Classics, not Textbooks

My absolute favorite thing about homeschooling this past year has been reading classic books with the children - books that aren't boring, "fluffy," mindnumbing, obscene, silly, or useless (in my opinion.) Real, living books. I realize that the definition of a classic is somewhat subjective; everyone's classics list will be different. I have read that "A 'classic' is a work — be it literature, music, art, etc. — that’s worth returning to over and over because you get more from it each time." I also believe that true classics bring us closer to Christ. They uplift, ennoble, inspire, elevate our minds, teach truth, refine our tastes, and heighten our spiritual senses. "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." That has been the standard by which we have tried to select the books we read.

If you didn't know by now, I am very much a list person. So here is a list of the classic books we read aloud together this year:

The Cricket in Times Square
The Wizard of Oz
Number the Stars
Prince Caspian
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh
Tales of Peter Rabbit and His Friends
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Trumpet of the Swan
Little Britches
Man of the Family
Mary Emma and Company
Walt Disney (Childhood of Famous Americans series)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Sarah, Plain and Tall
The Jungle Book
The Year Money Grew on Trees
Poppy
Just So Stories
Pinocchio
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Farmer Boy
The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Door in the Wall
The Story of Dr. Dolittle
Stuart Little
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and Curdie
Morning Girl
My Father's Dragon
The Secret Garden
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Treasure Island


This does not include the shorter books we read as we studied history, math, science, art and music, which literally number in the hundreds. What an incredible journey it has been to wander through ancient Egypt, split the atom, explore Pascal's triangle, see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, lose ourselves in Mozart's symphonies, and so much more...


"A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counsellor, a multitude of counsellors." ~Henry Ward Beecher

Bring on Summer!

Wednesday was our last day of school for the year. I can hardly believe the year flew by so fast. To celebrate, we took a picnic to the park and played all afternoon. We drank chocolate milkshakes and climbed on rocks. The boys pushed each other on the tire swing. Abram went down the slide. Again and again and again. When we finally got home, windblown and sun-tired, we crashed on the couch and read The Secret Garden.

There is nothing like that feeling of the first day of total freedom, with the whole summer stretching in front of you - the anticipation and all of the wonderful possibilities....

So far, this is what summer looks like at our house:

P.S. On Thursday we had breakfast, devotional, and family work as usual. About 10:00, Isaac came to me.

"Mom, can we have school now?"

"Isaac, it's summer. There's no school, remember?"

"Oh man, I forgot! {sigh} ...well, can we have school anyway? Please?"

{See Mom smile.}

The Inner Workings of a Less-active Blogger Mind

I realize my posts have been few and short lately. And like any good “less active blogger,” I tuck the kids into bed every night, do the dishes (not really – actually, I make myself a chocolate milkshake) and think, “I really ought to catch up on the blog.”


Poof!


(Devil Blogger appears on one shoulder): But so much has happened since you posted anything substantial – how can you even know where to start?


(Angel Blogger vies for equal attention): How about Easter. It was yesterday. You still remember Easter.


Me: Yes, I should definitely post about our traditional Passover dinner, and how we remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.



D.B.: But what about chronological order? Shouldn’t you post about Isaac’s birthday first? It was on Saturday. You can’t just skip around in time like that.

Me: True… I certainly can’t neglect Isaac. And his airplane cake. And the fact that he is SEVEN!




A.B.: Great! Now you’re getting somewhere.

D.B.: You know, this wouldn't be so hard if you would just keep up. Good grief, how hard is it to post a couple of photos and write a paragraph now and then?

Me: Do you have kids?

D.B.: Nope, no little devils here. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Me: You have no idea. Get off my back - uh... shoulder.

A.B.: You tell him.

Me: Okay, where was I...? Looking at Isaac reminds me that he is playing soccer this season. He’s never played a sport before – this is a big deal. Oh, and I have to include how he scored the first goal of the season!!



A.B.: Hooray for Isaac!


Me: That reminds me – Jacob had an exciting month too. He won second place in the Pinewood Derby with his car “Firebolt 89.” What a night that was!



D.B.: Wait a minute. You’ve forgotten something. Isaac wasn’t the only one with a birthday.


Me: Yikes, am I really THAT behind? You’re right. Grace turned FOUR in February! And she reminds us of that fact multiple times a day.



D.B.: And…??? (Jeopardy music playing ominously)


Me: I know, I know… I really ought to mention how Marty lost his job three days after Christmas, but it was truly a blessing because there were a lot of things we abhorred about that job, and it gave him the time to make arrangements for his mother to move here from Maryland, and we found an apartment and furnished and decorated it from scratch,




and Marty flew out East for ten days, and in February when he got back he got the perfect job and he’s so much happier, AND it was definitely Divine timing because our new health insurance started EXACTLY 62 days after the old one ended, thereby enabling us to keep continuing coverage and….



D.B.: Snore… Nobody’s going to want to read all that.

Me: Did I ask for your opinion? Get out of here.



So you see why I haven’t posted much? It’s just too overwhelming.


I’d better go. My milkshake is melting.

Leadership Education

From time to time I receive questions about what curriculum or "school of thought" we use for homeschooling, so here you go. We are implementing Thomas Jefferson Education (TJEd), also known as Leadership Education in our home. It is not a set curriculum, but rather a philosophy - a set of principles which we follow. It is based on the Seven Keys of great teaching:

1. Classics, not Textbooks

2. Mentors, not Professors

3. Inspire, not Require

4. Structure Time, not Content

5. Simplicity, not Complexity

6. Quality, not Conformity

7. You, not Them

Some of my favorite things about this method are: There is a strong focus on teaching values and building character in our children, not just pouring information into them. It respects the age of each child and the developmental stage he/she is in. It creates a love of learning and a taste for things which are "virtuous, lovely, of good report, [and] praiseworthy." It does not push or force. (We have had NO tears or tantrums over schoolwork.) It lets children be children. There is an emphasis on learning from the real world - nature, the lives of truly great people in history, working alongside parents, service experiences, relationships, etc. Children are free to learn and grow at their own pace and according to their own inborn talents and interests. It is inspiring (for me as well as the children!) It dovetails perfectly with gospel truths. I could go on.... Studying and applying these principles with the guidance of the Spirit has done incredible things for our family.

If you are interested in learning more about TJEd, you can go to http://www.tjed.org/.

The Force Wasn't With Him

This injury was inflicted by a lightsaber in the hands of a Jedi who obviously has not received enough training.

My Very Own Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jacob made this "crown" out of K'nex and wore it for most of the day in celebration.

As we headed off to the library this afternoon, he said "Look Mom, I took off the orange piece so it wouldn't look weird in public." Good thinking.

Little Miss Personality

{Just a few recent photos of our budding drama queen}

Latest accomplishments:

*Learned to ride a tricycle

*Graduated to Primary ("I'm a big girl, now!")

*Painted pictures on her bedroom wall with a Chapstick

*Stopped flooding the bathroom on a regular basis

*Asked Mama to blow-dry her hair

*Almost mastered putting her shoes on the correct feet

*Hid an entire box of Cheerios and half a bag of frozen green beans under her bed

{Her favorite expression at the moment}

Holy Days

There's probably an unwritten rule somewhere about writing your Christmas post before February of the next year, so I'm attempting to meet the deadline.


This Christmas was different from any of our previous Christmases, in large part because our children are home all the time now. In past years, December has signaled an onslaught of events, invitations, and school-related obligations, buckets of candy brought home from school parties by the children, endless requests for toys, treats and entertainment, a focus on "neutral" holiday figures like Rudolph and Frosty, and a general lack of true Christmas spirit. I am NOT blaming public schools for this; much of it is done with good intent, and schools are by law no longer allowed to recognize Christ in Christmas. And it was easy for us as a family to get caught up in the busyness of holiday parties and choir concerts because we were expected to participate.

One of the best parts of homeschooling is that we have the freedom to choose our own focus during this sacred time of year. We had a Family Home Evening at the end of November to read and discuss our prophet's words about the true spirit of Christmas. We wanted to plan ways to keep that spirit in our home and to make this Christmas a peaceful, reverent time of worship. Our goal was to have a Christ-centered holy month.

We handpicked a few simple things we wanted to do during the month of December: plan and carry out a service project of some kind, sing Christmas songs together, read inspiring stories, enjoy spending time with family....

We also carefully selected what NOT to do: we would finish our shopping early, and limit gifts to a few useful items; we would avoid focusing on Santa Claus as if he were the center of our celebration; we would keep it simple and try not to overbook ourselves.

The results were glorious. We had a candlelight devotional every night in which we read an inspiring Christmas story from a church magazine or a message from one of the prophets. We invited a few of our ward friends who live alone over for an evening of Christmas music (the children put on a short program) and cookies. We drove around our town and looked at the Christmas lights without worrying about rushing to be on time for anything. For our school time we read A Christmas Carol and excerpts from the Little House on the Prairie books. We memorized Bible verses about the Savior's birth. We studied the life and music of George Handel. The children were speechless as we listened to the Hallelujah chorus. We talked of Christ, rejoiced in Christ, and worshipped Christ.

We didn't stress out about shopping or wrapping because we kept it simple. (We didn't have a huge post-Christmas credit card bill either!) We didn't bake tons of different cookies and deliver them to all our friends. We didn't have a month-long sugar high and cranky, overscheduled children. We didn't visit the mall Santa and then feel obligated to purchase whatever toy our child told Santa was the only thing in the world he wanted for Christmas (even though he never once mentioned said item to his parents.) We didn't feel that let-down at the end of Christmas day: "What? It's over already? But I didn't get to enjoy it!" We did have time to enjoy it. That was the best part. There was plenty of time for a classic movie like Little Women, an act of service for a neighbor, or a lazy afternoon of reading all cuddled on the couch under a blanket. And there was room in our home for the Savior.

It was the best Christmas we've ever had.

Marty and Abram

Mr. Peeps, our house elf

We brought home a live tree this year! Marty really was happy to decorate it - not sure why he resembles the Grinch in this picture.

Isaac begged to shovel our elderly neighbor's driveway every day; it was really heartwarming.

Abram sees the Christmas tree lights for the first time.

Family - it was wonderful to have all of my brothers and their families in town

Uncle Danny, the human jungle gym

(he swears he's the favorite uncle)

Eclipse (no vampires here)

Definitely worth missing a couple hours of sleep tonight. Let's hope I still feel the same way about it tomorrow. :)

Things I never thought I'd see/hear/say

...but have during the course of this semester:

"No Abram, we don't eat the manipulatives." -- Mom

"I want to learn Latin." -- Jacob

"Look Mom, it's a helium atom!" -- Jacob and Isaac, as they formed their gummi vitamins into a nucleus with orbiting electrons at the dinner table

"Is this Turkish March (by Mozart)?" -- Grace

The look on the librarian's face when Jacob asked her to help him find Homer's Odyssey.

Grace reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

'This song was written by George F. Handel." -- Jacob in Primary, when they began singing Joy to the World

"If a pound of butter costs $2.50, then each stick costs about 62 cents. Not exactly, because there are two cents left over." -- Isaac, while baking cookies with Mom

"We don't talk about killing people...except in the scriptures." -- Grace

Never a dull moment!

More Homeschool Adventures

We dissected owl pellets at our homeschool book club after reading the novel "Poppy" by Avi.

Isaac fed the goats at our friend's farm.

The kids begged me to teach them to play chess. We played several games a day for weeks.

A praying mantis we found in our backyard.
(We actually watched it eat a live beetle!)

Creating ancient cave paintings

Um, I guess we could call this P.E.?

We currently use the Math-U-See curriculum. The kids loved "building" numbers with the blocks.

The Sears tower

The Great Pyramid at Giza

Coming to a Christmas Card Near You...

My talented friend Tifani took us out for a photo shoot last week. She did an amazing job. Some of my favorites:

It's 9:19. Do you know where your kids are?

Mine snuck a hymnal upstairs to their darkened bedroom and are singing "All Creatures of Our God and King." With their best vibrato. I don't think it gets better than this. :)