Scriptures 4 Kids

We discovered a great website this summer called Scriptures 4 Kids. I love it because it has 4 versions, or levels, of Book of Mormon stories for kids. There are also games, and other fun activities. I should have my kids write the review, they are on there more than I am.

Immediately following devotional we have what we call "Scripture Reading Time". The kids each get to go to a different station each day. Computers is one station and they are allowed to do things on the computer that involve the gospel, so Scriptures 4 kids has been a great addition to their scripture reading time.

Other activities that they do on the computer are, LDS.org, friend.lds.org, newera.lds.org, scriptures.lds.org, scripturescouts.com.

One thing to note about scriptures4kids, it doesn't work consistently in Firefox, so make sure you use internet explorer.

Buzzzzzz!

During scriptures this evening MaryAnn was wandering around the living room waving her finger in the air and saying "Buzzzzz" and then poking people. It was so adorable.

It made us all laugh. She never managed to get anyone on the nose, but she was just as happy to "buzz" their legs or arms.

This also reminded me of how Dad plays virtual nose poking with Ally over skype. I had heard about it, but it was so funny one day when I was in the same room as Dad when he was on skype with Ally, I was watching her on the big screen TV when Dad, started Buzzing and coming in for the poke. Ally jumped, and covered her nose, just as if she had been right their in the room with us, and not 2000 miles away in Alabama.

Not So Perfect ( but Progressing) Scripture Reading

Our daily family scripture reading isn't perfect, it kind of moves in cycles. We are fairly consistent about reading, but some weeks and months we just listen (or try to) Daddy read outloud. Sometimes, we all manage to open our own scriptures and follow along, sometimes we each take turns reading a verse or more. When things are really going well, not only do we all follow along and take turns reading, but we also have a discussion and really study and learn together.

I recognize the fact that we would never get to have the amazingly spiritual days when we just look at our kids and say, "Wow", if we didn't have the opposition of the "not so perfect" days. It's difficult to be at the height of spiritual family scripture studies with 5 kids, two of whom are non-readers, but even on the really bad days I take comfort in the fact that we are following the counsel of the prophets by reading the Book of Mormon and that we are instilling a vital habit, and providing the opportunity for testimonies to grow.

I love this quote by President Marion G. Romney

“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1980, 90; or Ensign, May 1980, 67). (“Lesson 16: Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study, and Family Home Evening,” Marriage and Family Relations Instructor’s Manual, 79)

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My Other Book of Mormon Posts.

Family Scripture Reading Posts by other bloggers.

Gospel Art Family Scripture Study by Becoming LDS

We Believe: Family Scripture Study by Mormon Women

How to Make family scripture study fun, interesting - LDS Church News

Joy, oh Joy, it's Joy School Time

I finally have a young child old enough to participate in Joy School again and I am so excited. Two of my older three were in Joy School and we had so much fun. I somehow stumbled across the book, Teaching Your Children Joy by Richard and Linda Eyre. I began reading the book and was hooked. I wanted to teach my children JOY.

I was blessed to find two experienced JOY school Mom's to join up with and we had a wonderful experience in Joy School with the other little kids in Joy School. The Joy School program is fantastic. It is all laid out so that you know what you are teaching, what stories and activities to do, what songs to sing, when to have rest time and a snack. It is structured so that although the kids are at a different house each week, with a different teacher, they are still with the same friends and having a great experience. The "JOYS" are so much fun to teach, and learn about" and more important, and taught less, than other "academic" lessons.

Here is a list of the JOYS, broken down into the 5 main areas:

Physical Joys
Spontaneous Delight
Body
Earth

Mental Joys
Interest & Curiosity
Imagination & Creativity
Order, Priorities, & Goal Striving

Emotional Joys
Trust & Confidence to Try
Family Security, Identity & Pride
Individual Confidence & Uniqueness

Social Joys
Realness, Honesty & Candor
Communication & Relationships
Sharing & Service

Spiritual Joys
Simple Faith and Receptivity to the Spirit
Obedience & Decisions
Gratitude and of Knowing God as Our Father

Most joys are covered in a module of about 2-4 weeks, except for the Spiritual Joys. Only Obedience and Decisions is covered as a module. Joy School is Christian based, but the most evidence that I remember is the Nativity Play the kids put on in December. It would be easy to portray your religion in the program. I loved having that having a group of LDS kids allowed me to talk about Heavenly Father whenever appropriate. (Maybe this is part of what led to my homeschooling).

Logistics involve rotating teaching between a group of mothers. Class is 2 days a week for 2 - 3 hours, and a group of about 4-8 kids is ideal, ages 3 - 5, or the two years before typically entering Kindergarten. The kids love going to their friends house, but also love having class at their house (except sharing toys and Moms). The cost is a $50 registration fee, and then $70 a semester to purchase the curriculum. Once you buy the curriculum you may reuse it within your own family. You get the lesson plans as downloadable PDF's, plus the music as MP3's and CD's. Once you have the curriculum you color and cut out the flannel board pieces ( I like to laminate mine) and then use them to teach the songs, tell the stories, etc. My older kids love to help color them, and I think they will enjoy remembering the songs and stories from their JOY School Years!

It's been 5 years since I've done JOY SCHOOL and I'm so excited to do it again! If you have any questions about the program, don't hesitate to ask.

UPDATE: I finally found my password for the JOY School website and it is even better than it was 5 years ago - surprise surprise. You don't have to color the pictures if you don't want to, you can get them in black and white & in color!

Sewing is Sew Sew Fun!

A few months ago I received an email announcing that Karalee was offering sewing classes this summer and I signed my daughters up right away. I knew that Rebecca would be interested because her “TALENT” at the Stake Talent show the last 2 years has involved sewing.

Rebecca made and nighttime ensemble for her American Girl doll Sariah. The ensemble includes PJ’s, a blanket, an mattress, and a pillow. Also pictured is Emily’s doll, Emily.

Rebecca models the dress that she made for the talent show in 2009. She received many compliments and wistful comments that they wished more girls learned how to sew today.

Emily was excited to take a sewing class also. Being the jealous Mom that I am I decided to ask if I could participate in the class also. I explained that I already knew how to sew but would like to get some help on zippers and hems. I was excited to be invited to join my girls in taking their sewing class. I’m sew glad that I did too.

Rebecca, Emily and I showed up for class the first day loaded down with 3 sewing machines, patterns, fabric, and iron and lots of enthusiasm. I got some great tips on how to put a zipper in and even got to practice on some scrap fabric Karalee told us that most of the work of the sewing project is in the cutting out, but that most of the problems can be eliminated if you make sure you cut your pattern out accurately. I am humbled to say that learned a lot about the importance of not trying to take “shortcuts” in my cutting that often have resulted in problems later on. After two hours of listening to Karalee explain to us how to rip fabric to make sure it is straight, how important it is to cut the pattern accurately, and the necessity of ironing as you go along ( although, we didn’t iron our pattern pieces) both girls had their skirts cut out.

Our second day of class we got down to the business of sewing. The girls got to practice going straight, doing zig zags, finishing edges, and finally they got to sew the side seams in their skirts. I was glad that there was just the three of us in the class because we got a lot of individual attention, and I knew enough to be able to help out my girls part of the time.

As we were sewing we also discussed our family tree and determined that we were both related to Wilford Woodruff through his wife Sarah Brown. I also was able to begin to explain why I wanted to be part of the sewing class. I explained it as being part of our HOPE CHEST JOURNEY. The Hope Chest Journey was conceptualized from history by Donna Goff and is about preparing daughters to become wives and mother’s. I love how Donna says this,

“All the while she was preparing her hope chest, the women in her life were preparing her, chatting as they worked, passing along a large body of knowledge and skill, incidentally, from one generation to the next, and building bonds of community support, kinship, and sisterhood. These young girls learned about relationships, parenting, family life, recipes, home nursing, and so much more, through listening to and participating in conversations with the women in their lives. Many of the women in this community were informally helping the young girl to prepare to become the queen of her future home.”

I hadn’t even told me girls about the Hope Chest Journey, they got their introduction to it as they listened to me explain it to Karalee.

We have however, already begun our journey, we just didn’t have a name for it. In 2004 I invited my Grandmother to teach my kids to sew. We began with making cute little stuffed animals out of felt and plastic canvas designs. At this time Emily was 5, Rebecca was 6.5, and Isaac was 3.5. They loved having Great Grandma Glasgow come over every Tuesday morning for sewing lessons. Believe it or not, but they all sat quietly at the table and sewed for almost 2 hours each week.

The kids all chose to give Bonnie and Tyler an animal for their wedding present.

The following summer we looked forward to sewing with Grandma again. This year we progressed onto embroidery, and Rebecca (as the eldest(7.5) started on an embroidered pillowcase. Grandma was making one, and Rebecca was making a a matching one. Unfortunately, this perfect example of a hope chest item remains unfinished, because Grandma passed away that November. We have fond memories of our times sewing with Grandma, and my only regret is that I didn’t document the stories that she told us those 2 summers as we sewed together.

And now back to our sewing class. It took us several extra hours on Thursday to finish up the girls skirts, but Karalee hung in their with us and we finally got them done. The girls outdid themselves. I was worried that after 2 hours they would have had enough of sewing each day, but they hung in their and were still happy and energetic and the end of a four hour session. I should have remembered how good they did all those years ago with Grandma and I wouldn’t have worried. Karalee said she was impressed with how happy and fun to work with the girls were. They also enjoyed working with her and telling her all about their American Girl dolls ( who came to class as well).

As I was quietly working on my own projects I was thinking about all the different lessons that could be learned from sewing, like how the little things do matter, how to be patient, to do it right, or do it again, so that in the end you have a product that you are happy with and enjoy wearing, the importance of modesty and beauty, the joy of wearing something that you chose and made yourself. The girls asked me if sewing was cheaper than buying clothes and and we had a discussion about cost and “fair trade” items, but I didn’t even factor in all the other little lessons, traditions, and love that sewing stitches right into the clothing that we wear.

This is just another step on our Hope Chest Journey, and hopefully only the first of many sewing classes that we take from Karalee, because I know I learned a lot, and I hope that my girls did also, and it wasn’t all about stitching.

Liberty Day Parade

We attended the Liberty Day Parade this morning, and I was really disappointed. I remember attending the parade in years past and it being a fantastic event with Marching Bands, horses, scout groups political groups, and business groups, fire engines, clowns, and much more.

The best part of today's parade was cultural groups, the Scottish Bagpipers, the Koreans, and the Hare Krishna's. I think that the groups that take the time to learn about their religious, cultural, and family history realize what a great place america is to life. To many of the rest of us are complacent.

There were a few other groups that had a good turn out, and these were the groups that are taking the time to learn about the history of this great country, the constitution, and the founding fathers. They are the one's that realize how far our country is moving away from the constitution that has made us great. I don't know the name of all those groups but some of them were representing the 9-12 project, Boise Tea Party, and Idaho Tea Party, and and Freedom from Tyranny group. These groups had some nice floats, people dressed up as founding fathers, a representation of George Washington's Prayer at Valley Forge, and another float had Benjamin Franklin and Davy Crocket.

We as a People need to show our support for the this country, we need to come out to the TEA Party's, we need to participate in the parades that celebrate this great country and the founding father's and all that they have done for us, and recognize the veterans that have served our countrys, and the soldiers that are currently training and protecting our country.

In an effort to do my part I am going to give away a copy of the book, The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen. This is the book that Glenn Beck has been recommending that everybody read to learn more about how our country was set up. I haven't finished reading the book, but wow, what a great book. Read this book, share it with your friends, and enjoy discussing the principles with them, and then go out and help save our country. You can buy the book from the NCCS - order 10 or more copies and you can get it for $5 each and then you can share them with your friends. To read more about this check out my blog post The 5000 Year Leap.

To win a free copy of The 5000 YEAR LEAP post a comment telling me what you did to Celebrate the 4th of July and link to your blog if you have one. Then check out my sister's post about the Declaration of Independance and see the need video that she posted.

Summer Is Here!

Spring just flew by - right from Easter Eggs to Summer Break. Ok, so summer break for a homeschooling family isn't much different than a school day, except just a lot crazier. They kids (and the Mom) are ready for a change of pace, so we put down pencils and pick up different tools. I'm thinking paintbrushes, rakes, shovels, sewing needles, etc.

Right now the girls are busy getting ready to go to Jubilation - a huge girl scout campout. They are very excited - I wish I was going with them, it sounds like a lot of fun. The following weekend the boys are headed out for the annual Father's and Son's campout. Last night Isaac informed me that I needed to go on a camping trip with him so we could "spend more time together" and fish. I'm not the fishing type, although I do really enjoy fishing.

I'm ready for so more one - on - one time with my kids as we relax and play and learn at a slower pace this summer.