LDS Homeschool Conference- part 2

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God  -D&C 88:119

When I first received my Conference Program Book, I was delighted that there were 24 classes to choose from. It was really hard to narrow it down to 6. Thankfully, they recorded the whole conference so each class will be available soon!

The first class I attended was called "A House of Order" by Regan Barnes. This was her class description: I will share how my children and I make the gospel an integral part of our lives, patterning our systems after Heavenly Father's systems!  I will help you recognize how Heavenly Father helps us grow in certain ways, through routines and order... Then I will help you figure out how to keep similar order in your own homeschool routine.  When we strive to make our home a heaven on earth, then we (both as parents and children in the family) can be homeschooled by Heavenly Father himself through the Holy Ghost! 

 I was very intrigued by what she meant about patterning her systems after Heavenly Father's. She gave us a great example. Sacrement Meeting vs. our homeschool day. We listed out what happens each week at Sacrament Meeting. There's someone there to greet you, prelude music, prayers, announcements, the Sacrament prayers, a program,  We then drew parallels with our day. Greeting- does each family member feel welcome and loved. As they come into the room before school, do we smile and say good morning cheerfully? The music- Is there something you do to set the tone and invite the Spirit? For our family we sing a hymn.  Her family sings their mission statement set to the hymn "carry on". Her 6 kids came in and sang it to us. Very fun! In place of the "carry on" in the chorus they sang "we are the Barnes, we are the Barnes, we are the Barnes". Prayers- praying throughout the day. Announcements- Letting everyone know what is expected of them throughout the day.  Going over the schedule. Sacrament prayers- Doing whatever our repetitious things are for the day. In our house those are the things like the Pledge of Allegiance, reciting the scriptures that we are working on, working on our Articles of Faith and The Living Christ, etc. The program- Doing your daily schedule and routine. She also talked about Testimony meeting being once a month and that could equate to a day that we share with each other what we have learned. 

She also had a list of P's on the board. Progression- Always striving for the Lord's plan of progression. Think of drawing an upward spiral. You are always moving upward but sometimes for a short time your hand falls to the bottom of that circle, but you quickly head back up on the higher path. Does that make sense at all? It is a deep contrast to the Nephite pride cycle that is a circle of events, but it keeps repeating itself over and over again with no progression upward. Principles- Always teach the Lord's principles, not the worlds. Purpose- Why are we here? Why are we homeschooling? Patterns- The Lord has certain patterns. We should pattern our homes and homeschooling after them. Personalities- Remember that each child is unique with his/her own personality and that is OK. Choose different patterns for them. 

She also cautioned us to not worry so much about perfection.  Sometimes we worry so much about doing it perfectly that we become paralyzed and do nothing. We should also not "overload" our children with information and facts.  We need to concentrate more on "writing it on there hearts". I truly believe that the Holy Ghost will help us do this.