Line upon Line

Little miss always wants to help cook!

      July has been an absolutely insane month! I have been running around almost non stop, hardly home, feeling like we are doing everything and nothing at the same time.  Despite the stress, I feel like I have learned so much.  I feel like I have grown by leaps and bounds, it's been amazing.
     Here are a few of the highlights.
     Truth is everywhere.  Our spirits can feel when we find truth, our spirits yearn for truth.  Truth is found in every religion, truth is found is books, movies, music, the Earth, people around us.  When we find it we sometimes connect on a deep spiritual level.
     Blessing are everywhere, if you look you will find them.  Our car broke down Thursday.  One could look at being stranded in almost 100 degree whether with four kids a disaster, or, one could look for the tender mercies from God.  The 9 people who offered to help, the first one being a mechanic who fixed our car for the price of parts and next to nothing labor.  My car was stocked with food and water.  We broke down right next to a blocked off lane so there was plenty of room to pull over without blocking traffic.  We broke down very close to John's work just as he was getting off.  The list goes on.  Yes, it is hard to be cheerful and see the good in life when there are trials, but there are blessing, find them!  I promise it will help you see the sunshine on a cloudy day, or maybe you will learn to dance in the rain.

We did not have a risk board, so they made their own board.

     God answers prayers!  I was feeling so over whelmed.  How could I possibly find time to clean the house, Study the gospel. help the kids with school, without leaving the girls out, find time to pursue my own goals, work out, and do all the garden work that is needed?  There just wasn't time.  I knew better then to think the Lord would actually give me more hours in the day, but I needed more time.  I asked Him to help me prioritize, I figured I would have to give up a bunch of stuff.  Instead the Lord had me make one small adjustment to school.  I put learning back into the hands of my children.  They pursue their own interests, I'm always available to help of course, but the boys do it mostly on their own.  All of the sudden I had time for everything!  Gospel study is better then ever. The boys are learning more then ever so they aren't being neglected. The girls come to me for reading, help pursuing their interests, and play time. They are learning more then ever!  I have more time to clean, plenty of time to pursue my own interests, time to work out, time for gardening, time for games, and even a little time to be bored.  I even get to bed at a good time each night.  I know I don't really have 72 hours, but it sure feels like it.
     I know the Lord is mindful of me and of my little family.  He guides me in every aspect of my life.  He answers my prayers.  He is real!

Get out of the way

 

 This week I have tried to stop pushing and just get out of their way.  You might think my kids took the opportunity to just laze around the house, would you be surprised if I told you they did more "school" then ever?  Glen found a term in his book that he didn't know, sonic boom, and asked about it.  That sparked his curiosity and he started researching cars breaking the sound barrier, jets breaking the sound barrier, what causes a sonic boom, the effects of a sonic boom, and he started thinking about way to mitigate it.  Now he wants to do his science experiment on how sound travels.  He also read a book with a Comodo Dragon in it and wanted to know the effects of Comodo poison so he set out to do more reasearch.  He learned that the Comodo Dragon doesn't have the muscles to squeeze out the poison so he clamps his jaw so tightly that the poison is squeezed out and he also learned that the poison stops blood from clotting.  That got him thinking about how it could be used in medicine.
     Benjamin, my boy who says he hates to read, has spent days reading books about animals, bees, Thomas Jefferson, and bridges, and learning about his current passion, Nikola Tesla. He now has two biographies about Nikola Tesla that he is going to read. He learned that Homeschooling is illegal in many countries and that got him thinking about the freedoms we have here in America.  He is learning about WW II and budgeting because he got some new games he is excited to play.
     Both boys went to a concert with me and learned about Rogers and Hamerstien through music and narration.  While at this concert we stopped at the Salt Lake Temple North Visitors center and when they showed interest I asked if they would like to plan a feild trip to tour Temple Square.  Usually when I say the words "Field Trip" I am met with groans and moans, but this time it was  their idea because they are interested.  They are both working on writing stories and drawing.  I am also working along with them on my own art skills and drawing.  Glen gave me a really excellent suggestion that took my log from looking not quite right to looking like a real log.
     Elizabeth is excited to learn about Bees, math, reading, fire trucks, singing and dancing.  She asks me to read books about bees, tell her about firetrucks and she wants to dance and sing all the time.  Yesterday we watched a little clip with a swarm of bees moving into a new hive and then we made honey candy.  Then we talked a little chemistry and she learned how candy gets hard because sugar does that as it heats up. She also wanted to know about cat colors and we researched and found out taht orange and black coloring is connected to the X chromosome and that's why most calicoes are female and most solid colored cats are male. Of course that led to a discussion about genes and chromosomes on her 5 year old level. Abigail is spending hours drawing and coloring, she loves art.  She wants to learn ballet and sing songs.  She loves to learn about other artists and we read Pocketfull of Colors and The Noisy Paintbox again and again.
     They want to know what kind of flowers daddy bought me.  They built a boat out of cardboard to see if it would float.  They are conquering fears, gaining confidence and learning about things I never would have thought to introduce to them.  They also take opportunities that I scatter along their path.
     I see now that when I stay out of their way and watch from the background they learn so much!  I don't take over, because that spoils it for them.  They want to learn, they want to grow.  My job is to sit back and let it happen, be there to help when they ask, and provide environments and opportunities for them to learn what they want.

A Meeting with the Principle

     I've been reading a new book this week that my friend gave me.  It's life changing.  Literally.  It was given to me by another homeschool mom, and it has changed the way I look at schooling, but it has impacted so much more than school.
     I study the scriptures differently, we study scriptures together as family differently.  It has effected the way I look at teaching the gospel to my kids and they way I feel about and look at myself.  I cannot say enough good about this book, I highly recommend reading it.  You can find it, as well as Ali's other great books, here: https://www.millennialstandardpress.com/online-store (I cannot wait to read her Millennial Instructor!)
     First I want to tell you about how this book has changed the way our family studies the scriptures together.  We have tried so many different way to keep our kids engaged, learning, and relatively under control.  We have used those comic book like Scripture story books, regular scriptures, taking turns reading, listening to Daddy read, acting out what we read, drawing what we read, building with Legos or blocks what we read.  Nothing really worked for long, nothing felt right.  In her book Ali talks about principles being unchanging gospel truths.  They can be summed up in one sentence, such as "I am a child of God"  She talks about finding true principles everywhere in books, not just in scriptures.  I decided to start searching the scriptures with the intent to find principles.  It really changed the way I read and study. I was no longer re-reading something I'd read 100 times before, I was seeing a message and seeing it re-enforced again and again.  I started teaching Benjamin to study scriptures the same way.  Then I suggested we do it as a family.  Each night someone picks a principle or topic and we all turn to the topical guide or index to find a scripture or story that we feel speaks of that principle.  Some aren't in the topical guide, like "I am a child of God" so instead we looked at love, Son, Children, and searched our memories for stories that testified of this precious truth.  Benjamin chose to find the scripture in Moses where he is talking to God and then after God leaves Satan comes and tries to get Moses to worship him, but he won't because he knows he is a son of God.  Elizabeth told us a story about living in heaven and the great council in Heaven.  Glen found a scripture that spoke to him of God's love for us.  John found one about teaching children and that led to another scripture I remembered, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."  The most beautiful thing is that each night is now a discussion, everyone is engaged and no one is bored.  Because we are sharing our own thoughts and ideas scriptures and stories are shared that I wouldn't have thought of or seen the way my children do, I am learning too!  I love that Elizabeth can participate because she can pull out her picture book and tell us a story that she thought of when we gave the topic.  I feel like we have finally found the way the Lord intended for our family to study His Gospel. It is wonderful that the Lord knows all of His children so well that He can inspire us and teach us what we need for our family, even though it is different from what another family needs.
     The other life changing concept I learned from this book in about being converted.  I feel like I have truly become converted to the lord.  I am no longer a hearer of the word, but a doer also.  For me the gospel is not just a Sunday thing, it is so much a part of my life that is is woven into every fiber of my being.  Every thought, word and action is based on my testimony that God knows me and that He loves me.  Because I have become truly converted I can teach my children by my example.  They see me studying the scriptures, not just reading for a few minutes each morning.  They see me doing, as I serve others, and they see that everything reminds me of the scriptures and of my Savior, everything is a teaching moment.  What really changed my life was seeing that just like I need to be truly converted to Christ, I also need to be truly converted to Homeschooling.  Being truly converted to teaching my children is important because there is no longer an out, "If you keep acting up I'll just send you back to public school." Now we solve the problems.  Knowing that this choice is right for us and won't change means the way we learn changed, the way we look at life changed, the way we see our family and our eternal salvation changed.  Homeschooling used to be about a specific time and subject, but after being converted homeschooling became a part of who I am.  Every thought and action is based off of homeschooling.  Homeschooling has become a true principle in my life, an unchanging truth, but one that continues to change me as I learn each day.
I am eternally grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knows me and my family so well that he knows just what we need each day.  I know that he inspires me as I teach my children.  I can no longer see secular knowledge and spiritual knowledge, I see how connected they are.  We learn math, science, literature, Mathew Mark, Luke and John, all with an eye single to the glory of God.  I know He lives!  I know He loves me!  I know the Spirit testifies of the truth of all things!

Journey of a lifetime

     Four and a half years ago I started out on an unexpected journey.  Something Tookish awoke within me and set me on a path I would have never considered of before.  Homeschool.  I remember when my boys were toddlers, sitting with a few friends and they started talking about homeschool. They both wanted to and I had no interest whatsoever.  I loved school, I couldn't wait until my kids went, I just knew they would love it as much as I did.
     I won't re-visit my reasons for homeschooling, I have done that in previous posts, but I want to look forward.  Over the last 4 1/2 years I have learned so much, I have experimented with different learning styles, schedules, and ways of teaching.  I have swung from one side, unschooling or natural learning, to the other side with a hyper scheduled day with 12 different subjects, and back again.  I am seeing the Hand of the Lord in teaching me to teach my children.  `After last years fiasco trying to cram in everything I wanted them to learn I burned out so fast and the kids went from enjoying school to hating it all and fighting me every step of the way.  After a lot of prayer, soul searching, research and a little divine intervention in the form of two new friends I learned we need unschooling. I really prefer the term natural learning, after all, learning is so natural.
I began to see how my kids were learning so much just by living their lives, playing, pursuing interests and asking questions.  I began to see missed opportunities because what they were asking to learn didn't fit into my schedule or my idea of what we should be learning.  Glen's desire to play the recorder and learn to play the flute slowly died as he met with "no or not right now" at every turn.  Elizabeth's desire to learn about volcanoes disappeared before we got around to it because I kept putting it off, she also stopped asking me to help her learn to read or work out of her math book because I was always too busy to take the time to sit down to help her.
      I began to see opportunities to learn that I never would have seen before.  Hand writing took the form of writing a book, no tears or struggle.  Elizabeth planted bean seeds to see if they would grow because I said yes instead of "It's too late in the season for a good crop" She even watered right after because she had learned from watching me that seeds need to be kept moist until they sprout and form a good root system.  She brings me scriptures every morning, hungering to learn about them.  Glen began to sing, he wants to join Vocal Point some day.  Benjamin, who loves and is so good at math, but began to hate it when I made him do it each morning, volunteered to make a prime number game for me, but first he needs to learn what prime numbers are.  He is excited about math again.
     I am thoroughly convinced that the surest way to make a child hate anything is to force them to do it.  If you forced a child to eat chocolate cake very day they would hate it.  I know this, I have believed this for years, yet here I was forcing my kids to read, do math, memorize poetry, and a number of other things.  Over the summer I have watched their passion for learning rekindle because I am not forcing them to do anything.  They are learning about Prime numbers, singing,  surface tension and what boats need to stay afloat, how to plant, care for and harvest in the garden, the value of objects and ideas, how to make money, and a million other lessons.
     So now it's time to take a deep breath and take the plunge.  It's time to give up control and trust my kids to learn without me forcing it.  It's time to trust the Lord when he tells me this is the way to do it.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to drink.  I cannot force my kids to learn, but I can help encourage them, introduce them to new ideas, give them opportunities to learn and watch their love for life and passion for learning take them an their own amazing adventure in life.
Homeschool really is the journey of a lifetime.  A journey that will last a lifetime because we are never done learning.  I can't wait to see where this new journey takes us.