Leadership Education Conference

Saturday, Marly and I went to an all-day Leadership Education Conference. There was over 150 people in attendance, both adults and teens. The speakers were based upon our home school method, Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed), although it was not just for home schoolers. There were a few teachers at the conference as well who want to implement the methods taught in their classrooms. The keynote speaker, Dr. Oliver DeMille, has a new book out called "Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning". I noticed that the book covers the materials in the CD's "Core & Love of Learning: A Recipe for Success" that I have previously mentioned. It also includes "The Scholar Phase" information that I was considering buying. It is nice to have it all in one book!

I am blown away with how much we learned. We were both taking a lot of notes. I felt like my spiritual and emotional cups were filled! I nearly came to tears during one speech where I realized how much the spirit has led my thoughts and the Lord has guided my hand to come to the choices we have made. I know that for us, this it the RIGHT choice.

Here are a few quotes that I would like to share:

• "Reading is viewed as laziness in the modern society."
• "Education occurs when students STUDY." - (not through rote memorization or reading textbooks that are watered down and not the real work of the great minds of history and our modern time)
• "You are the expert of your family."

Two Myths of Education:

1. "It is possible for one person to educate another."
2. "It is the job of teachers to educate."

Real education comes when a person studies material for their own reason and purpose. This was evident in many classes I took when I was taking classes at Northern Arizona University to become a teacher. One book called "Learning and the Brain" talked a great deal about connecting learning to a NEED the student has. The questions our brain goes through are: Why do I need to know this? Who decided I need to know this? Do I want to know this? Our traditional education method at both public, charter, and private schools teaches that students need to know the information for the "test". The brain says, "Oh, I need to know this for the test, but I can forget it after that."

Think about it...what do you remember from 4th grade, or 7th grade, or 12th grade, or even college? I don't know about you, but I mostly remember who my friends were and some basic information that interested me. There is not much else stored from all those years at school, including my college years! I know I obviously learned how to read and write and a little math (that seems to disappear quickly for me). But why didn't more stick?

There are some reasons mentioned in the books that I have studied, including this new book from Dr. Oliver DeMille. I hope to continue to study this subject to make my children's education memorable and necessary to them.

Book of Mormon Lapbook - lesson 4

The 4th installment, "The Tree of Life", for our Book of Mormon Lapbook was uploaded today. The rest should be coming out soon with pictures and instructions on assembling the 1st completed lapbook.

There is also a Yahoo! Group called LDS-HFS (for homeschool form share) that is cooperatively compiling activities together for more Book of Mormon Lapbooks. If you would like to take part, they are looking for more people to contribute.

We LOVE John Bytheway!

For the past couple of years I have been collecting John Bytheway (a motivational youth speaker) CD's to listen to in the van, since we drive so far to get to town this is a nice way to pass the time without listening to the worldy junk on the radio. We discovered that BYU TV has been airing John Bytheway specials. We have recorded them and the kids are watching them over and over! Almost like they did when they were little and a new Disney movie came out. (I can still sing every single Lion King song by heart).

Our favorites are:

• "What's in Your Backpack?" (His Barney Fife impression is repeated often in our home)
  
• "Standards Night"
• "The Best Three Hours of the Week"
  

You can also listen to his talks online at BYU broadcasting.

Spring is for Science!

While most of the country is still pretty cold, we have had 80 degree temperatures this week. We have taken advantage of this fantastic weather and been enjoying the great outdoors. The bikes are getting used frequently, the dog is ecstatic getting so many walks, and the windows are thrown open to receive the gentle breeze. I love this time of year and hope the desert heat stays away for quite a while. My Fibromyalgia pain decreases during this time as the cold leaves. My joints feel better already!

Marly's Project

Last year we started using the Square Foot Garden method. We were successful with our radishes and strawberries, but not our carrots or lettuce. We are starting again. Marly has chosen this as her project. She tenderly cares for the boxes we made last year and we are clearly another section for two more 4' x 4' boxes. She researched and found planting guides for our area and has created a plan for the planting seasons this year.

Chris's Project

Chris has been progressively working on learning about electricity. Last year he made a complete circuit and this year he has been building several types of circuits using an Electronics Snap Kit. We purchased a kit called Crystal Radio, but have been unable to get it to work well (I do not recommend this kit). His project of game programming and HTML is still ongoing.

Sam's Project

Our stake is preparing for a Pioneer Trek. Sam is making most of her own clothing for this event that will take place this summer. We are starting with her apron. She has been on a trek previously and is very sure about what she wants this time. I'm happy to see her geared up to be an experienced trekker!

Male vs. Female - or Learning Styles?

"Why won't men ask for directions?"

"Why won't men read the instructions?"

"Why do women talk so much?"

Are these issues related to male/female roles or are they something else? Could it be that many men are "spatial learners" so they prefer not to read directions but take a hands-on approach? Are more women "verbal learners" so they feel that others learn by listening also?

Learning Styles

A large part of our curriculum choices are based upon our personal education goals and individual learning styles and/or multiple intelligence. I learn best by reading about a subject, but Chris learns best by hands-on projects. Cathy Duffy, a popular home school curriculum reviewer, focuses on how products match learning styles. This makes it so much easier for parents to chose curriculum or homework helps based on their child's needs.

But - what if you don't know what your family members learning styles are?

Learning Styles Pyramid Model - Interactive with explanations of the various learning style. I was able to start picking up on my children's learning styles while reading the definitions on this chart.

Multiple Intelligence Chart - I like this chart because it is easy to see the explanations. I focus more on the learning styles since I am teaching my children at home.

It was easy for me to see that some of my children need quiet when they study and another likes to listen to music. Complete quiet drives Sam nuts! So - what do I do? I allow the music lover to listen to her MP3 player with earplugs so that another child can have complete quiet.

Chris needs movement. It drives him crazy to sit still - so we sometimes have him bounce a ball while repeating his times tables, walk around while reading aloud, or balance on each foot for a moment before sitting down to work on writing. Sending him to public school was very hard for him as he was not allowed to learn through movement. He was required to sit still, which stifled his need to move and learn at the same time.

I love reading about this subject and applying it to what I do at home. When I first started homeschooling I almost completely modeled the public schools with a stiff schedule...9:00 reading, 9:30 math, etc. I found that this is not how my children learn best...so why do the schools do it that way? I know that they need some form of conformity or there would be more chaos, but what about individual needs?

This year we are taking a different approach to fit each child's personal learning styles and needs. Our new schedule will seem foreign to anyone who grew up going to public school (like me).

LDS Notebooking Pages

I found these awesome free Notebooking pages at LDS Notebooking Pages. For an explanation on notebooking click here, it is kind of like scrapbooking. These notebooking pages are great for Family Home Evening and home schooling. These are PDF files that have full-color pictures and room to write about the story or prophet.

LDS Prophets Notebook Pages - 100 pages - (go down to the bottom of the page) Very nice notebook with room to write about each Prophet.

Book of Mormon Notebook Pages

Stories included to date:

• Lehi
  
• Nephi
• Lehi Leaves Jerusalem
• Nephi and the Brass Plates
• Daughters of Ishmael
• Lehi's Dream
• Liahona
• Nephi Builds a Ship
• Nephi's Rebellious Brothers
• Lehi Arrives in the Promised Land

Jim Henson' Fantastic World Fieldtrip

We have been on a few fieldtrips lately having a great time with our family and friends. We had the chance to see the Jim Henson Exhibit at the Arizona Museum for Youth. This exhibit is owned by the Smithsonian Institute. We had a blast seeing how the ideas behind "Sesame Street", "Fraggle Rock", "Dark Crystal", and "The Muppet Show" were created.

I remember watching all of these shows, but I know that Fraggle Rock was on cable and not everyone had it. So, here is a clip of the opening scences for the show. Enjoy a flash from the past!