Frogs

A Safeguard and Protection

After listening to Brother Bednar's talk in Conference I wanted to find a way to help Monkey begin to learn to love family history work. Although the talk was primarily addressed to youth, Brother Bednar also specifically included children in his remarks. Then, after I found another clip (below) on lds.org, my husband and I became even more determined to find a way to make this happen.

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I will hardly ever ask the question, "Are you preparing to go on a mission?" I will ask the question, "Are you worthy to be in the temple? And will you be next year? And will you be the year after that? Are you doing the research in your own family, and helping other people with their research?" 

That, for a young person, in the wickedness of the world in which we live today, is one of the greatest safeguards against the temptations of the adversary.

-David A.Bednar

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A safeguard against the temptations of the adversary; protection from the wickedness of our world.

We need that.

We need to protect our children so they can grow up to the Lord! Now that he says it, it makes perfect sense that the temple would offer that protection to our children and youth. Of course the temple will draw my children closer to the Lord! Funny, President Hunter invited us to make the temple the great symbol of our membership, but in teaching my son I never thought to invite him to do the same.

OK. Now what. My big boy doesn't read yet. Not enough, anyway. And the little one not at all. (Though he does point at my alphabet strips and say, "That-- me!") How can I involve such little ones in family history and temple work? Obviously neither one can do real research just yet.

Things we can do

• Tell ancestor stories.
• Make an "Ancestor Book" - this would be good for long, "boring" Sundays, or for Family Home Evenings.
• If I get names ready maybe they can help print and organize the temple cards
• With (a lot of) help, Monkey could put dates into PAF after a temple trip
• We could find space for an "Ancestor Map" and mark where they lived
• We can take our digital recorder to Nana & Grandpa's house & ask them for stories

What else? How can we help our children do this?

Sunday Scripture

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Exotic Music

This afternoon Monkey asked me, "What's a gong?" We ran across the word in phonics. I explained, but a gong must be heard to understand, so when we were done reading we visited YouTube. Turns out there's quite a bit of exotic music on there, and we had a good time.

Sunday Scripture

And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

Enos 1:4

It Strengthens My Resolve

... to stay home. Even were we to not homeschool, this council is crystal clear:

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One of the great tragedies of our day is the confusion in the minds of some which would cause mothers to go to work in the marketplace. Satan, that master of deceit, would have us believe that when we have problems with our children, the answer may be a nicer home in a finer neighborhood, that they might have their own bedroom, or better quality clothes, and maybe their own car. Satan would have us believe that money or the things money can buy are more important in the home than mother.


Now there are some mothers with school-age children who are the breadwinners of their family and they must work; they are the exception. Fathers and mothers, before you decide you need a second income and that mother must go to work out of the home, may I plead with you: first go to the Lord in prayer and receive his divine approbation. Be sure he says yes. Mothers with children and teenagers at home, before you go out of your homes to work, please count the cost as carefully as you count the profit. Earning a few dollars more for luxuries cloaked in the masquerade of necessity or a so-called opportunity for self-development of talents in the business world, a chance to get away from the mundane responsibilities of the home these are all satanic substitutes for clear thinking. They are counterfeit thoughts that subvert the responsibilities of motherhood. As you count the costs of mother working out of the home, please consider the following:


A mother gone when her children need her most or one who is too tired from a day spent in employment. Far better for a boy or girl to go to school in last year's shirts or hand-me-down dresses that are clean even though not in the height of fashion and come home to find mother there, than for a boy or girl to go to school in finer and newer clothes and come home to a new TV or a baby-sitter because Mother is away working.

-H. Burke Peterson, CR, Apr. 1974, p. 43

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Classical Homeschooling Carnival #19

Welcome to the latest edition of the Classical Homeschooling Carnival! We have a number of fun and inspiring posts this time around. Check them out:

LITERATURE

Delightful Children's Books has a rather extensive collection of books this time, in the wrap-up of her globally themed event, Read Around the World. Looks like they had a great time!


Nadene and her kids are having a blast Playing with Poetry - ideograms, to be precise - at Practical Pages.

Photo courtesy of Delightful Children's Books.

MATH and SCIENCE

Jay3fer reminds us not to put away the toys too soon in Cuisenaire Rods for Big(ger) Kids. She walks us through their use of the rods to figure out the area of a book cover, over at Adventures in Mama-Land.

Here on Baby Steps, I've been pondering what math really is, and concluding that It's Not What I Thought.

Mary tells about her adventures with Phony Poop in her son's digestive system lesson. I'm pretty sure that's one he'll remember for a loooong old time! She's blogging at Winecup Christian Academy.

Photo courtesy of Winecup Christian Academy.

HISTORY

At Blah, Blah, Blog, Pamela shares her memories of the morning of September 11th.


That's it! Thanks for stopping by! Past posts and future hosts for the Classical Homeschooling Carnival can be found on our index page. If you've got a post that would inspire the Classical Education community, please stop by our submission page and share it with us!

Carnival of Homeschooling

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up, and there are some fun posts in it this week. Here are a few that I enjoyed:

Sage Parnassus shares a nostalgic poem about the bees.

The Homeschool Lifestyle -- pointing out the blessing of "extra" time with our children.


Cookie's Domain has a nice post about bird study resources. Some we're familiar with, others I haven't seen before.