https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIPK4-xl0QY&feature=push-u&attr_tag=S7gyn3F_cCj6MgvX-6

A beautiful, peaceful, inspiring moment in the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utLvZQbhOeI

Above is a youtube presentation given by Marlene Petersen at a Simple Joy Conference in May 2017.  It is about an hour.  You can fast forward the introduction (5 minutes) and then I invite you to watch and listen "with your heart."  You could break up the presentation into segments because I know you all have very busy lives and to take an hour for yourself might not be physically possible.  It will be well worth your time though, however you manage to watch and listen. 

Some quotes and thoughts from her presentation.  God's purpose in education is to prepare children to live lives of joy.  "Man is that he might have joy."  God is not "reasoned."  He is "felt."  A soft, warm heart is the only way to feel God."  "Only the warm heart can kindle warmth in another." Mothers (women) fill our own hearts with things of goodness and beauty that reach and warm and open our own hearts until it naturally starts to spill out to bless our children and others. 

First story shared in the presentation is the Snow Queen and the last story shared is The Flax and both are written by Hans Christian Anderson.  

There are 211 Fairy Tales in "The Complete Fairy Tales" by Hans Christian Anderson.  Whew!!!  And his Fairy Tales were not grim but  rather reflected truth and many have Christian themes besides social themes.

Learning

https://www.icloud.com/keynote/0Rhtb9Er-eg2D6DSBsKEs9DBQ#RS_-_Learning

Today I taught the Relief Society lesson entitled "Continue in the Great Process of Learning."  I am grateful that I was able to study and ponder and teach this lesson.  In doing so, I learned so much! First and foremost I was reminded how important learning is and how our Savior and the Church feel about learning.  I turned to outside sources to clarify some things in the lesson and discovered a great message given by President Kimball in the Sept. 1983 Ensign entitled, "Seek Learning, even by Study and also by Faith."  I highly recommend it.  In the process I learned how to be more proficient using Keynote - Apple's version of a power point presentation.  It was fun!  Learning can be many things and fun is one of them!  If you have an Apple computer or laptop I invite you to open the link at the top and you will be able to see the fruits of my learning labor on Keynote - I hope!  😍


We just returned by Tulsa and I have to share just a few pictures of the Cardon classroom.  It is amazing and Tiffany is doing an incredible job of teaching!  

Things I wish I had taken a picture of is the hidden entrance behind a book case, the stars shining in the window, with the theme for the year (by small and simple things are great things brought to pass) and the name and grade of each the student, and the chockie, oh yes, there is a chockie.  Tiffany, you have created a great learning environment!  

Tiffany shared this site today and I have already checked it out!  It is awesome.  I love their philosophy and their books!

http://bfbooks.com/Info-FAQ/Get-Started

They also have a blog: http://bfbooksblog.blogspot.com/

A facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=beautiful%20feet%20books

And a pinterist page: https://www.pinterest.com/bfbookspin/

So many books and so little time - aaaggghhh, but we can select and choose those books that will benefit those little and big ones around us even if we aren't home schooling.  Enjoy!

Oh, my goodness!  Where do the months go???  So sorry that it has been sooooo long since I posted but I came across something that I wanted to share today.  It is a site that has "13 Children's Books that Encourage Kindness Towards Others."  Quote from the site:  Kindness is one of the most important character traits, but sometimes kids need an extra reminder about the best ways to be kind to others or why kindness matters. These books provide that reminder in creative and appealing ways. Happy reading!"


https://www.buzzfeed.com/emeynardie/13-childrens-books-that-encourage-kindness-toward-26paw?utm_term=.qg58a2ZL47#.xq5Xd

The site gives a brief explanation of each book and why the principle being taught is important.  Below is an example.

What It’s About: This book introduces an idea that everyone has an “invisible bucket.” These buckets are used to hold your good thoughts and feelings about yourself. When you do something kind, you help fill someone else’s bucket.

Why It’s Important: This provides kids with a visual representation of the importance of kindness. It focuses on social interactions and how our actions positively or negatively affect other people. This book would be especially beneficial as kids begin to develop empathy towards others.

Just have to share this great idea.  Matthew Whoolery, a professor at BYUI was a guest columnist in last week’s newspaper and he wrote about “The Lost Art of Good Manners.” It was a great article outlining the advantages of good manners, but the part I want to share is what he and his wife did to help their children learn social manners.  Every FHE they had a short lesson on an aspect of Good Manners.  He stated, “As we went through these lessons, we had one of the children write out a list of the main points for that particular rule of civility.  They enjoyed being in charge of making the summary paper, and we hung it up on the wall for the week and talked about it at dinners during the week.  It gave us a set of ideas and vocabulary for discussing these issues in their lives at school and with friends.”  They used a book by Professor Forni, Johns Hopkins University, called, “Choosing Civility:  The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct.”  This book addresses the actions and attitudes of good manners, such as listening, thinking the best of others, caring for guests, and speaking kindly."

I have taught a few etiquette classes in the past and here are some of the books I used in those classes:

Dude, That’s Rude! by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick  - a great little book for kids that teaches manners in a fun way

Emily’s Everyday Manners by Peggy Post (Emily Post’s great granddaughter-in-law) and Cindy Post Stenning  (Peggy’s sister-in-law) – another one that is good for young children  

Excuse Me, But I Was Next – How to handle the top 100 Manners Dilemmas – Peggy Post – this one is for all of us!! 

Seeds and Time to Sow

Wow!  It has been way too long since I posted.   It feels good to be back in this particular groove.


This month's theme was nature and Janene sent some pictures of the seeds that the younger children found growing around in their yard.

So cool all the different kinds of seeds found just around the yard.  And what a fun activity to search them out.

A couple of thoughts on "seeds" 

• Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson
• You're frustrated because you keep waiting for the blooming of flowers of which you have yet to sow the seeds. - Steve Maraboli
• Any fool can count the seeds in an apple, only God can count all the apples in one seed.

Learn about Johnny Appleseed - 

http://bestapples.com/resources-teachers-corner/johnny-appleseed/

If the weather is permitting, take a walk around your neighborhood and look for seeds.  If you find some please send me the pictures and I will post them on the blog.

And I must add a quote from Raising An Original - 

We’ll need to show our originals the beauty of boredom and the possibilities of unstructured time. Some of our most creative moments, some of our biggest adventures and most boisterous laughs, have arrived courtesy of a clear day on the calendar— a day when we could have pacified the boredom with another movie, another errand, another chore. Instead, we got comfortable with the comma, the pause in the paragraph of our life narrative. Not every space on the calendar needs to be filled in.   Carr, Julie Lyles (2016-09-13). Raising an Original: Parenting Each Child According to their Unique God-Given Temperament (p. 188). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.