Weekly Report: The real lesson

At the beginning of the week I was not only feverish, but feeling stressed about getting our school work done. I was pushing math and everyone was resisting. It was a struggle to get anyone to write. I want to emphasise struggle. By Wednesday, I was feeling better but our school was not a happy place. In my effort to push academics I lost sight of the big picture. My daughter, Elise reminded me of it as she gently cared for Claire when Claire woke up with a fever Wednesday morning. Elise chose a few of Claire's favorite books and read them to her in bed. She got Claire a cup of water when Claire was thirsty. She was kind and considerate of Claire's desires. She was happy to help her sister.

I was reminded that it takes more than academics to be successful in life. Truly, the most significant thing I can teach my children right now is how to love and care for each other. The relationships they are cultivating now are eternal. I'm not trying to raise geniuses, I am trying to raise good, happy, bright, loving children. Often we measure success with things that are tangible; good grades, degrees, scholarships, money, house, toys. While these are nice and things I want for my children, I think the most important indicators of success are not tangible.

With this renewed perspective, I relaxed and was able to enjoy and be helped by my children the rest of the week. Sam helped make dinner and gave me back rubs. (What a great husband I'm training!) Elise was a HUGE help with Anna and Claire. (What a great mother I'm training!) One of the sweetest experiences happened while we were all reading this month's Friend Magazine. We love reading the stories. It was so very sweet to be sitting with all my children gathered around me and to be talking about the Savior. We talked about how other people have struggles too. Everyone goes through trials. Heavenly Father loves all his children and wants to help them. They know they can turn to their Heavenly Father for help. I don't think I would have had that sweet experience if I had continued to be so caught up in getting every single math and language arts lesson in. I'm not discounting academics, by any means. I was just grateful for the reminder of the bigger picture. Learning how to take care of yourself and others is just as valuable a lesson as adding and dividing double digit numbers.

We started reading "Sign of the Beaver" this week. It hasn't been one of our favorite books so far, we'll see how it goes this week.

Here are some books that Sam enjoyed this week. He wrote a nice book report on "Call It Courage." You can read it here.


Here are some of the books Elise read this week. She is enjoying reading more and more.

We took a break from Story of the World this week. We did learn about Roman Numerals, though. I found some fun games.......... here.

Journal entries.


And some math. This is all the math we did this week. Eek!


One of the high points of the week was our nature walk for Green Hour. Doesn't this look like "Saturday's Warrior"? In honor of our first Green Hour, we chose a nature-related poem to memorize:

Who Has Seen the Wind
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
---Christina Rossetti

Scripture Study: Ether 1-3
"..Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words." (Ether 1: 34)
There is a really important lesson in this. The brother of Jared prayed and the Lord has compassion on him and did not confound their language. The brother of Jared prayed again and asked that the Lord to have compassion on their friends and their families. The brother of Jared prayed a third time and asked the Lord to lead them to a promised land. Each time the Lord had compassion, BUT the brother of Jared had to ask. The Lord did not just grant every thing to them right away. The success of Jared and his brother was in the asking.
So often I forget to just ask. When I do ask, I am amazed how quickly he answers. I am so grateful for prayer.

Samuel:

* Saxon 5/4 lesson 67
* Language Arts:
* Spelling:
* Memorization:."the Arrow and the Song"
* Reading: Stories from Shakespeare, Call it Courage, The World Wars, American Stories
* Journal writing:
* Science:
* Piano: "Russain Sailor Dance"
* Art: Nature --water color
* Composer: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven
* SOTW: Chapter 27: The Rise of Rome (We still really liked our Usborne book of Ancient History)
* Geography: Europe
* Cub Scouts:

Elise:

* Saxon 2 lessons 66
* Language Arts:
* Spelling: side, tree, birds, eat, fly, away, hangs, how, count, use, poured, tie, string, write, sight
* Reading: Creepy Crawlies, Ugly Duckling, Bugs, Tadpoles and Frogs, Illustrated Stories for Boys, Pocket Nature
* Journal writing:
* memorization: "The Arrow and the Song"
* Science: Nature walk
* SOTW: see above
* Piano: "Legato"
* Composer: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart
* Art:
* 50 States Book:

Claire: Trying so hard to be good when you're sick is not easy. Hang in there Claire!

Anna: Anna loves to copy her sisters. Even how they hold a fork. She is such a great dancer and has been able to make us laugh even when we all feel crumby.

Finally, I can't forget my dear husband. He has been great help this week. He has been able to stay healthy despite the massive germ infestation. How could I be cranky after hearing him sing with Elise in the bathroom? (Turn your volume down a smidge if you watch the video)