Book Review - Pigs & Peacocks by Jenni Garrick

My sister-in-law, Jenni Garrick, has published a sequel to her first children's book, "Pigs & Strawberries."

The new book is called "Pigs & Peacocks" and continues the adventures of the two pigs named Laurence and Hamilton.  They meet Annie and Abby, the peahens, who live in Paris, France.  Join these adventurous piglets as they leave their farm in California and travel through Europe to seek the company of their two friends, the peahens.

These wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated books will appeal to people of all ages but I think children ages 2-8 years old would particularly enjoy them.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of this book, please click on this link to visit Amazon.

Technology - One Page Printable

Today I subbed in Industrial Tech and the 7th graders learned about technology.  I made this little one page printable to summarize the lesson.

I love it when I learn something new too.  Part of the reason I enjoy teaching is because I am able to learn or review lots of interesting things.  It keeps my mind fresh and growing.

We learned about the relationship between Science, Engineering, and Technology, as well as learning about categories of technology careers, tech superstars, and what technology means (I made a thinking map, I couldn't help myself).

This little mnemonic device was quite enlightening.

"Sam Will Eat His Tuna Melt" can help you remember the following:

Science - Why something happens
Engineering - How to turn the science into something useful
Technology - Making something useful

Click HERE for the free PDF on Google Drive.

Talk - Developing Christlike Characteristics

Here is a talk that my son gave at church today.  He was the companion speaker for a high council speaker.

Today I will talk about how to develop Christlike characteristics.

In Preach My Gospel, there is a section titled “How Do I Develop Christlike Attributes.”  Much of my talk will come from this book. Writing this talk has been good preparation for my mission, since Preach My Gospel is an essential tool used by missionaries every day. I know it’s not a coincidence that I was asked to speak about this topic, and I’m very thankful for this opportunity to study about Christ and share my testimony with all of you.

At the beginning of His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and called out to two fishermen named Peter and Andrew.  He said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. The Lord invites each of us to follow His example and to become like Him. The restored gospel allows each of us to become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior has set the perfect example, and He commands us to become as He is. We can try hard to learn of Him and seek to incorporate His attributes into our lives. Through the power of His Atonement, each of us can achieve this goal and help others to achieve it also.

In Preach My Gospel focus there is a lot of focus on HOW to do things —how to study, how to teach, how to manage time wisely. Just as vital as what you do, however, is who you are.  Preach My Gospel says “You need to BE a Christlike missionary, not just DO missionary things.” This applies not only to missionaries but to everyone.  Each of us needs to learn to BE Christlike members of the church and not just DO Mormon things.

Scripture Timers and Poem

I love to read the scriptures and want to encourage my son, nieces and nephews to feel the joy that I feel from reading them everyday.  I bought these three minute timers on Amazon Prime and wrote a poem to go with them so encourage them in their personal studies.  I hope they will enjoy using the timers.

Make TIME for Scripture Study

How many hours are in a day?

We can work, learn, sleep and play.

Make time for scriptures everyday!

You’ll learn from what the prophets say.

Ponderize, pray and be happy and strong,

And learn to choose between right and wrong.

Parables, lessons, lots to learn and know.

You’ll feel the spirit and testimonies will grow.

Remember to treasure all that you read.

Heavenly Father loves his children indeed.

He gave us scriptures because of His love,

So we can return to Heaven above.

Just like we brush our teeth every day

Reading scriptures should be treated that way.

We take care of our bodies and also our souls;

In both areas we set some important goals.

This reading timer shows you three little minutes,

So you’ll know when to start and when to end it.

Flip it again if you’d like to double your time,

And flip it once more to read for nine.

Whether you choose to read for nine, six or three,

You’ll be blessed for your efforts and very happy.

"Fallacies in Print Ads" English Project

My son did this project for his English class.  He found ads online for the various fallacies that they discussed in class and he wrote about them.  The writing is underneath and the pictures flip up.  I think he did a great job.  Hopefully this will help another student who may have questions (please don't copy it, just use it as a resource.

Teaching about the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence

I whipped out these posters when I was subbing in a 4th grade class a while back.  I find that simple visuals like these are very effective.  We also discussed them as a class in more detail but this was an easy way for them to remember each important document.

Book Review - Ice Cream Work by Naoshi

Ice Cream Work is a playful, creative and delightfully quirky book that appeals to children, teens and adults alike.

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Naoshi's art work is unique and engaging in Ice Cream Work.  She has mastered the technique of SUNAE. In Japan, SUNA means sand and E stands for drawing.  All the pictures are created using colored sand and there are detailed directions with pictures in the back of the book to show the reader how to make SUNAE on their own.  Each page has beautiful colors and remarkably fine detail (especially considering she created the pictures with sand!).  The illustrations appear to have an interesting texture and depth which you don't see with other types of art mediums.

Worth the Wait - A BYU Pathways College Assignment

My sister-in-law, Michelle, wrote this awesome letter for a project in her BYU Pathways English class. I was really impressed and asked her if I could share it. The assignment involved to write a love letter to an object.


Michelle has enjoyed attending BYU Pathways. She does all the work on-line and once a week she attends a local gathering with other students to discuss coursework. This has allowed her to work toward her college degree while being a stay at home mom. It is affordable (around $65/credit) and convenient. I am so proud of her! Here is a link with more information in case anyone is interested in pursuing their degree.


Worth the Wait 

My Dearest Love, I remember the day we reunited again after nearly 15 years. Seeing you there brought back fond memories of why I missed you, and strong desires to never abandon you again. While basking under the sun, I noticed you were resting on a chair. You looked lonely. I nearly heard your silent call for friendship, companionship, and adventure. I was hesitant to greet you, mainly because I did not want to commit to what you had to offer. However, as the gentle summer wind blew your cover open, I could not deny that our time spent together had always filled my own loneliness, and I remembered how much I had missed going on wild adventures with you. Without further reservation, I picked you up and held you tight to my heart. How could I have left you? Your words, stories, and wisdom had never failed me. I was the one that had failed you! Silently, I cried for your forgiveness. When I finally got brave and picked you up, you gave me butterflies and I was reminded of why I fell deeply in love with you. I was elated to see that you could still help me escape from the daily routine and give me hope and comfort when I needed extra attention. It made me long for more time with you, and I wondered how I could fit you in more often into my life. Why had we stayed away from each other for so long? You surprised me how appealing you had become; you made it so hard to put you down at night. I was even willing to lose a full night of sleep so I could find out what happed at the end of the story. Thank you for changing my life and for stealing me away when I’m having a bad day, or even feeling overwhelmed and need a pick me up. It has been entertaining to visit all these stunning places, solving murders, being inspired, and seeing the girl get her dream guy. You have stolen my heart away as you take me on the journey of a lifetime, and I look forward to being taken away to many more amazing destinations. My love for you grows stronger every day as I find time to spend with you. I love the person I’m rediscovering and I owe it all to you.Love you Forever,Michelle

The 5 Love Languages

Feeling loved is a primary emotional need for all humans.  There are countless poems, letters, stories, books, and songs written about love.

Here's one song that kept running through my mind as I contemplated writing this post -
Everybody.  The chorus repeats, "Everybody, everybody wants to love, everybody, everybody wants to be loved."  So, so true.

In Dr. Gary Chapman's book, "The 5 Love Languages," it says, "Child psychologists affirm that every child has certain basic emotional needs that must be met if he is to be emotionally stable. Among those emotional needs, none is more basic that the need for love and affection, the need to sense that he or she belongs and is wanted.  With an adequate supply of affection, the child will likely develop into a responsible adult.  Without that love, he or she will be emotionally and socially challenged." (You can listen to this book on YouTube).

Dr. Chapman shares a wonderful metaphor to illustrate the importance of feeling loved.  He heard this metaphor from Dr. Ross Campbell who is a psychiatrist who specialized in the treatment of children and adolescents.

The 5 Love Languages of Children

Click HERE to read my original post about The 5 Love Languages.

The 5 Love Languages aren't just for couples - They apply to everyone you interact with.  As a mom of three boys, I found this information very helpful in my parenting since I spend so much of my life focusing on my children (and my spouse).  We all know that each child is unique and that they each need different things from us.  After learning about the Love Languages, I feel that my parenting skills have improved.  (Too bad I didn't read it 19 years ago!)

Here are descriptions of The 5 Love Languages in regards to children:

Christmas Hersheys Candy Bar Wrappers

I consider myself a pretty thoughtful person but usually I feel overwhelmed during the holidays so my thoughtfulness doesn't always end up matching my actions... well at least not without a lot of sleep deprivation and stress.  I'm sure many people can relate.

So this year I decided that I would get on top of the teacher gifts earlier than in years past.  That means not staying up late the night before the last day of school to get them all put together.  

My kids switch classes so that means I have 18 teacher gifts to make.  Plus my cute hubby decided he wanted me to make them for his coworkers so that added another dozen or so.

I have compassion on those who are in the same boat as I am so I decided to share my super easy gift with others to spread the Christmas joy and ease some stress.  The bars listed above have my personalized wrappers but I created a generic one for others to use (after receiving requests from several of my friends around the country).

Here's how to do it.

3 Questions to Guide Your Lesson Preparation

Every month we give our Primary teachers at church a "Tip & Treat" to help them with teacher training.  This month I decided to focus on Chapter 31 in the manual "Teaching, No Greater Call."

These questions are great for general lesson planning, not just for teaching lessons at church.  They can be used at school, home, work, etc.

Click HERE to get the PDF on GoogleDocs (6 bookmarks per page).

PS For the treat, I am giving each teacher a few donut holes in a small plastic bag with this tag attached to them.  I would have made a treat but I was having a busy weekend and this seemed like an easy solution.  Why add craziness to my schedule if I can do something simple, right?

Click HERE to get the PDF on GoogleDocs for the Donut Holes (12 tags per page).

Wax Museum Report

I am subbing in 5th grade right now and we are introducing a new project tomorrow - The Wax Museum!  Two of my kids have already done this project and my last one is participating this year. 

The students are each assigned a famous American for their project.  They make a poster board with pictures, a stamp, quotes, etc. and also create a five paragraph written report.  This project takes a few weeks to complete.  The grand finale is Wax Museum day where each student dresses up as their famous American and stand in front of their tri-fold poster board display.  Other students, teachers, and parents come and listen to each student talk about themselves as if they were that character.  It is really fun!

I need to explain to the students how to use 3x5 notecards to collect information for their report.  We'll start the researching tomorrow so to make things very clear, I made this handout with details about how to do them exactly.  (I REALLY don't want to explain the same thing over and over and over again).  It will print 2 per page and the kids will label each of their 10 postcards per subject with the appropriate topic and highlighted color.  I also pre-counted the notecards and put them in sandwich ziplocks so I could avoid the chaos of sorting them at school.  When their regular teacher comes back she'll explain how she'd like them to do the introduction and conclusion.  

General Conference Idea - Word Treat Jars

My cute nephew.

My friend posted this fun idea on Facebook and I asked her if I could share it.  I love it!  She has candy in each of these jars with word cards attached to the front of each jar.  Every time a speaker at General Conference says one of these words, the listener gets a candy.  Brilliant!  I've added pictures of friends' and family's application of this idea as well.

I am running out to the store to buy some candy tonight so we can do this in our family. I have teenagers so I will add in some other jars with key words that I'd like them to listen for.  Way to make things fun.

We also take notes using a form that I created a few years ago.  Click HERE to see the form.

By the way, this idea could be altered for other educational purposes. For instance, if your child is learning sight words or certain vocabulary words, you could make jars like this for when they are reading a book.  If someone is concerned about loading their kids up on sugar, they could put healthier snacks in the jars like pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, low-sugar cereal, carrots, etc. (although candy or cash would work much better on my kiddos LOL).

Euler Paths and Circuits

My son brought home a packet about Euler Paths and Circuits.  My brain was a little rusty in this area and he wasn't that familiar with the Euler concepts, so I did a little research and made him a "study sheet" to help him out (okay, I'll admit that it will also help me out if I have to teach this concept when subbing at school).  I thought I'd share my sheet with you.  Please let me know if you have feedback on how to improve it.

Gifted Education - Suggested Book List

Here is a list of helpful books if you're interested in Gifted Education.  There are over a dozen books on this list which obviously doesn't include all the wonderful books out there regarding giftedness.  We compiled this short list as a resource for our local elementary schools, in hopes that their local PTSO's would purchase them.

□Parenting Gifted Kids by Jim Delisle (Amazon Prime $12.42)

A humorous, engaging, and encouraging look at raising gifted children.  Offers practical advice to help parents re-examine the ways they perceive and relate to their children.  Some topics include understanding giftedness, working with the school system, dealing with perfectionism, and being an adult role model.

□A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children by James T. Webb, Ph.D., et al. (Amazon approx $21)

Raising a gifted child is both a joy and a challenge, yet parents of gifted children have few resources for reliable parenting information. Includes practical guidance in areas such as gifted characteristics, peer relations, sibling issues, motivation & underachievement, discipline issues, intensity & stress, depression & unhappiness, educational planning, finding professional help, etc.

□Living with Intensity by Susan Daniels, Ph.D. & Michael M. Piechowski, Ph.D. (Amazon Prime $20.06)

Gifted children and adults are often misunderstood. Their excitement is viewed as excessive, their high energy as hyperactivity, their persistence as nagging, their imagination as not paying attention, their sensitivity as immaturity, etc.   This book provides practical methods for nurturing sensitivity, intensity, and perfectionism.  Also includes info on Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration.
□How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and How to Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (Amazon Prime $12.23)

Using the unique communication strategies, down-to-earth dialogues, and delightful cartoons, parents and teachers learn how to help children handle the everyday problems and strong emotions that can interfere with learning.   Shows how parents and teachers can join forces to inspire kids to be self-directed, self-disciplined, and responsive to the wonders of learning.

□Picture it!  Teaching Visual-Spatial Learners by Betty Maxwell (Amazon Prime $17.96)

Illuminates the abilities of visual-spatial learners and describes the challenges they face in traditional learning environments.  Helpful for teachers, parents and visual-spatial learners themselves.

□Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers from Preschool to High School, Second Edition by Judith Wynn Halsted (Amazon Prime $22.75)

Describes the intellectual and emotional needs of children of high ability; typical and advance reading patterns for kids in K-12 grades; how to give reading guidance and discuss books with young readers; etc.  Includes a list of more than 300 books for readers of all ages carefully selected to promote intellectual and emotional development.

Math Notes - Theorems, Postulates, etc.

My son had a math final and he was allowed to take one sheet of paper in for notes. We designed this page for him to use (click link to find on GoogleDocs in PDF and PowerPoint formats).  It has postulate, theorems, formulas, etc.  Feel free to use it if you think it might help.

PS Happy to report that my son got 100% on his high school final.  Woo hoo!

Basic Spanish Verbs

My son is learning Spanish and received this list of verbs from his teacher.  I reformatted it so that it would all fit on one page and we're putting it up on the fridge so we can study it every day.

I doubt he'll be able to roll his R's or pronounce the words correctly for quite a while, but at least he'll be able to memorize them and try, right?  I apologize to all fluent Spanish speakers who may hear him butcher the language while he learns. :)

Teacher Appreciation Subway Sign

Don't you hate it when you see something cute pinned on Pinterest and you click on the link and it doesn't have a source page?  So frustrating!  Well that happened to me with a Teacher Appreciation subway sign so I recreated my own version of it.  Justice restored! :)

Feel free to use it.

God Customizes Our Curriculum

As we returned to school this past week, I reflected on how unique each student is at school.  As a mother, I realize that my own three children are very different from each other and have diverse needs emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially, and scholastically.  

The same goes in the classroom.  I am not a full-time teacher.  I substitute teach in classes ranging from preschool to high school, from gifted education courses to special education.  I have literally taught a thousand different children over the past few years.  Each child is important and unique with totally different needs.  It is challenging for an educator to meet all these different needs since teachers have limited time and resources, and big classes to take responsibility for.  I watch the full-time teachers patiently and lovingly struggle to attempt to accomplish this task.

On a different note, I also had been reflecting on how Heavenly Father is the master at everything.  He is the master doctor, the master scientist, the master engineer, the master poet, the master geologist, the master therapist.... well you get the idea.  When I have a question about something, about anything, I can ask Him for help because He knows the answers.  

Then a friend emailed me this perfect quote and it all clicked in my mind. 

“The realities are that God loves us and, loving us, has placed us here to cope with challenges which he will place before us. I'm not sure we can always understand the implications of his love, because his love will call us at times to do things we may wonder about, and we may be confronted with circumstances we would rather not face. I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know. He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like. And this will require us to accept with all our hearts--particularly your generation--the truth that there is divine design in each of our lives and that you have rendezvous to keep, individually and collectively.”  (From "But for a Small Moment,"  NEAL A. MAXWELL,  BYU,  1 September 1974.)

I realized that one of God's most important roles is that of MASTER TEACHER.  He sent us to earth to learn.  So earth life is like school.  We didn't obtain physical bodies and come to earth to just sit around and lazily breeze through life.  We came here to LEARN.

As a master teacher, it only makes sense that Heavenly Father would have prepared perfect individualized education plans for each of us.  He CUSTOMIZED THE CURRICULUM for each of his children because he loves us.  

We will struggle to learn lessons.  We will have challenging tests.  We will feel excited when we have "ah ha moments."  We will have aides (family, friends, prophets, and church leaders) to give us advice and guidance.  We will take required courses that we didn't want to register for.  We may have classmates that we need to learn to get along with.  We have been given instruction manuals and reference books (the scriptures) to help us navigate our educational process.  We have a tutor (the Holy Ghost) to help us remember things and feel peaceful through the process.

He is the most perfect and caring teacher that ever was and His lesson plans are the best because He sees the eternal picture.

Now when I have challenges, I will remember that these are part of my customized curriculum.  And as I look at all the sweet (and sometimes sassy) students that I teach, I will remember how much each Child of God is loved and that if I have questions about how to help one of them, I can ask the master teacher for help.