More adjustments

The girls have been taking a long time to get their school work done and it is because they are not focusing.  My schedule has been to take a 10 min. break between each subject, but sometimes the subjects are too long.  So I've decided to try different schedules this week. 

Today I had them work for 90 minutes, then take a 20 minute break, back and forth.  It seemed to work a little better.  Savannah was done with her work before lunch time today.  I squeezed in Recitations during one of the breaks.  However, 90 minutes is still a long time to focus for these girls.  So tomorrow I'm going to try 60 min work time with 15 min. breaks.  Tomorrow will flow like this for Savannah and Charlotte:

800-900- Work

900-915 – Break

915-1015- Work

1015-1100 – Snack/Recitations

1100-1200pm- Work

1200-100- Lunch/free time

100-200- Read/sleep

200-300- work

300-315-break

315-415-work

That is 5 hours of work.  I'm hoping that they will be done in 3 to 4 hours, but we'll see.  The ultimate goal is to help them focus when it is work time and have enough breaks throughout the day to rejuvenate their minds.

UPDATE: I guess 4-5 hours of work is average for 3rd/4th graders, according to Susan Wise Bauer: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/schedules/  That makes me feel a little better.  I suppose we are entering a new phase of schooling.

More research on the writing for Savannah: at the moment I am leaning towards putting off Classical Composition and saving it for 7th or 8th grade at an accelerated pace (which is an option listed in the book).  The reason being is that I have been reading on the homeschool forums and in Susan W. Bauer's Writing With Ease: The Complete Writer,  and have found her progression of writing to make more sense.  Grades 1-4 consists of narration, dictation, and copywork.  Roughly grades 5-8 consists of sentence structure/diagramming, outlining, and writing from an outline.  Her middle school curriculum, Writing With Skill, is supposed to be really good and written to the student with lots of help for me as the teacher.  Then in high school is when students should begin the Progymnasmata, which is what Classical Composition is.  She argues that until students have the basic skills of grammar, sentence structure, and outlining, that they aren't ready to build on their writing skills with exercises contained in the Progymnasmata.  Though I don't know that I will wait until high school to teach the Progymnasmata, I do think I should delay it for a while.  An online writing class would be good for that stage as well since I feel so incapable of teaching that subject.

If I do this, I will need to add in copywork, narration, and dictation to our day.  Plus Rod & Staff English 4 has easy writing assignments that I can spread across the curriculum.  Anyway, that's where my thoughts are today on the subject.

Update: Everyday is a new day, right?  So I have been reading and thinking about SWB's writing curriculum and I think I will pass, even though it sounds really good.  After reading reviews of some people finding it to be torture, and pulling out my own copies of WWE, and remembering the feeling of torture trying to do those... I think I need to find a different path than SWB's stuff.  I don't think I will like WWS.

I think I will continue on with Classical Composition - Fable.  I do need to add in copywork and dictation though, so those will be starting next week.  I've got to think of a creative and pleasant way to do that. 

As for learning how to outline, that is what Google is for.  I'm sure I can find something.

And I'm purchasing Classical Writing cores Aesop and Homer, just for fun (used of course).  I want to look at them.  They incorporate more than just writing.  They contain grammar and analysis of some sort.  I want to see and compare.

Frustration with CC

Wow, crash and burn on Classical Composition today.  Day 6 we are supposed to invert the sequence of events of the fable that we are studying.  To practice, we are supposed to tell about the events of our day, backwards.  For example: "We are finally getting to do Classical Composition.  Before this, I was working with Madelynn on her handwriting and phonics instruction.  Before this, I was taking a nap.  Before this, we ate lunch."   .... etc.  Except that is dumb.  I don't know how to say it without saying "before this or that"  Neither did Savannah.  The text, however, gives a beautiful example of inversion of the fable without saying "before this" the whole time.  But I can't do it; how can I even begin to teach Savannah how to do it?

Another problem was the outline.  I was never taught how to do an outline in school (among many, many other things), and there isn't any help in CC about how to write an outline.  We're just supposed to do it.  We figured it out with the answers in the TM, but it would have been nice to have some actual instruction about outlines that I could at least read to Savannah.

*sigh*  I don't know what to do now.  I was thinking maybe we should put it aside and wait until 5th grade, but I'm pretty sure I won't know how to invert any better next year either.  Should I stick with it or drop it?

If I drop Classical Composition, I would do narration, copywork, and dictation like I did last year, and then move into Writing With Skill next year.  The positive side to WWS is that it is written to the student so it can be fairly independent, it has great reviews, and it contains more relevant writing instruction.

Or I can stick with CC and struggle through it.  Maybe that is the only hard exercise.  Another problem is that I'm not seeing the end from the beginning; where are we going with this?  I should probably finish out the week at least and try to find some more reviews about it.

I'm also rethinking my science assignment for Charlotte.  It is a lot of writing.  Maybe just read the chapters?  Write a summary?  Thinking...

Week 1 Report

Week 1 has been great!  A few changes in curriculum already:

From Savannah's list I'm dropping Figuratively Speaking.  It is too hard for her and she hates it.  Maybe another year.  I'm also dropping the Kolbe literature guide. We haven't tried it yet, but I think it is just pointless busywork.  I have them both reading for an hour a day.  I think that is the best thing to do to keep the love of reading alive.  I'm not incredibly impressed with Memoria Press's Geography I workbooks; I'm undecided on this one.  We'll give it another week.  We haven't tried my science plan yet; we won't do science until week 3. 
Things I LOVE:  Week 1 of Classical Composition - Fable has been a lot of fun.  Everything else Savannah is using is a continuation from last year (math, English, spelling, MP's Famous Men of Rome, Latin) and I am still very pleased with these. 

I also added grammar copywork from MP's Grammar Recitations book this year.  I find it to be very valuable for my kids to memorize the definitions of grammar terms.  We are often talking about grammar terms in Latin, and Charlotte has the hardest time keeping noun, proper noun, common noun, verb, adjective, subject, predicate, and pronoun straight.  Memorized definitions really help her, so I am pleased with our grammar copywork and flashcards.

Everything on Charlotte's curriculum list is working out just fine.  She has a lot more writing to do this year that she is not enjoying so much, but I think it is good for her.  She'll get used to it.

I decided today to drop New American Cursive for Madelynn and do the K workbook of Handwriting Without Tears.  It is so much easier!  I really want to get her writing quickly so we start on Spell to Write and Read lists.

The Gospel Principles study in the morning with Savannah and Charlotte is going really well.  I wake them up at 6 am and give them a piece of gum (they love this).  We sit at the table with the Gospel Principles book, a journal, and their new scriptures.  I taught them how to mark scriptures with their red pencil first.  Then we read one section from the Gospel Principles lesson.  Together we read and mark all of the scriptures that are referenced in that section.  There is a question or two for each section.  We discuss the questions and write the answers to one of the questions in our journals.  I've found this time to be very valuable and it is working really well.

My preschool plan has been fun.  We made A's with apple prints, colored apples, and did a cut and paste project with construction paper and apples, made jello, and introduced them to red-light, green-light and Simon-says.  They also love the read-alouds; however the Children's Bible is way over their heads.  I've actually started reading that to Savannah, Charlotte, and Madelynn at night.

Recitations, Circle-Time, and family scripture reading is going great.  Chocolate milk is the key to a successful family scripture reading time (but don't use straws; they're too loud).

Recitations: happens around 4pm, when school is over.  This is for Savannah, Charlotte, and Madelynn.  They each recite the poems we have already learned and practice the new poem we are learning.  We also are memorizing The Living Christ a few sentences at a time.  We do this 4Xs a week.

Circle-Time: is right after breakfast.  In the front of my recitations folder I have a gospel art picture and a sheet that tells us the song, scripture, and Article of Faith that we are learning this month as a family.  We sing the song, recite the scripture and AoF, and pledge allegiance to the flag.

Family scripture reading: happens right before bed, after the kids have on their pajamas and the house is clean.  We first have family prayer.  Then the kids grab their scriptures and get to the table while I make their chocolate milk.  We take turns reading a verse. Even Caroline, Madelynn, and Zachary participate; I read their scripture and they repeat after me. 

I'm liking our daily routine as well.  It is all working very nicely.  I love the hour break for breakfast and lunch, then my personal one-hour quiet time when I usually sneak some candy and take a nap in the middle of the day.  My only complaint is that our days are long right now.  I'm hoping this will ease up in the next couple of weeks as the kids get used to the new work-load.

Classical vs. Modern Education

I am majoring in Educational Studies with an online college.  I get to read over and over, in every single class I take, NOTHING about real education, but everything about progressive education, and it grates on my nerves. 

I have been struggling to pin-point the main difference between progressive education (public school education) and classical education, but haven't been able to do so successfully.  I finally ran across this article.  It hits the nail on the head.

Anyway, you can visit the link or below I have pasted the parts I found most profound from the article:

"...modern, progressive education has as a goal fulfilling the individual needs, interests and capacities of the individual students. This emphasis focuses on what is individual to each student, therefore upon the differences among the students, as if such differences were paramount in determining the means of education employed.

"If children share only similar physical characteristics, given that no two bodies (not even of “identical” twins post partum) are just exactly alike, then differences in height, genetic makeup, health, test-taking ability, IQ scores, and so on --all those things which individuate them from their fellows — are indeed of primary importance since they are different in nearly all such things that can be measured physically. In that case, no two children are truly equal (except before the law, in some countries).

"... However, if all children share something in common much more important than their similar yet differing bodies, then that shared commonality, that likeness will be of paramount importance in determining how best to educate them.

"Here we come to the crux of the matter. Different conceptions of the nature of man result in different educational goals and means. For those who think or believe that all men share a common human nature and like, immortal souls, then that reality becomes of paramount importance in determining the goals and means of education, which will certainly not be focused primarily on the less important  measurable, individual differences of their physical beings  (except perhaps in the most unusual cases of physical disability). Instead, education will be focused on the care of that shared human nature on their immortal souls."

"Since [Socrates] believed the soul was immortal and would have some eternal fate based upon its goodness or lack thereof  (as do all the major Western religions Christianity, Islam, Judaism), Socrates’ views on education reflected that belief, as did that of his ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans who followed the Greeks. Hence Socrates taught that the one thing needful for the soul was that it should strive after goodness.

"Since the fate of one’s immortal soul hinged on its goodness, then the pursuit of goodness became the principal occupation for the ancient Greeks. Goodness for them consisted of the virtues or habits of good action and thought, in proper order and harmony, leading to wisdom. So to pursue wisdom, and goodness, was to be on one and the same path. But how best to advance on this path? Socrates, beyond all of his philosophical dialogues, felt that one thing in particular was most important: “[I] thought that, because I loved him, my company could make him a better man,” [Socratic Aeschines fr. II c, p. 273 Dittmar]. This was the Socratic approach to education in its core: education through love.

 

"....Indeed, education did not mean for Socrates the cultivation of the intellect alone to the neglect of all else, but since man is attracted to the good, first by what is beautiful, education must first begin with the senses, proceed on to the memory, imagination, intuition and intellect, spurred on to all by love."

 

"Modern, progressive education, in either denying or ignoring the soul is left with nothing else but the body, the brain, to educate (with competitive sports added helter-skelter). The brain thus conceived as a sort of computer that moves about, rather than goodness or wisdom the goal of human education becomes knowledge in the sense of data storage and retrieval (in the better of the modern schools), and mere political indoctrination in most. Love is irrelevant in such an environment."

 

"Ignore the souls of children and so remove love from education and what do you get: modern, progressive “dumbing-down” education where fear and hatred stalk the halls and all too often explode into violence and despair.

Very, very few can learn well in such environments as sinking test scores and poor academic achievement (such as the growing inability of high schoolers even to read) increasingly confirm."

 

"Homeschooling is so successful relative to public and private school education, despite many obstacles and disadvantages, primarily because children have souls and thrive in every way – in the loving environment of their families."

-----------------------------end of article--------------------------------------------------

Final thoughts:

I am finding that the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, are absolutely jammed packed with a clear roadmap on how to "strive after goodness" and attain virtue and wisdom: the ultimate goal of a classical education. 

This is what motivates and thrills me about homeschooling: the pursuit of how to best cultivate virtue and wisdom in my children.  Especially how to lead my children, and myself, to be more like our Savior, so that we can have a good life here and an eternal life to come; that we may have faith, hope, charity, and an eternal perspective in this dark, uncertain world.

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;" (Moroni 7: 46-47)

And finally:
 

"Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.

 "But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."  (Moroni 7:12-13)

 

That about sums up my feelings towards progressive education vs. classical education. 

 

This is why I homeschool and why public school education will never be an option. 

Beginnings are hard!

So this is the third day of the first week and oh my goodness...

It is almost 4pm and the girls are still working on their school.  They got a two hour break for lunch and reading time and they take 10 minutes between each subject, but HOLY COW!  It is not supposed to be like this. 

I know that the days will get shorter because they always do.  The kids get used to their new work load and new curriculum and pick up the pace eventually.  But until then... we trudge along... teaching and learning new skills and such.

Speaking of skills, Charlotte and Savannah have different strengths and weaknesses, and it is becoming more obvious.  I need to work on their individual weaknesses this year.

Charlotte needs abundant practice summarizing and narrating short passages.  I think she often zones out when I read aloud or when she reads, unless it really captures her attention.  She doesn't listen carefully and/or doesn't comprehend well.  I plan on helping her by having her summarize every read aloud I read to her in the evening.  Her strengths are that she rocks at math!  And she has very beautiful handwriting.  She is careful, deliberate, and slooooooww... but it is pretty!

Savannah is careless in her work in math, handwriting and reading. This makes math time go much longer because I require her to correct every single wrong answer.  Today she had to re-do half of her math from yesterday because of careless adding, carrying, and borrowing.  Easy problems. I'm not sure how to help her other than what I'm already doing.  I make her re-do her math, re-write sloppy writing, and re-read sloppy reading.  Her strengths are that she rocks at comprehension and summarizing and anything language arts.  She is leaps beyond her grade level.

Madelynn does not put in much effort into what I ask her to do.  I probably need to make school time a little more fun for her.  She usually responds to my attitude, actually.  If I'm being impatient, she becomes reluctant.  If I'm positive and patient, she becomes more willing to try.  It has been fun getting to know her personality more.  She really enjoys her math book.
I am teaching her cursive first through New American Cursive, but it is really difficult for her and I don't really like the workbook at all.  I am thinking of switching her to Handwriting Without Tears- manuscript, like I did with Savannah and Charlotte.
I regret waiting so long to teach her how to form her letters.  This is holding us back.  In order to take off in reading she needs to know her phonograms.  In order to more easily learn her phonograms, she needs to be able to write them as she learns them.  But she can't write :(  boo.

I am starting to see the wisdom of teaching how to spell before teaching how to read.  Maddy is doing great going through the Bob Books, but it requires so much mental work and attention.  It is a physical and mental struggle, as it was for Savannah and Charlotte.  It seems that it would be better to learn how to write and spell easy words that would translate into being able to pick up a book and read it with ease eventually.  This, of course, would cause her to take longer to read than she would be capable of, but an easier path.  It also would have helped if I had started her handwriting about a year ago.  Lesson learned.  I think I'll start Zach on pre-writing exercises now.

All in all, I have enjoyed being on a rigorous daily schedule and teaching the kids this week.  I love interacting with them.  I am really pleased with our curriculum choices so far as well.  Homeschooling is hard.  I have to practice having a lot of patience and I often fail there, but it is also wonderful too.  The enjoyment far outweighs the difficult.

First Day of School!

Our first day of school went really well!  It's a lot, and I'm worried how I'm going to keep up this routine, but I can't think of how to make it shorter at the moment.

I woke up Savannah and Charlotte at 6 am.  From 6-630 we read out of Gospel Principles, wrote journal entries, and marked scriptures. 

At 630 to 700 we studied Latin.  700-800 is a break where we get dressed for the day, eat breakfast, and do our morning devotional of scripture, Article of Faith, song, and prayer.  The three little ones still weren't awake, so we ate and did devotional without them. 

800 sharp Savannah and Charlotte begin their "independent work."  I have to do oral reviews with each of them in English, which is the subject they start on, and then I'm free to leave them to their work, helping them when necessary.  On Monday Savannah had English, spelling, math, xtramath, Famous Men of Rome, and grammar copywork.  Charlotte had English, spelling, math, xtramath, and geography.  They also both had piano lessons at 1030 which made their day a little longer getting school work done, but they were pretty much finished by 1200.  We'll see how today goes.  They were both distracted and taking longer than normal.  Charlotte especially is not impressed with the amount of writing required in English.  She did a lot of daydreaming out the window instead.

The three little kids woke up about 830, so I fed them breakfast and did devotional with them.  At 900-1000 we did our preschool.  We painted A's, colored apples, and read Mother Goose.  It was wonderful.  The kids really enjoyed the activity and the attention.

Piano teacher came at 1030 to 1130, so while the girls were having their lesson, I played with the Littles and the piano teacher's baby outside.  We ate popcorn, rode bikes, got pushed on the swing, and ate unripe muscadines. 

Lunch was at 1pm.  I was a little late getting that ready.  Usually quiet time begins at 1pm, but I had made an appointment to meet a lady in town to purchase a homeschool book at 130, thinking Isaac would be home while the Littles napped, but he had to leave for work early.  So I took everyone with me.  We were home by 2pm, Zach and Caroline went to bed, Savannah and Charlotte read books on the couch, Maddy did crafts at the table, and I took a 1 hour nap.  It was lovely.

3pm I woke and did Kindergarten with Madelynn.  We went over the phonograms she knows already, we did a few pages of cursive writing in her handwriting book, she did a few pages in math, and we called it a day.  Zach woke up during this time, and after trying to entertain him to keep him from disturbing us, I finally put on a movie for him so we could work. 

330 pm I worked one-on-one with Savannah in her Classical Composition book.  I really enjoyed that time with her.  We do something different everyday for two weeks in that curriculum.  Yesterday we read a fable, underlined and defined the words she didn't know, we read the fable again, and then found the recognition, reversal, and suffering in the fable.  Then she orally narrated it and we were done.

At that point school was over.  I completely forgot to do memory work.  We cleaned and played and I sat on the computer.  Dinner was ready at 6pm.  Isaac came home from work at 7pm.  Did chores again, kids got ready for bed at 715.  Did family prayer and scriptures with chocolate milk.  I put Zach and Caroline to bed after a few books.  Then I read aloud to Savannah, Charlotte, and Madelynn from 8pm-9pm, and sent them to bed. 

Then I did my online school from 9pm-1030pm.  I hung out with Isaac until almost midnight and finally went to sleep.

Now I'm awake.  I got out of bed at 530am to type this.  It is 600 now and its time to wake the big girls and start all over again. 

*Sigh*

Pre-School at Home

I've actually never organized a formal preschool for my kids.  I've always just been available to my kids, reading to them and playing with them regularly, and I think that is enough.  However, now I am getting pretty busy and have found it necessary to specifically make time for my little ones every day and actually DO something with them; otherwise, I just won't find the time.  So this year, that is what I have done, and have dubbed it "preschool."  I'm keeping it pretty simple.  Here is our schedule:

Monday: Letter of the week craft / read from Mother Goose, poetry

Tuesday: Cooking something together / read stories from the Children's Bible

Wednesday: Go to the park

Thursday:  Do a paper or paint craft / read fairy tales

Friday:  Play physical games (duck, duck goose, ring around the rosie, simon says, etc.) / read a picture book of their choice.

Now, keep in mind, this is my first day :)  I have faith it will be successful though.  I'll update changes to my plan if it doesn't work out.

I don't coordinate books or activities to the letter of the week unless it is just super convenient.  The point is just to spend time doing something together for about an hour of my undivided attention.  I have a few activity and craft books laying around that I get my craft ideas from. There is also a ton of resources online if you just do a Google search. 

For pre-writing, pre-reading, and math skills, I don't specifically focus on those things for my 3-year old either.  I may include those things next year when he is 4.  We count things informally, I encourage him to color (which he is not interested in at all), and we are learning letter sounds.  That's it for age 3.  Caroline (age 1) just tags along and Madelynn (age 5) has her own Kindergarten curriculum at another time of the day.  So this is mainly for Zachary (3).

If you want a fancy, all-laid-out-for-you, formal preschool curriculum, there are many to choose from.  I would suggest going to the welltrainedmind.com/forum and becoming very familiar with it.  There you will find posts that list all of the preschool websites and curriculums, as well as people's reviews of them.  There is a specific page for pre-K and K at http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/forum/34-prek-and-k/  Utilize the search feature to find exactly what you want.  Good luck!

Final Line-up! School starts Monday!

*I reserve the right to change my mind*

Curriculum 2013/2014

Savannah’s 4^th grade:

Gospel Principles, Articles of Faith, Faith in God

Latina Christiana 1

Math Mammoth 4/ xtramath.com
R&S English 4
R&S Spelling 5
MP’s Famous Men of Rome study guide
Classical Composition – Fable
Apologia Zoology 1 (I will read this aloud at night instead)
MP’s Geography 1, sheppardsoftware.com
Kolbe Literature guide, Figuratively Speaking, Teaching the Classics

Charlotte’s 3^rd grade:

Gospel Principles, Articles of Faith, Faith in God

Latina Christiana 1

Math Mammoth 3 / xtramath.com
R&S English 3
R&S Spelling 4
MP’s Greek Myths study guide
Christian Liberty Nature Reader 4
US geography – states & sheppardsoftware.com

Madelynn’s Kindergarten:

Spell to Write and Read

New American Cursive 1, 2, Switched to Handwriting W/o Tears K, 1, 2, then homemade copywork
Essential Math B, then Math Mammoth 1
Bob Books, McGuffey Readers (primer, 1, & 2), then Little House in the Big Woods

Savannah, Charlotte, & Madelynn:

Memorization: IEW poetry, The Living Christ, Shakespeare
Poetry tea-time
Nature journaling
Free-writing
Read-alouds (A Child's History of the World, Children's Bible Stories, Zoology I, Iliad for Children, Odyssey for Children, Tales from Shakespeare).

Pre-school (Caroline, Zach, & Madelynn):

Letter of the Week/ABC book
Daily craft/activity and read-aloud (poetry, fairy tales, Children's Bible, & picture books)
 
Family:

Circle Time: I Know My Savior Lives (Sharing Time 2010) / memorizing Pledge of Allegiance, scriptures, AoF, primary songs, & hymns.

Arts & Crafts
Family scripture reading

Quiet Time

So this upcoming school year (which starts in one week) I will be utilizing "quiet time" with my 2 & 3 year old so I can take a break and then do some teacher-intensive school with my older kids (Latin, writing).  Caroline is growing out of her naps and won't stay in her bedroom, both in the afternoon and at night.  Here is my solution:

Joovy Room2 Ultralight.  The walls curve in slightly so she can't climb out and the bottom rests on the floor so that when Zach gets in and jumps up and down he won't completely break the mat.  We've gone through two pack n plays because of this.  Plus this is bigger than a pack n play; it is 3X3, and it has a memory foam mattress.  I couldn't be more thrilled!

Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to my kids!

I just made an outline of a year's worth of gospel teaching for my kids.  For example, we will be learning a song, an Article of Faith, and a scripture each month, and we'll review them every morning.  There is a theme/doctrine of the month, as well as supporting principles that I will base Family Home Evening lessons around each week.  Instead of reinventing the wheel, I got my outline from Primary's Sharing Time from 2010.  Here is the first page of the outline I made (I still have to fill in the details):

AUGUST: We Believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Article of Faith	Song		Scripture
WEEK 1: God is the Father of my spirit.		WEEK 3: Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me.
WEEK 2: Jesus Christ is the Son of God.		WEEK 4:

 

SEPTEMBER: Jesus Christ is My Savior and Redeemer.
Article of Faith	Song		Scripture
WEEK 1: Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer.		WEEK 3: Jesus Christ was resurrected, and I will be too.
WEEK 2: Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all mankind may be saved.		WEEK 4:

After having written all of these principles out for an entire year, I am overwhelmed by how wonderful the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is!  What profound, clear, doctrine.  How important the Restoration was in restoring these plain and precious truths that give a definite and defined path to happiness in this life and eternal life in the next.  How grateful I am that I can teach them to my children!

Here are the other principles we'll be learning this year:
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He is a God of Miracles
Jesus Christ can heal the sick.
Jesus Christ has power over death.
Miracles come to those who have faith.
When We Serve Others, We Serve God
Jesus Christ came to earth as promised by the prophets.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world
Jesus Christ will return to the earth someday.
I can live with Jesus Christ again.
Prophets are called by God
Prophets testify of Jesus Christ
There is safety in following the prophet
God speaks through prophets
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God.
Jesus Christ restored the gospel through Joseph Smith
Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel Lead Me to Jesus Christ
My faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened when I obey.
I can repent
When I am baptized I make a covenant with God.
When I am confirmed I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.
The Holy Ghost speaks in a still, small voice.
The Holy Ghost can guide and protect us.
By the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things.
Jesus Christ always obeyed Heavenly Father.
Jesus Christ went about doing good
Jesus Christ’s example teaches me how to live.
I show love for Jesus Christ when I keep the commandments
My love for Jesus Christ grows when I pray.
My love for Jesus Christ grows when I study the scriptures
Following the prophet will help us come unto Christ.
Sharing the gospel helps others come unto Christ.
We can come unto Christ by repenting when we make a mistake.
Temple work helps me and my family come unto Christ.
The Mission of the Church is to Invite All to Come unto Christ