I just read a conference talk by the apostle Richard G Scott on the scriptures. He talks about how memorizing scriptures is like making new friends. We usually work on memorizing a scripture each week- it usually takes us 2-3 weeks to get them down. I think I'll start listing the scriptures we are memorizing so that I remember which ones they are and we can review them more often and I won't forget what we've done.
So this week it's D&C 88:123
"See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires."
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Redwoods Vacation
We have read things about the Redwoods and we needed a vacation so that's where we decided to go even though it is a 14-20 hour drive from here (Utah). None of us had been there before. You can read the long version on my other blog: www.todoron.blogspot.com . We had a great time. Some of the kids were disappointed that they could see the tops of the trees, but it gave them perspective. The views were breathtaking and the ocean was wild. There was a big swell coming in when we were there so we didn't get to go tide pooling, but we went on a couple hikes and saw some HUGE treees-- they were so big and so tall, they figure some of them are 1500- 2000 years old!! The hikes we went on were so cool and fantasy like. It was so worth the long drive.
We also realized that our kids had never been to San Francisco since we lived there when we had our first little baby, so we decided to come home through San Fran at night so the kids could see all the activity and bustle of a big city. We've driven through Chicago before, but San Francisco is really cool especially at night. We drove across the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and drove along the Embarcadero. We looked at the sky scrapers and determined that they were bigger than the Redwoods, but not nearly as nice. Then we drove out to our old stomping grounds east of the city in San Ramon. It was fun to reminisce- those were nice carefree days for me with just one kid working in a city organic vegetable garden, giving tours, teaching classes and pulling weeds 5 hours a week and hanging out with other young moms and shopping all day. It was awesome!!!
Everybody did great. I think they learned a lot about oceans, tides, swells, forests, rivers, trees, climates, weather, camping, traveling, safety, cities, jobs, bridges, traffic, government, police officers, laws, crazy people, vineyards, Paul Bunyan, the list goes on. They all traveled well, didn't complain much, took care of themselves as best they could and we had a very pleasant trip although we had to stop for the bathroom a lot! We're all ready to explore another place, but I think we stay closer to home and do the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Dinosaur National Park, Colorado, Montana or Idaho next time! It's nice to have the kids getting older and know that they will remember these trips!
We also realized that our kids had never been to San Francisco since we lived there when we had our first little baby, so we decided to come home through San Fran at night so the kids could see all the activity and bustle of a big city. We've driven through Chicago before, but San Francisco is really cool especially at night. We drove across the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and drove along the Embarcadero. We looked at the sky scrapers and determined that they were bigger than the Redwoods, but not nearly as nice. Then we drove out to our old stomping grounds east of the city in San Ramon. It was fun to reminisce- those were nice carefree days for me with just one kid working in a city organic vegetable garden, giving tours, teaching classes and pulling weeds 5 hours a week and hanging out with other young moms and shopping all day. It was awesome!!!
Everybody did great. I think they learned a lot about oceans, tides, swells, forests, rivers, trees, climates, weather, camping, traveling, safety, cities, jobs, bridges, traffic, government, police officers, laws, crazy people, vineyards, Paul Bunyan, the list goes on. They all traveled well, didn't complain much, took care of themselves as best they could and we had a very pleasant trip although we had to stop for the bathroom a lot! We're all ready to explore another place, but I think we stay closer to home and do the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Dinosaur National Park, Colorado, Montana or Idaho next time! It's nice to have the kids getting older and know that they will remember these trips!
Homeschooling then and now
This article was written by a mom who was home schooled in 1985 and is now homeschooling her children. I really liked her perspective and I've seen a little of what she talks about just in the past ten years. We as homeschoolers would be better off to just go with what we know rather than trying to find the perfect philosophy-- just make sure your child is learning what they need to to be successful in college and life!
Here's the link:
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2011/10/homeschooling-then-and-now/#comment-332337
Here's the link:
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2011/10/homeschooling-then-and-now/#comment-332337
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Much Better this week
It is amazing how much we can accomplish when we're home to accomplish it. No more morning appointments of any kind for me except in dire circumstances-- like a broken bone or something. Art class during the day is over and the only morning stuff we have left is on Fridays for our co-op. This is the last week of soccer too. Yay!!
So anyway, everybody finished all their work, we even did piano lessons and a science experiment, which is always my goal. Unfortunately we were unable to do the enrichment reading and music and languages I like to do in group time, but I will have to clear our afternoon appointments to get that in. It's all about priorities. I won't be in charge of scouts anymore, we cleared out violin and like I say this is the last week for soccer, so I'm excited to prioritize better and get some of these more important things into our lives. Overall, I'm pleased with our performance this week. Everybody worked hard and we are on a good roll.
My husband wrote an awesome computer program to help the girls drill Latin. Now that I know how talented he is, which I knew-- I want him to write me a computer program to keep track of everybody's progress instead of doing it on paper. All in due time. In the meantime, we'll just keep plugging along!
So anyway, everybody finished all their work, we even did piano lessons and a science experiment, which is always my goal. Unfortunately we were unable to do the enrichment reading and music and languages I like to do in group time, but I will have to clear our afternoon appointments to get that in. It's all about priorities. I won't be in charge of scouts anymore, we cleared out violin and like I say this is the last week for soccer, so I'm excited to prioritize better and get some of these more important things into our lives. Overall, I'm pleased with our performance this week. Everybody worked hard and we are on a good roll.
My husband wrote an awesome computer program to help the girls drill Latin. Now that I know how talented he is, which I knew-- I want him to write me a computer program to keep track of everybody's progress instead of doing it on paper. All in due time. In the meantime, we'll just keep plugging along!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Review-- Just not home enough
This was one of those "learning experience" (a.k.a. failing) weeks. The first mistake is that I had some scheduled appointment every morning this week. They were all good and important things, but had I been more organized and had planned ahead better, I would have been able to do them all in the afternoon instead of the morning. Lesson learned is that 10 a.m. is my kids' best hour for learning and that is when we need to be working on math, Greek and Latin -- no exception. I was not home to work with my kids at that hour any of the days of the week this week. The result: no one finished all their requirements this week. They watched a lot of Inspector Gadget and they could not focus well enough in the afternoon to get their work done. They also need me to be home keeping them on task so that they will finish. So this week was pretty much a disaster as far as school goes. I made them all do some math on Saturday and that was good so that it wasn't a complete disaster and they know that they have to do math. We will definitely be doing extra math this week unfortunately. No more dentist and doctor appt. in the mornings, no more art classes or any other classes in the morning, no more being disorganized so that I have to do x in the morning. I have to be home-- I have a full time real job educating my children and my morning hours are the most precious especially for those boys.
I did print out lists for everybody this week, but it was discouraging for them because we lost our mornings. Our week is much more open this week without a bunch of scheduled appts. so I think we'll do much better. I have some serious decluttering and organizing to do. We have got to keep up on our 5 min. pick ups and after meal dishes. I can't wait to move-- it's still happening slowly, but I think it will happen. Wish me luck!!!
I did print out lists for everybody this week, but it was discouraging for them because we lost our mornings. Our week is much more open this week without a bunch of scheduled appts. so I think we'll do much better. I have some serious decluttering and organizing to do. We have got to keep up on our 5 min. pick ups and after meal dishes. I can't wait to move-- it's still happening slowly, but I think it will happen. Wish me luck!!!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Review of the past 2 weeks
It sure has been busy around here. I have got to be more organized, my printer was jammed so I wrote out on paper what each kid had to do each week, but of course, we can't find those anymore and I'm pretty sure the kids haven't completed all their assignments these past 2 weeks. I will definitely be printing new sheets and making sure they check it off with me each day before they can do anything else. This is a new week and we will start off on the right foot this week.
That being said, we have made some good progress in some areas. We finally started piano lessons and we did a couple of science experiments. I had a thermometer so we could complete our science curriculum, but the babies broke it- at least it was only a $1.60-- but it's the time it takes to go get one- not the cost so much-- hopefully we can going on that this week also. The girls are doing great with Latin with their Dad-- it is so nice for me to not have to teach that important subject. We have also been working in a pre-algebra book and the girls are getting it and enjoying it. They've been reading their history books and literature books. They've also been completing their English grammar workbooks and writing in their journals. The things they tend to forget are what we need the checklist for which is to read their scriptures, do music theory, practice their instruments EVERYDAY-- even on the weekends, and write their reports for their reading. We should get there this week I hope!!
The boys are doing pretty well and since they don't have as many things to do, it's a lot easier to do it all without the checklist, but they'll need one too- to make it easier for me to make sure they did what they were supposed to. #5 is reading pretty well and likes all his workbooks and being a big kid. #4 has made another great leap in his vision and seems to have finally taken off in his reading-- yay!! #3 has had a couple of crying tantrum episodes about how hard 3rd grade is and how he can't do it and doesn't want to, but since it didn't get him out of any work, he has learned to buckle down and just get it done.
We've had some nice group times, but we haven't implemented Spanish yet-- I'm bored with what we were doing so I'll have to figure out how to make it interesting and fun again. Although we still sing Spanish and French songs, this is why I have to get more organized so that we can fit everything in!!
Also, we had a long dentist visit filling cavities-- we need to practice better oral hygeine for sure! We also had a birthday this week, a visit with my old high school friends, a mother daughter activity in our new ward, and a swimming party to go to, art class, ukelele lessons and of course soccer practices and 5 games on Saturday. We also picked tomatoes and dried them and froze peaches and pears. I did get to clean my kitchen ceilings and the kids helped clean a lot of spots and I got a lot of papers thrown away and other stuff put away so that was really nice-- oh and my husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and we met with an architect to draw up the plans for our new house which really couldn't be moving any more slowly-- stress!!! And the power went out Sat night for almost 3 hours-- that was annoying!!!! Oh and we had colds and I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I can't wait to start exercising again!! I always feel so much better when I do.
Well- this week should be much more predictable and calm and organized-- I'm excited!! I want to see all those checklists checked!!
That being said, we have made some good progress in some areas. We finally started piano lessons and we did a couple of science experiments. I had a thermometer so we could complete our science curriculum, but the babies broke it- at least it was only a $1.60-- but it's the time it takes to go get one- not the cost so much-- hopefully we can going on that this week also. The girls are doing great with Latin with their Dad-- it is so nice for me to not have to teach that important subject. We have also been working in a pre-algebra book and the girls are getting it and enjoying it. They've been reading their history books and literature books. They've also been completing their English grammar workbooks and writing in their journals. The things they tend to forget are what we need the checklist for which is to read their scriptures, do music theory, practice their instruments EVERYDAY-- even on the weekends, and write their reports for their reading. We should get there this week I hope!!
The boys are doing pretty well and since they don't have as many things to do, it's a lot easier to do it all without the checklist, but they'll need one too- to make it easier for me to make sure they did what they were supposed to. #5 is reading pretty well and likes all his workbooks and being a big kid. #4 has made another great leap in his vision and seems to have finally taken off in his reading-- yay!! #3 has had a couple of crying tantrum episodes about how hard 3rd grade is and how he can't do it and doesn't want to, but since it didn't get him out of any work, he has learned to buckle down and just get it done.
We've had some nice group times, but we haven't implemented Spanish yet-- I'm bored with what we were doing so I'll have to figure out how to make it interesting and fun again. Although we still sing Spanish and French songs, this is why I have to get more organized so that we can fit everything in!!
Also, we had a long dentist visit filling cavities-- we need to practice better oral hygeine for sure! We also had a birthday this week, a visit with my old high school friends, a mother daughter activity in our new ward, and a swimming party to go to, art class, ukelele lessons and of course soccer practices and 5 games on Saturday. We also picked tomatoes and dried them and froze peaches and pears. I did get to clean my kitchen ceilings and the kids helped clean a lot of spots and I got a lot of papers thrown away and other stuff put away so that was really nice-- oh and my husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and we met with an architect to draw up the plans for our new house which really couldn't be moving any more slowly-- stress!!! And the power went out Sat night for almost 3 hours-- that was annoying!!!! Oh and we had colds and I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I can't wait to start exercising again!! I always feel so much better when I do.
Well- this week should be much more predictable and calm and organized-- I'm excited!! I want to see all those checklists checked!!
Monday, September 12, 2011
First Week Finished!
We finished our first official week on Friday!! It went well, although we will tweak a few things. The main thing I will tweak is to have the girls' summaries and compositions due on the Monday following the week they read their required reading and history assignments so that they can use Friday to read, but don't have to write about it until the following week. I have to buy a thermometer today so that we can do our science experiments and I have to teach piano lessons. Science and piano seem to be the 2 things that are the hardest to stay on top of. Traveling an hour away to our new ward and to our new co-op is taking a lot of time and gas money. That just won't subside until we move- probably in December. I need to get my mp3 player working so we can listen to audio books.
The girls started Latin and their dad is their teacher and he was very pleased with their knowledge of declensions, parts of speech, number, gender, conjugations, and word modifying rules. They will have to move through the Henle Latin book rather quickly and it looks like they will be able to do so and be ready for the National Latin Exam in March. This is a huge relief to see that the path we've laid out for their education is working!!
The boys got right into their program. #3 want a wii game and wondered how he could earn it, so we went ahead and bought it and told him that when he finishes his math book and passes the test, he can have it, so he worked really hard and finished the last 30 page of his math book. We'll do the corrections today and he'll probably take the test tomorrow. I'm very proud of him. #4 worked on his times tables and learned the 6s pretty well. #5 loves his workbooks and sits for a long time working on them. So this was a good first week.
The twins like being able to sit on my lap a lot while I read to the older kids. They've enjoyed singing in group time and all the attention they get since I'm not trying to clean constantly.
Also I'm reading a great parenting book that focuses on being positive and encouraging to the kids. I really needed the reminder because I think I was using their wii privilege too much as a punishment and not encouraging them to do things for the sake of being kind and good and benevolent. They really respond better when I tell them what a good worker, strong boy, kind person and acknowledge them when they are kind and loving and hard working and diligent.
So off to a new week!
The girls started Latin and their dad is their teacher and he was very pleased with their knowledge of declensions, parts of speech, number, gender, conjugations, and word modifying rules. They will have to move through the Henle Latin book rather quickly and it looks like they will be able to do so and be ready for the National Latin Exam in March. This is a huge relief to see that the path we've laid out for their education is working!!
The boys got right into their program. #3 want a wii game and wondered how he could earn it, so we went ahead and bought it and told him that when he finishes his math book and passes the test, he can have it, so he worked really hard and finished the last 30 page of his math book. We'll do the corrections today and he'll probably take the test tomorrow. I'm very proud of him. #4 worked on his times tables and learned the 6s pretty well. #5 loves his workbooks and sits for a long time working on them. So this was a good first week.
The twins like being able to sit on my lap a lot while I read to the older kids. They've enjoyed singing in group time and all the attention they get since I'm not trying to clean constantly.
Also I'm reading a great parenting book that focuses on being positive and encouraging to the kids. I really needed the reminder because I think I was using their wii privilege too much as a punishment and not encouraging them to do things for the sake of being kind and good and benevolent. They really respond better when I tell them what a good worker, strong boy, kind person and acknowledge them when they are kind and loving and hard working and diligent.
So off to a new week!
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