Our Curriculum
An Overview
The Lifeschool curriculum was established to provide a spiritually and academically whole curriculum to families who hold a belief in the gospel and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Our program provides everything you need to effectively educate your child through eighth grade. The parent manual is user-friendly, scripted, and written so that you can instruct several ages and abilities at once. Coursework in the Student Learning Journal is written to re-enforce your instruction at each level, providing challenging academic growth for each child.
This Curriculum is built on a scriptural foundation of history (HIS Story). Secular events are integrated so that the child can see for himself, the Savior's divine mission to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," (Moses 1"39). The program presents history on a four year rotation basis. Every child in the family studies the same time period each year. Over four years, each student will cover all of the Standard Works and all periods of World and American History. Volumes do not need to be taught in chronological order. The four year rotation is as follows:
Year One: Pre-existence to 5 B.C.
Year Two: 5 B.C. to 1500 A.D.
Year Three: 1500 A.D. to modern Day World History
Year Four: American History, Constitution, and L.D.S. Church History (completion date TBA)
The curriculum is color coded, not grade labeled, so that your child feels a sense of accomplishment as he completes each level, without comparing himself to others.
In addition to Scripture Based History, the program also covers:
= Language Arts and Grammar
= Reading and Literature
= Creative Writing
= Spelling and Vocabulary
= Scripture Supported Science
= Geography
= Social Studies (complies with ITBS)
= Paleography
= Handwriting (Palmer Method)
= Art and Music
Math is not written into the program since each child is differs in their rate of learning in this important area. We recommend Aleks online math program. For the more tactile learner, we recommend Math-U-See, and for a more traditional approach, Saxon Math.
Aleks Online Math Saxon Math Math-U-See
The curriculum supports Cub Scout, Achievement Days, and Faith In God activities. The presentation is enhanced with resources, such as Reading Booklets; fun visual aids; and the use of many coordinated Church resources, such as the gospel art picture kit; the Hymns; The Children's Songbook; and scripture videos. The program also provides the opportunity for memorization and learning re-enforcement with the use of color-coded Recall Cards.
Your child will especially enjoy the daily journal activities and the Bandalo Achievement Program. As skills are acquired, children track progress by placing jewels and emblems on the bandalo. These are worn proudly and are a memento of a successful year.
HISTORY: A History Of God's World and Your Place In It is a four part, LDS based history program written by Elaine Cannon, Patti Adams, and Anne Adams, that is integrated into the curriculum. This series gives students a more in-depth look at the spiritual and secular issues of each time period studied, and includes discussion questions and research to be completed by the student. This series is included in the Parent Manual.
No need to research and gather materials. Everything is as close as your computer and easily downloadable or available in printed form - ready to use. The curriculum also includes exciting web links that make your child's learning experience even more fun.
CAN I SEE A SAMPLE OF THE CURRICULUM?
Go to the DOWNLOAD section at the bottom of this page to download and view .pdf files of some of our lessons. Here you'll find a sampling of the 160 lessons provided for each year of study. If you don't see the DOWNLOAD that you would like to try, please contact us.
HOW DO I START?
In order to begin the program, your child should know how to read. We suggest spending the Kindergarten year with a strong phonics program and a Level 1 Math program. You may also wish to follow our
guide for preparing your 4-6 year old for our program.
Next you'll want to visit our bookstore and select a Parent Manual for the volume you would like to teach, as well as a Student Manual for each of your children.
Why the name "Educating Children the Lord's Way"?
In the Doctrine & Covenants we read: "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood (or motherhood), only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;" D&C 121:41. Although most of us can't be perfect parents all the time, the principles of long-suffering, gentleness and meekness, and love unfeigned are critical in the learning process of a child. The scriptures also tell us "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." D&C 42:14. No one loves your child more than you, except, of course, Heavenly Father. Through prayer and the Spirit, He will reveal to you the needs of your children. they are your stewardship. We feel that this is the Lord's way of teaching truth to His children. We strive to incorporate these principles into the presentation and content of our curriculum. We encourage parents to be flexible and in-tune to inspired ideas that may temporarily detour from the written program. Miracles will happen when families learn together in this way. A teaching partnership with the Spirit works! For example, several years ago, my husband and I ran an LDS based private school. We started each day with a school-wide spiritual devotional. Each class began and concluded with a prayer. I taught several classes at the school, so I spent considerable time in the classroom. I was witness to many learning miracles. For example, one day while teaching my class of third and fourth graders, one young man had become frustrated with a concept he could not grasp, and through tears, finally admitted defeat. He agreed to pray with me. Moments later, embraced by the love he felt, tears were dried, confidence was restored, and learning resumed. No matter which curriculum you choose, we hope that this concept will offer some direction and enhance your homeschooling experience.
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"Any education is little more than miscellaneous learning if God is not at the foundation." Patti Landes Adams
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Search, Ponder & Play: Our PreK-Kindergarten Program
What about my pre-schooler or kindergartner? You don't provide workbooks for them. Most children in the world grow up much too quickly and childhood happens only once. We believe that learning for a child of this age will be much more profound when taking into consideration the rapidly changing developmental stages and individual maturity. Younger children learn by exploring, observing, listening, and discovering new skills during non-directed play time. In order to meet these needs, we are developing our own program called Search, Ponder & Play. This developing program provides for various learning styles and maturity rates. As with all of our curriculum, it stresses obtaining necessary skills from older family members. You can read about our program by clicking HERE
Curriculum Trial Downloads
Homeschool curriculum is like a good pair of shoes... they must really be a good fit or they'll never be used. We invite you to try our curriculum before you buy it. Simply go to our DOWNLOAD page and use the files you need for your family. There are thirty days of lessonsprovided with most downlaods.