Introduction to Public Speaking Review

Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) has recently released a new course: Introduction to Public Speaking (IPS). This was a course I was interested in from the first day it was announced.

Why was I so interested in a public speaking course? I have many reasons, but my biggest reason is that we are nervous presenters! I don't like public speaking, even if I'm just saying a few sentences. Assign me a talk or speech and my brain shuts down. I can write a wonderful essay, thanks to IEW. But have me present it and my heart rate soars, I shake nervously, my words wander, and I repeat myself unless I can read what I've prepared. My family members also demonstrate various similarities. We attend a church where the members are asked to speak during the meeting. Youth may be asked once a year, and adults are less often. It's nice to be comfortable and prepared and not present a boring reading when it's our turn!

How We Homeschool: Yawn (Blogging Through the Alphabet)

Yawn... that's how I felt all day today! We stayed up late on Independence Day and we were all tired this afternoon. This is also how I feel every morning during the school year. I am not a morning person!

Even though I don't do mornings well, my children do. We have always been huge respecters of bedtime. When our oldest was a toddler, our teacher friends put their son (who was the same age as our daughter) to bed at 6 p.m. It was necessary for their schedule, and worked for their family. Once my husband's work schedule changed we started putting kids to bed at 6:30 p.m. It was amazing, Mom and Dad had time together, mom got more done after the kids were in bed, and the kids were always well rested and (mostly) happy. There was that difficult time when they started to outgrow naps. We've adjusted as they got older, they stay up after 6:30 p.m. for various, individually appropriate times to read, study scriptures, journal, or work quietly (teens only).

Forbrain Review: For Speech, Language, Attention, and more!

I cannot express how excited I was at the opportunity to review Forbrain.  This device, which was sent to us by Forbrain - Sound For Life Ltd, uses bone conduction to assist in auditory processing.  The list of things it helps with is just amazing.  Read on!

Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization - A Review

If you have read my blog for even just a little while, you probably know how much we LOVE memorization.  I can't even describe how excited we were to review Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization, which was recently updated by Institute for Excellence in Writing.  They also sent us one Student Book.  We were trying to decide what poetry to add to our daily memorization when we were offered this set to review.  What perfect timing!

How We Memorize

Shortly before we began homeschooling all our children, I was inspired to add memorization to our day. A thought came into my mind about my grandmother's house and the artwork on her walls. I remember many things that hung throughout the house, and many of the words found there are etched on my brain. I realized that though I had learned those words as a young child, they still stuck with me as an adult. In fact, they would come to my tongue at interesting times. In the kitchen hung...

Too many cooks may spoil the broth in some kitchens, but not mine. I like help.

20th Anniversary of The Family Proclamation

I bet some people are confused by that title!  We will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary in just a few days.  But the 20th anniversary I'm referring to is for The Family: A Proclamation to the World!  At the General Relief Society meeting held September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced this proclamation to the world and church.

Remember last year, when my children memorized The Living Christ?  They kept asking me if they could memorize the family proclamation next.  I resisted, and we kept working on scripture mastery.  Then sometime this past spring I realized this year was the 20th anniversary, so I couldn't say no any longer!  I don't remember when we started, but the children had a goal and they made it!  We started from the end this time and it was harder as we went along, but I am much happier with learning it backwards.  We have a couple of spots in the beginning that we are still trying to straighten out in our minds, as is to be expected when memorizing something this long!  The language in the proclamation is more difficult than what was in The Living Christ.  The kids can still say The Living Christ, and it's easier than ever for them now.  So here they are, 9 months older but just as awesome as ever!  Oh, and half of them are in pajamas... so that's clear ;)

(I'm not sure why YouTube says this can't be viewed in Restricted mode.. I promise it's safe to unlock for this video!)

We're excited that it's almost time for General Conference again!  You can watch it too, here is the schedule and viewing options.  #ShareGoodness

Merry Christmas!

For a long time I have wanted to incorporate memorization into our day.  I still remember poems and sayings that hung on the wall in my grandmother's house.  We started by memorizing scriptures (Scripture Mastery), and finishing up the Articles of Faith for my 3rd child.  Then I had the inspiration to do this.

I wish I wrote down the date that we started, we think it was 8-10 months ago.  I wondered if we could do it, this is a lot to ask kids to remember!  We realized we'd have it complete by Thanksgiving, and as we began the last two paragraphs, the kids would sit in sacrament meeting working on a line or two.  They are amazing, they want to do The Family  Proclamation next.

As our contribution to the #sharethegift invitation this Christmas, we present The Living Christ.

Merry Christmas!  May we all grow closer to our Savior as we remember him and as we share the love with those around us.