The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty

We read The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty as part of Family School.

I've heard many homeschoolers recommend G. A. Henty's books, because they are well-researched historical novels. This was our first experience reading one.

The Cat of Bubastes takes place in Ancient Egypt in about 1200 BC.

Amuba is the prince of the Rebu, when Egypt comes and conquers his people. His father dies in battle, and his mother poisons herself in her despair. Amuba is taken to Egypt as a slave, where he serves a kind master, Ameres, the High Priest of Osiris.

In Egypt, he becomes friends with Chebron, the boy he is assigned to serve. When Chebron accidentally kills the sacred cat of Bubastes, the boys are forced to flee.

This story is full of adventure, morals, a tiny bit of romance, and intrigue.

This book made an entertaining read-aloud, but I think kids would have a hard time getting through it on their own. Bubs (9) and Welly (7) really enjoyed it, but one chapter per day was enough. Wy (4) sometimes felt like a chapter was more than he could handle.

We learned a lot from this book...a lot about Ancient Egyptian culture. It's also a fabulous coming-of-age type story.

LDS Homeschool Conference Notes

On Saturday, I went to the Latter-day Learning Conference at American Heritage School, and my cup is full. What a great day! I feel on fire with excitement.

The morning began with an inspiring keynote address by Nick Gentile. Here are some of my notes.

• Doctrine and Covenants 29:34- All things are spiritual; God never gave us a law that was only temporal.
• In the Doctrine and Covenants manual, it says that man makes the distinction between temporal and spiritual, not God.
• Elder Wirthlin, at the October 2007 General Conference said that God sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming.
• Referenced the talk, An Education for Real Life, by President Henry B. Eyring.
• Described the 4R-ing system to learning: Research, Reason, Relate, Record.
• Make SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, time-bound.

For the first breakout sessions, I listened to Jane Mack and Nannette Wiggins, who spoke about how The Family School curriculum came to be. It has been a long and time-consuming process that is blessing the lives of many! They talked about "laying the Gospel as the foundation of every subject". It was an interesting class, but I didn't take many notes, I'm afraid.

During the second session, I heard from Lauri Updike, a teacher at American Heritage School. 

• Peculiar people are His treasure.
• Neil Flinders, author of Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to Education , said that true religion includes ALL the Lord has given us.
• We should treat our kids as children of God. Assume the best of them. Have high expectations.
• Use primary sources and prophetic quotes to find truth.
• Study the meaning behind words. 1. Dictionary 2. Words of living Prophets 3. Scriptures 4. Reason out a personal definition relating it to your own life.
• 4Rs help us self-govern.
• We want Christ "written in the fleshy tables of our hearts".

After the second session, I went out to a delicious lunch with a couple friends. My friend, Liz, highly recommends the book, 10 critical keys for highly effective Mormon families.

After lunch, Ruel Haymond gave an incredible class, entitled Like it or Not, Likening is the Key.

• The natural man in each of us wants to liken unto everyone except ourselves.
• It's easy to read and think, "Those dumb Nephites. If they could only see!" We need to apply to our own lives instead.
• We can overcome the natural man through hope in Christ.
• Recommends the book, TO END ALL WARS
  by Ernest Gordon and the documentary, Miracle on the River Kwai.

Next, I heard Diann Jeppson speak about Family Devotionals.

• Her family likes to "play missionary". Diann pretends to be an investigator and asks kids questions about the Church. They are supposed to incorporate an Article of Faith in their answer.
• Possible Building Blocks of devotional include: prayer, song, memorizing scriptures, Our Heritage, Teaching the Topics of Themes (her personal favorite**), True to the Faith (older kids), scriptures, spelling, creative writing, inspiring quotes, locate a couple places on a map, recite family mission statement or a family cheer, Pledge of Allegiance, Monday Morning at the Movies (watch a conference talk), read a family history story, manners, etc.
• Strategies: 1. Food is a great gatherer. 2. Give people something to do with their hands. (coloring, knitting, crochet, carving, fixing something...) 3. Be consistent, even when it has to be short. 4. Tell stories in your own words.

Lastly, I chose to listen to an experienced panel of homeschoolers.

1. To motivate your children:

• Praise them.
• Be sure your requirements are worthwhile.
• Take a long-term view.
• Set the stage with older kids.
• Work and play WITH them.
• Give stars or beans in a jar for every time they happily say, "Sure, Mom. I'd be glad to." Let them earn ice cream or field trips.

2. Favorite things about homeschooling:

• Time spent together.
• Great discussions because they learn to be good conversationalists.
• Kids become your friends.

3. Take time for yourself. Even the Savior left the press of the multitude to go apart.

Those are my notes. I'm kind of a conference junkie. I love days like this, when I can go fill my cup to overflowing and come home refreshed and ready to stretch and grow.

Emily blogs at Homespun Light, where she talks about books, homeschool, books, religion, crafts, and books.

(I wrote this post for Latter-day Homeschooling. If you are an LDS homeschooler, you'll definitely want to check it out!)

Happiness

I recently started a new homeschool curriculum with my 4 kids. It's LDS-based and covers science, history, geography, art, literature, and music. We are enjoying it, and I plan to do a thorough review soon.

Until then, if you are an LDS homeschooler, find out more about it at www.latterdaylearning.org.

(If you are wondering what the heck LDS means, it's what we Mormons call ourselves. You can learn more here.)

Today we studied literature for Family School. Each lesson is based on Gospel Principles. As part of literature today, we read The Fisherman and His Wife and Rumplestiltskin. We talked about selfishness and greed and about what brings true happiness vs. what brings short-term pleasure.

Anyway, I've been thinking about that today.

Bubs, who is 9, has a talent for selflessness. He gets it. He thinks about others' happiness before his own. On Wednesday night, he had to get stitches. It was a first for our family.

He had been taking apart on old DVD player, and he left some pieces on the floor in his room. Well, he got startled, tripped, and cut deeply into one of his toes.

It was late by the time he got back from the ER. We were all tired.

The next morning, his sister (Welly, age 7) said that Bubs was sobbing during the night in pain. She told him she was going to wake me up, but he wouldn't let her. He told her to let me sleep because I was up so late.

So unselfish. That's the beauty of it, though. We find true happiness in seeking the happiness of others. When we put our own happiness first, it falls short.