Memorizing Scripture

We did not choose to homeschool our children because we wanted to keep them away from the world for religious reasons. We began homeschooling because we knew our child would better thrive educationally with more one on one attention. Also, we wanted to homeschool because we enjoy being with our child, and we wanted to leave our life open for travel and for real life experiences. We wanted to free him to learn in his unique style and address his particular need. wE know over time this will fluctuate, and we want to stay open to that.

Nevertheless, one great benefit of homeschooling is the option to teach faith in God, in conjunction with secular education.

One feature of our curriculum that we  simply love, is scripture memorization.
When I was young, I thought it was so cool that people could memorize large passages of scripture, or Shakespeare, or verse of any sort. I wanted our kids to be able to do that.

So we embarked on teaching and memorizing scripture;
an entire alphabet of scripture.

You ought to hear this Lil' Monster go through the alphabet, singing a scripture per letter.
I love hearing him singing these verses during his play time.

©Mamma Sass

Here Lil' Monster is playing and

learning the 10 Commandments, 

©Mamma Sass

by pretending to be Moses.

©Mamma Sass

The benefit of homeschooling, is that we can help our child be educated in all subjects; not just secular, not just religious, not just worksheets, not just daily activities, etc - but a well rounded knowledge. We believe Homeschool is about learning to learn.

But I do love that we are free to teach faith.



Sunday Play

In our home, we try to make Sunday's different than any other day of the week.

We are commanded to keep the Sabbath Day holy. (Exodus 20:8)

We interpret that to be more than just going to church for a few hours.

A day consists of 24 hours.

That can be a very long time with children.

We are not so strict like the puritans of old, where meetings and reading the bible all day was all you did.

But we don't want to be so relaxed about it, that we consider it a free day to play, catch up on chores, sleep all day, or laze around.

We have come up with some solutions.

After church attendance, we encourage quiet activities like reading (scriptures, church magazines, or other uplifting books), journaling, letter writing, goal setting, watching a spiritual and uplifting movie, calling family and friends, serving others, and sitting with each other simply talking.

Yet, even these activities can be quite difficult with young children.

Young children like to play, not sit quietly.

So, we have set aside certain toys and games for Sunday use only.

These items are not played with at all during the week.

This not only keeps the novelty of them alive; but it also is a way for our child to mark that the Sabbath Day is a different day than the rest.

A few of these toys are scriptural action figures.
They are great fun for our son.
They definitely keep him entertained and busy.

{Preparing Children to Choose}



Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. They provide opportunities for growth as children acquire the spiritual maturity to exercise their agency properly. And yes, this means children will sometimes make mistakes and learn from them.

~~~~ Elder Larry Y. Wilson ~~~~

He Lives

He is not here: for He is risen

Matthew 28:6 



He Lives by Simon Dewey

 

"...they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them."

 "And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

 'Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bittercup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.'"

3 Nephi 11:8-10

I know that He Lives.

He has redeemed us.

He is my Savior.

May your

Easter

bring you the

peace and joy

of the season.

...Go

Yesterday, Conference sessions were - well, unplanned.

What? you might say.

Well, I was ready, but our dear friends stayed home sick, and by noon I had been struck with a migraine.

Ugh.

Today went so much better.

Although our friends still stayed home due to illness, we continued on with our plans. 

We woke up and made these delicious biscuits.

 We added some whip cream and a glass of milk to the recipe.

Lil' Monster devoured it before I could get pictures.

Then we began watching, taking notes, coloring, activity books, and enjoying the inspirational messages. 

 

 Our Spring Conference Garden was growing fast!

Lil' Monster bored after some coloring and quietly playing,
took to leading the Tabernacle Choir. 

Of course, it's not as fun without someone to play along with you...

It was a great weekend of inspiration, togetherness, and upliftment.

Can't wait until the next one:

In October.

Ready...get set...

We are ready for everyone to gather round and listen to

 LDS General Conference.

When I was younger it was great to sit together with family and friends, catch up on some quiet projects, take notes, and become inspired to be better and do better.

 I really loved these weekends.

But, the past few years have been such duds.

We've been unable to really get focused.

We've done nothing special to hold on to the goodness these conferences offer.

In fact, it has been a pain - if I am being really honest.

For three years now, we have only caught a session here and there. We can read it later in the Ensign, but it just isn't the same as listening and being a part of it. Our life has been so chaotic. Lil' monster, has been so needy and distracting that it has been hard to attend the conference, in any way. Nevertheless, we know it is important to watch and be attentive. More importantly it lifts us up, inspires us, and encourages us.

This year I was ready for something different.

So, I decided to be prepared.

I did some serious google searches and came up with an abundance of ideas to help children

(and adults)

focus and get more involved rather than just being passive listeners.

I am excited and hopeful this will be the key to a great weekend.

This was my favorite idea:

a Spring Conference Garden

We need some spring here -

the snow is too much!

The Garden is "built/grown" during conference and then can be used during the next several months to remind us what we learned.

(There is a cute idea for the Autumn Conference I am sure we will use in October).

It can be used to inspire Family Home Evening (FHE) ideas.

Maybe even talks for Sundays.

at the very least, it will brighten our wall for a few weeks ;)

To make our Garden area,

we chose our still bare

 (but needs to be filled and painted)

 wall in our living room.

I made some grass and stems from some construction paper,

 one night while listening to a book with Mr. Elskan (he helped out some).

Then we taped it onto the wall.

I put this up a couple days early

to inspire excitement and curiosity.

It worked.

There were lots of questions and excitement. 

Then I made the flowers, for both the really young ones and older ones. During Conference, they will color them, write the topics of discussion, and then tape them to the stems. Thereby growing a garden.

I also pulled some notebooks together for adults and created some activity packets for the kids.

A great resource for some ideas can be found on Sugardoodle.

I used a few ideas here, a few there -

all catered to my boy specifically, and to the girls who were coming.

I added some extra quiet activity kits just in case they still got bored. 

I feel soooo accomplished - usually I am a day, week, or year late.

But this time:

I am READY!!!!!!

Let, the sessions begin!

Forever Family

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we believe in being

families forever.

We believe that families can be sealed together for eternity in a

Temple.

This sealing is a bond that will always last, even beyond death.

We believe that children can be born into this sealing,

 if the couple has been married for eternity in the Temple.

We believe that children who are not born (meaning adopted) under this seal can still be sealed into the family forever in the Temple.

I am so grateful for this principle.

 I love my precious boy!

I am not able to conceive children and I am so grateful God has provided for even such as I.

I find much comfort knowing that I can be a forever family

with my husband AND beautiful son.

 

Click on Links to know:

Why Do Mormons Have Temples?

What Are Temple Blessings? 

 

Temples bring incredible blessings to families.

Our son has brought incredible blessings into our lives.

Family Comes First

Our Family Standard

When Mr. Elskan and I married we decided that Family Comes First.

We hope to build and train up our family using the following principles:

Faith
Prayer
Repentance
Forgiveness
Respect
Love
Compassion
Work
and
Wholesome Recreational Activities

Don't expect perfection in these from us - we won't make it.
But we hope to strive for perfection through practicing them!