Ingredients 2-5 "The Phases of Learning"

The next few ingredients go  hand in hand,  so I'm going to try and describe them together as well as I can.  They are as follows:
2- Weeks
3.- Mornings
4.- Kidschool
5.- The Bean Counter Game

What the Demille's suggest to do, is to plan your life a week at a time.  They say it can get overwhelming when we plan too far in advance.  There are some things that we need to plan ahead,  but I think generally this is true.  Also,  we try to hold a weekly meeting with the kids to see what they are working on, and what else they need to work on.  This way we can fix things one week at a time.  It is a great tool.

The Demille's say that mornings are the ideal time to plant the seeds of learning in your kids, and so we try to use our mornings effectively.

Kidschool:  This is my favorite.  The Demille's call this Kidschool,  because when kids are about 12 years old,  they begin to transition into "The Scholar Phase".  So,  they no longer have to participate in "Kidschool",  because they have their own things that they need to work on for their own personal studies and mission.  I already see this in Dallin,  So,  I tell him he can read or work on his goals during kidschool,  but he's not in full Scholar Phase,  so he usually loves to participate in Kidschool or "Family School"  As we call it.  

This is where you share what is yours with your kids, through inspiration.  As they see what inspires you to learn and grow and you share it with them,  they want to do the same.  This is a great tool in learning together as a family.  I also use this time to give them ideas and suggestions on things that they can work on throughout the day for writing.  We are still working on this,  but my goal is to use kidschool each day to inspire them in writing and math as well as other topics that I am interested in sharing with them.

The Bean Counter Game,  is a great tool that we use.  We have a jar that we fill each time we do kidschool and kids are listening, and when the jar is filled, we have a fun family day.  Right now they want to go to Funquest,  a game place for kids.  It works great,  and helps the family work together towards a common Goal.

I'm going to share with you what I am using for Kidschool this year.  In our family,  we call in "Family School".  I will share with you in a later post how I plan this,  but,  The Demille's say to plan 6 months at a time,  because 1 year is too long. So, that is what I do.

We kind of take a Summer break,  and during this time we just read random books around the house and from the library.  During this time I take mental note,  of what I am interested in and what my kids are interested in and I try to find resources for our kidschool for the next 6 months.  Then I take a day or 2 and have Justin take the kids so that I can plan,  and I pray and brainstorm and figure out what it is I need to share with my kids over the next 6 months.  We don't always stick to a rigid plan,  but I feel that if I have a plan,  I feel more secure.

"If you fail to plan, You Plan to Fail"

So,  here goes my list of what I am going to share with my kids over the next 6 months (I have my plans divided into days,  because I like to organize my thoughts this way):

Mondays:

My Gospel Standards

Copywork:

Scripture of the Week

I have read and studied extensively about Charlotte Mason.  She was an amazing educator that a lot of homeschoolers use her approach.  I love her ideas, and so I try to use these ideas for "Family School".  One of her ideas was copywork.  Copywork,  you take a scripture or a poem and have the kids learn to copy it.  This teaches them grammar, spelling and handwriting.  It is a great tool.  We have a scripture of the week that goes with a gospel standard.  

I read an article in the Ensign and was inspired to study one gospel standard with my kids each week.  So, this is what we do on Mondays.

Tuesdays:

History/ Grammar Rule of The Day

I love "The Story of the World" by Susan Wise Bauer.  This is a book that you can just pick up and read and have great discussions about history.  This year my kids all seemed to be interested in the middle ages.  So, I am excited to learn more about them with the kids.  We follow a loose classical schedule as outlined in "The Family School"  from Latter-Day Learning. 

I also,  use a whole lot of books from the library.  However,  I also have some great resources on hand to dig deeper into the middle ages like:

For Grammar,  I have some fun ideas from Pinterest as well as we love doing madlibs as a family. 

Wednesdays:

Math/ Science Day

This Summer my kids got super interested in the human body.  I found some great resources to study the human body with them,  and we have really enjoyed them so far.  I really want a microscope,  so we'll see if we can get one.  So far,  we have this little one,  and it is fun.

For Math inspirations,  we use Life of Fred as well as a ton of Games off of pinterest.  They are awesome.

Thursdays:

Family History/ Geography/ Spanish Day

I saw these Family History Mysteries in "The Friend" magazine and thought,  we need to do these this year.  I am excited to do them with the kids this year.  I just printed them off from www.lds.org and put them in a binder,  I have the kids work on one every Thursday.  They are fun.

I thought since we are learning about the middle ages it would be fun to learn about Europe this year.  I just get books from the library about a country in Europe and we read the book and make a dish from the country and maybe watch a movie or documentary from that country.  So far,  we have done France and it has been fun.   Also,  I have the older kids each choose a country in Europe that they can research and report to the family about.  I think this should be pretty fun.

I have a Spanish Bingo game that I picked up from the Dollar Store.  During lunch on Thursdays we play this game to learn a little Spanish.  The kids have really liked it.

Fridays:

Fact Fridays/ Game Day/ Dictation and Art or Nature Day

http://www.math-drills.com/

Charlotte Mason taught that dictation is a great way to reinforce copywork.  So,  on Fridays I dictate the Scripture of the week to the kids and see how well they remember to spell it and grammatical features.  

We practice our math facts on Fridays with worksheets as well as games. 

Games are the best way to reinforce math facts and spelling,  better than any worksheet and a lot more fun.  

Charlotte Mason also taught that nature is the "best teacher".  We try to spend time on walks or bike rides or going into the mountains on Fridays.  This is all part of learning. 

So,  here you have it.  My plan for the next 6 months.  It doesn't always go smooth,  but I love having a plan.  

Literature:  

We read at night with the kids or any chance we get during the day.  These are the books I'm planning on reading to the kids over the next couple of months:

As you can tell I love "The Childhood of Famous American Series".  

Finally,  this is how I organize everything.  It works great.  

One Last Post...

This was one of my favorite trips this year.  We spent 1 week in Southern California and had the time of our lives.  In my next life I'm moving to San Diego.  I love the beach!!

Like I said...

Like I said,  I am going to go through the 55 ingredients described in this book that have helped us in creating a house of learning,  and how we have applied them in our home.  I want to keep kind of a record of what we are doing,  so this will be a good chance for me to do this.

Ingredient #1  SUNDAYS

" Sunday is the day that makes it all work".  The Demilles go on to say that they hold Family Executive Meetings on Sundays as well as mentor meetings with each of their kids.  During these meetings they:

1. Schedule the week

2. Structure time

3. Discuss Problems

4. Discuss Children

I created a sheet that we just fill out each Sunday in order to hold our weekly meetings.  It truly is a key ingredient in helping organize our home and creating a successful environment.  Justin doesn't love meetings,  but he tries hard to meet with me,  even though he has so many other things he has to tend to.  This really is the best way for us to stay on the same page and a way for him to tell me his concerns,  and a way for us to take our concerns to the Lord.  

FAMILY EXECUTIVE Committee MEETINGS
Schedule Week:What's happening this week?? Write it on calendar.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What should we do this week? (car registration, pay bills, car cleaning or repairs or home repairs, etc)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What should we say no to this Week?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. Structure Time How are we going to structure school time this week?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c. Discuss Problems___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________take concerns about eachother to the Lord.Discuss Children (how can we show them more love and help them with goals) What do we think they need to work on:
Dallin_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elise________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jayden___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sophie___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sammy___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Budget: Look at expenses last week and discuss needs for next week_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Penderwicks

I was scanning through the books at the BYU bookstore and this book jumped out and caught my eye.  It seemed like a great Summer book to read to my kids,  and it was...

I just love it when we finish a book and the kids beg for another book like that book.  We try to make it a family goal to put the little kids to bed and then with the older kids we read scriptures and a family book most nights.  So far it's been great.  But,  we do stay up late sometimes,  which we need to fix.  

Anyway, the memories are amazing.  Something about all the late nights waiting for the suspense of what will happen next is just amazing.  When you watch a movie you watch and it is done in 2 hours.  A book lingers on for a long time and gives us a chance to talk and dream and imagine together.

During this book,  I told my kids...I wish that we could have a Summer cottage in a place like they describe in this book.  They all agreed. 

We also had some amazing rabbit trails,  one day we read about the Bull run in Spain and quickly looked it up on the ipad.  We were able to watch some interesting videos.  Rabbit trails are a huge part of learning and making connections,  and it makes learning fun and exciting.  

What a great book!!  As we finished this book,  I realized our Summer was ending as well,  and was a little sad that another Summer has come and gone.  

The Environment

Maria Montessori said that the environment where a child grows can either assist or destroy his development.  The Discovery of the Child, p.61, Chap 3

I believe the environment is one of the most essential characteristics in helping us have a successful home.  It's not just a homeschool,  but a home.  I  believe every home is a homeschool or should be,  whether or not kids go to a formal school or learn at home.  I believe that a home and family are the primary  molders of a childs entire life.

In a home,  we need to not only teach our kids life-skills,  but spiritual, academic, social.  So many things that need to take place in a home.  There was a point when I was frazzled asking myself.  How am I going to teach all of these skills to my kids.  I feel the thing that has made all of the difference and taught me how to create an environment of learning, organization, love and the gospel has all been from my studies of this book:

The Demille's talk about how in order to create a house of learning and establish family goals,  there are 55 ingredients like in a recipe that can help in this recipe of a successful home.  I will go into greater detail about how we have applied the 55 ingredients in our home as outlined in this book "The Phases of Learning".  It has made a diffference and it is amazing. 

 Just the other day as I watched Elise reading about Molly Pitcher and then highlighting all of the books that she wants her to read. I was amazed.  She has on her list of books to read,  all of the American Girl books,  books about Abigail Adams, Amelia Earhart and all of these great women that are shaping and molding her.  Dallin is reading plenty of fluff,  but he is also reading about Thomas Jefferson, and so many books that I am just amazed at his choices.  They have chosen these for themselves,  the only work I did was inspire them to read about great women and men and shared scriptures with them that shape my views.  This is true education when our kids learn to choose for themselves and are working on their own personal goals.  Because,  eventually they are only accountable for themselves.  

I can't control what they choose,  but I can control the environment in my home,  

and I can control the choices that I offer them.

  As they get older and learn how to make choices in the home then they are ready to make choices in the world (my two cents).  

The Demille's  have inspired me and helped me to learn how to create a house of learning and a place where my kids can learn to make choices and are choosing to learn.  I will share what things we have done in later posts.  

In their book they talk about 55 ingredients to a successful core and love of learning phase,  roughly the ages 0-12.  They have done a lot of research and applied these ingredients in their home and share how they applied them in their book.  Also,  Rachel Demille has a facebook group and anytime I have a question,  I ask her (yes her),  and she responds to me.  She is like my own personal mentor.  It is great.  I'm so excited to share with you how we have applied these 55 ingredients to create the home that we have always wanted.  

These beautiful faces are my inspiration to keep on trying even when I fail.

GETTING OVER THE HUMP

There come times in our lives when we are trying to climb a hill that

seems endless.  However,  I am a firm believer that all hills

can be climbed and that we can do anything that we set our hearts on.

Of course,  with the Lord's help. 

 Today I read an amazing book to my kids

about an amazing lady that I don't think many of us know about.

(I really like these books by Demi,  they have great messages)

In this book it tells the story of Joan of Arc. (This was during the 100 years war) It is said that she had an angel appear to her that told her what she must do to free her country of France from the mean rulers of England.  France eventually was freed because of Joan of Arc.

She became invincible with the Lord's help,  however,  there came a time when she stopped listening to "The Voices from heaven"  as she called them,  and started listening to the King.  Then,  she stopped hearing these "voices from heaven" and was soon defeated and burned to death.  

It is a sad story,  I learned that when we listen to the Lord He strengthens us.  When we start listening to "men" "others"  and let fear overcome us,  then we stop hearing those voices from the Lord.

I loved this story,  and it taught me to not be overcome by fear,  but allow my initial feelings from the Lord to lead me.  Like Joan of Arc,  I too can become invincible.

This is what I mean by getting over the hump.

There are patterns in life,  and in history that if we learn the lessons that they teach can be applied to our lives.

We all have humps,  history has humps.  In order for us to get onto higher ground  we have to overcome obstacles.  Sometimes,  these obstacles seem too hard to climb,  but if we keep on pushing and seeking the Lord's help,  we too can get onto higher ground.

If we turn around,  we will go back only too find that the Lord has another hill for us to climb.  This is how He teaches us hill by hill.  Eventually,  we need to realize that until we climb that hill, that we will never be able to make it to the other side.  

WE CAN DO IT!!!

A STRONG FOUNDATION

I am committed!!  I told my Dad that I would try and do one post per week on my blog, and so here I go.

What a better place to start than with the Core Phase.

Build a strong foundation???

On what???

What is a strong foundation???

Well,  this is the Core Phase.  The foundation of a family, a person, of anything that we are trying to create and grow.  Everything needs a strong foundation,  even the center of the earth.  If the earth did not have a rock solid core, what would happen to our earth?

If we look at the patterns that Heavenly Father has provided for us and the many examples that Heavenly Father gives us in the scriptures,  we will see that he cares about having a strong foundation.

So, why not give our family a strong foundation.  The foundation that will not fall should be as follows: 

We should have our families foundation on Christ.  It is not easy to do this when there are so many distractions and things that get in the way, so the best way that I feel is to spend as much time as you can as a family building the strong foundation while you work, play, and read.  

How can we do this??...

"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 6:7)

I feel in a loving family and home setting is the best place for a foundation to be built.  No where else do people care more about children than their parents. 

When I fell upon "The Thomas Jefferson Education"  it rang true to me when the author described a core phase as being what is lacking in today's modern educational world. 

" During core phase, critical lessons of life are learned and assumptions made that define the individual's concept of self, family, and the beginnings of their broader worldview... This should occur roughly between the ages of 0-8.  Home is the ideal venue for core phase, and "homeschool"  in the core is a product of the structure and flow of family life. This consists of the lessons of good/bad, right/wrong, true/false and is accomplished through work/play....during this phase the biggest need is a rich learning environment and culture of self-education"  (A Thomas Jefferson Education, Oliver Demille p.32)

I love this last part from this paragraph it says during this phase we need a  rich learning environment and a culture of self education.

To me this means that if we want our kids to learn something or to value something,  we need to make this part of our family culture.  This is just what the Core Phase is,  setting up a family culture.  Not sending the kids off to work on individual tasks or to go play with friends,  but to learn to work together as a family, play together, learn together.  As these things are developed and cultivated in a loving home,  then our kids are ready to progress onto a different phase.  
We had a pretty good core phase,  but as we started homeschooling we had to go back and re-define our family culture and we are still doing this.

Our Family's Goals during Core Phase:

Now we are working on making Christ the center of our home through the scriptures.
Becoming best friends as a family through activities, games, family projects as well as learning to work together
Making a culture of learning in our home,  creating a house of learning through reading and family projects
Working together to keep our house clean and organized
Creating a culture of service by serving our neighbors and in our church callings as well as in our family.
Eating healthy foods and getting enough exercise in order to keep our body and minds healthy and strong.  
We are also working on developing strong family relationships and strong family ties that are the ones that last (not just friendships made at school that we never see again). 
We as the parents are working on our parenting skills as well as our relationship with eachother and God so that we can give our kids a solid core phase.
Helping each child feel valued and of worth and to recognize their divine potential. 
Setting Rules and Boundaries that help us learn how to use time wisely.
Sharing stories through movies and books that reinforce good values and solid principles that lead to eternal happiness.
Establishing solid family routines of learning, work, service and play.
 Oh and most importantly  
SETTING THE EXAMPLE BY LEARNING AND WORKING ON PROGRESSING IN OUR OWN INDVIDUAL MISSIONS AS PARENTS

When I first started homeschooling  the above picture shows what I thought homeschooling should look like.  Now, after studying a "Thomas Jefferson Education".  This is what I think a homeschool should look like...

I believe that as we teach our children of Christ through our many activites throughout the day, then all things shall be added unto us that the Lord has in store for us.

Instead of running to school, sports, so many extracurricular activities that take us away from home we decided to stay home and build a core a "Strong Foundation" for our family and it has been great.

I also love this description of developing the inner core from Donna Goff at Moorhousehomeschool.blogspot.com.  

Developing the Inner Core

Children under eight, and those over eight that were never trained, need to develop their inner core.  That core is their relationships and values.  During those early years are when they develop trust and the ability to form attachments.  They develop their identity, as well as, relationships with God, family and community. This is when they learn to discern right from wrong, good from evil, and truth from error. Basically, all the time.  Children learn values and relationship to God, as they work along side their parents, worship together, serve together, play together, and develop a family culture of learning together. Yet, in our current culture this is the time little children are focused on them doing academics at a very young age and also in being entertained and kept busy, rather than them developing as a whole person. 

(from moorhousehomeschool.blogspot.com)

I am so glad that we discovered that having a strong family foundation is the most important education that we can receive.  It has truly been a blessing to our family and will give us many happy memories as a family that will last forever.  We love Core Phase!!!!