The Art of M.C. Escher

by Kim Kuhn

We are going to take a departure from music and talk about art this month, specifically the art of M.C. Escher.  I picked this artist because he is appreciated not only by the art lover, but by the non art-trained teenager as well.

So let’s take a look at M.C. Escher.  No, not M.C. Hammer, (Can’t Touch This), Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Holland on June 17, 1898, the same year Theodore Roosevelt defeated the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Hill.  He was a sickly child and received poor grades in school.  The highlight of his day was, of course, art.  However, his father decided he should receive scientific training and since he was gifted in art, Escher should become an architect.  His architectural training didn’t last long, but he did keep in contact with one of the teachers at the architectural school, Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita.  He kept his relationship with him until 1944 when de Mesquita, his wife and family were taken and put to death by the Germans.

Escher and his family were largely supported by his father until 1951 when he finally earned a portion of his income from the production of his prints.  During his lifetime, he was twice arrested after being falsely accused.  The first time was when he was living in Italy.   A woman claimed he had an evil expression and was accused of threatening the life of the Italian leader, Mussolini.  The second time was during his travels to Spain.  He was intensely interested in the old walls in Cartegena.  A policeman thought this was highly suspicious; a foreigner making drawings of Spanish defense works so he was arrested.  After a while, he was allowed to leave, but he never got his drawings back.   He was still upset when he discussed this incident thirty years later.

Escher died on March 27, 1972 in Laren, Holland.

Escher’s works are completely unique.  He does not follow the impressionistic style of Monet nor does he follow the expressionistic style of Picasso.  Escher focuses on lines, spaces, and sometimes optical illusions.  Find, the lithographs, “Relativity” and “Ascending and Descending” and see if you can tell which way is up.  Also, look at “Reptiles” where lizards appear to jump out of the page and back into it.  Some other fun ones that exemplify distortion are “Balcony,” “Print Gallery” and “Still Life and Street.”

Pandemonium of Music

Who knew that having musical kids would be chaotic? I thought, before I started this journey, that musical children were calm, practiced when they should and played wonderful, beautiful, classical music. I guess I forgot my own experiences with learning to play an instrument.

I will have to say that getting my children to practice has never been much of a problem.  Instead, I have found myself saying things like- “If I hear you on the piano one more time I will…… (fill in the blank)” or “Get off the piano! It’s not your turn to practice”. I think one reason my kids play as well as they do is that when I say “Go do your math!” They reply “But Mom! I still have to practice!”

The challenges are many faceted.  On the one hand you want your kids to practice, on the other, with 5 kids taking piano lessons; it can take most of the day to get them through all the practicing. My oldest daughter solved that problem, but introduced another, bringing home stray instruments. Most parents deal with the stray animals- we deal with stray instruments.  My daughter found out that a neighbor down the street from us was moving to the “lower 48” and didn’t want to pay to move their piano.  My daughter insisted she needed her own piano so she could spend more time practicing. In no time at all she and I were rolling a piano down the street in the dark (she didn’t want to wait).

Getting another piano seemed like a good idea, until we moved it into our 2x2 sq. ft. house! The only place it would fit was in the entryway, though the bench did make a convenient place to sit to put on your boots! The size of the house meant that the 2 pianos were about 10 ft apart, one in the entry and one in the living room. Two pianos did solve the practice problem- everyone had plenty of time to practice, but it created a new problem, dueling pianos. One child pounding out “Mary had a Little Lamb” in the living room and in the hall was “The Turkish March”. I could only take it for so many hours before I would demand peace and quiet!  In addition, it has messed up my ability to recognize certain classical pieces as they are thoroughly muddled in my brain. I can hear Debussy’s Reverie mixed in with Beethoven’s  Bagatelle.  No wonder I can’t think straight.

Dueling pianos did have an unintended affect though. When my daughter was competing for the local Arts Council piano scholarship the auditions were held in the high school auditorium at the same time the high school was setting up for a play that evening. Not good planning on someone’s part, but my daughter wasn’t fazed by all the noise and distractions; it was part of her usual practice, toddlers on the lap and noise! She won the scholarship.

As my children grew in their musical talent they continued to collect stray instruments (my husband does too!). We have harps, pianos, guitars, a banjo, saxophone and a trumpet, penny whistles and several different kinds of drums. The owner of the drums wanted them in the worst way. I said Absolutely Not! After all, I need to keep my sanity. He did not give up.  One day, just as my husband and I were about to head to the big city, my son ran up, handed us several hundred dollars that he had saved from his summer job and asked us to PLEASE buy him a drum set while we were there and handed us the ad to show  which one he wanted.  It was a lost battle after that and he got his drum set.

Silly me. I thought that having my younger children learn to play a recorder until they were old enough for regular lessons was a great idea. But for some reason, I could never find them. I’d buy a new one and that one would disappear too. One day I was cleaning out a box and found one of the recorders buried at the bottom. I said “There it is! I’ve been looking for this!” One of my older boys was walking by and told me to put it back! He then asked me where I thought all the other ones had gone. It seems none of my kids can stand the sound of a recorder (especially played by a pre-schooler!) so they had hidden each one in a different place. I stopped buying recorders.

Another challenge I faced I didn’t even become aware of until a friend and I were talking after a recital where her only child and two of mine had preformed. She complimented me on my children’s playing, and then remarked that she was glad her son didn’t play loud songs like my kids did. She was grateful her son liked the quieter classical composers. You mean I had a choice? Who knew? My kids favor composers who pound the piano and are very dramatic (think Chopin, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky). This was brought home again when one son broke two strings on our piano while he was playing. I was not happy. His teacher was thrilled! She told him that meant he was playing the piece correctly! What? He was supposed to do that?

When we moved to our new house we promised the kids that we would replace our 2 old beat up pianos with new ones. We took the two kids most interested in the choice with us to the piano warehouse where they had about 100 pianos to choose from. They thought they had died and gone to heaven and ran round trying them out. Each piano has a different sound and they were determined to find the one most suited to what they like to play. One found an old 1917 piano with a tinny jazz sound to it and was playing his favorites. The other found a brand new concert grand and was playing a Debussy piece. As I walked around looking at prices, a woman and her friend came in to the store. I was close enough to hear her tell the salesman that she was looking for a used piano for her 6 year old daughter to start lessons on. As they were talking my boys jumped up, found new pianos to try and started playing again. The woman put her hands to her head and turning to her friend said “Oh! I can’t take this noise!”  I wanted to put my arm around her shoulders and say “Oh, Honey! Turn around and walk back out that door! If kids’ playing well bothers you, “Mary had a Little Lamb” 500 hundred times in one week is going to push you over the edge!”

Being the parent of musical children is not for the faint of heart!

Take a Trip to an Art Museum

We love going to art museums!  Looking at swirls of paint, sculptures larger than life and different artist's styles makes for a fun outing.  Our kids weren't always so excited though... here's some ideas on how to start an art lover in your family, or become one yourself!

Before the Museum  (A little planning before you go makes the trip a lot more fun!):

- Most museums have a web-site showing their most popular paintings, sculptures, etc.  Print out paintings you will see, make a book of things to find, or playing cards with paintings 
-talk about different artists, hang a few paintings from the museum you will visit around the house 
-assign older kids to tell about certain art pieces at the museum 
-call and find out if there is a "Free Day" 
-find out the story behind a painting 
-discuss "museum manners"... do not touch paintings, walk only, stay with the group 
-explain that they will see naked people in paintings 
-invite someone that loves art to join you 
-take the camera!

At the Museum

-Pass out booklets or cards and go on a hunt 
-act out statues or paintings 
-play "I Spy" in one room 
-catch a lecture 
-don't try to see the whole museum in one day (this is why we go on a "free" day) 
-ALWAYS hit the gift shop, you don't have to buy anything, but they have fun items based on the artwork you just looked at.  It's a great place to find good art books, cards, etc. 
-one of my favorite things to do is to have a handful of questions (see below) We choose one room of paintings and have the kids answer them. 
-have them fill out an Eyes, Ears, and Nose chart... and "Jump into a painting".

(here's how)

• Draw a grid 6 across and 3 down. 
• Draw an eye in row #1, an ear in row #2, and a nose in row #3.
• Have the kids look at one painting with lots of details and use their imagination to JUMP into the painting.
• If you were in that painting, what would you see?"  Write words or draw pictures to fill in row #1. 
• What would you hear?"  Fill out row #2.
• What would you smell?"  Have them fill out row #3.

-Share your results with the group.  You will see things that you've never seen! 
-look at lots of different art.  Appreciate your child's favorites, they may not be yours! 
-take pictures.

After the Museum (later in the week and beyond)

-watch a video about a museum...Night at the Museum, National Treasure, any of the Getting to Know Artists DVD by Mike Venezia
-check out books on artists or paintings
-go to a local art show
-talk with artists
-pull out paint or clay and try some artwork yourself!
-our favorite this year:  Create an art museum out of a cardboard box!

• Mimi has an exhibit on a regular basis with different artists. She picks and researches one artist.  She looks at different artwork by them, and then creates her own.  She "hangs" artwork in her mini-museum by the artist and her own replicas.  When it's finished, she gives the whole family a "tour". 

Art Museum Questions 

Print on bright paper and cut into strips.  Have everyone choose 2 or 3.

• Does this remind you of anything else you’ve seen?
• How would you describe this painting to a blind person?
• What time of year is it in the painting?  How can you tell?
• Why did this painter paint this?  What was he or she trying to say?
• What is the style of this artist?  What else did he or she paint?  What subject did this artist like to paint?
• Why would someone pay for this type of art?
• If you could pick a painting or sculpture from this museum for your private collection, which would it be?
• Can you stand in the same position as the person in the painting/sculpture/drawing, etc?
• What do you think the people are thinking? Saying to each other?
• How would you want the artist to portray you in a painting?  Pose for us.
• How does the artist show movement?  Do you think the movement was slow or fast?  What musical instrument or song might accompany this painting?
• How does the artist teach us about this person? (background items, colors used, etc.)
• What questions do you ask a painting?
• Who is the most important part of this painting?  What or who else do you notice?  What is going on in the background?
• What secret does the artist have to tell?  Is there something that this artist puts in every painting?
• Where does this painting take place?  Why here?  Could this happen anywhere else?
• Art is one way an artist can talk to the world.  What is this artist saying to the world?  To you?  Is this message clear? 
• Does this painting look realistic?  How did the artist make it believable?  Look at the placement of the people in the painting.  Are they on the thirds?  What makes this painting interesting?
• How are the paintings in this room similar?  Different?  Is there a general feeling here?
• Color is an important way an artist can influence a picture. Complementary colors are very dramatic when they are next to each other.  Greens and blues are the cool colors and create a soothing effect.  Reds, yellows and oranges are the hot colors.  What colors does the artist use and why? What color did the artist put down first?  Last?
• Brush strokes can affect the mood of the painting.  Are they big or small, rapid or slow?  What did the artist use to get color on the canvas? 
• Size can make a difference on how you feel.  What does the size of this painting make you feel about this painting?  Where would you hang this in your home?

A Freedom & Faith Curriculum

by Carol Jensen

Samuel the Lamanite taught me something this morning I somehow had never seen before. It’s this: you cannot teach freedom without teaching faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Samuel couldn’t, Lehi couldn’t, Mormon couldn’t, and a hundred thousand homeschool moms and dads can’t. That’s because without Him, there is no liberty in any sense – political, economic, spiritual, emotional, or physical. It’s simply that no good thing can come without the Light and Life of the World.

For a long time I have wondered why homeschooling – a more free approach to education than public school systems – attracts more god-fearing parents than agnostic or atheistic ones. Perhaps the answer lies in the connection between liberty and faith.

I saw this relationship when I read, “ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death. (Hel. 14:31-31)

Wait! Wasn’t Samuel the Lamanite the one that talked about a night without darkness and five more years ‘til the Savior’s appearance? What was a discourse on agency doing in the middle of his prophecies about the Redeemer coming?

I flipped to the Topical Guide. There it was again: a lesson on freedom of choice in the middle of Lehi’s explanation to Jacob about the Savior’s mission. (see 2 Ne. 2) Then when Mormon addressed the members about making choices (Moro. 7), he admonished them to “lay hold upon every good thing… and in Christ there should come every good thing.”

But suppose we do teach freedom without laying a foundation in Jesus as the Messiah? Neil Flinders, in his book, Teach the Children, helped me see the answer to this question. The result is an individualist education rather than an agency-based one. While the former seeks to fulfill the individual by developing his or her talents, it ends up breeding self-centeredness and glory-seeking. The fundamental question of individualist training is “What do I want?” On the other hand, faith-centered education that is grounded in choice and accountability to God poses the question, “What does Heavenly Father want?” 

So what does this mean to the homeschooling parent who is trying to keep liberty alive in the rising generation? Simply this: education isn’t about the teacher’s will or the student’s will at all. To debate student-led learning vs. teacher-directed education is to have one’s ladder on the wrong wall, so to speak. All of us should be seeking God’s will through the Spirit, which “speaketh the truth and lieth not.” (Jac. 4:13) “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

In studying the ancient Greeks, our homeschool group discovered that the significant difference between a Greek “state-centered” worldview and an LDS “family-centered” paradigm is this one core doctrine: the individual’s relationship with God. Because the Greek gods were whimsical, imperfect beings that were equal to man except for a few superpowers, man’s authority and laws were supreme. Men became accountable to government instead of God.   

The lesson is obvious: Our Lord and Redeemer is and must be the head of our school as well as our religion. If we want to teach freedom, let us first teach faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sick Day Preparation Kit

It’s inevitable.  No matter how meticulous you are in your eating habits and hygiene; no matter how careful you are in your activities; and especially the more you have planned and scheduled—there will be sick days.  They come in all shapes and sizes, seasons and spells.  Sometimes they’re simply “sick of school” days.  Whatever the scope, it’s best to be ready for the subsequent disruption.

Seasoned homeschool moms will tell you that when there is illness, it’s time to rest through reading.  Children can lie snuggled in blankets, near compassionate Mother who is reading aloud to everyone.  It’s a nice picture, but what if it’s Mom who is sick?  What if Mom’s head is pounding and eyeballs throbbing? What if her throat hurts or she’s hacking or has lost her voice? What if there are younger children who are sick and need Mother’s full attention while older siblings who are healthy and wanting to be active can’t stand reading another minute?  That’s when it’s time to pull out your Sick Day Preparation Kit.

The idea is to have a secret stash of engaging educational items that are fresh and inviting, but which don’t require much supervision from Mom.  These can be one-time consumables, or objects which can be used over and over again but which may only “come out to play” on sick days. They can even be new items to add to a favorite family collection such as a new puzzle, card or board game, or Quantum Leap cartridge.  The point is to have an attention grabbing, time occupying diversion that frees up Mom to either heal or be healed, but which enriches the child in the pursuit.

This bit of inspiration came to me during my last illness, when I was horribly sick in bed for a week while the other 6 members of my family were fabulously, vivaciously healthy.  I could barely move or even talk and wanted nothing more than silent slumber.  My precious ones could only handle so much of my checking out.  They were bored and “Mommy lonely.”  At last they were taking to mischief when they found some science kits I’d tucked away to do together “someday,” as well as a special recipe book (The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions by John E. and Danita Thomas) that had always been on the shelf but which lay forgotten.  Long story short, many happy hours thus passed wherein I rested peacefully while my children turned mad scientist, laughing and learning quite independently.  When I finally came to, I realized that my illness and those activities were an ideal match.  I much preferred the kids making those messes when I was too sick to care about it.  I had been waiting for the perfect day to do those things—when the kitchen was “ready,” when there was no hurry or other distraction, when I felt like it, when the stars aligned.  It turns out the perfect day was when I was sick!

It might sound daunting or expensive to make a Sick Day Preparation Kit, but it really doesn’t have to be.  Plenty of great items can be found at the dollar store, or in a bargain bin.  You don’t have to rush right out and buy, buy, buy.  Just pick something up here and there when you find it and tuck it away for that future emergency.

Other suggestions to get you started:

*Pictureka!—a game even very young children can play happily by themselves
*Crayola’s Model Magic
*Disposable cameras—let kids take pictures of their toys or anything that strikes their fancy
*Special snacks
*Simple models
*Easy all-in-one craft kits 
*Paint with water books
*The History Channel’s Modern Marvels DVDs, the Magic School Bus DVDs, or any educational video viewing your family would enjoy.

And if you find yourself with a scratchy throat but still needing to read aloud, I recommend Ricola’s Natural Honey Lemon with Echinacea Throat Drops.  Be prepared and get well!

So, Go Write A Book...

In his great book, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, Rafe Esquith recommends that each of his 5th grade students write a book each school year.  In our family we don't just limit it to books...  last year members of our family compiled a family cookbook, wrote book on flowers, made an art kit, created a slideshow, wrote a collection of stories about ancestors, started a scout newsletter, and made a family time line.

Each person must create a big project that encompasses their talents and skills they are learning this year.  Many time these projects count towards our church's "Personal Progress" young women's program or "Duty to God" young men's  award, but we count them as a huge success in writing. 

Creating a big project requires planning, writing, editing, illustrating and a final presentation.  When you create something big and take it all the way to completion, you write differently...you write better.  Knowing that you are writing for an audience gives you a voice and it makes you want to do better.  These projects also encourage computer skills:  learning how to type, center, choose a font and size, find and insert a photo or clip art, print, etc.  The creator gains incredible confidence as they share it with others. 

Projects serve as a catalyst, sometimes one project can lead to another and can even lead to finding your passion.  My daughter's love of changing the letter fonts, creating and organizing information on a variety of projects directly lead to her love of graphic design!

So, this year challenge your family to write a book, or create a BIG project on something that they love. 

Check out the National Novel writing Month.  It's in November and challenges kids and adults to write a complete novel in one month.  We've never done this, but thousands around the world have!   Find out more at:  http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Mid-Winter Blues

So what do you do to battle the mid-winter blues? Do you sometimes find you need a good jumpstart to help get your homeschool back in full-swing again? Or maybe it's just that you need something a little different, some small change, to help combat the daily doldrums that can often set in to the infamous "routine rut". So what about grabbing a calendar and taking a random tour through history and literature together? At TeacherVision.com you can print off a 2010 Educator's Calendar. In the month of February alone you can recreate what Robinson Crusoe experienced, read about the Columbia Space Shuttle, discuss why the 15th amendment was written, and celebrate several famous birthdays together.

For the younger kids it's fun to celebrate Ground Hogs Day and experiment with shadows. Did you know on the 23rd of February (1896) the Tootsie Roll made its debut? Find a recipe and make some homemade Tootsie Rolls. Hershey's Chocolate was founded on the 9th in 1894. Check out the Hershey's on-line site.

February is another good month to continue those fun winter experiments and enjoying sports that are unique to that time of the year. It's a great time to teach survival skills, build snow forts and make snow ice cream! We also have the Winter Olympics coming up - what a great opportunity to teach some interesting pieces of history and enjoy supporting our country in physical athletics and good sportsmanship.

Two of our family favorites have been Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day both are on the 14th of February this year.

There are lots of activities on the internet that you can choose from to use to celebrate the coming of the Chinese New Year. We enjoy cooking a Chinese dinner, eating with chopsticks, and finishing off with the traditional fortune cookie. Let the kids go crazy decorating with Chinese lanterns, origami, and making Fish Kites.

The other is Valentine's Day. For the younger people in our life a fun little party of games, goodies, balloons and decorating sugar cookies seems to fill their little 'heart's desires. As the kids got a little older we added a next twist for our family at home. Instead of Valentine's sacks we make specially designed Valentine's boxes. We start the week ahead so that they can be finished by Valentine's Day. 
We have made our boxes replicas of ballet studio's, karate tournaments, a computer, bank, pyramid, etc. Sometimes it's been themed around a book they had just read. At any rate, the sky's the limit and it's always been fun to see each other's creations at the end of the week! The boxes are filled with a couple of goodies, homemade or store-bought cards, coupons or expressions of love/appreciation, or other surprises - like a fun pair of socks, chap stick or shower gel. We don't do too much; the creativity of the boxes is the main focus. Even mom and dad join in the fun.

We also have done secret acts of kindness/service: sometime's we draw names or just 'keep an eye out' for opportunities to do little acts of kindness to each other. When time and strength allow we bake up a few goodies and share with a few people in the neighborhood/ward. Each family member thinks about who they think could use a hug. We have taken around our special bags of brownies, Teddy Bear Hug Bread, homemade heart-shaped soaps, and on occasion our special "dinner date in a bag". That one was fun - one year we knew the new Bishop's wife was having a hard time having her husband gone so much and was really feeling lonely (Their children were already raised and gone). So we checked out the grocery meat counter and found two very inexpensive steaks, threw in a package salad, and 2 baker's and voila` you've got a perfect dinner date for two and they were thrilled! We did it in secret but made sure they knew it was from someone in the ward. The dinner cost us only around $6.

Another year we had 3 of our older children engaged at the same time. As Valentine's crept around, money was an problem to the young couples so we devised a plan. We told the kids to keep that night free and we borrowed card tables from friends and set them quite fancy including candlelight and soft music. The younger 2 were the chef and waitress. Our daughter put up a restaurant sign on the door and created menus and our son served up a wonderful, yet simple meal of Cordon Bleu, green salad, and dessert. We had Sparkling Cider for our drink and pie for dessert. We all dressed up special (yes mom and dad were included). It was a lovely evening and ended with us all enjoying the movie Lady and the Tramp. Our kids still talk about that magical evening! Our future son-in-laws were speechless and very touched about how much work we had gone to make the evening special for them.

February can be as exciting or simple as your time and energy allow. Just have fun and enjoy the journey through the long winter months. Happy February!

The World of Geography!

As a college student I was shocked by how many students at BYU were uncertain about the location of my home state, Oregon. I frequently heard, "is that the state north of California, or is it up by Canada? " I guess I can't really blame them, until a couple of years ago I only had a vague notion about the location of many states, and my understanding of latitude and longitude was a little fuzzy. Rote memorization is a big no-no in our house so I've found some other fun ways for the kids (and myself) to learn geography.

We stumbled on our first game by accident. One summer the boys developed a bit of an obsession with finding out-of-state license plates. Everywhere we went they searched for vehicles from far- away places. They needed a way to keep track of which states they had found so I printed off a map of the United States for each of them, and then when they found a state they would color it in. It didn't take them long to realize that the smaller a state is and the farther away, the harder it is to find! (We did eventually find the elusive Hawaii and Rhode Island plates!)

My boys also like to collect state quarters. I got them each a map to display their collections. Not only have they pored over the maps countless times, checking to see which ones are still missing but they've learned a little bit about each state based on the engravings. I've found that learning about a place is the very best way to remember its location. Besides the quarters we spend a good deal of time talking about each of the states.

We talked about the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock and then we looked at the outcropping of Massachusetts, making it easier to remember which state it is. We've talk about being able to see the Statue of Liberty from both New York and New Jersey, about Mississippi being next to the Mississippi river and about the Pioneers traveling across the Missouri River. Small, simple amounts of information give the names of places meaning and improve recollection. Sometimes we can't think of a good bit of information to "hook" a state name on, then we try to remember something about the shape of the state. We used to confuse Indiana and Illinois until we decided Illinois looked like a swollen nose, which reminded us of "ill".

Our favorite geography games are the "10 Days" series. There is a different game for each continent; the object of the game is to collect 10 country cards that you can place in the right order to take a 10 day journey. As each card is drawn we study the map to find its location and see if we can work it into our game strategy. Often when we're done playing the game the kids like to just play with the cards, planning out all kinds of long exotic trips across the planet.

Another favorite in our house is a game we like to call, "Where in the World is Uncle Ryan?" My brother, Ryan, travels extensively and it's always fun to look up his location on the map, learn something about where he is, and hear about his adventures when he gets back. Even if you don't have an immediate family member who travels, friends, neighbors, and missionaries are excellent sources of information about different places around the world.

Geography is literally all around us. Now that it has become more than a memorization exercise, it is one of our families' favorite subjects!

My Garden for the New Year

by Doreen Blanding

I love the new year. I love putting up a fresh calendar with new family photos on it. When writing in the important things like birthdays, I take my time. It is the only time my penmanship is just perfect. I take great pleasure in putting away the old one in a drawer so I can find it later when a date is needed. It is satisfying to have new beginnings and nice endings. 

As the new year begins I sit down and evaluate what I did wrong during the year that just closed and start a list on how to correct those things in the year to come. My list has a few names like "New Year's Resolutions" or "Goals" but it doesn't matter what the name is, in two months it will all be forgotten. This is probably the case at your house too. I have heard it said that the most read book of scripture is 1 Nephi during the month of January and it is a fact that gym membership is up in January. By February the alarm is pushed back to 6am because it is just too crowded or too cold to exercise and the Scriptures have a nice layer of dust on them. Like you, my tennis shoes and scriptures get the best workout in January. 

I have noticed over the years that the same few goals appear on my list not because I have mastered them, far from it, but because I fall short again and again. They aren't huge things like "lose 30 pounds" or "run a marathon", but small things like daily personal prayer, personal scripture reading and speaking kindly to family members. I have struggled with these my entire life. In fact I am doing the hard things this coming year. I have lost a lot of weight and will be running a half marathon, but I still struggle with those small things. How do I accomplish the small things?

The Lord said, "And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33). I know what great things will come out of my daily prayer and scripture reading. I see it work in my family's life as we are diligent in taking care of those small things. So how do make it a habit? How do I make it all the way into February and ultimately into December doing the small things? How do I make it a habit so that it will make my home a better place to be? 

Let me propose a new parable based somewhat on "The Sower" called "The Gardener". I can't take all the credit for it as our stake president presented something similar in a recent stake conference, but I have added my own words to the notes I took. 

We had a plot of land to do with what we will. We left it alone and up shot some weeds. Some are ugly, some are annoying and some are actually quite attractive. But we are good gardeners and we must remove the weeds. The easiest way is to just mow them. They are gone! Our plot looks almost new again. But in a few weeks the weeds are back. 
We can't have the neighbors see our weeds so we try a second method and grab them and pull on them. Some break off and with others we are lucky and get the roots. The plot of land looks good. Again some of them grow back but now more pop up with the old. They must have blown in from the neighbor's plot of weeds. 

We are now being talked about in the neighborhood so we decided we have had enough and we dig down and make sure we get all the roots. Oh, the plot of land looks wonderful now. No weeds and a nice piece of dirt, but in a few months the weeds are back. Some of the old ones are back but it looks like a new variety has sprung up in the freshly tilled ground.

We make one last attempt to fix our plot of land. This time we dig deep and remove all the roots just as before only this time instead of leaving the ground bare just waiting for the next wind to blow weed seeds onto our beautiful plot of land we plant flowers, fruits and vegetables. This time when weeks even months have passed we notice that the weeds are gone and we have a lovely plot of land. If a weed does appear, like they always do, they are but a small lonely one and easily removed from the plot. 
With constant daily attention this plot of land will continue to produce beautiful flowers, luscious fruits and delicious vegetables. It won't take a lot of work, but it will take daily watching and tending to keep the plot of land productive.

Our lives are like the plot of land. Sin and bad habits like the weeds will appear, we are natural men after all (Mosiah 3:19), but how we remove them is up to us. We all want our sins and bad habits removed, we don't want others to see them or talk about them. It looks great when we they are gone. Our lives run smoother. Our lives are in tune with the Spirit. But if we do not replace the sins and bad habits with something else, they will come back, just like our bare plot of land. 

I have read study after study on replacing bad habits. Everyone says that the best way to do it is to replace the bad habit with a good one. The chore will be daunting as I have so many things I would like to replace. Our stake president suggested that we just change one thing by replacing it with something productive and good. Just one at a time. I need to concentrate on one thing at a time. 

It has been said that it only takes 28 days to form a new habit. I can only imagine how many bad habits I can replace this coming year with a good one. If I did my math right that is 13 bad habits that I can replace this year with something positive, good and worthwhile. 

As I make my list this year, both personal and homeschooling, instead of a list of things I am going to do to be better, I'm going to write down a sin or bad habit I want to remove and find something that I can replace it with. Instead of a 30 minute TV show that will do little for my spiritual health, I'm replacing it with 30 minutes scripture reading. When I get hungry I'm not reaching for the candy dish but a drink of water and a 10 minute walk around the block. Instead of harsh words said to an errant child, I'm going to replace it with "I love you so much I'm going to take a walk so I can be calm when we talk." There are my first three habit changes; only ten more to come up with. 

These small things will help my plot of land grow beautiful flowers. Now I'm closing the book on 2009 and opening my brand new calendar with a list of things that I can and will do. Two thousand and ten is going to be a "great" year because of all the "small things" I'm going to do.

Many Hands Make Light Work

by Kristen Jenson

Homeschooling can be overwhelming! Sometimes it feels like we are doing the job of ten people as we evaluate each child, choose curriculum (or devise our own!), track progress, find and fund projects, make school fun and interesting, and still keep the home running and the important relationships well-nurtured- -that's why pulling others in to help is usually a win- win situation: it gives us a needed break and exposes our children to new ideas and teaching styles. Here are a few ideas for recruiting some educational "elves" to help out.

First, look around your ward and community and make a list of people who have an expertise that might be helpful to you. Is there a general contractor who could explain an engineering (math) principle and illustrate it at a building site? Is there a retired brother or sister who would enjoy spending a few hours over a few days explaining the genetics of breeding prize roses or poodles? Do you know someone with an English degree or just a love of literature who could come and teach a unit on poetry? We found a treasure in a newly married sister who had the time to come and teach our kids poetry for three weeks and then, later on, teach a week on Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol. She came with ideas I never would have thought of and got them to write lots of poems without even a whimper! Looking ahead, I already have someone in mind to teach a unit on family history. Start thinking, and you will be impressed with the number of people who could add their special knowledge to your homeschool.

Second, do you know of a returned missionary or a missionary couple who have recently come back from some place interesting? Invite them over for a family night and make sure your kids are prepared with a list of questions to ask. Hopefully they'll come with photos, souvenirs, and great stories to tell about the people they learned to love. They will feel flattered by your interest and your children's world will get that much bigger. This can also work for someone who has lived oversees as a part of a military or job assignment or a friend who has taken a trip to a foreign land-cash in on all that money they spent going to Europe and let your family be enriched as well!

Third, you can find many learning opportunities at your local library or online at BYU's website (www.byu.edu). For example, our local library system offers dozens and dozens of computer courses-from basic internet skills to Microsoft Excel. And BYU has a link to online courses-some free-that can free you up. Just recently I discovered CIT70-The Citizen's Guide to American Politics-a free online course offered by BYU. We will be making that a part of our American History curriculum this year for my high school student. They also offer free courses in Genealogy, Personal Development, Recreation, Missionary Preparation, The Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants. These and other resources, including programs at your local YMCA or museum can take some of the load off of you and greatly enrich your child's education.

Finally, do you know of another homeschooling mom who would swap art lessons for science experiments? If you don't want to get involved with a full-fledged co-op or don't have access to one, sometimes finding a willing partner in homeschooling can lighten the load. In the past I have traded home-ec sessions for drawing lessons and science projects for art. It's a great barter system that nurtures friendship and provides new and interesting avenues of thought for your children.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility to "do it all", start looking around and recruit local talent for your homeschool.