Adding Living Books . . . A New Find

I just finished reading the book The Hiding Place written by Corrie Ten Boom.  I feel like it is difficult to find the right words to describe this book.  It is absolutely a "living book".  

The biography of a woman from the Netherlands, that lived through World War II, and the experiences she and her family had during that time.  I learned so much from this book.  Beyond the historical information, I was amazed at the strength the individuals had for love and compassion, not only for their friends, family, and countrymen, but for their enemies and persecutors.  I also learned a lot about being a parent.  This book will be added to our list of Must Reads for our historical studies of the time during World War II.  I strongly recommend that all read this book.  Enjoy!

Appreciation for the classics . . .

I have a weakness. I will be the first to admit it. My husband will be the second. When I am out running errands, if I have a few free minutes I will pop into one of the local thrift stores and peruse the books they have for sale. One particular store, seems to get a fresh lot of books every two weeks or so. Sometimes I come away with one or two great books or classics that I have been looking for, sometimes more.

This was my last trip. All for $8.



I went to our local library yesterday to find some books about seasons. They too have a few shelves that contain books for sale. I usually don't find much, but yesterday there were a couple of good picture books and then I found this beauty:



I was quite surprised to see it sitting on the "for sale" shelves. I thought maybe they had made a mistake. So I took my finds up to the counter and asked if they were sure they wanted to sell The Trumpet of the Swan. They concurred that it was for sale. They also said that the books were buy one get one free, so I paid a whopping 12 cents for each book. We already have a copy of this book in our collection, but I know someone that would want it, so I got it. I was a little sad. A great classic being discarded by the library and sold for 12 cents. There are a great many ( ok the vast majority) of the books on the shelves of the library that we don't even look at. The word twaddle comes to mind.

I was showing my new finds to the Mr. last night. He commented on a few and then said, " Your going to need more bookshelves." Hmmm . . . . someday, I hope. Enjoy!

"You always start with ideas. If you don't start with ideas, you get lost."

George Shultz, former Secretary of State

I was watching a very interesting biography the other night on PBS called, Turmoil and Triumph, The George Shultz Years. It was extremely interesting and informative. I felt a little bit a part of it, as some of the events took place when I was a young child and I remember some of the things they portrayed. The above quote was shared towards the end of the program. There was more to the quote, but I was not fast enough to write it all down. It said something about ideas being a compass to learning.

When I heard the quote, I thought immediately of some of the questions people ask me about our home learning. I often get the, "So, what exactly are you learning now?" or "How do you decide what to teach?". When I explain to them that I believe that as their mother, part of my responsibility is to expose them to opportunities or information that will ignite something in my kids to want to learn. Some people don't quite understand my response. I often times say that we read. We read a lot. We read all the time.



I am amazed at the looks of shock or confusion in response to my response. I am waiting for the day when someone actually says, "Really? That's all you do? Read?".

Yes, that's what we do. From reading, my children are introduced to a plethora of ideas from which they then, in turn, learn more about. For example, when we read the book The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, they asked to learn more about:

Trumpeter Swans, foxes, TAPS, birds held in zoos, journal writing, swan boats, etc.

How do you get children interested in learning? You give them ideas. The way I give my children ideas is through reading. What are we reading right now?

Bambi, Ferdinand the Bull, American History Stories Vol. 2, the Old Testament, Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Tales, the list goes on and on.

So, as Mr. Shultz says, if you don't start with ideas, you get lost. Are you feeling lost? Do you have a child that just doesn't seem to click with what you are doing or teaching them? They need an idea to lead them into the exploration that is learning. They won't even realize that they are learning. It is amazing. Enjoy!

AMAZING DEAL . . .

Just wanted to let everyone know about this great deal! Thanks to Free n' Equal at themisfircygnet.com for the heads up. I have looked at this book many times at the library and it never gets old. They use it as reference only. Great companion to the full version 1776. Follow the link below, Enjoy!



http://www.seagullbook.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?

Just Wondering . . .

First, an update. Things are going great with us. I feel like the "learning" part of our lives is blending in smoothly with the rest of the everyday grind. When people ask what a typical day with us is like, I think they are a little surprised to learn that our learning is just another part of our day like meals or chores. Most people expect us to have a time set aside for "school". We do, it is just part of what we do. If we feel like starting a chore a little later because we are deep into a great book and the kids don't want to stop (yes, it's happened) then we keep reading. The best part of core phase is that they get to play their little hearts out and eventually they want to learn. It's amazing to experience, but you have to be patient in the process. Having had two children experience the public school system for a couple of years, I not only had to retrain their thought process but my own. It has been hard, but amazing at the same time.

We have been reading Bambi and loving it! It is an amazing story and I love the way the author gives the reader little tastes of nature and life from nature's point of view. We are coming to some critical parts of the story and I am interested to see what kind of conversations they will initiate. We have already had a few good ones. I do want to share with you a portion of my favorite chapter so far. It is not too long, but the author does such a great job of making it come alive to the reader.

The leaves were falling from the great oak at the
meadow's edge. They were falling from all the trees.

One branch of the oak reached high above the
others and stretched far out over the meadow. Two
leaves clung to its very tip.

"It isn't the way it used to be," said the one leaf to the other.

"No," the other leaf answered. "So many of us have fallen
off to-night we're almost the only ones left on our branch."

"You never know who's going to go next, " said
the first leaf. "Even when it was warm and the sun
shone, a storm or a cloudburst would come sometimes,
and many leaves were torn off, though they were
still young. You never know who's going to go next."

"The sun seldom shines now," sighed the second leaf,
"and when it does it gives no warmth. We must have
warmth again"

"Can it be true," said the first leaf, "can it really be true,
that others come take our places when we're gone,
after them still others, and more and more?"

"It is really true," whispered the second leaf. "We
can't even begin to imagine it, it's beyond our powers."

"It makes me very sad," added the first leaf.

They were silent a while. Then the first leaf said quietly
to herself, " Why must we fall? . . ."

Really, I encourage anyone to read this book, it is enriching. I do have a question for you all, what do you do when you have something throw off your schedule for a period of time? What do you do to keep things relatively on track? During the summer is especially hard because you have family visiting, vacations to go on, things throwing the balance off. What do you do?

The Backroom . . .

One day, I hope to have an amazingly HUGE collection of all the great books that we and others deem as classics. I think that I already have a great start toward that goal . . . (My husband would say that I am a little obsessed with books. Yes, I would rather buy books than food. Isn't that a great diet plan though!) . . ., but every once in a while, I need to visit the local library to get a book that I don't yet own. To find the book, I do the usual; look it up in their catalog and find the call number by which to locate it. There have been a few occasions when the call number is followed by the group of letters, BKRM. These letters, I have found out, mean that the book is located in the backroom of the library that only the librarians have access to. So, in order to get the book, one has to ask a librarian to get it. It is not a bad thing, but a lot of people don't know what the letters BKRM refer to, so they look on the regular shelves and when the book is not to be found they just get something else.

The reason I bring this up is because the books that I have had to ask for have all been great classics like The Lonesome Gods and Walden, just to name a couple. The first time this happened to me, I asked the librarian why they keep these books in the backroom and she gave me two reasons; because they belong to the classic collection . . . (not sure why that is a reason, I guess because they are expensive?). . . and because those books are often stolen. Really? People go in and steal books from the library? I've heard of people keeping books they've checked out, but to steal them? People, THEY ARE FREE TO READ!!!!!

So, I understand why they put them back, but here is the negative part of it. A lot of people don't know about the "classics". There are alot of people in this world that love to read, but don't necessarily have direction and so they just browse the shelves. The books that I got had not been checked out for the last four years; that's really sad. Is there a better way to keep these materials safe but also readily available to everyone? It would be nice.

It is nice though that when I go to the library and approach the front desk, the librarians usually ask me what I need from the backroom. I guess that's a good sign! Enjoy!

Which Would You Choose? . . .

I had an interesting conversation with Ky the other day. We were on our way to do a little book hunting at a local thrift store, and she strikes up this conversation:



Ky: "Hey Mom?"

Me: "Ya?"

Ky: " Which would you choose, a candy bar or a book?"

Me: "That's a great question! Which would you choose?"

Ky: " I would choose the book."

Me: "Really, why?"

Ky: "Well, the candy bar is good to eat, but the thrill of it only lasts for a few moments. Once you're done with it, you don't continue to enjoy it. With a book, you thoroughly enjoy it while you are reading it and you can continue to enjoy it for a long time after. If you remember what the book is about, you can think about it for years afterward and remember how great it was. You can also learn a lot from them."

Bugaloo: "I agree!"

Me: "Really Bugaloo, what would you choose?"

Bugaloo: " A book, totally!"


And what was I doing during this entire conversation? Back flips, front flips, secretly crying, secretly laughing, giving myself a huge high five (all in my mind, of course, after all I was driving.) This is one of those moments that we all wait for. This is the Love of Learning that I want all of my children to have and I hope that I am doing all there is to help them find it.

I Can Do This . . .

Why is it that we, at times, doubt what we can do, even though it is humanly possible and is most times best for us? In a book series called The Great and Terrible, the author, Chris Stewart, portrays Satan and the spirits that follow him in a light that I find helpful. The spirits of Satan are ALWAYS right by you observing every move you make, both physically and mentally. They see your weaknesses and use that to their advantage. They whisper bits of self loathing or even encouragement to do and/or think those things that would be detrimental to your own spiritual happiness and progression. I had a couple of moments like that last week.

The first, though a bit trivial, was as simple as an attitude of quitting. I started running a little over a year ago and I have recently been training for a run at the end of the summer. I had to run a certain length on Saturday and was shocked at how easily I wanted to just stop. I kept telling myself that it was stupid to keep running, what's the point. No one would know, why was I subjecting myself to the pain anyway?

Immediately, I realized how negative the thoughts were and I actually was saying out loud to myself, "I am a runner, I can do this", over and over again. I realized how easy it would have been to give up and just stop running, but it has helped to improve my overall health and attitude. I find that on days that I run, I have a more cheerful outlook, this may also be because I feel that I have started the day in an organized way; running, reading, studying, praying. It all seems to fall into place.


Well, I was starting to feel the same way yesterday about our home and progress at core phase. Oh, we have been doing great with it. Family work has been smooth for the most part. There is room for improvement, but everyone has been giving their all. Then I have a day, like yesterday, where it all seems to come crashing down. The kids don't want to give their share. Basically, I have this vision of how things can work and run and they don't! Then I start to doubt my decisions and wonder if this is truly the way we want to go. It seems to work great, are there truly times when there are kinks and I just need to learn to work through and beyond like with running? I keep telling myself this.

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to learn more about some gospel principles from some of our general authorities, including our beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. We were able to participate in a Regional Conference. Their words were encouraging and also a reminder to me, that I am making decisions on behalf of my family that are pleasing unto the Lord. I feel discouraged and think immediately of those spirits of Satan that know me so well, that are encouraging me to think such self doubt and then I hear an apostle of the Lord remind us what our opportunity and duty as parents are:

"Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live."

I immediately feel an overwhelming feeling of approval that what I am doing as a mother is the right way for us.

It is true that it would be easier to give into my own self doubt and find an easier route to teach my children these things, but would it be worth it? What would be left out? Will they see right through me and realize that I am not giving it my all? Perhaps, but I will definitely see right through it. I think the realization of my own failures would be much harder to live with than my struggle to stay on the path that I have felt inspired to be on. I am just thankful for prayer, the scriptures, and the words of the apostles that guide and encourage our lives.

So to all those that are struggling just a bit or a lot in your journey to teach your children, be strong, endure, and keep telling yourself, " I can do this, I am a Mother!"

This and That . . .

Last Monday, we took advantage of the semi-good weather and took the kids out for a hike and a little Geocaching. Here is a description from a Geocaching website:

"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout
the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic
idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches
(sometime we call them a cache), outdoors and then share
your experiences online."

So you get the coordinates for the "cache" online and then it is up to you to find them. Sometimes the coordinates are right on and sometimes they can be within 10 feet, so some searching is involved. Sometimes, the "hider" of the cache will leave a short clue. We headed to the hills with our GPS, clues, and walking sticks and had a great time. We ended up finding 6 cahes, that is a record for us for 1 trip. JJ did great hiking on the trails and only needed help through the brush. The older kids all got to use the GPS and we had to work together to find them. It is a great exercise is working as a team to solve a problem and also in following direction and looking at a map. We searched until dark and then came home.

Peaches finding her cache.

I finished the next step in the challenge in Appendix F of A Thomas Jefferson Education. I read through the Declaration of Independence, looked up the definition of any words I didn't know or were unclear, listed 10 things that stood out to me and discussed it with someone. Honestly, my head hurt! I can't remember the last time I really THOUGHT about something that deep and I have always read and studied. It was amazing. Surprisingly, there were about 16 words that I had to look up that I didn't know or was unclear of. This is an amazing tool for study and I need to be more vigilant at annotating when I read.

I was so amazed at the deep yet simple ideas and thoughts put into this wonderful document. Our founding fathers were truly inspired men! It was sad though that I found so many things in the Declaration of Independence that I believe our country is struggling with right now.

I am ready to move onto the next step, but . . . I lent my book to someone and didn't write down the next step!!! AARGH . . . Ya, I know, that wasn't the smartest thing to do. I get a little excited when someone wants to borrow the book though. I will have to call and ask them to tell me the remainder of the steps so I can keep going.

Onto the kids, Ky has LOVED reading the composer biographies that we got from the library and wants MORE! Bugaloo has done great with the art books and draws all the time. I got some art appreciation cards just recently and can't wait to get those out for the kids to look at.

We had a great time searching for books at a local thrift store and scored big time. We got some great classics, including The Red Badge of Courage, Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Rebekah of Sunnybrook Farm and MORE!! We also got a few biographies, two for George Washington and one of Paul Revere. My husband's comment was, "Well, I need to get bookselves made. We'll need a lot." That's right Honey, a lot!!!!

We already finished Stuart Little and I think it is definitely a favorite, the kids LOVED it.
Well, good luck to you all in your adventures and Enjoy!!