25 Words for Cultural Literacy Game Night

If you're ready for the challenge, have some fun memorizing these 25 terms. Then come to the fun cultural literacy game night at the end of the month! You can use 3x5" cards to write the term on one side and the definition on the other side (in your own words if you wish). Watch out, your brain is growing as we speak...

1. Bill of Rights
2. freedom of religion
3. humanist
4. secular
5. John Dewey
6. progressive education
7. redistribution
8. freedom of assembly
9. freedom of press
10. freedom of speech
11. freedom of association
12. "a penny saved is a penny earned"
13. "slow but steady wins the race"
14. money burning a hole in one's pocket
15. "A fool and his money are soon parted"
16. supply and demand
17. investment
18. interest
19. income
20. gold standard
21. free market
22. entrepreneur
23. debt
24. credit
25. compound interest

February Apprentice Class

Principle of the month: BALANCE 

Note: Sister Johnson is in charge of apprentice class, so direct any questions about it to her.

1. Read:   

• Luke 10:38-42
• Just Like Jesus Chapter:  Finding Gold in the Garbage
• Promises of the Constitution, pages 227-257. Look for principles as you read, especially any principle that relates to balance. Write one or more sentences at the end of each mini chapter that summarizes the main point. 
• Freedom Factor, Chapters 1-10  

2. Watch:    

This video.

3. Create one of the following:  

• Create something using “garbage.”  Bring your creation to show to us.    
• Create a food that balances healthy with delicious…bring some to share.
• Create an original poem, story, song, rap, musical composition that reflects your feelings on finding balance. 
• Create a building, and see how high it can become while still maintaining it’s balance. 
• Create your own inspirement to share with us your feelings about balance.

4. Think About:  

Complete a word study on the word Balance.   Why is balance important in our lives?   How can we find balance in the world we live in?  What is the Lord’s kind of balance? 

5. Project:  

Choose a BALANCE project for this month. You will be working on your project each week and/or day throughout the month. This project should be something that is inspiring and personally meaningful to you. This is the application part of apprentice (applying principles to ourselves). Choose something that is challenging for you and will be a blessing to others. We will be giving presentations on your projects. After you pick one send Sister Johnson an email or note about what you have chosen, and then start working on it. Choose it before apprentice class so you can report what you're doing. 

Here are some project options, or choose another one that is inspiring to you, or even better...ask the Lord for a project.

• Learn how to balance your time by practicing time management skills...find a system that works for you and do it consistently this month.
• Learn how to balance your health by eating healthy and exercise...track your eating and your exercise and make goals to improve your physical health.
• Learn how to balance your emotional health by taking the time to go slowly, to think deeply, to ponder, to enjoy nature...go for a walk, meditate, take time each day to be quiet and still.
• Learn how to balance your mental health by healing relationships in your life that are strained or need more attention.  Seek to understand others in your life and to find balance between your desires and theirs.
• Seek inspiration for the kind of balance God wants you to find in your life...then do what the Lord inspires you to do.
• Start or keep faithfully a gratitude journal every day this month.  Keep your gold box full of all the weighty things the Lord blesses you with.
• Seek to understand a position opposite of yours, seek for understanding of another's position, NOT how to defend yours.
• Seek a greater portion of spiritual balance in your life through doing one the following: diligent dedicated prayer daily, diligent dedicated scripture study daily, keeping a prayer in your heart always, serving someone every day.
• Make a list of the things you need to do to seek first the kingdom of God.  Pick one thing on the list and do it.
• Look at the paradoxes that are all around you in the world and in the gospel.  Study about a paradox from the scriptures and seek to understand why this paradox contains truth and how it applies in your life.
• Choose a subject that you do not enjoy studying about.  Find balance by finding purpose in studying all things which are of good report or praiseworthy.
• The need for balance is found in many studies:  art, colors, math, money, science, law, justice, time, energy.  Study in depth about balance in one other subject and present a oral presentation to the group about your studies in balance.
• Choose to seek for balance by improving spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Pick at least one thing to improve on in each area.

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Apprentice Field Trip to Utah's Legislative Session!

Field Trip Inspirements:

Watch: This video.

Investigate:   

This website is the government website for the Utah legislature. Visit the web site and answer the following questions:

1. Who are my representatives? (see legislators section)
2. What bills might be discussed during our visit? (see Bills section)
3. Pick one section in the legislative guide tab that looks interesting to you and read it?

Read:  

Find the Utah constitution and read it.

Create:  

Come prepared with a question you would like to ask.

Think About:  

How does the government impact your life?  How do you know if a bill is a good bill or not?  How is the Utah constitution different from the United States Constitution?  What part will you play in shaping the future government of our state and country?  What can you do to be involved? 

This is from our tour of Utah's capitol building last year.

We'll be taking another field trip this month to watch the legislative session!

This field trip is for apprentice level. Wear church clothes for this field trip. 

February Journeyman Class

1. Think about while you read 

In what areas do you think need balance in life?  When in your life have you felt well-balanced, and when have you felt out of balance?  Think of areas like your time, health, relationship with God, your education, money, family or friends, being unforgiving to someone, or other areas. In our government today, what ways do we see balance or things being out of balance?  When you’re a parent what areas do you think will be challenging to balance? (You can ask your parents to see what they think.) As you study this month, think about the principle of balance, and what areas God wants you to use it yourself, and our country to use it. 

2. Read 

• Luke 2:52.   What does this verse teach us about balance in life?  Do you feel well balanced in these areas or not?  If not, what does God want you to do about it?
• The “How Book” – Choose one of the following chapters to read:  1, 11, 12 or an article posted on the yahoo group called “The Well Rounded Christian.” 
• Study a hero of your choice.  Really put some time and effort into this. Who do you admire and want to emulate?  Research this person (ideally from the time period of 1500 to 1850). Take notes about your hero and hand in your notes. At the end of your notes, list the heroic qualities and principles you admire about your hero. Be sure to write one or more of those qualities that you want to develop in yourself. If you can find the principle of balance in his or her life, please share what you found. 
• Read this talk “Truth and Tolerance” by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. 
• Read this page by the LDS Church about religious freedom. In five places you'll see the phrase "READ MORE »." Choose one of these articles and read it. 
• Read this article about how to give a good talk in church (which applies to other settings too). 

3. Watch 

Watch three short videos by the LDS Church about religious freedom on this web page. Ideally, do this together as a family home evening or devotional and then discuss them together. 

4. Research 

Do some research about a current issue in our country or state that relates with religious freedom or being truthful and tolerant. This Utah Eagle Forum site page has some ideas, but feel free to use other sources too.  

4. Email Class Preparation Sheet by Tuesday at noon to Sister Edwards.

5. Create 

Choose one or more of the following: 

• Write a hero report. Hand in your report to Sister Edwards or Sister Cloward.  It won't be graded; we just want to read it. If you'd like to become a better writer, you can write at the top "feedback please." Be sure to include the qualities you most admire about your hero, and your plan to become more of those qualities. Also look for principles or life lessons you learned as you studied this hero. 
• Give a speech (about 3 minutes) about something you studied this week. Use the article about giving talks above for ideas.  You can give a speech about why religious freedom is important to you, about a current issue that relates to it, how you’re working to find balance in a certain area of your life, or a speech about your hero. Be sure to tie in principles that you find, and look for the principle of balance if you can. Also include how you plan to apply what you learned. Use index cards or a paper to write an outline of bullet points, but don’t read the speech to us. 
• Choose something you want to learn more about from this week’s studies from apprentice, journeyman, or master class, or this week’s cultural literacy terms. Research the subject and record your learning somehow. Look for principles as you learn, and a way to apply your learning to your life. Create something that shows what you learned – a poster, a Prezi, a poem, etc. See teaching ideas if you need more ideas. Bring it to class to share.

February Master Class

1. Think about While you Read

As you are reading the book, think about your own personal thoughts on money. Is money important to you? What do you want your finances to look like as an adult? Do you see any parallels between Babylon of the past and our nation today? Watch for principles. What principles about money also apply to other areas of life? 

2. Read

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. 

3. Share

Choose one of the following: 

• Memorize the definitions of this week’s 25 terms for cultural literacy game night. We recommend you use index cards to write the term on one side and the definition (in your own words if you like) on the other side.
• Create a prezi, poster or display teaching us one of the following: The 7 Cures for a Lean Purse, the 5 Laws of Gold, or the camel traders formula for “paying off debt and having a little gold to jingle in your pocket”.
• This month we are talking about balance and finding joy in trials. Did any of the characters in the book encounter trials as they tried to become financially independent? Choose one of them and do a character T-chart or graphic summary of their situation and how they handled it.
• In the forward of the book, the author tells us that “Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals”. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? If each of us as individuals were managed money well, how would our country look and run differently?  Find a way to teach us your answers to these questions.
• We are often told that the scriptures tell us that “money is the root of all evil.” Find the scriptural reference sited. Is this scripture quoted correctly, and if not, compare the meaning of the quote to the true meaning of the scripture. Are they the same? Use one of the teaching ideas to represent your ideas.

4. Find and apply

Brainstorm one or more principles that you can learn from the book The Richest Man in Babylon. In your notebook, journal, or computer, write four things about this principle. Ideally you're not just jotting a phrase for each point below, but thinking about it and writing more of a journal entry for each:

• First write about how this principle applies to the book. 
• Find one or more example in your own life where this principle has applied to you or your family. 
• Find at least one example in the scriptures that shows this principle. 
• Write about how you’ll apply this principle in your own life. 
• Then choose a way to present this principle and how it applies to you and in the scriptures.  You can write a paper, give a short speech, create a poster, a graphic summary of it, etc. See teaching ideas if you need more ideas. Bring it to class to share.