November Homeschool

Austin

Because Austin turns 8 next September, we started talking about what we could do to prepare him for his baptism. Although it's something that is important to me for him to get baptized and receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost and full membership in the Church of Jesus Christ, I want this to be something that HE wants, that HE is prepared for, that HE chooses for himself. He is excited and we outlined a plan to study 10 different gospel topics with 10 scriptures/stories/study pieces each. 10x10=100, which is perfect for our Math loving boy. He also decided, on his own, that he wants to read the Book of Mormon before he gets baptized. We have a schedule and we haven't missed a day so far. I know that it won't be easy, but I'm really proud of him for his desire to be prepared. He was able to write his own part in the Primary program this year and this is what he said "I would like to read the Book of Mormon before I turn 8 so I can know how to have the Spirit in my heart." 

Lydia

Bought a sewing machine with the money she had been saving and is SO excited about it. Her first project was a pair of fleece pajama pants. For our rotations we decided to make aprons and bonnets with the girls (for cooking and for their own pioneer outfits). They will be double sided and each one will be blue gingham on one side and their own pattern choice on the other. I'm so excited about it! 

Field Trips
Our field trips were heavy into Utah History this month. Instead of detailing each field trip, I thought I'd share a few things about the place or a few things we learned while there. Going on these field trips gives our children the opportunity to EXPERIENCE their education. It's like exploring living history and is making such an impact on them. Though each visit, each adventure, they tuck a piece of knowledge and shared experience into their education that will carry them forward. 

Ensign Peak

Ensign Peak is a prominent hill on the northern edge of the Salt Lake Valley. On July 26, 1847, two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the hill to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build. It also served as an important place for the Native American people that lived there, as they would often use it to scout game or to come to meditate. 



Golden Spike National Historic Site

We learned about the transcontinental railroad and visited the Golden Spike monument. We learned about the changes that happened with the coming of the railroad for the land, the animals, the Native American Tribes, the pioneers, and the settlers that came after. We learned about all the different nationalities that worked so hard to make this truly remarkable feat come to pass and how difficult it was for each railroad team. We learned how there wasn't a single Chinese railroad worker in the famous photograph and how unfair that was and we celebrated the accomplishment of something that would make it possible to connect our country from sea to shining sea. (Remember? History is complex.) 

As a #familyhistory side note: My Great-great-great Grandfather, Richard Todd Brown is in the historic "meeting of the rails" Golden Spike photograph. He was a cook for the Union Pacific Rail Line. He's on the left side raising his hat. We also learned that Brigham Young strongly supported the rail line because of the benefits it would bring to the saints and he even stopped construction on the temple to send workers to help aid the railroad. That knowledge that came from working on the railroad allowed them to come back and build their own railroad track from the granite quarry directly to the Salt Lake Temple. What previously took three entire days to get a load hauled down the mountain to the quarry now took less than 3 hours. 

"The last rail is laid, the spike is driven, the pacific railroad is completed" here at Promontory, Utah, at 12:47 p.m. on May 10, 1869. The driving of a Golden Spike completed the first transcontinental railroad, climax of a dramatic railroad building race between the Union Pacific building from the East and the Central Pacific building from the West. This event symbolized attainment of a long sought goal - a direct transportation route to the pacific ocean and the China trade and it achieved the great political objective of binding together by iron bonds the extremities of continental United States. A rail link from ocean to ocean. 

As a side trip to our Golden Spike Adventure, we went out to the Spiral Jetty and let the kids run and play. The water is so low you couldn't even see the edge of the lake (we are in the middle of a horrible drought year), but there were enough puddles to make this a child-adventure dream come true for the kids.  

It's so lucky when your sister is your best friend and she homeschooles her kids, too, so you can go on homeschooling adventures together. 

Glass Works - Dale Chihuly Art Study & Holdman Studios
Apparently I didn't take a single picture of this, but for our rotation we took a week and did an Art Study of Dale Chihuly. He's an amazing glass-artist. We learned about him and did several hands on art projects simulating his artwork. Then we were able to tour our local glassworks Holdman Studios. The kids got to see them making stained glass, watch a professional making glass blown Christmas ornaments, and learn about glass as art. Then the big girls went back for a fused glass workshop. 




SLC - Beehive House & Dale Chihuly
We went on a tour to the Beehive house. It was the official residence of three Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith. Brigham Young was also governor of the Utah Territory, and the Beehive House was also used to receive and entertain visitors to the territory. The Beehive House was constructed in 1854. It gets its name from the beehive sculpture that adorns the top of the mansion—a Churchwide symbol of cooperation, industry, and hard work. The kids asked approximately 100 questions throughout the tour so I can't put all the neat things that we learned here - but one of my favorite parts was at the end when we asked our tour guide if she could answer our third "big question", What did the pioneers build? (meaning, what legacy did they leave through their work and efforts?) She spoke beautifully about making the desert "blossom as the rose" and how important it was for Brigham Young for the Saints to have all the advantages possible to them here, even though it was so far away from what any of them had ever known. These early settlers worked hard to find plants that would grow, to create a community that could thrive, and to be worthy of building Zion in this land. 


After the Beehive House we went to see the Dale Chihuly statue at Abravanel Hall, and as hard as I tried, I could never connect with anyone who would be able to let us inside the building. Luckily we could see the statue from the outside, and even though it's not the same, it was still a neat conclusion to our art study. Plus the kids loved riding the trax train, so it was worth it for that alone. 


The Sorcerers Apprentice Youth Production @ Hale
This darling rendition of the Sorcerers Apprentice ended up being my all time favorite Youth Production that we've ever been to and is pretty high up there for my favorite play I've seen at the Hale. It had fun music, great acting, and a beautiful message about working hard. Afterwards they opened up a panel for questions from the kids and it was fun hearing about why they like acting and learning about how they do some of the stage magic. 

Fillmore - Territorial Statehouse

On September 8, 1851 Governor Brigham Young placed his cane on the NE corner of the block and designated this geographically centered location as Utah's capital. The large open space, water and building materials were favorable for settlement. In a political move, the Governor named the town Fillmore and the county Millard after the current president, Millard Fillmore. This building was originally built to serve as Utah's state capitol, but only the south wing was ever completed because it was not central to the population living in the territory and with the coming of the transcontinental railroad, Salt Lake was determined to be a better State Capitol. The existing portion was finished in time for the December 1855 meeting of the Territorial Legislature, which was the only full session held in the old statehouse. In December 1858, the seat of government was moved to Salt Lake City. This is Utah's oldest existing governmental building.

 

We LOVED this field trip. Fillmore is pretty far away and we ended up swapping it out on our field trip calendar for a different field trip. But in the end, the weather was beautiful so we decided to squeeze it in as a mid-week field trip. The Young family joined us and we spent almost 5 hours at the museum exploring and learning. We were able to arrange for a tour and although it was requested last minute we received a top-notch historical narration throughout the statehouse. The head curator of the museum took time out of his day to take us on a tour and teach us a tiny piece of what he knows (which is a lot!) Woody's enthusiasm made such an impact on our kids that they are still talking about the Utah War and Utah Statehood a full week later. We loved the scavenger hunt at the end looking for carvings on the exterior of the building. We came away with smashed pennies (our favorite souvenir) to remind us of the role that Fillmore played in Utah State History!

We are looking forward to celebrating Statehood Day on January 6th! 

Logan (Pioneer) Day!

This year for Pioneer Day we wanted to do something more than just hang around the house and have a BBQ. I was feeling particularly inspired after having a special Primary Sharing Time lesson where I invited eight kids (four in each primary) to dress up and share a pioneer story of their ancestors. It was faith filled and inspiring. I wanted us to do something more pioneer-focused and special. I noticed that Logan was having their Pioneer Day Celebration. We always try to take a "Logan Day" during the summer so we thought that it would be perfect to go to a Pioneer town, which also happens to be our favorite town in Utah! Unfortunately "Pioneer Days" didn't have much to do with the pioneers at all. I feel sad that people feel so pressured to not "push our religion" on other people that we can't even mention the Pioneers on the day that the State has set aside to celebrate them. It just seems like even if you aren't LDS, and even if you don't talk about their faith or love for the Lord, there are still so many lessons and good things that can come from celebrating their sacrifices and learning about their lives and what it was like for them to settle in Utah. It's sad to me. I think in the future we will be better at planning and try to do some of the "Days of 47 stuff". There was literally no mention of the pioneers (mormon or not) in the entire celebration (parade, activities, everything) other than a privately funded and unmarked section of the parade with people pulling handcarts (no sign or anything, but I found out later it's just a family who enters their handcarts in the parade every year). 

Setting my disappointment aside, though, we had a great day in Logan. It was nice to just detach from everything and focus solely on being together. Plus, it was nice to have the parade and activities to do, because sometimes it's hard to go to Logan with our kids because there isn't much for us to do with them there. It worked out nicely. 

Eating lunch at our grassy and shady parade spot.

Eating ice cream (using coupons that were handed out at the parade). 

Giving the kids a tour of all our old apartments/stomping grounds. Our first married apartment at 464 N 500 E, Old Farm (David) and Pineview (Shantel). 

"Pioneer Playground" (not) The kids made safari hats and vests. They also had hair spray paint and kids temporary tattoos, but we didn't do those. (But seriously, what does any of that have to do with the pioneers. It was no pioneer playground. But, letting go of that -the kids had fun with their Safari hats.)

The kids convinced us to let them go on the bounce houses. Always a hit.

We love this temple!

Can't go to Logan without going to 1st Dam. We ate lunch, tried really hard to fly our kite in the gentle breeze, and enjoyed wading in the water. (I'll be honest, the water was so cold I basically only stayed in to get a picture - but the kids enjoyed it.) 

All in all a nice day spent in Logan. We love it up there. But to satisfy my Pioneer Day celebration needs, here are a couple of quotes I've been thinking about:

"We must be sure that the legacy of faith received from the pioneers who came before us is never lost. Let their heroic lives touch our hearts, and especially the hearts of our youth, so the fire of true testimony and unwavering love for the Lord and His Church will blaze brightly within each one of us as it did our faithful pioneers." - M. Russell Ballard

"Pioneer faith is needed as much in the world today as in any period of time." L. Tom Perry

"The Lord isn't asking us to load up a handcart, He's asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent. He's asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn't asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple. He's asking us to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn't asking us to die a martyr's death, He's asking us to live a disciple's life." M. Russell Ballard 

I love these thoughts and hope that my legacy can be one of faith and love, just as these mighty men and women who came before.