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LDS Homeschool Ideas This is not an official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you'd like to learn more about our church, please visit Mormon.org. Here are a few resources that may be useful to LDS homeschoolers. Included are some ideas of how to tailor the Robinson Curriculum to suit LDS families. (RC is not an LDS curriculum.)     LDS Homeschool Resources - to suit many methods. - Free material - Material for Sale - Articles of Interest - Other LDS Links - that you may find useful for homeschool     LDS RC Users - lists books in RC you may want to skip (and why). FREE MATERIAL The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (link to official site) - The Church's web site is rich in educational material, especially the Gospel Library section. Presidents of the Church - This is a great tool for memorizing the prophets. (You can write in a little number next to each name if you like.) Here's another page, which provides more biographical information about the prophets. Articles of Faith printable booklet. Free Audio Files at LDS.org. Like audio books? Try out this page! They have the scriptures, conference, church magazines, teachings of the prophets, and of course the hymns, in MP3 format. Free eBook Gospel Library - includes the Scriptures, manuals, conference, etc. - ePub / Kindle / Mobi formats - Handheld formats - Mobile apps LDS copywork links - Try this free Yahoo group for LDS Copywork. They e-mail copywork M-F. You don't have to join the group to get the LDS Copywork for Youngsters (PDF file), which is geared to a younger group than the e-mail. LDS Hymn Lyrics - another great source for copywork. Arranged by titles and first lines. Children's Songbooks Lyrics - more copywork. Arranged by titles and first lines. Book of Abraham Project - Online LDS texts. History of the Church, writings of Joseph Smith, Historic journals, Hugh Nibley and more. BYU Digital Collections - look for books online here. Check out the different tabs at the top (particularly "text collection"), as well as the other collections on the right. Includes: Old journals, Encyclopedic History, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia (misc. section), Mormon publications of 19th and 20th centuries (awesome section! Browse by title or collection), and so much more! (PDFs can be read online, loading one page at a time, or scroll down for a printable version to download.) Cumorah.com - Free LDS and non-LDS e-texts. (Click on "LDS Gospel Library E-texts" and "Best Books E-texts" for both lists.) Marriot Library (at University of Utah) - Digital collections online. Has some early pioneer history (and general Utah history, of course.) Mormonshare.com - Lots of great teaching material for all ages here. I also like her clip art collection that covers just about every gospel subject. We often use it to make coloring pages. Also contains the section: Mormon Modesty. Resources for teaching it, and links for buying modest clothes. Project Palmyra - Providing free LDS e-texts. Brown titles are available, black ones are coming later. (The links are sometimes brown and sometimes blue. It's not really consistent. Just look for an underlined part.) A Young Folks' History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  MB - by Nephi Anderson. Though written in 1916, this book covers important parts of church history, and includes study questions. Jesus the Christ  MB - by James E. Talmage return to menu MATERIAL FOR SALE $ Distribution Services - Buy LDS learning material here at great prices. We particularly like the soft cover scripture story readers (search for "scripture stories"). These are the books with the comic strip-type pictures. Books available: Old Testament Stories, New Testament Stories, Book of Mormon Stories, and Doctrine and Covenants Stories (also available to read online or download for free). $ Latter-Day Family Resources - An LDS family's site with low prices on homeschool and gospel materials. (LDS sister site of Love to Learn.) Besides fun gospel teaching materials, they also have good prices on a large selection of novels (use the "Home School Resources" drop-down menu and click "Good Reading"), including some from the RC and Henty lists. $ Archive Publishers - "Publishers of Rare and Out of Print Mormon Books" at great prices. They even offer some of the books from The Faith Promoting Series (see the complete list), which were written for the early church schools (mentioned below). return to menu ARTICLES OF INTEREST Education as the Early Prophets Saw It - an eye-opening article at Meridian. I recommend reading parts one and two. I think every member could benefit from this information (after all, it concerns your tax dollars). Part two - The Rise and Demise of Church Academies The Proper Role of Government - by President Ezra Taft Benson. The Constitution--A Heavenly Banner - by President Ezra Taft Benson. Family time is more important than . . . - Families these days are being pulled in so many different directions, that family time has all but disappeared. Here are a few articles to help keep things in the proper perspective. What Matters Most is What Lasts Longest - by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I liked this piece of advice he gave: ". . .do not involve children or yourselves in so many activities out of the home that you are so busy that the Spirit of the Lord cannot be recognized or felt. . ." This article reminds us that family is where it's at! Good, Better, Best - by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. A good way to measure the value of our activities. Mothers Who Know - by Sister Julie R. Beck. I'm sure you're all familiar with this wonderful talk! 1966 Conference address on Socialism - Titled "Is Socialism the United Order?" by Marion G. Romney. As homeschoolers we hear much about the socialist-style school system. This is a very interesting and informative article about Socialism, the United Order, and our free agency. A good one to read from start to finish, and very relevant for our day. Meridian Magazine - An LDS online magazine. Common sense articles about current issues from an LDS standpoint. I particularly like the "Ideas and Society" section. It's nice to read a conservative version of the news, rather than the liberal bias you get from t.v. return to menu OTHER LDS LINKS that you may find useful for homeschool. Church's Statement on Homeschooling and Seminary and the Church's Seminary website. LDS Infobase CDs sitting around? I had these on the shelf and didn't even know what a treasure trove they were. Many of the LDS books on the disks look a bit heavy for students (at least younger ones), but a few might appeal to them. Besides those books, there is also a collection of World Classics, like Wind in the Willows, Jane Eyre, Last of the Mohicans, etc. (I was able to find a List of the Classics on these disks. There are over 700.) The Gospelink CDs are similar. You can probably find either CD set on eBay. LDS Homeschooling in California...and everywhere - Great place for LDS quotes, LDS reading lists, etc. Some of her "free resources" lists are quite extensive. Access them by choosing a category under "Curriculum Help" and see if that subject has links to free materials. Tip - you may need to increase the text size in your browser (especially in Netscape -- under "View" select text zoom). ABCs of homeschooling - Great ideas for how to keep homeschooling centered around the gospel. The Noble Child Experience - Great LDS homeschool site. If you need encouragement, try here. Click on "Home" to find even more information. List of all the books in the Faith-Promoting Series (books written for the early church academies mentioned in article above). I hope these are online someday! return to menu LDS RC USERS Many homeschool curricula are created for Christians, and often promote Calvinist teachings, or other religious teachings, which are in conflict with LDS Christian doctrine. No matter which curriculum you choose, be it secular or religious, there are going to be things to look out for, and maybe skip. We just need to be careful that our children's learning material isn't teaching false doctrine. Below is a list of books from RC that may contain material of concern, or that are noticeably more religious in nature. Because they were written from a different religious viewpoint, you may want to look them over and decide if you want to use them or not. I haven't read them all, and am not saying they're "bad" books. This list is just provided so you can look them over and decide what you want to do. If skipping the following books seems like too much trouble, you could always use free online materials to Make Your Own Curriculum similar to this, but more appropriate for your family. Note - There is another CD curriculum that may initially look LDS, because it has a small supplement attached. But when I looked into it, I was surprised at the amount of objectionable content. (I found that Wikipedia's a great place to use when reviewing curricula. Look up book titles there and find out if they're appropriate for your homeschool.) RC Books to Take a Closer Look At #13 Young Folks' Bible by Josephine Pollard. I've only read portions of this. Most of it looks really nice, but there are a number of things that have been added, or interpreted in ways we wouldn't agree with. Instead of printing the enormous black and white book, written from another religious perspective, why not substitute the scripture story readers from the Distribution Center (search for "scripture stories"). These are the books with the comic strip-type pictures. Books available: Old Testament Stories, New Testament Stories, Book of Mormon Stories, and Doctrine and Covenants Stories (also available to read online or download for free). They're suited to a younger audience than the RC book, but at least you know they won't teach anything in conflict with LDS doctrine. For the youngest readers try the "My First ___ Stories" by Deanna Draper Buck. They're large, durable board-books, but advanced enough that early readers won't find them "babyish". They're available at Deseret Book, and some Walmart stores.) #65 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. This book makes several crude and inappropriate references to bodily functions, naked bodies, intimacy, etc. Instead of completely skipping this book, however, you can replace it with the Child Friendly Version (1900), which has been cleaned up nicely, and the last 2 sections are completely omitted. #76 The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. A religious allegory about a man named Christian, on his journey to the Celestial City (Heaven). Bunyan's Calvinist beliefs about predestination, etc., may or may not be included in this book. I tend to think not, though. Deseret Book does sell this, and even President Benson made reference to this book. It's just on this list because it's very religious in nature. Also, since it's an allegory, it may not always be clear to younger readers, and you may want to discuss it with your children. Learn more about John Bunyan, or more about the book here. #103 The Holy War by John Bunyan. A religious allegory about the city of Mansoul being captured by Diabolus and saved by Emmanuel. Bunyan's Calvinist beliefs about predestination, etc., may or may not be included in this book. Learn more about John Bunyan, or read a summary of the book here. #144 Paradise Lost by John Milton. This book is Milton's take on the Creation, The War in Heaven, Adam and Eve in Eden, The Fall, etc. Certainly religious in nature, you may want to see if it suits your beliefs. (I've not read it yet and don't have a lot of info to give.) Read about Milton's beliefs here, or more about the book at Wikipedia. #146 Paradise Regained by John Milton. - Milton's version of the Temptation of Christ. May want to see if it suits your beliefs. (I've not read it yet and can't offer more info.) Read about Milton's beliefs here, or more about the book at Wikipedia. #147 and 150 Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. - I'd recommend skipping both volumes of "Institutes of the Christian Religion". Calvinist beliefs conflict with LDS doctrine. If you don't understand what Calvinism is, here's a brief overview at Wikipedia. (This link just gives a small taste of Calvinist teachings, but there is much more on that page, if you are interested.) While it is worthwhile to know what the rest of the world believes, I don't believe it is necessary, or wise, to inundate ourselves with teachings we know to be false. I'd especially be careful about handing this book to a young person, since our job is to teach them truth. If a person is going to take the time to read more than 1300 pages of religious teachings, it's probably a good idea (and more worth their time) if they are not false doctrine, or in conflict with their own religion. (We wouldn't purposely hand our children a book teaching incorrect science, history or grammar.) If you're interested in the reformer's role in history, you could try a book about the reformation in general, which show's each of their basic beliefs and contributions, without trying to win you over to that point of view. (Here's one at Project Gutenberg: The Age of the Reformation ) LDS perspective on Calvin: Here's an article from the Ensign about John Calvin. It compares some of Calvin's main beliefs with our church doctrine, and shows where they are and aren't compatible. (If this link doesn't work, browse through the Gospel Library / Magazines / Ensign / Past Issues / 1972 / February 1972. The article is called "Reformed Protestantism" by Richard O. Cowan.) A quote from President Monson about the reformers: "Such were the teachings and lives of the great reformers. Their deeds were heroic, their contributions many, their sacrifices great—but they did not restore the gospel of Jesus Christ." Possible Substitutes: There are so many books you could use to substitute here that I don't even know where to start. But Gerald Lund immediately comes to mind. "The Work and the Glory" series is written as historical fiction, and is full of church history, doctrine, and faith promoting stories, while being extremely engaging. Anyone who's read it knows how hard it is to put down. (Students wouldn't necessarily need to read ALL of them, but they may want to once they get started.) This "living book" format makes learning (and remembering) church history easier and more interesting. #153 and 154 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) by John Locke. Though some of his writings about government (not in RC) were influential to the founding fathers, his philosophical writings about human nature (like these books) may not exactly fit how you believe God created us. Learn more about Locke's philosophy at Wikipedia. #155 Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John by Isaac Newton. Newton's commentary on biblical prophecies. Learn more about Newton's religious views or more about the book from Amazon.com's description. Supplemental books #357- 360 Elsie Dinsmore / Mildred Keith books by Martha Finley. These books focus mainly on instilling Calvinist (or other) beliefs in little girls. So, obviously the doctrine conflicts with our own. Besides that, it paints an unhealthy picture of what a parent-child relationship should be. That alone is enough to keep these books out of the hands of children. Some of the books also sneer at Latter-day Saints, and one (later in the series, but not part of RC) is unabashedly anti-Mormon and filled with falsehoods. Here's an article about the books that tells more about things you'd probably not like in the books. Any more books I should add here? If you're LDS and think any other RC books (or other books I've linked to elsewhere on the site) would be objectionable to Latter-day Saints, please let me know. return to menu Back  /  Home