Mother's Preschool

We'll I'm finally doing it! We are finally doing a Mommy and Me type preschool, we have invited 2-3 friends and their little ones to join us, so it is making me stick to a schedule!! Which is great! We just finished up week 2, our A week. We are using Moncure books, The Friend magazine, free printable worksheets from Confessions of a slacker mom and letter art ideas from Totally Tots Blog.  You can find all the other little pieces and fun things I'm finding on my pinterest boards just find the letter of the week that you are doing and enjoy!

Have fun and love the time with your little ones!

Becoming A Better Teacher

As I search, study, ponder, and pray upon the topic of teaching my children I come across so many wonderful resources of information.  Each explains and enlightens the subjects of; the calling to be a parent, children's development, and many other wonderful topics to guide the quest to Teach the Children.  Take the time to study, pray, and ponder on these things the Lord then can guide and inspire you.  Elder Holland has said, "To teach effectively and to feel you are succeeding is demanding work indeed.  But it is worth it.  We can receive 'no greater call' ".  ("A Teacher Come from God," Apr. 1998 general conference).

LDS.org has more wonderful resources and inspirational guidance on your path to becoming all you can be as a mother, a father, a teacher, than you will find anywhere else.  Take time to study the doctrine of teaching and of the scriptures, of the Prophets, of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Then you will become all that you can be and all that your children need you to be.  "The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself.  This is because God is the ultimate source of power." ~ Elder James E. Faust, "Acting for Ourselves and Not Being Acted Upon," Oct. 1995 general conference.

In particular there is a whole section of LDS.org that is dedicated to Teaching the Gospel, and "What teaching can compare in priceless value and in far-reaching effect with that which deals with man as he was in the eternity of yesterday, as he is in the mortality of today, and as he will be in the forever of tomorrow." J. Reuben Clark Jr., "Excerpts from The Charted Course of the Church in Education," Ensign, Sept. 2002, 60.  Teaching the Gospel is full of guidance and direction as you learn of the importance of Your Call to Teach; the Principles and Methods of Teaching; Teaching Children, Youth and Adults; and Teaching in the Home.  Each section will inspire and educate as you seek to become a better teacher, mother or father to your children.

Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching: Lesson 1: Teaching Children  

Truly I am amazed, I have heard of this book, and we have it in our personal library collection, but I never knew what a treasure trove of parental guidance lay within it's pages.  A favorite quote from it's pages is;

"Elder M. Russell Ballard said, “Clearly, those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are” (“Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 60). The Savior’s example sets a pattern for us as we teach, care for, and influence children.

It is a sacred responsibility to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ and help them learn to live it. ...... With the Spirit to guide you, you can love and teach children in a Christlike way. You can help each child find the peace promised to those who follow the Savior: “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (3 Nephi 22:13)."

Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching: Lesson 2: Age Characteristics of Children - This is a Wonderful resource for learning child development and growth, it starts at 18 months and goes on to 12 years old.   A very good thing to have as a guide as you plan lessons and activities for your children and to help you understand the way they see and understand things at the stage they are in.  

Pres. David O. McKay stated that "No greater responsibility can rest upon any man [or woman] than to be a teacher of God's children." (Conference Report, Oct. 1916, 57.)   As mothers and fathers we have been given the greatest gift of trust and responsibility.  Let us honor that trust and that love, by becoming the best we can be through earnest study and faith, and by teaching His and our dearest little ones every day in every way.

Tell me the Stories of Jesus

Sunday, and truely everyday is a perfect time to tell our children the stories of Jesus.  There is a wonderful article on LDS.org http://lds.org/pages/tell-me-the-stories-of-jesus?lang=eng, follow the links at the bottom to read through Elder Anderson's talk on "Tell me the Stories of Jesus".  Take time to teach your little ones the stories of Jesus.

Jumping into Spring ~ Starting anew ~ Creating a house of Order!

Hello and Welcome!

Today is the beginning of much! It is Spring and BEAUTIFUL!! The flowers are blooming, the day is warm, and we are beginning a new journey! Your welcome to join us!

The Goal #1 - Become Organized, Set our Home in Order!

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house,

even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning,

a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." D&C 88:119 (emphasis added)

Once Order is put in place (as much as possible) - hopefully by summer's end -

Goal #2 - Compile a LDS Gospel Based Pre-School Curriculum - that can be used by mother's everywhere, within their own homes with their own Children. The plan is to compile 1-2 lessons every week, as we do it here, and post it here on my blog - so anyone can Teach Their Children. It will not be just for Preschool but also for mothers to find an alphabetized list of resources to teach their children at any time; FHE, after-school, Sunday activities, lessons, basically any time you want to teach children a gospel principle there will be an index of great articles and coloring/activity pages to go along.

Okay - back to Goal #1! I'm breaking this down into baby steps! Otherwise I'd become overwhelmed and give it up ~ which has happened before ~ but this time I want to feel accountable to someone, so if you are out there and want to tell someone about how your goals are coming, say Hi in the comments, set your goal, and we'll all work together to attain our goals!

Baby Steps - A few of the ones I'm thinking are needed... more to come I'm sure!

#1 ~ A Schedule/chore chart (kids)

#? ~ A Schedule/chore chart (for Mom!)

#? ~ Menu/meal planning

#? ~ Cleaning

#? ~

On to Baby Step #1!

Learning Fun For Preschoolers

For those who are LDS there is some great information for mothers & families about pre-schooling in the Family Home Evening Resource Book.  Enjoy!

Pre-school musings.... again....

I am constantly trying to assess the best ways to "pre-school" our little boys and I continue to find that I am not in agreement with the ideas that are presented in many preschools and preschool curriculum's.  Children are meant to be children, and from many of my studies, even as an Early-childhood education major in college, I  find more and more evidence that the logic of learning through enjoyable, relaxed, and home-made activities and from the everyday love and guidance of the mother, is the best possible education a child can have!  I keep fretting that I haven't "scheduled" out a perfect preschool for 2 hours twice a week.  But then I see how much enjoyment my boys have in being able to just do things when we are in the right moment.  For example, the other morning they had a ball cutting up construction paper into a million little pieces, there was no pressure to cut perfectly on the lines or peer pressure, but they are learning to use scissors and fine-motor skills and mostly enjoying being a child and exploring the cause and effects in their world.

 As I think back to when I was a child... I was not required to preform and do certain things that put me under pressure to "do it right, or like so-and-so"?  I was allowed the freedom to explore and try new things within the safety and security of a loving home environment.  I think most of us who are mothers now did not experience preschool, as it was not such a widespread and "expected" thing during our childhood.  In fact Pre-school was started as a program for children who were deprived a stable loving environment to learn the basics in, and it has obviously changed into a social "norm".  We may not have had all the experiences, socialization, and crafts in the same manner that can be had now... but I certainly do not regret it!

 I had my mother, she lovingly watched over me, she sang to me, she read to me, she taught me many things through everyday experiences, she gave me the freedom to enjoy my childhood without the structure and pressures of adult life and schooling at too young an age.  That is what I want for my children.  Life has so many pressures and structure and responsibility and time passes all to quickly.  Children are meant to learn joy from their mothers, just as we are meant to have Joy in our children, and we can learn so much from watching and taking time to be with them and love them.  And to experience the joy and satisfaction of seeing their eyes light up when they learn something new for the first time.

 I love Sis. Hinckley's attitude toward having her children at home "(she) loved the sound of the screen door slamming shut as the children ran in from the backyard... Marjorie savored the days she had her five to herself, and she went to great lengths to keep summers unstructured so her young ones would have time to lie in the gully and listen to the birds sing if they wanted to.  She wept each fall when it was time to send her brood back to school; even when school was in session she looked forward to the moment each day when her children burst through the door and started scrounging for an afternoon snack..." Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley pg.52-53  I want to cultivate that feeling into my heart, family, and my children's lives.  THIS is my time to enjoy every minute I can and teach my children through my daily living and love.

    But believe me, I have days that I just needed a break from it all and that life and responsibilities seems so very demanding.  I am not the perfect mother, no one is, but I am working on becoming the best mother I can be, as we all are.  I love the word becoming, to become means: to undergo change or development, and I like the idea that we are all working towards becoming who we and more importantly who our Beloved Father in Heaven wants us to become.  I feel that that means that we don't have to be perfect right now, we all make mistakes, but we can continue to work toward what we can become, and it gives me hope and optimism.  

Some links that have furthered my thoughts on preschool...

Should I send my child to Preschool?
Better Late than Early

Index ~ A is for...

One of my favorite things about our Preschool is that I can integrate Spiritual and other area's of interest into my teaching. 

Spiritual A's:

Aaron - prophet in the Bible & Book of Mormon

Able

Abish

Abinadi

Abraham

Accountability

Act

Adam - "A is for Adam" Walk Beside Me printables

Agency - LDS.org

Alma

Ammon

Anchor

Angels

Apostle - LDS.org

Ark
Articles of Faith - LDS.org

Atonement - LDS.org   The Friend