A conversation I had yesterday with someone who is close to me has prompted this post. I knew homeschooling would be an area of conflict with some people who are close to me. I had put off telling our news of continuing to homeschool next year until it came up yesterday. I feel the Lord had prepared me with what to say although it hurts that our relationship may change because of our decision to homeschool.
I was asked yesterday if I was sending Reece to school next year. I said no. This prompted an hour long debate which I felt totally secure in discussing. The discussion has started a fire in me...passion to discuss this topic more with others. I won't lay out the conversation by a "he said, she said" but rather use what we talked about in this post to share my viewpoint on homeschooling and what opposers are saying. The things in this post were discussed with a person I am close with.
First, the only reason we started homeschooling last year was the prompting we felt from the Holy Spirit. If you don't believe there is a Holy Spirit, this may be difficult to understand. Homeschooling was not on my radar at all. You'll remember my post about it last year found Here. But I felt that the Lord was saying to do this and I wanted to obey, even though I did NOT want to homeschool. My husband was really on the fence and didn't see us doing it either but also said we should obey if I felt that strongly about it. We have both come full circle since then and know this is what she should be doing at this time. Is it a forever thing for our family? That I can not say because I don't know the answer to that.
During the year, my thoughts on homeschooling have dramatically changed. Was it this blissful picture of flowers blowing in the breeze in a meadow? No, absolutely not. We had days like that, but we had a lot of days of establishing authority and control, tears, and learning things that were difficult. In the end, we have made great progress. We have grown close together as a family and watching her learn things that a school might say is impossible, is priceless.
I have discovered another big reason to why we choose homeschooling. Unfortunately, in today's world, a lot of parents have chosen not to parent their child. How can I feel comfortable about sending my child to be around tons of other kids who haven't been trained/disciplined the way I have trained mine? Not that my parenting record is perfect...it is far from that. My children are expected to obey and there is a consequence when they have not. Most kids are bribed to obey and have no real consequence when they don't do as they are told, so the sin or the misbehavior, seems like a better deal to them than the consequence. Why not mess up if all I am going to get is a time out? Now my child who is only 5 or 6 is suppose to be able to stand on their own two feet against many other kids who are disrupting class, getting in trouble, etc and make a good choice on her own? She is just now at the age when we can talk in depth about those issues and I'm suppose to send her away to spend more time with a bunch of others who may not share the same values, morals, discipline that we want her to know about and expect from her. I feel she is too young to handle those situations on her own. Yes, we would have evenings to discuss things, but there isn't a lot of time to do that when they have homework, extra curriculars, bath, dinner...not to mention how tired they are. And what if you have a child who just doesn't tell what happened in their day? No where in the bible does it say "A child at the age of 5 must leave their parents home and cleave to the state". So a 2nd reason for me to homeschool, would the be the lack of control in others peoples parenting choices. It's not the schools...it's not the teachers...there are wonderful schools and teachers...it's those parents who have given up on parenting. You have to admit there is a new dynamic in parenting. We aren't living in a world of obedience and respectfulness seen in the children around us. If you need evidence, just go to a McDonalds Playland.
While we are on the topic of parenting choices and bribery, I want to share something I read about bribing children. This leads to a sense of entitlement...it leads to good behavior with a question attached: What are you going to give me? "The obvious danger is training the child to obey for selfish gain rather than to just submit to God and their parents. Children of bribing parents tend to develop self-oriented tendencies and learn to manipulate others. Because they seek to be rewarded, they limit their ability to serve others unless they receive gratification." (Gary Ezzo) Is that what we want our children to be - manipulators? I witnessed it the other day at swimming lessons. The child was not doing what the instructor was asking her to do in the pool. Her mom who was sitting next to me says "I guess it's to for a bribe". She got up and whispered something in her ear and the child did what was asked of her. In short term it worked but how will it effect them long term? Okay...enough of my side tangent :)
Let's talk about academics. Most schools are missing this essential part to a child's learning in the foundational stage of their life. When you think about your education, what is the one thing you know back and forth, inside out by memory? Your ABCs, right? You can sing that all day long. So we do that with our letters but what about everything else? Schools teach to get you to know stuff for a test....you study for a test, take it, and then you forget, right? I mean, who really remembers what happened in the war of 1812? In classical conversations, they teach the foundations/knowledge stage of information from 4-10 or so to where you master each subject before moving on to the understanding and wisdom phase of knowing each subject. If you memorize all the laws of math, places and time in history, English rules, etc, when you come to the understanding and wisdom phase where you apply and put the information into use and practice, it will be a lot easier. Take math for instance...kids fail to love math because they never learned the "grammar" stage of math. Classical Conversations uses the classical method of teaching. You start at the knowledge phase. You learn all the grammar for each subject and soak up the information like roots on tree. God designed us in this way as he knew it was the best way for us to learn. The 2nd phase is understanding or dialectic. In this stage, you put your knowledge to use like a tree uses its trunk and branches to transport its nutrients and uses them to grow. And the 3rd stage is wisdom or Rhetoric. In this phase you produce fruit...put your wisdom into practice. Here is kind of the run down of what Reece will be learning in 1st grade at Classical Conversations/home. She will be learning the "grammar" phases of 6 subjects: History, Latin, Geography, English, Math, and Science. This is all memory work that she is required to learn. She learns by memorizing all the laws and operations of math, all the basics of the English language (verbs, nouns, linking verbs, prepositions, etc), the world history timeline from creation to 9/11, and more. She will do her science projects there and have to do presentation in front of her peers EACH week. This helps them to be able to speak comfortably in front of others for the rest of her life. In Arts, she will learn the fundamentals of drawing...she do 6 weeks of oils. She will learn how to play the tin whistle (notes and harmony). She will learn about great artists and about great composers/Orchestra. This is all stuff that will be memorized and in her head forever. At home she will have to do a 1/2 hour of the memory work which is on a cd. We will also be doing her writing, spelling, language arts lessons/worksheets, a reading program, and of course math. Currently she is reading at about a 2nd grade level and just started cursive. She went to a 3 day CC camp and learned by memory all of the continents, oceans, European Mountain Ranges, and the rivers in Europe. She is also able to draw the continents on her own on a map....at age 6. Maybe she doesn't need to know all that at 6, but this goes to show you what they can learn...without a "real school" (GASP!)
One thing that seems to always come up in discussion with those who oppose homeschooling, is the topic of tests. I was asked "how will you ever know where she stands against her peers if she is never tested?" I ask why do I need a number? I can see how she is doing because I am doing the work with her each day. She is not a product to be sold...she is a person. I would put my little "product" up against anyone her age and I feel confident she would be up to par or fair better. But tests do not necessarily show accurate results. A good example of that is me. I scored an 18 on my ACT which is horrible if you did not know. I graduated college with a Business Management degree with a 4.0 gpa. The results are not the same.
I was told that homeschooling is a form of isolation. If I was isolating my child we would stay home all the time and not associate with others, let alone others who do not homeschool. We have many friends that we see on a weekly basis. I'd say more friends that do not homeschool verses ones that do. We go to the library, pool, garage sales, play dates with friends, play in the yard with neighbors...and even others who do not so called Believe (gasp!!!). They are enrolled in swim lessons, dance, gymnastics, etc. My kids are very social and the love to be with their friends. We are doing Classical Conversations so that we can enjoy the social aspect more and she can get the classroom feel and have interaction with peers. Mommy needs that too :)
I was asked what happened to me in school (bad) that I choose to homeschool. Nothing happened bad to me in school that would make me choose homeschooling. I had a pretty good school experience overall. I loved all my teachers and did pretty well academically. I had a lot of friends and actually enjoyed going to school. I am pretty sure that I had the perfect attendance record.
The fact that others are "saddened" that I won't allow my child to experience school the way society says is normal is another thing I hear. To me that comment indicates that you care more for or love my child more than I do. I care and love my child more than anyone does...I would never want to harm her education or life in any way. I only want the best for her and right now, I think homeschooling is best for her. Its only "normal" to go to school because that is how society has made it. In the past it was normal for people to do school at home.
Now, there is the question of how I feel about people who don't homeschool. The bible does not tell us whether we should homeschool or not. But I do feel it is my God given right as a parent to choose how I want to educate my child. Is it for everyone? No. Would I send my child to a public school? Yes, possibly one day.
I would ask for prayers over this matter....this could be a right that is taken away from us as a parent. Just as a woman can choose life or death for her unborn child, we should be able to choose how we want to educate.
Showing posts with label Teaching little hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching little hearts. Show all posts
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Updates and more
The reason I haven't updated the blog in nearly 3 months is because I have reached my limit of the photos I can upload. So I had to upgrade my blog so that I would have enough capacity to upload more pictures. So I have a lot to update! We have also been sooooo busy with school, nutcracker, tap dance, and Awana. It's been crazy.
School has been going well at home still! I can't believe we are over half way done with Kindergarten. Reece is up to reading 19 of her books, currently she is reading 4 of those a day. Each week she starts a new one but I have her review the ones she has already done in the past. She is also doing around 100 sight words. I was having her do these daily but it was becoming way too much and she was getting frustrated. So I divided them up and she does half of those along with her 4 to 5 books. She knows her address, her phone number, and is learning to tell time. She is learning so much and is so neat to see. She has also completed over 200 worksheets (this includes science, writing, math, and lanuage arts)! She has actually completed all the worksheets I had for her for the year (some of these were out of a 1st/2nd grade book)...so I am either going to repeat them again or start with some fun games/crafts that go along with what she has already learned. I am thinking I will go with the latter because I can tell she thought it would be more fun. I kind of did too but I think I focus so much with the getting the academic stuff done, that we end up not having time for the fun stuff.
Based on the rate that we are going, we should be done mid April. I will still have her continue to do writing, reading, and a few other things through the summer. We haven't really taken any breaks. She had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off but we did stuff on the other days - maybe not full curriculum but we still did some stuff. She is getting ready to start her cursive handwriting book which I think she will really enjoy. That is about it with the homeschool updates. All the other updates I will do in separate posts.
School has been going well at home still! I can't believe we are over half way done with Kindergarten. Reece is up to reading 19 of her books, currently she is reading 4 of those a day. Each week she starts a new one but I have her review the ones she has already done in the past. She is also doing around 100 sight words. I was having her do these daily but it was becoming way too much and she was getting frustrated. So I divided them up and she does half of those along with her 4 to 5 books. She knows her address, her phone number, and is learning to tell time. She is learning so much and is so neat to see. She has also completed over 200 worksheets (this includes science, writing, math, and lanuage arts)! She has actually completed all the worksheets I had for her for the year (some of these were out of a 1st/2nd grade book)...so I am either going to repeat them again or start with some fun games/crafts that go along with what she has already learned. I am thinking I will go with the latter because I can tell she thought it would be more fun. I kind of did too but I think I focus so much with the getting the academic stuff done, that we end up not having time for the fun stuff.
Based on the rate that we are going, we should be done mid April. I will still have her continue to do writing, reading, and a few other things through the summer. We haven't really taken any breaks. She had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off but we did stuff on the other days - maybe not full curriculum but we still did some stuff. She is getting ready to start her cursive handwriting book which I think she will really enjoy. That is about it with the homeschool updates. All the other updates I will do in separate posts.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Homeschool progress
We are finishing our 9th week of homeschooling in most subjects. Some subjects we are far ahead in and others we are minimally behind in. Since Reece is not getting report cards/progress reports, this is my update on her progress that we can always go back and look at.
I am surprised at how much God has even changed Brock's heart on it. I have even heard him bragging to his friends and he has thanked me several times for my efforts! Its amazing to see God at work through obeying Him even when it was hard. It's hard now but I think in the long run, the blessings we receive from this experience will be well worth it. To me, this was a big decision but God has showed me how small it really is in the scheme of other things He has been calling us to do. I think He wanted us to obey and trust Him in this small thing so we would know to trust Him in some bigger things. If we can receive such blessings from this small act of obedience, what can He do in bigger things?! I know it will be an amazing ride and am looking forward to sharing it all with anyone who is reading. The joy I have in sharing it with others totally outweighs not sharing it, because it brings glory to God in all He is doing in my small life. Imagine what He is doing in the rest of the big world?
- She is reading 8 short stories on her own. (this part of our curriculum we weren't suppose to start until week 10 - which is next week. So we are 9 weeks ahead on this part. I knew she was ready to read, so I started it right away).
- We have read 4 chapter books together that she has to listen and answer questions on- Box Car Children, The Apple and the Arrow, My Fathers Dragon, and Hundred Dresses. Those are just the ones that are part of our curriculum. We have read more from the library. We also read a bible story a day and are through Deuteronomy.
- She knows 50+ sight words. This is not part of our curriculum but knew that I needed to add it in so I printed some off of some websites including: www.education.com and http://www.thesmilingteacher.com/sight_words_kindergarten.htm
- Also separate of our curriculum, I taught her how to tie her shoes and we are working on her phone number and address.
- She knows 9 verses in song (we focus on one each week) from sing the word A to Z. This is part of our curriculum but you can buy it here. (Many of you have asked me about this). All the songs are sang to famaliar tunes and help them hid God's words in our hearts. It has helped me remember references as well.
- For Science, we have mainly been looking at trees and plant life. It has been so neat to see it all in action as we have been having trees planted from the storm.
- For History and Geography we have mainly been looking at the different continents. She knows all 7 and where to find them on the map.
- For math, we mainly focus on the calendar and patterns. We are doing some addition, as well as counting and writing numbers.
- She has completed around 150 worksheets in 9 weeks - these are writing exercises, math problems, language art, etc type worksheets. (that equals to about 3 worksheets a day).
I am surprised at how much God has even changed Brock's heart on it. I have even heard him bragging to his friends and he has thanked me several times for my efforts! Its amazing to see God at work through obeying Him even when it was hard. It's hard now but I think in the long run, the blessings we receive from this experience will be well worth it. To me, this was a big decision but God has showed me how small it really is in the scheme of other things He has been calling us to do. I think He wanted us to obey and trust Him in this small thing so we would know to trust Him in some bigger things. If we can receive such blessings from this small act of obedience, what can He do in bigger things?! I know it will be an amazing ride and am looking forward to sharing it all with anyone who is reading. The joy I have in sharing it with others totally outweighs not sharing it, because it brings glory to God in all He is doing in my small life. Imagine what He is doing in the rest of the big world?
Saturday, September 15, 2012
HIS Gotcha date!
Many things the past few months have led up to this day - the born again date!! Both our children accepted Christ as their personal Savior with their mommy and daddy by their side! So precious is today!
A few key things that I can recall...sorry for any typos or lack of details...so excited and typing fast.
In the spring, my uncle Jerry passed away of cancer. We decided to take both kids to the funeral since they knew him pretty well. This started the conversations about death and why our body is still on earth - in the coffin - but our spirit and new body leaves the earth and goes to heaven. This was a very confusing time for them but I knew their wheels were spinning.
A few months ago, a man from the soup kitchen that the kids fed there, was hospitalized for cancer and at the same time Brock's Grandfather, was given a short amount of time to live, also due to cancer. I remember giving the kids a bath and Reece asked me if they would die. And I had to say "yes" and that everyone dies. After I said it, I wanted to grab it and take it back. Both kids mouths dropped to their chin and they said "I don't want to die...am I going to die too?" I of course had to answer honestly that yes, they would die too. They both were crying and saying they didn't want to die. I reminded them of all the things we had been learning at Awana and church...that when we die we can go to heaven if we believe in Jesus...that is why he died on the cross for us. That still didn't help much and they persisted on asking if they were going to die TOMORROW. I had to tell them that I didn't know when they would die, that only God knew this.
Then we experienced a tornado in August. This along with our sick friends (Brian from the soup kitchen and great Grandpa) caused them to pray alot more. I would shut the doors to the rooms at night and I could hear them praying...praying about people being sick, to have good dreams, and to keep bad weather away from them. With death around them and upon them, they were asking more questions and more fearful of things. This was a very anxious time for them and we prayed whenever they asked or wanted.
One day last week during homeschooling, Reece was being stubborn and prideful...she was NOT going to do this one assignment even though I had told her she would be doing it. This caused me to talk about the sin and pride in her heart and explain what was going on with her. I could tell she knew that is what it was and she broke down crying over it. She asked how she could change it and I said she needed to trust Jesus and needed Him in her life to help her with that. She cried even more...like there was a weight that she needed lifted. I asked her if she believed in God and she said yes. So I asked her if she wanted Him to live in her heart and help her to do the right things. She said yes. I told her I thought we should wait until daddy got home and that way we could pray as a family. When he got home, we talked about it, but she said she didn't want to pray the prayer.
It might have been this same day/night, that when we tucked in Brody he said he wanted to pray for Grandpa. We hadn't told him how bad he was getting but we prayed for Grandpa. When we were done, I gave him a drink of water because he asked. He then said "this water is good for us. I think that if Grandma gave Grandpa some of this water, he wouldn't die". I had to explain that, that's not the way it worked unfortunately and that Grandpa would probably die very soon. But I told him we didn't have to be sad because we knew he was going to Heaven. He said "I don't want Grandpa to die because I still want to see him and I don't want Grandma to be alone...she needs a husband to take care of". This of course made me cry because he was just so sweet.
A couple of days later, their Great Grandpa Rader did pass. I waited for Brock to get home and we told them together. We again talked with them about Grandpa going to Heaven...that his body would be at the funeral like uncle Jerry but that he was actually in Heaven having a grand ol time. Brock and I were teary eyed over it and Reece said "Don't cry...he's in Heaven". I told her I knew that but was still sad for family and for grandma too.
During this time was the first week of Awana. Reece's verse that she had to memorize was John 3:16 "For God's so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have ever lasting life". We talked about what that verse meant a lot!
For a few days, there were lots of questions and good conversation. Before the funeral, the pastor took all the kids into a room and explained again what happens when we die and spoke the gospel to them. His theme or verse during the funeral was John 3:16!!! Reece heard him say it and whispered "mom, that's my sparks verse for this week". I think this made her listen even more. God's plan is perfect so this was all no surprise to me...not a coincidence!!
Last night Reece said she felt sick to her stomach and took a bowl to bed. I wasn't home so I didn't know much about it. When she woke up she told me she prayed to God that he would not let her get sick and that He answered her prayer. She said that she had prayed the longest prayer ever and that she asked Jesus to come into her heart and make her be a better person! I couldn't believe it! Brody said "I want Jesus to live in my heart too!". So we sat down and talked about what it meant to do all that and they all seemed to understand. So when daddy got home from work, we sat up on Reece's bed before nap time and all prayed the prayer together! Praise the Lord! I had been praying that this would happen all as a family because I just thought it would be such a neat memory for us. I couldn't be happier! Praying now to see fruit in their little lives. I know these two are going to do BIG things for God's glory!!
See you in Heaven Grandpa Rader!!
Taken exactly 2 weeks before he passed and 3 weeks before Reece accepted Christ:
A few key things that I can recall...sorry for any typos or lack of details...so excited and typing fast.
In the spring, my uncle Jerry passed away of cancer. We decided to take both kids to the funeral since they knew him pretty well. This started the conversations about death and why our body is still on earth - in the coffin - but our spirit and new body leaves the earth and goes to heaven. This was a very confusing time for them but I knew their wheels were spinning.
A few months ago, a man from the soup kitchen that the kids fed there, was hospitalized for cancer and at the same time Brock's Grandfather, was given a short amount of time to live, also due to cancer. I remember giving the kids a bath and Reece asked me if they would die. And I had to say "yes" and that everyone dies. After I said it, I wanted to grab it and take it back. Both kids mouths dropped to their chin and they said "I don't want to die...am I going to die too?" I of course had to answer honestly that yes, they would die too. They both were crying and saying they didn't want to die. I reminded them of all the things we had been learning at Awana and church...that when we die we can go to heaven if we believe in Jesus...that is why he died on the cross for us. That still didn't help much and they persisted on asking if they were going to die TOMORROW. I had to tell them that I didn't know when they would die, that only God knew this.
Then we experienced a tornado in August. This along with our sick friends (Brian from the soup kitchen and great Grandpa) caused them to pray alot more. I would shut the doors to the rooms at night and I could hear them praying...praying about people being sick, to have good dreams, and to keep bad weather away from them. With death around them and upon them, they were asking more questions and more fearful of things. This was a very anxious time for them and we prayed whenever they asked or wanted.
One day last week during homeschooling, Reece was being stubborn and prideful...she was NOT going to do this one assignment even though I had told her she would be doing it. This caused me to talk about the sin and pride in her heart and explain what was going on with her. I could tell she knew that is what it was and she broke down crying over it. She asked how she could change it and I said she needed to trust Jesus and needed Him in her life to help her with that. She cried even more...like there was a weight that she needed lifted. I asked her if she believed in God and she said yes. So I asked her if she wanted Him to live in her heart and help her to do the right things. She said yes. I told her I thought we should wait until daddy got home and that way we could pray as a family. When he got home, we talked about it, but she said she didn't want to pray the prayer.
It might have been this same day/night, that when we tucked in Brody he said he wanted to pray for Grandpa. We hadn't told him how bad he was getting but we prayed for Grandpa. When we were done, I gave him a drink of water because he asked. He then said "this water is good for us. I think that if Grandma gave Grandpa some of this water, he wouldn't die". I had to explain that, that's not the way it worked unfortunately and that Grandpa would probably die very soon. But I told him we didn't have to be sad because we knew he was going to Heaven. He said "I don't want Grandpa to die because I still want to see him and I don't want Grandma to be alone...she needs a husband to take care of". This of course made me cry because he was just so sweet.
A couple of days later, their Great Grandpa Rader did pass. I waited for Brock to get home and we told them together. We again talked with them about Grandpa going to Heaven...that his body would be at the funeral like uncle Jerry but that he was actually in Heaven having a grand ol time. Brock and I were teary eyed over it and Reece said "Don't cry...he's in Heaven". I told her I knew that but was still sad for family and for grandma too.
During this time was the first week of Awana. Reece's verse that she had to memorize was John 3:16 "For God's so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have ever lasting life". We talked about what that verse meant a lot!
For a few days, there were lots of questions and good conversation. Before the funeral, the pastor took all the kids into a room and explained again what happens when we die and spoke the gospel to them. His theme or verse during the funeral was John 3:16!!! Reece heard him say it and whispered "mom, that's my sparks verse for this week". I think this made her listen even more. God's plan is perfect so this was all no surprise to me...not a coincidence!!
Last night Reece said she felt sick to her stomach and took a bowl to bed. I wasn't home so I didn't know much about it. When she woke up she told me she prayed to God that he would not let her get sick and that He answered her prayer. She said that she had prayed the longest prayer ever and that she asked Jesus to come into her heart and make her be a better person! I couldn't believe it! Brody said "I want Jesus to live in my heart too!". So we sat down and talked about what it meant to do all that and they all seemed to understand. So when daddy got home from work, we sat up on Reece's bed before nap time and all prayed the prayer together! Praise the Lord! I had been praying that this would happen all as a family because I just thought it would be such a neat memory for us. I couldn't be happier! Praying now to see fruit in their little lives. I know these two are going to do BIG things for God's glory!!
See you in Heaven Grandpa Rader!!
Taken exactly 2 weeks before he passed and 3 weeks before Reece accepted Christ:
Friday, September 14, 2012
Homeschooling thoughts...
This morning wraps up week 4 of homeschooling. It has been a really good 4 weeks. There have been some tears from both mommy and daughter a couple of times, but overall it has gone really well. We have a very good routine and we are both getting use to it. We are using mostly Sonlight Curriculum and I must say I can not see using anything else. Everything I need is all there and I have really like nothing to plan. We just head down first thing in the morning and follow the schedule right out of the teachers manual...it's really a piece of cake.
Although we have had some tears and some tough days, those tough times lead to really good conversations that led to us being closer and building character in us both! This is what I really wanted out of it. I still have some very mixed feelings about it...partly because I live partly in the world and partly in the Word. Not sure I will ever get around that part. When I hear my friends saying they did such and such by themselves, that makes me want to send her. I think that has been the hardest part for me - selfishly giving up things I wanted to do with my time. I have to keep telling myself that I only have them like this for a short time and only once and one day I will have more time to myself. The end result is building a Godly character in them so that they can go enter the "real" world knowing how to make good decisions, despite what the world around them is doing. This is something I need to do for my self also!
Just when I feel down about it, I hear words of encouragement from people I didn't really expect to hear them from. This week I heard from a guy (who was here looking at properties to place trees) and he told me he wished his wife would home school his kids. He told me the things (burdens) his children bring home with them. I heard from another lady that said if she could go back and do it again, that she would home school. I read the following things this morning: that so and so was mortified when someone asked her children what the capital of France was, and they didn't know!. She was told that "kids can look that up anytime. In the total scheme of things, it is not that important for our kids to know what the capital of France is! How much better that they learn how to get along with one another. . . ."
I have thought about this a lot lately. How much my kids have been fighting lately is driving me batty and how much easier it would be if Reece was at school. I hear how kids get along better when they are away from each other and then return...but isn't this just a temporary fix? I realize that kids won't always get along but shouldn't we be teaching them to get along whether they are with someone all the time or not? Whether they know someone or not? Whether they heard bad things or good things about them? What they wear or what they look like? We have been talking a lot about compromise, listening to one another, and doing to others as we would want done. I know that if she can get along with her brother, she can get along with anyone else applying those same principles.
Obeying authorities has also been brought up the past couple of weeks. I have personally witnessed other children who did not obey me as an authority and that really bothered me. Then I witnessed my own children not obeying someone else. I feel that if my children learn to obey my authority, they will ultimately obey God and other authority. They have not mastered this yet. The more we work at this with them while they are young, the better and easier it will be for them. I have heard the saying and do believe the saying that children obey better for other people. While this might be true, I do believe that is also a temporary fix/thing. They will only obey for as long as they can, but if those skills aren't built into who they are as character, they will eventually not obey others either (teachers, babysitters, etc).
Those are just some things I have been thinking about lately. I haven't read about them anywhere...just witnessed them and thought about it a lot.
My personal favorite part of our home school curriculum is the Sing the Word A to Z cd. How easy it has been for us to memorize key verses that they will always have in their hearts. We have learned so far "All have sinned", "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved", "Children Obey your Parents in Everything" and "Do to others as you would want them to do". If they just have those 4, I think they would be pretty great kids. I constantly find myself singing these back to them when they aren't obeying or aren't treating each other right. My hope is that they will sing these in their head when they are away from home and have decision to make (on how to treat someone, on whether to make a right or wrong choice, etc).
We do most of our school work from 7 to 9 in the morning. We have even done some on the weekend - for catch up or just because. One Saturday we did "Science Saturday" where we did 3 science experiments that we didn't get to during the week. We do our bible story at night. We have also included our Sparks (Awana) book and cd this week as part of our school day. She really seems to be enjoying our school time and I am too. I love watching her learn and ask questions. We had some problems with writing a while back but this week, she finished her writing a day early because she worked so hard! We have come a long way! She finally realized that if she works ahead, she will have more free time later!
The other evening we were outside, I noticed one of my roses had come back (since the storm). I remember we need a rose for one of our science experiments for this week so I ran inside and grabbed my book and we did it right there in about 5 minutes or so. This week we talked about all the parts of the flower, why insects need plants, and why plants need insects...I learned sooo much - ha, ha!!
We also talked about the ground and dirt and discovered that you can find lots of insects hidding under rocks and boards. We found a whole bunch of ants under a rock and they had hundreds of eggs too. We inspected an ant hill too.
We have also been talking a lot about sin, (pride mostly), death, and heaven...more on that in another post!
Although we have had some tears and some tough days, those tough times lead to really good conversations that led to us being closer and building character in us both! This is what I really wanted out of it. I still have some very mixed feelings about it...partly because I live partly in the world and partly in the Word. Not sure I will ever get around that part. When I hear my friends saying they did such and such by themselves, that makes me want to send her. I think that has been the hardest part for me - selfishly giving up things I wanted to do with my time. I have to keep telling myself that I only have them like this for a short time and only once and one day I will have more time to myself. The end result is building a Godly character in them so that they can go enter the "real" world knowing how to make good decisions, despite what the world around them is doing. This is something I need to do for my self also!
Just when I feel down about it, I hear words of encouragement from people I didn't really expect to hear them from. This week I heard from a guy (who was here looking at properties to place trees) and he told me he wished his wife would home school his kids. He told me the things (burdens) his children bring home with them. I heard from another lady that said if she could go back and do it again, that she would home school. I read the following things this morning: that so and so was mortified when someone asked her children what the capital of France was, and they didn't know!. She was told that "kids can look that up anytime. In the total scheme of things, it is not that important for our kids to know what the capital of France is! How much better that they learn how to get along with one another. . . ."
I have thought about this a lot lately. How much my kids have been fighting lately is driving me batty and how much easier it would be if Reece was at school. I hear how kids get along better when they are away from each other and then return...but isn't this just a temporary fix? I realize that kids won't always get along but shouldn't we be teaching them to get along whether they are with someone all the time or not? Whether they know someone or not? Whether they heard bad things or good things about them? What they wear or what they look like? We have been talking a lot about compromise, listening to one another, and doing to others as we would want done. I know that if she can get along with her brother, she can get along with anyone else applying those same principles.
Obeying authorities has also been brought up the past couple of weeks. I have personally witnessed other children who did not obey me as an authority and that really bothered me. Then I witnessed my own children not obeying someone else. I feel that if my children learn to obey my authority, they will ultimately obey God and other authority. They have not mastered this yet. The more we work at this with them while they are young, the better and easier it will be for them. I have heard the saying and do believe the saying that children obey better for other people. While this might be true, I do believe that is also a temporary fix/thing. They will only obey for as long as they can, but if those skills aren't built into who they are as character, they will eventually not obey others either (teachers, babysitters, etc).
Those are just some things I have been thinking about lately. I haven't read about them anywhere...just witnessed them and thought about it a lot.
My personal favorite part of our home school curriculum is the Sing the Word A to Z cd. How easy it has been for us to memorize key verses that they will always have in their hearts. We have learned so far "All have sinned", "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved", "Children Obey your Parents in Everything" and "Do to others as you would want them to do". If they just have those 4, I think they would be pretty great kids. I constantly find myself singing these back to them when they aren't obeying or aren't treating each other right. My hope is that they will sing these in their head when they are away from home and have decision to make (on how to treat someone, on whether to make a right or wrong choice, etc).
We do most of our school work from 7 to 9 in the morning. We have even done some on the weekend - for catch up or just because. One Saturday we did "Science Saturday" where we did 3 science experiments that we didn't get to during the week. We do our bible story at night. We have also included our Sparks (Awana) book and cd this week as part of our school day. She really seems to be enjoying our school time and I am too. I love watching her learn and ask questions. We had some problems with writing a while back but this week, she finished her writing a day early because she worked so hard! We have come a long way! She finally realized that if she works ahead, she will have more free time later!
The other evening we were outside, I noticed one of my roses had come back (since the storm). I remember we need a rose for one of our science experiments for this week so I ran inside and grabbed my book and we did it right there in about 5 minutes or so. This week we talked about all the parts of the flower, why insects need plants, and why plants need insects...I learned sooo much - ha, ha!!
Friday, August 31, 2012
School Daze
After our trip, we had a lot of catching up to do when it came to school. I did take some school stuff with us and we did some of our reading in the car. I also do some stuff on Saturday mornings if we are free...just to keep in the routine...plus she doesn't really know yet that kids don't go to school on Saturday! And we probably do stuff on holidays too...like Monday is labor day and I plan to keep working on.
This week we added math, science, and history/geography. She is loving the math and science so far as it is so hands on. We learned about rainbows, the rain cycle, thunder/lighting, and snow. Writing has been a chore this week and think she just gets bored with doing it...she knows it's long and she knows how to do it so I think she just doesn't want to. After a couple of days, her assignments change and they will hopefully be more fun. She cried most of the day yesterday and that was frustrating for me. I think she has just had a lot of changes plus lack of sleep do to roofers and vacation. We also implemented a "no blankie" rule. Her blankie has to stay in her room at all times. I think that is the biggest source of her emotional-ness.
During math we have been using shapes to make patterns. She has pattern sheets but the last two days she was required to make something on her own in 5 minutes. I was surprised at what she came up with.
After school was done in the morning we went to the Miller park with some friends and ate lunch and played. I like to call that lunch and recess.
Her science paper...learning the cycle of rain and also rainbows.
Her official Kindergarten pictures.
This week we added math, science, and history/geography. She is loving the math and science so far as it is so hands on. We learned about rainbows, the rain cycle, thunder/lighting, and snow. Writing has been a chore this week and think she just gets bored with doing it...she knows it's long and she knows how to do it so I think she just doesn't want to. After a couple of days, her assignments change and they will hopefully be more fun. She cried most of the day yesterday and that was frustrating for me. I think she has just had a lot of changes plus lack of sleep do to roofers and vacation. We also implemented a "no blankie" rule. Her blankie has to stay in her room at all times. I think that is the biggest source of her emotional-ness.
During math we have been using shapes to make patterns. She has pattern sheets but the last two days she was required to make something on her own in 5 minutes. I was surprised at what she came up with.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Building Kids of Integrity
I haven't written anything of much value in some time. But I guess that depends on who you ask, because I think my kiddos have value. I have been spending a lot of time seeking wisdom from God on several areas of my life and really focusing on those. Doing this has not allowed time to write on the blog. It's like anything when you focus on it...a lot of other things "suffer". It's like the verse says "wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21) What do I treasure? Where is my heart? So I have to choose my family over the blog! And I'll have to say it has taken me over a week to finish just this post. My heart and mind have been focusing on my family and I am truly reaping some sweet benefits. There have been a lot of changes around here and there will be a few more along the way as we continue to grow and seek Christ.
I have really been focusing on my children's character traits and hearts. These I think are more valuable than anything academic. Sometime after Brody was born, I researched this a lot to find ways I could teach them at home...most schools do not teach these. Oh how our lives would have been easier knowing these at a young age. I found a book/devotional a year or so ago called "Our 24 Family Ways". It was a little too deep for kids my age, so I put it aside and kept researching to find things more age appropriate. I have mainly been doing things on my own with mostly just communicating ALOT to my kids about various things. I really want them to have a solid character so I feel confident about their maturity before they hit the "real" world. I am not even sure that is possible. These years/ages are so crucial in their lives and how they will make decisions later (I feel). During this past week of writing this, God has shown me so many times how right my thinking is on this topic. I praise him for the wisdom, which I know only came from him. I am not that smart on my own :)
I was searching online and stumbled upon a website called Kids of Integrity (www.kidsofintegrity.com). It has around 30 character traits and all the lesson plans are free. We are focusing on one a week. I also had the priviledge of hearing the Duggars speak at Hearts at Home (you know...the couple that has 20 children). They also do something similiar in their home and had a list of 49 Godly Characters on their website. They said they focus on attentiveness FIRST when their kids are very little. This makes a lot of sense to me since that is the main component of the disobedience in my kids...they just don't listen. They don't answer when I call the first time...they interrupt...they do things their own way disregarding what we as parents have told them. If you can get your kids to listen to you the first time, you have accomplished a lot in their lives. The Kids of Integrity site breaks down each lesson with things like definition/object lessons, prayer examples, memory verses, games, crafts, bible stories, discipline strategies, other resources all focused on the one trait you are wanting to work on. Just the lesson on the attentiveness was 23 pages full of information! There is also a planning card at the end that you can print out so that you are not overwhelmed. You pick out the things from the lesson that you want to do and you have something for each day if you choose to do it that way. By focusing on one subject each week, both the children and parents will be trained by reptition and/or pattern and forming a habit or new character. It's also nice to focus on one behavioral thing - it's not so overwhelming. If after the week, you need more work, just keep working on it and repeating things. With these lesson plans, you can do as much or as little as you want. Our first week on attentiveness has looked liked this:
Monday
I had my children stand on chairs around our kitchen island where we cook together a lot. I figured by having them stand and look and listen to me at the counter would keep their attention. The first thing I said was that we were going to be working all week on being good listeners and being more attentitive. I had them repeat the word "attentive" several times. I used one source to help define what being attentive (this is a laminated sheet I got with my 24 Family Ways book called "48 Godly Character Qualities). Attentiveness is listening with our ears, eyes, and heart. I also used the 49 Godly Character Qualities that the Duggars use to say that attentiveness is showing concern...it shows the worth of a person by giving undivided attention to his words and emotions. We looked at Hebrews 2:1 "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." and also Proverbs 4:20-21 "My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart..." The key message is to convey to your child that one of God's commands is for children to obey their parents (Eph 6:1). In order to obey we must first listen; inattentiveness precedes disobedience. Choosing not to listen to parental instructions is directly related to disobeying God's command that children are to obey their parents.
After explaining what it meant to be attentitive, I told them that when they were not being attentitive and choosing not to listen to me, then they would have consequences. And it is so important to follow through on that part the first time you see them disobey this character trait (not continue to warn them). I told them that God is pleased when they are careful listeners and that as they learn to pay attention, they will become wise. Then we prayed together about it.
Next, we did a craft recommendation out of the Kids of Integrity lesson plan. We made "listening ears". Since Easter is coming up, I thought bunny ears were appropriate. I had them trace the pieces I prepared and then cut them out. Then I had them wear them to show they had good listening ears as I read a couple of stories in the bible about listening.
Again, we did reminders and practicing attentiveness along with our memory verse. Then to really practice our listening skills, I used the treasure hunt example on the Kids of Integrity lesson plan. The kids had to listen to me reading a description of a quality or noise of something in our home. Then find the next clue. Upon finding the last one, there they would find their treasure - the bible and a treat. Then we could talk about how the bible is a treasure and gives us clues and insight about how we should live - listening/obeying/attentitiveness being a major component of that. The kids really liked that.
Let me know if you want to borrow the cards that I already made up!
Thursday
We were gone most of the day and just practiced our listening skills. Lots of reminders of how to listen well!
I use 4 different bible sources to read the stories from. Sometimes I use my regular bible but it doesn't keep their attention long - it's just a little too mature for them at this point...they need more of a story. So I have three "toddler" bibles we use - this will depend on which one has the story I need and illustrates it the best way. All three of theirs are very different - Jesus Storybook Bible, Read with Me Bible, and The Tiny Tots Bible Story Book. I think this is good for them to see that there are different "translations" to bibles. I also looked at a book called "Creative Correction". They had some good ideas for learning to be attentive. One example was to hide an old fashion alarm clock somewhere in the house and have it go off at a certain time and have the kids use their listening ears to find it. I may use this one next week.
I have really been focusing on my children's character traits and hearts. These I think are more valuable than anything academic. Sometime after Brody was born, I researched this a lot to find ways I could teach them at home...most schools do not teach these. Oh how our lives would have been easier knowing these at a young age. I found a book/devotional a year or so ago called "Our 24 Family Ways". It was a little too deep for kids my age, so I put it aside and kept researching to find things more age appropriate. I have mainly been doing things on my own with mostly just communicating ALOT to my kids about various things. I really want them to have a solid character so I feel confident about their maturity before they hit the "real" world. I am not even sure that is possible. These years/ages are so crucial in their lives and how they will make decisions later (I feel). During this past week of writing this, God has shown me so many times how right my thinking is on this topic. I praise him for the wisdom, which I know only came from him. I am not that smart on my own :)
I was searching online and stumbled upon a website called Kids of Integrity (www.kidsofintegrity.com). It has around 30 character traits and all the lesson plans are free. We are focusing on one a week. I also had the priviledge of hearing the Duggars speak at Hearts at Home (you know...the couple that has 20 children). They also do something similiar in their home and had a list of 49 Godly Characters on their website. They said they focus on attentiveness FIRST when their kids are very little. This makes a lot of sense to me since that is the main component of the disobedience in my kids...they just don't listen. They don't answer when I call the first time...they interrupt...they do things their own way disregarding what we as parents have told them. If you can get your kids to listen to you the first time, you have accomplished a lot in their lives. The Kids of Integrity site breaks down each lesson with things like definition/object lessons, prayer examples, memory verses, games, crafts, bible stories, discipline strategies, other resources all focused on the one trait you are wanting to work on. Just the lesson on the attentiveness was 23 pages full of information! There is also a planning card at the end that you can print out so that you are not overwhelmed. You pick out the things from the lesson that you want to do and you have something for each day if you choose to do it that way. By focusing on one subject each week, both the children and parents will be trained by reptition and/or pattern and forming a habit or new character. It's also nice to focus on one behavioral thing - it's not so overwhelming. If after the week, you need more work, just keep working on it and repeating things. With these lesson plans, you can do as much or as little as you want. Our first week on attentiveness has looked liked this:
Monday
I had my children stand on chairs around our kitchen island where we cook together a lot. I figured by having them stand and look and listen to me at the counter would keep their attention. The first thing I said was that we were going to be working all week on being good listeners and being more attentitive. I had them repeat the word "attentive" several times. I used one source to help define what being attentive (this is a laminated sheet I got with my 24 Family Ways book called "48 Godly Character Qualities). Attentiveness is listening with our ears, eyes, and heart. I also used the 49 Godly Character Qualities that the Duggars use to say that attentiveness is showing concern...it shows the worth of a person by giving undivided attention to his words and emotions. We looked at Hebrews 2:1 "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." and also Proverbs 4:20-21 "My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart..." The key message is to convey to your child that one of God's commands is for children to obey their parents (Eph 6:1). In order to obey we must first listen; inattentiveness precedes disobedience. Choosing not to listen to parental instructions is directly related to disobeying God's command that children are to obey their parents.
After explaining what it meant to be attentitive, I told them that when they were not being attentitive and choosing not to listen to me, then they would have consequences. And it is so important to follow through on that part the first time you see them disobey this character trait (not continue to warn them). I told them that God is pleased when they are careful listeners and that as they learn to pay attention, they will become wise. Then we prayed together about it.
Next, we did a craft recommendation out of the Kids of Integrity lesson plan. We made "listening ears". Since Easter is coming up, I thought bunny ears were appropriate. I had them trace the pieces I prepared and then cut them out. Then I had them wear them to show they had good listening ears as I read a couple of stories in the bible about listening.
Brody has been very good at using his "listening" ears.
The stories I read on day one were from Mark 9:2-13; James 1:5, and Proverbs 4:1, 5-6, 2-22. The Kids of Integrity lesson plans give you all of these along with key concepts for each story and several quesions for discussion (to see how well they listened). These were very simple questions and the kids seemed to know the answers (If they were listening).
I finally discussed that we are demonstrating godly character when: we listen carefully to God, listen carefully and look at others when they speak, and listen to and follow instructions. This pleases God and mommy too!
Our memory verse for the week that I chose (the lesson plan gives you several to choose from) is: James 1:19 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry".
And even more important, we as parents need to affirm their children when we witness them being good listeners. The lesson plan calls these "speaking blessings" and it provides several examples like: What a good listener you are or Thank you for listening the first time.
When I see them not listening I simply ask "Is that listening?" "What should you have said to mommy?" "Are you listening to what your brother/sister is saying?" This usually gets them back on track. If they choose to not listen, then it's consequence time.
Tuesday
We looked at two more stories from the bible. This time, both the stories I chose, were in their toddler bibles. The first one we read was the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-41. I found it in their Read with Me Bible on page 329.
The second one we read was about Samuel hearing God's voice in 1 Samuel 3. I found it in the Tiny Tots bible on page 159.
Both stories had questions and key concepts we could talk through at the end (in the lesson plan) to see how well we were listening to the story.
We also did review on what attentiveness means and listenting with our ears, eyes, and hearts. And of course practicing our skills all day long - which is a lot of work and reminders!
Wednesday
Again, we did reminders and practicing attentiveness along with our memory verse. Then to really practice our listening skills, I used the treasure hunt example on the Kids of Integrity lesson plan. The kids had to listen to me reading a description of a quality or noise of something in our home. Then find the next clue. Upon finding the last one, there they would find their treasure - the bible and a treat. Then we could talk about how the bible is a treasure and gives us clues and insight about how we should live - listening/obeying/attentitiveness being a major component of that. The kids really liked that.
Let me know if you want to borrow the cards that I already made up!
Thursday
We were gone most of the day and just practiced our listening skills. Lots of reminders of how to listen well!
I use 4 different bible sources to read the stories from. Sometimes I use my regular bible but it doesn't keep their attention long - it's just a little too mature for them at this point...they need more of a story. So I have three "toddler" bibles we use - this will depend on which one has the story I need and illustrates it the best way. All three of theirs are very different - Jesus Storybook Bible, Read with Me Bible, and The Tiny Tots Bible Story Book. I think this is good for them to see that there are different "translations" to bibles. I also looked at a book called "Creative Correction". They had some good ideas for learning to be attentive. One example was to hide an old fashion alarm clock somewhere in the house and have it go off at a certain time and have the kids use their listening ears to find it. I may use this one next week.
This week Brock and I have been gone on a business trip. When I return we will repeat some of the attentiveness stuff and then move on to self control. This was to give you an example of some things you can do in a week with very little time each day. I had actually planned to do more but then we were a little more busy than I planned. We still talked a lot about attentiveness and being a good listener, just didn't do all the games, crafts, and stories. I encourage you to join me in building the character traits of your kiddos! It takes a little time but in the long run will be well worth it! Let me know if you have any questions!
Friday, December 23, 2011
W & X
W is for Worship. Worship is to give praise, honor and respect for God. We honor God when we celebrate Jesus birth each year, when we go to church, when we pray, and when we obey. We should not idolize anything but God. When we choose a toy over praying or going to church or over our sibling, we are idolizing the toy...this does not honor God.
We are going to talk to about Wisdom and Wisemen and color a sheet with the 3 wisemen on it. I actually found a child's sermon on the wisemen worshipping Baby Jesus here. We will look at our Christmas book to see other pictures of wisemen.
X is for eXaltation (yes, sometimes you have to be creative). In the Bible "exaltation" most often refers to the lofty position of God and of Jesus Christ. The most common Hebrew terms for "lift up, exalt.
The Exaltation of Christ. (retrieved here) As the God-man, Jesus Christ entered the world to redeem humankind from their sinful condition. Through his death and resurrection Christ was exalted to the right hand of the Father. Both Isaiah 52:13 and the Gospel of John ( 3:14 ; 8:28 ; John 12:32John 12:34 ) speak of Christ's death in the double sense of being "lifted up" and being "highly exalted." By humbling himself and submitting to death by being "lifted" onto a Roman cross, Christ paid for the sin of humankind, and in so doing was exalted by the Father to the highest place and given "the name that is above every name" ( Php 2:8-9 ). It was through the resurrection from the dead that Christ's death was demonstrated in a powerful way ( Rom 1:4 ). By the resurrection Christ's human nature entered the glorious state of the unending life, and the risen Lord swallowed up death in victory ( 1 Cor 15:54 ).
Having finished his work on earth, Jesus was taken back to heaven and seated at the right hand of God. David had spoken of the Messiah's sitting at the Lord's right hand ( Psalm 110:1 ). This most exalted and honored position confirmed Christ's glory and authority as the supreme ruler ( Eph 1:20-21 ). Christ's exaltation and lordship are evident in the titles "Prince" and "Savior, " which are ascribed to him in his heavenly session ( Acts 5:31 ). The "prince" or "author" of our salvation was made "perfect through suffering" and then "sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" ( Heb 2:10 ; 12:2 ). The son of David was now a king far above any earthly ruler.
At his second coming the King of kings and Lord of lords will return to earth to defeat the nations and to rule them with an iron scepter ( Rev 19:15-16 ). Christ's sovereign authority will be displayed; every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord ( Php 2:10-11 ).
A little over their head but we will go through it anyway. No craft for this one :)
We are going to talk to about Wisdom and Wisemen and color a sheet with the 3 wisemen on it. I actually found a child's sermon on the wisemen worshipping Baby Jesus here. We will look at our Christmas book to see other pictures of wisemen.
X is for eXaltation (yes, sometimes you have to be creative). In the Bible "exaltation" most often refers to the lofty position of God and of Jesus Christ. The most common Hebrew terms for "lift up, exalt.
The Exaltation of Christ. (retrieved here) As the God-man, Jesus Christ entered the world to redeem humankind from their sinful condition. Through his death and resurrection Christ was exalted to the right hand of the Father. Both Isaiah 52:13 and the Gospel of John ( 3:14 ; 8:28 ; John 12:32John 12:34 ) speak of Christ's death in the double sense of being "lifted up" and being "highly exalted." By humbling himself and submitting to death by being "lifted" onto a Roman cross, Christ paid for the sin of humankind, and in so doing was exalted by the Father to the highest place and given "the name that is above every name" ( Php 2:8-9 ). It was through the resurrection from the dead that Christ's death was demonstrated in a powerful way ( Rom 1:4 ). By the resurrection Christ's human nature entered the glorious state of the unending life, and the risen Lord swallowed up death in victory ( 1 Cor 15:54 ).
Having finished his work on earth, Jesus was taken back to heaven and seated at the right hand of God. David had spoken of the Messiah's sitting at the Lord's right hand ( Psalm 110:1 ). This most exalted and honored position confirmed Christ's glory and authority as the supreme ruler ( Eph 1:20-21 ). Christ's exaltation and lordship are evident in the titles "Prince" and "Savior, " which are ascribed to him in his heavenly session ( Acts 5:31 ). The "prince" or "author" of our salvation was made "perfect through suffering" and then "sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" ( Heb 2:10 ; 12:2 ). The son of David was now a king far above any earthly ruler.
At his second coming the King of kings and Lord of lords will return to earth to defeat the nations and to rule them with an iron scepter ( Rev 19:15-16 ). Christ's sovereign authority will be displayed; every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord ( Php 2:10-11 ).
A little over their head but we will go through it anyway. No craft for this one :)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
U & V
U is for upright. Upright means raised or directed vertically or upward; adhering to rectitude; righteous, honest, or just; being in accord with what is right; being of moral excellence.
Proverbs 2:7: He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is bleamelss, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Proverbs 15:8...the prayer of the upright pleases Him.
Titus 1:8 - Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined
Titus 2:12 - It teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
We will look at the story of Job. There are a couple of color sheets here and here.
V is vision. A vision is a dream from God. We will talk about Isaiah's vision of Jesus' birth again. This will tie in the letter P for prophet and again repeat the story of Jesus' birth. There is a color sheet here with the memory verse. I like these activities too - Reece is at just the right age to do them: here
Proverbs 2:7: He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is bleamelss, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Proverbs 15:8...the prayer of the upright pleases Him.
Titus 1:8 - Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined
Titus 2:12 - It teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
We will look at the story of Job. There are a couple of color sheets here and here.
V is vision. A vision is a dream from God. We will talk about Isaiah's vision of Jesus' birth again. This will tie in the letter P for prophet and again repeat the story of Jesus' birth. There is a color sheet here with the memory verse. I like these activities too - Reece is at just the right age to do them: here
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
S & T
S is for Scripture. We looked at few verses: "All Scripture is God Breathed" which the kids learned in Awana this year. And that "All Your words are true" and discussed that all the stories and words in the bible are true. Since we don't have time to do a craft each day and we are still finishing up the scroll craft from the letter P, I will use this to show them a version of scripture.
T is for Tithing. We give back 10% of the money we earn to the church. This goes to the missionaries and towards our church expenses. God gives us the money and we are to give back to Him. We will look at Malachi 3:10 and ask the following questions: Who gives us the money and all things/blessings? The world and everything good in it was given to us by the Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us. We show our appreciation by obeying the commandments and doing our part to help the church grow.
I got my children's piggy banks out and we took out 10% of each. They will set that aside and eventually we can cash it in and give it in the offering plate. I also found this cute idea - matching the different money around the world...the don't understand all of that but they do know how to match (tithing around the world)
This is our craft from the prophet lesson and also tying it into S - scripture lesson. We took a white piece of paper, printed the verse from Isaiah, and crumbled it up. Before we left this morning we dipped it in coffee (to make it look old) so that way when we got back it would be dry.
Look how old it looked...we made a scroll by rolling the ends over pencils and gluing it.
Reece with her rudolph the red-nosed-reindeer that we made at the library
This is where Reece had to match the tithe to the amount of money - all in different countries. The shapes of the money were outlined so that was why it was easy for her.
T is for Tithing. We give back 10% of the money we earn to the church. This goes to the missionaries and towards our church expenses. God gives us the money and we are to give back to Him. We will look at Malachi 3:10 and ask the following questions: Who gives us the money and all things/blessings? The world and everything good in it was given to us by the Heavenly Father who loves and cares for us. We show our appreciation by obeying the commandments and doing our part to help the church grow.
I got my children's piggy banks out and we took out 10% of each. They will set that aside and eventually we can cash it in and give it in the offering plate. I also found this cute idea - matching the different money around the world...the don't understand all of that but they do know how to match (tithing around the world)
This is our craft from the prophet lesson and also tying it into S - scripture lesson. We took a white piece of paper, printed the verse from Isaiah, and crumbled it up. Before we left this morning we dipped it in coffee (to make it look old) so that way when we got back it would be dry.
Look how old it looked...we made a scroll by rolling the ends over pencils and gluing it.
We were making Christmas cookies and trying to make red frosting...but the kids thought it looked like blood which I so smartly tied back to letter R - resurrection...red...and the blood of Christ.
R for resurrection, the story we read, and the tomb craft.
The tithing activity...we roped in daddy since he's better at math. It's hard work counting all those coins from the piggy banks...especially being rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Q and R
Q is for Quiet. We will be looking at several verses from this link. I found a color sheet of children listening quietly to Jesus here. We will be practicing our "quiet" skills while I read the bible verses!
R is for Resurrection. We will look at Matthew 28:1-10 and do this craft.
Our wall is filling up!
R is for Resurrection. We will look at Matthew 28:1-10 and do this craft.
Our wall is filling up!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Letter O and P
Today we will be looking at O. O is for Obedience. We will be looking at the story of God calling his disciples and how the obeyed without delay (Luke 5:1-11)
I got some information from Ministry to Children.com here. I also found a color page showing this story here.
We will also look at O for Ornament.
Tomorrow, for letter P we will look at Prophets. What is a prophet? A prophet is God’s servant who takes God’s message to the people. We will be looking at Isaiah 9:1-7. And also Isaiah 7:14 for our craft. I got the craft from here. While there I found a super neat advent thing you can do daily that is super easy. I might try to plan that one for next year. Has something to "unwrap" each day and a scripture for each. Click on that link I provided and scroll towards the bottom and it's called Advent Countdown.
We will also look at P for Presents.
I got some information from Ministry to Children.com here. I also found a color page showing this story here.
We will also look at O for Ornament.
Tomorrow, for letter P we will look at Prophets. What is a prophet? A prophet is God’s servant who takes God’s message to the people. We will be looking at Isaiah 9:1-7. And also Isaiah 7:14 for our craft. I got the craft from here. While there I found a super neat advent thing you can do daily that is super easy. I might try to plan that one for next year. Has something to "unwrap" each day and a scripture for each. Click on that link I provided and scroll towards the bottom and it's called Advent Countdown.
We will also look at P for Presents.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
M and N
Today we looked at M but since I have N done for tomrrow, I'll post that here also that way if you are doing this, you can get ahead of the game.
For M we looked at Mary, the mother of Jesus. We looked at several passages of Mary in the bible - most important - the events of Jesus birth (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-56). It all related back to many of the other letters we have already looked at.
For N, we will look at Nativity. We have a cute "build your own nativity" craft that I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We will all read "Come and See" book about Jesus Birth. We will look at different pictures of nativity scenes. We will read the story of Jesus's birth in Luke 2:1-7 and the read with me bible page 252-266. 1/2 way done!
For M we looked at Mary, the mother of Jesus. We looked at several passages of Mary in the bible - most important - the events of Jesus birth (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-56). It all related back to many of the other letters we have already looked at.
For N, we will look at Nativity. We have a cute "build your own nativity" craft that I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We will all read "Come and See" book about Jesus Birth. We will look at different pictures of nativity scenes. We will read the story of Jesus's birth in Luke 2:1-7 and the read with me bible page 252-266. 1/2 way done!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Letters I, J, K, L
Today we got all caught up and will only focus on 1 letter a day (most days) until Christmas. We will also be reviewing some of the other letters and really trying to discuss what we have been learning.
Letter I was for Immanuel. Immanuel means "God with us". Immanuel is the name of the Messiah as prophesized by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8 which I read to the kids. We also looked at Matthew 1:23. I could not find a craft or color page for this.
Next we looked at the beautiful name of Jesus. Jesus is the Savior of the world, the son of God. By defintion he is a teacher and prophet (which we will look at when we get to letter P) whose life and teachings form the basis of Christianity. We talked about his upcoming birthday and his parents Mary and Joseph again. We did J for Jesus tracing page with a nativity color page on the bottom. I also pulled out this Jacobs ladder activity which could be traced back to the H - Heaven we looked at yesterday and also J. Brody colored the words JOY.
K is Kneeling. We talked about what it means when we kneel while praying...it brings honor to God and shows we are humble. We looked at Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 22:40-41, Psalm 95:6). And we talked about that it is most important that we come humbly before God when we pray and with a sincere heart.
Next we looked at L for Love. Jesus loves everyone. We looked at 1 Cor 13, John 3:16, Galations 2:20, and 1 John 4:9:11. We colored a picture that shows how we love God with all our heart, soul and might. Brody did a little color sheet that shows L is for Lights which have been seeing a lot of. We are going to the Festival of Lights next week.
Letter I was for Immanuel. Immanuel means "God with us". Immanuel is the name of the Messiah as prophesized by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8 which I read to the kids. We also looked at Matthew 1:23. I could not find a craft or color page for this.
Next we looked at the beautiful name of Jesus. Jesus is the Savior of the world, the son of God. By defintion he is a teacher and prophet (which we will look at when we get to letter P) whose life and teachings form the basis of Christianity. We talked about his upcoming birthday and his parents Mary and Joseph again. We did J for Jesus tracing page with a nativity color page on the bottom. I also pulled out this Jacobs ladder activity which could be traced back to the H - Heaven we looked at yesterday and also J. Brody colored the words JOY.
K is Kneeling. We talked about what it means when we kneel while praying...it brings honor to God and shows we are humble. We looked at Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 22:40-41, Psalm 95:6). And we talked about that it is most important that we come humbly before God when we pray and with a sincere heart.
Next we looked at L for Love. Jesus loves everyone. We looked at 1 Cor 13, John 3:16, Galations 2:20, and 1 John 4:9:11. We colored a picture that shows how we love God with all our heart, soul and might. Brody did a little color sheet that shows L is for Lights which have been seeing a lot of. We are going to the Festival of Lights next week.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Letters C, D, E, F, G and H.
We had a busy weekend so I got behind on the letters and also posting. We did do letters C and D on Thursday, but we didn't get to E and F until yesterday and G and H today.
For letter C we looked at the Church, Christ, Christmas, and Candy Cane. We colored a big letter C that said Christ and we talked about what that name means. We also read the Legend of the Candy Cane which tells about how the Candy Cane was "invented". We enjoyed eating candy canes afterward (even though it was early morning). Here are the kids with their J for Jesus and their Shepards staff (learned about in the book).
For letter C we looked at the Church, Christ, Christmas, and Candy Cane. We colored a big letter C that said Christ and we talked about what that name means. We also read the Legend of the Candy Cane which tells about how the Candy Cane was "invented". We enjoyed eating candy canes afterward (even though it was early morning). Here are the kids with their J for Jesus and their Shepards staff (learned about in the book).
For D we looked at the word Disciple and discussed what a disciple is and how many of them there are. We looked at the Fishers of Men story in their read with me bible. And we looked at several short passages in the bible (Matthew 9:35-10:8, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-18, and John 1:35-42). They colored a big letter D that had the word disciple on it and also all the names of the disciples.
For letter E we looked at Eternal Life and what a gift that God has given us through His son Jesus. Eternal means without beginning or end; forever; timeless. We looked at a few passages in the bible (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, and 1 John 5:13). Just as God gave us a gift of eternal life, I gave my children a gift to represent it. I gave to Reece a necklace of a cross that I wore when I was a child. I gave Brody a little glow and the dark cross that I had hanging in my room as a child. I meant to take pictures of this but got a little carried away.
For F we looked at Family. We talked about the first family of Adam and Eve and also Jesus's family. We looked at two stories from our Boz book that talk about how God made families special and how families love each other. No craft for this one that I could find. My idea was to do something fun as a family - which we have been doing alot anyway.
For G we looked at God. We looked at all God created in Genesis 1 (Using their read to me bible since it's more appealing to them). We talked about how God sent His only son to save us from our sins.
H is for Heaven. We talked about the characteristics of Heaven found in Revelations 21:3-5: no more crying, no more pain, no more evil, streets of gold, etc. And tied it back to the letter E for eternal life and God.
Tomorrow we will look at I and J. I is for Immanuel and J is for Jesus. I have had a lot of trouble finding good/simple crafts for the other letters, but there are a boat load for the letter J. So I must go and work and that so I will be ready for tomorrow.
Oh, and here is a picture of our display wall of all the letters and things we have been working on. We are quickly going through them all before Christmas, but my hope is to go back and focus on each one a little more through the winter!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Daily Christmas Activities
The last couple of years we have had some Christmas traditions with the kids. This year I am starting a new one. I'll try to post them daily so that you might be able to use some of it too. It did take hours of preparing but I think it will be worth it in the long run to be able to teach and spend good quality time with the kids. And we can reuse them from years to come. It only takes about 10 minutes each day (although preparing took hours).
One thing we have done since Reece was born, is our advent calendar. It's a magnetic board with numbered boxes surrounding it. In each number, there is part of the nativity scene that they unwrap and place on the board. Since I have two children, we rotate who takes it out each day. They are exicted to do this as soon as they come down in the morning.
The new thing I am starting has to do with the alphabet plus parts of Christmas (mostly biblical some not). If you have noticed, there are 26 letters in the alphabet and 24 days of December - before Christmas. You could start it November 28th or you could double up on a couple of days. I have to double up a lot because I started it late (due to all the reseach). Since it is December 6 we should already be on letter F...so I will double up the next few days to catch up.
Today we did A and B. I found a power point on line (Pinterest) that I used to come up with the cards. I printed them and pasted them to cardstock/scrapbook paper. I researched each subject, wrote info on the back, and then found stories/scripture, and activities to go with each.
A is for Angels. There is a picture on the front of the card and then on the back it has verses and info to go with Angels and any resources I will be using...such as "read from Christmas book page 42-49 " which is all about angels. Then I found an angel craft online and even a color sheet. I also have A tracing dry erase cards and sheets from a curriculum book we use sometimes (this is more for Brody since he doesn't know his letters).
B is for Baptism and also Baby Jesus and Bethlehem (I used a baby Jesus for the craft since it was more interesting than Baptism, at least for the kids). We talked about Baptism and read the story about John the baptist and when Jesus was baptised in their "Read with Me" Bible page 286-289, reference Matthew 3 and Mark 1 if you don't have this bible.
Coloring their Angel crafts...
Angel craft and Baby Jesus craft complete.
I am doing these each kind of day by day but I have some started in advance. Tomorrow we will be doing C - for Church (card picture) and for Christ, talk about Christmas and we will do a candy cane craft (one that relates to Christ - candy cane upside down is a J - Jesus and what it stands for). I also have a book about how the Candy Cane came to be (Legend of the Candy Cane). I also have a Christ color sheet that I found on Pinterest (see likes on my pinterest). We'll end with having a sweet peppermint bark treat from Ghiradelli :) Or maybe just a candy cane...
D - we will look at being a disciple. Looking at the story of when Jesus calls the disciples (Matthew 4:18-22 Mark 2). Reading it out of our "Read with me Bible" page 290. D color page with the disiples on it.
Friday we will just do E because we have a busy day. E is for Eternal life. I wrapped up a small cross for both of my children to open and we will talk about what all that means - haven't done all the work on that one yet.
Saturday we will look at F. We will focus on Family on this day.
I am also going to start this wall hanging thing, where we can hang these all in order. I will show a picture of that once I get it up and going.
I feel like I have done more researching and preparing then actually teaching...is this how it feels to homeschool? I realize that using this next year, it won't be as hard but still. I feel guilty taking all this time to prepare and then it only takes 10 minutes to complete with them. So I apologize in advance that these are only the "clif notes" versions but I am not as good as some bloggers who link to everything. I don't know how they have time to put it all together, teach it, and share it with others. You might have to do a little work on your own but if you are really interested in something I have on here, just ask and I can send the link, document, etc. Some of it is a work in progress.
One thing we have done since Reece was born, is our advent calendar. It's a magnetic board with numbered boxes surrounding it. In each number, there is part of the nativity scene that they unwrap and place on the board. Since I have two children, we rotate who takes it out each day. They are exicted to do this as soon as they come down in the morning.
The new thing I am starting has to do with the alphabet plus parts of Christmas (mostly biblical some not). If you have noticed, there are 26 letters in the alphabet and 24 days of December - before Christmas. You could start it November 28th or you could double up on a couple of days. I have to double up a lot because I started it late (due to all the reseach). Since it is December 6 we should already be on letter F...so I will double up the next few days to catch up.
Today we did A and B. I found a power point on line (Pinterest) that I used to come up with the cards. I printed them and pasted them to cardstock/scrapbook paper. I researched each subject, wrote info on the back, and then found stories/scripture, and activities to go with each.
A is for Angels. There is a picture on the front of the card and then on the back it has verses and info to go with Angels and any resources I will be using...such as "read from Christmas book page 42-49 " which is all about angels. Then I found an angel craft online and even a color sheet. I also have A tracing dry erase cards and sheets from a curriculum book we use sometimes (this is more for Brody since he doesn't know his letters).
B is for Baptism and also Baby Jesus and Bethlehem (I used a baby Jesus for the craft since it was more interesting than Baptism, at least for the kids). We talked about Baptism and read the story about John the baptist and when Jesus was baptised in their "Read with Me" Bible page 286-289, reference Matthew 3 and Mark 1 if you don't have this bible.
I am doing these each kind of day by day but I have some started in advance. Tomorrow we will be doing C - for Church (card picture) and for Christ, talk about Christmas and we will do a candy cane craft (one that relates to Christ - candy cane upside down is a J - Jesus and what it stands for). I also have a book about how the Candy Cane came to be (Legend of the Candy Cane). I also have a Christ color sheet that I found on Pinterest (see likes on my pinterest). We'll end with having a sweet peppermint bark treat from Ghiradelli :) Or maybe just a candy cane...
D - we will look at being a disciple. Looking at the story of when Jesus calls the disciples (Matthew 4:18-22 Mark 2). Reading it out of our "Read with me Bible" page 290. D color page with the disiples on it.
Friday we will just do E because we have a busy day. E is for Eternal life. I wrapped up a small cross for both of my children to open and we will talk about what all that means - haven't done all the work on that one yet.
Saturday we will look at F. We will focus on Family on this day.
I am also going to start this wall hanging thing, where we can hang these all in order. I will show a picture of that once I get it up and going.
I feel like I have done more researching and preparing then actually teaching...is this how it feels to homeschool? I realize that using this next year, it won't be as hard but still. I feel guilty taking all this time to prepare and then it only takes 10 minutes to complete with them. So I apologize in advance that these are only the "clif notes" versions but I am not as good as some bloggers who link to everything. I don't know how they have time to put it all together, teach it, and share it with others. You might have to do a little work on your own but if you are really interested in something I have on here, just ask and I can send the link, document, etc. Some of it is a work in progress.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Operation Christmas Child
This year we really got the children involved in our operation Christmas child boxes. I took them to the dollar store this week and let them pick out things to put in their boxes. If you are like me, you struggle with that part. You think that since they have nothing, we should buy them something really nice and you feel kind of bad settling for the the dollar store. One thing I learned about when going on the mission trip to Costa Rica, is that you shouldn't buy them really nice things even though they have nothing. What I learned is, they have no nice place to keep the items, don't know how to take care of things, they could get stolen, and they likely won't last long in their environment anyhow.
My children asked a lot of questions about the boxes. Where will the box go? What is the child's name who will receive the box? Can we go to their house and drop them off? Those were kind of tough questions to answer - at least for them because I don't think they entirely understand. But it was a sweet time with them with great conversations. I could really see their giving, tender hearts during this time. They wanted to put more in the box than the box would allow. I think we were good packers/stuffers and were able to fit a lot in the box. Some items were: crayons, notepads, color pads, jacks game, barbie doll, stuffed animals that said the Lord's prayer, small books like Noahs ark, Jonah, etc, bag of candy (that they picked out from their Halloween jar), socks, wash cloth, soap, toothpaste/toothbrush, sunglasses, bracelets, small puzzle, monster truck and a blanket.
My children asked a lot of questions about the boxes. Where will the box go? What is the child's name who will receive the box? Can we go to their house and drop them off? Those were kind of tough questions to answer - at least for them because I don't think they entirely understand. But it was a sweet time with them with great conversations. I could really see their giving, tender hearts during this time. They wanted to put more in the box than the box would allow. I think we were good packers/stuffers and were able to fit a lot in the box. Some items were: crayons, notepads, color pads, jacks game, barbie doll, stuffed animals that said the Lord's prayer, small books like Noahs ark, Jonah, etc, bag of candy (that they picked out from their Halloween jar), socks, wash cloth, soap, toothpaste/toothbrush, sunglasses, bracelets, small puzzle, monster truck and a blanket.
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