a lot lately with boys leaving or not leaving on their missions.  They don't want to leave or their girlfriends don't support them leaving because, "don't you understand, we're in love."  Ecclesiastes teaches us their is a time for all things, including a time to love.  We need to help our youth have their emotions in control so that they can do the right things at the right time.  I present that being plugged in all the time is not the way this will be accomplished. I say again they will be to busy thinking about love and good things to be part of the war they were specifically called upon and held back for to fight in.

That is why I challenge popular music.  Because we don't have time for it.  We are at war.

Staying Positive

I DO NOT want this post to be about whining or finding fault. What I want to discuss is what I've learned.

Have you ever been placed in a situation that wasn't ideal and at times you even considered "wrong" but felt that you needed to submit to it and trust in the Lord?  I have been going through one of those experiences....

This week my daughter and I head to Stake Girls Camp and this year I been called to serve as the Ward Camp Director.  We have spent the last several months working hard on preparations to have a spiritual and positive experience.  We've had a few bumps in the road though.

Most of the burden for Stake Girls Camp as fallen on the Wards.  We are taking care of 8 1/2 out of 10 meals and all the certification for starters.  The hard part was creating something spiritual from this overwhelming assignment: "Rewrite a Dr. Seuss book with a spiritual theme.  Base all devotionals, camp site decorations, flags, cheers, Secret Ward activities and skit around your Dr. Seuss theme."  Monday night's activity includes watching "Horton Hears a Who" as a stake.

This small calling has proven to be hard for me.  I love the Young Women's program however.  I have served in Young Women's multiple times including serving as President.  I feel there is a great war on in this world and I feel my fighting gloves come on when I get put in the Young Women's program.  Fighting gloves to combat evil and teach the young women about God's love for them and the great evil that prevails and seeks to destroy them and their role as wife and mother.  I tend to want to disregard all the fun activities and want to focus on serving others and spiritual growth.

Anyway....I have had to humble myself exceedingly in order to fulfil assignments that are completely out of my realm of comprehension.  Through this process I have felt the Lord with me.  When I have felt completely overwhelmed with coming up with a cheer for a particular assignment I have felt the Lord whisper words to me.  When I've been given a book that I was told to illustrate and Modge Podge around a Dr. Seuss theme that I needed to create the Lord has helped me.  The Lord has provided inspiration to help me fulfill all my assignments.

I have always known and I continue to know that the Lord really is in control.  He will help me through the ridiculous and provide a way to teach and testify.  I am reminded that all people in all positions in the church (including myself) are mortal and imperfect.  Good intentions can often end up going in the wrong direction.  But the Lord has a higher plan.  He knows what's going on and He will ensure that everyone learns what they need to learn and progress in whatever capacity He wants them too.  One of my lessons is to learn to submit.  I have to learn to submit even when I think something is ridiculous.  If I learn to submit in the ridiculous than I will be that much closer to submitting in the hard and terrible things that will come in the future.

One girl approached me very distraught and said, "I don't know why I even need to go.  This is so stupid.  I won't learn a thing and it will be a waste of my time."  I disagreed and promptly listed the following as reasons to go and participate:

1. Opportunity to enrich current friendships.
2. Opportunity to make new friends.
3. Opportunity to serve others.
4. Opportunity to reach out to those that are unnoticed and down trodden.
5. Opportunity to feel the Spirit as you commune in nature and notice the beauties of the earth.
6. Opportunity to obey even when we would rather not.
7. Opportunity to choose happiness even in the ridiculous.
8. Opportunity to learn from other's good examples.
9. Opportunity to learn new skills.
10. Opportunity to practice all those things we read in the scriptures about being Christ-like.

The point for me is that I will I take the opportunity to make the best of every situation in life whether ideal or not?  I ask myself, "Am I going to take this opportunity of personal growth or am I going to point fingers of condemnation (I did do that unfortunately), wonder where God is in all of this (yep) and say I above this activity (guilty as charged)?"  I have had a very large internal battle.  I have recognized my need for repentance and I have chosen to submit and trust in God.  Since I have done this I have found peace.

I hope that I can remember the lessons I am learning through this experience so that I can become the women that God wants me to be.  I hope that these lessons can help you as you sort through situations in your life that may not be ideal.

So now I asked that you pray for me this week so that I can keep my promises to myself and to the Lord! : ) 

Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel arr: Dan Coates

I currently am taking piano lessons with my children.  I have felt strongly that my children need to take piano lessons and become proficient in them.  Playing the piano is a requirement in our home.  I need to back track and say once they decide that they want to take piano lessons (which they have demonstrated by showing a deep desire over several months) that I will require them to practice daily.  Liberty (age 11, almost 12) did not start until this past fall and already she can play easy repertoire.  The boys coincidentally all started when they were 8.

Before I started taking piano lessons with them I always requested a recital piece from our piano teacher and I performed one with them.  (This goes with my parenting model that I will not require anything of them that I am not willing to also do myself).  I also think that it helps that I practice daily with them.  This fall I saw some of them struggling a little with desire so in January I started lessons with them.  This has helped tremendously in their desire to practice.  Practicing the piano is just what we do.  They are progressing well and I am pleased with their progress.  Some put forth more effort than others, but I continue to feel strongly that they need to pursue the piano.  I realize this is a scholarly activity, but sometimes the Spirit trumps the rules you know.

The You Tube video is of the piece and arrangement that I am performing in a couple of weeks at our next recital.  I love good music because it fills our soul with glimpses of eternity.

Arithmetic vs. Mathmatics

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about arithmetic lately.  Partly it is due to the fact that Determination (10) is really ready to delve into the fascinating world of numbers.  Numbers have always come easy to him and I foresee that he will use numbers a lot in his mission in life. 

It wasn't until I read this fascinating post by Karen here that I began to think of arithmetic and mathematics as two different things.  The idea fascinated me and I begin to do some research.  This was another missing piece of the puzzle in our home education.

Arithmetic is the study of numbers on a basic level learning.  Basic arithmetic includes the ability to compute numbers through addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Higher arithmetic includes decimals, fractions, and negative numbers.  Mathematics would be Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Statistics, Calculus, etc.

I realized in my mind I was treating them as the same thing.  When I disconnect the two in my mind I see clearly the skills I need to teach my children before they reach scholar phase when they will begin an in depth study of mathematics.  This study will be possible only after the groundwork of the skill of arithmetic as been accomplished.  (Much the same way that studying literature is only possible after the skill of reading is learned).

I mentioned in a previous post that I am starting to offer skill classes to those interested.  I have been asked repeatedly to teach some math classes by the boys.  I realize now that I need to focus on basic arithmetic with Imagination and Leader.  (Leader has not requested any classes yet and so he will not have them until he does request them).  Determination needs some (and has requested) advanced arithmetic work in fractions and decimals and then he will be ready to begin his mathematical studies when he is ready.

Through my study an awareness as come about what level of arithmetic/math I use on a daily level.  I realized that I do not use mathematics.  I do use arithmetic constantly.  I balance my check book, double a recipe, figure out sales tax, budget for daily needs, etc.  All the activities I pursue are on an arithmetic level.  This reinforced to me that I need to make sure my children have a solid base in arithmetic.

After this they can move on to mathematics in their life.  My husband I now realize uses mathematics.  He computes the square feet of fence needed, the amount of paint we need for a bedroom, the probability of success in our investment accounts, etc.  Mathematics is needed in his world.  I realize now where I can improve.

After doing some research and consultation with my friend who is my curriculum expert, Mr. Patriot and I have determined our curriculum choices. For basic arithmetic we will continue to use Saxon Math to gather problems and explain things.  (I do not like Singapore or Right Start Math.  I am sure they work great for everyone else but me, but my brain does not work in these math programs).  Saxon will be utilized more as a reference.  Basic arithmetic can easily be taught with out a textbook.  I will teach these basic principles in small chucks with a wipe board and pencil and paper.  Then the boys will use real life experiences to reinforce principles learned.  Since my life is full of arithmetic they will have ample opportunity to practice.

For advanced arithmetic and mathematics we have chosen to use The Life of Fred series.  Click the link to learn more about this great program.  There are example pages (link here) taken from each book.  I have seen these books and have found them exceptional.  (If math can be exceptional. : ) I tend to prefer literature and history).

I continue to love to read great posts by all of you that spring board me into ideas that will work for my family.  Thank you all.

Skill Classes

I currently have two children who are in what we call the "love of learning" phase.  This means that in their free time they choose to spend a good part of it learning.  They love to pour over many non-fiction books learning about many different things.  They are like a butterfly that flits from flower to flower landing in the subject of whatever they desire.

In the last month these two boys, Determination (10) and Imagination (9), have asked me to teach them certain skills.  They are recognizing areas that they would like to acquire skills to perpetuate them down the path of further learning.

They each have made a list of the skills classes they want to take.  Some of their requests are cursive writing, advanced arithmetic, and creative writing.  They are excited to pursue these interests.  They have asked me repeatedly to teach them, solidifying to me that they have a strong desire and are committed to learn.

I have decided that when our annual break is over (August 1) that I will offer these skill classes to them during free time.  These short 30 minute classes will be offered a couple of times a week until they are satiated in that discipline.  They can then use the rest of their free time practicing their new skills.

This will work well because I am coming out of depth phase and heading into mission phase so I do not need as much time to study.  My burst of excitement is now directed not to wanting to read and study, but to teach and mentor others.

We were able to sneak in a creative writing class a couple of weeks ago and Imagination loved it.  He has since worked on making an outline for his story and adding creative and lively adverbs and adjectives to describe events and things.

I have enjoyed watching them progress to this point.  I love to see them "love to learn."

Our Daily Schedule

I like having a schedule.  I refuse to be a slave to it however.  I find it provides the structure and motivation I need to do the things that I need to do, but I still feel I can throw it out the door when life happens.  Our schedule is always a work in progress and continues to be adapted to meet our needs and phases.  We have been happily settled into this schedule for the last six or so months and have found great success with it.

We are currently entrenched in our 6 week "Annual Break" (see TJEd ingredient) and are not following our schedule rigidly right now.  We still do all the things listed, but we are much freer on our bed times and wake up times.  We are enjoying late night campfires, working outdoors including gardening, visiting family and friends, preparing for girls camp and working hard on our 4-H projects.  We plan to keep back into gear with our schedule August 1 as our summer projects will be done.  (There's always campaigning but that is our life now).

We are fortunate that Mr. Patriot is self-employed and has a flexible schedule.  He is able to be an active participate in our home education.  How blessed I am to have such a supportive man by my side!

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about other home educators schedules through the years because it gives me great ideas. No two schedules will ever be exactly the same though. Different personalities, learning styles, and dad's work schedule all require individual adaptation.   I hope something in our schedule will spark ideas for your life.

Our Schedule
Before 8:30 AM-All family members "deslob" for day, read scriptures, say prayers and write in journals
8:30-Breakfast
8:45-Family Scripture Study, Weekly Scripture Memorization, Review Goals and Family Prayer (Dad then leaves)
9:30-Family Work with children and myself alternating to practice the piano
11:30-Read a loud and any other mom school (kidschool) items I desire
12:30 PM-Eat Lunch
1:00-Free Time, Skills Classes offered
5:00-Prepare for dinner and clean up
5:30/6:00-Dinner
6:30-Clean Up
7:00-Family Time
9:00-Family Prayers, individual reading and/or go to sleep

Narrating and Composing with the Hesitant Child

Some of us have not been doing narrating from the beginning.  Fortunately my children aren't too old to fix it!  Some of my children find narrating easy and some find composing easy while others think they are getting their teeth pulled for one or the other.  While they are doing it I feel like I'm getting mine pulled as well!

Older children can be taught why you want them to practice narrating and composing. You can list the benefits of it and they will quickly see why they need to do it.  Younger children might not be so easily persuaded.

Narrating:
For a hesitant narrator I would have them start by having them tell back some of their favorite scripture stories. They can practice being descriptive and remembering facts. They'll be very familiar with the stories so they can be confidant in their material.  I think that as they tell they will gain confidence.

You can then branch on to something physical that they are familiar with.  "Tell me the habits of our dog Hank."  My kids would find that hysterical and get quite animated about it.

After confidence as grown they may be ready to retell a chapter from a book you just read to them or they read themselves.  Perhaps reading a simple book would help.  Andreola mentions that some books don't have a lot going on in them and so they may be hard to narrate.  She used On the Banks of Plum Creek as an example where there isn't much to say.  However Farmer Boy is filled with lots of action.

I can see girls being more shy to narrate then boys.  Some times some girls are not as self-confidant and perhaps feel that they may be doing something "wrong."  Explaining that there is no right or wrong way to narrate so long as the facts are correct may help. Perhaps it may help them to only narrate with just you as the mother listening.  They might not feel so sure of themselves if they have siblings listening in.

Composing:
I haven't written much on composing yet.  But let's pretend we all know what it is.  : )  (It's just writing down the narration).

If you have a hesitant narrator than I would not move on to composing until narrating is going well. 

Once the narrating is going well then mom writes down the child's narration.  Then later the child begins writing down their own narrations.  This is where a couple of my children throw up their hands and say, "no."  These are my best narrators too!  I THINK the reason is that they don't want to go through the manual work of actually writing.  They aren't quick or real legible with their penmanship and this is where the breakdown is in our family.  Also writing is physically harder and takes more work than talking. 

My older son (age 10) is now seeing that maybe it would be good idea to work on better penmanship and as requested that he have a "cursive writing class."  I think that as he gains confidence in his penmanship AND some muscle in his writing hand that he will develop lengthier compositions.  In the meantime typed compositions could also be helpful.

So I have generalized because in our family there is a pattern.  The girls (Liberty and I) can write for hours about something, but we aren't sure about orally telling you because "we might get it wrong and people are listening."  The boys (including my husband and all the boys) can talk (hubby is a politician) and talk for hours.  However they don't like to write because it "takes too long and it hurts their hand."

To conclude this poorly written essay:

1. Girls need confidence
2. Boys need hand muscles

The end.

Just some thoughts.

Narration

I have spent a lot of time reading Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series.  It is so wonderful.  I have also been rereading Karen Andreola's Charlotte Mason Companion.  I have more thoughts running through my mind.

One particular subject I have been rereading about is the Art of Narration.  I have read about it before but have never intentionally applied for the sake of Charlotte Mason.  I have always regularly had my children tell me what they learned in Primary and what they read in their scriptures that morning.  Now I am seeing value in branching out to include narration in other aspects of our lives.

First off narration is essentially the telling back of what a child as learned either from a book, another person, or observing something in nature for example.  Children are invited to retell what they learned.  At first this my be difficult but over time children will learn to express themselves better.  In Charlotte Mason this replaced endless workbook pages (which I doubt they had then anyway).  Oral traditions of retelling are as old as time and narrations are a continuation of these ideas.  I think perhaps we as a society are loosing hold of our oral traditions and oral story-telling ability?

Continuing on with Charlotte some of the benefits included:

• Mind filled with beautiful thoughts from beautiful words or visual observations
• Helps the child to retain the information learned
• Inspires a love of learning
• Strengthens mental powers
• There is no extra test, that is the test
• Trains children to listen the first time
• Improves there ability to express themselves
• Sets them up for being excellent writers

Karen Andreola includes a helpful list in her book (126-127) that provides ideas for narration.  They are:

• Tell me about: the habits of the squirrel, Columbus' first voyage across the Atlantic, the last plague on Egypt and the first Passover, Heidi's visit with Peter's grandmother, etc.
• Explain how: a polliwog turns into a frog, a rose is pollinated, a sedimentary rock is formed, Pocahontas saved the life of John Smith, Jesus healed the blind man, the Magna Carta came to be written, how bread is made, etc.
• Describe our: trip to the shore, nature walk, visit to the fire station, planetarium experience, etc.
• Describe anything new you just learned from this chapters
• Tell me five things you learned about...
• Tell back the story (passage, episode, chapter) in your own words
• Ask or write six questions covering the material of this chapter (good for an older student)
• Draw a picture, map or likeness of....
• What did you learn about... in this chapter (The Wright Brothers, Sarah Noble, Abigail Adams, Martin Luther, Queen Elizabeth, Captain Ahab, Pinocchio, etc)

As your child grows you may write down their narration occasionally.  You may then have then copy it in their own writing to work on penmanship.  As they become more confident they will dictate their narrations on their own.  They will then correct it (learning spelling and grammar) and rewrite it continuing to improve on penmanship.  I see the vision of this because dry workbooks become unnecessary. My children would be more engaged because it is something they are more excited about. One comment I read was that it seems like "one more thing to fit it."  The response being, "no you replace and simplify." (my words)

My husband and I have pledged that we will place an emphasis on this now.  Even if I just had them narrate the book we are reading a loud it would make a difference. 

Most of this information was gleaned from Karen Andreola's book mentioned above from pages 113 through 137.

Khan Academy

Kudos to my mom who recently told me about Khan Academy.  The site containes 1,400+ videos (more added regularly) on a variety of subjects.  The videos are short, 15-18 minutes, explaining multiple subjects including basic math, advanced math, economy, physicals and chemistry. I appreciate that the videos are short, concise and free. Sal Khan has an interesting story.  This slow laptop created problems downloading a couple of videos explaining is story.  They are available on the website.

We watched a basic math video and a history video and found them informative.  I think they have the potential to be a great supplement in home education.  I have not viewed all the videos obviously so preview with care.  I noticed some questionable videos on the biology section that  you may want to pass on.

This won't be beneficial for everyone.  I am a visual learner and so this proves to be helpful for me.  It is very much a "lecture" style like in TJEd and so should be used minimally.  I see it beneficial in explaining advanced math and math based sciences.  I think that it will be helpful to me also as I work on my own scholar/depth phase in math as I lack a mentor in those fields.

Activities for Toddlers

I don't have toddlers anymore.  I wish I knew everything I know now back when I did have toddlers though!  So I'll answer a question I was asked about this in hopes that it can help.   It's what I would have done, but I can't practice it so I don't know how worthwhile the information is!

The main thing that I would do with toddlers is that I would have clear "free time" and "family work" times.  I would teach them what they are and what is expected out of the toddler when they are in that activity.

For family work time I would have them help me with all my household chores.  This takes real discipline from mom.  So you may have to work up to it!  A three year old can learn to sort clothes, fill the washer and fold laundry with moms help. They can match socks and help put small piles of clothes away.  A toddler can empty the silverware from the dishwasher.  They can set the table for dinner.  They can scrub a toilet and wash a wall.  There really is endless things they can do side by side with mom. 

By doing "real" family work and helping mom they gain great confidence in themselves and the vital aspect of self-worth within the family.  They learn discipline and increased stamina.  It is not work to them because they are with mom and they think it is fun. I did do this with my daughter and she learned to do all kinds of things as a toddler.  She is well disciplined now and works hard. (Why I didn't do it with the rest of them I don't know).

The toddler will learn colors from sorting laundry, sorting and categorizing skills from silverware, basic math when setting the table, etc.  If you spend time talking to them while you are working they can increase their vocabulary and verbal articulation skills.  You can memorize many things together.  Liberty learned the names of the 12 apostles at age two.  You can sing primary songs.  I would sing the Books of Scripture songs with them.  They  can learn anything.  They will learn if we have the patience to teach them.  Also they are tired when they are done!  Toddlers need to get worn out so they will sleep well at night and nap time.

When mom needs to address Baby's needs she can then dismiss the child for "free time."  The Toddler can learn that free time means "not bother mom time as well."  In the beginning this might only last 30 minutes, but over time they can increase the length.  They learn this is the time they get to play with their toys.  They can build with blocks, play outside if the yard is fenced, or play with whatever "lifeless toys" you choose to have.  (see the the Headgates article) I would help the child learn that they create their play and not have it dictated by hours of entertainment based toys and activities.  Children need to learn to play by themselves and not be entertained.  It is hard.  It's so much easier to turn on Dora.  Save Dora for emergencies.  With discipline though there should be few emergencies.

I'm embarrassed to say that free time for my toddlers was pretty much ALL day.  Free time included as many Blues Clues episodes as they wanted among other things.  Also they had a whole play room full of push button, cartoon toys.  They learned they wanted to be entertained.  I am paying dearly for that now.  I should have taught them that free time only happens for a couple of hours all day.  If only I knew then what I know now!

Of course you'd have times where you would read and play games.  And perhaps this time would be "mommy time."  I would also take them outside as much as possible.  This is vital.  This also wears them ou.  So when you have to be inside working on those things that can't involve the toddler they are willing to amuse themselves.

I would save the free time until you desperately need time for Baby or a shower or something.  They will be trained that they need to amuse themselves and that they need to leave you alone.  The discipline they are building is vital for when they are older and are trying to get through Shakespeare, Euclid and a host of other books and other physical and mental activities.  Training is hard, but focusing on it now when they are two and three is so much better then when they are older.  Trust me on this one!

So wear them out with work time so that when you need personal time they will be more than happy to run off and play by themselves.

If you have older children they can of course help with the toddler. They can do some mentoring of them also.

I highly recommend "Home Education" by Charlotte Mason which is volume 1 in her series, "The Original Home Schooling Series."

This is what I would do in hindsight and this is what I'm going to teach my daughter to do with her children.  I hope the information is helpful.  Please share your thoughts on activities with small children in applying these principles.