Classical Conversations - Homeschooling Year SIX!

We had our first coop day! We love being back with everyone. I also love the idea of the kids only being exposed to a handful of families during this crazy time. We do have one new family that moved from a CC community in another state. It is the best. Classes are small - mine only has five and two are Coraline and Cabella. We will meet on Thursdays this week and we switched locations which means less people will be in our building throughout the week which is another great benefit. 

We also get the blessing of a bigger building! 

I LOVE our homeschooling tribe and do not feel like the kids are missing out on anything but rather they get to have such strong connections with a handful of families and we all get to know each-other not just the kids in a classroom. All the families have been over to our house. 

Clairana has an all girl class. We have homeschooled with these families for years now so they have become such great friends. I don't see Clairana or Nephi besides in passing for a few hours so pictures are sent from their teachers or other mamas and it is such a blessing to see them having such a great time. Plus I LOVE that they learn once a week from someone else. 

Tin Whistle Lessons Outside. 

They had a cute little photo spot set up for the first day back. 

Cecily didn't make it the whole time. 

Our favorite nursery workers are back again this year! We LOVE the grandmas that volunteer year after year. Makes me feel so much better. 

Our FIRST ESSENTIALS Class. It was SO great to be just with Clairana and learn all about the English language. I am going to enjoy this year so much. Nephi will join in on this class next year. 

Thankful for Levi who made it a priority this year to come pick up all the others for two hours in the afternoon while I spend this time with C. 

Nephi's Class!

 

Homeschooling Schedule 2020

 

HOMESCHOOL LIFE –

PreK/Kindergarten/3^rd Grade/5^th Grade

 

Morning Time Loop: Everyone

Hymn

Prayer (special requests)

Calendar/Announcements

Weather

Pledges

Come Follow Me – Devotional & Scripture Reading

Poem

Indescribable Science Devotional or Friend Magazine

CC Memory Work

Classical Cycles Basket Three

                Focus, Prayer, Drawing The USA, Poetry, Fine Arts, Nature Study, Math, Extra Reading

     

Morning Loop Extras:

Question & Answer Book

Sign Language Cards

State or Animal Fast Facts Cards

Yesteryear Newspaper Event

 

 

Clairana, Nephi, Coraline

                Morning Loop

                Reading & Narration

                Handwriting

Clairana & Nephi

                Math

                 Spelling

Clairana

                 Typing

                 Essentials – Grammar & Writing

 

 

CC Memorization Goal:

Periodic Table

States & Capitals

Chart A

John 1:1-7 in Latin

 

Family Yearly Reading:

Harry Potter – Chamber of Secrets

I Don’t Know How the Story Ends

The Perilous Road

Mr. Revere & I

AVI Iron Thunder

By the Great Horn Spoon

 

Monthly Bookclub Reading:

Johnny Tremain

The Wild Robot

Lucretia Ann on the Oregan Trail

A Tree for Peter/The True Gift/The Lion in the Box

The Wheel on the School

Homer Price

The Chestry Oak

Miss Hickory

Benjamin West and his cat Grimalkin

 

After CC Ends: (April-Summer)

4H Projects

Fairy Tales

Shakespeare Study

Habit Training – Laying Down the Rails

Emergency Preparedness

 

Family Goals:

CPR Training

Sewing/Ironing – Napkins, Pillows, Aprons

Swimming

Chess

Emergency Preparedness

Ukuele

 

Family Lessons:

Medicinal Plants/Edible Plants

Mushroom Watch

Stars/Constellations

Drawing the World

Fillet a Fish

Learn Fencing

Gardening

Maple Syrup

Butchering

Sage Stick

Nature Table

Make Root Beer

Make Flower Press

Learn Carving

 

Soccer

I tried to take a few more pictures this week. Levi tried not to get so fired up about coaching so he could try and finish the house when we got home. It was hot. 

I coached most of the little kids game this week and Levi held Cecily which was nice to have a break from toddler life. Although I now am losing my voice. 

Coraline right after soccer. 

Cecily has been asking Clairana to carry her around lots lately and they both seem to like it so much. 

I am thankful for her to cling to the others as well. 

Bella was already buckled in and ready to leave but I did snag one of these four. 

 

Everlasting Trust - Talk for Church 8.16.20

I was assigned to speak last week at church by Levi. My topic was Everlasting Trust. Here is what I wrote out to prepare.  

Everlasting Trust

When we look in the scriptures we find such great examples of everlasting trust.

My first thought of everlasting trust in the Lord was from the scriptures and the story of Joseph – Joseph was favored by his father which led his to be sold as a slave to Egypt by his own brothers. Then he was put into prison for years for something he did not do. Joseph as well as so many others in the scriptures or even our pioneer ancestors have had everlasting trust in the Lord. Trust in better days. Trust in tomorrow. Trust in eternal life. Trust in the gospel.

I am a convert to the church and I actually remember exactly when I not only gained my own testimony but when I decided to completely trust in the Lord. When I remember getting on my knees and giving it all to him I unfortunately was not an 8 year old I was an adult. Trust that God is still at work.

My relationship with my heavenly father began to grow because my efforts and reactions began to change and trust in him, his plan, and prayer rather than my own emotions.

Trust can be hard. Trust in your relationships – all relationships – spouse, child, parent, friends. Sometimes someone’s trust is stated or shown and sometimes it is on a bathroom floor over tears and prayer.

This topic has been perfect for me to ponder this past week. We have had such great highs and lows the past few days. Nephi our only son was baptized in the Wildcat creek on our property. Seeing a youth baptism and feeling the spirit and the excitement of a new beginning and an advancement of life is so reassuring for all of us to witness and remember our own covenants. Learning and relearning to trust in the promises we have made.

Such loss has also been suffered this past week as well and watching how painful it has to be for others is so very difficult. More amazing to me is the strength and knowledge of others who know the gospel is true and know that Heavenly Father is in control and his will will be done. We Understand. 

This is not our forever home and to watch from the sidelines of these amazing friends who are faithful saints and grief for them makes me a stronger person.

Elder L. Tom Perry said in 1978

When one follows the course marked by the road signs of the gospel of Jesus Christ and places his trust in the Lord, its influences is such that it manifest not only in action and deed but by a marked and visible change in his very being. There is a special light and a spirit which radiates from his eternal soul. It can be described in words like brightness, light, joy, happiness, peace, purity, contentment, spirit, enthusiasm etc.

Brigham Young has said, “The person who enjoys the experience of the knowledge of the Kingdom of God on the earth, and at the same time has the love of God within him, is the happiest of any individuals on the earth.

Clairana is our oldest daughter and she and I pass back and forth a journal. Once she has completed her portion of the journal she will lay it on my bed for me to write back. The journal has prompts and this week the question was “One of the best things I have ever done is and why was it so great”

 I wrote the best things I have ever done in this life are to join the church and learn really learn and study the gospel for myself, marry a Christ like man who loves the Lord and provides service, and to have children. I explained to her that your path in life will be made easier with more blessings from living the gospel and marrying someone who does the same. It will be easier. When looking at life from a child who was not raised fully in the gospel to my life now that we as a family live the gospel and learn/pray together everyday multiple times a day. It takes great effort but it is the best effort.  The gospel provides the answers and guides us together.

Testimony.  I trust in what is to come. I trust in knowing that the next life is so much better than where we are now and I look forward to those days and I tell my children that I look forward to those days. I trust knowing that I will have my children and spouse with me forever. And that is the most important. I trust in Heavenly Father and will continue to be his willing servant.  

Levi's dad gifted Nephi this tie tack at his baptism. I took this to send it to him to say thank you. 

This week.

 This past week has been a little hard around here. I actually have not been feeling so much like myself. I have had pretty low energy and I got poison ivy the worst I have ever had it. My face/throat/neck/arms/stomach so much that it messed up my sinuses. 

Anyways, I hope to remember to have a better respect for that plant and Levi thankfully cleared a few places around the yard that had it. 

The kids all had dentist appointments in Indianapolis and Levi worked most of the weekend and is at work now. 

SO.... I started the week with deciding to jump fully into school just because really. We start our weekly coop next week and I thought it would be a good reason to make sure we were ready. 

Then our course changed. In Indiana we have to homeschool for 180 days a year so really it is never difficult to get to that number - especially during a pandemic. 

Trouble. 

I took them on a late night gator ride to find the perfect tree for our friends. 

We learned a hard lesson in our house this past week. Our great friends lost a little baby boy and we decided to share this topic with the kids. I have cried for this little baby so much this week. I spoke about it at church last week. It is so hard to watch your friends grieve and also watch how amazingly faithful they still are in the Lord's plan. 

We found an Eastern Red Cedar tree at the front of our property and gifted it to them to remember him. 

Then there was this that was happening lots this week......

Hard boiled egg - DOUBLE! So Fun for Coraline to Find. 

We put up TONS of tomatoes to make tomato soup for winter time. 

I also let Clairana, Nephi, and Coraline all milk our mama goat this week!

 Clairana really got the hang of it! 

Damon who we have known for so long and Levi gets to work with him now recommended we get these books. So of course we did. This week we went on lots of walks with them and turned our school days into mushroom/plant days. It was neat because we found so many because it is just for our region!

Coraline is begging to sew a napkin and Nephi is begging to play a card game before bed so I best get to it! 

More Outdoor Time

 

Mom's/Grandma's Birthday

 We went over to my mom's house for her birthday to help her celebrate. 

The kids and I made her a cake and Levi came with us to help Randy cut down a tree. 

Rooster Life. Life Lessons.

Rooster Day! 

We had another day of butchering and learning on the mini farm. We unfortunately paid for chicks in March that were supposed to be hens but we ended up with too many roosters. 

Thankfully, they were a larger breed so it was worth butchering for meat. 

Everyone helped and saw all parts of the process. We ended up with about 5 gallons of broth as well.  

We ended up timing the butchering and it really only took less than 10 minutes a bird. 

I had left over chicken feet from our last butchering event so we had lots of feet in the pot. 

Rooster Catchers. 

 

Coraline

Coraline has been the first up and out the door to do farm chores almost all summer. She is slowing switching to a big kid in our house. So Bittersweet.

 

Old Photos

In my mom's house she has all of our boards from high school graduation up on her wall. 

Great Grandma Wallace with the cousins - we called her Old Grandma. Now looking back that just seems like such a ridiculous name to come a woman but we knew no different. 

My cousin Brittany and I 

Me & Symone - she came into my life when I was 8 as my stepmom.

My dad and Symone's mom - Linda

Grandma Bootie is what we called her she was Symone's great Aunt.

Pictures of me with my dad. 

 

Reunion - Wallace

Family Reunion Picture! 

We aren't pictured but we did go a little later. 

We were masked up and hoping that less people would be there by then and it was true. 

We did have a few of my family over for s'mores and playing the following day before they left. 

My Aunt Angie had planned this reunion which I don't know if we have ever officially had one before but then the virus made it much different. Although it was nice to see a few out of towners. 

My cousin, Hannah, and her little family were supposed to come and actually stay with us which I will admit I was nervous about  and prayed often about if it was the best decision but her husband ended up getting very sick and tested positive for the virus so of course they stayed in Florida. 

Levi brought these home from the jobsite and they have been such a hit. 

 

Church

 Our first time back to church!

Levi was the only bishopric member and it was limited to 25 people with masks. 

Cleaning was done before and after and we had to be separated by several pews. 

It felt so strange and small to be in our big chapel with two other families. 

Bella wore a mask and could barely see because of poison ivy on her face. You can't see very well but Clairana has poison ivy all over her face again. Country Life, I Guess. 

CHEESE!