The Richest Man

The Richest Man in Babylon is a fantastic book to change your wealth paradigm. Originally published in 1926 as a series of booklets, the chapters are a little disjointed, but well worth the read. Clason espouses some very simple wealth building principles. First, save 10% for yourself. Secondly, invest 10% with the advice of knowledgeable and prudent advisers. Finally, he recommends using 20% of your income monthly as payments to get out of any debt you may have. Clason recommends distributing this debt payoff amount evenly between all outstanding debts, thus paying them simultaneously. The remaining 60% can be used for living expenses. He encourages thrift and fortitude to lift oneself to wealth and warns against gaining wealth quickly.

This book is applicable today when so much of the nation is in debt and living from one paycheck to the next. Many delightfully told stories of lifting oneself from poverty and dishonor to hard-won wealth sympathize with our situation and encourage diligent effort.

One piece is missing: the tithe. A 10% donation to God will certainly yield greater benefit than any investment. Also, after debt payoff, increasing donations and/or investments and continuing to live on 60% of your income would be a good idea.

Math Puzzles 1

Math. The very word strikes terror into the hearts of many youth (and even more adults). If this is the situation at your house, here is some hopeful news: Math skills can be learned in a fun way.

I like to use games to build the underlying math reasoning skills that are essential to higher math. Here are a couple to try:

Sudoku - also known as "Number Place" is easy to find on-line and in print. My nine-year-old does the easy ones and loves them, while the older children and I work on the difficult puzzles. Sudoku teaches a child to look for the answers in a logical fashion, step by step.
Frameworks - If the thought of doing a "number" puzzle makes you ill, try this word puzzle instead. It teaches the same logical reasoning as Sudoku, but without the numbers. Instructions are included at this Framework sample from Dell.
Logic Problems - Logic problems are a little more difficult, but a great skill builder. Many sites offer a range of puzzles from easy to challenging.

The Explosion into Reading

"Mom, I just read a book for the first time!" What wonderful rewards there are in motherhood, especially homeschooling motherhood. This is one of the most rewarding. Our son turned six less than a month ago and now, evidently, has decided that he wants to read. He has had no reading lessons, worksheets, no tears or reading homework. He has worked with the Montessori sandpaper letters and moveable alphabet off and on for the past two years, learning a few and then moving on to math - his favorite. Then all of a sudden he decides to read and does it.

Montessori described this phenomenon as the explosion into reading. Having gained all of the necessary information needed to know how to read, a child will one day put all the pieces together and begin reading. Typically a child will work with the sandpaper letters, moveable alphabet and the pink (phonetic consonant-vowel-consonant) collection of words. Due to the ability of each child to decide what he would like to accomplish with his time, he may not do all of the same steps that another child will do in order to begin reading.

The next couple of weeks will be particularly fun as he explores all of the many reading skills which he has gained over his years of "playing" with the Montessori materials.

Franc D'Ambrosio

Last night my family attended a performance by Franc D'Ambrosio titled "Broadway." It was fantastic. I and my children were entranced. Franc performed as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera for five years. When he sang "Music of the Night" it brought tears to my eyes.

About once each year Monticello has a performer of Franc's ability perform in the high school auditorium. A coalition of businesses and individuals in Monticello, together with the Utah Fine Arts Council, bring performers to Monticello about six times through the winter. We were thrilled to experience Franc's performance in our little town.

Wanted: Great Leaders

Where are leaders worth following today? It appears to me that the silent majority is trying to decide on a candidate which is the "lesser of two evils" to lead the United States. Why can't we be choosing from two great candidates? Tocqueville said that great men don't want to be president because they have more power and autonomy in business. Bryce wrote that truly great men aren't electable because they make too many enemies along the way. He espoused that political parties are simply looking for the least offensive candidate.

But we need great leaders! The Kondratieff wave or cycle indicates quite clearly that we are headed for another economic winter. This is compounded like never before by the staggering amount of national debt the US currently has and will likely add nearly a trillion dollars to by bailing out privately owned businesses - again. The "Tytler" cycle shows that we are headed towards political bondage. Can we really consider supporting leadership which is less than adequate for the coming difficulties?

So, is it that great leaders aren't willing to lessen themselves by dabbling in the political smear or it is that there really aren't any great leaders available?

Perhaps a more critical question: where are the leaders of tomorrow? Dr Oliver DeMille addresses this question in his book A Thomas Jefferson Education which I have been re-reading for the GWU Hour radio program for tomorrow. Dr DeMille writes that great leaders can be created through leadership education and that now is the time to give that education to our children and youth - and ourselves. This book is well worth your time as it teaches us that there is great hope for our future if we are willing to put in some significant effort now.

Whew - No Ike Here

Yesterday my husband informed me that hurricane season was half over. Then Ike struck Texas. Is is just my imagination or are there more catastrophic natural disasters this decade than last?

I am certainly glad to live in a place that has four seasons and only four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. It's rather dull actually - nothing like hurricane season, tornado season, monsoon season, rainy season, dry season or tourist season.

Well, it's pretty tame around here unless you count beauty and outdoor recreation. If that is what you're looking for then the Colorado Plateau/Four Corners Region is an extreme place to live.

Project Management with a Wiki

I'm working on an internet marketing project and decided to use a wiki to help keep the project organized. I found pbwiki and set up an account. I am really enjoying being able to collaborate without keeping track of dozens of emails and any meeting notes go straight to the wiki to be seen by all. The wiki has also added a lot of organizational structure which is visible to my collaborators instead of being kept to myself.

Carry On, Mr Bowditch

"Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" is a wonderful youth classic which I read this week in preparation for next Monday's GWU Hour. Jean Latham's book is an example of a math and science classic or as Charlotte Mason calls it: a living book. Living books are engaging books for children which teach a concept or series of lessons.

Nathaniel Bowditch grew up in the sailing town of Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1700s. He was indentured as a bookkeeper at the age of twelve. Nat watched as his brothers and other men sailed the seas and he stayed home. Meanwhile, he "sailed by ash breeze" (sheer tenacity) and became an educated man by reading and studying mostly on his own during the evenings. The books goes on to tell of his life of nautical navigation and mathematics.

There are many opportunities to teach children math, science and geography as you read the book together. This is also an inspiring book for the parent/mentor because Nat teaches through freedom and sees the fruits of an education through increased peace and opportunity in the lives of those he touches.

GWU Groundbreaking

This past Friday and Saturday were the Groundbreaking for George Wythe University's Monticello Utah campus. It was delightful to see so many friends and meet more wonderful people. The highlight was the actual groundbreaking ceremony.

This is Station 5 on the GWU tour. This is where I spent most of the day on Friday serving as a tour guide. The flag is positioned at the northeast corner of the 42 acre campus. Nearby is the site of the first building which will be built. It will be a 9,000 square foot building which will eventually be administrative, but will meanwhile house much of GWU Monticello, though I understand that the Hyland Hotel/GWU reception center will still be maintained. Construction is slated to begin a year from now.

Diane Thomas was the Master of Ceremonies for the Groundbreaking.

Our children are fully engaged in the building of George Wythe University.
This (the GWU logo) is what Rachelle did as she was listening to the ceremony.

Dr Shanon Brooks, President of George Wythe University



Douglas and I received the "Founder's Award" for our "example of Public Virtue" for helping GWU. Joseph, our youngest, is holding the award. The thought came to me as he stroked the award that he knows nothing other than parents who are very involved in promoting liberal arts education and that in many ways he has given all he has to the cause as well.




Left to Right: Laney Cheney, Nels Jensen, Russ Skousen, Symbria Patterson,
Jillayne Thomas, Russell Clarke, Dr. Andy Groft (Cedar City Campus President),
Dr. Shanon Brooks (George Wythe University President), Gary Arnell,
Doug Allen (Mayor of Monticello), Brad Houston (Campus Architect),
Rachel DeMille (wife of GWU Chancellor Dr. Oliver DeMille),
Dr. Shane Schulthies (Monticello Campus President), unknown, and Douglas Harkey.




Shanon & Doug



Diane Jeppson, GWU Board Member is fundraising again - she is great!



The log sawing competition at the GWU party on Saturday.
Rachelle and Mark (far end of the log) win!

It was an incredible day for me. This is something that I have dreamed about for years and it seems unreal that it has already come and gone and the hard work of raising the funds to build the first building is upon us. I look forward to many great things in the future.

Great Math Worksheet Site

I'm doing some math tutoring twice a week in addition to what I do at home with my own children. Math texts are a great outline of where to go, but really can be limiting. For instance, today I noticed as we were working through the answers to the previous lesson in Saxon Algebra 1/2, that there was a lack of understand in the area of decimals, so we stopped and worked on the theory behind decimals and some of the rules. The problems arises when the text has only three or four questions and the student needs to practice about 20 questions to really understand the process. The best answer I have found is The Math Worksheet Site. It is a subscription site that is certainly worth the annual fee. I was able to print out several pages of decimal questions in just a few minutes which were suited to the academic level of my student thanks to the great family powering The Math Worksheet Site.

Shopping for a Cart

I have finally decided on a shopping cart: Zen Cart. It was recommended by a friend and has the perk of being open source (free). I want the Polestar Montessori site to have a nice shopping cart before I write articles and direct a whole bunch of traffic to the site. I will also use the cart for the ThreadKey site.

In the process of getting this far I have also downloaded MySQL (to make and manage databases), Notepad++ (to edit the code) and FileZilla (to ftp). My next task is creating a MySQL database on the server.

Roads to GWU

Today we had the opportunity to help clear the road for the GWU Groundbreaking ceremony – literally. As a family we went to the GWU property and watched the sunrise over the La Plata Mountains in southeastern Colorado. We and the Brooks family then began clearing sticks and other debris from the road leading to the site of the first building. It was truly inspiring to see the conceptual images of the campus near the location of the future buildings. Dr Brooks had us close our eyes during the approach to the site of the first building and then see the artist rendering for the first time all together. It was powerful.

I am excited to be a part of the groundbreaking tour crew next Friday and Saturday. Manike, the GWU Event Coordinator, tells us that we are anticipating 400 people to attend the groundbreaking ceremony. It will be a very busy and fun weekend.

A New Dimension to Statesmanship

I never would have thought that acting like a monkey and revealing my greatest fear would lead to an increase in statesmanship, but it did. Last weekend’s Writings of Thomas Jefferson II Graduate Seminar at George Wythe University was greatly enhanced by the addition of a three hour session on letting go of our facades and expanding the range of our communication. Dr Schulthies explained that being able to truly communicate with people on a deeper and more meaningful level would enhance our impact as statesmen, so we committed to 100% participation and dove right in.

We applauded the inherent value of each person as we spent 45 minutes on introductions. Some members of the class objected to receiving applause when they “didn’t do anything” to merit it. Dr Schulthies saw that J recoiled when applauded and led the class in a discussion of recognizing the value of each individual and responding to each person’s desires. We then gave a much more subdued recognition of J at her request. Subsequently several other people made similar requests.

A lot of personal growth came for me during the range-expanding “envelope exercises.” Dr Schulthies broke us into small groups and each person was assigned to speak for one minute as the others listened. We then spoke for a minute assuming the persona of a famous individual; a five-year-old discussing one of his favorite topics (monkeys, magic, marshmallows); and sharing personal insights (my greatest fear and what I love most about myself) with a short debrief after each round. My most pronounced revelation was just how much I depend on my prep time in order to feel confident in responding to requests.

A few people were clearly ruffled by the whole experience – it wasn’t easy. When we finished, C, a member of my group said, “I’m sure glad we’re finished with that!” It was very interesting to note who was not comfortable participating in each part. In general, those who objected to enthusiastic recognition of their mere presence were also uncomfortable sharing during the envelope exercises.

The results of laying this foundation of caring and openness were readily recognizable when we began discussing Jefferson’s writings. I have been in Graduate Seminar groups of about this size in the past, so I know what a profound difference this was. Everyone participated in the discussion and were engaged in the dialogue more that any other class. One person even felt comfortable enough to explain how little relevence there was between her circumstances and those of Jefferson, so consequently there was little to be found in his character which applied to her life.

Saturday morning the same feeling prevailed. The conversation was lively and insightful. Everyone had comments, even D, whom I have never heard speak up in the past. Responding to the first quote took and hour and a half of fantastic discussion. The camaraderie was so great that nearly half the group was still there talking 45 minutes into our one hour lunch break.
I find it hard to say for certain what the difference was that made this GradSem so much more delightful. Maybe Dr Schulthies is always able to generate this type of introspective comment to a dry text; maybe Dr DeMille’s genius typically keeps us in mute awe; maybe we had all prepared more; or maybe the stars were aligned just right. I’m not sure that each of those didn’t play a part, but my gut feeling is that spending three hours exploring communication and gaining personal insights had a lot to do with it.

If it is true that others “don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” and that real communication is the key to our success, statesmanship among the members of this Graduate Seminar increased dramatically this past weekend thanks to Dr Schulthies being willing to break the mold and share of himself by teaching us something we didn’t know we needed to hear.

Open Source Audio Books

We (my GWC classmates and I) need to read "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy for class on 15 July. While searching for study notes* on the book I ran across a great open source, all volunteer audio book source: librivox.org. It has nearly 1500 selections available for download. Unfortunately, only five out of the fifteen books of War and Peace have been recorded thus far. I am grateful nevertheless. The drive to California will be much more productive!

*A note on study notes: they are great when used correctly. Mortimer Adler in "How to Read a Book" proposes four levels of reading, one of which is Inspectional Reading. For me, study notes fall here. It is similar to the "pre-read" suggested by Adler because study notes familiarize me with the characters and plot (if a novel like War & Peace) or the main ideas so that I can more easily gain what I want from the book. Study notes do not take the place of the actual book.

The ThreadKey Adventure Begins

This week has been incredible. We began learning the skills necessary to launch and maintain ThreadKey Development (TKD). We have been using the SEO tutorial at lynda.com as a basis for finding other resources and as a basic course in SEM. I have been applying this newly acquired know-how to my Montessori homeschooling website and the changes will continue over the next couple of weeks.

ThreadKey is a site which will allow people to publish their writings and sell their products on-line while benefiting George Wythe College, a small liberal arts college in Utah. People have ideas, expertise and passion, but limited time, resources and/or knowledge to get it from their head and onto the web. This is where TKD comes in. We build the site, post 6-12 articles and solicit ad revenue. Profit is split between the contributor, GWC and TKD. We are excited to have this opportunity to benefit a fantastic college and many incredible people. Thanks for the idea Ken!