“The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

“Light and truth forsake that evil one. …

“I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.” Doctrine and Covenants 93:36-37, 40

Last week one of my friends, and reader of my blog, suggested I write about my homeschooling experiences, due to the fact that many people have unexpectedly found themselves in the homeschooling arena. I did write previously about it here but wanted to share some specifics today. Teaching my children from home is something I’m passionate about and believe in, otherwise, I never would have survived 20 years of homeschooling 4-7 children, during various times. Did I ever have doubts? Of course! I’ve had doubts about every part of mothering at one time or another. I didn’t, however, let those doubts stop me from doing what I felt called by the Lord to do for my children.

I think we all agree on the importance of being educated. Our leaders have spoken to us many times about getting an education, continuing to learn, teaching our children, and being a light in the world. I firmly believe in lifelong learning; I also believe there are many different ways to achieve the goal of becoming educated. Just as each child is unique and individual, each parent may choose the best education plan for that child, whether it be public school, private school, private tutoring, online classes, homeschooling, co-ops, etc. Each of us are blessed with the ability to receive inspiration and help from the Lord, if we seek it, in deciding how best to provide an education for our children—His children. Whatever method is chosen, we still teach our children at home every day of their lives.

“Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. While other institutions, such as church and school, can assist parents to “train up a child in the way he [or she] should go,” ultimately this responsibility rests with parents. According to the great plan of happiness, it is parents who are entrusted with the care and development of our Heavenly Father’s children. Our families are an integral part of His work and glory—“to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” L. Tom Perry

My answers from the Lord led my plan for educating my children. We had a variety of educational experiences, including public school and homeschool. Either way, I wanted my children to learn eternal truths along with their schooling. I put my heart and soul into teaching my children, and it was incredibly hard work, physically and emotionally. I can state now, with my youngest daughter one year away from completing home education through high school, that every hour spent researching, planning, printing, and shopping, every tear cried in frustration and worry, every mess made in the name of learning, every mile traveled, every dollar spent on supplies, games, charts, flash cards, trips, shows, instruments, and books, books, books, was 100 % worth it!  I’d choose it again. I’d happily do all the work again. One of the greatest blessings of my life has been learning with my children, strengthening our testimonies together, seeing their interest, watching them develop talents, and witnessing, in amazement, their creativity.

“Because of our sacred regard for each human intellect, we consider the obtaining of an education to be a religious responsibility. Yet opportunities and abilities differ. I believe that in the pursuit of education, individual desire is more influential than institution, and personal faith more forceful than faculty.” Russell M. Nelson

I’m going to share a few things that worked for our family and brought us joy. There were many things we tried that didn’t work, ending in frustration and tears. We kept the good and tossed the bad; that’s the freedom of homeschooling. I’m grateful for those who shared ideas with me. I used those suggestions, which often sent me off on tangents perfect for us. I hope to spark ideas in others who love to learn with their children.

At the beginning of every summer, I started planning.  For the base of that year, I referred to a four-year rotation plan (Kindred Learning), where core subjects, including the scriptures, were covered in four years, then started over every four years, with deeper investigating. Then I looked for the children’s current interests. I planned in detail for the whole year, but rarely covered every single thing I’d planned. I allowed for exploration of other interests. I don’t think children normally learn best by switching subjects every hour. Mine were generally interested in something for hours or days, then moved on. Sometimes they were excited about a subject (animals, constellations, inventions, art, music) for much longer and really wanted to delve into it. That’s true learning! Except for math, which needs to be consistent, we generally did one subject per day. As long as the subjects I wanted to cover were included sometime during the year, it was flexible.

Much of our learning was reading—the library was my best friend. I did searches according to subjects, and reserved books and movies ahead. Sometimes I had 75 books checked out, between all our cards. When we studied invertebrates, we used an Apologia science book, nonfiction books, learned a song from Lyrical Life Science for memorization, and watched “Finding Nemo.”  When there were several children, they’d each write a report about one of the animals and stand and share it with the others. (As much as possible, writing assignments related to their studies.) When the French Revolution was the subject, we read nonfiction books and historical fiction, like “The Scarlett Pimpernel,” and we watched “A Tale of Two Cities.” They might write about Napoleon or Marie Antoinette. For art and music, we often read a biography (with cartoons) by Mike Venezia about an artist or composer from the time period or geographic area we were covering.  We viewed paintings online or at an exhibit (the Leonardo da Vinci one was so cool!) and attempted to copy the style of painting. We listened to composers’ works and occasionally played a sample on the piano or watched “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” or Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”

Some of our favorites:

• Incorporating scripture reading and Family Home Evening in studies and using Discover the Scriptures’ lessons to make scripture study more personal
• Reading aloud together (especially fun in a fort on rainy days)—that’s how we discovered Harry Potter, Fancy Nancy, Merlin, Winnie the Pooh, The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and our love of reading
• Geography studies with maps, passports, dressing up, cultural activities (including creating a Chinese dragon and a piñata) and “feasts” of foods from the country studied, with friends invited
• Year-long newspaper project—all writing assignments were newspaper articles and entries for a completed newspaper at the end of the year
• Anatomy, with life-size body cutouts, field trips to “Slim Goodbody’s Bodyology” and “The Body Exhibit,” Lyrical Life Science songs about muscles and bones, and posters with labels to help with memorizing
• Science experiments, which succeeded about 60% of the time, but usually taught a lesson anyway
• A family history cookbook, with recipes received from many relatives we’d never met
• Making quilts for the grandmas 
• Illustrated timelines and homemade inventions 
• Award ceremony, gifts, and party at the end of the year
• Memorizing seminary scriptures, famous quotes, and church proclamations
• Once-a-week classes with a homeschool co-op and orchestra with the Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts school
• Games, games, games for math and grammar, logic puzzles and brain teasers
• FREE TIME for creativity: magic shows, plays, music videos, karaoke, Dinotopia VR flying rides, concerts, travel, songwriting

There’s so much to explore, to learn, to enjoy with our children, who are only with us a little while. I miss those crazy, fun, hectic, strenuous days… but there’s always the grands!!

“God bless you wonderful mothers and fathers in Zion. He has entrusted to your care His eternal children. As parents we partner, even join, with God in bringing to pass His work and glory among His children. It is our sacred duty to do our very best.” L. Tom Perry

“Jesus said, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 18:3-4

“As we read the scriptures, the love of the Lord for children is apparent. And understandably so: ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord.’” W Eugene Hansen 

This week in our Sacrament meeting (Sunday worship service in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) it was the Primary Program, which means all the children from age 3-11 sang and shared testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. Their sweet words were so heartfelt and honest. I felt the Spirit witness the truth of faith-filled, simple phrases such as, “Jesus loves me” and “We should be kind to everyone.” The music brought tears to my eyes and a burning in my heart as the whole chorus earnestly caroled words written by Shawna Belt Edwards, “Jesus is a God of miracles…of all his miracles, the most incredible must be the miracle that rescues me.”

The simple faith and trust of a child is humbling to behold. It’s easy to see why the Savior told us we need to become like these innocent little ones. They recognize Jesus, remember Him in their spirits.  They love pictures of Him and easily talk about and feel His love for them. Children, especially my own little clan, have shown me sweet, childlike attributes I want to develop.

“When it comes to understanding our relationship with our Heavenly Father, the things my wife and I have learned as parents and grandparents that are of most worth knowing, we have learned from our children.” Boyd K. Packer

• Children love to be busy and work, wanting to please and do good. At a very young age, my first daughter was the little momma. She loved helping with the younger kids, cleaning up, and being bossy (like her momma). She felt happiest when she was busy working, helping, and doing. (She’s the one I had to ask not to take 6 AP classes one semester in high school—she took 5.)
• Children listen to their bodies; they eat when they’re hungry, stop eating when they’ve had enough, and sleep when they’re tired. They aren’t afraid to feel their emotions and let them show. When sad, they cry and want to be held, when happy, they laugh and sing and dance, and boy, do they scream it out when they’re mad. They receive gifts joyfully and appreciatively, no matter how small. My second daughter is blessed with all these attributes. We love to give her presents because she is the best receiver of gifts in the world. She has been known to squeal in delight, and shows her love and gratitude openly and generously, for anything given or done for her.
• Children give and receive love freely, without reservation, without judgement. They don’t care what you look like, how much you weigh, what you’re wearing, or if your hair is old-fashioned. They express that love with hugs and hand-holding, snuggles and smooches. They forgive freely, quickly, and completely. They practically glow when they’re shown the least attention and praise, openly and joyfully receiving it, instinctively knowing they are worthy of it. Back in the stone age, when I had three small children and was expecting my fourth, I was having a really bad day. My 3-year-old was testing me, and I was failing (3-year-olds are excellent instructors, haha). I crumpled onto the couch and cried. My little baby boy, about 18 months old, climbed up on my (crowded) lap, took my face in both of his tiny hands, looked me in the weepy eyes, and asked, in his sweet, high, baby voice, “Mommy cry?” I nodded and he wrapped his precious little arms around my neck and comforted me. I’ll never forget the love I felt from that little angel in that hard moment.

• Children are curious and open to learning, teachable and willing to be led by those with more wisdom. When one of my sons was little, he used to say, “Shut your guts up.” We secretly cracked up because it was a cross between shut up (bad words) and I hate your guts (also bad words). When he started saying, “I’m going to kill you,” I sat down with him and we talked seriously about what that meant. He listened intently, answered my questions, and never, ever said that again.   
• Children are kind and inclusive to others; everyone is a potential friend. They love babies, other kids, bigger kids, adults, and old people. One of my daughters was, and is still, a great example of this. She was the peacemaker, the friend, the one who welcomed everyone—boys, girls, younger or older, even dorky moms and dads—all were included. She grew up with brothers and boy cousins and was always one of the gang. She included her younger brother, as well, making sure he wasn’t left out.
• Children remind us of the simple joys of life. We see the world differently when we see it through the eyes of a child. The magical lights on the Christmas tree, the wonders of Disneyland, the fascinating animals at the zoo—all new again when shared with a child. We took our children to see Star Wars Episode II in the theater.  My little guy was with us.  He was young for it, but he’d grown up in a Star Wars family, so there you have it. I got to sit by him and hear his little comments and sounds of surprise and amazement. Near the end when Count Dooku has hammered Obi-Wan and Anakin, in hobbles Yoda.  In a sudden burst of Ninja speed and skill, Yoda takes on Dooku. My boy exclaims, “Whoa, that little guy is good!” Oh, it still makes me laugh; it was so sweet and funny. 
• Children live in the moment, wondrously experiencing every sensation fully. They aren’t afraid to dream big, be creative, and have vivid imaginations. My youngest loved to play with babies. She read her babies stories, sang to them, fed them, and took them on walks. One day, near Christmas, in Costco, she picked up the large block of cheese I was buying and started cuddling it and carrying it like a baby (so cute). She talked to it and played it with for a bit, then I teasingly told her it was time to toss the baby on the cart. She gasped, and indignantly chided, “Mom, nobody would treat a baby like that!” Then, looking thoughtful for a moment, added, “Except King Herod.”

These precious ones, who teach us so much, deserve our most earnest efforts to protect them from the many evils in our world today. No sacrifice is too great to teach them, prepare them, guard them, and shower them with love so they may know they are of infinite worth because they are children of God.

“There is in the scriptures, there is in what we publish, there is in what we believe, there is in what we teach, counsel, commandments, even warnings that we are to protect, to love, to care for, and to ‘teach [children] to walk in the ways of truth.’ To betray them is utterly unthinkable.” Boyd K. Packer