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PAGE DIRECTORY:
ARTICLES and FREE CLASSES
ARTICLE - "FYI - WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?"
FREE Parent Class: "PARENT STRATEGIES for STUDENT SUCCESS"
"FYI - WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?"
Well, folks, we are now in our 4th year of trying to get the currciculum online.
At times it has been downright discouraging. But hope looms eternal.
Yes, looking back we ARE making some significant progress, even though if seems at times that we are going backwards.
Historic Timeline:
Jauary, 2009 - We determine to put the full curriculum online.
June, 2009 - The website developers finally get the format created.
November, 2009 - The first course, Book of Mormon, Level One appears online.
By December, 2010 - Four or five more courses come online.
January-February, 2011 - A rash of actvitiy results in about 30 courses fully on line.
Summer, 2011 - Closed the dayschool to concentrate on the curriculum, sabotaged by ill-health.
Fall, 2011 - Changed the format resulting in courses getting dumped offline and a mass of confusion for everyone.
January, 2012 - Reverted back to putting full curriculum online - Preschool through Honors High School and all subject areas.
Now - January,2012, we are putting on the Preschool and Kindergarten curriculums in their fullness, the lack of which has caused considerable difficulty.
From there we will rapidly fill-out the lower levels and move by subject through the middle levels. The higher levels, 9 through 14 will take another
year or two.
2 - PARENT STRATEGIES for STUDENT SUCCESS
Greetings! and CONGRATULATIONS! Just by reading this, you know that YOU are SERIOUS about your child succeeding. This article discusses strategies
parents can use to help their students succeed. Student strategies for success are sprinkled throughout the curriculum. Now, to
discuss 'success', we must first come to a common understanding of the term.
At BEEHIVE success means acquiring and applying spiritual, academic, and life skills knowledge in order to perform well
the various missions Our Heavenly Father has for us and thereby be all we are meant to be in this life and in eternity. In fine, it means being
'in sync' with the Divine and living a life of obedience, good works, and inner peace and joy. With this definition in mind, we can talk of how YOU can
help YOUR student succeed.
The Book of Mormon is our best guide on
how to help our children achieve success as we have defined it. We need to look no further than its first few chapters in I Nephi to find what is required.
First, the parent sets the pattern. "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my
father;" (I Nephi 1:1) tells us that good parents teach their own children a portion of all they have learned - spiritual, academic, and life skills.
WE ARE EXPECTED TO PASS ON TO OUR POSTERITY THAT WHICH WE OURSELVES KNOW. This doesn't just mean writing down our insights and learning in a journal for
posterity, though that IS important. But, rather, it means daily and continually communicating and sharing with our children the skills and knowledge,
insights and testimonies we acquire.
Your child should know, in as full a measure as possible, what you know. If you know accounting, pass it on. If you know dressmaking, pass it on. If
you know how to organize, pass it on. If you know how to coach Little League, pass it on. This is what is expected of us as parents, to teach our
children what we, ourselves, know.
A great example of this is a couple we met through business. The family was bilingual. They decided early on that the father would speak only Spanish
to the children and the mother would speak only English to them. By the time the youngsters were eight, they had each acquired a mastery of two languages.
WHAT A GIFT! Conversely, two young people were each raised by very frugal parents, both sets of whom neglected to teach their offspring how to budget
and manage finances. As a result, this couple struggled through most of their adult lives. WHAT A SHAME! WHAT A DIFFERENCE
PARENTS CAN MAKE!
Second, parents can set the example. Habits make us or break us. PERIOD!!! Of what habits, specifically are we speaking? CHRIST-like habits: the
habits we are encouraged to cultivate in the Scriptures. Here, we will list a few that have seemed to us to be paramount.
Speaking softly, without hype, sincerely and matter-of-factly. "A soft answer turneth away wrath." Proverbs 15:1. "Let your communication be Yea, yea;
Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil." Matthew 5:37; 3 Nephi 12:37
Going to bed early, getting up early, not wasting time or being idle. "Cease to be idle;...cease to sleep longer than
needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary, arise early, that your bodies and minds may be invigorated." See Doctrine & Covennants 88:124
Being clean - in all ways - physically inside and out; spiritually; mentally. "...cease to be unclean..." Doctrine and
Covenants 88:124
Being wise and taking the Holy Spirit for your guide. Learning to organize your life around His promptings. "For they
that are wise and have received the truth and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived - verily I say unto you, they shall
not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day." Doctrine and Covenants 45:57
Abiding by the WORD of WISDOM. (More detail on this subject can be found in the online course given below "Raising a Healthy Student".)
Basically, by applying the Word of Wisdom in our lives we can: ""...be obedient...receive health...find wisdom and great
treasures of knowledge...run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint, And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall
pass them by, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen." Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21
Being loving, forgiving, charitable, respectful of all. "..but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his
sayings, that when all have spoken all may be edified of all, that every man may have an equal privilege....love one another, cease to be covetous; learn
to impart to one another as the gospel requires,...cease to find fault with one another...And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity,
as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace." Doctrine and Covenants 88: 122-125
Being prayerful, always having a prayer in your heart for the welfare of yourself, your spouse, and your children. " Counsel
with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou lie down at night, lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in
your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things; ye shall be lifted up at the last day."
Book of Mormon, Alma 37:37 "Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call
upon his holy name, that he would have mercy on you; Yea, cry unto him for mercy, for he is mighty to save. Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer
unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning,
mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields that they may increase. But this is not all;
ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and in your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts
be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those around you." Alma 34:17-32 "Pray always, that ye may
not faint, until I come. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen." Doctrine and Covenants 88:126
Being a follower of the Spirit. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26
Third, parents set the level of commitment. Commitment in our dictionary is to agree to do something and follow through by DOING IT, no matter
how difficult it becomes or how much it costs - in time, money, effort, and persistence! We can become committed to many different things. The FIRST, of
course is our commitment to the Lord, taken on at our baptism, to be obedient. Another commitment we have is to our spouse. A third area of commitment is
to our children. How committed are we to seeing that they have a roof over their heads, clothing, food; physical, mental, and emotional health; spiritual
understanding, a good education, and a career through which they can support themselves and their families? Some parents that I have observed are very
lackadaisical about their children's upbringing. They seem to act as if, that somehow, what they know and feel was passed through their genes or
something. They almost seem to expect the children to raise themselves. This is NOT the pattern we are given in the Book of Mormon. Both Lehi and Alma
were 'hands on' parents. We have excerpts of their teachings to their children. They were committed to seeing that the sons 'succeed', in every sense of
the word. When our children see our level of committment to their success, they will likely be as committed to it themselves. Of
course, there are parents who are committed to their children's success, whose children aren't; and children who are committed to their own success whose
parents don't help. But, for most families, the parents' level of committment will be mimmicked by the children. "If this is that important to my parent, then
it must be important." That is the mindset.
To truly help your student succeed, YOUR mindset would include: YOU setting the pattern - teaching your child how to parent and thus blessing many
future generations; You setting the example, - living and instilling eternal habits/principles in the lives of yourself and your family; and YOU setting
the level of committment - determining how involved in the raising of your children you will be, how hard you will work at it, and how much time and
effort you put into their success. If we look at what Our Father, himself, does as our parent, we see the pattern, the example, and the
committment. We would do well to follow his example, for as He stated (Moses 1:39): "For behold, this is my work and my glory-to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man." Our work and glory is to help Our Father in his work, especially in regard to those over whom He has given us
stewardship. The goal of this site, and especially of the online curriculum, is to help you in this endeavor.
I wish you every success with your students. I am... Mrs. Mary Kessler,ED.D., Director of Beehive LDS Schooling, LLC.
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