We sat at the feet of Giants

I have homeschooled my children for about 9 years now.  I will always remember the day that my Dad called me with some information on a "new" method of homeschooling that I might be interested in.  It changed my life.

I had not previously considered homeschooling, in fact, I had visions of cute backpacks, and lunchboxes, and artwork on my refrigerator.  But the reality was, and still is, that I have a few issues with the public school system.  But that's a completely different subject.

This last week, we attended the first Woodsmoke Gathering in Tetonia, ID.  First of all, what a great location.  We literally "sat at the feet of giants" all week, with a great view of the Grand Teton Mountains.  One could feel the history, and the awe of being in the presence of such greatness.

But the giants to which I referred in the title of this post are of a more figurative variety.  They are the same sort of edifice as the Teton's, but you do not stand in awe unless you know more than that which meets the eye.

This Woodsmoke Gathering was a "re-encampent" in the old style.  Think Mountain Men and Trappers.  Think Colonial times and great explorers.  Think wide open spaces and fresh air, good food and great company.  We had all of those things, just as the original campers did.

Our family has attended several primitive skills gatherings, but this was the first of this specific kind, a brainchild of Dave Wescott and Steve Watts, two of the "giants" who see the value of this work.  The purpose was somewhat similar to the other gatherings we've attended, and that was to educate and experience.  Many skills were shared and each of the students got into it, up to their elbows.  I will be forever grateful to those mentors who showed up to share.  I saw the light in my children's eyes as they learned and discovered and gained confidence in themselves.  What an amazing event, to give us so much in one week.

The method I use for homeschooling is the Leadership education model, or A Thomas Jefferson Education.  (I have somewhat fallen off and jumped back on the "conveyor belt" model through the years. My most recent fall was a week before we left for this gathering.  What clarity this event gave me, as to the realities of what my children need/want.)

I know that this blog entry will be quite lengthy.  I want to get it all down before it slips my mind.  I don't know if anyone reads it anyway...I kind of hope not :)  I am just now getting to the meat of what's been bouncing around in my head.  Buckle up.

In TJEd, as given by Dr. Oliver DeMille, there are 8 keys of great teaching and 5 phases of learning.  For the first time in my life, I viewed this in a very real sense, and in 3 dimensions, and in living color.  As this truth came to light for me, I wandered about in awe.  I would quietly observe, hopefully looking entranced by the knowledge being shared, but really, I was making connections in my mind.  These connections are a long, long time in the making.  I have been puzzling about this for these last 9 years!!!

The phases of learning are these:

1. Core phase - in which a student builds their core foundation.  Right and Wrong, good and bad, true and false are learned.  The "giants" of our last week each found core phase in the outdoors.  Something grabbed their attention, whether it was a children's book about Daniel Boone or some sort of artifact landing in their little paw.
2. Love of Learning Phase - in which a child begins to experience the exhilaration of expanding ones horizons.  The "giants" each had encounters with great writers, they each quoted Kephart, Nessmuk, Holding, and.ironically, each others books.  It is evident that in their young years, they each dove in with both feet, heart and soul to learn about primitive skills, and all that goes along with it.
3. Scholar Phase - in which a student becomes a scholar.  This phase holds thousands of hours of voluntary study.  A student begins to realize their passion or mission in life.  Many of the "giants" could quote straight out of their favorite books, stating what was important to them, and why.  Each has a passion.  Each knows a great deal.
4. Depth Phase - in which one explores one subject in great depth, to their heart's content (this can take years) before moving on to another subject with the same goal in mind. By comparison, Love of Learning is more about breadth; learning a lot about a lot of subjects. Each of the "giants" was an expert at something, most of them about many things! This man could teach fire, that one knots, another could teach everything there is to know about wild edibles, and so on. This phase is about gaining expertise, it seems.
5. Mission Phase - in which a person begins to apply all of their knowledge and wisdom, and share it freely with those who are ready.  This phase is almost extinct by the "conveyor belt" model, because most people of proper mission phase age are thinking only of retirement, and a house on the beach.  What a waste of valuable resources!  That is what our society would have us do.  Each of the "giants" was old enough to retire and take to the recliner, but instead camped out with us, sleeping on cots and roughing it in the name of passing on all that they have.

Something else that I noted was a commonality of purpose.  Each of these men saw the value of what they were learning, as a means of helping people to find themselves.  They saw an opportunity to liberate the captive, to teach people of their inherent value through the use of God's creations.  And they have done this NOT at the risk of their own families.  That is the second part of the common thread I noticed:  they each chose family first.

Quickly, the 8 keys of great teaching are:
1. Classics, not Textbooks
2. Mentors, not professors
3. Inspire, not require
4. Structure time, not content
5. Quality, not conformity
6. Simplicity, not complexity
7. You, not them
8. Secure, not stressed

The next generation.....

I could go on an on about how each of these was present, but by now your bum is numb, your eyes are blurring, and you have probably quite given up reading my nonsense.  I almost can't restrain myself for all of the excitement I feel at having been exposed to truth, to greatness, to true mentors!  This is what it's all about!  This is education!  Finally, after years of looking and wondering what was meant by these phases and keys, I understand.  The clouds have parted, and I can see.

The final word:  if everyone could be exposed to true mentors in a field in which they are deeply interested, this world would be a different place all together.  We witnessed mentors/mentees to the third generation.  Olsen mentored Wescott who mentored so many through his educating career.  Kochanski mentored Smith who, likewise, has made a career of passing it on.  The originals of this generation, the classics, the great ones were there.  They are fulfilling their purpose on this earth.

And we sat at their feet for a week.

"The Giants" - Goring, Wescott, Holladay, Olsen, Kochanski, Watts and Smith

Share Your Girls Camp experiences!

So I find myself with so many great ideas for girls camp that I am stumped.  It's a common paradox of life for me :)

So I thought I would take a poll and ask YOU about your girls camp memories.  I am not about reinventing the wheel, since it's been perfected many times over by great leaders everywhere!  Girls camp is such a fun experience for most girls (ok, honestly, as a girl, I did NOT have any fun at Girls Camp, but that's another story, and I'll be nice.)

Here are my questions, please reply on this blog, or by email if it's easier.  I really look forward to hearing your answers, because I know it will help me know what works and what doesn't.

1.  What is the most important/memorable thing you ever learned at Girls Camp?
2.  What traditions did your ward/stake have for Girls Camp?
3.  Was there anything you remember that wasn't enjoyable about Girls Camp?  What was it and why was it not fun?
4.  What is the most important thing that you think youth today need to be reminded of?  (This can be a principle, a YW value, etc.)  How would YOU teach it at Girls Camp?
5.  Was there ever a Girls Camp Devotional or activity that really hit home for you?  Please describe it.
6.  What could have made Girls Camp more powerful for you, if anything?
7.  What are some of the things you STILL remember and use all the time from girls camp?
8.  What was your favorite craft?

Oooh, I'm really excited to read your replies.  I feel so strongly that Girls Camp is one of the most important events of a Young Woman's life, and I want to be sure to make ours awesome this year (and next...and the one after that...then maybe they'll be sick of me.)

Thanks for your help! 

Movies that teach values

Every summer, LDS girls from age 12-17 have a summer camp.  We call it Girls Camp, and it is the best event of the year when you are that age.  It's a rite of passage.  It's a time to bond with your peers and your leaders.  It is time to be away from the world.  I did not so much enjoy my years of Girls Camp, but that's another story.  As a leader, I believe in it wholeheartedly as a means of sharing testimony and the spirit with the young women.

I was recently chosen as the Camp Director for my Stake (which consists of 7 Wards from 2 small towns.)

I am so excited, and I feel like I am pulling things together for it.  There's a lot left to do, but we are getting this elephant ATE!

As soon as I received the call to do this job, I became overwhelmed by it's hugeness.  I am in charge of arranging for speakers & activities and creatively sneaking in spiritual experiences.  I know I can do it and am looking forward to the challenge. 

The purposes of camp in general are to help young women to come unto Christ by:

• Confirming their identity as daughters of God
• Recognizing and cultivating the Spirit.
• Keeping baptismal covenants.
• Preparing for the future roles.

(Taken from a Camp handbook put out by the church)

So, my mind has been racing about, seeking great ideas and inspiration.  I have had my theme for some time now:

It is from the movie UP, combined with a talk from General Conference a few months ago. 

I ended up with this theme because the theme for the church worldwide is Arise and Shine Forth.  I think UP is a great theme for this!  And watching the movie, I see so many great applications. 

Up is one of my favorite movies.  I absolutely love it, and was so touched by the many lessons I saw when I watched it the first time.  Here are just a few:

1. I love Ellie's attitude.  "Adventure is out there!"  Isn't it true?  Life is the greatest adventure of all.  I am going to tie in different adventures, such as a temple marriage, motherhood, etc.
2. The world built up all around Carl's home, and he didn't want to sell or to give in to the developers (the world), so he lifted himself above the world, and set off to find Paradise.  (Paradise Falls that is...)
3. Carl and Ellie were dedicated to each other.  Their relationship was loving and selfless, which is so rarely portrayed in movies these days.

I am really excited.  I feel like we have good material for devotionals here.

So we are going to decorate with lots of balloons, and fun things that go UP.

So, here is where we get to the Movies that teach values issue.
I have been worried about how to do the Skits that are a tradition at every girls camp.  The camp director before me had so many fun ideas, I feel like she used them all up :)  Last year, she had them draw a plot (based on traditional fairy tales), a setting (such as a farm, a hospital, etc.) and a movie genre from hats, and she gave each ward a skit bag with props to use in their skit.  So they were kind of impromptu and fun.  How could I top such a thing?

Well, tonight I came up with a good plan I think.
Here's what we'll do:

Each ward will be assigned a Young Women's Value (There are 8 values that the girls recite each week in church.  They are great values that we each should be striving to live.)

Each value has a corresponding scripture and value color.  The wards will be identified by their value color throughout the weeklong camp.  For the skit, they will be assigned a fun childrens movie that (hopefully) will correspond with their value.  They will use one of their midweek activities to watch this movie and then have the girls analyze it to see how their value was shown in the movie.  Then they will create a Mormon Message using that information.  (If you don't know what a Mormon Message is, or if you haven't seen one in a while, take a moment to watch one here:  Mormon Messages .  They are awesome!

So, here is my list so far.  It is in the idea stage, and may be changed.  I will probably watch each movie over to make sure it is safe to recommend for a church activity.  (i.e. would I watch them if the Bishop was in the room?)

Faith - A Bug's Life (because the ants had to have faith in Flik in order to be saved from Hopper.)
Divine Nature - Tangled (because Rapunzel finds out who she truly is...her "divine nature")
Individual Worth - Horton Hears a Who (Because a Person's a Person, no matter how small!)
Knowledge - Enchanted (I am not sure about this one.  I was thinking Enchanted because she makes the house all clean and redecorates and makes herself a dress using knowledge she must have gained somewhere....is it too much of a stretch?)
Choice and Accountability - (because Cuzko makes choices and has consequences)
Good Works - I am thinking Incredibles (because the Incredibles favorite thing is to serve others.  I wish there was one a little better....suggestions?)
Integrity - Cars (because Lightning learns the importance of being a good person...er...um...car)
Virtue - Cinderella (because Cinderella is such a good person!  Her price is far above rubies....)

So, what do you think?  That's what I did today.  I guess I could have done some other things, buuuuttt I didn't.  :)

I think I spent most of my day laughing

You know it's a good day when you are giggling and joyful. 

We all have that Christmas Cheer coming on. 

My girly was happily making a giant construction paper Christmas Tree on the side of the fridge today, and decorating it with Construction paper ornaments.  She was so happy.  In fact, I began to notice that as she bounced from the dining room table to the fridge, she was clucking like a chicken!  I am not sure if that is a sign of joy or not but it seemed like happiness from where I stood.  I told her if the ornaments started looking like eggs, I would know we were in trouble.

Shorty-pants' first words to me this morning were:  Mom, you know what I was thinking?  It's good that if Obi Wan dies, they can just make an Obi-Two.  I can't tell you how relieved I was at this discovery.  I hated to point out to him that Obi Wan DID die...and no Obi Two seems forthcoming.  You know...that's just how it goes with intergalactic incarnations.

As for my Big guy, lately, whenever he walks in the door after even a short absence, he calls out, "Hey Mom!  The most important one of your life is here!"  or "Your Favorite Son is back!!!"  It makes me just giggle!  He is so cute when he's all 14 and stuff.

Being a mom is a great adventure.  And is most definitely amusing.

Just Beautiful

I am really excited to share some of my notes from Time Out for Women.  I feel so blessed to have been in SLC for this event.  It seems contradictory, but I felt both invisible and 100% a part of the crowd.

I have just begun to notice this.  I will explain. 

I felt invisible because I was just one out of 5,000 women.  My story was similar to the other womens stories, I was not more beautiful or smarter or richer or anything-er than anyone else.  I did not stick out in any way.  I tend not to.  I prefer not to :)  (In fact, I prefer to avoid crowds at all cost)

But in a crowd, how can you feel invisible while belonging?  When the mass of humans surrounding you hold similar beliefs, when you can turn to a perfect stranger and find that you have much in common, when you see in another's eyes a shared recognition of truth,  you know you belong.  When a speaker asks everyone to stand and recite the Young Women's theme, and you are surrounded by 5,000 instant sisters, you know you belong.  When you share a love for something you belong.

I know that for most women of faith, this is not news.  Most women of faith were raised in that faith, and have known little else.  I envy that.  But I know that my Maker knows that wouldn't work for me, so He patiently watched as I made choices that would swing me wide of the ultimate goal, knowing that I would ultimately stick close to His plan.

I love to belong with sisters in faith.  I love to feel that feeling of belonging!  I love to laugh and cry and learn anonymously-belonging in a congregation of my peers.

So the theme for Time out for Women was Choose to Become.  I love that.  I love that they are encouraging women to Choose.  And to Become.  Women, for several generations, have chosen other paths, I believe.  To our detriment.  It is up to us to Become what we have been prepared to be. 

Well, the 5K of us were surprised by a last minute speaker.  One speaker had to cancel, and the organizers of the event scrambled to find someone worthy to replace her.  The speaker who filled in last minute was one who I have admired very much for over a year now.  (How can I fail to see the divine hand in that?)  When her name was announced, there was an audible shuffling as 5,000 women dug in their newly acquired Time Out for Women totes for a tissue.  We were instantly overcome by gratitude, and by the spirit.  We knew we would have the opportunity to feast on truth from one of God's elect daughters.

And we did.

You might have heard of Stephanie Nielson.  Here is her sweet blog:  http://nieniedialogues.com/

Her story has much tragedy, pain, suffering, sorrow, and so many, many lessons.  I encourage you to read the story of her plane accident if you are not familiar with it.  But I won't take time here to expound on it much.   She did tell us some details I had not heard before, about what her inner voices were saying as she realized she had a choice to live or die that day that the plane went down.  She counts her accident as divine because of her relationship with Heavenly Father.  After so much physical and emotional pain, that says volumes.

Here are the principles she wanted us to learn:

1)  It is up to you to decide how your story ends.  Remember who you are.  Choose Happiness over despair.  When you are having a rough day, remember what it feels like to be happy so you can seek it.

2)  Choose to remember your divine potential.  Remember who you are.  (That seems to be an important message, eh?)  She said that after her accident, it took her 5 months to be brave enough to look in a mirror.  When she finally did, it was very difficult to realize that what she saw was herself.  She said that the only thing she could recognize was her eyes, and she saw God there.  Truly the eyes are the window to the soul, and when you look into people's eyes, you can know their story.

3) Choose to be happy. 
It's o.k. to love yourself because then you have more to give.                                                   
                    You've earned your scars. 
                                               Everyone has pain and sorrow - so it doesn't do any good to compare.
                     You can overcome anything.
Heavenly Father knows us and loves us, and He has a plan for us.

4)  Choose now to make the relationships with those you love better.
                      In order to deal with hard times, it helps to have the knowledge that all is well with your loved ones and your testimony of the Savior.
           Don't waste time on guilt, insecurity, appearance, etc.  It takes unnecessary energy.

She said "It's an honor to be a mother.  I get to be the one to teach my children about the Plan of Salvation and about our Savior."  That is profound.  How often do we pause and truly think of our calling as a mother?  And yet...how important is our calling?  Another speaker, Sheri Dew, said "No one has more influence than a mother and a wife." And she counselled that when you are asked what you "do" your reply should be "I'm nurturing (x amount) of children along the path to exaltation.  How about you?"  So many mothers see motherhood as a burden, a chore. 

Stephanie now see's it as a privilege, as truly it is. 

Her suggestion to renew this view was to think about the small and simple things you do every day, like pack a lunch, braid your little girls hair, write a letter to someone you care about.  What if you couldn't ever do them again?  Believe that it is an honor to do those menial tasks.

Stephanie reminded us of the theme, Choose to Become and said that she wondered what she was supposed to become.  Then she realized that since her accident, she has been choosing to be......

herself.

"Because whatever Me is  -  is good enough." 

God thinks so.

So do I.

I am so grateful to Stephanie for having the courage to share the testimony that she has gained through this experience.



I love Thanksgiving week!

We have the opportunity to be with my family this year for Turkey day.  I am so excited to have my whole family together.  I mean, it shouldn't be asking much since i only have one brother...but it's a miracle that it worked out.  Thanks to my brother's Mother in Law, we will have a reunion.

My parents once told me a story about myself when I was  a toddler.  (Don't you love those little insights?)  We were walking along together, my mom holding one hand, my dad the other.  I was their only child at the time, and they were very young.  I was pretty small, and I brought their two hands together to touch in front of me.  I always think of that story, because it seems like that is just an instinct I have.  I want to bring people together.  I want everyone to get along and just love each other.

So, although I am not the one who brought us all together this time, I am certainly going to celebrate the fact that we will be.  I love my family so much.  I absolutely adore my little brother and am so proud of him for the man he is.  He is a wonderful provider and works hard to provide for his family.  He is cheerful and adorable and I think he's great.

I am sure we will have fun quoting movies, eating ourselves silly, and scratching belly.
I am so thankful for another Thanksgiving where we are free to celebrate and enjoy each other.

What are your plans?

Time out for...me

After the storm of pulling the girly out of public school, we decided that some relationship rescue may be necessary. Before the decision was even made, I had signed us up for this event...hoping that it could help.  I hoped it would be an answer to prayer.  And it was.  I am so thankful to have been at Time out for Women, hosted by Deseret book, with my daughter. 

I am so tired right now that I can certainly not do it any justice, but I just wanted to pour out my gratitude for this great event.  Wahooo!  As my Baptist friends used to say, "God is good!"

I will post my notes and personal insights on here soon.  I decided to change the name from Mad Madam Min to Daily Celebrations because I felt like it was more fitting to the task at hand.  Each day is, and should be a celebration.  Each day can be counted a great success, provided we learn a little, or draw a little closer to the Lord and to each other.  This day was an opportunity to do both of those things for a mommy and her daughter.

The most fabulous thing of all today was a surprise speaker.  They prefaced her talk by showing this video by Hillary Weeks:

The woman who spoke was Stephanie Nielsen.  There was not a dry eye in the city, I bet.  As soon as they said her name, people started to bust out the Kleenex.  My heart leapt for joy to be in the same room with someone I so admire and look up to, and I will never forget her message. 

Ok, I really need to get some rest, tomorrow is a busy day for this Marvelous me...but I can hardly wait to share the notes I took on our little retreat.
Toodles friends!