Geometric Discoveries

Found on the floor of Kian's bedroom: a lined paper with the following information.  It looked interesting to me, so I picked it up and read it.  "What is this, Kian?" I asked him.  "Oh, I've been using my ruler to learn about triangles and squares."

Is he a future scientist or what?!

Triangles, squares and circles

laws I have found

1. a right triangle's hypotenuse is directly proportional to its other sides.

if Lx and Ly increase by one, its Hypotenuse increases by 1.4

(here is drawn a triangle with sides labeled H, Lxy, Lyx)

2. adding on to the first law, some triangle's hypotenuses = their other side length x 1.4

(here is a triangle with sides labeled H, Ly, Lx)

H = Lx * 1.4 but only if Lx = Ly

3. when a square with a triangle inside increases by 1, then

(here is a square with a diagonal line across it splitting it into two triangles, the sides each labeled L)

T.P = 3.4
T.A = ( (L-1) + 0.5)

I found his protractor today which somehow made it's way onto Felicity's bed and he was so excited to continue explorations which could now include angles!

Homeschool 2014-2015

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Abby to Mom: “Do we get to do Shakespeare again tomorrow?!"

I spent dozens of hours this summer preparing for this homeschool year.  I do every summer actually.  I love to plan!  My favorite resource for homeschool is www.milestonesacademy.com.  The woman who has put together this “curriculum” is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and promotes a few educational styles that I have come to love: Montessori, Suzuki and Charlotte Mason.  Check out her site if you aren’t familiar with these learning styles and want to know more.  I have enjoyed every resource she recommends!

I have come to learn about myself that the better prepared I am for homeschool, the easier it will be to execute.  Homeschooling five children isn’t easy.  They range from high school to preschool and all require daily personal attention in addition to subjects we study as a group.  I know that the more I have prepared ahead of time, the more successful our school year will be.   So I plan A LOT.

Here is what our week looks like.  (This semester we are working extra hard, knowing that next semester will require a couple of months off to celebrate and enjoy our new baby sister!)

Daily:

8:00-8:45 am  Devotional during breakfast (this includes prayer, primary song, hymn, scripture memorization, poem, praise, character training and scripture study.  We are continuing our study of the Book of Mormon this year.  The character qualities we are trying to develop include orderliness, hospitality, contentment, responsibility, patience, gentleness, joyfulness, obedience and thoroughness—one per month)

8:45-9:00 am Brush teeth and cleanup after breakfast

9:00-9:15 am Team Clean Up (this is where we all work together and do some deep cleaning.  Our house is divided into five areas and we all pick something to do in the same area.  For example, vacuum edges of the living room and hallway or clean under couches and couch cushions, etc).

9:15-10:00 am Preschool with Klaus (see below for more details about preschool!  The older kids begin their individual workboxes including English lessons, math and literature)

10:00-10:15 am Mom Time with Felicity (we work on reading out loud together, writing practice, and poem memorization.  Klaus has preschool-aged activities to work on during this time which I call “tot trays”)

10:15-12:15 pm Snack and Block 1 (this is usually as a group while Klaus has an activity box to work on to help him be quiet)

Block 1:

M: Zoology with Girls (Kian has literature and Latin on his own)

T: Zoology with Girls (Kian does biology on his own)

W: Read Aloud Literature (all)

Th: Voice and Piano Lessons (all)

F: Wild Day/Nature Study/Drawing Lesson (all)

We break for lunch and do lunch cleanup.  Then back to school by 1 pm.

1:00-3:00 pm Block 2 (Klaus is supposed to nap)

Block 2:

M: History/Geography (all)

T: Plutarch and Shakespeare with Kian and Abby (Ella and Felicity do drawing lessons, Read Aloud biography or history, and science selections)

W: Spanish and Chinese (all)

Th: Biology with Kian (girls do their own work including Read Aloud, handicrafts)

F: Music and Picture Study (all)

The kids then have to earn screen time by playing outside for as many minutes as they’d like screen time if they haven’t been outside previously during the day.  I’m usually making dinner by 4:30 pm so screen time has been drastically reduced this semester.  That makes me happy!

I have been very surprised at how I’ve had the energy to get through and even enjoy these longer school days.  I give all the credit to my generous Heavenly Father answering my prayers.  I’ve experienced a greater happiness as a mother and enough energy to handle such busy days.  Considering that these are exactly the blessings I’m praying for, I am thankful for direct answers!

Preschool: I divided each semester into 16 weeks.  Each week covers a new topic.  We read some fiction and nonfiction books on the subject, learn a song and poem related to the topic, and do a different activity each day, also related to the topic.  Some of the activities we have done for week 1 have included going outside to observe ladybugs, using clay and pipe cleaners to make our own bugs and spiders, using string to make spider webs, doing bug puzzles, sprinkling cookie crumbs and watching ants collect the pieces, etc.  They have all been fun for Klaus and I’m glad to make the time for us to have just him and I.  That’s why I planned for 2 semesters.  Even with a new baby, I hope to keep the tradition of he and I with quality time each day.

Week 1: Bugs and Spiders

2: Trains

3: Dinosaurs

4: Trucks

5: Weather

6: Colors

7: Fall/Leaves

8: Apples

9: Animals

10: Maps and Neighborhoods

11: Plants

12: Pumpkins

13: Airplanes

14: Indians

15: Thanksgiving

16: Gingerbread/Christmas

Semester 2 Week 1: Teddy bears

2: Snow and Winter

3: All About Me

4: Families

5: Birds

6: Love

7: Cooking/Food

8: Houses

9: Springtime

10: Counting

11: Ducks

12: Ships and the Sea

13: Easter

14: Farms and Gardens

15: Butterflies

16: Camping

Collage Making Fun

Here is a collage I made today expressing my feelings and inspired thoughts from General Conference this weekend.  President Uchtdorf's talk about Jesus Christ as the light of the world inspired it.  It may be hard to see in the picture but the bottom half represents a sun.  As I do the things mentioned here (trust in the Lord, serve, have faith, pray, give to the poor, etc), I will experience His light and the many blessings which come from Him including clarity, peace, joy, strength, testimony, courage and personal revelation.  These are the rays of the sun.  I will feel God's influence and God's love for me more fully.

This is a collage I made last month for our forthcoming baby, Maggie.  I have pondered on a middle name and I think I like the sound of Maggie Rose best of all.  Hence, a rose collage.  It is already hung up in her nook in my bedroom.

A guest post!

This is an email from my dad that I received today, one day before a General Conference of our church when all 15 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to hear from the living prophet and his apostles and other general leadership of the church.  It is always an inspiring weekend filled with encouraging words, beautiful music and inspiring prophetic counsel.

I asked his permission to post his email here and he agreed.  Let me know if you find it as inspiring as I did.

As I prepare for General Conference, I have another story for you.

Kind of long -- but believe me, I have abridged it down to the bone.

{I can already hear grandkids saying, "He sure talks a lot about himself !" }

Back on July 18, 2014 I sent you an email that said, in part:

"Every day I study and ponder apostolic authority.  Why?  Simply because God nudged me to do it.  {That's another story.}"

So, here's the story -- about apostolic authority -- in preparation of General Conference.

Background:

As you already know, in the spring of this year, when Jackie and I decided to start re-attending The Episcopal Church (TEC)I had already accepted Jesus as the Christ and Redeemer of the world, and I was ready to partake of the sacramental emblems of the Last Supper.  {FYI:  Pretty much anybody can receive Holy Communion in TEC.}

And although Jackie has always been a "cultural" episcopalian I wanted more than friendship or culture from the body of Christ with whom I worshipped.  So, I began to do a lot of studying about TEC, and I began to listen very closely to the sermons -- some sermons given by our resident priest, and other sermons given by visiting priests.  Please understand that Episcopal priests are highly trained -- in both theology and church management -- and that their sermons are carefully (and often beautifully) worded.

But I noticed what I would call a "slight movement" toward mythologizing the scriptures.

You might remember in a previous email, I wrote:  

"I told him {the priest} how much I appreciated him as an Episcopal vicar --  even though he did change the Gospel reading from "... for fear of the Jews"  to  "for fear of others"  -- an inside joke between us how Episcopalians flow to and fro with cultural pressures."

But it was actually not a joke when the priest did it, and after services I talked to him about it.  {FYI, Jackie was always afraid of the questions I asked.  She said Episcopalians don't ask a lot of questions -- they just go with the flow.} The priest explained that it was a way to make up for all the anti-semitism the scriptures had caused over the millennia.  I will only report two of the many questions I asked him:  

"And will you next remove any reference to the Jews who stoned Stephen?"

"Or any reference to the Jews who cried, 'Crucify him!'?"

Visiting and presiding at this same service was an episcopal canon (above a priest, but below a bishop} that I also spoke with about the issue of changing the words of Holy Writ.  She (correct pronoun) confirmed that the bishop of the diocese approved the change of wording.

Now, changing/adding/correcting Holy Writ is not hard for me to accept,  BUT it awakened in me the desire to understand HOW the Episcopalian leadership makes such decisions.

In addition, I repeat that I wanted more than friendship or culture from the body of Christ with whom I worshiped.  I wanted to commit myself to communion with this body of Christ, to sanctification with this body of Christ.  I actually started to study the process of confirmation to dig deeper into what it meant to become a full-fledged Episcopalian.

So, I read a few hundred thousand words (or more) from lots of good sources -- all of which lead me to one great question:

DID I TRUST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH?

And the unambiguous answer was .... No.

So, I expanded my reading to study the worldwide Anglican Communion (AC) leadership.

And the unambiguous answer was .... No.

And I expanded my reading to study various evangelical Christian groups and denominations.

And the unambiguous answer was .... No.

And I even expanded my reading to study Catholicism.

And the unambiguous answer was .... No.

Then on to the next great question:

"WHY didn't I TRUST them?"

And the unambiguous answer is/was:

"Look to the living prophets."

Which I did, and then the answer was .... Yes.

So, as I prepare for the blessing of being able to listen to God's chosen leaders at this moment when I am alive, I am filled with gratitude and anticipation.

Love to My Wonderful Family,

GranDad Chad