This Week In School

Compassion: Christlike Love

Virtue of the week: COMPASSION

Scripture of the week: "Be ye of one mind, having compassion one of another."

Article of Faith: #1We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost

Quote #1: "Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment, we rise above ourselves." Mason Cooley-Author

Quote #2: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel." Bonnie Wasmund-Author

We've had such a wonderful week! We spent our devotional time discussing the virtue of Compassion. The children were taught of the Savior's compassion and of the many healings performed because he had/has compassion on everyone!

We reminded the children of the Golden Rule, and discussed the scripture where the Savior said, "If ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". We also showed a video of theGood Samaritan and read stories about Compassion.

Sister Dale's class especially enjoyed the short story, "Where Love Is, God Is", by Leo Tolstoy, and are almost finished with the book Pollyanna- a heart warming story about a little girl who's compassion, positive attitude and friendliness changes an entire town.

Sister Rosa's class finished Charlotte's Web, a wonderful story of true friendship, loyalty and compassion! We've been able to bring your children face to face with excellent examples of people with compassionate hearts and have challenged them to each find ways to help and serve others during this Christmas season and always!

The children also started a poem that they will perform in the Christmas program. We began teaching it on Monday, and they already have it memorized! Yep, they are brilliant! We also had almost everyone memorize all of the quotes, and scriptures this week!

We also started working on our Christmas program! It's going to be amazing! Please mark your calendars for THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16TH!

This Week In School

"HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!"

Virtue of the week: GRATITUDE

Scripture of the week: "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things."

Article of Faith: #13 We believe believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. Indeed we may say that we follow, the admonition of Paul. We believe all things, we hope all things we have endured many thing things and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Quote #1: "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has" Epictetus-Greek Philosopher

Quote #2: "We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." -Thomas S. Monson

Guest Speaker

On Thursday the 18th we will also be welcoming a famous artist (Sam Lawlor)to come and talk to us. This is the privilege that the children have earned for the month of November with their Liberty Loot (instead of a field trip). His work can be seen every month in "The Friend" magazine. For the month of November his work is on page 15 and for the previous month of October, his work is on pages 14 and 15. It would be fun to take some time prior to Thursday to look through old Friend magazines to fine his pictures! We are really excited to hear him teach us about his experiences!

This Week In School

"GRATITUDE IS THE MARK OF A NOBLE SOUL"

Virtue of the week: GRATITUDE

Scripture of the week: "Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is HE that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name."

Article of Faith: #12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.

Quote #1: "Gratitude creates the most wonderful feeling. It can resolve disputes. It can strengthen friendships. And it makes us better men and women" -Gordon B. Hinckley

Quote #2: "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger to a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."-
Melody Beattie (Author)

We challenged the children to have an "attitude of gratitude" and to take extra time each day to find gratitude in their hearts for all their blessings and challenges that they face! We also encouraged them to spend more time on thanking our Heavenly Father during their prayers and less time asking for things. We have seen a huge improvement in their prayers here at school as they have each taken the time to find the goodness around them and to also thank the Lord for these things. We also talked to the children about other ways to express our thanks by doing service and sharing the blessings that we have with others in need!

The children were shown a video about a man with no legs and no arms who plays golf, goes fishing and boating, and has not let his disabilities stop him from doing what he wants in his life. He talked about how thinking that you're not enough, or perfect, just the way you are is A BIG FAT LIE! As a motivational speaker he teaches that we need to be grateful for who and what we are, the way we are, with all of our strengths and weaknesses because we can do amazing things, and be happy NO MATTER WHAT our life brings us. We also watched a video about children less fortunate and talked about how much they each have compared to what others have and talked about the song, "Because I Have Been Given Much." We explained that because we have so much more than so many people, we need to be extra grateful and realize that we've been given more, so that we can serve others! We also talked about how grateful we are for our veterans who have fought for the freedoms that we enjoy and our responsibility to perpetuate freedom!

Liberty Youth Academy Choir

CHOIR- We are working on our Christmas program and we've invited homeschoolers, and their friends to participate with us! If you have someone that you think would like to participate, then please tell them to give me a call A.S.A.P. 435-668-4804! Everyone who participates will get a part, and the cost is $20.00 per student, or $25.00 per family per month. We have choir on Monday -Wednesday from 1:50-2:25.

Thanksgiving Feast

On Thursday, November 18th, we will be having a "feast" at school, and celebrating the courage and faith of the Pilgrims! Your child can invite one person to come and eat their feast with them. We will be eating at 11:30!

This Week In School

"I AM A CHILD OF GOD"

Virtue of the week: ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

Scripture of the week: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God!" Romans 8:16
Article of Faith: #11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God, according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Quote #1: "If you really know that you are a child of God, you will also know that he expects much of you-His Child!" -Gordon B. Hinckley (General Conference 2003)

Quote #2: "Never forget my dear young friends that you are really a child of God who has inherited something of His divine nature. One whom He loves, and desires to help and bless" -Gordon B. Hinckley (General Conference 2003)

We discussed the importance of really knowing that we are a literal son or daughter of Heavenly Father. When we know this our choices are different. When we really know this we treat others differently. We talked about people from history and the scriptures who knew who they were as evidenced by the choices that they made, their response to commands from God, and their desires to make the world a better place.

Literacy Week ROCKS!!!

"A book is a gift you can open again and again!!"

Literacy week was absolutely wonderful! I am so grateful for all of our guest speakers who took time to come in and tell about their experiences! We had 3 authors, 2 illustrators, a librarian from the Washington library and a few parents who came in and read to the children, and even an armadillo who made a guest appearance and taught us to line dance! The children were completely engaged as each person came in and shared their literary experiences. It was a great week and enjoyed by all!

Monday-author of the book, 33 Habits of a Really Good Man (found in Seagull Books or through her personally at www.polarstarstudies.com) Yvonne Swinson came in and told of writing a book about her father! She told stories about how her father had touched her life, made her laugh, and inspired her to be a better person. She decided that she should share her father's unique perspective and favorite life's mantras through compiling a book with stories of her experiences with him and his favorite quotes. We were interested to find out the process of getting a book published, that's she's working on a few other books, and that after an author gets a book published, he/she is responsible for the marketing and sales of that book, not the publishing company! She read from her book and shared some letters from people who had sent her letters letting her know that her book had changed their lives, or inspired them to be a better father. She showed a letter to the children that President Monson wrote to her applauding her work! She also handed out 5 free copies to children who answered certain questions correctly.

We also greatly enjoyed having Mark Swan-Disney cartoonist and illustrator come in and share his experiences working on great animated films like, Space Jam, Land Before Time 1-4, An American Tale, All Dogs Go To Heaven, and most recently Curious George, to name a few. He's also illustrated several factual animal books, a coloring book for Zions. He taught the children the basic principles of drawing using basic shapes. The children LOVED learning from him and finding out that he trained a long time, going to school at BYU to be prepared to have this career.

Tuesday- we welcomed Daylene Ure, author of Today I Want To Be A Hedgehog and Renee Kimball, who illustrated this adorable children's book. They each told about their individual part in the publishing of this book. We learned about a few publishing rules, like all books are published in multiples of 4! It took many years, and a few mistakes but the end product was well worth the effort! They left a signed copy for our school, and they are offering a Liberty Youth Academy discount! If you go to Barnes And Noble, or Amazon.com you will find their book for $15.00, however, if you order through them directly, and tell them you are from Liberty Youth Academy they will sell it to you for only $8.00! Just email Daylene at daylened@msn.com if you're interested in getting your own copy.

As part of literacy week we worked on the elements of a story and were so inspired by the wonderful authors we'd heard from that we decided to work on writing some of our own short stories which we shared with our classmates. We also took turns reading our favorite children's books to each other and wow, the book worm grew and grew! Earning a pizza party for Thursday was NO PROBLEM AT ALL!

Thursday- Brother Wolverton, known to some of you as David Farland and author of the Ravenspell Books Series, Runelords Fantasy Series, (found in Deseret Books), and author of at least 12 other New York Times Best Sellers, and winner of numerous literary awards, came and talked to the children and signed copies of the children's books. He told us about how he became a famous author, his experiences with working with George Lucas on some Star Wars books, and video games. He also did a fun activity with the children where he led them through the writing of a story, and what the important elements are. He told me later that he was really impressed with the fact that they knew what was needed, and was impressed with their imaginations! He also gave the school the Ravenspell series, and some posters for the school (which won an award for the animation). It was soooo interesting! Our favorite part was when her read a section out of his Mice and Magic. He agreed to come next year, and I'm thinking we need to invite parents to that for sure!

We also had librarian Laurie from the Washington City library come in and read some fun Halloween limericks and Shel Silverstein poems (which they acted out) to the children. We then did a fun Halloween craft with her.

The children really enjoyed seeing each others costumes and guessing who they each were!

"There's a Wocket in My Pocket!"

For P.E. during Literacy Week, our amazing teacher, Sister Mitchell, had tons of fun DR. SEUSS RELATED P.E. ACTIVITIES!!!! It was so fun! We would do the games and read part of a Dr. Seuss book related to the book. SOOOOOO fun and creative-THANK YOU SISTER MITCHELL!

Staheli Farm Field Trip!

Staheli Farm! Whoot Whoot! What a fun day! It was a little chilly at first but it warmed up and was absolutely perfect. We learned about the farm animals, took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, learned how to grow all kinds of pumpkins, and watched the pig races! We had a picnic lunch and after-wards played on their playground. It was a wonderful activity. Our guide from Staheli Farms was so impressed with our students and told the children that they were one of her favorite groups she's ever had! Thank you to all the parents that helped make this field trip possible! We have the best families!!!

Rockin' it at the Radio Station!

Our first field trip this year was to the local radio station! We met the morning personality John Smith and got a tour of his office and the main computer/control station! The children had a TON of questions and learned so much! He actually mentioned that we had the best questions of any group and also said we were the most well behaved! :-) At the end of the tour we were able to have the children sing to the whole staff the song "The Climb!!" The staff cheered and complimented them with huge smiles on their faces!! It was pretty next experience and the kids had a blast!!

Literacy Week

When school resumes on October 25th, it will be the beginning of LITERACY WEEK! This is my favorite week of the year! We are going to be having guest authors, illustrators, professional storytellers, and guest readers (hopefully that's YOU- grandma, grandpa, friends etc.) come in and tell and read their favorite children's stories to the children!

You will be receiving a phone call from a member of the PAC to schedule a time that would work for you! Also we will be having a book reading contest. The children will be given a circle to add to the "Book Worm" for every book that they read, or are read to. WE NEED THE BOOK WORM TO GET ALL THE WAY AROUND THE SCHOOL SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A PIZZA PARTY ON THURSDAY!

HERE'S SOME OTHER FUN LITERACY WEEK ACTIVITIES:

Monday: PLEASE WEAR CLEAN UNIFORMS, AND PANTS/SKIRTS IN GOOD REPAIR. WE WILL BE TAKING PICTURES THAT WILL BE IN THE PHONE BOOK!

TUESDAY: D.E.A.R.-DROP EVERYTHING AND READ DAY! The children are invited to come in their MODEST pajamas, (no sleeveless shirts or shorts please) and can bring a pillow, or blanket, and their favorite children's story to share with their friends! (Please put their name on the book:)

WEDNESDAY: STAHELI FARMS FILED TRIP- Come with us as we learn about a working farm, and the farm animals, take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and run through the corn maze! We will be needing drivers, but younger siblings would enjoy this field trip too! We will be leaving the school promptly at 9:25!

THURSDAY: The children are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Literary Character! No scary or bloody costumes please, or masks! This is NOT a Halloween dress up activity, rather a celebration of our favorite characters from our favorite books.

This Week In School

Virtue of the week: WORK

Scripture of the week: Moses 1:39-"For behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Article of Faith: #9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal, many great and important things, pertaining to the Kingdom of God!

Quote #1: "I believe in luck, and I have found that the more that I work, the more I have of it." -Thomas Jefferson 3rd U.S. President

Quote #2: "Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do, which is probably why there are so few thinkers. That which we seek in life requires effort, preparation, study, and perseverance, and the determination to choose the right when a choice is placed before us." Thomas S. Monson-Prophet

"WORK FIRST, PLAY LATER"-Dallin H. Oaks Life's Motto

We learned about the value of good, hard work, and that anything worth having, or doing is worth working hard for and doing our best! We also learned that even Heavenly Father works, and His work is to help us return to him. The children really enjoyed reviewing the Conference talks, specifically the Apostles and First Presidencies talks. I was really surprised at how much they remembered and also at how many "liked" the story about the cow that died. That seemed to have a HUGE impact on many of them:) We then set some goals that we can "work" on for the next 6 months. The children will be reminded to look at these goals that they wrote in their journals on a regular basis and evaluate how they are doing! We learned a new song about all of the First Presidency and the12 Apostles. Ask your kids to sing it to you. Here's how it begins-
"Thomas S. Monson was the Prophet you know....Henry B. Eyring is the next below, Dieter F. Uchtdorf is third you see, and that makes up the first presidency!"

Reading Program

CLASSROOMS CARE!

Our school began a reading program which was introduced to the children last week. They can help Scholastic donate a MILLION books for needy children IF they read 10 books each between now and December!!!!. The children are very excited about participating! Please help your children find time to read every day so that we can accomplish this goal and have them write down the books that they have read, INCLUDING THE AUTHOR, WHEN THEY STARTED, AND WHEN THEIR BOOK WAS FINISHED. WE HAVE TO KEEP TRACK OF THIS! A COPY OF THEIR READING LOG WENT HOME WITH THEM YESTERDAY!

This Week In School

"COME LISTEN TO A PROPHET'S VOICE, AND HEAR THE WORD OF GOD!"

This week we focused on the virtue of RESPONSIBILITY and talked to the children about some of their responsibilities that they have around the house, to their families, their country and to God. We talked primarily about the responsibility to listen to the prophets this weekend during Conference and about what a privilege it is to have living prophets to lead and guide us! We also took some time to get to know a little about the First Presidency and the Quorum of The Twelve. Ask your children who was a bomber pilot, who was a nuclear physicist, and who raises pigeons! We introduced the children to a song where they are learning their names. Next week we will continue to work on memorizing them in order of seniority and their names and review what they talked about in Conference and set some goals for ourselves for the next 6 months.

Virtue of the week: RESPONSIBILITY

Scripture of the week: 2nd Corinthians 5:10- For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Article of Faith: We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly, we also believe the Book of Mormon, to be the word of God

Quote #1: "In times like these men should utter nothing for which they would not be willingly responsible for, time and in eternity" -Abraham Lincoln 16th U.S. President of the USA

Quote #2: "A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make." -Denis Waitley Motivational Speaker and Writer