Rev Up and Wrap Up!

by Kristen Jenson

This article was originally published in The Sentinel on May 9th 2005.

The first time I planned a "wrap up" event, I did it more to give myself a deadline than anything else. We were studying the medieval period and it just kept going and going. Would we ever get on to the Renaissance? At that rate, we'd never get to Shakespeare and we had tickets to the Cedar City Festival in July! So I planned a Medieval Feast and invited some willing friends to participate. It was fun researching the menu and coming together to eat it. Even though we had not learned everything that occurred from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Black Death, WE WERE DONE!

Since then, I've realized that events not only give us a good impetus to move on, but they can be a real celebration of what we've learned and accomplished. Furthermore, our children learn even more in the process of planning an event and carrying it out. These milestones can become treasured memories and rev up our homeschooling curriculum. Here are two events we've put on to wrap up units of study in history and literature.

A Dickens's Christmas Dinner

After studying Charles Dickens and his Christmas stories, we held a dinner in his honor and invited some friends to join us. We studied up on the history of Christmas traditions using several books from the library--how fascinating it was to learn how over the years Christmas went from a wild public party to a family celebration as illustrated in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

We built a cone-shaped centerpiece that any Victorian would have been proud of, covered in fruits and nuts and topped with a pineapple for our table. To add to the authenticity, we set the table with store bought poppers that did a good job of popping when opened! We also made little cones out of white paper doilies, filled them with candy and hung them on our Christmas tree as treats for our guests.

After our "prize turkey" dinner complete with plum pudding and trifle, we played some "parlor games" including The Minister's Cat and Up Jenkins! The finale of the evening was watching A Christmas Carol on DVD. My daughters feel that preparing for this dinner helped them to learn a lot about how our modern Christmas traditions came to be (and my older daughter learned how to roast a turkey!).

Poetry Jam

After studying poetry for three weeks, we ended with a fun Poetry Jam. We invited several other homeschooling families and all enjoyed reciting and reading poetry. It was helpful for my daughters to have a memorization deadline. They also put together poetry notebooks which included the poems they had written and poetry from each author we had studied.

Ideas for these fun wrap-up events are limitless. What are you studying now and how could you wrap it up? A Mini Science Expo to show off interesting experiments or contraptions? A Math Mania night to explore all kinds of fascinating math phenomenon and games? A Tour of China (or wherever) to highlight all you've learned about a particular country of culture? A couple of these per year will really add sparkle as well as depth to your homeschooling and create long- lasting memories for your children.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on our Contact page. Thanks!

Summer Service Circus

Every July the terrific folks in my neighborhood and ward pull together to give the children a constructive summer activity that not only gives them something fun do to, but it helps others as well.  It’s called the Nibley Neighborhood Circus.

Flyers go out alerting everyone to the initial meeting.  All children in our ward boundaries (we live in a small Utah town, so the boundaries aren’t very big) are invited to participate in a pretend circus that will be performed in a large yard for whatever crowd can be gathered.  Kids choose to be tightrope walkers (walking over a low wooden beam with an umbrella); strongmen (wearing superhero costumes stuffed with balloons or newspaper and carrying Styrofoam barbells); barrel riders (on stick horses); lions, tigers, or tamers; clowns; acrobats; any circus act you can come up with and get creative with. 

For the next few days, acts are created and choreographed to music by older children.  Mothers oversee, and help keep younger children where they need to be, but pretty much leave the creative process to the kids.  Songs are learned for the opening and closing numbers, which include everyone all together.  The kids then practice the show for a couple of mornings while moms pool resources to gather and make costumes.

The Young Women begin gathering donations for the concessions that they’ll sell during the show, and build a concessions stand.  Families share anything from packaged candy to home baked goodies, to the harvests from their gardens.  Connections and generous donations yield popcorn and cotton candy makers, as well as a sound system.  

Flyers go out again to advertise the circus performance.  It’s a bring-your-own-chair event on the lawn, with a 50-cent admission.  Rings are painted in the grass, Christmas lights mark the stage, murals are colored and taped to the fence. 

A large crowd of parents, grandparents, and friends and neighbors in the community arrive to see the circus that’s come to town. The show attracts members and non-members alike, both as performers and audience.  Neighbors with no children at home come to watch.  Families who couldn’t schedule coming to practices still come to watch their friends.  And through admission and concessions, money is raised for phase 2 of the project.

When the music fades and the yard is cleared out, groups of these children head to the back-to-school sales and purchase school supplies with the money earned.  Mothers and daughters sew school bags.  The supplies are put in the school bags and then sent to the Church’s Humanitarian Center to be donated to children who need them. Last summer, the children earned $459 and put together 123 school bags. 

I cannot take credit for any of this.  I’m just grateful I live in the midst of so many good people and that my family gets to be a part of it.  I love that my children get to do something creative and dramatic, spend fun time with their friends, and yet have a higher purpose.  I love that it’s a joint effort between so many people and that our community supports it.  I love that in the summertime, when many people are scattered, we get to come together and help make the world a better place.  Here’s to making this a better world this summer! 
 

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Sasha

Let Their Light Shine!

When my third son was 10 months old a friend suggested we take him to a physical therapist because he didn’t crawl. After several weeks of therapy he finally crawled but he refused to walk; after more therapy he finally walked at 16 months. The therapist continued to work on his other large motor skills but was concerned because he didn’t talk. So when he was two-and-a-half we finally took him to a speech therapist. After a couple of years of speech therapy his speech was only a few months delayed, but he couldn’t remember directions or how to spell his name, and he often seemed  not to hear us at all. Because his hearing tested normal we went to a behavioral therapist, a tutor, and a vision therapist. Diagnosis and labels abounded: Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia, Developmental Delay. I studied, met with therapists, worried and fretted but no one seemed to know exactly what to make of this child. One day as I relayed some of my fears to a friend, she looked at Spencer playing quietly on the floor and simply said, “Maybe he’s just getting ready to make a difference in the world.”

  
Suddenly my perspective dramatically shifted and instead of seeing a broken child in need of repair, I saw a beautiful, intelligent child, slowly, carefully preparing for the life ahead of him. When I was finally able to let go of my image of what he “should be” and see him for who he is, I was truly amazed by this precious child of God. Instead of obsessing about his weaknesses I discovered his unique talents. By the time he was 5 he could beat me hands down at Connect 4, he tells long and complicated stories to his little sister that carry on for days, he draws with remarkable attention to detail and perspective and he can build amazing structures out of almost anything. Spencer will be 8 this fall and he is just starting to read, he doesn’t do written math yet. But last week he built the 5 stages of an imaginary animal’s life cycle out of Zoobs, his favorite games are chess, Othello and SET and he loves to listen to poetry and C.S. Lewis.

My biggest regret with Spencer is that it took me so long to accept him for who he is. He is so smart, creative and loving. I wish that I had allowed myself to enjoy him more over the years instead of worrying so much.  In Matthew 5:15 it says “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” How sad that I spent so many years hiding his light under my bushel of expectations; expectations about how and when he should develop and about him reaching appropriate “educational markers”.

Every one of our children is a child of God and we have to trust that He has a very special plan for each of them. We should be more concerned about helping them become the people he wants them to become than we are about “grade expectations”. Some types of therapy can be beneficial for a child and labels can often help us understand the issues we’re dealing with, but it’s important to turn to the Lord first and trust in his guiding wisdom. I have to admit that I still have days when the worry creeps in, but when I take a step back and allow my son’s light to shine, it is bright enough to light up our whole house!

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Lisa

Who Are You Raising?

by Carol Jensen

If you lived in Ancient Greece, you would know the gods as powerful superheroes – imperfect like men and inclined to capriciousness, jealousy and anger – yet endowed with extraordinary capabilities to affect human conditions. Sort of like The Incredibles. However, men and gods both would be equally subject to the cosmos, victims of the universe.

In this Athenian or Spartan world, government would be a man-made invention, a product of reason. Man’s job in that government would be to protect society. He would be accountable to the political leaders for the discharge of this duty. Families would exist to support the power of the state, with children being trained to support the nation’s well-being. Kind of like No Child Left Behind.

The Odysseus’s of your day would be those who brought glory to themselves and their country through their superior knowledge, beauty, strength, or cleverness. You know…like Hollywood stars and Superbowl champs.

But on the other hand, if you lived in Ancient Israel, you would know God as your creator and perfect Father – One who had given you the power to choose your course. As a free agent, you could be a victor, not a victim. Like David against Goliath.

In the Israelite world, you would have god-given rights – life, liberty and (promised) land – that would be protected by government. Political leaders would be accountable to you for the discharge of this obligation. The family would be divinely appointed for the support of individual character – each child in turn being trained to love truth and lead through service. Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Jobs of your day would be those who brought glory to God and dignity to man by their obedience, sacrifice, faith and integrity. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

Well, you aren’t in Greece and you aren’t in Israel. You’re in the USA and you homeschool, so what’s the big deal? The question isn’t where you educate your children. It’s what model you use. If you subscribe to an online program, a charter school, a distance curriculum administered by the state, or are accountable to your school district for the courses you teach, you may be training your students under a Greek model. Instead of sending your soldiers out to fight on the plain, you may be inviting the Trojan horse within your walls.

But if you are more interested in transmitting values than in scoring on the next standardized test, if you are family-focused, adamant about your liberties and accountable to God for how you raise your children, yours may be the generation that tumbles the walls of Jericho.

To determine which model you fall under, ask where the accountability lies. Do you report to a divine source or a government source for your children’s education? Who gives you the power to administer their training?  It makes a difference because you may be raising Achilles. But maybe you are raising Daniel.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Carol

High School English and History

by Katrina Fujisaka

I recently read that the foremost concern of college professors is the lack of reading comprehension and written communication skills possessed by high school graduates. These new college freshman are simply not prepared to think about or write anything with clarity.  I believe that the best homeschool high school curriculum will focus on teaching students to think critically and write effectively.

Before you begin planning it is important to check with your state to see what the high school graduation requirements are in these subjects, as well as checking the admission requirements of several colleges your student may be interested in attending. For example, high school graduation in my state requires 4 credits of English, one credit in World History, one credit in World Geography, one credit in U.S. History, and one-half credit in U.S. Government. Brigham Young University recommends that freshman applicants have at least four English credits and two History credits.

In my state the required English courses are named English I, II, and III. The fourth required credit can be just about anything from Creative Writing to British Literature to Journalism. If your state has similar requirements it will probably benefit your student to just use their recommended course names. However, the content of those courses is entirely up to you!

When deciding how you want to go about English, there are a few things to keep in mind. What is your goal? If scoring high on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT exams is important, your English curriculum should be tailored that way; with a lot of emphasis on vocabulary, analogies, grammar, reading comprehension, and the basic five paragraph essay construction. However, most homeschoolers prefer a more holistic approach. Their focus lies not with standardized test scores, but with developing students who are well read and conversant; who can communicate effectively both orally and in writing. That end is best served through the study of good literature, along with basic grammar structure, and logic.

Any English course you develop should have grammar and mechanics incorporated into it.  A few choices for high school grammar:

Winston Grammar and Winston Grammar Advanced. It is clean, inexpensive, and an eighth or ninth grader can understand and move through it pretty well.

Analytical Grammar teaches grammar, punctuation, and usage over 3 years for 6-9th grade students. The publisher includes a timeline for teaching this course faster to older students. They also have high school reinforcement workbooks for students who have completed grammar study, just to keep the skills fresh.

You may want to consider adding some logic and analogies work, as well.

For very basic logic work, try the Mindbenders series from The Critical Thinking Company. Start with A1 no matter how old your student is. They may go through it quickly, but it is important for learning the structure of logic puzzles. The workbooks are inexpensive and easy to use. They also have some fun science logic puzzle books.

For additional, free, logic work go to http://www.logic-puzzles.org/init.php. They provide lots of online, interactive logic work.

You may want to include some work with analogies with your English curriculum, as it is a big part of SAT and ACT testing. The website a4esl.org provides many free, online quizzes and tools for teaching English. Most of it is geared towards ESL (English as a Second Language) students, but I have found it useful for all students. There are even bilingual quizzes that you can use in the reverse of what they were designed for by including them in your foreign language study. My favorite part of this website, though is the interactive analogies quizzes at 
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz67fck.htm.

These should make up about half of the English course for the year. The rest should be assignments in reading, analilyzing and writing about various works of literature. This is where you can combine your English studies with your History.

English and History studies go hand in hand so I like integrating them. In fact, many colleges are combining these two courses into one big class. The English assignments are taken directly from the History course of study. This integrated approach is useful and effective. The literature pieces I choose for my students relate directly to what we were studying in History. Research and writing assignments were built around those historic events, as well. Vocabulary studies grow naturally out of the literature assigned. Only the grammar and mechanics is independent of the History studies.

My favorite way to teach History is by using a basic ‘spine’ text and then further exploring the events touched on through literature, source documents, field trips, and projects.

If you have no idea where to start, check into these curriculums to see if they will meet your needs.

For US History 
The History of Us by Joy Hakim 
The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen
United States History and LDS Perspective vols. I & II by Dan Hunter
Wise Men Raised Up with LDS Commentary Vols I & II by Brent and Kolleen DeGraff

For US Government studies
The Making of America by Cleon Skousen
Threads of Liberty by DeGraff and DeGraff

For World History
The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer (the first two volumes will need substantial embellishment to qualify for high school level work, but it is still a good outline to follow)
The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
Beautiful Feet Books  (be sure that the study guide you want to use is high school level work)
The World Before Christ an LDS Perspective vols I & II by Dan Hunter
The World After Christ an LDS Perspective vols. I, II, & III by Dan Hunter

A quick google search will turn up many additional resources. 

Once you’ve settled on the History course you want to follow, you can start seeking the literature to go with it. If you don’t know where to start looking for appropriate source documents and literature recommendations visit www.schoolofabraham.org, or check the reading lists for the US History and World History cores atwww.sonlight.com.

Make History come alive through historical fiction, field trips, and projects associated with your studies. Our favorite is to include food in our History work. We research recipes and cooking practices of those we study and try them out as best we can. To this day one of my kids’ favorite History books is one called Eating the Plates by Lucille Recht Penner. It is not a high school level book. In fact, it is written toward a 5th grade audience. It is a fascinating book about what and how the Pilgrims ate and was a real eye opener for my kids when we first covered it in elementary school. However, it found it’s real value in our family as my kids remembered it during their high school years and pulled it off the shelf again. Using that book as a springboard, they thought more and dove deeper into the subject, finding branches of it to follow into ancient maritime history, science, and health. Everything they studied they internalized and remembered, because it was interesting.

Now….it’s time to write! If your student has no idea where to start, it may be beneficial to start with just talking about what they are reading and learning. Ask leading questions and have them answer you in complete sentences. Then have them practice making an outline while you talk, just based on the conversation. After the outline, help them construct sentences based on the outline to flesh out a paper. If you’d like more formal writing help or instruction, you may want to try a writing program designed for younger students and just work through it faster. Look into Writing Strands, The Institute for Excellence in Writing, and Writing with Ease, by Susan Wise Bauer.

One great homeschool English writing resource is the Purdue Owl (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/). This website is maintained by faculty and students at Purdue University, and has over 200 resources for teaching grammar, mechanics, writing, research, and is a good place to find current MLA and APA writing guides (VITAL for juniors and seniors writing research papers).

No matter what you decide to do, keep a record of everything you consider to be part of either History or English. Keep a log of time worked  on each subject – it takes 80 hours of work to receive one high school credit. Remember, you can’t double dip. Time spent working on one paper cannot be counted for both English and History, so you will need to decide which course to assign the time to. But ANY time spent on these subjects counts, including dinner table discussions, related kitchen experiments, field trips, and time watching movies or reading books related to the subject. It is not difficult at all to develop an English and History course of study for your high school student that will not only satisfy the basic high school graduation requirement, it will prepare your student to excel in college and the adult world by providing them with the skills to understand and communicate clearly and effectively.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Katrina

What To Do In The Summertime

I was thinking about the seasons and remembering the scripture – ‘a time and a season for all things’ and thinking about what the summer months give us. They are a great relief from the gray days of winter and offer us the promise of fresh air and sunshine, tasty fruits and veggies from our gardens, hours to spend playing and working outside refreshing our souls, exercising our muscles, and clearing our thoughts!  Those warm inviting summer days offer us relief from the stress of winter-time routines, provide us precious moments to ponder the beauty of life around us, and entice us outside for many fun-filled days chalk-full of exciting adventures! 

In the cooler part of the day you will find us doing the usual summertime ‘work’:  gardening, yard work, washing the car, taking care of the animals, or fixing up the house; but when the thermometer starts rising that is when you will find us in the shade doing a messy science experiment, cuddled up with a good book on the grass, working on our hobbies, developing our talents or interests, or finishing up the projects that we just don’t have time for during the typical ‘school year’.

I keep an art box stocked at all times for those creative moments. I have also been known to fill a jar with slips of paper of ideas we have brainstormed, and when we have an “I’m bored” moment or “I don’t know what to do”, they can choose a slip from the jar and happily skip off to another activity.  (Some of those activities might include page of math problems, a topic to write a story or poem, do a puzzle, paint a picture like Van Gogh did, a math or science problem to solve, go play with your Legos, go read about a famous scientist or mathematician, or grab your science notebook [and a magnifying glass, colored pencils, bottle of water, a disposable camera, binoculars or whatever] and go observe this 10’ area for an hour and tell me what you see or lets go on a nature walk today.  Make it fun and challenging.)

I also heard of a fun idea of using the Alphabet each week during the summer and studying something that goes with each letter for a week.  For example: A – Study Ants, Airplanes, Aristotle, or Alaska. Let the kids help decide!

One summer we also got together once a month with a few families and did a summer co-op.  That was great fun. We had a water play day one month and became a Knight another time.  

Don’t forget to provide some large cardboard boxes and some cheap poster paints and let the kids imaginations soar from play houses to pirate ship adventures.  These provide weeks of delight until the boxes finally wear out.

We have enjoyed keeping a Nature/Science Journal during the summer for those exciting moments of when wespy something unusual while bird watching or making observations. Or maybe a chance meeting of a perfect specimen of Praying Mantis (which my daughter took a picture of and we later included in a lap book about bugs). These journals provide a great place for your kids to practice their drawing skills and learn how to use colored pencils.

One of our most interesting observation studies was when I had our youngest daughter observe our mint patch for a full week at different times of the day.  It was very interesting to see how much life there was in our little 12-foot mint patch.  There were so many different insects and so many different varieties of bees and wasps.  We had no idea it was so populated.  We just had never taken the time to really look.  It gave her a chance to draw conclusions as to why there was more insect activity at one time of the day than at others.  The best part is that my daughter’s personal observation skills became more detailed as the week drew on and I learned to ask more searching questions. For example, she noticed a butterfly in the area. “She wrote I saw a butterfly.”  Okay, what about the butterfly? What color was it, what kind, and what was it doing?   She also learned to observe the weather and the temperature.  This study, along with the cool insect pictures she had collected, became the kickoff to an interesting unit study later on in the fall on BUGS. She made a really fun lap book to compliment her journal entries.  It ended up being a very interesting and fun project for all of us. 

We have also participated and enjoyed our local college’s summer enrichment classes and the library’s summer reading program.  We are frequent visitors to the library during the summer months and enjoy getting a chance to know other authors.

I also like to use my more carefree summer days to think about and start planning our next school year along with input from the kids.  This is a great time to start gathering supplies and mapping out our activities.

Another summertime favorite is to put a large map on our kitchen table of the United States. (I put the map on top of a tablecloth for a little color and then cover both of them with a plastic vinyl.) Then we travel the country together. We choose a state to study. If there is a special item of interest, or person of history we want to know more about, we might take a short “side-trip” and learn briefly about that.  She likes to keep a little log of places she has “been” and she would like to go in real life if the opportunity presents itself. I have also printed off a blank outline map and had her do some map work, which is also placed in her log. Occasionally, I give her an extra assignment to a state:  write a poem, paint a scenic picture or design a travel brochure. When we were in Georgia I had her list the 300 + uses of the common peanut. We also would find a recipe from that state to try.  It was great fun.

My daughter also made up her own game of putting the capitals on a circle disc, and timing herself as she tried to match all the capitals with their states on the map.  She got pretty fast at it, much faster than mom could do!  This is also a favorite activity for when friends come over.

This summer we are headed down Route 66. It should be fun, come along for the ride!  The summer is yours to explore ---- have a great trip.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

What a Character!

Summer will soon be upon us! Let the book reading begin.

Each summer we have a family summer reading challenge, as well as participating in our local library's summer reading program. This year it's all about characters.

Have you ever read a book where you connected with one of the characters? I have found people that inspire me, teach me, or simply make me laugh--that just happen to live within the covers of a book. These characters are like good friends to me.

As a family collect your top 100 characters. Create a poster of characters from books that your family really connects with! When you complete your Top 100 list throw a party and invite friends to come dressed as their favorite character!

How To:

-print out the theme and glue onto a poster board
-brainstorm as a family some of your favorite characters
-print out the game and see how many characters you can identify
-hang up the poster in a highly visible place
-you can divide characters into different categories if you want (science fiction, children's books, girls, boys, animals, etc,)
-write your favorite characters on the list
-find pictures online to add to your poster

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Kari

"Stop, Mom."

by: Angela C. Baker

Last week I had a dream that just won’t leave me alone. I want to share it with you.  In the dream I saw different children at various ages and stages who were not my own.  Some were very little about the age of three or four.  Others were about ten and still others in their later teens.  What I noticed most about these children is their imploring eyes.  I cannot forget their eyes.  During the dream I heard the words: “Stop, Mom.”  I am not sure if it was the children that spoke these words or if I just felt them, but several times as I saw these children I heard these words urgently spoken: “Stop, Mom.”   So that’s my dream and it won’t leave me alone.  In wondering about the dream, I have had a few ideas come to me.

As home school mothers we take on a pretty big load.  We want the best for our children. We want to be successful and we want our children to succeed as well.  We want to do it right.  That desire in itself is not the problem.  The difficulty is our insecurities, worries, fears, and doubts that maybe we aren’t doing enough or aren’t good enough or that we need to do more and be more than we really are.  These are the problem and they find their origin in the way we think about ourselves, our homes, our children, our home schools and the progress we think we are or aren’t making.  This is where the stress of being a home school mother is found.  This is where the ruthless drive to do, do, do comes from.  This is where we lose the joy and become trapped in the mire of stress.  And when we live in this place, what is most needful often gets neglected.  Let me share some personal experiences to illustrate.

One evening after a busy home school day, my eleven year old daughter came to me. I was exhausted and felt like I had nothing left to give.  In tears she said, “Mom, I just don’t feel like I get enough time with you.”  I looked at her incredulously and quickly reviewed the day’s activities in my mind.  I had been home all day and so had she.  Then I realized that she had spent most of that day in her room reading and doing the crafts she loves to do.  She had also “done” her school work and practiced her flute.  I had passed her room many times through out the day and she seemed happy and content.  All day I had been busy.  The day had not been too different than others as I took care of the needs, details, and responsibilities that come at me day in and day out.  Yes, I had been home all day, but I had not stopped.  I thought she had been content to do what she was doing. When I stopped long enough to look into her eyes and hear her, I found out she was just keeping busy until maybe I would have time for her. 

“Stop, Mom.  Please, hear what I am not saying.”

Another evening I was in the kitchen finishing up with after dinner chores.  The older children were at Mutual and the younger ones having finished their dish chores had gone outside to play.  I was happy to be alone in my kitchen.  Then I noticed six year old Hyrum playing quietly in the family room.  He came into the kitchen and asked me if I would play a game of TAKE TWO.  I told him I would as soon as I finished wiping the counters.  He went back into the family room to wait and I continued to work.  When the counters were wiped I noticed that Hyrum was contentedly looking at a book, so I decided to sweep the floor.  When the floor was done, I glanced at Hyrum who was still happily involved in his book.  So I thought I would just quickly put the dishes away.  As I began to put the dishes away, I heard this distinct voice, “If you continue to work in your kitchen, Hyrum will get tired of waiting for you and he will go outside to find someone who will play with him.”  I immediately stopped what I was doing and invited Hyrum to get the game.  We had a delightful time together just me and Hyrum. I cannot remember if the kitchen got completely cleaned that night, but I remember the joy of playing with Hyrum.  Something very important was happening between us as we played the game—the needful was being attended to and I found deep joy in it. 
“Stop, Mom.  I want to connect with you.”

My oldest daughter now seventeen has many times over the years said to me, “Mom, I don’t want you to be my teacher.  I just want you to be my mom.”  It is tricky to be both an educator to my own children and their mother.  When she says this, I know I have some work to do on the relationship and that this must absolutely come first before school work of any kind.  When the relationship is healthy and open, my daughter is self-motivated and focused on her school work and needs little prodding from me. 

“Stop, Mom.  See me for who I am, not what I do or don’t do.”

In the book Christy one of the main characters teaches us another aspect of what it means to stop. 

“With a husband and five children to cook, clean, wash, even make clothes for, and with no modern conveniences at all, not even piped-in water, Fairlight might have felt burdened and sorry for herself—but she did not.  Often she found time to pause in her dishwashing to let her eyes and her spirit drink in the beauty of a sunset.  She would interrupt her work to call the children and revel with them in the grandeur of thunderheads piling up over the mountain peaks, heat lightning flashing behind the clouds like fireworks.  “It lifts the heart,” she would say, and that was explanation enough for any interruption.  There was always time for a story in front of the fire with the children snuggled against her; always leisure for the family to gather on the porch “to sing the moon up.”  Fairlight told me how on the first fine spring day, she considered it only right and proper to drop her housework:  “The house, it’s already been a-setin’ here for a hundred years.  It’ll be right here tomorrow.  It’s today I must be livin’”—and make her way to one particular spot she knew.  There she would kneel and with her long slender fingers brush aside the dead, sodden leaves and gaze wonderingly on the first blossoms of the trailing arbutus” (Christy by Catherine Marshall; p. 209-10).

It is possible that the message of my dream is just for me, but I have a strong impression that it is a message for all of us.  In the busy of the day and our efforts to educate our children, we each need to “stop” more often and make more room for what is most important in our lives—the people, the relationships, our husbands, our children, the quiet, the Spirit.  Let the Spirit impress on our minds and hearts what is most important.  The world mixes this up shouting: “Be busy! Attend to the “to do” lists!”  The world measure success in outward appearances, but God’s work is people and people cannot always be adequately measured in outward ways or checked off the “to do” list.  The world moves at a crazy, insane pace ignoring the most essential purpose of our lives: people.  We can get in touch with what is most important when we stop and listen to what the eyes of our children are telling us.  It is we, the mothers, who must be the change.  There is more eternally at stake than we can imagine.  Heed the message of my dream and “Stop, mom”   in whatever form that takes for you.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page or email me directly at:angelabakerspeaks@gmail.com. Thanks!

Holding a Science Fair – A Step by Step Approach

by Starla Hale

Putting on a science fair can be a rewarding experience for the whole family.  It can be a lot of work, but if you approach it in “bite-sized” pieces it really isn’t too bad. 

Holding a science fair is a great opportunity for kids to show what they have learned and to become interested in new scientific principles by viewing what others have displayed. At a science fair students learn how to present themselves – to put their best foot forward. 

Other rewards of holding a fair are:

• A better understanding of the scientific process by doing.
• Good Sportsmanship.
• They learn to ask questions and then to find the answer(s).
• The importance of being neat, organized, and thorough.
• They learn to keep a scientific notebook. (aka Nature Journal).
• They learn to do a science report.
• They learn to organize data onto charts and graphs, etc.
• They learn the importance of following procedures.
• They learn to develop a hypothesis and then, that it’s okay if their “educated guess” was right or wrong.
• They learn to answer “why” questions with more than a “yes or no” answer.
• It develops confidence.
• IT’S FUN!

Step 1:       Develop an interest - September

At the beginning of the school year we ask if anyone would be interested in supporting a science fair.  Then choose someone to spearhead the fair and you are on your way. (Our support group holds a science fair every third year and rotates with a special geography/culture study night with our “Around the World in 80 Minutes” and the other year we have a “Great Brain Project”.  By doing one of these a year we offer those interested an opportunity to learn to present themselves before others.)

This is the time to decide - Are you going to strictly have experiments or are you also going to allow displays as well?

If you choose to have displays then you will need to set them up in a separate area to be viewed.  Sometimes this is nice for the “littler people” so that they can feel apart of everything.  Displays, if you choose to judge them as well, will have different criteria for judging.

This is a great time to help those more intimidated by science projects to feel more comfortable by having someone you know - a fun science teacher or even perhaps a couple of enthusiastic moms come and show how fun and easy science can be.

Have everybody share his or her favorite science books and/or equipment at a parent’s meeting.  It would also be good to show what will be expected as an exhibit for the real science fair. They are plenty of books on the subject and sites on line for help. 

Step 2:     Get a Commitment/Select a building - October/November
(Depends on how often you have your parent’s meeting – monthly/every other month.)

Get a commitment.  You don’t need to know what they are doing other than - display or actual experiment, you just need a commitment so that you can order trophies/ribbons and know how big of a space you will need to find to hold the fair in.  Have them fill out a sign-up sheet, carefully printing out each child’s name, age, email addresses, and phone numbers (this way you know you will get the spelling right and you can get a hold of them if needed.)

Just know that no matter how hard you try there will be somebody that will need to back out for some reason or another at the last minute.  We have had as many as 30+ entries to as few as 16. You do want to impress upon them the importance of commitment and not having to order more than is necessary and spending precious budget money.

I also encourage individual entries per child.  It is so much easier than having to share a ribbon or trophy, and a whole lot easier on the parent’s when one child wants to work hard and another does not.  We had such an example this last fair and it was a wonderful teaching lesson for the mom to use.  She had 3 boys that entered but only one who put his heart into it and it showed. He got a ribbon and they did not.  Mom was elated as a great lesson was learned through a simple example.

Find a building – somebody’s basement, the local chamber of commerce – we use one of the buildings at the fair grounds.   We have discovered that if the schools and the public can use the facility so can we.   It works out great and they have been wonderful to us.

Step 3:  Type Up Rules and Send Out to Entries, Find Your Judges - 
2 months before Order Ribbons, Trophies

This is also a great time to go ahead and type up the judging sheets and just file away with all your other “science stuff” you are gathering.  You will need to make enough copies for each judge and for each entry.  (I have attached what we did.  I just compiled mine from 2 or 3 examples I found online. Decide on how many total points you want and then add or delete from there.)  Plan on having each entry judged at least 3 or 4 times and be sure and encourage the judges to comment both positively as well as bring out one point gently for improvement.  (Do not pass out the judging sheets at this time they will just get misplaced.  You will meet with the judges on Fair day.)

Judges can be anybody who loves science.  Schoolteachers have been my greatest resource and even some of the local college professors, they love helping with science fairs.  (Just no parents and preferably nobody from your local group.)

*Remind the kids – No names on their entries! Pictures with the kids in them are okay.

NOW is the time to order those ribbons and trophies. (Check out superiordisplayboards.com  - they have great deals and variety on ribbons, certificates, and trophies. As far as display boards, you can pick them up at Kings, Office Supply Stores or just make your own.) Remember every child should get a ribbon. 

We have in the past divided up the kids into divisions as follows:

Preschool/Kindergarten   
1st through 3rd
4th through 6th
7th through 9th
10th through 12th

For the younger ones you need to decide - are they displays or experiments and how and if you are judging them.  These kids could be just displays and all receive special science certificates.  Or if you have a lot of them just have the Preschool age as displays only and the Kindergartener’s could also received ribbons.

In each division we have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winner, and every one gets a participant ribbon.  Then we take the 1st place winners in each group and take the highest point values for the trophy awards or Rosette’s.  For us, it kind of depends on how many kids are participants which way we go, Rosette’s or trophies, we have done both.

Step   4:    Extra Activity  & Cookies - 6 Weeks before

This is a good time to plan another activity for after the awards and science fair “showing”.  It is kind of like Christmas after all the presents are opened – now what? It’s rather anti-climatic. There needs to be a little something else we have discovered for the families to do afterwards. This year one of the mom’s put together Science Jeopardy.  It was great fun and we discovered just how much we knew and didn’t know! Maybe a lot of hands-on science fun? I learned to delegate this part – it was wonderful not to have to worry about one more thing and I knew it would be done. 

*Have those ribbons arrived yet?  If not, check on them now...

* Get a volunteer for refreshment’s. Don’t try and do it all yourself as you will be busy on science fair day.  Plan on camping out that day and on having some bottled water for you and the judges. (Throw in the back of the car so you don’t forget.)

If you want a decorating committee this would also be the time to delegate that. Keep it simple you don’t want to distract from the exhibits. One year we just put up end-of-the-row signs for each division with pictures of famous scientists along with a clever title like “Newton’s Novices”, “Einstein’s ….”  and a few balloons.  Again it isn’t necessary.

Step 5:       Send out reminders - 1 month before
Double-check the building situation

Time to send out a reminder to your budding scientists that there are only 4 weeks left before Fair Day!

Make sure you still have a green light on the building.
You don’t want any last minute surprises.

Step 6:      Remind the judges!  And…        2 weeks before

Encourage the rest of the group to come out and join in the fun as well.

Time to double check your stash and see that you have everything all together and what you need to have that day at the fair.

Double check with your ‘helpers’ – judges, refreshments, activity and see how things are going and if they need any help.  Again you don’t want any last minute surprises.

*Time to write up numbers to assign to each group 1- ?  You need to separate the divisions either by numbers or colors.  These are just small squares of papers or I cut up index cards into 4’s and use them. Bring a roll of masking tape, a couple of black markers, and paper clips – these are always needed. Also bring a few sharpened pencils for the judges and a calculator for you. When each entry arrives they have to sign in with you. If you have someone at each division area – you or that person will attach a number to every entry with either a paperclip on the display board or taped to the table in front of their experiment.  A master sheet of who is assigned what number is also kept. I am the only one who sees these sheets.  You will need a master sheet for each division. After the displays are set up and everyone is gone it is time to pass out the judging sheets and place by each entry.  As I mentioned, each entry should be judged at least 3 or 4 times.  Make sure each judging sheet has a corresponding number written on it.

Purchase thank you notes for the building and the judges and any of your special helpers. 

Now sit back and take it easy until “FAIR DAY”.

Use these attached sheets for the actual fair day: Judging Sheet, Schedule.

Following are a few things to remember as well:

When the judges arrive answer any questions, pass out waters, pencils and give any instructions at this time.  Also help them realize the ages on each group – this is really important.  (While the judges are doing their work. You probably only need 1 person to be in attendance to answer any questions and provide any needs the judges might have.)

While the judges are busy doing their thing I try and take the time to write out thank you notes to each of them.  Whether I give it to them then or elect to mail them out later I am getting it done while I am just sitting. 

When the judges are all through with their work you are ready to go to work so I hope you had a few energy snacks while you were waiting.  At this point you, and hopefully a helper or two (again, nobody that has a child involved in the actual science competition), tally up the scores.  You add up the scores in each area on the score sheets and then divide by the number of judges. This gives you your average for each area on the scorecard.  Then you add up all the averages on the sheet and get your total points for the bottom of the page.

I make it a rule that once I am there I am there all day, mostly because we don’t get a key and I don’t want to worry about getting back into the building. Also, others use the building and I don’t want anything to happen to any of the entries.  That would be heart breaking!

I hope this helps you in your pursuit of science.  If you have any suggestions for future articles please let me know. You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!  Have Fun!

- Starla

To Practice or Not to Practice?

by Kim Kuhn

Some of the most common questions I get as a music teacher are how old does my child have to be to start learning an instrument, what instrument should they play, and how much should they practice?  Here are what I hope to be some answers.

In my opinion, there is no one particular age for someone to start playing. This depends on what instrument and the readiness of the child.  My first lessons with piano and violin are always free and I call them “trial” lessons.  It helps me to know if the child can sit still for about half an hour.  I have one student that started off with only 15 minute lessons.
  
If they want to learn a brass or woodwind instrument, they might not want to start until after age 9.  These instruments require lots of blowing air so you hardly see a child age 5 playing the trumpet.  Children as early as age 3 can start the violin, but they would be learning using the Suzuki style.  This is when the student learns to play by listening to a note and then copying it.  They do not learn note reading until later.

As for the piano, there are students starting at age 3 or 4 with the Suzuki style, but most start later.  I have had a student that started with me when she was 12 and she did great.  However, I learned she had a previous teacher when she was younger that told her she would never be good in playing piano.  It’s sad to think there are music teachers that discourage the love of music by saying things like that.
   
In deciding what instrument your child should play, please be aware of what their interest is.  If they start off on violin, and after a good year of learning and practicing, they want to switch to cello or viola, let them.  Many times this switch is what will help them find that instrument they really have a passion for.

To practice, or not to practice.  That is the question so often thought about in the minds of parents.  I suggest consistency, a set time and something fun.  For example, practice for beginners can be 15 minutes and either right after dinner or before a favorite TV show or even before school starts (that’s when our family gets music practice done).  After practice, the kids can have a snack.  My 10 year old daughter insists on a snack during her practice.  This can be done 5 days a week.  Depending on how their music teacher feels their progress is going, they can increase practice time to 30 minutes after a few months.

The key is to be consistent.  I had a student once that had gymnastics one day, cross country another day, and I don’t know what on the other days.  Dinner was never at the same time every day.  She could never get a practice in because first, her schedule was so hectic and second, her parents never created a consistent time for her.  Needless to say, she didn’t stick with the music.
      
The last thing I want to mention is finding the right teacher.  It’s ok to check around for a month to find the right teacher for your child.  You can check out your friends’ recommendations, but if it’s not a right fit, don’t feel obligated to use them.  We saw several different voice teachers including one that was recommended by quite a few people before we found the right fit for my 15 year old daughter and we think she’s amazing.

Hopefully I have answered the basic music questions you may have concerning starting an instrument and practicing.  Good luck with your music!

If you have any suggestions for future articles, whether it’s for music or art, just let me know. You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Kim