The logic of a 3-yr-old

As we sat down to dinner last night my 3-yr-old pointed to the enchiladas on the table and said, "I don't like that. It tastes yucky and I hate it. What is it? I hate it."

I replied, "You don't even now what it is. How can you hate something if you don't even know what it is?"

"Because they aren't brownies," was the response.

He had me there.

I can never get a 'good' picture of him because he always has to make some sort of silly face.

Scripture Power

As a family we are trying to do better reading our scriptures daily. We now put it first in the day instead of shunting it to "whenever we have time", which is never.

To enlist the aid of my children we have instituted Scripture Power Hour. There is a children's song we sing in church, written by Clive Romney, that goes:

Because I want to be like the Savior, and I can,
I’m reading His instructions, I’m following His plan.
Because I want the power His word will give to me,
I’m changing how I live, I’m changing what I’ll be.

Scripture power keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture power is the power to win.
Scripture power! Ev’ryday I need
The power that I get each time I read.

I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn.
I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn.
I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord,
And fight my daily battles, and win a great reward.

Scripture power keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture power is the power to win.
Scripture power! Ev’ryday I need
The power that I get each time I read.

My children love this song and are excited every day to get their very own Scripture Power. We start with a family prayer, then we read from one of the books which explains various topics of our religion (Gospel Essentials). Then we read from the scriptures together and discuss it. After that the two older boys read their own scriptures individually. I read some illustrated scriptures to my 6 and 3 year old. Then I dismiss the 3-yr-old and have my 6-yr-old read to me.

I've made a special program for him since he's not a fluent reader yet. I take the verses we are going to read that day and put them into a Word document. I enlarge the font to 16 or so and then color-code the words. If the words are BLUE he reads the words to me. They are words he knows, sight words or words that are easy to sound out. Words in RED are words that we will be learning together. For example, if the word "things" appears 5 or 6 times on a page I'll turn it red and tell him "This word is 'things'". After reading it a few times on that page he's got it. Words in BLACK are words that I read to him.

It's been amazing to see his confidence grow and to see how quickly he's learning new words. I only create a few pages ahead at a time, because he picks up new words all the time so what was once red or black, soon becomes blue.

You can view a sample here.

After I read with him, all the kids are dismissed to do whatever they want while I have my own study time. The rule is they can't interrupt me. I have explained that when I have Scripture Power I am a better mom and they are learning to respect the need for a parent to have time to themselves. I'm hoping that since it is a sacrifice for them to not bug me it will teach them the importance of feasting in the Word.

Thus far it's been a wonderful way to start our day.

On selecting books

I am reading in a lovely book entitled Mothering With Spiritual Power by Debra Sansing Woods. She had some excellent thoughts on establishing a house of learning. Some of these scriptures come from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, books of scriptures we Mormons read along with the Bible. While some of you are not Mormon and may not necessarily view these books as Truth, I think they still have value for assisting in evaluating what books may be best for reading in your home.

I particularly like the questions she uses to discern whether something is worthwhile. (I've added bold or italics to emphasize those points I feel are particularly helpful.)

Will this help my children and me to grow closer to Heavenly Father and his Son?
Will we appreciate God’s creations better after reading this?
Will this help my children and me understand and love our brothers and sisters more?
Will we be better children of God because we’ve read or studied this?
Is the gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of our learning?

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

D&C 90:15
And set in order the churches, and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people.

D&C 88:118
…seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

D&C 88:119 (this is one of my all-time favorite scriptures)
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

2 Nephi 9:29
But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

Thirteenth Article of Faith
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

“I should like to suggest that you follow that injunction given by the Son of God. With all of your learning, learn of him. With all your study, seek knowledge of the Master. That knowledge will complement in a wonderful way the secular training you receive and give a fullness to your life and character that can come in no other way.” President Gordon B. Hinckley

My New Life - A video you don't want to miss

A beautiful video that really helps you appreciate what you have and to enjoy your loved ones every day. This has helped me refocus on the blessings I have and privilege it is to be a mother.

My New Life

Mother's Day Mayhem

Two fun stories about Mother's Day. My 6-yr-old has his first loose tooth and is beyond excited about it. We had friends over for dinner and the boys were off playing when my son ran up to me, literally jumping up and down with joy. "My tooth came out! My tooth came out! I lost my first tooth! Josh pulled it out with the cape."

Yes, his friend had put a cape in my son's mouth and yanked really hard in an effort, conceived by both of them, to get the tooth out. It worked and the tooth went flying. We were crawling around on our hands and knees for 15 minutes trying to find the tiny thing.

His older brothers helped him decorate the envelope for the Tooth Fairy. It read, "Ten bucks please. Will pay you back with interest."

My mom told me the next story about one of my sisters. She is trying to potty train her 3-yr-old son with some success. He'll pee in the toilet, but prefers not to poop. Such is his aversion to pooping in the toilet that he hadn't done any since Thursday and was clenching his butt cheeks tightly to make sure nothing came out.

Well, a big part of the family was over at my mom's for dinner when my nephew decided he couldn't take it any more and yelled that he needed to go NOW. My sister ran him into the bathroom where he exploded all over. She had to change him then clean up the mess. He was so keyed up from all the excitement that he wet his pants so she changed him again, thus running out of clean clothes for him. She handwashed everything and threw it in the dryer while he sat naked on a chair. Then he pooped on that chair. She had to clean it up. Another 20 or so minutes later and he proudly announced that he wanted to poop in the toilet. And did. Mom estimated that my sister spent over an hour cleaning up poop.

Happy Mother's Day to you all, especially those moms who are potty training!

Doing it all

One of my good friends will start homeschooling this summer. She told me that she is starting to second guess herself and worry that she can't do it all. Namely, she said my lists are making her feel like she'll never be able to read all those books. My advice to her, and anyone else out there is, DON'T. Don't read them all. These are just lists with ideas. Yes, I've looked at reviews and researched them and decided these were the best ones (that I could find) for my family. But we WON'T be reading them all. We read what we can find at the library, or from our bookshelves. If we really, really want to study something and can't find any books locally we might buy a few. But we will NOT be reading them all. They are suggestions. (For example, we're studying American History right now. We just finished Paul Revere. Of the 34 books listed thus far, we've only read 24 of them. Some we'll read the next time around or fit into bedtime stories. Some we just dropped.)

The lists are my GENERAL PLAN, as in, it will probably change. We start reading and move on when we're ready. I don't worry about reading a set number of pages a day. I just make sure we read.

When we were first married my husband worked for a company cleaning carpets. His boss explained that the time they take driving to appointments, measuring the rooms, talking to the customers, etc., while important, did not pay. It was the actual cleaning of the carpet that earned money. He encouraged them to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible and to work the hardest at cleaning the carpets. "Keep the wand moving!" Keep cleaning the carpet because that's what brings in the money.

We've applied the same principle to our homeschool. Keep moving forward. Keep reading. Keep learning. Does it matter if you "fall behind" your plans? No. Will your children suffer terribly if they only make it through ancient history twice instead of three times? No. Everyone has gaps in their education. Everyone. Public schooled, private schooled or homeschooled. Everyone has gaps. So relax and understand that your homeschooled child will have gaps. Just focus on what is most important to you first and the rest will fall into place.

Here are my thoughts about "scheduling".

This is what my day looks like (normally, mostly, not always)

We wake up, eat breakfast and get dressed for the day.

We start school between 9 and 11.
This is what we do ------
Pray
Read the scriptures (right now it's the Old Testament)
Idiom of the day
History - we read whichever book we're on, whichever page, for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Picture book or song time geared towards the Littles. 10 minutes
Science - we read whichever book we're on, whichever page, for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Go upstairs for math.
The two Littles run off and play. I work with the two older boys for 15 to 20 minutes.
The Olders then work on handwriting/Explode the Code/Grammar or play or do chores.
I work with 6-yr-old. We do math (about 10 minutes), reading (10 minutes) and handwriting (5 minutes)
We break for lunch.

After lunch----
I read from our Read-aloud book. 10 to 15 minutes
We do our Elective (composer, artist, poetry, etc - 5 to 10 minutes)
I work with each older boy individually on reading/spelling (about 30 minutes each). Littles play with the older boy who is not working with me.
Then they play, I relax or clean or hide in the bathroom and cry. Depends.

It's taken me a while to get to this point of just going with the flow. I thought I had to fit so many things within terms or semesters or weeks or whatever. I felt like if I wasn't finishing something "on time" I'd failed. But those are false deadlines. They have no real meaning in life. Some states require a certain amount of days for school. They usually don't tell you how to structure each day though. You get to decide that. Relax. Just keep moving forward. Keep the wand moving.

Ancient Europe including Greece and Rome

A list for Ancient Europe, up through high school. We've read quite a few of these so the reviews are at Goodreads. Where a book is listed under 'we don't want to use again', that means I've read it and don't want to use it again! Some of the books for high school I want to read first to make sure we can discuss anything I may not agree with philosophically or religiously.

ANCIENT EUROPE

Baldwin’s Famous Stories available at www.mainlesson.com

Monument Builders
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 36-37
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 122-123

Minoans
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 38-39
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 124-127

Mycenaeans
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 38-39
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 128-131

Greece- 1100 BC to 146 BC
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 40-41
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 154-161
CHOTW (Child’s History of the World) 91-130

Elementary
Books to use again
First Marathon: The Story of Pheidippides - Susan Reynolds
Great Alexander The Great - Joe Lasker
Hour of the Olympics - Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House)
Theseus and the Minotaur - C.J. Naden (not the best though – try Spinner book first)
Trojan Horse - Emily Little

Books we don’t want to use again
Favorite Greek Myths - Mary Pope Osborne
Greek Myths - Geraldine McCaughrean
Growing up in Ancient Greece – Chelepi
Parthenon - Elizabeth Mann
Roman Twins - Roy Gerrard
Theseus and the Minotaur - Warwick Hutton
Trojan Horse - David Clement –Davies
Twelve Labors of Hercules – James Riordan

Books we want to try to find
Adventures in Ancient Greece - Linda Bailey
Alexander the Great: The Legend of a Warrior King - Peter Chrisp
An Ancient Greek Temple: The Story of the Building of the Temples in Ancient Greece - John Malam
Ancient Greece - Louise Schofield
Ancient Greeks (Elite) - Nicholas Sekunda (more for visual)
Army of Alexander the Great - Nicholas Sekunda (more for visual)
Asterix at the Olympic Games - Rene Giscinny (many more Asterix books if kids like them)
Brave Three Hundred - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Conqueror and Hero: The Search for Alexander - Stephen Krensky
Damon and Pythias; and A Laconic Answer (Greek)- Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Discoveries, Inventions and Ideas: The Ancient Greeks - Jane Shuter
Eureka! - Baldwin's 30 More Famous Stories (287 BC - Archimedes)
Flying Horse: The Story of Pegasus - Jane Mason
Greek Hoplite - Martin Windrow (more for visual)
Greek Hoplite - Nicholas Sekunda (more for visual)
Greeks (Footsteps in Time) - Sally Hewitt (crafts and short descriptions)
In Search of Knossos: The Quest for the Minotaur's Labyrinth - Giovanni Caselli
Jason and the Argonauts - Felicity Brooks
Jason and the Golden Fleece - Claudia Zeff
Modern Rhymes...Greece By Susan Altman
Monster in the Maze: The Story of the Minotaur - Stephanie Spinner
Mr. Semolina-Semolinus: A Greek Folktale - Anthony Manna
Paper Through the Ages - Shaaron Cosner
Parthenon - Peter Chrisp
Run With Me, Nike - Cassandra Case
Spartan Army - Nicholas Sekunda (more for visual)
Sword of Damocles (Greek) - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
World in the Time of Alexander the Great - Fiona MacDonald
Usborne Greeks
You Wouldn't Want to be in Alexander the Great's Army - Jaqueline Morley
You Wouldn't Want to be a Greek Athlete - Michael Ford

Middle School
Books to use:
Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad – Rosemary Sutcliff
Wanderings of Odysseus – Rosemary Sutcliff (sequel to Black Ships)
Alexander the Great - Gunther (336 BC)
Alexander the Great - Robert Green
Archimedes and the Door to Science - Jeanne Bendick
Children’s Homer -- Padriac Colum
Cupid and Psyche - M. Charlotte Craft
D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths - Ingri D'aulaire
Exploits of Xenophon - Geoffrey Household (354 BC)
Famous Men of Greece – John Haaren (online, Baldwin Project - also Greenleafpress.com guide)
Gods and Goddesses of Olympus - Aliki
Golden Days of Greece - Olivia Coolidge (time of Pericles)
Golden Fleece: And the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles - Padraic Colum
Greek Gazette - Paul Dowswell (Newspaper series)
Greek Gods and Goddesses - Geraldine McCaughrean
Greek Gods and Heroes - Robert Graves
Greek Myths for Young Children – Heather Amery
Greek News - James Putman (528 to 326 BC)
Hittite Warrior – Joanne Williamson
How Would You Survive As an Ancient Greek? - Fiona MacDonald
I Wonder Why the Greeks Built Temples – Fiona MacDonald
In Search of a Homeland - Penelope Lively (story of the Aeneid)
In Search of Troy : One man's quest for Homer's fabled city - Giovanni Caselli
Librarian Who Measured the Earth - Kathryn Lasky
Plutarch's Lives - Clough (begin reading a little every day or once a week from here on out)
Robber Baby: Stories From the Greek Myths - Anne Rockwell
Spartan - Caroline Dale Snedeker
Tales of the Greek Heroes – Roger Green
Theras and His Town - Caroline Dale Snedeker (Greece)
Trojan War - Olivia Coolidge
Twelve Labors of Hercules – Georges Moroz

High School:
Aeneid - Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
Aeschylus - translated by Richmond Lattimore
Greek Way - Edith Hamilton
Histories - Herodotus, translated by Selincourt
Iliad - translated by Richmond Lattimore
Last Days of Socrates - Plato, translated by Tredennick
Odyssey - translated by Richmond Lattimore
Republic - Plato, translated by Waterfield
Sophocles - Grene and Lattimore
Till We Have Faces - C.S. Lewis
Trial and Death of Socrates – translated by Benjamin Jowett

Scythians - 700 BC to 106 BC
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History162-163

Macedonians
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 42-43

Etruscans
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 44-45

Romans - 750 BC to 250 AD
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 46-47
Time Traveler 66-96
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 184-195
Child’s History of the World 131-179

Elementary
Books to use again
Detectives in Togas – Henry Winterfeld
Mystery of the Roman Ransom - Henry Winterfeld (sequel to Detectives in Togas)
Hannibal and His 37 Elephants - Marilyn Hirsh (Carthage to Rome)
Pompeii: Buried Alive – Kunhardt (79 AD)
Vacation Under the Volcano - Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House)

Books we don’t want to use again
Roman Twins - Roy Gerrard
Rome Antics - David Macauley

Books we want to try to find
City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction - David Macaulay
Roman Colosseum - Elizabeth Mann
Roman Colosseum - Fiona MacDonald
Romulus and Remus - Anne Rockwell, also try by Geraldine McCaughrean
See You Later, Gladiator - Jon Scieszka
So You Want to Be a Roman Soldier - Fiona Macdonald
Story of Regulus - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Usborne Romans
Who Were the Romans? (Usborne Starting Point History) - Phil Roxbee Cox
You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Gladiator - John Malam
You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Soldier - David Stewart

Middle School:
Alexander and Bucephelas; and Diogenes (Greek) - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Ancient Rome!: Exploring the Culture, People & Ideas of This Powerful Empire - Avery Hart
Ancient Rome: The Nature Company Discoveries Library - Paul Roberts (Time Life Books) (for visual)
Androcles and the Lion - Dennis Nolan
Androclus and the Lion (Roman) - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Asterix the Gaul - Rene Goscinny
Asterix the Gladiator - Rene de Goscinny
Augustus Caeser’s World – Genevieve Foster (44 BC to 12 AD)
Beric the Briton: Roman Invasion - G. A. Henty
Bronze Bow – Elizabeth George Speare (time of Jesus)
Buried City of Pompeii: Picturebook (I Was There) - Shelley Tanaka
Caesar's Gallic Wars - Kate Gilliver (58-50 BC)
Calvaryman – Peter Conolly (prequel is The Legionary)
Cincinnatus - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Cornelia's Jewels - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
Early Roman Armies - Nicholas Sekunda (visual)
Famous Men of Rome – John Haaren, edited by Cynthia Shearer
For the Temple – G.A. Henty
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine – Jeanne Bendick
Gladiator - Richard Watkins
Going to War in Ancient Times - Moira Butterfield
Growing Up in Ancient Rome - Mike Corbishley
Hannibal - Robert Green
Hannibal and His 37 Elephants - Marilyn Hirsh (Carthage to Rome)
Horatius at the Bridge - Baldwin 50 Famous Stories
How Would You Survive as an Ancient Roman? Anita Ganeri
Legionary – Peter Conolly (sequel is The Calvaryman)
Modern Rhymes...Rome By Susan Altman
Outcast - Rosemary Sutcliff (Roman Britain)
Roman Army - John Wilkes (visual)
Roman Colosseum - Don Nardo
Roman Fort – Fiona MacDonald
Roman News - Andrew Langley
Roman Record - Paul Dowswell (Newspaper series)
Science in Ancient Rome
Triumph for Flavius - Caroline Dale Snedeker
We Were There With Caeser's Legions - Robert Webb
Young Carthaginian-The Times of Hannibal - G. A. Henty

High School:
Ben Hur – Lew Wallace (read first)
Beyond the Desert Gate - Mary Ray (sequel to the Ides of March)
Building History: Roman Roads and Aqueducts - Don Nardo
Discovery of New Worlds - M.B. Synge
Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliff (117 – Roman Britian)
For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem - G. A. Henty (70AD)
I, Claudius - Robert Graves (10 BC to 54 AD - Rome, also a movie)
Ides of April - Mary Ray (Roman w/Chrisitanity - sequel is Beyond the Gate)
Lantern Bearers – Rosemary Sutcliff (450 – after Silver Branch - Roman Britain)
Last Days of Pompeii - Edward Lytton
Lives Of Famous Romans - Olivia Coolidge
Julius Caesar and Ancient Rome in World History - James Barter
On the Shores of the Great Sea - M.B. Synge
Plutarch Roman Lives – translated by Robin Waterfield
Quo Vadis? - Henryk Sienkieicz, W. S. Kuniczak (read first)
Silver Branch – Rosemary Sutcliff (sequel to Eagle of the Ninth)
Sword at Sunset – Rosemary Sutcliff (sequel to Lantern Bearers – Roman Britain, start of King Arthur)

Celts - 800 BC to 50 AD
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 48-49
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 182-183

Barbarians
Children's Atlas of Civilizations 50-51
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History 194-195,

Activities

1. Watch Ancient Aegean by Schlessinger Media

Greece
1. Use activities from Ancient Greece!: 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience This Wondrous Age - Avery Hart

2. Make a scroll. Glue length of paper to 2 dowels. (Paint to look old first if desired and glue decorative knobs on end). Decorate with Greek alphabet.

3. Make a pot out of clay or playdoh.

4. Make a mask (from the theater) using poster board, yarn, dyed pasta, etc.

5. Olympic games including wrestling.

6. Run a marathon.

7. Reenact a battle or Horiatus at the bridge.

8. Greek feast - pita bread, caesar salad, barley, grape juice, baklava, hummus,

9. Watch Ancient Greece by Schlessinger Media.

10. Write on a wax tablet or use shortening hardened in fridge (on a margarine lid).

11. Carve a stone sculpture out of Ivory soap.

Rome
1. Make bracelets and armor like the Romans wore.

2. Design an aqueduct.

3. Make 'Hannibal's Elephant Ears' to eat.

4. Build a catapult. http://www.knightforhire.com/catapult.htm or buy from Love to Learn

5. Roman feast. Eat with fingers the use wet towel to clean. Lower class ate bread. Upper bread, meats, fruits, olives.

6. Build model of Pompeii and blow up Mount Vesuvius.

7. Watch Ancient Rome from Schlessinger Media.

8. Write on a wax tablet or use shortening hardened in fridge (on a margarine lid). Would be especially good for Rome since Detectives in Togas talks about this a lot.