Live and Learn

January 1, 2013

Child Training Bible

Oh how I love Pinterest! I’ve come across some of the greatest ideas on there, and also some of the neatest products that I didn’t previously know existed. This one in particular is among the most practical and useful products I’ve seen on there. I think I spotted and pinned this Child Training Bible maybe a week and a half before Christmas, and I made it very clear to my kids and husband that I’d love to get everything I need to make it (with Christmas and my birthday coming up…I knew there was a good possibility they might need gift ideas anyway). Lo and behold, my hubby made it happen. On Christmas, I got the kit and all the supplies needed to put it together. I got right to work and completed it in just over a day.
What is it that makes this product so great, you might ask? Well, for starters, the Bible has so much instruction and encouragement in it that could and should be used in the training of our children, however, if you’re like me, in the moment when it’s needed, you may forget exactly which verse you’re looking for and by the time you find it, that teachable moment has passed. To have handy scripture available, I’ve tried charts that have verses, along with index cards on rings, but they don’t quite have the same effect as opening God’s Word to see what it has to say. Caroline, my inquisitive and skeptical child, has asked me before when I’ve told her what the Bible says, “Does it REALLY say that?” (“Yes, my dear, I promise you it does say ‘Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right’ even though I know you’d like to believe I’m making that up.”) So now, with this product, I can grab the Bible, quickly find several verses on a particular topic, and sit down with the child whose heart needs to be reminded of truth. THAT is what makes this product an incredibly useful parenting tool. I knew I had to have it when I saw it.

On their website, they list the exact materials you need to make The Child Training Bible.

Their guide goes in the front of the Bible (that needs to be exactly 9×6) and allows you to easily find verses you’ve tabbed (they give you a list of recommended verses, but I also included some of my own personal favorites) on each issue.

On the tabbed pages, you highlight the verse in the corresponding color to make it super easy to find. Some pages may have highlighted verses in various colors.

This is something I decided to add on my own so I wouldn’t have to keep multiple guides stuck in the Bible all the time. The gospel section is broken up further into four parts, so I marked those on the inside so we could easily find what we were looking for.

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December 14, 2012

Week 17 and 18

I’m just going to do our weekly update for our final two weeks of the semester in one shot. Things are getting busy around here these days. We’ve been enjoying meeting new homeschooling friends, play dates, and parties. We’re pretty much just enjoying all that homeschooling has to offer to the fullest.
I’m so excited to bring another semester to a close and have a few weeks to regroup before we get started on the final semester of the year. It’s so thrilling to see all that we’ve accomplished so far. It’s goes by so fast and it’s so hard for me to believe that before long we will be completing our third homeschooling year!

This is what we’ve got going on for our last two weeks:

Memory Verse:I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. – Psalm 139:14

Hymn: O Holy Night

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row:The Hatmaker’s Sign: A Story by Benjamin Franklin retold by Candace Fleming (studying Benjamin Franklin and the Declaration of Independence)

Pre-K Literature: Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs by Tomie de Paola (focusing on Grandmothers, Great-Grandmothers and coping with the death of loved ones)

Read Aloud:The Light at Tern Rock by Julia Sauer

Photos from the Last Week:

She’s proud to have finished the first Explode the Code book.

We’re working on blends now and she’s been doing great.

In math Elliot has been learning about calculating the perimeter of triangles and rectangles. He asked me how you could measure a circle so we came up with this idea. We found some string and cut it to go around a circle we wanted to measure.

Then he measured the length of the string.

In addition to the circumference, we also determined the diameter. These things were not in my plan for the day, but they were taught nonetheless! It’s really fun when he initiates a new concept just by being curious about something.

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December 4, 2012

Week 16

Memory Verse: I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. -Philippians 4:12-13

Hymn: O Holy Night

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row: Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (studying the American Revolutionary War)

Pre-K Literature: The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting (focusing on the importance of learning to read)

Read Aloud:Abel’s Island by William Steig

Photos from the Last Week:

In addition to our school read-aloud, Elliot and Josh are reading Mr. Revere and I, Caroline and I are reading Stuart Little, and now the kids are in the middle of reading James and the Giant Peach together. Furthermore, Elliot’s always got at least one book he’s reading his own and last week he achieved his goal of reading his 100th book in 2012!

She’s moved beyond the three letter words and is always impressing me with what she can read.

She wanted to go all the way to 100 with our place value village, so we went for it.

Nine groups of ten were moved to the tens house, and then with the last group of ten, they all got moved into one big bag and moved over to the 100s house.

We enjoyed having the freedom to take a break and go watch Josh’s flag football game in the middle of the day.

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November 30, 2012

Christmas 2012

It’s hard to believe the Christmas season is already upon us once again. It seems like just yesterday we were taking down the decorations and talking about how we can’t wait for the next Christmas, and now it’s here! We’re excited to continue some traditions we started last year and begin some new ones. Our hope for our kids is that they look back and treasure the experiences and memories we created, not so much the things that we gave them and we feel that Christmas is one of the best opportunities we have to do this.

Last year, I collected up twenty-three Christmas books that we unwrapped and read each evening in December before Christmas (with the the Bible as the last one on Christmas Eve). It was a really fun and sweet experience that the kids looked forward to each evening. Over the last few weeks I’ve mentioned our Christmas books and the kids get very excited about doing it all again this year. I’ve made just a few changes in the books this year, as I felt a few of them from last year were a little “young” for my kids and wouldn’t grow very well with me over time. If you’re looking for some ideas, here’s the list of what we’re reading this year:

1. Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

2. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

3. B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner

4. Silver Packages Cynthia Rylant

5. The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William Hooks

6. Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer

7. Night Tree by Eve Bunting

8. The First Christmas by Carol Heyer

9. The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown

10. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck

11. The Christmas Tree Ship by Jeanette Winter

12. All is Well by Frank Peretti

13. The Candymaker’s Gift by Helen Haidle

14. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

15. Lucy’s Christmas by Donald Hall

16. A Certain Small Shepherd by Rebecca Caudill

17. Why Christmas Trees aren’t Perfect by Dick Schneider

18. The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie DePaola

19. The Fourth Wise Man by Susan Summers

20. The Legend of the Poinsettia Tomie DePaola

21. The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth by Dandi Mackall

22. Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin

23. The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt

24. Bible (Luke chapter 2)

Twenty-four books wrapped! It was a very time consuming task, but well worth it!/strong>

Another thing we’ll be doing this year is putting even less emphasis on presents for ourselves. We’ve tried to be pretty consistent with our message to the kids that life is not about gaining possessions and we’ve tried to carry that over into what we’re teaching them about Christmas. They’ve even been known to remind us or eachother “What’s important is not stuff and things!” so I think they’re getting the message. Our kids are not making lists of things they want and we don’t really talk much at all about presents for Christmas. There’s plenty of opportunity to make gifts a big part of birthdays, but Christmas is about the gift that Jesus is to us and how we can give back to Him. I was greatly impacted when I read this post by Ann Voskamp about how we can give gifts to Jesus by giving to those who are in need rather than just collecting up more stuff for ourselves. So this year we’ll be spending most of our Christmas spending money on things from gift catalogues. We’ll each have a budget, make our selections, cut out the picture or description, and wrap it up as a gift for Jesus. We’d love it if our tree had more gifts for Jesus under it than for any one of us. On Christmas we’ll get to open them up and celebrate all the wonderful things we were able to give as birthday gifts to the King!

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40

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November 26, 2012

Week 15

Hymn: O Holy Night

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row: Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (studying the American Revolutionary War)

Pre-K Literature: The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting (focusing on the importance of learning to read)

Read Aloud:Abel’s Island by William Steig

Photos from the Last Week:

I made a “Bible Verse Puzzle” with some popcicle sticks. I timed them to see how fast they could put it in the correct order and we’re going to try to improve each time we do it.

Done!

Sight Words and Letter Tiles

This was another pinterest find. We call these our “Bob Blocks”. We can make (and practice reading) sentences with them that are much like the sentences found in her Bob Books.

Speaking of Bob Books, I also found a great little check list with all the books on Pinterest. She is super excited to mark one off each week. She’s almost done with the second pack.

After finishing our Medieval Era unit, Elliot and I went on a fun date together to Medieval Times.

We were rooting for the yellow knight.

Our yellow knight ended up being the champion! What fun!

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November 12, 2012

Week 14

Hymn: O Holy Night

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row: The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl (studying the medieval period)

Pre-K Literature: Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco (studying weather and storms)

Read Aloud:The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Photos from the Last Week:

He was able to watch the election results for a while and color in states on his map as they were won.

He usually comes up with his own ideas for creative writing, but every now and then he gets stuck. I got this great little story starter flip book at Mardel that gives him ideas for different characters, setting and plot of a story.

She’s got number order down pat.

She’s getting close to finishing book one of Explode the Code.

Though I’m not a big fan of frequent sweets, I decided we’d do something special and bake a cake since both of their books have a cake theme. In Elliot’s book, the duchess gets herself into trouble by haphazardly throwing ingredients together and not following a recipe or measuring things out, so we talked about how important that is and practiced doing the measuring of ingredients.

Caroline got her chance to help as well. Her book, Thunder Cake, is all about overcoming fears, and she faced a fear of her own as she used the beater. She’s not a fan of loud things!

Here is our finished Thunder Cake/ Lovely, Light (ok, maybe not at all light), Luscious, Delectable Cake. Boy was it good!

We have enjoyed these as read aloud books so much! They are simply adorable and my kids have never rolled around the floor giggling as much as they have with these. They’ve just strengthened our Winnie the Pooh love even more. Caroline is dying to go back to Disney World to have breakfast with Pooh and friends again!

Josh, who is the artist of the family has been wanting to do some painting with the kids for a while now. The kids have been very inspired by the artists we’ve studied so they’re been eager to do “real paintings” with Daddy, so we got some canvases and let them go for it. Josh also taught them all about making new colors since we only had the three primary colors and black and white.

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November 5, 2012

Week 13

Memory Verse: Finally, Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. – Philippians 4:8

Hymn: Be Thou My Vision

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row: The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl (studying the medieval period)

Pre-K Literature: Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco (studying weather and storms)

Read Aloud: Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

Photos from the Last Week:

He begs to be the one to do our daily reading and has no trouble navigating his way through the Bible. I’m so proud of him and his growing interest in it!

We’re working on a list of Bible verses pertaining to taking care of the needy. There’s a lot in there about it!

She practiced writing her cousins names.

After learning all about the electoral college and how a candidate wins the election, they came along to observe the voting (early voting).

Math

We finally got to get out my “Place Value Village” that goes along with her math lessons. I found the perfect boxes at The Container Store that are just the right size, very sturdy, can be stored inside one another when put away, and have magnetic closures, which Caroline is obsessed with!

Counting Ones (pinto beans)

A new group of ten moves to the Tens House.

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October 29, 2012

Teaching Compassion

I wanted to share a little bit about our most recent thrilling undertaking, sponsoring two little children through Compassion International. I post this not to draw attention to us or make much of what we’re doing, but instead to make much of what God is doing through this awesome ministry and to encourage anyone who’s ever considered it to go ahead and do it! I didn’t know much about it when I first looked into it, but my eyes were really opened to the fact that there are so many children in the world who are in need and we are so very blessed and able to help and make a difference in their lives. Initially, my plan was to sponsor one child. I had made a few changes to the budget to accommodate the extra cost each month for one. But it’s interesting how God can speak so clearly to you that you just can’t ignore it. As the kids and I were looking through the children available for sponsorship on their website, I knew God was asking me to sponsor two kids, one for each of my children to pray for, write to, and hopefully develop a relationship with. So that’s what we did! We picked a boy from Honduras that’s Elliot’s age and a little girl from Peru that’s Caroline’s age. We are so excited! Not only are we helping sweet children who need it so badly, but it gives me an opportunity to teach my kids to be compassionate and care for those that are in need. Telling my kids they should care about others is easy, but actually living it and actively involving them in the process is what is going to make the impact on them.

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October 29, 2012

Week 12

Hymn: Be Thou My Vision

Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

Composer: Ludwig Van Beethoven

Five in a Row: The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold

Pre-K Literature: The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Read Aloud: Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Photos From the Last Few Weeks:

Her Very Wonderful Aunts

He was working on a a list of his favorite homophones.

We recently tried out a homeschool gym class that is right down the road from us.

They loved it and can’t wait to go back!

Introduction to Rembrandt

Beethoven

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October 26, 2012

London and Paris Trip

As I’ve stated many times before, one of the marvelous things about homeschooling is the flexibility and freedom it provides. I am a very schedule-oriented person, however, and don’t often take advantage of that flexibility. I was very thankful for it a few weeks ago though when Josh announced he would be going to London for work and that he would love to take me along with him. After initially thinking we couldn’t possibly do that, it occurred to me that there’s no reason why we couldn’t. The kids could easily go and stay with their grandparents in Houston and enjoy their time there without the burden of needing to do school because I’ve scheduled in frequent weekly breaks throughout our year that I could easily use to make up for any lost time. It’s just so great to not have our plans dictated by a school district’s calendar. The kids had a blast on their impromptu week-off and we were able to take advantage of a great opportunity to share an amazing experience together.

Josh departed for London three days before me, so I made the trip there on my own. After not sleeping much at all on the long flight (and losing 6 hours because of the time difference), I made my way to the train that would take me to where I needed to go. Exhausted, I arrived at the busy station where Josh was waiting for me. We were talking on our phones and trying to locate each other and having somewhat of a hard time communicating where we both were. I was so tired and I just wanted to find a bed and sleep! Then in the distance through the crowds of people, I saw his sweet smile and a burst of energy bolted through me and I couldn’t help giggling to myself as we approached each other. It was so wonderful to finally be with him and I was so excited about the adventure we were about to share together. We had four days in London and then took the Eurostar to Paris and spent three days there. We saw so many things, learned so much history, experienced a different culture, enjoyed wonderful food and just soaked up the time together. It was wonderful!

London

Paris

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