McKay discovers MATH!

Introducing math to McKay has been a unplanned technique spanning many months. I bought a few "math games" from the Lakeshore Learning Store months ago and he "plays" with them every once in awhile. In the car sometimes we randomly give him equations to figure out in his mind or on his fingers. It's always been a fun thing to do. Someone gave me some old math textbooks with rip-out tests and quizzes some time ago. I decided to show him the book yesterday and he has been wanting to do it non-stop! Mostly number recognition, addition problems, larger or smaller than, etc.,-type stuff but numbers non-the-less! He follows me around the house with the book asking for help, even taking it in the car to work on. We've also been checking books out from the library about money and coins and that has also introduced some numbers and math to him. One thing that has also helped is our neighbor has a pretty snazy remote-control car that McKay recently decided he wanted and now he's "saving up" to buy one (a much cheaper one of course!) and that is quite the incentive for him to be able to save and count his money earnings (from the chores he does). Kind of fun to watch the growth. It's nothing I'm forcing, but I'm trying to find ways to inspire him with numbers.

McKay's Chore and Commission Chart

Today I updated McKay's Chore Chart. (I have time for this because Grandma took both boys last night for a "sleepover"--yeah!) I am trying to incorporate Dave Ramsey's plan for teaching kids about money. If you click on the chart you'll be able to see it bigger. So, the Wake-up and Bedtime Routines are just expected--part of being a Webb Family member. But the other chores are commission based. To start out, McKay can earn 5 cents per chore per day for the ones that he does that day. Ramsey also included a "Fines" section in his plan (where a kid can have money deducted for bad behavior), but I don't want to focus on that with McKay to begin with. I'd rather start out completely positive. I hope to be better about paying him each week and then helping him divide his earnings between "Spending," "Savings," and "Giving" (tithing). We may even open a little bank account for him--we'll see how it goes. Feel free to check in and see how it's going if you're curious!

The boys "read" the classics!

So, I was cleaning the kitchen the other day and listening to Glenn Beck on Facebook ("Restoring Honor Rally 8-28-2010") when the boys took it upon themselves to un-shelve many of our classics, stack them up beside the couch, and literally start to "read" them.

When caught in the act I ask "Boys! WHAT are you DOING with ALL those BOOKS?!?!"
"We're going to read them, mom," was the innocent answer from McKay and echoed by Elijah on the other end of the couch.

They were actually lying on the couch and thumbing through these masterpieces--even asking me to read them to them. Elijah later on asked me to read him the "Treatise on Rhetoric" by Aristotle! Yeah, I wish! I can't even understand that book!

So I made them put all the books back. And they did. Just like so:

Wouldn't it be cool if they really DID read all those books one day?! : )

Just Like Me --by Margaret Hillert

The famous men and women

Who helped our country grow

Weren't always great and famous

Those long, long years ago.

George Washington and Betsy Ross,

Ben Franklin, Paul Revere

All started out as babies

And grew a bit each year.

They started out as children

Just boys and girls like you

Who worked and played and laughed and sang

And cried a little, too

And learned their lessons when they could

And said their prayers at night

They never knew we'd call them great

And keep their mem'ries bright.



They never knew someday they'd be

Famous names in history.

How we plan to teach our young kids about money

So, McKay is already interested in money. It started in the store when he wanted something I wouldn't buy him. I'd say, "I don't have money for that. Do you? You'll need to buy that with your own money." Then he'd say, "Why don't you go buy some money?" or "Write a check." I had to laugh but realized he may be ready for some lessons in earning and spending money. I started checking these books out from the library since I am a HUGE Dave Ramsey fan and McKay LOVED them. Especially the one called "The Super Red Racer," about how a boy named Junior earns money from working to buy his own red bike. McKay's interest was now peaked. I decided to buy the whole children's book set so we didn't have to keep going to the library to get them. They came yesterday in the mail and immediately he wanted to read the others we hadn't been able to check out from the library.

Along with the storybooks, I decided to try out the kid version of Financial Peace University (for Adults) called Financial Peace Jr. (Teaching Kids About Money!) and I'm so excited to get started on it! I have recently implemented a chore system for McKay where if he does his chores each day he gets paid a "commission" (currently, I pay 5 cents a day) and he's totally motivated! It does take more work on my part to help him get through his chores each day but my feeling is that it will be totally worth the time I put in.

I'll let you know how things go with this kit--I'm really excited to get started! And who knows, maybe Dan and I will learn something too!

Interested in TJEd?! See below!

Have you ever been able to attend a presentation by Dr Shanon Brooks? I
know that some on this list have missed the opportunity when he was here
for the Seminars and the Previews -- but he recently posted this video
recording of his overview. He even answers the question "Education vs
Schooling" are they the same or different.

I've posted them on our blog. Enjoy!

http://nwtjed.blogspot.com/2010/07/introduction-to-tjed.html

Posted by: Ann Agent

Project INSPIRE: Ten Grands for Kids

I always have this motto in my head, "Inspire, not require."

Well, I want to instill in my kids the love for music, and especially for the piano, since that was a love of mine and still is, in my life.  It's hard to find places that will allow children this young to participate in the audience but I took my chances with a "Ten Grands for Kids" Concert that was made FREE through the Snowman Foundation (http://www.snowmanfoundation.org/).  McKay and Elijah loved it!  It only lasted an hour and 15 minutes as opposed to the typical 3-4 hour concert they normally give.  I wish I had a clip from the actual concert but of course it wasn't allowed.  Here's one from a couple years ago.  Their concerts are really quite amazing.  I'd love to have our kids participate one day!

One cute thing McKay noticed was when some of the young pianists mentioned their ages (i.e., 13 or 15 years old, etc., there was even a 9-year old!!) McKay would say something like "Hey, that's close to Joseph Smith's age, cause he was 14!"  I thought that was kind of cool!

Since we can't go to concerts very often, I am finding the internet to be a great resource.  You can find a lot of great clips of fabulous instrumentalists which I can show to the boys, and they enjoy it.  Another thing I could also do better is to practice on the piano more myself, which I'm trying to do.

Teaching Right and Wrong

One of my favorite quotes by Dr. Laura recently is " . . . I get calls from parents so enamored by the fact that their kid is so talented or smart that they forget that their kids have to grow up to be descent people." (something to that effect--I wish I had the exact quote)

Isn't that totally true? Some of the best parents I know literally FILL their kid's lives with music lessons, dance lessons, scouts, soccer, daycare, friends, outings, hobbies, games, etc, and honestly, the kid never has time to "learn how to be a good person." Dr. DeMille (from "A Thomas Jefferson Education") says that children in the "Core Phase" (ages 0-8 roughly) learn the lessons of good/bad, right/wrong, true/false and this is accomplished through work/play. Well, it's easy for me to say, since I don't have kids involved in all that stuff right now, but you really need to good chunks of downtime with your children for "the instilling of values."

Here are a few ways we are trying to teach values, virtues, morals, whatever you want to call them, to our children. My feeling is that a true leader, or a patriot, must have these qualities, and these must be taught while they are in their youth.

The first thing we LOVE are the "Standin' Tall" series by Janeen Brady. I grew up with these and to this day sing the songs to myself at times when I'm faced with a moral dilemmas. I highly recommend them!


It comes in a set of 12 books/CDs and the values that it covers are:

1. Obedience
2. Honesty
3. Forgiveness
4. Work
5. Courage
6. Happiness
7. Gratitude
8. Love
9. Service
10. Cleanliness
11. Self-Esteem
12. Dependability

Another thing that hasn't worked as well as I hoped this year but I've improvised is having my kids be a part of a Joy School (preschool) group where moms take turns teaching lessons based on the Joy School Curriculum written by Richard and Linda Eyre. Joy School is another thing I grew up with, and since I was home-schooled I was able to help my mom teach it to each of my siblings. I love the lessons, I love the songs, I LOVE what Joy School teaches. These lessons are honestly as applicable to adults as anyone in my opinion. My only regret is that Joy School has gotten more expensive over the years (because of popularity) and there are typically cheaper options that groups will choose instead. I hope I can get a group of moms together for this upcoming Fall to do a Joy School group with me. Here's their website http://www.valuesparenting.com in case you are interested.

The final thing I'll mention now is a new thing for me, as in, I didn't grow up with these, but they are wonderful! My father-in-law actually got these for us and honestly I don't remember seeing them before--



We have started reading these books to our boys at night, for Family Home Evening, and when we have "dead time"--I shouldn't really call it dead time, but it's cool: Dan will be cooking in the kitchen, the boys running around like wild indians, and I'll just open one of these books and start reading to the family, and every so slowly, the kids will come over to the couch to follow along, or, if it's the main book of virtues, Dan and I will have some neat conversations stemming from something I've read. Honestly, the "Virtues" talked about in these books seem almost foreign in our society now--what has happened to "hard work," "responsibility" and "forgiveness?" I want our boys to know these things, and I want to know them even better.


Does your family do something special to instill values in your children?
Please share!!

"Kidschool"

OK. I admit to this plan not really catching on here yet. McKay has been involved in a mom's co-op preschool which has made the implementing of this plan difficult so far, but I really want to kick into this soon. I've even debated quitting the preschool group but haven't yet decided. I'm still weighing all the pros and cons. . .

"Structure Time, Not Content"
Oliver DeMille

Kidschool* (9-noon)
Chores
Read
Write
Learning "Games"
Music Time (piano, other instruments, theory, listening, etc.)
Indoor Activity
Outdoor Activity

*not necessarily in this order

Our Family's "Morning Routine"

This is a routine we started several months ago to help us get going on the right page each morning. At first it was tricky to remember to do it each day but now our four-year-old reminds us. We have already had amazing payback moments. McKay, our eldest, has memorized the Pledge of Allegiance, the Preamble to the Constitution, and a couple of the Articles of Faith already! He can tell you several of his favorite Book of Mormon stories almost word for word out of the book. These moments truly make all the efforts worth it!

Song
Prayer
Scripture Study*
Pledge of Allegiance
Article of Faith/Preamble to the Constitution
Family Mission Statement

*currently out of the Book of Mormon scripture readers for young children

The book that started it all . . .

Thanks to a good friend, I was introduced to this book and philosophy almost four years ago. I read it immediately, and knew right away that the principles taught in it were true. The concepts were not at all new to me, but a great way of putting all of what I felt together in one place. I was dying to read more. I finally convinced my friend to let me borrow this book:


I ate this book up! It had so many practical examples of how to apply the teachings found in the first book. I finally bought my own copy because I knew I'd want it to keep referring back to.

I finally added this book, their latest book in this little trio:

I loved it as well, but some of the lessons in it were a little advanced for my very young family, so I read the chapters that applied sooner than later. For those of you tired of the conveyor belt, these books are for YOU!!