I applied to teach a class on homeschooling at the UHEA conference this year. They accepted my proposal and I just sent in my Handout last night. I thought some of you might be interested, so here it is:
Elementary Academics
Philosophy of Education-- My overall philosophy of education is that children need to learn and do stuff. How they do it is less important than what they do. So the most important thing for the parent to figure out is what they think their child needs to learn. The end goal will help you get them there.
So for me in the area of academics my husband and I have mapped out where we would like our children to be with each subject. These are some of the things we want them to know, master and be familiar with:
For Mathematics -- Calculus.
For Logic and Grammar -- Latin
For History -- A good working and in depth knowledge
For Music -- Play an instrument and understand music theory
For Art-- Know the great artists and be able to draw well
For Science -- Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy
For Economics -- Markets, Business, Government
Literature and Philosophy -- Great Books of the Western World
Home Skills, Cooking, Gardening, Life Skills
Love of Learning and Reading
Religion -- Know our Faith and Scriptures and love and obey God
Your list may be very similar or different or both.
So now that I’ve established where I want to go I can figure out how to get there.
First Skills -- They must be able to read and write and do arithmetic.
So we start as soon as the kids are ready usually around age 4 especially for the younger ones who are watching the older ones.
For Reading I like to use several resources.
First to learn the letters I recommend “The Letter Factory” by Leap Frog. Now they know the letters and their sounds.
The next step is to start putting the sounds together to make new sounds and then words. So to do this, practice saying words slow and then fast and letting the new reader guess which word it is. Then they are ready to start ready easy books like Bob books or other reading curriculums. My favorite is the Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Reading by Jessie Wise. My first daughter learned to read on McGuffy and Bob Books. The second daughter memorized those easy words quickly and never learned to sound them out so That book solved that issue. I also love Diane Hopkins “Phonics Games” from www.ldfr.com . That really helped her learn all the different phonetic combinations, and my boys have enjoyed it also. It just takes practice, practice, practice. If it is too hard or frustrating, find something easier for them to read, and pretty soon they will take off.
For writing I like to teach my kids cursive first because it teaches them that there are spaces between the words and they can’t write it backwards. I print off the scripture of the week in grey or another light color and school script dashed font because it’s free and they trace as much as I tell them given their ability. Eventually they are able to copy and write on their own.
For Math-- I love Singapore Math. I like their approach and their format and I like that they have the results to match-- #1 in math in the world. The kindergarten books get them so ready for level 1 and they are fun and colorful and make sense. When we need extra help, then we go to the textbook but otherwise we just work through the workbooks. Keep up on checking to make sure they are doing it right, and again go back to easier problems if they get too frustrated so they get the concept and then they will be able to continue on through their book.
If they keep up with Singapore Math they will be ready for Algebra in 6th or 7th grade which will get them to calculus their sophomore or junior year.
Then to get them used to beautiful language and language usage and to love learning and books, we have story time. We have little kids story time first with the picture books and nursery rhymes and scripture stories. Then we move on to reading directly from the scriptures to other stories and longer poems turning it into big kids story time which consists of an interesting chapter book, a longer poem, a history chapter, a Greek lesson and memory verses ending with Science. I love the stories and resources at www.mainlesson.com . We love story time. The older girls color, draw or crochet while I read to the younger kids, and the younger kids play with toys while I am doing the older kids stuff. If they get too fussy then we eat lunch and put them down for a nap.
For music I like to play a lot of classical music. It seems to make the house calmer and happier and it really helps them with music later because they are familiar with so many tunes even if they don’t know the names. We also like to sing together. We sing all sorts of songs and make sure to include lots of fun little kids ones like popcorn, wheels on the bus, Fun To Do, pioneer songs, etc.
For religion we read scripture stories during story time and memorize a scripture a week and a religious song. Obviously, we try to be good examples and attend our church meetings.
So that for me covers the basic foundational skills that will be needed for the younger children. So far this is what has worked . On to the next level:
After the Basics
Once they are able to read and write fairly well, they can start Greek. Our goal is to get good at Latin and Greek is a good fun stepping stone in that direction. Greek has 4 declensions instead of 5 and they can learn all the grammar and concepts with the easier Greek and then Latin will be a little less challenging. Plus I love the Greek curriculum we are using. It is found at www.opentexture.com and is called Elementary Greek. Our pick for Latin is to start them around age 11or 12 on Henle Latin. So they should have very good mastery of the subject and be able to read many of the Great Books in the original Latin by high school age.
For writing and English Studies I like Singapore’s program Sentences to Paragraphs and Word Study. They are workbooks that are fun to fill in and cover things that the kids pick up just from reading but may not realize there are rules governing punctuation, capitalization, grammar, etc.
Also for writing, I require some sort of journaling whether a traditional journal or a story journal, it is up to the child. Out of there I find spelling words for them to practice writing. I also have some writing cards which I got at one of these conferences that give some fun ideas to write about. I also have them write up a summary of something they’ve read for me once a week. I also ask them about what we’ve read after we read and have them summarize the story for me during story time.
But the main focus in these elementary years is for them to be able to write well and quickly and to be able write down what they are thinking in their head. Then when they are age 10-11 they can learn to outline and other rules of good writing, and then to be able to express themselves fully with reports and journals and other compositions. Maybe they’ll write short stories or novels or screenplays. Once they can read and write and think, they can grab a book and figure it out.
For Science I again really like Sinagapore‘s program, My Pals are Here Science. They were ranked #2 in the world in science, and we love the pictures, the explanations and the activities.
For History we really like Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. When they are older I will also have them read biographies and other historical books. We read many historical stories during story time and movies can be a valuable resource.
For piano, I like Music masters and Edna Mae Burnam piano course as well as music theory books. My kids have also had fun playing the recorders from West Music.
We continue with the stuff mentioned above as needed for the older children and add things like reading time on their own and reading the scriptures on their own always with the end goals in mind.
Schedules-- Now that we know what we want to do, how are we going to do it?
Organize and schedule
1-- Your house needs to be orderly and dinner needs to be planned
www.flylady.net has worked wonders for me to run my household smoothly and efficiently-- follow her plan to the letter, there are letters from other home schooling moms that are very helpful. Babysteps- alittle at a time
www.childrensmiraclemusic.com will help your children pace themselves and be ready to go in the morning.
We have to start by 9 a.m. or we will not accomplish our tasks for the day. Clean up after yourself and require the children to help clean and pick up after themselves including meals!!
2-- Make a school schedule that your kids can mark off and so that they know exactly what is required of them. My kids also like to use timers to see how long it takes. Figure out how to make this worthwhile for them-- a trip to the park or library when they’re done, a special treat, free time, etc.
Other considerations
Co-Op -- Think about what you would like for your family and then figure out how to get it. We organized a girls club when my girls were younger and this past year we joined a larger co-op. This coming year we’re organizing a Greek club and doing some smaller co-ops. Just be specific and find or make something that will work for you and your kids.
Enjoy your kids-- Do School when it’s time to do school and be home and enjoy your sweet family the rest of the time. If it gets to be too much, take a break and then start over. Keep up with Math and Piano as those are skills that are harder to make up later. Don’t push too hard while they are little. Enjoy your freer time as things seem to get more time consuming and demanding the older they get. Just love them and encourage and require and they will do their best.
Health -- Take care of yourself, exercise, eat dark green leafy salads and raw foods. Soaked almonds are great. Cut back on meat and dairy products and all processed foods. You will feel better and be able to accomplish and enjoy more.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Words of a Prophet
"To you parents, express your love to your children. Pray for them that they may be able to withstand the evils of the world. Pray that they may grow in faith and testimony. Pray that they may pursue lives of goodness and of service to others."
This is from President Monson's final talk at General Conference this April 2009 Sunday afternoon session.
I really like that, because it shows what is the most important goal and desire we should have for our children. First they need to feel and know of our love as parents toward them and that they are special and important and loved. Then we need to pray for them, that they will withstand temptation and evil and learn of God, and be good people willing to help those around them. I love the simplicity of the gospel.
Here is Alma 37:6 :
6 Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
I am learning that this is so true. It is the simple decisions we make everyday that make the difference in our lives over the long run. I'm learning it with cleaning my house. When I follow Flylady's regimen, even though it may not seem like much to clean the bathroom everyday, it makes a huge difference, and the other little, small simple things do too. Same with raising kids. Teaching them, loving them, reading to them, cooking for them, helping them, may seem simple and unimportant because it is so constant, but those are the little things that turn into big things.
I'm so grateful to have a prophet of God remind us in simple terms of what is most important.
This is from President Monson's final talk at General Conference this April 2009 Sunday afternoon session.
I really like that, because it shows what is the most important goal and desire we should have for our children. First they need to feel and know of our love as parents toward them and that they are special and important and loved. Then we need to pray for them, that they will withstand temptation and evil and learn of God, and be good people willing to help those around them. I love the simplicity of the gospel.
Here is Alma 37:6 :
6 Now ye may suppose that this is afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
I am learning that this is so true. It is the simple decisions we make everyday that make the difference in our lives over the long run. I'm learning it with cleaning my house. When I follow Flylady's regimen, even though it may not seem like much to clean the bathroom everyday, it makes a huge difference, and the other little, small simple things do too. Same with raising kids. Teaching them, loving them, reading to them, cooking for them, helping them, may seem simple and unimportant because it is so constant, but those are the little things that turn into big things.
I'm so grateful to have a prophet of God remind us in simple terms of what is most important.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Homeschool Track
The following is what I wrote to some of my homeschool groups and I wanted to post it here to show part of our educational track through high school. We are figuring it all out, and it seems to be coming together. If you want to join the group, then send me and email and I'll invite you!:
I just started this yahoo group because I am looking ahead to what we'll do in the high school years and I'm hoping to find others with the same outlook. We found that there are about 20 different AP tests that they can take, and they are hard and objective and would probably be great for college admissions and for proving that they have mastered the subject matter. As my kids reach that age, it would be wonderful to find others interested in taking the same tests so they could study together, help each other and maybe even teach sections to each other if there is no expert available. I know there are practice tests so they wouldn't be completely on their own.
Also, I definitely want my kids to take the AP Calculus AB test like I did in high school, and would love for them to take the BC test which I did not since I was a senior when I got to Calculus. So to do my track in math, I took Pre-algebra in 7th grade, Algebra 1 in 8th, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2, Trigonometry in 10th, Pre-Calc. in 11th and Calculus in 12th. I am planning on my kids starting Algebra in 6th or 7th grade depending on their readiness so that they can also take the Calc BC test or Physics since I think they need calculus before they can take physics. I love Singapore Math for the basics up to Algebra. They were number #1 in math in the world using that program.
When I took Calculus, we had AB days, so we would have the teacher explain it to us on the first day and then the next day we had Calc. lab with the teacher and it was open to do our homework. It was great to have friends to work with and to help each other in the lab and get the work done. I would love to be able to do that for my kids for not only calculus but other academic subjects they are interested in and then to have them take the AP test to show they mastered the subject. The AP test to me is kind of like the recital is for a musician.
Another requirement in our homeschool is the study of Latin. We want our kids to take 4-5 years of Latin so that they can master it and take the AP test. With the track we are on, our kids should start Henle's Latin 1 around 7th grade, latin 2 in 8th, latin 3 in 9th and latin 4 in 10th, then the junior year could be spent reviewing and then take the AP test. In order to do Latin 1 in only one year, we are currently studying Koine Greek otherwise they would probably need 2 years to cover year 1. The curriculum we are using is at www.opentexture.com .
This may sound pretty rigorous, but I think it can be done. If we have to slow down we will, but we are shooting for the stars!! We are in the middle of the 2nd year of Greek now and my kids love it. They are learning a ton too. I would love to find others who are interested in this track so we could get together and play review type games and find people to study with especially as the high school years approach.
Sidenote: I am not against sending them to high school. I loved my math teachers and my math experience so when we get to that point, if we are doing the exact same thing at home that they are doing at school, then I will probably send them to school. We'll see what works best when we get to that point. Here is the list of AP Tests!
I just started this yahoo group because I am looking ahead to what we'll do in the high school years and I'm hoping to find others with the same outlook. We found that there are about 20 different AP tests that they can take, and they are hard and objective and would probably be great for college admissions and for proving that they have mastered the subject matter. As my kids reach that age, it would be wonderful to find others interested in taking the same tests so they could study together, help each other and maybe even teach sections to each other if there is no expert available. I know there are practice tests so they wouldn't be completely on their own.
Also, I definitely want my kids to take the AP Calculus AB test like I did in high school, and would love for them to take the BC test which I did not since I was a senior when I got to Calculus. So to do my track in math, I took Pre-algebra in 7th grade, Algebra 1 in 8th, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2, Trigonometry in 10th, Pre-Calc. in 11th and Calculus in 12th. I am planning on my kids starting Algebra in 6th or 7th grade depending on their readiness so that they can also take the Calc BC test or Physics since I think they need calculus before they can take physics. I love Singapore Math for the basics up to Algebra. They were number #1 in math in the world using that program.
When I took Calculus, we had AB days, so we would have the teacher explain it to us on the first day and then the next day we had Calc. lab with the teacher and it was open to do our homework. It was great to have friends to work with and to help each other in the lab and get the work done. I would love to be able to do that for my kids for not only calculus but other academic subjects they are interested in and then to have them take the AP test to show they mastered the subject. The AP test to me is kind of like the recital is for a musician.
Another requirement in our homeschool is the study of Latin. We want our kids to take 4-5 years of Latin so that they can master it and take the AP test. With the track we are on, our kids should start Henle's Latin 1 around 7th grade, latin 2 in 8th, latin 3 in 9th and latin 4 in 10th, then the junior year could be spent reviewing and then take the AP test. In order to do Latin 1 in only one year, we are currently studying Koine Greek otherwise they would probably need 2 years to cover year 1. The curriculum we are using is at www.opentexture.com .
This may sound pretty rigorous, but I think it can be done. If we have to slow down we will, but we are shooting for the stars!! We are in the middle of the 2nd year of Greek now and my kids love it. They are learning a ton too. I would love to find others who are interested in this track so we could get together and play review type games and find people to study with especially as the high school years approach.
Sidenote: I am not against sending them to high school. I loved my math teachers and my math experience so when we get to that point, if we are doing the exact same thing at home that they are doing at school, then I will probably send them to school. We'll see what works best when we get to that point. Here is the list of AP Tests!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
General Conference
I thoroughly enjoyed general conference today and yesterday, although it can be hard to get everything and hear everything in those 8 hours (10 hours if you're a priesthood holder) over 2 days especially when there are little ones who need attention and it's just a long time to stay focused with everything else going on. But what I heard, I really liked and enjoyed and my cup was filled.
My favorite talk was from Elder Hales Saturday morning on living within our means and accepting that we can't afford everything we might want. He has a good wife to refuse to allow him to spend their money on her when he really wanted to. What a great example.
I enjoyed all the good examples of righteous living and stories of people choosing the right. The gospel really is so simple and good and straightforward. Something I'm learning is that if a teaching, philosophy or idea claims to have higher knowledge or a new view and better of things, it probably doesn't. There is probably a flaw. If it is hard to grasp or understand, it is probably because it's not right and the presenter has to try to take you down another path in order to accept their strange notion. Anyway, the gospel is not like that. It is simple and true and real and open and easy to understand.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He loves us. He wants us home. He wants us to be happy. He understands our pain and sorrow. Nothing is too much for Him. He loves us so much, He will help us follow His ways and keep His commandments and get and stay on the straight and narrow path. I am so grateful for this gospel. I am so grateful to have the true church on the earth again. I am so grateful for a living prophet and apostles with so much love and wisdom to direct His church with the proper priesthood authority from God. My heart is full of gratitude and love.
You can watch it for yourself at www.lds.org .
Groetens! Tot Ziens!! (til next time, that's Dutch!)
My favorite talk was from Elder Hales Saturday morning on living within our means and accepting that we can't afford everything we might want. He has a good wife to refuse to allow him to spend their money on her when he really wanted to. What a great example.
I enjoyed all the good examples of righteous living and stories of people choosing the right. The gospel really is so simple and good and straightforward. Something I'm learning is that if a teaching, philosophy or idea claims to have higher knowledge or a new view and better of things, it probably doesn't. There is probably a flaw. If it is hard to grasp or understand, it is probably because it's not right and the presenter has to try to take you down another path in order to accept their strange notion. Anyway, the gospel is not like that. It is simple and true and real and open and easy to understand.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He loves us. He wants us home. He wants us to be happy. He understands our pain and sorrow. Nothing is too much for Him. He loves us so much, He will help us follow His ways and keep His commandments and get and stay on the straight and narrow path. I am so grateful for this gospel. I am so grateful to have the true church on the earth again. I am so grateful for a living prophet and apostles with so much love and wisdom to direct His church with the proper priesthood authority from God. My heart is full of gratitude and love.
You can watch it for yourself at www.lds.org .
Groetens! Tot Ziens!! (til next time, that's Dutch!)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
This is a great book, autobiography about an escaped slave from the South before the Civil War. I highly recommend it to anyone older than about 16. This along with Uncle Tom's cabin really show how slavery worked. There were evil slaveholders and better slaveholders, but they were slaveholders and the system those slaves endured was awful.
Harriet had a good childhood. Her owners were good to them and allowed her parents a Christian wedding and they all lived together as a family. Her father was a freeman, but her mother and grandmother were slaves. Harriet didn't understand the danger and sorrow of being a slave until her parents died and her good owners died and left their slaves to relations. This was when Harriet learned the sorrow of being a slave. Her new slaveholder made inappropriate advances toward her and would never sell her even when she was able to escape his advances. This led to her sending her true love, a free black man, away and then eventually bearing 2 beautiful children out of wedlock to a kinder white bachelor hoping that would lead to her being sold. The owner still would not sell her and continued to treat her with spite and hatred and continued to try to take her over. Once Harriet realized that the owner would hurt her children to get to her, she ran away. She hid in a tiny compartment under the roof of her grandmother's house for seven years until an opportunity to escape the hounds and people of the South arrived. Once in the North, she was eventually able to free herself of the evil of slavery and give her children what she had been denied.
It is a fascinating read and I don't do it justice here at all. Some of the aspects I found to be quite interesting were that Harriet herself was part white, and many slaves were children of their white slaveholding fathers. These fathers would sell their children without a second thought. It was also sad to read about people she knew who were even worse off than she. Many mothers' children were sold with no way for them to ever reunite, even nursing babies were sold from their mothers. The poor white men who didn't own slaves had as much if not more contempt for the slaves than the slaveholders, and they relished in searching for runaways and loved to search the slaves' houses and take whatever they wanted. There really was no way out for these people. There was also terrible prejudice in the North once the lucky onew got away, and the Southerners still had the law on their side if they could locate a runaway in the North. Also, Northerners were given a rose colored view of slavery when they visited the South, and anybody who tried to help the slaves learn or better themselves at all was run out of town.
There are more interesting aspects. It was a sad story, but also one of triumph of the human spirit. Harriet never gave up. She was a true mother and lived for her children. I hope I always appreciate the blessing I have to live with and raise my children freely in a society where mothers are respected and appreciated. (I also read the Good Earth which I will report on sometime and that story reinforced my gratitude and appreciation.) What a woman, Harriet Jacobs was. She did what she had to do and she perservered and never gave up and in the end she was able to send her children to school in the North and give them what she never had: FREEDOM!!!!!
Harriet had a good childhood. Her owners were good to them and allowed her parents a Christian wedding and they all lived together as a family. Her father was a freeman, but her mother and grandmother were slaves. Harriet didn't understand the danger and sorrow of being a slave until her parents died and her good owners died and left their slaves to relations. This was when Harriet learned the sorrow of being a slave. Her new slaveholder made inappropriate advances toward her and would never sell her even when she was able to escape his advances. This led to her sending her true love, a free black man, away and then eventually bearing 2 beautiful children out of wedlock to a kinder white bachelor hoping that would lead to her being sold. The owner still would not sell her and continued to treat her with spite and hatred and continued to try to take her over. Once Harriet realized that the owner would hurt her children to get to her, she ran away. She hid in a tiny compartment under the roof of her grandmother's house for seven years until an opportunity to escape the hounds and people of the South arrived. Once in the North, she was eventually able to free herself of the evil of slavery and give her children what she had been denied.
It is a fascinating read and I don't do it justice here at all. Some of the aspects I found to be quite interesting were that Harriet herself was part white, and many slaves were children of their white slaveholding fathers. These fathers would sell their children without a second thought. It was also sad to read about people she knew who were even worse off than she. Many mothers' children were sold with no way for them to ever reunite, even nursing babies were sold from their mothers. The poor white men who didn't own slaves had as much if not more contempt for the slaves than the slaveholders, and they relished in searching for runaways and loved to search the slaves' houses and take whatever they wanted. There really was no way out for these people. There was also terrible prejudice in the North once the lucky onew got away, and the Southerners still had the law on their side if they could locate a runaway in the North. Also, Northerners were given a rose colored view of slavery when they visited the South, and anybody who tried to help the slaves learn or better themselves at all was run out of town.
There are more interesting aspects. It was a sad story, but also one of triumph of the human spirit. Harriet never gave up. She was a true mother and lived for her children. I hope I always appreciate the blessing I have to live with and raise my children freely in a society where mothers are respected and appreciated. (I also read the Good Earth which I will report on sometime and that story reinforced my gratitude and appreciation.) What a woman, Harriet Jacobs was. She did what she had to do and she perservered and never gave up and in the end she was able to send her children to school in the North and give them what she never had: FREEDOM!!!!!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Answer to Life's Problems-- Sunday Verse
After all this energy I have expended on Love and Logic, it is nice to know that there is an answer to the evil. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are some of the words of King Benjamin:
Mosiah chapter 4:
" 9 Believe in aGod; believe that he is, and that he bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
He continues with how we should act:
"13 And ye will not have a amind to injure one another, but to live bpeaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due."
Here's how we should raise our children and teach them, notice he uses the word teach, not inspire, not make them figure it out and suffer consequences -- TEACH them:
"14 And ye will not suffer your achildren that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye bsuffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and cquarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
Mosiah chapter 4:
" 9 Believe in aGod; believe that he is, and that he bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have atasted of his love, and have received a bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own cnothingness, and his dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ehumility, fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
He continues with how we should act:
"13 And ye will not have a amind to injure one another, but to live bpeaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due."
Here's how we should raise our children and teach them, notice he uses the word teach, not inspire, not make them figure it out and suffer consequences -- TEACH them:
"14 And ye will not suffer your achildren that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye bsuffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and cquarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
15 But ye will ateach them to bwalk in the ways of truth and csoberness; ye will teach them to dlove one another, and to serve one another."
In light of Love and Logic and other strange educational philosophies I have been dealing with, this scripture came to mind:
"29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them."
We have to be more careful and more discerning about things we think are good. If it is not simple and strait and narrow, then it is probably not good. If it is not meek and humble and easy, and something that everyone could do if they wanted, then it is probably not good. The gospel is simple. It is the way to happiness. We don't need to know the mysteries to be happy. Enjoy your children, your husbands and wives. Be happy. Stop trying to find hidden meanings and deeper understanding. There are several scriptures that say this:
In light of Love and Logic and other strange educational philosophies I have been dealing with, this scripture came to mind:
"29 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them."
We have to be more careful and more discerning about things we think are good. If it is not simple and strait and narrow, then it is probably not good. If it is not meek and humble and easy, and something that everyone could do if they wanted, then it is probably not good. The gospel is simple. It is the way to happiness. We don't need to know the mysteries to be happy. Enjoy your children, your husbands and wives. Be happy. Stop trying to find hidden meanings and deeper understanding. There are several scriptures that say this:
- 13 ¶ Enter ye in at the astrait bgate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to cdestruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Taking a Stand
It's hard to stand up for something the first time one is exposed to something evil like Love and Logic, because first of all that person may be so appalled that they are speechless and second of all they may wonder if they are really right or not. And we definitely don't want to infringe on others' agency. But once one knows if something is right or wrong, by thinking about it, researching it, etc. then it is their duty to stand up and call it for what it is, evil.
Evil gets a foothold and spreads when good people stay out of the way and let it go. It is hard to do sometimes, especially when it involves people I care about, but protecting children and standing up for what's right is more important than people's delicate feelings. Maybe I won't be able to convince those who are already doing it, but maybe they'll remember what I said at some point, and it will help them. Also, maybe I can put people on guard before they are exposed to this philosophy so that they can give themselves permission to not accept it right off the bat.
This is from the BBC psychology website:
Evil gets a foothold and spreads when good people stay out of the way and let it go. It is hard to do sometimes, especially when it involves people I care about, but protecting children and standing up for what's right is more important than people's delicate feelings. Maybe I won't be able to convince those who are already doing it, but maybe they'll remember what I said at some point, and it will help them. Also, maybe I can put people on guard before they are exposed to this philosophy so that they can give themselves permission to not accept it right off the bat.
This is from the BBC psychology website:
"Psychologists have discovered that even the most independent- minded of us will conform to social pressure when we are with a group of people. In one classic experiment, people were shown a vertical line and asked to find a line of identical length from a selection of three.
You might think that this is an absurdly easy task, and when people perform it by themselves they do very well.. However, psychologists have discovered that we are very easily swayed by the opinions of other people when we do this task in a group. In one study, a group of three people was set up, where two of the people were confederates of the experimenter. When the confederates deliberately gave wrong answers, people were often swayed to give the wrong answer also. In fact, 75% of people gave at least one wrong answer, with some people conforming to peer pressure on every occasion."
Here is the link to the original study.
We have to be so so careful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)