The Calculus of Regional Public Transit and Bus Transportation

Wow. This person likes math. From the post, I think this person lives in Germany. Locally, there is a push by the Wasach Front Regional Council, for encouraging people to walk, use bikes more and use the bus system (UTA, the Utah Transit Authority) more. There are Regional Planning Meetings in order to give us more bike lanes and make the region more walkable and more bikeable. I don’t think they care about more “personal vehicle-able.”

This linked post is about the calculus and predictablility of bus riding, including how to prevent “bunching.” It is fascinating that anyone has a brain that can do this.

Read this person’s next blog post down, which is a orevious one, too. It talks about biometric data being stored in a card used to pay for public transportation as a way to make the German people (who like privacy) feel like their privacy is not being taken, while still assuring people pay for their public transportation.

“Pedestrian Observations” blog

If you want to know about these regional planning meetings, which are available the to the public, go to your city building and look for a posting hung there about it. These meetings will not be on facebook, twitter, in your city newsletter, or advertised on the radio or televisions. As a matter of fact, although they will reassure you they are open to the public, these are meetings they’d rather you did not attend. After all, they are meetings about how much more they can spend, which will increase your taxes. Why would they want to invite you?!? You have to be a Sherlock Holmes to find out when and where these public meetings are held. Do it. Know what is going on. Know why your taxes are going up. It’s not as if they want to tell you the truth. By “they” I mean your mayor, your city planner, the city planning commission, your city council members and the UTA.

How Can a Homeschooled Person Get a Utah High School Diploma: Guide to the T.A.B.E. and the G.E.D. Test

I started investigating this about 3 years ago and I am still learning about it. After conversing with a friend about it, she told me I should share what I have learned with other moms who homeschool their kids. My friend told me more institutions are now requiring an official Utah High School Diploma. I have also heard that employers require it of some, even after a Bachelors Degree is achieved. It seems ridiculous but I think it is true. Some employers, colleges and Universities just want that silly piece of paper that many homeschool moms laugh about. This is not news to me, which is why I have been researching it for 3 years. It is my hope that sharing this helps many homeschool moms and homeschooled kids to get an official Utah High School Diploma.

The Passing of the G.E.D. Test Battery Can Get A Person an Official Utah High School Diploma!*

I hope the abbreviation, “G.E.D.” does not strike fear into your hearts or make you run screaming into the next room, covering your head from desire to avoid it. It may. It may be that you do not believe in tests, or that you have read my previous post about the Fascist, Socialist and Communitarian indoctrination in the G.E.D. test. If the test causes you to feel great worry and fear, I hope that after finishing the reading and printing off onto multiple pages for reference, this post, you will feel much more at ease because of how well you know you have prepared your child-student for all of this. I hope you will feel confident that your child will be able to fake it and pretend he or she has been fully indoctrinated, much like a spy (covert operative) would, knowing the truth and armed with it. I know that if you have been a good homeschool mom and have taught your child-student the truth about things first, then your child-student will not be indoctrinated by the G.E.D. test. This post will help you to know a bit about the test so that you may warn and prepare your child-student for this test and to not become indoctrinated. He or she will indeed have to fake having been indoctrinated—- I can promise you that! I hope you will print out this blog post and use it as a guide in helping you get an official Utah High School Diploma for yourself or your child-student after he or she turns 16!

Here are the basic things your child will need or will need to do in order to take the G.E.D. test at your local school district’s Adult Basic Education (A.B.E.) Office. The G.E.D. test is an online test, but a person cannot take the official test from home. The only place that officiates this test in my area is the district’s A.B.E. Office.

Note: I am going to assume that you are homeschooling legally because you filled out the affadavit. If you are not, this process will be different. Check with your school district offices and ask them what to do.

What You Need:*

1. An official Utah photo I.D. card showing that he or she is 16 years of age (a driver’s license if he or she has one).
2. An official letter filled out by a professional at your local school district office called, “Adult Education Program and/or GED Testing Application for 16-18 Year-Old Non-Graduates,” which my district has nicknamed “the drop form.”**
3. The taking of two other tests at the Adult abasic Education Office of your local school district, in order to qualify to take the G.E.D. test in your district. These are: a. The TABE Online Locator test for the Test of Adult Basic Education (T.A.B.E.); b. The passing of a T.A.B.E. 10 Complete Battery (meaning your child-student has achieved at least a 10th grade level education. If your child-student does not qualify for the TABE 10, but only a lower TABE, they will give your child the option of taking a $40 class with the district that will teach your child what he or she needs to know to be able to achieve readiness for the TABE 10 Battery. Your child can still take the TABE 9 Battery.
4. Completion of the “Utah Futures” Packet, available at the same district Adult Basic Education Office.
5. For the days of each of the G.E.D. Battery Tests: Photo I.D., approved G.E.D. electronic scientific calculator and (recommended) a healthy snack and water bottle.
6. Cost of G.E.D. test. 

*Sources: Weber Adult Education Phone Conversation 801-476-3920 and conversation at my school district office.

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Here are some things I have learned about the tests from the YouTube videos of official G.E.D. 🎓 High School graduates, from the McGraw Hill T.A.B.E. guide and from the two G.E.D. test guides I have been reading.

The T.A.B.E.’s Online Locator (30 questions in 37 min.):

The TABE Online Locator test will be a summary (shorter) test, quizzing the student on some of the same knowledge that is on the T.A.B.E. 10 Complete Battery. It will determine whether the student knows things that a 10th grade graduate should know. If the student passes the locator test to show they are at the level expected of a student in an accredited school at the beginning of 11th grade, they will then take the T.A.B.E. 10 Complete Battery. When they pass that, they are qualified by the district to take the G.E.D. test.

• Reading: The student must 10 out of 12 questions correct to take the TABE 10.
  
• Math: General Math (8 questions) & Applied Math (8 questions). The student must get 10 out of 16 correct to take the TABE 10.
  
• Language: The student must get 10 out of 12 correct to take the TABE 10.

If the student does not get the scores required above, he or she will be given the option of taking a class to prepare him or her for the TABE 10. They can take the test again at the the end of the class. Another option is to continue to teach the child, yourself, from home, then take them back in for the test again later.

T.A.B.E. 10 Complete Battery (3 hrs.):

The student must bring his or her own pencil. (Source: Weber Adult Education)

• Reading: 50 Reading Comprehension Questions in 50 minutes
• Math: 2 Math Sections. Math Comprehension: 40 questions in 25 minutes; Math Application: 50 questions in 50 minutes. 
• Language: 3 Sections. Language Mechanics: 20 questions in 14 minutes; Vocabulary: 20 questions in 15 minutes; Spelling: 20 questions in 14 minutes

Source: Trivium Test Prep T.A.B.E. Book (link below)

TABE Online Workshops

Free Online Tests by Mometrix

Free online T.A.B.E. Study Guide

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T.A.B.E. Test Prep including Online Flash Cards

T.A.B.E. 3 Book Test Prep by McGraw Hill including Workbooks and Multiple Practice Tests

T.A.B.E. Test Prep Secrets Book Including Strategies and Practice Tests by Mometrix

T.A.B.E. Practice Test and Strategies by Trivium Test Prep

T.A.B.E. Levels

• L= Literacy, grades 1-1.9
• E= Easy, grades 2-3.9
• M= Medium, Grades 4-5.9
• D= Difficult, grades 6-8.9
• A= Advanced, grades 9-12.9

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The G.E.D. Complete Battery:

The G.E.D. Complete Battery (taken on a computer) does not need to be taken all at one time, or even on the same day. One could study for and take one test at a time. The Tests are:

G.E.D. Reasoning Through the Language Arts Test (3 sections):

Section 1 (35 min.) and Section 3 (60 min.):

Grammar and Reading Comprehension

75% of these are from non-fiction sources: 

This 75% includes these or pieces similar to these: I.R.S. forms, voter registration forms, job applications, newspapers, magazine articles, workplace memos, workplace instructions, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, other historical documents, opinion pieces about contemporary or historical civic, socio-economic or socio-political issues (a chance for them to indoctrinate the person), technical manual instructions (such as how to set up, build or use a product), history or science or social studies textbook sections

25% of these are from literature sources:

This 25% may be intermixed with the above, and asks questions about pieces taken from (mainly public domain) novels, plays, poetry, short stories and so forth.

Section 2, Extended Response Essay (45 min.):

In this section, not only does the student prove ability to write an essay correctly, spell correctly and use correct grammar, but the student must also be like the judge in a Speech & Debate Tournament. I have been one of these many times and through it, I have learned how to decide not which student in Lincoln-Douglass Debate is most correct or aligned with my opinions and world-view, but which student has main points that back up his or her assigned position, which best backs up his or her points best during the debate, and which has the best sources, data and facts. This is what the student must do. They must note for which side the best evidence, data and sources is given by the test writers. They must write an essay showing why this point of view is correct. They must do this regardless of their own world-view, knowledge or opinions. They cannot use outside sources, even if memorized. This is the part wherein your student must see himself or herself as a covert operative or spy. He or she must go along with this horrible way of writing an essay which excludes opinion, world-view, research and knowledge in favor of allowing the test-writers to tell them what is truth and what is not from their world-view and opinions.

This test is written to make sure people have been taught social studies concepts which are aligned with Agenda 21. If the student understands the evils of Agenda 21 (which I have blogged about in my Political posts), then the student will know just exactly what they are looking for. They are looking to see that the student has been properly indoctrinated. Whether or not the student believes the Agenda 21 wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing DECEPTION, the student must pretend he or she does for the duration of this essay. I highly recommend first educating your child about how this doctrine is deceptive. Only then will yo feel safe allowing your child to covertly operate on this test in order to deceive the essay readers trained by those serving the evil elite.

Sources: “Cracking the G.E.D. Test 2017 Edition,” by the Princeton Review, 2017, “GED Test for Dummies, 4th Edition,” by Murray Shukyn with Jane Burstein, Learning Made Easy, 2017, My own knowledge of Agenda 21 and the like (see my blog posts on the topic).

What to expect on the G.E.D. Language Test:

• To do a whole lot of reading
• To be expected to type a great amount for the 2 essays. (Make sure your child-student is good at keyboarding).
• To have a great deal of vocabulary understanding and ability to read fast and still have a great reading comprehension level.

Extended response essay covers a controversial civics or political social studies topic. In the essay portion, the student will have to argue for the side that has the most or the best evidence in the test, even if you disagree with it. The student must state in the essay that the other side does not have enough solid facts or only has opinions.

Source: This Youtube video made by a girl who took the test and vlogged about it.

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G.E.D. Mathematical Reasoning Test (2 Sections, 115 min.):

Part 1, General Math, no calculator allowed (5 questions)

Part 2, Problems Common in many Workplaces, calculator allowed (41 questions)

Many questions will be word problems with multiple choice answers, but they will be in multiple other formats as well, including fill in the blank, drag and drop (it is on computer), hot spot and drop-down menu. About 1/2 of the questions will be based upon data, diagrams or charts presented on the test. Education 2030 Incheon (Korea) Declaration (2015) and Goals includes a demand for researchers to go find data which will back up Agenda 21 goals. For the data to have the desired affect on people, people must rely on the data put before them to determine what is true. The G.E.D. and Common Core in the schools must be assured that High School Graduates do not to question data, diagrams or charts, but accept them as truth. Please, before you prepare your beloved offspring for this type of test-taking, teach them how to question EVERYTHING, spot deception, do their own research and ask GOD for wisdom about what is TRUTH. After you have done this, teach them about the deceptions on the test. Teach them that accepting data, diagrams and charts as truth is not wise because of the evil people in the world who wish to deceive all people.

Sources: “Cracking the G.E.D. Test 2017 Edition,” by the Princeton Review, 2017, “GED Test for Dummies, 4th Edition,” by Murray Shukyn with Jane Burstein, Learning Made Easy, 2017, My own knowledge of Agenda 21 and the like (see my blog posts on the topic)

Details about what will be included in the G.E.D. Math Test:

• general math: addition, subtraction, number sense, figuring percentages, decimals, multiplication, division, fractions, order of operations and so forth (very small part of the test)
• Pre-Algebra
• linear slopes with x and y
• plotting x and y on graph
• linear equations with x and y
• linear fractions with x and y
• graph 6 different points on a coordinate plane. x is always first. (x,y). Left or right first, up or down 2nd.
• perimeter of a complex shape (divide it into a number of basic shapes, like a series of separate rectangles. Figure it out that way)
• area rectangle, cyllindar, circle, etc.
• A= (Pi) times (Radius squared) and opposite (Here is the area. What is it in the Pi R squared formula?
• Story Problems. Do not get hung up on what is possible or not. Do not try to figure out how it is logiclaly possible. Just do the mathe they want you to do.
• Problems making the student figure out interest in a bank account or on a debt with amount deposited each time and the interest rate, given. I= PRT, Interest equals principle tmes rate times time. Turn rate given (3.5%) into a decimal (0.035) before multiplying. End answer is in years. If you are given months, figure out how much time it would be in years.
• Problems like: $68.50 was original price. You paid $18. How much of a discount did you get on the item when you bought it? You need to know how much of a percentage $18 of $68.50 is. Formula is “No over O,” N-0/0, N is New Price. O is Original Price. 
• -.41 would mean you got 41% off.
• Slope intercept form y=mx+b. m is the slope. b is the y-intercept. m= rise over run (rose/run)

Source: MathTalk YouTube Videos about the G.E.D. Math Test, starting with this one (part 1)

G.E.D. Social Studies Test (about 35 questions in 70 min.):

Again the questions will be multiple-choice, hot-spot, drag and drop and fill-in the blank. These are approximate break-downs:

• Government and Civics (truths mixed with lies), 50%. (They will refer to our United States of America as a DEMOCRACY, guaranteed. Our government was set up by our founding fathers as a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC. Make sure your child knows the truth and is aware that the constant use of the word “democracy” by the writers of the test is done in order to deceive.
• U.S. History (from the perspective of Fascists, Communitarianists and Communists who hate our country, Liberty and the U.S. Contitution), 20%
• Economics (from the perspective of those who love the idea of a fascist, communitarian and communist world government), 15%
• World Geography (from the perpective of those who hate sovereignty and the idea of American greatness, who love Agenda 21 and the idea of a world government), 15%

Sources: “Cracking the G.E.D. Test 2017 Edition,” by the Princeton Review, 2017, “GED Test for Dummies, 4th Edition,” by Murray Shukyn with Jane Burstein, Learning Made Easy, 2017, My own knowledge of Agenda 21 and the like (see my blog posts on the topic).

What to expect on the G.E.D. Social Studies Test:

• Example from the Economics section of an actual test: Answer questions from a graph about Importing & Exporting through Canada
• Requires reading of large amounts of text to find the information needed to answer a series of questions about its content
• Requires the reading and interpretation of really strange types of graphs which the student may never have seen before
• Questions are worded in a tricky way to confuse and trick the student
• Essay topics on an actual test: Chart showing that men get paid more than women, freedom of speech issues with the flag burning, when blacks got their rights for the first time
• no extended response essay (there used to be)

Source: This Youtube video made by a girl who took the test and vlogged about it.

G.E.D. Science Test (about 34 questions in 90 min.):

The test will include short passages and graphs and charts. Tricky wording such as “Which one of these is not false?” (meaning ‘which one is true?’) is employed on this science test, so prepare your child-student for this. The type of questions will again be multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, drop-down choices, drag-and-drop, hot-spot (labeling) and 2 short answer essays. Please know your science vocabulary words. Although almost all of the questions haveThe main themes are Human Health and Living Systems, and Energy and realated systems. 3 topics included are:

• Physical Science & Chemistry, 40%: conservation, transformation, flow of energy, work, sound, light, heat, motion, forces, chemical properties and reactions in living systems. 

• Life Science, 40%: human biology and health, animal and plant biology, ecosystems, organisms, molecular biology, DNA, and evolution. Examples: label the parts of a flower 🌺, interpret a graph about DNA mutation (for evolution indoctrination).

• Earth and Space Science, 20%: basic eath and space science, astronomy, environmentalism (global warming and climate change science to indoctrination). Example: Answer questions about the affect of ants 🐜 on rainforests based on data presented.

Sources: “Cracking the G.E.D. Test 2017 Edition,” by the Princeton Review, 2017, “GED Test for Dummies, 4th Edition,” by Murray Shukyn with Jane Burstein, Learning Made Easy, 2017, My own knowledge of Agenda 21 and the like (see my blog posts on the topic),  and This Youtube video made by a girl who took the test and vlogged about it.

G.E.D. Test Guides for Homeschool moms to use in preparing their child-students for the GED test

Related Posts:

Socialist Indoctrination in G.E.D. Test Prep Book by the Princeton Review

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Get Up to 10 College Credits for Scoring High on the Post-2016 G.E.D. Test!

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How at Weber State University, via CLEP and DSST tests, Homeschoolers Can Do the Equivalent of Early College/ Concurrent Enrollment

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Agenda 21 and ICLEI: A Crash Course

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Education 2030 Incheon Declaration

Teaching Math in Homeschool

Math with other homeschool moms is a touchy thing. Some believe in taching it. Some do not. I believe in teaching it. For others who also do, here is a safe environment in which to discuss nothing but teaching math in your homeschool! Yay!

Please join this Facebook group Teaching Math in Homeschool

Oompa Loompas Chapter 16, with Math

My kids have been doing math this morning as I have read to them. Surprisingly, it helps them get it done faster, and I do not know why. It is some kind of brain thing. I think it is because they are using both sides of the brain at the same time. Maybe you could try it. It has been amazing. Of course, I did have to keep saying, “Keep doing your math.”

Utah Pre-Common Core Standards for Education

     Common Core Standards are what you will find right now on the USOE (Utah State Office of Education) web site. This is great if you wish to know what your child is expected to learn, or what children of our communities are expected to learn.

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     However, I find it very unfair that the USOE will not keep published, the former UTAH standards (the ones that existed before Common Core came to be. This makes it so that very few have the privilege of comparing the standards side by side.

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Have no fear and fret not. I have most of the pre-Common Core k-6 standards and I can E-mail them to you. They cannot be published orused for commercial gain as they are copyrighted. They can be E-mailed, thoug. This may make me one of the biggest threats to the Common Core movement, although I am just one person in a sea of hardworking anti-Common core folk. I am just saying, my simple ability and willingness to send you pre-common core Utah standards to anyone, helps me to fuel this movement, because it gives each teacher, mom, dad, student, grandparent and community member the ability to compare the standards objectively.

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     This is like the power of the Gütenberg press. Gütenberg helped people to have access to the Bible. They no longer had to depend upon the preachers and religious leaders of churches to tell them what the Bible said. They could see for themselves! I am offering you this same power!

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     Just like you can have your very own Bible and read it yourself to see what it says, you can have both sets of standards, side by side, to compare them yourself. You do not have to rely on the opinions and beliefs of others, such as “These new standards are more rigorous,” or, “These standards are better.” Form your OWN opinion! See things with your own eyes!

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Make a comment with your E-mail address or E-mail me at lisa jackson dot biz at g mail dot com and I will send you the standards. I have most of k-6 and some of 7-12, pre-common core Utah Standards and Objectives.

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     You are probably wondering how I have these. I will tell you. I am the daughter of school teachers. I was raised believeing that the Utah Standards and Objectives were very important, because of who my parents were. Before my oldest child went to kindergarten, I wanted to have the kindergartne standards so that I would be able to give her a good pre-school education. I found them on the USOE web site and downloaded them. I printed them out. I used it as a checklist for my daughter.

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I continued to do this every year, and eventually decided to download all of it, just so I would not have to keep going to the web site. I also started re-designing them in In-Design because I am a graphic designer and wanted them to be visually easier to understand and read.

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     Because of this, I am now writing math standards. I started with the Utah pre-common core math standards, but have moved things around grade levels, changed things, added in some Piaget, Vygotsky, Montessori and Constance Kamii ideas and standards. I hav also added in things from what I have seen as my childrens’ abilities at each age, things I think are important for them to learn at each level, things I learned at each age (80’s and 90’s standards) and things I have seen in different books. Now what I have is far from the original Utah Standards. I will eventually publish it. I am so excited! I have even changed the arrangement to be more conducive to homeschooling. It is so exciting!

Homeschooling Middle School

Teaching older kids is not easy, but not hard, either. We made it. We did it. Here is a bit about what our year was like. 

  

 ^^Our Homeschool Room is now a Prep Room, because we use field trips, group activities, the whole house, and clipboards to do work on (instead of a desk, in our homeschool.

Our Year by Seasonal Quarters

Quarter 1: Fall of 2014

   We started our L.I.F.E. School Curriculum again in about mid-August. It is a comprehensive curriculum which helps me to feel confident they are learning what they need to for each level. It does not include math, though, so we had math lessons which I had to find. I like to do this, though, so it was not a big deal. 2nd Semester, I discovered that Holt Mathematics for Middle School and Scott Foresman Mathematics, were great. Textbooks are shunned by a lot of homeschool moms, but this one loves them. My child loves them, too.

     We “opened up” with out local traditional “Not Back to School Party.” This included about 50 people. It was small compared to 2013, which had at least 300 people. It was outdoors at a park. We had food and a curriculum and clothing swap. It was good to see our friends, the same friends we’d had before we moved. I think moving from one city to the next is harder on people when they do not homeschool. We did have to go to seeing our old neighbors less, which was tough, but at least our homeschool friends are still in the same county group get-togethers. It makes for a feeling of continuous belonging my kids would not have had were they in public school.

     Heavenly Father gave me a good feeling about it, so we did one semester of once a week with a local Christian Homeschooling Co-op group. It was great for me and the kids and helped us get to know others, learn a variety of subjects in fun ways and learn a lot of wonderful things. At the semester’s end, I planned on the next semester, too. Over Christmas break, I felt Heavenly Father was trying to tell me not to be in it for the next semester. I prayed a lot about it. I felt like He did not want me to participate for the 2nd Semester. I felt bad to tell the leader that I had decided not to participate after January.

     Back to August. I had a stressful conflict and medical issues with breastfeeding. My homeschooled kids got to stay with relatives and do homeschool there. I have a relative who homeschools, which was very nice at this stressful time. I cannot tell you how much I hate the system which pushes women away from breastfeeding. Although they thought it was too late to get him to like breastfeeding again, we are now breastfeeding most of the time and only using formula occasionally when I step out sometimes. Most of the time when I am gone for a long time, I pump milk while I am gone. Because of this stressful forced learning of pumping full time, I am quite good at pumping now, so that it is really not such a biggie to me. This is a blessing. I am glad my kids get to see me breastfeeding and pumping all day long, since they are not in school, so that they will know about it. This is extremely important real world knowledge all kids (boys and girls) should have.

     We continued to try to sell our house. This was a stressful time for us. There was a lot going on. It was at this time that we were really close to being able to buy a new house and sell our old one. We still had to sell, though, so there were lots of showings. This meant that a huge part of our childrens’ learning was learning to pack up things we did not need at the time, clean and home stage the house for showings, with 20 minutes to 3 hours of notice each time. My kids got extra good at cleaning and home staging fast. They also got to learn from different professionals who help with the real estatebuy and sell process. My child said at one time that being a real estate appraiser when an adult would be great. They got to watch and ask questions of the electrician, the furnace installation professional, the real estate agents and more. All of this would have been impossible had my kids been in public school. 

     We sold our old house and we had our offer accepted on the new one. We closed on both and finished packing. We moved to our new house with all the help we could get from everyone, including the kids. We unpacked and set up the house. We met our new neighbors. Even these things, my kids learned a lot from. It is hard to tell people how much learning can take place when their kids are home instead of at school. People really cannot experience it without actually taking their kids out of school. I know a lot of people think summer is like this, but it is not the same as year-round.

     Simultaneous to moving into our new house came the passing of my Uncle, whom I loved and the kids loved very much. We had been blessed in that, as a homeschool family, they had been home for each of his visits, and were here for his last visit to us. It was on a weekday during the day, so for sure, they’d have been at school, were they in public school. They got to say hi and goodbye to him more in their lives than they would have gotten to do had they been in school. This blessing is priceless! We were blessed to be able to experience our grief together  instead of having to be separated by school. I was able to talk to my kids about heaven, forever families and the resurrection, during many hours of each day. My kids got to see other relatives come visit  and got to hear them talk about our Uncle, during school hours.

     I was in charge of much of his money and this involved learning to get along with relatives who were angry with me some of the time because of misunderstandings. I dealt with learning legal matters like a non-legal trust and what to do about that. I learned how to peacefully speak to people even when I felt passionate inside, so that there was not drama. This was a very difficult time for me, as I was forced do so many really hard things at once. Learning to calmly deal with stressful family affairs was good for my 7th grader to learn by watching me and listening to me. She got to see and hear more because she was home and not in school.

     We went on LOTS of learning field trips as a family on my husband’s days off. I used to do field trips without him, but now I prefer his presence. He also prefers to be there when they have these exciting learning field trips. We went to almost everything on the SL Connect Pass. We had a TG Point Pass as well, adn used it a lot, too.

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Quarter 2: Winter of 2014-15

     During the winter, we continued to fix up, u-pack, de-junk and put the house together. I got to be a presenter at a homeschool conference at the local University. My child got to attend, too, and see and hang out with her friends.

     I don’t know whether or not you know about this. In the homeschool world, there is really no Christmas break. There was one from the Co-Op. That was it. Other than that, there is none because year round, we just do formal-feeling school when we feel like it and rest when we feel like it. When we feel like being Christmassy, we do that. When we feel like some academics are in order, we do that. We do not care. We were feeling Christmassy by December 1st, so we started celebrating then. Then we did academics. Then we celebrated again. We were doing academics on Christmas eve, Chritmas and the day after because we did not need a break. My kids don’t get burnt out. They love to learn. Why stop them when they enjoy it?! We also had a homeschool Christmas Party.

     Every month starting in January, we had a homeschool get-together for LDS Homeschool families at my house. We talked about an LDS Gospel topic and shared things about it with each other. We had snacks. The kids played with each other and the moms talked. It was priceless every time. 

     January came and there was no snow still. It was warm out, too, so we hoed and shoveled the weeds up many a day, during the day, while other kids were in school. The kids learned plenty about nature in our backyard. They also played a lot of catch and tag. They also rode their bikes. Some other homeschoolers came a lot and played in the backyard with my kids. They got to see lots of birds, because we have lots of them. We continued our SL Connect pass field trips and also using our TG Point Family Pass. Those were great in January, because it was like spring and fall combined this year.

     We had a homeschool valentine party at a play park (because it was like springtime). I bought decorations and valentines for them to use.  Some of my kids got to go. We had to have some stay home with me, sick. It was sad. Oh, well. My child did get to go! I am glad that a friend gave them a ride to and from the party. After the party, my friend and I had a good talk.

     My child got to come with me to a preparedness conference and learned a lot. It was great to be there together. It was at the University locally, so she got to “get to know” the campus, which I think is good for kids.

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Quarter 3: Spring of 2015

      We continued in the spring to put our new house and yard together. It involved a lot of planting and lanscaping work. The kids learned a lot in helping with all this. We continued to work on L.I.F.E. School, math, monthly get-togethers and gardening. We worked on church items, as well. Then we had swimming lessons and then baseball. We had some great homeachooling get-togethers with the local homeschool community. The kids do get lots of chances to have fun and make friends.

     My child got to got to a homeschool youth conference. They learned standards, cooperation, etiquette and got to have a dance with lots of kids. I am glad my child is old enough to attend homsechool youth events now. There are many of them available, planned by local homeschool moms, and they are great. We went to some homeschool mother and child retreats, too. 

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Quarter 4: Summer of 2015

     During the summer, we have worked on putting together the house, preparing for emergencies and gardening. We have worked on math, spelling and reading. The kids have also learned lots in science and social studies, just by living life. We are nearly “finished” de-junking the house (for now) and we look forward to the eighth grade year.

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Although this makes it seem like we did not do any academics and barely any socialing, real life is much better. My child got plenty of social time and has a lot of friends. Some are close friends. Others are kids she just knows as acquaintances. L.I.F.E. School teaches a whole lot. You can read about it in one of my other posts.

Springtime And Being Very Busy!

I have been so busy gardening, organizing, de-junking and cleaning the house, that I have not made a blog post in a while. This past weekend, my husband and son finished building our Shelf Reliance shelves and we loaded them up with food storage cans. I am excited about that. Lately, we have been working  lot on that. 

On Saturday, before LDS General Conference, I worked hard putting the math in its own binder. It is a red binder, so it stands out from all the white ones I have for other reasons. I went through the math checklists and evaluated, knowing full well what the kids know and don’t, where each one is in math. Then I made lesson plans. I made plans for 6 homeschool days. 

“Pirate,” by my son:

  

Right now, at 7:30 a.m., my daughter is teaching my younger boys. She uses my math checklist for the math. I love the help. One son is telling her emphatically, “I already know my numbers!” He had been stubborn, but he just now passed off an item on the math checklist without any help at all. This is big for him! I am happy. My older daughter and my older son are now enthusiastically and with dancing, teaching them. My daughter just asked me, “Mom, what does fluently mean?” We have decided the one is fluent at a certain concept. Well, it will not be long before he can do even more difficult things fluently. I am so excited.

This is something most people who homeschool understand and most who don’t, don’t: The older kids teach their siblings happily. It’s awesome! It frees me up to focus on being the leader. I am not the leader and the one who does it all. I am just the leader. I give direction and my kids help it happen. They want homeschool to work. They want mom to be happy. They enjoy teaching because it is fun. 

When it comes to teaching siblings to ride bikes, play baseball, work in the garden, cook, clean, make lunch, etcetera, they are all great! I love this about homeschooling. Sometimes, younger ones even help older ones, because maybe that is their favorite subject, or one of their favorites, so they are beyond their years in ability because they have learned so much in a certain area. For example, my son loves science. He teaches his siblings all sorts of things because he “gets it.” I am usually surprised at what he knows. It’s amazing. He has the ability to explain science concepts by jumping up and down and acting them out. It’s fun to watch him. 

My daughter is still in her pajamas but is now looking over the Montessori list of skills and asking me whether this one has learned that yet. I am so grateful for her help in keeping on top of that. I used to have to do it all myself, which after a while, meant I never got to it. It is nice to have someone who gets to it on my behalf. She will be an awesome mom someday. She will be an awesome homeschool mom someday! Whe wants to be an early childhood educator, so all of this fascinates her. It is one of the things she lives for!

My son is reading “Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. He told me that he has 2 bookmarks. He does not like going for so long with these characters before getting back to what those ones are doing. He would rather just go one chapter with these, one chapter with those, instead of 3 chapters, then 3 chapters. Fine with me! He invents stories, too, so I would not be surprised if we get an author here! He is also still in pajamas. Oh, well. I am hoping he gets dressed by 9 a.m.!

No Slave to a Style or Method

I am in Unschooling groups, eclectic groups, montessori groups, LDS homeschooling groups, TJED groups and regular homeschooling groups on facebook. We do not fit into any style. I decided a few months ago that pretending we fit into a box “we do this style,” was just fruitless. We do what works each day, what I feel like we will do that day, and on some days, what Heavenly afather directs. Ideally, every day would be “we do as Heavenly Father directs,” but in reality, I am not perfect and I just do my best every day. Some days, my best means I took a shower and the kids are alive.

I did purchase the L.I.F.E. School LDS Homeschooling Curriculum

I love it. I won’t say we do it every day, but usually whenever we do anything formal for aademics, we include it. It is what keeps me sane. I used to have to make lesson plans for all those subjects, but now I don’t have to and I know that it is included. I don’t have to worry over what to teach, as everything is right there (every subject is included except dance and math). My kids even have a lot of past workbook material to catch up on in LIFE School, so some days, when I di not have time, ability or desire to teach a formal lesson, I just say, “Do 6 pages of Life School,” and they know that means, from past lessons which I have taught, that they have yet to do work for. It takes them anywhere from one hour to never getting it done, to do that, depending on whether they try or not.

We still use Spelling Workout sometimes, too, because my kids need extra TLC in that area. We also use God’s Design For Science as it fits in with our Science in Life School, as a supplement, because it’s the most awesome Science program ever!!! It is not LDS, but Christian, and I add in LDS stuff because I am the teacher!

For more LDS and Scripture learning, we also use Discover the Old Testament, because that is where we are on the timeline of history in LIFE School, is Old Testament and Ancient Book of Mormon Times, for which we use Discover the Book of Mormon. One uses grades 1-3. The others use grades 4-7. They finished 1-3 in a different homeschool year.

Then there is the math, of course, which is also the best math ever because I am re-inventing the wheel. I have seen homeschool moms say of facebook, things similar to, “Why Reinvent the Wheel?” Well, in my case, because I do not like the wheel that is there. It is broken, so I am fixing it so that it works. The math used in public schools is the math used in homeschool, in most cases. I have heard of lots of homeschool math programs which just do not work for homeschool moms, unless they have just one, or very few, kids. I have 6, though, so it needed to be re-thought. It is a lot of work, but I do not follow a math program. Instead, I am creating a Homeschool math program which is a one room schoolhouse approach like LIFE School, which lets me teach math to all the kids together, and when it is fully ready, we will have math lessons as a family (instead of 5 separate math lessons for 5 separate kids old enough for them).

It is not fully ready yet. It is in the works. I do some of it, but mostly, I still have to teach each child a separate math lesson (which I think is so time-consuming)!

In addition to all that, we go when my husband is off work, on field trips to museums and kids learning places. I think it is easier on me not to try to do it without my husband’s help. We also are in a bunch of facebook groups and now and then, we do things with the others in the homeschool community locally. We used to do this more often, and have even tried the Co-Op thing. The Co-Op thing has not been in the mix of late, but I am trying to start my own LDS Co-Op lately, and we will see. Right now, I just plan a get-together once a month. That is all I can do now.

Here is a related post you will want to check out, too. The Current Mix of Our Homeschool Day

Work At Home Homeschool Mom Rambles

Facebook Group: Work-For-Money, Homeschool & Family Balance

I have finally decided that it is better for me as a homeschool mom, this year, not to TRY to make money, but to take it if it comes. I could sell thrivelife foods and food storage stuff, usborne or doterra. I have my own graphic design business and a client wants a logo, and to meet this week. I have to call him sometime this week. 

Maybr today I will call him around 3 pm-ish, after homeschool academics are accomplished.

I am also trying to make a homeschool math curriculum that will allow people to teach all kids at once, olders and youngers, with the same main topic, but different specifics (like all learn multiplication, but the 7th grader does pre-algebra multiplication and the kindergartener learns 2 times 1; or all learn geometry, but the 2nd grader oearns what makes a trapezoid and what a parallelogram is, while the 5th grader learns about tangrams).

I recently found the book “Hands Free Mama” and I have decided not to try at making money, but just to take it if it comes. This book talks about how this is my life, now, And I mustn’t tell myself that later, I will live my life as I want it. I must live in the now. I do not know when my kids will lose me. Nobody knows what the future holds. We must not act as if we have all the time in the world. Now our kids are supposed to have our time. Later, we will have lost this time that we have right now. I am trying to become more of a hands free mom (with my time freed up to spend it with loved ones on a daily basis).

This means, I do not make any effort at any of the endeavors. However, if someone says, I want to order an usborne book, I will send them to my web site. If someone wants a thrive product, I let them order it (I have no web site, as they are $10 a month). If someone wants doterra, I send them to my website.

If someone wants graphic design, I will meet with them. I have set prices. If someone wants to pay less than my set prices, I no longer let myself consider it, even if it is a worthy, good cause. I just say, I am too busy homeschooling and I cannot do that. If someone is willing to pay my price, I will do the work for them. There are so many people who call themselves graphic designers nowadays, and people have even told me about getting a logo for five bucks. Those people will not have my time. They have no clue how much different my education, experience and knowledge is and they do not care. I will not entertain the thought of even considering, doing an ounce of work for them. They do not know or appreciate the value of me. Those who do, I am happy to drop everything for and work very hard for. I love being appreciated!

The math curriculum is something I work on anyway, because I want it for my family. I am creating it for my family. Later, a benefit will be that I will get to sell it. The only challenge there is to inhibit myself from giving it away for free. I have to say to myself, “NO. THEY CAN WAIT until it is ready to sell!”

I blog like crazy, but do not make money blogging. I do not know how to do that. I would like to have my blog bring in money, but it does not. I do get excited, though. I got to above 900 views with around 700 unique visitors the other day and was so pleased. If ai only knew how to make it so, this could bring in some cash!



So, there you have it, if you were wondering what it is like to be a money-earning work-at-home Homeschool mom! If you have any more that you were wondering about regarding this topic, just comment your question!

LDS Women Can Make Academic Curriculum!

One really great quote by President Brigham Young on LDS Homeschool Curriculum Writing and Publishing is here below.

“We want to make our own school books. We are paying now from thirty thousand to sixty thousand dollars a year for school books that can be made here just as well as to send and buy them abroad. This is carrying out the plan and principles of building up Zion, whether you know it or not. We may preach until Doomsday, and tell how Zion will look, how wide her streets will be, what kind of dwellings her people will have, what kind of carriages and what fine horses they will have, and what a beautiful looking set of people they will be, but it is all nonsense to talk about what we will never reach if we do not stop our folly and wickedness. We have the privilege of building up and enjoying Zion, and I am telling you how to do it. We want the women, from this time forth, to go to work and save the paper rags, and we will make the paper for them. And they can learn to make type. I can pick hundreds and hundreds of women out of this congregation that could go into a shop and make type just as will as men, it is a trifling thing. And they can learn to set type, and they can learn how to write for our school books. We have plenty of men and women that know how to write books, and how to teach too. We have just as good school teachers here as any in the world.”

President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 16:17)

He made a great point here, or a few great points. We cannot just talk about Zion. We have to have actions that show sincerity. We have to show faith by our actions. What, in 2015, are people waiting for? Zion is not something that President Monson is going to create for us, then invite us to join in on. Zion is something that united LDS people will create by coming together, having faith and being determined.

Brigham Young is also telling us here, that we LDS members must educate our own kids, that we have those among us talented and able, to write curriculum, design it, get it printed and publish it. We already have much selection in LDS Homeschool Curricula. We have the talent among us to make even more!

I am working on math standards created by piecing togehter the following:

Pre Common Core Utah Math Standards
Constance Kamii math principles, as covered in her Piaget-based research
My own math education (what was taught each year when I was in school)
What I know of my childrens’ abilities at each age
What I know about teaching math at home
What kids need the most in real life, put first
What I want my kids to know at each age
Math divided by topic, then by subtopic, first, and, last, by grade level within the topic and subtopic; Also, math divided by grade level, then by topic and subtopic (so that a parent can teach using one or the other)

If I can do this, why can others who are LDS not also do this? Ehy must we depend on members of other churches making “Christian” curricula? Why should we depend on non-LDS teachers? We can teach our own children. We can! I know, because I can. I know you can, too!

I know many of you who di homeschool ar thinking that the academic strength of LDS Homeschool Curricula is likely not good. I challenge those who think this to go onto the LDS Homeschool Curricula page, click on the links which I have labeled for having academics taught from an LDS Perspective, get samplea of these and try them out with your kids.

For those of you who are not yet homeschooling, I challenge you to contact someone you know personally who home educates and ask them for a tour of their homeschool set-up in their house, with some information on how they do it. I also suggest you join a facebook grouo for local homeschoolers and local LDS homeschoolers, so that you can go to group events and meet these people while you are making this decision about whether to do this yourself.

Please also go with your spouse to the temple, praying before and after about whether it be right to LDS homeschool your kids. I know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for you and yours.

Heavenly Father was involved in our decision to LDS Homeschool. I also recently received personal revelation that I need to unite the local LDS Homeschooling Community, so that we may be one in God’s hands (for if we are not one, we are not his). This blog post is part of that effort. I hope it helps many people!

I share this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

LDS Homeschooling Northern Utah fb page